32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Hold Outs, Opt Ins, and Potential Trades

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman begin by highlighting notable 4 Nations hold-outs Quinn Hughes & Rasmus Ristolainen, while also mentioning those who opted to play for their countries. Most notably, Drew Doughty (15:30). Kyle and Elliotte talk about players like Jake Evans & Vladimir Tarasenko who could be traded during the 4 Nations break (21:47). The fellas update what the Blues plan to do as we creep closer to the trade deadline (29:30). Elliotte mentions that the Islanders are preparing to take a real run at extending Brock Nelson (37:59), before updating the latest with John Gibson and the Ducks (41:31). The Final Thought focuses on college free-agent Luke Haymes who is garnering a lot of interest around the NHL (47:20). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (48:43).In the final segment the guys look ahead to 4 Nations and talk about the goaltending depth for each country (1:03:25).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

20% of the time it's not my fault. Yes. 80% of the time it's my fault. And this is the, I'm 100%, this is the only time I'm ever gonna admit that. And 60% of the time it works every time. That's right. All time great line.

60% of the time it works every time. That is fantastic. London gentlemen, no, no, no. Blackbeard's Delight. No, she gets a special cologne. It's called Sex Panther by Odeon. It's illegal in nine countries. Yep, it's made with bits of real panther.

So you know it's good. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra 84X. Tom Schimati, Elliot Friedman, Kyle Bukowsky is with you. And if you're waking up on this Monday feeling a little bit unfulfilled after that blowout of a Super Bowl on Sunday, we hope to be the empty calorie, cheap entertainment to help you bridge the gap, Elliot. How was your card game Sunday night?

Nobody in Philadelphia is feeling unfulfilled. I don't care how much of a blowout it was. Card game was good, won one of the tournaments, won a little bit of money. It was nice. That always makes it a bit better. It was funny. The guy who hosted the game brought a deck of cards

with a Boston Bruins logo on it. It was pretty hilarious. He chose them. He said, these are the cards that we are going to play with. Bold, bold, bold. Yes. Wow. No less. In Toronto. So congratulations on winning some money. Dom, you hear that? We're getting another dinner out of Elliott here this week in Montreal. So congratulations on winning some money. Dom, you hear that? We're getting another dinner out of Elliott here this week in Montreal. So that'll be great. I will be buying one.

I will be buying one, yes. Oh, that's good. You're always good for one. Yeah, so I'm in Montreal already. I came right here from Vancouver on Sunday. You'll be here Monday. Dom will get here a little later on on Monday for the Four Nations faceoff

as we continue to ramp up towards that. So we should. First day of practice, we get to see the line combinations. Oh boy. Won't everyone be waiting with bated breath? Once those get thrown out on social for the first time, Elliot, and everyone's got their hot takes of what's great and what's not, it's going to be a lot of fun ramping up towards the first game on Wednesday. So we should probably talk about some lineup stuff then with regards to some of the countries because we had some news on Sunday and it kind of felt like it was coming this way,

but official as of Sunday afternoon, Quinn Hughes out of the four nations for Team USA. Now we had the video of him Saturday morning in Vancouver skating there at Rogers Arena for under an hour You know, I never try to play doctor or anything, but just watching the body language But you know, it's a holiday and Express last night. So you are qualified. Yes Yes, I think that's where we're staying all week here. It's it's It just didn't look totally encouraging. Of course he didn't play against Toronto on Saturday. And I thought when you interviewed Rick Taka before the game,

his line about we need a healthy Quinn Hughes if we're going to go anywhere. And Ian McIntyre put up a quick story on Sports.ca on Sunday where he got to chat with Pat Persan, Quinn Hughes' agent, and he laid out the fact that he was really agonizing over this. You mentioned that as well. I suppose it's not really a huge surprise that this is where it comes down to, given where the Canucks are at, but how did we ultimately get here where Hughes decided he just can't go for four nations? So this was, I always got the sense on Saturday, this was going to be the last decision that was going to get made. There certainly seemed to be a sense that Rantanen was going to play.

You know, I have to say I was a little surprised by Ristolainen. I thought he was going to play, but he bowed out early on Sunday morning, the news came. I heard there was a lot of confidence that Rantanen was going to be able to play. And I really did believe that Crosby, like I'm under the impression that Crosby wants to play. And I really do think there's going to be a conversation here if there hasn't been one already about Crosby missing the first game against Sweden and playing on Saturday because if you look for Canada, they play their opening game Wednesday, then they have

two more days off and even if Sweden was to beat them, if you win two out of three, then you're in a good place. So I wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being the decision. We'll see for sure. But Hughes, I always thought was going to be the one that was going to be the toughest choice, the one that was going to be in a situation where the player was going to face, I don't even know if the most pressure, but the most realism about whether or not they could really play. And, you know, I saw that video, I'm like you, I don't want to play doctor, I know how badly he wants to

play. Like the thing about Crosby is, like the Penguins aren't making the playoffs this year. And I think deep down, even if it was a situation where Crosby and knock on wood, hope it doesn't happen, I'm not wishing this into existence, especially after the Pittsburgh poem appeared on the last podcast. Even if it was to be a situation where Crosby somehow got hurt worse and didn't come back after the four nations and again don't want that to happen. It doesn't derail Pittsburgh season. If Hughes is in a situation where it gets worse while he's playing in this tournament,

it really could derail Vancouver season. And I think at the end of the day he faced the realization that he couldn't go. And it sucks for Hughes. You can only imagine how much he wanted to play with Jack. But you know I'll tell you a story a few years ago at the I think it was the 2018 Winter Olympics. The NHLers weren't there then and it was the team Canada and it was really fun to watch them, a bunch of scrappy guys competing for Canada at the Olympics in South Korea. Sportsnet offered to release me and I was going to go work at for CBC. But I didn't go because the NHL games were going on. And I was going to leave during NHL season, miss NHL games and not work on the show. And I just didn't think it was the right thing to do. I think you know, you're a team and you stick together with your team. And,

you know, that's my primary assignment. So even though I can only imagine and it like it sucked to watch some of those games especially as Canada kind of moved towards the medal round but I always felt it was the right decision and so when I see Quinn Hughes in this situation I can only imagine how much it stinks not to play with his brother and play for the U.S. in this tournament. But ultimately, you can't derail your NHL team season. And I think he knows that. The other thing too is, Kyle, I think for a lot of people, it's been kind of hard to concentrate on this tournament.

And I get that because we're in the very competitive NHL season but I think now that it's here and we're going to see the games and it's going to take over and as you said we're going to start seeing these lines take shape over the next couple days I think the excitement is really going to grow. And you remember too when we talked to Quinn Hughes before the season, what was the one thing that he took from his conversations with Roman Yossi

when he skated with him last summer? Do you remember? Acceptance. Right, acceptance. You know what, Kyle? You got 31 more of these. I gotta write a blog this week. I'm just making a note about this.

We're gonna find the time to write the blog. I've committed to doing it so I've got to figure it out. But yeah acceptance and this is I've. But if you keep talking like this you're going to make it a lot easier for me. Well anything I can do to help. It's about time. Yes that is true. But that's what he talked about just the idea of acceptance and things happen the way they do. And this is one of those times for Quinn Hughes, the Canucks and Team USA, where of course both teams would love to have them right now. But having to make the decision to be at the most optimal health that he can be with this break now with Vancouver. Yeah, it's really tough to fault them given especially now you're seeing the way that that team is battling. They won three straight without them in the

lineup. They've won six of eight here suddenly going into the Four Nations break, put themselves in a much better position than where they were a week and a half, two weeks ago. They're starting to dig in a little bit and full value I think for their win against Toronto on Saturday even though it came really tight. Actually our friends at Sport Logic, Elliot, so we starting to dig in a little bit and full value, I think for their win against Toronto on Saturday, even though it came really tight. And actually our friends at Sport Logic, Elliot, so we didn't get a chance to run this during the game on Saturday. So this was going into Saturday's games, just differentials for Vancouver this year.

With Quinn Hughes on the ice, plus 42 in Goals 4. Without him on the ice, 42 in goals for without him on the ice minus 54. Yeah. Scoring chances with him on the ice plus 216 without him on the ice minus 329 like it's two different teams there. He's having a heart trophy season. There's no question about that. And right. It's a shame he's not going to be there. But just imagine that Saturday Night Game. Quinn Hughes and Kale McCarr racing the puck up and down the ice against each other. The roars in the building. The Avalanche fans and the Canock fans, the US fans and the Canadian fans tearing at each other on social media.

But the good news is all of those fans, Kyle, will have plenty other things that they will be able to find to rip each other about. Yes, yes. And what now a great opportunity for Jakes Anderson. So he comes in last minute as the replacement for Quinn Hughes so remember we were told a few months back that Bill Guerin is a huge fan of Sanderson and certainly with the way he's played of late with Ottawa You'd have to think did a real number to make him in

consideration for The fill-in the replacement for Quinn Hughes if he wasn to go. Apparently, he had a nice little trip lined up, as I'm sure a lot of players did over the course of the break. That had to be canceled, and I guess he was kind of, they played down in Florida on Saturday night, right? I think he was kind of in a holding pattern down there for about 24 hours to see, okay, is Quinn gonna play? Is he not gonna play?

And then, now on to Montreal to join the rest of his teammates with Team USA, kind of cool. Very cool, and he's deserving. I was curious about how all of this was going to go. You know I also wondered about John Carlson if he was going to be the person but as you said Garen really loves Sanderson. I kind of heard on Saturday that it wasn't going to be Carlson, that he really hadn't been notified. So that made me kind of think Sanderson was the guy. The only thing I think that's a negative for Sanderson is that, you know, he looks like he could use a little bit of a tan. So maybe that's the only bad thing for Sanderson. Then again, we could all use a bit of a tan. So maybe that's the only bad thing for Sanderson. Then again, we could

all use a bit of a tan at this time of year. Yes. Yeah. Who are you and I to say? That's for sure. Well, I got one shoveling snow on Sunday morning. I'll say that much. I was outside. You know who I really feel for? I really feel for the Finns. Oh my gosh. I really feel for them. I'm glad Ranton is playing. They have been devastated, devastated by injuries. And another guy that you've seen a little bit, Mattin Palo, he gets named for Ristolainen. 22 career games total, 18 this year with Ottawa.

An undrafted guy that kind of came into the system two years ago nobody knew much about and suddenly you're thrust into an opportunity to represent your country on a stage like the Four Nations in an event run by the National Hockey League. Yeah talk about coming out of left field but I mean he's turned some head I think in a lot of ways kind of out of necessity with some injuries to the the blue line for for Ottawa but it put him on the radar at least in some small way you would have to think by getting some minutes with the the big club over the course of this season and alright Nick off you go to

Montreal enjoy the Four Nations with Finland. One person's injury is another person's opportunity go get them. Absolutely. You know I just wanted to say that the guy I really feel a little bit for is Vili Heinle from Winnipeg. He's the one Finn defenseman in the NHL who didn't get this opportunity and that's tough like I was thinking about him a little bit on Sunday. Winnipeg's done a lot of things right they're having a phenomenal year. It's been a really tough goal with him in terms of opportunity and injury.

It's not all on the Jets, but unfortunately for him, injury has wiped out some of the chances he may have had to get the chance to play and show what he can do. And this is another kind of tough moment for him, I bet. And I hope here as the Jets continue to go for the Stanley Cup this season in the middle of a marvelous year, I hope that somehow he gets an opportunity

maybe to kickstart his career somewhere else. Because he's just a guy who needs a fresh start and a new opportunity. I was watching, you know what I thought played pretty well for the Rangers over the last couple of days, Zach Jones, who's a guy who's basically been open about, I just want to play and he's another guy who, like when I watched him over the past couple of games, I said, there's a guy here who deserves an opportunity to play a bit more, if not in New York,

than somewhere else. But what it reminds me of is that there are so many really good players in this league, Kyle, and they're just one spot below the opportunity they need. And it doesn't mean you're a bad player. It just means that there's a lot of great players in this league. And sometimes you get squeezed out

and you need sort of like fate to knock on your door and say, now it's your time. And that kind of just happened to Matt and Paolo. And some of these other guys, they need that too. All right. How about Drew Doughty though for Team Canada officially he's on the blue line and you had the news kind of as things were coming together on Saturday night you were working late game Calgary and Seattle meanwhile he was playing for Los Angeles against Anaheim did you see his quotes afterwards where he said I wasn't even realizing what they were mentioning me on the video board for when they said,

hey, congratulations, Drew Doughty being named to Team Canada for the Four Nations and Crypto.com's going crazy for him. He wasn't even aware, a referee skated over and said, hey, Drew, congrats. And he was like, oh, that's what that was about. That's so Doughty, eh? First of all, I thought it was a great touch

by the NHL and the Players Association to do, recognizing that he was playing a game on Saturday night at home and they could make that kind of an introduction and a welcome to the team. Small thing but a big thing. I really think that. By the way, while I'm just thinking of the Kings, I did want to mention that after this tournament is over, on the 23rd is that charity game they're doing to benefit the right People who are affected by the fires and I believe Kevin BX is playing in that game

I think Ron McLean is playing in that game. It sounds like they're really excited to go and play and and Be a part of it Kelly. I know was invited. He can't go I think Jennifer was invited, he can't go. I think Jennifer was invited, but I'm not really sure what her status is. I didn't get a chance to ask her. But I did want to shout that out because it sounds like it's going to be

a pretty special night. But I really liked the way they handled the Doughty announcement. Like I said last pod, Kyle, on Friday, the reaction to my initial statement about kind of like, obviously it's Doughty. So I wrote that on Thursday. Then I got the anti-Doughty crowd came in. We talked about it on the pod on Friday.

Guess what happened on Friday afternoon? The pro-Doughty people came back. They were like, this is outrageous that anybody else would even be considered. It'll be interesting to see how much he gets used. Like do they put him in right away? Is he the seventh guy? You know people were very interested in what you and I talked about like would it be an insult or seen as an insult to him if he's the seventh guy should that even matter he should just deal with it you know one guy joked with me they said if if Doughty's not playing in the first game team Kenan's gonna have to lock him in his room so he

doesn't get out in Montreal that was what someone was laughing about with Doughty's you know famous for just going out and loving a good time. And of course, the story about how late he was for the gold medal game in 2010 in Vancouver. But, you know, the one thing I really do agree with is that as great as players like Tanavar and Uyghur are, and I think those were kind of the other two guys who were in the conversation with Doughty. He's got the highest ceiling. He's a future Hall of Famer and I think they kind of looked at that and right from the beginning he was on the team. The only thing that made it a threat was the injury and I think everybody was sitting here and saying is he really gonna be ready but they're they're taking the plunge and sometimes I think

you got to take the risk to win. Yeah and he even touched on it too you mentioned how you know maybe some felt he hadn't looked terrific out of the gate his first few games back but you know as he said on Saturday night like the couple games prior to actually being named to the team, I guess he kind of had an indication that he was really on the shortlist and that almost put his mind at ease as he was saying. And then from that point, you know, the Friday night game against Dallas, much better, seemed to have a good night against Anaheim there on Saturday and just looked a lot more like himself. Like he said, he put so much pressure on himself to be great right away because that was the one big motivator for him to get back,

especially when the news came out that Patrangelo wasn't going to go for Canada, the four nations. Then there was an opening there again for him to potentially grab. Seemed like he just, it was something he wanted so bad, so, so bad. And he had himself all worked up to try to be brilliant right from the first game. Took him a bit to just settle in and now the fact that he's gonna be there I really like what Kevin the point that he made over the weekend on the show Saturday

Elliott on the panel with you guys is just like why wouldn't you want that personality around you like regardless of how he is used? How many minutes he plays just having that type of player with the pedigree of course, but you've seen how his attitude is with this whole thing of a desire to wear the Canadian uniform again. It can only be an addition to that locker room. I am with you on this. I think he deserves to be there and I have to say that that Friday night, so we went to go see Jack White at Massey Hall on Friday night in Toronto, it was a fantastic concert. Then I got home and it was Colorado Edmonton and Dallas Kings and those were two of the

best games I watched back to back all year. Now I will say Saturday night a couple of those games, like some of those teams looked like they'd already gone on vacation. But Friday night's games were pretty exciting. Well, yeah, it was an interesting kind of last week coming into the break here, Elliot. I mean, you look at the Atlantic division even alone. So the Tampa Bay Lightning a week ago were outside of the playoffs. Today, they're back in third of the Atlantic, four points ahead of Ottawa. Because four straight wins all against teams in their own division. Two of those of course was against the Sens.

And then you look at a team like Montreal who, I mean this time a month ago, they were authoring one of the great turnarounds of this season, right back into the mix. And it's kind of come off the wagon a little bit here now for the Canadians, lost eight of nine, they're six point back. They lost both their home games here over Super Bowl weekend, the two matinee affairs. Did you see Jake Evans quotes after the loss to Tampa Sunday? Almost speaking in past tense, it's been an honor when asked about just his time

playing for Montreal, the only organization that he's known. And of course the questions coming up because he's going to be UFA at the end of this year. He doesn't have a new contract yet. Yeah, there's, there's a couple of guys. So I had one player who, uh, he told me I could use the situation but not his name He told me and and this is a player who doesn't have a contract for next year He told me he thinks he's gonna get traded over the four nations. He's not playing in them. He's like Evans He's no contract next year, but not playing he thinks he's getting traded over this break.

I guess some players have been told, I don't know by their teams or their agents or who it is, but they think there's going to be action. And he said that he walked out of his dressing room after their last game and they closed at home. And he said it was very bittersweet. He said him and some guys were looking at each other like is this it? You know, the players don't return to practice until the 18th, right? So they have a week off and there there certainly is that feeling around there that

Some guys will not return to where they are, but it was kind of jarring to read Evan's quotes. One of the things, there's a couple different things here. Number one, Montreal has shown in the past that they won't deal guys just for anything. Like last year I heard that they set a price for David Savard and it never really got there. And so they just said, look, we're not, we're not doing that. And Brian Burke always had that kind of philosophy that unless you're really doing someone a favor, you have to set a price and stick to that price. Because if not, you'll get the reputation that if people wait they can outweigh you and you'll buckle under the pressure and You know so far from Ken Hughes bought Ken Hughes body of work. There's a little bit of that There's a little bit of we set the price and if you don't meet the price

There's a little bit of we set the price and if you don't meet the price We're not gonna move you and he's got a big price on Evans like I probably like I think a second round pick I think is what he'd like to get and I think the same goes for Armia and there's a few teams out there. I mean doesn't get the same amount of attention But there's a few teams out there looking at him. And you know, the other thing too, I think about Montreal is I think we're all focusing on Montreal's rentals, but I think they're very interested in making hockey trades. I think Montreal would like to do a little bit more, maybe add a more impact player, but that obviously isn't for a draft pick.

That's probably taking something valuable either off their prospect pool, not Demidov or anything like that, or off their roster. I think Montreal at this time of year, you focus on Evans, you focus on Armia, you focus on Savard because they're those kinds of guys that are kind of at the forefront. I think Montreal is looking bigger too. It may not happen, but I think they're interested. I think they're interested in bigger hockey trades that they think can make them better if they find a match. Hmm. So I think also by the way in Evan's case, you know, you look at it, he was on

a great tear and since New Year's Eve, I think he's played 19 games including New Year's Eve. I think he's got four points. I think he's got a goal and three assists in 19 games. And I would bet that just the contract situation is taking its toll on him too. I, how could it not? I think you're only human if that kind of thing is affecting you. Yeah, of course. I mean, Toronto guy originally, but beat the odds, I think to establish himself as an NHL player with Montreal overcame some really horrific injuries early on in his pro career and has turned himself into a really reliable bottom six forward on that Montreal team. And clearly a lot of good friendships and relationships within that organization along the way.

And now the possibility setting in of, okay, I may not be playing here anymore. I don't blame anyone. I imagine you see it plenty of places each year around this time for those that are looking at, okay, it may be the reality may be setting in that we could be heading elsewhere. By the way, as you say, for the four nations, like there's no trade freeze over this time, right? Transactions can occur. Do you think, like, was there any memo that goes out

that, okay, if it's, you know, the mid-level type deals go ahead, but can we avoid the headliners while this event's going on from the NHL? Is there anything quietly like that, do you think? I don't, I just think they'd probably, I think they would prefer you keep it away from game days But Lena's all mark got traded game seven of the Stanley Cup final last year Like literally was like warm-up run before puck drop. I mean, what are you gonna do?

I think they would prefer though to keep it away from the big games and things like that But you can't you can't stop business, You know, I did have someone say to me they think that things could slow down while the players are on vacation and maybe it doesn't happen until the 18th. But there's no hard and fast rule like there can still be waivers and things like that. Okay, so why don't we run through some other names then and some of them you had on your headlines on Saturday with Ron and the lead one was Vladimir Tarasenko with Detroit so he wins a cup last year with Florida, signs a two-year deal with the Red Wings so he'll have another year after this one at 4.75 million.

Is he someone that could be looking for a fresh start or somewhere to be used in a different way than he is currently with the Red Wings turning it up? It's just if you look at how they've gone, he's sort of the one guy that has been the odd fit. And you know he has a no trade clause, so ultimately he has control. But I think, you know, I was talking to some people who see the Red Wings a bit more than I do, and they can, they weren't surprised to hear that in the sense that, you know, as the team's gotten better and some players have started to play better, it has still been a bit of a square peg in a round hole for Tarasenko. You know, I gotta think that, you know, Florida doesn't have a lot of flexibility.

They don't have a lot to deal and they don't have a lot of cap room, but they know the player. You know, that was actually the first thing I thought of when I got off the air. I bet in particular Tarasenko would probably love to go back there too. But I just don't know where this is going to go out. I think it's just safe to say there's something going on there. I think there's an understanding that this has been a harder fit than everybody expected. And I've just been told by in a couple of different places, like don't be surprised if something happens here because it's a lot of good vibes with the Red Wings, but not in this particular case. Okay, what about what's going on in St. Louis, Elliot, a place where you never

know what you might see out there, right? They were the headliners in the off season with the two offer sheets. What are they thinking here as we inch closer to the trade deadline, particularly their captain, Braden Shen? Well, they've been really disappointed with the way the season has gone. You know, they've already made a coaching change.

They brought in Jim Montgomery. There's been a couple of times this year where the quotes out of St. Louis have kind of been, if things don't get going, we might have to make some changes. By points percentage, even though they're eight points back of Vancouver for the final playoff spot right now, you know, by points percentage they're at 491. That's less than, you know, Vancouver's at 573, Calgary's at 545, Utah's at 509, even Anaheim, which is a point behind them because they've played two last games, they're at 500.

So the math is really not good for St. Louis. You know, it's amazing. You look at the bottom of that Western Conference, like some of those goal differentials, even Vancouver in the playoffs is minus 11. The Blues are minus 17. Like the math doesn't look good for them. They're not out by any stretch of the imagination, but they need to go on the kind of run that they haven't gone on for much of this year. And you know, one thing about Doug Armstrong is he's not afraid, if he sees something and doesn't like something, he's not afraid to do things. He's done it this year, he's done it in the past. I mean, we've talked on this pod before about his famous Christmas memo of 2018,

months before the Stanley Cup, where he basically made a ton of his team available, and then Jordan Bennington came up, got hot, and the rest is history. But, you know, if you've been looking at some of the trade boards, including Sportsnet's own one, they're suddenly full of a lot of blues players. And you know, what it says to me is that Doug Armstrong has basically said, you want to

talk to me about my guys? Talk to me. Make me an offer and I'll think. Now, I think in Shen's particular case, when his name got out last week, I think there was a lot of interest. I think there were a number of teams that reached out and I don't know specifics,

but I heard that he asked a big price and not only that, but I think there were some teams that were told, you just don't have what I'd want for him. And like I said a year ago, there were teams that kind of poked around on him. I think Ottawa was one of them. And you know, he basically said like, that's my captain. I don't want my captain out there unless there's a good reason.

This year, I think it's been different because they're disappointed by the way they've played and it doesn't mean that he's going to trade eight guys but what it does mean is that he's willing to listen on a lot of his guys and kind of see where does it go from here. And when it comes to Braden Shan in particular, you know, the team that I look at and say, I don't know if they have what St. Louis wants, but the team that immediately jumped into my mind was Vegas. I mean, Toronto, sure, because we know Toronto is looking for a center and that's a tree living kind of guy, but Vegas really jumped in my mind because Braden Shen played for Kelly McCrimmon

in the Western Hockey League. And again, if I look up and down Vegas and I'd be wondering what they're willing to do and how can they make this work, but the one thing I've kind of felt is that you don't underestimate Kelly McCrimmon. When he decides he wants someone He will do what it takes to try and get that person. So the more I thought about shen's availability the more I wondered about

Okay you know Kelly McCrimmon knows this player and he's a Kelly McCrimmon type player and Do they have what it could take to do this? I don't know the answer to that but it's really the team. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about them. It would be very on brand for their annual get. Would it not be Elliot? Like I think I heard one more forward and yeah and I thought it would be I thought it would be a winger you know there's there's flexibility there you could always move guys around it's just

I don't like I said I don't know that that's gonna happen but it's got him written on it it's got Vegas written on it as I just wouldn't I'm trying to say this out of respect to the Golden Knights. I just think when they decide they want something or someone They really go after it. So People can say I'm nuts. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it That's my theory and I'm sticking to it. Haven't you're nuts? Well, yes, that too. Yeah, yes.

Also, like a couple of weeks ago when Vancouver was, remember, they went into St. Louis on the Monday night. It was an Amazon broadcast and beat the Blues pretty handily. Remember, Shen did an interview after the first period with Andy Petrillo. And boy, you talk about kind of an honest assessment of where things are at and just triggered my mind there when you talked about how it's been the frustrating year for the Blues they've made some changes it hasn't quite led to any tangible traction over the long term and just the things he was saying about you know like if this is how we're gonna play if we're

not gonna play for each other this is what we are going to get." And it was just some real raw honesty that you don't always see in those intermission interviews. Well, you should ask some better questions. Yes, you're right. And Andy certainly does ask the good ones. So it was a good lesson for a fellow. Andy, can you give my friend Kyle some tips?

Yeah. Or if you could really use some tips? You know, I have to say this, KB, people have said to me that they don't they feel that those intermission interviews are generally useless. I always felt if those went badly or they were boring, that was my fault. Like sometimes you can't fix it. Like sometimes you just get a person who's having a bad night or they're not a great talker or they just don't want to talk. I really do think eight times out of ten, if I do a better job asking questions, I can get a better interview. Now I don't know how you feel about that, but I just felt that

most times if those intermission interviews weren't good, it was as much on me as it was on anyone else. Absolutely. I think you and I are wired the same way. But as you say, sometimes it's just, you can do all you can to try, and sometimes it just doesn't happen. At that time you just go, all right, well, better luck next time. Yep.

That's all you can do. 20% of the time. Acceptance. 20% of the time, it's not my fault. Yes. 80% of the time, it's my fault fault. 80% of the time, it's my fault. And this is the, I'm 100%, this is the only time I'm ever gonna admit that. And 60% of the time, it works every time.

That's right. All time great line. 60% of the time, it works every time. That is fantastic. London gentlemen, no, no, no. Blackbeard's delight. Uh. Uh.

Uh. Uh. Uh. Brock Nelson Elliott. So we'll see him at Four Nations with Team USA. And he may be one of the more coveted UFA centers out there if he does become available. But as you were saying, Saturday,

the Islanders are gonna try to put together a front here to get him signed. I think this is the time we're gonna find out if there's anything to it. There's been a lot of talk. I wonder, media day, if Brock Nelson just disappears go into it goes into witness protection like Homer Simpson wearing the WPP shirt and the WPP hat and just refusing to talk to any of us.

But I do think this is the time that the Islanders are going to take their their real run at it. Lou Lamarello has told teams that they want to sign him, they want to sign him. It's so hard to know the truth with him because A, he doesn't give it away and B, out of respect for the people who deal with them don't say much. But I did hear from a couple places on Saturday that this is going to be crunch time for the Islanders to sign Nelson and I think they want to do it. Now Nelson's going to be 34 years old in the fall, so it's going to be very interesting where this goes here.

This is not going to be an eight year deal, but I do think they're going to make a legitimate legitimate attempt to sign him. I get differing reactions about what Nelson's feelings true feelings are on this so we'll see how it all plays out but you know everybody's waiting to find out what the story is with him. He's a hell of a player. He's a low maintenance guy. He's hugely popular in that Islander room. But I think we'll get some clarity over the next week or so on whether or not he's going to be on the market or there's any chance of him staying, you know the other one for the islanders that kind of got some fire was Noah Dobson and

You know, I'll tell you this I had heard about six weeks ago that Dobson's name had kind of been out there and I just couldn't find anything like I I didn't go anywhere with it because I wasn't sure that I was right. And you know, especially with Lamarillo, you don't want to be wrong. And so I kind of didn't go anywhere with it. And then the reports came out last week that his name was kind of out there. You know, this is what I think. I think I don't think he's generally been out there. There's too many teams that hadn't heard it. So I'll say this. If Dobson was discussed, it was discussed in a specific case or two or how many it was. That there was one specific team or one specific player that the

Islanders were looking at. And if they had gone down the road on that trade then Dobson might have been included. I think that's the fairest way to look at all of this. Again it's the Islanders so it's really hard to prove but I do think it's a possibility that he was offered up to a specific team. And I know a lot of people suspect that Vancouver, it makes a lot of sense. I don't know that to be 100% true, but it's very logical. And the Canucks and the Islanders, excuse me, have certainly been looking for scoring.

But I think if Dobson's been out there, it's been out there under that circumstance and he has not been generally available. Alright, and John Gibson in Anaheim, who I mean it's been years where he's been in and out of the rumor mill with regards to trades. Some news about him. Yeah, so I've been kind of looking into Gibson a little bit off and on. We've talked about him on the podcast and also you try to have an idea of what some

of the Canadian teams are looking at since we're at hockey night in Canada. We talked about Ryan Donato on Saturday night. I think the Oilers have been one of the teams looking at Donato who's a very manageable salary this year, 2 million A.A.V. Up at the end of the season scored his 19th goal the other night. I think there's going to be a lot of interest in Donato and you know the Blackhawks will just have to figure out what they want to do here. But you know when I mentioned Edmonton and Donato on Saturday night, someone said to me, have you done any research on Gibson and Edmonton? And one of the things I'd heard during the season

was that Gibson's preferences were Edmonton and Carolina. I mean, Carolina has, as we've talked about, that dance with Gibson has been on and off. They're like two kids at the prom, eyeing each other from the opposite side of the room and they don't ever get together to dance three times in a row. They just haven't been able to make the deal. You know, the Edmonton thing is really interesting because I don't know where it came from last week I didn't see it, but someone told me there was some talk about the Oilers and

And Gibson and the one thing I kind of heard is that you know Gibson wants a situation where he's gonna be be like the number one. And it's sort of going to be his job. He wants to be the guy. And, you know, so I don't know if a Gibson-Skinner duo is going to work for him. And so that's one of the things that because right now it's sort of Gibson Dostle and they're a combo and that Dostle kid I mean he is a hell of a goalie. That kid is going to be a stud and Anaheim's got a great one there. I think Gibson wants the chance to go on a run and prove he can be the guy on a top team. So if it's the Gibson-Skinner combo, I'm not sure that that's going to appeal to him. Hmm.

But I guess the tricky part is, Elliot, like if you're going, if you want to go to a team that has a chance to win now, well usually teams that have a chance to win now are because in some shape or form, they've got good goaltending. So, and totally not taking anything away from John's resume because I mean he's proven he can be a very good goaltender too. But I mean I don't know if it's a get to the point

where he says all right, I'll roll the dice and bank on That's what I would do. A chance to get an opportunity and not give the ball back when I do. That's what I would do. I like to bet on myself. Doesn't always work, I would say, Kyle, but I do like to bet on myself.

But I did on Sunday. Yes, yes it did. But, you know, it's my job job what I try to do on the pod here is not only give my own opinion but try to explain what I think is happening or what people are thinking and you know I'll just say that one of the things I heard was that you know Gibson Edmonton I don't know if it is still as likely as I thought it might have been early in the season for that reason. We'll see how it all goes but I heard that could potentially be a factor like this I always warn people and it's really true. Just because something is true today, especially in the trade market, doesn't mean it's gonna be true tomorrow. You know, I always remember two years ago Tyler Bertuzzi was not available and then he was because

Detroit fell out of the playoff race with those two losses to Ottawa and he ended up in Boston. So you know that's that's kind of the way it goes and you always have to be on top of the wave and the wave ebbs and it flows and the ebb I had heard was early in the season I had heard that the Gibson was a possibility for Edmonton you know then I heard maybe less so if it wasn't as the clear cut number one. It would be a total game changer if any any contender made the deal for him between now and the deadline. It would really be something.

I think there's there's a lot of motivation there. If he gets his fresh start here someday, I would just take the plunge if I was him I would take the plunge just go there and Just go there and win the job That's what I would do if I was in someone's shoes. I'd be a great teammate well About 42% of the time, but I would do my best. We're all about percentages on this one, eh? That's right. You would be like Dom on his balcony in the cold tub.

Just take the plunge. That's right. Take the plunge. Show what you can do. Beautiful. All right. Well, with that, let's get to our final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. So Luke Haymes, the forward out of Ottawa, right now his third year at Dartmouth College. He's undrafted. He's also six foot one two hundred and three pounds and

You're hearing a bit of a growth spurt Yeah, okay. So with all that in mind Elliot you're learning that he's garnering some interest Yeah, so I didn't really know much about him, but just towards the end of last week in making my calls, somebody put him on my radar. As you said, Ottawa area guy, played at Dartmouth, college free agent, played with the Cowichan Valley Capitals, I assume you know them well in the BCHL, Kyle? I do, yes. Yes. very familiar.

Where is that? That's about mid-island 45 minutes north of the great city of Victoria. Okay so and then he went to Dartmouth I've heard that the few teams are starting to ask about when they can talk to him. And I think it's some of the heavy hitters. I do. You know, some players, I think they kind of look at it like, okay, where's my clearest path to the NHL? And other players, even teams without as many obvious paths,

start chasing after them to say get in our system and we'll give you the opportunity. But this was a name I heard some of the heavy hitters were going after and targeting and going to talk to. I think Toronto is one of them. I've heard the Maple Leafs are interested. I assume that the team that you cheer for, Ottawa, is around there too. But I just heard to keep an eye on this name because there's going to be some action around

him in the near future. Kevin always accuses me of hating Ottawa, so you guys got to decide one or the other here. No, it's funnier this way if you just confuse people. Well, I will say this about Luke, born on July 28th, and I'll just say it's a great day to celebrate your birthday. Are you guys same day? Yeah, slightly different year, but same day. You're what, 31? So you're a decade older?

You're 93? Mm-hmm. 10 years, just like Sid and Connor. You know, I'm looking at his hockey DB picture. Yeah. He's got good hair. Something about this day. Yeah, he could be on to something there, Elliot. Yeah, that's good hair Luke Ames has got.

Very good, good hair. That's Lid, Luke. I don't know what this is, July 28th, you're born on that day, you got a good Lid. Beautiful, and for him, some good hockey abilities too so another one to keep an eye on that's good Ellie well not everybody on July 28th so Luke luckily you did yeah thank you for that all right that's the final thought brought to you by GMC we'll take our first break and come back with the Thoughtline.

You're listening to 32 Thoughts, welcome back. Time now for the Thoughtline. 1833-311-3232 is the phone number to call if you would like to leave a voicemail or you can submit an email. 32thoughts at Sportsnet.ca. Elliot, remember a couple of pods back now. We had that really interesting question about multiple short-handed goals. In fact, three or more short-handed goals given up in a sane game. And the one time it actually happened where a team surrendered three and still one. Yes. So. Exactly. Lane from North Carolina.

Very smartly pointed out that, remember, a couple of years ago, New Jersey and the Hurricanes played in the playoffs game three the Devils won I believe eight to four yeah eight to four but three of those Carolina goals were scored shorthanded so they were another team that gave up three shorties and still won the game now my explanation for this is that I know when the good people at Sportsnet stats that do a lot of work to help us out amongst all the other areas at the network, when they run the filters on those things, it's just regular season so that's probably why it didn't come up at the time.

Great job by Lane for pointing that out. Thank you for pointing it out. He was bang on. Alright, on to this week's submissions, Elliot. If you thought that we were past questions and submissions written in in the aftermath of the JT Miller trade, you were wrong. There's still more. Okay, first one, Nathan from Vancouver Island. Hello, fellas.

I'm sure there will be a lot of these requests, but coming off the Miller and Marcus Pedersen trades, it now leaves three Pedersens on the Canucks roster, of course. Everyone, I'm sure, is hoping we get a Pedersen from Pedersen and Pedersen goal at some point, but I'm curious if there has ever been a goal where three players with the same last name have factored into it. If it has happened before, I'm curious how many times. Thanks for all you guys do. And go Canucks, go.

So how many how many sodders played together? So here is the thing. Just like last pod. The good people at Sportsnet Stats and NHL Stats collaborated to track down the information, all right? Oh my goodness. We're going to have to pay.

We're going to have to send these people like a great gift certificate. Yes. So I don't have the itemized list of every time this has happened. However, there have been 62 goals scored in history where all three players factoring in the goal and two assists with the same last name 62 times. The last instance was January 13th, 1985 because you had to answer the guess of who the three were. I don't think there were three setters playing together at that time, right?

It's not the answer here. Okay. So it's got to be, I'm assuming it's a common name, but not everybody was related, like Anderson or Smith or something like that. You would be mistaken. This is, this is blood. This is blood, all of them? Mm hmm.

1985? Yep, 1985. Oh. Oh, oh, oh. Mm-hmm 1985 yep 1985 oh Oh Oh, oh, oh, oh, of course Yeah, it took me a second like I'm trying to think who were the brothers playing together in the NHL at that time the Stasney's Right. Yes. Yes, Marian and Peter Yes with Quebec. Yeah, yes Marion and Peter. Yes with Quebec. Yeah, yes Very good nicely done Elliott because I was thinking back then like I'm trying to remember the the Suttars were there

the Who I'm trying to remember but and but like more than three like the Babich's were two so I was like, okay Who's and then who played together? Stasny's, okay. I would have felt really dumb if I hadn't gotten that one. Yeah, I know. I knew you were going to get it.

I knew it. That's your wheelhouse there, that era. All right, up next. Yes, it is. A lot of lonely nights in high school. Yes, and look where it's gotten you now. Jose from Madrid. Hello, Don.

Wow. Yes, this is Jose, longtime listener from Madrid. Wow, I like this. With the latest news from Vancouver and the US facing Sweden at the Four Nations, I was left wondering how will the league treat any dirty play or hit during the Four Nations face-off? Since it's a tournament run by the NHL and the PA, could any player miss games with his team after the tournament?

Hope nothing happens, but still. Go Canucks Go and keep up the good work. So Jose, I reached out and received an answer to your question. The NHL is treating the four nations as its own entity. Any discipline prior does not affect the players ability to participate and any disciplinary case that occurs during the tournament only has tournament repercussions. It will not go back into the NHL season when it resumes after. That's really interesting, Elliot. So now I'm picturing that Monday

in Boston, the final round-robin games for the teams that know they will not be in the final if it comes to that. It's just open season. You are expecting brutality? Yes. It's open season. There's no consequences. Yeah, that's good. Good question, Jose. Thanks for the submission. Somebody with a Roman Reigns style move knowing what are you going to do, suspend me for the next Four Nations tournament? Acknowledge me! Very good. Okay, up next, Devin. Hi, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom. With the projected cap numbers coming out,

I was wondering how that will affect Canadian teams. You mentioned in a previous pod you aren't sure if some small market teams will be able to make it to the cap if it goes over $100 million. But what about the Canadian teams? Tell me if I'm wrong but Canadian teams make money in Canadian dollars but pay the players in US dollars. That's correct. So with our dollar struggling will that be a concern? If the cap goes as high as it is projected to or even higher do you think things like no tax states and the value

of the Canadian dollar being that much more of an issue or they've been dealing it for this long so it should just continue as is? Love the pod. Devin, it's a great question. Now it's a problem. Like for example, 95.5 is the cap next year. If you look at it, it's 140 million Canadian. Like that's a big, big number.

Now one thing that does happen is a lot of teams, at least they used to, I don't know if they still do, I assume they still do, they buy their US dollars in advance, right? So generally they are prepared for this but it's still hard and whenever you see a drop like this it's a challenge. Like even for the big Canadian teams like Edmonton and Toronto, where two of the biggest NHL revenue generators, this is not an easy thing. So when I talked about some of the small markets having a challenge, I was including the Canadian ones in that. They're not thrilled about it. And I think we're all very curious

to see if revenue sharing gets changed. I've also wondered if maybe one of the reasons we're going to see expansion is that since that revenue, the fees aren't shared with the players, I wonder if that's something that's going to be used to make some of these teams feel a little bit financially better. Hmm. Do you ever think we'll get to a point where just the the tax discrepancy per state country province, etc? I don't know if you could ever get to a situation where it's balanced across the board But where the extremes are at least a little closer to the middle or will that be a non-starter?

I know I think the biggest concern Kyle is that is there enough people who want to change it, right? Because some of those teams that have the advantage it's not a big deal to them The biggest concern, Kyle, is that is there enough people who want to change it? Because some of those teams that have the advantage, it's not a big deal to them, obviously. They want to keep that competitive advantage, right? I do think that there are some teams that have talked about it, like ideas, proposals, things like that. But I just don't know if it's gonna go anywhere. Gotcha.

All right, Devin, thank you for the question. Up next, Jade from the Oposquiac Cree Nation. Hello, Elliot and Kyle. Hello, Jade. And a long-time listener, first-time writer, like many others. I was watching the Hawks and Cats game on Saturday, and Landon Slaggart scored the fastest goal in Black Hawks history

Which I would have thought would have been the fastest in NHL history It was scored just seven seconds into the first. So my question to you Elliot What is the fastest goal in NHL history without looking it up? I hope you take as many guesses as needed I mean I could just google it but what's the fun in that? Keep up the great work fellas. Go Wings Go. Well I know the record because I remember seeing one of the goals. It's five seconds. And I know it's happened. The one I remember is Brian Trache. Because that that was they showed that like at that that point in time you couldn't get games on every night like you could now but I remember that was such a big highlight when it happened like you saw it everywhere like every sports highlight show led with it.

Brian Trache scored five seconds in I think I was like 13 years old at the time So I know it's happened several times Trotche is the one I remember Yeah, very good four times in total so he did it Alex McGillin he did it in 1991 Doug Smale did it with the Jets back in 81 And Merlin Phillips with the Montreal Maroons back in what I wasn't getting that one. I wasn't getting magic Merlin Phillips with the Montreal Maroons back in 1926. I wasn't getting that one. I wasn't getting Magic Merlin, that's for sure. Oh, no, Magic Merlin, very good. All right, one final one.

Jade, thank you for that question. That was a fun one. It was a good question, Jade, and thanks for giving me a question. It didn't take me 10 minutes to figure out, so Dom had to edit it. Yes. Okay, we wrap with Sarah in Vermont.

Hi, Kyle, Elliot, and Dom. So often, what is said on the pod leads to questions. And in this case, I was struck by Elliot's comment that when you go to someone's home, you might take a flaunt. Elliot, have you ever taken a flaunt to someone's home? Would you make the flaunt? Would your lovely wife, Steph, make the to someone's home would you make the flan would your lovely wife Steph make the flan? Or would you buy it if homemade would you share the recipe and finally let's go pens Sarah that's a great question. I have never taken a flan. I have never made a flan, but when I was a kid

There were times we used to go to people's houses and my mother loved flans. So she would buy a good one at a good bakery and she would bring it. So that's why flan is in my head. I don't know if I would share the recipe. That's up to the boss here, serve It Up Steph, when she does her stuff. But I've never seen her make a flaunt. I'll tell you, Sarah though, Kyle and Dom, she is annoyed about something.

She had a great dip that she showed the recipe of on Serve It Up Steph and I helped her make it but my buddies really liked it and they're like, you have to make one for our Superbowl party the other night. So she had to work and do another one on the weekend and she was not very happy about that. I said from, from those who can much as asked. So there we go. She just had to deal with it. Once you put that out there, it's like, you had to know the request was coming.

Thanks for the question, Sarah. That was pretty funny. Yeah, very good All right, take our flan and take one final break here Elliot wrap the sucker up 32 thoughts The podcast continues after this Okay, welcome back. Before we go, as we mentioned off the top of the pod, Elliot to you and Don will be joining me here in Montreal later this week in the lead up to the Four Nations Face Off that gets underway officially on Wednesday. Fitting that we are in Montreal, as you know, Elliot, that was the host for game one of the 1972 Summit Series, one of the first big, true, best-on-best

international events at this level for hockey. And now after what's felt like a forever hiatus, 2016 World Cup of hockey, we got best-on-best again and it begins in Montreal. Your thoughts as we get closer to Canada, Sweden Wednesday night? this 2016 World Cup of hockey we got best on best again and it begins in Montreal your thoughts as we get closer to Canada Sweden Wednesday night okay so let me ask you a question okay right now right now if you had to make the decision today I think we all know who's starting game one for Team USA. Yeah. Halobach? Yes, that's who I would start. Are you starting Soros for Finland?

Yes. Okay. Yeah, oh gosh. Who are you starting? Are you not starting Soros? Well, I just, I mean, the only one that would be pushing is Lankenen, because he's the perfect. Well, Lankenen would be deserving, but I would start Soros only the only one that would be pushing is is lankanen Well lankanen would be deserving but I would start sorrows. Yes opening game But I understand why you're pausing for a second if you were picking for Sweden

Who's your game one goalie? Hmm Like I know who I'm picking who are you picking? I'm going Gustafsson. I am too. Yeah. You know, Allmarc started what, one game? Yeah. I'm starting Gustafsson.

I have to say Otto was gotta be really nervous about this too. And I understand it. Absolutely. I understand why Otto was really nervous about this. But I would be starting Gustafsson as well. He's my game one starter for Sweden. Now, I don't know if we, I mean we all knew Canada would have a kind of goaltending question coming into this.

But I don't know if anybody believed it would be this quite open ended heading into Wednesday. I thought there would be one guy who would establish themselves as the obvious game one starter for Canada yes I'm not convinced that's really happened I say it happened just not goalies that were named to Team Canada exactly who are you starting game one for Canada? I am going Aiden Hill. Yeah, I am too. He would be my guy.

I'm going to Aiden Hill. But it's tough because don't have a lot of leeway for error. Well, you've got three games, right? But Aiden Hill is my guy. Yeah, I'm playing him game one He's my guy Kelly was in Kelly was interesting. He was he was big on Montembeau because it's Montreal, but he has really struggled lately I know they haven't played great but he's really struggled lately I

they haven't played great but he's really struggled lately. I'm you know this whole team has been based around guys who've won. Bennington had a really rough night on Saturday against Chicago. I'm going with Hill. He's my game one starter. Yeah to me I think he's he's the steadiest of the three of God right now. The steadiest of the three of God. Steady as she goes, Jack White. There you go. Did he play that? No, played that, I think, in according to setlist.com. I think he played that everywhere on tour except for us.

However, he didn't always play seven nation army and he played it for us. And the crowd, I love steady as she goes, one of my favorite songs of his. But the crowd went bananas. Couldn't argue with that choice. People loved it. Great. Seven nation army, four nation army is coming to Montreal. That's where we'll be next, because we've got a little preview pod and a bonus bonus pod coming out Wednesday morning.

So we're going to tape that Tuesday to officially set the sucker up one final time. I think we're going to have some special guests to Elliot. Yeah, I think we will. I think we're going to do a couple of interviews which we're going to attach the pod. And I think we're going to do a roundtable which we're gonna attach to the pod. And I think we're gonna do a round table. I believe Mike Russo is gonna join us.

Good. And I will see about getting one more person to make it even more entertaining. All right, looking forward to it. Elliot, safe travels here. Dom, safe travels for you from Vancouver. We'll see you in La Belle Provence for Four Nations here, boys.

Take care, Kyle. Warm up Montreal for me. I don't like what I'm seeing in the temperatures. No, it's funny. I got into the cab at the airport. They're like, ah, there's no snow here. I'm like, what are you talking about? Yes, there is.

So yeah, bring me extra jacket. Should be fun. We'll talk to everyone on Wednesday.