32 Thoughts: The Podcast - How Do You Sleep After That

Episode Date: May 11, 2022

What a fun few days of playoff hockey! Jeff and Elliotte recap the impressive comeback performance from the Toronto Maple Leafs (1:50) and the excellent finish in Edmonton between the Oilers and Kings (7:25). They also discuss the Carolina-Boston series (14:00) and the Blues-Wild series (15:50). The guys wonder what the off-season looks like for the Nashville Predators (25:40), if the Penguins have one more win in them (20:25), can the Capitals upset the Panthers (22:15), and have the Flames found their scoring touch (23:40).Plus, Jeff presents Elliotte with an interesting trade (Elliotte hates it, but it’s interesting) and they add a bit more context to the Barry Trotz situation (36:10).Music Outro: Cam Maclean - SunshineListen to our 32 Tracks playlist on Amazon Music. All the tracks you hear on this podcast during the playoffs are featured there.This podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Bally Sports South, SNY, Sportsnet Youtube and Sportsnet 960,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

Got your back? Yeah, hold on one sec. I'm still there. I just, my Bluetooth has to conk in. I'm going to open up this edition of 32 Thoughts to the Podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 lineup by asking Elliot a very pointed and direct question. Elliot, right now, as you're driving home from Sportsnet

after doing a big doubleheader of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and then most recently the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers, it feels like you've had how many cups of coffee and how many energy drinks? All of them in the world. Like I am so wired right now, Jeff. I don't know how I'm going to sleep. It's 1.47 47 i'm on my way home i'm doing this podcast i have no idea how i'm going to sleep i'm gonna have to go home and load into my ipad the most boring television that you can imagine i guess that would have to be kevin bx of broadcast clips i'm gonna have to load up kevin bx of broadcast clips so i have any hope of falling asleep before four in the morning.

It was such an incredible night, two great games. I mean, I was watching the other two games too, but I couldn't pay attention as much, but the two games, Toronto, Tampa and Edmonton,

LA were intense, exciting, thrilling games. I am so wired right now i can't believe i'm driving below 150 and i have no idea how i'm gonna go to bed because i am absolutely wired after these games it was exciting it was a great night it was great hockey too those were um emotional flavor pucks uh those two games were. Let's focus on the most recent one that's got you the most wired right now.

And I don't think it was just about the overtime either. And Adrian Kempe salts it away 5-4. The Kings win and grab a 3-2 series lead heading back to California. But getting there, the Ryan McLeod double minor, the Philip Deneau goal that we all thought was the dagger at 4-2.

LA's got to have a killer instinct here. Tempe down low, and they score! Philip Deneau with the tip into the net as the Los Angeles Kings regain their two-goal lead. The Dreisaitl goal that made it 4-3. The Dreisaitl goal that tied everything up. Slicing through, here's Dreisaitl. The dry Seidel goal that tied everything up. Splicing through, here's dry Seidel. Over to McDavid.

Quickly to the net. Now behind. Eugene Hopkins back to McDavid. Dry Seidel shoots! Score! And then the killer, the intermission, the Zamboni, the ice resurfacer comes out and everybody retires to their dressing room. And then, Elliot, everything changed. Your thoughts on that?

I guess we'll call it the closing sequence of the game, starting with the Ryan McLeod double minor. I have to say that if life is fair, and often it isn't, but if life was fair, the Kings deserved to win that game. They were the better team for most of the night. They deserved the W. They earned it. I really thought the key was getting to overtime, Jeff. I think if the way that game was going, even though they had double minor power play advantage, you know, midway through the third period, the way that game was going, if there's two or three minutes more in regulation, the Oilers win it. They were skating circles around them. McDavid and Dreisaitl, as you said, were going. That was all set up for Edmonton to steal that one in regulation.

Edmonton to steal that one in regulation. But the thing I thought about was when they got to overtime, you know, you've got Todd McClellan in there who's seen everything. You've got Anja Kopitar and Jonathan Quick and Dustin Brown in there who've seen everything. And I just thought they'd be able to calm down and reset and refocus. And they would just be told, let's go back to who we are. Let's go back to being what we are and play the way we play now I wasn't expecting them to completely dominate overtime and win it on the first shift that certainly wasn't my idea of what was going to occur but I really felt that once we got into the intermission you know the Oilers momentum dissipated and the Kings were in a better position to regain control of the series and dictate the terms and pace like they had for the first most

of the first 60 minutes you have a thought on that overtime and Adrian Kempe scores and Adrian Kempe on a side note for another conversation another day is a restricted free agent with arbitration, right? So that's just so delicious. Adrian Kempe with the overtime winner. And man, did the Kings come out flying in overtime, Elliot. Well, Kevin made the point, right, that McDavid took the opening faceoff and it's the only time he touched the puck. Yep.

The Kings are, they were a really, really confident team. There was a hilarious shot. i really laughed at it so kempe scores and on the goal line camera so the camera that's on the goal line at ice level that kempe was skating away from so his back was to that camera after he scored he skates away and there's a hilarious shot of two oilers fans who see the puck go in and then the first two to race up the stairs to beat traffic like it was it was it was just hilarious i saw it and i was laughing i couldn't stop laughing at it but they earned it you know if life is fair was a fair win because they were the better team for most of the game. Flashpoint moment, and we'll see what happens.

We know it's been clipped for review by the NHL Department of Player Safety, Darnell Nurse, and the headbutt on Philippe Deneau. Yeah, this is going to be a huge one. Down 3-2. I don't know what to make of it i know people out there say that you never know what the department of player safety is going to do i actually in a lot of ways disagree with that i think they've become pretty consistent you can google or look at their history of suspensions and kind of have an idea of the way they think about things but there's just not a lot when it comes to head butts.

And there was a head butt suspension this year. Chris Wideman of Montreal got one game. I thought that was intentional too, but I didn't think it was as bad as nurses like Stefan can tell who used to run the department of player safety years ago, we got into something with Andre Nazarov. It's all over YouTube. And Nazarov headbutted him, and there was no suspension. Now, that was a long time ago, so I'm not sure how relevant it is.

But I think it gives you an idea of how little of a baseline there is when it comes to headbutts. I really don't know what to make of it but i think you know darnell nurse made a big mistake putting himself on his team in this position i wouldn't be surprised jeff if he gets a hearing just to hear what he has to say like what were you thinking here i don't know but this is uh this is going to be a big story in advance of this series shifting back to los angeles we'll stand by uh meanwhile the toronto maple leafs have the tampa bay lightning defending this is going to be a big story in advance of this series shifting back to Los Angeles. We'll stand by.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the Tampa Bay Lightning defending two times Stanley Cup champion at the brink. They've pushed them to the point of elimination. They win four to three. They grab a three, two series lead, but getting there for the Maple Leafs, Elliot wasn't exactly easy.

This was the classic case of the slow start once again by Toronto. So I grew up in Toronto. I've lived most of my life here. I've got a lot of friends who are big Leaf fans or family members who are big Leaf fans. I wish I could show all my text messages from the first period of this game. These people were killing the Leafs. They were just killing them. And, you know, they looked doomed. They really looked doomed. Jack Campbell absolutely saved them.

He absolutely saved them. They were down 2-0. It could have been a lot worse. Even the goal, their first goal was what? Their fifth shot of the game. It took them a lot of even the goal their first goal was what their fifth shot of the game it took them a lot of time to get going and i can only imagine what it was like people were totally writing them off they were firing the the entire front office they were firing the coaches they were they were trading half the roster i mean you should have seen the text messages. All you had to do was watch the way the game

was going. They flipped the switch. They turned the game around. I really thought that the Game 1 win, the shutout win, was the most impressive Leaf playoff performance I've seen in a long time. But for this Core

4, this group of players, and what they are trying to accomplish as a group, this was their most impressive victory. Nylander, a game after he was vilified, and deservedly so, for not showing enough of an effort. He had three points. Tavares had two points. Matthews and Marner, they combined for seven points, the four of them. And Matthews and Miners did the perfect pass off the pads. And they knew what each other was doing. It was simpatico.

Leafs defend their line. And here comes a partial two on one. Miners with Matthews. Miners rebounds. Scores. Matthews scores. Change the narrative, baby! Austin Matthews with 6.06 to go in the sixth. Put the Leafs up. Four, three. Austin Matthews with his third goal of the series. What a read in the neutral zone.

And what a stop here from Jack Campbell. Look at this. Right off the shoulder from Kucherov. That's when I screamed, oh no. Instant analysis, I know. Bunting with an excellent read in the neutral zone. Matthews to Marner. Marner puts it on.

And Matthews with the rebound. Buries it. The Leafs with six minutes and six seconds to defend this lead. Can they do it three goals that dude's not even wearing a shirt there's a bunch of dudes not even wearing a shirt none of us should be wearing shirts because the Leafs have a 4-3 lead there's a point and if you're a true Toronto Maple Leaf fan there is a point in this game where you said there is no way that they're winning it. No way. And they pulled it out and, you know, credit to them. If any true Leaf fan who says when it was 2-0, they thought the Leafs are winning it, you're either lying to us or

you're lying to yourselves. That was the biggest win by that core four. And now the thing is, can they close it out? I thought what Keith said was really good. And I think Keith has had, from a handling the external pressure and all the noise, this has been his best 48-hour period as Toronto's coach. But his message of, if we don't win one more this isn't going to be worth it it's totally true now they've got to get one more and that's been so hard for them to get there was one moment in this game that to me the whole thing hinged on

for the Maple Leafs because the whole thing could have absolutely come crumbling down and we would have been talking about the toronto maple leaves going to amelie arena and getting crushed and again then your texts would have been on fire one more time ellie you know what that moment was spencer campbell no the nick paul breakaway on Jack Campbell. Oh, yes. Yeah, Jack Campbell saved their bacon. If Nick Paul scores on that play, Elliot, it's over, isn't it? Oh, yeah. Like, that's it.

Good night. That is the final nail. And Campbell stopped it. And you could tell right away the minute he made that save. Everybody can feel it. That's the moment. Remember that save, everybody can feel it. That's the moment. Remember that save because that's the one. Yeah, I think that's fair.

I mean, you know, Spezza was hoping he would get his moment, especially at the beginning of the series when he wasn't in the lineup. But, you know, Spezza, first of all, he talked down Campbell and Austin Matthews didn't want to tell Kyle who spoke up in the dressing room. But Tavares let the cat out of the bag. You know, Spezza, you look at all the guys Toronto's brought in to kind of be the mentor, right? Be the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Maple Leafs. There's been Ron Hainsey. There's been Joe Thornton. There's been the now-retired Patrick

Marleau. There's been several guys like this. Wayne Simmons, Kyle Clifford, and Spence has been there, obviously, now for a couple of years, but holy smokes did he... Everything that they've asked him to do, or every dollar they've paid him, was worth

it on this night to get them back on track. But know but like i said they gotta win one more and our producer and i brian spears we were in the parking garage and we're leaving jeff he said it's like the irresistible force versus the immovable object toronto's inability to close out a series versus a tampa team that never loses back to back. Yeah. And that's what we've got game six. Can you change the narratives? That's the question.

We shall see. Okay, the other couple of games around the NHL on Tuesday night, the Carolina Hurricanes grab a 3-2 series lead. They beat the Boston Bruins by a final score of 5-1. Seth Jarvis with a pair the first one was just ugly and beautiful Elliot because you know I'm going to bring it up I know you love those goals yeah I really do

Tara Viner with 3 assists Trocek with a goal and 2 assists as well Antti Ranta with 28 saves and the returning Charlie McAvoy I'd like to point out as well coming off COVID protocol logs in 25 minutes and 14 seconds. What did you make of the Hurricanes and the Bruins?

Well, the whole McAvoy thing was pretty crazy because, you know, I didn't think there was any chance he was going to be able to play. And then Matt Porter tweeted out that, you know, he just happened to be out there doing a radio hit. And, oh oh lo and behold here comes charlie mcavoy getting out of a car and our cameras and i think it was actually espn's cameras because that's their game they pick him up walking in and all of a sudden you're scrambling and you're checking you know how is this happening like how is this allowed to occur? And from the way it was explained to me is it's five days from the onset of symptoms, plus negative tests, plus medical clearance, and they got it. And apparently the onset of the symptoms was last Thursday. And, you know,

some people said to me, well, how could you play with symptoms? And I don't know the full story. well, how could you play with symptoms? And I don't know the full story, but one thing I do know is that just because you have symptoms doesn't mean you test positive. Until you have that negative test, you're not out of the lineup. So I don't know the timeline here.

I'm sure that there's going to be a lot of people have conspiracy theories about this, but at the end of the day, that's what I was told the timeline was. And he was cleared to play. St. Louis Blues, they grab a 3-2 series lead by beating the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Tuesday night, Elliot. And in a lot of ways, this game was the story of two Russian snipers. Earlier, it was the Kirill Kaprizov story. He scores a pair, goals number six and seven.

And then the third period, all Vlad Tereschenko, the hat trick, the natural hat trick, goals two, three, and four in the playoffs for Vlad Tereschenko. Jordan Bennington, by the way, 30 save performance, now has 18 playoff wins. And with that, becomes the St. Louis Blues all-time winningest goaltender in the

playoffs your thoughts on this one somewhere in calgary where he's working the flame stars series greg millen is is crying in his hotel bed like curled up in the fetal position in the corner because he and mike mike liute yeah liute as well yeah so milsy's out uh too bad you know Mike Liute, yeah, Liute as well. Yeah, so Millsy's out. Too bad. Millsy, good for him. I think that people forget what a great goaltender he was,

and it was good to hear his name brought up again. I have to tell you, I was watching the beginning of that game, Merrick, and I was thinking about my heart ballot. I was like, oh, man, Kaprizov. I really regret where I had him as I was watching the beginning of that game. But I didn't get a chance to watch that game a ton, not as much as I was watching, obviously, Toronto and Tampa and then the other game for Hockey Night in Canada. But every time I looked up, the Blues were chasing Kaprizov all over the ice. Somebody made the point to me that one of the things that's kind of going on here is that the Wild were going hard at Cairo and Thomas, which is fine.

That's playoff hockey. There's nothing wrong with that. But I think the Blues just said, you know what? We've got to respond in kind. We have to be in a situation where if they're going to go hard at our best players, we have to go hard at their best players. And I really saw Braden Shen. He definitely took that to heart.

And that series is not for the faint. And good on Tarasenko. I mean, you need your best players to take over in the big moments. And he absolutely took over in the big moments. Here's what I wonder coming out of it now, Elliot, for the Minnesota Wild. Yeah. Do they go to Cam Talbot, or is it too late? That's a great question.

I mean, how do you feel about having a guy not play until game six? I don't know. I mean, he was so good coming off the regular season. They handed whole thing to mark andre flurry i get it i'm sure that even though he put on the brave face publicly inside cam talbot was saying what more did i need to do down the stretch uh to get in to get into the playoff game now all of a sudden uh their backs are against the wall st lewis is one win away from advancing and sending minnesota home and we all know what's going to happen next season with their their cap situation and who knows what's going to happen to the team i don't know a part of me says you got to go to talbot and then another part of me says it's probably too late for that and i don't know i

don't know which side is going to win i guess i I'll, I'll see how I feel in the morning, but do you have a strong feeling either way on it? Well, the one thing I think about is that Everson and Guerin are not afraid, right? True. Like if there's a team that would not be afraid to do the unconventional thing, it would be Minnesota. You know, geez.

So basically today, as we record this, it's Tuesday night. Talbot's last game would be about 10 days ago. It's a couple of weeks. You're going to throw him in 10 to 12 days in the middle of this series. I mean, Cam Talbot's not going to say no, and it would be a hell of a story if it happened, but it's a tough place to put a goalie in. Okay, Elliot, before we get to the NHL Draft Lottery, which we saw on Tuesday evening, let's do a couple of quick hits on the other series

and where they're at. The Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday look to close out against the Rangers. They've chased Igor Shcherkin two games in a row. Gerard Gallant saying he's still going in there as our starter in game five. The top line of Crosby, Gensel, and Rust have been outstanding. What do you make? What do you think happens on Wednesday? Well, first of all, there's a couple things I like the Rangers have done in the aftermath of that game number one gerard galan comes right out after losing game four and says yeah i mean he's probably real frustrated i mean i don't know there's probably four goals that were deflected tonight

so again it's a team effort and he'll be back in there and he'll rather they win the next game on wednesday night so i've got all the confidence in the world in him. And like I said, it was a tough night for our team. And he's not even close to being, I'm disappointed in more than our team than him. I like that. He's your Vesna Trophy winner. You show the vote of confidence in him. Number two, I thought Adam Fox came out on Tuesday and he says. Yeah, I mean, that's strictly on us letting him down.

I mean, I don't know how he would have stopped most of those goals. And he stopped a lot of great A's, too, that they had before they tipped those in. So, I mean, when your goal gets pulled, it's usually on the team. It's nothing on him. I mean, he's been our backbone all year. We have nothing but confidence in him. So, yeah, obviously, we know what he's capable of, and we definitely got to help him out a little more.

Which is true. Like, there were a couple of situations where Shesterkin was beat, passes to the back door, and also where his defense is supposed to cover, and also some of those were great deflection, where his defense, you know know couldn't tie up sticks or stuff like that so i like that i'll tell you what the wild thing i thought was on this series jeff is that on the off day during their practice on tuesday the rangers were doing like sprints yeah you know i can't remember the last time i've seen that in the middle of a playoff series. Like that's a coach who was not very pleased with his players.

Uh, jargling was not amused, uh, after game four at all. So that perhaps shouldn't surprise anybody. Washington capitals of Florida Panthers. If the Garnett Hathaway shot at the empty net goes in Elliot, we're talking about the Floridas getting punted.

Instead, it's all tied up at twos, and the Panthers are back home. And that's the second time we've seen that recently. Remember the night that Vegas lost the shootout to San Jose when they scored with less than a second left? Mark Stone hit the post yeah and if that one goes in how different is everything right now i think the capitals are capable of handling that uh mentally i don't think they're a team i really worried about being phased by that i also thought once i looked at the oshi hit on on Bennett, I agreed that that was a fair non-call and a fair non-suspension.

We give a lot of grief to officials who at high speed don't make great calls. I have to say that that was a really well-done call. I have to give those guys credit. I still think this series is a complete toss-up. You know who I'm waiting for to start to take over this series a bit? Is Barkov. He's been a little bit quiet. I think the Panthers need him to take over the series.

The other game on Wednesday evening, the Dallas Stars and the Calgary Flames. The Flames have jumped right back into this one. Johnny Gaudreau scoring. Races to the Stars net. Deeks shoots and scores! Johnny Gaudreau, forehand to backhand, buries it. And it's 2-0 Flames. And it seems as if the Calgary Flames have said,

we're not interested in the extracurriculars right now, thank you. We're here to play hockey. Well, isn't that about time? Yeah, well, specifically for Matthew Kachok. Yeah, they were all business. I love what Lucic did. I love what Lucic did at the start of the game. There was a lot that went right for Calgary

in game number four. Markstrom realized that he had no margin for error. He was up to the challenge. Goudreau got a goal. And where Ron and I were talking tonight,, Ottinger's blocker is incredible. Again, I think this series still has very tight margins. And it could go either way. Like, Calgary to me is still the better team.

But the margins of this series are really tight. And I think the one guy who might be feeling it a bit is Jason Robertson. And it's not that he's not trying. He's competing really hard, but they're all over him. They're making life really difficult for him. And I think one key for Dallas is going to be, can they free him from the shackles? and uh listen i'm sure you remember talking to him at the players tour in chicago as well and he's you know he's his own worst critic too i i just wonder if yes you know like he has a really high expectation of himself at a high standard uh that he sets for himself i just hope for his own well-being that he's not in his own head at

this point like a guy like jason Robertson, young kid, high expectations, sets a high threshold for himself. A guy like that needs a goal early in a series so he doesn't start to live in between his own ears. I just hope that that's not happening right now for Jason Robertson. The player is too good. I agree. There are only three games on Wednesday, Elliot,

because Colorado, as we all know, took care of the National Predators in sweeping fashion. And then the question becomes, what's next of the Nashville Predators? And a couple of questions are out there. One, the future of Philip Forsberg with the Nashville Predators. And maybe two, I don't know if this is quieter or maybe in a lower key, the future of David Poyle with the Nashville Predators, Elliot? You know, I was sent some stuff today and I guess there were some real hard criticisms of Poyle in the aftermath of the sweep. And I was a little bit surprised.

Like, I don't have a problem with people's opinions. You know, I tell people, however you feel is however you feel. I don't have a problem with people's opinions. You know, I tell people, however you feel is however you feel. I don't have a problem with that. But I was a little bit surprised because I think the Predators were better than a lot of us thought this year. Just for example, Jeff, in our in-season Stanley Cup pool, I think they were like the 27th pick or the 28th pick. I didn't have them as a playoff team. I didn't have them as a playoff team i didn't have them as a playoff team either so i look at their group and i say they were better than i thought they were

the other thing too is i think you have to give the organization credit too for you know dushane they invested in dushane instead of giving a up. I definitely think they tried to move him, and I definitely think they tried to move Johansson. But when they couldn't do it, they invested in finding a way that they could make those guys better. And both those guys were better, especially Duchesne. So I was a little bit surprised. Now, I think the thing you always wonder about with Poyle is simply because he's been around so long does he ever reach a point where he says you know it's time but I didn't look at this and say this was a bad year for him I mean Jeannot was a big make for him Alexander Carrier looks like another really good defenseman that they found. But the thing is, he's got a big job to do right now, as you said,

and that is what's going to happen with Forsberg. Like I said, Poyle could go at any time simply because he might just say, I've been around long enough and it's time. But I don't look at this year as evidence that he did a poor job. I actually thought they did a better job than I was expecting. The only reason I bring up David Poyle is to that note. I'm not saying that the organization would have an issue with David Poyle. This is a team that I think exceeded expectations.

And David Poyle has been responsible for helping to keep this thing going and keep this team in the playoff picture and keeping that building filled. I just wondered, and as I always wonder about people when you've been at it as long as David Poyle has, does there come a point where you just say, okay, it's my time? Maybe it's time we transition this to someone else. The Forsberg thing is interesting because Nashville has gone through this before. Key player on an expiring contract, doesn't get moved at deadline. There's a belief he's going to resign.

You know, I'm thinking about Ryan Suter here as I get you set for Philip Forsberg. This has happened before with Nashville. Does it feel different than Suter with Forsberg now? different than Suter with Forsberg now? You know, the one thing that I look at here is that if it was not complicated, it would have been done already. You know, he, on the breakup day, he said... I've said that since day one, the goal is to come back here. And the business side is completely different than the on-ice side

as you guys are aware of. Just kind of have to wait and see and play it out. There's been obviously some progression throughout the season from where we started in September. Obviously, me and my agent and David and Brian and the management are going to be an ongoing conversation in the process. And we'll just have to see where we end. That's positive news. That's what you want to hear.

But clearly, you know, here we are. It's now May the 11th and it hasn't been done yet. There's obviously something about this that is very complicated or more complicated than meets the eye. You know, now is the time where obviously the Predators and Forsberg will really go out of their way to get it done. However, the fact that it's gotten to this point, if you're a Predators fan, you got to be a little bit nervous. You know, like you and I talked about, I think it was about a month ago, right around trade deadline time.

The whole thing to me just feels like eight years at $8.5 million. I think if it was that simple, it would probably be done already. I know, but doesn't that, like when I say that, when you look at Forsberg and you look at where Yossi's at and where the Shane and Ryan Johansson are at doesn't that feel like the right number guy did score 40 goals this year he's a real nice player too and you know what you you wonder about Forsberg too you know once upon a time I think I've mentioned this on a previous podcast as well when Colorado was going through their situation with Gabriel Landeskog and teams like the St. Louis Blues were licking their chops thinking that you know Landeskog might not re-up with Colorado Philip Forsberg was the player that Colorado was

looking at to replace Landeskog should he shuffle off and and go somewhere else so I don't know what's going to happen to Colorado in the offseason I don't know what's going to happen to Nashville in the offseason but but once upon a time, there was some interest there from the Colorado avalanche. We shall see what happens with Nashville in the offseason. When you look at the deals that they already have,

Forsberg is the big business. Everybody else, all the primaries here, are all locked up, Elliot. All they need to do is get UC Soros healthy again. And that is the thing too. Look, they weren't going to beat Colorado, but I think that series would have been a bit more competitive

if Saros was there. NHL Draft Lottery. Congratulations, Montreal Canadiens. Congratulations, New Jersey Devils, who will select second overall. And congratulations to the Arizona Coyotes, who will select third. We've talked about this before, Elliot, how important this day is in the NHL.

This has become one of the most important days for franchises. It can help reset your franchise. It can help initiate or rebuild. It can help move your program forward. Your thoughts on what we saw on Tuesday night with Bill Daly flipping over the cards. Well, first of all, it's going to be a crazy draft in Montreal. Jeff, the buzz for that is going to be awesome. Yes, it will.

It's been 37 years, right, since the team had the number one pick in their own city. It's been 42 years since the Canadians had the number one pick. As you said, it's going to be a key part of their rebuild. I think it's just going to be awesome, and I can't wait to go. I'm as excited as I was about the games I was excited tonight thinking too about the draft in Montreal with the Canadians having the number one pick and and how fantastic and awesome that that is absolutely going to be you know I thought Ken Hughes son Jack had a great tweet his son is also namedughes by the way he plays at northeastern and ken said i'm not taking

my son first overall and and jack tweeted big mistake which i thought was great the other thing that was funny too was i when new jersey moved up i had some people texting me as everybody we we know the rule now is starting this year, you can only win it twice in five years. So their previous success doesn't count. But people were like, them again? Because New Jersey and Edmonton were the two teams that everybody was complaining about, right? So it was kind of funny when New Jersey won one of the lotteries and moved up. People were like, oh, God, not the Devils again.

But it worked out perfect for them by the way that little smirk or smile or the way he was trying to suppress the smile uh on tom fitzgerald's face like the look on tom fitzgerald's face to me was priceless elliot that was one of the highlights of the draft for me i wouldn't be suppressing it if i was there oh i know i'd have the biggest smile on my face. I'd be like those Buffalo Bills fans when they were going to four straight Super Bowls. They were saying, deal with it, America.

Like, that's what I would be doing. By the way, I have to say, like, some of the stuff this year was, credit to the Vancouver Canucks who set up Patrick Alvin in a beautiful shot they gave him. And I hope Lou Lamorello's captors are treating him well. That's all I can really say about that. Waiting for him to hold up a newspaper.

Okay, let me give you, because it's late and I want to give you something that's going to make you annoyed at me. Okay. If you're the Montreal Canadians and I know you're hosting the draft and I know it's in your backyard and you got the first pickadiens, and I know you're hosting the draft, and I know it's in your backyard, and you got the first pick, and it's great, and a lot of this is show business,

and I understand all that. If the Arizona Coyotes come to you and say, we will give you our number three overall pick and our first rounder next season in exchange for the first overall pick what do you say and the first overall pick next season we will give you this year's third and next year's first now it's not a guarantee that's going to be first overall oh my god you can't do you can't even do that if you're arizona in exchange for you can't do that if you're the Coyotes. You can't do that. You're going to get

a third and an extra shot at Conor Bedard. Yeah, if you're the Coyotes, you can't do that. You can't even do that. If I'm Montreal, I'd do it. If I'm Arizona, I don't even think that offer gets made. No chance. We'll put that to the court of public opinion. And by that I mean Twitter. If you

disagree with Elliot, please feel free to tweet him. He loves. Arizona can't make that offer. Not a chance. Elliot has spent a little bit of time now since the New York Islanders relieved Barry Trotz of his duties as a head coach of the New York Islanders. When it happens, there's always the initial take.

And then there's a few hours and a couple of days that go by and you get some context and you have some conversations and things start to become a little more clear. What do you make of the entire situation? So I think I have a bit more clarity right now. Just after a few conversations I've had now, it's been like a couple of days. And I would just say that this year has been a really, was a really hard year in New York for a lot of different reasons. Number one, obviously was the road trip at the beginning of the year. Number two was the COVID situation that they had that they played through. I was told by several people that the fact that the Islanders continued to play

while other teams, particularly Boston, like that was the one team that was mentioned to me, was able to get postponements while they were going through COVID, was a real source of disappointment and frustration inside the organization. Then there's the losing. And I know that they won a bit at the end of the year, but they were 20 points out. And I think those three things, especially the losing, like I think you can put up

with the road trip and the covid if you're winning but when you're losing it makes it worse like and i thought it was a great comparison somebody compared it to a marriage you know when you go through a lot of things that are tough and challenging you really have to battle to keep your relationship together and also because any small crack or fissure that you have, it grows. It exacerbates. It gets worse. And what someone said to me this year was it was one of those years where because of all these three things that I mentioned, that all the fissures or all the small cracks that any normal organization would have, they just broke open.

And I think it got to a point where Lou Lamorello said that we have to do something new. You know, the foundation cracked, and we have to try to fix it a different way. You know, I look through, Jeff, Lou Lamorello's history. He's had 19 head coaches during his time with the Devils, the Maple Leafs, and the Islanders. And that's not counting the two times he put himself there. And it's not counting Doug Carpenter, who he inherited in New Jersey. And Barry Trotz, of all of his coaches, lasted the second longest. I think it's 288 games. And the only one who lasted longer was Jacques Lemaire the first time who was in the 300 game range.

So he actually didn't have for him an itchy trigger finger. But what I heard from several people was that a lot of people outside the organization may be surprised, but people inside the organization were not surprised because of how hard a year that this was on a lot of people. And they said that Barry Trotz should not be blamed for it. It was bigger than him. You know, he's the guy who kind of takes the fall here a bit, but I think everybody knows that he's going to be able to write his own ticket.

And people stress to me that it doesn't mean he's a bad coach or a bad guy. Just said that this year was so hard on that whole organization that they have to try some other things. Now, there's one other thing I wanted to say. other things now there's one other thing i wanted to say and that is i had some islander fans ask me like did matt barzell say that he's not staying long term if barry trotz is the head coach and i never heard that like nobody ever said to me that they heard specifically barzell say that so like if people are running with that nobody ever said that to me now i think there are some young players like noah dobson who really improved under trots do i think some young players were really frustrated yes i think that happens in a lot of situations

but if people are saying oh barzell said that you Trotz stays, he's not, I have no evidence that that's the case. Barry Trotz has one more year on the deal at $4 million. And a lot of people, Ken Wiebe, for example, our teammate and colleague here at Sportsnet, mentioning the reasons why the Winnipeg Jets should look at Barry Trotz. I mean, it does seem like the most obvious fit. Do you think that's the road that Winnipeg Jets should look at Barry Trotz. I mean, it does seem like the most obvious fit. Do you think that's the road that Winnipeg goes down? I think they will be interested for sure. By the way, there's another guy out there who has some Winnipeg connections

who someone put in my ear, and that was Alain Vigneault. And I am curious to see if he wants to coach again. Because it ended, obviously, very badly in Philadelphia. And I've heard at times this year that Vigneault would like another chance to prove that wasn't all on him. And he has Winnipeg ties, right? He coached the Moose there. But that was another name I heard. I do think Winnipeg will want to talk to coached the Moose there. But that was another name I heard. I do think Winnipeg will want to talk to Trotz.

I mean, why wouldn't they? I've had people tell me they would be shocked if Philadelphia didn't back up the Brinks truck here. But it has to go through the Islanders, of course. Well, here's the thing that I wonder about with Philadelphia as well, because that's one of the teams that jumped to my mind because Barry Trotz has a lot of experience in that division, the Washington Capitals, the New

York Islanders. Like I always look at, you know, where are, where, where will coaches be the most successful? And I always default to, well, where have they coached the most? Which divisions do they know the most? And if you're the Philadelphia Flyers, how do you not look at Barry Trotz and say, how many games is this guy coached in this division? Of course he's an obvious choice. At least someone to talk to. It makes

a ton of sense to me, Elliot. I don't always make a ton of sense. Maybe this time I am for a change. So that's your one bit of logic for the podcast. We'll shut it down right there. You're all out of time. Let's quit while I'm ahead. You're winning, kiddo.

We're really excited to have this as part of our 32 Tracks Amazon Music Playoff Playlist, Elliot. Cam McLean is a Montreal-based singer-songwriter who released his debut record, Wait for Love, in 2018 and is getting set to drop his sophomore LP, Secret Verses, that drops this Friday. Here's Cam McLean with Sunshine on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Man, the hockey's been good. Enjoy this tune. Looking for the depth in strangers' eyes Curious job of the water's side They've got nothing on you tonight when I see you moving like the brightest

fire I know that you are the only one makes me feel such a I know that you are

the only one makes me feel