32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Next Stop, Stanley Cup!

Episode Date: June 13, 2022

The Stanley Cup is set! Jeff and Elliotte recap game 6 between the Lightning-Rangers (00:35) and the impressive performance by Steve Stamkos, preview the Stanley Cup final (11:00) and look ahead to the off-season for the New York Rangers (15:45).They also discuss Mike Smith and Duncan Keith as the Oilers await their decision (36:30), the San Jose GM role (41:15), coaches to keep an eye on (46:30), and what we might expect from the Board of Governors meeting this week (52:30).Check out the limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: Manwolves - Turkish CoffeeListen to our 32 Tracks playlist on Amazon Music. All the tracks you hear on this podcast during the playoffs are featured there.This podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Production support by Mike Rogerson.Audio Credits: AM 970 WFLA.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.

That's a great call, Jeff. Like, outstanding. And the Stanley Cup final is now set. Welcome to 32 Thoughts to Podcast. Jeff Merrick alongside lead singer Elliot Friedman and Emil Delitzsch playing the keyboards in the background. Tampa Bay Lightning Elliot over the New York Rangers Saturday night. 2-1 is the final score in one of the more thrilling finishes we've seen in a semifinal or any playoff game for that

matter first of all uh before we get into tampa and colorado and preview the cup final and all that what did you make of the game thrilling finish stamkos at the center of all of it what did you make of saturday rangers got tamped got tampered. They did too. Stamkos, I mean, what a player. Later in career renaissance, let's go back to the bubble and think about Stamkos. And he scores the one great goal and he otherwise can't play. Yep, great moment.

Try to think back to where you were at that moment and where you thought Stephen Stamkos was going. To be quite blunt, I thought he was on the downturn because the injuries were now going to start catching up to him. He was getting on later in his career. There was a frustration about the Olympics. And I was thinking, that's a great moment. That's a great goal. That might be the crescendo for his career here. I didn't see this season's version of stephen

stamkos coming i thought we may be looking at a guy that's that's clearly on the back nine i think we all thought that we all thought what a great moment he got to have a signature play like when we talked about stephen stamkos that was the play we were all going to talk about great shot and then he did got his opportunity to lift the Stanley cup as the captain of the Tampa Bay lightning. And now look where we are two years later, he got to lift another Stanley cup as the captain of the

Tampa Bay lightning. And now he's having one of the best seasons of his career two years after that occurred. And he was the hero of game six with two goals, including 20 seconds after the Rangers had tied it. I think the thing that has to be recognized here is Stamkos is hugely popular among his peers. Nobody in the NHL wants to lose to Tampa because by now everybody freaking can't stand them because

they've got 11 playoff series in a row i have incredible respect for them but i think if there's one thing people like to see on tampa they like to see stamko is doing well because he's a hugely popular person and opponent and i would say that there's a lot of people who might be sick of seeing Tampa win but are happy to see him being such a a huge part of it and to be honest he had a season this year I don't think he was on every heart ballot but I'll bet you when the voting's done he's gonna finish around eighth're going to see him around eighth in the Hart Trophy balloting this year. That's my prediction based on nothing

but my own ballot, really. Well, the other thing that he's really become, and we're seeing it now, I mean, last season when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, the go-to interview was Nikita Kucherov. Now the go-to interview is Stephen St Kucherov. Now the go-to interview is Stephen Stamkos. I don't know that there's anyone that I want to hear more from

about the game that just happened or the games that are about to happen more so than Stephen Stamkos. He's a guy that's self-aware. He's a guy that's seen a ton of things in his career. He's a guy that is still very much focused on the Stanley Cup. He's having a, as you mentioned, a signature season one where he'll get some heart trophy consideration. And he's become a guy that for my money, Elliot, when the Tampa Bay Lightning game is over, I want to see him at the podium. He's one of my favorite interviews, you know, full stop right now. He's got a lot of interesting things to say. In our interview at the beginning of the year, he was great. And I think he's also reached the grandma phase the grandma phase where you're 85 years old in hockey

years and you just say you know what i don't care anymore i'm just saying whatever is on my mind he says it in a really nice way but he says what he thinks Look at him in the penalty box the other night. Oh, boy. He basically pointed at the referee and said, that tying goal is on you. And then he goes out and scores the winner. And this is a 1-1 game. The Rangers are 1-2 in the game of the power play

with 6.53 left in regulation. Stamkos and Kopp at center ice. Lightning have had numerous chances that Shosturkin has turned aside in this game Trouba, a pass to the Lightning line, blocked by Hedman he'll feed it up the middle, Miller a block Lafreniere who drew the penalty steals and dumps it in, Hedman up the far

side for Andre Pallat leads Kuchov on the right side at center, across the bull line, right point, in front for Stamkos shoot, saves Shosturkin SCORED! Now Shosturkin. Scored! Now Shosturkin is saying it was knocked off his glove and in. The Lightning celebrate. We're going to have to see a replay on this.

Yeah, we're going to have to see something. Now the linesman is talking to the referees. I don't know. Stamkos has no doubt, though, that this is a goal. It went in the net. That's all I know. Shesterkin stopped it with his glove, but eventually it went in the net. Here's the replay, Phil.

Comey shoots. Oh, he bobbled it. He bobbled it, no doubt. Yeah, that's a goal. That is a goal for Scampkos. Shesterkin makes the save. The rebound comes out. I mean. Well, his glove is hit,

but the puck is loose at that point. He had two hands on his stick. Johnny Murray was the one. Let's see what they say here. After review, it's confirmed we have a good goal. A good goal.

Now, Bill, the Rangers could challenge the goal interference. Yes, they could, but I don't think they will. This is the stuff that legends are made of. Like these moments. Like that was a... Like whenever this Tampa run is over, here's one of the things that I'm always interested in.

When this Tampa run is over, and I'm not talking about this season, I might even be talking about next season as well, getting ahead of ourselves. Because this is still a team that is basically intact. We'll see what happens with Andre Palat. But whenever this era of the Tampa Bay Lightning is over, you're going to think back to signature moments.

We do with all dynasty teams. Where are you going to put game six? Where are you going to put game six from that? The first goal of the game where he goes far side on Igor Shcherkin, where that goaltender doesn't get beat on that shot. Like I can't stress enough how that goalie doesn't get beat on that shot. That is such a great shot by Stephen Stamkos to the penalty, to the game winner, to all of it.

Where are you going to put those third period heroics by Stamkos? Not just heroics, third period controversy, third period heroics of Stephen Stamkos whenever this chapter of the Tampa Bay Lightning's history is written? I don't know. That's a good question. I still think a lot of people won't look

at it as big as the one goal just because it was such a moment. But when his number 91 gets retired in Tampa and he's in the hall of fame, that'll be all over the videos. It really will. And, you know,

we're going to get to the, the, the preview here in a couple of moments and now Tampa will face their toughest opponent for the Stanley cup with no disrespect to Dallas and Montreal. This is going to be the toughest test for Tampa more on that in a couple of moments.

Also some news from around the NHL, but that's four wins in a row by the Tampa Bay Lightning. They go down to nothing to the New York Rangers and then they go down to nothing in game three. And then after that, it was wake up. It's like the undertaker, his great move when he was going to start his comeback, just sits up and then it's all over.

I like Jason Voorhees. You think he's dead dead but he shows back up to kill 25 more people it really is like i don't know how many times we can we can talk about this more although you know i thought kevin brought up a really great point on saturday no that's not possible that it is true and you know you're gonna go like oh here goes merrick talking about anthony sorelli again but anthonyrelli again Elliot like all throughout the playoffs so far and the one thing that I can't help and I always stress this and I'm really I'm speaking to hockey moms and dads here you know it was only I think maybe one or

two seasons leading up to the OHL draft when Anthony Sorelli played triple A he's an A-level player the whole way up A and double A just wanted to have fun and play with his buddies. And it wasn't until his last couple of seasons of minor, as they call it in the States, youth hockey, that he started to play AAA hockey. So for all parents who stress about, oh, my kid's never going to make it if he's only playing single A or whatever, like, look at Anthony Sorelli.

Michael Bunting. And there's another great one from Scarborough, Ontario. There's a great story with Anthony Sorelli. Michael Bunting. And there's another great one from Scarborough, Ontario. There's a great story with Anthony Sorelli, his rise through junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals. I've talked before at the Memorial Cup against Leon Dreisaitl and the Kelowna Rockets. He scores the overtime winning goal to give the Oshawa Generals the Memorial Cup.

It's the last goal ever scored in one of the more legendary buildings in North America, the Gold Coliseum. He scores the last goal and he's been instrumental, albeit very quietly, in kind of a minor key here. Anthony Sorelli has been one have had terrible luck in these playoffs. If they could score, these series would be even more lopsided. But there's no doubt when he's on the ice, plays get shut down. See, I think last year that third line, the Coleman-Goodrow-Gord line, really overshadowed a lot of other forwards on the Tampa roster. Now I think Sorelli is finally getting his due. And Bergeron is the selkie guy, obviously.

He's won five of them. And Barkov's gotten a lot of attention. O'Reilly's gotten a lot of attention. I think we're into the Sorelli era. He's going to start winning these things now. Everybody's been talking about him. You know, really smart hockey fans. And I will credit you two as much as it also pains me to do this. these things now everybody's been talking about them you know really smart hockey fans and i will

credit you to as much as it also pains me to do this you've been talking about sorelli for years this is the one that's going to push him over the top and he's going to start winning awards just like mccarr's about to start winning hart and norris trophies sorelli's about to start winning his selkies based on this you'll notice i didn't interrupt you during that because i want that to be clean because i want ammo to isolate that and i may just make that my ringtone we'll see about that you have a couple of thoughts on a couple of other tampa players before we shift our attention to the other final i do want to ask about a couple of rangers players let's go right to the final now you know we've got seven games coming up four

to seven games coming up we'll have plenty of time to talk more about some of these guys but let's talk about the final this is a really difficult final for me to pick jeff because it's the team i picked at the beginning of the year colorado versus the team i vowed never to pick against again tampa. And I've picked Tampa all three rounds of this playoffs, but I think this is Colorado in seven. I think point returns early. I think there's a chance that Cadbury returns, I want to say mid-series. And we all know that Tampa gets stronger as series go on.

This is a chance to be unbelievable. I'm taking Colorado in seven. You? I'm taking Tampa in this one. I think this is, as I mentioned earlier, Tampa's toughest test. Dallas in the bubble. Montreal in the COVID season.

And in the first, even though we had stops and starts and it was awkward at times getting there this was the first quote-unquote real true more than just a reasonable hand-drawn facsimile of a season uh and this is going to be their toughest test i mean dallas montreal now colorado now see i don't have the conundrum that you have because I picked Tampa in the final, but my team coming out of the West was the? Flames. Winnipeg Jets. At the beginning of the season, I was...

Well, I did say Winnipeg was going to be the best team in Canada, so... I was fully on board with Winnipeg Jets winning the West, which is why you should never turn to me for such advice. I think it's going to be a tough one, but I have a hard time. Just seeing how Tampa, to your point, they get better, they get stronger. It's so tough to extinguish this team. The one thing that I'm really looking forward to is, I think this season, Kael McCarr had the best season of any defenseman in the nhl

but if you ask me who's the best defenseman in the league i'll tell you victor headman and i don't know whether this is going to be a moment where it's a passing of the torch from one to another or this will be victor headman showing you showing who the big dog is here still. And Tampa has been there before, as we all know. And this is Colorado with this era's version of the Avalanche. First time there. I don't know. I can't bet against Tampa.

I'm picking Tampa in this one all the way. I totally understand that. How many games? I'm going Colorado in seven. How many games are you going i've always said to myself whenever if i'm gonna pick seven that's really an admission that i don't know who's gonna win no that's that's completely moronic it's no no it's not when you say oh everything no you know what it reminds me of what i'll tell you exactly what it reminds me of whenever there's a coach that's out of work and he shows up on a panel,

either on television or he gets asked for a website or a newspaper to do predictions for series, every series is always going seven and both teams are well coached. Because the coach doesn't want to offend anybody. Yeah, but I don't care about offending anybody. I'm saying that i think this is going to be a legitimately tough series that goes the max it's not i'm picking colorado i'm just saying it's going to take them seven games to do it i will take tampa and six oh okay i think it's going to be a tough series i seldom if ever pick seven so i'll say tampa and six all right seeing how tampa behaves

now colorado has had a couple like i always look at teams that have easy times along the way and tampa had their easy time against the florida panthers apologies panthers fans but colorado had you know a couple of quick series as well which gives them the rest which when it's elite level team against elite level team i pick the team that's had the most rest but i kind of look at these two and say okay it might kind of be a wash but uh i can't go against tampa i don't know how many times i can say that especially look i understand not picking against tampa i do if braden points coming back i really can't pick against him that's fair vasilevsky too is a big advantage.

Vasilevsky's huge. The experience is huge. An inspired Hedman, an inspired Stamkos. This one's going to be a tough slide. Going to be great hockey. They are rested. Can we talk about the Rangers for for a sec sure of course so i was surprised by some of the reaction to the caco scratch why well first of all i was surprised they scratched him i was surprised they

scratched him especially because str Strom clearly was not healthy. And I don't blame Strom at all. He gave it everything he had, and that's all you can ever ask. It was very clear from the first time he was out there, he was far from 100%. And to be honest, I wasn't surprised he didn't make it through the game, because you could see he was really struggling to keep up. But the one thing that I think really surprised me, and I'm well aware that Twitter isn't a true representation of society, but I was shocked.

Gerard Gallant, he pushed every correct button this year for that team. I was astonished at the blowback to him. I understand sometimes during the middle of a game, that's a difficult situation. And I certainly don't fault Emily Kaplan for asking the question, but I think sometimes it is difficult for a coach to explain themselves in that moment because they're so focused on the game. But post game, I really was curious and would have liked to hear what was going on, but he decided not to do that, and we'll see where we go in the aftermath. But Gerard Gallant has pushed the right buttons for the Rangers all season long, and in this moment here, it all completely evaporated.

My faith in him in this particular matter might be proven to be completely wrong, but I think he's a guy who's generally pro player, like player friendly, Jeff. And generally, like, I don't think there's a coach here who's saying, okay, I've got to win game six in Tampa to go play game seven in New York to go to the Stanley cup final. Let's sabotage our group. So we can't get there. Coach just doesn't do that.

And while I am curious about the explanation, I have to say, I was surprised at immediately how little faith there seemed to be in his process. I was shocked at that because all year long, he's done the right things with this team. I wonder though, Elliot, how much this is Rangers fans fell in love with the kids. I think that's part of it. Because the kids. Good call. What do young hockey players represent?

They represent the future. They represent hope. Wow is finally working. Second overall pick. Now we're seeing Capo Caco. Remember when we talked to Henrik Lundqvist in Chicago at the Players Tour and he raved about Caco? He's like, guys, this kid's going to be fantastic.

Yes. Trust me. And he was going on and on about Capo Caco. And now they finally started to see it. And ditto for Alexi Lafreniere as well. And Filip Hedl, who at times you mentioned, Gerard Galland. We've talked about this plenty. Hey, we're going to scratch him for a couple of games.

We want him to stare at Mika Zibanejad for a while and learn the game just by watching Zibanejad. I wonder how much of that is just fans fell in love with the kids' story and didn't want that one to stop. I think that's a great answer. I really do. You might have hit it out of the park there jeff you might have connected on it it's just that the way i look at things is does a coach generally deserve the benefit of the doubt or not based on his track record now we know this year the rangers

were a team that shisterkin covered up a lot of their problems, right? He had a regular season for the ages. And I think much of that's going to be reflected in both the Vezina and Hart trophy race. I mean, he can even make the argument. He had an even better postseason. He had a fantastic playoffs. It was ridiculous, Elliot.

This was super elite. Like no one's, outside of Ottinger in the first round, no one's really even close. No one's really even close. He was fantastic. And once the Lightning got their defensive clamps on Zibanejad, the Rangers couldn't score at five on five. Cooper had a plan. He got his plan.

And that was it for the Rangers five on five offense he got Sorelli out there against him at home or on the road and he got the clamps in and they were really in trouble that made Shusterkin's margin for error even worse but I would still generally think that Gallant this year did a lot of things very well, very well. And he is as pro player, a coach as it gets. And I was just astonished at how quickly that seemed to evaporate on him. I'm with you. I'm stunned.

Okay. I want to go back to game one. Okay. Remember what happened game one of the season? What was game one of the season, Elliot? Capitals. Washington Capitals and New York Rangers. And what did we expect?

Fireworks. A bloodbath. It was going to be a bloodbath. It was going to be a fight fest. Here we go. And what did we get instead? The Rangers got absolutely trounced by the Washington Capitals for three full periods. The Capitals had their way with the New York Rangers.

If I would have told any Rangers fan after that night that the New York Rangers were going to make it to the conference final. And they were going to lose, but it was going to take six games against a two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. And they were going to be at times up 2-0 in the series and up 2-0 in the third game of the series. You would have said, what a great season. That's fantastic. Because we looked awful on game one

and everything was being questioned. All of the moves were being questioned. I actually thought the Rangers had the lightning on the ropes more than the Leafs did. In game three? Yeah. After they went up on those two power play goals? They were up 2-0 in the series and 2-0 in the game.

Now, they never got a chance to knock them out like Toronto did. But I did think the Rangers had the lightning on the ropes in this series. And the way Cooper was looking and when he pulled nick paul out of that interview he was scared he thought they were in big trouble yeah listen i think this was a fantastic season for the rangers i know it stings the minute you're out i get it because at a certain point you stop thinking hey this is wonderful we're playing with house money and you started thinking we could win the stanley cup here we have enough elite level players here. We could legitimately win the Stanley Cup.

And then you run into this buzzsaw called the Tampa Bay Lightning and everything comes crashing down. To your point, you can't put him out. You know, the fighter's on the ropes. He's got his hands up. He's covering up. And maybe he gets saved by the bell

or whatever it is. You can't put them out. And then they come out stronger the next round. And it's curtains i get it it stings it sucks but if i'm a rangers fan i'm feeling really good about this season and i'll tell you the main reason i'm feeling good is i have the most important piece and the best goaltender in the world no you don't you have the second best goaltender in the world you think vasilevsky is better than ego shisterkin yes i do hmm

is this the same way that i look at victor hedman is the best defenseman but kale mccarr had the better season yeah i think you could say that i will buy that like there's no shame in saying this shisterkin he's the second best goalie in the world okay you have one of the best goaltenders in the world and you have this run of goalt, much like the Bruins have had runs on defensemen from Orr to Park to Bork to Chara now to McAvoy. You've gone Richter, Lundquist, and now Igor Shesturkin. It is an embarrassment of goaltenders for the New York Rangers. And you have it. You have the hardest piece. What is everybody clamoring for around the NHL? That is the envy of the league. And you have it. And this guy's going to be an elite level.

Maybe he'll even woo Elliott and bring Elliott over to Camp Shusterkin here. Give me a break. It's not like I'm not in Camp Shusterkin. I said he's the second best goalie in the world to Vasilevsky. I'm sorry if that makes me a terrible human being. I think in a salary cap, I've always maintained this, in a salary cap world, what's the one thing we've seen with goaltenders?

You can't expect goalies to steal games. You can expect goalies to steal periods. Maybe you can expect a goaltender to steal two periods. You know how hard it is to steal a game when there's this much parity? And he does it. Now I think we've got greater goaltending tiers than we've had in quite some time. The drop-offs between some of the groups are bigger than ever. I have Vasilevsky one,

and I think there's a tiny bit. I think when you've won 11 straight playoff series in two cups, you get to say that you're in a class by yourself. And then Shesterkin is right behind him. And then I think there's a drop from Shesterkin to whoever you want to make number three. Like, I think he's in a class by himself behind the guy who's in a class by himself. You know who we're going to start to see and we're going to start to have the conversation about?

Who's that? And it's going to be great because they're in the same division and they're next door to each other, Ilya Sorokin. Yeah, he's a hell of a goalie too you know the other the other thing too i look at with the rangers is i i think they have a hell of a defense too well what did we talk about last but this is the coming out party for ryan lindgren it's not only that it's look they've got fox and he's signed and they've got Truba and he's signed.

They'll have to sign Miller. Somebody said to me that Jonas Brodine is the kind of guy he's going to play 15 to 20 years. He's not going to put up a ton of points, but he's going to be in your top four for 15 years. That's what I see when I see Miller. Now he's got one more year. They can try to extend him this summer he had 20 points this year seven goals you know that's that's a good number I don't know if he's ever going to be an enormous point guy but that's what I see when I see Miller a guy who's

always in good position a guy who can make a really good pass a guy who can bring the puck up ice you know he's going to play in this league for 15 years he's gonna be in somebody's top four for 15 years and you know i just don't know how much he's gonna score but who cares he's a heck of a player you know lingren to me is is really interesting because i think one of the things the rangers always kind of worried about, and I know they talked about it internally when they traded for him and they tried to sign him, and that is just how long is he going to play? He's a young guy. He's only 24 years old. But the Rangers were worried about exactly what we saw from him this year.

The way he plays, you just wonder, you know, how long is he going to last? There's no concern about his ability. There's no concern about obviously his will. The only, the only concern they have is how long is he going to last? That's, that's the only thing. Does he play too hard? I would do the same thing. Like, I don't want anyone to think I'm criticizing him. If I to win the stanley cup as bad as these guys want to win the stanley

cup and if i played i would i wouldn't have left any of those games i wouldn't have taken myself out of the lineup yeah it just it creates a toll on you as your career goes on right yeah i get that so i think that's that's what i'm about here. And they do have a couple of defensemen coming. Obviously, they have Zach Jones, Schneider, Nils Lundqvist. That'll be an interesting one. I think his future could end up being somewhere else. But I look at their D, and I think they're going to be a good team on the blue line for long. I think when you look at their group this year, they're going to look at it and they got a lot of players.

They got a sign, a lot of spots. They got a sign. It's going to be scoring at even strength. They're going to look at this and they're going to say, how are we going to score at even strength to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning? That's going to be their question. And the challenge is going to be be and we'll get into this now here what's next for the new york rangers you mentioned you know players that you make decisions on we talked about capo caco he's a restricted uh alexander georgiev he's restricted uh sammy

blay he's uh restricted as well and the ufas uh andrew kopp ryan strome who you mentioned just completely emptied the tank until it was bone dry for this team and frank fortrano as well who scored that big goal on on saturday night and they have 13 million dollars in cap space thereabouts according to cap friendly how do you see the rangers a lot of players i need to sign how do you see it shaking out well i think the number one thing is where are we going with kako here when he was scratched my phone blew up with teams are going to be going after this guy they're going to be asking about him i had people throwing offer sheet scenarios at me i had people saying this

team liked them and that team liked them and and they're going to be calling about them. I think his future immediately leaps to near the top of the list. You know, are the Rangers still committed to him? Is he still committed to them? I think that's going to be a big question. You know, the other thing too is can they find a deal for Kopp? You talked about Kopp's availability and what you think he could draw. You know, are the Rangers going to be able to find any way of doing that? You know, the thing with Strom, they've been talking on and off with Strom,

and he loves it there. I'll tell you a story about Strom, who's a guy I really like. You know, last year, I thought he was getting traded. And at one point in time, he kind of joked that he was glad i was wrong because he wanted to be a ranger and i think when you play the way he played you're doing two things you're showing people that you care but in particular you're showing this team that you really care about it and them and your teammates like Like if you saw all those looks between Zibanejad and Kreider, you know, they looked like two brothers who'd lost their dog, right?

Yeah. Like it sucked. It sucked for those guys. And I think you could tell that these guys really liked each other. And that was, that was what Strom was doing. Strom was saying, you know, I care a lot about this group and I'm putting myself out there for it. I just think it's going to come down to how they prioritize all of this. Like, look at the extensions that are coming. You know, you've got a Miller extension that's coming in a

year. You've got a Lafreniere extension that's coming in a year.'re gonna have a heel extension that's coming in a year you've got kako situation you've got cop you've got strong how does chris jury prioritize all this and i think the kako thing could be key to it what is game six mean because i definitely think they're gonna get asked that. Do you guys still see this guy as one of your guys? You know, Elliot, we should also mention a little bit of Rangers business news, and that is the signing of Vitaly Kratsov

one-year $875,000 deal. And we should point out, this is a one-way free each. This is a one-way. Yeah, so he'd need to clear waivers to go to the American Hockey League. And I'd asked around, did people think that that meant that Kravtsov was

trade bait or was going to be staying? And the early guesstimation is that he's staying. So we'll see where that goes. But look, I think it was a hard year for a player. Sometimes a relationship needs to kind of hit rock bottom to sort itself out. Obviously, the relationship between Kravtsov and the Rangers hit rock bottom this year.

When you have a guy that talented who's making 875, there's going to be a chance for you to play. All right. The other thing, too, is I was sent an article today that was in one of the Russian papers, which was an interview with Dan Milstein, who represents Kravtsov. And basically what the interview says, and I'm looking at the translation, but I double checked, it seems to be accurate. They said that Drury and Kravtsov had a lot of conversations. And after the season, Kravtsov called his agent and said that he wanted to come back and he wanted to play for the Rangers.

Now, evidently, the one-way deal was important. It got done. He can't go to the minors without clearing waivers. So it sounds as if the player wants to play in New York. And if a team gives you that kind of contract, and with the Rangers cap situation, which we've talked about, a guy like that at 875, you're going to get a chance to play. They're basically saying to you, you can win a roster spot here.

The opportunity is going to be there. So it's up to him now. You mentioned a second ago the Andrew Kopp situation, just so people are aware, like I'm of the belief that this will be either a Philippe Deneau or Zach Hyman style deal. So somewhere in the 5.5

on either a six or seven year term. That's what I believe the marketplace is for Andrew Kopp. Does that ring valid to you? It could be. He's a center. He's a versatile guy, man. Yeah, and he can play a lot of places up and down your lineup. He can play on the wing.

He can play center. He can play an offensive role. He can play in a defensive role. Yeah, I'm with you. So we'll stand by to see what happens there. let's get to some news uh elliot you know the one thing that i that i do want to point out here and i wonder about this the one thing we know about the nhl and gary betman has always felt this way that he doesn't want any news interfering with the games. We don't have a game until Wednesday, Elliot.

So should we expect... And then we have two days off. We have the one two-day off break. Yes. So should we expect a, pardon the pun, avalanche of news in the next couple of days? By the way, did you hear this interesting stat that this is the first ever Stanley Cup final between two teams whose name does not end in S?

Yes. That was one of the first tweets that I got from someone on Saturday night. The only other time it's ever happened, 2012 NBA final. Heat versus thunder. Apropos of nothing, here we go. This empty calorie fact presented by 32 thoughts, the podcast. I like empty calories. Uh,

we all do specifically around this time of year when we're staying up late watching hockey games saying, yeah, you know what? Uh, I'll get back to bikini season when game seven is done. Oh, so by the way,

I wanted to tell you on Saturday night, like, uh, the producer, Brian Spear and Ron and Kevin and Kelly wanted to call it 32 Thoughts, but I was like, nope, Jeff's not here. We don't call it 32 Thoughts. Oh, you should have done it anyway.

No, everybody else wanted to do it, but I have, unlike the rest of our coworkers, I have respect for you. Clearly they have none and that's just fine. So a couple of things you talked about in the don't call this a 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada. By the way, I should say first. Yes. I'm a dope because you reported Rick Talkett in Winnipeg

and I forgot to put the Jets logo on Talkett's list. Don't worry about that. Oh, geez. Okay, come on. No, I heard you were really hurt and offended. You could hear me screaming on Saturday night watching my television. Elliot, don't forget the Jets.

Don't forget the jets don't forget the jets um duncan keith and mike smith uh and the edmonton oilers um as we reported on saturday edmonton would like a decision um preferably by july the first from both these players on their future if indeed they plan to return yes so they just need to know, obviously, you know, Smith had made it very clear publicly that he was thinking about it. He has one more year left. I think the other thing with Smith is, I think LTIR is a possibility for him, even if he decides not to officially retire.

I hear he's really banged up, really banged up. I think it was all season two or most of the season elliot this guy gutted it out all year long he was far from healthy and i i heard at the end of the season he was really banged up and even if he doesn't retire it might be an ltir situation but he is uh as as he said he's thinking about it. And, you know, the other one is Keith. And look, I've heard mixed things on this. I heard Keith really liked it in Edmonton this year,

really enjoyed the run, the two victories. I heard the organization really was thankful for the role he played with a lot of the younger players. I heard they really liked having him around just because of his attitude and the fact that he's a fitness freak. When you see the way Keith prepares, you kind of have an understanding of what it really takes. I know the Oilers are really happy with him. You know, I've had some people say to me, he'll be back. I've had some other people say to me, I just think they're not 100% sure. So they said, Duncan, just take a

couple of weeks and think about it. I mean, if Keith retires, it's a huge cap break for the Oilers. And it's something they absolutely need. But as someone said to me, they would not be unhappy to have him back with the impact they felt he had around the organization but neither player is a hundred percent although i think keith is much more likely to return than smith is so that's one thing you know the other thing too is after i i i did that on set on saturday night i got a call from someone on Sunday and, you know, we were just talking about the Oilers and this is a person who knows that organization very well. And he said that the thing he found very fascinating was just the fact that like everybody left in a really good

mood. I was wondering if there would be trade requests and I think we're all, you know, kind of wondering about Polly Harvey. What this individual told me was that there were no trade requests. However, what he did say is that I think there's some players who want clarity in their roles. And if the roles are not at the top, then I think then we could see a situation where some of them say, is there anywhere else that I could have a greater role? And so I think that's kind of where it was left. But even though they were really disappointed to lose to Colorado, they really loved the two rounds of the wins. I mean, they were disappointed about the loss to Colorado

and the fact they got swept. But they got a they got swept, but they got a taste, right? They saw what it was like when McDavid and Dreisaitl were unleashed in the playoffs. And, you know, he just told me there was, you could really sense among a lot of the players, it was a real optimistic feeling and they know it's hard to get back there, but they, you know, what he told me was, was and like i said this is a guy who knows that organization really well he said that it's been a long time since he saw players leave at the end of the season feeling like that and so you know like obviously they have some decisions

they've got to make we've talked about pull yarvey we'll see what happens on defense with with a guy like barry They're going to try to re-sign Kane. I don't think they have any desire to move Yamamoto anywhere. Someone asked me about that. Do you think they move Yamamoto? I was like, what? I never heard that anywhere. I mean, I guess I could be wrong, but I never heard that anywhere. Everybody left in a pretty good mood. I think this week Holland and Woodcroft will meet and try to figure this out. And I know I keep bringing this up from time to time, but I have heard that there's going to be some sort of a title for Paul Coffey, but I just don't know what the role is going to be.

I think we talked about this on the last podcast as well. It sounds like this week, maybe latest next week, we'll have more clarity on the Edmonton Oilers and what they're going to be looking like and looking for. We'll get a finer sharpening of the pencil. How about that, Elliot, on what the Oilers are going to be all about. Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks are all about looking for a general manager. And as you reported on Saturday, they are now down to a list of between three to five people and nothing to the idea of a president of hockey operations. I wouldn't say nothing. I just heard what people told me.

It was, it's very unlikely. Okay. Very unlikely. They said it's still possible. It could change at the end. The direction it appears to be trending in is that it's unlikely. Again, I don't want to say zero because I guess anything is possible, but I just heard it doesn going down to three or five final candidates. They had 12 before it was indicated to me that there might only be one person on that list who's been a GM before. So I had a conversation with someone last week, um, who said he fully expects this to

be a quote, non-traditional hire. And then, you know, uh, listening to you talk about you know how many candidates would be first year general managers like that that completely rings true with the conversation that i had with someone last week the way that they phrased it was you know they want to look outside the box for this one i think that's definitely true you know i do believe i i'd suggested mike greer as a possibility um i i do believe that greer was interviewed at least i don't know where he sits you know i i have a bit of a thing with the with the greer family so mike greer's dad is uh bobby greer and bobby Greer was a longtime football player and NFL executive. And I can't remember

exactly which team he was working for at the time. I want to say it was the Patriots. When I was at Western, Western had a wide receiver named Tyrone Williams, who was a great wide receiver who was drafted by the dallas cowboys and played in the nfl and so i did a piece on his nfl draft stock you know months before the draft and i cold called bobby greer and he took my call. He took my call and he gave me an interview. So like the other guy who did that was, was Art Shell, the coach of the Oakland Raiders. I can't even remember if they were in Oakland or Los Angeles at the time. Like, don't even ask.

But he was coaching one of those college all-star football games and Williams was invited to play. And I called him on a Monday. I left a message and he didn't get back to me. I was like, ah, didn't get him. And I didn't realize that was a holiday Monday in the States. And the next day, my phone rang in the Gazette office and I pick it up, Elliot Freeman, he goes, Elliot, this is coach shell of the Raiders. And I was like, blah, blah, blah. I couldn't even speak. But so I've always had a thing for the Greer family because when I was a 22-year-old punk reporter out of nowhere, I basically cold called Bobby Greer for an interview

and he gave it to me. And so I've always kind of watched Mike for that reason. When I was first starting in the industry, I remember working, um, as a producer and call screener for spider Jones on the fan five 90 in Toronto. And I could, I had that same thing when I cold called Jean Beliveau. Oh, wow. And I talked to him, you know, a number of different times over the years and always loved, you know, seeing him at the, at the bell center, um, when I was doing a ringside

for hockey night in Canada. But I remember, uh, someone, one of the producers that flipped me jean beliveau's number and spider had said wanting he wanted to talk to mr beliveau about something and i had this number and i thought okay this is gonna be a total long shot it's gonna go you know right to his answering machine or whatever he's gonna be screening his calls and when he picked up the phone i mean you remember jean beliveau's voice right i mean deep and rich and commanding and i you know i'm like 20 something years old talking to this hockey legend that i've admired my entire life so i think i know what you're talking about when you when you pick up the phone and cold call a legend and they actually pick up and you remember oh yeah

i really don't have anything to say to you. I'm just so starstruck by it right now. I spit out some questions about Williams, but it was funny. Anyway, so I do think Greer was on their list. I don't know if he's in the final three to five candidates, but I do think he was on his list. We talked about Ray Whitney. I wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one or two female candidates in there. And I would bet more, like as you said, off the beaten path.

Yep. That's how it was told to me. The Sharks, like I called someone who I thought might have a clue into some of these. This person said to me, sorry, can't help you. The Sharks made it clear that it would be a strike against you if your name really got out there. So we'll see where this goes over the next couple of weeks. Okay.

As we will also wait for the coaching carousel to finally define itself. And you talked about this on Saturday as well, whether it's Trotz, Cassidy, Montgomery, DeBoer, Tortlla or talk it there's all and there's other candidates too tons so you want to you want to quickly go through some of the teams here sure let's do it well let's start with this one i had a lot of notes on the weekend there's a few people who think they kind of wonder about cassidy in vegas people said he's talked to them. They're definitely looking hard at him, but too soon is what people were saying to me.

They were like, you were premature once. Don't be premature twice. But Vegas definitely has interest in Cassidy. I think Trotz starts to let teams know mid to late week. So I just wonder, does anybody say we got to know before then? Or do people just say, you know what, we wait until Trotz clears it up in the middle of the week? We'll see.

But I know some people believe that you know vegas was taking a long hard look at cassidy as part of their process but i don't want to say you know any more than that that doesn't necessarily mean he's got the job or anything like that but he's definitely someone they're taking a look at jim montgomery in vegas too i heard he had a good interview there. I think Montgomery is obviously Winnipeg and I, and I heard he's going to be in the mix with Boston. I've had a few more people say Jay Leach, Boston, you know,

the other guy that some people have mentioned to me with Boston is, is Nate Lehman. Who's the, you know, the head coach at NCAA at Providence, you know, he signed a really good deal in Providence. And he almost before became the head coach

of the AHL Providence Bruins. And I don't know why it didn't happen. There are some theories about why it didn't happen. But he was a guy Boston wanted at the time. Like I've had a few people who said that they wouldn't be surprised if he's in the mix there, although he's got a really sweet deal of providence, I've been told.

The Dallas Stars, Peter DeBoer and Bruce Cassidy are the two names that keep popping up there. Yeah, I think they've got a process and I already stepped all over it last week, but those are definitely the two names I'm hearing up there. Yeah. I think they've got a process and, you know, I already stepped all over it last week, but those are definitely the two names I'm hearing the most. Yes. Uh,

John Tortorella, Philadelphia. Tortorella trots. I think the boars interviewed there too. Like I heard that Philly told some of the other candidates and I think Montgomery was one. I think Vellucci was another that they really felt that it had to be a guy with previous experience.

They weren't crazy about the idea of a first time head coach. And so DeBoer fits. Montgomery doesn't. I heard Vellucci's interview there was really good. And I think they were really impressed with him. But I just don't think that Philly felt comfortable doing that right now. I think the most interesting thing in Philly is that organization has such a mix of very strong opinions. I'm curious to see how it's all going to end. There's some really strong opinions on where they should go.

So I'm really interested in this one. How much does some of the older flyer alumni who are around the team have an effect on, I think they love Tortorella. I think there's a segment of that group that really, really, that really loves Tortorella. I think that,

you know, the key, the key with that is they have guys on that team like Cam Cam Atkinson, obviously, who are huge Tortorella fans. I think one of the things they wonder about is, look, if we go out and get Chase free agents, are those free agents going to feel the same way as Atkinson does? I think that's one of the things that they're kind of going through. Rick Tockett, speaking about Philadelphia.

I don't know if Philly is as likely for Talkett. I think he's on Vegas's list and I think he's on Winnipeg's list. And I had someone tell me this week that Talkett does enjoy TNT. And if that's where he ends up, because he's not crazy about a situation, it's not the worst thing. Okay. I think Winnipeg's been sending some smoke screens that they're not really sure about Trotz. If he's going to be the guy, if he's the guy for them, I think that's all like throw us off the scent. I definitely think they're still very interested and they'll see where it goes this week.

Chicago, I think we mentioned some of the names on Friday. think they're they're still very interested and they'll see where it goes this week chicago i think we mentioned some of the names on friday i haven't heard any new ones beyond the king reardon richardson shaw group that i that i'd heard before and detroit i think someone felt bad for me because i kept on saying nobody has any idea what Iserman is doing. And they said, Iserman has cast a very wide net, some older, more experienced guys, and also some younger people who have not been head coaches yet. And he said, if you look around at some of the younger minds that have been around, he said those are some of the people that Iserman is talked to as well.

So the Cassidy's kind of fit. And also he says, but you have to comb. But he says that there are some guys there that he's looked at who are younger and really don't get mentioned a lot for head coaching jobs. And of course, we're all sitting there waiting to see if he interviews the Tampa guys.

Right, mentioned that on the last podcast. Board of Governors this week, what should we expect for each? Well, it's in person, right? It's in person in New York the day after game one. So I'm wondering if the much rumored Bettman extension comes up here. The last Board of Governors meeting was in December. And I think we were all kind of wondering what Bettman's future was at the time.

Jeff, we reported not long afterward that there was an extension there. We said it was five years. We were told, be careful you don't say like five years as commissioner because there might be some sort of unique structure there. I don't know. I'm just telling you what I said at the time. But I'm curious to see if this comes up here at all, that this is where it's either formalized or discussed or whatever happens. Arizona, I would imagine.

I think right now that Arizona just got a win at tempe city council they're in negotiations yep i do think some people have questions and we'll see how many answers they get could be a very interesting week uh on and off the ice um excellent stuff taking us out today elliot is a five-piece multi-instrumental band from Illinois. They probably own a hell of a show as well. The bandmates have known each other going back to their high school days and in their short musical career have released a pair of albums that blend multiple genres from jazz to rock.

These guys do it well. Here's Man Wolves with their 2021 single, Turkish Coffee, coffee on 32 thoughts, the podcast. I still act the same. Got ink on my page. I'm playing my course. I keep it around. I'm putting it down. I don't need it.

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