32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Playoff Time!

Episode Date: April 16, 2023

Welcome, Stanley! Jeff and Elliotte get you set for the Stanley Cup Playoff by previewing every first-round series starting in the East (48:00) and then moving to the West (55:20).But before that, they get into some of the changes around the league including more details out of Pittsburgh (00:00), Peter Laviolette stepping down as the head coach of the Washington Capitals (10:00) and the Blue Jackets fire head coach Brad Larsen (16:30). They also wrap up the teams that didn’t make the playoffs and what they might do this off-season —— Anahiem (19:30), Chicago (25:40), Arizona (29:30), Philadelphia (34:00), Montreal (36:20), Detroit (40:20), San Jose (43:10), St. Louis (44:50) and Calgary (46:40).Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: FINGERS Mitchell CullenListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Bally Sports, KKSE-FM, NBC Sports Washington, United Artists and Sportsnet.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.

Oh, it's me doing my Elliot impression. Hang on. I drank that grapefruit juice too fast. There will be playoff previews on this podcast. There will be discussions, unfortunately, of more coaching dismissals. But we're going to start off once again with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, presented by GMC and the Sierra AT4X. Friedman, Merrick, and Delich along with you once again.

Before we get to La Villette, Washington, Larson, Columbus, and we should probably go through some of the teams and what's next for them, namely the squads that aren't part of the postseason that we haven't been able to get to here on the podcast, Elliot. But before we get there, I think a lot of people still are wondering what's happening with the pittsburgh penguins

what is next last podcast we talked about the dismissals uh now we talk about fenway sports building this thing up one more time where are they at i know it's early i i think it's early but jeff even in the in the 48 hours since we did the last podcast that one thing is very clear to me. It's that they intend to cast a pretty wide net. You know, Fenway is new in the NHL and they want to get to know people. And I think it's not, this is not only going to be about finding a new leader in their front office, but it's going to be about getting to know some of the people who may be part of the next generation of leaders in the NHL.

One of the things I thought was really interesting was when they held their media conference on Friday, they didn't commit to how their structure was going to look like. Like they said, it's possible it's just one person, but it's also possible it could be the president of HockeyOp's GM kind of role. So what I think they're going to do is I think they're going to talk to a lot of people

and try to see what is out there and maybe who is out there and maybe try to find someone who's out there that they didn't know about or weren't initially aware of who they say, hmm, like this is a person who can really help us. You know, just as an aside quickly, and you've got us to this spot right now, so let's have the quick convo about it. I don't know why more teams don't do that. Cast wide nets just to gather information. Cast wide nets just to gather information.

You know, if you're looking for a coach, talk to as many coaches as possible just to gather information about the teams that they last coached or teams that they have information about. Like it makes complete sense to me that Fenway Sports comes in now as a new ownership group. And right away, part of this process has to be information gathering. Talk to as many people as you can about as many different teams and as many different players as you can. I mean, listen, teams do it at the combine all the time. Even if they're not going to draft a certain player, talk to a player about other players and gather information about that. This seems like the most sane thing an organization can do. And if I'm Fenway Sports, I'm doing exactly what you're laying out here, talking to as many people as possible and not rushing into this thing. I think the reason that that doesn't happen as much as you think, Jeff,

is because I think that some organizations have gotten stricter about giving permission. And the reason is not that they don't want their employees to advance, but there was one situation I know of recently where a team was asked, can we interview someone for this vacant GM position? And their GM said to this team, is this person have a real chance at the job? or is this some BS interview to say you interviewed this person? And I think there have been situations recently where a team will say, look, we want to know before we give permission that this is an absolutely serious thing and it's just not to check a box. And I think it's basically to prevent against what you're talking about there and also not waste anyone's time so i think in some cases that's the reason that some of those permissions get denied you know after the conversation we had

on the last podcast elliot and we talked about well you talked about what the default setting is here for fenway sports and what types of managers they like to hire and work with and the types of executives they like to hire with Fenway Sports. There were a few names because we talked about the Kyle Dubas rumors and does he fit the MO of how they do business? And yeah, of course he does when you look at how they conduct themselves. There were a couple of names that got shot back to me really quickly one was eric tolsky with carolina the other was john chayka who's very much out there as well again i think we're all throwing darts at a very early part of the process here but whether it's those names or people like that like who should we be familiar with here with the pittsburgh penguins i think the

dubious thing as long as he does not have an extension in toronto i just think that's going to be everywhere right like someone said to me like this is not what dubious would probably want is his future being discussed on such an in such an open way as the maple leaves head into the biggest playoff series of his tenure i said to that person you might as well just argue that there shouldn't be any weather today like there should just be no weather at all like how are you going to stop that you can't stop that there's an opening that's what people do they talk about weather you know they talk about who's available and who might get the job. Like there's no point even arguing about it.

Like I said, I think this is going to be a wide search. And I, and I think that there's going to be a lot of names here that we don't think about. I agree with you on Tulsky. He fits the profile, but I wouldn't be surprised if people start to look into more individuals in that Carolina front office, not just him. Like if you approach Carolina and you say, well, I want to talk to this person, say it's Tulsky. And they say, no, well, I have a feeling they might ask to speak to some other people. You know, the other names I'd want to mention here is someone told me, you know,

Theo Epstein, who obviously won a couple of world series with the Boston Red Sox Fenway Sports Group he still has a good relationship with them and apparently Epstein is a big fan of Jeff Greenberg Jeff Greenberg for those of you who may remember is a former Chicago Cub executive who interviewed for the Chicago Blackhawks GM job didn't get it, but now does work in the Blackhawks organization. And again, I don't know how all these roles are going to end up, but someone said to me, that is the kind of person who's going to be on Pittsburgh's radar. Like that is the kind of name to keep an eye on.

And also because as we discussed you know the penguins are going to have a real analytics bent here they're going to really increase their focus into them and greenberg would have that kind of a background like i'm not sure he's going to be at the top of their hockey operations if they hired him but i do think he's that that kind of person is the kind of person they'd be looking at. I would expect also, Jeff, that the Penguins will ask the NHL about speaking to Stan Bowman, just because Stan Bowman and Mike Sullivan had a history. Before Sullivan went to Wilkes-Barre and changed the course of his career in the Penguins organization, he worked in player personnel with Chicago and Bowman at one time before he resigned

was GM of the U.S. Olympic team for 2022 if the NHLers had gone and Sullivan was supposed to be the coach. So there is a working relationship there. However, that's obviously something they have to go to the NHL with first. You know, sometimes these organizations like to reach into the alumni for that particular team

that they own when they're, when they're hiring. Do we look same for the Fenway sports group in the Pittsburgh Penguins? I do think Jason Botterill is a name that would be there that they would talk to. Ray Shiro is, this is a guy who's got connections to both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. And we've talked about how we think he's on Philadelphia's radar. Like I said, I think they're going to consider a lot of things. And, you know, the fact that there's people out there

who were in the Pittsburgh organization when they had success, I think you have to at least consider talking to them. I think this is something that's still in its infancy and has a bit of a way to go, but I expect Pittsburgh to cast a pretty wide net here. significant a presence Sidney Crosby is with the Pittsburgh Penguins not that he would be hands-on involved but do you think this would be a situation where he'd at least be consulted on it or his opinion would be valued before a decision gets made I mean that guy swings a big stick in the Penguins organization that's not exactly a secret and he should he's Sidney Crosby after all

I don't know that he would be somebody who would say, I want this person as GM or anything like that. He's never struck me as the guy who swings his stick like that, but obviously you want to have him comfortable. I mean, the last podcast you had him getting traded to Colorado.

I just said that him and McKinnon would do Tim Hortons commercials in Denver. I heard what you said. You had him traded. I got some interesting DMs about that too. But they came right out and they said that it's important to us that he stays here. So I don't, look, I just think you know him. You know he's got to be comfortable, but I don't think he's necessarily going to be making demands or anything like that.

Okay. To the very latest with coaches around the NHL and Friday brought with it the news that Peter LaViolette and the Washington Capitals arriving at the conclusion that there's no more future there for Peter LaViolette. Columbus we'll get to in a second with Brad Larson. That was the Saturday morning news, but we'll start with the Washington Capitals. Any surprise here and who do we look at next filling the void behind the bench?

The interesting thing about this story is that Peter Laviolette basically was the one who initiated the timing of it. He asked for the meeting and then he was the one who said, look, I'd like to see what else is out there. There was a rumor going around that Laviolette may retire, but that is not the case. He is not interested in retiring. He wants to see what else is out there. And I was talking to a former player of LaViolette's and they actually are not surprised that he would in

particular want to go this route because under his time with LaViolette, when he goes into a situation, he gets his jolt right away. Like he says, there's some coaches he's played for that they can last in a certain situation for a long, long, long amount of time. And he says, there's some coaches that are really good because they have immediate impact. and then sometimes that immediate impact it just wanes over time and he felt that laviolette is one of those guys like he comes in and he emboldens people right away everywhere he's gone there's been a big jump right away so laviolette probably sees that there might be other opportunities out there where he thinks he has a better chance to win quicker than maybe Washington. You know, I threw out the tweet almost immediately last night saying that in my perfect world is, you know, Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky for the goals record.

It's Bruce Boudreau behind the bench when that happens. I just think it would be a nice little bit of symmetry. bench when that happens. I just think it would be a nice little bit of symmetry. But having said that, the first name that someone told me attached to this one in one of those watch this space type conversations was Spencer Carberry, who's now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the thing that I'm most curious about here is what type of coach will they look for? And I guess maybe that might be a conversation after we have a look at what Brian McClellan is going to do with this team. Like what temperament does the next coach

of the Washington Capitals have to have? Can it be a new head coach? Does it need to be a veteran head coach? What are we looking at here, you think? I think a lot of that is going to depend on the kind of team that they have out there. I don't think the Washington Capitals are looking to rebuild. No.

Like there's a lot of Washington connections being mentioned for this right now. Yep. Carberry, obviously, who would coach there. Jeff Halpern, who played there and is now an assistant coach in Tampa. Carberry is a guy like you absolutely believe that his time is coming you know he was close last year in boston he was the runner-up to montgomery he got a serious run in san jose before they hired david quinn carberry's time is coming you know the other one too andrew burnett he has an out once jersey is done to become a head coach in the off season. So they're going for someone who they think they can win with.

You know, one of the biggest issues I think the Capitals felt this year was some of their young players just didn't have the impact they wanted. And some people blame that on LaViolette, but I will tell you, and I mentioned this last podcast, there are some people who looked at them in the AHL and said, I'm not convinced that's on La Violette. Like those kids may not have been ready. I think they're going to want someone though, who can find a way to get those kids in and give them maybe a little bit more of an opportunity. You know, the other thing about Washington here, Jeff, is that, you know, Nicholas Backstrom,

when he spoke after the season he said he felt yeah I mean I I'm feeling good I'm feeling normal so that's that's good that's what we wanted and and here I am so you know Brian McClellan in his media conference he basically said, I think it's frustrating in that I don't know that it gets, how much better does it get? Because I don't, I haven't seen any other players do it and recover and get back to the level that they thought they were at before. I mean, I don't know where that ends up with the off-season training, but it's, you know, I mean, he's going to have to make a decision on his career where he thinks he's out. Like based on what Backstrom said, he thinks he can play, right?

I think what McClellan seems to be hitting at is, do you think you're going to be able to do the same role? You know, that just says to me that McClellan's going to this off season. Like I mean, business here, like things are changing and it's going to be different. The other thing I would just say about the Capitals is I really do think they're going to try to find a path to move because Nets off here. I don't know what the success of it will be, but I think it's there. You know, and you know, I'm curious about with all the moves that we've seen with the Washington Capitals right now and moves on the horizon as well.

How much of this is done? Again, I just mentioned Crosby with Fenway Sports. Let me throw a Vetchkin into this situation here with a new head coach and offseason changes. How much do you think Brian McClellan keeps in the back of his mind? How much are these moves going to affect Ovi? Well, first of all, I think ultimately Brian McClellan is going to do what he thinks is going to help

his team win, right? McClellan's never been afraid to make bold moves. Like he's a pretty bold guy. Yep. And I don't think this is about necessarily pleasing Ovechkin. This is about winning games. And, you know, if you look at it, if Kuznetsov

gets traded, they could have no Russians around Ovechkin next year. Hmm. Samsonov's gone, Orlov's gone, and Kuznetsov will see. Like, I'm not sure I ever thought I'd see that. That'll be interesting to see what the reaction is there. Let me ask you about the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brad Larson, relieved of his duties, announced Saturday morning. When I looked at the Columbus Blue Jackets this season,

first of all, injuries was a major story. Goaltending was a major story. Manny Legacy also lost his job as well. To me, it was goaltending, it was injuries, and it was a big question mark around Patrick Laine. What am I missing here? Those were the big issues to me for the Columbus Blue Jackets. There were rumors that this was coming. So I don't know if anybody was hugely surprised. I'm a little surprised about the legacy thing.

Like, you know, Jet Greaves, when he came into Toronto to play that game for the Blue Jackets, you know, I asked him, because he was signed as a free agent. I said, you could have gone anywhere you wanted. You know, why'd you pick Columbus? And the first thing he said was, man, he legacy. So when I saw that on Saturday, because Greaves had said that,

it just kind of threw me a little bit. They signed Merzlikens, and he's really struggled, and I guess the goalie coach wears that. Someone said to me they thought actually Laviolette would be perfect there. This team to me, I guarantee you, there's going to be a lot of coaches who want this job. This is a team that should be on the way up.

They've got a lot of talent, and they're going to have the second best odds to get Conor Bedard. And if they don't get Conor Bedard, they're going to get Fantilli, or they're going to get someone. Yeah, Leo Carlson. I think there's going to be a lot of people

looking at this one. Yeah, May 8th, they may be a really popular choice for coaches out there. I got to think that though, this is a big hire for Kekalainen. He's got to get this one right. I was told today that this might be like the sneaky good job that everyone wants,

especially after the lottery. You take a look at all those teams near the bottom. Anaheim's a long way away. Chicago's a long way away. Columbus, they want to win. And they want to win fast. And so I think there's people looking at this like there's a lot of talent here.

There's another piece coming. I think Columbus is going to get a lot of calls on this job. And I wonder like if they were in a position where they could do what Chicago or Anaheim doing, maybe they don't make the changes they make, but this organization is like, we're not having another year like this one. We're just not. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, Elliot, let's go over some teams before we get to the playoff previews. Teams that we haven't had a chance to talk about that did not qualify for the postseason. We talked about some squads that didn't qualify either on the last podcast.

Let's get to some more today, starting with the Anaheim Ducks. The most recent news, a dismissal of Dallas Aikens as their head coach, Pat Verbeek, the general manager there. Your thoughts on the Ducks? If you watch Pat Verbeek's media conference, which happened after we recorded Friday's podcast, he basically said he wanted his own person there. And the other thing he said is he talked about a different voice,

but he also mentioned that some of the losses late in the season thought they weren't competing. I expected our team to compete harder. And so we got behind the eight ball in there. And I think, you know, eventually we got better. But it's not we're at a level that, you know, that I want. It's not the standard that I want. And it's certainly not near a standard for winning.

After 70 games, you kind of see where you're going you know they got the number one pick they didn't win games at the end that other teams did that cost them the number one pick whatever the case is i think we're going to find out what pat verbique wants in a coach here and the thing about verbique is win or lose you had stitches after you played against pat verbique oh yeah he got a pc he always got a pc even though like the nhl isn't really like that anymore i think he's going to be looking for somebody who's going to instill that in his team now they've got to add some defensemen they were really thin on the blue line you know there was that game where fowler set an nhl record at the end of the season by

playing the most minutes in a regular season game yeah you know i guess somebody got hurt and warm up and their and their blue line was really thin one of the things i think about anaheim is they have to find some defensemen they don't have to be super stud defensemen but they have to be like solid guys who can play battle in your zone or get the puck out or whatever they don't have to be eric carlson 100 point scorers and i think anaheim has to find uh some of those guys they do have some on the horizon and we think of you know olin zellweger uh for one and pavel minchikov is another their most recent first round draft pick going back last year and listen it was really unfortunate what happened to jamie drysdale this season you

hope for 100 health for him next season to take that next step in his development but like it isn't as if the anaheim ducks have been unaware of this like they're quite aware and they've tried to drew hellison there's another name too they've tried to stock the shelves but the problem is they're not there yet like there's still a little ways off that's the problem and i get that i think you're right like they have people eventually coming but you need if you want your team to be more competitive, you need to bridge that here and there, right? Like just get some guys for a couple of years.

That's one thing I look at there with them. You know, it'll be interesting. I think Adam Henrique is going to be a player of interest. I know there were, he had a good year this year before he got hurt. I think that there are teams who are interested in him. You know, one of the things that I think Verbeek had to consider was, did he want to trade him now?

Does he trade him this summer? Does he trade him at the deadline? When does he think he can maximize it? Like, again, if you want to have a competitive team and you want McTavish and Zegres and whoever else you eventually get there to learn under real pros, you need players like Henrik there. I've talked about what they might be doing at the AHL level with Matt McIlvain and we'll see. But someone said to me, like one of the guys that they're kind of wondering if they might call about this job, a coaching job is Greg Cronin. And Greg Cronin interviewed in Boston. He's the head coach of Colorado's AHL team. I actually wrote about him in one of my, a recent blog and someone called me

and told me they wouldn't be surprised if he could be on the Ducks radar for this because he's a good teacher. And the other thing I think they have to figure out is John Gibson. I think everybody here recognizes that John Gibson would like to play for a winning team. He's not getting any younger. I thought he had a really strong year considering all the circumstances going on around him. Like the Ducks games this year were a shooting gallery. They, what, faced the most shots in NHL history. I think Gibson and them would love to find a situation where he could go somewhere and win.

And we'll see where that all tracks out. Four more seasons at $6.4 million for the aforementioned John Gibson. I didn't say it was easy. This one's going to be a tough one, but nonetheless. Real quick, Trevor Zegers is up. Don't look now, but what do you do with the next Trevor Zegras contract? Now he's a restricted free agent,

but he's coming off his entry level. He's one of those players identified as, you know, well, first of all, wonderful bit of marketing. I know he's a polarizing player. I get it.

I understand it, but there's no denying the talents. You're Pat for beak. This is one of your next big challenges. Where's the decimal point for Trevor Zegers? Also, Troy Terry's up too. He sure is. Terry's got arbitration.

So that's going to be a big number with his counting stats. I mean, you know my rule, Jeff. Lock him up young. Lock him up. If you think someone's a cornerstone player, you lock them up for as long as you can because the prices is never going down. You know, one of the things that was interesting about when Verbeek took over as GM of the Ducks, there was a

philosophy, like we're just not doing long-term deals. You know, last year when they were talking with Raquel and they were talking with Lindholm, they made it very clear, like, these are not going to be long-term situations. Well, to me, this is different. The major reason being that Zegers is a lot younger. He's only 22. Okay. From the Anaheim Ducks to the Jonathan Taves-less Chicago Blackhawks.

This will be a busy summer for Kyle Davidson. A lot of decisions to make. They have two first-round picks, four in the second, although there's some conditions attached to that Rangers pick. Your thoughts on what Kyle Davidson has in front of him as he heads into

the next era of Blackhawks, namely one without Taves and one without Kane. Another team that will be buying all rabbits' feet on the planet before May 8th to try to win the lottery. They'll be adding another good player regardless. You know, the lowest they can pick is fourth. A lot of the biggest decisions are done. Kane's gone.

We know Tate isn't coming back. So what I'm curious about is who's their new core? Obviously, Seth Jones is one of those players, but who are they building around? Who's important to them? I still think this is a long process, but like is next year, another year like this one,

or are they looking to say, you know, we'd like to build a little bit like nobody's under any illusions that this is anything close to being a playoff team. I just wonder what are your goals next year? You know, that's really interesting Elliot, because there came a point and that point was last off season for the Detroit Red Wings, where it was rebuild, take your time, patience, build through the draft, develop.

And then all of a sudden, it was checkbook and bring in some players. And we understood it, and the Detroit Red Wings took their next step. They're not quite there yet, but I think we all understood the moves that Eisenman was making and we'll get to the tread readings coming up here a little bit in the podcast. I don't get the sense that Chicago's there. Not even close. I think that Chicago has now made that final and maybe toughest cut with the past. And now they're maybe in their minds beginning to rebuild, like make no mistake about it. Like there are some good young players already in that organization, but I think this is the first real summer where now there's not the scent of the last generation Blackhawks in the organization,

in the lineup, on the ice. Do you not get the sense that this is maybe symbolically the beginning of the rebuild the summer of the real beginning of the rebuild yeah i agree with that like i look at the roster right now and obviously they're hoping next year guys like lucas reichel are 82 game players yes but you know you look at the roster and you kind of look at it and say, who's here in three or four years? And there's not a lot of obvious candidates. So I agree with you.

I don't think they're going out and doing what Detroit did last summer. It makes no sense, but you can look at a roster and say, okay, I know what these teams are going to look like in three years. I look at that Chicago roster and you have no idea what they're going to look like in three years. I look at that Chicago roster and you have no idea what they're going to look like in three years. Here's the one caveat though. They're not where Detroit was last summer. And let's bring in veteran players.

Unless May 8th is very kind to them. I still don't think they'll do it. Just think about this though. You have Conor Bedard. Let's say the Chicago Blackhawks win the lottery. Do you not owe it to Conor Bedard? Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins did once upon a time Conor Bedard, let's say the Chicago Blackhawks win the lottery. Do you not owe it to Conor Bedard? Much like the Pittsburgh Penguins did once upon a time when they, you know, won their lottery

and got Sidney Crosby, surround Conor Bedard with more veteran players. That's what the Penguins did. It just makes sense to do it. But the thing is, you're not going out and giving four times five deals. I think you're looking for guys like who will play for less and less term and you know what this summer you may find it because not going to be a ton of cap room uh

kyle davidson uh big decisions on the horizon uh big decisions on the horizon for bill armstrong as well a general manager of the arizona coyotes and let's get there now. Now, depending on conditions of the picks, they could have seven picks in the first three rounds. And you have a look at all the picks that are on the horizon for the Arizona Coyotes and it's impressive. Mind you, last time I checked, teams are only allowed to carry 50 contracts and eventually have to turn prospect capital or draft capital into players, but Arizona is not there yet. Your thoughts on the Arizona coyotes this off season, knowing full well, look so much is just attached to the arena. They have two huge dates in May for a team that isn't playing the lottery and the referendum,

right? Yes. Like those are seismic days in the Arizona calendar. And you're right. I think a lot of people are hoping we, we finally get some clarity on this, you know, one way or the other, you know, the other thing too, they're waiting on is Logan Cooley. Is he going back to Minnesota or is he going to join the coyotes?

And does he wait for referendum day? I don't think he'll wait that long. I think they'll know the beginning. I heard it was a couple of days and then I heard it was going to be the rest of the week. And you know, now we're on the weekend and we'll see, but you know, that's a big one because a, he looks like a hell of a player and B there would be an excitement in Arizona to have them Keller. Oh, what a season. He's my master's in guy this year, that team this year, you know, one of my favorite movies I ever saw as a kid was, and I'm sorry, people.

I am really going back here. Robocop. Older than that, but you got the first letter right. Rollerball with James Kahn. Oh, it's Big Honker. Say, why don't you do me and the boys a favor? I mean, since you know everything there is to know, which you appreciate. Why don't you give us a little demonstration? Show us I mean, since you know everything there is to know,

we'd sure appreciate it. Why don't you give us a little demonstration and show us how you made that big rep down there? You skate around and just take me out, huh? Oh, man, I loved Rollerball. Oh, what a great pull. I loved that movie as a kid. Go get him, Tuffy. Now, eyes.

Use them. Don't lock your eyes in any one spot this game isn't all in the muscle use your head lock your eyes on the target keep ears they're real important too oh wow if you're not living in an old folks home like jeff and i are rollerball came out in like 1976 and it was james conn he was the star of a sport called rollerball but they kept on changing the rules on him so he would lose and he kept on winning it was a great movie it really was but they did a remake which if you're gonna search it out don't look for the remake it's not as good as the original but that kind of reminded me of arizona this year like everything was stacked against them like on the ice they had a better year and i think a lot of

people expected like maselli he's not going to win the calder but he's absolutely in the conversation they took a gamble with the Chikrin trade for Ottawa. They could get the 12th overall pick. It looks like that that gamble could work out. They have more there on the ice than I think a lot of us recognized or thought, but I don't think anybody's talking about the on-ice stuff. It's all about the referendum.

I'm still curious about players they look to move in the offseason as well, players that they didn't move at trade deadline. I know you and I talked plenty about Vemelka, the net minder, and I would imagine a lot of that decision is based on whether they think that Ivan Prosfatov is ready yet. I still don't think that this team is done making moves because this is a squad that we've talked about a number of different times as they're being constructed in order to

be good when the new rank arrives so i'm i'm still really curious to see what bill armstrong does here in the offseason and and you're right there There's two huge dates. And if they get Connor Bedard, you talk about other teams accelerating things. That would be a huge one for the team in the desert. Philadelphia Flyers. You know, you and I had various conversations over the past few days and have wondered, okay, which teams could use Connor Bedard the most? Where does Philly fit on your list? I think the NHL would be very happy if Connor Bedard ended up in Philly fit on your list? I think the NHL would be very happy

if Conor Bedard ended up in Philly. That's a big time hockey market. It's a place where he would be a sensation. I mean, he's going to be a sensation everywhere right away. But Philly is a big, big, intense, sports loving, hockey loving market near, sorry, West Coasters,

the East Coast media hub of North America. You know, Philly's an interesting team to me. Obviously, the first changes are going to be at the top. They already have a new leader, Daniel Hilferty. They've got Daniel Breer, who we think is going to stay as the GM. Presidency, You know, I mentioned the other day about Shiro. I think he's very much in the mix and I'm sure there's others. When it comes to hockey itself, they're

committed, as they've said, to doing this the right way. So I'm curious to see what's that all going to mean? Like some of the veterans, they kind of talked about on clean out day, like, well, maybe it won't take us that long. Well, that's not the message the team is trying to send.

You know, the thing about D'Angelo, like Tony D'Angelo, he got scratched at the end of the season and he came out and said that that bothered him. But he also stressed, he hasn't asked for a trade. He doesn't want to go anywhere and he wants to stay as a flyer. One of the things I heard was don't automatically assume that they are going to try to move him. Somebody mentioned to me that there's something they're trying to do here with D'Angelo in terms of

they want him to compose himself a little differently was what I was told it was. But at the same time i was told he's not getting traded or anything like that like they're not putting him out there like this is somebody that they want to work with so this draft is a big one for daniel briere it's his first as general manager and to the point you made earlier we're of the belief that he's going to be the full-time general manager here and there's other decisions on the horizon forum and we've gone over those a number of different times here on the podcast. But here's what I wonder. So next year's Flyers, Elliot,

more similar or more different than this season? If you change Provorov and one other reasonably big piece from your team, I think you're a different team. Montreal Canadiens. We've talked about this. I love the Montreal story because we you know, as we all know about the veteran steadying hand of Jeff Gorton and his fingerprints are still on the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers, you know, two teams that he helped establish and in one case reconstruct as well. this pyramid, but underneath, I really like what's going on. And it's not to experience people that are conducting the affairs here. Kent Hughes was a very successful agent for a long time. He's a rookie general manager. And Martin St. Louis as well, had never coached at any pro level before Montreal Canadiens came calling. I love this story. Now, Montreal fans are some of the most passionate, as we've seen. They've been provided a clear path here of what this team is trying to do. And so far, Montreal fans seem to be very cool with the direction of this organization.

I do wonder about patience. One year, cool. Two years, maybe. Three years, okay, let's see some wins. direction of this organization i do wonder about patience one year cool two years maybe three years okay let's see some wins how do you think montreal's been doing with this new direction and what do you think this offseason is like for kent hughes you know first of all they're going to get a couple more high picks their own yeah and wherever florida's ends up so that's another thing there you know the one thing for me that I wonder about Montreal is when do the expectations change? That's what I was getting at.

Like at some point it's like, okay, wins now, please. Oh yeah, it's not happy time, it's wins. Like next year, if they're not in better competition, do fans start to grumble? Do people start to grumble? Like, I think you're crazy to be expecting it to turn around quick. You know, we've talked a little bit about Dubois before and Winnipeg and Montreal last year at the draft, they talked about him and it didn't happen. Is that something that

two teams revisit this summer? Does Montreal simply say, look, we'll wait and take our chances in free agency? Or is that a conversation that occurs? Because that could change your direction. The other thing too is, you know, Slavkovsky, this year, it was all new to him. North America, hockey with a lot more contact. And I just refuse to believe the Canadians won't have a good plan for him. I think when you look at San Luis, he's going to have a plan for him. And that's the one thing I think this summer is just like how are you getting him into a position

to be more successful in the second year than his first? Those are a couple of the things I think about when I think of Montreal. I mean, obviously Caulfield, getting him extended, that's going to be a big one. I have no doubt that'll get done. You see the pieces. You see Suzuki.

You see Caulfield. You've got more coming. They've got a lot of young players that they've signed out of college who are going to get a chance to play on this roster. I think you see where it's going. I just wonder, A, how quick is it going to come, and B, what is the timeline they think of some of these players really to be ready to make a difference in the NHL? One of the things I admire about the way that this group conducts their affairs here with the Montreal Canadiens,

it seems as if they understand that, and this is going to sound like a shot at the old regime, and it's not. I know that some kids were rushed and I get it, but they seem to understand that the NHL is not a developmental league, that the NHL is where you graduate to after you're close to the end of your development. That's one of the things that I think that there's going to be continued premium placed on what happens at AHL Laval

and how players ripen there. And this is, you know, the NHL is not a place to learn on the job. Speaking of ripening, that's always been the call of the day for the Detroit Red Wings. This goes back to the Ken Holland era and the idea of over-ripening players in Grand Rapids. Steve Eisenman faces an interesting off-season. Last year, it was start to blend in more veterans and slowly bring in young kids i think next season there's probably of an expectation we'll see more of simon edmondson uh we'll see more of uh marco casper uh as well uh they do need a goaltender as well to

complement philly huso they have two firsts and three seconds. What do you look for with the Detroit Red Wings and how do you assess their season for each? Well, the one thing is I don't think you can do that every year. Like what Iserman did last year, I don't think you can do that every year. So I don't expect him to do that again. You know, one of the things he really talked

about in his end of season media conference on Saturday is that he wants to see their young players get even better. I've been pleased with some of the development of our draft prospects and others are taking longer or haven't quite turned out at this point to what we had hoped, but that's okay. I fully believe in where we sit here today, I guess, from four years ago. I'm not disappointed at where we're at. I guess I'm okay with it, but I intend to stick with the process, the plan. Nothing's going to dramatically change.

We'll continue to look for opportunities, as I say, repeatedly. So last year he felt he got them some help, some veteran help, and now he feels it's on them. And he talked about like Raymond and Valeno, they've got to take another step. Like I think the thing for Detroit this year was when we look at those two games against Ottawa, it's how they got physically dominated. Oh yeah.

You get close, you get close, you get close, and then it goes up to another level. And can you meet that? And the impression I got from listening to him a bit, and he also talked about a couple other players that are prospects there, and you get the sense that he thinks there's more coming. Like there's more young players who are going to make the Red Wings better. You look at Ottawa and Buffalo, right?

We all think they're there. They're on the precipice. And why are they there? It's not because of who they signed as a free agent or traded for. at Ottawa and Buffalo right like we all think they're there they're on the precipice and why are they there it's not because of who they signed as a free agent or traded for it's because Brady Kachok is ready and you know Jake Sanderson proved he was ready Tim Stutzla is ready that's why Ottawa was close and in Buffalo it's Tage Thompson is ready and Rasmus Dahlin is ready like Sider obviously has shown what he is. So my question about Detroit is,

is who's next summer's the player who arrives, whether it's their Stutzla or, you know, their Kachok or their Tage Thompson or their Dallin, like who's the next player with Sider, who's going to take over as a frontline young player in the NHL. And that's what I think Iserman's looking at and saying, if we're really going to be ready to go somewhere,

we're going to need more than one of those guys. Let's finish up with the San Jose sharks and rookie general manager, Mike Greer's for a season as a GM in the NHL. They have two first round draft picks this season so far. And how much of what we expect to see out of the San Jose Sharks in the summer, Elliot, revolves around Eric Carlson? Well, that's the thing that's the big one for me is if you trade him, you're losing 100 points. Now, you can argue that you were far down the league but you know it's still a lot to take off your team so yes i absolutely believe that carlson and his future

is the number uh one thing the other thing too is we're talking about anaheim before this is a team that also has to improve their defending mentality they really struggled with leads like i think they were the worst team in the league with leads like after one and after two periods they would lose a lot of games and they had a lot of games where their goaltending just wasn't as good as the other teams so i I think obviously while Carlson gets a lot of the noise and the oxygen and deservedly so because of the year he had, my biggest question is how are they going to learn to defend better? How are they going to learn to keep the puck out of their net better?

And they can't take the next step until I think they solve those problems. All right, Elliot, we'll finish up with the St. Louis Blues and their most recent news, dismissal of a couple of assistant coaches, Craig McTavish and Mike Van Ryn. Some pretty pointed comments by players like Justin Falk, veteran defenseman at closeout day on Saturday, you know, talking about it's not just on the ice, it's off the ice, etc. What happened this year with St. Louis, and what do you expect next season out of Doug Armstrong's team?

Even though I don't think they're going to be a big player in free agency, I wonder if that's a clue on Ryan O'Reilly. It doesn't mean he's not going to be a big player on something. He also said they have multiple first-round picks. With the one that's high, he says he expects to make that pick and then they'll see, which makes a lot of sense. I still think he's going to do some remodeling here or at least try to. This is someone who made it very clear. If you were interested in the defenseman, then you should call them just before the trade deadline.

And they obviously didn't like the way they played defensively. the trade deadline and they obviously didn't like the way they played defensively that's not a thing that you come back with the same personnel and you say okay problem solved that's you've got to make some changes so i would expect that he's going to look for changes on the blue line st louis to me they weren't as mean a team to play against last year. I can't imagine that's what they want. They've got high, high skill, and that's what you need. Bringing Blay back, I thought that was really back to the identity that they kind of want, and he seemed rejuvenated there. I wonder if they're going to look for a couple more guys like that.

I don't think that would surprise anyone. I know people always say, you always talk about this with St. Louis, but it's true. That's the origin story of the St. Louis Blues. It has been consistent. They like and always have nasty teams.

That's just baked into the pie for the St. Louis Blues. One more team I just want to mention is Calgary. I know we've talked about them a lot, but Jeff, their players came out and spoke. Yes. Tyler Toffoli made it very clear. He's very happy to stay. Zdorov, obviously after a year where he had 14 goals, you completely understand why he wants to stay and would be happy to stay long term.

But then you had Backlund and you had Lindholm and you had Uyghur asking Calgary politicians to give us a new building already. Well, I think we need a new rink, maybe. That'll help. I think the Saddle Dome's obviously got some character, but maybe a couple updates will make it a little bit better. But I think for the guys and the teammates, we have fun together for sure. I had lots of great times with the boys this year. bit better but i think for the guys and the teammates we have fun together for sure um i had

lots of great times with the boys this year now now what i want to see is now that the players have spoken and a couple of them were very blunt in their own way i want to see how much that moved the needle at all now we're at kind of the true fulcrum of the decision. And that is the players have spoken publicly and privately. What do they think now those comments meant to us behind closed doors for the future of the organization? Elliot, we've talked a lot on this podcast, and I know people appreciate it, but also want to get to the playoffs,

want to watch the playoffs, and probably get a thought or two before we get there. Let's do full playoff preview, all eight series, starting in the Eastern Conference. The juggernaut Boston Bruins. Can they be beaten? They face off against the Florida Panthers, and I think we're all itching to see not just the Florida Panthers

against the Boston Bruins, but a certain Matthew Kachuk, sir, against the Boston Bruins. Well, I want to see that. I want to see who wins the drive crazy-o-meter between Kachuk and Marchand. That's the entertainment that we all want here. I don't believe in upsets in the playoffs anymore. I think the margins between these two teams are too thin.

It's too close. But I think the closest thing that we would see to an upset is Boston losing simply because of the season that they had. I think people would just be shocked to see it end so quickly. I think this is all about Alex Lyon. And I think Lyon has proven with the stretch that he's had this year, first of all, he earns it. And secondly, you can't assume it's all going to be over

once the playoffs begin. You know, he is the guy. He went from 24 NHL appearances before this year to saving Florida season. You can talk about how good Kachuk was or how good some of their other players were, Montour having a ridiculous season, but they're not here if it isn't for this guy. And as long as Lyon continues, like some level of that play that they're in the series, if he can't, they're not going to win this series. It's that simple.

All right, the next series, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto goes in as the favorite here, but as we've said before, it is the fool that bets against the Tampa Bay Lightning. I think we're all waiting for that moment where all the games, all the injuries, all the attrition,

and you throw, you know, Ryan McDonough and Andre Pallad on, you know, on this year's, you know, attrition fire for the Tampa Bay Lightning. And we're all waiting for that moment where it all catches up with Tampa. Maple Leafs hope that it's this season. What do you look for in this series?

Look, you know how I feel about the lightning only an idiot bets against the lightning that said toronto should have beaten them last year they didn't because the lightning or the lightning they found a way to win and i think toronto should beat them this year like if you're toronto the guy who terrifies you the most is vasilevsky. Of course. And you know that Tampa will not go down without a fight. A fight in terms of skill versus skill and a fight between how mean they are. But I think Toronto is deeper. To me, the biggest change in the Lightning this year is they're not as deep as they were. I think Toronto is a deeper team. Like if you watched that game last week in Tampa, they are prepared to take the game to them physically.

I think at times, Toronto has just been said, as you like to say, our revenge is our power play. If you look at Toronto's power play in the Matthews era in the playoffs, in every year except one, and I think that year was 2018, their power play has been worse in the playoffs than it was in the regular season. And some of those times, including last year, significantly worse. I think the power play for Toronto is a big one, but also I think the

difference with this team is they are prepared to play you rough. And I think against Tampa, you can't always just say, oh, we'll get a revenge on the power play. No, you have to play you rough. And I think against Tampa, you can't always just say, oh, we'll get a revenge on the power play. No, you have to play them rough back. And this Toronto team, I think, is built that way. Like I said, I think Toronto should beat Tampa this year,

but I thought that last year and the Lightning are like Freddy Krueger. When you think they're dead, there's 17 more sequels. Underestimate the lightning like a fool, but Toronto should beat them. So here's the thing. Heading into this season,

the storyline was, and when you consider that Cal Dubas was without contract extension going into this season, if they can't get out of the first round this year, massive changes are coming with the Maple Leafs organization do we still believe that yes I do now I believe that Kyle Dubas wants to be in Toronto I do you

know for all the rumors about Pittsburgh or anywhere else you might think he could end up I believe his first choice is to be the GM of the Maple Leafs look Jeff you and i we work for a telecom okay the good telecom and the evil telecom owns 75 of the toronto maple leaves okay yes what do telecoms want they want results you made a dollar this quarter you better make a dollar five the next quarter they want to see results but i think at the end of the day he wants wants to be the GM of the Maple Leafs, but it's contingent on you got to win a series. What will the result be between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders?

That is the next series up for grabs here. There's a couple of really significant injuries here that we've talked about plenty for the Carolina Hurricanes, whether it's Max Pacioretty or Andrei Svechnikov. That's a lot of firepower to take out of a lineup, but still Carolina can do a lot of damage to a team. And the Islanders, I mean, it went right to the bitter end for them.

Matthew Barzal, that's the wild card in this one and his health. How do you look at this series? I think this is going to be a really tight series. If I was to look at a series and say that's going seven games, I would probably say this one. I think it's going to be a real grinded out series. These two teams like to play hard. I think these two teams like to punish you. They like to cycle and bruise you while attacking you. I think that if there's one place the Islanders should have a real advantage,

it's in goal. To me, this series is almost too close to call. It's just does Carolina have the offense? I think I'm asking the same question that everybody else is asking. To me, the most important non-goalie player in this series is Brent Burns. I think Brent Burns, who's been a godsend for them, needs to have a big series for Carolina.

The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. Man, I'm looking forward to this one. Cue the nastiness. Cue the fan invasions in both arenas. How do you see the Devils and the Rangers? I think it's going to be incredible. The Rangers, again, the Rangers have the big advantage in goaltending, but I wonder, are the Rangers going to be able to handle the Devils' speed?

And two, how does playoff Trouba affect this series? Last year, Trouba was obviously a huge factor in the Pittsburgh Rangers series, so much so that after the season, the Rangers made him their captain. So playoff Trouba activated. How does he affect this series? And B, the Devils,

I think their speed is going to be a big problem for the Rangers. Especially down the middle with Nico Heischer and Jack Hughes. That one should be a lot of fun. Western Conference, Colorado Avalanche facing off against the Seattle Kraken. How do we see Seattle?

Is it, are we just happy to be there? Look at us, we've made the playoffs. Or is this like, we're going to try to get as far as the Vegas Golden Knights did when they first made the playoffs? No, I think they're in it to win it. I think what's interesting is, you know, I'm here in Winnipeg. We're taping some interviews. And one of the Winnipeg players said to me that those Colorado guys, they played hard on Friday night. He's like, nobody wanted to play Minnesota. Now that's not a shot at Seattle. I think it's just the way that Minnesota plays,

right? Winnipeg just came out of a really tough, tough game against them where there were suspensions and people getting hurt. And he said it was noticeable to him that Colorado, especially now that they've lost Landeskog, they have no margin for error injury-wise, none. And they have some guys banged up going into the playoffs. Again, goaltending, I could say this about a bunch of teams, who grabs the crack in that? Like, Makar is unbelievable.

McKinnon's on a mission. Him and Friday night in that game, he looked unstoppable. 3-on-2 to the avalanche line. Hands it off for Parsonin. Parsonin, backdoor pass. Doubled up by Miko Rantanen. 2-on-1 with Nathan McKinnon. Here we go.

McKinnon, right side. He holds. He shoots. He scores! Through the chapeau! It had to be him! It had to be him! through the shampoo it had to be him it had to be him the Mac attack for the third time

tonight is back Jack his second hat trick of the year the sixth of his career Nathan McKinnon has put the avalanche right on his massive shoulders he goes stick side on Kevin Lankanen McKinnon has put the avalanche right on his massive shoulders. He goes stick side on Kevin Lankanen.

It's a perfectly placed shot. It does not get any better. With 1.42 to go in regulation in Nashville, Colorado has a 4-3 lead over the Predators. So who's going to grab the Seattle net? Seattle's not afraid to play bigger scoring games here. Do you really want to do that in the playoffs against Colorado? So who grabs Seattle's net? That's a big one for me,

and I think probably the biggest determining factor in the series. The other thing, too, is Colorado, the defending champions, the defending champs for a reason. No land, the scog. May cost them the cup, but still a really formidable, formidable team. I think Seattle has to be incredibly disciplined.

Disciplined and get saves. That's their best chance here. I don't think they're going to be able to outscore them. I just don't. The Green Series. Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wilds. Whoever comes out of this is going to be able to outscore them. I just don't. The Green Series, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild. Whoever comes out of this is going to come out of this with stitches. Like I said, on the eyes of the Jets, the Avalanche wanted no part of Minnesota

because win or lose, it's going to be tough. Eric Sinek, even though he skated on on saturday that's a huge question mark for the wild you know the thing is too for dallas is a lot of guys who have a lot more playoff experience but some key kids who don't wyatt johnston your your man crush like how does he do in his first playoffs like they're going to need that scoring you know Dallas they know where they're going to get scoring from but they're going to need more of it like are those players I think they're ready but are they going to be ready for this it's a delicious series like Suter against the wild Klingberg against the stars a lot of motivation

on both sides what's Minnesota's goalie situation? You know, they practiced on Saturday with Klingberg on the left side and Brock Faber on the right. Are they going with that? It's wild. Like Faber in his very short time has been really interesting. Like you can see the talent there, but are they really going to do that? Like Klingberg on the left side, which he hasn't done a lot?

That's a fascinating try for me. I think this is going to be the meanest first round series. I think Dallas is a little bit better, but not by much. Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets. And should we couch this as it's the Vegas Golden Knights versus the end of an era Winnipeg Jets. We all suspect this team will look much different, and this is the last shot at it for this version of the Jets.

I actually kind of talked to a couple players about that, Jeff, and one of the things that, I think it was Morrissey and Wheeler in particular, and I think Hellebuck did too, they talked about how during the regular season when they went through their slumps and all of a sudden the playoffs were in doubt, that they talked about that as a group. Like, if we don't sort this out, there's going to be no debate

that it will get broken up. And they talked about how much they liked playing with each other and so they had to find a way because it was the only way that they could ensure on any level that that could continue. And I was kind of very interested in that thinking. You know, they know Vegas' goaltender very well, Laurent Boissois and XJ. Oh, yeah.

He knows them, and they know him. I think that's a really, really fascinating subplot. Vegas defends very, very well. Ehlers is healthy. Stone's coming back. You know, the whiteout in Winnipeg, somebody was saying to me the reminder of, you know, when they met in the semifinal in 2018, how the Golden Knights kept the lights off until right as Jets practice was supposed to start. Like they couldn't even go on the ice early because it was still dark. Vegas loves their old school mind games.

To me, it's that Vegas defense. They play very, very good team defense. Can Winnipeg penetrate that? And the second thing to me really is like Winnipeg's guys look like okay deep breath we made it they seem like a really refreshed bunch does that carry over into the series and finally it's the edmonton oilers facing off against the los angeles kings we saw it last year elliot it was nasty i think we expect the same this time around this one gets going on monday nasty. I think we expect the same this time around. This one gets going on Monday.

Yeah. Super mean series. Like this is why the Kings went out and got Kevin Fiala, right? Oh yeah. Last year they couldn't beat the Oilers because they couldn't score. So this to me is Fiala time. It is his time to come out and he has to have a big series because you know the Oilers can score. Another series where goaltending is really interesting, Skinner-Corposalo. At the beginning of the year, if you said the Kings and the Oilers were going to play each other the first round, you weren't picking Skinner-Corposalo as your goalie matchup.

Yeah, that's true. And if you were, I hope you won like $130 million playing lotteries this year. I really like Edmonton. I think they're deep. I think they've got people playing in the right roles. I think they've got a lot of good things going for them. You know, one of the things, Jeff, I looked up, they finished second in the year in regulation wins this year. In the 17 cups of the salary cap era, teams in the top five of regulation wins

have won 10 of those cups. Teams in the top seven have won 13 of those cups teams in the top seven have won 13 of those cups and the lowest team to win a stanley cup was st louis in 2019 they were 14th you know regulation wins is a stat that works in the playoffs i like the way edmonton's going in you know last year this series almost turned on dry sidles injury right but m? But McDavid just put the Oilers on his shoulders and won the series. I think in a series like this one where it's going to be nasty, health is going to be a big deal too. Edmonton has the two best players, and that's no insult to anybody in Los Angeles.

Edmonton has the two best players. If they're going, the Kings are going to have to score. They could not score last year and they lost. They have to score this year or they won't be able to win. Elliot, I'm like you. I'm like Amel. I can't wait. This is the best time of the year. There is nothing like NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey. All right, on that, Elliot, taking us out is an Australian singer-songwriter

with a bag full of tricks. Fingers, Mitchell Cullen, has played multiple international festivals, from Hungary to India, showcasing his eight full-length records. During his live show, Cullen has played up to four instruments at any one time while on the mic. From his latest record, Fly Away, here's Fingers, Mitchell Cullen, with Everybody Movin' on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Enjoy the playoffs. Open up and realize, now it's time to come alive. Everybody's dancing now, let me see you moving. Put you in a trance and never stop moving.

I want you to be satisfied, a kiss to fingers synthesized. Open up and realize, now it's time to come alive. Everybody's moving. Never stop moving. Everybody's moving Never start moving