32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Schools Out For The Summer

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

And exhale! Jeff and Elliotte cover the Johnny Gaudreau story from all angles (1:00) including how the negations went between the Flames and the All-Star winger, when Columbus joined the conversation, and what happened to New Jersey, Philadelphia and the Islander.They also touch on several other topics including Patrick Laine and the Blue Jackets (28:00), Nazem Kadri (29:30), John Klingberg (31:30), Ottawa (32:20), Carolina (35:25), Washington (38:45), Tampa Bay (40:00), New Jersey and Ondřej Palát (42:25), Oilers and Maple Leafs goaltending (45:30), Detroit (50:40), Buffalo (52:30), Toronto (53:40), St. Louis (56:00), Vancouver (56:50), Anaheim (58:00), Pittsburgh (59:10) and if we’ll see tampering accusations (1:02:00).This was our season finale! Thank you to all the listeners for spending the 2021-22 season with us. Thank you to all the folks who sent us tweets, DMs, emails and voicemails. This podcast is nothing without you.Check out the limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: Parker Millsap - RollingListen to all of his music including this track on SpotifyThe first bumper track in this podcast was by Heaps - Didn’t Matter AnywayThe second bumper track in this podcast was by Mike Edel - casseroles & flowersThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Audio Credits: Bally Sports Ohio.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.

So I do have a cigar at the end of every free agent day. At the end of every year, I have one. I was working on a signing late last night after we were off the air, and I actually had the cigar in my mouth when I put it out there. Did you feel like J. Jonah Jameson of Spider-Man with a cigar in your mouth, banging your fist on a table, finishing up your day at work? No, I never think about that.

I try to think of something more regal than that even though i am the antithesis the antichrist of of regal all right back to johnny gudrow elliot we'll get to some proper thank yous at the end of the podcast but i do want to start by saying this is our final podcast so to everyone listening right now and anyone who has downloaded listened dropped in maybe dropped out and then came back or however you consume this podcast. Thank you. This will be the final podcast of the season for the three of us. Let's begin then, Elliot, with the big story, the shockwaves still being felt.

Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus Blue Jackets. And the question for everybody, I suppose, is what happened here? This was like Ninja style by Yarmouk Kekulain and Thief in the Night, all of it. How did this happen? I spent a lot of time over the past 24 hours just trying to piece this together. I knew we'd have to talk about this on the pod and I really spent a lot of time. Now, the thing that made it more challenging was i think a lot of the particulars the flames gudro's inner circle they don't want to pour gasoline on the fire they know this is painful especially for the flames fans and the organization so they don't want

to put gasoline on the fire but here's the timeline as best as i could give. First of all, let's go back a year. Last season ends. The Flames miss the playoffs. Very disappointing season. Yes. Markstrom starts off great. He gets that concussion. It's never the same. Jeff Ward is replaced by Daryl Sutter.

It was just a hard, hard year in the Canadian bubble for the Flames. And at that point in time, I think there were some contract offers. I think there were some talks, but they weren't anywhere near what the Flames did here. And quite simply, a year ago, they wouldn't have offered that. So there was no real traction and Goudreau made the decision, we're not going to talk during the season. And he stuck to that. He had a great year. He delivered on the ice. The team had a great year. They won the division. And he stuck to that. He had a great year. He delivered on the ice. The team had a great year. They won the division. You know, he had 90 even strength points. He was an MVP candidate. He did everything that he needed to do to shoot himself into the stratosphere of potential

contracts. And the Flames recognized it. They were obviously prepared to do it. And then they were happy to do it after the year he had. And even though the playoff ending was disappointing, they had a really good year. And this is what I think happened. Like it's not like Calgary could have tackled Johnny Goudreau or kidnapped him and kept him in Calgary until he signed. But I do believe the paradigm shifted when he went home. And it's just different. All of a sudden, you're back in the Eastern United States, you're around your family, your wife's pregnant, and it's just different. And someone said to me and i think this is a pretty smart person they just felt that if by some miracle the flames could have got the deal done and i have to say like i'm not blaming the flames for this i don't think there was anything they could have done but if there's

some miracle they could have gotten it done while he was still in Calgary. That was the key. And he feels that everything shifted once Goudreau was back in the Eastern United States. It was just a different feel. It was a different vibe. Now there were offers and there were counter offers. They started eight times 9.5. We all know that. And I think Goudreau came back higher.

Like that's what he's supposed to do. Like that's negotiation. I think there were big bonus structures proposed. I don't think the flames were crazy about that at the beginning, but I think they accepted that that was going to have to be the case at the end. And they were prepared to do a bigger bonus structure deal. And I think at the end of the day, they were offering eight times 10 and a half. They weren't going to go higher, but they were going to do eight times 10 and a half. I think everybody knows that now. And I don't know what happened in those conversations between Calgary and Goodrow, but I can say this, the flames believed there was a point where it was

going to get done. And I can tell you that other teams believed it was going to get done. There were teams who believed that Goodrow was going to resign in Calgary on Tuesday. And at the end of the day, my opinion, Johnny Goodrow just said, I don't feel it. It's not what I would like to do. I would like to go back to the Eastern United States. That's what happened. And I will say this. I don't think that his entire inner circle, whether it's family or representatives or anything like that, they were all unanimous,

like you should leave. I think there were people who said you should take it because it's going to be your best offer at the end of the day he didn't feel it and i had an interesting conversation on thursday morning and we're taping this thursday night with an NHL player who said to me that he thinks that COVID and, you know, how a lot of us had to live the last couple of years, and some of us had it much worse than others. I'm not saying that everybody had it the same, but he said it changed the priorities for a lot of players. You take a look at, you know, some players who went a bit closer to home this year or they pick some markets over others.

He said, you know, whatever issues that you may have had, and we all know the Canadian teams have a bit of a, more of a challenge now attracting players, but he thinks that COVID made it even more of a challenge for certain players, especially if a family had to cross the border, you wanted to be closer to home, you wanted easier travel. Now, we're in a point in the world where travel is easier and people seem to be saying, you know what, I'm going to live my life. I don't know that Goudreau did this because of COVID fallout or anything like that.

But the one thing the player said to me is that if Goudreau looked at it and said, I want this easier on my family, there's a lot of players who felt the same ways. after the last two years in case of anything in the future they wanted to be able to be somewhere where it was easier for their families to see them and he said that as much as anything else he thinks hurt the flames i agree with that to the point where i don't think that's just hockey i think this is what we're all going through right now and i think more people are saying if i can nest closer to home then i'm going to nest closer to home it's impossible for anyone to have gone through what everyone's gone through in the last two years and not be affected and not have it shape their judgment and shape their decisions for the future i think one of the things that people wonder about is why Columbus? Okay. And not New Jersey and not Philadelphia or not the Islanders.

Okay, let's get to that. Now, first of all, I would like to say one thing about the whole thing with Calgary. It's like John Tavares in New York. I don't think that Johnny Goudreau meant to offend the Flames or their fans or anything like that, but that's the way it's going to be. John Tavares earned the right to pick his spot in free agency. I don't think he intended to offend the Islanders or their fans, but fans are fans. That's the way

they react and that's the way it is. If there's one thing i would say to goudreau about the way it ended in calgary is i wish he would have said something earlier now i understand he was torn and i understand it's emotional but i think it's pretty clear here it was not in his heart to stay and again that's okay it's his life and he reached free agency but if there's one thing i could change for goudreau i wish he would have told them earlier in the process because it just made it harder and unfortunately the flames and their fans they're never gonna forget and that's the one thing i would just say if i could do it over again for him i would have told them sooner if you're a

fan though you have to know that's a possibility a player is going into his contract year you have to know like you're if you're a Nashville Predators fan you have to know that there's a chance that Philip Forsberg might not come back next season you know Nashville went speaking of Nashville they went through the same thing with Ryan Suter once upon a time this is you know there's a very good John Tavares example. There's a Zidane O'Chara example with the Ottawa Senators. That was different. That was different.

I know that- Chara's not the same. Chara came down to the, they could only sign one, either Wade Redden or Zidane O'Chara, and they chose to sign Wade Redden. Yes. But there are plenty of examples of this.

And I think if you're a fan, like, listen, I remember being, I understand like emotionally how it just rips your heart out. Like I was a, you know, a little boy when Lanny McDonald got traded. I was one of those kids that was really upset that Lanny McDonald was now playing in Colorado. It's the nature of sports, but you have to know that there is that possibility that when you're in the contract year, there is a chance.

I just think Jeff, the longer it goes, the more painful it is. I know. But the other thing that I say to that is the longer it goes, like if I'm a general manager, I know it's easier said than done. I'm talking all this from the backseat. I don't let anyone, if I want them, get anywhere close to free agency because there comes a point where they say, well, I've gone this far. Let's just go the extra couple of weeks and see what's out there. You know what I mean? I understand what Trilliving and Johnny Goudreau's camp, Louis Gross, were trying to do all season.

And we're not talking. There's going to be no comments publicly about it. I understand all that. But I just think that that is just, again, I'm in the backseat. But that is so risky, letting someone get that close. It's not always feasible but i understand what you're saying and we'll get to what i think the future is in calgary and because of this yes and i do think that that changes the future in terms of what they do

with kachok and we'll get to that like i just think that the longer it goes and you know tree living if you watched his media availabilities, he looks stunned. And I think it was because, like I said, there was a time on Tuesday where not only the Flames, but other teams thought he was staying. And then at the last second, it changed. And that makes it even harder.

Yeah. So let's go into... New Jersey, New York. First of all, I had people saying, well, he didn't go to Philadelphia or New Jersey. He's still 500 miles or kilometers or whatever it is away. To me, that's ridiculous. That's like nothing.

It's a short flight. You could drive there if you really want to. I mean, I thought that was just the craziest criticism. So this is what I think happened. He wanted to go to Philadelphia. Philadelphia was his number one choice. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Once Calgary was done, he wanted to go to Philly.

I was chicken hearted twice in this. Okay. Amal, if you want to put like chicken sounds in this podcast, there's two times you can put it in. Number one was I had people telling me that Philly was never going to be in this. And I refused to say that I was too chicken to

say that because I just thought it's Philly. And at the end of the day, they'll do something and be in this. And they just never were. And I think a couple of things happened. I think there were people in Philly who wanted Goudreau. And liked the idea of Goudreau coming in there and energizing the market and selling tickets and everything. And I do think that was discussed. However, there was also a debate in Philly about

we were 40 points out of the playoffs. Does Johnny Goudreau alone taking all of our cap room solve that problem? That's number one. Number two, I think the Ryan Ellis situation really made them think if we can't don't have Ryan Ellis we have to find defensemen and they made a business decision that there were other things they had to do and look I know the Flyers fans out there are really unhappy they don't agree with the moves i'm not debating that one way or the other right now but what i am thinking is i think

the flyers felt that other moves on the blue line up front were better use of their resources than one big run at Johnny Goodrow. The future will judge that. I think the flyers feel that John Tortorella can make a difference. The players will have a fresh start under him and they think it'll be overall better. And I think they just decided they have to plug a couple of different holes as opposed to one big free agent.

And 82 games from now, we're going to have our answer on that. I think what a lot of Flyers fans, at least the ones that I've heard from, and I got a couple of friends of mine that are diehards, like dyed-in-the in the wool orange fans here. Keep coming back to was that press conference with Scott and Fletcher, where there was the reference to the open checkbook and there was the references to needing more skill on this team. And none of that seemed to come to fruition on free agent day. I'm not going to go as far as to say, you know, I'm, I, I think the flyers may have wanted a redo on that press conference,

but it did set a certain expectation for flyers fans. I think it's reasonable to say that I think flyers fans went into this off season saying, okay, so we now have this organization committed to doing X. How come we got Y instead? I understand all that. I think there were a couple of things. Number one, I think the Ellis uncertainty.

I think that is a huge factor. I agree. I really do think the Ellis uncertainty is a huge factor. I think Philly had a lot of their guys on the market. And because of how bad their year was last year, I think they were doing a lot of them from a position of weakness. Like, for example, if they would have traded, I'm picking a couple of guys here, like a Konechny or a Provorov.

This is not the time to trade guys like that and expect the best return. And I think they just said, it doesn't make sense. And I'll tell you the other thing too, in Provorov's case in particular, one of the things I'd heard was that they really felt that they wanted to see him under a new coach. They just wanted to see it, to see how it would go the other thing too is to move van reams dyke they were being asked for a 2023 first now they got a first from florida in 2024 people i heard didn't want that they wanted next year's first jeff you're the draft guy that's bedard no that's bedard year. And Ryskov.

Yeah, like you can protect them. We know how draft picks get protected all the time. This year's draft is, and we talked about this all season long, this year's draft was good. Next year's draft, you have a shot at a franchise player. A couple of them, actually, a couple of them.

I think Philly looked at the whole picture, the Ellis injury, or Ellis situation, actually a couple of them i think philly looked at the whole picture the ellis injury or ellis situation what the market was to trade some of their guys and they were undervalued because it was a bad year and they knew philly might be desperate and what it would cost to trade van reams dyke and they just said we don't like this picture all of this to get johnny goudreau it's nothing against Goudreau, but I think they said, look, we were 40 points out of the playoffs last year.

The overall picture doesn't make sense for us. And I think that's the decision they made. Fletcher's taking an avalanche of criticism. We'll see where this goes, but I think they are really hoping that Tortorella can light a fire under a few guys and they can create an atmosphere where some of them will bounce back. And I still don't know what they're going to do,

but I think they felt that one Goodrow wasn't the right move for them right now. You know, further to the point about Proveroff, seeing how he is under a new coach and people have heard me say this before. I think the Philadelphia Flyers want to see how he plays withyan ellis which we don't know if it'll ever happen which we don't know if it'll ever happen but i think that they want to give that a shot okay um new jersey devils okay first of all i want to mention the islanders

okay i'm not convinced they were ever in this either at least not to any serious thing. Can I tell you? Yeah. I got a text from someone before he ended up signing with Columbus. It was hilarious. Yeah. Who said, I want him to go to the Islanders just to see if Lou Lamorello can hide the deal until September. That's really funny. If he can keep it a secret until September. NFL kickoff, Johnny Goudreau is signed for the Islanders.

Oh my God. That's actually really funny. I think that's very funny. It's awesome. So I don't think they were really there. And I'll never know because it's Lou Lamorello, but I really don't think they were there. I think the market was three teams.

It was Calgary who went out, and then I think it was Columbus and New Jersey. Now, one of the things I hate doing most is disputing other reports. There's one reporter who was really pissed off at me this year for that, and I called them in advance, and I said, look, I have to do this. I'm really sorry, and they were mad at me.

And I understand that. It's a piss off for everybody and people work hard at these jobs. I know what it's like to have people say, well, what that guy's reporting is wrong and I hate doing it. I don't want this weaponized against anyone in any way. I have found no evidence that New Jersey offered 10 million. Like that rumor was all over the place. I can't find that. I think they offered nine plus and Columbus came in at their offer. And someone said to me when I was telling the story today, they're like, oh, well, Goudreau took the better offer.

Of course. I said, he left $15 million on the table. Like you can't criticize him for that and so i think columbus had the better offer then he started doing his research and you know the funny thing about this was the quote from yarmulke kalan and like he didn't believe it almost immediately he was like are we sure here like? When we realized that this was possible and realistic, that we could get this done yesterday in the afternoon, we got to work. We were excited, and we had to crunch numbers and look at different things, and we all agreed that we just can't pass on an opportunity like this

with a player of his caliber wanting to come here. And obviously, he was wanted by a lot of teams and and and you know we've watched him i don't know how many times and with our scouting staff and and you know continued talks with his agent and and it came through fairly quickly after we realized that we both wanted this and and uh you know there was a deal to be made and we signed it um now i want to say one thing about columbus i think columbus made a big pitch for nazim cadre too i think columbus decided they were going big after someone here i think they went after cadre then goudreau came on them, and they got the deal done with Goudreau first and happily took him. But Columbus is obviously really ecstatic because it kills this narrative

that Yarmou says gives him a rash. Yeah. You know, like they were hard after Kadri too. Does that seem, maybe weird is too strong a word, but I'll use it anyway. Does that feel weird to you considering this kind of feels like year two of a rebuild? You know, whether it's Cole Sillinger and Igor Chinnikov and Kent Johnson, and they drafted, you know, David Juracek and Denton Matejchuk, it still feels like this is a really young team plus Zach Wierenski.

That's why they went after Goodbranson. Because number one, I think they felt they got pushed around. And number two, I think they felt that they needed veterans who had good attitudes and could, A, protect their younger players, and B, I think they felt they needed that kind of a boost. You know, the other thing, too, is they were 20 points out of the playoffs last year. I just think they wanted to get better. It's like Pierre Dorian said, you can have too many prospects.

Like I really liked their group. They all got to get better. Yeah. But I think they said, you know, we need some harder veterans here. So that's where I think that came from. So Goudreau started to do a lot of research on Columbus and he called good Branson cause he knew good Branson was signing there. Like one of the players told me it was like on the flames chat. And so he calls good Branson. He knew he

was signing there. He asked him questions. He mentioned Robinson. He knows really well, but one of the guys I heard was Cam Atkinson, and that's been out there. But I'm going to tell you a story I heard about Cam Atkinson. I confirmed it, and it's true. When Cam Atkinson was traded to Philadelphia last year, he sold his house in Columbus. And even though he's happy in Philadelphia, he bought his house back this year. He sold it, and then he bought it back because he wants to have a base in Columbus. Columbus has been through a lot. And the one thing that they really boasted about was it

changes this impression. People talk about Columbus like it's on Mars. It's not on Mars. It's different than some other places. It's not New York. It's not LA. It's not Toronto or Montreal, but that doesn't mean it's a disaster. There are people who love the lifestyle there. And Goudreau is a quieter guy. One guy who I spoke to today, and he's never even played in Columbus. He said the arrogance of people like just ripping Columbus. He said he understands at times that it's not the sexiest place to play if people understood why ryan mcdonough didn't want to go there right now because he wants to win and they're not close enough to winning yeah but you know he said like it's the nhl and it's not like it's a horrible place and he thought that some of the comments coming out, well, why would you go to

Columbus? He said it was beyond insulting. He said, it's the NHL and it's a good place to live. The one thing I know that there's a misconception there that there's something wrong with Columbus. This is a great city. I mean, I could live here for the rest of my life. It's safe. It's a beautiful city and we got great fans. We've got a great building and great ownership here. And then again, it can give you the small city safe feeling when you go into the suburbs where we live, for example, with great schools. And, you know, as I said, if you become a UFA

and you want to go somewhere else, if you want to live in New York, well, we're not in New York. Or if you want to live on the ocean, then sorry, but that's something we can't offer. But we can offer anything that a professional hockey player needs from things that I mentioned. And if you're a quiet guy like Goudreau kind of is and you're starting a family,

he said there's a lot worse places you could pick than Columbus. So I understood all that. Do you think part of this is, and maybe this is a stretch, but here I go anyway. Do you think part of this is motivated by, we need to stop the narrative that we saw with our Tammy Panarin of players wanting to leave? We need to show the players want to come here. Absolutely. They had to do that. And when they show the players want to come here. Absolutely.

They had to do that. And when they were in it, they went hard. Like I said, they went hard after Cadry. You know what I took out of all that, Elliot? Mm-hmm. Cam Atkinson's trying to force a trade to Columbus, as said by Elliot Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast. Is that correct? No, is there?

Yes, that's 100% true. There's a couple of things there. First of all off the johnny gaudreau page there i'm really happy for eric branson yes four times four like this shows you how how i didn't have a handle on this player and his marketplace i thought he'd be looking at like a one or two year deal for two million dollars per season When I saw four times four, I was just, how can you not be super happy for this guy? I was thrilled for Goodbranson on that deal.

I didn't see Johnny Gaudreau coming to Columbus. I didn't see four times four coming for Eric Goodbranson, but good on him. Yes. And I should say the second thing I should say that I was chicken about was I heard in the afternoon that Columbus was really big on him. Couldn't get confirmation and probably should have gotten on it faster than I did.

But it's one of those things you throw it out. Like Jeff, you're on the desk there. And if you throw out, Hey, Columbus is bidding for Goodro and it turns out not to be true. You look like an idiot. And I was chicken.

I was too chicken. There was, you, you know, the one that I had a tough sit on I know I mean you feel like do it faster next time chicken you're just like just relax

just sit just sit that's okay just sit just walk away that was a pretty funny moment. It's been an hour on a black tarp laying down. I'm feeling so small, I'm feeling just fine. I'm home in the quiet place, the wind upon the grass. I feel the waves sending me back. And I know it's like we're never going to be this way, this way again. Let's get to Calgary here in a second.

Let's close as much of the loop as we can here on Columbus. The one player that I wonder about now, and I think we all wonder about, is Patrick Laine. He's a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. What happens here? So in the middle of all of that craziness on Wednesdaynesday i did hear some rumors about linea getting dealt we know now yarmulke kalina said that's not happening the thing i look at is if you have a chance to get johnny goodrow and it's that good for your entire situation then you do it and you worry about the consequences after and that's exactly what he's going to do

i think the bigger question now is you said it before when you're in that chair you have to rule with your head as opposed to your heart look at what tampa bay just did they came two wins from a third consecutive stanley cup and before ryan mough can go home, they're telling him, look, like we're going to have to trade you. So you better work with us on this one. And now that's easier said than done when you've won two Stanley Cups. I think it's harder for the situation Calgary was in, but what it does do is force them be more on top of Matthew Kachuk.

And I just think that there's going to be a conversation very soon where the Flames sit down with Kachuk and they say, look, we have to know here. We have to know. We waited one. We can't wait for another. Players earn the right to use their leverage. I've got no problem with that, but calgary here has to know sooner they have to force the issue and i'd expect they're going to try to do that and there are still the great unsigned and that is led by nazim kadri what's

happening there frege we all thought this was big huge market. It's going to be a big free agent day splash. He's going to get big money on big term. What's going on? I think what Kadri's doing, I've heard, is he is waiting because I think there's some teams who want to sign him and they need to clear a room. I think Colorado's still a possibility and I think the Islanders would be someone else,

but I wouldn't assume those are the only two we interrupt this program to bring you a special report well we can't do our last podcast of the year without a little bit of car cash because Alma loves them so much he requested one but just a quick thing about about Nas and Codry and Calgary. There were some reports out there that Calgary was making Codry a mega offer. I don't think that's the case, at least not as I do this on Friday morning. I think the Flames and Codry have talked. I think the Flames

are trying to be careful. So if the Flames do really go into this, and I got a sense that it wasn't necessarily the case, I don't think it's going to be with a massive offer. I think the Flames are trying to be smart and careful in the aftermath of what happened with Johnny Goudreau. And even though they like Kadri as a player and tried to trade for him once, I don't think a massive offer is what's in the future here.

Now, back to our program. So that's kind of where we are. But I think some teams have said, this is our offer, but we need to do something first. So I think he's waiting a little this is our offer, but we need to do something first. So I think he's waiting a little bit. So about John Klingberg, I wonder if the ultimate destination here is the Detroit Red Wings, and we'll get to them in a couple of seconds.

I know they're real busy. I know they already added a couple of defensemen, specifically Ben Sherratt and Ole Mata. I still wonder if they're looking for a right D on their second pair. Curious if that ends up being the destination for John Klingberg. When Carolina made the move for Brent Burns, that one probably hurt Klingberg's camp more than anything else. Carolina probably in a position to offer the most term. Don't know that Detroit wants to go really long term with Klingberg, but I still think that as push is starting to come to shove

with the defenseman, it feels like Detroit may be the ultimate destination here, but we'll see. You're not on Ottawa anymore? For Klingberg? Yes. No, not on Ottawa anymore. Okay.

But Claude Giroux is very much on Ottawa. Oh, yes, he is. And Alex DeBrinckit is very much on Ottawa, and Cam Talbot is very much on Ottawa, And Cam Talbot is very much on Ottawa. And Josh Norris is back with the Ottawa Senators. Pierre Dorian has been one of the more busier general managers around the NHL. Do you have a thought on Claude Giroux? And by the way, the father-son video going through the rink and high-fiving and hugs with the mascot gets me every time as a hockey dad.

Elliot, I'm incapable of not being emotional when I see those types of videos. So home run to the, uh, the Ottawa Senator's social media team for that one. I have to say what a huge week for the Senators, just a fantastic week for that team. The Giroux one gets a lot of attention and that is huge because it brings you credibility. And I'll say this. one of the things i heard about jeru was he didn't just want to go to ottawa if it was going to be like a retirement home like he he wasn't doing this to put his feet up and play shuffleboard and argue about bridge moves five times a week he wanted to know that the sanders were committed to win and they've sure

showed a lot of that i think the other the move that is just as big in a lot of ways is the norris extension and the reason i feel that way is newport represents kachok and they represent norris and the one last year with kachok it got nasty at times and they got the norris dot one done early at a good number he's not going to miss any games anything like that like it's done in plenty of time and as big as jeru is and that's a huge one for them i just think getting norris done cleanly and relatively easily way out before the season that sends a huge message as well. What about Giroux?

I think he's going to have a big impact there. He still burns to win. Giroux is tough. He's got high standards for himself and people around him. Like I said, he's not going there to go gently into the night or collect a retirement contract. I think he wanted to know that ottawa was serious about doing things and they are i mean they went out they got talbot you know they got norris signed they got to brink it they're not fooling around they're in it to

compete and uh that's what he wanted i i think that was a very big part of his comments to them was i want to know that we're not fooling around here we have a chance to win you know the interesting thing now when you factor in we just mentioned norris is back and to bring it is anning claude drew is in if you're dj smith all said you have a lot of options yes you do like i know okay norris chuck and and batherson has been the line and we talked about that oh the hardest thing to put together in the NHL is a legit first line, and Ottawa's got it. But they also have, you know, as we look for Tim Stutzler

to take that next step in his career, man, if you're DJ Smith, you're looking at this forward, this top six, and you're saying, hang on a second here, I've got some options. This is nice all of a sudden. And you know what, Jeff? They're still going to look at the D. So this is a team that's not satisfied.

Are there any teams out there, Alex? I think we're all impressed with Ottawa. Are there any other teams out there that caught your eye that impressed you? Carolina? Yes. Carolina's going to have high event games next year. There's going to be lots of goals scored when Carolina plays.

I think Burns has a lot to offer. And the fact that he waved to go there shows that they convinced him that it was worthwhile because I think he wanted to go to Dallas. Yes. And Dallas was a team they could trade him to without permission. I think, I don't know this for sure, but I think the other two teams were Nashville and Florida. But he needed to give permission to go there, and he did.

And I think that's a fantastic pickup for them. I'm a big Burns fan. And I like the Pacioretty-Coughlin deal too. Pacioretty's got one year left. He's battled a lot of injuries, but he still scores a ton of goals. And, you know, the Coughlin kid is interesting. First of all, I spelled his name wrong. I felt terrible about it.

I also spelled Patrick Reddy's name wrong in the tweet. Like it was a complete disaster of a tweet, but I spelled Dylan Coughlin's name wrong. You know, I was on NHL network and I was mentioning him and Ken Danico said he really likes Coughlin. And, you know, the one thing I heard about him was when he was in the AHL, whichever team he was on, I think it was Chicago.

I can't remember. Like their whole power play was get it to Coughlin so he can bomb away. When he went there, it read to me like a Hurricanes, we want this guy for a reason kind of play. And I think Carolina, they're going to score a ton of goals and they're going to be a load to handle. And you know that Brindamore is just going to

unleash those two guys as part of his team. Well, that's what the whole organization was talking about coming off of that Rangers series. We just needed more goals. The one question that I have about Carolina, I think is the question that everybody has

about the Carolina Hurricanes. Now that Vincent Trocek is gone, can Jesperi Kutkiniemi take that spot? Can he hang there? We don't know. We don't know. He's 22 years old and we all, listen, we've gone over where his career has been

and how it started and what happened with Montreal and the offer sheet and the season with Carolina, et cetera. I think one of the questions is, can Jesperi Kutkiniemi be a consistent second-line center behind Sebastian Aja? That, to me, is the big question. And the other one, of course, is,

can Martin Natchez find that game that we all think that he has? The goaltending. I was thinking about something. With Brent Burns going to Carolina, because I think you wonder about you know the motivation for a team to bring in a player like brent burns because make no mistake about it like this guy gallops and this guy can wander too i guess part of the attraction of watching brent burns i'm with you like it's he's just a flat out fun guy to watch does the presence of jacob

slavin who's probably the best defensive, like pure defensive defenseman in the NHL, make it that much easier to bring in Brent Burns? You put those two together and it's a classic, you know, Brent, go play wherever you want because Slavin's back there to lock it down. It's Brent Burns. You just unleash him.

It'll be fun. Anybody else grab your attention? Washingtonhington they have completely new net minders kemper but i have to say i like the dylan strome move i love connor brown in a contract year going there for a second round pick i think that's fantastic for the Capitals. And, you know, I heard, I think they were in on Marchman. I think they were in on Mikheyev. They got some health questions, things here and there. Like Kemper has proven that he's good enough to do the job. And like, I've heard rumors that they're still resigning Sherry.

I don't know that that's the case. When I asked Brian McClellan about that on the draft floor last weekend, he said it's not close or anything, but I like some of the players they brought in. You know, I was happy for Charlie Lindgren and here's why. Yeah.

I like watching AHL guys get paid to get in the NHL. Charlie Lindgren had a great season last year for Springfield. He was flat out fantastic. 28 year old goaltender. I love that he fantastic. 28-year-old goaltender. I love that he got a three-year contract over three million bucks.

Yeah. It's always one of my favorite stories. The AHL guy that gets up and gets the NHL deal after a really good American Hockey League season. I make no mistake about it. Charlie Lindgren was great last year for Springfield. One of the things that was pretty interesting was the flurry of signings by the Tampa Bay

Lightning. Sergeyev, 8.5 times 8. Sorelli, 6.25 by 8. Chernak, 5.2 by 8. Bam, bam, bam, bam. And everyone said, how much salary cap does Tampa have that nobody else has? 18 million over the cap. Still the best t-shirt going.

Your thoughts on these deals? I think the one that everyone looked at and said, oof, what a bargain this is going to be when he starts piling up Selkies is Anthony Cirelli at 625. They're unbelievable. And it is amazing to me that in a couple of years, Circa Chav is going to be making more than Hedman, right?

Yeah. But you do what you do to sign up people. And, you know, Palat kind of goes back to what you were talking about before. Tampa, right now, they can sort of use that they're the team everybody wants to play for, right? Yes. Because the tax situation, good team, good organization.

But there's a lot of other teams where if the gm had made the decision that they did with ryan mcdonough that would have gotten criticized much harder than tampa did because people look right now at because they've won and they're kind of the model franchise, the way they do business, you can do that and people will credit you for it. But if you're a franchise where you aren't as successful or are a franchise that's run poorly, people are going to clobber you for that kind of stuff. And right now, people understand that's the way that Tampa does business. And they give you a number and you

fit or you don't fit and they had to make some hard decisions mcdonough and palat really hard decisions i think softening the blow though is you have someone that can step into a second pairing situation and sergachev we talked about this a couple of podcasts ago like didn't it always strike you as odd and it seemed like a real luxury having Mikhail Sergeyev as a third pairing guy? Like, I always looked at that and said, wow, like we all did. Like, how good is Tampa's defense if Sergeyev's on your third pair? And it makes it easier to move someone like McDonough when someone like Sergeyev is on

your third pair. And they got there. Do you have a thought on Palat going to New Jersey New Jersey was you know a little bit busy too we talked about Vitek Vanacek before um and Andre Palat five-year deal six million on the AAV New Jersey was definitely one of the rumored destinations for him I wonder if they just had to wait to find out if they were getting Goudreau and they didn't get them and later that night palat was done at least verbally wasn't finalized until thursday they're a team that's young they want to take a step next year the guy's a winner obviously he's made a lot of huge clutch plays he's a guy who makes hard

plays too he's the kind of guy they need it's a big ticket but when you're growing that's the price you got to pay that division's getting better oh yeah i don't know that vtech vanacek can be the guy there but if he can then they've they've solved a huge problem, Blackwood's got to come back. A year ago, remember, Blackwood was on Team Canada's radar. Yes. And then this year, it was a nightmare of a situation that the team was estranged from him, and he was estranged from the team. And I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle,

but everybody was frustrated with each other. But now you've got a chance to start all over, and they need him to be great. I'll be interested to see what happens with Severson this year because he's in his last year, and I think there have been some talks, but I don't think they've gone very far. So that'll be an interesting one to watch too. I just think that team's getting better.

I think another year of development for players like Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, etc. I know he still needs to be signed. I know they've got to get Bratt signed, but Dawson Mercer, next step. You know how I feel about

Nico Huescher. I love Eric Holla as their third line center. I don't know, man. I'm getting seduced by New Jersey all over again. As you said, tough divisions. It is a really tough division. in my eyes when we're out of our minds

pillow talk a little scheme leaving it all behind I'm not moving on I'm just a little bit gone I'll let it slip through my fingers.

Show me everything that you see. It feels like a dream. It feels like a dream. We once had. If you let go, then hold on to me. Okay, a couple of other things. I want to get your thoughts on a couple of goaltenders. Jack Campbell, no surprise.

Five times five. Edmonton Oilers, he's theirs. Edmonton, you know, bringing back Brett Kulak. Thought that was a really great move. Vander Kane re-ups with the Edmonton Oilers, he's theirs. Edmonton, you know, bringing back Brett Kulak, thought that was a really great move. Evander Kane re-ups with the Edmonton Oilers as well. Let's begin with Jack Campbell in Edmonton and then sort of spin off to other players. I think this was one of the worst kept secrets

in the league that Campbell was going there. And Mike Smith, that guy played his heart out last year. He's not going to play next year. And one of the players reached out to me after the season and said, I wish Smith would come out and just say, this is what I was dealing with. Everybody shut the hell up. Because, you know, they said he really played through a lot.

Like, look, Koskinen was struggling. Skinner wasn't ready. And Smith just did whatever he could to give them everything he could. Look, Koskinen was struggling. Skinner wasn't ready. And Smith just did whatever he could to give them everything he could. And they won two playoff rounds. But he was done. And the thing is, Smith playing, it's really a roller coaster sometimes. And he gave them everything he had.

But I think the one thing that they were looking at is they don't need a superstar in goal. And to be honest, there aren't that many superstars in the NHL in goal anymore. Correct. You just need someone who will be stable and make saves. And they believe that Campbell is that guy. They believe he can give them stability in the position. Again, same deal in Toronto. If there's something that really upset the players about the way that Campbell was perceived

in the market, like he played a bunch of games last year with a broken rib, which is crazy. Like I can't sit in my backyard with a broken rib. And so I think that all they're asking from Campbell is just be stable. And if he does that, they think they're going to be fine. I think Campbell will feel that he has something to prove because Toronto was not going to give him that contract. Yeah. And you know what?

Unfortunately, I think there's some hard feelings between Campbell and the Leafs and on both sides about the way this all played out. I think that the negotiation went off the rails and it never got back on. And I think there's some hard feelings everywhere. But he'll be motivated to prove something.

And all the others are asking him is be stable. And if they get that are asking him is be stable. And if they get that, they think they're okay. You have thoughts on any of the other moves by the Oilers? It's re-upping with Brett Kulak. I really like the way Brett Kulak. That was big for them. I thought he was going, Frege.

I was one of the guys that bit. I thought, oof, it's gotten too late. Kulak had a chance to look on the other side of the mountain. He's gone. Secret's out. He looked so good on that Oilers blue line. Good for them for getting that done. I heard Carolina was one of the teams that really was interested in Kulak.

No surprise. The underlying numbers are outstanding, and we all know how Carolina values players like that. That doesn't surprise me at all. Evander Kane returns. And as we find out, not only breaking his own news, but also including his AAV, which I thought was a really nice insider touch.

New insider, Evander Kane. It's late at night. I'm going to sleep. Someone texts me, Evander Kane just signed. I'm like, I hear Evander Kane signed. And people are like, you know, he broken himself like two minutes ago. I'm like, I hear Evander Kane sign and people are like, you know, he broken himself like two minutes ago.

I'm sorry. It was, it was one in the morning, everyone. And I was tired. Look, that's a big one for them. It's a big one for him. Like there's still uncertainty here, right? Like we don't know where this is going to go. I asked, has he dropped his grievance?

And as we record this, I'm told the answer's no. Like he didn't drop his grievance and as we record this i'm told the answer is no like he didn't drop the grievance so as we record this on thursday night he's still intending to proceed with the grievance so we'll see where this all goes look i think edmonton tried to get connor brown it obviously didn't happen the pull yarvey thing they want to move him for a pick. It's hard right now because the teams that are at the cap or close to the cap who are interested in him, they didn't want to do that. I think there was at least one deal out there. Edmonton was talking to a team, and they were told

they have to take a player back who's got a salary, like a decent salary. Edmonton's like, we can't do that. And if you trade with some of those other teams, you know you have to attach something with it. So I think Edmonton's like, we can't do that. And if you trade with some of those other teams, you know you have to attach something with it. So I think Edmonton's a bit stuck there right now. I think there's people interested in Pooley RV. They don't like the trades that they're going to have to make.

So I still think they'd like to do some things. He is a restricted free agent, as we've talked about before, and he has arbitration rights. Like I'm very much of the belief that the Oilers like him, but they just don't like him at the number that the arbitrator is going to give them. I agree with that. I think, like I said, I think they want to

move them to create space, but the problem is not that they can't move them. The problem is that they can't do it to create space. Busy team, Detroit Red Wings. We talked about it going into free agency that the Detroit Red Wings were going to get players.

I don't know whether it was pressure from above or an edict from above that okay we have enough young players right now we need to get some nhl bodies in here get them under contract get some term you can't be losing nine too late in the season you can't i think he wants a more competitive team. I agree. And in comes Ben Sherratt, four years, 4.75 on the AAV. In comes Andrew Kopp, five-year deal, AAV 5.6. Kubelik comes in, two years, 2.5. David Perron, two-year deal, 4.75. Ole Mata at two and a quarter.

Mark Pissick comes in. Lee Huso had already come in, and then you have the new coach in Derek Lalonde. Yeah. And I still don't think they're done yet. Klingberg, eh? I'm still hanging on to that one. I'm still hanging on to Klingberg in Detroit. We'll see what happens there.

What says Elliot Friedman about Steve Iserman's work? Well, look, like he's made them a more competitive team. Like that's what it is. I think Huso was one of the goalies toronto really liked i think once flurry was no longer an option for toronto i think huso was a guy they were really interested in but detroit got him for the last few years we've all looked at that division

the atlantic and said okay it's tampa it's florida it's tor, it's Boston. You know, what's the order? And now I think you have to look at Ottawa. You know, Detroit, I don't know that they're a playoff team yet, but I think you're going to have to take them a lot more seriously. Their games are going to be a lot competitive. And I really do think, like, you look at that game with Toronto that happened at the end of last year, the 11-9 game or whatever that was. What did they lose to Arizona? 9-2. Like, I think Eisenman just said enough is enough with this stuff we want to be harder to play against they you know

buffalo i still think is another year away they're not making big moves right now no yeah they they have been better and you know buffalo is still a year away although they trended better at the end of last year and i think montreal is going to be better than they were last year, but they're still a bit away. But I just think that Ottawa sent a message like the days of those four teams and the other four teams don't really matter. Like that's over. That's over now.

Like we're making noise. And I think what Detroit has done is they said that we're not there yet, but what was last year no more yeah i also think in the back of teams like ottawa and detroit's minds are the fact that the boston bruins are going to be without a lot of key players until christmas they're going to miss the first half of the season and we can really gain ground on a team like the boston bruins and we still don't know about patrice bergeron and what's going to happen there. So if you're going to do it,

now's the time where you might get a chance to bump one of those big teams out of the blocks. So I understand what Ottawa is doing and I totally understand what Detroit is doing. It all makes sense. Maple Leafs. Elias Samsonov comes in as a backup. We've already talked about Matt Murray. Adam Gaudov comes in as a backup we've already talked about matt murray

yeah adam goddett comes in and a little bit of business nicholas obey kubel uh comes in as well your thoughts on what the maple leafs were able to do i like the obey kubel signing i mean i heard they were interested in aston reese it's a similar kind of player like a a four checker really good one so i'm not surprised that they did that at all. You know, they signed Jordy Bannon and Victor Mete on Thursday night. Luke Fox was on top of both those things. Those guys could play with the Marlies a little bit too, but all of a sudden you've got nine defensemen there.

I think we're all wondering what's going on here. You want to ask the obvious question here is uh if you're rasmus sandin what are you thinking i don't know if that really changes anything with sandin i mean it's insurance yes i still think they want to keep them i think they wanted to get them for the same number as lilligran you know it's not happening and if you take a look at the contract that bokefist signed which was 2.6 i think sandin's going to see himself a lot closer than that, than he is going to be the Lilligran. So we'll see where this goes, but they definitely signed some insurance. Like I said, I think they really were interested in Fleury,

didn't get him. I think they were really interested in Huso, didn't get him. Went for Murray. I think the Samsonov gamble is really interesting. Like that's what Casey DeSmith signed for. That's a little bit more than Craig Anderson signed for. I wonder if he could have gotten more out there, but it's very clear that he's looked at it and said,

I could win the job here. And then I'm going to be out in the market in a year. And he's gambling on himself. You know, the interesting thing about him is there's no questioning his talent. No questioning his talent. What people said to me is there should be no place in the nhl where it's better for russian players to succeed than

washington just because of who they've all got there yeah and it didn't work for him and at times there were games where it looked like ovi was looking at him like what the hell's going on here so like that's the one thing that people mentioned to me about Samsonov, but he's gambling about himself in a situation where he will have a chance at times next year to prove he's the number one goalie. I never dislike people betting on themselves. St. Louis Blues.

I still think that they're in the market for a defenseman. I just don't think that all three of Krug, Perunovic, and Scandella can stay, right? I agree. Now, Krug has a no trade, and as far as we know, they haven't gone to him yet. But usually what you try to do is get a deal done, and then maybe that's what they're doing. I thought the Rob Thomas extension was a huge piece of business for them. Eight years, $65 million. Yeah.

$8. Yeah. 8.125 paid. I think that Thomas is just a huge signing for them. Big one. But I agree with you. I think they've been really quiet and I think there's more to come there. Like I think there's more to come with the Islanders. I do.

They've been way too quiet. You know, Winnipeg, I'm not surprised they're quiet and free agency. That's kind of who they are. And there's business still to be done there. Wheeler. You know, the other one too is Vancouver. You know, I like the Lazar signing.

Three years at a million per. They went out and they got Mikheyev. That's a good deal for him, man. 4.7 over four. Or times four. That's really good. I think man 4.7 over four or times four that's really good i think nashville's still looking for another forward i thought cop was going there i did i really thought cop was going there you know like i did my last radio hit a season there on thursday they were asking about jt miller i i think it's a perfect perfect fit for them but i just don't know if they have what it takes to get this deal done

and the other thing too is rangers like i think they were talking to vancouver i think they were talking to st louis about something although i did ask them at the draft they said they had nothing going with st louis but i heard they've been talking for a while there's a lot of teams in this league i i still think have business to do. It's more trades than free agents. Like, like it wouldn't surprise me, for example,

if both Alberta teams were looking at Sonny Milano, but you know, Calgary could do that now if they wanted to, I think, but you know, Edmonton would have to make a move, but I think he's kind of waiting to see what's out there. I want to end on a couple of quickies here. I was happy to see Ryan Strom get five times five

with the Anaheim Ducks. With Getzlaff gone, they've got two young centers that they're going to build a lot of this around. We already know about Trevor Zegers, and we're going to really get to know Mason McTavish next year, who I think everybody's going to really love. And I think having a guy like Ryan Strom there as a center can only help.

Yep. Both those two young players specifically, specifically for age Mason McTavish. I think they see Mason McTavish as their future first line center and Trevor Zegers as center number two in that organization, which is, listen, that's a great spot still in the NHL.

But I just think that that's how highly they think of Mason McTavish and having Strom there, I think is a. Strom's going to do a lot of their heavy lifting. It's like Seattle. It sure is. I think Seattle was going to be in on Cadry

and then you get Shane Wright, you have Buneers and you've got Yanni Gord there. Yeah. And then, then it doesn't really make sense, but Yanni gourd can do the heavy lifting when necessary that's what ryan strome can how'd you like ron francis doing the

contract signing on the ice with shane right yeah practice it's a really nice really nice touch there i think we should also mention pittsburgh how did they do it at the end of all of it they just kept the band together at the end of all of that talk they just kept the band together at the end of all of that talk they just kept the band together i think one of the things i wonder i haven't asked anybody about this but i was thinking about this today like just making notes for the podcast new owner fenway yeah i don't know if it would have been any different than if the old owner was still there and maybe it was mary lemieux so maybe not but i i just wonder if a new owner came in and they looked at the reaction around

the city and the fans wanted Letang to stay too. You know, the Fenway sports group took a lot of heat in baseball for Mookie Betts. And he won a world series. Yeah. Letting Mookie Betts, like just saying, oh, we can't afford him. And he goes to the Dodgers and they won a World Series there.

And he's still one of the best players in the sport. And I just wonder if they looked at it and said, you know, we got this reputation in baseball. We're not doing that here. And it's very clear, like the market wasn't ready for it. You know what? The players weren't ready for it. They weren't. You know, I think the biggest thing with Malkin was getting him to cool down.

After Monday, when he was so emotional, how do we get him to cool down? And I'm sure Crosby played a role in it. I'm sure others played a role in it. But I think the whole thing was just, can you get Malkin to cool down? And they got to that point by Tuesday afternoon and they had it done that night. It sounds like it came together really quick. I'm sure there were other teams out there that

were offering big money, but short term. Yes. Like a two year deal at big money. I'm almost positive that's the truth. Well, I think what happened was what i heard was teams were looking at their cap situation and they were saying okay we can do one we can do two we can do three what can we do but i think there were teams out there gonna offer them one year deal with a low salary but easily attainable bonuses because he's over 35 right

yeah so the four-year deal he signed at 6.1 million they felt it was offered malkin felt it was offered way too late or discussed way too late but the thing is like it's pretty obvious here that in that period where malkin said he was going to free agency at least there was some contact between the two sides where it was kind of like okay if, if we get back to this, that four times 6.1, how's it all going to work? And I'm sure that they kept their lines open and said, all right, this is how it's going to work. And so when the time came that Malkin said, all right, I'm back, they were able to put it together relatively quickly.

You know what's a sneaky good signing? Jan Ruta. Yeah yeah he's a good player three years 2.7 aav on that blue line very curious to see what's going to happen on that blue line someone told me last week that pittsburgh had a d trade at the draft that fell apart late but they wouldn't tell me what it was so they got to do obviously they got to do something there anything else you want to get to on the pod today the last thing i want to say is i think we're going to see some tampering accusations why why this event instead of any other year it was too obvious this year okay so what i'm curious about is, does this become anything actionable? Like, does the league go after this?

Because I got told on Wednesday night after I got done work, like, look out, there's going to be accusations here. But I wonder if there's going to be formal complaints or investigations because there was an investigation I thought happened a couple years ago and the team told me they never complained but i think the other team did get called about is there anything here we need to know but i know there were a lot of screams about tampering on wednesday night we'll see if this goes anywhere okay uh there is something about this show and that we are going off air for the summer yeah you uh you said goodbye to everybody at the beginning of the podcast so yeah i started off i always get the goodbyes out of the way first and just get ready to write into the good stuff yeah you know what i have to say that you made me look bad because you're like goodbye and i didn't say

anything so you made me sound like i didn't care about the audience elliot doesn't care oh look there's my navel. No, I just want to say I hope everybody has a great summer. And we appreciate all your listening. We appreciate all your DMs. We appreciate all your tweets and various social media questions. But the thing I would like to say that I should have written in the blog that i didn't do is every year i'm always appreciative of all the people that have to put up with me asking them annoying questions because i can't get the information that we can get for this pod or the blog uh without being really

annoying and i know i am really annoying so i just want to say i appreciate the people who put up with it jeff i forgot to thank you shocking thankocking. Thank you too, Merrick. A lot of the times you get me here, I'm like frazzled and burnt out for whatever reason. And you focus it. I appreciate it. I focus it by annoying you. That's my secret weapon.

That's my superpower. You focus me with bad ideas. I found a couple more that I had written down on my iPhone, but I'll spring those on you next year. Next season? When we get back to the podcast. Yeah, I can hear the eyes rolling back. And you need some rest. You don't need to be annoyed by me.

So you have a great summer, Frej. You too, my man. And everybody in the audience too. And Amal, thanks as always. Listen, I had, and for reasons I'm not going to get into, a really challenging year. And Elliot, I could not have gotten through it without you and could not have gotten through it without Amal as well. And if anyone out there listening always wonders,

like, you know, Elliot and Amal kind of sound like really good guys on the podcast. I wonder if they actually are. Take it from me, folks. They actually are excellent, excellent teammates. Thank actually are excellent excellent teammates thank you gentlemen and thank you to everybody uh who listened whether you listened only a couple of times this year or you listen you're hardcore and you've listened to every minute of this podcast we really appreciate it thank you so much we'd also like to thank all the musicians that we featured this season

especially jane's party who provided us with an original intro our bumper music as well in this Oh, yeah. Parker Millsap knows how to captivate an audience with his soulful sound. I love it. From his latest record, Be Here Instead, here's Parker Millsap with Rolling on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Have a fantastic summer. You've got to roll with the punches. You've got to roll on a dime. You've got to roll. a dime. You've got to roll. You're coming with me.

Got to roll out. Got to be on time. We got to roll down the highway. Set the cruise control and watch the line. Don't watch the line. Be like it all night That heavy load Be a feather If everybody give a little Then nobody gonna give a lot Thank you.