32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Big Question Heading Into the Trade Deadline

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman delve into the latest with Mikko Rantanen's future with the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Afterwards, the pair delve into some biting comments from a few NHL head coaches around the league on Thursday night (15:23). The fellas also talk about the Alex Nedeljkovic blowup after being pulled Thursday (19:18) and how mad Leon Draisaitl got after the Oilers-Panthers game (22:14). They talk about what the Winnipeg Jets and the Washington Capitals might do ahead of the deadline (26:09). Elliotte talks about all the centers that are available (31:58) and Kyle brings up the Sharks who have a handful of UFA's that could be on the move (36:02). Kyle asks Elliotte about what to expect between the Canucks and Brock Boeser (37:14) and The Final Thought focuses on one of the biggest fish in the trade market, Seth Jones (39:04). Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (43:49).In the final segment Kyle and Elliotte look ahead to the NHL Stadium Series game between the Blue Jackets and Red Wings at the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes (1:07:54). Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

You've got a lot of history in this building some good some bad. Do you like coming here or do you hate it? I like the palm trees in the sunshine, but I can hate these guys Wow Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra at 4x Dom Elliot and Kyle back with you once again and Elliot So I have to tell you Usually there's things I say in this pod, people say that's really good and occasionally I'll say something on this pod and people will say that was horrible, absolutely horrible. And Monday's pod brought one of these moments, Kyle, that was seen as absolutely horrible.

I got a phone call from someone who said do you play Xbox? And I say no, I'm not a video game guy and they go some of the stuff you were talking about on Your last pod sounded like a guy playing Xbox hockey and I go. What do you mean? He goes Carlson to Dallas and he goes even even if he said, even if you're just throwing things out in your head, which I know you do sometimes, he said, that was the worst suggestion I've ever come up with.

And I tried to justify myself and he was stopped me. Like he just said, I'm not listening to any defense. And the funny thing about this Kyle was I then got two more calls saying the exact same thing not with the exact same Xbox analogy, but what were you thinking kind of? I don't know if this was a coordinated effort or it just happened that three people randomly called it, but they were not thrilled with my Carlson thought. They said it wasn't as thought out as some of your other scenarios. And they said, do not go down that road again.

And I have to say, when I started asking them to explain to me why they thought it was so bad, it wasn't even about the contracts. They all agree with me in the sense that if you want to make contracts work because you want a player enough, you want to make contracts work because you want a player enough You can make the contracts work. They said there were just other things about this idea that were so stupid that they felt They should be burned at the stake So they didn't see the fit is what you're That's right, that's right not like an Xbox game where you can make practically anything work, though even that is changing.

They're getting better at what works and what doesn't, even in the virtual world. They won't let you make ridiculous trades? No, they won't. Like the new MLB game that's coming up later in March, and it was really to get into all this, but like they've updated franchise modes where free agency, it's harder to get guys.

Like you've got to put in time with them and they still may not even sign with you. Oh my God. Why would I play a game like that? I get enough rejection in real life. I don't need it in the video game world. Okay, let's get going. Butch Gross is pulling his hair out.

Get to the news. All right, so Thursday night was the answer to the news. All right, so Thursday night was the answer to the Hurricanes' troubles simply swapping to the Hartford Whalers fit. Those look fantastic. The headbands looked great. Rod Brindemore had the tracksuit going

during the morning skate even too, with the matching colors. Everything was coming up Carolina Thursday against Buffalo, including right off the opening draw, tired is Brandon Hagel, Matthew Kachuk, off the hop, wired is Yesperi Kakenyemi and Dylan Cousins. Yes. And Kakenyemi got the better of him too. He's a strong little guy, man.

He's not little. Well, I shouldn't say little, I mean like wiry. That was probably a better better way of putting it. He's very wiry and very strong. And he showed it right off. So that set the tone for them ranting in with a goal and assist to the first period alone. Taylor Hall scores his first as a hurricane and it just seemed like one of

the most important brief exhales for a team that absolutely needed one given what's been swirling around their group and a couple of losses that were piling up for a team that has deep playoff aspirations, Elliot. See Kyle, as much as they need this ranting and thing to get some clarity with it, what they needed more was a W. And you're right about that. Right now, this is the biggest story in the NHL, is what is going to happen with Rantanen over the next seven days. But what makes it an even bigger story is that they were really struggling.

That game against Montreal the other night, that was a really, really ugly performance. And in my blog which dropped last night, I made a joke about that, about having two days off in Montreal and maybe that's the kind of result you get. But it was just a terrible performance at a really awful time. Now what you do with a win like that, your fans are excited, they pounced on them right away. Rantnan got three points, he had them early, he was engaged, you know they changed their power play again, they took Gostispar off it because he was a left-hand shot and it wasn't working with Rantnan. Well they put it back on, they got power play points, like everything that

Carolina needed to happen happened because now everybody's going to calm down a little bit and the other thing about it too Kyle is that for the first time since Rantanen was acquired they're going to play three straight games at home if you go back and look at their schedule every time they were at home it was one or two games they didn't have like a home stand. Well, they just, they get the one, they had the one last night, they're off Friday and they play Edmonton and Calgary back to back

on the weekend. But at least you get a little bit of time to breathe. Now we'll see how this all unfolds, but you feel better just generally because of the W after the game on Thursday than you did going in. Now as you can imagine, there are so many rumors about this flying around that I just don't know what exactly to believe.

And one of the things that scares me the most is that I don't like making proclamations about well this is going to happen or this guy is going to sign or this guy is not going to sign. Because one of the things we've learned about this league Kyle, even though you haven't been around a ton of time, even you know this by now, there's a lot of situations where what was true yesterday is not true today or won't be true tomorrow. So I don't like jumping to conclusions. I'm not saying I'm better

than anybody else. But, you know, I hear people saying he's going to do this or he's not going to do this. And I just think that's a dangerous, dangerous game because people change their minds we're human. You know, I do think that at some point in the next few days, he's going to give them some idea of what he's thinking You know, I believe the offer they made was in that was in the McKinnon area, which is 12.6. We'll see You know one of the things that everybody should be reminded about is if Carolina doesn't trade him by Friday They're the only team that can sign him to an eight-year deal. You know, once, you know, to get an eight-year deal at the end of the season, you have to be

on somebody's roster at the trade deadline. So, if, you know, so that's another hammer that Carolina has in its favor. Now, I've heard all sorts of different things. I still think at the end of the day, Carolina wants to sign them. They believe they have the ability to sign them. And I think as long as that's the case, they keep them. If they don't believe they can sign them, I think the next question becomes, do they believe they can win the Stanley Cup? And if the answer is yes, then I think they take a run for that. I absolutely think they take a run for that. You know it's interesting. So the Athletic had a poll and you know there was a poll this week I guess was anonymous agent poll and you, I guess it was anonymous agent

poll, and I guess Dundon and the Hurricanes took some hits in it. And someone said to me, you know what that's going to do? And I said, what's that? They said, it's going to motivate him to prove everyone else wrong. You remember when Montreal signed Ajo to the offer sheet, people were like, Dundon doesn't have the money, he doesn't want to spend the money.

And he was like, I'll show you, and he did it. And he signed Ajo and he kept Ajo. Like there's a bit of a- Then he went out and got cock in the Emmy. And then he went out and he got cock in the Emmy. There's definitely a bit of a, if you doubt me, I will prove you wrong nature to him. And I thought that it was interesting that happened this week and then someone brought it up to me. But, you know, I think there's teams just waiting and they're waiting to see how this

plays out. We've got time Until Carolina has any reason to believe he's not gonna sign with them I don't think the calculus changes if they sign him obviously it's all Cupcakes and sprinkles and everybody's happy But if they don't I don't think the calculus really changes until unless they have a reason to believe they can't keep them and then Carolina has to make a decision. But we'll see. And I think the one thing is we're all going to be guessing until we have some clarity. And I would assume we'll have some level of clarity about the way this is going early

to mid next week. And the more I've thought about it the last few days, Elliot, I just, yeah, I don't see a scenario where they would honestly move on from him prior to the the deadline. Like I disagree. I disagree. the deadline like I disagree I disagree and the reason the reason I disagree is because I think that front office and Dundon they think a little bit differently and I think conventional wisdom is you don't do it and I don't

think they ever think with conventional wisdom I always try to predict how people think and act do I think he wants to prove he can do it? 100%. 1000%. But, and this is one of the things I wrote about last night, what happens if you get into a situation where you don't think you can sign him and you open it up to everybody? Like everybody gets their shot at Rantanen and maybe there's another team he's willing to sign with Like that's the thing if you want if you feel that you've got to trade them Your best leverage to trade him might be next week Because whoever has him on their roster at the deadline is the only team that can sign him to an eight-year deal.

Yeah, so I guess going back to my thought is that, you know, unless you're right, opening up to everybody, that could change things. But to what you were saying earlier, you know, the hurricanes got to ask themselves, do they think they can win the Stanley Cup well when the question comes down to are they trying to win the Stanley Cup this year the answer is 100% yes. You're correct. So you're only probably making that deal if you're getting something in return that helps you right here and now and so I suppose when you say, open that up to teams if it came to that,

that maybe aren't in the race right now, but see a future long term with Ranton in their equation, then maybe you've got an opportunity to make a deal that still allows you to try to not get any worse and compete for the Stanley Cup this spring. Here's my thing. Here's my thing, Kyle. If, let's just say, and we're opening up the Xbox again.

We're pressing, is there an A button on an Xbox? I don't play any of this stuff. Yes. Okay, we're pressing the A button. We're starting up the game. People are starting to sweat listening to this podcast. The same people who ripped me last week are like, are we gonna have to call him again this week? So let's just say, this

was a team I looked at Anaheim last summer swing at Marcia. So don't get them swing and Stamaw, don't get them. Swing at Stamkos, don't get them. What if they have a chance? And do you think there are players on the Anaheim roster that they could trade right now that maybe aren't as good as Rantin and Arneichus, but they're good? For sure. Okay, are there other teams out there?

Now, this has to work in tandem. Rantanen's gotta play ball, and everyone else has to play ball. But to me, if you really decide to punt on this, and somebody can call me and tell me I'm wrong, it's not gonna be the first time or the last time, but just looking at myself, and I sat down going over scenarios tonight,

your best chance to do it might be this week. Because you're giving someone else the eighth year, providing Renton is ready to play ball. Yes, that's the key. And until we know for sure what he's thinking, it's all just a game on the Xbox. Yes. But as you said, starting the segment, it was a great night for the Hurricanes and a night they desperately needed.

It just felt watching that game that a dark cloud had just temporarily lifted off them. A heavy weight was off the shoulders. One of Brynden Moore's barbells was off the shoulders. Yes, that's good. Yeah, a couple of plates, 225 released. Released off the shoulders of the Hurricanes. Good old fashioned Dave Amber leg day.

After his B-12 shot. Yeah, yes. So meanwhile, Yep. That's one team in the East to keep an eye on. One of the hottest teams in the East over the last, well, coming up on two months here would be the Detroit Red Wings, wouldn't you say?

Mm-hmm. They'd won nine of 11 games coming into Thursday night against Columbus, who beat them 5-2, return match coming Saturday, outdoors at the Shoe. Todd McClellan's quotes postgame about his captain. Oh yeah. Here they are. I can't beat around the bush. He was missing. He's a big boy. He can handle hearing that. He's going to hear it from me. Just a lot of mishandles. Uns unsure plays that he usually makes. I think he was moved down to the third line at one point during that game as they were

trying to find a spark. But I'll be honest, I didn't see that coming here. No, I didn't see that coming either. A couple of really biting comments from coaches tonight. I watched Chris Knoblock post game after the Oilers lost in Florida. And Chris Knoblock, like he doesn't ever raise or change his tone, but he used the word passengers. And even in Knoblock speak, you hear that word and you're like, Oh, okay, the Larkin one. Here's my theory.

Todd McClellan is not really mad at Dylan Larkin. Todd McClellan sees a player who's tired and he needs him to get through that. Dylan Larkin played dynamite. At the Four Nations, he started on the fourth line. He was one of Team USA's best forwards agree. Totally. I think he's wiped out.

I think he is exhausted. Like some and some of these other guys like McDavid's looked at a little bit too. I was going to say, his comments Thursday. Yes. They seem to be in a similar boat. Yes. Getting back up to the emotional level, things like that. And I think that's Todd McCullin's way of saying, Dylan, I know you're tired. I know it's a bit of an emotional letdown, but we need you to shove your sorries in a

sack and get going. We need you now. I don't see that as a coach being mad at a player. I see that as a coach delivering a message to a player, everybody knows we need you to put behind your exhaustion and get back going. That's a coach who's watching this tournament and saying, I'm really happy for my player, oh God, my player is going to be wiped out when he gets back to Detroit and he's lighting a fire underneath him.

That's what I see there. And I thought it was interesting that he said Dylan can take it. Yes. Yeah. It's funny. Dom gave you the same speech after your night of writing the blog before we record this. That's right. He was similarly unimpressed. Hey, suck it up, you knew what you were getting into, you knew the rules going in, that's what Dom said to me. But you know, it's actually pretty funny because I think that's true.

You know, that's what he's doing. He's saying, hey man, I know you're tired, I know you gave a lot for your country, we need you. We need you. We need you. The knoblock thing was interesting too, because you know, the others in a really bad way. Right now he defended Skinner Stewart Skinner postgame. That was that was that was an emotional night. That was that was that was an emotional night

Yes, there were a lot of back in Florida for yes a lot of emotional games that Pittsburgh Philly game was emotional Alex Nadelcovich and then he slammed the handle into the corner as he leaves here I don't know if that's at himself at the coach That's that s now he's screaming. He is upset. He's being pulled. Yeah, he just kind of barking down the bench He slammed the door Well to the to the balls went off his own guys and now this one he's left to his own devices so The goalie down the other end see him down at the far end and he sees the hook is coming in Yes, you I have no problem with that.

I don't. It's been a nightmare year for the goalies in Pittsburgh. I think you can do it once. You can't do it all the time, but I think you can do it once. John Tortorella lost his mind. He was trying to protect his player, which I respect. And every time we watch the Islanders Something really weird happens like things that don't happen in this league ever Thursday night. It was that door being opened

I actually thought Instead of giving Brock Nelson the penalty. I thought they should have given them like a bench major a bench major yeah A bench major? Yeah. You're out of your mind. No, I'm not out of my mind. I know why you're saying that, but I think it should have been a bench major because you have to teach players to be aware in that situation. Like they've had a bunch of conversations about this and they've talked about it, the the GM meetings not allowing the door to be open during play for this exact reason and the reason they don't do that is because then you're gonna have even more skates flying around and they don't

want that but there's been managers before who are said we we can't have this happen because that's the worst case scenario. And the only reason I would have said bench major is because you have to teach people that that can't happen because the kid got hurt. Right. But it was just, guy, it was just like unfortunate timing. Like you can see what's going on. Like Holmstrom's coming off. Fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you can see what's going on. Like Holmstrom's coming off. Deadliner. Fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you see what happened, right? Like Holmstrom's coming off for a change. And so they open the gate for him and then out of nowhere, Nelson's doing a bit of blocking out and like he's got his back to the gate. He doesn't know that it's being opened.

Anyway, it's just a tough play. Yeah, like you don't like to see Patra take the worst of all that with the way he he went in. I remember, gosh, playing minor hockey growing up, one of our defensemen, it was one of those cases where just you thought the gate was fully latched, but it was unlatched just a bit and comes running into it full speed and yeah there's zero give there. Zero give. It's never an easy one to see. Dry Settle was really mad at the end of that Oilers game. So I wondered if, right, so they had, they scored one goal with the goal he pulled with Skinner out to make it 4-3.

And then they take two penalties, but they got a face off in their own zone with a handful of seconds left. And they actually get the puck down towards Florida's end in rather quick order, but Skinner doesn't leave the net again for the final few seconds. I couldn't tell if Dry Settle was yelling at him or just frustration in general because they've lost five in a row and it's been a few years since they've had that happen to them. I think it's probably as much about the losses as anything. I watched the Oilers and see, you look at Washington,

they found a chemistry this year. You look at Winnipeg, they found a chemistry this year, built on what they kind of built up last year. I think the Oilers have lost chemistry. They didn't plan it that way. The whole offer sheet situation kind of threw a grenade into their plans. But if you look at all the things they've had to do, I think their chemistry is off, way off. And the new pieces they've brought in Jeff Skinner hasn't fit Arvid son hasn't fit

It's not It's not fitting as well as it did last year and they've got a Vanderkeen Which I think is really interesting because do you want to hear my theory and all this? Yeah, bring us up to speed there. So Cane's no trade expires today, Friday. Yeah, he now has a partial no trade. And one of the things that's going on is, you know, can they have a situation where he doesn't come back until the playoffs, they can use their full LTIR.

And Kane has made it very clear he wants to play. And my theory on this is he wants to play to prove that he can help the others in the playoffs. You'll remember last year he didn't play the last five games of the final and he was battling injury and so what I think it is is that he wants to come back and play and show he can help them. That's where I think the I don't even know if it's right to call dispute or disagreement. I think that's his motivation. You can never fault the guy

for wanting to play. I think he wants to play and can show that he can help them. And you think the team right now sees greater value in his LTI space between now and the end of the regular season? Is that I do? I do. Now, technically, if the guy is okay, he's got to play. But it sounds like it's going to be close. Right. That seems like a hairy one. It seems like that could present a little more problems. You were just talking about the lack of chemistry there in some ways.

That's not gonna help. Guy wants to play. Show is worth. Yeah, can't fault anyone for that. Nope. So you mentioned Winnipeg and Washington just a moment ago. Winnipeg, it appears they are mere mortals after all. The winning streak

snapped at a measly 11 games. After just falling second half of back to back, they beat Ottawa Wednesday and just came up short against Nashville. That's a hike on a back to back by the way. Yes. That is not a short back to back. No, it's an awful one. Commercially not ideal flying private. I was just happy for them that Ehlers was okay. He looked like he was he was badly hurt there. But anyway, so you got Winnipeg and Washington, the classes of the West and the East. Yeah, everything has come up. Aces for Washington this year for who

they brought in. Everything, so much has gone right for Winnipeg this season. And I liked how you laid out in the blog about they were two teams that a lot of people had counted out and had dismissed, disrespected as last season came to an end. And both of them have gone up and up and up since last year. So for them, what do you see happening between now and the deadline? Now we should say Monday's episode we're going to rip through all 32 teams and check in on where everybody's at. But for the two best in the league right now, what's your read? So Washington, I don't think they're going to do a ton.

I think they maybe get a depth forward, but they have Sonny Milano coming back and they have Ryan Leonard coming at the end of the year. By the way, a buddy of mine went and saw Ryan Leonard in Vermont last week. He said NHL teams are going to hate this guy. He is going to drive people crazy. Crazy. So I think they may add like, as I said on the last pod, I think a Scott Lawton type might be perfect for them.

I've heard by the way that Lawton doesn't want to be traded. He wants to stay in Philly, but you know, we'll see how it plays out. Um, I think that's what they do. Winnipeg. I that's a really interesting one to me. Um, you know, they've, they've gone out and they've made moves before. Kevin Hayes, Monahan, To Foley, to Foley. Haven't always worked for them. I think the other

thing too is like if I said to someone, I said to someone like you really got to do your work here with the Jets because I would go big again this year. I really like their team and the West is loaded. There are so many good teams there, but you kind of have to figure out who they can get, right? Mm-hmm. Because people have Winnipeg on the no trade list so you're limited what you can do

So the other thing I think is I could see the Jets Just saying where our holes Third pair D Who's the most beef mobile beef third D, and maybe a couple forwards. They've got a pretty big forward group. Yeah, but- Being in their room the other day, it's like, God, you forget how large of a man like Adam Lowry is, you go down the list from there.

Like, Gabe Velardi's just like a solid guy. Cole Profetti is slowly growing into the adult version of himself as he's getting older. You can never have too much scoring. I really believe that. You can never have too much scoring. One thing I think is great for Winnipeg is that, I mean, they're obviously in a great position right now to not only win their division, but finish first in the conference. And if you're assuming that one of Colorado or Minnesota is not going to slip down into the second wild card, maybe you're not faced with that type of, not that you're ever trying

to pick your opponents in the playoffs, but maybe you just don't see those types of teams just yet. Just yet. Yes. I mean, I watched Colorado the other night. They are a different team with Nacushkin. Yeah, without without him. They were basically a one line team. That's been them a lot this year, and probably why it was so critical for them to not only get Marty Natchez in that trade but also Jack Drury.

Yes. McKinnon might win MVP again this year. Absolutely, I could see that happening again, Elliott. But I keep looking at Conor Hellebuyck and if Vancouver gets in, like as we've talked about, like there we've talked about, like there's the Vancouver Canucks when Quinn Hughes is on the ice, and there's the Canucks when he's not on the ice.

Yeah. It's gonna be a, it'll be a compelling conversation. But I do wonder, like, so, but getting back to the Jets, I'm not sure how many big swings are available to them simply because of protection So I wonder if they're looking at fill the hole fill the hole fill the hole make ourselves as good as we can And also their chemistry is good They have a lot of guys back who were embarrassed last year, who've all gotten better.

Maybe you take your chance that those guys figure it out. I think the the other thing too here is the centers. I think teams are waiting for clarity on Ratnan. I think they're waiting for clarity on Brock Nelson Islanders won tonight Lammarello is careful See Lammarello's history is he only adds when he thinks they can win when he thinks they can win. Seven points out. Seven points out. With a game in hand.

See, and again, it's so difficult to predict with him, and I would never even try to, but that's why I think teams are waiting too. They think, they think that Nelson's going to be available but it's on his turn it's on Lamorello's terms and then you've got a whole bunch of other centers you've got Jake Evans you've got Yanny Gord you've got Scott Lawton. You've got that group of guys. Braden Shen's at a little bit of a higher level. I know some people have a real big debate on Shen and his contract. What matters is the value that the team has put on him.

And Doug Armstrong sees value in Shen. He's his captain and he said if you don't hit it I'm not doing it. That's the one I think Toronto is really weighing. Is Braden Shen? Yes. And you think they're one of the teams that'd be looking at both And you think they're one of the teams that be looking at both? Given the history with Luke it fits the MO right yeah, it fits the MO for sure But he's also so yeah It fits the MO fits what they need But man, so you're putting him I I guess you could put him as your 2C

and move Tavares down if you really wanted. If you wanted to. You have flexibility. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have flexibility. Pay for your number two center. Well, like the Leafs have, they have a couple things that people want.

Cowan, Minton, their first rounder next year, they don't have one this year, and Ben Danforth has moved up that list. He's had a really good year. Actually, I was on satellite radio the other day and I mentioned those three guys and someone said to me, you better make a note about Ben, you better add Ben Danforth to that. I guess there was a, there was a game a couple of weeks ago where he hit someone and then got challenged and he just clobbered someone in a fight and there were a bunch of teams there and they said, whoa. And then they started watching.

Apparently he's taken big steps this year. And so he's another guy that they've been asked about Hmm yeah, I And then all these teams they kind of know they they know that Evans and Lawton and and Gord and Some of these other players Nick Bukestad. They have a similar price Lawton's a little bit higher I think because he's not a rental but all these other guys have like a similar price. Luke Cunning, another center I wonder about a little bit Tommy Novak, Nashville, you know everybody knows they've had a hard season. He was a UFA going into this year and they signed him right before the season three times 3.5.

But teams like that guy, there were teams that were disappointed. He wasn't available. Tough year in Nashville, scored Thursday against the Jets, it's 12th of the year, but he's another name kind of wondering about out there. Yeah. So I was going to bring up the Sharks because I've maybe got a handful of UFAs, Kannon being one, Nico Sturm, Jan Ruda, Georgiev amongst some others there. So they hit the road. You don't know how much interest there'd be in Georgiev. I know, but I'm just saying, like there's a number of UFAs there.

And they hit the road last Saturday and will remain on the road. They play in Colorado the day before a trade deadline. I just wonder for some of those guys, like how big of a suitcase do you take with you? Understanding that there's a chance you could be moved partway through the trip, and who knows how long you gotta live out of a suitcase for. Well can you pack your kid in it then it's big enough.

Yes a kid get the dog. Room for everybody. Alright Elliot in the Vancouver Canucks and no not necessarily the Elias Pettersson conversation, but the Brock Besser conversation. He's due a new contract at the end of the year, as many, certainly those in Vancouver, are well aware of. You have said multiple times here over the last little while that, especially with the Canucks, things can change in a hurry. Nothing going on, nothing going on. Bang. Contract. JT Miller back in the day, that happened. Kevin Lankinen more recently kind of came out of nowhere. They moved quickly with Pedersen and O'Connor, Marcus Pedersen that is, after acquiring

them from Pittsburgh. So suppose you got to keep that in the back of your mind as you monitor what's going on between Besser and the Canucks, but as it's been understood for a little while now, the sticking point is term. Where are we at mind as you monitor what's going on between Besser and the Canucks, but as it's been understood for a little while now, the sticking point is term. Where are we at there? I just don't think this one's over. I think there's still a week. I think Besser wants to stay.

When you're at five years, it says to me you're not going to seven or eight. But it says to me you could go to six under the right circumstances. What's the right circumstance? Right. Probably a lower AAV if you're doing the extra year. That's what you would think. Like if you take a look at Besser right now, his AAV is 6.65. Now on a five or six year deal,

it's gonna have to be more than that, but it's not outrageously more than that. You're not going from 6.65 to 10. Right, so where's the happy medium? To me it all comes down to how you structure it. What are you willing to do? That's what it says to me is if you're willing to go to 6, how do you structure it to make everybody happy? Alright that'll get us to the final thought, which is brought to you by GMC. So Seth Jones, Elliot, we talked about him last pod. You know, it's been out there that he would be open to perhaps a change of scenery.

The comments after their loss in Utah on Tuesday, where they dropped the 2-1 decision, were the exact same team right now as we were game one. I know you and I don't have an issue with an athlete being candid. I just wonder how the rest of the locker room felt when they heard that. Probably not great. It was interesting. Like there were some people who were really upset about it and they said that it didn't come out until after he'd indicated he wanted to leave.

I think this is going to be a really hard deal to do right now. You know they came out also too on Thursday night in Vegas. They gave up five in the first period to the Golden Knights fought back a little bit after that but it was just an ugly, ugly start. I could see the Blackhawks saying to Seth Jones, look, we're going to try to do this, but this is complicated and we need you not to do that again. Like I said before when I was talking about Nadelkovich, everybody's allowed to do it

once and while I'm with you that we want athletes to speak their minds, there are times where an organization is within its right to say, hey, can't have this right now. And I think Chicago is probably in that position. Everybody knows how Seth Jones feels. Everybody knows he's available. It's a really complicated deal to do because of the contract. And the Blackhawks don't want a futures deal. They want players. Youngish, NHLers who can play now.

They can't be a situation where they just don't have players around bedard anymore. So I look at that is Jones has the right to spout off the one time Now he's just got to play and play his best because that's the way that's gonna help the Blackhawks to move him I'm just not sure it's gonna happen right now and if you had any indication that the Blackhawks were looking at at moving him or this all starts with the player going yeah you know what maybe somewhere fresh wouldn't be the worst thing? You know I think that they were willing to do it. I you know I think they realized it wasn't a great

match but you know we've talked about this ever since the outdoor game. The blackhawks are on heightened sensitivity, right? And all of the shots that the badart has kind of taken, they're on heightened sensitivity, right? So I think they recognize that while this is something they may do you're taking a guy out of your lineup who's playing 25 minutes a night yeah whatever you may feel about Seth Jones contract what are they like without the minutes he provides I mean you could say they're not very good anyway, but it's hard to replace No, absolutely, I think they understand I think they understand

But it's a big one It's a big undertaking and as you say when you've got a team that Want something specific in return and a player that has control the situation Time specific in return and a player that has control the situation time you need time to make something like that get over a finish line and also where where is able for him to go you know Dallas I'm sure that's his preference I'm not I'm not convinced they can do it. Florida, I've speculated about them, but that would take, A, Kachak being out a long time, and B, a willingness to do it. Right, because there's five more years after this one.

Yes, it's complicated. The one thing is, the Blackhawks, they're just sitting there saying, we're down. The one thing is the Blackhawks. They're just sitting there saying We're down Can't kick us anymore. That was a final thought brought to you by GMC We'll take our first break and come back with a thought line special edition thought line on today's pod more 32 thoughts continues after this Okay, welcome back. Time once again for the Thought Line. And Elliot, I got a note from another Play by Play voice this week. Oh no.

Was it Jack Michaels? No, no it wasn't actually. But that would have been, that's a good guess considering what we talked about on Monday's episode. No, I got a note from the play-by-play voice of the EA Sports NHL franchise, James Sobulski. Oh my God.

So you remember. Was it blackmail material? No, no. I thought it was pictures of me from the old score Christmas parties. Well now I know what I'm going to be saying back to him as soon as we're done here. There's got to be some beauties buried somewhere deep in the archives. Oh my god, yeah.

If they're topping the gif of you getting out of the limo at the WWE event, I'm all for it. Because to me that's the creme de la creme. That's the all-timer. Yes. Yeah. Because remember we were talking about the Four Nations final, the story with John Cooper about swapping spots for our pre-game interview. Right?

Yep. So James reaches out about a story from back in the day when he would cover the World Junior Championship. 2007, Craig Hartsburg was the head coach of Canada and all through the tournament, in the day when he would cover the World Junior Championship 2007 Craig Hartsburg was the head coach of Canada and all through the tournament all of their interviews they conducted them with James standing on one side Hartsburg on the other. The pregame interview before the gold medal game the floor director had them switched and as they're counting down to start the

interview Hartsburg stops them and says I'm moving to the other side because that's what we've done this whole tournament and Of course Canada went on to beat Russia in the gold medal game four to two. They were perfect that whole tournament So there's a history here coaches can be just as superstitious as the players I'm not surprised in the least bit. That's a good note. Thank you, James. Always great to hear from you. Yeah. You got anything?

Yes. So, I had a couple people pointing out a common mistake that I have been making. I had two people, and I'm sure there's more than one, but I had two people point this out. I have said that in the 1950 Stanley Cup final Pete Babando Scored the overtime winner for the Detroit Red Wings over the New York Rangers, which is true game seven And I've said that was the last time Or maybe I said it was the only time game seven has been decided in overtime

It has been pointed out to me that that is not true and that in 1954 Tony Leswick scored in overtime for the Detroit Red Wings over the Montreal Canadiens. It is true I had forgotten about that one and the other thing about that goal, Kyle, is that it's one of the worst goals ever scored in NHL history. And not to take a shot at Tony Leswick, but it was basically he flipped it in the air on a line change and it went in and Doug Harvey knocked it into his own net. Really?

Yes. So it's not a shot at Leswick for not scoring a beautiful breakaway three-sided deke that undressed the Canadian's goaltender and was a beautiful winner. It was just an absolute fluke, but it was game seven and it won the Stanley Cup for the Red Wings. No kidding. And that also speaks to how great of a career Doug Harvey had, is that that's not the first thing that's brought up whenever you bring up How good of a player he was or everything he accomplished over his career?

That's right. Very true. Very true because they were two years away 1956 was the first year the Canadians won their record five in a row and Harvey obviously is more known as being a cornerstone of that than anything else But I wanted to recognize, because there were at least two people who pointed out Tony Leswick to me. Very good. Glad you got that in. Okay, Elliot? Yes? What was the one thing you asked of our audience last pod? All-star ideas. Oh Oh we got a few. Oh good. We got more than a few. Okay, to the point where, yes, Griffin Porter who helps put these all together for us had

a very good idea. He said I've tried to pick some of the best ones but there were plenty of good ones that just didn't make the shortlist. So his suggestion was for this thought line, we just do purely all-star game replacement ideas, because going through them, some are intriguing, some are very creative, some are flat out funny, and if there are three pillars that this show consistently lacks, it is intrigue, creativity, and humor. That is true. So. Griffin, I don't pay you to think, I pay you to curate.

No, no, that's a great idea, Griffin. Great job. So we're calling an audible for today's thought line. Purely all-star replacement ideas going forward that the league should absolutely consider. You ready? Yep. Okay here we go. We'll begin with Laura in New York City. Go Caps she says. Hi fellas, fully agree that all-star festivities need to ditch the game but if day two is gonna be a fan service it should be a

life skills competition. I want to see which goalie makes the best grilled cheese sandwich. Time the rookies as they each fold a fitted sheet. Make defense pairs, change a tire. It would be an easy tee up for sponsor opportunities, low effort for the players, great for social media. Bring back the dunk tank to embarrass the losers, and you'd have the makings of a greatest

All-Star weekend of all time. Who wouldn't want to watch Mitch Marner try to thread an embroidery needle? I actually think that's a great idea. By the way, there was somebody who sent me, I can't remember if it was on X or it was on Instagram, who said there should be a media dunk tank. That the players should be able to pick one media member they could have one throw at to see if they could dunk them. Oh that would be great. That was like Battle of the Network Stars back in

the day. I'd have to go off the air for four hours just to sit there. You would be a... But you know what actually so I love the cooking one in particular. One of the things I know that the league looked at was a player cooking show. Oh yeah. Yes, it was, I don't know how far it got, but it did get to a proposed stage where players could cook what they liked to cook. And it just became an issue of time, right? But I think it's a great idea.

Like if you told the players coming in, for example, GMC, our sponsor here, our great sponsor here, if they were an all-star sponsor and you could drive one of their pickups or around a track or you had to change a tire, I think that's a great idea. But I love the cooking idea. Could you imagine?

Player after player, what are you cooking for us? Well, I'm doing steak and potatoes. Okay, yeah, what are you doing for us? I'm doing steak and potatoes. Did you ever, did you ever hear, you might be too young for this, did you ever hear of a show called Just Like Mom? No.

Okay. It doesn't ring a bell. Oh, okay. You got my attention. You might be too young. So when I was a kid, it was Fergie Oliver, who was a long time voice of the Blue Jays, who was the host of the Blue Jays broadcast.

But he hosted a show called Just Like Mom. And there would be kids who would go on the show and their partner would be their mother. And they had to answer questions about each other. Like they'd say, I don't know, what's your kid's favorite sport? And they would have to answer or what makes your mom the angriest about you? And they'd have to answer. But the final segment, the final segment where the most points was the cooking. So there would be three sets of kids and parents.

And they would have to make like a chocolate brownie or something. And they'd put all three brownies in front of the one parent. And they would have to pick which one their son did. They would bite, eat them all, take a bite of them all and then say, this is my son's. So I had a friend who went on this. No way. Yeah, he cheated. He said, mine will be the saltiest one. And he poured a whole bag of salt into the brownie and the mother.

Like when you watch the episode, you could see her face when she eats it. And she says, I think this one's my son. He likes salt. I mean, it's like 21. It's like fixing game shows. But anyway, I don't know why I went on to this tangent, but I always have loved the cooking idea. I actually think that's a great idea. I really do. Yeah. All right. We're just getting started here. Chris from New York. Hey, Kyle, Dom Griffin, and the other guy.

Can't remember his name. Here's my all-star game pitch for non-World Cup or Olympic years. You team up with the NBA and send everyone to Hawaii over Presidents Day weekend. Every NHL player gets a geographically relevant NBA teammate, i.e. Macklin Celebrini and Steph Curry, Artemi Panarin and Jalen Brunson. They compete in a Pro Bowl style skills challenge. One basketball related, three point contest. One hockey related, accurate shooting that both players have to do. Flip cup, can jam, spike ball, wiffle ball, volleyball. All options for other games.

Let's see how athletic these guys really are. That could be a TV dream. That is a great idea. Big fan of candy. I'm going to have to send these to Steve Mayer. Might be a little busy this weekend with that outdoor game. But I love it. I used to love like the superstar competitions.

Yeah. You might also be too young for those. They used to have like there's that famous one of Gretzky beating them all in like a 100 meter dash. Right. Yes. And and also we used to work at the score with a soccer analyst named Brian Bud. He was a former soccer player. He used to win those.

Seriously? Yeah, great all-around athlete. Great all-around athlete. And that's the thing, because you don't, as time has gone on, you're so much one-dimensional in terms of the sport you focus on from a young age in a lot of cases, it would be great to see who still can translate

athletically from one sport to the other. That could be really great TV. You could also do, so again, I'm going to my camp counselor days, right? Yeah. We used to have like a day of the Olympics every year, right, every summer. We used to have a day of the Olympics every year, right? Every summer. And the final event,

actually there were two big final events and they both involved eggs. These are bringing back such great memories. One of them was an egg boil. You got, you had to start a fire from scratch and you had, you got three eggs and the first team to successfully boil an egg won the event. Where, but where were you? We were, we were strict judges. If there was any running, you lost. Yeah. Like any running as the eggs, you were out. And the second one was the egg toss, where you'd pair up this one you could definitely

do. You'd pair up like you like you say like Panarin Brunson Curry Celebrini. And you'd stand right next to each other face to face at the beginning. And you tossed an egg back and forth. And every time you caught caught it both people had to take one step back. I like it. And then at the end man you know like I was impressed like you you would be shocked how far some of these people could throw eggs and it was always underhand and you always had to basket catch it and time it so that you were sort of sweeping it backwards.

Cradling. So that you didn't get the full force on your palm so it would break. Great stuff. Geez. Oh this is opening up possibilities to me. What? This was with the score? No this was when I was a camp counselor.

Oh camp counselor, okay. Yeah. We also caught people cheating in the egg toss They would put salt in the water and we would just that was automatic Disqualification not the egg toss the egg boil that was that was automatic disqualification. Oh outstanding I Love the creativity. Okay time for a voicemail Rick from Sherwood Park mail Rick from Sherwood Park. Fellas, Rick from Sherwood Park here.

I was thinking about an idea about how to make the All-Star game great. We got to get some beer leaguers here, man. I'm telling you right now, like, can you imagine a game where like a drywaller is like on a line with like the Nate Dogg and like Sid the Kid. You could even do like a show leading up where like average Joes just battle it out for a PTO to get a spot at the All-Star game. Fellas, I'm trying here, alright? Have a great day boys, keep it humming. That reminds me of the old Making the Cut show. Yes. I like the ideas. I'm never gonna knock anybody for coming up with an idea.

Maybe you could come up with something where there's a clinic where people could win the opportunity to go to the clinic and they get on-ice sessions with some of these guys. Yeah. Yes. I think the whole point is they don't play anymore, but I don't have any problem with clinics or anything like that. I think because I'm a big believer like every Olympics there's always somebody that goes we need to just have an average person also competing in these events just to see the gap between the best in the world and the average person. I'm all for

something like that. So doing something in the hockey realm, that could be kind of fun. I always just worry about things like that because, you know, you play beer league hockey. I played softball for a long time. You do get people who get in there and they're like, I would have been in the NHL too if this coach didn't hate me. And they do things that you're like, this is their moment. You don't want those people around pros. That's true. They make sure the insurance is iron clad.

Okay, this actually ties into your camp counselor story here from earlier. Adam from New Jersey. Hello 32 Thoughts crew. Last podcast, you guys asked for suggestions on what players could do during the 2026 All-Star game before the Olympics. So I had an idea. If the All-Star game is road to the Olympics themed, wouldn't it be fun if the NHLers tried other popular winter sports like curling, speed skating, even biathlon? You know a little thing or two about that. Yeah.

It would allow for the players to do something fun that still presents action shots for promotions and also shows off some athleticism. Yeah, I don't mind that idea either. I don't mind any. I think this is great. Like, first of all, this is just a reminder that Once again, we are blessed with great listeners who come up with these ideas and submit them I like all this stuff. Yeah all this stuff I Think it's fantastic

Curling I really like the I really like the trying other. Like you have a bed, who can make the best bed? I'd fail at that one. And you have like a mattress company sponsor, they provide the judges to determine the winner. You'd be like, I'm only doing this if I only get 1000 thread sheets, 800's not enough for me. That's right. Promo code 32. I love all the ideas, I really do.

Yeah, well some of us like to sleep. I know you're not one of them. I do like to sleep. Yeah. I know. Okay, another voicemail. Alex from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hi Kyle, Elliott, and Dom. This is Alex from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Go Comets. I heard your last pot talking about ideas for the All-Star game and immediately thought of one that I would personally love to see. I wanna see an NHL player All-Star team

versus an NHL management and coach All-Star team. Let me see Connor McDavid versus Steve Iserman. Let me see Rob Brndamore suit up and take on his own players. I think this would get every single fan tuning in right away. I would absolutely love to see this. So Elliot, whatever pressure you can put on the NHL

with your insider skills, please get on this right away. Love the pod and thanks for the time. Go Comets. So my vision for this is like you'd have instances of you know a GM mad at a player maybe it's their own player for underperforming for a contract that they signed like there's your opportunity to get some revenge a Player matted a coach or general manager over a trade or ice time. Here's the opportunity to even the score Turns into just a nasty affair It is like

What's the the fire department versus the the police officers? Yes, it's becomes one of those Chaos It's It's a great idea. Unfortunately. Here's why it would never happen Like I don't know if Iserman skates anymore just because of all the work he's done to his legs, right? Right. Yeah Work he's done to his legs, right? Right. Yeah

He might be a no-go for that one. Well, also do you remember there used to be a Legends game as part of the NBA and They got guys seriously injured like Rick Barry played when he was like 55 60 years old and he blew out his knee. Oh Yeah, remember the the alumni game at BMO? Remember like Mike Palmateer got hurt because he went to go make some diving poke check save early in the game and then who was it that went at it? Oh gosh, it was Gary Robertson. Was it Chris Draper? Were those the two guys? Like it was like it was like exchanging cross checks. Like there was some good bleep use back and forth. It was just the old days. Great idea. I don't think that one works, unfortunately,

because of the age of some of the participants. Yes. In theory. You know what, if you wanted to see Brendan Moore challenge players, who can lift more in the gym? Right. The answer is rod

He wins. Yes So, okay. We've got one more here. Okay, and I know you said I really love the nba nhl one I wonder if those leagues would ever do that together That could be It would be there's so much potential with that It would be a great. There's so much potential with that. Right. Like if there's one thing of, for both sides going, how do we make this part of our schedule

appealing? Bring the two worlds together. I really, really like that. I wonder if they would ever consider anything like that. This could be ground zero. Chris from New York could change the all-star world as we know it. Bringing the sports together. Worlds colliding. That's the hope. That could be something really fun. Okay, I know you said the whole point of this was to not have an actual game of any sort,

but this one I wanted to slide in to close. All right. This is Ed, the Sens fan. Hello, Dom's Room of Wizardry and the magical voices that talk hockey in it. I have a suggestion for the NHL All-Star weekend. What if every NHL team sends three players and a goalie nominated by their own fans for a Battle Royale three-on-three tournament. One player has to be under the age of 23. You have a random round of 16. Winners move on and keep playing for the championship. Standard bracket stuff. Five minute games. most goals win. If a tie, most shots wins the tiebreaker. If a tie still, most time in the Ozone. This would take a total of 155 minutes, about two and a half hours of actual playtime, slash

setup, clean up, in between, commercial breaks, all of that stuff. I don't know if you play, we mentioned Cebulsky and EA Sports NHL, but there's an online mode on that game, Elliot, called NHL 3s, where it's kind of a mini tournament where you play different teams online and it's like 3 on 3 style. And it's like an arcade-y type mode. Smaller ice than like a typical NHL surface. It's a lot of fun. And that's what I'm picturing as Ed describes this.

Just little short three. If you're going to play a game, that's not a terrible idea. I would do shootout instead of shots on goal. But small thing. I don't think that's bad. If you're going to play a game, that's one of the better ideas I've heard. Because the whole mix doesn't work. Yeah This would be something totally different

It would be like the dodgeball championship in Las Vegas It's a bold strategy cotton. Let's see. Let's see how it plays out for them That's good, that's good. Well lots to think about about here, Elliot. Hey man, great, great suggestions. I will forward these all to Steve Meyer when he gets out of Columbus. Yes, on to the next thing. He goes from Four Nations to the Celebrity Game in LA to Columbus to now... Saving the All-Star Game. And saving All-Star game. And saving All-Star weekend. Alright, that'll do it for this edition of the Thoughtline. A reminder, 1-833-311-3232 if you'd like to leave a voicemail or email us, 32thoughts

at sportsnet.ca with your submissions. One final break and wrap up the pod. 32 Thoughts rolls on after this. ["Thoughts of the Year"] Welcome back to 32 Thoughts. Okay, Elliot, number of games to keep an eye on on Saturday and perhaps most notably the 2025 Stadium Series at the Horseshoe, the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes on hand for that one Saturday night but it's a big game in terms of points with where both teams are in the standings and it's also the second consecutive game that you and I go head-to-head for the in-season Cup lots on the line Saturday at the horseshoe the only thing I don't like about this game is it's on a Saturday

night so I can't go to it I really would love to go to this one Mention that a few times. So one of the times I went to Columbus to do blue jacket stuff. I snuck into The stadium I I think actually I don't know if I should say I snuck in in case I would get anybody in trouble but there was like a door that was open and I walked in and You know, obviously there was nobody in it. It's just It's one of those breathtaking Venues, right like you walk in there and you you feel the history All the great like I'm not a huge Ohio State guy, Tennessee is my football team

But you feel the history in there, right? All the great teams they've had, the only player to win the Heisman Trophy back to back Archie Griffin in the early 70s. You know, there's been so many great moments there. I would love to be at that game and I have to say the the uniforms for this one the red wings and the blue jackets They are spectacular just spectacular Nailed this is gonna be and you know what it matters like this one really matters It's a it's a huge game in the playoff race. They're looking right at each other and they're going back to back

Yes, absolutely. Like I'm trying to think if there's been as many games, outdoor games that has as much on the line this late in the season as this one does. Like this is a really meaningful game. Right. Usually you get one team where you're like they need points right now, but to have both. Or it's a rivalry. Yes, sure. they need points right now but to have both. Or it's a rivalry. Yes sure but in terms of playoff

implications potentially especially now that we're later on in the season and it will be about a month and a half away from the postseason starting it's come together very very nicely for them. So that's at 8 Eastern 5 Pacific you can watch that one on Sportsnet Plus. We got a busy night Saturday too, Elliott. Four early games. Four early games at 7 Eastern, Hockey Central of course at 6.30 Eastern, 3.30 Pacific. So let's run through this here. Edmonton and Carolina rematch of the 06 Stanley Cup final. That's a big game. Philadelphia and Winnipeg. Game 8. Let's call it game eight.

Yes. That's a chance for the Oilers to even the series again. Had four games apiece. Yes. Montreal in Buffalo. Macklin Celebrini makes his first trip to the nation's capital for a game. And you're there for that one. Yeah. The senators. Who's a bigger like who's a bigger draw, you or Macklin Sellerrini? I would say the 2024 first overall pick. Okay.

Slightly, slightly. So those are the four early games, late game the Canucks in Seattle, the guest this week on After Hours, Kraken assistant coach and one-time star of Battle of the Blades, Jessica Campbell. Oh, nice. Scott Oak and Dave Tomlinson on After Hours.

Nice. Nice. You got all that. That's gonna be a busy night in studio, Elliot. Yeah, I know when there's four early games, like I only get on in the second intermission of the early games, much the delight of the audience and It's not as busy for me because I'm just worried about the newsy stuff, but heads explode when there's four games early Awesome should be a lot of fun. All right. Well enjoy that Elliott have yourself a good weekend You too Kyle, but don't tell me what to do you're not my real dad don't tell me what to do. You're not my real dad. Don't tell me what to do.

Have a great weekend, everyone. We'll talk to you again on Monday.