32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Latest ...

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

Listen before everything changes! Jeff and Elliotte give you the latest from around the league as players are on the move as are coaches.They discuss the situation in Tampa Bay with Ryan McDonagh and Nick Paul (2:50), Pittsburgh with Kris Letang & Nashville with Filip Forsberg (7:00), Flames and Johnny Gaudreau (13:50), Buffalo signs Craig Anderson (16:30), some big news out of San Jose (19:00), Edmonton and Jack Campbell (23:50), what Toronto will do in goal (24:30), Dallas sign Scott Wedgewood (26:30), Philadelphia (27:20), Chicago and Alex DeBrincat (29:30), Kings trade for Kevin Fiala (30:20), coaching situations in Boston (35:20) and Winnipeg (35:40). Plus, the guys FINALLY get to your calls and emails (37:40).Check out the limited edition 32 Thoughts merchandise line HEREMusic Outro: USS - Never StopListen to all their music including this single on SpotifyThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman. Production support by Griffin Porter.Audio Credits: Minnesota Wild and NBC Sports Philadelphia.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.

Yeah, are you kidding? One of the best things in the world. You ever had cashew cheese? Ho, ho, ho, you have not lived, sir. Ho, ho, you have not lived, sir. Elliot, to be honest, I'm not sure I know how to do a regular podcast anymore, but here we go. Welcome to 32 Thoughts.

Jeff Merrick alongside Elliot Friedman and Amil Delic. How am I doing so far, Friege? It's so weird to be sitting at my desk and doing a podcast for the first time in months. I forgot to turn the sound down on the ball game. That's how long it's been. I wonder if you guys could hear it there. Now, before we do anything. It's still 401Js, by the way.

I know I'm dating myself for that. Yeah, it's still 401Js in the top of the eighth. That's when I'll hit a two run shot. And they're wearing those great powder blue uniforms. Oh, I love those. Look fantastic. Now, before we do anything. Yep.

Are you doing your victory lap now or later not no i am not going to do a victory lap i'm not going to do the barry horowitz pat myself on the back i'm not going to do that well you're going to do a victory lap because i demand it anybody who makes a call that good yeah from the moment the job was available and you said watch Derek Lalonde that is a fifth deck home run it was pretty quick after Jeff Blashill was let go from Detroit that I spoke to someone who told me very point blankly watch Derek Lalonde Don't be surprised if this is Iserman's move, that it fits the MO. He can see it happening.

There's a belief that this is the preferred candidates that's out there. Obviously, Tampa still had a lot of hockey to play at that point, but it was very quickly that someone said to me, watch Derek Lalonde. So my blind squirrel finds a nut moment. So I'll, I won't, it's not my nature to do like the big victory lap.

Hey, look at me, spotlight over here. Check me out on Facebook, mic drop. I can't do that kind of stuff, but it was nice to get, it's nice to get one every now and then. So I look at it this way. That is now for you a gold source. No matter what that person says to you, you always believe it.

That person has come through for me before. And that person is an avid listener of the podcast and is blushing and smiling as they listen to this right now. But yes, that takes this source into a whole new stratosphere. Absolutely. That person could tell you that next week, Edmonton is trading Connor McDavid for a piece of string cheese, and you have to report it. Well, let's start there then.

What do you make of the trade? No, no, no. You want to do the players first? Let's do the players first, and we'll come back to the coaches later. All right. We'll do players first, and then we'll do coaches. And I'd like to start with Ryan ryan mcdonough and the tampa bay lightning because we've talked so much about how tampa can do this and julian brisebois you know talking about how they'd love to keep andre palat they'd love to keep nick paul they'd love to keep

yon ruda etc but getting there is going to be difficult unless they did something with their existing players and contracts and you've reported now that tampa is doing something or talking to ryan mcdonough about making that possible what can you tell us so basically on thursday i i stumbled across it checked it found out it was the case i think this is a really hard one for the Lightning and the players. McDonough has four years left. He's got a no trade clause. And I think the thing that everybody has to understand here is he is a hugely popular player in that room. He was that way in New York and he is that way in Tampa. And one of the ways I think this got out was just the overall disappointment. I think that some of the players and even I think the

organization itself had with the fact that this is a decision that they feel might have to happen. is a decision that they feel might have to happen. So one of the things that's going on right now, Jeff, is that the Lightning are working on an extension with Nick Paul, and they've been working on it for quite a bit. And as we record this on Thursday night, it's not done, but they're headed in that direction. And I think it's going to be a long-term deal to bring the aav down so that's one of the reasons they're unfortunately looking at moving mcdonough as painful as it is because they want to get guys like nick paul extended look there's plot there's ruta there's sorelli coming up soon they're just trying to create some flexibility and it hurts,

but they're trying to do it. I've been told there's a lot of interest. I mean, who wouldn't want Ryan McDonough? One of the teams I think is there is potentially St. Louis. It makes a lot of sense. They're looking for a top four D it fits with them.

That's the kind of player Doug Armstrong and Craig and craig berube would love i don't know if he ends up there but it's one of the teams i've immediately started thinking about but like i said i don't think it comes easy i think this is a painful realization for the organization and the players that this is something that might have to get done. That's a really tricky one. And the one thing that you never want to do is as you're trying to, you know, solve one problem, you create another problem somewhere else. And we've seen that before. And we've seen that before specifically with defensemen.

It's like, okay, well, you understand the minute you trade this one defenseman with this one particular skill set, the next thing you want to do is go out and try to find that defenseman again. This is not unique to blue liners, Elliot, but we've seen it before. That would have to be one of the sensitivities here with Julian Breezeball and the Tampa Bay Lightning. I guess what would, you know, sort of lighten the blow and might make this more palatable, like just from a cold hard business point of view.

And from a roster composition point of view, you kind of do have Sergeyev who can slide into that second pairing spot for McDonough. Well, that's what it is, right? Like right away, Sergeyev goes in there to play with Chernak. Now, McDonough and Chernak have been so good for Tampa in that shutdown role. They've been outstanding. But you do wonder, you know, you do have Sergeyev who can technically slide into that spot with Chernak.

So that does soften the blow for each. It's a huge loss, but it's one that you can fill, you think, with what you already have. I want to get through a bunch of players here uh and a bunch of coaching scenarios and some team issues as well and we are going to get to your emails and there's some really fascinating ones that have kind of been building up elliot for the past couple of months and we started doing car casts and your foot casts and playoff specials and so let's get right to uh the pittsburgh penguins What do you hear? What do you know? Chris Letang, Yevgeny Malkin, go.

There are teams out there that I'm actually going to go with two different players first or one different player and one same player. I'm going to go with Letang and Forsberg first. Forsberg, obviously from Nashville. So I think there's teams out there interested in both these players. I don't think that's going to surprise anybody, but the sense I'm getting is that first of all, happy Canada day.

It's Friday. Happy Canada day. Yeah. Love being Canadian with 12 days to free agency. There's still time and there's still going to be some grinding, but there are some teams out there who I think are interested in both those players who believe, as we tape this on Thursday night, that Letang and Forsberg, in both cases, there's path to a deal.

And I always worry about how I say this and how I phrase this. And this is the phrasing I would like people to remember, path to a deal in both cases. There are teams out there who believe that Forsberg and Nashville, they see a path to something around eight times eight and a half. And the biggest challenge with that situation with Forsberg is that he's in Tennessee, which is a great state for taxes, and the Predators can give him the eighth year. If he's not in Tennessee and you have to go to seven years, think of what you have to offer to beat 8.5 in Tennessee. It's a big number. It's a very big number. Now, as someone said to me, one of these teams in particular,

there's a lot of stubborn people involved here, and it's taken a lot of time to get here, probably longer than particularly Forsberg wanted. So, you know, who knows? It probably continues down the path towards free agency. But as we sit here and tape this on Thursday night, there are teams out there who like Forsberg, who believe that there is a path to a deal in Nashville around eight times 8.5.

We'll see if it happens, but I'm here to relay information. So we've talked about this and these parameters specifically going back to trade deadline. Yeah. When there was that pressure point, is David Poyle, you know, going to hang on to the player,

hope to sign him before he, you know, decides to test free agency. They lost out on that gamble once upon a time with Ryan Suter. I don't think it's very palatable for Nashville to go down that road twice. But we talked about this idea that that specific number and term works because it is a little bit more than Johansson and Duchesne are getting, but it's not as much as Roman Yossi, the captain of the team, is getting.

That always, to me, and I think to you as Roman Yossi, the captain of the team, is getting. That always, to me, and I think to you as well, Freed, thinking back to our conversations, that always seemed like the sweet spot, that 8.5, right in between DeShane and Johansson and Roman Yossi. I would agree. I don't know where it all stands. I don't know where it's all going.

I'm just relaying information there's been a couple teams out there i think who've had interest i mean who wouldn't have interest in forsberg really 27 year old sniper come on 35 40 goals sure 40 goals yeah hey sign me up not interested don't need that i agree with you i'm just relaying the information gotcha letang same thing a couple weeks ago i don't know how long ago it was a couple weeks ago a month uh you know i said i heard they're about a million point two five apart for season from what i was hearing i think there are some teams that are interested in latang and they believe it's closer than that and put it this way they believe pitt believe Pittsburgh is willing to bend to some degree for Letang

because they just think after the year he had and the way he's played, they just think that there's a willingness for Pittsburgh to bend to some point. I don't know where it is. I don't know how close they are, but they believe that the situation is closer than it was the last time I reported. Again, though, we have to get there. And Ron Hextall, Chris Letang, there's no shrinking violets in this conversation either.

So, you know, I mean, it's a negotiation and sometimes we all like it to get there faster. You need a deadline to get it done. Same thing as Forsberg. And sometimes we all like it to get there faster. You need a deadline to get it done. Same thing as Forsberg. There's no guarantee it's going to get done. But I think some of these teams that like Letang, they think there's a path to a deal in Pittsburgh if both sides want it.

Malkin, I don't get that sense yet. And again, I think a lot can change in 12 days. I mean, I've met people before who their negotiating strategy is, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, I was just screwing with you. I'll take what you offer. And I'm not saying that Malkin is that person, but if Pittsburgh doesn't budge here, I've just heard they weren't close on money.

If Pittsburgh doesn't budge here here then do we get to a situation where at the end you know malkin just says okay you know i i just wanted to see where this was going to go or does he just say sorry we're not close enough and i don't think we know that yet but all i've heard is that i don't think they're, they're that close. Listen, we've seen this in hockey, whether we see this, um, during labor negotiations, Elliot, we saw this in two or four or five. We saw it in the last lockout. We've seen what deadlines can do. And I know both sides always accuse each other of being deadline hunters.

Oh, we're not going to show our hand too early. This person's a deadline hunter. We're not going to do anything until the last possible moment.'ve seen gms that are like this we've seen players that are like this i don't think elliot this should come as any surprise to anybody here if in fact and i don't know which side would be and maybe it's both uh are looking at you know we can probably get this done or maybe the best chance of this getting done is when we have that deadline in sight and we're getting close deadlines produce deals i know fans want to know faster than this but not everybody agrees with that some people it's a strategy to wait it's a strategy to see

if someone changes something at the last second i mean we'll see and at this point in time i don't get the sense anything is close on malkin but the old standby is everything can change with one phone call. Calgary Flames and Johnny Goudreau. This is a very sensitive issue. It is one that is so sensitive that neither side was willing to and both agreed to not talk about it all season long and here we are inching towards some type of conclusion either he resigns or he tests free agency what's happening here at this point in time i don't think he's made a decision i wouldn't be surprised if over the next week the flames make it you know can we get an idea of where everything is leaning here

i wouldn't be surprised if that happens um i think they've made him a big offer i wouldn't be surprised if it's in the eight times 9.5 range and i think the flames are potentially willing to be flexible there but i just think at the end of the day, I mean, he knows how the Flames feel about him. I think it purely comes down to where does he want to be in his future? Where does he want to play? Does he want to be closer to the East Coast? And I think there's a lot of loyalty to Calgary there too, just in terms of they're the team that drafted him. They're the team where he developed. And I just think that he's taking his time. Now he's earned that right. I just could see a point where maybe sometime over the next week, the flames say, we just need to have an idea here. If he does, let's play a quick game of speculation.

here if he does let's play a quick game of speculation if he does decide to test free agency what do you think the cascade will be afterwards with the flames i think that's a great question and we're dealing purely from hypotheticals here all hypothetical all hypothetical so hypotheticals yes so i was talking to an an agent on Thursday and we were talking about this. Like, what do you think the flames do if, if Goudreau decides to move on? I said, that's probably a good thing for you and other agents out there because you'll all be calling the flame saying, well, if you know, here's one slightly used XXXX to fill your hole. And he said to me, he's not convinced the flames are going to do that. He thinks that, that if that happens, they're going to take a deep breath and they're going to really think about what they want to do. And he doesn't believe they're going to rush out to make panic signings.

And I said, bad for you, but good strategy on their part. And you know, that's what he said. So we'll see where it goes, but I think the flames are determined, at least in this agent's view, that they aren't going to rush to make panic moves if the worst case Goudreau scenario comes true. You know what's great about the Craig Anderson signing in Buffalo? What's that? One year, $1.5 million. It means that he's healthy.

Yes. It means that he's healthy enough to play regardless of you know the deal and the team and all of that the fact that craig anderson is in a position that his health is good enough that he can sign a contract with an nhl team that to me was a good news story to wake up to this morning freach but what do you think of the deal craig anderson one year 1.5 buffalo sabers well like you I'm really happy for him. I didn't realize it. Somebody sent me some notes that his actual advanced stats or stats this year, they weren't great.

And that's one situation where I don't think it truly measures the impact of what he did. This is a team and an organization that talked reverentially about him. And we saw at the end of the year, how much he really battled in games that really didn't mean a lot to the Sabres in terms of the overall standings to, you know, win games that their fans loved winning, like a couple over Toronto, for example. So I think he's had a huge impact on them.

They're going out to get another goalie. I mean, there's no question about that. And I think this is going to be a situation where they look to see what else is out there but they're happy to have him back there's no question about it um do you have a quick thought on the goalie market right now you know you and i were talking about it on the radio a little bit it sounds like the rangers you know are still sticking to a pretty high price for alexander. Yeah, but it's a tough one for them. I mean, I don't know how they're going to be able to qualify him.

You think they make a move before that? Well, it's just that I think teams, either they're going to make a move for less than what they might be asking for, or teams are going to say, we'll wait to see if you qualify him. It sounds like a player in a pick or a player in a prospect for Georgiev here. I'm sure they're trying. First of all, I don't speak to everybody, so Chris Drury knows the market better than I do.

I would definitely concede that. I don't want anyone to think that I know the market better than Drury, but I know the way this is going, and so many teams are tied up against the cap. They're like, Georgiev at 2.6, or is that what the Rangers are going to do? Or are we going to see him as a UFA?

And I think unless somebody says we absolutely have to have this guy, we want to check them out as a free agent. I think that's the path a lot of people are looking at. One of the questions that's out there is which San Jose net minder will they trade? They have Reimer, they have Uh, they have Reimer,

they have Hill, uh, they have Kakanen right now. Kakanen is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. I don't think he's part of the, who will they move discussion. Uh, it feels like it's either James Reimer or Aiden Hill,

but I don't know that anything gets done until they get a general manager for each. I don't know about that. We interrupt this program to bring you a special report. Okay, Elliot, quick insert time here on the podcast. This is a reverse car cast. I'm on my way to Hamilton. My kids got a baseball tournament and news is broken Friday morning that Bob Bugner has been dismissed as head coach of the San Jose Sharks. I don't know

that this is going over quite well in the coaching fraternity since it happens quite late in the hiring slash firing season. Nonetheless, here we are. Bob Bugner, now ex of the San Jose Sharks. less here we are Bob Bugner now ex of the San Jose Sharks yeah so I woke up to some messages about it uh on uh Friday morning I guess it happened around uh 11 o'clock on Thursday night we have wondered if the Sharks GM search was coming to a close they're supposed to have a media conference today I believe to discuss their draft plans but maybe there's more to it you know the names i was hearing and you know the sharks have been very quiet with their search very quiet the names i've been hearing are mike greer ray whitney and i know some people have suspected that potentially scott mellenby was around this but i can't confirm that those are indeed the three finalists or

one of the new GMs but it would appear that they're getting close you know look teams have to do what they have to do but this is late this is really late and I think the reason that coaches are upset is you know his staff and Bugner it's going to be really hard for them to find work especially in the NHL because a lot of jobs have been filled so I think that's the thing there that there are certainly some coaches who feel that this was going to happen regardless and they feel very strongly that it should have happened earlier, that they should have said, we knew this was going to happen and it should have happened either at the end of the season or earlier in the search. So there's definitely a lot of

consternation and disappointment over how long this went. How busy do you think the San Jose Sharks are this offseason? Certainly there's the general manager situation. Now there's a coaching situation and a coaching search as well. We talk on today's podcast and mention, you know, Aiden Hill and James Reimer is a decision to me, be there, which one they're keeping, which one they're going to take to markets.

How busy do you think San Jose is this offseason? I think they're going to take to markets. How busy do you think San Jose is this offseason? I think they're going to try to be busy. You know, we all know they're going through a rebuild. We know that they've talked with both Carlson and Burns, both of whom have a lot of control over their situations about what their future is going to be in San Jose. You know, one of the things that I think that they kind of looked for in their GM search was if you look at their front office, they're really light on former NHL players. And I don't necessarily think that's totally a bad thing.

It's good to have perspective, but you also need to have people who understand how players think. And I think that's why it appears as if their next GM is going to be a former player, because they want that mentality there. And they want someone who knows how to deal with the NHL player as a peer. So I think that's very important to them. So I think there's going to be change, but until they really get the person here, I think it's hard to tell how far that's going to go. And a final question about San Jose. Do we get an international candidate for the coaching position?

I don't have a good answer. I don't have a good feel for that. Like, obviously, Jeff, this is very fresh. I'm sure we're going to get clarity later today. a good answer i don't have a good feel for that like obviously jeff this is very fresh yep i'm sure we're going to get clarity later today the sharks will reveal uh more of their motivations behind their move and what they're looking at um but it would be very hard for me to answer that question right now we shall see uh in the meantime we return you to your normally scheduled 32 thoughts podcast now back to our program the more i'm wondering by the way of jack campbell

and edmonton is a fit i'm beginning to think that more and more i i don't think smith is coming back it might be an ltir as opposed to retirement but i am beginning to wonder more and more of campbell and edmonton is a fit so they'd be willing willing to go, I mean, we keep talking about Cal Peterson deal with Jack Campbell, Cal Peterson deal. I don't want to predict numbers. I don't know that yet. You start to kind of put things together and wonder and just say like,

does this make any sense? And I'm beginning to wonder if Campbell and Edmonton's a fit. Interesting. You have any idea where Toronto's heads are at? I mean, I would imagine, we talked about this on the last pod, I think, which is Toronto's, you know, number one job right now as the draft

is approaching still is to figure out their net mining situation. You know, I had some people who wondered if, you know, Toronto would look at Matt Murray because obviously Dubas knows him. I think they kind of talked about it briefly when things hit rock bottom last year in Ottawa, but I don't think that's the path Toronto's going down. Jeez, I'm watching our network and Ken Reed came on. He looks like Dilbert.

What's with those glasses? You want this on the podcast? Yes. What has happened to this guy? Anyway, I do think Toronto has told people that their number one priority is figuring out what's happening in goal. Yeah.

But I don't know what that is at this point in time. I'm not convinced it's John Gibson. I don't know that that is at this point in time. I'm not convinced it's John Gibson. I don't know that that's what Toronto wants to do. And I also have been told, and obviously Anaheim has a new GM now in Verbeek, but in the past I've heard that there was just no match between Toronto and Anaheim. The Leafs didn't have what the Ducks wanted. And I'm not sure that would change at all under verbique than it was under bob murray i mean there's who so i think who so wants the chance to prove he's a number one out there

you know the goalie coach in new jersey dave ragalski was in st louis for a long time i wonder if they're going to take a run at him i don't know what toronto is doing in goal yet but people are wondering if it was murray because of the history and i i don't know what toronto's doing in goal yet but people were wondering if it was murray because the history and i i don't think that's it you know there is a just as an aside there is an old there are two old tv tricks to try to make someone look smarter on television one put them in glasses two put a bookshelf with books behind them i should do that both of those things i should certainly do both of those and we'll see if the uh the emergence of a bookshelf with books behind them. I should do that. Both of those things. I should certainly do both of those. We'll see if the emergence

of a bookshelf behind Reader happens one of these days. Scott Wedgwood, Dallas. One two-year contract, $1 million AAV. This one, you know what, I'll be honest with you, this one looked to me

like both sides just wanted to get something done quick and get on with their summer. Both sides were happy. Let's just get this thing wrapped up we know who our number one is now we have our backup it's worked out great was a really nice deal by jim nill both sides are happy let's just put this to bed quickly and i think also too wedgewood wants some stability you know he's moved around a little

bit he played very well in dallas he sure did And so I think that's the thing that was important to him, the two years. And I could totally understand that. Look, we're in a cap squeeze. There's not a lot of money out there. Not everybody can press their luck. And I think Wedgwood said two years, two million, I'll take it.

And why wouldn't he? It was a good situation for him. So Jeff, one of the situation I wanted to mention was Philadelphia. Okay. So Chuck Fletcher had his availability this week, and he talked about Ryan Ellis. Well, he's continuing to progress. He's certainly improved since the end of the season.

He's certainly further along now than he was a month ago or two months ago. In saying that, you know, the bulk of his rehab is still ahead of him. He's starting to intensify his off-ice workouts. And, again, it's going well, but there's several more steps to go before he gets on the ice. So it's still difficult, if not impossible, to predict where he'll be in two or three months. But the last month has been encouraging, but there's still more work to do.

And it's just really obvious that Ellis' whole situation right now is kind of uncertain. And I think a lot of people are really curious about what that's going to mean for their plans. Do they think they have to go out and add another defenseman? And one of the things that I think people have kind of been talking about there with Philly is they have to create some cap room. And I think they're going to work to try to do that, particularly with a player like Van Riemsdyk. But they're a team that was way out of the playoffs this year. Do they think it's smarter to spend all their money in one place or go out and add three or four players? going to be an interesting one for the flyers especially now that you know they might not know for another month or so what the situation is at least with ellis do they kind of look at it and

say we might have to spread our resources differently and that's very new because of to a lot of us because of what was said this week that they probably won't know about ellis at least if he's trending in the right direction for probably another month. The Chicago Blackhawks this week announcing that Luke Richardson officially is their head coach. Nice to see him at the Cubs game as well.

Yeah. But what's happening with Alex? Cubs win. Cubs win. What's happening with Alex to break it? So it sure sounds like momentum is is building here um i had heard and i believe it was true that there's at least one team that made an offer of a reasonably high first round pick and another first round pick and i think it was a prospect not a great prospect but a prospect

a young player who could still play and i heard that that just wasn't enough to get it done but there are teams stepping up to the plate here i think the brinkhead is pretty coveted player so i don't want to put a percentage on it but i do think it it could happen there's a lot of interest there a lot there was also as we understand a lot of interest in kevin fiala uh around the nhl the los angeles kings end up winning that sweepstakes a first round pick and defenseman brock faber who's a second rounder goes to university of minnesota he's a gopher folks uh goes the other way your thoughts on this deal and And the sidebar, is LA done yet, Frej? LA still has a lot of cap room.

To me, this is a really fascinating deal for the Kings because it says that, well, first of all, nobody wants to go backwards, right? Everybody wants to go forwards. They made the playoffs. They lost in seven games. A Fiala-type player was exactly what they needed. Exactly what they needed. But I think it also tells you that they don't believe that their their prospects are ready yet right correct so we kept on hearing

build build build and now you go out and you get fiala and you can make that trade because you have so many prospects you feel comfortable making that deal i think it says to me that they felt their group wasn't ready like i've heard them around forsberg for a little bit of time now as we said earlier in the podcast we think there's a chance he could end up staying in nashville i mean we will see i don't necessarily think they're done but the other thing i just wonder for them is what roles do they have for their kids like that takes a spot away you know what that does is that pushes someone else down the lineup and it seems to be one less top six spot for one of their young players so one of the things i'm curious about when it comes to the Kings is what do they see as the roles for their young players next year?

Are some of those players going to be moving out or are they still saying, look, we just don't think you're ready yet and we're doing this. That's the one thing that makes me most interested in the Kings is what does it mean for all those prospects who would have fought for that spot? You do wonder about you know the development of players like Rasmus Kapari yeah you're Alex Turcotte's you know these types of players that we've been wondering about Akil Thomas uh is another one as well I think Quinton Byfield will still be given every single chance to to stay on this team for a full season next year. But I keep wondering, you know, what LA thinks about their prospects and where they're at. Because I'm with you.

Like, I wonder that if they're thinking it might be taking longer than we thought with some of these kids. And who knows? I mean, they may just turn around next year and all grab spots. But I do wonder how they feel about their prospects. Now, I think a lot of it is, as we've talked about, Doughty and Kopitar have said,

you know, that's it. Rebuild's done. We tried it for a couple of years. Not interested. Bring in Denoa, bring in Arvidsson, bring in Kevin Fiala and whoever else. They end up doing it. But in the back of my mind, Elliot, in the back of my mind, bring in Arvidsson, bring in Kevin Fiala and whoever else. They end up doing it. But in the back of my mind, Elliot, in the back of my mind, I can't help but thinking,

is this a comment on how they feel about their prospects right now? And I don't know the answer to that. I think we'll find out when we see where this goes, right? Yes, we will. I think Fiala is exactly what they need. Why did Edmonton win that series last year? Because of McDavid and Dreisaitl primarily, right? Now, you're not going to get a McDavid or Dreisaitl,

but you do need to find a scorer, and Fiala is a scorer. He can play. He can score. He's what they needed. And, you know, I think the other thing too is for Minnesota, that Faber, I think he wanted to be there. I think that's a perfect fit. You could see a lot of the great feeling locally

when it was announced that Faber was received in the trade. You know, the one thing about Bill Guerin is he doesn't really fool around. Guerin decides what he wants and he targets it and he goes and gets it and Brock Faber being a guy who's a captain of an NCAA team in the state he's a local guy I think it was a perfect match for what Minnesota was looking for and you know the more I thought about it the more more I made sense, you know, like in his conference call, he said, like I said, I thought Los Angeles was, was honest. They're they're stepped right up to the plate.

They express their want to trade for Kevin and that makes it easy. You know, you don't, I don't feel the need to wait to the draft or wait for other teams and, you know, leverage one. We were going to get a fair deal with LA one that we're very happy. I saw what I liked and I went after it. And I just think that's the way he is. Let's get to some coaches.

So we've already mentioned Derek Lalonde with the Detroit Red Wings. What's the latest with Jim Montgomery and the Boston Bruins? You tweeted that it is heading that direction. What's the latest? I think and the Boston Bruins? You tweeted that it is heading that direction. What's the latest? I think you have to get the contract done, but it's trending that way. I mean, he's their guy and barring something very strange happening, he's going to be the next head coach of the Bruins. Do we say the same thing about Rick Tockett and the Winnipeg Jets?

I've heard the same rumors rumors but i had one person who said to me be careful with that one so i'm curious to see where this is all gonna go because i heard this i heard the same thing on thursday night i do think talk it is very much into it like one of the things that's most interesting here is that so it was a week ago the trot says you know what he's going to stay out of coaching this year and he's going to spend some time with his family. Perfectly fine, everybody understands it. Then Winnipeg goes to plan B,

and I think that was Arneal, Vincent, Tockett, and Jeff Blaschel. I'm not sure Montgomery got a second interview here, but Blaschel all I'm not sure Montgomery got a second interview here, but Blaschel all of a sudden entered the picture. I don't think Blaschel was in this one from the beginning, but I do think that they were given a positive recommendation from somewhere and he became a big part of the process very recently. I can't give you an exact timeline but i think it was recent something winnipeg was told really appealed to them and i heard the same rumors today that there's

an offer for talk it and he has to decide but i did have one source who said be careful with that one and this is this is a decent source so i don't really know what to think here. All right. Let's hit pause on the podcast here, Freed. Take a quick break. Grab a breath and come back and finally, finally get to some emails and phone calls. We've been very negligent. Bad podcast. Bad podcast. Bad podcast.

We'll tame that in a couple of moments. Put a leash on that puppy. Folks, we're coming back to get to your emails and your phone calls. Don't go anywhere. Okay, for each some phone calls and some emails here to wrap up the podcast, and we apologize. Haven't been able to get to some of these, and man, was there a backlog.

This is an interesting one. Jeff from Ottawa submits this one. Big fan of the pod. Don't even mind when Elliot chimes in. Ooh is an interesting one. Jeff from Ottawa submits this one. Big fan of the pod. Don't even mind when Elliot chimes in. Ooh, I like that. I wanted to ask this around the trade deadline, but better late than never. When a player gets moved at the deadline or at any point in the season,

is the team that trades him responsible for paying him to move or take care of selling, renting the place that they are living, etc.? Also also is the team that acquires the player responsible for setting that player up in his new city just curious how all of this works great job jeff and amal and even you elliot oh thank you thank you very much continues the bit continues So I have to check and see if this changed in the recent CBA. I don't know, but I do know in the previous one, which was done in 2013, basically you get a reasonable amount of moving expenses covered for you.

I don't know what that means, reasonable amount. I'm sure some people have a varying degree of what's reasonable and what isn't. But that was in the CBA. Like, I think it was section, I looked at it quickly. I think it's section 14. But I believe you do get up to six months reimbursement for those expenses on mortgage and rent. And there's a maximum.

I think it used to be around $4,000. I don't know what it is right now. And like I said, you can get a reasonable amount of moving expenses done. Oh, wait a second. I just found one note. Okay.

This again is the old CBA. For 21 days after the trade, you can be reimbursed for single room hotel accommodations. Have you ever heard the Igor Larionov story? The trade story from Detroit to Florida? No, what's that one? This is a great one.

So when Larionov was traded from Detroit to Florida, part of the moving expenses that he insisted on is he wanted his entire wine cellar brought from Detroit to Florida. insisted on is he wanted his entire wine cellar brought from Detroit to Florida. And I think it costs Florida, like, and they only had him for like 20 games. I think, I think it costs them like 30 or $35,000 because he insisted on his wine cellar to come along with them. So as soon as I saw that question, I thought, bingo, it's a chance to get the Lirianov story out there. So Jeff in Ottawa, thanks for that one. This is an interesting one. For whatever reason, people don't like this play. I happen to love it. I'm really curious your thoughts on this

one. Charles from Morono, Ontario. Hi guys. I've been a hockey fan since the 1960s and yet I don't understand the slingshots. The power play strategy of advancing as far as center ice and then throwing the puck back to a player in your own end, all it seems to do is help the opposing team kill some seconds off the power play. You would never think of doing that procedure at even strength. So why is it done so often on the power play? strength so why is it done so often on the power play the easy answer for this one is it forces the defensive team to stop and then start it actually freezes them it's all about possession it's all about momentum and the interesting part of this one is we always focus on the player or players who take the drop and as they come up the ice.

As one coach, because I'm fascinated with the dynamic of this entire play, and I was texting with one coach who made a really good point. He said, you're missing the key to the whole thing. And I said, what's that? And he said, watch the forward who goes east-west to the neutral zone. That player is, we call it disruption, but really what it is is interference. It's casual interference, Elliot.

And what that does, that disruption forces the defenders to stop and then start again. Otherwise, they're frozen at the blue line. He said, you guys all focus on the drop. Watch the player that's skating east-west to the neutral zone. That's what makes the whole thing work. What do you think of that play?

Personally, I love it. What do you think of it? I think of every team started doing it and it became ridiculous. Every power play became about the draw pass. I thought it reached a point where it became too easy to stop because everybody was doing it.

But they still do it because it works. But some teams do it better than others. You have to have a fast team, right? Remember BX had talked about this on Hockey Night once. And his thing was, you know, normally teams will have a two-person drop. There'll be two skaters back there. So one guy grabs the puck and then they can play catch up the ice. He said, watch Colorado.

McKinnon is such a one man entry machine. They just have McKinnon back there and he grabs a pocket. It's not a two person drop. It's a one person. It's McKinnon. And then he just flies up the ice. Well, that's McKinnon.

I mean, obviously you have your McKinnon. You're going to, you're going to do that, but it became ridiculous for a while where everybody was doing it. And then teams started booing it because, or fans started booing it because their team did it poorly. I think it's a cool play.

You know where I first really noticed it was Todd McClellan and Jay Woodcroft in San Jose. This would have been like around, I think, 2010. I mean, the Olympic team did it in 2010 as well, and I think that's where it really caught on. But Woodcroft and McClellan in San Jose, I don't think they were the first. I think Detroit might have been with like Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsuk. But they were the ones where it was like every single time that was the play and teams didn't know what to do. Now to your point,

that's standard. That's become a standard entry on power plays. I got all day long for Jay Woodcroft. I think a lot of us do. Every time I see that play now, I tend to think of, oh yeah, that's the old Jay Woodcroft, San Jose play. Here we go again. Rob in China. Hey guys, two quick questions. One, when was the first 30 Thoughts blog published? I feel like I remember reading about the 2006 Olympics in the blog, but that feels so long ago. And two, a friend from Detroit told me the Red Wings almost traded Iserman to Ottawa for Yashin, and it blew my mind. That would have changed the fates of two franchises, possibly two NHL careers. I'm wondering if this was even close to happening. Thanks, Robin China. Iserman sure believed it was close to happening,

and it was heavily reported at the time. I think a lot of us do feel that that was true, and Scotty Bowman definitely put that in front of Iserman's face and made sure that he was aware of it so that Iserman would have it so that eiserman would have to understand that if things weren't going to be different then he wasn't going to be a red wing so that's definitely true like that happened any red wing fan will tell you about that the first 30 thoughts blog i think it was around 2009 or 10 i don don't believe the 2006 Olympics were in it.

It was when Doug Walton was a producer at Hockey Night in Canada. He was the guy who suggested it, and he wasn't there in my first couple of seasons. So I would say it was probably around, somewhere around 2008 or 2009. From James, for teams like Pittsburgh and Washington

who have those aging star players in Crosby and Ovechkin, man, it always makes me feel old when people refer to Crosby and Ovechkin as aging. Oh, killing us. But also a need to replenish the cupboards. How much communication is there between front office and those players about the plan? Is that sort of communication allowed?

Do you think anything drastic could happen if the GM wants one direction and the star player wants another? Basically, is Berkey calling Sid to ask about it? Love the show. Thanks to Amel for making it always sound great. I don't think that Sidney Crosby marches in there and says, what the hell are we doing? But I do think that they

ask him his opinion on things. I do. Or do we need to keep this guy? Or what do you think about that guy? I don't know if this is the exact right word, but it's the word I'll use. It's more of a courtesy and a recognition that he deserves to have input as opposed to, Sid, what do you think we should do? Now, the NBA is a league where players have a lot of power because one player can really determine the outcome of a team. Look at what's happening in the NBA tonight. It's free agency night. And on the eve of free agency, Kevin Durant goes out and says, yeah, I want to be traded. That throws the whole league into chaos. Like it's just a crazy, hilarious league like that.

And that's one of the reasons it's so much fun to cover the NHL. Like I think in Chicago, for example, I think they've sat down with their guys, Kane and Taves and said, look, this is what we're thinking. They've sat down with their guys, Kane and Taves, and said, look, this is what we're thinking. But, you know, if Kane and Taves said, I want to win, which they both want to win, is that going to change the direction of the Chicago Blackhawks? No, they've made their decision and they've told them. Now they inform them of it to keep them updated, but this is how they feel. And I do think in Chicago, they would love to create a situation where instead of them going to

Kane and Taves and asking them, can we trade you? I think they would prefer it. If Kane and Taves came to them and said, you know, look, we feel this way. We want to go.

I think there's a way to manage this. It just takes honesty on all sides, but you know, sometimes PR happens that way. Matt Sundin, when he was in Toronto, he would get mad at you if you asked him, did you go to management and say, I want this player?

And he's like, no, I don't believe that's what my job is. I don't know too many players in the NHL who have that kind of power. I think Gretzky did. I think Lemieux did. I do think that one thing that's happened in Edmonton is that the Oilers have worked hard to have a relationship with big David.

And I don't think it always goes through him. I think it's probably GM and agent Ken Holland, Jeff Jackson. But I do think that they bounce things off him. Again, I don't think McDavid has like a veto or anything like that. I wouldn't want to say that. But I do think the Oilers have worked at times when they're thinking about things to solicit his opinion. when they're thinking about things to solicit his opinion. Like I think, you know, the Woodcroft at the end of the year,

I heard McDavid said really good things about Woodcroft. And I think that was one of the reasons, in addition to the results that Edmonton was very comfortable extending them. Things like extending Darnell Nurse. I think they knew that McDavid and Nurse are very comfortable with each other. And again, it's not the reason it happens but i just think that they do talk to him and keep him abreast of of things there again like i said it's not a veto but i do think he's well aware of what they're thinking this is from ryan hey guys love the podcast everything else you do. I'm curious how you two first became hockey fans.

Me being 25, my first glimpse of Sabres hockey came during the 05-06 season. My dad had the Sabres versus Thrashers on in the living room. I walked in while Brier scored a goal and thought, huh, this is pretty cool. Next thing I knew, I got Sabres tickets to my first game for Christmas. Sabres versus the LA Kings. Sabres won the game 10 to 1. Jokin Heshton and Jason Palmanville both scoring hat tricks. Talk about a first game to get hooked.

Huge Sabres fan ever since. Thanks, Ryan. How did you first become a hockey fan, Elliot? You know, it's hard for like a lot of Canadians. Like it's hard for people to understand how different the world was in the mid-70s when I was a kid. You know, there wasn't a lot on TV. We got, what, two hockey games a week, Jeff?

Yeah, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Wednesdays and Saturdays. You know, there wasn't a lot of NBA on TV at that time. There was always a lot of football, both Canadian and U.S. And us and you know when i was born you know major league baseball was not yet in toronto so the big team uh was obviously the mapleys we saw a lot of their games i mean i was like many other kids like i was just a few years old when i first put on skates and played house league hockey. There's so much more you're exposed to now, whether it's the ability to watch a sport

online or on TV or participate in a sport that just didn't exist back then. And I became a hockey fan because I played it not well, but I played it and I went to games and, um, you know, it was just a big sport. Like everybody talked about it. Everybody talked about the Stanley Cup. Everybody talked about your local team. I think it was almost by osmosis, really. You know what it was for me?

I don't think I've ever mentioned this before on any radio show, TV show, or podcast I've ever been on. radio show, TV show, or podcast I've ever been on. One of my early memories, and my dad always meant when he was still alive, would mention this to me every now and then, because I was a goaltender growing up. I was always gravitating towards the goalies. In the 70s, as you know, was the era of great masks. So as a kid, that's what I was attracted to, really cool masks. And one of my earliest memories of you know just loving hockey and thinking it was the coolest thing in the world was going to toronto toro's games and there were

two goaltenders that i really loved and they uh you know so they the team went to birmingham and i was crushed the following season but you know those two goaltenders were? Wayne Wood and the other guy, John Garrett, our colleague in Vancouver, who, by the way, his Toro slash Bulls mask, which he painted over, and I'll never forgive him for it when he went to the Whalers, is still, for me, the greatest hockey mask of all time.

But for me, it was seeing the Toronto Toros, WHA, and then it was Mike Palminter and Boris Salming with the Toronto Maple Leafs and that was it I was hooked forever but a lot of it was because of the goaltenders and the Toronto Toros and that Toros team was fun too

and I remember being a big fan of Aslab Nedimanski Big Ned who would have been on that team as well but that was the one for me the Toronto Toros of the old WHA and our colleague in Vancouver for age, John Gerrits. Let's finish up here with a voicemail, Mark in West Virginia. Hey, this is Mark from West Virginia. I've got two trade related questions for you. First, we hear about future considerations being included in trades. I was wondering if you guys have any examples of future considerations being paid, stuff like, you know, TMA has future considerations from Team B.

TMA waives a player, tells Team B you can't claim him. Second, do you know of any examples of weird things being included in trades, so not just the typical players, picks, retained salary, you know, stuff like that? What are the limits of what can be included in the trade? Thanks, guys. I read the podcast every week. Love it. Great job, especially you, Amol.

You're a madman for dealing with these two. Catch you later. I'm going to go Red Wing. That's a good one, Mark. So the one I always remember is there was a player in the early 80s named Ken Solheim. In 1983, he was traded from Minnesota to Detroit in exchange for future considerations. And I don't remember how long it was that it happened again,

but it was a few months at least. The future considerations turned out to be Ken Solheim. He got traded back from Detroit to Minnesota. Yes. He got traded for, he was his own future considerations. He was his own future considerations. And, you know, I do want to say this. Ken Solheim was a guy, I think he scored 70 goals one year in the Western Hockey League.

So this was not a guy who was untalented. Played 135 games. He scored 19 goals. But that was the one I always remember. He turned out to be the future consideration for himself. You know who was the goalie on his team in junior and medicine hat? Was that Rudy? It's Kelly.

Yeah, I should ask him about that. Kelly Rudy. Legendary Patty Janelle was the goalie on his team in junior and medicine hat? Was that Rudy? It's Kelly. Yeah, I should ask him about that. Kelly Rudy. Legendary Patty Janelle was the head coach there. Well, you know my favorite story of being traded for goofy things, right? Which one's this one? Dale DeGray traded by Cleveland to Indianapolis in exchange for money to cover Cleveland's hotel bills from Indianapolis that season. He was traded and Indianapolis paid for the hotel bills for Cleveland for that

season. That's who I've asked him about it too. We've had all these in the general manager, the own sound of the, of the OHL, but you know, what's interesting about that Cleveland team that he was, and this is the Cleveland lumberjjacks in the old International Hockey League,

97-98, that's when he was traded to Indianapolis from Cleveland. You know that Cleveland team, here's something for you, you're not going to get this one. On that Cleveland team, there are two current head coaches in the NHL. If you get this, this will be your Derek Lalonde. This will be your Derek Lalonde moment. If you can nail who those two players who turned into current NHL coaches were. Jeez.

Let me think. This one's nasty. It sounds like it. But it's pretty cool. Hit me. Martin St. Louis. Oh my goodness. And Lane Lambert.

Wow. That's a great one. We're coaches on that team where Dale DeGray was traded uh from cleveland to indianapolis for hotel bills how about that one the one in the podcast on that note let's end the podcast on that note before i wrap up um thanks to everybody for all the emails uh the phone calls there were plenty and there's a lot of good ones that we we couldn't get to and hopefully we'll get to it uh in future episodes here. Taking us out today, Elliot, you'll love this,

a duo based out of the Markham Stouffville area. Oh, wow, who else lives in that area? USS have been making music since 2008 and have collected quite a bit of hardware over the last 15 years. With their latest single, here's USS with Never Stop on 32 Thoughts, the podcast enjoy Put your hands up If you're freaky like me Throw a tantrum Never stop Till it slides out, mic drop

Never stop Till we're number one, peak time Never stop Like ants on a lollipop Never stop No, we'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever stop Till it slides out, mic drop Never stop Till we're number like time by time Never stop

Till we're number one Beat time Never stop Like ants on a lollypot Never stop No one ever ever ever ever Clean up aisle life Pole position creature on the grind

Missionary super organism for your mind Planetary Love to live and given in a rhyme Monetary This is how a legend is born If you're winning like me Put your hands up If you're freaky like me

Throw a tantrum Never stop Till it's like top of my tribe Never stop Till we're number one peak time Never stop We'll see you next time. Never stop, like ants on a lollipop Never stop, no one ever, ever, ever, ever Never stop