32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The PTO Song

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

Jeff is now a musician! The guys kick things off with a conversation about the current state of the NHL (1:00), the latest on the Senators (8:30), they wonder what the Ducks will do with Jamie Drysdale (13:00), Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville speaking to coaches and GMs in New York last week (26:20) and they take your Montana’s Thought Line questions (21:00).Also, they catch up with Filip Gustavsson (30:30) and Lucas Raymond (39:40) at the European Media Tour.LINK to Eric Engel's article can be found HEREEmail the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Montana's Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailMusic Outro: Rodriquez - Rich Folks HoaxListen to the full track HEREThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: Columbia.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.

Okay, let's bust this out because it's going to be a great pod because I have something off the top that I thought of on the way home from Lindsay, my son's hockey game. Yes, once again, it is time for 32 Thoughts to Podcast alongside yours truly, Jeff Merrick and Amal Delich. It is recently signed to a PTO podcast tryout, the one and only Elliot Friedman. Speaking of PTOs, Elliot, on my way home today from lovely Lindsay, Ontario, where my son had an exhibition game, I came up with a song. You want to hear my song? I'm not sure, but for the sake of the pod, I will say yes. That might not be the real answer, though. It sounded good in my head when I came up with it.

I hope I have all the names right. I hope these are actually all players that are on PTOs. I think they are. Ready? Ahem. Yep. Danton, Heine, Noah, Gregor,

Colin, White, and Libor, Hayek, Quiver, Ronta, Peter, Holland, Sam Gagné, and Brandon Sutter. We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire. No, it's not a Billy Joel kind of. It's kind of going for a We Didn't Start the Fire vibe,

but with PTO players. That's where my brain went after a medium coffee around 6.37 o'clock this evening, Elliot. This is a low point in the history of the pod. Danton Hine and Noah Greger, Colin White and Lieber Hayek, Kid Veronta, Peter Holland, Sam Garnier and Brandon Sutter. Come on, man, that's a hit. I know I left a few names.

I know Alex Chason and Mark Pissack and all that kind of stuff and Austin Wagner, but I think I really did something there. I think I did an art there, Elliot. Cardi B had a big drop on the weekend. I don't think she's threatened by whatever this is. You can't. All right, fine.

Billy Joel, your, we didn't start the fire is safe. It's not going to be replaced by references to Joel Kivaranta and Peter Holland, but just as an aside to kick off the podcast, we're always so fascinated with players that, that get PTOs or accept PTOs or go to camp on PTOs players.

We've seen play under, you know, sometimes long-term contracts to any of these players that are signed into PTOs, players we've seen play under, you know, sometimes long-term contracts. Do any of these players that are signed under PTOs move the needle for you, or you just say, let's see what happens in camp? I think I've said before, I'm really rooting for Brandon Sutter. Yeah. To see him get a chance after his battles with long COVID to prolong his career or try

to resume on his own terms, I'm going to be openly cheering for him. Like just blatantly shirking all journalistic convention for Brandon Sutter in training camp this year. I really like to see him do well. I still think there's some more to come. You know, there's a few good players out there who haven't signed yet. And, you know, one of the ones I'm really curious about is Thomas Tatar. And Thomas Tatar has switched agents. He is now

represented by Newport. That's a relatively recent development. Someone said to me, they wouldn't be surprised to see him sign soon. We'll see. I know Pittsburgh was a team that was interested, but I believe the Penguins were not the only one. We interrupt our program to bring you this important message. Good morning, Armel. Hope you had an excellent dinner. Just quick drop in. One thing about Tatar, I thought it might be Pittsburgh. Now I'm not convinced it's going to be Pittsburgh. I've heard East, but I'm not so sure it's Pittsburgh.

But this offseason has been about players who really got squeezed. Vladimir Tarasenko was a guy who really got squeezed. Misread the market, got squeezed. Tyler Mott was a guy who really got squeezed, misread the market, got squeezed. Tyler Mott was another guy who hoped, you know, I heard he was looking for a $2 million number, and now he's in Tampa Bay at $800K. We'll see where Tatar ends up, what his number will be, but I'm sure he thought it would be better than it is. This is becoming more and more a league of, and we'll see what happens when the cap rises,

but there definitely is a feeling we're moving to an elimination of the middle class. Ellie, it's been going that way for years. It's been trending this way for years. It's been trending, but it's never really gotten there. And now people think it's really going to get there. Do you not think though, that by the very nature of the salary cap in general, this is what inevitably happens, specifically in hockey? I mean, it started in 2005 after the 0405 lockout, and it's sort of now getting to this place where you're really seeing, much like the economy of various countries, the complete removal, to your point, of the middle class.

The middle class hockey player is gone. The reason that I would disagree with you, jeff is because the top paid players have always faced pressure not to go after the 20 in the history of the salary cap there's been only one player at 20 of the cap do you know the answer to that trivia question ilialya Kovachuk, sir. No, that's a good guess. It's not Ilya Kovachuk, but that's a good guess. It's a bit of a trick question because it was Jaromir Jagr in the first year of the cap. In the first year of the cap, Jagr's salary from his previous contract was over 20%. So he was grandfathered in. Right.

I always wondered about that, that if the salary cap went down, all of a sudden player X made more than 20% of the cap, would they take that money off? In that case, they didn't actually, to be honest, Jeff, I don't know if there's anything written into the CBA about that, but the, you know, the lawyers and all sports now are run by lawyers. The ones who believe in precedent, there is precedent for Yager to be exempted so he was exempted in the first year of the cap but the thing is like the top players they've always kind of been i don't know if shamed is the right word but they've kind of been pressured into not taking the 20 right like you'll remember when connor mcdavid signed in edmonton yeah initially he

was going to sign for i think 13.33 and he dropped it to 12 and a half do you remember why specifically because it got out at 13.33 and it was to leave money for dry sidle of course yes and it got out and he didn't like it and and he took it down and most hockey players at the top of the pay scale are like McDavid. He's hardly alone in that. Now we're starting to see some differences. You know, like McKinnon, he went to 12-6. And then Matthews, of course, goes to 13-2-5. I think we're all wondering if this next generation is different.

Like one of the things that's really interesting to me, Jeff, is that like there's a bunch of agencies here. They do other sports like Wasserman is a big agency. They do other sports, CAA and Octagon. Those are big agencies. They do other sports. You know, what some of those agents have told me is that in some of the other sports, they don't understand the hockey mentality. They're like, wait a second. If you can't make it work under the cap, that's somebody else's problem. Or the star player gets paid because they're the star player and they're bringing home the revenue. And if people don't like that, too bad.

It's a very different mentality. And I know what you're saying, that we've been trending this way for a while. The reason it hasn't gotten there is the star players in hockey have generally avoided going anywhere near that 20 well now we're starting to see mcdavid 12 5 mckinnon beats it by a hundred thousand and then matthews beats it by 625 000 like that's a big jump and these guys guys are competitive. They're competitive, not only on the ice, but they're competitive in terms of contracts. And I always wonder, this generation is built different in a lot of ways, some good, some bad. And I do wonder if we're going to see that mentality creep into hockey. We'll find out.

We shall see. We should also mention, coming up a little bit later on in the podcast, you will hear from, and these are a couple of interviews we did in Stockholm at the NHL European Players Tour, Philip Gustafson, newly minted three-year contract in his hip pocket, Elliott's net minder for the Minnesota Wild, and Lucas Raymond as well of the Detroit Red Wings. So that's still to come here on today's podcast. In the meantime, one of the things that we were waiting on,

and we've talked a lot about Ottawa, geez, all last season and the off season, last podcast with Jake Sanderson, and now we're talking about Ottawa with Michael Andlauer. Is this going to come to fruition? Is this going to close? Eyes dotted, T's crossed, et cetera,

this week with Andlauer becoming the new official owner of the Ottawa Senators. The expectation is, yes, this is going to come to an end this week. You know, the one thing about the sale process is there were a lot of misfires before they picked Andlauer, and then it's been pretty smooth ever since that occurred. And everybody seems to think he's going to be officially unveiled this week. And with that, we'll find out what's going to happen around him. There's been a lot of talk about Cyril Leder coming back. He was in that organization for a long time.

There's been a lot of talk about Steve Staios. I think we're going to find out and get clarity on some of these things this week. Let me throw another name at you, Daniel Alfredson. Daniel Alfredson's another one. I've had some people say to me they're not convinced Alfredson's going to take an enormous role yet. I mean, we'll find all this out. But as I said to you many times, he was the one guy who didn't do the popular celebrity. And I think you're going to hear him say he thinks a well-run organization is more important than celebrities.

The other thing I'm sure we'll get some clarity on is what are his plans for the arena? Does he still plan on taking the team downtown? What's the situation with that? You know, one of the other things here, and you just referenced Steve Steyos a couple of seconds ago too, you know, you wonder about new names that could be populating the organization. And I think you also wonder about people that have helped put together this version of the Ottawa Senators and do they stay or with new ownership, do they need to seek employment elsewhere? And I think a lot of people are wondering about Pierre Dorian here, but

in Dorian's defense, and this is going to be a conversation around the NHL for a while here, I know a lot of people sort of raised their eyebrows when Dorian said, we don't have any bad contracts on this team. And you could quibble about a couple of contracts, but there's no like egregious contract here or a couple that are really dragging down the Ottawa Senators. I don't know that people are used to hearing managers brag about, you know, their salary cap situation. But if anyone in the Eastern Conference has maybe the right to brag about it, even though at times they seem like, you know, maybe some Hail Mary passes here.

But if anyone has a right to brag about their salary cap situation, it is probably Ottawa. When you look at Pierre Dorian, because there is- As long as it works. That's it. There's going to be the conversation.

Like there's a lot of good bets. A lot of good bets. Like when you look at what Dorian's done here, again, to his point, you can quibble about, does Matthew Joseph maybe make a million more than he should or 500,000 more than he should? But to his point, there are no bad contracts here, Elliot. As a matter of fact, you kind of got Tim Stutzla on a bargain and he's your highest paid player. I think this, I'd be surprised if

they were making any changes like that right now. I think people will be added. I'd be surprised if anybody was departing. You know, one of the things that I think is going to be interesting here is how does the organization run under new ownership? It's clear that the Ottawa Senators were a dysfunctional organization for a long time and now they've got everybody pulling in the right direction and they've got a lot of good bets here. Everybody there is optimistic. I think it's for good reason. I think we're going to get a chance to see some things play out here. All right elliot um so much of this podcast leading up to the opening puck drop is just going to deal with you know business and you know part of the business is getting players under contract and there are a few rfas that were you know really wondering about i know the situation is is really tight in minnesota with

with kaylen addison and i think we all wonder about know, what is the number going to be with, you know, someone like Trevor Zegers with the Anaheim Ducks superstar player. But maybe one of the more interesting contract situations, and we'll stick with Anaheim on this one, is Jamie Drysdale, who we really didn't see last season, Elliot, because of injury. But this one sounds like it's not exactly smooth. What can you tell us about Jamie Drysdale's situation with Anaheim? I don't think either Anaheim one has been incredibly smooth, to be honest. You know, first of all, I'll just say about Zegers, I've been open about this. I think this one's going to be a bridge whenever it gets done.

I'm not changing my opinion on that until someone gives me a reason to, but I think it's going to be a bridge whenever it gets done. I'm not changing my opinion on that until someone gives me a reason to, but I think it's going to be a bridge. You know, the Drysdale one, obviously the team and the agent aren't talking about it, but I was talking just some other teams and some other agents about what they were thinking. And they brought up the point about Drysdale that that injury last year cost him a year of service, right?

Yeah. So he now loses a year towards arbitration. So instead of being a year away, he's now two years away. And that really tips the balance of power to the team. Like one agent was telling me, that's a really, really tough position to negotiate from as Shane Pinto what that feels like yeah he's a different case and you know we'll talk about that one maybe if you want to in a sec but now we did the last part the Drysdale case for that reason like he

can't do offer sheet he's what's called a 10-2-C like as you said Pinto is can't do offer sheet no arb like they can really grind you if they want to. And you know, the difference between a guy like Pinto and Drysdale is that in Pinto's case, it's a team at the cap that is trying to win. There is no chance the Senators don't want Pinto signed at the start of the year. They need him. They want him. They're stuck and they're trying to move somebody. Maybe it's Joseph. Maybe it's someone else just to get room there to get Pinto signed. But Anaheim, they have lots of cap room and they're not trying to win. You know, that's the thing here. Like with Drysdale and Zegers, like Anaheim, they're tough. Verbeek is tough.

He is a really tough negotiator. And Jeff Solomon, who's the assistant GM there, who negotiates contracts, he's a former agent. And people will tell you that Jeff Solomon, and they say this with respect, he is one of the toughest negotiators that's ever been around the NHL. Like anything with him is an absolute grind. Like, I don't know which one's doing the handling this, if it's Verbeek or it's

Solomon, but they are two really tough negotiators and Verbeek's the boss. He's the general manager. He's the guy in charge. You know, the one thing I worry about here with Zegers and Drysdale is, if you're Anaheim, you're not trying to win here. But the thing I always worry about in this particular case is, are you worried about angering those players? You know, we talked a little bit before, Jeff, about how this generation is different.

And look, I think everybody out here knows what I'm talking about. Some ways good, some ways bad. I didn't do a lot of my negotiations till recently because I took them very personally. But now I'm a little older. I recognize it's business. I still take some things personally. I do, but I know it's business. These are young guys.

These are guys in their early twenties and you know, they're very proud guys. Zegers in particular is as out there as anyone is in the NHL when it comes to like being fearless and having that kind of attitude. And I would worry if I was the ducks about grinding these guys too much, like have to and you have the power of the cba but when the ducks are good you have to think that zegras and drysdale are going to be big parts of that and you know here's the one thing i do also believe jeff is that sometimes you can have a bad negotiation say sign for three years or whatever you have a bad negotiation and you say, I'll never sign with this team again, but in three years it goes away. It's a risk. Sometimes it does

go away, but other times it doesn't. The other thing too is, you know, if the Ducks start the season without these guys in their lineup, what are you doing to give your fans a reason to buy a ticket into the building? And so, look, I understand the ducks are holding tough. I don't expect them to give these guys everything they want. Oh, here's the money. Take all of it from our bank. We'll let you into the safe and give you our safety deposit box key.

bank will let you into the safe and give you our safety deposit box key but i do wonder like on a team that is as hard negotiators as they are and they are hard i just that's the one thing i'm concerned about for here are they going to take this too far with these two players okay so you're you're a big proponent you've said it before on this podcast and elsewhere about the, and I'm going to butcher how you phrase it here. The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. Yeah. Do I have that one right? Yes.

So I'll reach back into the summer, not too far and say, okay, I'm looking at the Trevor Zegers situation and the Jamie Drysdale situation and how, you know, this one is a grind and use the CBA to your advantage. And we talked about Yarmulke Kalanen and, you know, sometimes you have the hammer, sometimes the player has the hammer, et cetera, get all that. And I'm looking at Anaheim and I'm looking at, okay, so how have we recently seen them behave around contracts? Troy Terry.

So Troy Terry, it seemed went from, we're going to arbitration, we're going into that room, to bam, $49 million. Yep. Seven-year contract. Yep. It went from zero to $49 million like that, which is why I can't help but thinking here when it comes to Zegers or Drysdale, I'm just saying it wouldn't surprise me if this is, whether it's Verbeek or whether it's Solomon, take it up right to the very, very last minute. What is Lou Lambert always talking about? If you have the time, use it. And then bam, at that last moment, all of a sudden, this number appears out of nowhere. Again, I'm only using Trey Terry as the example because

it's the only one that I have, and it's most recent. But does that resonate? Jeff, I think that resonates a lot. I think it's a great point. And I'd say the only difference here is that Terry had the leverage swing in the CBA that these two players don't have. Correct. But I think that's very fair. You could turn out to be totally right here, totally right.

you could be turned out to be totally right here. Totally right. And the one thing I heard, and I heard this from a few different people is everybody thought that one was going into a hearing and then it didn't. Yep. It was a big number. Why? Yeah.

And it was, it's a fair contract. I don't think anybody's complaining about it. Maybe that'll be what happened. Maybe on the eve of training camp, they do that. You know, I think the other thing too is,

and I think we've talked about this, is that like they have a new coach there too. I always think whenever you're bringing in a new coach, you don't like to start like that without key guys there. True. You know, again, like, you know, Anaheim, they're free to do what they want. I understand it's a negotiation.

Unless Zegers and Drysdale are being completely piggish, then I see a lot of reasons here for the Ducks to find reasons to make it work. You don't have to hand over everything. But, you know, make your fans happy. Get them in to start with a new coach. That's what I'd be looking to do. Okay. Before we get to a couple of more things here on the pod and Gustafson and

Raymond still coming up, wanted to talk about Josh Bailey and we got a note from Ryan in Long Island about Josh Bailey as part of the Montana's thought line, Montana's barbecue and bar Canada's home for barbecue what do you always say Elliot try the ribs email 32 thoughts at sportsnet.ca by way of phone [phone]

so Ryan submits this one on the Montana's thought line although I'm a Rangers fan my fiancee assesses over Josh Bailey once a week I search Google to find any sort of Josh Bailey updates. So far, I've had no luck. I'm now turning to the experts for some insight.

Jeff and Elliot, does no team have a need for a middle six veteran playmaker? Will Josh Bailey get an NHL contract this year? If so, where will he go and what will the deal look like? If not, what is next for him? Elliot, I submit, and so does Ryan in Long Island, Josh Bailey. First of all, before I answer the question, young Ryan, I see a lot of red flags here. You live in Long Island.

Ranger fan. Flag number one, red flag number one, you're a Ranger fan. Red flag number two, your fiance one you're a ranger fan red flag number two your fiance is obsessing over josh bailey i am rooting for you ryan you sound like a really good guy but already you're got two strikes against you here so good luck i wish you all the best i had heard there was something coming down the pipe with bailey that uh he'd been talking to teams and there was something coming down the pipe with Bailey that he'd been talking to teams and there was some interest. But as of 8.30 Eastern tonight, which was an hour before we did this pod, I'm being told it's uncertain about where he's going to end up. Look, I'm with you, Ryan. I

think he can help. But like I said, the word was uncertain about what his final destination will be, but I'm told he wants to play. Ryan, good luck. And that is the update with Josh Bailey. From Donald, one more. Could the NHL bring back the NHL All-Stars versus the European All-Stars and have it held in certain foreign cities to give both sides best players to be seen by fans who normally wouldn't get to see crosby or mcdavid on a world stage other than the world cup of hockey

or the winter olympics what's your take as always opinions please nhl all-stars versus european all-stars look i don't even want to no offense but i don't even want to see this until we get the other stuff figured out first you know jeff i don't know want to, no offense, but I don't even want to see this until we get the other stuff figured out first. You know, Jeff, I don't know how much of the basketball you watched the last couple of weeks, the World Cup. Go Canada. It was like, you know, I'm not an early riser, but I, you know, I happened to wake up at 6 a.m. this morning. So I got to watch the overtime between Canada and the U.S. And the whole time I'm watching this, I'm saying,

wow, how great is this for Canada? Gets a medal and Gilgis, Alexander, and Brooks. I mean, they were unbelievable, those two guys. But part of me was like, this is fantastic, great for Canada. And the other half of me is, man, we are losing out in the NHL not having this and hockey not having this. I know. So more than an all-star game or this kind of thing, we are losing out in the NHL not having this and hockey not having this. I know.

So more than an all-star game or this kind of thing, we have to get the World Cup back. Now they are talking about something. They are working on something for the all-star game next year. And there's some talk about European locations. I think it's more likely North America. But the one thing I was told is they are trying to do something a little bit unique. They are trying to find a way to put a twist on it that is entertaining. And I don't think we're talking about Team North America and anything like that.

But they are trying to find some ways to do it. And they really want to do it. I have heard there's a real, finally a recognition that this has to happen because we're way behind and watching this tournament the other day reminded me of that. Okay. I'm going to freestyle a question here on the Montana's thought line. Ready?

Okay. Yeah. Okay. So I'm emailed in at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca. This question for you. When's the last time you felt old? Like this morning when I woke up? I think I know what it was because I texted you

and you sent back a holy smokes or a wow or something to me. Eric Bolton's son just signed with the london knights unbelievable ryan bolton eric bolton who it seems like retired like five minutes ago it was longer than that um his son just signing with the uh with the london knights the symmetry there by the way is eric played for the sarnia sting when mark hunter was the coach of the sarniest thing but ryan bolton signs with the london knights it happens every year elliot i know you have the same reaction man we've been in this for a long long time and we're not getting any younger i wish you all the best ryan bolton and the entire bolton family who have now made me and Elliot safe to say, you feel old.

PJ Stock always said that Eric Bolton was one of the great people in hockey. Yeah. So good on the Boltons. Congrats to the Boltons there. Okay. Before we get to Philip Gustafson and Lucas Raymond, last week, both Stan Bowman and Joel Quinville addressing coaches and general managers.

We talked about this on the last podcast. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that it wasn't mandatory, but when the commissioner says, if you'd like to address the group, the floor is yours, that's pretty much a way of saying it's probably in your best interest to do so. Your thoughts on this one, Stan Bowman and Joel Quinville, sharing their thoughts on their experiences around the Brad Aldrich

sexual assault of Cal Beach. Jeff, you'll remember on Friday's pod, we talked about this meeting coming up in Chicago and we discussed that we'd heard that the NHL was going to let the coaches and GMs know that, look, God forbid,

if something like this ever happened again, that they were responsible for how it would be handled in their dressing room or they needed to be responsible for how it would be handled in their dressing room or their organization and then obviously we found out later that joel quenville and stan bowman were there and amo will link to eric engel's story because eric covered for us in Chicago. Because I think the quotes from Bill Armstrong, the GM of the Coyotes, and Martin Saint-Louis, the coach of the Canadians, were particularly interesting. And I followed up a little bit.

just collecting some more information basically from what it sounds like to me the picture that was painted was at higher levels in the organization they were told we will handle this if you'll remember that was brought to their attention for the first time after they beat san jose in the western conference final and they were going to go play for the Stanley Cup. And basically it was, you guys worry about that, let the higher levels of the organization worry about what has happened here. And basically what the coaches and the GMs were told is, Basically, what the coaches and the GMs were told is, that isn't good enough. If you know about something and you say, I don't have to worry about this because it's going to get handled, the consequences are severe. And like I said, if you read Armstrong and San Luis quotes and then just talking to some other people, that's the picture that they were painted, was you are responsible.

It's not enough to say, oh, I've been told by the team president that we don't have to worry about this. And I think that message was absolutely received. Listen to the 32 Thoughts Podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, included with Prime. Okay, welcome back to the podcast. In a couple of moments here, you are going to hear from Lucas Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings. I know that they're one of those teams that are hoping, after knocking on the door last year leading up into trade deadline, knocking on the playoff door, we expect the Detroit Red Wings to take another step getting to the playoffs.

Do they get there this season? We'll see. But if and when they do, Lucas Raymond is going to be a big part of this Detroit Red Wings team and one of the main reasons why they get there. So in a couple of moments, Lucas Raymond, but up first, Philip Gustafson, who is an interesting story, had a wonderful season for the Minnesota Wild and in a lot of ways went from, maybe I'll just go back to play in Sweden, to a three-year $11 million contract in his hip pocket after a tremendous season with Minnesota. Here's Philip Gustafson in conversation with yours truly,

and Elliot from Stockholm a couple of weeks ago. I have to go to like a sewing school. Yeah. And then I read that you used to take it. No, you have it mandatory in school. I didn't know that. Really? Yeah.

You have that and like woodwork mandatory in school. See, I think that's great. Yeah, you had cooking classes too. Like, were you good at sewing? No. Were you good at woodworking? Yeah. And were you good at sewing no were you good at woodworking yeah and were you good at cooking no no okay no i i just got the grades and i got out of the cooking and sewing classes philip we're in your country tell us the best thing about Sweden. Best thing about Sweden is probably the people. I would say everyone here is super nice

and maybe they're not the most open people. Like if you go and start talking to someone, first they think you're a little weird, but then if you really try and talk to them, they can be super helpful and easy to talk to. That explains my last 24 hours here. I have to say that. Do you have an early childhood hockey memory here

that you can recall and share with us? My first times on the ice was, my dad was still playing when I grew up until, so after his games, I always ran down to the penalty box and skated over with him into the locker room. And then he transitioned into becoming the coach for me. And then he was coach for me all the way up until I was 12 maybe and moved into one of the bigger teams.

Were you always a goalie? No, I was a goalie from when I was, I think, seven, seven or eight. I started to become a goalie. So then I played goalie for Born 97-98. And then I played forward with the 99-2000. How did that happen? Like, why did that happen? Like, I was a goalie and I really liked it.

And then at a point I was like, maybe I just want to score goals all the time. And it's like, why should I stop them? Why can't I score goals? So then I, i like my brother played in that team so i just started playing with him and we started to compete about who could score the most goals and then after a time i was like yeah goal is more fun scoring goals it's not that fun it's more fun to stop them and when i was 12 i i moved to the big team in our city and i only had to play goalie from

then okay i i was wondering did you come today with a riddle no no no not today that was what someone told me he said i should be prepared for a riddle i have to admit i'm kind of disappointed because someone said he's gonna bring something and you won't be able to figure it out. Yeah. Usually we did that during all the games. We went into the medical room after the meeting before the games and had like a reel going on in there and see who would figure out. Sometimes I brought some and some days they had a reel.

The training staff? Yeah. Sometimes they try to get one. And you go out, play the soccer or have the warm-ups. And you still, if you haven't got it, you still think about the reel, like trying to figure something out. And then before the game, they usually spoil the answer if you don't have it. I was going to say the last thing they probably want is you trying to figure out this riddle.

Oh, it's a two-on-one here. Oh, right, right. I heard a story. I don't want to do it now, but I heard a story about that once. A major league pitcher who pitched while trying to think about a riddle. Because, you know what's funny about that is apparently the Sedins,

when they played in Vancouver, they would do the same thing. After the meeting, they would go into the training room and they would do like trivia questions with each other. Okay, let's go to hockey here. And a couple of things. One, great season. after the meeting they would go into the trainer room and they would do like trivia questions with each other okay let's go to hockey here and a couple of things one great season congrats two great contract congrats how close were you though to getting into the arbitration room in your own

mind you didn't get there but how close was it really close close. Like, first they told me, yeah, we're going to file for arbitration. I was like, that's not good. Because I didn't want to sign a one-year deal. I wanted something more than one. And two, they refused to do a two-year deal because then I'd become a free agent after two years. And they were like, no, we are putting a little pressure on them to file for arbitration.

And the time went by and we had a flight scheduled for a Wednesday. And I think the meeting, the arbitration was like a Friday. I kind of called in all the time, like what's going on here? They're like, no, Billy hasn't called anything. We just plan on flying.

I had a really bad Fridayiday the whole day was bad like design your mind yeah yeah no no that wasn't on my mind i just had bad friday walking around fixing my car or something it was and then i just got a call like hey i got some great news bills just called us and uh they want to do a three-year deal now it was a good deal and we're like this is perfect this was what we were aiming for and it was pretty much set in stone on the friday they just had to fix all the paperwork and then i signed it on a sunday so i just had to keep it quiet from my mom and dad and family for two days because they would tell everybody no no i don't think they would tell anyone but yeah you gotta understand how it all works it's more funny so it's like i brought them out for dinner i was and they're like why are we going out for dinner

i didn't tell them what restaurant we're going to or like yeah show up this time and and go out and they're oh now we know why then they kind of figure out that yes i'd signed it when you look at it this year philip what worked for you like what was the difference this season do you felt it starts with outside of the rink i i really felt welcome in in minnesota and it felt like me and my my family that flew over like really liked it felt welcome they helped us with a lot of stuff getting settled in and then getting into the team with with Spurgeon and and the Swedish guys you're just really helping you get everything settled out or settled and when you feel that comfortable outside the rink you can kind of like let your shoulder down and like everything is fixed, everything is set, and you can just play hockey.

And then I had Fleury on the side, so I had zero pressure for myself coming into the season. Fleury was supposed to play all the games and I was kind of going to be there. And then I just played hockey. And when you just play hockey and not thinking about anything else, you play the best. Do you think the security now of the contract, and you said you really liked the three-year deal, do you think that adds to that level of, I don't have to worry as much?

Yeah, no, it's everything outside of hockey is set now. I know what I'm going to do for three years. I'm still going to play hockey for three years. And knowing that they wanted me back and knowing that security around that team is just everything is going to fix itself and you can just focus on hockey for three years it's very mentally tough on you when you're coming into your last year of any deal and you you really know you have to perform so knowing you don't have that knife against your throat every year is very nice game one minnesota wild dallas stars uh that was the dumb up pavelski

incident and it was also it was 51 or 52 saves by you just like an outstanding performance saves by you just like an outstanding performance what do you recall from the game about how you were feeling you know whenever i talk to goaltenders and they have like these big like 50 60 save performances they kind of feel like you know what it they're just sort of in a groove and the puck is just hitting them what did you feel like during that game because flat out you're outstanding that game it's funny you said that play good. It didn't feel good in the first or second period because I think the goal I let in wasn't the best goal. It didn't feel great.

It didn't feel like you had that natural flow or stuff like that. And then the more the game went on, the more pucks started hitting me. And then you kind of have to work your way into the game. I remember I came in after we're going into the second overtime and flurry sit we're sitting next to me i was like hey flurry i if the game doesn't finish this period you're gonna play the next one i i was like so tired that's what you said yeah i was like yeah i i think i got one more period in me more more like like i i obviously would have played the next period too but it's more like

more like I obviously would have played the next period too but it's more like keeping it lightly that's outstanding congratulations on all of it just a command performance last season look forward to many more good things in Minnesota starting next year

thank you very much Luke it's almost become the obligatory question during media tour how was your summer and how many weddings did you go to? I had a really good summer. I went to one wedding and it was a lot of fun. That was Dylan Larkins? That was Dylan.

And yeah, like I said, it was beautiful. We had a great time and it was a lot of fun. You know, this Red Wings team, you know, once again in the offseason, I'm curious your perspective on this as one of the younger players. Steve Eisenman brings in Alex DeBrinckit and Petrie and JT Comfer. And this is the second year in a row that we've seen, you know, more veteran players join the mix. As one of the key young guys, what goes through your mind when you see that?

You know, excited. You know, I feel like we're building something really good. You know, I feel like if you look at my first year, which is only two years ago compared to now coming into this season, I feel like it's a huge difference. And I think, you know, every player and also the city is very excited for this season. So, yeah, no, I think everyone's excited. I went back through this season.

I was watching Steve Eiserman's end-of-year media conference, and he I think everyone's excited. I went back through the season. I was watching Steve Eisenman's end of year media conference. And he was really complimentary of you. And he can have a really biting sense of humor. So I know what it's like to be on the end of it. But I thought it was really interesting how he talked about you had a really good rookie year. And then Perron comes in and kind of takes your spot a bit. And now Debrinket comes in and you have to wonder where he's going to fit in all that but he liked the way that you handled

the fact that you had a role and someone came in who kind of affected your role a bit can you just talk about you're a young guy you're trying to build and how you handle the fact that these veterans come in and it affects what you're trying to build at how you handle the fact that these veterans come in and it affects what you're trying to build at the same time yeah i mean i feel like you could look at it from a lot of different perspectives i think for me it was you know i feel like we took a step last year in a lot of areas and you know i want to develop as a player, but, you know, mostly I want our team to move in a direction that is fun. So, I mean, I think that it created a lot of competition in our team and in a lot of different spots, I think, which was good for us. I think that, you know, made everyone trying to take a further step and, you know, want to play better, want to develop.

And I think that benefits everyone. You know, I think competition is good and I think that that drives you forward so yeah that was kind of my mindset and like I said I feel like everyone on our team just wants to win and wants to take steps as a organization as individuals as well nothing given earned right exactly I mean you don't you don't get anything in the national hockey league like that's the same thing as me coming in my first year it was you know you're not given a spot they're not going to tell you hey here you go you got to earn it and I think that's the way to do it as well and I think shows a lot about our team as well. I've always loved Perron I find him a very fascinating player really smart really nasty sneaky nasty what did you just learn from him watching him practice playing with him

last year yeah i mean i feel like he's one of those players that you you hate to play against but love to have on your team he's a skilled guy but you know brings that brings that grit and a little extra edge so we're happy to have him on the team how close do you think this team is i mean we followed last season i mean that must have been tough as a player you know getting right there and then right around trade deadline time where okay the play is going to decide what the general manager does here and by the end of it Tyler Bertuzzi is a Boston Bruin but how close do you think this team is to finally getting into the playoffs I would love to say that, you know, we're very

close, which I think we're getting there. You know, I think that's, you know, our goal for next season. I think for us, it's about taking it one game at a time, not, you know, jump ahead of ourselves. Last year, I think was a step in the right direction, still not where we want to be. We had a tough stretch before the deadline, which hurt us lot but you know we were right there if you look at it at the end of the season so yeah i think you know we're learning uh you know it's my third year it's another two years of experience and you just keep learning which is a lot of fun and we have a lot of guys you know coming in getting more experience and getting a lot of more experienced guys as well who's been in these situations so yeah i think we're getting there.

What did those games against Ottawa teach you? You know, a lot. I think those were kind of the deciding games at our season, looking back at it. I think they came up playing like a playoffs game and, you know, a lot of energy, physicality, and stuff like that, and we were kind of on our heels. So that's two games that you look back on and want to get back.

You know, coming into this season, I think we really learned that. And hopefully when those games come again, we're prepared. You know, there's that group and, you know, you're part of it. Ottawa that Elliot mentions is part of it and the Buffalo Sabres as well.

You know, we're all sort of waiting to see who's going to, you know, which horse is going to peel off from the pack here. Does it feel like there's something extra in those games when you play against those teams? There's the established at Boston and Tampa, et cetera, Toronto. But when you play against Ottawa or Buffalo, is there that element of, no, we're going to be the next team,

not you guys? I think that has kind of built up a little bit. I think we felt it last year, which know, which in my opinion is a lot of fun. I think it's good for hockey. It's good for us. It's good for everyone with that competition. I mean, us, like you mentioned, Buffalo and Ottawa have a lot

of good young players and we're kind of on the up going. So, yeah, it's going to be fun. All right. Let's make this a spicy rivalry. who do you hate most on ottawa and buffalo pick one player on each team oh yeah i'll keep that to myself but um no i don't hate anyone you know there's there's fun games and do you like playing against brady kachuk um you know i don't think a lot of players do. He's a really good player. And, you know, he has a lot of tools, you know, with that edge that he has,

but also his play. But I like playing against everyone. What about Deline? Yeah, same with him. He's a great guy. I know him very well. So, yeah, it's extra fun playing against him. I can't imagine it's actually fun playing against him.

You must just want to, since you know him very well, it must be like one of those friendships where you guys get along off the ice, but on the ice you just must want to kill him. Yeah, I mean, it's a part of it, though. He's a very competitive player as well. He's a good player, and he plays with the edge as well. He's one of the besties in the league,

so he's tough to play against, i mean we know a guy that well it's it's fun to play him as well i just wanted to ask you when you were taken did you know detroit was going to pick you no i had no idea i had kind of a clue on maybe a couple teams who else was there besides the wings i mean i think it was the teams around there yeah Yeah. You know, Ottawa had two picks and, you know, around that pick. And, you know, so it was a little back and forth, but I never knew really. So when Detroit picked me, I was very happy. That moment when you saw that, what was the first thing that went through your mind or heard it? Yeah, it was different, you know, being home over a Zoom call. But it was fun. You know, I a zoom call but it was fun you know i think

i kind of blacked out a little bit it's like wow it's real i think it's tough to prepare for it but no it was a lot of fun you know just with the friends family that was around to experience that with them that was uh it was a great experience now you're a gothenburg guy not a not a stockholm guy but nonetheless, global series in November. Your Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Ottawa Senators. I love this series because I love watching NHL games in different hockey contexts, in different hockey cultures, and the Swedish hockey culture is different than the Latvian hockey culture is different than the Finnish hockey culture, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. What's that going to mean for you, though, as a player,

playing NHL games in your home country? I'm excited. You know, it's going to be a lot of fun, you know, especially I live on our flight from here. So I'll be able to get friends, family, relatives who might not be able to watch me live over there for them to see me, you know, in an NHL game, I think that will be special. So it's going to cost you to play. Yeah.

It's playing for free. No, it's going to be more than playing for free. It's going to cost to play. But I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. You know, show the guys some Swedish traditions and stuff like that. So I'm excited for that. True or false, people from Gothenburg have better senses of humor than people from

Stockholm. True. That's what they tell me. I don't know if it's true. No, I'd say it's true. Someone from Gothenburg told you that. Yeah.

I think it was Alfred. I'm partial too, but yeah, I'd say it's true. Well, I know you look forward to the games and reclaiming your amateur status where you have to pay to play once again. Thanks so much for this.

Good luck this season with the wings. Thank you guys. Thanks for having me. Thanks. Thank you. Because the world is round, it turns me on. Because the world. Because the wind is high, it blows my mind Raymond of the Detroit Red Wings.

Before that, Philip Gustafson of the Minnesota Wild. I want to thank both those gentlemen for joining us in Stockholm a few weeks ago. Elliot, one thing that we wanted to make sure we got on the podcast, Stockholm a few weeks ago. Elliot, one thing that we wanted to make sure we got on the podcast, a special voicemail that we got on the thought line 1-833-311-3232. That is, of course, the Montana's thought line. This comes to us from Josh in Edmonton. Hey, Jeff, Elliot, Amo. This is Joshua from Edmonton. My question to Jeff, I was wondering what your thoughts are on what's happening with CM Punk in regards to wrestling. I know he's a friend of your guys' podcast,

and I just kind of wonder what your thoughts are and what maybe could be next for CM Punk. Do you think he goes back to the WWE after leaving AEW? Thank you, guys. Have a great one. Now, first of all, Jeff, before you answer, Josh left a longer voicemail. It was really nice.

Yeah. Beautiful voicemails, clearly indicating he's a big fan. So, Josh, thanks for listening. But I want to hear this, too. I don't know CM Punk as well as you, but I've been following all this. Josh, you deserve more than what I'm going to give you, which is basically nothing. I have not talked to Phil about this.

Generally, whenever we either text or talk, it's either conversations about how much we adore Mitsuhara Misawa or Harley Race. So does he end up in wwe somewhere down the line i mean that's kind of the history of pro wrestling isn't it that even though you burn the bridge they'll always send a boat for you i'll always send a raft for you so i don't think it would surprise me or it would surprise anyone nor should it if you've followed professional wrestling but to this specific topic uh no i have no inside information nor have i talked to uh to phil about it but

a talent that big man i've always said it like wrestling's just better when when cm punk is involved in it wherever yeah i don't know anything about this situation except what i've read but i really enjoyed meeting him uh and uh i hope uh everything turns out okay okay taking us out today on the podcast elliot i'm going to redo my we didn't start the fire by billy joel with dan heinen and no no and we get no gregor and colin white and all those guys i know you really dug that. Maybe Amel can clip that and we can make it your ringtone for whenever I call you. Let's leave it to the professionals.

All right, very good. Well, here's one of the professionals. Taking us out, an American folk artist who wrote music from his experiences growing up in Michigan. Unknown to many for decades, Rodriguez found a second wave of success after the Academy Award winning documentary Searching for Sugarman. From his debut record, Cold Fact, here's Rodriguez with Rich Folk's Hoax. Rest easy, seize two, on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. in the purple sky The baby's sleeping

while its mother sighs Talking about the rich folks Rich folks have the same jokes And they park in basic places. The priest is preaching from a shallow grave. He counts his money, then he paints you safe Talking to the young folks Young folks share the same jokes But they meet in older places

So don't tell me about your success Nor your recipes for my happiness Smoking bed I never could digest The delusions you claim to have going