32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Season Finale

Episode Date: July 6, 2025

In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman run through every team following a busy NHL free agency period:Hurricanes 4:38Blue Jackets 13:03Devils 18:14Islanders 21:46Rangers 25:51Flyers 29:02Penguins 33:16Capitals 36:43Bruins 39:37Sabres 46:20Red Wings 53:02Panthers 58:08Canadiens 1:03:49Senators 1:07:19Lightning 1:12:00Maple Leafs 1:15:10Kyle and Elliotte answer your texts and voicemail submissions through the Thought Line (1:22:23).Blackhawks 1:41:26Avalanche 1:44:32Stars 1:50:16Wild 1:56:04Predators 2:02:26Blues 2:07:20Mammoth 2:12:06Jets 2:15:27Ducks 2:21:23Flames 2:26:38Oilers 2:31:33Kings 2:35:59Sharks 2:42:58Kraken 2:46:28Canucks 2:50:45Golden Knights 2:56:33Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

All right, here we go. Last one of the season. Coming down three, two. Welcome to 32 Thoughts of the Podcast presented by the GMC Sierra AT4X Summer Edition. Final episode before we officially ascend into off-season mode. Elliot, Kyle, Dom, back with you one final time this year. Elliot, I'm a little surprised that the beard hasn't started to come in yet. Maybe you've got one or two more appearances before letting that really grow out. Dom's getting

his short game dialed in, so the summer mode is already well underway. I know you like at the end of July 1st to have a cigar to celebrate the year. How was it? What were you thinking about after working the opening of Free Agency? Well, Steph was disgusted that I had it while I was on a walk with her and Max. I saw that. And as I smoked it, I was enjoying it, but I was still thinking to myself, I can't fully shut her down because Ehlers hadn't signed yet. So that's been done. And so off season mode is on. And I wanted to start the podcast by thanking all of our listeners, all the great

audience that we have. You know, the real reason that I think we're so passionate to turn this out as much as we do, particularly during the playoffs, is because the audience has said they want it. And if nobody really cared about what we did, we probably wouldn't do it as often as we do. But we are driven to do it as much as we do because the audience has grown to expect it. And I like that. You have made it very clear, you the listeners, that you expect a lot of Kyle, Dom, and I.

And I know I don't always hit the standard, but we do try. And I appreciate each and every one of you that drives us to turn this thing out. So I hope all of you have great summers, and we'll probably see you around late August sometime. Kyle, one bit of news. Oh, we should say also, like if there's a reason to do an emergency pod, I'll take the temperature of young Bukaskas and young Sirmati and see if they are interested in doing it. One bit of news we should touch on.

From what I understand, the players right now are voting on accepting the CBA. I think their vote is going around this weekend. And I'm not expecting any hiccups. I've heard the agents are not thrilled because the players were given the highlights of the deal and the board of governors were given the highlights of the deal and the board of governors were given the highlights of the deal, but the agents were not given the highlights of the deal. And I think that has stuck in their collective craw, but I don't believe that it's going

to prevent this from getting done. They're a little unhappy with the fact they were never sent the memorandum of understanding. So we'll see where it all goes but I expect it to be ratified. All right, well you touched on how demanding our audience can be. So as our final send-off here before we go into the offseason, we will end the same way we started this year. a tour through all 32 teams. So whether you're a fan of any of the teams across the NHL or specific players, hopefully we will get to what interests you the most

at some point over the course of the next couple of hours. So what was the line you said to me last pod? Get comfortable, get a drink, get a snack, do all of that here. Whether you're maybe a coffee on route in your morning commute or just hanging out on the patio or in the back deck, settle in as we take the tour across Hall 32. You ready, Elliot? You know what I'm getting hooked on now?

What's that? Beetroot juice. It's good for your blood pressure. Oh, nice. Yeah. You like to run hot sometimes, so that's good for you. I have to tell you, I never had high blood pressure until about a decade ago. And it was about the time you got hired.

That's right. The timelines do match. Never had till about a decade ago. Well, that's now a considerable amount of time that you've had to deal with it. So I'm glad you finally found the beetroot juice. That's right. Not a moment too soon. Beetroot juice, yes. That helps. All right, so let's begin. Why don't we start, we'll go division by division. We'll begin in the Metro because that has a starting in Carolina because they landed what at the time was kind of the top remaining free

agent out there available the other day in Nick Ehlers, six years, eight and a half million per. This is a team who, you know, for a lot of years, Elliot, there was the perception with ownership, they weren't entirely crazy about spending big, or everyone had a price tag that they were not willing to go beyond. But, you know, they signed Keandre Miller, Logan Stankovic gets an eight-year deal, and now Nick Ehlers, the free agent. Where are you at with the job that the Hurricanes have done over the last couple of weeks and Ehlers choosing Carolina and free agency? The Hurricanes made it very clear that they had a lot of cap room as everybody knew and they were going to

use it. They were going to be a threat. You know, Mitch Marner obviously didn't end up there, but going into free agency, if they got to a point where they could offer him a contract, there were a lot of people who believe the biggest number was going to come out of Raleigh. Now that obviously never occurred, so they pivoted, they switched. And Carolina did a lot of things that are now coming to the surface to show that they were willing to be aggressive. The reason Evan Bouchard's extension got done in Edmonton so quickly was because they threatened the oilers with an offer sheet. And we'll find out someday what the truth is there.

I think a lot of people kind of believe that Bouchard was going to come in around four times nine and a half. But if you look at his arbitration case, he could have gotten 10. And I think the fact that the hurricanes were lurking around there got that deal to four times 10 and a half. So after they didn't get Bouchard, they pivoted to Miller. And the Rangers knew it, the Rangers were aware of it. And they got that deal done pretty similar to what

an offer sheet would have looked like. Carolina didn't have their third round draft pick that they needed next year, and Utah's got it. I believe there was a point where they engaged with Utah about trading back for that third round pick in case they needed it. The Rangers saw what was coming and the two sides worked out a deal. I think the interesting thing about it is if you look at the video that the Hurricanes released,

they talked about the way Miller closes out. It's the way we like to close out, the way we defend. Miller's a great skater. The Hurricanes put a huge emphasis on that, the way they play. So that's a fit. But I thought it was interesting that they mentioned the way Miller closes out because they say he fits the way that they want to defend in terms of the actual man-to-man, check-on-check way of going.

And I thought that was interesting because those kinds of things, they don't end up in these videos. I don't believe by accident There's always a purpose to this kind of stuff. So that stuck with me You know the the Hurricanes are willing to take a bet the Rangers weren't the Rangers weren't willing to go long-term with Miller They were they were only willing to go. I think a couple of years Obviously Carolina was not afraid of that. We'll see how that works long term. Who made the right bet? The Hurricanes or the Rangers?

I'm not surprised they traded Morrow. They've got a lot of D. If you looked at Morrow last year in the playoffs, he's young, he's a talented guy, he's going to be a really good player. He wasn't ready for what they do right now. So I'm not surprised. They have a lot of defensemen back there. I'm not surprised that they made that deal. Nikeshian, they have a good looking defense.

I really like their top 60. Burns is one of my favorite players. I'm always sorry to see him leave somewhere, but you look at Carolina's D. It's really good. You know, as for Ehlers, the thing that shocked me the most, Kyle, was not where he went, but the fact that he didn't sign a seven year deal. I mean, I know he's going to be 30 in February on Valentine's Day. You think he'd go for the max term he could get, which was seven years.

He didn't. Carolina got a little bit of a break there, but they got a heck of a player. I think one of the biggest things, some of the teams that pitched him, I think one of the biggest things, like some of the teams that pitched them, I think that obviously Carolina pitched them, Winnipeg wanted to keep them, Washington went hard after them. I think Utah made a pitch. I think Colorado made a pitch. I heard Detroit wanted to, but we're told no.

I heard Seattle was interested. I don't know if they ever got to pitch. But one of the things I heard the dealers was really interested in was just less travel. And the East is easier travel. And you know, Carolina is a bit more remote compared to some of the other places in the East, but it's still East. And you know, I think he was looking for that a little bit. He wanted a chance to play on the top line. And I'm sure he spoke to them about potentially playing with Jarvis and Ajo and you can see the fit

there. You know, people were like, it's not enough of what the Hurricanes need. I look at it this way. You always bet on talent. You always bet on talent. He's a really talented guy. He's a really skilled guy. He hasn't scored enough in the playoffs yet, but he's a heck of a player. And I'm curious because one of the things that I'm interested in is that, you know, Bryndamore likes his players to play a certain way. Um, there were times when he let us play with the jets, he would do things and the other players would kind of laugh. Like,

like he would do something that we were just not expecting Don't look a little yeah, like he would and they'd be like wait a sec we weren't expecting that and Carolina hasn't always liked that under Brenda Moore So I wonder if they're gonna bend a little bit too in the nature of creativity I still think to see is Carolina's big question. I tell you this, if Claude Giroud had hit free agency, and I didn't think he was going to leave, but if Giroud had hit free agency, I could have seen the Hurricanes taking a big run at him.

Yeah. Well, it's interesting that I suppose the experience there for sure would be an attractive option for Carolina. And yeah, Giroud still just got a lot of game left. And when Ehlers did media on Saturday, he said when he talked to Bryndamore, they very much had the same vision in terms of how they see the whole fit with him within the lineup. But I suppose the conversation in July is one thing. It's another thing once they get to camp and the regular season gets going there. And when he was, of course, he's asked about the decision to move on from Winnipeg.

And there was that whole idea about when Jonathan Taves signed that maybe that could help entice Ehlers to stay the opportunity to play with him. But in listening to the player the other day, Elliott, it felt quite clear that, you know, even well before Taves had signed in Winnipeg, Ealors had made up his mind that it was time for something new. Yeah, I think so. Like, like he didn't officially tell them until right before the draft. We reported right before the draft, but there were certainly people who believed even before then he was headed out,

right? So that turned out to be a hundred percent accurate. Like I'll say this, some of the other teams in the West, they really believe that Ehlers wanted some of the lighter travel on the East, just the health of his body and things like that. He's had some injuries and I understand all that. and things like that. He's had some injuries and I understand all that. You know the thing though, I'm sure, you know, you've done enough games down in Raleigh, but like the last couple of years when they've played Florida in the conference final, you think it would just be like

a puddle jump flight from Raleigh down to South Florida. It's a little bit farther than everybody thinks. And I guess that speaks to, as we talked about, the Panthers don't have as easy of a travel as a lot of other teams out East, but. The Panthers in the Lightning are the teams that really get hammered in the East. Like we said, Carolina's a bit remote,

but they're not as far away as those other teams are. Yeah, a little more central. Okay, from Carolina to Columbus, who it feels like, Elliot, like they've got a good foundation built, everything they went through last year, nearly making the playoffs. They bring in Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood, they extend Provarov, Dante Fabro. But at the same time, like I still go back to that blog you put out just before the draft and the idea that they could be a team lurking

in the weeds to do something big hasn't quite happened yet for Don Waddell and company. Where are you at with Columbus? I don't think it was for lack of trying. They made a big run at Dobson. I think they offered, I don't know about the structure of the contract because Dobson got structure from Montreal in terms of bonuses, but I do believe in overall money. Columbus offered more money.

For example, with Provarov, I think if you would have told us two weeks before free agency that Columbus was going to sign Provarov to that deal, I don't think anyone would have believed it. It's pretty clear to me that Waddell and Provarov and his representatives had conversations a few months ago, and Waddell always knew what it was going to take. He just waited until he absolutely had to do it. He looked at Dobson, didn't get him. He looked at other opportunities, didn't get it. All of a sudden, he circled back and said, okay, I'm in now.

Waddell's been around long enough that I think he knows that that can happen sometimes, that that's the plan you have to handle. So I think that that one worked out because his other opportunities weren't there. It wasn't for lack of trying. And you know, someone told me a Blue Jackets fan DM, like, you know, they were like, it was basically like, nobody wants to come here. Nobody wants to play here. I don't think people should look at it like that.

I mean, there's, there's always going to be places. Like I always say this, like nobody wanted to go to Florida a while ago. And yes, the taxes are a thing, but the fact is they're a better organization. There are always places that people are going to want to play. People are always going to want to play in certain markets. NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, hockey everywhere. Other teams, you have to be good and then people will come to you. The one thing I said to the guy was Columbus is on the upswing. Columbus, I don't want to relive it, but they had every excuse last year to have a bad year and they didn't. They had a really impressive year and they just missed the playoffs.

So like I think the thing this year for them is nobody's going to be discounting them this year. Like last year they snuck up on everybody. Nobody's going to be, they're not going to be sneaking up on anybody this year. Everyone's going to be ready for them. And I think the thing too is that for Columbus, ultimately you want your drafted and developed players to be your core, right? The guys who stick up for you and form your big group.

Well look, like a lot of those guys from Fantillion down took big steps last year. So those are the guys you've got to get it done with anyway. Voronkov signed a nice extension on Saturday. Like those are the guys who are your core. If they are going to grow again next year the way they grew this year, that's the best thing that could happen for you. You know, the thing I heard about Coyle is that, you know, Colorado made it very clear that if you were going to get him, you were probably going to have to take Miles Wood too. Like, Miles Wood needed a change of scenery.

It just didn't work out in Colorado. Columbus could do that. That is one place where Columbus's cap flexibility won the day for them. They got Coil because they were willing to take Wood and all of a sudden their bottom six is stronger and Coil can play in a lot of different places. So I don't think it's as bad off season so far as they think. The other thing too is they got Fabro signed and once Fabro became a key part of their top four, their top four was really good.

You know, still we'll see what's going to happen in goal. It looks like Greaves and Merzlikin's. Is everybody okay with that? But the fact is Columbus's biggest challenge this year will be they're not going to sneak up on anybody. So they got to be ready to start the year. One more thing on Columbus. Adam Fenteli is due for an extension as of now. Are you hearing anything about that being a priority over the next couple of months or wait and see? To be honest Kyle, I've I Have shut down for a couple of days in turn, especially with the US holiday weekend. I can't say that I've heard anything new Why wouldn't they want to do it?

It's I mean to me the question is like if you're fantilly and you just broke through Unless the team's coming through with something massive, you might want to wait another year. For sure. And it's plenty of examples over the years of how that can benefit the player and why that would add urgency to the team to try to entice them to get something done sooner because man, did he as the last year went on, more and more comfortably got it and more and more just like the player they hope they were

getting when they drafted them where they did. So it's kind of fitting that we go from Columbus to New Jersey because they've got an important new contract to get done with Luke Hughes, Elliot. And you mentioned you shutting it down a little bit over the holiday weekend. Tom Fitzgerald suggested as much a few days ago. And then next week, the talks really start to get going in terms of getting Luke Hughes

under a new deal. Is that the biggest thing going on in New Jersey right now in your mind? That's still the biggest thing to come there. And I can't imagine that's going to be too problematic. They got Jack done pretty easily, all things considered. I'm assuming that while there's always grinding, always grinding, I assume the Devils will do it. To me, the next biggest question for the Devils is Dougie Hamilton. He went from a full no move clause to a partial no trade. I'm just curious here to see what happens.

They paid him as bonus on July 1st. I don't have a great feel for it in terms of percentage chances that anything occurs with him, but I know that his name was kind of out there a little bit and I'd heard they've been talking to a couple of teams. So we'll see where that goes. You know, I like the fact they kept Alan. He wanted to stay. Like for me, some people were like five years.

That doesn't bother me. Five times 1.8, you can handle that contract. And Alan Markstrom is a really good duo. That's a signing you make all the time. I liked the Connor Brown ad. I kind of laughed about what happened with Cody Glass. Initially they'd indicated he was not going to get qualified. And then there was so much interest in them. They said, you know what, right hand shot center, let's keep them. And they did. Works out for team and player. I even like the

Doudonov signing. He's, you know, he's, he's going to, he's going to get some big points for them. And I think Nemec, based on what I saw in the playoffs, I think he takes a big step next year. I still think the Devils need to get a bit meaner. I like Brown's attitude. He's got great attitude. Just not a physically massive guy. I still want to see the Devils get a little bit nastier and meaner. But if they get the huge things done, it's a big off season win for them. And Fitzgerald was on with Marchese and Futa and he even hinted at, you know, the first year under Sheldon Keefe, those first few months was just like a bit of a culture shock, he thought, to some of the players in that room.

And so maybe things are a little more settled in that regard when they pick back up again come September, October. You know, it's funny because I wrote that or said that at one point in the year and somebody called me and was like, I'm glad you brought that up. Like I think it was like, I think it was, I think it's true. I think it was an adjustment, but not only for the players, I think the organization like Sheldon is such an intense guy. And Lindy Roth is, was very laid back.

Like Lindy Roth had been around, he'd seen everything and he had some rules. Like I think we talked about like the three rules he had, you know, be on time, compete hard, like very wear a tie. I think it was something like that, like just very limited rules. And then you come into Keith and like those eyes are bucking out all the time. I agree. I think that's a great point that you and Fitzgerald brought up. I think everybody next year will be much more ready for it. That's a good one.

Okay, the New York Islanders coming off the high of drafting Matthew Schaefer first overall after Noah Dobson was dealt to Montreal. Alexander Romanov gets an eight-year deal. The signing of Maxim Shabanov was an interesting one for me, Elliot, because this comes a year after they brought in Siplikov from Russia. So Shabanava over 20 goals each of the last two years in the KHL. I mean, this is a team that for the last number of years has tried to find more scoring. And for a second straight year, they go to a free agent out of Russia to try to help

with that. And there were a lot of teams after that guy, like Philly in particular was really disappointed. They didn't get them. Like I like them upfront, Kyle. There's a lot of good players up front there. Like, this team should be able to score. You know, Barzell's health is a key part of it. I'll tell you too, the interesting thing, there were a lot of rumors about Pajow.

There was one team out there that was adamant the Islanders wanted to keep them. One of their guys told me that every time there was a rumor out there, they would check in and the Islanders would say, no, we're not doing it. The one thing is there's so many things that are so crazy at this time of year. You don't know if it's something's wrong or it may be true for some teams and not true for other teams or exactly what's out there. But this one guy was adamant to me that the Islanders liked their center depth and didn't want to do anything with it. You know, Drew Ann, I thought like the one thing that Darce was pretty clear about was

aside from Romanov, who's their own guy, he wasn't doing term. And I think Drew Ann, two years at four million, Patrick Waugh knows him really well. Like I think the thing that Drew Ann's done that's very smart is the last couple of years, he put himself with Nathan McKinnon, who knew him really well. And now he's putting himself with Patrick Waugh, who knows him really well. And now he's putting himself with Patrick Wa, who knows him really well. And I think that that's important and I think that's a good signing. The other thing too is, so on one of the previous pods, we talked about the Dobson deal and that Columbus offered Voronkov and they preferred the Montreal deal with Heinemann. And there was kind of a, the question was, you know, Dobson wanted to go to Montreal,

but I heard the Islanders really wanted Heinemann. And the reason was too, is if you look at their history, they had that identity line, right? Well, Martin's gone and Clutterbuck's gone. Like those are both great players, huge parts of that team who are now retired. They still have Szyzkus. And I think they felt that Heinemann could bring them a little bit of that. And they thought that was important for them. Like, DARS clearly had a plan. No term, short term, good fits.

I like the Romanov extension. Sonny Riddick seems to confirm that Varlamov, I've heard all sorts of things about this injury and I'm looking forward to seeing Isaiah George potentially as a full-time NHLer. In his own small way, Darsh has already started to put his stamp on the team. And I hope that next year we see a rejuvenated Anthony Duclair. That's one thing I'd like to see too.

Absolutely. Especially, yeah. And he would know Dren well also. And you mentioned him with Montreal. I mean, until that unfortunate incident in Utah where you got hit by a vehicle as a pedestrian, he was putting together a heck of a season. So you can see why the Islanders would prioritize somebody like that when it came to making that deal. So. Yeah. I mean, it's going to be a really competitive division. I see Darsh's vision, at least for this year.

It makes sense to me. Okay, across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, the New York Rangers. So Chris Drury acknowledged that, yes, what we watched a lot of last season, that the Rangers struggled with defending the high danger areas of the ice last year. So in comes Vladislav Gavrkov for seven years at seven million AAV.

How long have the Rangers been hoping, wishing, dreaming up the opportunity to bring that player to the Big Apple? Well, it sounds like for a while. I really like Gavrkov. I think he's a heck of a player. You know, obviously he's going to help them a while. I really like Gavrikov. I think he's a heck of a player. You know, obviously he's going to help them a lot. I heard they tried to do a sign and trade with him too. Until he hit the market on July 1st, there was talk that they were going to try to trade him to, or the Rangers were going to try to trade for him to get the eighth year. And you know what, like he didn't get the eighth

year. He still got seven times seven. But that says says to me that guy really wanted to be a ranger and you know that's a good sign you're not you're not dragging someone to play for you because you're throwing the biggest offer out there you're getting a guy that honestly wants to play for you look they weren't willing to make the same gamble contract wise on Miller that Carolina was as we said. So if you're not going to do that, it's best to move on. You know, I actually really thought that Drury had a really good start to the off season. He got Will Cooley done. Like we're all sitting here saying, is Cooley going to get an offer sheet?

We missed the guy who was going to get the offer sheet. That was Miller. But he gets Cooley done at a very reasonable number. Um, I think the other thing too, Kyle is that the biggest win for Drury and the Rangers is there was no drama. Like after a season of drama, there was no, there was none of that. And like, for example, like Crider, Kreider thanked them on the way out. It was clear the two sides worked together to get them to a place where he wanted to

go. No, no, no noise. Not like the last couple of years. It's very clear they're working with Zabaniad. You know, Sullivan goes to meet them. They're trying to figure out a way to make it all work. Avoid the noise. You never know if it will continue, but the bottom line is this season is not starting

the way the last two did. Two years ago it was good Barclay Goodrow, last summer it was Truba. There's none of that right now. They got a good player in Gavrikov. The other thing too is I also like the Taylor Radish pickup. I thought he was good in Washington last year and that, and so the role I see him fitted for in with the Rangers, I think that's a good role. The guy I really want to see take a step this year because I've always thought there was a player there is

Parsenin. He hasn't shown it yet. That's the guy I want to see take the jump and you know Gabe Perot is gonna get a chance to make this team too but Parsonin to me like he's at the point where he's got to take the jump and we'll see Kyle here what happens with Panarin. Okay the Philadelphia Flyers so bring in Christian Dvorak, Noah Juleson, Dennis Gilbert, Dan Vlodar to help out with their goaltending depth. That was a struggle for them last year. And of course, the Zegarsteel just before the draft, they got a new head coach in Rick Tocket. You mentioned their disappointment in not landing Shabanov, the Russian. Is Danny

Brier a guy who you think is gonna continue to try to make stuff happen over the summer as opposed to taking a bunch of time off? How do you see the Flyers playing out over the off season? Well, they got an unfortunate curve ball thrown at them with Tyson Forrester's injury, right? And like that's a big one. They, you know, they signed him to an extension. They're obviously very happy they did. And now, you know, you're

looking at him, he's very high up on your left side. And then now you're not sure. That's something Briere has to deal with that he wasn't expecting. So no, I don't think he's going to be able to relax Kyle. He's probably going to have to see what else is potentially out there. Despite the timeline. I think the other one there we're all watching is Cam York. He did not file for arbitration on Saturday. Again, the Flyers could take him to arbitration on Sunday.

They have the option. But instead, to me, it looks as if there've been some rumors that York and the flyers have made progress on a contract extension. So the fact he doesn't file just at least, at least makes me wonder if there's something there and the two sides didn't see the need. We'll find out. I'm under the impression there was progress made on an extension for York. I mean, Dvorak, one year deal. I think it's a great bet. Vlodar,

absolutely, I think it strengthens them in goal. Vlodar Ersen is better than they had last year. they had last year. And, you know, to me, uh, Zegras is, um, Zegras is a good bet. I'm, I'm interested to see him and talk it. Uh, I have no doubt that occasionally things will happen where the two of them, uh, sort of make crazy eyes at each other. But I think it's important to note that Greg Cronin, who was really demanding on his players, went out of his way to praise Zygrass last year and say, you know what, this guy, we asked a lot of this guy and he tried to deliver it. And that's not a small thing. It will be a powerful motivator for him to show the docs

that they were wrong about him. And you know, if I'm Philadelphia, I'm doing everything I can to make sure that that happens. Because these kinds of talents, they don't become available all the time. So it's in your best interests to maximize it. I would love to see Segris and Mishkov spend some time together and see what they can cook up. That could be a lot of fun to watch. And of course, good buddy, Jamie Drysdale back together again, right? Yeah, it's a good it's a good situation for him.

No question is a good situation for him. Absolutely. You know, that injury for Forster. One thing I wonder if it does, Kyle, does it give Marton their first round draft pick a chance to make the lineup? Now, Marton's a first round draft pick, a chance to make the lineup. Now Marton's a right-hand shot, but I saw some quotes online where he said he can play left wing. So, you know, he's not your savior or anything like that. But when he was available, the Islanders called Philly and said, we'll give you

our two picks for six, cause you know, they wanted Higgins and Philly's like, we're not even listening. We're taking Marton. So if he has any kind of camp, I wonder if Philly looks and says, okay, maybe you get the shot at that spot that is open because of Forster's injury first. Yeah, I remember Jet Lushenko had a great training camp a year ago and got a handful of games in with the Flyers before being sent back to the Ontario Hockey League. But maybe that's Porter Martone getting the chance right out of the gate this fall.

That's a great point. Okay, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the one team in the East that are firmly in sell and rebuild mode. One team in the league. You think? So Chicago, they've gone from that. That's different. They're not going down.

They're at least stable trying to go up. Okay, all right. Yes, yes. So, I mean, we're watching now for Raquel and Rust. I've heard Raquel would prefer to stay in Pittsburgh. It's just that it's not his call. I've heard he's not averse to staying, but ultimately Dubis will make that decision. You know, Rust has a lot of loyalty to the Penguins.

I've heard there's a ton of interest in him. Again, it's up to, does Dubis get his price? Eric Carlson, the bonus is paid, his actual cash is really down. We'll see. A couple teams I wondered about were Florida, no. Dallas, I don't know that I see it, but those were a couple I wondered about. Jari, does anyone look there? And I know everybody always asks about Crosby and we talked the last part about the rumors

at the draft. You know, I meant to say it's so funny. Sometimes like Kevin Weeks will tweet out like a city and I don't know the skyline. I have to like reverse image it like what city is that? And I didn't recognize his Denver picture when he sent it out. So funny. Anyway, one of the things I was told was, and I've said how there's people in sort of like Crosby's aura who want him to go. But one of the things I was told is that Crosby hates it when this stuff starts.

And it actually makes it harder to convince him to do anything. So someone said to me, if you really want Crosby to leave, don't talk about it. Which means the Penguins fans are going to be all over social with it. Exactly. Oh my gosh. The campaign will begin. They'll have a billboards all through Pennsylvania. Is this it for Sid?

Where's Crosby being traded to? They'll take out ads back in Nova Scotia. All they can to make sure none of this actually comes to fruition. That's fantastic. By the way, the other thing too is Gavin McKenna, we always talk about McKenna, the top pick, and I always say people don't want to use their offer sheet first rounder on a draft where Gavin McKenna is available. I had a couple of people tell me you should start mentioning Keaton Verhoff in the same breath as McKenna. That he played in Victoria last year, the Western hockey league. It's going to the NCAA this year.

But he's, I had a few people say that yes, McKenna is a stud, but this kid's going to be a stud too. Yeah. Yeah. He came on, I wouldn't say out of nowhere, but just all of a sudden launched onto the scene and what a hit for the Royals losing him and Cole Rejny to the NCAA starting next year. So, well, I mean, with the way the Penguins are going, they could very much, depending

on how much Sid has to say about it, very much be a team in the conversation for one of those two players come a little under a year from now. The Washington Capitals, Elliot, so they signed Martin Favre to a seven year deal. Alex Ovechkin going into the final year of his contract. What are your thoughts on the caps? It was funny watching Chris Patrick speak to the media the other day. He's like, well, we tried to take a, we tried to sign someone and we

didn't get them. Hmm. I wonder who he was talking about. Yeah. They made a big run at Ehlers. They wanted Ehlers badly. And, uh, you know, I'll say this. I, I, I, as, as I said, I thought, I thought Carolina was the team for Ehlers all the way, the team to beat, but I think Washington at least made them think. They took a huge run at it. They were really serious about Ehlers. I think they were prepared to give him what he wanted in the lineup, contract-wise, but obviously just didn't get it done.

They brought back Anthony Bovillier, who was kind of waiting to hear what was going to happen. I also heard the Capitals took a long look at Jack Roslavik, who still is not signed. And so we'll see what goes on there. I mean, there wasn't a lot they had to do, right? They did a lot of work last year. They had a great season. They're a heck of a team. Faravar getting done, that was obvious to me and it's a great contract.

Who knows if they would have beaten Carolina anyway, but his injury really hurt them back there. They were not the same team without him against a group like the Hurricanes. So, I don't think they needed to do a lot. They were disappointed. They didn't get healers, but overall, I'm still a hack of a team. You know, the one thing that's interesting to me is they took some criticism for their Justin Sort of trade.

Uh, they, you know, they traded a second rounder for them and people were like, why are the Capitals doing that? Like, I don't know. I've, I have not seen him doing that? I don't know. I have not seen him play enough. I don't know. But the one thing is, over the years, Ross Mahoney, who's their amateur guy, has done unbelievable job of finding players where they draft. And so I got to think this goes back to his junior days.

I think the Capitals are very good at evaluating players. So I want to see this play out. I know to a lot of people this seems really lopsided. Just the way the Capitals evaluate players, there's something they see here that maybe some others don't. Alexi Protas, one of the great recent examples of just that, right? Looked a little clunky his first foray into the league,

but man, not anymore. Key, key guy for the caps. All right, the Boston Bruins. So welcome back, Sean Coralli, they signed Tanner Janow, they acquire Victor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers. It's interesting, like after all that happened this last season, Elliot, all the players that went out the door for Boston,

like for the first time in a long time, you're kind of looking at the Bruins a little differently. And part of that is because they went back to the terrific looking throwback era jerseys that will be their permanent look come next season, but also just the personnel as they've gone into the era. Is that the reason? Yeah.

Well, maybe one. But how do you view the Bruins as we sit here right now? So let's do the big one first, you know, because that had everyone screaming. Like, they were like, what is Boston doing here with this? So I asked around, I was like, okay, why? And because the other thing that is interesting is it's always good to keep an idea on the pulse of a fan base because first of all, the hardcore fans, they always see things that we, us looking at 30,000 feet don't see, and even, you know, their local reporters too, definitely, especially in a place like Boston where there's lots of good coverage.

And the fans there were upset because they look back at deals like Matt Pulaski and David Backus and they're like, why are we doing this? And like the one thing I would say about Genoa is yes, it's a five year deal, but the number isn't going to hurt you. And so it's not, it's not as high as those other deals were. The one thing I think that happened with Boston was I heard there were like 10 teams after this guy. Like I heard the competition for Janot was fierce. I heard the Rangers were in it. I heard Ottawa was in it.

Like it fits with Toronto because of what Toronto likes. I think there were a lot of teams that were after him. And I heard initially the Kings offer to him was something like under $2 million a year the first time. And like there's just not a lot of guys like him around anymore. I've always liked, you know, now he has to stay healthy. He like has to stay healthy. But I think there were a ton of teams after him. There's not a guy, a lot of guys like him. And I think one of the things too is like the Bruins have Castellac who does this job. But last year, I think they felt at times like they want Zdorov just to play hockey.

Like I think they felt last time Zdorov was like fighting too much or going after guys too much. Like they're still not a big team. They still got the big bad Bruins thought a little bit. I think they want they brought Geno in to be a little bigger a little meaner And so Zdorov didn't have to do some of this stuff as much so that's why they did it I remember I noticed like there were people like what I think that's the reason and also like the Av isn't that high that it's gonna punish you. I don't think like it's those other deals You know, I think the other thing too is there's a big change going out in the Bruins. The team has finally turned over from the Chara, Bergeron, Marchand years.

Like Marchand was the last of that group really. Now it's McEvoy, it's Pasternak, and those guys are really good pros. Junot is like a guy who always tests very highly in fitness. Like he won it like every year, I think, in Nashville. Like he's a good pro. So I think that's, what's that? I was gonna say, he's got two fitness awards named after him

during his junior upbringing. Right, so like people in Boston can decide if they like this or don't like this. But I was really curious about it because of just the reaction to it. So I wanted to explain some of that. I thought it was also interesting. Like Boston's got a lot of flexibility cap wise over the next few years. Like one of the guys I thought they might extend was Andrew Peek, just because he's a right hand shot D and you know, those guys are hard to find. And generally right hand shot D, especially Peek's age, like he's 27, 28 years old.

If you have any kind of season, you're going to get a good deal. But Boston's going to have some cap flexibility. And I think they want that. I think Boston is one of those teams and they're not the only one that have some of these guys who are supposed to be free agents next year, whether they get one or not, I think they want the opportunity to be in position to take a shot at some of these guys. So if you'll notice, they didn't really do much to hamstring

themselves in the future. Like they got Arvidsson one year deal, right? Traded for him, gave up a late pick, one year deal. Like aside from that, they didn't, like aside from Geno, they didn't take any massive swings, especially after they did it last year. They have flexibility in the future and I think they wanted it. The biggest win for them to me is Hagen's. You know, someone said to me, you're picking seventh in the draft.

This is a guy who was the number one prospect for two years in a row. You take him. You take him. And I think that's a big win for the Bruins to get him. Yeah, BC guy, familiarity within the marketplace You take them and I think that's a big win for the Bruins to get them. Yeah. BC guy, familiarity within the marketplace and the potential to be a heck of a player. The other thing too, like Don Sweeney after July 1 suggested wants his team to be a harder

out. So I don't know, as they go on trying to be the big bad Bruins again, I'm not convinced of that. Maybe they're a little ways off from being a contender at this very moment, but it just seems like with all the change, as you mentioned, the move on from that great era of Bruins hockey, there seems to be still a mandate from above that let's not lose touch of our roots here. Well, I just think that if you really look at it, Kyle, like ferocity still

matters. Maybe not as much in the regular season, but it sure does in the playoffs. Like if you're going to win the East, you have to go through Florida, right? Yep. Like you have to be able to go through one way or another. You gotta, that's right. You gotta go, that's right. So you know, I mean, it, it matters. Like you have to, you know, you have to go through there. But anyway, I don't know if anyone's going to like the explanation, but that was kind of what I heard out there. To the Buffalo Sabres. So they made the Paturka move.

He's off to Utah now. They bring in some other names. Justin Danforth, Zach Jones, Alex Lyon and Goal. Ryan McLeod gets a four year deal. But what's going on with Bowen Byrom? So Kyle, right off the top on Buffalo, Bowen Byrom did not file for arbitration. The player deadline to file was Saturday afternoon. Now the Sabres can file Sunday afternoon by 5 p.m. Here's the challenge for Buffalo. What they have to consider is if they do, the player gets to pick the term. So in theory, if Buffalo says, okay, we're taking Byram to arbitration,

Byram can pick a two-year award that walks them right to unrestricted free agency. Arbitration is one or two years. And if the team takes the player to arbitration, the player gets to pick the length of the award. Undoubtedly, the Sabres are aware of this and this will go into their consideration. Like one of the reasons that a year ago, Boston didn't take Jeremy Swainman to arbitration was because they knew if they did, Swainman's agent was going to pick a two year award and walk them right to unrestricted free agency and the Bruins wanted no part of that. The danger is you get potentially a negotiation like the Bruins and Swamen without arbitration

there to scare anyone, it can really linger. So those are all the risks here, Kyle. Taking him to arbitration, you risk him taking two years and going right to unrestricted free agency, not going to arbitration, you risk another kind of battle. And also it does leave open the option of an offer sheet, whether or not anyone believes it's actually going to happen. So there's pluses and minuses for the savers to weigh as they consider this decision. Byron Peturka, I hear there's a slight difference.

Peturka asked out. He wanted out. With Byron, I'm under the impression that he would play there next year. He's not against playing there next year. Paterka wanted to be traded. Byrom, it's about the contract. He wants, like any player does, a big deal. Apparently I didn't see it. Apparently there was a report that he'd asked for a trade. I heard that's not correct.

He has not specifically done that. He switched agents though, and that always means you're looking for something, and here it's the big deal. And you know, I think the tough thing for Buffalo is they didn't want to trade Paterka, but Paterka made it clear he wasn't coming back and the Sabres had to make the trade. They kind of lost control of the situation. And you and I in a previous pod talked about how much they targeted Kesselring and how

much they wanted them. They got something they really needed, but they lost control of the situation. I think with Byram, you can't continually let this happen to you as a franchise. At some point in time, you have to dictate, we're handling this, we're controlling this. And one of the things the Sabres have indicated is no futures. They want something that can help them next year and the deal with Pataterka, they felt they got that. I don't know about the offer sheet here. Again, there's the two, we talked about the two kids, McKenna and Verhoff at the top.

Teams are really nervous about that. I think there's some teams that have already said no to the potential of an offer sheet because of that. We'll see what happens anywhere else. I think the challenge for Buffalo here is that Byram has two years until UFA, right? He's, and now he's represented by an agent and Darren Ferris, who really tells his players, he walks them right to UFA. Now this year, he didn't do that with Vamalka, he extended in Utah, but he did it right to the end with Bennett and he did it with Marner.

So Buffalo knows that if they don't do this now, then they probably won't be able to do it next year. And I think we also said in the previous pod that Adams thought the trade return he was getting out there for Byrom was a little softer than he wanted. So I think there's a lot of things here. I think it's about a contract more than moving. It's about Buffalo regaining some control over player situations. It's the agent that's involved here knowing he likes to walk his guys to free agency.

And obviously the player wants a big contract. So we'll see how it all turns out, but there's a lot of variables here. I'm not convinced there's going to be an offer sheet, Kyle. I don't think it's impossible, but I'm not convinced it's going to happen. Okay. How about one more thing on Buffalo? Like anything new with regards to Alex Tuck and what the future could be there? I heard they were going to start talking to him right away, but you know, it's going to be a big ask.

And he should make a big ask. Look where the cap's going. Look out. And the other thing too is Tuck is a valuable player for them. You know, that's the thing. It's the book I always recommend, The Bald Truth by David Falk. There's going to be people out there who say, well, Alex Tuck, here's his points, here's his goals. This is how he compares to player X or player B or player D and say, okay, this is where he should fit in. No.

Alex Tuck is very valuable to the Buffalo Sabres. This is a situation where the player and his value to the team in the market and what the team is trying to do makes him even more valuable. So what are the Sabres going to be comfortable doing here? I thought it was a big win getting Ryan McLeod signed. He had a very good year for them. But this one with Tuck is a challenge because it's not only about production, it's about the importance of a player in the market and he is very important. Also big keys for these guys next year, Coolidge, Benson, Quinn, they

got to make an impact. There's gonna be a big opportunity for those guys. Okay, the Detroit Red Wings, first of all all the best to Christian Fischer. 28 years old, announces retirement, just felt it was time. There's opportunity for him in another world, chance to be in Arizona with family a little more. But I think speaking for both of us here was a guy that we both enjoyed talking to, a lot of good insight and clearly a very popular teammate. So he's moved on. They made the trade for John Gibson. They got James Van Riemsdijk, Mason Appleton, former Michigan State Spartan, Jacob Bernard Dockher. They brought back Patrick Kane on a one-year deal. But listening to Steve Iserman the

other day, Elliot, and saying that guys we were hoping to talk to all signed before free agency, and you just mentioned they would have loved a chance to meet with Nick Ehlers before he had decided to go to Carolina. So what's kind of the outset for Detroit in trying to build a team that can finally end their playoff drought? You know, first of all, I wanted to shout out Max Bultman, who got that Christian Fisher story. There's a lot of great coverage in the league, whether you're a day-to-day person

or you're doing statistical analysis or you're doing more fun work or you're breaking trades, whatever you do, whether you work for an established media site or a blog or you're independent or whatever, there's a lot of great coverage of the NHL and I want to shout that out. But Kyle, sometimes I'll look at a story and I'll say like, damn, where was I on that one? Like how come I didn't get that story? And when I saw Max write that story about Christian Fischer, I was jealous. I'm not going to lie. I would have loved to have gotten that story. So shout out to Max for getting that. That was a really good story. And I agree with you. I always remember, you know, Arizona came into Toronto a couple of years ago and they beat the Leeds early in the season. He did that. That was with you, right?

Yeah, that was the first. The people with in the $5,000 seats, is that what he said? Gave them their money's worth tonight? Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The $500 seats got their money's worth. That's right. That was a, cause that was, I think that was our first year playing out of Arizona state, right? And there was a perception of they're not going to win a game all season and they come into Toronto like first week of the year and they beat the Leafs. So that was, uh, that was a neat one.

Yeah, that was, uh, I remember that. Yeah. Good guy, Fisher. So as Iserman said, I don't think Ehlers was a realistic option. I don't think that was ever going to happen. I never had a doubt that Patrick Keene was staying. I always felt he was going to stay there. I think he had some interest in Arvidsson because Arvidsson had success with Todd McClellan in LA. He ended up in Boston. I heard that the Red Wings like Mason Marchment, he ended up in Seattle. So, you know, there were some things he wanted to do that he wasn't able to do. I think it's interesting, you know, a couple of years ago, the guys he signed

Comfort, Cop, Sherat, those kinds of guys, he gave them term. Like this year, you take a look at the guys they signed JVR, 17th NHL season. Always loved to see him around. Mason Appleton, like no term, one in two years, right? So that says to me that Iserman, unless it was a big home run hit like Healers, he was only saying, look, no term. We've got some more guys coming. We're not blocking anybody.

And we're just going to keep letting our prospects get closer and get readier. It's a hard sell in Detroit. It really is. It's been too long without the playoffs. The thing about Iserman is he believes in himself. Even if nobody else believes in what he's doing, he thinks he's doing the right thing and that is drafting and developing their guys.

So unless he can hit a big home run, and this year would have been a guy like Ehlers, he's not going to do that anymore with four and five year terms. He's, he's going to bet, Iserman is betting his reputation on when all these kids we've drafted and developed are, they're gonna be players. And I'm not doing anything unless I can hit a big mammoth home run. Gibson, even he doesn't have a lot of term, that's a big bet by Iserman.

He wanted to stabilize their net. Guy's gotta stay healthy. There's no question talent wise that Gibson can do it. It's gotta stay healthy. And I think they had to move on from Tarasenko no question talent wise that Gibson can do it. It's gotta stay healthy. And I think they had to move on from Tarasenko. Iserman disputed this last year, but I don't think the player was happy. And I think it was just better for both of them

that he moved on. Well, what was the one thing that Derek Lalone said after he got let go in Detroit, praise the young core that they had there. Yeah, he did. And the opportunity of them to do something great at some point down the line here. So Detroit tries to be, whether it's the Ottawa or the Montreal of this year, one of those teams that had been near the bottom of the Atlantic for many seasons, finally busting out of that. At the top of the division and the whole league still remains the Florida Panthers, Elliot. So the big three all stay just as Bill Zito said that they

would in the moments after winning their second straight Stanley Cup. So by, if I read this right, all but Nate Schmidt and Vtech Vanecek among the regulars are back. And Nico Sturm. Does Nico Sturm, because he played a lot. Well he did until. Yes he didn't play at the end. Game three against Toronto. But yeah. Okay so Nico Sturm I want you to know Kyle Bacoskas is saying you are irregular. I'm not saying he's irregular. And Paul Maurice won in that fourth line of Nozhek Gajdjevic and Greer on the ice for the final seconds against Edmonton. They came in game three

against Toronto and helped turn that series around. So anyway, all of this to say- And Samus Kavich is a good player too, and he couldn't even get in the lineup at the end. And he's a good player. Exactly. Yes. He's doing a new contract. All of this to say before you tried to sabotage my bit here, Elliot, rather successfully, is that is this a team that's simply gearing up to try to make it three in a row, something that has not been done in the salary cap era? The moment they won, even though they were celebrating, there were guys there saying, we'll be back, we'll be back, we're not done. So that's the goal. I'd like to talk about Zito for a second. So I had a vote in the GM of the year this year. I had him first on my ballot.

I have no problem with Jim Neal winning. Jim Neal is a really great GM and I've got no problem with that. Like people vote how you vote. Except, except I don't understand how Zito wasn't on seven ballots. Like that is crazy to me. And I wonder if that's the perception of, well, it's Florida. There's no, like, all the extra benefits of being where they are. I wonder if that played in. You know what? Maybe. But like 10, 15 years ago, nobody wanted to play there. I know. I'm with you on this one. I'm just trying to explain or try to, anyways, why it would be left off

of seven ballots because he should be there. You're so right. Terrible ballots before. I've been wrong about plenty of things before. I am not perfect. Far from it. I just don't understand how he can't be on seven ballots. That's crazy to me. That's crazy.

Kyle, it's all the players bent. The team found a creative way and ownership said, you need this, we'll do it for you. Bennett, like the organization, Zito had to bend on Bennett. And even though Bennett's a great player, Zito doesn't like to bend on anybody. But he had to bend on Bennett a million a year because they want him for eight times seven, eight times eight. But still, Bennett's taking less than you could have gotten on the open market. Ekblad, I always thought that would be the hardest one. The Panthers really bent on him and they got it done.

And Ekblad also took less than he would have gotten the open market, although with taxes, again, we should mention that. But overall, there was more out there for them. Marchand, what a crazy deal. I got to tell you, there were other teams, low key in the league, that were furious at this contract. They were like, how can the NHL approve a six-year deal for a 37-years-old? There's nobody in the league who's ever had a deal like this before.

I'm like, hey man, they approved it. I like, hey, I'm the guy who likes to find loopholes and all the fantasy football league. So if the league approves it, I got no problem with this. He's the one guy that probably got in terms of actual cash, what he would have gotten out there. Like, I think he gets he signed for just under 32 million. I think he gets about 30 million or around there. If he goes out on the open market, no problem.

But he accepted like a different structure, right? But I'm not surprised. Like if you had reason to stay there, um, why, why would you leave? It's a great place to go right now. And you know what? I'll say this too. There's a lot of assumption that Evan Rodriguez is gonna get dealt. I was told not to assume anything. Like they've got to figure out what Kachuk's surgical plan is or recovery plan is. And as someone said to me, guys always get

hurt. And Rodriguez is a really popular player there. I could see the Panthers waiting. Now, of course I'll say this and they'll get traded the moment the pod drops, but I could see the Panthers waiting to see this play out and don't assume anyone. Jeff Petrie gets the Nate Schmidt job now, right? First it was the OEL job, then it was the Nate Schmidt job. And now Jeff Petrie. By the way, we got a lot of positive response to when we talked about Vinnie Viola and servant

leadership. There were a lot of people who reached out and said that really resonated with them and just wanted to say, I'm glad you found something in that. I thought it was really interesting too. Yes, tremendous, tremendous. Tremendous. And if they ever made Evan Rodriguez available two more years at three per boy, oh boy, I would be Yeah, just I'm a big fan of that guy for a whole host of reasons. Alright, so the defending champs try to keep that title for one

more year as they embark into another off season of celebrating. The Montreal Canadiens, meanwhile, so their big swing in landing Noah Dobson, extending him along with that. Then the trade for Zach Bulduk, you know, give up Logan Mayhew, that's a team that's got a lot of bodies on the blue line. So there was a surplus there to be able to make that. With all of that said though, Elliot,

like it felt like this is a team with Kent Hughes that they didn't get too excited about getting into the playoffs last year and start handing out a ton of money, left, right and center. Marten St. Louis loves to use the word calculated, though they did make some additions that you think could help them

in a real big way here right away, it's felt very, very calculated as they've gone about all this. Yes, I would agree with that. Like there's, I wrote this earlier, but I don't think there was a GM who was more aggressive out there than Kent Hughes. And I don't know that anybody expected it would be Noah Dobson. That would be the guy that he would swing it on. I think a lot of people wondered if it would be a forward, but Noah Dobson wanted to be there and talent is talent, right? So he got it done. And in this NHL, you can never have enough offense from your defense. Um, so they get Dobson done.

I'll tell you this. I also liked the bull Duke deal. Uh, bull Duke is a guy who, like he, he is, he got a bit wired in the playoffs. He, he took a couple of really undisciplined penalties that kind of hurt the blues a bit. But I look at those as mistakes of I'm trying to do too much and I'm a little bit too excited. You can dial a guy down. I'd rather try to calm a wild colt than motivate a dry goat. And I think I've used that line before.

And then so Bull Duke to me, I like that pickup. And some people were saying always like a third liner. I don't know. I think that guy someday could play higher. Now you've got Slavkovsky up there, so I don't know if you're ever playing as high as him. But you know, if you told me the guy could play second line, I wouldn't be surprised about you. I like that. I like that pickup for them. I like that pickup for them. I still think they're trying to figure out how long-term it's going to look around Demidov

and that's a thing that they would like to do. Ken Hughes is the kind of guy, he's never done, right? If something pops out, he'll do it. We'll see. But look, to me, they lost a couple of really key depth guys. Heinemann was a useful forward for them. Dvorak took a lot of heat during the year, but as they drove to the playoffs, he played a really important role as a center on his line.

Armia, I would have liked him to be more consistent, but Montreal had the ninth best penalty kill in the NHL last year. And Dvorek and Armia were the top two forwards. They're going to have to fill those roles. So I look at this and, you know, Kirby Doc will come back. You assume he'll get a chance to ramp himself right back up there again. But I do think upfront, I could see Kent Hughes saying, I can do more with this, and I would like to do more with this. Okay, intriguing start for Montreal,

and yeah, so it could be more to come there for Kent Hughes and company. The Ottawa Senators, so after much grinding, they get the deal done to bring back Claude Giroux, they sign Lars Eller, there's the trade with LA to bring in Jordan Spence on the backend. You mentioned that they were a team that was interested in Tanner Janot. How active do you think Steve Staio was in terms of the things that maybe he couldn't get done that he tried to get done?

I don't know. I think he tried, he had a few lines in the water. I'm not sure that there was anything too crazy out there. It was interesting hearing him and Giroud kind of talk about their negotiation. They didn't deny that that one got really intense. And someone will tell me here if I'm wrong, but I heard that one of the issues was,

was the weighing of the team success bonuses and the individual bonuses. Like if you look at like the Tays one, Tays gets like the 10, 20, 30, 40, however many games it is. And then he gets more bonuses. The more success Winnipeg has. You look at to Donov with New Jersey, similar. He gets some games played bonuses and then success with how well the Devils do. And ideally you want to balance it, right? You want both of those in there.

Like I heard that was a real battle. Like Ottawa obviously leaned towards the team bonuses and Drew was like, sure, but look at the standard out here. There should be some individual games played bonuses as well. And finally they got there, but they didn't deny that those were tough negotiations. But it's important. I think that one of the things is like people put this stuff behind them and they're like, okay, it's done now.

Let's play hockey. You know, I didn't, we didn't get talked about a lot, but you know, which deal I liked was the Jordan Spence deal. That wasn't a big price to pay for a guy who can really move the puck. Like in LA, Clark and Spence, it's hard to do that in the NHL now when you want to win. When you're younger and learning, it's hard to do that in the NHL now when you want to win. When you're younger and learning, you can do it. When you're out to win like the Kings are, it's really tough. Spence there, I think that's a good pickup and a good attempt there for Ottawa, like

a good player to try to fit in. You know, obviously the big question about Jensen. The other things I look at there, Zetterlund, like finding the right role for him this year. I understand last year it was a bit of a gong show because he just got acquired and he had so many pieces he had to make work. This year you got to come into camp and say this is where he's playing and we're sticking with it. That's big. I don't mind the Kalyev gamble. I don't mind the Kalyev gamble.

I don't mind the Lixell gamble. Lars Eller, fourth line center, good veteran player. Stales tried to hit a lot of singles and it's sort of like what we talked about before a bit with Columbus. You've got your core there. They've gone to the playoffs. Those are your drivers.

Let them drive. I like that. I like it. What about Shane Pinto? He's got one more year left on his deal, but is eligible for a new one. And in the past, the contract negotiations have been tough at times between that player and the team. Do you think they try to get out in front of this one? I'm sure they will. But I can't imagine they're gonna be easy, right? He's still an RFA, although he's getting closer to UFA. Look, if Ottawa's gonna take a hard

line with Claude Giroud, and they did, they're gonna battle Shane Pinto too. Ottawa, you know, they're hard negotiators. Yep, for sure. They are competitors at the end of the day. Yes. Even on the management side. People forget, yes, you're competitive. Even with players you like, you're competitive.

You mentioned Zetterlin coming in, also a full year of Dylan Cousins now too. So as much as it is a lot of the same players, same faces on Ottawa for a team that finally broke through and got to the playoffs, a bit of a different look you would think to start next year having a full season with those two players along with the other names that they brought in over the last week or so. At least you know where Cousins is going to play. It was harder to figure out where Zay. That's why I mentioned him specifically because he didn't, Cousins you have a set spot for. You're looking at him as your 2C.

This guy you've got to figure out, okay, how's it all going to work? The Tampa Bay Lightning. So they signed Jacob Pelche to a three year deal amongst some other ones. They're right up against it for cap space, but as we have talked about, Elliot, Julian Brizbaugh is a very competitive guy. They are coming off three straight years of defeats in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

So are they forced to kind of sit tight a little bit because of their cap situation, or do you anticipate any more maneuvering from Tampa over the coming months? I heard they wanted to try to get in on Ehlers, but there was just no way that that was going to be able to happen. You're right that Briscoe is always competitive and he's always going to be into things. I heard he really wanted to be in Ehlers, but there was just no way to get that done.

So I wasn't surprised that the obvious moves were around the edges. Like Holmberg, that's a good signing. The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't cut him or not qualify him because he's a bad player. They didn't qualify him because they didn't have room for him and they didn't want to be forced into a tougher box than they already might be in. I heard there were a lot of good teams that were after Holmberg. I think Colorado was one of them. So if that's the quality of team that's going after the guy, that's a good player to have.

I like Holmberg. I wish he'd score more, but he can do everything else well. I mean, that's the one weakness in his game. He just doesn't score a lot, but he does everything well. Even Pelche at three years, I think is a good gamble. I could see Brias-Waas saying, we'll bring your guy here to a good team, but you're giving me cost certainty. None of this one year and you bust out and I lose you.

I think it's a really good thing for Jacob Pelche to spend three years potentially in Tampa Bay. Like if I was that player, I'd want to do that. So I like what Julian did around the edges. And I think he would have liked to have taken a run at Ehlers, but I don't think it was reasonable. Look, he went out, he signed Gord, he traded for Bjork Strand who got hurt. I just don't know that there was much more he could have reasonably done. Now, Kyle,

also for Tampa Bay, they have some executive roles to fill. They lost Darsh and they also moved out Stacey Roost. I understand that one of the guys on their radar is Jeff Tambolini. And Tambolini is formerly worked for the Lightning. He joined them about seven or eight years ago and he left after the 2022 season. He went for a promotion in Seattle. And I've heard since he's someone that Julian Brizbois knows and trusts, that he might be going back to Tampa as the AGM. We'll see if it's true.

I saw Jeff Tamerly briefly at the draft. He was representing Seattle there in person. But of course, if he rejoins the Lightning, he'll be going back into the witness protection program under Julian Brizba. So Jeff, it was nice to talk to you for all of three minutes. All right. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Elliot. The core four era is officially done.

It's over with. Mitch Marner is now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. You had said for a long while before all of this really went down that everyone was going to regret it if Mitch Marner did not finish his career as the greatest Toronto-born Maple Leaf in franchise history. Seeing, hearing, understanding everything you did over the last few months before it got to this point where Marner shows up in Vegas and is now repping 93 for the Golden Knights, do you still feel that way?

I think it was time. I think it was just time. And I know there's a lot of hard feelings here. But the bottom line is it was time. It was time for it was time for Marner to move on. And it was it was time for the the team to move on. We'll do the Vegas stuff and the Marner stuff later, but let's just talk about how this affects, uh, Toronto.

Number one, I think it just became too much of a distraction. Um, I had a player tell me this week that, uh, it was just that when the trade deadline was done and they thought it was all over, and then the next day comes out the report from us that they asked for Marr to be traded and he said no to Carolina. A decision I agreed with at the time simply because his wife was pregnant. I don't think I would have done it either. There were a bunch of players that just said, like, is this never going

to end and it died down over the playoffs, obviously because you have a job to do, but it had just become too much. And I think that if you look at the team too, in goal, there's a platoon, a good one on defense. They have a bunch of very important defensemen. Like there's no Victor Headman back there, but there's a bunch of really good defensemen back there and the identity is shared. All of them. We got to do this together.

Up front, you still have some superstars. You have Matthews and you have Nylander, but it will move the forwards into more of them need to have an identity. And this is something they've tried to do for years, but it's just been really hard with Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, Peake, and Marner. And now Tavares still scored 38 goals last season, but the time has come when you got to depend on him a little bit less, right? And also too, now Marner is going to be out, more forwards are going to have to be big

parts of that team. And they just think that it's worked in goal, it's worked on defense, and they'll make it work upfront. You can't replace Marner with one guy. You're going to need three or four guys to pick up the slack. And that's, you know, that's what they'll do. I think Maselli is a really interesting bet. He got pushed out last year in Utah, not because he's not good, but because Utah had too many of the same player. They were too small.

And first it was Carcone that got pushed to the sidelines and then it was Maselli. Um, I heard there were three or four teams that were in on Maselli. I think Boston was one and I think Edmonton was one. You know, Shane Doane obviously knows Masele, right? So the fact that the Maple Leafs did that, that says to me that Shane Donne believes he can be a player. I like that kind of a gamble. You know, one other guy, we mentioned him already in Washington, but one other guy I think the Leafs are in on is Jack Roslavik. And it makes sense to me because he has a history with

Auston Matthews. They played together at the U.S. National Development Team. So I could see this connection. You know, Roslavik is also a right-hand shot. You know, he's a veteran. He's been around a long time. Matthews obviously knows him. I'm curious to see if that happens. Now one of the things that's kind of gone on here is that the lease have indicated that I think one of the reasons the lease didn't get Mangiopane was because they kind of indicated we have to move some bodies out and Mangiopani didn't want to wait. So far it looks like at least for now, Roslavik is waiting. I assume one of them is camp. Another one

could potentially be Jarnkrook. You know, Kyle, we're gonna leave Nick Robertson out of the rumors. He's getting married this weekend, saw the pictures with his lovely wife Emma. Congratulations, Nick. Yeah, very good. You know, one of the other things I wonder about with the lease is could they try to move a D for a forward? That was rumored with Peturka when they were weighing into that situation. Obviously that didn't happen, but it's something I think they've looked at. Could they potentially do something like that? So there's a lot of different options the lease have there, but I think they've looked at, could they potentially do something like that? So there's a lot of different options, the Leafs have there, but I think they're going to try to move some guys out and then maybe bring some people in.

Nicolas Watt, I really like, I think he's a good player and he will help them. But you know, you're losing a hundred points. He's a heck of a defensive player. But I just think it's it's better for everyone that everybody here moves on. Yeah, it's interesting because I heard a story not too long ago about, you know, two years ago, when the regime change happened, the new group comes into Toronto led by Brad Trilliving, and they start meeting with all the players just to get to know them to talk to them Okay, what's the vibe like? What's your sense of where the team is at?

and one of the players a forward who was like a depth role at the time had just said like we Don't feel like we've got any role here. Like we're not truly part of it. So you can tell that that's what and True Living's even hinted at it too a number of times that that's been a big part of as this team has evolved the last couple of seasons is making more players feel part of it. Now, as you say with one member of that. That's been a problem for years. That's been a problem for years there. And I think that the last couple of years, they've taken steps towards rectifying that. I'll give them credit for it. And now with Marner no longer in the picture, it's really going to take another gear.

Okay, so that does it for the 16 teams in the Eastern Conference. We'll take our first break, surely all of us need it. And we'll come back with the final thought line of the season before shifting our attention to the West. 32 Thoughts continues after this. Okay, welcome back. Time for the thought line for the final time this season, Elliot, from Triangle Players to Lusts for Celia to StiffenBuzzums to an anonymous caller we never got to the bottom of. This has been a fun, fun place all year long.

Yeah, I gotta say, the audience this year, you guys had a Crosby-esque season. Like, an absolute Crosby-esque season on the thought line this year. There was stuff that was so creative, so far away from anything I could have expected. It was phenomenal. Just excellent.

Now, is there anything you want to get off your chest before we get to the final submissions? First of all, on July 1st, you know, Bob McKenzie retired and he got a sendoff that he completely deserved. Um, and, uh, uh, I wish him all the best in retirement, but there was someone also who retired at TSN that got unfortunately a bit overshadowed in the moment and that's John Lou. And, uh, I spent a lot of time in the field with John Lou after he got hired there. Um, and, uh, you know, he went to Winnipeg a few years ago after being in Montreal and I didn't see him as much. But John was just a

hilarious guy to deal with in the field, like just an unbelievable clothes horse. Like I still remember the day we were doing spring training. I was still at the score and he was still, he was at TSN and he walked out one morning and he was wearing yellow pants and a yellow and white checkered shirt. And when he came around a corner onto the ball fields, the Blue Jays stopped what they were doing to look at him. Boy, and I'm sure they were ready. If I remember correctly, it was like Jim Fragosi was the manager and it didn't take him much

to just unleash something at you. And he could be really funny and really cutting, but like the players were just staring at him. It was, it was hilarious. And they started cat calling and lovely. Fastballs were coming. Oh yeah. It was, it was, but you know, I gotta tell you, like it looked good. I liked it, but it was just, he came around a corner and the all yellow and everybody just stared at him. Um, it's tough. Like when you retire at the same time as Bob does, especially at TSN. It's, it's like being in a lunar eclipse, right? Like nobody sees you. So I wanted to

make sure that John got his just shout out because I really like being in the field with John really good guy. And the other thing too, you know, like earlier this week, Kyle, you and I, we had a nice dinner out in Ottawa. You took me out to Al's Steakhouse, which was a great dinner. And at the dinner, we met there a gentleman by the name of Norm Baudin and his wife, Joy. And I didn't, I wasn't familiar with Norm's story, but Norm was a former NHL-er. He played 25 games in the NHL and he played over 300 in the WHA. He's an original Winnipeg Jet.

And on the Jets first ever team, he tied Bobby Hall for the team lead in scoring. The Golden Jet had 51 goals and 103 points. Baudin had 38 goals and 103 points. Baudin had 38 goals and 103 points. I'm sure many of those assists were passed to Bobby. And so, he was obviously a really talented player. That year in the playoffs, he had 28 points and 14 games. But, you know, they still live out west, and they came in to visit their daughters,

I think it was, who live in the Ottawa area. But a really good guy and I wasn't really familiar with them. But he was we were talking to him a little bit and I just wanted to shout him out. Like I went back and I looked through his career and this was a heck of a player. So it was nice to meet him and chat with him and his family for a couple of minutes. And what did his daughter say? He ran a marathon at 80? Like you did a workout at your hotel

before meeting me for dinner. How inconsequential did that all feel when you heard that Norm ran a marathon at 80? Well, this week I drove a marathon at age 54. So how's that? Yes, yes, same, same. Same, same, just equal, equal. Yeah, that was pretty impressive. Same, same. Same, same. Just equal, equal.

Yeah. That was pretty impressive. Made me feel like a total loser. No, no, no. It was, well, just another tip of the captain. And he says, he goes, oh, and you guys know Scott Oak. We said, yes. He goes, he interviewed me in 1976 after I signed a contract.

I think he went to go play in Switzerland after his time at the Jets were over. He said, Scott Oak came to his house in 1976. Scott had already been in the business 40 years. And- It looks the same as he does now. It looked the same then as he does now. Yeah. His excellence.

God Oak, that's good. Yeah, that was a good night. All right. We ready? I'm ready. Okay. We begin today with Abdul from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. No kidding.

Hi, Don, Elliot, and Kyle. I have a deal with my wife to always take the 3 a.m. shift to feed our newborn so I can watch hockey in the process. That said, the 3 a.m. shift is not as fun in the off season. I understand. I understand too. The recent talk about penalties on teams for tampering due to talks prior to any transaction happening has really got me thinking. What are the known and lesser known ways in which a team can tamper and has there ever been the worst penalty that the NHL has issued to a team for tampering?

Love the podcast, keep up the great work, go sends go. Wow. Well first of all Abdul, it's great to hear from you. To understand that hockey has a reach and to a lesser degree we have a reach into a country like Saudi Arabia is fantastic. So welcome aboard and good on you for doing your share in the child watching departments,

even if it plays to your advantage, that is a smart negotiator Abdul, a very smart negotiator. Yeah. I think this, the obvious way is to just say, hey, I want your player when you're not allowed to talk to your player or call someone and say, hey, this is off the record, but what are you thinking about with this particular player this season? And you should never put this stuff in writing. One of the biggest tampering penalties that ever happened in the NHL was with Pat Quinn.

Pat Quinn was the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. And in December 1986, he, the Vancouver Canucks and him reached a deal for him to become president and general manager of the Canucks the next season. And Quinn argued that it's kind of like what happened with Mike Keenan. Like you remember Mike Keenan argued the Rangers missed a payment deadline after they won the Cup in 94. So he was a free agent and the NHL wasn't buying that. Quinn felt that the Kings hadn't done his option on time. So that allowed him to talk to other teams.

And the league said, no, that's not acceptable. You're still under contract and you're actually coaching the Kings. You can't do that. And he got suspended. Quinn got suspended for the rest of the season and he was able to join the Canucks as president and general manager on time, but he wasn't allowed to coach. So that was one of the biggest tampering penalties that I remember is that he got caught during the season. He wasn't allowed to coach the rest of the season. He was allowed to join as a GM. As a matter of fact, I just double checked it. Quinn was not allowed to coach until 1990. So he actually put a three year penalty on him from coaching. So that's the biggest one I remember.

All right. Very good. Thank you, Abdul from, for writing in. I should say Abdul, like one of the ways they do do it. And I remember Doug McLean used to talk about this all the time. You'd call up an agent and you'd say, Hey, and you know the agent had a client that you liked and, or that you wanted and you say, Hey, uh, next year, I'm looking for like a six foot four,

right shot defenseman with a mullet. Do you have anybody under your employ like that? And the agent would say, oddly enough, I do. And they talk about without saying anything in specific, they try to figure out what the future held. That's kind of the way it gets done. So it's like, guess who? Yes. Great. You'll be playing that game a lot soon.

Who? Yes. Great. You'll be playing that game a lot soon. Yeah. Yes. Do they have blonde hair? Yes, they do. Okay. That was great. So from I remember those years. Sure. Saudi Arabia. That's fantastic. I like that. I like when we get notes from like, Finland is cool. Sweden's cool. It's really cool to go somewhere where you're not expecting. Yes. And that's been one of the biggest eye-openers doing this this year, Elliot, is just some of the submissions. And as you know, sometimes we can't get all of them in, but when you see just the locations pop up of who writes in, it's

very, very cool. So from Saudi Arabia to the Northwest Territories, Tyler has the next submission. Nice. Hello gang. Got into a group chat kerfuffle over the ability of NHL teams to buy out players with no movement clauses. When they are placed on waivers for the purpose of the buyout, can a player with a full no move activate the proverbial UNO reverse card and block the buyout itself from happening? Love the pod. Thanks for always being there for us fans and our crazy questions. It's funny that you asked this one, Tyler. And first of all, the crazier, the better.

I do like the challenge. One of the first things I ever asked was if a buyout could be blocked by a new no move clause. I don't remember which CBA it was, but whenever that first came in, that was one of the first questions I asked. And the answer, Tyler, is no. A no move clause cannot stop a buyout.

A buyout is you cannot throw the reverse card on a buyout. Now, one thing that does happen is before a player can be bought out, they have to be put on waivers for the purposes of a buyout. If you have a no move clause, that doesn't have to happen. They can just tell you we're buying you out and you don't have to go on waivers. That's happened before too, but no, a no move clause cannot block a buyout. A buyout is impenetrable. Very good.

As you can imagine, there were a few submissions for this one that were contract related and the inner workings of it all, Elliot, given the time of year that we're at. I believe that. I believe that. Todd and Connecticut up next. So one more along this vein.

Gents, good show. Now try my question. Which player, since the advent of the salary cap, was the first to be granted a no move clause and or no trade clause? In addition, who was the agent and GM that negotiated and agreed to these terms and thus closed the floodgates to Roster Churn?

Thanks for an entertaining and informative podcast. I gotta tell you, there's a dispute. Did you get an answer to this? So I went, I know he asked about since the salary cap, I went and tried to find like the first one ever. Because I actually have looked this up before. I was just going through my laptop, but apparently there's a story out there that claims like players in the 1920s had one.

And I think King Clancy was one of them. Wow. That's what I've got. Really? Because I actually, I had this in my notes. I just searched like in my notes. So back at that time, like there were players who were such big stars that they could command that and I don't know if that's true, but I have seen

that claim that he had one. Yeah. So what I learned that in 1923, he was a member of the Ottawa senators back then, and there was a promise of no trade in his contract. Now that was an era there wasn't anywhere near the same player movement as there is now, of course, but apparently from what I could gather, the people I reached out to, 1923 King Clancy was the first. Perhaps represented by Mackenzie King at the time. Maybe he was the agent. That's pretty funny. Now I

gotta say like in this era since they came back in 2005, I'm not sure who got the first one. Did you find anything like that? No, I just went beyond. The other one, the other guy I think had one and it caused huge problems in Toronto and they weren't his fault. They were like punch Jim Black's fault. The second time he came around, I think was Daryl Sittler. Sittler. Yep. Yeah, I'd have to remember that from

when I was a kid. But, you know, Sittler and him lack had big battles. And that's one of the reasons landing McDonald got traded because he couldn't trade Sittler. So he just decided to trade his best friend, which was insane. but that's what that's the way sometimes people do that stuff. So like in 2005, I'm not sure who would have had the first one coming out of that CBA. And also remember to like dating back to the Sittler era, Elliot, as you well know, for the longest time, there was no players union. So they had just next to zero leverage. So there was never any real need outside

of some unusual circumstances to have anything like that in a contract because the owners just had way more of the balance of power back then. Yes, a lot of control, a lot of control. And the union on some level at the time was in cahoots with the owners, right? So that allowed, that's even bigger problem. Yes. Yeah.

Bigger problem. Okay. Well, one final one here from AA. Hey guys, love the show. Major Australian sports, in particular the AFL and NRL, have a weekend where all the teams play their game in one host city, almost like a festival. What do you think if the NHL did something like that? It essentially would be a recreation of the bubble, but of course, all games would be open to the public.

The games could be on a weekend or a Friday to Monday such as a holiday weekend. Revenue of the games could be redistributed or allocated back to some good cause. Anyway just a thought, have a good summer and let's go Panthers back to back. I've never even thought about it. I love the concept. I just wonder infrastructure wise if they could pull it off. I suppose if you did it in New York and used the surrounding buildings, maybe you got a chance but that's a lot of hockey in one area for 32, you know, I guess you're thinking

16 games, right? Over the course of a weekend. But like we talked about what made the graph, the draft great before this year, when they decentralized is having basically the entire league in one city at one time. It's great for a fan experience. I just don't know if logistically they could pull it off. I don't know. You know, this is something we should ask Steve Mayer next year when we talk to Steve, if they've ever think of something like this, because they're going from 82

games to 84 in a couple of years, right? So I, you'll remember, or some of you will, if you're my age, the last time the season was 84 games in the late eighties, early 90s, they used to have two neutral site games. But the players began to really hate those. It was just extra travel during the season that they didn't like. They didn't want it. They didn't stay with it. So that would be the only reason I would say no, is something like that was tried 30 years ago, and they didn't think it was successful. But I'm always open to ideas.

Yeah. And that was also a time where the majority of the teams didn't fly on charters. They flew commercial. So travel into this. Well, just to say there's enough quibbles now, but there was legitimate ones for teams certainly at times depending on where you played back then. There's no room for logic here. No, not on this show. That's for sure. All right, Elliot. That was it.

The final thought line of the season. Great year, everyone. Time to recharge the batteries and come back with more hilarity and insanity in the fall. That was a Canada USA four nations style year for the for the audience. Great year guys. Can't think of a bigger compliment. Okay one final break and we'll come back and go through the 16 teams in the Western Conference. 32 Thoughts the Podcast continues after this. All right, welcome back.

Time to make our way through the West and we'll begin in the Central Division, Elliott and the Chicago Blackhawks who spent a ton of money a year ago to open free agency. This time around a lot quieter. Kyle Davidson said the team is at a point now they want to leave some spots open for younger players to grab them. What are your thoughts Elliot on the team that as you say they aren't rebuilding? They are in the next stage away from that. Only Pittsburgh is rebuilding, Kyle, only Pittsburgh. There's really not a lot to say here.

They weren't exactly thrilled with how things went last year with some of their vets. And I think they just decided we're not doing that again, as you said. So I'm not surprised that they were pretty quiet. I mean, the true success of this organization this year is going to be who takes steps. You know, Connor Bedard, he changed his whole plan in the off season. He didn't go to the Worlds when some people wanted him to go to the Worlds. He didn't go to the Worlds because he said, I have a plan here.

I'm going to stick to my plan. And I think the plan is going to benefit my NHL team and myself. And I'm committed to that. You saw the talent last year with some of those guys who came in late, like Nizar and some of the other players. You know, like I remember Nizar scoring that goal in the shootout in Montreal that nobody realized went in. The thing I liked about that is that that was a big moment, maybe not for the Blackhawks, but it was a big moment for the Canadians and he rose up to it in a

big emotional building. Like I liked that about that player. in a big emotional building. Like I like that about that player. To me, it is all about how many of their young players grab jobs, how many of their young players keep jobs next year. Like don't just win them in the pre-season, but keep them throughout the regular season.

Does Frontel make the team? Like I think they wanna see, can he force them to keep him there next year? Um, I think they'll be better off with Spencer Knight for a full season. Um, but I think this is a really tough division and only now are they really starting the process. There's a long way to go here. And the only thing you're really hoping for, if you're a Blackhawk fan is that some

of these young players are impactful enough that they can grind the team towards at least meaningful games late in the season. It's going to be tough, but I can understand why the Blackhawks did not want to repeat what happened a year ago. The best free agents, they aren't going there right now. They aren't going there right now. So you're not going to sit there and say, we're making some of the same mistakes

we thought we had a year ago. As last fall, that was the mantra. They wanted to take a step, didn't quite happen. And so back to the drawing board for Chicago again, with their young core, one year older, and the opportunity for more of them to grab jobs as you say on a full-time basis. Okay the Colorado Avalanche so Brent Burns the Ironman streak continues we think signs a one-year deal with Colorado there was that trade with Columbus that we talked about earlier

that freed up some cap space for them and you know you touched on the Sidney Crosby rumors and everything that was floating around draft weekend. But they're a team that needs some bodies that forward though, Elliott. So what do you think the Avalanche are thinking? Well, first of all, on burns, I have to correct something. I reported it was a one million base with up to three million bonuses. I was wrong a little bit.

It's a 1 million base with 4 million in bonuses. And the thing I got confused by, and it's my fault, it's that someone told me it was 3 million dollars in attainable bonuses. And I took that to mean those were all the bonuses there. Someone reached out to me to say that there's another bonus in there, a million dollars, but it's harder to get. So I don't know what the exact bonus structure is, but it basically sounds like three of the four million bonuses he's gonna get. There's another million that's harder to get. And I think it's based on playing time.

So it'll come, it'll come down to how much he plays. And I was just told it's harder to get. So let me correct that. It's not one plus three. It's one plus four. And I wanted to correct that right here. Cause I only found out about it just before we actually taped this part of the podcast. You know, those two, those first two forward lines look great, Kyle.

Phenomenal. Especially with Landiscaut. That was one of the best stories of the season that not only did Landiscaut come back, but he looks like he's going to be a player taking out coil and wood. And as we talked about with Columbus, it sounded like if you wanted to get coil, you had to take wood. Uh, wood needed a fresh start. It just didn't work out and Colorado tied those two together. So they created cap room, but as you said, they opened up some spots on the

third and fourth line. I would just expect that the avvalanche are going to keep looking. They have some flexibility. Like they've really been in a difficult cap situation for a lot of the past couple years while Lannis Gogh was battling his injury and his recovery and Natchushkin was having his concerns. They had a lot. They had no flexibility. battling his injury and his recovery and Natchezkin was having his concerns. They had no flexibility.

So I don't think that the Avalanche are disappointed with the fact that they finally have a little bit of salary cap flexibility. And I think they'll save that to see when they find the optimum place to use it. You know, the thing about burns too, is that I think that guy's still got a lot to give. You know, in Carolina, it's not like they didn't want to keep him. It's just that they told him his role was going to decrease. And I've seen this before, uh,

where players are like, well, even if they're being told the truth by their team, they've got such pride. They rather some, sometimes they'd rather go somewhere else and take a lesser role than the place where they already are. And that obviously happened to Burns here. And, you know, I think he'll be very good there. I mean, they've got Macar ahead of them. They've got Manson on that side too. So we'll see. But, you know, Burns, I still think he's got a lot to give. I just think that Carolina told them the role wasn't going to be the same there. I think Colorado's really good. It'll be interesting to see Natchez. Full season there, looked great initially there. Is he going to commit to them? And if the answer is no,

what is Colorado going to do about that? That's going to be one of the interesting questions throughout the year. So those are the two things I'm looking at with the Avalanche. What is Natchez's long-term future? And what is Colorado with Caproom for the first time in a long time without injury and roster concerns? How are they going to deal with it? I still think this is a really good team, a really good team and write them off at your own peril. Well, especially when you consider,

so remember in 2021, Colorado loses to Vegas, McKinnon had the line about, you know, eight years in the league, haven't won anything. The next year they win a cup. I don't think that's what he said exactly. I left a few words out. Only the listeners submit what I missed, piece it all together. But this year, after losing to Dallas, then he had the line, well, they didn't have their best defenseman and maybe their best forward. We still couldn't beat them. So I don't know what we're going to do.

So look out for whatever kind of war path that Nathan McKinnon is going to be on next year with Colorado. And also don't forget that McCarr can sign an extension next summer. And who knows what that's going to look like. I think they took a shot at Ehlers, but obviously they didn't get him. By the way, some of these performance bonuses that we're seeing handed out over the last little week, Elliot, it's like lucky lucky at the card table. Yeah. Gotta get them though. Throwing a chip there. Yeah. You gotta get them. All right, the Dallas

Stars. Got a lot of their own business done over the last week, including the hiring of their new head coach, Glenn Gullitzen. You had thrown that name out there pretty early on in the process. Second tour of duty back in Big D. There's still the question of Jason Robertson, who is eligible for an extension. We talked about him a lot. You said they're going to try to sign him. To your knowledge, where do things stand right now? I think this one purely comes down to the number. I think the Dallas Stars think very highly of Jason Robertson, especially as a person.

I think that Robertson thinks highly of the Stars. I just think it comes down to the number. Other thing to remember here is Dallas has some flexibility in the sense that even though he's got one year left under his contract, he's not unrestricted for two years. Like there is a restricted arbitration year. So in theory, they could just sit there and say, we could have them for two more years at this year's number 7.75 and next year's our number if they really wanted to do that. I just think it comes down to the number. I think Dallas has an area they don't want to go over,

and the question is, does Robertson want to go over that? I can't imagine they want to go over Rantanet, which is 12. And so, we'll see. The thing you have to remember is people want to play in Dallas. So if Robertson wants to stay there, and I have no reason to believe he wants to leave, then you tend to find ways here, right? So that's the way I always look at it. I just think Dallas has a limit they're not willing to go by. I wasn't expecting Dallas to be busy. Desuchenne wanted to stay. It

got done. Ben wanted to stay. It got done. You forget he had 50 points in the regular season last year. Granland signed for three times seven. I think his ask for Dallas was just under that. I think they would have loved to have kept them, but they just couldn't just couldn't do it. Um, I heard they had no interest in moving Lbuskin. They felt that he was a good depth player for them. I, I believe they felt there was a market for Dumba and we'll see where that goes. You know, there is another extension they can do and that's Thomas Harley. We keep focusing on Robertson, and someone said to me, you're forgetting a guy there.

And that's a guy who looked pretty good on the Four Nations team, and you assume will be on the Olympic team on Harley. So it's not just Robertson that's going to be a trick for them to fill. It's going to be Harley too. So I'm not surprised that this was not a busy off season for Dallas. Look, they, they, they, they were, they know Radek Faxa, they brought him back. They kept Blackwell. Now it's negotiating time.

It's Robertson and it's Harley. And those are their two biggest off season things. You know, Gullitzen, the thing about Gullitzen is I always remember Ron Lancaster. Ron Lancaster was a great player in the CFL and his first two years, as head coach of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, he went four and 28 and said, oh, some players, some players, they're good players. They can't be coaches. And he went into TV for a while and he came back and he coached Edmonton and then Hamilton and he was hugely successful.

And I, you know, I once asked him about it and he's like, I had no idea. Like with 2020 hindsight, I had no idea. Like with 2020 hindsight, I had no idea. And I wouldn't say that Glenn Gullitzen had no idea, but when I see a guy come back to a head coaching job, you know, five, six years after, seven years after it happened, I think of a guy like Ron Lancaster. What did you know? What do you realize you didn't know then that you do know now? What has your next experience taught you?

And you know, I, the thing about Lancaster is he just coached with two of the best players in the NHL. And those are two players that have a big say in what happens and the coach has to be the boss and the coach has to be the boss, and the coach has to lay down the law, but it doesn't mean you can't learn from how to make it work with two of the best players in the league.

And the other thing too is the Dallas team that Gullison coached years ago isn't the under control, good ownership model that they have now. under control, good ownership model that they have now. You know, I think like, Pierre Debord is a heck of a coach, but it's clear he has an expiration. And the expiration came there,

and this team needed a new voice. And I thought it was really smart that they found a spot for Neil Graham on the bench because otherwise they would have lost him. And I'm curious to see, you know, how this goes over the next few years because this isn't the last time the stars are going to be asked. That line I heard, I believe it was someone in baseball, it said, you know, the more time I spend around the game, the more I realize how little I know about it. I like that with broadcasting. Yeah. That's it though. Everything else you've got down to a tee. Everything else I've got figured out. No problem. No problem. Okay. The Minnesota

Wild, the shackles are off out from under the LTIR weight. There was some depth signings they've made so far. Cal Peterson for some depth in goal. There was the trade that brought them Vladimir Teresenko, but the big focus for them internally, Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi. Where do things stand there? So you know, on Kaprizov, Bill Guerin has always maintained a confidence and I wouldn't expect anything less.

Guerin is always confident outwardly and I wouldn't expect there to be any difference. I'm really curious to see when this gets done, what the number is going to be. Because I remember we talked earlier this year about how there were people that felt that Kaprizov would go for the biggest number in the league. Like even potentially more than a McDavid. And not necessarily, Caprizo was a hell of a player. I don't know that anybody should be paid more than Connor McDavid,

but everybody's situation is their own. And we kind of talked about it with Alex Tuck in the Buffalo segment, right? Your situation in Buffalo for Tuck drives up his value. Caprizov's situation in Minnesota drives up his value. Sorizov's situation in Minnesota drives up his value. So we're all curious to see this number, although again, Garen and the owner there, Craig Leopold, have said they will pay it. But it's one of those things, like some of these other ones, with each day it doesn't get done,

you know, people are like, okay, okay, let's get this done here. Rossi, you know, there's no arbitration for Rossi. He's not eligible. There's lots of time here. The one thing is that as we record this podcast, and again, I always live in fear of this, I say this and then something gets announced. But they didn't appear close on a contract. You know, it's been reported that Rossi's ask was around Boldy seven times seven.

He's a 60 point center. But the wild don't see it the same way. And you know, because of what happened to Rossi in the playoffs where he got moved down the lineup, his representation doesn't want to go short term because if that happens again, it could really hurt his earning potential. So, right now, they're a little bit stuck, right? I think when the season starts next year, Rossi will be put in position to score again. It benefits the wild and it benefits the player. Whatever they agree to contract wise, assuming he stays there and he's not traded, it doesn't make sense for the wild to bury Rossi because they need him to win.

And also you don't want to bury him because eventually if you're not going to keep him, you want to move him. So I could see a situation where he comes back, they figure out something and their recognition and understanding is they're there to shine them up. You know, I don't think a trade was ever really close. I don't think the wild got anything close to what they were looking for. And I think Bill Guerin is honest when he says, I'm not making my team worse. I'm either getting a player that helps me right away or something I know that will get

me a player right away. To me, the most interesting thing about Rossi is that this is a league that is crying for centers. Look at all of the teams who are looking for two C's and Rossi in theory can play that role. And I think the reason is who was Florida's two C it's Sam Bennett. So whenever somebody wins the Stanley Cup, everybody wants a 2C like that guy. And he just won the Con Smythe trophy as the MVP of the final. So I just think that the other thing that Rossi has been hurt by is at least in the trade market is the whole Sam Bennett syndrome.

That's what we want our 2C to look like. So it's hurt Rossi's value and Minnesota's chances. You know, a couple of things, the couple of things I do like for Minnesota, I like some enthusiasm of the new younger players. You know, Boldy obviously is a heck of a player, but I'm excited to see Yurov next year who came over Russia, and Buim in the playoffs, he was a bit of a wild man all over the ice as he tried to figure out the differences between the NCAA and the NHL, but you can see the energy and the enthusiasm and I could see why the wild are excited about this guy.

So, and Teresenko too, he was a bad fit in Detroit. He's playing for a contract. He'll be motivated. So, like those are the things I like about Minnesota. I just, I recognize the nervousness about Kaprizov among the fan base. And I'm, I'm wondering if at the end of the day, and we'll see how this goes, if it's always better to solve your solution internally than try to trade it, is if Rossi and the Wild try to find a middle ground here and say, look, we need you to do what we need to become a better team. And in return, we'll make sure we shine you up, whether it's with us or with somebody

else. That may be the best solution for everybody. I remember too, last year when Teresenko went to Florida the deadline, he was the one that was with Lundell and Lusterainen on that line for the Panthers when they won their first Stanley Cup in 24. Oh right, that's right.

Paul Maurice spoke glowingly of the impact he had on those two players. And then of course they end up having Marchand on their wing this time around. But curious to see how they go about. Curious to get 5% of everybody's contract. Curious, curious to see how the wild go about deploying him, you're right.

All right, the Nashville Predators, Elliot, they were the July 1st. Their agents are probably calling right now, 5%. Yes, yeah, that's good. The Predators were the July 1st darlings a year ago, and the Mike feudal line, one of the worst things you can be told as a GM is that you'll won the off season,

but a little quieter this time around, bring in Hague and Purvix on their back end. As I understand, listen to Jason Buchla, pointed to the fact that Nashville took Brady Martin in the draft this year with their first pick. He kind of took that as a sign as Barry Trotz wanting that team to be known as being relentless to play against again.

That was their hallmark when first coming into the league as a franchise. What's your read on them right now? I was surprised. Like there was some local hate on that pick. Like I do a weekly radio hit in Nashville every year and someone down there told me there was some local hate on that pick. Like I do a weekly radio hit in Nashville every year and someone down there told me there was some real hate for that pick. I was, I was surprised to hear that. Um, you know, Brady Martin is the kind of player you win with in the playoffs.

Now, first you have to get there and, you know, he's going to have to, you know, make it and eventually he will, but, you know, make it mature. Um, you know, he it and eventually he will but you know, make it mature. You know, he's a strong kid. I liked how much the not being at the draft and being at the farm got play. That was a nice story. I really liked that. It was awesome. Yeah, it was and the stuff he was doing and you're, you're committed if you're doing that. Like you, it's like, you know, you know, there's, there's, there's a lot of NHL players who have farming backgrounds or like, you know, Adam Henrique in the tobacco fields talking about how when

he got back, his parents were like, we don't care that you're an NHL go to work, stuff like that. I think Pat Verbeek was like that too. There's a whole bunch of NHL players who are like that. I was surprised at some of the local hate for that pick. It reminded me of some of the complaints about Brady Kachak the year he was drafted. People forget that that got ripped. I think that Martin will be a good player for them. I think it's really interesting. So the other one move that Nashville made that got really hammered was the Nick Hague contract. And I was also a little bit surprised about that one. There was a ton of interest in Nick Hague, a ton of it.

Vegas knew they couldn't keep them. They knew they wouldn't be able to fit them into their salary structure. There were a lot of teams out there on them. I think Philly was, I think Montreal was, I think Calgary was, I think National was. You know, Calgary, Vegas was trying to get Rasmus Anderson, you know, but Nashville got him. And like, again, I don't look at that contract where the cap is going as a real problem. I don't think that'll be a problem at all. Hague is gonna be asked to take more responsibility more often than he's had

to in the past, But every time I've watched him play I see a really competitive hard-nosed guy. Like he's gonna do exactly what you say. I've always liked Hague's game. You know Nashville has a lot of left-hand shots so they kind of talked about how Yossi might play the right side. Hague has done that before too. Um, you know, the other one, Purvix, you talked about, I liked the Purvix signing. I thought that was a really good deal. And I think he's a really solid player. Like, like Nashville won the off season last year, as you said, and it didn't go very well.

I think they attacked certain things last year. They didn't like the way they defended. So Purvix and Haig should help. I think the way that, and the other thing I think, like Andrew Burnett had some really interesting quotes on the weekend about how they're kind of talking about, like, how do they need to change the way they played? And last year they changed the way they played

during the season, they made some adjustments, and obviously it didn't work as well. But it does sound like it's again, it goes to what I just said before. You can either trade out of your problems or you can solve your own problems. It's always better and easier to solve your own problems. I don't know if it's all going to work, but I see Nashville as a team that attacked a couple of their issues, defense number one, and also internally, how do we play? Now, they still have a lot of ready shots up front.

They're still going to have to make everybody happy up there. There's, so like we talked about the lefty shots on the blue line, the ready shots up front. There's still some, you know, there's the questions at center. They've still got some holes. They've got to fix here. But I think they were, it looks like they were honest about what some of the problems were, and now they're going to try to fix them. And that's the step. That's the step you've got to make.

Okay. The St. Louis Blues. Got Pugh Souter on a two-year deal, Elliott. Nick Bugestad comes in, Mayu from the Montreal deal. They were a blink of an eye from the second round against Winnipeg in the playoffs, but it was a turbulent season to get to that point. So how do they feel about themselves heading into the summer? You know, I like this team. I like the group. I thought they had a couple of really smart, non-risky signings. Suter at two times four and a quarter is nice. Nick Bjugstad, a couple years to play center. Down the middle, you've got Thomas, you've got Shen, you've got Souter, you've got Bugstad.

That's a good center group. You know, they held on to Cairo. We'll talk more about Cairo when we get to Seattle. You know, they did miss Holloway, but he should be healthy. You know, I'm curious to see if they're gonna extend Fowler. Um, there was some talk that they might, they obviously haven't. So we'll, we'll see where that goes, but Fowler's headed into the last year of his

contract and he was a great fit there. I really liked them upfront. I liked them in goal. They, they got Hofer signed. Bittington-Hofer, that's a good duo. You could do a heck of a lot worse than that, and some teams have. I'm curious to see Mayu, if he does make the jump to become a full-time NHLer next year. But I like the look of this team. You know, a couple of things.

Shen now goes from a full move clause to a no move clause to a partial. And the last couple years, you know, some teams, especially Canadian ones, like Toronto and Ottawa have poked around him a bit. And I'm sure that their no trade list will handle some of this, but at least now he doesn't have the full protection anymore. The other thing I just wanted to talk about with the Blues is I got a call from a player who was upset at the Letty situation. So Nick Letty had a no trade clause until June 30th and then he switched to a partial. And so I think it was like half the league.

And you know, Doug Armstrong wanted to lighten the load in his defense. He wanted to move some pieces around and Letty was able by his contract to block a trade to San Jose. But he could not, he did not have a no move clause anymore. So they could put them on waivers and San Jose claimed them. And there was a player who called me about it and he was upset about that. He's like, you know, the CBA just got done and that is something like I've written before about maybe you just block teams as opposed to the partial no trade, no move or whatever it is, like maybe just block teams.

And some people thought that was a really good idea. And some people thought that was a really stupid idea. But this particular player was kind of bothered that that end around still existed. And, you know, I understand that Nick Letty, he's not complaining about it. I think he's, I've heard he's got the right attitude about it, which is, okay, this happened. When I wake up in the morning, am I still in the National Hockey League? Answer, yes. Am I still making a very good salary? Four million dollars? Yes.

So what do I have to complain about here actually? A hundred percent. I completely agree with that. I like people who think like that. I think that's the way you have to move through life. But there was one player who called me and said, he just didn't like that that is still allowed to happen. By the letter of the law, what happened to Letty was completely allowed to happen.

He just was bothered by it. And I wanted to shout out Letty for having the right attitude about it. I wonder if some of those things were brought up in any real degree of earnest during the talks around this CBA and maybe it just was shot down but stuff like this because it's to your point like it's not the first time something that you mentioned Barkley Goudreau from a couple years ago. Like that was a similar one that would fall into that category too that would upset a lot of players around the league of how that'll unfolded. Yeah, I can see why can totally see why. All right, the Utah mammoth, bring

in JJ Paterka, sign them to a five year deal. Hello, Nate Schmidt, Brandon Tannev, Vtech Vanecek. You have said this is a team that needs more meat. Imagine finding meat. Are they still looking for some? Are they starting to like what they got? I like their moves. You know, Peturka obviously was the big one that gets a lot of the attention. He's a score, a very young score. You know, Utah wanted to swing big. I would love to know if Brad Marshand had hit the open market, what Utah would have offered them and what Toronto would have offered

them. I would really love to know what those offers would have been. Tanev, I think, was a really good fit for them. As you said, he's a banger. They needed bangers. They needed bangers. Tanev is perfect for them. And Schmidt, I thinkv is perfect for them. And Schmidt, I think is perfect for them.

He had a great year last year. Just as long as you have a smart role for him. And if you look with Sergechev as the number one guy, you don't have to ask too much of Schmidt. I like it. I like Utah's moves. Sometimes I think when you go out there to blow the budget and you don't have to ask too much of Schmidt. I like it. I like Utah's moves. Sometimes I think when you go out there to blow the budget and you don't get your guy, I worry that you're going to really walk yourself into trouble.

I don't think they did that here. I think that even if they didn't get some of their number one targets, who I believe were guys like Bennett and Marner and Marshand, they still made good fits and they weren't irresponsible with their contracts. I still think they need some meat up there. They're still slightly meatless. TANF, like I said, helps, but I would like to see a little bit more. Jack McBain is not signed yet. I'd heard they weren't far off, but we'll see what happens there. One name I'm curious about is Nick Schmalz. Nick Schmalz is heading into the last year of his current deal, 5.85.

And I'm wondering what his future is there. Do they see him as a longtime mammoth or do they see maybe moving them to see what else, what they could do for him? That's a name I'm wondering about a little bit. Utah is beyond the meat right now. Like beyond meat? Beyond the meat. It's the impossible burger?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Beyond meat. I did want to shout out Connor Ingram too. They signed Vitek Vanechek. They've got Vamelka and Vantechek. Ingram, as everybody knows, has been battling some mental health.

And it's a reality of the business that Utah has to make sure that they've got some stability at the position. But, you know, I just want to send Ingram my best and I hope he's doing okay. Well said. The Winnipeg Jets. So life goes on without Nick Ehlers. Mason Appleton is elsewhere. Dominic Tandonato is elsewhere. But there is the arrival of Jonathan Taves, Gus Nyquist, Tanner Pearson, Cole Kepke amongst some others.

They got some RFAs to take care of. I imagine Gabe Velardi would be at the top of that list. Dillon Sandberg. Dillon Sandberg's there as well. Yeah. So what's kind of the... Both of those guys went for arbitration, right? So like Winnipeg knows one way or another, they're going to have those guys under contract. That's the, you know, arbitration can be a really rough process. Yes. But the good thing about it is that, um, uh,

is that you know that you're going to have the players under contract and, you know, Sandberg is only eligible, uh, for a one year deal because he's headed to UFA after next season. And Velarde, he's got two years. So since the player elected, if they don't get a long term deal done, I'm sure the team will ask for a one year deal. So it does give them some flexibility. I have no doubt they consider both of those players a priority, but also looming large over all of this is Kyle Connor and Adam Lowry, both of whom are unrestricted

free agents. So the Jets will have to do kind of all of these contracts together in terms of what is our vision. So there's a lot of work for them to do. A lot of work for them to do. I mean, Tavs will be interesting, no question about it. You know, the rumor was that he really wanted to go back to Winnipeg, is he really opened the process? The idea of him just wasn't, oh, they're the best offer. It's like, no, I'd really like to go there. And his media conference on Friday confirmed that. You could tell he was excited to go and he's excited to be there. And with Lowry heard at the beginning of the year, Tave's starting strong becomes even more important. They need him to start on time because they're already down one center with Lowry not ready to be

there on time. I think Nyquist is a really interesting bet. The Gustav Nyquist I saw last year, that's not the guy I know. I don't know what happened, but that's not him. It wasn't him in Nashville. They were off all season and he didn't make a huge impact in Minnesota. I do believe in buy low if you can and Winnipeg is buying low on Nyquist. I like that for them. I think that's the kind of, uh, gamble, uh, you've got to take. Um, you know, for me this year, their key was the start of the season. They led wire to wire.

I think next year is going to be a bigger challenge just because of Lowry not being there and the loss of Ehlers. So how they start next year is going to be really interesting to me. You're still going to have Shifely between Conor and Velardi. You know that you're starting the year with that. And then how does everything look? You had some other lines that look good during the year, but you're also dealing with some injuries, some losses like Appleton fit in really well, he's gone.

You know, how is everything going to look? The chemistry, the magic at the beginning of the year for the Jets this year. Will they be able to start with anything similar? And, you know, obviously their defense, it's still going to look the same. I'd heard in Samberg's case in particular, he was pretty happy and content to sign long-term there, but you got to get it done. Kyle, one of the things I asked around is like with these four deals, Winnipeg has to do, what do you think is going to be like the easiest one?

Not that any of these are easy, but comparatively, what's the easiest one? I figured everybody would say Lowry. He's the captain. He really seems to love it there in particular. I thought that was the one that would jump out. And actually, most people actually pick Samberg over Lowry. Not that they think Lowry's gonna be harder, but they're kind of like, eh, he's a center.

Centers are always harder. And I said, really, why Samberg? And they go, well, because he genuinely seems to love it there too. And like a player like that, the team knows you've got to reward him because he's a really good player and he wants to be there. And defensemen like him are really hard to find. They said he's not a huge points guy. Like he had 18 points two years ago, he had 20 points and six goals last year. And so when you have a player like that, you try to give them a little bit

more because he's valuable to you and you want to make them happy. But guys like that, the numbers tend not to be outrageous. So my pick would be Lowry for the reasons I explained, but I thought it was interesting that a number of people said Samberg for the reasons they explained. You still got to make them happy and you got to take care of them. And I have no doubt that Winnipeg will, but because he's not a big points guy, it's not like a number that goes to really enormous highs. And I just thought that was a really interesting perspective. Busy one for Kevin Shevelda off and company.

The Anaheim Ducks. So Michael Grandlin, three year deal, seven mil AAV. They did the Zegras trade. They got some RFAs to take care of McTavish, Helleson, Dostal. It's a team that wants to make the playoffs next year as we've talked about, Elliot. How do you feel about things in SoCal? I like the Grandland move. I like their forwards.

You look up and down their depth chart, their forwards look really good. Really good. I think that team is going to be able to score. Grandland I heard liked his time in California with San Jose and was interested in California. So I don't necessarily think it's just, Oh, they gave him the best offer. I think he wanted to be out there. That's what some teams had indicated to me. I also liked the Crichter gamble.

He, you know, Anaheim struggled with their special teams and he was a good special teams player in New York. He's not as effective a five on five guy anymore, but he can play on your special teams, both power play and penalty kill. So to me, that seems like a good gamble for what ailed Anaheim. You know, I think too, just ending the Gibson debate,

you don't, like Gibson is still a good goalie as we talked about with Detroit, but that story is over. It's not, is John Gibson going to be traded anymore? Is John Gibson happy? Does he want to be there? It's over. And I think there's something to be said for that.

It's just not a thing they have to worry about anymore. Does a player want to be there? My concern with the Ducks is their lefty. Like, LeCom took a big step forward next year. He looks like a stud. I think Zellweger and Minshukov, I think those players both struggled with being in and out of the lineup. Like, I heard at different times last year, both of those players were kind of like, I want to play more. I don't want to be in and out. I'm sitting out too much. And I think Pat Verbeek kind of said like, both you guys are going to have to be patient. I'm not, I'm not training you

and I'm not promising you anything. I don't think you have to earn. Like Verbeek is old school. He's like, you want it, earn it. And I really have no problem with that attitude. I think at different times in the off season, other teams called about Zellweger and Minty Yukov. Obviously, nothing's happened. And Verbeek has said, no, I'm not doing that. But if you look at the depth chart right now, Kyle, that's their left side of the D. And if it doesn't change, it's a great opportunity for those two kids. But it's where I'd look at with Anaheim and

I'd say, okay, look at who you're going up against in the Western Conference in the Pacific division. That's the area I would be a little bit concerned about that. I think also too, McTavish, Dostal, they still gotta get contracts done with those guys. You know, Verbeek, he's careful, right? I don't think he wants to hand anybody money too quickly. He's like, if you want the money, you're gonna have to earn it. And so I think if there's long-term extensions here, they're at numbers that are very favorable to the ducks to the point where I'd be surprised. It doesn't mean it can't

happen. Like I always say, I said it like five times on this podcast, I'm going to say this and then the opposite will happen. I'll look like an idiot. But I would be shocked if they got long-term deals done at big numbers. I could see Verbeek saying, no, I'm happy doing bridges. And if you get to that point, then we'll do it later. But they got to get to the playoffs. Like I said, I really liked their forwards. I really liked Dostal.

I'm wondering about the left side. Tough division. The other thing I'm curious about is the first time Perry shows up at Anaheim wearing a Kings jersey, do they need defibrillators for every fan in the building? Yes. How many Corey Perry Ducks jerseys do you think are still hanging around Orange County? I would think a lot. That would be hilarious actually if fans showed up wearing Perry's Ducks jerseys the first game there. Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Don't let us down, Duck fans. You know what? They have that great, remember we went last year, we went to that great preseason game, the Kings and the Ducks in the right to Ontario. Yeah, yeah. And there were a ton of Kings fans there and there were a ton of Ducks fans there. Do it there. Do it there.

I love it. Great idea. Yeah, that's going to be a mind bender for Ducks fans. I know he's been gone for a little while now, but the Kings, whoof. That'll be a whole different plate of food to digest for Ducks fans for sure. All right, the Calgary Flames, Elliot. Six-year deal for Kevin Ball, two-year deal for Morgan Frost. Craig Conroy said, there's going to be a time they go out and take a big swing in free agency,

but seems like given their young players in house, the opportunity remains the priority. Is it just stay the course for Conroy and the Flames, or is the mindset shifting at all after last year? I think the Flames have low key taken some bigger swings than we fully realized yet, especially on defense. I heard they were, I heard they thought about some things that were bigger than we realized. You know, obviously there was the Anderson talks with Vegas and I will say this, was the Anderson talks with Vegas. And I will say this, I don't think it's accurate

that Anderson will only play for one team, but I have heard it's limited. It's more than one, but it's not like 10. I think it's a short list at this point in time. And I understand why the Flames might say no to that now and think they'll be in a better place later because if they trade him at the deadline, then he'll go anywhere that's good. There'll be a market for a player like him. He's a right-hand shot, good player, making not a lot of money.

And at that point in time, you're just going somewhere where you think you can best fit in and showcase yourself for the next deal. And if you go to a good team and you make it better, it really sets you up. So I understand why the flames feel that way. It's not a bad strategy, but I think right now the number of teams, like I wouldn't be surprised if one of those teams, for example, Oh yeah, sure. I go play for the Florida Panthers.

Well, Florida Panthers can't make that deal. So it's, but I'm sure there's a couple other like that too. But you know, this, this was supposed to be a big summer for the flames because before the cap really jumped, look at, they were one of the few teams with room. And I think they were really hoping to take advantage of that. Well, now more people had room and it made it harder to take advantage of, but I think Conroy sneakily was trying some bigger things

that just didn't come to fruition. I think it was like, okay, if this is not there, we're not gonna push it to a ridiculous stage. And that's what I think they've kind of looked at. Okay, so you think the sneakily looking at doing something big that's cooled off or are they still considering things? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised

if they're poking around a guy like Byram. But like the thing is, like I heard they were around a lot of the D that hit the market, but they had a limit. And so I think they were smart about that. And, you know, I do think that they had something, I think it's been reported that they had something going with the Kings. I think we mentioned on the pod out of the draft that there was a team that they had something with that Anderson wasn't willing to commit to. So the team didn't do it. And I think it's been reported that it was LA. So I don't think Conroy is afraid to do something big, but I think he's got goals and he's got to hit those goals

before he does it. You know, the one thing I do want to say is I don't think I've ever been around something where there were more fake quotes attributed to me in the last week than NOSM cadre. I don't know what is going on with you people out there. People were sending me these quotes that said about Kadri and I actually had to send them to the teams and say, guys, I know you're going to get calls about this. I didn't say this stuff. You know, I just think with Kadri, the flames have been asked about him before. They have him for term. Unless he comes to them and says,

I don't think it's working here. I want to go somewhere to compete. Or they absolutely get their socks blown off to the point where they have to go to him and say, we want to do this. I don't think that's happening. Like I don't think the flames are really in a hurry to trade Nazem Qadri right now. Not after he had such a fantastic season for them. Okay.

I'm glad you clarified that. All was crazy. The other one too is that I'm really, you know, and Conroy talked about this, who steps up? I know a lot of the Calgary fans are really excited about a guy like Zayn Perak. There's spots. Who steps up? Excellent.

The Edmonton Oilers, Elliot. So Evan Bouchard, the four-year deal, you touched on it earlier in the podcast about why they went to the number that they did. Is there anything else about that contract you want to touch on and how they got that one done? Yeah, I thought that was gonna come in around four times nine and a half But as I mentioned in arbitration, he probably gets ten and I think the threat of the offer sheet got it down to ten and a half Monge upon a as I said with Toronto Toronto liked them, but they also had to Move things around.

Right. So Edmonton's deal was right there and he took it. And also it doesn't hurt when you're going to be playing with dry sidle. Right. It's going to make a lot of guys look good. You know, I think the other thing is I think basically Edmonton went to a check with all their guys who had no trade clauses, who they would want to move and say, okay, how many of you are willing to go places?

And Arvidsson said he was, so he went. But Nurse, I don't think he wants to go anywhere. Henrique, I'm not convinced he wants to go anywhere. So that's kind of where it ended up. They made it clear they liked being part of something where they can win and they decided to stay, as is their right. I'm curious about the right side next to dry saddle right now, maybe pod Colson. We'll see, um, who gets the opportunity to go play there.

I think they tried a few things out there on the open market, but they were a bit limited in what they could do. Um, they are going to get a new goalie coach. I'd said in a previous pod about maybe do they are gonna get a new goalie coach. I'd said in a previous pod about maybe do they try and get a new backup for Skinner. If you're gonna try a new approach and goal, I don't know if you should.

Like they did sign Matt Tompkins, but Calvin Pickard's been very good for them. And the more I think about it, the more I think if you believe there's a better approach for you, then maybe the better approach works with Pickard, who already was a very, very successful spot starter for you. So I'm not as certain that Edmonton should do that. Maybe what you just do is you try the new approach and see if that helps you. Then of course there's McDavid

and we'll see where this goes during the summer. This is not one I'm worried about. I'm not. I think he extends. I just don't know what the term of that is gonna be. Right. And Kyprios made the point, and that was a good one, like it's different, you know, people point to Dry Cytl a year ago and say, well, you know, he didn't sign till September.

Like it's okay if it doesn't happen right away. It's a different set of circumstances with McDavid, right? Yeah, Kyle, I'll say this. There wasn't much of a negotiation with dry saddle. Yeah. They tried to say Leon, this is the number that he's like, Nope. Uh, this is the number and I don't think they put up a huge fight. Uh, so I think at the end of the day, they realized dry

saddle was extremely important. Don't fight them too much. Get it done. I think there'll be no fight at all with McDavid. What do you want? Fine, remember the last time he walked in, he said, or they walked in and said, we're not asking for 20% and they're like,

thank God, what are we gonna pay you? We'll do it. Don't make us think twice. Again, I think he's gonna sign, I just don't know the term. I'm not honestly. I think there, I think I've been around long enough to know when there's fear of losing someone.

I don't feel that here. I just don't. All right. That's very good of you to calm the waters. Usually like to do the opposite. So I'm hearing you out this time. It's summer. Everyone's supposed to be happy. This is happy time.

This is happy time. Happy time. That's great. Los Angeles Kings. Big, big spenders, particularly on the backend, Elliot, $30 in total committed to Brian Duhamelin and Cody Cece on the blue line. There's the additional pairs. $30.

I think that's under the salary cap. Didn't I say $30 million? You said $30. And I knew what you meant, but I just was like, someone's going to say, hey, Bukowsky, it's 30 million, not 30. So I'm stopping you there. That's right. It's me.

I thought I was doing you a favor. I know this is the most attentive. You've listened to me all season. I know. Usually I'm just dozing off at this point. You and our listeners. Okay. 30 million total to double it in CC.

We mentioned Corey Perry, you all are me as in the fold, Anton Forsberg to shore up the goaltending. Ken Holland's first off season at the helm in Los Angeles. Naturally with some of the moves that he made, Elliot, there was a lot of reaction to it. What do you make of the work? All of it in my DMs. What the hell are we doing? Oh, I can only imagine. So what do you make of it? my DMs. What the hell are we doing? So what do you make of it?

A Kings fan. To me, it's exactly the same thing he did in Edmonton, right? Brought in veterans and tried to improve the team around the edges. Where did LA lose last year to Edmonton? Well, they had the series up. They didn't get the puck out in game four. That hurt them. But also as that series went on,

like the fourth line hammered by Edmonton. The third defense pair hammered by Edmonton. The Gavrikov was exhausted. Like those guys were exhausted by the end of that series and Edmonton ran circles around them. That's what I think, whether you agree or not with Holland's plan, this is what I think he was trying to do, is say, okay,

I'm gonna make my third pair CeCe and Dumalin. I'm gonna put Perry and Armia on the fourth line and that's gonna strengthen my fourth line. I understand all of that. In Edmonton, people saw some of these moves and they were like, what on earth? They turned out to be good moves. Now, they don't have McDavid and Dreisaitl. They have some really talented players, but they don't have McDavid and Dreisaitl.

I think that's the way Holland looks at it is I'm going to try to fix it around the edges. Now in a vacuum, I don't see a problem with CC and Dumalin as your third pair. The thing that concerns me is your D has a lot of wear and tear on it. CC is a veteran, Dumalin is a veteran. Like it was funny, like someone said to me before free agency, give me one guy you guarantee is going to sign somewhere. And I said, Cody CC LA.

That is my billion dollar lock. And it's too bad I didn't bet a billion dollars on it because I wouldn't have to do this tonight. But like that- That saved all of us. And Dumalin, someone told me you would not believe how many teams were in on this guy. Like he's a respected guy. He's a good player.

He's filled in very well in a couple of different places over the past few years. I heard there was a ton of interest in him, which is why he got the contract. He got kind of like we were talking about with Janelle in Boston. But the thing is like Joel Edmondson, I got all the time in the world for that guy. He's been hurt a lot. And Drew Doughty in last year's injury was a fluke. He can't really say he's injury apart or anything like that. There's four guys there, CC Duhamelin, Edmondson Doughty,

that are older guys who've got a lot of mileage on them. Now, it doesn't mean they're not effective players, but that would make me nervous. I understand why people would look at that and be a little bit nervous about, you know, will the group hold up? I think this is a massive year for Brad Clark. They traded Jordan Spence. I know some of the Kings fans weren't happy with the return.

I said, what would you have felt would have been acceptable? They're like Batherson. I was like, come on guys, you're not getting Batherson for Jordan Spence. Let's be realistic here. But they just felt they weren't happy with the return. Clark is a huge year for him. I think this is a motivated player to take a step. But the thing is, there's onus on the Kings too, to let Clark grow. Like it can't just be, oh, here's a mistake. We're losing confidence in him. He's going to make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. His end of the bargain is not making the same mistakes all the time, but they really have to commit to this guy for regular shifts, 80 games. It's time.

Like you look at what's around him on the blue line, you need him to get a shot to get to his full potential. You have to do this now. You know, I think it'll be interesting. Kempe, I think he's going to want a big number, very big number. So it'll be interesting to see, do they get them signed? Does he go into the year unsigned? And you know, Gavrikov, they tried to do a sign and trade with the Rangers, fell apart, obviously didn't happen. Like, it makes me wonder if LA ever really had a chance to

resign him or he was just determined to go to the Rangers. I don't really know, but he's a big loss for them. I think he's a great player. I think that's a big loss. I do think they went, like we reported in our pod after the draft that Rasmus Anderson had turned down a deal or didn't go a team didn't make a deal with Calgary because Anderson wouldn't sign long term. I think that was LA as has now been reported. My again, I see what Holland's doing because I've seen it done before. My concern is the mileage on that blue line. Like I'm a little worried about that for them. And you mentioned Brent Clark, like we see examples of it all the time.

It's like we, our teams forget, you know, almost the, some of the reasons why they drafted a player where they did. Like it's all the things that wowed them about what they did in junior and they're trying to in a way coach a lot of it out of them. Now there has to be compromises in certain cases for sure but at the same time as you say the Kings being willing to bend you still got to allow the player that made you excited in the first place do some of the things that got them in a lot of ways. This has to go both ways. This has to go

both ways. He can't make the same mistakes end of the show. This has to go both ways. This has to go both ways. He can't make the same mistakes over and over again. He has to buy in, but they have to let him be untethered. He can't be looking over his shoulder. Can't play like that. The San Jose Sharks, one of the funnest teams to watch last year. Didn't win all the time, but a lot of entertainment there with who they had in their lineup and what is still to come.

I mean, you see now Michael Mises added to the mix and who they have from the draft. So you can envision what this could look like in a few years if all goes well. But how does Mike Greer handle the in-between? Who is your third-grading English teacher? Mr. Stobart. I hope Mr. Stobart isn't listening to this and heard you say funnest. It's late. It's been a long year.

It is late. It has been a long year. I said $30. But you know, we've been going for almost three hours. Like I'm surprised that's all we've done. Like, I'm sure when I listen to this pod on Sunday, I'm going to be like, this is unintelligible. You know, I thought San Jose, like to me, they're similar as Chicago. I think the one thing that San Jose's done a bit better than Chicago

is some of the veterans that they've made their bets on, like Tyler Toffoli. He was perfect for them last year on and off the ice like that was a home run Alex Wenberg, I thought that was a good fit for San Jose and even some of the other guys they've brought in There's there's not a lot of term there, right? Adam Gadat who they signed this year Dmitri Orlov and John Klingberg who they signed this year. I even like the Nadelkovich trade. I think he's a really good partner for Askarov.

I like San Jose's moves to bolster, look, like the Blackhawks, Celebrini, another level. Eklund, another level. Will Smith, another level. Eklund, another level. Will Smith, another level. You know, one of the guys who used to play in San Jose told me that the thing with Smith was, you kind of wondered if he believed he was good enough to make an impact. And in the second half last year, you saw that belief begin to manifest itself. Now, I don't think anybody knows yet for sure, is he a center center is he a winger? But at least now they started to see the belief in him. Yes

I can play at this level although obviously I have a lot of work to do They got a lot of D now a lot of D like whether it's Thrun or Thompson or Lillagran or ferraro Something's gonna have to give here. I can't see them trading Mukama Duleen. I think, you know, he stays, but if they'd wanna add another forward, I could see them saying, look, we got a lot of defensemen here

and we gotta find the spot for one of them because, you know, a couple of guys here aren't gonna play. They just got too many bodies. because a couple of guys here aren't going to play. They just got too many bodies. A lot of good things going for them in San Jose. Absolutely they do. And even like just dating back to, you can see already the influence of the Joe Thorns

and the Patrick Marlows of the world. And of course, Tefoli for present day players. But just seeing the younger players, and as you say, that's a really cool story about Will Smith about finding the belief as the season has gone on that yeah he can hang at this level and against some of the competition he's seeing every night and no question with some of the former players now you know alumni that are around them quite often there's got to be a big influence there as well that's pretty neat.

All right. Where are we going? Seattle Kraken. So Ryan Lindgren, Matt Murray into the fold, Lane Lambert's their new head coach. They were another team that, I mean, handed out a couple of big contracts last summer, but sounds like Jason Botterill is prioritizing developing the young players they have in-house right now? Where are you at with Seattle? So this team took some criticism that I didn't understand.

You know, someone said to me, are you surprised that the Kraken drafted another center? They took Jake O'Brien eighth overall in the first round. And I said, what's the big deal? And someone said, well, look at their depth chart. They've got, you know, obviously they've got Baniers and they've also got Shane Wright. And I was like, yeah. And they've also got Chandler Stevenson signed long-term

and they just traded for Freddie Goodrow. And I'm like, well, you know, Jake O'Brien probably won't be ready yet. And besides like how many teams in this league are looking for centers? There's like 25 teams in this league looking for centers. You can't have enough centers. I didn't, like, I was surprised at the criticism. Like it, like the two, like the two hardest things to find are centers and right shot defensemen. So I don't understand how anybody could have a problem with them trying to hit on as many

centers as they possibly can. So that one kind of confused me. It reminded me of one of my favorite basketball stories. And I'm not trying to say that Jake O'Brien is Michael Jordan, but in 1984 at the NBA draft there, people knew that Houston was taking Akim Elijah on number one and Bob Knight, the former basketball coach in Indiana, he was friends with the Portland GM and they had the number two pick. And he goes, who are you going to take? And you're going to take Michael Jordan, right? And he goes, no, we need a center.

I think we're going to take Sam Bowie. And apparently Bob Knight said to him, are you nuts? He said, if you need a center, draft Michael Jordan and play him at center. Like, you cannot pick Michael Jordan. And I've always loved that story. Not that Jake O'Brien's Michael Jordan, but it's like, you know, take the best player, especially if the best player is a

center. Like you just, you cannot find these guys enough. Seattle to me is trying to create identity for themselves. You know, Mason Marchman, everybody knows Mason Marchman, everybody Everybody has said this a few times this year. They added Lindgren. It makes me wonder a little bit about Alexiak's future. He's got one year left and now Lindgren signed for four and you know, Alexiak, I know there was a lot of interest in him at the deadline last year, although ultimately Seattle decided not to do it. So that's one question I kind of have after this, but they are in a league that needs meanness and values meanness.

Um, they've added some. And it's interesting. We talked about Edmonton. They decided to do a philosophical change at the goalie coach position and hope that helps, I thought that they would buy out group hour. They didn't, uh, they, they hired a new goalie coach there and they're hoping that's going to work again. It's always better to solve your problems as opposed to trade for them or buy them

out. So we'll see how that works. The one thing I think about Seattle is I do think they thought about Cairo and they ultimately decided not to do it. I don't know this, but I suspect that would have cost them the pick that turned into O'Brien, the eighth overall pick. So I can, I understand why they didn't do it, but like a pure score like that, I can understand why they thought long and hard about it.

Yeah, I'm sure there's a few teams that were looking at that too. Absolutely. And Seattle, especially, as they're trying to get themselves back on track and build themselves a bit of an identity, as you say. Okay, LA, the Vancouver Canucks, a couple teams left here. So Brock Besser, at the end of all that, ends up re-signing for seven years. And initially I thought it was kind of like Cameron and Bianca from 10 Things I Hate About You. Remember that movie? It's like the...

Oh my God, what a reference. The Canucks eventually realized the player loved playing there, wanted to stay there and that he was better than what they thought might have been out there otherwise. And then as I thought more about it, I had kind of wondered, what did the Canucks know full well that Besser wanted to be there all along and tried to take advantage of it right to the 11th hour? How did this all play out?

I think there's, there's definitely truth to that. There's no doubt in my mind with 2020 hindsight that Jim Rutherford knew he could go back to this if he wanted to. And I didn't see it coming when it happened. It fooled me. I was like, what? Wow. And, you know, to Murph, to his credit, he was on it. He

could tell he knew on Tuesday morning that it could happen. But the funniest thing was he chickened out. Like he said it on air. And then he started backpedaling in his tweets. No, no, no, I wasn't saying this. Murph, have the courage of your convictions, Murph. Have the courage of your convictions.ph have the courage of your convictions You knew before the rest of us you knew but I was like no No It's clear Rutherford knew he could go back to it and he knew what contract it would Get it would take to get it done. It was 50 million and that that was the number I think we heard during the year, 50 million.

And that's what it was. And someone said to me that Bessar could have gotten an eighth year. I said, maybe. But I think the bigger thing was the number. And the number was 50. And clearly Rutherford knew that. Now they wanted Christian Dvorak. They got beat by Philadelphia. That was a target Rutherford tug of war for Christian Dvorak and you know,

target one this one. It's interesting. I think the Canucks offered him term and Dvorak taking one year, that's a guy who's betting on himself a little bit here. He sees the league needs centers. He had a really strong finish to the year. It's interesting. I know a lot of guys who would have taken term in that situation, but he bound himself and I think it's a very interesting bet because as I said, I think a lot of other guys would have taken term, but you know, the Canucks, they didn't get Dvorak. Where Suter ended up, it says to me that the Canucks just weren't sure about

the commitment to the player. It's a tough one because Suter is a real great pro and he had a great year. But overall, um, what it said to me was the Canucks just weren't sure of the commitment to the player with term. And ultimately they decided to make their bets elsewhere. It's really interesting though with Vancouver, I think the other thing too is, right now if you did their depth chart,

you wouldn't have Baines in it, particularly because of the numbers. Like I think Ratu looks like he's gonna have a shot to make this team next year. Baines I, will too, but you'd look at the numbers and he wouldn't be in there. Someone said to me, don't count out more moves and him getting a better shot at making that roster. So I don't think, like there's been reports about Bluger and Joshua. I don't think the Canucks are done tinkering with this yet.

Someone said to me, the Canucks think that Baines is ready to challenge for a spot too, and if they have to clear spots and he gets a chance to play, they won't be afraid of that. Right now, you pencil Hedel in as your number two center. Long term, that's not what they want to do, but we already know that's a hard place to find. But I think it's really interesting that after a very tumultuous year, they're betting on the same group minus Miller. It's an interesting bet. That says to me that they think they're closer to the team they were two years ago than last year. And it's an interesting bet. It's a really interesting bet.

Yeah, but I can see it though. Like I don't think it's just, you know, arrogance on the management's part because not only was it all the off-ice drama and continuous storylines, like there was a lot of guys hurt last year too and the team still finished with 90 points. So I don't, I don't think it's crazy that they're, that they're thinking that way. And to Pedersen gets the no trade in. I have believed this ever since it happened.

There were a lot of people that weren't sure that they should give Pedersen that deal. The one guy who was absolutely sure was the guy with the most votes, Jim Rutherford. And Jim Rutherford is gonna make that bet. That'll be the key to the whole deal coming out of the gale in the fall for the Canucks. All right, the final thought.

The final, final thought for the 24-25 season brought to you by GMC. Last stop on the 32 tour, Elliott, the Vegas Golden Knights, Mitch Marner's in the fold here now, eight years. As you know, Bill Foley and company, they are not here to play small ball, home run cuts only. Now you had hinted, unfortunately, it's possible we may not see Alex Petrangelo in an NHL uniform again. He referenced in his statement that came out from the team a few days ago, the likelihood is low. So that's one thing that they've got to deal with.

But one of the big priorities was more firepower on the wing. And they've got that with Mitch Marner in the fold here now. From a hockey point of view, it's a great move. As you said, I thought their biggest weakness was on the wing last year. They just didn't scare you enough. Down the middle, you love them. On the blue line, you love them. But on the wing, they didn't scare you. Even with like Dora Fiev developing into a

35 goal score and you look at, you know, they have stolen, they have barbachev, they just, they weren't dangerous enough. And Marner ends that and he's a great two way player. And as we've talked about, I think the Golden Knights have liked him for years. So, and you know what, I'll say this too. I think the other reason it really works for Marner is I think there was just too much around him in Toronto.

Now he's going to be out there. I think he'll be better off with it. I think, you know, fatherhood, as you learned and I learned, and Dom will eventually learn, it changes you for the better. And the greatest years of Marner's life are coming up. And I think the fact that it's going to be long way away from home, as disappointing as it is from a greatest Toronto born Maple Leaf standpoint, I think for him, it's the right move at the right time and the team will be the right

fit. Kelly McCrimmon in his media conference, he talked about Hurdle and Carlson, how he had to call them and tell them that they weren't getting traded. I heard he also called Barbachev too. Nick Hague is a good player. Nick Waugh is a good player. But if you can do this and still keep Hururtle, Carlson and Barbashev, that's a huge win for you no matter what you gave up.

I also believe that Vegas is a smart enough front office that they have already begun to tackle how this will look with Eichel. Eichel can be extended now. It's going to be a big number. I assume it's going to be over Marner's number unless he just decides to come in at the same one. Eichel is their best player. But I find it very hard to believe that the Golden Knights wouldn't have gone to Eichel and said, look, you're worth $11 billion, but we think we're going to get Mitch Marner and now we have Mitch Marner.

You're worth whatever you want, but we got to make this work and you can win here and we can all win more together. And I think that will work with Eichel. Whatever the number he signs for, I'm going to guess, and I don't know, but I'm going to guess it could have been a know, but I'm going to guess it could have been a lot higher in the open market. That's my guess. I think that I just think that Vegas is too proactive and too smart not

to have tackled this already. You know, I'll tell you this too. I liked the deals for Lausanne and Sissons. Like those are good depth players, really good depth players. I like that they have cost certainty on Caden Korczak. I think there was a time where it looked like Korczak was gonna get dealt,

simply might have to be moved because there wouldn't be the opportunity for him. Not only did they not deal him, they've extended him. I think Vegas had a great summer and we're only on July 6th. Like I think a lot of teams looked at what they did and said, uh-oh, they were already a problem and now they're going to be even more of a problem. You know, Sod and Smith, they took team friendly deals. I heard the market for Sodden in particular was pretty good. And he came back because he liked it. So this team's going to be a handful. They're going to be a problem for everybody else.

Yeah. Ran out of gas against Edmonton and just didn't quite look themselves in that series, but reloaded and very likely. I have to tell you, so one of the things I heard actually was those were some pretty harsh meetings during and after that series. They were disappointed. I think everybody was disappointed. Not that necessarily they lost, but they got manhandled. And I think the management was mad.

I think the coaching staff was mad. I think the players were mad. And I heard it was B-L-U-N-T Blunt. And I think there was some understanding that some of those guys were really beaten up. But I think everybody knew how everybody felt about the way they got dominated by the Oilers. We'll be motivating for them. All right. That was The Final thought brought to you by GMC. Elliot, we've reached the end.

Final podcast of the season. Any last words? After all of that. You know, I want to say thanks to both you guys. I know that I'm not always the easiest person to deal with. I know that I'm always late on the feeds, like you guys will be sitting there for 10 minutes before I show up. And a lot of things happen at my whim. And I know I'm very demanding and I expect a lot. And I'll call Dom in particular and I'll say,

Dom, I didn't like the way this sounds. Fix this or send me this. I wanna check this and I know I can be very demanding, but I wanna say I appreciate it on both of you. You know, Dom, you came in a couple of years ago. You had huge shoes to fill. You've done a great job. Kyle, you came in under very challenging circumstances this fill, you've done a great job. Kyle, you came in under very

challenging circumstances this year and you've done a great job and you're huge parts of what we do. And this podcast wouldn't be what it is without both of you. And I don't like to sound mushy, but I do appreciate it a lot. A lot more than I say, I would say. do appreciate it a lot. A lot more than I say, I would say. We know where our bread is buttered on this podcast, that is for sure, Elliot, but it's been a wonderful experience. It's been, as you say, demanding, A, just the standard that you and Dom have set here and as you touched on off the hop of this podcast, that the audience have set here, but I love it and it brings the best out of you when you're in that environment and you wanna succeed.

So I appreciate everybody's patience and understanding as I've tried to figure this out and there's still so much learning to do, but it's been a lot of fun. So thank you, Elliot. Thank you, Dom. Thank you to the audience. Dom, you wanna say anything?

Only to say thank you to both of you. It's a pleasure to work with you both. I really enjoyed my time on 32 Thoughts and I can't wait until late August, early September when we come back and do this whole thing all over again. Well, it'll be like this year. Both of you guys will hate me by November. Yeah.

Can't wait. Elliot, October, October. Yeah, don't give yourself too much credit. OK, the only thing worse than an extra long podcast is an extra long goodbye. So yes, have a great summer, everybody. Barring any necessary emergency pods along the way. We will talk to you again sometime in August, but enjoy the downtime away from the rink.

Surely we will all be back here before we know it. Take care, everyone.