32 Thoughts: The Podcast - The Trade Deadline Special

Episode Date: March 7, 2026

In this episode of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman react to the NHL trade deadline, starting with Nazem Kadri heading to Colorado and MacKenzie Weegar landing in Utah. They dig into the trades around the league, including fierce internal discussions in St. Louis during the Colton Parayko situation and frustration from some teams over the growing number of no-trade clauses (11:30). John Carlson trade reaction (21:30). The guys also break down how the deadline unfolded for Toronto as the organization looks to show Auston Matthews a clear plan forward (31:30), Buffalo’s activity (41:00), Carolina’s approach (44:00), and why Pittsburgh and Ottawa couldn’t meet the price for Robert Thomas (46:27). They also touch on Philadelphia’s attempt to swing big (52:38), and how the Rangers handled Vincent Trocheck discussions (53:50). Elliotte talks about Edmonton's moves (55:47) and Vancouver’s difficult position heading into the stretch run (1:03:07) . The Final Thought focuses on Elliotte’s memorable wardrobe choice during the deadline show. Kyle and Elliotte answer listener questions in the Thoughtline (1:08:45).  Today we highlight self-taught 23-year-old Canadian born singer, writer, and producer BAD CHILD and his song WHITE KNIGHT. Check his music here. Listen to all the 32 Thoughts music here. Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail. This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates

No more double retention. Double retention hurt. It hurt. LTIR help that you can get all the way through. There's a salary cap implemented now in the playoffs. I didn't get the sense that hurt. No more fun. The enemy of fun.

Gary Bettman and Bill Daley, the enemies of fun. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast, presented by the Toyota BZ. Go All Electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local dealer today. It is 32 thoughts after dark, Elliot Friedman and Dom Shemati. It's a little after 7 p.m. Eastern time. We are four hours removed from the trade deadline. All of that coming to an end, Elliot. We were all day in studio.

And now we gather to go through and rehash and try to remember everything that we just lived through over the last couple of days. I said on this podcast a year ago, I will never forget where I was sitting. and the feelings of shock and awe last year next to you when the Marshand of Florida news broke. It was similar here on Friday of about an hour after the deadline had passed, and the news became official that Nazim Kadri was going back to Colorado. The deal we thought had fallen apart that was not going to happen. Cadry is an avalanche again. the place he won a Stanley Cup in

2022. So why don't we start there, Elliot, the biggest trade of the day. How did Colorado and Calgary make this happen in the end? Let's take you back one day, 24 hours, to Thursday.

The Mapleese trade Nick Waugh to the avalanche for a first round pick and a fifth round pick. Later that day, I heard that before the Avalanche pivoted to Wa. There had been a long conversation about Cadry.

And I heard the flames and Colorado went far down the way. I heard the framework of a deal was there and included the picks that later went for Waugh. I heard that they'd agreed on retention. And the number I actually heard was 15, not 20. and if it's wrong, somebody will tell me. Twenty was the number they ended up with on Friday, but the percentage I heard on Thursday was 15.

And I heard that it was far down the road, and there was a time everybody believed it was going to happen. And then it didn't. On NHL Network, I referenced the great Dallas Cowboy running back, Emmett Smith. When you gave him the ball, inside the five, Kyle, it was a touchdown.

When the avalanche and the flames were talking about Nazim Codry on Thursday, they did not give the ball to Emmett Smith. It did not go over the goal line. It was not a touchdown. And what I heard was that there were very hard feelings. Everybody was mad. The avalanche were mad.

The flames were mad. Cadry was mad. everybody was just upset that they put all this work in and it didn't happen. And I know some people blame Flames ownership. Like guys, like, I'll be honest, I don't know. All I know is this. There was, the ball was in the red zone. They did not get it over the line.

And everybody was frustrated. And everybody was blaming everybody else. Okay. Malcolm Butler out of nowhere. Malcolm Butler out of nowhere. They did not give the ball to Marshawn Lynch even better. A reference for the 21st century. They did not give the ball to Marshawn Lynch.

Cover all bases here. On Friday, they reconvened. They got the ball to the one yard line. And this time, whether you're my age and you pick Emmett Smith or you're Kyle's age and you pick Marshawn Lynch, this time the ball. got into the right hands and they punched it into the end zone. So I give everyone here a lot of credit because, you know, like I said, there were some real hard feelings on Thursday.

People were really upset. They were really frustrated. And this time they reconvened and they got it done. And it's just such a huge victory for the avalanche, one, because now in that division of doom, like they're coming down the middle. with Nathan McKinnon, Brock Nelson and Nazim Caudry. Yikes. And they've still got Ross Colton and they've still got Jack Drury.

Like they have, like centers are going to have to play on the wing. Like it's, like it's an awesome lineup. Like I don't want to insult anyone like Victor Olison, but you're making that deal a hundred times out of a hundred because the best players on your roster are still there. So it's a big win for Colorado. But I'll tell you this. Like the flames deserve a lot of credit here too.

Like whenever I would talk to anybody in Calgary about the last couple of years, they would talk about what great pros their veterans were. They always talk about Blake Coleman, great pro. And they always talk about Cadre, great pro. Like, they were worried about him. Whenever they would lose too many in a row, they would worry that, you know, Cadre would get frustrated. He wants to be on a winner.

And do you like losing? No. sucks, but he never was a bad influence around the room. He was great with their young players and his attitude remained positive. But it was time for him. And the thing about this is, I think I mentioned, I mentioned this last pod, he didn't like hearing that he wanted out because wanting out has a negative imagery. And he kind of wanted the flames to be painted on the right like you just wanted to say like I have nothing against Calgary I have nothing against the flames we're just not winning we're in a rebuild I I'm too old for a rebuild I want to try again

and the other thing too about Cadry is earlier in the year when they did his 1,000th game he felt that they went above and beyond to celebrate it for him like he was really proud and thankful of how the flame celebrated that day so he wanted the organization to be protected and I think what the flames did was they said, look, this is a guy who's been a good soldier for us, who has been a good mentor, he hasn't complained, and we're going to do this, and we're going to reconvene, we're going to get it done. And you know what? I think teams, you always hope, like I believe in karma, Kyle, I believe in good karma.

You treat people well, and the right things work out for you. And I think the flames are like, we're going to pay it forward. we're going to get the good karma, we're going to get this done, we're going to put this ball over the line, and hopefully it will get paid back in the future, because they did right by him. Cadbury's going to tell everybody the flames did right by me, they sent him back to Calgary. And, you know, it's everybody wins here. You know, the flames get more lottery tickets. You know, I don't know a lot about current.

I don't know a lot about prospects, but some people spoke really well to me, about Curran. It's funny, the guy they traded for from Utah, chestnut, and that's what Markese told me.

Yes. His last name in Italian Castania is chestnut. I heard, like, it was funny, I was told about this guy, like literally days before the trade,

like just total fluke about how he was debating whether or not he was going to sign in Utah because it might be a longer path for him to make it, but he's a good player. And all of a sudden he ends up in Calgary, and there might be more opportunity for them.

Plus the flames, like people, like I said, people who know the drafts better than I do. They're like, the flames have done really well with their drafting, considering they don't draft at the top. They have good prospects. So they get themselves more lottery tickets, and it's a win, win, win. Avalanche get what they want,

flames get what they want, and Cadry gets what he want. I heard the Avalanche players when it got us. they were ecstatic. I heard that those guys were like over the moon. They were so excited when they heard that Cadbury was coming back. So, you know, so let's talk about Calgary 2. Like guys, this is going to be a total stream of consciousness podcast.

My brain is mush. I have no idea what I'm talking about. This is when you're at your best. Yes. So just keep. They traded Weigar 2. and they traded him to Utah and I've told the story a couple of times now

but again they get three second round picks and two of them could be right near the end of the first round round particularly the Ranger one and they trade Uyghur and the Uyghur one to me kind of came out of nowhere but you know I've told the story a couple times now it was right after the Peraco thing happened

where he turned down a trade. Jason Dickinson, too, although it didn't get as much attention, he had to waive his no trade before he could go to Edmonton. The Connor Murphy one came out after he already did, but people around the league were freaking out about this. They were really mad. And I had an executive call me as I was driving somewhere Wednesday, and he gave it to me for 10 minutes.

And this is a guy I get along with pretty well. And he basically said, like, we get along, right? I go, yeah, pretty well, good professional relationship. He said, well, I'm going to give it to you now because I'm really frustrated. And I don't know if anything can be done about this, but there were people who were furious that, you know, Perrako was put in that position and Uyghur was put in that position. And even like Braden Chan on Friday, the trade of the Islanders, that one I didn't report until I knew he was going to wave. and but people were angry about this and they're talked about using it as a pressure tactic and what should happen. All I can say is the one that I was involved with was the Uyghur one.

That wasn't the flames or the mammoth trying to put pressure on Uyghur. It was completely different. I understand why people think that, but it's not, it's not what happened. You know, Kelly Rudy is a hardcore guy. He believes that if you have a no trade clause, shouldn't even be allowed to be asked that, no, you can't even ask a guy. I don't like that. Things change.

Life changes. Situations change. But, and I don't have a problem with no trade clauses. If you sign a contract with someone, it's on both of you to live up to the deal. You signed it in good faith. I do think in the next CBA, I do think the league will go after them on some level. The one thing I heard on Friday after I was done, Kyle, was that I think there were some teams that said to Betman,

as they were preparing to do this negotiation, can we do something about the number of no trade clauses? And obviously, it didn't happen. Clearly, Betman and Daly didn't think it was a big enough deal to fight for this time, but that doesn't mean it won't be something somewhere down the road. But I've heard there are teams who want to go after them. Now, personally, my feeling is you negotiate what you negotiate, but maybe they will be limited or changed in some way. I mean, God only knows.

We can all be hit by buses tomorrow. But I do think it's a thing among the teams. Like, can we limit these somehow? Well, they just don't offer them, I suppose. But you know what? Like, you heard what Kevin said. Kevin said he took, he, he, he, his A. AV went down a couple hundred thousand.

dollars because that's what you value the no trade clause has. Like they're not, it's not always, it's not always that, oh, you get, some guys get everything because they have so much leverage, but other guys, it's like, I'll take a little bit less, but I'll take the no trade clause. Like it's in lieu of money. Yeah, yeah, right. But I'm just saying, like, to your point, all part of negotiating in good faith, like, no one's forcing the teams to hand them out.

I said it comes down to ultimately what's most important to it. Sometimes, Kyle, you have to stop people from themselves. Yeah, yeah. I will say on a lighthearted note, Weiger told a great story when he was on with David Amber on the panel on our show on Friday that I guess just the day before he was driving home from the rink and he called his wife and jokingly he says, look, we've got a decision to make here.

I got to ask to waive my no trade as a joke. And then the next day he's having that exact same phone call again going, no, this is serious this time. She may actually have a trade to Utah. How many times in a road do you think he can do this joke? Yeah, that's right. Right. Yeah, it's getting old.

You need to get some new material. He's saying, I'm not looking for a laugh this time. I need an answer. Speaking of bad jokes, like one of my guys in the league, he sent me when it was really boring on Friday. And this guy, his intel is ACEs. When I hear something from him, it's really good. He sent me a text.

He goes, Matthews to San Jose, question mark. I almost had a heart attack. I called him. And he's like, I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. I'm like, don't do that. It's not funny. It was funny, but it's not funny.

Yeah. Not today. Not today. Of all days, not today. But, you know, like I was watching Armstrong and he was really mad about it. Look, I don't know who the source was for other people. I don't like guessing sources. I don't think it's a good thing.

I don't like when people guess my sources. So I don't really like guessing other sources. but like I heard some of those St. Louis conversations were fierce. Internally? Yes. Just fierce about like between like Armstrong player agent. I like I heard it was it was really something. Really something.

And I think there were other like I think there were other. like I think there were other trades either blocked or some players said you don't even bother talking to that team that's interested. I won't go there. Like I heard it was really something. Wow. And and you know what? Like it's if he disagrees with me, he'll tell me. But I, it's pretty clear to me watching from outside that the blues thought some heavy lifting had to be done.

and Doug Armstrong was like, I'm going to do this. So it happens on my watch. And Alex Steen doesn't have to do it. Okay. So almost trying to set them up with as clean of a slate as possible? Yeah, exactly. Interesting.

I heard some of these conversations were ferocious. I can only imagine, especially when you consider everyone's heightened emotions of this week already. and then something like that happens. Like this is the ultimate week, isn't? Like, I, not that I am connected in any way, but you have heard stories from other GMs or executives. Like, this is the ultimate week of on the phone

and your MF and your colleague that's the GM somewhere else about a trade falling apart and bleep this and bleep you. And then, you know, the trade deadline passes and then it's callback again going, I'm sorry, man, I didn't really mean that. Sorry, just emotions are running high. Like, this is the week for that for everybody on edge. and a little thing can become a big thing,

but that was a big thing with Colton Pereco and Buffalo, it ends up not happening. So the Blues, though, I mean, they were, they did end up sell in some pieces. It wasn't Colton Pereco, wasn't Jordan Bennington, wasn't Robert Thomas, not Jordan Cairo, but a couple of notables. Their captain, of course, Braden Shen.

I feel that's a name that's kind of been out there around this time of year, a few times, the last couple of seasons out of it. Well, that's one thing I wonder, Kyle. We'll hear what Chen has to say. Boy, what a story that they were staying with the same hotel as the Islanders. Different meal room. That's it.

It's all changes. But, you know, like, I think at some point in time, you know, like last year, I think they went to them. How do you feel? Like, you sit there after two years in a row and, you know, sometimes you have to sit back and say, boy, I can see the writing on the wall. Like Tyler Myers did that. Myers bent it. He wasn't as crazy about Detroit for family reasons, but he was okay with Dallas. And he, but he knew, like, Tyler Myers had to know, like, it was the end.

If he didn't do it now, they were doing it next year when he had less control. So you might as well just do it, right? And I wonder if that's one of the things that Braden Shan realized. Like, these guys have tried to trade me two years in a row. It's just time to go. And I'll say this, like, I think, I call this the Schaefer effect. A year ago, do you think Braden Shanna's waving to go to the Islanders?

No, I don't think many would be. But this kid's Schaefer, and the other players there deserve a lot of credit too because they really rallied around them. But Schaefer and the effect he's had on that organization has completely changed the way they're seen. And again, like I said, the other guys deserve credit because they've, they've helped lift them and they've, there's no jealousy there. Like it's,

he's a rock star and it's all very clear that they're happy to support them and, and be a team. Like, that's a team. Um, but, you know, credit to New York there.

It's, that's a team that now Shem will say, you know what? I'll do it because they're a raising team. Falk, I think Eiserman came down to the end. I heard Eisman had a lot. a ball's in the air, a lot going on.

Not that he'll ever tell us what they were, but I think he had a lot of things in the air. But the one thing I am pretty sure about is at the end, he had a choice, Ristelainen or Falk and he took Falk. And, you know, we knew he was trying on Myers. I know we talked about Ekman Larson, but I think it came down to Ristelian

Falk, he took Falk, but, you know, the one thing you can say about however Armstrong got there with the Blues, all of a sudden and they have a lot of picks. They've got more first rounders. They had a Colorado first rounder. They had a Detroit first rounder. The Colorado one came from the Islanders.

Like, you know, maybe he didn't strip it down as much as he thought he might. But he did leave Steen some lottery tickets. Just took some scorched earth to get there. And the CIA at the end. We're going through your phones. Yes. That's wild. Yeah.

So he recruits some assets. I mean, Calgary mentioned it. So since Craig Conroy's been on the job, he's brought in five first round picks and a couple more here this week with the deals there. So in a sudden and unrelated development, all St. Louis employees are downloading WhatsApp signal and telegram. Yeah, that's right. Delete, delete, delete, delete. That doesn't help you because they can tell, you know, so years ago, years ago, I'll tell you, I'll tell you. I'll tell you a story.

I reported something and I got a call from a GM the next day. And he said, I, there's two times I've been reminded how careful. you've got to be. And he said, you sent this email to this employee the other night. I'm going to go to this employee and tell them, I know about this. What are they going to say to me? And I don't remember what it was actually, but it was innocuous. It just turned out that I had reported something completely unrelated to an email I'd sent to someone else on the same team. And it just reminded me. Wow. Like, you've got to be so careful. Wow. Yeah, that was a lot, this was a long time ago. Yeah. That'll bring up the heart rate pretty quick. Yeah, but, you know, it just, it just reminds you, like, how careful you got to be.

Okay. Some of the things we've got to get through here over the last couple of days. Little after 1 a.m., you were still awake Friday morning. Barely, barely. But enough to report John Carlson, the, franchise leader among defensemen. I mean, only OVs played more games for the franchise, but games played among defensemen, goals, points, you name it, the Stanley Cup in

2018. Yeah. He's going to Anaheim now for a first and a third, final year of his deal. It was a big one for Anaheim as they're in a position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018. And on the flip side, as we saw

listening to both Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, of course, How shocked they were about all of this in Carlson going from Washington to Anaheim on Deadline Day. I was shocked, too. First of all, it led to a debate. So I'm 55 years old, Kyle. You are not. But some friends of mine who were all the same age called it, who really is the greatest defenseman in Washington Capitol's history. Because this generation, it would be Carlson by a mile. but my buddies who are all the same age felt the Rod Langway disrespect. And, you know, Rod Langway was traded to Washington by the capitals in 1982.

He played a decade there and he won two Norris trophies back to back in 83 and 84. and he was a big part of the capitals changing from the laughing stock of the National Hockey League to a team that was respectable. And as a matter of fact, some of my buddies reminded me that, you know, they used to lose the Flyers all the time in the playoffs. And they would, the reason the Flyers would get them off the ice by sending, because the Flyers had like 10 guys who could fight. and it was their job to all go fight with Langway and get them off the ice. It was a great strategy, actually. Anyway,

simpler times back then, is simpler times. Just go fight them. So I'm completely going off on a tangent here. Anyway, I really like John Carlson. I think we talked about it when I went to Washington to do the Tom Wilson piece. John Carlson, who does not like doing a lot of interviews,

made a point of changing his rehab schedule so that he could be available to talk to us. And he was like, I want to talk about Tom Wilson for the Olympic team. And like that's just a great teammate. He will gladly talk about anybody except himself. And he was a great capital. Clearly what happened here is that

the capitals kept on saying no. And Pat Verbeek is like, like a dog on a bone. And I think he just kept on making his offer better and better and better. And finally, they felt they couldn't say no anymore. Now, there's a lot of debate here about how this was handled. You know, it's fine. I had some interesting conversations about the fact that Carlson, being the

veteran he is, only had a 10-team no trade. And I had some people who said, it was crazy that he only had a 10-team, no-trade. and other people who say to me, no, when you're at the end of a long contract, an organization should prepare itself with escape routes. Because, and Carlson's played very well this year, but, you know, a lot of players, when they age, with a full no move clause, you can get really trapped with them. So I had an interesting debate with a lot of people about the fact that you only had 10 teams.

And then, of course, there's a debate about how, he found out in the middle of the night and did the capitals owe it to Carlson to say you know what you've got to know about this first even if it's a team that we can trade you to without permission and ultimately you know and it was Pierre LeBron who was the first guy to report that Carlson was sleeping and it was it was you know a bad look it was a bad look when I first saw it so I asked I said you know what I asked around

And I said, what happened here? And they said that they had a deal with Nick Dowd from Vegas the other night. It was late. They said, let's just do it tomorrow. And it got out. And, you know, Nick Dowd got kind of hung out to dry because it wasn't official. And they hadn't told them. And all of a sudden, it's all over social media.

And even though it was late at night, they felt that they didn't want to. to do that again. If it got out, they didn't want to do that to Carlson. So they tried the opposite decision. Now, I think some people are going to like that. Some people aren't going to like that. And I totally understand it. And like just as a human being watching it, I wish that hadn't happened to Carlson. Like I said, he's a franchise stalwart. He deserves better. But that deal, they could not turn that down. They could not turn down that trade. Pat Verbeek was like, nope, I'm getting this guy, and I'm going to make it so I get this guy. And I think he's going to be a great fit, a great fit in Anaheim.

And, you know, I think he'll be rejuvenated there and he'll be excited there. I just don't think the capitals could turn that down. But it's the end of an era there. And Ovechkin saw it and Wilson saw it. And those guys were devastated. It was hard for them. Tom Goletti, who's a great reporter, talked about how hard it was to see Dowd go.

It was worse. But, you know, it's very clear to me that the Capitals as an organization, they're like, we need this for the Post-Ovetkin era. They might miss the playoffs this year. We need this. And the Caps as a team are excellent when it comes to drafting. They are consistently good at finding players. And, you know, the one thing I really do believe, Kyle, is that sometimes you have to make hard decisions when you're at the end of an arc where they are now.

But where I think it is now, it's on ownership and the organization to tell John Carlson, you might be mad at us now and we understand it. But when you retire and even this summer, if you want to come back, you're always going to be welcome here. no matter how it goes from here to there, you're an all-time capital, making his number retired, possible. You won a Stanley Cup with us. You're one of the greatest players in our franchise history. And no matter how mad you are at us right now,

you're going to be taken care of when all this is over. And, you know, there is a path to any reconciliation that might need to get done. Now, I don't know how close they weren't or not close they were on an extension. There's some differing points here. I haven't heard what Carlson has to say and I want to wait to it. So I understand how there could be some hard feelings. But it's on the capitals to tell him and the people around them,

when it's over, we're going to take care of you. And I have no doubt they will do that. None. It's already an exciting battle. Back end for Anaheim as is. And now John Carlson in the fold. It's an exciting time to be a Ducks fan. There's no question.

No question. It may just be for this year as a pure rental. Maybe this is a team that still has a lot of maturing to do with how much youth they have in their lineup. But I totally understand from Pat Verbe's perspective going. There's been a lot of years here now that have suddenly stacked up. Yeah. We weren't even really any close.

And we've talked about it, what his goal was for the organization coming into this year. And that move for John Carlson, though you give up some precious assets to do it, they had a lot to work with, gets the one step closer to being back in the postseason again. They could win the division. Totally. Like the division is quite open. And you know what? I think Verbeek is a former player. He understands that the players determine what.

you do, right? And the Anaheim players this year have shown him they deserve help. Totally. Totally. So I am in full support of this. Okay. A few other things. Kent Hughes serves us all red meat. Hey, I could have done something big. We ran out of time. Maybe we'll do it in the summer. Huh? Get ready for a spring of guessing. Couldn't believe that. It's like it's, it's, You know what someone sent me a text? They said, he's taunting you. I go, me, he goes, yeah, you personally, he's taunting you. He is daring you to figure this out.

It's funny. Like, you finally get to the end of the day and you're like, holy smokes, you're sorting through everything that just kind of came in last minute. Now you're hearing from the different GMs and let's go to Brad Trilliving. Let's go to Kevin Shevoldeoff, to Steve Stales. Let's go to Ken Hughes. And you're like, almost kind of you're half listening as you're looking through some other stuff. And it's like, wait a sec.

did he really just say that? He was close to something and just ran out of time and it could be revisited? Amazing. He's taunting us. He's, uh, yeah, well, not your work cut out for you for headlines on Saturday. Yeah.

Someone said to me, there's a couple out here. Like there were a couple that were left on the cutting room floor. They didn't, um, you know, our no trade conversation, like those St. Louis ones, he said those weren't the only ones that there were a bunch of blocks. there were. He says, you're going to find them all, but there were a bunch of them. So that's what I wondered, as we saw, and certainly for the first three quarters of the day, how many were lamenting, what a boring trade deadline, not a lot going on. You mentioned, and we talked about it on the show, how many players in the league now

have some type of trade protection compared to years past, how much of a factor that is. But also, Elliot, like, we kind of all saw this coming, the new parameters this year. No more double retention. Double retention hurt. It hurt. LTIR help that you can get all the way through. There's a salary cap implemented now in the playoffs. I didn't get the sense that hurt.

No more fun. The enemy of fun, Gary Bettman and Bill Daley, the enemies of fun. I don't know that the playoff cap, I didn't hear as much complaints about the playoff camp. I think some teams were aware of it. Like the one thing I think it's going to happen in the playoffs is all the, all the, like, the less, the lower paid third goalies, they're going to play.

They're going to dress. Like basically your backup is going to, especially if your backup makes more money, if he's not starting, they could not dress. Now, I'll believe that in some cases when I see it, but I did have teams tell me you will see situations

where your starter plays and your backup, oh, he's making, I don't know, whatever million. if you're close to that playoff cap, your number two guy doesn't play and your number three guy dresses. And then if someone,

if your first guy gets hurt, well, maybe you have to write off the game for one night, but you play your number two guy later. So that, but the double retention absolutely hurt. That, that hurt.

That really hurt. Okay. All right. Some other things. Let's take a look. Let's go through my list of stuff here. Probably do a little Toronto here. Yeah.

So Toronto, well, first of all, is there anything you want to say about them first? Well, I was thinking about this over the last couple of days is clearly there was a lot of pressure to maximize the value of who we all were kind of looking at that were likely to be moved. A couple of them were and Bobby McMahon and Scott Lawton and Nick Waugh, of course, the day previous to Colorado. know, but that was their best move.

Like the Y deal was their was their best trade. Yeah. And I have to say, like personally, so last year I went through the whole process of selling a house for the first time. Right. And you learn pretty quick there. Doesn't matter how much I think the house is worth. It doesn't matter how much the government may say, this is what your home is valued at. What it comes down to is your home is ultimately.

worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And depending on what the market is doing at any given moment, that answer can change from time to time. So I can totally understand it's been an absolutely god-awful, frustrating, disappointing year from a Toronto perspective, really from the outset. And now you get to the trade deadline and fans are looking at going, wait, we gave up this for Scott Lott last year and now we're only

getting a conditional third round pick. Maybe it becomes a second in dealing them to L.A. and you go down the list from there. But the market, where it was at this year, different than the parameters a year ago. And that has to be considered too on top of everything else that goes into it. But as Brad Tratter Living said,

after the deadline passed and taking questions from the media, wasn't interested in doing a full autopsy in the year, just quite yet, Elliot. They've got 19 games to go, but his line, the failures here, start with me. Roster construction issues among them. Well, I think you have to say that if you're the person in charge. You know, when you're in that position, you get paid the big bucks, you get the big title. That's life. It's on, it's on you. You can't throw other people under the bus. So I wouldn't expect anything differently from anybody in that position. Um, you know, this has been a really disappointing year for them, as you said.

I think this whole, like, I don't think math, there was a lot of noise about Matthews this week. I think there was a zero point zero chance of him getting traded. And, but I do think at some point in time in the off season, there's going to be a conversation with him about what they're thinking. And, you know what, to be honest, I don't really want to debate about what happened with, with McMahon or Lawton or anything like that, I want to talk about Nyes. And because I think this is important. So when I wrote the blog on Thursday night,

our editor Rory Boylands, like I'm going to put a picture of Nyes on the article. I was like, okay, you know, you're, you, I don't care about this stuff. I'm like, you're the editor, you put whatever picture you want there. Little did I realize that that picture of Matthew Nyes, the night before the trade deadline was going to break our website,

that it could not handle all of the traffic. And it wasn't from anything I wrote. It was just the picture. Good looking man breaks internet. That's basically what happened. But I think the whole thing about Nyes, it's not about him. It's about the situation of the team. they feel that they don't have enough look like I think everybody watched it too they don't have enough

prospects they don't have enough draft picks they took their shot they tried it they didn't win well now sooner or later keep putting things on credit the bill comes due and that's where we are now the bill is coming due and the maybelies I think when it comes to presenting what this thing is going to look like to Matthews for years to come, they need assets. And there is no player on their roster who can bring them more assets that they're able to move right now with clauses and everything than nice. And that's why I think his name was out there. Because the whole thing about are we shopping? I'm not, it's stupid. Okay. Everybody knew what the school. was here. You want to talk to Toronto with Matthew Nyes. You better bring a good list.

Okay? Not a bad list, a good list. And so it's not about Nyes at all as a player. He's a great player and he's had a rough year. He's been hurt. Whatever. He'll be back. He'll be fine. He's really good. And he's going to be a great player for years to come. It was about the situation there. in. And, you know, we'll see. We'll see where it goes. We'll see what happens. But that's what this is about is the Maple Leafs being in the situation they're in and telling their core players, you know, not only Matthews, but their other core players, guys, this is how we're going to build it back up. Look, they added a first and a fifth for Wa. They added a second and fourth for McMahon. They had a third for Lotton. Now they've got some lottery tickets.

How else can they get lottery tickets? I think they're asking a first and a second for Ekman Larson. I don't think it ever got close. I think they were willing to consider a lot of things that never got close. And, but they were out there. And it's all about how can we create assets. How can we build our base back up? And that is the only. reason that Nye's name got out there because they needed to know what they could potentially do. That's it. That's that whole story there. Well, I mean, it's certainly got a reaction. All you needed was a photo and said, wait, hold on a sec. Nyes, trade deadline. What could possibly be going on here? Build up the servers, Rory. Yes, Rory. I mean, let's just go through

some other teams quickly. Buffalo, you know, people could look at it and say, oh, they tried to get Thomas, they didn't get them. They tried to get Paraguayla, they didn't get them. Oh, poor Buffalo. First of all, I don't think that's the way Kekeleinen thinks. I think Kekeleinen's like, okay, this didn't work onto the next thing. I actually think the way they've gone where they've been on a tear,

I actually, I really liked what they did. They're like, okay, we tried to swim in the deep water. Didn't work. Let's see what else we can do. And they built up around. Like I think Sam Carrick, perfect for them. I think, like Stanley and Shen, perfect depth for them. And so all their players who've been on a tear, they're all there.

They're all there. Like, I'm sure for a couple of days, guys were really nervous. But right now they can look at it and say, look around, say, we're all here. And we've got some guys. on the edges that make us a little deeper and a little better. Like, I think people could look at this for Buffalo and say, oh, it's an L. They didn't get what they want to get. No, I don't see it that way at all.

I still see it's a W because they're the same team that's been red hot and they're a little bit deeper. I have to tell you, you know, I like the gamble for Winnipeg on Roseanne. Like, that's the kind of gamble that the Jets should be taking is a player. that you know Buffalo also got Tanner Pearson too like if Tanner Pearson scores one big goal in the playoffs that's worth everything that you go out to get them you're you're putting you're bringing him there because you're thinking we might need a guy in the playoffs in a pinch who can help us and if Tanner Pearson scores you one goal that deal is more than worth it but you know, I think

Rosean is the kind of guy who Winnipeg should be gambling on. A young player who's ready to play in the NHL. Like the Jets, I think, really feel that this was a fluke bad year and they have a chance to recalibrate and be better.

That's the kind of guy they should be gambling on. I'll tell you this. So another guy who's an HLGM, he told me the rumor was he said that if that St. Louis traded gone through, Rochester's team would have been

completely decimated. I go, really? He goes, yeah. All their best players would have been in St. Louis. All of them. He says, he said, they were probably going to have to trade for like HL vets, maybe from St. Louis in the deal, just so they could fill out their roster.

No kidding. Yeah. They're not exempt from this time of year either. Those playing in the American League. That's pretty good. All right. So Carolina Elliott, pretty quiet, like Montreal. And Rod Rindamore just gave a quote here on Friday night to Hannah Yates, who is the Rinkside host on the Hurricanes television broadcasts.

And in part, the quote includes, I know there's a lot of disappointment. I'm going to be honest. The guys were hoping to see us make a splash. It's tough. We're one of the best teams in the league right now. teams are making deals to try to catch us and to try to catch the teams that are ahead of them, and that is us.

Feel like we've been here before with Carolina, where things haven't gone as the way they've hoped at the deadline, and you wonder and fear at some point in the playoffs, does that ultimately come back to bite them? That's a tough quote. emotional guy don't think it's for lack of trying they definitely had their hands in a lot of things and it's interesting

part of me wonders and this is just my opinion I haven't asked anybody there last year was so tumultuous for them with the rantin and stuff Kyle yeah sometimes I wonder to say let's try something

if we have to go quieter, if we have to do something different, is that going to be better for us? But again, I don't think it was for lack of trying. Okay. Brandon Moore did also include, you know, we love the group we have. As you know, he's always going to be, he's always going to be in the fight with his guys.

But that was, that's pretty raw and pretty real. But you know with him, you ask him a question, you're not getting phony. No, and thank goodness for that. And thank goodness for that. Never take issue with that. It was funny thing was Futa goes, maybe Bobrovsky and Carolina.

And then the next day he's like, no, that's not happening. He got set straight on that one. Futa was a frequent visitor of our desks there today. Oh, yeah. He wanted to come tell you a whole bunch of things throughout our show. Yeah, he's a good man. I like Mike a lot.

Pittsburgh, I think they were in on Rob Thomas, but I just don't think the ask they were willing to do. I think Pittsburgh also kind of looked around the fringes a bit. I kind of wondered if they were in on Bluger, like that kind of a player. But I heard they took a swing at Rob Thomas, didn't like the price backed away. And also on Pittsburgh, Elliot,

as we have seen throughout of Gennie Malkin's career, every now and then, his wires can quirk. cross and what follows is oftentimes inexplicable. We saw that Thursday night. He's got tangled up with Rasmus Dahlin and the slash right near his chin and neck area. Anyway, he's paying a pretty severe price for it. Well, I just don't know how you could argue against the suspension. Yeah, five days.

I understand he got mad and I understand he got frustrated, but he took a swing with a stick and hit Dalline in the head. I mean, it's a careless play. And the toughest thing, you know, it's interesting watching Crosby, he practiced on Friday, right? And I don't know that he's going to play this weekend, but he looked not bad. And I could see Crosby just saying, oh, boy, this is going to be bad. How quickly can I get back? I mean, Pittsburgh, without the two of them, that's a problem. But, you know, like, Malkin's a Hall of Famer, but he's got to know better.

He can't do that. He just cannot do that. that, especially now, like, they need him. Can't do that. It's a bad mistake. By the way, someone said to me, you got to look at the goal to interference from Pittsburgh's game the other night. I just, I didn't see it. I missed it and everything.

Did Duba's talk about it for like five minutes? Yeah, it was like over four minutes. And I think, I mean, echoed, I'm sure a lot of teams are feeling, but he cited, like brought up examples from other games just recently, not even the totality of this year. plays that he thought were identical or similar enough to the one in question in his game the other night. Some were allowed a goal. Some were called back. And basically, you know, understanding as he put out, or basically, as he put it, you know,

you've got a video team that's working their bag off, trying to get an understanding of what the standard is all season. And it's, again, a collective shrug of not sure, what's coming here. Goes back to what we talked about with how they called it over the Olympics. Yeah. And trying to take some of the gray area out. You know what?

I'll have to look at it and see what he has to say. Jeez. Sounds like I put a lot of effort into that. Normally the only thing he puts that much effort into is watching Manchester City. Oh. I have to check this out. Okay. Post-trade deadline homework.

Yeah. We talked about the Islanders. Pajot got an extension too. all of their extremely online fans, and I say that as a compliment, not a demerit, have been trying to trade Peugeot for months, and Dars gave him an extension.

You know, we talked about Montreal. Boston, I think, took a shot at Trocheck, too. You know, Don Swinney had tipped his hand earlier in the week. He said, we went for it for so many years. We've got to build back up. I think Boston was in on Trocheck. Columbus got Garland. I heard that one got really hot, really fast.

Garland's agent, I heard really got involved and pushed for that one and got it done. And Vancouver was smart. He has a no trade July 1st. Do it while you have control. But I heard that one heated up really fast. It went from zero to 60, like a Ferrari, that one I heard. It was not there and then it was there. All right.

How about Minnesota? I mean, you mentioned teams doing players as solid. The Felino Brothers unite. Yeah, you know, Minnesota did some interesting thing around the edge is the Felino Brothers, which I think is a great story. That's, you know, that's a big W. Again, like the Blackhawks do him a favor. Like all these teams are going for the karma points, right?

Like sometimes we all need good karma. You know, the Blackhawks, you know, the players who were left behind didn't like it very much. but, you know, Connor Murphy sent to a better situation. Jason Dickinson sent to a better situation. Nick Falino sent to a good situation. Minnesota did Jeff Petrie, too. They did Bobby Brink. You know, I really, I really liked Bobby.

I liked that Bobby Brink pickup. And I saw some people criticizing Bill Guerin for saying, you know, this isn't a trip home, you know, let other people get tickets. some people had a problem with that I understand exactly what he's trying to say some young players go home and they get distracted that's Bill Garron saying this is a big year for us

can't have you distracted you know don't worry about people I totally understood what Garan was saying there made perfect sense to me obviously Garin tried for Trocheck too didn't get him I heard they kicked around Charlie Coil a bit I don't think he was ever seriously available.

You know, obviously they got a bit of a hole there. Quinn Hughes covers up a lot of, he's like Oxy10, covers up a lot of acne. They'll have to make it, a lot of blemishes. They'll have to make it work. They do have a hole there, but, you know, they'll, like I said, Quinn Hughes solves a lot of problems. Ottawa, I suspect Ottawa was in on Rob Thomas as well.

I would think that they were around that. There was a lot of reports about Weeger. I had mixed responses to how far it went with Weger in Ottawa. But Stales said he tried for some big things. I think Rob Thomas would have been one of them. We talked about Washington, Philly, I think Philly tried at least one big swing. I'm going to work on that a bit,

but I think they tried at least one. Toronto, New Jersey. Actually, I kind of wondered if there was a chance Dougie Hamilton would end up in Toronto with the Maple Leafs taking a sweetener to do it. Kind of talked about it in the radio in Toronto. That was one of the things I kind of wondered. You know, like I'll say this,

with the whole Matthew Nye's thing, one of the guys I wondered about was NAMich. Now, I don't think Nemich for Nyes, one for one makes any sense for Toronto, but I do think that that is the kind of thing that those two teams would have talked about. You know, the devils have players with no trade clauses, so I think it could have been a factor there.

But when I heard that they were looking for a forward for a D, Nemich for Nyes, at least the idea of that, made a lot of sense. And the Rangers trocheque, like, Panarin, they had to trade. He was at the end. They didn't want to lose him for nothing. You take what you can get.

I think Jury said a high bar for Trocheck, and he wasn't going below it. Like, one of the things I think that happens is on trade deadline day is teams, they kind of think that guys are going to panic at the end. If you get that reputation as a panicker, it never goes away. People are like, he'll panic, he'll panic,

outweigh them, he'll panic. Part of that thing, I think today what the Rangers was, we're going to show you that we're not going to, we got Trocheque for three more years, we're not going to panic. So we'll see where it goes. We talked about Colorado.

Dallas did exactly what I expected them to do. Not a surprise. Bunting, I think Bunting is, a perfect fit for them. I think Myers is a perfect fit for them. You know, I've talked about how I don't think they're going to jam up things around Robertson. Like, if you're Dallas, you have to expect that Robertson's going to ask for $12 million. That to me is their decision. At the end of the year, when the playoffs are over and they see how it goes, they've got to be asking themselves, are we paying this guy $12 million or theirabouts? But they weren't putting themselves in a position.

where they tied themselves into a salary cap pretzel. And that's exactly what they did. Vegas, you know, I like doubt for them. I like Cole Smith for them. I got to think Vegas tried to do more. I would love to know. Yeah, I would love to know if they tried Bittington. Maybe I never will.

But that to me seemed like such an obvious fit. Again, St. Louis was asking for a lot. I liked the moves that Golden Knights made around the margins. I suspect they're probably a little bit disappointed. They couldn't do more. We talked about Anaheim. You know, Edmonton, I never thought they were going for a goalie. I really liked the Dickinson fit.

I really like the Murphy fit. The most interesting thing to me about them is what Stan Bowman said. Stan Bowman just came back for the Olympics. Canada was the better team in the gold medal game, but the USA was the best team for minute one to the end of the Olympics. They were consistently the best team, which is why they deserve the goal, too. And the reason was that they had a group of players. Nobody's team accepted their roles better than the USA did,

which is why they were as good as they were for most of the tournament. I think Stan Bowman looks at that and he says, guys, that's what we have to be. More accepting of roles. Murphy's going to accept his role. Dickinson's going to accept his role. but they were two-way players who accepted their roles. I think that's what Bowman's going to sell the others. He's going to say, look, I just saw Team USA win because of this.

We're not like this. We have to be more like that. Everybody has to lift each other and know what their roles are. And I think that's going to be as much of his push as anything else. Utah, I love the Uyghur fit. As I wrote, I think I've heard there's been. attractions with Nick Schmaltz. I can't say 100% it's going to get done,

but what I do believe is it's much more likely than not. He won't hit the market. They tried on Thomas. They, um, I just think they felt St. Louis was, it was too much. It was, it was way too much. And I'll say this too.

I had a lot of people say really good things about Simashev, who I think the blues would have wanted in that package. Like I think we kind of, to know den y a way a way a chance to be and we kind of know aginla what he has a chance to be but i i haven't seen simashev much i had a lot of people tell me that if they were utah they'd be wary of trading him and i think that's one of the things that factored into not making that deal but i like i like wiger for them okay uh yeah he's gonna say team like nashville like they got rid of some bodies but in terms of the marquee names we're all wondering about

They all stay put. I don't have any sense that they ever asked Stamco's. I think they, I think O'Reilly, I don't know if we'll ever get the full story here. I think the Predators wanted to put O'Reilly out there. I think they really thought they could do it and do something well. That's another thing I have to look into. I have a sneaking suspicion about that.

But they made, Ralea promise, O'Reilly of promise, and he wanted them to stick to that promise. And they did at the end. But you know what? They made a good trade for McCarran. Like I just, I heard they were, there was a gap in Sal, in what they were asking and what the player wanted. They made, they got a second rounder for him.

They got a third rounder for Smith. I could see them, you know, they said at the end that they were happy to keep Paula. I'm sure they were a little disappointed. They couldn't move him, you know, because, you know, they probably could have gotten a decent pick for or two for him. But generally, I think the predators accomplished a chunk of what they wanted to do. Their younger players are now going to get a chance to play in a playoff race. I mean, the one thing is, you could tell when McCarran and Smith left that game, those guys were shocked. They, you know, I think the organization does what it thinks it's right.

When players are that close to the plus, they don't understand that you could wave the white flag. And those guys were really shocked. And they're not wired that way. The Cole Smith thing was wild. I guess he played one shift and he got on dressed and they're like, no, you can't do that. And he had to go back down. Like, that's just crazy. I've never seen that before.

You know, Seattle, I like McMan. for them. I think that's a really good pickup. Though, best wishes to John Foresland and all the broadcasters out there with the McMahon-McAnne duo. Oh, yeah, those will be tongue twisters. That's not easy. They signed Aberleadu an extension. Seattle decided to go for it. I like that. I think Seattle, that's another team, I think, took some swings that we might never find out. you know, like they, I think they took some big runs at guys.

We talked about Panarin. I think they did it again. Some other players didn't work out. But, you know, I like the fact that they're out there and they're taking their swings. I did hear during the day that there was a chance Bjork Strand could end up back there. Didn't happen. But, you know, again, Seattle, you know, we've talked about how they want to flex their muscle. and they're not afraid to try and do it right now.

San Jose, I heard they're around Ekman Larson. I mean, I'm really curious about what they're going to do defensively. Like they traded Lilligran. It's going to be fascinating what they do long-term defensively. Sherwood getting done. Like Sherwood got more than I thought. I thought he was going to get 25. He got, what, 28?

I was surprised about that, but, you know, it's clear those guys like them. Those players, they talked them up the night before he got the extension. That's another team, I suspect that there was more that they tried to do. Kings did Lawton, Matthew Joseph, guys who know DJ Smith really well. The Corey Perry thing went from extension to trade. By the way, I thought that Perry pickup for Tampa was fantastic. Like what a great, great pickup for them.

They're going through it a little bit right now, but he's still got it. He's still got it. Like, you know when the playoffs start, he's going to lead the league and annoyed opponents. Like, he's just going to, the worm will be out. It's spring. The worms come out in the spring, right?

It rains and the worms come out. Like, he's going to be perfect. But I do think the kings were like, we're not giving up too many assets. like when they they traded for a lot and they gave up a third that's maybe a second, but they got a second for Perry. Joseph was a free player. I just think after they did Panera and they were like,

you know what? We're three points out. No big swing unless it makes a ton of sense. We talked about Winnipeg. We talked about Nashville, Chicago. Pretty interesting. I think Bedard's going to be the captain. As soon as next year?

Yeah, I'll say this too. I think, again, in the off-season, I'm going to watch for them. I think they want to add. We've talked about St. Louis. We've talked about Calgary. And, you know, Vancouver, they made a couple of depth deals. I'm not surprised Keane wasn't traded. I heard that was a really tough market.

You know, we talked about the Garland deal. I just think you go, you finish 32nd, and you hope for some lottery luck, and you get the best pick you can. You know, I'll say this, if I'm the Canucks, what they did and what they didn't do, and I think they had to do the garland. If I was Rutherford or Alvina or Adam Foote, I would walk into those players,

especially the ones with term. The guys who don't have term, it's different. The guys with term, I'm going in and telling them, saying, guys, if you don't want to be here, the best thing you can do is play, 20 incredible games on the way out. And a lot of those guys, there just wasn't a good market for them.

There really wasn't. Garland had showed some spunk, so I think they could do it. But a lot of those guys, there just wasn't a market. And the only way you can change your market is by going on hard and convincing someone, yeah, that's the player we're going to get. I do think they considered Kotkinemi. I'd heard that was the best chance for him to get traded was there, but ultimately they decided not to do it.

We'll see. But if I, like, that's the one thing. There's two things for Vancouver now. Get the highest pick you can and tell your guys, look, if you're unhappy with the losing and you want out, play better. Okay, with that, let's get to the final thought, which is presented by the Toyota BZ, go all electric and a winter ready Toyota BZ at your local

dealer today. So Elliot, one of the, I'll call it a luxury because I am not there often, one of the luxuries of working in studio. You walk in, you've got the makeup area, there's the green rooms on one side of the hallway, and then there is wardrobe. Rack upon rack upon rack of suit and suit and suit and a bunch of ties and shirts and everything you could possibly want for looking sharp on air. And yet with the world your oyster, Elliot describe to our listeners what your wardrobe was

on trade deadline day on Friday. So I wanted to wear the same jacket I wore last year because it was good luck, which I did. It makes me look huge though.

Every time I see... It's just because it's done. It's the double-breasted, right? I'm not the sky. guineas guy in the world, but I have lost a lot of weight. And that jacket makes me look enormous, I have to say. Might need to get it tailored a bit. But that's funny that's that you did that on purpose, because that was the first thing I thought of when I walked in, I thought, that's the jacket. He wore it last year. Yeah, it was good luck. I'm not a very superstitious guy, but I decided to go back with

that one. But what I wore was I wore a shirt tied that jacket and then I wore Lulu Lemons. And converse. Yeah, I like the sweatpants. Not like the nice like ABC. I can wear this with anything pants. Yeah, no, it was the sweatpants. Yeah. And Deb Berman, she saw me and she goes, really?

Deb Berman is our outstanding stylist, the MVP of Sportsnet, along with the makeup people, of course. And she said, are you serious? Really? And I'm like, Deb, come on today. like of all days. Like this is a grind day. Give me a break. She goes, they might see it.

I said, so, okay, remind me to tell another story after this. I said, who cares? Like, who cares if they see it? Then she looks at me, she goes, okay, I wouldn't, I wouldn't let you do it on hockey night. I go, I wouldn't ask to do it on hockey night.

Like, this is today. So that was my, like, you know, I have to say, Kyle, I've gotten to the point in my life where I just, I'm 55 years old, everybody knows what I look like. Can I be in better shape? Yes. Could I do certain things better? Yes.

But Kyle, this is the way I look. I'm not like a plastic surgery guy. I don't believe in any of that stuff. Like the way I look is going to be the way I look. So the gold medal game of the Olympics, I guess I had some hair sticking up and people are tweeting at me. they're like, are you for real? This is the gold medal game.

Like comb your hair. And I just don't care. I do not care. And so after the gold medal game, I'm going on Rosemary Barton show on CBC. And the producer comes down the line. It's not the regular producer because we have, there's a sports producer and she's got our own producers. And the guy is like, um, and the one producer says to me, uh, can you pat your hair down? and I'm like, no. And he goes, okay. Like, it's obviously he's not used to being told that.

I'm like, no, I'm not patting my hair down. And then after I was done, they hit. They're so difficult. Brian Speer, our regular hockey night producer who was producing the hockey, he gets on the inter-con, and he is laughing his head off. And I'm like, what? He goes, that just made my whole, I could hear that whole thing.

I just made my whole Olympics when that one producer told you to pat down your hair. And you were like, no, I'm not doing it. Like, I've just reached the point in my life. where I do not care anymore. People know what I look like. They know I'm like a four out of ten. We can all deal with this. Ed, I'm sure the immediate fallout question

for everybody out there hearing this for the first time was, did Elliot have his shirt tucked into his sweatpants? The answer is partially. It wasn't even all the way yes or all the way no. It just kept coming out. Like it was just, it was, but you know, you were making coffee for everyone. Yeah, because the funny thing was I brought it at your recommendation. I brought it all that stuff last year because I was like, well, if it's a quiet day, you know,

maybe I make coffee in studio just to kind of kill the time. We don't know. Last year was not a day for that. It was pretty busy throughout with everything that was going on. But this year, I kind of set it offhand at some point early on in the day and you're like, well, I would take her coffee. And I'm going, yeah, like, is it kind of quiet or not? You're like, I know how much is going on.

So, all right. And so I'm making it at our desk. And I didn't, honestly, I had no idea that they had a camera just kind of sit and locked off on the two of us, capturing all of it. And suddenly that became a highlight piece of video to roll back later on in the show. And then biz was asking for a cup. And it did help make the day go by. And I'm glad I brought it. I'm glad I brought it.

Now, you said your brain was mush. I could have fed you like lukewarm water with, I don't know, a rolled up napkin in it. You were shocked I ate the one coffee bean, right? Yeah, at first you're like, can I just have a coffee bean? I said, well, yeah, like, you just wanted to chew on it, which blew me away. But you like that stuff, eh? I do.

Yes. You know, I love coffee. I've never just chewed on a coffee bean before. I don't know if I'm going to start. You're nuts. You are nuts. For a lot of different reasons. You're an alien.

You know what, man, it's, we're lucky we get to do this. Like, you know, like, we really are. We're lucky we get to do this. Yeah, it's cool being in studio, they say, don't get up to the big office very often, but really need to be with the whole team on a just busy, busy day. Well done, man. Bravo.

Another year of the deadline. So Kipper, I went on with Kippenborn in their show, Real Kippenborn after. And Kippers is like, you know what's next free agency in the draft? I'm like, oh, for God's sakes, be quiet. I don't want to think about it. Yeah, I know. You've got a cold one waiting for you here somewhere. So we should take our first break.

That was the final thought presented by the Toyota BZ. And we'll come back with another edition of the thought line. 32 thoughts of the podcast continues after this. All right, welcome back. Time once again for a brand new edition of the thought line. So, Elliot, I landed in Toronto at Pearson Airport on Thursday afternoon. Right around the time, members of the Toronto Rock were getting ready to board a flight to Vancouver for their game this weekend, stumbled upon a conversation with Chalin Rogers, the captain of the rock. Oh, yeah?

Hockey fan from Coquitlam. He was asking, you know, what the whole deal was with trade deadline coming up on Friday and everything. and just as the end of the convo, he said, Canucks, we need McKenna, man, we need McKenna. So he is all in on the pursuit of, be it if it's not the first overall pick, some opportunity for the Canucks to draft Gavin McKenna this spring. But shout out to him, hell of a player for the Rock.

And a good BC representative. So that was one thing. Okay, I have to tell you, So there was a Kinnock fan. I'm not going to say who it was, but there's a Kinnock fan, I know. And he asked me last week, if we win the lottery and we draft Gavin McKenna, how many years would he have to refuse to play for us to become an unrestricted free agent? And I looked at him and I go, you're kidding, right?

He goes, no, no, no, I'm really worried about it. And I go, four years. If you get drafted out of the NCAA four years, he goes, well, there's NIL money and you could go overseas. I said, stop. It's not happening. He's not sitting out for four years. Oh, they're a damage bunch. My goodness.

So that was really cool out of nowhere. And then did you see the note we got from the gang at NHL. stats the other day. Oh, yes. That was excellent. I have no shout-outs this week because my brain is broken. So I'm glad you remembered this. Yes. They wanted to share with us that on Tuesday night, during an 11-game slate, in a 32-minute span, we had Leon Drysidl putting up his fifth point of the night, Connor McDavid, reaching 70 assists on the season, Macklin Celebrini, scoring his 30th goal the season. Nathan McKinnon topping the century

mark on the season and Carill Capriza becoming the all-time goal-scoring record in Minnesota Wild franchise history. All those things in a real-time 32-minute span, which once again is a testament

to the ever popular catchphrase of this podcast. All good things happen in 32s. Yes, that was really good. That That was really good. Thank you for sending that. I really appreciate you, Sam. I'm glad you remembered because I completely forgot.

All right. That's what I'm here for most of the time. Okay, this one I wanted to start off the thought line in earnest with today. Hunter from Penfield, New York. Hello, 32 Thoughts, Friends. I was scrolling on Instagram and an ad came up for Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. Oh, God. They are looking for a wildlife care technician.

team lead that specializes in raccoons. I am a recruiter by trade and it would be against my instinct not to share a job with someone who is fully qualified, especially this close to trade deadline season. He included the link if you're interested. I'll pass, but I really appreciate you thinking of me. That's very kind of you. Okay. That's good. Thanks for beating it's for it on that I'll tell you this. Like someday I'm going to retire and then you'll consider it. I'm going to consider something. Maybe I'll do it then.

Chase passive income. No. When I do retire or when SportsNet kicks me off television, I will probably look for something else to do just to occupy my time, something very private. Very good. All right. Step on.

from Pilsen, Checkia. Wow. Yeah. Hello, Griffin, Elliot. I have been there, and the Pilsner is as good as you would think in Pilsen. Oh, I could only hope. Hello, Griffin, Elliot, Kyle, and Dom. Got a question regarding offer sheets.

Could a team use one exact same draft pick for two different successful offer sheets? If they managed to get it back in between those two. signings. I suppose the team losing the first player wouldn't be too eager to trade it back, but hey, money talks. So that's the first part of this two-part question. Do you have an answer? The answer, I don't see why not. The rule about offer sheets is they have to be your own picks. They can't be picks you've traded for. But if you do reacquire your own picks, you can use them. It's not exactly the same. But before St. Louis did those two offer sheets with Holloway and Broberg, they reacquired one of their draft picks from Pittsburgh to do the offer sheet.

So as long as they're yours, I don't see why not. I like loopholes like this step on, though. I like that. Yes. Okay. Dom, this next part's for you. He goes, I've got a second question specifically for Dom. Would you be in to have a joint team of Czechia and Slovakia for the 2028 World Cup of hockey?

I think it would make sense in terms of in, oh, I can only have to get through the question. That would be a super team. You have stated how you feel. The way I look at it is this. Stefan speaks for Czechia. Dom speaks for all of Slovakia. It's done. There is no more room for debate.

And we already have a name. We'd be Czechoslovakia. Is that what you would call the team? Would you call it Czechoslovakia or TFC, the former Czechoslovakia? Right. Or Slovakia, Czechia? No, I think you got, Dom can't be first. Oh, okay. Okay. That's right. Now we've got Step on here.

Well, we solved that problem. That was good. I thought there was going to be. If only all world issues were this easy to figure out. That's right. Well, this come to 32 thoughts. We're happy to find a common ground for everybody when possible. All right, a voicemail up next. This is Miles from Victoria, BC.

I just got a quick stat question for you on the heels of a strong performance by Nick Suzuki at the Olympics and, you know, just all around since the beginning of the season. I've been reading about how he might be considered for the Seltie trophy this year, as he should be. And it made me take a closer look at his career staff. And what's really impressive for me is how he's been able to either match or improve on his point total from the previous season. going all the way back to his sophomore season in 2020, 2021. And of course, he's on pace to do it again this year, which would be six seasons in a row, quietly, efficiently, under the radar, just like a raccoon burrowing into Friedman's barbecue at 2 a.m.

So I was wondering if you guys, well, SportsNet Stats, could find out what's the record for consecutive seasons in which a player either matched or improved his prior season's point total? Love the pod. We'll see you guys on the island someday. That's a great question. So Nick Suzuki is right in the thick of who would be at the top of this conversation. Really?

So he's right there. He's right near it. Yes. So again, if you're still a little foggy about what we're discussing here, the idea of consecutive years of improving your point total from the one. previous. Constantly bringing that number up. Okay?

So Suzuki's on pace to be six straight years. Right now he's at five. The most ever, there's one player that has done at eight consecutive years. It was a long time ago. You're welcome to guess, Elliot, I wouldn't recommend it. What, what, okay, I'm going to, just, I'm going to need some hints. Okay. Okay.

Okay. First of all, tell me what era. Like what decade? 1950s. 1950s. And I'm going to tell you, can I tell you the team? Yeah. Detroit.

Well, yeah, it was between Detroit and then Boston. Like I'm, I'm trying to remember guys who played like Tony Leswick. Later went on to coach in the NHL for a handful of years. When did he coach? What years would those have been? Right at the turn of the 1960s to the 70s. Four years. Stops in Philadelphia, Vancouver.

Looks like briefly California? Oh, coach in Philadelphia. This is, because it's Philadelphia and Vancouver, this should be obvious. Like, before Fred Schiro, I know their first coach was Keith Allen, but it's not Keith Allen, right? Correct.

I don't know. I don't know. Vic Stasjic. Oof. Now, I, know the name. I've heard of the name, but we could have guessed until the 2027 trade deadline. I probably wasn't going to get it. I know. That's why at the top, I'm like, you're welcome to guest. That's a great trivia question, though. That is, and that is fantastic work by Sportsnet stats.

Yes. And if you could see, Elliot, the Excel spreadsheet I was sent with the breakdown of everybody near the top of this list. It's an incredible job by. That's why people, getting rich buying into AI hubs because of the spreadsheet that you were sent. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So he stands alone eight straight years. Other notables that did it seven consecutive years. Andy Bathgate, Adam Braves, Gary Lehman, Al McKinnis, Andrew Burnett, Daniel Alfredson, Jay Beagle, Braden Chin.

Jay Beagle. Wow. Ben Sharott. I didn't know. I didn't know. that we were going to have a trivia question that put Daniel Alpherson and Jay Beagle in the same sentence.

Effectively, the same type of production over their careers when you really think about it. They were all about getting one step-in. Yeah. Daniel Alpherson, Hall of Fame. Jay Beagle used a flip phone when everybody was using a smartphone. Oh, man. Well, he was, yeah,

I mean, the claim to fame of California. Calder Cup, Stanley Cup champion. Amongst other things. So yeah, there we go. Thank you very much for that voicemail. That was a great one. Excellent. Okay, a couple more here.

Victor from Eastern Shore, Maryland. Quick question for you guys. Why is it that when an NHL player injures themselves in the face area, they are given the fishbowl to wear as opposed to a metal cage? I'm guessing it's in the CBA that maybe the fish bowl is more collision friendly for the player that has the misfortune of running into a player wearing one, as opposed to a metal cage. Perhaps it has something to do with metal cages and skate blades coming into contact and dulling them.

Not sure, but inquiring minds want to know. Is there something in the CBA about that? Not that I'm aware of. I believe by and large it's just a vision preference. It's a little easier to see you. I'm trying to remember the last time I said. As you were asking that question, I was trying to remember the last time I saw anyone in the NHL in a cage.

So I looked in Matt Niskinan got nicked up in 2019, the game with the Flyers, and he put a cage on part ways through the game. Yes. So as recent as then, there are examples. And then, of course, back in the day, there was so many unique pieces of equipment built. If guys had jaw injuries or things like that, like you go into the archives of some of the different protective equipment that was made by way of helping play through injury, man, there was some interesting looks at certain points in times.

But everything I can gather, I don't believe there's a rule against wearing a cage. It's just a preference. I mean, there must not be if Niskinin wore it, but like I said, I don't remember too many cages. No. Now when you play, do you wear a cage or bubble or visor? So I went, I went back to a cage last year.

I'd wore a visor for, you know, since I got out of minor hockey up until last year. And then I was playing a game one night and I would stand in front of the net. And our guy, defenseman, you know, wrist shot from the point and had some zip behind it. and it hit off a stick. And like before I could even register what had happened, it like missed my head by about two to three inches and like off the glass in behind me. And I just remember thinking, what's the point? Like what am I doing here?

It's not worth the potential risk of something like that. So I went and got a cage and threw it back on and now I don't have to think about it. Dom texted, got to protect the moneymaker. It's, you know, obviously it's been a long time since I've done it. I always like cage over bubble or visor. I just, like I just found the, especially the bubble, I just found it your senses weren't as strong.

I remember I saw Rod Black once, really funny guy. Rod Black was once at a golf tournament with someone and I was there. And they were talking about playing pickup hockey and it was someone else in the business. I can't remember who it was. And they were saying they don't wear like a shield. And Rod gave it to him. Like he told the story about how he used to play, pick up hockey in Winnipeg, and he was like the most protected guy on the ice.

And other people would be like, I mean, what's with all the protection, especially your face? And he said, hey, if this, if I get my nose broken or cut, like, that could be my career. He gave it to this guy. Oh, really? For gambling with his career. Yes. Oh, yeah. I did finally start to have those thoughts of just...

Me being less good looking than Rod Black and the other person, I was not cautioned about wearing a full face. Like, you do what you want. Yeah, it doesn't matter for you. I can't really the other guy was. So funny. Yeah, but I started to picture that conversation in my head being like, sorry, SportsCet, my face got caved in.

I got hit in the face with a puck. Oh, yeah, what happened? I was playing men's league hockey. Okay. So you have a helmet on? Yeah, but just a visor. Oh, really? Is it like a mandatory rule you wear a visor?

No, I just chose to do it, really. You chose to wear a visors. You could have wore a cage. Yeah, I could have wore a cage. So it just wasn't worth it. And also, Elliot, I mean, how is this for timing? We get asked this question and all year on this podcast, how many different things, not intentionally are almost spoken into existence.

Did you see Michael Kesslering or at least photos of him at Sabre's practice? I mean, amongst everything that we were watching on trade deadline. he's got he had like a what it looks to be a goaltender's cage like cage from a goalie's mask screwed onto his helmet for practice. Yeah, it's it's just funny. It's just funny how we were talking about this and it happened, right? Yeah, hilarious. And you can see like there's Michael McLeod is howling at him.

It's just the whole outfit. It's an interesting look. And then, of course, you go through all the replies. When back in the day, it wasn't totally uncommon for the caged visor looked to be a thing for certain players, it's amazing that that existed for the years that it did. Seriously, there was a part of it that made it look like it was from 1973. Yes, it was very 70s. So I guess, I don't know if he took a stick or just he caught something up high in the game against Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

but I guess better safe than sorry. I thought to heck with a visor. Give me something I need a little more coverage. Okay, one final one here. Conrad in Oakland. Hi Dom, Kyle and Elliot. Was just reading about Phil Jackson's 40 before 20 rule in the NBA, that if an NBA team reaches 40 wins during the regular season before 20 losses,

that team has a credible chance at an NBA champion. ship. Apparently, 18 of the last 19 NBA champs fit the criteria. I also want to check to see if the same is true in the NHL, but don't know how I check it manually. And when I put it into AI, it just gives me an error message over and over. It broke SkyNet. So I'm passing the buck to Sportsnet stats. Thanks. Love the show. Yes, where AI comes up short, Sportsnet stats always delivers. We have answers for you. So I just took the parameters of within the salary cap era, or I guess the modern era, as we have learned this year. So since 05-06, taking out the 56 game season, of course, and the lockout shortened season in 2013, I'll tell you, first off, it hasn't happened nearly as much as it does in the NBA. I believe that. The power of Garrity.

Well, it's not only Garrity, but, you know, the three-on-three, the shootout, it's got nothing to do with the playoffs, so it kind of warps the numbers, I bet. Yeah. Now, I will say, if we did this qualifier, it was 20 regulation losses for the sake of this argument. Okay. But even so, I've got, Elliot, eight teams since 05-06. to have 40 wins at least before their 20th regulation loss. The most recent, not all that long ago, the Florida Panthers, their first time.

The first one? In 23, 24. So the avalanche in 22, Pittsburgh and 1617, Carolina right out of the lockout, Detroit, 2007, yeah, they got a hot start, Chicago's first of three in 0910, Anaheim, and Tampa, the COVID year in 1920 that was cut short, but they were a 40 before 20 team. Of course, had to wait before the bubble in the summer and still ended up winning the whole thing anyways.

So not the same rate of one meaning necessarily the next, like the NBA and Phil Jackson's philosophy, but it has happened a few times. That's really good work. Did you see that stat about the bottom of the NBA right now? Oh, the collective losing streak? The last 10 teams in the NBA, heading into games on Thursday night, the bottom 10 teams in the NBA have lost 44 games in a row.

Jeez. Brooklyn's lost nine in a row. Indiana and Utah have lost seven in a row. Washington's lost six in a row. That is crazy. Yes. And as much as maybe your eyes want to glaze over when you hear the word parody, at least you're going, we don't have that. I have to tell you, like, Betman would be killing people with eye lasers if that was happening in the NHL. I understand tanking, especially in the NBA, it can work. But, you know, I remember in Philly, and I would have this debate with people.

When you don't have money involved, it's easy to say this. In Philly, they had a time, like, their ratings were, like, minuscule, minuscule. Like, you can argue whether or not they got Embed and, I mean, they never made an Eastern Conference final. Thanks, Kauai. But so you can debate whether or not it was all worth it. It came out of it okay. But, man, when you're in it, it's brutal. It is brutal.

I have to be honest, if I was a team owner in the NHL, I don't know if I would have the guts for that. Even watching what Celebrini is doing to the sharks this year, like people are going to their games back, it is the five years you go through it, it just tears your guts out. Right. And then the problem is, right,

do you suffer through that or do you worry about, years and years and years beyond what a typical rebuild would look like of just being somewhere caught in between. Anyway, there's no exact science, but I'll take what we're having to look at every year versus the total 40-plus game losing streak at the bottom of the standings going into one given night, my goodness. Well, with that, let's wrap up another edition of the thought line.

You can email us at 32thoughts at sportsnet.ca, or if you would like to leave a voicemail, 833-3-3-1-3-3-2-32. One final break here on this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. We'll be back after this. Okay, before we wrap up, we wanted to send our best to the family and the friends of Kayla Peacock and Danica Hills. Last week, tragedy struck them and just wanted to let you know that we are thinking of all of you. Okay, some programming notes here this weekend across the Sportsnet family of channels. Saturday, another busy edition of Hockey Night in Canada, beginning with Hockey Central Saturday, Ron McLean and Company breaking down whatever is left over after another trade deadline here on Friday. Three early games at 7 Eastern, including the Tampa Bay Lightning.

We'll see if Corey Perry gets to Toronto in time to suit up for the Lightning once again. They'll face the Maple Leafs, Montreal, in Los Angeles. That's a seven Eastern start out in California and all Canadian clash, the Vancouver Canucks and the Winnipeg Jets as well. Two late games, the Ottawa Senators with Warren Fogle now in the fold there, trying to keep going and pushing towards one of those final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. They are in Seattle and the Carolina Hurricanes in Calgary to face the flames. Seth Jarvis, this week's guest on After Hours with Scott Oak. Taking us out today, a track from Bad Child, self-taught 28-year-old Canadian-born singer, writer, and producer.

Bad Child is looking to come to terms with his childhood and his upbringing. After losing his mother at a young age and dealing with heartbreak, he sought refuge from the world in music. Since then, he's been breaking new ground with his genre-bending and distinguished sound palette. His track White Knight is available now on Spotify, and of course are ever-evolving and ever-growing. 32 Thoughts the music playlist can be found on Spotify as well. Here's Bad Child and White Night on 32 Thoughts, the podcast.