Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Live From Las Vegas For The 2024 NHL Draft (Day 2) | FN Barn Burner - June 27th, 2024

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

FlamesNation Barn Burner with Boomer, Pinder & Warrener- Intro (1:00)- Noodles Joins (3:00)- Stanley Cup Final (3:30)- Bouchard Contract (6:00)- Vegas Knights (9:00)- Oilers Management (12:00)- D Market (18:00)- Marner (21:30)- Stamkos (23:00)- Jake Guentzel (27:30)- Trades (32:00)- Sens (34:00)- Goalie Market (37:00)- Flames Pick (40:00)- Tod Button Joins (48:00)- Cami On WHL Prospects (01:02:00)- Betway (01:23:00)BARN BURNER BLONDEhttps://originbrewing.myshopify.com/products/barn-burner-473ml👍🏼 McLEOD LAW https://www.mcleod-law.com👍🏼 VILLAGE HONDA https://www.villagehonda.com👍🏼 OUTDOOR DENTAL https://www.outdoor.dental👍🏼 VENA NOVA https://venanova.com👍🏼 BETWAY https://betway.com/bwp/flamesnation👍🏼 GRETA BAR https://www.gretabar.com/locations/ca👍🏼 ORIGIN BREWING https://originbrewing.ca👍🏼 Great Clips https://www.greatclips.com/👍🏼 BeAroused https://www.bearoused.ca/👍🏼 Horse Racing Alberta: https://thehorses.com/👍🏼 SPRING FINANCIAL: http://SpringFinancial.ca/barn💻 Website: https://flamesnation.ca🐦 Follow on twitter: @FlamesNation @BarnburnerFN @960boomer @PinderReport @warrener44📺 Subscribe on Youtube: @Flames_Nation💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to the Circle Hotel on Fremont in downtown Vegas. We are at Stadium Swim. It is another draft week edition of Barnburner. We're living the life here. You kidding me? We've got pools like three-story screens behind us, blackjack dealers in bikinis, NHL trades, pick swaps.

It's all happening, people. It's all happening. Goodness. What a day we've got already lots of news in the NHL universe. And we had a great chance to sit down with Jamie Noodles-McClennon. Earlier, we'll hear that. Todd Button, the director is scouting for the Calgary Flames coming up, and we may even have a special guest here to join us before the end of the program.

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Spring Financial offers fully online personal loans with zero stress and no need for branch visits. But don't take our word for it. Thank you. Thank you, Spring Financial is the best. Apply today at springfinancial.ca. Morning, Jamie. We're here, poolside in Vegas. How are things back in the northern tundra, the non-42 degrees Celsius part of the continent? How are we doing there?

Not too bad. It's a good situation. I'm trying to wind down and back from the finals and all of that fun stuff. So it's, you know, now the cup's been handed out is moving forward. I'd much rather be where you are, but I do have air conditioning. So I'm happy about that. That's fair. The final, when you look back at it, will that be in your mind a classic for the ages? We don't get to see game seven very often to begin with in a Stanley Cup final. we hadn't seen a team come back from 3-0 forever. I mean, is this just one that you'll never forget being around covering, watching? Yeah, I mean, it was very unique. The unfortunate part is, you know, 10 years from now to be like, hey, Edmonton lost in the finals. You know, sometimes you don't remember that the pathway was like game seven.

Like, I'll remember it because I was there and covering it and all of that. But, you know, when you look at the list of a cup winners, it's not going to go, They won in game seven after they crapped away at 3-0 late. Like there's no context to the storyline. In Florida won. Eminton lost. Yeah. But Evanton had a good push.

I think they're a very good team. And it showed how close they can be and are. Yeah. They've got lots of question marks there. But every team does. But I think, you know, when you look at it, every year they've kind of inched forward. The last three years, they've lost to the cup champion. So it shows that, you know, they pretty darn good teams have to beat them.

And, you know, they can see themselves pretty good team as well. So, you know, talking, I was on the ice and talking to some of the guys is the Sam Bennett's and Carter Verhegey and guys like that. And I asked them, you know, did you, did last year's disappointment help you with this year? And they basically flat out said yes. Yeah. They said, you know, we knew what to expect. We know how hard it is to win four games. So, you know, at the end of the day, it's for me, I think I look at Edmonton as a team that, you know, is going to be a top five team next year.

I think there's guys that are probably going to take a step back and maybe McDavid, if he has surgery or something like that. Like, they're not going to, you know, I don't think they'll win the league next year, but I think there'll be a playoff team and then push for the cup again. But lots of potential change there, but also they've got the spine of a team there. They've got their starting goaltender. They got their number one defenseman in Bouchard and at home with a pairing, I guess, you know, call it. And you got the forwards. And regardless of the dry settle situation, you've got him under contract for another year.

You've got Zach Hyman, you've got R&H. You know, Evander Cain, I don't know if he's going to have surgery and probably need a little bit of time. But the spine of the team is returning. Now you've just got to figure out kind of filling out the. outside edges. Yeah, it's tough pieces. And you're right, like, it's cruel off the top. Outside of Calgary, no one talks about an 0-4 loser in the seven-game series. It's just a footnote. But in the one market, you're like, man, no one will remember that ride, but it's kind of, that's the cruel

nature of sport. And I'll say this, if the Oilers can become a championship team, they'll point to that, just like we heard Gretzky pointing to the Islanders and walking by their open locker room door with the ice bags, the, you know, the mythology around the Oilers dynasty, having to watch what the Islanders did and learn from losing to them. But then the other side is, if this really does house of cards potential, if they don't win next year, well, now you're into a Bushard theoretical arbitration case, which is insane because he's probably a hundred point defenseman. Like, why wouldn't you get Eric Carlson money from an arbitrator? And then you're also in a spot where Leon Drysettle can say, yeah, I think I'm worth 15. And I don't know that as the cap continues

to rise on any sort of deal with term that that isn't fair. And so if they don't win, that's almost like, it feels like next year's the whole pivot point of how you felt about the McDavid Aaron Emmington, because it might end in two years or it could be last year was the beginning of this dynastic type club. Like it really is that fickle, isn't it? It is. It's very close. And you've got to figure out what the players want, what the management situation.

I thought Dreisselt handled himself fine yesterday with his comments. It said all the right thing. Yeah, he did. And, you know, people are trying to read the lines. Like they're, they're two days removed from losing cup final. You got to let them breathe a little bit. One thing I would say, and I'm not going to steal it as my own, but Craig Button, I thought he had an unbelievable comment last night on on our station saying, you know, if you earmark whatever number for dry saddle, let's say it's, you know, the discount's 14, we'll call it, you know, something like that. 14 and change and McDavid gets 16, you know, next deal. That's 30 million. The cap's going to be 100. He goes, you can build a pretty darn good team at 100, with 70 million left over. You're right, Bouchard might chew 11 of that.

But, you know, this is where you need to have value contracts where R&H is at 5 million. Evander Cain's at 5 million. Zach Hyman's at 5 million. You know, they might have to do something with the Darnell Nurse deal that that would free up, you know, some money. But I don't think it's like, you know, people pointing to it saying, like, well, there's no way they can make it work. I disagree with that because the cap is going up. What you do need to do is manage your team properly. You're right. Skinner's going to need a new contract. Bushard's getting into new contract. You're right. But, you know, maybe those are bridge

situations like Skinners is another bridge or maybe it's a four year or five year at six. Like you can manage these deals. And the other thing I wanted to point out, and maybe you could weigh in on it because it's important, is you might be able to get some really good players on value contracts because guys may go, that team's close. I want to win. So you might get a guy that signs the Max Domi slash Tyler Bertuzi contracts

on a one year, not a ton of money going, we're good players, but we want a piece of that because we think they're close. So, you know, that might factor in in the next couple years when they start to do the cap gymnastics. It should factor in. And I think it should have factored in more, to be honest. I haven't seen a lot of guys going to Edmonton on short-term deals to go play with Connor.

And I think you should have. And even when Connor Brown did, he got handsomely paid a $3.25 million bonus just to get to 10 games. I mean, that's not a value one-year deal. that's pretty much when they brought guys in they've had to pay the full freight it wasn't like hyman took a deal that was the most money on the table right signing but everyone's like i'll go but i need to get market does that change now because they were a game short we'll see it hasn't happened yet to be fair but they also hadn't been this far right and i think now that people realize like they're that close or closer you know like say we'll call it i i you know you could argue that some of these teams that that's they went through like Vancouver you get Demco like you know Vancouver is right there knocking at the door I you know I think Vegas might have a ritual although personally I think right Vegas might take a step back I just I think they've played they've played so many cap dramastics here and they're going to have to walk away from Mars just so they might have to walk away from some guys

they might have to trade you keep hearing that Petro Angelo's available now of a sudden that that breaks up like their amazing defensive core you know their goaltenders are what they are like I think Vegas might come back down to Earth a little bit before they go back north. Dallas, same thing. Dallas is a great team and just more with experience of those young guys. But keep in mind, that's another year of service on Jamie Ben. You know, Joe Pabelsky's gone. Another year of service on Tyler Sagan.

You know, those are guys that, you know, long in the tooth, where they were really good this year in their defined roles. Now, Jim Nill is an unbelievable GM. I'm sure he's going to be able to fill that out, no problem. But it just, there's no guarantee that all of these top tier teams, including the Evanton Oilers, get right back to where they were because there's other teams around them that are getting better or at least growing to get better. Yeah, we looked at the beginning of the playoff bracket,

and you're like, there's 12 teams that could win this thing. Like Washington can't, the Islanders can't, probably not Nashville. And everyone else, you're like, yeah, why not? Like, maybe L.A. does get their shift here. Like, that's, it's really hard. And so it's easy for, yeah, we'll be back. But, you know, as Rhett always tells us on this show, you think, especially what happens earlier in your career, we'll just be back in the final again. And you might not.

It might take a decade. It might be in a different locale by the time you're there. Who's going to run this Edmonton team? Ken Holland today, making it official that he's not returning. He wasn't at the draft. His contracts up. It's been long speculated that he was going to walk at the end of the year. And I think the only fly in the way was, they nearly won the cup.

And they're like, okay, well, maybe we will leave room for you to come back. It just felt like it wasn't going to be a fit moving forward or because it never really got any momentum that he was coming back. So you have Connor's old agent, it's the president, but does he want to be a GM? Does he hire a GM? When do we do this? This is the most important piece we just talked about. It's managing all these potential free agents and contracts coming up. And we don't know who's going to do it. Yeah.

I do believe just from, you know, and this is not in the know, but more reading the tea leaves, it's like, don't you think it's going to be somebody from Jeff Jackson's past or in his orbit, you know, somewhere where the coach was, right? Yeah, like he just, you know, listen, he was an agent. He knows a lot of people. I guarantee you there's, you know, managers out there that he trusts. I think the biggest thing that they would need is somebody on the same page. I always got the sense that Ken Holland wasn't maybe on the same page as them.

He executed some of the things they wanted. Yeah. But I think, you know, Ken Holland's history, he never fired coaches. And all of a sudden he fires, you know, Jay Woodcroft. That might have come from above. That's the impression I got, yeah, that that wasn't his call. And then they hired the new coach and Kenny didn't even hire him. It was it clearly the guy above him hiring.

I mean. Right. So I would argue that Kenny, they probably have a succession plan in place already. but you do need more bodies. I don't know who that is. Does Paul Coffey want to continue to coach? Or does he want to go back to right beside Darrell Cates as a senior advisor? You know, there's lots of question marks.

I think this ride, that's why, you know, I find it tough two, three days after to, like, talk about stuff because you just want, I think these guys just want to breathe a little bit. Yeah. I know if you're the Evanton Oilers organization, you can't. You're on a jet. You're into draft mode and signing guys. You can't tell a guy July 1st. Hey, we were just in a cup final last week. Can you let me breathe?

Give me a couple days to get my act together. Like, you've got to be organized and know. The other thing, like Keith Gretzky's there. And he's really thought of in the hockey circles. It's a really smart hockey guy. I don't know if maybe he's in the mix. He was a candidate five years ago, right? Yeah.

There was the whole self-made man, Keith Gretzky thing, which I get it. He's probably very good. But I'd never heard his name in other GM circles in other markets. So that's sort of the... It's funny because I never thought about it until it was brought up to me last week in Florida, just in passing with some hockey people. They're like, that guy's really sharp. And I was like, okay, that's, you know, it's good to know.

You're right. He's not just Wayne Gretzky. brother like he's Keith he's worked hard he's you know kind of earned his stripes like if he ends up being aligned with the current management group he might be a guy that gets a peek at it i don't know because they might keep it internal and just elevate him you know he might have been the guy who's handling the day to day of some stuff anyways right like managers delegate so i i'm not in the know i just kind of like thought of that instantaneous as we were talking but it wouldn't surprise me if they brought in a veteran GM as well, somebody that they have cross pass with or

knows the market. But you have to be careful with this one because you're right. You were talking about there's some big decisions to be made in the next couple of years on their top players. And you can't screw that up. Last bit on Emerton will keep moving because I know, A, the Oilers honks that hang out in our comments will be talking about the Euler hour and the people that are flame fans will say stop talking about the oilers. We can't win here. Mark Hunter's name has popped up. Is that a fit in your mind? I would say yes. And the reason being is he's run.

First of all, he's an unbelievable talent evaluator. You hear about his draft and like what they put together that program in London is top notch. It's an NHL team in a junior league. Now they, it's funny, they're known to kind of run in those gray areas too where like, oh, this player just magically appeared as a London night. Like, okay, they drafted him seventh over, you know, seventh round. or something, you know, whatever it is in the OHL draft. But I've heard a lot of people at Rumblings in Toronto, like that was a crossroads for the

Toronto Maple Leafs. They chose Caldubis over Mark Hunter. And there's a lot of people that wanted Hunter. So it wouldn't surprise me because he's a really, really smart hockey guy. The only thing that I would argue in a Canadian market and not even argue, I think he's smart. He's not a visible guy. He doesn't care to be in front of the camera. He doesn't care to be.

a lot like Ken Holland. Ken Holland's a really good guy in front of the camera and all that, but he doesn't, you know, Ken Holland doesn't have social media, doesn't care about what people are saying. He just kind of does his job. Mark Hunter would be kind of cut out of that cloth. In Canadian markets,

I always feel like you need a visible GM, somebody who is, you know, can have a pulse of the market and handle it well. I don't know if Mark would be a great visible GM, but I think he would be a great GM. Okay. We'll move to another gym. We mentioned a moment ago. Jim Nill has bought out Ryan Suter.

He's got some of that unbelievable rare error of the double buyout money coming out of. He's going to be paid for two teams next year to not play hockey. And he might even find a third to pay him to play hockey. We can joke about his situation. Multiple buyouts at the same time. That's some good eating right there. But for Dallas, it was clear that he wasn't able to help move the needle in a net positive way anymore. They do have some young defensemen that they want to get in the mix.

They are trying to get Chris Danov done. Is this a sign for you that they're trying to keep TANF at any cost, that they'll even pay suitor to go away kind of thing? I do believe that. I do believe that they're trying to keep Chris Tenev in a situation where, you know, apparently there's no secret. There's a lot of teams that are interested in him. It might be a term situation as opposed to money.

You know, you might see Chris Tantenev. of get a six or seven year deal at 34 years old where they know that the last couple years with the mileage on his body might be throwaway LTIR but at the end of the day that's not their concern their concern is to get the player at a reasonable AAB you know that's I I know for a fact that there's a lot of teams that want TAN of the right shot the fan you saw what de Mello got So DeMello sets the bar. Now, I always say this, the Winnipeg tax, the Edmonton tax, the Ottawa tax, some of these markets that may not be the sexiest places to live might have to pay a little bit more. I thought that with DeMello, but DeMello's a real good fit with Josh Morrissey too.

I think it was comfortable for both sides. But where I'm going with DeMello is, you know, what does that make for Chris Tendellow? What does that make for Brett Pesci and, you know, all these right shot defensemen, Matthew Rois, Matt Roy, sorry, Matt Roy, you know, does that make them above de mellow, below de mellow? Like it kind of, I think right shot defensemen are at a premium right now. So it's not going to put it that, put it this way. That contract is not hurting Chris Tannov's negotiation, put it that way.

Yeah, that's fair. And you know what? If you told me you get a top pairing guy at that number, I'd say that's great. just that he's more of a fit with Morrissey than he's a standalone top pair guy. I think that's a great deal for both sides. And, you know, someone that plays as well as he does with Morrissey, like, you don't want to lose that to try to save a half million bucks. Saw Bradshaw living last night at the steakhouse.

He's got his hands full. He's already playing the don't trust everything you hear in the media. We got a lot of work to do. We love Mitch Marner. I mean, we're in full PR mode already here, but it is a pretty crucial off-season. season for him, given that it's the walk year for Marner who holds all the cards of the no move and that I think

you heard from everyone north of Bradshire living in the organization, be it Shanahan and Keith Pelley, the new boss man, that it's just what's happened hasn't been acceptable. What 100 point regular seasons, who cares? It's time to win. And you didn't really take a lot

of reading between the lines to figure out that if they could move Mitch Marner, they could augment the roster in a way that they'd like to. He's got all the cards. they'd rather move on. This is quite the little dance that the team and the player have to do here. Well, and the problem is, you know, you know Tree, I know Tree. They're probably trying to do a bunch of work behind the scenes,

but all of a sudden they're just putting out fires out front of it. Because no information, no news is not good news. It just leads to people going, well, this is what I hear, this is what they should do. So every day they're dealing with another mess because they're having to talk about, well, that's not true. We didn't say this. We didn't do that. We don't believe this.

You know, Craig Barubi's, I think, gone on record, say he'd like to coach Mitch Martin, believes he can get the most out of him. You know, why wouldn't you? Mitch Martner's close to a hundred point player. He's a top tier player. You know, can you get something different from him? I just, I think the bigger question is,

you've got to get on the same page if you're Mitch Marner's camp and you're the Toronto Maple Leafs and go, what do we want to do? What's best for Mitch Marner? What's best for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Do they align? And if they don't align,

what is a solution that makes everybody smell like roses coming out of this? Because that's the biggest challenge. And I'm saying easier said than done because I just don't know if that solution is there. You know, it just,

for me it's going to be a spicy meatball because if Mitch just goes, I want to get 100 points play with Austin Matthews next year and then I'll figure out my contract. Now, David Pasternak played through a UFA season. Sam Reinhart just played through a UFA season. The difference is, is this marketplace and maybe like you said, the way the team is lost and the way the team is constructed, if they identify that's the problem, they can't have four guys that make all the money, and you've got to figure something out if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs. That is the difference. Everyone wanted Pasternak back. Everyone, you know, would love to have Sam Reinhart back if you're a Panther, nicely done. That doesn't seem to be the vibes around

the Leafs organization with Martin. Okay, let's get some other crazy stuff. I'm Jonathan Marsha So, Stephen Stamcoast, like these are guys, and we think of them. We think of one Jersey, one market. Now, Marshall moved around a bit, but he's one of the original Golden Knights, the misfits. Those are just a couple of the really high profile names in free agency. Are we actually at the point where Stephen Stamcoast could not be a Tampa Bay lightning? I would say yes, but I would also, I'll see it when I believe it when I see it.

Yeah. Because I, Tampa Bay is one of the original. like, hey, we can figure out this CBA type of thing and we can figure this all out. You know, I talked about giving term to guys to maybe bring that AAB down. That seems like a prime example for Stephen Stamco's to go, you're going to be 34 coming 35 in February. Yeah. Let's give you six years at seven or something, walk you right to 40 years old. Yeah, go to five million.

Sure. And, and, you know, we'll give you, you know, we'll put in another, you know, we'll put in 30 or 40 million in your pocket. But you're going to retire, you know, a lightning player right into the organization. And like to me, I think there is a common sense solution to it. Now, if he wants eight or nine as a 40 goal score, then they might have to get creative. I just don't see them going, yeah, we can't fit you in. Sorry, you know, like we had to get Brandon Hagle six million. Like I just, I feel like there's, I think there's a solution there.

I just don't know it. And I don't have the magic recipe to make it happen. But, you know, a lot of guys are getting money on that team now. But there is a structure there. It's not like, you know, it's not like they're paying guys 13 and 14. You know, it's nine and a half. It's 9.3. Like, yeah.

I think it's. manageable. I really do. It just depends on what does he want? Because he's not going to Utah for 10 million a year, just to make 10 million a year. Like you, don't you think he wants a chance to win somewhere? Yeah, totally. And I think history is an important part of this as well. What happened last time Steven Stamcoast was a free agent? Everyone thought he was gone. He was tour in other cities. And what happened? Tampa playing hardball got the deal they wanted. They just had to really wait till 1159 or whatever. So why are we surprised? that the same playbooks being used here.

Julian Breezeball was, you know, riding shotgun for that last one. Like we shouldn't be surprised by this, should we? No. And also, Stephen's at a different point in his career now, right? Like, that's the other thing. He's 34 years old. Like, do you get paid for 34, I'm sorry,

do you get paid for 40 goals of what you did last year? Do you get paid for your age and what you might do in the next three to five years? Right. So that's where the interesting part is, you've got to marry the two. Now he might be a 40 goal score next year and then it drops to 32 and then 28 or whatever.

Gone are the days at 31 and 32 you're getting paid for what you did at 25. That was my era. That's not the case anymore. They're paying guys for what they believe they're going to do the next six to eight years. So that's kind of what's flipped. I don't know what the formula is going to be there,

but I think it'll be interesting to see what happens in Tampa. But my gut tells me he's staying, but I have no fact with that. You know, no back. I'm with you. Like, it's just, he was a billboard before he played a game there in Tampa,

you know, like seeing Stamcoast. Like it just, something about it wouldn't feel right if he wasn't there. But, you know, again, if I see it, I'll believe it. Okay, some other really interesting names. Gensel has got to have a huge number of suitors. We talked to Sarajevoi yesterday. He said that might be the biggest number of teams after one guy.

do you have a spot that you're like, ooh, that's the fit when you look at what Jake Gensel can give a contending team or someone that's a piece away, maybe? So I thought he was a great fit in Carolina because they need high end finishers, right? I don't know if the number. I don't know if the rocket scientist there, what's his name? Eric Tulski. If Tulski will be able to, you know, sort out there. He's got 38 degrees and, you know, no, he's got all those patents and copyrights. Has he patented the keep Gensel under 9 million on a long-term deal?

We haven't seen that one yet. That's the patent he needs right now. But I, you know, him being linked to Vancouver is really interesting. It is. Because, you know, they just flushed McKayev down the toilet there yesterday. Yep. And got Chicago to chew on his deal. And if you had, if you took McKayev out and added Gensel, you're on to something there.

Like, you know, that's a, that's a hell of a, hell of a team there. Because you know, Pedersen will be better at critical times next year, that Miller's really good. Like, they had the depth that Dakota Joshua is a really nice player. Like, they've got some players there. Yeah. And if the goal he stays healthy, like Vancouver can be a serious team. So I, you know, I think Gensel would be a good fit. But if the number is just too high, then you might go, hey, we're going to try and get 40 goals out of two guys at four and a half instead of one at nine million type of thing.

So it'll be interesting. thing to see, but I think there would be, God, there'd be seven or eight suitors that go, we'll find a spot for you. Now, Utah, Anaheim, you know, San Jose is trying to get players, Chicago, you know, they'll throw a boatload at him. I don't know if he wants that at this thing. If he's going strictly for money, he's going to get a massive number from some of those teams that have money to spend. Like Utah has to spend money. to get to the floor, like big money. And the same thing, like San Jose,

you know, Barclay Goudreau didn't want a wave to go to San Jose, so they, they picked them up off waivers. Yeah, picked up on waivers. You know, you saw the trade with Jake Walman, like San Jose is trying to make a move. So, you know, I could see them trying to add like Gensels and stuff like that, just to help their team get to the next level.

Same thing with Chicago. Wouldn't Jake Gensel look nice playing with Connor Bedard. Who wouldn't? It's the Sam Reiter thing. If he wants to chase the money, he can go to Chicago too. But these guys that have tasted winning

and got close, I just don't see at this point of their careers that that's necessarily the move. That's kind of the point you're making. That's my point. You can go chase money or you can chase a chance. So what does the chance look like? And what team has $9 million to go here?

We'll find a spot. It looks like Vancouver cleared some money there. Yeah. So that looks like a natural fit. But I, you know, things have gotten crazier. Like I would love, you know, what if Evan, what if he just goes up one year six million Edmonton, you know, like something crazy to play with McDavid on the left side? That's some nightmare feel for Calgarians.

Thanks for that, Jamie. Appreciate that. Well, I'm just like, you know, like. You're right, though. But there might be something that we're not seeing, you know, like that is right in front of us. But Gensel's going to get paid, and he's pretty much got his pick of the litter. Detroit gave away Wallman with a second. That was surprising.

That felt like a missed opportunity to get a later pick coming back to you. But it also felt like, okay, maybe they're trying to get something done quick here. There's no time to worry about a second here or a fifth there. We got something huge cook. And it does feel like not unlike some other teams we've noted. But for Detroit, it's like we're done in the collecting young players. It's time to compete. They're in a tough division.

I feel the same way about Buffalo. I feel similarly about. Ottawa. I think you noted Utah's in a similar spot. We got all this money. We've been picking high forever. We got picks for days. Like, let's turn these into some today assets, not guys in four years that may or may not help. And a lot of those teams are picking

the top 15. I think Detroit's right at 15. Buffalo's at what, 12, New Jersey at 10. They're a team that doesn't need a prospect as much as they could use another impact roster player probably. Utah top 10, Ottawa top 10. I'm fascinated about this draft tomorrow and to see if maybe some of these picks are in play. when usually we hum and hawn it doesn't happen.

It feels like there's more fuel for it actually to go down this year. I said this yesterday to one of our insiders, and I just said, like, does it feel different this year than it's felt the last couple years? And the only thing that we can point to was the couple's handed out two days ago. Yeah. So everything feels rushed. It's like, okay, we're onto this thing.

And now we got, you know, we got free agency on Monday. Like, I think everybody, now there's, you know, Ottawa. does that deal on Friday night, 12 minutes before puck drop. You know, you're like, or Monday night, sorry, Monday night. And you're like, where the hell that come from? The league allowed a trade call on a game seven and you're about to drop the puck, which, you know, good on Ottawa, good on Boston. They've got to do business.

But these other teams that are, I feel like there's teams that are playing catch up where they're like, hey, we've got to get this done. That speaks to that the cup should never be handed out on two. It's too late. Right? Yeah. So I feel like this year, I say this every year, but I feel like all hell's going to break loose at this draft because there isn't McDavid or Matthews in this draft.

You know, Salabrini's a nice player. And it sounds like it's a deep draft from as far as prospects, but there's no generational player there. So now it's choosing the right guys for your fit for the future. I would argue, I don't think, you know, five to ten of these guys are going to step right in and play in the NHL next year. It's a draft and developed year. Good players, you know, the Tija ginnlers of the world.

But I think Tij will go back to junior for a year to go to the body and all of that. So my thought process is exactly what yours is. When you've got these teams that have been collecting picks and are trying to turn the corner, they can wave at top seven. Here's my seventh pick. Here's my ninth pick for a live roster player that a guy, that a team needs to dump because they're trying to sign somebody else. So you can get a $6 million goal score from somebody, another team that is trying to get rid of that contract, the McKay of Exap rule.

You know, like Vancouver, you know, he didn't work out there. You got injured. You know, he's a guy who gets 500 breakways a year and he scores on three of them. Like, it's just unfortunate. He's. It's Matthew Lombardi syndrome, right? Yeah. But it just, you know, what it is is Chicago's like, we'll take them.

We need to get the, you know, we got money. and this is a guy that's an experienced NHL or who's a pretty good 20 goal score that we got for free really. So I think that's where Utah, that's where you mentioned, you know, Buffalo and Detroit and all of these teams that

want to get to that next level. It's to hell with the draft and developing. We've been doing that for years. We need some live bodies right now and to make that happen. You've been talking about the backlog on the left side of the Senator's Blue Line all year. Yeah.

It can't go much long. longer now. This is Chickren's walkier, if I'm correct. That feels like a big chip in play, too. I would be shocked if he's not traded or they make a decision on that left side, either him or Shabbat. Shabbat's got a long-term deal. Shabbat's a little bit older. But I would, I just think Shabbat's got the roots there. I think they trust him. Like I would argue it's probably more, you know, Chikrin is an easier deal to move. Yeah, with one year left. He's a point producer. He's everything.

Like, you know, I think he would be attractive to a lot of teams. So, you know, if you're going to, like in a perfect world, they're trading chikrin for a younger Chris Tanniv. You know what I mean? Like that. Right shot. Right shot stabilizing defensemen to play with Sanderson or Shabbat. Because they got Artem Zub there. They need one other guy.

And then, you know, you know. You know, they've got this kid Cleven who's coming, Tyler Cleven. He's a really nice player. You know, I think their defensive court is going to be fine. They got a guy named a kid named Jacob Bernard Docker who's a right-out spot. But, you know, they, if you added another top four right-shot defenseman, then move Chickren and or Shabbat out, I think you're in business there because that defensive court looked really nice.

And then you've dealt with the goalie. Then you start dealing with the forward. I thought it was a sneaky move that they included Castellic in that in that deal to Boston. He's a really nice player. He's he's big. He can skate. He can fight. He's a good fourth liner.

What Ottawa needs is fourth line players that are veterans like grizzled veterans to help that young, the young guys above them. So, you know, you're looking at like I thought Derek Ryan and Sam Carrick and guys like that in Edmonton, you know, that fourth line, like they were grizzled, they knew how to play, right? You weren't, you know, on a night where maybe it's a Tuesday night in November and you're trying to protect the lead, these guys won't fold where we've seen younger guys get overwhelmed by the situation. So I think Ottawa is on the right path to clearing some space to getting some grizzled vets to help those young players get to the next level.

Yeah, and I guess we've sort of alluded to it, but we haven't talked about that old mark deal you have to be happy if you're i think a senator's supporter because a the price wasn't that high b the guy won the venezna two years ago you really didn't give up a lot you didn't have to include number seven uh i guess we're just seeing that the market isn't great for goalies especially when they're 30 or older the deal for marshum was panned in calgary but after seeing the old mark dealer you're like shit i think connie did better than we thought well yeah i mean look at the amount of goalies that have moved already we're not even to free agency you know like it's it's musical chairs um you know i think markey was the guy that teams coveted

the minute he went to new jersey uh the reason why omark would have been you know a one a one b type of thing to markey is because you know all mark's younger and wanted probably an extension to go into place and he had he had some some certainty where he was to control he had a what a 15 team no trade list So, you know, you get, oh, Mark, I'd be shocked if we don't hear on July 1st, they've extended him for, you know, five years or whatever. I don't know what that number. I talk about the auto attacks.

I don't know what that number will look like. But, you know, it's probably $6 million a year, something like that. You know, maybe six and a half, seven. I don't know what the number looks like. I'll be honest. But it's, I think they sign them. They've got Anton Forsberg there already at 2.8. It can be a really good 1B because, like, Allmark's not a 60 game start.

He's not. He's never been. So he's good. You're looking at 50, 30, which is fine. Because if both of those guys can do that, Ottawa needed to do something different in net from a visual dynamic, like going, we can't bring that tandem back. Even though we like them, they just, they were like almost last.

I think they were second last in save percentage last year. It just couldn't bring them back. So they chew on a million dollars of corporate. Rosallo. They get Allmark brought in. It was a really nifty move. I thought Boston did well on that deal, too, because you got Porpo Salo at $3 million. Now you're going to face Rupertalo can give you games. And I don't think he's a bad goaltender. I just think he didn't settle in and wasn't comfortable there. You know, I think both organizations were comfortable with that move. I thought it was a really, really good move, though, for Ottawa. final note for you i know in calgary we've all got the gindler goggles on it's the storyline everyone's cheering for it looks less and less likely he'll slide to nine but then you never know it's it is a crazy pull names out of a hat from two to 12 type draft uh is there anything you're rooting for tomorrow uh whether it's trades again let of calgary auto ought to make a blockbuster

what what uh what would have you with the full popcorn meme going uh tomorrow night all of the above for what you just that. I mean, I want, and I kind of don't want much to happen because it means that I'm going to sit there like an idiot on free agency day and it'll be all speculation. What should they do? What should this team do? You know, instead of all this stuff happening because it's happening before. But that being said, I would love to see Teesja Gingla play for the Calgary Flames. I would, nothing would make me happier. I'm just scared that he just won't be available then like I'm hearing like honest to God I I I talked to a scout yesterday like they're like on their list he was four another list he was five

like you know like I loved it I wanted him to be hey he's 11 so that Calvert grab him at night you know what I mean like that's that's where but every everybody you talk to like this this kid just continued to climb continue to climb and you look at the dad and the DNA and like you just you're like it you're like This kid's going to be a top five, I think, which, you know, it's amazing for Jerome and his family and Teesh. But, you know, if Connie's trying to trade down, like these teams probably are going to try and get a King's ransom out of him for Connie to go four spots or five spots up, right? Yeah. So I don't know.

I mean, I would like to see a blockbuster trade. Anything that leaves do, it just makes my life easier because we have talked to the museum. I love anything that Calgary does because again, come on and we just break down what Connie's up to. I think Connie's done a great job. Like I'm 100% biased because I love the guy and I fight with him and, you know, we're close friends. But I just, I think he's done, if you take a look at his body of work, some of the trades and some of the things that he's inherited, just, you know, naturally on deals expiring, you know, a vision for the organization. like even just the Tofoli deal. Yeah.

Like getting ahead of something instead of it, you know, being a hindrance for you. I like Tyler Toffoli, but, you know, at some point the legs will drop off and you're going to be stuck with that. And they're already, you know, they've already got a few contracts that they might be stuck with, you know, moving forward. So I think Connie's done a great job. Anything the flames do, I'm always eyes on. I like the marquee trade because I think it gives a pathway for Dustin Wolfe. Yep. You know, like, I just, it'd be interesting to see because I just know that all these managers right now are wheeling and dealing.

So it's almost like, I wish I was a fly on the wall for 48 hours, just like listening, you know. Just ask Connie. He'd let you do that, right? This is where you need spyware. Like just where you're like listening to these deals go down. You're just a fly on the wall. It'd be awesome. So, all right.

Well, and I agree with you with Connie. I mean, he got, he was putting a spot that was not easy. He's made the right decisions in terms of not committing to guys longer in the tooth with the commitments they already have. They've got six firsts in the next three years. I mean, that's, that's it for me. It's like, what do you get out of those six? Do you find two stars?

Is it four plumbers and two swings and misses? I mean, you can talk about a quicker turnaround if you find some stars here. And you're talking about a decade of darkness if you don't pull a star out of these six. Yeah. Well, I mean, they, you know, drafting and developing findings. some of these players, finding some of the things that you need for your organization, sometimes it is a crapshoot, but you've got to trust your staff, you've got to trust the guys that are, you know, scouting for you.

And that's where, honestly, you know, I, Craig Conroy, you know, you hear that he was in Florida the other day watching prospects at a, you know, Dan Milstein's camp or whatever it was. Like, managers put the work in. Like, it's not just worrying about, like, Connie's been putting the work in the last two months, this team hasn't been playing. You're not just sitting and watching what we're watching on TV. This guy's been out there working trying to pound the pavement to make his team better to give himself a chance.

So, you know, I hope they end up getting the right players. I hope they end up finding, you know, some free agent guys that can help their team. I think there's still trades available for the flames and other teams to try and pick at the flames, you know. Like I would be shocked if teams weren't calling for like Rasmus Anderson. you know like he's a he's a right shot defenseman who can handle the puck and that's the one for me if you want to go get teage and he slides to seven don't you just call ottawa and make that happen like there's two years left on rasmus it's pick seven you know maybe he doesn't slide there maybe demadov does or

kaden lindstrom but someone that you're like oh my god like we got we we got you i mean that that would fascinate i take it too much your time but yeah like this it all ties into this fascination around you know names out of a hat from two to twelve we really really don't know what's going to happen here yeah i can't wait i actually thought the draft was tonight so i was like oh this is a damn it and i talked to somebody there they're like no it's tomorrow you idiot and i was like okay so i i get my days are all mixed up my kids are out of school so i thought it was friday today so that's my last day for us today uh back at home so i'm hearing about that okay so let's just hypothetical let's just say you're in vegas for work you thought the draft was tonight it's not

till tomorrow night and you got a you got a free runway here you don't have to do anything until 4 p.m. local time tomorrow where are you going in Vegas for a night out green light noodles so there's delmonico steakhouse at the venetian okay unbelievable you got to go there but there is a vodka bar so i don't know if you know this but you can go in for an hour you pay and it's an ice bar it's called an ice bar so you put on a uh like a a a park cup a hat and gloves they give you a cup made of ice and then they just pour straight vodka and you sit in ice chairs it's an ice bar like a bar made of ice i can't remember what hotels it's in like google it ice bar always start our night there because you go in and you drink vodka for an hour and then you start your night it's unbelievable

i've got pictures of it i wish i had i don't have anything here that i could pull up i love it i've got my mission i'm now i that's the starting point and it's 42 outside noodles this is that you got to go to the ice bar of course over the ice bar you're going to delmonicose and then you find one of those pool bars that you know um cosmopolitan you go there can't remember the name of the the the it's not wet republic that's the other one but you go to the pool bars where it's indoor outdoor you go inside for the air conditioning you go outdoor you watch people swim in the pool and jump in the pool and get drunk so and the house music's going you get a nice little table you get a little bottle service And so to me, it's ice bar, then Delmonico Stakehouse, then to, you know, Cosmo win, one of those that have the indoor, outdoor pool.

All right. We'll report back next week. Thanks, buddy. Love the itinerary. Enjoy. Looking for the fastest personal loan in Canada? Well, look no further. Spring Financial offers fully online personal loans with zero stress and no need for branch visits.

But don't take our word for it. Thank you. Thank you, Spring Financial is the best. apply today at springfinancial.ca. All right, we are back poolside at Stadium Swim at the Cirque Hotel in Fremont in downtown Vegas. And it looks like our guest is already rock and roll. We're going to say hi to Cammy, Capkey from the WHL and of course from Afterburner, but early and probably very excited. It's the director of scouting for the Calgary Flames.

Todd Button, who is, oh, maybe there's Todd, all right, there we are. Sorry, Todd, sitting down, sitting down. Didn't mean to rush you, sir. I guess that must have been handling. We're staring into the lights here. Pool side. Are you air conditioned there, Todd? How are you?

I'm air conditioned, and I know where the vodka bar is. It's in the Mandelaide Bay. Excellent. See, it's this collective effort we can get this done together. You guys have to be awfully thrilled. Two picks in the first round, eight in the first four, and the first of three years in a row, Todd, where you're going to have a pair of first rounders, it looks like.

Just maybe talk big picture about some of the years you haven't had first. You haven't picked till the fourth one year. Now you got two. Generally speaking, how excited is the scouting group? Really, really excited. And I think as you spoke to it or referenced it, when you get to have eight picks in the first four rounds and we've had drafts where we didn't pick to the fourth round,

there's an excitement within the whole scouting group because even though you have to do your list when you don't have a pick in the first 100, you want them to be engaged. But reality is, you know you're not going to be picking for a while. So you just cross the names off the list. So with all these picks, we've had lots of meetings where we're trying to figure out the order. We've got that done now.

So everybody's been so engaged, all the area scouts, the European scouts, and everybody's excited about the bulk of opportunity we have coming tomorrow night and Saturday. We had Connie in studio last Friday, and he said, you know, I'll ask Todd, hey, is this guy going to get to us? And Todd will say no. And this guy going to get to him. And he said, but this year, Todd's something tough guy. I'm saying no about a guy sliding.

We know Celebrity's going to go one, but can you recall a class that seems so volatile or undecided when you get to pick number two and beyond? No, and that's, that's, it's funny because we've talked about that a lot. Usually you have, you know, six, six, six players for eight spots or you have, uh, 12 players for 17 spots.

We're like, we have more players we like for nine than spots available. So, um, like that, again, that provides excitement for the staff that makes just dig in a little more and make sure that we're going to get this right. And, you know, we just had a little meeting here. And no matter what, our staff is excited that we're going to get a really, really good player for the flames at night. Yeah, that's fair. This class midway through the year felt like it was going to be D heavy.

We're starting to maybe see some of these forwards jump up. But how hard was it, I guess, making sense of those top five, six, seven D? And like a lot of very different types of guys. You've got a lot of laughs, a couple of righties. you've got a huge towering guy that defends really well. You've got some point producers. You've got the well-rounded D. I mean, that would be quite a challenge for your group, I imagine.

It is. And one thing we did, we tried to sort those guys out by value throughout the league or what winning teams had in their D-Corps. And lo and behold, we found out they have all of them. Right. You need a bit everything. It didn't really help the process. Yes, they have shutdown guys, they have offensive guys, they have two-way guys,

they have skaters, they have size. So we're just going to go by our process. And again, we have to make a decision. So we have to rank them. There's a lot of good defensemen. And we've got our list in order now. So it's going to come out. We're not going to have a choice of the first couple of guys.

But after that, like at nine, we're going to have to make a choice. And whoever that is on our list, we're going to be excited about. Todd, we got candy with us as well. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, good to see you, Todd. I'm rolling them with the dumbleweeds here today. But I was curious, what does strike you about this class of defensemen?

We have a lot of big guys, a lot of those coveted right shock guys. And we know that obviously scoring is the most important thing at the NHL level. But when we see guys make the jump to the A, really a lot of the time it feels like it is about getting professional level defense down. How does this class seem to measure up to that? You're still right. And so you have offensive guys. You have two-way guys. You have guys that we think are going to be elite shutdown defenders first and then provide offense secondary.

So sorting them has been hard. It's harder to teach offense. It comes a little more naturally to offensive players. It's harder to teach defensive-ordinated players offense, but it's a little bit easier, obviously, especially with structure and you have a partner in details to implement more defense into those skill or offensive guys first. It's been a huge challenge for your community, I imagine,

with Russia in the penalty box for political reasons in the hockey community. You haven't been able to measure the Demadoves and Saliav's against other nations best at the same age group. How was that affected the last couple of years in the draft? It was hard. It was hard to not have eyes on these guys, so to speak. We had a lot of video on them. We had our analytics on them, but not to have eyes on him was hard.

We hired Dennis Grabeshkov last year in Russia, and he's been so helpful to our group because we have a lot of faith in him in his evaluations. He's got a good history, international hockey, NHL. So he's been really helpful to us. And then Dan Milstein had an agency camp last week in Port Lauderdale. a bunch of those top guys came over and all the teams were there to watch them. They put them through drills. They did combine workouts.

They did individual workouts. And we got to talk to them. So compared to the last couple of years, we think we're way ahead in our overall evaluation and projections on these guys. And I said before not only with the top guys, but guys into the third and fourth round, too, that Dennis has identified that we might not have seen on video because we didn't have eyes on them early. And then you have guys, I think particularly on the offensive side.

You have like your Caden Lindstroms, you're writer Richies, who are top end talent, but they had their season significantly shortened by injury. How much time do you need to see a guy before you're really comfortable that you have a grasp on what they are? I'd like another couple of months, please. Scouts are almost saying. Like a bad news for you a time.

We always want one more viewing or one more video viewing. So you have to make a decision. The good thing with both those players is that they were on the radar early. So we saw them a lot. There were players at the Halenka. We saw him last year at the under 17 challenge, so we had an underage book on him. So you want to see him in the key moments,

especially Caden, who didn't play at the under 18s. But we saw him enough, and we have enough of a history with him, that we're not worried about our evaluation on him. Same with Ryder Richie. He was stopped in the middle of the season, but then he came back at the end. He was on the Halenka team and the under 18 gold medal team. So we're very confident that we've had enough viewings on him.

the one year going back when Morgan Riley played five games and Caltech played they both had the knees that was much more difficult so we're way further ahead in that regard this year and so is part of the equation lost development time or is it more just getting a good body of work that you can judge what a player is or is it a blend there it's not much of development time because these kids are still 17 they get a lot of room to develop the most important thing is making sure the injury is not going to linger or that it's career threatening or that type of of things. So once we get the medical consult and they give us no problems, don't worry about it,

and they give us to go ahead, then we're good with our on-ice evaluation. And then Matt Brown does the mental part. So we're good in all three phases with all our injured players. I find it fascinating how teams try to navigate what happens ahead of them, because you obviously can't take anyone until it's your turn, but you do want to try to get a handle on what's happening ahead of you. And I feel like this is some spy versus spy clandestine stuff where you try to figure out, well, I don't know. What about Utah? Oh, but this team needs this. Is that sort of futile or a fool's errand or is, are you able to do that well? I feel like this is misdirection season. If teams are saying things, they're probably trying to throw you off the send.

There's a lot of misinformation and misdirection. And you try and get the information for sure. You like to have an idea, especially if you're trying to move up or where you might have to move to get a guy. But there's lots of lies being told this time of year. And the agents are lying, the scouts are lying to the agents, the media's lying, the scouts are lying to the media. So it's a lot of misinformation. That's a nice way to call it lying. But yeah, we're trying to get, everybody's trying to get an edge and trying to figure out maybe not as much at nine, but if a team's at 15 and they want to get into the top 10, what does that take and who's interesting? So for us at 28, we're doing the same thing more from like 10 to 18. What do we have

to do to get one of these guys that we like in the next group of players moving up and who's interested in them. So there's a lot of just listening and trying to figure it out. And it's not that easy, but at the same time, you know there's misinformation. So it's fair to say you sort of feel like there's another ledge somewhere around 20. Is that accurate? Yeah, yep. So we think, I think it's a little bit deeper than I think we got 22 for 28. We think we're going to get a really player 28 as well. And then there's a, you know, a group of six or seven, guys after our top group that we'll get at nine, that we've talked about what the cost would be to move up into that, you know, in the top 18, say 10 to 18 to get one of those players.

Interesting. Interesting. I know Cammy's been doing a bunch of work with the Western League. How would you rank the Western League's group? There's certainly three pretty interesting players that I think we'll see in the top dozen. Yeah, it's a good, it's really good throughout Canada, I think, this year. Sorry, more Ontario in the West. Quebec's a little bit leaner this year. But even the, you have the top Western hockey league guys, but you also have a really good group that's going to go like, say, 20 to 55. There's going to be a lot of Western hockey leaguers in that group. So it's, it's exciting for the, for the CHL. It's exciting for the Western hockey league and being part of the hitman and everything. So we're excited being a Western team that

we can get some guys that maybe come close to home. Must be a little extra exciting for you guys, knowing that you get so many looks at guys like Carter Jacob, Chuck. there's a lot of hype around, but also a Carson Wedch, who Gary Davidson's first pick coming into the Hitman organization when he came over from Everett, who that kid has a lot of a throwback winger vibe to his game. See, I don't even need to add to that. You are bang on. He is a throwback winger.

Do you feel like you've been able to take advantage of maybe some of that vertically integrated knowledge? Like you guys are in the same building as the Hitman staff, coaches, are you still bringing in Carter, for example, to talk to in draft week? Or is it like, no, we've seen this guy in the building all year? Like, how do you approach the process with a guy that you've probably seen at your job 100 times this year? Yeah, absolutely.

We go through the same process with them. The biggest concern we have is we see them too much sometimes. We don't want to poke holes in him that we wouldn't see another guy. So we want to be careful with that aspect. But it's good to have eyes on them. It's good for Connie and Dave Nones and Donnelly and that group to see these guys more. not only with the hitmen, but the other teams coming in. So when Brandon comes in or Camloops and Colonna come in or Spokane, they can see those guys.

So it really helps overall having them. Our biggest fear is that we don't want to over-evaluate or pick a guy apart because we see him so much. I got to ask, do you have any memories of Byron Richie? I do. I remember. I don't want to age myself, but I've been around for a while. So, yeah, I talked to Byron a little bit at the under 18s. He was a dad first there because him and Jerome were pacing when the games were being played.

But, yeah, but Byron was a, you know, a thick, strong, really feisty, competitive guy. And I find with the parents that were like that, they try and push your kids to be, you know, as a junior player, Byron was dynamic, right, skill and offensive. And then he found his niche in the NHL. So I remember all those guys for sure. Matt, you want to talk about pushing your kids. So Ryder says that he doesn't remember a ton about his dad's time in Calgary because he was pretty little.

But he says one of his first memories is getting to go down to the flames dressing room after a game, trying on all the goalie gear because Ryder wanted to be a goalie. And he said his dad came out to a timbitts practice and just like rifles a shot off his chest. And he said he never wanted to play goalie again after that. It worked out because his release is insane. He could have done it another way. He may want to just have a conversation with him, but he proved this point regardless. Yeah, exactly.

Todd, final one for you. Just how is this the dynamic at the table when you're one or two picks away? Are you trying to hide anguish if the guy you really want to slide isn't there? Are there multiple guys around the table that want it to go a different way? Like, what is the dynamic as you look around the table with Connie at the helm? Yeah, we're in a good spot to try her poker face at the table. For sure, you get excited if you see a guy falling. And if somebody goes really like maybe ahead of where you thought they would,

you want to hide that emotion too. So we're working on our poker faces and not a better place in Vegas to do it. Are you in the sphere right now? No, we're in our hotel, the Cosmo. Okay. I mean, we're all starting to see the sphere for the first time. Just what's it like, you know, when you roll into Vegas and it gets dark and you start to see all the lights and the NHL draft logo?

I don't know even know what you call it, just beamed across the sphere. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool because it's an experience you're never going to see. We've never seen before, so I don't know when we'll see it again. but I could see the Cosmo from my hotel or the sphere from the hotel room. So it's pretty neat. Is this six, seven years ago, this team wasn't in the league. Vegas was a place you might have done a thing here or there.

Like, do you feel like this is a big ad for the league? Like, this is clearly huge hosting event, mecca of the earth, right? 100%. Like providing entertainment to all the people and the atmosphere around an NHL draft in any city. Nashville was unbelievable last year. It's a really, you know, it sort of puts your league on the map. So it's a big event in the middle, at the end of June, basically.

So you're in the city here. You see all that stuff. You see the banners. It's pretty neat for not me as much, but I assume for the kids and the kids coming in and the family's coming in. And you've got Europeans who've never been to Vegas before. I think it's pretty neat. Well, hopefully things go well tomorrow and you can celebrate at the ice bar, Todd. Thanks so much for sharing some time with us.

We appreciate the insights. and obviously Flames fans awfully excited about the prospect of a couple first round selections this year and the next couple moving forward. Best of luck tomorrow. Thank you both. All right. There's Todd Button, director, scouting for the Calgary Flames as we continue our Barn Burner, live from the Circa Hotel on Fremont, downtown Vegas. It is burning. It is burning.

Stadium swim. Cammy just rolled in. What do you make of this pool slash sportsbook slash. casino. It's something. I'm overwhelmed. I think I'm definitely like, I'm a winter bitch. I am like, I am a cold person. I like skiing. I like snowboarding. Curling. I am not built for this. You got into the meltdown tomorrow. I'm going right to the ice bar after this. Tell you what? It sounds like that, uh, what's that James Bond movie? Oh, but yeah, I don't know the name, but you're right. I'm with Hallie Berry. I feel like a scene in an ice bar is straight out of a James Bond film.

Yeah. We've got you. I want to pick your brain. on some of the Western League kids at the top of the draft. I think it would be a safe bet to suggest that Caden Lidstrom could be the first Western Ligar off the board. That doesn't mean it's in stone. But let's start with the big center from Medicine Hat who didn't have a full season, but also didn't fail to impress the scouting community. No, I don't think there's a lot of worry that the injury is really going to linger.

And he's just so powerful all the time. He's always making things happen. That's something that's really impressed his head coach, Willie Desjardin. also the general manager of the medicine hat tigers. This is a guy that a lot of people see strong upside in. And he's a great kid. He comes from a super nice family. Mom's super hardworking.

So I think whoever gets them, lucky to have them. Yeah, I saw the NHL drop a little tidbit. He ran a 40 time last summer that would have put him in the top 13 in the NFL. They're like, what? Like, this guy's an athlete. Just one of those. Drop them in any sport and they'll be fine. Okay.

T. Jiginal is a big one, and it's more than just their Western League conversation. It's, oh my God, that's the greatest player in franchise history. Son, that's the conversation in Calgary. What have you made of his second year in the Western League is first with the Rockets? It's so cool because this year we really got to see what happens when he gets an opportunity and runs with it. The reality is last year he was on a very good Seattle team. Obviously won a championship, but you're not necessarily going to find minutes all the time for a kid like that. So maybe we didn't get to see what he was at his fullest potential there.

So he took off like a gunshot this year. And we saw it. And just how much his stock rose from the start of the season to the end. And I think there's a lot of players out of the WHL who have a very similar case where this was a breakout year for them. Yeah, I recall talking to someone in the off season. And they're like, yeah, I think, you know, probably a safe bet to go in the second round. And then you check in before Chris, it was like, no, this kid's in the first round now. And then late in the season, like, shit, this guy might be the first half of the first round.

And then he goes into the playoffs, sets of rocket. record with eight goals in a series. There's been some good players that have played for the Rockets over the years. Oh, and he's been playing with Hiroki Goisick, who came over from the BCHL this year to play for the Rockets. His younger brothers also drafted by the Rockets. That was another little, hey, let's go there. But I've seen those two play together. They're both pretty physical, actually.

And I think they built well off of each other. So that's really helps Hiroki's draft stock as well. Yeah. And now there's the thought Teach could be on some teams less than the top five. And if you're the Calgary Flames, you're just hoping that maybe someone in the top four is still on a team's list of Tees is available because it's just the more you look at it, the more you're squinting to see him get to nine. It's, it feels like it's a long way all of a sudden for Teage to get to.

I want to know what the secret is to his power. Someone on the coaching step in Kelona told me he's all about milk. Okay. And Edo. That's what power is Tijiginla. Well, I mean, we can change our diets. I don't know that we're going top 10 in the drop, but it feels like Teage might be a safe bet there. Carter Yakumchuk's an interesting one.

The Calgary hitman right shot defenseman. Huge, huge right shot defenseman. That is not something that comes along all the time. And this guy, I mean, you don't see offense like this from defensemen all the time. Seeing any 18-year-old score 30 goals would be nuts. He's doing this as a defenseman. He broke Calgary's single season scoring record for goals by a defenseman, which was previously set by Jake Bean.

Now, the one thing is, and we also saw a couple 120 pims. Yeah. This guy really does want to show off that he's physical and he can, play it at both ends of the ice. And I think there's huge upside for Carter. Yeah. So those would be the big three. Do you have another dark horse that could get into the top half of the first round?

I don't know if he's a dark horse. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Maybe a one Berkeley Caton. Berkeley Caton. I got too excited. I was thinking three. There's four guys.

And Caton appropriately, I think, is getting undervalued for the massive, what, 115 point season to lead all draft eligible players? That's crazy. It was nuts. Like there's no way this guy couldn't score. And it was on a team where there wasn't necessarily. a ton of run support all the time, but we saw great stuff with him and a Conner roulette and a Chase Bertholette. But Berkeley just really has all the tools.

He's so dynamic, so fast. And even if he's not the biggest guy, he's an evasive guy. Yeah. No, I think there's questions about whether he's a center or winger, but I don't think there's any. Johnny Gujarro wish with the evasiveness, I'd say. But bigger, right? He's not tiny. No.

And he still could be a centerman in the NHL. Either way, I think you're going to see a lot of point production and just the creativity. thinking at it. Someone's going to get him and we're going to look back and be like, he should have gone sooner. I get that vibe. I forgot to mention him. That's kind of perfectly underlined where I think teams are out on him.

I mean, if he's going to fly under the radar, that's a big win for whichever team does get him because he's capable of great things. But there are, you said you want to know some dark horses. Yeah. It's kind of cool because it is such a mix when you go down the line. We'll look at mock drafts and see a WHL player who's ranked at, you know, 25 on one list and 72 on another. So they really could go anywhere.

But there's some really great physicality in the forwards. When you look at, we mentioned Carson Watch as a bit of a throwback winger and Andrew Basha out of medicine. Calgarian, good Calgary boy. Gippersoft fan. And yeah,

I think I helped purchase a bunch of his hockey equipment because his dad owns the pub six blocks from the studio. Oh, I've responsibly enjoyed their products many a time. Well, sometimes responsibly, but yes, plenty of time indeed.

Not you, but yeah, Fata's another great player to watch out for. And then there's some really great stories where you look like an Ollie Josephson with Red Deer, who has a very high-end lacrosse background, Benton Nationals a couple times. And he brings that creativity and that speed to his game. You look at a Terrick Parasak. They call him the super rookie. This is crazy. He had an absolutely banana season with Prince George leads all rookies in points.

And consider this is a kid who was drafted in the fourth round. And GM Mark Lamb sits him down and says, listen, you're going to have to go back down to the edge for another year. We're not quite sure that you're ready for the WHL right now. So he takes that in stride. He puts in the work and he comes in and he has the season he has. I mean, he missed the last couple games of playoffs with an injury. And that really hurt Prince George when they were going up against Portland in that Western Conference

Championship. So Parasak's a great one to watch. And then even the goaltenders, there are some big goaltenders coming up. There's Lucas Menteca out of Tri-City, Dawson Cowan out of Spokane. And sweetest kid from Manitoba, undrafted, works his way into the league. He was pretty small when he didn't get drafted and then he just shot up. But at the end of Spokane's training camp or preseason this year, they had a bunch of sandwiches left for the kids.

And everyone's gone. So he goes to the coaching stuff and says, can I take these sandwiches? And like, oh, Dawson's hungry. But he packs these all up and he spends his afternoon driving around Spokane, handing out these sandwiches to unhoused people. Come on. Sweetest guy. Sweetest guy.

Cammy. Cammy. No things about things. Loves it. Okay. Is bar trivia career? That's not bar trivia. That's good stuff right there.

So Western League would be pretty proud of this group. It's a good crop better than average. Or is it tough to sort of frame it that way? I guess, you know, you can look high in. Best every year. Okay. Best every year. No, I think it's a really great crop of people here.

No, like I just think there's so many kids who have great stories. Riter Richie is a player who I'm glad had a great showing. at U-18s because I do worry that people forgot just how good he is. And then he rolls into playoffs with Prince Albert and he shows off, I mean, they didn't make it past Saskatoon, who was the regular season champions. But he showed off, he's got an incredible shot. And that would be huge for any team. We have defensemen like Harrison Brunick, who if he makes the NHL would be the first skater

born in South Africa. Yes. To make the NHL, he moved to Calgary. Non-Colzic division. The skater, not the goal. Another proud WHL alumni. Holy Colzig, Tri-City. Americans. And then Terran Smith out of Porcupine Plains, Saskatchewan, didn't play at all last year.

He played eight games in his 16-year-old season and got shoulder surgery. Comes in this year and people are like, is this kid even a prospect? And now he's just shot up the rankings. I think he's around the third ranked overall. Wow. Yeah. Good year for the Western League. H.L. All-Rookie team. Let's get some transactions. We've had a few today as NHL GMs have not wasted much time. And I guess when you run the final into the same week with the game seven as the draft things are going to happen GM's got to get stuff done these are opening statements on the transactions for mccloud law you know peter klein and mccloud law he's the personal injury claim guy but did you also know he's your go-to guy for your disability insurance claim if your long-term disability insurance company is

refusing to pay you and the benefits you deserve contact peter he'll get you those disability benefits you paid for. They'll also get you back that piece of mind. Peace of mind you paid for. Okay, let's look at what we got. The Vancouver Canucks Camie have locked in Dakota Joshua on a four-year deal. Your AAB for this contract, 3.25 million is they want to bring back the bruising third-line winger who had a very good year. I don't mind the cap hit four years is a significant amount of term for that type of a role, but it probably allows them to keep that cap hit a little lower. and they love that third line that they had. Dakota Joshua.

Connor Garland, yeah. Lugar, like that was a super effective group that they had going for Vancouver this year. I'd work and why I split it up. Yeah, as you can see, 12 team, no trade clause for him and some signing bonus money up front for Joshua. That leaves, by the way, 15.9 million for the Canucks, which sounds like a lot. But if you're trying to carve out nine plus for Jake Gensel and free agency, It eats into that significantly. Then you've also got the Nikita Zadora of conversation on the back end.

He wants lots of dough because, well, we all wants lots of dough, but he's Nikita. And if he needs to go to a sixth team to get that bag, I don't doubt that he'll do that. But maybe, just maybe, could they squeeze both cancel and Zadorovin? Well, the McKayev move yesterday to Chicago, certainly gave him a little more space. Josh was done. We'll see what else they do with the near $16 million of cap space. pick swap today.

The Buffalo Sabres have moved back three selections. Why? Well, because the San Jose Sharks said take a second round pick. In fact, pick number 10 of the second round. That's not nothing. So Buffalo slides back from 11 to 14. And the sharks likely believe they're getting into a ledge now of the top 11 picks where they probably can say, we know we have Celebrini at 1.

If we want one of those top five or maybe six defensemen on our list, it's going to be tough for six of them to slide past 11. And it's an interesting piece of business for Mike Greer, who has been picking high for a couple of years now. But I never mind that consolidating lesser picks to get a higher value pick. We'll see if it works for the sharks. D and a forward coming out around one. Come on. Can't go wrong.

Let's do it. So those are the moves that we've seen today. And there'll be more coming, I'm sure. Free Agency's Monday. It's crazy how much stuff's going on. And yeah, there's still a lot of teams trying to talk. with players and get them sewn up before free agency opens. I'll ask you this.

Did you expect we'd be day before the draft and Oliver Shillington still didn't have a contract with the Calvary Flames? I mean, I'm not surprised, no. Is this like the time of year where you really need to get those things done? Like, what's the bother with waiting on Monday, right? I thought they would have it done by now. And I know that there's a lot of goodwill between team and player, but, but it, what are we still trying to figure out that we couldn't a month ago?

Maybe it's just the pressure of a timeline, but Shillington sounds like he wants to be a flame. The flame certainly would love to have Shillington back. They both have a lot of admiration and respect for each other through the process of the 20 months. Plus, he didn't play. We'll see. I continue to hear that it's going to get done, but we're now just days away from him theoretically signing with another team. It's not always easy. It's not always easy.

and I can get how for a player who has been around the league for more than a year, even given the break where you might not want to be on a prove it deal. But that might just be the situation that he's in. And the team might say, look, we've only seen you for a few months in the last two years. We would like you to prove. I don't know. It's interesting. And we'll see if the flames do find a way to sort that out before Monday's free agent window.

By the way, we will not do a show Monday, but Frank Saravalli is going to have his annual July 1, Free agent show Tyler Remtruck and he will be breaking down all the transactions. So do not fear if you don't see a barn burner on Monday. You won't. It's a holiday. We'll be nursing hangovers or, yeah, floating on a lazy river, something. Maybe lost at an airport somewhere. It's to be determined still.

There's no way you get out of here in one piece. There's no way you get out of here. We'll be bringing you coverage Monday on Daily Face Off's coverage of free agent opening July 1. Okay, so those are some opening comments on the transactions of the day for McLeod Law. A reminder, Shane King, a partner in the litigation and dispute resolution group. They specialize in areas like employee rights. If you've been laid off or terminated, that's no fun. No good at all.

Shane can review your situation and make sure you've been treated fairly and as the law requires, using a practical approach and plain language, not legal jargon. Again, McLeodlaw, McLeod-Dashlaw.com or find them on social media at McLeodlaw, LLP. We've got some Betway. We've got a little road ahead for Village Honda, and we have a schedule of events coming up that should be quite fun for everyone here on Flames Nation. Why don't we start with the road ahead for Village Honda?

You know, Village Honda, obviously new vehicles on the lot. You've got the pre-owned selection and the huge network through their dealer group, but here's a new one for you. mark this date down on your calendar. It is August 24th, their fourth annual show and shine, the Honda and Accura Show and Shine. Bigger and better every year. Awards for Best in Show, Best in Modified, Best Classic,

and new for this year, the People's Choice Award. You can register now online at village honda.com. So, Cammy, we're poolside today. It's been a whale of a show. We had noodles, Todd Button, already approaching an hour and a half here. tomorrow is going to be the marathon, the monster one. Draft is slated to start four Vegas time. That's five Calgary time.

We will have a live watch party from I think the 15th floor here, R.J., overlooking the whole setup with pool and the sports book and the two-story screens. It's the least two stories. It's more than that. We can't win this one. It's like five-story screens. It's crazy here at Stadium Swim. We're going to have some guest dropping.

I'm blind and I can see it from here. It's impressive. It's quite impressive. Kent Wilson's going to join us for. a bit my gold as well. And Cammy, I'm hoping we could even check in with you if we get the right Western Ligger in the right spot potentially if that's okay. I'll clock in from a Zoom and you'll ask me a question.

My response will just be frantic screaming. Hey, if it's the right player, that might be the justified and measured response. Panic is already my neutral state. So we can only imagine what this weekend's going to be like. Saturday is going to be crazier than Friday, though. Okay. So we are encouraging all of you to join us on the YouTube page. for the watch party essentially of round one.

It's usually three to four hours, and you're right about Saturday. There's a lot of picks to be made, including six in the first Saturday three rounds, rounds, two, three, and four for the flies. What excites you about Saturday? Just get into the depth of this draft class. Yeah, I'm really excited.

This is my first time being at an NHL draft. So I just want to see how this all goes down. I want to see how the sausage is made. You will be, I guess, a little challenged by the pace on Friday and blown away at how brisket becomes on Saturday. as things move on. Legs feed the wolf. We're ready for it.

Also, I'm told it's going to be a very different looking. There isn't one podium where it's commissioner player team. It'll be picked me here, go over there, shake your hand here. The sphere is not the size of an NHL rink. So there are additional challenges and or, I guess, opportunities to make this look pretty different. So RJ, we're encouraging everyone to join us for the watch party tomorrow night on Flames Nation. And we might even have a couple grouchy old men from Manitoba and Alberta join us on said broadcast.

Who could that be? I mean, it's a huge surprise. There's so many. I don't know on this network who it could be. That's our road ahead for Villachon in terms of what we've got coming up for broadcast. There'll be no regular Barnburner tomorrow, just the huge draft watch party, which should be a ton of fun. And again, a lot of intrigue and suspense. around nine. I feel like if you pulled the fan base, it's Teage mania. But if it's not Teage,

boy, there's still a lot of good players. It'll be available for the flames at nine. Seeing quite a few mock drafts that are having Berkeley Cat in at nine. Really? Playmaking, high-end winger, vision points. You can't go wrong with scoring. You can't go wrong with someone who can score. I want to pull back the curtain a bit. Our fine producer and technical guru. Who chose to wear black in 50 degree weather. He's not a Vegas veteran, that's for sure. He's wearing his afterburner shirt in honor of you, Kemi. RJ's here. And when we recorded the noodles conversation earlier this morning, he was talking about Teage and the prospects of him

being selected early. And the more noodles talk, the more RJ dropped his head into his hands and almost mouthing words to himself, like, please, hockey gods, let Teage slide to nine. I feel he's perfectly embodied the fan base with that emotion. You want Teach. The heart wants what the heart wants. He loves Teach.

Okay. Listen, we all love some Teach, but we don't all get Teet. There's one Teage and, you know, eight teams that pick ahead of the Flames. We'll see where the marriage is. Maybe you trade up. Maybe he gets to nine. You know what, Flames fans? If it doesn't work out for you, there's always Joe.

That's a couple years away. They do have multiple picks and 16. All right. Hey, he looked great when he got into a couple games with the Oil Kings this year. Yes. Yeah, no, it's. You got to love when all of your first WHL highlights come when you're wearing the SpongeBob jersey for Nickelodeon night. That's how it was.

Shout out Remax. Oh, my goodness. Amazing. Yeah, I forget which team they had, the teams get to kind of come up with what they want to do for those remax nights we see, or the Nickelodeon nights. You see some teams do like a Paw Patrol, lots of SpongeBob. But one team did a Patrick. Okay. So it's just like pink jersey, pink socks and green pants.

RJ's dying over here. Yeah. Look it up. Look it up. It was a very intense game. too. And I thought the, what was the, the, the Defenbaker Lake sharks or whatever, or the alternate jersey that, the slew sharks? Thank you. I thought that was a good jersey. We also had the cobra chickens up in PA. I actually didn't know what a cobra chicken was until that.

Who knew the Western League could have so much fun. Hey? We're all fun. Not just grumpy old men anymore. Get out to the games. Gavin McKenna coming up in a few years too. Get up. 2026. Go get them. Go get them. Okay, a couple other bits to get to. Let's jump into our Betway Bats. the day. Here's the deal at Betway. If you open a new account, you lose your first bet. Well, don't even worry about it. You could get up to $200 back on that bet. No minimum bet required. The only rule you can't be in Ontario. Open that new account. Redeem your bonus. And then, yeah, you either win the bet or you'll be refunded up to $200 on a bet you lose. And that way, you've got more cash to bet on your favorite sports, whether that's Copa America camming or whether

that's the European Championships or whether that's UFC. What's the number up there? Power slap, there's UFC. There's all kinds of things you could roll on over at Betway. So let's look at our Betway bets today. I've gone with a couple over-unders on draft stock. We'll start with Trevor Connolly, who's off-ice actions and maybe character

have come into question more than his actual hockey skill. his over under on Betway 20.5. I'm going to take the under, i.e. he'll be selected before pick number 21. The skill is arguably top 10 cusp there. I don't think there's that many teams that pass on them. And I guess a lot of these actions in question occurred many, many years ago. We'll see what happens here.

But a few people who have mentioned to me, they don't think he'd get past Detroit. If he's on the board when they select, I believe it's 15. So I've got Connolly under 20.5 at minus 15, 115. And then Berkeley Caton, I think he's going to slide a bit, Cammy. I love the player, but I just see Beckett Seneca rising like crazy. I see a little bit of a push from Consta Hellenius. I think Teage is a slam dunk to go earlier rather than later.

I think someone's going to be intrigued by a 6'7 salive. And maybe Katten does get to Philly at 12. And what a coup that would be for the flyers who have meat. Chkhov already arriving this year, another offensive weapon to put with him in a couple of years. It'd be pretty fun. My cat and highlights the better. There you go. That is our Betway Betts of the day.

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Lots of tools at your disposal there for you to live your best life. Well, dang, consider me aroused. There you are. Be aroused.ca for more information. Okay, I believe we've gotten to everything we're going to get to today. Cammy, thanks for stopping in and sweating with us here on the, I'm worried my laptop is going to slide clear off my legs. I might have to go play a few hands of blackjack with RJ following this.

It's time for a cool beverage. And I don't know that we got to the 500 likes Jack was pitching for me to jump in the pool. I feel like we're going to fall short. We are short. Disappointing. Jack, how are you, buddy? I'm doing well. You guys are complaining about the hot weather.

It's dark, cloudy, rainy here. Oh, not complaining. Just noting it's very hot and amazing. and we're going to need some cold beverages, Jack. Yeah, well, next time we can swap places. You want to host next year? Some of us are going to go work hard after this. Yeah, my liver, obviously.

What's the left of it? 4 p.m. tomorrow, join us. It will be the watch party. Jack, anything else we need to tell people about it. I don't want to say thank you to Spring Financial for jumping on their first dance on the show today. All of our partners, we can't do this sort of stuff without you. Big shouts to Betway Villachonda and McLeod Law, who will be. be presenting tomorrow's watch party as well. Jack, are you excited? What's your bold prediction for tomorrow night? Bull prediction, T. Jigginla is a Calgary flame. Oh, wow. We got to start

manifesting it right now. I hope the mics picked that up from behind the camera. Yeah, no, that was RJ screaming like a schoolgirl. Oh my gosh, now he's twerking on the wall. He's twerking on the wall. He's going nuts. We have to go, people. Thanks for joining us. See you tomorrow, buddies.