Empty Netters Podcast - Jacob Trouba Doesn’t Owe You Shit | 117

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

Is the No Move Clause a good thing or a bad thing? Either way, it exists now, so fans need to chill with getting mad at their players for not waiving it. Plus, four epic trades the guys want to see happen this summer. NEW EPISODES EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY! SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuf52MHW1O7guPMzsMvv2kA FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/empty.netters/?hl=en FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@empty.netters (0:00) – Intro (4:06) – No Move Clause (26:03) – Gibson Trade (33:35) - Askarov trade (39:27) - Kadri trade (43:15) - Laine trade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Packages by Expedia. You were made to occasionally take the hard route to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were made to easily bundle your trip. Expedia, made to travel. I don't give a flying fuck if little Timmy just started violin lessons, and he loves his teacher. Find a new instructor in fucking Seattle. You play for the Cracket, you bitch. Ice is ready, babes, and we are back with another episode of the Empty Netters Podcast.

And unfortunately for your boy, it is not coming home. No, it is not, Dan. And here's the thing. It never is. It never was home. You know what's funny? You know what's funny, Chris? I was sitting at the pub today.

So it's, for those listening, your boy, D.P. is in England right now. I'm having the best time of my entire life. I'm in London. I absolutely love it here. Nice Chelsea shirt, Chris. I really appreciate it. Had it on all day.

I really appreciate that. a bunch of Spaniards. Couldn't happen. Yeah, you're just in L.A. with like a bunch of you out of a Spanish bar. Yeah. And I said, get fucked, dude. It's coming home. And they said it's never been home.

So never will be. I'm here and I'm at the pub. It's Sunday night for me right now. We just watched England, Spain, Euro final. And I'm sitting there and I look around to the people I'm with. And I just simply go, I just think. that it's coming home song might need to just be dropped. It might need to be retired and never uttered again until it does in fact come home. It's a great song if they eventually win something.

But I just think the whole, you know, we see banners, there's posters, there's murals. There's murals on the statues and walls here in London, Chris, and they all say it's coming home. And I just think after like 60 years of it not having been home, we got to stop screaming. It's coming home. Dude, you can't have never won a euro, which England has not, and won one World Cup in 66.

Yeah. And act like the, You are at all a relevant owner of this trophy or of any trophy. And I said to some boys, I was talking to Chet, next Euros is hosted by the UK. So it is coming home in that the trophy will be there when they are awarding it to whoever wins Euros in four years. Yeah, but it certainly will not be England. So good day, sir. Dude, I just like, the whole home thing doesn't really make sense when it's just, I feel like in 66, it, the World Cup trophy like took a vacation here.

That's not home. That it regrets. Your home needs to be your predominant state of residence. And that is certainly not here. Where do you get your mail? I just think we. And it's Spain, by the way. Record fourth euro.

Like, it went home. Euro trophy went home today. So, congrats. So actually, maybe the song is right. They're just, they're just celebrating someone else.

Still singing about somebody else. Football's coming home. It's good sportsmanship. Yeah. Back to Spain. That's where it went. Like, what are we talking about here?

Oh, my God, dude. So we've got a fun episode today here. We're going to break down some really, uh, interesting things going on here. We're in the midst of the off season. But we've also got an electric week coming up. We got Shane Pinto,

joining the podcast. Just signed a nice. juicy deal with the Ottawa senators, one of the bright and shining stars in the NHL coming in with a vengeance this year. Can't wait for you all to listen to that episode. But today we're just going to get into some hot and spicy stuff like we've done this past week. It's the offseason. We got to keep you guys entertained. We got to keep hockey chatter up and rich. And there's something that has been on my nerves. And I want to talk about it. And I also want to base this episode on it. So we're going to be talking trades today. We're going to get into all

things trades, some fun trade ideas, some possible trades we've got our eyes on and might be rooting for it to happen. But before we get into those, I want a little bit of a dantrum. We're going to get an off-season dantrum here, if that's okay. Rare, rare, rare. A rare off-season Dantrum. We're going to talk at the top of this podcast about no-move clauses, what they mean, and why I think some fans respectfully need to shut the hell up and relax when it comes to your favorite teams, some of these players, and what no-move clauses mean. So, CEP, help me out and, you know, fill in the crew. here, but in layman's terms, when you sign contracts in the NHL, particularly one-way contracts,

you occasionally can have no-move clauses as well as no trade clauses, and those can be up to a certain amount of teams. They can be 10-team, no-move clauses, 15, they can be all 32. When you sign a contract, let's say it's eight years, that no-move clause can start right way. It can also kick in like Pierre-Luc Dubois after the season of your first year in said contract. It can kick in maybe two years in. And then it can also diminish from 32 teams to maybe 15 teams in the last couple of years of your contract. There's a lot of things that can happen here. But essentially, if you have a 32 team no move clause and let's say you aren't maybe living

up to the contract, maybe you're not playing that way. Maybe your team finds themselves in a sticky situation. They need to move around some cap space and you are a player that they feel is expendable. They can try to trade you. But if you have that 32 team, no move clause, they need to get you to waive said clause to go to any of those teams. Let's say that's a 15 team. If they make a trade with one of the teams that is not on your no move list, there you go. Trade can go through.

If it is one of those 15 teams, again, they need you the player to waive said clause to make the trade. This is very topical right now because there are a couple of situations going on in the league that would require certain players to waive their clause. Let's start in New York with Jacob Truba. Right now, Rangers fans seem fed up with Jacob Truba. He is their captain. He signed a big contract with the former GM, not Chris Drury. He is on a large cap hit, and a lot of Rangers fans feel that Truba has not lived up to said contract

and is currently this past season and then playoffs in particular, not playing up to said contract. So there's been a lot of chatter of they need to trade him. They need to move him. Now, Truba. Quick interjection on that, Dan. Yes, please. Do you think that he got fucked?

by that sea that they slapped on his chest. When that happened, we were all like, oh, wow, how is it not Crider? Or, like, that's just such a shocking appointment. And I'm not even knocking him, the leader, or the player. I'm just like, that seemed, that was surprising to me. And I just don't think that Rangers fans would be as pissed if he wasn't the captain. Okay. They had just been like, oh, Crider's the captain.

And Truba's, like, doing exactly what he's doing on the blue line with no fucking letter on his jersey. the rage isn't there. Good caveat. Because I was going to say, I don't think he got fucked by being the captain because I think he wanted to, or not wanted to be the captain, but I think he was very happy to accept the cat. He's a leader on that team. He's a leader in the NHL. I think he's a great captain for that team.

I do agree. Yes, I think he is, I think he is subject to harsher criticism because he has the sea. That's what I will say. Now, Truba has a modified no trade clause or no move clause. He is 30 years old. He makes $8 million a year against the cap for next season and the season after that. So what's currently going on is, and again, I'm sort of paraphrasing and speculating here because I don't know all the details. But the situation is that Jacob Truba's wife is in some sort of school in New York.

And Jacob, like a fucking gentleman, does not want to accept a trade on any of the teams that are not on his trade list. Or, you know what I mean? He does not want to wave his claws for the teams that he doesn't want to go to in a huge part because he does not want to move he and his wife and family out of New York because she is in school pursuing her career and her dreams, which is well within his rights. and, in my opinion, incredibly admirable. And there is a preposterous amount of New York Rangers fans online who are taking time out of their day to not only sewer Truba, but sewer his wife facelessly on social media. And I just find it so hilariously pathetic.

And I'm not trying to call out Rangers fans here. I'm trying to call out any fan who would do this and call out a player and their family for, having a no trade or no move clause and being like, yeah, I'm going to use that. I signed the contract and included that for a reason, and I'm now going to make the team honor it. I just cannot believe this is a thing going on right now. Adobe Acrobat Studio, your new foundation. Use PDF spaces to generate a presentation.

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Dude, I think that you're right about fans because they get pissed. And I also, you're, and bro, you're actually going to fucking hate a lot of my take on this. But I think it's... Surprise, surprise, sir. I think it's weird that the dynamic it even creates, if your ownership, you let a guy, you offer a guy, because it's a sprinkle, right? Like you go, here's the contract offer. Plus, we're giving you 15 team no move. That makes the deal better, right?

So you as ownership, front office, you offer a player a deal. They sign it. And then a year into that deal, you're like, two years into that deal, you're like, I'm going to trade you to one of those teams. and they go, no, dude, I'm using my no move clause on that team. And then ownership is supposed to just not hold it against you, but obviously they are. You know, obviously they're like, fuck you. You're fucking ruining us. We wanted to trade you for someone better.

You're not good enough. You know, it's just like, it completely fucks the relationship. But then I'm like, how are you holding this against them? You gave them this deal, right? Like, it's just such a fucking backwards situation. Like, the second it starts happening, Everybody hates each other. And I'm like, well, this is a, this is a shit show.

But dude, it's the one time I will, I will hear, first of all, I want to say, I will hear frustration from fans. If you're sitting in your living room talking with your buddies who are also a fan of this team and you're going, it's frustrating that there are trades on the table for X player when they're not maybe live, you know, up to snuff. and I wish that they would just accept that they haven't really done their part of the bargain and accept a trade. It's my issue is when you, when you go public with it, when you go on social media and you air out your grievances,

again, like a faceless fucking coward armchair warrior. I'm like, shut up. Just, just shut up for the love of God. You look like an asshole. You make your fan base look like an asshole and you're making yourself look like an

asshole. Like, these guys don't need to fucking answer to you ever. So shut up. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at your team that gave this person this contract. And that's where I kind of got into the topic of, are 32 team no move clauses too much power? And I thought long and hard about this because the one area where I am kind of like, I really do see the frustration is if a player signs a massive contract. we know that there are plenty of situations like this. If a player signs a massive contract, and then pretty early on, we'll say,

or maybe they get a little long, actually, I'm not even going to include that. I was going to say they get a little long in the tooth of the contract. But again, that's a situation where I'm like, that's a failure of the fucking front office, dude,

sorry. But if early on in that contract, they are not performing, those are situations where I'm like, dude, fuck, that's kind of frustrating. If the team can figure out a trade for you when you're not performing to said contract to get it off the books,

and then you're like, no, I'm going to use my no move clause and say I'm not doing it. That is where I'm like, I kind of understand the frustration from the fan base. But when it's not one of those very specific circumstances where someone's playing so badly, I am a little bit like, dude, fuck off. So as always. To the front office? Like, fuck off. To the front office and to the fan base.

I'm like, fuck off. Like, they earned a contract and they signed it. And it is what it is. And as I always do, I'm going to side with the players here. And I'm going to say, fuck you. No move clauses exist for a reason. Because we as fans don't understand how catastrophic it is sometimes. And I stand by that word to uproot a family, to take kids out of school.

to take people out of homes. Like some of these people are, you know, you're from somewhere or you've signed this contract for a reason because you want to start a family and root yourself in an area. And you've earned that no move. And then you're going to go, no, I'm going to stick by this. I'm going to stay where I wanted to set up shop. So I'm going to defend the players and say, it's there for a reason. So, you know, fuck off if you have a problem with it.

Now, I want to, if you have any more thoughts on the trouba situation, I want to hear them because before we move on to some of our other trade topics and ideas, there's another one that I'm very curious to discuss with you. Well, I have more to say on no move if you want that now. Well, it might just work perfectly into the next person. The next player that I want to talk about is my boy Mitch Marner. So all the way into last season, even before playoffs and then through playoffs and now in the off season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been a huge point of discussion about if one of their core four, and I'm going to extend it to five, needs to be traded. They've got Matthews, Nealander, Marner, Tavares, and Riley.

Everyone keeps talking about one of these guys needs to go. It's clearly not working with this group. Marner is the easy scapegoat as he has one year left on his contract. Maybe he is performing not as well as Nealander and Matthews, which as we've talked about, I think is insane. Like, he's well over point per game.

He's a Selky caliber player. Like, what are we talking about here? But a lot of people are like, yeah, Marner's the one who's got to go. Marner has the most value. He's young. He's going to want and deserves a huge contract after next year.

Can the Leafs afford to continue to play one of these forwards over 11 million dollars a year, blah, blah, blah. We were talking with our boy, Nick, at Hockey Collective, and he brought up a great point. Everyone goes, one of these guys has to go, Marner is the one that is unfortunately going to fall, you know, on the chopping block. Marner has a full no move clause. Marner is from Toronto. Marner is married and just got a lovely home in Toronto with his wife.

why the fuck would Mitch Marner wave his no move? Where he's a god. Where he's a god. Where he is a god. Yep. It is one of if not the obviously best markets in the NHL to play hockey. It is the mecca of hockey. Why the fuck would this guy wave his no move when he can just go like this? Nope. I'm going to stay in Toronto, my home, where I've performed spectacularly my entire. career here. I'm going to play one more year where by simple math and logic, he will probably play spectacularly again, play with his best friends on earth, and then earn a fat fucking contract whether they win the Stanley Cup or they get eliminated in four games in the first round. It doesn't matter why on earth would he waive that contract? It is such a good point. And

well, you could argue it's for the betterment of the team. Management might not want, like, if they're actively going, we're trying to trade you, we're trying to trade you, we don't want you here. All he has to do is go, I don't fucking give a shit. And then they go, yeah, you're right. And then they know they have to go,

you're playing here all season long. So we might as well make it fucking work. Yeah, no, I spot on. And that's what I meant about the dynamic before, where I'm like, if that happened, it's just so fractured that, like, I could see a guy being like, fine, I will wave it because you fucking hate me. Everybody here hates me.

Everybody wants me out. I'm not saying that's the case with Mitch. Obviously, he's boys with a lot of those guys. But it's just so twisted. The thing that you're going to hate, I think, and dude, I, the last thing I need is fucking rich owners making more money. You know, like I am so, I want to preface this before I completely go hypocrite. But I don't give a fuck about rich owners. and all I want is the players

to make their money and be happy and have a good situation. However, I think no move clauses are fucking insanity. Really? Yes, dude. And I completely get it.

I want that player, since it exists, they reserve the right to be like, I'm trying to build a family here. But I'm like, dude, it is the job, there are jobs. General manager, their job is to build a team and be able to move that around wherever and whenever they see fit.

This is a fucking business. You are a player getting paid obscene amount of money to play hockey. I am the GM. I don't want you on my team anymore. That team wants you. You are now traded. End of discussion. I don't give a flying fuck if little Timmy just started violin lessons and he loves

his teacher. Find a new instructor in fucking Seattle. You play for the Kraken. You bitch. And again, it exists. So I'm glad the players are using it. But dude, I can't even, and bro, I've said this year before. I would love to see a simulation.

If I ever become sports czar, there will be one year deals only. You cannot sign a contract, dude. What have you done for me lately? And you'd be shocked. I know everyone listening to this right now is going to be like one year deals. Fucking turnover would be insane. Wrong. Teams would want to keep the same guys to keep building chemistry.

The percentage of resigning your own guys every year would be in the 80s. because they're like, no, I like this team. I want them to stay. But it's like, you don't just get to be catching, cashing some ticket you got when you were 28 because, like, you had a sick year. You know, like, here's your money this year. Here's your money next year.

Oh, but what if they get hurt? Fucking sucks, dude. Life blows. It's, this is how you play the game. It's like if in your job, it'd be like if somebody's job was like, they're like, hey, you haven't fucking sold shit here in this entire quarter. You're fired. And you're like, I actually have a no-house.

fire clause because my family's here and uh you know i got kids in school and the job the boss is like damn i thought i forgot we gave him that no fire clause fuck you dude you're traded so i'm glad it exists because i'm happy for the players but that shit is bananas to me okay i think marshan's gonna kill me dude i don't even i pray to god marshy never hears this oh i'm i'm going to make sure that this is sent to him directly oh my god i got to text him ahead of time yeah next day shipping, you need to go like this, just letting you know, I'm being hyperbolic here. Please don't know me. This is classic CP hyperbole, but I am actually going to say the one area where I'm on

your side here is I, I think you're crazy saying that you think no move clauses are bananas. I'm going to go you here. However, I think there's something to be said about performance-based class. clauses. So you have a no move. I don't hate year by year because it should go, like based on your age, I think that that should factor in. I don't hate the idea of year by year performance based clauses. So maybe it's like you have a 32 team no move clause. Let's say you sign a six year deal when you're 28. So that goes till you're 34. From year one to four, so 28 to 32, barring injury.

Injury is where things get void. But if you play at least like, actually no, let's call it this. Based on how much you make, I wouldn't hate like a, you need to maintain an X point per game pace. So if you play 20 games before injury and you have 25 points and your point per game is like, you know, let's call it 1.04, you're good. You're a 32 team. No move clause is intact.

But let's say you play 82 games and you're playing at a 0.056 point per game pace. Sorry, dude. You didn't hit that clause. You can get fucking dealt. You're not performing to your contract. That would be something that's very interesting. and when you become czar, when you become a GM, I think you implement those into your no-move clauses.

You want a fat-dady contract with this team? You want to set up shop here for eight years? Sounds good. But you better perform, and it's in your contract, and in your 32-2-2-team no-move clause, that you better fucking show up and play. Otherwise, that's going to get waived year by year if you ain't playing. That's interesting.

Yeah. And I think there's like stresses that that would create a guy. Like all I'm thinking about is my. Yeah, they wouldn't sign with you. Yeah, right. Right.

If I was the only team. But no, for real, it's like it is just so crazy to me how much it handcuffs a GM. Like the job of the GM, he or she is incapable of doing their job when we're just handing out no move classes. Their job is to build the roster and move pieces around. And I'm like, well, you can't move anybody because everyone signed a no move clause.

And I'm like, that is fucking stupid. Your trades are part of the game. You get traded, dude. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know it's annoying. But you know what isn't annoying? The fucking 30 sheets in your bank account.

And then you can move back to Nashville after you fucking retire and raise the kids there. Yeah. Figure it out. That is, again, I am on the side of the players here. Like, I believe in no move clauses. I support them. But this is the one area where I do, I do think, It is tough when there, I mean, we heard it many, many times now where there are situations where

a team is like, we need to make a move here. And the GM makes a good and crafty move and figures out a trade for a player. And the player goes, no, fuck you. I'm not leaving. Yeah. And again, I want to be clear, it's frustrating. I understand the frustration. But I will also double down and say, if you are one of these fans that are taking to the

internet run in your mouth. Your mouth is moving a lot like a rat. Yapah, yapa, yapa, yapa, yapa, yapa, yapa, yapa, shut it, please. That is how I feel. Don't be a- Because it exists. Yep. Yeah. Do not be a fucking Twitter warrior and fucking run your mouth.

You stupid coward sitting on your couch, shut the fuck up. These guys earned their contracts and GMs gave them those contracts and those no moves. They get to use it. Shut up. Let's talk some trades. With this little rant, with this topical conversation, we're looking at the offseason here. We're in mid-July. There are a few players who are possibly still on the trade block here, a few players possibly looking for new homes,

and few teams looking for new players. I think there's a world where there are some trades still out there in the ether. And I wanted to break down with you a couple of trades each that we think, could be looked at something that we're hoping might happen, something that we're keeping eyes on. I want you to go first. What are you got going on? All right.

My first one is, let's see who I want to do first. Okay, actually I'm going to do this one first. My first one has been long talked about in the hockey world and on this very podcast. I don't know if I love, I'm debating the destination. I'm debating a lot about it, honestly, but I just think I'd be interested. And it's John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks.

Gibber is, let's see here. He's in his 30s. He's in his 30s, and his cap hit is 6.4. Next year, he'll be 31, and it's next year after that, and the year after the out. So he's under contract, is age 31, age 32, age 33, season, 6.4. Not a horrible number. And that is not old, dude.

Like, look at all. exactly like he's he is he is very capable of playing great hockey still and again not a bad number when you look at the when you look at the ducks dan uh giber got 46 games 44 games started last year and d'all still got 38 and and lucas just has better numbers 902 save percentage 333 goals against to gibber's 888 save percentage 3 3%. five, four goals against. Go back a couple years, honestly, the last two years, Gibber's under a nine and over three, five, both years.

That's not it, right? But, Gibber to me, not to interrupt you, I'm sorry. Giver to me seems like a, I love where you're going with this. He seems like a classic example of a guy who needs a fresh start. And you know, we both love the ducks. The ducks are on the up and up. But yeah, to me, I'm like, the Ducks would do better with a, you know, a young goalie who's part of this project.

And like, let Giver go. And like, Dostall's been great. Like, let Dostall maybe take that role. Get a young goalie to learn from, but like, yeah, I could see Gibber on a playoff team, like Detroit maybe, who is like, oh, I feel like that would be a good start for him. Okay, so that's my exact point, Dan. I look at the wings. And what I was going to say is you go back to Gibbert, like in his mid-20s.

put in some seasons, dude. 60 games, 9, 26, 24, 3, 4 shutouts. Like, he's touched the sun. And it was 926, 924, 924, 924, 904, 904 until the last two years. If he can go to Detroit, and I look at the Wings roster, because it feels like the Ducks could just go with Lucas and not be giving up throwing away their season. You know, I'm not, because we both believe in the ducks. I'm not saying trade away your goalie and just miss the fucking playoffs again. I'm like, no, you were going to go with Lucas anyway. So go with Lucas. And then look at the Wings, dude. Last year, they go, Lion gets 43 starts. That's the guy, right? And he had a 904, 305 last season. Better than Gibber, for sure. But do you care about that in Detroit? Are you like, oh, he's our guy? Absolutely. I don't,

I don't. And I doubt that Wings organization is like, oh, for sure, we feel great about this. this takes us to the promise land into the playoffs. So if you could move, and maybe it's lying back, right? But if you could move to back up Lucas in Anaheim, if you could move that spot and you grab Gibber and on the hope, I still think you're maybe looking for like a long-term goalie solution in Detroit, young talent, budding star, but on the hope that you can catch Gibber's lightning for a couple more years.

Because like you said, he's 31, dude. I'm like, people have been bitching about the wings. Like, what are they doing? They haven't made the big moves necessary to get back. into that playoff push they were right there last year without that eight game skid and i had their goals against dude it was like part of that fucking gibber number is the ducks had the third three uh 2 95 third worst goals against in the league the wings dude were two 74 they're like eighth you know so i'm like man if i swear those numbers on giber are a little bit just the ducks team d as a whole

and if you're detroit and you get that moving gibber gives you a little bit more you're a playoff team for sure. And that's not going to cost you a ton. Right. Like I think we've seen the goalie market be what it is. Gibber was not the ever top pick of those possibilities anyway when you're talking Markstrom, Olmark Soros, who's not going anywhere now, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah. That is one that could be really interesting to me as just a like high, high ceiling, pretty low floor move if you if you bring him over Detroit and just see what's up. Yeah. I mean, I love it, dude. Like I again, it's one of those weird situations where I, like, I, like, I, like, I so believe in the ducks and I also believe in giver.

So part of me is like, well, I don't want you guys to lose that goalie. But it does just feel like it's one of the situations where it could be for the betterment of both teams. So I completely support it. Taking a break to talk to you guys about BetMGM. You know we've got that partnership going on with them this season. And it is one of the greatest deals running. Okay. So you go to PetMGM, you download the app.

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or visit. Watt for Watt for New-WusFUrroman. First bed offer for new customers-only subject to eligibility requirements. Bonus vets are now-MGMGMGM dot com for terms. U.S.M.comgible. Guys, we're taking a quick break to gas up some of our good, good buddies. You've seen our boys Gavin and Lupica popping on the Empty Nerders channel, tons of times doing some fun games with us and some fun bets with us.

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You're not going to regret it. So I'm going to talk goalie as well. And it's kind of a shift in something that's been talked about a lot before. So all season long, Everyone talked about the Nashville Predators in UC Soros. Everyone thought UC Saros was on the trade block, was possibly going to be moved, this and that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. UC Saros signs an eight-year deal. So that slapped everyone in the face who was thinking about that that was possibly going to be a guy who was on the move.

Now, the reason everyone talked about UC Saros was because of Ascroft. Ascroft, by all accounts, is the next generation star goaltender in the league. he's NHL ready and now all of a sudden you've got a situation in Nashville where you've got this guy and I'm not entirely sure that Ascroft is in a position who has one year left on his entry level contract where he is going to sign a contract and go yeah I'm going to sit behind soros for the next possibly eight years feels very unlikely now I'm not saying soros is going to start for the next eight years but if you give him that eight year contract, you're certainly hoping he's going to start for five years.

And by all accounts, Ascroft is ready to go. I'm not sure this guy's going to sign a contract where he agrees to be part of a tandem and he is second fiddle for at least four years. So who is a team that was always in conversations with UC Soros? The Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles Kings need a goalie. They wanted Soros. They've wanted Soros forever.

I know for a fact, they've worked on deals to try to get Soros in the past. now you go for that next guy in Nashville who absolutely has to be in conversation for trades and you try to get Ascaroff. I think the Kings still have a shot here. I think that their core gives them a window right now. Their forward's still Kevin Fiala, Anjicopatar, Phil Donneau, Adrian Kempi, Trevor Moore. They just got Warren Fogel and Tanner, you know. Alex LaFerrier has played really well.

Akeel Thomas looks like he's ready to take that next jump. He was great in the few cameos he got last. year. Turcotte is still solid. QB needs to sign his RFA deal, which he's going to. Calliyev needs to sign that as well. And then D, you got Doughty, you got Gavrikov, Mikey Anderson's a stud. They just signed Joel Edmondson. They got Kyle Burroughs now as well. Andreas Eklund's good. Mo, our boy, is good. And obviously, Spenny is going to sign that RFA deal as well. I just think that there is a very serious window that these kings are in and they need a goal. currently they got Kemper and Riddick.

The Kemper trade with PL, people are like, is he the starter? Is he not the starter? I think Kemper is actually a perfect situation and a perfect type of goalie who recently won a Stanley Cup, who if you tandemed him with a guy like Askeroff, maybe you have Riddick in there who every now and then gets in if someone's, you know, banged up. That actually could be a good recipe. But for me, the window is very real for the Kings right now. The core is very real right now and you need a goalie. I don't think Kemper and Riddick are doing it.

And Ascroft to me feels like a situation where you could make a good trade. Don't forget, you got Eric Portillo in this organization. Great Michigan goaltender who is part of your system that you could train. You could send the other way. People are saying like, what are you going to get if you're Nashville, if you move Ascroft? Well, here's the deal. Ascarov has one year left on his RFA deal. Yes, he's RFA.

But while everyone stroked him off for an entire season, realistically, we don't have a lot of Ascarov proof in the NHL. So it's not like they can sit here and be like, well, I'm going to need a king's ransom for Ascarov because what evidence do we have to warrant that? So there are things that the Kings could send back for this guy that you want to believe in, and I just think would be a great situation to say, we're getting this guy, we're going to sign him long term, and this is the goalie of the future,

could be a huge turning point for the Kings. And dude, Trotsie has been pushing all the right buttons there. Every single one, dude, hasn't missed a button yet. And the fact that Soros got this, the fact that Soros wasn't moved at the deadline, which I was positive was happening. The fact that Soros wasn't moved this summer and in fact offered an eight-year deal,

to me is a little chink in the armor of the Ascroft saga. Like Trotsy knows he's there, dude. If he's like Soros is done and Ascroft's the fucking next Patrick Waugh, Soros isn't getting an eight-year ticket and he's already been traded to the fucking wings for someone's sick back, you know? But the fact that he's getting a ticket, I'm like, maybe Ascroft isn't even that fucking good. And certainly worth it for the Kings and good enough to do this deal.

But I'm just saying, to your point about the return, I'm like, Trots isn't an idiot. So he's, and I'm sure he's trying to go, Ascroft, sign like a two, three year thing, and then maybe I'll trade Saras, whatever. Like, there's still pieces. Trotsy's still puppeting, no doubt. But this was a statement for sure about their belief in the immediate future of Ascroft, according to me.

Absolutely. And this is what I'm saying, dude, is like, you've got Wedgwood on that Nashville team. So it's not like, if you lose Ascroft, you're like, well, we don't have a backup to tandem with Soros. It's like, yes, you do. You went out. You got Wedgewood. I got a good one.

And this is my point is, if you move Portillo in the deal to get Ascarov, you've replaced Ascarov's slot, is what I'm saying. So there's an opportunity there for Blake to make a big splash that will really get people off his back here and get you what I think is going to be an answer for your goalie problems. Yep. All right. My next one, dude, is a little Nazim Khadri action. And before I even break this down for you,

when I was on his hockey reference, dude, hockey reference lists people's nicknames under their name, which I know you're aware of, but anyone that didn't know that, they do that. Nazeem, Codry says this, NAS, which is what I've always called them.

It's just Nazam. Naz Zizim Kodry. Get the name out of here. Nasty. And then it says this, Dan. Dreamer, dream. dream, dreamy, Nazeem the dream, and then Nifty Mittens. Is Nas' nickname Nifty Mittens?

This whole time, and I didn't know. I could have been calling him Nifty Mittens every time I see him. I'm just finding this out. Nifty Myths is such a good nickname. And as Harry Potter guys, we have to start calling Nas the Nifler. The Nifler, dude. Wow, that's okay. Let's add that to hockey reference right now, the Nifler.

Okay, so dude, the NIF, the Nifler, he's on a 7AV. He's going to be 34 next year, all right? He's on 7AAV, H 34, H35, H36, H 37, H38 with the flames. All right? Okay. 38-year-old Nifler, you know, we'll see. There's guys in the league doing it. Berg was doing it.

SIDS doing it, whatever, but I just, I don't know that I'm like, oh, I need the Nifler at 38, but that's neither here nor there. What is here and not there is the flames suck, and there's nothing for him to do. And he's a great player still. He's pumping in, let's see what he did last year, 75 points in 82 games. And that's two back-to-back 82 games seasons, by the way, in the flame. So that's nice, right? Like you're getting that availability that we dream about.

He's a center. He won a cup on the Colorado Avalanche. the Colorado Avalanche have a ton of questions at center with Landy. Is he back? You know, like what are we doing here down the middle? How are you not if you're the Aves? And dude, his last year, Dan, on the Aves, buddy, 71 games, 87 points, tremendous season for the kid.

How do you not bring back that chemistry and just go, boys, tuck it right back in? And then now tell me we're not the West favorite. that depth down the middle. Seven mill for him, dude. I don't even need to hear more. I don't need to hear more. I think bringing Nas home to Colorado is a no-brainer. I think, I mean, we know I'm not even going to say it.

We know that there's a veteran center in this league who should be brought to Colorado. Yeah. Because he wants to be in Colorado. We want him to be in Colorado. But we're not talking about that. If we're going to set that aside, I think Nas is a perfect, perfect situation to bring right back to Colorado, get the band back together and get them back in the cup.

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like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan, live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. And it's a great number, dude. Like, if you're getting fucking 80 points from the Niffler at 7 Mill on that Aves team, there's pieces you can move out there, no problem.

And then you're a fucking powerhouse again, more than you already are. They're already great, but like, holy shit, dude, does that change that team? And it's one of those situations you know it works. Like, you don't need to go, oh, well, is he going to reproduce those numbers? And I'm like, yeah, because he did it with these guys. This is exactly where we know he can do it. And the only thing is the length of the term, right? Where you're like, fuck, do I want him that long?

And I'm like, yeah, you do for a couple cup chances right now. So fucking get that done immediately. I love that move so much. All right, I'm going to give you my last one. And I think it's going to shock you a little bit. Okay. This is a guy that we know has more. or less requested a trade.

Patrick Line. Oh, yeah. I almost did him. Yeah. Patrick Line is 26 years old, Chris. Crazy. People forget that. How many goals he score?

What's his career high? I think, actually look that up for me, but I'm pretty sure it's like 40 something. It might be 50. That's what I was wondering, Dan. I was actually just wondering that myself. Patrick Line is 26 years old. He has... 44 goals.

his second year in the league. Yeah, there you go. Like, that's just insane. Come on. Okay. 8.7 is his cap hit. That cap hit is going to take us right into the end of this next season. So he's got one year left on that cap it.

As in the 24-25 season? Yes, that's correct. Okay, yes. Yep, okay. So it's only one more year that he's on that. And it's UFA. or excuse me, sorry, sorry, 25, 26. So he's got two years.

Oh, okay, nice. Yeah, yeah. So it's this next season and the season after that. So 25, 26 is when it's over. 8.7 million dollar cap hit. Now, by all accounts, he has not performed up to that contract. But he's been dealing with some other stuff. He's currently in the player's assistance program.

We wish him the best always. Hope everything gets figured out. I think Patrick Linae is a classic situation of guy needs a fresh start. He needs a better situation. We know this guy is an elite level goal score. We know he can pot 40 plus, clearly, as you just stated. What I think Linae needs is a very solid and secure coach as well as organization. I think he needs good culture.

And that's not to say anything about it, about Winnipeg or Columbus. That said, there's a lot of coach turnaround, a lot of GM turnaround in these two teams. He's just like, hasn't really had that stability. I look at a team that has a significant gaping hole in their second line wing situation. And I think with some salary retained, which will almost certainly be the case, if and when we see a Patrick Liney trade, that the Boston Bruins culture and head coach may or may not be a perfect fit

for a rebrand and restart for one Patrick Liney. Dude, that would be, and it's tricky because now I'm doing the best version of him. I'm like, oh yeah, dude, throw those 40 goals on the wing. But you're not guaranteed that. But that feels like another. So what I say about, about Gibber, I was like, that kind of feels like a high ceiling, low floor. This feels like a high ceiling.

Or sorry, I said giver high ceiling, high floor, I think, if I said it correctly, but that's what I meant. Line A in this scenario feels like a really high ceiling, but also really low floor. Like it could go where you're like, oh, no. I guess depending on what the assets you gave up. Like if you fleece the deal, then I'm like, oh, yeah, all day. But that is, I do think the type of piece that we're always missing. on the beat. Every time we go into the playoffs,

I'm like, God, I wish we just had one more guy who could just fucking make a goal on his own. You know, just out of fucking nowhere on the playoffs. Low clapper, low glove right over the pad, bang, posted it.

And I need that, dude. So I like the culture argument. I like it a lot. The bees have been fucking bundled. You're telling me that they're, like, name better, name two better coaches in the league who you think could.

do a great job with a guy like Patrick Liney than Jim Montgomery. Can't, can't do it, dude. Can't do it. So, yeah, I wish it would take a little bit. It would take a retention, like he said, and money's got to go out the door. That's how trades work, baby. So money's going to go out the door, but, yeah. Retain 50%?

Bring line A straight to Boston. Put him on Charlie Coils wing and see what fucking happens. Yep. That's all I'm saying. Okay. Okay. Done. Stamped.

I'll stamp that right now. I like it. I like it. Listen, these are some things that we're going to keep our eyes on. This whole no move conversation is something that we want more people's opinions on. So hit us up in the DMs. Talk to us about this shit because, listen, I went to Twitter and I called out some of you Rangers fans. If you're yapping about the trooper situation, you're a butt hurt fan and you need to just relax. Because, sorry, it's part of the business.

It's how it's going. Like we said, big episode coming this week, dropping on Wednesday with Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators. We've got some super fun interviews, fun content coming out all summer long. Your boys finally getting back home. We're going to hit the fucking ground running. As always, we're back. We had a little hiatus. Unfortunately, Chris, I'm going to have to see you in person tomorrow.

I know. Strap in, pal. I'm not happy about it. If I'm being perfectly honest, it's been so wonderful being away from. from you, you sick puppy, but we're back. We're going to get things cracking as usual. So stay tuned. As always, folks.

Smash the subscribe buttons. Follow us everywhere. It is about to be an electric, electric summer. Cannot wait. And until we see you then, skate hard.