Halford & Brough in the Morning - A Tidy Piece Of Business (In A Vacuum)

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look at the previous day in sports including the Canucks trading Ilya Mikheyev and re-signing Teddy Blueger (3:00), plus they discuss yesterday's hockey news with NHL Network's Thomas Hickey (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-d with the amount of money they have right now to do a lot of really fun, interesting things. There's a smash. Right center field. Forget about it. The marvelous one. So hey, Otani. Drill deep to left. There it goes. See ya.

30th home run of the year for Judge. The Toronto Raptors select Jacoby Walter from Baylor University. Good morning, Makers. 6-0-1 on a University. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It's Alfred and his brother at Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning.

Good morning. Hey, dog. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Alfred and Brother of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help you with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 1 of the program.

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Kintec, that is what you are waiting for. Our guest list today begins at 6.30. Thomas Hickey, former NHL defenseman, now an analyst with NHL and MSG Networks, is going to join us. We'll go around some of the big stories in the National Hockey League. Maybe we'll talk about those Vancouver Canucks who were cooking up some business yesterday. 7 o'clock, Adnan Virk, MLB Network will be joining us.

7.30, Thomas Drance from The Athletic and Canucks Talk right here on Sportsnet 650. We'll talk about the signing of Teddy Bluger, the trade of Ilya Mikheyev. Speaking of Teddy Bluger, Jason, at 8 o'clock on the program, Teddy Bluger, he'll be joining us fresh off his two-year contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks.

So we got a big show. We got a lot to get into. You can feel it. It's getting more and more busy as we get closer and closer to the draft and the start of free agency across the NHL. The game of musical chairs has begun. Let it roll.

Let it roll, musical chairs. Let it roll. So working in reverse. I don't think they say that about musical chairs. You roll the chairs. Let it roll. Musical chairs. Let it roll.

I remember saying that at many birthday parties when I was seven years old. What was the song? Did they do Ring Around the... It was just any song. London Bridge is Falling Down, maybe? Is it any song? It's just any song. It's just any song.

They just play a song. And it stops, they're in heaven. Yeah, yeah. And you had to keep moving. You had to keep moving. My move was always to slow it down. I was a slow player. Oh, okay.

And you just go past the chair real slow. I'd wait until someone was about to sit down and pull the chair out from under me. No, you couldn't do that. Can't do that. That is an ejection. I got away with it. That's a red card at the seven-year-old birthday party.

They called it a slow roll when you did that, by the way. Slow roll. So working in reverse. Slow roll. Working in reverse on the guest list. Eight o'clock. Teddy Bluger, 7.30. Thomas Drance, 7 o'clock.

Adnan Virk, 6.30. Thomas Hickey. Two Thomases on the show today. That's what's happening on the program. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happ that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

The Vancouver Canucks got to cooking yesterday. Chef Alvin in the kitchen cooking away. Two moves yesterday. They re-signed Teddy Bluger to a two-year deal. And they traded Ilya Mikheyev and the rights to Sam Lafferty, along with a second-round pick in 2027. We're already trading 27 second-round picks now. Let's begin with Teddy Bluger, though.

Bluger agrees to a two-year contract extension. Takes a little bit of a haircut on the AAV, down to $1.8 million per. But the versatile and experienced center sticks in Vancouver for two years. Yeah, there was an interesting quote from Teddy Bluger, and we can talk about this with Teddy Bluger later in the show when he joins us. And he says, I think there was a two, three-month stretch where I was playing the most consistent, best hockey of my career, especially offensively.

I obviously didn't maintain that the whole year, so that's an area for sure that can be improved amongst some others. I thought our PK was strong the second half of the year, so being a part of that and bringing different elements, those are some important parts of my game for me. I think ideally Teddy Bluger would be your 4C, but he might be the 3C. And you never know if the Canucks still manage to re-sign Dakota Joshua. And that's a possibility, although it sounds like a distant possibility. You could reunite that line now with Garland, Bluger, and Dakota Joshua. Maybe it's going to be Garland, Bluger, and Vasily Podkolzin, but this is a good deal for the Canucks to get a solid bottom six center under contract at a reasonable rate. Remember what Jay Beagle got. Jay Beagle got a four-year deal, $12 million. $12 million.

Now compare that to what Teddy Bluger is getting. You know, that's, I know that the Beagle contract was done under a different environment, but this is a nice solid deal for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, and I think it's important for a little bit of continuity for a team that, I mean, look, they had a great year last year, and I'm sure that they want to try and retain as many pieces as possible to keep the group together, to keep the chemistry alive.

But the reality of it is, like you said with Dakota Joshua and possibly other guys, the allure of July 1 and free agency and some of the contracts we've already seen guys extend with, what's out there in terms of UFA money, I would imagine that a guy like Bluger was probably thinking along the same lines. Like, hey, I wonder if I could go out there

and see what's available, right? He's a, the word versatile came up. As I said it this morning, it was in the press release yesterday. And he's a versatile word versatile came up as i said it this morning it was in the press release yesterday and he's a versatile guy he could do a lot of different things for you he might also just want to stay in one place well i think the point where he said the best hockey of my career that probably had something to do with the environment the guys he was playing with the role he was do you remember some of the nice passes that he was making like he was he was he was playing really well and I think a lot of us watched him

and were like, I didn't know he had that in his game. So we'll see what the future holds for Teddy Bluger, but the biggest deal of yesterday, I think, with all due respect to Teddy Bluger. Who we'll have on the show at 8 o'clock. Was Ilya Mikheyev, who we won't have on the show at 8 o'clock because he is no longer a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, the Canucks announced Wednesday they traded Mikheyev, the rights to unrestricted free agent Sam Lafferty,

and a 2027, way in the future, second-round pick to Chicago in exchange for a fourth-round pick in that same 2027 draft. Do you think Sam Lafferty was like, someone traded for my rights? That's amazing. If I was Sam Lafferty. For me, that was like when I got ID'd. I was like, oh, well then. You have to be low-key happy

that someone traded for your rights as an unrestricted free agent. Ooh, someone's interested in me. It's the Chicago Blackhawks. Still, however, you know, we can't let Sam Lafferty go to July 1. What? We got to get in there early and negotiate.

So despite all these other... They're going to show Sam the city and all the sites. I mean, this could be all yours if you sign for $875,000. Take him to a Cubs game and then a hot dog at Portillo's. He can do it all in Chicago. Anyway, the big part of the deal obviously is ilia mckeough um okay before we get to the the nitty-gritty and everything i genuinely felt bad for mckeough and i this is one of the guys that i i can't empathize with because i've never

torn my acl and then tried to play on it and then came back the following year and you lack empathy yeah well there's two two, not just the ACL. He signed the deal in Vancouver. He got hurt almost right away. He tried to labor and push through. It didn't work. He probably messed up part of this year by delay. And this is obviously on the organization as well, by not just going under the knife and getting his ACL fixed as soon as it was hurt.

And then this year, you could tell that he just wasn't the same player. The 34-game goalless drought was tough to watch. Watching him in the playoffs with countless chances on the end of his stick that just wouldn't go in the back of the net was tough to watch. I think the want and the will were there, but at the end of the day, $4.75 million for a forward that just wasn't getting it done masquerading in a top six role the canucks kind of had to make this move they were the ones that signed him to this deal this regime and they're the ones that had to get rid of it yeah

it's a smart no risk move for chicago which has oodles i like that oodles of cap space and lesser expectations than vancouver uh the blackhawks have a win-win potential where they get both a second round pick, albeit in a few years, and a bounce back candidate. Of note, the last time the Blackhawks coaxed a second round pick out of the Vancouver Canucks to take on a bad contract, they landed Jason Dickinson, who emerged as one of the best players and finished 12th in Selkie voting this past season. And they killed all-star Jason Dickinson. Yeah, that's right.

So, you know, did he go? He didn't go? Oh, that's right. He wasn't because. He was supposed to be the Connor replacement. And then they were like, we can't. Yeah, we can't put Jason Dickinson in here. Maybe if he's top 10 Selkie, but not number 12.

As for the Canucks, the most important team in all this, they're definitely going to lose that second round pick, so you can't really call it a win-win. But this is a win-now move for a team in the most promising window it's been in in a decade. Is it worth noting that Mikheyev is a Milstein client? God, I just sound like Dollywall here. Mikheyev is a Milstein client and so is Zdorov.

I don't know if Mikheyev or if Milstein had anything to do with this trade. I don't know if he worked the phones himself trying to get Mikheyev traded. Because he was granted permission to seek a trade on behalf of Mikheyev. Right. Yeah. So I don't know if he had anything to do with that, but I could see a story play out where, okay, you move Mikheyev, we'll find the money for Zdorov. Yeah, I think that's...

But I don't know. Apparently, there were a couple teams interested in Mikheyev for the deal that the Canucks were willing to put out there, and Mikheyev was willing to go to Chicago, so it ended up being Chicago. That's a perfectly logical assumption to make, that like, hey, here's how the pieces

on the chessboard can be moved. If you do a little bit of moving, you know, in conjunction with this, Milstein. By the way, one, we should be calling all Dan Milstein agents Milstein men. He's a Milstein man. He's a Milstein man. And two, to everyone texting in that Lafferty used to play in Chicago. Yeah, that's not part of the bit. The bit was that they traded for his negotiating rights.

We were going to have fun with that. But yes, he did spend two, parts of two seasons. Thank you for all being that guy at 6.12 in the morning. You must all be great at party. Yeah. Actually, actually, he spent. If you remember correctly. He spent parts of two seasons.

The wizard's key. With the Blackhawks organization. Anyway, so yeah, this is, look, the Canucks are making moves right now everyone is already pointing to two figures in particular the Nikita Zadorov uh extension if that does happen and then of course Jake Gensel and things are heating up more and more and more because they got to like when you talk about the priorities right there's got to be I bet there's a big whiteboard in the uh Alvina Rutherford office. I don't know if they share one. They probably don't.

It probably has the things to do. The honey to do list. Number one was figure out Philip Peronick's deal. Well, that's taken care of now, right? And then there was sign some depth, guys. Mark Friedman, you get a new deal. Teddy Bluger, you get a new deal. They were working

on those for a while. Bluger said his contract took a while, actually. It wasn't an easy one to finish. Do you remember months ago, months ago, it might have been Dollywall that reported that Teddy Bluger was one of the guys that they were going to target to bring back. Because I think, number one, they liked him. But number two, he wasn't going to break the bank. Yeah, and I do think it's funny that all the Pittsburgh guys,

like Friedman, who came from the Pittsburgh organization, gets guys, like Friedman, who came from the Pittsburgh organization, gets his deal. Bluger, who came from the Pittsburgh organization, gets his deal. And then the next one, obviously, was to figure out what to do with Ilya Mikheyev. I guess in hindsight, it was probably pretty telling what Patrick Alvin had to say about Ilya Mikheyev

at his end-of-year presser, where he said, you know, he was miscast as a top six forward, and it was Alvin's fault that he was thrust into that role because that wasn't what he was. And then he was going to try and fix it, and this is how he fixed it, is he jettisoned him and his $4.75 million cap it to Chicago. So again, just another example of this management group

being efficient and strategic and pretty cutthroat. I mean, this is an organization now that with two different players being efficient and strategic and pretty cutthroat, right? I mean, this is an organization now that with two different players have quickly jettisoned a guy after signing him to a fairly lucrative deal. And it happened, interestingly enough, with two Milstein men, Kuzmenko and Mikheyev. So you mentioned the things to do. Yeah. The things to do would be get her own excise. They did that move off McKay of contract.

They did that. But then the number one thing they had to do and the hardest thing they had to, they they're going to have to do because they haven't done it yet is bringing the difference maker up, up front. Right. So, um,

I don't think they like have a plan a for jay gentile and no plan b i'm sure they have a plan b and probably a plan c but with the added cap space for mckay f which they can spread around they don't have to use all for one player but i wonder if and this is apparently the talk in Vegas, according to pretty much everyone that's down in Vegas, including a guy like Pierre LeBron. Yep. Are the Canucks just going to really come out of their boots to get Jake Gensel?

Because this is a team that does not have first or second round draft pick this year. They don't have a second in 2027 either. So that's off the board. I don't even know if they're going to go to Vegas. They've only got two blue chip prospects in Lekker, Amaki and Willander. So if you're talking about going the trade route

to bring in a difference maker, you know, whether that's Ehlers in Winnipeg or whoever. Sure. Whoever might be available. Sure. We don't, we never know really exactly who's available. But the easiest thing for them to do because of the lack of trade ships that they've got is to outbid everyone else for Jake Gensel.

Clear cap space and then throw what? Seven years, nine million per at Gensel? Something along those lines? Which is a lot of money and a lot of term for a guy that's going to be 30 in the fall. But you know what? YOLO. You may as well go for it.

I use proof of concept probably way too much on this show, but last year, I think probably emboldened this management group to a certain degree like we believed in uh players x y and z we believed in head coach rick tocket yeah we thought that this is what we could be and then everybody went out and then we were better and then everyone went out and did it last year and we won a playoff round and we pushed the western Conference champions to seven games,

something that only one other team accomplished in the playoffs, and that was the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. I get it. I absolutely get it. Is it fraught with risk? Yes. Could the long term be dicey down the road? Could there be pain where there's no draft picks and

aging contracts? Yeah, there could be for sure. There's already kind of pain with their lack of prospects. Lack of prospects isn't their fault. That's the only thing I'll give them a pass on. Part of it is. They inherited they drafted, well the two guys are like I would trade it away picks. They've traded

away picks. Sure. Whatever, who cares? They did not inherit a good prospect cupboard. Let's put it that way. Van City Zavid in Toronto. Text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line if you want to text in. 650-650 Dunbar Lumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner on Bridge Street. Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or Budeson Vancouver. Online at DunbarLumber.com.

As an agent, Van City Zavid in Toronto asks, how do you convince Mikheyev to waive his no trade clause to go to Chicago? Genuinely curious on the business end how Milstein sold Mikheyev on the lowly Blackhawks. Well, he probably said, you're not wanted here, so you don't want to be here anymore. You never want to be on a team where you're

not wanted, and you're going to get a big time opportunity in Chicago. And you can say, look at Jason Dickinson. He went to Chicago. Chicago's a nice city. Chicago's a nice city. Conradard. Yeah.

You're going to get ice time. And, you know, you're going to have a role there. So much of it is about the role for the player. Mikheyev's not in a position to sit there and go, like, I only want to go for a Stanley Cup. Yeah, he's not in a position to sit there and go like i only want to go for a stanley cop yeah it's not moving yeah and and mckeah needs to uh rejuvenate his career to a certain degree well to a large degree actually because he had a bad injury and he's still recovering and you never know maybe chicago is looking at this as we get Mikheyev in here.

He should be, and a lot of people say of his injury, it's like 18 months to two years. You can get back and start playing after a year, but you're only really yourself in two years. So Chicago is taking a bet here that they can bring in Mikheyev, rejuvenate him, and then he's an asset to them. Then he'll only have, let's say he plays out the year in Chicago, then he's only got one year left, and maybe they can turn him into an asset in a trade.

Sure. You know, this is the type of move that is a pretty smart one, I think, for the Chicago Blackhawks, getting a player like this, who is the legitimately good NHL player when he's on top of his game, and he has the potential to get back to his game, and then the Blackhawks have,

they got the Canucks to retain a little bit, and if they want to trade him, they could even trade him at this deadline, this coming deadline, and then they retain, and then they get a pretty good asset back if Mikheyev bounces back, and if he doesn't oh well i just think that in there's no expectations anyway looking at it in retrospect it actually probably would have been difficult to have mckay of back this year one because the canucks obviously wanted to want to do something fundamentally different with their

forward group and in part are going to be forced to do it so let's say hypothetically they wanted to go big game hunting for a top six forward, which Patrick Alvin clearly stated Ilya Mikheyev is not, right? We can all agree on that. At 4.75, he wasn't going to be a top six forward. Yeah, and I don't know if Adog was joking.

He's not going to play with Bedard. I mean, he might. I don't even know who they got in Chicago. Everyone can get a turn, I think. Could he be any worse than Foligno? I think he got spins with Bedard last year. I think the Blackhawks are going to do something else.

Anyway. Maybe they'll get canceled. Regardless of whatever Chicago may or may not do, Mikheyev wasn't going to be a top six forward here. And then if you talk about, well, what is your third line going to look like? A very good case that you're right. It could end up being Bluger, Garland, and insert third winger here. Probably not Mikheyev.

And then you're talking about a fourth line winger making $4.75 million, which is not efficient spending and not efficient cap resources. So it would have been tough to bring him back. It also would have been tough to bring him back because I'm pretty sure that management and the fans were united in seeing exactly the same thing. That the guy just

couldn't score. I mean, it was painful at times last year. You remember when I came in here, and I half-jokingly, I was like, tonight's the night that Mikheyev's going to break his 34-game goal-scoring slump. You're misremembering this. I said, I think he's going to do it in the next five games,

and then we had an over-under, and then you said, he's going to do it tonight. Yeah. And then he did. Was that the only goal he scored? I don't know. I don't think he scored another one. No, he didn't, and then you said, he's going to do it tonight. Yeah. And then he did. Was that the only goal he scored? I don't know. I don't think he scored another one. No, he didn't.

And I did it jokingly. There wasn't any sort of like predictory part of it. I was just like, yeah, I'll do it tonight. Why not? He was playing better, though. He was playing better. He was getting chances. The problem is even chances for Ilya Mikheyev are not great chances.

Well, his lasting legacy here might be missing that open net in Game 7. The playoffs. I think of playoffs. When I think of Mikheyev for the rest of my life, it's probably that moment. The playoffs were real. Which sucks for him. He made a great deke.

He did. And then the puck just went off those concrete hands of his. The playoffs were really tough. The playoffs were really tough. So I want to add a couple of notes from Pierre Lebrun who's writing for The Athletic down in Vegas. So this is the first one that I already kind of

mentioned. Lebrun wrote, there are serious rumblings about the Vancouver Canucks making a pitch. Would they be willing to go seven years, nine million? And of course, other teams would get in there Monday. So, and then he's talking about Jake Gensel. So Gensel and his agent, Ben Hankinson, who's also the agent for Brock Besser, have a big decision to make soon enough.

Take Carolina's best offer or go to market while leaving the door open to the Canes. I don't think the Canucks have been too shy about putting it out there that they're going to make a big pitch for Jake Gensel. Where are you on this, by the way? I stated yesterday that I'm, or maybe it was two days ago, but regardless, very leery, and I'm actually out on it. I think he's a pretty good player. I know you do, but that's not the question, friend.

I think there's risk there, but they need to get a difference maker in, and I just don't. Yay or nay? Yay. That's fair. Yeah. I like him as a player, but I also recognize the fact that I could go into a time machine and punch out the Jason that just said yes on this, right?

Like in a few years, because there is some risk. There's always a risk in bringing in even a good player to your team, especially one at Jake Gensel's age. He's getting a little bit older now, he's closer to 30. What if he doesn't have chemistry with anyone? What if he doesn't have chemistry with Petey? You know Petey's always top of mind for me. Like this whole thing, like this, it's gone away for a little bit,

this whole Petey discourse. Yeah, well, it's how he himself said YOLO, right? I mean, that's the thing. That's how the Canucks are looking at it. So, I mean, you yourself have to embrace the YOLO. Embrace the YOLO. The other thing I wanted to bring up from Pierre Lebrun. Damn, my YOLO's coming back to bite me. Yeah, exactly. I've been YOLO'd by my own YOLO.

Okay, hold on. Hold on a sec. The other thing I wanted to get to from Pierre Lebrun was something that I kind of wondered if this would happen. Pierre Lebrron on Tyler Myers. And LeBron writes, pending UFA defenseman Tyler Myers and the Canucks remain in talks. But the sense I get, that's a real insider thing. Sense I get.

I'm getting real sincere. The sense I get is that things have not progressed on that front despite several weeks of discussions. They'll chat again this week at the draft, so the door remains open, but there's just as good of a chance he goes to market Monday at this point. I feel like Pierre Lebrun has been chatting with Tyler Myers' agent. Yeah, I mean, this actually doesn't come as a huge surprise to me, just because of the two deals that stand out for me with the chatfield extension in carolina and the de mello extension in winnipeg

those guys made nice coin for what they are as defensemen right they made pretty good money there and i do wonder if there have been as we talk about light tampering if there's been some teams that have called up tyler myers and they're, do you really want to just stay where all your stuff is at that price? Because you can always come back to Vancouver. You can summer in Kelowna. You don't have to winter there or whatever. He doesn't winter there. It's just kind of one of those things where it's like,

if you're a team that is looking to add these pieces that everyone is talking about are incredibly valuable in the playoffs, size, physicality,ity nastiness Myers had it on display for two rounds this year he was he was very very effective in the playoffs Snoop the dog texts in what's the word on line a as a backup plan for Gensel there's no word on that Snoop the dog that should not be a thing that's that's that's not a that's no I was I was listening to Aaron Portsline from The Athletic in Columbus yesterday on a radio hit, and he said that it's going to be – it seems like it's going to be really difficult for Don Waddell to move line A because of the contract.

Yeah, he's got a capital of like $8 million. Right. You don't even know if he can play. Yeah, like it might end up being – I mean, the new sort of dumping ground is no longer the desert because the NHL doesn't have a team there. Now it's Silicon Valley. Everyone dumps their bad money in San Jose. So it could end up being there.

Thomas Hickey is going to join us next. Talk about the NHL. Yes. That's something that we often talk about on this show. It's a league that he played. The National Hockey League. The best in the business, folks. The draft is coming up. Free agency. That's when teams that he played. The National Hockey League. The best in the business, folks. The draft is coming up.

Free agency. That's when teams can sign players and et cetera, et cetera. And then we go on vacation. Speaking of the NHL draft, NHL draft coverage on Sportsnet 650 is brought to you by Oxygen Yoga and Fitness. It's not your typical yoga studio.

You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canuck Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.33 on a Thursday.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service they have a friendly knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for sales, financing, service or parts, we are in hour one of the program

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now an analyst for MSG Network and NHL Network, Thomas Hickey joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Thomas. How are you? Good morning, Thomas. How are you? Good morning, guys. I'm doing well. A few hours ahead of you here and just sort of gearing up for what looks to be an exciting weekend and a lot of noteworthy news. So I'm pretty excited.

Oh, my God. What a week it's been. Like, Stanley Cup handed out on Monday. Then we got the awards. Then we got the draft. And then on Monday we have free agency. Good old NHL, cram God. What a week it's been. Like, Stanley Cup handed out on Monday. Then we got the awards. Then we got the draft. And then on Monday, we have free agency. Good old NHL, cramming everything into a week. It's like me in my final week of high school. Okay, I want to start, actually, with the Stanley Cup and the Florida Panthers.

And now that we've had some time to breathe and collect our thoughts and look back on their Stanley Cup championship, the way that they build this team, because the rest of this week and the weekend is all going to be about team building and adding and making trades and getting guys to the draft and signing guys in free agency. So what lessons did we

learn from the Florida Panthers constructed by Bill Zito in terms of the style that they built, the players that they brought on, the roster that Bill Zito built to culminate with their first ever Stanley Cup on Monday night? Well, I mean, I think if we work our way backwards, obviously, you know, Vlad Tarasenko, Kyle Oposo, just you bring in your veterans at the end of the season, maybe the boost to get you over.

And I think Tarasenko just really rounds out a top nine. Obviously, he can play anywhere in those areas. So that was big. But I look back to, obviously, the building blocks of things that were in place before Bill Zito got there. Well, you've got Sergei Bobrovsky, who was phenomenal, right? A great season, great playoffs. That wasn't Bill Zito.

And it was a poor contract for a couple of years. Phenomenal, right? A great season, great playoffs. That wasn't Bill Zito. And it was a poor contract for a couple of years, but you've got your foundation in net, check. Alexander Barkoff, Aaron Ekblad, foundational pieces that you pick first overall. But I look back to last summer and what Bill Zito did. You're finding value where really other people didn't. And I think you guys know well in Vancouver, Oliver Ekman-Larsen to win a Stanley Cup, well, he was only making two and a quarter this year, right?

So you piece in a good player that's going to play a much lesser role on your hockey team. And I thought Ekman-Larsen was really good this season. Really impressed by him. You also add last summer Nico Mikula, hulking, 6'5", defenseman, rangy, skates well, went out and found value in him. I mean, if it was time for a payday for Nico Mikula this summer, he'd be in for a whole lot more money. The other one, Dmitry Kulikov, an original Florida Panther,

you go out and get him last summer, $1 million deal. The guy's bounced around the league. He fit in so well. So that's three big, mobile, left-handed defensemen that Bill Zito added. I think that was probably the thing that pushed this group over the top compared to where they were last year and some of the veterans that they had in the Stanley Cup final just replaced them with three quality defensemen and sort of bought their time, their group time,

to get healthy from the playoff run last season. And, you know, the additions of a guy like Evan Rodriguez, it just sort of found value last summer around this time of the year. And I think that's what put them over the top. I thought it was just an outstanding free agency and trade deadline period from Bill Zito in the last 365 days. Thomas, I don't know if big defensemen ever truly went out of style, but they are so back right now. Are you looking at a guy like Nikita Zdorov and wondering just how big this contract is going to be? Yeah, I think there's added value, not just with the way he played in the playoffs, the winning formula, right? And it's a copycat

league. We always talk about it. Look, I was a smaller defenseman i wish i was bigger and the the takeaway that i have is um i think you can get tricked into being like well it doesn't matter if you're big it does matter if you're big and you can skate that's one too and if you can make plays you just have an advantage over everyone else and i think what being big for a defenseman does is it buys you more time with the puck. And oftentimes, you know, just evolution. The bigger guys aren't as good at handling the puck because they don't have to be because they've got that two or three inches where someone can't come around you and lift your stick. Someone's six inches away from the puck further than they

would be against a smaller player, when you couple that with bigger guys that play well within a system, that skate well and do have good puck skills, I mean, that's the home run. So Nikita Zorov sort of falls in line with that. Yeah, we might be really surprised at the term and the number he gets. And obviously, I think he comes with the personality too. But his size on the blue line, as much as I hate to say it as an undersized defenseman when I played, it is very valuable. And if you're a smaller guy, you need to do a lot of other things extremely well to make up for it. What other advantages do these big defensemen have? Maybe in-zone defending.

What would you have had to do versus some of the big defensemen when the other teams got the cycle going? Yeah, it's range and reach. Reach is the biggest thing for me. You know, I defended a lot. You know, I played physical, but more of an impact stick on puck. And, you know, as a guy just sub six feet, tried to play with the stick that was fairly lengthy, but I needed to make plays as well. If I had five more inches on my stick, you know, let's call me six foot four and playing with a longer stick,

that is a ton of space. And while it does open up some holes, these guys don't have to be quite as sound positionally because you do have that reach. And I think the ability to shut down a cycle with your strength and throw someone up against the boards and the way everyone defends now, someone comes in right away and then you've got a second person there. And I think that strength to sort of pin someone up against the wall,

it's a huge advantage. And when I talk about range and wingspan and reach, well, yes, it is good with your stick, but it's also good with your hands when you're defending along the walls. So I think we saw that advantage come up really big with the Florida Panthers and the way they defended. Thomas Hickey is joining us on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Thomas, you would have seen quite a bit of Jake Gensel

when you were a defenseman with the New York Islanders. There's a lot of talk about Gensel in Vancouver, and there are rumblings that the Canucks are about to make him a big offer. Tell us a little bit about Jake Gensel and why so many teams are interested in adding this guy. Well, the thing that stands out when you look at Jake Gensel, if you want to take shots at him, you'd say, well, he's not a big guy. He's really light. And those are the things that might scare you away.

But he's really competitive, number one. Playoff time, he comes to play. That's number two, and he's extremely smart, and I don't think he gets a ton of credit for just how good his hockey sense is. You know, when the montage comes up of Jake Gensel scoring goals, a lot of them are going to be breakaways. A lot of them are going to be having a step on a defenseman and scoring off the rush on the wing. He knows how to find those spaces on the ice where

he can keep his momentum and use his smarts to really take advantage of a defenseman that's out of place or to cheat a little bit when the time is right. And that's really what sets him apart. But if you want to play with Sidney Crosby, and a lot of people have got that shot and not everyone's stuck, you need to think the game nearly, I don't want to say nearly or just as good as Sidney Crosby, but you have to know what great minds think. And I think Jake Gensel, his biggest strength is understanding what other people on the ice are going to do

and where he needs to be to get the puck. Obviously, a talented guy that skates really well, has an excellent shot, and knows for the net for a small guy. I guess to sum it all up, I think his hockey sense is off the charts. NHL Awards tonight in Las Vegas. Nine years and nearly 500 games in the NHL. I feel like you're a good guy to ask this. Who do you think wins the Norris tonight?

You know, I think it's going to come down to Kael McCarr or Quinn Hughes. I think it's going to be Hughes' year. Look, I think the world of Kael McCarr and on a year that he was very good, I think it factors into a lot of people's decision-making that it's not going to be his last time nominated. You can say the exact same thing for Quinn Hughes, but I just thought the value he brought to his team, the importance that he had to the Canucks and how easy he makes things look, how quick he calms it down. Obviously, some great running mates, a good defense partner,

and a lot of guys that can score, and the power play was very good. But Quinn Hughes, to me, stood out the most as the most dominant defenseman. And I'm not even talking about Roman Yossi, who continues to be just a hybrid of a really strong defender and doing it at the age he is right now compared to his other two peers that are up for the award. He was sensational and could get MVP votes, but I see it going to Quinn Hughes this year. You mentioned his defensive partner, and that's Philip Peronik, who signed his extension earlier in this week. I wanted to ask you, when you were playing, again, like nine years in 500 games, you probably had a lot of different guys

that you played with. Was there one particular guy as a defensive pairing that you either clicked with or you loved playing with or the chemistry between the two of you was just better than some other guys that you had played with? Yeah, I think for me, Lubomir Vishnovsky, you remember that name? I mean, such a good defenseman, so good offensively, and he played the right side.

He's a left-handed defenseman. We were both well sub-six feet. Not a big pair, but I had a really good understanding of his game and the huge advantage uh that lubo had playing in his offside was his ability to get a shot off and a one-timer off so with that said i think we we cut out a lot of time handling the puck and stopping it and looking around because lubo was so good in his offside that he could make a play right away. You know, he stood out a big time to me. And a handful of defensemen that I really loved playing with,

I think everyone different. But for me, I think it was the most unique playing with Vishnotsky just because we were small guys and sort of, I think, unassuming in our own end, but we were really quick getting out of our zone and could do extra stuff in the offensive zone. Right, because the thing is, you talk about the season that Hughes has had, and you always kind of have to mention, well, also this was the first year that he played with Hronik,

and that did play a part in the elevation of Hughes going from a very, very good defenseman to potentially being named the best defenseman in the NHL. So the dynamic of the pairing is always interesting to me. Is it important to have – because you guys, you and Wisnowski obviously didn't have, like, contrasting styles, but you both can't be doing the exact same thing at the exact same times. Is that just more of a feel, like we just clicked and there's a chemistry,

or is there, like, a ton of conversation that goes into that? I think there's a lot of conversation. It would be different with Hughes and Hronik. With me and Wisnowski, for instance, one of us has to be up the ice. So if I'm going back to break out the puck, if I can unlock that, I know that he's already a few steps ahead joining and vice versa. I think the understanding between those two guys and Hughes and Kronick is Hughes is so gifted that he's going to find his way up the ice.

But at the same time, he's so dynamic on the offensive blue line. And I think if you're a guy like Kronick and you know where to give him the pocket and the areas that he's going to be, he comes towards his partner a lot. He gets really wide in other instances too and i think the best thing that you could do if you're playing with a player of that caliber is get them the puck as much as you possibly can and the other thing that you do is make sure you're underneath them and what i mean by that is it'd be maybe just not quite parallel a foot behind them and i thought herik did an excellent job of just supporting Quinn Hughes.

He doesn't need that much support because he can break it out on his own. He can make people look bad on his own, but at the same time, it'd just be that option because I think when you get a great defenseman like that or McCarr or Roman Yossi, the tendency for most defensemen, especially young ones, is to watch and be in awe and not be in a place that you can be a bit of an outlet if that guy does get in trouble and you can give it right back to him.

But I was impressed at how well Hronik read that. Thomas, while we've got you, what are the Islanders going to do this offseason? I guess they've got a decision to make on Brock Nelson. He could get an extension. Knowing Lou Lamorello, he could get a long extension. You never know.

I think for the Islanders right now as it sits, they've got under $6 million in cap space. Based off the group that you saw last year and the last two seasons, there's things that stand out in my perspective. You need more punch in scoring um

and can you go out and find that with under six million dollars um some restricted free agents to to re-sign do you have that ability uh not really right now so if the islanders are going to improve um i think that's probably got to come via some type of roster move whether it be a buyout or a trade um some contracts that at this moment in time aren't very appetizing if you're another defenseman in the nhl so lou laramore lamorello has got his his hands i don't want to say tied but he's got his work cut out for him. If he wants to add quality pieces, I see them adding more in a value or depth area if they're not going to be able to make one of those deals

to bring in a really high-end, talented player. A lot of guys have contract protection, movement protection, so they're in a bit of a difficult spot. But Lou Lamorello has built this group understanding the guys that he has and the beliefs that he has in them. So after a couple years of first-round exits, you'd think that he's looking at a way to make it better. And does that involve Brock Nelson being around, or is that leverage?

Is he a chip? Same can be said for Kyle Palmieri. Both guys with one year left coming off of 30-goal campaigns. Interested to see where it goes from there, but it is a group that is filled up with veteran guys with terms. So he's certainly going to think long and hard about each move he makes. And knowing Lou, he's thought through every single scenario. And now it's just waiting to see what comes in place here as free agency

rolls around. The NHL awards are tonight. The draft is tomorrow and Saturday. And then free agency begins on Monday. So it'll be a very interesting next few days. Thomas, enjoy the next few days. Thank you very much for doing this today. You got it, guys.

You enjoy it as well, and enjoy the rest of your morning out there. Thanks, Thomas. Appreciate it. That's Thomas Hickey, former NHL defenseman and now an analyst with NHL and MSG Networks here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. I'm talking hockey with him. Yeah, yeah, he's good.

He's a thoughtful guy. Dan in North Van texts in, the Canucks window isn't long while their best players are on decent deals. Gensel is an elite winger who has proven to be a goal scorer on Pittsburgh and Carolina. Get it done.

Take a risk. Florida took risks and it paid off. Yeah, look, if they get Gensel into that lineup and then based on pairs, you would probably keep Miller and Besser together. You would keep, you would put Gensel with Elias Pettersson and maybe you keep Garland and Teddy Bluger together.

Mm-hmm. Now, who fills out all the other spots in And maybe you keep Garland and Teddy Bluger together. Now, who fills out all the other spots in that top nine remains to be seen. If you've got Pedersen and Gensel together, for example, what's an ideal winger for them? You would think probably someone with some size. Probably, right? Like you don't want to have a super. And, you know, I realize some people you know someone texted in and said when petterson is engaged he plays physical yeah he'll lay some big hits for sure but i wouldn't describe petterson's game as a heavy

style no you know that's not his thing right and it doesn't have to be. When Petey's on his game, he's a deceptive, smart player who, yeah, he is relentless when he's skating. And, you know, at his best, we've seen him. He's a really good two-way player. But his hockey IQ is what stands out. He's in the right place at the right time, and he makes plays. I guess the traditional notion would be like, yeah, you put him with a big winger who can make space for him, right?

Now, we don't know if that is necessarily the best fit. I always come back to Burrows with the Sedins. What do they what do they need everyone's like they need a right shot big big right shot guy that can finish the chances well they know they needed a apparently uh a former echl player who also liked ball hockey you know left-handed wasn't passed like he was just he was just a guy that could play their style and understand their game. And he was smart. That was the one thing about Alex Burrows.

He was really smart. He wasn't just like, oh, I'll go over here and I'll stand here and I'll wait for the puck. He was part of the play with them. I just wonder. But I don't know. I mean, I'm already making a third winger for the Pedersen and Gensel line. The Canucks haven't even signed Gensel yet. Right.

And if you sign Gensel for the amount of money that he's going to require, it might be very difficult to find another winger and got another player. If you're going, I mean, let's say hypothetically, seven years at nine million, that's a huge chunk of your cap. And when Andy, he weaponized YOLO against me, you YOLO'd me with my own YOLO. Yeah. I would like to embrace the YOLO against me. You YOLO'd me with my own YOLO. Yeah. I would like to embrace the YOLO lifestyle,

but I'd like to do it in a different way. I think that there are acquisitions out there that would make the team better, but not be as onerous as Gensel's contract. Nah, man, you got to take a swing at Gensel. If you got a player like that available and he wants to come here, I mean, yes, it might

backfire. Obviously, there is a big risk here and everyone understands that. We shouldn't even have to say that. Obviously, there's a risk. It's a big contract.

He's not young anymore. Maybe after two or three years we'll be like, oh, God, what have we done? But this is their window now. You have to make the move. I don't think he's that much better. He's better, without question.

But the following name. Toffoli, you're saying? Toffoli. Dude, I love Toffoli. Don't get me wrong. If they signed Toffoli, I'd be stoked. He's awesome. Toffoli, Ehlers in a trade, Brandon Sod in a trade.

These are guys that are on trade boards and rumblings that are out there. I think Brandon Sod. Yeah, he's on. Brandon Saad? Yeah, he scored 26. Is he still in the league? He scored 26 goals last year. For who?

St. Louis. I didn't even know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All I'm saying is that. I haven't thought about that name in a while. Yeah, right? That's what I'm saying is that if you can get a guy in for half the price that could maybe score 25 or 30 goals, there's an option to be had there, right?

Yeah. Keith the Water Guy texts in, I will never understand the Vancouver market. market don't pay 28 year old jt miller eight million you're overpaying and the contract will age badly pay 30 year old genzel seven years nine million it makes so much sense it's all about where the team is yeah that's what it is you can't compare those two deals in the window now um if we're going on the notion that you should pay Jake Hensel, then you can say that people were wrong about the JT Miller contract because my thing with signing Miller was like, I didn't think the team could get to where they got to last season

while he was still in his prime. If the Canucks signed Miller and they were already good, then we wouldn't have had that conversation. It's all about where the team is. It's why we said JT Miller makes a ton of sense for Pittsburgh. Yeah. Right? I love Jay Gensel as a player.

I don't love what Jay Gensel's contract is going to look like, if that makes sense. Yeah, no, there's a huge risk, of course. There is a risk. You will always overpay. Yeah, there is a risk. And we've talked about it before, too, you and I. But you realize the point that Keith the Water Guy can't quite wrap his head around is windows change.

Sure. I'm moving past that. Moving past that, right. And just talking about also, what's the one position in the NHL where there's usually a surplus of, you know, guys like, and I mean, not just guys, but guys that can do things at a certain level.

It's, it's the wing, right? Centers are hard to find. Defensemen are hard to find. And everyone thinks that goalies are easy to find until it's really hard to find one. Right.

Yeah. There's always wingers available. There are, there are, but now you're talking about trying to win a cup. Yep. And they, right? Yeah. There's always wingers available. There are. But now you're talking about trying to win a cup. Yep. And they don't have enough in their top six right

now to win a cup. No. And you don't get Gensels every year either. Guys like Gensel, you don't always have... Generational. You don't always have those options. Let's build them up even more. Do you think he's the greatest winger in NHL history? He might be. He might be.

Jake Grenzel? Grenzel? Some people have even mentioned Jonathan Marcheseau. That, to me, is a great idea. Sure. I can see that. As long as you're not locking into a seven-year deal on Marcheseau, then you've got a problem.

I just think, this is what I'm saying, there's names out there that could probably give you not exactly what Gensel's going to give you, but close enough. Let's just get Gensel and Toffoli. There, PD has his wingers. You can't afford it. You can't afford it. Work it out somehow.

Or this goes back to Andy's understanding of money. Yeah, we'll work it out. We'll figure it out. We'll just print more, and then we'll be fine. Just get them to write it off. Our write it off. We'll just write it off. Yeah, that's what all those big companies do.

They write things off. Okay, hour one of the program is in the books. Hour two, Adnan Virk's going to join us on their side for a little MLB talk. Thomas Drantz at 7.30, not his usual 8 o'clock spot, because at 8 o'clock, Teddy Bluger, newly re-signed Vancouver Canuck, is going to join our program. And then at 8.30, we're going to do what we learned. So we've got a lot more to get to.

Hour one is in the books. Adnan Virk coming up next. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.