Halford & Brough in the Morning - Do The Trades, NHL!

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey trade news with NHL.com's Dan Rosen (1:31), plus the boys chat what's going on with the Avs ahead of deadline day, as Colorado Hockey Now's Aarif Deen (25:57) joins the program. 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.

Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Grubb, SportsNet 650. Halpern and Robb of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Do you have payday loan debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut that debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at Sands-drustee.com. We are now in our two of the program. Dan Rosen, Senior Writer for NHL.com is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to by Jason Hominock at Jason.

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Guests on SportsNet 650. Call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline, email sales at abelle auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. Let's go right now to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Our next guest is from NHL.com. Dan Rosen joins us now in the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Morning, Dan. How are you?

Morning, boys. What's going on? How are you? Not much. Just parsing through all these trades that are happening and have happened and everything that might happen. It's a busy time right now. And we're going to dive right into it with you. As a matter of fact, there's one trade or I guess one set of trades that we haven't got to yet. And it's the continual connection between the Edmonton Oilers. and the Chicago Blackhawks. And I do want to start there.

They made their second trade this week yesterday. An interesting one. Former Vancouver Canucks Center, Jason Dickinson, going to Edmonton, along with Colton Dock. This is, as I mentioned, the second time that these two have connected on a deal. And Edmonton and, you know, Stan Bowman, despite not having a ton of cap space, not having a ton of assets,

still finding a way to add to this group as they look to strengthen what has been a sort of meek playoff push thus far. Yeah, listen, I mean, from a bad type of point of view, strengthening the group, Jason Dickinson will come in. Very similar, I think, to Connor Murphy, and, you know, kind of a no-frills, know exactly what you're getting, predictable type of game, will help defensively for this group, will, you know, brings experience, some leadership qualities, if you will. I think it's a fine move to get Dickinson in.

He's not going to blow you away with production, but he should be able to give you a little bit of that, but you know, you get him in because you're filling out your depth, and that's fine. Now, I'm good with that. The first round pick is, you know, it's a little much, if you ask me, and Mongeypani are trying to get rid of the contract, which, you know, is basically getting rid of what,

you are now admitting as a mistake that you've made. So when you look at it from that perspective, I'm not so sure you love it, but from a team perspective, from the Oilers player perspective, they have to like this move because I think Dickinson, like Connor Murphy will make them, you know,

marginally better, and that's what you're trying to do. I'm glad you went in this direction because this is exactly where I wanted to go with this. They're like, do you guys play defense at all? Yeah. Because we're going to need some of those. Again, you're talking about a team that's played a lot of hockey

over the last three years. And we saw what the team that beat them in consecutive Stanley Cup finals, Florida's looked like this year, granted a lot more injury issues with the Panthers. But there is a sense having watched the Oilers a lot and, you know, looking where they're at in the standings that, you know, they just might be at a gas or that at least for this year, the window might be closed a bit. I understand that Bowman's got to chase this thing, because any time you have dry subtle and McDavid, you've got to try and go after it. But right now, and I know there's still time ahead of Friday's deadline, but where would you put Edmonton's playoff and cup aspirations, given what they've done through now the three-quarter market this regular

season? So this is interesting, right? First off, in my opinion, if you're going to try to chase this thing, you can't go into this chase this chase with the goaltending as it is. You can add all you want around the edges, but if this goaltending stays the way it is, it's going to be really hard to chase it. That being said, if the Edmonton-O-Wall, you know, Oilers, and we had E.J. Radick from the NHL Network on our podcast, the

NFL at the ring podcast yesterday, and he brought this up, but we talked about this a lot, if the Edmonton Oilers can stay on the Pacific Division side of things, right? So finish in the top three of the division or get the first wild card, right? They got a shot to go to the conference final. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Like, that is absolutely how they need to be looking at it. this because there is you know if you fall in the central division side good luck right i mean good luck but if you're on the pacific division side no one's blowing you away everybody looks at

megas and oh look out Vegas is all this talent all that they're struggling they got goaltending issues too they got defensive issues too right so all that like you think on that pacific division side they got a shot why do they get a shot because they got the two best players that are going to play in the game every single time they have the two best players who are going to be playing in that particular game in most of the time in Leon Dries Saddle and Connor McDavid. So you got a shot but my God

you can't go into it with this goaltending and expect everything to just be hunky-dory and here we go, we're going back to the Stanley Cup final and this time we're going to win it. It's not good enough. It's just simply not good enough. It's arguably worse than it was when they went to back-to-back Stanley Cup

finals and they didn't like that so they got rid of that guy. Let's talk about the Rangers, which is one of the teams you cover very closely, being where you are. Vincent Trocheck is the name that's getting thrown out the most. He doesn't want to go to the West Coast. He's been pretty clear about that. He's got a limited no trade clause, so he can do that. What's the best fit for Vincent Trocheck, and do you think he is almost certainly going to get traded?

Well, I'm going to find out here pretty soon because if he's certainly going to get traded, then my guess is he's not playing tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the original Sellers Bowl at Madison Square Garden um listen I

I if the Rangers are going to trade Vince and Trochec to me the best the best landing spot that makes the most stents for Trochec and the team is Carolina Hurricanes

absolute need at a number two center position familiar with the player he's played there before fits their style. Ahos a lefty, trochecks a righty. You still have stall there too. You got a guy who wins a ton of face-offs, can kill penalties,

play on the power play. Checks every box that you want to check. To me, that makes the most sense. And they're a team that's always kind of hanging around, right? They're always kind of there. So, I've heard a lot about Minnesota, and maybe that's where he ends up, and it makes sense. I get that one, too. The Wild have traded a lot already.

Do the Wild have enough to satisfy the needs of the Rangers in a trade to make this worthwhile for the Rangers. To me, that's the biggest question because they've already given up a lot, right? They do still have, I believe, their 27 first round draft pick and I think you have to, if you're the Rangers

and you're going to move Trocheque, you absolutely have to get a first round pick, and you've got to get a top prospect, because he's still got three years left on his deal, and there's absolutely no pressure to move him. They don't have to trade this guy. In fact, I think if you trade him, you go from

retool to rebuild. Like, that's just my opinion on it. Like, they've talked about how they're retooling their roster to get younger, but here's a guy who, you know, he's 32 years old, he still plays a big role for your team, he plays a huge role for your team, and if you try to move him, you know, now you're, now you're, you know, how you're replacing him, you know, like that. So, and, and how quickly can you replace him? And with what? Because you're not going to get guys to replace him that are going to immediately make you better next season. I think. So to me, it's a real interesting situation that the Rangers are in that they have to, they can't with this trade if they make it, I don't want to say win the trade. We don't find

that stuff out until later on, but they got to get it right. They got to get it right. And they don't have to do it if it's not right for them. Dan, what's your take on Alexis Lafranier? Just in general, like, what's happened to him? Does he need a change of scenery? You know, it looked like a couple years ago, like he was going to break out and be the player, everyone expected him to be when he was drafted first overall. And I personally remember watching him in the world juniors,

and I'd be like, I don't know if he's going to be Sidney Crosby, but I'd be shocked if he's going to be a bust. He's going to be a very good player. Yeah. And I don't, where is he right now? Like, what's, is he a very good player right now? Is he a good player right now? He's not a very good player.

He's a good player. I mean, he's not ever going to live up to the potential of being a number one pick, in my opinion. Like, I just, I think that ship has sailed on Lafriere. I think there's issues in his game defensively. There's issues in his game away from the puck. Sometimes there's issues in his game with the puck that leave you scratching your head. And why are you still doing this? Why is it like this and whatnot?

A change of scenery potentially could help him. but I think the guy is a 50 to 60 point player, you know, on a good year. I really do. I think he could be a 25 goal scorer, maybe 30, and a 50 to 60 point player on a good year. And he was close to that a couple of years ago. The Rangers gave him the big contract. He hasn't been close to it since. So maybe moving him out and changing things up with him is a way to go,

although he is still a young player. I just think that expectations have to be lowered for a player like him. He's just, he's not going to live up to that number one draft pick. And we have to stop looking at him like he was a number one pick. Similar in a way with the Rangers that they had Capocaco in his now in Seattle. And everyone was like, how could you trade the number two pick? Well, it was the number two pick years ago. Like I think it was 2019.

Like he's not the number two pick anymore. He's a middle six vote. what he is. Isn't it incredible, though, to think about what could have been if those guys panned out to the level everyone expected them to be? I mean, we certainly wouldn't be in the situation where it right now. And J.T. Miller probably wouldn't be on the team. Yeah, no, you're right.

It really is that way. And I remember back when David Quinn was the head coach of the team, and he took a lot of flak for it, but he was basically saying, like, I'm not just giving these guys ice time because they were high draftics. Like, they've got to earn it. and I think the Rangers you know mistake with

Caco was they never got another Finn to be around him here's the guy who was 18 years old moving to New York and he's got you know for the first time living away from home or away from Finland and they never got anybody else to help him and he was kind of on his own on a veteran team

it didn't play right for him Alexei Lephyne is a little bit different in that sense but they they never quite, like, Coco for sure, there were times where you saw it, and then there were times where it was like, oh, you know what, nope, and then it was multiple coaches who were

fourth line for him, like Quinn, Galant, Peter Laubilette, like, it was multiple coaches, so to me it wasn't the coach, it was the player when that happens over multiple coaches. And, like, would laugh, he's a guy who's now, they like him on his offside, on a right wing as a left-handed shot. He can create their obvious skill there. I just don't think he's ever going to be that type of player where he's going to be a front-line guy.

Like he's a middle six forward, second line at best, and, you know, hasn't really had an opportunity much on the power play. Maybe he gets it now with J.T. Miller out, and Panarin gone and Trocheck may be gone, you know, like to showcase what he can do there. But to me, it's just you just got to lower the expectations on what we think these guys are going to bring to the team. We're speaking to Dan Rosen from NHL.com here on the Halford and Brough show

on Sports 9-650. I want to get into the Islander stuff and the Sabre stuff. So we'll go to Buffalo now. You know, we started this hit talking about Chicago and Edmonton getting together on a pair of deals. And it sounds like the Sabres and the Blues would like to do as much, having already had talks about Robert Thomas and now. seemingly pivoting to Colton Pereco.

What do you know about where things are at on the Pareco front? I know there's a deal in place, in principle. Everything's kind of contingent on Pareco waving as no movement clause. Do you have any update here? Do you have any sense of how this will end up? And if they'll be able to circle back and maybe get in on Thomas as well. Yeah, I don't have an update. I don't know where that stands right now with Pareco.

Obviously, I would think, you know, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen today is my guess because there's other business that both of these teams are looking to do that we think they're looking to do. I think Pereko in a Sabres uniform playing on that defense would look terrific. I really like Colton Perako. He's big. He's physical, mobile. He's got some offense to his game that he showcased more last year than he has this

season. But I really, really like the player. It's just a matter of, like, you know, when you give these guys these clauses in their contracts, don't blame them if they execute them. You know, like, don't blame him if he says, no, no, no, I want to stay in St. Louis, or that's not a team that I want to go to. I don't want to go there. I don't know if I want to stay in St. Louis, but I don't want to go there.

Right. I mean, Tyler Myers, Tyler Myers just did it. And they did a really good job of it because, I mean, he did, he did say he didn't refuse to go to Detroit, but he was like, try and find a better place. That's a better place for me personally, and he ended up in Dallas. Anyway, I cut you off. I apologize. Myers is a guy who's got one year left and he's closer to the end, right, of his career, whereas Pareko's got multiple years left and he's more than the middle, in the middle of his career.

So when he, if he gets traded to a team, he's moving to that city. You know what I mean? Like that's a move. That's not just, I'm going to stop over. So there's a lot of thought that goes into it. And same with Robert Thomas. Like, you know, these guys have been in St. Louis. They're embedded there.

And the thing with St. Louis is always, you know, intrigues me is how many guys who played for the blues end up settling in St. Louis or just on the outskirts of the St. Louis area, they all live there, right? So there's something to be said about where they live and what they like about it and the organization itself and how they're treated and maybe they don't want to go. And you give him a clause in his contract and he can execute that clause and you cannot blame him for that. However, there's the other factor is that when a guy knows a team tried to move him, and the players in the room know a team tried to move him, and he says no, you do wonder how that, you know, how, how does that, how is that viewed from a team and a player perspective when a player knows the, excuse me, the team doesn't want him anymore?

Alfred, didn't Braden Shen refuse to waive his no trade clause? Wasn't there a deal where Braden Shen was maybe going to be traded? to, God, I want to say the Leafs or something like that. Was it the Leafs or Whittepag? Yeah, it was the Leafs. Yeah, it was it last year's line that the Leafs reportedly attempted to trade for Shen and then he declined it. Yeah.

So Shen's probably on line one for Paraco. Like, here's what you do. You know, like it wouldn't be unprecedented on that team. And maybe to your point, people just, they like living in St. Louis. And they have the right to do it, you know? Yeah. Dan, there's been quite a few rumors locally here about Connor Garland, potentially going to the New York Islanders.

What do you think of those rumors? And do you think the Islanders are going to do something more here? I think the Islanders are going to do something. I think Matthew Darsh, their GM, understands that there's an opportunity with the way that they play, with the goaltending that they have, with Schaefer just coming into his own, to bolster. this roster for a bit of a run here. It is, you look at the West, it's the, it's the teams in the Central, and that's what

you're looking at. And you look at the East, it's far more open, far more wide open, in my opinion. And I think they recognize that. And listen, another guy in Connor Garland, you guys know him better than I do, but a guy who you know exactly what you're getting every night, right? Like he's a, there is no, no gray area with his game. That's what I've seen. And I understand why there would be interest there.

Plus, he can continue to grow with you because he's signed, right? Yeah. This is an interesting market, like an interesting trade market. So many of the guys we're talking about have years left on their deals. Because all the good, pending UF, guys who would have been UFA has already signed. But they have so many of these guys have years left on their deals. It's a different trade market in that sense, and the islanders would be looking at that more than a rental because this is a team that's just starting. If you really think about it, they're just starting to come together here and they want to go for a couple of years now.

Same with the Buffalo Sabres. Same with the Montreal Canadiens. Same with even the Detroit Red Wings, right? I mean, these teams that are, they don't want to necessarily just out of rental because the oilers are in a different position than some of these other teams. and the Islanders being one of them. How much has Matthew Schaefer reinvigorated the Islanders fan base? Oh, my goodness. It's hard to even describe. It really is like what he's doing is an 18-year-old in the National Hockey League is astonishing.

It's like he's rewriting what an 18-year-old defenseman can do in the league. And without question, he's ignited the Islander fan base. It's a really good but still relatively small. fan base for the islanders. You know, a lot specific to Long Island is what it is, but they love this guy and why wouldn't you?

And they're starting to really love this team too. He has changed, it's amazing what one player who's got that personality and the game to match can do for a franchise, and he's done it. Don't you think they so needed that too

because of the new building? I mean, sounds so weird, but I always felt like it was the series the Islanders played against the Penguins. Was that the last year in the old rink? And it was

so awesome. And they ended up winning that series. And it was just, it was old school, right? It was, uh, look, the hits were insane. And the, the crowd, which was, you know, right on top of everything was, was so loud. I mean, even watching from Vancouver, I,

I was getting chills from the crowd. And Then they went to the new fancy rink. I felt like they lost something going to that rink. And they needed something to kind of take them into their next era. Maybe I'm playing too much into like real estate here. But just your thoughts on the transition from the ranks and maybe Matthew Schiafer helping bringing them into a new era. Well, Nassau Coliseum was a, you know,

it was a big parking lot, tailgating type of, place for fans, right in the community, place that everybody knew how to get there on Long Island, you know, as hard as it could be to get there sometimes. Everybody on Long Island is an Islander fan knows how to get to Massaulcala Coliseum. They would all drive to games. They moved to UBS Arena. Driving became a little bit harder. It was more of a commuter place with train, which is great, but not necessarily what that

fan base was used to. It became a little bit of a sterile environment. It didn't help that the team was kind of sterile themselves. that they didn't have much, you know, they didn't have much going. They weren't scoring. They were kind of boring. They weren't promotion. Lula Amarillo, Hall of Famer, but he wasn't exactly promoting the team,

kind of faceless, nameless type of team, except for, you know, the Matthew Barzals and the Andrews, Lee's, and the guys you know, right, from Long Island. But now they've got a superstar. Now they've got a guy who brings you out of your seat and brings people to the arena no matter how they get their train, whatever it might be, because you've got to go see them play. And now you've got to go see this team play,

and they are far more exciting to watch, and the building feels just so much more alive because of it. God, the Canucks need that. They need that in this draft. Dan, thanks for taking the time to join us. Always fun to catch up with you. I hope you're doing well. All right, guys.

All right, see, buddy. Doing well. All right, see you guys. Dan Rosen from NHL.com here on the health. Alfred and Breff Show on SportsNet 650. It's time now for The One to Watch, brought to you by Limitless AV, Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. The One to Watch is a team, a singular team, the St. Louis Blues right now.

They seem to have a lot of things in the hopper. And one of the most recent reports coming from Pierre LeBron is now connecting the St. Louis Blues with the Utah Mammoth, who of course made a big deal yesterday by acquiring Mackenzie Weeger from the Calgary Flame. Pierre is pointing out that despite the fact that they threw three second round picks into that Weiger trade, the mammoth didn't trade away any of their top five prospects and still have their first round picks this year and next year. What does that mean? They are in the mix to acquire Robert Thomas from the St. Louis Blues. So now you've got the Buffalo Sabres expressing interest.

You've got the Utah Mammoth expressing interest. You've got Colton Pareko out there. in addition to Robert Thomas and all the other guys that Doug Armstrong has on the market for the St. Louis Blues. So you're one to watch today. Thomas had a nice game last night, a goal and an assist and beat the Cracken? That's a bad loss for the Cracken, by the way,

who are by no means guaranteed to make the playoffs. And the Blues have the night off tonight, so you could see some movement with the team not playing. We'll keep an eye on it because it is the one to watch. Brought to you by Limitless A.V., specializing in seamless video conferencing solutions and hybrid workspaces. Book your personalized tour of their Experience Center today

at Limitlessav.ca.com. Coming up on the other side of the break, Araf Dean from Colorado Hockey now is going to join us. The aves have the best record in the NHL, their first place in the NHL. A lot of sports books have them as the odds on favorite to win the Stanley Cup. What are they going to do ahead of Friday's deadline? We'll find out next with Araf. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. It's Canucks Central on Sportsnet 650. From exclusive interviews to insider scoops and post-game breakdowns, we've got it all. Tune in weekdays 4 to 6 p.m. on radio and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 733 on 8 Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford, Brough, Sportsnet, 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Are you getting collection calls? If you are, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% and stop those calls.

Visit them today at Sands. That's trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. midway point of the show. Araf Dean from Colorado Hockey Now Aves Beat Writer is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour 2 of this program is brats by Jason Hamanuk at Jason.mug at jason.orgage, the most metal of all the mortgage brokers.

If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason. com. To the phone lines we go, our next guest, Colorado Avalage Beatwriter for Colorado Hockey Now. Araf Dien joins us here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Good morning, Araf. How are you?

I'm doing well. Thanks for having me back on the show. Yeah, thanks for coming back on. We wanted to circle back on the abs for a variety of reasons. One, they're the best team in the National Hockey League. Two, they've got very high Stanley Cup aspirations. And three, I'm willing to guess that right now, their only move going into Friday's trade deadline will not be the acquisition of Nick Blankenberg.

So tell us, what are the Colorado Avalanche looking to do ahead of Friday's deadline? Well, I mean, I think the big one is the catch out of the bag that they want Nazan Katri back. I am, you know, this is a conversation that I expected to have a month ago. I probably would have been shocked to hear that, but it does sound like they want to, you know, one way or another, they want to shore up their center debts. And this has been something that's been kind of on the docket all year. They traded Charlie Coyle last summer and they weren't expected to or were it planning. on it. So they do need

a third line center. It does sound like cadre is their big target, but right now it's going to be a game of who blinks first. You know, Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames don't want to retain any of his money. The Avalanche don't want NAA's at $7 million. So are the flames going to blink first and retain some

and, you know, get what they want from the ads or are the ads going to blink first and, you know, maybe offer a lesser package for Naz to, you know, as a thank you for taking the contract. So it's going to be interesting to see how the next, what, 36 hours or so shakeout, but that's their big target. And if they don't get him, there are a few pieces that they can go for, you know, on a lesser scale, starting with, you know, maybe a

Scott Lawton or someone like that. It does sound like, per usual, Chris McFarland is big name and big game hunting. So where does that leave their current 3C? Is it Jack Jerry right now? So right now it's Jack Drury. Jack Jury. When he was brought in last year in that Lico Ranchin and trade. You know, they thought he could probably develop into a 3C full-time and one that kind of fits the bill for what they want. He was last year in the playoffs, he was an elite 4-C playing with Parker Kelly and Logan O'Connor. And this year, he's been fine.

Like, I'm not going to sit here and say, Jack, Jerry is having a bad season by any means. But whenever he's put at 3C, it's not as inspiring as having him as, like, legitimately an elite fourth, fourth line center. So again, I don't think they were planning on trading Charlie Coil last year, and then the center market

kind of became what it was, and they were able to get a good package from the Columbus Blue Jackets and offload Miles Wood at the same time. That it was, you know, too hard of a deal not to take up. So it's, or, it's kind of been a thing for,

what has it been now since last June, you know, nine months that, you know, expect the avalanche, you know, unless Jack Dore, at 25 years old, completely takes off. You're looking at them likely bringing in the third line center. And, you know, I don't think that changes anything for jury unless they feel like,

I mean, I'm curious about Jack jury in general, but that's more of a summer conversation because he's an RFA over the summer. It's probably looking for two and a half, three, three and a half million and the avalanche, as we know, are a little cash strap. But he's an elite fourth line center. he's like 58% in the dot. A big piece of the PK, great chemistry with guys like Parker Kelly

who are having great seasons. I just don't think they want to go to the playoffs with him as the third line setter. Any concern that they bring Calgary back and it's you know, it's just not the same. We've seen teams do this before and sometimes when you try to get the band back together

it's really, it's difficult to rediscover the magic. Yeah, I mean, that's definitely a conversation. you've got to have and a lot of teams have you know like you said they've done it in the past I think the difference with Nause is the avalanche probably had some chances to bring him back

in the past and and they didn't go there just because they had a better option or they maybe went a different route for the role that they needed so that's kind of a big difference here is like you know last year I know Calgary last year

was pretty open you know with that playoff push that they don't want to trade McKenzie Weger, Nazan Khadry. That was a year ago. They've obviously now traded McKenzie Weger. But I do wonder if they had Nas on the market last year. I don't think the Avalanche were going to go out and trade for him what they gave up to get

Brock Nelson, who is already a 30-goal score. You know, the Avalanche just played their 60th game. Brock Nelson's already got 30 goals. He's already a strong two-way center. He's already a P-K guy. The difference with Nas here is you're not bringing him back to be the second line center, Karendo Magic, playing behind Nathan McKinnon right in that

second line spot with, you know, the same wingers as before, Val Nechuskin and Gabe Landisca. You're bringing him in to be the third option. You're bringing him in to have the ability to maybe play him on the wing. You know, Jared Bedinard, like the Pittsburgh Penguins have done for years,

likes to play a winger at, or sorry, a center at wing. You know, it's no different than when the penguins put Malton with Sid or when the or this put dry saddle with, with McDavid. So you're not bringing Nas in to be the same guy he was last time. You're bringing him in in a far lesser role, granted for a lot of money, but the cap is going up, and they have the flexibility to play something a little bit different

than what he was before. And if the magic is working so well, and if you rekindle it so strongly that it's similar to what you had last time, then by all means, up those minutes. So before the Olympic break, the abs were wobbling a little bit, relative to how they've started, how they started, which was insane. How have they been since the Olympic break ended? A heck of a lot better. And I think the Olympics have a lot to do with that.

They are 4-1-0. So I don't know if you guys have ever seen this, but the Avalanche had five games and seven nights coming out of the break. That's crazy. I genuinely don't remember ever seeing that. and they traveled, I think it was four flights or five flights in those seven nights, where they played it back to back one day off, then they had a game, then one day off, and then another back to back.

Well, those five games in seven nights, given the fact that four of their top guys all played in the gold medal game and three of them, you know, played big minutes for Team Canada, and another two of them won bronze medals with Finland. Granted, both those Finnish guys are injured now for different reasons. Five games and seven nights, they went four in one. The one game they lost was to the Minnesota Wild. It's probably the one game they would have preferred to win. But they're looking pretty good.

Their goaltenders came back better than ever. Even someone like Nathan McKinnon, McKinn took us the first day off, and that was the only game he took off, and nobody else had a break. Kail McCar and Devontees have played five games right out of the Olympic break. And, you know, it was 12 days ago

they were playing for the gold medal game in a different continent. So given kind of the circumstances of their schedule, they've been excellent. They've been four and one, and their next two games are going to be all the more exciting, and both of them are after the deadline. They have the Dallas Stars Friday night.

They got the Minnesota Wilde against Sunday afternoon, and then if you want to throw a third game in there, they have the Edminton Oilers on Tuesday. So how they do these next three games, I think, is going to say a lot. But so far is so good, and then it aligns with a couple things. It aligns with the Olympics being golf players' minds because of those top guys that were going to the Olympics

were the ones that kind of were, you know, I don't want to say they didn't care, but they were a little bit in cruise control, and you can't blame them. The nerves of that tournament were kind of creeping up. And number two, as we've said, many, many times for the last three and a half years, Gabe Landisg was hurt,

and now Gabe Landiscag was back. So that does mean a lot in that locker room. So they look like the team that they were up until January 4th. We're speaking to Araf, Dean Ave's Beatrider for Colorado Hockey now here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Aeref, which central division foe is going to present the greater challenge for the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs? Is it Minnesota or is it Dallas? Utah in the first round.

I didn't put them on the list. But you're welcome. You know what? For the purposes of this exercise, we'll open it up. It could happen. It could happen. I wanted it to be in either or, but I'll allow a third party to answer the equation as well. Take it any direction you want, Arif.

Yeah, Utah. So I'll start with that just for the sake of this conversation. Utah has played the avalanche very, very well this year. The only problem is they're not winning much while doing it, like many other teams. There was a stretch before, so I believe the avalanche went three and all against Utah this year, but there was a stretch where, if you remember, Colorado was like 20-0-2 at home or some crazy record like that before they started to lose games before the Olympic break. And in those 20-something games, they had only some.

scored fewer than three goals twice at ball arena. Both of those games came against a Utah manor. The problem for the mammoth, the avalanche won both times. It was two to one and one to nothing. But they were both played very, very strong. It was a team that was able to shut down the avalanche defensively and shut down their high-powered offense at a time where no teams could. And quite frankly, teams are still struggling to do it.

So I do think the merits will give them a little bit of a challenge. I don't think it's the kind of challenge where you're worried that you might get, you know, upset in the first round. Okay. But going back to the original question, it's hard to say. I still lean Dallas, but I will say, like, there's a couple things here. Number one, Minnesota wasn't supposed to be this dangerous of a team when the season began. They were not a cup and bus team like the avalanche and stars. But then they went out and traded for Quinn Hughes.

and everything changed. And now they might go out and trade for Vincent Trocheck or someone else who's that good to play second-line center. Heck, maybe not as Enchre ends up there for some God knows reason why. But like, they're going to be dangerous. They still lack a little bit on the depth front. I mean, we just saw them give up a second round draft pick

for Michael McCarran, who has 12 points. And we don't often see a Stanley Cup contender in the beginning of March make a waiver claim like they did with Robbie Fabry. So they still like, yeah, like, For them, they still have a little bit of that, like, we need quantity as much as we need quality in the lineup because we just don't have a lot of guys. The Dallas Stars still scare the abs, and I think that's their big boogeyman. They've only played them once this year, and I think it was the second game of the year, the third game of the year.

So it's been a while. The one curious question I have about the Dallas Stars, and, you know, this could be a positive or a negative for them is, how are they going to look under Glenn Gillotson? because we've seen Pete DeBoer beat the avalanche four times into Jared Bednar era. He's eliminated them for the playoffs four times on three different franchises. He did it with San Jose in 2019, with Vegas in 2021, and with Dallas each of the last two years. That bogeyman's not there anymore. I really wonder how the stars are going to look under Glenn Belitzer. Okay, so is there anything else that the Aves might be doing leading up to this deadline?

Oh, and I wanted to ask you, what did you think about trading Sam Gerard? That was a guy that was, I think, in, you know, trade rumors for years and years, maybe with the idea that, well, we've got a pretty good puck mover in Kail McCar. Why do we need Gerard now? Is the case now that Malinsky has kind of taken that role for Gerard? And that's the reason that Gerard was shipped out, creating some cap space in the process? I believe so So it's a little bit of a combination

I've been deemed according to the comments on my Twitter It's Sam Gerard Hater because I've been talking about it For as long as you just mentioned He's been on the market He's a wonderful player The difference Or I should say the problem is yes Exactly that you have Teal McCarne Devontees

That are also That are you know They're strong players that can hold their own And they don't get you know Beat around in the crease But they are on the smaller side You know they're not exactly you know More excited and Simon Edvinton

They're a little bit on smaller side. Josh Manson plays a big role. Brent Burns plays a big, you know, he's a big body and plays a big role, and he replaces what they got last year at Ryan Langland at the deadline. And then that brings you to the third pair, Sam Malinsky, Sam Gerard. Going into the season, it was very obvious. So it was okay, if Sam Malinsky takes off and earns a contract extension, that means it's the end of Sam Gerard.

Or maybe Sam Malinski doesn't take off. Sam Gerard stays there. But Molinsky took off. Molinsky took off. He's been having a great year. He's a puck mover with a little more size than Sammy Gerard, but he's still on the smaller end. He's a puck-moving guy. So, you know, they had to keep one or the other. At the same time,

Gerard went from being one of those guys that was giving you, even behind Kail McCar and Devon Teves, even with little power play minutes. And even when Bowen Byram was still in Denver, Gerard was a guy that was given you 35 to 40 points. Grimson, I think 39 is his career high. 35 to 39 points every year. He's kind of struggling with offense entirely now.

So I think it was one of those cases where it was, you know what, he makes $5 million this year and next year. Not only do we want to bring in a bigger body and kind of change the look on that third pair because Gerard and Malinski are both puck-moving guys playing together, but also I think this player needs a little bit of a fresh start. And it was a smart move. Yeah, they gave up a second rounder with him to get Brett Kulak.

But that was a little bit of a, hey, you know, this player needs a fresh start. You're buying him low. But at the same time, he also makes $5 million next year. We need that off the cap. So I think that's kind of what the conversation was like there. And I do think he'll do well on another team. I don't know if Pittsburgh is kind of where he should be long term. But I do think eventually he'll land somewhere.

And he's still young. He's 27 years old. In regards to what the Adelance could do at the deadline, I still look at those winger spots on the third line. I know they, you know, they're kind of talking all about Nazam Khadry right now. But whether they get Naz or whether they get a settlement who makes less money than him, their third line wingers are Ross Colton and Victor Olison. And Victor Olson's been a solid two-way player.

I don't know if they're going to want to go into the playoffs with both of those guys. Ross Colton has kind of struggled this year. and he makes $4 million And we heard his name on the market For the first time I think Elliot Freeman Had mentioned that the avalanche might be looking at a change there So I do wonder about that third line winker's spot So like when people talk about the avalanche

Having interest in Scott Lawton Not that I'm saying this is going to happen Or that it's any kind of like a source rumor But you know I could look at them looking at someone like Bobby McMahon And being like hey if we're going to trade for Scott Lott And maybe we shore up our third line winger depth at the same time You know maybe Lotton ends up on the fourth line and Jack Dury State's at Prec.

So I do think they want a third-line center. They needed a deaf defenseman, which you've already noted, Nick Blankenberg, and I think they do want an extra forward who plays on the wing, who can give you third-line minutes more so than fourth-line minutes. Araf, this was awesome, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. As always, we appreciate it.

Enjoy the next couple days leading up to the deadline, and I'm sure we'll be circling back and checking in with you as the playoffs get underway. Thank you, of course. glad to be on and, you know, I'm really curious to see what the Vancouver connects do. So it should be an exciting 36 hours here. We're curious as well. Thanks, Araf. We appreciate it. Hasaref Dean from Colorado Hockey Now here on the Haliford & Breft Show on SportsNet 650.

So just a reminder, we're doing a four-hour show. Four hours. Tomorrow. So we're going, starting at a regular time, 6 a.m., going until 10 a.m. We will have Elliott Friedman on the show 630. I think we're doing early with Freedge. We'll have them for about 10 to 15 minutes. So we'll set up the day with him. And look, I don't know what's going to happen today. Maybe the Canucks make some moves.

But generally people are wondering if this might all just come down literally to the deadline for the Canucks. Because they don't necessarily have these frontline pieces out there that are going to drive the market. They have leftover. almost, right? Like, let's say you're trying to upgrade your winger spot and you don't get the player

you want, then do you look at maybe you bring in a Vanderkane? Or, you know, you're looking for depth down the middle, you look around, and at the last minute,

you're like, all right, we'll throw a draft pick for Teddy Bluger, or even David Kemp. Sure. Something like that. The Garland thing,

Yeah. Is a little bit different. That one could happen today or it could happen tomorrow. It could or it could not happen at all. I think the Canucks are off to a good start with what they've done with Tyler Myers, but they need to do more. They need to do, I think for people to generally be happy with what the Canucks have done at this trade deadline,

they have to get rid of at least two of the three pending UFAs. and I think Kane and Bluger are the ones and maybe they understand if Kemp doesn't get anything that's fine. I mean he terminated his contract. I think he's been good. I think he's been fine. But if they don't get anything for him, people aren't going to freak out.

But I think there are a handful of people. I don't know if it's a majority and minority that are also like I'm not going to be happy if you guys do the bare minimum of just training your pending UFAs in one of these

veterans with term is not also gone. Right. So this goes back to a conversation we had in the first half hour of the program. And I was talking about everything in context of the Myers deal, which I kind of framed as this one came together and it was fairly easy to pull off because Myers was very valuable. He was willing to move the no trade. He didn't have an onerous cap hit. They made it even less onerous by inheriting 50% of it and retaining that. And there was a dearth of right-handed defenseman on the market.

Anne Myers doesn't have a lot of term left on his deal. And I said, comparatively speaking, some of the other deals could be more difficult to do. And one of them that I put out there was Garland. And then Mike in T-dub texted in and he said, as if it'll be hard to move Garland. He has a $6 million cap hit, which is less than his original Connucks contract compared to the cap. That contract is owner as tell Halford he's an idiot. Message received. I got it.

I think it's, you know, and maybe I didn't clarify it in the way that I should have. but by calling Garland's contract onerous, I really only meant it in the scale of getting the deal done by Friday. I think Connor Garland is a very appealing contract. And the six years of $36 million, you're right, Mike. Like it's not an onerous contract to take on because with the Escaline cap. All I'm saying is... It might be an easier one to do in the offseason.

But in the off season... But you've got until July 1st. Right. Until July 1st. But then in July 1st, the no trade. kicks in and then it becomes a lot more complicated. Yeah, but the draft is before July 1st. Correct. All I'm saying is to get it done between now and Friday, personally, and I don't

think I'm like way off or God forbid an idiot in saying this. We'll see. It's just, I think it's a more difficult deal to do. At the end of the day, I think the Myers deal in a certain way fell into their lap after the Detroit thing kind of opened up. And also the clear desire for right shot defensemen. And the subtext of everything I'm saying here is I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm

and almost like preemptively get mad for deals not getting done to the magnitude that we want. You're saying it would be a smart decision to temper your enthusiasm? I don't quite have the smart decision in front of me right now as working on it. So I think what I'm going to do is make the smart decision and not rush it and do the smart decision on the other side of the break

when we talk to Thomas Drans from the athletic, which is always a smart decision here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650.