Halford & Brough in the Morning - Dom Luszczyszyn Predicts the Next Elite NHL Team

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

In hour one, guest host Jamie Dodd & Producers Greg and Elan tell us what happened. Which team is under more pressure to go on a run in October, the Jays or Mariners? The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn joins the show. Who are the next elite NHL teams? Plus, Dom weighs in on Elias Pettersson's upcoming season. 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.

You're listening to Halford and brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Lined up to Bill. Nettos got it. Steps on second, through to first. It's a triple play. Whoa. Who hits a fly ball.

Pretty well tagged to left field. Hap's going to turn and watch it go. How about Ernie Clement? Good morning. Welcome to Halford and Brough here on Sportsnet 650, but of course, as has been the case for a while. No, Halford, no Brough. And we've added a new wrinkle today as well.

No Josh Elliott-Wolf, so it's just me. Jamie Dodd, at least as a host here, holding it down for today. Josh had some stuff come up last night. He's fine. He'll be back later this week. I'll let him tell you all the fun story behind his absence when he gets back in studio later this week. So I'm riding solo today on the show, but I got producer Elon here with me. Morning, Gus.

And I got, of course, Laddie running the show as well. Hello, hello. Hello to you, Laddie. We are broadcasting live from the Kintech studio. Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Halfen and Brough brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help of over 3,000, 5 star reviews. Visit sands dash trustee.com 650.650 is the Dunbar Lumber Text Line.

Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their third. three locations to serve you or online at dumbar lumber.com. And we always appreciate your texts into the show, your what we learn submissions, your questions, what's ever on your mind, especially when I'm doing the show solo. Then I really appreciate your text. So start sending those in. Of course, we'll do what we learned, as always, at 830 later on in the show. But never too early for a text or a submission. And we'll see what we can get to throughout the course of the show. before we even get to the guest list as well, I also want to mention it's Pirate Pack Day at

White Spot at your White Spot locations around BC. So this is the one day of the year where as an adult you can go in and get the authentic pirate pack experience, the cardboard ship, the chocolate coin, the whole deal. And we're very fortunate yesterday after the show, White Spot dropped off some adult pirate packs for myself and Josh. So I got to crush a burger and fries and ice cream at 9 a.m. yesterday. They also dropped off a bunch of the golden coins that are all like melted together and stuff. Oh, I think they may have separated now. Oh, really? Okay. They're looking good. You've been into it?

All right. They did. I was about to dip in and then I looked at the clock and saw 545 and maybe I'll wait a little bit. Yeah, I was like, well, maybe I'll just have the burger. I'm like, no, I'm going to absolutely crush this whole thing sitting here in the prep room at 9 a.m. So again, I'm going to tell you more about Pirate Pack Day as the show goes on. But of course, the proceeds are all going to a good cause. So if you're craving that triple O's hit, today is the day to go and get it at White Spot for Pirate Pack Day. All right.

Looking ahead to the show, we got a big four person guest list today starts at 630. Dom Lucision covering the NHL. Yes, Dom of Dom's model from the athletic will join me. He's been doing some interesting pieces up at the athletic this summer. Had his regular look at the contract efficiency rankings for NHL teams. They're doing their big front office confidence survey right now. So we can maybe get into a little bit of who, which front offices he would rank highly in those metrics with Dom at 630. I'm probably chat a little conucks with Dom as well at 630.

At 7 o'clock, Mike Corrine, he's an editor at Sportsnet.com. He was all over the Vicki and Boko win at the National Bank Open. last week. We can talk to him a little bit about that. What's next for Mboko? Of course, the U.S. Open just around the corner. What are realistic expectations for her going into that tournament? And really beyond, there's always this rush to crown. Okay, hey, she's arrived. The new face of Canadian tennis. We also have to keep in mind she's 18. What does the medium near term look like for Vicki Mboko coming off that national big open win? What's the state of the rest of the landscape for Canadian tennis as well?

well, so we'll chat with that, with Mike Corrine about that. Again, editor at sportsnet.com at 7 o'clock 7.30. Nick Shook from NFL.com regular here on the show. Lots to dig into as the NFL preseason continues. It's Shadur-Sanders mania in Cleveland where Nick is based. So we'll get his thoughts on that. Was that the greatest week one preseason performance of all time from a rookie quarterback? I don't think so, but we'll find out what Nick has to say about that.

mind, you know. Yeah, so many legendary ones. We'll talk to Nick about that and lots of other storylines around the NFL at 730. And at 8 o'clock, I'm looking forward to this one a lot. Columbus Blue Jackets Ford and, of course, the pride of Port Moody, Kent Johnson will join the show. Johnson, of course, as I'm sure a lot of you have seen on social media in town, skating with Connor Bedard, skating with Macklin Celebrini. So we'll talk to Kent Johnson about his season last year, a real breakout campaign for him. Real breakout campaign. And for the Blue Jackets as a whole. Of course, one of the best stories in the NHL last year

coming off the incredible tragedy of Johnny Goddrow and his brother's passing and falling just short of the playoffs ultimately, but a really exciting young team with a lot of offensive firepower. Kent Johnson, chief among those players. Looking forward to chatting with Kent Johnson about how his summer's going,

what's next for him, expectations, and also just being part of this wave of talent coming out of the Vancouver area. So that's the guest list, and of course, I will do it in reverse. 8 o'clock, Ken Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets Forward. 7.30, Nick Shook from NFL.com. 7 o'clock, Mike Corrine. He's an editor at Sportsnet.com and 630, Dom Lucision, from The Athletic.

That's what's coming up on the show. Of course, Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No, what happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life comes. What happened is that?

You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit BCCSSA.com. And of course, we will focus in on Major League Baseball at this time of the calendar. And it was a great day for baseball fans of all varieties.

here in the lower mainland jays and mariners both win we'll start with the mariners uh they shut out the orio's one nothing on the road josh nailer drove in randy or rose arena in the first inning that was it for scoring for the game george kirby goes seven strong as pitching really just continues to be a major major strength for this mariners team that is now eight straight for the mariners and we'll get to what that means for their positioning in the a l west in a minute here, but eight straight wins from the Mariners as they are one of, not the hottest, that would be Milwaukee, but one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball. If you're looking for a flying the ointment right down for the Mariners, then it is kind of

nitpicking, but Suarez continuing to scuffle a little bit since rejoining the team at the trade deadline, 0 for three with a strikeout last night. So the offense didn't come through last night, but as I said, the pitching staff continues to be a major, major strength for Seattle. They pick up the win. is their eighth straight win. And as I was alluding to, Houston lost last night to Boston. So that means Seattle and Houston now tied atop the AL West standings for first place.

And it wasn't that long ago that I think it was a seven game lead for Houston. So Seattle has gotten awfully hot. And I know Josh and I were talking earlier in the week and saying, Houston now with the Correa acquisition, that's a pretty scary team. But in the midst of that, Seattle has managed to chase them down. and tie them for first place in the AL West with their 8th straight win. Saying they lost yesterday is a bit of an understatement. Yeah, they got crushed.

It was 14 to 1. Like, they got pummeled at home by the Red Sox. Not what you want to see. Not ideal for the Houston Astros. The Red Sox might be scarier than the Astros. They might be. They might be. Absolutely. So that's the Mariners won nothing over the Orioles on the road.

Again, Josh Naylor with the game-winning RBI all the way back in the first inning. The Js, they win as well. Well, Ernie Clement stays hot. He hit a three-run shot in the fourth. The Jays beat the Cubs, five-one at home. That's home runs in three straight games for Ernie Clement. Four of his last five. Four of his last five.

And I did have to laugh because on the broadcast when he hit his home run, Dan Shulman, who legend was on the show yesterday, he was like, I'm pretty sure that's Ernie Clement's first time ever going, hitting home runs in three straight games. And then the next thing he was like, I've been informed. That's incorrect. He did it last August as well. But anyways, massive hot streak here for Ernie Clement.

Not only home runs in three straight games, four of his last five, as you said, Laddie. Also his second straight game with a game winning home run. Of course, he had the game winner in that dramatic finish against the Dodgers in L.A. on Sunday as well. Jay's really relied on their bullpen after Jose Barrio's kind of toughed out, five and a third shutout innings, loaded the bases in the third inning, but was able to get out of it. Not a sharp outing, but still five and a third innings of shutout. ball for Jose Burrios. And I think the other story here for the Jays is Jeff Hoffman coming in didn't

get a save with the score 5-1, but he gets to come in, pitches a clean ninth inning against a good offensive team in the Cubs to seal the win. And I think that's just a good bounce back opportunity for Hoffman after a really tough outing against the Dodgers over the weekend. And, you know, the bullpen continuing to sort it out, Varlane kind of lurking there as an option should Hoffman falter. He had a good inning yesterday. as well, or a good appearance yesterday as well. But good to see Hoffman come in, kind of settle things down again. Not a save situation for him, but a clean one, two, three, ninth inning to seal the win.

Around the league quickly, before we get into kind of the bigger picture implications here for the Jays and the Mariners. As you mentioned, Red Sox crushed the Astros 14 to 1. So the Mariners now tied with Houston atop the AL West. Jays maintain a four and a half game lead on Boston. in the AL East. I also wanted to mention this one in the National League, so maybe not front of mind for a lot of our listeners, but the Milwaukee Brewers are absolutely red hot.

They roughed up. Paul Skeens, of all people, early. I think four runs on him in four innings, ended up beating the Pirates 14-0, and that's 11 straight wins for the Brewers. They comfortably have the best record in baseball, and I was kind of digging into it. I don't know how many casual fans could name a lot of Brewers,

like there's Kristen Yelich yeah but he's well past you know his kind of MVP type days from when he first joined the team and when he even going back to with Miami he's kind of a shadow of himself in a lot of ways still a good player but not injuries but he's not an elite player right but beyond that like who are these guys I think is what a lot of people would say they kind of remind me actually of like a souped up version of the jays where it's just you look at it and it's like oh this guy is like a two win player this guy's a a one and a point one point eight win player like they just have a lot of guys contributing who are not household names yeah their rotation is kind of a you know there's a few names in there but it's not

quite comparable to the jays but yeah the in terms of the lineup i think it's it's very similar and how everyone's sort of contributing and then the acquisitions they brought in like andrew vaughan has been incredible for them who by the way is a former victoria harbor cat i had no idea he was a pretty highly touted prospect coming up through chicago but apparently he played a summer in Victoria. So there's a Canadian connection there to Andrew Vaughn who's just on this incredible run and it's so funny to me because in 27 games he hit his

eighth homer with them and he played for Chicago earlier in the year and he still hasn't caught up to how bad his season was with Chicago. It's amazing how it mirrors how horrible he was with Chicago and then as soon as he puts on a Brewers jersey it's like he's a superstar so

something about the Brewers this year. They got that real team of destiny field of them. Yeah no kidding right and as I said I And I don't get that team of destiny feeling with the Jays. But the Brewers, as I said, just like a souped up, turned up version of what the Jays are doing. And that has kind of pushed them into that team of destiny feeling. So right now, again, Mariners tied atop the division with the Houston Astros. Jays, of course, have been in first place in the L East for a while,

a pretty comfortable four and a half game cushion over the Red Sox at this point here as we near the middle of August. So I wanted to pose this question to you, Laddy, and to our listeners as well. Between the Js and the Mariners, which team is under more pressure to go on a run in October? And you can define that however you want. I'd say probably for it to really be a run. You're talking about the ALCS, right? If you're bowing out in the divisional series, it's like, that's not really a run. That's more of a playoff appearance.

So which team is under more pressure to not just get in, but to actually, do something, make it really feel worthwhile, and go on a run in October. And I'll run through both options and kind of what I see the factors weighing on either side. So starting with the Js, we're talking about the pressure on this team. I mean, I think you have to start with just the fact that the, what I'll call the Vladian Bo era, has really through no fault of those players necessarily been tremendously disappointing. We all know the stat, three playoff appearances, no wins, not a single win. in those playoff appearances and there's there's so much hope and excitement and hype around

those two players coming up they've had very good individual seasons although there's been some inconsistency that's been frustrating as well but it's just never materialized it's never all come together for the team since they came up in 2019 this is now their seventh seasons uh in the big leagues it's never come together and i think that weight of just the all the the aura of disappointment kind of hanging over this version of the team does put a lot of pressure on the Jays to do something. I also think you look at their pitching staff. It's getting a lot older. There's a lot of uncertainty, I think, around the starting pitching going into next season. Do you have to capitalize on the fact that you actually have a deep, pretty deep, decent rotation right now to go

get something done? And then, of course, I think the other thing is just the level of frustration with this front office. And we can talk about Mark Shapiro and his future in a second here. it was so high coming into this season sky high and it really felt like this was kind of going to be it for them for Shapiro and Atkins if something like this season didn't transpire and probably just the fact that they're having this season has done enough to kind of cool things off a little bit there but again we're talking about years and years of built up frustration built up kind of false

promise or or unmet expectations here for the jays and anytime you're in that scenario it creates a ton of pressure again not just to get into the postseason but to actually do something certainly to win a game but win a series go to the a lcs so that's the case for the jays having more pressure on the mariner's side where we're at one playoff appearance in the last 24 seasons now at this point and they beat the jays credit to them they got swept right after that so it was okay hey you made it but it didn't materialize into a run it was a one and done performance that ultimately, I think, left a pretty disappointing taste in Mariners fans' mouths. Also, that huge or that element of frustration with the front office, that very much exists

with the Seattle Mariners as well. Are we ever going to spend enough? Or do we really have, from ownership on down, that kind of mentality at win at all costs? That always adds a layer of pressure to take advantage of these seasons. Then I also think you look at it, they are getting just an absolute historic season from Cal Rally as a catcher. we've talked a lot about this he's almost certainly going to set the record for home runs in a season by a catcher any way you slice it one of if not clearly the best offensive season a catcher has ever had and when you're getting that type of production from catcher that goes a long long way and i think if they are not able to take advantage of that from cow rally take advantage of what he's doing man that would be tremendously disappointing you also throw on top of that they've never won the world series they've never been to the world World Series. These opportunities don't come around that often for the Seattle

Mariners. At least they haven't in the last 25 years or so. So you add it all up. Close, but I think there's more pressure on the Mariners to do something than there is for the Jays. And it's partly just the team history of both of these franchises, right? We talk about it all the time with the Canucks. They've never won the Stanley Cup. It has nothing to do with the individual players, it's not their fault or anything, but when you play for those teams, you kind of accept the weight of that history onto your shoulders. And I think back to each year over the weekend telling the team, hey, seize the moment, you've got the talent. We had Jen Muller who covers the Mariners on the show earlier this week. She said, yeah, the team feels that.

And I think you look at the moves the front office made. I won't necessarily say going all in, because they didn't have to pay as big a price as people thought maybe for Naylor and Suarez, but those were aggressive moves. Those were moves designed to seize the moment, designed to say, hey, we don't want to waste this season from Cal Raleigh. I think if you have a one and dumb playoff appearance in those situations, that would be really, really hard to take.

So I think there's a lot of pressure on both teams, but I will give the edge slightly to the Mariners, having more pressure on them to go on a run in the postseason. I think the Mariners pressure was there even before they knew Rally was going to have a season like this because they let go of a pretty well-liked manager many years with the organization in Scott's service to bring in Dan Wilson as a sort of a wake-up call to say, hey, things need to be different this year. We need to go on a run. So if they don't, I think that's going to be a massive failure in their eyes. They're sort of

at the peak of this run that they've been on. Like you said, they made the playoffs in 2022. They had 90 wins the year before that, 88 the year after that. And they were a pretty good team last year that didn't make it. But, you know, they've been trending upwards. And now you need to start seeing those results because otherwise that window starts to close. And I think that's the worry with the Mariners. With the Jays, you don't get the same sense, right? You don't feel like that window is closed. Maybe because they locked

Vladia up. Yeah. Things feel a little more stable going forward. A little bit more for sure. And I guess also with the Jays and, you know, I love to Pat Rogers on the back, but there's not the same questions about spending with the Marries. Right? So you get the sense that the money is going to be there to, okay,

hey, if we got to replace Kevin Gosman, okay, we're going to go out and do that. we're going to use our resources to go out and do that. And that's always been a concern with the Mariners. So I think when you have the kind of perfect storm of things coming together like you do this year for the Mariners and even their front office and their ownership has said, okay, we got to go make acquisitions at the deadline. You're really got to strike while the iron is hot. And you really got to take advantage of those situations. 650, 650 is the Dunbar, Lumber, tax line, text in.

Which team is under more pressure to go on a run in October? Is it the Blue Jays? is it the Mariners? I say the Mariners, but it's close. There's a lot of pressure on both teams. Quickly on the Jays, I mentioned Mark Shapiro, president of the team. It's been around for quite a while now, I believe, coming over in 2015 from Cleveland. He's in the last year of his deal. He did a big media scrum yesterday before the game says, hey, I want to stay. I would love to stay beyond this season. And as I was just saying there, you know, if they had had another disappointing campaign, I think Mark Shapiro is staying on. maybe it would be a bit more of a question. Considering the year they're having, getting Vladdy locked up,

all of those sorts of things. I think there's a very good chance that if Mark Shapiro is out there saying, yeah, I want to be here. I'd like another contract and even kind of alluded to already having some good conversations with Rogers about that. Seems pretty likely that Mark Shapiro will be here, will be where there, I should say with the Jays beyond this season. Also of note says they are working hard trying to bring the All-Star game back to

back to Toronto. I think it was 1991 last time. It was in then Skydome, now the Rogers Center. Right after it opened pretty much. Yeah, pretty much. When it was the shiny new stadium, just like it is now, right? It's got a roof that moves. Now every stadiums got it.

Do you see how much concrete they used in this? This is incredible. This is where all stadiums are going from this point forward. This is the future. Oh, wait. No, it definitely is not. So that would be cool to see the Jay's host an all-star game sometime in the near future. All right, that's the Major League Baseball conversation.

Now, we're going to have Dom Lecision on the show here in a few minutes. And, you know, we're all going through the process of getting ready for the NHL season, doing our prep, digging through teams, all of that, all of that sort of stuff. And I started to kind of think about this. I'm trying to identify which team is going to be the next one in the NHL to take that jump to elite status. And I'll define what I mean by elite status. I think there's a very, very clear group of seven teams. that have separated themselves as the clear upper crust of the NHL, right? Florida, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa, those are the teams that have combined to win the last six Stanley Cups.

And then you've got Edmonton, Dallas and Carolina, all teams that have made multiple conference finals in the last few years. Of course, multiple Stanley Cup finals in the case of the Edmonton Oilers. Those are also the seven teams with the best odds to win the Stanley Cup going into this season. So I don't really think there's any, I can't imagine which team you would say, no, no, no, they've been more elite recently than any one of those seven. I can't see who you would bump into that group. It's Florida, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa, Edmonton, Dallas, Carolina. Consistent excellence in the regular season, consistent deep runs, or at least a Stanley Cup championship in the postseason. The clear seven best, most elite teams over the last four or five years, whatever you want to say, in the NHL.

but which team is poised to join that group? Which team is poised to take the jump And maybe it's a jump from way down the standings, you think Or maybe it's a jump from being a perennial playoff team That's had some disappointing results Which team is poised To take that jump and join that elite group of seven Maybe next year, maybe a couple of years down the road.

We can go through this a little bit with Dom I want to get his thoughts on it, but And I'm not talking, by the way, just about, you know, oh, hey, hey, they had one good year And they made a run to the conference finals. I mean, an elite. stretch of three to five years where you're winning a cup or you're going

on multiple really deep runs. A stretch of truly elite performance. Who is going to join that group of seven that has really dominated the NHL for the last few years and join them or potentially knock one of those teams out as age and everything starts to catch up for them? Again, we'll talk about this with

Dom Luceon coming up here in a few minutes. You can send your thoughts on it. 650, 650 to the Dunbar-Lumbered text line. Who is going to be the next elite team? in the NHL. I'll tell you, it's kind of hard to find credible options

if you look around. But we can go through that later on in the show. It is Halford and Brough here on SportsNet 650. 650 is the Dunbar-Lumber text line.

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Dom Lecision from the Athletic talking to NHL next here on Halford and Brough with Jamie Dodds. SportsNet 650. Jamie Dodd filling in, I guess, for both of them today. I have to be Halford Embrough. They have to be light and funny and cheery and also grumpy and critical.

Zainy and serious at the same time. Exactly. Got to try to fill both lanes today here on the show. Halpern Mbruff is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit sands dash trustee.com. We are, of course, coming to you live from the Kintech Studio 650. 650 is the Dumbar Lumber Text Line. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dumbar lumber.com. Of course, we've got what we learned coming up at 830. You can send your submissions in now for that, but also anything on your mind. Hit me up in the Dunbar Lumber Text Line 650.

650 guests on Sportsnet 650. They call in on the hotline powered by Power West Industries. Don't get caught in the dark when it matters. most, visit them at powerwest.ca. Today, they keep the lights on. Now joining us covering the NHL for the athletic. He is Domlacian. Dom, thanks for doing this today, man. How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm doing well. So I was just talking before the end of the last segment there, looking ahead to this NHL season, really even trying to project maybe a little bit farther into the future than that as well. I was saying there's basically, to my eyes, been seven upper crust teams over the last four or five years in the NHL. It's Florida, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa, Edmonton, Dallas, and Carolina. I think, you know, fair to say

Stanley Cups in there, multiple trips to the conference finals, tons of regular season wins. They've also got the seven shortest odds to win the Stanley Cup this year going into the season. What I was trying to think is, which is the next team poised to kind of join that group, to have a three to five year stretch where they either break through and win the cup or at least go on multiple deep runs and kind of establish themselves as one of those true cream of the crop elite teams in the NHL. And I know I'm putting you a little bit on the spot here, but if you had to pick from outside that group of seven that I listed off, a team that could soon join the elite of the NHL. Is there one or two that kind of stand out to you

as potential candidates? I think it was one team that really stands out and that's the New Jersey devils based on what they already have, where they already are in the age of some of their best players. Hughes, Heeshire, Brat, Luke Hughes on the blue line, even Simone Nemich is coming up. I think they have a very talented young core that is still getting better. And those seven teams, they're very good now. But at some point, they're going to drop off a little bit based on their age. I think the devils are the best team to take. a spot over based on who they have and what they're building. Yeah, and I think if I had posed this question a couple of years ago, like everyone

listening immediately would have texted in New Jersey, you know what I mean? Like they were that team then, and it feels like it hasn't gone to plan since then, but if we are discounting the possibility of them taking that jump, we're probably overthinking things a little bit for all the reasons you just laid out. Yeah, I think it's really hard to make that jump and you just have to sort of keep building piece by piece year by year. I think there is going to be a temptation for people to say Montreal or Ottawa, and I think those are probably the two next best answers.

But there is a big difference between jumping into a playoff team and jumping into that contender circle that I think both Montreal and Ottawa are maybe going to learn this year where now no one is going to be surprised by them. They're going to be tougher battles. and I'm not sure if they can take that leap right away, whereas New Jersey is a bit better situated at the moment. Yeah, New Jersey has just had a little bit more time to bake. And, you know, it's funny you say Montreal and Ottawa

because those are also the next two teams on my list. I had Montreal kind of second. And I think Montreal, if you look at it, it could take a step backwards this year, based on what they did last year. But that wouldn't necessarily change my perception, at least, of kind of their upside for the future. They're just so young, right?

With Demadov coming over and Hudson, like there's just, you know, we're not talking young like, oh, 25, 26. We're talking young, you know, 21, 22 for a lot of these key players. So it feels like the upside is there. But as we were talking about New Jersey, there could be some bumps in the road along the way for Montreal. Yeah, I think Montreal would have been a big regression, can it, just based on how they were getting wins last year.

But I really like what they did this. offseason, getting Noah Dobson, and getting Zach Bolich, and just having two guys that, on the Boulder side, addressing the forward depth, getting more defensibility. And for Dobson, I feel like the tabs really needed another pillar behind Hudson, and I kind of see him as the Devon tapes to Hudson's car. That's sort of what they're going for, obviously not to

that extreme, that level, but I think that can be a very effective pair. And if it's not that pair, Dobson can anchor the second pairing can be very strong there as well. Yeah, it's interesting to see what they're building in Montreal. And I know right now at the

Athletic, you guys are running your front office confidence ranking surveys where fans of all the 32 NHL teams can weigh in on just how confident they are in their front office. And, you know, there's obviously a couple of teams we expect to be right at the top of those rankings when they come in. Florida,

considering what they've done. I think it'd be very hard pressed to find people that aren't confident in the Florida front office. But putting aside the Panthers, if you were evaluating the front offices around the league, who do you think would rank high in your own confidence rankings? It's hard not to go with teams from that group of seven he mentioned. I would definitely highlight Carolina just based on the fact

they're building something similar in the way that Florida is doing it. no team has signed more money going forward than Florida and Carolina. And Carolina has much younger players on those deals where always there's some risk on signing Dancovin and Blake before they break out. But based on their talent, I think those are good bets and with the cap going up, I think that's a very smart thing. And I really like what Carolina is doing in that regard. Montreal is obviously a good choice as well as an up-and-coming

team because I think ever since Kent Hughes stepped in they have made very few errors and that is one of the reasons to be optimistic about them joining that contender circle in the future is they make decisions in the same way that teams like

Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Vegas do already so that is one reason that I think Montreal can join that group more than maybe Ottawa who does make some good decisions but there's also some questionable decisions in there as well.

Yeah, and on the Carolina Hurricanes, and it's funny because I guess in some ways they become kind of a divisive team, even though they've done a ton of winning in the regular season, and well, they don't win in the conference finals, it's like, yeah, but most teams don't even get close to the conference finals on a given year, so

they're doing something right in that regard. And I said they've been divisive, but I don't think they really were this off season, where if you're looking at, you know, your winners and losers of the offseason, a lot of people are going to have Carolina as one of the winners with the Ealer's acquisition, the long-term contracts you mentioned, bringing in K. Andre Miller as well. Do you see those moves in total? Like, is this just going to be another, you know, 105 to 110 point

Carolina hurricane team? Have they raised the ceiling? What's your kind of overall view on Carolina as they're situated going into next season? I think they've raised their ceiling for sure. after Jarvis and Ojo, I don't think they had like a third guy you can really shoulder the offensive load. When you look at the other six teams around them in that contender circle, they usually have a big three up front. And I think Eilers can do that for Carolina. Obviously, they had Svetnikov in years past,

but I think last year he was still recovering a bit from knee surgery. And maybe they can have four big guys, maybe Blake two. So I like the upside, but there are still a lot of guys who, have to prove that they can play at a high level. And my one big question for Carolina is still what happens at 2C because if it's Jordan Stahl or Yaspiri-Cunemi, I'm not going to be as high on them as some of the other team in that group. Yeah, and it does feel like Carolina.

I mean, they're almost now in that Vegas category of, well, you know they're going to take a swing, right? Like we've seen it with Gadsol, we've seen it with Ranton, and then of course they move on from Rantanin as well but they lock up Stankovin who they get in that deal they've still got a ton of cap space despite taking those big swings they've managed to retain a lot of their best assets

so I think you're totally right to point to 2C but I also just like we do with Vegas where you kind of have to factor in like well they'll probably make a big upgrade at the deadline I almost think we have to do that of Carolina at this point as well yeah definitely and I wouldn't be shocked either if they try at least to transition one of their many, many strong wingers into a center,

whether that's Jarvis, Blake, or Stan Coben, and maybe that works right off the bat, and they won't even need to do that, but they're in a good spot right now. Talking to NHL here with Dom Lecision from the Athletics, Halfenbrough, Sportsnet, 650, and I pose the questions you, Dom, about teams that could kind of crack that inner circle of contenders in the NHL,

and of course it's, you know, Tampa, Colorado, Florida, Vegas, Ebenton, Dallas, and Carolina, and I'll flip things around of that group of seven, who do you see maybe some warning signs around that can potentially fall out of that inner circle?

Maybe not this season, but at least in the near future. That is a very tough question because when that happens, usually it's just so unexpected. And in hindsight, even then you're like, I don't know how this happens.

Well, and I, again, not sorry to interrupt, but, like, again, I think if we were talking a year ago, maybe people would have pointed to Tampa, you know, and they're like, ah, they're getting pretty old, but then you look at, like, Hegel with this incredible breakout, right? And Sorrelli is really established themselves, and all of a sudden, you're like, oh, I can actually see it lasting a little bit longer there in Tampa. Exactly, exactly. So it is a tough question for sure. I'm going to say, of those seven, maybe Dallas, just because they've lost some of their four depth, and I still am very skeptical. of their defensive depth after their top three where obviously Harley, Heisken, and Lindell are incredible, but the next three are not great. And I wonder if that mix is going to be a bit more difficult now that they don't have the forward support they have last year. All right. Let's focus in on the Canucks here just for a little bit, Dom. And of course, here in Vancouver, the conversation for, oh man, almost 18 months now has really been dominated by the form of a Petterson, and it's been pretty much that long since we've seen him look like the

Elias Pedersen we kind of had become accustomed to and, you know, one of the most dangerous and talented forwards in the league. How much has the last year and a half of substandard performance from Elias Pedersen changed your outlook and your expectations for the player going forward? Yeah, the last year has been very tough. I remember early on in the year I was on the radio and I said, don't worry, he'll be fine. This happens to a lot of good players. He's just playing well defensively and doing things talk it wants to do, but it never manifested where the whole year he just seemed like a shade of himself. It does seem that he's working hard this summer and I think he understands the level of player he has to be given his contract. I

would expect a big bounce back this year and I think the big thing that some people say is that sometimes Tocket Systems Diples offensive ability, especially for superstars. We saw that with Clayton Keller in Arizona when Taka was there, had some rough years. As soon as Tocke left, he turned into an offensive star, and I wonder if we see a similar return to form with Pedersen where he's more free to be the guy he's supposed to be

and score 80, 90, or even 100 points again. Yeah, and I mean, I think that's certainly been kicked around here a lot. think it's fair to point to that as maybe part of the story, but the drop off was just so significant. Like I can't recall the last example of a player who, you know, not just was pretty good, but he was coming off a 100 point season where he was just absolutely elite. We're talking about him as, you know, top seven or top eight center or something like that in the NHL. And then the collapse was so, so severe. It's almost hard to kind of wrap your head around it and find like, well, this guy bounced back or this guy didn't because there's just so few examples.

of it in recent NHL history. Yeah, especially at his age. Like I think the biggest drop-off in recent years was Hubertoe, but he was 30 or 31 or whatever. Pedersen should be in the prime of his career, and we talk about the team contender circle. Pedersen was in the player's contender circle when he was pushing into the top five.

He was knocking on the door, and now I'm not sure you can even call him a top 10 center at this point, which is a pretty substantial. drop off from where he was just a year ago and it'll be interesting to see how he plays. I think he can bounce back to that level, but there still has to be some reservation about whether he can get that level, given what he showed last year. On the Canucks as a whole, it was, I think fair to say, probably a surprisingly quiet off season for them considering, you know, how much Jim Rutherford had talked about wanting to be

aggressive and go fix their center depth chart and maybe even add some other forwards on top of that, we're used to seeing Jim Rutherford be very aggressive. And, you know, it just didn't materialize. They end up holding on to their 15th overall pick and making that selection. And really, it's a van der Kaine in and Pew Souter out as far as significant changes. I think the easy take on this conducts team is, you know, blue line looks pretty good. Questions and goal of Dempco's health. But if healthy, the goaltending should be pretty good. But man, the offensive forward group leads a lot to be desired. Is that line up with your perception of this team?

That is exactly in line with what I have right now. It's just a matter of everyone sort of not even getting back to where they were two seasons ago, but like getting somewhere between last year, which was probably way too low and the season before, which was probably way too high, and just finding a middle ground. But someone needs to step up behind Pedersen as well. If you think Pedersen's going to bounce back, you also need Brock Bester to bounce back. you need de brusque to score a bit more.

Garland's great, but if he's your second best forward, I'm not sure if that is a recipe for the best in the West. No, it's probably not, but we'll see if they can make it work. Tom, really appreciate you taking the time to chat today. Thank you for doing this. Yeah, anytime. That is Dom Lecision from the athletic covering the NHL, and yes, he is Dom of Dom's model, and it's funny.

We're talking there about which team's poised to join the elite, the upper crust in the NHL. And his first answer was New Jersey. And that would have been my first answer as well. And somebody texted in, if he says anything about Quinn joining the devils, hang up on him immediately. And he did not. He did not include that as part of the argument for the devils potentially joining the elite circle of contenders in the NHL. You could include it as part of the argument, though. I mean, they were number one on my list.

And you look at it, you think, okay, Jack Hughes, Nico Heeshire, Jesper Brott, Timo Meyer. That's still a very good starting point up front. The young talent on the blue line. And I think, yeah, you do have to at least include the possibility of a big acquisition in the potentially near future for the New Jersey Devils to help them take that jump to an elite inner circle team. And I had somebody texting, I think it was Jay earlier that, you know,

How can you say these teams are dominant? That's almost a quarter of the league. You're using elite wrong. Look, I'm just saying if you look at playoff series one over the last four or five years or six years even going back to Tampa's first title, these teams have vastly outplayed the rest of the NHL. And per the betting markets, they're still viewed as the inner circle of contenders. So whatever word you want to use, elite, dominant, inner circle, true contenders, top tier. no. But those seven teams have separated themselves. That's what I'm trying to get at.

I don't really care exactly what word you use. 650, 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. And Mike the urologist from Brockville, Texton, nobody truly believes this Ottawa team is going to jump to elite status. Do we every year people think they're going to be so much better and it never happens. Well, they did make the playoffs last year, Mike. So they did get better, get significantly better last year. I think a lot of the excitement around around the future of the Ottawa senators. And they would have been after New Jersey and Montreal on my list of teams to potentially jump in to that circle of inner, that inner circle of contenders.

What Jake Sanderson did last year as still a very young player, they've got him locked up long term, adding that piece that you can look at and say that could be a true Stanley Cup caliber number one defenseman on the blue line. for years to come, that just makes everything else look so much better. And then you've got Tim Stutzla, who's still very young. Like, Brady Kachuk is still pretty young. He's still got a lot of years left in his prime, you know, he's been in the league forever. Dylan Cousins, can he take those next steps in his career?

I think there's enough young talent there that it's not an outrageous stretch. There's going to be questions they have to answer on the blue line behind Jake Sanderson and Thomas Shabbat. So I don't want to sit here and say, oh, it's a lock that, they're going to make that jump because it's a very, very difficult jump to make. But the fact that they have the combination of Stutzla, Brady Kachuk, and Jake Sanderson, all guys that you can pretty easily envision filling top of the lineup, top of the roster roles on a Stanley Cup contender, that at least puts them in with a shot. A couple things scare me, though, with Ottawa.

Are they going to get another breakout performer like 20 goal season from Adam got at again? Probably not. I'm not bending any money on that. And also the health of Lena Solmark. Yep. That could absolutely sewer their season and I could see it. And I do think also, like I have Ottawa three on my list of teams that could jump up. Part of that is just, it's hard to find credible options, really.

And I think there's always a case of, you know, in retrospect, maybe we missed the signals of a team that was about, that was poised to take that leap. But having said that, you go back a few years to when Florida won the president's trophy. but that has a disappointing playoff appearance. I don't think it was too much of a stretch to say like, man, with a couple of tweaks, or in a coaching change, maybe this team could be one of the elite

in the NHL, right? Tampa, think about all, they had that record setting season and then get swept by Columbus. But again, the signs were like, hey, this is an incredibly talented team. If they can just figure it out, they could have this type of run.

So I think actually it's sometimes, a lot of times actually, you can predict or at least guess that certain teams, teams are going to make that jump. You look around the NHL now, like the Leafs, they've won a ton of regular season games, but they just lost one of their best players. They've got massive questions on the blue line.

I think they still have massive questions, even with the departure of Mitch Marner, but their postseason performance as well, they're not a young up-and-coming team anymore that you can say, oh, yeah, they'll take that jump. Like, I think Winnipeg has probably missed their chance at this point to join that group with the age of some of their players. A lot of these trends are pretty predictable. When you look at the underlying numbers, like there's always one or two teams that'll kind of surprise you every year. But the most part, these trends, you can see the way the teams

are going up or down. And so I think you just, if you're trying to predict, like, okay, who's the next team that's going to have a five-year reign as a true Stanley Cup contender year after year? Again, like, I don't think it's the Leafs. I don't know, but it's Winnipeg. Although they've been kind of on the fringe of this group and they've just never been able to do it in the playoffs. You know, the Rangers have a couple of conference finals recently, but they're clearly on the downslope and then you start looking in the West and there's a lot of teams that either like Minnesota like what's their path to joining that group they have caprice of they have boldly they have Faber I like that I'm not as confident in their front office to do

the rest of the work around putting putting pieces around they finally have some tap space they finally can do something with that roster which is yeah but they did and then they didn't really yeah they were like oh my gosh we're finally getting up from these buyouts what are we going to do it's like well not much steady as you go start a feud with Marco Rossi for some reason, refuse to talk to him for months on end. Hey, that's our big plan. That is the Bulgarian way. That is the Bulgarian way. 650, 650 is the Dunbar lumber text line. We can keep talking as the show goes on about teams

poised to become part of the elite in the NHL. Do the Canucks have a path to that still with this current core, current core in your view? 650, 650 again is the Dunbar lumber text line. send your what we learn submissions in as well that's coming up at 830 a reminder also it is pirate pack day at white spot the one day of the year where you as an adult without a kid can go in and get the pirate pack experience and all benefits a great cause as well tell you more about that later on in the show but if you're if you're planning your lunch or breakfast i don't know i don't judge i had one for breakfast basically yesterday you do it whenever you want if you're planning your meals for the day, consider going to a white spot for Pirate Pack Day.

On the other side, Mike Corrine, he's an editor at SportsNet. He was all over, Vicki and Boko's win in Montreal for the National Bank Open. Last week, we'll talk about the Canadian tennis landscape. The tennis landscape as a whole going into the U.S. Open. What's next for Vicki and Boko? That's coming up with Mike Corrine editor at SportsNet next here on Halford & Brough, Sportsnet, 650.