Halford & Brough in the Morning - Evander Kane Is A Vancouver Canuck

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason discuss the news of the Canucks acquiring Evander Kane with Canucks Central host Satiar Shah (2:13), plus the boys tell us what they learned. (27:00) This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music 804 on a Wednesday. Ladies and gentlemen in listener land, do I have a doozy for you? We've got some breaking news. Sportsnet 650 breaking news. And yeah, we have a trade to announce. It does have to do with your Vancouver Canucks. The Vancouver Canucks have acquired a Vander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. I'm going to let that one marinate for a second.

Yet again, made official by the man himself on Twitter, Evander Kane, along with several other NHL insiders. Folks, it is official, the Vancouver Canucks have acquired Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you and Stepp. Do your business, I've got some things to say about this.

Do we want to continue? It is 8.05 in the morning Satyar Shah is going to join us in just a moment here. You are listening to the Halifin and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Again, breaking news that went down during the break. Evander Kane is now a member of the Vancouver Canucks acquired by the Canucks from the Edmonton Oilers. We are waiting on a number of things, including the return, what the Vancouver Canucks are sending the way of the Edmonton Oilers, what the salary will be, if there's any retention whatsoever.

I don't know any details other than Evander Kane on Twitter announced that he is joining the Vancouver Canucks. And this, of course, followed by several NHL insiders who have announced that the Vancouver Canucks have acquired a Vanderkean from the Edmonton Oilers. Halford and Ruff in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews.

Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell & Pound real estate appraisers. Trustee expertise of Campbell & Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. What do you want to do? Do you want to go to SAT?

Do you want to talk? What do you want to do? This one caught us off guard. This is what I've been fearing. I've actually had conversations with textures in the Dunbar Lumber text line, and I've said, my fear is that they're going to bring in a Vander Kane because they're desperate. This is what desperate teams do.

This is a team that had a major culture issue last year. Major. The room was a disaster and you're going to bring a Vander Cane in. I'm sure we'll hear all about, I'm happy to be in Vancouver. I grew up in Vancouver. I'm really dedicated. This guy wears out his welcome everywhere. He is not a good teammate.

And the Canucks just added him. At his best, he's a really good hockey player. He's also had a lot of injuries and he's old now. This is desperation, guys. And Vander Kane might come in and throw some hits and score some goals even. But you know what we said earlier in the show about wanting to like the Canucks again? It's not gonna help. There are gonna be some people that disagree with me. I get it. Tan Beer, he's been a regular listener. He's wanted Evander Kane on this team for years.

But you know me, I'm not afraid to share my opinion. This is a bad idea. This is not what a team that needs to rebuild its culture does. It doesn't bring in a guy like a Vander Kane. Kane. I'm really disappointed. I'm really disappointed by this. Kane, 33 years old, one year left on a deal that pays $5.125 million annually.

I'm going to go out and safely assume that this ticked a lot of boxes for a team that, as you said, was desperate to bring somebody in The Oilers were looking to unload remember we said earlier in the year Sorry earlier in this offseason that there wasn't the annual flash of teams that were looking to unload players because they were up against the cap like previous years when we talked about JT Miller joining the Vancouver Canucks because Tampa Bay was in a crunch or even to a lesser degree when Jason Dickinson joined the Canucks from the Dallas Stars because the Dallas Stars weren't a crunch.

There weren't many teams that were willing to give up something for nothing because they were in a crunch. Dallas was one and Mason Marchment went. And I guess Edmonton was the other one because they needed to get rid of Evander Cain and needed to get them off the books. According to Rick Dollywall, the agent Dan Millstein, there's a familiar name, has been working on trying to orchestrate this deal since the final game of the playoffs. What are they thinking? What are they thinking with this move? I just told you what they're thinking.

It is just, this is desperation. You're getting something for nothing. This is desperation. I've been upset with the Canucks at times, but I'm like, this is just, you do not, when you got to fix the culture and you bring in a Vander Cane at the end of his career. We are still waiting on what the official trade is, what the return will be.

Is Sat still waiting on hold? Feel bad that we've made him wait on hold for nine minutes. Let's go to the phone lines now. We'll get live reaction from one of the stars of the station. Can I central host Satyarshah joins us here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Sat. What's going on? Good morning. So I think if you guys were worried about JT Miller being problematic,

I think Evander King is going to take away all those concerns. I look at a guy that I see it being a complete culture carrier. Haven't heard one bad word about Evander Kane as a teammate before. So I think it can be perfect. Did you see this coming? Sarcasm aside, sarcasm aside. Did you see it coming? No, not at all. So, okay, so this is the funniest thing. And so a few days ago there was a texture texted into our show and said,

Evander Kane is coming home. He's coming to Vancouver. Book it. I know this is legit. We get this stuff all the time. It texts them box. I was like, yeah, whatever Vander Kane is coming home, it's coming to Vancouver, book it. I know this is a legit, we get this stuff all the time. It texts them box. I was like, yeah, whatever. I didn't really read it or whatever. He just read the text. And I turned to reach when I said to him, I'm like, you know, I've reached, like it wouldn't put a pass. I wouldn't put a pass a text that to be right. Cause he knows people in Vancouver. This could totally be a thing. But I'm like, can't imagine it would trade for a Vander Kane, right?

Like they probably won't do that. Would they? It's like, no, they probably wouldn't. So I'm like, as much as like the Spidey since it went off, I'm like, they won't trade for Kane, will they? They're not that desperate, are they? And the reason the desperation point is I can't imagine that Kane costs anything. And I would imagine the Canucks have been

trying to make acquisitions and we've heard so much about how their first round pick isn't acquiring the player they want. They can't find the players they need. Free agency is tough. You start going down a list. Is this the cheapest option they could find? The answer's yes, right?

We just, I mean, I just- It has to be. It's staring everyone clear in the face that that's exactly what this is. From the moment, and even before, he resumed play with the Edmonton Oilers. There was talk about how the Edmonton Oilers needed to clear up this issue going into next season.

It did not seem like a return was in the cards whatsoever. Again, if you, you know, you, Brough yelling it into the microphone, but it is an astute point is that when you're a desperate team, you start looking for solutions in whatever way, shape or form you can find them. They're not necessarily good solutions. They're solutions that are one readily available to available at the moment and three don't cost you a lot. And he ticks all those boxes. Yeah. Well that's the thing. And I know the connection I've been trying to find or go after the higher end players. And I think it's been pretty sobering. Even looking at a guy like Marco Rossi, for instance, where you're 15 overall pick isn't seen as enough.

And if you have to start throwing in your top prospects to find the guy who might end up being a winner anyways, I can see how you end up circling back and going towards something that's a lot cheaper. And we'll see what the price of acquisition is. If this is something super cheap, you can dump them right away if it goes sideways, I suppose, but to the point of you're trying to go

into a year turning the page, moving forward, has Evander Kane showed enough maturity that he can be on his best behavior for one year? He's going to show up in Rolls Royces and Bentleys and show off and yeah, that's how you act. It's, it is honestly ridiculous, man. This guy has worn out his welcoming. Every NHL team he goes to.

Is this the culture of humility and hard work that you want to bring to Vancouver and show off to your younger players? We've just seen Abbotsford win the Calder Cup and we've all been enjoying the comradery that they enjoyed and how they were sacrificed and how everyone was happy for everyone. Everyone was, you know, talking about how the teammates are the best and the coaching staff is the best and it looked like a group that got along with each other. Meanwhile last season the big club was an

absolute disaster the dressing room was a disaster and you bring in a Vander Kane? I'm listen I'm 100% with you I'm as stunned as anybody else's I know that you have a special a special hatred in your heart for bringing Vander Kane in but like I'm with you have a special, a special hatred in part for bringing Vander Canaan, but like, I'm with you. Like I, I'm trying to think of a positive in terms of, okay, so how does this work out in even an Edmison? Like you're right. I mean, he wore out his welcome. He's had a couple of good years, but I don't know.

Like I, I wonder how you can keep this locker room. Now you brought him in, like, what did you need another really good personality to keep this room together? Because even last year after JT was traded, a big conversation around the team was, had they kept guys like Zadorov and Lindholm, maybe those purpose personalities could keep the team together. A guy like Ian Cole was really good with leadership wise. I mean, somebody to knock down, you know, the guy that may be getting a big bit too

big at times. So people love JT on the team, but he could be overbearing and I think not having somebody that could check it from time to time made the dynamic even worse this year. And I look at the, look at the room now, do they have enough personalities as Marcus Pedersen, do you have enough guys to be able to keep that type of personality in check? And you saw it was even hard to do for guys like for Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. And that's my other question here. Do you have enough of a strong enough leadership group that you can feel like

you can survive this and make it work? What about personality and culture and room aside? It's a 33 year old player that didn't play a regular season game last year. I know that he came back for the playoffs and was effective. Although as the playoffs went on, the effectiveness got less and less. I mean, is there not a concern also about what the player can give you given what's left in the tank? There's no doubt. I mean, anytime you're going for a guy who missed a whole year, right? He didn't look up until the cup final. He looked really good. One of the reasons why the Orlers

were so dominant once they got past LA was Evander Kane played like a power forward in some ways also replaced Hyman when he went out and they were able to really push forward with him. So he did a lot of good things. I think, I don't think the question is, can Evander Kane score 20 goals for Vancouver? I think he can score the 20 goals. It's everything else that comes with it. And for a team that needs no turmoil, that's where I kind of get where Jason's coming from. I totally agree with him in terms of like, is this a type of move that's going to push this organization forward, right? The risk is super high. I mean, I guess you can look

at it from a cost perspective, what the reports are, it could be a mid-round pick, no salary retention, I think Rashad said no salary retention so far, but it's a deal you can jump out of because you've done at the end of the season, but can you afford to have a roadblock that could be tough to navigate even as it is for 10, 20 games in a season? That's my biggest question about this. I think production-wise, if he's healthy, he'll give you 20 goals. A mid-round pick, a guy that can four and a half, five million, give you 20 goals for

one year, not a big deal. It's more about everything else that comes with it. Can that derail the season that we all know needs to stay on the track. How can they keep talking about how important character is and bring in Evander Kane? Well it's, it's, I wouldn't say hypocritical, but it goes, like it's, it's not commensurate, right? Like it doesn't work together and I think that's why when, like you, when anybody asked me about Evander Kane I was like, well it makes sense as far as cheap and he fits some need for what this team needs, but I can't imagine they will go down that road because of everything we just

mentioned. Right. So that's where the confusion is. Cause reading everything they wanted to do and based on everything that they've talked about, I was not expecting them to go after a player as risky as him via trade. Right. Like it's one thing to sign a guy for a one year free agent deal worth one or two million, come and prove it, and there's another trading for a guy. I will say this. If you don't like the move, and I can understand why, at the very least you can understand,

don't yell, but you can understand why I'm- I'm done my yelling. You can understand why it makes sense. I know you can't, but you also. Well, that's why I was concerned they were going to do it. Cause you, I mean, it does. Here's the thing.

He's a big dude that hits and when he's on, you can be a pretty effective flair, but I don't think that cancels out all the negatives that he brings to a room. Hear me out here. In a room, in a room that was an absolute disaster last season. The biggest disaster besides maybe the Rangers.

Hear me out here as I delicately play devil's advocate. It's a one year deal, right? There's no term left on it beyond this year. And as we've kind of figured out, there's a lot predicated on being successful this year. So you take the, and I will say massive risk of it being like it's been in other places where one year it's okay, or for the short term, it's okay. And the production and the ability to keep everything even keel for one year, one year is enough to keep it on the

tracks. Now, what you'll say is, is like you're putting one, a lot of stock in a single calendar season, and two, like we've heard time and time again from this organization, it's all predicated on if everything goes right, if everything goes our way, if everything goes in a positive direction, we'll be okay. And that to me is a familiar and at times dangerous refrain because last year, Sat, we saw what happens

when things don't all go right. Yeah, exactly. I think if you want to look at it, so to the point you guys made it, it's true, he, if Andrew Kane, whether it was Atlanta slash Winnipeg, Buffalo, San Jose, and now Ed, and he's always worn out as welcome. But his first year in Buffalo was pretty good. His first year in San Jose, when he got traded over, was pretty solid.

His first year in Edmonton. That's why he got the contract extension. So his first year is generally okay in a city. It just takes some time to wear out as welcome. So maybe that's what you hope for, right? I mean, that's just being looking at the positive side. So maybe you can live with it for one year, but there's no way you can sign this guy. And that's what that matters anyway.

And the second part is we talk so much that the connecting to raise their ceiling and they can't go for guys that are lower end. And I'm not sure if Vanderkeen is the same rate ceiling razor. He was say five years ago. But if you're looking at the moves that could have like, what is, what's the chance of entertaining scores 30 goals for the team next year for a cheap cost maybe a 10 15 chance which is probably greater than anything else you get for a similar cost so if you're looking to raise the ceiling to you know piggyback off what Mike is trying to say in terms of like how this makes sense like you see these things adding up like you can see why and to your point Jason

you can understand why they made this move it It's just, we know them person, we know the fire and we're all terrified about where this might end up going. Right. But the logical side, take that stuff out. I can see how it might work from one year, but I'm not sure anybody has real confidence at will. Okay. So let's take a deep breath here and reset for everyone who might be tuning

in and, or getting in their cars. Like, why is everyone yelling? Uh, so the Vancouver Canucks have acquired a Vander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. A Vander Kane announced this first on Twitter at about eight o'clock this morning, followed by several insiders who confirmed that the deal has been agreed to and principle has not been made official yet.

What we don't know is what's going from Vancouver to Edmonton in exchange for a Vander Cane. According to TSN's Ryan Rashog, he does not believe it does not sound as though any salary is being retained in the deal, which means that the Canucks will be on the hook for all of a Vander Cane's 5.125 million dollar salary this year. He's in the fourth and final of a four year deal.

So this is essentially a one year rental, if you will, unless the Canucks go the full nine yards and decide to sign into an extension midway through the season. We won't go down that road yet, but again, for those of you listening that might just be getting caught up, we spent the first two hours of this program wondering when the Vancouver Canucks were going to make a move in this very pivotal off season. Well, that question has been answered because the Vancouver Canucks have acquired Vander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. Sat, any other thoughts on this one? I know that we caught you incredibly off guard because when you agreed to do this, the Canucks weren't going

to make one of the most profound moves in recent memory, but there's a lot going on right now and a lot of different thoughts hanging around in the ether. Just curious to get yours. Yeah. I mean, you know, I've, I've had the on the phone this morning to try to figure out what was going on. Um, then, you know, get some more responses or whatever. And maybe now I know why, but, uh, like I was not expecting this move at all. I was not either, you know, I do think that Conox are still very much involved in trying to make something bigger happen.

And one thing I was going to mention is as much as they have been able to move the first round pick and we've heard, we've heard a lot about the first round pick value not being what it needs to be. If these next 24, 48 hours today and tomorrow is where a lot of people, not just Vancouver people think some, some people were on the league are blessing about how they don't want this year's first round draft pick, trying to drive, drive a higher return. And you're going to have to make a decision here soon.

So if they're looking to add that center and a higher end player, even though it seemed like they weren't going to be able to do it for the 15th overall pick, these next couple of days might change that equation a little bit and I have some interesting discussions with people around the league that people fading the first round pick in this year's draft is overstating things as much as it's not a deep draft. It's not as bad as people make it out to be. So I wonder if the value of the first round pick picks start showing themselves in the next 24, 48 hours and we'll see where that puts the Canucks.

So LeBron is reporting, sorry if you've already reported this, I blacked out for a bit. Yeah, okay. Oilers get a fourth round pick for Cain from the Canucks. It was no salary retained. It's the Ottawa pick that the Canucks got when they traded Pod Coles into Edmonton in the first place. So it's a very roundabout way, but it's a fourth round pick, bottom line for Evander Kane for the Vancouver Canucks. And yes, it's now confirmed that the Canucks are on the hook

for the entirety of the $5.125 million salary for Evander Kane. Sat, we're up against it for time. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this this morning. It doesn't get much wilder than this. We kept you on hold for nine minutes so that we could try and parse through it. But thanks for staying patient. Thanks for doing this.

And good luck this afternoon. It should be a lot of fun. Yeah, I'm sure people are gonna take this very, take it in stride and not overreact. It'll be fine. Thanks, dude. Appreciate it. You got it, guys.

Satya Shah, Sportsnet 650 is very own here on the Halford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. I have not had a chance, Jason, to parse through the Dunbar lumber text message in basket. Have you? Yeah. 80% are negative and 20% are, this is exactly what the Canucks need.

He's big, he's tough, he'll fight. I love that he's got that, you know, arrogant swagger. It's an insecure swagger is what it is. All of that would be. It's an insecure show off swagger that he's got. All of that would be great if it wasn't for the extracurricular stuff. Like if he had that swagger, he hits, he scores,

he does all those great things, which he does do. And if it didn't come with the baggage and the off ice stuff, it would be a great move. Well, ask yourself. But you can't separate those great things, which he does do. And if it didn't come with the baggage and the off ice stuff, it would be a great move. Well, ask yourself. But you can't separate those two things. Yeah. I mean, some people are texting me, they're texting me like, you say they want, you want them to get a

big tough winger and then they go out and get it. And you've got a problem with it. I'm like, yeah. Because sometimes you put things on a scale and you balance them out. And you say, is this worth it? And then at the end of the day you go no because the Canucks last season were an absolute disaster within the room and then you bring in a

guy that's going to take up a lot of oxygen and a lot of attention while they're trying to rebuild their leadership group under Quinn Hughes who's like oh good I get to deal with this too now. And honestly like how's he gonna is he gonna get along with Pedersen? Like EP for me? I'm not concerned about that. Well, that's like a thing though. Or it could be. But is Kane a bully?

No, I think he's just, he does his own thing. He does his own thing and people just find him grating. Like the show off stuff, showing up in a Bentley and a Rolls Royce. I'm like, dude, didn't you have like a money problems, maybe stop doing with this stuff. It makes you look insecure. So, and, and you're going to bring this, this is what you want to bring into your room. This is what you want to show your young players. You, you want to aspire to a guy who's knocked around the league. So there's an interesting point that you brought up

where you talked about all the attributes, the toughness, physicality, fighting, and goal scoring. Right? Yeah, on paper he does a lot of great stuff. The fact that the acquisition cost was a fourth round pick is probably says more than Bruff yelling or me trying to break it down. Is that like, you got it for a fourth round pick.

Yeah. Right? You got, so what does that tell you? That tells you that the asset is obviously distressed. He's not on a super expensive ticket. Right. If you're talking about the attributes that Tom Wilson brings to the table and everyone's saying how Wilson's a unicorn and everything, Kane's got a lot of the similar attributes. The price point was it's well, his teammates love him.

That's what I'm saying. The price point was was a fourth round pick which probably says more than anything else So what's the logic here then like what is the team? They're desperate? No, but I mean desperate but with all of the stuff that might come along with it Like surely they must be thinking our locker room is not you know as in the healthiest of states How is this going to help us? For players it just blows my mind, man. Well, NHL blows my mind. Well, after the season they had last year

and the locker room issues they had last year, this is the guy, this is somebody you're bringing into this? Maybe the idea is that we were so dysfunctional, we couldn't get any more dysfunctional, no matter how hard we tried. Think about that. Take up stupid, is that where we're at? You've reached 100% dysfunctional.

Is this like crossing the streams of dysfunction? You've reached 100% dysfunctional saturation. There is no more dysfunction that can get in. Do they think maybe, hey, maybe he'll turn it around. Maybe he'll be a great teammate. Well, it's a contract year. He's always dialed in on a contract year. It is a contract year.

He's also 33. If he's always dialed in on a contract. It is a contract. He's also 33 When the season starts and he has a huge Injury Log on his career. Well, there's that too. He didn't play a regular season game last year. Okay Coverage of prove me wrong a vendor as I say prove me wrong about the Canucks for the wrong a vendor as I say prove me wrong about the Canucks for the 1000th time one day they might maybe be wrong kids prove me wrong maybe it'll work out for us or maybe they trade him like a month into the season all right coverage sent him to Abby coverage of NHL free agency 2025 is brats you by

Holmes by David L young of Dexter Realty here they're everywhere, everywhere. Visit homesbydavidlyoung.com. You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to 6 PM, weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It's what we learn time It's what we learn time It's what we learn time On the show

8.33 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning 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 them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. It is what we learn in time. Hour three is brought to you by Campbell and Pound

real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Pound.com today. visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. So quite obviously we're going to need to rejig things just a little bit here. Those ideas that we had about doing what we learned is about baseball and Aaron Rodgers, those are gone. Why, what happened?

I was gonna do one on the NCAA tournament expanding to 76 teams. Guess what? I'm not gonna do that anymore the NCAA tournament expanding to 76 teams. Guess what? I'm not gonna do that anymore. In case you missed it at the top of the hour, at eight o'clock this morning, right here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650,

we came forth with the news that Evander Kane is now a member of the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks- The Canucks acquired Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a fourth round pick in 2025. For those of you curious about what pick it is, it's the one that the Canucks acquired from Edmonton through Ottawa in exchange for Vasily Podkolson.

So a real full circle moment for everyone involved. The Canucks will be taking on the entirety of a Vander Canes, 5.125 million dollar cap hit. There's one year left on that deal. And if Andrew Kane himself took to Twitter to announce the news, thanking the Edmonton Oilers organization and introducing himself to the Vancouver Canucks fan base. If Andrew Kane is now a member of the Vancouver Canucks,

the Sportsnet 650 Dunbar Lumber text message in basket is jammed. The type of flooding I have not seen in quite some time to an in basket. Oh my God, 245 unread messages. It is. Last time I saw that. So there's so much to unpack here.

The first. And it's gonna be a really polarizing topic. We all know where I stand. Where? I don't like this. I was worried they were gonna do this and now they've done it. You have conviction. I appreciate and respect your conviction. There's a lot of people out there that do like it and they're texting in and I think

Logan from Langley said, chill, it's a fourth round pick. It's not about the fourth round pick fourth round pick, it's not about the fourth round pick. And it's not about, it's, it's, it's about character. Period. It's about character. Is this the type of guy you want in a room where you're trying to rebuild team culture? And I'm hearing from a lot of people that said, he didn't wear out his welcome in Edmonton.

Okay, fine. He didn't wear out his welcome in, in, in Edmonton. Okay, fine. In and wear out is welcome in Edmonton. So I still traded them. Although there was some great debate as to how the topic of LTIR, and I would assume the now closed investigation into how a Vander Cain was able to. Did the Canucks acquire that investigation as well?

I mean, there's something that needs to be discussed at the very least, because last week, Frank Zeravalli did break the news that the Edmonton Oilers were being investigated for their handling of Evander Kane's extended stay on LTIR. Remember, Kane did miss the first game of the playoffs while still on LTIR. And there was a lot of rumblings and a lot of whispers

and a lot of smoke. Three things that often accompany a Vander Cane. I think that's fair to say. Whether you like the player or not, whether you're a fan or the anti-fan, one thing you cannot deny is that in every single stop that he's had, there's always been rumors, baggage, whispers, innuendo, rumblings.

Drama. Drama. Drama. Can we say for certain that he didn't wear out his welcome at Edmonton? Cause at the end of the day, if he's such a great player, the Canucks are going out and getting him, the Oilers are punting on him on the last year

of his contract, they're getting him out of town. So. So here's a few things without like any histrionics. And I know there's a lot going on right now in the in basket. I know it's a polarizing move and it's shocking. I I think that both Brough and I'll speak for you in this instance. In the back recesses of our minds, we knew that it was a possibility.

Because it made sense. But the reasons it made sense were bad reasons. Does that make sense? Yeah, it made sense in a sort of like we're desperate. I could see them doing that you know what you say you know when you see a buddy and he's about to get married I can see him going through with it he's gonna do it he's gonna do it and all you and your buddies you're like do we say anything and

you're like I think he's got to figure it out himself but you could see him doing it this is kind of that I think he's got to figure it out himself, but you could see him doing it. This is kind of that. I think another thing worth bringing up is the acquisition price. If you are enamored by the package and what Evander Cain brings to Vancouver, you have to logically ask yourself why they were able to get it for a fourth round pick in 2025. And the answer is it's a distressed asset for him. And let's park, let's park the drama for a moment.

It's a 33 year old power forward who's closing in on a thousand games played who missed the entirety of last regular season after undergoing three surgeries, at least two. So there's again, even if you take your scalpel, speaking of surgery, and cut out the drama part of it and say, let's just take this at face value. You're still talking about going

into an extremely pivotal year, a profound year for your organization's future. And a 33 year old often injured power forward is now what? Penciled into the top six, an immediate contender to play that kind of role or at the very least being counted on.

Right? We got a text in, I don't like the person, I don't love this move. However, if you look at the silver lining, he is in a contract year, he has something to prove, cost us a fourth rounder, he is a bona fide top six winger, he will have you look at the silver lining, he is in a contract year. He has something to prove, cost us a fourth rounder. He is a bonafide top six winger. He will have trade value at the deadline.

Is he a bonafide top six winger at this point in his career? And how much trade value is he going to have? He just went for a fourth. Someone texted, and you guys are out to lunch. They can recoup at minimum a third. Is that worth it? Upgrading a round?

Is that what is- What are they recouping? Is that what being into lunch is? Well, he destroyed the room, but hey yeah we the room the room was already destroyed last year he's gonna come in and be like have I already been here I like the idea that attending lunch is that we can somehow flip this to upgrade at one round in the subsequent draft buddy like I get if you want to talk yourself into it I can tell you how to talk yourself into it.

It's really easy and I can give you the script for what's going to happen when Rutherford and Alveen and everyone's going to hit the podium. It's that he's excited to come home. He's always wanted to play in Vancouver. He's on a one year deal. It's going to be a prove it deal. He's in a contract here.

So he's going to be on his best. He's in a contract here. So he's gonna be on his best behavior to try and make good here. And he's done it in, I mean, stop, brought it up. Go back and look at year one and a lot of the different stops. And this isn't that uncommon with a lot of different guys that have had problems in other markets. When you're talented and you're proven

and you've shown the ability to do things, you get a lot of different chances. And a lot of different organizations will say, it can be different here. It'll be different for us. Right? So I put out a poll on X and I just said the Canucks acquiring a Vander Cane, love it or hate it? 74% hate it. That's a wide margin. That's a hate it mandate. That's a wide margin. That's a hated mandate. Politicians always talk about, I've got a mandate and they've got like 51%.

And you're like, it's not much of a mandate. Do you think they're gonna put them on the marketing? Another thing to consider, another thing to consider is you're now going into an extremely pivotal year is you're now going into an extremely pivotal year and you have tasked a first year rookie head coach who came on our show and talked about the importance of rebuilding the room, the importance of culture and chemistry, dating back to his times on his Stanley Cup

winning team, specifically in Colorado. And this is, this would be a big task for a veteran head coach that had seen it all and done it all in the National Hockey League. This would be a big task. Because remember, this isn't about adding a Vanderkane to San Jose, where you had strong, identified culture carrying leaders like Joe Thornton,

who just got into the Hall of Fame, and Patrick Marlowe, and Joe Pavelski. That dynamic doesn't exist here. That room doesn't exist here. This isn't like Edmonton, where the clear, defined guys who are gonna set the table and make things go were Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl. The guy in charge of the room right now is Quinn Hughes,

and he has no idea if he's gonna be here beyond a year or two. Yeah, it was already gonna be tough to build a leadership group with the uncertainty around Quinn Hughes' future. This is what risk assessment is. It's not deciding at the onset if it's gonna work or not. It's looking at all the factors and saying,

how much of a realistic chance does this have to succeed? That's risk. There's low risk and there's high risk. And again, Kane could be put in several other situations where it might be less risky. But this wasn't ever going to be one of them. Maybe this is a secret tank for Gavin McKenna. It's not a dog. It's not. And everyone knows exactly what it is.

It's a team that didn't have a ton of options. We spoke earlier in the show about square pegs in round holes in the subject of Marco Rossi and JJ Paterka that they weren't great solutions, but they were solutions that were available. And this is another one. This was a solution. It was available and it came at the cost of a fourth round pick

and 5 million in cap space. And they looked at it and they said, all right, here we go. And it kicks off what could be a very, very interesting summer for the Canucks because they've still got the 15th overall pick that they can play with. They've still got assets that they can trade and they've solved one of their, they think they've solved one of their problems on the cheap is how I would view it right now. What do you think it is that turns people off about a Vanderkeen? There has been a history of not getting along with teammates.

Why? That would either be- Like, I don't think he's, he's not a, like people are saying like, I'm worried about him bullying Petey. He's an, I don't think he's a bully. I think he's just like a, he's a, he's a show off. He's a guy that will go on social media and show off his car or whatever. And then you find out he's gambling away all his money. So it's a real turn off, the lack of humility. And he will say, well, that's just hulky culture. And it's like, no, it's not.

There's two prongs to this. It's an insecurity. There's two prongs to this. So there's the off-ice behavior, indiscretions, and drama, which he's always maintained doesn't affect what goes on with the room. And a lot of people have said that he's been, whatever his personal life is, is it's totally separate from the time in the room. And a lot of people have said that he's been, you know, whatever his personal life is,

is it's totally separate from the time in the room. What I'll say to that is that there have been continual issues with every single team that he's been on. Now you'll say, well, what about Edmonton? Well, tell me what happened at the end of his tenure in Edmonton, because we still don't know. And the details of his LTIR stay are still under investigation.

Now the pessimist or the caustic person would say, why have Andrew Kane? Right? How come all these other teams that have toyed around with LTIR going into the playoffs haven't had an investigation? Why wasn't in, why weren't the Tampa Bay Lightning investigated for what they did with Nikita Kuturov? Why weren't the Florida Bay Lightning investigated for what they did with the Kittacutra off? Why weren't the Florida Panthers investigated for what they did? Well, they didn't want around the team and infecting the culture throughout the season and like we'll just hold off until the playoffs get Them in then it's a short run. I'm not asking for an answer to the question. You know what I'm saying I know like why is it this one in particular person and why is it always this one particular person? Yeah, so it's aware there's smoke

There's fire scenario where if it keeps happening over and over and over and over to the same guy Obviously, there's an issue there. He's not a team guy, right? You know like it doesn't seem like a team guy the team gets rid of him for a fourth round pick Like as you said earlier like that should tell you all you need to know now Here's the thing someone texted in if he was signed by Florida people will be calling it a shrewd bylo move He wasn't signed by Florida. There was a reason for that so Here's the other part of this

What the organization is asking a fan base to do in short is to? Leverage that fandom and to say you know you cheer for what's on the front of the jersey and what's not on the back and you cheer for the Canucks and not necessarily the guys that are wearing the laundry and get on board with it. And that is a tough one for a lot of people to have a resolution with because at a certain point last year this team became unlikable. I think it's fair to say. I think we've discussed it at length.

And there's two ways that that goes. Unlikable either becomes fans get angry or fans get apathetic. We've had countless anecdotes coming into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket already about what apathy looks like. I tuned out. I didn't like seeing two star players bicker to the point where it ripped

the team apart. And here's the thing. If you talk to anyone within that Connex organization, they will tell you in very explicit and specific terms that last year, the failings of last year were almost a hundred percent because of the rift between Pedersen and Miller. It seeped into everything. It took energy from the coaching staff. It took energy from the coaching staff. It took energy from the leadership group.

It took energy. This is. There was a lot of oxygen sucked up by that rift. I just want to make this abundantly clear. So bring in Evander. I just want to make this abundantly clear. This isn't Brough and I projecting this. We've spoken with people within the organization

and you've heard it publicly from other people within the organization who have've heard it publicly from other people within the organization who have said it's clear as day that last year was entirely derailed from the Pettersson Miller rift. They won't bring up the injuries to Demko and to Hronik and to Hughes, maybe in passing, but they will say that season got derailed because of that. Now, do I believe that that's the reason why? No, not particularly.

I think that it was a big reason, but not the only reason. But the people that run the team have made that a significant narrative driver and talking point. So put that in a bucket for a sec. Does this game have any derailing potential? Put that in a bucket for a sec. Give this to the rookie head coach to deal with. Put that in a bucket for a second. You have any derailing potential? Put that in a bucket. Give this to the rookie head coach to deal with. Put that in a bucket for a second.

OK, put that aside, that that narrative is out there. Why would you take the risk? Why would you run the risk? If you've just sat through a season that was so trying, why would you run the risk? There's two answers. One, they're desperate or two, they fundamentally believe that it's not a risk, that it's gonna work out fine.

So you'd be the judge. Bold move. Only the only two. They're like, it's gonna work. It's gonna work because it has to work. Well, we sometimes complain that nothing ever breaks on our show. This was a good one.

Yeah. Now I don't remember the last time anything this significant broke. I thought we had a... First Mount Bruff we got in a good one. Yeah, no remember the last time anything this significant broke That we had first Mount Broughley got in a while, too It's a visceral reaction. It's understandable one. It's just it's it's next season is gonna be crazy That's what I was saying like how does Cain look how does PD look? If nothing else we have tons of content for the upcoming year. Yeah, if nothing else Terrible for the organization, but great content. And you know what?

Maybe they'll prove us all wrong. Maybe he'll have a good year. Well, the people that are texting and they love, there's a lot of people. Maybe he'll play really well. Maybe he'll play well with Pedersen, which would be hilarious, but maybe that'll happen. I think it just goes to show that people admire

just different traits in different people. And it's like, it's the duality of life. You know, for some people, Evander Cain is arrogant and other people say they like his swagger. And it was the same thing with JT Miller. For some people, JT Miller was a passionate, fiery, ultra-competitive guy. For other people, he was a bully. Look at our politicians, you know, especially the one down south. There's some people that see the president as everything that's great about America, you know, the confidence and the positivity and, you know, the willfulness to make

something, you know, the way he wants it to be in his mind. And other people are just like, yeah, he's a con man. Right? Like people have very different opinions on, on certain things. And I think right now the Canucks have like two players that are extremely polarizing. And I think what it comes down to is what you value. I think some people just don't care either. They don't care about the off-ice stuff.

They're just like, it doesn't matter to me. I just want the hockey team to do well, and they see a player that is big and skilled, and they can help the team, and they just do not care. When Vanderkeen is on, he is the prototypical power forward. Yeah, he can be great. But he's getting older, and he wasn't as effective. I thought he looked, at times the prototypical power forward. Yeah, he's great. But he's getting older and he wasn't as effective.

I thought he looked at times a little bit slow in the Stanley Cup final, but he's a big dude. He also scored some big goals. He's got a great shot. He's going to come in and score some goals and he'll probably fight and lay some big hits and the fans will love that part. But there's always a price to pay with a Vander Cane. there's always a price to pay with a Vander King. There's always a price to pay with a Vander King.

I'll say by November or December, we're gonna be like, they're gonna be replaying the show and that first half hour. 100%, 30%. Just like that, yeah, 100%. People are gonna be dunking on us. And then at the end of the year, people are like, oof, that didn't go so well.

Yeah. So I mean, you know, like, it'll be, well, for me, but both halves will happen. For me, it was, for me, that didn't go so well. Yeah. So I mean, you know, like it'll be, it'll be, it'll be, but both halves will happen. For me, it was, for me, the entire thing is that the entire crux of it is, is about risk. Is, is that some teams are more than willing to try and take on that risk. And quite frankly, some teams are in a better position

to do it. The person that's texted in about Florida, you know what? Florida is in a way better position to take that, if they were to hypothetically do it, they're in a better position to take that kind of risk. They don't have a previously fractured room. They don't have a vacuum of leadership. They don't have a first year head coach.

They didn't miss the playoffs. They're not staring down an abyss where their captain might leave them a year and a half or two years from now. Like that's the thing. There's a lot of copium going on in the Dunbar Lumberjacks line with people that are like, maybe they acquired to flip them. I don't think so. They need players. Oh, no, they need players. If they flip them then the last 53 minutes were kind of a waste of time.

But if they don't flip him, it just kind of underscores what we said right from the top. The desperate teams make desperate moves. And that's what happened this morning. It should be a fun day on Sportsnet 650. Got a lot of Canucks programming for you. Thank you to all of our guests today, and thank you all for listening, and thank you all for contributing. It's been a very interesting show, one we won't forget anytime soon.

And guess what? We get to come back tomorrow to do it all over again. Signing off for now, I have been Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been Adog and he's been Laddie. This has been the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.