Halford & Brough in the Morning - Fortune Favours The Bold

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason talk the latest hockey & Canucks coaching search news with NHL insider Frank Seravalli, plus the boys discuss if the Canucks might move a significant piece in the off-season to improve their forward group, even if it means trading Quinn Hughes (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.

Frank! Cira Valley! Cira Valley! Cira Valley! Frank! Cira Valley! Frank! Cira Valley!

Frank! Cira Valley! Frank! Cira Valley! Frank! 702 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford, Bruff, Sportsnet 650. Frank!

Halford and Bruff 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 Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Frank Saravalli from Daily Faceoff is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuck at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec

studio. Kintec footwear and Orthotics working together with you in step. Our next guest is of course Frank Ceravalli. He joins us courtesy the hotline powered by Power West Industries. It's Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning Frank, how are you? Good morning boys, good, how are you doing? We're good, thanks for taking the time to do this, we appreciate it. So we wanted to start this hit by talking a little coaching with you. The Vancouver Canucks coaching search continues on and we've heard countless names in line for the job.

Let's see if we can run through them real quick. Manny Malhotra, Adam Foote, Todd Reardon, Mitch Love. Is Mike Valucci still in the mix? I can't remember if Mike Valucci is still in the mix. I think that's five. What do you know about those five, Frank? And feel free to throw any other names in the mix. You might have heard that I might have missed.

Is Marco Sturm in the mix? Marco Sturm. There's six. Yes, perfect. And should we throw Jay Woodcroft's name into the mix, or no? Sure. You tell us.

I mean, look, this search, the best way I can describe it is it's progressing. The Canucks are continuing to talk to different people around the league. I've seen some reporting that suggests that they have narrowed in on a group of finalists. I'm not totally aware that that's the case, not saying it's wrong.

Um, but I don't get the sense either that they're necessarily at the finish line with one of these candidates and are ready to move forward and name their next coach. Are there any complications with any of the other vacancies around the league? Like are any of the guys thereafter also candidates for maybe a job in Pittsburgh or Seattle

or Boston or Philly or wherever? Well, I think there are, there certainly are other guys that are candidates in those other markets. Uh, that said, I think there's, uh, maybe not necessarily as much for the Canucks, but for some other teams, they're wanting to talk to some coaches who are still actively involved in, in the family cup playoffs.

And look, um, a lot of people view this entire coaching market as one that not necessarily from a Canucks perspective, but on the whole is being held up by Rick Tauke. on the whole is being held up by Rick Tocket. He has three to four, I believe, offers pending that it's taking some time to sift through and process. And with that being said, I think once you see him go off the market,

that you're gonna see a run on coaches pretty quickly with jobs being filled up in 48 to 72 hours after that. Is there a leader for Rick talk at services right now? And if there is, what team is that? If I could handicap, I would think it's the Philadelphia flyers. I think, um, according to sources close to the team last week, they were, um, after having initial discussions, were in the process of preparing what they believe

to be a massive offer. You know, how that relates to the other things that Rick Tocket has on his plate, I think probably would be difficult for me to speculate because I don't know what's out there from Boston and Seattle and some of these other teams that have been in the mix. So that part is tough to weigh out. But I think on the whole, I would expect that the Flyers have put together a pretty strong case.

Without knowing the details financially, would talk it be in the Mike Sullivan neighborhood in terms of a massive deal with regards to salary? I don't think quite at the Sullivan level because I was told that he stretched into the sevens in AAV, which is not necessarily a huge shock because he was in the fives with Pittsburgh, I believe. And with that, you have to give him a pretty significant raise or else Pittsburgh, you know, they're still paying him. They're still on the hook.

They don't want to be paying full freight for Mike Sullivan to be coaching in their division. So that raise was kind of inherent. Um, but I had reason to believe that yes, uh, Rick Tocket was certainly, um, was going to be looking at a longer term deal, I think five years or more, and potentially reaching as high as a six million AAV. What are expectations going to be in Philadelphia

for this coming season? That's such a great question because when I've looked at all the different openings and tried to size them all up in terms of where everyone's heading, that I think the Flyers have some of the most work to do among these groups of teams. They're not a quick flip. They're not a rebound candidate like a Boston or the Rangers. Um, they don't have a superstar like the Vancouver Canucks and they don't really even have the skeleton of a team to be competitive in the very near future.

Cause you're still dealing in the abstract. They don't have a goalie. They don't have a defense and they don't have a center of franchise caliber and with that That's where the long-term deal comes in and that's where I could also see the argument to be made in a strong way that Hey the flyers this job is not necessarily as attractive as the other ones but if you're willing to come in and do the work to add to the foundation that John Tortorella poured and then allow or accept or bring into the fold those other

players that the team acquires and then drafts and develops, like you got to squint hard to see it is the point. Yeah. So, so you don't expect them to be, do you expect them to be super aggressive this off season and trying to add players because we all know that Vancouver is going to try and be super aggressive this off season to try and add players. I, I do expect them to add and try and be aggressive.

Um, and part of the reason just when you, you glean little nuggets and hints along the way and you know the Flyers brass was at the U18s recently in Texas and the conversations evolved around hey like look 2026 appears to be a really special class. Where do the Flyers, how do they see that draft shaking out? And they're like, well, we hope to not be in the lottery conversation. So when, when that's the case, um, and you hear that type of expectation being set, they want to take a significant step forward and they think that a coach is

a big part of that puzzle. Um, I mentioned that the connects are going to be aggressive this off season and Jim Rutherford has said, you know, we want to add three forwards to our forward group and he's not talking about bottom six guys. What do you think of Vancouver's chances of having a successful off season, given, given all the other teams around the league that are going to have plenty of cap space and want to be aggressive themselves?

Well, I guess it depends on how you view the success. Is it immediately being a better team in October or is it being a better team two to three years from now? And the reason I bring that up is what happens with Pettersson? Are you operating under the assumption that they keep him and that they try and rehab his game and get him back to being the player that he used to be? Or are you cutting ties and saying we value the space and the flexibility more so than the potential of the player and we're willing to be a little bit worse now and Then get better in the future with the space that we have plus whatever we get in return. I

Mean that's gonna be one of the biggest foundational, you know Direction compass pointing decisions made and outside of that, what are the chances to be successful? Well, what are the Canucks trying to solve for? The same thing that the Calgary Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks and all these other teams that are in the muck are trying to solve for, which is trying to add an impact center. Good luck. I mean, I'm not being flippant when I say that. You tell me what the market for centers is like outside of Brock Nelson.

Maybe you want to throw in Matt Duchene into the mix, okay? Where are you going to get a top end center? I mean, that's my whole argument. They said we're going to try and be aggressive. And like, they've also said that they don't really like the players on the free agent list and that Vancouver isn't much of a destination anyway. So my whole question is like, okay, well, how are you going to do this? What are you going to do with the 15th overall pick? I don't think that's going to get it done.

I'm with you. You have to really be fortunate in your draft selection and hope that two or three years from now that that player can turn into one of those guys that you happen to pick in the mid-first round that becomes that guy. And doesn't even necessarily mean you're going to pick a center there.

We're speaking to Frank Ceravall daily face off here on the Halford and Bref show on sports net six 50. Okay. I want to look at the landscape here of some other teams that might be making some fairly significant significant moves this summer. Oftentimes we point to those teams that lost in the first round of the playoffs. One of them is Los Angeles Kings and they've already had a big shakeup. Obviously Rob Blake is out as general manager. Ken Holland is expected to be announced as the new general manager tomorrow

Thursday. Although multiple reports already out there that he's accepted the job. My first question is behind the bench. Do you have a sense of what Holland is going to do with that head coaching job in Los Angeles? Jim Hiller is still there, but I do wonder if there's going to be another vacancy opening up in Los Angeles. I expected there will be. First off, the next GM always wants his guy. And I think if we've learned anything about Ken Holland over the tenure of his

career, 27 consecutive years as general manager, that he likes to surround himself with people that he's familiar with. And that's not necessarily a security thing or a comfort thing, but he feels like he works really well with people that he trusts. And so I would expect that given some of the decision making process from Jim Hiller and also the structure and way that this team plays, like I get a real sense that the Kings are trying to do things differently here. Okay.

The easy, comfortable thing to do would have been for Luke Robitaille as president of Hockey Ops to just hire his really close friend in Mark Bergervan, who's been working for the team for three years as a senior advisor and was hungry for a second shot at being a general manager after a decade in Montreal. They didn't go that path. So it sounds like they're willing to do things outside of their comfort zone. And I would imagine that with that comes free rein to make a coaching change, which, um, you know, probably to the surprise of no one, based on how the first round ended with the Kings being in the absolute driver's seat, I mean,

so close from going up three, nothing on the oilers in the absolute driver's seat. I mean, so close from going up three nothing on the Oilers in that series, that that's part of the process as well. Too easy to connect the dots to Jay Woodcroft there? Not too easy. I think definitely would be on the short list. And you have to remember that the Woodcroft connection doesn't just go back to Edmonton.

His name is etched on the Stanley Cup near Ken Hall and in Detroit when he was a video coach under Mike Babcock. So that's one connection, but I do think that Jay Woodcroft has been on Boston's list and is pretty, you know, I think has done pretty well to this point in the process, I'm told with the Bruins. And if it doesn't end up being Rick Tocket in Boston, which I, again, we handicapped some of this,

I think Woodcroft is a strong candidate there. Hey Frank, I was at dailyfaceoff.com and I know you've got your list of the top 50 free agents out there now and some estimates on the contracts that they might sign. I've got a question for you. Who do you think is more likely to move teams? Mitch Marner or Sam Bennett?

Mitch Marner. I think there's a mutual, and I think it's still too early to say that the die has been cast and that he's definitely going to market. Because I imagine there will be some sort of evolving conversation whenever this Maple Leaf season ends, whether it's four days from now or whether it's, uh, four weeks from now. But I do think that I don't want to say it went to a dark place, but I think that there was definitely some frustration on both with the way the trade deadline played out. The Leafs, I think, were frustrated in that they tried hard to get him to engage on a

contract extension and to get that done. And that didn't happen. And then in the same turn, they said, okay, well, if you're not going to negotiate a new deal with us, then will you at least waive your no trade so that we could move you in a package to try and get Miko Rantunen? The Carolina Hurricanes were drooling to get Mitch Marner. And they actually tried hard on Mitch Marner in January before trading for Rantunen. So they made that attempt and then now you let the

results of this season kind of speak for itself. I think a lot of things are just adding up to him going to market and him potentially wanting to do something a little bit different. Where do you think he might go? We were actually talking about Anaheim yesterday and we had a guest on to talk about the ducks and just how much it sounds

like ownership there wants to step on the gas. And they've obviously hired a guy in Joel Quinville that suggests that the rebuild is over, or at least it should be. I could see Anaheim making a ton of sense for the reasons you mentioned. I could see Utah making a play. I could see the Blackhawks. I could see, I mean you don't have to squint too hard to think about some of the other teams

around the league. Probably doesn't make a ton of sense with where their team build is at or even their cap picture, but like could you view a fit with Montreal? I'd be amazing. I don't know, I mean, I doubt that he'd leave one for the other. Like I would think that if you're gonna really change it up, you're gonna wanna get out of the fish bowl. You're not gonna wanna hear it in two languages

when you've been getting it in one, but go south of the border and see what that's like. Yeah, I mean, it's a fascinating conversation about Marner because you mentioned all these different potential suitors. And I think it's a microcosm of what the entire league is going to look like this summer because there's so many different markets with all these different teams that really want to make some noise. And obviously, that has to do with the fact that everyone's got more cap space.

But there's a lot of teams that weren't happy with where they were last year. And you can see it in personnel shifts like the New York Islanders, for example, Jordan and Van just texted into the Dunbar Lumbertex message in basket at 650, 650. Can you ask Frank about the Islanders general manager vacancy? And there's another team that feels like it's at a bit of a crossroads and what, where they're going to go with regards to roster construction and moving on from Lou Lamerello. So what do you have on the Islanders and their GM vacancy? Yeah, that's been a lot slower than I think they wanted it to be. I think the list of candidates was incredibly long and I think it centered at one point in time

around Ken Holland and I think he was offered the president of hockey ops job before turning it down. and I think he was offered the president of hockey ops job before turning it down. You know, like, look, they, I'm kind of surprised how long it's taken. And now as they continue to work through their list, we've heard lots of different guys that have experience. Are they still looking at the two headed model where you've got a president of hockey ops and GM, or are you just going to go with an experienced GM. And then there had been a notion out there of, Hey, what happens with, uh, with Lula Amorello in general? Will he remain as a, as an advisor in the process?

Will he have any input? Um, it's been a really uncomfortable number of weeks for the islanders as they've sort of been flailing, not in lack of interest. Mark Bergevin has been mentioned. Jarmo Kekalainen has been mentioned. That said, you would think at some point that because it's taken this long that the islanders haven't been necessarily as enamored with the process on the list. Frank, this was great stuff as always. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate

it. Enjoy the games tonight. They should be good. We'll do this again next week. Sounds good. See you guys. See you later. That's Frank Ceravalli on Sportsnet 650, a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor. May's heating up at Angry Otter Liquor. Plus program members enjoy a member exclusive pricing on it. Ooh, Corona 12 packs this month, only 27.99. It's almost Corona season, Jason. I'm excited. I love it. Yeah. It is Corona season by the way already. Is it?

Although, yeah, although I think we're going to get a bit of a stretch of cooler weather in the next little while. You know what you're right because May 5th Cinco de Mayo. Yeah. That's officially Corona season. Yeah, exactly. Did you see, Frank mentioned Lulam.

Did you see he was spotted at the Buffalo Airport and everyone, did you see the update? I saw that he was spotted at the Buffalo Airport. Was that actually him? Or was it just him? There's a lot of guys that look like Lulam. It was him, and according to Darren Drager, he was just there to renew his Nexus.

Aw. Aw. Yeah. That's not as exciting. You have to go to the Buffalo airport to do that? I don't know, man. That's what Drager was saying. That's the kind of reporting that the real true insiders can get.

I did see the Lulam thing, and then a lot of people were obviously, I don't know if there was actual background reporting on this if people trying to talk it into existence But there was that Buffalo had long been enamored with Lulam Rella would love to have him in is some sort of advisoral now the important thing to remember about Buffalo is that in the Terry Pugula ownership era they've never had a Buffer between him and the general manager. They've never had a president of hockey ops or a senior advisor as the go between. Terry's always had a direct line to the general manager. He's never used that line, though.

Well, no, I think he had. I keep forgetting that I own the Sabres. He's used it to fire like four of them. Right. I mean, go back because it was Darcy Regier. It was Tim. It was Tim Adams. What was his name? The guy from Ottawa? Yeah, Tim Murray. Tim Murray. I don't know who Tim Adams is. And then of course it was Jason Botterill and now it's Kevin Adams, right? So you've

had a long list of general managers there and some have said this is an organization that might benefit from having that extra layer of communication between the owner and the general manager. Enter Lulam. Some people have suggested that the Buffalo Sabres could hire some good hockey people. Well, I mean, that's tough. That's tough.

That's tough. Yeah, you're a crazy talk. Kevin Adams was so inexperienced when he got that job. Kevin Adams, not a crazy tough. I thought Kevin Adams was so inexperienced when he got that job. Kevin Adams not a good hire. I thought Jason Botterill was a good hire. I think they probably cut the cord on him a little too early.

The other guys, I mean, who's to say? I think the problem is when you have an owner that's on the phone with the guy who's making the day-to-day, it becomes less about having patience and more about getting results. And oftentimes for general manager changes a lot. That's a lot. Probably why Kevin Adams still has a job.

Maybe he's there Jim Benning. Right? Well, it feels like it right now. When you start making a lot of changes to either the coaching staff or the management, you don't want to keep firing. 100%. Uh, superintendent Steve takes in and predicts tonight

is the last night the core four play together at home in Toronto. Certainly possible. I love it. I mean, I asked Frank about Mitch Marner and I said, who's more likely to move Mitch? Mitchy, Mitchy, Mitchy. Or is it going to be Sam Bennett from Florida?

And he said, Mitch, and like right away. Yep. And he suggested, I kind of forgot about this actually, that Marner was asked to waive his no trade clause. For random. At the trade deadline. Yeah.

I don't know why I forgot about that, but. That was a big deal. Yeah, it was a big deal. And also if the Leafs lose tonight, or let's say they lose the series, you just have to switch it up at some point. You just got to switch it up. They've said that in a playoff failures pass though.

This one's just different because Marner's on the cusp of free agency. Now it feels like it's an easier move. Like I think Tavares is probably going to stay just because he wants to be there and he's had a terrific year and it, it'll be interesting to see if he'll take. He'll take a haircut.

Yeah, he'll take a haircut. He'll come back. The question is how big a hometown discount is he going to take? Um, Marner's never seemed like the type that wants to take much of a hometown discount, even though he wants to be in Toronto or he used to. Um, but yeah, tonight I guess could be the The last time we see that core four together at home

in Toronto, I'm still not convinced they're done in this series, the Toronto Maple Leafs. I think if they come together and defend really well that they could easily win a two one game tonight against the Florida Panthers. I don't necessarily believe that momentum exists in series. I actually think more often than not, there's anti-momentum between games.

Like a team will get comfortable, a team will get desperate, and then flip the switch, and if the other team, one team's desperate and the other team gets comfortable. And I think that's very possible tonight. The Florida Panthers played a very good game in game four. They were very physical.

And now I think we'll see Toronto respond. Speaking of the Toronto Maple Leafs in tonight's action, it's time now for the one to watch brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire. The one to watch tonight, no surprise here. It's Austin Matthews, the former 69 goal scorer has been quiet through these playoffs, especially in the second round series against the Panthers. Matthews has now gone four games without a goal against Florida. Just two goals in the first round against Ottawa has not been a goal scoring

explosion for Matthews in the playoffs. Despite the fact that his shot attempt 75 through the 10 playoff games hasn't been too bad. Despite all of this, Leafs head coach Craig Barubei thinks that that all important goal against the Panthers is just around the corner. Barubei said, and I quote, the big goal is coming. That's the way you have to think about it. Who knows when it'll happen, but he's going to get his looks. He does a lot of things in a lot of other areas. If he sticks to what he's doing, he won't get frustrated.

It's time now to put on your Toyo tires, whether you drive a car, light truck or van. Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions. Visit Delaney's OK Tire in Langley in Aldergrove. OK Tire Service Repair Antires. You're listening to the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Strantz. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Here we go, here we go, here we go.

7.33 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halfer Krupp, Sportsnet 650. This isn't half bad. We played it before. It's one of the classics. We were looking for a good dance song with a nice drop. And they all suck on APM.

Right. Except for this one. We're like, ah, let's go back to the classic. It's like Halpern's hosting the soccer show of his dreams right now. A little too upbeat for me. We're like, just give us Darude Sandstorm, but like a knockoff version.

And we couldn't find it. It's like the closest we can get. I'm all about Euro Trash Wednesdays but you know what I'm gonna lean into this one it's a good track. This is actually a good track. Do we ever decide if it was Euro Dance or Euro Trash Wednesday? It's always been Euro Dance. You started calling it Euro Trash. You embraced the Euro Trash part of it. Yeah. You are listening to the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Haliford and Bref for 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 two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. We got an open segment here, and I think it's time to dive back into a conversation.

We briefly started in the intro segment, but wanted to stretch our legs on a little bit more in this segment. The conox and the possibility of trading a pretty significant piece off the active roster. Yeah, and we'll start with Connor Garland because he was on with Donnie Andale yesterday, and we played some audio earlier of him. Strong verbal commitment to staying in Vancouver forever. Yeah, that's exactly not what he said. He said he likes Vancouver and he'll let his agent deal with the contract stuff.

He did not say that he was interested in signing long-term in Vancouver, although he didn't say he wasn't interested in signing, he just didn't say anything, he avoided the question. Um, so, you know, um, when it comes to Connor Garland, if you've listened to this show, this season, then first of all, I apologize, but second of all, you know, you know that we've really liked Connor Garland as a player.

Um, I love the way he never gives up on a play. Um, I love the way that, um, he just always keeps his feet moving out there, but I'd much rather him in a third line role. And I think this season showed that he rather him in a third line role. And I think this season showed that he's better in a third line role. Certainly if he's able to play a third line role, it's better for your team. Um, so I don't think the Canucks need to be

making a big commitment to a third liner who'd be 30 when his extension kicks in. He's got one year left, 29 right now. So you take him through the last year of his contract. He's 30, signs on, and he's probably going to be looking for a pretty big commitment because he's played well. Now, some people might wonder if you like them as a player, why not keep them and extend them?

The Canucks have enough problems. They don't want to be getting rid of the players that are good. Sure. You know, well, first of all, I mean, I mentioned it, there's the age thing. I'm always wary of players after 30. They don't all fall off, but, um, there is almost

always some fall off, but mostly I just think the Canucks need to wildly reimagine their forward group. That's fair. That doesn't mean that everyone has to go, but they need to chase upside and that's not Garland. I don't see Garland ever scoring 30 goals. I think he's a guy that, you know, he had, he played really well this year and he played a lot. He scored 19 goals.

Seven on the power play. Yeah. And really, is that a lot? For him, yes. For a top six forward, no. I mean, I don't think he should be on a PP1. Probably not. On a good team.

Probably not. He's probably not on a PP1 on a good team, no. So I think we've seen the best of Garland. So Canucks, sell high on an asset just one time. Just one time, do the scary thing. Sometimes it's good to do scary things. Successful people take risks and they do scary things and they sell high. And definitely sell high on Garland if he's not even open to sign in an

extension. Don't just kick the can down the road to the trade deadline because we all know what happens then. Then you get tempted. Ah, we'll just keep them. Ah, we don't like the offers. One thing I really, really want to emphasize, sometimes change for the sake of change is justified. Yeah. You know, people always say like, you can't just make change for the sake of change. It's like, yep, sure you can. The forward group is nowhere close to good enough. Nowhere close.

There is no single forward in my opinion, that is untouchable. I realized that management already has its hands full trying to fill the holes they definitely have. They might be low to trade away someone like Garland and create another hole. Well, that's too bad. The job is the job and it's not supposed to be easy. You need to improve this team.

Um, I'll just throw this out there right now. The caddocks also need to consider trading Philip Peronac. I'm not saying definitely move them, but test the market before his no move clause kicks in this summer. Stop messing around with the Willander situation, get the kids signed. And if you want to make a bet, consider betting big next season on the young

defensemen they've got like Willander, DPT and Mancini. And maybe there's another guy in Abbotsford that they can bring up and use an adaptor roll. Sure. There's upside in young players and Hronek should be able to get the Canucks at least a legit top six forward. Now I can already read the Dunbar Lumber text line. What will Hughes say?

You've already lost his coach, now you're going to trade away his partner. Yeah. Who you just signed to an eight year extension. I know they already ask a lot of Hughes and trading Hronik might not be at the top of his wish list, but the Canucks do not have a good enough roster.

They do not have an efficient enough roster to justify this luxury of Hughes and Hronik together. Hughes can carry his own pair. Try him and Will Ender together if they ever get him signed. I'm just all about not being overly loyal to the group that's brought us here. I would, okay, Garland I think is much more of a possibility than Horonick. Now I'm going to put on

my Connex General manager hat here, just so we're clear, neither advocating for one approach to the other, but trying to get into the mode of what I think they're going to do. And I think one of their points of pride internally is that they have rebuilt this blue line. And I think part of that pride in it was extending her on it to the deal that they did the eight year deal is I think that they consider the way that they moved the pieces on the chessboard and brought him in is like a signature move that they built this blue line,

they like this blue line, it's one of the things that they're gonna build around. I don't know if I agree with it or not, but I also think there's an element of. I don't care what they're proud of, they need to fix the forward group. Right, and I don't think they're gonna do it at the expense of the blue line.

But I think the blue line has changed a little bit because since they added Hronik, and since they extended him, we've seen the rise of a guy like DPT. Sure. We've seen the addition of a guy like Mancini. Sure. And I guess we're still hopeful that Will Ender

will be part of the solution going forward. TBD on that one. Now, you know, you probably have Rick Dollywell going like, you can't sign a guy to a long-term extension and then trade him. What will the agents think? I don't care. Yeah. I just don't care.

And people will say, well, you can't trade Hronik. And I will say, well, you can't go forward with this forward group either. So where do you want to take your risks? You know, like, to me, it's just, I don't know. Okay. If we're working on the pre, the sort of preconceived notion that there's going to have to be risks taken this summer to get this team where they want to be. It's going to come either by the risk of dealing away futures or what do we classify Will Ender as? Is he still a future? Cause he technically hasn't played in the NHL yet.

He's a future. Sure. Of course. So you're trading away futures or you're, and it would be another version of robbing Peter to pay Paul, but it would be from the blue line. Cause the blue line is obviously the area of strength compared to the forward group. Well, they robbed Peter too much. Now they're going to have to start taking some from Paul and giving it back to Peter

That's true. Actually, we have to work on the the analogy the phrasing of all of it Because Garland Garland's a piece that you could move but it's not gonna get you in its vacuum anything back of great significance And I'm just thinking about the Aaron Ross impact player, let alone three impact players. That's what they're asking for the top six right now. They need to add so much. Look at the four groups that they're chasing. Look at Florida. look at Edmonton, look at, look at Dallas, look at the teams that didn't even make it past the first round.

Look at Colorado. Like they have major, major, major difference makers up front and the Canucks have Elias Pedersen, who we don't know about going forward. And they've got Jake DeBrasque, who has nice hands and scores goals around that. And that's great, but he's not driving play. You think you're going to get it for the 15th overall draft pick? I mean, the X-Factor.

Do you think you're going to get it for Lekarimaki? You have to give something. And I look at the defense and I think, I don't want to lose Hronik, but to me, Hronik paired with Hughes is a luxury that this team cannot afford. And Hughes is so good that I think you can pair him with even Tyler Myers. Even Myers. And the Hughes pair, and that could be a first pair and the Hughes pair will still be good

because Quinn Hughes is on it. The other part of training Hronik, and you do have to acknowledge this is that when you're talking about replacing him in the lineup, his replacement would be making entry level money and would be a considerably lower cap hit. I know you'd probably be taking back an impact player in return, but I'm talking about there would be a financial element to it that would kind of make sense because as you've seen from countless Stanley Cup contenders, if you want to get back to that level, one of the staples, signatures almost universally is you need at least one or two guys on that entry level deal being meaningful and significant contributors to

your cause. Dallas has it right now. Other teams have it as well. Right. When you look at the when the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup a couple of years ago. Yeah, they were completely loaded up front. They had big money, big ticket guys, but they also had

guys on entry level deals making impacts to their team. It is an important part. It's not the part of it, but it's an important part of it. And the Canucks do have a luxury there because with the two guys in particular, DPD and Mancini, if they can elevate and part of it and the Canucks do have a luxury there because with the two guys in particular

DPD and Mancini, if they can elevate and give you a significant contribution on an ELC, it's a great thing. It gives you so much more flexibility. Peronix, the only guy with enough value on that team to get them a top C other than maybe Demko if you can convince a team that Demko. No, Demko's not getting any of that. Yeah. Demko's not getting any of that. There were- Well, I was gonna say unless you can convince a team that is- And neither's Garland with one getting any of that. Demko's not getting it. There were. All I was gonna say, unless you can convince a team that he's. And neither's Garland with one year left.

Well, no, Garland definitely wouldn't. No. I mean, if you could convince a GM that Demko's gonna regain his Vezna form and never be injured again, then maybe. But I mean, it's really just like, it's pretty much just Ronick. My biggest concern right now is that.

And that's why people are so low to train him, because he's good. Yeah. Because he's good. My biggest concern right now is Management the reinvention of the team in the offseason is we're built around the strength of our blue line and our goalie tandem Which we think is gonna come back healthy Oh, yeah, they're gonna move and then they try and piecemeal together a forward group Yeah, because we're all I've seen this postseason is I mean not only do I think that's what they're gonna do

I think that's what they're gonna do. That's what I have to do. And then it's like, yeah, it's like, well, now you're, you know, your top six winger will bump Conor Garland down because we got Michael Grandland agency. He's going to be our top six winger now. Like piece together a scrappy forward group. And you know, I think God that Pederson regains his form and he'll stay as healthy. And, you know, like there's so many like major like what ifs, but they don't really have a choice. So you don't even think it's a hope thing.

I think it's maybe an acknowledgement, dare I say a white flag that's like, we can't rebuild the forward group in one singular off season. So we're gonna hang our hat on. We've got a good six man defensive unit. If everything goes right and it's healthy, and if everything goes right and it's healthy

with our goalies, we've got what we think is the best goalie tandem in the league. I personally think that that'll get you to 96 points and one of the wild card spots. And instead of having the end of year press conference in April, you have it maybe in the first week of May because you've made the playoffs. That's where I think the ceiling would be with that group.

The rebuild of the four group won't happen until they're forced to trade hues, in April you have it maybe in the first week of May because you've made the playoffs. Like that's where I think the ceiling would be with that group. The rebuild of the four group won't happen until they're forced to trade Hughes, which probably won't be this year. So someone texts in, what if you trade Hronik and Hughes leaves? And that's from Ian in Chilliwack. That's a very valid point. Guys, I am working under the assumption, it's just me, I'm working under the assumption that

Hughes is going to leave. But anything could change. Yeah. Anything could happen. Anything could happen. But that's how you rebuild the forward group is you trade Quinn Hughes. That's the only way. That starts the rebuild and you get a huge couple of assets in return at forward.

If the Canucks were really bold, they won't do this. They won't. But if they were really, really bold and they look at Gavin McKenna coming down the pipeline, maybe like we trade Hughes, we get a couple of high end forwards. Our decor is still, believe it or not, quite good without Hughes. It's obviously not as good, but still quite good without Hughes. You got a great goalie tandem. You get a couple high end forwards for Quinn and then, you know, see how you do

this season and maybe, hey, you luck out and get a chance at end forwards for Quinn and then, you know, see how you do this season and maybe, hey, you luck out and get a chance at Gavin McKenna. Yeah. Like that. If they were absolutely totally bold, that would be the proper way to start a rebuild. But obviously they're not going to do that. I can do that. No. What they're going to do is they're going to try and rebuild his forward group under the assumption that he was just staying, even though they think he's probably no, they're going to, they'll yeah. Like the, the 15th overall pick.

It was funny because the athletic did a mock draft out for the first round of the 2025 NHL draft and it goes all the way down to the Canucks at 15. And I didn't even bother reading who the pick was going to be. I was like, what's the point? How are you guys feeling about Hughes? Are you emotionally preparing yourselves for his departure? I'm like 90% certain he's gone. I'm at 90%. I mean, the talk of thing was a big, big red flag. Huge.

Yeah. I just, I think it's very unlikely that he stays unless they have a fantastic year this year and can convince him that, Hey, there is a direction. And even then though, even then he might be like, I want to go play with my brothers. But, but weigh that against, weigh that against winning a cup. Like what if the Canucks are able to do something and suddenly become, I don't know,

the team they were last year. How are they going to do that? I don't know. I'm just saying like, but that's what it would take though. Seriously. That's why I'm saying you won't say it. Talk me into the things that would have to happen for the Canucks next year for everyone to be like,

Whoa, because it kind of did, it kind of for everyone to be like, whoa. Because it kind of did, it kind of, let's be honest, it kind of did happen two years ago. Well, a lot of things went right. Right? A lot of things went right. They were healthy, the PDO, et cetera. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so right call on the coach, they're gonna have to add some significant players. Every single one of their trades will have to hit. The young players are all gonna have to step up and do well. And Demko is gonna have to stay healthy, right?

Is that it? Yes. Is that it? And they play incredibly boring, high-end defensive hockey and decor their way into a playoff spot. And they build a practice facility. Which is not out of the realm of possibility concerning how deep they are defensively, but that's how they would have to do it, which would suck as a fan because it would be boring

as hell, but that's the style of hockey they'd have to play to will their way into a playoff spot. And if they could show Hughes that they're able to do that, then maybe, but I don't know, I just don't see it. And they build a practice facility. Oh know, I just don't see it. And they build a practice facility. Oh yeah, that's right. Minor detail.

And it's called the Quinn Hughes practice facilities. Tommy texts in, Hughes is going to leave. No matter what moves they make, it's setting us back for a long time. Hughes will tell them he's leaving and they will look at trade options. I'm at peace with it happening, but apathy has set in. Well, apathy has not set in for me, mostly because it's my job. But the Hughes thing, what's interesting about it is like,

I don't want Hughes to be traded. I want him to resign. I want him to stay at Canuck forever. But if he's gonna leave, use it to your advantage. Trade him now. Seriously. If you are 100% certain that he's leaving. Seriously.

Trade him now. Imagine the haul you could get. Oh, it'd be incredible. Imagine the haul you could get. Mm-hmm. Even for just, I think one of the dangers in saying, I've heard this put out. You wait until next summer to trade Hughes because then you can package him in a Rantanen style deal.

Sure. Where you can tack on the extension. Here's the problem with that. What if Hughes is only willing to go to one team? Then you can't shop that eight year deal. You can't shop that extension. You can't shop it around the league and go like, um, well, you know, here's a guy that's one of the that eight year deal. You can't shop that extension. You can't shop it around the league and go like,

um, well, you know, here's a guy that's one of the greatest defensemen in the league, maybe history, and we can shop you as an eight year deal, but Quinn's like, well, I'm not signing the extension because I only want to go to New Jersey. Right? With Ranton, and I think there were a number of teams, I think he gave Carolina a number of

teams that they can shop them to. So, and I don't even think that Carolina did that well on that deal. Do you know what I mean? Like you're still, so, so the value, the most value for Hughes in a trade might be you either send him to New Jersey and say, okay, well, let's get, let's get this over with. You get it going now and you're going to get an

extra two years of Quinn Hughes. You don't have to wait for him or you send him to another team and say, look, he's probably going to go to New Jersey in two years, but you get him for two years. You get Quinn Hughes for two years. You send him to, and he's on a great contract. You could retain.

Think of all the futures, like high value futures you could get to really, really kickstart a rebuild here and do it the right way. They won't do it. They won't do it. And I understand in a way why they wouldn't do it because, you know, you still got to sell tickets. You know, Halford, I always come back to that meeting that we had with Benning. Yeah. And we were working for the Athletic and we actually got a kind of sit down meeting with Jim Benning. And we were kind of saying like, we got into this whole rebuild, retool debate with him and we kept

pushing back and I was like, yeah, but why would you do this? And he's like, you have to understand that there are people coming to the games every day and they pay a lot of money to go to the games every day and they pay a lot of money to go to the games and they want to see a competitive team. And it just always comes back to that. You know what Canucks fans want to see more than

a competitive team? A Stanley Cup. Like you ask 100 Canucks fans, even an average Canucks fan and 98, 98 of them will be like, actually I'd like a Stanley Cup. And you don't get a Stanley Cup by retooling every year. It just doesn't happen. Good.

Like I said. It doesn't happen. But it could for us. I don't know how they don't look back on this last decade in a bit and go. It clearly didn't work. Should our philosophy change? What if they trade Quinn Hughes to New Jersey for Jack and Luke? One just sexes that

Yeah, then he'll be back Yes here Okay trade would play with your brothers a Quinn. We're running up against it for time here We get a lot more to get into in the final hour of the Haliford and breath show on sports net 650 We're gonna turn our attention to the Vancouver Whitecaps. The manager of the gaffer, Jesper Sorensen is going to join the program. We'll talk to him ahead of their game against Austin on Saturday at 8 15. We're giving away a pair of tickets to see the who yeah,

the who at Rogers arena on September 10th, September 23rd, uh, caller number five at 8 15 this morning, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. That number again, 604-280-0650. A reminder, 815 this morning. We'll be giving away tickets to caller number five. So, yes for Sorenson at eight. Ticket giveaway at 815 and then at 830, we're gonna do what we learned.

Get yours in, Dunbar Lumbertex line at 650-650. What did you learn over the last 24 hours in sports? Let us know. You're listening to the Haliford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650.