Halford & Brough in the Morning - Frank Seravalli On If The Canucks Might Trade EP40 Before July 1

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Daily Faceoff NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:36) about Monday's Canucks press conference and the future of Rick Tocchet & Elias Pettersson on the team, plus the boys preview tonight's playoff matchups (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.

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Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Frank! Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at Sands-trustee.com.

Where did that one come from? Are you guys trying to throw me? Is that what's happening? I am the consummate professional. Well done, sir. I thought that was gonna totally throw you off. Can't fool me. You're like, it's like the Matrix.

Just dodging Frank bullets. Seein', I'm see'm seeing the five moves ahead. Frank, Frank, Frank. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Homonuck from 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 are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. To the phone lines we go. Here's a presentation of angry otter liquor. Frank Cera Valley from Daily Face Off joins us now

on the Haliford and Bref Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Frank, how are ya? Good morning boys, how you doing? We're good. We wanna start with Rick Taukett and then we'll pivot into Monday's media availability from Patrick Alveen and Jim Rutherford but Rutherford did say on Monday that he expects a decision on Tauket by the end of the week. Do you have anything on where the winds are blowing

on this one? Do you expect Rick Tauket to be the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks come the end of the week or will he entertain one of these now six available jobs across the National Hockey League after Seattle got rid of Dan Baezma? It's still too early to say. I think we've not gotten enough traction one way or the other to really be able to accurately predict which way this is heading and it's interesting that you, you mentioned, will he entertain one of the other job openings? That's the other part of this too, is Rick Tocket remains

under contract through June 30. So given that that option will not be exercise, which was one of the most important points of Jim Rutherford's press conference. In fact, they've got, obviously, the clock is ticking, no doubt, but it's not like he can, if he isn't accepting an extension, it's not as if without release he can just immediately begin talking to other teams for an opening. Would they keep up? Like, let's say he says, I don't want to be back. Would they be like, all right, but you're here until June 30th.

I would hesitate to offer an opinion on that too. I mean, I think it would be. What are they going to get him to do? Like odd jobs around the office? Like, it would just to be, I don't know. I mean, it would come across as spiteful. It would just be to, yeah, to be vindictive. But like, here's the thing, that isn't the first time or wouldn't be the first

time that something like that would be held over someone's head in negotiations. Yeah. Who? The Calgary Flames tried to do this with general manager Brad Tree Living before he left for Toronto. And it took media reporting. They were, they were saying the same thing. We're going to hold you out until the cycle is complete and, and

then good luck getting a job. I mean, sometimes you never know how if things go sideways, that's how it plays out. And I'm again, I'm not predicting it. I just think an important thing to remind everyone, like he isn't a free agent right now unless The Vancouver Canucks say that he has the ability to be one Yeah, it's good information to have because we've been all a little bit confused on on the option and When or if he can speak to other teams? What did you make of the Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen availability

earlier in the week? And let's be honest, it was 90% Jim Rutherford. Yeah, a couple awkward laughs there from Patrick Alveen trying to distance himself after the Quinn Hughes brother comment. I thought it was a fascinating window into what to expect from the Canucks moving forward. I thought it was an opportunity for Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen. They took it to reset expectations in the marketplace. Like, look, there's a lot of turbulence that this franchise is facing. And they touched on almost all of them from Rick Tuckett's future, which

we just covered to the quest to get a number one center to replace JT Miller, to what happens next with Alias Pedersen and some really damning commentary about his inability to properly prepare for a season and then add in the Hughes factor and, and that looming situation. I didn't even mention Satcher Demko, like there's a whole lot cooking. And we've known that for a while, but to hear them frame all of it

in exactly the way that they did, to me it was a chance for them to take down the temperature in the market to say like, hey, things might not go so well next season. And they've got a chance to pull a couple of rabbits out of their hat and maybe make some things happen this summer on the market, trade market. But short of that, to me, I read it as this is a team that doesn't really know what it's going to look like for next season.

What do you think they'll do with Elias Pettersson? I think listening to that press conference, if there was any thought of going into it saying, hey, this is our guy, we're going to work with him and we're going to fix this and we're not entertaining any trade talks and we're locking him in as our future number one center for the next seven years. I mean, that went out the window pretty quickly. And I think what it signaled is that they have an openness and a willingness to move on if they get the right deal.

And I think right deal is the perfect caveat because I don't know what the right deal in their mind looks like. Maybe it's just moving off of the contract and, and valuing the space and not the risk. There's a lot of different ways to view it. Do you think there are teams out there that would take on the contract and take on the risk of, uh, Elias Pedersen remaining the player that he has been for the last year and a half?

Or do you think there are some teams out there that would say, man, we've got the potential to get a hundred point player for not much? Yeah, I do think that there are some teams out there that are curious, for sure, that they see how incredibly difficult it is to find Difference Makers and see that at one point in time, although not recently, that this player was one and that the contract pays him appropriately for that level but hasn't gotten there in a while and maybe they think that they can unearth it or unlock it again

by getting them into a new setting, new environment and take whatever shackles are on Pederson in Vancouver off. You know someone sent me an article from the province and it was from last June and it was an interview Rick Tauke did with Mike Halford, who's sitting right next to me, but, but I wasn't on the, I was on vacation. And so Jamie Dodd was filling in. That's when he does his best work. For me.

Yeah, no, no, no, I know. It was a great time to be alive. And it's funny because it's quoted in the province and Tauke talking about Ilias Pedersen saying, this is a big summer for him. I'd like to see him top three, one of the best shape guys. And then obviously he showed up, not one of the best shape guys. Now, a lot of people will point out that Pedersen was dealing

with some knee tendonitis, but I asked Patrick Alveen about that knee tendonitis and his answer was to paraphrase him, a lot of guys in the NHL deal with little injuries, essentially. He did not seem to put much stock in it and he also seemed to suggest that Pedersen didn't really seek out any resources that would have helped him with that. So I just wonder, are they going to risk another September or October of being disappointed? The long and short answer is they might have to. Again, what does the right deal look like in their eyes? How much value are they trying to get or where do they perceive the value

to be? I don't have the answer to those questions, but they clearly like they did not sugarcoat at all. What they think of of Pedersen and where his game is at, at this moment in time, from a number of different standpoints, from, you know, how hard it's going to be to get that back to the, to the professionalism and training that's required. Like we're talking about really elementary surface level things like givens that should be for any NHL player, not, not just a, you know, superstar or, or at one point in time, budding superstar. Like these are non-negotiables and the fact that the, at least in the team's eyes, that those are not being met, that's hugely problematic. Okay, well let's move on to the New York Islanders and the decision they made to move on from

Lou Lamorello. Obviously Canucks fans who are wondering about this centre that the Canucks are going to be targeting in trades, which Alvina and Rutherford very strongly hinted at, wasn't even a hint, they just said we're going to be targeting a centre. What do you think the future holds for the Islanders and that includes Matt Barzell. It does and it's difficult to answer that question until we understand who the next general manager is gonna be.

And I think whatever that list looks like is gonna be fascinating because I spent a long time last evening canvassing the league. Who do you think is in the running? Who are the front runners? Who would be on your list? And it ranges anywhere from Yarmouk Heklinen and Mark Bergeran to some up and coming assistant GMs

to a veteran potential president of hockey ops and Ken Holland. Like it's all over the map. So I can't properly give you an answer on what that looks like until we know who's steering the ship. Like how, how, what's their vision for how the Islanders fix their issue. And you know, I know you mentioned Barzell and there's obviously the Vancouver connection, but if we're talking about, and I think for such a huge chunk of this league, again, going

back to the well of the, the name of the game is to find drivers and difference makers. The Islanders only have a couple and you're trying to get your hands on as many as possible. It's hard to envision a scenario in which they turn around and say, you know what, we're tearing it down to the studs and we're moving everyone, including Barzell and Dobson and Sorokin. Like, I just, I don't know that that's, doesn't seem like a likely path.

So I would say more or less scratch them off the board. Early days, but who are some of the candidates to replace Lamarello inllo with the Islanders? Yeah, so I just named a couple of them. Berger van, Yarmouk Hekalainen, Ken Holland as president of Hockey Ops. You've got a group of assistant general managers, including Evan Gold in Boston, I would think.

When it comes to Tampa and Matthew Darsh and the success that they've had, you'd probably have to look at Brandon Pridham in Toronto as an assistant GM, known as the cap guy, but might be one of those guys who gets a shot. It's wide-ranging and all over the map. Are they going with an up-and-comer, a young guy that doesn't have any true, you know, I've been in the chair experience. Are they going with the veteran that can then mentor a younger guy? It's look, I've put the Islanders in the category of only God and Lou know forever. And that's changing now, but they'll don't have a real clear view of that yet. Um, did you hear anything about the decision to move on from Lou Lamorello?

Because Alfred and I were joking earlier in the segment, we never really hear much out of the Islanders because of Lou Lamorello. Yeah, I think there's a ton of respect for the process too, in this case. there's a ton of respect for the process too in this case. I mean given his hall of fame resume and and the way that he's operated the organization with class that there wasn't much leaking out. I did see some reporting that this decision was made and he was informed before the end of the regular season so obviously if that was the case they did a real good job keeping it secret because the day after the regular season ended or maybe on the final day of the regular season, I had a list of 10 questions for the off season. And the first one of them was, does the

New York Islanders ownership have a pulse? And given where that team has been at, you know, But given where that team has been at, you know, swimming in mediocrity for the last handful of years, they like change, it was time for change. And the other thing I'll say, just to put a bow on the Lammer Ella part of the conversation, I've seen a lot of people saying, Oh, well, this is likely the end. Congratulations on an unbelievable career. We thought that that was the case when Ray Shero succeeded him in New Jersey 10 years ago. And then after he was leaving Toronto,

people were saying, oh, this is probably the end. What a career, unbelievable. And then he's got another handful of years at the helm on Long Island. So 82 sharp as ever. Like I would not, I would not say that his career is over just yet. It's funny cause we had a very similar conversation about NHL coaches the other day. I think it was with La Violette where we were like, ah, you know,

maybe hard to see him getting another job. And then two seconds later, we're like, well, I do want to ask about the list. Look at the list of teams. Like there's very few like really qualified, excellent veteran coaches that are available. Like it's not out of the realm of possibility that he jumps into another job. Yeah, that's why we quickly kind of like preempted ourselves there.

We're like, well, hold on a second. That's what I wanted to ask you next, because as it relates to, we've talked about Rick Tocket, we talked about job availability, but we should also mention that a big part of the equation is other coaches that are available. And it's an interesting mix. I know you recently spoke with Jay Woodcroft,

who's a guy I actually haven't thought about in a minute. And I suppose he's gotta be one of those guys. I don't know if he's at the top of a lot of lists, but I imagine he has to be on a lot of lists with the jobs that are available. Yeah, and I'd imagine that given what we were just talking about, how the list of well, first off, the list of. Bright up and coming guys isn't super long either. I think he's going to be in a really good spot to get one of these six or seven openings, um, 6 83 points

percentage through one full season, two different playoff runs with the oilers. Like pretty solid job, all things considered. And that poor start three, nine and one that leads to him getting fired. Like just the fact that that team rebounded and went to game seven of the Stanley cup final probably indicates that it wasn't necessarily on the coach that this team just had a poor start and probably would have gotten there either way. That said, when you look at some of these other openings like David Karl, I think, and Rick Cockett, in a lot of ways I think the reason why we haven't seen

teams attempt to or move a little bit more quickly is, I think everyone is real curious to see what happens with Tocket. I think the New York Rangers are one of those teams, and I mentioned them before, they're not jumping into anything until they understand, is Rick Tocket available or not? What are you hearing or what would you say

the percentage chances are that Chicago ends up with David Karl? I mean, he's their number one target. He's the guy that they've circled and underlined. That's who they're going after. And they don't really have a second, third, fourth choice. They're gonna regroup if they don't get Karl and then be in the

process and take their time. But percentage chance, I think it's hard to say because like they're, they're also competing with some other teams that are in the mix and, and Carl similarly is, is somewhat patient because he wants to have a full view of the chess board before he starts making moves. So is there another shoe to still drop? Has anyone marked the Buffalo Saver safe? I know that Kevin Adams said that Lindy Ruff is coming back and he's his coach but has anyone formally declared? I don't know if that's a do you

need to do that but is Kevin Adams definitely coming back? I think they should do that just for all of us who are wondering. And it was like, is he really coming back? Really? It's like Facebook. Like I've marked myself safe. Um, like just please, please do that. Uh, because it's, it's defies logic honestly, how poorly that team has worked, uh, the last few years. But nonetheless, honestly, how poorly that team has worked the last few years.

But nonetheless, is this it? Is what we have now, like are there no other changes coming? Is nothing happening in Nashville, for instance? Like it's all important questions to ask. Hey Frank, you've- And then by the way, the Islanders too. What happened to Patrick Wa with the next GM? Yeah, I wondered about that too.

Frank, you've hinted pretty strongly that there are some other teams that, that would be interested in Rick Tocket if, um, if he became available. Is it, is there one team in particular that, that you're thinking about? Yeah. I mean, to me, the team that would stand out the most is the Rangers. I think they're a team that having achieved the president's trophy a season ago and gone to two conference finals in a three-year span that there are obviously really attractive pieces there and beyond that there it's

Broadway. It's an original six team, big money. I think they check so many boxes outside of the volatility of the position. Like Gerard Galan and Peter Lavillette didn't last very long. And that said, I just think the Rangers have some real upside. People look at their contracts and say, well, what are they going to do with Kreider and Zabaniad? And then you hear from Kreider after the season and all the different things that he went to from a broken wrist to a vertigo and everything else in between. You're like, man, like sometimes you never really have a full

grasp of what these guys are dealing with, but Fox and Shisterkin and like they've got a lot of intriguing pieces that I would think a really strong coach and some solid moves by the general manager this summer puts them right back in the playoffs and and competing with everyone else. Frank, this was great man as always thanks for taking the time to do this we really appreciate it enjoy all the games tonight and the rest of the games this week. We'll do this again next week. Thanks. See you guys. Yeah. See you later. That's Frank Saravalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Halford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. Before we go to break, we need to do the One to Watch brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire. The One to Watch tonight, maybe Evander Cain of the Edmonton Oilers. It's been reported that Kane could make his season debut in this first round series against Los Angeles Kings. Edmonton coach Chris Knobloch said yesterday that it is a potential fortnight. Now a lot of people

were wondering, well if he's good to go why didn't he play in game one of the series? Why didn't he do that? We've got some audio here from Elliott Friedman explaining what might have happened as to why Evander Kane didn't play in game one of their series against Los Angeles Kings. Here's Freage now. I've heard the NHL really scrutinized a number of teams about their LTIR use late in the regular season and they wanted detailed explanations

of why some players couldn't play game 82 and then could be ready for game one of the playoffs. I think Kane was one of those players I don't think he was the only one Around the NHL, but I think he was one of the players scrutinized and I think it's possible That's why he's not playing game one So I wouldn't be surprised if we see him game two so if Andrew Kane is your one to watch What a pantomime the solid I know and it made no sense sense because Matthew Kishack played game one yesterday and scored two goals

and he made a big difference. Anyway, it's time 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 and Aldergrove. OK Tire, service, repair, and tires. We're gonna go to break when we come back, we got an open segment. We're going to dive into the Dunbar lumber

text message in basket. Anything you want to talk about, we'll do it next on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Strance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to two on Sportsnet 650 or

catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. They're facing that pressure. Sheffield from the point. That one here, Kamatzebo and Bofiglier scores on the rebound. Here's Pekka McGorrie, scores! Clemen quick shot, deflect, score! Adam Goddett! Swung around, Piala the dot, back to McGorrie!

Tap in, Andre Kuzmenko, what an amazing case! Pucks play and a goal! Bad and end by Nate Schmidt, the defenseman. 732 on a Wednesday. Prior to coming back from break here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Greg, best known as Laddy, just said, there's a theme coming up. See if you can guess what that theme is

Greg well played. Thank you. Did you get it? You get all of them? There was a second Nate Schmidt that I didn't put in there, but you have really sad music playing right now Yeah, well, it's a lot of chat field. Yeah, you got that one Oliver Ackman Larson Andre Kuzmienko Adam got at Nate Schmidt. And Anthony Bovillier. Anthony Bovillier, so six.

The sweet six, they call them. The six former Canucks that have all scored goals in this year's playoffs. Well, it's nice that the Canucks are still a factor in these playoffs. I love it. Gives you something to cheer about, you know? It's awesome.

All the former coaches. You know how little I've been paying attention to some of the NHL teams this year? I had, I totally forgot that Jason King was the assistant coach in Minnesota. I never thought of it. There you go. See? You got, you got, you mean the Ottos get the big contingent, greener, Yozy.

And then I was thinking, I'm like, Oh, all these former Canucks kicking around. And then I was watching the wild Vegas game and I was like, no, that Jason King? Sure enough, it was. Drawing up stuff on the whiteboard. Speaking of coaches, what did you think of Frank's information that, uh, Tocket is under contract until June 30th, because the Canucks came out and said like, well, we're not going to hold talk

it to the option. And everyone was like, you know, that's reasonable, that's reasonable. And they kind of explained to others like, you know, we don't want to, we don't want to coach that or anyone for that matter that, you know, doesn't, isn't a hundred percent invested. And we were like, you know what, that's reasonable.

That's what we were saying when this whole option came out. Sure. It would be hilarious if they were like, but we're going to hold him to the current contract that he's on. I kind of look at it like if someone's under your employ and you're paying them, like I said, get them odd jobs around Rogers Arena. He can be part of the seat replacement crew. But it would be purely spiteful.

But also. If he says, okay, no, no, no. You can learn some new jobs around the, you know, work in different departments. I get the bit. Okay. But when, let's say that Tocket went to them today, cause they're going to make a decision by the

end of the week. So they said, and he said, you know what guys, I thought about it. I think your offer is really generous, but my heart's not in it anymore. I just like this, this season was really exhausting. There were too many meetings and I'd like to, I'd like to pursue other opportunities. And they said, "'Okay, well, we're not going to hold you to the option, but Rick, just so you know,

you're under contract until June 30th. So all those other jobs that are available and are going to be interviewing and hoping to find a replacement, you're not going to be allowed to interview. What would you think of the organization if it came out that that?' Like like is that, and I'm honestly. It's very petty.

Is it, is it. It's very petty. Or are there some people that would be like, yeah, good, screw them. But those people would also be petty. It's petty. It is. It's bad business practice.

Well, and also how many times have we heard, there's a great relationship between Taukead, Alveen and Rutherford. They go all the way back to Pittsburgh. That's the type of thing that would hurt a relationship. Now, none of this has happened, but we got to talk about this anyway, because as Frank said,

it wouldn't be the first time that a team uses this as leverage in negotiations because they want talk it to stay. My concern, and again, this hasn't happened, but my concern would be, do you really want to strong arm someone? Neg, negotiations are fine, right? Yeah. You know, like we'll give you this. Well, can I get a little more like, yeah. But, but when you get to the point of, of saying

like, well, you know what, just so you know, you're under contract until June 30th. So it's this job or you're probably not getting a head coaching job in the NHL next season. Does that make you want the job? One person's strong arming is another person's hard line negotiations. I mean, I still wonder.

There is a bit of semantics in here. You have to acknowledge, you have to admit, right? Because it just depends on where your level is at in terms of how much animosity and how much acrimony can go into a negotiation. It's not like arbitration back in the day, right? The player, you love the player until you gotta go into the arbitration

and bad mouth them to make sure you can pay them less money. Right? It can get ugly at times. And in this particular instance, some people might say, well, it's a bad business practice to do this like potentially strong-arming and other people say it's a bad business practice not to have them as your head coach right you do what you can to get the deal done and

I go back and forth on it. If you got strong-armed into staying at a place that you weren't a hundred percent sure about how do you think you do with that job? I'd actually like to ask, not you, but I'd like to ask Elias Pedersen that question. Yeah, sure. I still wonder about- He got boxed in.

He got boxed in. Yeah, if that had any effect on things. He got boxed in a little bit. I mean- How many times did he say, how many times did he say, well, I want to wait till the off season. Dr. J from North Burnaby,

as soon as you said that, literally texted in the exact same moment, didn't the Canucks strong arm Elias Pedersen? Well, that's what, I mean, what the hell do you think I'm getting at here? Oh, I know, but- It's a way of doing business, right? And I remember at the time, I was doing

our jobs, we were in this place where, you know, Petey kept saying, like, I want to talk about this in the off season. I want to wait until the off season. And then we were reporting and accurately reporting, well, the Canucks want to talk to him now. And people were saying, well, why do you guys keep talking about this?

PD has said he wants to wait onto the off season. And I said, well, the reason we're talking about it is because the Canucks really, really, really want to talk about it now. And that was the case. And eventually the way the story was told is that they said, okay, well, we need to figure this out now, we don't want to wait onto the off season. We have plans to make and oh, by the way the story was told is that they said, okay, well, we need to figure this out now.

We don't want to wait until the off season. We have plans to make and oh, by the way, we don't want you to pull a Matthew Kachak and bail out of here because you perfectly have the potential to do that. Yeah. So here's the situation. You're either going to sign this massive contract

right now or we're going to trade you to Carolina. Yeah. And I'm sure Pedersen and probably his agents were like, hey, the money's on the table right now. You're not, you know, playing all that well. Do you want to go to Carolina? Because there's no guarantee that you're

going to get that deal here. So why don't you just sign this contract and we'll figure it out later. So he signed the contract and then he went up there and he said, I've always wanted to be in Vancouver. And half of us said, are you sure? Right.

Are you sure? And we've wondered ever since. We've wondered ever since. We've wondered ever since. But did, now at the time, and even in the aftermath, you still understood why the Canucks did what they did and took the approach. They needed answers. They couldn't, it was too big of a risk. I understand what they did.

It didn't turn out well. But I do wonder if there are consequences from that. Yeah, there are. We're seeing them right now. Well, no, no, no. But we don't know if that was the cause of the consequences. But I always did feel it was curious and some people will be yelling right now, it was tendonitis. It was tendonitis. And maybe that's a factor. I'm not saying that wasn't a factor, but I always felt that it was tendonitis. And maybe that's a factor. I'm not saying that wasn't a factor, but I always felt that it was curious that PD's game started to trend downwards

when they started putting pressure on him to sign. And I will always wonder, okay, why did you want to wait until the off season? Was it that you were trying to escape? Yeah, probably. Or just explore. We've had reports that, you know, Petey has said, like, no, he wants to stay in Vancouver. He wants to stay in Vancouver. And he said, like, I want to be in Vancouver.

You know, but it's like Bidard in Chicago, right? When you, when you never smile and you never seem that happy, people are going to naturally wonder, are you really happy here? Cause you don't seem happy. You don't seem super enthusiastic. So you bring it back to Tocket. Yeah. And Tocket starts, starts, you know, and Tocket,

you know, he says like, I needed so much energy this season and the coaching staff emptied the tank. Well, you're going to ask him to come back and do that again. And all I'm saying is that I don't think using any sort of strong arm tactics is the right move, which is why we push back so hard on this, like, oh, they're threatening to use the option.

That's how you want to bring back a coach, a guy who has to put his heart and soul into trying to figure out this team, which is not an easy team to figure out. I want players and coaches that want to be here, that want to put in the work, not have to be here, that want to put in the work, not have to be here and are like, okay, well, they're paying me so I guess I better put in the work.

We've all worked jobs where we're just working it for the money, right? Right now. No, I don't feel that way about this job. I think that the Rangers, I mean, you also have to, the few things like we're putting the cart ahead of the horse here, like a few things need to have one, we need some sort of confirmation that the Rangers are waiting and actively want to give this job to Rick Taka. Two, that Taka would be interested in taking the

Rangers job and three, that they're're not gonna have a deal done in Vancouver by the end of the week. So all those things still very much play into this. The angle that you're talking about with strong arming, given the historical context, totally valid. Totally valid conversation to have. But there's a lot of other components to the conversation as well, right?

And that's a big part of this. Like what? The three things I just said. Are the Rangers indeed interested in Tauket? Are they gonna offer him the job? Would he be interested in taking the job? Because we ran through the list at the beginning of the show

of the most desirable jobs to the least desirable jobs. And I suppose in retrospect, one of the things we should have done is where does the Vancouver job rank in the list of available jobs? Because technically that is an available job for Rick Tuckett. He either takes it, the offer that he has on the table or he goes elsewhere.

Okay. Edmonton. So Edmonton is going to play tonight. It is game two of their series against the Los Angeles Kings in LA. Absolutely wild and electric game in game one in case you missed it. The Oilers spotted the LA Kings a four nothing nothing lead, then made it four, two, then fell behind five, two, then scored three goals, including two with the goalie pulled to push it to five, five,

and seemingly overtime until Stuart Skinner happened with less than 45 seconds remaining on a Phillip DeNoe knuckle puck. So there was a lot to unpack from game one moving into game two. One the big stories, of course whether or not a Vander Kane will play but the other stories plural We talked about this with Rzyszczynski earlier How much scrutiny? Stuart Skinner and Evan Bouchard are facing currently because after a regular season which neither played especially well Neither played especially well in game one either. And Stuart Skinner probably, well, actually that's not true because Evan Bouchard had a horrible turnover

for a goal as well, but it was not a good performance from either guy in game one. And now they're going into game two under the microscope. I actually think for me, the most interesting guy is Bouchard. Yeah. Because if Stuart Skinner doesn't perform in this playoffs, it's just obvious they're going to move on from them.

Or they're at least going to go and bring in a new guy because they're not going to just sit there and just go like, well, I guess it's Kelvin Pickard's job now. Do you know what the total cap space that the Oilers are spending on their goalies is right now? So it was any Pickard and Skinner? Geez, I don't know. 3.6 million. Is that it? That's it. Skinner's cap hit is 2.6 and Pickard's is 1. I didn't know Skinner's. And right now they're getting what they're paying for. The more interesting player for me is The more interesting player for me is Evan Bouchard because he has put up a ton of points and we all know that this guy has some really good attributes, but he also has some deficiencies.

And I want to read something that Speck wrote, Mark Spector, and listen, I don't agree with everything that Speck says, but I thought this was pretty fun to put it this way. He said, Bouchard could undoubtedly play for the Oilers longterm as a core player, but can you win with a $10 million defenseman who defends at Bouchard's level? Can you win with the second coming of Eric

Carlson when nobody else has? Ooh. Is that more insulting to Bouchard or Carlson? Well, Carlson probably, but maybe potentially Bouchard. So. Yeah, no, it's Carlson. So.

Yeah, yeah. Carlson's one of Norris. Yeah. So, so Bouchard is a pending RFA. Now he's going to have some leverage in this contract negotiations because he's going to look at his point totals and be like, Hey, look at this guy, he's pretty good player, right?

But if I'm the Oilers, I'd be extremely wary of committing that much money to Bouchard. Not because I don't think he's a good player, but I don't think you can just be like, all right, what does a point of game defensemen make in the NHL? All right, well, give them that contract. Clearly there's point inflation going on because he gets to play with McDavid and Drysiddle. Clearly, there's point inflation going on because he gets to play with McDavid and Dreisle. He's a good offensive defenseman. Of course he is, he's very good.

He's a very good offensive defenseman. But how good is he? And I wonder if a good comp would be Tyson Berry. Because Tyson Berry actually put up quite a few points later in his career with the Edmonton Oilers But I remember him more for his time with the Colorado Avalanche where he got to play with some pretty good players And he put up a lot of points But I'm not sure that Tyson Berry was ever a true number one defenseman

No, and I and I don't know if Bouchard's a true number one defenseman. He gets to play with such good players He was he was really good last year. When they went to, when they made that run, he was a point game guy in the regular season and he was a point game guy in the playoffs and he was really good and he didn't have as many, although there were still some, as many glaring defensive deficiencies.

This year, I mean, there's been a few indictments to his game. One of them was being completely off the radar for Team Canada at the Four Nations faceoff when after last season, I think a lot of people were saying he would be firmly in the mix. When it came time to pick in the team, he wasn't even the emergency replacement. It was Thomas Harley. It wasn't Evan Bouchard, which kind of gives you an idea of how far off the radar he was. What's hilarious about this $10 million figure that they're throwing out

is that the Edmund O'Reillers could exist in a world where about this $10 million figure that they're throwing out is that the Edmund and the Oilers could exist in a world where they have $20 million committed to Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard. Which is an insane thing to say because you're already looking at the nurse contract as one of the most egregious ones in the league. And then it's like, there's Evan Bouchard ready to sign one

that could be equally as fraught with risk. So we got a text in to the Dunbar Lumber text line from Loud Titans fan. I think that's might be what we call him. He is a Loud Titans fan. Yeah. And he says, the Oilers have no choice but to pay him. It's not like they have a pipeline of D coming. Holloway and Broberg walk away was a mistake.

That was just so massive. Yup. Um, they are in a really tough position because I don't know if I'd want to give Bouchard a contract that reflects him as a point per game defenseman, because if you put him on a team that doesn't have McDavid and Dreissel, how many points does he have? He's probably not, he's probably not a point a game guy. He's probably 50 to 60, not 80.

I mean, how many, see last year was, here's the thing. This year he had 67, which is like a normal total. A little bit more normal, still maybe a little bit more inflated. When he went 82 and 81 last year, I was like, I'm not sure he's that guy. So there's the Oilers king game, uh, game one.

Yeah. There's only been one game. The Oilers were down four, nothing in there was a play on their first goal that dry sidle made where he popped out, you got his feet moving. Yeah. Rick Tocca will like that. Got his feet moving and just popped into space in the slot and Conor McDavid started skating

downhill but you could tell they were on the same page. And McDavid just gets a right across from a dry sidle for the one timer. And I was thinking, imagine if Quinn Hughes had a player like dry sidle to feed the puck to. Yeah. Like, no, no, no, but seriously, you need to set up man and a trigger man. Right. It'd be great. It'd be incredible.

Like dry sidles, the way he popped out into the slot. Like I encourage everyone to go watch that goal. It's the 4-1 goal. So it's 4-0 nothing and they made it 4-1. And it was like, you know, but it was just such a beautiful play, not only for McDavid who gets his speed going and he's incredible when he's skating downhill. So everyone's like, oh my God, it's McDavid. And then Dry Cytle goes, okay, McDavid's got the puck. Now I'm going to take advantage and the guy who was checking Dry Cytle was like, well, where'd he go?

And then all of a sudden he's wide open in the slot. It happened so quickly. It happened so quickly. But think about it. How many times has Quinn Hughes done his little dancing at the top of the offensive zone, walked the blue line, danced along the blue line and started driving downhill, gets around his contain, if you want to use a football analogy. And then you're kind of like, well, he's out of options. I guess he's going to shoot, right? Wouldn't it be awesome if there was someone there

to get his little feet moving and find some open space and then Quinn Hughes is able to feed him for the one-timer? Yep, I'm with you on this. I think maybe, and I don't know if it was naively, that the Canucks thought that De Bruyce was going to be that guy. Because he does have good hands around the net, he's got a good net front. He's not dry-souted. Let's just make this abundantly clear. No one's dry-souted. No one is. That's the near perfect compliment for a McDavid is a dry-souted.

I do think it would be nice if they had a... God, we're going to go back to Pedersen here. But if they had a left-shot guy that could pull off the one-timer, right? And there was communication there. That would be a play. How many times has Dry Cytl hit a one-timer off a pass from McDavid from basically the goal line? I've never seen a guy with an office at the goal line at a sharp angle. It's a weird place to have your office.

It must be cheap rent because no one is looking to have that, that office space. Now in that game, there was another way to get open and that was when Corey Perry blatantly cross-check Joel Edmondson in front of the net to clear some space for himself to make it four three. You need some big boys too.

Honestly. You need some nastiness. Yep. I think the Canucks need a lot more nastiness in their top six. You don't just have nastiness in your bottom six, but I also realize how difficult it is to find those guys. But that's why I look at this Canucks off season and I'm like, man, they want to get a top six center plus two more forwards for the top six Yeah shopping list and it's kind of like, you know, like you talk about bringing in Barzal

I'm like, yeah, I like Barzal as a player, but you better surround him some big boys That was like kind of part of the whole The equation isn't one part I think that's the thing it thing. It's a long shopping list of expensive groceries in a market where everyone's shopping for the same stuff, if that analogy makes sense. Jacob from Langley Text in, do you know who describes that player the most? JT Miller. Hey Fitz. Yeah man. Hey Fitz.

It's a big deal. Didn't you hear them at locker cleanup today? Everyone was lamenting that he was gone. He's like, hey, he fit in a lot of different ways. I honestly half expected Rutherford and Alvion tovin to be like God we shouldn't have traded that guy What do you think the connects could get for JT Miller in a trade Shut up, hey dog. Shut up. Hey, baby. Okay We're up against super time. We gotta go to break one for one. We got a lot more to get to On sports net 650 Randy Jan is going to join us.

He decided to stay. Interesting. Oh, that's weird. Can you trade coaches? Randy Jan is going to join us on the other side. It'll be his final hit of the year, at least until something huge breaks in Canucks land. So we'll talk to him about everything that we've been talking about. Rick Tocke and Elias Pedersen, Canucks offseason, Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alveen, end of year

media availabilities. It's all coming up next on the Halford & Breff show on Sportsnet 650.