Halford & Brough in the Morning - Frank Seravalli On Potential Canucks Trades Leading Up To Friday

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest Canucks trade rumours with Daily Faceoff NHL insider Frank Seravalli (2:09) ahead of Friday's deadline, plus they speak with Sirius XM's Jonathan Davis (26:44) about the Anaheim Ducks, who get set to play Vancouver this evening. 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! Cerebelli, cerebelli, cerebelli. Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Cerebelli, Frank! Daily face-off, Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Daily face-off! Frank! 702 on a Wednesday! Happy Wednesday everybody!

Frank! You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off is gonna join us

in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk 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 at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working

together with you in step. So in case you missed it yesterday, last night actually, Pugh Souter became the main character for the Vancouver Canucks. Very quickly there was a report from the province earlier in the day on the heels of a Rick Dollywall report also earlier in the day, suggesting that Souter was a potential trade target, number of teams calling the Canucks. And it also sounded as though

that the Canucks were not close on offering a contract extension or landing a contract extension with the pending UFA. Last night, friend of the program, Adam Kiersenblatt, had it out on social media that he was hearing that a potential trade Was down between the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars now that never came to fruition Farhand Lulgee tweeted out after the Dallas Stars game that no trade is imminent and

Suders expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Canucks take on the Ducks all that said Suders name very much out there. So too is Brock Besser So let's bring in our next guest, Frank Cerfali from Daily Face Off here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Frank, how are you? Doing pretty well, how you doing, guys? We're good, thanks for taking the time to do this.

So two guys right now that a lot of Vancouver Canucks fans have their eyes on as we get closer to Friday's trade deadline. Let's start with Pugh Souter instead of Brock Besser because this is sort of a newer one for Vancouver Canucks fans. What do you know on Souter's future, either in Vancouver or elsewhere?

I would say the best way to explain what's happening with the Vancouver Canucks right now is it's very quiet on the trade front. Okay. I don't think they've had much happening in the last few days. And beyond that, I don't think as I've talked to other managers around the league, I don't know that a lot of people have stuff going at this exact moment in time. So it's kind

of been fascinating to watch this develop as it sort of feels like a few teams are waiting until Friday to see if prices can come down. And what all that means in relation to better and or suitor extension talks, I think remains to be seen. I'd imagine that at some point today, if not yesterday or tomorrow, that they're making their sort of best and final, Here's where we view the situation and this is what we'd like to do. And if not, then accept whatever fate comes your way. Okay.

A couple of questions. Is there something holding up the trades? Is it the prices are high or is there one big domino that needs to fall, maybe Rantanen in Carolina? Like there needs to be a decision there before teams consider other players? What do you think's going on? I've been asked this question a lot.

I can't, I don't foresee Rantanen as a domino because I think there's a lot of teams that would be interested of course but he may not ever make it to market. Like I don't think anyone sitting here going well I can't go out and not do anything and wait. Like you know what I mean there's not any indication that he's readily available yet. Right okay. until that happens, I don't know why teams would be holding up their plans, waiting to see. Um, that said, I do think that maybe what would produce it, not necessarily a domino effect, but a run on moves might be the first center that goes, if it's Nelson or if it's Lawton or pick another Johnny Gord, pick another guy, that there's so many teams

looking for centres that if one does fall, then the next team might say, well, I can't be left with nothing here and holding the bag, so I better just step up and pay the price. Well, that was the thing that I wondered about when I heard Pugh's suitor's name in the news and possibly being moved out of Vancouver. He's a pretty important center for them right now.

You know, they got Pedersen who's struggling down the middle, Phillip Heidel, who has been pretty good since coming over to the Rangers. But then Souter's their 3C and Teddy Blugger's their 4C. There's no one else really that screams obvious center in the Vancouver system. I agree.

And I hate to pun, but he's also a bit of a Swiss army knife. Yeah. I mean, he does, he has utility, like you can use them in different spots. He's almost insanely consistent in his production throughout his entire career. There aren't many chunks or segments of the schedule that he is absent or doesn't show up for

and he competes. So I think for a lot of the reasons we're mentioning, he's one of those guys that you know obviously the Canucks will they will they survive if they don't have Pew suitor? Of course course but he's one of those guys that I think makes a lot of sense to keep and not necessarily as a pure rental for in trying to ensure a playoff spot but I would say even for a little while longer after that. So Brock Besser is it is it trending towards him staying with the Canucks and possibly being unsigned? I see it that as a possibility.

Now people have said that is ridiculous, reckless, you know, pick the term you want in terms of how the Canucks would manage that. I think they're hopeful that they have the ability to convince him later on down the line based on the loyalty factor to stay if they go beyond Friday at 12 noon Pacific time. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I just, I would just think that, that would put a lot of the, the, the, the at 12 noon Pacific time. Yeah, I mean, I would just think that that would put a lot of the leverage into Brock Besser's camp,

just because they- They already have the leverage. And explain that in one way. I think they've got full and complete leverage here. Brock Besser has been a consistent goal scorer. The cap's going up. He's a relatively young-ish UFA and he does the hardest thing in the league to do, which is score. So he's looking for a bit more term than the Canucks have been willing to offer and I think two parts of this are true. One, he's confident that he'll get that on the market and be well suited. And two, the longer this has gone on, the

longer the Canucks have sort of questioned or at least I'm going to say, you know, and don't underline this because it's not meant to be said in capital letters, but they've almost dared. That's what the season was a dare. Hey, you put up 40 last year. Let's see what you can do this year. And I think everyone reacts to that differently, but the longer this has gone on, it's also provided time for him to open his eyes to the dysfunction that surrounded him. And you'd be blind to not see it before,

but you'd also be shocked at how many players, especially ones that have been there for a long time, can have blinders on. And that both of those things may be operating on the idea that you can be well paid elsewhere and the dysfunction that's existed in Vancouver, that those two things could be operating on simultaneous tracks. And it's created an environment where I think there's, there's not, there's probably not a ton of stress this week for him. And not to downplay it or underplay his connection to

Vancouver, but he's happy to stay. He's also like, I believe just reading the tea leaves, fine if he's moved or if he moves on this summer. We're speaking to Frank Sarvali from Daily Face Off here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. On the subject of leverage as it pertains to Vancouver, the Vancouver Canucks and some of their players, I want to shift the conversation to Elias Pedersen. If the Canucks are going to entertain moving him at some point or really just trying to

dictate what the future has in store, how critical is it that the Canucks don't allow Pedersen to have any more leverage over this situation than he might already have? I think it's incredibly critical. And I'll give you a real world, recent example. Last weekend, Jeff Jones has the full no trade. He voices publicly for a week prior to the move how unhappy he is, wants to play for a contender and then adds in criticism of the team, turning the volume up to a 14 to the point where they feel like they need to do something for the betterment of the rest of the team.

With that, he gave them two teams to which you would accept the trade. The Dallas Stars, who immediately said, look, we've got so many young players to sign, there's no way we can do it, we're not interested. That left the Florida Panthers, who somehow the Hawks were able to keep it quiet that Florida was the only team left standing and had that information gotten out the Panthers would have had complete and total leverage to reduce the return. Sure. The last thing you want to do if you're the Vancouver Canucks which assuming that we get to this point, will have had nearly 18 months of demonstrated poor play

from Elias Pettersson to then hand him on the other end of it, complete and total control over where he ends up and when. Was that Chicago? I want to ask a follow up question with the Pettersons stuff, but did Chicago just get kind of dumb lucky or was it savvy from Kyle Davidson keeping the cards tight to the vest

or did they just, they catch a break that Florida didn't find out about this? It's probably a bit of both. They also had Florida having a clear need for him. Yeah. So there's a connection between Seth Jones and Bill Zito. He played for him in Columbus. And for a team that was capped out

and had little resources and assets to spend, they also had a goalie and were dealing with a team that didn't have that positional box checked in their rebuild that it almost kind of just lined up perfectly. So some of it was dumb luck, some of it was savvy. Now some of the leverage that the Vancouver Canucks might've had has probably been damaged

by the fact that Pedersen hasn't played very well for a long time now. That hurts leverage. How much is his trade value already plummeted? It's in the toilet. Like there's no way to confuse this situation. I believe with the term and dollars remaining on his deal, it's such an incredible risk that if we're not there now, the longer it goes on, we're approaching a point where it's going to be just take them off our hands and

there's no value left. And that's, that was part of the risk of while all this was happening with Miller and they were trying to decide what to do and who goes and how do we, you know, how does this shape up the longer the season went on, the more his play was consistently poor. And I think the, it wasn't, it's not the nail in the coffin because there's still plenty of time to rebound, but we were all looking for these different points where his game might just rebound.

And it was, well Miller's gone. And then it was, oh, for four nations playing with his countrymen, that'll do it. He'll get confidence there. And we've yet to see it for any sustained period of time that I think it's all compounded. So, you know, I'd be very surprised, of course, if something were to materialize between now and Friday. I think when you look at the market as a whole in the summer, you never know how someone views it but I've said this before and I believe this quote that I got from a GM to be completely true that there is not one team in the NHL that today could acquire

Elias Pedersen and feel 100% good about it. Even the biggest Pedersen believer has to feel some sort of pit in their stomach of what happens if he doesn't get back to the level that we've all seen him play at. What have you heard from the Canucks about this situation? Like why do they think, I guess that's just the question, why, why do they think this has happened? I can't answer that. I don't have any theories.

I think they've been bewildered by this as well. any theories. Um, I think they've been bewildered by this as well. Um, I think so much of it is, is right between his ears. I've, I've talked about the idea of, and mentioned in passing, it's almost like watching a golfer with the yips. a golfer with the yips. Like the talent is obviously there. The ability, all those things. Do I think that he wants to play poorly? Not at all. Do I think he wants to, you know, put together a strong game that he's proud of that he can feel really good about? Yeah, of course. And none of this has ever been, you know, I've, I've seen and heard so many of the comments, like, oh, like Frank's just a PD hater or what? Like I just call, I say it and share it exactly how I see it. And more importantly, how I'm told what other people think around the league.

And it's been really hard to watch. Like, I think everyone's like, this is, this was a guy that was truly one of the best players in the league that has upside that even when he was at the 40 goal mark and a hundred point season, people were like, there's still more to, there's another level to get to. Like he's still just scratching the surface, which makes this part of it, a million dollar goal pace, that much harder to stomach. What are you hearing about the future of Rick Tauket? Well, that to me is the biggest storyline that

hasn't been talked about enough, which is he still doesn't mean, yeah, of course there's the option, but still doesn't really have a deal for next season and beyond and I don't I have no idea but I'm I can't imagine there's been a ton of talk to this point and he's such a driving force in all of this in terms of where the Canucks go next that I can't imagine watching all of this play out and swirl around him That it's been a

Fun or comfortable year to coach So he's one of those guys. I think is always up for a challenge But if peterson's gone Miller's gone, let's see what happens with Besser, you know, you're facing potentially a year next year where you're like, you're starting back at square one and as exciting as the Karamaki looks, and obviously, you know, the Quinn Hughes show on a nightly basis is hugely impressive, especially given the injuries. I just, where do you go from here?

Is this, if you had to pick, or if you had your pick of the litter, which I guess they're getting closer to walking him towards, would this be the place that you'd wanna do it? Would Boston be a more appealing, I'm just throwing that out there because they've got a coach on an interim tag, would that be a more appealing option right now?

Probably, I don't see Boston in any different position, probably not, but. Because I was trying to look at teams that, I'd like to go to another team with no centers. Right, that's the thing, it's like if you were going to leave, the idea would be, well you'd go somewhere where the grass is greener,

but it would have to be someone that has either got a vacancy or willing to create one, I suppose. And I was looking around and Boston seemed like one, but then you look at it and I'm not sure the Bruins are in any better shape than Connex, as a matter of fact, after last night, I wonder if the Bruins are ready

to wave the white flag on this season. And I think they're right there. Then there's so, how many other options are there? But then there's the question of would a team be willing to create an opportunity if he hits the market? Which I think is a fair question to ask. Like the Blues or the Montgomery. Chicago has an interim, are you intrigued by that?

But like, at the same point you're starting with more building blocks and van. I don't know. It's a real existential question, I think, facing the Canucks. I wanna turn our attention to Edmonton for a moment here. Last week, we talked about the Evander Cane situation. Any new developments or news on this front?

Because as Jason has pointed out and then asked almost all of our guests in the last week, this feels like a really weird, really big story that not enough people are talking about. Sorry, well I missed the first part. What was that? Vander Cane in Edmonton. Well, I mean it's all they're talking about in Edmonton,

to be honest. It's the question of the last few weeks. But it's put it's the question of the last few weeks, but it's, um, it's put them in a pickle. It really has. And I think an uncomfortable position to be in, to make a decision. If we go out and spend this money, knowing that the recourse of it is very painful if a Vander Cain decides on March 27th that he's good to go and can play and gets a second opinion from a doctor that he's cleared

They can't stop it. That's that's the way the CBA is drawn up now. Everyone has said wink wink Why wouldn't Cain just play ball and it's like well Look at his track record of fitting in within the system and every other team that he's been on. It's, it's not, it doesn't, it hasn't happened. So when, when you go through Winnipeg and Buffalo and San Jose and that's how things end up, like I would have a hard time placing a, well, poor pun, but placing a bet on that. And moving forward, if that means you can't spend, you've really put your team in a spot where you're leaving stuff on the table, right?

Where you feel like there are other ways to improve your team that you just couldn't get to. Some quick hitters here before we let you go. Last after the Islanders game a big win over the Jets Brock Nelson had a very emotional walk-off exit interview with Shannon Hogan had made the rounds on social media Was that because he feels like he's played his last game as a New York Islander. I Think it's definitely been on his mind. They've had some contract extension talks. I'd call them surface level is my understanding. And I do think at the end of the day, the Islanders are very

reticent to let him go. He's been a career long Islander, but it's time. Uh, turns 34. This team is, is going nowhere. They need as many assets as possible. And I've said this many times, but not trading Brock Nelson between now and Friday at 12 noon is it's malfeasance. It's negligence.

It's you can't do it. So Nelson, Paul Mary, if you want to dip into, you know, a guy that has term, a Scott Mayfield or a JG Pazzo, whoever it might be. But the Islanders should be exploring every option possible to try and make that team better for the longer haul because they've demonstrated year after year since their Eastern Conference final runs that they just don't have it. Buffalo had a really bad loss to add to a collection of really bad losses last night 6-2 at home to the San Jose Sharks. Which Sabre is most likely to be on the move by Friday? Well I think just on a

statistical basis you'd say like a Jason Zucker as a pending USA, but outside of that, I believe the truth to be that the Sabres are rather unlikely to pull the trigger on Byram or Cousins or JJ Piterka or pick another guy on their roster. Tuck. These guys have been out there, teams have been calling on them since late October, early November. And they haven't had anything come across their plate, I believe that they've even spent a lot of time

thinking about. And that said, to do it now with these guys where there's no rush to move them versus dealing with guys or teams that might be in a totally different posture in the summer. I would argue it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Finally, the Devils, before we let you go, obviously the injury to Jack Hughes might have fundamentally altered things going into Friday. How active do you see them being, or is it even going to matter if Hughes is out of the lineup long term? if Hughes is out of the lineup long term?

I tend to believe that with the other moves that were made in the East, that it would be best for the Devils to keep their powder dry. That said, unless you can get a player that's younger, that fits their age scheme of their build, that has team control or term, they're gonna be active because they want to make noise and they're a playoff team even as

tenuous as that has become. There's just four points up on the Jackets and six points up on the Rangers and the Rangers have two games in hand, both those teams have two games in hand. It's suddenly become that their playoff spot is in peril. And with Hughes out long term, probably adds another layer of question to it for a team that has played really poorly kind of since Christmas. Yeah. Um, that maybe it makes sense for them to not be big game hunting in the rental space, but we'll see what Tom Fitzgerald has up his sleeve. Frank, this was great, man. As always, thanks for taking the time to do it.

We really appreciate it. Enjoy the next 48 hours. It should be pretty exciting going into Friday's deadline. Thanks guys, see ya. Yep, thank you. That's Frank Cervalli on Sportsnet 650, a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor, your hockey headquarters for your favorite game day,

beer, wine, and whiskey. More at angryotterlicker.crs. We gotta go to break. When we come back, Jonathan Davis from Sirius XM, NHL Satellite Radio is gonna join us. We will preview tonight's game from the Anaheim side of things. It's the Canucks, it's the Ducks, 730 puck drop

from Rogers Arena. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Avander Cain and Edmonton. It's the question of the last few weeks. It's put them in a pickle. It really has. Yes, that's a real pickle.

Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. 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. 7.33 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing service or parts. We are in hour two of the

program. Jonathan Davis from SiriusXM NHL, right now is gonna join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Just kidding, let him do exactly that. Visit him at jason.mortgage. Tonight, it is the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Ducks 730. Note the start time. 730 puck drop from Rogers Arena. Joining us now to break things down from the Ducks side of things, as mentioned, Jonathan Davis from Sirius XM NHL Satellite Radio here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning JD, how are you? I'm doing great. Where's my jingle? We're working on it. Amber gets a jingle? Sarah Belli gets a jingle? No jingle? We're working on it. We're working on it. You do know that you share the same name as the lead

singer of Korn. So we're thinking about doing a new metal kind of jingle that we could come back from break with, but the dogs are still working on it. Well, trust me. It created some strife early on in my marriage because i was getting phone calls from young women asking if i was the singer. Are you serious? I'm 100% serious. Yes i am. Why yes absolutely. I'm gonna table that amazing discovery for a moment. I want to focus on tonight's game. We were kicking this idea back and forth. Bref landed on no, I landed on kind of maybe the question is,

are the ducks or do the ducks consider themselves in the playoff chase right now? I think if you ask the players, they probably do. I, you know, but look, you got to, what, four teams to climb over. Look, your team is keeping every keeping these other teams relevant. So I guess, yes. And the way they're playing right now. Yes. But it's, you know, look, I look for big picture for this organization what they're going through right now is super important for the kids they they to have

these relevant games at this time of the year is super important and if they make the playoffs great but at the same time I mean still expect these guys to be sellers come Friday Sure, I think the the larger point is that they're on pace to win Heather on base to win their most games in close to like six or seven years You have to go all the way back to 2017 18 since they hit 40 wins on they're probably not gonna do that this year But they haven't gotten anything past 31 over the last six or seven seasons and it comes as a bit of a surprise because earlier in the year We were watching this team were thinking like Greg Cronin really isn't doing much of a job here And we thought he might have been on the hot seat

But this is a team that has turned it around the question is how have they managed to do it? I Think it's it's been a maturation process of the young kids. I mean look I think it's been a maturation process of the young kids. I mean, look, I've said it in other places, Trevor Ziegler's suspension was well-deserved, but Trevor Ziegler never would have put himself in a position with his style of play to get suspended. And I think what we've seen from Ziegler since day one is there's been more of a commitment to not be just known

for the Michigan goal, but he's made a commitment to play a 200 foot game. And, you know, I remember talking to him early on in the year and, you know, when he was out on the ice, ducks up a goal and, you know, a year ago, guy never would have been on the ice to protect a one goal lead. So what we're seeing is guys are, especially Degros, who's now what in his mid twenties is buying in and Mason McTavish is the guy that I think will be wearing a letter in the not too distant future with this team. So we're starting to see the fruits of what these drafts have, the players they've drafted

come to life here. And, you know, this is why they overpaid for guys like Judas and Kalorin. They needed to have guys that have been there before, have played important games, won a cup. And why they also traded for Truba. They, they, they just, they need guys that can help make some of the younger players

bigger on the ice. Who could be on the move ahead of the deadline on Friday? Okay. So Gibson's the obvious one. And you know, the problem with Gibson is, is that two years left in the deal. So that makes it, you know, if it was one, it would be a lot easier.

The other issue is, is that he wants to go somewhere where he feels he's got a shot to be number one. And then if he doesn't have a shot, it's quite happy playing in Southern California. He's got no issue with that. So he's won Brian Dumlin, I think, you know, you know, guy that's, you know, won a cup before type of defense and that you want come playoff time. And then another guy that's, you know, won a cup before type of defense that you want come playoff time. And then another guy that's been under the radar. But I've been hearing the teams have been asking Anaheim about Brett Leeson, 25 years old, right winger. You know, he's an RFA at the end of he's an RFA next year.

He's got UFA status in two years from now. But I've been just told like there's just a depth guy that, that teams have been asking Anaheim about. What about Zegras? Is there interest in him or is there interest for the Ducks in moving on from him? Like I, I think with Zegras, you know, again, what someone from the Ducks organization told me

was that we don't have players like Zegras who can move other teams back. He pushes, he drives the defenders off the play because of his skill level. And so, I don't know, I just think that that's a guy that you keep. Unless you get yourself a really good deal, you know, it's hard to find players like that. And when you're seeing that he's bought into what they're trying to do, well, I think that there is reason to keep him.

But I don't think you trade this guy on a discount. We're speaking to Jonathan Davis from SiriusXM NHL Radio here on the Haliford & Brefshaw on Sportsnet 650. We're looking ahead to the Ducks-Conucks game tonight. 730 puck drop at Rogers Arena. Jonathan, I need to ask you a little bit more about a guy I will readily admit I knew nothing about prior to this season. Jackson LeCombe, the young defenseman for the Ducks. Every time I check a box score or look at

the plus-minus, which is now my most important stat ever. He was plus five last night in Edmonton. He had three assists. Every time I watch any highlight from the Ducks, it seems like he continually shows up yet I knew nothing about him prior to this season. Can you tell me and our listeners a little bit more about Jackson Lecombe? Yeah, well one, you know, look, I'm a guy that's also in the betting sphere and he's making me a lot of money because you continue to get plus money on his assist prop in the betting world.

Okay, good to know. On a more, on a playing stand point of view, yeah, look, this is a guy that very, you know, actually familiar to people in Southern California. He played for the Junior Kings and I played for them back in the Quebec Peewee tournament. So he spent two years here in LA, guys who's from Minnesota played for the Gophers. But God, he's emerged this year. He's really taken off. We were hearing the names like Zellweger and Minchikoff the last couple of years and he

supplanted both those guys. He's got 11 goals this year. The rest of the blue line's got 13. Yeah, he's he has blossomed under Greg Cronin. He's only got what I think it's one or two power play goals. This is a team that doesn't get a lot of really gets very limited offense on the power play, these goal wise from their blue liners, but no Jackson Lecombe has been the star on the back end. And, you know, look, when you look at the minutes again, last night, I mean, you know, he is, he's

moving into their top four with Truba and, um, and Judas and so yeah, it's been, it's been a great year at 16 points streak, nine points during this streak, but yeah, look, last night was, last night was in the first period, he was a plus five. Big picture wise, the LA Kings are kind of in a different stage as Anaheim and San Jose. So if you're looking at Anaheim and you're looking at San Jose, who are you more bullish on over the next few years? Um, I think it's probably, you call it one A, one B.

I mean, I, next two, three years to me, those two teams are going to be ahead of the LA Kings. I mean, LA's window is, is shrinking, you know, I mean, you've got one more year or two more years left of, one more year left of Kopitar after this, because he's already made it clear that he's going back to Slovenia after his contracts done. Uh, you know, we'll see, you know, couldn't byfield to me is not going to be Kopitar. It's a pretty high bar to set.

Uh, you know, we're not sure what brand Clark is and, and, and the Kings have been, you know, he's now the eighth defenseman on this Kings roster. So yeah, I'm far more bullish on what we're seeing in San Jose and Anaheim. Can you separate San Jose and Anaheim? Because I think a lot of people right now with San Jose, they're at the stage of, well, there's no pressure on them to be good. And Celebrini's been pretty good and, or not pretty good, he's been, he's been really good. And it looks like despite the record that they're kind of having fun playing. Well, whereas Anaheim there's a little more

expectations on them. And in some ways, you know, especially early in the season, it's kind of been like, Oh, maybe they're not going to pan out. Well, you know, like what you like about San Jose is just, you know, what their youth upfront with, with mentioned Smith and Celebrini and you've got Zetterlund and you've got Eklund, uh, you know,

so they're, they're very strong upfront. The blue line, a little suspect, you know, they, they don't have that same young talent on the backend right now. Anaheim is far, is much more well-rounded both offensively and defensively. So I would put Anaheim slightly ahead of San Jose. JD, this was great man. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. It should be a lot of fun and we'll do this

again as we get closer and closer to the playoffs Especially when it comes to the Kings Always a pleasure guys. Thank you. Have a great day YouTube. Thanks That's Jonathan Davis from Sirius XM satellite radio here on the Haliford and Brough show on sportsnet 650 by the way It was Lucas do stall that got the start last night in Edmonton So you can safely presume that tonight when the Ducks take on the Vancouver Canucks at Roger's Arena, it'll be a John Gibson game. Okay. Uh, so I guess there's a couple of big questions ahead of tonight's game.

Uh, first, and we already talked a lot about Elias Pettersson earlier in the show. Will, will he, I don't know, use his, is this the latest, like, is this going to get him going? Is, is Mea Culpa getting some things off his chest to the media? Is that going to give him some jump? What was the game that he won the Selkie against? Was it Toronto?

Toronto in Toronto. And then he had another game against, a good game against Toronto right before the Four Nations in Vancouver. That's the one where Demko got hurt. Yeah. Yeah. So he's had a couple of Toronto pivot games and those,

I mean, I've lost track of the pivot games. I've lost track of the pivot moments this year. People have. Is this the first pivot presser though? Yeah. Cause he's barely spoken to the media. So it would have to be.

That was like part of the story for me was in a season where so much has gone poorly and there's been so many flash points to talk. This was the most elaborate availability on poorly and there's been so many flashpoints to talk. This was the most elaborate availability and frank and honest discussion that Elias Pedersen's had this year. That Elias Pedersen has been forced to do. Right, I mean he didn't want to do any of it.

I don't blame him. Talking to the media is the pain in the tuchus. That was pretty funny, he was like, I said some things I didn't mean, even though you guys are kind of annoying. It's annoying. 100%. It's a fair and valid remark.

But it's the equivalent of complaining about part of your job. Go to work this morning and you're like, I'm sorry for calling you annoying, but know that I hate you. Everyone's got annoying parts of their job. A coworker, a co-host. I mean, you know, there's someone that you just don't.

You have one co-host. You just don't get along with. Why you put it at me? You don't particularly care for. Yeah. But it's part of your job. Only one? Maybe two or three.

Yeah. Particular dogs that you don't particularly care for. But anyway, let's focus on Petey here. It's part of the job, and yesterday he performed that job admirably. Give him credit for that. I just have a hard time. He had his feet moving the whole time. I just have...

Okay, but what happens if he comes out and just lays another egg? Well, we're used to it by now. Yeah, what do you mean? What if? Well, after today's... Or yesterday's rousing speech, all pumped up on... Was that a rousing speech It's the most he spoke in this year Morphin to Winston Churchill yesterday what happened? I don't I don't think any eyes the reporters talking to him I don't think I don't think that any of any of this should matter

the only thing that matters is the performance on the ice and it's great if It's great if this precedes a good performance on the ice, but if it precedes a lousy performance on the ice, I'm not gonna point to the media availability as anything other than in that moment, he was open and honest and forthright, probably for the first time this season. Because remember, one of the other more famous

media availabilities from this year was him being asked about his rift with JT Miller and him denying that there was one. And then, you know, getting the aforementioned annoyance, getting annoyed with some followup questions. I remember when Winston Churchill said, look, I, I don't want to make this a headline, but

we shall fight them on the beaches. That was what he said. And he said, please don't put this in the newspapers. Please do not make this a headline, but we shall fight them on the beaches. Elias, a holo question. What are you talking about? My overall overarching point, and download the Hour One podcast if you want to hear a longer version.

I'll shorten it up because we're up against it for time. But I'm once bitten twice shy on problems being solved. Like, oh, we got, there's a problem, we got the solution and now everything's good because it's happened way too many times. Way too many times. I'm not there anymore. I think we said earlier-

This is when it's gonna happen though. You've looked- This is when it's gonna happen though. But you've looked for flash points before, like the one that we saw with the aforementioned, multiple times aforementioned, rock bottom in Carolina a couple years ago. Yeah, I have looked.

I thought the Toronto game in Vancouver right before the Four Nations, didn't we call that rock bottom 2.0? Right. Or was that a different game? I can't remember. That's the thing. There's been so many of these instances that they've all bled into one.

I do think that there's something fundamentally wrong here. But this time it could be different. But here is the important part of the conversation. Like it'd be a further rock bottom? Like we're falling down the cliff? No, here. This team, the city, this market, this dynamic, all of it. Like I don't think this gets resolved with him

as a Vancouver Canuck. I've said, and that's, I just don't see it. But what if you finally admitting it is the moment. You know, maybe this time. Maybe this is it. It'll be different. Okay. The other big question ahead of tonight is, is

Quinn Hughes going to play tonight? I thought it was interesting that Rick Tauke throughout the suggestion of, you know, I got to talk to the trainers here, but we might consider shutting them down for seven or eight days. He basically said, if we shut them, I think it was seven or eight games. He said, if we shut them down for seven or eight,

does that mean he's available for the final 14 or 15? And the fact that the coach is putting that out there. And he's basically saying like, Quinn Hughes will play through anything. There's, there's two parts to this. One it's Hughes is obviously really, really not feeling well. And two, um, they're already with a mind to how

much can we afford to not have them in the lineup yet not torpedo our playoff chances. It's, you know, you treading water is how I would put it. Without Hughes, you're gonna tread water until he's back, at which point you can swim. And I don't know what they're gonna do. Because it, I mean, right now you could make the argument that they might've, he might've been rushed back.

Not the medical professionals on the Canucks staff, because Hughes is obviously pushing to play, but like collectively, it sure feels like he might have come back a little too early, because he was right back hurt again, not long after returning to the lineup. He's playing hurt. He's playing hurt, yeah, yeah. And in the talk it said yesterday,

everyone's dealing with something. And we're not talking about- It's one guy who keeps playing about knee tendonitis. Right, and this guy's got other tendonitis. Guys, Quinn uses a warrior. He'll play on crutches. You know he'll play. He shall fight them on the beaches.

He will fight them on the beaches. But it's not like he's a guy that's going to play 12 or 13 minutes a night or that you can really manage his workload. I remember the first game back, the plan was to play him 15 or 16 minutes in that first game. He played 22 and he's either wheeling it over time. The Connect's dressed like 22 defensemen that day too. There's like coin over the boards. You can't, like I don't think you can have him in the lineup and limit his minutes.

We're getting lots of texts requesting a Let's Go PD chant tonight. No. So maybe that in conjunction with his presser is what's going to put him over the top. Maybe it'll embarrass him so much. He actually- You know- I still think the JT Miller chant would get him going. You know how much I thought about that.

Yeah, that would be funny. We did that right at the- Or crush him completely. What does this mean? So we did that right at the end of the show yesterday and I flagged that text and I'm like, I don't know if I should flag it because I don't want to read it. And the text was, what happens if a JT Miller, when an old school JT Miller chant, I won't ask Andy to do it

because Andy doesn't know how to chant. JT clap clap clap, Miller clap clap clap. So the exact opposite of that. What happens if a JT Miller chant broke out at Roger's Arena? And I didn't want to talk it into the universe, like talk it into existence, but I said, we read the text anyway,

and I thought about it a lot after the show yesterday. It would be so uncomfortable, so uncomfortable. But he did his presser yesterday, so I think it's less likely that that'll happen. I think the fans will be behind him tonight. That's why he did it, because he heard our show and was like, oh no, no, I can't handle this. Hear the intro.

Let me talk to the media, please. I'll apologize. It's just like, I could, here's the thing. At some level, I could see it happening. Maybe not tonight, but yeah. I'll apologize. It's just like, I, I could, here's the thing. At some level, I could see it happen. Maybe not tonight, but at some level. What are you talking about? 1000% it could happen. You're 1000% it could happen.

In a, in a long lineage. Especially as we keep talking about it. In a long lineage of terrible takes. This is right near among your worst. It could absolutely happen. I suppose if he had an absolutely atrocious game, maybe. Oh, what if that were to happen? Yeah. Has that happened yet?

But after yesterday's rousing presser, I say we give him. A bit of the doubt. You act like all the media afterwards were like, brilliant. It was brilliant. Crying afterwards. I have never been so moved by a player availability. Take bad feints. The tour de force.

Leckermacky is going to be in the lineup too, I expect tonight. And I liked Rick Tuckett's explanation for his like, he was like, hey, at this point, why not? Yeah. Why not give it a try? Is that a vote of confidence? I don't know. And I think it's pretty interesting that he's

going to be playing, or at least he was practicing with Philip Heidel. And Drew O'Connor. And, but Philip Heidel is, has been the most impressive Canucks center, low bar, but he's been the guy with the most energy and the most, as you like to say, get up and go. And I think the idea is that the Canucks need

someone who's going to shoot the puck. Right. Right. And as you know, Leckermacky, that is, he needs to do other things and Tauke had said, look, you got to do, you got to get to the middle of the ice. You got to, and that's tough. We've been having trouble with that, but we need

someone that can pick a corner and score because, uh, you know, this, this one guy seems to be scared to shoot and Brock Besser, I don't know where Besser's head is right now. Um, he's been bounced all around the lineup, but I mean, tonight is possibly, tonight is possibly Besser's final game as a Canucks, possibly. I thought it might be the last game.

I was watching, I was like, oh. And his center is going to be another guy who could be playing his last game for the Vancouver Canucks as well. Cause he's on a line with Pugh Suter and Jake DeBrusk. Yeah. Uh, so the Lions, yeah, by the way, it's

Pedersen between Joshua and Garland to try and give him a spark there. And then it's O'Connor, Hedl, Leckarimachy, as Jason mentioned, DeBrusque and Besser, Flanking Souter, and then the fourth line, Hoeglund or Blugger, and Sherwood. So it's another new look, it's another new wrinkle. I like the idea, like you said,

of having Hedl and Leckarimachy. I would make the argument that Heedle might have been their best forward regardless of position over the last, you know, since he's been acquired from the Rangers. And I think that, you know what, we laugh at the, hey, why not approach and philosophy and mentality, but I do think there's something to it. It's not like you're scoring goals anywhere else.

You gotta try something new. The Calgary Flames shook up their lines and they actually demoted Connor Zeri down but I do think there's something to it. It's not like you're scoring goals anywhere else. You gotta try something new. The Calgary Flames shook up their lines and they actually demoted Connor Zeri down and he responded with two goals yesterday. So if you're struggling, you gotta try something new. I think Rick Talkett's had enough of the, well, I've been telling the guys to do things

this particular way and they haven't done them. But then she had to make changes, right? It's not like Baines was bringing much to the table either, right? Right. I mean, you know what? To be dead honest, and I know we're up against it for a time, I was a little surprised it took them this long

to give Leckaromacky another shot. I know that there's the risk of, and Batch brought this up on his hit yesterday on the show, there is the risk of putting a young guy in a position where a team's going through it and you rely on them too heavily, but I kinda tend to err on the other side of that. Like throw these young guys into a pressure

situation and see what happens. I think the kid gloves approach doesn't always need to be adopted. I think sometimes you can find out someone's test of their metal or what they're truly made of by putting them in a, like not an advantageous situation. Especially when the very next day you can send them back to the AHL. putting them in a, like, not an advantageous situation. Especially when the very next day you can send

them back to the AHL. I think the riskiest situation is where you commit to keeping a guy, like a 19 year old that can't, who would have to go back to the CHL. And I think the Canucks had made that mistake before. But if you can just send the guy back to the AHL the very next day, I don't think it's as much of a risk.

And especially with the situation the Connexor in where they desperately need goal scoring ability and desperately need someone who's willing to shoot the puck. Again, Rick Tauke, it's where it's, hey, why not? Hey, you want to hear, you want, I'm going to read a text before we go to break and this might put a smile on your face because I think

the winds of change are blowing at the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Is this a Scorpion song? Mark the mechanic writes in, it's not a Scorpion song. I get that the Canucks suck right now, but this show is so negative, it's hard to listen to. Halford is such a pessimist,

it's sucking the last bit of fun out of this. There you go, brother. Wow. It's not just you anymore. You read my mind. Wow, Halford's a pessimist. See what's happened? Halford shrouds his pessimism in like jokey fashion,

but deep down, he's the real pessimist on this show. Deep down, I am a hater. You're listening to the Halford and Bruv show on Sportsnet 650.