Halford & Brough in the Morning - Frank Seravalli On Why EP40 Is On His Trade Board

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli (1:24) around the latest Canucks trade rumours, plus they speak with Washington Capitals radio commentator John Walton (27:55), as the Caps get set to host 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.

["Cirru Valley"] Frank! Cerebelli! Frank! Daily face-off! Frank! 701 on a Wednesday! Frank! You're listening to the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bruff 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 now in hour two of the program. Frank Saravalli is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two.

Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk 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. I am joking. Let him do that. Visit him on the internet 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, our next guest is a presentation of angry outer liquor, Frank Ceravalli joins us now on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Frank, how are you? Pretty good how you doing boys? We're well thanks for taking the time to do this so we teased we previewed we highlighted the first trade board of 2025 on daily face-off to our

listeners earlier and give away the whole thing I want them to go visit the website and read and click and do all that stuff but I did mention that there's only one Vancouver Canuck on the list. He comes in at number 25 of 25 and it's a Leah's Patterson. We'll table that for a sec, but why no JT Miller on the list at all, Frank? Well, for one, they haven't asked for him to consider waving as no trade cause and he holds the keys. So look, is it possible that they're trying to understand and grasp what the market is

for J.T. Miller? Of course. But I don't have any indication that talks have progressed in any meaningful way. And beyond that, they haven't even broached the subject with anyone so it doesn't seem like a possibility at this point in time. Sorry, go ahead. No, I was just going to say now contrast that to Elias Pedersen who is they could make a trade unencumbered and you also had the GM a week ago with Ian McIntyre saying, I mean, yeah, that's a possibility. Two totally different scenarios. Have you heard if the Canucks have gone down the road on either player with any team out

there? Like how far has this gotten? out there? Like how far has this gotten? My understanding is that it's been mostly cursory in the sense that, okay, so all this stuff has been swirling, right? And you know, for more than a month now, teams have heard and seen the reporting of the friction between these two guys. And then it reached a boil point when essentially the discussion became one or the other. And so it, as a result of that, look, teams are calling, um, teams are asking questions, Hey, what are you doing here? Would you consider moving this guy?

Would you consider moving that guy? And then it's the expression of interest followed by, well, maybe. And what could you potentially from the Canucks end, they're asking, what could you potentially be willing to part with? And so I don't know how deep those talks have progressed. Like, I mean, it's, it's also subjective too, right? Because even if one team feels that it went a certain way, it's not necessarily how the other partner

in the conversation felt that it went. So it's always tough to judge that. But what I would say is, yeah, like teams have been calling and the Canucks are answering and they're engaging to understand what the marketplace looks like. It'd be malpractice if they didn't. So that's sort of where things stand at the moment.

How much of this is a motivational ploy for the two players? Honestly, I don't think any. And if that's been the thought process, I think that part has probably been misguided. And maybe one thing that you could say and add in here, and perhaps with hindsight, they will feel this way, I think Canucks, the Canucks management and organization could have

done a lot better as a whole in messaging and beginning to tamp some of this down, and I'll include the coaching staff at some point too, because the story kind of grew legs as each additional log was layered onto the fire. And it became the thing that just was, I think, a lot bigger than it ever really was. So that part, you know, I struggle to understand the thought process behind it and I wouldn't hesitate, or I would hesitate to guess, but it certainly has been

interesting watching all of it play out from a messaging perspective. You know, I think less about the alleged, it's not an alleged, I think it's pretty well acknowledged, rift between Pedersen and Miller. I think more about the play of the players. I know Miller has not had a good season.

He had a great game the other day in Montreal, but we haven't seen enough of that JT Miller. And, you know, I've been going on about this to the point where people can't stand me in this market because I've been going on about Pedersen's play since the All-Star break, which is almost a full year. So for me, it's like the rift is one thing,

it's kind of out there, but it might be a little bit of a red herring. The more interesting thing I think is just the play of Elias Pedersen since he signed this contract. And that's a big reason why he's on the board, right? And a big reason why I think Patrick Alveen mentioned or answered the question from Ian

McIntyre the way that he did put aside any of the drama that's, that's existed. Even if these two were in a perfect teammate relationship and everyone got along and were hanging out and playing PlayStation or going to dinner every night, I think it's still a philosophical question or existential question that the Canucks would need to ask themselves over these next six months until July 1st, which is, do we believe that in this environment, Elias Pedersen can play at a level

commensurate to what we're paying him for the next seven years. And I don't know how watching him for a calendar year. Now you could positively answer that question and say with any, you know, anything close to a hundred percent certainty. Yes. You know, this he's a hundred percent certainty, yes, you know, this he's going to get back on track and do it. I, it's been too long and then there's been too many red flags. Um, and in responses to some of these, you know, different pushes, pulls and prods, whether it is answering a question like that, whether it was the response to the way

that he handled the playoffs and his messaging with the injury and whatever it's been at every different turn, it feels like it's been lacking. It's been disappointing. It's been short of the mark. And I think those are real questions that they'd have to ask, which that's really why he's on the trade board. It's all those things wrapped into one. Do you have any intel on Rick Tocket's contractual situation in Vancouver? Because it was reported by Pierre Lebrun that it's a team option for the Canucks on Rick Tocket next season, but it is in effect a mutual option because Rick Tocket can say,

even if the team exercises the option, he's like, yeah, no, I'm not interested. I don't, I don't have any details and I'd be happy to follow up. Thank you very much, Frank Sarravelli. Um, so where do you think this is going to lead with the Canucks? Do you think they're gonna make a trade or do you think they're gonna make a trade? Do you think one of these guys is gonna be moved? In season I still think it's more

likely than not that they remain Canucks and it's mostly due to the difficult nature of making a deal like that in season. Like let's just say, for instance, they decided today, right now, one of these guys has to go. On the Miller side, you're dealing with what we already talked about, which is he's got to approve the trade. On the Pedersen side, he's much younger, has higher upside, but there's an absolute pile of money that's owed to him. And so now you're dealing with both these guys trying to fit in or wedge in a player that's a high salary cap hit to a team that's likely doesn't have much cap space. And in return, the Canucks are asking for not futures, but impact pieces that are of equal value or greater in their eyes that can maintain the current trajectory that this

team is on. How, how can you possibly pull that off in season? I mean, I guess it's possible, but you're also at the same time limiting the field of teams that can actually engage in a conversation like that, because well, for one, and I reported this the other day, there's at least a handful of teams, if not more that are intrigued by the players involved in this drama, but don't want anything to do with it because they're not sure that they want to inject.

Like they don't know what's true. What's false. The rumor innuendo everything else. They don't want to inject either one of those personalities into their room right now. So take those teams off the table and then take other teams off the table that are in contender mode that would potentially engage in conversation about this or, or in true discussion.

But aren't going to do it right now, not in the middle of the season, because they like what they've built. So I just think when you add up all the pieces, just from a pure logical perspective, like taking out what we've heard and taking out the drama, it stands to reason that this is a really complicated deal to get done right now.

Yeah, well, and I'm guessing that's why things like the reported Mika Zabinijad offer for JT Miller, one, was made and two, gets out there is because it's one of the few ones that actually makes sense from a, we can pull this off both in terms of space under the cap. And it's kind of like, you know, your issue for our issue. It actually kind of reminds me when Lionel got traded for Dubois back in the day where it didn't necessarily fix anything for the two teams involved, but it just kind of made sense because there were so few

dance partners involved. But it doesn't even make sense. If anyone's watched Mika Zabonajad play. It's not good. With all due respect, like he's not even close to JT Miller's level. No. No. So the Canucks get the worst player with a worst contract and they're both locked up for the same period of like of course the New York Rangers are gonna offer that. It's like hey can you like we have

an absolute liability on our hands can we trade him for a guy that's had 200 point seasons in the last few years? Yeah, I mean, sure. Who wouldn't offer that? It's not even realistic in my mind. Speaking of more realistic trade targets, number one on your board right now, Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders. He is a pending U.F.A.

And you kind of led this off by said it feels like it's time for him to finally move, doesn't it? I guess the one thing would be that the guy in charge, very loyal to the guys that have been islanders for a while, but it does seem like it could be the time for Nelson to move on. Are you expecting him to move? If so, who are some of the interested suitors for the veteran forward? I am expecting him to move, and I think the other big overarching question, speaking of loyalty will be how loyal will the Islanders continue to be to Lou Lamarello?

I mean, it's a fair question to ask at this point with the results of this team and them severely lacking what appears to be a cohesive plan and process for where that team's supposed to get to moving forward, they're stuck in neutral. They've been in neutral for years and their fan base is tired of it. That said, I mean, it is, does get some delicate gloves because Nelson is a lifelong Islander, but I look no further than Minnesota.

Like I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but that seems like a real strong possibility. He's from there. They desperately need a center, and yes, his production has dipped this year, but Bill Guerin, the Minnesota Wild GM, also went out of his way to select Nelson for the Four Nations face-off team with Team USA.

So, I mean, connecting a lot of those dots, that seems to make a lot of sense, but because the center market is so thin, I would say right at this point in time, Brock Nelson is the premier rental center available that it's, you know, when you look at it, there's going to be plenty of other teams involved other than just Minnesota. Hey Frank, you got a couple members of the Seattle Kraken on your board, Yanni Gord and I think Tanev is on there as well. Um, what are you hearing about the Kraken?

Because the Canucks have played Seattle a few times in the last little while. And although the Kraken did stage that crazy comeback against the Canucks coming back from 4-1, uh, very late in the game, I've watched a few Kraken games and that is not a good team. And I really don't know where they're headed and it's hard for me to see how they can improve really quickly.

I know the Seattle sports market pretty well. And I know that the NBA is probably going to be back there soon. And I sometimes worry that the Kraken are just going to be left behind in that market. I think that has to be a worry. Um, and, and look, I made this comparison with you guys before, but we were just

talking about the Islanders. I don't think the Kraken are much different from the Islanders of the West. I mean, they really lack star players. They lacked it, they lack impact pieces. And with where they're going to continue to draft right in the mushy middle, they have a very small percentage chance of getting their hands on star impact players, not to mention their general manager has a long track record

of not being aggressive to go out and get those players. So I, I don't, I don't know what the path forward there is. They're built to be a solid competitive team that could finish anywhere from 14th to 24th, which to me is the absolute worst place you could be. If they make the playoffs fantastic, uh, likely to be out in round one and also likely to be very far from a lottery pick. So the Islanders, um, the only difference maybe is that the Islanders are closer to the bottom than we might realize and might be able to get their hands on a lottery pick sooner rather than later. That's at least the only upside I can see in New York. I just don't see the same in Seattle.

Buffalo, you've got a few players from Buffalo on this list. Dylan Cousins, who we've heard about, but also Bowen Byrom. What is the story with Bowen Byrom? Are the Sabres the ones that would want to move off Bowen Byrom or is Bowen Byrom maybe in a situation where he looks at some of the defensemen ahead of him and says, I don't

really want to be the number three guy on this team, I want to go somewhere and be the number one or even number two. Well, that I think that was part of the thinking with Byrom in Colorado. Not that he was unhappy, but wanted more opportunity. And I think the true answer is that because neither side has really made the

commitment, like he, he was eligible to sign an extension on July 1st. That hasn't happened. He's not far away from restricted free agent status. And also the Sabres team is truly in flux. Like, the true answer is that the Sabres don't, I don't think know what they want to do. That's why they have been sort of handcuffed to this point and haven't made a trade is they really like all the individual pieces that they have, even though they know that the results of the collective would indicate that they're not though they know that the results of the collective would indicate that they're not close. And the other part of it is they're really, I think, afraid of making a mistake because

they've been in spots where they've traded Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel and other guys that have gone on to be star players. I don't know what their thought process is in terms of who stays who goes. I mean, look at Cousins as a great example. Two seasons ago, 31 goals, 68 point season. The last two years he's been playing closer to a 20 goal, 40 plus point player. Which one is he? Is he the guy that earned a $7.1 million a year deal for the next five years? Or is he, was that a statistical outlier season and he's still so young that it's hard to make that determination and playing a premium position. They're in a tough spot trying to sort all that out. We're speaking to Frank Saravalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Bruff show on

Sportsnet 650. The Boston Bruins, Frank, have now lost five in a row after a four-nothing loss to Edmonton last night. They are 20-18 and five and they do have a lot more games played than some of the other teams in the East. When everyone catches up, we were talking about this earlier with David Amber, there's a very real chance that Boston could be in a dogfight just to get one of the two wildcard spots. How close an eye are you keeping on them as we get closer to the trade deadline? I know you've got Trent Frederick, the pending UFA forward for them on your trade board. Could there be even bigger things ahead for Boston given how uncertain their future looks in terms of playoffs? Yeah, I think that's possible for sure. I think they they're open to

potentially shaking things up in a bigger way I Still think this Bruins team as assembled is better than what they've shown and they did have a stretch of time Under Joe Sacco that felt like they kind of were finding an identity and then the wheels have fallen off again. It's been a pressure packed year and even just looking at the way this East shapes up, I still, I understand what the record is. I understand how ugly it's been. I heard and listened to the fire Sweeney chants yesterday in the garden. It's been ugly, but this the Eastern and Western conferences to me I think there's a clear separation between the top six teams and the wildcard

teams and the teams competing to be wildcard teams. To me it's night and day and I still think Boston is in that first former group, but I mean you look at the way this team plays on a night-to-night basis and you could make a convincing argument that they belong in the other category. I just, I think they're still too talented to be in that group, but that said, when you see an environment like this and you hear the chance. Cam Neely is as an emotional leader as there is in the NHL in terms of running an organization. I guarantee you he's pounding his fist on the table in some boardroom today in Boston saying,

put some options on the table because we've got to change things. How disappointed are they in the Zdorov and Lindholm deals that they signed in the summer? Pretty disappointed. Zdorov last night, banner sequence for him. And Lindholm just hasn't found his footing. And I guess maybe if you watched, and as you guys did closely last year. He won't find his footing. He won't.

Yeah. Well, I think his legs are done. Like he doesn't, he didn't have any speed when he came to Vancouver. He was solid. That's what stood out, but then you watched how effective he was in the playoffs and you're like, man, that was an impact piece as much as he

struggled in the regular season. Yeah. They just can't score though. I mean, if you look at the Bruins goals for, they got 111 goals. That's it. I mean, the Washington who the Canucks are going to play tonight, they have 148.

And I think- They couldn't get rid of Jake Debrusque fast enough. That's what it felt like. Yeah. And Debrusque is Vancouver's leading goal score right now. I mean, he had a bit of a slow start in Vancouver, but he has definitely come on and he's become a reliable goal scorer.

He had a nice power play goal, nice assist from JT Miller the other day in Montreal. He's been as consistent, look at his numbers. How many guys have been more consistent in terms of what they hit every year than him? Yeah. And I'm sure Bruins fans miss Jake DeBresque. I would switch, like if you're talking about

the top six teams in the East, I would just switch Boston and Tampa. I think Tampa is probably going to catch a top three spot in that division and Boston might be down there with the wild card teams. I'm not sold on that. No? Tampa is just coming off losing four straight.

They were on pace as of yesterday morning for 93 points. I still think they'll catch Boston though. I mean, that's just the bad eye we make. Okay, but look at the regression, 104 points, 98 points. Now they're on pace for 93. I'm telling you in the not so distant future, we're talking about Tampa and this core, their window closing.

They've got still got some young players though. They've still got, you know, Brandon Pointe isn't an old guy. Sorelli's not an old guy. I think the move to make Jake Gensel, to add Jake Gensel over, over Steven Stamkos was a smart move for them. But you're right. Like we, you know, eventually it will come for Tampa.

But I think I just watch Boston play. The circuitry trade to that point, it's still, maybe they knew something that we don't, but look at the way that he's played in Utah. He was in that age range that you're talking about that they would need, and they decided to go with Ryan McDonough instead? Yeah. How has McDonough instead? Yeah. How has McDonough been for that? Not that he's been bad, it's just like in the age scheme alone is like you cut off years of your window.

Frank, this was great as always, man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week and all the games for the rest of this week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. You too, see you guys. See ya.

Frank Cerelli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Bruff show 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. The Lightning got a big win last night over Carolina.

I saw that. Cause they went to, they went to California and went 0 for 3 there. Uh, the Lightning got a big win over Carolina. The Boston Bruins did not get a big win. The four nothing shut out loss to, uh, the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. In that game, Zdorov had, it was just the sequence he was talking about was, um, being on the ice for too many goals against, but also some crazy, uh,

and, and rush that ended with colliding with Stuart Skinner, temporarily knocking him out of the game, getting a goalie interference penalty. And then of course the Bruins losing four nothing. And then as you mentioned in your notes and Frank mentioned it later, there were chants of fire Sweeney coming down from the rafters at TD Garden in Boston. So I think they're just a frustrating team to watch

because they can't score. I don't think they're very good. I don't think they're very good either. I'm surprised. Frank likes them more than I think the collective we do because he's got them in the top six. I get what he's saying about the divide between the top six in each conference and the wild

card teams. But I would put Tampa in there instead of Boston. I like. I think. I also like Tampa more than Frank. Like I think Frank is down on the lightning and their window being open. I think he actually thinks that Boston might have a better shot than Tampa. And I think Frank is down on the lightning and their window being open.

I think he actually thinks that Boston might have a better shot than Tampa. And I would have that. I think so too. I think that's what he thinks, but I would have that in the inverse as well. I mean, whatever, it doesn't really matter. I think it would be hilarious if Toronto won

the division or won the conference and then still ended up with Boston in the first round. If they lost to Boston in that fashion. It'd be great. I would, I would, I would inject that into my blood. Uh, we got a long run to get to on the Haliford and Bref show on sports net six 50. It is a Canucks game day, four 30 puck drop from Washington tonight.

John Walton play by play voice of the capitals is going to join us on the other side of the break to talk about a very interesting Capitals team that is one of the most surprising in the NHL this year. And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them at JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Bref 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 2 on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 733 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. John Walton, play by play voice of the Washington Capitol is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Hominuk 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 Do the exact opposite of what I said? Let him find that perfect mortgage. You can do so by visiting him on the internet at Jason. Doubt mortgage The Canucks you're turning it back up. This is a video game. This is just a video game

I don't know where you found this. I don't know how it's unlicensed. It's so good But it's just a videoensed. It's so good. But it's just a video game. That's all it is. The Canucks and Capitals are in action tonight. 4.30 from Washington. Joining us now to break things down from the Capitals side of things, play-by-play voice John Walton here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. What up John, how are you?

I am well guys. Good to be with you. Good to have you on the show. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. So it's been a it's been a great season for the Washington Capitals across the board. Outside of the Ovechkin injury, almost everything has gone right for this team.

They are right atop the standings in the East. They're atop their division. They are the top three team in the NHL. Nobody scores more goals than the Washington Capitals on a per game basis. It's all going very well. How big a surprise is this for you? Not necessarily that the Capitals are doing well because they were a playoff team a year ago, but the Capitals have gotten off to this strong of a start to start the 2024-2025 campaign. Yeah, I think when you look back on where the capitals are now, it probably traces back

to July when in and around the draft and the beginning of free agency, they went out and got seven new guys essentially for the roster and in bringing in a guy like Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has certainly been terrific for this team in the top six all year long, bringing that role i bring it in logan thompson bringing brandon do hey bring an andrew manchi aponte uh... lot of new faces that come to the room assimilate under this veteran crew pretty well last year this is not a team to score goals last year this was

a team that charlie lindgren basically willed into the playoffs and i don't even know if this group to make the playoffs last year. They only won four in their last 11, but there were a lot of teams that were stumbling down the stretch and they found a way and they got a lot of valuable experience for guys like Connor McMichael and Alexei Protas who with that little taste of Stanley Cup playoff action, they were out in four straight and you say, well, it's four games and it didn't go very well for Washington. But I really believe that between that and the guys that they went and got, I think we knew that this team was a likely playoff contender. I think that at the beginning of the year when New Jersey was going to be good, you

knew Carolina was going to be good. I think the thought is that the Rangers were going to be good. We were all wrong about that one. But as far as the caps, would they be in right in that next tier? Probably. Could they be a playoff team? Yeah. Would they be at the top of the Eastern conference? No, I don't know that we thought it would be that good, but they've gotten goaltending. They've gotten, as you said, a lot of goals.

It's changed a little bit over the course of the last few weeks. They're not scoring as much, but they're not giving up as much either. And in the midst of a stretch here at home for a little bit before coming west, we're going to be in Vancouver here in two weeks. So I'm looking forward to getting back out in Western Canada, but looking at this team right now, yeah, they're pretty much as advertised. They've had a very nice first half of the season. The first half, it ends tonight actually.

Tell us a bit more about Alexey Protas. I know he's big and I know he's from Belarus and that's, that's all I know. Well, he is very good. Uh, it was funny cause last year there've been a number of contracts. Uh, you know, I'm thinking back to Tom Wilson's first big deal and a lot of people outside of Washington were going, well, all

this guy's just a fighter. He's like, why would you sign him to that kind of term? And then by the time that contract was over, the whole world was going, yeah, everybody'd love to have Tom Wilson on their team because he scores and he provides you know a lot of different elements to the game elected protest is kind of that same category last year too because you only

have six goals and i think a lot of people like all that's a lot of money three more than three million dollars a year over the next five years but as with most things involving caps management hockey operations they're playing three-dimensional chess the rest of the supply of checkers include myself uh... they saw a guy who not only have size but had hands and had a lot of offensive potential and now if you've got eighteen goals so strong a wall and just is able to

do a lot of when they're going right on his line protected a lot of parks in a making plays uh... to follow parks to the front of the bat and we've seen a lot of when things are going right on his line protecting a lot of pox in and making plays To funnel pox to the front of the net and we've seen it a lot He's got a brother who was drafted in the third round to Elias playing in the Western League right now So maybe there's going to be a second. I'm sorry in the in the OHL But this is you know, maybe there's gonna be two of them here before too long It's he's pretty sizable as well. And maybe the caps have the market cornered on that. How is Dubois been? He's been really good.

And you know, it's funny, we were just in Toronto a couple of weeks ago and the question always is, how, you know what, it's not that we didn't know he was good. It's just, you know, as he does, he does he do it consistently. And he answers a resounding yes. He loves it here. He's played a great 200-foot game, the Caps have gone into Toronto twice and beaten the Leafs in large part because of the defensive effort that he has put forward against Matthews and

Marner and Nylander and the like. He's been excellent and I think that that is the trade that has worked out well for both teams. I know Darcy Kemper has been really good for LA, you love it when deals work out that way, that there's a lot of money on the Dubois contract. And there was still some decent term left on Darcy Kemper too, but I think both teams, both the Kings and the Caps have really benefited. And to be able to have that stability down the middle

in the absence of Backstrom, in the absence of Kuznetsov, and both of those guys, training camp a year year ago you thought those were going to be big pieces still in the top six and they are no longer here so uh... to be able to really brief or if i had covered and have a minute eater defensive guy that point guy not so much in the goals but uh... you know he's got sixteen points in sixteen games coming into the game

tonight against the conox so uh... he's certainly getting his share of points and been good at both ends Can't say enough good things about the job. He's done this year Spencer Carberry the head coach has to be the favorite to win coach of the year at this point. What is his style? What is he? What is he all about? What do you hear him talking about? And what is he meant to this team? the positivity What do you hear him talking about and what has he meant to this team? The positivity, energy, just a great vision for the game, but also just a great communicator of what he wants to see done.

Fiery, intense, a great guy. Uh, you know, he's come up through the system here. He had a couple of years running the power plant in Toronto. But other than that was with the ECHL Capitals affiliate in South Carolina, in Hershey. And I think would have had more of a chance to win in Hershey except that, you know, they were the best team in the AHL and then COVID hit. So they never really got to see what kind of playoff run they were going to have

there. Getting this team into the playoffs, you know, imparting that message. I think last year was, you know, the beginning, just the building blocks of just getting this team into the playoffs, you know, imparting that message. I think last year was, you know, the beginning, blah, just the building blocks of just getting this team playing a different way. And, you know, on special teams, it took a little while doing things on the power player caps, power played been the same for about 15 years. Uh, getting that, uh, with a lot of new wrinkles in it and they're, you know, getting that buy-in didn't happen in a day. Uh, now you know one of the best teams in the area are best teams the nch l here

all the power play after a pretty awful start in october and even at the beginning part of november uh... one of the best in the nch l since then and uh... you know jacob chikman's had a lot to do with that uh... you know they obviously alex ovechkin has but you know that a lot of guys say you know connor mcmichael is uh... you know been very good lot of different contributors to it

uh... but bringing all of that together uh... you know just a good hockey guy and one of the brightest young coaches in our game i certainly agree that he is in the jack adams conversation i'd have to stop for our old buddy scott arneal and what if they do a little bit just because he spent time here in dc as well or what a phenomenal job he's done with the Jets but those to me are the guys right and you know where they are you know in the in the power raggies I don't know but I do know that you know Spencer's

going to get a whole lot of votes he deserves to get a whole lot of votes and what he's done here in turning his team around from hey they're good they're old they're slow. You know, they've were retooled on the fly. They've got younger, faster, and nobody had more fun watching world juniors than capitals fans. Cause they had six guys there, including the captain of the gold medal winning team, Cole Hudson. I mean, there's a lot of future caps that we're

participating there. We're looking forward to seeing here too. Ryan Leonard too, right? Yeah. Yeah. Captain there and, uh, to be able to, I mean, he, he could be a capital before this year is over. I think from what we're hearing here.

Let's talk about Ovechkin. What is, where is he at right now? Is he on pace to break it this season or is he on pace to break it early next season? I mean, if you're going to say that on the pace that he is at this season, if you're going to say that on the pace that he is at this season, if he's able to maintain, and it was as of a couple of games ago, it was 0.8 per game, you do that it's this year and it's mid-March.

Now I don't know about all that. I don't know if it's going to be mid-March, but you know, I think the feeling in watching him this year, watching him come back from a broken leg, He was throwing everything at the net in November and it was all going in. And even the night that he broke his leg in the third period, he had two goals in that game. And you know, now that he's again, after missing six weeks, he's still leading the team in goals. The thing that lends itself, I think fellows to a real chance chance of having it happen this year.

Caps have had a lot of back-to-backs, but they're almost all out of the way. They've got one this Friday and Saturday, where they've got Montreal here on Friday night and they go to Nashville on Saturday. But after that, they do not have another back-to-back until April. They've got two at the end of the season, both getting down the stretch in the final ten games. They've got two at the end of the season, both getting down the stretch in the final 10 games, but they have enough of a rhythm where you're not going to those back to backs where listen, you're 39, you're pushing 40 and you don't have to do that. I think it may help give them a little bit more of a push and having missed some time,

he's probably got some pretty good push anyway. In theory, I mean, you got to still a still quite get it done obviously but in theory the capital schedule is pretty favorable to make it happen they don't have a lot of back-to-back to got the long trip coming through vancouver here in a couple of weeks that's part of a five game trip for the going to get everybody out west and then come back to ronald on the way home but other than that just only california remains as far as long road trips that's in march just three games everything else is pretty close to home. The travel isn't too terrible.

Like to think so. I can tell you as someone who, uh, going to be on the mic for that one, I just say, I can't even, you know, I always wanted to call a cup winner, got to do that a few years ago. I couldn't even dream this, uh, to be able to be in the building to watch that is something I'm really, really excited about. Well, I wanted to ask you about that because, you know, I've talked to various play-by-play guys before,

and you know, some like to try and script things out a little bit, some don't. They want to just kind of try and capture the spontaneity of it all. And sometimes you can't predict what's going to happen, but with this one, you kind of can't. It's going to bounce off his butt and then. You don't know how the goal is going to go in,

but you know, like more likely than not now, it's going to happen. And I guess it's got to be really cool because, you know, I will say this, like every year the Stanley Cup is handed out, right? This is very, very, very unique. And who knows how long this record's going to last. A lot of pressure on you, John. A lot of pressure. Yeah.

This is what I was building for. Probably more pressure on you than Ovi, to be perfectly honest. This whole preamble was just to put a bunch of pressure on you. Yeah. You know what? It's funny. Uh, you know, we're the guys that every time he gets to like the next milestone, there's 499, 599, you're going to listen, I just want something clean. You're talking about putting one in off the breezers.

That's our worst nightmare. 600 was actually a little bit of a scare. 500 was beautiful. It's just lining one up in the office, Ottawa here at home, lets it fly, whole world saw it, no question. 600 is against Winnipeg here, and it's a scramble, right? Picks up a rebound, you're like, oh my God,

he did get that, right? You just don't know what it's gonna look like. I can say with absolute certainty, he's gonna get there, you, you're right, you do know the moment is coming. I'm more of a spontaneity kind of guy, I don't like getting out in front of things and you just try and do the best you can and you hope you get it right, but you're right, it is a unique animal and that you're trying to prep for, okay, you know it's coming, you know what it means, you know

what the moment kind of is gonna look like, you don't know what the goal itself is gonna look like, but you know what the moment's gonna mean, you know it's coming, you know what it means, you know what the moment kind of is gonna look like, you don't know what the goal itself is gonna look like, but you know what the moment's gonna mean, you know Gretzky's gonna be there, you know Betman's gonna be there, you know that the national media from two countries is gonna be there, that part you do know in advance. So from that standpoint, yeah, it is a little unique.

I guess we'll see when we get there what it feels like and what the day of 893, 894 feel like. But yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to it. And you're right. Just, you know, just get it right. Hope for the best. That's not what you want to screw up. You want to get that one to the books. Nice and clean. Final game of the season for the Caps in Pittsburgh. Wow. That'd be something. Imagine if you did it there. Wouldn't that be something.

Yeah. We are speaking to John Walton. You've got- Sorry, go ahead, John. Sorry, be some, imagine if you did that there. Wouldn't that be something? Yeah. We are speaking to John Walton. You've got. Sorry. Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead, John. No, I mean, you just said there's a lot of fun possibilities down the stretch. And even in Minnesota in late March, he has torched the wild at Excel like no other team. So that won't even know just depending.

You just said it's fun to think of the possibilities. We're speaking to play by play voice of the Washington capitals. John Walton here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. We, we'll dial it back a little bit to focus on tonight's game as well. I do want to ask you about the goaltending this season because, um, Spencer Carvery, has he just gone, uh, Lindgren, you played tonight, Thompson, you play tomorrow

night and then just alternated back and forth all season because they have near identical numbers in terms of games played. I look at the goalie records and it goes Lindgren Thompson, Lingren Thompson. Is it just back and forth every game? It is with one exception. The only exception was the week before the team went west to play. Vegas was on the trip.

They reset it and had I think it was Charlie that went back to back once. Only because it set up a chance for Logangan to play in vegas against his former team other than that it has been every other the rest of the way so he's been asked a little bit and you know he's left the door open to you know at some point some somebody's gonna run with it i think that's kind of what's gonna happen here logan's been really good you know i did charlie's had a little trouble getting wins lately. He's only got one in his last six, but I don't know that

that's entirely on him. But I think as you get into past four nations and once you get past the trade deadline, it would not surprise me. And Spencer has said that he will leave the door open to be able to say that might change. And kind of to my point before about OV and the game schedule, you know, up till now you've needed both of those guys because there were so many back to backs now you're not going to have as many. So maybe when you get through and into four nations and then coming out of it, you've got a lot of big games down the stretch, you know,

it's going to be a little bit harder maybe to go with both guys only because you might have a little bit more time in between for them that you might want. But we'll see. I mean, Logan's been terrific. He should have been on Team Canada. I'm mystified at how they didn't even call him, which is incredible to me. He was still, you know, I know right now, you know, 16-2 and 2 of the roster were a while ago, but he was pretty good at the time the roster were going down and they didn't

even pick up the phone. So I guess we'll see how that shakes out for Canada. But 16-2 and 2 and leading right now the top team in the Eastern Conference, he's every bit of that. He's been just excellent for this team. Well, like a 916 safe percentage too in the current climate is pretty good, right? Yeah, he's going to start tonight too. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he's going to start tonight. And that's yeah, exactly. Yeah, he's gonna start tonight.

And that's, finding the goal-tending is one of the things that the general manager, Brian McClellan's done really well because you find Charlie, and Lindgren was great last year, big reason, maybe the number one reason why they got to the playoffs last year. Then to bring in Thompson to have him do what he does is great as well, and he's, McClellan's done a good job of finding some of these guys.

The one that I keep coming back to is Dylan Strom, the team's leading scorer with 45 points in 40 games. And I don't know how many people know this, but I'll reiterate it again. I mentioned it earlier in the show, Chicago just let him walk two years ago. They didn't offer, they didn't, they're no qualifying.

RSA, not even the USA. All they had to do was qualify him. And he had a decent year in Chicago and they just let him walk. And what a deal and what a steal that turned out to be for Washington. I, this has been an organization and there's a bigger picture here

there's probably not enough time for, but the Washington way here under Brian McClellan and now Chris Patrick of being able to identify guys, Rasmus Sandin's another. Toronto's like, ah, he's just offensive. He's not going to fit here. He's a great 200 foot guy. Now they being able to identify players that they think were underutilized

somewhere else or didn't live up to their potential somewhere else, bringing them here, pulling them into the family and turning them into big time players is something that they've done a lot of. And that's what separates them quite frankly, from a team like the Buffalo Sabres or the Chicago Blackhawks these perpetual rebuilds that are absolutely going nowhere. Capitals were old and they were slow and in two years they've turned this around where they got draft capital they went out and identified players they rebuilt in about 24 months and a

capture set for the next five years at least because of who they've got coming in and that was always the thing how are they going to keep it going in and around Alex O'Vetchchkin quite frankly Washington's done it better than Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby doesn't have nearly the cast he should he they should still be there but they did they didn't make the right decisions and now you look at where the Capitals are and it's it's not an accident you you have you get Matt Roy under big contract you've got Dubois for the long haul you've got younger you've got faster you'veix, they've got you Ryan Leonard, they've got you Cole

Hudson, that was a deal with the Sabres. Beck Malenstein goes there, you turn it into the number one scorer in the World Juniors this year. That's what this team has done. That's why they consistently win. They may not win the cup every year, but they're always going to be in the conversation because of things like that. And that's what makes it a lot of fun to work here is because you see a lot of

hockey, you see a lot more wins than losses. You don't stay out of the postseason for very long and they've just done an excellent, excellent job. Very well said. And this was a lot of fun, John. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Have a good call tonight. It should be a very good game. And maybe we can do this closer and closer to Ovi eventually breaking Gretzky's record.

I would love to come back and chat fellas. A lot of fun. Thank you. Thank you. That's John Walton, play by play voice of the Washington Capitals here on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Do you remember when we were talking about the

Capitals and what's the point of the Capitals? This was a couple of years ago. And we're like, are they just the team that we're, we're going to follow the goal chase for? Is it just all about Ovechkin? And we kind of looked at the roster and said, like, what are they going to do here? Well, turns out they're going to get everyone's

garbage and turn it into gold. Brian McClellan probably should win general manager of the year. Yeah. Based on his body of work over the last two years. And I think Carbur is going to win coach of the year. If this continues. He's right there.

The Caps have been a little more inconsistent lately. Like they haven't, they've kind of gone win, loss, win, loss, but I mean, overall on the season, they've been the best story in the NHL. They've, they're five, three and two in their last hand. Like you said, they're alternating wins and losses, but just like the Canucks, they've got a couple of loser points in there.

They lost two shoot outs in a row, which is actually tough to do. Their last two losses. Yeah, to even get to two shoot outs. I don't know. It's the thing of the past now, but the caps have been in two of them, including a four, three loss to Buffalo in the shoot out in their last game.

So not only are they coming in off a loss, they're going to be angry because they lost to the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Okay, quick reset. We're now two hours through the show, hour three still on tap. Randy Janda, color analyst on the radio, Sportsnet 650 is very own for the Vancouver Canucks. He's going to join us on the other side to set up tonight's game from the Canucks side of things. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From conference rooms to kitchenettes and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected. For a free quote, visit them online at

JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.