Halford & Brough in the Morning - HalBro React To The Demko & Garland Signings

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason react to the Canucks re-signing Thatcher Demko and Conor Garland (3:00), plus they talk the end of the Mitch Marner saga in Toronto, as Sportsnet Leafs reporter Luke Fox (27:22) joins the show.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music 702 on a Tuesday, not just any Tuesday. Happy Canada Day everybody and happy Free Agency Day everybody. You're listening to the Halifred and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halifred and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five star reviews. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. 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 them online at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Listeners, dear listeners, we have some major breaking news from your Vancouver Canucks. Sportsnet 650 breaking news.

The Vancouver Canucks have announced that goaltender Thatcher Demko has agreed to a three-year contract extension with the club with an average annual value of $8.5 million. Once again, Thatcher Demko re-ups with the Vancouver Canucks three-year deal, $8.5 million AAV. So, I like the term. I really like the term three years. Um, and the cap hit is high at eight and a half million dollars, but the term is low. Um, and Patrick Alveen in his quote in the press

release, uh, Thatcher is one of the top goalies in the national hockey league and a key leader in our locker room. His desire to continue his career in Vancouver says a lot about what we are trying to accomplish and where this organization is headed. Demer, he gets the nickname in the press release. Nice. Is one of the hardest working players on our team and gives our group great

confidence when he takes the net. A complete package of size, strength, rebound control and athletic ability. Our players know that they have an opportunity to win each and every game he plays. So I've got a couple of thoughts on this. To reiterate what we were talking about a few days ago, I think it was really telling that when Adam Foote met up with Pedersen in the off

season and they went golfing and had a few dinners together. Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko were both there. And when I heard that Demko was there, I was kind of like, they're not going to trade him if he's on this trip, which is clearly about next season and setting the table, setting expectations about next season and setting the table, setting expectations for next season.

Demco is one of the leaders. My other thought is just the obvious one, the Canucks are clearly going like, I don't know if we're going to have a lot of firepower up front, but we're going to make sure that we're going to have a good goalie tandem. And because they've got Kevin and Lankenen in there, um, they're less concerned about overplaying

Thatcher Demko and because they've got Thatcher Demko in there, they're less concerned about Kevin Lankenen. Like I wouldn't be surprised if we saw an almost 50-50 split in starts between these guys next season. Hopefully both of them can stay healthy and they won't ever have to ride one of them too long.

But don't be all immature about that. Although I knew as soon as I said it. What else you got for me, buddy? Cause I think there's something else. We got some more Canucks breaking news. Sportsnet 650 breaking news. Well it's happening fast and furious here. The Vancouver Canucks have also announced they've agreed to terms with Forward

Connor Garland on a contract extension. It's the Louis. Six years, $6 million AAV. Six by six is 36 my friends. Connor Garland agrees to a six year contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. Six years, six million dollar AAV, 36 million dollars for Connor Garland. The Canucks want players that want to be Vancouver Canucks. And here I'll read Alveen's statement again.

Connor is a core member of our hockey team. He has reached core status. Connor Garland, core guy. Wouldn't be surprised if he wears a letter next year. And a player who has taken on a bigger role with the club the past couple of seasons. His commitment to us by signing this deal shows how confident he is in our organization's

vision and direction. He competes hard every day, drives play on the ice, drives play on the ice is a big deal. Is relentless on the four check and is really tough to play against. Garz got a nickname. Got a nickname. Garz is a big day for both of them. Garz is an emerging leader in the group and works extremely hard to keep himself and the players around him accountable. That's great. So there there are there's levels now

of significance in the Canucks organization based on the press release. One is you get a press release announcing your either signing or extension. The second layer is when you get a quote from Patrick Alveen

the unquoted. You don't like your future in Vancouver. You're like I might not belong for this market. I didn't even get a quote. When you get a quote from Patrick Alveen, the unquoted, you don't like your future in Vancouver. You're like, I might not belong for this market. I didn't even get a quote. When you get a quote in the press release from Alveen, that's level two. That's where you've got the consideration that Alveen's like, yup,

I'll offer a couple of remarks on this guy. Level three, and that's the new level. I have not seen this one before today, I don't think. It's when he refers to you by nickname in the quote so today Demer and Gar's got it. Shouldn't his nickname be Jaws? No, it's Gar's. Because he's a shark guy. I also thought Garly was in the mix. Jaws is way cooler. Yes I know. You get him to wear grills? Custom grills?

I feel like you're gonna be on one of these stubborn things. But his nickname is Garz. I know, but it should be Jaws. Eating Jaws, right? This is one of those bits that ends with someone texting in. Andy interrupts a lot. Okay, so immediately the text comes in, could they trade Lankanen now? No.

No. They're not gonna trade Lankanen. This year? This is not going to happen this year. They will have Lankanen. This year. This is not going to happen this year. They will have Lankanen and Demko and it'll be, they'll say like we feel like we've got two number one goalies here. This year they only have nine and a half million dollars committed to goaltending. Do they have the best goalie tandem in the league? If healthy I would say yes. I would say yes. Demko is still only 16 months removed from a

Vesna nomination and Lankton is about as good as a 1B although as you pointed out if it's a 50-50 there's no 1A and 1B until the playoffs. I think that this has got the potential to be the strength of the team if Demko can stay healthy and it's a you know I think that's why a lot of people are maybe bristling at the eight and a half million dollar cap hit, because if he doesn't stay healthy, that's a lot of money invested in a guy that is not playing for your hockey team. Right. After this year, when both goalies come in at a pretty affordable nine and a half million dollar

ticket, 20, 26, 27, it gets a little steeper. That's a combined 13 million for the two goalies. So it stops becoming a super affordable position. It becomes a more like that's a reasonable amount, but right now it's a great deal because that's affordable at nine and a half for the two of them. Okay. The, the, the two bits of re-signing, we, we expected the Garland announcement and the Demco announcement.

The news, if there was any, was the numbers on the Demco deal, right? Yep. Three years, eight and a half million dollar cap hit. That's the new stuff. Everything else we expected. Um, it's July 1st. There's going to be some players changing

teams this season or this today. What if, what if, Halford? Yeah, some less than. The only meaningful change the Canucks make is swapping out Besser for Kane. Then that while they're in, offensively, they're in serious trouble. But that can't be it, right? I keep going back. I'll go back to what I said the previous segment in case anybody missed it. I am maybe naive. Some have accused me of being naive, some just flat out stupid, some naive, though.

I I'm naively optimistic that there will be enough teams that are left with their pockets turned out. Yeah, the monopoly on the little card you get, like I'm broke. And they'll be like, okay, we need to start making trades now. How do they get goal scores? How do they get goal scores? Well, you start robbing Peter to pay Paul

and you start moving. You've already robbed Peter to pay Paul, so you'd have to actually. You have to do it again. You'd have to rob Peter. No, you'd have to rob Paul and be like, sorry, we gave you too much, we're gonna rob you because we got to give it back to Peter now. You either trade a defenseman

or you trade the 2026 first round pick, or I suppose you entertain the idea of moving Willander. Or maybe, you know what, at this point, I'll say it, DPT. I guess you have to consider it. I guess you do. Or both. Or both. I don't know. Like someone asked me the other day, what about Lekkeramacky and Mancini? I'm like, you could maybe package them together and maybe get something kind of significant in return.

So their top three goal scorers last year were Debrusk, who they've still got. Yes. Besser and Suter. Besser and Suter each had 25 goals. Yeah. You have to replace 50 goals of offense. At a minimum. Well, and that's the minimum too.

And that's to have a bottom 10 offense in the NHL. So, so hopefully, you know, obviously we hope Elise Pedersen scores more goals than he did last season. I did. Obviously, and obviously we would hope Evander Kane stays healthy and scores goals. But like- There's a third hope in there too.

And Ben brought it up yesterday. God, I love Ben. That you hope that if you can put Joshua and Bluger and Garland back together from day one and be like, you're playing together, this is your group, that they will give you- I don't think it'll be Bluger, because I think Joshua and Garland are gonna have to play more up the line. They'll probably be heatle with those guys. Make them a second line.

Yeah. I mean, it's not out of the realm of possibility at this point, but I would. The second line? The second line is. But I would still say, how are they going to score goals? Well, you're, that's it. Garland's not a goal scorer.

No. You would say that line, if that line gave you, let's say, okay, off the top of my head, Garland gives you 20 goals, Joshua gives you 20 goals, Bluer gives you 10, you're happy, that's 50 goals. It's not gonna be Bluer, it's gonna be Heidel. Yeah, you could, I don't think- Bluer's gonna be the 4C, he's gonna be traded.

I don't think you have to be that committed to, I think you should look at what has worked in the past and be optimistic. Well then, nah, it's just a shot in the dark But anyway, all PD has to do is get 60 and we'll be fine. But like is the plan to just Play better and hope for fewer injuries and less drama. Is that the main crux of the plan? Oh, I'd hope yeah Patterson to bounce back. That's probably But that falls under the plan is to play better. Well, yeah, sure right

Yeah, so is the plan to just like we're to play better. Well, yeah, sure. Right? So is the plan to just, like, we're going to play better. Like, what other? I don't think they have a choice. What other angle is it? Get some contributions from the guys on Kamen Ravage? Well, play way better defensively and have shutouts every other game by the best goalie tandem in the league.

Like win a bunch of games one. I'm serious. Win a bunch of games one, nothing. Or two, one, or three, two. Get more loser points than last year. Like, seriously, they're probably going to be banking on the fact. Do you know how hard that is to do in this NHL? This is not 2003 anymore.

I know. It's very hard. It's crazy. It's not, the best teams, obviously they play well defensively, but, you know, they score a lot of goals and they can score a lot of goals in a hurry. And it's really tough when you're just be like, we're going to try and win games two, one or three two. It was hard for the Canucks to reach three goals last season.

Maybe two one. Yeah, but like to ask a team, even with a good blue line and a good goal-tending 10, it would be like, all right guys, we can afford to give up one goal. Like that is, it's very difficult. You're never going on a three or four game winning streak with that type of team

No, it's it's too hard to win unless you do unless you do something like Magical like Nashville did two years ago and they made the playoffs and they were just sort of a middling team And then they went on that crazy heater when they get the YouTube concert taken away But they were no longer a one goal winning team No, it's yeah, they they they just got on a heater and they made the playoffs. Otherwise, they were a 500 team. Right. Right.

And they and they kind of played the same style. They didn't have a ton of offense. They sort of kept it close to the vest. They checked hard. They blocked a lot of shots. Well, Charlie checking will be a big deal for. Yeah, they made the playoff check. Check.

They're going to they're going to like we're going to have to be the hardest working team out there. And what happened when they made the playoffs? Their offense dried up. Right. And they lost the coin flip kind of series where they didn't get breaks and they didn't get bounces and they lost to the Canucks. I'm sure the Canucks are gonna bring in

some new veteran players, but it's gonna be limited to guys like Radik Faksa or Nick Bukstad who are bottom six forwards. Hearing a lot of good things about Christian Dvorak right now, let me tell you. Actually I'm not. That's Montreal fans with Christian Dvorak right now, let me tell you. Actually I'm not. That's Montreal fans with Christian Dvorak. I have a long time friend who is a diehard Habs fan

and he hated Dvorak at the beginning of this year. I think a lot of Montreal fans kind of grew to not hate him as much because he did play every single game last year and put up like 30 points and was serviceable. But at the beginning of the year, he was seen as a roadblock to all the young guys yeah and the like he didn't have like crazy effort levels they're like what what's the point of this guy why is he here right we have young players that we want

to get in the lineup as the season went along his veteran presence helped a little bit more because they were in a playoff push and so it's like oh we need the things he brings to the table so it's tomorrow just gonna be us coming in and like talking ourselves into some like. I'm not showing up tomorrow. So I just realized I'm not going to do it. I'm going to, I'm going to take the rest of the week off. Mike and Pitt Meadows text in clearly they need scoring and they could go back to the Penguins well go after Brian Russ.

Sealovs would make a lot of sense going the other way. You're not getting Brian Russ for Sealovs. I don't know if you were suggesting that Mike, you might've just said Sealovs would be part of the package for Brian Rust. Brian Rust scored 31 goals last season. If I'm not mistaken. I, I. No, Brian Rust had a great year last year.

If you want to look at a return for Sealovs, look what Kaden Fremont just got. Seventh round pick? Seventh round pick. Yeah. Great, outstanding AHL numbers. 927 I think he had. I was waiting for you to bring that up.

Horrible NHL numbers. That's what you're getting for Sealovs. Here's, here's another thing that I'll he had. I was waiting for you to bring that up. Horrible NHL numbers. That's what you're getting for Seelon. Here's another thing that I'll bring up, a possibility. Do you think the Canucks, when they have their next press conference, let's say today they end up signing bit players, they lose suitor, they lose better, okay, let's say, because that looks likely, right?

Okay, let's say, because that looks likely, right? Do you think there's a possibility that they change their tune and they go, we came to realize that we need to change our goals and it's not going to be realistic to upgrade the second line center position. I find it very unlikely that, especially Jim Rutherford would say that publicly. Maybe internally they might think it, but that's way too hard of a pivot for a guy who, by the way, we had Elliot Friedman on the show, download the Hour One Podcast. We had him on right at the start at 6 AM. What was the first thing that he said? Jim Rutherford is an extremely confident guy and he believes, and it's not false bravado. He genuinely believes that if he says he's going to do some, he'll go out and do it.

I've heard there's a lot of frustration in the Canucks building and you know, that's not, that shouldn't be shocking to anyone. You know, they're frustrated. They're frustrated that they can't convince players to come to Vancouver. They're frustrated that they can't convince players to come to Vancouver. They're frustrated that they're on a bunch of no trade lists.

They're, you know, they just, you know, we heard it at the draft. We want guys who want to be Vancouver Canucks. There's a reason you're hearing that. The reason, you know, they re-signed Connor Garland. Some of you might not like the contract committing $36 million to Connor Garland, but one of the things they really like about Connor Garland. Some of you might not like the contract committing $36 million to Conor Garland, but one of the things they really like about Conor Garland is he wants to be a Canuck. Yeah. And that's- Demko too. Demko too. Yep. But I really

do, I come back to that, I don't even know what the show was called, but the English bit where it's like, are we the baddies? Like, are we the baddies? Like, do the Canucks ever have a quiet moment where they're like, you know, this past decade has not been that sweet. Mitchell and Webb.

Mitchell and Webb, okay. Like, maybe you can find the clip so we can play it on the way out just so everyone knows. that sweet. Mitchell and Webb. Mitchell and Webb. Yeah. Okay. Maybe you can find the clip so we can play it on the way out just so everyone knows. Do they ever have this quiet moment? They're like, do we need to change our philosophy? Do we need to change our ways? Maybe is it possible that we've been too impatient? Me, maybe, maybe we should stop trading so many first round draft picks.

Maybe, just maybe, let's just throw this out there. No bad ideas. We need to stop losing good players for nothing. Maybe we should buy low and sell high instead of buying high and selling low. Maybe we should stop touring community centers and just get a practice facility built. So we're like every other team in the NHL and we

have something to brag about and something to show off to potential free agents. I mean, look, if Quinn Hughes ever leaves this team, there better be a lot of people that look at themselves in the mirror and wonder like, how do we let it get to this? But I think this off season could be a great opportunity to just be like, okay, to just be like, okay, we've had this impatience within us. And yeah, we drafted some young players, but we've also traded away a lot of first round picks. And maybe that's not working for us. Maybe we need to rethink our philosophy and not hire people that go, I can fix this and I can fix it in a hurry.

The history of John Tortorella, well, I can fix this team because I'm John Tortorella. Jim Benning, this is a team we can turn around in a hurry. Jim Rutherford, not a patient man. I still remember that conversation he had with Drantz. Drantz is like, when do you think you can turn this around? He's like, well, I think it might take a while. And then he said, like, he was like, I don't know, two years? We were all like, what?

And it looked good for a while. It looked like he had turned it around really quickly for a year. And then it all came apart. So I, you know, when I ask the question of do you think they will ever have like a wait a minute, maybe it's us, maybe we're doing something wrong moment, I know their history is kind of like well we don't care what the media and the fans think, this is the way we do our thing. This is the way we go about our business. I do wonder if it might change. Patrick, are we the baddies? You don't think it's, you don't think, I mean, they just signed. I feel like it would be very difficult tomorrow to be like, you know what, we're going

to rebuild after you signed Garland for six. Thatcos for three is a little less onerous, but I just I don't see it in any way, especially after today, like they just signed Carter Garland until he's 36 years old. That to me does not sing of a team that's very interested in. Let's start and be patient from ground zero, because it was Garland be one of the guys you'd be looking to move. Wouldn't be a guy that you're signing on. We've, you know, there's,

there's people that want to believe and I appreciate that. Like Erica writes in, I have an impossible dare for you guys. Try some positivity. Maybe be happy about resigning our Vezna Caliber goalie and our play driving leader in Garland. You guys have been complaining all day. Hey, I want this to work as much as anybody.

I if you stare into the dark abyss of the future where it doesn't work and Hughes leaves that that abyss is so dark and so bleak that you can't really see the end of it, because at that point you're talking about everything on the table for the organization being up in the air and Everything being restarted and that starts right at the top. So yeah, I would like very much for all of this to work out It just seems extremely difficult to find a path to real significant tangible success

Given where they're at, if that makes sense. I'm trying, I'm trying, Erica. And Erica- I'm happy Canada Day, I'm trying. Erica, when you text in and you say, you guys inspire no hope today, by the way, Erica, it is not our job to tell you what you want to hear. No, but at the same time, even playing devil's advocate is a worthy and useful endeavor, right?

Because believe it or not, believe it or not, sometimes things do work out even better than you imagine. Sometimes you overachieve. For sure. Right? And it does happen. Teams punch above their weight a lot. Happened two years ago.

Yeah. For the Jacks. Like everything went ago. Yeah, it's like everything went right. Everything went right. Yeah. And when everything went right for that team, lest we forget, that was a 102 point team, 50 win team. They didn't scrape and claw their way in. They wanted a vision.

They were a very, very good outfit. They won a playoff round. They took Edmonton to game seven a second. I was a good team. But everything went right. Last year, everything went wrong and they finished on 90 points it's gonna be like that again this the issue is is that last year's team that everything went wrong and finished on 90 points that team has taken a hit the 90 point team from last

year's taken a body blow but if everything goes right this year they could make the playoffs yes like it could be the exact same scenario there was two years ago Vesna or Vna. Demko wins the Vezna. Hughes wins the Norris. Petey gets 50 goals. The defensive structure is fantastic. Their new coach is amazing. Like all these things could theoretically happen and they make the playoffs and go on a run.

Like it's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's just like, it is such a tall ass. By the way, good on Demer for getting paid. When his contract kicks in, he becomes the fourth highest paid goalie in NHL. I had all his details about his contract and he just told everyone more details. Who's he going?

He goes from the 20th highest paid goalie to the fourth. Yeah. Tied with Halibuck. That's pretty good. Eight and a half million. Good company to keep. But the key difference, all the other deals at the top of that list,

seven or eight years. Yeah, tons of term. Demko, three years. So who does he fall in behind? Vasilevsky, Bobrovsky, and Shusterkin? And technically Carey Price, but he doesn't count. No he doesn't, not right now. Yeah, so good on Demer. And I'm with you, the very first thing you said

was like, I really like the term. I also really like the term because- There's some positivity for you, Erica. Yeah, yeah. Honestly, I love that deal for Demco. I think it's the perfect fit for what he could bring and what the team needs right now. It's a little bit steep, but to get the three year term, it's more than worth it.

So in case you were wondering about the programming on today's show, we were supposed to have Luke Fox right there in the seven o'clock hour first half, but obviously the news and in case you missed it, Demco, it's a three year contract extension announced about 26 minutes ago three-year contract extension at 8.5 million annually that doesn't kick in until 2026 27 so next year he's on the 5 million and Lankton is on the 4 and a half so nine and a half million there and then of course the other deal that was announced Connor Garland the old Louie six by six for Connor Garland,

$36 million in total cash for Garland. And that kicks in, of course, not this year, but the year following. So we got a lot more to get to on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Luke Fox Sportsnet NHL writer is going to join us next. Murph is going to join us at eight o'clock from Rogers Arena live at Canucks headquarters. We'll get a lot of news and notes out of Murph because obviously two big signings today and whatever else might happen.

It is free agency day. It's happy Canada day as well. You're listening to the Halford and Bresch show on Sportsnet 650. Do they ever have this quiet moment? They're like, do we need to change our philosophy? Do we need to change our ways? Hands.

Are we the baddies? Hey it's Vic Nazar, have your say and join me on the People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets weekdays 3 to 4 on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 733 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Happy Canada Day everybody and happy free agency day everybody. You're listening to the Haliford and Bref show on sportsnet 650. Here's a programming note for you at eight o'clock this morning Connor Garland's gonna join the program. He of the freshly signed newly minted six-year 36 million dollar contract extension in

case you missed it at the top of the seven o'clock hour we announced it right here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Garland got the Louis. Six by six, 36. Connor Garland is going to join us on the program at eight o'clock this morning. So one of the, so for Erica who needs positivity, we'll ask Garland.

Don't get on Erica's case. Okay. I apologize. I'm not going to pick on Erica. She's a listener of the show and she's valued. She's loved. Alveen said of Garland, his commitment to us by signing this deal shows how confident he is in

our organization's vision and direction. So what makes you confident about the organization's vision and direction? Perfect question for Conor. Great question. Hopefully we can ask some good questions of our next guest, Luke Fox. He's going to join us in just a minute here.

Before we get to Luke, I do need to take care of some business. You are listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Bref of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five star reviews.

Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit them online at jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go,

Sportsnet NHL writer Luke Fox here on the Halford and Broff show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Luke, how are ya? Doing well, happy Canada Day, guys. Happy Canada Day to you as well. Big 48 hours in Toronto. Well, really a big weekend as well, going all the way back. Tavares re-signs, Nye's re-signs,

but the biggest story, obviously, the Mitch Marner sign and trade to Vegas. And I wanted to start with the legacy that Marner leaves behind. You know we had Sam McKee from Fan 590 in Toronto on the show yesterday and he said that this move and the way that it went down might signal an actual real change with the DNA of the Toronto Maple Leafs because now you've got guys taking less than market value to want to stay in Bee Leafs and Marner is now gone.

I thought it was a pretty like polarizing, but I agreed with it in a way. Take from Sam, I'm curious to get your thoughts on the legacy that Marner leaves behind in Toronto now that he's a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. Well, I think his legacy will be kind of the face of a failed experiment that they went to nine times in keeping him, Austin Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Riley together, John Tavares there for the past seven years. And he'll be a

symbol of great stats, great paychecks, great regular season success, but ultimately a core that never got out of round two. And ultimately he'll be, I think, defined by both the magic that he made on the ice, particularly in the regular season, just some jaw-dropping highlights, finishes with a 100-point season. Many of those years, you could probably say he was the least MVP, even over Matthew some years. And then when it really mattered, he, along with the rest of the group, kind of shriveled and never got the job done.

And ultimately in this town, it really is about team success. It's about winning and they never won. And, and he's the first one to leave. And I think the fans will always associate him with that. You know, it's funny, I was, I was covering the, the Oilers Panthers series and a lot of, uh, my colleagues from other cities are like, how are they letting this guy go? He's like, he's so good at hockey. Like, and, and it's like, how are they letting this guy go? He's so good at hockey. It's like you don't really understand unless you live in Toronto how fractured it became. You guys probably get it the same there. Outside opinions of the Canucks are different than how the people of the city view the players on the team. And, um, and here it, it really got rotten.

Do you think, um, the final nail in the coffin was him getting booed at the end of, uh, what was it game seven against the Panthers? You know what? It, if I don't think so, I think it happened a year ago. I think he checked out a year ago and I really do think there was, there's some mismanagement here. They should have moved him before the full no move clause kicked in. And it's hard to blame Brad True Living because he inherited that contract and he was just getting his feet and Brendan Shanahan, you know, assured the core guys that they were fine. So he couldn't move. But it felt like a wall had

gone up between Marner and the team, Marner and the media, Marner and the fan base heading into the contract year. And that's not to say he didn't try. I think he was fabulous. Production-wise, he had his best year and he gave it his all on the penalty kill and had a 200-foot game. I don't think he left anything to be desired on the ice, but I do think that there was a bit of he had checked out and knew that he wasn't going to re-sign. He never promised he was going to re-sign. He was asked point blanket at various times during the season if he envisioned himself as a Leaf in 25-26

and he never said yes. He kind of skirted the question. So, you know, game seven for sure was very dramatic in terms of his final shift. He literally had to dodge a Jersey that was chucked on the ice. They were like, I was in the building. I'd never seen Toronto like this. There were fans going up to the glass and flipping him the middle finger. And he got booed every time he touched the puck. And at one point he's yelling at it, at his teammates on the bench. Like it was an ugly scene, but I actually think that was, that it was, it was

already decided in his mind before that. Was it just the, was it just the playoff failures or was there something about Mitch Marner, the person that rubbed people the wrong way in Toronto? Well, both. And it's kind of one kept bleeding into the other, but playoff failures for sure. And I think he felt like he was absorbing an unfair share of the blame when really it

was shared like Austin Matthews stats in game sevens aren't great either. William Nylander didn't play great in that game seven at all or five, but he, he felt he bore the brunt of it. I think the fact that he was the only guy that that's from here. And so, you know, he couldn't get away. Like he wasn't jetting off the Stockholm or Scottsdale after, after the season, right? He was still living in it. Um, you know, he, he told us that he would shut

off social media, but that doesn't mean his camp, family and friends, agents weren't on social media, monitoring some of the negativity. And he let it seep in too much. You know, you have to have a thick skin. And it got to him and he felt a little hard done by and, and I felt like that came across in his, in his media availabilities as well. And I think fans are smart. They pick up on that. So where does this leave the Leafs? I mean, they've still got Austin Matthews and William Nylander and John Tavares resigned. Matthew Nye signed a big extension and he's, he's still young.

So there's growth to come from him. But I do wonder if, um, I do wonder just how they're going to replace Mitch Marner. Well, they're going to try to patch it up as best they can by committee. They still have a good veteran decor that's all locked up. They have two good goalies that are locked up.

It's still a good hockey team, but the challenge of repeating as regular season Atlantic division champs is gonna be a tough one, especially with Florida bringing the band back together. Tampa has no interest in taking a step back. And then, you know, Montreal and Ottawa are young and exciting and fast and they're looking to make ads. So it's not going to be an easy task.

And you know, if you just look at standing points, it would be logical to assume that they take a step back and just by losing a guy in Marner that had 102 points. So what they're doing is they're trying to patch it up as best they can with multiple guys. So Sure Living did a nice job getting Nick Woff for basically what was a few hours worth of Marner's rights to actually get a guy that can step in and play in your lineup. It's pretty good. Can play some center, can play some wing. in your lineups pretty good, can play some center, can play some wing. Third, fourth line guy, but big body. So that helps. He'll eat up some of Marner's penalty kill minutes. And then the Mathias-Michelli trade I thought was a worthwhile gamble, low cost. It's a conditional third that can turn into a

second if he gets 51 points and the Leafs make the playoffs playoffs but they'll happily pay that if Michelli can get get to that level of production that he was at two years ago they kind of bought him low so he's gonna have a chance to make the top six but there's certainly still a hole like this team was was full bore on trying to offer Brad Marsh on 8 million times 4 years if he hit the open market. He resigns for essentially the same dollar value but spread over 6 years till age 43, my goodness, in Florida. And now, like, who are they going to get? I don't think they're really going to get in, outbid anyone anyone for best or elers. So they're going to try and look for value and maybe their big move doesn't come until

closer to the trade. Last question from us here, Luke, the comparisons to Vince Carter and the questions about whether Marner deserves the Vince Carter treatment, is that fair or unfair? Well, there is a parallel in terms of the sentiment around his departure. People aren't happy, but there is a feeling that one day, time heals all wounds. And maybe you look back and say,

look at all the fun nights at the arena that this guy brought me. And he is one of the best players that has ever worn the jersey and maybe he should be celebrated. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. There's hard feelings right now. The circumstances around their departure are different. Vince Carter basically gave up and forced his way into a trade. He basically gave up on the city on the team and was fed up. Marner tried. He just wasn't on the city, on the team, and was fed up.

Marner tried, he just wasn't, you know, he didn't learn to excel in in playoff style hockey, but his departure, I think the blame should be shared with management that didn't surround this group with the right kind of team to succeed in the playoffs. I think the blame should be shared a little bit more, but I do wonder if, you know, it was 20 years since Carter got traded until his number one in the rafters. If eventually, you know, Marna will be, get some love, but it'll, it'll take time. All it takes is 20 years. Luke, thanks for taking the time to do this today,

buddy. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of free agency and happy candidate again, once again. Yeah, congrats on Demko. Yeah, thanks buddy, appreciate it. Luke Fox here on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. By the way, it's been announced that Mitchie Marner

is gonna wear number 93. He's a member of the Vegas Golden Knights. That's his little tribute to Dougie Gilmore. Oh, okay. Yeah. I mean, as Canucks fans, we should be very curious about how Vegas looks. That's gonna be an interesting one.

I think that they've still got some messes to clean up and they've also got some work that still needs to be done because their blue line right now is down two of their, I guess, top five guys from last year because Patrangelo is not gonna play and they traded Nick Haag to the national predators. Now. Nate Schmidt reunion.

Could they afford that? Nate Schmidt is done in Florida. That was announced this morning. They made the decision. They resigned Thomas Nosick. That was another deal that came down this morning for Florida. And I guess that just squeezed Nate Schmidt out.

I could see it maybe. I don't know. They've still got two pretty good pieces on the backend with Shay Theodore and Noah Hanifin. They've got to, their defense is fine. White Cloud is probably going to be stretched beyond his capabilities because they don't have an answer right now.

However, there are reports out there that the Vegas Golden Knights are actively working to get Rasmus Anderson out of Calgary. Okay. That's one they came across yesterday, courtesy of the athletics Pierre Lebrun. I wonder what the return there is. That would be interesting because Anderson controls

a fair bit of the process. He's got a six team no trade list. Yeah. And he's in the last year of his deal. And it's, I mean, it's a four point five million dollar cap. So it's great value for the player. Anderson's a very good player.

There's also Ottawa, Columbus and Los Angeles showing interest there. Speaking of Los Angeles, Gavrikov, the much sought after defensemen that they were able to acquire, but are unable to keep apparently because Gavrikov is going to be going to market as well.

I don't think the connects are in the market for a free agent defense, but it's just interesting to see who's actually going to shake loose either at forward or on the blue line. It sounds like Gavrikov is going to go to free agency as well. So there will be some players on the move potentially to Vegas. We'll see what happens there. But Vegas does look like a pretty intriguing team. If you look at the possibility of, now if Stone's healthy, then that's a big if.

The idea that they're going to come at you with Stone, Eichel, Marner, Carlson, it's a loaded group and forward. So before we welcome Connor Garland to the show and he's going to join us So before we welcome Connor Garland to the show and he's going to join us at the top of the hour, maybe it'd be worthwhile looking back on Garland's tenure in Vancouver to this point. And, you know, he came to the Canucks as part of the Oliver Ekman-Larson trade.

And a lot of people at the time were like, Hey, I know everyone's focusing on OEL, but this Garland kid at the time, he's a pretty good player. And I think for the first little while in Vancouver, he never really found his role. He never, he was like, he never found his sweet spot with the team. The last two years, he's just played such

terrific hockey in terms of his effort level and his play driving ability. That term gets thrown around a lot, but Colin Garland is a perfect example of that. His play driving ability, he is able to get the puck going in the right direction and he never gives up in battles. He comes away with the puck more often than not in one-on-one battles, even though he is a shorter player. He just has a relentlessness to his game. And I understand why the Canucks would consider him such an important player that they'd give him this contract because he might represent the style of play that

they're going to have to play in order to remain competitive. Like every puck is competed for and it's not like, well, it's the playoffs or it's a big game. Let's really start checking. not like, well, it's the playoffs or it's a big game. Let's really start checking. That might have to be their identity as a team.

And yeah, you hope for high level play from skaters like Quinn Hughes and Ilyas Pedersen. But overall, you know, maybe it's just a team where they come together as a group, perhaps like they did in Abbotsford and they say, listen guys, if we're going to be successful in this league, we can't match the depth that Florida has and we can't match the top end talent that Edmonton has, especially upfront.

But what we can do is just work, and prove all these critics wrong. And Connor Garland, they called him a core player. Yeah, I was pretty telling on that. I think that was really telling. Because the leadership group still has to present itself. Because we know Quinn Hughes is going to be the captain,

but we don't really know who's going to wear the A's on a regular basis. I think Garland wore the A a couple times last season. I think Garland should absolutely be in the leadership group. Yeah, yeah, and I think he should wear a letter regularly. Now, I think Pedersen is still going to wear a letter,

because I think they'd be crazy to take it away from him. That would be a letter regularly. Now I think Pedersen is still going to wear a letter because I think they'd be crazy to take it away from him. That would be a tough look. They need to start being encouraging to Pedersen. The criticism is hopefully in the past and they need to build them back up and you wouldn't want to take the A away from him. Unless he wanted that. Maybe he's just like, I don't want to, you know. I don't want anything like that.

I just want to do my thing, but I don't think that's going to happen either. I think Tyler Myers should wear an A and probably Connor Garland and then like, I don't know who else. Okay. Maybe that's their leadership group. So Garland, as we look back on his tenure and really what he means to the organization.

I think the other important point to bring up here is what the organization means to Connor Garland. When the Canucks talked about wanting to bring guys in that wanted to be in Vancouver, and I think importantly keep guys that wanted to be in Vancouver, brackets, what about Brock Besser? This is an important thing to consider is that Garland's entire NHL trajectory, arc and success story, I know he had some decent to good years in Arizona,

that's where you gotta start, but let's be real here. The Canucks have given him life altering money over the course of two contracts. Between the 24 million he made on his first deal and the 36 he's going to make on this upcoming one. The Canucks have paid Connor Garland 60 million dollars. That is fundamentally life changing money and an investment from an organization in a guy that was a fifth round pick and broke into the league at five foot eight and hasn't grown since. Like he's a very, very diminutive player and the odds are often stacked against those guys when they get drafted as late as he's earned the money. It's not like they've given him this money and like, I'm not saying that he

hasn't earned it. What I'm saying is that sometimes there is a symbiotic relationship where the player works his tail off and commits everything he can to the organization and the organization rewards them and it doesn't become one of those things where one side's always looking to get something over on the other side or the player has to take a haircut to be somewhere or the organization has to try and screw over the player. Sometimes it does click and there's some real chemistry there where the player shows out and balls out and is a great contributor and they're rewarded justly.

And I think that's, you know, it doesn't happen a lot. Sometimes it does. Oftentimes it doesn't. But here it has. You know, Garland is being rewarded for a lot of different things, but one of them is being a culture driver and carrier for the organization at time where they're really floundering. Yeah, he was there. I think he was like at times that the heartbeat of the team last year, especially when the sure he was, he was their best play driving forward, especially when the previous heartbeat of the team got traded to the Rangers. It was surgically removed and then sent to New York, right?

Because Miller was that guy for a long time. And there's a void there. There is a void there. And it's tough to step up and do it. And sometimes you have to do it not with your words, but with your play. And Garland was like, you know what? I am going to show up every night and I'm going to drive and I'm going to drive and I'm going to drive.

And from where he came earlier in his Canucks tenure, where there was a lot of people that were like, they need to move on from this, this was a failed experiment, it's a tough thing, right? It's a tough thing to do. It's a tough thing to silence the critics and block out the noise and just say, no, I'm here. These guys made an investment in me

and I'm gonna return dime for dime, dollar for dollar on that investment. And he's rewarded with six years and 36 million. He is gonna join us on the other side of the break. Connor Garland, we were just able to lock that in about a half hour ago. Two members of the Vancouver Canucks got contract extensions today in case you missed it.

Thatcher Demko, a three year deal with an $8.5 million AAV. And Connor Garland, a six year deal with a $6 million AAV. Connor Garland is gonna join us next on the Halford & Breff Show on Sportsnet 650.