Halford & Brough in the Morning - Hoagie Out, Gally In

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they chat the Nils Hoglander trade, which lead into the Brendan Gallagher acquisition (3:00), plus they discuss the latest NHL news with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (28:58).  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.

You're listening to Halford and I'm coming to Vancouver with the expectations that, you know, I have a job to do, and I plan on doing that. I think Hoggy's a heck of a person, heck of a player, and he's going to get a great opportunity there in Nashville. I'm singing about to Hoggy. Good morning, Vancouver, 601 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

It is Halpert. it is brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and Beautiful Mount Pleasant in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adah, good morning to you. Good morning.

Liddy, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Albert and Brubb in the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Their clients often say, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. If Dead is weighing you down, click sands dash trustee.com. For more, we are an hour one of the program. Hour 1 is brought to by North Star, metal recycling. Vancouver's premier metal

recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal recycling, they recycle you get paid. Visit the 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to live from the Kintech studio. Step Strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintech. If you want to text into the show today, the Dunbar Lumber

text line is 650, 650 trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. Let's begin with the Duick Morning Drive. It is our duik guest list brought to by the Duick Auto Group.

It begins at 6.30 this morning. Greg Wischinski's going to join the program from ESPN. Happy Free Agency Eve, everybody. It's been a busy, busy lead up to July 1. We will run through all the big stories across the league with Wish at 630. 7 o'clock, Brendan Bachelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks. We'll join busy day yesterday for the Canucks, as you heard in the intro. Nils Hoaglander gone on his way to Nashville.

Brendan Gallagher in from Montreal. Lots of other Canucks stuff to go over as well with batch at 7 o'clock. 7.30, Jason. Amar Domen's going to join the program, owner of the BC Lions. Yeah. 0 and 3 start. Just fired their special teams coordinator. Yeah, the special teams coordinator was the sacrificial lamb it looks like.

Surely to shake up the crew. Lions are in a tough spot to start their season, right in the middle of touchdown, Kelowna. So we'll get into that and a whole bunch more with BC Lions owner, Amar Domain. at 7.30. 8 o'clock Eric Engels, Habs reporter from Sportsnet. We'll look back on Brandon Gallagher's 14-year career in Montreal with a guy who is there to cover the majority of it. That's also been a relatively quiet offseason for the HABS thus far, but we can get into.

I'm actually curious to see what Habs fans are thinking right now about a team that made a pretty good run in the playoffs, but needs more on that team. What's the level of patience there with Kent Hughes? So we can ask Eric Engels about all that at 8 o'clock. So we got a lot to get into. got a big show ahead. Without further ado, Laddie, to tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I'm... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? Whoa! What happened is brought to you by? ATS traffic.

Start with a career path in traffic safety. Receive competitive wages and training at one of Canada's best managed companies. Visit them online at ATSTRAF.C.a. Let's begin with the Vancouver Canucks. pair of trades yesterday. As I understand it, one of them happened right as we were going off air yesterday. And then another consummated shortly after we ended the show. Yeah. Hoglender was traded near the end of the show. And then the Gallagher acquisition was announced right after we'd wrapped up. It is obviously not a coincidence that the deals were done in that order. A forward and his salary out. A forward and his salary in. Before we talk about Breastard,

to Gallagher because I do want to talk about him. This budget conscious approach by the Canucks might take some getting used to. For years, the Canucks operated right up against the salary cap because they were trying to make the playoffs. And also a lot of teams were up against the cap during the flat cap era. But the Canucks predated that. That's no longer the case. And with playoff revenue almost guaranteed to be absent over the next.

next few seasons, the team is very clearly going to be operating on a budget. And I know there was a lot of discussion about this on social media yesterday. But I think the Canucks are more likely to grapple with the salary floor than the ceiling over the next couple of seasons. Now, some people will say that's fine and only natural in a rebuild. Others will argue that it will only make the rebuild harder. Those people can argue all they want and I'm sure they will, probably on Drenz's show. But that is not going to change the reality that the Canucks are going to be on a budget. The Canucks are not going to be free spending, sometimes to their own detriment,

sure, like they used to do. if anyone has any thoughts on that text into the Dunbar Lumber text line at 650 650 do you fall in the camp of well it's only a natural it's a rebuild or do you fall into the camp of uh this is a problem this is going to make the rebuild even harder if you're not going to go out there and try and like essentially buy futures by you know I mean the easiest way to do is like you give a a guy a contract in free agency with the basically the expectation that you're going to sell them at the deadline. Yeah, right?

Yeah, yeah. Or whatever. You take on a bad contract, not that so many teams are up against the cap, but they still don't want to have bad contracts. You take that contract on for a sweetener, right? Like those are those opportunities are still going to be there. And I also think, I also think that it's only going to take like a year or two for some of these teams to be right up against the camp again.

Sure. Like, we're just like, oh, yeah, we spent, spent all. the space. Any thoughts on that? You've seen these deals that have been going down. Eventually, someone's going to go over the top and they're going to have a deal that's going to make it way too onerous and they're going to be up against the cap. A really funny text came through when you were explaining that from Leaf

with a really simple question. Are we poor now? So no. Relatively speaking, I... Okay. Let's put us in real life context here. You know, are not poor, but frugal. We have the money. We just won't spend the money. You know how sometimes we're not going out for dinner much.

I tell you that much. You know how sometimes in your life you've, you've tightened the belt a little bit, and you're making decisions where you're not going to spend a couple extra dollars. You know, things are a little tight right now. We're trying to save up for that vacation. I don't really know how that would hurt the rebuild, except for maybe the sweetener thing, but I don't know, I don't really see it as a bad thing so much, at least not at this point. If there was an opportunity where spending money and being overzealous with your cash would allow you to do something,

and you don't do it because you've got a certain budget that you're working with him, that would be the only time, I would say. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's great. Yeah. I don't think it's great. Conceptually speaking, I don't think you want anything to inhibit the rebuild, right? Like, you would basically say, you've got a blank slate. And if you want to use the building analogy, like I'm starting from the ground up.

Yeah. You give your contractor an unlimited budget to work with, right? Yeah, you can tear everything down. But when you're building it up, whatever it costs to do the process you want to do, go ahead and do it. I just think about all these terrible contracts that give players on July 1 historically. So I mean, if they don't do that anymore, that helps the rebuild. So maybe that's the upside of it. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. They spent their way into problems a lot. Okay, let's talk about Brendan Gallagher, because we've got years and years to discuss the spending ways and the rebuild of the Vancouver Canucks.

Years, everybody. Years. Off the ice spending is going to be worth monitoring as well. This Brendan Gallagher acquisition has seemed like, a possibility ever since Brendan Gallagher got healthy scratched in Montreal. And I think as soon as that happened, you and I were like, the Canucks should get him.

And we weren't alone. I mean, we're going to talk to Eric Engels and he's been thinking about it for a while too. In Gallagher, the Canucks get a great role model for all the young players that will make up the roster next season. Now, Galley only has a year left on his deal,

so I don't know how long he's going to be a member of the Vancouver Canucks. He could even get traded at the deadline. I love how your answer kicked off the RJ's. Did you watch the scrum? I know exactly what you're talking about. He kicked off RJ's scrum with a question that was kind of budget related. And then also his second question to RJ was like, can you trade him at the deadline? And you can see RJ's face who's like,

We just got him. We just got this guy. He's been to connect for 12 minutes. Who let this guy ask questions first? Why don't we get one of the easier reporters who's like, tell us what you got with Brendan Gallagher. Anyway, here is, love you, Jancer. Here is RJ on Brendan Gallagher. Very great.

You hear me talk a lot about professionalism and quality of teammate. I mean, is there anybody that checks the. box more than this guy. So my discussion with him this morning, he is ecstatic. We are over the moon to have him. He's talking about just doing anything he can to help where we are at and help us grow. And I think the common word he kept on using was built. And that's what we're doing here, is trying to build something, an environment that is strong and that is sustainable. And he's going to be a massive piece of that. Okay, I'm really excited to have Brendan Gallagher on the team just to hear about his experiences.

And, you know, I always felt it was unfortunate that the Canucks never drafted Brendan Gallagher. I know it's not like they're like, it's between this first rounder and Brendan Gallagher. Like, he went pretty late in the draft. And he was right in the Canucks backyard. He had to work on his game a lot when he got to much. There was a lot of people that obviously saw his size and said, man, he's not big enough. But he had to improve his skating a lot in Montreal. And, you know, I think, I think the way this trade went down from a Montreal perspective showed how much respect they have for Brendan Gallagher.

And they really did want to do right by him. Because, you know, if you were, you know, truly, you know, like a heartless franchise, you've been like, all right, we're going to bury you in the H. Sure. I mean, they made him an honorary citizen of Montreal last week. He's beloved there. And I think that's very well established, although we will get into that with Eric Angles later in the show. I really hope that this works out. I know it's kind of a low stakes move for everybody involved because the Canucks don't have any aspirations of being good. Gallagher's coming in with the knowledge that he's there to mentor and provide leadership and not really do a ton on the ice. But with these early days of the rebuild, like, and I hate, I don't want to be, I don't want to sound negative, but the reality of it is, is there's going to be some super tough times, especially this year, I think. Mm-hmm. Like, it seems going to be categorically bad. And it's not like Gallagher can or is even supposed to lift them out of it.

He's there, basically, to just make sure the ship doesn't take on too much water and sink and kind of keep a lot of the young guys' heads above water. He's, he's there to come to the rink with a positive attitude. Sure. Every day. And that is going to be something worth monitoring. That's a good point. Because the Canucks are going to be, unless there's a miracle, they're going to be bad.

They're going to lose a lot of games. And I think one of the things that bothered me over the last few years is, and this is partly human nature, but let me talk about it. When the team was going well, the rare occasions, when the team was going well, these guys were great guys. They're always in a good mood, you know? but when they went through like the first sign of adversity or things aren't going well they just became miserable and mopey and they didn't have a good attitude now is it difficult to do that to have a good attitude when you're losing and to come in and be positive and try and lift guys up yeah it is i wouldn't be good at it i'd be terrible at it i'd be like this team sucks

I want to get out of here. Please leave me alone. But, you know, this is why you get guys with good attitudes with Brandon Gallagher. And this is why they are focusing on drafting character guys that want to be in Vancouver, that know the challenge and are saying, okay, I want to be part of this challenge. I think I can help. And that's what Brendan Gallagher essentially said, you know, and to Ryan Johnson, who passed it along, he said, anything I can do to help build this thing, I can do it.

And RJ was like, all right, well, here's a hammer and some nails. We need a practice facility, so get out there. Galley, 89 games from 1,000 in his career. He need a second year to do it, but do you foresee him getting there? It's a little early. Dran's traded him yesterday as far as I understand it. That might be tough. Not with Vancouver.

Yeah. Well, think how bad the culture's been over the last few years. Like, we need more guys like this, just more good culture guys. A lot of good culture guys. But it's easy to say this in, like, it's June 30th. Exactly. There are going to, again, I know I'm being a downer, but there are going to be some really tough times

where it's hard for anyone to go to the rink, especially when you've had the level of success that Gallagher has. And he's just fresh up. I know he didn't play at the time of the playoffs. Imagine he comes in and becomes a problem. Yeah. Didn't see that coming. Wow.

Losers here. Oh, by the way, can we play the audio of Gallagher talking about what he learned during a rebuild? Because he went through all of this many moons ago in the early day. of his Montreal career, saw it through it, and then, of course, now seeing the end of it now. Here's Brendan Gallagher on what he learned during a rebuild. Yeah, I think you just need people that are good people

and want to be around and are willing to go through tough battles together. And that's just a situation where, you know, you got to build that culture from day one, and that starts early on. You have to have the right people around. You have to be willing to really struggle and embrace the struggle. And then when you come through it on the other side, you're so much stronger for it.

Yeah, obviously we went through that and hearing Montreal. It didn't take as long as people thought because I thought we, you know, guys bought in, guys all bought into what the message was going to be and we were able to expedite it a little bit. You know, it helps me have a lot of talent, but I think the work ethic and the buy-in was from day one was the most important thing. Do we spare a thought for the Nils Hoaglander part of this? Are we moving along now?

No, no, no, for sure. I think at the end of the day, Nils Houglander never really cemented a role in Vancouver. And he never found a coach that really believed in him. Hopefully he can find all that in Nashville. But how many times when we talked about Nils Hoglender, we'd be like, what is he exactly? 36 times.

So many times. And it really never had. helped him that he didn't kill penalties and he wasn't on the power play. And RJ was talking about this. Actually, we can play the audio of RJ on trading Hoaglander, but, you know, they are trying to define roles on this team. And one of the things that if I had actually cared to look into the Kinnock season, as opposed to just being like, this team is bad.

When is this season over? Last season was... Maybe the Halford approach. the insanity of some of the guys that were out there killing penalties. Like, why is Brock Besser killing penalties? Why is he like the first guy over the boards? It was such a badly built and badly constructed teams. Yeah, they had injuries.

But like, there's a reason Johnson is coming in here and going like, yeah, we got to have some roles for guys. You can't just be like, hey, who wants to penalty kill? I noticed none of you are putting your hands up. So, Brock, you get out there and kill some penalties. Don't maybe ask again. That was one of the wildest things about last season was Brock Besser and all the penalties he was killing. Here's RJ on trading Hoaglander.

Yeah, obviously I'm looking, looking at everything. I've been very diligent in making sure I want to get role definition into this hockey team. I had a really good discussion with Hagi about a different opportunity based on what maybe I felt would have been missing for him here in a role and a true identity that is only fair for him to have. So in these moves, I think out of the gates, we've got more of an identity to our group. And I think Hagi is a heck of a person, a heck of a player, and he's going to get a great opportunity. there in Nashville, but I felt this just gave us a little bit more definition and role identity that I'm seeking to have here and something that'll continue to work on in the next few days and what I'm able to, able to or not able to do. We will see, but it's something that's been

important to me looking at our group. I mean, he's, he's going to have to address that more over the next few days. He said whether I'm able to do it, I don't know. But the way teams are built is you do want to have everyone on the roster having a specific role and being proud of that role. Are you a power play one guy? All right. Well, you got to score then.

Are you a penalty killer? Then get together with the other penalty killers and figure out a way. to make your unit good, right? Are you a fourth line energy line? Okay, well, what are you trying to accomplish? What are your goals for the season? Hits, not getting scored on, being able to go out there and wear down some of the other defensemen.

What are your goals? Everyone's got to have a role. And you know the other thing that kind of bugged me about the connects just taking flyers on like, this guy who's a failed first round draft pick? Maybe he can find a spot in Vancouver. It'd be like, you'd come in here and you'd be like, well, what do you do?

Nothing in particular. What are you going to? Largely in the National Hockey League. I've really figured out exactly what my thing is yet. I don't have a niche and I don't have a role. And Manny Mahhotra and Ryan Johnson, come to think of it, are great examples of guys that found their roles in the NHL. I am.

Mani Mahaltrow especially, he was a top 10 pick. And then, you know, It didn't really have the offensive game to be a top six player. So what did he do? He became absolute face-off whiz. Do you remember when the Canucks P.K. Had him out there was almost guaranteed that he'd win the face-off and it would go down the ice. He won 100% of his draw.

That's honestly how I remember it. And, you know, they're not going to resign Blugher. And he was a good penalty killer. so I'm looking at the four maybe that's if I'm Atu Ratu and Ratu's still going to be with the team like that's my thing Yeah and I'm going to learn out of kill penalties you know Yeah I'm not going to be like take the penalty

Take the face off and run off the ice for someone else to come on there Does the galley kill penalties? Yeah I think I think you bring up a good point too though Is that you've got a general manager and a head coach who forged roles for themselves in the NHL after getting there and I do think that part of Especially this year if we're going to really boil it down to in particular the penalty kill this is a learning opportunity year. And if you want to look at a glass half full, you can tell guys, this is your opportunity

to find and forge that role for yourself in the National Hockey League. We have... Or you'll be gone, like Holglander. Yeah. I think Johnson was probably just looking at Houglander, like the rest of us, and what do you do here? Where can you help and where can you be reliable? Sorry, I cut you off.

No, it's fine. Welcome back. Yeah, we should probably get into the other big story non-hockey division from yesterday and that of course was that Canada did find out who they will play in the round of 16 on Saturday when they and again I still can't believe I'm saying these words out loud playing their second knockout match at a World Cup in Houston. Morocco beat the Netherlands in a penalty shootout after the match went one-one yesterday to advance to the round of 16. So it's a rematch of the 2022 group stage in Qatar where Canada lost to Morocco in the final group stage match. Honestly, it's the match of the last World Cup.

that the Canadians probably remember the least because they had been eliminated at that time. It came after that very disappointing loss to Croatia. And they actually were able to score their second goal ever in World Cup history in that match. Unfortunately, it was credited as an own goal. Although the white cap Sam at Akube had a lot to do with getting that ball in the back of the net.

I mean, this is, it was hilarious watching the match yesterday because in the round of 32, this was the matchup of the two highest ranked teams combined of any of the round of 32 matches. Six and seven in the world. So for Canada... Six, seven. No matter who you got in this game,

you knew it was going to be a super tall order. You couldn't really cheer for anyone in that match. Were you surprised how good Morocco was? No. Were you surprised how not so good the Dutch were? I was surprised how conservative the Dutch were. It almost felt at times like the Dutch were aiming to contain Morocco. Yeah.

And there was two teams that, for the most part, were on equal footing. and I thought that, and I don't think, I think everyone kind of agreed, in terms of attacking flair and individual talent, the Dutch had more. The Moroccans have unbelievable defensive players, unbelievable defending. And it's going to be incredibly difficult for Canada to break them down. Now, this is to take nothing away from, you know, guys like Saibari

and Brian Diaz and everyone else that can really generate a lot of chances and big chances for the Moroccans. But they are very stout and very resolute defense. And we've seen that. Some of the high-powered attacks they've gone up against. They drew with Brazil. They took the Dutch to 120 minutes and only allowed the one goal and really limited the chances. If you were to ask the question of someone and that someone knew what they were talking about and you were to say,

who is the new power in world soccer on the men's side? Morocco would be right at the top of that conversation. Because 15, 20, even like 10 years ago, Morocco was not a top 10. team in the world. Everyone was largely waiting and waiting some optimistically, some not. There was going to be one African country that was going to emerge as a

power and not like continentally. They were going to be in the top 10, top five end of major tournaments. And Morocco in Qatar jumped to the forefront of that conversation. Now, I don't know if you... I was reading up a little bit on it and

they had some very low moments, not too long ago. And they essentially said like all right we got to change something and they invested in an academy and they wanted to um and they you know they made them they did a bunch of stuff and and now they're finally seeing the fruits of those labors they found players everywhere they went through a rebuild yeah they did tore it down to the studs they tore it down to the studs uh they said listen culture's got a change here in morocco and uh they acquired the brenna galliger version in morocco it was great for them No, like, but their goalie was born in Montreal, by the way.

He moved when he was three. So that was the interesting, like, subplot to the whole thing. How dare he? I know. Anyway, this has been, like, such a great tournament for Africa. Nine of the 10 teams that qualified from Africa made the round of 32. And now you're seeing this Moroccan team in a very short window already, getting, like, really, really great performances of results against traditional powers, like the Dutch and the

Brazilians. It's going to be incredibly difficult for Canada. I think if there's ever a match where Marsh has to rethink his strategies and his tactics and how to go after a match, this would be the one. Because I'm just not sure that you're going to be able to make life uncomfortable for the Moroccans with your style of attack because I just think that they're more than equipped to deal with it. Like, Hakimi's probably the best right back in the world. And if not, he's in the top five for that. And they've got quality like that across the back. It'll be very interesting to see what Marsh does here.

Because there's also the house money element of all this too, right? Like I know I saw, you know, we chatted and texted back and forth after the win over South Africa. And you're like, I am content now. I am at peace. Canada has won a knockout match at the World Cup. Well, Jesse Marsh kind of suggests it. He said, we've got a free hit. Exactly.

You're not alone in that thing. Like, there's a lot of content in that camp right now that they've mission accomplished. that can either be a really good thing, but can also be a really bad thing because you are going up against a quality opponent. And let's be honest, a team that is of higher quality than Switzerland. And Canada had problems dealing with Switzerland.

And Morocco's like, they seem content. Let's score eight goals on them. Okay, we got a lot more to get into on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up on the other side, Greg Wischinski's going to join the program. It is Free Agency Day tomorrow, July 1. We will run through all the big stories across the league

with Wish coming up on the other side of the break. You're listening to the other side of the break. the Halford-in-Breff show on SportsNet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on SportsNet 650 or wherever you get your podcast. Happy Tuesday, everybody. I thought it was Monday because I thought it was a Monday for me.

For you. I also need to apologize to our dozens of listeners for the quality of my voice this morning. It's not great. What's wrong with it? Correction. It's not great normally. It's worse today. You can't see it because it's radio about Halfford smoking.

two cigarettes right now. Yeah, he's trying to get it better. I am in flavor country. You are listening to the Halford and Breff Show on Sports Night 650. Just got a power through, boys. Halford in Brough of the morning is brought to by Sands and Associates. Their clients often say, Halford, stop talking.

No, they say there is no judgment you feel cared for and understood. Get debt free at sands dash trustee.com. Still an hour one of the program. Greg Wosinski is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this program is brought to you by North Star. metal recycling. Banker's Premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal recycling,

they recycle you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the Able Auctions hotline. We go. Our next guest is our NHL insider from ESPN. It's Greg Wyshki here on the Halford & Breath Show on SportsNet 650. What up, Wish? How's it going? Jason, I hear you.

Did you invite your great aunt on the show who has been smoking since the 1930s? Yeah. Like, what are the Kinecks going to do? In my other life, I double as a full-time waitress at a 24-hour diner. It's the Myrtle and Brough Show. So, Wish, you've been doing this job for a long time now. Is this the worst free agency class you can ever remember?

First of all, what the hell is that supposed to mean? You're old. I'm a young puppet. No, you're not. You know, compared to like Bob McKenzie and Ken Campbell, I'm basically Matthew Schaefer. Listen, Bob retired. It's a terrible class. It's a tech.

He's never really retired. First of all, he's never really retired. You know that we're all going to be watching the TV tomorrow. And then Bob's going to be like, hey, by the way, Nico Heeshire for Nick Suzuki. We're like, oh, cool. It's a terrible class. Like I read did the free agent board last night for ESPN. And, you know, I was going over the names that have come off the board already. And like, I honestly didn't think I'd be wistful for, for, for,

Michael McCarron, but here we are, right? Like, I mean, that's all of the, some of the very sort of interesting names, your Bobby McMan's and others are off the board. And then obviously the two guys that we all identified as being the premium guys at their positions, Alex Tuck and Darren Radish, are off the board. And just the fact that Alex Tuck and Darren Radish were the premium guys at their positions, I think speaks volumes about how this free agent pool is really, a puddle. But again, you know, there's a lot of reasons why this has been an insanely

fun summer so far for, you know, a hockey off season. And one of them is that the UFA class stinks. And the other one is that teams have oodles of cap space to spend and they don't want to necessarily spend it on a UFA class that stinks. Who would you say is the top get on the list? I mean, for lack of better options, I would imagine it's John Carlson, right? I mean, you know, it does sound as if, you know, the hurricanes are grinding out something with him now. You know, they obviously traded for his negotiating rights. He obviously wants to move back east after playing for the ducks after that trade last year at the Capitol. So by default, I'd say it's him only because I think that he's one of the few guys that you can honestly say could be a top pairing defenseman or, you know, a top line forward.

You know, there's some interesting names here and there. you know, a guy like, for example, Matt Zuccarello, you know, going to uninterricted free agency was something that I think a lot of us were wondering if it would happen because he's had such great chemistry with cold Caprisoff. But the idea that it might happen is intriguing if you're a team that's looking for that kind of complementary forward in your top six. So, I mean, there's going to be some interesting names out there. And then what we have to do is sort of adjust our own perceptions of what contract should look like

in 2026 because one, they're going to be astronomical due to the lack of depth in the pool. And two, they're going to be astronomical just because all contracts are going to be a few million dollars higher than they've been because of the cap. So we're sitting here in Vancouver in waiting mode, essentially. I know the Canucks did make a deal yesterday. However, I made two deals. They brought in Brandon Gallagher and they traded out Nils Hoaglander. But there are still players like Elias Pedersen, Jake DeBrusk, and Brock. Besser that we've heard could be available and we're wondering when those deals might happen

because, you know, typically it's all right, well, wait until after a free agency and then people look at their what they need and maybe they'll consider those guys then. But I'm almost wondering if it might even be later after Jason Robertson situation gets worked out or after Dylan Larkin's situation gets worked out. And I'm not sure how long it's going to take on those fronts. It could take a while. First of all, please refer to him by his full name, Brock Besser, comma, the American who chose Canada.

Right. Swimming against the tide of everybody leaving the Great White North to come back and play in like Minnesota. He is the man who chose Canada. So I think there's two names. that are sort of the dominoes that everyone is waiting to fall, and then we'll all figure it out after that. One is Robertson, obviously, because, you know, you think of a guy like Jake DeBrusk, for example,

he would be someone that you would expect would end up with a team that maybe misses out on Robertson if, in fact, he, you know, does get moved. And then, you know, the other name, obviously is Connor Hellebuck, which, you know, depending on who you talk to is, you know, somebody that people expect to move or, you know, in my, the last time I checked in on it, Kevin Shevoldeoff was sort of in the mode of listening intently, but not necessarily getting down to here is what we need to make this happen. And that was about a week ago. So that was

before the draft. So things could have changed since then. But, you know, we kind of have to get clarity on potentially the biggest, you know, free agent winger available and, and, I mean, not free agent, but the biggest winger available via trade. And then the same with the goaltender that a few teams are chasing. And then after that, we should get some clarity on some of the other names that are being bandied about. So how do you see the Robertson situation ending up? I would say, man, like, I know Pierre LeBron sort of hinted at it yesterday in a tweet, but the longer this thing lingers and the more you think about my hard and fast rule about National Hockey League transactions,

which is that his stuff is there. The more you wonder whether they're going to be able to bridge this gap. I mean, I've reported they offered him the Rantaninan contract. I've heard that they might have gone above that, but not by all that much. We know what he's looking for. And, you know, I have to imagine that him and his agent, Andy Scott, have a good sense of what teams he'd like to go to and what those teams might be able to offer up contractually.

Now, you know, it could still be a situation where they find a trade partner for him. It could still be a situation where somebody swoops in with an offer sheet, which I don't think Dallas would necessarily, you know, cry about. But it also could be a situation where they find a middle ground. And, you know, you wonder exactly where they are on Jason Robertson. Like, is there a number where they're happy to keep them around? Are they wary about going too long on a contract with him because of aging? Who knows?

Yeah. But the longer this thing lingers, is you start to wonder whether or not he's just going to, you know, stop seeing the grass is greener somewhere else and do what every player in his situation usually does, which is just re-up with his team. Have you fully unpacked the ramifications of him turning down a billion dollars from the Seattle Cracken?

Yeah, the ramifications are the Cracken stink and nobody wants to play for them. I mean, like, you know, and I know we've talked about, you know, there's being a, you know, a millionaire tax in Washington State coming up to that probably doesn't help. But listen, you know, that's the problem with the Cracken is that they've, they've, they've, they've, they chose a pass over the last five seasons that has led to this moment where big ticket players don't want to sign there. And even if it means overpaying for them, even if it means they'll be the marquee face of the franchise.

Because what, what is that franchise? What is the direction? You know, where, where is the plan? You know, they, they, they, they didn't get the same benefit from the expansion draft. Vegas did. And then what they ended up doing was holding on to a bunch of B, B minus forwards for the last five years. You know, the Jaden Schwartz era should probably end during USA. But like, you know, at some point, they had to realize that the only way that you really contend in this league is to, is to be bad for a little bit and collect some high picks and go from there. And, you know, maybe, you know, maybe they were disgruntled because the Shane Wright thing hasn't necessarily worked out.

Maybe there's too much at stake for them in a new market where they can't automatically go into the tank like other expansion teams had done back in like the 90s in the early 2000s. But for whatever reason, why would Jason Robertson sign there? I mean, to what, be middling in a conference where he knows everyone's just going to beat the hell out of the Cracken for the next four to five years? Well, maybe not everyone. But some teams.

You know what I'm curious about? The situation in Colorado after the Nchuskin trade, I thought Joe Sackick might have something up his sleeve. They still might. I mean, you know, they've done only that. They're changing the composition of their bottom six a little bit with the Colton and Drew deals. And, you know, I think that they've probably identified

a few areas of need on that team that they can upgrade. But I also have wondered about sackick in the sense of like we all know why things turned out the way they did against Vegas I mean they they they get half the avalanche yeah and and the and the half that that was hurt is the good half and so you know I don't quite know how how much they'll overreact to that but obviously Joe is seen as a few places where this team can get better it's probably within their depth and and with the kushkin going out They probably have an idea of where they'd like to go to upgrade their top six as well.

So, you know, listen, it's funny. Like, he got bumped upstairs because they didn't want to lose McFarland. And then we all had to remember that, like, the jokes that we're making about Yarmalkechalainen right now and, like, why would you possibly deal with this man? He's winning so much. Or the jokes we used to make about Sackick, like, just don't trade with Joe Sackick. He will fleece you. And I think we might see that a little bit this summer. So Natchewskian goes to Columbus.

Columbus is a lot like Canada and that players do not want to play there. What's going to happen there? He goes to Columbus and he goes to Markankoff and they say, hey, we got this new shiny Russian for you. What do you say? And he's like, I don't want to be here no more. It's tough. I mean, and this is now, like you said, I mean, this is now a legacy. I mean, this is the franchise, outside of upsetting the lightning in the first round.

Yeah. Like, this is the franchise's legacy. It's Rick Nash wanting out. It's Jack Johnson wanting out. It's Jeff Carter wanting out. It's Panarin not wanting to resign. It's Dubois, on and on and on. Like, it is a constant stream of players that don't want to be there.

And it's a real bummer because I've long said that if this franchise ever had a sustained run of success, I think it's a market that would pop. It's a cool place to live. It's a college town. And the enthusiasm for this team would be off the charts if they were at all relevant, but they can't stay relevant for more than one season. And that's the real bummer of it all. So I don't know. Like I think in the Werenski case, there are definitely going to be trades on the table

where they can continue the forward momentum that they do have with a good collection of young players like Fantilli and others. But, I mean, at the same time, you're also losing a Norris trophy winner and a defense. who's led your team in scoring for multiple seasons, and it's hard to recover from that. We're speaking to Greg Wachinsky from ESPN here on the Halperin-Bref show on SportsNet 650. We had Aaron Portsline on the show last week. It was not long after the Mike Babcock hire,

so we wanted to get his thoughts on that, but we mentioned there was a lot to unpack there, to put it mildly. But with regards to Werenzki in particular, Aaron actually called it. He's like, you know, if your Norris-Calibur defenseman is contemplating a trade. Maybe you put that on the front burner as an issue you want to deal with and not say we'll deal with this after the draft. And then lo and behold, they decided they had to

expedite the process. So are we just going to assume that this is going to get done and he won't be a blue jacket by the start of next season? I wouldn't, I wouldn't say it's a guarantee that he won't be a blue jacket. I mean, he's got, he's doing this so early with multiple years left on his contract that if you remember the Rick Nash situation playing out, like Scott Housen held on the Nash for a little bit longer than you'd expect for a guy that clearly didn't want to be there anymore. And so, listen, I think in the case of him and the, in the case of Dylan Larkin, in both situations, he probably don't want to put a guy back in the room that clearly doesn't want to be there anymore. But, you know, I think that this is one, and we always talk about this when a player of the caliber goes to the trade blocks,

but like this is one that can't screw up. and so he's going to hold on to him as long as he possibly can until he gets the return that he wants for him. And if that means that it lingers beyond, you know, Wednesday, if it lingers into, you know, September, if lingers even longer than that, then that might be the case. But, you know, listen, it has endlessly amused me

to see articles about, like, who could use Zach Warranty? I don't know. Let's see, like, he won the Norris trophy. I would probably say everyone and then also the KHL, the entire KHL, Torpedo. All those teams could probably use them too. My Men's League team is looking to upgrade on the back end as well. The other thing that amuses me is like, here's the package that Calgary can give up for him.

And I'm like, the man has a full no move clause. Why would he go anywhere? But like the three teams that he probably wants to go to. So I don't know. It's a tough situation. I think what's interesting about him and Larkin, and maybe a lesser extent, Robertson, is that there are clearly some teams that are the desirous places to go.

But those teams don't necessarily have the assets to pull off these trades. Like, how the hell is Florida going to leverage Hellebuck? You know, if Tampa wants Horensky, what are they going to give up? Because none of these teams actually want to give up anything off their rosters because then they're requiring a player to come to play for a team that might not be good anymore. So it's like it's a real chicken to the egg kind of thing for I think these contenders that these players certainly want to play for. I bet we've talked about this before. But with all this talk about no move clauses and no trade clauses and all the guys that have them,

I know the NHL and the NHLP have already agreed on a four-year extension to the CBA, but is there any appetite to limit no move clauses or no trade clauses going forward? I don't know, but here's a handy way that you could do it without having to open up the CBA. You stop giving them out. Yeah. That's it. Like your logic wish. Wish is suggesting collusion.

Okay. Yeah, well, it's not collusion. It's simply just teams stop giving them out. And again, like, the thing about it is that if you don't give it out, then you run the risk of losing that player to, a team that will give it out. But, you know, what is a no trade clause? What is no move clause? It's an enticement to give a player security, true,

except now we know that it's not security because the player could just come to you two or three years into a contract and be like, I don't want to be here anymore. Also, I can control where I go. So there's almost an incentive now for teams not to give them out. Because I was talking to an agent about this last week.

It really has flipped. It used to be about security for players so a team can't screw them. But now it's about security for the players so they can screw their team when they decide that they don't want to be there anymore and then they can direct where they want to go. They're coming to teams and this is like obviously something that we've seen several times since Matthew Kachuk did it as an RFA. They're coming to teams and being like, I'm not going to stay here.

So you're going to have to figure out what to do with that. And in the examples that we've had since Kachuk, it's usually players that have term and that have trade protection. And now they're able to not only say, hey, I'm not going to be here, you better do something about it, but also I'm going to pick where I want to go. So there should be incentive for teams not to do this anymore to simply pay the extra few million dollars that is usually then, you know, like shaved off the top to give somebody a no trade. But again, these guys will never learn their lessons. And they'll continue to do this nonsense and put themselves behind the eight ball every single time. Yeah, we were joking earlier, like, how long is it going to take before?

for a bunch of teams are up against the cap again. Like there's like a year or two. Maybe two. And, you know, there won't be as many teams up against the cap. But I wonder if a lot of these no move clauses and no trade clauses were partly a result of the flat cap years where it's kind of like, all right, we don't have room and we can't pay you like we would under normal times. So I don't know. Here, middle six winger is your full no move. clause or you're no trade clause?

It may be or it may not be because a lot of these predate that. And a lot of these are simply because it's now coin to the realm for these guys to expect to get some level of trade production if they don't go to market or if they sign a long-term deal. It's kind of just assumed now. It's part of the culture.

And, you know, listen, if I was a GM, I have no problem giving out trade protection to players that I think deserve it or that I don't intend on moving. But like, here, I'll use the devil as an example. Jonathan Kovicevich has a full no trade clause. Now, I haven't talked to Sunny Mata, I don't think, since he got hired.

So I would love to know how many irons in the fire have gone cold because a guy like Jonathan Kovicevich can say no to a trade. You know what I mean? Like, you be smart about it. If you go to Puckpedia and you see a bunch of little anchors next to guys who are playing in your, you know, bottom six or on your third pairing, then you're doing it wrong. That's the bottom line. And you're putting yourself behind the eight ball and it's going to be really hard to reshape your roster by doing that. So I'm not saying don't give them out.

You have to give them out in some cases in order to entice high-end players to be part of your roster. But if you're going to give them out, like, you know, samples a. food court Chinese doll, then you're going to just continue to screw yourself. Wish, this was awesome, buddy. Thank you. You're not eating those, are you? I wouldn't do that. If it has

a toothpick in it, it's fine. It means no one's touch it. It's very sanitary. Wish. Yeah, thanks for this, buddy. We appreciate it. Any time. Greg Wischinsky from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough show on SportsNet 650. Speaking of this show, the Duick Auto

Group is the official automotive sponsor of Halford & Brough. Find out why no who beats a Duick deal and why nobody has since 1926. Visit Duick GM on Marine Drive. Visit them downtown. Visit them in Richmond. Visit them online at the duik Auto Group.com. Coming up on the other side of the break,

Brandon Batchelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks is going to join us. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.