Halford & Brough in the Morning - Let Allvin Cook

Episode Date: June 27, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason chat the latest baseball and movie news with MLB Network & Cinephile Podcast's Adnan Virk (3:00), plus they chat a busy day of moves yesterday for the Canucks with The Athletic Vancouver & Canucks Talk host Thomas Drance (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

It's time to chat with Adnan, it's Adnan Berkey's on the show We're gonna talk some baseball and take a trip to the silver screen That's right, it's time for Redman. Yes, and then Berkey joins us now. We'll head out to the ballgame and talk about all the films he's seen.

7.04 on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer.

Meticulously brewed for quality and taste, Primetime is full flavor without compromise. You can get some at a liquor store near you, or you can visit the brewery to see how it's made. I swear to God, your time announcements are getting louder and louder every day. I have to bring his levels down every time. Just say it's 7.04. No, all you have to bring energy someone has to bring

energy to this show uh second thing i i now i will openly i used to deny it i was a loud voice denier but you're such a loud guy i've got a loud as someone who controls your microphone you are a loud voice god who what do you mean you how did you deny it uh because i just didn't want to come to grips with the fact that... Because you're constantly defensive about any criticism? Right. And then... It's like you reached the voicemail box of... Mike Halford!

You're like Dillon sticking around. All my 90s kids will get that. My mother, who watches television on volume 83, on one that only goes up to 70... This one goes to 11. She said to me the other day, she's like, oh, you're talking really loud.

I'm like, okay, if you think, if this is loud by your ears, there may be a problem. So I'm going to not address it like in an effective way or a profound way. I'll just acknowledge it. We need to put like a muffler on you

or something. No, everything is fine. Imagine Halford being the DJ in like a jazz station. Yeah. It'd be amazing. Jarring. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio.

Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Before we get to Adnan. Kintec! Ryan Suter got bought out again. That is awesome. According to Jeff Merrick,

the Dallas Stars are buying out. It's not awesome for him. It kind of is. Has any player ever been bought out twice before? Is he the first? He's living the dream. I don't know. Buying out the remainder of Suter's contract.

One year remaining on Suter's deal. He needs to sign something else. The move will add $1.4 million on the Stars cap for the next two seasons. The Stars will save $1.4 million with the buyout. How many teams are still paying? Is Nashville still paying him? How many teams are paying Ryan Suter right now? No, no, no.

Just two. Minnesota and Dallas now. Okay, because he needs to sign somewhere. He needs to be the first guy to be paid by three different NHL teams at the same time. And then get bought out by that team. Right. Yeah. That'd be awesome.

Is he bad in the room or something? He's got a very particular personality. Oh, okay. I think that, you know, when Merrick talks about the sort of grumpy American players, I think he's one of them. Yeah. And there was a sense that him and Parise

needed to go from Minnesota because they sort of dominated the room while not necessarily dominating on the ice. We can ask Adnan about it. Sure, if he wants to take a stab at it. Joining us now every Thursday on the show, MLB Network Cinephile podcast, Adnan Virk here on the Halford & Ruff Show on Sportsnet 650.

Good morning, Adnan. Mike, Jason, great Great to with you guys. I'm back here in the great white North, back in the greater Toronto area, visiting my folks and to piggyback off Mike's point about a mom watching at a volume of 83. I find him not the point. And listen,

God love my mom. 74 still spry. Whatever I say, I have to say it twice. And it doesn't matter what volume it is. I could be screaming at her. I could be whispering, but it just,

it takes a second time to register. So we can all relate to these things, right? Yeah, you've never lived until you've heard America's Got Talent at just your deafening, deafening levels. There's loud. And then there's America's Got Talent loud. Think how painful American Idol was back in the day. You didn't hear William hung.

You didn't hear William hung at any level. Volume 83. It's a new kind of torture. You know what? Let's spare Adnan for having to break down the Ryan Suter contract situation. You're in Toronto. Let's talk about the Jays. They got a win last night, which is great.

But it feels like every time we have Adnan on the show, it's the same questions. You know, poking the Jays with a a stick when are you going to do something and it's another week of asking when are they going to do something because this is just it's not gone from bad to worse it was already pretty bad but it's just they're just spinning it feels like you're just spinning the tires in toronto yeah fellas i'm genuinely shocked that john snyder still has a job and again i i'm not you not calling for him to be fired, but this is a catastrophic disappointment, right? There's no other way to categorize it.

I was thinking about the biggest disappointments in baseball. Astros are on that list. Certainly the Cubs are on that list. The Jays are right there. I don't think anyone expected a team to be well under 500, seven games out of a final wildcard spot, whatever it may be. And as you mentioned, that losing streak, I mean, everything that could go wrong did

go wrong. They do finally win. Now they've got to deal with the Yankees, four-game set, Rogers Center. I hope to check out Marcus Stroman on a Friday night and check out the renovations, because clearly that's the only good thing about this Jays team. We're going to look back at 2024. You know what? The renovations were awesome.

They made the Rogers Center a much better place to go watch a baseball game. Everything else is a disappointment. So I'm surprised, like I said, Shiner's still hanging. Although in some ways it's refreshing, guys, because somebody is at play saying, well, it's not his fault. This is not the manager. It's the roster construction. And that deals a larger question of what does it have with Ross Atkins?

And I was just talking with our friends at the Fan 590 earlier this morning and I said that really to me is what's going to be interesting. As you said, Mike, what's going to happen this year? It doesn't feel like a whole lot. I think they realize they're not contenders so they will be sellers at the deadline. I think it's tough to pull off a massive swap like a Vladdy or Bo

type player, so it's more incremental moves. But they're going to continue down this path and have a, I don't know, 80-82 season or 75 win season to be very disappointing and i'm just going to say hey ross atkins you're the guy to be in charge and i think what he's going to say is hey it was one bad year you know 2020 we made the playoffs generally i built up a core that's good enough to be in the playoffs if not win a division because orioles and yankees are clearly better but like we're a good team we just just had a bad year. Give me another year. And really, if you look at the

flaw of what this Jays team is, they took apart a great offense. They sacrificed run scoring for run prevention. They traded Teoscar Hernandez, Eric Swanson from the Mariners, good set-up guy. Hasn't been good this season. Teoscar's had a great year with the Dodgers. They made that Varsha trade, which doesn't look as

bad now, I'll be honest. Varsha's still great defensively. He's having a better year offensively. Moreno's been down for the D-backs. Correale's been up and down. But that's what happened. Like, that's, in a nutshell, that's what the Jays did wrong. They had a great offense. And then, how do you, do you really think that Ross Atkins is going to be back next season?

I can't fathom. The team is under achieved based on expectations for this window that they'd have and i'm not just talking about this season like this this team yeah even the years they made the playoffs like they always went out you know in you know very disappointing fashion you know they were an immature, and then they get rid of the home run jacket, and they're still an immature team. So they bring back the home run jacket. Like, I'm joking about that sort of stuff,

but it is kind of like, how could Ross Atkins convince anyone that he deserves to keep his job? I'm serious. I'm serious. I'm serious. It's time to just... I don't know. Go ahead. Sorry.

No, I love the passion. I love the cynicism. And you're right. If you look back at the totality of the Bowen-Vlad tenure, let's suppose one of those guys

gets traded to this offseason, which I think is a fairly decent chance that'll happen. So one of those guys goes, if you look back at the Ross-Atkins tenure and go, wow,

you had Bowen-Vlad and everyone thought this team would be destined to win, you know, how many division titles, World Series, and you got Bupkis, not even like the grand prize, but zero playoff series wins, zero playoff wins. Oh my God, that's definitely catastrophic. I'm simply pointing out what Ross Atkins will say to save his job. I don't think it'll be enough. I'm with you. I would go in a different direction, especially because this will be a massive tipping point this offseason. Think about it. They're not making the playoffs this year. We all know that. Again,

I do not believe they're going to make a massive blockbuster at the depth. So this offseason, you say to yourself, again, do we keep Vlad? Do we keep Bo? Or do we get rid of both? Now, and six months ago, everyone, I'm telling you, if I asked executives, people at MLB Network, they'd go, keep Bo. He's a hit leader, he's a batting champion,

plays a pretty good defense, etc. Now it's like, oh my god, Bo's been a disaster. The guy can't hit, he's been hurt. Vlad's the one who has diminished power but can still hit, and the impression of Vlad Jr. in Toronto or Canada versus everywhere else is much different.

It was so amusing that now Vlad is like, well, I'd be willing to play for New York if need be. Like, let's be clear, I'll be a Yankee. Because with Anthony Rizzo out, they go, wow, my God, we can get Vlad. Who cares if he doesn't hit home runs anymore? He can hit.305 and be a key offensive member along with Judge and Soto and Staten.

Like, that's ridiculous. So I'm with you, Jason. I think it has been a disappointing tender. There's no question about it. I'm just saying, if Atkins saves his job, the party line would be, I've built a team that's good enough to win. We just haven't won yet. But we will once I get some more back.

We're speaking to Adnan Virk from MLB Network here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So yesterday, Adnan, we were talking with B.C. Lions assistant head coach Ryan Phillips. He's a huge Seattle Mariners fan. So we were talking about the M's and how they're atop the division. And then he pointed out that the division isn't that strong this year. And part of the reason the division isn't that strong

is because the defending World Series champions, Texas Rangers, have been real bad this year. It's an underwhelming defense of their World Series. They're six games below.500. They're seven and a half games behind Seattle. What's gone wrong in Texas, and do the defending champs have enough to turn it around? I'm really skeptical right now.

Honestly, Mike, the main issue has been their starting pitching and how they've been undone by injuries. Virtually every member of that staff has been hurt at some point. They finally got Scherzer back. He was good in his first start. That's good news. But like horses, like Evaldi had been hurt. They're still waiting on DeGrom.

Obviously, Jordan Montgomery left. He was a World Series hero a season ago. So that hurt your starting staff. So it begins with starting pitching, much like their rival, the Houston Astros. They have not had their five starters out there ready to go on a consistent basis. Add to that, Seager's slump to the month of April has been great ever since. But the other guys haven't been particularly strong, notably Marcus Simeon. And a lot of their young guys you thought would take another big step have not, quite honestly. And Wyatt

Lankford was a guy who was great in spring, hasn't done anything yet at the big league level. So another cautionary tale of a rookie who tears it up in spring training. Everyone says, oh my God, rookie of the year candidate, and all of a sudden the season starts and he can't hit. So I think it starts with their pitching, but their offense has been lackluster. In the past, those Rangers teams who always knew they could outslug their opponents, that hasn't been the case this season.

Is there time to turn around? I suppose, because they will get those arms back. I mentioned Scherzer's back and DeGrom, they hope to get at some point. But it doesn't feel like a Texas Ranger type year. It feels like a Seattle Mariners year. So I think they win the division. I know Houston's been hot recently.

They're four and a half games out as of yesterday. So at least they're being competitive. But no, I mean, barring a massive trip, which I don't think Texas is in line to do. Because again, the trade deadline is going to be so bizarre, fellas. There's like 25 of 30 teams on the mix for a playoff spot. There's only like five really bad teams that you know are going to be sellers. Rockies, Marlins, etc.

So I think a lot of these teams, even if they wanted to add, there's no real dance partner who's willing to trade with them. So I think it's a down year for Texas and I think it'll continue. Right, because Young said yesterday when he met with the media,

like we're looking for a spark on offense, which is why they made some of the roster moves that they made. And then he sort of alluded to what you were talking about, the trade deadline. The problem is, is there's lots of teams in the mix and dance partners might be tough to

find. What's one team that you're looking at in particular, though, that might be really aggressive as we get closer to the trade deadline? Well, I think certainly the Marlins are a team, you know, Peter Bendix,

when he took over, this is his first year with the team. So, you know, these guys love nothing more than to discard everyone they can and then all of a sudden bring back assets they can. So the Marlins have had really good young pitching for a while. They could deal a couple of those arms if need be.

Alcantara is obviously their biggest piece, but he's out right now. Still recovering from Tommy John. But he'll deal Josh Bell. Maybe he'll deal Jazz Chisholm. You know, Jazz Chisholm is thought to be the next big thing. He's on the cover of MLB The Show. He's got a very affordable contract. So I think Jazz Chisholm is one of those guys who isn't healthy enough for me.

And I think he's a little overrated in relation to like his national profile because he's got a lot of swag and people know about it. But he's not, hasn't been great yet. But I think he could get dealt.

I think the Mets are really interesting because the Mets, you would have said for sure sellers a few weeks ago. And Pete Alonzo's a big bat. And speaking of the Mariners,

like, oh my God, if you get Alonzo to Seattle, yes, I know he doesn't hit for average. Yes, I know defensively he can be a bit lumbering. But my man's going to hit 40 home runs. There's no question about that when it comes to Pete Alonzo. So Seattle is always deficient when it comes to their offense

and power specifically. I said, go get Pete Alonzo, who's got a few months left in his contract. And knowing Stevie Cohen, if he wants to re-sign Pete Alonzo, he can with the Mets. He can still obviously train him for some assets. But the problem is the Mets have been a little bit better. And knowing Stevie Cohen, if he wants to re-sign Pete Alonso, he can with the Mets. He can still, obviously, train him for some assets. But the problem is the Mets have been

a little bit better. And again, the amount of parity right in the National League, you've got all these teams within like two games of the final wildcard spot. Even if you're around 500,

you're like, we go to a five-game winning streak, we get in the playoffs. Cardinals and Padres are still vulnerable as the five and six seed. So I think,

like I said, Marlins for sure, Rockies for sure. The other big one too, Mike, is the White Sox. The White Sox are going nowhere and they've got two big chips. Derek Crochet, who is a terrific starting pitcher, had a bad first month. He's been wiped out. Some comparisons to Chris Taylor with his delivery. And also Luis Robert. And Robert is a fascinating guy. He'll hit home runs, but he strikes out a lot and doesn't hit for average. Kind of sounds like Pete Alonzo, doesn't he? But a young player,

more athletic, affordable-ish contract, around $15 million, not terrible. So I think those are a couple of teams that are definitely going to be looking

to move their assets. Before we let you go, I did want to throw one thing away. So last week, sadly, Canadian acting icon Donald Sutherland passed away.

I don't know if we mentioned on the show, actually, or not. I'm like, who better mentioned him on the show, actually, or not. And I'm like, who better to ask this question of? What's your favorite Donald Sutherland movie? Yeah, first off, he's one of those guys in a very short list. And people say, who's the best actor never to be nominated for an Oscar? He's on that list, which is kind of shocking.

Donald Sutherland was never nominated for an Academy Award. He did it in getting the honorary Oscar, which I like to take a little was a gay Oscar. He got that in 2017, Life of Achievement. Hey, sir, you're 80 years old now. We probably should have given you one of these. But I would argue Ordinary People, which is a polarizing pick in some ways because Raging Bull is one of the greatest movies of all time, one of my favorite movies, and should have won Best Picture, and Marty should have won Best Director. But it doesn't discount the fact that it's still a really good movie. Robert Redford did a great job of it, and Sutherland plays the dad. And there's one scene, particularly at the kitchen table, which just floors you. So Donald Sutherland,

Ordinary People, as good as it gets. He's got a big movie, Backdraft. He's fantastic. He played a pyromaniac. What would you do with the world? Burn it all. Another one, I recently watched JFK a year ago. He's got one scene as Mr. X, and he is incredible. You walk into JFK and go, all right, for Kevin Costner, for Joe Pesci, for Tom Lee Jones, Sutherland is awesome as Mr. X. And one more for you, for all those who want something on TV, The Undoing, which was the Hugh Grant show. Nicole Kidman came on a couple years ago.

Sutherland plays the father who just honestly eviscerates this boarding school teacher. And one scene, you have to look it up. It came out a few years ago. It's episode four in which he talks about how he's just been dismantled, this guy. So the undoing on HBO, backdraft, obviously JFK, but the real answer is Ordinary People. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Adam. Can I throw that out there?

Also great. Listen, my man was not scared to go with some genre flex or some strange movies. It was all about it. He was so good in that. We should close. Listen, my man was not scared to go with some genre flex or some strange movies. It was all about it. He was so good in that. We should close. Oh, my God. We should close this love of baseball, too. He once spent $7,000 while overseas in Europe on a long-distance phone call trying to find out what was happening with the Expos.

So he had a friend that literally put the phone to the radio and listened to the Expos game. That's old school. No MLB app. There's no streaming service. You're on location in Europe working with Fellini going, I wonder what the Expos are doing today against the Mets. Let me just call my buddy and spend seven Gs and listen to the play-by-play. That's a hardcore fan.

I'm throwing out the Dirty Dozen. I know he didn't have a huge role in that, but he was pretty funny in that. Also, I was just thinking, JFK had some Canadian talent in it because John Candy was amazing in that too. Oh, my God. You're right, Chase. Sponge scene is all sweaty and oily. Perfect role for him.

Perfect role for him. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, he was kind of nervous, I guess, that day of. Some of that sweat was genuinely, they're shooting the war. He's stressed at work with Oliver Stone. Oliver's like, great, we'll make this work. But yeah, Candy's accent in that movie is great. Yeah, he had a Southern accent, didn't he?

Like an... Yeah, no. Anyway, Adnan, thank you so much for joining us, and we'll chat again soon. Mike, Jason, thank you, boys. Talk soon. Thank you. That's Adnan Virk from MLB Network and the Cinephile podcast.

So I'd never seen JFK before. I finally watched it like a month ago i had no idea how i had to see it it was awesome i believe it's pronounced jifk jifk yeah and uh wayne knight in that scene in the courtroom where he's talking about the second shooter to me my knowledge of that scene was from seinfeld as newman he did the same scene with the second spitter and then i saw jfk like oh that's where they got it from I didn't know that I didn't know that way night was in that exact scene in JFK doing literally the same so what did you think of the Seinfeld bit

I knew the Seinfeld bit was about JFK I didn't realize that he was in the movie literally acting out that same scene so that's why they got him to do it again which is right I was freaking out watching it it was a really good movie that's where it's from Seinfeld I know that I mean yeah that's me where it's from. Seinfeld, I know that. Yeah, that's me.

I'm a big Seinfeld guy. Thomas Drance is going to join us next, but we do have a couple of minutes, and Laddie, I want to play the Brad Treliving audio really quickly here, because Brad Treliving, the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, met with the media yesterday,

and he was asked about a number of things. He was asked about Mitch Marner, of course, and of course he didn't really say much about Mitch Marner. If we don't have the audio, it's not a big deal. Addy's looking confused. But we, oh, okay, we do got to do the CFL report. But he said basically that, you know, we got to address our blue line. And I was like, that's our number one goal.

And I just kept on thinking, Nikita Zdorov is going to be a rich man. Like with big defensemen being back and all the teams that are going to be interested in this guy, Nikita Zdorov, if he wants to, if he wants to go to free agency, he's going to make a lot of money. Let's, sorry, let's save that audio

from Bradtree Living. We'll do that on the other side and we'll do that following Thomas Drance who's going to join us at 7.30. As you mentioned, it is time now for the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL.

So it's the Lions and it's the Elks tonight, 7 o'clock at BC Place, the rare Thursday night affair for the Lions. The big story here is the status of injured QB Vernon Adams. He is expected to start this evening as the Lions look to win their third straight game when they face the 0-3-0, the winless Edmonton Elks at BC Place. So Adams is the CFL passing leader right now. That's largely due to a terrific game

on Friday in that win over Winnipeg. He went 21-33 passing, 398 yards and two touchdowns. He's dealing with an abdominal strain, but he's apparently good to go tonight. No interceptions last week against Winnipeg. Hopefully none tonight. Quick note though

about the winless Elks. Might not be as bad as their own three records suggest collectively they've lost those three contests by just 14 points they're gradually improving they're losers yeah still losers but closer to not losing uh they actually went 39 36 in a barn burner trap game for the lions after all the the hype of they had their season opener uh in toronto which was a loss but then they came home for the lions after all the the hype of they had their season opener uh in toronto which was a loss but then they came home for the 50 cent game they won it then they had another 50 cent yeah i don't know who they played 50 cent uh the stamps yes and

then they went to winnipeg for a hyped up game for them and they won that game and now they're going to come home they're like yeah we get the elks elks no problem uh so that game. And now they're going to come home. They're like, yeah, we get the Elks. Elks, no problem. So that game is tonight, 7 o'clock at BC Place. It's the Lions and the Elks. And that was the Canadian Football Report brought to you by Securian Canada, the official life insurance partner of the CFL. Thomas Drance, coming up next, you're listening to the Alfred and Brough 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 podcasts. And what we just have to call Thomas Drance erotica. Thomas Drance erotica Corsi Thomas Grant's Erotica Expected Goals Thomas Grant's Erotica Dog Model Thomas Grant's Erotica Red Russian

Thomas Grant's Erotica PDO 732 on a Thursday. That's better. Happy Thursday, everybody. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste, Primetime is full flavor without compromise. You can get some at a liquor store near you, or you can visit the brewery to see how it's made. We are in Hour 2 of the program.

Hour 2 is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, be it sales, financing service, or parts. See, don't you feel more relaxed now? Nice and calm, cool, collected,

blood pressure isn't... But here's the crazy part, is I have to consciously think about talking at a normal level. Like you're working really hard right now. Right. This is actually more stressful than just being... Oh, it's coming up a little bit. A loud... Right. This is actually more stressful than just being a loud bloviator.

Just think of it as an EKG. Just watch those bars. Just try and level it out. Don't get too excited. We should have our heart rates and our blood pressure. That would be funny, actually. Screaming. That would be amazing.

That one guy's clinically dead okay let's focus on thomas drance from the athletic and canucks talk here uh he joins us now in the alfred and brough show oh they're talking about pd again uh thomas drance joins us now in the Half and Brough Show. What up, Drancer? Gentlemen, good morning. Let's start with the Teddy Bluger extension. Well, not necessarily the lead. The lead is the McCann. But I want to start in chronological order. Teddy Bluger signs a two-year deal.

The AAV goes down from 1.9 to 1.8. What were your thoughts upon hearing the Blugers back for two years in Vancouver? Yeah, I mean, it's subtly pretty important for the Canucks just given the lack of options in the free agent market. You know, there aren't a variety of fourth-line centermen as good as Teddy Bluger or third-line centermen, bottom six centermen as Teddy Bluger bound for market. There's no question that he could have gotten more money,

more years if he'd hit the open market if he'd sold his services on July 1 you know I think he really likes it here and I think he got a lot extended shot to play third line minutes last season with that Garland Joshua line obviously played really well matched his career high in points and liked Vancouver and so there was a path to getting that done. The club pivoted and really made that a priority after, you know, I think about 10 days ago, once they realized that Lindholm was heading toward July 1st,

I think they're comfortable rolling into this season with, you know, Miller, Pettersson, Bluger, and Pugh-Suter down the middle with Nils Amon. Like, I don't think it's going to be a huge priority for them to go out and get, like, a right-handed guy to take draws, at least before the season. You know, I'm sure that's something they'll look at prior to the playoffs if they start as well as they did last year, if they feel like they're a team that has a shot. But I think they're pretty happy with that level of center depth, which reflects the level of trust that the organization that the team uh has in bluger himself right like the this was a guy who came in and did yeoman's

work and was a big part of the turnaround on the penalty kill and and it's a good deal and that's that's really you know part of the story here too right uh Canucks as they go through the next few days um and we'll talk about this more when we talk about Mikheyev as they go toward July 1 uh you know there's still some of their own pending free agents that they want to sign right like make no mistake they would love to keep Zdorov they would love to keep Dakota Joshua they would love to keep Tyler Myers uh but you know there's a reason that those have gone this long right there's a there's a extent to which you know those players to a man will have an opportunity to make more if they go to july 1 and if they want to stay in vancouver it's probably going to look

a little different and bluger you know taking effectively a haircut after what was a career year, that's a template now, right? Not that they're going to be able to present Nikita Zdorov with a $3.5 million AAV and have any chance of success. Teddy would have taken it. Teddy would have taken it. He's more of a team guy. It's just a deal you can point to and be like, hey, you want to stay in Vancouver?

This is what it looks like. Right? And so that's sort of part of the story. It's just part of what was a really good start to the offseason for the Canucks yesterday. Okay, so they also got off of, well, 85% of Ilya Mikheyev's

contract. So, Drancer, just provide us a snapshot of where the Canucks are right now. How much cap space do they have? What are their pressing needs? Yeah, so with the center position locked up and the McKay of trade now in the rearview mirror, right, I think we're looking at about 21 and a half. 21 and a half functional cap space going into this off season that, that factors in Pullman going on LTI. You know, you can, you can then exceed the cap by two and two and a half million or,

or however much you're able to structure it by. So yeah, I mean, I'd say 21 and a half ish functional cap space for the Canucks. That's the fourth most among teams that made the postseason last year going into the summer, the LA Kings, the Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins are the only team that are teams that made the playoffs last season and are more liquid. So the Canucks have a lot of purchasing power here and yeah,

they have some holes still to fill. When we talk about needs, I think we're looking at defense. And I think we're probably looking at top nine forwards, right? We're looking especially at the wings. And I think you're probably looking at at least two and probably three defenders, right? And I think you're looking at at least two and probably three top nine forwards.

So the six skaters that you're going to want to sign with 21 and a half plus that you're going to want to sign with, you know, 21 and a half plus whatever you're going to do with your backup net binder. And so really curious to see exactly what that looks like. It's not like it's a, it's a fair bit of flexibility, right? You have enough flexibility to take a big swing and, and probably take a couple of um reasonable like mid-range cuts and still have you know more than enough space to fill out your

roster with you know one one and a half million dollar like upside bet type guys um they have options here and and they sort of extended that purchasing power at a very modest price with the Mikheyev deal. Speed. That's one of the things that Patrick Alvien said he wanted to add to the roster at his end-of-season availability. How might they do that? I mean, that's not going to be easy, right?

Especially when you consider their own expiring players right are the big guys right joshua satura of myers i mean that that's the that's the forest uh in terms of vancouver's team level size last year so i do think a world where you add significant speed having lost mckeah who you know i don't know that he's going to bounce back and be like a top six forward next year, but I do think he's going to bounce back and be like the fast defensive guy, the disruptive presence that we saw, you know, prior to his Canucks tenure, like during his Maple Leafs tenure next season. And then obviously Lafferty goes. I don't think the Canucks were signing him anyway. I think there's a desire to have a bigger role there.

But yeah, so you did lose some speed in the McKay of cap dump. That is going to have to be replaced. And, you know, look, team speed is a delicate thing. I think it's more than just going out and finding it, more than just going out and targeting your Chandler Stevenson class guy in unrestricted free agency or Jake Ansel or whomever you'd like, um, that has wheels.

It's also about avoiding bringing in the, you know, the Corey Perry types, right? Like it's also about avoiding the, uh, slower skaters that, that maybe if you have one,

you can probably live with it. But if you have a couple, it begins to show. So, you know, I think it's just about prioritizing that as they fill out, you know, those six skaters that they're going to add to this team at some point, whether it's, you know, on Monday or over the next few weeks. We're speaking to Thomas Drance from The Athletic and Canucks Talk on Sportsnet 650

here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, so Drancer, I've thrown this out there now. After some deliberation, I am out on the idea of Gensel because I'm too concerned about the term and the money that they're going to need to pay in free agency to get them when there might be more affordable, not quite as good, but still pretty good options on the wing. I think you might be opposed to my line of thinking here,

but I wanted to ask you anyway. Where are you on my latest Halford hot take? Yeah, I just don't see, like, who do you see as a comparable option? Not comparable. Not comparable. Like, I think Toffoli could give you a reasonable facsimile. I think if you traded for Ehlers,

it would give you a reasonable facsimile. Who are you trading for Ehlers? The 2027 first round pick. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Brandon Saad. I throw Brandon Saad as a super cheap option. I mean, it's not a comp.

Yeah, I mean, Saad's a good replacement for Mikeas. Yeah, there you go. No, I mean, look, Nikolai eilers trading for nikolai eilers sure like you have my attention there um you know but that's that's the caliber of player we're talking about with jay gensel like there's no you know go to go down the list and it's like the only reasonable facsimile i see of gensel on the open market is Jonathan Marcheseau. And he was four years older or Sam Reinhardt if he hits the open market.

Right. I mean, that's that's kind of it in terms of the open market guys. And then in terms of guys oft rumored in trades, like I wouldn't even say Nate Natchez is a comparable for Gensel. Right. Nate Natchez to me is still has some room to go to be like a high-end top-line player the way Gensel is. You know, I think Ehlers would qualify and Mitch Marner would qualify, but in terms of the guys who've been percolating at the top of trade rumors over the course of this offseason, like that's kind of it. So that's a list of five names, you know, including Gensel, of sort of the transformative type, top of the lineup, star winger,

you know, that Gensel would represent. Gensel's available for no acquisition cost, right? And that's crucial, right? I mean, one of the reasons that it matters that the Canucks were able to push sort of the price paid to get off the Mikheyev mistake four years into the future, like four drafts away is the 2027 nhl draft right the players will be selected are uh 14 like they haven't even played major junior they're quite reasonably a decade away from impacting uh the outcome of an nhl game but it's not really about the pick lost it's it's about the fact that by, you know,

dealing a pick in 2027 instead of their 2025 second, right? The Canucks preserve a trade asset. And that matters because this team's pretty aggressive. They have cap space. They have the ambition to compete for a Stanley Cup last year, and they have a core group signed in a team that won 50 games last year, won their division, took the Oilers to seven in the second round. That's a nice spot to start from. But the one thing the Canucks don't have a ton of, right,

they don't have like a ton of trade asset weaponry in their war chest. I mean, that's just where they are. They don't have a first or a second in this draft. They view LaKaramaki and Blander and even Elias Pettersson, the defenseman, as untouchable. So how do you, if you're unable to land the marquee free agent on July 1, if we get the press release that the Carolina Hurricanes have extended Jake Gensel or Jake Gensel's rights have been traded to Detroit or wherever, right, today.

How do you pivot? Well, you might have to pivot by turning to an E-Lears, by turning to the trade market, by turning to a Pavel Buznevich, right? And how do you win the bidding for that guy if you're short on assets? That's why it matters that they were able to trade that future second for Mikheyev, because, you know, that's sort of the one area where Vancouver is, I think, still a little light on buying power relative to a lot of the teams in this league and even a lot of the contenders in this league.

Going out and actually swinging those deals, they've done a phenomenal job of being aggressive and staying on it, but they've also spent a lot. They spent a lot on that team last year they've also spent a lot they they spent a lot on that team last year um they've spent a lot of draft picks they don't have a lot of draft picks on and on um you know i do think by the time you're talking about your eelers tier guys mike you're probably talking about your 2025 first i mean that you know starts starts there and then probably includes some pain like it's not always going to be as painless as Chicago made it,

letting Vancouver off the mat of an $8 million salary cap liability. Once you're acquiring players of real value, that equation probably shifts, and that's sort of still the area that I think the Canucks are going to have to be creative in. And that's really the argument for Gensel. How do you add a player of that caliber without needing to dip further into a pool

that you've already depleted to get to this point? Well, unrestricted free agency, if you have a chance to land that star guy there for the cost to just be term and money, I mean, I think that's an opportunity that this team, given their position in TAMIS. Dranchy, do you think the Canucks are going to try and add any puck moving ability to the blue line? We all know that they're going to try and keep the size that they had, whether

that means retaining Myers or Zdorov or possibly both of them. But, you know, we were talking about how Broberg came in for the oilers in place of darren a and and just having that option available would be nice yeah you know i think over time they they definitely intend to i think that's actually at the heart of the hughes heronic like the can heronic drive his own pair conversation? Not for us, but I mean for the Canucks internally. When Patrick Alvin talks about that, right? What he's really talking about is the idea that

do you already have another puck mover in the lineup? It's just that the way that his pair works with Quinn Hughes, he's always deferring to Hughes because why wouldn't you defer to Quinn Hughes when you're on the ice with Quinn Hughes, right? Let's let him transition the puck since in the blink of an eye, it'll move through the neutral zone safely. I think that's part of the thinking, right? Can we challenge Hronik to do more offensively

if he plays apart from Quinn? But of course, that requires you to still find your Harley-Taves type, if he plays apart from Quinn. But of course, that requires you to still find, you know, your Harley-Taves type, which is what Hironic is on this team, right, to play with Hughes. So I definitely could see, and would not be surprised to see, this team continue to upgrade their blue line and look for, in particular, like a player, a right-handed defenseman of the caliber to compliment Hughes,

still have the Heronic effect on Hughes, but then move Heronic down to play with Susie. Any names stand out to you? There's not a ton in free agency that stand out to me. I'd keep an eye on like your your brett pesci types uh like your top end guys um because you know one thing that i keep hearing right even in the wake of the mckay of trade and sort of the reports that the canucks have re-engaged with joshua and you know certainly are still talking Zdorov and certainly are still hopeful of

keeping Myers. Like the one thing I know is in the wake of that McKay of deal and clearing that space and solidifying the center ice position, like the priority was still Monday, right? The Canucks want to keep their guys. I'm not saying they don't. I'm just saying in the wake of that deal, the excitement around Canucks hockey operations was we have more space for

Monday. Now we can do more on Monday. And, you know, I don't think that precludes defenders. Like, obviously I think we have a good sense or the industry has a decent sense about who the Apple of Vancouver's eye is in free agency, But I don't know that it stops there. I think there's a variety of names that the club is interested in, including guys that would be sort of plan Bs if some of these UFAs depart. I think the connections tend to be aggressive over the course of the next week. And I don't think it's exclusive to the Wigs.

You know, it's an interesting free agent class because there's all this money available and all these guys clearing the decks, but it's not really heavy on quality defense. It's not really heavy on centers either, if you look at it. Like, I saw a couple people pointing out, rightly so, like, Bluger might have been able to get something pretty, not that he didn't get a decent deal from Vancouver,

but he was a guy that probably could have gone to market just in light of the fact that there's not a ton of really great centers available. I mean, there's a lot of wingers, as there often is in free agency. You know, there's not a lot of centers that do what he does that aren't going to be super expensive. I mean, Lindholm does what he does. Well, Lindholm can probably get $50-plus million total value. Alexander Wenberg can do some of what he does,

but Alexander Wenberg is going to get what? 20 million, 16 to 20 million, at least probably in unrestricted free agency. And then you get down to names like Domi and Roslovich who absolutely cannot do what Bluger does. And so, you know,

or, or you get to Sam Carrick and Kevin Stenland who are not at the level of Teddy Bluger, right? Like usually in last year, Teddy Bluger experienced this, right? He hits the open market and you know, Nick Bukestad gets more term and Lars Ehlers gets more term and on and on down the list, there was like six, uh, fourth line or third, third, fourth line center types that can do a lot of what Teddy Bluger does. And this year it's like, if I squint, maybe Pierre-Edouard Belmar.

Sure, he's 39, but, you know, and he scores a lot less. But I mean, you know, that was kind of it. Like that was the only real analogy for what Bluger can do. That's why the deal matters. Like to get one of the only, you know, sort of bottom six centermen, you know, who can still score enough locked up and off the market. And then in the same day, effectively, you get you net two million in extra cap space because of the KF deal. I mean, that's a really big one from a positioning standpoint, right? Like it just, it not, not only increases Vancouver's cap flexibility, but like really sort of shuts the door on needing to worry about centermen,

right? Like center's done. And it's the spot that's going to be most difficult and most expensive, you know, to play in, in the marketplace. And so the canucks are kind of out of that there's options in terms of wings and defense uh and backup goaltenders and now the canucks can turn their attention and focus on that and that's that's what they accomplished yesterday that's a really nice spot like it's it's it's subtle it's not a huge game changer in terms of their overall positioning, but it

subtly puts them in a much better place and in much more favorable markets in which to operate. So it was a pretty important one, I think, even if it's not going on the marquee. Trancer, I might have asked you this last week, but I'm going to ask it again. Do you think the Gensel situation will get finalized before July 1st could you see some team trading for his rights and and locking them up maybe even the Vancouver Canucks because if you go into July 1st and then you're all in on Jake Gensel but you lose the bid could you lose your plan B's in the process while the Gensel thing is playing out? I mean, you could, but that's, that's, you know, you gotta be able to pivot, right? Like

you gotta be ready and able to pivot. And, you know, I think like, I think it's worth, I think it's worth given Gensel's, given sort of how much more sense Gensel makes for the Canucks than some of the trade targets right I think it might be worth paying some to lock it in um you do have to be conscious of the fact that you know the eight-year thing the eight-year thing is what stands out to me here right like the eight-year thing looms as a huge edge for the Carolina Hurricanes here they're the only team that can sign them to an eight year deal. Every other team can only do seven. And you add that set that eighth year on and man, that really dramatically impacts the total value of sort of the packages that Gensel and his representatives will be looking at. So,

you know, whether it's whether if you're able to acquire him and offer that eighth year, or if you're able to do a sign in trade and lock it in now, especially if the price is, you know, what it usually is for these types of deals, like a third round pick, something like that. Yeah, I think that's absolutely worth doing. Do I expect it to resolve that way? I'm not sure, especially because the Hurricanes appear to be based on Eric Tulsky's commentary to my colleague, Pierre LeBron at the athletic yesterday. Like it seems like the Carolina hurricanes are going to take, you know,

runs at this right down to the wire. So I I'd be somewhat surprised given the dynamic of the hurricanes still chasing. Like I'd be pretty surprised if this ends up being resolved with a, you know, signing rights deal. Drancer. Thanks for doing this, bud. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the day. if this ends up being resolved with a signing rights deal. Drancer, thanks for doing this, bud.

We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the day. Enjoy all the stuff that's coming in the coming days. We'll do this again next Thursday. Yeah, should be exciting. Have a good one, boys. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Thomas Drance from The Athletic Vancouver and Canucks Talk here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Coming up on the other side of the break, it's Teddy Bluger. That's right. Newly re-signed Vancouver Canuck is going to join us. Before we get to Teddy Bluger, though, I do need to tell you about the BC Lions. They're in action tonight, 7 o'clock, BC Place against the visiting Edmonton Elks. The roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions' 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. Teddy Bluger back for two more years as a Vancouver Canuck,

and he'll be on the other side of the break on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.