Halford & Brough in the Morning - McDavid Just Couldn't Part With That Heated Driveway

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the Connor McDavid signing (3:00), plus they discuss the latest NHL news with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (28:00). 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.

You're listening to Halford and Brough Dun-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You're listening to Halford and Brough. Trevor fell down on the play. Now he's going to try and run it. He did it in the O'S own touchdown. He ran it. He ran it.

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Good morning, Vancouver. 6 o'clock on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. This Halford, it is Ralph. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adon. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brought for the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Score a debt freedom hat trick. One, no more interest.

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me do live from the Kintech studio, Kintech footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Well, it's NHL opening night, everybody. Well, here it's NHL opening day because the first game gets underway at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Pacific time. Happy NHL opening day slash night from the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. Our guest list today begins, fittingly, with Greg Wischinski, ESPN NHL coverage. Things get underway, as I mentioned, 2 o'clock our time today. the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Raise the banner also will host Connor Bardard and Chicago Blackhawks.

Then at five, the Rangers and their new captain, J.T. Miller, will host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then the nightcap at 7.30, Anze Copatar's farewell tour begins as he and the Kings host Nathan McKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche. You can only watch one of those games. What are you choosing? Ooh, good question. I've got to watch the Blackhawks.

I got Rangers Penguins. because the Rangers better win that one. First game, J.T. Miller announced captain in front of the home fans in Madison Square Garden. I think he's healthy. Is he healthy? I think he's healthy. I think he's healthy enough to play.

Which teammate is he going to yell at tonight? We'll have to tune in to see. But that's in theory, that's a layup for the Rangers. The penguins are supposed to be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season. Better win. It's a very busy sports night, by the way. Lest we forget, J's are in action. Mariner's

in action. There's a lot going on tonight. So it's a wonderful time of year. I thought the Jay's already won that series. Not yet. Not yet, my friend. I thought they won them with the weekend. No, the B. Oh, okay. New rule, they scored enough runs, but they just canceled the rest of the series. They mercied the Yankees.

Like a slow-pitched softball tournament, though. Like, don't show up Monday. Please, no more. Please. 7 o'clock, Brendan Bachelor, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks is going to join the program. Yesterday, the Canucks made their 23-man opening-eye roster official. Highlighted, of course, by 18-year-year-old Braden Coots officially making the cut. We'll talk to Batch

about that. We'll also set up Thursday's game. I did not realize how short-handed and tired the Calgary Flames might be. Tired. Yeah, they play Wednesday. Oh, yeah. The Canucks better win their first game. Forget about J.C. Miller and the Rangers, the Canucks better win that game. I had to

double check the schedule like six times. I'm like, are you really getting them on the second of a back-to-back the first game of the year? I think the Kings play a back-to-back to start as well. You're right. Because I was watching the baseball yesterday and T&T was broadcasting that the King's game I think they might be playing

Vegas on Wednesday and it's like he started who starts with a back to back apparently a couple of teams Is that not a buzzsaw of a start to the season you get Colorado and then you get Vegas but anyway so also with the Calgary Flames

Jonathan Hubert was on IR from that injury that he suffered running into Cavend lank and then late in that 8-1 loss the other night that's too bad for him yeah it's brutal yeah so we'll talk to batch about that at 7 o'clock 7.30 Julio Caravetta is going to join the program. Former BC Lions QB.

Now, of course, on the Lions radio, he's a color analyst. We'll look back on Saturday's big win against the stamps at BC Place. We didn't talk a lot about it yesterday. It was a very busy day on a Monday here. Lions are on a buy this week before they return to action on Friday, October 17th, with another home date at BC Place, this time against the lowly Elks of Edmonton. We'll talk to Julio about all that at 7.30. Finally, at 8 o'clock, in what has become a tradition here on the Halford and Brough show

on Sportsnet 615. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is going to join the program. Every year since we've joined Sports 965, Bill joins us to preview the NHL campaign either on the day of the regular season or the eve of it. We can discuss the news and business from across the league, expansion, upcoming Olympics. Maybe Bill has some thoughts on the Connor McDavid extension in Edmonton. We certainly do. So we'll talk to Bill about all that at 8 o'clock.

So working in reverse on that guest list, 8 o'clock, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly 7.30, it's Julio Caravetta. 7 o'clock, it's Brendan Batchelor. 630, Greg Wischinski. Loaded show today. Lots to get into. So without further ado,

Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened?

Miss that? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best and tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. While this is your home of the Canucks Sportsnet 650,

we are going to begin the show, not quite local. Keeping in Canada, though, the biggest story across Canada yesterday and across the National Hockey League is that Connor McDavid signed his much and long-awaited contract extension with the Edmonton Oilers, two years, $25 million, a $12.5 million, to stick in Edmonton for this year and the two years following a shot to the Oilers organization saying,

yay, we got the best player in hockey and he didn't ask for a raise, but now the pressure is on to win a Stanley Cup. So I'm sure group chats were going crazy yesterday. By the way, I think everyone has just moved their discussions off of X and gone into their own private group chats. Just safe for that way. That's my theory. It's a safer space. And my particular chat had all sorts of stuff. There was some bitterness from the Canucks fans in there.

There's one that went out that said, the Oilers get the best player on the planet for $12.5 million, and we get to pay OEL $5 million to not play for us. Connor McDavid is not even the highest paid player on his team. Yeah. Again. And then there were a bunch of, this wasn't necessarily in my group chat, but I did see it on social media with people saying things like, oh, the NHLPA must hate

this. And my response to that was, I don't think the NHLPA as a collective cares. No. Again, it's 50-50 revenue split. The players get 50% of the revenue. Now, the people that I would imagine might have an issue with this are the players. the big powerful agents that have big name guys that are about to sign big contracts because fair or not fair or not how does caprisov look right now a little big you could i mean look

look i don't think this is fair it's not fair at all but there are people that are going to be saying wow he's greedy he doesn't want it as much as connor mac david some leader he is look at what Connor McDavid did. Now I think as an agent for a player, maybe an agent for someone like, I don't know, Quinn Hughes is suddenly going to be in this position of like, okay, how do we, how do we negotiate this? Because we do want to get the most money for our player. Is it that everyone that makes more than Connor McDavid that signs a deal now is greedy? Is that fair? Is that right? It's not fair. Is that accurate? But I think all of the above. I think it adds to and everyone will look at this differently, right? I see it, I think it adds to the challenges,

is what I would say, of deals that are already challenging. I think this is a very unique situation. I would agree. And one that might not come up too often because I think Connor McDavid, everyone looks at money differently, right? There are some people in the world that money is the most important thing. Look at the richest people in the world. They've got billions of dollars and what do they want? Billions more, right?

Sure, sure. There are some people, you know, that text into the show and all they care about is, if they were trying to put themselves in the position of the players, it's like total dollars, total money. That's all I care about, right?

McDavid has the pressures of being McDavid. and he is a very competitive guy and I'm sure a lot of that is internal I'm sure some of it though is the external expectations that are placed on a phenom like him Sid had won a cup by now Gretzky had won a cup by now

Lemieux had won a cup by now where is yours Connor but doesn't this isn't that sort of the secondary dare I say tertiary issue with all of this isn't the biggest issue that the best players feel an obligation

to not make every available dollar because they have to save it for the rest of the team. Why is that on the shoulders of the best players? Kudos to the owners for creating this system. Ken Hughes came out. Seriously. Well done. They're smart.

Ken Hughes came out yesterday in a totally unrelated but very much related conversation about Lane Hudson in Montreal because right now they're kind of in the midst of a contract discussion, I would say, negotiation, if you will. and he pretty much said star players in this league understand about sacrifice

and part of that is a financial sacrifice now I'm paraphrasing what are you saying but essentially it was if you want to make every max dollar go right ahead but understand that's going to make my job more difficult as a general manager

under a hard game now it's a long time ago but Ryan Kessler said the exact same thing now it's a fair statement from a general manager because he's working within the confines of a hard cap Alan Walsh yesterday on Twitter

who's a very polarizing agent and is very outspoken. And I'm going to trust that he is relaying the words from the late Bob Good Now accurately and not just doing this for Twitter. Alan wrote, it was the late Bob Good Now who led the fight for NHL players against the hard cap. Why? Goodnow predicted that clubs, media, and fans would label the best players greedy and selfish if they didn't take a discount in order to leave something for the other players.

So if good now, the late Bob Good Now, saw 20, 30 years into the future that this was the dynamic that was going to be at play, that it was the best players that had to take a haircut so the rest of the guys in the PA could get theirs. A very sage look ahead.

It's small time. It's embarrassing for the league. Honestly, can you imagine any other player from any other league doing this? Well, here's the thing. Now, hold on. No, hold on. Not happening.

That being said, McDavid could have got anything that he wanted. Yeah. And they would have given it to him right away. Can we play the, you know what? Now it's probably a good time to play the audio from Stan Bowman, the general manager in Emmington. He made it abundantly clear in his remarks yesterday that this was McDavid's idea, McDavid's pitch, and they sat back and listened to their star player and took his lead.

Here's Stan Bowman, Edmonton GM from yesterday. after signing Connor McDavid to a two-year $25 million extension. That was what Connor wanted. And it was not like we made a pitch that he should sign for that amount. That was never really, we never had those conversations at all. So, you know, I think when it came down to it and, you know, we're just excited to get ourselves to where we are today. This is a, obviously, it's a very exciting day for our organization and for the fans. in Edmonton and our team

I've been able to run into some of our players here today including Jake Walman when he was here and like the players were shocked as well like holy cow what a leader this guy is and I think everyone probably had the same reaction but

you know I guess getting to know Connor how I have you know over the last year he is he is so one of a kind guy like he's so such a tremendous leader and so motivated to try to try to win. And I think that's a testament to who he is as a person. So a lot's to unpack there, by the way. I just want to remind everyone of the ages

of some of the key players on the Oilers roster. I'm just, this is in no particular order, but Zach Hyman, who's going to miss the start of the season because he's injured, is 33. Nuge, 32 years old Manjiapani who they just acquired 29 years old Darnel Nuris is 30 Matias Atcombe

is 35 Newly signed Jake Wallman Did you mention him? He's 29 Yeah He's got a seven-year deal So McDavid is looking at this in a pretty smart way

And he's saying Look I'm not I'm not going to resign after this contract. But I need to kick the can down the road a little bit. Because I think I can win a Stanley Cup with the guys here right now. And even though some of them are getting a little bit older, I think they can still do it. But I need to see a refresh.

And they got a couple of young kids in there, Matt Savoy and Ike Howard, who they picked up in a trade with Tampa Bay. And those guys will be part of the next group for the Oilers. But, and I'm sure McDavid was talking to Bowman about, like, hey, man, if you want me beyond this, you better refresh. And that's a huge challenge to do when you're a good team, when you're winning. And you get to a trade deadline and you're like, okay, well, do I trade away the first round pick or do I keep it? Because McDavid, like, that might affect my ability to re-sign Connor McDavid, or do I go for it because Connor McDavid really wants to win a Stanley Cup? you only get so many assets.

Right, but the point I hear is that McDavid gave them this. I mean, I would call it a lifeline. Like, not only did he say, I'll stick around. I'll give you three more kicks at the can, three more years. I'm also going to do it at the exact same cap hit that I have right now. Like, I don't mean to. Is it a lifeline or is it, or is it like, is it a warning? Well, what's the warning?

It's three years. That's a lifetime. I'm gone after that. If you don't refresh. That's not a warning. that would be over a decade with the organization. That's more than enough servitude from a player. And at that point, I don't think a single person,

if he decides to leave after this next contract, could hold it against him. Because what he's done right now has not only... Maybe that's what he's setting up. Setting up his exit, while at the same time giving himself the best chance to win in Edmonton? Put it this way. If he had gone this year without a contract and left and free agent,

There would have been bitterness without question and a lot of it from the Edmonton faithful. Right now, I don't think, even if they fall short of winning a Stanley Cup, here's a question. How could you ever blame Connor McDavid for what he's given to that organization right now? Well, you couldn't. You never could. You couldn't. No, you can't. Because he has given you two more years.

I mean, if you count this year, he's under contract, but two more years at the exact same salary that he's already making. when the salary cap like Friege was throwing it out there yesterday it could be between $104 and $107 million soon so he's giving you that he's also saying to management hey with all that cap space

go get the job done and that's a remarkable thing I do think he deserves credit for that as caustic and as jaded as I can be about the dynamics of the NHL and you know how the salary cap works there is something

I'll say it there's something no about the way that he approached this. Yeah. And you can talk about, you can take a step back and look at the big picture and say, well, the system is flawed.

Well, McDavid is operating within the system. He's playing the game, right? But no, no, only all, he's playing the system. He's within the system, he's giving the Oilers the best chance to win a Stanley Cup. But let's also remember

that money isn't the most important thing, or it shouldn't be. McDavid is also giving himself something here. He's giving himself something here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. giving himself a better chance to win the Stanley Cup. And that's what he wants. Yes.

That is what he wants. A Stanley Cup to Connor McDavid would be worth $100 million. Because guess what? He's already got $100 million. If he wants to go buy a Lamborghini, he just goes and buys a Lamborghini. He lives in Edmonton, right? It's like there's only so much you can spend on in Edmonton. If he wants to go for a nice vacation with his family, guess what?

He can go for a really nice vacation with his family. Well, he's just doing the new Crosby, right? Consistently taking less than a... market value to try and win a cup. The only difference is that for the most part, Crosby signed, when he was at this dangerous career, he signed long term. Yeah.

He didn't do that. Yes. Because the two years, the two years gives McDavid the opportunity to hit free agency and then score a mega deal. But it's still crazy low A.A.V. For his caliber. I also think that this sacrifice,

and I think Stan Bowman alluded to this, might help lure some free agents to Edmonton where people are like, Oh, I want to play with this guy. Yeah. I want to play with this guy. But it's in Edmonton. Okay, well, you know, I still want to play with him.

Gert from Surrey texted in, and this is what we were talking about earlier in the show, but I did want to bring this back up. So, Gurp writes, I wonder if Quinn Hughes would do something along the lines of what McDavid did. There are going to be some individuals. Hughes just asked for a max value. That are going to position this move as the ultimate sacrifice. in which all other NHLers should follow. And then there's

going to be others. Yeah. And I think the others are going to be the right ones at the end of time. We're going to say, you can't use this as a blueprint or a precedent for anything because it's unique and he's one of one. And the Oilers are so close. So close. They're so close. It's one

this is a one of one situation. Yeah. I don't remember anything like this happening in the NHL for a good long while. I know there has been prolonged contracts. negotiations that have been tied up on the eve at the regular season starting, but not like this, not with the stakes

in. Sean Texan, one thing is for sure McDavid is not taking any kind of discount on his next deal when he inevitably signs with a new team. How do you know? How do you know what drives McDavid? What if he doesn't win a Stanley Cup in the next three years

and then he's like, okay, I've got to pick my next team is he just going to go to the place with the most cap space? You can't know that right now. To answer Sean's taxed. It makes the path for leaving a lot easier. But what he's talking about,

Sean is saying, Sean is still of this mind that like McDavid money is going to drive him. No, it's not. If McDavid doesn't win a cup in Edmonton, and let's face it, it's more likely that he doesn't, okay, just because there's a lot of teams and plenty of

people of winning the Stanley Cup I don't think there's an obvious favorite this year but whatever yep but if he hasn't

won a Stanley Cup in the next three years do you think he's going to go to a new team and make it especially hard for them by signing a massive contract I find it no he's going to go to a good team he might retire

I find it a fool I find it a fool's Aaron to try and think what's going to happen three years from now because so much can change nobody saw this coming by the way

I was going to play audio from Freed yesterday. He went on Fan 590 with Matt Marquesi and Mike Fuda right after our show, which is when the Connor McDavid News broke. And he said he was shocked, shocked at the dollar value. Well, I think a lot of people saw a potential short term, but I don't think anyone saw him not getting a raise. Taking a zero percent raise. Zero percent raise. Yeah. And you know, I understand that everyone flooded to social media yesterday to get their spiciest takes out there and galaxy braining what this means because it is a big deal. and it is a big story.

And there's a lot of different ways you can go about it, go about it. I wanted to come in this morning and try and present the entire picture because I don't think that this is, I don't think this is a harbinger for the future and I don't think that this signals anything about future. I just don't think that's it.

I think we got a snapshot in a moment in time where a guy that had all the leverage and could have done whatever he wanted, I think the only thing that I'm really, like my definitive, stance on this is that a guy that could have got anything you wanted and signed anywhere for anything did make a real big personal sacrifice. That being said, do you want to be the next big superstar to sign a contract?

I don't want to be Caprizoff right now. Caprizov, and that's not fair to him. I do. Well, I'd like to have the money, right? But I would absolutely love to have the money. I regret nothing. Yeah, totally. Yeah, but.

I don't speak English. Sorry. But here's what's going to happen. He's going to play for Minnesota. And even if he has an amazing year. year. Yeah. It's still going to, they're going to side-eye that contract because they're going to say... I don't think NHL stars

are going to, whatever. No, no, no, no. People... Pay me what I'm worth. No, Peter. Well, Connor McDavid just did not do that. I'm just like Hughes, for example. I don't think Hughes is going to do a McDavid. You don't think Hughes wants to win, man? I don't know. I'm saying, I don't think Hughes is going to do a McDavid in the sense that he's going to get, will not ask for a raise. You're bringing up an

interesting point here. I wouldn't be surprised. Most NHL stars will ask for a raise is what I'm saying. I wouldn't wouldn't be surprised if he'll have money on the table, though. Yes, I absolutely could see that But I don't think he's going to not get a raise Like most NHL stars would You're bringing up an interesting point here Because moving forward

Hughes doesn't ask for a raise Seven point whatever he's big I like what I like No, you're bringing up a good point here Because the pressure is going to come from General managers Owners And now, and I don't know how much this matters

But it's going to be out there Fans Yeah, but the players have They don't care. They have the power. You sure about that, right? Yeah, no. I think most guys would probably do a caprice of, to be honest.

Well, like, they'll just like pay me what I'm worth. Right, but McDavid didn't. Well, yeah, it's special. And right now, that's the bar for, you understand what I'm saying. I do understand what you're saying. I do understand what you're saying. Yeah, yeah. Right now, that's the bar for in the NHL with the way the players act and the sort of code of the league.

Right now, what McDavid did is considered the ultimate leadership move. Like, we played that clip from Bowman. How many times did Bowman mention leadership in that clip? Three times, right? That's the new leadership. When they talked about- Crosby's been doing this forever. Nobody's, it didn't change their contracts.

Granted, not the length. What do you think? I think that there's a bit of Crosby in this contract. Yes. I think that McDavid looks at Crosby. I think that McDavid looks at Crosby as the forefather of this thing. Yeah. And so now, moving ahead, if you're a young player and you're a superstar,

but you want to be the leader that your predecessors were what's the thing that Crosby and McDavid have in common now is they left money on the table selflessness, selflessness, right and it used to be And they took briefcases of cash

Yeah, on the side For that tree planting job But it's a really lucrative endorsement deals That may or may not be legitimate That's the thing now How many people made that joke online I did Like you talk about leadership

And it's like they'll play through injury And they'll get down And they'll get down and block a shot With their face to win And they'll you know He'll play on Christ rutches. Now what is it? The Oilers bought the West Edmonton Mall for him and now that's where he lives.

Now he lives in the mall. Now you have to add a part to that leadership thing where it's like he took less money than everybody else. Greg Wischinski's going to have some good thoughts on this McDavid situation. We will get into Canucks talk in about half an hour when Brendan Batchelor joins us the Canucks announced their roster yesterday and it was the one that you know, we had all worked out in the last few days when they sent down the likes of Mancini and Veelander to the

HL. Braden Coots is on it, Lackar Mackie's on it, so we'll talk to Brendan Batchelor about that. The Canucks opened their regular season Thursday against the tired Calgary Flames who play on Wednesday, so that's a better win that one for the Vancouver Canucks. If you want to text in to the Halford & Brough Show, Dunbar-Lumber text line 6.50-6-50 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and runner-wariers for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at Dunbarlumber.com. You're listening to The Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650.

Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. 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. 633 on a Tuesday, happy Tuesday, everybody. Happy NHL opening night, everybody, although technically 2 o'clock in the afternoon here in Vancouver. I digress. You're listening to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Halpert and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Only a license insolvency trustee

can get your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. To learn how, visit sands dash trustee.com. Still an hour one of the program. Greg Wischinski from me, SPN, is going to join us in just a moment here. Hour one of this program 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 them 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go, our NHL insider from ESPN. Greg Wyshinsky joins us now on the Halford & Rough Show on SportsNet 650.

Good morning, Wish. How are you? Happy new season, everybody. Let's just get out of the way, all right? I am picking the Vancouver Canucks to make the playoffs. Nice. Well done. What was your leading reason for doing that? If literally 10 things go right, Are you Jim Rutherford?

You sound like Jim Rutherford. Well, it's like, if you look at the roster, first of all, I do believe in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the carmic healing of, of draining the toxins out of the locker room. I mentioned this in my bold predictions last month that I think PD's going to have a, a bounce back year, which made you guys pretty happy if memory serves. Yes. But like, you need Heidel to be healthy and you need Demko to be healthy enough. and then, you know, the goal-tending, I think, is going to be all right beyond that. And you need, hopefully, for them to play Besser and Petey together, and you need a lot. You also need Quinn not to be wearing devil horns by, like, you know, February.

He also needs to stay healthy. That was a problem last year. It wasn't all that healthy. Yeah, all these guys need to be healthy. So, like, I think everything is there for them to be the fourth team in the Pacific and then henceforth get one of the wild cards. Because I do think that there are more points available to, them within their own division than there are for teams like Minnesota and St. Louis,

who I think are going to be right on the bubble. And so I'll just hope against, I'll pray the rosary that all these guys stay healthy and the Canucks can get back in the playoffs. Well, it's great that we started there because I just assumed we were going to start with the news of the day yesterday, the biggest news that took the NHL by storm. That, of course, was-Jewalman. Well, Connor Sherry converting his PTO into a one-year deal with the New York Rangers, which caught everyone by surprise.

but you wrote an entire article on the winners and losers from the Connor McDavid extension in Edmondson. We talked about it for almost the entirety of the first half hour of the program but I will say this a fascinating deal in that it splinters off into about eight or

10 different real, interesting, thought-provoking conversations all from one guy's desire to stay in Edmonton of all places. Of all places. Wow. Yeah. It's an interesting contract in the sense that I think those of us who want him to leave are happy

and all of the Evanston fans who wanted him to stay are kind of happy. I mean, like he's staying. He chose them. He said, I still believe that we have the opportunity over the next three seasons to try to win a cup. And I'm going to stay here committed to doing it. A couple of things from that winners and losers piece, and you can read it on ESPN.com.

Like, I think it is an interesting moment in the history of player empowerment where maybe the power has now shifted to general managers who can point to this contract when they're in negotiations. It used to be you pointed to Sid's contract, which was quite lengthy to say, hey, look what he makes versus where the cap is and should you take less to help the team. Now they can literally point to the best player on the planet, taking a short-term deal a million and a half less than the highest paid player on the team on average annual value to allow the team the flexibility to build around him.

And I mean, like, be like Connor is going to be, you know, a mantra in contract negotiations going forward. But I also think this really helps Connor's legacy. Like, whether or not he wins, I don't think there's going to be a lot of Edmonton fans that look at this guy as somebody who escaped or quit on them or whatever. Like, on top of being the reason they've made consecutive cup finals, like, he's given it the old college try. He'll have been there for, what, like, 12 or 13. years of his life after, you know, a bunch of lottery balls bounced around and forced them to be there. And I think that's enough. So, you know, what he's done now to me is a good faith investment in trying to win a cup there. If it doesn't work, he can leave in his prime

and become the most coveted free agent in the history of hockey. Which you had in your losers category. One of the losers is the NHLPA. Now, I can understand an agent for a high-powered, you know, a high-powered agent with some superstar players that need new contracts soon, being frustrated with this because now you've got to add this whole thing to the negotiation. You know, if you go for a bunch of dollars, they can go, well, McDavid is a great selfless leader, and he didn't do that. So it's one more thing you've got to deal with. But the players get 50% of hockey-related revenues regardless.

So why would the NHLPA have an issue with this? Well, who runs the NHLPA? It's not Marty Walsh. and I ain't the players, it's the agents. Yeah. And so when you talk about these mega contracts, you're talking about the percentages these agents get from these mega contracts, and that's where they make their money.

They're not making their money off of what Paul Cotter signs for with the devils, all due respect to Paul Cotter. They're making their money based on what Kilcroprisoff and Connor McDavid and Leon Drysiddle and others are making on their contracts. And so whenever anybody takes less, Even if it's for a creative term that'll get McDavid to free agency, it's never good for the PA. And it's never good for these agents. Like the rise of tide raises all boats thing is true for star players and it's true for the middle.

And then the rest, everybody else just basically has to take minimum anyway. So I understand what you're saying, the concept of the 50-50 split, but that money gets just distributed in different ways. And the more it gets distributed to your upper tier. and next-year players, the more beneficial it is for the agents who are basically the guys that run the PA. Okay. Where does this, does this affect Sidney Crosby at all? Because I noticed he was in your call of a bit.

Yeah, his life gets more annoying. There's no other story now that the entire league is going to be focused on other than what happens with the penguins. It's not just Sid, it's also Malkin. And I think the growing narrative in the, league right now is with Barkoff going out and Malkin having a house in Miami that they'll probably find a way for him to be the one C in Florida before too long and that's a place that he probably would be willing to go what with Bobrovsky there but then you know the focus is

on Sid and what Sid wants to do and there's nothing else that really clouds that conversation now with Connor's situation being taken care of and by the way you know McDavid probably doesn't have to answer these questions until September 2027 so good for him like he's he's taking that off the table for a little bit but yeah that's that's the problem for Sid right now is then now all the attentions on what he's going to do, what he wants to do. And again, just to reset it for everybody, everybody around Sid wants him to leave. Sid doesn't want to leave. And that's kind of where we are with it right now. And, you know, maybe another season in the basement does the trick. Maybe he feels the glow of competition at the Olympics and decides he wants to feel more of it

with a contending team. I don't know. I just feel like if the guy's going to leave, it should be this year. And it should be before the trade deadline. So he has a good sense of who actually the contenders are, and then just go from there. And you're Sidney Crosby. You can make your own decision and decide even what you want to do the following year if you want. And just to reiterate for probably the millionth time that you've had to say this on some sort of radio show, why doesn't Sid want to leave? He's got loyalty to the penguins.

He's a penguin for life. You know, Mario was a penguin for life. He's a penguin for life. I think, you know, maybe until the reality of this season sets in, he's probably hoping against hope that they could pull with the Washington Capitals pulled around OVee. And again, you know, those were very specific conditions in which salary space opened up

when veteran core players no longer could play in the NHL. They bet big on some guys that all cashed in, Logan Thompson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jacob Trickrin last year. And they had a good pipeline of players from Hershey that have been able to come up and supplement the lineup in a way that the Penguins Prosper Pipeline simply hasn't produced anything.

And so, you know, they were never going to be the capitals, and maybe that's one of the reasons why he was sticking around because you never know. Like, I talked to Sid in Vegas about this very thing, about, you know, I told him, there's some people around him that are telling me that he's going to be in the playoffs no matter what. I said, yeah, what's the deal with that, buddy? And he's just like, well, I don't think that's necessarily, you know, where my head is

right now. And he reiterated that he likes being a guy who can teach young players. He hopes that the young players and the penguins are good enough to be relevant. But overall, I'm guessing it's just loyalty to an organization that he's, you know, worked his ass off to make successful. Hey, Wish, it's been a while since the players have been going to the Olympics. 2014 was the last time. They're going this year. And I know you've covered Olympic years before.

We're on day one of the regular season. How much of a grind is it going to be for the players? Well, it won't be for the Russians. I think we could all agree on that. Those guys are going to be, Gresh is a daisy come the playoffs. No, it's going to be intense, especially, you know,

for most of the North American players, we assume we're going to make lengthy runs in this tournament. But the Olympic effect is also very interesting at the beginning of the season because the rosters aren't set. And so you are going to have, I talked to Tom Wilson about this, actually, from the capitals at camp this year.

Like, you're going to have a number of guys that are just going to be, like, putting the pedal down earlier than they usually do in the regular season to put up numbers and impress, you know, the management of these national teams and try to force their way onto these rosters. And so when you think about a guy like T.H. Thompson, generally people believe he's going to be on the roster no matter what. But I'm sure that guy wants to seal the deal.

He was a terror after Four Nations last year and in him getting left off. And there's probably others that are sort of in that boat, too. So that's the more interesting aspect of the Olympic effect for me right now is how it impacts players at the start of the season versus the shape that they're going to be in come, you know, April and May. We're speaking to Greg Wischinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. So tonight in the first game of the new season, the Florida Panthers are going to hoist

their banner and try their 3P to Stanley Cup champions. But the preseason offered up a pretty interesting narrative for the Panthers and their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning. now we've been really inundated here like we've been following the jays really closely and the mariners and there's NFL and there's obviously the connect stuff so it's kind of paying attention to this and i did not realize how heated this has become like to the point where these two teams pretty much despised each other before all these antics in this preseason now it seems somehow even worse and it doesn't feel like anything's even better yeah but the hate has become better and worse it's here's the thing it doesn't feel like anything's been solved or settled or rectified. And with these punishments, which have almost exclusively come against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it almost feels like the rivalry is even more heated now.

Well, yeah, because now you have an entire fan base in the NHL convinced that the father of the assistant GM in the Florida Panthers is the reason why nobody on the Panthers ever gets punished. It's the Cole and Campbell thing writ large now. It's been bubbling under the surface for a while. Now it's out there again. Yeah, the Lightning fans are like, one fight away from basically holding a protest in the streets of Fort Lauderdale.

Look, look, it's, I love what happened in the preseason, and I love this rivalry. I think it's outside of USA, Canada, the best rivalry in hockey without there being an equal right now. The thing that I want, and I still don't know if it's going to happen because of how this league does tend to treat this kind of stuff, this is, this is like a college football rivalry. This is the thing that a casual fan should be making time to tune into, not only because

of the hatred and the fighting and the brutality and the blood and everything else, but because it's two of the best teams in the sport with a bunch of the biggest stars in the sport, marketable stars, your Marchands and players like that. And so it's

something that the league should take pride in, that they have a rivalry that's real. I mean, you boys remember rivalry night. Uh-huh. I remember trying to promote those. It was just like, oh, Minnesota and Boston, long-headed. The Minnesota-Bossom one was the worst. Was there one?

I'm just making that out. No, that was wild. Wild Bruins. They're both in the NHL. That was the tagline. Minnesota of Boston was the nadir of that entire gimmick. But again, like when a league is constantly trying to promote rivalries and they actually get one, like lean the hell into it, you know, promote it like it's, you know,

Alabama Auburn, like, it should be a thing where people, you know, outside are going to talk about it and show highlights of the fights and discuss the personalities. And it's a great thing to have. And I do wonder ultimately if, you know, the content being what it is for this rivalry, they won't lean into it. But I would, I would very much just like, like, that should be the five o'clock game today. I'm sorry. Like, are they, like, the lightning should have this. They said, what? Are they worried at all about promoting violence?

Like, are there lawyers, like, don't do this? Because we might have to pay. Because, I mean, wish you and I are old enough to remember, like, you know, God, Probert is playing Troy Crowder. You know? Like, that was, that, yeah. Wrote a Valentine to me. I know.

That was a formative moment for me, yeah. Right? I mean, we had the, we had Cox versus Probert, you know, in Vancouver. But I just, you know, the league, I don't think wants to be seen as, apparently doesn't want to be seen as promoting violence. And I just wonder if there's a reason for that. Well, first of all, one of the reasons that there isn't a lot of it anymore. You watch a lot of these games and they don't look like Florida, Tampa,

and there aren't a lot of fights. You probably count on one hand the number of guys that you could even closely apply the label enforcer in the league right now. I think what it is, and I'm going to go back to pro wrestling for a second, like when the WWE cleaned up its act during what's known as the PG era, that was like your big peak John Cena era. It was because of like trying to reach a younger audience and some of it was sponsor driven and it wouldn't surprise me if those are kinds of the discussions the NHL has,

which is let's accentuate the speed and the skill and the trick shots and the, you know, the Connor David of it all versus, you know, getting in the, in the trenches in a Florida Tampa Bay rivalry. Like, it's, there's got to be some calculation behind it. I don't know about the legalities of it or anything like that. But I do think there's probably some calculation that we're going to attract more bees with this honey than, you know, reaching your hand into the highs and getting worried about getting stung. Alfred, you had a question that you're waiting for. It was the exact same thing that you asked. Was it seriously?

Yeah. Well, that's why I asked about the Florida, Tampa Bay situation, because there was two things that were on my mind. And one was, would it not have been the ideal game to put in today for the entree, I guess, because it would have been the best game, I think, on the slate today. Like, I've kind of made jokes about the three games that they've got going. And I know that they didn't want any overlap. So you go a two or five and a seven 30, which is great. But I kept looking at it and I'm like, and I was comparing it to the National Football League. I'm like, on week one of the NFL schedule, you had all these great games. And then Sunday night football, you've got Ravens bills right out the shoot, go get it, get after it.

And it lived up to expectations, right? It was this great shootout between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. And quite frankly, it might have been the only good moment from the Ravens season. And they lost that game. But anyway, so I'm looking at this and saying, would you not want to stack up more of these games? And all due respect to the Chicago Blackhawks who have had a decade-long run getting primetime primo games. and all due respect to Connor McDiard, who's a local kid. How awesome would have been for Tampa Bay to be there for the banner raising, right in Tampa Bay's faces.

And they have to sit and watch that as they stew. Yeah, I mean, the Blackhawks are not the, I mean, Nick Yarmolson's not walking through that door, ladies and gentlemen. They're not the same team. But again, but what we come back to, I've had this conversation with a ton of people recently because of the baseball playoffs, which is that I've got no problem with Florida and Tampa. of Bay in Vegas winning these these cups. I think it's great for the sport that it's happening. And these teams are incredible to watch and compelling the watch in the case of the Panthers.

But it'd just be nice if they could maybe beat Boston on the way there or beat New York on the way there, or be Chicago on the way there, be Detroit on Pittsburgh. Like the problem with the NHL right now, and you mentioned the Bills and the Ravens, like those are two massive fan bases. Yeah. Like they're not just good teams or massive fan bases. Stupid Carolina. And so, yeah, so like the problem being right now is that like as good as

Florida and Tampa could be is in this blood feud, you've got to be able to sell it because it doesn't have an inherent large audience tuning in to watch those two teams in the same way they would say like Flyers Pittsburgh back in 2009. And so that's kind of the issue as well as far as

like, you know, the matchups go. It's no secret that there are certain franchises that draw, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and ones that that should draw but don't necessarily draw as much like the Panthers and Lightning. Okay, wish I'm on ESPN.com right now looking at their

NHL futures. Odds by ESPN Betts Sportsbook. Hell yeah. Okay. There's three co-favorits all at plus 800. Ah, the NHL. The Oilers, the hurricanes, and the avalanche. Right after that, there's three more teams at plus 900, Dallas, Florida, and Vegas, and then you've got the Tampa Bay Lightning at plus 1,000. So those are all, that's

seven teams with all pretty much the exact same odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Do you have a pick from those seven or are you going off the board? Have you made your Stanley Cup pick yet? I have. I was locked in on Colorado for a long time. And it was before everybody started making their picks before the sports books really kind of like establish what their odds were. And for a long time, I'm like, oh, this is like my hipster rock star choice. Like it's not going to be consensus. And then we get closer to the season. And then I find out more and more people are like Colorado's going to win. And now I feel like I've chocked out a little bit with this pick.

I have Colorado over Carolina. I think you can make a case for Tampa this year, this year, and a serious case if some of their older players can hold up for the course of the season. But, you know, Carolina's kind of like, by happenstance, found themselves a really nice hockey team. I mean, they whiffed on Keith and Gensel that led them to go get Ranting, and Stade for 13 games, but now you've gotten yourself. Taylor Hall, Logan Stankovin, draft capital that ended up helping you get Chandrae Miller.

Like they've kind of, and now they had Nick Yelers in the top line playing the role that, you know, one of those guys would have inevitably played. My concerns are goaltending, as per usual. When Freddie's healthy, he's dominant, but he's never healthy. And my concern is 2C right now because they're going to have to figure out something better than Stankovin, and I don't think Jarvis is the answer either. But, you know, beyond that, I think they've got their best shot at breaking through this year. And then Colorado strikes me as a team that, like, is going to, you know, bear the fruits of last year's trade deadline this season.

It didn't really come together, but, like, your Brock Nelson's and other players, I think, are going to fit in really well for them this year. And the hope is, you know, A, that, you know, McKinnon and McCar are as dominant as they were in their run to the cup. And that, B, you know, a very creative front office gets them maybe a little bit more help before the trade deadline. and maybe that helped from Coal Harbor. So I'm picking Colorado and Carolina in the final and I have Colorado winning the cup.

The Colorado Avalanche, one of the six teams in action tonight. They'll be taken on the Los Angeles Kings. Late puck drop, our time, 7.30, the third of the triple header on opening night in the NHL. Greg, thank you very much for doing this today. We really appreciate it.

Hockey is back. We're very excited, and we will do this again next week. Anytime, boy, thanks. Thank you. That's Greg Wushinsky from ESPN here. on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650. We've got to go to break, but before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions.

It's another season of hard hits. Heated rivalries and nonstop entertainment. For tickets, visit BCLions.com and get ready to roar as one. Hour ones in the books. Hour two coming up, you're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet, 650.