Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 1/27/26

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the reports that Evander Kane's agent has been given permission to help facilitate a trade from the Canucks, plus they preview tonight's 'Nucks game versus the Sharks with radio commentator Brendan Batchelor.  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 the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. And it's more just like a guy being a goofball. Yeah, that doesn't look like a moment of frustration at all. I apologize for my action yesterday. He was out of frustration, so I'm sorry about that. The line of tech the test determined that was a lot. It's not going.

Good morning man cover 6-01. Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford. It is Brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming you live from the Kintech Studios and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie. Good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford and Bruff of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Got to CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates can cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands-trustee.com. We are in Hour 1 of the program. Hour 1 is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle. You get paid. Visit the Middle 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver.

We're coming live from the Kintech Studio, Make 2026, your year to move better and step stronger with Kintech custom orthotics. We have a big show ahead on a Tuesday. The guest list today, the Duke Morning Drive, brought to by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 6.30 in the morning. Greg Wysinski, our NHL insider from ESPN, is going to join the program. relatively quiet night in the NHL last night, just four games. The action picks up tonight, though, 10 games on the slate.

We'll go through all the latest news, notes, rumors, and rumblings from around the league with Greg at 630. 7 o'clock, Brendan Batchler, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks right here on SportsNet 650 is going to join the program tonight. A reminder, Canucks, Sharks. 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. Another local kid coming to town. Macklin Celebrini will be here with the visiting Sharks. A reminder, you can hear pre-exhaired.

and post-game coverage right here on SportsNet 650. The man on the call, Brendan Batchelor, is going to join us at 7 to preview the Canucks and the Sharks. 8 o'clock this morning, Brandon Astell is going to join the program. He, of course, the play-by-play voice of, the Abbotsford Canucks, and don't look now,

but Abbotsford's on a roll. They're on a three-game win streak, pair of wins over the hated San Diego goals over the weekend. They've also won six of their last 10. They're now just seven points back of a playoff spot in the American hockey. League. I really want to talk to Brandon about Jonathan Leckermacki because he got the call to Vancouver in the wake of Brock Bessor's injury, so I want to know how he's been doing down in Abbotsford.

Are you guys going to talk about Akku Koskenvuo's first career professional shutout? I am going to talk about it. I'm sorry, who is that? Say that again? Acu Koskenvuo. I know what all the words in that sense is. Yeah, but together. Yeah, a bunch of letters. So we're going to talk to Brandon about all things, Abbotsford, at 8 a.m. this morning. Also at 8 a.m. this morning, we are giving away a $50 gift card to the big football party at the Clayton Public House on February the 8th. You can call us at 8 a.m. on the button, 604-280650. Caller number five will win the $50 gift card to the Clayton Public House for the aforementioned big football party. We're going to be doing that every morning this week. And maybe

next week too leading up to the Super Bowl, the Clayton Public House, good food, good people, good times. Duick morning drive. It's our rundown of the show. 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? Missed it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies to best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at BCCSA.ca.ca. We are going to begin with the Vancouver Canucks.

while there wasn't much action on the ice yesterday, there was quite a bit of it often, and the biggest news coming, courtesy our very own. I call him our very own, because I feel like he partially belongs to the show. Rick Dollywall reported yesterday that the agent for Evander Kane,

Danny Diamonds, Dan Milstein, has been given permission by the Vancouver Canucks to help facilitate a trade for his client, Evander Cain. Why do they always need the agents to help out on these trades? Not always, just a lot of the time. Does it seem like it happens more in Vancouver than other teams though.

They got a lot of things on the go. That's why they delegate. Remember when Patrick Alvin was so busy, he couldn't trade Quinn Hughes? Yeah. He had to ship that off to Jim Rutherford. Maybe Jim Rutherford's busy, and he's giving this to Dan Milstein.

Who knows? So what do you think Milstein is doing with this? I imagine he's probably trying to find an interested suitor in his client. Okay. I don't know. That's obvious. Have the Kinnock's not been doing that?

Have they been calling the premiership or something? at that there. The championship? There's a possibility here. And this was put out there on Twitter last night by Mark Specter, just to give credit. But this is kind of the thought that's going around. I'm not sure exactly if it's accurate, but I think it might be. Oftentimes in these situations, this is a signal to the management group or executive saying to the agent, we've tried. We haven't gotten anywhere. Yeah. Good luck. Try and get your client to deal. You know, the only reason I'm asking this is Kevin Weeks has reported that Colorado and Dallas are interested in it. So is Danny Milstein going to be like, oh, come on, I thought you were interested.

The complications around this are, I mean, obviously, first you're going to find someone who wants a VanderCam. But I think there's got to be at least one playoff team that will be interested in his services. as long as the price is right. Maybe Danny Milstein has a role in negotiating that. I don't imagine that Evander Kane is sitting there going, you know, like, what do you think about an extension? I don't think that's, you know, that's oftentimes when you do get the agents involved.

Yep. I would be surprised if Evander Kane is trying to negotiate an extension through all this. And maybe the one hold up right now is the timing. of the deal just with I know we've heard it a few times that

teams don't exactly want to pay these players to sit around and do nothing during the Olympic break and that would be hundreds of thousands

of dollars for a Vander Kaine so maybe I don't know he's trying to convince some teams that they should do that all I know is that the Kinnucks have

five games left until the Olympic break and I'm not sure what the point of having Kane in the lineup is anymore. He's been in the league for a long time. Teams know what he is and who he is. You're not going to have a GM out there who's like, Evander Kane is it? Is he related to Patrick Kane? I've never heard of him. Well, I'd like to see him play. I think we should send our scouts there. The last thing anyone needs right now is an injury. The Canucks want to trade him.

And I'm sure Van der Kaine himself wants out because he needs to go somewhere and write his sales story for next season when he is a pending unrestrictive free agent. So he's going to want an opportunity to showcase what he's about. And he's not getting that in Vancouver. Let's face it. Hasn't been a good fit in Vancouver. He hasn't found a center that he's got had chemistry with. And the centers are probably saying the same thing about. him. I'm just wondering, is it really worth playing him in these meaningless games and risking an

injury to an older player in what is a lost season? Now, the Canucks won't have Brock Besser in the lineup tonight, and they recalled Jonathan Lecker-Macky from Abbotsford in response. So, in theory, the Canucks could replace Besser with Leckermacky and then take out one of the guys who was a scratch in the Pittsburgh game, Ratu or Kamp, and put him back in and just sit, Evander Kane.

Just say, you know what? It's not worth it. Teams know what you are. Let's give you lots of rest and, you know, even more rest heading into the Olympic break and just make sure that nothing happens. And you might say

like, oh, the odds of him getting an injury are low. Really? in this season, I feel like if there's something bad to happen, it will happen. Yeah, and this isn't a Teddy Bluger situation with the Compril will be like another pending unrestrictive free agent that they're looking to flip is that Bluger wants to get minutes, reps, get his skating back, get everything back because he's barely played this season. Yeah.

So him playing right now at the risk of injury. Also, he's going to the Olympics. He's going to the Olympics. So there's a lot on the table for him. From a asset management perspective, I think the Canucks would be very well. wise to just sit cane down. And you know what? A little tangent off this conversation. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Evander Kane tenure era in Vancouver, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, you know, all things considered. And it wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. But when he first signed, I wasn't great, man.

I know it wasn't great. That's what I'm saying is I can't believe it was actually wasn't even as bad as I thought it was going to be. When they first signed him, they're 32nd in the league. Are you going to let me finish? Sure. If you want to go, if you've got something planned, by all means, go. I'm just, I'm just playing with you. Like, yeah.

At 32nd in the league, he hasn't done much. So tell us how it could have been worse. It could have been worse because he could have done Van der Kaine things. To be perfectly honest, the most, I'd say, controversial thing he did while here was the whole Cash Patel photography situation, which ended up being a blip because the organization

never really addressed it. He played in 51 games. He didn't play especially well, but he didn't do anything hairbrained. And actually, when I looked at his numbers last night, I was shocked that he had nine goals and 24 points. That's actually more production than I anticipated he would get through 51 games, especially with how badly the team has gone. He seems, if anything else, that he's just sort of going through the motions right now,

waiting for his next step. And that, to me, might be the best thing for both parties, that he doesn't do anything outlandish or wild, either get himself hurt or get himself in trouble, and then they can move them. Honestly, in the grand scheme of how many things have gone badly for the Vancouver Canucks this season, the Evander Cain era is, for me, like,

kind of at the bottom of the list. It just should have been like a blip. There really hasn't been much to it. Fan base can't stand him. But there hasn't been much to it. Point to me the biggest things that he's done in a negative this year, individual instances, like what we've seen throughout his NHL career.

Oh, I know what you're saying. It just hasn't been very good, though. No, it hasn't. It's been awful. Yeah. And he was their big offseason acquisition. So I'm not going to sit there and be like, oh, it could have been worse. But that's not fair.

He killed a guy? But that's not. Well, he didn't, thankfully. But the big, that's, I think more to the point is that when this deal was consummated, what was the first thing that you said? It's the wrong move. It's a bad move. It doesn't make sense from a culture perspective.

It doesn't make sense from where this team is headed. And now I'm actually surprised that it hasn't blown up worse than it has. surprisingly drama-free. Kind of, yeah. I was anticipating, at the very least, if you would have told me that they were going to be dead last in the NHL and they would have traded

to use, it would have been like, well, there's probably a huge fracture along the way. Same thing happened in Edmonton. Like, Oilers fans were sorry to see him go. Most of them loved him. He was... I don't think the same thing happened

in Edmonton as it did in Vancouver. Edmonton had success. Yeah. So did he at time. I'm more talking about the off-eye stuff. Not so much as play on the guys. Doesn't that just show? Doesn't that just so?

how low the bar was though? Yes, very much. Very much. I don't think it's been, I don't think you can say it's been a success. And like maybe he hasn't brought the drama, but he hasn't been a solution to anything either. Like no one's saying this was a good move in hindsight, right? Absolutely not.

And I want to make that abundantly clear. I mean, I was just trying to point out the other side of it is that the bar was so low that it's actually, hey, nothing terrible happened during his seven and a half, eight months in Vancouver. The fact that they're going to be able, I assume they're going to be able to ship him out and they're going to be able to get something in return.

That's almost a net win for and I know there was higher thoughts especially organizationally about what he was going to be able to bring to the table. But you and I both thought that that was a pipe dream from day one. I mean, never mind the attitude and the off-ice issues and the personality.

When he signed, I care, or sorry, when he got traded, I kept coming back to the same thing. He hasn't played an entire regular season in over a year. Like you got to remember. he sat out the entire regular season last year and then just kind of got the juice and the energy and the enthusiasm from joining a playoff run.

What happens when all that's gone? You get nine goals and 24 points and 51 games and kind of a checked out performance in Vancouver. He's also old. Yep. He was a terrific player when he was in his prime. When he was 24 out of 34. And every once in a while with the Edmonton Oilers,

he showed what he used to be, which is what older players can do at times. but it was not the right move and I think it was just a signal it was yet another sign of how how much of a struggle this past off season was for Canucks management to add difference makers

after ending the previous season and saying we've got to make some changes here and even if the prices we pay it's going to hurt we got to do it well they didn't do anything except for that no the move was a gigantic miss in terms of what they expected, which again, and I'll say it,

was wildly unrealistic at the time and in hindsight almost looks comically unrealistic, right? Okay, I'm really starting to wonder about Ratu's future with the team. I didn't think it was a big deal that he got scratched a few times earlier and I kind of like, wow, whatever. They'll find a way to get him into the lineup

at some point. But his camp must be hating all this time in the press box. When you're 23 years old and you're obviously dying to make it in the league, you know, 23 years old, you're not old,

but if you haven't yet established yourself in the league, you're like, how much longer do I have in the NHL? Yeah. You know, and then you can't even get into the lineup

of the worst team in the league during a lost season. I bet that stings a bit. I bet you're frustrated. So I'm, where are you on this? Because I'm of two minds.

One, if the organizations made this decision, it might say where they're at on the player. The flip side of it is, even if you're down on the prospect, or maybe ready to write them off, even then, does it make any sense to be playing Comf or,

I guess, like in this instance, if Andrew Kane, who you can just sit, like, would it not make more sense to see if there's anything, even if it's a, fourth and 27, Hail Mary,

we're just going to give it a shot and see maybe there's something there that we missed. Just play the young guy anyway. Yeah. That's where I'm at with this. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, they've got a trade, conf and in Bluger,

and I don't know if they want Ratu on the wing just because, I don't know if they want it. Here's the thing. I don't know if they want him at all. I don't think they want him anywhere. He doesn't move that well. Yeah. And that's kind of,

But the points, at even strength, were there relative to others. If you look at the underlying numbers, they were there. But when you watch them play, you're like, oh, it doesn't move that fast. I know he's worked on his skating, but this is a fast league now. It's an interesting thought exercise, because if you took the name bar off the jersey and just said, here's a 23-year-old player who has pretty good metrics at even strength, and he scored some points for you. and you acquired him in a pretty Ballyhoo trade

in which he was one of the assets coming back of note, would you not want to give him time to grow and matriculate? Maybe he's a late bloomer, right? But with the nameplate on the back, I feel like the organization is just kind of giving him a shrug. Like I think that they think he might top out as a 4C and if he does, it's not going to be with this organization,

it might be with another one. It's kind of a tough break. But they were really loath to move him last off season according to what's been reported. Yeah, because he was going to be packaged in like a potential Marco Rossi trade, right? Which would have been... But they said, I don't really want to do that. Yeah, and I really have a hard time with this one.

I don't know if this is Adam Foots assessment on them, but we've had countless people texting in about this throughout the course of the season, just being like, what's the game plan here? One of the big pieces from the Bo Horvath trade. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

Okay, let's run through some of these stories that have been going around the National Hockey League from last night. There was a trade in the National Hockey League last night. Our old friend, Carson Sussi, remember him? He is now on his way to the New York Islanders having been traded from the New York Rangers. Now, this trade isn't exactly going to, like, move the needle across the National Hockey League, although it's only the fourth trade that hated rivals. New York Islanders and New York Rangers have ever consummated between one another.

They haven't made a trade with each other since way back in 2010, so it's been 16 years. And of course, it was Carson Sousie to break the ice between the two teams. So if the islanders fall apart now, maybe Carson Sousie. Susie was the problem all along. They moved him out of Vancouver, he went to the Rangers, the Rangers fell apart. Yeah. And now maybe it wasn't J.T. Miller and

Elias Pedersen. It was Susie all along. It was like it's like the end of the usual suspects, right? Like, he's just walking up there. Yeah, yeah. Suddenly his limp goes away. Yeah, yeah. It's him! It could be. He leaves Madison Square. He leaves Madison Square Garden

limping, and by the time he gets to the islanders, he's just walking upright, and there he goes. Have you seen all the people in Vancouver that have been discussing Shane Wright? Yes. All the blogs are like, should the Canucks acquire Shane Wright? Did we start this? Is this your fault? You're the one that brought this to the table.

I hadn't even thought about it until you started discussing it last week. And then you started. Well, Dave Pagnata from, was it the fourth period? Yeah, correct. Through his name out there. And then. Then he did it again, I believe. Well, I think there's one site.

that takes everything that it's like NHL rumors or whatever on social media and you know I think it sounds like what he's reporting is that the the Seattle Cracken aren't shopping Shane Wright but they realize that like everyone else realizes about the Cracken they need to make some moves to make themselves more interesting right they don't have any star power so I threw it on social media yesterday. I wonder if there's a trade that the Canucks and the Cracken could consummate that would really spark the rivalry. And some people didn't get it. They were like, well, I think it's going to take the playoffs to do that. I'm like, I mean, I don't know. I want to yell out. Like, what if there's a package where Alias Pedersen goes to Seattle and Shane Wright comes to

Vancouver? Now, the Canucks aren't going to do that one for one. I don't think. Unless there's no, I mean, it would be pretty funny. No retention or. whatever, you know, but like... I don't think so. But if the Cracken are looking for star power, right? Yeah. Who are they going to get? Are there a lot of stars on the block right now? Like Panarin's not going to sign there.

No. And we're talking about a trade here with Shane Wright. And, you know, in theory, in theory, if the Canucks were to move Elias Pedersen to a team, it's been reported or speculated that they'd like to get a young center back. Okay? Yes, that's clear. That's okay, so Shane Wright, still young, center, right shot.

Now, would the Canucks want more? Probably, right? Because PD has shown what he can do in the NHL. Shane Wright still hasn't. We don't know if Shane Wright will, but I'm just throwing it out there as a kind of a Can you imagine if the Canucks traded Elias Pedersen to Seattle of all teams, if they do go down the trade route? Well, we did just see the Islanders and Rangers make a trade. So if those two can do it, I'm sure the Canucks and Cracken can do it.

I'll also add. Is that a risk that you'd be willing to take if you were the Cracken? No. No way. I mean, I say this as someone who is ardently in the camp of the Canucks need to move Pedersen. And so I should be welcoming any team. But if I was the incoming team, I would be just terrified, terrified of acquiring Pedersen. Right? Because again.

Wouldn't you be kind of excited though? No. Maybe you get them for cheap. My biggest concern right now is that the decline in his game isn't just about what's going on in his head or the skaters surrounding him or the situation is in. Is that there's a physical component to this that's going to see him go steadily downhill as opposed. to he's going to rediscover his game that a change of scenery and a fresh start in a new location is going to spark him. I hope that's the case because I would, I mean, I know the show has been, at times, somewhat critical of Elias Pedersen. I know. It's crazy to say it out loud, but I'm

going to say it. The show has at times been critical of Pedersen. Ultimately, I would like to see the trade because I think it would benefit him a lot and I'd like to see that. But from a physical perspective, it's the only thing that really makes sense. about how his game has deteriorated on the ice from what we've seen three or four years ago, right? The yips and a lack of confidence and headspace doesn't really translate into some of these things that we're seeing, right?

Well, I think it has at times. I actually have, it's funny. Some of the things. I have more time now for the linemates argument because DeBras cannot finish at five on five and the other guys came. Yeah. You know, I don't think there's much chemistry

between those two. Those are the two main players that he's, two main wingers that he's been out there the most with. Now, he's had a spin or two with Brock Besser and it hasn't gone well. And Brock's game hasn't exactly been amazing this season. But what I'm just telling you, what I'm seeing right now is Pedersen

with a little more confidence with the puck. I think he's through the yips part. My concern right now is his, and maybe this is a physical thing, maybe this is a fitness thing, like his skating just isn't where it used to be. And I will concede to you that, you know, I think the wrist thing has, as constant allusions to nagging injuries. Yes. Constant.

Yes. You know? Whether it's Ian McIntyre's most recent piece on Pedersen from a couple weeks ago on Sportsnet.com, or things that you hear leaking out through, you know, the club or through various media sources. it always feels like there's some sort of nagging injury that he's playing through, right? And maybe not the same willingness to play through it? Yeah, there's that too. You know? Or that was always what the club was hinting at.

Yeah. This isn't me with the tendonitis thing where he didn't miss a game and the club was kind of like, yeah, he might have had a little thing there, but all NHL players have that. I think that was a thing that was going on between the club and him. Right. So you go back to this and you're like, if you're a team that's acquiring the player, what are you getting health-wise? And that would be very concerned. So getting back to the Seattle thing, does their desire want need to get that impact superstar $11.6 million year player in the door? Does it maybe overtake some of those concerns? You would hope because it was facilitated deal. Yes, it would. Right. Now, the other side of it is, I don't know about the Shane Wright thing. and I know we're up against it for time

but I don't know and I think the more that you put it out there last week the more I tended to agree with it the notion of trying to jump onto an age cycle type thing trying to skip the process not drafting your own guys and trying to target

players that you know I don't want to call it Island a misfit toys but there is an element of that well the reason it would work is because it'd be like you take our risk and we'll take your risk. What's the risk in Shane Wright? What's the risk in Shane Wright? that he's not a player. That he doesn't develop into what he should be.

And you're left with the contractual future where it's like, well, he's no longer on an ELC. You're going to have to figure out if you want to retain him. He doesn't play nearly up to his draft pedigree. So there is risk for risk. I will acknowledge that, right? But I don't know if you're in a rebuild, you want to take that kind of risk. Don't you think there's way more risk in Pedersen?

Oh, yeah. Yes. I had to stop myself, but yes. Pedersen scored 100 points in the NHL before. Shane Wright has not. 17 goals of 49 points, if I'm not mistaken from Shane Wright. The Shane Wright's, I think, I think it's an interesting trade idea, to be perfectly honest with it.

Oh, it's interesting. If they're going to move him. Yeah. Because both teams would have, I would say, risk, yes. But don't you think there's significant upside in both, too? The more you talk it out, the more you kind of slowly nod, and you're like, I could see the frame. The framework of it. It's not ridiculous.

No, because the conceptual ideas are there, right? And the framework makes sense. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor, Life from Rogers Arena calling Canucks games. It is Brendan Bachelor, Bachelor, Bachelor,

702 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody, Halford Bruff. It is the Canucks, it is the Sharks. Tonight, 7 o'clock from Rogers Arena. Our next guest will be on the call. Brendan Bachelor joins us now on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Batch?

Good morning. How are you guys? We're good. First question, most pressing question. Are you still buzzing from Man, use decisive victory over the weekend. Yeah, I wouldn't let Shorty and Randeep hear the end of it. Good, good. Shorty is an Arsenal supporter, and he texted me at 1-0 already chirping,

so I let him hear it quite a lot on Sunday afternoon when we got to the rink. So yes, yes, a stark turnaround in just a couple of weeks for Man United, exciting time. Okay, now on to the Vancouver Cucks. Let's get that. Harry McGuire for England? Too late? Too late? Does Thomas Tuka watch him? He was good against Arsum? That's what I'm saying.

He was good against Arsson. He was very good against Arsenal. Okay, that's enough football talk for now. We'll go to the Vancouver Canucks. If you had to guess right now, we were talking about this at the break with regards to Jonathan Lecker-Macky, would you think that he would be in tonight playing his first game since December the 6th? So do you think that maybe he'll be held out for a little while longer, having only just been recalled from Abbotsford in the wake of the Brock Besser injury? Yeah, it's a good question and ultimately I expect that we'll find out in a couple hours from now at the morning skate

but with a guy like Brock Besser out of the lineup and we know Besser has had his scoring woes this season but he had been finding the back of the net with a little bit more regularity lately and was more involved offensively Lekermacky is the kind of guy that can come in and give you some of that scoring punch

that you lose with Besser being out, and I guess we'll potentially find out how long-term that injury could be here as well. So maybe they hold him out, maybe they say we're going to slow play it, but at the same time, you lose an offensive player, you recall an offensive player. I could totally understand if they say not only are we going to put him straight into the lineup, but we're going to give him a chance up the lineup too. Do you think there's any chance they sit Evander Kane just in advance of a trade? because, you know, there's always an injury risk

in a season like the Canucks have had. Do you really want to risk another bad thing happening? Yeah, I guess it depends how close to a trade they are. And, you know, the lack of overall depth right now in terms of NHL bodies leads me to believe that it would have to be pretty imminent for them to consider that. That said, maybe we'll find out that something like that is going to happen tonight as well.

But, yeah, we had this conversation with Kiefer Sherwood. Ultimately, Kever Sherwood did get injured, and it also didn't prevent them from trading him. They traded him while he was injured. And in fact, he could be making his San Jose Sharks debut on the other side tonight. We'll have to wait and see. But, yeah, for Kaine, you know, is that a possibility? I think it is. is it something the organization should consider to protect an asset that, you know,

they'll want to monetize before the deadline? Yeah, absolutely they should consider it. But generally speaking, teams don't really operate that way unless you're in like the week before the trade deadline or unless there's a trade that is, you know, literally about to happen. And so, you know, for the most part, unless something's going to happen today or tomorrow, I would expect that game plays tonight. We're going to throw you in the middle of a conversation that ripped the show apart this morning.

So I threw this out there that all things considered, I don't think that the Evander Cain era, if it was to come to an end either before the Olympics or then closer to the trade deadline in a month, it wasn't all that bad in the sense that it could have gone worse. That's where the bar is right now. He could have bet on the Canucks to finish dead last overall, I suppose. Right. Like there's so many other things.

things that could have gone worse. And then Baph and I were, we went back and forth on it. Like, I got, I actually got your point for what you were saying. It's that for where the organization had the- He shouted at me. And then I shouted at Jason. He shouted at me. And then the show-

6-10 in the morning. He's shouting at me. And then the show kind of went off the rails. But we got it back together. But the point being, um, there are two ways of looking at this. Like in the scheme of where, let's be frank, Kane's career has had a lot of controversy involved with it. So you, the ex-examination.

could be that something really bad could happen. And that hasn't. On the other side, as Jason pointed out, the way that this acquisition was trumpeted by management is this was the big move of an offseason in which they were going to try and get back in the playoffs and try and retain Quinn Hughes. In that light, it is a disappointment. I'm curious to get your thought collectively now that we're probably coming to the end of this experiment. What have you thought of the whole thing? Yeah, I think ultimately when you talk about it that way,

I think I would describe it as an on-ice failure, but an off-ice success, if that makes sense, where on the ice, certainly, he hasn't played at the level they expected him to. He hasn't produced at the level that they expected him to. He hasn't been a difference maker at the level that they expected him to be when they traded for him. And, you know, whether that's to do with the surroundings

and some of the other things that have happened on the team, whether that's to do with him individually, you know, who knows. maybe a little bit of both. But then off the ice, you're right. Like one of the big fears around bringing in a guy like Evander Cain was the off-ice drama that has surrounded him in the past. And for the most part, that hasn't happened in Vancouver. So, you know, I think it's fair to say it could have gone a whole lot better.

It probably could have gone a whole lot worse, too. And ultimately, you know, his time in Vancouver, unfortunately for Evander, as a hometown guy that was probably really excited to come and play for his hometown team, you know, his era in Vancouver is going to be more defined by what return they get for him at the trade deadline than it is, you know, for what the team did on the ice or what he did on the ice in a Kinnock's uniform. And, you know, I'm sure that's disappointing for him. It's definitely disappointing for the organization that this is the situation they're in. But that's the way things have unfolded this year. And you have to be able to adapt in some

of those moments. And, you know, for Evander, there is now the potential opportunity here for him to go to a contending team, right? We've heard the likes of Dallas and Colorado linked with him. And, you know, the L.A. Kings, too, obviously not quite as, uh, at the same level of a contender as those other two teams. But, you know, you're talking about arguably two of the best teams in terms of being a Stanley Cup contender in the NHL, circling around a guy like Evander Kane, in spite of the fact that it hasn't been the best season for him. And, you know, because of his track record as a guy that can get it done in the playoffs. So, you know, if they can monetize that and get, you know, a similar pick to what they gave up for him or maybe something even better, then, you know, it's good for the

organization. And, you know, ultimately his time in Vancouver won't have been very long and won't have been very memorable for both good and bad reason. Okay, let's change subjects. What do you think is the future for Atu-Ratu in Vancouver? Yeah, that's a really interesting one because, you know, I like a lot of what I've seen from him this year. He's like 60% in the face-off circle. He has provided a little bit of offense.

And I'm not going to pretend to be like a coaching guru or someone that will be able to tell you the intricacies of his defense play, but I think clearly the coaching staff doesn't think it's up to snuff compared to some of the other guys because he's sitting out of the lineup here as a young player right now. Now, you know, that that is likely going to change sooner rather than later, especially because we expect them to move Teddy Bluger and then potentially David Kamp as well. So that means there's going to be opportunity down the middle again down the stretch. And, you know, I think it was encouraging to see the organization sit a guy like David Camp the other night, although it was Max

Sassone that got back into the lineup rather than Atu Ratu. And you do have to wonder if Sasson's speed is something that they really like in the bottom six. And obviously he's produced more offensively. So, you know, he seems to have a leg up on Ratu right now. You know, this is all part of the development of a young player, though. And I'm sure that Atu Ratu isn't just sitting in the press box eating popcorn, right? he's doing extra work with the coaches after practices and after morning skates and trying to hone his game and they'll be working on things with him individually. So in the short term, it doesn't worry me a whole lot that they've got a young player sitting out because right now there's a numbers game.

If it were to continue past the trade deadline later in the season, if he was missing large stretches of games, then I would be more concerned. And ultimately, too, something we have to talk about at this point, you know, which means, be an uncomfortable truth for some people is it's this coaching staff that doesn't like him. Is this coaching staff going to be the coaching staff that's in Vancouver beyond this season? And might a different coach have a different opinion of some of these young players, whereas, you know, Adam Foote who not only took over as the head coach this year, but has been in Vancouver for numerous seasons, will have formed opinions on a lot of these guys already.

If the organization chooses to make a change and not saying they will or they won't, but just talking about that potential, if that does happen, then Atu Ratu could be a guy that might benefit from a fresh start, a different coach and a set of new eyes watching his game. You know, face-offs are, it's good to be good at face-offs, obviously, but, you know, if you ask me, would you rather be really good at skating, if you're a center and not very good at face-offs or very good at face-offs and not very good at skating,

I would take the fast skating part. And I just wonder if that is ultimately going to limit him in the NHL because I think you make a good point in that they did return Sassone to the lineup and his speed is his best asset while keeping Ratu out. Yeah, and you know, Adam Foote even alluded to the fact they might play Ratu on the wing. So then if you play Ratu on the wing, you still have the speed down the middle with Sassone, but maybe if Ratu plays the wing on that line that he could take the draws, right?

And you get the best of both of those players and their skill sets. But I would imagine they're telling Ratu he needs to work on his skating more in the offseason and, you know, whether he can make more marked strides in that area remains to be seen because I think he already has improved his skating quite a bit from what it was when he was a younger player.

So, you know, there is still room for improvement. And that's the really, you know, exciting thing with having a lot of young players around your team. And this is something that, you know, I can remember going back to my days covering junior, but you can also see it with the Canucks opponent tonight in the San Jose Sharks, is you could have young players come back after a strong summer and look like completely different players the following season and take really large strides in their development in very short periods of time.

And I'm sure that's part of the reason why the organization thinks that this might not have to be as long-term a rebuild as some observers might. You know, that said, Ratu's 23, so he's not like 19 or 20 anymore. So he's getting close in the next couple of years to the point where you say, okay, this is what he's going to be at the NHL level. So he still has, you know, a summer or two here to really put in the work and try to round out his game and prove that, you know, he's deserving of being an every-night guy for this team and someone that doesn't come out of the lineup.

but there is still a lot of work ahead for him, I think, to prove to the organization and to his coaches that he's a guy they can rely on night in and night out. Are you looking forward to watching Macklin Celebrini tonight? Absolutely. Hey, it's been a great week for, you know, guys to watch coming into Rogers Arena, right? We got Alex Ovechkin's likely last game as a Capitol. We got Sidney the other night. We've got Macklin Celebrini tonight. He's such a dynamic player to watch already at such a young age.

Also in the case of Crosby and Cellebridi, they're drawing comparisons to each other right now. They're both going to be playing for Team Canada in Italy in a few weeks. So, yeah, absolutely. It's, you know, he's a really exciting player to watch, especially in person. You know, I think oftentimes with these skilled guys, you don't really appreciate their overall game and less you see them in the flesh. And so for Cellebrini and the Sharks coming in tonight, it'll be an exciting watch, I think. It's kind of about the opponents these days.

I mean, I went to the Islanders game, and I went there, number one reason was to see Schaefer, and I was really impressed with him. He's a terrific young player. You know, because, you know, the vibe at Rogers Arena has been fine. It hasn't been nasty at all. It's been supportive of the home team, and I wonder if some people who don't regularly get to go to games are going to games, and I wonder if people are just, in some ways, excited to see the opponent as well. Yeah, and, you know, I think we do sometimes have to take ourselves out of the bubble that we live in to a certain extent in terms of analyzing this all the time on sports radio, talking about it all the time on social media, and realize that, you know, if someone puts down their hard-earned money to go to the game and watch, regardless of what they think about long-term rebuilds and, you know, philosophy of the organization.

and many of the fans may not even have opinions on that sort of stuff, right? They may be more casual fans going to the game, but ultimately, when you pay to go and sit at Rogers Arena, you want to be entertained and you want to cheer on your team. And, you know, at this point in the season, you know, as much as people want the Canucks to continue losing, to maintain 32nd in the NHL, and, you know, let's be honest,

they probably are going to keep losing based on the fact that they're going to move more players off their roster before the end of the season, a wind here or there isn't going to do them any harm. They've opened up quite a big gap at the bottom of the standing. So absolutely, you go to the rink, you want to be entertained, you want to cheer on your team, you want to go home at the end of the night, happy that, you know,

you had a good experience there. So I'm not really surprised that the atmosphere has maintained and been positive inside Rogers Arena, also because of the messaging from the organization and the things that they've done or, you know, are talking about doing to trend towards a rebuild, right? We know that this market has been clamoring for that for a long time. And I think the fact that you're not seeing booing or you're not seeing jerseys thrown

on the ice is an example of the fact that this market is ready and has been ready for a while for a rebuild and they're excited to watch this team go through it and still cheer on the guys that step on the ice every night, especially the young players that, you know, they want so badly to see develop into difference makers for this team like Zee, Booie, and like Tom Vee Launder, just as a couple of examples. Hey, speaking of the vibe in the building, and of course, you being one of the most prize prospects to ever come out of Coquilum, what did you think of being userved by 18-year-old Ben Kindle over the weekend?

Yeah, that was really cool. Just to see the number of people he had there, too. Like, I think it was, what, 180? Something like that. 200 people that came to the rink to watch him. and, you know, for him to have that homecoming game and deliver in such cool fashion by scoring a couple of goals and being named the first star, you know, he did Coquitlam proud.

It was great. I was happy to see it for him. Batchez, this was great, buddy. Thanks. We appreciate it. Sounds good. Thanks, guys. Have a good one.

Yeah, Brendan Batchelor, the play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canucks here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. And Brandon joined us, courtesy, get this, the Able Auctions Hotline. That's right. Guests on SportsNet 650 call in on the ABLE Auctions hotline. Email sales at abelie auctions.ca to get your business assets sold and your building cleared. I love it when we have new businesses join the fold here, especially on the Halford & Brough Show on SportsNet 650. We love our partners here.

As a matter of fact, another one I love is Limitless A-V because they are the title sponsor of the One to Watch. Oh, here we go. And tonight's one to watch, Jason. Okay. And we're going to have to watch warm-ups very closely tonight. Or the morning skate. Or the morning skate. As a matter of fact, watch it all.

Everything to the lead up to this game to see if Jonathan Lechromacky can indeed be the one to watch tonight. He has not played an NHL game since December 6th, 2025. So all the way last year. I hope he gets into the lineup. I hope he's not in the press box. And he's like, did you see what William Nealander did the other time? What are you doing? Well, check this out.

Oh, no. Two fingers. No, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't go in. Much like I don't see any reason why he wouldn't play out to Ratu. Sort of the same denominator there. Well, with Besser being out, there's a clear opening for a goal scoring winger. And even if Besser was in, there's probably still opening for a clear goal scoring winger. Question, would it be double the fine if you flip the double birds?

Great question. Would it be 10 grand? If you're George Peros, you would have to, right? Second question, what is the logic of not playing all of your young players at this point in completely lost season? The dogs are lining up the good questions. Why would you not just have all of your young players in the lineup for the rest of the year? But A dog, they might lose. Oh no.

And the young players also get experienced. You know what? There's so many terrible things that could happen. For one of the big J. journalists covering this team that's not me because I'm not going to do it. But someone should ask. And not in a like instigating, count away with foot. It doesn't have to be adversarial. Excuse me. Adam. Just genuinely ask him, why not play

Ratu a bunch and see what you've got? Or have you guys already seen enough and this is what he is? I think that's a pretty straightforward question. Totally. He's been asked about Ratu before and he's kind of sloughed off. He just said, look, it's not a big deal that he's in the press box. Great. But at this point, I think you can make a legitimate pushback to being like, well, can I ask him if he thinks it's a big deal? Yeah, I bet he cares. Well, we're not making him available. Right. If you want them, you're going to have to put them on camera in the press box.

But, you know, it's an interesting thing. Total tangent here. By the way, one to watch is brought to you by Limitless A, V. Vancouver's most trusted audiovisual integration experts. Drans brought this, I saw this conversation floating around on social media yesterday. And it was about Carson Sousy, but there's a bigger picture here. And I guess Drans was trying to explain to one of his followers. and they were going back and forth about opportunity cost.

So he said like with Susie, Cole's Notes version, and I apologize to Dransov, I'm glossing over anything important, but you pay a third round pick to get him in. And let's see you get a third round pick to ship him out. And everyone's like, it's a wash, right? What Dras was trying to argue is that the time in between matters. It's the opportunity cost.

That's the opportunity. That's the opportunity. Right. You paid him his salary. That salary could have been a lot. But other people were like, it doesn't matter because he's the sixth, defenseman and he was a minimal contributor and the person that you were playing there,

what is the actual opportunity cost? So take that opportunity cost idea and put it in this situation. If the minutes that Ratu is playing are going to David Kemp, for example, there's an opportunity loss because Komp means nothing to this team long term. Nothing. And if he does, there's problems, right? He shouldn't be around beyond this year. He serves no purpose for.

a rebuild or a long-term thing. I suppose if he wanted to make the argument that if he signed a veteran minimum deal and he came back next year, maybe, but you don't need to play him to see that he could do that. And you know what he is. Everyone knows what he is.

He's a 4C that can't score. And if you need a guy to go in and eat some minutes and play fairly sound defensively, he can do it, right? And playing him one or two more games isn't going to significantly up his trade value either. Zero.

Yeah. People know what these guys are. So the opportunity cost, I would say, is can you build a more interesting story and narrative and profile of Atu Ratu, who's less known? And maybe there's someone that's interested in his services. Or maybe he shows you something you didn't think he had. How about look at it this way? Okay. And you know me, I'm, I'm a big empath.

Huge. So much empathy. I don't know what it is, but you're a huge empath. How about put yourself in the shoes of Atu Ratu? You're 23 years old. you don't have a long-term contract. You don't know if you've got a future with this organization, considering the fact that you're not in the lineup.

How do you think you're feeling? Do you think you... Pretty bombed out? Yeah. Do you think that Atu Ratu is like, that's not a big deal? You're shrugging his shoulders? Yeah.

I go do a workout. I guarantee you. I guarantee you he doesn't think like it's not a big deal. I guarantee you. Sitting in the press box when you want to win a face off. Hey, I do, rot to. Yeah. He's singing his own song.

And, you know, I think for all these young players, they're all in a really, some of them are an exciting position, but it's also a stressful time. Like, you're trying to make an NHL career. And in theory, you've got a great opportunity. Yeah. Because there's this really bad team

that wants to produce, young players. So if you're, again, put yourselves in the shoes of Atu-Ratu. You're like, this team has every reason to be playing me. I am a young player. I could potentially, you know, they got me in a trade. And I was one of the big pieces that came over in a big trade. Like, if I'm not playing, what did they really think of me?

That's fair. That's called empathy, my friend. I should learn about it. There's no bigger empath, no bigger few things, than Jason Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.