Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 1/8/25

Episode Date: January 8, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they set up tonight's Canucks game at Washington, plus they chat NHL trade rumours with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, as well as why Elias Pettersson is on his trade board and JT Miller is not. 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. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da And it's five in a row for the Red Wings and this place is delirious. Congratulations. You and your family are going to Washington. Woohoo! Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.

You don't want to know how far I'll go. Good morning Vancouver 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. It is Halford at his broth. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios. The beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Regular Zach, good morning to you as well. Good morning.

Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one 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 them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. And we are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Kintec. Dang it. Guest list begins today at six 30. David Amber Sportsnet NHL Hockey Night Canada host is going to join us.

Wednesday night hockey on Sportsnet features your Vancouver Canucks in Washington to take on the Capitals at 430 yard time. Three other games in the NHL tonight, Colorado at Chicago, Florida, Utah, and an important game for playoff jockeying in the West, a Calgary team right on the heels of Vancouver. They're in LA to take on the Kings tonight. We'll talk to David about all that at 6.30. Seven o'clock, Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off.

Yesterday, Frank dropped the first Trade Targets Board of 2025 on Daily Face Off. One Vancouver Canuck comes in on the list. He comes in in the last and 25th position on the board his name alias peterson Jt. Miller didn't make the board at all. We'll have to ask Frank Wyatt seven o'clock. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah 730 John Walton play-by-play voice of the Washington Capitals is gonna join us to preview tonight's game Caps come into tonight at 26 10 and for their in the Metropolitan Division, third overall in the NHL. They score a ton of goals.

We'll talk to John Walton about all that at seven 30. Then at eight o'clock, another radio voice, but this time of the Vancouver Canucks, Randy Janda is going to join the program. So real quick, here's the schedule for today. Canucks talk from 12 to two with Dranson Dodd, Canucks central with Satin Dan from two to three. Canucks Canucks central with satin Dan from two to three, Canucks pregame also with satin Dan from three, three till four 30. Then puck drop with a batch and ran deep at four 30 post game show takes you all

the way through to nine o'clock. So yet again, your home for nine hours of uninterrupted Canucks coverage. It's all right here. Sportsnet six 50, your home for too much Canucks talk and more Canucks talk followed by Canucks coverage. It's all right here sports net 650 your home for too much Canucks talk and more Canucks talk followed by Canucks talk that's the show today working in reverse 8 o'clock. It's Randy 730 John Walton 7 o'clock Frank Sarah Valley 630 David Ember. That's? I missed all the action because I'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? 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 in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. There's a lot of different Canucks things that we need to get to that happened yesterday. Okay you lead the way the way you want to lead. Oh that's exciting we're gonna start with what happened on the ice in Montreal yesterday. The Canucks actually stayed behind following their overtime loss in Montreal, practiced on Tuesday and then flew to Washington for tonight's game. So the big news at yesterday's practice was that Thacher Demko was back on the ice. He practiced fully. And then in his article, IMAAC's article, sorry, on Thacher Demko,

which we can get to in a little bit, IMAAC wrote that Demko is expected to at least back up Kevin Lankin tonight in Washington. OK, so as we've talked about, there's a lot of games in a short Washington. Okay. So as we've talked about, there's a lot of games in a short span, starting now. The Canucks play tonight in Washington, Friday in Carolina, Saturday in Toronto, and then they finish off this road trip Tuesday in Winnipeg.

So it would be a lot to ask Kevin Lankenen to play all these games. And you don't really want to put sea lobs in. No. And now that that's your Demko is back, it sounds as though again, like, I mean, he may surprise the world and start tonight in Washington. Who knows? I find it hard to believe, but he did practice yesterday. But regardless, he's going to play one of those Carolina or Toronto games. And he may even play more because according to Thatcher Demko, Jason, he wasn't even really

injured. Why did he leave the game then? So in the article with IMAQ, which was basically a sit down interview, IMAQ's getting some work done on this road trip, by the way. I think he's the only reporter on the road. There was a scrum yesterday with Rick Tauke that was about three and a half minutes long. All IMAQ. There was a scrum yesterday with Rick Tauke that was about three and a half minutes long. All I'm at. Three and a half minutes.

You should ask the questions in different voices so it sounds like there's more reporters. Yeah, I was waiting for- You should have like four different voices. Well, you know when you watch- I agree, that was a good point. Yeah, good point. You know when you watch the scrum. And one like old-timey reporter too is like,

Yeah, there's like, What are you gonna clean up this team? You know when you watch a scrum and you're hearing the voices off camera. Yeah. I kept waiting for a different one, but it was just iMac. Yeah, talk about it. iMac. iMac's got to start doing impressions.

Anyway, in addition to having control of the Scrum, iMac is also getting a lot of interviews one-on-one with players. He had one with PD the other day. He had one with Thatcher Demko. And one of the things that Demko addressed was the back spasms. And he said, quote, I wouldn't even say I was injured or anything.

A back spasm just flared up. I mean, you guys wouldn't believe the stuff we play through. A lot of times you'll feel something that you don't feel you can play through. And then adrenaline and the meds kick in and it kind of goes away. He said in the case of the back spasms, he was just taking extra precaution and decided that it probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to finish the game. He came out, Lankton and came in. Demko returned to practice yesterday. So who knows? He may get the opportunity to start tonight or at the very least, as you

mentioned over this very busy stretch of games in what's going to be a pretty daunting road trip for the Canucks, especially for the goalies, because tonight they face the second highest scoring team in the national hockey League in the Washington Capitals. Only one other team has scored more goals than the Washington Capitals. That team is the Winnet Big Jets who the Vancouver Canucks are going to finish this trip against next week. The Capitals, I know they've got Ovechkin, but they don't really have one guy who's filling the net.

They have seven guys. They have seven 10 goal scorers already. Right. Including our former friend, Nick Dowd. Nick Dowd has? How many goals does he have? Nick Dowd. I wish we had a bruff cam right now.

The way that his eyes popped when I said Nick. The Nick Dowd reaction? The Nick Dowd reaction. I would have paid good money to see that, yes. Nick Dowd. Nick Dowd has, he's one of seven guys on the capitals with 10 goals. He's actually turned into a pretty good forward in Washington. The Canucks have one point on this trip already.

Yes. When they finish this road trip, how many points do we need for us to be kind of satisfied about the road trip? I said- How many more points? So they've got one- They need four more to be, of satisfied about the road trip. How many more points? So they've got one. They need four more to be, and that's low level satisfied.

So loser points in all of them? Yeah. Every girl that dated me in my 20s satisfied, like he's fine. Yeah. I got five points out of this, out of the 10. That's actually a funny question to ask. Considering how many loser points the Canucks have,

would you be happy if they went all loser points on this road? Oh that's a great question. I'm actually asking one of his voice. Rick because in some ways you'd be like wow they took a lot of teams a lot of really good teams to overtime on the road but they didn't get the bonus point on any of them. Okay I'm willing if they took every single game on this trip to overtime, I'd say that that's a successful trip. Okay. Yeah. If they lost all of them, I'd say it's, it's kind of problematic.

Like how did you, how did you not fluke your way in to a win? Right. Um, how did you not like win the face off in one of the or times and just hold the puck for five minutes and go to the shootout, which is the ultimate coin. Then you lose the shootout. Well, but they might win the shootout. That shootout they won the other day was like their first time in two years that they'd want to shoot out.

Yeah, they don't go to the shootout that often. Yeah. Right? So that's part of it, but they're also not very good at it. Anyway, that's a really good question there. So okay, so the other stuff that Thatcher Demko talked about in his interview with iMac, there were two other big takeaways. One was he also addressed the noise or the rift

or whatever you wanna call what's going on between Pedersen and Miller and the dynamics of the locker room. And Demko prefaced everything by saying he wanted to tread lightly. And he said that media can be hard to deal with. And part of the reason that he thinks that all of this has been blown up and exacerbated is the fact

that they're not winning games. And it's a decent point to bring up because as many have mentioned last year when everything was good and everyone was healthy and the connects to winning a lot of games, no one mentioned the Pettersson Miller dynamic, even though it existed. Now where Demko, and I think he probably didn't want to go down this road and chose his word carefully.

There's more to it than just winning and losing, like, you know, the 10 game absence that JT Miller had mid-season. And a number, a number of trade rumblings that are out there that are being leaked by whoever. You can take your guess on whoever's leaking it, but they are everywhere right now. And I know you pulled together some of them for

the notes and after you sent me the notes, Jason, oddly enough, there were even more like trade ramifications and rumblings and add ons and addendums, like this is not stopping. So I had a bit of a chuckle yesterday because I think we all saw what Rick Dollywell reported in that he said that a lot of teams around the NHL don't think the Canucks are really serious about trading Elias Pedersen. A lot of people in the market went, few. And then yesterday,

yesterday, Chris Johnston is reporting for TSN and he made sure to say like, the Canucks are serious about trading Elias Pedersen. So was that like a, was that a response to the report from Dolly Wall that a lot of the NHL teams don't think they're serious was like that. Did someone get in Siege's ear and say like, no, no, no, this is serious. The quote is, when it comes to Pedersen in particular, it seems as though the Canucks are serious about considering moving him. Multiple teams have believed to show an interest.

And then Siege went on to report that, hey, don't forget about that Carolina deal that was kicked around last season when Petey was deciding about trying to sign an extension or not. Yeah. And, and Marty Nateschess, I know he's, uh, I haven't checked in with him lately and we'll, the Canucks will see the Carolina hurricane soon,

but he got off to that crazy start where he was leading the NHL in points. Um, that situation hasn't been fully resolved in Carolina. They kind of kicked the can down the road with the two year contract extension for him. He was an RFA and they gave him a two year deal, but that leads him into unrestricted free agency.

So we still don't know if he wants to stay long term in Carolina. I imagine he's happier there because I think a lot of his issue there was like, he wasn't happy with his role. Maybe he wanted to play more and they were like, okay, we'll play better. And now he's playing better, but his dad sounded off in the media. Don't forget about that. I forgot about that, but he's got, um, a year

left after this season and then he's unrestricted. So they've got a decision to make, but you know, any team that acquires Martin H.S. Needs to make sure that they can, they can sign him long-term as well. Yeah. Like, I mean, that would be part of it. But he's not eligible for an extension yet.

He wouldn't be eligible until July 1st. So if he's the guy involved in any trade, I'm not even talking about for Pedersen. Yep. You know, it's, and he can't sign an extension, a long-term extension with Carolina yet. So that could be tricky, a little bit tricky. So that was one of the multiple reports that

were out there yesterday. Another very interesting one that got a lot of play across the lower mainland is that the Vancouver of the multiple reports that were out there yesterday. Another very interesting one that got a lot of play across the lower mainland is that the Vancouver Canucks reportedly rejected a trade earlier in this season that would have sent JT Miller to the New York Rangers in exchange for fellow forward Mika Zabinajad. This was reported by the Athletics Josh Yohei.

That's an interesting one because Josh Yohei doesn't cover the Vancouver Canucks or the New York Rangers. He covers. Pittsburgh. And he covers the Penguins. Do you think he's ever met Jim Rutherford? Well, I don't know, Jason.

That's awfully interesting, isn't it? Did Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen used to work in Pittsburgh? No. Or the Pittsburgh Penguins? I don't know, I'm gonna have to pull it up on the internet. Has Jim Rutherford given multiple interviews to Josh Yohei over the past, including the one where he explained why he left Pittsburgh and joined the

Vancouver Canucks organization. That's interesting. I don't know. You guys answered at home. I'm just a simple radio man. I don't know. So Elliot Friedman also followed up on Josh Yohei's report and he wrote in a 32 thoughts column. It's up on sportsnet.ca right now. And he said, you remember that Miller took his mental health break, the Rangers who covet the

player were in Vancouver. Yeah. I think the Canucks, I think the Rangers were the next team they were going to play. And the Rangers at the time, nobody thought they were in trouble. They were 12, four and one. If I'm not mistaken. They were 12, four and one with the win over

the Canucks and then they completely fell apart. They couldn't handle the success of They couldn't handle the success of beating the Canucks. It was just like, we flew too close to the sun. Um, and, uh, I, I guess Miller's leave gave the Rangers reason because we all knew that they were kind of like concerned about the Rangers, even though they had this great record management was

concerned about them. Um, and Sabanajed, you know, he hasn't played well really at all this season. Well, I think they were concerned specifically about Zabana Jed's play. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe.

Cause he has not been good this year at all. So probably what happened was that the Rangers saw that JT Miller had taken a leave and said, Hey, let's talk to the connects about this guy. Um. So here, let me jump in because the framework for the deal, um, is a little bit more detailed from Freage. So the original report was from Josh, just so we

can get this clear. Freage wrote from what I understand the Rangers approach the Canucks to discuss what something could look like in a JT Miller trade with the two big parts being Sabinajad Miller. And it was the Rangers approaching Vancouver. I think that is, that's important to note. Like the Canucks, the Canucks didn't grant JT Miller his leave and then go,

all right, let's talk to the Rangers about this guy. It was the Rangers that approached the Canucks. Freage went on to write that he thinks it was actually a bigger deal more than just a straight one for one. And here's the quote. One of the issues is that Vancouver adores Braden Schneider who the Rangers do not want to trade. This would be the second time New York has rejected

a Vancouver attempt for him. So Schneider's a right shot defenseman. Conversations happened. That's two different reporters that are suggesting that it did not out and not anything unusual or maybe not anything cause for alarm because general managers talk all the time but a few things are very clear. It sounds like Chris Drury and the Rangers do covet JT Miller and it sounds like the Vancouver Canucks,

Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alveen like Braden Schneider. So make of that what you will. All I know is that as we get closer to the March trade deadline, I'm looking at the calendar, it's January the 8th. So, once again, unless the intended goal of these leagues, which is to light a fire under both players and say, hey, this is the final warning shot, pull it together, get along as friends or at very least as coworkers and start scoring some points and start winning us some games, this might not stop

because yesterday was a random Tuesday in the calendar. There was nothing remarkable about yesterday. I think it might be past light of fire now. Well, they're still lighting it. But I mean, like, I think there might actually be intent. Like, hey, maybe see what we can get out there. Intent is great, Andy, but the trade is- Who knows what-

I doubt it's for Braden Schneider, though. If I was going to be an agent or an advisor that was calling everyone's bluff I'd be like good luck trying to do it especially with Miller because Miller's armed with a no trade clause and He's got I mean I know it's a vintage at the vintage at contract is worse. I would say than Miller's Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't want that right if that's if that's the framework of an original ask I'd be like no Brains either would be amazing, but there's no rain. The rain, rain is not giving up Braden Schneider.

Exactly. It's not gonna happen. Miller comes with some baggage here. He's on the wrong side of 30. He's got a long- Has Schneider even been playing all that well? I don't think he has. I'm not sure.

I haven't, no one in New York has played particularly well. I can't imagine, because they've lost a whole lot of games. But I think the bigger point would be it is very difficult to pull off blockbuster trades and either one, a trade involving Pedersen hypothetically or in trade involving Miller hypothetically would be a blockbuster trade. It would be huge. It would be one of the biggest trades that the NHL seen in season in a while.

I don't know how many years, but in the last couple of years, let's put it that way. So to be able to do it, you could be the naysayer or the devil's advocate or the counter argument guy and be like, good luck trying to pull off the trade. Keep talking about it all you want and keep, you know, leaking it to the media or putting it out there that anything is possible.

But it's a very slim possibility to get it done because it would be complex. I'm looking at Bret, Braden Schneider's game log and he only plays like 16 or 17 minutes a day. I don't think he's been an amazing player for them. But like you said, I don't think anyone's been an amazing player. Just to put a bow on it, for each set of the Rangers, don't want to trade him.

And I'm assuming it's because- He's a young right shot defenseman. Yeah. You know, um, I did want to add one more thing because this has kind of been, uh, my little hobby, uh, talking about Rick Tauket's contract. Cause I don't think we talk about it enough. And Pierre Le Brun reported, uh, in the athletic, he said, uh, let's point out the situation with

reigning Jack Adams award winner, Rick Tocket, whose contract expires at the end of the season. The Canucks do have a team option for next year on him, but my understanding is that Tocket has the ability to decide if he would sign up for that option year. So basically it's a mutual option. So it could be that the Canucks say, okay, we're gonna exercise our option and we'd like to bring you back.

Taki could be like, no. Yeah. You know, he's not obligated to return. And he could say like, I want an extension. That's what I want. Or he could say like, nah, I'm going to go somewhere else. I'm going to go back to TNT or I'm going to say no, and I'm going to explore the rest of the market for coaches.

So this is another thing that's hanging over the team. Like I think there's two things hanging over the team that have been overshadowed by everything else hanging over the team and that is one is the Brock Besser contract, which would normally on a typical season be like the number one talking point. The other one is Rick Taukett's contract. We're going all the way back to the off season now when he was asked about that and it wasn't front burner issue and I guess it still isn't front burner issue, but I remember Taket said, yeah, when we have the time to talk about it, we'll talk about it. I'm sure we'll talk about

it. And I'm like, it's still out there. And I think everyone just feels like too sorry for Rick talking right now to ask about it. It's like, uh, after all these questions about the team and how tired he looks up there all the time, and then he's like, ah, can I ask about your situation? He might just start crying. When I, when I read Lebron's report, I was thinking like, does it feel like there's a very big difference between a standard player contract

and then whatever it is that they give coaches? Well, there is, cause there's no CBA. Right, like it feels like this was written on the back of a napkin and it's like, option, question mark. Well do you remember the Boudreaux contract too, right? I think- Do you remember, when Jim Rutherford came in he was like,

wait a minute, there's another year on this thing? I think Boudreaux's contract was 100% orally implied. Like I don't think it was written down anywhere. I think they were just like, do you want to keep coaching? And then they handed him a note. It's it was circle Y or N. It was like when Kramer started working at that office and he actually worked there. Yeah, like I think that was it.

I don't even work here. You know, like it's so difficult. Standard player contracts, they're formatted. You know, they've got like terms and clauses and everything else. And the coaches contract is like, do you want to work here? And then you just kind of nod or you wrote it on a napkin. Yeah, that's it. Just a bruise here It is good ones that that's very you're taking over laddie's dad joke rain Which is very good. You're listening to the best of Halford and brough

You're listening to the best of Halford and brough our next guest is a presentation of angry otter liquor Frank Sara Valley Joins us now on the health of the brush on sports net 650 morning Frank how are you pretty good how you doing boys we're well thanks for taking the time to do this so we tease we previewed we highlighted the first trade board of 2025 on daily face off to our listeners earlier and give away the whole thing I want them to go visit the website and read and click and do all that stuff. But I did mention that there's only one Vancouver Canuck on the list. He comes in at number 25 of 25 and it's Elias Pedersen. We'll table that for a sec, but why no JT Miller on the list at all, Frank?

Well, for one, they haven't asked for him to consider waiving his no trade cause and he holds the keys. Um, so look, is it possible that they're trying to understand and grasp what the market is for JT Miller? Of course. Um, but I don't have any indication that talks have progressed in any meaningful way and beyond that, um, they haven't even broached the subject with anyone. So it doesn't seem like a possibility at this point in time.

Sorry, go ahead. No, I was just going to say, now contrast that to Elias Pedersen who is, they could make a trade unencumbered. And you also had the GM a week ago with Ian McIntyre saying, I mean, yeah, that's a possibility. Two totally different scenarios. Have you heard if the Canucks have gone down the road on either player with any team out there? Like how far has this gotten?

My understanding is that it's been mostly cursory in the sense that, okay, so all of this stuff has been swirling, right? And you know, for more than a month now, teams have heard and seen the reporting of the friction between these two guys. And then it reached a boil point when essentially the discussion became one or the other. And so as a result of that, look, teams are calling, teams are asking questions.

Hey, what are you doing here? Would you consider moving this guy? Would you consider moving that guy? And then it's the expression of interest followed by, well, maybe, and what could you potentially from the Canucks end they're asking, what could you potentially be willing to part with? And so I don't know how deep those talks have progressed. Like, I mean, it's, it's also subjective too, right? Because even if one team feels it, it went a certain way, it's also subjective too, right? Because even if one team feels that it went a certain way,

it's not necessarily how the other partner in the conversation felt that it went. So it's always tough to judge that. But what I would say is, yeah, like teams have been calling and the Canucks are answering and they're engaging to understand what the marketplace looks like. It'd be malpractice if they didn't.

So that's sort of where things stand at the moment. How much of this is a motivational ploy for the two players? Honestly, I don't think any. And if that's been the thought process, I think that part has probably been misguided. And maybe one thing that you could say and add in here, and perhaps with hindsight, they will feel this way. I think the Canucks management and organization could have done a lot better as a whole in messaging and beginning to tamp some of this down.

And I'll include the coaching staff at some point too. Because the story kind of grew legs as each additional log was layered onto the fire and it became the thing that just was I think a lot bigger than it ever really was. So that part, you know, I struggle to understand the thought process behind it and I wouldn't hesitate or I would hesitate to guess, but it's, it certainly has been interesting watching all of it play out from a messaging perspective. You know, I think less about the alleged, it's

not an alleged, I think it's pretty well acknowledged, rift between Pedersen and Miller. I think more about the play of the players. I know Miller has not had a good season. He had a great game the other day in Montreal, but we haven't seen enough of that JT Miller. And, you know, I've been going on about this to the point where people can't stand me in this

market because I've been going on about Pedersen's play since the all star break, which is almost a full year. So for me, it's like the rift is one thing. It's kind of out there, but it might be a little bit of a red herring. The more interesting thing I think is just the play of Elias Pedersen since he signed this contract.

And that's a big reason why he's on the board, right? And a big reason why I think Patrick Alveen mentioned or answered the question from Ian McIntyre the way that he did, put aside any of the drama that's existed. Even if these two were in a perfect teammate relationship and everyone got along and were hanging out and playing

PlayStation or going to dinner every night, I think it's still a philosophical question or existential question that the Canucks would need to ask themselves over these next six months until July 1st, which is do we believe that in this environment, Elias Pettersson can can play at a level commensurate to what we're paying him for the next seven years. And I don't know how watching him for a calendar year. Now you could positively answer that question and say with any, you know, anything close to a hundred percent certainty, yes, you know, this he's

going to get back on track and do it. I, it's been too long and then there's been too many red flags, um, in, in responses to some of these, you know, different pushes, pulls, and prods, whether it is answering a question like that, whether it was the response to the way that he handled the playoffs and his messaging with the injury and whatever it's been at every different turn, it feels like it's been lacking. It's been disappointing. It's been short of the mark. And I think those are real questions that they'd have to ask, which that's really why he's on the trade board. It's all those things wrapped into one.

Do you have any intel on Rick Tocket's contractual situation in Vancouver? Because it was reported by Pierre Lebrun that it's a team option for the Canucks on Rick Tocket next season, but it is in effect a mutual option because Rick Tocket can say, even if the team exercises the option, he's like, yeah, no, I'm not interested. I don't, I don't have any details and I'd be happy to follow up. Thank you very much, Frank Sarravelli. So where do you think this is going to lead with the Canucks? Do you think they're going to make a trade or do you think they're going to make a trade? Do you think one of these guys is going to be moved?

In season, I still think it's more likely than not that they remain Canucks. And it's mostly due to the difficult nature of making a deal like that in season. Like, let's just say, for instance, they decided today, right now, one of these guys has to go. On the Miller side, you're dealing with what we already talked about, which is he's got to approve the trade. On the Pedersen side, he's much younger, has higher upside, uh, but there's a absolute pile of money that's owed to him. And so now you're dealing with, with both these guys trying to fit in or wedge in a player that's a high salary cap hit to a team that's likely doesn't have much cap space.

And in return, the Canucks are asking for not futures, but impact pieces that are of equal value or greater in their eyes that can maintain the current trajectory that this team is on. How can you possibly pull that off in season? I mean, I guess it's possible, but you're also at the same time limiting the field of teams that can actually engage in a conversation like that because, well, for one, and I reported this the other day, there's at least a handful of teams, if not more, that are intrigued by the players involved in this drama, but don't want anything to do with it because they're not sure that they want to inject, like they don't know what's true, what's false, the rumor, innuendo, everything else.

They don't want to inject either one of those personalities into their room right now. So take those teams off the table and then take other teams off the table that are in contender mode that would potentially engage in conversation about this or in true discussion, but aren't going to do it right now, not in the middle of the season, because they like what they've built. So I just think when you add up all the pieces, just from a pure logical perspective, like taking out what we've heard and taking out the drama, it stands to reason that this is a really complicated deal to get done right now. Yeah, well, and I'm guessing that's why things like the reported Mika Zabinijad offer for JT Miller,

one was made and two gets out there is because it's one of the few ones that actually makes sense from a we can pull this off both in terms of space under the cap and it's kind of like, your issue for our issue, it actually kind of like, you know, your issue for our issue. It actually kind of reminds me of when Leinig got traded for Dubois back in the day, where it didn't necessarily fix anything

for the two teams involved, but it just kind of made sense because there were so few dance partners involved. But it doesn't even make sense. If anyone's watched Mika Zvenejad play. It's not good. With all due respect, like he's not even close to JT Miller's level

No, no So the Canucks get the worst player with a worse contract and they're both locked up for the same period of like of course The New York Rangers are gonna offer that it's like hey Can you like we have an absolute liability on our hands? Can we trade him for a guy that's had? 200 point seasons in the last few years Yeah, I mean sure who wouldn't offer that it's not even realistic in my mind Speaking of more realistic trade targets number one on your board right now Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders He is a pending ufa and you kind of led this off by said it feels like it's time for him to finally move

Doesn't it? I guess the one thing would be that the guy in charge very loyal to the guys that have been Islanders for a while, but it does seem like it could be the time for Nelson to move on. Are you expecting him to move? If so, who are some of the interested suitors for the veteran forward? I am expecting him to move. And I think the other big overarching question speaking of loyalty will be how

loyal will the Islanders continue to be to Lou Lamarello? Yeah. I mean, it's a fair question to ask at this point with the results of this team and them severely lacking what appears to be a cohesive plan and process for where that team is supposed to get to moving forward. They're stuck in neutral. They've been in neutral for years and their fan base is tired of it

That said I mean it is does get some delicate gloves because Nelson is a lifelong Islander But I look no further than than Minnesota like I'm not saying it's gonna happen, but that seems like a real strong possibility He's from there. They desperately need a center he's from there, they desperately need a center and yes his production has dipped this year but Bill Guerin the Minnesota Wild GM also went out of his way to select Nelson for the Four Nations face-off team with Team USA so I mean connecting a lot of those dots that seems to make a lot of sense but because the center market is so thin I would say right at this point in time, Brock Nelson is the premier rental center available that it's, you know, when you look

at it, there's going to be plenty of other teams involved other than just Minnesota. Hey, Frank, you got a couple of members of the Seattle Kraken on your board, Yanni Gord, and I think Tanev is on there as well. Um, what are you hearing about the Kraken? Because the Canucks have played Seattle a few times in the last little while.

And although the Kraken did stage that crazy comeback against the Canucks coming back from 4-1, uh, very late in the game. I've watched a few Kraken games and that is not a good team. And I really don't know where they're headed and it's hard for me to see how they can improve really quickly.

I know the Seattle sports market pretty well. And I know that the NBA is probably going to be back there soon. And I sometimes worry that the Kraken are just going to be left behind in that market. I think that has to be a worry. Um, and, and look, I made this comparison with you guys before, but we were just talking about the Islanders.

I don't think the Kraken are much different from the Islanders of the West. I mean, they really lack star players. They lack impact pieces. And with where they're going to continue to draft right in the mushy middle they have a very small percentage chance of getting their hands on star impact players not to mention their general manager has a long track record of not being aggressive to go out and get those players. So I, I don't, I don't know what the path forward there is. They're built to be a solid competitive team that could finish anywhere from 14th to 24th, which to me is the absolute worst place you could be if they make the

playoffs fantastic, uh, likely to be out in round one and also likely to be very far from a lottery pick. So the Islanders, the only difference maybe is that the Islanders are closer to the bottom than we might realize and might be able to get their hands on a lottery pick sooner rather than later. That's at least the only upside I can see in New York. I just don't see the same in Seattle. Buffalo, you've got a few players from Buffalo on this list.

Dylan Cousins, who we've heard about, but also Bowen Byrom. What is the story with Bowen Byrom? Are the Sabres the ones that would want to move off Bowen Byrom or is Bowen Byrom maybe in a situation where he looks at some of the defensemen ahead of him and says, I don't really want to be off Bowen Byrom or is Bowen Byrom maybe in a situation where he looks at some of the defensemen ahead of him and says, I don't really want to be the number three guy on this team. I want to go somewhere and be the number one or

even number two. Well, that, I think that was part of the thinking with Byrom in Colorado. Well, not that he was unhappy, but wanted more opportunity. And I think the true answer is that because neither side has really made the commitment, like he was eligible to sign an extension on July 1st, that hasn't happened. He's not far away from restricted free agent status.

And also the Sabres team is truly in flux. Like the true answer is that the Sabres don't, I don't think, know what they want to do. That's why they have been sort of handcuffed to this point and haven't made a trade, is they really like all the individual pieces that they have, even though they know that the results of the collective would indicate that they're not close. And the other part of it is they're really, I think, afraid of making a mistake because they've been in spots where they've traded Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel and other guys

that have gone on to be star players. I don't know what their thought process is in terms of who stays, who goes. I mean, look at cousins is a great example. Two seasons ago, 31 goals, 68 point season. The last two years he's been playing closer to a 20 goal, 40 plus point player. Which one is he? a full 40 plus point player.

Which one is he? Is he the guy that earned a $7.1 million a year deal for the next five years? Or is he? Was that a statistical outlier season? And he's still so young that it's hard to make that determination and playing a premium position. They're in a tough spot trying to sort all that out. We're speaking to Frank Saravalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Uh, the Boston Bruins Frank have now lost five in a row after a four nothing loss to

Edmonton last night. Um, they are 2018 and five, and they do have a lot more games played than some of the other teams in the East. When everyone catches up, we were talking about this earlier with David Amber, there's a very real chance that Boston could be in a dog fight just to get one of the two wild card spots. How close an eye are you keeping on them as we get closer to the trade deadline? I know you've got Trent Frederick, the pending UFA forward for them on your trade board. Could there be even bigger things ahead for Boston given how uncertain their future looks in terms of playoffs? Yeah, I think that's possible for sure I think they they're open to potentially shaking

things up in a bigger way. I still think this Bruins team as assembled is better than what they've shown and they did have a stretch of time under Joe Sacco that felt like they kind of were finding an identity and then the wheels have fallen off again. It's been a pressure packed year and even just looking at the way this East shapes up, I still, I understand what the record is, I understand how ugly it's been. I heard and listened to the fire Sweeney chants yesterday in the garden. It's been ugly, but this, the Eastern and Western conferences, to me, I think there's a clear separation between the top six teams and the wildcard teams and the teams competing to be wildcard teams.

It's to me, it's night and day. And I still think Boston is in that first former group. But I mean you look at the way this team plays on a night-to-night basis and you could make a convincing argument that they belong in the other category I just I think they're still too talented to be in that group but that said when you see an environment like this and you see you hear the chants Cam Neely as is as an emotional leader as there is in the NHL in terms of

running an organization. I guarantee you he's pounding his fist on the table in some boardroom today in Boston saying, put some options on the table because we've got to change things. How disappointed are they in the Zdorov and Lindholm deals that they signed in the summer? Pretty disappointed. Zdorov last night, banner sequence for him. And Lindholm just hasn't found his footing. And I guess maybe if you watched, and as you guys did closely last year- He won't find his foot. He won't. Yeah. Well, I think his legs are done. Like he doesn't, he didn't have any speed

when he came to Vancouver. He was solid. That's what stood out, but then you watched how effective he was in the playoffs and you're like, man, that, that was an impact piece as, as much as he struggled in the regular season. Yeah. They just can't score though.

I mean, if you look at the Bruins goals four, they got 111 goals. That's it. I mean, the Washington who the Connex are going to play tonight, they have 148. And I think- They couldn't get rid of Jake Debrusk fast enough.

That's what it felt like. Yeah. And Debrusk is Vancouver's leading goal scorer right now. I mean, he had a bit of a slow start in Vancouver, but he has definitely come on and he's become a reliable goal scorer. He had a nice power play goal, nice assist from

JT Miller, the other night in Montreal. Look at his numbers. How many guys have been more consistent in terms of what they hit every year than him? Yeah. And I, and I'm sure Bruins fans miss Jake Debrezka. I would switch, like if you're talking about

the top six teams in the East, I would just switch Boston and Tampa. I think Tampa is probably going to catch a top three spot in that division and Boston might be down there with the wild card teams. I'm not sold on that. No? Tampa is just coming off losing four straight.

They were on pace as of yesterday morning for 93 points. I still think they'll catch Boston though. I mean, that's just the bad eye. But look at the regression, 104 points, 98 points. Now they're on pace for 93. I'm telling you in the not so distant future, we're talking about Tampa and this core, their window closing.

They, I guess still got some young players though. They've still got, you know, Brandon point isn't an old guy. Sorelli's not an old guy. I think the move to make Jake Gensel, to add Jake Gensel over, over Steven Stamkos was a smart move for them, but you're right. Like we, you know, eventually it will come for

Tampa, but I think I just watch Boston. The circuit track trade to that point, but I think, I just watched Boston play. The surrogate trade, to that point, it's still, maybe they knew something that we don't, but look at the way that he's played in Utah. He was in that age range that you're talking about that they would need, and they decided to go with Ryan McDonough instead? Yeah. How has McDonough been for that? Not that he's been bad. It's just like the age scheme alone is like you cut off years of your window. Frank, this was great as always man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week and all the games for the rest of this week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. You too. See you guys. See ya. Frank Cervalli from Daily Faceoff here on the Haliford & Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650, a presentation of Angry Otter Liquor, your hockey headquarters for your favourite game day, beer, wine and whiskey, more at angryotterliquor.crs. The Lightning got a big win last night over Carolina. I saw that. Cause they went to, they went to California and

went 0 for 3 there. Uh, the Lightning got a big win over Carolina. The Boston Bruins did not get a big win. The 4-0 shot out loss to the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. In that game, Zadorov had, it was just the sequence he was talking about was being on the ice for too many goals against, but also some crazy end to end rush that ended with colliding with

Stuart Skinner, temporarily knocking him out of the game, getting a goalie interference penalty. And then of course the Bruins losing four, nothing. And then as you mentioned in your notes and Frank mentioned it later, there were chants of fire Sweeney coming down from the rafters at TD Garden in Boston. I think they're just a frustrating team to watch

because they can't score. I don't think they're very good. I don't think they're very good either. Frank likes them more than I think the collective we do because he's got them in the top six. I get what he's saying about the divide between the top six in each conference in the wild cartoons.

But I would put Tampa in there instead of Boston. I like. I think. I also like Tampa more than Frank. Like I think Frank is down on the lightning and their window being open. I think he actually thinks that Boston might have a better shot than Tampa and I would have that. I think so too. Completely in the evening. I think that's what on the lightning and their window being open. I think he actually thinks that Boston might have a better shot than Tampa.

And I would have that. I think so too. I think that's what he thinks, but I would have that in the inverse as well. I mean, whatever, it doesn't really matter. I think it would be hilarious if Toronto won the division or won the conference and then still ended up with Boston in the first round.

If they lost to Boston in that fashion. It'd be great. I would, I would, I would inject that into my blood. You're listening to the best of Halford and Bruff.