Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 2/26/25

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, the boys preview tonight's Canucks matchup at LA , plus they chat trade rumours with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli ahead of the NHL trade deadline. 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-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Oh no, it's in! It came out so fast! I think he was all about coming, but I just don't think he got cleared by Vancouver to play. So, a little shady business to begin with there. We all know who they were cheering for. Stop it. Get some help. Good morning, Vancouver 601 on Stop it. Get some help.

Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday, everybody. This is Halford at his brough. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming live from the Kintex Studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you. Hello, hello. And intern Alessio, good morning to you as well. Good morning. Halford and Brough for the, good morning to you as well. Good morning. Halfway in front of 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. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you and Stapp. Big show ahead on a Wednesday at Canucks game day. Four guests today on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Guest list today begins at 6.30. David Amber, Sportsnet Hockey Night in Canada, NHL host is gonna join the program. I have been told that we have a new intro alert. There's gonna be a new intro, new theme song from the dogs for David Amber.

So that'll debut at 6.30. Have we been using the rap horns a little too much? I don't know, that's a great one. I think not enough, not enough. That's a hot take, hit the rapapporns a little too much. I don't know. I think not enough. That's a hot take. Hit the Rapporn. Hit that Rapporn, buddy. I think it's a little too early for that.

It is Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey tonight. It starts with an all Canadian affair as the Jets travel to the nation's capital to take on the Sens. Then your Vancouver Canucks are in action against the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. from Crypto.com. So David Amber will join us at 6.30 to talk about all that. 7 o'clock, Frank Saravalli from Daily Face Off is going to join the program. We are just nine days away from the NHL's trade deadline.

Man, that crept up quick. We will discuss Frank's trade target board over at Daily Face Off. We can also discuss who's going to be or who are going to be the busiest GMs heading into March 7th. That's at 7 o'clock with Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off. 730 Barclay Parnetta, Vancouver Giants general manager is going to join the program. This Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Langley Event Center, the Giants are going to host Wenatchee in the Nickelodeon night for the Children's Miracle Network. The Giants, Jason, are going to be sporting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle jerseys on Sunday. Adog is so excited.

Sick. Adog's like, I have pajamas like that. Oh, I have the exact same ones. We can ask Barclay who his favorite Ninja Turtle is. I'm sure you're a Raphael guy because he's cool but rude. No, I've always been a Leo guy. So Barclay, pardon that. You had that real quick. You had that answer real quick. Hey I was a child of the 90s man. It's one of the biggest shows ever. And you're

adult of the 2020s. Yep. Barely. Still one of the biggest shows ever. So Barclay is gonna join us at 730 to talk about the Giants. Eight o'clock Randip Jand is gonna join the program. He's on the call tonight. Canucks King seven o'clock from Crypto. Canucks looking for their first win following the four nations face off break. We can also ask Randeeb about going to the Real Madrid Man City game last week where he got to see Achille and Mbappe Hatrick as the eliminated city from the Champions League. So we'll talk to Randeeb about all that at eight. That's it. Oh, one more thing. Sorry. Neil Young tickets for today. We are giving away another pair of Neil Young tickets. Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts. They're doing their Love Earth Tour. They're going to be at Deer Lake Park this September, September 6th, 2025.

It is an all ages event. If you would like to win a pair of tickets to see Neil Young in September at Deer Lake Park be caller number seven at 815 this morning so caller number seven at 815 815 phone number here is 604 280 0650 that number again 604 280 0650 caller number seven at 815 this morning will win a pair of tickets to see Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts in September at Deer Lake Park okay that's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened?

I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? 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. A fairly eventful practice for the Vancouver Canucks yesterday at the Kings facility in El Segundo. Quinn Hughes was back at practice and looks as though he'll play tonight against the Los Angeles Kings at crypto and a bunch of new lines Jason were unveiled yesterday in El Segundo. Yeah, Tauket said after practice that they had a

good video session, they all gathered around and watched some video and said, Hey coach, I bet you're going to say we got to move our feet more. Should we move our feet? I bet you, yeah, we're going to move our feet. And he said it was one of their better practices in that guys were showing creativity and making plays.

They were even hitting the net with their shots, which is important. But Taked also said now they have to bring it to, you know, a game and not a practice in El Segundo. The new lines that you mentioned, and we talked about this yesterday. Is he going to shake up the top six? He sure did. Elias Pettersson was between Jake Debreuze and Nils Hoeglinder. Hoeglinder gets another shot in on the top line with Pettersson. We'll see if he gets too fancy

up there. Taka doesn't like it when he gets too fancy up there. He's got to keep his game consistent. like it when he gets too fancy up there. He's got to keep his game consistent. This is interesting, I think. Hedl with Joshua and Garland. And I think in that you've got, in Hedl and Garland, you've probably got the guys that have been moving their feet the most. It's the foot moving line.

Yeah. He's loading up a foot moving line and also Dakota Joshua. Brock Besser down on the third line, at least on paper with Souter and Drew O'Connor. I wonder if that line's going to get some tougher matchups though, but you know, Brock Besser, we've got some audio to play for McTucket on Brock Besser, but I do wonder how he feels about being on a line with Pius Suter and Drew O'Connor,

but we'll see how that line goes. And then Bluger between Sherwood and Baines and Baines stays in the lineup. And you know, for as good a story as Baines has been, I would like, and I think a lot of Canucks fans would like to see something out of him. He's played what, 20 games in the NHL. He has, I think, one goal.

He played seven minutes last game. Yeah. And Nils Amann was the healthy scratch and, um, you know, for, for all the talk early on about the, the great depth that the Canucks have up front, you know, with all due respect to Baines, I'm kind of like, can we do better than Baines? Can we? We can get into that later and of course, would love to hear all your thoughts and comments on the Dunbar lumber, in the Dunbar

lumber text line at 650, 650 Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and rental warriors for over 50 years. Visit them on one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarlumber.com. Let's play some talk at audio because I do want, um, I do want to talk a little bit about Brock Besser being on a line with, um, Souter and O'Connor. So he's not playing with Elias Pedersen, who is in theory their number one centre.

He's not playing with Philip Pedal, who is been maybe their best and most dynamic forward since coming over from the New York Rangers in a trade. Instead, he's with Suter and O'Connor. And even though that line might get some of the tougher matchups, you know, Brock Besser, trade, instead he's with Suter and O'Connor. And even though that line might get some of the tougher matchups, you know, Brock Besser he's, you know, he's a guy that's supposed to

score goals for the Vancouver Canucks. And this is what Rick Tauke had to say about Brock Besser's game. Um, I don't know. Um, you know, Brock's a, you know, I've, I've you know, been here two years with Brock, I have a great relationship with him. There's certain times when there's a mental part of his game. I hope the contract's not bothering him. He's never really mentioned that to me. For me, he's a guy that has to be around the net. He's a sly guy around the net. I think he's been playing more of a flanker outside a little too much for me.

And I think, you know, like today's practice, I thought he had one really good practice today. He just needs a little more urgency in his game to get around that. That's what he's really good at. He's one of our best tippers. He's got one of our best shots. So I think he's got to be around the hole more. That'll help him for the distractions.

So the big news yesterday was that Quinn Hughes was back. And we talk a lot about creativity on the Canucks. We talk about trying to find a guy that makes something happen out there. We all know it's a defenseman. You can shuffle the forward lines as much as you want. Quinn Hughes is still going to be the most dynamic, most creative player on the Vancouver Canucks.

And here is Rick Tauket on the return of Quinn Hughes to practice and what that is going to mean for the team. Well, just having Quinn on the ice to the practice level went up one level. You know, he gets pucks to the net and it makes makes people go to the net. You know, I told him went up one level, you know, he gets pucks to the net and it makes, makes people go to the net. You know, I told him today, I said, you know,

a difference practice when you're out there is because, you know, when he gets the puck in the blue and he does his dance, it makes people get to the net. And I think that's something that we've, we've lacked since he's been out. So you remember bro do your deeks? That's kind of out now.

Bro do your dancing. Quinn do your dance. Yeah, bro do your dancing, but do your dance. Yeah. Bro, do your dancing. But that's what he does, right? And that's what Rick Tauke is constantly talking about. When Quinn Hughes is dancing along the blue line, he is opening up passing lanes. He's opening up shooting lanes and the Canucks forwards need to take a cue from that. And you don't have to dance as good as Quinn.

He's a great dancer. A good little dancer. But you got to dance a little bit, right? You can't be like me at a wedding, you know? And well, I mean, I'll dance at a wedding, but I need a few cocktails of me first. And you know, you shouldn't drink before games. That's, that's very important at the NHL level. Sound advice.

Do not get, do not get wedding wasted before a game, but you still got to go out there and dance, right? You got to have some energy in your step and open up passing lanes, open up shooting lanes. Taka must be going crazy being like, Hey guys, move your feet. This is something we, you've heard since what? You started hockey, so go do it.

It can't be, Quinn can't be the only guy on the dance floor. It's really embarrassing for him. Well, you know, sometimes when you're at a wedding and there's that one person that gets the dance floor going and other people look to follow their lead. They're like, well, he's out there now, cutting a rug. Maybe it's Jason, hands above his head, like he just doesn't care.

So I think part of it is like, when the coach's message isn't sinking in or maybe it's not resonating, sometimes you do defer to the guys. You're like, just do what he's doing. Just do what he's doing. I do wonder if that's gonna be with Hughes. Also should note, this is the first time

that we're gonna get a look at this blue line. The new look blue line is fully put together because you gotta remember that when Pedersen was acquired, Marcus Pedersen was acquired, Marcus Peterson was acquired, almost immediately Quinn Hughes started missing games due to the injury and he's missed the last six. So the unit, if you actually look at how the blue line could shape up tonight, considering that Mancini is probably in the mix, I guess it would depend based on whatever Rick Taukett thought about his previous few outings with DPD kind of becoming

a guy that they are relying on with regularity. Suddenly you're looking at it and you're like, this actually looks like if when Hughes is there and healthy and dancing, like a pretty competent unit and by far, at least on paper, the best defensive group that the Vancouver Connects have had all year. Yeah, no, I agree.

Um, I don't know if DPD is going to play tonight. He was on the fourth pair at practice. Um, but from what I've heard, I, I, I, I, I, I, I think there's a chance that he's going to play tonight and can we just talk about the importance of winning tonight's game for the Canucks? Uh, because it was not a good night for the Canucks last night on the out of town scoreboard.

Calgary went into Washington and played very well and got a win over the Capitals and Utah played Chicago and despite the score only being two one for Utah, they absolutely dominated the Chicago Blackhawks and we all know that they just beat the Canucks and that was a big win for Utah. That was a, you know, one of those four point

swing games and all of a sudden the Canucks are not in a playoff spot and they've also got Utah chasing them as well. And they've got massive concerns about their ability to create offense. They've got an injured goalie in Thatcher Demko and we've all kind of been like, for the last month or so, we've been like,

well, despite all the problems that the Canucks are having, they should be able to beat Calgary in the race and they should be able to beat Utah, but Calgary keeps hanging around and Utah might be playing better hockey than the Canucks right now. And the start to the post four nations faceoff break has not been good for the Canucks. Like there have been some, okay, look, there have

been some alarming stories across the NHL, which we'll get to throughout the show as we do our NHL whip around, or some teams that have really struggled coming out of the break in the first two or three games, you can put the Canucks in that category. So they're not alone, but the concerns are two goals in two games, consecutive losses, you mentioned no Demko. So with the two back to back sets, Vegas, Utah, and then LA Anaheim, you're talking

about almost having to play C-Lavs in two of the four games coming out of the break, which is less than ideal. Even though he did play well against Utah on Sunday. Um, also this was a team that was without Hughes prior to the break. I thought played some pretty inspired hockey. I thought the three, nothing went over Colorado was terrific. Considering Hughes wasn't there. Um, the Toronto win the last game before the break where they were with without I thought the three nothing win over Colorado was terrific considering Hughes wasn't there. The Toronto win the last game before the break where they were with without Hughes.

They also suffered that loss of that your Demko having to leave that game early, which can often throw a team into a bit of a tailspin. They played well there. I, you know, things were looking somewhat optimistic going into the break. It was and it wasn't just because the two losses on the weekend. Let's make that abundantly clear. It was how toothless the offense looked and how few shots they were getting on net that really drew everyone's ire.

Like it was, so getting Hughes back at the very least, you would hope, would be able to increase some of that offense. But the next three games, as they finish this road trip, like I did not expect it to be this fundamentally important. The table would flip so quickly, but that's how tight things are at the bottom of the West when you're talking about those playoff spots. Calgary went on a bit of a heater and then last night went into Washington,

got that win. Now they're looking down at the Canucks and it's holding that second and final wild card spot. So the guy I'm going to be watching pretty closely tonight is Nils Hoeglinder. Yeah. And Danny Texin, and he said, so based on what Tauke is saying, does Hoeglinder need to get just the right amount of fancy?

Not too fancy, but not just dump and chase unfancy. What exactly does that mean? Um, well, here's what Elias Pettersson said about Nils Hoeglinder. He said he's a little pit bull out there, just hardworking, strong on the puck, bring that game, maybe win me some pucks or vice versa. It's fun to play with him. I think what Rick Taukett is saying is he needs

to still grind out like he's playing on the fourth line and not act like he's playing on the fourth line. Rick Taukett is saying is he needs to still grind out like he's playing on the fourth line and not act like, you know, he's. I know what you're saying. Yeah. I mean. You can't be acting like a first liner.

Yeah. You're acting like you're playing a first line role. You've got a role on that line. And I think, you know, when Pedersen was saying like, go win some pucks for me. And then he added, or vice versa, like I'll win some pucks too, right? But like, like Hulglunder, you know, like

Hulglunder is out there to, um, bring a bit of, uh, you wouldn't say like he, he's not like a big hitter or anything like that, but he can play nasty when he wants to. And he needs to keep playing that way. And he's a dig out pucks. Yeah. I mean, it's.

It's not complicated. They have, they have had some chemistry, the two of the whole Glen, Peterson playing together in part of it because, uh, whole Glen row go to the spots and do the work that allows Patterson to facilitate and be a playmaker. Like you can't do it, in Pederson's world, I don't think you can be both.

I don't think you can be the digger and the playmaker. I don't think it's gonna happen. Jeremy and Langley said, Hogan needs a tuxedo t-shirt fancy, right? Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. This is my fancy shirt. I'm wearing a tuxedo, but it's also a t-shirt.

Yeah, and you know, it's- I can get ketchup on it, it's not the end of the world. I've got another one in the closet. And I know that I know exactly what Tuckett's trying to achieve here. Um, I do think it comes at the expense of Besser and that line and whatever comes of it with, um, Souter and O'Connor, it's going to be tough for

Hogan. Like I know Tuckett's saying like we need the offense and he needs to get to the net and everything. And then to put them on that line, I don't Connor, it's going to be tough for Hogan. Like I know Tucket saying like we need the offense and he needs to get to the net and everything. And then to put them on that line, I don't exactly see it being like a bounty or very fruitful when it comes to scoring chances. For Brock?

Yeah. He's got four goals in his last 21 games. Like I knew that the production had fallen off in January and February. I didn't realize it had fallen off quite that much. And then I, after yesterday's conversation, I went and looked at where his plus minus went in the tank. And there were a lot of games in January and February

where he had a lot of minuses. And the production for him, for a variety of reasons, really needs to ramp up. There's the personal, obviously, which is he is looking to secure a new contract. Having an 18-goal season after putting up a 40 goal season isn't exactly the most lucrative bargaining chip when you're going into negotiations.

Right, I mean he's on pace for more than 18 goals. Right, but the other part of this too is that when the team is struggling to score the way that they have in January and February, you rely on certain guys and look at certain guys who have done it before to say, hey, you need to help us find the back of the net. With the amount of guys that the Canucks have lost

who have given them offensive punch, specifically JT Miller who's no longer with the team and Quinn Hughes who's missed the last what, six games, you do sort of look at the besters of the world and be like, this is when we need you. You're a 40 goal scorer last season. This is when we need you to, as Tauke said, get to the dirty areas, tip pucks, find the back of the net. Yeah. Go do it with Pugh Souter and Drew O'Connor. And that's a tough ask.

And also you're going to be playing some of the harder matchups. And it's a tough ask. And maybe some would say an unrealistic ask, but that's what they want out of Besser. So Simon texts in and I get this. He goes, who are you guys kidding? Hoeglinder isn't saving anything. He's the answer. This is what the Canucks have. Yeah, Simon, if the question is.

This is what the Canucks had. And we looked at the top six yesterday as it was constructed for the first two games. up six yesterday as it was constructed for the first two games. And our whole thing was like, who's a guy in that group that's going to make things happen, bring some energy. And we were like, oh, I don't know, but maybe Hoaglander, he's been playing better.

Maybe he can bring some energy. And then you were like, I think their biggest play driver right now at forward is probably Connor Garland. Well, both those guys got bumped into the top six. Right? So Holgländer needs to go out there and bring the same type of energy that he brings to the

bottom six when he's on his game. And then Garland's out there with Philip Hedl, who was with Brock Besser. And Garland usually brings along Dakota Joshua to the party. And that's the second line with Hedl and you know, Brock Besser gets bumped out of that because he really wasn't making anything happen.

But if you're texting in and saying, we're trying to sell this to you, like, I don't think we're trying to sell this to you. We're trying to tell you like, this is what Rick Tocket has at, at his disposal and he's doing the best he can with a pretty toothless forward group right now. Yeah.

You can't say that he's the answer. You can say he's the best answer that they got at the moment. Because after those two games against Vegas and Utah, it's pretty obvious that they had to change something up. The Utah game was pretty glaring, where Tauke came into the postgame media availability and pointed out right away how many shots either missed the net or got blocked. I think it was 36 or something like that against Utah.

So you can't run that back. You need to try and find something different and you can only work. You can only cook with the groceries that you've got. And that's it. Hoaglander and Pedersen at times, and again, best answer we got, they have had some chemistry and Hoaglander theoretically gives you an element on that top line that they haven't had in the last couple of games. But it is by far, by far from being the quote unquote answers, just the best one they got. Can I tell you the funniest moment on the station yesterday? Yes. I was in the car listening to this and-

That is funny. Do you know that scene in Seinfeld when Seinfeld and George are, they're having lunch at that cafe they go to and Seinfeld goes to George like, what are we doing here? What are we doing? And it's kind of like- We're not men. Yeah, and it's kind of like, what kind of life is this? It's an existential question.

So I had that moment when IMAQ was on the show, breathlessly breaking down his back and forth with Pedersen. Oh, yeah. When he was like, it was like, so tell us about, you know, essentially, Elias Pedersen being rude to you and IMAQ, you know, went through it all and he was like, you know, and then I made sure that the camera was off and I went over to Elias

and I asked him first of all about the shot that he missed on the breakaway. And then I asked him about his confidence and he took a few seconds, he took a few moments to think about it. Then he delivered that line and I was sitting there and going like, what are we doing here? What are we doing here?

What are we doing here? This is like, we're just breathlessly breaking down this back and forth that a reporter had with this player. Is this gonna be what it is? How much longer are we gonna do this? And I realize I've been one of the guys that's been doing it the most. I don't enjoy it though. I yelled at Adog yesterday because we had a tweet that referenced

Petey yeah, and I was like we didn't even talk about Petey. We didn't even talk about Petey We can't have an inch a tweet where it talks about Petey And then we don't even talk about it like we can't we can't keep doing this like and and I is this a life Is this a life listening down? This is no life. Like this is no life. Not this. Is this a life? Is this a life? Listening down to- This is no life. This is no life. Not only having-

It isn't a life, but it's our lives. Not only having the conversation about Pedersen being rude or his answer, which by the way, did not go down well with the Canucks. Just so you know. Did not sit well- Was talking about him or his comment? No, no, no. His comment. Did not sit well with the Canucks.

But like that's another thing. It's like, like people are like, oh, it didn't sit well with the Canucks. Like, oh, they're mad at PD. Is this, this isn't a life? Is this a life? We're not men. No, we are not.

This is no kind of life. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.. You're listening to the best of Haliford and Bruff. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Still lost my voice from that 80s party. How's puberty going? Pretty good.

To the phone lines we go. And have another shower. Frank Zeravalli from Daily Face Off joins us now on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Morning Frank, how are you? Yeah, now bringing in another pre-Pubescent voice. Congratulations. Just a couple of great Sixers talking away about hockey. Frank,

what do you think is top of mind for the Canucks? It's February 26th. Today, March 7th, trade deadline creeping up. Brock Besser remains unsigned. Is he top of the list for the Canucks right now or is there something else cooking? Sorry, you cut out for a big portion of your question. Oh, sorry. You said, what's top of mind? And then I didn't hear the rest.

Brock Besser, pending unrestricted free agent with the March 7th trade deadline, is he top of mind for the Canucks or is there something else cooking? No, I think he's, he's toward the top of the list for sure. I'd say the only caveat with Brock Besser is that I still think there is a likelihood or a, certainly a possibility that he gets resigned.

And I could also envision a world in which he doesn't get traded, doesn't have a new contract by March 7th, and then signs after the fact. I think there's been a total comfort level between these two parties as this whole process has gone on. That in the end Brock Bester is really comfortable knowing that whether it's in Vancouver or somewhere else this summer, that in the end Brock Bester is really comfortable knowing that whether it's in Vancouver or somewhere else this summer he's going to be appropriately paid and beyond that I think there's a part of him that even with this season going off

the rails still has not just an affinity to for but also a strong connection to Vancouver that I think is really certainly pulling him. So I wouldn't view it necessarily in any form of absolutes as we get closer to next Friday. I'd be shocked if the Canucks let Brock Besser go unsigned past the deadline and risk letting him walk away for nothing in the off season. It's something that the Canucks have said repeatedly that they won't do with

pending unrestricted free agents and especially for a team that is today sitting outside the playoff spot. I guess I should be prepared to be shocked. I mean is this something that you heard recently? Well, I wouldn't say shocked, I just think you're just dealing with, I think two sides that in the end, while there hasn't been a ton of progress, he's already making 665. To get to a world in which Besser is re is re-signed, you know, term is certainly going to be a big part of it, but from an AAV perspective, like it, you don't

have to stretch insanely far based off of what he's making now. It's not like he's making three and a half and needs to get to nine. I know. And I wouldn't be surprised if he came in a shade under nine that that's what the Canucks are wrestling with at the moment is it's not a huge impact to their cap based on where they're at right now. It's it's really the term. And so again, take it back to Besser's point of view.

Um, he's getting paid either way. And look, I just think, that's all I'll say, is any sort of absolute like that, I wouldn't necessarily consider that in this case. Okay, let's go through some of the general managers in the National Hockey League that could be active heading into the March 7th trade deadline.

And I do want to start with a guy that we've spoken on quite a bit about over the last couple of days on the show, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Iserman Yesterday the Detroit Red Wings announced that Andrew Kopp was gonna be out for the remainder of the season because of surgery For a left pectoral tendon, so they've got some calf space. They've got a long playoff drought that they're looking to snap Do you think Steve Iserman is going to make a big move ahead of March 7th? I they're looking to snap. Do you think Steve Iserman is going to make a big move ahead of March 7th?

I think he's certainly gonna try. I think they desperately need an upgrade on defense, if not multiple. And the way that their center depth is structured, not that losing Andrew Kopp helps by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not like they're in dire need for a center like the way the Boston Bruins are.

So they've got some flexibility. They've got cap space. They obviously have assets and draft picks and more than anything, they're dealing with a pressure and a realization that they need to get in. Playtime's over. The, the Iser plan has been ongoing for a while. They made the coaching change on Boxing Day and this team has gone nowhere but up to the point where they've now kind of put themselves in the driver's seat of one of these wild card spots. They couldn't finish the deal last season, but missing out this year with, you know,

you watch a game like, you know, Simon Edvinson making an impact like he did. Um, it's you watch this team and you go, they've got something cooking. How do you not just reward your young players and this conversation, same conversation goes for the Ottawa senators as well, but you have to give them a taste of the playoffs and allow that belief to continue to grow even if they're not going to be making a deep run this year. That then perpetuates into the offseason of hey, we're a team on the rise. You want to be part of this and that's a big step that the Red Wings have to take. So for a lot of those reasons, you know, put the Red Wings in the buyer category for sure.

You mentioned Boston there briefly. Boston's almost the opposite of Detroit in that they are a perennial playoff team that's always buying at the deadline. But now this year with things kind of slipping away and it looks like a playoff percent chance of a 15 right now. Boston could be a seller for the first time in a long time. Boston.com had an article out the other day with a quote from Don Sweeney talking about how they're gonna be quote unquote cautious going into this year's deadline. So Don Sweeney in Boston, how aggressive could he be

as a seller for the first time in the deadline in a long time? Yeah, I don't know that I'd necessarily characterize it as waving the white flag, but his comments over the weekend certainly raised to my brows. And the funny thing about the percent chance that you're talking about making the playoffs and then obviously you watch a game like last night against the Leafs and you go, huh, like how's that team going to possibly put it together?

But I'm looking at the standings here. Yeah. The blue jackets have one game in hand, but they're only two points out of the eighth seed will we see as drastic a sell off as some have painted. I think for sure you're going to see Trent Frederick on the move because they're not close on a new deal. I'd imagine that they try and cash in if at all possible on Justin Brazzo and the big frame that he presents to throw in your bottom six. And then beyond that, can they move one of their defensemen that has some term

that's clogging up their cap? Maybe. And what do you do with Brad Marsh? And, you know, it is funny to watch some of the coverage emanating out of Boston saying no way they can trade Brad Marsh and well, he turns 37 in May and like, is this not the perfect city to draw the comparison of did you not see Tom Brady finishes career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Like it is possible. So I don't know if I'd characterize it as likely

because I think in the end, the Bruins still wanna re-sign Marshann and I think there's an avenue to get it done that isn't gonna cripple their cap in dollars or term, but we're getting down to crunch time and the closer we get, I think the more likely it is without a deal being done that Marsh ends on the move. Uh, the Edmonton Oilers, Jeff Jackson, Stan Bowman in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Oilers are not in a good way right now. Uh, they are coming out of the break. They've been leaking goals like crazy. And once again, the knives are sort of out for Stuart Skinner. Um, what do you anticipate that the Oilers are going to do? Because there's a few things that haven't worked out. Uh, the Jeff Skinner acquisition hasn't worked out. Arvidsson hasn't worked out.

And I think they're looking at the guys that they lost to St. Louis and kind of regretting that those guys aren't a part of the mix right now. And then there is the goaltending issue as well, which is always difficult to fix in season, especially at the deadline. So what do you think Edmonton's gonna be doing going into the deadline?

I'd argue it's impossible to fix in season for the Oilers. The goal, the goal tending, sorry, is that what you're talking about? Yeah. Yeah. And the reason for that is this is going to decide their entire deadline posture. The Evander Kane injury and the wild card situation that that presents, what happens if he wakes up on March 27th and says, I'm good to go.

They, I don't think they're going to be in a position potentially to spend that money. A lot of people have believed because he had that second surgery that it was a foregone conclusion, wink, wink, Oh, this guy's going on LTIR for the rest of the year and we'll see him in the playoffs. I can tell you that the Oilers don't feel comfortable with that situation as it stands right now, they're hoping to get a clarity on Kane's situation from doctors in the March 1st range to be able to make a decision. And I had Stan Bowman on my podcast that actually drops today and we

worked through all these different situations, goaltending Kane, the lack of speed that they have up front. And it is interesting that they may be in a spot where if they can't spend the Kane LTIR money, the only way they can really improve their team is by trading pieces off of it cap wise. And Skinner has the no move. I guess you could move Arvid's in if you really push to do it. But those are the only avenues to create cap space if you can't spend on Kane's LTIR money. And I'm just telling you for certain, they don't feel comfortable one way or the other right now. What is the relationship like between the team and Van Der Kene?

Is there anything going on there? You would think they would have communicated all this between the club and the player where they'd know where they stand on the issue. Yeah, I think the communication has been fine, but it's also a medical thing. It's not just a projection of dates. If a Vanderkeen at any period of time, this is the cleanest way to say it, at any period of time after, let's operate under the hypothetical that the oilers go out and spend his LTIR money. If he wakes up on one of those days and says you know what I'm feeling tremendous I want to be back in

the lineup and he gets clearance from a doctor it could be a second opinion. The Oilers don't have any recourse. It's part of the CBA there's no way you can tell a player who's been cleared. You're not allowed to return. So if that happens, what you're dealing with is a situation where they have to essentially trade players off of their team after the deadline and attach multiple picks just to be cap compliant. I mean, communication is one thing, but given the sort of mercurial nature of Kane and the best of times, I don't know how you could feel really good about it one way or the other.

That would be insane if he did that though. If he's like, put me into the lineup, I'm healthy, I'm ready to go. Has that ever happened? On the list of insane things that have played out to this point in his career, I'm not certain that that would be in the top five. So they're actually worried that that might happen. Like that would be, that would go down in, in NHL lore. They haven't said that to me, but like, if you were them,

wouldn't you feel uneasy about it? Well, yeah, I wouldn't have brought him in in the first place, but I mean, he's a heck of a player when he's healthy. They didn't, the previous regime did. Yeah. Um, what other teams should we be keeping our eyes on, um, ahead of the deadline that we

haven't talked about? Um, we were chatting with David Amber earlier in the show and I kind of asked him like, of all the teams in the show and I kind of asked him like of all the teams in the East and the East is so close right now, everything like from top to bottom. It's wide open. Yeah, it's wide open.

You know, I do wonder about the Florida Panthers. Again, we're talking potential LTIR with Kachak. Could they do something big? Could, could they do something big? Could the Leafs do something big? And then of course there's a situation with Rantanen in Carolina. Yep. Yeah.

And Carolina is also in wait and C mode, right? It's, they haven't gotten a no from the Rantanen camp. It's just non-committal. And that certainly leaves some uneasy feelings as well, because their first priority and preference is to re-sign him. They put what is a franchise record deal on the table and they went out and did the heavy lifting of acquiring a game breaking player. But now the question is, can you keep him?

And then if not, or if you're not sure, will they roll the dice and say, you know what, we'll see if we can put together a deep run and maybe convince them along the way, and if he walks in free agency, then so be it we've got now this cap space opening up, or do they put the pedal down and say, we can't, they're essentially now, if you think about it, they're in the same position that the Avalanche were just a month ago, which is what do we do with this really impressive expiring asset? Are we forced to cash in and get something back? Not all that dissimilar to the best or conversation we were just having, but

just on a totally different level. And do we have to recoup assets and then maybe can we find a better fit for our team as it stands right now? It's some might say it's an uneasy position to be in. I look at it from a totally different perspective and say, we're good either way. Regardless of what happened to Jay Gensel last year, we traded for Gensel and Rantanen at back-to-back deadline periods. We didn't give up a first round pick. We gave up Marty Natchez who has looked good in Colorado playing with McKinnon, but was going to be

do a big raise as soon as this summer. And we didn't give up any of our top five prospects. So we were moving on from Natchez at one point or another. We preempted that. And now if Rantinen doesn't stay, we've got cap space and a ton of our future is still intact. Well, how big a blow would it be though, just the reputation where if you, you know, you acquire

Gensel and he goes, nah, I don't really want to stay here. You acquire Rantinen and he goes, nah, I don't really want to stay here. Um, Halford and I were talking the other day and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but, uh, it was interesting. I thought, uh, was it the athletic did that player survey and they talked about the worst facilities

in the NHL and Carolina won by a landslide. And I'm just wondering what the reputation, um, of the Carolina Hurricanes is among players in the NHL. I think they're two totally separate conversations. The first one in Gensel, they don't have anyone to blame but themselves. And they put the full court pressure on in March or April to get Gensel's re-sign before the playoffs and just said, hey, yeah, we'll give you eight times eight.

He probably would have signed it. But we got to a position where they hemmed and hawed, threw down some offers that were just mediocre, and then waited until the last week before free agency to go pedal down. And by that point, it was like, hey, I might as well just wait five more days and see if I can have my pick of any team for relatively the same cost or money in my pocket.

This time around with Rantanen, by all accounts, they've put a legitimate eight year, hundred plus million dollar deal on the table. plus million dollar deal on the table. If he doesn't get done, I don't know that that's an indication or a negative shot to the Carolina hurricane's reputation. I don't, I'm trying to put myself in ranting in shoes. I just had my world flipped upside down. I won a cup and loved it in Colorado. And now I'm here in Carolina. I got to experience it for 10

days then played at four nations for two weeks and now you're putting this deal in front of me and you're saying hey can you commit here for the next eight years yeah I just don't know that I'm ready to make that decision yet and by the way whether it's seven years somewhere else or eight years here I'm about to be a hundred millionaire and it doesn't really matter one way or the other, I'm going to take my time and do it on my terms. We're speaking to Frank Ceravalli. What's with the hot tub here? We're speaking to Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey Frank, I wanted to ask you about your chat with NHLPA boss Marty Walsh

on the latest Frankly Speaking podcast. I know you guys talked about the Four Nations face-off and how he gave a ton of credit to how hard the players played and that's what made it such an outstanding event. I wanted to get your main takeaway from that conversation with Walsh and also if the conversation went towards the aftermath of the Four Nations face-, which is the number of injuries that happened during the tournament, the number of key guys that have been knocked out of play, if that became an issue with the NHLPA and how they're going to address it. I don't think it's an issue. Look, key injuries happen in any course of play. They've already

happened since their return to play, but it's a byproduct of how hard the players did compete and what they put into it. That they raised their game to a level that not only made it super appealing to non-hockey fans and casuals, but they were willing to put it on the line because they cared. And so it was complete and total buy-in from the players on the ice and off the ice, media access, storytelling, behind the scenes, all really good quality stuff that you could tell the players, you know, really put a lot into it. And part of that was the conversation with Marty Walsh.

But the other part of it is that I think it's so fascinating. As good as Four Nations was, I'm sure in the back of your mind you have to be thinking, why didn't we do this for 11 years? And I thought it was really interesting that Gary Bettman at the press conference before Four Nations started said said doing this and putting together a firm international calendar with Olympics and World Cup alternating biennially that it wouldn't be possible without the relationship that they have

now with the NHLPA and it's so odd having covered so many lockouts on a street corner in New York that this is where we're at. But I wanted to drill down on that with Marty Walsh and our conversation and say, what is it about the relationship? What is it about whatever you brought to the table that's allowed this to, you know, blossom? And I think a lot of it comes back to communication, which then, um, you know, blossom. And I think a lot of it comes back to communication, which then, you know, bears trust on the other end of it. But it's really interesting to see the shift between these two parties and the fact that we have a cap number for the next three years. And

that, you know, by the nature of having cap numbers means that kind of on a factual basis, we've essentially started CBA negotiations for a deal that doesn't expire till 2026. Like if you were in a coma for the last 12 years after the last lockout and you got to this point, you'd wake up today, you know, shocked about a lot of things, but that would be on the list.

I got two more real quick. I want to hit you with before we go to break, two players in particular. One, the Seth Jones situation in Chicago. Does that get rectified via trade by the deadline? I doubt it. The Hawks are willing to retain, I believe, somewhere between two and two and a half million dollars

on that deal to knock him down to the $7 million range. But this is a two-part problem. One, Seth Jones has to be willing to provide the Hawks with a list of teams. And it can't just be, Hey, I want to go to Dallas because Dallas to my knowledge, hasn't shown much interest. And Jim Neal has hinted at the idea of, Hey, we've got to pay all these young guys that need new contracts. So we can't be taking on a deal like this one. And two, um, there needs to be generally more interest around the league.

The term remaining on that deal at five, five years is, is significant. And I believe in Seth Jones as a quality number two defenseman in the NHL. And I'm sure some Knuff fan is making a Pedersen joke right now. Um, but that said, it's been slow going. And I think it's one of those deals that if it happens, regardless of his voice growing louder and more prominent, particularly after last night's loss to Utah in which the shot attempts were 93 to 39, that it's gonna require a lot of heavy lifting to get done. And finally real quick before we let you go, Jordan Bittington after

the glow up in the Four Nations final, is there any chance that St. Louis capitalizes that and moves him out? Is there any chance that he's on the move? I know you guys talked about it on daily face off live. Yeah, just tell me which team is interested, which team needs a goalie? We just went through the complications in Edmonton. Yeah. Even if they could do it on their list of priorities and they had the cap space, would goaltending be number one? I'm not convinced Carolina maybe but I I just don't they don't want to spend on a goalie. So I and I can't see them doing it on a goalie that has marginal season results that are less than what

they're currently getting. So I don't see a goalie market period but I guess crazier things have happened Frank. This was great man. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of do it. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. We'll do this again next Wednesday. A whole hit without PD talk. I didn't know it was possible.

It is. Brave new world here at the Haliford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Thanks, dude. That's Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off here on Haliford & Brough. See that? We did it.

Yeah. And the Pedersen he was mentioning was Marcus Pedersen. Right. Not even Leas Pedersen. I don't even know who leas peterson is Guys didn't even ask frank why the cucks are manapede No Juicy no we didn't yeah, you're gonna have to find something else to put up on social media Someone is make my life hard someone just said

Halford using the term glow up in 2025 am I out of touch with the lingo of today? No, it's the children who are wrong. Do they not say glow up anymore? I don't know. What's the new one, glaze? Someone was saying the other day, asking us if glaze is a thing.

Apparently, Ferraro used it on a broadcast and people were freaking out. Do we know? Alessio is young, ask him. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.