Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 2/27/26

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, plus they get a Canucks update from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. With Larkin and scores. Dylan Larkin, the hero, here tonight in Ottawa. And I've really stressed on my trade board is the right-handed defenseman. There's an appetite for Myers. No question about it. Ladies and time.

The weekend. Good morning, Maker. 6.1 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford and his Brough. It is SportsNet 650. We are coming live from the Kintech Studios

and beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates.

Do you have CRA debt? If you do, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. visit them today at sands dash trustee.com. We are an 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 Kintech Studio New Year, new opportunity for comfort with orthotics from Kintech. My, oh my, do we have a lot to get into on the Duick Morning Drive. It's our morning guest list brought to you by the Duick Auto Group. It begins at 7 o'clock. AJ from AJ's Pizza is going to join the program.

That is a reminder. It's Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford & Bruff Show on Sportsnet, 650. We have some new listeners to the program this week, as I understand it. Ask Us Anything is exactly that. You ask us anything. We answer the anythings. Hashtag him, AUA, and put a pizza emoji into your text. The Dunbar number text line is 650.

650. The best Ask Us Anything wins $100 to AJ's pizza on East Broadway. Right after A. this morning, 705, also known as the soccer hour. Kevin Egan's going to join the program. Studio analyst MLS seasons pass on on Apple, MLS 360 host.

White Caps in action tomorrow, 630 from BC place in an all-Canadian battle against TFC. We'll talk to Kevin about his beloved Republic of Ireland as well. Who will be playing Canada in June? Kevin Egan joins us at 705. 7.30, the soccer hour

rolls on. It's fair warning to all of you non-footy people. Kyle Sheldon's going to join the program. He's the soccer business and marketing expert. We're going to talk to him about MLS stadiums and specifically stadium ownership, which has been a hot button issue locally, as you may have heard. Also, the impact of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Beyond the sort of typical, let's grow the game stuff. Should be an interesting conversation. Kyle Sheldon is going to join us at 7.30 this morning. At 8 o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. Intrepid Canucks reporter for Don. and Dolly on Czech TV. I don't need to throw to Jason Brough for this one, because I have the notes today.

We're going to talk about Tyler Myers and other possible Canucks trades. We're going to talk about why the Canucks might have Ivar Stenberg rated ahead of Gavin McKenna at the upcoming draft. And finally, a nice little story about how Rick Tockeet and Elias Pedersen met up at the Olympics.

They hugged. They hugged and just kept hugging. I wasn't going to spoil the story. And then and then Talkett just started just squeeze. Titer. Just a little bit harder. Tighter. And Elias went, Rick, you're hurting me.

What's happening right now? He said, we're hugging. At the Olympics. So we've ruined Rick's story. However, tune in at 8 o'clock for all the other things he's going to tell us about the Vancouver Canucks. We got so much to get into. I'm not even going to do the guest list in reverse. So without further ado, Laddians, tell everybody what happened? Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy. your life can be. What happened? Is it? You missed that? What happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies investing tools, resources, and safety training.

Visit them online at BCCSA.ca. For those of you thinking that it might just be a soccer-centric show, no, no. Almost the entire first hour of the Halford & Brough show will be one, uninterrupted Halford and Brough, and two, very Canuckscentric. And that's because, like Man Up from Heaven, Jim Rutherford gave us a lot to work with, as he got candid yesterday on the 100% hockey podcast with Darren Millard and John Shannon.

Now, that's not to be confused with the 100% Canucks podcast, which also features John Shannon, along with SportsNet's very own Landon Ferraro. This is 100% hockey. This is the 100% hockey podcast. Yes. Now, it may include some Canucks podcast stuff because the Canucks are a hockey team. And also don't confuse it with the 98% Columbus Blue Jackets.

podcast, which is 98% blue jackets and then 2% just fun stuff. Anyway, there's a lot to get into here. So I'm just going to go through bullet points on the interview with Jim Rutherford because I listened to it last night and just took notes along the way. We will play some of the audio, but obviously not all of it. Rutherford confirmed that they do have an offer for Tyler Myers and that everyone's working together to make something happen. Patrick Alveen, he's in charge. of that. Jim let him do that one. He didn't do the Quinn Hughes one, but Patrick Alvin has the Tyler Myers file. Obviously, there are things to consider here. You've got to get the team that's

interested in Tyler Myers. You've got to get the right offer, and then you got to bring that to Tyler Myers and say, do you want to go to this place? Because for now, at least Tyler Myers is in full control of the situation. So we'll see what comes of that. He was asked, what will the next few months look like for the Vancouver Canucks and their fans? And this was a theme that came up quite often throughout the interview. And I think it's the one thing that Jim Rutherford wanted to get across. The Canucks are going to try and acquire as many young assets as possible. Probably draft picks, but obviously could be younger players.

And the goal is to position themselves as strong as possible, heading into the draft, the offseason and free agency. They're going to continue to let the young players play, live with their mistakes, live with the fact that they are adjusting to a tough league. Jim Rutherford had a lot of good things to say about the three young defensemen that they've got playing right now in Zev Boullium, Tom Vielander and Elias Pedersen, and the idea is you're going to build this team up over the next couple of years. He said we will be as active as possible leading up to the trade deadline. But there's some butts here. There are always the butts. They are not going to just give away players.

This is not a fire sale. He didn't say that, but I'm going to add that for him. Another but the market is very solid. slow at this point in time. Surprisingly, I know the hosts were surprised by this, John Shannon and Darren Millard, who did a good job on the interview. They were surprised that there wasn't much talk during the Olympic break between the general managers, according to Jim Rutherford.

And then Jim kind of pointed out, I was like, well, a lot of the GMs were at the Olympics, you know, like Bill Guerin and, and, um, and, um, and, um, I'm, Doug Armstrong were the GMs of the teams. But like they had GMs that were helping them over there. You know, Caldubis was there, for example. Bill Zito was there. And Jim said maybe those guys were talking to each

other. But the ones who weren't at the Olympics apparently weren't talking much. Which was a little surprising. Maybe there's like it's like the cool kids were at the Olympics and like the cool GMs were at the Olympics.

Sounds like someone got left out of the group chat. Okay. Ilyos Pedersen. And of course got to that. And Jim Rutherford was asked if it was time to give an endorsement of Elias Pedersen.

And here's what Jim Rutherford had to say to that. On that, do you think you need to give an endorsement to Elias Pedersen, who had a pretty good Olympics? But do you need to say that this guy is, our cornerstone? No, I don't think I need to say that at this point. He has played better than giving credit for this year with the Canucks. I think he's worked very hard at his two-way game.

A guy in his position, we'd like to see do more on the offensive side. But to his credit, he's worked at it. And it's, you know, if somebody made just a great office, offer, we'd have to look at it, but it's not a guy that we feel that we have to get out there and shop. He's a young guy. His offense can still come back. I think it will. He's a very skilled guy. So we'll see where that goes. There was a follow-up question on Pedersen, and Rutherford suggested there might be a different way for Pedersen to train in the offseason. Now, he's did say that Pedersen worked hard last off season.

It wasn't, you know, he didn't say he didn't come to camp in shape or anything like that. But, you know, we've talked a lot on this program about Pedersen skating, for example. And, you know, PD's also had some kind of minor injuries or major injuries, depending on who you talk to. And he said, our people are looking at that. So this is, this is kind of like, this is another thing to, I think, monitor if the Canucks don't trade Pedersen. You know, last season was like, are you going to work? You know, like, are you going to train hard? And I think this season might be like, okay, you're going to train hard.

What are you going to try and get better at? And I think, and I hope skating is very much a topic of conversation. Now, he wouldn't give a full-throated endorsement of Elias Pedersen. And, you know, he basically said, look, if we get an offer for this guy that we like, we're going to take it. Very different about Philip Heronik. And he said, he's been our best player this year. He's a number one defenseman. He's a heart and soul guy.

He added that he's on a very short list of players that absolutely won't be traded. Yeah. Honestly, I thought just to jump in for a second. I thought the comments about Heronics said more about Patterson than his comments about Patterson. When you stack them up next to each other, it's hard not to draw that conclusion. Very rarely do you have to read between the lines with Jim Rutherford because he's usually pretty candid and usually pretty straightforward and direct. But in this instance, and I don't know if this was intentional or not, and I quite frankly don't think it matters if it's intentional or not. But his positioning of how great Hironic has been and what he's meant to the team.

And I think calling him a heart and soul guy was also a big part of this. I think that says more about Elias Pedersen than his remarks about Elias Pedersen. He was asked if Philip Peronik could be the future captain. And Rutherford said the Canucks aren't ready to make a decision on that yet, but he's a candidate for sure. And then he said he has all the qualities to be a very good captain. So I think that's a very good point that you make. Now, of course, questions came up about what are we calling this? You know, is it a retool?

Is it a rebuild, a reset? Something re. And, you know, Miller and Hughes came up. And I'm just going to play the quote here on Miller and Hughes. And this is Jim Rutherford, once again confirming that the Canucks are in a rebuild. As long as we had Miller and Hughes, this team could not go to a rebuild. okay when I first got here you know things weren't going very well

then we kind of got it going there and we won the division and went to the conference final seventh game with edmonton and we were on the right track and then once j t got moved that we had to move him and that we knew quinn wasn't coming back those were the two engines that drove the conucks

that made the difference of winning and losing games Miller and Hughes. And once those two guys were gone, then we had no choice. It was time to rebuild, go to a full rebuild. Now, when I say it's a full rebuild, we're still going to have veterans, whether we keep the guys we have or we move them out and bring different veterans in in the off-season to mentor and have a blend of younger players. You can't have all real young players.

But my short answer is, and I've said this since Quinn left, is we are in a rebuild. Might say something else about Petey, right there. Two engines, Miller and Hughes. I noticed that as well. Yeah. It was almost, it was slid in there.

But again, there's a lot of underlying text, context, subtext, whatever. Even if it's unintentional by him, he's like, those are the two engines. And now he's saying, like, Philip Peronik won't be traded. He's a heart and soul guy. he might be a future captain.

Yeah. And I know. Do you feel the need to give Elias Pedersen a full-throated endorsement? No. No. And they're at their end of the rope with Pedersen. Like I think a lot of people are. I'm probably quite frankly like Pedersen is with his time in Vancouver.

It's hard to suggest anything otherwise. I mean, as we take a step away from the Rutherford interview on 100% hockey podcast, look at the current climate around the team. There are no untouchables except for Rome. at this point of the veteran players of the veteran players yeah like everyone and we'll get into the report that brock bessor might be willing to go and of course there's the ongoing tyler mire's saga where he's sitting on the sidelines mulling over whether a trade will be done or not keifer sherwood has already been moved you got a wonder if connor garland is long for this given

what all of his teammates are going through there's all the ufas like teddy bluger and vander kane and everybody david comp like there is an understanding that the right now of the veteran group and the leftover guys is what I'll call them, there's one guy that they have admiration for, and it's Philip Hironic. And the rest of them, quite frankly, I think Rutherford would be more than happy to part with them, but it's going to be difficult in this climate because there's not a ton of trades being consummated right now. And quite frankly, there's a lot of baggage around all these guys that the Canucks want to

send out. So I encourage you to go to listen to this podcast yourself. I watched it on YouTube. It's right there for you. He had a few more thoughts about, you know, for example, is he concerned about the ability of the Canucks to sign free agents? And he said the Canucks are not first on many players list. And then he said, the trend is that the majority of players want to play in the U.S.

But he said there are still players that want to come to Vancouver and we have a chance to get free agents. But again, he reiterated the priority is to get young players that can grow together and want to be here in Vancouver for a long time. Now, he did mention that he would love to have more Canadian players on the Canucks. Halpert of Rough Listener. Yeah, but he also said, look, I don't care where the players come from. I mean, he took the correct path on that. Yeah, love to have more Canadian players, but ultimately he just wants good players.

He said it was hard to judge Adam Footswork, given all the injuries and the lack of a second-line center to start the season. And then they did go out in a second-line center, and that second-line center got hurt. said he this was interesting. He said he feels good about Demko because they think they found the root of the problem now with Dempco's hip. He was asked for more on that. He said, I'm not a doctor,

but we think we found the root of the problem. He is concerned about Philippeitel because of Heedel's head injury and that Heidel has to decide what's best for his future. He said he's out for four weeks and it's probably better that he focuses on next season and his future. it's very, very possible that Philippaedal will not play again for the Vancouver Canucks this season.

Okay. One more clip, and this is on the timeline for the Canucks. Now, I know there were some quotes that came out on social media yesterday, and I want to add context to those quotes because it's important. and I'm just going to play the whole question and the full answer on the Vancouver Canucks timeline of this rebuild. Do you guys talk timeline within your group about when you are competitive again or how long out that is? Yeah, we do. But I think we all live in a fantasy world when you start trying to project that because, you know, we're projecting people's performance.

It's not like we're projecting a product that you make, okay? And when you're projecting players' performances, some will advance quicker than we expect. Some will stand still and not progress at all for a couple of years. So that's very hard. I mean, I would like to think within the next two or three years, the team's in a real strong position again. I can't say for sure that's going to happen.

I do believe right now we're just getting reps and players are playing and playing as hard as they can. Of course, they're trying to win game. It's not the most important thing to us right now, you know, because we know we're going to finish last. But it is important to prepare for the start of next season and put guys in a position where they can succeed and this team can get back to competing. I don't know if we can advance enough that we can compete for. a playoff spot, but that should be our goal coming out of training camp next September. So the quote that made waves on social media was the last part where he said, you know, we should try and compete for a playoff spot next season. But that obviously wasn't the entire

quote. That's why you got to play the whole quote. Yeah. And, you know, I'll be very curious to see what they do in free agency, because I do think they're going to be active in free agency, to what extent, I don't know. But I think they're going to try and bring in some veteran players to play some of the key positions, because, you know, he's not wrong in saying that, look, you don't want to throw all young players out there, because you do need to, in some ways, take the heat off them at some times, and you also don't want to ruin their confidence. And you need players to learn from as well.

Now, how they go about doing that remains to be seen. Their actions are going to speak a lot louder than their words. And we're going to see over the next few days how many players get shipped out. The pending UFAs are kind of obvious, but will there be any others that are shipped out? And we can get into that in the next segment. But, you know, it was a good interview. And I think you should go watch it. or listen to it yourself.

I think the main takeaway is that the Canucks at least say they are committed to getting younger and to having a new group of young players grow together

and I think at this point that's all we can ask for. I'm happy with that direction as long as it's consistently and patiently It patiently plays out. Well, I think we're going to get a pretty good idea over the next seven days of how serious the club is about doing this.

Now, not all these deals need to be consummated by the trade deadline. Let's just make that abundantly clear, right? They can address some of this stuff as we get into the off season. We get closer to the draft until July 1. They can revisit a lot of these moves that are obviously in the hopper for some of their veteran players. But trade deadline is a week today. We're going to be in here a week today. We're doing a four-hour show, by the way, Halford & Brough, extra hour on trade deadline,

And, you know, this is going to be the first real genuine opportunity for Rutherford and to a lesser degree Alvin to put their money where their mouths are and make things happen now. Because if you look around the National Hockey League right now, there are Vancouver Canucks players in all sorts of trade rumors across the National Hockey League. You've got, as I mentioned, the looming specter of a Tyler Myers deal, which is really hanging around. That doesn't deserve looming specter. Well, it's hanging over the team. I know, but it's not like a super negative thing. Well, I think it kind of is because it hasn't been done yet. If it doesn't get done and he comes back, it's a very awkward situation.

Maybe not necessarily in a sense of we've embarrassed the player or anything. But there was a very, there's going to be an understanding now that if that deal doesn't get done, done, who's it on? I would not put it one bit on Tyler Myers. One, I know what you're saying. Don't be naive. I know what you're saying, but if any fans blame Tyler Myers for not accepting a deal to like Detroit, give your head a shake.

But you know where there's going to be that sentiment. But those people are idiots. And I hope that if we have any influence on this situation, Tyler Myers doesn't owe the Canucks anything, nothing, not one thing. He earned that contract extension. He earned the no move clause. And if he doesn't want to go to Detroit, that's fine. But for fans of the organization who maybe put the team ahead of Tyler Myers,

they're going to say, this is business. It's a hockey team. And team being the ultimate thing here, like, yes, you have earned, everything you got in that contract, including the no trade clause. I get it. At the same time, Tyler Myers is only going to be a Canuck for another, maybe even less, but two years at the max. And at which point there will be someone else wearing that number.

He'll be traded. Yeah. He'll be traded either at the deadline or in the off season. He won't be a Canuck next season. Right. And here's the thing. If you have to punt on a deal that you really wanted to consummate, and that's the Canucks, and take a lesser deal because the.

player wouldn't go along. There is going to be some inherent blame on the player, whether it's fair or not. But if I'm Tyler Myers, I'm not sitting here going like, well, you could have got a second round pick from Detroit, but all you got was a fourth round pick from Dallas. Well, that's why I have my no move clause. That's why. That you gave to me. That you gave to me. And I, and I probably left some money on the table to take that deal because that was the deal I wanted. and frankly, I'm not going to go Detroit so you can get a second round pick and, you know, as opposed to having this option

to, these are just hypotheticals, to go to Dallas where maybe he'd like to go. There are some, you know, Texas connections there with Tyler Myers and his family. You know, and I'm sorry that you only got a fourth round pick as opposed to a second round pick, but see you later. And that's the Tyler Myers side of this,

and I absolutely get it. But there's an entirely other side of this, which I think is worth bringing up because that side of it is the people that listen to the program and probably don't care. You're listening to the best of Halfred and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Rick Dolly Wall Rick Dolly Wall It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall.

It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Doug Allie Wall. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. Rick Dolly Wall.

It's time for Dolly. Rick Dolly Wall. It's time for Rick Dolly Wall. 8.02 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. Halford Brough, SportsNet, 650. Halpert and Brub of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Are you getting collection calls?

If you are, Sands and Associates could cut your debt by up to 80% with no upfront peas. And they'll stop the calls. Visit them today at Sands. trustee.com. We are in our three of the program. It is time for Rick Dollywall. And then of course we're going to get to ask us anything of what we learned. Hour three of this program is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-Dashpound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintech

studio, New Year, new opportunity for comfort with orthotics from Kintech. To the Able Auctions hotline we go. Our next guest is a presentation of Bassant Motors. Rick Dollywall joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Ricky D? Gentlemen, how's it going? It's going good. Let's go rapid fire here. Tyler Myers, Detroit, Dallas, Colorado.

Where is he going to end up? We're going to sit and wait. That's all we can do. We're going to have to wait this morning. I checked in nothing new to report. He's got to make the decision to, you know, waive is no trade to Detroit, who have made the Connoxion offer that is acceptable.

If the Connoxon get a second round pick from Myers, boy, oh, boy, take it. would mean two first round picks, three in the second round this coming draft. That's exactly what this connects team needs, especially after the fact they traded their first three picks in 2024. This will help make up those losses. Just like the lack of quality centers in the NHL, hence the interest in struggling Elish Peders, same thing for Wright Shot D.

The fact that multiple teams are after a 36-year-old Tyler Myers tells you all you need to know, prices elsewhere for other Wright-Shodd are very high. Myers took less money on his last deal with the Canucks to get that no move, right? This is where the no move pays off for the player and the agent. They're 100% in control of the situation, not the Canucks. Myers has earned the right to take his time. Canucks have handed out no moves and trade protection like candy at Halloween. Myers and his agent, JP Barry, were against waiving when the Canucks sent out that memo three months ago,

but no one could have predicted this team would be in 32nd place. and looking at a rebuild. Myers taken this long means he's giving a serious consideration, right? I do believe if he does not waive to Detroit, I do believe one city he would wave to his Dallas. He was born in Houston. I believe there's a connection with Tom Gullardy in the past.

I do believe that Myers is an option for Dallas, but will they step up with an offer like Detroit? That's what it boils down to. But I will say this. If he leaves, Canucks are going to lose lots of leaders, and experienced voice for those three young D who are 21 and under, Buiam, Wollander, and Pedersen,

Canucks don't have a ton of leadership to begin with, and Myers would be another hit in that department. 36-year-old Myers had dinner with 36-year-old Luke Shen the other night before the Vancouver game, two good friends, two great veterans, who could be on the move soon, both of them. Could the Canucks in theory with Tyler Myers say, okay, you don't want to go to Detroit, that's your right, but we're not trading you then,

and then we're going to wait until the off season, and you got less control then. Sure. The one thing I like about this is the Canucks got proactive. They got an offer they liked. And what this tells me, and this is for Patterson, Bess, or Garland and DeBrask, if they get an offer they like,

they are willing to move these guys. And you know what? This is one thing that the Myers thing should teach all of us. If the offer is correct, and they are willing to accept it, They're going to go to agents and ask to wave. So, look, we're going to have to sit and wait on Myers. I do believe he can practice today without making the decision on Detroit.

So he could still wait as long as you want again. This is, you control everything. For now. For now. Yeah, but. I think that's important to note for now. Yeah, okay, okay. They took less money on the last deal to get that no move.

He wanted to retire as a Kanoch. Nobody knew that this team would fall to the 30 second to go into a rebuild. That's why you take less money for the no move because you control the situation. He's controlling it. Other possible Canucks trades, what are you hearing? Well, first of all, we got to say this. One phone call changes everything. We can only tell you what we're hearing today.

Things change at a rapid pace. A lot of these Connux veterans are easier to move at the NHL draft or the summer. Debross, Garland, Besser, Pedersen, they're all underachieving. They all got massive money and massive term left on their deals. Lots of playoff teams don't have first round picks this year. Lots of playoff teams are capped out. Look at the Oilers.

They have $800,000 in cap space. How the hell would they add any Connacht player? With 800,000 in cap space. To get these massive Connought contracts on other teams is not easy. Canucks are looking for picks and prospects in return as well. It's a very tough thing to do, easy to say. On Besser, I was told last night, this will not be easy to move. He loves Vancouver.

The chances he gets moved at the deadline are low. I didn't get the indication last night. The Besser's chomping at the bit to get out of here. He was the happiest guy in the world when the Kinnock signed him July 1st. Besser had San Jose all over him last July 1st. The feeling was in San Jose, get Besser. He could be the guy the Macklin-Cellibrini sets up for goals. Last minute call from the Canucks changed everything.

Another contract tough to move. One team told me this morning the best contract, that's a tough deal to take. Very tough. All right. For those reporting that DeBrusk would like a change of scenery, when I checked in midweek, he's not asked for a trade. Garland's not asked for a trade midweek when I check. The Canucks are willing to move Garland before his no trade clause kicks in this summer.

Now on Pedersen, teams are calling and inquiring. there's no question about that. I still can't see a team taking the full 11.6 million, Jason, maybe in the summer when teams can clear caps face better. The fact that teams are interested in a highly paid player who has gone backwards the last two years can actually be doing cartwheels. Teams are hedging bets that they can get at least 75 to 80 points out of Pedersen. One team told me earlier this week,

they need up to $3 million in retention if they were to go after Pedersen, Canucks don't want to do that. Name one team right now, Jason, that would take Patterson and the entire 11.6 mid-season. It's incredibly hard to do.

Are the Canucks going to hold a hard line on retaining salary? They should. They still got OEL next year at 4-5. They still got years left on OEL. If you're in a rebuild, the last thing

want is dead money? Why would you want dead money? Like that should be going other places. Dead money is dead money. You don't want it anytime. Rebuild or not. But for six more years, even if, I just can't see the owner saying, you signed this guy a year and a half ago, all right?

For seven, eight years at 11.6 million. Now I got to retain. What owner would want to retain on six years? Nobody. Nobody. Why would do it? If you ran a business, Jason, would you want to Would you want to pay an employee not to work for you? But they might have a, I mean, he doesn't set the market though.

So they might have a decision to make. You either trade Pedersen and barely get anything in return and you get rid of his entire contract, or there's some retention and you get something back. Yeah. I just, it's just these guys are incredible. I know everybody wants all these veterans out. They're incredibly hard to move. They all got massive contracts.

They're all underachieving. I mean, I just told you a ton of playoff teams don't have first round picks. A ton of playoff teams are capped out. Like, I mean, everybody expects all these guys to move. It's impossible. To be fair, Rick, people don't expect it right away. I think people recognize the situation that the Canucks are in. But it's self-inflicted.

It's self-inflicted. And I think that's where the frustration comes from. Absolutely, it's self-inflicted. Yeah. These guys were all signed within the last nine months. When you sign a guy to a long-term deal, you are making a commitment because you like this guy. Why did they commit to Garland, Demko, the Besser,

all these guys within the last nine months. You don't make commitments like that very easily. You like the player. You like what he brings on and off the ice. Long-term deals, go ask agents. that ask for long-term deals. And the team says, no, we're not giving you a guy long-term deal. But yet these guys get long-term deals in Vancouver,

and all of a sudden, the Canucks won them out within nine months. Okay, Rick, let's say the Canucks win the draft lottery. Oh. Who would they take? Well, I don't know. Before I get to that, can I tell you something? Sure. Yes.

Patrick Alvin is scouting like a madman. In Switzerland, Sweden, Finland two, three weeks ago, someone told me he was in Peterborough last Sunday at the Peach Bulldogs game checking out Caleb Malhotra and Adam Novotny. Both expected obviously to go high in the summer's NHL draft. Elvine was in Brantford

a couple of nights ago to see Mahaltris Kid again. That's twice and less than a week in Ontario. Canucks clearly love Mahaltris Kid and I'll tell you he's going to be the first center to go off the board. There's no question. Like a lot of teams got him at number four.

But Malta, Elvine now seen Mahaltris kid twice in the last five days. Elvine was in Windsor to see Ethan Belchaz. He's going to go see Saginawkneau's Nikita Klepoff. I have no idea if I said that right. Neither do I have no idea either. So I'm safe. I'm safe on that? Yep. Okay, good. You're not going to rip me. Don't rip me for that. Anyways, it is good to see Alvinn all over the map. And you know what? This draft is so huge for the Canucks. It is. I was told the Canucks right now have Stenberg rated. higher than McKenna.

But those changed, like weekly and monthly, right? They changed. He just saw, Elvin just saw Stembourg two, three weeks ago in Sweden, right? Things can change, but Jason, a lot of teams have Stembourg at number one.

They really do. McKenna, as good as he's been in eight points last week, he is not number one on a lot of team's boards. Stenberg is putting up big numbers in Sweden, numbers that the Sedeen twins put up in their draft year, right?

If you go look at video with this kid, Stemberg, and you see the combination of the speed and the skill, like you can see why multiple, multiple teams have Stenberg at one. Yeah, McKenna put up a few points in the CHL too. Oh, and as a 15-year-old. And people bypass that. Remember in the old days when 15-year-olds could play 20 years ago, they could play Junior B and they, you know,

but to put numbers up in the dub at 15, what McKenna did is unheard of. Well, the kids do it, the DuPont did it in Everett, too, as a 15-year-old, and that was as a defenseman. But look, these draft boards, Jason, they go up and down. One week, this kid's up, one week. But I like that, and this is a huge draft, the margin for error, the margin for,

and I think that's why Elvine's out there, looking at all the first round picks, the margin for error. I look at Schaefer last night in New York, 18 goals, right? The fact the Islanders went from 10 to 1 with a 3.5% chance, look what that drafted for that organization. You know, they now have a stead defenseman for possibly in the next 20 years. Look at the luck that the Islanders had. Look what the draft did for them.

Like, to go from 10 to 1 with a 3.5% chance and then get a kid who's got 18 goals, you just pass who, Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, all these guys. And a great kid too, high character kid. Great kid, high character kid. Like, this is what the draft can do. This is what the draft can do in one year in a few months. Like the Islanders, what the Islanders did at the draft last year, it doesn't happen all the time, right?

10 to 1 with 3.5% chance. But that's what the draft can do for a franchise. The Islanders, they didn't hit a whole run. They hit a grand slam. And that kid is unbelievable. Have you got an update on Jonathan Lecker-O-Macki? I'm just wondering about timeline for him. You know, there's going to be the rehab,

but also he's a kid that needs to get into the gym and get stronger, not just rehab from a shoulder surgery, which is going to be one part. Is he going to have enough time before training camp to not only recover from the surgery, but get bigger and stronger? Great question. Jonathan Lakeramacki left for Denver two days ago for his season-ending surgery. It's in Denver. Tough goal for this kid. He can score at the American Hockey level. American Hockey League level. He cannot score at the NHL level.

Can't gain the trust of any coach in Vancouver. Two summers now where he has not been able to add the muscle he needs up high, upper body, like you mentioned. Last year, the extended Calder Cup run and now surgery. He turns 22 this summer. I've been told, The early word is that he should be ready to go for next year, all right? But if you shoulder surgery is anywhere from what, three to six months, it's obviously going to play a factor in his summer, especially upper body. I mean, shoulders are important for weightlifting, as we all know. But look, I just, I'm not saying next year is a make or break year for La Caramackie in Vancouver, but he's got to find a way to break through next year in Vancouver.

And you nailed it. and physical maturity hasn't reached him yet. He's got the NHL shot, the NHL skill, but like I just, physicality is a problem for him right now. And now that he's gone to Denver to get this surgery, I, like,

I don't know. And if foot's back next year, is foot going to all of a sudden going to gain trust in him? Every time he comes up, they start him out in the top six. Week later, he's in the bottom six, and back in Abbottesford two weeks later.

It's the same thing every time. He looks small and slow out there, with a good shot, with a good shot. And that's just being fair. That's just being totally fair. Yeah, but with a multitude of draft picks coming to Vancouver in the coming years, it is vital to have a coach who's going to have the patience with the prospects. It is vital to have a coach who's going to give the time a day to develop and not have winning as his number one thing, right?

development winning. We hear it in minor hockey all the time. What do you want? You want to win or you want to develop? Well, same thing at the NHL level. He's got to get a coach in Vancouver at some point that trusts his overall game. That hasn't happened. But there's a baseline to be an NHL player.

Yes, yes. And I sometimes feel like Lecker-Macki, again, really nice shot. He's had some moments. But there's a baseline that he isn't reaching even if you do want to develop him. Is that fair? Yeah, it is fair. But I look at Hoaglander. Travis Green had no time from.

Boudreau had no time from talk. It had no time from foot. You know, he's on the fourth line. Like at some point, like, you know, these coaches, you've got to give the young kids a chance more than a week in the top six before you put him in the bottom on the fourth line in the back in Abbottes for two weeks later. The coaching in this rebuild is going to be crucial. I agree with you fully on that.

Fully on that. Yeah, and I'll tell you something else. development team is going to be crucial. If a McKenna or a Stenberg or a Mahaltra come into town, how you handle these kids in their development is going to be absolutely crucial in how they do and how they are going to be future Vancouver Canucks. We previewed your hit earlier in the show by saying that you have a nice story about Rick Tocke and Elias Pedersen meeting at the Olympics over in Italy. Yeah, you know what, Jason, someone told me earlier this week in Italy at the Olympics, they saw Rick Tocket and Ellis Pedersen having a long conversation in the village.

I did get that verified. I can't just, you know, I can't just get it and then just relay it to you. I did get it verified. These two guys could have walked by each other in the village and not said boo. They didn't. They had a lengthy talk. Those that think the Talk at Hay to Pedersen, that's not accurate. Just like every coach in the world,

he needed to see more from his star player. He needed more effort, more intensity, more compete, better habits, and he needed the care level to go up. The same things that Adam Foote is looking for from L.E.H. Pederson this year. Good on Tucket for taking the time to talk with Patterson in Italy. It shows you the player-coach relationship doesn't need to end at the ring. Deep down, Tocket did care about Pedersen, regardless of how things ended. Now, I was told that they had a very good long talk about family and everything under the sun and good for them.

That coach-player relationship is like a teacher-student relationship and a boss-employee relationship. There's a ton of ups and downs. We've all had the teacher that we didn't like. We've all had the boss. We didn't like. Well, I had a lot of teachers that didn't like me. But anyway, that's a whole different story. But that relationship, I'm going to tell you right now, is up and down.

But for these two guys to take the time to talk to each other at the Olympics and have a really good conversation, I think that was pretty cool for both of them. Do you have an update on the practice facility? Yeah, I do. Keep an eye on Britannia. Oh, that's where they should do it. That's the place where they should do it. That's where I put basketball.

I think they're talking to the city about that. The ice surface is there. They could build a 20,000 square foot connected facility at maybe a three, four story building. The ice is already there. That lowers the construction time, the cost and the need to find land. And very importantly, and people say all the time, I build their practice facility out in Surrey or Mission. Are you guys kidding me?

It's got to be close to Rogers Arena. It's got to be 15, 20 minutes away. They were very close to a deal at the Copeland Arena. but it fell apart. This deal that they're talking with Britannia is the deal they were talking at UBC. they were ready to build a connected facility, 20,000, 25,000 square feet, blah, blah, blah, that deal fell apart. It is time to stop having deals fall apart with the Copland's and the UBCs of the world.

Just get it done. Get it done. So now it's the city of Vancouver that they have to work with. Well, they have to work, but I mean, they've tried to get their own facilities. they've tried numerous things. But to this day, it's been tough. And I've told you guys this before. And the lines have had an issue too.

The white caps, the government paid $14 million for them in their practice facility. Where is it? It's a UBC? A UBC, yeah. Yeah. So the government pumped in money to help them do that. David Braley complained for years about the land prices,

same as Aquilini. These guys are having a tough time. were practice facilities on their own in this city because of the price of the land. Now the lion's current owner, I think they're knocking down, they're redoing the dressing rooms and redoing a bunch of construction out there in Surrey at their practice facility. These guys are having a tough time. Finding facilities in downtown near Rogers Arena because the land is so as expensive.

But it just amazes me. The Canucks are going, look, and Talk it was smart. he didn't use that practice facility as an excuse for no reason. Like, he was, that wasn't the reason Tocket left, but it certainly was one of them. But, you know, you've got to now recruit, and the Knox are going to have a hell of a time recruiting free agents on July 1st. And, you know, they're just going to have a hell of a time because nobody's going to want to play. Not the top guys on the 32nd place team. But it would be nice to say to a free agent on July 1st, hey, look, look at our practice facility.

You know, but they don't have one. They should have done this 10, 15 years ago, but they didn't do it. But now they're in a situation where they're not scrambling, but they're feasibly out there looking. And somebody told me that, you know, Bertania would make a lot of sense for the Canucks, a lot of sense. Feels like they're kind of scrambling. Yeah.

Well, okay. And they should be. They need one. Scramble. Let's go. A lot of people thought that Bernadby-Coplin was going to get done. And somebody told me they were close, and then it fell apart at the end.

And the UBC thing, too. Like, I mean, UBC would have made a lot of sense, right? Because they have the rinks, you know, they have the rinks out there anyways. But it's been an ongoing story, but as they now go into this rebuild, they are going to have to fight tooth and claw with other teams on free agents. But it would be nice to say to another free agent, hey, look at this practice facility, it's state of the art. Look at the one in Florida.

Seattle's got a nice one. Utah spent money. There was, you know, here's another one for you. There's university basketball teams in the U.S. There's the high school stadiums in Texas that have great facilities. I mean, we're not just talking to NHL teams. There's multiple teams in amateur. There's amateur sports that have great facilities.

And it is just, it is not right for an NHL team in Vancouver to not have a practice facility. Rick, lots of great information today. Thanks for doing the hard work, digging it out for us. Last thing, I just want to make sure I never pissed broth off after I heard him deal with Sarah Valley this week. Whatever you need, Jason, you got. I'm not going to get on your wrong side. I thought you took Sarvelli to the cleaners.

What a week. It's been a week, pal. It's been a week. Sarvelli. Drager is fighting with a doctor. You know, and Donnie got into it with the U.S. Women's Olympic team. What a weird week for media. And, you know, but that's what Twitter is.

It's unregulated. There's no rules, regulation, anything goes. It's almost like, it's just crazy stuff. But I learned a lesson this week. I'm not going to piss a bluff off. Good, good, good. I rule with an iron fist. Thanks, buddy.

Have a good weekend, pal. All right. Yep. Bye. Okay. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.