Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 2/5/25

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the latest NHL news with Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, plus they chat yesterday's big Canucks win with analyst Randip Janda. 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. Last night it was the Thatcher Demko show. Demko 25 saves for his ninth career shout out. And most importantly, his first shutout of the season. The Canucks yet again with another impressive victory against the Colorado Avalanche, this time three nothing at Rogers Arena on Tuesday night. Yeah. Uh, I don't know where to start, but I think, uh, we'll start with Thatcher

Demko who got the shutout. That's two very good starts in his last three. He was in there against Dallas, so-so, and then he had the start against Nashville that was really good. And we were like, is he back? And then his next star was like, no, he's not back. So even Thatcher Demko said after the game is like, you got to keep doing it.

Right. He also said he's back. Did he say he was back? He didn't say he was back. I think he said, yeah, you got him thinking on back. When will he do that? Three, three straights, good starts is like, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back. Yeah, I'd say that's about four start eight goals.

I shouldn't have said that. That was better than the actual drive. That was better than the actual draw. Thank you. That was incredible. He did get a little lucky in the first with three goal posts when the Canucks in front of him were sluggish, but he was brilliant in the second and allowed the Canucks to not only find their footing, but I suppose keep their footing because that, whatever it seemed like it was five minutes in the Canucks end when Kale McGarra should have had a bunch of goals, but didn't and Leckinen, I think it was five minutes in the Canucks end when Kale McGarra should have had a bunch of goals, but didn't and Lekkinen, you know, Debcov made a great

save off of Lekkinen. The Canucks had a one nothing lead at that point. So, you know, if Colorado scores there and ties it up, who knows how that turns out. McKinnon was doing pretty much whatever he wanted during that stretch of play. Man, is he impressive. Natures too.

Yeah, Natures. Speed demons. I mean, Natures has so much speed and Macar has so much speed. It's very tough and it was Pugh-Suders line that actually got the assignment against McKinnon. And even though you go look at their advanced analytics for the game, it's like, were you guys ever in the offensive zone? It's like, no, but like they ultimately that along with Demko's play and maybe a little luck with the posts, like they got the job done.

Um, let's move to the backend because as much as that feels like great, Thatcher got his shutout, he might be back. All right, let's move on to the new look defense because the blue line for me, um, was equally as exciting, if not more frankly than Thatcher Demko's play, because I always did have a little bit of faith that Demko would find it again. Um, we'll see if he's able to maintain that. We'll see if he's able to stay healthy, but I

thought he would show flashes, but I wasn't so sure if the Canucks could rebuild this blue line and no Quinn Hughes again last night and the Four Nations is getting closer and closer and Quinn Hughes isn't playing in the NHL. So maybe that's something we can discuss later in the show, but the new look Canucks blue line, it is

incredible really what the addition of a couple of guys and frankly, the subtraction of a couple of guys can do. Uh, Marcus Pedersen played a lot and he was solid out there, but DPT, Elias Pedersen was probably the story on the back end. He was an absolute beast. And I think he broke Miles Woods' brain out there.

Miles would had a tough, tough night last night. And it was in large part because of DPT. I want to play some audio right now, cause I do want to focus on what this youngster has brought to the table. Rick Tauke was asked at length about is sort of like shiny new toy on the blue line. The first about the character and profile of the player.

Here is Rick Tauket on what D. Petey is bringing to the table. Lots to like. You know, he's a bull out there. Strong, good first pass, good shoot to play. There's just a lot to work with. He's a prototypical D that you want on your team. We were talking the other day with Gonch, we were in Dallas that game before the game where we were talking how there's lots to work with this guy.

So he's a guy that we're glad we have. Now the most obvious follow up here is like, how quick can we make him a regular defenseman? When can we start giving him our minutes? When can we turn him into a top four guy? Tap the brakes a little bit. However, Rick Tauke did acknowledge that they are already fast tracking him to a certain degree.

Now Thomas Drance asked a fairly astute question yesterday, like noticing that DPD did not get out there for any defensive zone starts. Like they're trying to shelter him as much as possible but Tauke said like even from the first game that he played with the Canucks to now they've given him more and more responsibility and maybe that's the next thing to come for the young defenseman. Here's Rick Tocket on more responsibilities for DPD. Yeah, I think young defensemen, you want to cocoon them a little bit, right? You want to make sure you get them in some good situations. I've always felt,

you know, the deer are the last line of defense and when you make a mistake, you know, what is every, the spotlights on them. So we really wanted to kind of guard him a little bit but now that he's taken small little bites we got to give him more so we got to look into like you said maybe some diesel more diesel face-offs in our end things like that but I think to me young defensemen especially early guys give them a small little bites and I think that's really whether it's my philosophy or footies, we're on the same page. Okay. So obviously the big question is how are we going to handle all these Pettersons? Yeah.

By name, I was thinking of just going DPD, EPD, and Marcus Pedersen. No, it's PPD, DPD, or either 3PD or MP3. Those are the two that people- I like, I like meaty. Are we, can't we go with meaty? MP3. MP3 is not bad. MP3 is good. But I see a lot of people say 3PD as well.

Just because they get rhymes with DPD. I mean, yeah. So you got PD, DPD, MP3. Well, uh, here's another question. Marcus. Just Marcus. Why? Go ahead, Marcus.

Ask your question. Do the Canucks suddenly have a decent blue line? Go ahead. Ask us. Ask your question. Do the Canucks suddenly have a decent blue line? Doesn't take a lot. Doesn't take a lot. We haven't even seen Mancini and I think the Canucks want to have a practice before they put them into any game action and they're playing pretty well right now, so he might have to wait a

little. Willander is still on the way. Um, the bean pod is on right now, so he's a big part of that. I was watching that. So when healthy, let's take Willander is still on the way. The bean pod is on right now, so he's a big part of that. I was watching that. So when healthy, let's take Willander out of the equation. When healthy, if Carson Sousi gets traded, and apparently he's on the block, they could go Hughes, Hronach.

Yep. First pair, right? Yep. Or they could go Hughes and Myers, but they could also go on the second pair, MP3, might have to get used to that, Marcus Pedersen with Tyler Myers. And then on the bottom pairing, you've got

Forebort, you've got DPD and you've got Mancini as an option. Now the only, I guess the only hiccup there is like, I think they will want to play forward. Sure. Because he's a veteran defenseman. He's a really good penalty killer. He's a left shot.

DPT is a left shot. You know, last night they had DPT on the left side and Susie on the right side, but Susie is available for trade according to Elliot Freeman. And I think there should be a market for him, even though he has really struggled badly. I think there will be teams out there that are

willing to add Carson Susie to their lineup, especially ahead of the deadline. Yeah. I think handedness is always an important facet of this, but if you look at what you just broke down, let's just say if your top seven defensemen, regardless of hand, are Hughes Hronik, Marcus Pettersson-Myers, Forebort, DPT, Mancini,

I think the takeaway is, oh my God, it's the makings of a real functional blue line, which has been a problem for this team this year. And it can change in an instant, as you astutely pointed out in the notes, because you only need six guys. It's not like building a forward group, right? You can turn a defense from, you know, turn that

frown upside down. You can turn it from a not good group to a suddenly intriguing group with just a one or two transactions. Well, I was laughing a little bit last night when they were interviewing Brock Besser after the game and Brock Besser got a goal. It was a very nice goal and it was started with

a nice pass by Hronik up to Dubresque and got it to Besser and Besser scored and Hronik was very, very good last night and maybe he should be on his own pair, but you know, Besser was saying like, yeah, I think our breakouts are better. And people were like, why is that do you think? You don't say Brock. You know, look, the Canucks and frankly,

Susie was a problem. Not last night, but this has been a problem from, actually he made an awful breakout pass at one point last night. But other guys like Darren A with the puck on a stick, Juleson with the puck on a stick, it's been tough when you get a guy like Marcus Pedersen out there. You know who Marcus Pedersen kind of reminds me of actually is like, he plays like, that's Tanev's game. Sure.

You know, that's Tanev's game where he makes a good first pass, he's solid defensively, he's probably not going to get involved too much offensively, but I think he's maybe a little more physical than. I saw Dan, Dan, Dan, he was comp, which I didn't hate. Maybe. Um, yeah, yeah.

Like I, I just think he's, he's just, he's just solid. Yeah. You know, you can put them out there in a top four role and you're like, all right, that's good. Which is exactly what this group needed. Yes. Exactly.

Fits to a T. Because we said when you have Susie and Myers, especially, masquerading as a top four grouping, it doesn't work. It weakens the group. They don't have the puck moving ability. They just don't have that solid, all-around, all the cliches. Nothing flashy. Gets the job done, but does it at a high level.

That's what Marcus Peterson's brought to the table. I wouldn't mind when Hughes is healthy, seeing Hughes and Myers together, Pedersen and Hronik together, you know, or maybe you have, uh, you know, Forbert has been playing with Hronik, so maybe you keep those guys together. I don't know. I just, it is crazy.

I think, I think, and I think the management group deserves a lot of credit for, first of all, you know, the drafting of a guy like Elias Pedersen and the acquisition of a guy like Marcus Pedersen, not to mention the acquisition of a guy like Hronik, they had a massive job. Sure. Ahead of them. The development of Quinn Hughes has obviously helped everyone, but you're looking

at this group now and you're going like, wait a minute, this isn't that bad. Now, unfortunately, there has been a bit of robbing of Peter DePay Paul. JT Miller is no longer on this team. And you look up front and you go, do they have a legitimate one C two C? And I think the obvious answer right now is no. They have guys playing the roles. Because ideally, um, he'd, he'd all might, he don't might have 2C potential actually. Hedl might have 2C, maybe with, he wasn't gonna get that opportunity in New York, maybe he can get that in Vancouver,

but I think ideally he's a 3C, but maybe on Vancouver he's a 2C, but they definitely don't have a 1C right now. Hedl is not capable of, they've got McDavid or they've got McKinnon, well now. Like, Hedl is not capable of, you know, like they've got McDavid or they've got McKinnon, well, we've got Philipp Hedl. Let's no disrespect to Hedl. He's a very good player, but you know, that's a high bar and that is where,

you know, who should be. And last night, you know, I'm watching that game and they had a lot of power play time because of, you know, Miles Wood. Yeah. PD drew one of the penalties. He did. And honestly, that might be his best attribute out there right now, his ability to fall down and draw penalties.

Like that sounds mean, but it's true. And, you know, he, he is not contributing to power play one. And, you know, my instinct is like, we'll get them off there. But then I'm like, well, wait a minute. They got to get them going somehow. Are you going to take away power play one and also who's going to replace them because JT Miller's not there anymore. Are you going to put Pew suitor out there on power play one?

He's a shutdown guy right? Like it's, they don't, they don't have a lot of great options to, um, replace Elias Pettersson. And I don't want to harp on it too much because last night was a good, was it was a good story. I thought, you know, Holgländer played well and I've liked his game recently. I'd like him. Holgländer Carlson Bluger is a good energy. Yeah, I really liked that. And a Holgländer, you know, when he plays in the bottom six,

I think he's a better player. You know, for whatever reason and Takeda said this, when he goes up and plays top six, his game changes. I like when he's in the bottom six and knows like, I'm only going to get this amount of time. So I'm going to go out there and I'm going to grind as long as he can not, you know, avoid the, the dumb offensive zone penalties, make some good plays.

Great. But, you know, there's a reason you're hearing sats say things like the connects are in the market for an impact for it, because right now they don't have enough impact forwards. Yeah. And it's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a reason you're hearing Sat say things like the connects are in the market for an impact forward because right now they don't have enough impact forwards. Yeah. And it's, it's obvious at times there is a struggle to score. You know, they did find the back of the net three times,

although only two with a goalie in there. Uh, and it is interesting that with this forward group, and I know it's a small sample size, only two games, but how much of an impact Keedle has made, not just on the ice, but in terms of, like when Rick Tuckett speaks about him, making an impact on how the group looks at the game and maybe re-imagines the way that they attack.

I've got a couple of clips here. So the first I wanna play is about Heedle's ability to hold the puck, which we've noticed through the first two games. Like he can really dangle. And Tke it seems to like that as a sort of infectious thing for the rest of the group. Like, hey, look at the new guy not deferring every five seconds. Maybe we want to be a little bit more like that.

Here's Rick Tauke it on Philip Heedle's ability to carry the puck. What helps in practice, we haven't really we haven't a full practice with those guys yet here, so I got to get those guys credit. They haven't had a practice with us other than a morning skate. But when you practice and you practice with guys like that, Heedle, it is contagious. A lot of the games with, I call it when the guys are on your back and you have the puck, he doesn't get rid of it, he holds it. And that's a big thing for offensive guys

when you hold it. So hopefully it is contagious when he's around. But it's not just the puck handling prowess. Rick Tauke is also pretty excited about the speed that Heedle and Drew O'Connor have brought to the lineup. Here's the coach on how much faster the Canucks look and just quite frankly are with the two new forward additions in the lineup. Well, I don't want to overstate it, but I think Hedl and Drew O'Connor, the speed and their

willingness to take the puck in the middle on a rush, like a little breath of fresh air when you see Hedl take that puck, he goes in the middle of the ice and that's when things happen so to just add in those two guys has helped our rush game and you can see like Yogi we're smiling because that's the stuff we need right so those two guys for sure and obviously both Pettersons back there good first pass transporting the puck so that's where you get the flow going. So yeah, I have to give them a lot of credit. I know it's two games and it was a big win.

And I think, you know, we've got to stay even kill, but I just, I do like the rush part of it, that they're willing to take the puck. Even at the end, I know people might not say it, but O'Connor gets it standing still. Most guys just throw it out, might ice the puck and he skates it and gets it standing still. Most guys just throw it out, might ice the puck and he skates it and gets the empty net. That's a big play because he can skate.

Pete Slauson See, I was told that Rick Tuckett was telling them to go glassing out and he didn't want them to make any plays and he'd coached all the offense and he'd coached all the confidence out of them. So, maybe, I guess I'll have to do that with Heedle and Drew O'Connor. Pete Slauson Yeah, he hasn't had a chance to practice yet. He said it himself. That empty. I was also told that once the D started making good passes and they got some guys that could move the puck in there that everything would change for Elias Pedersen. I mean.

That's what I was told. Low-key sarcasm aside. That wasn't low-key, brother. I think you and I were pretty much aligned the entire time. We never, never turned this on the coach. I mean, we questioned a few things. I mean, I went there specifically. I was like, why are you passing it back

to the points so much? He's like, I'm not done. I don't want them to do that. And rightfully so, because you can question the coach when the team is playing as poorly as the Canucks have at times this season. But there were some, I would say borderline, recklessly unfair criticisms of Rick Tauket when he would come out in the aftermath and say exactly what he wanted to see from his

group. I have people even texting into the Dunbar Lumber text message in basket and accusing Rick Tauket of saying one thing to the media post game, but coaching his team in an entirely different way. I'm like, I don't know where you came up with that theory from. Like he's not gonna consciously go out of his way

to change the messaging post game. You know what's another theory? That they're hiding or they're making him play through that tendonitis because he's clearly hurt based on his skating. You know what else helps your skating? Getting into the gym and getting stronger. Right.

There's a reason these guys do these like burst workouts, right? There's like, okay, I got to create more burst in my stride. You know, in the Family Guy episode where it's like a knockoff of the $6 million man. With Peter. With Peter and they're like, we can build

them back or whatever, but I don't want to spend a lot of money. Yeah. And then he comes striding out and I don't know, he's got like a garbage can for a leg. Or whatever. Plunger, a plunger for a leg. Bruce.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is what PD stride looks like right now. It does. Like if, you know, I'd actually like, I would love to get like a skating coach on this program to say like, Pedersen's stride, he's never had the prettiest stride. Okay. No. It's never been like McDavid or, you know, like the, you know, he's not like

Nienermier, right? Like it's never been a pretty stride, but it had burst. It had energy to it. And you know, do you really think that they're like, no, you don't have tendonitis. We're going to keep you in these games and we're going to bury you. We're going to intentionally bury you and make this signing that we had. We're going to make you look bad because we don't like you. Like that, that that's the plan. Quinn Hughes hasn't played these last two games. He wants to play, but they're not letting him because they're saying,

no, sometimes you just got to tell the player, you're not going to play tonight. Okay? There's like Quinn wants to gut it out. He wants to play. And we've had to say, no, you're not going to play. So they're treating Pedersen completely different? Right. Well, the other interesting part of this is that Sat and Dan, I was listening to the pregame show yesterday, and they dug into the metric, I guess, NHL Edge, which is the advanced analytics in terms of player tracking that the NHL has. They have tangible data on how much slower Pedersen is. But that's giving people, that's giving people

ammunition to say he's hurt. And I'm saying, well, maybe he's not strong enough. Maybe he hasn't been keeping up. And that's, you know, if you're listening to the Gucks. I'm not so worried about the why because I feel- Well, I'm worried about the why. The why is the biggest thing. The why is the thing that you can, like, if it's a strength

thing, then you get them in the gym in the off season, and you watch them. And you make sure that he does his exercises, right? Do your exercises, right? Do your leg sets off. But if it's not that, then you've got to figure something out. And if it is that you're like, okay, well, if

we can get them in the gym, maybe we'll keep them and you can be fine next season. I don't know, it's a, it's a huge bet if you're going to make that though, because then the no move clause would kick in. Because part of the talk at audio, like if you're the glass half full optimistic radio show, you're talking about, Hey, how great are these two new acquisitions that the coach

is speaking so glowingly about them? The glass half empty pessimistic radio show would say, it is a bit of a indictment on the current forward group that Philip Heidel and Drew O'Connor are being held up as the guys that you want to model your game after, like fine players for sure but a guy that was a third line center with the Rangers and a guy that was just sort of a Middle six forward in Pittsburgh that's O'Connor empty net goal was pretty nice though

I have to it was but I was skated McCarr But that's what I made a great move to get out of the zone Don't you think that it was few steps like that's impressive. It was an empty net goal It was one of the nicer empty net goals I've seen. Yeah, he's fast too. This was in no way meant to denigrate those guys, but is it not a statement on the current forward group that they joined that Drew O'Connor is being held up,

do more Drew O'Connor things, right? That's what I'm saying. And like, I'll do respect to Drew O'Connor, but there's a few of him around, there's a few middle six forwards that are big and strong and willing to go. I wonder if this group Collectively had so much stuff going on mentally both with the on ice stuff and the off ice stuff that they were almost like, you know the old paralysis by analysis like Overthinking things and trying to make the safe play all the time because it was both the easiest thing to do, the safest thing to do.

And they just, everyone was on edge about like, we just don't want to mess anything up or make anything else worse. Right. And now talking, saying like, do some of these things where you might make a mistake or we might turn a puck over, but in the offensive zone and with speed we want to be more attack-minded Okay, we got a lot more to get to on the half of the breath show on sports net 650 You're listening to the best of Halford and brough You're listening to the best of Halford and brough Frank Sarah Valley joins us now in the Halford and brough show on sports net 650 Good morning, Frank. How are you? I'm doing good guys. Are you feeling better? I'm doing good guys. Are you feeling better?

Yeah, way better. Apologies for missing the last couple of weeks. Just tried to grind through it. I can tell you pneumonia is no joke. No. Well, I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. I had it a couple of years ago and it was no joke, especially for guys that are our age. You know, like we're all getting older. So we got to be careful. Frank, why is there such a disagreement on what

Marcus Pedersen is as a hockey player? I've seen your take, I've seen others takes, like what's going on here? Is this guy the most like controversial defenseman in NHL history or something? No, I'm kind of surprised myself. Um, look, he's not a flashy defenseman. We know that.

Um, and I think we'll get a pretty good sense of what he ultimately is and is not capable of over a pretty short period of time. My look, I've been very consistent with my thoughts on Marcus Pedersen going back a couple of years since you guys in the Vancouver market started asking about him. I personally don't believe he's a solution for the Canucks for what they've been seeking, which again, going back to even training camp this year, what is it that the Canucks are after efficient puck movers? That's, that's the goal.

And what did they get in Marcus Pedersen? They got a defensive defenseman who can be effective against the four check, but is not, in my opinion, when you really watch his game closely, is not an efficient puck mover. He's the guy who can chip the puck up the boards. It's a little dink and dunk. It's not, there's not a great first pass there. That's my opinion. Now others see it differently. And where does, in my opinion,

where does Marcus Pedersen fit on a contending team's defense and how many minutes is he playing? I think he's a four or five, I do. And frankly, he's been paid like a four or five for a long time and his next deal will pay him like a four or five. So let's not get caught up in what exactly,

what number is he, where does he play all those things? Let's just, does he solve for the Canucks what they're looking for? And I think my big confusion about the deal is it's not confusion. It would, it would be criticism. Is this defenseman who you could have gotten at any point over the last couple of years has been readily available. Is he the best that the Canucks could have done with that first round pick?

I think there's been a heavy recency bias, probably within their own front office that they took that first round pick from the whore vats raid and they flipped it into Phil Horonick and it's worked out perfectly that they thought they could do it again with this deal and I'm not the same player, not the same situation pending USA. I, and I think then the worst thing you could do next is then complete an extension and double or triple down on your deal because you did give up such a significant asset that then could potentially set this team back. Um, well, we'll wait and see. Um, so far I've thought Marcus Pedersen has looked

good. It's only been two games, so I don't really have a great read on him myself. But what do you think his next deal looks like? Because I'd be surprised if they don't find some common ground considering that this is the guy that the Connex targeted, there's a history there with the Pittsburgh connection. What does his extension look like?

Well, they're committed now. Yeah, well, they could always flip them before the trade deadline if they don't come together, but what are we looking at here? My thought process would be something for Pedersen in the mid fives on an extension. And a term of like four or five years? Yeah, something like that. Probably five years. I mean, honestly, having watched him play just two games, I'd be fine with that, but maybe I've been

watching the Canucks defense for so long that I'm kind of desperate myself. But you know, you said that there were other ways that you would have fixed it. Who's out there that you think would be a better fit and might have been attainable with that first round draft pick? I think it's the team.

I think it's the team. I think it's the team. I. Who's out there that you think would be a better fit and might've been attainable with that first round draft pick? My point was not in that he's the worst fit. It's that, and of course they've been analyzing these fits for a long time and going through this process, but why did it have to happen in a series of hours?

Well, I think it was probably done. I think it was probably done. I think they were probably talking to Pittsburgh, right? Like if we get this first look. Well, it was, but my point is why you have four more weeks until this deadline, let alone this summer. I understand the idea of attempting to salvage this season.

Could there have been a better fit? That's the only question to ask. Do any names pop up come to mind? I mean, look, we still are not, we don't even have a full scope of the market yet. There's still some teams that are in the process of figuring out, hey, are we in, are we out? Look, I mean, you can go through the trade board. Let's get a full view of the chess board

before making the move, that's the point. This now feels like a decent time to bring up Bowen Byrom's name, because he is on that board, as is the guy that he was traded for, Casey Middlestadt. So I guess it's fair to suggest that that trade hasn't worked out great for either party. Let's start with Byrom.

Where do you see his future as we get closer and closer to the trade deadline? Well, he's been called about a lot. Same thing with Dylan Cousins and some other guys on the Sabres. They've been constant subjects of conversation. The fact that both those guys are back to back next to each other on the trade board would suggest that this deal hasn't really worked out for either side to the point where anyone's really happy with how it's gone. I think he's a really talented defenseman.

You want to talk about efficient puck mover. I think he does that really well. Um, and he's someone that is also probably going to command a pretty decent price. Um, RFA with our brights and needs a new deal. So that part does make it a little bit tricky, but under team control. RFA with Arbripes and needs a new deal. So that part does make it a little bit tricky, but under team control. And I think someone that with the right team,

right opportunity, right deployment could really do some damage that I don't think has really found the right spot yet in his career. Given what happened in Buffalo this week with the Tage Thompson incident, the lack of pushback and all the questions about a broken culture and everything. Would this further push Buffalo to make a move of significance? Or is it sort of one of those things where like if it hasn't happened at this point,

maybe it's not going to happen because it's been a really trying year for that organization. It has, but I mean, it's been this bad already. It's been lose however many in a row, pen in a row, and you travel in to see the Montreal Canadians, your owner flies in to meet with the team, this big rah rah. Hey, we believe in you guys. We're not trading anyone. Don't expect to trade.

Then come out and lay an egg against the team. The only team in the East that's below you in the standings. I mean, I'd hate to say that this lack of resolve when you're star offensive player gets a clear headshot is, is rock bottom for this team. I think what it did is just signal and symbolize to everyone in the league. Really what this, the Sabres team is all about, which is they don't have the goods. They don't fight for each other. They don't care.

And they're a team that needs significant overall. Everyone's known that for months though. And yet it feels like every time this topic of conversation comes up with the savers that we're waiting for Kevin Adams to do something to fix it. And there's been plenty of talks. There's been very little action. And I think the biggest thing that stands out is they have a true trepidation of making the wrong move. I just don't think that's how you can exist in pro sports. You can't be sitting there,

oh man, what if we trade Dylan Cousins and he becomes the next Sam Reinhardt? It's that's, that can't be how you operate. And they really like the collection of players that they have individually. And they truly believe that they should be better than what they are. Unfortunately, that's also not how it works. You are the collection of the parts and whatever your record says you are repeatedly is what you are. So massive change needed. Where do they, what do they start with will be the key.

Should they start with a new GM? I think it should be on the table. I mean, this is year five of the Kevin Adams experience and we've all we've heard preached from him has been patients, which is great. I mean, he said, Hey, the sins of the past regime, they don't, they don't come down to him. They don't fall on his head. That's right. And true.

And this 14 year playoff drought that this team is riding, that's not Kevin Adams' fault. But five years is enough time to point this team in a better direction. And not only have we not seen progress, it's gone the other way. I mean, they were on the brink of, you know, their first four game winning streak of this season.

And even if they had gotten to that point and they have, there's still a dead last in the East by four points. Not good enough, not close to being good enough. And I think everything should be on the table. Um, Frank, I, you don't know this, but I've taken it upon myself to be the, uh, the league's biggest critic of the Seattle Kraken, because I just don't feel like anyone is really ripping them, including people in, in, in Seattle.

I've noticed a bunch of their players on, on your trade board. Um, what, what do you think? You will then have enjoyed some of the language I used in describing a couple of the players. Yeah. Talking about Bjork Strand and Jamie Alexiak specifically, it was like their GM Ron Francis does nothing that, he doesn't step outside the box and he doesn't do anything that isn't required. Yes, I agree. outside the box and he doesn't do anything that isn't required.

Yes. So is someone going to force the Kraken into making a move for one of these players that has some term that this team can begin collecting something, whether it's collecting assets to then package, to get an impact player or to, you know, use additional first round picks to try and to get an impact player or to, you know, use additional first round picks to try and mind themselves and impact player in the draft. Whatever it is, the crack can need to step outside their comfort zone. Next year is year four. No meaningful growth and the ultra conservative approach.

It just doesn't work. It's it's, it's not, it's we've, we have too long of a track record of Ron Francis going back to Carolina to know that he doesn't. It took Eric Tulski first year as GM, the next regime after, um, two regimes after Francis to then go out and get a difference maker in Ransom. What's stopping the Seattle Kraken? We're speaking to Frank Sarvali from Daily Face Off here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 658. It's a good question, Frank,

and it's one that we kind of close, watch a little closer maybe than some others because Seattle's so close to us and we have such a relationship with them as a sports market and we're looking at that market right now. And, and frankly, I, I don't, I don't think that Seattle is all that enamored with the Kraken. Like they haven't gone in and.

Why would you be? No, exactly. I don't blame them. And it's not, you know, I know some people might think, well, you know, Buffalo is a great hockey town, probably because it's close to Canada or something, you know, like that, or, you know, Minnesota is a great hockey town, probably because it's close to Canada or something, you know, like that or, you know, Minnesota, they're practically Canadian. You know, and, you know, they like hockey.

Just because Seattle is close to Canada, it's not a hockey city. Yes, they support some of the dub teams down there fairly well, but it's not a hockey city. You know, there's not a lot of hockey being played down there fairly well, but it's not a hockey city. It, you know, there's not a lot of hockey being played down there. And so to, to make an impact in a city that's not a hockey city, you got to have some flash and you got to have something to sell. And I don't know what they have to sell right now. They're the most mid team in the league. I think.

I agree with you. Not to steal a term from the kids, but I just, I don't see a path forward for them. I've said before, I think they're the Islanders of the West. Interesting comparison, but look at all the other teams that they're bunched with. Like Utah, they've got star players in the making. They're exciting to watch and they've got way more on the way in terms of picks and prospects. At least Nashville took a swing. The Chicago Blackhawks have Connor Bedard.

Dan Jose has Macklin, Sellebrini and Asgarov and soon to be Sam Dickinson. All these other, the Ducks, you know, they've got stuff on the way. Trevor Zegras and their group. What is it that the Kraken can hang their hat on? Nothing. Speaking of the Kraken, former Kraken defenseman, now a current Vancouver Canucks defenseman, Carson Sousi, has had his name appear in trade rumblings over the last 24 hours. I'm curious what you know or what you've heard on the Carson Sousi trade front and if he'll be making appearance on the Daily Faceoff Trade Board anytime soon. He will eventually the next time I do one. Carson Suzy is available. Also, as you guys know, has the full no trade. I find it really interesting that they bring Pedersen in and he becomes available only in the sense that there's a team that has been

yearning for depth all year on defense. And one of the biggest shortcomings of this season was their build out from the summer in that they miscalculated how many defensemen they had and how many of they were short based on what they brought in Vinny Day, Arnay and Foreboard and what the additional ask was of someone like Noah Juleson, for instance, and it's really left this team short handed in a lot of ways. So to bring in Pettersson and obviously Hughes has been struggling with injury and you know

you've got Phil Aaronik who missed a significant chunk of time. It feels like you finally get to a place where hey we have four legitimate defensemen we could hang our hat on, bona fide NHL defensemen and then now all of a sudden, you can include Tyler Meyers in there too, excuse me. But you get to a place, okay, we got five. Now we're going to trade one. Why? He's under a reasonable contract and he has term. And last year, he played really well in the playoffs, is there something that I'm missing in terms of evaluating the structure of this D-Core?

That's the question I've asked myself. Let's take it the other direction. Is there something there that maybe they're not done moving pieces in and out yet? Well, I think that part is true. I mean, look, they're absolutely looking for a center and let's see what else they want to accomplish with this defense corps, but why was Carson Sousi the target?

Why is he the scapegoat? Is Casey Middle, I circle it back to Middlestead, because we had Arif Dean on the show yesterday at Colorado, and we were talking about how close or how close the Avalanche did or didn't get to a JT Miller deal. And he said, like, you know, middle stat is a guy that would be going out if a two C was to be coming in. I'm curious, while he might not necessarily be the type of player that the Canucks want, I'm curious how much longer he's going to be in Colorado. It's a good question. I'd say they're actively looking. Um, and I do think that they ultimately were one of the teams that we're calling

about JT Miller and, and couldn't make, I don't think they could make the money work, um, but moving forward, I think they're very interested in moving Casey middle of that and solving that second line center spot, but can they actually pull it off between now and March 7th? That's the question. And by the way, I mean, there's a developing story here. The abs can't score since the ransom in trade 15 goals in six games, Can't score since the rants and in trade mm-hmm 15 goals in six games McKinnon five points mccarr five points in the six games

But it feels like it's drying up a little bit three of my cars five points came in one game. That means he had two points in the other five Oh, it is interesting there's one more I wanted to ask before we I know we're right up against it for time, but What is the word on Rantin and signing in Carolina? so they've begun some initial discussions and conversations obviously wanted to get his feet wet and The Carolina Hurricanes are gonna push and push to try and make this happen they went into the trade eyes wide open knowing it would be expensive and make this happen. They went into the trade eyes wide open, knowing it would be expensive.

And given the significant cap space that they're going to have this summer and beyond, I think they are a prime prime candidate to keep them. Frank, this was great, man. Thanks for taking the time to do this. We appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the week. Glad you're feeling better. We'll do this again next week. See you guys. Have a good one.

You too, Frank. Frank Sarraali from Daily Faceoff here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Randy Janda here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Randy, how are you? Good morning, boys. I'm doing well, how are you?

We're good. I wanted to fast forward, right, to you getting the opportunity to go see Real Madrid, play Man City in an amazing Champions League knockout match, but we'll table that for the end of the hit because people want to hear about the Canucks right now. And it was a pretty impressive performance last night. Three-nothing victory over the Colorado Avalanche, as I mentioned. We were talking to David Amber earlier and it was funny. Everyone had all these different key takeaways from the game. Bref and I were talking

about how great DP he was and how the blue line looks better. And, you know, we were talking about, uh, that's your Demko, obviously getting his first shout out of the year. We forgot things like Jake DeBress scoring his team leading 19th goal of the year. I guess my point is that there was a lot that happened last night and a lot of good for the Canucks, which was at times been a rarity at home this season. Absolutely. And you know, some positive vibes coming from, and I'm not going to link it back to the trade specifically, but it is a new start for a number of players for the team.

And you mentioned a couple of the positive things there, Mike, you know, DP playing a confident game, playing a physical game, but I want to throw a Phillip Heidel in that as well. Philip Heidel looks like a very confident player that is bringing life to this team and he doesn't hesitate when he gets an opportunity. So I think just in picking up a couple of, you know, a victory is big against a Colorado team that is right there in the standings with them, Connexor chasing them. But just to have a clean slate for a lot of players and I think having a couple of guys that have high energy,

clearly some confidence in Phillip Heidel and O'Connor. So that's something that's big for this team right now. Demko for me was the biggest story. That flurry of saves that he made in the second period when the Canucks were up, one nothing. I mean, the game could have totally turned if one of those had gotten past Demko. I'm almost scared to ask the question, like, do

you think he's, how far back do you think he is? Yeah, that's a tricky one because it's, it's something that even his second game back, that three one victory against Colorado, you know, it was different. And obviously he didn't have the, you know, the, the high alarm saved. He didn't that game that he did in this one, but this one, especially, you know, saves you mentioned against McCarr and Arturi Lekkanen like those felt different those were okay wait a second this is kind of what you've been waiting for some explosive saves and you don't

want to see your goaltender going east-west or side to side but in that moment you're saying okay it's nice to see that he's capable of doing that he's giving you confidence so I'm not to go ahead and say he's back, but he certainly reminded us of the old Thatcher Demko where, okay, those are the types of saves he's capable of making. Now, can he do that for a couple of games? I know Rick Tauke mentioned that he liked the Dallas game. I thought, you know, he wasn't to blame for the Dallas game, but I don't know if it was a, uh, you know, a sterlingling performance by him but if you can have another couple

of games here whether it's San Jose whether it's Toronto before the break here yeah I think you know this was a step in the right direction but I'm not going to say he's back however those two saves definitely I think the fact that people in the building were chanting his name, his post game interview on the, at the rink was also something that you could tell, you know, cracking a smile. It felt like he had a little bit of a swagger

back last night. Would you go right back to him Thursday in San Jose? I'd go back to him. I think you're confident in both of your goaltenders and if he's, you know, for the same reason we talked about Kevin Lankin and, you know, rolling with the hot hand when a guy's feeling good and he picks up a shutout, I would do the exact same thing for that.

You're damn go pick up the point. You're, you're tied with Calgary right now. You're five points back of Colorado with two games in hand. You need the point. So, you know, he's feeling good. Go right back to him. It's not a back to back. Absolutely.

It's incredible how much my outlook on the Canucks defense has changed in the last little while. Adding a guy like Marcus Pedersen, but also the play of DPD and at the risk of being mean, frankly, the subtraction of a few guys as well. Um, are you feeling a lot better about the future of the defense as well? Yeah, it's, I'm not going to lie when this deal

went down for Marcus Pedersen, even though I've, you know, watched him a little bit over the years with Pittsburgh, I, I thought the priority position would have been center first and therefore maybe there was a little bit of, I don't really understand this move in the big scheme of things in terms of creating offense. However, I'm willing to say, you know, the fact that this guy is so relaxed, he is understated, but he plays such an effective game with Marcus Pedersen. The head to head minutes with McKinnon, when Nathan McKinnon doesn't score, and sure there's some luck

involved with that too, but you you know there's some posts in the first period but the rest of the game you could see the frustration that that line and that five-man unit for Colorado had and a part of that was Pedersen right this is a guy who's got a great stick first period Colorado had chances the second period they didn't, the Canucks responded. I thought Vancouver as a five-man unit totally across the ice did a good job of defending against McKinnon. They're kind of chipping bodies in the neutral zone, running some subtle interference, but they also had great sticks and a big part of that was Marcus Pedersen. Like he's an understated six foot five. You look at him, you know, 6'5", what, 180 pounds or something of that nature.

He's very lanky, but he can play a physical brand of hockey when he needs to. He can step into guys. He's got the ability to make patient plays with the puck in his own zone. And probably the best thing I think about his game is, not only from a defensive perspective, but his ability to carry the puck, controlled out of his zone and just to provide enough support to his forwards where you know he's jumping in the neutral zone it's not chip and chase all the time but if you need him to carry the puck and you need him to take it to the following you know to the blue line he's able to do that he's able to support you know the forwards as well

which is something the Canucks didn't have. And with De'Harnay, with other defensemen on this roster. So with Marcus Pedersen, it's been great to see. And guys with Elias Pedersen, yesterday I think was a huge statement came from in 13 minutes in 50 seconds of ice time or thereabouts, four hits. I think that Colorado meltdown late in the game was caused by his big hit on Logan O'Connor. Like this was a guy that was, you know, stapling guys on the wall.

He follows that up with another hit behind the net on Ross Colton. And you can see there's some agitation with that fourth line. And I just loved the way he played. He took away a goal from Kale McCarroll with a diving play as well. So very, very, I think confident play, very stout play from a young player that I'm not going to lie, I didn't expect to see him play this well. So a couple of key additions to this team and they're at least in the short term,

Elias Pettersson is doing the job. Of course, part of that's adrenaline when you're in your early part of your career. But I think with Marcus Pettersson, doing the job. Of course, part of that's adrenaline when you're in your early part of your career. But I think with Marcus Pettersson, yeah, he's kind of got like, if Batch and I were talking off-air yesterday, he's kind of got like a junior Alex Edler vibes. Like just really calm, not as physical, but he still does all the dirty work you need to do. He blocks shots and he's got that kind of understated element to the game. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.