Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 4/17/25

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, including the final Canucks game of the season, plus they discuss what to expect from the 'Nucks off-season with Canucks Talk host & The Athletic Vancouver's Thomas Drance. 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. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa And the game is over. The 82nd game of the season goes the way of the Golden Knights. Vancouver falls 4-1. Last game of the year, I thought the first part was pretty good. It's such a disappointing year that it's kind of like, I'm not even going to look ahead to anything. Just go home, enjoy myself, and probably put my phone away, and then see what happens. Good morning, Vancouver!

It's six o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday, everybody. It is Halford and his brother, EsportsNet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you.

Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and brother of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program.

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintex studio, Kintex footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Well, that's it for the regular season folks, at least for the Vancouver Canucks.

We've got a lot to get into on the show today is the Canucks wrapped up their 82 game regular season campaign last night with a four one loss to the Vegas golden Knights. Uh, Luke Fox is going to join us at six 30 to kick off the guest list sports net NHL writer. All the playoff matchups are now set in the national hockey league. We'll talk to Luke about the looming battle of Ontario. Can also talk to him about the Habs clinching last night.

Luke's going to join us at six 30 via a playoff preview as well with Luke, seven o'clock ad Nan Verk MLB network. What an outing from the Jays last night, Luke's going to join us at six 30 via a playoff preview as well with Luke, uh, seven o'clock Adnan Burke MLB network. What an outing from the Jays last night. Chris Bassett strikes out 10 Jays, set a single game, nine inning franchise record with 19 strikeouts. So we'll talk to Adnan about that and everything else going on in baseball. Speaking of baseball, seven 30 Tyler's Zickel play by play voice of the Vancouver Canadians is going to join the program in case you missed it. Speaking of baseball, 730 Tyler Zickel, play-by-play voice of the Vancouver Canadiens, is gonna join the program.

In case you missed it, the Seas are back at home at NAP Bailey Stadium in the midst of their first home stand of the season, the rare six game home stand against Eugene. They live here now, Eugene just lives here now. They're gonna be playing. All of them against Eugene? All of them.

Six consecutive games at home against Eugene. They're going to be so familiar with them that they're going to just end up calling them gene by the end of it. Gene will be playing at the nat three nooners on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to finish off the home stand. So we'll talk to Tyler about all that at seven 30, uh, eight o'clock, Thomas Drance from the athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk, as I mentioned, Canucks season came to an end last night. I don't think we're going to spend

a ton of time talking about last night's game with Drantz. Instead, we will dive into the laundry list of two do's for the Vancouver Canucks this off season. So working in reverse on the guest list, eight o'clock Drantz, 730, Zickel, seven o'clock Verk 630 Fox that's what's happening on the program today Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened Hey did you guys see the game last night? No What happened? I missed all the action because I was

We know how busy your life can be What happened? Missed that? You missed that? What happened? What happened is brought to you by the BC construction safety Alliance, making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

Pavel Dorofiev noted sniper Pavel Dorofiev broke a tie midway through the third period. Last night is the Vancouver Canucks lost four one to the Vegas golden Knights in the regular season finale for both teams. However, the Vegas golden Knights will be going to the playoffs. The Vancouver Canucks will not Pugh suitor scored for Vancouver. The Canucks were eliminated from playoff contention last week. They finished the year 38 30 and 14, but just 17 wins, I believe on home ice and another loss to the Vegas Golden Knights who swept the Vancouver Canucks this season.

17 wins on home ice. Is that good? The way the Canucks went out with a loss at home was emblematic of their season. 17 wins on home ice, 16 regulation losses and eight in either overtime or the shootout, probably overtime. Most of them.

Most of them were in overtime. Um, if you look at, um, you know, the standings and you see everyone's home record, only Chicago and San Jose, which were dreadful teams. Yeah. Had fewer home losses or fewer home wins than the Vancouver Canucks. Good company to keep.

Like Buffalo had 22 home wins, Buffalo. Yep. The Rangers had 19, or sorry, they had 18. The Islanders had 19. And long story short, everyone knows they were not good enough at home this season. They're actually decent on the road, 21, 14 and six. Yep.

They weren't that far off last year's road record when they beat the playoffs and won 50 games and had a hundred plus points. And I think the other stat that you want to look at in terms of the Canucks, in terms of goals for per game, 23rd out of 32 teams. You know what's crazy about that stat? They actually jumped up significantly at the end of the year with all the goals that they scored over the last three weeks.

Yeah, the suitor effect. Yeah. The huge suitor was like, I'm dragging this team to 23rd overall in scoring, like single-handedly. If, honestly, if not for him in a sort of late season scoring binge, they would have finished much lower in that category. Uh, yeah, but it was, you know, five on five,

uh, offense, and we're going to get into a lot of that, um, in this segment, which was the problem for the Canucks. The power play was fine. adequate. 22.5%. I feel like it was worse than those numbers suggest. Like it could have been a lot better.

The PK was one of the best stories of the season, 82.6%. So special teams, special teams were fine. Goals against kind of middle of the pack. Um, not, not great, great, but not horrible either. And it's why when we get into this off season, it's going to be a lot about how to fix the Canucks offense at five on five. And I know that Rick Tuckett for those people that are going to blame the head coach, I know that Rick Tuckett said, if he's going to be back that, you know,

after the season, when you miss the play, when you miss the playoffs, everyone's got to look in the mirror and think like, what could I have done better? And I feel like the Canucks even kind of got off to a bit of an odd start with all the focus on trying to create rush chances, um, in, uh, the pre-season, which wasn't a bad idea. It really wasn't. I mean, you know, I think even we were talking about it, where you're like, you can't just come

back with the same stuff. Like you have to, the team has to evolve. Yeah. Because the way the team was playing last season was encouraging and that their defensive play really came together. But you know, in the playoffs, it was quite tough to score goals. Now some of that had to do with some players not playing up to their level of play,

but you know, I think Tuckett said, well, you know, what am I responsible for as well? Well, you know, maybe we need to create more scoring chances on the rush. And that plan, whatever it was, it kind of frittered away because the Canucks had to dial it back a bit because it was either not working or they were just off. Right? And frankly, they were never on this season. Like there was never, was there ever a stretch?

Was there ever a stretch when you're like, man, this is a well-oiled machine? Okay. I don't think it ever happened. I wanna jump in right now with the audio from last night. So this is Rick Tauke from the TNT broadcast. The TNT guys were all dressed in tuxedos, I guess, cause it was the final regular season game that they were doing and they were handing out awards.

They gave Ovi the Mr. TNT award. They also reconnected with their good old buddy and former castmate, Rick Tauket. And I like playing the interviews and audios when Tauket does the TNT interview, because he says he likes them. Yeah, right, he seems to be a little bit more, I don't know, what's the word, friendly with them?

So he was, you know, and sometimes that can translate to a little bit more of a loquacious and a little bit more in-depth interview. Here's what Rick Tauke had to say about what he was proud of from this team, not necessarily just down the stretch, but throughout the year, trying to take the silver lining from this season. And I think it might tie into what you were talking about in an inverse way. Here's Rick Tauke speaking with the TNT guys

before last night's 4-1 loss to the Vegas golden Knights. Well, you know, diversity hits, right? Yeah. You know, you got to deal with that sort of stuff. So we've, we've learned how to deal with it. I mean, could we've different things maybe. Um, but the one thing I probably, this group, you know, we didn't go through these long losing streaks. I think the most we've lost is three in a row. I mean, not just to put the positive light, um, we've kind of stayed in the fight with all the stuff that has happened. So I got to give them credit. Even though we got eliminated last week, I mean the last three, four games, guys are still

playing hard. We got some young guys that I think we're the fifth youngest team in the league right now. You know, the Myers, the Hughes, the Horonics. I mean, they're trying hard. And you know, Dempco is going to have a great summer. So there's a lot of pauses from a kind of an adversity year. And that's how you learn. That's how you win. Anybody that wins the Stanley Cup has gone through stuff before. So you got to take the adversity and go with it. So in that clip, he mentions like we never really had a prolonged,

elongated losing streak. And the unspoken part of that is that, but you also never had an elongated, prolonged winning streak. They never. And you kind of put it perfectly there before we played the audio, like they never turned it on at all.

Oh, all season. It was just a series of fits and starts all season long. And they end up missing the playoffs by what, six points. Yeah. And you know why? St. Louis found a time to turn it on and get hot. St. Louis won 12 in a row.

That was the difference. Many of those wins were at home. St. Louis won 12 in a row. Many of them were at home. The Canucks never won anything close to that many games in a row and didn't win enough games at home. Sometimes it is that simple. It's not in reality because there's so many more layers

and complexities to it all, but if I look back on this season, I think one of the, I mean, there's a multitude of reasons why it was so frustrating, but one of them was it just never felt like they ever found a groove. It felt like they were pretty adept

at making sure they never had one of those cratering losing streaks, theaks and six seven eight gamers But it just seemed that every time that they were all to snap out of it They would snap right back into it in a negative way like they never ever Had a stretch where I was like, oh this team looks like it's finally figured it out I don't know if that's because they never figured out from the beginning of the year how to Be more rushed dangerous without giving up on their principles. They just weren't good enough.

Maybe they just weren't good enough. I don't know if they just didn't have the confidence playing in front of whatever goalie it was at whatever time throughout the year. And also, yeah, I just, at the end of the day, they weren't, especially offensively in a five on five, they just weren't good enough. Well, there was also the rift

that was tearing the team apart. There was also the rift. So that might have been. Don't forget the rift. Always remember that probably did help. Oh right, the rift. Right, the rift. Okay, so what now for the Vancouver Canucks?

Well, first things first is Rick Tauke. Do we know when the end of season pressers are yet? Have they announced those yet? Sad and Bick were suggesting on the post-game show that it's gonna to be Friday. Friday. But we don't have any confirmation. But sometimes they split them up, right?

Sometimes they do players. Give them the old two day. Yeah. Who knows? Uh, so I imagine that the reason I asked that is I imagine the connects would love to get something done, um, before those end of season pressers. And I'd heard that Thursday and that's today is kind of

like the target. They'd like to get it done by Thursday because those end of season pressers could be Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday. I don't know, but these next two days or these three days, if they go to this end of season presser and there isn't a deal done, you kind of start going like, what's going on there? Why not? Why hasn't there been a deal done? They have been talking. In the last little while, they've been exchanging offers,

but maybe Tocket feels like he needs to really have his sit down with management be like, okay guys, what's the plan? Because we're going to go through all the things that they have to do in order to have a better season next season, whether Rick Tocket is there or not. Um, let's assume they get the Tocket thing done. Okay. The next order of business is making an off season plan for Elise Pedersen and making sure

that everyone is on the same page and everyone agrees to the plan. And you, you finished that meeting and you go, okay, are we good here? You're happy with this Canucks? Yep. Talk, coach, whoever it is. Okay.

You're happy with it, Pedersen? And we're going to go out and probably communicate to the media and to the fan base, like this is the plan. Whether he stays in Vancouver, goes back to Sweden, maybe it's a bit of both. I don't know, but get a plan together because something has to be fixed with Elias Pettersson. Then I think you start the huge task of remaking your forward group. Alvin has already said he's happy with the gold tending and the defense.

So he said, our focus here is to see if we can improve our forward group by either trades or free agents. And in my opinion, this is a top six problem. Their bottom two lines aren't a problem, but that assumes that guys like Garland and Dakota Joshua are actually in the bottom six. Sure. I'm a big Garland and Dakota Joshua are actually in the bottom six. Sure. I'm a big Garland fan.

You've heard me talking about how I love the way that, you know, I love his motor. I love the way his legs are always churning. I love the fact that he's a guy that can bring the puck from one end of the ice to the other, but the Canucks were a better team when he wasn't relied upon so much. Agreed.

His average ice time this season jumped by four minutes, four minutes. His production about the same. And I think that says a lot. He was in a real good spot last season with Dakota Joshua on that third line with Teddy Blugger or Lindholm or whoever the centre was. It was their most consistent line, but because

they've had so many issues in the top six, they've often had to go to him and be like, all right, we're going to try and get you this line going or that line going. He's been on the power play too much for Connor Garland. So here's a fun question. Cat.

Who is a lock to be in the top six next season? So here's a fun question. Okay. Who is a lock to be in the top six next season? An absolute lock to be in the top six next season. Because I think there's only one surefire lock. Jake DeBrasque. Jake DeBrasque. Okay. And that is honestly the only one we can be totally certain about.

Now, before you start yelling into the Dunbar number, do you want me to throw some names at you and then you can explain them to me? Not quite yet. If they keep Elias Pedersen, What about Elias Pedersen? He'll be in the top six. Okay. But it doesn't sound like Brock Besser will be back. JT Miller is already gone.

Those guys were sure fire top six guys, and they were a big part of their success last season. Yep. Who does that leave? Okay. Um, Phillip Heidel. Health is a wild card with him. Now it's good to hear, um, some positive

updates about Phillip Heidel. I know he's been skating with the team and, you know, Tuckett was saying like things are looking better. Um, maybe some of his, um, you know, not feeling so good was related to having a virus, but things are looking good there. But even if Hedl is healthy and he can stay healthy,

plays all 82 games, is he a top six center? I think there's a wild card there. So I don't think you can, you can say he is a lock to play the top six. Who else you got? Uh, okay. So, and this is sorry, this is on the pretense that we're keeping, uh, Joshua, Bluger, Garland

back to returning life is the third line. Okay. Uh, let's go with Nils Hoaglander. How can you make him a, uh, obvious top six? Like how can you make, we're talking about locks, locks for the top six. How can you make it, like how many goals do you score this season? Eight.

Eight? Maybe. Okay. Let's move on. Like I, we still don't know what. Yeah, 24 two years ago. I know. We still don't know what Holglunder is.

Next. Jonathan Leckermackie. Uh, it's, I don't know. He's still got, I think he's still got a ways to go. He's got to get a lot stronger. He's got to learn the NHL game. I think it would be way too much to put on his shoulders to be like, Leckermack, he's going to be in the top

six next season. Who else you got? 19 goal scorer, Kiefer Sherwood. He's a bottom guy. Come on, like you don't want them in the top six. We're trying to, we're trying to put together a playoff team, a contender here. You can have him up as a complimentary piece if you

want in the top six, but you better have a really solid duo. You can't expect him to drive play. The Canucks need play drivers in their top six. That's how they're going to score more five on five goals, play drivers, guys, you know, and guys who can finish as well, right? Because Connor Garland for all of his play driving

that he does, sometimes you wonder about the finish. The second leading goal scorer on the team, Pugh Souter. Well, he may not even be back. He's a pending unrestricted free agent. I'm out of guys. OK, so Souter, get a load of this. OK, so. Bill Domon. No, okay. Suter, get a load of this. Okay, this might, you probably know this, but me actually saying it might illustrate

the issue here. Suter scored 25 goals this season. He got his 25th last season, or last night. Besser also had 25. You're going to lose both those guys for nothing. 50 goals of offense. Only DeBrusk had more goals than those two players. So to put it another way, the Canucks had three guys who scored more than 20 goals

and two of them may not be back. That's a problem. Yeah. I mean it's already a problem that the Canucks only had three guys who scored more than 20 goals. It was a problem. Their offense wasn't very good. Now Garland and Sherwood had 19 each but I don't think it takes away from the idea that the Canucks need to add at least two impact forwards, one a center, the other a winger. I would like to hear from anyone who disagrees with this statement. Does anyone think I'm being too unfair or I'm not giving enough credit to this guy or he has

potential. You can't count on, you can't lock in a guy with potential. You can't lock in a Lecra Macu, he's barely played in the NHL. You cannot trust that Nils Hoeglund can be a top six guy. I'm talking about putting together duos. So we came into this season, we were like, all right, Besser and Miller, you guys have worked together well. Uh, you're a duo and maybe we can fill you in with a complimentary player, um, whoever it's going to be. Yeah.

Uh, we got you a Petey, Petey, we got you to DeBrusque. You're going to be a duo and then you're maybe, I don't know, maybe Holglinder is going to play with you or maybe it's going to be Souter or whoever. You know, Pedersen, we all know his, the season he Debrecht, you know, Tauke had said the other day, it's great. He's got great hands around the net, but we need to see more out of him without the puck and maybe a little more play driving out of him.

Like I, I'm looking at this and I'm going, this is, this is a big task that management has gone if you've got, including Pedersen, only two locks to play in your top six for next season. Yeah, you need to do a dramatic overhaul of your top six. And it's funny, because when you talk about the cumulative offense and how many goals they scored last year, I think there's an argument

to be made that you'd say, well, there's optimism that Joshua and Holglander can at least return to the mean in terms of scoring because they were way off, right? Like Josh, his year was way off and Holglander's year was way off, but you don't bank on it. But you also have to say, well, if that's the case, then you should probably expect some kind of regression from Kiefer Sherwood. Like is Kiefer Sherwood a 1920 goal scorer with regularity in the NHL? That's a tough ask, right? That was a great year for him this year. But maybe

in an ideal world, he's playing less and scoring less. And you can use the same logic with suitor and whomever else. The solution is you're going guns blazing into free agency in the trade market. And free agency is probably where you pick up your wingers and the trade market is probably where you pick up your center. I don't know if it's that easy. I don't think it's easy and I think you're going to pay through the nose. The two teams that I would, and I've seen these names featured. How many wingers are out there, quality wingers that you're like, this guy's a lock for the top six. Not top six, just wingers. But that's what you need. Yeah. That's what you need. You need surefire top six wingers here. But you're not going to get them. Well, you could with healers. Yeah. If you target them. The issue with healers is the issue with Heedle. He's not you need. Yeah, like you need sure fire top six winners here. But you're not gonna get them. Well you could with Healers.

Yeah, but the issue with Healers is the issue with Heedle. He's not healthy enough. The issue with Sam Bennett, if they're gonna go target him, is that Sam Bennett is much more valuable in the playoffs than he is during the regular season. You need to get to the playoffs where Sam Bennett can be effective.

Well, and the other issue with Healers and Sam Bennett is you may not get them. Right, there's other teams that are gonna be bidding for them. I actually wonder if we'll see a bunch of UFA rights traded before July 1st, this off season, just because there's going to be so much competition for the few good ones.

Like I wonder if the Canucks could get something for the negotiating rights for Besser. I really do. Yeah. Actually even throw suitors out there if you don't want to resign him. You know, imagine you're a team and you're like,

we like the Canucks, right? Like we badly need a winger and you target Elers. Do you really want to wait until July 1st to get that done? Or if you could be proactive and you could have a special audience with Elers, you know, it doesn't always work. Sometimes the player is like, and you have to have good intel that it might work, tampering. But there's a reason teams do this.

There's a reason teams do go out there and say, all right, we'll give you something not very big for these UFA rights because we want to get ahead of this and we won't. The problem with July 1st, remember, it comes after the draft. Yeah. And a lot of the training gets done before July 1st. So you really don't want to be in a position where you're like, okay, well, we've explored all the

trade options. We don't really have a full team here. We really need July 1st to go well. And then you're like, ah, we didn't get our guy. This is going to be hard. So I was watching some old like Mike and the Mad Dog clips because Mad Dog was making the rounds yesterday for something funny that he said on the air. And I went back and remembered their 30 from 30, 30 for 30.

And one of their crowning achievements of their career was that they had such influence that they convinced. Remember when they got the bring Mike Piazza to New York? Do you remember that that part where they had like a very open campaign? They're like, this is the guy we got to get the guy. This is the guy they got to bring back. And they, you know, as the urban legend went, that the front office was so overwhelmed by Mike and the mad dog leading the charge that they eventually went out and acquired Mike Piazza.

I think that I'm ready to bring Matt Barzell home. I think that I think that that might be the play. I think that it might be the perfect time with an Islanders team that is I don't know what direction they're going in. I don't know what direction they're going in, but if you're gonna make a play for, and to get a center, and to get a hometown kid, and to bring them back, and to resuscitate a career that quite frankly is flatlined on a boring team, I think that might be the play.

I think that might be, and like the direction, maybe not necessarily that particular player, but that profile of player, and I don't know how many there are, but Barzell would be the one for me. Like I'd be willing to be, like yell it from the mountaintops for me. Like I'd be willing to be like yell it from the mountaintops all summer.

Like bring the kid home. Bring the boy home. Maybe we can have that kind of influence over the organization. Okay, you can do the Barzell thing. I'm looking for a little more size up front. I know. You know, like I-

Barzell's so streaky. Like he's just, he's not always good. I'm willing to put it all on his- He's sort of like he has flashes of greatness in him. I think that he would be so invigorated and energized by playing for his hometown team. I'm not saying you're not wrong. You might be right. Coming home might be what does it for him,

but... I'm watching clips of him on... Yeah, we're for Dan Heinen. Yeah. The Dan Heinen thing. Kick that box, hometown kid, won an award this year. That was pretty... Oh, yeah. Yeah, he can put that on his mantle.

That's right. So any ideas, text them into the Dunbar Lumber text line. I've got a little more, uh, stuff prepped. So we'll, we'll go into some, you know, we've identified now that we've identified that the Canucks, it's a top six thing and it's going to be tough to fix. The question becomes, how are they going to do it?

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. The Vancouver Canucks regular season is over. Some would say mercifully. Joining us now to break it all down and what is going to lie ahead. Thomas Drantz from the Athletic Vancouver and Canucks talk here on the Halford and Brough show

on Sportsnet 650. What up Drantz? Hey boys, mercifully. I mean, I would say it that way, would you? Yeah, it needed to be over. It was fits and starts and starts and fits. And we played the audio from Rick Tauket from his TNT interview yesterday

where he praised the team for not going on any extended losing streaks. And then when we came back from the audio, I said, and of course the Canucks also didn't go on any extended winning streaks either. Like it was like just this year where they never seemed like they could turn it on. And in the end, they never put together a long enough winning streak to, you know,

get them into that playoff spot that they are now not gonna get because the regular season is over. Yeah, I mean, there were just too many nights, kind of like last night, you know, honestly, and earlier in the season to you understand why those games toward the tail end of the year when the team's already eliminated or approaching it rapidly, where, you know, it has sort of a sub preseason pace to the game. But there were nights in November that felt like that. Like there were nights in December that felt like that. And too many nights where the club, you know, takes a lead, surrenders it as the game goes along, ends the night with fewer than 20 shots on goal.

And it just felt like that, you know, far too frequently. I mean, I, I, I kind of struggled to come up with like 10 really entertaining games. You know, the Dallas comeback was fun, I guess. And if you didn't turn it off already, it's just tough. Like it's just, it, it was, it was a slog to watch. And I think it was a slog to live through for for You know players coaches everybody You know a lot of a lot of people around this team have basically said stuff like, you know

I've never seen anything like this And I'm talking really experienced people. So Yeah, just a really really disappointing season. I think probably the most disappointing season in franchise history. Yeah. I feel, I feel like it was merciful that it's over. So what's your diagnosis in all this? Was the roster just not good enough? Um, was there not enough buy-in to the coaching?

Was the coaching not good enough? Was the, uh, too many injuries? Was that the off ice dysfunction. I mean, you mentioned some of the less than spirited performances early in the season. That's apparently when it was all coming to a head within the Canucks. So I wonder if that had something to do with it.

Yeah, I do think the off ice dysfunction is sort of the top line item. This notion of a team where inter squad dynamics, uh, were incompatible with winning, uh, necessitating some of the trades, well, the trade we saw in January and you know, that's calling, I think that's pretty difficult to swallow. I think ultimately too, we're, we're reaching a point where just an accumulation of, you know, short-term moves across a decade has,

has sort of brought us to the point where the, the team's build is relatively brittle. You know, the club pulled it off last year, but it required an awful lot not, not just in terms of things going their way, but in terms of like all of Ian Cole, Carson Sousi, Pugh Souter, and Teddy Blugger all worked out at once, right? Which fleshed out their depth. The Lafferty bet hit in that he shot what 25% for the first three months of the season. You had Neil's Hoeglender

shoot 20%. You know, so much stuff needed to happen to give this team sufficient depth. And so you come into this summer and it's like the brusque provides fair value on a long-term deal. Kiefer Sherwood's an absolute, you know, triple, if not a home run, uh, Kevin Lankin and similarly, but Dan Heinen doesn't work and Vinny De Harney doesn't work and Daniel sprung doesn't work. Vinny De Harne doesn't work and Daniel Sprong doesn't work and all of a sudden you have less debt. And that's not necessarily an indictment on Patrick Alveen and Canucks Pro Scouting, like

going three for seven or certainly two for six in the bargain bin and unrestricted free agency, especially if your hits are the NHL hits record and nearly 20 goals and a guy who starts 55 games for you and gives you above average goaltending, like those are, those are good quality, um, like you, you've barreled the ball there and yet this team's sort of path is so narrow that even that's kind of insufficient to give this team sufficient depth. So yeah, I mean, there's, there's talent issues. Like I think this team was short a top line or a top flight forward before they traded

JT Miller, right? This team's defense was built up additionally over the course of the season, but first two months of the year, this team had massive issues moving the puck, massive issues. You know, to the point where Eric Brandstrom was a necessity in October and November for this team to do what they did against a soft portion of their schedule early in the year. So you know, it's not as if there weren't serious issues with that. You know, the coaching side of it, I still don't understand why this team doesn't have a designated power play coach.

I find that wildly confusing. No one else in the league really does it that way. I don't know that some of the high end talent on the roster, given the fact that the power play used to be better, right? Used to be pretty consistently top 10 wasn't this year, but it's not like it was terrible. So yeah, I mean, there's other things you can point to, but I do think the lack of team spirit,

I do think that those inner squad dynamics or interest squad dynamics is kind of like the top line item on the epitaph of this Canucks season. And that's, I think pretty difficult to swallow given that this team entered the year with real championship aspirations. We were earlier in the show going through the top six issue and we were wondering, you know, who's

a lock to be in the top six next season. And we came up with one name and it was Jake DeBrusk and obviously if they keep Pedersen, he's in the top six next season. And we came up with one name and it was Jake DeBrusk and obviously if they keep Pedersen, he's in the top six as well. But after that, you're kind of like, well, there are some candidates, I suppose, but no locks to be in the top six next season. And I think you've identified in your article

that they've got to add at least two impact forwards to the group. But the question is, how are they going to do this? Yeah, these are the rarest and most expensive pieces, you know, like that's, that is what it is. You hope certainly that a guy like LaCaramaqui can provide some like offensive spark plug contributions in the middle six, right?

More, more like a Matthew Coronado than aado than a top of the lineup winger, but nonetheless. Honestly, as I was going through that exercise, on some level, I just wonder if, you know, 14 million in calf space, there's very few good centermen available that match sort of the caliber that you need. There's very few good centermen available that match sort of the caliber that you need. There's very few top flight wingers and the club knows that it's going to be really difficult

to elbow their way in and get fair deals if you're pursuing your Marner or Ehlers to your guys. You know, at what point does the logic sort of settle on, well, let's redouble our efforts on Besser and Pugh-Sutter here and try to figure it out in midstream, right? I mean, I don't know that that's sufficient. In fact, I'm pretty confident it's not. And yet you sort of wonder if that might end up being the best approach. It doesn't make you faster, right?

Like, I don't know that it fits with the way that this team wants to play, but the options are going to be scant. It's going to require, you know, some really ballsy moves here if they're going to bring in the sort of forward talent required to effectively like, you basically need to graft and it's not even a second line. Like you might need to graft a top line onto this lineup, depending on how significantly Pedersen rebounds here.

Right? I mean, are we even sure that what they need is a second line center and not a first line center? Like, are we even sure about that? Uh, have you listened to my show this year? So I'm just saying, right? Like it's, it's going to be a tricky off season and an absolutely critical one in which the team

recognizes that they have to be all in to get back toward, or get back to credibly contending the way they hope to this season and didn't, you know, in part because of the dynamic with, with Quinn Hughes and in part because that's what this organization has been trying to build. That's what they pushed assets into the center of the table to accomplish.

Like this is, this is not a team that's positioned itself to be taking the long view. This is a team that expected to build off of last season this year, didn't, and wants to get back to that level rapidly, very quickly. It's not going to be easy. Uh, Dranser, so what comes over the next few days? What are you, what are you looking for?

Obviously the connects are going to have their season and any press conferences. I don't know how they're going to do them or when they're going to be exactly. If you do, uh, please let us know. Um, and then, you know, the first order of business I imagine is going to be getting Rick Tauke at under contract because if he says thanks, but no thanks,

that adds a whole new wrinkle to the off season. Yeah. A huge wrinkle to the off season. Um, yeah. So you've got the players talking Friday and we'll see if we hear from management and Rick Tauke it on the same day, or if that happens later on in the weekend. I won't be stunned if they speak on Saturday. And then honestly, I think we're gonna get a tell too

in exactly how that's structured, right? Is it a Taukett availability followed by a management availability? Do all three gentlemen, Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alameen, and Rick Taukett hit the dais know, we'll all be watching for that. That'll be a clue as to how conversations have proceeded over the intervening 48 hours, you know, including today and tomorrow in terms of that side of it. You'd hope that the Canucks would be able to flesh out, you know, something relatively quickly here because projecting stability and I think even though talk it's

curating has been pretty dented locally, I think as a result of how the season has gone and how, you know, dreadful frankly it was to watch at times. You know, I still think he's a very good NHL bench boss. He's obviously got the Hughes endorsement, which is critical. The organization, like the management team believes in this guy, they believe they have their guy. So you'd hope that that could get ironed out quickly. Club could use a like a quick drama free credibility restoring win here. And they have kind of two direct avenues to do it. You've got talk it, right?

Talk it extension, get it done. No muss, no fuss. That would be helpful. And then you've got a Volander deal, which you could get done. Tom Volander, the Boston university defenseman, obviously one of Vancouver's top prospects. For whatever reason, the club and player have found themselves in kind of a bizarre stalemate over schedule A bonuses with the club, you know, really wanting to get things done in a way consistent with how they've done things, although they only have one other first round pick signed in Jonathan McCaramacchi. But you know, they have this approach with Schedule A bonuses that they want to follow that they don't want to make exceptions to because you start making exceptions, you'll

keep making them. I don't quite understand why, like it's not a significant haul of cash. It's also only potential cash. Like it's not, it's not a massive sort of chestnut here that we're talking about, but for whatever reason, it's held up negotiations there. Uh, those two things, if you could get those done quickly and if you could get them done smoothly and you have the Lander joining the Abbotsford Canucks and you know, you have a chance to have something of a run here on the backs of guys like

Kudryavsev and Aturatu and you know, it is a young team in Abbotsford. It's not like they're all 27 year old, you know, experienced farm hands down there. I mean, there's a, there's a world where it's not, not that it's going to like wash away the bad taste we have in our mouths from this Connex season, but at least it sort of gets the off season going with a steady sense of upward momentum and progress.

So those are three areas I think if the club could, the success of the HL team, get the lander done, get talk it done, would at least help sort of symbolically turn the page on a pretty cataclysmic year? Um, we've talked a lot about trading, not endorsing, but we've talked about this a lot. The idea of trading the first round draft pick, um, maybe one or two of the top prospects, um,

maybe exploring an Elias Pedersen trade. Are there any other roster players that you could see the Canucks putting into the market, floating into the market? We talked about Garland, who's only got one year left on his contract before he's UFA, but then you know, you live with Garland. We also talked for a bit this morning, just about the idea of trading a guy like Philip

Hronik, because you know, if you're looking for pieces of the market, just about the idea of trading a guy like Philip Heronic, because, you know, if you're looking for pieces that would provide a meaningful return, pieces that aren't Quinn Hughes, Heronic might be that guy. And if you've got Willander coming up, maybe you could do something there. Are there any names that makes sense to you? We're trying to find value here.

Yeah, it's not easy. I will say this, you know, when the Canucks, if you go look at the 2020, three, 24 roster, right? The thing that'll strike you right off the hop is how many expiring contracts were on that team, right? Tyler Myers, Dakota Joshua, Nikita Zdora, Ian Cole. I mean, you know, on and on down the list, like that team, Lafferty, that team was built around guys who were on

one year deals or guys who were expiring. And there was some design in that, right? In that, look, this organization was going to do everything that it could to win short-term, but this management team hadn't really seen it yet from this core, aside from maybe like the Boudreaux bump sort of era, which as we know, they didn't really buy as a sustainable method of winning. And so they effectively constructed themselves a hedge position, right? Like on the one hand, they wanted that team to do well and obviously bought to strengthen it both in November with Zdorov and in January with Elias Lindholm,

but they'd also created a situation where if it hadn't worked, it wasn't going to be extraordinarily cumbersome to dismantle, right? The way that the, like, Bruce there it is, Canucks were with that Ekman-Larson contract and on and on down the line. And I kind of think you need to consider something similar here in pursuing short-term ends but with sort of a long-term view of, hey, what does this look like in a world where things go pear-shaped for us on the Queen Hughes file? Right?

Like, I don't think you want to leave yourself in a position where everything hinges on the decision of one guy who has, you know, without question, the ability to transform any game that he's in, but also unique considerations, right? Given his two brothers play for the same team in the Eastern conference and, you know, on and on down the list. So I kind of think you have to approach this off season with the short view

prioritized, but the long view in mind, much like the club did in that sort of 2023 off season. And then for me anyway, Jason, that means you have to be pretty careful about dealing, you know, from a surplus of prospects that frankly doesn't exist, right? I mean, Volander, Elias Pettersson, LaTara Mackie, nice pieces.

The sorts of young pieces that you can count on to help you improve internally, and that this club lacked and has lacked for a long time. I mean, this is a team that's made three of 10 possible selections in the first and second round across the last five years. Like this is delicate here. This is not a team overflowing with prospect capital. This is a team that needs to be very careful.

I think about sort of how they use those assets, how they consider those assets. And frankly, you know, if this team's going to have an outlook to remain even baseline competitive, if things don't go to plan across the net, like if this team is going to have an out, I think those are pieces that they can't afford to deal. So I think it has to be roster players. Like I think it absolutely has to be roster players. Now I don't know that I'm going to join you on the sort of Philip Peronick. This is not, it's not me endorsing it. I'm just throwing it out there as an idea that I just.

Sorry. And I didn't mean to approach that critically as dismissively as it sounded like. I think my tone just like regularly sounds dismissive. I get it. I get it. You should have heard him earlier. So does mine. So does mine. But you know, I think the heroic thing, like if you're trading heroic, you better have

an awful lot of confidence in Victor Mancini. You certainly have to have the lander done. And even if you have both of those things, it's like, are you, are you ready for Tyler Myers, 25 minutes a night, man? Like I'm not, you know, like I'm not, I'm not ready for Victor Mancini, top four, four defensemen. Like that's not appealing to me at all. Um, the logic of this team, I think at least requires that blue line

strength to be something this team, I think at least requires that blue line strength to be something this team can. I think the Garland one is interesting because he's extension eligible, right? If, you know, if you start extension talks this summer, right, or at least begin to have those exploratory conversations and the number doesn't make sense, right? Can you find a deal to bring in, you know, a younger veteran who has term on their deal in a trade or as part of a package? I think that's something this club has to consider. I think Demko is in the same boat, right? I mean, you've signed Lankanen. Demko is also extension eligible. Makes no sense for him to consider an extension in the first place. Going in the next season with a Lankton and Demko tandem would be a luxury item. But I think the question or the framing you have to pivot to is, is that a luxury this team can afford given what

I consider to be an emergency situation in terms of their forward composition? I don't know. Neil's Hoaglander would sort of be another one, right? That didn't take the step you'd have hoped for this season. His value's not at a high Ebb. I still believe in the player and like him a lot. But, you know, can you bundle, and I guess going to the defense,

if you believe in this, there's a surplus of defenders theory. I mean, Victor Mancini to me would be the one who's interesting, right? Like played pretty well down the stretch, big right-handed mobile, right? I mean, that's a player that would probably have some trade value. Again, assuming you can get the lander done. Can you bundle together some of those assets and, you know, find ways to bring in some veteran forwards that can be more for you than

they have been elsewhere. I mean, to me anyway, that's the more responsible path, I think, than getting into the Volander, or Heronic, or La Caramacchi markets. It's just a question of whether or not those will be sufficient, like that those sorts of pieces will be sufficient to bring in the types of upgrades that this team requires and whether those players are even available on the market this off season. Drancer, this was great, bud. Thanks for taking the time to do it. We appreciate it.

Enjoy the next few days. I believe there's gonna be at least, oh yeah, did you get confirmation on when everything's gonna happen end of year media availability wise? I know Canucks PR put out that there will be a media availability on Friday. Is there gonna be anything subsequent? Do you have anything for us here? Do you know? I don't have strong confirmation. I'm expecting and planning

my weekend with my in-laws coming into town, assuming that I will be working on Saturday. Okay, cool. Thanks, bud. Appreciate it. Cheers, guys. With your in-laws coming into town, he's like, oh I gotta work. Yeah, sorry about this guys. I actually, I actually, I want to be clear, I'm very blessed. I actually love my in-laws. They're great. Okay. Thanks, Trance. You're on the record. See you buddy. Well, they're also coming in from the airport. This might be on the radio. See you, pal. See you, Spikes. Bye. Thomas Drance from the Athletic Vancouver and Canuckstock here on the Haliford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

I've heard they're great people too. I liked what- That's all what he said off the air. Yeah, right. You should hear in-laws. I liked what Hughes said, I guess this was last night. What he said? He was asked if he's happy to get the

chance to reset and refocus. And this is courtesy Noah Strang. It's just been such a disappointing year that it's kind of like not even look ahead to anything. Just going to go home, enjoy myself, probably put my phone away and see what happens. Attic, kid. Well, don't put your phone away.

We might need to run some stuff by you. Yeah, there's a couple other team awards we still need to give you. Patrick Alvins like, Quinn's putting us on read. Is this a bad sign? Not the best. Yeah.

You guys don't do that, do you? To anybody? What? Have anybody on read? No, I'm very polite. It's left on read, you guys. It's not left on read. Okay.

What? It's left on read. Left on read. left on read. Okay, what am I read left on my reddit? Okay, I read it ends. Okay. Yeah, can we focus on the question? Please? I don't have that Why would you have that on your phone? Why would you tell someone that you've read their test some people see it as a power move in psychological warfare? Mm-hmm. Oh, I thought it was more just people that were like warfare. Oh, I thought it was more just people that were like, courteous or something. I don't know. I think there's a-

Forgot how to turn it off. Yeah. I believe there's- I don't even understand why that would be. I believe there's a dynamic at play, maybe for those in the dating pool where you could achieve the upper hand in a relationship. Is that the only reason for it though? A power move?

No, but I think- Like a cynical power move? I think it's maybe the most- Ruff's like, I'm going to try this now. You're listening to the best of Halford and Ruff.