Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 6/27/25

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

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

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da I think there's a good feeling around this team as much as you know the outside noise might say otherwise. I don't love it. I don't love the boys for a variety of reasons but the club sees this as just a need and they absolutely required. I think this draft has a real opportunity to go right off the rails and there's gonna be a lot of adjustments. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning Vancouver! 60.01 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody.

Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford, it is Brough, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and 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 Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for net 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 Kintec studio, Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Ho doggie, do we have a lot to get into today on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet

650. It is draft day everybody. Not that stupid movie with Kevin Costner. The real draft day, NHL draft goes tonight from Los Angeles, the decentralized draft. We only get one of these Jason's. So we really have to embrace it. They're going right back to the old school draft next year. So our guest list today won't begin until seven o'clock. The first hour is all uninterrupted. Halford and breath. We got a ton, a ton of Canucks news and rumblings and notes to parse through in the first hour. Guest list begins at seven o'clock. AJ is is gonna join us from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. That's

gonna kick off Ask Us Anything Friday. A reminder a $100 gift card to the best pizza place in the world AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is available and up for grabs for the best Ask Us Anything. If you look in the Dunbar Lumbertex message in basket already there's a bunch in there. So competition is fierce. Get them in Dunbar Lumbertex line at 650 650 hashtag at AUA and put a pizza emoji into your text. 705 Frank Sara Valley is going to join us now, in addition to getting everything that we want from rumblings

and news around the NHL. I guess this is Frank's last hit as a member of Daily Face Off because he becomes a free agent on July 1. The Canucks are trying to sign him. 8.5 million. Cast in a wide net. If you're available, Canucks will call you.

Frank, keep your phone on. So Frank's going to join us at 7.05. We'll talk to him about everything that's going on ahead of the draft. We can also talk to him about the new NHL CBA, which could get announced today as well. 730 Moge is going to join the program. This will probably be the only time that we don't talk exclusively NHL and Canucks on the show. We will talk about the BC Lions game tomorrow, four o'clock from Mosaic. They're taking on the riders.

Doesn't sound like Nathan Rourke is going to play this weekend. What a ringing endorsement for this game. It doesn't sound like Trevor Harris is going to play for the riders either. So it's going to be two backup quarterbacks. Potentially. Both are listed as questionable going into Saturday's game. Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. I don't even need to throw it over to Jason Bruff cause I know what we're going to talk about at five o'clock this morning,

Drantz and Dolly combined for a meaty, very meaty article in the athletic. What we're hearing about the Canucks extension talks, trade efforts and draft plans. There's updates on Connor Garland, Thatcher Demko, Pugh Souter, Brock Besser. Yes, even Noah Juleson. He got in there right at the end. Michael Karconi. Michael, the Michael Karconi sweepstakes are on. I was waiting for them and they're here. So we're going to talk to Dolly Wall about all that at eight o'clock.

Finally, a reminder and a question. Have you bought your tickets for the Sportsnet 650JSKAR5050 for Challenger Baseball yet? I did. I bought them yesterday. 100 bucks worth. Best investment I've ever made. That's for me though.

Best investment I've ever made, kind of for Bruff. And also for Challenger Baseball. Right, that's the most important thing. Buy your tickets. Best investment I've ever made, kind of for Brough. And also for Challenger Baseball. Right, that's the most important thing. Buy your tickets. Except if I win. Yeah, then there's that. Buy your tickets now at jscaragolfatrafflenexus.com. I did it yesterday, it's really easy.

Idiot proof, some might say. It is supported by Tile Town, proudly Canadian owned and operated since 1971. Visit mytiletown.ca. Challenger Baseball is a great and worthy endeavor supported today. Buy your tickets now at jayscaregolf.raffle nexus.com. Working in reverse on the guest list, eight o'clock Dolly wall, seven 30, Marjanovic seven o'clock Sarah Valley. That's the rundown for today. Lattie.

Let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? I missed all the action because 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. In terms of what happened, the biggest news yesterday was of course, the newly acquired Canucks forward, Evander Kane,

made his Rogers Arena debut in Canucks Colors on Thursday. The polarizing NHL forward met the local media for the first time, resplendent in his double-breasted, blue and green Canucks-colored suit. Evander took questions from the media, bristled at times about the way that he's been portrayed in the past. And for someone that is covered Evander Kane

in his numerous stops across the National Hockey League, I can tell you that this is a recurring theme. There's always a disconnect between the way a Vander Kane feels. He's being portrayed in the media and the way the media portrays him in the media. And, um, he can be standoffish at times. He can be. Well spoken at times. He can be eloquent at times and he's always well spoken. He's very well spoken and he can be defensive at times. He's a polarizing guy. And he acknowledged it as well. We've's a polarizing guy and he acknowledged it as

well. We've got a few clips that we want to run through. Uh, laddie, I got them in a particular order, which I kind of wanted to run. So let's just start right from the top. Evander Kane was asked a lot about whether he'd matured, whether he's a new person, whether he's learned from the adversity, whether he's been humbled and on almost every given answer. Um, there was some pushback because I think he wanted to frame it the way that a Vander Kane wanted to frame it. Here's a Vander Kane from yesterday,

meeting with the Vancouver media at Rogers arena. Your off ice story is well documented. There's been a lot there. It's well documented in a way where, um, you know, it's, there's not all the information. There's some inaccuracies and there's some. What I was gonna say was, it hasn't been a thing at all. There hasn't been discussion about any of that since you got to Edmonton. Feels like you've matured quite a bit.

Is that your feeling? Is have you, are you a new guy from, you know, who you were 10 years ago? Am I a new guy? No, no, I'm the same guy. I think, you know, if you're not improving in all aspects of your life, you know, you're probably not where you want to be. And I don't think there's anybody in this room that isn't a better, better offer, learn from their mistakes or learn from positive experiences to make them better moving forward.

So for me, I think it's, you know, Edmonton was great. Edmonton brought me into their organization. And like I said earlier, embraced me and, you know, I, the city kind of fell in love with me and I kind of fell in love with the city. And we had a lot of on ice success as well. So it was a great experience and I'm hoping that can continue here in Vancouver coming back home.

I do just wanna play one more from this because I think this is interesting and this really gives you an idea of what a lot of people talk about when they talk about a Vander Cane is that part of the stuff that has made him great on the ice is that sort of F you and defiant attitude that also rubs people the wrong way.

This is a question about going into a contract year, which from the media side of things is like the biggest layup of a question ever. It's like you're going into the final year of your contract. Is this an opportunity for you to play well and show out and try and get a new deal? And listen to the response because it's kind of the same thing. There's that immediate push back there when trying to break free of whatever mold the question might be putting them in. Here's a Vander Kane on playing in a contract here. So many people talk about a contract here when it comes to me and there's so many other guys in contract years. It's just incredible. So, you know, I know I bring a lot of attention to a room and to a press conference and especially in the Canadian market and it's great,

but you know, I think every year I've ever played in the National Hockey League, I've always wanted to put my best foot forward and work as hard as I possibly could and I don't think anybody can question that and this year is going to be no different. So anything else there? My hope is that he just has the same time in Vancouver as he had in Edmonton. And that was most of the focus is just on how he plays on the ice.

I think it's going to be a challenge because he's in Vancouver, he's in his hometown. I think the, you know, there's always eyeballs on a Vander Kane, there's going to be even more eyeballs here in Vancouver. I think he's got enough challenges to perform well on the ice, you know, he's getting a little bit older. Although I did think it was interesting that he said yesterday

that, you know, missing this entire season, regular season at least, might have turned the clock back a little bit on his body. And hopefully that's the case because the Canucks need him to be healthy and they need him to go out. And honestly, the most important thing they need him to do is score goals. Yeah, it'll be great if he goes out there and hits and sticks up for teammates, but they need him to score goals. The Canucks are not going to bring back Brock Besser probably.

It doesn't sound like they're going to bring back Pugh Souter unless they strike out everywhere else in their search for a centre. But if you look at the goal scorers on this team right now, well, there's Jake DeBress, there's Elias Pedersen who are hoping obviously for a bounce back, and there's Evander Kane. And nobody else, unless I'm missing a guy, unless I'm missing an obvious guy, there's no one else that's out there that's like, wow, that guy's a goalscorer. He's done it in the NHL. How about a guy that scored 19 last year, Jason, and Connor Garland, because that was

some of the big news from yesterday is that Connor Garland, according to multiple reports, including one from Rick Dollywell, who will be on the show today, Connor Garland is set to sign a six-year, $36 million contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. So the way this broke down yesterday is the Daily Face Offs, Frank Ceravalli, who's gonna be on the show this morning at seven o'clock reported that Garland and the Canucks made significant progress on an extension yesterday,

suggesting that the deal could be coming down soon. That was followed up by reporting from Dolly Wall, who said that Garland is set to sign again, as we mentioned, something in the neighborhood of six years, 36 million with the Canucks and that things were progressing to the point where it

could be finalized by today. Now, here's the important part, not the important part, but the important part in terms of details can actually officially announce the deal until July one, and it wouldn't kick in until the twenty twenty six, twenty 2027 season.

Garland would be 30 years old when the extension kicks in. And if you remember, there was another 30 year old forward at the time that once signed a six over by 36 deal with the Vancouver Canucks. We call it the Louie here in Vancouver. Obviously, these are entirely different circumstances given Garland's a part of the team. But that was sort of the big news from yesterday in Canucks land is that Canucks had come closer and closer to an extension with Connor Garland to the point where numbers

were to be bandied about by Rick Dollywall. So you all know, everyone knows, I love watching Connor Garland play. I think there's a lot to like about his game. He is a play driver and that is one thing that Canucks desperately need more of. He, he gets the puck from one end of the ice and takes it to the other. And that's very important in the game of hockey.

He's a transporter. Um, if you want to, um, if you want to criticize his game and I think it's fair or just analyze his game truthfully. He doesn't have a great shot. It doesn't, he doesn't shoot the puck very hard. Um, and the most goals he's ever scored in a season is 22 and that was with Arizona. He played a lot more of this season.

He averaged almost 19 minutes a game and that included some power play time. He played 81 games. He had 19 goals. You know, I hope he's not part of the first unit power play because I don't think that suits him. He might be on the second unit. I think he can make some nice passes once in a while.

But I, you know, he does, he does create in the sense that he makes things happen out there. But mostly I think his strengths are play driving, getting it going in the right direction, which means he needs to play with guys that can put the puck in the net. Sure. But also he's dogged.

Like he, when the other team has the puck, he's great because he'll take the puck off of them. Do you want to pay $6 million a year for that? In this current cap era, maybe. I think you're pushing it a little bit when you consider that he's 30 years old, so you're going to be paying him until he's 36. That's right.

But this is also the new reality of the salary cap. When there's cap space out there, players know it, and they're going to drive a hard bargain because that's just smart. I think there's going to be a lot of contracts signed over the next little while in the next few years, frankly, with all the cap space swimming around the league now, relative certainly to the flat cap where you're like oh okay you know one of the guys that I think the Canucks are probably gonna be pursuing I don't know if they're gonna get them because I think st. Louis is really interested in them I think Toronto might be interested in

him is Michael Grandland yeah this guy's 33 years old he's a really good passer go look at his stats got a lot of. He's a really good passer. Go look at his stats. Got a lot of assists. He's a center man. Again though, 33 years old, the guy's going to get, he's got, I bet he's going to get term. Yeah. I could see him getting like a four year deal. I could see him getting a five year deal.

Honestly. Yeah, I guess. I don't think, I don't, I don't think the, the connects would have to probably clear out some cap space. They might have to probably clear out some calf space. They might have to move Teddy Bluger or maybe Dakota Joshua. And those are the couple of the names that, that

Rick and Drancet have brought up in the athletic. And we talked to Rick about that later in the show. Um, but you know, I still think they need two things and they're pretty, pretty important things, right? Like they're a playmaker, a guy that creates scoring chances for others on the team. And then also a guy that puts the puck in the net. You know, who is Evander Kane going to play with?

Like who's his most likely center right now? Is he a top line guy that's going to play on the first line with Elias Pedersen? Or would you prefer him on the second line with a guy like, be it Grandland or I think the more likely scenario was is that they actually do complete a trade with Minnesota and bring Marco Rossi in there. I think it's very noteworthy that in Drantz's and Dolly Wall's piece, they note that for Vancouver, Rossi's size is not seen as a concern. And if you're kind of cynical, you might be, yeah, well that puts them in the beggars can't be choosers category.

Yeah, it's not a concern because they can't be concerned by it. Yeah. They gotta get who they gotta get at this point. Okay, so a couple of questions there. One, where will Evander Kane play? So in his last full season, which again was two seasons ago, two regular seasons ago in the National Hockey League, Kane played 77 games and he averaged about 16 and a half minutes a night. So you're looking at, and I did know

when Patrick Alveen did his media availability, not yesterday, but the day prior, he talked about, he called it top nine slash middle six, I think is how he described it. Into where he's gonna fit. I think if a Vander Cane's being deployed with first line winger minutes on your team, you've got a problem and you're probably not a contender.

And it's not meant as a slight against Kane, more as it is if you look around the league. Top sixes have a lot more than 34 year old guys that have missed an entire calendar year due to a multitude of injuries. And if you look at Kane's production, he hasn't been a 30 goal score since 2019. He's more, honestly, if you look at his production,

he's closer to Connor Garland's goal output annually than he is to a top line winger. This is a Vander Kane I'm talking about. He's more going to fit in as a 20 goal guy, which is kind of similar to what Garland's given them over the last couple of years. So that to me doesn't scream top line winger I wouldn't be surprised if he's a two or three and then when you ask who his center is gonna be take your pick if they land Rossi that's an option Rossi Rossi would be Rossi would probably be a good fit with him but the problem with the

Rossi sweepstakes and these are legitimate sweepstakes is that everybody's in on this if you read that article from the Athletic, it's what kind of package are the Canucks going to get? The same old song that we've been playing. What kind of package are they going to be able to put forth that isn't entirely based on futures and has a roster player going the other way? Keith, the Water Guy texts in, are there any other young players not on the radar that could fill a center position? I'm thinking Shane Wright or Hendrix Lapierre. Um, not that we've heard of, not that we've heard of.

I think, right. They could actually be right. It would be so funny. I think the Seattle Kraken, um, like what they've got down the middle with Benirs and Shane, right. I have, they've got all these great wingers like Mason Marchman. And who did they trade for yesterday? The Seattle crack.

Well, Goudreau is. Oh, Freddie Goudreau. Freddie Goudreau. He's the center. Yeah, yeah. He's the center. He's the center. More down the middle.

Like I think they like those four and Channandler Stevenson. They've also got him. So I think it would take a lot to get Shane right out of Seattle. You know, he's a young player and even though his development hasn't been, line ideal, he showed something last season.

He scored a bunch of goals, right? Like they don't want to trade that away. And if they do, it's going to take a lot. Speaking of young guys, it was at least sniffed out by Dolly Wall and Drance in the article that Cody Glass might become available remember Cody glass everybody Not that he's all that young, but he's young. Yeah, let him walk. I think New Jersey is Reportedly not gonna offer him a qualifying offer means he could go to market

But the Canucks have not expressed any significant interest on that either Yeah, so the forward group kinda remains In flux no huge surprise here. The Garland thing, just to circle back on that. I'm of two minds on this. Like, I appreciate what he's done over the last few seasons in Vancouver. And I appreciate the fact that he has worked extremely hard and kind of kept his nose to the grindstone during some really

trying times where, especially when the team was struggling, I think a lot of people were like, let's just move on from this experiment. It's failed to really become a driver, a teammate's favorite. He's very well liked in the room by a lot of his teammates and a fan favorite. And those are important things. The other thing that you gotta say about him, the guy does not miss games. He's missed two games in the last three seasons. There's a jinx. I can't help it.

I gotta say these things out loud. Now, looking at last year's line, playing 1839 a night, that's a lot. I don't expect that trend to continue. That feels like a lot for Connor Garland. And then as far as the ticket in the term, they're both signs of a team that again, we'll circle back to, they are in desperation mode. Like they, they don't,

won't be so bad though. A couple of years from now with the cap going up here, over here, like that was my initial reactor was like, wow, it's a lot of money. Then I was like, Oh wait, I guess like three years from now with the cap where it's placed, that contract will seem very reasonable. The issue is more of the term like, well will will he be effective at 33 34 35 years old and then 36 and then 30 You know, so like the money's not so bad. I don't think but with the cap increasing it's important that the players want to be in Vancouver and This is why

One of the reasons they want to sign Garland is because he wants to be here. Sure. It's one of the reasons they picked up a Vander Cane because he wants to be here. Thatcher Demko wants to be in Vancouver and they're probably going to come together on a deal with him.

And even though you look at the Canucks defense and you're like, that looks pretty good, all stocked up. Let's focus on the forwards. According to Drantz and Dollywell, they're still very much in the mix for Bowen Byrom because he wants to be in Vancouver. Sure. That's very important.

How many times have you heard this management group admit, concede that there aren't that many players that are dying to come to Vancouver. The ones that do want to be here, I think they're going to show interest in. We got a text in that says, Evander Kane also has been on deep teams before. He is now a top left winger with Pedersen.

Did you see the wingers the Oilers were using in the playoffs? Todd Colson was playing in the top six. They wrote. Victor Armitzen. They wrote. Skinner. Like they were not deep on the wing.

No. The Edmonton Oilers. They rotated things around. The, you know, um, you know, if you read, I think Mark Spector was putting it, one of the reasons that Vander Kane is, is on the move. There's a couple of reasons. Number one, salary cap, obviously, but he never

really created chemistry with McDavid or Dry Evander Kane is on the move. There's a couple of reasons, number one, salary cap, obviously, but he never really created chemistry with McDavid or Dreisaitl. You know, so it's not like he was. Well, it's one of the reasons. It's certainly not like he was frozen out of the top six in Edmonton. That is not the case. That is not the case.

And by the way, it was Patrick Alveen who said, we've acquired a good middle six or top nine guy in a Vander Cane. He specifically went out and said, middle six, top nine. Okay, one more thing, Halford. Masai Ujiri has been fired. Yeah, I know. Of all the things that we had to cover this morning, I did not think- Don't they know it's the draft? I'm like, come on guys, it's draft day. Kevin Costner, did he want to deal with his father's burial on draft day. He was so focused on it, but there is Reports are now I don't have this in front of me right now

So you guys are gonna have to work me through this but is it reports or is it confirmed that? Masai, Ujiri is as the president of the Toronto Raptors shams is reporting it and he's saying that they've decided to part ways And it sounds pretty official to me. So we're going to have to really dive into this during the break. Here's what we know. This comes hours after the conclusion of the second round of the NBA draft in which the Raptors held onto and made picks in both the first and second rounds. Eugery was entering the final year of his contract with the Raptors. So I do wonder if it was one of those classic

things where instead of playing out the final year of his contract, he realized that not getting an extension and being a lame duck going into that final year meant that he was probably on his way out anyway. I don't know, but. Do you think the plan was always to part ways after the draft was done or did something

happen at the draft? Yeah, that's a great question too, right? Because we have seen in countless sports across all of them that oftentimes scouting departments and executives are let go after the draft. It's like, thank you for your work. That's the last thing you're going to do this season. Sayonara. Be interesting to see. I don't want to say good luck. Interesting to see what happens here. But the news of course is that the Toronto Raptors have parted ways with the most fundamentally important executive in the franchise's history.

The architect of the team that won them the 2019 NBA championship, Masai Ujiri is out as president of the Toronto Raptors. Am I a new guy? No, no I'm the same guy. Marge my friend I haven't learned a thing. 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. Frank Zarevalli of Daily Face Off joins us here. He is a presentation of Angry Auditor Liquor. Good morning, Frank, how are you? Pretty good, how you doing guys?

We're good. First off, where does this morning find you? Did you go out to Los Angeles for the first and maybe last decentralized draft, or did you find another draft headquarters for today? I did. I was out there for the Board of Governors meeting. I highly recommend not doing red-eye flights on back-to-back days. Nonetheless, I'm back home on the East Coast and well positioned for today's festivities. All right. You reported yesterday that the Canucks have made significant progress in extension

talks with winger Connor Garland. Anything to add on that? Yes, it does seem like the framework of a deal is in place. I do think the numbers that have been reported, I think it was Rick Dollywall that said 6x6. That's the number that I had heard before sending out the tweet. Always cautious with deals that can't be papered for a few days, whether or not they change. Obviously, something that can't be executed until July 1, but I think they are well down the track on getting a deal done and keeping Garland in place.

Okay. What else you got for us from a Canucks perspective? They still want to get a second line center. Any updates on the Marco Rossi situation out of Minnesota? Any other names that you're hearing connected to the Vancouver Canucks? Bowen Byram has been connected to the Canucks a fair bit. I do think that Buffalo is going to have toucks a fair bit. I do think that Buffalo is gonna have to make a decision here in the next 48 to 72 hours on what they're doing. With regards to

Marco Rossi, I don't think the Can that the Canucks put on the table is just not enough for Minnesota, like that's not gonna make it work, and the Wild were quite clear in that to the Canucks. They may ultimately be forced to go back and put together a bridge deal for Rossi because they're not giving him away and so that remains a real possibility that they they have to just you know swallow hard and and keep the guy resign him to a deal even if it's a little bit higher AAV than they're interested in because the offers haven't materialized.

And then to really kind of present an overarching theme here, look, there's been tons of conversation in your market about the decision to add a Vander Cane and inject some fresh chaos into a locker room that has been through a lot and now pair that with the Connor Garland extension, which also is basically just the same deal that he's on right now, slightly readjusted for the rising cap that all of those things signal to me that the Canucks have come to the conclusion in their own war room that it is insanely difficult to add top six pieces at the forward position.

Look at my trade targets board. Seven of the top 10 players on there are defensemen. And we're talking like legit good defensemen, Noah Dobson, 70 point defensemen, Bowen Byrom, Kay Andre Miller, go down the list. Like these aren't schlubs, but you're missing forwards. It's dried up. I can, I can name for you 10 teams that are banging their heads against the wall

this morning going, how can we possibly get our hands on an impact forward? Let alone a center? It's, they're just, it's not happening. Those guys are not available. And that's why you're seeing the Canucks scramble to get other stuff in place because they're trying to make the best of a tough market. Walk me through a potential Bowen Byram acquisition because the Canucks blue line for the first time in a while

actually looks pretty solid right now. That's kind of the tough part for me has been envisioning what that looks like because I don't necessarily, and I've said this 18 times on the air on your station. I Find the Canucks and Sabres to be very difficult trade partners The Sabres have made it abundantly clear just in the same way that others have with their pieces that they're not looking for futures So who are you possibly trading?

That makes the Sabres better? Maybe in this case, the Sabres can flip Byron for an impact forward. Again, going back to the previous thing we just talked about, how hard that is to do. Maybe that helps replace for them losing JJ Peturka. I'm sure that's part of their thought process is, okay, we got our right shot defensemen, we've been left shot heavy. How do we reimagine this? I just think it's a lot easier said than done. Um, if the Canucks don't manage to add, I know

this is a tough question to ask. I mean, your whole thing is like, it's hard to add centers, but you know, if they can't get Rossi out of Minnesota, do they circle back on Pugh suitor? Do they give Michael Grandland a call? You know, we've heard some rumblings about Grandland possibly being targeted by the St. Louis Blues or even the Toronto Maple Leafs, if they can't come

together on a deal with Tavares there. Anything you've heard on these players or is there a centre that I'm missing here? I don't think so. I'll tell you what, I also think the Vancouver Cadacs have circled back to Brock Besser in recent days. I don't think they're leaving any stone unturned,

but when it comes to finding a center, like it's not a market that's teeming. So again, I think the conversation comes back to finding ways to beef up our forward group as much as possible. I mean, if you look at the daily face-off trade target boards right now, the top 10 is littered with defensemen and there's not a lot of forwards never mind

centers available I did want to ask about the guy that's number one on that list and we just talked to what I'm prior to going to break and that's Noah Dobson so between there's a ton of smoke around Dobson in a potential trade right now so it's Friday it's day one of the NHL draft between the Dobson trade rumors and then the Islanders holding the first overall pick. Is this a day that's going to belong to the New York Islanders? Yeah, I mean, it certainly seems that way. They are in a position where.

They have a lot going on at once. I mean, the Shaper thing, picking number one overall, that's kind of the easiest part of their day. The Dobson file is more or less like, I don't think there's a deadline in the sense that like, you have to get it done by July 1st because they're afraid of an offer sheet. I think it's, they'd like to potentially position themselves as best

as possible with this round one because they're considering taking futures back and prospects back as part of this deal. So in that sense time may be of the essence today but they the Islanders are certainly a team to watch for the full scope of today from trade to draft that number one player on my trade targets board in Dobson, number one overall pick is a pretty fascinating day to be an Islander fan. So on that same trade board, there is one goalie in the top 10 and it's John Gibson.

That kind of got me thinking because in a piece that came out this morning Drance and Dallowall reported a number of things including the fact that when it comes to goalies the Vancouver Canucks have started to explore the possibility of moving the reigning AHL MVP Archer Silovs. I guess so a two-parter there one have you heard anything on the possibility of Sil loves being moved to how does the overall goalie market look in terms of guys that are available because it looks like it's Gibson and then maybe not a lot else oh by the way I did get a message while we were speaking and that six times six is is the number for Connor Garland. Okay, great. With that said, on the goalie front, I think it's possible that we see

a faster DemCo extension materialized today. I think talks have progressed and there's an avenue to a deal. I don't think that's at all a done deal, but I think they've gotten to a place now where they can at least wrap their brains around it. But we're also reaching like the clock is ticking because Thatcher Demko is either going to be resigned or he's going to be

part of another organization by Tuesday. It's, I don't think the canucks are, I mean, and like by Tuesday, I mean, like not a hard deadline, but the canucks aren't entering the season with Thatcher Demko as a pending USA with most goalie positions filled and the potential for injury. That's just not, I don't think that's how they're gonna manage the asset. Got it. So that's the thought process is that he's either signing, which seems to be the likely course, or they're moving him. I think the ask for Demko has been a

first-round pick. Teams have felt with his recent injury history, that that's an expensive price. I think it's really reasonable given the high end nature of his game and the upside. And I'd be real curious to see what an extension looks like. I'm really curious to see this because I remember at the end of season press conference, Jim Rutherford said, you know, we'd like to keep Thatcher Demko, but there's got to be, there's got to be sacrifice on both ends.

The Canucks are going to have to take some risk with resigning a guy with his recent injury history, but there's also got to be some sacrifice from Thatcher Demko because he can't be treated like a healthy goalie, a fully healthy goalie. But there's also got to be some sacrifice from Thatcher Dempko because he can't be treated like a healthy goalie, a fully healthy goalie. Do you have any idea what it might look like? Well, I mean, it's got to be a raise.

That's the start and end point of the conversation. The goalie market has shifted significantly. This is a guy who over the course of this time has turned into a Vez and a finalist. Was the, you know, one of the focal points and backbones of this team. But you're right, the history and that knee, that damn popliteus muscle, it complicates this. It really does.

He's, I think, an incredibly loyal guy. I think he really, like, Canucks fans should be celebrating Thatcher Demko because he really wants to be part of it. And with that, he wants to like, he, he, he wants to be part of the solution to getting this team back on track. So those things, like you take him and smash them all together, the push and pull of getting a raise, getting a few years of security, all of that. I mean, I still think that's the most likely outcome, but to hazard a guess on what that AEV looks like, it's hard to do because then you look at the Lankanen situation and that contract and you go, yeah, that seems to be like a pretty bold statement.

But as the cap increases, like your run of the mill backups are going to be, if you were at two or two and a half, like you're going to be in the three and a half, four and a half range in short order. And Lankton is just like the new market value for a high end one B or backup. For sure. Yeah. And backups have never been more important, I don't think in the NHL. I agree.

And so what does that mean for the, for Demco then? Like how high does that push his number? It's hard to say. Cause of the injury. We're speaking of Frank Sarvalli from daily face off here in the Halford and Bref show on sports net six 50 one more Canucks one before we push onto a couple other things here. Given what we've talked about the lack of centers that are available at high end centers. Is there anything worth exploring or considering in terms of teams,

maybe checking back in on Alias Pedersson with regards to the Vancouver Canucks? It's a great question on Patterson. I think that there's been some increased conversation, like teams just checking in. Sure. To see if like, a, is he, is he actually truly available? B, like what would that look like? What would the cost be? I don't think the Canucks have been slamming down the phone,

but I think that their intention has been to have, let's see what Pedersen looks like, and let's see if we can have an internal solution here. Cause if you move him, all you're doing is making this that much harder to fill out that position and all the things that we just talked about. Definitely have to check back with suitor then. Um, Frank.

But like suitor can't be your, like, look, everyone loves pew suitor and the nature of his game, but like that, he cannot be the answer. He's gotta be a three C guy. Yep. I agree. He's, I mean, he or, but he cannot be the answer. He's got to be a 3C guy. Yep. I agree. I mean, or a winger. He is versatile, but I'm with you on that. Rick Dollywell, Donnie and Dolly, Check TV joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650, courtesy of the Power West Industries hotline. What up, Ricky D.? First of all, no Evander Cane talk.

I don't want Brock's blood pressure to go through the roof. Okay. So no Cane talk. No Cane talk. My blood pressure is fine with medication. It's fine. Yeah, but you know, hey, hold it, hold it.

My blood pressure last night, not good. Three hours on the phone with Drantz. Oh boy. A lot of screaming, a lot of yelling, a lot of F bombs. He calls me up and he's talking to someone else and I lost it on him. There's nothing more worse than somebody calling

you and then talking to someone else. Yeah. Yeah. That's a no-no. You know what? It's just rude. It's just rude. Bingo.

It's just rude. Common courtesy. It's gone out the door, Rick. And I'm talking to two agents last night, uh, in LA at the draft, they're in a bar. They're ordering margaritas while they're talking to me. And so I lost it on them. So I'm not, I've had, I've had a real tough,

long night, no sleep, but let's go. Okay. Well, we appreciate you doing the show this morning. Let's start with Thatcher Dempko. Where are things? Uh, so a few weeks ago the Canucks touched base with the Demko camp, talks he did up this week, was told last night this morning that look, there's a positive vibe, there's a positive feel, nothing's gone backwards as far as I know. I said earlier this week, there's a pathway to getting this done by the weekend. I still feel that.

It's been positive. It would demko all week, which means they should get to the finish line. Now there's a lot of things going on. As you guys know, the Canucks are pretty busy, right? They're working the phones feverishly. So this demko thing might stretch into the weekend. We will see. Now the NHL draft is not a deadline, but for the Canucks, they needed to know by this weekend, are we close or far apart with Demko?

Right? If they were far apart today, if we were reporting they were far apart today, you could see a trade happening. I wouldn't be surprised if Demko comes in four to six

years. I'm thinking the number starts with a 7. He was a as in a candidate two years ago, right? So everyone's bringing up the injuries last year. So I'm going to tell you right now, I'm hearing he's a hundred percent healthy and I'm hearing that he's even skating. So there are some really good signs when it comes to his health. The Canucks could be paying if they get this done here in the next 24 to 48 hours, they could be

paying Demko and Kevin Lankinen up to 12 million a year in two years. Yes, the salary cap's going up. You are going to see teams invest more money in goaltenders as the cap continues to go up. Definitely hearing CILOV's name is out there. Would CILOV's name be out there if they were far apart with Demko?

No. Okay. So that kind of, you can read the teeles, right? So, but we don't know, one phone call, I always got to say that could change everything. Sealov's you can say is stuck because he's club control. He doesn't have any options.

The best he could do is ask for a trade, but does he want to play behind Demko and Lankin and if they're both four or five years extended. Of course not. No the Canucks are like I said yesterday the Canucks will qualify Goldtenner Nikita Tolopilo and I'll tell you another thing they're very high on Tai Young. If they if they get this Seeloff's trade done that is your more most likely duo in Abbotsburg next year Tolopilo and Young but they are very high on Young. There's a reason why Alveen said Tolopilo and Young the other day in those interviews.

They are super high on Tai Young and I think that's, you know, if the Demko thing gets done in the next 24 to 48, if they trade T-Laws, then you're looking at Tolopilo and you're looking at Tai Young next year. Any idea on term for Demco? I'm thinking four to six years. I know the Canucks because of the injuries last year, the Canucks would obviously want three, right? Or two and, but you're also looking, the Demco camp can easily say, Hey, my

Vezina season wasn't five or six years ago. It was literally 12 months ago. So, you know, I think if they get something four My Vezina season wasn't five or six years ago, it was literally 12 months ago. So I think if they get something four to six done, he also can't ask for seven or eight, Jason. He can't. The Canucks are not going to give him seven. Canucks won't even give Brock Bess or seven.

How are they going to give Demko seven or eight? So I think- Well, I think six is long. Yeah. I think four to six. If you can do four or five, I'm spitballing here, but I think the sweet spot might be four or five years for both sides. So Rick, you were the first to report on Conor Garland's actual numbers, six by six.

Is this thing pretty much done? Yes. Garland's extension will be six times six. It'll be announced July 1st. Isn't it amazing what happens when you have a common goal right from the start of negotiations? Garland switched agents to one of the biggest names out there in the industry, Judd Moldova a year ago. That stuff makes a difference. Moldova is the executive vice president of Wasserman Hockey. Now the funny thing about Garland is that when this regime took over the first guy they tried to move, Garland, they didn't

like the salary, they liked the player, they didn't like the salary and the fact he was on the third line. Now this same regime is going to give Garland a huge raise. When Garland was on our show from the World Hockey Championships, he talked about how much he loved Vancouver for his family. He's got a young family now. Looks like he meant it. When players are either going into the UFA season or a year left, they say a lot of that stuff. Oh, I love Vancouver. My family loves it. You know, sometimes agents tell players to say that, but it looks like Garland means it. He backed it up. And people need to stop with the Garland was signed to keep Quinn Hughes.

Ridiculous. Garland signing is not going to keep Quinn Hughes in town. This was the team and the player. This was the team and the player absolutely thinking they were a great fit together. That's the bottom line. This has got nothing to do with Quinn Hughes. Uh, okay. The big question of the day.

Yep. Who else is coming to Vancouver? Okay, obviously the focus this weekend. Let's start with the focus right now. They're working the phones. I find it funny when people say, oh, the Canucks are working the phones. They've been doing this for three months.

You think they just started picking up the phones last night or yesterday? We should make some calls. Oh my goodness. Focus starting up the phones last night or yesterday? We should make some calls. Oh my goodness. Focus starting this morning, last night, last three months, trade for a centreman. They're looking for that young second line centre, easier said than done. They've been trying for months. They did the first round pick is obviously in play.

They've been trying for months. Price is still high. The problem they run into, too many teams are looking for the same thing. You think the Canucks are the only team out there looking for a big splash? Montreal is on the verge of getting Dobson maybe. Columbus, they're in on Dobson. Anaheim, they are going to be a player for Mitch Marner. Countless other teams have high draft picks.

Utah just made one big move and they're not done. They got the fourth overall pick they can wave to other teams. Look, Canucks are not the only team out there feverishly working the phones. There's a ton of teams and they're all looking for the same stuff. Look, the Canucks' pursuit of Buffalo defensemen, Bo and Byrom, continues this week. More due diligence done. I thank all the teams around the league. There's two problems with Bow and Byron. First you got to make the trade for the player, then the player is in a contract year with arbitration rights. I think teams know what the cost is not only for the acquisition to

get Bow and Byron, but the price. Some teams might want an extension and some teams might be okay with saying, okay, we'll take it. Arp, don't worry about it. We got the cap space. We're not worried. So there's a lot of things that play with bone Byram Dakota. Joshua is another Canucks player whose name is out there to try and help the Canucks get what they need.

Joshua had a tough year, not only the cancer early, the diagnosis in the summer. And then he had a lingering hip issue in the cancer early, the diagnosis in the summer, and then he had a lingering hip issue in the second half of the season. I don't know where that hip issue injury is now, but I think it was lingering and I think that was a problem in the second half. Now, on July 1st, the Canucks don't have a ton of cap

space. They, if they don't get the centre via trade, they'll check in on Michael Granlin, you know, but I don't think they ton of cap space. They, if they don't get the centre via trade, they'll check in on Michael Grandlin, you know, but I don't think they have the cap space to get him. Um. Because he wants to come to Vancouver too. Yeah. And, and, and, and by the way, Michael Grandlin

is going to have a ton of teams calling him. That guy, and again, you, I heard you guys talk and Vancouver's not on the list for these top free agents. If they just aren't, I would be shocked if Grand Vancouver's not on the list for these top free agents. They just aren't. I would be shocked if Grandland ended. If there's 500 centres out there, it's the Canucks' job to check in on every single one of them, right?

And what you do as an organization, you check in, hey, what are you looking for? Would your guy come here? Grandland's got to be on the list July 1st. Wouldn't surprise me if they show interest in a couple of Utah players who might hit the market. Michael Carson, 21 goals a couple of years ago. Nick Bustad, they've liked Nick Bustad in Vancouver going back to the Jim Benning days. You know, 6'5", yeah, big guy, 22 goals a

couple of years ago. Um, that's a guy to keep an eye on for Vancouver. Um, I was asked earlier this week about Cody Glass, right shot center. As of now, and I said this earlier this week about Cody Glass, right shot center. As of now, and I said this earlier this week on the show, the Canucks are not showing interest in Cody Glass. But we are, you know what we are in? We're in ABC, Plan ABC DEF territory. And somewhere along that line, Cody Glass might be a guy that Canucks look at. But right now earlier this week when I checked in on Cody Glass they weren't showing. Wouldn't that be amazing? The guy that Jim Benning wanted

over Pettersen if he ever landed in Vancouver. Wouldn't that be phenomenal? You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.