Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best of Halford and Brough 6/29/26

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe look back at a busy weekend in sports, they discuss Canada's historic Round of 32 win at the World Cup over South Africa, plus they chat about how the 'Nucks did at the NHL Draft with Canucks Central host Satiar Shah. This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to Halford and Brough. With the overall third pick for the 2026 pick is Caleb Malholtra. It's the buzzer. Caleb Malhotra. Yeah, this is unbelievable. This is something I only dreamed of. You know, when you're a kid and you're putting the same jersey on as your dad.

Good morning. Welcome to the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Still know Mike Halford. I'm Josh Elliott Wolf filling in. Good morning. Jason. Good morning. What a weekend.

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Hello. Hello. Alfred Abrupt is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Their clients often say, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me.

If debt is weighing you down, click sands dash trustee.com. Hour one of Hufford and Brough 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 1170 Powell Street. We're coming to you live from the Kintech Studios.

Step Strong with Orthotics and Footwear from Kintech if you want to text into the show today. And there are a few things to text into the show about. The Dunbar Lumber Text line is 650, 650. trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver for generations, find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. The people are waiting on pins and needles to see what we will talk about first. But before we do that, we will start with the guest list.

It's the Duke Morning Drive brought to by the Duick Auto Group at 7 o'clock, one hour for now. So one hour uninterrupted. At 7 o'clock, Oliver Platt from one soccer will join us, Canada. Oh, they won. We'll get into that as the show goes on and we'll get more into it with Oliver Platt as well at 7 at 7.30. Chris Peters, content manager for flow hockey, draft and prospect analyst. There was also a draft.

The NHL one. We'll talk about that too. And at 8 o'clock, Satyar Shah from Canucks Central will join and we'll get more into what the Canucks did and did not do at the NHL draft. That is what is happening on the show. 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'm...

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? All right. What happened is brought to you by ATS traffic. Safety's not shortcut you want to take from design to execution. ATS traffic is your full service traffic safety provider online at atsTstrafic.ca. Okay, Josh. I just... I just...

just need you to confirm something for me before we do what happened because I feel kind of like bleary and like I barely slept last night and I need you to confirm is this real life am I is this real this is real so Canada yesterday wasn't a dream it wasn't a dream it wasn't a drunken delusion. No. They won a World Cup knockout game. They sure did. Yistakio, you scored deep into injury time, right?

To lift Canada to a 1-0 victory over South Africa at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Canada, the men's soccer team. You still need to confirm this. We'll now play the winner of Netherlands and Morocco in the round of 16 in Houston, on July 4th, the Canadian men are into the sweet 16, if you want to call it that way, of the World Cup. And if this is truly world, this is truly real life, we are in uncharted territory. And I could not be more excited.

And it is kind of funny. I think we can all recognize, well, maybe not the Canucks, but the poor Canucks who lost so many games this season, just to get to the draft and this was going to be the like all right it was terrible but at least we're going to have a draft that people are going to wait a month and get excited and they have totally i don't want to say overlooked because they haven't been overlooked but they've been put to the back burner they've been overshadowed on this Monday morning i want to know from the listeners what your experience was yesterday watching the

game. Was there anything special about it? How did you feel throughout the game? How did you feel after the game? I want to know how you experienced it because for me, that is one of the big parts of this story. Yes, there is the sports story and we can talk about it. But the World Cup at its best is about countries coming together and actually enjoying their company. And for example, yesterday I went down to the FIFA fan fest. It was packed. I was there 45 minutes early. I had tickets.

I missed the first 20 minutes of the game because I couldn't get in. Now, there was a little bit of, I think they were overwhelmed by all the fans that went down there. So I'm going to give them a break. but it was such a good vibe, so exciting, and I was so happy that I got to enjoy it with thousands of other Canadians. So I want to know how everyone watched the game. Maybe you watched it by yourself even because you were so nervous. Sometimes I like to watch games like that, but what a finish to that game. I, it was a top 10

sporting memory for me. I just like, you know, I never thought, I'd see it, frankly. I grew up in an era of Canada, you know, barely being able to qualify for the Concaf HACs, which isn't qualification into the World Cup. It's just qualification into a higher qualification. And we couldn't even do that. Like, we would screw that up. It's like, do we get to the hex?

We did not, right? And now we're at the World Cup. We're hosting the World Cup. We won a World Cup knockout game and we were into the round of 16 where we could play one of the, one of the traditional powers of the footballing world in the Netherlands. And if it's not the Dutch, we're going to play one of the up and coming powers in African football in Morocco. Yeah. It's, I mean, it's a, it's a meteoric prize, even if you look just over the last decade.

right of where the Canadian men's program has gone and getting to this point it is it's incredible and you know the vibes around the city have just been unreal as well it feels like there's there's a lot of buying from casual fans everyone I talk to that's not usually into sports is like hey are you watching the world's cup right now and what Canada is doing I'm finding a way to watch what Canada or to watch Canada play whether it's on Granville or going to the fan fest or whatever and it's just I mean, it's awesome to see. I was nervous watching the game yesterday, not from a, like,

so we can get into the actual, the game itself. I was not nervous watching them play because it did feel like they were in control for most of it or at least had most of the attack. But once we got until like the 80th minute, I was like, oh no, like one counterattack. And I think South Africa did have a couple chances going the other way. And I was incredibly concerned.

But my viewing experience, I know you were at the fan fest with thousands of people having a great time. I was in a car driving to Abbotsford with spotty service. What? What? My wife had like a, she had a dance show in Abbotsford in the evening.

Okay. And so she had to be there at a certain time. Right. And so she drove. Yeah. She was like, well, I'll let you watch the game. I'm like, wow, you're so generous. And so between Langley and Abbotsford,

sometimes it would just cut out. Right. In the 80th-ish minute, it was, It was out for five minutes and it was not the most fun, but I got back in time for the goal and it was, I was yelling in the car. It was awesome. Okay. A lot of people are texting in their experiences. So I'll get to those in just a bit. You know, I was reading a lot after the game of both, you know, both stories that were written by the media and also just what people were saying on social media. and I have to admit my confidence level throughout the game was a lot higher than a lot of other people's.

I was pretty confident the whole time. Really? We were, in my opinion, in my opinion, we were clearly the better team. And I guess you never know with soccer. South Africa could have gotten it to penalties or they could have scored on the counter attack but you know I've watched

I've watched a lot of England matches that were what they would say destined for penalties right like it's like this one is destined for penalties this one is destined for a nil no draw I didn't feel that way and if it did happen in my opinion again it would have been an injustice even though South Africa

you look at the possession stats afterwards and you're like oh they had the ball more than Canada how much of their possession was just their goalie holding onto the ball. God they loved passing it around the bag. Well I mean it was understandable right because

I was made a couple jokes like I was with some hockey guys I was like is Guy Boucher coaching Canada right now? Is this the one three one? I mean it wasn't I understand that Canada actually presses, but when the South African keeper had the ball, the Canadians did not pressure him. They waited a little bit.

And I think it was all just a bit of a chess match, right? Like when they actually did play the ball out to their players, then Canada pressed. And then, you know, South Africa, I thought, did a pretty good job of breaking the press and getting the ball up. But they didn't have many chances to score. Like, there weren't a lot of great chances. if you look at the expected goals after the game, Canada, by far had the advantage in expected goals.

You know, there's useful possession in soccer, and there is like the goalies hanging on to the ball doing nothing possession, and there was a lot of that. I, you know, to make a long story short, I just felt like we were going to win. As long as it didn't get to penalties, we were going to win. and even if it had gone into extra time, not stoppage time, extra time, like two 15 minute halves of extra time, I was like, we could easily score. We could easily score in that.

It wasn't like the South Africans were, like they were good defensively. They played a solid game, but I did not feel like they were totally unbeatable. They're South Africa, first of all, Like they are not one of the top teams in world football. And I think it's okay to admit that we got a break with the opponent. We were the favorites yesterday.

We would not have been the favorites against South Korea. We would have been underdogs. And I want to throw out the question. You know, we were all disappointed when Canada lost at Switzerland and we didn't get to play at BC Place. did that help at all? Did that take some of the pressure off at all? I don't think so. Like the nerviness I felt watching them,

like the nerviness, it felt like they were playing with in Vancouver, still felt like it was present in this game as well, where especially in the first half, it's like, hey, maybe I'm projecting it because I'm nervous about what they're doing, but it did still feel like some of the first touches

were a little bouncy, and it just didn't really feel like they were super comfortable yet, But I mean, maybe it did help. Maybe getting out of Canada and just being able to be like, hey, we just got to go out and win this game help them more than, more than it seemed watching the game. But you're right. If we look at the expected goals, everyone loves expected goals. Canada was at 1.3 or, yeah, 1.38, 0.14 for South Africa, despite having almost 60% of the possession.

Okay. I want to read some of your texts because a lot of you took the time to text into your ex-exempt. experiences, a text in about your experiences watching that game. And by the way, I just want to say, I was thinking this yesterday, we're lucky that we're big sports fans because how many other hobbies, if you want to call it that, do you get to go and enjoy experiences with others, strangers, and you can feel like you're all rooting for the same thing and there's an experience of togetherness? Like, okay, that's being a bit cheesy, I realize, but, you know, our experiences these days are so often, like, divided, you know?

And, you know, it's funny. At the Canada-Switzerland game at the fan fest, they showed the prime minister on the screen a couple of times. And a few people cheered and a few people booed because it's politics. And I was like, no, no more of that. Like, like, I don't want any of that entered. into my vibe, right? Like, I don't want to be reminded of Twitter. I don't want to be reminded of, like, our current political climate.

I want all of us to be together on this one thing. And we get to enjoy those things as sports fans. And yesterday I just felt lucky. I felt fortunate that I lived in a country like Canada, and I felt fortunate that we were all together cheering on the soccer team. Okay, Tatiana in Langley. I actually watched the game yesterday, which I think is the first time I've watched a soccer game

start to finish by myself. And I wasn't sure if I'd be into it because I'm not a soccer fan, but it took almost no time before I was yelling at my TV. That was incredible. Derek, the former actor, in the first half, I was yelling at my phone, and my wife said, I was scary. I called her an Uber to take her to a wedding shower,

watched the second half pacing around the townhouse, and then jumped up, uncontrollably yelling freely, tears streaming down my face after the goal and the win. Unsigned text, I couldn't make it down to one of the fan fest, but the free watch party at the Langley Event Center was packed. Have not felt a vibe like this since 2011. This may be better, actually. I really love this story from Tim the Blade Runner.

We boated over to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island with the family. when they scored the goal, the whole beach erupted with people cheering and running up and down the beach with Canadian flags. One more unsigned text. I was working at the hospital yesterday. A lot of people still have to work. We were in the midst of work when one of my colleagues came out and excitedly claimed Canada won. It seemed like time stopped for a second while we frantically looked for the highlight. Then the unit began to celebrate pretty cool moment as a sports fan.

I'm happy to hear about all these moments because, look, I think there's a lot of people that maybe this is the first World Cup they've ever really, really watched. I know Canada went to Qatar last year was in the World Cup, but I think there's a lot of people that maybe were like, oh, yeah, like I heard about that or maybe watched a little bit of it. And don't forget, Canada didn't win a game over in Qatar. In this World Cup, when we're hosting and when we're seeing the city alive, when we're sitting, we're watching people, you know, with Canadian jerseys and Canadian flags,

like, there's been a momentum of this World Cup. And, you know, I don't know if this is going to create more soccer fans or if people are going to be like, now I'm going to start watching the Premier League or, you know, now I'm really upset that the white caps might be leaving, right? Yeah. But like I don't know if that's going to happen, but I'm just glad people are really experiencing the cool stuff about these big tournaments because, you know, soccer games when there's a lot on the line, they're incredible. They really are. And I think we saw that that yesterday where you're

just waiting for the moment. And sometimes at soccer games, the moment never comes. But yesterday, the moment came. And I think everyone will remember that for the rest of their lives. So Stefan Ostokio had the moment, but one might argue there was

a moment leading in to the moment in the 75th minute when Alfonso Davies entered the game. the long-awaited Alfonso Davies appearance that we had not seen in the group stage, but he did come in in the 75th minute. And dare I say, I wouldn't say he changed the momentum of the game, but it did feel like he had an immediate presence in the game. Is that fair to say?

Yeah. I mean, he changed the momentum. I think he changed the energy. He's so good. Even like not at 100 percent. You see it instantly. You're like, wow, this guy is incredible. is amazing. Well, I mean, the interesting part, too, was that, you know, he came out on the left side and it was the right side that caused the goal. So I think he did, I don't want to call him a decoy like Jesse Marsh called him when he didn't play. But I think he took some attention. I know the South Africans had to deal with them. They had to realize, okay, this is not, you know, and I didn't think Buchanan had a very good game. And he, and he came. And he came. And he came.

off for Davies. I didn't think Liam Miller had a particularly good game on the other side. And, you know, I just think like they needed, they needed something. And he

certainly provided that. He's clearly not 100% though. Right? Like he's clearly, he's clearly not. I think he had a couple moments earlier on. And then you're like, all right, keep doing that. And frankly, he had a couple bad giveaways

where he was forcing things and they didn't work but I don't know if they would have won if he hadn't come on because I think he I think he he provided something that

Canada needed at the time time was running short on on regulation time and you know I think when he did come on you know, the Canadian players got a bit of a lift. I certainly know the fans did.

But I was just so happy to see Eustachio be the hero because this is a guy that really doesn't get enough attention. He is a very good player and a very dependable player. And when that ball fell to him, it wasn't a cross from a Canadian player. Remember, it was a failed clearance by the South African.

I mean, it's tough though, right? It was, it's, it's hard in those moments. You've been out there the whole game, a lot of those South Africans, and, you know, you've been in defense, defense, defense. And oftentimes, breaking down an opponent isn't so much tactical. It's just like, yeah, they're pretty tired now, right?

They've been defending the whole time. You know, again, I watch a lot of England games, right? and England usually has the talent advantage, certainly early on in these tournaments. And they, you know, when you're the better team, your goals don't always come early. Sometimes they do, but they don't always come early. Sometimes you just have to wear the opponent down

and hope that there's an opportunity late in the game. Maybe there's a tired mistake that happens by the other team, but then you have to deliver on the moment and you Stacchio hit it, perfectly. It was so good. I don't want to say it was unbelievable because again I was pretty confident that Canada was going to win but for them to win in that way into stoppage time I will remember that for the rest of my life and now

I don't want to act like you know Canada's got no chance against the Dutch or the Moroccans you know and if they do somehow win that they could face France or Germany, which would be incredible. But look, for me, I'm not the coach, so it doesn't matter that I say this. Canada's World Cup has now been successful. If they would have lost that game to South Africa, it would have been, in my opinion, a failure. Because even though they got into the round of 32,

they had an opponent they should beat. They got a huge break. And if they hadn't won that game, I'd be like, I'm mad. I'm upset. This is not acceptable for Canada to only beat Qatar, who they should beat, especially when it's a home World Cup.

They lost to Switzerland. They only drew Bosnia and then that now they lost to South Africa. I would have been very upset. But now I feel like they've accomplished what they needed to accomplish. And actually, Jesse Marsh kind of did put it this way because he called this opportunity against either the Dutch or the Moroccans. I think his phrase was a free hit. You know, like you're getting a chance where you're not expected to win, but maybe you can.

And I know the South African coach after what was like, you know, Canada's a good team. They got a lot of great athletes on that team. And you never know, maybe there's a chance. They go pull a massive upset. So it will be either the Netherlands or Morocco. They play against each other tonight at 6 o'clock. So keep an eye on that. And then the round of 16 match is on 7.

Saturday. We want Morocco to win, right? That's who we'd prefer. I mean, both of them are going to be tough. We'll talk to all of this. It's kind of funny. Like, I kind of want to shot at the Dutch. Like, here's the thing. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I do. I know you're riding a high right now, bro. I do because, because I want to see Canada

play like a team that I associate with the elite of world football. Of world football. Because I don't think we got. bought it in Qatar. I, you know, this is the least we want Florida vibes to it. I don't like this one.

I'd rather than play the team that can maybe beat. Laddie, Laddie. I know what you mean. Morocco is not much worse than the Netherlands. They are a very, very good side. And I want the,

you know, if any Canadian fans go to Houston, I want them to enjoy the, the atmosphere that the Dutch fans would bring. I Listen Prove me wrong kids But Canada is not going to win the World Cup

Okay Like it would be one of the greatest stories In World Cup history Or in sports history ever Like it is so unlikely Okay I want I don't I don't really care

Who they win But like I don't think you should think of it Like who if they play Morocco They've got a much better chance of winning They are going to be significant underdogs whoever they play in this next match. And they are going to have to take time to recover from this win emotionally and physically.

And they are going to have to reset. They do have a good amount of time. It's June 29th today. July 4th is the game in Houston. But for me personally, like you said the whole Leaps, we want Florida thing. Like that was because Florida was perceived as. worse, right? That's why they wanted Florida, because Florida was perceived as worse. Not anymore, right? This is a match that, you know, again, I'm kind of like Jesse Marsh.

I see this as a free hit at one of the world powers, and you never know. Maybe they could pull it off. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough. Let's go to the ABLE Auctions hotline. Welcome in Satyar Shah from Canucks Central. You hear him here often on SportsNet 650. We'll get to the Canucks Sat. But how did you feel watching a Canada win yesterday? Well, elated.

Absolutely elated. It was funny because I was sitting with my buddies. And before the game, I'm like, and this screams a zero, zero, nil, no penalties match. And we got to the 90 a minute. I'm like, I can't handle penalties. I can't hit through 30 more minutes and do penalties.

for this. So when you stock, you have scored, I lost my mind. And then we were in downtown, so went for a bit of a walk, it was crazy. It was just, it's just wild to see the nation come together this way and the city be so alive that Canada has not only gone to the knockout stage, they've won a match in the knockout stage, and the city is absolutely losing its mind. I just never thought I'd see you the day. I feel like I was the only one that wasn't thinking this is definitely going to penalties. I thought it was, I was confident. I'm like, I think we're going to score. You know, the subs that Canada was able to bring on, I think

South Africa was getting a little bit tired and, you know, I don't know, it's weird for me having been the optimistic one during a game. This whole, the whole world is throwing upside down. By the way, Sad, I've got to ask you, what were your emotions during the end

of the Algeria-Austria game? Oh my goodness. Absolutely. I mean, it was one of the most gut-wrenching games I've watched. And I mean, the crazy thing was the Iran match, the last one that played in Egypt, Egypt, they scored a goal that was taken off by offside review and they scored with like, you know, four minutes

into added time. And it was a long review. It was just barely offside. That was heart-wrenching. Like, okay, well, you still have a chance to see what happens. And then the way that game went back and forth, 1-0, 1-1, 2-1. And then when Algeria scored, I'm like,

I can't believe Algeria scored because they got to go play Spain, but that's great, fantastic, go do your thing. And I swear they let up. And then you saw the videos afterwards. They went up to Maras after he scored, and he kind of got this like the ghostly look on his face. Like, oh, crap, I just realized what I did.

We don't want to play Spain. I swear they gave up that second goal on purpose. There's got to be an investigation. That's what it feels, man. Just by looking at their reaction, how they switched off all of a sudden at the very end, I mean, it is what it is. But it was one of the most heart-wrenching roller coaster rides

I've been on in terms of soccer, because I thought for sure Iran was advancing after Mara scored. And then to get the... The other one to go in was a gut punch. I enjoyed the confusion around the offside in the Iran match too. By the way, the broadcast didn't do a good enough job of explaining because they need to remember that there's a lot of people that don't watch soccer every day. And they're looking at the Iranian defender or whoever it was. The defender was like, he's like that.

It's like how did they make that decision? But anyway, I'm not going to go into the rule. on offside, but it was offside, barely. It was offside. I mean, there has to be, there has to be, the offside line is two players, right? There has to be two players back, because one's a goaltender and one's a defender, but

soccer doesn't specify goal, it specifies two players. I even think the broadcaster got her wrong because he's like, look at the Egyptian player, he's on, he plays him on side, and the other guy's like, no, and I... The other guy corrected him real quick and almost impatiently. Like, but they should have gone into that more. Yes, they should have

because for a second, it took me off second. I'm like, clear. And then when I saw it, I'm like, my heart sank. I'm like, oh, no, that's the one guy that's behind. That's going to be outside. And I was sitting with some family members, like, no, it's not. I'm like, no, no, I'm telling me, it's going to be offside. I'm like, no, it's going to be offside. And then at the end, it was offside. And the funniest thing about all this is, and this is what some conspiracy theories think. There's people like making these posts about about how this would map a conspiracy and how, like, Iran got screwed. And I'm like, you guys don't know the rules. You can't call something you don't know the rule as being a conspiracy.

Okay. Let's talk about the Canucks. We've already. already gone over Caleb Malhotra and some of the other players that the Canucks drafted. We've talked about how they targeted size in the draft. But what we want to talk to you about is the trades that they did not make at this draft. What are you hearing about the likes of Jake DeBraske, Galeas Patterson, and Brock Besser? So I think the Canucks are still looking to see if they can do some stuff on those players. And I was trying to ask around even today this morning about was anything.

close and kind of got mixed reviews about close. They're like, well, if we wanted to make something happen, I guess we could have, but it's about getting the value that you want. But I think the big thing for those players, and this is kind of one of my big takeaways, looking at the trades that went down, every single player that went for a big asset, we're talking about first round pick, something big back in return, was 25 years and younger, except for Jordan Kairu, who's 28. He went for Carter McMichael, Gastron, and the first round pick.

all the other players, McTavish, Paturka, Nemich, Eklin, Byron, Kachuk, they're all 25 and under. Sebastian Kosa, for instance, all the other guys that got traded, you choose him went for second, third, and a fifth.

Carlo went for two-thirds. You didn't see the big packages to give in to players that were slightly older. So I don't think there was a situation where first round pick was available for, say, DeBras for Pedersen that the Kucson

that the Kucson didn't make. So if that wasn't available for you, and you didn't make that deal, what type of contract, Once that type of deals, me you look to accomplish for next year's draft in terms of picks and prospects. So I think they're so open to making those deals. But I don't think something came across to a table that was like, oh, you got to move this guy because you have a first on the table right now. The big one is going to be Philip Peron.

And I keep hearing that on Philip Peronik, he doesn't want to go anywhere, which is obvious. They haven't asked him the way there's no trade clause. But if somebody does call them, if somebody does make an offer. And here's where semantics are involved, right? Like are the Kinnucks passive by not making calls when they say we're listening or are they actually engaged in conversation listening but also kind of looking to see what's out there. And that's kind of hard to ascertain. But one thing I keep hearing is if somebody put something in front of them that is worthwhile, they will seriously consider it. We'll see what happens here over the next 24, 48 hours in terms of some teams looking to bolster their defense via free agency and the options that are available on the right side specifically.

It's not like this who's who, but there are. are some decent right-hand defensemen available. How does that market talent develop here? What happens with Zach Werencki? I do still wonder in the back of my head, not saying he's getting traded, but just wonder, like, could somebody come calling our Hironic

that makes the Kinnucks think about it? But I do believe they're still looking to move some of these players if they can. And I think for Ryan Johnson, part of it here is, I think he wants to get good value in return to and also set the mark when you're making trades with other GMs that you're not going to just roll over

and take whatever is out there. And I think some people are maybe testing him, see, okay, what is your resolve on some of these players? What's the minimum you take for these guys? And that's the thing that I kind of wonder here that RJ and this new management team kind of navigates is how do they navigate holding firm and also making some trades moving forward.

But everything I understand is that they're still trying and eager to move a player or two off this roster veteran-wise. Why is Horonix so dead set on staying here? Does he like having May and June off? Is that what's going on? Like, it's his right. And I mean, maybe there are family reasons, but I'm just curious. I'm curious to know how certain guys think, you know, Jake DeBrest doesn't really want to stick around, but some guys seem to be okay with it.

Yeah, I do think the family consideration is a big one. Like, I think his family really likes a city. They're very happy here. And those things can obviously encourage players to hold firm and everybody is happy, right? And, you know, so I think that's obviously a big consideration of it. And I do think that he does have some good relationships with players on the team. And I think he genuinely likes a lot of the guys and he likes kind of growing into being a leader. And I'm not seeing he wants to be the captain.

But I do think even when Quinn was here, I heard that what Philip did was he grew into being a bigger leader. There was a vacuum with how things were going this year, right? And how things were going so sideways. And we heard all the stories about, you know, how bad the locker room was. That erronek was one guy that took it upon himself to try to make things better. took it upon himself to take a guy under his wing a little bit. And it seems like he genuinely cares about some players on the team. And believe it or not, he might genuinely care about the crest.

It's something that we don't hear very often from players with the Connect, especially the big ones last of the while. But I do think all of these things of consideration. But chief amongst them, to me, is the family one. So we're talking about the trade market when it's DeBrasque, and Lee's Peterson, whoever it's going to be, I know Marcus Pedersen's name has been floated around two. when you look at kind of you mentioned the players that have been traded free agency coming up

Dylan Larkin Jason Robertson Zach Wrenski their names are out there is it a matter of like hey the Canucks are the backup option for a lot of these teams and and that's going to take a little bit of time to develop I think I mean backup option I guess in a way right because I think the tier one and tier two players are the ones that are usually the ideal targets that teams have so you can view the connects as having some guys that are backup targets in that sense because I think it's very clear and it's very obvious. Larkin's been a lot better than PD, a far better asset. So once Larkin goes, does that create a situation where teams looking at centers would consider Pedersen a bit more? I think Jake DeBrasch, similar thing. He's not a tier one or

tier two wing, but he's a guy that's a middle six, maybe second line wing, but a first power play guy, but not the first guy that comes to mind for a lot of different teams. And I do think once the free agent market kind of settles a little bit. And I think the other thing that's going to potentially, I'm not saying help the connects, but potentially make some of these players a bit, I guess, bigger options for teams. As you see the contracts being handed out already. Beck Malinstein, who I like a lot, he just got, what, $3 million per year over six years. Debrusk is only making $2.5 million more. I know different hockey player, but here's a guy that can score, what, anywhere from five to 10 goals in Malasstein. And I know there's potential if you

figure some stuff out to take another step. And if he does, then he can become a bargain. But you're looking at a, you know, 20 plus to 20, 25, maybe even 30 goals score in a good year and a good situation, making five and a half. And I think that's going to look a lot more palatable to some teams. But if you're looking for a tier one player, there's Jason Robinson available in the market right now, or at least thought to be available in the market. So to Josh's point, whether they're backoff options or not, I think guys that are

far down the list a little bit. And for teams like Vancouver that do want to get a decent return back, that you may have to wait for some dominoes to fall for you to get the offer that would make you move on one of these guys. So there are a couple names that have like kind of been out there but haven't really been as, you know, as as prolific, I guess, as Jake DeBraske, Gurley as Pedersen. Marcus Pedersen, Brock Besser, how like willing are they to consider moving those to? Is it kind of just like, hey, everyone's on the table for the right price right now? Yeah, I honestly think every single veteran player, if you call the, the person will listen on it. And I'm not saying they're trying to move

Besser aggressively. I think the biggest thing of Besser is recently got married. Somebody's married somebody who's from this market. He's been wanting to lock in here for a while. He's finally signed a long-term deal. I think he bought a house here as well. I think he's trying to grow some roots here. Kind of like Hironach, the biggest impediment for Bester is going to be, is he going to, what type of situation would you be okay going to? I think for him, it's a little bit different. I think Marcus Pedersen, this is the interesting one, because I know Daldives mentioned that Pedersen has no interest in getting traded. And I don't doubt it at all.

At the same time, Scheng Peng mentioned who covers the San Jose Sharks, that he believes that potentially he would wave, and he'd seen these situations and believes it could be one of those things where he doesn't want to rock the boat, Marcus Pedersen, but he would be okay going somewhere. So perhaps there's the opportunity. But I think for guys that have the family considerations,

I don't think the biggest impediment is the Knoch. I think it's those individual players. So I don't think any of these guys are completely off the board. Like even for the Pironi, again, I'm not saying they have the same desire to trade him that they have other players, but I do think they're more willing on all their veterans and perhaps they've led people to believe or at least how we viewed on the outside. So I don't think they're married to any of these vets. The one that they'd obviously valued the most is still at Hironics, but I think the value

comes down to, we'll give us something that makes us change our mind about keeping this player. And it's not going to be like a late round pick and a B prospect. I think they want a sizable package in return to in order to take. get to him and then be like, hey Phil, listen, look at the package we just got. We're in a rebuild. We want to keep people. We have to make this deal. And does that get a player to wave is no trade cause or no move cause? But I don't think the connects are dead set against moving any of their veteran players. It is Halford and Brough, Josh Elliott-Wolf, Jason Brough, speaking to Satyar Shah from Canucks Central. So looking at the draft class as a whole for the Vancouver Canucks, we,

this management group, obviously, they made one trade over the weekend, but they haven't made any trades that involve any actual player personnel. Is this the first sign of like, hey, when we look at this class, it's real big, it's real fast. Is that kind of how they want this team to look moving forward? I do think it's a big part of it. And at the same time, from where I heard it was like the guys they took, it wasn't like, well, this is the biggest player available.

Let's take him. Like, they truly believe all the guys they took were the best players on their board. But obviously, in terms of the vision that they have, and it's pretty clear. And I think what Todd Harvey kind of said, lasting a little bit when meeting with the media with the general scrum after day two of the draft was, we're not going to be pushed around anymore. And I think that's a pretty big giveaway about how they viewed the roster in general

and also the prospect pool that they haven't had enough players that can push back. They haven't had enough size. And that's not to say that they're against smaller players or something, a point that was made to me. Because you look at, you have Marco Rossi, for instance, on the team.

They drafted Brady Pruits last year, who's under six feet tall. So there isn't this, I think, this idea that they don't, they wouldn't at all touch the smaller players is they kind of feel like, well, if we already have a couple of the smaller ones and we look at where the national hockey is going, as much as yes, you can use a skill smaller players,

you still need to have a balance. Who won the Konsmaid Trophy this year? It was Jordan's Saw. He's pretty tall, right? Pretty good defensive player. Although it could have been Stancoven. It could have easily been Stancoven, no doubt, right? You can easily make that case.

But to the point is you need some balance. I think Carolina, we also fixated on the smaller, players, they still had some bigger players who made a big difference. Kandra Miller on the back end, Jacob Sleaven on the back end, for instance, right? Like they had four checkers like Martinook that played a big role for the team. So I think you need to have a balance.

And I think the way the Kinnucks viewed it was we have some smaller guys. We're not against drafting them, but we need to find some players that can also really move the needle for it. So they will say every player they drafted was the best player on their board. Did the size play a part into where they rank the player? I think that's a fair way to go about it. But there's a lot of excitement in terms of. And I think within the scouts as well, guys, that they feel like they knock this draft out of the park.

Like they're very excited about the players they got. And there is an acknowledgement very clearly that the reason they're this excited is because they also had a lot of draft picks. And they haven't had a year where they've made so many draft selections. And when you have a chance to draft, you know, 10 and 11 players, you're going to come away feeling really good about a few selections because you finally have that volume, especially at the top end of the draft. Was there any pick that you really liked in particular? Oh, I mean, I love the Adam Novotny picks at the end of the first round. And I also really like the Nicholas Aram Olson pick. Aaron Olson is a player that I kind of viewed as a guy I love to jump on in the second round potentially.

So for the fact to get him there, I was really excited. And I think because he's from Norwegian descent, played in Sweden, of course, those guys sometimes, because they don't have the pedigree, they might be slightly overlooked. And I think he was a lot more physical than people giving credit for and how he played through contact. has a really good release to his shot, has a pretty mature game overall already. It kind of looks as a guy that could end up being a nice goal score that goes drafted in the second round.

But Adam Novotny, I think he's one of those guys that if he hits, every single Connachtman is going to love watching this guy play. Relimless on the forecheck, good wheels, good hands. If he turns out he might even be a decent dual player, like you put him next to whether it's Caleb or Rossi or Kutz and they end up being a dynamic duel. Or at the very worst, he's going to be a real good third guy

in a line that can forecheck. win puck's good defensively and has good enough shot to get you 20 goals if he comes together right on the line. So he's just one of those guys that I think, don't take this as, oh, he has a high floor because he has a low ceiling. I think he has a high floor and his ceiling is underrated. And I think guys like that are really, really intriguing. And I just think he's one of those players that Kinnock fans are going to love when he see him playing the NHL in a couple years. Rick Dahliewell tweeted out about an hour ago, he said, talks continue between the Kinnucks and the Habs about Brendan Gallagher.

we should know soon with the second buyout window tomorrow. Yeah, Gallagher is a buyout candidate in Montreal if he's not traded. And I wonder if the Canucks could pick them up in free agency. If they do buy them out, what are you hearing about Galley? I think the Canucks have interest in Gallagher. I think the two things. One is because they're looking to move some veterans out, I think ideally they want to move a couple of guys out

and bring another veteran or two in. and they'd really want to bring in somebody with some size and physicality and toughness. And there is room right now in the roster to add one or two free agents in that mold and also have guys to fight for roster spots. But if you're bringing a Brendan Gallagher in and you're committing that type of contract to them in terms of, let's say, giving up an asset to make that deal, even if it's a sixth or seventh round traffic, I don't believe that's something that they're eager to do.

If they move somebody out and all of a sudden you have the space, you can send a couple of free agents and some tough guys to, bring in to fight their spots, then it might be a bit more palatable for them to look at, you know, acquiring Gallagher via trade. But I had heard the connection are not really interested in giving up an asset to make this deal happen. If it costs as a seventh or something or a six, like who knows, maybe you just kind of just make the deal or whatever. But I don't think they have much of an interest right now to give up anything consequential to make this happen. And I guess the other thing this week that could happen is that the coaching staffs get filled out in Vancouver and Abbotsford. Yeah. No, I think so too.

I think for Vancouver, that's going to come pretty quick here over the next few days. I believe that Manny has done a lot of this work. I know he's spent a lot of time away from the draft from R.J. and from the overall draft process, but he was with his son, of course, throughout it all. But I heard his big focus has been putting that coaching staff together. And I don't think that they're that far away. So I wouldn't be surprised we hear about the rest of the staff at some point this week. And we're not that far away from Richard Seeley also making.

his decision for the HL coach down the road too. And I think we might know who that is already, but I think it's one of those things where we might just have to wait for it to become official. Okay. Has that name come out? Are you keeping it secret?

Oh, no, I'm not keeping it secret. It's, um, it's, uh, what's his name? Ryan Mujanel. Oh, right. Okay. The providence of the Bruins that, um, yes, yes. That Frank Serra Valley had reported on, but no, nothing's been native. I thought he might be for Manny staff.

Sorry, yes, he's going to be Manny. Yeah, sorry. He's going to be on from Mug. Mani staff. And I heard we have some person, other names potentially. You're right. Mugnell is going to be from Manny staff. But I do think there's been some stuff out there about who the H.L coach is going to be.

I don't know for sure on the name. Okay. But I wouldn't be surprised if we hear that too over the next five to six days. Ryan Johnson must be so busy. He made some comments before the draft that made me think that he was almost in a in a, in a triage situation in Vancouver where he's like, all right, I know I need to get this done. but I need to focus on the hockey team. I don't think people quite understand or appreciate

how much administrative work had to be done by Ryan Johnson and the Siddons and still needs to be done by those guys, not only hiring people that will help him out, but then, you know, just setting up the systems of a whole new management group while at the same time people are screaming, you know, you got to trade these guys and who are you going to be? pick and then you've got all these other people that are like, are you going to fix the

analytics crew? And I'm like, that seems like a problem for later. You know, like I know that the analytics needs investment and it needs resources, but I saw people like it's number two on my list of things to do. I'm like, no, it's not. Like there are so many things

that need to get done and still need to get done for Ryan Johnson. It must be almost overwhelming at times, especially for a guy that I know he's worked in hockey for a long time, but he's never been in NHLGM before. Well, he admitted as much himself.

He even said when speaking to some general managers around the league, they were very understanding about how much work he has to do and how busy he's been putting everything together when talking to other teams about different possibilities and he's gotten great advice and they've been patient with him. That kind of tells you how much has been on his plate that he's kind of citing how he's been dealing with other teams, they're understanding that he's been very, very busy,

doing a lot of different things. And this is part of, not to say the Kinnock's search drug on, dragged on too long, because we all want them to, you know, do their due diligence. But there wasn't a ton of runway by the time he was hired. That was made official. And then you have the draft and then you have free agency and you've got to figure all this out within, you know, a few weeks. So there wasn't a lot of time to begin with.

And when you hire somebody who hasn't been a GM first, you're also learning how to do all this stuff. And as much as you still have someone like Jim Rutherford as an advisor, I don't know. how much they leaned on him. I don't think they're calling him much. Right, exactly. So it's like, even though you can say you have, you have, they are here, but how much did you actually lean on him to help you along?

So all the other people in the front office, as much as, you know, you can talk about their acumen, nobody's been a GM first. So putting all this together, I do think what's going to learn on the fly. And I do believe even Ryan himself, you know, acknowledged that it had been a bit of a process. But one thing I have heard is that as much as there is going to be a bigger evaluation of the scouting department and there's going to be more investment to go into

the analytics department that those departments did feel empowered when rj came in that he was very much like okay like you guys focus on this you do this and i do believe that people felt really good about the overall draft process where ryan did tell them okay here's my vision but i i i empower you guys to really make these calls and and come together in terms of how you want to run this and i think the analytic department was listened to quite a bit as well throughout this process in terms of how they went about their draft picks. So as much as, yes, there's a lot of more work to do and you can question whether it was overwhelming

and could it have had a better process. I think part of the thing that we wanted to see here was allow people that you believe in, or at least that are in different departments, to have a voice and be empowered. And it seems like that process at least happened for the draft and that there was a lot of excitement internally about how that entire process was handled.

Hey, Sat, appreciate you taking the time. this. You got it, guys. There is a sat to your show. You'll hear him later today on SportsNet 650 on Canucks Central as well. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.