Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Best Of Halford And Brough 7/1/24

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

Mike & Jason look at the weekend in sports, they chat the start of NHL free agency with Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, plus they look to the Canucks side of things with NHL.com & In Goal Magazine's Kevin Woodley.  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. You never know what's going to happen to your life first. F*** you, Brooks Cup Cup! Woo! Hey, I heard it's 70 degrees in sunny Edmonton, but they ain't got no cup. La Pantella!

Rawr! Rawr! Rawr! On the prowl! Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Monday. Not just any Monday. It's Canada Day. Happy Canada Day. Not just any Canada Day.

It's Free Agency Day as well. Welcome to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Jason, good morning to you. Good morning and happy Canada Day. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. And Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello.

Halford & Brough for the morning 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, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. Okay, we got to run through things real quick because we're going to have a loaded action-packed show. And the guest list is going to begin in four minutes. Elliot Friedman, Sportsnet NHL insider, is going to join us.

First question for Elliot is going to be who's left for the Vancouver Canucks to sign? Anyone? Anyone? Every minute that goes by, it seems like another big name is off the board so we will wait and see remember when I said that I bet

the Jake Gensel thing gets figured out before July 1st you were right because it did get figured out yeah just not in the way that many Canucks fans wanted it to be figured out Sam

Reinhardt off the board now that also got figured out I think that actually did get figured out on July Reinhart off the board now. That also got figured out. I think that actually did get figured out on July 1st, so it sounds like it happened this morning. We'll get to all that with Elliot Friedman at 6.05, so he's going to join us in just three minutes time as we run

through everything you might have missed from overnight, and then we will try and run through everything that happened over the weekend as well, leading back to Friday's first round of the NHL draft and the second round. Day two was very busy at the NHL draft. 6.30, David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host is going to join us for his final hit of the season.

We'll talk to him about his experiences at the draft on Friday, everything that happened over the weekend, and then everything he expects to happen today as he is working free agency day July 1st. Like, for example, the Tampa Bay Lightning just announced that they have signed forward Jake Gensel to a seven-year contract with an AAV of $9 million. Just announced.

There you go. And Reinhardt pulling in eight and a half. They get that good Florida tax too, right? And the weather. And the weather. And, you know, Stanley Cups, good teams. That helps. 7 o'clock, Luke Fox from Sportsnet is going to join us.

Luke was also in Vegas for the draft and for the awards show and has been writing a bunch on all the moves that happened at the draft, a bunch of trades, a bunch of guys agreeing to stay put where they were. So we'll talk to Luke about all that, Sportsnet, NHL writer. 8 o'clock, Kevin Woodley, NHL.com and In Goal magazine. So we got a big show ahead. It's going to be a little different than we normally do things.

With all due respect to my beloved Canadian men's national team and England national team, we probably won't talk a lot of footy today. In fact, there's a decent chance we won't talk any. We will probably just be doing everything that happened, constantly resetting what's going on with the Vancouver Canucks, what they need and what's out there, and then go back and look at some of the big deals of the day and then things that happened over the weekend.

So that's the plan for today. 8 o'clock, Kevin Woodley. 7 o'clock, Luke Fox. 6.30, David Amber. And then in one minute's time, Elliot Friedman. That's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night?

No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. So as we mentioned, Jake Gensel is off the board. It's official, but he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning after his rights were traded there from the Carolina Hurricanes. A-Dog, do we have Elliot? We have Elliot on the line, so let's welcome Elliot to the show. Elliot, good morning. How are you? Good. How are you guys doing?

We're doing pretty well. Maybe a little bit worried because Jake Genslow is off the board. Sam Reinhart's off the board. Who is left for the Canucks to sign? I can't believe. I'm not used to Vancouver worrying about anything. No, no, no, we're usually pretty easy. Usually such a collected market.

Well, look, like, what do you got? Like, about $15 million? Mm-hmm. So I was talking briefly to Jim Rutherford the other day in Vegas at the Sphere on Saturday, and he had a little smile. Like, they've definitely got some targets. The one thing he said to me was they may not spend all of it.

They may decide to keep some to allow them some flexibility or other things that they might be wanting to do down the road. But I think that one of the things, one of the guys I'm wondering about since the start of the playoffs, I've wondered about Jake Dabrowski in Seattle. And I don't know that that's going to happen. So that's one guy I'm kind of wondering about if he's on the Canucks radar. Um, so let's start with what has already happened. Um, what, what, what was the story with Jake Gensel? Why didn't he sign in Carolina?

Why did he end up in Tampa Bay? Um, I think what happened was with Carolina, they made, I think what he made it pretty clear that he wanted eight times eight from Carolina and, you know, they haggled, they negotiated, that happens. And it just got to the point where, you know, it just got so close to July 1st that he kind of decided, let's test the market. I think in his idea, he felt that Carolina waited too long and the market shifted.

And Carolinas thought they still had time. They let him know on Thursday they were willing to do it. But by that point in time, I think Gensel had kind of realized there were other things out there, and he let his mind wander. And at the end of the day, I think Carolina tried to save it, but they were unable to do so. He already kind of mentally decided he was going elsewhere. What more do you know about where DeBrusque might end up?

You know, like I i said from the beginning i really thought seattle was going to be the team um they're looking for offense he's a western canadian guy um he's he's someone that they uh would seem to have interest in i don't think he's gonna to go back to Boston, obviously. But, you know, someone said to me last night that they thought that my Jake DeBrusque, not Louis DeBrusque, my Jake DeBrusque prediction, which he thought would be Seattle as well, might not come true. So that says to me there's either somewhere else or there is a continued pursuit. And I know he fits the profile of what the canucks are looking for so we'll see um how bad are the feelings right now between

steve stamkos and his former team the tampa bay they're not good yeah they're not good he's disappointed um you know i think the tough thing is you know mike is that if you look at their history but julian breezewell he's not afraid to make tough decisions, and if you listen to his Zoom call yesterday, he made it very clear that every decision he makes is within the prism of what's best for our team, what's best for our group. Well, if you take a look through the history,

you know, Hedman now, this will be the second time Hedman got an extension a year out. Kucherov did, Point did, Vasilevsky did, you know, guys like Brandon Hagel did. These are all, some of them are Hall of Famers and the rest of them are really good players. Sergachev did, but Stamkos never has. He had to wait within days last time and he didn't get it this time. And, you know, even though I think Stamkos is, you know, I think he's a phenomenal person to deal with.

I think he's a tremendous, polite guy. Even those guys are competitive, and they run out of patience from time to time. And this is one of those cases. And, like, to me, there's two guys today. Excuse me, guys. There's two guys today today are the most fascinating because their previous places, they unraveled right at the end. And I think people are still trying to determine who exactly is in

and what the price is going to be. And one is Stamkos and one is Marcioso. And I think it's going to be crazy around them today. Do you have any predictions on where they might end up? Keeping in mind that Vancouver, the whole idea has been sign someone to play with Elias Pettersson, and that's why the Jake Gensel talk gets so much.

You know, Stamkos, I know a lot of people would be excited about the Canucks potentially chasing him, but I think about the Canucks power play, and he's kind of in JT Miller's spot there. So, listen, I don't want to get too into the weeds there. I don't even know if Stamkos to Vancouver is realistic. But, you know, does anyone leap to mind when you think about a potential player to play with Elias Pettersson? Well, does DeBrususwick any sense to you guys uh i maybe maybe i haven't i haven't really thought about it try to contain your excitement

well i mean like what do you have 19 goals last season like i know it's like it always seems to be up and down with him like you know i never know if he's happy in Boston or not. Look, the Stamkos challenge is going to be enormous. Okay? First of all, I think Rutherford and Aldean, they ask on everything. Okay? Stamkos has Nashville, really wants them. Vegas, I think, really wants them.

I think Troits, if they want to be in it, they're going to be in. This Carolina situation is very interesting to me. They've had a tough week, and they've got a lot of cap room and creativity. There's going to be a huge battle for him, and

now there's going to be a big one for Marcia Soto. And the thing is, it's not that Vancouver's incapable of signing these guys, but as we all know, you're, you're, you're talking about guys,

you know, Marcia has been in a no tax state for years. Stamkos has been in a no tax state for years. There's other no tax or low tax states in on this. You know, if it comes down to money, you're going to have to make a huge offer. Who's in on Marchessault right now?

I think a ton of teams are. I think a lot of those teams I just mentioned that were in on Stamkos would be in on Marchessault too. I have to think Montreal is going to try on Marchessault. And, you know, Utah is another team I kind of wonder for him. And plus they're close to where he is now, right?

So I would add those two teams as well. So, Elliot, I'm just reading your latest piece on sportsnet.ca where you've got some predictions. And I've noticed that you've got Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zdorov going to the Boston Bruins. Yeah, I think that's possible. I do. I do. We all knew about Lindholm, but the Zdorov news is a bit fresher, I would say, if that indeed happens. I think so. I heard Boston was taking a big run at them, and there was a lot of rumor last night

that Toronto had kind of given up their pursuit. So I could be proven to be wrong, but that's the team I'm looking at. Do you have any idea what Zdorov's contract is going to come in at? I would guess it's going to be around, like, I think Tanev is going to be six times 4.5 in uh toronto and i think as a door i was going to come in higher than that uh so i think he's probably going to be around six times five ish um tyler to foley you've got this is an interesting prediction

uh you've noted that a few sources think San Jose gets Tyler Toffoli to entice Macklin Celebrini, and you originally thought L.A. or the Rangers. So that's another guy that we've kind of kicked around as a potential to play with Elias Pettersson because they've done that in the past. Well, about a week ago, I think I'd mentioned on the pod that I thought Toffoli was one of Vancouver's targets. But I heard that they weren't going to be able to do or weren't interested

in doing what LA and the Rangers were considering. So I kind of, and you said, I really liked the idea or really thought the idea was plausible. Excuse me, guys have to fully in Vancouver. But then I heard like other teams were ahead of them. And I, Like I said,

it was yesterday someone said to me, watch San Jose. They've got to convince Macklin Celebrini to turn pro. One of the ways you're going to do that is putting someone with them who can score and has some experience. I think Toffoli is potentially one of those guys. We're speaking to Sportsnet

NHL insider Elliot Friedman here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Day one of free agency already underway. Fried, we had a bunch of moves over the weekend. Obviously, Tampa Bay made some pretty big swings. I would throw Utah in that conversation as well. Yes. What's a team that you're looking at right

now? I'm thinking Carolina maybe, but is there another one who's very determined to get something done today and has the cap space, the draft capital, and everything else to make it happen? Well, I think Carolina's a good one because they're kind of like the jilted lover a little bit. So, you know, Alfred, I know you're like Vancouver's biggest heartbreaker out there. So, like, you know, you know what that's like.

I think Nashville is a team that's prepared to do a lot. I think Seattle is a team that's prepared to do a lot. I think Seattle is a team that's prepared to do a lot. And I think there's a bunch. If you look at my list, I'm still waiting to see. Vegas, to me, you don't let Marcius O'Walk without a plan. So are they going to make the big pitch to Stamkos, or have they got something else up their sleeve? It's funny.

The Stamkos and Marcius thing have so much in common because that's where the jilted ex-lover angle comes in. Because Marcius did everything, including very openly and publicly stating that he wanted to stay. But Vegas did what Vegas does, and it was thanks for your time and thanks for your service, but we've got our eyes on a shinier prize. So I'm kind of with you.

It doesn't make any sense that they let him walk unless they've got something really big planned as well. It's just their way. It's their MO, right? And they plan a lot of things, but they'll take a big run at Stamkos. We'll see where it ends up. Another guy that I've heard's name, although a lot of teams would be interested

because he's coming in on a free now, would be Jeff Skinner. What are you hearing around Skinner right now? I heard there were a lot of teams looking at him. The reason I picked Seattle for him is that there's two general managers who've had him before there. Ron Francis and Jason Botterell, right?

So, and Seattle is really looking for scoring. They think that's their biggest Achilles heel. So, like I said, I think there's a ton of teams out there for him, but Seattle was the team I'm guessing. So I know you kind of hinted at this previously, but do you think there's a chance that the Canucks end up keeping some of their powder dry in terms of cap space and they go into the season? They kind of, I mean, they added Zdorov, they added Lindholm.

Maybe they do something similar this season. Yeah. Well, like I said, Jim, it specifically kind of hinted that not spending all of it was a possibility and it worked very well for them last year. So, yes, I do think that that is a possibility for them, Jason. And you know what? It's a smart strategy. You always should.

When you play in Vancouver, people get hurt. Your travel's tough. You need that flexibility. You never want to be in a situation where you're like oh boy like we're really stuck here so i can see him planning for that for sure um is toronto going to be the most aggressive team today jeez i don't know i mean look i think they've really tried like i think they've got a good shot at all of reclin larson on a like three times four ish kind of deal,

but I hadn't had confirmation of that this morning, and technically I shouldn't. I know they're looking hard at Anthony Stollers. He had a really good year in Florida. So I think the teams that are going to be the most aggressive are going to be the ones that try to get Stamkos or Martinsson done quick. Toronto's also supposed to announce an extension for Joseph Wall, who has one more year left on his contract. But yeah, I guess that makes them pretty aggressive.

Yeah. Brad Treliving's got a tough job ahead of him because he essentially has to fix the blue line, doesn't he? Yes, he does. He's really tried to get two defensemen. That was his goal. He's got Tanev. He tried on Zdorov. I think he tried on Matt Roy, who I think could end up in Washington. And he tried on just about everybody. It could be Tanev and OEL. Well, Elliot, I know you've got a busy day today,

so we really appreciate you. Do you have a hair dryer behind me? Was that what that was? Yeah, Gus wants to to blow my hair down. Nice, nice. I like it. I'll be curious to see what your hair looks like because, you know, it's unpredictable. It's unpredictable.

You never know what you're going to get. It is definitely unpredictable. That is true. All right, buddy. Enjoy your day, and thanks for joining us today. Appreciate it. All right, guys. All right.

Thank you. Elliot Friedman getting his hair blown here on the Halford & Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I think that might be the first time I've heard that on a show. I thought that was a car accident. I didn't think that was a blow dryer. James from Richmond texts in to the Dunbar Lumber text line. And just a reminder, if you want to text in with any questions or comments, it is 650-650 Dunbar Lumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner

on Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center, or a Budus in Vancouver, online at DunbarLumber with three stores to serve you in Ladner on Bridge Street, Dunbar Lumber Express at Ladner Center or a Budus in Vancouver. Online at DunbarLumber.com. James from Richmond texts in, Elliot mentioned that Rutherford had a smile on his face. I sure hope he has something up his sleeves because it's not looking good. If there is someone who can pull something off, it's Rutherford. Yeah, I think Elliot was a little disappointed in my reaction to Jake DeBrusque. The thing with DeBrusque is I never know if he's doing well. He seems to be a bit streaky in Boston. Do you know what I mean? There have been times where you hear, oh, DeBrusque wants out of Boston. No, now he's happy, and you look at his goal scoring, and he's had some good years. Yeah, he had a 27-goal season.

He's had a couple 27-goal seasons in Boston, but most recently he's coming off a season where he had 40 points in 80 games, 19 goals in 80 games. He had a really good playoff for them. He was a very good player. But he doesn't immediately come to mind, to me personally, or at least I haven't thought about it. Maybe I'm off on this, but he doesn't come in as a guy that I'm like,

oh, yeah, a guy that he could make sense with Petey, right? No, but I think I do wonder if those guys are now gone. Yeah, they might be. I mean, if you were to look, I don't think Reinhardt was ever happening. No, no. That was a pipe dream of anyone. He was always going to go back. He was always going to go back.

So the money's in on Reinhardt. It's eight years, 69 million, which is quite nice. So it's an $8.65 million cap hit. And that one was sort of, everyone kind of understood, like, okay, that's going to be their first piece. You don't. We didn't even spend much time talking about Reinhardt. No.

Because why would he leave? No, and why would Florida let him go? I mean, he was such a vital part of a Stanley Cup winning team. 57 goals during the regular season, scores the clinching goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. I think a lot of people are disappointed. And I mean a lot of teams, not just a lot of people in Vancouver are disappointed with how the Gensel thing shook out.

Obviously, Carolina's disappointed that they weren't able to keep him around. And what that does is that now makes Carolina even more aggressive to do something in free agency because they've already clearly had a deal lined up for the guy. What is Tampa doing? What's going on with the Stamkos thing? It's so weird. And, you know, Elliot, we asked him about it, and he's like, yeah, Stamkos is not happy about it.

Why him? Why do they pick on him every time his contract comes up? You know, it happened the last time, and they seem to prioritize, like, everyone else. And the fact that, I mean, it could be possibly they didn't want to risk signing him to a contract that they were going to regret, you know, because he's getting older.

They get Jake Gensel in there a little bit younger, but, man, it's Stephen Stamkkos they wanted to get faster right and genzel does that for them at least in the interim like he's going to get older and he's going to get slower but right now it makes them faster because they were a team that started to get plotting like you know like they were always the second fastest team on the ice so they so that happens they're like the old veteran beer league team out there. Right. Like still good, but.

You know, they've won your beer league a couple of times, so they know how to do it. They know how to do it. But they're not doing it as fast as they used to do it. Yeah, but they're like, they've got jobs now. They're starting to have some kids and they're putting on a few pounds. That's right. And losing a step or two.

They're going to miss games every now and again. And they need some young talent. They're going to show up at the end when it matters. Don't worry about the early season games. It's very, it's a very good analogy you're pulling there. So I think that they just did the thing that they've done to everybody else. I think Killorn had a chirp over the weekend, too, talking about how when Julian Breezebon and Sam Bay Lightning are done with you,

they're done with you. Like, thank you for your service. It's time to go elsewhere. They moved on from a lot of guys, right? You can count an entire third line that won a Stanley Cup there with Goudreau and Gord and Blake Coleman, and they're like, thank you for your service. You were great.

Now it's time to go somewhere else. It's obviously different with Stamkos. Obviously, because Stamkos was a much bigger impact player for that franchise than Barclay Goudreau. I mean, Breezeball has also probably going like we haven't won much recently. We haven't done much recently. Statistically. He's been good still.

He's still, no, no, no, but, but the team, the team, maybe,

maybe, I mean, there've been times where I've watched the light and I'm like, maybe they're getting a little bit stale. Maybe they need to change something up a little bit. So our context in, Marcioso would make sense with Petey. Also, how do we feel about Chandler Stevenson?

Chandler Stevenson. He's been linked to the Canucks. Yeah, he's a good player, but unfortunately, according to Elliot and his predictions, if you want to read those up on sportsnet.ca, Chandler Stevenson, Nashville most likely, if not, Seattle or St. Louis. So Elliot's gone out there and predicted Nashville,

and he's even given us a couple of plan B and C, Seattle or St. Louis. I know some people have wondered about Tevo Taravainen. Elliot predicts the Rangers or Chicago in that one. In fact, I'm reading all these predictions. Not one of them says the Vancouver Cucks. I noticed that as well. Although Jake Dabruska is on this list, and he said, I picked Seattle from the start,

have to stick with it. And then he just came on our show today and said, I don't know about Seattle. Maybe it'll be the Vancouver Canucks. Is there a scenario where the Canucks just don't sign anyone? Just don't do anything today? Well, nothing happened. Well, I think they'll sign someone.

I don't know. It might not be a day one guy. Who knows? I don't know if it's going to be one of the top guys though right that's what i'm look they have 15 and a half million dollars they have five slots to fill on the 23 man roster they need a backup goalie that's that's what they've said and four skaters so the skaters would be ideally a top six forward a bottom six forward with speed a left-handed defenseman and then insert extra guy here.

So that's kind of the parameters that the Canucks are working within. Then when you start going down the list and you're looking at this morning and saying Jake Gensel off the market, Sam Reinhardt off the market, Tyler Bertuzzi, in case you guys missed that one, is now a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, signed a four-year deal a short while ago. So things are starting to move where, you know, the boxes that the Canucks want to tick,

the ticks are becoming less and less available. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough. You're listening to the best of Halford & Brough. 803 on a Monday. Happy Monday, everybody. Happy Canada Day, everybody. Happy Free Agency Day, everybody. And I suppose happy Euro and Copa America, because those are still going on as well.

France, Belgium in an hour. Is this going to be a bargain bin shopping day for the Canucks? I think so. Yeah. They're going to winners. Hey, there's some good deals at winners. Right, yeah. They're getting socks.

Getting a FUBU sweater. Getting the original Reebok jerseys. Yeah. There are a lot of Ree original Reebok jerseys. Yeah. There are a lot of Reebok jerseys there. I've seen them. I've seen them. Halpern Rubber of the Morning, Hour 3.

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Kintec. A-Dog went to Kintec. Yeah. You got h provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec. A-Dog went to Kintec. Yeah. You got hokas. You got some hokas. They are so comfy. It's like walking on clouds. Now, not only-

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It's weird. When's the last time you had laced shoes 20 years ago wow yeah what did you just have slip-ons or yeah i just would wear i've my van slip on consistently for like 20 years of my life i still wear them i mean they're comfy but and now you're tying your shoes like a big boy yeah i just as you as one i can see a dog using like the bunny ears method yeah i got it don't worry i got this. Don't need to help. It makes tying shoes fun. Yeah, that's true.

Okay, let's go to the phone lines now. Kevin Woodley, NHL.com, Ingold Magazine. A presentation of White Rock Hyundai here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up, Kev? And someone who hasn't had to tie his shoes in a week but working on the land of flip-flops

for the last seven days. So I come back to reality and to one of the busiest days of the year. How's it going, guys? Good. Summer Cav was in full effect. Where were you? Honolulu for the week. So a little surfing, did a swimming with the sharks cage dive.

And now I'm swimming with the sharks with you guys. Please tell me what that was like, swimming with sharks. It was incredible'm swimming with the sharks with you guys please tell me what that was like swimming with sharks uh it was incredible to be perfectly honest with you i didn't know what to expect uh i have a young daughter who finished her scuba certification to start the trip was one of the reasons for the trip she would very much like to do it without the cage um me not so much i was quite happy to have the cage you feel totally safe out there uh it's not like the stupid movies nobody actually puts a roof on these things so if they fall off you sink they float and there's an open it's open at the top and it is a little bit alarming to sort of

see them that close but like they're magnificent they were six to ten feet galapagos sharks and they're they're within a couple feet and they just kind of are circling around checking you out basically. It's, um, and maybe thinking lunch, I don't know, but, uh, it was, it was pretty cool. Can you pet them? It was up. I love being in the ocean. Um, could be in the ocean.

And literally when we go down there and for hours every day, but that was, that was top of the list experience for sure. A-Dog would like to know if you can pet them. Can you pet them? They were close enough that I could have reached out. I didn't want to be that guy that ended up missing parts of his body because I was the idiot that reached outside the cage.

I'm sure, and I should have asked, I'm sure there's been people that have, but tourist Kevin doesn't want to be that tourist Kevin. A-Dog wants a lap shark. Can you ride them? Maybe in your new hokas you can do anything.

Kev, I don't know how long you've been up this morning, but a lot of the big names are coming off the board, and the Canucks aren't linked to any particularly big names. Elliott Freeman came on the show earlier and suggested possibly Jake DeBrusque to the Vancouver Canucks, but he also thinks that Seattle might be a fit for Jake DeBrusque. Could we see some bargain bin shopping by the Canucks today and maybe keep their powder dry

to add that top six score that we all know that they've wanted to add yeah and um I mean it certainly seems that way it's early but it you know kind of feels like well isn't that how we looked at last year right like like it wasn't they rebuilt the entire defense and there wasn't a flashy name amongst it. Right. Um, so it kind of feels like we could be headed in that direction. And yet I don't know as much as there's that need in the top six, doesn't this free agency,

isn't it starting to feel like, and maybe it's just the shock of seeing Chris Tan. I've got six years at age 34, but doesn't it feel like with the cap going up um as much as i'm sure there'll be a lot of people that are disappointed is this the year to you know go all in and and spend like great like we've seen what that movie looks like don't make the right decisions and so if the names you really wanted at the high end of the pool aren't available to you just don't make the right decisions and so if the names you really wanted at the high end of the pool aren't available to you just don't go and do because you have money to spend i think that would be to me that would be more alarming than having them end up shopping in in in a bit of the

bargain bin and maybe some fans disappointed that sure fine be disappointed they can't land one of the bigger names um but going out and spending crazy money for a lesser name makes a lot less sense to me fully agree with you but they still have to find someone oh yeah so how do they do that then is it in a trade do they have to are they they have to be willing to give up a player i don't know nils hoaglander or one of their top prospects because i was gonna say here's where the problem comes with the trade is, is where are the assets, right? Because they're starting to become a little, like, did you guys see the development camp list yesterday?

Yeah, yeah. Right? Like, obviously there are some high-end prospects, but I think there's also a hope that they grow into roles to lessen the need to shop in free agency in the coming two or three years. So I don't want to say untouchable, but when you look at where they are in terms of draft assets and how much they spent in the last couple of years for some of the trades, for the Zdorovs, for the Lindholms. The idea of sort of going in and then adding via trade sounds great, but at some point you have to have assets left to make those deals.

So I don't really have the answer. I'm curious to see how this all plays out. I've said it a few times already. I think this group has earned the benefit of the doubt with some of the smart bets they made last year. I mean, if you look at defense right now, they're just trying to fill out the third pair, right? As much as a lot of the people in this fan base want them to see them get it

and bring back Nikita Zdorov because of all he meant in the playoffs and all he appeared to mean in the playoffs. Basically, they're just shopping for a third pair right now on defense. And those are important decisions, but they got them right for the most part last year. Let's see how they do, as you said said shopping and what could be a bit of the

bargain bin um and again like we're still we're still almost an hour away from this officially being open even though i think it sounds like a you know we know all these decisions for the most part have been made or at least at the high end uh okay let's focus on goal here. It's understood that the Canucks want to add a veteran between Thatcher Demko being the starter and then Archer Shelov's probably bouncing back up and forth between Abbotsford and the parent club in Vancouver. So they circle back on Casey DeSmit. That didn't really go anywhere.

Walk the listeners through what the setup would look like, like how much shuffling back and forth would Seelovs do, and then who would be a good fit for that number two job there? Yeah, I'm not sure I see it the same way in terms of shuffling back and forth. There are two ways this goes. There are sort of two options. You go out and get somebody who's established in the NHL,

and then, yeah, absolutely. I don't even know shuffling. Cause the better names at the NHL experience level backup position, aren't going to want anything to do with Abbotsford. You know, and there's, there's some like, you know,

three years ago, I, I called Charlie Linger and the best, I said, I said three years later, we'd be looking at Charlie Linger and the best off-season signing of that summer. Like there are guys like that that have an underlying statistical profile

where they might be ready to pop. But there are also guys who are looking for opportunities in the NHL. And I believe the opportunity here is more likely than not in Abbotsford behind Thatcher Demko and Archer Seelov. So you're probably not shopping in that. Like Kevin Lankanen is a guy who most people probably haven't even heard of

or barely registers with him. But I think he's a guy who at 29 is ready to pop a little bit. Like he's a guy who's ready for a much bigger role, and the underlying numbers say he could thrive in a bigger role. But I just don't think they're in that market. Obviously the Loren Brassois and the Anthony Stollers, they're going to command two, two and a half. I think you're looking at, like, at the high end,

like the Magnus Helbergs, who has NHL experience but was willing to play in a three-role in Pittsburgh last year. At the lower end, you're looking at projects like Devin Cooley, who has a ton of upside but is a bit of a late bloomer uh and had some success but also struggled at times when he got thrown if you'll pardon the pun to the sharks with in san jose at the end of last season uh you know the other guys i'm i'm curious akira schmidt not getting qualified but word that he will sign with the anyways after that trade which had me scratching my head but there's a name i'd be curious if he does actually make it to market i would have thought ivan prosvitov would have been right up their alley but he decided to

go to russia and that leaves us with sort of you know the guys like like oscar dansk who has history with ian clark um has some nhl experience or yuri patera who has a handful Ian Clark, has some NHL experience, or a Yuri Patera, who has a handful of games in the NHL, is 25, and checks some of the boxes in terms of, you know, what an Ian Clark goalie looks like. Not all of them, but some of them. And that's the reality of this. You're not going to find the perfect fit when you're shopping at that end of the scale so i think they're shopping for three i don't think they're shopping for a lot of nhl experience and somebody who wants a two role you know like the james rhymers of the world aren't to me going to be on their list um because it's too expensive because as we've said before like there's just not a lot of there

even if they end up with cap space to spend because they can't shop in the sort of the high-end list of free agents to fix the top six um i don't think they're a team that wants to blow it on goaltending pierre lebrun reporting uh that all signs point to brandon montour signing with seattle once the market opens seven years and around 50 million dollars for the right shot puck moving defenseman from Kevin Weeks says it's seven by seven by so Seattle you know getting after it with a pretty big signing there that should help their blue line um Nashville is all over everything right now like the Western Conference like the teams that were sort of chasing that bottom end of the Western Conference play like the teams that were sort of chasing that bottom end

of the Western Conference playoff race, or, you know, I guess Seattle fell out of that earlier than they would like, but they're a team that's been offensively bereft for years. So, you know, they're a team that also has been linked to a lot of sort of higher-end offensive talent. Montour would help it on the back end, but, you know, like the teams that are trying to catch up

to where the Canucks were last year seem to be more active, and I can imagine this market will respond accordingly if they have everything. I mean, I don't think anybody needs to panic, though some people might, but there is a level of curiosity of like, what are you going to do?

Right, and it's totally fair yeah yeah like i i i'm i'm just more curious right now about what they're going to do i'm i'm i'm fairly confident you know jim rutherford has seen a lot in the nhl he's seen many uh free agency days and i know he's not the general manager but patrick galvin is and patrick galvin is an experienced hockey guy although he's not the general manager but Patrick Galvin is and Patrick Galvin is an experienced hockey guy although he's a rookie GM they're not you know they're not based on what they did last season too like they made some good smart signings and they have some made some big moves in Vancouver but I'm genuinely curious to see how they address this team this offseason with the heightened expectations of this team and the fact that they do have guys like Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko under contract. And they've already made commitments to Elias Pettersson, to JT Miller, to Philip

Hronik. They've only got one year left of Brock Besser. This is a window for them. And it's all well and good to say, don't do anything silly in free agency, but it's not all well and good to say, well, don't worry about it. We'll just go with what we have. So I think what you're looking at is kind of what we saw last summer, right? And the problem is, the challenge is, one of the holes that everybody sees existing is requires a bigger spend, a bigger name more likely than not to fill out the top six right to give petterson that winger that we've all talked about for so long um but the reality of last summer and the reality if you go back to when jim rutherford

uh first arrived memory talked about like letting go and bringing back or adding the right two or three players you know each year and how that can make or break like it's smart bets it's smart bets as opposed to big high profile signings as much as they were attached to some of the big high profile names that now appear to be going elsewhere once that is no longer available to you, you have to come up with smart bets around the edge. And as you said, maybe you fill that, maybe you end up filling out that spot with a trade like they did for a Lindholm, like they did for a Zdorov.

Maybe that's how you proceed. Maybe you make enough smart bets that you can get yourself into a position to be a buyer at the deadline to make those upgrades. And it's at least better than trying to upgrade with guys that aren't an upgrade, if that makes sense. But spending all the money and adding term on guys who are like, maybe they could play up there, but they're really more of a middle six guy.

And I think that's ultimately where we're headed. We'll see in the next couple hours, but it sure seems that way as all the big names are linked to other teams. So Freed predicted this, and now Frank Cervelli is reporting that it sounds like the Bruins have done a significant amount of legwork on both Nikita Zdorov and Elias Lindholm as free agency opens. The Lindholm one is predictable. No surprise. We all figured that Lindholm was going to Boston. I hadn't heard Boston discussed for Nikita Zdorov,

although maybe I just missed it. I thought the Toronto Maple Leafs would be going hard after Nikita Zdorov. For the Canucks, Dollywell just tweeted out, Zdorov is done in Boston. So there you go. Oh, he's already finished there. Yeah, it's over. The career's over.

I will translate. I'm a little surprised by that. I will translate. That means that the deal is done in Boston. Yeah. Not that he is done in Boston. Kev, when you think about the way the Canucks reconstructed

their defense last season, yes, they re-signed Hronik. Yes, they'll bring back Tyler Myers, but they need to replace Ian Cole and Nikita Zdorov and those were two of the guys that were out there a lot on the PK in the playoffs and the PK looked pretty good in the playoffs yeah and and like listen they got to where they were like Zdorov was a big part of the playoffs they got to where they were without him ahead of that and to me like in Cole like that's a big one and I understand that he faded you know didn't have the best playoffs got

some tough bounces wasn't at his best as the season went on but we talked like for years we we talked for years about not having penalty killers or not having a good penalty because they didn't have guys that were willing to eat pucks, guys that were willing to get in lanes and block shots. Chris Tanev and Alex Edler, they had never replaced those guys. Right, and Ian Cole maybe didn't replace them in totality as a defenseman, but he sure as hell brought that mindset.

And he inspired it in others. Inspiration will carry over. Others understand what it takes. But, again, you need to replace that. And I think you need to replace that with somebody who's similarly willing to eat a puck, right? Like, that's the thing. For years they had defensemen who were quote-unquote good defensemen,

but, like, and again, one of them's got a Stanley Cup now, and good for him because he's one of the nicest people I've met in the game in Oliver Ekman-Larsen, and now he's on the market again. And he is a guy who can bring some good things to a team. Eating a puck on the penalty kill was never going to be one of them. And that's what they needed him to do here. And he wouldn't. And so finding a guy like Ian Cole, and when you look at the leadership and the things he brought to the truth

telling that he brought to that locker room, and obviously we like it because he spoke to us eloquently and openly and honestly, but I think he also spoke to the group in a similar fashion about what was required what they had done and what they hadn't done and kept them in check a little bit that way um obviously the group is a year more mature now but it's still relatively young on playoff experience and i wonder how much they'll miss both that mentality on the penalty kill on that voice in the locker room and that's why those decisions on that third pair matter maybe a little

more uh you know especially on the penalty kill than the minutes that that that defenseman is going to play overall puckpedia now reporting that the blackhawks are expected to sign Tavo Taravainen for three years with a $5.4 million cap hit. Yes, I know others are going to disagree on this. But to me, he's the meh that I wouldn't chase. And there are a lot smarter people than me that can pipe in and say why he brings a lot of good things. And I'm sure he did. But to me, that's the mid that you don't chase. Right.

At five, at five point four million. Yeah. Uh, well, and that's where this gets really interesting. If you miss out on your big name and they have, right,

obviously Gensel was the one that everybody talked about. Don't chase around the edges. It's got to be smarter bets around the edges. Chicago has the cap space and they need to improve. So they've added Tyler Bertuzzi and now Tevo Teravine, and I get what you're saying. I wouldn't have chased Tyler Bertuzzi either. Did you guys watch him?

Like, that's not a guy. Like, he's not, to me, he doesn't bring everything that we think that the general public thinks he brings. He is a guy that Chicago overspends on. I mean, that's a fit. When I saw that happen, I was like, yeah, that makes sense. I don't think that any team that has real aspirations is going to be able to get him because there's going to be a sort of

eh team like Chicago who has the cap space. We could see that to Foley and San Jose reporting there, right? And that's to me, that's where it gets risky. Don't come out of your boots because you don't have what you wanted to get something that's just OK, but badly overpriced. And you're in a regret in a couple of years.

And I guess that's what I'm saying about smart bets around the edges. And I don't know where they make those bets. I leave the insidering to the insiders like like like Rick Dollywall, the best of the best and the work he does in this market. But I just so I'll see. we'll see where it comes out. I just, I don't expect them to chase and overpay for guys who don't fit their needs. And that, you're right, Jason, that could still very much at the end of this day, leave us with a really big question about, you know, one we've been asking for over a year, who plays with Elias Patterson?

At least we know the answer won't be Sam Lafferty or Ilya Mikheyev. Okay, Cavs. We can still get Mikheyev back. He's in Chicago, too. Wait, we need you. Chicago really loaded up. Okay, Cavs, we got to go. Thanks for doing this.

We really appreciate it. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Kevin Woodley, NHL.com and Inglewood Magazine. Brought to us by White Rock Hyundai. Visit the showroom on King George in White Rock or whiterockhyundai.com. You're listening to the best of Halford and Brough.