Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Have Won The Cup!

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they discuss the Abbotsford Canucks winning the Calder Cup (3:00), plus they look ahead to the NHL Draft & Free Agency with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:21).  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.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- Are you ready for this? History has been made! For the first time in franchise history, the Abbotsford Canucks are Culver Cup Champions! Well, there goes number 32. Calaroli annihilates another one. Big Dumper is objectively a very funny nickname. Yeah, it's good. It's awesome. You think he'll say that on his coffin? a very funny nickname. Yeah, it's good, it's awesome. You think you'll say that on his coffin? Good morning, Vancouver 601 on a Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday, everybody. It is Halford and his bruv. It is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adon, good morning to you.

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

Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get you get paid visit them 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver Hey, Doug, you know what? It's gonna read on my coffin What we are coming to you live from the kintex studio kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step How much would they pay you for that? It's gonna be a lot to carve into the wood my coffin's gonna say Why are you looking at this? This is buried under the ground My coffee's gonna say why are you looking at this? This is buried under the ground

We got a lot to get into on the program today on a Tuesday guest list today begins at 630 Greg washinski from ESPN our NHL insider is gonna join the program He's got a big expansive article up on ESPN right now about all the draft buzz leading up to Friday's NHL entry draft from Los Angeles draft buzz leading up to Friday's NHL entry draft from Los Angeles. Uh, Wish also caught the ire of Oilers fans online by suggesting their prospect pool isn't deep. And then Wish got into some old school online arguing. We'll talk to him about all that at six 30 seven o'clock. Uh, Kevin Kers,

our good buddy flyers reporter from the athletic is going to join us. Philly made waves yesterday by requiring Trevor Zegress from the Anaheim Ducks. Kev wrote yesterday that quote, the pivot on the Flyers rebuild has officially begun. Ooh, we'll ask him what's next for Philly and GM Danny Breyer in the wake of acquiring Trevor Zegress. That's at seven o'clock seven 30 lead singer of corn, Jonathan Davis also. Lead singer of Korn, Jonathan Davis also. That was him. Also a host of Sirius XM NHL radio. We'll get the Zegras trade details from the Anaheim side of things.

You can also check in on the Los Angeles Kings as well. See what their new GM, Ken Holland. Remember that? They hired Ken Holland. What he has up his sleeve heading into the summer. That's going to be at 7.30. Eight o'clock, Julio Caraveta is going to join the program. BC Lions color analyst. The Lions are back in action this Saturday, June 28th with a 4 p.m. kickoff at Mosaic Stadium against the Rough Riders.

Will Nathan Rourke be under center on Saturday? If not, what can realistically be expected of Jeremiah Masoli? Assuming he starts for a second straight week Finally a question to all of our listeners out there Have you bought your tickets for the Sportsnet 650 Jays Care 5050 for challenger baseball yet? If you haven't buy them now go to Jays Care golf raffle Nexus calm I repeat Jays Care golf raffle Nexus calm Buy tickets. It's the chance to win money. Supported by Tiltown. Proudly Canadian owned and operated since 1971. You also get the

help out of Great Endeavor in Challenger Baseball as well. So do it right now. Jayscaregolf.RaffleNexus.com. Working in reverse on the guest list. Eight o'clock it's Julio Caravetta. Seven thirty Jonathan Davis. Seven o'clock Kevin Kurz. Six30 Greg Wyshinski. That's what's happening on the show today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was. We know how busy your life can be. What happened? Missed it? You missed that? What happened? What Happened is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making Did you miss that? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened?

What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened?

What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened?

What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? Our Calder Cup champions they wrapped up their first AHL title last night with a comeback three to win over the Charlotte checkers at Bojangles Coliseum Linus Carlson with the game winner and his AHL best 14th goal of the postseason already sea lobs was named the Jack a butterfield trophy winner for playoffs MVP and The Canucks. Yes, the Canucks have won a title. Jason, congrats to the Abbotsford Canucks, your 2025 Calder Cup champs.

Oh, I know I'm a little bit tired this morning. I didn't get much sleep because I drove out to Abbotsford last night to honk some horns at the West Oaks shopping center. You were there too? Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was a lot of fun.

It was cool seeing social media, um, fans in Abbotsford and, uh. Seven Oaks, but that's fine. Oh, okay. Someone said, someone said West Oaks on the actual, uh, social media. I thought it was, thought it was, that didn't sound right. Anyway, there are a lot of Oaks there.

Some of them in the West. Some have seven. Some of them seven. Anyway, good for Abbotsford. Uh, obviously all the players and the coaching staff and the West, some have seven, some of them seven. Anyway, good for Abbotsford. Obviously all the players and the coaching staff and the Canucks organization as a whole, but also the people of Abbotsford and the people that have been going to these games.

I know they didn't get it done in Abbotsford, but they got it done eventually. And it's cool to see the community spirit around an AHL team. And when the AHL originally went to Abbotsford, it was the Calgary Flames farm team. And I think a lot of us were like, what are we going to celebrate at Calgary Flames team? Are we going to support them? It was just a weird dynamic. So when they moved, this was the dream. This was the dream when they moved the farm team from Utica to Abbotsford. And it really hasn't taken long for that dream to be realized.

They haven't been in Abbotsford all that long. And for the most part, they've been a very successful organization. There have been some times when attendance waned a little bit. And I think, I hope the season ticket holder list grows for next season. I hope people really enjoyed the hockey this year and want to enjoy more of it.

If you look at the AHL attendance, the average attendance, Abbotsford's not exactly at the top of the list. So hopefully that changes going forward Just nice to get a title. Yep. It's nice to get a title Astel just texted me by the way He is up right now and listening to the show. So I'm not surprised I don't think I don't think Brian Astle's gonna sleep for about a week based on what I saw on social media yesterday If one guy was buzzing more than anyone else, it was the play-by-play voice of those Abbots for Canucks

So a couple news and notes to pass along from that yesterday the play-by-play voice of those Abbotsford Canucks. So a couple of news and notes to pass along from that yesterday. There is a West Oaks mall in Abbotsford. Yeah, that's what one texter texted in. Oh, okay. Yeah, and then another one texted in, West Oak, isn't it seven Oaks? And then someone finally put it together

that they have both. Why is everything named Oaks, Abbotsford? We'll never know. Did they have to decide as like which one are we going to? Answer was both. So kudos in order for a bunch of different people. Let's start with the coach of the team,

at least for now, Manny Malhotra, the first rookie head coach to win a Calder Cup since Jeff Blaschel did all the way back 13 years ago for Grand Rapids and Jeff Blaschel went on to coach not one but a couple of NHL teams. Be very interesting to see what happens with Manny Malhotra next because his coaching star has risen to great heights. Should also point out that Manny becomes the 19th person in history to win a Calder Cup, both as a player and as a head coach.

I got a little bit of audio here from Manny yesterday. This was his post game walk off interview with Lindsay Horsting, uh, formerly of sports net six 50 talking about the team itself. And you know, you get these questions in the aftermath and you're running through your answers cause you kind of want to go party with the guys. But Manny actually takes a pause here when she asks about the questions in the aftermath and you're running through your answers because you kind of want to go party with the guys. But Manny actually takes a pause here when she asks about the belief in the room and really gives it a moment here to think about what they built in Abbotsford over the course of this year. It's a brief clip,

but I thought it was a good one. Here's Manny Malhotra after the Abbotsford Canucks captured the 2025 Calder Cup championship. What's the belief like in the room? Far greater than I ever could have thought a team could have. They all believe in one another, they believe in our system, they believe in the culture that they've built and that's the main reason that we're called the Cup Champions. Well you won the Calder 25 years ago as a player and now you've won as a coach. How special is

this moment? Extremely special. Obviously a different feeling as a coach. How special is this moment? Extremely special. It obviously a different feeling as a coach, but to watch the journey of this team throughout the course of the year and watch them grow as players and watch us grow as a team, it's such an unbelievable feeling as a coach. The other big reason that the Abbots for Connects were able to win this was in net. And we mentioned that R see loves won the playoff MVP the numbers that he put up through over the course of this playoffs are eye-popping a 201 goals against average which we all know is the most important goalie stat goals against nine 31 save percentage over 24 starts and

five shutouts along the way including 28 in last night's game six victory a game in which shutouts along the way, including 28 in last night's game six victory, a game in which Abbotsford trailed to nothing early. And then they and Artie Sealov slam the door shut. Sealov's tied an American hockey league record for wins in a single postseason. It was a remarkable run for him. I think early on, he staked a claim to being their most valuable player with the work that he did early in these playoffs.

And that continued on to the Point where even with Linus Carlson's heroics and the amount of goals that he put up There was really no question about who the playoff MVP was going to be at the end of this if Abbotsford did win It's a great thing for Seeloff's I know we've mentioned it countless times on this program about how difficult a year a year was for him professionally especially early on becoming virtually unplayable in Vancouver, being demoted to that sort of, you know, Nether, Neverland, where you're the third goalie

in the organization, which means you're not really playing at the NHL level and you're not playing enough at the American league level. For him to be able to turn this around, and still at a relatively young age, it's a great thing. I don't know what it means long term for Seal off. He's still got two pretty big roadblocks organizationally in Thatcher, Demko and Kevin Lankanen.

But now, but I think. Yeah, but I think we should probably ignore that at least for a day and celebrate a guy who, when faced with adversity, when faced with challenges, didn't just rise to the occasion, I think surpassed everybody's expectations. Cause this was a hell of a run for Marty C. Loves. Well, while we're on this, this topic of, um,

you know, turning a season around, I would say Baines deserves some kudos as well. Turning that playoff around. Man. Well, I also think, you know, he got sent down from Vancouver and I know at the time, certainly reading the Dunbar Lumber text line, not many people were too thrilled with what Baines provided the big team.

And I didn't think it was very good. I thought Lina Skarlsson was the best of the callups. And I thought, you know, guys like Max Sassen showed better than Baines. I don't think, you know, Baines has had two years of getting the odd chance and, you know, each time we say, oh, maybe this will be the time and he didn't. And that can be distressing for a player.

Like you get to the NHL, you get your chance and you're like, oh, I don't feel like I grabbed it. And the story with Baines is that, and the story that we like about Baines, he's an undrafted kid. And he always just finds a way. Right? And I don't want to say I'd given up on him as an NHL player,

but I kind of moved on to other guys that I was more interested in. Sure. And then Baynes, I don't know the exact story, but I don't think he was producing that much. What was it? Early in the playoffs, he wasn't producing much. Just-

There was a double digit goalist route in terms of games played. He wasn't scoring, although it was Brandon Astle who's listening right now and shout out to Brandon. Great call yesterday, by the way, pointed out that in addition to a lack of finish, there was also a lack of luck along the way. So that can also get you down.

Right. Right. And then that pass to Carlson on the winning goal was brilliant. I mean, I watched it a number of times just to appreciate it. And you know, I'd like to ask the listeners actually, one of the things we want to discuss today was which member of the Abbotsford Canucks will have the best NHL career with Vancouver? So this is, this is kind of a tough one because

first you have to determine whether they have a promising NHL career ahead of them at all. And then you have to decide if we'll actually be with Vancouver. So let's take you through some candidates. Sealovs. Yep. Carlson.

Baines. Max Sassen. Seelovs. Yep. Carlson, Baynes, Max Sassen, Ty Mueller, Lekkeramacky, Mancini, Kudriatsa. I'll sleep on that last one. Um, Seelovs, Lekkeramacky and Mancini have all had their names come up in trade speculation,

although that's purely our speculation. I really like Carlson and I like what I hear about his work ethic and his desire to get better. I really like Carlson and I like what I hear about his work ethic and his desire to get better. I saw him interviewed last night and the one thing that I really loved is every answer, it was thanking his teammates, it was thanking his coaching staff, it was an appreciation for some

of the guys like the captain Chase Waters and Stevens that had been there for a while. His appreciation for them wasn't about himself, it was about the team. But all that being said, which is great for Linus Carlsen, I also acknowledge that he's a 2018 draft pick while Lekar Amaki is a 2022. When Carlsen was Lekar Amaki's age, Carlson was still playing over in Sweden.

So each of these guys makes a compelling case. You know, I already talked about Baines and how he lost a bit of his developmental momentum this season. You know, you just want to see guys, it's not going to go perfectly. Yeah. But you just want to see you guys bounce back.

Silav's bounce back, Bain's bounce back. A lot of these guys down in the AHL have faced a level of disappointment in their careers. And it's nice to see them overcoming that and just working, just work hard. I wonder if we see that line of Baines, Sassen, Carlsen at training camp next season or even in some pre-season games. As for Sealofs. They have a decision to make on whether they see him in the NHL next season.

Winning the AHL MVP is going to put him on a lot of teams radars. I mean, he's got a pretty good trophy case and he's got a lot of accolades. If you want to talk about stuff outside the NHL between his international accolades and what he's done in the American league, he's got a lot. He really struggled in the NHL early this season.

He did. Yeah. And that happens to goalies sometimes. And it's going to take someone with far more know more goaltending knowledge than me to perhaps to determine even more, uh, to determine whether, you know, what? Yeah. Yeah. I said it. I said it. What, whether like, doesn't exist. Does this apply to the NHL?

Can you- how different are the shooters in the AHL, how different are the situations in the AHL compared to the NHL? And can you say, okay, he just played really well in the AHL, we can make you our backup for next season. really well in the AHL, we can make you our backup for next season. That is a big, big job for a team that would be a bubble team.

I mean. That's it. It's a huge job. You cannot run Lankenen or certainly Demko, but Lankenen is probably going to be the guy, probably. Uh, like you can't, it was, well, especially if Demko is traded, Lankenen is going to be the guy, probably. Uh, like you can't, it was, well, especially if Demko's traded, Lankton is going to be the guy. And you can't be like, okay, well, you have 65 starts. No.

C-lobs you're getting, you know, 17 or whatever. No. Like C, you have to say like, okay, C-lobs, first of all, you're not going to be playing every day. Like you were down in, in, in Abbotsford on this run. You're not going to be playing every game. So you're going to have to get used to being a backup.

Do we trust you in those situations? And I know there's a lot of excitement around Sealovs, but there was a lot of excitement around Sealovs heading into this season. Sure. Because he had played, he played well for Sealovs in the playoffs, but if you looked at his numbers, they weren'tofs in the playoffs, but if you looked at his numbers, they weren't

terrific numbers in the playoffs. So that's a very, very, very tough one because he, again, he's now on the radar of other NHL teams, that Butterfield trophy. Ah, the Butterfield. The old Jack A Butterfield, I think that's called that. It is. That means a lot when you win, you win it like as a goalie.

Sure. Especially some really good goalies have won that. Kerry Price won it one year. Robin Lainer won it. A lot of goalies have actually won it. Michael Neuvert, remember him? Yep. He won it.

One of my, one of my favorite old Maple Leafs, Alan Bester. Yeah. He won it. Going way back in the day. So there've been a lot of guys that have had NHL careers that have won that trophy. And so the connects are really going to have to make a decision here.

And then I just want one last point. How about Kudriatsa rocking a plus 18 in the playoffs, Halford? You must love that. Plus 18, you love your plus minus. So good. He must be a plus 18 in the playoffs, Alfred? You must love that. Plus 18. You love your plus minus. So good. He must be the best player on the team, right? When I saw the number, I had to change my answer to the question,

which member of the Abbotsford Canucks will have the best NHL career? Because if you go plus 18 in the postseason, you are on your way to super stardom as far as I'm concerned. I don't, I actually, I'm really intrigued right now by, there's two positional pushes that I wonder if they'll have enough of a knock on effect to make things happen this summer at the NHL level with regards to the trade front.

The one, and we went over it pretty thoroughly, is the goaltending. I'm still, I'm sorry, I know it's the morning after and we should be celebrating and not looking anything glass half empty, but I'm still very hesitant and underlined very like six times, very hesitant to take this Jack A Butterfield MVP performance and try and translate it into being a full-time backup

at the NHL level next year. I'm just, I am. I probably saw too much last year. I saw too much. I'm too scarred. It's like seeing too many horror movies, but I, whatever. So there's one though, there is a possibility. I think it exists that Sealabs could make something happen to force the hand of management because of how well he played. I think Kevin Woodley has done a lot of Edmonton radio lately just to talk about Demko. Right.

There's a lot of Demko talk in Edmonton. There's a big debate about whether they even want them, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Because if I go back to my point yesterday and saying that you have to be open to moving anybody on the roster and if Demko could get you a big or significant return in terms of a roster player.

I think it was reported that Demco could be had, the fourth period reported that Demco could be had for a young, controlled forward. So if that's the case. Cost controlled. And you go with that logic and theory from yesterday that sometimes a bold move needs to be anywhere in your lineup to try and bring a piece in, then maybe that's the one.

So there's the goaltending part of it. The other part of it. And again, if you're talking about making a deal where you're going to move something of significance, maybe you take it from the deepest part of your organization. You take it from your blue line, because during this run, I do I do wonder how much guys like Mancini and Kudratsev have improved their stock to the point where if you look close enough,

maybe you squint a little bit, maybe you're really optimistic. You're saying maybe these guys could get fast tracked. I mean, in the case of Mancini, he has had a handful of games at the NHL level. And in the case of Kudratsev, I think at the very least, it wouldn't be or so it wouldn't be harmful. I think it'd be worth a look where you kind of play two games for them last season. Sure. But more of a look where you go kind of with the DPD approach, where we're going to give them the opportunities

and we're going to put them in some positions. We're going to see how he fares. And with DPD, it worked out because what you saw was a guy that kind of blossomed in those opportunities, right? Yep. Showed a lot of the characteristics that and some with the especially with the fight, you didn't even know that he had. And if that is the case, maybe you get lucky and you strike gold with one of these young guys and you're able to move off another piece on your blue line.

That's those are maybe the two biggest takeaways for me, organizationally, of what happened over this run is there's some guys that really kick the door down in terms of where they're at in the organization. Yes, it's an American hockey league title and yes, at the end of the day, it's always going to be secondary to what happens at the NHL level. But I go back to what I said earlier. When you talk about opportunities presented and giving guys prove it moments, this is the biggest one you can have at that level.

They're the only guys in North America playing hockey still. Right. Everyone else is done for the summer. This is it. The Calder Cup was their opportunity to show we can play at a high level. The beauty league still has to take place. Correction. There is still the beauty league going on so you can you can look at these guys and say Seal of's Carlson go down the list They got handed a great opportunity to show something where the pressures on and there is a you know an impetus on winning And they really thrived they really thrived this maybe up their trade value good management be like well

Maybe a team will take a fire on C-Labs. We could use him as a trade chip. I can't see C-Labs having any trade value. Really? Not much. He won the MVP. Yes, he did. And they're teams that need goalie.

He's still my clear waivers, you guys. Yeah, I know, yeah, yeah. That's goalies for you, though. That's goalie value. I mean, the Canucks plucked Lankton off the unemployment line in September last year. Right. It's just it's the nature of the goaltending position. I'm not sure that anyone who saw sea loves play at the NHL level NHL level last year saw this run is like we're going to give up a

very tangible asset. He might get you a fifth, sixth or seventh round pick and return, but I don't think there's enough value in the asset to get something really interesting. Well, and the final question in all this is, uh, what's next for Manny Malhotra? I, like things are. He could be the big winner of all of this, by the way. You know, now that the Calder Cup is done, people have wondered for a while, do the Canucks have something in the drawer, a trade in the drawer that they were just waiting for the Calder Cup to be over with?

We'll find out on that. And people have wondered, man, why are the Dallas Stars taking so long to hire their next head coach? Haven't they kind of been through all the guys? You can't ignore it. No, you can't. You can't. It's like what? Would you be waiting for what would you possibly be waiting? Yeah? Do you think their a HL coach Neil Graham is like which would make that decision now?

Let's go should be like he should fall on his sword and be like I lost him Annie Mel Hocher He deserves this because he did he bested him in the playoffs. I don't know In a way, it makes no sense for Dallas Because they've got internal candidates. You mentioned Derek Graham, but they've also got guys that have, you know, the La Violettes and the Galants of the world, guys that could come in

and maybe just not be Peter De Boer. But at the same time, what young coach has had his star shine brighter than Manny has over the last three months. Like, there's just not one around the pedigrees there. He played nearly a thousand games in the NHL. He's been behind an NHL bench twice as an assistant. Now he's gone the American League route and won a Calder Cup in his first kick of the can. Like, again, if you're talking about the next in line young, young up and coming head coach,

Manny would probably be on anybody's list across the NHL. Just wonder if it's gonna be for Dallas. Okay, we gotta go to break. Sorry, did you wanna get something in there real quick? No. Okay, before we go to break, I need to tell you about the Vancouver Giants. It's never too early to get

your Vancouver Giants Seasons tickets. Tickets start at under $19 at VancouverGiants.com forward slash season tickets. Greg Waschinski from ESPN is gonna join us next. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drance. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. 6.32 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody.

Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. at 6.50. Halvard and Brev of the Morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Greg Wyshinski from ESPN is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour one. Hour one of this program 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. To the phone lines we go. Greg Wyshinski joins us now courtesy of the Power West Industries hotline here on the Halford and Bruff Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Wish. How are you? You know, we cut it close this morning, boys. It's election day here in New York City. We're trying to figure out who the mayor could be. Right.

And I had to vote at an elementary school and they used to build those things as bomb shelters, right? So nary a cell phone signal is getting in and out. But I've done my democratic duty. I've cast my vote for the most anarchistic candidate. And, and here we are talking hockey. Is that, is that Adam's guy? Is he part of the race or is he, is he out now?

It's going to be to see who like takes him on or hopefully replaces him. But it's amazing to me that you guys are across the continent and are aware of our extremely weird ass mayor. That's encouraging. Yeah. Yeah. You've had a few interesting mayors there in New York City.

Haven't we? Wish. We in Vancouver are waiting for stuff to happen. The Abbotsford Canucks won the Calder Cup last night, so we're wondering if that could open the door for the Canucks to make some trades, if they've been holding things on any of the players that might be involved in the Abbotsford run. And also the head coach there, Manny Malhotra, we've noticed that Dallas still hasn't hired a head coach and we wonder if he might be in the mix there.

Was the Trevor Zegras trade yesterday kind of like the start of it all? I mean, that's Andre Barakoski erasure there, isn't it? Oh, sorry about that. Yeah. No, like we'll get cracking. We're getting rolling a little bit here, I think, as far as the trades and everything go. I mean, the closer we get to the draft, obviously, if you have a pick in the first round and then that's in play, then you're going to want to trade that before the draft. So we'll see what happens there. But, you know, ultimately, I think it's going to be

busy. Like, I really do. I think the cap going be busy. Like I really do. I think the cap going up would indicate that teams are going to want to add, you know, they want to retain what they have, but they're also gonna want to add with the flexibility to do so. And this is just a theory. I have no way to back this up. This is just a theory. Like the Florida Panthers were a team that built through trades, you know, and if we're talking as we often do about copycat leagues and stuff like that, I

mean look no further than how they got Bennett and how they got Reinhardt and you know how they got Jones and Marchand and all these guys, like it's not through the draft. I mean in a way it's through the draft because they traded away draft picks and prospects for them. But, uh, but maybe we'll just see teams be more aggressive because of how the Panthers ultimately built their championship run. Okay. So up at ESPN right now, the draft buzz article is up there and it's a good piece by the way, I recommend everyone go check it out because it's got a

combination of trade stuff on the horizon, but also what's going to happen on Friday or what might happen Friday when the actual draft gets underway. So does the draft really start at number three this year? Is that when it's going to start to get interesting? There's, there's some people that think that from Dell could go to, okay. I tend to believe it's going to be chafermisa like pretty concrete. So to answer your question around about, well, yeah, I do think that the draft probably starts at number three. I'm a James Hagens observer. I'm

fascinated by this kid who, you know, was ranked first overall by Bob McKenzie at the beginning of the season and then, you know, now is, I think, eighth in the latest Bobby Margarita poll of his scouts and executives and that's kind of crazy to me. Like that kid has immense talent. I know he's a little bit undersized. But as I wrote about in that buzz column, there was some chatter going around near the Stanley Cup final about the idea that the the Islanders might have their K-8 take shape for first because I think he's he's the clear number one in my book, um, both from, play and also personality. And then figure out if there's a way to trade into later in the first round to

see if they can pluck the, the, the, uh, long Island kid, um, and Hagens because the fans clearly love them and that's a team that could, you know, try to sell a ticket or two and enable. Yeah, I mean, we'll see how it plays out, but I think that's that's something that they might explore. Greg, we're just going to drop the call real quick and then try and pick it back up. We've got a connection issue here. We are speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. A couple of things that I do want to ask him, because he spent so much time on the road in the Stanley Cup final, covering the Florida Panthers.

He's got something on the big three there in terms of their free agents. That's, of course, being Sam Bennett, Aaron Echblad and Brad Marchand, and the possibility of bringing back all three. And then we'll pivot on to some other teams as well. Again, you are listening to the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. We got ESPN, Greg Wyshinski efforting to get them back on the line here with a connection issue.

And, you know, it's going to be interesting to see what Florida does here, who shakes loose. And then if anybody shakes loose, how it impacts the rest of free agency. We got Greg Wyshinski back on the line here now, which we got your

answer about what's going to happen at the draft there. I did want to pivot now to the Florida Panthers, a team that you covered very closely over the last couple of weeks on route to their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. The big three potential free agents there that we were just talking about Eklad, Marshawn and Bennett. You wrote about the possibility of the Panthers bringing back all three. How likely is that possibility?

I think it's I think it's fairly likely as long as Aaron Echblad decides he wants to accept the contract that the Panthers will offer him. Then it's like locked. Obviously, everyone's seen the video by now of him basically announcing his return to the Panthers via a Wolf of Wall Street meme at a club in Miami. And then and then Marshand, you know, he was the one I was convinced was gone because everything I heard when I was covering the final was that he was just gonna go for the largest amount of money he could he could conjure up in free agency because

he was undercompensated during his time in Boston. But the more I've heard about it and being around the team, he kind of got the same sense. Like he likes to fit, he likes the lifestyle, he likes the opportunity to win, and there may be a way to incentivize a contract in order to keep him there. be a way to incentivize a contract in order to keep him there, which is kind of surprising because I really thought that he would be the one to move on. The Ekblad thing is tricky because they've been trying to find a middle ground with him for quite some time.

Like they had a contract offer rejected last summer. They were snooping around seeing if a trade was possible for him last summer as well but you know he they like him and and I think they love the the way the top four their D is structured right now with him and Forsling and then allowing Seth Jones to be a second pairing defense and which is where I think Bill Zito ideally sees him so we'll see if they can get if they can bridge a gap and come to a number I know he wants to stay but it's gonna have to be within the salary structure the Panthers need him to fit into.

Which team do you think will be the most different next season? That's a great question. Dallas would seem to be the answer in some ways, if we were to believe about some of the noise surrounding that team right now, I think the Rangers are a team that's going to be active, but I ultimately wonder if this is a multi-year project considering the amount of holes that they have in that lineup. But I don't know if there's really going to be a team that just slams down the nuke button and changes dramatically. I think there's a lot of teams that kind of like their group and just want to kind of augment it instead of radically changing anything. What do you think is going to

happen in Buffalo? I'm sure a lot of teams circling the Sabres and wondering about some of those young players that don't sound like they love being Buffalo Sabres and you can hardly blame them, whether it's Bowen Byrom or JJ Peturka, a lot of noise around the Sabres. Yeah, they're both gone. At some point the noise becomes so loud that it's become sort of undeniable.

And in Peturka's case, I mean, that's just a situation where every megaphone him and his camp can find, they are proclaiming that he's going to be on the way out. And I think that they know that he needs to be on the way out via trade versus via offer sheet because then there's always the chance that the Sabres you know match and and all of a sudden you're stuck there so yeah I mean I I would be surprised if if one or both are still on the roster in October but but we'll see how it shakes out but Turk is such an interesting player I mean I think that he is the kind of guy that a number of teams would love to add to their their middle six But but we'll see what the what the Sabres asking price on that is

We're speaking to Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the Halford and Bruff show on sports net 650 The team that the Florida Panthers beat the Stanley Cup final the Edmonton Oilers wish How do you see the goaltending situation playing out this summer? Because it seems like everyone has questions about the Oilers goaltending except their general manager. It's an interesting, Stan Bowman's defense is interesting because I don't think he's necessarily wrong. Like Skinner and Pickard were the better goalies in the three series

like Skinner and Pickard were the better goalies in the three series leading up to the Stanley Cup final. You could make the argument. It's probably a lot in the in the Stars series but but you could definitely make the argument that that that that was the case in the previous series especially after Pickard took over the series. But that being said, I mean, the flip side of that is that in game six of the Stanley Cup final, the Edmonton Oilers had to decide who was going to play goal for them. And that is, that's embarrassing.

That's absolutely embarrassing. That's an embarrassing place to be. And it's a problem of their own making. And so when we start thinking about the bigger question for Edmonton, which is what is Connor McDavid going to do, you know, one of the things that that obviously is going to be part of the quote unquote plan going forward that will hopefully keep him in Edmonton is solving this problem, is solving this conundrum. I think they all love Stu Skinner,

they love the way the Pickard battles, but then they look across the ice at the Florida Panthers and see a guy who makes every save you need him to make at the times in which you need him to make those saves. Like the amount of times the Panthers pounced on Edmondson in the first period is sort of like inexcusable when you're trying to win the Stanley Cup. Like it's no way to try to win a championship series. And the reason they were able to do it is that the Oilers couldn't get a save and then Bob arguably had his strongest period in the first period

when one goal the other way could have maybe changed the dynamic of the game. So they're definitely, I think they definitely have to make a change but I guess the other question is like what does that change look like because the U UFA market is puddle outside of the Jake Allen. I don't know how much he moves the needle. And then we come back to the other thing about McDavid's thing there, which is that, you know, the cupboards kind of bear. McDavid said it himself. They don't have any high end prospects knocking on the door.

A lot of their draft capital has been spent for this year. You know, you look at the Panthers, you look at all these contending teams and teams that have won the cup and how many of their futures they've traded, they've all been for effective things that ultimately led them to win a championship. The Oilers have sent futures out for players that haven't necessarily done that.

And they don't have much beyond that. So saying you want to fix the goal setting is one thing. Actually having the capital to do so is a completely different story. What do you think Vegas is going to do this off season? They got Jack Eichel with one year left before he's UFA, so they'll have to make a decision on him. Mark Stone isn't getting any younger or healthier, and Alex Petrangelo might be the biggest wild card right now.

We don't even know if he's going to be able to play next season, but we all know that Vegas is aggressive and I don't think that ownership there is going to be like, oh, maybe she'd rebuild. I'm less concerned about the Petro thing because they have Theodore and Hanifin. Like it's not as if they don't have, you know, two guys that have the ability to anchor their own D pairings. It's obviously a downgrade from Alex Petrarangelo, but by no means is it like they're completely screwed. They're going to probably find Marner.

I mean, that's the prevailing thought from around the whole that Vegas is the leader for Marner and there might be a fit there and you know if Stone and Eichel are still there then I think that's an ideal landing spot for him because it takes the pressure off of him having to be the guy like you have guys that won before you have a room that that has a bunch of rings in it and and you aren't the person who is you know has the world on your shoulders to try to lift them up to a championship they've already won. You just have to kind of fit into what they do. And so I think, I think for Marner, like, that's a really good landing spot if they can make the money work.

But then you get to the other part of the equation, which is the interesting part, which is Eichel, you know, for all the attention we've given McDavid, potentially waltzing into free agency next summer, Eichel's got one year left on his deal. And there's, there's a cottage industry of people that believe he's going to end up back east, either with the Rangers or with the Bruins. So, I mean, I don't know if the Marner thing expedites that.

I don't know if the Marner thing slows that role in the sense that now he'll have another superstar on the roster, who knows, but you know, there's that other part of what will happen to the Vegas Golden Knights right now that's kind of intriguing. So Pierre Lebrun's got a theory that he wrote about it in the athletic that we're going to see some action this week and obviously in free agency.

But he thinks that because there are so many teams that want to get better, that want to address things and because there is cap space, we might get more quote unquote hockey trades later on in the summer as the talking continues. I just find it, you know, here, so many of these teams, you know, I want to ask you about Anaheim and Columbus, and we know that Seattle has been

working hard to improve their team. I just don't know if anyone's or if like even Columbus and we know that Seattle has been working hard to improve their team. Um, I just don't know if anyone's or if like, even like most teams are going to get their needs met this week to the point where they might have to consider working into the summer and trying to work on some hockey trades to address the changes that they want to make. I don't know what the hell any of that means.

Like we see hockey trades all the time. We see trades late in the summer all the time. But more so than usual, just because we've got the cap space. And that's Pierre saying he really wants to just take some time off and he's worried that he might have to write something on the next one. That might be possible too.

Let's be honest. I mean, at the end of the day, we're all writing for our own needs. I mean, look, I think the more interesting trend for me is what we saw in the Zegras trade, because it does also sort of in a strange way, track back to the Panthers. Like how did the Panthers end up with their Kahn-mith winner? They bought a guy who was a high draft

choice who didn't actualize on his team. They paid a pretty hefty price for him at the time. It doesn't look that much in hindsight but at the time it was a pretty hefty sum and they got him from a team that frankly didn't want to go long term with with Bennett because they didn't really believe in him. Like they thought that maybe he had plateaued, he wasn't gonna get much better. And so Zegra is very much that kind of player. I mean he's a guy that probably wasn't going to ever get any better in Anaheim than he was. He was a guy that wanted to play you know a different role and maybe the

Flyers give them that role. But I think the more interesting trend is to find these guys who otherwise might receive a bridge contract and hope things go well and try your best to pounce on them and add those kinds of players to your group that are late late early twenties, you know, just like that's the kind of trade that I think teams are, are, are trying to make and should make. Um, because I think that's sort of the secret sauce to some of these championship teams and what they've been able to accomplish. Do, do any names come to mind for you now that Zegras is off the table?

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, Keandre Miller's one. Yeah, I was just, that was the name that would come to mind for me. Yeah. He's, he's probably a little bit more established and I, but I mean, also in the same way as Zegras has sort of trended down a little bit with the Rangers where they've, they've

attempted to give him a larger role at times and it hasn't necessarily stuck for one reason or another. And yeah, that's a guy that they're not sure they want to go super long-term with and so you know if you're a team that's looking to add a young foundational piece to your back end and you're willing to meet the price they're gonna ask for that's that's kind of like one place to look. You know there's other ways to pry a player like that away but I think that trying to do business and like

you mentioned help a team with your assets and then you get there is probably the cleanest way to do it. What's your plan for the draft on Friday? Wish you go in L.A. I know I'm actually going to Long Island, going to the islanders draft party where they're going to have a ton of alumni and a ton of executives. And just like, I was interested in sort of experiencing the moment of almost rebirth for this franchise in some ways.

I mean, the end of the Lamarillo years, darts coming in, first overall pick. There's a moment right now for the Islanders that I find to be really fascinating, which is the pivot they're going to make to being what I believe is going to be a more entertaining product than they've been and have a little bit more personality and really drive hard to activate the fan base and the community in ways that they haven't before.

So that's where I'll be for it. I mean, again, like there isn't much value in me being out in LA. No. Emily's going to be there for TV, but like, again, there isn't much value in me being out in LA. No. Emily's gonna be there for TV, but for the writers, everybody's scattered to the four wins this year, which will be only one year, I'm pretty sure. But in this case, I live in New York, the Islanders are having a party. I mean, how am I gonna turn that down? I just imagine Lou Lam in some Phantom of the Opera role at this party that you're going

to. Playing the organ. Okay. Again, like it's... His influence on this team was a good thing for a time, which was when they were making conference finals during the COVID years, and then ultimately, soul crushing. I think of Lane Lambert in this situation too, like he just got hired in Seattle. Like I have no idea what this guy actually wants to do because everything he did was in service of what Lou wanted to do. And that could include his personality, which was like a cinder block here

in New York, but maybe he can find a little bit of charisma out there now that he doesn't have Lou looking over his shoulder all the time. So it's what Lou does. I mean, when he's there, it's great, but it also becomes a Lou team. So, you know, flipping him for darts and now all of a sudden you're trending in a different direction. I think it could be an interesting time for the Islanders. Okay. So our scheduled hit for next Tuesday falls on appropriately enough, July 1, which is the start of free agency. So assuming you're not super busy and loaded up with a bunch of stuff to write about, we will do this hit a week from today. We'll figure out out the time as we go along but enjoy the Islanders draft party this week and everything that's gonna happen this week

I anticipated it'll be a lot and hopefully we'll talk again next Tuesday No next Tuesday fine boys, you know, everything gets done at noon Eastern time, you know, these guys can't even talk to team No, I know crazy and then they figure out these very complicated deals in like 30 seconds. It's incredible I mean, I mean, yeah, they're a bunch of math wizards but yeah, no, I think we should be good to go for for next Tuesday, which which hopefully will be a Busy fun day and in the spirit of my colleague Pierre Lebrun. Hopefully everything gets done in a 24-hour span hockey trades Thanks wish see you buddy, bro Take care Greg Wyshinski from ESPN here on the help for a brush show on sportsnet 650. Okay, we got to go to break

In the 7 o'clock hour We're going to talk to two writers from the two sides of yesterday's Trevor's egress trade at 7 o'clock Kevin Kers from the athletic in Philadelphia is gonna join us 730 Jonathan Davis serious XM NHL radio is going to join the program. Before we go to break though, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From the boardroom to the break room and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean and disinfected.

For a free quote, visit them online at janpro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Breff show on Sportsnet. 650.