Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Canucks Need Players That Want To Be Here

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they hear from Evander Kane at yesterday's introductory press conference (3:00), the boys discuss the Canucks' goaltending situation and if there might be a contract extension closing in on Thatcher Demko, plus they wonder who else on Vancouver's roster might be on the move (27:00).  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- around this team as much as the outside noise might say otherwise. I don't love it. I don't love it, boys, for a variety of reasons. But the club sees this as just a need and they absolutely require it. I think this draft has a real opportunity to go right off the rails and there's going to be a lot of adjustments. Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Good morning, Vancouver. 601 on a Friday. Happy Friday, everybody on 1 on a Friday. Happy Friday everybody.

Sweet, sweet Friday. It is Halford, it is Bruv, it is Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studios and beautiful Fairview slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning. Adog, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well.

Hello, hello. Halford and Bruv of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for net help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Ho doggy do we have a lot to get into today on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. It is draft day everybody not that stupid movie with Kevin Costner the real draft day NHL draft goes tonight from Los Angeles the decentralized draft we only get one of these Jason's. So we really have to embrace it. They're going right back to the old school draft next year. So our guest list today won't begin until seven o'clock.

The first hour is all uninterrupted, Haliford and breath. We got a ton, a ton of Canucks news and rumblings and notes to parse through in the first hour. Guest list begins at seven o'clock. AJ is going to join us from AJ's pizza on East Broadway. That's going to kick us from AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. That's going to kick off Ask Us Anything Friday. A reminder, a $100 gift card to the best pizza place in the world, AJ's Pizza on East Broadway is available and up for grabs for the best Ask Us Anything.

If you look in the Dunbar Lumbertex message in basket, already there's a bunch in there, so competition is fierce. Get them in, Dunbar Lumber, text line is 650650, hashtag it AUA, and put a pizza emoji into your text. 705, Frank Ceravalli's gonna join us. Now, in addition to getting everything that we want from rumblings and news around the NHL, I guess this is Frank's last hit

as a member of Daily Face Off, because he becomes a free agent on July 1. The Canucks are trying to sign him. Right. 8.5 million. Cast in a wide net. If you're available, Canucks will call you. Frank, keep your phone on. So Frank's going to join us at 7.05. We'll talk to him about everything that's going on ahead of the draft. We can also talk to

him about the new NHL CBA, which could get announced today as well. 7.30 Moge is going to join the program. This will probably be the only time that we don't talk new NHL CBA, which could get announced today as well. 730 Moge is going to join the program. This will probably be the only time that we don't talk exclusively NHL and Canucks on the show. We will talk about the BC Lions game tomorrow, four o'clock from Mosaic. The taking on the riders. Doesn't sound like Nathan Rourke is going to play this weekend. What a ringing endorsement for this game. It doesn't sound like Trevor Harris is going to play for the riders either.

So it's going to be two backup quarterbacks. Potentially. Both are listed as questionable going into Saturday's game. Eight o'clock, Rick Dollywall is going to join the program. I don't even need to throw it over to Jason Bruff because I know what we're going to talk about at five o'clock this morning. Drants and Dolly combined for a meaty, very meaty article in the athletic. What we're hearing about the connects extension talks,

trade efforts and draft plans. There's updates on Connor Garland, Thatcher Demko, Pugh Souter, Brock Besser. Yes, even Noah Juleson. He got in there right at the end. Michael Karconi. The Michael Karconi sweepstakes are on. I was waiting for them and they're here.

So we're going to talk to Dolly Wall about all that at eight o'clock. Finally, a reminder and a question. Have you bought your tickets for the sports net? Six fifty Jays care fifty fifty for challenger baseball yet? I did. I bought them yesterday. Hundred bucks worth. Best investment I've ever made. That's for me, though. Best investment I've ever made. Kind of for bruff and also for challenger baseball. Right. That's the most important thing. Buy your tickets. If Ihmm, right. That's the most important thing Buy your tickets up to five win. Yeah, then there's that but here tickets now at J's care golf at raffle nexus.com

I did it yesterday. It's really easy Idiot proof some might say it is supported by Tile Town proudly Canadian-owned and operated since 1971 visit my Tile Town dot CA Challenger baseball is a great and worthy endeavor. Support it today. Buy your tickets now at jayscaregolf.rafflenexus.com. Working in reverse on the guest list, eight o'clock, Dolly Wall, 730 Marjanovic, seven o'clock, Sarah Valley. That's the rundown for 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'm moving. We know how busy your life can be. 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. In terms of what happened, the biggest news yesterday was of course that newly acquired Canucks forward Evander Kane made his Rogers Arena debut in Canucks Colors on Thursday. The polarizing NHL forward met the local media for the first time, resplendent in his double-breasted blue and green

Canucks colored suit Evander took questions from the media bristled at times about the way that he's been portrayed in the past and for someone that is covered Evander Kane in his numerous stops Across the National Hockey League. I can tell you that this is a recurring theme There's always a disconnect between the way Evander Cain feels he's being portrayed in the media and the way the media portrays him in the media. And he can be standoffish at times, he can be well-spoken at times,

he can be eloquent at times, and he can be- He's always well-spoken. He's very well-spoken. And he can be defensive at times. He's a polarizing guy and he acknowledged it as well. We've got a few clips that we wanna to run through. Uh, laddie, I got them in a particular order, which I kind of wanted to run.

So let's just start right from the top. Evander Kane was asked a lot about whether he'd matured, whether he's a new person, whether he's learned from the adversity, whether he's been humbled and on almost every given answer. Um, there was some pushback because I think he wanted to frame it the way that Evander Kane wanted to frame it. Uh, here's Evain wanted to frame it. Here's Evander Cain from yesterday meeting with the Vancouver media at Rogers Arena. Your off ice story is well documented, there's been a lot there. It's well documented in a way where you

know it's there's not all the information there's some inaccuracies and there's some. What I was gonna say was it hasn't been a thing at all. There hasn't been discussion about any of that since you got to Edmonton. It feels like you've matured quite a bit. Is that your feeling? Are you a new guy from who you were ten years ago? Am I a new guy? No. No, I'm the same guy. I think, you know, if you're not improving in all aspects of your life, you know, you're probably not where you want to be. And I don't think there's anybody in this room that isn't a better, better offer, learn from their mistakes or learn from positive experiences to make them better moving forward. So for me, I think it's, you know, Edmonton was great.

Edmonton brought me into their organization and like I said earlier, embraced me. And you know, the city kind of fell in love with me and I kind of fell in love with the city and we had a lot of on ice success as well. So it was a great experience and I'm hoping that can continue here in Vancouver coming back home. I do just want to play one more from this because I think this is interesting and this really gives

you an idea of what a lot of people talk about when they talk about a Vander Kane is that part of the stuff that has made him great on the ice is that sort of F you and defiant attitude that also rubs people the wrong way. This is a question about going into a contract year, which from the media side of things is like the biggest layup of a question ever. It's like you're going into the final year of your contract. You know, is this an opportunity for you to, you know, play well and show out and try and get a new deal and listen to the response. Cause it's kind of the same thing.

There's that immediate pushback there when trying to break free of whatever mold the question might be putting him in. Here's Evander Kane on playing in a contract here. So many people talk about a contract here when it comes to me, when there's so many other guys in contract years, it's just incredible. So, you know, I know I bring a lot of attention to a room and to a press conference

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

he's in Vancouver, He's in his hometown. I think the, you know, there's always eyeballs on a Vander Kane. There's going to be even more eyeballs here in Vancouver. I think he's got enough challenges to perform well on the ice. So, you know, he's getting a little bit older. Although I did think it was interesting that he said yesterday that, you know, he's getting a little bit older. Although I did think it was interesting that he said yesterday, um, that, you know, missing this entire season, regular season, at least might've turned the

clock back a little bit on his body. And hopefully that's the case because the Canucks need him to be healthy and they need him to go out and honestly, the most important thing they need him to do is score goals. Yeah, it'll be great if he goes out there and hits and sticks up for teammates, but they need him to do is score goals. Yeah, it'll be great if he goes out there and hits and sticks up for teammates, but they need him to score goals. The Canucks are not going to bring back Brock Besser probably. It doesn't sound like they're going to bring

back Pugh Souter unless they strike out everywhere else in their search for a centre. But if you look at the goal scorers on this team right now, well, there's Jake DeBress, there's Elias Pedersen, who are hoping obviously for a bounce back. And there's Evander Kane and nobody else, unless I'm missing a guy, unless I'm missing an obvious guy, there's no one else that's out there that's like, wow, that guy's a goalscorer.

He's done it in the NHL. How about a guy that scored 19 last year, Jason, and Connor Garland, because that was some of the big news from yesterday is that Connor Garland, according to multiple reports, including one from Rick Dollywall, who will be on the show today, Connor Garland is set to sign a six-year, $36 million contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. So the way this broke down yesterday is the daily face-offs Frank Sarah Valley, who's going to be on the show this morning at seven o'clock reported that Garland and the Canucks made significant progress on an extension yesterday,

suggesting that the deal could be coming down soon. That was followed up by reporting from Dollywall who said that Garland is set to sign again, as we mentioned, something in the neighborhood of six years, 36 million with the Canucks and that things were progressing to the point where it could be finalized by today. Now, here's the important part, not the important part, but the important part in terms of details. Can actually officially announce the deal until July one, and it wouldn't kick in until the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven season.

Garland would be 30 years old when the extension kicks in. And if you'll remember, there was another 30 year old forward at the time that once signed a six over by 36 deal with the Vancouver Canucks. We call it the Louis here in Vancouver. Obviously these are entirely different circumstances given Garland's a part of the team,

but that was sort of the big news from yesterday in Canucks land is that the Canucks had come closer and closer to an extension with Connor Garland to the point where numbers were already bandied about by Rick Dollywall. So you all know, everyone knows, like I love watching Connor Garland play. I think there's a lot to like about his game. He is a play driver and that is one thing that

Canucks desperately need more of. He, he, he gets the puck from one end of the ice and takes it to the other. And that's very important in the game of hockey. He's a transporter. Um, if you want to, um, if you want to criticize his game and I think it's fair or just analyze his game truthfully, he doesn't have a great shot. It doesn't. He doesn't shoot the puck very hard.

And the most goals he's ever scored in a season is 22. And that was with Arizona. He played a lot more this season. He averaged almost 19 minutes a game and that included some power play time. He played 81 games. He had 19 goals. You know, I hope he's not part of the first unit power play because I don't think that suits him.

He might be on the second unit. I think he can make some nice passes once in a while. But I, you know, he does, he does create in the sense that he makes things happen out there, but mostly I think his strengths are play driving, getting it going in the right direction, which means he needs to play with guys that can put the puck in the net. Sure. But also he's dogged.

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

But this is also the new reality of the salary cap when there's cap space out there, players know That's right. But this is also the new reality of the salary cap. When there's cap space out there, players know it, and they're going to drive a hard bargain because that's just smart. I think there's going to be a lot of contracts signed over the next little while in the next few years, frankly, with all the cap space swimming

around the league now, relative certainly to the flat cap where you're like, oh, okay. You know, one of the guys that I think the Canucks are probably going to be pursuing, I don't know if they're going to get them, because I think St. Louis is really interested in them. I think Toronto might be interested in them, is Michael Grandland.

Yeah. This guy's 33 years old. He's a really good passer. Go look at his stats. Got a lot of assists. He's a centreman. Again though, 33 years old, the guy's going to get, he's got, I bet he's going to get term.

Yeah. I could see him getting like a four year deal. I could see him getting a five year deal, honestly. Yeah, I guess. I don't think, I don't, I don't think the, the connects would have to probably clear out some cap space. They might have to move Teddy Bluger or maybe

Dakota Joshua. And those are the couple of the names that, uh, that Rick and, and Drancet have brought up in the athletic. And we talked to Rick about that later in the show. Um, but you know, I still think they need two things and the pretty, pretty important things, right?

Like they're, they're, they're a playmaker, a guy that creates scoring chances for others on the team. And then also a guy that puts the puck in the net. You know, who is Evander Kane going to play with? Like who's his most likely center right now? Is he a top line guy that's going to play on the first line with Elias Pedersen? I did notice. Or would you prefer him on the second line with a guy like, be it Grandland or I think

the more likely scenario is that they actually do complete their trade with Minnesota and bring Marco Rossi in there. I think it's very noteworthy that in Drantz's and Dolly Wall's piece, they note that for Vancouver, Rossi's size is not seen as a concern. And you know, if you're, if you're kind of a cynical, you might be, yeah, well that puts them in the beggars can't be choosers category.

Yeah, not a concern because they can't be concerned by it. Yeah. They gotta, they gotta get who they gotta get at this point. Okay. So a couple of questions there. One, where will Evander Kane play?

So in his last full season, which again, was two seasons ago, two regular seasons ago in the National Hockey League, Kane played 77 games and he averaged about 16 and a half minutes a night. So you're looking at and this I did know when Patrick Alveen did his media availability, not yesterday, but the day prior. He talked about, he called it top nine slash middle six. I think is how he described it into where he's gonna fit. I think if Evander Kane's being deployed with first line winger minutes on your team,

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

He's more, honestly, if you look at his production, he's closer to Conor Garland's goal output annually than he is to a top line winger. This is Vandercaine I'm talking about. He's more gonna fit in as a 20 goal guy, which is kind of similar to what Garland's given him over the last couple of years. So that to me doesn't scream top line winger.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's a two or three. And then when you ask who his center is going to be, take your pick. If they land Rossi, that's an option. Rossi, Rossi, Rossi would be Rossi would probably be a good fit with him. But the problem with the Rossi sweepstakes and these are legitimate sweepstakes is that everybody's in on this. If you read that article from the Athletic, it's what kind of package are the Canucks, the same old song that we've been playing,

what kind of package are they gonna be able to put forth that isn't entirely based on futures and has a roster player going the other way? Keith, the Water Guy texts in, are there any other young players not on the radar that could fill a center position? I'm thinking Shane Wright or Hendrix Lapierre. Not that we've heard of. not that we've heard of.

Not that we've heard of. I think- Shane Wright. The connection getting right would be so funny. I think the Seattle Kraken like what they've got down the middle with Benirs and Shane Wright. I know they've got all these great wingers like Mason Marchman and who did they trade for yesterday?

The Seattle Kraken. Well, Goudreau is- Oh, Freddie Goudreau. Freddie Goudreau is the center. Yeah,oudreau. Goudreau's a center. Yeah, he's a center. He had even more down the middle. Like I think they liked those four. And Chenandler Stevenson.

They've also got him. So, I think it would take a lot to get Shane Wright out of Seattle. You know, he's a young player and, uh, even though his development hasn't been, um, you know, straight line ideal, he showed something last season. He scored a bunch of goals, right? Like you're, they don't want to trade that away.

And if they do, it's going to take a lot. Speaking of young guys, it was at least sniffed out by Dolly Wall and Dranson in the article that Cody Glass might become available. Remember Cody Glass, everybody? Not that he's all that young, but he's young. You're letting him walk, aren't they? New Jersey is reportedly not going to offer him a qualifying offer.

Means he could go to market, but the Canucks have not expressed any significant interest on that either. Yeah. So the forward group kind of remains in flux. No huge surprise here. The Garland thing, just to circle back on that I'm of two minds on this like I appreciate what he's done over the last few seasons in Vancouver and I appreciate the fact that he has worked extremely hard and

Kind of kept his nose to the grindstone during some really trying times where, especially when the team was struggling, I think a lot of people like, let's just move on from this experiment. It's failed to really become a driver, a teammates favorite. He's very well liked in the room by a lot of his teammates and a fan favorite. Right. And those are important things. The other thing that you got to say about him, the guy does not miss games.

He's missed two games in the last three seasons. There's a jinx. I can't help it. I got to say these things out loud. Now looking at last year's line playing 1839 a night. That's a lot. I don't expect that trend to continue. That feels like a lot for Connor Garland. And then as far as the ticket and the term, they're both signs of a team that, again, we'll circle back to when they are in desperation mode. They don't won't be so bad, though, a couple years from now with the cap going up year over year. That was my initial reaction.

I was like, wow, that's a lot of money. Then I was like, oh, wait. I guess three years from now, with the cap where it's placed, that contract will seem very reasonable. The issue is more the term. Will he be effective at 33, 34, 35 years old? And then 36.

And then 36. And also, like the money's not so bad, I don't think, but with the cap increasing. It's important that the players want to be in Vancouver. And this is why one of the reasons they want to sign Garland is because he wants to be here. It's one of the reasons they want to sign Garland is cause he wants to be here. Sure. It's one of the reasons they picked up a Vander Cane because he wants to be here. Thatcher Demko wants to be in Vancouver and

they're probably going to come together on a deal with him. And even though you look at the Canucks defense and you're like, that looks pretty good, all stocked up, let's focus on the forwards. According to Drantz and Dollywell, they're still very much in the mix for Bowen Byrom because he wants to be in Vancouver.

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

Did you see the wingers the Oilers were using in the playoffs? Pod Colson was playing in the top six. They wrote. Victor Arvidsson, Skinner, like they were not deep on the wing. No. Edmonton Oilers. They rotated things around.

You know, if you read, I think Mark Spector was putting it, one of the reasons that Vander Kane is on the move. There's a couple of reasons, number one, salary cap, obviously, but he never really created chemistry with McDavid or Dry Cytl. You know? So it's not like he was.

Well, it's one of the reasons. It's certainly not like he was frozen out of the top six in Edmonton. That is not the case. That is not the case. And by the way, it was Patrick Alveen who said, we've acquired a good middle six or top nine guy in a Vanderkane.

He specifically went out and said middle six, top nine guy in a Vander Cane. He specifically went out and said, middle six, top nine. Okay, one more thing, Halford. Masai Uchiri has been fired. Yeah, I know. Of all the things that we had to cover this morning, I did not think- Don't they know it's the draft?

I'm like, come on, guys, it's draft day. Kevin Costner didn't even wanna deal with his father's burial on draft day. He was so focused on it. But there is reports. All right, now I don't have this in front of me right now, so you guys are gonna have to work me through this, but is it reports or is it confirmed that Masai Ujiri is out

as the president of the Toronto Raptors? Shams is reporting it and he's saying that they've decided to part ways, and it sounds pretty official to me. So we're gonna have to really dive into this during the break, here's what we know, this comes hours after the conclusion of the second round of the NBA draft in which the Raptors held onto and made picks in both the first and second rounds. Uh,

you Jerry was entering the final year of his contract with the Raptors. So I do wonder if it was one of those classic things where, uh, instead of playing out the final year of his contract, he realized that not getting an extension and being a lame duck going into that final year meant that he was probably on his way out anyway. I don't know.

But. Do you think the plan was always to part ways after the draft was done or did something happen at the draft? Yeah, that's a great question too, right? Because we have seen in countless sports across all of them that oftentimes scouting departments and executives are let go after the draft. He's like, thank

you for your work. That's the last thing you're going to do this season. Sayonara. Be interesting. I don't say good luck. It'll be interesting to see what happens here. But the news of course is that the Toronto Raptors have parted ways with the most fundamentally important executive in the franchise's history. The architect of the team that won them the 2019 NBA championship, Masai Ujiri is out as president of the Toronto Raptors. Okay, before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From waiting rooms to exam rooms and everything in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy,

clean and disinfected. For a free quote visit them online at JanPro.ca. We got a lot more stuff to get into on the other side of the break. We still haven't talked about the goaltending situation with Demco and also with RDC loves some other guys that the Vancouver Canucks might be looking at. We can also dive into the Dunbar lumber text message in basket, read some of your texts and answer some of your ask us anythings. It's a busy show. We got a lot more to get into.

You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on sports net six 50. Am I a new guy? No. Um I'm the same guy. Marge my friend I haven't learned a thing. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyarshah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 632 on a Fiesta Friday here on the Halford & Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Bruff for the morning is brought to you by Sands & 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.

Still all us, all uninterrupted Halford & Bruff. Ladi noticed that we've been doing this a lot this week first hour no guests You guys must like it. I love it. I love talking. It's my favorite thing to do early in the morning. It's your job Yeah, I actually had a guest lined up and I canceled them because I knew how much he wanted to talk for the whole hour Was it Ryan Johnson? It was yes in RJ. Sorry, but he pulled the rug on him We are hoping to reconnect with Ryan Johnson. We will try. Later on when, when things aren't so busy and

it's obviously busy today, day to day, uh, with the NHL draft slated to take place in. Everywhere. Los Angeles. Los Angeles, but. Everywhere. Centrally speaking. Right.

Decentralized draft. I'm curious to see how this is going to look on TV. Uh, okay. A couple other notes that I wanted to get into from the article by Durantz and Dollywall in The Athletic and we're going to have Rick Dollywall on later in the show to discuss all this. It is expected according to those two that Pew suitor and Brock Besser are expected to hit the market. And a very smart texter texted in when we were talking about guys who want to be in Vancouver and you know, the Canucks targeting guys that want to be in Vancouver, like Bowen

Byrom and Evander Kane. So one text in Besser wants to be in Vancouver. And I was like, yeah, touche, he does. Sure does. But I guess the Canucks are weighing the fact that they don't want to give the type of contract that Brock Besser might get in unrestricted free agency to him.

It has always felt like Brock Besser isn't Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alven's type of guy for whatever reason. That's fair to say. It is just, you know, maybe it's his foot speed. I don't know what it is, but they have never made it seem like they are desperate to keep him. And as for Pugh's suitor, the way it was portrayed in this article is that when he started piling up the goals later

in the season, he became more expensive and more expensive and more expensive to the point where at one point it looked like they could probably get them for 3 million a year for a few years. And then that price went way up. I mean, we're talking about a guy who's going to be what among the top three or four centre options and unrestricted free agency.

That's a nice place to be. If you're a player like Pew suitor, who hasn't really made a ton of money in the NHL. Um, you know, we were talking about Michael Grandlin and one of the textures that texted in said, it sounded like we were advocating for Michael Grandlin. No, we're not advocating for Michael Grandlin and one of the textures that texted in said it sounded like we were advocating for Michael Grandlin. No, we're not advocating for Michael Grandlin. We're just saying that the Canucks might take a run at him

because they need centers and they need playmakers and Grandlin is a playmaker. I know it was reported in St. Louis that he's the Blues Grandlin, he's the Blues number one target in free agency. I think he did a good job of boosting his stock in that playoff run with Dallas. I mean, what a freaking boost. Thank you. He's always been an effective forward.

The Canucks could complete the sea of grandlands if they get them. So there's that as well. But the whole idea is that it sounds like Souter and Brock Besser are going to go to market. Now let's talk. One final note on Souter by the way, from that piece. Sure. That might end up enraging people retroactively is it's Souter's agents. Again, this is according to reporting from Drance and Dollywall.

Souter's agent visited the Canucks in February, tried to spark talks on a contract extension, the Canucks didn't want to engage. And then Pucer of course, went on his late season goal scoring tear. It was and then they circled back in the three million dollar offer that was on the table suddenly was no longer there. Right. So it's like, actually, if you didn't love me at ten goal Puse suitor, then you can't love me at 22 goal Puse suitor, whatever you finished. This and again, I know people might have the pitchforks out being like, you know,

this is typical connects. This is classic connects. A lot of NHL teams do this. All right. A lot of NHL teams kick the can down the road because they want to see how the rest of the season goes. And this is a classic Jim Benning line. Like we've got time. We're going to use it. And everyone's like, yeah, that's a pretty sound philosophy. You got the time. Don't make a rushed decision.

The issue with that is that things can turn against you when you let time play itself out and you let time, in this case, expire. Is that what you thought was a comfortable situation becomes uncomfortable. And sometimes when the agent comes to you in February and wants to spark talks, maybe you let that spark ignite a little bit

instead of snuff it out entirely. But alas, let's move on to the goaltending. The goaltending, I think they're going to be able to come together on an extension with Thatcher Demko, and that means they're probably going to look for another team for Artie Siloves. You know, I think it was very telling when Patrick Galvin had a media avail the other day that he talked up

Tolopilo and Ty Young. As soon as he did that, he actually did it, that being said. He did a Conor McDavid, that being said. That being said, we've got two other good goalies in the AHL and Tolopilo and Ty Young. I think they're pretty high on those guys. They drafted Ty Young, in case I'm mistaken there.

And I think they probably don't want to risk losing CLOBS on waivers. And also they need all the trade assets they can get. I wouldn't be surprised, I read an article by Kevin Kers in the Athletic, he covers the Flyers. I wouldn't be surprised if CLOBS end up in Philly. I wouldn't be surprised if- That sounds crazy to me, but okay. I wouldn't be surprised if sea lobs end up in Philly. I wouldn't be surprised if it's crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if suitor ends up in Philly.

I can see suitor. Well, will the flyers have terrible goaltending? I know, but their head coach went through the sea lobs as an NHL or experience last year. That to me would have been. Yeah. But he also played pretty well for Rick Taukett in the playoffs. Yeah.

Like considering the situation he was put in as a young goalie. Here, let me, let me, let's put it this way. If I was the head coach and I had experienced everything that Siloves had given me over the last two years. Yeah. He wouldn't be number one on my priority list

to go out and get as a goalie. I think, I think there's some, I think there's some red flags there. However, I don't think we need to spend too much time talking about the flyers, goaltenders, but in terms of markets for seal off. So here's the, I'll read it verbatim from the piece because I think this sums it up pretty well. Uh, we, we being the Royal, we that's Dranson Dollywall, we were told on Thursday evening that AHL

playoff MVP Archer Silov's name is rather suddenly very much out there on the trade block. Silov's will require waivers this fall which we all knew and with Lankton and locked up long term things progressing towards an extension with Demko the Canucks seem to be looking to find Silov's a new opportunity. So this might come as a heartbreaking news for those, especially the Aventer Canucks fans that fell in love with the Jackie Butterfield trophy winner for playoff MVP, but it makes sense. If there's any time that you're going to get something in return for

Sealovs on the trade market, it's probably right now, challenge you to find a time where his stock might've been higher. And I am including after the playoff run with the Vancouver Canucks, um, he does require waivers, the possibility of losing him for nothing on waivers, uh, at least in terms of perception is way worse than trading them away for whatever you would get at this stage in the game. I don't know what you would get. And also you do right by the player at this point,

if you're like, hey, you're at your peak in terms of popularity and maybe value, you want to try and become an NHL net miner, you're in a roadblock situation here. Let's do right by you for everything good you did for the organization, try and find you a home. I was listening to Sat and Dan yesterday and they brought up the Barry Trots Nashville

Predators example. Oh. Do you remember we were talking about that? Maybe that's the Canucks plan. Sure. They have a really solid blue line, really solid goal tending, so, so forward group, but they just make this team, this forward group that is, I think we're going to hear this a lot, hard to play against.

Yeah. You know, and maybe that's, you know, thinking about bringing Garland back. I know he's not the biggest guy, but he's annoying to play against. Yes. He's hard to play against. Bringing a guy like Evander Kane, that's kind

of his calling card. Sure. You know, don't want to go out on the ice against Ev Vander Kane. It may be bringing a couple other guys that are not necessarily like their stats won't pop out at you, but maybe they're tough to play against and you're just like, oh my God, like we've got to go

against these guys again. Like maybe their plan is win two, one games. Well, I didn't. Win three, two games. I think it could be even more like basic and simple than that. It's you go from having no identity to a identity. Sure.

Or unidentity. And identity. And identity. There you go. Because here's the thing, last year, one of the many things that we complained about this team was it lacked identity in every sense of the word. You had no idea what that team was about. And their only identity by the end of the

year was that they were dysfunctional. That it was the most probably that that was the one staple or calling card of the team is that was the most dysfunctional team in the NHL or the very least in the Western Conference because the Rangers gave them a run. So this year there is something to be said for hey what are we if you can answer that question yeah it does go a long way in establishing a style that you want to play have something to get behind as a unifying rallying cry for the guys and if it's about being very difficult to play against and being defensively sound and having a bunch of a-holes on the team.

Four check too, like offensively you're gonna just four check, key for sure would. Maybe get in another key for sure would type or two. Your ceiling is limited, but your ceiling is also one that can get you into the playoffs. Yep. And for this organization right now, that seems to be the goal.

Um, so remember we, we talked yesterday about a lot of teams out there are looking for actual NHL players and they don't want pure futures. And we've seen countless quotes from GMs going like, I got all these first round job picks, I'm willing to, willing to part with them, but everyone just wants players. Don Waddell had a quote yesterday saying he's never seen anything like it. He's never seen anything.

In his years as an executive. Yeah. And he's been in the league for a while as an executive. Um, the Canucks, it sounds like according to Jaranza Dollywall, there's two roster players that they might be willing to part with. And that is Dakota Joshua and Teddy Bluger.

And it's not like they want to part with these guys, but I think they've gone up and down the list and said, okay, well, we'd be willing to part with these guys. I just want to make a little note, and this is a classic bruff thing, but the Canucks top two forward penalty killers last season were Pugh Suter and Teddy Bluger. Teddy Bluger is a good penalty killer and so is Pugh Suter. The PK was really good last season. Excellent. It was probably the best part of the team.

The PK was really good last season. Excellent. It was probably the best part of the team. You know, I remember a few years ago when the Canucks cleared out the likes of, like it was that trade that got rid of Ericsson and. Jay Beagle. Jay Beagle. Yep.

And all of a sudden, you know, there were some other departures as well. Brandon Sutter getting hurt, you know, was another factor and all of a sudden, you know, there were some other departures as well. Brandon Sutter getting hurt, you know, was another factor. And all of a sudden I looked at it and I was like, they don't have any penalty killers left. And people were like, don't worry about the penalty killer. They're fine guys. And for like two or three straight years, it was one of the, I mean,

the Canucks had a few Achilles heels. They had multiple Achilles heels, which is rare because normally it's just one. The whole idea behind it, Achilles heel. But they had a few Achilles heels. They had multiple Achilles heels, which is rare, because normally it's just one. Whole idea behind an Achilles heel. But they had a lot of issues, and the penalty kill was one of them. So I'd say just keep that in mind. If Bluger was to go, the issue,

Keyzo, the- So you're gonna downplay it. It's a big deal. Who is gonna kill penalties for this team if Souter goes and Bluger goes? I was trying to look at who's downplay it. It's a big deal who is gonna kill penalties for this team if suitor goes in Look at who is gonna do it No Okay, so the leading forwards last PD maybe PD is gonna have to kill penalties the leading forwards last year in terms of average

Shorthanded time on ice per game Where the guys you mentioned suitor and blueger? Yeah, then after that it was sure would who did a nice job on the kill for sure Forgot and then drew O'Connor came in and played a lot on the kill as well. Garland killed, but there are a lot of guys on this list that either could be gone or will be gone. Yeah. Right. So starting with Souter, Bluger is still there.

Sherwood's still there. I just feel like sometimes when. Dan Heinen did a lot of it in his brief time as a Vancouver Canuck in case you forgot about that. JT Miller did it. Phil DiGiuseppe in his brief time. You don't need to go through all the guys that spent time on the ice. It might be some of the guys from Abbotsford that do it. Yeah, 100%. Linus Carlson, Max Sassen, Arch D. Bansal, these are the guys that get tasked with doing that kind of thing. Hey, it's not unimportant. When it was the lone strength of your team a year ago, you wanted

to stay as good, if not be better. Sometimes it just gets backburnered. All I'm saying is sometimes that issue gets backburnered. I've seen it happen before because you're so desperate to fill out five on five and you're so desperate to fill out, you know, I mean, what a Vander Kane brings, we've talked about it. The Canucks did need to get bigger

and stronger and more intimidating in the forward group. They absolutely did. Um, but he doesn't kill penalties. He's not a defensive specialist. And sometimes it's the guys that kill penalties that end up getting squeezed out. Sure.

Cause you kind of look at their counting stats and you're like, well. Well, you know, who's another guy that we might have to throw into this conversation now, Sammy Blay. So in that same piece from a Dranson Dollywall, and as they've noted a couple of times this week, the Vancouver Canucks have had preliminary contract talks with Calder Cup playoff hero, Sammy Blay, something that we talked about yesterday,

and we may need to take more and more seriously. Now, to parse through what Drance and Dolly Wall wrote about this, the issue, and I had heard this prior in his times in St. Louis and New York as well, is the issue with Blake was always his conditioning. Yeah. It was, I don't know if you've ever seen him. I respect that. Yeah, he's a summertime man. Sure. He's not exactly the fittest specimen in hockey.

Yeah. That's a fair way to put it, right? And hey, this is coming from someone's not exactly, he's not exactly the fittest specimen in hockey. Yeah. It's a fair way to put it, right? And hey, this is coming from someone's not a fittest specimen in this room. So I'm like more than capable of pointing that out. But, um, what he was able to do this year on a one year American league prove it deal really made an impression with the NHL organization to the point where they are seriously considering giving him a shot of being an everyday NHL organization to the point where they are seriously considering giving him a shot of being an everyday NHL player, something he has been in the past.

He's played 250 NHL games. He won a Stanley Cup with St. Louis. He's one of the rare players out there to have won both a Stanley Cup and a Calder Cup, but won the Stanley Cup first and then went on to win the Calder Cup. It usually is the other way around. But again, if you want to talk about guys that are being rewarded, that have answered the call of the challenge from the organization.

And here's the important one can do it on the cheap. There's a player that you got to keep in mind. It's also a guy that they're familiar with. And let's be honest, everything, everything from Abbotsford this year was a feel good story and something that you want to reward. Yeah, that I think I would go from Ryan Johnson to many Malhotra all the way down to the players. They are internally probably going to give a lot of those guys

a longer look, a more leeway, more opportunity, because they did a really good thing this year in Abbotsford and they showed that, um, well, they showed resilience in a lot of ways. They didn't start well in Abbotsford and they were able to rally and win the championship. And I think the other thing too was, and we've talked about this quote a couple of times, but I'll bring it up again. Ryan Johnson said that they challenged those players to be culture carriers and better teammates to one another.

And I think if you're going to instill that in the group this year, you need as many of those guys, even bottom of the roster guys with those attributes as you can get at the NHL level. And I think Blake was a perfect example of it. There would have been lots of reasons for him not to be a complete wrecking ball in the playoffs because he was more experienced than every other guy on that American Hockey League roster. He has a Stanley Cup championship. He's played 250 games. He's played in big markets in New York and he's played for the Blues and won a title.

And he was a guy that was like balls to the wall for Abbotsford. Those are good characteristics. There's a lot of people texting in saying, if you've got Kane and Blay out there next season, the PK is going to have to be even better. Yeah, they're going to take a lot of penalties. If you're going to have an aggressive four check and your whole thing is going to be hard to play against, you know, sometimes that does equate

to taking a few penalties. Yeah. Here's the thing, like a lot of people are pointing this out. If Sammy blaze in your NHL lineup, there's going to be a lot of penalties to be killed. Yep. If you're a tough team to play against and you're miserable and you're nasty

and you've got snarl and you're agitating and you maybe do things where you're like a habitual line stepping team. You're going to take more penalties than you did the year prior. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I would hate that I'm not sure I would hate it We'll probably be the same show that'll come in and bemoan the lack of discipline at some point this year because that's what we do

but There were way too many times last year where the team had just a general lack of pushback Yep in every facet you could imagine. Well, they weren't a happy group when they were Group when they were getting their weren't a happy group. When they were getting their asses kicked on the ice, there was no pushback. When they were getting their asses kicked on the scoreboard, there was no pushback.

Like at some point, and I think it drove Tauke at nuts at time, given the way that he played the game and his sort of like no BS attitude. I think it probably drove him nuts about that lack of pushback. So if there was more of that and it costs you, you know, you're on the kill more often than not, I think you might be willing to take that trade off.

Okay, just a reminder, it is Ask Us Anything Friday on the Halford and Bruff show. AJ, who we're going to chat with briefly coming up, and then Frank Saravalli. Ask Us Anything is sponsored by AJ's Pizza. So if you've got an Ask Us Anything and you want to be entered into the competition for a $100 gift card to AJ's Pizza,

text in to the Dunbar Lumber Text Line at 650-650 with a pizza emoji. Metro Vancouver's trusted choice for contractors and renter warriors for over 50 years. Visit them at one of their three locations to serve you or online at dunbarbalumber.com. So Frank was all over the Connor Garland extension. So we'll talk to Frank about that.

I also want to talk to Frank about the LTIR investigation in Edmonton and what exactly happened there. Not because I think it'll affect the Vancouver Canucks, but I'm just curious what the issue was there. I'm just curious. I'm just a curious cat. That's it.

So we'll talk to Frank about that because he was the one that broke that story as well. Uh, it's the, it's a Friday on the Halford and Brough show. Usually it's a fun day. Uh, there's a lot of things going on, both with the Canucks who were apparently working the phones really hard last night,

according to multiple reports, but also the NHL. Noah Dobson might get traded from the New York Islanders today, so that's something to keep an eye on. There could be lots of moves ahead of the first round of the NHL draft tonight. You're listening to the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.

Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the BC Lions. It's the biggest rivalry party of the year. Lions, Rough Riders, Saturday, July 19th at 4pm with the watermelon smash on Terry Fox Plaza. Get your tickets now at bclions.com.