Halford & Brough in the Morning - The Flow Is Back!

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports, they talk the Brock Boeser re-signing (3:00), plus they chat yesterday's Free Agent action with Sportsnet NHL host David Amber (27:22).  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- re-engaged and got the deal done. So I'm very happy. And a high fly ball to left center field. It's going and it is gone! Lucky enough it all worked out and you know this is where we want to be. Good morning Vancouver! Six o'clock on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. It is Halford at his broth. 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. Hey dog, good morning to you. Good morning. And basketball Ben, good morning to you as well. Good morning. Halford and Broth of the Morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. VCs first and trusted choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five star reviews, visit them online at Sands & Associates, VCs First, and Trusted Choice for debt help. With over 3,000 five-star reviews,

visit them online at sans-trustee.com. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Footwear and Orthotics, working together with you in step. We got a big Wednesday show ahead. The dust is somewhat settled on the opening day of free agency. Three guests and a media availability this morning

on the Halford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. I will explain. Guest list today begins at 630. David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host is gonna join the program. It was, as mentioned, a very busy day yesterday. The official kickoff to free agency. We'll go around all the Canadian markets with David, see what work has been done, what work needs to be done, who's happy, who's not. We'll go around all the Canadian markets with David, see what work has been done, what work needs to be done, who's happy, who's not. We'll talk to David Amber at 6.30. How about all that?

Seven o'clock, Frank Saravalli from We Don't Know Where, Parts Unknown. He's like a masked wrestler from the 80s. NHL Insider's going to join the program. Frank at seven o'clock. Who are the best UFAs still on the board? Will a trade market open up for the teams that were left wanting after free agency? We'll get all these questions answered and more with Frank at 7 o'clock. 8 o'clock, Brock Besser. Not on the show, exactly.

Brock Besser's media availability is going to be this morning at 8 a.m. Sometimes we take these live, sometimes we don't. I think this one we probably should because that was one of the more stunning moves of yesterday was Brock Bester what a half hour after we got up the air when I saw the first text I thought it was a prank I thought someone was playing a trick on me is he still is he on vacation he's in Italy isn't he I think he came back the way that I understood it was he went away yeah on vacation to Europe came back and then maybe that trip abroad Maybe like, you know clarified things for him made him understand or made him realize right you you know when he came home

He really wanted to come home for seven years. Yeah, he's like, I don't I don't like it anywhere else Yeah, I mean it makes sense who likes going somewhere else Yeah, God is Edmonton like Rome. Yeah When the Canucks were like, yeah, it's Winnipeg have any similar. No, I gotta know don't Edmonton or Venice Edmonton Wow, so opposite we're gonna find out The chronology and everything else that happened with Brock Bess. We're going to take his media availability live this morning at 8 a.m. How did the deal come to fruition? How close was he to leaving? Hopefully we'll get answers to all that and more at 8 a.m.

We'll take the Brock Besser media availability live right here on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. After that at 8 30. I don't know what we're doing now. We're just like done with doing what we learned at 8 30 because at 8 30 this morning we got IMA Mac on the show. So I Mac will be at the media availability now it's on zoom. So he'll be on the media availability. He'll join us afterwards.

We can talk to him not just about Brock Besser, but the Canucks getting the whole band back together for another run at it. I Mac has an article up on sportsnet.ca right now analyzing all of yesterday's moves. Some really good stuff in that article where he spoke to Tyler Myers about the room and the chemistry and moving forward with the group. Well, I'm almost intact from last year. So we'll talk to IMAC about that at 8.30.

Finally, before we go to break, I need to ask you a question. Not break, I always say that. Before we go on with the show, have you bought your tickets for the Sportsnet 650 JSCARED 50-50 for Challengerenger baseball yet? If you have not, you have five days left to do so. The URL is jj's care golf.rafflenexus.com. Again jj's care golf.rafflenexus.com buy your tickets now support a worthy endeavor.

50 50 sales and Monday, July 7th at 6 30 p.m. And then the day after we will announce the winner right here on the Haliford and brush show. Again, Challenger baseball is a great endeavor. Support it, chance to win some cash. Jayscaregolf.RaffleNexus.com. Working in reverse on the guest list. 8 30 it's IMAC, eight o'clock the Brock Besser

media availability, seven o'clock Frank Ceravalli, six 30 David Amber, that's what's happening on the program today. Ben, tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No. What happened? I missed all the action because I was...

We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that? What happened? What happened? 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.

This is online at bccsa.ca. So yesterday when we were on the air, we got the Connor Garland signing and the Thatcher Demko signing. We were able to break those down. We had Connor Garland on the show. And at that point, I was like, well, that's it for Canucks bringing back players that they already had.

I was very skeptical on Souter. I wasn't even skeptical on Besser. I just assumed that was done. Well, it was done, but not in a way that I thought. Brock Besser signed a seven year, 50.75 million dollar contract to remain with the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. AAV of 7.25 million. Brock Besser is back for another seven years in Vancouver.

Do you think the total money, $50 million did it? Is that what put it over over the hump? Probably helped. Yeah. That 0.75 maybe just tipped it over the edge. Yeah. Oh, whenever I listened to a Canucks central Dan and sat there, they're always talking about total money and total money. It's a lot of total money. I was like, yeah, $50 million. I don't want total money like that. I think, as you said, the Besser signing caught

most of us by surprise. I don't even think Besser thought it was going to happen. I was speaking to a few people that know Brock yesterday and they were all, I was like, do you think Brock ever thought this would happen? He was like, no, he was pretty much gone. Um, but I guess we'll find out for real what he has to say in a bit here. So Besser stays, Garland stays, Demko stays, Petey and Heronix stay. For now.

And both now have full no move clauses. Correct. There weren't even any secondary guys like Joshua, Hoeglinder, or Bluger shipped out. Basically, it's a Vanderkane in and Pugh suitor out. Now, for now, right? I know Patrick Alveen told the boys yesterday that the door is still open for Pugh suitor to return. He hasn't signed, I think the Michael Grandland

sweepstakes yesterday. God, is that what it came to? Yeah. Might've held up Pugh suitor signing somewhere. There's still some players out there, including Nick Ehlers. Pugh suitor signing somewhere. There's still some players out there, including Nick Ehlers.

So for now it's a Vanderkane in and Pugh suitor out. If the Canucks were to revisit bringing back Pugh suitor or Pugh suitor came back to the Canucks and wanted to talk, the Canucks would probably have to ship out a Joshua or a Bluguger, maybe more. I don't know. I haven't done the math and I don't want to do the math.

So the Canucks have a top six of Pedersen, Debrusk, Besser, Kane, Hedl and Garland. Obviously the top two lines won't always comprise those players, but I think it's fair to say that those are the top two centers in Pedersen and Hedl and the top four wingers in Debrusk, Kane, Besser and Garland. Yep.

Right? That makes sense. So from a narrative perspective, this core group has everything to prove. Guys like Besser, Pedersen, Demko, Hughes, they've been with the organization for a while now. Demko was drafted back in what? For Demko and Besser, it's got to be a decade with the organization. Pedersen and Hughes maybe a little bit less, but they haven't accomplished much as a group.

They've been to the playoffs, what, twice? This will be Garland's fifth season with the team. He's part of the core now. Said so in the press release. He's part of the core. Now I want to hear from the listeners on this Dunbar Lumber text line 650 650 because some fans will love That all those guys are back because they like them as players and they like them as people I would say in particular Brock Besser beloved

Others will think What are the connects insane that they're all back? Because they haven't accomplished much as a group and they were a dysfunctional disaster last season. So I'd like to hear what our listeners have to say. Are you happy about this or are you sad? And the question is, you know, bringing the band back together, not specific to Besser, not specific to one player. I'm just talking about like pretty much no changes from the way the Canucks ended last season, except for a Vanderkein in and Pugh suitor out. Um, you know, I think both of us are on the record

as having wanted some big changes to the group, but I also understand why it turned out the way it did. Other teams are feeling the same way. Like they were like, we couldn't, we couldn't really do anything. And the Canucks actually did some stuff. You know, they did manage to bring these guys back. They were, you know, uh, Besser could have just left, but he didn't. Besser always wanted to remain a Canuck.

He almost certainly could have earned more elsewhere, but he didn't. Besser always wanted to remain a Canuck. He almost certainly could have earned more elsewhere, but he wanted to be a Canuck. And to me, that's important. I think we all want to cheer for players who want to be here, that take pride in wearing the Canucks jersey, that have a belief in the group. And we want to cheer for a group that wants to win together, that's willing

to sacrifice for each other, which is why the Pedersen Miller rift turned so many people off last season. And we don't want to cheer for mercenaries and overriding all of this is the big hope that Quinn Hughes will feel the same way when it's time for him to decide on his next contract. And yeah, and that's all great.

Keeping the band together, you laid out multiple positive reasons I might add why it's a good thing. There's camaraderie, there's chemistry, and I think it is an important thing. I don't wanna downplay this, that you bring in people or you retain people that want to be here. A big picture. This wasn't the summer of change.

We thought it might be. We thought that they would ultimately decide that this was the time to move on from Brock Besser because his contract did run out of term. And let's be honest, this is a management group that hasn't exactly spoken fondly at Brock Besser publicly over the last 12 to 16 months. Publicly facing, you got the sense that they would have been,

and I'm trying to put this in the most judicious terms imaginable, they would have been okay with him moving on. They would have been okay with it, right? That's fair to say. Well, if they had been able to replace him. Right. This just ended up not being the summer not for change.

This wasn't the summer where you're like, we're gonna turn things over because there's so many players available. I was reading an article in the athletic in bed this morning as I woke up and I was like, oh, I gotta go talk to Halford again and read this article instead. Sure, sure.

And it was on the Detroit Red Wings and how they're like, yeah, we still need a bunch of things. Like they got Gibson, but they're like, yeah, market was tough. And we're the Detroit Red Wings. And although we've got history and tradition to sell, we're not a contender. And you know, we don't have, besides our history and tradition, we don't, we don't really have a lot to sell players. Not a lot of people shook loose yesterday.

We're all in Detroit. Yep. And that doesn't help, but a lot of things that I think a lot of players players. Well, not a lot of people shook loose yesterday. We're all in Detroit. Yeah. And that doesn't help. But a lot of things that I think a lot of players that people thought were either going to shake loose or just open themselves up to bidding. It didn't last very long. The Grandland sweepstakes, as we coined them earlier in the show, didn't last very long.

Anaheim stepped up and gave Grandland the biggest contract, at least in terms of AAV in his career. And he's been playing for a long time. He's a seven million dollar a year center now, and he lasted all of two hours on in the free agent market. So the guys that people thought were going to shake loose didn't. So the Canucks pivoted. And that's what sometimes you have to do is when you

get down to plan N or O or P or Q or R or S, sometimes it's just a straight pivot to, let's just go with what we know. Okay, that being said, if it doesn't work out next season, the connects are gonna get hammered. Yep. Because, you know, look, if it works out, great, that's awesome, right?

But if it doesn't, you know, it's the same as the same as story is like the Leafs losing in the first round or the second round. You're like, well, yeah, you have the same core that's been losing every year in the first round in the second round. Yeah. I mean, they have locked into a core group of players that have had what? Two playoff appearances in the last 10 years. Cause if you go back and you look at it, yes, Besser and Demko took a while to get to the NHL, but this is Demko's 11th year with the organization. This is Bester's 10th. Right. They were drafted in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

So they've been around for a long time and the early stages, the infancy of their NHL careers, the team was bad, but they've had the opportunity to grow. We're not quite talking about the core four and the amount of leash that they were given in Toronto, but it's not far off. Right. Besser Hughes, Demko, especially those guys. And then you're going to lump Petey in there as well, even though he was a little bit later to the party.

They're being tasked now with being the core four for this group, moving forward with a couple of guys on the fringes like Connor Garland and to a lesser degree, Tyler Meyers. But those are the guys that are going to be driving everything on ice, in the room. That is your Vancouver Canucks core. The, the, the texts that are coming into the show right now and the Dunbar Lumber text line are very

polarized. They're, you know, I don't know if his real name is Gary, but Gary texted in this morning and he said, when Brock resigned, I actually felt sports happiness. I was happy for Brock. But Gary is feeling sport, he's feeling it. He's feeling sports happiness that this group is together and that Brock is back. And then we've got an unsigned text here. I am so far checked out now. It is like this management group is ruining

this club on purpose. Like. Wow, hold on. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Totally valid. And other people are like, well, the market dictated what happened and I think they did the best that they could. And also I like these players. I like Brock Besser. There's a lot of people that are super happy

that the Canucks kept to Leas Pedersen that they never traded. And there's a lot of people that are like, that contract is gonna bury the Canucks. And we haven Pettersson that they never traded. And there's a lot of people that are like, that contract is going to bury the Canucks. And, you know, we haven't talked that much about Pettersson for the last little while, cause let's face it, we needed a break, but you know, Pettersson is, you know, now that they brought

back Besser, like I think those two will probably be reunited. And, you know, Pedersen's importance just grew. I mean, I had someone on, get me on Twitter. He called Pedersen's the linchpin for the team next season. I was like, yeah, I can't disagree because the way I see it is that the Canucks have two forwards with the potential to drive play. One is Pedersen and one is Garland.

And obviously Pedersen didn't do a good job of driving play last season, but he's done it before and the Canucks are counting on him to do it again. And if he doesn't, I don't really even want to think about that for now, but if he can, he can drive one top line and Garland can drive the other. The Canucks might be in decent shape. I'm not saying the other guys are just going to

wait around for Pedersen and Garland to do all the heavy lifting. When are you going to start driving? But I do think that is maybe the simplest way to look at it. And I know we've got some audio from Yannick Hansen and I think he talks about Heidel, which we can talk about driving the second line. I think if Garland is on that line, he's more likely to be the play driver on that line. But you know, Yannick,

I think rightly puts it puts a lot of the responsibility for next season's success or failure at the feet of, well, it makes sense, the highest paid player on the team. Yeah, health is a big thing here. And if Petey returns to the player, we hope he will be. Yes. If he's a 40 point player, no. That's where you're putting your eggs, not in one basket, but like if Heedle and Petey don't turn out the way we hope, there's no chance. You need them. Kane was a legitimate top winger a couple years ago.

He needs support now and then he can provide scoring. He can provide that not a lot of players on this roster can, but he's not going to drive it by himself anymore. The brusk is not going to drive it by himself. Brock Besser, we know won't drive it by himself. You need these centers to put everything into perspective to come and pull everybody together and make sure that you have a one-two point punch here in Vancouver. You have deaf pieces. We haven't even talked about Gabluger, Joshua, all of these players that have performed admirably. A full offseason for Joshua will be good for him as well. The Ds are still good. So you have a lot of these other pieces where we're just hoping that our number one and number two centers can one, stay healthy and produce at a pace that will, we don't need

them to produce like Dry Cytl and McDavid or McKinnon, but we need them to produce the point of game average if you're hoping to compete here. It was funny that on a day where the Canucks resigned two wingers and a goalie to fairly lucrative and fairly long term contracts, the Demko one wasn't that long term. The majority of the conversation yesterday that I saw ended up focusing on the center position. We signed all these guys.

And they're like, what about center? So the takeaway from yesterday was that when the dust settled on July 1, the Canucks were left with Pedersen and Heedle as their top two centers. Suter still on sign, so who knows what's going on there? And then the question, who's comfortable going into the year with Petey as your one and Heedle as your two? The answer, according to Patrick Alveen, is the head coach of this team, Adam Foote.

Here's Alveen yesterday talking about Alias Pederson and and Philip Heal being the one-two punch down the middle at center for next year's Vancouver Canucks. Adam felt you know very confident starting the season with PD and Schiedl as the number one and two. You know we have a couple of younger centers Radd is, Hassan, Senors, Raddice, Hassan, I forgot his name here, Mueller, that are playing really well in Abbotsfern deserves a chance too, but absolutely this is something we will continue to look at and see what's available. Obviously there wasn't, I don't know if it was, was it one center available at the free agent market here today and no trades. So obviously teams are holding on to centers. So we'll see where it goes. But you know, again, Adam felt really confident in PD and Heedle being the number one and two here. So Patrick Alveen says Adam Foote is comfortable and confident with PD and Sheetal being the number one and two. So Patrick Alveen

says Adam Foote is comfortable and confident with Petey and Heedle as the number one and two centers and then he followed that up by saying he better be because there's nothing else walking through that door because this has been a free agent period and I watched yesterday go down and I was I wasn't shocked at the number that Grandland got in Anaheim, but I was surprised that I guess it was Anaheim and that they had clearly, clearly identified him as their guy and weren't going to be helped bid. And when I saw the number, I'm like 31 other NHL teams were like, you're right. We're not going to outbid you for that.

So there's one off the board. I don't know what is going to happen with suitor at the end of the day, but with every passing moment, he becomes more and more valuable on this market. And it's great that they're comfortable and borderline confident going into the season with those as your one to. But I don't know of another one to punch in the National Hockey League at center that's going to enter the 2025 2026 season with more question marks. I don't think there is one.

There's question marks and big ones hanging around both of these players. I mean, I almost don't want to wait for the entire summer. Like, I need to know what Pedersen looks like right now. Well, I mean, he is if he's going to be tasked with the two see a spot, by the way, which he was never really able to fully grab onto in New York due to a logjam at center and health issues. Both things roadblocked them. You're asking, uh, Pederson to return to form and he'd all to get to a form that he's never been to

before. And that's all going into this very pivotal year. Again, under a rookie head coach where you don't know who your three and four C's are going to be. Not exactly the most ringing endorsement for Ty Mueller there. I know he just forgot his name in the moment, but it just goes to show like after your top two, you've got some candidates to try out. I forgot the word insomnia yesterday.

I was like, what is that word where you don't get enough sleep? And I was like, this might be a sign that I have insomnia and I'm not getting enough sleep and then I can't remember the word for it. I do want to read a couple of texts here. Scott texts in, I'm not surprised there's people disappointed bringing back the best player in free

agency. We have a lot of dumb people in the fan base. And I replied to Scott, I was like, it's not the best or deal. It's the lack of change overall. Like it's not, it's not the Besser Deal, it's the lack of change overall. The Besser Deal just capped off the conclusion that, wait a minute, is everyone except Pugh Souter going to be back? Everyone's going to be back. It's really not, I don't think anything's about Besser, it's about a lack of change And Ozzy Goose texts in and they said,

they had no choice. There weren't any other options. If Pedersen and Demko get back to form, Canucks will be good. I agree with that last part. If Pedersen and Demko get back to form, I think the Canucks could be a decent team next season. They had a choice though. They had a choice though.

They had a choice. Don't act like they didn't have a choice. The New York Islanders traded Noah Dobson for two first round draft picks and got three players overall in the draft. But they got two first round picks for Noah Dobson. You know, the Canucks could have sold some guys. And I'm not saying they could have got those exact picks that the Islanders got,

but they could have traded Garland. They, they could have sold into this market. They didn't. They brought back the same guys. And I think if you squint and you say if this happens and if this happens and if this happens, the Canucks could be a good team and it's possible. I don't know what the future holds. As Ian Atkinson said, health is going to be a big factor, which is an element of luck.

But don't put it out there that the Canucks had no choice. There's always a choice. Okay, we gotta go to break. When we come back, David Amber, Hockey Night Canada, Sportsnet NHL host is gonna join the program. You're listening to the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canuck Central with Dan Riccio and Satya Arshaw,

your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to six p. 6 PM weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber.

He will talk some hockey, maybe. It is time for David Amber. He is on the hotline, baby. It is time for David Amber. he will talk some hockey maybe It is time for David Amber, he is on the hotline baby It is time for David Amber, he will talk some hockey maybe I'm on the hotline baby I like to do mushrooms talking I remember what I was doing at 23, pooping in my pants There's a massive butt coming here guys

No one's fighting Rick talking, no one wants to fight Rick talking I'm on the hotline baby It is, it's David It is, it's David. It is, it's David. Amber, it is, it's David. He's on the hotline. He's on the hotline. 632 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody.

Halford Brough, Sports Night 650. Halford Brough of 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 go now to the Power West Industries hotline. David Amber, Hockey Night in Canada Sportsnet NHL host, joins us now on the Halford and Brev Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning David, how are you? Good. Happy Belated Canada Day.

Happy belated Canada Day to you as well. So I'll tell you how we kicked off Canada Day. We had your coworker at Sportsnet, Hockey Night in Canada, Elliot Friedman on the show bright and early. We started talking about Brock Besser and Friedge brought up Edmonton and Winnipeg and a handful of other places where Brock Besser might land. None of them were Vancouver yet and a half hour after we got off the air Brock Besser had resigned in Vancouver. It

caught us by surprise. For you guys working yesterday and checking things out from afar how shocked were you to learn that Brock Besser had re-upped in Vancouver for seven years? Well, that's why we call Elliott the ultimate outsider because clearly has bad information. Honestly, kudos to Dan Murphy, our colleague. We had Dan on, we were going correspondent to correspondent, we had reporters embedded with every team and you know kind of at the end in a throwaway I was just like, you know, what about Besser? And he's like, yeah, you know, there are some rumblings that he could be signing

back here. And I was like, wow. And then literally about five minutes later, she tweeted it out seven years, 7.25 professors returning. I was quite surprised because all the dialogue had been that he wasn't coming back. And quite frankly, you don't see that happen very often where a team can resign a player before July 1st. It doesn't get done. There's all this back and quite frankly you don't see that happen very often where a team can resign a player before July 1st. It doesn't get done.

There's all this back and forth and then on July 1st they're like, yeah, let's do this. So, um, I was happy, uh, for a number of reasons. I think for best sir guys, you can pencil him in, you know, 25 to 35 goals. Anything more than that is gravy. I know he's done that before with a 40-goal season. And not just what he does on the ice and he also has a clutch score as you know we all remember that hat-trick against Nashville. But not just that it's that you know you want something you want a strong culture, you want guys who want to play with other guys, you want cohesion, you want affable people in

the community and he checks every box. He's probably, if not, he's the longest tenured Canuck and he's also maybe the most beloved Canuck. So I think it was an important signing and it certainly caught me off guard. Did any of the Canadian teams get significantly better? Maybe Montreal, I like that trade they made with St. Louis, but I mean, I don't know if it's a game changer trade. Ottawa ran it back pretty much, right? Did anyone get better? I don't think so. I think what teams like Ottawa and Montreal are

relying on is another year of maturation for the Stutzla's and the Brady Kachaks and the Suzuki's and the Caughtfield. So they might be better even without changes, but they also, in Montreal's case, add the Bull Duke. They add Dobson, obviously. So I think you can make the argument Montreal has improved, but not appreciably. Like none of the Canadian teams went out there and you went, oh my God, wow, they added this blank guy.

Having said that, guys, you know, what were we doing a year ago at this point? It was July 2nd. We were saying, Oh my God, Barry Trotz, Nashville, are they the team to beat? Marcia Sostam goes, Oh my God, you know, Brady Schaer, you know, everything they did. And we were, we were a fusive praise for Nashville who finished 30th in the NHL. In fact, five of the top six spending teams, including the Canucks, who were sixth highest spending team last year, didn't make the playoffs last year. So there's no just

instant, you know, automatic rubber stamp, you sign this guy and you're going to be better. We just don't know. Sometimes it's all about chemistry and the maturation of your players and everything else. So, you know, we just don't know, but on paper, did any of the Canadian teams significantly improve? I'd say, no, not really. So what's the aftermath in Toronto after the Mitch Marner trade? Well, I mean, everyone saw this coming.

I think it'd be crazy to have thought, well, there's a way to salvage this. I mean, you know, all the talks since the lease were eliminated was what's going to happen with Marner and all the chatter had been the two sides aren't really at the table and Marner is going to test free agency. He's going to see what happens from July 1st moving forward. And then in the last week or so, a lot of rumblings while he's out in Vegas, he's checking out homes.

It looks like all signs point to Vegas. And then the last 48 hours is all about could a sign and trade get done? So, you know, there, I don't think people were caught off guard, anyone who was following the situation, you know, with any level of closeness. How did the Leafs move forward? That's a great question. And will they be a better team? Probably not. I mean, Mitch Marner is an elite player and he wanted to be paid like an elite player. And now he's the fifth highest paid player in the league, AAV. But was it a marriage that needed to end?

I would say so, not just for the Leafs, but for Mitch Marner. I mean, I think Mitch gave everything he had to give to the organization. He tried hard, he worked hard, he cared. But collectively, with the other core members, it just, you know, they couldn't get it done at the most important times and they didn't try once, they didn't try twice, they tried, you know, eight or nine times. So I think it'd be foolhardy to say, well,

bring them back because he's irreplaceable. I think it'd be silly to just think you can keep moving on with that same core group. Um, you know, But the aftermath's really gonna be, it's hard to replace a guy with that elite skill level and someone who can provide what he can provide on the ice, certainly through the 82 game regular season. There was a fair bit of consternation out of Edmonton yesterday after the departures of Arvidsson, Perry,

of course, Amanda Cain to the Vancouver Canucksucks and Connor Brown, none of them frontline guys, but all of them valuable contributors in their own way. And the only thing that really came back for them was Andrew Mangiapane, which happened late last night for those that missed it. Did you share a similar level of consternation with how the day one of free agency went for Edmonton? No, I think there's work to be done and I think they're they know that they need to add a player.

They need to get another top six forward to play with Leon Drysettle. I think they're aware of that. It was tough. You know, their hands were tied. They had an Evan Bouchard contract to get signed and that wasn't a small price tag and they have to be weary of what they do.

They have Connor McDavid coming down the pipe and that we know is going to cost an arm and a leg and they'll write whatever check he wants to be weary of what they do. They have Connor McDavid coming down the pipe and that we know is going to cost an arm and a leg and they will write whatever check he wants to be written. They have to move within those guidelines. There was no, for the people going, oh my God, there are problems in that, well, there was no

instant answer for goaltending. There wasn't, Martin Brodeur wasn't sitting there waiting to be plucked off the free agency wire. So I think they're taking their time. They're being taken a patient approach. As far as shedding themselves, you know, I don't imagine Jeff Skinner is going to be back. Corey Perry, you know, they moved to Vander Cane. I think they wanted to get a little bit younger.

I think they went, they did that year of let's add a bunch of veterans ready to win right now. And listen, they came within two wins of winning the Stanley Cup. So it's not like it failed, but at the same time, you know, they probably missed a little bit of the dynamic play of some of the younger guys that got away last year, Holloway, Roberg, you know, Fogel. Could some of those players have been assets

in that series versus Florida? Sure, I think you could argue that. So I think they have to act prudently and I think that's what they're doing and I can understand why it's a little frustrating for Oilers fans because they feel like we're right on the precipice, like push us over the precipice. But you know, when you're dealing, when you have Nurse, McDavid, Dry Cytl and Bouchard, you know, that's sort of, we talk about this Core Four in Toronto for all these years. I mean, that's the new Core Four in terms of, I don't, you know, that's sort of, we talk about this core four in Toronto for all these years. I mean, that's the new core four in terms of, I

don't, you know, I'm driving in my car. I don't have a calculator in front of me, but that's 40 something odd million dollars dedicated to those four players. It does put you in a bit of a bind when it comes to adding the ancillary parts to push you over the top. The biggest name still out there is related to another Canadian team, the Winnipeg Jets.

Nick Ehlers still hasn't signed. Um, what are, what are the latest rumors at least when it, when it comes to Nick Ehlers? I was pretty focused on the Canucks yesterday. Yeah, you know, it's funny, one of, it was a tough show to do yesterday guys, because there was not a lot of action.

I mean, that's our, it was exciting time for us because we finally had something to talk about that anyone would care about, you know? Yeah, I mean, Elliot came on the show very early yesterday and said that Ehlers isn't getting done today. This is going to take some time. He's going to really peruse the whole marketplace and see what the best fit is. So maybe that eventually could be the Edmonton move. Maybe just like Vegas shed some salary to bring in Mitch Marner, there's a scenario where Edmonton tries to shed some salary to bring in Nick Ehlers. Would that be the right answer? You know

he plays feisty, has edge, he obviously can score, he can do a lot of things. He's a legit top six forward. He's fast. He's going to strut his career. Yeah and exactly that's what they need. Are they gonna be able able to do that? And is that the place he'd like to go and dedicate the next six or seven years of his career to? Those are questions I don't know the answers to. That is the big chip to fall, I'd say. We wanted to know where Besser was going to go, clearly the whole Marner thing. It was anticlimactic yesterday, guys, because Bill Zito screwed everything up for us by pulling out that great hat trick.

You know, that was unbelievable, right? To pull off the hat trick he pulled off. And I guess there was no Stanley Cup hangover. These guys were hung over, but they were having such a good time. They're like, let's keep this party going. So there wasn't that much to resolve yesterday. The best thing was the biggest news.

And I guess the Ehlers news will be the second biggest piece of business that gets done in the next week or so, hopefully. Well, David, we wanted to bring you on this morning just to thank you for everything you've brought this show this season. Always such a positive attitude, always looking on the bright side, unlike Halford and I who don't. And, you know, I think you did great work at the draft, which speaking of long shows, maybe we can talk about that when you've recovered from that. You did great work yesterday in a very tough environment. So congratulations on getting through it all.

And thank you very much for all the work that you've put in for our show this year. Guys, I always love coming on talking with you, talking Canucks. I'm optimistic we're going to have a better year. Obviously that's a low bar considering what happened in Vancouver this year, but I'm excited for the upcoming season and enjoy the summer and I always appreciate you guys giving me the time. Yeah, we appreciate you too, bud. Thanks for doing this as Jason said,

and enjoy the summer as well. And we'll get reacquainted in the fall. All right guys, be well. YouTube, thanks buddy. That's David Amber, Hockey Night Canada Sportsnet NHL host here on the Haliford and Breast Show on Sportsnet 650. So there's one more element that I wanted to talk about when it comes to the Canucks

and that's special teams because we've seen that the group is pretty much the group that it is right now. There might be a few changes here and there, but they're bringing the band back together. And special teams were actually a success for the Canucks last season. They had a very good penalty killer and their power play. Excellent, excellent penalty killer. And their power play was, well, we can talk about the power play because the numbers weren't terrible,

but I think it failed the eye test. So let's start with, with the PK. Um, if Suter's gone, that's, that's a big piece of the penalty kill that will need to be replaced. I don't know if any of the Abbotsford guys can step into that role, but I sure would like it if they could. Abbotsford did have a dynamic penalty kill this

year. As a matter of fact, they barely gave up a power play goal over their Calder Cup run. Do we know anything about who the key guys out there in terms of the forwards were? Was Ratu out there a lot? Because I would think that's an area where a guy like Ratu could come in. They don't track a lot of the stats like that in the NHL, so it's tough as a guy that doesn't watch the games. But these are the types of opportunities the penalty kill, where young

players can stake their claims on an NHL career. You think about Yannick Hansen and how he stuck around early in his time with the Canucks. Ditto for Alex Burroughs. It was only eventually that they got a chance to play with the Sedines up the lineup. Just think about the guys running Abbotsford, the two, who are the two main guys when you think about Abbotsford, Ryan Johnson and Manny Malhotra, both penalty

killers, they didn't score much. Manny Malhotra was the seventh overall pick, I think in the draft and he basically had to be like, okay, well, I don't think I'm going to score very much in the NHL. I'm going to have to be really good defensively. I'm going to have to work on my face-off skills and I'm going to have to be a really good

penalty killer. You remember those really good Canucks teams of 2011, the first four forwards over the boards on the penalty kill, if I'm not mistaken, were Manny Malhotra, Ryan Kessler were the centers and then Burroughs and Hanson were the wingers. All those guys just did what it took to stay in the league. Adam Foote was a defenseman,

but he had to do a lot of the dirty work in Colorado. Maybe Foote can help develop the next, I don't know, Stefan Yell. Ooh, nice pull. Was that a guy? That was a guy. Yeah, that was a guy. Yeah, and that's a name I haven't talked about

in a long time. Killed a lot of penalties. Killed a lot of penalties with the Colorado Avalanche. I just, I don't think losing Souter is going to completely sink the PK. I'm not getting at that. I mean, it better not. I just remember back in 2021, 22,

after they traded Beagle and Russel and they lost Souter, their PK totally sunk them. It was one of the big reasons that Travis Green got fired and Nolan Baumgartner was fired too. And he was responsible for the PK. I mean, it was that and Pedersen's slow start. Now, again, I don't think losing Souter is going to completely sink the PK, but it's something you do have to consider when you're building a team.

The Canucks learned that the hard way that season. So we'll see if Suter doesn't come back and he's still out there, so there's a possibility he could come back. But if he doesn't, someone's going to need to replace him. And I'll be curious to see who that is. Well, the Canucks have 500K in cap space according to Puckpedia. So if Souter does come back, they're going to have to move. Yeah, they're going to have to move.

Yeah. You know what? Let's defer to Patrick Alveen here because he was asked about a Pew Souter yesterday. We've got some audio here where he acknowledges that Souter had a great year. He's earned this opportunity to go to free agency. You be the judge.

Listen to the tone, the tenor, and the words from the Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrick Alveen on the future of Pugh Souter. Pugh had a great season and again I respect all players that have earned their way into free agency and if they want to take a look what's out there and see if they're getting more money and fit somewhere else, good for them. Pius knows what we think about him and how he would fit in here and we'll see here. I exchanged a conversation with his agent. I don't know where it stands as of now, but we'll see By the way max sasson according to multiple texters Who watched the Abbotsford Canucks game a little bit closer than we did and I?

Went and I was furiously googling while you were talking about the PK their sasson Baines of the two guys there's opportunities for those guys I was you guys that have an opportunity to play in the NHL this year in the next Assassin being on a one-year deal next year. They gotta bring in the assassin bring him in Yeah, well at this stage of the game, let's safely assume I think it's safe to assume that suitor won't be back. I think it's at this stage Although I was surprised that he didn't go off the board yesterday. I just assumed that he'd be gone yesterday I don't really know what the holdup is you You'd think. I think it was Grandland from what I heard.

I think Dolly well tweeted out that the Grandland weight was holding up because Souter was probably choice number two. But you just thought the Dominoes would have fallen quickly after that. Yeah. It was an interesting day. Well, I want to continue the special teams

conversation because I want to talk about the power play as well. Sure. The power play is an area where I hope the Canucks can make some big strides. Not, again, not that it was a complete disaster last season in terms of where they ranked in the league, I think they were around the middle of the

league, but I think it underperformed given the talent. The eye test, we watched the Canucks, how many times? I mean listeners, you watched the Canucks power play last season. It needed to be better. And you cannot tell me that the rift between Miller and Pedersen didn't affect the power play.

I remember when Tauket split Miller and Pedersen up and he said some guys needed a break from each other. You know, I think looking back on that comment, now you're like, yeah, well, Miller and Pedersen really did need a break from each other, didn't they? Two guys in particular. I think that said a lot. So I'm hopeful that the power play can get on

the same page this season. Hughes, Pedersen, DeBrusk and Besser should all be mainstays on the first unit. Um, I'm sure Kane will be given an opportunity too, although that's not really an area where he's thrived outside of, I think one season in San Jose. Again, a lot of this is going to come down to

Pederson. He needs to find his confidence again. He needs to want the puck on a stick. He needs to find his confidence again. He needs to want the puck on a stick. He needs to be looking to shoot. It has to be an attacking mindset, not a deferring mindset. We all know the talent is there. He just needs to rediscover his confidence

and maybe some new ideas for the power play. The fact that JT Miller isn't out there demanding the puck, a fresh start. The fact that JT Miller isn't out there demanding the puck, a fresh start. All of our hopes are that we see a very different and more confident Elias Pedersen next season. Yeah. And just to the power play overall, if you kind of read

the tea leaves on what the Canucks are going to be this year, they're not going to be super high scoring at five on five. It's fair to suggest. It'd be a big shock to a lot of people if the Canucks came in next year and were an elite scoring unit at evens. I think it's just fair to say between having your top two centers as Pedersen and Heidel and your wingers. Um, I did any, like when's the last time any of their wingers got to 30 goals, right? And we have to go back two years to where Besser had 40.

Right outside of that, you're talking about Kane, who didn't have a regular season to count on last year, Debris, who's if he hits 30 this year, it'll be the first time in his career. So you're not talking about a robust, dynamic offensive group at evens. Teams like that in the NHL can overachieve and get to that, you know, very important ninety five, one hundred point mark by being sound and responsible defensively at evens. And then I don't want to say being power play merchants, but having top ten special teams we've seen in the past. Well, they have the potential to have an elite power play.

I've seen teams go to the playoffs on the strength of good defense, good goal tending, and they get timely scoring on the man advantage. And they don't give up power play goals. Teams get through 82 games like that. Yeah. The issue is when you get to the postseason, the power play opportunities dry up and you can't, you have to score five on five. I mean, that's what the Florida Panthers did. The Florida Panthers power play was awful in the playoffs. Yeah, their first unit was gross.

It didn't do anything. But it didn't matter because they mauled teams at five on five. It's a tough way to live because you're kind. At times you are sitting around waiting for those opportunities. Right. It's not unlike, you know, as I often and always try and tie things back to the European football, it's teams that, you know, you watch in tournament play that just sort of saw the game off and wait for either a counterattack or quarter kicks and free kicks.

We're going to do we're going to be that's the football version of special teams is we're going to wait for set pieces and try and capitalize on those. And if not, we'll just go to penalties, which is also said we've got one really tall guy who gets on a header. We're just going to put everything either on his chest or to his feet. And that's how we're going to do it. And that's how we're going to play. And it's a, it'll get you places, but you, the margins are so thin, so thin. And if something goes wrong, not that anything ever goes wrong for the Vancouver Canucks, but if something goes wrong, you don't have something to fall back on to create offense.

That was so, I mean, it, it was very bludgeoning hockey that Florida played this spring, but there was also a beauty to it because they had the confidence to know that they were always going to generate. Part of it was because they had three lines that were so dynamic, whereas like Barkov can take a series off and not score and we're going to be fine. Yeah, because we've got two other lines underneath them. Or our third line can go away for a couple of games.

And it's fine because someone also pick up the slack is with so much depth of forward. And then they had their blue liners chipping with offense as well. Anyway, we got to go to break. We're up against it for time. Our one is in the books. Frank's air valley is going to join us on the other side to kick off our two. chipping in with offense as well. Anyway, uh, we gotta go to break. We're up against it for time. Our one is in the books. Frank said, rally is going to join us on the other side to kick off our two. Then we have an open segment at eight o'clock. We're going to take Brock Bessers media availability live right here on the

Haliford and brush show on sports net six 50. And then we're going to talk to I am at eight 30 after the best availability at seven 30. We'll probably try to work in some, what we learns as well. So get yours in Dunbar Lumber, text message in basket is 650-650 hashtag it WWL and tell us what you learned over the last 24 hours in sports. You're listening to the Halford and Bref show on sportsnet 650.