Halford & Brough in the Morning - Welp, I Guess The Seahawks Are Rebuilding

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss what was a busy weekend for the Seahawks with ESPN's Brady Henderson (1:57), as Seattle moved out both Geno Smith & DK Metcalf, plus they chat with Fan 590 Toronto's Sam McKee (25:19) about a rather interesting Trade Deadline Day for the Maple Leafs & Mitch Marner. 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.

["The Star-Spangled Banner"] 704 on a Monday! Happy Monday everybody,. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, more parts. We are now in hour two of the program. Brady Henderson, our ESPN Seahawks insider, is gonna join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two.

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working together with you in step. So if you're a regular listener of the Haliford and Bruff show, you're probably thinking right now, wait a minute, didn't you guys just talk to Brady Henderson from ESPN on Thursday? The answer is yes. But much has happened since then. Friday the Seahawks traded Geno Smith to the Raiders. Saturday, news broke that Sam Darnold might be a potential replacement candidate at quarterback. Sunday, they traded DK Metcalf.

And then also on Sunday, another report surfaced that they might be entertaining the idea of bringing in Aaron Rodgers to be the new quarterback. They also signed a couple of key defensive players as well. Suffice to say it was a busy weekend, so we begged, we begged Brady to come back and join us. And he joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Brady. How are you? What's up, guys? Yeah, definitely a two-conversational week with everything going on with the Seahawks, no doubt. First off, I apologize for calling back so quickly

and I'm very thankful that you were able to take the time to do this because as the weekend went along, we're like, well, we're gonna have to do something on Monday, we're gonna have to talk about this on Monday. And now it was, I mean, the most unavoidable conversation because the Seahawks have had a kind of like transformative 48 hours

that most NFL teams don't usually have. What the hell happened over the weekend, Brady? How did all this stuff come together so quickly and so profoundly and how did they move in such a different direction so fast in Seattle? Yeah, it is wild to think that the Seahawks have made all these moves, all these very significant roster reductions for a team that was seven and ten last year and narrowly missed out on the playoffs. I think we first need to talk about the whole idea of whether or not this is a rebuild. It really depends on how you define the term. In think i mean certainly it is a rebuild in the sense that you're pretty dramatically shaking up your roster but it's not a rebuild in the sense that

they're intentionally you know taking one step back in two thousand twenty five in order to hopefully take two steps forward in two thousand and twenty six i mean if you just look at these things individually the five players that they released the clear title locket I mean, if you just look at these things individually, I mean, the five players that they released, including Tyler Lockett, those are pretty straightforward decisions that they would have made in any year under any circumstances, regardless of the state of the team. And I think, you know, the Gino trade and the DK Metcap trade were obviously, it's pretty rare to move on from your starting quarterback and your star receiver.

But I think those were decisions they made, like independent of the state of the roster and the direction of the team. And so the DK thing in particular, I mean, look, I know that this had been brewing for a few years now, the, the, at least the discontent that, uh, you know, I think it was part of the reason why he asked for a trade. And so, um, I, you, you know, I may have said to you guys, I've certainly said it on other radio shows that, you know, before that trade went down, I wouldn't have done it for less than a first round pick. Now, and I, if I were them, easy for me to say,

but if I were them, I probably would have hung onto them and tried to smooth things over unless I got a better offer than a second round pick. I think the challenge is, you know, one of them, from what I'm told, you know, when he requested a trade a few days ago, that was not the first time that he has wanted out of Seattle. In other words, he has asked for trades in the past. So I think for them, the question was not only, you know, do you want to pay this very

talented, still young, still productive wide receiver a new contract, you know, give him a third contract at a number that he wants, it was do you want to do that and then sign up for potentially dealing with, you know, a guy who's been unhappy several times over the past few seasons and so that was you know part of the equation And then you know it it's also gets tricky when you're talking about you know not only negotiating with other teams as to what they would give the Seahawks in return, but Metcalf is also negotiating with those teams for a new contract And you know John Snyder did say on the radio last week that if he was going to do what's best for the Seahawks meaning he was going to trade DK Metcalf or not trade him at all but if he was going to trade him it was going to be

to the team that gave him the best offer I think you know as opposed to what he was saying there was he wasn't just going to trade DK Metcalf to the place he wanted to go. I think in reality it had to be a little bit of both because ZK Metcalf had some level of veto power over this. He didn't have a no trade clause but he did have some level of veto power over it because any team that was going to give up a high pick was going to want to know then it could tie him to an extension and he could just say yeah I'm not you know I'm not going to New England or I'm not going to wherever I'm just you know, throwing team names out there You know, he could have said yeah

I'm not gonna sign an extension there and that's that team even if they were willing to offer a higher pick than 52 overall You know that team in theory would have been out at that point knowing that Metcalf wouldn't have resigned there You know for me personally the the Metcalf thing is is less surprising than the Gino Smith thing. What about you and what exactly happened with Gino Smith? Yeah with Gino, yeah I would agree with that. The you know the DK stuff I mean you know both of those were situations where I think largely driven by money, obviously. And yeah, I mean, I think the DK stuff that had that had kind of been brewing for at least, you know, for eight months or so as well. And I've told you guys, I know this to be true that, you know, last summer when he missed

those what four practices when he was getting the he was getting the knee and hip injuries checked out, that was ostensibly an injury-related absence. But as the Seahawks saw it, that was a guy making a pretty calculated contract protest. And he had seen a bunch of other quarterbacks get paid a lot more money than he was making, and he wanted a new deal. And the Seahawks rebuffed him because they, it's their, you know,

it's their organizational MO to not redo deals with more than one season left, which was the case at the time. And, uh, I think, I think that Gino remembered that. And I think knowing that, you know, he had to play out another year on what he viewed as a below market deal. You know, he was going to, I think in any sort of negotiation, this time around, he was going to make sure that it was done on his terms. And my understanding is the Seahawks made him a strong offer.

I don't know the exact details of that, but my understanding is, you know, it was on par with what Matthew Stafford just got from the Rams. That's what I was told. The Seahawks made him a strong offer. He kind of went silent on them, made no counter offer. They didn't hear from him. And I think at that point, they then pivoted. This was last week, by the way. And at that point, they then pivoted to a potential trade. And I think they did that knowing that, okay, there's no telling when this contract situation could be resolved. You would want to have your quarterback in place

as soon as possible, knowing that you're gonna have to start installing a new offense under Clint Kubiak. You're gonna want that guy to start meshing with whatever new receivers you bring in, whatever new offensive linemen you bring in. And all the while, you know, even if they did sign him, you know, whatever deal they gave him, I would imagine it was going to be structured in such a way that would still give them the ability to

go year to year with this big question still hanging overhead as to whether or not he is truly their long-term guy. So I think that it was still a question and whatever offer they made him was going to reflect that. But if that's the question, and now all of a sudden you're faced with the prospect of a pretty messy contract dispute that had no end in sight, I think they decided, okay, you know, now's the time to cut bait when you can get something of value from him from maybe the only other team in the NFL because of the Pete Carroll connection that would offer them something anywhere close to that.

And in addition to that, you do it before the start of free agency when you really position yourself to not miss out on a potential replacement like Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers, whoever that may be. We're speaking to Brady Henderson from ESPN, our Seahawks insider here on the Halford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. So the big question Brady right now is who's gonna be the starting quarterback for the Seahawks next season? Yeah I think it's it's gonna be a veteran guy. Now that wouldn't necessarily preclude them from you know spending a draft pick on a quarterback

which I think they should do even though it's not a particularly strong group at the top but I think their starter next year is going to be, if I had to guess right now, I would say either Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers. Now, if I had to guess between the two, I would guess that Sam Darnold is more likely for a couple reasons. One being that, you know, in addition to the obvious age, you know, concerns with Aaron Rodgers and the fact that, you know, in addition to the obvious age, you know, concerns with Aaron Rogers and the fact that, you know, his production has pretty clearly been declining, he to me seems like too much of a, I don't know, me first kind of guy for what they're trying

to build, for the new culture they're trying to build with Mike McDonald. And I do think that culture aspect of it is, maybe part of the reason why they moved on from Gino Smith and DK Metcalf, again, those situations, most primarily being money related, but it was two guys that didn't totally want to be there, I think in some respects. And so, Darnold would be a better fit for that culture

than Aaron Rodgers would. But, you know, at this stage, you know, how certain can you be, if you're the Seahawks, that you are going to be able to sign Donald? And if you're not totally certain, you would need a backup plan in Aaron Rodgers. And I think that's why the reports have come out that they plan on talking to him. And even if they do feel really good about Darnold, frankly, you need somebody else there to serve as leverage in the form of a potential alternative. And so, yeah, I do think it's going to be, if I had to guess, I would say it's going to be one of those two guys. But again, that wouldn't keep them from spending a day to pick on somebody like you know Jackson Dart or maybe it's a later pick Quinn Ewers or you know the Ohio State quarterback whatever it is like I do think that you know it was probably

gonna be a veteran but you know I wouldn't roll out the possibility that they added the quarterback room in the draft as well. I bet Aaron Rodgers goes to Pittsburgh by the way. Man. There you go. I, I, I, I bet he will. And they'll be the Pittsburgh knee firsters with the, with the, some of that, which is weird. Cause that doesn't fit with Pittsburgh's culture either.

Anyway, I could be wrong about that. Um, free agency cap space, the Seahawks have a lot of cap space now. Are they able to meaningfully address the offensive line? Yes, and they will. Yeah, I really believe they will. And that would be out of character for them to spend big money on a player, but I think that this is the year. Just from what I'm hearing and I think this is the year. Now, the guy to keep in

mind is Will Fries. He's the right guard from Indianapolis who was I think a seventh round pick in 2021, really blossomed a year or so into his career. Now he is coming off a broken leg from October. But from what I'm hearing, the expectation is that he's still going to have a pretty strong market, maybe even to the point where he gets, you know, over 10 million. I talked to one agent recently and asked him what he thinks Fry's is going to command. And he said a deal, you know, his, his estimate was a deal averaging around $13 million per

year. So obviously that would be a significant splash for a team that really tends to stay out of the first wave of free agency and in particular with offensive linemen has tended to go with more bargain deals. But, you know, for whatever reason, I think this year could be an exception. And one of the obvious reasons would be that they've got quite a bit of money to spend in addition to what was a pretty glaring need on the interior of their offensive line. So Will Fry's, I know a lot of people have pointed to Drew Dallman, he's the center from Atlanta. I think some people kind of connected those dots just because he's the top center available and also Clint Klugeak has said he's talked about the importance of having a really good center in his own blocking scheme and

maybe I could see them going after a center, whether it's Ryan Kelly or somebody else, but the guy that I'm hearing, or at least from what I'm hearing, the guy that I would guess they would spend big money on would be Wilfries from the Colts. Brady, this was great as always, man. Thank you very much for taking the time to do this again. It was a wild 48 72 hours in Seattle So it was great getting you on to try and make sense of all of this I'm not sure I do quite yet, but there's still a lot to be decided

So we'll give you a break for now, and then we'll call you closer to the draft where it should be interesting as well Thanks again for doing this man. Yeah, you guys call me anytime happy to do it Thanks, dude. Appreciate it Brady Henderson from ESPN our Seahawks insider here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. You just don't get a lot, I mean, so we're sitting there, right? I take it behind the scenes of the Haliford and Bruff show. You just don't get a lot of moments like this where on Friday, you know, the Geno Smith trade happens.

Yeah. Not long after the NHL trade deadline. We were all expecting the Canucks to make some moves and then the Seahawks make franchise defining moves. So I'm looking at him like that's a big deal like no matter how you look at it and also where he's going reunited with Pete Carroll in Las Vegas with the Raiders didn't even really get into that part of the story and we're like okay still this is you know this is all about the Canucks and we get there's two games this weekend one on Friday one on Sunday

Alvin still got to meet with the media. Seahawks are going to sit on the back burner. Then Saturday rolls around and you start hearing Sam Darnold's name come up in traded talks. I'm like, okay, or sorry, in free agency. I'm like, okay, well, that's big news too, but you know, you get to move off a quarterback, you got to bring one in. That makes sense.

Then Sunday happens. And that, I'm not going to lie, that Metcalf trade took me by surprise because there was some undercurrent there that after they traded Gino, that that was actually going to somehow like satisfy DK. There was a rift. There was a rift.

Yeah, the part of the reason that DK requested a trade is because he wasn't happy with Gino Smith being the guy responsible for getting him the football. There was some sort of rift there and everyone thought, oh, wait a minute, now that they've traded Geno, they're going to keep DK. Well, not only do they trade Metcalf, for a second round pick, which Brady pointed out was a lot less than what people thought they were going to get, he turns around and signs a $150 million extension with the Steelers. Another huge story. And then the Aaron Rodgers thing. I don't even know what to make of that.

I really hope they don't bring in Aaron Rodgers. So right now that's a singular report from a very dialed in reporter, Diana Rossini from The Athletic, their lead NFL writer, the senior NFL writer, sorry. So it's not like this is being pulled out of thin air. I guess this is a pretty, pretty concrete like rumor rumbling, whatever. Well, there's not many this is being pulled out of thin air. I guess this is a pretty concrete rumor, rumbling, whatever. Well, there's not many quarterbacks out there.

It's not that there's not many quarterbacks out there, it's just this one particular quarterback. But that's part of the reason why they're going to consider them. But I feel like there's no, what's the list of, what's the list? Sam Darnold? I feel like here's what the list should be. All the available veteran quarter what's the list, Sam Darnold? I feel like here's, here's what the list should be. Um, all the available veteran quarterbacks on one list and then Aaron Rogers on another list. Right. Like he should be a list unto himself because

you're not just beginning a veteran quarterback with, I mean, let's not pretend like. No, you're getting so much nonsense. Yeah. You're getting a lot of baggage. A lot of baggage, right? You're not getting with Sam Darnold. And those are, to me, those are two fundamentally

different signings. I know you can lump them in as veteran quarterbacks, but I don't see it that way. Anyway, back to the hockey stuff. We're going to talk to Sam McKee out of Toronto, fan 590, real Kipper and Bourne, and also Leafs Talk about the fallout from the Mitch Marner situation. Now if you don't know what happened here, reports broke over the weekend that Mitch Marner was approached by

Leaf's general manager Brad Tree Living to waive his no trade clause so they could move him to Carolina for Miko Rantanen. Marner thought about it, declined, as is his negotiated right through his no trade clause, and did not accept the deal. Also, I want to point out on the Rantanen front, it's being reported that at least nine teams showed significant interest in trying to get Ranton out of Carolina.

I wonder, I really wonder, hindsight being 20-20, how much that Meeko-Ranton deal gummed up the entire NHL trade deadline. Yeah. I really do. How many teams did Meeko-Ranton screw up this season? I mean, right now we've got, these are, Pierre Lebrun from The Athletic put the following, Florida was in on them and I guess they eventually made the late pivot to Brad Marshawn.

Toronto, which we've discussed, Vegas, which is no surprise, Edmonton reportedly made a big push. There was also LA, Utah, Calgary, Anaheim, and Seattle. Everybody was in on this. And I do wonder how much it messed up the works, gummed it up. Because we even heard, you know, sort of as like a knock on effect, like Carolina might not have had time to pivot off that to try and get a deal done for Brock Besser.

Yeah. Like it just might have, they might have just ran out of time. Classic refrain. Or the Canucks might have, because that offer reported came in from Carolina, they had like, I think I heard something like 20 minutes to decide on it.

And that was because the ranted a deal took so long to not only like the trade had to happen, but then the contract extension had to happen. Yeah. Cause I said like, Tulski's getting a lot of heat in Carolina for what transpired. And I know some people are trying to redress it as, well, that's actually a good thing.

This obviously didn't work out the way that he wanted to. No. I mean, let's just say that clear, like, straight up. Like, yes, you can add on, you know, little disclaimers and footnotes that might make it seem like this is okay. But at the end of the day, he had a goal and objective, and he failed, and he acknowledged as much.

I actually thought his remarks in the aftermath were pretty straight up. He's like, we took a huge risk and he had a really interesting line saying like, if you only make moves that you know, a hundred percent are going to turn out, you'll never really get the full reward. Like you'll never get the upside.

Yeah, you have to take risks. And I mean, he took one and it just, it didn't work, it failed. I mean, honestly, that type of attitude is what I want the Canucks to take into the off season. Like don't be so scared of losing players. Don't be so scared of change. Losing playoff games.

You know, sometimes you gotta mix things up and it's more insane to me to recommit to the same group that hasn't gotten it done. Right? You know, like that would be the crazy part for me is if they bring back largely the same group that hasn't gotten it done. Right? You know, like that would be the crazy part for me is if they bring back largely the same group and they're like, well, we're just going to try again.

You know, don't be so scared to make big moves and don't like, what are you holding onto? Really? Maybe, well, this year it was the faint hope of the playoffs, and it's not really faint, they're one point out, the Canucks are on. They can still make the playoffs, but they're not going to do anything once they get there.

Sixty-nine points, which is nice. But look, here's how we're going to, the final 90 minutes of the program, because we're at the halfway point, we're going to go to break, when we come back, we're going to go to Toronto, talk to Sam McKee about the fallout, and I do mean fallout from Mitch Marner and this whole situation with the Meko rent and trade that wasn't.

Then at eight o'clock, we're gonna dive back into the Canucks talk. Kevin Woodley from NHL.com and Engel Magazine is gonna join us. Don't forget, we got giveaways for monster truck tickets and auto show tickets in the eight o'clock hour. It's a big show on a Monday. Don't go anywhere.

You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Drance. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to two on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. 7.33 on a Monday. Happy Monday everybody.

Halpern Bruv Sportsnet 650. Halpern Bruv for the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts. Ooh, this just got funky. We are in hour two of the program. Hour two of this show is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your money, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit him online at jason.mortgage. We're gonna talk to Sam McKee in just a minute here. For the biggest story of the trade deadline in Toronto, and the biggest story was a trade at the deadline that didn't actually manifest itself into a trade. Wasn't the acquisition of Brandon Carlo, wasn't the acquisition of Scott Lawton, it was all about the deal that didn't get made.

Mitch Marner for Miko Rantan. For more from the weekend before we get to Sam, here's Elliott Friedman explaining what went down. You don't have the audio ready? It's the clip of Marner. Oh yeah, the Marner clip, perfect. There's no Friedman on this, it's just Marner being asked about it.

Well we had the Friedman clip too explaining it, but yeah, this is Mitch Marner after the game on the weekend, a little shook up talking about the trade that wasn't, not waiving his no trade and what the future has in store in Toronto. Mitch Marner from The Weeknd. There's multiple reports out there that you are asked to waive your no trade

part of a contract, et cetera, et cetera. How are you handling all that? What's going on? What can you tell us? I'm here to play hockey with this team. That's what I can tell you. I want to be with this team. I want to play with this team. How do you handle the uncertainty that comes with this season? Sorry? How do you handle the uncertainty that comes with this season? I've got a great support staff. I've got a great group of guys in this room as well that I can lean on. But off the ice I've got a great support staff that I can lean into a lot, talk to a lot.

And just hockey, I just go out there and do my thing. Will you link to and negotiate in season? I'd like to talk to you guys at the start of the year. I'm not going to get into this. I'm here to play hockey, let that happen with my agent and the team. And I'm here to play hockey and do my thing. Did it surprise you at all when you were approached yesterday?

I wasn't focused on it. I'm sure that I had a feeling that maybe something might happen, but yeah, I'm here to play hockey with this team, like I said, and I'm focused with this team, and that's what I can tell you. There's a sort of understanding that this is a gaffe on behalf of Bradtree Living and the Toronto Maple Leafs brass, that after all this time and these numerous opportunities over the course of this contract that they've had to entertain the idea of trading Marner or moving them out the door. They decided that now with just a handful of months left on the contract and unrestricted

free agency looming, now is the time. How did it get out? Is Carolina just leaking all this stuff because they're lashing out because they couldn't get a deal done? Like they're leaking stuff about the Canucks, they're leaking stuff about the Leafs. Like what's going on here? They're lashing out. Eric Tulski was like Donald Sutherland in back draft. He's like I just want to see the world burn. See it all burn. Let's go to the phone lines now from Real Kipper and Born Fan 590 in Toronto. Sam McKee joins us now on the

Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. What up Sammy? Hey boys, how are ya? What do you wanna talk about? Ah, nothing. Let's talk about the Leafs goaltending. No! Okay, you know what? I almost wanna like cede the floor or the microphone to you and just wherever you wanna start with this because it feels like this was a mistake by Leafs Brass. It feels like Marner kind of got thrown into a very awkward position. Just feels like in a season where there hasn't been too many like, oh, eyebrow raising moments,

this is a real big one. This is a out of control fire here now, boys. Like this is, this has taken on, like, you know, the conversation around the deadline and everybody being excited about them playing hockey and like, oh, the new additions. And all of a sudden, Saturday afternoon, Freage puts out one of the most explosive things ever

where then, for living yesterday, has to do a damage control press conference saying we love them. This has got a chance to go down and lease lore. We talked about for generations, if Marner here gets asked to wave his no move at the deadline, like at the deadline, doesn't do it and then leaves in free agency, potentially this will be one of the great what ifs ever.

Like, I don't know if you guys know the relationship we fans have with Marner, but it's a very complicated one from the start. And this is just adding to those layers. But yeah, some, some mistakes were made here, depending on what you quantify as a mistake. Like, do you think it was fair to ask Marner to waive his no trade clause for Miko Rantanin? Like, are you a better team if you have one, if you have Miko Rantanin, not Marner?

Like it's just, it's a really, really fascinating time in Toronto for, for this guy. And it's been a complicated relationship for multiple years, like I said, and this just adds to the drama tenfold. Like I, I, you know, I'm going to do the show with Kipper today. Like I've just been thinking like, what the hell am I going to talk about? How are we even good? Where do we even start? So you're the first guys I've talked to about this, but it's, it's a pretty complicated situation here, fellas.

Well, what has made the relationship so complicated? I know this might be common knowledge for you guys in Toronto, but maybe provide a little bit of background for us. It really is the contract stuff. And just at when he first was signed, uh, there was like some signing bonus stuff, some signing bonus dramas with Lou right at the very start and then him getting the contract Out of his out of his entry level

There was a bunch of really nasty negotiating in the media and him bleeding them for every dollar and then just the failures with The playoff stuff as you guys know that very well the failures with the playoff stuff as you guys know that very well. The like watching Marner and the Leafs go out in the first round of the year, which I'm sure makes all your Vancouver listeners extremely happy. It's just, it's a very tenuous situation, a relationship with them. I don't know, it's just, it's always this feeling that the Marner camp has been slighted. There's always this slighted feeling like they, they don't get their credit. They deserve, they don't get the, they don't get the accolades they deserve. And it's always coming from within the Marner camp.

And I think people are just sick of the negotiating in the media and the lack of actual playoff success. And just, it's, it sucks because we talked about a little bit on least talk, but you know, imagine, uh, you were in a, I was a leaf fan in a coma and I, the last leaf game I watched was like at the end of Peter Horacek's era here with like, there was an 18 wheeler off the cliff. Imagine that was my last memory. And then like, I woke up yesterday and they're like, so there's this kid that's,

you know, from the area and he played in the OHL and he won an OHL championship. And he's on pace to be the leading scorer in the history of the franchise. And I'm like, Oh, Oh, everyone loves them. Right. And they're like, no, they all hate them. It's like, what the hell? How does this happen? Like it's a bottom, if you played out his career 10 times, there are a hundred times,

this is a bottom 10 result boys. Like the on the ice stuff has been fantastic during the regular season, but the off the ice and playoff stuff has just added this cloud over it that no one in the city could have ever anticipated the way his career started. I mean, one of the takeaways that really stuck with me

was that, you know, of all the, and I mentioned this before we had you on, but of all the opportunities that really stuck with me was that, you know, of all the, and I mentioned this before we had you on, but of all the opportunities they've had to trade Marner and entertain the idea of trading him, they finally wait until they're three quarters of the way through the season, which is also the last season on his existing extension. And I feel like that it had to be one of those things where if you're going to ask the guy to waive his no trade clause, you need to know before you ask him that the answer is going to be one of those things where if you're gonna ask the guy to waive his no trade clause you need to know before you ask him that the answer is gonna be yes otherwise there's a big problem and I feel like the Leafs really

stepped in it in that regard. The time to trade him was when Kyle Dubas got fired right he had it he didn't his no move kicked in that July 1st where it was like a full no move and before that they 1st, where it was like a full no move. And before that they had an opportunity, they had the window after the lease went out in the playoffs that year. And then Kyle Dubas gets fired. Right. And then, you know, Brad Trulliving comes in and they have like two or

three days before they have to, you know, make a decision, you know, like Brad Trulliving is making sure his key card still work and they're like, oh yeah, we got to trade one of the franchise icons here all of a sudden. And he comes in and he didn't have that much talent in Calgary, so he sees all these guys and he's like, oh my God, look at all these stars. How could we let these guys go? It's almost the time where the fresh set of eyes did the opposite of what it's supposed to do. And they had the opportunity there where they could have traded them and I think everybody would have accepted it and still had two years left in his contract at that time.

So you probably would have got commiserate value for him. I don't know how this doesn't, not a death blow, but pretty close boys to him re-signing here. How can you see it any other way? Like, you know, you go into negotiations and he always wants to test a free agent. Like if you wanted to sign, then just take the hundreds of millions of dollars that are on the

table for you, for your hometown team. Like I know with agent always does this, but like, can't you make an exception? Doesn't this feel like a spot? You make an exception. I don't know. It's just, it's playing out really nasty. And from here on out, all we get to talk about

is this, and I have a really hard time believing that he's going to stay. I really do. That's crazy to say. Are Leafs fans excited though, about the prospect of another playoffs? I mean, you had a really good defenseman. No.

Brandon Carlo, Scott Lawton, they're not like, I mean, this is, this is what scares me because I think this is the year they will get it done. Like I'm being somewhat sarcastic there, but like the expectations are so low that, you know, knowing how these things work, like this will be the time where they actually make a run. You know what's funny?

I said at the start of the year that this, they're going to go as deep as they've ever gone and Mitch Marner is going to walk. That's what the, that's what I have kind of said from the start. And you could definitely picture him being brilliant for the first time ever in the playoffs this year. Uh, you know, going maybe to the conference finals, like, I don't know, getting out of the first round, if they end up in the, that two, three matchup seems like a really, really long shot, but imagine them going deep, him being brilliant, then him walking. Yeah. Like I, I think they have an opportunity. They have Tanev on their team now who was a huge difference for them. Carlo is a good ad. I like Lawton, although he had the worst debut in the

history of hockey on Saturday night. It was so bad against Colorado. I feel bad for him. But, yeah, I think there's something to that. And I don't think, listen, I would never ever, in a million years, as you guys know as fans, like I would never ever pick my favorite team to win the cup, I would never even consider talking about it. But like, you know, they could definitely go deep

and then he leaves and it makes it even worse. So, there's something to it bud, there's something to it. We're speaking to Sam McKee from Fan 590 in Toronto here on the Haliford & Breff Show on Sports Night 615. Hey Sam, if you had to guess, why did Marner say no? Think a lot of what I said, man. There's this perception about him from the fans that he's not loved here.

And I don't think it's money. I really don't. And Kipper's dialed into that, into that, that relationship. And Kipper knows his relationship with the city and all that stuff. And I think about it, it's a lot more than money. You know, part of me is like, I would want to leave if I was him too. You know, it's, you know, I've been a close to a hundred point player of almost every year of my career outside of injuries. And you know,

I've had some failures in the playoffs where we've gone up against good teams and I'm from the area and I'm scapegoated. Like I believe me, I'm part of the people that do it. Like I've been a hard on him as anybody else, but like I just think that he wants to see what's out there and that's his right. That's his right as a free agent. But Lee fans are like, well, if you want to stay, if you're not waiving your new, no move clause, then why don't you just sign right now? And there's a lot that goes into this and it's a

complicated relationship. But to answer your question, I just really think that he can be tempted and that there's a lot out there for him that he's going to be the number one free agent now that Rant is gone. He's going to get some big dollars. He's going to bring it back to the Leafs and we'll see. But I do think at the end of the day, it's about more than just money and there's some relationship stuff there that may be a little bit flawed. And especially now that they asked him to wave

his no move in the middle of a season where they're trying to win the cup. Is there a destination, is there a destination besides Toronto, obviously that people see for Mitch Marner? Like I remember last year when we had Elias Lindholm on the Canucks here, it was like, yeah, he's going to Boston.

Cause they need a, they need a first line center. Um, and he ends up going to Boston. It always just seemed so obvious. Is there, is there an obvious candidate out there to sign Mitch Marner to a big deal? I think, I think people have always said Chicago, you know, that's a place that has a ton of cap space and they're trying to get stars

and they're relevant. I saw Colby on TNT or somewhere say Pittsburgh, which would be hilarious for Dewis bringing him back in. Uh, the one you mentioned there that I've always been banning, like since they asked him to, uh, wave his no trade clause and I've been talking about with my buddies if he's in big time FU mode, Bruins got a lot

of cap space. You know, that's a team that just shedded a lot of money trading Marchand. I know Marchand was a free agent, but they traded coil who had money on his contract next year. They traded Carlo to the Leafs who had cut money on his contract next year. Like they just shedded a lot of cap space. Maybe Bruins if he wants to go for the full FU route. But I think if I had to pick, it would probably be Chicago or Pittsburgh. Maybe the Sharks if he wants to go that route, they'll have a lot of cap space. They'll be looking for stars. There's going to be a ton of teams lining up. Like how many teams want star power? Think about Utah

They're a new team Seattle has nobody like this is why he wants to go to free agency and you understand it But fans they just can't get by it and myself included We're just like if you want to be a leaf if you're not waving your no trade club improve it Just sign the money sign the sign the contract, but I yeah, it's it's gonna be interesting But I'm definitely sticking with Pittsburgh or Chicago as my final picks. Speaking of Utah and Toronto, they meet tonight in Utah. Oh yeah, hockey.

Yeah, one of the four games on tap for tonight. So Sam, with that, we will let you go. Thanks for taking the time to do this today. We really appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight and everything leading up to the playoffs. It should be interesting and exciting at the least.

Thanks bud. Absolutely fellas. Appreciate it. Bye bye. Bye. Uh, Sam McKee from Fan 590 in Toronto here on the Haliford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650. So there's a couple of people texting in,

obviously about the possibility of Mitch Marner to the Canucks to play with Pedersen. I don't know. That's a pretty light duo, inexpensive, and you've got like, that would be a huge risk if you're bringing a Mitch Marner to play with Elias Pedersen. I can't, I can't entertain that right now. Like I've talked to so many people in Toronto

that they're like, you've got a Mitch Marner, he's called Elias Pedtersson and vice versa. Like similar, you wonder sometimes about just how they handle the pressure. So I don't know, maybe you could put them together and they can meet pressure with pressure. I mean. I don't, I don't, I don't see it.

I don't even put them in the same class. I mean, I, here's the thing. Marner's got a reputation as a guy that has struggled in the playoffs without question. But this year, Marner has 79 points in 62 games. Yep, and he made some really key plays in the Four Nations as well. I don't put Pederson and Marner in the same conversation

at all based on this last season through the 60 plus games that we played. Marner's shown up and delivered. He's a top five scorer in Toronto Maple Leaf's history now. There's a big difference between where his game is trending and where Pedersen's game is trending. Everyone's always looking for someone to like

help Pedersen. You know, it's like, you got to get him a new coach. You got to get him a new, you got to get him new line mates and all that sort of thing. That'll help him. You know, like it's got to come him a new, you got to get him new line mates and all that sort of thing. That, that, that'll help him. You know, like it's got to come from Pedersen. Well, it's got to, he's got to get, he's got to get stronger.

He's got to get, if, if his knee is, if his knee is still an issue, like get that fixed, get it figured out over the off season. Like that's where it's going to come from. It's not going to come from externally. It's going to come from internally. And that's what the Canucks have to decide on this guy, if he's got it within him to turn it

around, because the only guy that's going to turn it around is him. He might, but I'm going to, I'm going to remain steadfast on this one. That the only way this thing gets rectified is via trade. I don't mean even if, if he can rediscover his game and get back on track, I'm almost a hundred

percent certain that it's going to be in another market. I think that there's probably- Even Bruce Boudreaux said that the other day. Did you see that? No, I didn't. I'm not stealing from Bruce. No, no, but- I just want to make that abundantly clear. Well, yeah, Bruce said, I can't remember where he was doing the interview, but I read it and he said like, when this whole JT Miller, Leeds, Pedersen thing came out, he said, I think they should trade them both, which is

actually what we said on our show, or I said, I don't know if you agreed with that, but I was like, I think you got to trade them both. And I still feel that way. I feel like this team needs a complete change of direction. Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of residuals from not

just the Miller situation, but everything that's happened over the last while. And I do wonder, and as I say wonder, I mean like I'm more and more going to the side of convinced and wondering that this is going to be rectified by moving the player with the inherent risks of him completely rediscovering his form and being a hundred point guy and being a bona fide onesie, all of it.

Like I'm cognizant of how big a risk it is. And it's very likely that he might rediscover his game. I'm just not sure it happens here. And I think that this management group in particular, given their penchant for cleaning up their own mistakes and also showing an incredible amount of patience with this situation so far and trying to placate Peterson at some point has to say like, okay,

it's not gonna work here, here. It might work elsewhere, but it's not gonna work here. I don't need to go through the laundry list every time of every single thing that Alvin and Rutherford have done to try and fix the situation. I think it's fairly well established. Just know at a certain point you run out of fixes and the final fix is trade and figure

it out somewhere else. So we got a text into the Dunbar-Lembert text line. So you want management to take risks, but now Marner is too risky. One risk would be trading away Pedersen and not resigning Brock Pessor and not trying to immediately replace them.

I mean, if you're talking about moving those guys out and bring, and your big play is to make a play for Marner and free agency, yeah, fill your boots. You were more talking about like trying to find the next spark to reignite Pedersen. That was the kind of, you know, cause that was the genesis of the conversation.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like I don't think Marner is, I don't think Marner is going to, I don't think Marner and Pedersen would be. Yeah. Like, yeah.

But if you want to target Marner as a retooling and bringing an entirely new look to the forward group, fill your boots. Yeah. I don't think it's going to happen. You will have his, I mean, there's going to be teams lined up on July 1 if he gets there. Marner I'm talking about.

Oh yeah. There's going to be teams lined up. Caps, everyone has cap space. Right. A lot of people texting in, just tuning in, is Bruff hung over? What's going on with his voice? I have lost my voice a little bit.

I apologize. You know what? I shouldn't have come into work today. I'll say this, you sound better in hour two than you did in hour one. You're getting better every hour. And that's important. You're not satisfied with just being mediocre. I'm trying to get better every hour. And imagine hour three, it's on the

horizon. Kevin Woodley from nhl.com is going to join us. We'll go over both games from the weekend for the Vancouver Canucks. All the residuals from the trade deadline that was on Friday. We'll try and get an update on where Thacher Demko is at in his return from injury. The sideline of now officially for a month.

And before we go to break, I need to tell you about Jan Pro. From warehouses to washrooms and everywhere in between, Jan Pro keeps workplaces tidy, clean, and disinfected. For a free quote, visit JanPro.ca. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.