Halford & Brough in the Morning - What Centers Could The Canucks Target This Offseason?

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss the latest hockey news with NHL insider Frank Seravalli (1:16), as well as what centers the Canucks might be looking at for next year, plus the boys discuss what veteran leaders the Canucks could bring in for next season (27:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

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Frank! Sarah Valley Frank! Sarah Valley Frank! Frank! 7-O-2 on a Wednesday. Happy Wednesday everybody. Halford Brough Sportsnet 650. Dang, I didn't time it properly. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest.

Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program. Frank Sarvali from Daily Faceoff is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off the show. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program.

We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program.

We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about the Sands-Trustee program. We're going to be talking about at sands-trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program Frank Sarvali from Daily Faceoff is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour two. Hour two is brought to you by Jason Hominuk at jason.mortgage. If you love giving the banks more of your money then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you. Visit him online at jason.mortgage. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step. Our next guest comes courtesy of the Power West Industries hotline. He's also a presentation of angry otter liquor.

He is Frank Ceravalli from Daily Face Off here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Frank. How are you? Good. How are you doing, boys? We're well. Thanks for taking the time to do this as always.

We appreciate it. So the Daily Face Off trade board dropped yesterday. There are two Vancouver Canucks on it. At that your Demco comes in at number 18, Elias Pedersen at number 20. I do wanna start with Demco, and I know you were on with Sat and Dan yesterday covering some of this material,

but for the morning show listeners that might not have heard it, why Demco on the list? One of the three goalies to make the top 20 trade board list. Well, I'm glad you mentioned three goalies because it's a really thin goalie market this summer. And that probably will weigh in or factor into it. Look, the premier, and I'm doing air quotes when I say premier, I'm not knocking him at all,

but the premier free agent available is Jake Allen. So it's a sin class and usually we have at this time of year the you know annual game of goaltending musical chairs and that's just It doesn't seem like that's gonna play out. But at the same time given that the position is voodoo. I Think there's a number of teams that are like, well, let's switch it up, let's see what we can do. So, park that off to the side. The other part of this conversation is that

the Canucks have a decision to make. Like, with Thatcher Demko being eligible for an extension, where do you view him at this point in time, relative to his injury and his ability to get back to the level of being a franchise goalie and, and Vezina trophy finalist that those are real questions. And if you are comfortable, then the next iteration of that question next step is, what do you pay him? And are you willing to pay him?

Given that you've just made a pretty significant commitment to Kevin Lankton. So is it possible that the Canucks roll into next season with the same two guys in tandem and spend nine and a half million bucks, which is I think relatively reasonable. Yeah, it's possible for sure. But I think if you are going to have that conversation,

it's in your best interest to do it now and maybe get ahead of it and think long term and take advantage or capitalize on what might be a really thin goalie market. And this has made all the more intriguing by the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers have been plagued by poor goaltending over the last couple of years, maybe want to find a solution and Oh look, talk it's former head coach in Vancouver Rick talk. It is now the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Yeah. And I think, look, there's a loyalty and a bond that exists between those two.

I think that's fair to say, um, does that mean that Rick Tawkit is gonna be pounding the pavement in Philadelphia to try and land him? I don't know. He would have a real good insight on his injury status as well having had a front row seat to those conversations. So look, I think there's a lot that's connected to it and the Flyers, yes, just happen to be one of those teams that, geez, for the last 30 plus years have struggled to find a quality, consistent goalie. Where would that leave the Canucks if they

traded Demko? I think in a position where you find a 1B to go in tandem with Lankton. I think they're in pretty good hands and obviously they've got cost certainty and that contract is gonna look like a real value. The deal that Kevin Lankton signed in three years is gonna be the new two and a half to three million bucks for a goalie. They're just out in front of it and they feel like they've got a really good one to play in tandem with whoever it is so go out and find that next person and spend a little bit less. Yeah, Artie Shelovs is playing well too in the Calder Cup playoffs, but I just don't know if you want to put him in that position of anointing him the full-time backup. Again, the AHL is a good league, but it's not the NHL and we saw that last season.

Frank, I wanted to ask you- Don't you think there was a little trust that eroded too with Shelob? I think there was a lot of trust. There was a lot of trust that eroded with him. Yeah. He was borderline unplayable at the beginning of the year.

I mean, and we hated saying it because it was a good story in the postseason last year. And to be fair, I think he was placed in a very tough position this year where he was asked to do things in the regular season that he hadn't done before. But yeah, trust absolutely eroded. I think you're pretty spot on there. Okay. Frank, have you heard anything on the Canucks coaching staff?

Adam Foote is the head coach, but he needs to hire a few new assistants and we saw Brad Shaw going to New Jersey the other day. Any updates on that? Yeah, and Mike Volucci going to Chicago as well, I just mentioned joining Jeff Laschow's staff as an assistant. I actually think, and not confirmed, so I mean, I'm not totally comfortable running with it, but I think Voluchi had a conversation with the Canucks potentially about their head

coaching opening. And so there's a connection going back to Pittsburgh, of course. But look, it's amazing how quickly things are moving on the assistant coach side because there's some significant work to be done there and these guys are being plucked off the board pretty quickly. So I think when you see the impact that Foote had on target staff, what that did is drive home the point that it really matters who you surround yourself with is not just being a good head coach or just having those chops. It's also about having the proper support and sounding board.

And, and I've loved watching or reading the comments from talk it in Philadelphia about what he's looking forward with his staff as he's also going through the same process and probably the same thing that's going on at the head coaching level where you're seeing a bunch of names that are in the mix for the same jobs. I'm sure that part is also playing out on the assistant coach side. And there's a couple of really good ones available. Like speaking of Chicago, Kevin Dean, who coached their defense is like lights out good. Um, in fact, I'm kind of surprised that they parted ways as Blashill is filling out his staff.

He's going to get snapped up in short order. There's a whole list of those guys that are in the mix. Um, one name that, uh, caught my eye on your trade board is Eric Carlson. Um, do you think the Penguins will be able to move him this off season? I think it's going to be really difficult, but I think they're going to try. I think they're in a spot where they want to try and turn this over. That 10 million bucks for each of the next two years is pretty onerous. It's not even that Carlson had a bad season.

I think it's all about fit. And I think the last thing that the Pittsburgh penguins needed as a low team that struggles at times to defend was there Carlson. And so is there a team out there that's looking for a right shot power play quarterback that Pittsburgh may be able to retain a bit and get somewhat decent value for? I mean, still 53 points on the back end last year. And then he looked really good at Four Nations and turned back the clock. Is there a way to saw off what seems to be a pretty significant

mistake? I mean, could you imagine if the penguins didn't make the deal and Sam Dickinson is a guy joining their lineup next season on the backend. Like that's your, that's your next, I'm putting some significant, you know, weight on his shoulders here, but that's your next LaTang. That's your next Carlson. And now he's in San Jose. Who's the best center on your trade board?

I know Elias Pedersen is on the list, but the Canucks are looking for center along with pretty much every other team in the NHL it seems. I think that's going to be the one position that's going to be really tough for teams to track down either through free agency or trades this offseason. Who's the best center on your list? It kind of depends on how you view it. Are we talking center for right now? What specific role are you? I mean, like if you're talking best pure center, like highest upside, I mean, it's still definitely at least Patterson, but outside of him, um, probably a safe bet to say Marco Rossi at number three. I mean, 60 points last year, uh, a guy that's arrived at this crossroads where, okay,

so why would the wild a team that struggles a little bit with center depth, why would they be willing to move on from Marco Rossi? They have to pay him. And I don't, I haven't gotten a sense. I think Rossi himself in his sort of cryptic end of season news conference probably has gotten a sense that there's gonna be some pushback on trying to get a deal done. It's not to say that it won't happen, it's just that I think he's very much available and then you've got this interesting situation in Boston,

like what are they doing next? Pavel Zakka talked about this with Sat last night. Like he's a guy who probably fits a bit of a mold of what the Canucks are looking for. Morgan Gigi, he had a great year. So like, look, there's some options. They're not all necessarily ideal for different reasons, but there's at least some targets to shoot for.

What happened with Rossi in Minnesota down the stretch into the playoffs where he started to get deployed as a four C because this was a guy that played all 82 games this year. He had 24 goals. He had 60 points. Like he produced it a pretty decent clip, but it really fell off a cliff in the postseason. Well, I think that goes back to the, you know, sort of idea or germination of why wouldn't you sign a 23 year old center that has 60 points.

Yeah. It, it think about the way that the wild have built their team. Think about the way that Bill Garren built team USA at four nations, big, heavy, difficult to play against a pain in the arse, Joel Erickson X. Yeah. That's not Marco Rossi. And so any guy, like it's almost, I'll give you a funny inside baseball okay when the wild made a trade at the deadline I think it was

the night before you know I'm always on the hunt for like information and trying to stuff out a trade right and so I'm asking around and it was like oh the wild are making a trade with the Bruins and I was like, oh, I don't even need to think about it The guy that they're targeting is Justin Bresow like, you know, everyone's got a type for me It's it's blondes with big racks for Bill Guerin. It's Big heavy difficult to play against players. That's that's it So I mean it becomes one of those things where you understand what that type is and then you also understand what doesn't fit the type.

Do you think there's going to be a return? Not even a reaction? Wow. All right. No, no, no, no, no. Do you think there's going to be a return to teams chasing size again? Not that they really stopped. Everyone was still into big players that can play, but there was this opening for smaller players in the league. And I'm not saying that opening is closed, but you watch the Florida Panthers play and you're talking about the Minnesota wild chasing size.

The one thing I look at the Canucks and people suggest Marco Rossi or other skilled but smaller players and I'm like, look at what their top six is composed of right now. There isn't a lot of big tough dudes there and I don't know if you can win in the playoffs right now because I don't know if with smaller teams because man have you been watching the playoffs? It is vicious out there. Well, it's two things. It's a blend of size but also how you use your size. I think Connor Garland is a great example of that. He's obviously tiny but he doesn't play tiny and I think Connor Garland is a great example of that. He's obviously tiny, but he doesn't play tiny. And I think one of the real lessons

as we've seen a crack back on how teams are assembled and find success in the playoffs is you can get by with smaller guys that are truly impact pieces, but they have to be limited in number and scope. You can't have five of them, but you can have two. For sure. And so I think that's part of where the balance comes in is keeping your eyes open to finding those types of players and taking a chance on them that maybe turn out to be difference makers for you even though they don't have the size, but then surrounding those

guys with the proper support in place that have, I mean, look at Florida, like Florida is a textbook, you know, how to win in the NHL team. And they're ferocious to your point. I was saying the other day that, uh, I wonder if the NHL is going to have to start cracking down on hitting from behind because it seems to be just like,

it's legal now to hit from behind. And I know a lot of the times the players are turning their backs on players, but I wonder if we're going to go through another, I mean, this happened years ago when they had to crack down on hitting from behind both at the NHL level, but also like at the minor level. At the youth level.

I mean, you're seeing like the guys wearing the stop signs on their jerseys. Yeah. And I mentioned that like Bouchard got hit from behind yesterday and his head rattled off the glass and it's kind of like, yeah, that happens now. And I just wonder, you know, anyway, it gets me back to my point. Like big boy hockey is very much back now. Yeah, it is. But I think again, anyone purely scouting with a tape measure is, is going to miss out on some really good players.

Oh, a hundred percent. You need to have the proper blend. But when you look at the Canucks top six forward group, I mean, what do you see there? You're right. I think they need that influx of that. I think there's a lot of teams that are in that same conversation.

Um, like I was listening to Jeff Blaschel yesterday talk about potential superstars at every position in Chicago and I'm like, yeah, but too easy of a team to play against because they don't have any size up front and they don't have any heft. And I think there's, you know, there's a lot of teams that I think about like that, that seem to perennially fall short of where they want to get to because they don't have That that nice mix and I think the crux are in that conversation Speaking of Jeff Blaschel, we talked about this yesterday and then I saw your hit on CHSN

Chicago talking about the higher of Jeff Blaschel in Chicago and you said they now have a coach who is Undoubtedly going to be better in the second term of Jeff Blashill in Chicago and you said they now have a coach who is undoubtedly going to be better in the second term. Why do you have so much confidence in Jeff Blashill in the second gig in Chicago? Because I think, think about how you do your job and think about how I do my job. I'm a lot better than I was three years ago or five years ago. And I'm, you you know same thing with you guys more reps more time more experience and I think when you take a step back

here's the fun thing about Jeff Blasho 51 years old he's one at other levels gets a seven-year run as an NHL head coach and people, I've seen a ton of screenshots of, hey, look at this guy's record, not very good at the NHL level. Well, like context matters. They made the playoffs his first year and have embarked on a full-scale rebuild that they're still not out of yet

and he's been gone for three full seasons. That matters. Then go back and look at Bruce Cassidy's first run as head coach, Mike Sullivan's first run as head coach and how long it took those guys to get back to the NHL head coaching position and how much success that they've had since. I'm not saying that that's what Jeff Blashill is definitely going to do in Chicago, but I think trying to mark these guys and say, not any good, let's throw them in the dumpster and never come back again. I think it's crazy. He had seven years and then spent three on a staff

with John Cooper, also undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the league. You don't think taking all those different experiences and smashing them together that he's gonna come into it with a different viewpoint and approach and he's got presence. You watch that press conference and you go that's the guy who commands the room. You know half of the battle in today's NHL you might have gibber-jabber coming out of your mouth that makes zero sense. But if it's coming out of Rick talk, it's mouth people are listening cause he's got presence. If it's coming out of Jeff Blasio's mouth, they're listening.

Cause he's got presence. That's a huge part of it. Okay. Uh, before we let you go, I want to finish up on the coaching front. So rapid fire with these final three. Uh, first question, is Marco Sturm indeed the clubhouse leader to take the Boston Bruins vacant head coaching gig. I've seen the reporting. I've asked the question and I've been told, uh, not no, but definitely not. Yes. So I don't know what to say. I, I can only do with what I've got in front of me

and I have zero indication at this point in time that Marco Sturm is going to be the next head coach of the Bruins. Not saying he's not gonna be, just saying I don't have any indication that he is. Two more to go, Pittsburgh, what's the latest there? Just really beginning to ramp up their search with Kyle Dubas back from Worlds.

They had interviews, I think some people went to Sweden, I think he had some Zoom conversations, and that's picking up in full steam. And finally, one I haven't thought about in a while now, the Seattle Kraken still needs a head coach. I was surprised you didn't ask me about the Islanders because this seemingly is a big week for Matthew Darsh and Patrick Waugh. Well, now I have a question. The Kraken are are they're cracking away at trying to get someone in place. I don't have really a sneaking suspicion on who they're talking to, but it's I know that the number of people that they've been talking to

has been pretty significant volume, just like Boston's interviewed somewhere between 14 and 16 guys. Crazy number. Okay. Well give us what you got on the Islanders then before we let you go. Yeah. Well look, I think everyone's really curious to see how this turns out. Part of it is Patrick Wadsman very critical of his general manager and that's a hall of Famer and Lou Lamarello. What does that mean for a first-time head coach and then the next thing is, or first-time

general manager at the post, what does that mean for this job and their relation, do they have a prior relationship to Québécois natives, like two French speakers, like usually those guys tend to stick together and and Have a good working relationship. Is that part of the plan or is this? You know Matthew Dar's coming in and making a change Frank this was great man. We covered a lot of ground here. Thanks as always for doing this We appreciate it. Enjoy the games the rest of this week. We'll do this again next week Sounds good. Have a go and see you guys. Yeah, thanks Frank. We appreciate it.

That's Frank Cerrelli, our NHL insider from Daily Face Off here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It is time now everybody for the world famous One to Watch segment brought to you by Delaney's OK Tire. The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to stave off elimination yet again tonight. So tonight's One to Watch is Jacob Slaven. Now I'm gonna drop some of my favorite conversations on you guys. A little plus minus talk for everybody as we discuss Jacob Slaven.

I think Wyatt Johnston took another dash one last night. He did, he's now minus 18. That's hard to do in the playoffs. You know who's not minus 18 despite being outscored plenty in this series, Jacob Slaven, despite the fact through the first three games of this series, the Carolina hurricanes being outscored 16 to four. This gives you an idea of how good Jacob Slaven is. He was even,

he was zero despite his team being outscored by 14 goals. And despite the fact that he plays nearly 30 minutes a night, and then in game four, the only game that the Carolina Hurricanes have won this series. Guess who was on the ice for all three Carolina Hurricanes goals? It was Jacob Slaven. Now, part of the reason that he was out there for all the goals is busy because he played pretty much the entire game.

Rob Brandemore might have figured out the secret sauce to try and negate the Florida Panthers attack and that was play Slaven a lot and play him often. 28 minutes in Monday night's win, nearly four minutes more than he played in any game this postseason that didn't go to overtime of course. The 28 minutes were the sixth most that Slaven has logged in a regulation game in his nearly over 800 games throughout his NHL career in the regular season. So keep an eye on Jacob Slaven tonight. If the Carolina Hurricanes have any shot at pushing this thing to a game six, you can guarantee that he's gonna be out there a lot tonight. It's time to put on your Toyo tires,

whether you drive a car, light truck, or van, Toyo tires are designed to perform in all kinds of conditions. Visit the Laney's OK Tire in Langley and Aldergrove. Okay tire service repair and tires. Okay. We're going to talk to Andrew Schlecht, a little Oklahoma city basketball talk at 7.45. So we got some time to start the next segment. Should we talk about, do we, do we ever get into the, the veterans that the Canucks could, could bring in here?

We threw out the question earlier in the show to our beloved listeners. Is there a veteran leader you'd like the Vancouver Canucks to target this offseason? We had a few answers, some interesting, some depressing. We will get into those on the other side of the break. You're listening to the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd. And Thomas Strantz. Get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650. 7.32 on a Wednesday. It's a Eurodance Wednesday here on the Haliford & Brev show on Sportsnet

650. Haliford & Brev of the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80%, 80% with no more interest. This is them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour two of the program with the midway point of the show. Hour two of this program is brought to you by Jason Homonuck at Jason.Mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit them online at Jason.mortgage. So here's how this is going to work. For the first half of this segment, we'll talk a little Canucks who you, the listeners, texted into the Dunbar Lumber Textx line at 650 650 as potential veteran leaders that the Canucks may be able to add this offseason year via either via free agency or trade. After we get done with that we're gonna enter Andrew

Schlecht into the conversation. He's the host and producer for the athletics NBA show and a specific OKC podcast down to dunk. We're going to talk to him about the Oklahoma city thunder, the zombie sonics as they are with shade, shade Gilded, Alexander NBA MVP. They're one win away from going to their second ever NBA finals. They can do that tonight with a win over the Minnesota timber. Well, so there's that conversation that we'll have in the back half of this

segment, but that's going to be in about 10 minutes time. over the Minnesota Timberwolves. So there's that conversation that we'll have in the back half of this segment. But that's gonna be in about 10 minutes time. So the question that we asked listeners earlier in the program, is there a veteran leader you'd like the Canucks to target this off season? I think part of this conversation came from what Corey Perry did last night

and has done throughout these playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers at 40 years old. And then if you go to the team, Edmonton is likely to face in the Stanley Cup final for the second consecutive year of the Florida Panthers. They've got a guy in Brad Marchand, veteran leaders come aboard playing on a third line, but contributing on a regular basis. Veteran leadership matters. Now in the case of Perry and Marchand specifically,

those guys probably aren't clamoring to go to a place like, say, Vancouver. They're at the stage of their careers, but they want to win Stanley Cups. So you need to take that into consideration as well. When you're looking at veteran leadership, you might not be looking at a vet that wants to go out and win, because let's be honest, the Canucks probably aren't there next year. Right. I mean, hopefully they want to win a little bit. They go out and win. Cause let's be honest, the Canucks probably aren't there next year. I mean, hopefully they want to win a little bit.

They want to win something. Games, a playoff spot. But they're not saying I'm willing to take less to go play for the Canucks. And we've seen that happen in lots of places. So the only reason I mentioned is just to put the framework on the type of player and it's kind of slim pickings out there. I know a lot of people have mentioned Jamie Benz straight away.

Victoria guy has come to the end of his lengthy contract with the Dallas Stars. Now we had Owen Newkirk on out of Dallas yesterday, Dallas Stars pre and post game host. And he kind of suggested that based on the conversations he's had and the people that he's spoken with, he doesn't anticipate Jamie Ben even leaving Dallas. That if he's gonna resign and he's still got hockey

left in him and gas in the tank, that's gonna be emptied in Dallas. I would kind of suggest that, yeah, that makes sense. If not Dallas, maybe they could. He's gonna spend his whole adult life there. So I'm not really going to entertain that one. Other than the fact that a lot of people have texted it into the Dunbar lumbered text message in basket.

An interesting one that someone threw out earlier was Brendan Gallagher. If we're going to talk about another BC guy coming home, I don't know what I mean. I know contractually he's still got term left in Montreal. When I say I don't know what the future has in, I know contractually, he's still got term left in Montreal. When I say I don't know what's the future has in store for him in Montreal, I sort of mean in terms of role and the minutes that he's going to play and where they're going because they are

a young team on the rise. Yeah, he's got two years left, a cap hit of six and a half million. So they would have to retain. I imagine, I don't think the Canucks want to take the full hit of Brendan Gallagher unless they're adding some sweeteners to that. I do love Brendan Gallagher.

I just want to put that out there. Totally. I love Gallagher. Yeah, yeah. I think that would be the perfect type of player to target if you're looking to add a veteran presence who's going to work his butt off and be good in the room.

Presence is the word. Like when you talk, because for a diminutive guy, he's got a lot of it. He's incredibly well respected. And you know what I think matters? That he's incredibly well respected in a market like Montreal that has savvy hockey fans and followers and knowledge.

Like they appreciate exactly what he is. If you talk to like, when we talk to angles and our pun and everyone else out of Montreal, like they understand that that type of player means something. And in a market like Montreal, I think it means even more. I'd love to have him here. The six and a half is obviously a difficult number to wrap your head around,

but that's another guy that's out there, I would say. Yeah. Well, do you, I mean, have you heard anything about Montreal even wanting to move onto them? No, but if you just look at the trajectory of the team and they've got guys wanting to knock down the door in terms of young prospects wanting to make the leap. And I think this year did a lot for the

trajectory of the team. Like it's real now, it's tangible. Like we were a playoff team. We were one of the eight. We want to move forward from here. JDog the car hog has been, uh, he wanted us to ask Frank about Jonathan Marcheseau. We want to move forward from here. JDog the car hog has been, he wanted us to ask Frank about Jonathan Marcheseau.

Yeah. And I'm a big Marcheseau fan. He was such a good player for Vegas. And I think, I think Vegas missed Marcheseau this year. They missed his finishing ability, his, his mosque, but like. Great mosque.

So when you bring on a Marcia So, you better make sure that you've got the right players to play with him. He had a lot of success on that Misfits line with William Carlson and Riley Smith. And William Carlson was a guy that, man, he was a great story. He was such an afterthought in Columbus.

He was like a three C there. He comes to, comes to Vegas and immediately scores like 40 goals. And a lot of that is just chemistry. And sometimes just chemistry is just so tough to predict. Like you just, you think you match players. You know, he's like, this makes sense. This guy's a shooter and this guy's a distributor or this guy's big and this guy's small,

but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. So, okay, just on Marcius. But Marcius would be, in my opinion, I love the player. The contract man is tough. I don't think he's shaking loose there. Every indication that Nashville gave this off season is we're running it back across the board.

We just felt like last year was a disaster from the start. Maybe it was too much change for too many guys, specifically Marcius and Stamkos, but we believe that we've got something here. Now, the funny thing is- Do you worry about a 34-year-old with four years left on his deal at a five and a half million dollar cap hit. Right. I do. I mean, but here's the thing. Like I don't think that either of those guys are coming available. Like I don't think Barry Trotz wants to. Okay. But let's say they did or a player like that. We're talking about adding veterans. I'd be fine with Marciusot. I'd be more worried about Stamkos to be honest. Did the Preds pick it up towards the second half there?

Cause I know they got off to that awful start. Did they? Not really. Not really. The numbers across the board, Marchesot and again, plus minus, bring it back. It's an important stat. Marchesot was minus 29, Stamkos was minus 36.

Like you have to be bad the entire year to have that kind of number. Saros was pretty bad early on. I know he slowly sort of climbed up but never really got to the level you'd expect. So it's a weird situation. You know what I like about Marciusso more than I like about Stamkos? I think Marciusso has a built-in F you to his game. You know what I mean?

He's always got a chip on his shoulder because he's diminutive and he was undrafted and he had to scratch and claw and and I felt like he he felt like he got dissed by the Golden Knights whereas with Stamkos the biggest issue right now when you're looking at him is is he just in a sort of like retirement mode already but he's getting paid handsomely to do it like he's he's a 35 man but he's he's a cogs go but he's also accomplished pretty much everything you want to accomplish yeah he was. He's a 35 man. But he's, he's a. Your legs go. But he's also accomplished pretty much everything you want to accomplish. Yeah.

He was a captain of a Stanley Cup winning team, he won multiple cups. He's going to go to the hall of fame. Do you think there was a risk that the Preds got him and he was so hurt at Tampa Bay that he's like, well, I guess. Yeah. Whenever I'll just go to Nashville.

They're offering me a lot of money. And whatever Chip Marshesol has. But he doesn't have any emotional connection to, to, to. Right. Marshesol. They, he have any emotional connection to mark to to write Marsh. So there is no emotional connection to Nashville. Right. Whatever you could play the angle. I go, Marshes always has a chip on his shoulder. What chip would Steve Stamkos have on his shoulder? The only one would be that he got spurned by the only team that he ever knew and loved in the Tampa Bay Lightning. But it feels like he was more sad and depressed than pissed off

and angry. Does that make sense? Like possibly. It never felt last year like he was more sad and depressed than pissed off and angry. Does that make sense? Like possibly? Yeah, it never felt last year like you It never felt last year like he was like I'm gonna stick it to the lightning It was like I kind of wish I could go back there like that That was the vibe that I got the whole year from him and that's tough for Nashville But really who cares then you know what's really tough about this whole exercise of what we're doing right now Is like the Canucks need I'll tell you what's really tough about this whole exercise of what we're doing right now is like the Canucks need. I'll tell you what's tough is when you go to the free agent list, the names that

I had to come up with last night, it was like Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourd, those are the guys. I know. That are available in free agents. The Canucks need so much. Canucks should get Brandon Tanev. That's a good pick. But they're going to have to overpay. They got bottom six. But they're all, yeah. He's got unpat potential. He's 33. Did you know he's 33?

If I had asked you prior to this, do you know how old Brandon Tanen is? No, actually, I didn't know that. He's 33 years old. I thought he would maybe be 26 still or something. No, he's 33. Damn. Yeah.

And then I hope those scouts at the Knucks are working their butts off right now. You know, they just had their scouting meetings. Because we usually usually as media. Did you see all the pictures that they posted? No. Of the scouting meeting? No.

It was very funny. Cause like the, you're just like, man, I wonder if they're like really panicking right now. You can't really tell through the photo, but what is that meeting actually going? There's one bead of sweat coming down. I was like, how are we supposed to find these guys? That's all I could think when I was looking at the pictures

of their scouting meeting. I'm like, what is going on in that meeting right now? Is it just sheer terror at. I was like, how are we supposed to find these guys? Like that's all I could think when I was looking at the pictures of their scouting meeting, I'm like, what is going on in that meeting right now? Is it just sheer terror at the thought of like absolutely no chance can they improve this lineup this off season? Well, okay. So we always, you know, we'll throw out a guy like Marco Rossi, right?

Yeah. Okay. And the immediate reaction is too small. The Canucks are already too small. You want to add another small guy? It's too soft. And then you talk about some of these older veteran players. It's like, these guys are washed, man. These guys are all done.

And it's just, there isn't a ton of, there's not going to be that perfect player. So you're going to have to scout really, really well to find maybe someone that none of us are talking about. But maybe someone who's been buried. I'm not even talking about someone like Marco Rossi who got buried down the lineup in the playoffs.

I'm talking about a guy like a William Carlson, who nobody is talking about. And people are just like, yeah, I don't know, this guy, this guy isn't very good or whatever. And then you give him an opportunity and he flourishes. Like a heronic. Like remember when they got heronic? People were like, yeah.

But nobody was like thinking, oh, this guy's gonna come. Nobody even heard of them. Yeah. You know, like people, everyone was surprised. No one thought he was gonna shake loose because he was a good young defenseman. Yeah, everyone was surprised by that trade and they turned out to be a great move, obviously.

And now you're like, well, so they've shown, they've shown they have that ability to do that in the past to find the diamonds in the rough that maybe other GMs and other teams aren't focusing on. But I guess that's at least a positive. But this particular exercise is about finding some veteran leadership. And the reason we keep bringing it up,

but it's twofold, right? The Perry and Marshawn thing and the value that it has in the posting is one thing. But there was I felt at times last year a lack of true leadership in a sort of like show me kind of way when the room got ripped apart because of the rift. And when we went through the exercise, like Quinn Hughes is the unquestioned leader because he's the best player and he takes it seriously. And then it was like, well, Myers is that guy because he's got that kind of standing. And then it's like, and then who?

And then and then what? Like, who is it? And it is difficult to go out and buy that kind of presence because part of being a leader is being familiar with the group and being around for a while. But there are certain guys that you can bring in and plug and play where they command a level of respect and authority

and like you get young players look up to them, right? That's a Gallagher for me, right? You know, you really made yourself into this kind of dynamic player. And the other thing with like a Gallagher type player is you are investing in intangibles, which has burned this organization in the past, right? No question about it.

But at this phase of the club's trajectory, it might be important as opposed to when they're like languishing way outside of the playoffs and they're not even close and they go and sign Beagle and Roussel. You're like, what are you doing? Why? Right? This team isn't even close to needing these attributes. They stink. But now with so much on the line, you do wonder if adding in that particular like category is important. I'm laughing because we're having this conversation and Mike in East Van texted in, this is the first time in a long time I have felt

truly hopeless about the Canucks. Not many, if any silver linings to try to grasp my hands on. It's pretty sad times in the city. felt truly hopeless about the Canucks. Not many, if any silver linings to try to grasp my hands on. It's pretty sad times in the city. I think we all look at the gargantuan tasks that the management has ahead of it this off season and just go, how are you going to

find these guys? Like everyone in the league is looking for hard skill. Everyone in the league is looking for good young centers. The Canucks are not a destination that free agents are lining up to get to, especially after what happened last season, I think. If you're a free agent, you would probably be like, Hey, what's going on in that room? Have all the things been solved?

And then you're also like, okay, what do the Canucks have to trade? This is what I keep coming back to. You know, you got Garland, he's got one year left on his deal. Maybe you get something for him, but then you lost Garland. He was one one year left on his deal, maybe you get something for him, but then you've lost Garland.

He was one of the guys that are actually making things happen for you last season. You got your first round draft pick, which is 15th overall. That'll get you, I mean, someone will pick up the door or pick up the door, pick up the phone and maybe you'll be able to walk in the door on that deal, but it's not

going to get you a top six forward. Who's going to trade a top six forward for a first round draft pick if that top six forward has term left on his deal or is young. Like that's why you use first round draft picks. Are you going to trade one of your young prospects? Are you going to trade Willander? Are you going to trade DPT? Are you going to trade one of the, one of your young prospects? Are you going to trade Willander? Are you going to trade DP? Do you going to trade Leckar? Mackey? Yes.

But even then, even then, like, okay, well, okay, even if I just get a bite, I'm going to pump the brakes. A first round draft pick. Well, don't pump the brakes. I'm just getting the race where you're going because a first round draft pick and lecker amache People are gonna be like well, why would I get rid of this player that that's really good here for that I don't I don't know what that first round draft pick is gonna be and I don't know what lecker amache I will under is gonna be I know what I've got here Yeah, there's a there's a certain level of unrealistic expectation about what this team is gonna be able to accomplish this offseason It's not gonna happen that they're going to remodel the top six group to make them

in the conversation of a Stanley Cup contender. It's too much in a single off season. It's too daunting and they don't have the assets at the ready. They might be able to make some trades either in season or maybe they wait until next off season to try and take another stab at it, but they'll be they'll be the sort of renovation at the house where you can't afford to do the renovation that you want. But you do something that's kind of aesthetically pleasing, that pleases somebody in the house.

That's what it's going to be this this summer, because at this stage of the game, I said they're going to go out and get three players. Yeah. Well, for the forwards. That's great. It might be three very underwhelming forwards because that's what's going to be available to them, because every every there's no point in reiterating how difficult it's going to be and acknowledging that they don't have enough assets to make a sizable move and just keep repeating that part of it because it's it's obvious. Or what what if you what if what if what if you can't find three fords

and as opposed to getting three mediocre forwards, how about you trade your only real assets in Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko, and start a proper rebuild for the first time in franchise history. They're not gonna do that. And as much as I have pined for the fresh start idea with the Pettersson trade, I will also acknowledge

in adopting this like approach that it's probably not going to happen. Like, I think it would be the best thing for the organization and for the player. But I'm also coming to the realization that if you're going to place statistical likelihoods on what's going to happen, them having him come back and hoping that he gets better is probably the most likely of those three guys, he has the least value by far. Now, when it comes to the team, I think the more interesting conversation was the

one that we started talking about yesterday, where you throw out a potential top six blue line of Hughes and Hronik sticking together as a pairing. Pedersen and let's say the ever rising Victor Mancini. Marcus Pedersen. Did I say? No, you just said Patterson. There's a bunch of Pattersons. M-Pet was how you shorthanded it,

which I don't care for, but that's fine. D.P.D. Myers and then Will Ander is, either your seventh defenseman or traded to upgrade the forward group. I really wonder, I really wonder if next season this organization says, we're gonna lean into our strengths and we're gonna be a strong blue line and good goaltending and a mediocre forward group

and we're gonna try and get into the playoffs as that, as a team that ceilings out at, take your pick, 98. If you have a great year, 100 points, you're maybe the third best team in your division, but you're more likely a wild card team and you're back in the post season. So, so sorry, in this plan of yours, have you made that first round draft pick or have you traded it?

You've traded it. Okay. So. And you've probably got a forward, a top six forward, probably not a center. Maybe someone, maybe a JJ Petaterka. Maybe, go pick off Buffalo's carcass and see what you can find there. Paterka, Tuck, I don't know, take your pick.

Byron. We got a text in- You don't need a defenseman though. We don't need a defenseman. I just like Byron. I know. I do too. Bring him home. I do too.

Bring him home. Maybe you could flip him. There's a ton of texts coming in. One of them just says, you shouldn't be trying to find these assets via trade. You actually should be developing these assets. Again. You know how you do that, right? A crew draft picks. Don't make me tap the sign, I can't keep doing this.

Trade your best players for a lot of picks and prospects. But it is part of the conversation, and you can't just say like, we can't keep reiterating, we have nothing else to do except reiterate this stuff. We should be looking at it in the direction of what could actually happen. And therein lies a new conversation, right? Something about.

Well, the conversation that I would like to have is when, when does the team reach the point where they're like, okay, fine, this philosophy isn't working for us. Next year when they don't make the playoffs, that's when it's going to happen. I mean, let's be honest. And you wasted one more year of Quinn Hughes.

But here's the thing. You wasted one more year of Quinn Hughes. That'll be it. Okay, but let's say they get to the point where they're like, okay, we got to trade Quinn, okay? Could you also see this organization being like, you know, a lot of you will probably think that we're going to tank for a few years,

or not tank, just be bad for a few years, accrue draft picks, and then we're going to tank for a few years or not tank, just be bad for a few years, a crew draft picks, and then we're going to, we're going to do this rebuild. We got all this cap space now that we thought. Let's turn that frown upside down. We thought we were going to spend on Quinn Hughes and we had that budgeted for Quinn Hughes. Now the world is our oyster. I think it's very dangerous to assume that if Quinn Hughes eventually leaves that this organization will lean into the draft.

I agree a hundred percent with you on that. Because it's not something, you know, you could have said that they should have done that back in, you know, 2014 or 2015 and then they brought in a guy and a general manager who was a great scout. He was this great scout and we thought, oh, well they're going to lean into the draft and develop mode.

And they didn't. They did not. They never did. Spoiler. They, you know, they did make draft picks, but they never really leaned in and they said, we're going to accrue like three first round draft picks. And like they ended up training guys like almost immediately after they drafted them.

You think about Forsling traded him almost immediately. Jared McCann traded him almost immediately. The organization has been defined by impatience for, I don't know, the last decade or more. And this is where it's led them to, to the point where we're just like, yeah, they'll probably trade the first round draft pick. That's the insanity in a lot of markets. Not here. No, not here.

Not here. If I was Patrick Alvear, I would hold an emergency press conference, take no questions, and just say, this is a team we could turn around in a hurry, and then leave. How are we gonna do it? There will be no follow take no questions, and just say, this is a team we could turn around in a hurry and then leave. How are we going to do it? There will be no follow up questions.

As I said, at the onset, has the team been turned around? Maybe we needed to define in a hurry. Yeah. And he was like, well, if you think about it, like the history of humankind. Yeah. We've been here for a minuscule time of it. We have a programming note to pass along on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Greg Wyshinski unable to make it today.

Something's come up. So we're going to adjust on the fly. It's what we do here. We are going to be joined by our NBA guest out of OKC. Andrew Schlecht, I forgot his name. Sorry. I apologize in advance to Andrew. He's going to join us.

He's from the Athletic NBA podcast, or he's also got the OKC podcast. Down to Dunk, instead of joining us at 7.45, he's gonna join us at 8. The OKC Thunder, with a win tonight, will go to their second ever NBA finals. We'll talk to them about that, but more importantly, we'll talk to them about the good Canadian kid,

NBA MVP, Shay Gildes Alexander. So that's coming up at 8, and then at 8.30, we're gonna do What We Learn learns, ours and the humanoids. Get yours in Dunbar Lumber, text line is 650-650. You are listening to the Haliford and Brev show on Sportsnet 650.