Halford & Brough in the Morning - Which Free Agents Should The Canucks Be Targeting?

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

In hour two, Mike & Jason look around the NHL with Sportsnet's Luke Fox as Free Agency gets underway (3:00), plus the boys discuss which remaining free agents the Canucks should be targeting (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.

you never know what's going to happen july 1st and even leading up to it we all see lists of players that potentially hitting the market but there might be just a phone call away from their their clubs and they're they're off that list so definitely uh looking at options to improve our team and get better. 702 on a Monday. Happy Canada Day, everybody. Happy Free Agency Day, everybody. There's Patrick Alvin confirming that he's trying to make the Canucks better. Yeah.

It's good to hear. It's good to hear. That's a relief. It's better than the alternative, I guess. Yeah. I just want someone to hear it and be like, I'm trying to make this actively worse. I'm in the business of ruining this hockey team. Yeah. Mike Milbury,

is that you? You are listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough of the Morning is brought to you by Pacific Honda. Pacific Honda is North Vancouver's premier destination for Honda vehicle sales and service. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for,

sales, financing, service, or parts. We are in Hour 2 of the program. Luke Fox from Sportsnet is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off Hour 2. Hour 2 is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer, meticulously brewed for quality and taste. Primetime is full flavor without compromise. You can get some at a liquor store near you, or you can visit the brewery to see how it's made.

We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Kintec, Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Sore feet, what are you waiting for? Kintec, that's what you're waiting for. To the phone lines we go. Luke Fox joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning, Luke. How are you? Pretty good. Just trying to make my free agency reporting better.

That's good, as opposed to worse. Before we get into the free agency stuff, I want to go back to a couple things from the draft, specifically Utah and Tampa Bay, because they made big splashes on the trade front. Let's begin with Utah, because I know you wrote about it. What did you make of the work that Bill Armstrong did, and the shot across the league that the new owner Ryan Smith made yeah it's pretty awesome um you know especially if you were a fan of the the Coyotes and you've remained a fan since they moved uh finally we feel like there's a turnaround here. You know, this team is playing in basically a joke of an arena for two years.

It wasn't NHL level. The players were definitely frustrated. It was a full-scale rebuild where they were sending talent out the door. Guys were asking for trades, guys like Jacob Chikrin. It seemed like they couldn't keep talent. You know, they were definitely in like low ebb. You know, I'm sure frustration was seeping in, both in the dressing room and in management. And then all of a sudden, this guy comes out of nowhere, like a white knight, billionaire owner, big ideas, wants to be heavily involved in the team,

but also wants to give the GM the resources to build it the right way. And, you know, I got a chance, along with a bunch of other reporters, to talk to him the night of the draft. And he was just so full of life and excitement ryan smith that uh you know he's like we get it he's like you you i would have you would have i would have thought you were insane if you told me a few months ago that i'd be sitting here at the draft and getting to draft the first player to utah hc uh and then it was t jaginla, you know, there's already some name power there. And he said, I'm not known to be a patient guy.

And then the next day, you know, they already start making moves. The Sergeyev one was the bomb, I think, on day two of the draft. You know, there was an audible gasp in the sphere when that trade was announced. And that to me is like the signal, okay, this team is done rebuilding. They have all these picks and cap space, and they're finally going to try and build a team and take a step towards being a contender. Then they add John Marino. It's like basically they formed their top pair in a matter of hours.

So really cool to see Utah finally taking steps here. And then you've got this wildly aggressive sequence of events from Tampa Bay. So they connect with Utah to do the Sergachev trade. They get rid of Tanner Jeannot, which I guess is an acknowledgement that that was a mistake. They bring in Jake Gensel. They trade for his rights. They acquire those. They get the

contract sorted. And they also part ways with Steve Stamkos. All of this in a span of 48 hours. So Julian Breezeball, a very busy man down in Vegas. Yeah, it's wild. And I think, you know, that there's a lot going on here. Now, number one is if Stamkos indeed leaves, we're hearing rumblings that maybe they're going to circle back and take a stab at getting him. But the original rate was $3 million. And as much as Stamkos wants to remain there, and he's the franchise leader in so many categories, and he's the captain of two cup champ teams.

There's going to be a statue. There's already an Anderchuk statue out there. There's going to be a Stamko statue outside of Amelie Arena one day, I would think. And you're going to let the guy go, and you're going to offer him $3 million after he had an incredible year. Yeah, he's old, but he had an incredible year. And honestly, guys, I think he was their best player in that first round against Florida. He left it all out there. He was fantastic.

And it's insulting. So yeah, he wants to be there. And yeah, it's a tax-free state, but that's not a comparable offer considering the other teams that would want a leader and character guy and a guy who still has a lot in the tank that's not a comparable offer considering the other teams that would want a leader and character guy and a guy who still has a lot in the tank and Stamkos. But in saying that, I think a lot of fans of other,

other teams would kind of appreciate the fact that this GM is so ruthless that he's willing to, to win at all costs. So yeah, you know, he's not afraid of the bold move. So he gets rid of Sergeyev. Jeannot was a bold move both ways.

You know, but at least he realized it was a mistake. So you're clearing a ton of cap space. And the first thing you think is, oh, maybe it's because he wants to give his captain a reasonable raise. No. He went out and signed Jake Gensel, the biggest fish on the free agency market.

And it would probably be the biggest deal because Sam Reinhart took less than $9 million to stay in Florida. So it would probably be the biggest deal of the day in terms of dollars. And suddenly you have a top line, in theory, that could be Point, Kucherov, and Gensel. That is frightening. And it just shows that they still want to contend and that Breezebaugh is placing business ahead of personal relationships at all costs. And then some of that money that he freed up is probably going to go to a Victor Hedman extension

who's finally going to probably get an AAB more in line with what he's worth that could come as early as today uh do you think we're going to be talking more and more about tax-free states and the advantages that they have after uh free agency today yeah for sure I mean you look at uh look at the champions from the east they They're all coming out of Florida. Tampa twice, Florida once, Florida was a finalist the season before. It's pretty evident. You know, Dallas is right up there contending every year. It's starting to become a theme. And especially, I think, you know, I sent some tweet about the Reinhardt deal,

and a lot of the comments were angry about, hey, they have this competitive advantage because he takes less than $9 million to stay in Florida, and that money goes a lot farther there than it would in a lot of the other states or provinces that he could assign for. Now, you know, and I'm sure that played part of it, but I also think when looking at that deal there's a willingness on the player to win and we've already seen an example of what happens uh when you play with alexander barkoff and when you play without him and i'm looking at

jonathan huberdell so there's also like hey if i stay here i might be happier i might have a chance to win another cup uh life is good there's sunshine and the other thing that bill zito probably used to his advantage is the internal cap you know the internal cap got tampa bay a long way the internal cap was helpful for boston for for a number of years So Reinhardt slides under Barkoff and Kachuk. Zito's probably saying, like, you're not better than Barkoff. Like, let's be honest here. So that probably gives the team some leverage as well as the tax-free state thing.

So I do want to ask you one question about the Leafs. What do you think will be the biggest move that Brad Trilling makes today? Well, so we already re-signed Timothy Lilligran and Max Domi, gave them both raises yesterday. The big move is probably going to be signing Chris Tanev, and it sounds like it's going to be six years, somewhere between 4.5 and 5, you know, giving him extra terms.

The Leafs have wanted a top four right shot forever. They've wanted a Morgan Rielly partner forever. And in your market, you guys know firsthand what Chris Tana can do as a security blanket for the work he did with Quinn Hughes. And then he also elevates your room because he blocks shots, kills penalties, all that dirty stuff. And the Leafs have needed more of that. I think the hope is, yeah, it's probably an overpay,

and we might be burying the last two years of this deal on long-term injured reserve. Because it's just hard to imagine as tough as Tana is him still being effective with all the pucks he's eaten over his life he's 34 now he's 34 now so the deal doesn't expire till he's 40 but that's a hard 40 that's a real hard 40 totally and there was only one 40 40 year old in the league this year it was Mark Giordano. And I love the guy, but it became evident that, you know, time had caught up with him towards the end there, and he couldn't even play in the playoffs.

We're speaking to Luke Fox, Sportsnet NHL writer here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Jonathan Marcia. So, Luke, did you have a chance to speak with him earlier in the season? I seem to remember maybe something in March. Yeah. What did he say then about, because he's made it pretty clear

like he wanted to stay in Vegas. He did want to stay. He did want to stay, but it was really interesting because, you know, he was having a career year. He posted a career high in goals and I kind of asked him like,

you know, is your performance kind of, is it partially motivated because you're in a contract here? And usually guys say, no, no, I would play the same way regardless. And his answer wasn't that. His answer was, I got a bunch of kids at home. I know what's at stake this year. So I do, he was actually motivated a little bit by individual stats.

And, of course, you know, him scoring goals helps the team. His preference definitely was to say, I think it hurt him. You know, we're talking about Breezeball being ruthless. It hurt him that they wouldn't talk to him the previous summer. Like he wanted to extend after he won the Conn Smythe and hoisted the cup. And imagine that, right? The guy wins Conn Smythe and it's the franchise's first ever stanley cup victory and you won't even have a extension talk with them not a serious one right

away even though he wants to stay uh you know again it's like kelly mccrimmon george mcphee they're like we're thinking about the future. That championship's in the past. And they're looking at his age. They don't want to give him term. So, yeah, I'm sure it hurt him. He loved life there. But at the same time, he's probably been underpaid his whole career. He's had to scratch and claw for everything.

Undrafted guy, dismissed by a couple teams before he really found his groove in Vegas. And he's never going to have a chance like this to set up himself and his family up for the future. And he needs a whole bunch of kids. And they each want a Ferrari. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, I mean, good on him. Get his money. And you know what?

It's probably easier to leave after you do have the ring because you can say, hey, you know, you can go chase the money after. It's kind of like Alex Colorn, right? He had a couple of rings. It's easier to say, okay, now I'm never going to get offers elsewhere. So, yeah, maybe the team's not as good, but I do have rings, and now I have money to go with it.

The New Jersey Devils have been linked to Jonathan Marcheseau, and I should pass this along to you and to our listeners right now that the Devils are in the process of putting the final strokes of the pen on the Brett Pesci deal. Former Carolina defenseman going in six years with an AAV in the $5.5 million range.

That's a great deal for the Devils. Yeah, that's for a really good pickup. Chris Johnson just had that one. Explains the Marino trade too, right? Right, for sure, yeah. I think they had that in mind, yeah. Luke, this was great. Thanks for doing it, buddy.

Enjoy the rest of today and then enjoy some well-earned time off after that. Okay, should be a newsy day, boys. Enjoy it. Yeah, you too. Thanks. That's Luke Fox, Sportsnet NHL writer here on the Halford & Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650. Yeah, so as we just mentioned, the New Jersey Devils, who traded John Marino to Utah at the draft, have now signed former Carolina defenseman Brett Pesci to a six-year extension. So that is one of the more recent ones done this morning. New Jersey native, by the way. Brett Pesci.

Looks like he played for the North Jersey Avalanche growing up. I was not aware of that. So right now you've got Gensel off the board. He signed with tampa bay after tampa bay acquired his negotiating rights from carolina you've got sam reinhardt off the board no big surprises there everyone expected him to stay in florida he does as mentioned earlier this morning tyler bertuzzi leaves the toronto maple leafs he's now a member of the chicago blackhawks the chicago blackhawks have also signed veteran defenseman Alec Martinez,

according to Bob McKenzie. Oh, by the way, Bob McKenzie's back. Yeah. He just popped in for July 1 just to eviscerate everybody on the beat. He's breaking stuff left and right. He's got term. He's got AAV. And he just dropped it.

It's not official yet, but the Chicago Blackhawks are going to sign Alec Martinez. So what are the Canucks going to do here? I know I keep asking that question, but if you're just joining us, Elliot Friedman posted a bunch of predictions on where he thought a long list of players would go, and he had Brett Pesci going to New Jersey. Oh, he's right already. And he had none of theci going to New Jersey. Oh, he's right already. And he had none of the players going to Vancouver.

Yep. Now, Jake DeBrusque was on this list and he said, I picked Seattle from the start, have to stick with it. And then he came on our show to kick off our show and he said, well, actually Vancouver might be in on Jake DeBrusque. But none of these other guys that are on the list of his, and you can go to sportsnet.ca right now and read it, none of them are Vancouver.

And I wonder if, like I'm sure the Canucks are going to sign some guys today. They will sign some players. But I wonder if the Canucks are going to have to consider a couple of things. One, keep the powder dry and make some in-season moves or at the very least make some moves later this summer or consider the trade route.

That's what I'm thinking. And maybe you're willing to throw Nils Hoaglander into a trade And maybe you're willing to throw Nils Hoeglander into a trade, or maybe you're willing to throw one of your top prospects, one of your two top prospects into a trade to get a guy like Ehlers out of Winnipeg, who would give you scoring and speed all in one. Apparently you can trade picks all the way

up to 2027. It's not the preference because the free agency, you don't have the acquisition cost. You just go, hey, you want to sign here? And they go, yeah, I do. And that's a lot easier. Now, sometimes you end up overpaying, but for a guy like Ehlers,

you're still going to have to negotiate an extension with him. And he could still say, well, no, I'm just going to wait till free agency and, you know, go to the place where I want. So there are some complications. He's got one year left on his deal. So it's a challenging spot for Jim Rutherford and Patrick Galvin and Patrick Galvin being an

inexperienced general manager. He's lucky. He's got a guy like Jim Rutherford to work with. And there, I mean, let's just be honest here. There's still some significant pieces that this team not wants to have, but needs to add because in their mind, in their eyes, there should be no step back. This should be constantly evolving and moving forward and getting better.

And that includes a variety of things like one the internal improvement but the other part of it is finding pieces that fit now you brought up a good point with the trade route is that uh that's where they did some of their best maybe their best work last season and the big ones were obviously zadoroff and lindholm but go down the list the work that they did in september and october October to fill in the margins and get people in the door. And remember, Suter wasn't a trade, but that was an August signing. And it ended up being a very good signing for them. They might go that route. It might be a disappointing day one if you wanted flashy, glitzy, glamour signings. Part of it is you don't want to come out of your shoes

in a panic move and overpay a guy because you missed on Gensel or you thought you had a shot at Toffoli and he might end up going somewhere else or you had a pipe dream that maybe Stamkos would shake loose and you could get in the mix. Just because those things don't land, it doesn't necessarily mean that you've, quote-unquote,

lost on day one a free agency uh you know the powder keeping the powder dry that that that phrase i think might come in uh very appropriately later in the day right because yeah cmac is writing it down it's like i'm gonna tell those guys i really like the powder dry i don't exactly know what it means but i like it it, and I'm going to use it later. But that's the thing that you might end up having to do because if you don't land someone of significance, and I do think we will have at least one signing from the bank. Oh, of course. Definitely.

But I think everyone understands what we talk about. The big glitz and glamour signing just might not happen today. Drance and Harm on an article for The Athletic went dumpster diving, as they called it. And some of these guys are guys that have been bought out or just – Didn't get the qualifying offers. Yeah, didn't get a qualifying offer. Or they're just guys that we don't end up talking about.

Number one on their list was Jeff Skinner, who was bought out in Buffalo. A lot of Blake Lizotte analysis here. The 26-year-old center who played for the LA Kings. Guys like Sam Steele, Alex Nylander, who was bought out in Columbus, right? Yeah, he's bounced. So he started in Buffalo, went to Chicago, and then ended up in Columbus.

Had a good stretch and then just kind of faded away, like a lot of Columbus Blue Jays. Adam Boquist is a guy that I wonder if the Canucks could get for cheap. Why did they let him go? I was just looking at his page. I think he was just overpaid. And it was a one-third buyout, I think. In the words of Torrance,

can't get him out of the tub. That's what happens when a guy's always banged up. Can't get him out of the tub. But I think it was a one-third buyout. Because he's only 23 right now. He was the return for Seth Jones. Yeah. Yep. That did not work out. Like so many things for Columbus

that did not work out. But I was things for Columbus, that did not work out. But I was just wondering if the Canucks could get him as, and they probably can't considering he's probably going to get a decent amount. But remember I was talking about having a seventh defenseman that you can bring in as a potential puck mover? Yeah. That he fits the idea. He fits the idea.

Like the Broberg model in Edmonton where they were like, we can't move the puck against this four check. We're going to take Darnay out and bring in Broberg. And it helped them a little bit. You could bring old Nate Schmidt back for another tour of duty, if you like. He's on unconditional waivers. How dare you say that?

Don't say it. Don't will that into existence. That one, yeah. Besides Schmidt and Mott. Mott, people. Mott, I think the room would welcome back with open arms. I have nothing against him. It would be so underwhelming. I know Schmidt rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

How quickly was his drop from serviceable defenseman to out of the lineup? He revived. He was too smiley. Didn't like it. Too many smiles. Too happy to go lucky. He was very chatty. We had that steroid positive test, too, right? Didn't like it. Too many smiles. Too happy to go lucky. He was very chatty. We had that steroid positive test too, right?

Sure did, Greg. Yeah. That's right. Ever since then, it's just been all downhill. That's a symptom of steroids. A lot of happiness. You have to correlate happiness with rampant steroids. When I think of happy, I think Barry Bonds.

Philip Zedina is a guy that I guess maybe some teams might talk themselves into. I wonder if this guy would be better off going to a good team as opposed to. Yeah, in Europe. Maybe. Man, I've watched this guy in certain moments, mostly in Detroit. I didn't watch many San Jose Sharks games this year. But he's got so much talent. And it just never came together for him at the NHL level.

You know, of course, Zedino was one of the guys that was taken before Quinn Hughes that allowed the Canucks to draft Quinn Hughes. Laddie, some news for you that you'll like. The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed goaltender Joseph Wohl to a three-year extension, $3.36 million AAV. I think that was expected that that was going to come out in the not-too-distant future. So there it is now, just before we go to break.

The Leafs re-sign goalie Joseph Wohl. Sounds like they might pair him with Stolarz, which is interesting. Which would be great. That's two USA Hockey goalies. You like Stolarz, don't you? I think Stolarz should have been a starter for the last couple of years. So we got an open segment on the other side. So text any questions or comments into the

Dunbar Lumber text line 650-650. We'll keep you up to date on all the signings that come in. And we'll talk a little bit more about what could be for the Vancouver Canucks. I like this text in here. Are we all going to change our tone about how they aren't getting a difference maker? We've been saying the last month that that's what they need,

and now we're settling for them holding firm and tinkering. If they don't do something big, it's a disappointment. Not saying we won't be good, but they need a legitimate gamer. Yeah, that's how it typically works. We want something, and then it doesn't happen. Then we're like, talk ourselves into it being a good gamer. Yeah, that's how it typically works. We want something, and then it doesn't happen. Then we're like, talk ourselves into it being a good thing. Yeah, we never wanted it anyway. Yeah, like Halford is like, well, to be fair to Halford,

he never really wanted Gensel in the first place. But, you know, now that Gensel is signed in Tampa Bay, you can take the Halford approach that that was an overpay by Tampa Bay. They just got too excited, and they're going to end up regretting that contract. You're listening to the Halford & 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 2 on Sportsnet 650. Or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. Step. 7.32. DJ Greg Ballack. Like it. I like this. I like this.

Yeah, yeah. This is a keeper. Good track. Good track. Good track. Good track. Good track. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show

on Sportsnet 650. Halford & Brough in the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda. Vancouver Honda is 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. We help with anything you're looking for. Sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in hour two of the program. Open segment here. We got a lot to get into. A bunch of stuff happened during the break. Hour two of this show is brought to you by Primetime Craft Beer. Are you looking for a good, nice, light beer today on Canada Day? Primetime Craft Beer. Meticulously brewed for quality and taste.

Get some at a liquor store near you or visit the brewery to see how it's made. Okay, what happened? Chris Tanev deal is now official in Toronto. It is a six-year pact for the 34-year-old defenseman. Do the math. That means Chris Tanev will be a Toronto Maple Leaf until he's 40 or until they buy out the final two years of the contract.

It's been 84 years. This is the guy that they've needed for years now. And now I'm wondering if it's too late. Your tweet was funny. Yeah. I basically compared this to when Mayweather and Pacquiao finally fought. Right. And the fight they've been waiting for.

And they just never found a way to make it happen. And then we watched it and it was like, that sucked. Yeah. This would have been better 10 years ago. $4.5 million on the AAV six-year deal. So in short order, the Leafs announced the Joseph Wall extension, and then, of course, the Chris Tanev deal. I'll tell you who's doing work.

The New Jersey Devils are doing work. So prior to break, we mentioned that they signed Brett Pesci to a five-year deal. It sounds as though that the ink is drying on a Brendan Dillon deal. So a guy that I think a lot of Canucks fans hoped would be coming home. The Surrey native sounds as though he is on his way to New Jersey. A guy that some people thought. The Devils are going to be good this year, man. So the Devils have got...

The Devils have got it. Markstrom. They stay healthy. Pesci. Dillon. No John Marino. And it sounds as though the Devils are also in on Jonathan Marcheseau. They are loading up to get after it this year.

A guy that people thought might get to free agency, but has instead re-upped with his current team, Matt Duchesne. He signs a one-year, $3 million deal to stick with the Dallas Stars, which is a nice piece of business for Dallas because Duchesne was a good contributor for them. You mentioned the Connor Brown deal already. Connor Brown re-ups with the Stanley Cup runners-up, the Edmonton Oilers.

One year, $1 million for Connor Brown. So we'll keep our eyes on everything as it comes along. Oh, Dmitry Kulikov. The team that beat the Edmonton Oilers. One year, one million for Connor Brown. So we'll keep our eyes on everything as it comes along. Oh, Dmitry Kulikov. The team that beat the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers, they've re-signed Kulikov. It's kind of a funny deal. It's a $1.15 million cap hit,

but it's over four years. It's a four-year deal. So we got a few texts in to the Dunbar Lumber text line. A lot of texts, actually. Tony texts in, if this was the Benning era, by this point in free agency, we would all be complaining about who they signed, the money they gave them, and the length of the contract. People need to relax and trust that Alvina and Rutherford won't risk our future just to make a deal. Tony, I think you can look at it both ways. I think you can, yes, trust that Alvina and Rutherford won't risk the future just to make a deal, but you can also understand that Alvina and Rutherford want to make a deal.

Well, they want to get. They want to do something here. Gensel's a miss for them. Yeah. It's not their fault. They just, they wanted them and they didn't get them. Yeah. There's a lot of teams that wanted them.

And so there's going to be a lot of disappointed teams out there with regards to Jake Gensel. You know, they're not going into free agency going, well, let's be super conservative here, right? They're not. They're not going into free agency and saying we're going to be reckless here. Sure. But, you know, the whole idea behind this day is to add players to make your team better.

And Alvin says creating that flexibility leading up towards Monday gives us a chance to be in the market for some potential players out there. Now, he also said, you never know what's going to happen to July 1st and even leading up to it. We've all seen the list of players potentially hitting the market, but they might just be a phone call away from their clubs and they're off that list. We're definitely looking at options to improve our team and get better. So they want to do deals here.

But I understand the sentiment of not panicking but you also have to realize like you know people say well okay well wait wait wait wait until someone comes available well someone has to come available yeah and i wonder i mean i'm starting to look i'm starting to look further down the the eligible free agent list and and the scrap i'm looking at the scrap people a little more closely than i thought it would at 7 37 in the morning but uh things are things are happening and moving pretty quickly having done the july 1st routine on a number of occasions especially on radio i do not recall it there's a lot of deals being done by 7 30 pacific uh usually and that's why the major

network broadcasts begin closer to 8 8 30 is that's when things really start cooking a little bit closer to noon eastern there's a lot of deals that are coming on the board right now that we're just kind of popping up and popping up and popping up so i'm starting to look at a little more along the lines of depth guys now you know what I was thinking about the other day? What? Speaking of the betting era, do you remember when the Canucks gave Jay Beagle $12 million over four years? How could I forget it? Do you remember talking about that deal and going, okay, wow.

Because Jay Beagle's name was out there in the market. And we were like, all right, maybe you don't want to go past two years, but I don't know, maybe add that third year if you really want them. And then it came out four years, $12 million. Compare that to some of the deals being signed right now. That was the cap hit the lightning for offering Stamkos. The Jake Beagle cap hit.

Never forget, day one of free agency, July 1st, 2018. And the Canucks went in, day one. You got all this buffet of free agents to choose from. And the Canucks go in and they sign Jay Beagle for four years, $12 million. Antoine Roussel for four years at 3.25 million and I'll never forget Tim Schaller two years 3.8 million and I remember thinking why did you target did Tim Schaller is not a guy that you needed to go out just sign on day and bottom six guys yeah like you could have signed Tim Schaller on August 1st probably not July anyway that in the past. Nathan and Poco also has a similar text to Tony.

Six years ago. There are worse things than holding onto your cap space and getting a good player later in the summer for cheap when teams are looking to shed salary. It's a long way until September. It'll be fun of the Canucks sign impact guys at 9.01am, but I'm not going to be in panic mode

if they decide to wait for the right opportunity. There's panic mode and there's also curiosity mode. And some people confuse those two. So you sit there and go, well, they didn't get Gensel. They didn't get Stamkos or whoever, right? Right. You know, asking what are they going to do is not panicking. It's just asking what are they going to do? Rick Dolly. It's just asking what are they going to do?

Rick Dollywall on Twitter. So Dolly's up and working. The latest, this just came out about a minute ago. Canucks never got a chance with Jake Gensel and Chris Tanev. Rick then goes on to write, if Gensel hit the market today, Vancouver would have been high on his list, but the Canucks, interestingly,

did not try and trade for his negotiating, but the Canucks, interestingly, did not try and trade for his negotiating rights. That's just what I, you know, we talked about this last week and I just, I felt like the Gensel thing was going to get figured out before July 1st. Right. Just because like, you didn't want to be in

that situation. No team wanted to be in the situation where on July 1st at 9.01 AM, they're like, oh boy, we better get this guy now because all our plan B and our plan C, they're all signing too. It's almost like on a far lesser level, like the Blue Jays and Otani, right? The Blue Jays were like, all right, if we get this guy, it's going to be awesome. If we don't. Yeah. And how are the Blue Jays were like, all right, if we get this guy, it's going to be awesome. If we don't... Yeah.

And how are the Blue Jays doing right now? They're not doing that well, are they? Let me check. I'll get back to you on that one. They're not doing that well right now. Unsigned text. Do we grab a 1B type of goalie? This text continues.

When Demko's hot, he's hot. But if he gets hurt and we have to turn to another streaky type like DeSmith, I'm scared of that. Or do we run Silov as the backup and get him game ready? The kid's a gamer. He just needs more NHL work. That kid from Nashville would be neat.

A scar off? Yeah, he's not. You're going to have to give up a lot to get him. All the reports right now are teams are shying away because the asking price is just way too high. That's not the way. So, Rick, correct me if I'm wrong, Rick came on Friday, Dollywall, and said throughout Samsonov's name, right, from Toronto.

Someone they liked. Right. Toronto has now re-upped with Joseph Wall, and there are reports that they're going to bring in Anthony Stolers to be the other goalie there. Yeah, they're not bringing back Samsonoff. They're not going to bring back Samsonoff, so he's shaking free. There could be a fit there. So they did

circle back with Casey. The Canucks just circled back with two of their own free agents who I think that everyone understood were going to leave, but it was either a last-ditch effort or maybe a courtesy call. Who knows? But multiple reports out that they circled back on Casey DeSmith to see if there was any interest there.

I think that had to do in part with the relationship that he had with Thatcher Demko because as Rick came on our show and said on Friday, they're very good friends, they work well in tandem, so why not try and explore it? But it sounds as though Casey DeSmith will probably land work somewhere else today because it is now July 1st. Ian Cole is an interesting one because if you look at the defenseman market, you're going to lose two left-handed D, right?

You're going to lose Zdorov and you're going to lose Cole from the guys that were playing in the playoffs, right? Circling back on Cole was probably in the same vein as DeSmith. It's like it's a courtesy call. We're going to see if anything has changed on your front. But it went nowhere. Names. So I mentioned that Dolly Wallen-Drantz threw out an article on The Athletic overnight

talking about where the Canucks are at and where they might go. So this is the quote. We've been told to watch for Vancouver to show at least some interest in the likes of Jake Bean, Pierre OlivierOlivier Joseph, and Adam Boquist. Okay.

Yeah, we already mentioned Boquist. And you mentioned Boquist already. Okay, so we've had a lot of hockey talk already, and I want to read this text. WTF. England won their game with a last-second goal and then killed it in the first minute of extra time. A nail-biter game.

Edge of your seat screaming at the TV game. And you two have not said boo about it. That's not true. I said it at the beginning of the show. Mean reason I woke up early on this stat holiday. Very confused at your choice this morning, boys. Well, you have to. Who's that from?

Was that signed? No. Okay, so first off, we said at the beginning of the show, it's July 1. It's the opening day of NHL Free Agency. We're the home of the Canucks. But we do have a few minutes right now to talk a lot about soccer because Canada had a good result as well over the weekend,

and they are in the Copa America quarterfinals. And I think they got a chance against Venezuela. They are ranked higher in the FIFA rankings than Venezuela. So a real quick synopsis, a snapshot, if you will, of Venezuela. They are ranked higher in the FIFA rankings than Venezuela. So a real quick synopsis, a snapshot, if you will, of Venezuela. Traditionally and historically, one of the worst South American countries. So of the 10 that make up the South American, it's called Conmobol. I had to work on that one. Conmobol.

Conmobol. Yeah. That's like CONCACAF, but Conmobol. Probably not saying it right. Doesn't matter. There's 10 countries that make it up. Every one of them,

except Venezuela, has qualified for a World Cup. So they have sort of been the weak link of the group or the region for a long time. They've got some economic issues there. Yeah, I mean, and baseball has been primarily the sport of choice. it's obviously they're a footballing nation but

baseball is extremely popular in venezuela anyway point being this is sort of a um not necessarily a come out of nowhere team because they played well over the last year yeah but they've never had this kind of success in the group they've never finished top of a group like this dominant in there like they they want handling they've got a group like this. Dominant in their, like they won handily. They've got a really good backline. They've got a few guys on their backline that play for pretty good European clubs. They don't concede a lot.

They're a tough opponent. And they're motivated because they've never had success like this in the tournament. I think they made it to the semifinals once back in 2011. What did you think of the match against Chile? You know, it's a tough sell for people that don't watch a ton and then look at it because it was another knife fight.

It wasn't that much different than the Peru match. It was very choppy, a ton of fouls, another red card. Although in this instance, the Canadian gaffer, the manager, Jesse Marsh, rightly pointed out that this wasn't a red for violent conduct like the Peru match this was Canada applying pressure to Chile and forcing to foul so much that that one

player got a red card after 27 minutes to accumulation of two yellows I thought it was I thought it was good it was I still thought it was exciting it was really exciting they the first time ever in Copa America, they advanced to the quarterfinals. And just to put this in perspective, Chile was decimated at the end of this. They have not failed to get out of the group in 20 years. This was a huge setback for them. It's embarrassing for them.

Peru has had some pretty good success in this tournament recently. They were really upset. The Canada kind of waltzed into this tournament. First time they've ever played it and they're the ones going through. Mexico's out too and the United States. The United States will be out tonight, I would imagine.

Will be. You think so? Will be? Well, I don't think they're going to be. Uruguay's been unbelievable. They've been the class of the tournament, non-Argentina division. So Canada would be the only CONCACAF team?

Panama would get through. Oh, right. Panama's there. Yeah, Panama would get through. And so in the Euros, yes, England had an incredible win. They had two shots on goal. They had two shots on target. The Declan Rice post didn't count as a shot because they hit the post.

So they scored on the Jude Bellingham. Do they still call it a bicycle kick? An overhead. An overhead kick, which brought me out. Like I was – so I watched the game alone. Well, I watched it with Pedro, the dog. Right. He loves it.

And Pedro was scared of me. Yeah. Because I was so angry at England watching them during the game. And then he was confused because all of a sudden I was extremely happy. And England have played four matches at this tournament. They have looked good matches at this tournament.

They have looked good for like one half. So it was the first half they played against Serbia. They looked pretty good for like 20 minutes, and the rest of it they have looked completely out of sorts, lacking creativity, and yet they're in the quarterfinals against Switzerland because Switzerland beat Italy and Italy was even worse than England. Switzerland dog walked it. Yeah.

Switzerland, Switzerland. Yeah. I love that. Dog walked them. They did. Italy just couldn't even compete with them on that. And so Italy, so England advancing in not particularly impressive form, but very dramatic form. And I think all so England advancing in not particularly impressive form,

but very dramatic form. And I think all the England supporters are hoping that's going to be the thing that kickstarts this team going forward. Because as much as Gareth Southgate has been criticized, I've kind of brought this up before. This always happens. Early in the tournament, England, they'll have some matches where they're just,

they're not very good. They don't look very creative. And then some of it is them knowing how to advance in tournament football. And some of it is luck of the draw. They always seem to get good draws. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait a minute, they're in the semifinals or they're in

the quarterfinals or in the last year, or they were in the final final. So that was an interesting story from soccer. Italy being out is another interesting story. Gary Lineker said that that was the worst Italian team he's seen in his lifetime. They were really bad. They were really bad.

And the aftermath was just a gong show for the manager who kind of went out of his way to come up with all these different excuses, including a super bizarre one where he suggested that all the players that played for Inter that were on the Italian national team were major disappointments

because maybe they felt like they were all happy and sassy and fat and full from winning the Serie A title. It's like the Man City guys on England. The Man City guys on England. I don't really want to see Phil Foden start again. Well, I don't know if Southgate is... I mean, Southgate, up until the end of that match,

he was preparing his concession speech, and he's like, you're going to get hammered in the media. So I'll tell you real quick, when they scored, obviously jumped up and said, oh my God, holy cow, but in part because of the quality of goal

that Bellingham scored. That, to me, was more about the brilliance of Jude Bellingham than anything about England. Because I, after I scored, I was watching with the boy and then I went to the kitchen and started making breakfast. He's like,

what are you doing? He's like, the match is still on. I'm like, England is going to win this. Yeah. Slovakia just had their hearts ripped out on live television. Like they're still beating heart in the hand of Jude Bellingham.

England's going to win this, and they don't deserve it in any way, shape, or form. That was my first way, shape, or form. But they did. It's been such an uninspiring tournament that I almost... I was happy that Bellingham scored. I was happy that they moved on. But it was a very empty reward at the end of it because they have been so uninspired and everything is baffling about what they're doing their lack of

urgency the players yelling and shouting at one another like they've never played before not on the same page at all kyle walker throwing up his hands every five seconds he's like where are you guys going where are we supposed to be going it's crazy that they are this discombobulated and somehow in the quarterfinals of a major tournament that is that is the thing back to the hockey talk elliot freeman uh just tweeted out hearing hearing nashville has emerged as a serious contender for jonathan marsh and not just that you guys pierre lebrun also saying they're in on steven stamco and brady shea. And Brady Shea. So remember how we asked Freed, and if you haven't, don't, listen to our one.

Who are the Canucks in on? Go get our one of the pod. Nashville's in on everyone apparently. Are the Canucks in on anyone? Go get our one of the pod. Mary Trotz woke up this morning and was like, we're making moves, baby. He's choosing violence. Freed predicted Brady Shea to Nashville as well.

So they run on him as well. That's a couple different people are putting that out there right now. So this is a live real-time update. If you want to go back and listen hour one of the podcast do it apple google spotify because we've got frege right off the hop we asked frege about the teams that he expected to be major players today he kind of thought carolina because of the you know losing out on gensel and wanting to make amends he didn didn't mention Nashville so much. I think Luke Fox threw it out there that Nashville could be a team to watch. And now we're hearing,

with regards to Stamkos and Shea, that had kind of already been out there that they had put their hat in the ring to get both those guys in. Marcheseau sounded like he was on his way. They traded McDonough, remember? Yeah. And there was an understanding

that Marcheseau might have been on his way to New Jersey, but now it sounds as though that Nashville may have jumped the queue and said, hey, we're going to get Stamkos and Shea jump on board. We're going to make something happen here. Don't forget, they've already signed UC Sorrows to an eight-year extension, and I wouldn't be surprised if they might try and do some other things, maybe flip a scar off to get another piece in the door, because they're very clearly in go-for-it mode now. They might be feeling the pressure to win something while Roman Yossi is still an elite hockey player. He's 34 years old.

And look, I emerged from that first round against Nashville with a very high appreciation of how good UC Soros is. Like, I don't know. He was only my top-ranked goalie going into the year. But yeah, you have to leave it for the playoff round. Are we done making it about you? Yes. Can we talk about UC Saros now?

Okay, great. Did I say UC Saros or Roman Yossi? I said Roman Yossi. You said Roman Yossi. I went with Saros. Oh, okay. But I mean, if you've got a Norris-caliber goalie and a Vezina-caliber, or sorry, a Norris-caliber defenseman and a Vezina-caliber goalie, a Vezina caliber or sorry, a Norris caliber defenseman and a Vezina caliber goalie, a Vezina caliber goalie.

Sorry, I got messed up there. I didn't say Vezina right. I kind of agree with you. Like your window is now, you know, it's not unlike the Canucks with Hughes and Demko. If you've got those quality guys, you are in your window. I mean, it's not like Yossi's falling off. He was a finalist for the Norris this year. I'm really mixing up the Vezna and Norris right now.

I'm really mixing those up. I do that sometimes, too. I wonder why that is. It's just those two, though. Yeah. I don't know why. I don't have that problem. So maybe Nashville just gets right after it now.

I mean, the team that we saw in the playoffs, I would have said their biggest issue was they didn't have enough depth of talent up front. Yeah. And Marcioso and Stamkos would certainly address that, right? That turns you into a totally different team at forward. So I'll be very curious to see how that turns out. I want to know more about the talks between Stamkos and the Lightning

because I bet that got real ugly. That's in the Hour One podcast,kos and the lightning because I bet that got that's probably pretty real ugly yeah that's in the hour one podcast too by the way I asked free just said how bad are the feelings between Steve Stamkos and Julian Breeze on the lightning right now he said it's really not good I'm of two minds of this because on the one hand you know I understand the idea that how could you quote unquote disrespect a guy like Stephen Stamkos when you're the Tampa Bay Lightning, but I'm also the same guy that said nobody's bigger than the team.

Sure. Right. And you have to think about the team first. And I remember when the Canucks essentially refused to rebuild because they still had the Sedins there. And Trevor Linden had some sort of line where he said, I couldn't go into the room with the Sedins there

and said, we're tearing it down. And I remember thinking, sure, you could. You could. You can think it's best for the team. But that being said, if I was a neutral, just pushing back on this, which I am, I would say, but the team is better with Stamkos on it. And he proved that last year.

He scored 40 goals last year. He was their best player in the playoffs last year. It's not like there were diminishing returns. Yeah, I know. That would be the hard part for Stamkos. He's like, okay, if I had lost the step to the point where my production waned or I couldn't do it, but he went out and proved it on the ice. There's not a ton of 40 goal scorers in the NHL.

That's a good point. That's a good point. I get it if he's Jeff Skinner where it's like, okay, we can't afford to pay you $9 million anymore because your goal scoring is steadily declining year on year. Yes, Greg, you're waving. I'm seeing reports possibly Toffoli coming off the board the next little while. Brevin had him linked to San Jose.

It's looking like the Sharks are the front runners for Toffoli right now. Okay, we got to take a quick break. We will come back. How are you doing, Adolph? They're dwindling. Where's Canada Day ever? We'll take a break.

Don't even like this country anymore. Kevin Woodley's going to join us at 8, and then we got an open segment at 8.30. We'll do some What We Learned, but we'll also keep track of everything that's going on on Free Agency Day. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.

Do you remember when the Canucks gave Jay Beagle $12 million over four years? How could I forget it? Never forget. Day one. Day one of Free Agency, July 1st, 2018. And the Canucks went in. Day one. Day one of free agency, July 1st, 2018. And the Canucks went in. Day one.

You got all this buffet of free agents to choose from. And the Canucks go in and they sign Jay Beagle for four years, $12 million. Antoine Roussel for four years at $3.25 million. And I'll never forget Tim Schaller, two years, $3.8 million.