Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Boeser Earn An Extension This Season?

Episode Date: October 8, 2024

In hour one, Mike & Jason look back at the previous day in sports (3:00), they talk the Canucks opening night roster which was finalized yesterday (6:00), plus they talk the latest NHL news with ESPN Hockey's Greg Wyshynski (27:13). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- Long on a high fly ball to right field. This one is going to fly! Optimistic and feeling good about themselves before the first game. And it's going to be tough. It's going to get really hard. The Saints big man got it on the ricochet at the goal line. On a pass intended for Smith-Huster. That was a thick pick! That was a thick pick! That was a thick pick.

It was a thick pick. Good morning, Vancouver. 6-0-1 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. It's Halford and his brouhaha for the Sportsnet 650. We are coming to you live from the Kintex Studios in beautiful Fairview Slopes in Vancouver. Jason, good morning. Good morning.

Ada, good morning to you. Good morning. Laddie, good morning to you as well. Hello, hello. Halford and Brev of the Morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda, Vancouver's premier destination for Honda customers. They have a friendly, knowledgeable staff that can help with anything you're looking for, sales, financing, service, or parts.

We are in hour one of the program. Hour one is brought to you by North Star Metal Recycling, Vancouver's premier metal recycler. Well, they'll give you the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you recycler. While they'll give you the highest prices on scrap metal, North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid. Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio, Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews.

Thousands of them. There's thousands out there. Sore feet? What are you waiting for? Kintec. Folks, you excited? Now, here's the thing. It's not quite the actual start of the NHL season. That already happened. But it is the start of the NHL's North American season. But it's not the start of the Canucks season.

And then they thought, what better way to kick off part two of three than with a matinee in Seattle? Here I come! Yeah. Well. And then you say, well, that's okay. two of three than with a matinee in Seattle. Here I come! Yeah. Well. And then you say, well, that's okay, a matinee in Seattle. That's one of the more exciting markets in the NHL, right? Well, it's okay.

Then you thought, well, no worries. At least it's a rivalry game. Then you're like, oh, they're playing St. Louis. And then you're like, don't worry about it, though, because they're really good teams. Neither of them made the playoffs last year. But no mind. No mind. NHL Part 2 of the opener gets underway today.

And then, of course, all the Canadian teams, including your Vancouver Canucks, are in action tomorrow. So we got a lot to get into regardless, because hockey season is finally here. No more of this preseason dress rehearsal type stuff. Guest list today begins at 6.30. Greg Wyshynski is going to join us. ESPN NHL Insider.

7 o'clock. What a get. What a perfect booking for today. Ray Ferraro. Ray Ferraro is about to embark on a broadcasting journey. An odyssey. He's going to call

that aforementioned matinee game in Seattle. Then he's going call that aforementioned matinee game in seattle that he's gonna hop on a jet what he's gonna call he's gonna do a game in seattle yeah he's gonna hop on a jet and go to vegas or what go to utah he's gonna do another game are you serious are you yes i'm playing along here you idiot i couldn't tell somebody didn't read notes. That's how good of an actor he is. That's how good an actor. I was like, oh my God, this is like working Liam Neeson. This is unbelievable.

Anyway, Ray's going to, let's do it again. Ray's going to hop on a jet. Yeah. And then he's going to go to Utah and do two games. Maybe one day. Maybe he'll act down a little bit. I've never. Oh, is he really?

That's crazy. Wow. I didn't know that. Did you also I've never... Oh, is he really? That's crazy. Wow, I didn't know that. Did you also believe... Wow, really? Is he actually doing this? Are you acting? No, I'm just messing with you. I've never been so enamored with someone's acting before in my life.

That was really good. Yeah. You captured the essence of stunned radio host. He's a good liar. He's doing... He's a good liar. Yeah, he's doing two games today. So, Ray Bar... And the Bruins and the Panthers are going to play in the meantime.

While he's traveling. Ray can't make it to that one. So we've got Kraken Blues. We've got Bruins, Panthers. And then the nightcap, we've got Hockey Club. That's going to be a tough one to get out there. But Hockey Club, Blackhawks. And Ray's going to join us at 7.

7.30, TJ Lee, linebacker for your BC Lions. Lions are back in action this weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, where they will take on the Rough Riders. 8 o'clock, Brendan Batchelor, play-by-play voice of your Vancouver Canucks. He is going to walk us through everything that happened yesterday with roster cut-down day, and then, of course, looking to tomorrow's game against Calgary. Brendan Batchelor is going to join us?

Am I pushing him now? He's going a little too far. Really? Yeah. That wasn't as good. Wow. Method acting. Method acting went

a little too far there. Okay, that's what's happening on the program today. Laddie, let's tell everybody what happened. Hey, did you guys see the game last night? No.

What happened? I missed all the action because I was... We know how busy your life can be. What happened? You missed that what what happened is brought to you by the bc construction safety alliance wow really it

was good acting making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools resources and safety training visit them online at bccsa.ca it was his eyes he should be completely dumbfounded with every read that you do as well. Like, really? They sponsor us? It wasn't just the voice and the reaction. It was the eyes. When you look deep into his eyes, there was a sense of emptiness. Yeah, shark eyes.

Swindled you. I see a lot of psychopaths have them. You don't have any pupils. Is everything okay, bud? Very disassociated. Anyway, the Vancouver Canucks. Empathy? The Vancouver Canucks. Empathy? The Vancouver Canucks solidified their final roster yesterday.

We're going to bang through some of the major decisions. Atu Ratu and Nils Amon, welcome to the team. You made it. Hard line for R. Steve Baines. He did not. Thatcher Demko and Dakota Joshua are going to be opening the season on injured non-roster. That's not long-term injured reserve.

Those are different things. The Canucks, thanks in large part to shipping off Tucker Pullman's contract, will not have to start the season on LTIR, and that's a good thing. Two guys that are dealing with nicks and bumps and bruises, Connor Garland and Pugh Suter, are listed as healthy roster players. So it's one extra forward, two extra D-men, 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies. There's your Vancouver Canucks roster for opening night.

Brackets for now, because things can always change. Yeah, and the fact that they were able to have one extra forward and two extra D-men on the roster that was submitted to the NHL was made possible by the Pullman trade. There was talk before the Pullman trade that they would have had to have Pullman on the roster if they don't want to go into LTIR.

And a lot of people were speculating that they might have started the season with like one extra body. Alveen allowed yesterday that things could still happen before Wednesday's opener against the Flames. And we have to keep in mind the health of Connor Garland, although he is on the roster and they do have extras. But they were impressed with Baines, who was kind of the unlucky one yesterday.

And they said as the preseason progressed, he got better and better, and that it was a tough call to send him down. But I'm sure they were able to explain it to him, like, hey, this isn't a bad thing. This is just a numbers thing. I wonder if these players, these players must understand that this isn't 20 years ago,

and the fact that there is a hard cap now, and you have to be, you know, everyone is so um calculated is the perfect word because there's so much math involved with the numbers that they've got going into the season that there aren't there aren't just like a ton of spots for someone to come and be like wow he was so good that he just made the team like it is it is difficult to do and you know i i i said all along i was like i don't think they're going to put nils amon on waivers yeah you know you're right even if baines

technically outplays them people like nils mom what does he do i was like well he's he's a center that's important you gotta have depth um you know the connects have already had injuries this preseason injuries have been a big part of everything with Thatcher Demko. And, you know, if you start losing centers, you can get into trouble. And Nils Amon is a center that can kill penalties. And that might not be the super, you know, might not be the flashiest player. But they are important to keep those guys around, especially young centers. So they're not going to risk losing him on waivers.

I think it will be worth keeping an eye on, well, Les Pugh's suitor because I think he practiced the other day in a regular jersey, not a non-contact jersey. So I think we can all expect him to be ready for day one. But I do wonder if Connor Garland's going to be ready for Wednesday. Tuckett said that Garland told him that he'd be okay for Wednesday. But until the Canucks practice, I guess today they're going to practice today.

So we'll take a look and see if Connor Garland's among the regular line rushes. Yeah. So just on the subject of the final cut, and obviously it's not like back in the day, remember our favorite movie, major league when they would do their, their cuts after spring training.

And pig slips. Yeah, they put the red card in the locker, and then you'd have to go see Lou Brown, and then someone pulled the wool over Charlie Sheen's eyes, and he went mental. Anyway, I'm going down the road here. It's not like that anymore. As you mentioned, these cuts are more about numbers,

cap space, LTIR, all that other stuff, but it still doesn't mean that the conversation is easy. Here's Patrick Alveen speaking yesterday about the difficult decision to send Arshdeep Baines down to their American Hockey League team in Abbotsford. Absolutely. It was tough. Rick and I met him this morning. We still have a couple of days before opening night. Things could change.

But again, very pleased with his season last year, the way he prepared himself for the summer. And I thought he, from Penticton to yesterday, I thought he just got better and better. And especially the last two games against full lineup of Edmonton there, I thought he carried himself really well. So we're definitely excited. It's still in the mix. Talk hasn't made up his mind for the lineup of Wednesday yet.

So we'll see her with the next day of practice and we'll go from there. So Alvin also had a lot to say about some of the upper echelon players on the Vancouver Canucks. And the keyword for him for a few guys was consistency. And this was in his press conference yesterday. And he said, I hope we can still push players to have career years and finding that consistency. And then he name-checked some guys. He said, that's the next level I think Rick's talking about.

Guys like Brock Besser, Nils Hoaglander, Elias Pettersson, those guys have to find the consistent level. I think that's the next level of being a good team and good individuals. I added pieces here to give us more competition. I can already see that in practice this year too, that guys are growing and pushing each other. So far, I've been very pleased with what I've seen. Overall, Patrick Alvin, very happy with what's been going on,

and I think Canucks fans very happy with the work that Patrick Alvin has done. But you'll recall that Alvin told IMAC at training camp that he felt Brock Besser one of the heroes of last year who scored 40 goals and some big goals in the playoffs too yep let his foot off the gas when he scored 30 and when I first read this quote I was kind of like is he joking a little bit? Like, he's like, because the original quote was like, I thought he could have got to 50. Right, and Patrick Oveen is a noted prankster. Right, but maybe he's got that dry sense of humor.

But he was being, the full quote was, you know, I told him he could have scored 50 goals, but I felt he took his foot off the gas when he scored 30, and we want to see him pushing through. So the three guys, Besser, Hoaglander, and Pedersen. We all know about Petey's issues down the stretch and into the playoffs. They were well-documented. Not on this show, of course.

No. As were Hoaglander's struggles in the playoffs. So I just think that was an interesting kind of add-on from yesterday's press conference with Alvin, because remember that last season was awesome. It was great. It was an incredible turnaround season.

I don't think many people saw it coming. I didn't see it coming. They nearly got to the third round, but nearly. And I think, you know, all things considered, I realized Demko was hurt, but I think after that series, most of us could honestly say, yeah, the Oilers were the better team there. I thought it was interesting, too, about...

But sorry, my whole point is that this season, if last season was about raising the bar, this season, bar goes higher. Yeah, yeah. And you have to, like, your best players have to give it every game. Yeah, no, and I get that. And I get why when you're name-checking particular guys, you'd bring up Elias Pettersson. I think we can all, except maybe one or two very defiant people,

can universally agree that he struggled in the second half of the season and needs to be better, needs to find that consistency. He also name check knows Hoaglander. I'm like, yep, I could see that as well. Hoaglander had a real tough time in the playoffs and he was a healthy

scratch to bet. The Besser thing just really, it's, it's interesting that it's him because of what he did last year. And if there was a dip after he scored 30 goals in the regular season, he certainly came out of the dip and performed tremendously well in the playoffs. We've got the audio from Alvin on Besser. We can let it speak for itself.

Here's the general manager at the very end name-checking Besser, but talking about that consistency that Bruff was speaking about. Patrick Alvin, yesterday on the Vancouver Canucks and consistency. Yeah, I think that at some point it will happen. But I think that the focus here is the next day, the next game. And I think that's where, you know, continue to build and find that consistency to be a good player. I think that's the next level here for Brock.

So he was talking about a resolution to the contract issue with Brock Besser and Brock Besser as we all know is a pending UFA. So they got to make a decision on this guy

and it is a very big and important decision on Brock Besser and there's a lot of factors involved. Is he going to keep scoring like he did last season? Are the Canucks going to have the cap space to keep him?

And it's not just can they find the cap space to keep him, it's could that cap space be deployed? Is that the best way to deploy that cap space? Using it on Brock Besser. The Canucks have a lot of wingers now. And there's more on the way with a guy like Jonathan Lekaromaki. using it on Brock Besser. The Canucks have a lot of wingers now. Yeah. And there's more on the way with a guy like Jonathan Lekaromaki.

So you could see in a league where every dollar has to be accounted for, them thinking long and hard about whether or not they want to commit long-term to a guy who's going to demand and deserve a big contract. It's going to demand and deserve a big contract, it's going to be an interesting decision. I think this is something that's worth monitoring as the season goes on. And I think for Brock Besser, getting off to a good start

is going to obviously really help him if he does want to stay with the Vancouver Canucks. Speaking of things that are going to be monitored, the health of Thatcher Demko will continue to be monitored until he's back in the lineup. But there was no real update on Demko as the Canucks submitted their roster for the start of the NHL season. Alvin said that nothing has really changed in terms of his timeline.

This is just purely like my gut, which is really only full of coffee and coffee creamer at this stage of the morning but just based on gut feel does not sound as though anybody is expecting thatcher demko to be back reasonably soon like i'm talking like i would not be surprised if we get through the entire month of october without seeing thatcher demko i'd be surprised if we do see him yeah yeah yeah that's what i mean yeah they're saying yesterday was was November. Yeah. I don't have a key date in mind. No, that's kind of where I was going with this.

I don't have one in mind. I'm not even going to freak out if, oh my God, it's November 1st and we're still not hearing reports. I think they're going to be very- I think we should expect that. I think they're going to be very careful with Thatcher Demko.

Now, if we start the season and Seelovs and Lankanen are a little bit shaky, then maybe we get a little antsy. Get a little antsy, you know? Just buy them a new brace. It's easy for us to say right now, like, we're not worried about it because we're all feeling pretty good, I think, about Seelovs and the addition of Lankanen.

And, I mean, it just goes to show the difference a year makes, right? I mean, can you imagine a year ago saying, like, I trust in the Canucks defensively. They'll be fine, and they'll be able to manage, you know, even if these guys aren't quite to the level of Thatcher Demko. They're still good goalies, and the Canucks know how to play defense. It is crazy the difference a year makes, but the difference has been made. And I think the big picture right now with Dr. Demko is making sure that he's ready for the meat of the regular season, down the stretch, and into the playoffs.

And he's able to manage the injury. This is another thing. He needs to understand the injury and understand his body now and that might take a little bit of time. Even when he's back, I don't think they're going to play the wheels off of him because that would be really

foolish. I mentioned that the Canucks are going to practice today ahead of Wednesday's season opener against the Calgary Flames. We will be keeping an eye out for Garland. Suter, less so. He was no longer wearing the non-contact jersey at Sunday's practice, so pretty sure that Suter will be in the lineup.

Vancouver, if you haven't checked the schedule, plays its first two games of the season at home before heading out on the road for four games, including a trip through Florida. I think they start in Tampa Bay and then they play the Florida Panthers. Tough times in Florida right now. Yeah, with the hurricane? Yeah.

Yeah. So we don't even know if the game's going to be played today, right? They said that. So Miami is not really near the eye of the storm. It's supposed to hit more of Central Florida. So they said that they're going to push through with the game tonight against the Bruins, but they've muted all the pregame celebrations. Yeah, they don't want to have a big celebration

while other people are in their state. They also don't want to use any resources that are going to be needed to deal with it. So they don't want to have a police cavalcade or extra security or anything like that of course yeah so they're going to push through with it but uh the understanding is that everything in florida right now is sort of like a wait and see approach and everyone's on pins and needles to see what happens so the canucks host calgary on wednesday and phil Philadelphia on Friday, and then they get a few days off to go off on their trip. The Canucks should be favored to win each of these games,

first against Calgary and then Philly. I think Philly would be interesting with Mitchkoff coming. But there's still... Jet Luchenko, who I had to learn about. Right. He's super young, isn't he? 18 years old. 18 years old.

I know nothing about him. He's got a cool name. He's good in the OHL. Yeah, and his name is Jet. But let's not overlook the Flames. No, let's not look past them. But these are two teams that not many people are predicting are going to make the playoffs.

So let's hope the Canucks don't get too cocky reading all the preseason predictions about them that they're practically a lock to make the playoffs. Have you read any predictions that have them missing the playoffs? Not a one. Like I've read some where people say they might regress a little bit, but not regress to the point where they fall out of the playoffs. I haven't seen a lot of them that has them dropping out of top three

in the division. Like I've seen a couple that have them as a wildcard team, but it's more the anomaly. And I haven't read a single preseason prediction that has them on the outside looking in. That is even with everyone cognizant of the fact that Thatcher Demko, a Vezna finalist, might not play. Like the question I had for Demko actually was,

and it's don't feel like you'll have to rush and throw a number on this, because I know I'm throwing everyone in the room on the spot. If you're listening, feel free. You can think about it. How many games do you think Thatcher Demko plays to the Vancouver Canucks before the calendar turns from 2024 to 2025?

That's the first three months of the season. You're basically writing off the first month entirely. No one's expecting him to play in October. We think maybe he'll be back at some point in November, but no one's prepared to put a date on it. So at that point, you're saying, well, it's December. And then at that stage of the game, you're saying he's not going to be dropped back in as a full-time starter.

They're going to work them in slowly. So I'd be very, I don't know what the number is. That's the very. I don't think that I don't think we should have a number in our head. No, but that's kind of. It just has to be a, you have to deal with it on a day by day basis. That's kind of my whole point is we don't have a number on anything with Demko in terms of a potential return date, in terms of how many weeks he's going to be out,

in terms of how many games he's going to play. It is a true essential wild card in that you can't predict any of it, but it doesn't seem to have affected preseason predictions all that much. So, Vansity Zvid in Toronto says, in all honesty, do you see Demko back before the new year? And I would say yes. And I would worry if he wasn't. I would worry big time if he wasn't. Right.

He's not back by the new year. Like, it's kind of like you have to maintain your composure. But then if he's out for a certain amount of time, then you have to consider reality. Although that freak out might be largely dictated by how Silov's and Lankanen do in his... Yeah, but Mike, if he misses the first three months of the season...

What happens if their plan lights out? Well, I'm still going to be worried about Factor Demko if he hasn't played for three months. We can't have anyone freak out out there, okay? We've got to keep our composure. out well i'm still going to be worried about factor demko if he hasn't played for three months none of this has happened this is so silly we're having an argument about something that hasn't happened yet all i'm saying is that i'm gonna stay patient up to a certain point where i go well wait a minute is he gonna be back at all okay well let's talk about the goalies is currently constructed on the roster. You've got Demko not playing. You've got Silovs.

You've got Lankanen. I assume that Silovs is going to play the Calgary game. Then I assume that Lankanen is going to play the Philly game. Yeah, and then they've got a few days off to prepare for the Tampa game. Yeah, and then it's BattleBots. You just let them fight it out for whoever's going to get more. And that's a great scenario to be in because neither of them probably feel

like they're the guy. I think Selah's probably would more than Lankan because he's been here before. Yeah. But it's not like he's got this huge track record of regular season success. As a matter of fact, in terms of regular season wins,

Lankan is the far more established guy. So I think that dynamic just like I use battle bots. You can use whatever, Beyblades. You just let them bang and crash and fight one another, and then whoever emerges the victor. I don't think that's how goalie competitions go. Yeah, you put their helmets on, you get their glove and blocker, and you just let them do it.

Just let them go. Last one standing gets to start. That's how I used to design. That's it. Yeah. Okay. My brain turned out fine. Dang.

Okay, we're up against it. We. That's it. Yeah. Okay. My brain turned out fine. Dang. Okay. We're up against it. We're up against it for time. We didn't get a chance to get into any of the baseball or any of the football from last night, but that's okay. We have the rest of the show to do it. Chiefs are still undefeated. End of story.

Yep. That's true. And big night. Saints were not for real. We should have got someone from Kansas City on this morning, though. Like a Kansas City sports guy. Oh, yeah. It was a good Kansas City day.

Great Kansas City sports day. Yeah. They beat the Yankees. Yep. And the Tigers beat the Guardians. Yeah. Well, let's just play the home run going out. And then as Laddie panics.

No, no. It's the Carpenter dinger. So there's a couple home runs. Laddie was just, he's like, it could have been the Sal Perez home run. It was not. Big home run as the Tigers continue to stun everybody. This is Carpenter. I'm learning all of the Tigers as this series goes along.

I got caught up on Scooble. He's very good, but I don't know a lot of their hitters. I know Carpenter now. He goes yard. Goes from a 0-0 tie in the top of the ninth to a 3-0 win for the Tigers. This takes us out. Going to break.

Coming back, Greg Wyshynski on the other side. You're listening to the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Runner goes. Pitch is swung on. A high fly ball to right field. This one is going to fly. A three-run home run. Kerry Carpenter.

The Tigers up three to nothing. It's Canuck Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the postgame show. Listen 4-6 p.m. weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 6.32 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough of the morning is brought to you by Vancouver Honda.

Vancouver Honda is 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. A special announcement, Rick Tockett is going to join us 830 hour time, so that's the third hour of the show halfway through.

So what we learned might be abbreviated this year because what we learned, Rick Talkett is replacing them. Just for today. Although, you know what we can ask

Rick about or mention to Rick? So we have Mike Keenan on the show yesterday and Mike Keenan spoke glowingly about Rick Talkett, the player. Talkett would be like, God, I hated that guy. I wish you had brought that up.

You've ruined my morning. Oh, Keenan! You are listening to the Halpert & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. We are an hour one of the program. Greg Wyshynski is going to join us in just a minute here. Hour one of the program is brought to you by Northstar Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap you by North Star Metal Recycling. Vancouver's premier metal recycler pays the highest prices on scrap metal. North Star Metal Recycling, they recycle, you get paid.

Visit them at 1170 Powell Street in Vancouver. To the phone lines we go. Greg Wyshynski joins us now on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Gregory. How are you? Hey, happy actual start of the hockey season, everybody. Very exciting times. Triple header tonight that you guys can't watch on ESPN because you're in Canada.

So it's exciting times for all involved. I don't mean to laugh, but I did a bit at the beginning of the show where I was like, it's the start of the NHL season, even though two teams played two games already in Prague and it begins with a matinee in Seattle. But aside from that, I celebrate it with the Global Series. Well, hey, listen,

you could play every game in Prague for all I care with the way the Devils played. They should just relocate the franchise to Prague at this point based on how they played in those first two games. I got no quarrel there with the Global Series. Hey, Wish, I picked the Devils to win the Cup last year. I think I might have been ahead of my time

because they look so much more complete now. I know you've made some Stanley Cup predictions, though. What are they? Well, just on the Devils real quick, it's amazing, isn't it, boys, when you can go 10 minutes in a game and not be down 1-0. It's pretty remarkable what that does for confidence to get a save, to not be playing from behind at all times, to feel like if you get down 1-0, it's not going to just be 2-0 before you know it.

Goaltending really does a lot for confidence, but I agree with you, man. Last year was what i thought this was going to look like you know the the team that went through the playoffs played extremely well defensively was going to level up offensively um it didn't happen but they they looked a lot like they did two years ago in those first two games again extremely early but uh but encouraging signs uh i have d winning the Cup. I did my annual tradition of informing GM Jim Nill

about this yesterday. Gave him the bad news. Yeah, before the standings published today. I mean, I did tell him, you know, I came within a win of getting it right last year with the Oilers. But I said, I'm picking you to win the Stanley Cup, and Jim Nill said to me, I don't know if that's good or bad, but thank you, I appreciate it. to win the Stanley Cup. And Jim Neal said to me, I don't know if that's good or bad, but thank you.

I appreciate it. Which is exactly what you'd expect a sweet, kindly man like Jim Neal to say. I just think that, and I've said this before to you guys, that they're the hockey parfait. You know, they've got guys that are in their prime. They've got guys that are, you know, on the come up. And then they've got a wave of young players like Wyatt Johnson and Logan Stankoven and others that are going to give them you know tons of energy at the right time I just think they're really well put together

um they've played together now for a long time and they've obviously bubbled onto the surface with uh losing in consecutive conference finals so I think they break through this time uh and and and win the cup what's your biggest risk factor with them? Like, I'm still a little bit worried about this. Well, I talked to Neil about that yesterday, actually. My biggest risk factor with them is the blue line. I feel like last year's version was probably the quintessential version in the sense that, well, not quintessential in the sense that they still had Ryan Suter on the roster, but they also had Chris Tanev.

And I think that in order for them to really actualize as the team I think they can be, they do need that win-at-all-costs veteran physical defenseman. The good news is that if you look ahead towards the trade deadline, that's pretty much all that's available. I mean, it seems like there's just just a ton of defensive D-men. You're Alec Martinez type, some players like that who are going to be available at the deadline just based on who currently has them. Brian Dumoulin, players like that. So I think if they need somebody, they're going to be able to find them.

But they do think that they need that element on their blue line because it's a little young and it's not as physical as you'd like it to be. Wish, I don't know how extensive your preseason predictions were, but is there a team that you can think of, let's call it your surprise team, either in a good way or a bad way? So maybe it's a team that not many people are picking to make the playoffs that you think will, or maybe it's a team that everyone's picking to make the playoffs that you think will drop out. Is there a team right now that you're kind of swimming against the consensus with? First of all, okay, it's 8,700 words. All right. So like block out your morning,

go to ESPN, read that damn thing. I don't, I, the reason I'm proud of my standings predictions is I don't skimp on anybody. Like everyone's getting at least three or four paragraphs it's not like a tossed off comment because I don't care about the St. Louis Blues everyone gets a little taste in the standings preview including the Carolina Hurricanes the boldest prediction I can

make in these in these predictions this year is that the Hurricanes will miss the playoff and I know okay and I and I and I know that they they have played to a hundred year is that the Hurricanes will miss the playoff. I love it. Wow, love it. Okay. And I know that they have played to 100-point pace, Rob Brendamore. They were like four points away from having won the division four straight seasons. They are a very good hockey team, and there is every chance that this prediction will not come to fruition.

However, at some point, attrition visits every roster. And I just truly believe that when you take off Brett Pesci, when Brady Shea leaves, when Tabor Teravainen leaves, and you replace them with, you know, Sean Walker and Shane Gossespierre, and I like the William Carrier addition to the stall line, but, you know, that doesn't necessarily replace Teravainen in the lineup. I just think attrition visits rosters, and I think the division's going to be better than it was last year. And I'm not all that convinced about the goaltending. I don't know. It just seems like if they're going to miss, it's going to be this year.

But the good news is that they've got a good, solid wave of young players coming through the system and a really smart front office that can figure things out. But they took a pretty significant hit, not only in terms of talent, but in terms of institutional knowledge and guys that have been there for a while to make this thing as successful as it's been. I use the exact same logic, reasoning, and philosophy to say that Vegas is going to miss the playoffs as well in the West. They're the Carolina Hurricanes of the West.

Well, I wrote about this in the piece this morning. I was talking to a GM the other day, and he's like, we're talking about Vegas. He's like, where are their wingers? I'm like, that's a very good point. It's Ivan Barbashev and then a bunch of guys you may or may not have heard of on the wings. But the thing that they'd say to you, the Vegas people, because I've talked to them too, is, well, all we're going to do is just move all these centers that we have to the wings. But the thing that they'd say to you, the Vegas people,

because I've talked to them too, is, well, all we're going to do is just move all these centers that we have to the wing. And that's a fair point. They're not nearly as good up front as they've been. But the thing that I think Vegas is,

and the thing that I think makes them a playoff team, is they can roll out Petrangelo and Theodore and then Hannafin and Haig for, what, like 54 minutes in a game? They've got a pretty – and then the minutes they don't play, it's McNabb and Whitecloud. They've got the stoutest six defensemen, I think, maybe in the West.

And then if they can play well in front of that goal, I think they can scare up enough goals with guys like Hurdle and Eichel and Barbashev and others. I think they're a playoff team. Plus, that division, as you guys know, is not exactly the toughest hill to climb. For the Vancouver Canucks, you predicted Elias Pettersson bounces back big. What was your thinking there? Well, my thinking is that hopefully they play him with the brusque. And I'm not the biggest Jake the Brusque fan,

mainly because of just how hot and cold he runs. But he's a real good complementary player, and he's played with talent before in Boston. And I tend to believe that when I say bounce back big, I mean getting Petey back to flirt with that 100-point mark. And I think that he's got not only the ability himself to do so, but I think hopefully he'll be set up to do so as well. What about the Canucks as a whole? What are your expectations for them?

I got him second behind the Oilers division. I mean, the Oilers are just a buzzsaw. I'm not too worried about whether they're going to win the division or not in the regular season because I think they're probably going to do it. They're barring injury. But, again, like, you look at the incredible year-over-year improvement on defense, that's not going anywhere for Vancouver. You know, they've got a – I think we can all assume that there's going to be

levels of regression in some of the offensive seasons we saw last year, but what does that really look like? mean what are we going to you know start crying because JT Miller has 95 points you know like I think they're still going to get really good performances than anybody in fact I mean the one guy that you can maybe be most worried about for regression is Besser and frankly like I think the Canucks are more concerned about regressing from playing 81 games than they are regressing from scoring 40 goals, right? Yeah. I think they're fine.

I think they're real good. I think they play within that system really well. And they've got enough top-end talent to kind of paper over any depth concerns. And then you just hope that when Demko comes back, he can beat Demko. And if that's the case, then the ceiling's a little bit higher maybe than we even think it is. Yeah, it's funny. I mean, you mentioned Demko there. Mike and I were laughing earlier in the show.

It was like, it's incredible the difference a year makes that we're like, yeah, you know, with the Canucks defensive structure, they'll be fine with Kevin Lankanen and Archer Seelovs in goal. I mean, if we had said that a year ago, we'd be like, what kind of drugs are you guys on? I mean, it just goes to show the difference that not only Rick Tockett, but I think the management group bringing in the right supporting pieces in terms of defensive play and penalty killing, but also the players as a whole buying into everything,

how much they've changed the narrative in Vancouver. They really have. And, I mean, you know, when you look back at, you know, the Jack Adams vote for last year, I mean, sometimes these cases are a little bit easier to make than others. And taking a team from, what was it, like 23rd overall in goals against to, like, sixth last year is, like, the easiest slam dunk case you can make for, for, for a coach of the year.

We're speaking to Greg Wyshynski from ESPN here on the Halford and Brush show on Sportsnet 650. Vancouver's sad club brethren, the Buffalo Sabres. You have them as a playoff team. How much buyers, how much buyers remorse did you have after Prague? I'm going to, I'm going to go, I'm going to go in the direction of the Devils are that good versus the Sabres are that bad.

The key to the season, like part of the key of the season is that Lindy Ruff has to get this team to play a little defense, but he also has to kind of like put the pedal down and have them play, you know, much more aggressively offensively. I think for as much as they struggled sometimes to keep the puck out of the net, they certainly weren't totally embarrassing last year. They weren't a disaster defensively. And obviously got some pretty good goaltending from UPL,

and hopefully they get it from Levi this year. He wasn't too bad last year. But the real key is that you've got all this offensive weaponry on the team, and they didn't do anything with it last year. I think that maybe they erred too far on the side of trying to teach defense and not let these guys fly. And, you know, whether it's T.H. Thompson or J.J. or Jack Quinn or any of these guys, like they've got guys that certainly can put the puck in the net

and trade offensively. And when you think about those Devils teams that Lindy coached that really played that fast and aggressive style, you could see that possibility on this roster, including the scoring they can generate from the back end with power and Darlene. So, I don't know. Again, everybody goes into the season in the same way,

which is which of Ottawa, Detroit, or Buffalo can break out. And I really thought it could be Buffalo's year, and we'll see if they can maybe put it together at some point because I certainly didn't see it in the first two games. You mentioned Detroit. I want to talk about them for a minute because, everyone, I implore you to go read this article because Greg can sum up things with the written word in a way that a lot of us can't.

I'm just going to read this because this is perfect. At this point, it's not so much that I don't have faith in the Iser plan in Detroit, it's that I couldn't describe it to you.

The Red Wings have missed the playoffs in every year of Steve Iserman's tenure as general manager since being hired in 2019. Their roster skews older, and not just because Patrick Kane is back,

the prospect pool has a collection of solid potential NHL contributors and a few standouts, but nothing resembling a franchise player despite their time spent in the draft lottery. I think you just hit bullseye with Detroit in that I think we're

all waiting for the genius of Steve Eiserman to play out, and now it's like, wait a minute. Is there any? First of all, who needs AI when you have Mike Alford? I mean, we could just hire you to read all my articles. I could do that. It's beautiful. It's great.

You know, and I think I've seen more than a few people say that it could be Detroit's year to break out. And look, they certainly do have a thing that you can rest your laurels on, which is they've got an incredible top line with, you know, Dylan Larkin driving the bus. And, you know, they do have some guys that if it breaks the right way, or if they level up like Sider and Raymond in particular with his new contracts, they could be better than expected. And Evanston on the back end, the big, you know, hululking kid defenseman like if he's ready and he and he's you know junior victor had been then yeah they could definitely make the playoffs but

i just look at that roster and it's very mid i don't quite know what they're building to i mean if the if the ultimate end result of the eiser plan is to create a a just under the bubble team congratulations the plan for success but i don't think that necessarily was the plan. And again, I mentioned this in the article, but this is why it's really hard to do what they did in Tampa. I mean, Iserman was able to help build the championship team on the backs of Stamkos, Hedman, Kucherov, and Vasilevsky. There isn't anyone even approaching that level of player

on the Detroit roster or in the Detroit system. And so you end up with this mushy middle team that may or may not jump up to make the playoffs. And if they do, I think it'd be a general surprise this year. Yeah, I mean, a better description, not to one-up you, but like it's Detroit's past that I think about the quality of player that they had when they had Lidstrom, Datsouk, and Zetterberg. They've been chasing that type of quality player for so long, which actually brings me to the Seattle Kraken, a team that Halford and I in this show, and I think the Vancouver market in general,

was hoping would be a lot more interesting than it has been over the first few years of the Kraken's existence. And we have this conversation. It's kind of similar to the Detroit one. It's like, who is their future superstar? Who is even the best player on the Seattle Kraken?

And we're kind of like, I guess it's, is it McCann? Is it Veneers? I don't really know. I know they added some guys like Chenenandler stevenson uh and brandon montour who are good players don't get me wrong but i still look at that team i'm like is there a future superstar there what are your thoughts about the kraken there isn't but i mean

the problem is you can't be an average team and then expect to have a future superstar. You've got to go where Calgary is going. You've got to commit to the bit. They haven't even been around for that long to try to get a high lottery pick to build this team outside of veneers. They don't know what they are. I think they remind me of those Ron Francis teams

in Carolina that didn't make the playoffs that were always kind of sort of good, but never great. And the problem with the team right now is I think you look up front, they've got some really interesting pieces. If a guy like Shane Wright makes a leap, they could contend. I think Stevenson needs to sort of prove that last year was a fluke. And I think Montour was a really smart pickup, not only from a personality standpoint, because I really liked covering the guy for the last two years in Florida, but also because I think he takes a lot of pressure off of Dunn as a puck-moving defenseman.

The problem with the Kraken is I don't – I mean, do we honestly think we're getting another 50 games out of Joey Decord like we did last year? Because I don't. And if you don't, then you're left with hoping that Philip Grubauer is going to be better than, you know, minus nine goals saved above expected like he was last year, which I don't think he's going to be.

I don't like their goaltending. I do hope their coach does well, though. It's good to see Disco Dan behind the bench again for another chance. He certainly, you know, paid his dues in the AHL and working as assistant coaches in places to try to get back at it. But the team itself seems, itself seems very middling, but at the same time,

I think there is a lane where they could end up grabbing the last wild card in the West if maybe some of these teams that we think are going to contend don't, like the LA Kings, for example. Disco Dan, that's a good segue because we're jumping all over the map here. I want to go back to Pittsburgh, his former team Do the Penguins make the playoffs this year or do they miss for a third consecutive year? They miss because I actually only have three teams from the Atlantic I'm sorry, from the Metro getting in

That's sort of a necessity if you think that the top four in the Atlantic and Buffalo are getting in By that virtue, you can't expect another wildcard team to come from the Metro. But I also think that Carolina is going to miss. So that means your Carolinas, your Capitals, your Penguins, your Flyers, and your Blue Jackets are all on the outside looking in. The Penguins are going to be better. I think they're going to be better by virtue of the fact that they're going to get their power play in order.

Their power play was atrocious last year. I think it was maybe 30th in the league. If you take a look at what they did the previous year and what they did last year, it's a difference of like 23 goals. And 23 goals is a lot. 23 goals could shift the balance in some of these games from being a one-goal loss to maybe a one-goal victory or maybe send it to overtime or whatever. So I do think they're going to probably improve by maybe like eight or 10 points in the

standings. But there's just, I mean, you're asking the top guys to do so much heavy lifting at their age. There's nothing else going on in this roster. The goaltending is specious at best. You can't rely on Jari to play well or stay healthy. and then you're stuck with Adelkovich. I mean, I don't see a Capitals resurgence like we saw last year with the Penguins this year. But then again, if it happens, it's going to be Sidney

Crosby grabbing this team by the scruff of the neck and taking them to the playoffs, and then he wins the Hart Trophy. So that's not a bad scenario either, because we'd love to see Sid get hardware. Who are Sid's wingers? Well, one of them is going to be probably Brian Rust, I think.

And then the other one is like I don't know, a roving I mean, they had like Bolivier up there. They're just a ton of guys on that roster. I mean, your point is that Gensel's not there. Yes, that's my point.

And I said this when Gensel signed in Tampa, which is that, you know, I think there was a certain amount of credit that he didn't get playing with Sid in the sense of, you know, he's also a guy that makes Sid better. He's also someone who helps Sid drive the bus. And I think, I do wonder whether or not we're going to see that impact on Crosby without having Gensel there anymore, because I do think that, you know, not only was the chemistry good

and obviously Gensel benefited playing with Sid, but I think he did some pretty good work to help Sid improve his game too. Greg, this was awesome. As always, thank you very much for doing this. Enjoy all the games tonight and this week. We'll do this again next Tuesday. Anytime. Thanks. Thanks. Greg Wischke from ESPN here on the Halford & Brough

Show on Sportsnet 650. Per daily face-off, Jason, Sidney Crosby will open the season with two wingers. That's understandable and expected. Unexpected are who those wingers are. Anthony Beauvillier, remember him? Former Vancouver Canuck Anthony Beauvillier.

And Drew O'Connor. Who's their best winger? What's more, go down to line two. You've got Hall of Famer of Jenny Malkin centering Michael Bunting and Ricard Raquel. Yeah. Puglia Jarvis on that team on the third line. You know what? They're expecting a lot out of Rutger McGroarty.

Pittsburgh has low-key become that team that has, oh, that guy's there now. Yeah. For example, Kevin Hayes. Forgot about that one. Cody Glass is there. Cody Glass. I just didn't know matt greslick i thought he was still in boston uh okay you've got a read to do and ray ferraro is coming up next and we'll talk to ray about his very busy day broadcasting not one but two

nhl games tonight. I need to tell you about the BC Lions, who are in action this Saturday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The roar is back at BC Place for the BC Lions 70th season. Get your tickets now at bclions.com. As Jason mentioned, Ray Ferraro coming up next on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.