Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will Demko Be Healthy By Training Camp?

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

In hour two, Jason Brough and guest host Josh Elliott-Wolfe get the latest Canucks news from Donnie & Dhali's Rick Dhaliwal (1:12), plus they get an Oilers update from Edmonton Oilers reporter Bob Stauffer (23:53). 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.

Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Dolly. Rick Dollywall. It's time for Rick Dollywall. Rick Dollywall. 702. On a Tuesday. Alfred and Brough.

No Halford. It's Josh Elliott Wolfe. Coming to you live from the Kintec Studio. You can text in 650-650-DUMBAR-LUMBER. Text line the Bridge Street Dumbbar Lumber in Ladner has moved to Progress Way in Tilbury's Industrial Park. More room, more product,

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Dilawri Honda dealer today. 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 is what you are waiting for and what we've been waiting for what we have been teasing for an hour is rick dollywall and he is a presentation of bassant motors appreciate appreciate you taking the time rick. We've been teasing something Demco

related for an hour. Can you tell us what's going on with Datra Demco and his rehab? Well, I think his status is very important. You guys know the training camps around the corner, and here we are in mid-August, and no one's kind of talking about Demco, what's going on.

So, what I am hearing on Demco is that he is progressing, but no timetable as to when he's going to be 100% healthy. That means for me, I wouldn't be surprised if the Canucks continue to poke around the goalie market again, mostly just to protect themselves. Now, the Canucks may need insurance just in case, which is a good move on their part.

This is the season time to talk to players' agents about PTOs. Now, Demko's coming off the back-to-back knee injuries, right? So sometimes rehab is fast, sometimes it's slow. Canucks, I've been told, have been worried about Demko's rehab going back to the NHL draft. And I think at that time he had not skated since Game 7 against the Oilers. Remember, not that he skated in that game, but he skated during the day. So that's when they started talks again with Casey to Smith,

is when they were kind of worried about Demko's rehab. He hadn't skated. Well, rehab is probably not as fast as some want. But I'm not hearing any setbacks on Demko. I'm not hearing anything super bad about Demko's rehab. But sometimes you've got to be prepared for the unprepared. So I think they might be out there, you know, poking around the goalie market, maybe a PTO, who knows, one of these things.

But the Canucks have been all over the map when it comes to the goalies this summer. They tried to sign DeSmith again at the NHL draft after not talking to his agent for three months. They signed Yuri Patera. He's only got eight games of NHL experience. Archer, Silov, sometimes you hear their confidence in him. They got confidence in him. Then you hear, is it too early? Is he better off being the starter in Abbey?

The last time the Canucks had a backup making under $1 million at the NHL level, it didn't turn out very good with Spencer Martin. So DeSmith, he definitely brought stability behind Demko. But at the end of the day, when they did start talking to him again, they were nowhere near a contract, not even just miles apart. So I think lots of questions right now with the Canucks goaltending situation. Most of it surrounds Demko and when he's going to get healthy. I mean, it's concerning because there have been a lot of questions

about Demko's health, been a lot of questions about um demko's health and uh you know a lot of people have wondered uh whether you're gonna have to keep dealing with issues with thatcher demko um do you know if he's had surgery do you know if they've considered surgery for this issue because sometimes when the rehab goes a little slow you go out and you get a second opinion and you go maybe we need to do something else it's funny you ask that because uh i asked that you know if he's had any medical procedures this summer and i get absolutely uh radio silence on the other end so um but we have to we have to understand this is your starting goaltender who's coming off to pretty serious injuries. Right. The first one, then the second one in the playoffs after the first game. So he does need time. He's a big goaltender.

This is this is why the importance of a good veteran backup like Casey DeSmith is so important. OK, so let's say Demko is ready for the regular season opener. Let's say, unfortunately, he gets an injury for four to six weeks or whatever down the road. You've got to have a good backup. And, you know, I thought DeSmith did a good job. But, you know, now you're probably going to go with the young kid in that spot. He's not making a ton of money.

And like I said, they tried it before. I'm not super concerned about Demko. I just think that you have to protect yourself, Jason, in case, you know, I just heard this week there again, poking around the goalie market, just making some calls. That's all. But it does, I'm not, the red flag's not out. He should be okay, but maybe, you know, his rehab is not going as fast as some like. You mentioned PTOs earlier. Is it possible they could, for example, say, hey, Marty Jones, do you still want to play?

If so, come to camp on a PTO and maybe we'll sign you if we need you. There's goalies out there, Dad. You're right. When you look at the UFA goalie market, there's some out there still that you could call there's when you look at the ufa goalie market there's some some out there still that you could call and ask for a pto um absolutely um there's goalies out there that you can call for sure and just say hey come to camp you know we don't know like they don't have a date on demco like that's the thing i think he's in town by the way and they can continue to work

with him at least uh you know if he's in town, you can work with him daily and go from there. But I do believe they're poking around and maybe, you know, talking about PTOs. There's a ton of guys out there, Jason, for PTOs. This is the season. I'm starting to hear more and more names out there, defensemen, forwards, that are still looking for contracts. And if you're not going to get a contract that says it's for one year or two years, well, you got to go the PTO route and you got to go prove at training camp that,

hey, I deserve a contract and then go from there. Any names come to mind? I do wonder about a guy like Tyson Berry, not necessarily for the Canucks, just because he's a kind of, he's a kid, and I think he's still unsigned. I was just wondering about him. I talked to his agent, Bane Pettinger, Tyson Berry, two good guys out of Victoria. There are teams looking at Berry in a depth role.

He's trying to shake that offense-only stigma. If the Canucks were ever to get in on Berry, they would have to move a defenseman they have too many one-way deals on the back end yeah not really for the Canucks it doesn't really make sense but but I but here's the thing when you look at the Canucks third pair Jason what do you see I don't see a ton of offense I don't see a ton of puck moving ability I don't see like I see two huge guys that are six uh4", 220. And we know Rick Tockett loves big defensemen. And this is where I think that they are going to hurt.

And losing Zdorov, to me, is a big deal. Even when you played Zdorov in the third pair, you had a really nice third pair defenseman who probably thought he should have been in the top four. But look, when I look at the Canucks third pair yeah I see a ton of size but I don't see a lot of puck movement ability or offense so Tyson Berry he's out there and by the way I hear a lot of people say oh get Nick Cousins to Vancouver well I asked about Nick Cousins yesterday I've been told the Canucks have no interest in him at this point. And also I want to let you know, Jason, that Milan Lucic,

his agent is working the phones right now talking to teams. The Canucks are showing no interest in Lucic right now. So there's a lot of guys out there that are, you know, agents are working the phones right now. And, you know, PTOs are PTOs. Some of them, sometimes they work. You know, most of the time you go to camp and you hope to get a nice look. You hope to get three or four exhibition games.

These agents are looking for exhibition games for PTOs because you don't want to just go at a camp and get one game and say, oh, sorry, you didn't make it. These agents want to go to a team on a PTO that's going to promise you at least three to four exhibition games. Let's close out the Pod Colson situation. What did you hear about that trade when it went down? Well, this trade tells me that Canucks didn't have much confidence

he was going to make the team out of training camp. Canucks added four wingers after July 1st. I've got the fourth line as Heinen, Suter, and Sherwood. The third line's got to be Bluger, Garland, and Joshua. So where's the room? Like, just tell me right now, how was he going to make this hockey club?

I think the Canucks knew he was in tough. He would have had to clear waivers if they sent him to Abbotsburg. You know with high first-round draft picks, they get a million chances. He would have got claimed, and the Canucks would have got nothing. So bottom he didn't show enough and just like Vertanen and you can't wait forever for these guys to hit sometimes you just got to move on he needed a

fresh start he got that it was time for a change Canucks tried to move him at the deadline with no success at all three coaches he had Green, Boudreaux, and Tockett, all of them sent him to Abbey, and all of them made him a healthy scratch. But I will tell you something about the kid. You won't find anyone in the organization that says anything bad about Pat Coulson. Just a great kid, absolutely worked hard,

very coachable in Abbotsford and in Vancouver. You just don't get anybody saying a bad word about him. And another thing, I don't buy anybody saying a bad word about him. And another thing, I don't buy this notion that the Canucks didn't give him a chance. I believe at training camp last year, you remember he was on the first line? He blew it at training camp, for sure. Yeah, and he lasted, what, two days?

Yeah. And after he was drafted, he had ample time to make some very bad Vancouver hockey clubs. He didn't, right? And development isn't all on the team. The onus is on the player. The player's got to get better every year and make the big league team. He didn't do that.

He needed to be a difference maker. At 10th overall, there's 32 teams in the league. You've got to be a difference maker. Never mind Vancouver. I don't think he was a different maker in the American Hockey League. So I think a change of scenery is going to be really, really good for that kid. And I think it was just time where the Canucks knew. I don't think it was going to happen under Rick Tucker.

Tell us a little bit more, if you know, about how they tried to move him at the trade deadline. Was it by himself or was it as part of a package uh and they're just i remember i remember you reporting there's two players that other teams want lecker amaki and willander the other guys the other teams don't really think much of yeah so he was out there his name was out there for sure and don't forget at the time the canucks were going for some big fish at the deadline. Remember Gensel and all these guys

that didn't want to give up LeKarimaki and the Willander. If you don't want to give up your blue-chip prospects, then you have to put other young guys, their names out there. And I fully believe that they were trying to move Pod Colson. But look what the Canucks got for him, a fourth-round pick. I mean, people were like, oh my God, you only got a fourth-round pick.

This guy's got four goals in his last 58 games. What did you expect, a first-round pick back? If the Canucks know he's not working out as a first-round pick, every other team, all 31 other teams know that he's not working out in Vancouver as well. So, like, I'm actually pretty impressed the canucks got a fourth for him because i'm pretty sure he wasn't going to make this team and he was going to be sent to abbotsford and i'm pretty sure he was going to be claimed on waivers by a team like uh san jose look a team like san jose these first round picks they get a million chances you know it uh abrupt and i know it and

he would have got a chance somewhere else and he did get one in edmonton and and but look at that forward group look at you know what you think the connects forward group is impressive look at the oilers forward group how is he going to play in the top nine there well he won't have to be out holloway now that's exactly right it was a pretty shrewd move on the uh orders to to make him the replacement for him. But, I mean, you hope he gets down there in Edmonton and you hope he figures it out. He's a really good kid. He's one of those kids that you cheer for because he's such a good person, right? And there's players that you know that, you know,

but this kid's a good kid on and off the ice, and you certainly wish that he can figure it out in Edmonton. And sometimes you need a new coach and a new GM and a new team and a new fresh start and a new city to figure it out in Edmonton. And sometimes you need a new coach and a new GM and a new team and a new fresh start, a new city to figure it out. And you really hope he does. Hey, Rick, did you beat the traffic leaving the Lions game? I was so disappointed. Look, I'm going to tell you something right now. I went to the Lions game, just like everyone else. I expected Nathan Rourke to throw for 300 yards and four touchdowns. He couldn't complete a pass on Sunday, never mind become the savior.

Now, look, he's going to be fine. Jason, more practices, more film, chemistry with some— I'm not worried about Rourke at all. I'm worried about the overall team, but I'm not worried about Rourke. Yes, I'm very disappointed in this four-game losing streak for the Lions. I want to get back to Rourke. Yes, I'm very disappointed in this four-game losing streak for the Lions. I want to get back to Rourke. It was getting cut in Atlanta where Rourke finally said enough is enough with this NFL. Before Atlanta, he was hell-bent on making it work down south. The Lions and Rourke's agent knew the guidelines of a contract about a month before Rourke called BC after getting cut by the Falcons.

That's why they cut the deal so quickly in 24 hours. About a month before, they had a pretty good idea. Okay, if you come back, what are the numbers going to look like? And that was some pretty shrewd work by Lions GM Neil McEvoy. But up till Atlanta, the Lions did not think they were getting this guy. It was getting cut in Atlanta where Rourke finally said, you know what?

I'm done down here. The Lions better get going because if they want to play in that great cup game in Vancouver at BC Place this year, four straight losses, this is not good. Now, I want to give you a couple of tidbits about the great Cup. First of

all, tickets are selling really well. $47,000, that is huge. This city is stepping up. I remember Great Cups, and you would too, Jason. I remember Great Cups in the city where they couldn't get tickets away. There was one that had Hamilton in it, I think. I remember all the empty seats there. It was kind of embarrassing, actually. I remember a Great Cup in Vancouver was stuck at $, I think. I remember all the empty seats there. It was kind of embarrassing, actually. I remember a Grey Cup in Vancouver was stuck at $42,000. I remember talking to David Braley, and he was at wit's end on how are we going to sell the remaining seats. Well, you don't. And the fact that the Lions have sold 47,000 tickets for the Grey Cup, and there's no guarantee they're going to be in it, that is very impressive.

That's a very good number to be at one final note i want to get this in remember the canucks were criticized for having a home game on great cup day in vancouver i think it's at five o'clock against nashville well i did hear that they're trying to move the game from 5 p.m to 7 p.m to help alleviate the pressure in downtown that day. If the Grey Cup game is at 3 o'clock and the Canucks are playing Nashville at 5, that's a combination for chaos downtown. So I did hear there is some movement

on trying to move that Canucks game from 5 to 7. We'll see if it happens. It's a smart move. Like, first of all, the Canucks should never have had that game at five o'clock. But what I'm hearing through the grapevine, I don't think it was the Canucks. I think that's a television thing more than the Canucks. But I just think that, you know, in the future, if your home city is holding a great cup, I don't think it's smart to have a National Hockey League game that same same day but i think there's people behind the scenes that are trying to fix that

move it to seven o'clock then everyone can do the double you go to the great cup see the lines win the great cup and then uh i don't know deal with your hangover watching the canucks if the if the great cup game is going to have 54 000 18 000 at the canucks i mean three o'clock they've had those they've had but they've had those uh they've had those, uh, they've had those days before. I mean, they've had big concerts at BC place the same night as a Canucks game. So it's not ideal, but yeah, it's not ideal. It's, it's chaos. It's transit.

There's people that work and Jason, I think, uh, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. There's people that work at BC place and'm wrong, I don't know, there's people that work at BC Place and Rogers, Reno, I don't know. It was just, there was a lot of backlash on why the Canucks did that, but I think there's people behind the scenes that are trying to alleviate that and try to fix it. Hey, Rick, hope you're having a great summer. Not too much shouting this morning, I appreciated that.

Hey, and you know what? Get some better ears. I don't yell. I only yell when you get me going, and then I yell. But listen. Which is every show. We're back, Donnie and Dolly. Three weeks. Yesterday, September 9th, we're back.

And you've got to get a better agent. You need more time off in the summer. I've still got some banked, buddy. You were golfing with your agent at Capilano last week. I was texting him this morning, so I know a lot of stuff. I know what's going on. Don't investigate my life. I don't like it.

See you, buddy. Your agent. All right, take care. Rick Dollywell, always entertaining when he comes on the show. I'm down to you. Reaction, fellas, to his news about Thatcher Demko. And I guess the headline would be, report Thatcher Demko's rehab taking longer than expected.

Thatcher Demko, career over. A-Dog always, A-Dog works for the New York Post. My instant reaction was, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. Honestly, it wasn't, I was expecting worse. So it's not, it doesn't sound awful, but I panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. Honestly, I was expecting worse. So it doesn't sound awful. But, I mean, obviously it's not. You'd prefer him to be further along than he is.

If the Canucks are in the goalie market, that's not a great thing. So it's not great. But, I mean, I guess it could be worse. Well, I just wonder if they went through the offseason and said, okay, we're going to rehab this, but maybe we need to talk about surgery. I think that was very interesting when Rick Dollywell asked, has he had an operation? Then he's like, I got nothing.

That's a bad thing. Because usually if there's no surgery, they're like, no, you're crazy. There's no surgery. Sometimes when there is surgery, sometimes they lie. When they say absolutely nothing, that's not good. I'm not sure if I have anything to add to this other than this is just going to

continue monitoring the situation. You think Shelob's is over there like, guys, I'm right here. Remember my playoff run? It was pretty good. But also, you think other people are like, yeah, look at your numbers. Yeah, yeah. He is not right. Well, it was the Oilers.

I mean, I don't know. I understand why they won't put all their eggs in one basket on Shelob's. He is not really, right? Well, with the Oilers, I mean, I don't know. I understand why they won't put all their eggs in one basket on Shelob. He's still such a young goalie. So, I mean, I get why they won't just be like, yeah, Shelob's got this.

Well, I wonder if the ultimate move would be for insurance because you don't really want to sign a goalie if you don't need to. No. Right? Because then you've got

that contract and you kind of, even if you can bury it in the minors, it's still a contract that then you, like, let's say Marty Jones signs and the minors, it's still a contract that then, like let's say Marty Jones signs and then, okay, it's okay. Thatcher Demko's fine, right?

And Marty Jones is all of a sudden number four on the depth chart behind maybe Patera and Seeloff's obviously. Tolopi Lugin's bumped down. Yeah, but then it's just awkward. Ultimately, what you probably want to do is bring a guy in on a PTO and say, well, if you play well or if we need you, we'll sign you.

But then I guess you risk that guy signing with someone else. Yeah. One thing that I kind of have been thinking about, and obviously Demko has not, it's been more than just one injury with Thatcher Demko. And next summer, he's going to be eligible for a contract extension. So how much is riding on this season for Thatcher Demko? Because I assume if he has even a relatively healthy season,

he's going to be like, okay, I got to cash in now before the next season starts. And then you're an injury-prone goalie trying to get paid. That can be tough. So I wonder how much pressure he's going to put on this season to just try to play as much as possible. But also, well, I don't know about as much as possible. I just think really well.

Yes. And one of the things that he might be thinking is, I don't want to rush this thing so I can play in October and November. It's not where you make your money. It's you make your money down the stretch and in the big games. Yeah. I guess it depends on the injury and all that too, but it is becoming – he's obviously an injury-prone goalie now,

and if I'm the Canucks, there's just a lot of questions about whether I think the Canucks should be the team to sign him long-term. I think a lot of you guys are also underrating the guy that they did bring in already, Patera, Yuri Patera. He has NHL experience. He's 25 years old. He's another definite option. I like him probably in this very moment more than Silovs if they were going to go with a guy that's not Demko. So they have some names in there.

It's not like it's a totally barren wasteland in the goaltending for the Canucks. Bob Stauffer is going to join us next to talk about the news out of Edmonton that the Oilers did not match the offer sheets for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg. So what do the Oilers do next? They did bring in Pod Colson. They brought in another young defenseman from San Jose. But could there be something else

that new GM Stan Bowman does this offseason? Or does he wait until the regular season or midway through the regular season to address any

possible needs for the Edmonton Oilers? Bob Stauffer. Always entertaining. We got Rick Dolly while Bob Stauffer back-to-back. We should have had them both on together. What anuffer, always entertaining. We got Rick Dollywell, Bob Stauffer back to back. We should have had them both on together. What an hour.

What an hour. You're listening to the Alfred and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Welcome back to Alfred and Bruff. It is not Mike Alfred. It is Josh Elliott-Wolf with Jason Bruff here. We've got A-Dog. We've got Laddie going to be joined in moments by Bob Stopper,

host of Oilers Now and Oilers Color Commentator. Alfred and Bruff is brought to you by the Dilawri family of Honda dealers. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit. Experience the Dilawri difference today. Visit your nearest Dilawri Honda dealer today. Text in as well, 650-650, the Dunbar Lumber text line. Get your text in. Get your What We Learned in. It's about an hour away from hitting those, so make sure to get them in. Big news of the day, obviously obviously the Oilers not matching the offer

sheets Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway and to talk about that it is Bob Stauffer host of Oilers now and Oilers color commentator I appreciate you taking the time Bob uh what are what is your reaction are you surprised that the Oilers did not end up matching these offer sheets? Well, I'm not surprised, but I am disappointed that the team ended up in this situation. Full clarity, you know, I work for the Oilers Entertainment Group, and I don't know if the Broberg situation was salvageable based upon some of the things that occurred during the course of the last couple of years in his development, which for your Vancouver listeners, they should be very, they're in a good place with what the Canucks are doing in terms of some,

and we've talked about this in the past, you know, in terms of who they have assisting in that developmental process with their players and, you know, how they bring along their guys. And this was, you know, where Ken Holland came in in 2019, Edmonton did have the second best record in the Western Conference over those five years. But now as a result of the others not matching on both Broberg and Holloway today, the team doesn't have one first-round draft pick in the last five years in the organization anymore.

And to me, that's not ideal and can't oversaw the regime. You know, even with Bouchard, who was the first-round pick in 2018, you guys, at one point they were playing Caleb Jones and he Ethan Barrett ahead of them in the NHL, which, when you think about it today, defies logic, since Bouchard's been the third-highest-scoring player in the league the last three years in the playoffs. Broberg, at various times, played behind Vincent Darnay. I'd even argue that Vincent Darnay, but, you know but with Dave Manson and Jay Woodcroft, and I know he's a Canuck now, but he's a third-pairing right-shot

defenseman, and the owners had a prospect named Michael Kesterling as well. And they played day or nay over both Kesterling and Broberg, and I knew those guys from the minors. So, it's interesting that Ken didn't push down harder on Broberg, because I think at the end of the

day, the breakdown in the relationship between Darren Ferris, he asked for a trade December the 5th, that breakdown in that relationship, I think resulted in Holloway being a part of this as well. And I think Holloway was the prospect that could have been salvaged out of us for Edmonton. So once they did the book goals and trade the right, he was on the wall there. So I'm not surprised. I am disappointed, and I fully expect Edmonton to have a better development and draft or draft and development process than they've had the last four or five years.

So where does this leave the Oilers? Pardon me? Where do all these moves leave the Oilers? When you look at their roster now, you've added Pod Colson, but you've lost three players, including Cody Ceci and the two guys from St. Louis. And you've got the defenseman from San Jose. Emerson, Ty Emerson.

Yeah, so if you're looking at the roster right now and going, oh, they might have to address that, what is that that they might have to address? Well, you know, when we hear from Stan Bowman later today, he's going to say, and I know this because I've talked to him about it over the last week, this is really about having cap flexibility during the course of the season, not being tied to things. Evander Kane, ironically enough, I didn't see Evander Kane a couple times

at Edmonton over the last couple of weeks before I came out to the coast here this weekend. But Evander Kane, I'm pretty sure,on over the last couple weeks before I came out to the coast here this weekend. But Evander Kane, I'm pretty sure, is not going to be available at the start of the year. And I think everybody just thought, well, what the Oilers should do is match on the two players and then punt Kane forward. And we're not sure when Kane's going to be able to put Kane on LTIR. Well, now as a result of this, where this puts Edmonton is they can have Kane on the active roster and he can go on IR and the owners would have about a million dollars in cap space

with a 22-man roster, including Kane, and actually accrue on approximately $946,000 to start the year. So that would put somewhere around $4.2 million at at the deadline they are short a second pairing right shot defense that is where broberg was going to play but coles and replaces holloway that's that's a given emerson uh ty emerson played for chris knoblock in hartford but calls and played for jeremy colleton it doesn't you guys know that and colleton's prior gig was with Stan Bowman in Chicago, so the owners would have a little institutional knowledge on those two players.

Emerson's probably going to be given the first opportunity to play, I assume, second pairing right shot deep, and then Stetcher and Josh Brown will sort of fight it out, and it might be dependent upon which teams they play for the third pairing right deep but i don't think anybody in oil country thinks for a second that's ideal situation and that's why i'd say to you the cap space that they now have that's accruing during the year my expectation is come the deadline and they will be trading for a wood pairing right shot defenseman so yeah do you

think it's a this is like a hey wait for the deadline see kind of where the team is at what what holes specifically need to be filled or like it does feel like it's a pretty obvious hole that needs to be filled on defense is this something that could be even addressed before the season or early in the season yeah a couple things happen when the coaching change is made, right? Like, Knobloch, his coach zoned he his whole life. The Oilers wanted Woodcroft to pivot to that. And then he was challenged with it. But the Oilers' defensive metrics under Knobloch

were some of the best in the league. I mean, what's crazy about this, you guys, is Philip Roberg played 12 games in the regular season and just got a two-year deal from St. Louis at 4.58. And I'm here to tell you right now, I believe there were a couple more teams that were prepared to offer Sheet on top of St. Louis. Okay?

They had Evan Bouchard last year. They didn't get him signed until August the 24th. Think about that. Two-year deal deal 3.9 million and Bouchard was coming off back-to-back 40-point seasons and led the playoffs and scoring for defensemen last year and again this year so it's crazy when you when you think you know that Bouchard got 3.9 times two to stay in Edmonton um But at the end of the day, it's pretty clear that I think they think

under a better defensive team, they're fifth in the league in goals against once obviously they had the best record in the NHL under Chris. And seventh in the league in PK. And in the playoffs, I suppose it was part

of the reason why. Allison, Florida Florida as they were earlier. I think that this is their best additions of Jeff Skinner and Arvidsson. They're going to be lacking second pairing

right team, but they think they'd play a better structure and process. Skinner will be off to a better start, a perfect world, and they're more comfortable. Obviously, their power play is always going to be good. And then their penalty kill. And I'll just throw this to your guys' way. Had Edmonton lost the series to Vancouver in round two,

this doesn't happen. I mean, Philip Broberg should sign about a third of his paycheck over to Paul Coffey because he's the one that made the change. When did he replace De'Aaron A? Game four of the Dallas series. Okay, right. And by the way, De'Aaron A was discussing a longer-term deal a little north of the price point that he got with the Canucks.

Okay, so like he ended up, and he's absolutely all day a third-pairing right shot defenseman. No question about it in the league. But for two years in the playoffs, at times, he had some tough moments for Vinny. I still think he's got the ability to improve. It's a great story. But do you play him ahead of an eighth overall pick is the question. So, when people do their decompress on what occurred here with Edmonton, one of the questions that's going to be asked is, you know,

how did a development process that's stagnated, which is where the frustration occurred with the agent with Darren Ferris, stagnated Broberg, how did that play a part of where he was at today where they had to make a decision on two players? And I'm telling you, I absolutely believe 100% that played a factor. Like, I don't think Broberg's super upset with everything, but I do think Ferris was. And in Holloway's case, his agent's guy named Blake Robson

is a former, he's a former NHL client. Blake's a former WHL player that played out at St. FX, University of Hockey. They at times, too, were wondering, what's going on? He makes a mistake and he comes out of the lineup, or he makes a mistake two years ago against the Canucks, the first regular season game, you guys might remember this. Holloway had been unbelievable at the rookie tournament when we were in Penticton.

He was the best player there by a mile. He was the Oilers' best player in preseason. He turns the puck over to Pettersson, first shift of the game that he's on. Canucks go in and score and then he's stapled to the bench. Like, you gotta let a guy play his way through mistakes and that's where Coffey

comes in on defense. Paul Coffey told his defensemen when he took a job, I made more mistakes than you guys will collectively in your career, but I want you making plays, and when you make plays,

sometimes you're going to turn pucks over. You've got to live with it. So he was the right guy, the right tonic for Broberg, and part of why Broberg gained some confidence during the course of the playoffs.

What's going to be expected of Pod Kolzin in Edmonton? Maybe I should ask you guys that. What should Oilers fans expect of Pod Kolzin? You tell me. A guy that needs to play with a bit more jam, a little more swagger, a little more confidence. He's that guy where you look at his tools, he's a big guy. He's got a decent shot.

And, you know, on paper, you like a lot of Pod Colson. There's a reason why he was 10th overall. Everyone seems to like him. He's got a great attitude. He works hard. I just don't know if he's like a killer. You know what I mean? Yeah. What surprised me were the hit totals with him.

Yeah, but I don't remember one that was big. There you go. Like I remember one year Todd Harvey led the NHL in hits. You know, I'm going to obviously the official scores in New York this year are giving him away for free. So, you know, like, it's kind of, he's basically, I'm going to tell you the exact scenario that's going to exist here. So Kane, like, Kane's almost certainly needing surgery.

He's going to be out a while. Okay. If he can't come back, then they'll pivot to LTIR at some point closer to the deadline and at a forward to replace him. If he can, it'll be like getting a free guy back and he'll obviously be healthier than he was last year. Cause he wasn't healthy all season last year,

but Colson's going to get the first opportunity. But they have Matt Savoy. Savoy, they're going to try to develop Savoy the way Dallas developed Stankoven. And ironically, they both have Jerry Johansson. I think he's got a clinic in your town going on right now. But they're both with Jerry Johansson. And what Dallas did is Stan Colvin went down

and started the year in the minors with Maverick Bork, who is the center for Xavier Borgo, who the Oilers, frankly, blew a first-round pick on. And anyhow, Stan Colvin and Bork stayed down there until they were ready to be called up. They weren't yarded up and down, and there wasn't any. And I think that Putt Colson gets the first opportunity, and if he can't gain some function, then we're looking at Savoy.

But at least they have a cost. Like, I think in a perfect world, the owners were thinking they could have got Holloway done it close to the same range as Putt Colson or Hoaglander, which is 1 to 1.1. And I think maybe they misread the market. And of course, the other thing is the cap went for me $83.5 to $88 million. So it went up

and jumped up a little bit. So that's for Putt Coles, and I think he gets an opportunity out of the gate, and we'll see what he makes of it. I didn't see him a lot the last couple years, right? Because I wasn't watching Abbotsford. We haven't seen much of him either, unless you're in Abbotsford.

Right. And Emerson. Now, Emerson's a little bit more unique. I don't know how much of a downgrade he's actually going to be until he's CC. And think back to game seven. The Oilers against the Canucks. And it was CC who scored the first goal. He was a very popular teammate, CC.

And he was a plus. He's been a plus player the last five years in the NHL, last three years at Edmonton, he was a plus player. He was in Pittsburgh, he was a plus player in Toronto, he was a plus player. Kind of feel bad for him, but he was strictly the lever that the Oilers needed to get below the cap if they kept Kane on their active roster at the start of the year. Bob, you're in Vancouver right now?

Yes, my family moved out here for school during the playoffs. Oh, I see. Actually, during round one. So we now have two places and I'm broke. But besides that, we're good. Well, you're going to fit right in if you're broke because that's what Vancouver does to people.

So enjoy your time in the city and we'll talk to you again as the season comes a little bit closer. You guys are stocking up. Get somebody better out of Edmonton. Feel free to give me a call. See you. Thanks, Bob. Bob Stauffer out of Edmonton.

So always interesting when Bob comes on. And an hour with Rick Dollywall and Bob Stauffer out of Edmonton. So always interesting when Bob comes on. And an hour with Rick Dollywall and Bob Stauffer should be illegal, frankly. We got through it, though. We did get through it. I want to go back to the news that Rick Dollywall provided for us. And someone texted in and called it like a nothing burger.

And I'm like, did you listen? Like, did you really listen? I mean, what Dolly Wall is essentially saying is we don't know if Thatcher Demko is going to be ready for training camp. That is, that's not a nothing burger. Right. And he may have had a procedure. Right.

And he may have had a procedure, but the Canucks aren't saying anything. We don't know where things are procedure. Right. And he may have had a procedure, but the Canucks aren't seeing anything. We don't know where things are at. Yeah. It's not like his career is threatened or anything like that. I don't know if you expected Rick Dollywall to come on and say that. Thatcher Demko doesn't really like hockey anymore. He's going to med school. It wasn't going to be like that.

Yeah, he got in. Yeah. He had a very high MCAT. Very impressive. Ian Clark helped him study. Wow. Like it wasn't going to be like that, but all of a sudden you're looking at a situation

with a guy that people have already started to wonder like, is this guy durable enough to trust as your big name goalie? And you bring up a good point. The Canucks after this season have in theory a decision to make about Thatcher Demko because next off season they could give him an extension. Now they're going to have to make a decision

either way. You either give him an extension or you don't. Right? So this is a big season for Thatcher Demko and we just don't know what's going on right now. Now let's go back to the playoffs where we heard things like, oh, if the Canucks can beat the Oilers,

maybe Demko can be ready for the next series. What I want to know is if that was just BS, that they were just saying like, yeah, he might be ready just to, I don't know, throw off a potential opponent like the Dallas Stars Saying like, yeah, he might be ready just to, I don't know, throw off a potential opponent like the Dallas Stars or just throw it out there? Or was he in a position where this is such a big game that I can deal with the pain,

but we might have to deal with some stuff later? I feel like it's probably the latter. Yeah. Where it would have been like, hey, I'm going to play, but then I'm definitely going to need a procedure after the playoffs. Yeah. I'm going to play this knee right into the hospital um that feels more likely to me and whether or not that would have been the right choice can be argued um the the thing that comes up for me when i look at this and i i mentioned the dem contract, but it's also like there's an opportunity,

especially if Demko does maybe not miss the start of the season because it didn't sound like Dollywell was saying that he would miss the start of the season, but maybe he's like easing his way in to start the season a little bit more. There's an opportunity either for Shelovs or Patera to try to establish themselves as someone who can be maybe not a full 1A, 1B situation, but at least someone the coaching staff can trust way more than they trusted Casey to Smith last year

in the last half of the season. Laddie, you're our goalie expert. What's your level of concern right now? If you were Patrick Alvien and Jim Rutherford, what would you be doing just in case Thatcher Demko isn't ready to start the season? It's majorly concerning because that's basically my only concern with Thatcher Demko is his health, whether or not he can stay healthy through the rest of his career. And we know what his physical abilities are once he's in there.

So, yeah, it's concerning in that regard that he has yet another setback or another injury potentially. No, Dolly will say it wasn't a setback. It wasn't a setback. Oh, sorry. He's just taking longer than expected. It's still not a great feeling. And like I said, it's something that's on the back of your minds already,

so I can see why the Canucks are worried. But I wouldn't jump the gun on any move, right? I wouldn't go out and sign somebody, like you said, a PTO is the clear, I think where this is heading, a PTO with a goalie that is just still searching for a team. Maybe the Canucks will use him if Demko lingers into the season where he's not ready right away.

But I don't think they should go out and sign someone to a full-on contract. They have a pretty- Are you comfortable with what they've got behind Demko if they need it for like a month or two to start the season? Let's just be,

you know, throw out a potential situation there. One week to two weeks, yeah, I'm comfortable, but a month or two, then we're talking you need someone

possibly to carry the load. But I like Yuri Patera. I think he's an NHL caliber goaltender, 25 years old, so he's right there, you know, entering his prime years.

And then we've got Shilovs who we saw in the playoffs. He was fine with the team. He didn't carry them, you know, further as he wanted in the playoffs, but I think he's perfectly capable. And he was good. He was good. He was better than his numbers suggest. And considering the situation he was placed under, he did really well.

But his problem is consistency in my eyes. And when you ask a guy like that to go with it for one month, two months, then you start to run into some of those consistency issues where he might not be the 9, 10, say, percentage goalie that you expected. So that's when I would start to think about bringing somebody in. If it's a one to two month delay that we're going to get Thatcher Demko, then yes. If it's just a couple weeks, I'm fine with what they have. Do you think

the Canucks are planning for the worst case scenario being Demko isn't healthy this year very often. He's getting injured or even worse than that, he's injured in the playoffs again. How do you plan for that? Do we have to move on from him? Well, that's a next

summer. But do you think they're thinking about it already though? Because what if it happens again? They're thinking about it. They're thinking about you think they're thinking about it already, though? Because what if it happens again? They're thinking about it. They're thinking about everything. We're thinking about it. They're probably thinking about it. What if the guy just can't?

I mean, obviously, knock on wood, it's not going to happen. But what if the guy just can't stay healthy? What if he's injured again in the playoffs? They go on another run, and we're back in the exact same situation. There's some interesting decisions that they've got to make going forward. Thatcher Demko, do you give him the contract extension? Brock Besser, do you give him a contract extension?

And that's a little more pressing than the Demko situation. You know one situation that doesn't get a lot of talk? Rick Tockett. His contract situation. He's heading into next season in the last year of his contract.

And then apparently there's a team option. But like these things are always so confusing right remember the whole boudreaux situation everyone's like what is the deal anyway like do they need to so i mean if the pucks have another great year and they go they go on another run and hey even go further and make the conference finals this time you'd like to think they'd probably lock talk it up for a pretty lengthy deal depends does rick want to stay that that's the that's the question. Probably.

Like, if they get close to a cup, and if he knows they're in their window. I mean, obviously, he does know they're in their window. But, I mean, if they show that they are still in their window, I would be shocked if Taka was like, nah, I don't think so. I mean, he probably wants to stay, right? What if some other team was like,

hey, I know it's your free agent. Want to come over? Eh. Barry Trotz won the cup in Washington. Yeah. I know it's your free agent. Want to come over? Eh. Barry Trotz won the cup in Washington. Yeah. I guess it just depends. See you later. It really just depends on how the team does this year.

Trotz was also in Nashville for a crazy amount of years before then. Yeah. Right? And it would have to be, I think, the Canucks playing very poorly this year, which then would reflect on Rick Talkett as well. And I just can't see him leaving personally, especially if they are still competitive. Because when you look at it,

there aren't a lot of markets you can go to where you can be a coach and be as respected, I guess, as Vancouver. Or at least have the opportunity to do something as special as you can in Vancouver. No, I agree. I'm just throwing it out there as one of the contract situations and one of the decisions that the Canucks are going to have to make. Brock Besser, Rutherford had said, I think in an interview with IMAC,

that they'll head into this season. They're comfortable heading into it with it being a pending UFA. Head into the season, and if he's producing like he did last season, then they might make a decision, which to me is like, they'll try and get him signed. But then if you're Brock Besser, you're like, well, it depends what the number is, right? So are you starting to feel like Canucks season is coming up?

Are you panicking about random things? Yeah, I'm starting to get stressed out, so it must be hockey time. Yeah, yeah. Well, let's not call it panic. Let's just call it curiosity. Yeah. Like last season went so unexpected that, and this is the great thing

about any new season, right? I mean, I think we waste a lot of time on predictions and that sort of thing. It's okay to say, what are your general expectations and all that sort of thing. But predictions are, unless you're just like, I think they're going to win the cup and they either don't or, you know, or they do.

It's 50-50. Like otherwise you cannot predict how a season plays out. There are so many factors that go into a season. And frankly, we spend so much time on like, what do you think is going to happen? As opposed to what we should be doing is like, what is happening right now? And that's the interesting thing about the Thatcher Demko situation

because we don't really know what's going on. It is Halford and Brough. On the other side, we're going to be joined by Ryan Phillips, BC Lions defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. We'll talk about everything going on with the Lions, recent skid, how they get out of that, and more. JanPro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial. If your workplace

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