Halford & Brough in the Morning - Will The Canucks Be Forced To Trade Willander?

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

In hour two, Mike & Jason discuss how the Canucks will get better up front next season via trade, and what management might be forced to do (3:00), they chat with Flordia Hockey Now's George Richards (25:43) on the Panthers' Stanley Cup win, and if they might three-peat next season, plus they look ahead to game four of the Calder Cup finals this evening, as the Abbotsford Canucks look to take a 3-1 series lead (46:00). This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

7 o'clock on a Thursday. Happy Thursday everybody. Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. Metal mix Thursdays, right? Just experimenting and seeing how you guys react. This isn't exactly metal, but I'll allow it. Right. I think it was supposed to be... It sounds more like white stripes. Right. I never know where we land on these things. Feels like we just change it up as we go along.

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So we asked for your predictions on what's going to happen over the next couple of weeks for the Vancouver Canucks. Massive couple of weeks as we head into the draft, which is next weekend. Things happen. Things are happening. And then July 1st, which is the Tuesday after the draft.

So the Canucks need to get cracking. Um, and they need a top six center, top six winger, maybe three forwards I think Jim Rutherford said. And a lot of you are not optimistic that they're going to be able to get this done. Jay in Calgary texts in, it feels like every bad team felt as if the cap increasing substantially means they can improve. The fact is it means good teams can keep their free agents and do not need to trade for cap reasons nearly as much.

This will make for a lot of dissatisfied fans this off season. Um, yeah, I, I, I. I mean, I agree with that. It's like the flat cap, although it makes it tough sometimes to add players because you have no cap space, it does free up the availability of players from other teams. That's how they got JT Miller. Yeah. Yeah. You're not able to squeeze teams as much as you used to be. I mean, I even.

Panthers will be like, thank you, Sam Bennett. Welcome back. Yeah. There you go. So a couple other texts, and I'm going to read these two together, um, because they're both kind of the same. Scott texts in, uh, maybe we just have to accept the fact that the Canucks are going to be bad

next year and acquire some top draft capital and maybe take a run at Gavin McKenna. Jason texts in, I think that the Canucks will stand pat this off season, maybe pick up players we don't need for the third and fourth lines. I don't think they're going to, I, I just like Scott, I appreciate what you're saying, but they're not going to do that.

They have come out and said, we are going to make moves. And Jim Rutherford's, I remember he put it, it's going to hurt to add the type of players we need to add in that the price is going to be high. But then he said, but it would hurt more not to add those players. Sure. They are desperately trying to keep Quinn Hughes.

And if they don't improve this team and Quinn Hughes leaves, there will be new management in Vancouver. Yeah. I would also add like outside of maybe Hughes and one other piece. I don't even know what would hurt all that much. Is it roster that is primed for change and prime for a makeover anyway? Large scale or small scale, there's some renovations that need to be done. And the question goes back like we asked our listeners to text in and keep texting in,

by the way, we've got a lot of good responses. Dumbart number text line is 650 650. It's the how. And it's difficult to know exactly because we're only getting a very introductory sense of what the market is gonna look like. The Stanley Cup got handed out a day ago. So there's still a lot to be decided,

but there's already moves coming down. ago. So there's still a lot to be decided, but there's already moves coming down. And there is a sense that teams that have guys that they like are maybe willing to spend a little bit more just to keep them around. Maybe they don't need necessarily need to let them walk because they've got the advanced cap space. And there's a very good understanding across the league that I would say, I don't know, 30, 31 of the 32 teams really want to try and do something this year, this summer. The only one that seems very much committed to selling and starting from the

ground up and trying to reimagine what they are as a franchise is Pittsburgh. Other than that, it looks like there's a bunch of teams that are trying to upgrade in a positive way. I think the Islanders might be. that are trying to upgrade in a positive way. I think the Islanders might be. When the Islanders announced that they were gonna keep Barzell and Horvat. Yeah, that's true.

To me, that was a signal of, we think that with a few tweaks around the edges, we can go back to being that playoff contender we've always desired to be. So this prediction from Nate in Richmond is probably closest to what I'd come up with. My prediction, trade for one expensive target, giving up Will Ender and a first. Trade Bluger for cap relief. Trade for a cheaper, make a bet on them forward like Zegras and sign a free agent. I don't know if I'd go exactly with that, but I think there will be a Marco Rossi type

edition and it will cost a lot. Yeah. They might have to acquiesce and say, fine, we'll give up a Willander. We don't want to trade this guy, but this is what Jim Rutherford has prepared the fanbase for. A trade where we're sitting there going, I don't want to give up that guy. What are you crazy? And be like, kinda. And then I think there will be a, quote unquote, make a bet on them, as Nate Richmond puts it, on a guy that you're like, oh really, okay, well we'll see.

And Zegras could be that guy. Work for the Panthers. And then, yeah. Bunch of their make a bet trades ended up being some of their best players. They didn't give up much for them though. No. That's the big difference.

Yeah. Is this not a buy. Because they're in a position of strength really. It's not a buy low candidate anymore. Like if you go out and get, for example, I'm so tired of talking about Marco Rossi, but if you go out and get a guy like Rossi, you're competing against a bunch of other teams that have the exact same goals and ideals and aspirations.

We're going to get them out of this situation and bring them into ours. And he's going to thrive. It's not a by low candidate anymore. It's on a guy that you're, you know, investing in at his lowest. Like he's, his value theoretically is down because he turned into a fourth liner in the playoffs, but there's still teams that are going to be bidding them up. And when the Panthers acquired Sam Bennett, they weren't like, okay, you're in the top six. Like they didn't, they were the, they just took a flyer on him. It didn't cost them barely anything for what he's turned into. You know, they also took a flyer on him. It didn't cost them barely anything for what he's turned into. They also took a flyer on you, Levy.

You gotta take a lot of bets. Reinhardt, was he at low as well? He was a first round pick in Devon Levi's, so they paid for him. They paid for him, yeah. But at the end of the day, it turned out to be a win for them. They won a lot of trades. I also think the Canucks will probably sign a free agent,

but it's not gonna be one of the top dogs. No, they were busy last July one. They signed a lot of trades. I also think the Canucks will probably sign a free agent, but it's not gonna be one of the top dogs. No, they were busy last July one, they signed a bunch of guys. Some worked, some didn't, if you'll remember, is actually, I think they batted 33%, because it was Sherwood, Heinen, and Day-Harnay, the day one guys, oh, and Nebraska, of course, too, right? So 50% say they hit on, I think Nebraska's a hit,

I think Sherwood was a hit, the other two were obvious misses. The interesting thing for me and I'll preface my little soliloquy here by saying I'm always a big advocate of past behaviors dictating future behavior. I wonder if I talked

a little bit about this yesterday. If the pieces on the chessboard thing will play itself out again. Look this management group since they've been here They've had four really big trades. I would say Horvat to the Islanders Chronic in right Miller out. Yeah, and then Petterson in sure now those four trades You could break them off into pairs because robbing Peter to pay Paul trades a Horvat trade

Led to the Horonic trade and the Miller trade led to the Pedersen trade. That's a pretty good indicator of, and by behavior, it's forced behavior because that's what they had to do. They knew the assets they had to get to make the end game complete. So they went out and did it, and they've gone out and done it twice.

I think there is a sort of tacit acknowledgement of this group that we don't have the right pieces to orchestrate the deals that we want, but we think we can get them. Now, is that made incredibly more difficult by this particular off season? Yeah, it is. It might be, you have to make two trades

in advance of making the third, which is the It might be you have to make two trades in advance of making the third, which is the ultimate trade you want to do, or you need to better get cracking. It's June 19th. Exactly. And who knows? Maybe all this stuff is in a drawer somewhere. Maybe this has been discussed all the way back

to the trade deadline or maybe even in February. I that those things we don't know. But the stamps and the signatures of the Alvin and Rutherford era were shipping out Horvat to bring in her own. I can shipping out Miller to bring in Patterson. And in both instances, you're right.

It was the Peter Paul idea where we're taking away from our depth of forward to build our blue line, which when we came on board in Vancouver was the biggest issue. Well, now you've got another big issue in Vancouver and it's the center position. I don't wanna say you've worked magic. What happened?

Was that us? Yeah, I don't wanna say you've worked magic before because magic is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, but they have been able to move around pieces and, you know, do the work on the chessboard to get things done in the past. They're deal makers and that's why I don't think they're going to stand, Pat. It's honestly the one thing that's giving me a glimmer of hope and an otherwise, you

know, potentially bleak off season is that they are, Rutherford's a deal maker. Yeah. Rutherford, throughout his time in Pittsburgh and in Carolina had a penchant for making moves and making a lot of them. And that doesn't just go away. That's relationships around the league. That's having the type of personality and having the, at times, the lack of patience to hem and haw about deals.

Something pops up, you jump on it. Something becomes available, you move. Why are there so many texts coming in about Ryan Nugent Hopkins to the Canucks? Have people just come up with a Demco for nudge trade package? Why would the Oilers trade Ryan Nugent Hopkins? I think there's an understanding that

something's got to give in Edmonton if they're going to give. And why would the Canucks trade the Demco to the Oilersers because the wall. Okay, let's all get a good news there Yeah, but you're like direct competitor potentially there was about four In the playoffs with the like of as in a trophy winning like oh, I'll explain it Well, you explain it very quickly. Okay, go there was about four think pieces yesterday After the oilers lost the Stanley Cup final about how they're going to need to upgrade in net. A couple of them said that it might come at the expense, weirdly, of Pickard,

that they'll keep Stewart Skinner around, but they're going to need to bring in another goalie, a better goalie, so that it's not the same duo moving forward. So the genesis of it was they're going to need to improve the goaltending. The nudge thing comes from Bouchard's going to need a extension which could reach crazy dollars given what's going on with the increased cap ceiling. And I suppose there's the looming specter

of a penalty coming for whatever goes out with the Evander Cain LTIR thing. Whatever the case, there's also the McDavid money and who knows how astronomical that's going to get, but there may be a squeeze where they have to move somebody out. Nuge would seem like a pie in the sky candidate for teams that are looking for center help especially, but maybe he is the guy that shakes loose. All of this is purely speculative, but people are connecting those two things. Their need to improve the goaltending and the possibility of them having to shed some cap space. Do you think we'll get into, let's say August and we'll be

talking ourselves into what the connects have done? If we're into August and we're still talking about the connects needing to find fixes. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about they've made their moves. Oh. But do you think we'll have to talk ourselves into it? Oh yeah.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Do you remember? It was a kid's call cope. Do you remember it? That's why the kids call cope. Do you remember all the? A lot of copium. Do you remember all the Daniel Sprong conversations? Oh, yeah.

Maybe. You know, like. OK, hold on. Rick Sprong. Rick, you know, he's had a lot of coaches. And Rick Tuckin might be the guy. Zegris is a talented player. Maybe he gets better defensively this season.

Sprong was a mistake on all of our parts, OK? We in media, where we were guilty of investing way too much time and way too many words and way too much ink into that We all shoes on the top line to start the season. It was a slow time in the summer There wasn't a lot of content for us to discuss we made a mistake. No, it was our fault. Don't apologize for that No, I'm going to apologize for that. It was very entertaining. It was not entertaining at all. Nothing about Daniels-Prong was entertaining Nothing about it. All the puns. None of it and that was part of being in a hockey mad market during a really slow time but You know they've hit on Daniels-Prong

Worth it for that alone. He scored in the first game didn't he he? He scored the first goal. He scored the first goal of the season. He set the tone. It did set the tone. And thus the curse was born. Well, it did set the tone. And then was it the defensive coverage against, I want to say the Flyers early on in the season. Yeah, game two, right?

He was like, was that my guy at the point? Yes, Daniel, it was. And then all of a sudden he's just gone and I'm seeing him skating at eight rinks because he can't get his paperwork to go to Seattle. I'm mad that we're talking about it right now, actually. Nevermind at the time, but we're now re-litigating it in a very weird way.

Talking to him, I am going to murder you. Yeah. I don't know, I can't go that far down the road of what we're gonna be saying in August. We could be saying in August, where they haven't done anything yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

There is the possibility that it's a very underwhelming summary. No, we won't be saying that in August. We won't. There's a chance that- We might be saying like, are they out of their minds? There is a chance, and I don't know how, the percentage is on it, but there is a chance

that they're just not able to do what they want to do. Yeah, but they'll still make moves, though. We'll have to talk about them. Maybe not of enough significance or consequence for us to be like, wow, what a dramatic off season. Like this is going- Maybe we'll get Daniel Sprung back. Oh God.

You wanna talk about Jesse Marsh. So yesterday, and this happened late too, by the way. So I was trying my darndest to get a handle on this story. Yesterday, Jesse Marsh, who of course is the men's national team head coach for Canada, it was announced from CONCACAP in a release that Marsh is under investigation for incidents that occurred during Tuesday's 2025 gold cup opener against Honduras, which you'll remember was a breezy, comfortable,

and impressive six nil win for Canada over Honduras. According to their release, the CONCACAF disciplinary committee is reviewing evidence and official match reports, which I thought was interesting, detailing that Marsh quote, disregarded regulations applicable to suspended match officials. Marsh, of course, is suspended for the first two matches of the Gold Cup, stemming from a red card that he got in the Nations League. The CONCACAF also says that they're investigating used offensive language towards CONCACAF match officials. So there was two things that came out last night.

One, Twitter feed Canada Soccer Daily, which does a good job of covering Canada soccer put out there that they believe that it had something to do with where Marsh was viewing the match within BC place, potentially regarding the suite that he was either in or not in Oh, okay. At the time of the incident.

So he was supposed to be just in a suite and you wouldn't be allowed to communicate with anyone, right? And this is where the gray area comes in. I don't have any great answers for you. I don't know if he got up to use the bathroom and was wandering around the hallways. I don't know if he went to the gym,

robs and broadcasts, gondola across the way. I don't know. Was there a conca calf hall monitor at his place or something like that? I don't know. I don't know if he there a CONCACAF hall monitor? Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if he want like. Do you need a pass? Do you need a hall pass? I don't know these answers.

I don't have them. I was also led to believe that there may have been a verbal altercation between Marsh and a CONCACAF official. The hall monitor. When, right. Okay. The stoolie.

Marsh was told where to to go okay it's all very gray right now mm-hmm TSN's Matthew Shinetti and I just want to call him up by name because he's been traveling with the Canadian men's national team on the road to the World Cup he reached out to Conker Kev and the CSA for specifics neither responded the CSASA, weirdly enough, hasn't issued any response yet. I thought they'd do one almost immediately. It's not the CSA anymore, it's Canada Soccer. Okay, whatever.

You're so stuck in the past. This is funny. I'm just kidding. Okay. All right. Canada Soccer has not issued a release of any kind. All we know is that Marsh was seated in a suite above the press area, because he was actually caught on camera during the match. Okay.

Outside of that, there's a lot of hearsay, it's a lot of speculation, about what's going on. Blake Price, who's also been covering the Canadian Men's National Team, has been on the call for a few games, also courtesy of TSN throughout there yesterday, that there are some rumblings and rumors that Marsh is not one of the favorites inside the CONCACAF head

offices because of the numerous things that he's thrown out there over the last little bit. Well, he accused Mexico of poisoning the white caps. And that, that, that. And threw it at the feet of CONCACAF saying that the Federation needs to do a Mexico of poisoning. The white caps. The white caps. And that, that, that. And threw it at the feet of CONCACAF saying that the Federation needs to do a better job because the year prior, the Columbus crew went down in the same competition to Mexico and had

a similar fate at the end of it. I honestly thought that was a ridiculous thing to say. It was, unless you have proof. It was wildly inflammatory. That someone was going in there with like a little like dropper. Sure. Like a beaker or whatever you know. A dropper. And just be like there's your poison. It's like Vladimir Putin's like I

taught him how to do that. You know like you can't just like people get upset stomachs when they go to when they go to Mexico. Right. So I realize he could have said something like, we need to do something about the food poisoning. But he was like, they were poisoned. Which gives you this picture of nefarious activity and not just be like some guy like, oh, I forgot that salad was in the sun for a bit. So, yeah, you know, you don't want to eat that.

Do not eat the ice cubes. So you, you know, that this is obviously a bigger picture and bigger play for Marsh that he's doing. He is continuing his long standing attack on CONCACAF and their treatment of this particular program and these particular players and I think what he's trying to do and not even very subtly anymore is bring in a not an us against the world mentality because that

was sort of the Herbman approach yeah this is more of a member where I still remember when they tried to f Croatia right Right. This is more of a, hey, we deserve respect and accolades of being one of the best in your region. We qualified for the 2022 World Cup as number one in CONCACAF. We are one of the best teams and best countries in this region. We're right there with the US and Mexico.

So start treating us with the same level of respect. And I think what he wants in his players is- How are they disrespected? I think he finds little slights, the officiating going against his team as he perceives it. Going to a variety of Central American countries and being subjected to the dark arts of CONCACAF, which have been around for forever.

Yeah. Like some people would say that's just playing in the region. Yeah. Um, I think that he wanted to, I think his issues are with how the region's. Is there a risk this becomes a distraction though? Maybe it's not going to hurt their world cup qualifying cause they don't have to go through it. Yeah.

Um, it might ruffle some feathers in CONCACAF, but here's the thing. CONCACAF needs Canada almost as much as Canada needs the region. Like Canada is one of the shining stars of the region right now. Hey, by the way. Yes. What happens when Iran comes to the World Cup?

Cause they have already qualified. Yep. I don't know if you watch the news. No, something going on with them geopolitically. Yeah. Hmm. Like what happens there? This World Cup, we've joked about this on the show before.

Well, we haven't joked about it. We've joked a little bit about it, but we've also- No, no, not about Iran. We've joked about how when Canada, US, and Mexico was granted the bid, it was seen as a, sort of a safe choice for people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because geopolitically-

Yeah, we did Russia, we did Qatar, Brazil was even a little testy. so we'll just go, you know, we don't need to build any stadiums, you know, these countries have it together and they're all good friends. Yep. Right, Canada, US, and Mexico, the three amigos. They're gonna get along famously, it's gonna be a great World Cup.

And then some things have changed. Things were good and then FIFA got involved. Maybe FIFA's the problem. I don't think. Well, for once I'm not going to blame FIFA. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, and here's the thing. With an expanded field and the potential for even further expanded fields,

you're going to run into potential clashes of geopolitical enemies more and more often. There's more teams that are going to this. And with the way things are in the US right now, with tourism, immigration, a backlog, and I mean a massive backlog of visas that they still haven't really been able to rectify in terms of how are we gonna get these done

a year out from the World Cup. They got the Olympics too coming to LA. Could the World Cup pull out of the US? No, right now? Too late. Right now? If things get worse, we're gonna be just like, ah. The World Cup is coming to Hamilton.

More games in Vancouver. Yeah, there we go, Hamilton. Yeah. New Ivor win. So there we go. I mean, the powder keg only grows with every qualification round too. I mean, look on the horizon.

Look at some of the other countries that could get in. It could be really, really fascinating. And it is already to a certain degree. Okay, we're up against it for time in this segment. We got a lot more to get to on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. Coming up, it's gonna be George Richards is gonna join us live from Florida.

We're gonna get back into the Stanley Cup final talk. Of course, it is done and dusted. The Florida Panthers are off celebrating. The parade is going to join us live from Florida. We're going to get back into the Stanley cup final talk. Of course, it is done and dusted. The floor and the Florida Panthers are off celebrating. The parade is going to be on Sunday. Before we go to break, I need to tell you about the Vancouver giants. It's never too early to get your Vancouver giants seasons tickets. Tickets started under $19 at Vancouver giants.com forward slash season tickets. You're listening to the Halford and Brev show on sports net six 50. Hey, it's Vic Nazar. Have your say and join me on the People's show with big takes and even bigger bets.

Weekdays three to four. Sports Thursday everybody. Halford Bruff Sports Night at 650. Halford Bruff in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are in hour two of the program. We're at the midway point of the show, hour two. It's brought to you by Jason Homin at jason.mortgage. If you love paying too much for your mortgage, then don't let Jason shop around to find the perfect mortgage for you.

Visit him online at jason.mortgage. To the phone lines we go, the Power West Industries hotline. George Richards from Florida Hockey Now joins us here on the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Morning George, how are you? I'm good. What's going on? Not much. You join us from the hockey capital of the world. I never thought I'd say this about South Florida.

But yeah, three Stanley Cup finals, two Stanley Cup victories, another parade on Sunday. Do you ever take a step back, George, and just think about how wild this has become, that Florida, Florida is now the premier franchise in the NHL. And if you hear Matthew Kachak say it, the Panthers might be or maybe are the most popular sports team in South Florida. Yeah, I mean, you know, we talked about it, right? I mean, we talk about it a lot and probably some of the newer members of the Panthers,

you know, they kind of roll their eyes when we talk about, but anybody that's been here. I mean, we were talking at the game for six, can you imagine? Fifteen years ago when there was 7,500 people on a good night, see this. And nobody would have thought what's happened here. I mean, it's just been a good management and putting the right pieces together and it's all worked out. The owner, Vinny Viola, I know he's been there

for a while now and it's been a slow, steady build to this point, but how much in terms of accolades does he get for the job that he's done taking over and taking a franchise that yeah, It was kind of an afterthought to this, you know modern-day dynasty in the NHL Yeah, I think Vinnie does get credit I mean I think you know when you talk to Bill Zito you talk to Paul Maurice You know Vinnie's name, you know comes up quite prominently because you know in the past you know, comes up quite prominently because, you know, in the past, um, you know, what they, what they spent here in South Florida on, on the hockey team was, was relative to

what they were bringing in. And then Vinny Viola comes in here. Um, you know, one time I, we were talking, we were talking about hiring Joel Quinnville when Joel Quinnville had gotten fired by the Blackhawks and we were talking i was like yeah you know then you know uh... you need that's not going to be cheap you know i randall quinnville he goes george i started with five hundred dollars in my pocket my companies are worth three billion dollars what do i care and that's kind of been his attitude uh... they need a new training complex done how about the the the the best food

on the point dot anything you need to make the players life easier They're gonna do it Regardless of the bottom line Although with this success that's come come what you know that that's grown as well I Wonder how much of this actually goes back to the year 2013 when the Panthers decided to draft Alexander Barkov second overall right after Nathan McKinnon?

That was a pretty big move for the Panthers and again, circumstances, right? We didn't know it at the time, but the Panthers were for sale and they didn't have any money to spend on free agents nor did they have any money to offer their own players money. Steven Weiss was a free agent and they didn't even make an offer. And that was because they didn't have the money to, because the team was in the process or was on the market, yada, yada.

They needed a center who could step right in and play NHL hockey. Everybody thought they were going to take Seth Jones, right? Seth Jones was the number one prospect, you know, through, uh, you know, leading up to the draft, um, a defenseman that, that screams Dale Tallon. Um, and he goes with, you know, Sasha Barkov, a kid from Finland who, you know, the, the scouts all knew, some of the draft Knicks all knew, but that wasn't, you know, a big name. And yeah, it worked out pretty well for the Panthers and hey, they get Seth Jones anyway.

Yeah, Seth Jones went fourth overall to Nashville that year, as you mentioned. What strikes me about the forward group is all the different ways that they went about acquiring them. We went through all the forwards yesterday and the seventh forward that we came to was Carter Verhege. And he was a point of game guy in the playoffs. Like that's how deep it was. There are a bunch of future hall of game guy in the playoffs. Like that's how deep it was. There are a bunch of future hall of famers in

that group, certainly Barkov and Brad Marchand are going to be headed to the hall of fame. You know, maybe Reinhardt, maybe Sam Bennett. What do you remember about the Sam Bennett trade? Did it make waves or was it just like, we're going to bring in this guy for not much and we'll see, we'll see what he does for us. That's kind of how it went, right? Because let's forget,

don't forget that was during the COVID year, right? I mean, so it was one of those weird years where the Panthers were in, you know, we're in that central division and battling it with Tampa. I actually only remember who was in that division. They were active. They brought in Brandon Montour then as well. So you bring in Sam Bennett and you're like, yeah, this guy was a big prospect. He went second or third to Calgary and just, it just hasn't

worked for him. Um, and Florida immediately puts him in the top six, puts him with Jonathan Huberto and things just click and it just didn't work in Calgary and he was misused in Calgary, right? I mean, playing on the fourth line, playing real writer, I forget what he was playing right wing. Um, and it just, you know, Florida brought him in, put him in a good spot and boom.

Um, where, where did this come from? And you know, it was just, he took off from there, got a new contract with the Panthers and, uh, you know, the rest is history. Yeah. I mean, let's talk about the Kachak trade too. What did you remember about that? Because the Panthers traded away some pretty good players in Hubert O and Mackenzie Weger.

I'm sure, I mean, there was definitely an element of risk there. There certainly was. But I don't, you know, Matthew said he'd go to three teams, right? Carolina, if you'd go home to St Louis or Florida. And I don't think Carolina or St Louis realized how much Bill Zito needed. Um, Matthew Kachuk. Uh, I think that the Panthers were kind of painted in a corner with Jonathan Huberto. Um, he had one year left on his deal.

He was going to want the eight year max. He was going to want 10, 11, 12 million, whatever it was. And I don't think the Panthers were willing to do that with Jonathan Huberto. So when Matthew Kachuk comes on the scene and all of a sudden is on the market, Florida put all its chips in and they said, hey, we're giving you this guy that had, you know, a hundred something points, a career year, an up and coming defenseman, a first round pick, one of our, you know, they threw everything. I mean, Calgary could not have said no to Florida's offer.

And it solved a couple problems for Florida. The money worked with, with Uyghur, you had to throw Uyghur in because Florida was barely under the cap. But yeah, it ended up working out and it's worked out for Calgary too. They end up signing Huberto and Uyghur to big deals and he wasn't gonna stay there so Calgary got the best they could

I believe Zito said that he might be able to find a way to keep Bennett Eklad and Marsh on Do you think that's possible? Listen after watching Bill Zito the last couple years, I mean if he seems to think that okay All right, I'll get your word on that because he's he's worked some some some big deals in the past I mean I don't see how you can do it especially when you hear especially when it comes to Mark Marshand you hear the money that he and him Boston were negotiating and it did come down to money there it sounds like Boston gave him the term, but not the dollars. So he's looking to get some money.

Maybe they worked something out, I don't know. But I mean, if Bill Zito says it, you know, I mean, what'd he say? He bought him a Dairy Queen. So, you know, you got Dairy Queen money, you're doing all right. Seth Jones is a remarkable story. I forgot that the Blackhawks were tamed on that trade.

So they've got Seth. A year. Yeah. They've got Seth Jones at 7 million per. He played like a number one defenseman in the playoffs for the Florida Panthers. Um, when, when they made that move, what were you thinking? Because a lot of people thought, well, that's,

I don't know, he wasn't very good in Chicago and he was considered kind of an anchor in Chicago in terms of a contract. But also I know a lot of people were wondering what does this mean for the future of Echblad? Yeah. I think certainly the first thing you thought of was ECHBLAD because that's $7 million. That seems to be Florida's cap, maybe the internal cap because you've got Gus Forsling who agreed to an eight-year deal worth under six. Let you've got, let's say you've got fours, Ling at six, you've got Jones, who

you're paying seven because Chicago's retaining two and a half million. That seems to, you know, you're going to get, you know, I'm glad it's going to have to fit in there somewhere. Um, listen, I covered Seth Jones in Columbus. Uh, I know the kind of player he is. And I knew that Bill Zito knows him better than anybody from his years with the blue jackets. And, um, it seemed to be a great, great move.

Florida was able to clear some salary space with, with Spencer Knight. Spencer Knight needs to play. He he's a starter in this league. He's going to get that chance now in Chicago. It worked. You know, so that's a good deal for him. Um, and when you look at the retaining, I mean, you're getting him for 7 million for the next five.

Um, and it's a fresh start for Seth Jones. He comes in here. He was going to be on the second pairing two games in Aaron Echbred get suspended. Now you've got Seth Jones learning on the fly carrying a heavier load. And, and at the end of the day, it worked out pretty good because he got whatever mistakes he was gonna make out of his system.

And you saw him in the playoffs. Seth Jones was absolutely terrific. What does the future of the goaltending look like in Florida? Bobrowski's got one year left. He's 36 years old. Still pretty good apparently. But I wonder if there is a succession plan already in place. Yeah, I asked Paul Maurice that, when they traded Spencer Knight

and he says bluntly the future of the Panthers is Sergei Bobrowski. He thinks that Bob can go five more years based on how he takes care of himself, both, you know, physically and mentally and all that stuff. And listen, this is the last year that deal that the contract that nobody talks about anymore. Do you know, he's got $10 million left and then he's a free agent. You got to think he's going to come down off that 10 but in sign again with Florida. So we don't know. I mean Florida's got a very good goalie department with Roberto Luongo heading it up. Francois Lair works with them and Leo

Luongo so they're going to figure out something. You've got to think they've got something in the works or something down the road. But right now that is just not a concern. The way Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing. We're speaking to George Richards from Florida hockey now here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It will be curious to see how the departures from this year's team stack up against the departures from last year's team stack up against the departures from last year's team,

because I do remember thinking like Montour was a very big contributor to last year's Stanley Cup and Teresinka was a good player on the playoffs and Oliver Ackman-Larsen was a great find for them on the cheap and those guys all went off to different teams, but again, Florida was able, through the work of Bill Zito, not just to find replacements, but I would say,

come back with a better version of themselves this year after the Jones and Marshon acquisitions. Now there was some LTIR stuff going on as well, which aided them and everything, but do you see maybe this off season being one of fewer departures and being able to retain more guys, or do you think Zito's gonna have as much work to do

as he did last summer? Yeah, I think he's got a lot of work. He's got his work cut out for him because again, they're 19 million under the cap. And Bennett and Eklad or Marshand, again, that's going to eat up almost a big chunk of it. You need a backup goalie. You need a defenseman or two.

You need a forward or two. It's Thomas Nosek coming back. They traded for, for Sturm, but I mean, you look at his contract, he doesn't, you know, that, that contract doesn't fit here. Um, so, you know, they've got other needs, but, but they've been very adept at doing that. And listen, the first half of the year, Florida was working through some things and they were working those new guys in. Um, and, and then, you know, Matthew Kachuck gets injured at the, at the four nations. And that changes things because now, now you're in the market for a guy like Seth Jones, when he says he's unhappy in Chicago, Brad Marsh and you get him at the deadline,

you know, you're able to get Sturm to shore up your fourth line. Now, going into the playoffs, Sturm was Florida's fourth line center. By the midway through the Toronto series in the second round, it was Thomas Nosek again. So, things just kind of worked out for Florida, but they, you know, we'll see. I mean, it's going to be, you know, they're going to, they want to get the big dogs done and then they'll worry about filling in the rest. George, I had a buddy that, uh, went to, uh, Florida for game four and he was saying, you know, he loves it, had a great time. Um, I mean, game four was a pretty amazing game, not for the Panthers

necessarily, but it was a good game. Uh, he said his only complaint and he went there last year as well. He said, I remembered that I had to take a 45 minute Uber from Fort Lauderdale to the arena. We were talking about this with Greg Wyszynski earlier in the week. Um, do you think the Panthers could strike

when the iron is hot and get a new arena built in Fort Lauderdale? Is that something that is needed or is that something that they want to do? No, I think there was talk of that before COVID. And now there's just, there's nowhere to put it. I mean, there's stuff being built all through the downtown corridor, Fort Lauderdale. Um, and listen, the Panthers just say they're, they're staying in Broward County. They say they signed a new deal with the

County, which of course Fort Lauderdale sunrise are in Broward County. They're just at two ends of the County, one East by the water, one West by the Everglades. So yeah, I mean, the arena is not in the best, the greatest of spots, but it's also not in a bad spot. If you're staying on Fort Lauderdale beach and trying to make a game at seven o'clock, it's in a terrible spot. It's in a terrible spot. If you're in Miami, same thing, but you know, it is centrally located to the Northern part of the County, to the, to West Palm beach, uh, the Western part of D county to West Palm Beach, the western part of Dade County, and then they have committed to revamping this arena. I think they're staying long-term in

Sunrise. It sounds like they're going to start dumping some money into the arena here in Sunrise, so I don't think they would have done that if they were looking to have a new arena in five years. I mean, the money they're talking about spending starting this summer, you don't do that if you're leaving in five years. What's the weather forecast for the parade on the weekend? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it rained at the last parade, right? Yeah, it wasn't just rain. I've lived in Florida my whole life. I've played a lot of golf. I've seen a lot of lightning storms. I have never in my life been scared of a lightning storm. It was like, you know, it was unbelievable. And then, you know, and it was an absolute deluge.

Paul Maurice loved it. He was like, this is totally us, you know? Nothing comes easy. Let's just dance in the rain and have a good time and the forecast yeah 50% rain so it'll rain that's on Sunday and there's still a lot to go so that's the first sort of thing on the to-do list this offseason is I got one more question how many times how many times have you seen a gator on the golf course? Down here not as much as you would think.

A few times though, yeah. I mean you see them in the lakes, but they usually they usually They get rid of them around the lakes around the golf courses just because there's houses and stuff But not as much as you would think, as many videos as we've seen. Yeah. Well, you know, the gator walking the golf course. Yeah. My golf Instagram, that's definitely.

Northern Florida. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, I hope you stay away from the gators and I hope you don't get struck by lightning at the parade. George, it's always fun to catch up with you. It's incredible how far the Panthers have come while

you've been on this beat and you do a terrific job covering this team. Well up with you. It's incredible how far the Panthers have come while you've been on this beat and you do a terrific job covering this team. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And if you hit it in the water down here, just let it go. Thanks George, appreciate it buddy. It's going.

See ya. Have a good one. George Richards from Florida Hockey Now here on the Haliford and Brush Show on Sportsnet 650. I've got some news to pass along fairly noteworthy out of Dallas. Press release just came forth that Jim Nills announced today the club has resigned Matt Duchesne to a four year contract extension,

four year contract extension, which began next season, 18 million, an average annual value of 4.5 million. Now this one's interesting because it's not all that dissimilar to the one that Ryan Donato signed with the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday that was four by four this one is a little bit more per year it's four by four and a half Duchenne is older he's five years old but Duchenne had an incredibly productive regular season but there's a lot more risk at the end of this contract than there is for Donato also Duchenne really

wanted to be back in Dallas he had no desire to go hit the open market and do that all over again. Do you think he'll get along with Manny Malholtra when he's his coach? Had to go there, right? Well, I'm just wondering. I do wonder if that's what the holdup is. Of course, you have to wonder that, don't you?

Well, you have to wonder that. If they wanted to hire. You asked me a question. I don't think, you asked to wonder that they want to hold on. If they want to hire you, ask me a question. I don't think you ask me a question. Yes, we do. You think that's what's going on. I think that that is a weird hire for a team that is getting rid of a veteran coach and got them to three

consecutive conference finals. And you're like, you need to get them over the hump. Here you go, rookie NHL head coach. That to me seems strange. Like of all the guys to hire, that seems like a weird fit for that team, but they're not hiring anybody and Manny's still coaching. So the logic would suggest. Yeah.

Don't they always go in opposite directions though, for a coach? Like you get a guy that you get the experienced guy that yells at all the players and they're like, we got to bring in someone nice and fresh and young. To me, the opposite here is just anyone that's not Peter DeBoer though. Yeah. Like when we had on, um, Oh, a new Kirk from Dallas and he, and he's pretty dialed and he does the pre and

post game show for D LLS network. He said he's thought. Pier Lavillette, Gerard Galant, a guy that still had the veteran presence and had been to cup finals and everything, but just wasn't Peter DeBoer. Wasn't DeBoer. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I get it. Which is kind of the impression. But wouldn't it be done by now? Yeah. That's why I keep wondering, what would be the holdup? Who's still coaching? Who's still playing hockey right now? There would be no holdup with their AHL coach.

Nope. Because Manny already eliminated him. That's right. And I wonder if the stars were like, well, you lost. If you'd won, maybe you'd get the job. But you didn't. Maybe it's. So we want that guy.

Or it could be Charlotte head coach Jordy Kinnear. There's our Calder Cup preview for tonight, by the way. We had one angry texter who got upset, then apologized about getting upset, but still wanted his main point to get across. We haven't talked enough Calder Cup playoffs. Can I just say that I find it a challenge to really sports talk radio dig in to these Abbotsford games other than saying, wow, that's exciting. It's cool for Abbotsford.

It is cool for Abbotsford. It's kind of like, I'm not going to sit here and be like, Mahoucho's got to get Lekker Mackey into the lineup. And he did. Because it would be totally disingenuous because, I don't know, I haven't watched the Abbotsford-Conucks games this season. I don't know how I'm watching habits for Canucks games this season. I don't know how Leckermackie has been doing and you know,

like I'm not going to fake that sort of analysis. It's a difficult beat because you can dive in and there've been countless media members that have gone in headfirst and are breaking down the four lines and wondering what chase waters is gonna bring to the table tonight and then I've got a sports radio angle. Okay. Okay. Here it is Abbotsford's got to win these games at home You know, they got to take advantage of playing it playing at home clearly when they go down to Charlotte Charlotte's got an advantage. They're really outplayed the Abbots for Canucks

They're sea lobs is the only reason they got they got a game down there So you got to take advantage of games three four and five and you got to take this series while it's in abbotsford See, that's a good take sports radio. The two three two is unique In a final. Yeah, oftentimes you're bouncing back and forth But because of the ahl's condensed schedule, compressed schedule, and the travel restrictions, you've got an opportunity here. It's like in 94 the Canucks did it to Dallas and the Leafs. That's right. 2-3-2. Game five. Greg Adams. Who's gonna be the Greg Adams for the Ebsford Canucks? I don't know. I'm stretching it here. Thomas Jantz is

gonna join us next on the Halford and Bruff show on Sportsnet 650.