OverDrive - LeBrun on the Board of Governors' views, the Rangers' soft tampering and Miller's return to the Canucks

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun joined OverDrive to discuss the biggest headlines around the NHL, the Board of Governors meetings, the Rangers' soft tampering with the Senators, Jacob Trouba's role with the Ducks, J.T. Miller's return with the Canucks and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca joining us here on the maple toyota hotline here's our tsn hockey insider pierre lebrun pierre can you give us the one item that stood out the most the one news item that came out of the board of governors that you want our audience to make sure they know about oh boy you mean notwithstanding the michael anlauer i guess the soft tampering that was we found that very interesting we talked about it a lot but i think again that seems pretty exclusive to the ottawa senators i guess other teams in the league you know would he have gotten support for that like what were the owners and governors kind of, what was their reaction to the way Ann Lauer responded to that Larry Brooks report and tying Brady Kachuk to the Rangers?

Yeah, because I was in the middle of it. There was certainly a lot of interest from other governors asking me how it came up at the interview. People were always curious about the context of receiving those comments. And honestly, it was as standard as it gets you know i i had planned to sit down with ann lauer on monday morning which we did before the board of governors even started just to go over the whole season right it's been a up and down season for the senators and they're trying to salvage it and so it's a pretty basic interview the type of column i want to write but uh um obviously i was going to ask about Brady Kachuk

because that was a big story last week. And obviously you saw the answer I got, which is a very, you know, a very passionate defense of his captain from Michael Landlauer. And really that's where it comes from, is wanting to defend his franchise, defend his captain. They're sick and tired of having their captain's name in trade rumors, and really, Ann Lauer kind of unleashed from there, and the rest, they say, is history.

But I would also say that in terms of the reaction, I mean, you know, I think that some owners, if they did talk to Ann Lauer, would probably say, you know, that's the kind of thing maybe you should keep within the group because that's usually what happens with those guys you don't get those headlines very often in terms of owners um you know speaking out that way frankly i think we should have more of it but maybe that's self-serving uh but no but i mean i think if you're if you're a senator's fan uh i think you love love the fact that your owner comes out swinging. But I would say, generally speaking, that as time goes on, you'll probably hear less of that from Manlauer as he gets more years under his belt with that group and the way they do things at the Board of Governors level.

Pierre, they also talked a little bit at the Board of Governors about a potential salary cap in playoffs. So if that is indeed fact, which group would have the biggest issue with that? Players, managers, fans, or coaches even? So, you know, I should start by saying, Freddie, that, you know, Bill Daly, you know, this discussion about the playoff salary cap has been going on for a couple of years. I've written about it ad nauseum. It usually comes up more actually at GM meetings in March than it does here at the Board of Governors

because it's of more interest to managers than it is to owners. And for background, Bill Daley went to the GMs last March and said, OK, I'm so tired of, you know, we're talking about this all the time. What is it you guys want? He put it on the 32 GMs through the executive committee to go back and basically ask every single GM in the league, do you

want to fix this or not? Is this something that warrants fixing? And, you know, I was under the impression a few months ago that the majority of GMs, the answer was yes, but I will tell you that we asked Bill Daley, you know, for the final tally and all that at the end of the Board of Governors here this week, and he said it was a mixed response. So I was kind of surprised because given the level of noise this had received, you know,

from Tampa and Kutrop to Vegas and so on and so on and so on, and whatever the next team will be in terms of LTIR, I kind of assume, given the griping I had heard from some GMs, that it was a prevalent notion that they wanted some form of strengthening of the cap in the playoffs. But what Bill Haley told us was that it was not uniform, that it was a mixed response. So I don't know where this is going now. You know, Drags talked about it in one of her hits,

but there's certainly owners that still believe that this will be addressed in one form or another potentially in the next CBA. And as we know, the PA and the league are going to start CBA extension talks in February. So it's one of two things. Either there's not enough support to close this loophole, or maybe that the league, in talking about it with us, are trying to downplay it because, you know,

when you get closer and closer to CBA talks, I just know this from all the lockouts I've covered, the league doesn't want to negotiate through the media if it thinks it has a chance to really get something done with the pa wants to wait till it gets in the room with the pa to address it so we'll find out which one it is but i will tell you i'm less confident on the playoff cap today than i was six months ago which is strange so pierre i just wanted to put a bow on the Brady-Kachuk thing and the soft tampering and all of that. Like, what can you share with us or what you, you know,

obviously you've talked to people and stuff like that. Larry Brooks is not a guy who just throws spaghetti at the wall either. I mean, to me, what came out of it? And, you know, was there kind of behind the scenes from Stern talking to, you know, to both organizations, saying knock it off, like anything that you could share as far as Nuggets, or is it just kind of put to bed and they're moving on type of thing? Yeah, and so you hit the first nail right on.

Larry Brooks is a Hawkeye fame reporter, so this is not some social media off-the-wall rumor. I mean, this is an accomplished reporter who breaks a lot of Rangers stories who put out that the Rangers are targeting him last week. That's why he's got so much attention. Let's be real here. We don't know who his sources were. That's none of our business.

And neither do the Senators. But, you know, a lot of people are assuming that he's pretty connected to the Rangers and hence why the Senators are so upset. What came out of it is that Bill Daley said he did have a brief conversation with Michael Landlauer on Monday. I don't know if it was during or after the first day of the Board of Governors meeting. And what I was told is that, you know, basically that conversation went like this, that, you know, the league does understand where Anlar is coming from as far as the frustration

of continually having their captain out there. But I think the league also was like, you know, you still got to be careful when you're throwing out that, you know, that word. And on top of it, the league also said, that to Anne Lauer, Bill Daly did, that they don't see right now that there's any evidence to go forward and actually have an investigation about it.

I think the other, so for now, it just seems like it's a dead issue other than the fact that I don't think the Rangers and Senators are going to break bread anytime soon. The Rangers are pretty upset about it, and the fact that I don't think the Rangers and Senators are going to break bread anytime soon the Rangers are pretty upset about it and the Senators just don't look set to um but I think the context that's important and TJ may have mentioned this on a sit with you guys that night but you know the league put out a memo a couple weeks ago on tampering and said to all 32 teams, we're getting sick and tired of all the tampering over the last year and we're going to crack down on this and could be, you know,

significant fines and or loss of traffic. So I think that's the one part that maybe, you know, I should have been more clear on too, but I think Anlar was coming at it from that context that the league itself is telling teams stop, you know, stop with the tampering because we're actually going to do something about it. So the league said, yeah, exactly.

I'll believe that when I see it. Right. It's never going to happen. That's the full context of that. I think for now it's done, but you know, it certainly got everyone's attention with Pierre Lebrun. So Jacob Trubin town tonight, how would you describe the likeliness of him

playing out the rest of the season and this year and or next with the Anaheim Ducks? I mean, I think the rest of the season at the very least, he obviously chose Anaheim out of the other options for a reason. But, you know,

I think it's been well publicized that his wife's adopted in the New York area. So obviously on the personal side of things, they've got to figure out how that all plays out after this year. You know, and by the way, it's interesting, you know,

the Ducks had a ton of cap rooms. So taking on the full contract, while that got them a lot of attention, if there's any team in the league that can do it, they have the most room in the league. So it wasn't a ton of cap room, so taking on the full contract, well, that got him a lot of attention. If there's any team in the league that could do it, they have the most room in the league. So it wasn't a big deal for them, except that he's got another year in the deal at $8 million next year, which leads to this. There are two players that the Ducks are very much willing to move here,

and one who is mutually just as eager to get moved. One is John Gibson, and we talked about him. Noodles and I have certainly talked about him. And the other one is Cam Fowler. And both those guys have turn left, so not easy to move them, but I would surmise that Anaheim is even more motivated or incentivized now to move either or, or if not both, now they'll take it on Truba's contract. So let's keep an eye on Fowler and see, you know,

I think his agent Pat Bresson is, you know, I think also incentivized to try and probably find him a new home. And with John Gibson, Kurt Overhart, his agent also, you know, has really been on the same page as the Ducks and Pat Radik saying, yeah, let's find this goalie a new home. There's a new number one in Anaheim and Dostal. So, you know, with Colorado trading for Blackwood this week, that eliminated one team off the potential Gibson marketplace,

that's for sure. So we'll see whether or not there's a way to move Gibson. JT Miller's coming back in the lineup for the Canucks tonight. And this morning he spoke, didn't really, didn't say really anything about what happened or why or whatever, but do you get the sense that this may affect his relationship with the team moving forward, and then following that up with Brock Besser and what could be a big contract for him as a UFA this summer?

Yeah, there's lots to go on there, Sturdy. I mean, listen, I think that at the outset, I think my sense with JT Miller's camp were pretty appreciative at the onset of the support, actually, they got from the Canucks and how they handled the JT Miller situation, right? So in terms of supporting him and telling him to take the time he needs, I mean, I think that was well-received and well-appreciated.

It should be noted that, you know, it's been reported elsewhere, but it was confirmed to me as well. You know, the New York Rangers, you know, JT Miller's the guy the Rangers checked in on, you know, a couple weeks ago. The Rangers seem to be calling every single team in the league. But the answer at the time

from the Canucks was no. So all those things are interesting. And, you know, the Canucks have almost never had their full lineup the entire year, and yet have found ways to pick up points, which I think is extremely healthy for that franchise. Like, you know, they've not been at their best. I get it.

But, you know, there's so many teams in the bottom 30 league that have excuses for why they are where they are. Well, the Canucks have more excuses on them than anyone to not win at all. And, you know, kudos to Rick Dockett. But they found a way on many nights to just grind it out. And I think that's awfully impressive, honestly, if you sit back and look back and say,

gee, you start the first couple months without Demko you got this happened that happened that injury it would have been easy within that room to say it's just not our year and that's not how they reacted so I like to look at the clock top pool there with Vancouver

Alright Pierre we'll leave it there enjoy the games tonight Rattle rattle. We'll be watching some Arkansas football. You know that. As you should. How about your Cowboys as underdogs against Carolina this week? Thank goodness. Let's keep losing, baby. Let's go.

Yeah, that was disgusting. I knew they were going to lose to Cincinnati. The fact that they gave up that touchdown late and Chase was untouched, no help over the top, to not even cover that game late and Chase was untouched. No help over the top. To not even cover that game was awful. Horrible, considering

I was on the Cowboys. They're getting points. Anyway, enjoy it tonight, Pierre. We'll do it again soon. Alright, sounds good. Pierre Lebrun joining us from the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra, Forerunner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander in stock and ready to deliver. Visit MapleToyota.com.