Puck Soup - 96 Questions

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

Sean and Ryan talk about the McDavid extension and the national TV schedule, before answering three questions about every team. Sponsored by Raycon (buyraycon.com/puck) and Mint Mobile (mintmobile.com/puck)

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I am Sean McNeu from The Athletic. And look, folks, they're making us do a show today. I don't know what to tell you. This is bleak. This is dire. Yeah. There's nothing going on.

There is no reason to be doing this. And there's no reason to be listening to it. So really, you're part of the problem. Yeah. And also, keep listening to the show. Please. Keep listening. Yeah.

Okay. This is the new. news this week. Connor McDavid kind of indicated he's comfortable not signing a contract before the season starts. And what does that mean is what everybody's worried about? Yeah. How worried would you be if you're an Oilers fan? Scale of one to ten, I'd say, I don't know, like a five and a half or a six.

He's going to re-sign there. I'm up to a seven. Okay. I do think it is still. by far the most likely scenario that he resigns. But, I mean, the idea of him not resigning would be so catastrophic that this is one of those things where even if there's a 10% chance. Sure. I'm pretty worried about that.

And it's absolutely true. Dry Saddle went into September before he resigned. we have seen guys more recently go into the season. I remember writing a piece like five years ago about how it was quite rare for star players to go into a season and then stay on that team. But since then it's happened more often.

So there are still lots of reasons to think, as you said, it's by far the most likely outcome. Yeah, I think... But... If he wanted out. Oh, yeah. This is how it would play out. Well, maybe it isn't, maybe it isn't, right?

Like, my thing is that I think this is a pressure campaign because he's like, oh, I want to see what, you know, what the plan is for the future, blah, blah, blah. And what that means is, are we getting a fucking goalie or what here, man? Well, so we know the answer to that. No, they're not. I don't know. Well, okay. Let me ask you this. Do you think, you know, even in like a rosy scenario here, do you think he resigns before the season starts or do you think it's kind of like a, oh, this might take into November, December?

Yeah, I mean, it's, I think either's possible. I mean, it doesn't feel like this is a situation where it's just taking a while to get the deal done. Because the deal is whatever he wants the deal to be. There's no hard. It's literally a blank check. You're right about that, for sure. So it's just whenever he wants to sign. But the question is, if he gets to the season, what is he waiting for?

And does he want to see how the team is doing in the regular season? Does he want to see if Stuart Skinner is good for the first month? Or does that matter? Because we've seen Stuart Skinner be good for a month before. You're right about that. Yeah. So it's... this is this is what worries me is that if I'm an oilers fan and I'm a pessimist

which I am I'm the sort of person I think of the worst case and talk myself into it rather than vice versa which is not a great way to be but it's just that's how some of us are and so let's play that out if Connor McDavid is thinking I've done my time in Edmonton I'm going to finish one more year. I'm going to do everything I can do to win a Stanley Cup in that year, but then I'm out. This is what it would look like. Now, this could, there's a lot of other scenarios that look like this,

including the one where he just, you know, wants to wait a bit, and then he signs, and then everyone goes, ha, ha, ha, you dummies thought he was ever actually going to leave. that could certainly be the case, but this is a little bit concerned. And part of it is maybe me as a least fan, having watched the Mitch Marner situation play out, which was a similar thing on an almost infinitely smaller scale,

given the importance of the player, and that's not a knock on Mitch Marner. That's just how good McDavid is. It kind of felt like this. It kind of felt like just kicking the can down the road, finding a reason to not do it this month, and then next thing you know, you've run out of months, and you're at the end,

and suddenly it's like, oh, wait, this is actually happening. Yeah. I really do just think it's him going, hey, the clock's ticking here. Let's get a goalie. I'm not getting any younger. Leon just signed. He's not getting any younger. Let me put it this way.

I think you're right that if Stuart Skinner starts the year 915 or whatever for the first two months, I don't know that that's like really swaying McDavid's decision one way or the other. But if he starts 880 and they don't trade him or they don't go get a better goalie, then I think McDavid starts going, what the fuck am I doing? Yeah. You know, like that's what it is. I think it's like a sort of Damocles situation. where the second he gives up four goals on 15 shots,

you know, halfway through a game or whatever, like Stan Bowman's work in the phones. And that's the thing with this is McDavid has said on a couple of occasions, I don't want to be a distraction. Yeah, no shit. This is the story of the season. And if it goes into the season, You're like every bad goal the Oilers give up is breaking news around the league.

Yeah, you're cutting to McDavid on the bench. Normally, you know, a guy gives up a bad goal and they always cut to the backup goalie sitting there in his bait. Now it's going to be cut to McDavid and read into his three-second face. 100%. It's, and man, I tell you, I wouldn't hate to be a team with an okay veteran goalie that I might want to shop in about a month or two, because you're going to be able to hold Stan Bowman up by the ankles and shake them for whatever you want at that point. Absolutely.

Yeah. No, again, this is like a thing they should have addressed two years ago, right? I guess my thing is just like he's being very clear he wants to win. Well, he's won a lot of regular season games at Edmonton. That's not what he's talking about. Yeah, of course. And he's won a lot of playoff games in Edmonton. That's the other thing.

It's like, you know, I think the issue, I'll tell you this. I think the issue is if they lose in six, two years ago and losing seven last year, we're not having this discussion. We got even closer. But now it feels like they're going backwards, even though I would say the Panthers. They're going backwards from 15 wins to 14 wins. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, it's such a weird perception thing. that like what that doesn't account for is the Panthers went out and traded for Seth Jones who they turned into a guy who can play 26 minutes a night in the Stanley Cup final or whatever the number was.

You know what I mean? Like they just played a borderline era defining good team. Three straight cup finals, you know? Only one other team has done that and it's Tampa. And those were in two fake cup finals, right? So, like, even that doesn't count. And so, yeah, I don't get, I don't sit here going like, oh, you know, the oilers suck now, obviously. If they can't, if they can't beat the Panthers, like, they're just going to hang it up.

Nobody beats the Panthers the last two years. And only one team beat them the last three. So there, all of that is, like, hanging over this. But also, like, you know, you. Again, you don't have to be the fucking, like, Nobel Prize winner of hockey to be like, I think what the problem is is Darnell Nurse sucks and Stuart Skinner sucks, and combined they cost like $12 million against the cap or whatever it is. And that's money that could be way better spent on two similar players.

Like, you get a $6 million defenseman and a $6 million goalie, and you're feeling way better about how that money is being spent. Right. Well, I mean, they're out of time to make. Well, I agree. And I'm not going to sit here and act like they could have done that in June if they had set out to. But they didn't. So here's the thing that scares me if it goes to the playoffs.

And that's a huge if. Oh, if it goes to the playoffs, I'm absolutely shitting my pants. Well, because once he gets to the playoffs, right, then there's only. only two outcomes. They don't win the Stanley Cup, which is in which case he is potentially on his way out, or they do

win the Stanley Cup, at which point he can say, I have done what I said I was going to do in Edmonton and now. Right? Like you... Yep, absolutely. So I'm very worried about how this is playing out if I'm an Oilers fan.

And I say that fully. acknowledging 90% chance that he ultimately re-signs. And then, you know, the other thing is, what does he resign, right? Does he, is it an eight-year deal or does he resign for two years? And, you know, we do this all again. I wouldn't say two, but like, if I'm ham, I don't sign for more than four. If I can write by check every four years?

Give me, I, do two. Do a LeBron. Do one year. Give him. Hell yeah. Go year to year. Hell yeah Take that first paycheck Give it to an insurance company So you're covered, right? You know, because for injury or whatever

And then, yeah That's right I don't know, man. If you head to bet on his next team And you couldn't bet on the Oilers, right? Next team. Yep. Well, okay, no, I'll say this.

Give me either another NHL team that is Connor McDavid's next team or Connor McDavid plays his entire NFL career with the Oilers. So I'm not talking next contract. I'm saying,

right, right, right. He never plays anywhere else or what's his next team? Right. Entire NHL career, I will say no. I think he is resigning. Again,

more likely than not, whatever. I'll give it like an 80% chance that he resigns. And then, you know, when he's like 34, 35, maybe he goes cup hunting a little bit. You know what I mean? Okay.

I don't think that's crazy. I hope. I certainly hope that in his prime, Connor McDavid, I just hope he doesn't like airlift onto some team that, like, a Florida that's already a championship team. Right. Sure. The Kevin Durant thing. Yeah.

I hate, I don't want him to do like the Roger Clemens thing. Like, you know, just. Not now. When you're 35, different, different deal. But, okay. Yep. I'm with you. I'm with you for sure.

Yeah, it's really interesting. I don't know how they handle it, you know? But anyway, I... Well, because that is the other interesting thing is, what do you do if you're the Oilers? Like, you're... How do you play this both publicly and privately? Because, I mean, if...

They're saying they're... haven't had any conversations. I mean, that's clearly not the Oilers decision. Right. I mean, how do you, do you have any pressure points, any leverage at all, or is it, do you, are you literally just sitting by the phone waiting for a call that might never come? Because I don't know. Yeah, it's tough. It's, it's, it's one million percent in his court. That's, that's got to suck if you're, if you're Stan Bowman. Yep. Oh, well. Um, you wanted to talk about the Marner thing? Yeah. I didn't, I didn't really see what you were like, oh, people were talking about the

Marner thing again. And so I was wondering if that like made it out of the Toronto bubble or not. But essentially what happened was Mitch Marner gave his first extended interview with TSN. Okay. Since leaving Toronto. I guess I did miss this. Explaining his side of it. And at the same time, his agent, Darren Farris, went on some podcast.

and they essentially told a similar, a similar story. About how great they had a time in Toronto and they love it. And they already regret. And in fact, they're demanding a trade back. That's right. What is interesting is the headline that came out of this was Mitch Marner talking about basically the negativity from fans. Okay, so I did see that and I was like, I thought we talked about this already.

We kind of did, but this was where he sort of, in the context of why did you leave, was saying, you know, like there was an incident where, you know, we had to get security involved at my house because somebody was publishing my home address on the internet and, you know, all this stuff. and and i would just say this i really felt like when you read the interview um and i think you i think you could watch it too i but i don't i don't do video i'm old when you read the interview i thought he was a lot more kind of thoughtful and a lot uh the the the part about the negativity from fans was a much smaller part of the message. I felt then what,

how it got portrayed. I think if you only read coverage of the interview, you came away feeling like this was a concerted effort for him to sit down and said, I had to leave because the fans were mean to me and it's the fans fault. And certainly, 31 other fan bases would love to point to that and see like, oh, see, there you go. Stupid leave fans, you know, drove this player out. And I was somewhat surprised because I sort of saw that first.

And then I was like, I want to see what this guy said. And I sat down all ready to be mad. And it was more like, no, he's being very reasonable. And then almost in passing talking about, you know, there were a couple of incidents while also talking about how much he loved in Toronto and how much, you know, for the most part, the fans were great and all that. So I guess what I would say here is, I think this is maybe. maybe not the story.

It's being made out to be. Got it. Which is not a great thing to say when it's the first week of September and you have nothing to talk about on a podcast. Sure. I'm doing this wrong, but.

So, yeah, so I saw. I would love to be able to sit here and do a Mitch Martiner ungrateful, blah, blah, blah, rant, but I didn't, I really didn't come away with that impression. Yeah, so like I said, I saw that, like, the fans were mean to me

and we had to get security. And I was like, I thought we already knew this. Why is this making the rounds again? I didn't realize he had done a TSN interview. We famously do not get TSN down here. But the other thing was, like, when they did the NHL players European tour a couple of weeks ago, apparently, like, they asked William Nealander about it. And he was like, oh, it's not like he went into the season deciding he wanted to leave or, you know, whatever he said.

And I was I was just like, man, I think this is a reference that as two old guys, maybe children won't get, but people our age are going to get it. This is the fucking Denise show now. You know what I mean? Where it's just like,

all we do is we sit around and we talk about how sad we are that Mitch Marner left. And it's like, don't we have anything better to do up there, man? Like you said, I know it's September. And I know it's a big story. Obviously, he's one of the best players in the league. But like, shouldn't we be saying like, hey, are the Leafs going to be like good or whatever?

You know? No, let's not do that. Okay, okay. I don't want to have that conversation. But you see what I mean. Where I'm just like, how the fuck are we still talking about this? The guy had a press conference where every member of his extended family was in Las Vegas and has been for the last like three months. Well, let's just agree.

We're not talking about this anymore. Like, who cares, man? Because there was, I'll tell you this, there was some TSN thing that I did see the last little while, like the most hated athlete in Toronto history. And the answer was Vince Carter at the end of like a bracket thing they did. Okay. And I was like, you guys can't even commit to the bit where you really hate Mitch Marner. This is pathetic. You know what I mean?

Like, do we hate them or do we not? Let's try to really circle the wagons on this one and figure it out. This is sad. And then at the end of it, you're like, oh, Vince Carter, a guy we've publicly reembraced already. Okay. That happens, that's every, like, how many cases of something like that where it was the organized? Because, I mean, we, you know, we just, Sergei Federer is getting his number retired. Yeah, that's right.

You know, Pavel Burr is one that comes to mind. He came back and was embraced. Like, how many of them, like still. Yager. Yep. Like how many of them, like, nobody, like, they didn't forgive and forget? Of a player who was on your team on. Oh, no, for sure.

Like, there can't be that many in sports. Look, man, Bill Buckner, like, got over it. Like, mutually the Red Sox Bill Buckner, Red Sox fans, they all got over it. Like, Steve Bartman got reembraced by Cubs fans. The kid who, you know, screwed up the World Series by trying to catch a foul ball. Well, did he? rightly so, got reembraced. But, yeah, like, I mean...

No, I... But what I'm saying is how do you then do the poll, and he's still the most hated guy? Now, this is Vince Carter talk, whatever, like, who cares? But, you know what I mean? Was it most hated, like, Toronto athlete, or could it extend to... Yeah. I'll let's see if I can find this now. Hated Toronto athlete, Vince Carter.

But, like, it was a bracket thing that they did. I don't know, whatever. Most disliked Toronto athlete of the quarter century. Oh, okay, I'm looking at it. Yeah, it's TSN 1050. And yeah. Oh, wow. I mean, not only did Mitch Marner not win,

he was a one seed who lost in the first round. That's, yeah. Like, damn. Again, are we doing the bitter or are we not doing the best? bit. You're going to say Gorin Dragich is come on. Who is that? I'm assuming that's a basketball player. Yeah. What was his? Because he takes it right to the end. He beats out David Clarkson. Yeah. I don't have an answer for you. I don't know, I don't know what Goran Dragich did. Like, God, when did Goran Dragich even retired? This would

have been a long time ago. I think. Anyway, who cares? This isn't a basketball show. But yeah, I guess I don't have a ton else to say on Mitch Barner. The last bit of like real news we got is the national TV schedule for the United States. I don't know about, you know, what's going on up in Canada. 58 Jets games are on national TV. That's it. It's all Jets. Yeah.

Well, I guess Draggett's retired in 20203. Stayed in the league longer than I thought. Anyway. Did you see the list of the list of the teams that are on national TV a lot down here? I did not. Okay. I'm going to click on it right now. Don't click.

Don't click. Oh, okay. Closing. Thank you. I've not seen it. All right. There are two Canadian teams that are getting national. This is a little quiz I put together.

There are two Canadian teams that are getting national games in the U.S. Only two. Who are they? Edmonton. Yes. Is Toronto the other? That's right. Toronto is getting 14 national TV games down here.

How many American teams does that beat? Probably, let's see, there's 20, what, 25 American teams? I would say it probably beats 15 of them. 9.10. 11. No, only 11, but that's still a lot. That's still a lot. I guess that's, is that the Austin Matthews Olympics factor?

I think that has to be it. And also, let's be honest, there's just a lot of leave fans everywhere. They got to be a draw. They got to be a draw. How many American teams have single digit national games? And then, of course, who are they? I will say, well, I know it's, 11 or fewer, let's see.

It is one, two, three, four, five. Only five. Between TNT and ESPN and ABC and ESPN plus and, you know, all that kind of stuff. That all counts. So there's only, there's only a handful. Who are they? A couple of them I would say are rude that they're doing this. Columbus is the one that jumps to mind as an obvious one.

That's correct. They have six. Okay. And it's a little bit rude, I think, based on how last year went for it. Yeah. But that's fine. The one that I'm a little hesitant on is I'm assuming Buffalo. Also correct.

They have seven, and I think that's more than fair. More than fair, but also they're a good TV market traditionally. True. True. True. Anaheim. Yep, five, another rude one to me. Yeah.

Is San Jose? San Jose six. Okay. I'm assuming Chicago no, even though. No, Chicago has 15. A lot of the other bad American teams are decent markets. Is Nashville there? Nashville, the fewest of any American team with just two.

Brutal. Oh, boy. Imagine hearing that this time last year. I know, right? They're going to be so bad we can barely put them on national TV. Huh? Wow. How many are left?

You got two left. And you're basically going in alphabetical order. Oh, okay. No, the blues check in with 14, interestingly. Hmm. Yeah. I wouldn't have guessed so either, but here we are, you know. Okay.

wouldn't be Detroit, right? That's a... No, you know what? I'm wrong. There's only one left. You had already said San Jose. That's me fucking up. So there's one left.

Utah? No, Utah has 11. Seattle. That's correct. Okay. And they have nine, and I can only imagine that they have nine because they are a U.S.-based West Coast team.

Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah. The Kings have 14. They're the other, they're the one that isn't in single digits, the ducks and the, but like Vegas has 15. You can play a late game for them, no problem. So at some point it becomes a math issue.

You know what I mean? Where they're just kind of squeezing teams out. I'm frankly shocked they're doing 50% more Seattle games than San Jose. But, you know, what do you, what can you say? Yeah, I'd rather watch. The sharks today, let alone if I had to gamble on two months from now. Absolutely. So one last little quiz here for you.

How many teams that did not make the playoffs last year have more games on national TV than the Carolina Hurricanes? Oh, boy. It did not make the playoffs. I'm assuming Chicago. Correct. They have 15. That's right. Boston. Also correct, yep. The Rangers, obviously.

Correct. The, probably the Red Wings? Also correct, yep. I think the Islanders would. Penguins, for sure. Penguins and Flyers, both correct. And the Islanders are tied with Carolina. Wow. See, that is surprising to me,

because, I mean, I know it's not a great, quote-unquote, traditional market, but still, that's... And the one that you didn't mention was Utah, which, again, they have 11. Carolina, only 10 national games. Yeah, that's surprising to me. I mean, I get it insofar as they're not, like, the most fun team to watch, let's say. But also, they're one of the best teams in the league and have been for a while now. It's a little strange that they're like, we got to get more Utah get. You know what?

Same number of games as the Islanders. The Islanders suck. What are we doing here anyway? Yeah, and also are not exactly considered a fun team to watch. One last question for you. Which team has the most games on national TV this year? The answer will surprise you. Is it Florida?

No. Okay. That's step one. Florida only has 15. They have fewer than the Minnesota Wilde for some reason. I don't know. Who is it? The Washington Capitals.

They have 18. No, I would have gone. I probably would have run through the American playoff teams before I. Why? Did they make this before Ovechkin? I don't know that. I don't have an answer for you. It's crazy to me.

Maybe they just, maybe Ovechkin. is actually a needle mover for ratings these days. Because that's... Well, to your point, everybody was tuning in for all those games last year. They were putting a bafo numbers because everybody wanted to see him break the Gretzky record. Sure. Yeah. Understandable. This year, he already broke it.

So why is anybody tuning in? Oh, I got to see Alexei Protis out there, the big draw they call them. To see Alexander Rovetchen break the all-time goals record currently held by Alexander Rovetchkin. Yeah, he's going to do it every time he scores this year. That's crazy. By the way, not to double back, but I just, to close the book on that Leafs, or the Toronto athlete poll,

Mitch Marner does lose as a one seed to, what is it, Gorn. Draggich, who apparently was treated to the Raptors and then didn't show up and didn't want to play and all that stuff. And the number one comment by far on the Instagram post is typical Mitch Marner first round exit. So you know what, if that was the bit, my hat's off to him.

Yeah, absolutely. All right, why don't we take our break and then we'll come back and we'll do NHL.com three questions. We'll be right back. This week's episode of Puck Soup is brought to you by Raycon and folks, it's early September. What are we thinking about in early September?

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Limited time new customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigs on Unlimited Plan. Taxes and fees extra see Mint Mobile for details. All right, we're back. Now, look, I tease this before. NHL.com, they had this thing all summer, well, not all summer, for the last month or so, that was for every team we're going to ask three questions. And like this will define how effective they are,

to see how good they are, whatever. And unlike most NHL.com things, which I think are designed to drive people insane, where they're like, we did a, we did the top 20 defensemen in the league according to NHL.com. And it says here, you know, whatever, John Carlson's number four.

And it's like, what? Quinn Hughes wasn't on the list. Yeah, that's exactly right. Everyone on Twitter is like, everybody go to this page and hit reload a hundred times to teach him a lesson. Yeah. So I actually thought as I went through the summer, and I would read maybe one of these here, one of these there.

But they did all 32 teams. So I figured, why don't we just run through all the questions? Now, there are 96 questions here. The good news is a lot of them are yes-nows, basically, at the end of the day. And so when Sean and I agree on a yes-no, no, we're just going to move on. Okay. We're going to rip through all 96 of these. but there will be very little discussion for, I think, most of them, hopefully.

You know, we're trying to get out of here. Especially because Ryan is going to answer first, and I'm just going to agree with him, 96 times in a row. All right. So let's just hop right into it here. Anaheim Ducks, how will Joel Quinville do in his first season with the team? Yes. I think he will do well.

I think he's well positioned to, for a team to, be better and I think that there will be discussion and controversy about him being back, but like most of the times in pro sports, it will peter out relatively quickly. Yeah, I'd say that's right. I think they will be better. I don't think they're a playoff team. Let's put it that way. All right.

Next question. Will Lucas Dostle have a breakout season after John Gibson's departure? I'm going to say no only because I think he had a breakout season last year. That's exactly my answer as well. Will the offense and power play improve? Eh, not enough. Yep, that's also correct. So off we go, on to Boston.

Is there enough around forward David Posternak? Nope. Correct. Yep, that's right. Can Marco Stern bring back the Bruins way? Oh, God. They better hope not. So when I...

Ban that phrase from the building. When I read that, they basically meant can they play good defense again? But I think when we say the Bruins way, we all know what that means. And consequently, I think the answer is, yeah, but he probably shouldn't. Yeah. My answer is yes, he is capable of committing too many men on the ice penalties. Finally, will Jeremy? Swayman rebound.

Uh, yeah. Yep, agreed. Uh, Buffalo. How will the Sabres replace J.J. Patyrka's 68 points? They, they won't, but I guess I'm supposed to say like internal improvement from young players. Yeah, the answer is by committee plus Josh Stone, I think, is what they're, is what they're pulling for. I think they kind of won't as well. So there's, you know, again, what is there to discuss there to the Sabers?

Will Uco Pekeleukinin finally show he's a legitimate number one goalie? I feel like that finally is a bit harsh. This is in there from NHL.com. I didn't put that in myself. No, I realize that. Has he, do we not feel like he's showing that he's good enough to be one of the 30 starting goalies, considering he's playing on a bad team? Yeah, I think he has not shown it yet, I would be.

say. I'm going to pull up his stats real quick, but I don't, I think he's shown flat, like, he's like the Stewart Skinner, where it's like, he'll have a month where you're like, oh, okay. And then, unfortunately, he does still play for the same. I'm much more interested in Devon Levi as far as that this guy's going to say. Because there, I think there's a question. You know what? I was wrong. He was 9, 10, 2 years ago. Easy to forget because he was at sub 890 this past season. So. So. Sabres.

That's like. Yeah, how much of that was in garbage time, whatever, who cares, score effects, et cetera. So yeah, I think he, will he probably not? Can he sure? Okay, yeah. Finally, can forward Ryan McLeod improve on his NHL career high 53 points from last season? This is part of that J.J. Buterker question. Yeah.

Can he? Sure. I'm going to say probably can't. I think what did he shoot last year? He shot 20.6% last year. I'm going to say he cannot do better than that. That's my theory. He's also 26 years old now.

What are we doing here? How does that happen? Or I'm sorry, he'll be 26 in a few weeks, three weeks. So, anyway. Calgary, can Dustin Wolf have another outstanding season? Uh, they better hope so. And, uh, yes, I would say that, yes, I think he can. I think, I think, I think he's a really, really, really, really, really good goalie. Uh, that, uh, that's me, uh, finding a way to not say he's a great goalie yet, but I think, you know, it's all there for him to do it.

Uh, how much offense will Jonathan Huberdo provide? I, I'm getting kind of tired of, uh, beating up Jonathan Huberto, so I, I will say, you know, certainly nowhere. close to his peak, but I will say he will continue to improve. I'm going to say 25 to 30 goals, 60-ish points, which is basically what he had last season. Yeah, 28 and 62. I think he can do that again. I don't think that is worth $10.5 million or whatever the number is, and I don't think that's going to... And it will be.

Like, it's almost at the point now where we just got to say, Like, it's not, it's never going to happen for him as far as living up to that contract. We just have to kind of accept that. Yeah. But what I was also going to say is I think that also isn't going to be enough for the flames. Like, I don't think they're going to be as good as they were last year, probably. And finally, can Nazim Kadri continue to set a high standard? Now, that's Olympic snub Nazim Kadri, to be clear.

And my answer to that is, hell yeah, Nazim Kadri rules. and what were his numbers last year? His numbers last year. 35, 32, 67. Yeah. Like, can he continue to be 35 goal 70 point guy? I mean, he's up there in age, but I think he can still continue to be. 35 was a career high for him.

Yeah. I don't think he's reaching, if that being said, I don't think you have two consecutive career years at 34 and 35. He's a really good player, but, you know, I'm going to say, if we're saying the standard is that high, no. Carolina, how will Nick Eilers fit in? Better than Miko Ratman. Yes, I think that's a really good way to put it. I think he's a good player. Do they still need to address their defense, add to their defense, I'm sorry.

You want to see how it shakes out. I mean, every team could use more, but they did some interesting things. I'm Echandra Miller. I'm really curious to see how that plays out. Mm-hmm. So, I'll say no for now, but probably by, as the season rolls on, like most teams. Yeah, I think they're all set. You know, like you say, Slavin, Miller, Walker, Gostis Bear, Chatfield, Neketian,

Yeah, I think they're, I think they're pretty much all set. Like, they just, oh, God, who did they just bring in? Oliver Schillington, they just brought in on a PTO, I think I saw. So I'm not too worried about it for him. How do they fill their second line center hole? Because they let Roslavik walk is basically what that means. Yeah. Probably through trade during the season.

because they're one of the teams that's willing to do that? Sure. The only thing I would say is they now feel like they have too many wingers, and I wouldn't be surprised if they at least experiment with like Kotkin Niemi. Well, I mean he's already kind of a center, I guess. But Seth Jarvis, let's say, hey, you want to try running the pivot on the second line. And maybe it doesn't work, but I, I think. think they might try it just to, they don't really have a guy that I'm like, oh, that's,

that's a guy I could confidently see as a number two center. So there you go. Chicago, who could start the season on Connor Bedard's line? The answer is anybody. Who could? Yeah, I mean, the lineup is, will be long and, God, the way that they've handled them, who knows? I think, I think you have to say Ryan Donato will be there, given how last season went.

Other than that, I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. It doesn't feel like it really matters. How does the goaltending stack up? Not well, but I'm curious to see the Spencer Knight situation. That's exactly right. Another one, another former Panthers, young goalie that I'm curious about. And finally, how much can the Blackhawks improve this season?

What a stupid. An awful lot. Could they? A lot. What are they likely to do? Almost not at all. Colorado is Gabriel Landisog all the way back?

I mean, I don't think he'll ever be the guy he was in his prime, but... Yeah, he's like 35. It looked really good last year. He certainly did. So I think he's as all the way back as he probably can be. I think is a good way to

to think about it. You're not getting prime Gabriel Landisog like you said, but this is a guy who's a good player. How big of an impact can Brent Burns have?

On that team, I think he could have a good season. You know, how much of an impact are we going to be talking about like, oh, the abs are a different team because of Breem? No, but I think he can be a good, good player for them.

I wonder only because of, well, he's not getting power play minutes. So how much utility does a 41 year old Brent Burns have if you're not putting them out there on the power play? I don't know. Do you think he'll be, you think he'll get second minutes?

Yeah, maybe, but like, what's that, 40 seconds of power play at most? Mm-hmm. So. Is the goaltending good enough? Yeah. Good enough. Yep.

Columbus, will the momentum carry over? Now, this is a Lucy holding the football question. Yeah, I hope so, but no. No, of course not. Momentum isn't a thing game to game, let alone after three months. Man, I remember back like early 2010s where they would get eliminated like mathematically eliminated, like end of February. And then they'd go on, oh, they went 12, 3 and 1 down the stretch because they played every team's backup goalie. Surely that'll carry over into next year.

And nope, they were still the fucking Columbus Blue Jackets. I'd love to fall for this shit. I'd love to be this gullible. I'm just not. You know? Can the defense rise to the occasion? Uh, I don't think the defense is going to be better than last year necessarily. Oh, no.

Mainly because Zach Werenski, I wouldn't say had, like, an outlier year. Oh, he definitely, it was an outlier year for sure. Well, to me, like an outlier year is one where you, you look at and you go, well, he's not that good. Like, he's versus, I feel like that was his peak. Sure. I don't think we're going to see another. I don't think Zach Werensky has another level to get to.

Yeah, he's not improving on what he did last year. I think he was a Norris finalist. Like, he was phenomenal. Yeah, he was awesome. I don't think he's that good. Put another way. I don't think he's a top three defenseman in the league. If you wanted to tell me top 10, sure.

You know what I mean? Like five to 10 range? I listen. to it for sure. But yeah, listen to this defense. This is crazy. Werensky, Proverov, Severson, Fabro, Goodbranson,

and then like Denton Matechuk, the young guy. Yikes. Anyway. You don't think Proverov's a $8 million guy? You know, it's funny you bring that up. I do not. Finally, the last question, can they win on the road? They were one of the worst road teams in the league last.

year? No, they're going to go 0 and 41. That's right. I honestly think they can't be as bad as they were on the road. I don't know how many more points that gets them at the end of the day, but they were horrendous. So I don't have the record in front of me, but it was extraordinarily bad. Dallas, what's next for Maverick Bork? It's Dallas, so probably breakout season and we all go, oh, how'd they pull that off?

Well, I think this next question is very related to the first one. How different will Glenn Gulletson's second coaching stint in Dallas be? I had a thing the other day where I was looking at slash thinking about the Dallas stars, and I had completely forgotten that they changed coaches. They certainly did. If I remember right, they did it kind of late in the game, and there weren't a ton of, like, great candidates. left, which is how they ended up with Glenn Gulletson? First of all, they, I mean, they went to the third round, so it was late.

But yeah, even then, yeah, I don't love that swap, even though I understand why they did it. So I'm not super optimistic on how that works out. Yeah, I'm with you. Again, like, I think the selling point is he ran the Oilers power play. And you know how hard that must be. Yeah. Yeah, how did he just night after night trying to crack the code and then suddenly just sits up and goes. McDavid.

Why did I tell him to get out there? This is a good idea. McDavid, you pass it to dry saddle. Dry saddle, whatever angle you are at down low, just shoot it into the net. Just teleport it on in there, Big Dog. Even if you can only see half an inch of actual open net, just bend the puck. into that, please. Okay, boss, no problem.

Yeah, so I think, I think, like you say, I think there's a pretty high ceiling on Maverick Bork and he's a good player. I'm very curious to see how a new coach who, let's face it, like, there's a lot of pressure to win in Dallas. So I wonder how much a coach under that pressure is like willing to play a young guy in a, you know, significant role. So that's all. And then the last one for Dallas here is, is Nils Lundquist ready for a bigger role? Better hope so.

Well, so the answer, my answer I think is no, but I think that if you're asking that question about the team or about any team really, like is this guy who's kind of maybe you might argue a draft bust? Like, is he ready for a bigger role? like you're on easy street. You know what I mean? Like you're, if you're worried about that, you're like, okay, it's all actually pretty much fine, I think.

Yeah. So that's my answer to that one. Okay. What a weird thing that, like, they were the team that traded for them. Just like with Jim Nill being the perpetual GM of the year, everybody can whiff every now and then, unless it's not a whiff.

Yeah. I mean, the only thing is, if I'm remembering, right, they gave up a first round pick for them. They did, yeah. That's the tough one. But, you know, I'll always... Yeah, I'll always... ...took a shot. Right.

I'll always support, like, you know what, let's go out and try it with this reclamation project. They don't, they're obviously not always going to work out, but whatever. Give it a world. Why not? Okay. Detroit, are the Red Wings better now than a season ago? this is, I guess you could say this is the question for literally every team in the league.

Yeah, that's a good one. Are they going to remember to tie their skates? Well, I guess we'll find out. Are they better than a... I mean, I was going to just say no, but no pending John Gibson would be my answer. I'm assuming Gibson's one of the other two questions. Yeah, will Gibson remain healthy?

Oh. Um, I mean, who knows? I think, history is not. Is John Gibson any good is a better question. Yeah. Well, and then the third one is also related to John Gibson. Can the penalty kill improve?

Yes, it can. Yeah, well, right. Mathematically, it's hard to be much worse. But yeah, that here's the question they're not asking. This isn't the special team's question to ask. Remember that thing where after they got the new coach? Everybody was like, well, he fixed whatever was wrong with the powerplay. These guys are clicking at like 72% for the last month or whatever.

Remember that? Yeah. How'd that go? I think that stuck around for the rest of the year. Awesome. I love to hear it. But you see what I'm saying? Like, that is, if they can't get that kind of production on the power play again, what even is this team?

you know and I know it didn't last forever obviously but like it was a huge part of them being around the playoff discussion was the fact that they scored eight seconds into every power play for three weeks

I'm really curious I don't you know they change coaches I don't know what's next for these guys if the Gibson thing doesn't work out any who Edmonton number one question. Will Conner and David re-sign?

I feel like we covered that. Yeah, we did. But yeah, he better. Yep. And again, I think the answer is yes. Will they stick with goalies, Stuart Skinner, and Calvin Pickard? That might be related to question one. Mm-hmm. What's your answer for this? Will they make a goalie change? I think by the end of the season, they will have a different starting goal.

Excellent. I love that. What impact will Andrew Mangiopani make? I almost said on Drew Mangiopani, like he was French or something. I think he will be, I think we learned last year from the Jeff Skinner, Victor Arvison, to not just assume that he can drop any decent forward into Edmonton and they'll be fantastic, but I think he will be better than those two guys. I agree with that. I, you know, my thing is, remember the time every, he scored 35 goals kind of out of nowhere and everybody's like, damn.

He reset the market for himself. This is a 30. And then he, you know, like 17, 18, 20 goals, whatever the last few years. And it's like, yeah, he just shot 25% that one time. That happens and that's fine. But that was kind of always my read on it. And then he has not persuaded me otherwise, let's say. Right.

So, Florida, will the Panthers have enough gas left to win a third straight Stanley Cup championship? Yeah, I mean, obviously. Again, this is obviously, yeah, sure. They're much more likely to not win the cup than to win it, but absolutely they have enough gas. Like, they have not run out of gas in three years before the final, so I'm not, I'm not playing. the fatigue card on these guys anymore. I have to assume the last time a team made the Cup final four years in a row was the Islanders when they won four times in a row? Yep. Yep.

That's a big order, man. Four, five times in a row because they... Oh, five times, you're right. They won four and then they lost to the Oilers. That's right. Yep. So, but anyway, it's still that team, though, is the last team to do it. So not an easy lift for the Panthers. Will Matthew Kachuk be healthy enough to play? Yes, in the Olympics.

He will dramatically come back just in time for the Olympics, and we will all pretend to be surprised. Yeah, there was, there was, so I seem to remember it was like, oh, he'll be back for the Olympics. And everyone's like, yeah, that makes sense. Sure, why not? And then it was like, oh, he actually might be back before Christmas. And then it was like, and actually it might be the Olympics again. So I don't know what the answer to this question is. But, yeah, he's going to play in the regular season for Florida, for sure.

Yep. So, you know, the question is just when does he come back and how much time does he miss and what percent? Now, does the, do the new rules on LTIR come into effect this year or is that? I believe they do, yeah. Okay. Because that could influence things. Maybe, oh, hmm. No, I think.

The CBA has not started. Right. So this was a whole thing. They interviewed the Marty Walsh and Ron Hainsey, who run the NHLPA. They interviewed them on 32 thoughts. And there was some question about like, could certain rules from the new CBA actually be agreed to go into effect this year? And I don't think they addressed this one specifically, but like contract limit stuff, they were like definitely fucking not. Like we're going to take all the time we can with getting guys as much money as possible, which only makes sense.

of course. Finally, can Daniel Tarasov handle the backup goalie job? That is the exact right answer. Can he handle getting 18 games? Yeah, I guess he probably can behind that Florida Panthers. He probably can. And, you know, now, can he handle it well enough that he's on the radar for to be the starter next year when Brobrovsky's deal is done is made?

maybe a different question. Right. But yes, he can handle his whatever. I don't think he handles the starters job where Ravski got hurt. But also, I mean, Anthony Stollers was great in Florida. Yeah, Alex Lyon, you know, kind of worked out for him too. But yeah, to me, it's like, yeah, sure. He plays behind the Florida Panthers.

I think he's going to be just fine. L.A., is this the final season for? Anse Copatar. So yeah, I guess he kind of indicated that could be the case in one of those European when they did the European press tour. He had a comment about that. So, yeah, sounds like it could. They asked him, and he basically said, no, but I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about it. And you know what they say.

When you think about retirement, might as well retire, Big Dog. That's right. So that wouldn't be a good sign for me either. Will Brant Clark take the next the next step? Sure. Put me down as a yes. Why not? Yeah, all right.

I've been waiting a while on that kid, but yeah. How big of an impact will Corey Perry have? Not as big as we will make it out to be one way or another. Because we love pretending that Cory Perry is a needle mover. Yeah, absolutely. My thing is, if you need him to have a big impact, that's bad. Yeah. Let's just say not the get-you-to-the-standly-Cup final impact that...

No, no, no. He tends to have for good teams. Can the Wild take the next step in the playoffs? Meaning, can they get out of the second round? Can they? Yeah, sure. I don't know. Not saying they will, but... I don't think so.

You don't? Okay. No, I don't. And part of that is, let's say, informed by these next couple questions here. Let's put it that way. Because the next question is, where will the offense come from? Uh-oh.

You don't want to be asking that question in August. No, I suppose. Because they're going, well, we know there's like two guys who are going to score. The answer has to be, if we're acting like it's a mystery, the answer has to be Marco Rossi. and how's his relationship with the coach going over there, you know? I mean, the answer is Caprizov and the young guys.

Sure. And, yeah, I think that actually might work for that team. Maybe. But again, the fact that you're asking the question kind of indicates to me they didn't maybe address all the issues they might have had in the offseason. Yeah. Kavrezov still hasn't signed that big contract, by the way. I don't know if we're... Well, that's...

Yeah. Not supposed to have happened by now. Yeah, I would have thought. Okay, what's the next one for the wild? I just scrolled away from it. Will the penalty kill improve? It was pretty bad last year. I'm going to go ahead and say yes, then.

Yeah, I agree. It will probably be not as bad. Yeah. You know, if it is as bad, I don't think you need to worry about that. Get to the third round thing. Mm-hmm. Montreal. What's the ceiling for Ivan Demadov?

Calder. I think that's a really good. The ceiling is very high. Most prospects don't reach their ceiling. So, you know, we're not calling any shots here. But no, I mean, I don't know if the ceiling is like, MVP level All-Star, but I think

All-Star level talent is certainly in play. How healthy is Kirby Duck? I'm not a doctor. Yeah, I think... They have not given me access to the team medical records. And I keep asking. Yeah, they... Come on.

Let me see them. Yeah, I mean, obviously, you don't... As a general rule, you don't want... like a relatively young guy coming off two knee injuries. I think it was both times it was his ACL too. That's not good. No. But again, like I just kind of think like if you're asking the question, oh, is Kirby Doc's health is making or breaking this team, you got bigger problems, my opinion.

But he's a good player, you know, whatever. They need him. They'd like him to be back and that's fine. but this is the real question. How does a young core group handle expectations after last season's success? Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a nice way of saying, does last year end up feeling like a fluke? Like, I think they take a step back.

I don't have the abs. Yeah, absolutely. So I guess that's the answer to that question. I'm with you. For Nashville, will Rome and, Yosie be healthy? Not a doctor. And you keep asking.

I do. No, I mean, any of these questions that are like, will somebody be healthy? I don't know. Answer, hazy, try again later. Yeah, my thing is if you're, if you're that worried about it for a guy who, how old is Roman Yosey now, like 36? See that? Getting up there, yeah.

Got to be, right? Yeah. Let's see here. I'll click on the Predators thing on Puckpeda really quickly. He is 35. So I was close. I was in the ballpark. You know?

But he just turned 35. His birthday is June 1st. So that's tough for me. Anyway, when you're asking that question about a 35-year-old, that's bad news for you, full stop. If your season hinges on a 35-year-old being in the lineup and good every night, Uh-oh. Because, and this is, again, semi-related. Who will be the number two center?

Again, good question. It's a great question. Because, man, they tried it with a couple of guys last year, and it did not go well. No, they did. And we thought, like, again, we thought it would. We thought, well, I did. I thought this was going to be a good team last year. I really did.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't think they'd be as good as, like, the hype around them was, but they, I mean, nobody, I think had them, oh, they're one of the worst teams in the league. Yeah. But let me just read you the, well, first of all, now that I click on the link again here, the number, the question is, who be the number two center? So this is, like, Blackbeard asking this question. Okay. Um, who be the number two cent. Me Hardy.

Ryan O'Reilly, the top line guy. And then this is what they tried last year. Colton Sizzins until they traded him to Vegas. Stephen Stan, then it says Stephen Stamco's can play center. That's true. He can. It was a good center for a long time. Yeah.

Then he turned 36. That leaves Fador Svetchkov, who played 52 games as a rookie. last year. Michael McCarran and Eric Howla. That's tough. So the answer is they don't have a second line. Bingo. And finally, can they bounce back from last season? They almost have to. Yeah, but to what extent, right? And I will say, I'm very surprised that one of the questions is not, can Andrew

Burnett make it through the year. I know it's NHL.com. We tend not to get negative to that extent, but Yeah. It's got to be high on the first coach fired list. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it has to be. Okay. New Jersey.

Can Jack Hughes remain healthy? They love asking these questions. They love it. History would indicate no, but. And I get, I mean, it obviously is the key question to the world of season. It's just, there's no way to answer it. Right. Who replaces injured defenseman Jonathan Kovicevich to begin the season?

because he's going to miss the start of the year. I think he also had a knee injury last year and the last season. The answer is like Seamus Casey, I think. Yeah, as whoever you've got as your 4A guy to bring up and plug in. Yeah. I can't imagine that's going to make a huge difference on their season. Well, I guess, well, you know what? I forgot.

Nemich had a really good second part of the season last year. And is that just the move? I don't know. Because remember there was talk like, oh, they might try to trade Dougie Hamilton? Nothing ever came of that, obviously, because nobody makes trades in the summer. Of course. It's interesting. I don't know.

Finally, are there any players expected to make their NHL debut and remain with the team all season out of training camp? I don't, you know. I don't know. Would you say that they have any elite prospects on that team? I guess there's two guys that I would think could even make the art. Well, I'll tell you one right now. Shane LaChance, who is Scott LaChance's son. Remember Scott LaChance?

He's like the head of scouting for them or something like that. He played at BU this past season. And the thing about Shane LaChance, I'm going to look up what they have him listed as here, is a big fellow. Yeah, he's 6-5-2-20. Ooh. So I can see a guy that big being at the bottom of the line.

He's got some skill to him. I saw him score a couple of like between the legs goals and that kind of thing. He's a good player. But can a 6-5-22-year-old make the team out of camp if his dad works for the team? Yeah, I think he can. Yeah. The question, though, is will he be on the team the whole season? That I am less confident about.

the NYIs here will Matthew Schaefer play in the NHL this season? I would assume he would. Yeah. They might just send him back to Junior. But yes, I think he can play in the NHL this year. I guess defensemen, sometimes they give him the extra year. Certainly, you take a forward first over all these years.

you're expecting I'll tell you in the NHL but nine two like nine games as the minimum yeah absolutely he'll play that

because why not sell some fucking tickets you know but I don't think he's I'll put it this way I don't think he gets to 50 games for them

this year and put it that way can they inject life into the special teams no yeah I agree a bunch of a bunch of did

dudes skating around out there. Well, I just think, you know, with the talent level on the roster, you're not looking at it going, oh yeah, they can choose the power play here, you know? Yeah. Maybe a little bit because their special teams were pretty bad. Healthy Matt Barzell. Yeah, sure. I get it.

He was real good last year when he was playing. But again, this is all to what end, right? Like, they're still not going to be particularly good. Finally, what does the signing of David Riddick mean for Semmel? you and Varlamov. Again, if you're asking this question about your backup goalie as like your key to the season, I don't know, man. I don't know.

Who cares? Is that, can we put that down as the answer? Yeah, we can. If you want it to go crazy and say, does it suggest that they'd be willing to move Ilyosuroken to the Oilers for a trillion first round picks? Oh, my God. Then that's, I'm here for that.

Yeah. They should do that. Oh, man. I didn't even think of that. They should absolutely do that. you eat the bad money on the uh the darnel nurse deal maybe the oil is retained 50% or something i'll i never even thought about that that's a great idea all right uh the rangers will mika sabanajad be a center or a wing don't know if he's going to be a good center

where they want to put him in the lineup but he is he has fallen off he has he has uh i i think they'll keep him on the wing if a guy falls off on the wing you're not like i think we can fix them by moving them to the middle. That just doesn't happen. That is true. Yeah, that's... What will Sullivan do to make an immediate impact? Go up to the biggest guy in the first day and just punch him right in the mouth. Well, I have an answer that I think is probably speaking of the biggest guy and punching. What he'll do to make an impact is give, is give that young man, Matt Rampe, big minutes. Well, bigger minutes, let's say.

Okay. Mm-hmm. He's just signed a new two-year deal, you know. Now, this will also lead to him being suspended in game two of the regular season. Sure. Yeah. I think that is we're sending a message kind of a roster move that I personally wouldn't make, but, you know. Okay.

And then this is actually a real good question here. Who will replace Chris Kreider's minutes and production? That is a good question. and I don't know that they know the answer. I think they know who they think the answer will be. Also Matt Rampy? Yeah. No, it'll be Will Cooley, right?

Like, that's, they felt like they could move on because Cooley looked good last year. Right? I don't know. J.T. Miller, I guess, would be the other answer here. Yeah, like the full season of J.T. Miller. That's right. Ottawa, can Jake Sanderson continue his ascension to become one of the NHL's elite defensemen? I do not see why not.

He's a very, very good player. Yeah, he's a guy. I was just dead wrong about him. Coming out of call, I saw him plenty in college, and I was like, yeah, he's a pretty good player. I thought they kind of burned a high pick on him, frankly. But they were right. I was wrong. That's fine.

But the question is saying, can he become one of the NHLs? elite defenseman? I don't know. Do you say that's top 10, top 12, top 15? I don't know. Can he be a number one defenseman? Absolutely. Does that make him elite? I don't know. Well, you see what I'm saying? He finished 10th in Norris voting last year. Yeah. I mean, if I'm an Ottawa fan, I might even be arguing he's already there. Right. Look, you want to talk about teens that are maybe primed for a bit of a step back. Might be the Ottawa Senators as well. But if he,

let's put it this way. If he's as good as last season, they're absolutely in the playoff mix for sure. I just, you know, what's his name? The other guy from the senators that, uh,

uh, why am I blanking on his fucking name? The defense of Thomas Chabot? No, no, no. Um, Christ, the forward who's German. Tim Stutzler. Yeah.

Remember everybody was like, he had 92 points a second year. This kid's got, and then it's like, okay, relax. I can see that being a thing with Jake Sanderson as well. Again, I think these are both very good players, but saying elite maybe is taking a step too far. Can Dylan Cousins regain the form that saw him have a career high, 68 points, 31 goals and 37 assists, with the Buffalo Savers in 2022, 23? I think he can, but I think the pressure's on. And I think it's a very interesting story.

I don't think, I wouldn't say he was a bust for the senators since he came over. He did, he had a few, he flashed a few times. And he's only like 23, 24, 25 somewhere in there. Well, yeah, he's older than, he's old enough that he should be what he's going to be by now. Yeah, I think that hasn't really been. That's a good way of putting it. And he makes a big chunk of money. So, yeah, this is kind of the year to show it.

Yeah. 30 plus goals is just such a big ask at the end of the day for me. I'll read you his career stats here for full-time seasons, or even partially full-time. 11 and 61, 18 and 79, 31, 81, 13 and 79. And then four and 41. That's in reverse order, I suppose. But this is this is a guy that I think kind of doesn't. Oh, you know what?

I was wrong. He had 16 and 82 last year. I was reading two different lines as the same as two different seasons. But he had 16 and 82. So 16, 18, 31, 13. Which number do you think is the more likely to hit? Is like 20 or 30. I'll take 20 all day.

Finally, can goalie Linus O'Mark finally translate his regular season's success into the postseason? I mean, I don't think he's been bad, bad in postseason, but if that means, like, can he win a couple of series with the senators, I think that's still a tough path. I mean, keep in mind, the best case scenario you would assume for Ottawa is they got to get past the Panthers in round one or two. Sure.

So if success means winning a round, yeah, why not? Well, I'll hit you with this real quick, man. He was 910 last year in 44 games. The year before that, he was 915 and 40. The year before that was his Vesna year. We went 938 and 49 games. That's fucking wild. Kind of feels like he's like a 910, 915 goalie.

can't really ask for more than that. And that got the senators into the playoffs last year. Can that get the senators into the playoffs again? Is the first question you've got to ask. And like you said, then the idea that they just don't get absolutely smoked by whoever comes out of the top of the Atlantic, you know. But to your point about he hasn't been bad in the playoffs, this is over the last four seasons.

860, 896, 8806, 880. I can't put that all on him, obviously, but can he do it? Sure, why not? Will he probably not? All right. I didn't feel like he was the problem for the senators last year in the playoffs, but also he wasn't like terrifying. Yeah. The Flyers, how does the power play get better?

Great question. The answer is if Trevor Zegris is Trevor Zegris from the video game cover. You know what I mean? And obviously the growth from Mitchkov and all that kind of stuff, sure. They need to skill it up. Is that what you're... Yeah, I think I do. I am saying that.

No smiling. I wouldn't even think of it, man. Okay, the next question is, can the goaltending improve? Do you know who their goaltenders are this year, man? No, I don't, but also, yes. Like, you could tell me you're their goalie. Here's the thing. Absolutely, their goaltending could improve.

No. Their goalies are Dan Vlodar, Ivan Fedatav, and Sam Erson. I don't think the goal didn't get improved that much. Those guys stink. I don't know what they're doing. Oh, man. Yeah, that was their big signing this summer, was Vlidar. This is why the Oilers can't improve in net.

Yeah, that's okay. Yeah. Finally, can Trevor Zegris be a full-time center? We're about to find out, man. I don't know. I kind of think he can be sure, but maybe not in a top six role. And then at that point, what are you using him for? Okay, Pittsburgh.

Could this be it for Malkin? He's in the final year of his contract. He's like 38. Yeah. There's a good chance it is, yeah. I'm with you. He's, uh, he's, uh, he's, He's up there.

He doesn't quite look like of Guinea Malkin anymore, you know. So it's tough, but that's the way she goes. Passage of time. Now, do you think is it possible, what would you say is most likely? This is it for him? This is in this is his final year. He plays for the Penguins next year or he plays for a different NHL team next year? I don't think he would go to a different team.

I think he's like Crosse. be in that way, where stop trying to trade him. He's a penguin for life, all that kind of stuff. I think that applies to Malkin just as well as it does to Crosby. That said, I do think the penguins would say to him, we're good. And therefore, I think this probably is it for him, yeah. At least in the NHL.

If he goes back to Russia, sure. You know, he can play another four years in the KHL and that's fine. but I think this is it for him in the NHL. Can Crosby continue to defy time? Yes. He's Sidney Crosby. Yep, that's exactly. That's the only answer.

Yeah. How does Dan Mews follow Mike Sullivan? Uh. That's like such a weird question to ask. It is, yeah. I mean, tough shoes to fill, obviously. Yep. I think the penguins would have been happy to keep.

Sullivan to a certain extent, but it just didn't, it was never going to work. So, um, all right, San Jose, will Michael Mesa start this season in the NHL? Start the season? Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think that's, I mean, you like to get your, your look at your guys, right? That's right. It's the same thing as Matthew Schaefer. They're not saying, play the full year.

They're saying, will he start the season in the NHL? What are they trying to make the playoffs? Who gives a shit? Play him the nine games and send them back to the OHL. That's easy. No problem. Can Yaroslav Ascarov be a full-time starting goalie? That is a great question and a huge question.

I think the answer is yes, but... Yes, I agree. That is a key question to the shark's future. He's one of those, like, sky's the limit, but also his team's really bad, so I don't know. Goleys, you know? Like, you can tell me this guy wins three Vezna's by the time he retires. I go, sure, yeah, he seems like he has all the skill in the world. Whether the sharks can help him actually, like, meet that level.

Three may be asking a lot. That gets you into, like, Connor Hellebuck territory, I guess. But, yeah, anyway. What's next in the rebuild is the final question for the sharks? The hard part, which is. Yep. Perfectly stated. A million times.

This is the tough part. Yep. Can Mason Marchment help Seattle grind out more goals? Oh, God. That's what they're opening with, man. That's their opening salvo. So, yes, that's a team that can, he could absolutely step into a spot probably higher in the lineup

than just about anywhere else. Put it that way. Yep. Will special teams improve? They were pretty bad. last year. Yeah. I don't think the power play can.

They don't. Yeah, I mean, new coach, new, yes, it can. It had better. Yep. Can other goalies than Joey Decord deliver wins? For what you're paying them? The answer ought to be yes, but, you know. I mean, we can give up on Gru Bauer.

I think that's safe to say. Who's the other guy? I think, is that not it? I don't think they have a third goalie like that's a name anymore. Okay. I'm going to scroll down here and have a look. You know what? It seems like they signed Matt Murray to be their number three.

I don't remember that happening. I'll take their word for it. Yeah, neither do I. Which Matt Murray? The old one, the guy from the Leafs. Yeah, okay. Not the Matt Marie who, you know, Dallas guy still, I think. Anyway.

St. Louis, can they use the game seven loss to Winnipeg Jets as motivation? No, that's... No, of course not. Stupid question. Waste of a three questions. Yeah. Does having Jim Montgomery as coach for the long term give them a better outlook? Yes.

Yeah. Very much so. No shit. Finally, can Logan Mayu become a top four defense, the top four defensemen they've been looking for? Not this year, I don't think. I feel like that would be a... I think all things are possible with Jim Montgomery as the coach. Like, he can just be like, this is exactly how you have to play.

And Logan Mayhew goes, got it, no problem, and goes out there and does it. But... And also, I don't think there's anybody preventing him from getting into the top four. but can he be the one they're looking for? I would say not like you said, not this year. Tampa, how does Tampa Bay measure up against Florida? Hopefully better than they did in... No shit.

...playoffs, because... Yeah. Yeah. But I would say probably better than they get credit for. I think people are going to overcorrect on the playoffs and sleep maybe a little bit on the lightning. Perfectly stated. that's that's and here and the follow-up question of that i think is related can the lightning

maintain their high level of offense they scored a ton of goals last year and they added like kind of halfway through the year to the offense and then they didn't lose anybody this summer so i think the answer has to be yes they have an awesome group man up front the blue lines where you where you start to ask some questions but uh finally the the last one here is will Connor Geeky emerge as a regular? I'm going to look up how many goals he had or how many games he got last year. Can't be that many, I wouldn't think. 52.

I think you're already regular if you play 52 games. So. Yeah. They need him to put up more points than 8, 6, 14, but maybe also they don't because they have all the other guys to score. But yeah, I think he's a regular player for them already. So Toronto, Sean, I hate to do this to you. How will the Maple Leafs replace 102 points of Mitch Marner, who is now with the Vegas Golden Knights? I don't know why they needed to throw that last part in.

We all know that. Yeah. Thanks for the, thanks for that. They, the plan seems to be, you know, obviously through a mix of, uh, Matthew, nigh's improving and then a whole. bunch of question mark, question mark, profit. I don't think they have a plan, and I don't think most teams could replace that level of offense. So they cannot is the answer.

Yeah, I think that's right. But I think this is related. Can Captain Austin Matthews bounce back from an injury plague 24-25 season? Yeah, you would certainly hope so. We never did find out specifically what injuries he had, and he does seem to love mystery injuries that kind of crop up and then linger. But, yeah, I feel like barring serious, significant injury last year was pretty close to the floor. So yes, you can.

Yep. And finally, this is another great one. Is this the year Nick Robertson takes the next step? God. The next step out the door? Out the door is the exact correct. Or the next step to not getting, you know, being able to play more than three games in a row without. I don't, I think Nick Robertson can be a good player somewhere.

I am running out of hope it's going to be in Toronto. Mm-hmm. Utah, can Logan Cooley and Dylan Gunther take another step? Yes. Sure. Yep, good players. How do they maintain the highs and minimize the lows? That feels like a question they just had like if you can't think of a third question.

I'll say this. I think first of all, the answer is you have the coach tell the guys, why don't you go out there and shoot 23%. That's a great way to maintain the highs. Minimize the lows, you tell the goalies, why don't you try stopping like 92% of the pucks? This is perfect coaching ideas for me. But the answer is you round out the depth of the roster.

They were pretty good when the top guys were on the ice and they were pretty bad when the guys who weren't the top guys were on the ice. And the question, this is, again, related. How does J.J. Peturka fit in with the core? This is what the whole question is. Did they goof up on this trade? And I don't know the answer yet. Yep. Vancouver can

Alias Pedersen bounce back as a number one center? I think he can. This is a pro-Peterson podcast. You gotta see it. Yeah, it's pro, but it's also oh boy, he better. Yep.

That is because if not, we're into move over Jonathan Hubertoe on the bad contract conversation. Yeah, well, and again, question two ties right into question one. Will Philip Heed will be the second line center?

Yeah. I think just like mathematically, that's how it works out. I don't see two centers on this roster or any centers on this roster besides him that I would put ahead of him in the lineup. So, you know, he kind of, by default has to be. And I don't know what that says about the Vancouver Canucks, but I'm not like super confident, you know. Finally, can a top tandem help Demko stay healthy? Because now they have Kevin Lankin and that's who they went out this summer. Top tandem?

Like, yeah, I mean, fewer games is going to keep your goal healthy. I don't know if I... Healthier. Healthier. I don't know if it helps you getting your money's worth out of the two guys you got. But, yeah. Yeah. Nine and a half million dollars for Thatcher Demko and Kempko and Kempke.

Evan Lankinen. That's tough. Will Mitch Marner click with Jack Eichael? I suspect that he will. Yeah, my prediction is very strongly. Yes, he will. The real question here is the second one they get to. How will the defense adjust without Alex Petrangelo?

Yeah, that's probably by trading for Kelmacar. Yeah, they got the horses for sure. Everybody seems to think, by the way, that they're going to be the team that trades for Rasmus Anderson, which I guess we didn't talk about that in the first half. Calgary defenseman Rasmus Anderson, they asked Michael Backland about, you know, what's going on with that?

Didn't he request a trade or something? And Michael Backland's like, yeah, it's pretty obvious he's getting traded. So I don't know. It's just a matter of time, I guess. When your captain is saying it's obvious a guy's getting traded, he's getting traded. But listen to this defense for them. Theodore Hannafin, McNabb, White Cloud, Lozahn, Hutton, Corsack.

That's a pretty good seven, even without your best defenseman, you know? So I think they should be fine, but they'll be worse, you know, especially if you had. But if you add Anderson to the mix, you know, it kind of boosts the bottom. I don't know, whatever. Is the goaltending strong enough with Aiden Hill and Akira Schmidt as your goalies? Yeah, I mean, it mostly has been. Obviously, you know, Aiden Hill won them a cup, so you got to think they feel okay about it. But, yeah, they're, I don't know how many teams they have a big goaltending edge on,

but I think it's good enough. Yeah, good enough is strong enough is how they phrased it, and that's exactly perfect for them. Yep. Washington, will this be Alex Ovechkin's final NHL season? I probably not, but certainly possible. I think he's going for a thousand goals. Okay.

And what does he need to get there right now? He needs 103. So I think the answer is no. Even if he puts up another 50, I think the answer is no. I think he wants a thousand goals. And I think that's the noblest goal you could possibly have. Fuck it. I'm getting to four digits is such a, like, sick attitude to have to me.

You know what I mean? So I hope that's his attitude, and I hope he does it. I think this is not his final season. Is Connor McMichael the answer to the third line problem? Okay. Do they have a big third line problem? Yeah, sure. He could be that guy.

I like him well enough. He had, let's put it this way. He had 57 points last year. Yeah. He's pretty good. If a guy with 57 points is on your third line, you're in a really good shape. Put it to you that way. Finally, does the Capitals have enough depth at wing?

I don't necessarily think they do, but I'm kind of, I'm trying to get out of the doubting the Capitol's business. Yeah. Yeah. To me, it depends on how much of an impact Ryan Leonard has. You know what I mean? Like, if he's, if he's as advertised and kind of what he was late last year, I think, I think you're kind of once again worrying about like, is our third line wing, our right wing, like, is he going to put up 40 points this year?

At which point you don't have a wing depth problem. But there you go. finally Winnipeg how will they make up for the loss of Nikolai Eilers? I'm not completely convinced that they will. That is my answer as well. That's a tough guy to replace, but yeah. Which is not to say it's going to be disastrous, but that's a tough guy to replace internally. There was a story might have been on NHL.com.

I don't remember now. But it was like, the Jets are confident that their power play can be as good as it was last year. And it's the penalty kill that might be an issue. And it's like, do you know what their all-time rank on the power play was last year? Like, whatever, they ran at like 29% or something. How many teams in the history of the NHL, since they started tracking power play percentages, had a better power play percentage than the Jets last season? In the history of the league.

10, 20? seven. Oh, okay. I'm going to say that's a problem for them. Yeah. Try to do that again for sure. What impact will Jonathan Taves have? I think he's going to be fine on the third line or very good on the fourth line if he can stay healthy.

Yeah. So, I mean, I think he'll have an impact. I think it was a great signing. Let's not get crazy on what it's going to mean. Here's a question. Was it a great signing? Yeah. Okay.

I'll take your word for it. A local guy comes home. You're rolling the dice. A leader guy with cup rings come into your room. I'll take that. They're not paying him a huge chunk of money. It's $5 million. For a guy who hasn't played in the league in two and a half,

something like that? Like a long time. Yeah, but if he doesn't, I mean, if he can't play, then it's not $5 million. I guess that. Well, let me, I'm sorry. I don't think, I don't think, that's $5 million in performance bonuses. Yeah. I don't think Jonathan Taves is the sort of guy who's going to get there and not have his legs and just ride out the season to cash checks.

I think he's the sort of guy that, you know, we used to see this back in the day more where if it's not there in November, he just walks. Just thanks. I hope for, you know, I hope for the Jets sake that's true. But I, I, if I'm Jonathan Taze, I have five million reasons to get to like 60 games. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And then finally, can Connor Hallibuck put together another MVP season and carry it into the playoffs? Sure, how many, how many guys won MVP two years in a row?

Not a lot. Oh, that's interesting. The goalie hasn't done it since Hasick. Yeah, he can be the best goal in the league again. The playoff question is the way. That was actually really nicely done, how they phrased that. I think this is literally the best question anybody asked in this entire run. That's just a great way to say, like, can Connor Hallibuck not choke in the playoffs, but they made it sound nice.

But also. Let's keep in mind, the Jets needed an unbelievable powerplay, the eighth best power play in the history of the league, and their goalie to be an MVP winner in a league where that does not happen. That happens once a decade. And everybody was like, this is a very, very, very good team. And then they got worse over the summer. I think, look, obviously I think Connor Hellebuck is a Hall of Fame. the best goalie on the planet, blah, blah, blah. The idea that you could have two back-to-back seasons and lose-eelers and your big signing in the summer is only a guy who hasn't really played in two years,

I think we're prime for a Jets step back. But that having been said, what does it really look like? Their regular season's kind of more middling, and then they lose in the first or second round of the playoffs? Well, fucking welcome to the Jets, historically speaking. You know what I mean? So I think I think the answer to this question is no, but that's not necessarily

Hella Buck's fault. He won't be the MVP this year because almost nobody goes back to back MVP's. And it almost, it definitely doesn't happen in like the capier very much at all, right? If any, has anybody done it?

McDavid done it? I'm not. If it's not McDavid, For some reason the answer Like the words Ovechkin In the like early 2000s Early to mid 2000s It's kind of rattling around in my head

I think they were I think he did it Let's see here I'm pulling it up now McDavid has not won it two years in a row Ovechkin won it in 08 and 09 So Ovechkin's the only one

And before that as you said was Hasick And before that was a young man named Wayne Gretzky. So can Connor Helen Buck join the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Dominic Haskich, and Wayne Gretzky? So the greatest goal scorer ever, the greatest player ever, and the greatest goalie ever? I'm going to say he can't do it. Maybe I'm fucking crazy. Put it at 40%.

Yeah. And then carry it into the playoffs. Well, again, the Jets are worse. So, you know, that's not helping my confidence. But that's it. We did all the questions. 96 questions. That's not bad for an early September podcast.

And so, why don't you hit them with the plugs and let's get the hell out of here? You can find me at the athletic. No podcast for a little while, but I get a piece going up at some point this week that is fun. It is very off-seasony, let's just say. I like that. I like that. So, yeah. When it's fun, I'm having fun.

And then for me, elite prospects.com, we are currently running down. Again, we, I have nothing to do with this. The good people of elite prospects are currently running down the top, you know, all the top prospect pools for every team in the league. And, you know, I don't have it in front of me here, but let's just say I know who number one is. So, you know. I'm not going to reveal that here today, but like this is again, you know, the good shit, the shit you tune in for over Elite Prospects. And then I'll be continuing my, my NHL coverage for, you know, as training camps get going.

And I'm starting this week on all my college hockey preview stuff. It's going to be the craziest and most important year in college hockey history, maybe. There's going to be all kinds of CHL guys in that. there. How about this, Sean? You know how you're not allowed to have played professional hockey if you, uh, if you're a college player? Mm-hmm. Bowling Green, or no, I'm sorry, it was Bimigi. Just the other day, Bimigi announced that their, uh, that their roster had three players on it who played in the ECHL last season. Oops. And not really clear why that's being allowed. And even like in the article, Bimidgee was like, yeah, we ran it through the clearinghouse. and they said these guys were eligible, so they're on our team.

One of them played in the AHL last season. I don't know how this is. It's fine. So the reason I said Bowling Green was a few years ago. They had this kid, Austin Swankler, who had played a full season in the OHL and got through the clearinghouse. And then people asked the NCAA about it. They were like, so what happened was we fucked up, and that actually doesn't count.

That's not precedent. And so that, yeah. And so I have to imagine that's what's going to happen here. I have to imagine that. But also it's like three guys? One of whom played in the American hockey league, like one or two games or whatever. But like played in the AHL on a pro contract last year. Or one of the guys that I don't know, whatever it is.

But very strange days in college hockey, I'll tell you. Um, so, so, you know, keep an eye out for all that coming later in September and into early October, obviously. And then, uh, go to patreon.com slash puck soup, all kinds of bonus episodes over there, including this month, TBD on the date, but we will be doing the live call and show on the Discord where, uh, listeners can, can play games and ask us questions and all that kind of thing live. Pretty cool. Um, so yeah, that's it for us. Uh, we'll be back. two, three weeks is our next main line episode. But once we come back with that one, we're just doing it for the whole rest of the season. So stay tuned for that.

I don't have dates on that. That's all TBD, but that's coming up later this month too. Thanks for listening. Have a good one. Bye-bye. Bye.