Puck Soup - Deadline Breakdown

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

With Sean on vacation, Ryan brings on Rachel Doerrie to discuss the ins and outs of the trade deadline. Sponsored by Mint Mobile (mintmobile.com/puck)

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. And, well, look, folks, I'm just going to tell it to you straight. Sean's on vacation this week. I can't get a hold of this guy. And because of that and because of some weird scheduling stuff that happened, I have Rachel Dory later in the show to talk about some trade stuff that you might have heard about in the last little while here since we recorded the last episode.

We'll break down all the, you know, all the teams and that kind of thing. after the deadline and where we think everything stands. But right now, there's just two kind of pieces of news that I'm going to get to first and give you my thoughts on, all that sort of thing. One is the Nathan McKinnon, what do you want to call it? Like, milestone he reached 1,000 points. I saw the stat where he's the first player from his class to reach a, his draft class, to reach a thousand points, and the next closest guy is like under 800.

This is a ridiculously good player. He's so sick. And I got to tell you, watching that game last night, I'll be honest, half watching that game last night, I was flipping around to some other games as well. But half watching that game last night, when they waved off that goal, that would have given him his thousandth play,

that would have been an assist. For an offside, I thought to myself, I hope that the next. next one also gets reviewed and called back because that might do it for for goal review in the NHL. We're just going to stop. I'll tell you, we've said this before about Alex Ovechkin. Once they, once they like review one or two record tying, record breaking goals and either do or

don't call it back. I just think the NHL is like, you're not allowed to review those goals. I think that's ultimately what the kind of hush-hush-eathe. is going to be maybe. But if we want to kill goal review, this is how we do it. We just get, like, important goals called back a couple of times in a short time span, and we're locked in. That's all I really had to say, again, Nathan McKinnon Rocks, great player. It's one of those things where him getting to a thousand points is a little surprising because you're both like, wow, how do he get there that fast?

And didn't he already do that? you know, because he scores so much, he's awesome. But again, if he's your MVP, you know, I don't know what sport you're watching. The other thing to really quickly touch on here is Aaron Ekblad, tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, suspended 20 games, which I believe knocks him out of the first two of the playoffs, if I'm doing the math correctly here. So yeah, obviously maybe a little bit of a surprise.

I don't want to get into, you know, what did Florida know and when did they know what kind of conspiracy theory stuff? But it does make that Seth Jones trade look pretty prescient. You know, again, they just needed a defenseman. I think at the end of the day, I don't know that Eckblad was really moving the needle for them in the way he used to. But, you know, I did see some, like, why was it only 20 games? Basically, it's in the CBA, 20 games for your first defense. I think it's 60 for your second and lifetime ban for your third. Within, like, minutes of this coming out, Aaron Eckblatt had a statement out that said, and I'll just quote it here,

the news that I had failed a random drug test was a shock. Ultimately, I made a mistake by taking something to help me recover from recent injuries without first checking with proper medical and team personnel. So I think this, all these supplements and things like that, I don't know enough about them, but I, from the way people talk about them when they test positive for performance enhancing drugs or whatever, substances, it seems like just some of them have this kind of thing in them. I'm not like, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say like, Aaron Eckblad knowingly took

this. I would imagine that he didn't because, you know, they test for the romance and dancing drugs in the NHL. Why would you do it mid-season or whatever? It doesn't make any sense that this would be anything but a mistake. Nonetheless, like, I think he's just kind of like, yeah, I fucked up. I don't know what you want me to say. He'll take his 20-game suspension. The Panthers will miss him, although, again, not to the extent that maybe they would have, you know, two, three, four years ago.

but still a useful player for them. And it's too bad for kind of all involved, I think you would say. I don't really have any other take on it besides that. It's the way it goes. Yeah, I guess that's it. Why don't we now go to my conversation with Rachel Dory, where we'll just talk about, you know, team by team kind of, how the trade deadline worked out,

what we think is going to happen down the, stretch how this affects the playoffs, et cetera, et cetera. Stay tuned. Hey, everyone. So it's me. It's Rachel Dory from Puck Social and Betelitics. Did I get those in the right order? Or should I?

You nailed it. You're nailing it, Lambert. Wow. Look at you go. I feel so good. I, you know, whenever there's a, whenever there's like a guest co-host, I'm always so unmoored. You know what I mean? Yes.

So we're here. the timing couldn't be better for certain members of this podcast to go on vacation. We're a few days out from the trade deadline, and we're just going to go through basically all the teams that made big moves. I don't have a lot to say about, you know, the Philadelphia Flyers or whatever, what their plans are, just as a for example. And the teams that didn't make moves that ought to have made moves? Well, we can certainly, we can certainly talk about them. But, like, you know, if there are teams that, like, made minor trades or whatever. Are you saying you don't want to talk about the sharks, Ryan?

Yeah, what is there to say, right? Like the St. Louis Blues, too, we didn't do shit. Okay, great. That's cool. I get it. Montreal, who cares? Well, with, you know what, okay, let's get those two out of the way first. Montreal and St. Louis, I get it.

They're like around the playoff bubble, but they don't want to give up anything. And because they're around it, they don't want to. sell anything either. Makes perfect sense to me. I'm not mad about that. You know, what can you say, really? Exactly. You know what? Suzuki asked Kent Hughes not to do anything and Kent Hughes said earn it. And then the Canadians won six straight, so he didn't do anything. He kept his part of the They earned it. Okay. Yeah. Asked and answered, right? Like, we said, we said we would help you out in some way if you earned it. You won six straight. Thank you. Everybody, everybody's doing their jobs here, you know?

So let's start in what I think has to be the most compelling area of all this, the Atlantic Division, where the top three teams and maybe even the fourth team, if you really want to wiggle around, stretch the definition a little bit, kind of went crazy, in my opinion. Which team in the Atlantic do you want to start with? Doesn't matter to me. I feel like we have to start with Florida, and they're uniting of the ultimate rat line.

Yeah. So, I mean, here's the interesting thing. I wouldn't even say that's the biggest trade Florida made in the last little while here. But, you know, what could you possibly say otherwise? Like, they went out, they got Brad Marsh and captain of the team. Here's the thing. They mentally broke the Bruins last year, right? The Bruins were like, we got this sewn up.

We got this sewn up. the Florida Panthers, we're like, we're actually way better than you. Go fuck yourselves. And also, at the end of this, we're taking your captain. Like, you know, nine months from now, he's going to be on our team. It's crazy. Your thoughts on Brad Marshand going to the Florida Panthers. Yeah, I mean, first of all, not enough of a return for your captain and cultural leader, I think.

But I also, I look at, so when you look at the Bruins and you look at the Bruins and you you think of all of the change that has left that locker room in the past couple of years, starting from about Chara, then you bergeron, Khraijin. Now you have Marshan. But I think it came out that Marchand went to the Bruins, not his agent, not anyone. Brad went into Don Sweeney's office and said, I want to get this done. I'm willing to compromise. Are you willing to compromise? And I think any normal person looks at that and goes, well, how do you get deals done? You both compromise on things. And while I understand that you wouldn't do that, generally speaking, we're talking about

the heart and soul of your team, a leader, and he's willing to bend, and you're just like, nope, see ya, we're going to trade you for pennies on the dollar to our arch rival, who's beaten us twice in the playoffs of late. It just, I could see why Bruins fans are super upset about how that played out. But amazing for Florida. Like, if he comes back and Paul Maurice is a chaos king and gives us Matthew Kachuk, Sam Bennett, and Brad Marchand, like, that's going to be the murder line. Murder is legal when they play. That's right.

It's the purge line. All crimes are legal when they're on the ice. So here's the thing. I see everyone saying, oh, they gave them away for pennies on the dollar. First of all, I saw this on Twitter this morning. I don't know who said it or where it came from. But a friend of mine quote tweeted it and was like, okay, it seems like the A.A.V. Marshand wanted on a two or three year deal was $7.5 million.

And he's 36 years old. You know what I mean? That's not great. So like, is the, what wasn't the thing? that Don Sweeney said was like we didn't ask him to take a pay cut. Yeah, they said we didn't ask him to take a pay cut, but I think when you look at it in the lens of he's been underpaid for his entire Bruins career, an extra million dollars when the cap is going where it's going might not be the, like.

I'll say this. I get why both sides were like, we got to walk away from this then. Right. In that case. Like, I don't want to be paying a guy who's 39 years old, seven and a half million dollars against the cap. I don't know. I don't, you know, like, we're talking about Sydney.

Crosby. He wanted, you know, if Sidney Crosby was like, give me $10 million, it's like, yes, you're Sidney Crosby. And I'm talking two, three years from now. It's like, yes, you're Sidney Crosby. But man, like even, I understand the caps going up, but that's a lot of fucking money, man. Yeah. Like, that's a bit aggressive. If he would have just said, like, I'll take what I'm making now and Boston walked away, then I'd be like, okay, what are you doing? A million percent. But, but he wants. He wanted whatever. I'm doing the math really quickly here, like 16, 17% more than he makes right now.

And it's like, yeah, he's underpaid, but like, it's not the Bruins job to like make you whole on the back end of this. You know what I mean? Like they're trying to. Here's the thing. Are they going to be competitive next year? Probably not. So what's the difference at the end of the day? I get all those arguments.

But with that having been said, we're talking about like the return is so low. It's a second that can become a first. If this was framed as like a first, first and foremost, like, you know, I think there's been some confusion about what the details of what makes it a first are. I think it's he's going to play 50% of their playoff games. And they have to make the conference final. Okay. So it's like, all right. If Florida wins the division, which is likely at this point, I think.

think is fair. I would agree. Yep. Then they obviously have an easier first round matchup than whatever, like whoever finishes second and third in the Atlantic and in the central is going to be an all-out war. But I think when you look at it, if Florida finishes first in the division, they'll have an easier matchup in the first round. And then, yeah, the second round, they're going to end up playing one of Tampa or Toronto. And that is going to be a nightmare. But for both for all for all involved. Oh yeah.

Whoever makes the conference final from the Atlantic might be dead by the time they get there. A million percent. Yeah. So I mean, it's not a foregone conclusion that they got a first round pick for their captain. Like I think I well again. You're going to do a second. You're like, you got to give me a prospect. Like you have to.

I. Again, my thing is he's not going to play in the regular season it looks like. Right? Or at least he's not going to play for another month. And so that alone decreases his value. He's 37 years old or 30, I think he's 36 right now. That alone decreases his value. And like, you know, I understand it's a seller's market.

But the third thing is, Brad Marchand was like, I know that you don't, like, I don't have control over where I go necessarily. He had, I think, a 12-team no trade list. Yeah, but they basically said to him, like, like, we will trade you where you want to go. Right. And so... Like, I want to go to Florida. They were like, all right.

Yeah. And so, again, that necessarily limits what the return's going to be. Yeah. If he wants to go to one team, Florida could have been like seventh or nothing. Go fuck yourselves. Like, what do we care? You know? But they wanted to get the deal done.

They got the player. That's awesome for them. I, you know, this is the classic thing. I see why everyone's where they're at with all of this. The Bruins fans, the organization, Marshan, the Panthers. I think everybody's right to feel how they feel about this. But I personally, I totally get. This is what bad teams do in the NHL.

They sell their players. Well, and it's crazy because it's like the Bruins, if you look at it, if Jeremy Swamen got hot and they kept those players, like conceivably they could squeak in. But they made the decision somehow. I don't know who convinced. the Jacobs family that it was a good idea to sell, but kudos to them. They're a great salesperson. Yeah, they're exactly right to do it.

Vancouver needs to hire that person is what needs to happen. But like now it's going to speed it up. Fraser Minton is going to play next year, right? You've got a bunch of first round picks. And if you're the Bruins, we see what first round picks are valued at. What's not to say that this summer they don't trade those first for NHL-ready prospects? Totally. Right?

Could they trade a first to Buffalo for a guy like J.J. Poturka? Right? Something, like, I would not necessarily do that, but I'm saying an example of, like, a young player that has proven they can play in the national hockey league. Sure. Right? You, when you accrue these types of assets, you can then flip them to get better

immediately, depending on, yeah, like, depending on what teams want to do. And so good on the Bruins for recognizing Carlo, Coil, Martian, and parlaying them into some really decent assets. And plus, they got Casey Middlestadt, CUP City next year, you know? Plan the fucking parade. When you think of Boston Bruins, you think Casey Middlestad. One of the most Bruins forward players imaginable. I don't really get it with him, but like with them acquiring him.

He's fine. I think he's, frankly, I kind of think he's maybe an upgrade on Charlie Coyle. I think there's a distinct possibility. Yeah. It's not a for sure thing, but he's signed for two years beyond this one. That's important to the bruce. It all makes sense what the Bruins did to me. Yes.

They get probably like a B plus for me on the deadline. Yeah, I didn't do like team by team, but I graded every trade on elite prospects. You can go read every grade I did. I read it. Well, thank you. I wasn't saying you personally. I was saying you like to the listener. You, the listener can go.

I recommend that you read it because it's fantastic analysis. Wow. I didn't hear you say that. That's how I get invited back on the show. That's right. But yeah, you know, the Bruins did right by everybody. And a, kudos to the penguins for jumping in on the Brandon Carlo trade, getting two guys who are named Connor, you know?

Yeah. And I think Florida also getting Seth Jones. And like, Seth Jones at $9.5 million, absolutely no thank you. Seth Jones at $6.5. Yes, please. I like that. Well, especially, yeah. I think he's still a very capable top four defenseman.

And now, like, he's playing behind a guy like Gustav Forrest. He's like, when Aaron Eckblad returns from his suspension, he'll be playing behind Aaron Eckblad. Like, when you are further down on the depth chart, and you're, we talk about this all the time. And I hear you and Sean talk about it. When you're slotted correctly in the lineup, it makes a big difference. Yeah. And now Seth Jones is slotted correctly.

And a second pairing defenseman making $6.5 million with the way the cap is going is exactly what you want. I think it's seven. I think it's seven and change. I don't think it's six. But regardless, you know, they're just going to get more value out of him for bringing the A. AV down and using him in a way that he's not playing top competition 26 minutes a night or whatever. Yeah, and then it like worked for Chicago too. Like they got a legit NHL goaltender, Spencer Knight.

Right? So, well, I'm a little more wait and see on that, especially because now he's going to not be playing behind the Florida Panthers. Fair. But yeah, I, I like that trade. But they didn't get like a bag of magic beans. Totally, totally. Let's do Tampa real quick. Obviously, a little different what their situation was, but they go out.

They get Yanny Gord and Oliver Bjork Strand. Works for me. I think that's a nice upgrade for them. Just adding forward depth to a team that didn't really need a lot of help, it seems like. Yeah, I think one of the best lines of the trade deadline was Julian Breezebois saying, I'd rather have good hockey players than a bank of draft picks. And it's like, yeah, when you're a contender, no one cares about the draft picks because they're not helping you in your contending window.

So I like that approach. And yeah, is it fantastic that you gave up like six picks for Tanner Genoa and two firsts for Yanni Gordon, Oliver Björstrand? Yeah, it's probably not fantastic. but they've won cups and if these guys help them win again no one cares about the draft picks and the other thing is is when you're making acquisitions

at the deadline and when we talk about Toronto we'll get to this but part of the calculation is how will this guy fit or will he fit into what we're doing you don't have that question with Yanni Gord because you already know the familiarity is there yeah of course so I like I like exactly what Tampa Bit did

and I think Oliver Bjork Strand might be one of the most underappreciated middle six players in the national hockey league. He's a classic guy. He's going to score 35 goals for them next year because he's signed beyond this season. That's the other thing to say. He's going to score 35 goals for them next year, just like Brandon Hagel. You know, like he's just going to be another one of these fucking guys that, like, Tampa's like, oh, no, we 100% know how to use this guy. It's fine. Yeah, John Cooper just magically turning dudes that were like 15 goal scores.

into 35 goals course. Yep. All right, cool. Yeah. It's happened a million times. It'll happen a million more before they're out of their, like, what do you want to say? Like, their competitive window. So I think that's really the only thing they did other than maybe move some depth around,

if I'm remembering right. But that was the notable thing that they did. Yeah, for sure. So, yeah, let's do Toronto real quick. They get Scott Lott and they get Brandon Carlo. They nearly get Miko Randen and in the process light the entire city on fire with the Mitch Martin discourse. Thank you. Yeah, we'll circle back to that.

Let's do the guys they did add first. And then, you know, that's a whole different, a whole different discussion, I think. But the guys they did add, perfectly good players. I think they overpaid for kind of both of them, quite frankly. and I don't know, especially because how much Tampa and Florida beefed up, I don't know that this is really moving the needle for them. You know what I mean? So I'm kind of, if I'm grading them for the whole team, they definitely got better,

but marginally how much better did they get? I'm giving them a C plus probably for this deadline. Yeah, like I think I look at it. And the difference between what like Florida and Tampa, did and what Toronto did is like both of the guys that they acquired are long term. So if you look at Toronto's blue line now, every single top six guy that they have is locked up for the next two seasons after this one. So like you have to be happy with the continuity there. And I am. And I also, I think Brandon Carlo, like Mike Johnson kind of said it best.

Brandon Carlo is one of the best penalty killing defensemen in the National Hockey League. And he is by the numbers. And when Chris Tanev is not on the. guys, I watch, unfortunately, every single Toronto Maple Leafs game. I wouldn't do that if I were you. If I also, now because I'm marrying a Rangers fan, have to watch the Rangers too. So my brain cells are really taking a hit here, Lambert. Woof. But what I notice is when Chris Tannove isn't on the ice, it is not cute for the penalty

kill. Now with Brandon Carlo there, you have two pairings that you could throw out and be like, kill this penalty. So I think that was positive. I would agree with you, like, giving up Fraser Minton, I was like, oh, I don't love that. But I get that you had to. They didn't want to give up Easton Cowan because Easton Cowan is the type of player that would be perfect in Boston. And you just know he would haunt the Leafs.

Now, I'm fully prepared to say Fraser Minton is going to score a series winning goal against the Leaf at some point. Can't wait. But I do like that they lock. They got guys that are locked up, and by all accounts, Scott Lawton was eyeing Toronto anyways. So maybe they just got him a year early, and they'll be able to kind of extend him if he likes it here. But yeah, I agree with you. Like, if you look at what Florida did and what Tampa did, it's not the same, especially when you consider that given the rest of the narrative around the Toronto Maple Leafs, this should have been the all-in year. Yeah, I agree.

So, yeah, let's talk about the Marner for Rantinan thing. It seems like you have a lot to say, so fire away, I guess. I'm a little more muted on it, I guess, than a lot of the people. So if you look at the difference between Rantinan and Marner, Rantin didn't get the no-move clause, and Marner did. It is widely reported by like every insider in the game that Kyle Dubus, before Brendan Shanahan fired him, and before Mitch Marner's No Movement Clause kicked in,

that he wanted to trade Mitch because he believed that there needed to be a mix done and there was fear that Mitch would walk. Brendan Shanahan said, no, we're not trading him and you're fired. So that was Brendan Shanahan's decision. And now here we are in 2025, and Mitch Marner is asking for a Leon Drysidal money,

which is outrageous considering Leon Driesidal money, Dreisle is going to win the heart this year. And it's like... You shouldn't, but that's okay. I don't disagree with you. But what I'm saying is, is like, I tweeted and people got so angry at me. If Mitch Marner stays at, I'm not saying he has to take a discount, but just be a reasonable with what you're asking for, you will, he will be the last player to wear number 16 in

Toronto, right? And it's his negotiated right to walk to free agency. But it's also the fans right to voice. their displeasure with how he and his camp have handled the situation. So yes, Mitch Marner is more than entitled to not want to waive his no trade clause and to sign somewhere else for one zillion dollars. But the fans are also completely entitled to mercilessly boo him and make his life miserable every time he comes to Toronto. And so I think there's got to be some give and take there. And you know what? If Mitch Marner has a great

playoffs and he signs in Toronto, then everything's going to be honky dory and it's going to be fine. thing is, is like, I don't have an issue that he exercised his negotiated contract, right? But I also don't think you can turn around and tell Leafs fans, well, you're not allowed to be mad at him either. Well, I think, I think to me there's a difference between, like, being mad, which unavoidable when you're talking about, like, sports fans. Like, hey, act rationally 100% of the time. It's just, again, like, every Bruins fan I talked to this weekend, what are they fucking doing? They're selling. What the hell?

They're selling. They're a selling team. That's what selling teams do. You know, and you can disagree with it. Like I, like I said before, I get it with where Bruins fans are coming from. And same with, same with Toronto fans. But, like, they, am I right? tried to trade him.

They, they, they, the rant and thing was their idea. So, like, they go to him and they say, we want to trade you. How's that sound? And he goes, no, thanks. Like, there, you got to put some of it on,

on management there. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. Well, a lot of this is on Brendan Shanahan for not allowing the Leafs to avoid this mess two years ago. Right. Sure. Sure.

But let, let me, let me put this out there. Maybe this is a controversial opinion. I don't know. Because I... We love hot takes. This may or may not be. I think if you do Marner for Rantin and one for one, you are downgrading at that position.

I agree with you. Thank you. Because Marner is much better defensively and Marner is a play driver. Yep. Rantman, again... You know what you do get rid of? The fucking headache. Yeah, all the, all the ancillary stuff for sure.

For sure. Yeah. But no, for sure. So I get why the Leafs want to do it. This is maybe a guy they feel like they would have the ability to resign without, as you say, the headache of having to resign Mitch Marner at some point in the indeterminate future. I get why you would do that. But I don't, and it's so splashy. And like, it makes you feel like they're going for it in a way that like just Scott Lawton.

and Brandon Carlo don't. I get all that. But I think if we're talking about the Maple Leafs Cup chances this year, keeping Mitch Marner is the right thing to do. And again, we're talking about a competitive window. When are they, you know, five years from now? Are we talking about them the same way when Miko Ranton or perhaps Mitch Marner is in year four or five of this contract?

I think it's a different conversation we're having. So I get why Toronto wanted to do it. But for their sake, this year only, I think they should be kind of glad it didn't work out this way. Yeah, I completely agree that it would be a downgrade at the position. My only pushback would be if you look at Rantnan's numbers in the playoffs over the past three seasons and you look at Mitches, then it's technically an upgrade. grade because Mitch Marner goes, and I have been, unfortunately, for my heart health, at every single Leaf's home game in the playoffs for the last since end of COVID. And I cannot even tell you how many times I left there and wondered if Marner played that night. And I'm like, that's not good when you make

that amount of money. So I think, listen, if he resigns, and it is not at $14 million. If he resigns, If he resigns at an acceptable number after a good playoff performance, then bygones are going to be bygones and it's going to be fine. But if this guy goes, I want $15 million or $14 or $13,5, whatever, and then he ends up walking for nothing after saying, I want to be a leaf. Like he said earlier this week, I want to be a leaf. Toronto's where I want to be. And I look at that and I go, put your money where your mouth is, literally. Put the leaf's money where his mouth is. Exactly.

Like, how important is it for you to be a leaf? Yeah. I think that's a fair kind of assessment of that. It's like if you come out and say, I want to be a leaf. That's why I didn't wave because being a leaf is important to me. How important is it? Because actions over words. Yeah, well, it's the Martian thing.

I don't want to be traded. And the Bruins go, well, we don't want to give you $7.5 million. He's like, well, and fucking see you late. I don't know. What do you want for me? Yeah, and it's not like the Leafs are offering him like $8 million. Right. They're going to give him 12 and a half.

They'll give him whatever. He's currently the highest paid, paid winger in the league, right, Marner? Yes. Okay. So they'll give him some kind of a raise above what Rantin and got it. They'll give him 12.5 million bucks. And if he wants 14, frankly, you want to let someone else do that. at the end of the day.

Because then you could take that money and you could sign Sam Bennett and somebody else. Yeah, in theory. Yeah, for sure. In theory. Yeah. So let's, oh, Ottawa, real quick.

I kind of. Well, so I don't have a ton to say about it, except I, I kind of think that the ceiling on, like what Josh Norris provides right now is, kind of the ceiling for what you're going to get.

You know what I mean? Yes, I agree. He's hit his peak and he's not reliable enough to be in the lineup. Yeah, he's just hurt all the time, right? So to me, like, when you're talking about like, oh, the Buffalo thing, we got, we got a guy out of Buffalo. and we're just banking on Dylan Cousins is going to be able to take a step up

because he's out of Buffalo. That's a bet that's worked out for a lot of teams in the past several years. There's a lot of teams. Sam Reinhardt. Jack Eichel, Robin Lanner, like you can go down the fucking list. It's almost everybody.

It's almost everyone. We get you out of Buffalo. On the Kahn Smyth. And like immediately, too. It's not even like, oh, it takes them a few years. Within like three days, they're like, I'm 20% better. And Dylan Custis has two points in his first two games with the sense. Yeah.

And so the idea that like they're getting that like the magic like magic beans upgrade. I totally buy that. Yeah. But again, the ceiling is just Josh Norris. And so what you're doing is you're getting what you think is going to be Josh Norris, what what's cousin signed for it, like, till, like, the next six or seven years? Five years after this one. Okay.

So, like, you're getting basically what you hope is a healthier version of the guy you just traded away. And he's a little bit more rugged and physical. Like, he plays a more physical kind of game. Well, that just goes back to the durability, healthy thing. Yes, exactly. I think he's just a different style of player, but they're both second line centers. Like, the only production is not your first line. line center. And if he is, that's a very big problem.

Yeah, that's the Buffalo Sabres, you know? I don't really don't. I don't know why the Sabers did that going out and get. Again, maybe they're like, oh, you know, if we're hoping Cousons reaches what Josh Norris is, if we just get Josh Norris, that's an upgrade for us. In theory, yes, but also you're the Buffalo Sabers. You shave 20% off what he's able to do. And you're right back where you started. And the sabers were in talks. Like it's funny because the Canucks are kind of involved in all of this because they tried to get both cousins and Norris like in Aaliyos Petterson trades. And it's like, okay, you and I can sit here and say, Aalias Peterson's having a down year.

But we can both comfortably say we'd rather have Aleas Pedersen on our team in terms of the hockey player that he is. Well, at some point it becomes about the money. You know what I mean? But Buffalo is like $18 million dollars below the cap? Sure, but like, I totally get based on like, the vibes around Patterson are horrendous. And that's like not so I totally get why any team is like, I'm not interested. That makes sense to me. And I said it last week.

I'm a huge Pedersen guy when he's going. It's been a year and a half, two years since he's been going. A year. Yeah, it was All-Star break last year. So yeah, a year to bit. So. I don't know. It's not great.

You know, yeah. But I also, I did like Ottawa adding Fabian Zetterland, a guy that I think can, can give a little zip at the bottom of their lineup. I remember when we drafted him in New Jersey, like, we were fired up about it. And he was like a fifth round pick. But he was like one of those guys where we're like, he could be one of the players that we draft in the fifth round that actually makes it because of the different attributes that he has. Like, he has the tenacity. He can skate like the wind. even though he weighs 220 pounds.

He's physical. This is what I was going to say. People know I'm a big wrestling guy. I like wrestlers that have a certain shape to them. And that shape is 511, 220 pounds. You know what I mean? I like just like square guys. And so like Babian Zetterland wrestlers.

A million percent. Ideally, they're more like 6-4-280. that kind of a square guy, you know what I mean? But I'm not going to turn my nose up at a guy who's 5-11, 220. That's a big salute for me. Yeah. So I like that addition for them as well. But look, I don't know that they're solidifying their playoff spot so much as Detroit is like,

by all means, you can have ours. You know, the way things are going for the Red Wings, especially with who they added. They basically didn't add anybody at the end of the day. but let's move on to the to the metro where I hope we can move along a little more quickly. That took longer than I was hoping that it was. Scheduling wise, you know. So let's start, you got to start with the Carolina hurricanes. You have to.

Oh, man. It's crazy. But again, I'm going to put out what I think is maybe a controversial argument. And maybe you agree, maybe you don't. Hopefully you don't so that we have something to talk about. But my controversial take on the Carolina Hurricanes and what they did here at the deadline is if they had made the trade with Dallas back in January or whatever, and it was Marty Natchez.

And Jack Drury and I think a couple of second round picks. Yep. For Logan's stay covenant two first round picks, everyone's like 15 out of 10. That's a fucking home run. Yeah. Right? Am I wrong? No, you're not.

Okay. So we agree on that. But like, I think Carolina, I was interested. Like, there are a couple things. And it's not even about what Carolina did. It's about the aftermath. So number one, we talk. about the fact that like NHL GMs are fucking boring.

Like they don't do anything fun ever. Yeah, absolutely. But you know what? You've got to be a hashtag hockey man to get a job. Eric Tolski has shown us that the irony of the NHL is that the boldest and most courageous former players who are in front offices are not the boldest and most courageous managers. Sure. Because how many former player GMs would have made that?

would have had the stones to make the first Rattanan deal and then the second one. Well, right. I think, I agree with that. But I think what happens here is very vibes based. Because again, if it's just like a one, you know, take Miko Ranton out of the equation, the guys in, the guys out,

or the assets, I guess I should say, in and out. You're totally happy with that, especially because you have that understanding that, again, Marty Natchez, kind of doesn't want to resign in Carolina. or they don't maybe want to commit as much money as he wants. Whatever the, he just wasn't going to be there long term.

So you get out from under that risk. And Logan Stankovin sounds absolutely stoked to be. Yeah. And he's playing well in the, in the short time he's had there and all that. But like, no one's saying NACIS for Stankovin, like you're upgrading on the ice. But again, I would imagine the Carolina is going to be moving it. least one of those first round picks for more NHL help over the summer. That's just, I have to assume that that's what the plan is. Well, when you think about it, like,

if you decide you're going to package two first round picks and something, think about the player that you could potentially get for that kind of package. And here's what I also think happened based on, we're going to call it an educated guess. Okay. So the random deal with Dallas took so long to actually get finalized by the league. From what I heard, Central Registry didn't approve it until about 240. Yep. Earlier in the day, Carolina and Vancouver had had talks about Brock Besser because Carolina was going to try and acquire Besser to sign him because they had heard that

the rumor of Brock wanting like $7 by $8 million and they're like, yeah, we're fine with that. That's totally making sense to me. Yep. Right. But basically, so they called Vancouver or whatever. There was a conversation between them in Vancouver. And one of Dallas, one of the picks they were getting from Dallas was going to be on the table for Brock. That's a first round pin.

Sure. Right. And they told Vancouver, okay, like, we might not get this done until like the last minute. So you got to be ready to go kind of thing, which is exactly what ended up happening. So they call, I guess a phone call happens. And Vancouver effectively is like, no, we can't do the deal. We're not ready. And it's like, what do you mean you're not ready?

It's 10 to 3. Yeah, yeah. Like, we told you. So this nonsense of like they couldn't get a first round pick. Well, they could. But like, were you, like, what were you doing all day? You didn't make a fucking trade. Well, again, we'll get to, we'll get to Vancouver.

But I think we look at Carolina's deadline a lot differently, I think, if one of those first round picks ends up being Brock Besser. Because then it's like rant in and you get Besser and Stankovin and another first. Like I think. And Taylor Hall. Right? Yeah, who's been amazing under Rod. He's really good. He's been really good.

So I really like what Carolina did. I agree. But again, the vibes are so bad around it, especially. I'm sure you saw this yesterday. I feel like this has been under-discussed in the last 24 hours. But Rod Brindamore basically comes out and he's like, yeah, so like he got here and he basically said, I'm willing to sign with one of four teams and you're not. not one of them.

And so it was like, oh, shit. Yeah, so I had heard, I saw that, which is crazy. And then I had heard that he was willing to sign in Toronto. And the reason Carolina didn't want to do the deal is because they didn't want to trade him in conference unless they were getting a guy like Mitch Marner back, which I completely understand. You can't lose that trade. No, you can, right, for sure. Now, so it makes them look bad that they acquire. And I think both Rod Rindamore and like one of their players had said something along the lines of like, yeah, maybe they should have known about that four teams thing before we traded for them.

They just said that. It was Marty. It was Marty. It was Marty. Yeah. So it's like that all tracks for me. Yeah, for sure. But again, if the end result is Logan Stankhoven, Taylor Hall, two first round picks.

I think you're feeling pretty good about all of it, except again, it makes you kind of look like geeks. You know what I mean? Like, it makes you look like you didn't know what you were doing. Right. I just, I like the boldness. I would rather somebody try and do that than do, like, sit there with their dick in their hand, basically, and do nothing. Yes, absolutely. So, so to me, like, it's a net positive for Carolina.

Although, you know, they did get worse on the ice in making these days. deals for this season. I think maybe not like by a huge amount, but at the end of the day, like, Ranting and not wanting to sign there. And again, I kind of feel like maybe you dodge a little bit of a bullet because, you know, basically every time we've seen Rantaninan away from Nathan McKinnon, it's like, oh, he's kind of, he's good, but he's not like, that good. He's not a $12 million player all of a sudden.

And that's your calculation with Marner is we've seen Marner away from Matthews and he's still very good. Yep. Mm-hmm. And so there's a little bit, a little bit. Don't, don't, you know, don't misquote me here. There's a little bit to me of, of rantan and, again, kind of buyer beware. Yes. But we'll see with Dallas.

You know, maybe it all works out great. I can totally see that happening. There are so many guys on the Dallas Stars I really, really like. Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley being at the tip top of that list for me. Robertson. Yep. You know, hints. Like, there are a lot of good players that I really like there to one extent or another.

And like, I'm not saying I don't like Miko Ranton. Migo Ranton's awesome. But, like, eight years, $12 million for a guy who's going to be, like, $29. next year. A little scare. 12 million bucks. Did I say 20? I meant 12, of course.

So, yeah, that's Carolina. Washington didn't do anything. Yeah, the capitals didn't do anything. And I kind of get it. It just feels like they're playing with house money. They're not as good as the record would indicate. And I think they're smart enough as an organization to realize that, like, them going all in this year maybe is kind of, I don't want to say a fool's errand because that's not totally correct.

But what they have a little bit this year with them at least competing for the president's trophy, again, correct me if you disagree. It's a little bit fools gold where it's like they're good, they're not this good. Yeah, I think they're a good team. Like I probably have them second or third in the metro. I don't, I would not have them as a cup contender. and I think the reality is, is yes, is Washington having a special year? Absolutely.

Is that what anyone is talking about as it pertains to Washington right now? It's not even that. Like, yeah, of course the Ovechkin thing's going to, it's been hanging over this organization for like three years. So I get it. And he'd already have, like I was thinking about it. If he didn't have the lockout in his first season, the lockout in 2013 and then the broken leg this year,

we might be talking about a guy approaching a thousand goals. Well, so I have- Nuts. Yeah, so I have to correct this. This is like one of my things that I'm like, oh, actually, but like he was under contract for that, in Russia for that first year of the, uh, the 0405 lockout. He wouldn't have been here.

Um, with that having been said, you, you didn't say the two COVID seasons. That too. So that basically took like a quarter of a, or half a season from him, basically, that he would have had. Plus the almost half from, so they basically, he ended up missing a full season. The broken leg thing, I just kind of, I think that's the cost of doing business here in the NHL that long. The fact that he's never had a major injury before he's 39 years old or whatever is incredible. But that, if you want to say, add up all the years he might have. have missed otherwise or all the games he might have missed otherwise and put it into this year.

I think you're coming out basically one season short of what he otherwise would be. But you're right. He'd be closing it on a thousand goal. He'd be like at 950 or something right now. That's outrageous. Incredible. It's ridiculous, obviously. So I think that's like the.

And the Capitals did all their trading over the summer. They were wheeling and dealing like crazy. So like, Chikrin, fantastic. I thought that a couple, like I was last in line. They got, yes. Sandin has been really good for the. them. Good for them.

Dylan Strom has been incredible for them. Yep. And then they're bringing all the prospects, right? Like Connor McMichael, Hendricks, LaPierre, Alexi Protis. Like, Protois is having a crazy season. Like, they've done a really good job of bringing along their draft picks. And that's what you have to do to be good. Mm-hmm.

A million percent. And so, yeah, like, I'm fully in support of them not doing anything for all the reasons we just said. Perfect. The Rangers a little bit of a seller in a way. Well, they bought and then they sold. Like, they created for J.T. Miller. Right. And then it just kind of seemed like the tide ran out on them.

And they were like, oh, right. We, yeah, right. We're not actually that good. Yeah. I mean, they got Obey Kubel. And I think I saw someone frame it as, like, championship experience or whatever. and it's like, I guess that's true. I mean, technically that's true.

He did win a Stanley Cup. You can't say he didn't. But do you need championship experience for this year? You're not making the playoffs. Right. Well, I mean, but they also got Carson Sussi, which is like what, again, like he, I guess that's for next year. He's signed beyond this season. So they traded Ryan Lindgren.

Yeah. And basically effectively replaced him with Carson Sousy. Yeah. Why? Lindgren was going to want a bunch of money, I think. Okay. I think that's probably it. Like, honestly, I think it's a downgrade,

and I think Lindgren playing in a middle pairing role is greatly preferable to... The Rangers are just so confusing to me. They are. They don't know what they are. Or they do, but they can't admit it because of the ownership. It's a whole thing. You know, what can you?

you say. But one of those things where you're like, everyone knows what they are, but the one person that needs to know. It's very, it's, there are a couple of teams that are like that. Well, they all, so they also traded Riley Smith back to Vegas. They get a guy who was a first round pick not that long ago. Um, I, I don't super have a high opinion of Brendan Rasson's ceiling, but like he, he's fine, you know? Yeah.

I mean, he's a bag of magic beans at this point. Yeah, but also he's 23. I don't know how many beans that is. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's like at this point. Like, we're not really even sure that they're magical beans. They could just be beans. They could be.

You never know. Yeah, the Rangers are, they're confusing. The Island are. Yeah. The Island, I mean, it's the same story as always, right? Like, they sold a guy. And then they were like, yeah, but we really got to keep all these other 34-year-olds. And I will give Lou credit, he made a fantastic trade for Brock Nelson.

Like, I see Cal Richie play a lot because my stepmom has season tickets to the Oshua Generals. Okay. So I have seen Cal Richie play more than the average human being and getting a first-round pick. Like, I think it's a pending UFA that you weren't going to resign and you get Cal Richie is probably going to be their second, third line center. next year. Like, he's going to play for them next year. Yeah, I think that's right. And we get a first round pick, which is important.

I think they want to keep Kyle Paul Mary because he fits. But it's like, okay, you have Bo Horvett, you have Matthew Barzell, you have Simone Homestrum, who I actually, I'm a big fan of Simone Homestrum. Okay. I think that's fun. I can't muster a huge opinion one way or the other, but okay. Yeah. We all have our, we all have our prospects where we're like, that guy, that guy.

Guy kicks ass, though. I'm telling you. But I do like the Cal Richie. Like, I think in a vacuum, that move was one of the best moves at the deadline. I think it would have been even better if, like, what if they traded Paul Mary to Carolina for one of those third round picks? Like, that would have been nice. Or, like, I don't know, given what the, like, Anthony Bavillier got a second round pick. You're telling me Kyle Paul Mary couldn't have gotten a first?

I think that's what they were kind of holding out for. I have, you know, that's not even informed, that's pure speculation. But I would imagine that if you called, yeah, no, I agree. Another team that just like isn't going to make the playoffs, but at least they can pretend. This week's episode of Puck Soup is brought to you by Mint Mobile and folks, I don't know about you. But I like having my money being able to know where my money is, where it's going, what it's being used for, that kind of thing. Problem, as everybody, I think at this point knows, is that a, sell. phone companies also like getting your money and they know where it's going and maybe not so much you.

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Up front payment of $45 for a three-month, five-gigabyte plan required, equivalent to $15 a month. New customer offer for first three months only, then full-price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra, see Mint Mobile for details. The devils are interesting because, like, I feel like they didn't really have an appetite to do anything, and then their best forward and best offensemen, both got hurt long-term at the same time. they were like, well, fuck, now we're going to do something.

And so they did as little of something as possible. They got Daniel Sprong, which, hey, why not? They got Cody Glass, which, hey, why not? And who is the defenseman they got? They got a defenseman. They signed Kovacevic. That's what I'm thinking. They extended Kovac.

I loved that. Oh, no, Brian Dumolin. They got Brian Dumlin. But like, I loved that Kovacevic extension. I thought that was a really tidy piece of business. Maybe a few too many years for me. That's all. Yeah, that makes sense.

But, like, I was seeing Devils fans on Twitter being like, are you saying we're not a contender this year? I'm like, without Jack Hughes, yes, I'm absolutely saying you're not a contender this year. I think they said Hamilton's going to be back before the end of the season. Okay, good. And look, like, they're probably safe just. in terms of I can't see the Rangers making up like a five and a half point gap because they have a game in hand. Here's the thing, though.

The Rangers would absolutely make up that gap because they have the goalie. They have the goalie. That's it. Okay, but you and I could both agree, like, if you take the number one center off of pretty much every team that kind of removes them from cup contention, like, if I pulled up in Edmonton and said, Connor McDavid, not playing anymore. Yeah, you still have Leon Driesidal as your number one center and it's like, okay, but now who's your number two center? Oh, that seems like a fucking problem to me.

Like, yeah, no. And Jack Hughes is an awesome player. But if he's done for the year, which he is, that necessarily just means like maybe you can win in the first round. You probably almost certainly can't win in the second round. Although I think this is maybe the weakest division in the league. this year. So I agree. I agree with that.

I think it's certainly the Atlantic and the Central are like war zones. Yeah. The Metro and the Pacific are just kind of like eh. Well, the at least the Pacific has Connor McDavid in it. You know what I mean? Like that's what I just got. I'm a little scared of that if I'm if I'm anybody yet playing those guys. Um, so with all that having been said, uh, like I, I don't mind the devil's

adding, they didn't obviously give up a lot to do it, but it's kind of, it's kind of slapping the, the little, what are the, the donut tire on a car, you know what I mean? Yes. You can't drive it real far. It's giving like duct tape over a leak. Yeah. You can, you can use it to get somewhere. It just can't be that far.

Right. The Flyers and the penguins both sold to greater or lesser extent. I think we're on the same page that that all checks out. Columbus added a little bit, but not very much. And same thing. I think that's just like, yep, they're kind of playing with house money a little bit this year. And how do you not cheer for Columbus this year? Oh, absolutely.

Come on. Like, I heard somebody be like, I don't want Columbus to get in. I'd rather like, what was, I'd rather Ottawa get in. I'm like, literally. You're a sick fuck if you think that. Everyone wants Columbus to get in. And if you don't, go fuck yourself. Yeah, no.

I mean, it's an awesome story. It's not like they're like a bad team that's like doing PDO stuff. Like they're playing relatively well. And, you know, if they're getting a little bit of luck, like good for them. And Dean Everson's system is, it seems to be super conducive to a lot of the players that Columbus has. And I like it. Like, I mean, you look at the pop that Adam Fantilli's had this year. Awesome.

Unreal. Yeah, he does. And they have Caden Lindstrom. coming and like Denton Butaychuk looks really good. So I think basically what you have is you have Zach Werenski not only healthy but playing at a Norris caliber level and you have a bunch of their young guys taking a major step forward under a new coach. And it's like, how do you not root for that?

Yeah, I totally. And like especially because Sean Monaghan was having such a sick season to start the year and then he's out for the rest of the season. And like, it just makes you like them even more sympathetic somehow. It's crazy. So like I don't mind them doing nothing. Like, you know, roll with the guys you got. Like, I don't think anybody thinks they're a contender.

So, you know, just keep riding the vibes. Good for you. The Central, obviously, another fucking rock fight. Colorado added a ton in the lead up to the deadline. I obviously starting with the with the rant and trade um Martin Hs has been a sick fit next to Nathan McKinnon and I like just fit like a glove there yeah again like you I feel like you could put you and me on either side of McKinnon and he's getting us to like 45 50 points you know you could literally strap like Ryan Reeves there and he's probably pot in 20 goals

a million percent you know I always think about the the thing there was an old old NHL award show where Ryan Getslap was up for, you know, somewhat, like it was a finalist for something or other. And they, I think it was Kevin Weeks was like, hey, I heard a rumor that, that you tell new linemates go to the front of the net and I'll make you a millionaire. And Ryan, and Getslap had to be like, yeah, that's true. I have said that. How much money has Sidney Crosby made people? Like Pascal Dupree? A million percent.

Yeah. The number of guys where it's like you should legally have to give 10% of that money to Sidney Crosby at the end of ever season. Like you could put Mark Donk next to Nathan McKinnon and he's probably going to score. But I just think the style that Natchez plays. No, for sure. Yeah. It goes beyond that, obviously. I look at what Colorado did and heading into the deadline and look at the contenders and I'm like, they have the weakest center position.

Because behind Nathan McKinnon, it's a fucking mess. I wouldn't go quite that far, but like it is, you know, it's not like Quinn Hughes off the ice for Vancouver level bad, right? But, but like. It was not good. And now they go from that to Nathan McKinnon, Brock Nelson, Charlie Coil. Yeah, totally serviceable, totally workable. And then Logan O'Connor as your 4C. Like, that's a legit one, two, three, four at that point.

Absolutely. I had the unfortunate pleasure of watching Colorado play Toronto in the first game after the deadline. The second line of Drouin Nelson Nakushkin has like legit chemistry already. Yeah. And that's a that's a fucking terrifying top six. Lekinen, McKinnon, Natchez, and then Nchuskin, and Drewann, like enjoy playing against that. So yeah, I think Colorado definitely short up their center depth. And then obviously, it was a while ago, but McKenzie Blackwood instead of Alexander

Georgiev, the level of upgrade on that one cannot be overstated. Oh, yeah, it kind of goes without saying. I also like, again, Lindgren, not on the first pair really works for me. Like, that's a player I think can move the needle for them as a depth. defenseman. I'm trying to think. Oh, they brought back Eric Johnson. That's who it was.

That's who it was. Yep. The vibes are getting even better. Like, if you want to say they're the winners of the deadline, I'm not going to argue with you. Yeah. I think they gave up a lot less for what they acquired. Even if they had given up more than they did, you'd go, oh, awesome deadline for them. And they kind of got away with a few armed robberies there.

So, like, my hat's off to them. That awesome, awesome deadline. The Dallas stars, we already talked about Rantan. And just, like, how do you see him, like, fitting in for them long term? Yeah, I think you've got to play the Finn with the Finn. So I think you've got to go, like, Jason Roberts and Rupa Hintz and Miko Rantinan. Yeah. Although, like, with Hints out right now, he's looked good with Wyatt Johnston.

And why Johnston, I think, is really kind of, people are realizing exactly how good a hockey player he is. He rocks. He's so sick. He is so disgusting. So I think that's another top six. That's just utterly terrifying. And I don't know. Like, obviously a key piece on your power play, like that immediately makes the net front of your power play a giant problem for other teams when you have him there.

and then of course on the back end the fact that Dallas is playing the way they're playing and we're forgetting there without Miro Haskinen the luxury of having Mero Heskinen who is consistently in the Norris conversation and now you have Thomas Harley who this year is on the outskirts of the Norris conversation is like you have

two defensemen that would be number ones on any other team with the exception of Colorado and Vancouver you have a legit right winger who is going to probably score 40 goals. And then you're pretty set up the middle because both Wyatt Johnson and Rupa Hins are solid two-way players that can contribute offensively. I think the addition of Ranton really just kind of rounds out Dallas long term. Because if you think of what they have locked up for the next four or five years, like they're going to be a problem for a very long time. Yep, totally. We got a question in the mailbag this week about who ends up having more Stanley Cups, Rantaninan or McKinnon.

And I think it's a really interesting question. I think it's going to be plus or minus one either way. But Dallas is, like you say, set up to be very, very competitive long term. I just think maybe Colorado ceiling is higher right now and then maybe three, four, years from now we're having a different conversation because of all the young guys that Dallas is going to bring along. Yeah, I think if Colorado wins one or two in the next four or five years, then it's probably going to be McKinnon. But if they don't, then I think it could end up being Dallas because, yes, we talk about like- That's my answer as well, yeah. I don't think anyone's

going to sit here with a straight face and be like, Dallas has any player better than McKinnon or McCar. They, like, they don't. Yeah, no, I think that's, I think that's, I think that's, kind of undeniable. Does any team have? I really like to kind of keep the word generational, like, limited to one or two guys in the league at any given time. Like, that's kind of how. But, yeah, and, like, if you want to say McKinnon's, like, borderline generational for that reason, like, I'm not going to argue. But, like, that's a word that gets thrown around a lot with those two guys.

And, like, I have a hard time disagreeing with that. I just think, like, there may be the, you know, the slightest step below. Below that. And even, and even, and even, and even, and even, and even, like, if you want to say he's a generational defenseman, what am I going to argue with you, you know? Yeah, like I watched Nathan McKinnon, and he literally looks like a rhinoceros on us. It's crazy. I said this, I said this when I went to the, the four nations. Like, I don't go to a lot of NHL games.

And so seeing, uh, McIntyreys, uh, my gosh. Kinnon score like an extremely Nathan McKinnon goal in the final against the, or the final round robin game against the Finns was so awesome. I was just like, fuck, this is what it's all about, man, you know? Yeah, he just crazy. Yeah, he, he, one of those things where it looks like he's playing at a different speed than everyone else. And seeing that live is just the best.

But let's talk about, uh, unfortunately, well, the team that is currently in the league. in that division. The Winnipeg Jets, their big ads, Brandon Tanev and Luke Shen. Yeah, so I think it was confirmed that Brock Nelson nixed a trade to Winnipeg. So I think the conversation is obviously a lot different if we're talking about Winnipeg getting Brock Nelson as opposed to Colorado. Yeah. And that's kind of the problem with Winnipeg, right?

It's like people don't want to go there, even though they have no issues retaining guys like Helibuck, Shifley, Nikolai Eilers, Kyle Connor. So it's really interesting. It's almost like the perception of Winnipeg outside of Winnipeg is different than the perception of Winnipeg in Winnipeg. But yeah, like, let's face it. They have the best goalie in the league. Yeah. Like, I feel like the GMs can't get the Vesna wrong this year.

Like, you would think. I mean, the only thing, and I've said this a million times on this show, people have probably sick of me saying it, they don't like giving a war. to guys two years in a row if they can avoid it. I don't think he's, I don't think he's giving them the choice to avoid it this year just because, like, you know, Logan Thompson's the only other guy that's really around it. He's dropped off a little bit more recently. And, yeah, I just, here's my thing. Kevin Shevolde off.

These are, he can, he can only make so many trades, blah, blah, blah. Like, there are a bunch of guys, in my opinion, you know, Peggy Hill. In my opinion, there are a bunch of guys in the league who don't have no trade clauses. So you should try to trade for those guys. Yeah. Luke Shen and Brandon Tanna. But I think, like, could you have got Yanni Gord? Could you have got Oliver Biorstrand?

Could, like, I understand. Are those guys super moving the needle for you? No, but they are making you more competitive with Dallas and Colorado. And I wrote about this over the weekend. But now it's a situation where here's what the Jets plan is. Connor Hellebuck goes apeshit in the playoffs. Which doesn't happen usually. It's not even that it doesn't happen.

I don't, it obviously doesn't. I can't remember. I don't think he's been above 900 in the last like two or three players or 910 maybe, whatever it is. Since the COVID year. Yeah. And he was awesome that COVID year, but all, you know, fake playoff. No, completely made up. But like, that's all they're banking on.

Like, because if you look, like, oh, Winnipeg. they're actually having a really good year. Look at the number of guys who are shooting above like 16%. Multiple guys are shooting above 20%. Mark Schifley, Kyle Connor, both having career years. Yeah, and like not necessarily... Josh Morrissey. At least Morrissey's doing it for the second year in a row or whatever.

But like, it's not that those guys are bad players. Those guys are obviously very good players. But they are playing in a way that is unsustainable. And especially if you're, you know, the way things are trending right now, either Dallas or Colorado is going to finish ahead of them. And so you're playing one of the other of those teams in the first round of the playoffs. And I don't know that they can go punch for punch with the exception of Connor Halibuck stands on his head.

Yeah, like I would have liked to have seen him, them acquire maybe a guy like Brock Besser. Because that would have been, that would have provided some like serious scoring punch. But they needed a second line center, which is why it made sense that they were going to go after Brock Nelson. Sure. But like, okay, if he's not available, like, don't you kind of have to find somebody else? That's kind of my thing. Like, you can't be like, well, we tried.

Especially because, you know, I talk about this all the time with Vancouver where they don't want to waste Quinn Hughes's prime. How many more years of this? Again, we'll get to Vancouver. But like, how many more years of Connor Hellebuck playing at this level do you think you have? Right, could you not have acquired a guy like Ricard Raquel, who has years left on his contract, plays all three forward positions, like, I thought that that could have been a guy that they went after.

I don't know, just, yeah, I would have liked it, like you said, Winnipeg just has to go after guys that don't have NTCs. And I think that's one of those things where you have to get creative. And it's not Kevin Chavillev's fault that Winnipeg is on. every no trade list. Yeah, but you've got to fucking figure out something. Like, you can't just every year just throw your hands up. It's crazy. No one wants to play for me.

There's only so many jobs in the NHL man, you know? Yeah, like you got to work around it. Yeah. And again, like, I think if you want to say, well, look, you know, everything's going right for Kyle Connor. This is a stat I dug up over the weekend, and I could not fucking believe it. This is a real stat. Number one, all time in playoff or I'm sorry, in power play shooting percentage.

The 1819 Tampa Bay, and when I say all time, I mean the advanced stats here. Sorry. The 1819 Tampa Bay Lightning, the team that I believe set the regular season record for points. Oh, yes, that checks out. They were disgusting that year. Yeah. They shot 22.2%. Number two, the Winnipeg Jets.

of this season at 22.17%. What? That's the stat. I'm telling you. The Jets are just having one in every five-ish shots go in the net. That is outrageous. How about this? Only two other teams.

This is so funny. Only two other teams have even cleared 20 in a season. And one of them was the 12-13 Capitol. so like that's a short in season that kind of doesn't count. The other team that is north of 20% in shooting percentage on the power play for a season. Okay. Since 2007-08, this year's Chicago Blackhawks. No.

20.97%. I'm looking at evolving hockey right now. I don't believe you. That is. Is that not so fucking funny? What? Yeah. Okay, so how bad are the Blackhawks at even strength? Well, here's the real question.

Pretty fucking bad. So I'm just going to click here. They are also getting, again, this is a real statistic, an 855 short-handed, or a powerplay save percentage. So short-handed goals are going in like fucking crazy for them. Oh, no. That's not even close to like the worst of the era. The 15-16 stars got a 766 save percentage when they were on the power play. Was a pylon in that?

I don't know. I mean, like the other teams that are like up there, like we're talking like 950, 960 a lot of the time. You know what I mean? Like. Well, like theoretically you should not be giving up. like scoring chances. Yeah, I would be interested to see what the all-time average is, you know? Yeah.

But it's the 35th worst this year's Chicago team is the 35th worst of the advanced stats era. Anyway, that's a little side, excuse me, that's a little side tangent. Just, yeah. I don't really have a lot else to say about the Central, like Minnesota did a little bit of adding, but not really just because they kind of couldn't. They got Gus Nyquist and, you know, their injury situation is a little up in the air, so they couldn't just like go crazy on LTIR. The Blues kind of held Pat, Utah kind of didn't do anything.

Nashville and Chicago sold. I think that all checks out. So let's move on. Water is wet. Yeah. And let's move on to the Pacific where Edmonton, I think, kind of made the most. notable trade. Yes, and also most notable for not addressing the two things they needed to address.

Right. Yeah. So they added Jake Wallman. That was their big ad, and I love that. I think I'm a bit, again, we, we were saying before there, you always have like one prospect. You're like, that guy's a fucking player. Jake Willemann, the second I saw that kid play college hockey, I was like, now there's a guy who's going to be in the NHL. It took him a while to really establish himself.

He's almost 30 already, which, you know, where does the time go? But he rocks and, you know, he's not going to get a ton of power play time there. But like the ability to stabilize it, move the puck when when, when, uh, the ability to make a pass. It's incredible. He's so good at it. And they don't really, you know, Darnell nurse, you know, 70% of the time, Walman makes a good pass. 95% of the time, you know.

So I think if you move him down the lineup, he can be extremely useful for them. But as you say, the goaltending really does seem like the issue, doesn't it? Yeah, and like, kudos, because we're talking about Jake Wallman, kudos to Mike Greer for getting a second round pick for taking Jake Walman and then trading him for a second round pick.

That is psycho. No, well, I mean, it's a first round pick. Yeah, that's what I mean. So he got a second from Detroit to take Walman. salary. Yes. He turned around and traded Walman for a first. So he got a first and a second for Jake Wall.

Right. Okay. You said two seconds. That's all. Oh, sorry. Yeah, he got a first and a second for Jake Wong, which is crazy asset management. Yep. Awesome.

Like, unreal. But yeah, like the goaltending. And, okay. John Gibson tweaking his back like two seconds before the deadline. I know, man. Not ideal. And then Karel Vemelka signing in Utah. But like, how do you not call up the New York Rangers and,

and ask about Jonathan Quick. Yeah. I mean, look, like, here's the thing. To me, whatever it costs to get Jonathan Quick, just to go with that example, probably isn't worth it, right? Like, they have, here's the thing. The Oilers are talked about as they have horrible goaltending, and they do, right? Like for, but that's relative to teams they are competing with putatively for a Stanley

Cup, right? Like, we're talking about contenders. They're kind of middle of the. road. They're 15th, 16th, 17th and save? Okay, I'm wrong. They're 19th and save percentage right now all situations. Right. And so when you compare that against Vegas or L.A. and Darcy Keper's top five of the league this year and save percentage and Aiden Hill is fine. And it becomes a problem pretty quickly. But the Stewart's Center is it's not that he is a bad goalie. It's just he has these spells where he is

literally unplayable. Yeah, absolutely. But my thing is what does, how many goalies that are actual like we can rely on this guy for X, because like is that guy going to start over Stuart Skinner? Like if Jonathan Quick is starting for you in the playoffs,

you're probably not in, you're not feeling great about it, you know? And again, that's just to use the guy. What I'm saying is the number of goalies who are out there, and available and like you would be willing to give up a first or a second or a process, whatever it is.

How many of those guys are available that you're like and we believe in him as if we have to go to him in the playoffs? I don't think I think that's like a one or two guys maybe. Right. Like I think they should have been all over Blackwood earlier this year. Yeah. But now like I get why they didn't do it. I totally get why.

I don't like where they're. So like I get the goalie thing. to me, the most egregious thing was not addressing getting dry-sidler-McDavid a right-winger. Like, Brock Besser was right there. Yeah, again, that's like one of those who do they want to make that trade in the division things. Right. But yeah, and which is, again, stupid because if you're going to give up, like, if you're, if you're going to lose Brock Besser for nothing, would you rather not get something for him?

Look, I agree with you. I'm just saying that's almost certainly how the Canucks might have looked at it. You know what I mean? Oh, I mean, you would know, yeah. Right. There are two rules. Well, as it pertains to trading with teams, we can discuss the rest of it when we get to the Canucks. But like, you don't trade with the Maple Leafs unless you're fleecing them.

And you don't trade high-end players in the division. So, like, when the Canucks acquired Aalias Lindholm, like, I knew it wasn't going to be any one of significant note going back because otherwise it would not have been allowed. out. Right. Yep. So, yeah, I mean, the Oilers just not addressing, like, toxic scoring and their... That's the bigger sin to me, for sure. As backwards to me, but I'm with you. I loved the Jake Wallman acquisition. I thought that was awesome. Yep. Um, so, you know, I don't know that it meaningfully bumps them ahead of, like, or, you know, you can have Vegas and Edmonton 1-2 in that division. I think everyone's like, those are the 1-2. I personally don't see much daylight between them.

Neither do I. So, like, I don't think this meaningfully, like, moves them ahead, but I love Jake Wallman as a player. So, like, what can I tell you, you know? Vegas, like I said, they added Riley Smith from the Rangers. I don't really think they did very much beyond that, if I'm remembering right. Yeah, they, well, because the Shay Theodore thing was a, like, a question mark in terms of, like, LTIR. and then they put out the eyeball emoji like just before the deadline

and everyone was like, what else? Oh, they just said hi. Right, right, right. Yeah. But yeah, they didn't end up doing a ton. I like Riley Smith. They signed Brandon Sade and they're getting William Carlson back in the lineup.

So I feel like they didn't really have to do a lot, especially with the season that Jack Eichel is having. And so, yeah, like I think Vegas was smart to kind of just chill the fuck out for a second. Yeah. No, like, again, they only have so many assets.

They trade, they make trades every year, like big trades every year. Sometimes you just don't have the, the bullets, you know? And so, like, that's, it makes sense. I don't mind the Riley Smith edition,

but again, like, they're just kind of one, two with, with, Edmonton, and I don't know that they could have made a trade that would have moved them much above that, especially because of their, their cap situation. Any thoughts on the Kings? They didn't really...

They, yeah, they didn't do a ton. I mean, like, sure. They got Coosmanco. And I think that's about it, right? Yeah, they didn't do a ton. And I mean, yeah, there's not really anything to write home about them. Nope. I think they're quite clearly the third best team in the Pacific.

Like, they're definitely not one or two, but they're also better than, like, the California teams, the flames, and the Canucks. Yeah. So let's... One of those. Let's... Crackin. That's the other team. Yeah, of course.

So let's finally get to the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah, they didn't do very much, let's say. They traded Susie. They traded Susie. I think that's about it, right? Yeah, like they got rid of, well, I don't even know if you can count the J.T. Miller thing because it was off-ice stuff that necessitated that trade. And that was also like a month ago. So that was something that like, I'm just going to come right out and say it.

You shot yourself in the foot and then wondered why your foot was bleeding. Like, it's, it beggars belief that they would be like, we can't believe we were in this situation. I was like, I, having worked for you, can say with absolute 100% certainty that your staff told you that this would happen. And you wouldn't listen. Well, me not having worked for them. I knew this was a problem like two years ago. Like everybody knew.

It's not a fucking mystery, right? But. So dumb, Ryan. So dumb. But I will say this. I think they should have sold because, again, trending wise, vibes wise. I don't, even if they make.

the playoffs, I don't think anybody can look at this team and go, and we're going to be competitive in the playoffs. They're going to get a fucking nuke dropped on them by whoever the one seed, whatever it works out to be, like who their opponent would be, right? Like, as the eight, they're likely going to be the eight at this point. It kind of feels like maybe, I don't know, maybe not. They might. So this is what I don't understand is if you're Toronto and you very clearly have own

rentals in Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Yeah. You are very firmly in there and you're a contender, so it doesn't make any sense to sell those players. Right. If you are on the cusp of the playoffs and you may or may not get in and your, like you said, the vibes are not great, it doesn't make sense to keep your own rentals. You're not, because even if you get in, you're not going.

anywhere. Well, so here's the thing. This is what I think this, if I'm a Canucks fan, this is the signal I'm taking from this. What matters more than being competitive and managing assets correctly and that kind of thing is two or three games of playoff revenues. It's not what can we do to build a contender. It's what can we do to get into the playoffs. Correct. Yeah.

And like this, look, I say it all the time. This is an NHL problem. Right? Like, if you don't like tanking or whatever, part of the problem is that that's the only way to get better. And it's in a league with a hard salary cap that didn't go up very much for a long time. And also, that is so gate revenue driven, right? Like, obviously, gate revenues matter to every sports league. But the NFL is making money hand over fist, whether there's 70,000 people in a game or zero.

You know? Which is how Deshawn Watson ends up making millions of dollars for no good reason. Because there's too much money. I don't know anything about who Deshaun Watson is. That's honestly a very good thing. Great. Awesome. I know that's a football guy. I don't need the explanation.

I really don't care. Yeah, no. But you can pay it, like, the thing in Vancouver is after 2011, Mm-hmm. Torts wanted to rebuild. Kessler wanted to rebuild. The Siddins were on board for a rebuild because everyone knew that it needed to happen. And Mike Gillis was kind of leaving at that point.

And that's when Trevor Linden was there, right? And Trevor Linden said a rebuild is necessary for sustained success, which we all know is the truth of the matter in hockey, right? Whether it's a retool or a rebuild. And Jim Benning said, no, I can get it done in two years. And so Francesco Aqualini Nine years later And it is 2025

Yep And They have made the third round So Yeah And the year they made this And the year they made the second round Was like a fake year

And then they made it last year And everyone can kind of agree like Okay The Canucks are not As bad as they've performed this year but they were not as good as they performed last year. They're somewhere in the middle.

That's right. And if you're somewhere in the middle, is a somewhere in the middle of that contending with the Dallas stars and the Colorado Avalanche? No, no, of course not. I don't need to say this to you or anybody else, but yeah, obviously not. I said at the beginning of the year,

I thought they were going to be like the best team you would call mediocre in the league. I would say they haven't even lived up to that. But I would say overall, I consider this to be a kind of like, mediocre team, you know? Yeah, they're in, they're the mushy middle. And I, to me, the, the most ridiculous part of the deadline wasn't that they didn't do anything.

Yeah. It was how their GM handled the fact that they didn't do anything. If you look at what Eric Tulski said about Miko Ratan, which is like, he could have thrown every knife in his kitchen into the back of Miko Raton for how Raton handled things. And he just said, hey, you know what? sometimes it just doesn't feel like home to someone and that's okay. Meanwhile, and he was there for like 36 days. Right.

Meanwhile, you have Brock Besser who is coming up on his 10th year anniversary. He is the ninth leading goal score of all time in Canucks history. And the GM comes out and is like, he's not worth anything. And then they take his assistant captain away. I didn't see the thing about they took the A away from him. That's funny. No way. day away and put it on Marcus Pederson, who has been there for 57 days.

Yep. And then everyone pointed in long term, though. Everyone pointed out that that had happened. And then Talkett came out on Monday and was like, no, now we've decided we're rotating. So everybody calmed down. And it's like, no, no, no, no. Let me get this straight. J.T. Miller had tantrum on tantrum, had to take a leave of absence and didn't lose his letter.

But Brock Besser gets in a contract impasse. You stab him in the back publicly and you take him. his letter away? Yeah. It's not a great. And like, when you're, Steve Warrior pointed out that like the comments about Besser are could potentially hurt his future earnings potential. Sure.

Which, why are you saying those things? Because, because, because the, it's very simple. What is, what is, what is, what is Patrick Alvin care about, uh, Brock Bessar's future earnings? He's not going to be a Canuck. you know who is going to still be stopped your sentence after what does Patrick Alvin care about? Right. Well, look, like, here's the thing is I kind of, I kind of want like this kind of dispassionate general manager, right? This kind of guy who's going to be like, yeah, I mean, you know, he's not going to be working for me.

You know, what am I going to? But I like that aspect of it. But with that having been said also, like, you're going to do business. with these people. Like, you're pissing off the agent. You're pissing off other teams. You're pissing off. Like, to me, I, you know, I think that's just him trying to be like, look, we, we set a

price for Brock Besser and no one met it. And he phrased it in a way that is not good, right? Correct. But I'm not even believable. Yeah, well, again, like, the idea that nobody wanted to give up a first round. pick for Brock Besser. Like that, I get that. Like, that makes, I mean, given the other options, if I were a GM, would I have been like,

you know what? All things being equal, I guess we'll give up the first. Yeah, sure. You know, that's fine. But I can see where GMs around, like every GM in the league was like, yeah, first, that's crazy, you know? Like, he's not like having an unbelievable, undeniable season or anything like that. He's a good player and a good complimentary piece.

And if you want to say like that he's not bringing what Brock Nelson brings to the table, I, it's, it's hard for me to disagree. But as you say. And then not trading Pia Souter when that was like the easy like, yeah, Pia Suter plays all three forward positions.

So solid penalty killer makes one point six million dollars. Like you're telling me a contender wasn't going to pay for that. Yeah. Like that does not make a lot of sense to me. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not defending their deadline at all. But also like,

The vibes around this team are just so bad that like, you know, like, what's going to happen with Demko? Do we know? Like, I straight up don't know if he's coming back this year. I would say I wouldn't be surprised if Thatcher Demko has played his final game in a Canucks uniform. I mean. I think he probably gets traded this offseason. Wow, man, that's crazy. But, yeah, I mean, that means he's done for the year.

That's what I'm asking. Did they say he's done for the year? They haven't. But like, if I'm the Canucks, like, you're not doing anything this year. Quinn Hughes is playing with like every accoutrement possible strapped to him. Yeah, they got to shut him down. I just think that's, they're like putting this guy through the meat grinder for what, man? Like, especially, especially, I mean, the answer is like $8 million in playoff revenues or whatever the number is, right?

But even beyond that, it's just like, isn't this a guy you want to be like locked in with long term? You know, like, isn't this a guy that like you should be less concerned with how things look this year than like three years from now? I mean, I guess he's not signed beyond two years from now. But shouldn't you be doing everything possible to make sure your relationship with him is a good one? Million percent. You don't have issues resigning. Yeah. I don't know.

I don't know what the solution is for them. Like, I don't, I would have sold. I get why they didn't given, you know, the, the constraints that seem to be placed on everybody who runs that team. But I, to me, I'm just a little, a little wary, that's all. Yeah, like, I will give what the future looks like. I can't believe I'm going to do this of all people. I'll give that management team a little bit of the benefit of the doubt because I know from being. there that part of this is Francesco Aquilini.

Sure. Yeah. Right. It's absolutely the case. But, I mean, they did as much as Calgary did, which is nothing. Yeah. And, well, Calgary, at least they can say we already made our big additions back in, like, that might, that would have been like early January.

That feels like that was a long-ass time ago. Oh, yeah. Forby and Frost, that feels like forever ago. Yeah. I straight up, I guess I can quickly look it up, but I straight up couldn't tell. you when that happened. It was before the four nations. Yep.

Hold on. I think it was probably like late January. It was, let's see, January 30th. Late January. There we go. You nailed it. I said early January. That's how long ago it feels, certainly.

Live in a society. I guess that's true. Nobody said it was a good one. No, nobody did. So let's say. Let's wrap up here. So all of the above having been said, where do we kind of feel like that I don't want to say like give me your cup winner. You know, it's all, it's all, you know, coin flips and that kind of thing.

So let's put it this way. Give me your conference finalists from both from both conferences. I like that approach because I think like the obviously like the best teams in the league are in the central. in the Atlantic, but I think they might be dead by the time the first two series are done. Yeah, that's what I mean. I'm going to go Florida and Carolina, just because I don't see Washington sustaining. Yep. And then I'm going to go Vegas and Colorado.

I will agree with you in the West, but my two. East team. Two of my, both of my East teams are different. I'm going to, I'm going to go, I'm going to go with Tampa and Washington. Ooh, I like it. I just think, I just think, I just think, we both agree Toronto's out in the first round. Yeah, I guess we do kind of agree on that, don't we? Um, but, well, wait, no, they would, they wouldn't necessarily be because, like, if Florida wins that division, then Tampa would be, would have to play Toronto. And if you have them as a conference finalist, you'd have Toronto going out in the first. first round. No, I'm saying you, you're allowing that wiggle room. You are. I'm not allowing that wiggle room. They will lose to Tampa. Yeah, I agree that that is absolutely the most likely outcome.

But I just have Washington coming out of the metro just because like I can see them keeping it going for the first two rounds. And also like, I think that I think that that that's basically a two team. Like you're you're literally flipping a coin to me. That's a two team division. in terms of like actually good reliably. And they should be a lot less injured than whoever comes out of the Atlantic. Like they should be better positioned long term for the conference final and the final. Whoever comes out of the metro. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's right. So yeah, there you have it. I think we got basically everything that happened in the last little while here. So thanks for listening. Rachel, why don't you hit them with some plugs and we'll get out of here. Yeah, so I run Betelitics. It's a site that you can use for sports research. You can pay for the projections, or we have free trends.

So if you want to see, like, if a guy's getting a puck on net or we have basketball trends as well, we're going to have baseball. Those are all free. I'm not charging people for statistics that they can look up elsewhere. We just make it easier to find. Puck Social Podcast, and then I write for ESPN and Puckpedia. So that's where you can find me. Great. And then for me, you'll be prospects, college hockey stuff, obviously, ramping up with the playoffs beginning this past weekend in a lot of conferences and continuing right through mid-April or so when the Frozen Four happens.

So I will be your guy for all that stuff. This is the time of year that's so exciting for me. So I'm really happy I get to dig back into all that. And then, yeah, NHL stuff, you know, as it continues as well. And then when those playoffs start, I'll be in full NHL playoff mode. And then Patreon.com slash Puck Soup. A lot of bonus episodes there the last little while with everybody. Greg, Sean, and Sean are all off this week.

So not a ton of bonus stuff coming this week, but, you know, we'll get you by the end of the month. We'll have, you know, several bonus episodes over there. Five bucks a month for all Puck Soup stuff. and then $8 a month for stick to sports, Musen Pod, Superplex, all the other, overrated, underrated, all the other ancillary podcasts. You can check all that out.

And that's it. Thanks for listening, folks. We'll be back, I think Thursday next week is the plan because Sean's getting back from vacation a little late on Tuesday, if I remember right? But also don't quote me on that. Just not your normal day next week is what the plan is. And we'll talk to you then.

Thanks so much, everybody. good one, bye-bye.