Puck Soup - Injured Reserve

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Sean and Ryan talk about all the major injuries around the league, potential trades, and more.

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I'm Sean McNeer from The Athletic. And I think the thing that I've seen the most in the last week, since we did the show last, is that, like, people are getting hurt, left, right, and center, and, like, you know, good players on good teams, but perhaps most crucially, Olympic skies. There's a week and a half left, I believe the final game before they all leave is, like, next Thursday or Friday. That sounds right. and there's a lot of, I don't know if he's going to be ready in time around the league for, like, very important players for their respective countries. I guess let's start with this.

Let's start with Seth Jones out for the Olympics for the U.S. because this is the one that when they named the replacement, people lost their minds. I think it was just because they put out such a great-looking photo. of Jacksonville. They really... Yeah, they really... They were like, here's him 45 years in the future. Yeah.

Hey, man. You've been given the honor playing for Team Eose.C. Could you look more angry than you've ever been about anything in your life? He looked old as hell too. That's what I'm saying.

And then you're like, oh, how old? Surely this is a 38-year-old man, and they're like, that man is 24. What? Yeah. That's an old-looking guy. Yeah. We don't have enough of those these days, you know? Yeah, we were like, my family was recently watching a documentary about the JFK assassination.

And the thing that we came away with was high school students in the 60s looked 45 years old. Yeah. And I think we need to get back to that. It was, yeah, because like any time you look at like my, my parents high school yearbook or whatever. It is, they were, you know, they were in high school in the 70s or whatever. And they, same gimmick. They were just like, oh, yeah, no, everybody, my parents.

And I don't know if that's just like they all, like everybody smoked. And so that's why. That could be, that could be part of it. It was the smoke. And then they all like had the side part as opposed to the stupid broccoli thing that every high school boy has these days. Yeah. It's true. Anyway, Jackson LaCleckleck.

I sidetrack that pretty good. Yeah, so, well, I mean, Jackson, because there aren't any other American defensemen who are playing well. Well, look, okay. What's the power rankings of who should be, and I like Jackson LaCone, by the way. Yeah, good player. Ever since I realized he existed about midway through last season, which I think is about right for us Eastern types. He's a good player. and he fits maybe more the Seth Jones style.

But, like, what's the power ranking of who should be ticked off? Is it, is it Lane Hudson? Is it Adam Fox? Is it somebody else? I think it's like, I just don't think they were ever going to bring Adam Fox this year, especially with all the injuries he's had. I think he's currently on the shelf again. Like, you know, this is one of those things where,

they were disinclined to take him anyway, and they can say whatever they want. It's because he wasn't particularly good in the gold medal game. But, you know, I think they were just never going to take him. So that's, he's just going to groove on that, I think, you know? Whereas, yeah, with Lane Hudson, it's like, okay, man, you're, you're five, six. and you thought they were going to call you up to replace the guy who's like 6-5? Yeah. That's just my whole thing.

They found a guy who is like the Seth Jones replacement style player and not a player to replace Seth Jones, if that makes sense. Yep. Yeah, I think it's, I get why the Lane Hudson thing took off, partly because. He's fucking awesome. He's very good. And also that Bill Garron's wild. had just played the Canadians, so it was, you know, and Cole Caulfield got the winning goal and the Canadians sent out a tweet, which was, well, you know, honestly, the, the, the, the tweet

thing is kind of like my whole thing about, like, don't boo the refs. You're just going to piss them off. Yeah. Do you want them to, like, call it your way or not, man? This is the, this is the options you're, you're leaving him with. So that's that's my thing on that but yeah like I just I said it before like I don't think that's a style they were like his style of play is just something they were never gonna want to bring to a best on best tournament. I don't think that's like the right attitude for them to have. I think you just bring the whatever 25 best players you possibly can.

And, you know, to your point, like, Jason Robertson's been going psycho since they snubbed him. Not that he wasn't before, but, like, he's kicked it into a higher gear, you know. I mean, honestly, if you're the Dallas Stars, like, this is the best case scenario, right? Like, make my player mad. He goes nuts. And then he gets two weeks off in the middle of the season. I just wonder how married they are to him in general. You know, like how much they want to be in the Jason Robertson business after this year.

Like, let someone else pay him might be their attitude. And we can talk about that all later in the show because there's some trade talk out there that I think is interesting, we'll say. But, yeah, I, again, like, they just, they decide, look, they, the, you saw the J.T. Miller quote from last week. right? Which one was that? Where he was like, I'll tell you, it fucking sucks losing. It fucking sucks. And I'm sorry for my language, but it sucks right now.

And it's like, this is the guy they wanted to bring over the guy who's like leading all Americans in points right now. Okay. Like, again, I don't agree with it, but it is just like this was obviously their organizing philosophy around this team. was we should bring all the guys from from Boston and Montreal last year. Mm-hmm. It fucking sucks losing, cool, man. Well, I mean, he would know. He does it all the time.

Kind of all he's done for the last few years. Yeah. So, yeah, I, you know, again, I get why people are mad, and I get why Cole Hudson and the Canadians would be mad and all that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, I'm just like, you're fighting a losing battle here, man. Like, this was just never going to take place. You're living in a fantasy world if you think Bill Garron's like, let me get that, that small guy who really like, you know, a ton of utility on the power play only. Not only.

I shouldn't say only. But you know what I mean. But in this, in a tournament like this, maybe only. Yeah. That's a real, yeah, for sure. So. I can't. As much as, again, as much as I.

like all the Hudson brothers, although Cole lately has not been himself in college, but that's a different discussion, I suppose. Yeah, I just never thought this was going to happen, so I'm not surprised that it's not happening, is what it boils down to. Was there anyone that you would have thought they would take ahead of Lecombe? No. Like anyone who fits the mold a little bit better? Well, they would have taken? Not really. Who are you thinking?

I don't know. Like would John Carlson have been in the conversation? Yeah, he probably is in the, you know, one more guy gets hurt and John Carlson come on down, I think, is maybe what you're dealing with. But like, we don't even have to get into who they would pick. I would rather personally have Jackson Lecombe than John Carlson in the year 26. Yep. That's fair. Yeah.

Yeah. I think that makes sense. So, yeah, the other big one is that now they're saying Braden Point is like questionable for the Olympics, which is too bad because he's an awesome player who's fun to watch. Mm-hmm. Like there was, I think a CSPN has like a pretty helpful injury page where it's like, here's the date. they are projected to return, basically, in addition to when they went on the IR or whatever, or got hurt initially. And Braden Point is like the last day before they leave for the Olympics, like the fifth or the sixth.

Yeah. And it's, they're really, I mean, I get it from the, his coach is the coach of the team point of you just like, we're really going to hold, well, we're just going to really hold out hope until the absolute last second. And I think, you know, for a player like Braden Point, you probably should. Well, that's it, right? Like, this is a guy who was, he was one of the original six, wasn't he? I believe that's correct, yeah.

So you're going to stretch as much as you realistically can. And the fact that it's his coach means you're going to have all the information you need to have. Yeah, there's no, there's no cone of silence around this one for him for sure. do you think do you think it's Sam Bennett if he can't go? Because that, I mean, that was the discussion, right? Yeah, I mean, Sam Bennett was obviously a guy

that was initially pretty high on people's lists of snubs. And we talked about it at the time he had started really slow but been better. Is he, you know, if they look at it the way that Team Eose did with Seth Jones, is he the Braden Point equivalent? not really. It's kind of a different role,

but you can shift somebody else around and move somebody else up the lineup and all of that stuff. So, yeah, I don't know. I mean, do you go to like a Mark Schifley or somebody like that on who's a little. Yeah, that was the other thing I was going to say. If you're worried about losing Braden points goal scoring,

you call up Shifley, although, you know, there are maybe other aspects of his game that don't totally aligns. there. So yeah, that's, that's kind of, those kind of feel like the two guys that are the most likely to get the call. And it, I mean, it doesn't have to be a center necessarily. I was going to say there's no want for like Canadian forwards, like that you, that are

Olympics worthy for most countries. So maybe that's how it all ends up working out. But either way, I mean, like, there. Unlike with Seth Jones where it's like, yeah, I mean, what's Jackson-Lacombe? Like, 90% of what Seth Jones is on a good team probably. You know, like, there's not a huge drop-off. I think there's a pretty big drop-off between point and whoever the Canadians take to replace them if they have to, which they might not. Right.

So, yep. The real team that got absolutely nuked by injuries in the last little while, though, is Sweden. I'm just going to read you basically all their best defensemen pretty much, almost all of them. Edvenson out. Brodeen out. Headman, maybe. Out. Another guy where, you know, the lightning have a lot of information.

Yeah, I think this is one where if I'm John Cooper, man, you got to shut Vicker headman down. You got to say this guy needs a little break. he would have he would have been playing for the olympics teams like in 2014 or whatever right like he would have already been into his ascendancy at that point right yes he must be pretty sure about that um so it's maybe a little different for him versus a lot of the guys that you know have literally never played in the olympics but you'd still obviously rather go if you're him, then not go. Mm-hmm.

So, yeah, I don't know. It's, you know, I'm looking here. I'm thinking he maybe didn't play for the Olympic team. Can that be right? I'm, oh, it says here he played one year in the Olympics but had no game. So he was an extra maybe. Yeah, you're right. Got named to the team.

Yeah. Thank you, Willie Prospects app for having that information nice and easy for me. But yeah, so now there's even obviously greater incentive to make sure he's fully ready to go and whatever because he's never, like a lot of players of his generation, he's just never been to the Olympics before, new experience for him, etc. So that's all the guys on the Swedish defense, and that's enough guys on the Swedish defense for me to go. I have to revise down where I have Sweden in the in the metal rankings. I had them definitely metal, maybe even silver. Because I'm a little, as I mentioned before, I'm a little down on this U.S. team. I think they just made too many not good decisions.

But I think all these injuries for Sweden kind of opened the door at the same time, you know? Yep. No, that's fair. and we haven't even talked about up front. Nope. Because it keeps going for this team. It does keep going. Leo Carlson, I believe, is officially out for the Olympics.

Which, you know, maybe you say he's not like the most important player imaginable for that team, but like he would have been a pretty important player for them. He's a really good player. And maybe Gabe Landiskeg, he's really trying, they're saying. That's like the latest on him is like, boy, he really wants to play in the Olympics. I'm not holding out hope for a guy with not the most injury-free career, let's say.

And again, that's another tough one because of course. Colorado wants him for the playoffs. Yep. But also he's your captain. And if he's busting his behind to get back for the Olympics, like you're not going to tell them no. I think there's like basically nobody you could tell no,

just given the circumstance. Like it could be, oh, I'm going to be the ninth forward on team Slovakia or whatever. And you're like, yeah, but like this year. But if guys are hurt,

like I can put it this way. You're probably ultimately right that nobody gets told no. But I think there will be places around the league where you will see guys who are potentially hurt and missing games and then go to the Olympics anyways, where at least, you know, some of the fans are going, really?

Like, you're going to go play in this exhibition tournament when you're not healthy enough to be on the ice for us and you're going to risk the re-injury and, you know, we need you down the stretch and all of that stuff? Sure. Like, you'll hear that said. I totally get what you're saying, obviously. I guess what I'm getting at is like while I wouldn't put it past many NHLGMs to actually be like over there with an ice pick like making the ice actively worse in the next little while like oh I got to go into like a business trip and then you know all that's in his suitcases just like gasoline and matches you know like I can I can see that being a thing but I again I just kind of kind of

to think that like they haven't been to the Olympics in a decade. I think everybody, even like coaches are kind of like, look, man, I fucking get it. Most of these coaches are guys who played in the league, you know? Yeah. So. And remember that like 70% of the coaches are on Team USA or Team Canada. That's exactly right. Good Lord.

I feel like we don't have enough coaches on Team Canada. What are we up to for that now? I mean, every time, every time I look, there's, on like a different game, they're like, oh, and, you know, let's cut to the shot of the coach on the bench. And, you know, he's just days away from going to the Olympics. I'm like, I hear that about literally every coach. Yeah. Put it this way.

If you're not, if you're a North American and you're not one of the coaches in the Olympics, you're not a good coach. I mean, it's, it really is. It's a make work program at this point. I've said it before. on this show. Like, they should just do the European soccer thing of, like, we have a national team coach. And that way we don't have to hear about everybody.

Oh, it's his guy. It's the guy for, you know, like, we never have to do that again. We don't have to hear about Chris Drury. We don't have, you know, it could, it can just be a situation where they bring the 25 best players or whatever. Yep. But that'll never happen. The other, the other potentially hurt guy, although, Sean, you'll probably. probably have more information on this than I do,

is the rude young boy himself, William Nealander. Yes. One of the rudest children we have. Currently, day-to-day with mouth washed out with soap. Mm-hmm. You do that if somebody flips the bro, I don't know. He's been saying he will be back soon,

so he's expected back before the Olympics, but it is a groin, I think. So, you know, that can be tricky and the risk of re-injury is high on that one, especially if somebody is back a bit too soon, which he's already re-injured at once. So, on track, but not a guarantee. Yep. Awesome. That's that, man, I just, if I'm him, I'm like feeling so fucking horrible about that, just like, man. How is it a groin injury, like the one injury where you're like, I don't know if I'm recovered or not, really.

And especially considering this is the guy until this year, he had missed one game in his career due to injury. Yep. And now in the Olympic year is the year that he gets, he has to deal with it. What were your thoughts on the scandal? Look, man, I grew up watching the attitude era. I can't get mad when a guy flips off the camera. You know what I mean? Like, I actually have to say it's cool to do that.

Yeah, it's not. But, uh... Of course it is. It's a cool guy thing to do. If you, if you were watching and they showed like a fan and a fan looked over and saw the camera and gave and like flipped the bird, you'd be like, you loser, grow up. I don't know. Unless the kid was eight years old in which case is the coolest kid.

Well, I was going to say, if it's a child, yeah, that's a bird. Yeah, that's exactly. Absolutely. But if it's some, like, dude in his 20s. The thing with, and, and I mean, so he got fined if people didn't hear because he flipped the bird at the... 5K, the maximum allowable. Maximum. Oh, just game changer for $11 million, Willie Nealender.

And that's totally fine. It's, I will tell you, man, it's... The story here is not that he flipped the bird. It's that he was, like, joking and smiling as he did it. And this was when the Leafs were down 3-0 to the Avalanche. They're getting stomped again. And he's like... Not the Leafs.

Those guys are always doing so good in their hockey games. Are you sure? And he's joking around in the press box. And he, you know, kudos to the PR guys because they, after the game, he, like, played it off. like, oh, it was a moment of frustration. But it's like, no, you were frustrated. You were goofing around, having fun.

So I will tell you, my prediction is, as the Leafs go down the proverbial crapper, with no more Mitch Martner around, I think the whole William Nealander, like, I'm just a goofy goober who doesn't care about anything, act is going to maybe not play as well in Toronto as it has been up until now. Well, they got to have a whipping boy and it's not going to be the coach or the player. Well, it will be. The GM, I mean. It'll be all of them.

But I think among, you know, Lee fans have turned on Trilliving and be pretty strongly. Leaf fans for sure. And again, like if you thought he was going to do a good job there, like I have a fucking football for you to kick right here. My friend Lucy's holding it, okay? But what I guess I'm saying is It wasn't just the fans that were more than happy to throw Mitch Martyr under the bus When when things went bad It was it was the local media too

And what did the local media say The second Brad True Living got let go in Calgary Or left of his own, whatever they're saying happened there They're like, oh, he'd do such a good job for the Maple Leafs this is like the 200 hockey men guy in the league right now he is he is I don't

you know me man I don't I don't like this the local Toronto media stuff like and and I'll say and we move on from it like but who do you mean like Mertil C.J. Pierre

like he's a pretty smart guys like like if you're if you saw like a bad Steve Simmons tweet or something then just say Steve Simmons but this whole like oh, the Toronto media is so... Well, what I guess I'm saying is really the only

Canadian media I consume actively is like from the from like watching the games or like listening to 32 thoughts. And there is I'm going to say an outsized percentage

of the discussion around the Maple Leafs over the last however many years you want to say is about Mitch Marner specifically. Mm-hmm. On Sportsnet, on TSN. And you can say, like, that's the fans driving. Like, that's what they want to hear, blah, blah, blah.

But that's just what happened. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what you want. So, like, it was always. And it was always. He was the guy whose contract was coming up. And everybody saw the situation playing out.

Yeah. Yeah. It's going to get talked about. Right. And so what I'm saying is like, I don't think, again, I think the fans are correct to say Craig Barubi wasn't the right hire. At the time, you know, I think there was reason to be a little optimistic about that. I'd like the hire at the time. No, I think we both did.

I was iffy on True Living, but, you know, was willing to see what he do. Barouba, I flat out thought was. Especially if the coaches available at the time. time. Yeah. Oh, yeah, exactly. I mean, you go by who's available, but, uh, yeah, has, has not, has not worked out. By the way, Leif's hosting Buffalo tonight.

Well, it's a good thing. I was going to say, it's a good thing. They're, they're ice cold right at the savers. Last home game before the break. So last home game for several weeks. So if you were a Leaf fan and they were to get stomped tonight and you wanted to send a message, kind of last chance. You chant anything about anyone that you...

We say it all the time. It works. Those chants work every time. Pretty much every time. What, just since we're on the Leafs and then we'll, I promise, we'll zip back to the Olympics. But just give me your quick as an outsider, your reaction to the Marner game. I think if you cheered him, you're a loser. Okay.

I'll say this. I think maybe booing him would have been over the top. every time he touched the puck, booing him, that kind of thing. But don't cheer for the guy. Well, they booed him every time he touched the puck, but they cheered like the video, the mandatory, classy video. Yeah, this is what I'm saying is, like,

either hate the guy or don't, man, like. Yeah. I got to say it was a, it, a, the reaction was like, after all the hype and that, it was nowhere near like John Tavares level. No, I can't believe it. Not even like Danny Healy level.

Like it was, it was so it was a, it was a tough night for everyone who had their like toxic leaf fans drove this poor kid out of town takes ready to go. Yeah. But luckily those people had immediately pivoted to leave fans aren't passionate enough and, you know, all this this stuff. So, you know, good, good job by them. You're going to go in with your talking points and your spin ready. You know what I mean? You got to be ready to flip it, right? That's just good take doing.

That's it. So anyway. Yeah, so that's Sweden. They're not doing so good. I saw that maybe Tavo Terra Vinen also out for the Olympics, but also could be back tomorrow and who knows. Or is it tonight Chicago place?

I don't remember now. But that's another one where it's like, yeah, that's not going to like destroy Finland's chances or whatever the Barkov thing is. So that's not getting fixed, you know? And I think that's it for like major Olympic injuries.

There might be one or two guys I'm missing. Dan Vlodar is. Oh yeah, that's right. Right, yeah. Potentially out for Chachia, which could, I mean, he's been having a good season. That's been much bigger news for the Flyers, I think, than... Would he be their starter, though? I'm trying to think of other Czech goalies that...

You know what? I think he absolutely could have started games. Yeah. I don't, off the top of my head, I'm quickly... Can hear me typing in the background. Lucas Dostold they've got. Oh, sure. Well, not that he's having a great season.

No. So. You know, we didn't discuss it on the show. How about that Italy roster, huh? Yeah. A lot of guys you've heard of. I like Frankie Carrado's version better, but. Well, yeah, I mean, it is.

He just took all the guys with Italian sounding names in the NHL. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, it's interesting, right? Like, if people didn't hear, they made a conscious decision to build team Italy with, like... Actual Italian guys. I was going to say it. Like, I don't know if that's the way to phrase it or not, but yes, actual, as opposed to...

Like homegrown talent. As opposed to, like, this Canadian NHL player's grandmother was Italian, so he qualifies. So we'll put him on the team. As a, I mean, you're not really a ringer if you're still going to get your teeth. kicked in, but right. Yeah, they,

they decide, which I, I kind of, I kind of get. I mean, you're going to be enormous underdogs either way.

Yeah. I didn't, you know, I don't mind, but yeah, I have no idea who those players are,

and I hope the goalies are good because that's the only way they're not going to get. Yeah, I, usually with,

with this kind of thing, like, there are countries where it's like, the only reason I know who that guy is because of college hockey. And I don't even think I recognized any of their names from that, you know?

There is one active NCAA player who is playing. He's going to probably be like the second or third goalie for the Slovak's. But as far as I know, that's the only guy that, like, looking at a roster, I was like, oh, that's an NCAA guy, you know, so. Wow. Yeah, they didn't even have those guys on the Italian team. And that's where I really thought, like, surely an Italian guy has played college hockey in the last, like, 15 years. And they were like, not really, no.

Oh, okay. Oh, my bad. So there you have it. Well, why we do some other injury news while we're just kind of on the subject here? The latest on Thatcher Demko is he's heard again, and it's not any of the stuff from before. and it's a lower body injury. Yeah, and I don't know if you said. Drager tweeted out this morning that...

I didn't see this. He said the test results are... They're supposed to get their testing and imaging back today. Okay. And maybe I'm reading too much into it because he literally just, you know, said something like there's speculation he could be out long term. They'll get the results today.

But like I was, I don't know. know, my brain was expecting to see something about, but there's still optimism or whatever. And the fact that there wasn't led me to wonder if it's, the buzz is not good. And I mean, let's be honest, where Vancouver is in the standings, shut him down. I mean, yeah, he's starting a new contract next year. Yeah. Right? Like, that's the thing with, shut them down.

Shut him down. Let's your $5 million backup. hopefully lose you enough games to get you Gavin McKenna and then try again next year. So Gavin McKenna, speaking of, I'm sure you saw that I think the Athletic Central Scouting and elite prospects all put out their new draft boards in the last week or so. Gavin McKenna number two on a lot of boards now. And didn't he have like five points that night or something? Yeah, this is a, and I took that personally situation.

I believe he has 11 points in his last four games or something like that. We love spite. And he's, and he's score, like, because the thing with him all year was he wasn't scoring goals. He was just picking up, like, secondary assist and power play assists. He's got six goals in his last four games or whatever it is. Like, he's going fucking ape shit out there. And it's like, pretty cool. That's pretty cool.

But yeah, anyway, back to back to Demko for a second here. Like, how many games has he played? Let's say they shut him down for the year. Or he's just out for a significant portion of time. Already they're saying end of February and it could be longer, I think, is the last I saw. But between this season and last season, how many games has he played and what is his overall same percentage? What's he? Is he up to, has he played 50 games? No, he has not.

He has played 43 games. And I'm assuming it's under 900. That is the correct assumption by you. He has, his save percentage is 892 in his last 43 games. He's signed big money three years, four years beyond this one. To me, and obviously not knowing the injury and all that, but the, if it's any sort of of like week to week. Just shut them down.

Shut them down. Get them healthy. Unless, and this could be coming from the player himself, if it's a situation where it's like, I'd feel a lot better going into the summer knowing I got back and got some games under my belt. Some guys are kind of like that.

Maybe the team even wouldn't mind seeing them, but you're not going to read too much into the results of those games, especially since. The Canucks are done. Like there's, you're not, you're at that unfortunate part of the season where winning serves no purpose anymore. So you tried it. It didn't work out. You tried winning.

It wasn't fun. You did it like three times in the first half. Didn't really enjoy it. Again, what I'm kind of getting at here, though, is for me personally, I'm, I'm a little like, could Dr. Demko ever be, like an NHL player yet. How many years did he get? It was only three.

It's three years, yeah. But it's like eight and a half million bucks a pop. Only three is, for a guy who is 30. It's a hell of a lot better than 43 games. Six or seven or eight years like most teams do. But that still is,

there's risk there. Absolutely. Yeah. I'd be nervous. I feel bad for the guy. Like, yeah. He just can't stay healthy.

Injuries suck, man. And especially the fact that if it's different, I don't even know. Like, would you rather have the same thing keep coming back and can't get a handle on it or just something different every time? I don't even know. At some point, does it not feel like your body is actively rebelling against you? Yeah, like, I know that there's been a lot of talk in just in sports in general that a lot of what we consider injury prone is maybe, you know, maybe we lean into that too. much, but it's tough. And the other thing is as a goalie, right?

Like, it's, the injuries can be separate, but they're still related because, okay, my hip is messed. All right, so I'm going to adjust a little bit how I play because of the hit. And, oh, now it's, okay, now that's causing problems somewhere else. So I was just again. Remember two summers ago, they were like, oh, he's going to have to relearn how he plays the position because of his. that's,

is it, was it, was it his hip injury before this? I think it was a hip at one, that was one of them that he's.

One of many, for sure. And, and so yeah, it's like, okay, what if like you relearn it

and that is what's causing, like, I don't know, I'm, I'm just speculating, I suppose, but like, is that not

where your mind should immediately go? Because that's the first thing I thought of when they said, oh, this is an unrelated thing. I was like,

oh, it's maybe because he's playing the different from how he did basically his whole life before this. Yep. It's brutal, man. Look, he's a college hockey guy. I have to sit here and say, I like the kid, you know?

But it's a kid. He's 30 years old. But, you know, it sucks, man. You never want to see, like, a guy just, like, plagued by chronic injuries like this, especially, again, like, this time it's his back, this time it's his knee. This time it's his hip. This time it's his shoulder. Especially the guy who's head the success, right?

Because, you know, not... He's a good goalie when he's healthy. You're just left going, like, what if? Absolutely. Luke Hughes is out till March. Stop me if you've heard this before. Hughes brother is injured, you know? It's not good news for the devils.

And, I mean, unlike the Canucks, the devils are sort of still in their minds in the race, but... Yeah. And I don't think, you know... to be honest, take it for what it's worth. I don't think Luke Hughes is a good enough player yet that his absence really significantly changes that outlook. But it's, this is, this is not like a Kinnock situation where it's like, oh, yeah, just shut the guy down. You know, well, it's interesting because we're finally, we finally are starting to see some separation in the east, right?

It's not, this isn't a situation where, oh, your, your ninth, place in the in the wild card race that means you're three points out of it with a game in hand you know not quite yeah the devils are seven points behind the Bruins for the last wildcard spot i think that's pretty much time to call it season for a lot of teams it would be i mean yeah they probably can't do that when you come in with the the expectations that the devil's head yep good point it's tough and especially you know again like If you're Fitsy, are you going, oh, I'll just do a little short-term retool, a little selling. Oh, yeah, look at this.

I got a calendar invite from the owner. Cool. Says here, the time is set for 30 seconds after the season ends. Oh, interesting. I wonder what that's about. It's a short meeting. Five minutes. Probably wants to say congratulations on another job.

Well done. Might be getting a raise. Not a lot to discuss there. Five minutes. You're in and out. No, yeah, I mean, it's just, I think it's kind of like the Canucks or there are a few teams like this where it's like, oh, we built our hopes on a guy who can't stay in the lineup. Probably no, no lessons to be drawn from that. Anyway, have a good one, you know?

Like, it does kind of, that does kind of feel like the issue to me for for them. But, yeah, I don't know what you do if you're the devils other than you just, you put it out there. Like, I'll listen on a lot of guys. There are not a lot of guys on this roster. I'm married to. Unfortunately, one of them is Luke Hughes. Yeah.

Yep. I don't want to go 4D chess. And this is not, you know, I don't think this is a now thing. But the fact that you didn't get Quinn Hughes, does that? make you a little less married to accuse, like, you know,

you're not. Yeah, I mean, the problem is if you, if you trade Luke, like, does Jack get pissed off? And then,

then you're like, okay, well, it's time to rebuild and everybody gets fired. Mm-hmm. Because that, I mean,

that's, I think, what would just reasonably be the, the move at that point, which, hey, you're right.

maybe finally yeah finally Pierre Luke Dubois is out a while probably won't be back till March is what they're is what they're

getting at I gotta be honest I occasionally forget that he exists well there was a lot of feel good capitals they're back

they're real you know and I bought into it after last year capitals have one point more than the devil's in an extra game played

exact same points percentage. Now, they're doing it with a plus 11 goal difference and the devils are a minus 21. So there, you know, there is some difference in quality there. But outcomes wise, you know, we all had our little fun the last couple of years, but the clock was always kind of ticking on some of the older guys on this team maybe. And I don't know, I guess we can, we're going to talk about trait. bait and all that kind of stuff in the in the after this break coming up in the second

here but it's uh it's a it's a it's a it's a weird it's a weird situation for them to be in because can they sell i don't think they can so i don't know what you do but that's life um all right uh why don't we take that break and we'll be right back to talk about again trade bait all right we're back and uh well heck There was a trade yesterday in the NHL. The very rare Rangers to Islanders trade. Because when you know the Rangers are serious about selling. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. They're like, hell, we'll sell somebody to the damn Islanders. Fourth time in history, I think I saw. That sounds right. Which, I mean, the Islanders are 1970. So that's... I wonder what the other ones are. If you did, like, once a decade, you would...

would still be a little much. Oh, yeah. I can put that up and see if I can find who the other ones are. Because off the top of my head, I don't, I mean, I don't think they've ever did, done like a big trade, have they? Let's see here.

We got the Carson Sousy trade. 2010, Yeree Miami for a sixth round pick, a guy we've not hurt. Well, that's, I came back. That was a blockbuster. The sixth round pick, of course, became Tanner Lane. Okay. That's not anybody.

In 1972, the Islanders acquired Ron Stewart for cash. Which, I mean, that's barely even a trade. Okay. Well, I mean, you say that, but like, Maggie May, have I told you, lately that I love you. These are the hits of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today. That's a great point. And finally, the Islanders acquire a 1973, 7th round pick used on Denny Anderson,

and an eighth round pick used on Denny de Gagne, maybe, in exchange for Rangers roster protection and an expansion draft. The 1972 expansion draft. And it was, I apologize, the Islander. fans, as I said, 1970. 72. I'm not trying to shortchange you guys. But, yeah, I don't know.

Like, there have been Islander Ranger crossover players, but not traded. Usually more of the Rangers just collecting every. That, yeah. Oh, you were good for the Islanders? Why don't you come on across the street over here and we'll make some. Pat La Fontaine, probably the best one? Trotche never played for the Rangers, did he? Like, he coached them.

I don't think so. Yeah. Anyways, you'd be the guy to ask. I guess I would. This is one of those things where it's like, if you don't know, I don't know anybody who does. Okay. Yep. So, yeah, I don't know.

Cars and Susie's an okay player. Third round pick is basically nothing. Well, I mean, it's, it's, this feels like one of those. deals where it's like, this is not the islanders going all in by any stretch, but it's kind of like, all right, like you, not too many of us were expecting the islanders to do much. You guys have overperformed. You can have a little reinforcements as a treat.

That's exactly how this should be framed. I'm not going first round picks. And they shouldn't. But, yeah. How good is this team really? I probably not vary in the grand scheme of things. But have they totally earned? Well, I mean, look, this is one of those things where they're in eighth in the east, but third in their division.

So it is a little deceptive. But the next closest team in the division is the Flyers and the Flyers are bad. So they're probably fine. And so you go out and you get a Carson. and Susie and you go, hell, you know, we like our defense, but it could be a little better. And then if they keep winning in another month or whenever the deadline is, you go, okay, well, we'll see. We'll see what's out there.

So totally, totally reasonable and defensible move by, I think, all involved here. What are these other? it's weird, right, when teams, like, don't trade with each other ever. Like, I feel like the flames and oilers have made, like... Flames and Oilers are definitely... I mean, they made the famous James Neal for Milan Lucci straight. And, but that's... Worked out great.

Like, that's just very straight. Like, oh, yeah, we can't. We can't stand you. I know Toronto, Montreal for a while. They've hooked up a few times, but... They have. I remember, like, when I was a kid, there was a player... that they had traded.

I don't remember the trade, but I remember the player. And they were like, yeah, they traded. Got this guy from the habs. That never happens. Two teams hate each other. And you're like, really? Okay. I mean, I get it in, in the way that, like, teams refuse to make indivision trades.

Like, you just don't want that guy beating you personally because it makes you feel like an idiot. Yeah. You know, like, that's a GM thing. But I get the, like, human, like, just reaction to, like, Like, if Carson Susie scores a goal against the Rangers later this year, Chris Ruey was going to be like, God, fucking damn it. Oh, fuck. You know, like, that's kind of, I get that aspect of it, even if I think it is kind of like,

I mean, if you can get a good player out of there or pick or whatever, you should just do it. I understand it, even if I don't totally agree with it. No other recent trades really, unless you want to count like the Gavin Bayruther trade that shook up the AHL. I don't. Oh, all right. Well, I mean, he did play college hockey. He's a good player. So let's talk about some of the rumors that are out there right now, including one that I think was on 32 thoughts last week that kind of surprised me.

is apparently Shane Wright is maybe, maybe not available depending on who you ask. Okay, that's interesting. Yeah. Because he's been he's been an interesting player to watch

going back, I mean, I can't hear his name without thinking back to like the night in Montreal of the draft. Of course. And just the ups. I don't even, I don't know if I'd say ups and downs since.

I mean, he's been just, kind of like steadily on his way to being an okay player ever since. Which is not what you want with a guy who is considered the first round pick. Yeah, like he was whatever. Or the first overall.

And, you know, got him fourth overall, which is the highest, the crack in a pick. Didn't, yeah. And by the way, like, as much as you and I critique Ron Francis and his work quite a lot, like by the time he dropped down to fourth, everybody was like, oh yeah, of course you take Shane right. Oh, for sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not. And, you know, this is just, I think ultimately this is a situation where the OHL not playing during COVID, like he basically didn't play hockey for a year in his draft year. And that and then like that weird situation where they wouldn't send him back to the OHL because he was too good to play in the OHL. And so he got stuck between the NHL and like just kind of in no man's land. Like it was just all kind of lining up where he would be whatever in rough shape, like potentially to develop as you would want.

And so here we are where they might trade him and like for what? I don't know. Yeah. Do they really want to trade him? I don't know. Was the idea, like, trading him for an older player or resetting to something younger or change of scenery for comparable guys? So, Drager and Elliott have both mentioned that this is like a possibility.

And it's what specifically they seem to be looking for is someone to upgrade their top six. So it's kind of like a buy low on right or, you know, depending on who you're giving away, like, obviously this wouldn't be the matchup. But like the Rangers are shopping Artemmy Panarin, probably. That's interesting. Like, if you were a seller. Yes. Like at what point, you know, obviously a first round pick from different teams is different. thing, but like, how far

down a draft board do you go before he said, you know what, I'd rather have Shane Wright than a draft pick that I'm going to get and, you know, I'm going to own and but isn't going to help me for a few years. That's interesting. Well, I mean,

if we're talking about Panarin, which I have him next on the outline here, but like if we're talking about like a theoretical Panarin for Wright trade, I think it wouldn't be one for one. No, you want more than that if you're the right. And I don't think that makes sense for Seattle unless they feel like they can resign him, which...

Yeah, I wouldn't be too... The thing with Panarin is, like, he... Don't you get the sense with him that he's like one of these guys where it's like, no, I actually want the contract. I want as much money as possible. Sure. Which if you're... Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, you're... I mean, it's probably got Chandler Stevenson.

Maybe. Yeah, have they learned their lesson from doing that is the ultimate question there? But yeah, I just think like, I'm thinking about it from the perspective, other team's perspective, where it's like, would Shane Wright be an upgrade over this guy I'm thinking of selling? probably not, but, you know, he can help me now in a way that, like you said, you know, the 14th pick or whatever. Like, if you're going to, if you're going to do a Panera into Seattle deal, the other young guy that could maybe use a change of senior in Seattle is this Capo caco kid? You send him to the Rangers. I wonder what they could do with him. Well, they're turning on Lafrenier, too, or Lefrenier, I mean.

So, like, maybe that's another avenue to explore. But I don't know. I think at that point, if you're the Rangers, you're trading one problem for another. But I'll say this about Panarin. The piece of news that I got from listening to 32 thoughts yesterday was basically that he is not necessarily – he would probably prefer to be traded with an extension in place, but that's not like a prerequisite. it necessarily. Yeah, so this is shaping up to be a fun game of chicken, right?

Because... Yes. Panarin has the full, no move. He can say to Chris Durie, I'm not going anywhere. Or, as you allude to, he could say, I'm not going anywhere

unless you let me talk to that team first and get an extension in place. Yes. Now, would that be an actual sign-in trade? versus just like a handshake agreement or, you know, something like that. Who knows? But in theory, he can do that. Now, Chris Drury could say, well, that limits my market so much that I'm not going to get as much for you as I should.

And so if that's your stance, I just won't trade you, have fun playing for a last place team and missing the playoffs and not being top of mind to anybody. as you head into your last shot at free agency. Mm-hmm. Go ahead and cost yourself millions and millions of dollars in the deal you're going to get this summer, as opposed to going to, like, Colorado and lighting it up and being in the cons smith conversation

would be when you pitch it to him. And then who blinked. Yeah. Right. The other thing to say is that Elliot kind of said, like, it would be, be pretty similar to what um what brock nelson got for for the islanders last year which is um i believe it was calum ritchie a first a third oh who was the other guy on the trade i know it was calum ritchie who was the other guy who was a first a second or a third

and was it Oliver Schillington. And so, you know, that's not a crazy amount to ask for or a guy with, with Panarin's reputation, certainly. I mean, I feel like my starting point would be higher than that if I'm the Rangers. Yeah, I mean. Because presumably that's coming from New York or somewhere New York adjacent, right? I might be sitting bar a little higher. Yeah, I mean, I guess ultimately what it is is like you're going to have to find a team to work with that like either knows they want to resign him or can like in making this trade give themselves the flexibility to do so.

You know, like he had, I believe Elliot had mentioned like maybe Dallas is sniffing around it and like. but it would depend on what they want to do with Robertson, who they would have to extend. Okay. And I don't know that you're trading Robertson for, for Panarin, if you're either team, quite frankly. Oh, I mean, well, I mean, you'd think the Rangers would jump on that, right? I mean, you would think they would think they would put Jason Robertson on the Olympic hockey team,

and yet here we are, you know. It's a fair point. Yeah, Jason Robinson can go, hey, who's the coach here again? Oh, that guy over there. Adam Fox is just sitting there. Yeah. Come sit. Adam Fox just sadly tapping the stall next to him.

Have a seat, bud. Yeah. No, I mean, that's kind of what I'm saying. Like, the 200 hockey men hate him, you know? Like, that's, and I'm saying that in the way of, like, doctors hate him because he, he discovered the cure for something or other, you know, whatever the little banner ads are. like 200 hogging men just don't seem to like this guy for whatever reason he could put up a million points and they'd be like yeah but when's the last time you saw him back check again i always just think back to the the tyler sagan behind the b video you know dude i i linked to that again uh you have a couple posts ago because every time you do it somebody clicks it for the first time and you have given that gift to somebody What's the quote from the God, I can't remember who it is now, but there's just one guy who's like, yeah, but does he feel like a Bruin or some shit like that?

He's getting better. He's getting, who is that, is that, is that Gretzky or is it, that might even be Benning? It would make sense if it was Jim Benning. And he's like, you know, and he's getting better. He's doing all the things we ask, but is he, is he a Bruin? All time great. Teams are so far up their own behind. Does he play?

our culture our identity oh yeah your super unique identity it's so different our identity is we want guys to be tough to play against we want to be hard to play against

and uh you know kind of boring and grind out two to one win just once I want to see a team like go in and somewhere and win a game eight to one and then like after the game

just be like yeah but man those guys are tough to play against. That was a tough game, that one that we won super easily because all the players are bad. This is my advice to everybody, but you're going to start watching college hockey if you want that. Oh, we just absolutely smoke these fucking guys. Like, these guys suck out loud.

They are one of the worst teams of college hockey. You know, they really brought it tonight, I thought, and, you know, like that kind of thing. So, yeah, you get a lot of that in college hockey. college hockey because you got to find kind of crappy teams to put on the schedule sometimes. And maybe if you say they suck, they don't want to play your next year. You know, like that is, that is part of it in college hockey. So you get a lot of those kind of quotes. It rocks.

But anyway, yeah, Panarin is available. To me, he's the most interesting guy in the deadline by like a decent amount. Oh. I mean, this is... Has TSN put out their trade board yet? I mean, we're up to, like, at the athletic, we've got like our number four trade board. Oh, really?

4.0, which I like, because it implies that we're doing, like... I'll try to find it here. Point one updates. I'll try to find it really quickly. And yes, I believe he was at the top of the most recent one. Well, I know he would and should be at the top of every trade board. he's at least in terms of, this is from like a week and a half ago it looks like maybe.

But let's see here. So you got Panarin, you got Kiefer Shorewood, he's already been traded. Nazan Khadry, he's up next. That's, um, you know, I think we talked about it when, when the Anderson trade happened,

but it is a little bit like, what do the flames think they are? Yep. Because they're, they've been dropping like a fucking rock in the standings lately. but you know what I'm looking here they're seven points out and San Jose

has two games in hand they're probably done so they should trade cadre they should trade fucking everybody yeah seems sucks okay um Dougie Hamilton is next sure why not hell the devils might need them just to like have a guy out there

at this point uh Luke Shen sure why not Vincent Trochevich sure why not Elias Peders and we talked about this last week I love I love the idea

that they that they would trade him just give this guy a change of scenery we're big fans here you know classic wait until the no move

clicks in and then go okay now we're thinking about it oh we have buyers remorse here nobody could have seen this coming but yeah I mean I had seen some talk some

I don't remember remember where now, but like, he, you know, maybe before the Olympics, because that is kind of what's hanging over all of this is like GM's talking like the Olympics is kind of like a early trade deadline and then like a late trade deadline. There is a, there is a formal trade deadline February 4th. Yes. Well, it's like, yeah, right. And then there's like a transaction deadline.

Yeah. Yeah. Apparently like you can, you know, guys can still be sent up and down and there's waivers are allowed under certain. Oh, waivers are allowed. Okay. Yeah, Puckpedia had a thing saying waivers are allowed, but if a player is claimed off of waivers during the break, they don't have to report or do anything until. Got it.

But, yeah, apparently, which will be interesting because it'll be interesting to see if, like, there are no trades. You cannot make a trade until it's like the 20-something. So it's a couple weeks. But there's nothing to stop guys from talking. And there's nothing to stop two GMs from agreeing to a trade, like handshake deal. So if you suddenly see a team start doing weird stuff on waivers, that's going to lead to a lot of like, what are they doing? Why are they making these moves? Are they clearing space?

Are they doing this or that? But yeah, there is February 4, which is what, a week that's next Wednesday? Yeah, I think that's right. Get Duffy up, get them on TV or not. Finally, that guy going on TV to do something that doesn't, that like requires a lot of time filling. Yeah. Never see that from him. So he's the best.

It's getting tougher and tougher to watch those shows, though, huh? Because they're like, this year we're starting at 4 a.m. First trade doesn't come in until 1.30. You're like, fuck me. What am I watching this for? Yep. It's because I don't respect myself. Hmm.

That's it. That's exactly. Write that down. No problem. Okay. Um, rounding out the top 10 here. Cutkin, the Emmy. Uh, sure.

Yeah. I bet, I bet, speaking of buyers remorse, you know, uh, Blake Coleman and other flames guy. I, what's weird is I think they're in terms of guys that you could put on the trade block in this top 10. And speaking of 200 hockey men, the number of GMs that are falling all over themselves to make him after Panette. Aaron probably. Like, give me that guy. I want him. I was going to ask you this, because I feel like we don't really have, and maybe this is just,

maybe this was Rasmus Anderson and now we're in a little bit of a void. But I don't feel like we have yet our annual guy that you're just hearing is going to cost like a first round pick and you're like, what the fuck? And then by the time the deadline gets there, somebody pays it. And you're like, okay, sure. And I wonder if like Blake Coleman turns into that guy. Well, the Canucks were trying to make key for sure with that and it didn't work. And it didn't quite work out.

Although, you know, they got two seconds. Yeah. And two San Jose seconds, which, you know, might not be that far from it. Yep. So, yeah, I'm not surprised. And then rounding out the top 10 on the trade board is Stephen Stamco's, who I believe in his last five games has scored 600 goals. Yeah. That is, that sounds accurate.

I mean, he's got 25 goals in 51 games this year. I get why Nashville would trade him just in terms of, they should probably make some trades. They're not very good again. Well, you know what? I say that. They've worked, this is like the Sabres a few weeks ago where it's like they've worked,

they've gone on this insane hot streak. They're over 500 and they are three points out of a playoff spot with an extra game played. Oh. I guess that sucks. that that's not good. Interesting. Like that, that always makes me laugh. Like, they got insanely hot and they are now in 11th place in the Western Conference. They gained three points during the 17 game win streak.

Well, they gained more than that, but it's just, they were so far out of it that, like, that it doesn't fucking matter. Yep. And, you know, they, and then, you know, they got insanely hot. And now in their last 10, they're five and five. dead even. Yeah. Mars or so is on the list as well,

quite a bit further down, but... Yeah, because who wants him? Who wants a cons of might winner at the deadline? Got to think you'd be able to... I mean, at that point, to try to sign Wayne Gretzky. Is he available?

Doesn't seem to be doing much these days. Yeah, he's not doing much at all, is he? Yeah, anybody else on this That kind of jumps off the page Yeah, there was Evane Is still on there Oh yeah, I saw

I saw that there That there were a couple of teams interested God, who was it? Colorado and Dallas which That's right, it was Colorado and Dallas To me that feels very much like Something you put out there if you're Vancouver Right

Oh yeah Teams in the league are interested in this guy What? We better get in there on him. Yeah, this is the equivalent of them going like, I'm single again, and the two women that are interested in dating me are Sidney Sweeney, you know, like, and Jennifer Lawrence. Oh, interesting. And, yeah, you were saying Alex Tuck, that one's very interesting to me too, because what do you do when you're Yarmal, right?

Remember, like, it is, if it wasn't his very first press conference, it was shortly after when he was hired. and he said, like, I'm going to take care of this. We're going to get this figured out. And that was back when the Sabres were bad. And everyone was like, yeah, sign him to a reasonable extension or trade him. Of course. And now it's like, you're making a playoff run. I don't know.

I don't know what you do. Like, can you really sell if you're Buffalo? You haven't made the playoffs in 14 years? I'll say this. I bet Yarmou's. sitting there going, why couldn't Kevin have taken care of this on the way out the fucking door? Like, I don't want to be the guy that makes this decision. I'm going to make a prediction right now that I can't remember if I put it in writing somewhere,

but I'm going to put it out there now. We need to be prepared for the fact that Kevin Adams is going to get GM of the year votes. I wonder about that. Like, people have made that joke recently. Yeah, that's true. I'm not joking. I'm at least one GM is going to like pour one out for the fallen comrade and be like that's a great way to put it.

He does not get it. Everybody crapped on him. Everybody said he didn't know what he was doing. Look at this roster that, you know, I mean, he built it. Yarmo. Yeah, there's no saying he didn't build this. So they'll say, you know what? I'm going to, I'm going to throw a third place vote at this guy.

Yeah, you're probably right. It's going to happen. That's a great call by you. Yeah. And I mean, look, you watch them play. And boy, they are almost at 50% expected goals at five on five and overall. Wow, what a team. There you go.

Red hot, baby. I mean, if you're the savers, you fucking take it where you can get it. Right? Oh, yeah. There's not a single savers fan who's like, yeah, but. I mean, the PEO numbers. Sixth in the league in shooting percentage. No, you're just like fucking, you know, a dying man in the,

like a guy in the desert's not like, oh, please. Is Pepsi okay? No, I don't think I'm going to just crawl over into this dune and. I'll eat some sand, it's fine. No, like, I totally, from, but, yeah, is this team good? Well, you know, TBD. But are they winning?

Sure they are. And again, it would be crazy if the bottom dropped out on the Buffalo Sabres. That never happens. No. So what do we have to worry about? Fool me 37 times. The one other thing that I heard on 32 thoughts this week, which blew my mind. I couldn't believe that it was said out loud, but kind of speaks to the tenor of the situation.

a Walsett available from Minnesota to make a big upgrade up front. That's interesting. That is interesting. I mean, and I get it. They have the other goalie locked in. Yeah. I mean, a big upgrade, I guess, would be like an Artemmy Panera and Stephen Stamcoe style guy. Yeah.

I mean, that makes, you look at, especially this year, right, you look around in, like, San Jose got asked. Rob. Chicago went and got Spencer. Like those guys, it's been a good year for, I wouldn't say reclamation projects, although in Spencer Knight's case, maybe you'd use that term, but like young goalies,

get your guy. I wonder who else needs a young goalie. I mean, there are probably like 15 teams in the league. I mean, I don't have them on the outline or whatever, but like, if you're the Ottawa senators, are you looking at the future, your goaltending situation and going, oh,

we're all set here. You are not. You know, you signed old mark to that big contract, but even with like, doesn't look like Maryland's the guy. No. So,

I guess I'm not super familiar with their, I guess I'm not super familiar with their prospect pipeline, but I, there's no goalie out there that I can think of off the top of my head. If Ottawa had a goalie prospect who... Yeah. He'd be playing now because... Yeah, you're probably right.

So, you know, I just... I don't know who you're trading from the senators to upgrade your offense if you're Minnesota. Like, you know what I mean? Like, that's... It's probably not a match there. But I'm just saying there's... Yeah. There are a ton of teams out there that's like, fuck it, we could probably use a young goal.

But it's... And I hate to say this because I hate when GMs... do this, but this one does feel like a tough one to do during the season. Not because it's so complicated, but just because, like, who out there has good offense that they're willing to move,

but they're not in the playoffs, so they're willing to move them for a young goalie. Yeah. I'm sure, yeah, there's got to be some team. Well, again, I keep going back to my friend Dave's gimmick of the Rangers should trade Shisterkin. you want to talk about disrupting the goalie market

holy shit man there is still time for the Shisterkin to the Oilers trade God what's their goaltending looking like these days it's still horrible right well they had the shutouts

the other night and also Calvin Picard is mad what's he mad about that he's not playing Doc have you looked at your save percentage why would you want him to do that I haven't seen this

he's publicly upset about his playing time he was just talking about like being the third goalie yeah like saying that he didn't he wasn't 871 it's better than you can do maybe not by as much as you think yeah you seem like you top out at about an 850 I'm I'll say this too

I don't know that there's I don't know that there's a huge functional difference between an 850 and an 870 goalie in the NHL in terms of are you helping your team win games? Might be right. They should give me a bunch of money. It's still the podcast, though, right? Yeah, sure.

Look, all these athletes have their own damn podcast these days. Connor Ingram 909 in Edmonton. That's not bad. Why are you playing that guy? I don't know. That's pretty good. points just because he gives up one fewer goal per 25 shots than I do. Come on, that's all.

And Tristan Jari's been not great but better lately. Yeah, I just don't. Darnel Nurse picks and prospects versus what's the, what's the record for, uh, for like goalies used in a season? The Oilers could get there. Seven in a season, I believe is still the record. They're up to four. So.

They got a long way to go. Never mind. I take it back. The fact that you just pulled that off the top of your head is why I was like, surely he knows all the Oilers or the Islanders Rangers trades. Oh, I think the answer is seven. How do you know that? It was one of the Nordic's teams in like the late 80s. Come on.

This is fucking ridiculous. And one of the guys, I believe it was one of the Ron Tugnoy years. and it was also, they had like the Russian goalie from the Olympics played like a few games. Sure, why not, you know? Why not? Yeah. Everybody knows this stuff. Come on, man.

Fucking top of his head. Ridiculous. Makes me sick. One last thing I thought was really funny this week is a guy who is running for the state comp controller of New York. Adam Bunkadico, I don't know. don't know. That, B-U-N-K-E-D-E-K-O. How do you think that's pronounced?

I have no idea. Dude, dude, you've seen me spell to pronounce guys with three letters. Sure. Like, what do you? Anyway, he is running for New York comptroller, and one of his, like, things that he's saying they should, the state of New York should do is by a stake in, like, whenever, whenever it's put up for sale, buy a stake in the Knicks and the Rangers and like Madison Square Garden in general. Because they have a $290 billion pension fund, and he believes that Madison Square Garden

sports is undervalued for like what owning Madison Square Garden would get you. And then if it comes a day that like the Dolan conglomerate wants to sell, the state of New New York could also be part of that and get like a huge fucking return. Because like think about what the the crackin went for or whatever. The senators who the penguins, what did the penguins just get like $2 billion or something like that? Yeah, the values are off the turn. Yeah. And so think about what the Knicks and the Rangers could get. And so he's like, if we buy in at a low number, 15 years from now, that would be an extremely high number.

So that's why. I just thought that was a really interesting thing. Hey, Sean, do you know about any pension funds that owned any sports teams? No, but it sounds like it would probably work amazingly well. Interesting. Seems like that's exactly the sort of faceless entity that. that you want, that has a fiduciary duty not to actually care about anything other than dollars in and dollars out. What could go wrong?

You probably get a cool blog name out of it. That's exactly right, man. So I guess that's it for the show this week. Sean, why don't you hit them with the plugs and we'll get the hell out of here? You can find me at The Athletic. I will be on with my good pals, Sean and Frum. Frankie tomorrow. And also, I'm doing double duty on the newsletter this week.

Whoa. They're working my friend of the bone. They kind of are. But you don't have to have any of that James Myrtle, well-reported, intelligent nonsense fill in your inbox. Instead, it's going to be me talking about stuff, talking about the 89 Nordic's goaltending situation. And I might write some posts too, but we'll see.

We'll see how it goes. And then for me, you head over to elite prospects. You can find all my latest college hockey takes, including this past weekend. I went to the Connecticut Ice Tournament, unfortunately named this time of year, I would say. And basically, that is like the bean pot of the four Connecticut schools. And I'm going to put this in my notebook later this week, but some of the same. something that I found, very surprising, was that there was a lot of talk about the future of that tournament, whether it's worth saving that kind of thing. You would think this is an easy sell.

You get all, there are four Division I college hockey teams in the state of Connecticut. You have a little one weekend tournament where they all play each other. And everybody has a good time, right? Wrong. Because every coach was like, oh, I think this is a great tournament. I hope it lasts forever. with the implication being, but it might not. And you ask around and there's just a lot of like logistical issues and like certain teams maybe don't think it's in their best interest to do this because they get their fucking brains beaten out in the tournament every year.

And I think that's at a level higher than the coaches, I will say, from what I can from what I can gather. But it's pretty interesting. Again, I'll have more on that in the notebook. And I did a thing where I like kind of talked to or I watched every game. I made a note of like players who kind of really stood out to me as like really effective. And then I asked their coaches like, what makes these guys good players? And you can read that. That actually just went up while we were recording the podcast.

So lots of takes about like drafted players, undrafted free agents that your teams might sign. in the spring, that sort of thing. So keep an eye out for that. And then head over to patreon.com slash puck soup where we're doing all kinds of bonus episodes this week, including the mailbag that me and Sean are going to go record right after this. And also later this week, me, Sean and Greg will be discussing the 32 NHL teams and their spiritual counterparts in other North American sports,

who are the New York Islanders of the NBA and this sort of thing. So again, keep an eye out for all that and more. And until then, thank you so much for listening. And we'll talk to you next week. Have a good one. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.