Puck Soup - Moving On

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

Sean and Ryan talk about all the first-round series, and what's next for the teams that are already eliminated.

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I'm Sean McIner from The Athletic. And folks, I'm getting sleepy. There's too many damn overtimes in these play. I know we all love overtimes. But let's have them be in the early games. You know what I'm saying? That's right.

It feels like every late game, we're going overtime this one. Every early game has to be overtime. Every late game needs to be 7-0 after the first period. That's right. Like, you know, I don't know if you know about this. In, like, youth football, when a team gets up, I think it's like six touchdowns or something like that. They're just like, let's run the clock.

Everything's between the tackles. We're not stopping for incomplete passes. We're just trying to all get out of here without these kids getting humiliated. Let's have that for the late games. I love it, man. When I played baseball, it was a 10-run mercy rule. Like the game is just over. Yep.

And if it got to nine runs, everyone on both teams is, like, side-eyeing each other. Like, we could all be playing video games in 15 minutes. Yeah. Four straight intentional walks. All right, we're out of here. Have a good one. Groundball back to the pitcher.

He just wings it over the Oakfield fence. What do you know? Whoops. I'll say this, though. I am very bummed that we're already down to the, it's only two games a night situation. It sucks, man. Every year. every year

it's jarring to me. I don't know why three games in a night I'm still good with, but the first two game night of the playoffs, I'm like, what, what, huh? Hey, hey, don't do that. Don't do that.

It hasn't gone out of you, but I wrote in the newsletter. I'm like, we need four games a night. Like, sorry, senators, get back out there. You had your, you had your PAC update, well, pack back,

down because you're, you got three more games to play. Yeah, it doesn't matter if they're not competitive. Might win one. The shot. The way that might get into it. I don't know. Brady might notch a point. At the very least, it gives him three more games to, uh, after every shift,

dramatically head down to the dressing room and then come back heroically. Here he is. He's coming to save us. Yeah. Can you believe it? That's crazy. Well, we'll talk about the senators. deep in the show in a little segment we call

Luser Corner. But let me ask you this, Sean, do you want to start with the east or the west? Let's, we'll do it as the hockey gods intended and get the east out of the way first and then Great. Do the West later when nobody's watching.

What do you think has helped the penguins get up off the mat here? They were down 3-0. That's 3-2. Insane. mainly lucky goals. Kind of helps. Well, that does help, doesn't it? That game was going south last night.

Two nothing, and then the flyers scored two, and you're thinking. And Crosby looked like, I mean, talk about guys leaving. Her question mark? I mean, he looked. Anytime you see a guy leave the ice and go straight to the room, especially Sidney Crosby, you're like, oh, man, that's it. That's it for the penguins. Not even in this series, but, like, they're just done.

And not so much. Chris Litton, noted sniper, Chris Lattang. Finds a way to... Dog, when you're giving up goals to Chris Lattang, let's call it. Let's just say this series is over. Let me ask you this. Okay. Do you see a goal like that?

Like, is that a bad goal by DaVlodar? Or is that just, like... What's he supposed to do? You just shrug emoji it and go, when the hockey gods have decided, screw you, you just. Yeah, I think that's right. I think, like, I'm sure there's some goalie expert that's like, you know, if his head movement was 14 degrees to the left and his shoulders were three, I don't know, man, sure. Every goalie expert thinks no goal ever scored was the goalie's fault. Unless, unless it's like a vertical wasn't.

Yeah, but the thing with goal, the goalie experts to be is like, as soon as a guy gives up two goals that aren't particularly good in one game, they're like, oh, you can tell his confidence. Like, they have every prescription for, for what's wrong. But then it's never like, oh, technically he's bad. It's that like, you know, he had a bad breakfast that morning or whatever, you know what I mean? and I don't know if I don't know if Dan Vlodar like you know he only had coffee and banana you know like I don't I don't know if he was supposed to eat some egg whites in there too but I don't know I don't know what you're supposed to do there if you're David like he he didn't go out and try to play it off the wall like he's like a fucking left fielder

you know like it hit him in the back of the skate and snuck over the line so that's hockey. Like you said, the hockey gods decided the penguins were getting this to to a game six. So are we,

the narrative that's emerging, which is usually a fancy way of saying something's nonsense, but I'm not sure it is here, is that you had a young team against a veteran team slash,

insanely old team, but one that had been around the block many times in the playoffs. And it's now that it was 3-0, the moment's getting a little too big for the kids, and the veterans are roaring back. Is it that simple? I think it probably is. And I'll read you a stat here. I went down and I wrote down a stat or two for every series that kind of jumped off the page to me.

The Penn's had two five-on-five goals in the first four games of the series. Is that good? I mean, it's two more than I had. Yeah, I guess that's true. The Ottawa senators are like, fuck, man, I'd kill for that, Betty, you know? But that's really what it boils down to for me is, like, they were not very effective at five-on-five, and then they had three five-on-five goals last night. you score three goals in five on five you're usually winning the game you know um and you know obviously there are other reasons for that and i think taking it as a whole like the penguins

have gotten better as the series went along um i don't know if it's the the uh the lights are too bright or whatever you want to say so much as these are some old dogs out there. They still got a few tricks up their sleeve, you know? Like, they don't, they have enough star power at the top of that lineup to not go so quietly than they showed in the first three games, you know? So that and they put Sheelves in, and Shee-Lov's been pretty good. It was pretty good. And I have a thought, and I don't think I've ever articulated this, so let me work through it here.

But what if the fourth game is the hardest game to? win. That doesn't sound right to me. No. Sure about that? That might, that one might need a little more time in the oven, but yeah. I feel like there's something, I feel like, like you have to win, to win a playoff series, you have to win one game, right? Uh-huh. And then ideally you'd win a second.

Uh-huh. You'd like to follow that up with the third, but the, you really need the fourth. Yeah. They usually don't let you advance unless there's COVID or something, like, until you get the fourth one. And I feel like that one might be the most difficult one of all to win and that the flyers are learning that. Yeah.

And also like, you know, the other thing with the flyers is they had to get insanely hot to get into the playoffs, whereas the penguins were pretty good for most of the season. And I think that we've seen before that if you are insanely hot, like, you know, it's one of those, I don't know if you know this, Donald Trump believes that there's only a human, a finite amount of energy in the human body. Okay. That, and that's why he doesn't work out. Because he's like, why would you waste it on that? You know, that's a real fact that he believes.

There are very, very few Donald Trump policies that I've adopted my way. Well, what I'm saying is I don't know if I subscribe to that theory in particular, but I do believe that you can kind of empty the tank a little bit just getting into the playoffs. And I'm not saying that's what's happening here necessarily. But like, there's a, um, how do I want to say this? There's like an emotional pitch you kind of have to play at when you're trying to squeak into the playoffs, when you're trying to ring out three games and blah, blah, blah, that I think that that there is something to that you could, that you can kind of burn a little too bright. at the, peak too early, as they say.

But I also think what it really boils down to is there, do the Flyers really have the talent at the tippy top of that lineup? I know they have several very good players, but I don't know that they have any elite ones, you know? And Sidney Crosby, Game, Malkin, these guys can still kind of find that elite level. And if you want to say that's what's, going on here? I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a hard time disagreeing with you.

Let me ask you this, though, speaking of elite talent. Mm-hmm. Old, old in trouble boy himself, Matt Vei Michkov, in trouble once again, what did you think? You got healthy scratched. Yeah, I was mildly surprised when that story started to percolate and then turned out to be confirmed. Yeah. I mean, he hasn't been good in the playoffs for sure.

And he's also barely playing, right? Like, it's not like they're giving him time and he's sucking. Like, he's sucking in limited time. And it's like, well, if you can't succeed in limited time. And then Alex Bump goes out and scores for the Flyers last night. And it's like, okay, well, I guess we don't have to have the conversation at all that. And bump scoring helps, right? Because when you scratch one of your most dangerous forwards,

I guess I'd say not your best, but one of your guys who, I mean... Can make something out of nothing. In theory, he knows how to go out there and score goals. You scratch him and then you lose by one goal in a game where you spend the whole third period pushing for it and you just don't have the juice to get it, that opens a coach up to some second-guessing.

And the fact that the other guy got one, it's a nice one too. Yeah, it helps a lot. Pretty good. But I wonder, like, do you think, do you think Mitchcoff comes back in in? Bump scored, man. You know, if you can find someone else in the lineup to bump out,

maybe you put Mitchcove back in, but, like, you can't take out the guy that just fucking scored for you. He scored half your goals in that game. Doesn't this feel like a situation where Mischkov sits again, the Penguins win game six, and then Mitchcoff comes in and scores in game seven? No.

Okay. The Penguins might win. The way it's gone for Mitchkov, I don't know that he's going to be the big needle move. I'm happy to be wrong about this. I'm always rooting for the exciting young players and all that, but four games, no points, four shots on goal. Yeah.

Roughly 40 minutes of ice time total. Do you want to know what his XGF is? Absolutely, I do. It's 37. No, wait, I'm wrong. That's Nick Seeler's. It's actually 52, but at five on five, it's quite bad. It's like 30 something at five on five.

So five on five is the problem. and you know, you should be generating a lot of offense on the powerplay. So not great for old Matt Vey, but again, bump makes Tuckit look like a genius. Now that's the right string to be pulling and all that. So where are we at? Who wins this series? I still think the Flyers win it. Okay.

I think over taking it as a whole I think this has been a pretty evenly matched series Maybe you'd give the slight edge to the penguins I mean the Flyers really dominated the first two games Yeah but I'm And the score indicated like I Oh for sure And it's certainly tilted since then

Yeah well that's what I mean though It's like the penguins seem to have gone Oh right we're actually not that bad We shouldn't be getting pushed around by the Philadelphia Flyers. So, yeah, I just think it's pretty tough to see. Well, it's, it's tough to see either of these teams winning one of the next two games. You know what I mean?

But the Flyers have two kicks at it. It's basically what I'm thinking here. So there's that. Let's move on to what I think is the... They do get... Sorry, and then we can... Yeah, yeah. They do get Game 6 at home, which I think is...

is far better than the flip side. Like normally being the home team that has game seven at home is an advantage, obviously. But to play a game, to be in this situation, win three, lose two, I'd rather be going home and then if I got to play a game seven, go do it on the road. I don't want to play a game seven blowing a three-nothing lead scenario in my own. own building. For sure. Where it's like, you know, it's loud, but then the other team gets one shot on goal and

it's dead quiet. Like, it'll probably be like that in game six anyways, but it's fun. It's fun to watch a team come back. God, the Sydney Crosby stories are going to be absolutely out of control. Yep. They got to get them. Only halfway. Yeah.

Let's go to what I think is the best series by far in these playoffs to date. Bolts habs. You want to talk about close? Holy smokes. You want to talk about a close series, Sean? Again, I just wrote down some stats for every series. Here's one for Bolts haves. The goals are 11 apiece.

The shots are 94-93 for Tampa. Montreal has the edge in expected goals. by 0.02. PDOs in the series, 99.9.9 for Tampa, and obviously 100.1 for Montreal. But what's interesting is Montreal has played with the lead for like twice as much time as Tampa.

And this is, I think, you want to talk about the difference between like a veteran team and a relatively young team is like they just can't put the bolts away. They just can't do it. Nasty series, a lot of nasty hits and things like that. And for me, like, this is what hockey's all about.

This is what you want in the playoffs, two teams that seem to really not like each other. And I didn't get the impression that that was the case a week and a half ago. Yeah, I mean, I... There was some bad blood even heading into this, but you're right. This is

ratcheted way, way up. And it's great. As I said on social, if you're a fan of one of these teams, you've got to be losing your mind right now. Yeah. It's probably agonizing to watch, but for everyone else, it's like

you're just sitting there throw more raw meat in the cage and let them go at it for our entertainment. It has been excellent. Where are we at on Do we even try to pick a winner or is this just?

Yeah, I don't feel like we've necessarily gotten like the Vasilevsky game, really? Nope. You know? I guess you could argue game two. He kind of stood on his head a little bit, but even then, not really, you know. like he didn't make 45 saves or whatever and some of that the is the team in front of him has played quite well I think but he I think I said going into the series like goaltending was the difference Montreal doesn't really have their goaltending situation fully figured out yet um like organizationally speaking and Vasilevsky hasn't really really. put the pressure on Dobish in a way that I kind of expected. So show me one of those and I think the series is over, but for right now it's like a

complete toss-up. Of course, you know, you put Tampa, like it's stupid to say, you put Tampa up three games two and the series is over, but it probably is, you know? Well, I mean, going back to Tampa and there's the extra day so we don't, we got to wait. Yep. Which I did not authorize, but all right. Sure. I don't like these extra days between games in the first.

Like the whole reason we have this stupid format is because travel would be too hard. Get on a plane and go. What's going on? Obviously, I agree with you. But, yeah, it's, I mean, I continue to be impressed by the fact that Montreal is not backing down. Like, they're not giving an inch in this series. And Tampa is, it very much feels like a Tampa-style series. Like, Tampa has...

They're getting the games they want. Yeah. Tampa's kind of forced Montreal to play Tampa-style games, which should be a big advantage, but Montreal's handled it. Totally. I can't, I can't wait. This series is so, so fun. Yep, just two teams.

really going punch for punch, you know, like they're... It's one of those things. Now that I think about it, I don't think either team has won two in a row, right? It was Tampa, Montreal, Tampa, Montreal. Or the other way around. Montreal, Tampa, Tampa, Tampa, Tampa, right? Yeah. It's crazy.

I do wonder if we look back at game four and go, that was the missed opportunity. Oh, totally. Totally. Totally. Yeah. Building is rocking. I don't know. No, I think that's exactly right.

Like it does, it does feel like, again, like they just couldn't put Tampa away. Yep. He, you know, the undertaker hand out of the casket right around the throat. Oh, shit. Uh-huh. So, yeah, it's. But I'll tell you, there's a lot of teams that I would look at something like, like that and go, yeah, they're done.

And I'm not getting that vibe from it. I'm with you. Yeah. Even maybe before the series, I would have said Montreal might be that team that would, that would quiver a bit. But they have, they've just been toe to toe with them. Not intimidated, which again, for a young team is exactly what you want to see. Sure.

Like if you're, if you're Montreal management, you're like, fuck, yeah. Because even if they don't win this series, you can just say, the playoff format fucked us, man. Like, we had to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Yeah, I, let me just tell you from experience that that doesn't really float. Uh, it, or only for so long, let's just say. Sure, sure, sure, sure, yeah. This might be the last year you get to play that card.

Well, that's what I mean, though. Like, this is, this is the first time there were really expectations on Montreal. Yep. and they're giving Tampa all they can handle. And, you know, if they, even if you lose in six games to this Tampa Bay Lightning team with this many, like, star players, we haven't even mentioned Brandon Hagel is going fucking psycho in this series. Brandon Hagel has, I didn't think there was like another level to how good I would think he was. You know what I'm saying? Like I felt

Yeah smokes Sean he's played more minutes than anybody on the lightning Okay At five on five He is running an expected goals percentage Of 68.7 They have outscored Montreal

Six Zip at five on five when he's on the ice I Not to It's a All right. So I'm going to do the cliched Sean thing and talk about the Leafs. But finally. Do you remember a couple years ago there was that that rumor came out that the Leafs that Kyle Dubas wanted to trade Matthew Nyes and a first to Chicago for Mark Andre Fleury and Brennan Hagel? And then Brennan Shanahan had stepped in and stopped him from doing it. And everybody at the time was like, thank God Matthew Nyes is the best prospect that least have had in a million years. And, you know, all of that just to what, so you get Mark on like one year, Mark Andre Fleury.

And now I'm looking back and I'm just like, I would like Brendan Hagel to be the captain of my team, please. Yeah, no shit. Okay. To build around this guy. Sean, I just scrolled over on the natural stat trick page. When he's on the ice, again, this is a 5 on 5. 28 to 7 scoring chances. High danger chances, 9 to 3.

And you're like, well, surely he's starting a ton of shifts like in the offensive zone or something. Nope, 7 to 9 defense fit heavy. What? He is fantastic. And I mean, he's not the guy that coming into the series, I would have been like, he's the guy Montreal can't handle. No, you would have said that about Kuturav. They've tried.

Yeah, you would have said it for Kutra. Kutrav's been good. Kutrav's been an absolutely phenomenal heel. You and I have talked about him being like an underrated. Like, we know, right? Whether it's wrestling or a movie or whatever it is, you want to tell an engaging story, you need a good villain. Yep.

And Nikita Kuturov is that guy and has been for a while now. But, oh my goodness, what a, this is such a great, there's just so many twists and turns and stories. And, I mean, we've barely talked about the Montreal guys. Oh, my gosh. Well, the thing with the Montreal guys is, apart from that, one Slavkovsky game, there's no one that you can single out and go, this guy's putting the team on his back, like, like, Hegel is, right?

Like, they're doing it a lot more by committee. You know, I guess the one guy you would say is really, like, rise into the occasion in a way that, you know, like, is a little unexpected as Lane Hudson. Obviously, everybody understands he's great. Yeah. But, like, he's playing mega minutes. He was always a guy that you could, especially from a distance, you could go, ah, but when in the playoffs,

he's just a little fellow, yeah. He's, no, he's, he's been good. Coffield's been fine, but one goal from a 50 goal guy is not enough. Sure. Nick Suzuki is, again, like, he's Nick Suzuki. He's asked to do a million things, most of which are really hard things. to do and he usually doesn't, but has a scored yet. Well, I mean, the thing with Suzuki, you know, he's being hard matched against the Hegel

line. What's he supposed to do, you know? Tackle him. You know what? That's actually about that idea. I don't know. But, I mean, if you're a Montreal fan. Whoa, Sean, how about this?

Montreal doesn't have a goal at five on five with Suzuki on the ice. That's not good. You need more than that, for sure. And you do, but the flip side is if you're a Montreal fan, you're going, I feel pretty good that Suzuki and Caulfield and are going to find, are going to have a game. Yeah. We're tied two to two with this legendary multi-time championship core.

We're tied, and our best haven't even been our best yet. Mm-hmm. We'll be okay. They might be. they yeah totally but yeah anyway uh let's move on to the the final uh eastern series that's still going on for at least another 18 hours or so uh brewing sabers first remember uh we were talking about last week like the first two games not really go in the savers way the the bruins kind of you know a

Playing with a lot of leads. Yeah. Was Boston being by far the better team. Mm-hmm. And then. And then what happened? The Sabre said we're not doing that shit anymore. Yeah.

Fuck off. We're done with that. On the road, too. Like, that's... Yeah. I got to say, that's impressive. Again, Buffalo, like, not a super young team, but obviously, they're the Sabers.

Not a ton of playoff experience on there. So you could have understood. And, you know, you could certainly have weaved the narrative that this is a Boston team that still has some guys from some deep playoff runs. But no, that was a couple of statement games, especially the game over the weekend. Holy smokes. Yeah. Anytime you get the opposing goalie to yell at his teammates in public, that's, that's, you did a good job. in my opinion.

And again, this is, this is what the Bruins having gone like, your starting goalie for the playoffs, the guy that you put in the net for game one of your first

playoff series in 14 games. We got him the fuck out of this series in two games. And the Sabres are like, I don't care. Yep. Whatever. This is.

Wucopekal, the guys on ESPN don't even know how to pronounce his name. Guys, nothing to us. We got Alex Lyon. That one's easy to pronounce.

Unless you're French, then it's Leone. Is this series over for you? Yeah. And again, I'll just read you the stats. The one stat that I think is the difference here. When David Posternak is on the ice at five on five, Buffalo leads in scoring chances 26 to 9, that's bad.

Yeah. It's that simple This guy Like you said This is a veteran of a thousand deep playoff runs All that kind of stuff You need more from the big man He's in the Pepsi commercial

I see 50 times a fucking Oh we don't get that one up here Well don't spoil it In case Cintillie wants to Well so it's like Okay so last year they had It was pretty

I think it was pretty much the same commercial and they've like changed one or two things about it. I think they have like a new marketing slogan in there. Like hockey fans deserve Pepsi. Don't put that on us. You know what? I do deserve a Pepsi. Yeah, but wouldn't you rather have a Coke?

Is Pepsi okay? And David Posternak's like, no. It's going really badly for me these days. He's supposed to be the guy for them and he just hasn't been. one goal in the series. It's not at five on five. Leading their, the team's leading score with five points,

but yeah. Doesn't feel like he's moving the ball for him. So, you know, how do you think the Sabres are doing this? Yeah, no, I mean,

they're, to be simplistic, but I think accurate, they're just better. They really are. Yeah. And there was after the first two games, like there was room for there to be a bit of a wobble there

where a little bit of second-guessing, a little bit of, you know, these lights are maybe a bit brighter than we thought. Nope. Not really. Yeah, again, I thought Swayman was going to be the difference in this series and he hasn't been. And I don't think you can put that on him necessarily, especially the way game four went.

But he hasn't. stolen, he hasn't really stolen a game and certainly didn't steal one in Boston. 900, including the game he got yanked in. So it's not a goal-tending issue, but you're right. It's, and maybe that's, maybe that's what we get in game five is the Swamen game and then put it back on track. I don't know. Alex Tuck's making himself some money the last few weeks. Yeah, all that stuff about this guy wants $12 billion.

Where are they talking about the teams are going to be fucking lined up around the block to give this guy. $12 million now. But yeah, like, you know, you know who I've been pretty impressed with as well as as Bo Byram? Yep, Byram's been... He's been playing big minutes.

He's been good. Owen Power's been good. And Rasmus Dalin has... You haven't really noticed very much. Yeah. Which has got to be a little bit terrifying if you're the Bruins. Oh, they're kicking our butts and their best player has been fine. Yeah.

right. Uh-oh. Yeah, but I just look, Byron leads them in, uh, in ice time right now at five on five. And when he's on the ice, they outscore the ruins eight to two at five on five.

That's good. I think you take that. Yep. From your apparently number one defenseman Bowen, by, okay, sure. Um, and then Alex Lyon is obviously,

you know, being really good. He's, he's, he's been good. I will say I'd be surprised if the Sabre's going a deep run and it's the Alex Lion show. Like I feel like they get back to Lukinen at some point.

But not any time soon based on how the last few games have gone. Yeah. No, I'm, when you're a goal, you're going to give your, your coach, a reason to take you out of the game. And Lukinen did. Lion hasn't. It's that simple. Yep. So, yeah, this series feels like over, over, in my opinion.

Like you say, maybe the Bruins steal a game, but they need to steal two or three here, you know? Yeah, I mean, go into Buffalo, tough building, all that stuff, grind out a two-one win. Jeremy Swayman saves your season. Then you go home and it's okay. You know, we know if we can win game six at home, then all the prep. But I don't know. I'm not, I'm not feeling that for this Sabres team, a lot like Montreal. Like, I'm waiting to see the signs.

Let's just say I have some expertise in spotting a fake-ass playoff team. And I'm looking at the, and I'm not, I don't know, I'm not getting that vibe yet. Well, look, like the thing, the thing about this team, the Bruins team, I should say. is that, like, people didn't expect them to be all that good this year. Then they made the playoffs, and everybody said, is Don Sweeney the genius of all time? Uh-huh. And then I was sitting there going, well, Jeremy Swimming, like, should be a Vezna finalist, so no, it's not, you know, he didn't pull all the right strings. This is goalie, who's really good and has been for quite a while in his career.

was really good this year, better than really good. And now maybe we're learning a bit of a lesson about that, about where the ruins are really at in their competitive window. And I wonder what that means for the summer. I don't know, but they got a couple more games here, well, at least one to really give old Donnie a chance to figure it out. Why don't we take a break? And we'll come back and we'll talk about the active Western conference series.

How's that sound? All right, we're back. Let's talk about the other game from last night. The game that went to overtime made me so sleepy this morning. Knights, Mammoth. This is a tie series. Kind of against all odds, it feels like. What do you mean by that as far as?

Felt like the fucking knights were cooked after game three, didn't it? Well, I don't know if it felt that way after game three, but after they blew the lead last night. night. I mean, that was, you're already thinking ahead to this offseason and, you know, all the changes that would come and, and what have you. But I get credit to them. There's, you know, how many times do you see a team blow a lead and it's all falling apart and you're like, this game's over? And it's like, yeah, but there's only one goal by, they're one goal away.

They're right back in it. And you go, yeah, but that never happens. And it did. They got the goal and then got it to overtime and eventually took care of business. Got a couple of goals actually. Got the, you know, the fun offside review to make you extra sleepy. Well, I'll tell you, that offside review, at the first angle they showed us, like, kind of had Eichel like up in the tippy top corner. And they're like, oh, we're going to review this for outside.

I'm like, that guy, that's not even close. That's, that guy's completely on side. But then I looked up in like the, you know, the top one, 803rd of the screen. And I was like, oh, Ikel's way offside. Yeah, no, okay, we're fine here. Uh-huh. I thought that was, that was pretty funny that the, that the broadcast was just like cutting off, almost cutting off the most important part of it.

But the thing about last night's game, for me, is, yeah, the Mammoth tied it, blah, blah, blah. I thought they kind of looked overmatch from the opening puck drop. Yeah. Certainly the third and overtime especially,

I think it was Jesse Granger, even before the goal, he tweeted, like, Utah looks gassed and Vegas is just speedbagging him now. It's funny. I have in my notes here, maybe the mammoth kind of punched themselves out. Yeah. It felt like, you know, not, it's not great analysis to say, well, if this team hadn't scored in overtime, maybe the game would have been different.

But like, it felt like Utah was trying to hold on to the intermission, right? Yeah. And they almost got there. They were on the ropes kind of waiting for the bell to ring and just, just couldn't do it. I'll tell you, man, like, it was a long game, but the first goal

and the last goal, the first goal came, you know, seconds into the game, man, Jack Eichel, I like Jack Eichol as a player, but I've,

I've never, like, looked at him as like a beast mode guy, but he, on both of those goals was, you know, especially the first goal. It's like, hey,

I'm going to hit Jack Eichol, and he's like, you are not going to do that. That's not going to go well. He's like, you can try, Yeah, give it a shot. That's fine.

Yeah, bad idea. He's looking quite good. So, yeah, this is a fun. I don't feel like, I always feel like whichever team most recently won has all the momentum. I mean, it's definitely going to win the series. But this one feels like it's got twists and turns left. Yeah, for sure. I mean, the first few games, you were just like, oh, like, Vegas kind of hasn't gotten it out of first gear,

both in terms of like what you think of as Vegas hockey, but also in terms of like they were just completely overmatched by Utah's speed, you know? Yeah. And the thing about being a fast team is like when you don't have the puck, who cares? And I thought, I thought Vegas just had the puck a lot more in game four.

And when you have the puck, especially if you're a veteran team like Vegas, you can control the pace. Oh, you want to, you want to rip it up and down the ice? Too fucking bad. You know, we can we can clog it up. We can slow it down. We can make the game come to us a little bit instead of having it dictated to us.

And when you take all that as a whole, that's all you're really looking for, you know? And I think they need better than 8.54 goal tending at 5 on 5. That's just my opinion. But because they're a good, like, systems team or whatever, they're getting, they're staying in games that, you know, 854 goaltending shouldn't keep you in. And it's as simple as this. 877, 13 goals against in four games for Carter Hart. He's only allowed two goals, or not a goal and a half above expected. Right?

Like, you'd go 13 goals. Holy fuck, that's horrible. It's, you know, it's three plus a game. And it's like, it's actually not that bad. It could be a lot worse, actually. I mean, which is surprising to say, but. Especially given, given the numbers, yeah. I mean, if Vegas loses that game last night, I think we see the goaltending switch.

Yeah, I think you're probably. Probably right. I don't know. Because, I mean, Aden Hill stunk this year. Oh, yeah. But this guy won a cup for you. And I don't know. John Tortorella sure does seem to love Carter Hart.

Yeah, I mean, you know. Every time anyone asks anything. It's funny because they mentioned on the broadcast last night, oh, they would have worked together in Philadelphia. And I was like, oh, fuck, that's right. I totally forgot about that. That feels like it was a thousand years ago. And yet here we are, you know.

I guess we should mention, I don't know if you saw this, Sean, but John Garrett died. I did just see that. That just kind of came through. Yeah. Yeah. He was calling the game like this series, I think, for Sportsnet, wasn't he? I think he was. I don't know that.

Oh, okay. Well, you're up in Canada. I thought I saw somebody mention that, but that's too bad. I always really like the John Garrett call. So, RIP, I don't know what else to say, but that sucks. Cool guy, great personality. Yeah, love watching a Canucks game.

Yeah. Well, you know what I say that? I love watching a Canucks game despite the fact that those games routinely featured the Vancouver Canucks the last few years. You know what I'm saying? That's right. Yeah, anyone who could make a kind of skill. It's a real skill.

One of the better broadcasts, I think, in the league and John Garrett, like a huge reason why, obviously. So RIP, he rocks. Like, he was so, he was such a good presence on TV. Lots of, tributes rolling in. As well, they should be. Again, just one of the luminaries of hockey broadcasting. Um, yeah, anyway. Uh, what do you want, what do you want to do next?

Uh, Ducks Oilers or Stars Wild? Let's, let's do Stars Wild and then we'll save the, save the Oilers for dessert. Okay. Uh, Stars Wild, another great series that's a lot of fun. Yep. And this one, look, every, every single year, there's one series where we're like, look, man, we all know where this is going. This is going to seven.

This is probably going tight game, maybe game seven OT. We'll enjoy the journey to get there, but we know where it's going. And it still feels that way. And sometimes those series suddenly, you know, a couple bounces go on way and you're like, wait, it can't be over. And it is. But this has been fun. So here's

My thing with this series Is The reason I'm not sure Totally convinced it's going seven Is that Dallas is so fucking reliant on the power play Seven power play goals in four games That obviously

You take it any way you can get it at this time of year But That's a lot That's a real lot. And as series go on, how much power play time are you going to get? You know, if you're getting pushed around at five on five, which I don't know that they totally are.

Like, Minnesota's gotten pretty good value for their five-on-five play, certainly. But if you're getting outscored 9 to 3 at 5-on-5, that does not portend good things to me for games five, six, and seven, if we're saying it goes all seven. Yeah. And the old cliche, which is very often true that they kind of stop giving out power plays late in the series is. That's what I'm saying. Looming over Dallas here. Yeah.

Absolutely. And it's not like Minnesota's like even been bad on the power play. They just haven't scored seven times on it like Dallas has. So I don't know. this is another one where you'd kind of like to see Jake Ottinger steal one, wouldn't you? You would. And maybe you do, but. I guess maybe you would say he did that a little bit in game two,

especially after the Wilde came out and just absolutely carpet bombed game one. You know, that was a walkaway game. That was not competitive. And then Ottinger goes out in his, you know, they went four to two and he faced a bunch of shots. So it's as good as you're going to kind of get, I think. But you'd like to see him steal one. That's all. Walsdett, though, you know, I think he's been quite good in this series.

Yeah, I mean, if you're, if you're the wild heading in the series, you're, if someone said the goaltending will be pretty even, you'd take that. Totally. So, yeah. Still a good shape, but Dallas with whole mice, I don't know. I think it's seven. I still think game seven OT. Let's do it. I think that's probably the most likely outcome, but if the whistles get put away,

the way things have gone so far, I don't know. That's all. I don't have like a ton else to say about this. This is basically what we expect it. Yeah. So, you know, that's hockey, I guess. Is there, like, is there anybody you'd really like to see, like, even, I don't know what you would say, like, step up offensively for either of these teams?

Like, we're talking about the goaltending and the special teams, but, like, I don't know that I'm sitting there looking at Dallas and going, like, where's Jamie Ben and all that? Like, at this point, you know, like. It's Miko Ranton, right? Yeah. Does he have any points? one goal. He's got five points. Like he's been fine.

Oh, yeah. But he's the guy, the conduit on the power play. He's not, he's not moving the needle at all at five on five. Right. And so that's where you'd kind of like, like,

we're waiting for the Miko Rantening game. And it doesn't have to be like last year because that was once in a lifetime stuff. But there hasn't really been a game. Like Jason Robertson, there have been a few moments where you're like, They don't have an answer for him. Yeah, absolutely.

Brandon hasn't got there yet. So he'd be my pick for the stars and then... Maybe you'd like to see a little bit more from like Boldie, I guess. He's got a couple of goals, right? Like Caprisoff's only got the one goal. Yeah. Leads the team in scoring, but just the one goal. Where are we at on Quinn Hughes in this series?

In my opinion, he's good. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, it's a bold take, I know. Okay. But, um, no, like, I thought, I thought he would maybe need to, to drive the bus more than, than he kind of has, but at five on five, he's playing big time minutes and the wilder winning all those matchups pretty capably.

Okay. You know, like, would you, again, like, I don't think three. on the power play in four games is like horrible or anything, but would you like to see a little bit more offense from him and special teams? Maybe. But outscoring the stars six nothing when he's on the ice at five on five. Okay. Well, there you go.

That's, you know, like, I can't, I can't find too much to, to complain about, uh, again,

maybe, maybe you'd like them to have a couple more power play goals, but whatever, you know, like, We should also mention indications that Matt Zuccarellos

will be back which will be potentially big for Minnesota because they you know up up front they don't have the talent to go guy for guy with Dallas so for sure they don't

they need him back and the other guy to keep an eye on that you kind of forget about is Teresenko you sort of have that like oh is he I think there's a reason you kind of forget about him, though, don't you? Yeah, but this is a guy who's got, you know, he's done some damage in the playoffs before.

And you don't have a guy like that. You don't have a guy like that because you're expecting him to be a pointing game. You have a guy like that because you're like, in a given series, there's going to be one game where he really moves the needle. And that game hasn't happened yet. But, you know, and by move the needle, I'm talking like he, he, He plays a big role in two goals. And you go, right, that guy's on this team. And then you move on and never see him again until the next round.

That's all you're asking from him. So could still happen. Yeah, for sure. All right. Let's move on to Ducks Oilers here. What's the difference for you? Connor McDavid does not want it bad enough. Yeah, I think he's a, you know, after that gold medal game against the U.S., you figure, it just showed, you broke him?

It just showed this guy doesn't want it bad enough. It's that simple. It's like he often, it's like he said in that player's tribune piece, I don't really want to win. It's not that important to me. It's more about my personal stats. I mean, I guess we got to start with McDavid might be hurt. Seems to be the... I think might be is being pretty generous.

Might be really hurt. Might be really hurt, I think, is a better way to put it for sure. There's no way he's playing it, I would say, particularly close to 100%, but it might be down around like 60. It's tough to watch, man. Like, I'll say this, though. And we'll talk about this team in a second, but how funny would it be if the first team, the ducks play in the playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers, they're like, yeah, we beat them in five games. It wasn't a big deal to us.

The Kings are sitting there like, fuck. Yep. What? That would, yeah. I mean, I can't get my head around even thinking this series is over. but yikes. I mean, I wrote it last week. I think everyone did some version of it.

I don't know that the Oilers have to win the cup this year, but a first round exit is disaster. Like, almost unimaginably like what even happens if they lose this series? Noblocks gone, you would think. Probably.

Stan Bowman gone? After he screwed up the especially, you know, with the goaltending, how badly he screwed that up this year? Wait, what happened with the goaltending? I haven't heard about this. Did you hear, did you not hear about the good goaltender that the Oilers acquired? Oh, see.

Oh, okay. thing about that. Yeah, no, obviously, like, that all feels on the table, but here's the thing. It also feels like it might not happen, you know? Like, I think there's a, there's a chalking it up to Drysidal just came back from a lengthy injury and he might not be all the way healthy. McDavid's certainly not all the way healthy. Like, if you wanted to make excuses for this team, and that's what most NHL teams want to do,

is like find reasons why actually we were this close and it didn't work out for us. There are reasons you could do that for sure. I wouldn't want to be in that position personally. But what's the alternative? Like you fire a coach and then it just feels like you're a year closer to losing McDavid for fucking nothing. Well, I mean. Maybe that's true either way. But like this is his handpicked coach and all.

Oh, I'm sorry. Not handpicked. Actually, Connor didn't have any say in this. He didn't even know. Yeah, he actually got really surprised. I mean, when I say Noblock's gone, any decision you make in the next few years, you go to Connor McDaver first.

And you say, sir, if it's okay with you, sir, I would like to know what you think of this. But I'm just going based on his comments at the end of the year. Yep. Didn't seem like a guy who, I don't know, Knoblock might have been his. guy at one point, but yeah, I don't know.

No, I, I look, the thing with this series is kind of like Dallas, Anaheim is in this because they have six power play goals in four games. And I say in this, like they're, it feels like

they're on the brink of winning this series, right? And it's because they have, they have scored six power play goals, which is a lot. six power play goals in it says here 17 minutes and 22 seconds that's uh that's not good if you're if you're uh if you're if you're if you're edmonton but can you blame the goalie for power play goals against every goalie in the world no okay all right but i don't i don't know that this is a strictly goaltending problem i don't think the goaltending's helping but i think this is a team that has had some roster flaws that they've been able to play past because

they have Carnem McDavid and Leon Dreis Idol. And when those guys aren't fucking flying up and down the ice, all of a sudden, deficiencies start making themselves glaringly obvious. And again, how do you address that in the summer? I don't know. Nobody wants this darnel nurse contract. I'll tell you that. So it can't be the case that you just go, hey, look, Connor and Leon were hurt.

You only got two more years left of Connor now. Earth is it three? Two after this year. It's three after. Two after this year. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. Yeah.

So I don't know. I really don't know. But speaking of kicking, I wonder if Connor is kicking himself. over that extension. Well, I don't think he is because, I mean, he can go to them anytime and be like, I'm done. See you. Yeah, I guess that's true. And by the way, here's a list of teams that I'm willing to go to.

Mm-hmm. But, yeah, it's nasty. What did you think of the overtime goal? What is there to fucking talk about? how is this a controversial thing? The answer is because it happened to a Canadian team. But it's this simple for me, Sean. You didn't see the puck physically crossed the line

because the skate was in the way, right? Correct. Let's say a goalie makes a save and it goes into his glove. And then because the shot is so hard or something happens, the goalie spins with the glove in his puck. puck and his glove hits the back of the net.

Is that not a goal? Because we didn't physically see the puck cross the line? I'm amazed how many people think the rule is that you have to see white ice between the puck. Because that is not the rule. I mean, even, you know, the example I used is what, imagine Jari Skate goes six inches further into the net. Yeah. Are we really going to go, well, we can't see 5% of the puck.

And I don't know. I don't know what shape the puck is. Do you know? It's this simple to me. Sean, remember the butt goal? Could you see the puck on the butt goal? No, and I was really looking. I believe me, I was breaking down that video like the Zeprooter film, brother.

It's that simple. They call it the butt goal because it counted as a goal even though they couldn't see the puck. Yeah. So, and if you, uh, you're just going to be a fucking idiot to think that there's anything controversial here. I mean, I don't understand. If you subscribe to the, uh, the red light newsletter, which you should, check it out today. It's in your inbox. I broke out the MS paint on this one to, to help, help show that it's a goal. But it clearly was. Look, here's, here's the argument as best I can get it from Euler fans. beyond it's my favorite team and I I want all the calls to go their way. You don't understand. I like that. The argument that an Oilers fan would make as best I can represent it is the play happens. The referee is not in position right behind the net where ideally he would be.

He can't really see whether the puck is in or not. The referee does not make a signal in the moment. He doesn't point. He doesn't wave off. He just puts his hands up to blow the play dead. The officials gather. They talk about it. At some point, they decide because they have to make a call one way or another.

They decide to call it a goal. And then they go to replay review. Replay is, again, this is the Euler fan argument. In conclusive enough. that they have to defer back to the call on the ice, and the call on the ice was a coin flip. They guessed. Maybe they guessed right, but it was still a guess.

And if the, I don't know. And all I would say is that's not actually how it works. The league did not rule this inconclusive and defer to the call on the ice. That's not actually something that, Like, when it comes to goalie interference, they defer to the call in the ice unless it's obviously wrong. Yep. Because it's a judgment call. Same with off sides, you know, to a lesser extent, they think they can drill down to the pixel level on off sides.

But with something like this, there is no, well, you know, unless you just had no idea, the camera didn't work. Okay. Well, call in the ice stands. With something like this, this is conclusive. that one freeze frame that shows the puck clear. We're all good here, yeah. That's a conclusive.

And this idea that if the refs had guessed differently and called it no goal, it would not have mattered. The refs could have said, we think it's a goal, we don't think it's a goal, we think it's an avocado. Doesn't matter. That's a goal every time. It sucks. It's a bad break. and it stinks to have your season put on the line based on a puck being over the line by a centimeter, but it's over the line.

It's a goal. No, it's just the classic thing of like, you don't understand, I don't get why this rule is the way it is. Yeah. And so shouldn't reality bend toward the thing I want to happen? Yeah. Okay, great.

But, I mean, it's not like, Yeah. There's nothing to talk about. It's an idiot controversy. What it basically boils down to seems to be, and I don't think O'Lean fans are any different than any other fan base here. Yes, I know my team gave up a goal,

but based on my understanding of the rule, we should have got to get out of jail-free card that we didn't really deserve, but we should have got it, and we didn't, so we're mad. It's really no different than, remember a few years ago, I was going to say during the Euler's King series, but that doesn't really narrow it. No, it doesn't help.

But there was the King's overtime goal where Orther fans thought the puck hit a high stick and it hadn't changed the direction of the puck or anything, but it was sort of like, no, we're supposed to get a freebie on this. How come we didn't get it? But in this case,

you know, at least in the high stick case, they were right on the rule. In this case, it's not even that. So I don't, it's a non-controversy, except it is a controversy because it's, people have been screaming about it for two days.

Well, the other thing for me is, it's really simple. Do you want to feel, like, do you want people to feel like you're in this series and you deserve to be there and stuff like that? Don't give up 20 goals in four games.

Yeah. That's it. That's my recipe for people feeling like this shouldn't be going the way it is. I'm starting to feel like my, Stan Bowman secretly did solve the goaltending by getting Connor Ingram thing is not going to be on my Hall of Fame plaque of my great takes. No. Do you want to do winners who are through to the second round or losers who are out first?

Winners first and then. Winners it is the Colorado Avalanches. They did it. I mean, look, I've always said you. They brutalize it. I'm like, that's it. You win the President's trophy, you deserve a first round by. And by golly.

Look, man, credit to the Kings. I feel like the Kings gave the abs as much a series as that King's team possibly could have. I've got a section in the newsletter today where my question is, are the Kings the worst playoff team of the Cap era? And I think they might be. I think the answer is yes, they were. Factoring in both regular season and then what happened in the playoffs, I think they might be the worst.

Given that they were the worst, I mean, they didn't get embarrassed in any of those games. They were, you know, in the words of Pierre Dorian, they were a team. I would say game four was pretty rough. But, yeah, everything. else a one or a two goal loss, right? And I think maybe even the two goal loss was with an empty netter. But that felt like dad maybe taking the really not pushing himself to beat a kid in one-on-one basketball, you know?

Oh, it was close. You lost seven to six. That's crazy. Meanwhile, he was shooting with his left hand and wasn't exactly driving the net trying to draw con. contact, you know. That's exactly what you want if you're a heavy favorite, you know, and especially, look, we all, we all have been saying it all year long when it was pretty clear how the Central was going to shake out.

Minnesota and Dallas are going to bash each other's heads in. Colorado should get an easy matchup. And then they've got to take advantage. Get in, get out, be quick. They did. Came out of it, healthy, and ready to go. now you sit back and you hope that Dallas and Minnesota continue to cave each other in. And, you know, there will be that game one of the second round, the Rust versus Rest thing.

But, you know, Colorado's in very good shape. Yeah, there's just like nothing to say about them. It went exactly how everybody thought it was going to go. I said it before I thought the Kings might get it to overtime and win one game Nope Didn't happen

So You know you had it as a sweep I had it as 5-1 with the Kings Stealing an overtime game As we're like No thanks Yep Good

Thank you though Is it Thank you for asking Are we even going to do the thing Like does any part of you Concern that It was a little closer than You know

did you need to see an Aves 7-1 game? Or is this just, like, are we flailing for something to talk? Yeah, I mean, they just kept him at an arm's length like the entire time. Like, maybe, what was, I mean, what was the closest game of the series? Game one, probably. Yeah. And even then, you were just like, okay, yep, you guys gave it your best shot. That's really cool for you.

have a good offseason. I mean, there was the one OT game, but Colorado won it. So, I mean, I guess that's... Yeah. But, yeah. They tried. They tried. And that's fine.

Well, let's do the loser talk for the Kings then, anyway, because I don't really have much to say. Onze Kopitar, tough way to go out. Cool to see him get a few extra games in the playoffs. Get the home send-off. He rules. Beyond that. I don't know, man.

Where do you go from here? This is, yeah, this is a really, how do I want to say this? Really tricky roster to manage, especially given who their GM is now. You know, you don't bring in, you know, 5,000-year-old Ken Holland. I don't know how old he is. He's been around the game. No, you got it right. He's forever.

5,000. Turns 5,000 later this year. Okay. He's a September birthday, so it's. But yeah, I, if I'm Ken Holland, like, all the, all the, like, moves that you would want to make, like, you either can't make because you don't really have the assets or, like, what point do they have? You know, like, oh, maybe they'll be interested in trading for so-and-so. And you're like, yep, sure. Who do they have to give away to get that high-level player that you're thinking they want to get?

Is it Byfield? Is it, geez, Brant Clark? Like, those are the two guys that we're saying, have like the high level ceiling on this team. And why would you trade? Like, I think they're both 22 or 23 years old. Why would you trade either of them? To get out of the first round, maybe?

See, that's the thing. Like, I can't off the top of my head remember there ever being a team like this that's gone out in the first round this many years in a row obviously we've seen that from the Leafs and we've seen it from the Wild as well or another team but like

the Wild and the Leafs had years where they were expected to win or years where you felt like they're good enough. Like this King's team every year makes the playoffs nobody thinks they're going to win and then they don't win. Yeah.

Even the one, I feel like they had home ice against the Oilers once but even then like nobody is ever, nobody's ever like a king's season cut short before. No, every king's season ends exactly when you think it's going to end. Yeah. I'm just going to read you their decor with the caveat that everybody except Brant Clark is signed for next year and beyond in some cases.

Drew Dowdy, 36 years old. Cody C.C. 32. Mikey Anderson, a player I kind of like. He's 26. Brian Dumlin, he's 34, Joel Edmondson, he's 32, Brandt Clark, unsigned, but 23 years old. And an RFA, obviously. I don't even think he has arbitration rates for next season. So what do you do with that fucking six-man unit?

That stinks. That is not good. And all those guys a year older, the problem for the Kings, they did not feel like they could keep up with the avalanche. Now, there are a lot of teams that don't feel like they can keep up with the avalanche, but the kings were just like, they might as well have been stationary. You know what I mean? Yeah. I don't know, man. I, and then, and then even like up front, Fiala's 29. Again, obviously, Byfield's 23. Panarin's 34, Kempe is 29, Kuzmenko's 30, Moore's 31, Armia's 32, Lotton's 31.

Not all those guys are signed for next year, but like, you don't really get younger in free agency. And, oh, I forgot to say Laferrier's 24, a spry 24. He went out and trade it for a Tammy Panarin. Mm-hmm. That's right. We all made fun of Toronto getting a third, but that it converted to a second by making the playoffs.

Oh man, this is I don't know what this team is They've got some pieces I know what they are A team that pulled the shoot on their rebuild too early Just picturing you in the front row Just waving your hand around I know the answer to this one

They put They did what like A few teams have done Speaking of Ken Holland The Red Wings we had a rebuild going. How did it work out? I don't know.

We signed a bunch of 29-year-olds who aren't very good. And gave all the ice time that our kids should have gotten to those guys. I wonder with the Kings if it was as simple as saying, much like it didn't feel right for the penguins to rebuild when you still had Sid and Gino and Latang. That it didn't feel right to do it with Kopitar and Dowdy. I totally understand that argument. I totally get it. But where did it fucking get you? I'm not saying you should have traded Copatar and Doughty, although dot, dot, dot, dot.

But like, you didn't have to go out and try to get all these older guys to, like, fake your way into the first round, basically. You know? And, like, Kemper was awesome last year. How did he do this year? Didn't. He was, like, fine. Didn't see much of them in the playoffs. Nope. So, you know, I just like, like you said, everybody expected this. Every single person was like, these guys are going to get mowed down. And then they got mowed down. And maybe Kopitar's retirement, like, allows them to shake themselves free of whatever they think is going to happen. Except half the fucking team is 30 years old and signed for.

three more years with some form of trade protection. Fiala, 10-team no trade list. Panarin, full no move. Obviously, they just traded for him and extended him. Panarin's the one guy that you would assume would not waive. I really think the other guys, I don't know. Well, who wants Adrian Kempi signed at 10.625 till 2034? Who wants that contract?

Sure. He's 29 years old. By the way, every defenseman I mentioned in that decor, some form of trade protection for next year. Every single one except Brant Clark, who again, just doesn't have a contract. Darcy Kemper, 10 team no trade list for next year. Their backups, Anton Forbesberg. It's hard for me to see where this team, like, doesn't take a potentially significant step back. Like you got to hope Byfield is a fucking ready.

Well, and there's, and there's been no indication that he, like, I like him as a player, but there's no indication that he's ready to like, like, he's clashed it for sure. He's flashed it, but it's not like, it's not 19. Didn't even get to 50 points this year. He doesn't have two years in the league and now it's go time. No, for sure. Yeah. No, but this is what I'm saying. like unless you're absolutely sure that he is getting the Anse Kopitar role away from

being a high level player in this league, maybe you do trade by field. Do you think, but for what? Do you think a doughty trade is even? I think all options should be on the table. I think every, it's one million percent up to him. But I think everything that you do, like you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to, this is why these guys get paid millions of dollars to be the GMs, or it should be anyway, is I have a plan for trading every single player on this roster, regardless of their

trade protection, all of that kind of stuff. Because I just, what's the future here? Because the present isn't very good. And the past wasn't very good. And all these guys are signed with like a few exceptions. I don't know. I don't know. All options have to be on the table. Sure. Because again,

Byfield and Brant Clark, those are the two guys you're supposed to be building around. How sure are you there any good? I mean, they're good. Like, are they? Well,

drive the team. Obviously, you're not going to be doubting in Copa. That's your best for and your best defenseman. Are you a contender for anything? Yeah. That's exactly right.

again nobody expects them to be copatara and doughty two first ballot hall of famers nobody has any question about those those two guys being two of the best players of their era are byfield and clark on a track to be top 20 players of their era at their respective positions doesn't feel like it so what does that mean that's the question let's move on to the Carolina Hurricanes. Your thoughts. Impressive? Yeah.

Boy, where to start? I mean, they just went to work. And Freddie Anderson looks fantastic. It's the only question they had in this series and he answered it emphatically.

It's almost the only downside of sweeping the other team is when you sweep and your goalie, looks fantastic. It's like, oh, we kind of don't want the week off, but... Mm-hmm. And looks like now, Philly, Pittsburgh, headed towards a long series. Carolina's... Like, things are lining up for them. Maybe this is finally the year that they break through in the conference.

Because they look very... They looked really good, and they also look like they've got another gear. Right? Like, sometimes I don't necessarily buy it, but sometimes you get into the whole, well, you know, did they peak too early? I don't even feel like they peaked. They just look like a really, really good team

that knows what to do, knows how to play in the playoffs, and, you know, it was a nasty series, and yet everybody was under control, everybody did their jobs. They punched the clock, came in, now they're go home and come back to work on Monday sort of thing. They're good.

Yeah, it's kind of like the Kings thing where it's like, yeah, you know, maybe you thought the senators would give them an extra game or two, but you didn't think they were winning the series, did you? And if the answer is, yes, you know, tough bounce for you, I suppose. Yeah. No, nobody picked the senators in this series. Don't be silly. But like I said, I always just thought this was like, if Freddie Anderson fucks up, then maybe we can have a conversation.

But other than that, I didn't think. And again, I just go back to they kept mentioning this on the American broadcast. I don't know if they did it in Canada. But they said that on the Kachuk Brothers podcast, Brady was like, yeah, we try to actually play like them. And it's like, don't say that out loud. What are you going to beat them at their own? game? Like, maybe you can do that if this isn't the team where you're like, oh, they've perfected

what their game is. Like, if they go, you're going to go one on one against, I don't know, who's that, that famous chess guy that they're going, that they got going on right now? Magnus. There's like, yeah, that guy, Magnus something or other. They're like, you're going to play Magnus in something. You get to pick what it is. I'm not going, oh, chess then, I think.

No. kickboxing would be my pick No shit man Like I I I just Don't admit that you play That you play that you're trying to play like them

Because then it just makes you look even stupid Try to play like somebody who's not them They're going to beat you with their own game And look I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a hypothetical Sean Let's say there was a series in the last three four five years where the Toronto Maple Leafs get swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

I wish. And Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for one assist in the entire series. Yep. Anybody like flipping cars over in Toronto about that lighting, like committing acts of terrorism

because they're so fucking mad about that? I went back and looked and I haven't used this anywhere. But the core four in Toronto, those forwards. You heard of them? Huge losers. No, who were these guys?

Massive playoff chokers. Oh, yeah, from the Maple Leafs, yeah, sure. Okay, I've heard about the losers and chokers, yeah. Absolutely no dog. What's it, like an absence of dog, anti-matter dogs in them? 38 combined playoffs. Yep.

The only time any of them were held pointless in a playoff series was the HAB series where Tavaros got hurt three shifts into the game, into game one and didn't return. Other than that, the worst of the worst of the Leafs playoff, no-shows, they didn't go pointless.

No. They also never got swept. They never got swept. I mean, so, I'll, I picked the senators to win this series. It was an upset pick. You know, if you would force me to bet my mortgage on even odds.

Yeah, I'd be pretty upset too if that was my pick. Yeah. But I really thought that I thought we were going to see more. I thought this Sends team was a sleeping dragon and I was half right. Because even in a series where the games were close, man. every game was close in the series to one extent or another but and yet it doesn't feel like the series

was glad and I guess I mean it's a sweep so I'm not but it just yeah like didn't it feel like they could have played 10 more games and the hurricanes would win 10 more one goal games I heard I saw and I think Elliot might have mentioned it on the show that that that Rod Vindamor quote from a couple years ago about this wasn't a sweep

when they got swept Yeah. Like, you could say that if you're the senators, kind of. But when your two best forwards combine for an assist, and your captain is the guy that doesn't have the point at all. And your captain is also the guy where they've been talking about, this guy's trying to get the fuck out of Dodge for two years straight now. Yep.

Maybe even more than that, if you want to really dig into it. that that was a sweep. That was as sweepy as it gets, you know? That was sweepier than you after overtime last night. I was so sweeping. But yeah, like I said going into this series, like they need Timmy Stutzler to be as good as every senator's fan says he is. Nope, no thank you.

Didn't want it. Not up for. it. It's that simple. Just completely overmatched. And that can happen. But I, you know, remember a few years ago, senators fans, maybe you don't remember this. I certainly do.

Senators fans were mad at me because I was like, he had that like 90 something point season and people were like, here he is the next superstar of the league. He's ready to go. And I was like, let's give it one more season. I remember it well. Yeah. Once again, you were right in your analysis. History has vindicated me.

Yep. Stutzel did nothing. Kachuk did nothing. Klajuru, kind of forgot he was on the senators. Yeah, that guy's my age, though. I can't hold it against him too bad, you know. So, and I mean, the other piece of this that is, you know, what have we been saying about the senators' team for two months?

If they could just get the goaltending. This is a sneaky, very good team that is getting torpedoed by terrible goal tending, some of which is due to off-ice stuff. And boy, if they could just get decent goaltending, that's all you need. Well, Linus Allmark was phenomenal. Phenomenal. He was the best player on that team by an absolute mile, and they got swept. Yeah. I don't know what, I don't know where you go from here.

Let's start here. Are you one of the many who are looking at this and saying, we just saw Brady Kachuk's last game? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've been saying that for weeks. Yeah. He's going to Florida. That's my prediction.

Okay. Going for the first round pick this year after Florida wins the lottery. And, yeah, that. I don't even, I think they're going to, like, pick third or whatever it is. I don't think they're getting the number one overall because I think Florida would keep that, but they can talk themselves into, what do we need the number three pick for? Okay. You know?

So that, that, I've been saying that for weeks. I think, I think this is his last game. Although I saw a denial from Steve Steyos apparently yesterday that was like, look, we haven't had any of the conversations like that. And it's like, you might want to start. I don't know what to tell you, man. Like, that's not as forceful of a denial as you might think it is. I don't know. I don't see it that way.

Certainly not as much of a slam dunk as many seem to. But, yeah, it was a tough look. That's a real, that's a tough, tough look. And I don't know what they do. I mean, I don't know what you do, man. You know what? You know what? I'd be thinking if I was the senators,

maybe we sell as high as humanly possible on this guy. maybe you take the ball out of Brady's hands. Obviously, I believe, a full no move. So that's its own thing. But, like, I just start going, like, leaving little brochures around beautiful Miami, Florida. You're not going to have to twist his arm for that. I don't think so either, but I...

Do you think he go other places? Because, I mean, obviously, if he says, is Florida or nothing, then you're screwed. You're not... You know, I, now that you mention it, Sean, I'm remembering that I got an email from our old friend Jimmy Shapiro just yesterday. Or maybe it was Josh Barton, the other one. The other guy who, let's see here. Let me pull this up really quickly here.

It was Josh Barton. Sorry to Jimmy Shapiro. The three teams that lead the way, you know what, I'll give you all the team. teams that have like single digit to one, uh, odds here. The Rangers at three to one. The Panthers at four to one. The blues at six to one. I don't know if you heard.

This guy's from St. Louis. Yeah, it never comes up. Chicago, seven to one, Philadelphia eight to one, Utah nine to one. I could see some of those more than others. I wouldn't be surprised if Utah made that happen. Somehow they seem to have the, the assets more so than a couple of those other teams. But the senators are going to wind up with J.J.

Buterka out of all this, aren't they? I don't, I don't know that that's a best case scenario for them, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Hey, you know what's funny, we, I also just, while we were recording this, got an email from Josh Barton, it says here, hella buck next team. Do you want to guess? Did you see that? I'd seen that.

Okay. And I scroll down to see when Edmonton would show up. It's pretty deep down the list, honestly. 28 to 1. I think the assumption is that if Connor Hallibuck wants out, he's going to want to head down to the states, but. Yeah. And in fact, Vegas 3 to 1, Florida 4 to 1, New Jersey 6 to 1, Carolina 7 to 1, Minnesota 9 to 1.

Look, again, this isn't betting advice. I wouldn't be putting too much money on that 9 to 1 for the wild. Well, you wouldn't, but, you know, it's the Bill Garon factor. And they could put Walstead in a deal that would be a starting point. Other teams don't have, but yeah. Yeah. But I think they got that guy. What's Walstead at in this series, like 950 or something like that?

I don't think, I don't know that we're, no, it can't be 950. That's too high. He's been good. Oh, you know what it was? 970 at 5 on 5. That's what Wallstead's at right now. Is that good? 970?

Pretty good. Anyway, the Ottawa senators, Brady Kachuk. Yeah, I'd, you know, if I'm the senators, I'm keeping my options open. I'm not saying we're not trading Brady Kachuk. I'd think about it. Especially if I'm pretty confident we're going to lose him in a year or two anyway. Well, that's it, right? You got two more years?

Is that? Correct. Yep, 26 through 28. Yep, that's right. And then he walks for nothing. Yeah, right down to Florida. Probably doesn't walk then. Probably it.

Probably takes a. The way I've seen the videos over the last few years takes a golf cart. Yes. And that's not even a joke about. It's a car and the whole, you know, the whole family drives down. They could do a podcast from the back seat. That actually sounds. like a lot of fun.

Okay, a couple other pieces of news here. Finally, we get to talk about the Maple Leafs. It looks like John Chaka's going to probably be there higher. He seems like he's definitely in the final two. Yeah. And now I wonder if this is a little bit of a trial balloon situation or what's happening. I mean, we thought Mike Gillis was locked in and that hasn't really happened. Now it seems like that's Matt Sundeen instead.

Like Sundeen makes sense as the face of the franchise kind of guy. I don't know if he's... You love this shit, huh? And all the Leafs fans are like, yeah! 100%. That's exactly what it is. So, I don't know. I do not...

I am trying to envision a scenario where you are the richest franchise in the league and John Chek ends up being your guy. A guy who has not done... anything in six years, right? He quit right before the COVID bubble. All sorts of weird stuff happening in Arizona, so maybe you don't hold that against him. Yeah, that's one of those things where it's like,

I can't sit here and say, oh, I think there's a huge problem with everything he did. But like there's nothing here that makes me go up, much like Brad for Living. I'm like, why are the Leafs hiring this guy? Yeah. To your point, they have all the money in the world, in theory. And they're like, oh, the guy that hasn't been in the league in six years and flamed out of Arizona. Sounds awesome.

Has literally, like, not a joke, has been running Wendy's franchises for the last few years. And I'll tell you what scares me the most is, do you remember the piece that he wrote for, I want to say it was Sportico or one of those weird websites? I don't remember this at all. He wrote a piece, this a few years ago, where he was like breaking his silence. And it was, he didn't really say much. But if you go back and read the thing, it's just the most corporatey, BS-y way to talk. And I'm looking at that going, oh, man, if he pulled this out on Keith Pelly, Keith Pelley would have eaten that up with a spoon.

Because he's doing that. You know this crap where like these guys who, You know, they read books about leadership all the time and, you know. Oh, John Chaka seems like the, seems like the ultimate like brain hacking. Yes. Changing your thinking through whatever the fuck. That's the most important book I read this year. He seems like one of those guys that's like every day for me is three days.

I don't sleep. Here's the lesson. By the time you're up in the morning, I've already been at work for eight hours. and I'm actually starting my second day of work, and then you go, what do you do? And it's like, well, I work out and golf a lot. Okay, that doesn't, okay, sure. So I don't know.

I walk on the treadmill in my office a lot. Okay, man. I am not, yeah. He had a couple good drafts in Arizona, but also not great ones. He lost their draft picks and got himself suspended for quitting on the coyotes.

So apparently Gary Bedman hates the guy, which is great, because we're all sick of the Leafs getting so many breaks from the NHL. I don't know, man. Like, I think this has

significant disaster potential. Not a fan of this hire. If it happens, we'll see. Sundane would be fine. I don't know if he's the guy I want making all the hockey decisions, but like, you know. Well, at least they're putting a guy

with a lot of management experience above him. That's it. Oh, wait, he's never worked in a front office? That's interesting. And then apparently this was reported yesterday that the Canucks, in their search for a GM or whatever the fuck they're doing over there, they want someone with connections to British Columbia.

Doesn't have to have played for the Canucks, but BC Roots is what they're saying. What is that? All right, man. Like, I love, I love tying a hand behind my back as I'm trying to get better at hockey. What, what it means, Sean, what it means is, uh, they're looking for a mark. They're, remember when I said about like Adam Fox, like the, the Rangers can do fucking anything to this guy because he's just such a big Rangers fan? This is what they want for the Canucks.

It's good business if you're going to be run poorly. Like, if your owner's going to make all these decisions, you're like, but you love the Canucks, right? you're from British Columbia. And the guy they hire is like, yeah, they're awesome to me. You know? Like, they're looking for a fucking mark. That's it. Are they looking for a mark or are they, do they think their fans are marks?

And they can pull somebody out. Like, are they desperate? Oh, I think I. Please send me a photo of you in a starter jacket with the Canucks. Yeah. Given the number of, um, of people who are still like, I don't know, Jim Bent, the Jim Benning era. Dot, dot, dot, dot.

Like, I think that there, there can be a healthy mix of both. Okay. So not, not what I'd be looking for personally if I was trying to run. Maybe I'm crazy. I would be, you know, when they say like, oh, we're doing like a nationwide search, we're doing a league-wide search. That implies that you're seeking the best talent, right? And the Canucks are like, we're looking everywhere.

in one province where like half of it you can't live in. A province that produces like, I don't know what, 10 to 20% if we're being generous of like hockey executives? Yeah. Cool. It's the Canadians having the thing about like everybody in our organization has to speak French or whatever, you know? It's just like, I get why that makes sense to you and is important to you or whatever. but like you are just limiting your talent pool by 40% immediately, right out of the gate. Okay.

What is the only interview? Tell me your craziest story about the Roxy. Go. Honestly, half the league would have a pretty good one, true, to tell you. More than had. 85% of the correct answer is I don't remember. You're hired. Wink.

Yeah, that's right. Anyway, I think that's it. Why don't you say some plugs and we'll get out of here. If I may at The Athletic, I'll be on the Athletic Hockey Show tomorrow with, I think, Sean and Frankie. We're playoffs mess with schedules, but we're trying to make that happen. I've also got a piece coming tomorrow. I won't spoil it too much, but I have dug in and I made an amazing discovery, folks. You know, your favorite team?

They're the best. They're the very best. They're awesome. I've been saying that for so long. I found proof. I'm glad someone finally listened. Yeah. For me, I have written some stuff for this week about, let's see, I have a lot of articles coming to you this week.

I just did one yesterday that I think published this morning about the goalies in the NCAA transfer portal. Later this week, I will have the winners and losers of the transfer portal. because I think it closes today, I want to say. A lot of big-name players in college hockey moving teams the last few weeks, so pretty interesting stuff. I will have an NHL notebook either today or tomorrow on there. And I also talked to a kid who is now in the AHL for the Winnipeg organization, who started his career in a...

a league called the NA3HL, which he is the first player to ever sign an NHL contract coming out of that league. And so we talked about that. And if you're done reading all that stuff, you can head over to patreon.com slash puck soup, all kinds of bonus episodes last week and this week, and they will continue right on through the end of the month and beyond, because, again, schedules get a little weird at this time of year.

So we're going to owe some people some people, stuff by the end of the week, I think, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles here in late April. So thank you for listening to Puck Soup and your continued support and all that kind of stuff. And we'll talk to you next week. Have a good one. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.