Puck Soup - Thanks For The News

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Sean and Ryan break down what little news there is in mid-July, including the Byfield contract and Torey Krug injury, then play a game of Name Pat Falloon.  Sponsored by Hatch (hatch.co/puck), Mint Mobile (mintmobile.com/puck) and AGI (drinkag1.com/puck)  

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I'm Sean Magner from The Athletic. And I'm going to say a big thank you to the good people in the hockey world for giving us a bunch of news in the last two days that we can actually talk about something instead of just being like, who are some guys that haven't signed contracts yet? Yeah. That's nice. That's really helpful for me personally.

But doesn't it kind of feel like, I'm saying this to Gentilly yesterday, like stuff is happening. that we would talk about for 30 seconds at any other time of year. And instead, it's like, let's do an entire show about Quentin Byfield's contract. Well, look, I'm going to take what I can get at this time of year. You know what I mean? I'm not, I'm not going to sit here and say, you know, beggars can be choosers all of a sudden, you know what I'm saying?

We are begging. We're begging hard. It's not even August yet. Oh, Lord. I'm glad we did the entire offseason in three days. That would be great. Yeah, we could have spread like one of those, like, what are they doing trades to like early August, something like that. That would have been fine with me.

But it simply does not work that way, it seems like. So that's how it goes. But yeah, the Quentin Byfield contract is five years, six and a quarter per. What was your immediate reaction to this? So my immediate reaction was this is the new Nathan McKee. Kinnon contract. I've seen that take a few times. Yeah.

And obviously, we should say the previous Nathan McKinnon, not the current highest paid payer in the league one, but the one that for years, that he signed after his third season when he was a 50-ish point player, and then for years it was like, this is the best contract in the history of the world. And he was like, great. No, thanks for reminding me of that constantly. I love it. So my

My reaction to that reaction Is kind of my reaction also to like When when Dom tweeted out like the value on the thing You know And it's like a kind of pretty much a straight line for two years And then a line that just basically went straight up You know to be like his value was a million dollars a million dollars 50 billion dollars

And so if we project that out this contract, you know, should save the Kings, $7 million a year, whatever the numbers were. I, you know, I don't have it in front of me. And I was just like, do we not learn anything from the Tim Stutzel thing? He had 90 points. Do you believe this? Yeah, no, and then what happened, right? And so I think this is a very good contract for the Kings in that I don't think he's, basically what I'm saying is,

I don't think he's a $10 million player all of a sudden. and I think he can be by the end of this contract, you know. So I think what the Kings are doing is they're making it so that they're slightly overpaying for the next year or two, let's say, so that they can slightly underpay or maybe even more than slightly underpay in the following two or three years. Does that make sense? It does. So I think this is like kind of fair for both sides. I don't see where this is like the huge steel mega deal that everybody's making it out to be.

but I like it pretty good both ways. I think it's, I'm closer to thinking it's going to be a huge deal. Given that, I mean, this isn't a guy who just kind of came out of nowhere and had a big year. This was a number two overall pick. Sure. Census elite prospect who took, so to speak, who took a couple years to find his feet in the NHL. Yeah. What is interesting to me is how many times have we had the conversation?

on this show where we look at a young guy, whether it's Stutzel, whether it's Jack Hughes, go on down the list. And we go, why are these guys signing max-length deals? They're going to take them through their entire prime. Yeah. At a discounted number. And by field, while I think there is an excellent chance that three years from now, like that contract is considered a steal, he did not go max length. He went five years, which walks him right to UFA. at age 26.

And as a least fan, I can tell you, that's a very powerful place to be. And while I still to this day do not understand what somebody like Jack Hughes is thinking, locking in for eight years, I absolutely get the thinking here where Quentin Bifield's going, you know what, if I do end up being a big discount, a big discount, a great value, team friendly, all that stuff, I'm going to be a UFA at 26, and I'm going to be able to write my own ticket with the Kings, probably, or theoretically on the open market, or at least use the leverage of that. So I would certainly rather have five times six something than eight times eight, like so many

of these guys seem willing to take. Yeah, I'm with you on that. So I was looking this up because I, so I think probably in part because of this contract, I think it was the NHL or somebody, you know, some like aggregator kind of account tweeted out, who would you rather have? And it was the top four picks in the 2020 draft. So it was Lefrenier, Byfield, Lucas Raymond, and Tim Stutzla. I think Stutzel and Raymond were three, four. Yes. Anyway.

It was, yeah. Um, and conversation has come back. Oh, yeah. Well, so after for a while, it was like Stutzel was running away with it and then not. No, for sure. And, and so like, I, I, the reason I saw it was someone, I, a friend of mine who was a Red Wings fan quote tweeted it and was like, it has to be Raymond.

And it's like, well, I mean, you know, watch a Kings game was basically my reaction. I don't think it has. I think Raymond's really good. I don't think it has to be Lucas. That would, yeah, I mean, it certainly doesn't. I mean, he had 70 points last year. Yeah. Which is what Tim Stucle had in an off year, right?

Like Tim Stinson's bad year we were just referring to was as productive. So it's, which, you know. Lucas Raymond, by the way, shot 19% that says here. Okay. He should keep doing that. That's a hell of a strategy, man. Seems to work for him. But yeah, I think that like even LaFrenier, like, you know, has really come into his own a little bit.

I think even more than Byfield last year, he sort of became the guy who. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a little bit East Coast bias, you know, but. You know me. I don't stay up as 1030, brother. No, like, I just think like, Bifield wasn't like the matchups guy on the Kings last year, right? Like that is the thing that now he's got this contract. You're like, okay, we got to give you, give you a little bit of tougher looks. And we'll see, I would imagine it's, he's going to swim just fine.

But it's a little bit more sink or swim now with this deal. But like, what wouldn't you like about the player here? And what wouldn't you like about the term like you said if you're the player because you get to cash in? And what wouldn't you like about the money if you're the Kings? Like there's nothing. this is just a good deal for all sides. I don't see, like I said, I just don't see it as like the huge rip-off the king's got that everybody's talking about.

I am very interested to see what Lefranier does on his next deal. Yep, absolutely. He signed cheap, remember he got like the two-year cheap, you got to prove it to a bridge deal. And he, I mean, I would say largely proved it to them last year. He didn't put up all-star numbers by any stretch, but he was good, you know, and especially in the playoffs seem to be asserting himself. And now has gone. got another year to go. And I'm, I'm sure the Rangers are like, why don't we do an extension now?

And he's probably like, why don't we wait a year until I score 35 or 40 goals? Yeah, and like, you know, we were saying it all along with Lafrenier, right? Like, let's let him get some reps on the power play before we say that he can never produce points in the NHL. And then he goes out and he puts up 28 goals and 57 points. Okay, great, awesome. You know, now, now you're move them up the lineup, you see what happens. So, yeah, I think it's crazy that, like you said, that class has evened out so much, where, you know, again, like, Rangers' friends are going to be like, LaFranier, whoa, my God, he's the best one. Maybe Rangers fans wouldn't say that, but Kings fans would certainly say that about Byfield.

Senators fans would probably still say it about Stutzel because they had 90 points two years ago. And Raymond, again, like, he scored whatever 30 goals. 31. So one year ago, almost to the week, Scott Wheeler did a post on the athletic redrafting the 2020 draft. And he went Stutzel one, Jake Sanderson number two, then Lucas Raymond, then Cole Perfetti, then LaFranier and Bifil. That's crazy.

So what a difference a year makes. That, the Sanderson thing is really funny because I wrote about the Senator. over the weekend. And I guess we can move this up in the in the discussion. We have it. I had it originally after the break, but it came up kind of naturally. So here we go. It is refreshing to me that we're finally not hearing senators for this.

This is the year. We're going to do it. And it's like, I mean, you're the senators. Please, can we not? Give it time. I don't think. I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, what moves are they going to make left in the, you know, They could do anything.

They could do anything. Can't prove that they're not going to get Connor McDavid. There's a lot of excitement about the goaltending. Understandably so. I think, you know, that was... Absolute dog's breakfast, terrible. I totally get why. I totally get that.

Like, O'Mark, you know, he won a Vezna two years ago. And last year, Corpusallo, he was the worst goalie in the league. Right? So that's a pretty fucking big upgrade. The question is, how many points do you think that upgrade is worth? 10? Is it worth 10 points? 15?

I think it certainly could be, yeah. I think as a floor is the hope. Is the hope now. Okay. So let's say they get 15 extra points. That gets them to basically the same number as Detroit had last year. No, I'm doing that math wrong. Two more than Detroit had last year.

Did Detroit make the playoffs or anything? They must have. I mean, they've been rebuilding for 47 years. It's true. No, like, they would have shuffled the head of the capitals if they got 15 extra points for the last playoffs. I don't think they're getting 15 extra points out of the goaltending, especially because their defense has downgraded, like, inarguably. Yeah. But this is kind of the point I wanted to make with this, is with them, with the red wings, it kind of feels like,

In the Atlantic in particular, you can just go, there are four teams that are going to make the playoffs in that division. Yeah. Has been for four or five years now. And we don't care. Like Buffalo, Detroit, Ottawa, Montreal, please don't. We're not, we're not even going to pretend you have a fucking chance here, right? Well, yeah. Mm-hmm.

And I think that this, like, this is the, the, the, it's so illustrative of the problem. with the divisional playoff format. Or it's like if you're not guaranteed top three, like, why are you even really bothering? Right? Because like, okay, you're saying Tampa's going to be better than, you know, more than two metro teams. That makes sense.

Of course they are. But it's just like there's just no opportunity for. These big market teams to... Well, this year is tough. Big name teams, I guess, is a better way to put it. This year is tough because when you look at the metro, two spots go to the Rangers and the hurricanes. Sure.

Feeling pretty safe. Yes. Everybody is expecting the devil's back in. I'd say so, yeah. Big upgrade and goal. You're left with, if there's a big four, in the Atlantic, and we should point out last year, everybody thought, of course, the devil's going to make the playoffs and they didn't. So sometimes spots open up. But right now, it looks like

four spots in the Atlantic are spoken for. It looks like probably three spots in the metro. And then there's a drop off in the metro. Now, I think a lot of people, when we are, at least as a starting point, you take out the Islanders, you take out the capitals. Yes. Now, that haven't been said, The Islanders have been a playoff team for years now pretty consistently. The Capitals were a playoff team last year, and on paper at least may have gotten better this offseason. But just for the sake of us having something to talk about, let's take them out, it could be that, let's say, I don't know. I guess the only time that the playoff really, the playoff format really comes into play, as opposed to a top eight situation, would be if that six-place team in the Atlantic,

let's say it's Detroit, finishes ahead of New York, Carolina, New Jersey, one of those teams. In other words, they're the eighth best team in the conference, but they don't make the playoffs because of the division format, which feels unlikely. Now, I know some people are, I've seen some people predicting kind of a drop off for Carolina, which, yeah, I mean, okay, sure, they finished 17 points ahead of the third place team in their division last year. So, you know, that's kind of like the Bruins, like when they set the record and everyone's like, yeah, they're going to take a huge step back.

That's true. They took a, like, 26 point step back. Yes. To 109 points in like fourth and, like, fourth and. the east. So I don't think it's, I don't think it's, you know, whether it's Ottawa, Detroit, whoever, I don't think anyone's getting screwed by the playoff format. I just think they're getting screwed by like, guys, there's only eight spots.

There's 32 teams. There's 16 spots across the league. You've got to be in the top half. And it's not, you know, just because you feel like a playoff team, this is one of those things where if you go down the list and just each team individually, you go playoff team or no. there's a very good chance at the end you're going to be sitting there with a list of 20 teams

that you said felt like playoff teams. Sure. We don't have that many spots, guys. That's it. Sorry. Yeah. No, I think that's a good way of thinking about it. I'm just, like I say, like I just look at like Detroit

and think about how much better off they'd be in the metro than in the Atlantic. Yeah. Now, when the playoffs start, you certainly I mean, there could be a team that is finishes fourth in the Atlantic that's like the fifth best team in the conference and they end up playing the Rangers

on the road or something as a, you know, that can, but I, okay, so seeing this, does this make you any more amenable to not expanding the playoffs, but to doing some sort of play in for the last playoff spot to keep more teams in the mix

during the year? No, I don't give it. I don't give a fuck about like if Ottawa feels like they got screwed or whatever. I just I just look at it and I go, okay, the Ottawa senators, let's say they took a, like I said, 10 point step forward. Because of the division they specifically are in, 10 points doesn't matter at all. And it's like a, that's like an unbelievable improvement. And it's like, yeah, okay, now you're like sixth in your own division. Fuck you.

We don't give a shit. get laws, you know. So let me ask you this. It's just tough because, you know, if it's, if they're in the central, let's say, obviously they wouldn't be geographically speaking. But like a 10 point improvement in the central from, you know, that jumps them, they're at least in contention with like St. Louis at that point. And again, is St. Louis good?

No, they are not. But it's just how it is, you know. Let me just say, if. if Linus Lmark isn't a 15-point improvement for the senators, how much of an improvement is Jacob Markstrom for the devils? Because they need 10 points to make up. Now, they're also getting Dougie Hamilton back, which is huge. Yeah, and I think the coaching change is going to serve them well.

I just, I mean... The regular season. Yeah, I mean, they just got rocked with injuries. And I hate when people go like, you know, we actually would have made the playoffs if we didn't lose 6,800 man games to injury. Yeah, of course, sure. But you did. So who gives a shit?

Right? Like, I get what you're saying 100%. Like, absolutely. The problem, I think, to me anyway, was less that, like, it's not just Markstrom. It's also Jake Allen, you know? Like, the steadiness of you're getting 82 games of, like, reliably at least okay to very good goaltending, depending on how you rate Markstrom at age 37 or whatever he is. He's not 30.

He's 34, I think. Yeah. Depending on how you rate that versus like Vanichek, Dawes, Schmead, and Cochanan last year. That was their like battery, not including Jake Allen. And, you know, 896 is a team. I don't, I think, you know, even if you're saying, they're both like league average. That probably alone gets them, I don't know, an extra four or five wins.

Eight to ten points, like if they're just league average. So, and that's average, not like versus expectation or whatever. So like, the ten points that you're talking about also, again, we're talking about like, okay, well, the Capitol's got insanely fucking lucky last year. And the Islanders, like, they're going to be a very reliable 92 to 95 point team for the foreseeable future, I think. So, like, you're just asking the Devils to jump in front of the Islanders, basically, and I think that's pretty doable. I would imagine so, too. Yeah.

The other bit of news that came out yesterday, Tori Krug. has, and this is a direct quote here, pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle, he'll be out six to eight weeks while they evaluate things, and if he needs surgery, he's out for the year. Yeah, that doesn't sound good at all. No. You know, just given the, usually, you know, unfortunately, situations like this do happen from time to time. Usually you get the optimistic view really. Usually it's like, oh, you know, something's going to, we'll reevaluate. And then it's only when they reevaluate and they say, uh, he's going to miss extended time.

And you go, oh, yeah, maybe it was a bad sign when they said reevaluate. Here, they're already, it sounds like. Softening the beaches for that. Yeah, exactly. And like, look, they've tried to trade him. He said, no thanks. I have a, I have a no move clause. We're not going to be, we're not going to be doing.

I believe, yeah, it's a full no trade, actually. Not a no move, but a full no trade. That becomes a partial next season. So I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, he ends up on, was it Robida Island? Yes. Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where he ends up. I got confused.

I was thinking about dry island, remember that one? That all kinds of islands. That was a different thing. Yes. but, you know, there's all kinds of islands, I guess, is my point, which is why there's a whole team named after people live on an island. Yeah. But it's funny, I mean, it's not funny for Torrey Krug, obviously,

but it's funny because over the weekend, Jeremy Rutherford had a thing that was like, oh, the Blues signed Ryan Souter, and it kind of creates a logjam on defense. and I was like, Ryan Suter, the guy who sucks, creates a logjam on defense. Did they mean a logjam of not very good defensemen? Well, then I looked it up to refresh my memory because I was like, maybe I'm misremembering. This is what their defense is like for next season. Without Tori Krug.

Add in Tori Krug if you want. I don't know how optimistic you'd be. Justin Falk, Colton Perrako, Nick Letty, Scott Perunovich, Pierre Olivier Joseph, Ryan Suter. And whoever, Tyler Tucker, you know, I'm sure he played 40 games for them last year. And I just, you know, I missed it due to this isn't a guy I need to worry about if I had to guess. Yeah. And look, this, and every team does this, right, this time.

You know, wow, we're so deep. Okay, maybe we don't have like a Norris where, but we're, man, we got, we got eight or nine NHL caliber defense. Yeah, yeah. Everybody does. Like, everyone has eight or nine guys who could play in the NHL if they needed to. It does mean that you're good. Tyler Tucker played 26 games, one goal, one assist. Okay.

Was it a nice goal? You know, there's not an option for me to pull it up right now. But to me, this is like you got to fire the GM bad defense core. Right. Obviously, they're working toward that. You know, there was that whole announcement earlier this year, like three years from now or whatever, we're going to make a change. Don't you worry about it. But I couldn't believe how bad this defense was on paper.

I don't know what they're doing out there. Mm-hmm. It's going to be tough. No, you know, the joke that. What's that? It's going to be tough in the West to get into that playoff spot. that the blues maybe think they're going to get into? I'm still not completely sure.

Well, what did the blues get to last year in the standards? Let's see here. 92 points. That's a decent number, you know. You're a few games above 500 there. What's that? They had 18 games go to overtime, and they were 31 and 33 in regulation,

apart from those 18 games. Oh. Good strategy. That doesn't sound. nearly as good. So basically my thing is they did that 92 points with Jordan Bennington playing unbelievable hockey last season. He was great. One of the best goalies in the league.

Do we really think Jordan Bennington is doing that again? Can we just clip just the part of you talking about how great Jordan Benincon is? You got to give him credit where it's due. He was fucking awesome. You do, in fact, have to hand it to him. 913 last year. I don't have the G-Sacks in front of me, but it was big. I think it was fourth or fifth I was looking yesterday.

It was way up there. It might have even been higher than that. I just don't remember now. He was awesome. I just don't know if I'm counting on him to be awesome again for 57 games. Well, the blues are. Yeah. And if he's not, I guess my point is 92 points feels like a ceiling, doesn't it?

Unless, you know. Yeah. Unless like Thomas and Cairo go ape shit They get Bootsch they have Bochenevich back for this year Right? I guess I can look Yeah they have Bochenevich back so But they need those guys going crazy next year

They haven't really you know I'm not going to go so far as to say Ryan Souter's like their big name ad You know this this summer It kind of is With all you know with all due respect to like Ratic Voxa. Yeah.

So that's tough. But yeah, the thing people were making a joke about yesterday is like, oh, yeah, the blues doctors are going to be like, oh, yeah, it turns out Tori that you have super arthritis in your, in your, in your ankle. Yeah. But then you look and it's like, oh, the blues have no plans to spend to the salary cap. So like, what do they care? Mm-hmm. it's it's just a very strange situation for that team to be in because they don't feel like they're like

going picks and prospects mode no that's it they feel like they're kind of in between why you go picks and prospects mode and uh you know set set up the the new guy four years from now or whatever we're saying the plan is for some actual success what do you what do you say guys now's the time to trade jordan binnington if they're was ever a time to do it, you know?

This guy 9-13 last year, you believe that? One of the five best goalies in the league. Don't you want the last two years of this guy's deal locked in? Three, whatever the number is? And then they're all saying, no, not really. Yeah, and then he throws a water bottle at your head and you go, sorry. Yeah. There were some other signings that happened in the last week or whatever.

since we last did a mailbag episode over on the Patreon. We mentioned Ryan Suter, obviously. Some other ones for just guys going back to their teams, mostly, I think. Braden Schneidered back to the Rangers for two years, $2.2 million. Sure. Yep, that's exactly right. No problem there. Good player, good number.

That's fine. Adam Bochrist, one year league minimum to Florida. Yeah. What an interesting. career arc. It really is. Go from eighth overall pick, trade it for Seth Jones, not one for one, but

the main piece in that deal and just hasn't found it yet. No. Let's play with this brother, which is cool. Yeah, that is cool. And the thing I was thinking about is like, look, Florida got Oliver Recman-Larsen big money. You know?

One year in Florida, and he's with the Leafs now, right? Yes, thank you for reminding me. But, like, one year in Florida and the Leafs were like, we got to give this guy big cash. We got to get this guy paid, man, no problem. And so I think this is a good bet for Bochrist where it's like he can be the Oliver Recman-Larsen. We don't need you to do a lot, but like do something. And he, you know, we'll put you in a position to see. succeed. I think this is a great, a great bet for both sides here. Yeah. I mean, the Panthers,

you can't, you can't miss on something like this. Absolutely worst case, the guy shows up. He stinks. All right. You're in the H.L. You don't count against the cap. Yep. Because your salary is so low. League minimum. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's kind of like, obviously there was a discussion at some point of, okay, do you want to get as much as you can on this next deal? Which, if it ends up in a bad situation, could be your last in the NHO. Or do you want to take less to set yourself up in the best possible position for success?

In the short-term success, which could then lead to ideally a full reset on your career arc, but at the very least, a better deal next time around. And, you know, makes sense. One year. One year? That's it.

And finally, the only other, like, super notable signing, I would say, with all due respect, all the other guys who signed, like, relatively low money contracts. J.J. Mosher avoids arbitration, I think, is basically what happened with the Lightning. Two years, $3.37 million. Yeah. Not cheap. But obviously a guy they like, he was in the circus chef train, right? Yes. Yeah.

So, you know, obviously a guy that they like and project to be. I think he's a good player. Solid piece. Yeah, and, you know, young guy too. So you're looking at a... Yeah, let's take him through his age 26. Just turned 24. So, yeah, a guy who's got a room to, you know,

higher ceiling than he's shown, which is always nice if you're going to... Yep. And again, like, Tampa is just one of those teams where you're like, oh, yeah, no, they'll actually get more out of him than most people, or most teams could, probably. So, there you go. So that leaves us with only a handful of unsigned RFAs, if I'm remembering right. Jeremy Swayman is probably the most notable of those. He needs a big new contract. The Bruins are saving a bunch of cap space for him,

but it's just, you know, working out the details. The Bruins have 8.6 million and change. I wonder what he's going to get. Yeah. It's going to be really fascinating. I think the answer is all but like $1 million of that would be my guess. For how long? Like, do you...

I think the full eight probably. There aren't a lot of goalies making $7 million. I'll tell you that. There are not. Without giving it away, I've been doing a lot of digging around on goalie contracts this week. And it's really interesting how the clear tiers have kind of established themselves. And for something that we all say is the most important position,

goalies make like second line winger money for the most part. and if they don't like that, my suggestion would be to stop being so goddamn weird string two consistent seasons together for once in your life. And, uh, well, I would argue Swayman has,

right? Like he's, he's got the track record at this point. College, HL, NHL, you're getting 9-10 goaltending plus out of this guy guaranteed. You know,

who's watching him, I would imagine, is Jake Onger. A guy who's a year away from that situation. Yeah, that'll definitely set the market. So is there anyone, we have to do this legally. Is there anyone on this RFA list who's getting an offer sheet? I don't think so.

I know it's interesting to ask this year because the cap is going up, as people might have heard. but there's just like a weirdly bit like obviously a bunch of teams still have their own guys to resign or whatever but like the number of teams with five million plus dollars in cap space is pretty significant one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen eighteen eight it looks like eighteen teams have at least five million in cap space and like some of those are just like the blues like teams that are basically full. We're just not spending the cap this year. You know. But like, I don't know, Utah's sitting on almost 10 million bucks in cap space. They don't have, I don't think they have a bunch of RFAs to resign.

With all due respect to Jack McBain and Dylan Gunther, like, Dylan Gunther is not making a huge percentage of that even like, you know, he's got a decent ceiling on him. Yep. You know. So I'm very curious, like, if they're just done. we made all those improvements on the blue line and that's it. But because like the number of UFAs out there who are needle movers or anything like that, not that good, right?

Like, you know, again, like James Van Riemsdick had a really nice season with Boston last year, but like you're not signing him going and this is what we need to get over the hump or anything like that. Yeah, so. He's a classic PTO guy at this point. And I think, you know, he's got something to give, I think. Yeah. The problem, like, as you say, is everyone's got cap space, which includes the teams that you would be targeting for an offer sheet. Right.

So the interesting team here is Detroit. Because they've got Lucas Raymond. Yeah. Who is the best player from the 2020 draft, I'm told. And Mortz-Sider. And I know it's just the fascinating thing to me is, you know, people know I hope. by now who Morris Siders agent is. This franchise

player that the Red Wings, Steve Eisenman and the Red Wings have built their entire future around largely is represented by Claude Lemieux. That's right. Long-term booking, baby. That's what it's all about. This is, how great would it be?

Signs him to an unmatchable offer sheet with Colorado or something and then just tears the suit off and he's got the jersey on underneath. That's right. But yeah, no, nobody will do anything. G.S. are all cowards. Well, the interesting thing on that front is that it looks like Marty Natchez is staying put in Carolina, and everybody was like he's, you know, he's getting traded.

Lock it in. Doesn't look like he is now. It still needs a contract, but, right? Do you? Am I wrong about this? I'm pretty sure he does. Yeah, he does. Is he got, is he need a contract or is he more than he left?

Okay. Nope. He's, uh, RFA with arbitration eligibility, it says here for this summer. So, you know,

uh, like I said, it'll be interesting to see what ends up happening with that. Like if they go long term or if they go short term because they're trying to, uh, uh, but, yeah.

Just, uh, I can't think of too many more like super intriguing, um, RFAs that are, in a position to resign. Like you say, like Moritz said,

like that's one, I think everybody's like, yeah, that'll get done. They'll give him a bunch of more. The other two are the other two goalies, Lukinen and in Buffalo and Dustin Wolf in Calgary. Yeah,

I mean, Wolf is like probably not going to get very much because he has barely any NHL experience. And Lucan is probably not going to get very much because he's not, he hasn't been that great. He's fine. But.

Yeah. Jesse Granger likes him a lot. I... Our goaltending guru, like likes him as a, you know, what he sees from him as a player. And, but obviously, the... How old would you guess? Terrible team. How old would you guess UPL is? You know what? I would have guessed older.

I'm looking at it right now, but I would have guessed probably older because he feels like a guy who's bounced around a lot. But, yeah, I, you know, it's just like, all the, the potential. on a 25-year-old. I'm just like, okay, well. Yeah, but he's a goalie. I understand. Goalies are still, you know, goalies don't reach their peak

until they're 43 years old. Great news for me. According to the New Jersey Dells. Yeah. But yeah, like, he's, to your point, he's been around fucking forever, right? Yeah.

Well, but then not really, though. That's the thing. His first season was 20- But you've heard his name for- Yeah, I guess that's right. He's only got two real full seasons in the NHL. And 9-10 last year, which is good, but like, it's actually quite good.

I always need to recalibrate what, like, 905 now is good goal-tending. So 9-10's really good. But, you know, mixed bag, I think, is what you would say. Sure. At best. And again, like you say, maybe there's a reason to be optimistic, but also it is the Sabres. So where does... That is the right way to look at it.

Where does it get you at the end of the day to be like, you know, if this guy just improves a little bit, we're only, again, like Ottawa, 26 points out of the playoffs. Awesome. Thumbs up on that one, you know? It's tough. But, yeah, there's just no, like, there's no intrigue on any of this, in my opinion. I don't know. That's fair. We tried, everyone.

We tried. And look, I'm hoping there's an offer sheet tomorrow, you know? I mean, there's going to be one five minutes after we finish this podcast. Yeah, that'd be great. Give us something to talk about a week from now. Yeah. Look, again, beggars cannot be choosers as the saying goes. So to me, I'm not going to beg.

Or I'm not going to choose, I guess. I'm already begging. whatever. All right, we'll take a break. We'll be right back. This week's episode is brought to you by our friends at AG1. Fueling your body with whole foods is important, but every diet is going to have its nutrient gaps, including mine, yours, everyone's. That's why you should consider starting your day with AG1. It ensures that you're filling those nutritional gaps, supporting whole body health,

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using a Hatch device. And right now, Hatch is offering our listeners up to 20% off and free shipping on your Hatch device purchase. Visit Hatch.C.O. slash puck for up to 20% off. That is Hatch.C.O. slash puck. All right, we're back. And we talked about basically all the news I think there has been in the NHL of late. So we're going to pivot to non-news, I guess, is what you would say, which is the Columbus Blue Jackets still don't have a coach. No.

We're good. We don't need them. Yeah, I mean, look, they hired two coaches last offseason. So. Well, I was going to say, look where having a coach has gotten them the past two decades, you know. Not very far. Let's be honest here. You try no coach.

Maybe that works out for you. Couldn't hurt. Tell you that. They couldn't do worse. Now, to their credit, they did decide on a coach reportedly. Yeah. They just didn't hire him. Todd McClellan.

Most recently coach of the Kings, had been the first choice. This is according to Aaron Portsline. He was Don Waddell's first choice for the job. But was no longer considered the leading candidate after contract negotiations between the Jackets, McClellan, and his former club, the Kings, fell apart this week. Yes.

Now, there's no way to read that other than this is just about money at this point. Well, so I will quote from the port sign article here, it's unclear if the talk stalled between the jackets and the Kings who still owe McClellan $5.5 million for this upcoming season or if they stalled between the blue jackets and McClellan. A source involved in the process told the athletic the snag with McClellan was, quote, not just about money.

These guys cannot shake the loser franchise feeling. Mm-hmm. It's tough. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I'm sure this happens more often than we hear about, but it's because we never hear about it. Yeah, a team having a guy and then not being able to close a deal for whatever reason. And just, again, the fact that the Kings are mentioned suggests that this has to do with, you know, what they owe and what they wouldn't and I don't know.

still lots of good coaches out there but I guess is Jay Woodcroft the next guy next guy up so do you want that if you're him he and Dean Eveson are coming for in person interviews this week

coming to Columbus getting the flight out you know and uh you know I think either both of those guys are good coaches they've shown that um I with Woodcroft that, you know, it's one of those things of how hard is it to be like, okay, Connor, you're up, then Leon Europe. You know, that's going to do about 80% of the heavy lifting for you, in my opinion.

Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see what it's like when he has to take over a franchise with a bunch of players who are not good. Right? Like, that's kind of, that's kind of the issue for them, in my opinion, is that they have a bad roster. Look, man, if they get Woodcroft, that's a great hire for them. Absolutely. No question about it for me. And, you know, I don't know that it's my preferred landing spot if I'm Jay Woodcroft, but I'm not.

So it's very easy for me to sit here and go, oh, yeah, just wait another year. Wait for something to open up. You know, we've seen guys wait and you wait a little bit too long and suddenly someone else is getting hired instead. So I'm surprised Woodcroft made it through this latest round without, did he even seem like a serious candidate anywhere? Like, did we hear about him being a finalist? I can't remember. Yeah, I don't think so.

But again, that's one of those things where it's like, you know, he was like the fourth guy and so and so or whatever, you know. Maybe. But, yeah, it is. it's the same thing with Eveson, where it's like, he didn't get a job already. He got, he got, he got, with Eveson in particular, it's like, he got that much out of the Minnesota Wild. Yeah. You know?

Obviously, it didn't go great for him this past season. Of course. Who's going to argue otherwise? But, um, I don't know. To me, I'm just, I'm just like, it's, it's kind of astounding that he has lasted this long, more so than, than, than even. Woodcroft just because it's like you saw what happened to the while like after he left right?

It didn't get better. So yeah like I say I think Columbus is in a position where either one of these guys would be a good hire for them especially like this does feel kind of like the

the we're getting a guy who's better than you expect and you believe it and I'm like I kind of can't You know? But, you know, what are you going to pay these guys to coach in Columbus where the roster's bad? You know, I don't know what the answer is. Well, and especially if it's a money thing with McClellan, that kind of does make you wonder if that's going to be an issue more so than it might be somewhere else. Totally.

And like, yeah. That's it, man. I'm taking the blue jackets out of my playoff picks. I'm dropping them down In the United States You didn't see they signed Sean Monaghan A guy who's famously super healthy All the time

He's only gonna be maybe their number one center On your list of guys You'd love to hook up to a lie detector in the NHL And ask them in it Like how high is Johnny Goodrow at this point God, no kidding man It's It's true

He I mean You might have messed up Johnny The 9 and 3 quarters really is helping how good I feel about any decision I make regarding my employer. Yeah, but even then, you could have got, you know, could have got more somewhere else you would have thought. Maybe not. Again, easy for me to say, but. Right.

Like, it wasn't it like he wanted to sign with Philadelphia? And they were just like, yeah, we're not going to. Everybody thought New Jersey or Philadelphia. Right. And it didn't happen with New Jersey. And then remember Philadelphia was at Hextel at the time, famously. Yeah. It's just really hard to clear cap space.

And everyone was like, oh, well, then don't bother, man. Sorry. Don't sweat it, big dog. Yeah. It's tough, man. You want to talk about defenses and problems with them. Zach Werensky, Damon Severson, Ivan Provorov, Erica Branson, David Yerechek, Jack Johnson. How are we feeling CBJ fans?

At least they got great goal tent. Oh, wait. No, this is the year for us. Elvis Merzleekins, age 30 is his breakout season. Don't worry about it. This is going to happen. Tough, man. It's tough.

So, yeah, I guess that's it. That's it. I don't have much more to say about Columbus other than... No, neither do it. In my opinion, on July 17th, I get you, they're doing, they're spinning it now of like, we don't care how long it takes. We just want to find the right guy, not the guy who's going to sign the fastest.

Yeah, if you say so, man. And, I mean, they hired a guy late last year and worked out fantastic. Hell, they hired two guys late. One was really late. Yeah. One was like unbelievably late. You couldn't believe how late this guy came in. Don't look into why.

No, not at all. So yeah, we'll see. That's the last coaching position that needs to be filled. And, you know, I think part of it with Woodcroft and Eveson being up for it is the thing you always hear, There's only 32 of these jobs. And we're seeing why, you know, or we're seeing that in action now, I guess, you know. We're seeing why they say it. But yeah, I think that's it for hockey-related new business this week.

I believe it is. I will be hitting refresh on Twitter just in case. Oh, I guess we could talk about people were loving this yesterday. The guy was like, remember the goal you scored against Nashville and Stephen Stamco's. was like, yes, here's what happened. Yeah. That is very cool. Here's a little frightening, but, you know.

Here's the thing. If I signed with a team, I'd be pulling up the, oh, yeah, didn't I score a goal against them or something recently? I like, I'm just saying there's a 35% chance. He watched that goal in the last week and has a pretty good recollection from that and not from the fact that it was a goal two years. Now, I know he's demonstrated this, this talent before. Yes.

But I'm always, you know, I'm always looking for the wires. You know, I'm always like, they didn't really cut that lady in half. That's actually not real. Yep. I'm trying not to get worked in my life. That's all. Yeah, exactly. Never been worked.

So why would I start now? Don't work yourself into a shoot, brother. I would never, never once. So to kill time on this episode, where I think we're going to get to the hour mark before we can call it a show here. So I put this out to the people on the Puck Soup Discord, which you can join by joining the Patreon. And I said, what game show would you like us to play on this week's show to Kill Time?

And I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that the answer was Name Pat Falloon, but it is. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to do a few rounds of Name Pat Falun. I've come, well, I have a bunch of leftover categories. I have made some up. That's exactly what I was teeing up, yeah. I have some left over from the many categories we've done over the years.

But I said to Sean, you've got to try to, you know, throw me a curveball on this one. That's what I'm doing. Here we go. Sean, why don't you hit me with a category first? I'll tell you what. I'll give you the three categories. I came up with and you pick which one you want. You always get to pick. That's how it works.

Okay, my three categories are you flinched Paul. Now you have to marry your mother-in-law. Okay. Do I tell you what the category is or do I just go? Yes, you do. That is guys who have fought Nick Paul in there. Okay. Santa brought it early, which is guys who were born on December 23rd.

Okay. I love it. And everybody says, that guy's great. I say, wait a minute, that guy yells. That is star players who were suspended for abusive officials. I'm going to go with that one. All right. A, B, or C? B, please. All right.

Okay. Now, let me just pull up my how to play. So I'm going to give you current age, NHL's games played, and last team. Is that correct? Yeah, last slash current team, yeah. Yes. Okay, so this guy is currently 54 years old. Okay.

He played 1,363 games. Okay. And the last team he played for was the San Jose Sharks. How many clues would you like? And I will read down the clue list while you think. Thank you so much. I haven't been funny. I have a bunch of you.

Ten clues that he could get in order. Amateur team, size, draft spot, draft team, years played, career points. or save percentage, whichever applies, country, current slash most recent cap hit, current season points, or save percentage, and NHL teams, presumably a list of all NHL teams. He is going to name how many of those clues he thinks he needs. I think I know what the answer is.

Oh, boy. I think I'm confident-ish that I can go zero. Damn. In fact, hmm. So there is negative, of course, and negative is I can give you, like if I say negative one, I could give you his amateur team and then I would be right. Like I have to say the player and his amateur team. Now, does it have to be amateur team or can you pick any of them?

No, it's any of them. All right. So in fact, I feel as though I can go at least negative one. Yikes. All right. Which is, this is an American player named Jeremy Roanick. It sure is. Yeah.

So our old pal Jeremy Roanick got suspended for, I think he threw a water bottle at a referee. Yeah, they'll suspend you for that. You're not allowed to do that. And it was the incident that led to his famous rant about the NHL needing to get its crap together and all of that stuff. I didn't have it for sure until I got sharks at the very end there. See, I thought that would be the tough one because not a lot of people necessarily remember that he played with the sharks. What were all his – can I – okay, let's see if I can do all his NHL teams. Now that we're locked in on – I got a negative one.

He played for the Flyers, the Blackhawks, the coyotes and the sharks. Am I missing any? I'm sure you are. You are missing one, which is the Kings. He had one year at the Kings. Yeah, I don't remember that. And he had two stints with the coyotes. But yeah, drafted by Chicago, then goes Phoenix, Philadelphia.

L.A. I think L.A., the only memorable thing was he, that was the team he was dancing with. That's right. And everyone's like, this is great. Yep, now I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What was this amateur team? Thank you.

Was he a London Knights guy? He was a whole Olympics according to this. Okay. Oh, right. Yeah, he's, yeah, he wouldn't, yep, okay. That makes sense. I just knew it wasn't college, and so I was out to see a little bit. That's usually where I can do it, you know?

Yeah. I could be like, oh, Boston College. Everybody thinks of a genius. I just saw him play, you know. All right. we will go with, I'll give you the first three on the list where I have a bunch of options that have two names left. Okay. So we'll go with early predators and that's played at least ten games for the inaugural National Predators season.

Okay. The next one is Gretzky's Oval Office and that's players who share a last name with a U.S. president. And Twyans and that's not so successful, Sedeen line mates. Okay. Let's do the president one. Okay. A or B? A. A it is. This player is currently, let's see here, 38 years old.

He played 527 NHL games, and the last team he played for was the New Jersey Devils. So 38 in theory could still be in the league, but if he's only played 500 games, I don't think. that's going to work out great. I will say, please give me four. Four, no problem. Okay, so his amateur team is the Sioux-Saint-Marie Greyhounds. You ever hear of these guys? I have.

Okay, this guy, this is going to shock you. He's 5'11, 185 pounds. That helps. Mm-hmm. He was drafted 99th overall in the fourth round of the 2004 NHLN. draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Oof. I'll say the Penguins is the giveaway on this, if you remember this player.

Yeah, okay. So better known as a penguin but finished his career with the devils? Correct. Hmm. See, part of my problem is I don't know my U.S. presidents very well. I'll say this. This is a name brand president. Okay.

Good. Kennedy. Tyler Kennedy. You got it. Was it really? Wow. I had no recollection of him playing for the Devils at all. 50 games, three goals, 13 assists.

You don't remember that in 15, 16? You don't remember that season? Not at all. Damn. So six years in Pittsburgh, two in San Jose. Part of one traded at the deadline in 2014-15. to the islanders, stays in the tri-state area,

signs with the Devils, and then is out of the NHL. Nice. So there you have it. All right. All right. Cool. So you've got,

you flinch, Paul, now you have to marry your mother-law, and Santa brought it early. Give me the Nick Paul one. Okay. A, B, or C. A. All right.

Let me call this person's. All right. This person's, person is currently 34 years old okay games played

158 last end or current team is the Columbus Blue Jackets 34 more than a thousand games played you want to go negative on this one

hot shot guy who would have fought Nick Paul blue jackets Huh Um Give me Give me

Give me Give me Give me Give me four Okay Uh His amateur team Was the

Halifax Mooseheads Okay Uh Hockey reference lists him At 6 foot 2 216 pounds Okay

That's big boy Draft spot Now do I give you The year on this as well Yes All right This will help Draft year

And team Yeah Draft spot And team, he was drafted in the first round seventh overall in 2007 by the Colomis Blue Jackets. Hmm. And I will say, just as a little, a freebie hint, it's of the three guys, this guy's a little tougher to think of as a fight guy. Okay.

I don't think he fought very much compared to the other options. Okay. And he is 34. He played over a thousand games. I feel like this is such an obvious guy, and I'm just, like, missing it. Makes me feel stupid. Just dumb as dog shit.

He's a blue jacket, so I'm going to say, super obvious. Toiling in anonymity, sure, sure. God, why am I blanking on? I don't know. I will give you one further free hint. He was drafted by the blue jackets. ended his career with the blue jackets, but he had a stop in between, was not a lifelong

blue jacket. In fact, had his most successful years, shockingly outside of Columbus. You don't say. Every blue jacket fan is like, you're kidding. Wow. That never happens. Well, everybody's mad at me for not knowing. I'm just blanking on this.

I don't know. It is Jacob Voracek. Sure. Yeah. You know what? I wouldn't have guessed he's only 34, I think. is what's fucking me up. Yeah, did not play in the NHL last year.

Right. But, you know, with injuries and what have you. But, yeah. That's the guy. And apparently, at one point, fought Nick Paul. Hey, good for him, you know? That makes sense. And I should say, according to this, he actually retired recently,

according to hockey reference, and was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, but did not play for them. Okay. Yeah, no, I'm not saying, you know, I'm just stupid. I don't think you got me on a test. technicality or whatever.

All right. I'll hit you with the next one. This is, the trade is Lee for me, and that's guys who were traded for Lee Stempenyak. Okay. This is just missed, and that's guys who were drafted one spot ahead of a future Hall of Famer. Okay. And this is Sturm and Drong, and that's guys who were traded with or for Marco Stern. Give me the draft one, the middle one.

The draft one, it is A or B? Straight A's, baby. Straight A's. Okay, this player is currently 51 years old. He played, let's see here, 839 NHL games. And the last team he played for was the Anaheim Ducks. Hmm. Okay.

Okay. And drafted one spot ahead of a Hall of Famer or is a superstar? A Hall of Fame. Hall of Famer, okay. And at the end, I will tell you which Hall of Fame. Which, maybe I will. Or you'll probably fucking know it. Which, I'm going to go four again.

Four it is. Four is the big. Yeah, four seems like the, I'm. The sweet spot. Yeah. Okay, played four, the University of Michigan. Already I know the answer to this one. Of course he does.

I wouldn't probably. But 6'2209 drafted fifth overall in the 91 draft by the Winnipeg Jets. Fifth overall by the Winnipeg Jets 91. Mm-hmm. Okay. So you can see where a Hall of Famer comes into this. Yeah, because of Forsberg would have been next to pick, right? That's exactly right, yeah.

Is it Darren Quint? No, I think Darren Quint's not that old. It's Aaron Ward. Oh, wow. Okay. A Jets pick. Yeah, all right. Yeah.

Did not know that. Let's see. Yeah, Darren Quint is 94 draft, it says here. Ah, so stupid. Yeah, well, can't win them all, brother. You know? Did Ward ever play for the Jets? No.

I can scroll down on this page and see when he was traded to the Red Wings. Traded with a player to be named later a fourth round pick in the 93 draft and future considerations to Detroit for Paul Isbairt. Oh, Paul Isabart. Isabart, okay, sure. I look who's correcting pronunciations now, folks. As long as it was mid-90s scorers, I'm right there. Yeah.

Aaron Warden, nice career for him. Detroit, Carolina, Boston, the Rangers. One at least, yeah, one a cup, probably won two cups. Right? May very well have, yeah. With the Red Wings. What year, they won in 96? The Red Wings won in 97, 98, 02, and 08.

Okay, so yeah, he would have won two cups. He won with Detroit, 97, 98. goes to a cup final with Carolina in 2002 and then is on the team that wins the cup in 06. All right. Pretty good run for him. Not bad for him. Three cup finals. And a guy who is reportedly getting things back on track these days.

So good luck. I met him once. Oh, yeah. I was doing an interview with Andrew Ferrence at a restaurant in Boston. And Aaron Warrant. just like walked in. He was wearing a big fur coat. And like he was just like this was in the north end.

So like all the players lived there. And he was wearing a big fur coat. And he's like, yeah, this is my grandfather's like fur coat. And, and I think I think it was Andrew Farrants or maybe the Bruins PR guy who was there. Was like, you look like you're dressed like a pimp. And he's like my grandfather was a pimp. So checks out. Okay.

There you go. All right. You last one for you is Santa brought it early Hit me with the ABC Uh, C please All right Uh, I will call it up All right

This guy is currently 44 years old Okay He played 1,079 games Okay And his last team was the Ottawa Senators Forty-four The Senators Yeah, the birth date doesn't help me at all, unfortunately.

No. Why don't we go with four again? Go with four. Okay. Yeah. The amateur team, the Tri-City Americans. God damn it. Can I get a fucking college guy mixed in here?

Jesus Christ. He, according to this, and I'm expressing some skepticism here, but according to this, was 5-11 and 200 pounds. Okay, sure. And he was drafted 27th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1998. 98. 44 devil's pick. And I got to tell you, the last play for the Senators may not help at all because this guy is a classic.

Nobody has any recollection of this dude on that team guy. Just because I'm in Ottawa, I remember. You're saying, but he played for a shitload of teams? I'm saying that your memory of him as an Ottawa senator is probably... Okay. Not especially distinct. He did play for a few teams. A few teams, okay.

And he played over a thousand games. He played for a lot of teams. Okay. I was trying to not give it away, but I unintentionally misled you. Yeah, he played a thousand plus games. Okay. Played for a thousand games. Devil's pick, what year was it?

Devil's pick 98. Late first round. 27th round. First rounders. I'm a round. Well, no, okay. So I think my answer is Scott Gomez. You got it.

Oh, hell. Nailed it. Wow. It was actually the last pick of the first round, which sounds very weird that 27th overall was the last pick, but that was the one year that would have been the case. He played for, New Jersey for a long time.

Wait, let me see if I can do this. There's no way I'm going to. And this isn't in order, obviously. New Jersey, the Rangers, I guess the senators, let's say. 13 games had one assist. Big salute. The Canadians, right?

That's right. Did Gomez score was the Canadian? Oh, yeah. The show, I feel like he was on the sharks. Good call, yes. I think that might be, I don't know if I'm going. There are two more teams as well as a second stint with the devils, but everyone was just flashed into my brain. The Blues? Is that possible? Yes, the Blues was the other team he played for in that last year, split between St. Louis and Ottawa. I'm not going to get the last one, am I?

Well, I mean, not unless you just guess the one of those, it's one of the three teams that like everybody plays for at some point, but, uh, Minnesota? I don't know. Florida Panthers. Okay, sure. I don't remember that, but okay, great. Yep. Nicely done by you. Thank you, brother.

You're not fooling around here. All right. I think I'm the only one. Oh, no, this is our last one, right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. This is, if they come back, it was meant to be, and that's guys who left their teams and then came back to those teams.

Scott Gomez. Yeah, kind of in the Scott Gomez. realm. This is Sunshine Skate. It's players who were born in Florida. And this is Mr. 300, because while no one has ever ended their careers at exactly 300 goals, there are a bunch of guys who are the closest without going over. Like guys in the 295 to 200 to 299, I guess you would say. Very nice. I want the first one, the comeback guys. Okay, A or B? Sticking with A. Hey, it is. This player is currently 40 years old.

He played 650 games, and the last team he played for was the Buffalo Sabres. Hold on, wait, wait. I got to say, looking at this, I realize I wrote it down wrong. This is guys who were traded away by their teams at the deadline and then came back the next summer. Okay, wow. All right. That narrows it down significantly. Yes, it does.

So, again, he's 40, 650 games. Last played for the Buffalo Sabers. All right. Last play for the Buffalo. How many guys have been in that situation? Oh, I just got very excited. Well, I got very excited because I thought of a guy who was in the right age range may have played for the Sabres,

but I'm trying to remember. I don't feel like he was... No. So the guy I was thinking of was Zach Bogosian, but I feel like it was his pick that got moved around in the Keith Kachuk stuff. I don't have that in front of me. I will confirm for you that it is not Zach Begoge.

See? See? Look at this, guys. I'm playing 4D chess, getting him to give information away. I'm going to do this 8,000 more times and narrow the list of play. players down. Give me four. Let's go with the four. The classic four, okay, played for Cornell in the NCAA.

He is six foot one, two hundred three pounds, drafted. You want to talk about not helping. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the ninth round, 263rd overall of the 2003 NHL draft. Go from ninth round to 650 career games played, made a good chunk of money. Not bad at all. Not bad. And I mean, that in theory should help me because I've done enough of these stupid, like, let's build a roster out of guys drafting the ninth round. But it's, I got nothing.

I got nothing here. No. No. You want to, is there anything else that you think would throw? The only thing I would say, he played for four teams. You would have no recollection of two of them. But the other team he played for notably was the New York Islanders. So he's an islander and a saber.

Yeah. He's too... We got the reverse Kyle Ocposo. Well, I was going to say, Ocpozo. He's too young for like the Turgeon Lafontein. Because the Islanders and Sabres are one of those teams. They have a lot of guys. They do.

Matt Moulson? That's right, yep. Ninth pick. Did you say by Pittsburgh? Ninth round, yeah. Yeah. Ninth round, 263rd overall. Never played for the Penguins.

Started his career with the Kings. Not totally, okay, traded. Nope, the Kings just let him walk in his age 26th season. So he was a UFA. He played just 29 games over two years for the Kings. Goes to the Islanders, plays there for five years or so. gets traded to the Sabres in the Thomas Vanek deal. Do you remember when Thomas Vanek played for the Islanders that time?

I do remember that. Gets traded then in the same season to Minnesota. Okay. Then signs with Buffalo again in that following, in the 2014 summer. No memory of his brief stint with the Wild? No. Less than no memory of him with the LA Kings. 29 games 20 years ago when he wasn't very good.

Yeah, I think that's probably what. So in late October, he is traded to the Sabres. And then in March, he's traded to Minnesota. And then he signs on July 1 as a free agent with the Sabres. I'm looking at his page now. I signed as a free agent with the Capitals. Yeah. It doesn't seem like he played...

Never played... It doesn't seem like he played anywhere after that. But yeah, give it a shot. Okay. Why not? Well, I got stomped on that. Well, it's only because I got the one guy. Like, I got the most famous player of any of we discussed.

So it's not really the same thing, but... Fair enough. Yeah. So why don't you hit him with the plugs? Let's get out of here. You can find me at The Athletic. Just posted just this morning, actually. a new pod with Mr. Gentilly,

so you can have a double dose of me today. Yay. I've got a piece coming up later this week. I think I'm going to try to figure out who the greatest team of all time with no Hall of Famers. And then next week, I won't say what it is, but I am working on a project,

an actual Capital P project with a couple other guys. And I think it's going to be, I was going to say fun. It's going to be a multi-part series. I don't think it's going to be fun. I think everyone's just going to be mad and dismissively annoying about it. I'm already preemptively bummed out.

Check it. Check it out. Show up in the comment. I've spent like hours upon hours on it, so feel free to skim it and then show up in the comments and write LOL or something because your favorite team was not ranked number one. I hate my job.

What am I doing? My life. Stick to making, I think you should leave based game show category. That's clearly what I did, right? That's all that, yeah. And it worked out great. You flinched, Paul. Yeah, that one stumped me.

I was going to go with guys who beat Nick Paul in a fight, but I don't think there were enough. Couldn't get to, couldn't get different. And then I was going to do Paul coffee, but I'm like, you're not going to know any of these. dudes. No, absolutely not. Okay, and then for me,

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