Puck Soup - Trade Deadline Guide

Episode Date: April 1, 2021

The boys break down all 30 assets on The Athletic board to get you ready for the NHL trade deadline. Plus, the Buffalo Sabres' history losing streak, Ghost Bear waived, Ekblad breaks his leg, the NHL playoff races, NFL goes to 17 games, "The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers," and the most overrated and underrated apes and lizards in honor of "Godzilla Vs. Kong."

Sticks and hits and goals and saves and slapshots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to whatever you commute. But we also cover movies, TV shows, it's in tunes. It's your weekly bowl of Hockey and Nonsense. I'm Greg Wischinski of ESPN, your worldwide leader in rights holding for the next seven years. I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I'm just going to watch Godzilla versus Con. I keep getting it wrong.

Very embarrassing. I'm so excited for this movie. I can't get the title right. Anyway, elite prospects. Sign up. Sean McAnew from The Athletic. And you're in Puck Soup. Ryan, there was a deal this week, right, for Elite Prospects.

Is it still ongoing? Yeah, I think there's one more day to it. And gun to my head, could I tell you what that code is? No, but let me look it up really fast. And the answer is three free, the number three free, to sign up for elite prospects. Sorry to be plugging so early in the show, but it's fine. I think it's allowed. All right.

So lots to do. We're going to kind of focus a bit on the trade deadline later and kind of really drill down on the athletic big board, as it were. and kind of give some thoughts on each of those players. But we would be remiss if we didn't start the show with something that will become old news, potentially very quickly, the Buffalo Sabres and their futility. Because as we tape the show, they have a game tonight. They could break the Schneid. They could put a W on the board.

If anything's possible, like, yes. But let me ask this, because this doesn't really affect what's happening tonight. Is there anything more NHL than treating a losing streak as not a losing streak? Like, to me, it's peak NHL to not only ruin a good story through a technicality, but also rely on the most labyrinthine, confusing fucking standings in professional sports to do so. There is nothing more NHL than what's happening right now. Well, I think the NHL would say that it's not a good story when a team loses 18 games in a row. I think what they would say is that's actually very bad.

And yet they embrace the Mighty Ducks movies. Lovable losers. And who doesn't love the Sabres? What boisterous and buoyant personalities on the Buffalo Sabres? America's team, if you will. Yeah, they seem like they're having a great fucking time there. Yeah. Sean, you've been a torchbearer in the fight against the idiocy that is this story. Because again, it links into the whole stupidity. of the loser point and oh it makes the playoff race is closer no it doesn't it's only there to make the gms look good and mainly in terms of the record so they can be over 500 when they're not 500 but part of it is also like imagine going to any other league and being like we have figured out a way that a team can lose 18 games in a row and we can say that they're not on an 18 game losing streak it's it's so

stupid i someday i will the the fights that i have with pier lebrun about this or like over slack. Oh my God. I was going to say, my question is, is that a bit? Because I was like, you know what? There's a pretty, like, the way he keeps hammering on about it, it has to be a fucking bit, right? It's like, I mean, Pierre is, is, he's right in the sense that he is clarifying how the league views this stuff. But the rest of us are like, it's like that stupid thing where, like yesterday, there's like the Florida Barlins came up with this weird way to, refer to their ballpark. And people are like, you don't have to do that just because they say to. You can just call it what it is.

We don't have to use the NHL's weird labor terminology here. We can just say they've lost 18 games in a row. What happened each of the last 18 games? Did they win or lose? Like, there's no ties in this league. So did they win or they lost? Okay, it's an 18 game losing streak. That's a hugely important thing for me.

Like, I understand what they're trying to say that I regulate, it's a regulation tie, right? and then you determine a winner or loss in overtime in the shootout. But we're not the ones who decided that every game had to have a winner or a loser. The NHL test. Right. Like if we still had ties, then yeah, we could go all day with this winless streak shit. But we don't. We have a winner and a loser because that's the way you wanted it to be.

Because you thought Americans were so dumb that you didn't know what a fucking tie was. I thought a tie is something to be weird to a job interview. I understand that there are two different. columns in the standings that these losses can fall into. But one of the columns says L, and one of them says OTL, and the L stands for the same thing in both of them. So it's like I tweeted last night. I would love anyone, if you think the NHL has got this right and that it's not really

an 18-game lose streak, because they got a point, go it up to one of the Sabres after last night's game and be like, hey, how did it feel to end the losing streak? See what happens. See what kind of response you get. See if they're like, yeah, it's great that we snap that streak tonight. You won't. They'll look at you like you're an idiot and be like, hey, dummy, we lost tonight. We're not, we didn't snap the streak.

We lost again. Because that's how every regular person thinks about it. And if the NHL's marketing department slash GM feeling protector wing wants to say different, then too bad. The rest of us don't have to play along. Right. It is a very sad time to be the Buffalo Sabres. I actually watched the Don Granado press conference this week after they lost, they blew that lead against the flyers. And to hear a coach describe his team like a struggling math student in elementary school where it's like, well, if you just get one question, right, then it gives you the belief that you could maybe figure out the other 10 or whatever.

Like, that's the way he's approaching the savers. It's like, literally, he's looking at the first and second period of that game and saying, we weren't good, but we did some things that weren't horrible. And I'm going to take those things and I'm going to put them on film and I'm going to show you that if you do this one thing more than once in a game, it'll dramatically increase your team. And I'm just like, I know this is the way coaches work. And I know that this is the way that you turn around like a struggling player. But to hear a coach be that elementary about how to turn around a professional hockey team is stunning.

to me. Presumably these guys have had, you know, team success at other levels of hockey or in the past in their careers. And yet they're all like, I've never experienced joy as a result of playing the sport in my entire life. Exactly. What could that possibly be like? You know, like, it's, who was the defenseman that gave the post-game presser in that?

Dahlene. it was well no I think it was uh Colin did Colin Miller also I don't know I think it was both of them yeah spoke okay yeah but like both of them were just like oh yeah like the second we gave up that goal we were like fuck we're gonna lose and it's like you're up three fucking goals on a team that sucks like I understand you also suck but like the idea oh man I can't I can't even imagine like yeah of course um losing 17 games in a row but like you go into the third period but like you go into the third period. it's just like all we have to do is not fuck up and they were like what if we thought about fucking up constantly the entire time like do you think that would help us and it's like Jesus Christ man it is so bad right now like I know the way the NHL works these days once you're out of the playoffs which a Sabres very obviously are there really is no incentive to win you might as well just lose and chase lottery odds but at some point point. This is, this is the kind of street that hemorrhages into future years. Like, this

reaches into the future and messes up teams that you will have down the line. Because as much as obviously, they have to blow it up and start over. Like, some of the guys on this team are still going to be there next year and the year after. And one or two of them might even be on the team by the next time they're good. And like this stuff, people remember this stuff. And it, like, this is, this is, I can't remember ever seeing a team spiral this badly. And I'm saying that as a leaf fan. Like, we're the team that invented the 18 wheeler, the concept, right, from Brian Burke. This is, this is, this is, this is an 18 wheeler going off a cliff, blowing up at the bottom

of the cliff, and then there's like a sinkhole opens up and it keeps falling. It just, it's, it's, it's absolutely insane. I know. It's, uh, it's a bad look. It's, it's, and I don't know, like, every game that this goes on, it just makes it worse and worse, like, exponentially. Not like, just throw another loss on the pile, but like, like, to the point where I've seen, I think Greg, you had it and, and, uh, it's one of, one of our guys at the athletic head, like, going down the schedule and being like, will they win another game this year? That's an insane thing to even contemplate in this NHL. Yeah.

Like, I mean, yeah. You're talking to 75 capitals and they're an expansion team, you didn't give them any players. And there's 40 professional teams competing for it. Like, yes, okay. This is the parody era, man. Like, we incentivize teams to go to overtime in which it basically becomes a coin flip and you still can't win. You're going to break the all-time record for consecutive losses. It should be literally impossible to have a street.

like this. So good job Buffalo. You've done it. The thing the thing is like I know that people are sick of us and probably everybody else in the hockey world talking about how bad the sabres are and and you know, what's wrong with the sabres and all that kind of stuff. But like this is why. Like this is a literal historically bad stretch of hockey by any team ever. And like you said Sean, at a time when the league is trying so fucking hard to be like, you don't, like, it would, it should be impossible for you to lose 18 games in a row. And again, at the beginning

of the year, everybody was like, okay, look, the Sabres won't make the playoffs, but they got Eric Stahl, they got Taylor Hall, like that, you know, they should be better. And they were like, no, actually, we're going to be, uh, the worst we've ever been. It's fucking incredible. And the most incredible part, like the true, true sabresosity of this ineptitude this season is there going to be incredibly bad, get all the high draft picks in a draft where no one knows anything about any of the prospects. Yeah, it's completely fucked up. It's one of the weak drafts and recent memory. It's so, it's weak to begin with, plus nobody knows nothing. It's like a crapshoot inside of a mystery box, and they're going to have all these high picks throughout every round.

round and nobody wants picks this year. It's fucking crazy. I just match buttons on my calculator. If you were an NHL team and you were so bad that you had only a 30% chance of winning each night that you played, which is insanely bad in today's NHL. You look at the, it's 45, 55 for almost every game at the most. If you only had a 30, you were that bad, your odds of losing 18.5. times in a row is about one in a thousand. So this is, even if the sabres are historically bad, this is still mind-boggling that this is

actually happening to them. It really is. All right. We're not going to dwell on the sabres. I think we did the sabres. It's like a fucking second- I would do a whole show about the sabers. I would absolutely just.

The sabers losing streak, standings, the whole thing. Eckblad, my God. What a horrible story. Dude, finally is finally having. the season commiserate with being a first overall pick. The Panthers are rocking and rolling. It might still be. Shit, they lost him, and I think they still played pretty well.

But breaks his leg out. What is it? Out for the season. Is he going to miss the entirety of the playoffs unless they make a deep run? No. It's 12 weeks. The fact that they said 12 weeks and not out for the season

implies that they at least believe that he can come back. that if it is 12 weeks, the timing lines up. But you're talking about a guy coming in late in the playoffs. Right. After having recovered from a major injury and not played in three months, I don't think he's going to step right into the lineup and be Aaron Eckblatt. Yeah.

It's just a huge member. I mean, and injuries have been, are now kind of the theme, right? Like the concussion stuff really in his career really, you know, set him back and mess with his mind. I remember talking to Chris Pronger about this when Pronger was an advice. with the Panthers about how those injuries kind of affected the way that Ekblatt played. Like he became more tentative and things like that. As a young player to have that kind of injury history is rough.

And then this happens. And I mean, it just sucks. It was really, really good this year. And it just sucks. Do you think the Panthers could possibly come back to the pack now? Or do you think they're just so far ahead that it won't matter? Yeah. I mean, you know, they also, who was it,

DeClair got hurt last night as well. Like, it's tough, but I, you know, I don't have the stand. I should have the standing. Well, I got, I got the money. Money puck playoff odds have the Panthers with a 99.5% chance of making sure. Oh, yeah, they're not going to miss the playoffs. Like, they're 11, I'm looking at it now. They're 11 points up with a game in hand on Nashville and Chicago.

So they would have to go on a savers. streak of futility to have every like have the four and five teams in that division Right. Yeah. And it's so yeah, your question of are they going to come back to the pack? They could come back to the pack in terms of their quality as a team. Not in the standings, but what it does do in the standings, unless they surprise us, is it kind of takes them out of the running for first place.

And first place in that division is big. Because it's Tampa, Florida, Carolina, two of those teams have to play each other. And then one of those teams is going to get to play like Chicago, Columbus, Nashville, Dallas, one of those teams. That's huge as far as that first round matchup. And if you're Florida, you're sitting there going, you know what? I would like to finish first play Chicago and let Tampa and Carolina bash each other's brains out for second games. It doesn't look like that's going to happen now. If you're in that division, your goal is to not play Tampa in the first round.

Or Carolina. I don't want them either. That's the thing, right? You're going to get one of them, I think, unless things, like you said, unless Florida finishes first. Unless you finish first. I would rather play Carolina than Tampa in the first round. I mean, Tampa's going to get Kutraff back. You know, it's going to be sick. Anyways.

I agree. Nashville has been one of them. Yeah. Nashville's been one of the more interesting stories since the last time I did this pod because they've been on a little bit of a streak. They're now above 50% to make the playoffs. I recently did. Soros, baby. I recently did radio in Nashville and they're like,

they're like, so what do you think we should do? You think we should just like press ahead and try to be buyers of the deadline? I'm like, no. They still should sell. You should still trade Echblad. You should still trade Grandland. You should still try to change the configuration of this team. I mean, Echhol, rather.

Sorry, Echold. You should still do all the things. Yeah, that you wanted to do. Like, don't, don't like, change the plan just because you get a chance to be a sacrificial lamb in the first round. I had somebody tell me that they think Poil is done regardless of if they make it or miss it.

I still think that the ownership situation on Nashville is such that you're going to need to get a bunch of different people to agree to one thing, which is never an easy thing. I think there's a lot of loyalty to Poil because of what he's done for that franchise for the entirety of the franchise.

My understanding he has the most wins. He certainly does. He ends, yeah. But I, there's a perception out there that he's going to be done regardless. And I guess the question that becomes, is he done done, or is he kicked upstairs done? He's not done done done because that guy owns the hurricanes.

Shit Ed. Yeah, I think there's no way they just go. Well, here's the other thing. Kicked upstairs. That took me way too long to get, by the way. Speaking of old GMs, like, how old is a high quality joke? Right? High quality joke, yeah.

How old is David Poyle? He's very old. He's in the 70s, I believe. He's not like Jim Rutherford old, but like old old. Yeah, he's not in his 90s like Rutherford as we learned in the bonus episode. Yep. Let's put it this way. He is one year younger almost to the day than Jim Rutherford.

So like the idea that you can kick him upstairs, I guess, but also you can say like, or he could say, oh, fuck this. I'm out of here. Yeah. Whatever. You know, like, and nobody would be, nobody could be mad about that. Like, he built that team from nothing into a team that almost was competitive for a Stanley Cup. And, you know, he was a good GM for a long time in tough circumstances.

Not to revisit the first segment again, but who gets that sweet, sweet fracking money first? Is it David Poyle or Jim Rutherford to go to the Sabres and fix them? Aren't they already saying it's Rutherford? Isn't that, like, a rumor already? Well, there's a rumor. But I think a lot of that rumor is very much like Kevin Adams is there and Kevin Adams is He played for Rutherford

So there's that connection Yeah And the fact that he's a rookie GM Who has absolutely no help at all In that front office right now That seems like less than ideal Not a good thing necessarily Yeah so Nashville

Hey kudos to them man I thought they were a team that was just going to flail and flop And be out of the running but they had a nice little respite and it could make the playoffs. Obviously, the other side of that coin are the Philadelphia Flyers. We only have an 18% chance right now

of making the playoffs. The Rangers actually have a higher percentage chance than do the Flyers. We do this podcast, 22.7%. Shane Gossus Bear, wavered by the Flyers this week. But a surprise. Yeah, I mean, they've been kind of

flirting with that idea for quite a while. while now, I feel like we're, you know, they were healthy scratching him a lot the last couple of years. Like, it's just, and it, to me, it's a classic case of like, uh, he was a defense, you know, he's a defenseman. He comes in. He excels offensively because they put him in a position to succeed offensively. Then because he does that, well, he, they ask him to do more.

He probably can't do more just because like, like, that's not what he does. And so they're like, well, this guy fucking sucks then. And it's like, no. You know, it's a situation where. if you let him do the things he does well, he's going to do well for you. And if you ask him to do things he can't do well, he's going to look like Shane Goss's sparrers

look the last couple of years. And, you know, is he worth the money that he's, I don't, it's like five point something. I would say no. But also, like, he, first of all, didn't make them give him that contract, right? And second of all, like, you know, even if he was, you know, playing to his,

his potential in the one area, like offensively only, people would still be mad at the contract because, oh, he doesn't play defense, he doesn't kill penalties, whatever. Like, it's just a classic case of teams talking themselves into this is one of the best young defensemen in the world, and, you know, he should be used and paid as such. And it's like, well, you know, limitations. The contract is, the contract is 4.5.

It's got two years on it after this one. So it's not a terrible. terrible deal. No, I agree. I know there's the consensus, and obviously people will know the answer to this by the time. They hear this. The consensus out of Philadelphia and most other places seems to be

that he's going to clear. No one's going to take him at that contract. I'm not completely convinced to that. Because like I said, the contract is reasonable. And I know, like, the thinking is two things. First of all, other defendants have been waived and were not claimed. But it's one

thing to claim Anton Straulman, where at his age, he just is what he is or worse from the moment you get him, versus a guy who's still in his 20s, who's still, you know, Gossis Bear was good when he came into the league. He plateaued, started heading downhill. He was flat out bad last year, like not bad based on expectations, but he was just bad. Well, again, it's because of how they use him, right? Yeah, that's a big piece of it, for sure.

But this year, he's been not bad. He hasn't been great, but he's been better. So the trend era was pointing up. And I understand the other piece of it is they say, well, they were trying to trade them all last offseason and there were no takers. But it's one thing to try to trade a guy coming off a terrible year with three full years left on his contract and you're trying to get assets back, presumably. Versus now where he doesn't cost you anything. Most of his hit for this year is paid. and he's looking better, you know, not great, but he's been better.

It wouldn't blow me away if some team took a shot at him. And also he's, you know, coin of the realm as a puck-moving defenseman too. Yeah. Well, and the other piece of it is, you know, when you're trying to trade a guy in the off-season, in the off-season, everybody's healthy and everybody likes their roster. And halfway through a season, people aren't healthy, and some teams are looking at this goal, We thought this guy would be that guy. He hasn't been.

We need a guy who can move the puck. I mean, I'm not to go back to it again, but if I'm Buffalo, I'm looking at this. I'm saying, like, here's a guy who could play on our team who's available for free. I got to do something to tell the guys in the locker room that we're trying to help you out. I take a hard look at it. Maybe my owner wouldn't let me spend the money to do it. But, you know, I'd certainly look at it. Yeah, I think that's the other thing.

I think that's the other thing just in terms of like, you know, we saw the Montreal deal where it's like, yeah, Buffalo had to eat half of Eric Stahl's money or whatever the number was. And, you know, what's his name was just out there? No, the fucking GM of the Flyers. Why am I blanking on his name? Oh, Fletcher. Fletcher, yeah. He was out there saying, like, yeah, nobody wants to trade money. Like, you have to take money if you want to make a trade.

I'm trying to be aggressive and make acquisitions and blah, blah, blah, but, like, nobody wants to take me up on it because I need to ship money out because I'm right up against the cap. And I think that's a huge consideration with, like, I think you're right. Any team in the league in a normal year, if Gostis bear is on waivers, which, you know, maybe part of the reason he's on waivers is because of the financial implications, right? We didn't really talk about the stall thing, by the way. And I just cannot wrap my brain around the idea that if you get a third and a fifth for a guy that you're retaining salary on, you don't even get the best third and fifth that that team has.

Like, great. I don't know if you saw it. He played for the Buffalo Sabres this year. But still, man, like, it's like, it's not like you're getting a second. Like, you're getting a third to fifth. Why can't you just be like, all right, we'll do it for Chicago's third and Ottawa's fifth? They're like, fuck no. Not going there.

It's just, I don't know. that didn't speak well to Kevin Adams for me, but what do you do? No, I think you're right. I think like Gossus Bair to a team like Buffalo makes some sense. I was really surprised that they already, because people were like, well, Shane Gossis Faris from Southern Florida, like, why would, and the Panthers just lost their best defenseman to injury, but, you know,

that seems like an obvious fit. And immediately the reports were like, yeah, the Panthers aren't interested. Yeah. Weird. Again, I think it's more money than anything else this year. Yeah. Well, again, like I think part of the problem is that he plays in Philadelphia. Going to Florida means getting a whole new wardrobe.

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That's macweldon.com slash puck. Enter promo code Puck for 20% off your first order. MacWeldon, proud sponsor of your Puck Soup Pod. I wanted to mention this, first off, let's go to the NFL real quick, 17 game seasons now in the NFL. No 500 teams unless there's a tie. What say you? I don't know anything about this. Did they, it's official?

Well, no, but did they get rid of one of the weeks of the preseason or anything like that? Only one, yeah. The players were trying to get them to drop two, and I think they only got rid of the one. Yeah. Because I knew that was like the big issue that players understandably had with playing the extra week. I mean, it's going to be weird. It's going to take getting used to because I don't know how long. I think it goes back to the 70s, the 16 game schedule, but that's certainly all that I've ever known.

So it's going to be, A, you're going to have to kind of recalibrate that. And it's also you're going to see a bunch of records get broken. But most of the records in the NFL, certainly on the office. offensive side have already been broken in the last few years because they actually care about making sure that their scoring rates stay up. So it's going to be an adjustment. Yeah, Mina Kheim has made a good point, though. Like, she said her brain refuses to process the idea of a team going nine and eight. As a Jets fan, the idea that we could never have, like, strive for an eight and eight season any longer is kind of...

I was going to say, Greg, you don't have to worry about it as a Jets fan. You're never going to have a nine and eight season ever again. What does this mean for Jeff Fisher? This is going to really potentially, yeah, he could be. You're never going to be an average team. You're either going to be above average or below average. It's wild. Well, I mean, but there are weird overtime rules that they've had the last few years have kind of, there are a few ties.

So some team's going to go eight, eight and one. Yeah, I think so. The gravitational pull of 500 is going to get one team. You know, it's funny. So the, you know, the argument. has been the NFL should expand by a week. I mean, there's never been an argument I've heard where people are like, let's add games to the NHL schedule. If anything, people want fewer games.

They should. God, absolutely, they should have fewer games and expand the playoffs. That would be, if I was commissioner, if I was Gary Bettman, and maybe I can be now with this rights deal, who's to say? I would cut the season by what? We got 82, cut it by eight games, make it like 74? my math right there? Yeah. And then expand the playoffs by a round.

But like a play-in round. Not like a... Keep the integrity... Like we had in the summer. Keep the integrity of the 16-game playoff... The 16-team play-off. But have some play-in-round shit beforehand. That's what I would do.

Yeah. I'm on board with the wild-card play-in. Do you want to reduce the regular season or no? You know, it's... The only argument... against it other than the obvious financial one is that it again like with the NFL it kind of messes with your model of what the what the record book should look like it means it's even less likely you're going to get 50 goals or 100 points and all this stuff but hey man we spent the last

25 years kissing 50 goals goodbye so we can't exactly turn around and and get all worked up about it now so yeah I mean from a player safety issue at a standpoint that it makes a lot of sense. And you could even do that, move up the start of the season to late September, cut some of the stupid preseason games that nobody wants. You could shorten the season. You could get this thing done by the end of May. That'd be cool.

What about you, Lambert? What's your ideal season? Something like 68 games. No. Okay. That would seriously cut into the 50 goal. thing. Yeah, but, you know, I just, there's too many fucking games.

I mean, that's a fair point. But what if, but the counter argument that, though, is like, if you cut it to 68 games, then you're not going to have a situation where everybody plays each other, right? Is that okay? I don't think that that's necessarily true. I think you just play fewer games in your division or in your conference. I don't think, like, let me put it this way. Do I think

Like the New York Rangers need to play that many games against the Islanders and the devils? Probably not The bean counters would disagree, sir Those who count the beans Talking about the money But you see what I'm saying though Like this is like in a world The scenario I'm laying out is in a world where the NHL actually like makes money off its TV deal

Come on What are we doing? We just got started. Give me, give us a chance. Well, I mean, you're going to be, you guys are going to be paying them the same amount no matter how many ads you sell, right? Like, that's the deal here. True. Whereas they're like, oh, yeah, what the NBA or what the NBA makes in a single season.

Yeah, the NHL is going to make that over seven years. Have a good one. Have a good one. The other thing I want to. Maybe seven years from now, the 68 game season will be workable. but the other thing I wanted to mention was about the Mighty Ducks uh Mighty Ducks game changers is on Disney Plus I've gotten some questions about whether I've watched it

you guys remember when Lozo and I did the Mighty Ducks commentary and I told you that I had never seen the Mighty Ducks all the way through until watching it during the commentary. Uh, I'm not a Mighty Ducks guy. I'm someone who has a tangential. pop culture awareness of things from the Mighty Ducks like Team Iceland and Goldberg and all other shit. But I'm not someone who would rush to watch Mighty Ducks.

However, I wanted to talk about this trend of like, I guess it's the Cobra Chiing of old properties. Yeah. We're like the Mighty Ducks are now bad. They're like the bad guys. Like they become like the New York. Oh, here, I'll read the description. from The Ringer. In Mighty Ducks Game Changers, the Disney Plus series that premieres March 26th,

the once scrappy hockey program is now a Montreal-Canadian's level dynasty. The show's central characters are a rag-tag squad of middle schoolers who supposedly aren't good enough to play for the ducks who have shamelessly shed their status as underdogs. They've become the bad guys, said Stephen Brill, who created the Mighty Ducks. So they're the, they're the other bad guys. They got Cobra Kied. Yeah, they're, I watched the first episode. I thought it was pretty good for what it was, you know. It is 100% a show for and about children. But, like, you know, there were enough jokes that, like,

the classic Muppet shit of like, yeah, there's jokes in there for the parents, too. But, like, yeah, they're doing the thing of, it's insane that, like, nine-year-olds have dieticians to, and if they don't make this one team, like, it's the end of their playing career and all that shit. That's the central premise of the show. And so, like, the idea that the Ducks now are that team is, like, being used as the you forgot where you came from kind of shit.

You know, and the other thing that goes on in the series is that, like, Gordon Bombay now hates hockey, but he also owns a, like, broken down rink. Why does he hate hockey? What is he doing hockey? It hasn't been fully explored. I'm sure they're going to like talk about how it chewed him up and spit him out. And like, you know, he got muscled out by parents who want, like, I think that's probably where it's going. Like the parents who have a little too much say over how kids get ice time and that shit. So hockey parents ruined him, which I think is, is this documentary?

God, that's a little too close to home. Yeah. But so, but like, yeah, he, he, he. Despite the fact that he hates hockey, he still owns, like, an ice rink. And I'm like, wasn't this guy, like, an insanely successful lawyer before this? Like, he could have gone back to that career instead of, like, scraping by owning a shitty rink that he doesn't allow people to play hockey in. Right. Because wasn't it, it was like a community service thing when he coached the ducks in the first movie, right?

Yeah. Okay. Sean, Mighty Ducks? And the Ducks are named after the owner of the firm or whatever, the, you know, top partner or whatever. Mighty Ducks, Sean? Maybe love? Yeah, I mean, I've said before that I don't think the Mighty Ducks movies are actually good. I think they're good children's movies and people who saw them as children and have, you know,

you're allowed to like stuff that you liked as a kid, but you don't have to come back and tell me now that it's like one of the best sports movies ever made. It's, eh, not really. I watched some of them with my kids last year. And I'm sitting there going like, yeah, this isn't, this isn't all that good. But they're fine. I'm not super stoked for a... I wasn't sitting around waiting for a new version, but we'll see. I wouldn't have thought revisiting the karate kid to decades later would work.

And that sounds like that show ended up being okay. So we'll see. I admittedly haven't watched Cobra Kai. I just know the concept. I watched the first season. It's great. I watched the first few episodes with the kids, and we kind of bailed on it because it gets It's like the language and some of the stuff gets like weirdly strong for what you assume is mostly a, it would be a show that would appeal to kids.

But it was good. It was surprisingly surprisingly good. So if this is the same and maybe more a little more kid friendly. Yeah. Like Cobur Kai is for people who liked the karate kid. And like while there are, you know, it is about like their protégés and like their kids. whatever, it isn't, um, like, it's not for kids that age. Yeah. Mighty Ducks Game Changers is 100% uh, about the, about and for kids that age.

Right. Right. Right. Okay. Which I guess you would expect from a Disney property versus a show that started on like YouTube premium or whatever. Yeah. So watch, watch some Mighty Ducks with your kids and then, uh, put them to bed when you watch Kobe. high and they'll be snug as a bug in bed because you put them in a brook linen bed baby wow brook linen a proud sponsor the puck soup podcast look how's your bed looking these days do you like sleeping in it do the sheets feel good does the comfort are nice when you wake up in the morning is your first thought i don't want to leave this bed because i feel snug as a bug of the rug yeah you because you obviously have brook linen brook linen

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That's B-R-O-K-L-I-N-E-N.com. Promocode is Puck to get $25 off with a minimum purchase of $100. That's brooklyn.com promo code puck. All right, listen, the athletic where you might be listening to this podcast, has a big board of trade assets like TSN does, but theirs has different colors. It's different. Yeah.

It's better. You can just say that. Not clear to me what the colors mean, but... I mean, I'll freely admit it's better for obvious reasons. Oh, I see. I find what the colors mean. Orange shading means a flare is new. Red means they've moved up.

Blue means they've moved down. There you go, obviously. Could you have done that with arrows instead? Well, I mean, I like the shading better. It makes it look more picturesque. It feels like Dom might have... Like, somebody wanted to do arrows, and Dom's like, do shading. It's more picturesque and graphical.

let's start at number 30 I'm going to breeze through these oh my God Jesus Christ okay Barrett Hayton there he is coyotes you've all heard of that guy right he's not he's not available I've been I've been

told he's not available I've been told that he maybe came up in a conversation but he's not actually available so Sean please slack somebody to create a new number 30 Marcus we'll remove that

Marcus Peterson from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's got, what, four more years left on his contract? Yeah, they signed him, I think, last summer, and he had a good year, but there is a team where it's like, you know, fucking, what would be the point? Make the playoffs and then what? You know? Well, I mean, listen, while I agree with you, I feel like the goal is to make the playoffs with Crosby and Malkin, right? Like, that is the whole game. But, like, if it becomes clear that they might not be able to do it, and I think it would be tough for them to miss at this point.

But if it becomes clear, like, that was always the thing of, like, we'll see where we're at. And if we don't like where we're at, well, we'll talk about selling. Yeah. Do we like Marcus Peterson as a defense? He's all right. I haven't looked at his numbers this year, and it's Patterson. It's spelled like Elyas. Sure.

But, yeah, he's good, I guess. I don't know. I seem to remember him being, like, the guy where when, when, you know, when like Jack Johnson or somebody would be paired with him, they'd do better is what I kind of remember about Patterson in that context. Yeah, that might be right. I don't remember now specifically, but that sounds plausible.

Okay. I always screw up this guy's name. Timothy Lilligrin. Lilligrin, right? Lilligrin. Yeah, from the Toronto Maple Leafs, well, from the Marley's, I guess, right? Or is he on taxi squad? He might be on taxi squad. He has not done very much with the Leafs. This is the guy, like the Leafs are clearly a team that should be going all in this year. That means trading away future assets we've heard about this year's first round pick, being in play, certain guys, certain prospects, Nick Robertson, the Russian kid that they took in the first round last year.

If you're the Leafs, this is of your future assets that would have some value. the guy that you want to move because he's stalled out a little bit. This is, if people don't remember, this is a guy he was drafted in, I want to say, 2017, and heading into that draft year, he was one of the top prospects. In fact, he was even considered a potential number one guy. And then he had a year where he was hurt and he was sick and he dropped in the draft and the Leafs grabbed him and it seemed like a great value pick. And he's been good.

He went right to the HL and was good. But since then, it's flatlined a little bit. He's not, I mean, we know what the Leafs blue line looks like. He's not cracking it. I think if the Leafs can get something of value, short-term help, and he's the guy they move versus some of the other assets that they might have to, that would be a win for Toronto. Yeah, he seems to me one of those guys like a Carter Verhegey or somebody like that where it's like, look, he's good, and he can probably play at an NHL level pretty much anywhere, except this

is one of the places he can't do that. Yeah, right. And it's, and like the Leafs, the next year, they use their first round pick on Rasimus Sandin, and he's kind of passed him as far as being next in line to get into the lineup. So, yeah, it would be a good player for some rebuilding team to acquire. But, and, you know, he was, he was drafted four years ago. So he's not, it's kind of at the point where he's got to get in the NHL and start having an impact soon. Ryan Murray is next from the Devils.

You can get yourself a Dimitri Kulikoff for a lot less of a cap hit than a Ryan Murray, but do yourself a favor and get yourself with Ryan Murray if he's available. Really good left side defense, been pending UFA. He's got a $4.6 million cap hit. I like him a lot. I think he could definitely help out somebody if he's not in the Devils plans going forward. Yeah, you got to use him right. He's one of those guys.

Like, you can't expect him to be, you know, all things for you back there. But he's a perfectly competent NHL defenseman, anybody would do well to get him. Matt Dumbos next to 26. He's got two more years left on his deal at $6 million per. He's on the list, obviously, because there's a bit of a defensive logjam in Minnesota vis-a-vis the expansion draft where they've got to protect Souter, Spurgeon, and Brodine. And so, like, Dumbos probably going to have to maybe move, or they have to make a side. deal to make sure that the Cracken don't take

Dumba. But I don't think this is a trade deadline type scenario necessarily from Minnesota. But I guess if the right deal comes down the pike, they would obviously look into it. But I get the feeling that that's, if they do make a move with Dumbah, it would probably be offseason

personally. It wouldn't be a trade board without Jake DeBrusk on it, boys. There he is. Two more years. 3.65. 3.675 million average annual value, 24 years old. The way you see it, Ryan, DeBrusk goes if they get a significant player with term back would be the thing. Or do you think at some point they'd sell them?

Yeah, they're not in a position to give away guys who can theoretically put the puck in the net. I'm not, I've said it a million times. I'm not a big Jake DeBrusk fan. I think that especially that first season was just like, yeah, a lot of things. came together for him and kind of inflated his value beyond what is reasonable. But this is a classic guy you give up to get maybe not a Taylor Hall because, like you said, he's got to have a little bit of term or RFA control or something like that. But you have to be, the Bruins have to be acquiring somebody who's better than Jake Debrusk to give up a Jake de Brusk.

But I wouldn't be, if I'm boss. and I'm not like, oh, we'd hate to part with Jake Debrusk and overrated middle six forward. Wow. I feel like they've been trying to depart with him for the better part of three years. They just haven't found the right deal to do so. I don't know. Where are you on Jake Debrusk, Sean? You like the guy?

I mean, he's fine. Again, this is one of those guys where you're not looking to move him, but if his name comes up, yeah, you're willing to talk about that. He had a real rough start to the season. He's been better lately. He's young enough that some GM out there would be like he's young, and yet not so young that you really worry that he's going to find another level after you move him. Right.

So, yeah. Ryan Zingle, famous for not resigning with the Blue Jackets, now with the senators after being filtered through Carolina. Back on the market, $3.375 million pending UFA, 28 years old. He's fine. He could probably help somebody. he's bottom six. Alex Gologoski's next at number 23 on this big board.

35 years old, 5.475 million pending UFA. Basically, the backup option if Matthias Echholm doesn't get traded or if you don't end up trading for Matthias Echholm, kind of your physical defenseman veteran guy, obviously some playoff experience, has been linked to the Flyers for various and sundry reasons. and that'll fucking turn it around for them on the blue line. That's fucking gold.

And here's the problem, though, like that when you first heard that rumor a few weeks ago, the flyers were in a playoff race and the coyotes weren't. And now it's kind of flip-of-flip-rood, yeah. With the blues just nose diving, you're kind of sitting there going, well, wait a second, do we want to be moving guys out? Or do we want to take a swing at this? And then you maybe look at who you would have to play once you made the playoffs. And you go, yeah, you know what, we're good.

Spoiler, he's on this board later on. But just as a sidebar, I don't know what's going to happen with Taylor Hall this summer. But do you think that he will end up regretting not signing long term with Arizona? You might? You know, it's interesting because everybody said, like, oh, yeah, this makes perfect sense for him to bet on himself. and, you know, he's going to get to play with Jack Eichael and that kind of thing. And that seemed like it was maybe a case of, well, you know, there's only one puck out there kind of a thing. Like two guys like to carry the puck.

You can't necessarily put him together. But, like, I think everybody kind of thought it was he would have been a wise to bet on himself. Just in terms of signing a one million or a one-year deal. You know, the idea, let's put it this way. How bad is it in Buffalo? Greg just asked, would he have been better off signing long term in Aaron's fucking Zona? Exactly. Exactly.

You put a cherry on the Sunday with that discussion for sure. All right. Back to the board. Dylan Strom folks, center for the Blackhawks. He's got one more year left at $3 million after this one, 23 years old, the center. It's interesting that they would put him up there just because, again, like he's not old. he's 23 years old. Like he's...

Yeah. And he's a player I like pretty good. Like, you know, I think this is maybe one of those things of what does it take to actually get him, though? You know? Right. Or it could just be... I think you might not need to knock Stan Bowman's socks off to get a Dylan Strom out of him. I think so, too, but it may also...

Could it also be a situation where, you know, we've seen Stan do this a few times rightly or wrongly with guys that were headed towards a pretty, you know, significant contract upgrade where he just doesn't want to give that to Strome. I mean, I don't know the situation well enough to be honest with you to really opine. I'm just spitball in here. But with the position that he's in right now contractually, I wonder if that's part of it. And feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Blackhawks fans. Eric Stahl got traded. They're not going to.

Eric Stahl did get traded. He was number 21. Chris Rieger from the Panthers. I mean, again, like as long as they're contending, I can't see them doing anything with him. Panthers are a classic team where it's like, I know he's a UFA and it's, well, we can't lose him for nothing. You haven't had a playoff run in 25 years. Yeah. Yeah.

This guy's part of your best team that you've had in that time. So, yeah. So what? You won't get that third round draft pick that might turn into a good player four years from now. Well, the issue for them. Give your fans something now. The issue for them is they have to protect Bobrovsky. I'm pretty sure he has a no move, right?

He does a no move, yeah. Yeah. And they have Spencer Knight and, oh, there's another pretty good goal-tending prospect that they have as well. And, like, the question of, do we want to, you know, like, I think, you know, this is a case where you don't sell the guy who's going to get you into the playoffs. But also, like, I totally see why they're at least considering it. Especially because you can go, oh, by the way, like this guy, this goalie that we're trading for you, like, he's the reason we're good this year. So, like, you can kind of maybe ask for the moon because I don't think he has like a big, yeah, he has a sub-million dollar contract. Like, I can see where Chris Dreger is, is very attractive to another team for both money and performance.

And the Panthers don't feel horrible letting him go. but I, if I'm them, I probably wouldn't do it. I agree with everything you just said. It's just all the reasons he'd be attractive to another team or reasons he should be attractive to the Panthers. Yes, of course. So, and the Panthers, like, this is, this is your, you've got to give your fans something every decade or so. And you're giving them a real good year. Buffalo Sabres are like, oh, you do?

Yeah, Kevin Adams is writing that down, right? Question mark? If only the Panthers had a Department of Goaltending Excellence to really tell us exactly, what they should do with Chris Treger. Tanner Pearson at number 19 of the Canucks. Last thing we've heard was that the Canucks were finally engaging in contract extension talks with Pearson. A guy I rather like and I think would be very good on a contender, but also a guy that I think is the type of role player you do want to spend money on instead of what Jim Benning had been spending money on. I think that might be overstayed.

Let's put it this way. If the Canucks have no other bad contracts, maybe you talk about, maybe we do extend Tanner Pearson. Like he's not great, but like, you know, he does some things well for us. He scores, he puts the puck in the net for us. And the problem is that, of course, the Canucks have nothing but bad contracts. And if they give Pearson any money at all, that's money they can't give to the following three players who are all up this summer. Elyss Patterson, Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demco.

All those guys are going to. need big money and like the idea that you would give any to Tanner Pearson that would be any kind of a raise over what he has now is it's insane what if you saved money by not signing Tyler To Foley and then gave it to Tanner Pearson would that be okay no you got to give that to your j beagle types like whoever the j beagle of this of this uFA class is you're gonna lock that motherfucker in dude uh 18 Jason de mares the coyotes he's gone I mean, like, he's 3.9.3.7 against the cap, 32. Not going to fit in the plans going forward.

They'll find someone to take him. Again, unless they decide that let's push for a playoff spot that nobody thought we were going to get. And that really, especially like that's a situation. It's a new GM, right? So it's kind of like, what does he want to do? Some GMs like to blow it up. It's a nice way to get yourself a few years of grace period. and others might be, or even, you know, you might have ownership pushing you saying,

no, you want to make the playoffs. I think that your point is taken, because I do think that there is something to be said for, if you decide to start trading away these assets, you are raising the white flag and saying, I do not believe that this is a playoff team. And there is a certain amount of psychology when you've been an organization that hasn't won, you know, and is struggling. to be a consistent playoff contender to not keep doing this.

And I'll tell you, there's like it's, it's not hockey, but there was a, the athletic had a piece on the Colorado Rockies, major league baseball team that's kind of fallen apart in recent years. And they, they said that one of the first problems there was at, I want to say, 2018 at the trade deadline, they were contending. They were in the mix for the playoffs and management didn't bring in anyone. They didn't make any deals. And that, like, the players felt really let down.

The players felt like they had done their part, and they were waiting for help to arrive, and it never came because the front office kind of cheaped out. And they said like that a lot of the players lost faith in the organization, and it was one of the things that contributed. And we always hear about, oh, we don't want to disrupt the dressing room, but sometimes the dressing room is looking around going, we're doing our part.

Now we need help. And to not bring in help can have an impact, let alone, if you're the coyotes, or someone like that to start shipping guys out and saying, like, no, we're throwing up the white flight. We don't think you guys can do it. And then they come back in the off season and go, okay, but now we brought in some guys. Now we really think you could do it. And you're sitting there going, dude, it's the same core of the team.

You didn't believe in us last year. Why should we think you actually believe in us this year? Sidebar, breaking news. Connor McDavid fined $5,000. The maximum allowed via the collective bargaining agreement. Yeah, they read me through the book at him. Yeah, for Elverwing Gispari, Kakad in Miami during their game on Tuesday night. And that's one that has franchise players, too, you know.

We talked about the crazy part. I forget if we talked about this off air or if we talked about it on the bonus or what have you. I think we talked about it off air. But, like, it was hard to really see if he got him, like, I think if he got him on the head, he probably would have been suspended given player safety. he did discipline him. But they gave him a five grand fine for basically like intentionally elbowing a guy in the open ice, it looks like. It would be probably my estimation here.

And at 0.0002% of his salary, I bet he learned his final lesson. But again, as you know, Lambert, he constantly has people hooking and holding him and hitting him. He's only trying to defend himself by headhunting someone else. Yeah, in the open ice, like away. Yeah, okay. The thing is, I just tweeted this. Anytime I see something like this, it always makes me think back to the mother of all elbows. Pavel Burrey on Shane Cherla, where Burry was just getting crushed by everybody,

and Cherla was just all over him. And he just smoked him. If you've never seen it, go on YouTube, it's the craziest elbow you will ever see. And Pavel Burry got a $500 fine for that back in the day. And it was Brian Burke, who was the disciplined guy. So Connor McDavid just got hit with 10 times the punishment. the Pavel Burray got for throwing the most vicious elbow I have ever seen in my life. Take that all you, player safety critics.

Look at that. Look at that multiplier. Along similar lines, Yeresee Kovalev on, I think it's Darcy Tucker. That was hilarious. Amazing. Because he like baits him into it and then he just four hours. Well, he circles the zone with the puck. Like waiting for him to come.

Just Tucker's running around and that might be my favorite. But no, the Burry one, the fact that it was a $500, like, if that was no suspension, no fine, nothing, it would almost be better than the fact that Burke looked at it. It was like, yeah, clearly we have to do something that's going to cost you $500. And like, meanwhile, Shane Shirley is still like on the ice. Just absolutely. The fact. It's crazy. I can't oversell how insane that play was.

And people loved it. People were like, hey, good for Burry. It's, if that play happened today, it would be, I don't even want to think. Like, first offense, 80 game suspension, minimum. Like, it's nuts. It's crazy, yeah. The fact that we have different candidates for our favorite elbow by a skill player on someone else's. I love this sport.

It's the best. Yeah. Bobby, back on the trade board, Bobby Ryan, Red Wings, one year, one million. Obviously, he goes to Detroit. Sure, why not? So Bobby, someone mentioned maybe Bobby Ryan to the Penguins, and I can't stop thinking about what a circle is complete moment that would be. Oh, that would be.

How amazing would that be, right? Brian Burke, the Pittsburgh model. Oh, my God. Everything about that is like storybook finish right there. And finally, someone who can play with Sidney Crosby. Wow, incredible. I wonder if Brian Burke would bring up that he lost that lottery. He doesn't usually like to talk about that.

He doesn't. I don't think it would come up. Yeah. Yeah. Jonathan Bernier, obviously, you know, an available, available goaltender. There's not a whole lot to have expiring contracts. Three million against the cap. A good, a good... They all no thanks for me if I'm a GM, but to me it's like he's like the insurance for your insurance. Like, if I'm Colorado, I'm not trading for Jonathan Bernier to be Brubauer's backup. But like, if you were sure that Frank Franco's was going to come back and then you wanted Bernier behind him in case he's. he wasn't completely healthy, I'd be fine with that. But I agree with you. Here's how I do it, because he has a $3 million cap hit for some reason.

I use that only to get a bad contract for next year off my books. That's the only way I think about it. Brandon Montor from the Sabres, $3.85 million pending UFA. I can't believe he's that young. God, he feels like he's been around for a while. is the Sabre and he's a UFA. I mean, what are we doing? Here's a fun one.

The Sabres traded for him two years ago. Do you remember what they gave up to get him? No. They gave up a first round pick to get this guy. God damn. This is the Sabre. Two years ago, they weren't good then. A first out pick!

What did the ducks get for it? Do you know off the top of your head? It was. Trevor Zegras. It was a late first rounder. It wasn't their old. It was like that was the year they had, I think, maybe San Jose's from the cane trade. And it's a guy who's not in the NHL yet because it was only two years ago.

Let's see. I'm going to see if I can figure out. All right. You'll research that. Hmm. Yeah. It says conditional first round pick in 2019. Maybe the condition never came through.

Yeah. It's Braden Tracy was the guy. Okay. I don't know who that is. I just found it. Yeah. Because the condition was on which of the Sabers pick. it was going to be. But still, a first-round pick.

Oh, yeah. I mean, get a first-round pick for him now, and you're all set. Braden Tracy, great name for the classic Puck Soup game, NHL Draft Prospect, or Vine Star, that we played at one point. Absolutely. Dmitri Kulikoff, again, he's at 14 on this list. I'd flip-flop him with Ryan Murray. I think Ryan Murray is better, but I understand Kulikov costs less. It's a flat cap. He's a veteran guy. good for your penalty kill, what have you, but not the biggest fan of Kulukov. No. Sam Bennett.

Now, Sam Bennett, of course, makes this list at 13 Center of Calgary Flames, 2.55 million pending RFA. A scratch earlier this year, there was some hope that he was going to kind of recapture his game or get a fresh start with Daryl Sutter when he came in to coach the team. I don't know how that's worked out. Well, I think you can guess. Sam Bennett makes 13 here Antiront is at 12 I understand why he's 4.25 billion

a pending UFA, a very, very, very good goaltender who is made of wet toilet paper. He is, you would be insane to trade for this man at the trade deadline and hope that he remains healthy for whatever you're looking to do this season. So I understand why he's on the list. I just think that he is a landmine and will be avoided thusly at the trade deadline. And also, I don't think they're ready to trade Darcy Kemper.

So you can't get him either. Josh Manson at 11. I think this is a guy who they would be very wise to deal. It's been a couple of years now where he's needed to change in scenery. He's got one year left at 4.1 million, 29 years old. In the pantheon of defensive defensemen who are available, Mettea S. that Colms only better. And I think that he could maybe recapture his game somewhere else.

But the cap bit, you know, in a little bit of term with the expansion draft, I understand. I understand if he doesn't go, but I think you should go. Like Josh Manson going someplace else. Yeah, you could talk yourself into not moving that guy, but you should. Given what they're looking at. Yeah, pending you up in terms of rebuilding. Yeah. Am I correct that he was.

the guy that they desperately wanted to keep, so they had Chey Theodore go to Vegas? No, you are wrong. It was Clayton Stoner was the guy they wanted to keep. That is real. That's true. My God. Kyle Palmyri, 4.65 million for the Devils pending UFA has not had a good goal scoring season, but is a very good goal scorer and a very good all-around player. I've seen some people say, like, they could see him on the Islanders and him fitting right in. I completely agree with that. I also think there's something to be said for the devil's having, you know, somebody these kids can pass the puck to going forward. And I know that he's 30 and I know that that's a little scary, but, but I would, you know, keep him around maybe.

No? No. No. Okay. Why? Why? By the time he, by the time he, they're, like, actually competitive in a normal division. What's he like 32, 33?

And like to your point, he's not having a particularly good year this year. No, he's not. And so like the idea that he's going to get better and the kids are going to be able to pass the puck to him. Yeah, they'll pass the puck to him and then he won't put it in the net. Like that's the best. And then Grandpa fumble hands will make mincemeat out of that puck. He has value even though he isn't having a particularly good year. See you later.

Thanks for your service. And this is one of those classic. situations where he's a pending UFA, meaning he has not signed, he's been eligible to sign an extension, he hasn't signed one yet. I'm assuming they've talked. If they're very far away, then obviously, you trade him. If they're somewhat close, then I think this is one of those things where you trade him and you kind of give him a wink and go, remember what we've talked about on that contract, wink, wink, wink, see on July 1st or whatever it is. Yeah, why not, right? And maybe you bring him back. I mean, if he's saying, yeah, you know,

this is my number and you like that number, send him somewhere, get some assets. Sounds like, you know, it's a thin market for forward. Sounds like you can get something for him that'll be significant. And then, yeah, if he wants to come back in the offseason, do it then. Do the Andy Green thing. Send him to the Islanders. All it is is a longer commute.

That's all it is. You come, you know. But it is time he comes back. That might be a good fit. You know, my pet peeve with Kyle Palmyri is I don't like the flow of his name. I feel like it's too many of the same vowel. I feel like there needs to be some change up. Okay, Greg Wyshinsky.

Wichenski's great. Greg E. And you finish on the E. It's just, I type the consonants and then I randomly start putting whisen eyes in there and See what. Great doing more anti-Italian discrimination, of course. More. Hey, listen, I already hit the Polish on the mailbag.

I need to, you know, spread the love. We're working our way through. Yep. Oh, wait, no, it's the bonus episode, wasn't it? Not the mailbag. Yep. to stay tuned for that, Polish listeners. Michael Granlin, Bell of the Ball.

He's at number nine on this list. 29 years old, 3.75 million pending UFA. Why isn't he a leaf already, Sean? Everybody thinks he's going to be. Maybe they had to wait to strong arm the Canadian government into changing the laws for hockey players. But yeah, I think we all assume he's going to go somewhere and probably the Leafs.

The only question, and we can get to this with Ecombe as well, is does Nashville look at the run that they're on now and go, wait a second, maybe we don't want to be sellers after all, in which case that screws up everything for a lot of it. Oh, they should, but do they? You know, David Poy, you know, if I'm David Poyle, and I'm maybe not thinking five years down the road as far as what's going to be best for this team, I might be going, yeah.

Maybe we take a sweet. You're like, well, I better, I better keep this, um, this parachute on my back after I jump off this plane into a wheat thresher. That sounds great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Wheat thresher. Um, uh, all right. Uh, next up is, uh, Elvis Rzikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets. One more year at, uh, four million after this one. The thought, of course, being is that they, uh, you know, the expansion draft is, is, is, is, is here. But I read somewhere that they don't have to... Don't have to protect him. So they can't keep both their guys in the expansion.

Right, they can. So they don't, yeah. Now, the thing also with the expansion draft thing off the table is they have an incredible prospect coming through their pipeline right now as well, which means that you might want to move out one of the guys to make room in net for what's his face, tarasoff. Yeah. Yeah. So what's interesting to me is Corpusallo is having a bad year. Mm-hmm.

And Mursleekins is having a solid year. Like, it says 918 right here. Like, that's good. And makes more. Yeah. So I don't know why you're looking to move the guy who, I mean, they're the same age, so who cares. But, and obviously Mers Lekens is technically like the backup there. So maybe that's what their issue is.

But like Corpus, I don't think Corpus is that good. And, you know, one good year last season doesn't change the fact that he, you know, he's been below 900, like three of the last four seasons. Yeah. All right. Moving on. David Savard from the Blue Jackets, another stout defensive defenseman type. 4.25 million pending UFA. Very good player.

Do you think they're, like, close enough to the bubble where they're going to, like, not sell? Yeah. It gets a lot like Nashville. The other thing is like with Tortorelli, you know you're getting at least a point out of every three games, right? Like, for real. You're like, we're going to get to overtime every single night and it's going to, like, you know, buoy us. Because that's the other thing. It's like.

Baba booie us. I don't know about that. But like they're in a race to the bottom in that division, really. Like, you know, like it's a four-weight competition. to see which team is going to suck the least for, like, a month and a half, basically. You know, and, like, because nobody's looking at these teams going, you know what, that team's legit. Chicago's legit. Dallas is legit. Arizona, or not Arizona. Nashville's legit. Like, all those teams, they're so good and they're right there.

Everybody's like, no, none of them are that good, but one of them has to make the playoffs. And you make the playoffs, you probably have to play Tampa. Yeah, so again, wheat thresher. But then you look at Columbus is the one team that's like, yeah, okay, so we'd be huge underdogs against the lightning in the first round. Hmm. Yeah, you know, maybe we could, maybe we could pull it off again. The thing that's interesting to me with Columbus is they've got a couple players on this list. It gets into that whole thing of do they want to sell. the guy that isn't there that is interesting to me if they did decide to sell is Nick

Folino. Right. Is he a guy that you move, a pending UFA? He strikes me as the kind of guy, though, that like, it's like, they're only going to move them if he wants to move. Yeah. Like, there's a certain amount of, like, kind of like team loyalty there. But again, but he's been able to sign an extension all year long.

It's not there yet. I mean, can we not read into that a little bit that there's at least some risk here? Maybe not. Maybe it's, I know with anyone who's not signed, this year it's going to be well, they probably have an under the table deal and they're waiting to laugh. Yeah. Doesn't he strike you as the kind of guy that's like, I don't want to talk about contract during the season. I want to put my head down and put my nose in the grinds down. Everybody says that as a pressure tactic. Nobody means it. Like every, yeah, I don't want to talk about a contract. I should hire a person to do that for me. It's called my agent. Talk to him and let me know if you make a deal. I don't buy that. But he is one of the few guys where I could see them going. and him saying like let's let's shake hands on a deal but we won't announce it until after the after the expansion draft so that we don't have to protect you but you better you better not blow it a knee if uh if that's the deal you got going number six on this list of sam reinhart of the

sabres 5.2 million against the cap pending rfa i guess they figure they don't want to pay them uh i guess they figure the sabers are a mess but like if you were to define the problems in buffalo i don't think Sam Reinhart would be among them. So, no, for sure not. It's kind of weird to see him here, but, but, you know, nevertheless, you have value. Yeah. That's it. And I think, like, there's, there's, you, you don't lose 18 in a row and have any untouchables.

That's, that's, that's exactly right. Yeah. Everybody, everybody is available. And he's a guy who I think would attract a fair bit of interest, especially because he's a pending RFA. Like, anybody who trades for him, yeah, he, they got to give him a new contract. But it might not be a huge rate. over what he makes now.

And also, you know, you can sign him for, like, the rest of his 20s, basically, and you're fine. Yeah, I think he's a good player, you know, impossible to judge anybody under these circumstances. But, like, he had a good year last year. So. And, you know, I disagree. I think that there are plenty untouchables on the sabres in the sense that no one would want to touch them. Yeah, with a 10-foot pole untouchable, sure. Luke Glenn Denning of the Red Wings is fifth on this list.

31 years old, 1.8 billion. You've probably never thought of him before. Here's a question. You did it every trade deadline because he's on every one of these lists, every damn year. I do not get it. He is bad. Yeah, but motherfucker wins a face off. That's why he's on these list.

Yeah, I guess. I did the trade guide for us with Emily for Friday. And, like, you think about a team like Minnesota, for example. where they're not really that stout at center. They've got Benino to win some faceoffs, but they're still, like, I think, 30th in the league in faceoffs. You add Glenn Denning to that team, and all of a sudden you can win some faceoffs,

but he's terrible otherwise. Yeah, he's really, like, it's going to be a thing where, are you really in the playoffs going to be hoping that you have last change so you can get Luke Glendening on to win you one draw and then get the hell off the ice immediately? like I don't I I get that winning face-offs has value but like not to the extent that I would ever want to trade for Luke Glenn Denning. I'd find an AHL guy who can win a draw for me. Number four on this list is the Islander's first round pick, which is that gimmick that they do on these trade boards that always irks me.

It's like number three, the shark's cap space or like whatever instead of it actually being a player. And it's not even right. Like the first round picks this year are fucking not Not even desirable assets because of how fucked up the draft is going to be That's why you'd be willing to move one if you're But how is it for? Are you trying to say an absolute crapshoot is worth more than Luke Glendanick? Yes

Yes, I am saying this Taylor Hall is number three It makes wonder what the first two are, isn't it? Where do you think he ends up? I read the report that said St. Louis was kicking the tiresome A Mike Hoffman going back the other way for Taylor Hall thing makes sense there. I don't want to see Taylor Hall miss the playoffs again. I'm done with it.

Yeah. The Blues are probably not going to make the playoffs at this point. The way things are trending? Oh, they should send them to the team that will. The Arizona Coyotes. Yeah, that's right. And the thing you got to remember, the thing you got to remember is now, if you trade for Taylor Hall and miss the playoffs, when you win the lottery, you only move up to, like, the

sixth pick. Yeah. So you're not getting the first. first overall pick. Excellent point. Could he go to the Allenders for that pick? Yep. Yeah.

I think there's a lot of, like, his numbers this year, obviously, the box cars are bad, but the underlying numbers do not show a guy who's not a good player anymore. So, yeah, the Islanders makes sense. His name keeps coming up with the Leafs, which surprises me a little bit, but he has, no, that's just because everybody's number or name comes up with the Leafs, right? He has a level of give-shittedness that I think is underrated this year because of how bad the team has been. I don't think he's like quit. Unless he's completely broken by it.

But yeah, you're right, man. He got hit in the face of the puck a couple weeks ago and you were like, oh, that's it for him for a while. And he came back, you know, that game. I mean, he's got to know, even if he's got any competitive instinct, he's got to desperately want to go to a contender. And even if he doesn't and he just doesn't care about anything other than the paycheck, he's got to go to a contender and have a big playoffs. Like there's no way that he's got to go somewhere where he can have a big run and then maybe create some sort of market for himself in the summer.

If I was on the Sabres and I got hit in the face with a puck, I would just be like, I'm sorry, I can't come back. That's it. If I saw somebody get hit in the face with a puck guy, I'd be. I'd just be like, this is too dangerous. Yeah. That was very upsetting. I'm done.

See you guys. Number two is Rickel of the Anaheim Ducks. Their leading score. One more year left at $3.789 million. I had a GM express surprise that he was even available a couple weeks back. But I think this is one of those fishing expeditions to see if they can get a hefty return for him at the deadline. Do we know his health status after the weekend? Yeah.

Yeah. Like, I don't know. I hadn't heard any. anything more about that, which I assume means probably day-to-day, not a big deal. I mean, we know if he was long-term, but yeah, again, it's the ducks. Like, I feel like the Sabres being so bad and then teams like the Flyers and the Blues being so below expectations has kind of made some of us skip over how bad the ducks have been this year.

Yeah. So, yeah, it might be a case. where you say, you know what, let's move on. And that's one where maybe you wait till like Grandland is gone. And then you go, okay, this is the best center left on the market. Maybe he's the best center even of Granlin there. I think he is. But you kind of hope that some teams get bidding on Granlin.

Somebody misses out. And then they go, okay, well, now I step in and say, oh, since you guys are all here with your little auction paddles ready to go, who wants a guy that's younger and better? I truly wish that Gets Laf would just go someplace. Like, I understand he's got like a whole clan of kids and what. 100% get why you wouldn't want to be completely understand. But man, could you imagine him on Vegas?

Like if he waived for like Vegas and how fun that'd be to give them that center? Oh my God. He's such a great like, you know, he's he's not the old guy without a cup because he's he's had a lot. Yeah. But a long time ago, right? And this is maybe your last chance with one, especially if you're, you know, if he's going to stick around Anaheim long term, they're not winning one anytime soon. So I'd love to see him go to like a Boston or just anywhere and take one last run.

He's the new, he's the new Mark Nessia. Because he's super bald. Exactly. Yeah. Play bald, man. Right. Finally, number one on the list, Patias Eckholm, once again, kind of question marks as to what the status of that is going to be. One more year left at $3.75 million, an amazingly good contract.

Do they want to trade him if they're in contention? They should because they're going to get a great return on him. But do they want to trade him? He's a fabulous player. I mean, obviously, someone who plays the defensive side as good as anybody, and he puts up points to. And you're getting more than one. You're getting two playoff runs out of him. He's still a real good player.

The one thing Pierre had a piece about this today that is going to screw up some teams is the expansion draft. It's the idea that you had this guy who, Who is it? Okay, you're going to give up a ton to get him, hopefully. Who do you then lose in an expansion draft? Because now you're going to obviously keep him. That does add to the price. But, you know, everyone's going to lose somebody in the expansion draft. So if I'm David Poil, that's not my problem.

Yeah. But that could be for a team like the Jets, for example, who they can't go, I mean, they've got to protect their forwards. So, you know, did they turn around and end up losing somebody? Maybe, maybe not, but I feel like the Jets make a lot of sense for him because they're so good in goal and so good up front. Yeah, I like it. All right. Can I say one guy, though, that I'm surprised isn't on this list?

Patrick Linae. You get straight at again? You think. They fucking hate him in Columbus. The local media is comparing him not scoring to the fucking boat that got stuck in the Suez Canal. Like, it was so good. It was good. Don't you think, but hold on, don't you think that they would give him another shot with a new coach there before they trade him?

Maybe. Yeah, I guess that's true. But like, I don't know, how much, much like the Sabres and everybody going like, I don't know how much more of this I can take. How much more of this can he take where, like, everybody in the media is like, hey, I notice you're not putting the puck in the net. And John Tortorella is like, hey, I noticed you didn't 100% try to keep. kill yourself back checking on that last shift. So now you're benched for the entire rest of the gate. Like, it feels like a guy who can't fucking win and also, you know, a situation where

they're trying to square peg a round hole and have been for like, not just in Columbus, but even in Winnipeg. Yeah. This is a topic for another show because we're running a little long. But like, you know, the idea that you can't have one dimensional players in this league is something that deserves a little bit of exploration. Because I don't quite think that he's a liability. He's definitely not a 200-foot player, but maybe that's okay.

If he was a one-way player defensively, that's fine. Right. We can find a spot for that. But if he can do the single hardest thing to do in the NHL, which is score goals. Well, he can't do it right now is also the problem. And that's the thing. To me, trading him now, that'd be like going and, And like seeing that somebody is selling a really nice car and the price is high, but you decide to pay it, you get in the car, you drive one block, you wrap it around a tree, and then get out of the car and go like, I should sell this car.

Like at some point, it's like, you know what, man, you got to fix it before you put it on the market and add a big loss. Because they obviously, it's not like they had a choice of Pierlet, Bob, but that they gave up a lot to get this guy. All right. It's a good thing Jack Roselveck is playing That's right It's a Jack Roselveck It's taking the heat off

In honor of finally In honor of the new hit film I don't even know if it's hit Godzilla versus Kong Which I've heard To hit with me This is the movie we all need right now Yeah it might be

You're absolutely right Did you see the one I didn't know who it was But they tweet it like Some review where they're like The script is not very good And people were just furious People were like screw you

Yeah we want to see the monkey And the lizard And punch each other That's it. Who gives a shit about it? I rewatched Skull Island and King of the Monsters the last couple of weeks in preparation for this glorious day. And the scene or the part in King of the Monsters where Godzilla is beating up King Godora in Boston. And you see Godzilla walking up behind him angrily in the, like, reflected in the Hancock Tower is one of the greatest images in the history.

to re-in-ma. That was really cool. I found that movie to be really bad. I actually liked the first Godzilla better. And Skull Island was a lot of fun. If you haven't seen Skull Island, check it out. It's a real fun movie. It's kind of how-Riley in that movie, unreal. It's sort of one of those, like, it's not a direct proxy because there's not exactly like romance going on or whatever, but it reminded me the vibe of the mummy movies, just being like a lot of fun, you know, and people knowing what movie that they're in, which is always an important. important thing. Yeah. And the cast is unbelievable for Scullin. It was insanely good. All right. So multiple Academy Award winners, including King Kong.

The, in honor of Godzilla versus Kong, we are doing overrated, underrated, favorite, least favorite, apes slash monkeys and lizards. I kept it vague to allow the boys to kind of go off in any direction they wanted to. I'll begin overrated. I will go ape. I will go Donkey Kong. Come on. What do we do? Greg, I said Diddy Kong. I said Diddy Kong, Greg.

Wow. I think Donkey Kong is super underrated. I don't like him showing up or appearing in Mario Party. I don't like him in Mario Kart. He's the reason Mario has anything. Well, here's a reason Mario has anything. Damn loyalty. Mario showed up in his game.

Yeah, put some respect on this. It wasn't called Mario. The game was called Donkey Kong. I mean, geez, do you cast people off who helped you in your success? All the time. But that's besides the point. But like, here's the thing, right? I think that's the greatest example.

It was his game. He got outshown by a fucking plumber. And the other thing I don't like about him is I don't know how he became like the Magneto of Mario World where he's just like friends with them now, you know? He's like part of the crew. Not a fan. First of all, he didn't get out Sean by a plumber. He passed the franchise on to his son, which I think is a very noble and worthy thing.

Donkey Kong Jr., who by the way is canonically not Dady Kong. Yeah. Yes. There you go. So Donkey Kong is my favorite. All that makes Donkey Kong is the David Poyle of apes, just passing the business onto a son. He rocks.

I'm getting very excited because just as a peek behind the curtain, we're doing this argument about monkeys and lizards, but in two minutes, we're going to find out if Shane Gospera got picked up on waivers. This is... Shift gears. This is just... Yep.

This is going to be great. My overrated is Donkey Kong. Yours is Diddy Kong. What's your overrated lizard or ape, Sean? Mine is the monkey from Friends. Marcel. who was also the monkey from the movie Outbreak. Yep.

Which was a very good movie, but I don't think, you know, there's limited roles for monkeys out there. And I don't think like the same actor needs to be getting all the good roles. He almost was my least favorite. And then I made a last minute change. So I'm with you. You know what's amazing about Outbreak is that for the longest time, I wouldn't revisit it because of Kevin Spacey. But now I won't revisit it because it's about. a global pandemic.

So it's shifted gears from me. I know that this is more of a lozo question. But was it ever explained what happened to the monkey and friends? Or did they, was it like the kid? Donated him to the San Diego Zoo. Yes. There you go. Okay.

All right. So he was written out. He wasn't, he didn't just disappear. Yeah, he got very nasty with Ross, if I'm not much mistaken. Oh. And they had to go. Yeah. Okay.

Joe Biden, German shepherd of monkeys. That's right. Uh, underrated lizard, the boga from, uh, Star Wars episode, uh, 3, Revenge of the Sith. That was the lizard that Obi-1, uh, was riding on to, uh, chase General Grevis. Yeah, I know. I know that. Yeah.

Uh, underrated. Not, not really mentioned all that often in the pantheon of great Star Wars creatures, but I really love that. Dube one. He's no Dubeck, you know? He's no Dubeck. He's faster than a Dubeck. He's like, Dubeck 2.0.

He hauled ass. Yeah. I love the, I love the boga. My underrated lizard in this case. I got really scared that you were going to say that, like, snake thing from episode nine. And I was like, oh, no, do I have to end the podcast? What was the snake thing? Oh, right, where they're underground.

It was like a snake lizard thing. Oh, fuck, I hate it. Yeah, that was a terrible movie. I picked the green basilisk lizard, and that's the lizard that just runs on its hind legs across water. I think that guy rocks. It's an awesome lizard. And the slow motion planet Earth video MVP. Absolutely.

Absolutely. I picked the Tyrannosaurus Rex. It's in my. I would not do that. I picked, I'm going deep cut here. I'm going the Love Lizard from the Perry Bible Fellowship comic, which is one of the all-time great comic strips. And it's one of my favorite strips that they've done. and yeah, people can Google it.

I will not attempt to explain it on a podcast. Okay, so I'm going to say this, and I hope it counts, because I mean, it's kind of the reason we're doing this. But my favorite lizard is King Godora. Can that count, Lambert? I don't think that's a lizard. It's like a hydra. But it's Godzilla lizard?

I would say yes. It's questionable. I think it's questionable. I would accept Godzilla. I cannot accept King Godora. He is a Hydra dragon kind of a thing. All right. Well, let it be known that my favorite kaiju is King Godora.

I've mentioned this before. I once spent $55 on a glass of whiskey in Japan because it was King Godora branded whiskey. Wow. I know. So all that said, it's Godzilla by default then, since I can't have King Godora. Mine is Coco the beautiful gorilla who knows sign language. From Congo? That's a great call.

That's a great call. No, that's Amy, the sign language gorilla. Coco is the real-life gorilla that inspired Amy. Some fun facts about Coco. Loved kittens. Always had a pet kitten and would be like so broken up when they died because Coco lived for a really long time. One of the kittens's name was Ball. That's right.

Coco named all her own kittens. I was a big fan of Amy, the gorilla in Congo, when they were getting attacked by the monster monkeys. and Amy was running around going, Bad, gorilla. Bad, gorilla. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's also a very famous screenshot of, or like a story from the 70s,

I want to say about Coco. I'm going to see if I can find it here. I don't want to, I don't want to spoil it because it's very, very funny. Two other things I loved about Congo. Ernie Hudson, we're doing like an English accent. You can try to hijack this all you want.

This is now a Coco. He was a big fan. And I also, and obviously Tim Curry plays an un-eastern, unhinged It was fantastic. When I was in grade four, I did my public speaking speech

on Cocoa, the gorilla. Hell yeah. And I won. I won the whole damn thing. So thank you, Coco. When Sean says he was in grade four, Ryan, do you believe that he has the same voice he has now? Yes, 100%.

I can't find it now, but the thrust of it is they're signing with Coco, and Coco goes, They say, Coco, what are you? And she says, I'm a bird. And they're like, you're a bird? And she's like, yes, Cocoa Bird. And they go, no, you're a gorilla.

And she's like, no, no, I'm a bird. I'm a bird. And they're like, come on. And she's like, okay, Cocoa Gorilla, Cocoa Gorilla. She's fucking around with him. That's great. All right, Sean. Favorite ape monkey or lizard?

I was going to say Donkey Kong, but I changed my vote. Cocoa the gorilla. All right, there it is. I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of that. Lost despair clears, by the way. No surprise. All right, very good. Least favorite, I'm going to go monkey ape.

And I'm going to say the ape from Rampage. Because not the movie, but the game. Yeah. Completely. It was George. Completely over, like, overshadowed by the lizard and the wolf. Lizzie, and I do not remember the wolf's name. Wolfie, most likely.

No, because they were all named after people. But anyway. So I never used them when I played Rampage. And I understand he was like a focal point of the movie with the rock. Don't care. You could have gone with another giant creature and I would have loved it because it was too derivative of King Kong. And you had a lizard and a wolf there that were more interesting. So George, the ape from Rampage.

And of course, I am going with the Nazi monkey from Raiders of the Lost Ark. he's a bastard. Yeah, bad dates. We don't like the Nazi monkey. Yeah. Yeah, he's bad. Ralph, by the way, was the werewolf for the rampage. Mine is curious George.

He's just, they made 900 books of this guy for kids, and it's just his only character trait is he's curious, which practically speaking means he just gets put in situations where a monkey shouldn't be, and then wanders off. Yeah, such as living up with a man in a yellow hat. Monkey shouldn't be in such as...

The man in the yellow hat is super weird, but you know what? You dress how you want to dress, buddy, but look after your kid. Yeah. Like, it's not... Stop bringing your kid to, like, archaeological digs, and then letting him wander off and push a boulder on top of all the paleontologists, and then be like, oh, he's very curious. Like, no, man, have some responsibility. And get your stupid monkey out of these situations where he's just constantly...

constantly messing everything up. Yeah. I completely agree. Like, there's good curiosity for a kid, like when my daughter asked me about David Bowie, and there's bad curiosity for a kid, like, what does this fork do if I put it in this outlet? And curious George was much more chaotic energy. Just ask the man in the yellow hat about David Bowie. Right.

I would read that book to my kids happily. I'm tired of reading books where he goes to a baseball game and then, like, steals the baseball and then he can play. It's like, oh, he's so curious. And it's like, no, he's ruining everything. think. Get him out of here. Yeah, he's just shitty. He's not curious. He ruins things. Okay, I did find the bird.

That's what it should be called shitty George. I did find the Coco thing. And it was, uh, this is a quote from the, from a BBC story. Another time a caregiver showed her, showed the 10 year old Coco, a photo of a bird in a magazine. That me, Coco signed. Is that really you? Coco good bird, she responded. I thought you were a gorilla, Cocoa bird. You sure? Coco responded pointing to the bird. Coco, good, that. Okay, I must be a gorilla. The caregiver said.

Bird you, Coco signed. Were both birds? Coco responded by signing, good. Show me. Coco bird clown. You're teasing me. What are you really? Finally Coco gave in.

Gorilla Coco. That's awesome. And I love that apparently Coco the gorilla was the inventor of the It Me. Yeah, that's right. Because that was from like the 70s if she was like the 60s or 70s. or 70s or 80s. But the other one is, Coco loved to see nipples.

This is also from the same thing. Some might even say that she loved that too much. There was a sexual harassment lawsuit. Slate found a 1998 AOL chat between Coco, her trainer, and a web audience. And Coco could not stop bringing up nipples. Some highlights. Penny, we're going to be on the phone with a lot of people who are going to ask us questions. Coco, nipple.

and then somebody asked What did you have? What does she have for dinner? And she goes, she has vegetables for dinner, raw vegetables to which Coco responded, nipple. Wow.

But that's every AOL chat from 1998. That's right. Coco, what a queen. Who knew that me and Coco were spending most of our days trying to watch the scrambled signal of the spice channel on our cable network

to spot a nipple. All right. That's Puck Soup for this. week. What a wild ride it was. Thanks to Brook Lennon. Thanks to Mack Weldon. Thanks to everybody. You can read my column on ESPN.com on Thursdays. Also, Emily and I will have a full trade deadline guide on Friday that you can check out. And if you're listening to the show on Wednesday, Emily and I did a collaboration on the Sabres losing streak. And what comes next? Yeah, sign up for elite prospects. Like I said, the number three free.

If you sign up today, Thursday, March 31st, or is it Wednesday? It's Wednesday. March 31st, you will get three months for free when you sign up for a full year. So a nice little deal for you guys. And most recently I wrote on there about how the flyers should not be. buyers at the deadline due to their bad. And what would be the point? So, yeah, there's a lot of good stuff on there. It's me. It's Demetriere Filipovich. It's Jayfresh. It's Rachel Dory. It's, it's, it's, you know, go down the list. There's a lot of writers in there. I'll do a very good job.

So check it out. If I'm on The Athletic, I've got today my trade deadline quiz went up. And later in the week. We're going to be revisiting some weird stuff in the NHL rulebook. So check that out. We do still have the $1 a month offer for new subscribers, but potentially not for much longer. Uh-oh. Get in on that soon. Yeah. And it is, this is the first deal like this that we've done in about three months. So don't, don't miss out if you were thinking of jumping on board in time for the playoffs. Yeah. And listen to me with Ian Mendez on the Athletic Hockey Show on Thursday. Get on that deal right now before it's $2 next month. All right.

Thanks everybody for listening to Puck Soup. We love you guys. Patreon mailbag, go there for it. And also our bonus episode this week, a Yobber-Yager-themed game show where I win in a route. It's fantastic. Thanks to everybody for listening. Spoiler alert. We'll talk to you soon.

Bye. See ya. Bye-bye. Sticks and hits and goals and saves and slapshots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to whatever you commute. But we also cover movies, TV shows, It's in tunes. It's your weekly bowl of hockey and nonsense. Box two.