Puck Soup - Wayne Gretzky, Very Famous

Episode Date: October 16, 2021

The boys welcome Dimitri Filipovic of EP Rinkside to discuss the first week of hockey on TNT and ESPN, from bad abbreviations to Wayne Gretzky Mania; the big contracts handed out to Charlie McAvoy, Brady Tkachuk, Nick Suzuki and others; early impressions of NHL teams; Alex Ovechkin; "Needle in a Timestack"; The MLB Guardians Project and baseball playoffs! Sponsored by Manly Bands, BetterHelp and Mascaped.

Sticks and hits and goals and saves and slap shots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to what if you commute. We also cover movies, TV shows, it's in tunes. It's your weekly bowl of Hagi and Nancet. Hey everybody. It's your old pal Greg Wichinsky of ESPN. Oh, I had a frog in my throat. I apologize if this sounds echoey.

I'm in the new apartment and there's nothing on the walls and there's no carpet on the ground. And so just deal with it this one time. I swear to God, that's me. I'm Ryan Lambert and I'm very confident that no one will complain about this. I'm feeling really good about it. We have a special guest. That's right. And I am Demetri Filipovich, joining my good friends, Greg Wischinski and Ryan Lambert.

What's going on, guys? There is, folks. What's up? Tell everybody where you, what are you doing these days? You're on EP Ringsside? That's right. I'm working on a fine website called EP Ringsside with our Good Pal RL here. And I'm doing the PTO cast, which is also another hockey podcast that people can listen to.

So, yeah, I'm just busy with those two things. Simply aren't a hockey podcast. This is Greg's new platform. Anytime it's a new one, he's past. So here's the thing. I think that I'm correct. And there's an uncomfortable amount of new podcasts that have come into existence from two sources, basically. The DFO Hockey site, Frank's site, and the Steve Dangle podcast network.

And Adam Wilde, the face of the face of the. the operation for the dangled podcast. I mean, the best looking guy of the three, I think. Complained that I was complaining. But I mean, it's just, it's a fact of life. It's not a, it's not, I'm not, I'm not saying there should be less or fewer. I'm saying that there just seems to be having been an explosion of them within the last few weeks.

And of course there would be. It's the beginning of the season. But it just seems like now, as I, as I mentioned on Twitter, you know, recently, there are now more podcasts about hockey than there are. players in the National Hockey League. I'm not sure if that's how it should be. Greg, here in the footsteps. He's like, damn, we're going to get overtaken. I mean, I wouldn't recommend hockey podcasting. I'm just doing it purely. I feel pot committed, having done it for so many years now, I'm kind of grandfathered in, so I just feel obligated to keep doing it. But if I didn't have one

at this point, I certainly would not start. And there's no footsteps to be heard. The footsteps have already passed me here. Let me give you the formula. Get two guys who used to play hockey. Give them a bunch of Pink vodka, have them tell stories. There, you have a successful podcast that gets more downloads than we do. That's all you need. That's it. It's the secret of the success. Yeah.

We're going to be, we're soon to be replacing you with Chris Clark from the Washington Capitals, remember him? Good pull. I do, because I wrote that story about Ovechkin last week and the Gretzky Chase. And I talked to Jeff Halpern. from the capitals, Potomac Maryland's own. Another classic mid-2000s capitals guy. Oh, God.

And that's exactly when I started covering hockey, too, like him. Chris Clark, Matt Pettinger, Steve Eminger. Ooh, they got all the injures back then. Andre Nicoletian. I mean, it goes on and on. But Halper told me the story that he played with Ovi for the first few games of Ovi's rookie season and then went to coach Glenn. Hanlon and said, I can't play with this guy.

He's all over the ice. And so Hanlon put Chris Clark with Ovechkin. Clark scores like 20 goals. Halperin's like skidding with Matt Pettinger for the rest of the season. And the rest, as they say, is history. He said his family still hates him for having made that

decision. Yeah, lack of a summer house. They're like, God damn it. Yeah, right. Could have a tire swing on a lake. Oh, you're in Puck's suit, by the way and Demetri's here because Sean was tied up. I'm only here because I thought

Sean was going to be here. Oh. Oh, fuck. I'm sorry. Yeah, this sucks, but we'll try to have fun. Who did you think Sean would be replacing me or Ryan? Probably me because Ryan was communicating with you. Well, I thought there'd be a full crew. I just thought it would be the four of us, but that's fine.

You think it be four people on this rotten podcast? Holy shit. This is a tag team match? I mean, our degree three is too many people. Well, that's true. you're not wrong. Yeah, it's like AEW these days. It's like every match, there's 14 people involved.

It's too many people. I know. Yeah, it's 14 people and one of them is a wrestling dinosaur. I mean, it's all very confusing. Now, that's a good gimmick. It's great. Dimitri, you're familiar with the Luchessaurus, Dimitri? I am, actually.

I watched that last big pay-per-view at a bar. It was pretty fun. Brilliant. Yeah. It's good stuff. It's also my daughter's favorite wrestler is Luchessaurus. All right. But Jack Perry, he rocks, right?

He does rock. And I'm constantly, for those who don't know, handsome actor Luke Perry's son, R-A-P Luke Perry, Jack Perry is not only a professional wrestler, but wrestles under the moniker Jungle Boy. And really good wrestler, good-looking dude, too. We'll be a huge star in this industry that we're talking about at the moment. But the problem is, is that we all know him as Jungle Boy.

Boy, we all love him as Jungle Boy, Jim, crotchety old Jim Ross desperately trying to get him over by his given name, probably knowing that the Luke Perry thing was probably a better selling point than, you know, a short young man and tiny shorts. That and, you know, you can't be

one of the four pillars in your name is Jungle Boy, right? Like, that's MJF, Sammy Gavara, Darby Allen, these are all human names. Human names. Than Jungle Boy. Jungle Boy. So, so, you, You give them both. You gets to be, you know, you gets to be Stone Cold Steve Austin instead of if his name was just Stone Cold.

Right. And so you have one announcer who's like, my God, it's Jungle Boy. And then you have Jim Ross going, Jack Perry. Jungle Boy, Jack Perry. So the NHL has two new TV networks. I work for one of them. I'm going to try to be as candid as I can. You know, I can't talk too much about the ESPN part of this equation or probably the Turner part of this equation.

Um, what did you guys think of the first week of coverage? Well, I was, I was listening to the, uh, the show on the season opening day, I believe, where you and Arda were, we're talking about Alex Ovechkin and Nick Baxter from not being there. And Arda threw in a, uh, PDO cast reference, which a bunch of people sent me. So that was, that was awesome. I, I appreciated that. I thought the broadcasts were both great. Like, I, the only thing that I didn't like about the TNT one is that, um, like the power play

clock that's on the ice in the slot. Ooh, divisive. I feel like that's kind of just like, it's a bit distracting for me. But listen, they're trying you stuff and they're like having fun with it. And that's something that we all just desperately wanted from NBC the entire time. So I can't really fault them for doing that considering we've been clamoring for it for years. Would you have preferred it if it was on the glass instead of on the ice? Or did you just think, is it just something that could be in the scorebug and not necessarily be

virtually anywhere? Yeah, I think, I think it's fine on the scorebug. I appreciate that they're at least had the shot counter full time. I know ESPN was kind of on and off with that. Okay. Yeah. No. No, the two things that were legit gripes about our coverage were one, that we didn't

have the shots. And at first I was like, you know what? I don't miss the shots. But then I was watching the Pittsburgh Tampa game. And at one point, Tampa really started to turn it on. And I'm just like, oh, I wonder what the shot disparate. Ah, fuck. You know, and so I completely agree that I think the shots are going to be there or will be

there. And then, look, the preferred nomenclature is VGK. I completely understand that. There's nothing that you could do about that. The abbreviation thing was whatever. I'm sure we'll go with VGK next time. Well, hockey reference, still holding out on veg after all these years, pisses me off every single time I go to that website.

Well, like, I think about, the abbreviations are important. I mean, like, I think as a Devils fan, if I turned out of the broad, And it's not NJD. It was like, NEJ. I'd be like, fuck you. Like, you know,

you know what the abbreviation is supposed to be. So I get the, I get the feedback on that one, for sure. Oh, By the way, DeVitri, you're referencing the drop,

which is the new show that me and Arda are going to do. And that show is going to be kind of on infrequently for the next few months because of like, you know, college football still going on and shit like that.

But then in January, we're going to be on weekly. And it's going to be like our little piece. of heaven to kind of do weird things on, like having gritty on the show and shit like that. So it's going to be the most internety thing that I think we do, and I'm very excited about it. And I'm happy that he was able to reference that. I also made a hawk and loop reference, which people really enjoyed.

But Lambert, go ahead. Do you tell me what you liked and disliked about the TV stuff? Yeah, so to Dimitri's point, I didn't mind the power play timer on the ice insofar as, like, you know, I'm used to watching the shot clock on a basketball game on the court, right? So, like, but it does feel redundant to have it both in the scorebug and on the ice. Like, how many places are we going to show it, you know? You're right. Yeah, put it on the glass, too, put it on every player's jersey.

Let's just go, let's just go fucking wild. Well, that depends. Is it sponsored? Because that'll definitely be on every player's jersey at some point. Um, my, my only thing, uh, about the Turner broadcast was there was, and again, like, I know this was just the first week thing, but they were like, can you believe we got Wayne Gretzky? And now, I don't know if you guys know this, but Wayne Gretzky, this guy, he's, uh, he's the greatest hockey player of all time. Have you guys heard about this? He's in a movie being the greatest hockey player of all time. He's doing, and it's like, yeah, no, uh, as a, as a hockey fan, uh, I know that. And as a, a, as a, a, Like, even if I weren't a hockey fan, I would still be like, this is literally, literally, how many guys do they say, this is a man who needs no introduction? And you're like, I could use a little bit of an... Wayne Gretzky is literally one of like eight people on the planet.

It's like him, it's Barack Obama. Right. You know, like, they're the rock, maybe. You probably don't mean the introduction. Yeah. Yeah. Any of the pro stars. but no I think I think your your criticism is right

it was a little bit it definitely I from what I saw of it had a little bit of the and when Wayne Gretzky isn't on the screen all the other characters should be saying hey he's poochy definitely and and to that end I thought that once they got to like you know again I get

they wanted to have Charles Barkley on and have a fun segment with him but like I would have like to see them do a little bit more, you know, mid-period analysis or whatever, which I guess that's the fireworks factory in this scenario, but yes. My counter to that is after watching Chris Cellios and give his analysis in between periods, I think maybe focusing on the entertainment factor and kind of nostalgia and stories might be better because, like, him and Messier going back and forth, it's like, oh, this guy is a great leader. This guy's tough. Like, oh, it's like, all right, great. Have you guys even

watch the NHL over the past 20 years? Like, there was like no actual commentary about relevant stuff to 2021. Yeah, no, I agree with that. And, but like, it's funny because when, when Turner announced their roster, you're like, oh, it's like every NBC guy plus Rick Tockett, Paul Bissonet, and Wayne Gretzky, right? Like that. And so you're going, uh-oh, I hated the NBC product for however many years. Were they exclusively looking at failed Arizona at Coyote's head coaches? That's right. They were pissed at Dave Tip.

It already had a job. They were like, God damn it. But so I was a little worried about that. And then I feel like they went a little too, hey, inside the NBA's fun. Like they went a little too far in that direction. And again, it's the first week. I get it. They'll course correct.

They don't have, I don't think they're going to spend 20, minutes teeing up who Wayne Gretzky is every week, at least I hope not. But yeah, I agree that the ESPN between period stuff was a little too NBC for me. The thing I found interesting about the Gretzky thing is like, yeah, they went a little bit overboard by making it the Wayne Gretzky show. But in doing so, they created arguably the two most viral moments of the entire first week of hockey coverage, which was him shooting on Barclay. and then the moment in which he's got, they got Ovechkin after the game having become the fifth all-time leading score in NHL history. And at one point he's just like, hey, Alex, it's Wayne.

Like, how fucking cool is that? It's just amazing. Yeah, that was. And so, like, yeah, and I know that they had him. I was at the Caps game, but I heard from some people that I guess he was talking during the two goals, the La Piers goal, and then Ovechkin's goal. Yeah, he was talking quite a bit. Yeah.

And it's so funny because, like, when they, when they posted the clip on NHL, like, the NHL's Twitter feed, they actually, they had the setup from the play-by-play from Kenny Albert, and then it went silent. Like, they just took out the Gratzky part of the clip. And that's, like, the highlight now in perpetuity. Everybody threw everything at the wall. Some will stick, some won't. But, I mean, like, again, like, not to be a homer here, but, I mean, it was just all really cool and really different on both,

both networks. I was just very, very happy as a fan to have something different and then have something different that just, in TNT's case, it felt like it was speaking to an audience that was being underserved. And in our case, was throwing the awesome power of this fully armed and operational battle station behind a sport that we now have for the next seven years. And you felt the totality of the coverage, whether it was the point on the weekday. show, whether it was the show that Meena Arta did, whether it was the coverage and having people on site in Tampa

right, like, you know, outside the arena, like, it just felt bigger. It felt like a big deal, absolutely. It felt like a big deal, right, and it's not to minimize NBC, like there were times when NBC would do that too, called the playoffs, and, you know, it would feel like a bigger deal, but the simple thing of having an afternoon

show where people are talking about the issues of the day, and, you know, Emily's doing really cool features on, you know, Merz Lickens and Austin Matthews. Like, they had the rights for 15 years or 16 years, and we never had that. Like, how is that possible?

Like, Greg, where are they going to put the auto auctions if they don't? I know. But again, like, that's what was just really exciting about the week for me was, and I've been waiting for, as everyone knows, for so long for there to be a different way. to cover the sport on television in the U.S. And to have one network kind of do it its way and have ESPN do it our way,

it just like, it feels so much, so much better to be a hockey fan. And again, I'm not trying to shit on NBC, but like it just, to have that extra network or to have a network that maybe is more adept at using its, its different avenues of coverage to amplify the sport, it just felt so fucking different. And it felt different in a way that made me a little angry

that it had to take this long to feel different. Like two different, like at least three different rights deals went by, and we had the same thing for like 15 years. Yeah. The last thing I'll say about it is, and I said this on Twitter, but it was really nice to see so many genuine, like, genuine, like, smiling and laughing moments between everybody on every show.

Just because it's like, yeah, on NBC, it all felt so forced and buttoned up and whatever, like, stayed, I guess you would say. Like, a hostage video. Like, I might not go that far. I mean, but didn't it feel like that? I just felt like so perfunctory. It felt that's, yeah. And again, I don't know if that's coming from the producers or. coming from the talent or whatever, but when they would go to that intermission report,

it just felt like, well, here's the thing that we have to do. Right. And it just, I don't know. Yeah, and like, because they had it for the same people on the air for that long, I don't know what it was, but it, yeah, you're completely right. Like, both of the networks this week felt excited to do this. And it's been lacking for, for over 15 years now on television. It's nice to not see Keith Jones just frowning.

I guess that's the, you know. All right. What did you think of the camera angle above the ice that we did, by the way? Did you like it or no? Yeah, I loved it. I wish they would zoom in sometimes more. I get that you won't capture everything, but it felt like sometimes it was a bit too distant.

Like, it felt too far away. But I feel you on that. I feel like they're probably going to get better with it. But, like, again, you think about hockey on television and the fact that you know there's always a question like how do you get more people to watch hockey on television and it's like well you have to make recreate the feeling that you have inside the arena well you're like that's impossible like inside the arena it's loud and boisterous and and and uh there's velocity but most of all you can always kind of know where the puck is and you know going back 20 years 25 years to the globe puck that's what they tried to do like when it goes in the corner show you where it is and i feel like that camera angle can finally do it in a way that will make you the game a little bit easier to follow. Yeah, I was just saying to someone recently, like, if they may, if they had the technology to make the puck invisible, I think most hockey fans would be like, oh, I know where the puck

is pretty much at all times, just by how everybody on the ice is acting. But like, you know, to, if they're trying to catch the casuals by being like, oh, here's Charles Barkley, he's going to do something funny or whatever, you need, you need to be able to be like, no, no, you don't understand the puck's this really little thing. It doesn't show up well on TV. So, yeah. So after Arda and I got done with our show, and by the way, if you missed it, you can catch it on ESPN Plus. Like, all the shit that we've done in the past week is on ESPN Plus. You can just kind of find it. And whether it's the afternoon show or the thing Arda and I did or whatever, I went into the big studio where Arda and my new co-worker,

John Totorella, we're watching, like, the game. But the more important thing is it's also the studio where former National Hockey League referee Dave Jackson was sitting, preparing to hop on any of the broadcasts to explain rules, which he did in the nightcap because of the kicked puck thing, which we could talk about in a second. But, like, in the entirety of the Penguin's lightning game, there were no information. fractions and no controversies. Everything was on the up and up. And, you know, occasionally we call over to Dave and be like, Dave, you're all right over there?

He's just like, yeah, doing fine, waiting for something to happen. But I wanted to bring this up because I saw something that made me really laugh. What do you think a referee would do if he was just biting his time preparing to go on the air to talk about a controversial call? What do you think he's doing? I bet he was eating pistachios. He wasn't doing tequila shots to my supervisor. surprise. I'll tell you that. But no, I looked over at one point, and he's just like waiting to come on and talk about it. He's just like reading the rulebook. The little pocket Bible version of the rule book. He just had it. He's just like reading the rule book. I'm like, this is what referees do? On their off time. That's called Living the Gimmick. That's right. It's living the gimmick. That's amazing. I was blown away by it. But I was really blown away by the reaction that people had to the, um,

the ESPN stuff, and I hope that it's worked. I mean, you're married to us for seven years. Speaking of getting married, today's episode of Pug's was sponsored by Manly Bands. You know what manly bands are? Manly bands offer your hand the freedom to look how you want it to look when you get hitched, or, you know, if you just want to wear a ring, in just about every type of earthly material imagined, even from space. To get started, you order the manly ring-sizer for manly bands to ensure that your ring will fit perfectly during work and play.

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There's a lot of new contracts signed this week, boys. A lot of new contracts indeed. In fact, I'm happy that one of the folks on the Puck Soup Discord, very surprised that we didn't record this morning before the Charlie McAvoy contract. Because in classic Puck Soup fashion, it would be a huge contract that we would miss because we recorded like 10 minutes before it was announced. Charlie Mac signs eight years, 9.5 million against the cap through 2030.

What'd you think of the contract, Lambert? That's about right. You know, I guess my tendency is to think of any contract as maybe a little too much, honestly. And like $9.5 million is a big number for a defenseman or any player, really. but, you know, name a better five-on-five defenseman than Charlie McAvoy in the league, you know. And he's a guy who doesn't really produce on the power play or hasn't in the past for, you know,

he spent a few years not being on the power play. And then last year, I think he just kind of had a bit of bad luck, honestly. So, like, the idea that he's going to start putting up 50-point seasons or whatever, like, I don't think that's far-fetched or anything. Maybe 50's pushing it. But, yeah, I think he's a great player. I think it's a contract that makes a lot of sense for the Bruins. You know, no notes, I guess.

Well, I mean, 9.5 million, by the way, gives him the Seth Jones contract. He's a fucking hell of a lot better than Seth Jones. You watched that first game the other night? Not good. He's a better? Well, yeah, I mean, well, listen, Seth Jones is also playing a, what is demonstrably the worst defensive system in the NHL and a guy who probably won't be coaching it for very much longer. But he's also significantly younger than Seth Jones, too. So it's

even better. What do you think, Dimitri? I love it. I mean, it's a perfect argument for going the bridge route right out of an ELC because now it affords the Bruins basically the luxury of just having him through his age 32 seasons. So they're not coming up to the point where he's like 27, 28 and trying to figure out how long term they want to commit to him. It's a big money, but he's significantly better than Jones and Nurse and Werenzki and all the guys that got similar contracts this offseason. So, like Lambert said that he's the most impactful file on five defensemen. I agree.

I had him third on my fake Norris ballot last year right after McCarron Fox. And I just think you have to throw the point totals out of the window. Like it's always so funny. I mean, people always bemoan the fact that the Norris is all about the best offensive defensiveman and oh we don't we don't talk about guys who are actually good at defense well here you go charlie mackovoi is he's also really good offensively he just doesn't have the points because he had like eight power play points or something last year and yeah it sounds like he will be on that top unit with with uh burseran and pastor nag and marshand and so i wouldn't be surprised at all if he explodes and has 60ish points this

year and then all of a sudden he is legitimately in the norris discussion and this looks like a steal so i think it was a great bet by the brunes yeah he was my pick to win the norris this year like as far as like preseason prognostications go, because he's going to pick up a bunch of points in the power play he hadn't been getting, and like add 10 points to his 5 on 5 total, and he's going to be right there in the mix for top defensemen in the league offensively.

And if that happens, he was like on the precipice last year. I think he was like fifth for the Norris last year. So he's already on the radar. If he wins the Norris and his like top, you know, five in points by a defenseman, this is going to look like a fucking, well, not a steal, but it's going to look like good value, right?

Yeah. The only thing that's surprising me about it is the Bruins have become notorious. about strong-arming their own players for cap leverage. Like, to the point where they said, fuck off Tori Krug and Dougie Hamilton. It's named two other young defensemen that used to be on the team. I mean, the Dougie Hamilton thing is a bit different, but, yeah.

But, I mean, it was also financial, too. I mean, it was their decision. A little bit, for sure. So, like, I was a little bit surprised he came in this high, just because of the Bruins' abilities in the past. to finesse the capits that they want, but I got no problem with it from an open market perspective,

and I certainly don't have any problem about it from an age of the player perspective or within context of the other contracts that we've seen signed, for sure. Yeah, I love trying to. The only thing that I think people would be able to complain a little bit about with it is, you know, we're talking about the Norris.

Kail McCarwin's the Norris the last two years if he stays healthy, right? And McCar, you know, if he can stay healthy this year, he just signed a new six-year contract and obviously things were a little different. Bruins had to buy more UFA years, blah, blah, blah. But his cap hit is $9 million. And people, especially in Boston,

if he doesn't put up 50 points or whatever, people are going to be like, well, McCah's only making $9 million, you know? And like, I, you know, that's true. Speaking of teams that tend to get pretty good value for a good chunk of their players, Gabe Landisog, maybe not included. You know, I think people are going to look at that. And in a vacuum, yeah, I guess they paid more for a guy who produces a lot fewer points. But, you know, again, like, that's...

Is he a better overall player than McCar? Or is McCar's offensive upside so good that he is better than... Maccar's a better player. Macar's a point of game defense, Craig. I mean, Jesus Christ. But I mean, but you could make the, listen, we used to have this argument all a time with Eric Carlson. Like, you know, his offensive upside being so great that it overcomes any other shortcomings

in his game and he's the best defenseman in the hockey. I don't really, I don't really even see those shortcomings in McCar's game, though. No, he's good defensively. Yeah. That's what I'm asking. Okay. I'd say McCar's talent is just like so overwhelming, trying to. He's obviously in a great situation and he plays in a system that helps that.

But you could put him on any team. Maybe not the coyotes, but pretty much any team. And he looked good, I believe. So I don't know. But the thing, like, you're making that point about how the Bruins usually get better sort of team-friendly deals than this. Like, yeah, that's true. But I'm not going to get upset about them finally paying a player what he's actually, like,

worth. Oh, hell, no. Every player should get paid with their worth. This is a fair deal. Yeah. Like, you know, they kind of got forced into giving him a bunch of money because, you know, again, like, you can look at it and you go, well, you just gave Derek Fordort $3 million a year. So I'm not going to take like seven. That would be fucking crazy.

So, you know, like they're, the Bruins mistake always is when they go, when they go looking elsewhere for talent. When they get UFAs or even trade for guys and then re-sign them, they tend to overpay. And then, you know, the in-house stuff is never the problem. You're saying Charlie McAvoy is no, David Backus is what you're trying to say. Right. And, you know, like, but like this day it's back to like Tyler Sagan Day. Remember everybody talked for years about how good that Tyler Sagan? That was the Bruins fucking signed that contract and then traded him, you know?

So, like, I think, I think this is, this is a guy getting market value. And we should say, it doesn't kick until next year. So he has another year at like $5 million or whatever the number is, right? So, yeah. Yeah. So, like, they're, you know, if you, if you want to, if you want to say that this is like a nine-year contract or whatever, because, you know, it doesn't kick until next year. At which point it'll only be, what, 24? Like, this is, yeah, this is as good as it gets.

So better than the Seth Jones contract? You know what? I'll get back to you at the end of the season. I just saw a quote from Jeremy Collett and saying season's 82 games long. No, not anymore. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Yeah.

I'll read you the quote because it's really funny. The headlines are written after the first game, well, this is what the team is. Just like they were written after preseason, this is what the team is. It's 82 games and we've got to build as we go. boy oh boy says Jones had what like a 33 34% coursey rating or uh expected goals or whatever they were fucking terrible in game one i don't listen i don't want to say he was bad in that game

but i do believe he's now an honorary coyote mika sabanajad signed an eight year 68 million dollar extension with the rangers 60 million dollars of it in signing bonuses secure that bag maybe he turns 29 next april which i believe lambert means he's on your kill floor uh What, and he has a full no move through the last year of the contract. What did, DeBriere who saw with you? Wouldn't you think of this Zab Anjab deal? And does that take the Rangers out of the Jack, Michael sweepstakes? Who represents me because of Benajad?

Do we know who his agent is? I know. It's actually somebody overseas, I believe, but I'll double check on it. Because I want to hire them to represent me. What? No shit. Wow. The deal, this deal that was negotiated, so he gets 60.

That'd be, pneumonia, Calgoam. Okay. Well, Mo Mir, give me a call. And apparently, according to Puckpedia, Mika Zavadad, his only client, so entirely possible that Monier-Kalegam is an anagram of Mika Zabanajad, and he's representing himself. He's going to add, he's going to add Demetri Filipovich as a client after this podcast. So 60 million in signing bonuses, full no move clause, except for this, like, one small window right before the trade deadline, where he can pick 10 teams that he's willing to go. do like eight years down the road um yeah i mean he's gonna be 29 when this deal kicks in i

think he's a good player um and i think that i think he's a very good player he's a very good player he's an interesting player analytically because his impacts at even strength aren't what you'd expect from a top line center but he's such a good finisher and his scoring rates are so elite that he kind of compensates for that and ultimately the puck goes into the net so nothing else matters um like last year, I guess we can kind of toss out the first 25 games because it was clear that he was sort of recovering from COVID and wasn't himself. Then final 30 games or so after that, he got back to his ridiculous goal scoring ways. So, like, yeah, they paid a premium for it, but I don't know.

Like, I'm always wary of these types of deals where you're paying a guy this much money into his mid-30s, but he's going to be good for them right now. Yeah, the good news for the Rangers is they've never had a problem where they overpaid a guy deep into his 30s, and it turned out he was bad at the end of that contract. It's never happened. And why would it start now? Right. Brad Ricknery.

Right. Henrik Lunkwist. Just on the top of my head, can't think of any of those guys flaming out. Well, I thought the interesting thing for me was I had people telling me before, like, watch out for the Rangers and Barkov, and then Barcov obviously signed his mega deal with the Panthers.

And then, like, what, a day or two later? This has a been a jad contract comes down to the line? Yeah. Like, yeah, it's a lot of money. He's a good player, though. I do like me because of Benichad, so I don't want to knock it too much. But they definitely chose him over Jack Heichel. It doesn't seem that way.

I mean, barring something truly seismic, they just don't have the cap space. You know, they're already. They could create the cap space, but the problem is that one of the players they could create it with has a full no move. And that's Jacob Truba. Or Chris Kreider, who also has a full number. no move. Yeah. Truba, I mean, Truba is, if you're looking to make an Eichl trade, and Truba is making $8 million a year through

2006, there's your Jack Eichl trade. Yeah, speaking with guys who looked bad the other night. Well, but you see, that's one of those deals, just like the, I mean, the Berberowski contract sucks, but, like, you know, when they signed him, they clearly didn't anticipate Spencer Knight, and I think when they signed Trubah, they clearly didn't anticipate Adam Fox, right? Like, is that fair to say? I mean, let's put it this way.

I knew Adam, as a college hockey knower, I knew Adam Fox was going to the fucking Rangers long before he signed with the Rangers. I mean, I mean, in the sense that he's as good as he is. Oh, sure, yeah. I mean, again, if you watch the guy, like Adam Fox says a pretty strong pedigree dating back, what was he like a second round pick, third round pick? Right. He, you know, Harvard, he was on the national junior team.

He fucking, he was good for a really long time. He was like a point of game player as a freshman at Harvard. I understand. I understand. Nick Suzuki, this was an interesting one. Nick Suzuki signed with the Montreal Canadiens, again, great young player, love the kid, gets the eight-year contract with a $7.875 million cap hit through 2030. What say you, Dimitri, on this contract?

I mean, they obviously just didn't want to deal with the, uncertainty of getting offer sheeted again, right? Yep. Probably right. I mean, here's the thing. I think Suzuki's an awesome player. His defensive impacts have been tremendous. He hasn't really scored the way you think a player is as talented as he is and he's talked about has yet. But keep in mind, he's played like less than 130 regular season game so far, which is what, like a year and a half of a regular NHL time. So I think he's still got a lot of developing to do. And, um, I'm fine with it.

Like, these are the types of players that you do want to commit to it and bet on because he's only going to get better. So he's not, he's obviously not worth that dollar figure right now, but even a year or two from now, like, it could wind up looking like a pretty good deal. Yeah, this, this to me feels a little bit like they're going, oh, man, remember how good he was in the playoffs? Oh, boy, that was great. And that's two years in a row. I, you know, he was, what did he score at last season? Like, maybe like a 65 point pace. He's a really good young player.

They're saying, oh, he's a, you know, he's a number one center right now. I wouldn't go that far. But, like, again, you know, especially because they're running scared after an offer sheet, they're like, yeah, we'll pay a premium for a guy we really like. And they should really like him. So that's fine. Especially because they can pretend like that, that Shea Weber contract doesn't exist anymore. They're feeling good about a lot of cats.

wiggle room all of a sudden. Yep, yep. And sort of a little tied to this was the Brady Kachuk contract that was miraculously signed as the season starts. My God, who could have thought that all of the RFAs got in before the bell? 8.25, I'm sorry, 8.205-714 against the cap beginning in 2223. It's slightly higher this season. and I've,

Brady's, the only thing that bums me out about this contract is apparently neither of these guys are going to play for the blues anytime soon, him or Matthew? Yeah, I mean, I don't give a shit. Like, oh no, the St. Louis Blues three years from now,

oh boy, that's really, that's really ruining my day. Like, you know, break, Chuck, good player. Like, the thing that I think is remarkable about this deal is that he blinked so hard. basically. Like, I don't feel like they totally, they overpaid him a little bit, but like, they didn't blow that number, like, the number that he maybe could have gotten on like a four-year

deal out of the water, you know? Oh, I don't know about that. He's making $8.2 million. Yeah, I was thinking for like a $3, $4 million deal. He'd be like in the seven range, right? I guess. Like, what I'm saying is, like, I thought it would be eight and a half plus. And they got him for less than that. And I'm a little... And again, I'm definitely saying they overpaid him. For sure, they did.

But with that having been said, you know, this is a really interesting player to me, because if you're talking about, you know, guys who produce at this level, like his career high is 45 points, right? Like, he's a reliable 20-plus goal guy, and he... Um, he's always around the net.

Like, again, I'm going to bring up frigging college hockey thing. But like the first time, the first time I ever, no, the first time I ever saw him play, his first shift, he like had three scoring chances and ended it lying on top of the goalie. And I was like, I know what this guy is. You know, I get this. And, and like those guys are super valuable. Guys who are just around the net creating havoc. He does that. for sure.

But how much, you know, like this is this was the analytics question around him is how much of like his high shot percentage or shooting percentage and and XG numbers and all that kind of stuff. Like how much of that is just, well, he's stuffing it into the goalies pads from the top of the crease. Yeah. I did some, to stay on brand, I did some research for this, for this segment. Oh. I'm going to drop some numbers on you here. Love it. We go.

He's in the 100th percentile in even strength, offensive impact. He's in the zero percentile of finishing. Yeah. Since he got into the league. That's like Michael grabbed their numbers. That's incredible. Since he got into the league, he has the third most expected goals, right? Only Obetkin and John Tavares are above him.

He's just ahead of Austin Matthews. He puts him at like 80-ish goals or so over those three seasons in terms of expected goals. His actual goals, he scored 60 of them. and he's 65th on the list of goal scorers. So that gap right there, like no one generates more high danger attempts than he does, as Lambert just said. I do think he kind of represents a bit of a blind spot for these expected goal models

in terms of like just standing in for the net, just jamming rebounds into a goalie's pads. The statistical model looks at that as like, oh, it was really close to the net. So that probably should go in. So we're going to give it a high expected goal figure. But in reality, it had no chance of going in because the goalie's pad was right there and he was just jamming it into it. At the same time, like, players like that are valuable because he is disrupting so much and he draws a ton of penalties and he's super useful and he's still only 22. So I'm not ruling out the fact that as the linemates around him also improve

and the team around him improves, that you're going to see that goal total spike. So, like, yeah, he's like a 20-ish goal scorer now. He could easily be a 30 to 35, maybe even 40 goal scorer in his prime if he just gets a good shooting percentage season. So the sense had zero leverage here, right? Like, they had to give him. Basically, they're lucky. I guess he did blink in a sense that they had to give him whatever he wanted because they couldn't afford to look cheap here again. Right. I'll give you another number. Seven. It's the number he wears. Wow. The thing about the senators, and I'm going to talk, I'm going to break a protocol here on Puck's Soup and actually talk about the senators in a material way and not just in a dismissive way. Well, I guess I'm going to be a little dismissive.

Do they haven't figured out this time, or is this going to be another one of these deals where a team looks like it's doing the right things on paper than it doesn't amount to anything? well wow isn't that the freaking question about every rebuild right like oh wow look at all these good young players they have that we're promising like brady kitch Josh norris Tim Stutzel Shane Pinto I mean Shabbat on the back end I mean they've got some players and isn't Shabbat an interesting player right because it's like oh he comes into the league everybody's like this kid is electrifying what a player he's going to turn it around round, he hasn't turned around shit. You know what I mean?

He's good. Don't get me wrong. But like, is he, let's put it this way. Is he an $8 million defenseman coming off his first contract? Like, is he playing like the kind of guy you would give $8 million, no questions asked to, coming out of that first deal? I don't think he is. And I think he's really good. He was a similar player, though, where they wanted to prove that, hey, look, we're not cheap.

We just pay Thomas Shabbat. So, I don't know. Did you see that Peerodorian quote yesterday? I never felt so powerful. Eugene Melvick told me to go get it done. It's like, what was happening before that? Like, how did that take until the season started for that conversation to take place? Yeah, and also, like, I've never felt more powerful than when Daddy handed me a $100 bill and said,

you can buy anything you want in this Toys R Us. We're going fucking wild, baby. It's like, yeah, I mean, your owner got you slightly above the salary. recap floor. Congratulations, Ottawa Senators. Now, this is true power that's being wielded. It's just impressive. I mean, you know, obviously, like in previous years, he gets handed that kind of money. He assumes he has to go to the black market and start buying organs. But this time it's for players. This is exciting. What is Nashville doing? Matissell got a new contract. It's a great fucking question.

Oh, my God. Yeah. What's going on there? Is this one of those deals where we just refuse to look in the mirror and be like, yeah, we should not be doing this? And then you just start signing your veterans because you're... My theory on this actually was like, they know they can't get rid of either Duchayne or Johansson without a Priese suitor-level buyout. So like they've got to have to just kind of like try to contend with those guys as much as they can. And at Colm obviously is helping to that end. Is that kind of where we are with this franchise?

I mean, I guess this is what happens when you're run by a 72-year-old who's been there for 25 years, right? Like, I don't understand what the direction of this team. So I'm happy for Mitya Secom personally because he was playing all these years under one of those classic Preds contracts where they just, like, got him on the hook for six years at way below term or way below dollar figure. And so now he finally actually makes real money. But, like, yeah, this summer they gave Michael Granlan. $20 million and he's heading into his 30s. I think that honestly they believe that after UC Soros'

his magical performance down the stretch last year, that they're significantly better than they are. I think that's the only possible argument. But here's the thing. I had so on, I had so many people tell me, like, from the gold hunting community, they're like, watch out. Because, like, everybody thinks he was just playing

as well as he could to outshine Pecorrene, and they get a contract. And now Pecoran is not there, and he's got the contract. So people are like, watch the fuck out for this guy. Yeah. The thing that I, that I, like, they started selling this summer. The players were fucking pissed about it. Like Peter Forzberg.

Philip. Philip Forzberg. Yeah. I'm sure Peter was upset too, but he was a former predator. Yeah. But like Philip Forsberg just like put in his Instagram story a gigantic thumbs down, right? When they traded, when they traded Arvinson, right? And they traded Ryan Ellis for Phil Myers.

Like this is the guy we're trading to like, and so they like that says to me, okay, we get that last year was a bit of a fluke. But then, you know, to Dmitri's point, they extend Michael Granland, who's going to be 30 pretty soon, right? And they're like, Maddie Eckholm, you're 31, we'll give you a new contract, four years of kicks in next season. And it's like, I mean, on the one hand, you got to get to the salary floor, you got to have veterans around, I get that part of it. But it's like, you don't think there would have been a line of GMs, especially if at the end of the season, Poyle's like, we'll even retain half a salary. What do I give a shit? Yeah, I know. A line of GMs around the fucking block with first round picking a prospect from Maddie at home, who, lets me clear, is very good.

Yes. Maybe not paired with Dante Fabro. but he's very good. He should be on fucking Winnipeg right now. That should have happened by now. Yeah. And then, you know, fuck, man. But I do think that they're like, our floor now is vaguely playoff competitive because

Osoros is going to be so good for the next four or five years or whatever. And maybe. I mean, I think I've always thought he was a pretty good goalie. Yeah. Soros is good. But I rely on any goalie to be like. the reason why we're going to be competitive is because we have a good goalie. Like, you need to figure out everything else around that goalie.

And it feels like it kind of last year's path tricked them into thinking they're much closer than they actually are. Yeah. Well, they have a great coach in John Hines who, if we know anything about him, it's that if he gets a player who plays out of his fucking mind for like a month and a half, they'll make the playoffs. Like, that's what we know now about his teams. Yeah, right. And the interesting thing is I believe Philip Forsberg's a pending UFA. And so what they do with Forsberg is what's really interesting, right? Because, again, a line of buyers around the block.

Like, you know, I haven't really been super high on what he's brought to the table. He's been perfectly fine or whatever, but like he hasn't been what I think people think of as Philip Forsberg being, right, from the whatever, the cup days or cup competitive days, anyhow. And so if they try to extend him as well, I don't know what. I don't know. But like if they sell him,

that just makes the Eckholm decision, even stranger. Even stranger. Yeah, I know. And I hope he moves at the deadline because I think that whoever gets him. Put him in a good spot. He's going to help and they're going to be better.

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who have taken charge of their mental health. Again, that's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash puck. I was in D-C. I was in D.C. My week was real fucked up. I moved the new place on Monday. The entire house is still filled

with a labyrinthine collection of boxes. I drove to Bristol on Tuesday. to do the drop. I flew out of Hartford at 5 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday to get the Capitol's practice and then did TV on Wednesday and then covered the game that night, which I thought was going to be a bunch of people punching each other, but instead was the artistic artistry of Alex Ovechkin scoring and all that good stuff. I love Ophi.

I'm so happy that he is now fifth all time. He's going to pass Brett Hall of the season two to be fourth all time. Might pass younger. could pass Yager. I mean, like, he's the best. It was really weird, though. Like, he passes Marcel Dion to go to fifth all time, and the place is going nuts, and everybody's celebrating.

And then all of a sudden, you just hear, Oh, hello, Alex. Oh, you're so good. Let me ask you this. Who's buying the Marcel Dion hat, where he's like, I wear this hat so people know who I, okay, that's a little. Did they put that on, like, did they feed that into the broadcast? Yeah. They did, yeah.

They did. Okay, because he showed up on the screen, like, all of a sudden, Marcel Dion had hacked the Jumbotron. And no one really knew it was going on. And no one could really hear what he was saying because the crowd was going nuts. And then when they finally realized that Marcel Dion was speaking, then it became apparent that the arena speakers weren't doing him any favors. So what was the gist of his comments, that he had his own hat, but he's replaced him? his hat with Ovechkin's hat? Is that the deal? Yes, to honor Ovechkin for passing him. He will put on a Washington Capitol's hat for one day. He's specified for a day.

Just for a day. Yeah. But I mean, by the time he scored the goal, there was only like three hours left in the day. Did he mean the full next day? And Greg, and that's him, you know, I don't know how old Marcel Dion is. That probably was right before bed, I bet. Well, I mean, I'm assuming he's based on the West Coast as a former king. I don't know.

Still, Marcel Dion age. Let's look it up. Old, it says here. Oh, okay. There it is. The men's 70 years old. He watched the Matlock, got right to bed. He scored two goals to pass the own in ways that did not require the Ovi spot.

And, like, I, like, I. I wrote about it. I think he breaks it. I know that he is older, and I know that his sets will decline a little bit, but, I mean, he's just in prime position. And I think the way he scores goals means that he could break the record because he's not someone who is going to have to rely on speed.

And there are at certain times now when you watch Alex Ovetrikin in the arena skating, and you are saying to yourself, this is a person who is conserving his energy for the power play. It's just a fact of life. But where are you on OV, Demetri? I actually don't know whether you're not, you are a OV will break the record guy or not.

Oh, for sure. How could he not? Like, I was a bit worried when you see, like, lower body injuries piling up the way they have lately. For as unbreakable as he's been, that's alarming. I think he's so cool. Like, I think a lot of people who watch hockey these days just think of them as kind of that stationary spot.

up shooter from the left circle and it's like oh how does he keep getting away with this and they don't realize that like he's been the best at that but he also had this like first 10 years where he was the best player off the rush as well and he was just like an absolute destroyer in terms of just barreling into people coming down the wing and scoring as well and the fact that he's had these two separate career arcs where he's been the best in both regard is so remarkable to me and the way he just kind of like reinvented himself so yeah i i really i think he seems to have desire to get that goal total. He still seems to really enjoy scoring goals after all of them that he has scored. And so assuming his body can hold up, which I think knock on wood, it will, just based on his career

so far, like, he'll get there. Like, he's going to keep scoring 30-ish to 35 goals for the next five or six years if he wants to because he's so good from that left circle. It's kind of wild that, like, there are people that have come to the NHL as fans probably within the last seven or eight years. And like you said, they don't know that when he came up, he was like, well, he was like what Yager was when he came up. Like, he was just like a comet through the neutral zone and would score goals on the rush like few guys could. Like, it's, it is kind of amazing.

You know who he is Lambert? He's Chris Jericho. He completely changed the way he wrestles as he's gotten older. Yeah, he's the demo god. Just as effective. Well, I mean, why do you pay these days? Maybe not so. I love my favorite rest of all time.

Occasionally, O.B., can't quite, you know, hit the moon salt. It's true. Or the lion's salt. Sorry, it's branded. But with that having been said, could his, could his, like, ability to crash the net like he did on that first goal there? Could that be his Judas effect? Because he can't hit the lion's salt anymore, you know? There you go.

I do, you know, I talked to Brian McLeh on their GM about Ovi, and he made a good point, which is that there is a part of this equation that we've not really talked a lot about, which is Baxter's health. And, yeah, granted, he's got, you know, because Netsop to play with and the whole thing. But, I mean, you know, the Backstrom on the power plate, Ovechkin has been a standard bearer for his entire career. And, you know, I think Backstrom will come back at some point in the next month, but the hip ain't getting any. better. And, you know, you have to wonder whether if something happens to Baxter's ability to stay in the lineup or his effectiveness as a player, if that's going to, you know, be an anchor on Oveschkin's ability to break this record or not. I said it over the summer, or specifically when they signed the Ovechkin extension, because I was like, Jesus, they're giving him all that money for five years. Like,

it really seems to me like they're just like, this entire organization is dedicated now fundamentally to getting Ovechkin the goal record. Everything else that happens is kind of immaterial at this point. And like, I think that's a perfectly noble goal. I think it's great. Yeah, you guys won the cup. I mean, he's made you probably like a billion dollars in revenue as a franchise. If you need to do this for the next three years as a team, why not, right?

Yeah. Because the alternative is selling off all those guys and why do, you know. Well, then they got their cup already. Yeah, exactly. What I would say, though, is I really hope, like, I always think of Jerome McGinla towards the end, like, watching him on the abs and stuff was so depressing. Yeah. And the Kings. Like, he was like, he still had that shot when he'd get it in his wheelhouse.

But, like, just watching him get there and get to that point was really disheartening. And I was like, oh, man, I remember when this guy was, like, the most physically impressive player on the ice. And now he's kind of just playing out the string, like a shell of himself. and I never want to see Ovechkin get to that point, even if he is, like, chasing down the goal record. And so hopefully he can at least maintain some sort, like, he's such a physical anomaly that I think he'll be okay and he'll never look that bad.

But I don't want to, I don't want the lasting image of Alex Ovechkin to be that, like, four years from now. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, that would suck. Yeah, and, like, everybody in Canada is writing the same thing about him that they wrote about Patrick Marlowe, where it's like, yeah, I mean, he's playing these games, but it's not like he's good. This sucks, actually.

We hate this. Especially because, I don't know if you know this, Alex Ovechkin is not. Like, if he was from a Tobacco, maybe they wouldn't have so much of a problem with it. But, you know, he isn't. If he was, it would be like Cal Clutterbuck hits. Like, he'd get credit for three goals for every goal he scores on the score. That's right. Speaking of the capitals, you know, their, you know, arch rival in life, the penguins missing Krazi, missing Malkin, and just doing what the fuck they do.

Like, you know. They're Mark Duncan in it, baby. What are you going to say? I, you know, they didn't win against the Panthers, but they picked up, you know, three of four points in their first two games without Sid or Malkin. And it's just remarkable. Dimitri, in your prognostications, did you have the Penguins as a playoff team this year? I did.

Obviously, it was a red flag, how they were starting out the year, but it kind of played out the way you thought, right? Like Mike Sullivan getting the most out of these players, like that opener against Tampa Bay, it's understandable that Tampa came out a bit flat, considering the circumstances. But man, they played that to a T where, like, they just kept getting the puck.

them and it didn't allow them to get any sort of fast break opportunities and they were just like shutting the game down and then getting these random goals from danton hynan and dominic simone and it was just such a classic classic penguin's performance and yeah i i've gotten to the point where i'm i'm not going to write them off because i've done so in the past and i've been made to look stupid and so i'm just going to believe in in the system and the process and obviously their ceiling is lower but i think they'll get there did you have in the playoffs i forget yet. Me? Yeah, I think I probably had them at the, at the, maybe I didn't, I don't know. Them and the Capitals, I'm like, I guess I can never really count them out, you know, I said that,

we'd said that on the podcast before. Like, they've, they've, uh, anytime you're like, oh, they're screwed, they're like, we're actually going to win the division easily. How does that sound? And you're like, oh, okay, I guess. Okay, you guys do that. Yeah, have fun of that. Of, of the results of the first couple days. We're taping the show on Friday afternoon. What struck you behind, besides the Buffalo Sabres being a juggernaut? Boy, all that Andre Veslevski best goalie in the world. Well, I don't know. I don't know. He kind of kept him in that fucking game against Pittsburgh until things left. Right up until he didn't. Yeah.

So this is the Connor Hullabuck fan stepping up, right? Is this what it is? Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. That's interesting that, you know, like the thing, again, you got to say it, but like Vasselowski, obviously an incredible goalie, but also it got to be a bit much over the last couple of years I felt like. And, yeah, I mean, you know, it's two games. They're going to be 100% fine. But also, you know, we have to acknowledge Tampa Bay lost their entire second line. And that sucks for them. That's hard to overcome.

Yeah. And I don't think they're going to, that's why I didn't pick them to win the cup. But like, that's a fair point. I will pat myself in the back after one game. I mean, I already saw that John Gibson's hurts. That's great. But after one game, clearly the ducks are going to be the best of the three California teams. And I called that.

I called that shit, Dimitri. I called it. The Kings took freaking Vegas to the cleaners last night. Yeah, I don't care. Vegas was tired. The ducks are. No, I'm worried about Mark Stone's injury, though. Oh, yeah, 100.

I don't think I've ever seen a player like pull up on a shot like that and like his entire body just froze. And then like he got back to the bench, but then like literally just like his controller got disconnected and he had to just get carried to the back. I don't know what happened there. That was yeah, that like watching that live, I was just like, wait, Mark's like like I just like I saw all the play happen. And then I saw him being carried to the back. And I was like, what happened between when he attempted that shot and now that like he he's at all. was incapacitated. It looked, it was so weird. And yeah, I mean, obviously, anytime you see a guy helped to the back, you're not super psyched about what that means for his long-term health. But

Marks are one of the greats, so let's hope. Let's hope. Yeah, but ducks will finish ahead of the Kings. Wow. I don't know if you guys want to take that better or not. You know, I don't. I'll take that. The ducks are going to suck. How dare you? I think they're going to suck. Although I I was impressed by Mason McTavish. That was a great, great debut. That's right. The next generation. Do you think that they make the Eichl trade or no?

The Ducks? Or do you think they're going to be like the Kings and say that we like what we're doing and we don't need to make the Eichl trade? I mean, what's the point of making Eichl trade if you're the Ducks? You're just going to be the Sabres. Yeah. Like, I really don't see the end game. It'll be nice for him.

It'll be familiar. I mean, I guess if the return gets so low, that you're just giving away like B and C level prospects, but you can't give away any premium prospects if you're looking for it. Like who are you giving up like in that trade? Trevor's is Igris? No, absolutely not. No, you can't do that, right?

And or Drysdale, yeah, for him. Yeah, and so and you're and you're not doing either one of those things. And it's like, oh, finally Anaheim loading up on B.U. Centers. This is going to work out great. But again, like, this comes back to the simple fact of like, who the fuck is trade for Jack Eichol? Well, here's the other thing. Like, the reason why the ducks can't even trade for Ikel is,

because I presume the Sabres would want future first, right? And we have two, like, generational drafts coming up. And if you're the Ducks, even with Jack Eichol, you might still suck and be a lot of a team. So you can't give away your future first unless they're like top five, top 10 protected, at which case, why would you do that trade if you're the Sabres? So I just don't really see a fit there. Yeah. And that honestly, do you think that Arizona is trying to be so bad that the NHL just gives them Shane,

right? and just like we can't we're not even going to have a lottery this year i mean holy shit carter hudden's performance was one of the craziest things i've ever seen yeah see this is the problem is that the buffalo wants to be just as bad but there's one thing Craig anderson's good at at this stage in his career and that's every fifth game looking like he's fucking dominic this was this was an under-discussed story like the four d chess by the coyotes this offseason where they took buffalo's goalie who was so bad last year that they literally couldn't play him and they're like we're going to make him our

starter it was it was just unbelievable like oh my i think carter hardin is card hudden's like negative six goal save above expected after that one game like i've honestly never seen anything like it it it was amazing yeah there's a heart to what they're doing right now yeah i mean i you know i uh i look at this i look at this draft coming up or the next two quite frankly and it's like oh my god there are So, Wachim Kamele is, like, lighting up the Finnish League, and he's 17 years old. Like, you know, Arizona's doing the shit where they're just like, well, even if we get, you know, maybe we don't get Shane right, but we're going to get Wachim Kame. And Wachim Kamele, I think, is literally scoring like nobody has ever scored in the finish league at his age. And then they do the same thing.

Next year, like, they're just loading up on draft picks. They have 100 first round picks this year, I think. Yeah. So, like, they, and like, to Dimitri's point, like, the ducks, what does it serve them? But also, like, what does it serve Seattle to try to be a 90-point team? What does it serve Nashville to try to be a 90-point team this year? Like, all these teams that weren't trying to get out of the having good players business this summer, I don't get it unless they think they're a legitimate cup team.

Because the next two drafts, oh, my God, dude. Here's the thing, though. if you think you're a legitimate cup team right now, like how can you be comfortable trading for Jack Eichol with the uncertainty that you're going to get anything from this season to begin with? Correct. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I keep hearing.

It's like, oh, Vegas. It makes sense, but... I was talking to an executive today for a story, and he made the point of this. Part of the Eichael thing, right, is like getting the surgery so you could play in the Olympics. Like, that's kind of what he wants to do. What fucking team is going to let this guy play his first games in China?

Yeah. Before he plays in the National Hockey League. The Eichol thing is like a, it's like a fucking parfay of pain. Like every layer, there's another layer underneath where you're just like, this is so fucked up. Yeah, it's almost like the same did it all out of spite. Isn't that crazy? Isn't it? Wouldn't someone be a wild conspiracy theorist to think that kind of a thing?

Wow. Well, like you said, if you're a bad team, take a haircut for a while, get uncomfortable. Speaking of uncomfortable haircuts, today's episode of Puck Soup is sponsored by Manscaped. Oh my God. Jesus Christ. What just happened? You guys said, oh my God, Jesus Christ, in stereo.

That's what just happened. Yeah, and what does that tell you about your ad transition, Craig? Well, hey, Lambert, you know what's spookier than seeing a black cat on Halloween? It's shaving your balls with anything other than Manscaped. Oh, okay. Dimitri, one of the greatest moments in Puck Soup history was, when I did this entire ad read when Rachel Doria was sitting in, by the way. Yeah, she loved it.

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So, manscape is, listen, ad reads aside, the product is really good. As you get older, hair shows up in weird places, the manscape devices that they've sent us to test out, they do a very good job doing the job. Let's be clear. It's a good product. Oh, let me be clear.

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They write your name incorrectly on the cup. So you'll take a photo of the cup and post it on your social media. And so it becomes free advertising. I'm just going to, I believe that this is written in a way that you'll never fucking forget manscaped. It may not even be like, I think they just, they just want you to be entertained. You know what I mean? Yeah. I do know what you mean.

Halloween. Not to be confused with Halloween, which is not what you want. Unless you're trying to beat a drug test now that I think about it. Remember that? Who was that guy? Had a fake one. Who was that guy? With the fake dick?

Yeah. Fake penis, drug. Be careful with that search. Test, I know. Mike, it was Mike Tyson, it says here. Well, it says, and the thing that the person used was the Wizzinator. Yeah. And you're thinking of, oh, man, who was it?

Man, this referenced here. That used to be James Wuzziuski's nickname, the Wizzinator. Ontario Smith from the, from the, Minnesota Vikings. And then also on the Wikipedia that you're probably reading with me, actor Tom Seismore has also bought the Wizzinator into the public eye

after having been caught with one attempting to evade drug tests. Tom Sysmore, the man who was in Heat, he was in Saving Private Ryan, am I correct? Yeah, he is, yeah. Yeah.

It's too bad you said... His greatest role was Wizzinator Wikipedia entry. It's too bad you said he was in heat because I was going to say he pissed heat because you piss hot when you okay well uh what's what's next on the agenda size more appeared alongside the insane clown posse in the comedy film big money rustlers did you know that yeah I did

um okay uh anything else hockey centric to talk about that's going on um I don't know the John Cooper extension I guess we could say happened and everybody was like sure Yeah, that checks out. Dylan Larkin punched Matthew Joseph in the face, and he's probably going to get suspended for it. I thought, yeah, yeah, I thought I saw that this more, that he has a hearing or whatever. John Cooper deserved his contract. That's about it.

Some people wanted us to talk about the movie trailer that came out this week, Lambert, where you watch this entire romantic time travel epic starring Glesley Odom Jr. and Orlando Bloom, and it builds this romantic crescendo. You think it's going to be this, you know, Oscar-bate film. And then you find out the name of the movie is Needle in a Time Stack. Yeah, the classic phrase we all know, time stack. I legitimately looked it up after seeing that trailer yesterday. to see if like timestack was like a physics term or something,

it didn't seem like it was. Is it based on a book called Needle in a TimeStack? You know, that's a great question. No, I think it said it was written by the guy who wrote 12 years a slave. So I think it was just like a script. It's not based on anything. He's definitely got some range. Yeah, people were passing around that trailer.

I mean, the trailer looks like it is for a fake movie. Yes. Demetri, are you familiar with anything we're talking about right now? Absolutely not. You know, okay, so the movie is a thing where Leslie Odom Jr. And Cynthia Arrivo. Cynthia Arribo are like a couple, but then like through time travel, their relationship, they break up and she disappears. So, well, no, hold on. So it's like, oh, we're going to be together forever.

Smash cut to Leslie Odom Jr. talking to his friend Orlando Bloom, and he just goes, so you're into that, like, time travel thing, right? And Orlando Bloom's like, that's right, yeah. I'm a big time travel guy now. I love going to the past. And then you find out he is going to the past so that he can steal Cynthia Arrivo from Leslie Odom, Jr., and make it so that they never met even. And to Lambert's point, like, the discussion they have about time travel is with, the ease of a bro talking about Bitcoin. Literally, if you were like, so,

you got into sports gambling, like single game sports gambling recently, right? And Dimitri's like, yeah, it would be like that kind of a tone in the conversation. And so they go through all these iterations of his relationship where like all of a sudden he's living

with another woman. Yeah, well, it's Frieda Pinto. She doesn't remember him. It's Frida Pinto who's one of the most beautiful women in the world and he's like, this is bullshit. It's like, wait a second. Well, because it's the classic thing of him going like,

who are you? And she's like, sweetie, I'm your wife. And he's like, what? It's, again, if you were making this movie up, oh, it's apparently based on a short story to your earlier point, Greg. And the name of the short story is Needle in a Time Stat. Okay, but again, the movie was not called

do Androids dream of electric sheep. Correct. It was called Blade Runner. Which is fucking awesome. Yeah. And by the way, this movie has been in production since 2017. So, who knows? Wow. Needle in a time stack.

Needle in a time stack. And, oh, Craig, you're going to like this one. You know who wrote the short story? This guy, Robert Silverberg. I try to think of a massively disappointing sci-fi epic with like a big twist and a betrayal of some kind in the last couple of years with major stars.

Hmm. After Earth? Well, I mean, that is a movie that fits. The answer was Passengers. Oh, God, he wrote Passengers? He wrote Passengers. The rapiest movie of... Yeah, a real... A real

miscalculation on the part of Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence and winner or just nominee. And Academy Award watcher, Chris Pratt. That's right. A classic joke. But yeah.

So this guy, it seems like he is two for two on getting things made. It's fantastic. We both saw Bond. Did you see Bond, Dimitri? I have. You know what? Like when the hockey season starts,

I just go into my bunker and I don't really come out until July. You know, it's weird. With the hockey season starts, Lambert sees more movies. I don't know how it happens. I see movies ever, like I see two or three movies a week every week all year long. I wish I could say the same.

Honestly, like the amount of tape that I've been watching is, is quite frankly embarrassing. Like before we started recording, I was rewatching Jets, Ducks from the other night. Yeah. And it's like, I was watching, I'm like, why am I doing this? But then I guess it's my job to do so. Oh, no, I was totally doing that too.

It's like, look at this tape that I'm watching. I'm learning so much about hockey. Have you guys watched? Have you guys watched Squid Game? Nope. So let me ask you a question because you have, I'm guessing. I've watched the first three episodes before the season started. My daughter said she wants to watch Squid Game.

And she is 11. and I don't care about her watching shit that's hyperviolent. Like she gets violence and that, you know, it's fake and whatever and to not like try to kill anybody. Right. Is there, are there other things in this that she should not see as an 11-year-old child? I mean. A dystopian critique of capitalism. Well, no, I mean, you know, exposed to this.

Listen, we've been reading her, you know, those books since she was a child. But, like, the thing I don't want to do is, like, have her, like, There's no like black mirror thing where like a guy has to fuck a pig or anything, right? No. Okay. No, but it is scary. I mean. Oh, it's scary?

I mean, I find it pretty scary. I'm turning 30 this year. I find it pretty scary. It's entirely possible that she thinks this is a series based on Splatoon 2 that I think about it. So maybe not show it to her. I've got a Netflix suggestion for you though. Midnight Mass was awesome. I fucking loved it.

I loved it. It was really, really good. Sweet. The last thing you wanted to talk about was this thing that Major League Baseball is doing, where they're basically going to have their own Guardians project. Yeah, it's called Defenders of the Diamond, and I haven't read too much about it. Except, so it's a deal with minor league baseball,

maybe Major League Baseball facilitated it or something. But basically the idea is they're going to have, like, officially licensed Marvel superhero games throughout Major League or Minor League Baseball this season, which like if you've been to any minor league sports game in the last decade, there's at least two Marvel Knights a season. So like, I don't know. But I can't tell if they're also going to be like, oh, the Toledo Mudhens, here's a new superhero that specifically referenced.

Okay. As part of the wide array of custom content it will create for the new initiative, Marvel will create a Marvel's Defenders of the Diamond comic book for minor league baseball fans that will be distributed in participating ballparks throughout the partnership. Co-branded merchandise and other surprises will be unveiled in 2020. This sounds very much like, you know, you can open up your fucking comic and it's the Hickory Crawdad against. the Monkham Rebiscuit and they're fighting Avengers style. Yeah, and it says here, the role of Devon Dark will be played by Rob Manfred? No! Yeah, no, like, it just, I saw this and I was like, we've learned nothing in the last 15 years, I guess.

We're just circling back. We're so bereft of any kind of, like, actual interesting intellectual property in 2021 that we're just like, what a freaking Spider-Man went to an Iowa. a Cubs game. Wouldn't that be crazy? I fucking guess so, dude. Friking Thanos is going to be there. Oh, no.

All right, that's Puck Soup for this week. Dimit, whoa, is there anything else you'd like to talk about on the show this week? Anything you want to get off your chest? You know, Puck Soup is above all else in exchange of ideas. No, I think we covered it. I mean, this is long. I usually go like an hour on my show, so we're... Imagine if we lived in that way.

world, Greg? Wow. Testing my outer limits and my cardio, my vocabulary. Yeah, no, it was great. I'm glad you guys had me on. I listen to the show. I'm a big fan, so I'm happy to come on and chat with you. Oh, it's nice to be a fan.

But our show is so fucking dumb and you're so smart. It's boring. What value do you get out of this show? You're both good lads. I just enjoy. Oh, my God. Listen to that, Lambert. We're lads.

Now, now we're talking. We're actually Ladbroke Like the gambling thing in the UK I always got confused by that Did you know that's the name of the thing The gambling company in the UK? No, what? So there's a gambling company in the UK

It's very famous, hang on going to find the name of it Lad's broke I think is right over it Is it the Ladd Bible and we're seeing all the epic meanings on there? It's Ladbrokes is the name of the thing But the first time I saw it when I was in London and I saw this big sign that's like,

it was like a sports wagering company. I thought it said lads broke. I'm like, why would you name your company after like guys losing all their money? After the worst case scenario? It's like, it's like, come on down to poverty downs

and bet what the best. Why isn't it called lad blokes? You know? Probably because it's like founded by some guy named. It was founded in 1902, so I'm going to guess it's probably a, They couldn't nick down the Tesco Get a Parma or whatever the fuck they eat over there

Parma's the thing, right? What, in the UK? Parma, Parma, something like that. What's a Parma? Hold on, I'm going to Google this. Have you ever been to London, Dimitri? I have, yeah. I've never heard of Parmo, though.

A Parmo is a dish originating in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, and a popular item for takeaway food in the T-side area. It consists of a breaded cutlet of chicken or pork topped with white bechamel sauce and cheese. This is fucking Parmesan, but with bechamel? Yeah. Oh, okay. The UK has under, I mean, London in particular is underrated food. I don't know what the, people always talking about how bland it is or shitty it is or

only is eating meat, potatoes and shit. I think the food in London is really tasty. I love a fucking shepherd's pie. Yeah, you went to the new Salt Bay restaurant last night. Did you see this? Yes, I did. They charged someone $50,000 for dinner. Yeah.

But the thing that I didn't understand about that headline was that that person go to the restaurant not knowing any of the prices? Like, how are they so shocked by the bill? You ever order a double makers at the airport? And then they bring it over and it like, you owe 35 bucks? It could happen. it happened to me last night that's why I was trying to say that all right listen that's it was only 24 bucks by the way that's puck suit for this week yeah it was not and I

had to get out of it I was in I was in the airport bar in DC and waiting from I was I got there like an hour and a half early and I was just there trying to like transcribe some interviews and do some work and nurse a whiskey and The fucking people The, remember the Bill Bransky sketch from S&L? Yeah.

It was that. It was like, you know, big bellowing guys in their expense report fuckers. They were just like, where's the baseball game? Baseball game starting. And I'm just like,

I need to go away from this. Mm. Why are the baseball playoffs so good, by the way? I don't know. They've been really, I'm not really a baseball fan, but I've watched, I've watched.

a handful of games and they've been fucking unbelievable. Yeah. I feel like the baseball playoffs are always, like, have drama. I think they're always good. Well, there you have. We've been trying to convince the Normies

that the Stanley Cup playoffs are like that for like 20 years. What do you think I start, you know, catch wise and know that the playoffs are awesome? It's almost like, it's almost like playoffs in every sport are really good. Huh. When you attack stakes to a game? Our playoffs should be like March Madness.

Our playoffs should be like, I don't give a shit about, you know, Hofstra's playing in January, but if they're in the Stibb Lake tournament, my God, I'm going to watch that game. Well, again, this is a thing I say all the time about, but people who watch the NHL only give shit about the team that they like. The percentage of people who are just like,

broadly speaking, NHL fans is relatively low, and that's why, like, you got to have a Pittsburgh, Rangers, Chicago, Detroit, like, you've got to have one of those big teams in every single TV game forever. because nobody will watch it otherwise.

Like, you will never in your entire life see a Minnesota Wild Winnipeg Jets, like NBC, or ESPN game or whatever. It's just not going to fucking happen because nobody gives a shit about those teams. And so, like, again, the ratings for the NHL go down as the playoffs go on because people go, oh, the Rangers got eliminated? Well, I don't give a shit about the rest of this then. And that's it. It sucks.

Been saying it for years. Nobody wants to listen. Last thing I'm going to say is that the FDA just said that they recommended a booster dose of the Johnson and Johnson's vaccine at least two months after people get the first dose. The whole point was that you only get one shot. That's why I got it. Now I got to get a second dose. Well, now I got it later this month. I'm up for my third dose of Pfizer.

Nice. We're all hurt. Wow. Man. Yeah, you're like a fucking porcupine with that Pfizer. Yeah, it's going to rock. How about Tyler Burtuzi, by the way? I haven't talked about that.

Sickle mode last night. See that? Sickle mode. I think he was. Everybody keeping a safe distance defensively. That's right. I mean, we haven't talked enough about the fact that that might be his gambit. He's just like, I am, you know.

If he has another four goals next time out, I think there are going to be guys being like, how do I get this taken out of my body? No more antibodies for me. You know what? Take the polio vaccine out of there, too. You're going to see Victor Hempin wearing a surgical mask on the ice so he can d him up.

He's already got the gloves, so. That's right. All right. Well, I mean, good news for the Canadian home teams, though. They won't have to face Tyler Bertuzi and the wrath of his goal-scoring prowess. Are we pro-rating all of his stats per 82 games or per 73 or whatever?

that's right all right all right let's poke soup for this week everybody check out the Patreon for the mailbag and also

for a tremendously good bonus episode that me and Lambert and Sean Gentile did ranking the top 10 candies Dimitri what is your number one candy out of curiosity

sour patch kids made the list number four I believe number four yeah that sounds right what was uh I guess I'm not going to ask for number one

one because I don't want to spoil it. Oh, no, it's not a spoiler. That's the easy one. That's the easy one. Everybody knows that Reesis is the number one. It's the rest of the list. It's the mystery. There you go.

And I don't mean the pickup artist. I mean, you know, intrigue. All right, everybody. We'll talk to you next side. Thanks for Dmitzio Philpovich. Dmitz, tell the people where they can read and hear and see your genius. Yeah, go follow me at Dimm Philopovich on Twitter. Go subscribe to E.P.

Rinkside for a lot of correct takes from myself and uh and ryan lambert here and uh go listen to the hockey pdocas where we get your podcasts um wherever you listen to puck soup you can listen to the pdocas as well so thanks for uh besides me and lambert who are some of the people that you you have on the pdoh cast i don't know so i haven't had you on in a while actually i feel like i've had lambert on quite a bit lately but uh i haven't had you on so maybe we've got to get you on here sometime down the road but uh yeah no it's uh thanks for having me on guys i really appreciate this is a blast. No, we

appreciate you and we appreciate all you guys listening and we will talk to you next time. Take it everybody. Bye. See you. It's and goals and saves and slapshots and goons. We've got sportly commentary to what if you commute. We also cover movies, TV shows,

it's and tools. It's your weekly bowl of hockey and nonsense. Bork Sue.