Puck Soup - Who's Buying? Who's Selling?

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

Sean and Ryan run through the trade-deadline plans for every team in the league. Sponsored by Gametime (download the Gametime app and use code PUCK for $20 off), Raycon (buyraycon.com/puck), and AG1 (drinkAG1.com/puck)

I'm Ryan Lambert from Elite Prospects. I am Sean McIndoo from The Athletic. And I don't know if people have heard, we're like three days out or whatever from the trade deadline. I think by the time you hear this, it'll probably be right around exactly three days, I think. Surprise nobody's mentioned that. You know, I feel like it's come up once or twice, but hasn't been a huge... Somebody should make like a list of players or something. I feel like that would do big business.

That would get the clicks. Gotta get those clicks as all the dumb people say these days. Well, look, I mean, that's why you and I write anything at all. Yeah. We're just trying to get clicks. I mean, that's why I tweet things to get those clicks. To get clicks. On the website that you control and make money off of.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, so, you know, we're just going to do an all 32 teams trade deadline preview. But I want to do it this way. I want to start either with the top or the bottom. I'll let my friend Sean choose. And we'll go alternating from, you know, 32 to 1 to 31 to 2, et cetera. I like it.

So what would you rather talk about? Fires or sellers first. Start at the top. I'm a positive guy. Well, let's start at the top. This is sorted by points percentage. 32 thoughts, so to speak. I don't have that many.

Okay. There is one team at the top by points percentage and by total points, and that's the Florida Panthers who look like they are going to be big-time buyers. Yep. And they should be. Like a lot of teams that are at the top of the standings, they are big-time buyers without any. really glaring needs because holy smokes they are just they're putting the boots to everyone

right now it's crazy yeah um obviously a lot of that is they're getting really good goaltending from uh sergey proborovsky and maybe not the most predictable outcome coming into the season um but it's all working for them they got they got all the forwards going and that kind of thing Yeah, you feel like they'll probably want to add like a defenseman because the bottom of that D group is fine. You know, we're hearing a lot about, you know, Oliver Recman Larson, he's actually been pretty good this year. And that's like not true. But if he's your third or fourth best defenseman, depending on the night, I'd say Forrestling is more often their best or is more often their third best. sometimes even second best quite frankly.

But yeah, just an area where you want to beef up a little. That's all. Defense or can always use another forward who can score. Yeah, sure. They've kind of been linked with all the big names because they've been aggressive trade-wise, although not last year at the deadline, worth noting. The one thing that I have heard with them is, are they going to be one of these teams that backs off of making a big addition

because of their precious chemistry? You don't want to disrupt anything. And one of the things that I have seen mentioned is that two years ago, they go and get Claude Jureau. We all remember Claude Jureau being a Florida Panther, of course. And he comes over. And he's fine, but doesn't really, you know, doesn't help them go on a log run. And then last year they don't do anything.

And, of course, we all know how that went, even though they absolutely could have missed the playoffs by going late last year. So do they sit, you know, I feel like there's three options. They get aggressive. They back off because of team chemistry. Or they get aggressive. They come up empty. And then they say that it was all about chemistry. all along.

So that'll be interesting to watch. Yeah, I mean, the name that you've probably heard linked to them most is Noah Hanifan, and we'll talk about everything. You'll come up many times. Yeah, but

the most recent stuff I've seen about Noah Hanofin is he is kind of dead set on Tampa. Yeah. And this might be a situation. He has a lot of control of the situation. Well,

I mean, mostly because he is a pending UFA, and you, unless you're really, and the Florida Panthers could be this motivated, unless you really want a rental, that's going to be expensive. And look, they do, they do turn over a good chunk of that, that defense and forward group next, this summer. So maybe, you know, locking themselves in with what's Hanif in, like 27, 28. Yeah. maybe locking themselves in with that, they don't mind that, you know. Especially, yeah, Hanifin's... Or at least rolling the dice. He's going to get to the Panthers, and Matthew Kachok is going to be telling him,

dude, this place rocks. Yeah, it's a good point. So maybe they do roll the dice. But yeah, that is going to be the tough thing. Like, we'll mention Hanifin, I'm sure, for half the teams, because anyone who needs a defenseman, he's the number one guy out there. Oh, by a lot. Are you willing to outbid the lightning when the lightning are bidding for probably eight plus years?

Yeah, eight plus years in Noah Hannafin and you're bidding for just the plus. You wonder, though, I mean, yeah, we'll talk about the lightning later. But yeah, as far as Florida is concerned, like part of the motivation to add is that you're assuming the team that's in your state is going to add. and you're assuming the Toronto is going to add and you're assuming, well, I mean, Boston's an interesting case. Again, we'll talk about it. But it feels like a lot of teams in the East are looking to beef up. And I wonder how much Florida would, to your point about standing Pat,

be willing to just be like, we'll fucking roll the dice. We'll see what's up. It does feel, though, like all those teams you just mentioned could add something of significance. and Florida could do nothing, and we still come out of the deadline going, the Panthers are the best team in the east. Yeah, totally. Totally.

So, yeah, I, you know, I think a little tinkering around the margins never heard anybody is my big, but I don't see them needing a ton. But, you know, it depends on what they're hearing from other teams. I don't know. Chicago, they're the 32nd team in the league by points percentage. These guys are bad, my opinion. It's an interesting take, but...

So, you know, I think everybody is... And it's really willing to sell absolutely anybody with a pulse who isn't Codard or is not signed through future years. And they do have quite a few, well, I would say quite a few. They don't. They've got a handful of UFAs. Tyler Johnson's the interesting one. Yeah, you wonder what they're asking for.

It's not like Tyler Johnson's like good or anything. No. You know? And he has trade protection. He has 18 points this year. Oh, God, that makes my stomach hurt, man. And that's it, right? Like, he's got trade protection, but who is he saying no to a trade to?

Like, you know, if they call him, I'm sure on his no trade clause, he probably has, for example, Winnipeg on that list. Sure. But if they call them up and say, do you want to go to Winnipeg and be part of potentially a long playoff run, that, will cause people in this league to go, oh, right, I remember Tyler Johnson exists. Yeah. Or do you want to stay in Chicago?

I'm going to Winnipeg. Not even, you know, not even because I want to win, which I do, but I want to. You want to get one last contract. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think he's a case where there's just, there's, you just put that name out there and you say, whoever comes to us with the best offer by whatever time on. Friday gets him.

Sure. And if it's a seventh-round pick, then you take that. They have made the, they did resign Nick Folino. Yep. Taylor Hall is injured, and so you wouldn't imagine anything's going to, we're not going to get any kind of like weird Evander Cain type moves there. You've got a few other guys, but again, you know, teams that, teams that are really, really bad, don't tend to have a ton of good players.

Must credit DGB for that scoop. Yep. No, we'll talk about it with San Jose. I think it was 32 thoughts yesterday maybe where Elliot said, yeah, they got a bunch of guys to trade. Nobody wants any of them. Yep. They all suck.

Uh-oh. Well, he didn't say that part. I did. But I'm willing to go out on a limb and say the team with a minus 106 goal difference does suck. and has a bunch of bad players on it. And again, they made a decision at some point this year that, you know, there's an alternate universe where we're talking about Nick Falino trades. We're talking about maybe Peter Marizik trades.

We're definitely talking about Jason Dickinson being a guy who is a big deadline piece. But all those guys got extensions. Yeah. Okay. Well, you've got to keep them around. I mean, they're contributing so much in that room. If it ain't broke. Mm-hmm. That's exactly right.

So let's scroll back up. And number two in points percentage in the league right now, Winnipeg Jets. Little sneaky. Yeah. Doesn't it feel that way? Doesn't it feel like you kind of, I wouldn't say forgot about them, but they had their mid-season push,

and then they fell back a little bit, and you went, okay, man, maybe that's about right. Then a young man out of Michigan named Connor Hellebuck, He's like, hey, hold on a second. I'm trying to win an MVP here, boys. We're going to figure this out, turn it all around. And so, yeah, they're really good. But unlike, say, Florida or, you know, other teams where you can say like, oh, they don't really need to add that much.

You know, everybody stays healthy, blah, blah, blah. Winnipeg does have some pretty obvious needs, I would say. Mm-mm. Not as much forward depth as you would like, not as much defensive depth as you would probably like. Especially if Gabe Filardi is injured in any Signavili serious way. Yep. And like, it's, let's, I'll put it this way.

Very solid team, like throughout the whole lineup, you know, like their third and fourth lines are very good third and fourth lines. I would say they don't have maybe the high end or like even the upper end of the roster kind of fully nailed down if that makes sense. Like look, I know he was a big Norris guy last year, but like if Josh Morrissey is your best defenseman. He's on fire lately. Oh, I understand. I'm just saying that. But yeah.

But that's, I mean, you can't really address that at the deadline, especially when you're Winnipeg and you're on everyone's no trade list. Yeah. Tyler Johnsons of the world will, I'm sure, gladly waived to go there, but the Noah Hannafins, Jake Gunsles, probably maybe not. The other thing with Winnipeg is they did, they made the Sean Monaghan trade already. So in theory, they've made a big move, maybe their big move. Yeah, they paid quite a bit for them. Certainly did.

And then I guess the last piece of this is, is there any connection at all to what they do or don't do it, the deadline with the bigger story in Winnipeg, which is the ownership, ticket selling, that sort of situation. Can you do a full court public press saying, we need more support from the fans and then sit out the deadline while all the teams around you are adding? Right. Maybe.

But it might not play great. It's a really interesting question, just because, like I said, like, you'd like to see them at guys who can help them higher up in the light. Like I say, can Josh Morrissey be your number one defenseman if you want a deep cup run? Yeah, sure. Teams with worst number one defensemen have made deep playoff runs, right? But to really ensure that you can get that, being able to add somebody, you know, to your top pair or whatever, I feel like or I don't even want, you know what I shouldn't even say like picking on Josh Morrissey this much or whatever.

Even your top line, right? Like I don't think you're getting anyone at the deadline who's going to bump Josh Morrissey down. No, for sure. But I'm just saying like, who do you think there's second best defense minutes? Yeah. You know? You think there's a Matt Dumbafit here? I mean, but that, that's.

That's not a guy I really rank or rate at this point. You know what I mean? Like, he has had two bad years in a row. And look, like, nobody's going to have a good year in Arizona. I get it. But he wasn't good last year. Yeah. I'm just looking at the trade board.

Oh, no, it's the number of guys who are going to help them. You know, we should say this up front. The fact that somebody isn't on a trade board doesn't mean they can't be traded, but maybe you got to look at it. something a bit more surprising. Or the fabled legendary, not seen in decades, hockey deal could actually be made. But, well, yeah.

We'll talk about that too in just one second. Let me quickly say the San Jose Sharks real quick. They're 31st in the league. By points percentage and I think total points, yep, that's right. And yeah, we said it earlier. Nobody wants any of these bums. Which is in a way kind of interesting because some of these guys, like, they're all playing like bums because it's the sharks. But is that why they're all playing like bums?

Like you wouldn't want to, you wouldn't want Anthony Declare, like take a- I was just going to say it's not that they don't have guys that can help a team. I think it's that, you know, you're not getting a first for Anthony Declare. You're probably not getting a second for Anthony Duclair. So at that point, you know, like, is the sharks like big, oh, the deadline's coming up, we're going to stock up on mid-round picks, you know? Yeah, I think that's what you, I mean, clearly, when you look at their roster construction, they, they have very, very few guys signed long term. It's pretty clear they were basically no one, yeah. With the dual goal of maintain our cap flexibility for.

down the line when we're going to be good, and also B-sellers at the deadline. Declare fits that mold. Mike Hoffman was another guy. Whatever happened to Kevin LeBank. Remember him? Yeah. Turns out if you're not particularly good at skating,

it's hard to stick around in the NHL. But I remember about him is he had the super cheap deal and everybody was like, why is he making so little money? And then he got a better deal and people went, you know what, maybe it made more sense when he was... He bet on himself and kind of came up snake eyes, I think you would say, right? Well, I mean, he got...

He did get the deal eventually, and there was all sorts of talk, that there was kind of like a wink-wink agreement that he was taken care of. But, yeah, I mean, I think everybody kind of thought that deal would be bigger than it ended up being. True. Right. Like, everybody was like, oh, this is a $6 million player, and then he gets four in a quarter, or four in three quarters or something like that. So here's the one guy that's not playing like garbage in San Jose is Capo Cacaninan.

Goaltender, not great numbers, but the underlying numbers, like when you look at goal saved above expected and that sort of thing, paint a better picture. Because the team in front of him stinks. He's getting, he's a shooting gallery out there. And he's doing all right. And he's a UFA at the end of the year. He's 27. Yeah, not too old. I mean, so, and he's interesting because he's a guy, he is a UFA, so he could absolutely be a rental.

But he's not, he's been good this year, but he hasn't been so good that I think he goes to a new team and says, no, I'm not even going to talk about a contract. I want to hit free agency. Right. There are teams out there that need goaltending over the short to medium term. And I think you. You know, a team like an Ottawa that goes out and gets a guy like that, I think he's willing to talk to you about an extension. And you can test drive him, right?

See it for a month. I don't think he's a fit in the New Jersey's or whoever that are looking for real upgrades, but for a team that just needs some options. I think he makes a lot of sense. Now, he might also make a lot of sense for the sharks to keep. Sure. He's interested in that. But if not,

I think he's, he's an interesting option. Yeah. The other thing to say is, you know, there's nothing that says they can't trade guys with term. Mario Ferraro and guys of that elk seem movable. I wonder if they'd be open to trading Nico Sturm, who's like a good, you know, bottom six guy, that kind of thing, bottom six center. Um, you know, There had even been some, a little little Logan Couture talk, but he's, he's hurt again. He's currently hurt, yeah.

Um, yeah, I mean, all options should be on the table. Like, you, you can call me up and ask me about literally any player on the roster. And I'm like, oh, I'll listen. You know, you're going to knock my socks off for like William Eklinder, somebody like that. But everybody else, yeah, call me up. See what the story is. No problem. I saw an article the other day that was like,

Michael Granland could get traded, but should they do it? Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Was that the article? Did you just read the entire article to me? No, I thought the article, this is maybe like a week ago now, so maybe the article was a little bit more on the family.

It's good in the, you know, that kind of stuff. But here's my answer to that. Yes. Trade him. Come on. All right, we'll go back up. Third place by points percentage. Second place by total points.

The team with just three regulation wins since the All-Star break, the Boston Bruins. Three regulation wins since the All-Star break. Can you believe that? That was like a month ago. Yeah, I have trouble believing it after I watched them last night. Looking pretty good. Sure, yeah. So another team.

Obviously, buyers, obviously all season long you've been talking center would be the area you would look at. Yeah, it kind of goes without saying. Not a lot of pay. In fact, no picks in the first three rounds of this year's draft. So tough. Like, you know, an obvious area of need, but sort of a tough one, especially when you would assume that they were in on. Lindholm, Lys Lindholm, you would assume they were in on Monaghan. Didn't get either of those guys.

I mean, who's the center that really moves the needle who's available out there now? There isn't one. Okay. You know, like, let's just be honest here. All the best players available are either defenders or wangers, unless you want to be like, well, Adam Henrique, there's a guy that's going to make a difference for you. That's one of the guys, right? Who's even another sent,

nicked out, I guess. I think I'm out of centers I can think of that are even worth talking about, really. Yep. So, you don't have that? I don't know. Not sure what you do. They've been aggressive at previous deadlines,

but. Had to be with Bergeron and. Yeah. and co whether you do it now the other thing that that is really interesting is there does seem to be more chatter out of boston than i would have thought about moving a goldender yeah i wonder how much of that is the guy with jeremy swamon being very did did you follow any of the drama last night in toronto i mean with all right not being on the bench follow might be overstating what i did you have did you have any of that forced upon you famously I don't get to watch Bruins games so this was all just like stuff I saw on Twitter or whatever

there were Boston media noticed that Hallmark was not on the bench Yeah right we should say sure And we're wondering what that might mean Until it was pointed out that the backup goalie doesn't sit on the bench And the visitors bench in Toronto Well to be fair it's not like they're they're playing what two three four games a year in Toronto No

And Toronto is a small market that doesn't. It's a team they never play. It's never on TV. Yeah. So it's not a single playoff matchup in their history. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. But that's what happens when you have a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference team.

Yeah. So, yeah. Is there any chance of this? I mean, this, I hate it normally, but this does feel like a thing that you, you know, kick a few tires now, but you make this move in the summer. don't you? Here is my answer. If you can get a center from somebody,

I'd think about it. Again, you would need to get a center who is like an actual difference maker. And maybe there isn't one that's available. But again, we're talking about like getting guys who are going to have term. Like you don't trade Allmark for a rental, obviously. You don't trade anybody for a rental. if you're the Bruins, right?

Unless it's like a bottom of the lineup guy. Yeah, the approach that Fluto had at the Athletic was sort of that it would be a multiple part deal where you trade him. You're going to have to trade him for futures. You probably don't get as much as you might think for a guy who is the reigning Vezina winner. I'm doing the finger thing that means money.

Yeah. But what you get is you clear the cap space. You get some future assets to replenish the cupboard. And then you turn around and you use that cap space and probably some of those assets on the next part of the deal, which is now you do have enough room to be in on a Noah Hanofin or whoever else you might be interested in. And Noah Hanofin, a Boston guy. Yeah. but not a center not a center

kind of pointedly not a center and look like you know the Bruins whole thing is like what if we just go out and get a number one defense at the deadline how that sound for everyone you know so they could do that but like

I say I think their very obvious need is up the middle and you know if you can if you can shake something loose from a team that's not going to make the playoffs but is kind of good. New Jersey, for example. Not that they're going to be looking to move on

for many centers, but you know what I mean? Like a team of that ilk, you think about it. I think so. I think the money just makes it too complicated to move to move L. Mark right now. As you say, the summer's a better time to get that. Especially considering like some of the teams,

like you're you would assume you're not going to want to move them within the Atlantic necessarily. No, for sure. You might not even want to move them to the metro, although maybe you're, I mean, the thing is, if the devils make the playoffs, you're probably not going to see them. So maybe you feel okay about that. Well, Sean, you know, if if some butts were candy and nuts, man, you know what I mean? The devils are not making the playoffs at this point. I would have to think.

We'll get to them. But, you will certainly. get to them. Oh yeah, and we should say any like news that comes up, you know, when we get to Vancouver, we're going to talk about Patterson and all that kind of stuff. So, you know, hold tight. But let's do one more team and then we'll take a quick break. How does that sound? Sure. Okay. The Anaheim Ducks. We got to pick up the pace here. I'm looking at how long this podcast is. We're five teams deep. Another bad team, lots of guys that could move. I think the interesting one here is

Frank Vitrano. Obviously he's been... Apparently doesn't want to get traded? I could see that. I mean... But has no protection. So, pack your shit.

He doesn't get a say in the matter. One more year left. So not a rental, but also not a long-term commitment. Nice cheap contract. I mean, if they retain, it's a really nice cheap contract. contract. I think he's, I mean, it makes sense. When you're a bad team, we see this every year, right?

Like some team is bad. They have a player, has a career year, and you can either say, okay, wow, lucky us, we can now move this guy and get something, or you say, oh, this is now who this player is. Right. And, you know, we kind of saw Chicago with Jason Dickinson make one, you know, turn one way down that intersection, and maybe the ducks go the other one. The Trevor Zieger stuff seems to have quieted it down. You haven't seen John Gibson's name show up all that often, somewhat surprisingly. So I think this is, I mean, they're still very clearly in cell and rebuild mode,

but I don't think we get any blockbusters here. But Vatrano would be something. They have, yeah. And they have had Henrique, obviously. They have a, they just have a few more guys than I think you would expect. that teams, you know, unlike the sharks and Chicago, like bad team with guys' teams do want. You know?

Sulfraberg, there's another guy. He could move. Why not? You know? It's not very good, but. Well, sure, but, you know, he, he's a rental. I'm sure they'll be working the phones. Yeah, you want to, we'll eat some money on this one.

Who cares, you know? They have options, though. I don't know that. They, and they, uh, They retained salary on Lubushkin, which means they've used one of their slots, but it also means they are willing to do that. Yep. So good son there. Yeah, by the way, we'll just get it out of the way now.

Do you want to apologize to the people like I did last week for making the Lebuskin thing happen? Yeah. Apparently that one was on us. Keep fucking up. What can I say? Yeah. That was on us, you know. Yep.

Me, specifically. Sorry. I forget that the Leafs front office listens to this podcast, like the second it comes out. And they just, as soon as I said that, you know, you can picture Trilling with like one hand on the phone and just furiously pointing and telling people, all papers being dropped around the room and weightboards being squeaked on. It's just, it's on me. That's right. Yeah, very, very, I expect this to be one of the more active sellers, just because they have two or three guys teams want, and not, not one or two, like a lot of the other sellers. Yep. So, yeah, why don't we take a quick break?

We'll come back. We'll really try to rip through a few more of these teams here. This week's episode, Puck Soup is brought to you by Raycon. And folks, I've been working out a little bit more lately. Not to brag, but you know, hey, I'm getting out there. I'm having a little bit more exercise in my life. And you know what the best thing I do when I exercise? I bring my Raycon's with me.

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And let's go back up to the top here. The New York Rangers are fourth in the league by points percentage. Yep. Real good team. What do you do if you're then? It's a bit of a tough one. I don't see obvious, obvious needs. They got to replace Blake Wheeler, I think, is the pretty.

obvious problem for them. But, you know, what we were just saying, the number of wingers out there, I'm very confident that they will be motivated enough to go out and get whoever they think is the best fit. I don't think they're getting Jake Gensel just because of, you know, the divisions thing. But you, if you're the Rangers, are you open to moving Capo caco rather than a pick? Yeah, sure. See you later. If that's, yeah. Let him be someone else's problem for a minute. That also, obviously, you know, that that could be an asset that some team would be interested in rather than a pick and it frees up salary going the other way.

So I could see that making sense. Do you have any thoughts you want to add to the ongoing Matt Rempe discourse? Who fucking cares, man? I don't give a shit. Oh, wow, you're not going to believe it. This guy who fights, he's fighting people. Huh, interesting. Can't believe it.

Apparently, what they should do is they should have, like, one of those big, giant novelty cane hooks on the bench, and, like, every time he's about to fight, it's up to Peter Lavalette to reach over. Why do you think he's on the fucking roster man? It's not because he's like good at hockey. Well, he didn't fight a ton in the minors is like he fought a lot in the minors relative to how much most players fight these days. But he wasn't fighting every second game in the minors. Yeah.

So they feel like, but like I don't know. To me it's like, okay, here's this kid. You know, I'm not, it sucks because like I'm not trying to bad mouth the kid. He's trying to make it in the NHL. Right? I do think that some of what's going on here is he is now, because he's become such a big story, he is now the guy who fights, which means if you're a guy on his opponent's team who fights, you better fight him to, because otherwise, why are you even there? So if you're, for example, Ryan Reeves, you better at least go and put the challenge out there. Now, in the Leafs game, Reeves did challenge him. He said, no, fine, no problem.

Then he throws kind of a cheap hit on Lubushkin, and Reeves sort of says, all right, now we got to go. And that's fun. That's the way hockey tends to work. But I do feel like he's become a bit of a makework project for other teams' fourth-line quasi-enforcers. Yeah, to me, it's like, the thing that I, the thing that I, I stopped short of saying it's kind of like a fucking side show at this point, isn't it? Can you believe it?

Yeah. You know? And like, let the kid either make it, because that's the other thing is everyone's like, we love this. He's fighting all the time. But of course, we do have to solemnly address the scourge. And I think some people have written both of those columns in the span of like a week. In the span of one column, they've written both those columns.

That too. Right? And and to me, like, I'm not, again, I'm not shitting on the kid. They're like, here's what you got to do to make it at the NHL level. And like, you know, I'm sure he's moving jerseys and fucking knock off t-shirts and all that bullshit. Like, I don't blame the kid at all. Go make your money. If that's what it takes to stay up and not make, believe me, the difference between an HL and an NHL daily salary, pretty significant. You know? So, like, I'm not mad at the kid at all. But all these people egging him on and that kind of shit. Like, I think it's all, I think it's all pretty nasty, personally. Fair enough.

But you know me? I'm not a fighting guy. Nope. So I don't like it. I don't think it really needs to be in the game at this point. And, you know, Fair enough. People just want to

just want to sell you something, I guess. I don't know. But yeah, they'll add a big name winger, maybe even two. You know, depending on, depending on... We were very aggressive last year. They were the big, you know, Kane and Teresenko and didn't really work.

But between... But between Wheeler and Heedle, they do have like a good amount of cap money to spend. And if they can get someone to eat some salary or something like that, you know, they have, unlike the Bruins, they have picks, man. They have their first two picks in this draft. Although, again, you know, they got to make the pick at the, at the, the, the, the, the sphere and all this kind of stuff. So maybe, maybe the 2024 first isn't available.

But, yeah, it'll be, it'll be very interesting to see what they do. I think they could be one of the big buyers for sure. Okay. Columbus. Terrible team. No real assets. Also, the only team in the league that doesn't have a GM. Does make it a little bit difficult, doesn't it?

So I don't really know how much we can even talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets. Yeah, it's not a... Sorry, Columbus. It's not easy. I wrote my column this week. It's a miserable, miserable time to be a Blue Jackets fan right now. Because it's every other bad team, at least right now, is like, well, maybe we'll get a first round pick for this or that.

And I don't even know if that's on the table for Columbus. Yep, it's true. Next. Next indeed. Okay, let me scroll back up here. It is the Vancouver Canucks with their newly re-signed Superstar Center. Yep. Let me ask you a question, Sean, regarding this new contract.

Who would you rather have next season? This is a very simple question. Who would you rather have? William Nylander and $100,000. Yeah. Early is Patterson. Yeah. Imagine if you were a Canucks fan and you were told, like, at some point this season,

they will sign Pedersen to an eight-year deal for William Nealander money. Like, you would have been doing car wheels. Whoa, we got him for $9 million. I think you're still doing car wheels. He did them a huge fucking favor with this deal. Pedersen, of course, of course is the answer to this question. He is a far more valuable. He rocks.

He's so cool. The great thing about this is that, and again, this is one of those stories where I like it so much that I don't care if it's true or not, I'm just going with it. The idea that the Canucks either made and or bluffed a trade involving him,

and then when he found about that, he was like, okay, you know what, maybe I will stick around. Let's serious this up a little bit. Yeah, absolutely, man. And we'll never know whether they would have actually moved forward with that. I think it was maybe it was last week or two weeks ago,

you and I were talking about it. We said, well, there's no chance they're going to trade them during the season. The season they're having, you'd never trade your best forward when everything is clicking so well. But they at least got far enough along to pretend that they would, and that seemed to be part of what... Petterson got scared. Don't send me to Carolina. They have nothing but fins there. That's right.

Yes, I did see somebody say that. So I think it's a very good contract for a very good contract for a very far. For both sides, I don't think it's, you know, this isn't, this isn't like some of the deals we've seen with guys sometimes a bit younger where you just immediately go, oh, well, this is going to cost the, you know, this guy just kissed away tens millions of dollars and the team is laughing all of a bit. No, he gets away maybe like $10 million. But, yeah, he, it's a good enough deal for him and a great deal for the Canucks. And if you're a Canucks fan, you're absolutely thrilled. Are you doing anything at the deadline? They want to.

They certainly are being mentioned in the same breath as a lot of sellers. Jake Gunsell is the big name that they get mentioned with. The two things to keep in mind, again, like we said, with Winnipeg, Vancouver's already made a big move. They already did the Lindholm move. So if they don't do anything, they can still say, hey, man, we were aggressive. We just did a little bit earlier. They, Elliot had them linked to Tyler to Foley.

Apparently, Tom Fitzgerald today said they're not looking to do that. Looking to move to Foley? Yeah. Okay. The other thing, keep in mind is there's Phil Kessel kicking around. Not that you, you know, not that you pass up at Jake Gunsell's because Phil Kessel's there, but, I mean, there is, as far as like, do we go out and add some veteran depth? Well, you got some veteran death sitting right there ready to go if you want it. Has he, I can't imagine he's actually like played games in the HL or whatever, has he?

No, I thought he was, you know what? Just skating, right? I thought he was still. I just looked. No, he hasn't. Yeah, he's just skating. Yeah, so I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be too like, well, you know, we got Phil Kessel. You know, I'm not super convinced that that's a.

No, but I do think there are guys out there assuming you don't. get to Foley or Gunsell or whoever. At some point you get down to some of the names on the trade board and you're just going, are any of these guys better than Phil Kessel could be? Are any of these guys better enough than Phil Kessel that we want to give up a third or fourth round pick? Do we just keep what we got? The only guy that really jumps off the page to me is like a huge boost for them and

it's not just a one-year thing is Butchina. They'd obviously have to give up a decent amount to get them, but as we've been saying, like, if they're ever going to give up a lot to get somebody, now's the fucking time to do it. You're never going to have a better opportunity at the cup seating-wise than for this group, I would say, than the Canucks do right now. They do not have a first or second round pick this year, but they're in decent shape in future years. And they have a number of very good prospects. I don't think they're giving up like Lekromaki for them. But, you know, they have other guys that they could deal who are solid prospects. And a little bit of cap specs too.

Yep. Boy, that Lindholm trade didn't really work out how people thought it would, huh? He's not yet. And that's out and that's about it. He's pretty much even with Kuzmenko in scoring since then. But, you know, that's so far. we'll see yep

okay who is after the Canucks the Ottawa Senators you know folks they should they should be buyers they're only like two two players away

well I think I think the key in Ottawa is stability I think you really you gotta lock in that stability boy those players man how bad does that look in hindsight that that was the big ass

from the players stability And then you gave them half of your stability, and they absolutely crapped the bed. I think lots of guys who could move. Teresenko, I think, is the obvious one as far as bigger names. I think there's a lot of hope that maybe they could get a first for him, considering what he went for last year, but also in acceptance that that's unlikely unless there's... Absolutely not, man.

You would have to be crazy to give up a first-round pick for that. Is Sean Monaghan that much better than... Sean Monaghan's a center, bit dog. That is part of it. Dominic Kubalik will go for whatever they can get. He has been... I saw Ian had a column today where he was looking at, like, what should the senators do at the deadline?

And this blew me away. Dominic Kubelik hasn't scored in like 20 games, but his shooting percentage of this year is actually above his career average. How is that? Like, What? He's just not shooting the puck at all.

Is he getting like 0.2 shots a game? Like what do you? That's terrible. The big thing in Ottawa, they would love to get a goalie, but you know, who knows? Like I said,

a guy like, like, well, they could just wait until the summer and get a, well, you wait to, a corpusallo kind of a guy, you know?

Yeah. Now there's a goalie. The thing Ian did point out, and it's a good call by him, is they, they, Did the whole bringing a goalie for a six-week tryout and then sign him thing with Craig Anderson way back when and it worked great. So maybe they try something similar.

The big story in Ottawa is Jacob Chickren. Does he go? They have the three left-handed defensemen who are all making good money. All, in theory, should be playing big minutes. Chickren's got one more cheap year left. So you don't have to do it now. and in fact you could you could obviously extend him in the summer

but then you probably have to move Thomas Shabbat Sanderson's the other guy on that side so it doesn't feel like that's feasible long term so they got to move one of those guys not necessarily now but this is like a greatly dialed down version of the Eric Carlson thing a few years ago

where it was like why wouldn't some team want him for two playoff runs instead of one and then they waited till the summer and didn't get at the time we thought very much for him. So, yeah. I'd be actively looking to move him if I was Ottawa, but again, stability.

You got to be stable, man, you know? Like, that's... Don't mess with the good thing, man. That's exactly right. Look, I don't know, I don't know if you saw. They had a week where they had one of the, they had like one of the 10 best points percentages in the league. They're days away from turning this thing around.

It's right there. for them. Yeah. Right there. And if you believe that, I have some playoff tickets in New Jersey to sell you. Hey, next up, the Dallas Stars, they already made one of their big moves. They got Chris Tannave I think on Friday, maybe,

Thursday or Friday. Yeah. Nice deal too. They did. They ripped Calgary off. Oh, my God, man. So it doesn't sound like there's a lot going on with them. I think, I mean,

They're cup contenders, so they should be in on everyone in the sense that you're at least kicking tires. But Tanev was the big move. And then the other thing is Logan Stan Cohen coming in and looking instantly like an NHL player. Yep. Kind of that's another piece. Like the thing with Dallas all along was they needed the one defense and they got him. The fact that they got them cheaper than we thought didn't cost a first round pick. In theory, opens them up to go and get somebody else.

But I don't, like, I'm not going to say they're not going to do anything. I think they absolutely could be in on some of the bigger names, but they are one of the few teams I look at and I go, they don't have to do anything. That's what I was going to say. They do nothing all week. I'm still giving them an A on their deadline work. Yeah, no, they got, like you said, they got TANF for Next and Nothing.

Did you see this quote from Craig Conroy about his trade calls with Jim Nill? No. So the guy they got back, like the player they got back is like a, I can't remember his age now, but he's like an early to mid-20s, a KHL guy who doesn't have a ton of points.

Yeah. And basically anyone you talk to is like, yeah, if this guy ever makes it to North America, I'd be pretty surprised, basically. And the, And the Craig Conroy quote that he gave to Jeff Merrick talking about the trade. He's like, Jim didn't want to give him up, but, you know, he's circled back. He's like, you know what, if I put this guy in the deal, I don't want to give him up, but can we get it done that way?

And Craig was like, yeah, let's do it then, you know? Boy. And I try that on every fantasy football trade, and it never works. Yeah, the thing I compared to. Apparently I need to get in the league with Craig Conroy. The thing I compared it to is Jim Nill was like, I don't know, man, painting this fence is awful fun. If I did it, I mean, out Polly would be so mad if I let you do it. But okay, don't tell her.

Don't tell her I let you. But you can paint this fence. And Craig's like, yeah, give you that brush, brother. Let's do it. Yep. It's tough, man. Not good. He didn't really max out the Lindholm thing.

We'll hold that thought for when we get to Calgary. But yeah, it's... The reviews have not been stellar so far. Nope, nope, nope. Okay, scroll back down. The Arizona Coyotes. So we mentioned Dumbah. We did.

This is another team that felt like they sort of were built for the dead. Who's the other guy? Jason Zucker was the other guy that they got one-year deals. And you just kind of thought, all right, that's to get them there. I think those are the two guys most likely to go. Bigger names. I doubt it, but, you know, it's possible. And then obviously we would expect them to be available on any sort of cap brokering or dead money.

Yeah. They were a nice story for a lot of the year right up until they lost 14th streak. games. And then went into Ottawa. That'll get you every fucking time. Do you think Jacob Chikrin enjoyed watching Arizona come into Ottawa and snap a 14 game losing streak? Well, you know what?

If he didn't, here's some, here's some, here's a comforting thought. I did. And the other thing I just want to mention on Arizona just has nothing to do with the trade deadline, but have, uh, have you noticed their, uh, renewed Twitter presence? To me, it's been simply freaking epic. Yeah. Just, just because. Like, what if we became, like, the worst trolley reply guys on Twitter?

Did you see their one from The Weekend? I don't. I might have. I don't know. They had, I don't remember what they did one of their, like, and the rumor is that it's somebody, let's just say, close to the organization who is now running the Twitter account. Oh, yeah. No, everybody, yeah, everybody's seen that report, I think. And so they posted some trolley tweet.

I don't remember what it was. Somebody replied, and they hit back with the classic, classic Twitter jerk reply of living rent-free. Okay. But as many people pointed out, that's maybe not the term that the Arizona Coyotes, a team that was literally living rent-free because they were refusing to pay their rent and got them kicked out of their building.

Maybe they shouldn't be going with living rent-free as their big comeback. But yeah, it was quite an epic bacon. Was it their rent or was it their tax bill? I don't remember. It was the arena was saying that they weren't allegedly. I don't know why I thought it was their tax. Anyway, no, to me, they don't, they can live rent. They can live rent free, but they do have to build me a $20,000 or a $20 million annex next to the arena.

That's it. Yeah. For their team to use anytime they want. The Arizona County's arena operator says the NHL team still owes more than $2.7 million for rent and other expenses. Craig Morgan reports. Well. So, yeah, they had replied, yeah, that's Mark Dumont. honestly not the topic I'd voluntarily put out there.

Yeah, some random Habs guy was like you guys lost 14 in a row and they're like living rent-free. That's a tough look. The best one was remember like the owner's going to address the team coming out of the All-Star break or whatever. The best one of that is like we should have an update and then it was the Billy Madison Giff of like Today Jr. and then they deleted that tweet. Yeah. Oh, okay. You can't be epic and a Twitter deleter guy.

Yeah, you got to pick, man. You got to pick. Okay, who's next here? Let's scroll back up. And the answer is the Edmonton Oilers. Mm-hmm. This is an interesting team. Yep.

Interesting team. A team that doesn't feel like they have a ton of holes, but then you kind of look at the recent record. It's not quite there. Yeah, that's true of most of the Pacific Division. They're just all like, you know what? We're trying to avoid. Like, every one of them is trying to avoid every other one of them in the first round.

And so, like, they're all trying to drop into a wild card spot. Although the way Vegas looks these days, like, ooh, they're maybe not. Well, they're circumventing the cap. So they're, they're. Everyone knows that about Vegas, right? Yeah. They're capped out. Cody C.C. is the guy that everyone assumes is in a deal for a defenseman.

You would assume that they're maybe not necessarily as likely to get any of the Calgary guys, just because there have been reports that, in addition to all the other issues, that Conroy is maybe reluctant to trade his guys to certain teams. and, you know, if you're Calgary or do you can, you're going to send Noah Hannafin to Edmonton. Beggars can be cheesers, it turns out. Well, yeah, apparently. So they'll be in on, I get another one of these good teams that'll be in on everyone.

Yeah. They could use help anywhere except probably golden. Maybe they'd want to upgrade the backup goalie, but, you know, they're not. I think they're locked in on, it's Skinner all the way. As well, they should be. Skinner's been really good lately. So, I mean, I do think you'd probably a blue liner is a secondary score. I mean, every team needs seconders.

Every good contending team needs secondary score. This time of year, everyone's always taught blue line this and that. And then you get to the playoffs and every game is two to one. And you're like, man, I wish we had Vladimir Tarasenko on the second power play unit to get that goal that tips the series. But they'll be fun to watch. But I don't. again, there has to be kind of the, there has to be cap going out.

Yep. Yeah, they could do some small stuff, but if they want to, if they want to move the needle at all, they're going to have to free up some space with. The one thing is, they sound like a team, though, that is very willing to move a first round pick,

which not every, not every one of the contenders is, is on that list. Edmonton is. Yeah, I mean, so you've probably heard this from a million different places by now. Like you, not Sean, but like you, the average hockey fan. The quality of the draft really kind of drops off a cliff after like 15 or 16, from what I understand. I always have to couch this as in, I'm not anything close to a draft guy as far as like elite prospects.

people are concerned. But, you know, what they say is that, like, yeah, you know, it's not necessarily a great draft in general, but it really is kind of meh, once you get out of the top 15, 20. And so the Oilers being willing to move a first round pick where others aren't, like, I don't know how value, how much more valuable that is than teams being willing to move a second round. pick. But being able to say, oh, I got a first round pick for this guy. That actually does matter. Exactly. So there's that.

Yeah, I guess, like you say, they could use an upgrade up front. Like, you know, it's not going to shock anybody when McDavid and Dreisidler off the ice. The offense isn't that great. Pretty interesting. Feels like they've been trying to trade Warren Fogel for like four years. I don't think that's even how long he's been there. But yeah.

No, they'll make something happen. I'm pretty confident. But, you know, the interesting thing is they're, I feel like they're kind of both competing for wingers. And, or both them in Vancouver is what I meant to say. that'll be interesting. So yeah, let's move on. Who do we got down at the bottom? Montreal.

Yeah. Did you see the article over the weekend? You know, Joel Armia, he might be more valuable to them staying than getting traded. Wrong. They already did a real good job on Sean Monaghan. A fantastic job of managing the market. and all of that stuff. David Savard, obviously a name that is out there.

Apparently, he doesn't necessarily want to move. But that's an option. Jake Allen is still, you know, would make a lot of sense, I think, as some team needing some veteran depth, and they're obviously ready to move on fully to the Montembow era. So other than that, I think they've kind of made their big move. I don't think every year around this time somebody says that they could move Josh Anderson and they can't It's one of these years, you know

Yeah, probably one of the years that he doesn't have like nine years still left on his contract Interesting So that's that's a freaking take, okay I'm going to at freezing cold takes about this Yep, you do it But yeah other than that like Yeah, they don't have any The only expiring deal they have is Tanner Pearson.

Wow. Yeah. Not likely to be... Not the most in-demand guy, let's say. No, it's... They're an interesting team this year. They did their work. They did it well, but I don't think we have a ton left to talk about with them.

Nope. Maybe another team that could be a broker for cap hits. That sort of thing. That is all, hey, you never know. You could get a forefront pick out of that, you know. That's not nothing. Colorado Avalanche. 0.001 points percentage behind Edmonton right now.

What do the avalanche do? I mean, they're another team where it always feels like they're, in the conversation at least, with a lot of names. and then, you know, do they get them? Not always. You know, sometimes they definitely do. But it's, you would assume a center. Yeah.

It hasn't like the Ryan Johansson ad hasn't really worked. I think that was a smart roll of the dice, but I think you'd rather have, I think you'd rather have him as a good three than a so-so two. and that means you need a better two. And again, we've talked about centers being tough to find. In 32 thoughts, Elliot talks about Gabriel Landisog, maybe being not completely off the table as far as a guy who could come back. That's what they keep saying. So that would be interesting.

I mean, Elliot sort of framed it as if he comes back, then you're really all in. But I wonder, I mean, do you worry, are we assuming that him coming back is like in the playoffs? Like they're not, like ideally you'd want them back in the regular season to test things out. But then you've got to account for the salary and all of that. Yep. I don't know. Tough one there. But yeah, I think Colorado is, they're going to go for it.

Yeah. And again, they have first round picks. What do they want? You know, they don't need those. That's not, maybe you'd like to see them upgrade the goal tending a little bit. But otherwise, yeah, I mean, they feel pretty locked in. Let me just, since we didn't talk about with Chicago,

did you have any thoughts on the Josh Manson slash on Connor Bardard? This shit happens 50 times a game, man. But it happened to the one guy on the team that anybody on Chicago that anybody cares about. And it's like, well, we've got to have a national conversation about this one. Is it good that it happens 15 times a game? No. But like it does. You know who would have prevented that?

Matt Rempey. Ryan Reeves, man. Of course. You know, Ryan Reeves would have too. In fact, if I'm Chicago, I'm calling the Leafs. You're really trying to get that one out there. For no reason. No reason whatsoever.

It worked last week. Help me out, man. Who's next? Who's next? After Colorado, you go back down and you get to the Buffalo Sabres. The only team in the league, dead even, 500. Which means they've lost, what, 12 more games than they won? Yeah, it means they're the 25th place team in the league.

Great, all right, cool. And it's actually only four. They're 29, 29, and 4. I love to be 500, but be 205. 25th out of 32. That's cool to me. Do you think anything's, I mean, I'm not seeing anything. Elliot said that they were open for maybe a bigger trade,

but it feels like those. Yeah, you're hearing middle stats name a little bit. Yeah. You know, but. Highlock Pozo is the big rental who could be available would seem to make sense. Yeah, but I mean, if you're going, yeah, if you're going down the list of wingers who are available. and are going to move the needle for you.

Apparently a couple teams called them about Alex Tuck, and they were like, get lost. Yep. Makes sense. Yeah, well, it doesn't, it doesn't, right? Anyway. Yeah, even goal, I mean, the goaltending, I think you're sticking with what you've got. Yeah, for sure.

Especially, like, God, Uco Pekyllukin is a guy where it feels like, I've been saying, oh, he's a year away from being a starter in this league for six years. you know. And yeah, he's only 24 and he's a pending RFA. So, yeah, might as well keep him. Why not? The thing with the Sabres is they have a ridiculous amount of cap space. They do. But they've got those two big blue line contracts kicking in next year. So it's deceptively, it makes it look like they could be in on absolutely anybody.

But they could eat money on, you know, again, be the broker. Oh, you could absolutely be the broker. broker and... But... Other than that, there's not really a lot they can do with it. I don't think we get necessarily a ton of movement there. Nope. Next up is the Carolina Hurricanes.

Now, they were just trying to get a pretty notable center. It didn't work out for them. But clearly they're willing to make some big moves. And, you know, an Elias Peterson deal, like it, It wouldn't have been a classic hockey deal in the sense that obviously the contract situation would have been the motivating factor, but that's, they're clearly willing to move big names. So that, that, that, that move them very high up my list of teams that I'm interested to watch because they, they always tend to, you know, be willing to do things a little different in Carolina. And, yeah, and it may, and it may just be the. that Elias Pedersen potentially being available during the season was a unicorn

and you chuck everything out the window when there's a chance like that and now it's back to situation normal. But very interesting to watch. Also reportedly looking to move Tony DiAngelo. Fifth round pick was the report. Fifth round pick and we'll eat half. Just give us anything. I mean, I just feel like in today's woke.

I just feel like in today's woke society, like, you guys don't even get a 17th chance anymore. Yeah. Like, you screw up 16 times in 16 places, and it's like, that's just who you are now. The mind virus got them. There's no two ways about it. That's it. Yeah, they need offense, right? Like, that's a tale as old as time for the Carolina hurricanes.

They need, well, not just offense, but specifically a guy who's like a natural goal score can put the puck in the net. pretty easily. That's what they need. And they try, I think we, we talked about this, or maybe we talked about this on the PDO cast. But I was talking about this with somebody somewhat recently. And, you know, they tried it with Max Patcher Ready. It didn't work out for reasons beyond anybody's control, but it didn't work out, right? And that, that just does seem to be the kind of player they would target.

Now, Max Fats, you're ready. He might be available for Washington to Capitals. Give it another show. shot. But, you know, who knows what that costs? Are we done talking goalies with Carolina? With Kanchkov playing okay now? Yeah, and apparently Anderson's pretty close to being back, so they say.

Okay. In which case, hey, salute, good for you, man. But, yeah, I think that kind of takes it off the board. By the way, I just looked it up. You know how many goals patchy already has in 25 games this year? How many? Three. Dude, that's three more than you have.

Yeah, but like barely. Got his ass. Barely, though. It's barely three more than I have. Yeah. But you're not available at the deadline, so. No. Well, you know what?

I actually am. I'll sign a PTO. I guess I'd be an ATO, right? I'm not, I don't know how that works, I guess. Yeah. Do ATOs even exist anymore? I have no idea. I have no idea.

Anyway. Yeah. They want offense. They'll... I think they'll get someone, but I don't know who, you know, how big the name's going to be at the end of the day, you know? But, well, they're obviously willing to go big game hunting, so that alone makes them an interesting team in a league where so many teams don't seem to want to be willing to do that.

That's right. The Minnesota Wild. Are they good this week or are they terrible this week? I haven't checked. Yeah, I, you know, I think they're good right now, but, you know, give it, give it a, give it a day and could be, could be very different. I think the big problem for them is, like, they can't even, they've been bad so many weeks that they can't even pretend, especially because of Nashville's big jump. Yeah, yeah, Nashville has closed some doors. So I think they're going to be

Maybe not like you know Fire sale mode But I think they'll be willing to move some guys But not but not Mark andre Fleury Which is the name that obviously Yeah A lot of attention and that's just not up to them Yeah

It sounds like it was a mutual decision That's just not going to happen Which is fine That's the player has Yeah I mean if you're trading for Mark Andre Fleury Flurry, he's not, like, making a difference for you. Probably not. Like, he's been okay this year, and that's about it.

But they just don't have a lot of guys that, like, I can see teams being super interested in, like, that are, like, pending free agents. You've got Brandon Du Hame, good enough depth winger guy, you know. Alex Kahligowski and Zach Bogosian. Those are your name pending UFAs. And according to Elliot Bogogian working on an extension. Well, there you go. I didn't hear that.

So not him either. So, Brandon, look, I like Brandon Du Ham. It's like a depth ad for a good team. Hockey, East Guy, you know. But, yeah, to me, they'd be interested in selling, but I don't know who's buying. If I may quote Megadeth. Sure. Okay.

You may. Thank you. You got any thoughts on this team? They're tied with the Carolina Hurricanes and points percentage. The Toronto Maple Leafs. Surely. Yeah. They're interesting in the sense that there really does seem to be a lot of debate

over how much they should do and how much they can do. They are, the argument in favor of being aggressive is that they're a good team. they're contending. Obviously, there's a lot of pressure on them to break through in the playoffs. Awesome Matthews having a career year. Nealander having a career year, like, there's a lot of places you could look and say this is a year to take a swing. You don't, you can't keep your bat on your shoulders in a year like this. The flip side is they have already been very aggressive at recent deadlines as far as moving picks. don't have a great prospect pipeline.

The cupboard's getting pretty bare. They've got very few picks coming up in the next several years. They've already traded like future firsts beyond this year. And they need a defenseman is the main one. A center would be nice. So we'll see. They were obviously in pretty heavy on Chris Tannav. but didn't happen for it.

I mean, there was talk that Conray wasn't going to move him to Toronto, but also they don't have a second round pick, so it's not like they could have matched Dallas's offer anyways. Right. So. What if they've thrown in a KHL guy who is bad? We don't want to give him that guy up. Someone, oh, speaking again of this guy whose name I don't remember,

someone was like posted his I think it was his neutral zone scouting report they were like this guy has stick skills like you wouldn't believe he does stuff that like you just never see

like putting his stick in your liver or your spleen or something like that it's just like that tells you everything you need to know about the player okay fine I love that the one thing to look at with the leaves that I guess could be interesting is it sounds like they're not going to do anything with goalies. Defense would obviously be number one.

Nick Robertson would be the guy that you would want to see if they would be willing to move instead of potentially a pick. Good, talented player who just hasn't really been able to break through with the Leafs in a few years and change a scenery type thing. I don't think any teams are out there valuing him like a first-round pick to put it mildly, but he's be interesting to see if they send him somewhere

as part of a deal, in which point he will immediately break through and win the Rock of Richard next year. Right. Yeah. But yeah, I don't know. I think they'll target a defenseman. There's just so many available. Like, why not? You know?

And a right-handed defenseman. They've been playing. Well, there are fewer of those available, but yes. There are. But they've been playing, like, they played a few games in the last week with six lefties. so it almost would have to be a righty, you would almost think. Might not be up to them. Yep.

Okay, who's next at the bottom here? This is a very interesting team. The Pittsburgh Penguins. In my notes for them, I just wrote, Oof. Yep, I think that's a pretty reasonable reaction. A classic case where the GM a month ago says, I'm going to let the players tell me what to do. And the players are like, we stink.

We are awful. Get us out of here. And yet, it doesn't sound like J. Gunsell is necessarily guaranteed to move. I think he is at this point. But it's certainly got to feel close to that. I think he has. I think he has to be, yeah. I mean, I can't imagine them not trading him if they don't sign him this week. Mm-hmm. So.

But yeah, just a design. disastrous week for them. Elliot says they will not ask Brian Rust to waive us no trade. Yep. I didn't see that. That always strikes me as odd, but maybe that just means that they have asked him and he said no. And so that's the end of that. Well, we're not going to ask again, that's for sure.

The interesting name, I think, is Riley Smith. Yes, absolutely. Even potentially back to Vegas, who will get to in a bit, but maybe other spots as well. That would be pretty fun. But doesn't he have a year left after this one? I think he's got one year left after this one. That's what I thought, yeah. But I will check as you speak.

Oh, okay. Yeah, obviously, you know, again, they have some guys that would have value. I think they'd probably like to move a goalie if I had to guess. But will they? I guess is a different question. I mean, I don't think you can move Jari. No, you probably can. With that contract, so it's Nadelchkovich is your guy.

And that would make sense. But I don't think, you know, again, he's not coming in and being anyone's new starter. And he's not as cheap as you think either. He makes one and a half million dollars, even though he's Alex Nadelcovich. Riley Smith, one more year at $5 million. And the other thing with the penguins, they have only one retained salary right now, but it's Jeff Petrie who's they're retaining for two more years on him.

Yeah. This year and next year. So if they were to retain on Riley Smith, that locks up two of their three spots for this year and next year, which is maybe not something they'd want to do. But, yeah, pressure's cooking on Kyle Dubas. Lars Ellers would be another guy that I think is potentially. He's got another year left, but he's cheapish, 2.4.

And that's a guy, again, a center that the teams could easily talk themselves into. He could make sense for the Leafs. I know he's been mentioned by a few of our guys at Bertl and Jonas. That'd be fun. Wouldn't you love to hear that trade talk? No. Kyle Dubas calling up the Leafs. How's it going, guys?

Yeah, what? Yeah, my team stink. now. They're awful. I just wouldn't pick up the phone. That's too embarrassing. You know? If I'm thinking about making a trade with the Leafs, I... Yeah, that's just... You know, it's the Mr. Burns come crawling back a doggy door for re-applicants or whatever.

Yep. Yeah. Do you think there is any interest at all, just because we're talking about centers? any interest at all in Jeff Carter out there. I mean, he seems completely washed, but... Cooked. He's got a couple of rings. He's got a couple of, you know, whatever, expiring deal, finally.

Yeah. That's obviously one where if anyone calls Kyle Dubas and says Jeff Carter, it's like, name your price. And you can have... Well, you say that. He has a full no move clause, so... Never mind. But yeah, you want to talk about a guy they'd be happy to,

salary on. We'll eat 100%. Just get them out of here. See you later. What do you mean the rules say I can't do that? Yeah. You know what? Why don't we take another break and we'll come back and do the last handful of teams here. This week's episode is brought to you by our friends at Athletic Greens and AG1. Taking care of your health is not always easy, but it should at least be simple. And that is why for years now, I've been telling you about AG1. They've been great sponsors of this show, great partners. And they are also a great addition to your day, one scoop, mixed in water, just once a day, every day, and it gives you that extra energy and focus, and all those things that you need to go take on the day. That's because each serving of

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ownership of your health, start with AG1. Try AG1, get a free one-year supply of vitamin D3 plus K2 and five free AG1 travel packs with your first purchase exclusively at drinkag1.com slash puck. That's drinkag1.com slash puck. Check it out. All right. We're in the home stretch now. I hope. The Los Angeles Kings, the only remaining team with a 600 points percentage. Hmm. That's an interesting one, right?

Because looked like legitimate cup contenders in the first half, then hits kids. Really didn't. Really didn't. Got their coach fired. It had been better since. The Pacific, again, feels open. I feel like this is one of the very few teams where there are. is a legitimate buyer-seller debate to be head?

I don't think they'll sell. I don't think they will. But I think they're like Eric, Eric Stevens made the case that, you know, doing kind of a soft seller approach. But, yeah. So what's interesting is them and Nashville

are both five points up on the next closest team. Like they kind of feel locked into a, a playoff spot at this point, even though, God, they're only, they're only a point back with games in hand on Vegas. Yep. So, like, they feel locked in.

I can't, they might sell one or two, like, guys who they don't really think are moving the needle for them, but if you're, like, the seventh place team in the West, and you're like, we got a couple guys that we don't,

like, who's buying those guys? You know what I mean? Is this, is this the team then that goes, gets a goalie. They kind of have to, right? Like, if we're going to pretend they can go on a deep run or whatever, they would kind of have to make that happen, but I don't know. You don't trust All-Star Cam Talbot?

You know, for some reason, I feel like I've learned my lesson on that one. The other thing, too, is Victor Arvinson, he's hurt right now, but he's a pending UFA and he's 30 and maybe someone could talk themselves into that. And he is hurt right now, but he is expected back soon enough that you're not looking at him as LTIR free money. So I think the Kings may be a hold. Yeah, that sounds right. And I think that's the right call. Like they just don't really have the roster.

Yeah. Well, hey, we talked about one team in the Metro that has a 525 points percentage. Let's talk about the other one, the New Jersey Devils. They just fired their coach yesterday. Yeah. Not surprisingly. What was your take on that? I mean, this was a, I think Lindy Ruff had one of the most fascinating 18 months of any coach that I can remember.

Because he goes into the season last year, everybody's picked to be the first coach of fire. After they hired Andrew Burnett to be like his, to just stand over his shoulder and shake his head disapprovingly at things. Then two games in, the fans are chanting Fire Lindy. Season goes on. He ends up being a Jack Adams finalist. We all eat pro.

He almost a jackass. Gets an extension. and then gets fired halfway through the season. I mean, we say every time a coach gets fired, look at the goaltending. The goaltending stinks. We all thought it might stink. It did. The kind of worst case scenario was played out.

Dougie Hamilton missed most of the season. This doesn't feel like the coach's fault, and yet he also did not seem like he had any idea of what to do to. flip this team around. So this is either unfair, too early, should have let him get to the end of the season and walk away on his own, or it's too late. And I reserve a right to decide at a later point. But I think I think it's very obviously just too little too late. Like this, it felt like they were trying to hold off on a coaching, on a coach decision until, they could get a goalie and now it

like it doesn't maybe look like they're going to get a goalie and if they do you know he's not going to probably be good enough to get you you know the history of trading for a starting goalie and like going on a run is not a strong one unless it's Jacob Markstrom right I mean it's it's not a strong history but there are examples of it and yeah for sure Again, you trade for a goal. They could do it right now as we're recording this and Land Jacob Markstrom,

and we'd all say that's great, but maybe it's too late. But it does sound like, I mean, they're really in there on everyone. And there was a report, I can't remember who it was from, that said that maybe they had told Calgary that, okay, we'll do a Markstrom deal without retained salary, which could reopen that. I guess, I'm assuming we'll get to Calgary soon on, I'm sure where they come up on the list,

but they got to be getting here. Yeah, I mean, it's maybe it's an off-season thing, but if you wait until the off-season, you're pretty much running the white flag on this year. That's tough to do. Like I say, I think that decision's made for them. The odds that they get back in, I think I looked at it yesterday,

and it was like one in six, something like that. Well, Dom has them at 15% right now to make the ones. So about what? One and six. Which is certainly not great, but it's not zero. Now, if they add Jacob Markstrom, though, how high up does that number go? I don't know. I mean, it doesn't go up to 50%, but it's got to go a decent amount.

Remember, you'd be getting Markstrom. He's got two years left on his deal. So it's not like if we don't make the playoffs, we just gave whatever we gave up for nothing. But I don't know. It's a Yeah, they're in a tough spot. They're in a tough spot. That is the issue, right?

It's like, you don't know. I feel like they don't know. Kind of. You know what I mean? Like, I keep saying this. I just feel like the horses are out of the barn on this one, you know? Like get Markstrom. By all means, go get Markstrom if you feel like you can get Markstrom.

Although, apparently, the reporting is that maybe someone stepped in on behalf of owner. Don Maloney, I think, was the name, stepped in on behalf of ownership and was like, we got to send the right message here. We can't trademarkstrom making the play. We the Calgary Flames are going for it. Capital G, capital left, capital I. As a, you know, the great tradition. Look, if you don't want to trade Markstrom because you think it works better in the offseason, absolutely. But if somebody is stepping in to tell you. They don't want to send the wrong message. Send the wrong message. Do they think Flames fans are stupid watching Lindholm, Zerav and... Maybe. Tanavolga? Maybe. Maybe they do.

All right. Look, fan bases have talked themselves into worst teams. You know what I mean? True. That's what it boils down to for me. I've seen teams make much dumber decisions based on, like, fan sentiment than keeping a goalie. They have signed for three more years. But, I mean, if you think they're...

the Calgary Flames for making the playoffs this year. I know I just said everybody in the Pacific's trying, they're not trying to like get out of the playoffs though. You know what I mean? That's the difference. And especially because look, the flames are trading all their pending UFAs. So if you trade everyone that you were going to trade except Markstrom,

Markstrom's going to have to really stand on his head for you to even remotely compete. They're trading their, you know, assuming Hanifin goes, That's their whole top page. Well, I guess we'll talk about the flames. Well, let's just do it now. I mean, this is where we... Well, we're jumping the order here. I know.

It's going to be confusing, but I have... Oh. How much do you factor in the fact that Markstrom seems pissed at how this is all going down? And had a quote where he talked about how it could have been handled better from the top. All the more reason to fucking get them out of there, man. Just like, everybody knows what the eventual outcome here is. So why? on earth are you going like

yeah we might circle back and do it like just fucking do it the only the only reason to do it is because you feel like you can maybe get a better return in the summer maybe you're going to make a like you said earlier hockey trade you know

that's the only reason to do it in the summer instead of now well I mean that no the other reason to do it in the summer is some team out there that thinks it's got thinks it's okay with goal tending is going to find out in the playoffs or not. Okay. And there will be-

Let me amend. That's the only reason for the flames to do it in the summer. Right. Right. Yeah. Like. Well, I mean, but does the market open up, I guess, is the question. Do you get, does a Toronto or a Carolina show up and say, you know what?

We actually do need Jacob Markstrom. And we have to happen to do it now. I just think he'd so obviously be the number one guy on the market. and yeah, I mean, yeah, the cap. I get it. But I don't know. Like, just the fact that the flames were like, well, I mean, how would it look if we traded Jacob Marshall? It would look like you had any fucking idea what you were doing.

How about that? Mm-hmm. I say it all the time. This is one of the worst run teams in the, like, low-key, secretly one of the worst run teams in the league. From ownership on down. Yeah. Yep. Anyway, now that I've completely screwed up your order.

Yeah, so what happened with that was we talked about the team that's technically 20th, even though they are tied with Seattle for a points percentage. But first, we're going to go back up to the top talk about the Detroit Red Wings. Ooh, okay. It's a fun one. They look like they're going to make the playoffs. They do look like they're going to make the playoffs. This Dylan Larkin injury is out, I think, two weeks, they said.

that's not good. That's bad, but I don't know. I don't think that moves the needle a ton, right? Two weeks? I think it is a good excuse for them. I think they were going to be buyers anyway, but now I think it's a good excuse for them to really take a bigger swing, excuse me, take a bigger swing than they otherwise might have.

Yeah. Fair. Defenseman is apparently where they would be looking. Well, I'm looking at their cap-friendly page, and yeah, I think defensemen is where they should be looking to upgrade. Their defense is not very good. Although, apparently, you know, who's a guy whose name has been out there? Justin Hall. Sent him back to Toronto, him and Ilya.

He's done 32 thoughts. We're getting the band back together. You got it, man. band that had that much success. Exactly. It's like getting the Beatles and the Rolling Stones back together. He's exactly like that. But yeah, I just look at this cap-friendly page for their defense.

And I'm like, Ben Chirot is the highest paid defenseman on the team. Don't talk crack about him, man. Detroit fans get mad if you say anything bad about Ben Chirot. Yeah, every team that he plays for, they're like, Actually, he's pretty good if you watch him. If you watch every single team. If you, if you watch him, he's actually pretty good. And then you're like, but like the second he left, that other team got better.

Yeah. But I mean, if you watch him. Got to watch. Okay. Well, yeah. I mean, it's the pre-shot movement that Ben Chirot prevents that it's just not picked up by expected goals. Yeah.

Everyone knows that. But yeah, I like, I like their, their offensive group. pretty good. Again, there's a lot of teams at around this spot in the standard or it's like, yeah, it's pretty good. Could be better. It's pretty good.

I think the one place where they're not going to do anything, in fact, they might even add is in goal. And they already have three NHL goalies on the roster. Fuck it. Let's just get a fourth one. Why not? Get them all. Look, if you get every goalie in the league,

Look, we always hear about how teams can't do three goalies because it makes practice awkward. So you get a fourth goalie. You put the nets at the end boards like it's a timbitt game during intermission. Got one goalie. You're all set. I have an even better solution. Two practices. That way, these guys are practicing twice as much.

That helps. Players would love that. The skaters would be all coach. Two practices? That's awesome. It's a good idea. And I stand by it. Yeah, I think they'll add maybe a little bit.

I don't think they're too incentivized to go wild or anything. But I guess we'll see. Yeah, Seattle. They got some guys. They got some guys teams will want. Pretty clear. Venberg, et cetera. Yep.

Yeah, sellers, you would imagine. Well, they don't have many guys. This is a team that feels like an obvious seller. but. Well, I mean, again, they're tied with the Calgary Flames in the standings. They're like 21st in the league by points percentage. So it's not like they're good, you know. Does Adam Larson get moved?

No. I wouldn't think so. Does Jordan Everly get moved? Apparently they want to resign him. Good in the room and all that. But, you know, again. So is he a player? If you're Ron Francis, do you need his name on an extension before the deadline?

or are you willing to to risk? Yeah, I guess I would want that, wouldn't I? That extra assurance. But, you know, this is the classic thing of like, hey, we're not a good team this year. Can we give away any of the players on the roster? Well, no, I mean, come on. We're good.

Yep. Wait a second. You just said you weren't good. No, I mean, we're good. but we're not that good. I'm trying to think Tatar, movable guy,

help a lot of teams, but again, a winger in a crowded market. Justin Schultz pending UFA. Anybody want him? I don't know. That could be a name.

Yeah. But again, the whole market this year is defensemen and wingers. Defensemen who don't really move the needle with like one or two exceptions. Vanberg is the interesting one because he's a center. I'd maybe see if Seattle wanted to eat a little bit of money on that.

But yeah, he can help somebody. I don't know, you know, maybe not like the Bruins or somebody that needs like a better center than him. But he'll help somebody for sure. I like him enough. Vegas. 0.001 behind Detroit. Yep. And they stink lately.

Yeah. And we know. Oh, they're getting Michael. Yeah, we don't have to guess really about where their head isn't, because we know this has always been one of the most aggressive teams. Mark Stone now injured. If we assume that he will mysteriously miss the rest of the regular season, that gives them cap room to play with.

Is this the J. Gunsell landing spot? It seems to be the team that a lot of people are pointing at. Yeah, I mean, again, like, all the teams that are that you're pointing at are the ones in the Pacific who are trying to avoid one another. And if you think it's going to be a knife fight in the first two rounds, and you're probably correct. I don't know. Yeah. Again, this is a team that they have absolutely no reason to, like, hold onto their cards here. You know.

So, kind of got to do something. Yeah. You assume that one of the bigger names, and I mean, there's not that many big names, but that one of them winds up in Vegas. For sure. Just based on the reputation that they've earned. They don't mess around. They don't, in a league where lots of GMs tell you why they can't,

the Knights figure out a way to do it. And they don't care who it pisses off. Yeah. You know. I've also seen Patchretti mentioned for them as a, potential. A nice reunion there. That'd be fun.

Why not? Why not? Yeah. Again, another team where, well, maybe there feels like they're set in goal, feels like they're set on the blue line, so they, they, and probably feels like they're set down the middle. So, yeah, you just go out and, and get some, get some wing help. Gensel, to Foley, although, who knows.

if the devil's actually want to move him. Yep. Yeah. Well, I guess we'll see. But easy call for them, for sure. Back down to the bottom, the Washington Capitals. Okay, so we just mentioned Patcher Ready. Because Nets off is the interesting thing here, right?

Yeah, that's right. Back from the player assistant program, immediately put on waivers and sent down to the HL. Sounds like, well, I was going to say it sounds like he's done in Washington, but it sounds like they definitely. would like to move him, but... Yes. Whether you can or, I mean, it may be something where you've got to bring him back up

and let people see that this is still an NHL player and then do something in the off-season. Well, I mean, how much time do they have to even do that, right? I can't imagine... Unless they... Oh, yeah, that's what I mean in the office. Like, I don't think... Right, right. At the deadline, I can't imagine...

I've seen a couple of columns where people have mentioned them and said, hey, you never know, but at 7. point whatever million. And I think it's this year and next. Yeah, I believe that's right. I just can't see how somebody wants to take that gamble. I mean, he could, in theory, if you really, really squint at it, you could say this could be maybe even the best player available at the deadline if absolutely everything was

the way that he used to be. But I just, I'm not taking that chance. Totally. No, just not a guy that, especially because, like, I think he's, I think he's owed a signing bonus this summer. So like, even if you're like, okay, if it doesn't work, we'll buy him out. You got to give them that however many million dollars. I don't know what the number is, but. I just can't see it.

No. Interesting name to add to the pile, but I just, I can't imagine how it happens. No, yeah, they're, they're, like you say, Patch, you're ready. There's a guy who maybe you can talk yourself into it. a little bit if you're another team. But the big name, the big name for me is Anthony Manta. Yep, it's a good one. Again, just like a guy who's having a good season,

not like a great one or anything, but he's like a good, solid player. And wing help. Guy who can, you know, there's a guy Carolina might want. He's got 20 goals this year. you know he and I don't know that obviously he's got a pretty hefty cap hits at 5-7

I'm looking at it here and uh you know that that's that's a lot to ask to someone to take on but again if you can find a third team or whatever like it's a little more workable um I just think you know they they've won a little bit lately so they might feel like oh you know

we're only seven points out We got games in hand, blah, blah, blah. You'd hope God. You would really hope they'd be more realistic than that. But, you know, it's the NHL. And as a, you know, we've said it on this podcast plenty of times right now, and I think history has proven us right. This is an organization devoted to getting Alex Ovechkin past Gretzky.

That's it. Making the playoffs, not making it. It's about the big man. So I'm curious to see how they navigate it, but I think, you know, the writing's on the wall here where they're going to be a pretty motivated seller. And why wouldn't they? Should be. Yep. Okay, we just did Washington.

Let's see. The Nashville Predators. Nashville Predators, the best team in the league right now. These guys are, they've won eight straight. If I were them, I would trade UCSeros. this week. Oh, would I ever, man. Yeah, it feels like that's off the table, so it almost felt like Barry Trots kind of wanted to be a seller and just it's just not.

He should have let him go to that fucking U-2 show, man. They wouldn't be here. They'd been right there. At this point, I'm more leaning. I think they probably stand pat, but I'm starting to lean maybe with every successive win. I'm saying, okay, well, they might actually add. They re-signed Tommy Novak this week. That's a nice little deal for them.

And maybe have another one in the hopper. You know, they're working toward it. But I don't know. For me, I'd try to move on from at least some of my pending you. Like, am I like super excited to bring back like Yakov-Trennan or whatever? Here's the answer. No. Tyson Barry.

Tyson-Berry is not even playing. So he. That's a case where you're anything. you can get change of scenery. I think you're happy to do that. Yeah, I'm just going down the list of UFAs with any kind of name value. Alex Carrier, I guess, is the only other one. So, yeah. They don't have a ton to... That's sort of, I think, where you just ride what you got going right now.

100%. See where it takes you. Yep, absolutely. Yeah, but nice story. And, you know, if they can worm their... Again, they're, if they can do a little bit more to secure it, and I think they have another game or two between now and the deadline. So, you know, they win these next two games. They enter the deadline on a 10-game winning streak or whatever.

Now let me double-check how many more games they have this week. They might only have the one. But, yep, they play tonight and Thursday. So if they can enter the deadline on a 10-game winning streak, I might even add a low-end guy if I'm Barry Trots just to be like, thanks for, thanks for making me look really smart for telling you not to go to that concert. Yep. So, yeah, there you go. Nashville, after Nashville.

Now's where it gets interesting because all the teams are so close together. The St. Louis Blues. Yep. Boy, you never know with... Sell, sell, sell. You never know with Doug Armstrong, right? He has famously, there were a few years ago, he sold at the deadline with his team in a playoff on twice and got high picks for it. It worked out.

Stasney and Shattonkirk, I think, was the other guy. So I think he'll, he's been a realist and I think they're certainly not out of it, but I don't. I mean, they're basically out of it. Yeah. So no and again like they they just have guys that teams would want I mentioned I mentioned Buchennavich earlier but they they got a couple other guys that like you know Casbury Cappinans a pending UFA Sammy Blaze is pending UFA These are guys with like name value if nothing else

Um so yeah and and Bucconovich obviously has an extra year beyond this one that makes him, I would think, more attractive to a lot of teams. He's a good player. But yeah, to me, I would be selling if I were them. I just think that, you know, the writing's kind of on the wall for this group. And even if they make the playoffs, like, okay, congratulations. You get the Edmonton Oilers or the Vancouver Canucks, right? Like, have fun out there.

So, yeah, there you go. Tampa. looks like they have to be aggressive, right? Like, I mean... As aggressive as they can, given that the cupboard's pretty bare and the cap is tight, but the Noah Hannafin... And they don't have any picks in the first round for the next two years. They gave up all their picks for Tyler Genoa.

But we've seen, right, year after year, these guys are aggressive at the deadline, except for the one year that they weren't aggressive and went out in the first round. Yep. So, yeah. I think everybody kind of, again, like, if it's really out there that, like, this is Hanifin's preferred destination, I would be shocked if they can't figure out. Because, again, it's not like Calgary's, like, really holding the line on all these big trades. Like, no, you want to give us a second next year and, you know, your third best prospect. And as long as you're not Toronto, Edmonton, or Vancouver.

Yeah. And look, I want to say this. I get not trading in the division. Maybe not for a rental, like, who cares? Which that's what Hanifin would be, obviously. But, like, you know, you're not trading like Markstrom to the Oilers. I get that. But, yeah, what they're doing is beyond bizarre.

And I guess the last thing to say for Tampa, to state the obvious, this is a team that we've mentioned several times no trade clauses. Yeah. This is a team that basically does not have to worry about no trade clauses because it seems like everybody wants to go there. What's not to like, right? Yep. Get to play for one of the best coaches in the league. It's nice there.

It's not Winnipeg, you know, in terms of the weather. I don't know what the tax rate is. No, one's ever mentioned it, but... No, it's never come up before. Probably, probably fair. No, that's... Yeah. It's all a very, you know, obvious, kind of straightforward.

word like this is why you do this. Yep. For anybody that would want to go there and for anybody or for, you know, the team, just be like, we have to do this. Okay, now we're down to our last two teams here, the New York Islanders. Thought they were out. They were not. Maybe they still should treat themselves that way.

But, well, I mean, they were on the ropes for sure. pushback. But, I mean, I can't imagine being in a buying situation. Even with Lou Lamrello. We all know is maybe not thinking super long term. Yeah. That's more macabre than I wanted it to. They're also not in a position to really sell anybody either.

Yeah. I'll tell you this. The team has a nine-year contract. Here are their pending UFAs. the defenseman Sebastian Aho, not the one anybody would really. Maybe Lou could trick somebody. Oh, you want Sebastian Aho?

I didn't realize you guys traded for him. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And Mike Riley, those are the two on defense. And you let me, you just let me know if you think Lou's going to trade the following forwards where they're only two pending UFAs up front. Matt Martin and Cal Clodderbuck. You think Lou's moving on from those two?

Never. Huh. Interesting. Well, there you have it, folks. They're not selling. But you would hope that they're not buying. You would really hope they're not buying. And the last team, the St. Louis.

Nope. No, we did them. The Philadelphia Flyers. That's right. Philadelphia Flyers. A team that just, man, it feels like they desperately want to sell and have all year, but they just keep playing pretty well. So, Sean Walker is this year's guy that you have.

had barely heard of who suddenly I'd heard of him. And it also sounds like Danny Breyer, if he wants to trade Nick Seeler, has to go and fight John Tortorella. Yeah, that's right. That's right. But yeah, so it's the thing you said about

they've been playing, they've been playing well. Not really. Do you want to guess their record in the last nine games? Oh. three and six. Three, four, and two, yeah. Pretty much dead on accurate there.

And this is the thing of them and the devils are standing at the door going after you, sir. No, no, no. I insist, after you. Yeah. And they just, they just, neither of them wants to really gain any ground on the other. So the team that is holding steady, slightly more. had a better start. Of making the playoffs.

According to Don and his model. They're going to do it. I'd be shocked if they didn't make the playoffs. Let's put it that way. Even if they move guys? Like if they move Walker and... It would take a pretty big collapse. And, you know, if they were Walker, what kind of message is that sending?

That's going to be... We're going to ask the question about what the message is. If they miss the playoffs, that'll be why. because Danny Breyer sent the wrong message and we'll just ignore that they were 3 and 6 right before the deadline. And ignore the roster and what everybody thought of them at the beginning of the year.

Yeah, that's right. I made it. But I don't know if you knew this. The one last thing on the Flyers. Nobody thought they were going to be here, but you know who did? They did. That's right.

Nobody gave us a chance. But we knew, in our heart of hearts, we could be the seventh best team in the Eastern Conference. Big salute to the Philadelphia Flyers, the number one buyers at the upcoming deadline. That's right. They got picks to move, baby. I'd move Matt Faye Mitchcove myself.

If I could get a Sean Walker type. You know, it's funny. We just, again, we, I didn't do this. I didn't have anything to do with it at all. There's a big article on, I guess we're starting the plugs now. There's a big article on Elite Prospects today. Would you rather have Matt Bay Michkov or Ivan Demadov, who is the highest ranking Russian in this year's draft? Okay.

Number two in what EP Ringside calls, the consolidated ranking, which is just taking the average of everybody's ranking. He's number two. Pretty interesting. Very interesting. Pretty interesting. By the way, we did not get any breaking. news on trades, but I did just see that apparently Jake Gunsell is skating with the injured guys in Pittsburgh and seems right. Remember, he's hurt and can't come back until March 10th, but sounds like he should be good to go.

So any concerns over him at the deadline, maybe alleviate it somewhat. And with that, every GM can now begin making trades. Make those calls, baby. Let's do it. I would say make those calls between It's currently about noon Between now and like three, four p.m. Eastern Now's the time to make all the trades

Do it Yeah, the other thing That I guess I'll plug And then we're doing reverse order On the plugs this week The other thing I'll plug is EPRinkside.com Because I, you know, the college hockey season is wrapping up

I have already begun work on my NCAA tournament preview. Last year, I think it got up to like 7,500 words. You're not going to find more comprehensive NCAA tournament coverage than you will from me on elite prospects.com. Can find out Patreon.com slash puck suit. Oh, yeah, do that too. Find me at The Athletic. I got my show tomorrow with Sean Gentile, as well as Frank Carrado. It's going to be our last show with Frank before he has babies.

multiple. So it'll be your last chance to hear him speak relatively coherently and not be deliriously tired. I have a mailbag coming tomorrow. I've got deadline stuff on Friday. And if you missed it over the weekend, please check out my piece in which I ranked all 419 penalty minutes from the Senators Flyers Brawl that happened exactly 20 years ago today. Wow. And I ranked them from the least to the most ridiculous. There you go. Yeah. Well, thanks, everyone.

We'll talk to you next week after the trade deadline and all that. Thanks for listening. Have a good one and see you later. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.