Real Kyper & Bourne - Asset Assessments with Jason Bukala

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with the Flames' 6-3 loss to the Sharks last night and if that was the final nail in the coffin for Calgary to begin offloading players. They are joined by former NHL scout Jason Bukala (5:19) who delves into what Tanev & Hanafin would cost in a trade, the value of picks for this year's draft cycle and which organizations are in the best & worst positions in terms of tradeable assets. To close out the week, they answer your questions on the text line!The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

welcome back into the real kipper and born show this is our national edition of our show and we are live on sports net sports net 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee for the next hour and as always texas at 590 590 we'll get your questions comments whether or not we like jb sweater anything what do you think it's a little aggressive i don't mind it yeah i mean it's good for you what's that what's that mean it's good for him yeah i'm not sure i could pull it off well i'm not sure myself i wear the same six shirts in rotation so the reversible inside out i got six shirts boys i wear them they look great thank you you're welcome

thank you busy night in the national hockey league last night oh they're gonna say tonight no tonight just the one game yeah what yeah why one game only i don't know friday night carolina and arizona great one in everyone very excited yeah uh last night the one that stuck out for me was a 6-3 loss to san jose for the calgary flames unbelievable they went four in a row on a tough road trip and they come home and i'm just wondering where they are emotionally as a club when I think you've given over the last 50 plus games enough of a reason to tell your management team, come on, we can make the playoffs here or we're close. And then the feedback you keep getting is, no, no, we're selling. And we came this close to trading your number one goalie,

and it didn't happen. But there's a sense that Jacob Markstrom is going to try to win a Stanley Cup somewhere else. You mentioned in your article you think they could circle back on that at the end. I do. It still could happen. Yeah, I do and uh i know there's a few uh reports i think frank uh uh cervelli cervelli from daily uh face off mentioned that maybe it was coming down to keeping or retaining money and i think calgary would be

crazy to do that it's's not like he's making eight or nine million dollars. Do you want a guy who's one of the better goalies in the league or not? Yes, exactly. But you can't blame New Jersey for trying I guess. Yeah, you can see them bailing on the last minute. I gotta think it's gotta be tiresome

you know being in a position of no matter how hard we push here we're just not going to be taken seriously as a team that can stick together right now and try to get in yeah i will say both um playoff races are fascinating this year the the flames find themselves five points out of the last wild card spot but last night you said six three thought for sure you were going to be talking about st louis over edmonton you know the oilers it's funny they've won 16 in a row this year and they won eight in a row this year and you know they're third in their division and the blues

are three point you're sorry the kings are three points behind them like they're still in i'm not worried about the oilers the oilers are going to finish you know in that middle game likely but it does give you a sense though how hard it is for clubs that are behind the eight ball to climb yeah and this is still with the results of a 17 game winning streak yeah like that's crazy oh i know that you don't have that comfort zone right now still although you do it was 16 so going for 17 record yeah they're just another winning streak that's right so you could put 16 of a consistent two points and still not be overly comfortable is my point none of the chasing teams in the west are great like nashville and seattle are the two teams that are closest to the wild card spot neither of them are overly threatening

the wild can be decent maybe yeah so like those teams are all probably okay but it is fascinating to watch but yeah the uh there's a big win by the blues for them keeps them in the thick in a few minutes we're going to welcome in uh jason bukala he's been on the show before i i absolutely love his stuff just in terms of uh value assessment uh he's as good as anyone that's out there uh he's with the pro hockey group and uh we'll have him join us in a few minutes yeah here are his latest articles let's not talk leaves with them ranking the top 32 prospects for the draft, how the Edmonton Oilers should approach the trade deadline, revisiting the philopronic trade and his evolution of the Canucks,

and how will NHL teams value the 2024 draft picks, first overall picks, or first round picks at the trade deadline. I'll let him do it. He's here. As we've built them up. Let's welcome in Jason Bukla from Pro Hockey Group. Does a great job writing as well for Sportsnet.ca. Bukla, how are you, buddy?

Awesome, fellas. Appreciate the call from the bullpen today. I'm always here for you. I'm always here for you. Nice. As always. Can you be as weird as Doug McClain? Can you do that?

Where do we stand? That's a veteran weird. I can't get that. I'm not at that stage. Where are we with less than a month into a trade deadline here? Someone has suggested to me that Chris Tanov could be moved as early as next week. Offers are in. Bids are in.

That's not to say that offers and bids can't change. Some teams want them as a rental some want to follow up and try to sign them on a long-term deal uh what are your thoughts on tan of moving forward here is maybe one of the first dominoes that could could fall to get this thing going uh the sooner the better is my first vote because this guy only knows how to play the game one way and uh you know he sacrifices himself each and every night so the longer with this goes and the closer we get the trade deadline uh i like that kipper if they're going to make a move that or whoever this team is call it even the leaves uh if they make that move uh in the next week i like that a lot i would go as far as to suggest that if we get closer and closer in the next week i like that a lot um i would go as far as to suggest that if we get

closer and closer in the next three weeks to trade deadline that this is a player that you kind of sit in the press box i'll have jacob chikrin last year for maybe four or five days or more before the trade deadline actually uh a hat or before the trade happens so um the sooner the better the cost is going up isn't it fellas like who would have thought you know even back in last summer that we would have been sitting here talking about chris tanf potentially you know fetching a first round pick and then you know extra assets on top of all that but that's where we're at in this cycle and uh yeah the sooner the better uh if it's toronto i'm curious about the long-term deal thing. Like, for me personally, at his age, I'm only looking at,

I mean, ideally it would be two. I know it's going to be three. But I definitely wouldn't be going any longer than that. So if it is, you know, a team like the Leafs, I guess, you know, there's the potential of it being a first-rounder, but probably a late first-rounder. What should fans think when they see a late first rounder get traded in this draft how are you valuing picks so great question the the this

draft cycle in relation to the other two this is delicate for me because i know this is a big deal for these 18 year old athletes i don't want to you know be that guy but i have a job to do and that's build an nhl franchise so with that in mind the late first round picks in this draft cycle guys aren't on par with the last couple of cycles so when you see first round picks to the naked eye everybody just assumes they're equal value to the badar draft the the draft before that was slapkoski etc etc that's where creature habits that way right but that's not factual that's not the way it is so if you look at even the elias lidholm deal to vancouver and all the extras that went along with it right obviously they had to move out money and kuzmenko i get it so let's just push that

to the side for a sec because that's more like a money situation but the other assets you know rustavich uh uramo in finland and then the first-round pick. So what you're seeing is that assets, call them prospects, on top of draft capital are being moved. And the reason for that, in my estimation, is because the value in that draft slot right now, guys, isn't as great as it has been in the past. Wow, that could change a lot moving forward here. For sure.

Just in terms of a second rounder being the alternative, and in the Leafs' case, we know that they don't have one for the next three years here. How devastating is that for a guy like Brad Treeliving moving forward to try to maneuver something? Treeliving's in the worst possible position out of a lot of these teams. So, you know know the first round

pick for the leafs let's just say it lands at for argument's sake 22 let's just throw that out there if it lands at 22 and he doesn't have anything to back it up with not only this year guys but also for futures like nhl franchises have been scouting pre-scouting the the advance for for next year's draft as well which looks on balance to be a lot stronger than this year. So he's not in a position of strength, if you will, in relation to his draft capital. So what happens then? Now you start adding assets to it, Kipper.

So at 22, okay, so yeah, Calgary bites on 22. Let's just say we're talking about Hannafin, for argument's sake. Like I wrote in my article today, we're talking about Hannafin. It's going to be 22, and then it's going to be one of the fifth rounders that they own um i would bump it to 2025 because i think the leafs have a chicago 2025 and i don't think chicago is going to be great again next year so it's almost like a fourth so i go the the first and 22 this is the fifth and 25 but then on top of that we're getting into roster players call it a bobby mcmahon and nick robertson which i'm okay with you know that's that's fine but the next one after that we're looking at fraser minton you know we're not looking at because hunter brustavich for example he's on

the uptick and vancouver's valuing this kid he's going to be score 100 points in the ontario hockey league potentially as a defenseman so whether he's going to be a three at the nhl level even strength and run the second power play he's got nhl upside i don't know that fraser mitten's not going to be a three at the nhl level in the middle so that's the cost on top of the draft picks and those are the conversations so then where are you i'm sure you guys have talked about you know at length this week but where are you next with the organization now I've just punted out one of my top prospects, a possible three, three C centerman in the three hole going forward.

Can play the wing, but he's a centerman. And I don't have a lot of draft capital. So now I've got to go fishing in college free agency, overseas free agency. It's, it's not ideal to put it, to put it bluntly. So whose position do you like more or most? You look at some of these GMs. Who's coming from a strong place with the assets necessary to get some big pieces? New Jersey, for sure.

I think New Jersey needs a goaltender. I think we're all on point with that. Even if their third choice is Marc-Andre Fleury. I'm not starting rumors. I'm just trying to go down my list of guys that I'd like to get. So you're looking at probably Markey, if you can, out of Calgary, I would say. Saros, if you could ever prime out of Nashville. Marc-Andre, Merzleafens maybe, you know, like Columbus.

Like who knows what's going to happen in Columbus now with their draft deadline strategy. I don't know what that is. So Jersey's strong, guys. They've got a lot of assets on the back end. And they've got some sneaky, sneaky, really good assets. Like, I was at University of Michigan last week. They got the Seamus Casey, bright shot D.

He's like 6'0", only a buck 80. But he's a quarterback on the power play going forward who manages the game exceptionally well at even strength. They've got a ton of assets in their system. We're talking to Jason Buchla, former NHL head scout, who does a terrific job now as a writer for Sportsnet.ca. So, Buchla, when we're talking about teams trying to convince other teams that my one player can change the scope of your team, and especially at the pivotal position of defense.

So a Tanov, a Hannafin. If we look back at the Vancouver Canucks, besides guys having career years, can we not look at the Philip Hronik trade and go, that's where it turned around for the Vancouver Canucks. Shockingly well. And you know what? I have to eat crow here because when

it was made, guys, I was puzzled. And I think a lot of us kind of were. We're like, are they really in that mode with the asset management? For example, because that was in the midst of the Horvat deal and some other things going on there. So there was a lot of moving parts.

And Hronik was injured with the shoulder. But this guy has absolutely blown it out of the water. I mean, his plus minus in his last three years before arriving in Vancouver was a combined minus 77 in three years. Okay? And he's like a plus 39 today, as we said. Like, I know you catch lightning in a bottle and you know you get to a good team or whatever but let's give credit where credit's due

that's an obscene number isn't it right so and i believe you know as much as quinn hughes gets you know a lot of the accolades how much better does philip veronic make quinn hughes you know those two have some synergy together so um what a ballsy move by the vancouver canucks and you know it's it's turned out to be uh everything that vancouver has touched this year let's be honest has turned to gold it's been exceptional um and that was one that i panned as puzzling at the time but fast forward to today and uh in the present mode it's a great great deal detroit picked axel sandin pelica and he could be a one, you know, down the road for them on the back end as well.

So there's always cost assessment. Everybody revisits it later. But for the now, looks great. It's going to be interesting to see what his next contract is, though, isn't it? He's an RFA making whatever, five. Well, I think he's on the books for five, but it's like a 4-4 cap hit the way the massage of the contract goes. He's not going to get the Quinn Hughes money,

but he's going to probably, he's going to go past Weeger. So he's going to be at what, 7, 7-5? Wow. And they got some big contracts there that they have to resolve. Yeah, I guess that's a problem you like to have. We have a lot of good players. How do we pay all these guys? But it is undeniably going to be something they're going to run into down the road.

Definitely can't think of that trade without thinking, looking around the league, be like, who's that guy right who i you know we talked about ottawa was interested in tenev and it's like it's not impossible to see a team that's not great right now thinking down the road um but there is a team that's great who's thinking this season that's the edmonton oilers they've had a couple of uh winning streaks that you're aware of um you know they're an interesting case, though, going to this trade deadline. Corey Perry's playing on the top line with McDavid right now. You know, there's some questions on the back end.

What do you think they're going to do or should do as they head to this year's deadline? Yeah, I think they're in a little bit of a pickle as well. So their draft capital is average, and then their prospect pool. Like Philip Broberg's their top prospect on the back end. He's down in the minors, you know, kind of applying his trade. He's had a fantastic year for Bakersfield. Really good. He's turned the corner, you know, playing to his two-way identity.

This guy's never going to be a high leverage scorer in the NHL, but he's big. He can skate. Get the puck, move it, kid. That's all I need you to do. Any points is great. So I need him to be my seven guys come playoff time because you know deep deep runs usually require seven or eight defensemen things happen in playoffs right so seven or eight i need him to be seven they don't

have any that's that's just the the fact like nemo lane it could come in i get it but really they got seven up front i've heard the names you know bantied around obviously the gensel injury that changes the market a great deal you know howantied around obviously the gensel injury that changes the market a great deal you know how much risk does somebody want to take in that looks like a shoulder injury um you know the game only gets harder in march when you get back it's not easier and if you're already sore how much you know willingness are you gonna have to go to the hard areas so having said that i like adam henrique if they could ever fit it in in edmonton personally he can play the middle he

can play the wing he can take key drives plays all situations Perry can't play up in the lineup Perry's a three or four he's situational and you can have a three hole with like McLeod Fogle and somebody else maybe Perry for example but Henrik and on the two hole would certainly upgrade that top six and on on balance, give them a real good, responsible look. Hey, Books, if teams aren't that hot on the draft, the deep draft here, where do they go with college free agents or international free agents? Who's the rushing kid that a dozen teams are chasing right now yeah the maxim playing at dynamo moscow so you know i saw this name coming on the radar pretty early in the

season i started to do some homework um and obviously i have no skin in the game now guys so i can be i can freewheel this conversation as much as i want here's the thing this guy is a six foot three 190 pound winger he's in an on an expiring deal in russia all these teams i've interested in 31 goals he's like 31 and 19 whatever he is plays all situations over there i'm calling them average plus per pace they don't really push themselves a lot in the khl it's not a burner league all the time there's not a lot of ball so he's gonna have to adjust when he gets over here but it would be a one-year deal so the risk is low here's the thing like he scored 32 goals his last six years in the khl over six years 32 goals he's got 31 this year and he's in a contract year in the khl so when i reached out to some of my russian sources like with teams and

then you know guys that i've worked with over the years, and then also some other people through the agency business. There's a fear out there that they're leveraging for a bigger deal at Moskva. I don't know that for sure. But I would say is that a lot of homework has to be done here before you put pen to paper. Worth what I do it would it be worth the risk of like 950 for a year and see if he can be better than Kuzmenko? why not but i'm just telling you i'm not buying all the stock and all the hype i'll believe it when i see it yeah it's fascinating everyone's looking for the next guy to come over and whether it's the leafs have tried with mckeah and barabanov and god who else is a couple of d-man what is the zaitsev but he still

plays there's one of the last name of the no they had a whole bunch anyway. Ozhiganov. Ozhiganov. Thank you. Curious to see if they keep looking. So we were talking wild card races a little bit earlier. Both divisions or both conferences fascinating. Want to know who you believe in in the East that's outside a playoff spot. So we're talking the Devils, Islanders, Penguins, Capitals. You know, is there any of those teams you like more than the next

to climb into, you say, if Philly falls out? Yeah, and I don't see Philly falling out. They got so much resilience there. I'm not saying that they're not going to be done in the first round, but they certainly got a lot of resilience. New Jersey, for sure. I mean, if they get the goaltending, I think that they're in a good situation there. They got a lot of cap space there, guys.

So depending on how they massage their deal at the deadline or before the deadline, you know, salaries being retained, et cetera, et cetera, they could add a couple of pieces there. So I'm in on New Jersey. I'm kind of liking – I don't really like any of those other teams, I have to be honest with you. So I'm kind of like maybe Detroit. No, Pittsburgh?

No, Pittsburgh is – they're well on the back nine. They're unfortunately looking like Tiger Woods today. This is a withdrawal. Yeah, I love to watch him. I love to watch him, but I don't know if he's making the cut. Can I ask you, did Kyle Dubas just go too hard, too fast here with Carlson? Did that really bury him moving forward? What kind of challenge does he have now in the next three or four years

knowing that the window with Sid still at a very high level now is almost closed off? Well, the problem with Sid is that everything around him is kind of crumbling isn't it like there isn't enough continuity amongst the rest of the group so yeah he's still playing at a high level but uh this is this is the tail end of uh sort of a dynasty I mean in and out dynasty I guess we could call it you know like the ebbs and flows but uh this this draft board the draft capital in Pittsburgh is very similar to Toronto.

And their prospect pool is nothing to run around the block about. So I personally didn't understand the Carlson acquisition at the beginning, especially if you can have a healthy Letang. I just thought it might get in the way. And you're adding a Norris Trophy winner to a group that, on balance, I understand the skill set, but team-building-wise, I could have added two bodies for that same amount of cash somewhere else and not given up another first-round pick. So, I don't know.

Like, hindsight is what it is. I understand why he did it in his mind because that's how he likes to operate. He's aggressive that way, always has been, going back to major junior hockey. For me, personally, that's how he likes to operate he's aggressive that way always has been going back to major junior hockey for me personally that's not the fit hey one more for me um before i let you go books and great stuff as always uh when you come on our show um and i'm not sure how much you can answer on this but i know you have your ear to the ground on a lot of stuff but this class action lawsuit against the chl and you know there's talk about now the chl will uh the ncaa may uh allow players to come out of the chl and join their program um where's the ushl are they arrival now for the theL? Like, where is the business model of the CHL going here? It's been forever the same since I can remember it.

I think some of the kids are still making the same money I made in 1983. But, like, are things closer to changing in the CHL forever, sooner than later now? Absolutely they are, yeah. i've heard the noise forever going back to like when i worked in the suit you know 20 something years ago there's always been and and we all know the noise right everybody kids have always played that card i'll go to college because i don't want to you know come to the chl etc but you're talking class action suits you're talking nil in the states right because that's really what's triggered

in my mind this this uh opportunity for chl kids to go south of the border and potentially play because with the nil situation in the states athletes are you know basically getting paid uh through through boosters etc um everything's going to change here and don't be surprised if you see the ushl uh petition to be the fourth team uh in kind of like a memorial cup type of the cycle uh everything is is i mean we can sit here and talk about it forever the reality is this uh chl kids who let's say you go play for the london knights for the hunters and you sign your your uh your school package deal and after a couple years you're not gonna be be an NHL prospect

or the NHL team that drafted you thinks you need more development time. So you go to Michigan State. Now you're on the books of Michigan State for X number of dollars. So that kid, don't forget that whole time, he's got to be doing well in school. He's got to pass his SAT or his entrance exam,

whatever it is, depending on the school system. There are so many moving parts. And to your point, though, Kipper, some of these kids have been getting the exact same per diem for several, several years. The CHL is a big business. They're making tons of dough. I don't know.

This is just going to open up Pandora's box for a lot of fluidity, if that makes sense. Yeah, that's fascinating stuff for me. Awesome stuff, Books. We really appreciate your time. And way to keep it on the rails because the guy on Friday usually just drives it right into the ditch.

That was informative and helpful. Thank you. This is very, I don't know how to react. Thank you. I've seen some of them and it's been outstanding. Hey guys, can I just give a quick shout-out, if you don't mind? You go, buddy.

A longtime hockey coach here in London, Ray Clark. He was my coach 40 years ago. He's a mentor to several athletes in the city of London. Passed away this week. He died of cancer. This is a jersey from Acadia University in the background. He was a huge mentor to me. I just want to give a shout-out to the family.

Cancer is a terrible thing. I know it touches a lot of people in the background. He was a huge mentor to me. I just want to give a shout out to the family. Cancer is a terrible thing. I know it touches a lot of people in the world. We're going to miss Ray and I just want to pay a tribute to him here today on your show and I appreciate you letting me do that. Well said, Jason. Thank you, my friend. Appreciate your time, man. Thanks a lot. You too.

That is Jason Buchla, former NHL head scout who really comes in with the goods here. That was extremely on the rails. He knows so much more than us. You know, and he does have his ear completely to the ground when it comes to this sort of stuff. But it would be awesome if you could actually get a current scout just to come on and talk like this yeah right wouldn't that be fascinating he's doing it man i mean he's doing yeah he is he's literally traveling and then a

current one because he's still hearing the same things creating the list and yeah it's it's a that's a tough job man yeah i i love the stuff on the that russian winger because me too that was really good insight because i i mean i saw that i that report, and it's like, yeah, are we sure he's not Barabanov? All these guys that are not drafted, free agents from over there. I'm like, they seem to really find the good ones from there. They always seem to kind of get drafted. I don't know. They're free, too.

Okay, you pay them, but they're, like, what's the downside? Yeah, it doesn't work. They come over, they stink, and you send them down. You clear them on waivers. You put them on Robida Island. It's like, next. Dubas had, like, a pipeline over there for a while. Like, him and Lou.

Like, it started with Zaitsev who came over. Yeah, he was always having Russian guys. All right. You guys want to do some game time? Yes. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, like I said, a bit of a light one on the ice tonight. I think the Carolina Hurricanes and the Arizona Coyotes are the only matchup. So if you're going to, you know, have some fun, feel like gambling tonight, why not take a shot on the Desert Dogs? They're plus 180. They're not a horrible team.

Yeah. You got the Carolina Hurricanes on the road. Mullet Arena is going to be rocking on a Friday night. They know they're the only show in the NHL. Surely it'll be sold out. Surely. So take a shot. Don't call us surely. I'm telling you, like just take a shot on the on the coyotes i'm just really i feel bad for the players in the coyotes because

i'm just tired of hearing their name like nothing good has been attached to them for so long just like they're a year away from i think being pretty good no i don't think they're a bad hockey team no they're good players yeah they got some good, like, can we just do it in Salt Lake then? The silver tips, please. Listen, I'm a believer that it could still work. Oh, come on. This is such a zag. No.

No, no, no, no. It's not a zag. Oh, Gary got to him. No. Gary got to him. Just, they've never, it's, it's just like Ottawa. For 20 years, they were too early in Kanata. And maybe, just maybe now moving forward,

Kanata isn't that bad of a spot for the Ottawa Senators if it's developed, you know, well. My feeling is Arizona's still a good market. You just got to put the stinking rink in Scottsdale. That's the place to be. Yeah. No kidding. Right outside,

right outside blondies boys. That'd be a great spot. Why is that so hard? Just find an owner, find a chunk of land, got an owner, build a land. They don't want one.

Okay, Gary, I lived at Chandler Tempe. I lived right on the border of where the university was and chandler and i would drive to glendale it sucked so i get stuck in the traffic hour and a half if you want to have beers you can't drive back on the roads you can't no experience at all whatsoever it hasn't been given a fair chance but they don't have a dirt or a shovel in the dirt they don't have a dirt or a shovel in the dirt. They don't have a potential lot.

They don't have nothing. Just find an owner that can do it, though. Well, this guy can do it. No, he can't do it. Wait, isn't that the money? I don't know. Ask him. Is he looking around

and someone else is going to see land? He doesn't? I don't know. He wants to build another rink for free, I guess. That I'm opposed to as well. Having said said all that i like the dogs tonight the desert dogs i'm not gonna howl in the mic and the other one you were talking about was austin matthews is a heart he is plus 1400 to win the heart trophy mckinnon's a huge favorite clearly but like 70 goals is a pretty big statement towards being the league's most valuable player is it not well on a bad team or mediocre team yeah i mean

they'd be screwed he is most important player to his team they would be screwed without him i think it's the toronto media us yeah that what Yeah. They're not pushing Austin as an MVP this year. Therefore, he doesn't get the clout. Think about it. The guy scores 62. He was less on a historic pace as he

is now, and he won it two years ago. Tell me how Austin can win it on a on a on a pace that's less than now and he won it by a wide margin well and he's not even in the top three right now or top four you know no one had hit toronto media well maybe it is for sure but he no one had hit 60 the year he was chasing 60 in a long time and it was a big story yeah like can we get a player back to this milestone he hit it and everyone was like oh my god and then mcdavid went out and covered his eyes and scored 64 and uh

so the pasta yeah and every two guys so right so now who are the favorites the favorite is mckinnon mckinnon mckinnon is minus 125. And then McDavid? Kucherov, second, plus 250. McDavid, plus 350. Pachernak, 12 to 1. Matthews, 14 to 1. Matthew?

I was just going to say, the year that Austin won the MVP, McDavid had, what, 40 points more than him? I don't know. Yeah, something ridiculous. He did. He did. He had a lot more points. A lot more points.

It was a narrative-driven award. But the majority of the voters come from Toronto anyway. So if they're not driving it, if they're not driving that, and this year they're not driving it. But what has changed? So that year, Matthew's also got a bunch of Selke votes. Like his defensive numbers, he led the league in block shots, I think. Like he had a ton of takeaways.

He's still up there in block shots. He's actually having a great defensive year again. mcdavid is also having a great year like an elite defensive year for i don't know the first time in his career yeah with way less points right but he because he's still going to be a top few guy in points and now he's adding this defensive element to me it just feels like everyone agrees mcdavid's the best player in the league mckinnon is owed one and it is the most important part of his team maybe. So Matthews feels, and Quinn Hughes is doing what he's doing. Can I ask you guys a hypothetical about Austin Matthews quickly before we go to a break?

Let's have it. If, say it's game 82. Leafs are solidly in a playoff position. They have their matchup. They know who they're playing. Matthews is on 67 goals. Does he play? Too far away.

68? Yeah. You don't ask me that question because I couldn't give a rat's ass about 70. Yeah. And I think they shouldn't either. I truly think they should. I'm telling you, boys, he plays. And what?

Everybody tries to get him the puck and yes he sits there all night doing this one yes that's what worries me about the windmill ready to push i want him to get 70 but i'm worried about it i couldn't think of a a less environment to get you ready for game one of the stanley cup playoffs than that i think the most offended i've been by a player playing game 82 was when patrick marlo was a Toronto Maple Leaf and he like always looked so much better when he had a rested game or whatever. He was trying to keep the Iron Man

going and like when games he'd play like less minutes he'd look great the next day. He's like take a game off. I gotta keep the streak going. But playoffs it's like no no my streak. If Kessel plays for Vancouver he picks up a consecutive. Yeah.

Is he still there? Wait, what do you mean? Has he broken the. Yeah. Did he get healthy? No, I think he got healthy. I think it's over. I think the streak's over.

I can't even remember. Where are we on that streak? I think it's over. Definitely people know. I don't know. I'm just. I mean, I don't care. I can't.

I'm just asking. It's just I'm curious. 1,064 games consecutively. I don't know. I don't remember. I'm just asking. I'm just curious. 1,064 games consecutively. Did he get broken? I don't know. I don't remember. I don't know. You're the producer.

You had Darby Hendrickson's plus minus in a game in 1996 today. You can't do this. It's so weird. It's so weird. Are we taking a break? That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. terror only please play responsibly that's the longest game time we've

ever had in the history of the show with one game thanks again to bet365 but we've really appreciated their support are we taking a break let's take a break and then you find out where kessel is on this consecutive if it got broken or not i can can't remember. End date, 04-13-2023. Okay. Don't go away. Although you want to, we know that. Back after these words. Everything you need to know about the Raptors

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I got something that's going to upset our Vancouver listeners, okay? Buddy, you just... It's just your leaf face upsets them. So I'm reading, I put in the piece from sportsnet.ca. It was just Associated Press. It wasn't IMAC that wrote this article,

so I'm not going to bury veteran writer IMAC. But Canucks and Oro have exact revenge with own take on the gritty in a win versus the Red Wings. There are multiple forms of revenge available in hockey. One is to cross-check your opponent up high after an empty net slap shot. Another

mock their goal celebration when you serve their team a loss. Vancouver just can't they're falling all over themselves to bring up the Leafs. They just all they think about is the Leaf over themselves to bring up the Leafs. They just, all they think about is the Leafs. Everything is about the Leafs. It's all they care. Until one of their own cross-checks somebody over there.

They hate us because they ain't. Oh, oh. What was he? A cross-check at a hockey game. How could he? They just can't wait to bring it up. It was a real subtle gritty. I'm sorry.

Wasn't it? About Sam. I'm not. Wasn't it? About Sam. It's like, holy guys. You feel better? Your team is first place in the literal NHL. Number one. Best team in the league. And in the first line of your team's victory over the team

that you just had a gritty incident with, you bring up the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first line. Do you think getting this off your chest right now will give you a better chance to relax this weekend? It was a nice, subtle, gritty.

Very subtle. It was the mini-gritty. And if you got a problem with it, go talk to him. Nikita's a large fella. Yes, he's a large fella. You know how to find him. But yeah, that's another win for the Canucks. They just keep doing it.

What do you guys think? This is a text, no name. On a text. Remember, put your text in your name in the text so I can read it on here. Text 590-590 right now. What do you think of Lawson Krause on the Leafs? The Leafs keep striking out on left wingers. I've mentioned his name

probably for two years now. You have. And the answer is yes for any team going after a guy like this. 20 goals and 30 points in 50 games. 6'4", 215. 6'4", 215 with a very friendly contract

still if I'm not mistaken. Oh, man, you have to trade your whole team to get him. He's four, three until 26, 27. That's starting with pretty much your top two blue chip prospect, and that's not going to happen. God, I don't know. Get a cost-controlled guy like that for years of these guys' prime? Would you trade Nyes?

If you're the Leafs, would you trade Matthew Nyes for him right now? Oh, yeah. Don't you think Nyes is going to be him plus? Less sure. Yeah, certainly less sure, but was that yeah, sure, or yes, sir? I'd do it all day. Okay. Yeah.

I'd do it all day. Crows, I don't think he's going anywhere with Arizona. Do you know that Arizona has a billion draft picks? Oh, yeah. They are. Do they even want more picks? They need two farm teams. I got to think between Arizona, L.A., and New Jersey, you're talking about teams that are really in a good position to

improve dramatically here depending how how aggressive you want to get to try to win now in the next three years they have 10 second round picks 10 second round picks in the next three years. Can one fall off a truck and land in the Leafs backyard? 10 second round picks. Yeah, 10. And seven thirds. So they have 17 picks in the next three years in just those two rounds. I look at their roster and I look at their picks. Like, this is a really valuable team for Salt Lake City to get.

Like, they are, like, you are potentially getting them at the point where they're about. Alex, your foot can be yours. Where they're about to be really good. Like, they, you know. Oh, relax. No, listen, listen. Really good. If you get a new owner, for example, right?

New owner syndrome. Yeah. Where it's like, we're going to trade some of these picks. We're going to get my guy in here. Okay. We're going to get aggressive. They're in a playoff spot right now. We're close to one, aren't they?

They've fallen out of a playoff spot. But they've been decent this year. You go to a new place, new owner. They start trading some of those picks, bringing in real guys around them. To me, it's a valuable team. Anyways. We've got teams thinking that

they can challenge for stanley cup here in canada vancouver winnipeg edmonton and i don't know where you sit on the leafs or not but the whole idea now when you talk about all these prospects and picks is they're great you'd rather have them than not have them. But you got to kind of wrap your head around when do you say we're trying to win now? Yeah, we want hockey players who do hockey good. So earlier on in the show, you were drooling, Sammy,

all over your shirt for Travis Konechny. Love Travis Konechny. Love Travis Konechny. Yes, you do. Love him. Okay. Can I remind you that he got drafted like eight years ago? In 1890. Okay.

So this is the peak Travis right now. You're getting the best of Travis Konechny now. Yeah. Eight years in the making. Okay. My point is, is if you want to look as at a matthew nize okay right now and sit there and go all right you can't trade him because you know he's gonna be a power forward or he's gonna end up being like a travis connect me or

a kraus it's like yeah in five more years but not for nice not for nice for me maybe i agree with when you're talking about fraser minton for the leafs and you're talking you know easton cowan you when are these guys but good matthew nize or anyone else's top pick who's in a lineup now but is still going through a learning curve is nowhere near where he needs to be to truly help you win four rounds and a Stanley cup. But I'm calling you if I'm another GM though, because you're, you're talking about a guy who's,

it could be next year. You don't know. It could be next year. No, the odds are against it. I'm not saying it couldn't, but I'm telling you, if we look at historically,

it is, the odds are way way against you that knives will not be able to fully help you probably in another three or four years yeah so for chris crider particular i go go look at chris crider with the new york rangers and watch his development yeah and it might mirror a guy like mat Nyes. I agree with this theory. For sure. Six years. It took, I don't know how many years it took Chris Kreider to turn into a legit 40 or 50 goal score.

Yeah. But it was a long time. I mean, so you look at Arizona and it's like Keller and Schmaltz and Michelli. You know, like it's a, there's not a ton there that's going to be immediately awesome. Ken Holland's done after this year. Like, come on, Ken. You got to pull the trigger here on something. This is your last.

Don't worry about what Philip Broberg might be. Your last crack. Turn him into someone today. Your last crack right now as a general manager. Because we all assume that you're not coming back next year. Right? You got Jeff Jackson there. They're covered.

Go for it. I have angered vancouver oh have you which i thought that's what you're here to do might have been your intention authenticity right like you can't pretend to be objective when you're not um ron in uh colquittlam is that right colquittlam yeah bc yeah he said that i wanted to bring this up because he texted it in phil castle is still on the iron man streak and we looked i was right for phil you didn't say one way or the other no i said would would he be eligible to keep it going? And is that even fair? Is it like...

He says that he'd be willing to drop the streak. No, we'll drop it for him. He doesn't need to be willing to do anything. We're just going to drop it for him. It's over. You can't take this long of a vacation and then come back and think that you're still... You can't miss a game you're not eligible to play in, though.

He's still legit. From someone with a 7-7-8, I believe it's Vancouver. Yes, it is. We hate the Leafs. still you can't miss the game you're not eligible to play in though he's he's still legit from someone with a 778 i believe is vancouver yes it is we hate the leafs how about you complain on air about the leafs are the center of the hockey universe canada wise when they literally have zero chance of doing anything the playoffs we also effing hate the fact that every time the leafs come to town the games at 4 p.m pacific to appease leaf fans oh sammy loved that text he loved it i'm gonna take a bath in that text the 4 p.m thing is like a i've noticed that people in toronto seem to really i went out there for a game and i went to that game awesome i mean i i've never been called

me it's really best you change the subject right now. I'll change the subject. Is it time for the Oilers to really consider ending the Connor Brown experience? Connor's my boy. Yep. Love Connor Brown. Useful, hardworking, smart. There's a little of the Bertuzzi thing going on there, right? He just can't score. He had 70 shots with no goals this season which is incredible

70 yeah it's like a lot good offensive player what do you have 120 points in junior one year or something you can score so i do see the point that at some point it's not going great but he's making league minimum you're not going to get a better player than connor brown at that price and i understand about the bonus but that's happening so no you got to keep him and hope he finds his way out of it yeah kipper uh again yeah just what do you think you're going to replace him with yeah check the waiver and i don't think uh uh yeah i know you want to find more depth for sure but for me it might be finding another guy to maybe push cody cc down the line up a little bit for me on the back end um multiple texts on the text line congratulating you on five years bony yeah. Thank you very much. I've got my new five-year chip here.

Look at that. Thanks to my wife, my mom, my family, and all that for all the support. Thanks to you guys, too. You know, we've gone golfing, and it's not like you guys are like, have a drink, loser. But we do have a drink. Yes, of course. But I do.

I want that. I already say I've ruined my own fun. I don't want to ruin anyone else's process, but it took me some time to get to that point where I was comfortable in those environments. But you're smart enough to know it's way overrated drinking. Yeah, well, particularly as you get older. Really, it's about how funny we are.

Sober. That's right. But yes, thanks to everyone for the support. I appreciate it. And yeah, if you want to reach out to me, if you're looking for help, do the best I can. Awesome stuff, pal. We're thrilled for you.

And quickly wanted to mention that Scotiabank Arena tonight sold out for PWHL Toronto versus Montreal. It's supposed to be the biggest crowd in women's hockey history. So I wanted to mention that. What is capacity at Scotiabank? 18,000. I actually don't know. Love to leave.

I'm a terrible producer, but yeah. And you're going. I am going. Where are you sitting? I am don't know. I'm a terrible producer. And you're going? I am going. Where are you sitting? I am a credited media kipper. Pay and support the women. Why do you hate the P.O.C.? I tried to pay.

I tried to pay. Couldn't get a ticket. I can't pay. 18,819 for hockey, plus freeloaders like Sam will be there. Oh, my God. Doesn't support the game. So, you know, and Nat Spooner, hottest in the league. I think she's got 10 points, 10 goals.

Leading the league in goals. Sounds like I saw Haley Salvian, Carolyn Cameron tweeting about it. It sounds like it's jammed downtown right now. Jersey's everywhere. PA Day here in Toronto. So, people are excited. Love it. Congrats to them.

Name's coming as early as next year, right? So, it'll... Yeah. The whole experience is going to be fuller. So, I don't have to go Toronto's people are excited. Love it. Congrats to them. Name's coming as early as next year, right? So it'll. Yeah. Oh, the whole experience is going to be fuller. So I don't have to go. Go Toronto's go. Go Toronto's. Go Toronto's go.

So there you go. Looking forward to it tonight, fellas. And I think the Leafs will beat the Ducks tomorrow. I can't say that with any confidence. But just not in regulation. And it's the big deal, right? Because I saw some people drumming it up about old Radko coming to town for the first time after he screamed it on joel wall's face question can you get radco can he be on your team that'd be the worst idea i think we need another week for some teams to drop

and then yeah i think the market will straighten out see what the market is for i mean someone like he signed a four-year contract? He signed one of those, I'm going to get my money, I don't really care. Like, you know, been in the league as a depth guy paying my dues,

I'm going to get paid now. Three years, four million per. Yeah, I don't think he wanted him at that, unfortunately. And didn't, yeah, and Kalorn signed one of those there too. Kalorn got a retirement contract out there.

Yeah, heading out to the beach with a flip-flop. There you go, boys. Exciting happening on the weekend? There's no Super Bowl anymore. Football's done? Golf. Tiger left Riviera apparently in an ambulance today

because he was sick. Like a flu-like? I don't know. There's a lot of speculation going around. Is he moving better? No. No. No.

But here's my little secret. I want Tiger to call it, to hang him up. Because I think there's so many great players, and there's just so much focus on him. He's just past it. It's over. It's over. I'm kind of mad at him for getting in this accident

because he would have been great to watch at his age now with his wisdom and his strength he would have been in a perfect wheelhouse but we always will have 2019 Masters, can never take that away from Tiger fans, one of the best days of my life just a guy who deserves

so few fans nothing's ever gone wrong with him. If I was Tiger, I would shut down driving. I'd have someone driving me the rest of my life. Tiger hasn't made great off-courts. No, he has not. Alright. Alright, let's go. Get us to the weekend, will ya?

Yeah, it's time. Alright. It's over. The week is over. Our thanks to Jason Bukala at the top of the hour and Luke Fox for joining us in our Leaf edition enjoy the weekend everybody stay safe and we're back on Monday