Real Kyper & Bourne - Bobrovsky Headlines Free Agency Eve

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee kick off with their reaction to the Florida Panthers trading for Jacob Markström and Akira Schmid, making Sergei Bobrovsky available when the free agency market opens on Wednesday. They discuss Bobrovsky's potential fit in Toronto before welcoming Andy Strickland (12:37) from the Cam & Strick Podcast. They discuss where Jordan Binnington might land, whether Zach Werenski could team up with Dylan Larkin in Detroit, the chances that Jason Robertson stays in Dallas, and the Blues' direction for next season. Later, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss the Islanders' plan after letting captain Anders Lee walk to free agency. 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.

All right, no time to waste. Why? Because it's the fastest hour in hockey. We are talking about the real Kipper and Bourne show. I actually forgot my tagline. On my side. I remember Born. Thank you.

The real Kipper that gave me trouble there. Nick Kiprio's Justin Borns. Sammy McKee. Jake the Snake Shills, Derek Brandeo. Live on SportsSept 590, The Fans, Sportsnet Radio Network, SportsSet 360, plus YouTube. you name it, we're here. Give us a thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube.

This hour of Real Kippenborn brought to by Bet365. Sammy, at the buzzer. You had no key to get into the studio. No, I, so first of all, I forgot that there was... Unprecedented moment. I forgot that there was no show in front of us. So I was like, oh, because we're changing times every day. So you're listening.

So then I went and I was like, I'm just going to open the door and go into the studio that we're supposed to go into. And it was locked. And it was five minutes before show time. No one in the building. I just said, I was like, okay. I'm going to just wander around and I walked into one of the control rooms

and there was a white lanyard with a key and I stuck it in the keyhole, turned it. We got a show. Like a King's Quest side quest just found a random key to unlock a door. It's a miracle. Away we go. I could have broken the door down.

Yeah, it was an ex-plan. It looked very kickable, in a bowl. You know what I think the next plan was? When I was five, I think we just head back to the golf floor. I broke our side door when I was five years old because it was the conclusion of Batman. And the last episode, they were in big trouble. It was after school.

I came home, Commander Tom, Channel 7, and Buffalo, and no one was home. And I took... I took two steps back and put a shoulder right through the door. And that's the day you made the NHL. You knew you could just go through people, through things. No. It happened.

Scared the heck out of my mom, She came back from the neighbor's house. Someone had kicked in the door. Yeah. Anyways, we didn't have to break any doors to get in. Plenty to get into, including the goaltending carousel, which officially is now in full display. Yeah.

With the Panthers acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the New Jersey Devils. Jacob Marksum leads the Florida, Florida Panthers in goalie wins by a player they drafted. Pretty cool to see him go back there. But that remakes their crease and. entirely, right? They got Schmead yesterday, Kier Shmead. So they have two goalies. Danil Tarasov and Babrovsky to go to UFA.

I am surprised at the end with Bobrovsky, not finding a way to retire in a place where they're going to put a statue of him outside the building. Yeah. Like, will they? I guess money. No. Do they have any other statues?

I don't think that. Buddy, Dustin Brown is a statue. You and Cups, statues. Yeah, but like, sorry to do this. What? I don't think they, it's not really a statue kind of place. Florida? They're like, oh, there's a hockey rink.

Oh. Oh, God. L.A. Kings do statues. Yeah, but they got, anyways. Let's not do this today. Anyways. I don't know. I mean, okay.

Statues aside. Let's just say, it only happens in Toronto. It'll be in the rafters. It only happens in Toronto. Okay. Yeah. Not surprised for you. I guess, hey, money talks.

We know what walks. Yeah. I mean, I think Florida is being very clear about their competitive window. Bob wasn't great last year and by all accounts wanted term. Term seems to be the hold up here, right? It's just not, it's just at the end of the day, it's, he wanted Brad Marchand. He wanted the same treatment. Just get me to a number.

And I don't care how it ends up looking. and that's why it will work for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They will hit a number. They will hit the term. And I guess he'll be happy. You think he's going to come to Toronto? It's totally pointing in that direction. Am I telling you that it's a done deal that is definitive?

No, I'm not telling you that. I am telling you that it is really pointing in that direction. You know, I don't know how to feel about that. You know, I look at his age. I look at his off year last year where they were pretty bad. And it's hard for me to be excited that they could potentially give this guy four or five years. Is this like, I think we all collectively can agree that the momentum for Chica and the group has been great so far. Is this a signing that kind of derails it for you?

No, well, I mean, everything about goaltending, you know, this whole thing. that like outside of five guys who are consistently good every year, it's kind of hit and miss. And so you don't want to make any massive commitments to guys you're not sure about. Bob is one of the few guys who over the past decade has proven he could handle a starter's workload and pick his game up in the playoffs. Those are great things. But I do feel like at this point in his career, it's the first one where you're like,

I got to see the number here. You know, if it's four years times six million, I'm in. The years are irrelevant. Because you don't think they'll play them all. It's the number. It's the total value of the contract. Yeah, and they've got more space than almost anybody now. Yeah, that's not an excuse to blow it.

I don't. No, I agree. It's, whether it's $5 million, $7 million or $8 million is less relevant than is he still good? Yeah, I agree. I agree very much with that.

That to me is like you need to answer. That's the gamble. The question is he still good, before you do anything else. And if I'm not mistaken, did Valley not come on the show last year and say he's done? He thought he's done.

I think he said those exact words that he's done. Yeah. Yeah. Does it just derail it for you a little bit? I think that they did a lot of research within the organization, talking to players, talking to people around the team,

and that there's a big part of people that are involved in this that were sick of goalies not playing. That they're sick of not knowing who is going to be in the net. every night. And whether it be Joseph Wall or Anthony Stolars, who could both disappear at the drop of a hat for

whatever reason, I think that there's something appealing to probably people within the organization, to the players, about a guy that just plays. And I think in the, I'm looking at his hockey B page here, since 21, 22, he's played 54, 50, 50, 58, 54, 52, plus all the playoff games.

He's a durable guy that plays a ton. He'll have a longer rest than he's had in a long time. Like, I can convince myself that this might be okay. Yeah, 37. It's a huge risk. I said this to Sammy. League save percentage,

or league average save percentage last year was 895. 895 or 896. If he could play 55 games at an 890 or better, I'm okay. I can live with that. Definitely with Stolars, you've got to count on 50 games. Yeah.

Minimum. And, I mean, like I said, looking at his DB page here, I don't really have any. reason to believe that that would unless it's finally he hits the wall and it's over and he can't play at all and he gets hurt or whatever but he has been incredibly durable his entire career and he is different when i say that he is a specimen he he works at it harder than well i shouldn't say harder as hard as anyone out there he would be at the top of my list for a guy that just has to be convinced

to get off the ice or, you know, be that. And maybe there's just a part of that personality that you want in the room to push again. Stolars, like Stolars backed him up. He watched it already. Maybe he needs to be reminded of it in some capacity. Ackyimov is a guy that he could help groom and is there value in that. I think there is a lot of things that could check. off a pretty good list for them,

but the top one is, can he still play at a high level? Can he still? And unlike you, I do worry about term because that's, I don't see how you wouldn't worry about it. But he's going to retire on this contract and you just write it off. He's going on the IR. He'll take it. He'll just disappear with an injury and they'll just gone. Yeah, I mean, if you can get some hard agreement on that that he'll do that,

Okay, but he's no guarantee he's there. He's a competitive guy and he wants to play and he's an 870, two years in a row and he's like, sorry, I'm coming back. For these reasons, you're out. I can tell that you are incredibly apprehensive about this. I am, like, just goaltending. I look at his backup last year, Terazov. He's 6-5, 27 years old and had a better save percentage.

Are we sure that he's not a better UFA? Like I... But listen, they just, they weren't got Markstrom if they thought he was the guy. For sure. Right. For sure. They know he's not the answer. Yeah.

Can I present the position that maybe with a lot more time off than he's had in a lot, long time, with his work ethic, like maybe he bounces back to a league average guy who plays most of the nights. Like, I'm trying to convince myself on this because the way Kipper's talking about and the way it's been talking about since it's happened because it feels like it's really trending towards happening. I think he'd be fine next year. I do.

it's three years after next year. It's Chris Tanef, right? Where you're like, is he going to be able to play? Is he whatever? But at least Tanef has a long injury history where you're like, yeah, if you want to, you went to a doctor today and said, can I play in the NHL? The doctor would be like, no.

You've been playing for the last three years? Yeah. You know, Bob's been nothing but the pitcher of health. In a few minutes, we're going to welcome in Andy Strickling, co-hosts of the Kemp and Strick podcast, always on top of many things around the National Hockey League. Looking forward to that conversation. In the meantime, man, this Florida team, man, they just don't rest.

No. No. They're pretty low. So, Bet365 has them as the favorites, right, to win the Stanley Cup? Yeah, last I checked. Okay, so including the Toronto Maple Leafs, everybody particularly in the Atlantic is now, how do we beat the Florida Panthers? They are the bar.

By shooting it at their goalie, who was worse than Bobrowski last year? That's probably how. You know, I am fascinated. I love the Florida Panthers experiment. Like how many of these guys who can produce and hit and grind and annoy people can you put on one team? They're a fascinating team. Third line, a loose terrain in Lundell, Marshand. I am fascinated, though.

I can see this going one or two ways. I could see them being the best team in the league, and I can't believe Bourne ever question them. And I could see them a couple guys get hurt because they're older. You know, they're slower. They're loaded. I'm not going to deny that they're loaded. But it's just a fascinating. experiment. It's fascinating to me that they just had 84 points and, you know, had one injury and everyone's going,

Cup favorite, for sure. No one's got any question marks, apparently. I'm not sure if we have, Andy or not, but I'm going to ask you the question. I know we went to the Panthers, but I'm just going to go back to Roski for a second. Like, do you know what the total amount of money that he wants is? Like, do you know what they're looking at here? The last I heard was that he asked for a contract that had the length of six years. And was looking at, was looking at 40, 42 million. So I don't know what that is, six and a half, right? Sorry, six years at 42 million is seven million dollars a year. Okay, seven.

Yeah. Yeah. That's the ballpark, which would, you know, for the Leafs now, if he wants the equivalent of that, that's not to say Florida clearly didn't go down that path. but that's the equivalent of the Leafs offering them in the vicinity of 8.5 or 9. And for that reason, I'm out. Okay, let's see if Andy Strickland is out or in

on Bobrovsky still being a very good goalie and one that could attract attention, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's welcome him in. Andy, how are you, my friend? Great to be with you guys again, as always. There you go. Usually you're at a Walmart in the car, right? No, no. You caught me on the beach before in Mexico.

Drinking margaritas telling you how great chief was going to be in Toronto. All right. So listen, we're going to include you and your local market, obviously the St. Louis Blues because there's Jordan Bennington out there. We saw Markstrom go to Florida. Where do you see this whole dynamic with Brobowski and Bennington moving forward? I don't see Bennington going anywhere, at least in the short term. No, I could be wrong, but he's going to get traded.

It's not a matter of if he gets traded. It's when he gets dealt. It's got one year left on his deal, and I just get the sense that they're going to be patient with this. He's going to be patient. Let it play out throughout the course of the season, see where the blues are at, and then get an idea of what teams might be interested as you get closer to the trade deadline. So he's going to get moved to some point between now and the trade deadline. You've got Joel Hofer here, obviously.

and he's got a partial no trade clause that they're going to have to submit their list of teams. I guess today. I think today is a deadline to submit the list of teams there for Jordan Bennington, which is always interesting because, you know, like a market like Winnipeg, for example, would be on a no trade list probably for Jordan Bennington. But do you put Winnipeg on there knowing they have Connor Hallibuck? Or do you take the risk of exposing yourself if Winnipeg, peg does move Hellebuck.

So that's always interesting. Whenever you hear, you know, Buffalo potentially being interested in a goaltender, you've got to figure that maybe they would have a plan B and a plan C if they're not able to work out a deal for Hellebuck. The Broboski situation is just strange to me. I think it has a lot of players in Florida scratching their heads as well. I mean, there's people who are in Florida who truly believe that if this guy came back, considering how good the Florida roster is

and the fact that he's already won a couple of Stanley Cups. I mean, he could go down as, you know, one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League if they win another cup or two. When you consider his hardware and the legacy they're creating there in Florida, he gets to take a golf cart to the rink. He wears flip-flops to the rink.

The lifestyle is amazing. He's made a lot of money. But then people tell me, well, then you just don't really know Sergey Brabowski that well. this guy, he wants to get paid. And you guys mentioned it before I came on, the kind of payday that he's looking for. It's just, it's crazy to me that he couldn't find a way to stay there,

even on a one or two-year deal just to give him a chance, you know, himself a chance to win another Stanley Cup. Yeah, no, it is genuinely shocking. So he'll be a free agent. So it's a very busy time of year right now. And I guess I just kind of want to give it to you generally. What has your attention right now? What is most of your interest devoted towards as we,

it before free agency. Well, Bobrosky was certainly one of them, but I've got to be honest with you, I mean, you look at the UFA pool right now. It's not that all interesting. I'd rather be sipping,

sitting, sipping cocktails by the pool, you know what I mean, than sitting in a studio on July 1st waiting to see where all the, these guys are going to sign. But I am interested to see

what happens with, you know, the Dillon Larkins of the world, and the Zack Werenstis of the world, and the Connor Hellebucks of the world, you know? It's like the cabinet of the United States of America. It's like all these guys, they all got together at the Olympics

and they tried to figure out, you know, how they're going to play their cards and what they're going to do. Listen, Larkin obviously wants out. Eisenman's not just going to send him anywhere. And as he should, he should go about this the way that he is, which is making sure that you're protecting the best interest of Detroit. Larkin and Werenstki are best friends. I remember the year that they were drafted.

I think it was Werensky's draft in Miami. I remember my wife came with me to the draft. And we got back to the hotel. It was very late. And she said, hey, I want to stop by and see where the gym is. So I know where it is in the morning. So we stopped by. And Zach Werenski was in the gym the night before he was getting drafted.

And this was in the wee hours of the morning. And we talked a lot about obviously Michigan and him being from there and all of that. You know, I know Detroit has their situation going on right now. What if Zach Werenzky all of a sudden said, Dylan Larkin, let's play it together. I'll come to Michigan. I'll come home to Michigan and go to Detroit and we can team up in Detroit. Would Dylan Larkin say, hey, you don't want to come here, it's that bad? Or would he welcome his best friend to come to Detroit?

And could they smooth everything over that exists with the Red Wings? Could there be a spot for a guy like Zach Werenski to find his way to the Red Wings? Would he want to go back and play at home? It's probably very unlikely. But I've always said that the NHL eventually is going to turn into much more similar to what we see in the NBA. All these guys are friends. They all grow up together. They're on the AAU circuit.

It's no different than all these kids who get to know each other who find their way into the National Hockey League. And then they go into international competition. These international tournaments, they have success. And now they want to find a way to team up and link up with one another. So you ask me who I'm paying attention to in free agency. It's more of the guys who are asking out. star players who want a change of address who are looking to get out of their current situation. You're watching and listening to Andy Strickland, co-host of Cam and Strict podcast.

Brady Cachuk, St. Louis Blues. Was there any, I heard interest, obviously grew up in the area, correct? So what kept it from being reality, just the fact that the brothers in Florida? Well, the brothers in Florida, and I just don't think, just like, You know, Brady wasn't here when Matthew was kind of determining where he was going to end up when he was in Calgary. And he didn't want to come to St. Louis either. I know he kind of had St. Louis as a finalist, but he really wasn't ever going to come here. I mean, he wanted to go to Florida.

That was his number one choice, and he was able to make that happen. I don't think Brady ever really gave St. Louis much of a thought. I know Big Walt obviously is here. They spent a lot of time in Florida now. and he's got his, you know, iconic status now cemented being a Hall of Famer and, you know, everything that he's done here in St. Louis. The fact that he works with the Blues. I just don't think it was something the family was really looking at that would have been in the best interest of Brady Cachuk. So the Blues made a phone call, but I think that was shut down very, very quickly saying, hey, St. Louis isn't on the list.

And so Doug Armstrong and the Blues, they went about their merry way. They never really gave it much thought after that, knowing they weren't going to be able to love. land him. But Florida was where he wanted to go. Months ago, there started to be speculation about him finding his way to the Florida Panthers to play with his brother and go try to win a Stanley Cup, the first one

for Brady. And they're in prime position to be able to do that. This is one of the most impressive, if not the best collection of a top nine that we've seen in the salary cap era. I mean, find one better. I mean, there's other, maybe you can say, hey, they had

better top line or maybe a better top six, but an overall collection of nine forwards to make up your top nine in the salary cap era, this is as good as we were ever going to see it. Yeah, it's pretty loaded, no doubt about that. You mentioned these guys that like are kind of in the news right now

and we're trying to figure out who's going to end up where. Jason Robertson is another one that's out there. Do you think it's more likely he stays or goes? Well, I know he wants to stay. You know, whether or not they can make it happen remains to be seen. I don't have money. If you remember, you know, in the past, Tom Goliardi, the owner there.

Like, he is, he played hardball with Ottinger before he got his contract extension. I know Jason Robertson and him, they had to go down to the wire before in terms of getting him extended in the past. He missed training camp. He missed a good portion of training camp on a bridge deal. Exactly. So this is owner driven, in my opinion, when you look at the Jason Robertson, situation. But he does want to stay. I mean, how much of a haircut is he willing to take? I mean, he doesn't really have, I don't think he has no trade protection, right? But no team's

going to give up a package to get him unless they truly believe that they can keep him long term. He's an interesting one for me. I mean, you watch Dallas and all of a sudden this guy's got two goals and one assists in the game, but you really didn't notice him a whole lot during the course of the game. It's kind of crazy. You know, the fact that he was left off the USA team and he puts up the numbers that he puts up. But I just don't think he gets the respect of being a true elite superstar around the league and around... That's a huge point I think you're making strict, eh?

Like, he's not even on Team USA. How can you say you're worth 17 Miller, 15 Miller? Yeah. But, you know, he didn't want to go to Seattle, so it is what it is. And I don't really blame him for that. It's easy. Some people would say, hey, how are you going to turn down $120 million?

dollars. It's not as difficult as it looks on the outside when you know somebody else is going to give it to you. Yeah, that's right. But you know, he's got a sign in my opinion. I don't think he could risk losing $100 million by going into this season on a one-year deal. People are talking about arbitration and stuff like that. There's no way they go to arbitration. I don't think the team would put themselves in that situation, give him a one-year deal and let him walk up to free agency, although he couldn't have a no trade clause out of arbitration. He wouldn't be able to have a no trade in his one year extension if they were to go to arbitration. But still, I think to take that type of risk knowing how much money is out there and that will be on the table for him to go into this season,

risking injury and not getting paid and not having a signature on a contract before this season, I think is a big risk and too big of a risk for him to take. Andy, we saw Mason McTavish end up with the blues. We hear that Robert Thomas isn't going anywhere. We know the Colton Perrako situation with Buffalo at the trade deadline. Doesn't sound like he's being shopped around. Like, what are the blues next year? I think they're, it's interesting.

I just left the press conference for Alexander Steen. He was officially formally introduced as the general manager of the team today. So he officially takes over now. Although Doug Armstrong is still going to be here as president of hockey and make no mistake, Army's going to have his fingerprints all over every decision that's made here, moving forward for the Blues, at least in the short term. As long as he's in the organization, he's going to have a lot of involvement and a lot of say, if not the final say.

But I don't expect the Blues to be very busy in free agency. But, you know, Mason McTavish was kind of the big free agent move. I mean, here's a guy that they targeted a little bit once they knew that he'd become available. You know, they're bringing Greg Cronin over as an assistant. He's got a lot of history with Jim Montgomery. He obviously signed off on it and endorsed the idea of bringing McTavish on board. They've seen what he's done in the past in international competitions. It's just interesting to me that he's coming off of a down year.

He's got six years left on his contract making $7 million, which isn't crazy when you consider the money that's being handed out right now all over the league. But you want to see him get back to that level that he was at a couple of years ago because, you know, this is a big move for the blue. They traded away two first round picks. They got the first round picks in the Braden Shen trade and the Justin Falk trade. They used those picks to get Mason McTavish. They need this guy to be a player and not just to take time and kind of let him find his way. He's going to have to come in and be productive right away. So I'm interested to see how he fits in.

They think he's going to fit in. It should be an easy fit when you consider his age. And look how young the blues are right now. I mean, not just offensively, but defensively. You know, Broberg is now a veteran guy for the blues. What is he? 23, 24 years of age. You got Mayhew, who's played one full year.

This Theo Lindstein had a, was great down the stretch playing with Colton Pereko. He was a first round pick a couple of years ago, the Swede. And then Adam UResek, you know, who was a standoff of Brantford in the OHL. And he's played in like three of the last three words. World Junior Championships for Chequia. This guy's a legit talent. Cam Fowler's still here too. And now you got Brandon Carlo in the mix, you know, who can be a guy that comes in and

out of the lineup for me. It's in a one-year deal. He's just there for security in case things don't necessarily go well for Euresec. Or he has trouble adjusting to the NHL. So, but they're young. And you look at them up front right now. I mean, Robert Thomas has your number one center. But they've got all these young guys with Snuggieroot and Dylan Holloway.

And, you know, Jake, neighbors. And now you have McTath. you know, McAvich to the list. It reminds me of the team the Blues had when they were bringing in Perron and Oshy and Patrick Bergland and all these guys several years ago. And eventually they were able to move a piece or two to bring some veterans in and they ultimately ended up winning a Stanley Cup.

So that's the comparison that's being used around here right now. They're trying to build through young players and eventually get back to being a contending team in the short term. Yeah, they're sneaky kind of deep, actually. The Blues, I don't think, are going to be terrible. next year. So I think they're okay. I look at, you know, what's happening since the season ended and it feels like at least have gotten a bit better and Florida's gotten a bit better and San Jose's gotten a bit better. And you kind of go through this list and it's like, you have to

get a bit better just to keep pace. The league gets better every year. Who's going to fall behind here? Because I'm, it, everyone's fan base. It's like, we did this, we did that. We're better. Not everyone's getting better. Yeah. That's a good question because you think Utah is going to take another step out in the West too. You know, you just think that they're going to be that team that's going to do that. You know, what is Chicago? Like, who are they? When are they going to take the next step?

Like Montreal and Ottawa? Like, they both had pretty good years. Are they going to be worse? I don't know. I don't know. Ottawa's going to be as good as they were last year. Maybe they will be. You know, Montreal should.

I mean, they're one of the more exciting teams than the league right now. You know, what realistically is Toronto going to look like? What's Boston going to be out? you know, in the Eastern Conference. Now, you know, Florida obviously was a team that didn't make the playoffs. They're stealing somebody's spot who made the playoffs last year. Washington didn't get in, and they've added a couple of pieces. And they were one of the last teams that missed the playoffs last year out of the east.

You know, are they taking someone's spot too? So I don't know. It's interesting. I think we've got to wait and see how all the dust settles and what all the rosters look like when we get through free agency and see what teams are bringing in with the training camp with them. Andy, great stuff, man. really appreciate all your time all season long.

Really appreciate the support. Always a pleasure, guys. Appreciate you. You guys. You guys. You too. Thanks, Andy. Andy Strickland.

The podcast is called Cam and Strick. Yeah. It's a good one. If you'll remember correctly, the last time we had Andy Strickland on our show, it was right around the trade deadline. It was good. And there was all the reports that Colton Perrako have been traded to the Sabres, right? Yeah.

And so we're supposed to have. A lot of people had it done deal. were supposed to have Rick Bonus on. I had to call poor old Rick bonus. Be like, ah, Rick, you can't have you, but you're done. And called Strick and he came on. He was literally like, ah, ah, ah, not so fast.

And it never happened. And that was, remember him like taking text live on air? Like road ball in there. And really, that set a whole new tone on no move clauses. And we're experiencing it. And it's a hot button topic. We had our very own Elliot Friedman talking about how this is a huge next point on a CBA.

See Alan Walsh retweet that? Which, yeah, and he's not wrong. So Ellen Walsh said this is the biggest non-issue out there. Yes. People are voluntarily giving them out. They don't have to give them out. And he's not wrong. No.

He's not wrong. It's just, it's a, it's a personal negotiation between two parties on if you want me, show me how badly you want me to sign with you. Totally. And that is your number. number one chip way past the money. Yeah. It is crazy to be like,

I agree to give you this no trade protection. And then the guy's like, all right, no, you can't trade me there. And the team's like, what the hell? What is that? Gary. But I can also make that. Without it, I can also make a huge commitment to you. And then you could trade my ass like in five minutes.

Yeah. And it's like, yeah, that's the way it used to be. Right. We are entering into new era. Before we get to game time, Strip, we were talking about Larkin, and he mentioned Werenzky going to Detroit. But, like, you know, I don't think he's,

I think it's just a speculation or whatever, but like, why aren't the Red Wings? Doing stuff. Just why aren't they more of a destination? They're one of the premier franchises in the NHL. So many cops, like, it just... Growing up, they made the playoffs 25 years in a row. They were the picture of...

Totally. were a powerhouse in my era. Every year. And I just, like, to have, we talk about the Rangers not having as much cachet, to me to have a Michigan-born captain ask out of there. And like an American guy, one of the premier American cities for hockey, hockey town. I worry about them. That's bad.

To answer your question, it sucks to suck. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, it sucks to suck. And that's, that's it. Okay. You've gone from this reputation from all those Ken Holland years of automatic playoff spots to not making it at all. And then you kind of get tagged as a bit of a loser organization. And you lose your cachet.

And Chicago has been battling it for a long time as well. Yeah. They've lost their cachet. And lo and behold, the mighty New York Rangers right now are not a destination spot anymore. It used to be automatic. In my day, the Rangers were, every time you heard, somebody's getting traded, the Rangers were in on it.

Who's going to sign the biggest free agent every year? Every year. The Rangers, right? And now. Seinfeld. That's a shame. That's gone. Yeah, for me on that.

Yeah, I mean, it's not healthy for the league. You need those markets driving. Yeah, like, think about the markets in the league that are just dog crap teams right now. I guess the Bruins, they had a, you know, they had a good year last year, but they was kind of smoke. Moken mirrors. Yeah. They had 100 points.

Remember they stunned us? Bruins, Rangers, Blackhawks, Red Wings. Yeah. Like the Leafs were horrible last year.

Pittsburgh and Philly. It's like Gary's dearly beloved southern teams are all thriving. It's just, you know, food for thought for me. There's nothing to think about.

They just got to get better. For sure. It is funny, though, like, you know, the Knicks were terrible for 30 years. And then people are like, hey,

wouldn't it be? 30. Oh, whatever. 50. Forever. Forever since whatever, Willis Reed or You know, when it's like,

hey, wouldn't it be cool to be awesome in New York and, like, you know, the world's on firewood. Did you know what that did for the league? It's awesome. Like, they had, I'm sure, I don't know, I'm not a ratings guy, but I'm sure their ratings were through the roof. Like, I guess hockey ratings are good in the States.

I don't know. I guess I'm just bitter that it just gets to be. Yeah. Someone's got to be bad at their turn. You need the big markets to get back in play. You do. Really do. Game time?

Game time. It's game time. It's got by Bet 365. An official partner of the NHHL must be 19 plus. Ontario only, please play responsibly. Let's do a couple things here. First of all, the Toronto Blue Jays, boys, we can confirm that for at least one night, they are better than the New York Mets.

We can confirm that they are one run better than New York. Did you see how the Mets? I saw the Springer. Oh, my God. That was Swansea Saw Fall. Unwatchable. That looked like the long dogs out there. Did you see the Springer inside the park?

Oh, yeah. Like, what's Soto doing? He was like, ah. I'm getting paid 700 Schmell. It was like it was bad news bears. Yeah, it was long dogs. So anyways, they're back in action tonight at Rogers Center. Kevin Gosman going for the Jays who's been shaking his last couple starts.

He needs a good one tonight. Jays are favorites, as you would imagine, minus 120 on the money line for the Toronto Blue Jays. I would give out a Vladdy home run, but I just, I don't believe it's ever going to happen again. So I can't. I don't think it happens. He's taking some swings right now that look like the long dogs, too. He just, he, I've never, have you ever seen a superstar more disjointed at the plate? Like, it's really hard to watch right now.

And the next thing I'll bring up here, we have an opponent for our beloved men's national team in the World Cup. They are playing Morocco Saturday afternoon, 1 p.m. We got the, got the Jacksonville Jaguars wildcard spot there. 1 p.m. on Saturday. Morocco, as you would, as you would imagine, they are minus 1.30. four favorites Morocco against Canada. Canada is plus 400. Very similar number to what South Africa was against us.

So we're in tough. You watching that last night? Germany's out, but Canada's in. It's pretty amazing. It's like, what world are we living in? Netherlands are out in Canada's in. Yeah. Italy didn't even make the World Cup.

I got to tell you, though, I don't know if you're watching any of that game last night. Those teams are big and vast. Oh, yeah. We're in tough, boys. We're in tough, but you never know. Get it to penalties, see what happens. but we're in tough for sure.

Anyways, that was game time presented by Bet365. An official partner of the NHL was Pinetin Plus, Ontario-only, please play responsibly. And a reminder, Kipper, this hour of real Kipper and Bourne is brought to you by Bet365. So it's really hard to be disappointed if they lose, right? Oh, yeah. Correct. You just can't lose six. Okay, that's what I was going to ask you.

Where's the cut off on disappointment? And this is the... The least make the second round. Is it two? Is it losing two-nothing? I think... Three nothing? I think anything above three is a disaster.

It's humiliating. If you lose three one or three zip, I can go to bed at night. But if they lose like six zip or something. They won't. They won't do that. They won't do that. I mean. They're just.

The sixth best team in the world. I really like Cropo in Nett. Oh, Kravsey. He'll get her to catch a few. We're going to need him. But the Dutch guys up top, they had these two guys at Summerville. I feel like they're a better matchup anyways. All right, we'll see.

Okay, still more to get into as we get closer to the eve of UFA, not the sexy names, but there's a few out there that teams could be looking at. We'll talk about a few of those, including what's going on with your New York Islanders. I don't know. There's a shift going on there, including their captain. We're going to get into that after the break. on the New York Islanders. More real Kipper and Bourne

when we return after these words. Everything you need to know about the Blue Jays, Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back in studio, Nick Kippreos, Justin Bourne. Sammy McKeigh, Samie scouring the internet during our break,

and now he's got something, is it? We're not a hockey. We're a hockey show. Yeah. We're based in Toronto. Kawhi. Sham's Sharania. Breaking.

The Los Angeles Clippers are nearing a deal to send Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors for Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, two first round picks, one pick swap and two second rounders. Yeah. A return to Canada for the Raptors champion and two-time finals MVP. It's fun to have superstars. Wow. Wow. Why do you leave in the first place? Why?

Why? How old is he now? 35? He's getting up there. Is he broken? No, he played like contract here. He played like constantly last year. I think he played 65 years or so last year.

And apparently he thinks he can be healthier here than he can be in other places. Because the ice and snow keeps you cold. Is that what it is? It's that McKechnie. Alex McKechnie, who's a, he's the guru? He's a bit of a whiz. Yeah. All right.

I don't know. He breaks down. We're blaming him. Like, it's cool. I'm excited about it. But it's just like, I hope he plays. Also, the quine and dine offers are no good. They have expired.

I got to tell you, I'm so pumped. Yeah. Like, that is. It's cool. I'm pumped up. That rocks. That's a big. Wow.

That's a big price. That's the NBA how they operate. I mean, it is kind of a big price. If they're no good at the deadline, they'll flip them for the same probably. Yeah, first. I don't know. I also was not an Ingram believer, so not crushed about that. Jake DeSnake who is a, I think, believe works at Scotch Bank Arena during Raptors games,

doing hype stuff, if you believe it. Big Raptors fan says it's not a big price. Doing hype stuff. He does some sign stuff and he's like part of the hype squad. Is that right, Jake? Am I throwing you under the bus? That feels right. Yeah, he says, no, you're good.

That's amazing. See, this is part of the big picture with MLSC and the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's like we need star power. We need big names. We need people to come back to the rink and not give away the tickets. And from a-wise worth going to see, man. And from a basketball perspective, not to get two of the NBA. the weeds here. You need a guy that doesn't look like

Brennan Ingram looked at the end of playoff games. Yeah. You need a guy that has hit the most famous shot in the history of the team and it was a closer for them and it's exciting. It is. It's cool. That's cool. Kauai. No way. I'm into it. No way. I'm good. I'm good with it too. I'm good with it. Okay. Just before break, wanted to get into your

New York Islanders a little bit. Yeah, I'm nervous at this conversation. This is like what your wife tells you they need to talk. Yeah, we need to talk. All right. We need to talk. What have I done? second consecutive captain of the New York Islanders who you don't find a way

to maximize any return at all at all John Tavares and now Anders Lee totally different and you walk out the door for nothing okay come up what there's no way you can drag Tavares into this what are you talking about

different management different area different level A player different. He's 35. I don't care. Come on. I don't care. The Islanders were not.

No, stop it. The Islanders were in a playoff spot or a playoff fight. They weren't going to trade him at that point. Well, no. You gave up first round picks for him. Totally. Totally. They did miss out on that in retrospect.

You can't. You can't make that mistake. But hold on. Because I sat here and pounded the Anaheim Ducks for the John Carlson trade. And all I get out of you is, oh, it's good for the Divorceseux. development of the kids to get over the hump and just get in. Double standard here. No, it sucks now.

I respect it. It sucks now. I got nothing else. But it helped them get through the first round. It did. So it does. It's stinky. This is how you forever New York Islander fans stay in the mushy middle.

Okay? You never are ever in a position to draft high. And I'm talking about a top three pick. And you, you know, Schaefer's going to keep you away from drafting a top five, top seven. Oh, yeah. And you can't. Oh, no. You can't win.

They have Matthew Schaefer who's going to be one of the best players in the league for 20 years? You can't, you can't. He needs help, bud. Yeah, I don't get it. You can't, you don't get help this way watching assets go out the door for nothing. No, it's not, it's not how you want to do it. And I think the blues have been a good example of a team, even though they've had some bum years

that they tend to get something instead of nothing. You know, the Islanders have a case that they kind of have a wave of kids they're waiting on, but it's going to be a sec before you get Atterson and Eklund. Then you gave up first rounders for Shen and you don't even make the playoffs. Yeah, they're going to be... Yeah, well, that's the whole thing is they really made the push to get in.

That's not great management. No. Cap management. I will tell you, Islanders fans are sour. They're sour about Susie, Palat, older guys that were meant to get them in. You know, they pushed their chips. They did the coach thing.

Like, they really wanted to make playoffs. And okay, okay, if you want to make the playoffs, but even if you made them, then what? Then what? Yeah. You're okay with just getting in? Waste eight days? Waste eight days?

The islanders are very much at a point right now where you look at the plan and go, ah, you know, I'm not sure. Like they want to be competitive while this wave of like five young prospects comes along. But those prospects, there's no guarantee that they're going to be better than NHL average, right? So you can't bank

on them. I agree that they're in a spot now. It's like, what is... I do respect your point that at the time I think they were six, eight points in a playoff spot. Yeah, they were okay. So you're really at that point now going,

okay, what kind of message do I send to the team, the fans, the players, if I just move Anders Lee for a first round pick and a prospect. But you look at it, they're pretty old. They're pretty old for a team that's not super great.

You got to protect. I've got to protect the next three, five years. I don't think they've done that. Yeah, no, they've got more too. And I keep waiting to hear that they're in on something. You know, like there's all these huge names out there. Wrenski, Larkin, someone. But they just seem to kind of be holding a patent.

I'll be honest, when I asked Rick and the last thing, like who do you see taking a step back? What do you, what reason is there to think the Islanders are going to be better next year? What's who's a, there's not a guy. Well, I mean, Matthew Schaefer's going to be a year older. Yeah. And he goes, he may quit and do TV. Who, Schaefer?

Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I wouldn't say he was, but he was Mr. Personality at the draft. I mean, I'm no talent scout, but I don't know if it was necessarily undeniable up there. He was pretty good. Like, yeah.

I think he's great at both, but I think he's a hockey player. Okay, all right. I think he'll be fine. Okay. All right. I just wanted to make sure. I just, I don't think, like, sure, there's question marks, whatever,

but they have Matthew Schaefer. And like that alone, he's 18, you have two or three years here to build around him, really grow up with him, and when he turns into a, the best defenseman in the league. Yeah. The building around him, you throw around like it's just,

yeah, it's going to happen. And it's like, it's really hard. Yeah. As 15 teams have proven over the last 10 years. Would you rather have him or not have him? Of course. They need some of like Eiserman, Nelson. But you needed those assets to protect him at that, as early as that last trade deadline.

Well, and at that deadline, they went the other direction, right? They gave up assets. And I think Islanders fans were that soured them pretty quick. So need a good offseason here. Okay, I don't know what we're in for tomorrow. Yeah, it's... Like, are we, I don't know, are we gonna get excited about someone signing Colton Sissons

and I like him. Yeah, and I would. But this is about third and fourth liners, undervalued kind of guys that you think you can get. Give me some names here and tell you what you think for the Leafs. How about Marchment, Tolvinen, Arvinson? and like just give me a meanie please just give me give me marchman the one the one thing that's very clear is that the leaps are

pretty soft like as the current players they have are quite soft you know the only guys they might have Joshua could be coerced into punching a guy mccabe shouldn't fight too much it might be it might be slow tomorrow because this is the first Thursday yeah when is it or is it tomorrow tomorrow was Canada today Okay, you really throw me a curveball right now. Yeah, tomorrow at one o'clock, Kipper. Yes.

So you don't have to. Eastern. One o'clock. Remember this conversation when you text me tomorrow at 7 a.m.? Eastern? Yes, one. Okay, because sometimes they show up and I say it's mountained. This is the first time I don't ever remember another time

where this is just about filling depth positions. There is really needs. no one to really overspend on. I think a lot of this UFA will be spread out throughout the summer. But there will no, there won't, you don't really overpay for third or fourth liners. Well, people do on July 1st every year. That's the annual tradition is overpaying for first liners.

Is it not? First liners, but it's not third. No, for third liners. Oh yeah. This is where they get overpaid. This is the spot where you make mistakes. It's not a good time to do it, but it's when people do it. There will be less.

I think there'll be less of that. Okay. Is Rasmus Anderson going tomorrow? Is he going to sign with Vegas tonight? I cannot believe for one second that they've come this far together to walk him out the door. So he is staying a blue jacket or a golden night. All right. Anders Lee is probably going to get $6 million or something a year.

Two years? Is he looking for two years? Three? The Islanders didn't want to give him more than one. He wanted a term. That was the holdup. was he wanted term. Truba, Anthony Manta.

You like Zuckerello? I do. But again, Wingers. Boone Jenner? Wingers? No. Not for me.

Nice guy. Quality. A little broken for me. Mario Ferraro? This is a... But I know. This list is... Yeah.

Depth defenseman. Two names for you that I have is Leaves of interest. Andrew Peek, 6'3, P.K. defenseman, right shot, 28 years old, Brandon Carlo replacement on the third pair.

He's only okay. You don't have stature there? Yeah, I got 6-3 peak ahead of, Scott Lawton back. He's got a 3C, Scott Lawton? Yeah, that would be great. I'd love to have him back, but... What's he going to get? I have no.

Kipper, I don't know. Five? 12 million? Five? Over three years? No, he's going to get more than that. Three times five? Yeah, he's going to be more than that.

Look at who's getting money. I think he's going to get four years? Four million? Four million? I think so. Yeah. I do. You shouldn't have that big of a problem.

But none of this distract you from the fact that the Toronto Raptors just traded for Kauai Leonard again. God, you're excited. I am excited. You are so, you're in your Toronto, like. I might be back being a Raptor's guy. I might be, I might be a rapist guy again. I may be back. Every famous quote he has came as a Raptor in like the three months he was here or whatever it was.

All right. He's the only guy that's ever delivered me a championship in my life. All right. Just like that. One hour gone. That's it. Our thanks to Andy Strickland, who joined us earlier in our show. We're back here.

One to three tomorrow. One to three Eastern time. As Sammy has reminded me 18 times, one to three Eastern tomorrow on Canada Day. Also, UFA Day. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. If you get a chance, give us a chance, give us a rating and review.

We'd love to hear from you.