Real Kyper & Bourne - B's (Somehow) Get Even Better

Episode Date: February 24, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee get off-the-rails Friday going with the Bruins trading for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway, the price they payed relative to the Ryan O'Reilly trade and why it's now time for the Leafs to double down on a defenceman at the deadline.  Minnesota Wild writer for The Athletic Mike Russo shares insights on what direction the team will go at the deadline, Matt Dumba's status and the importance of Kirill Kaprizov (20:35). Then, Doug MacLean - recovering from a pickleball injury - discusses John Tavares at the wing, Craig Berube's comments about his team not caring and how Patrick Kane would fit on the Rangers (40:48). Finally, the host of Spittin' Chicklets Rear Admiral weighs in on the Bruins' move, the future of their core and what (if any) concerns he has for the team going forward (1:06:36). The guys close out with a bit of Fake Trade Friday and listener questions (1:24:54)!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.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. This is Off the Rails Friday on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. Nick Kiprios, JB, Derek Brandeo, Sammy McKee, and Dave Sissboomba. Ready to go in the next two hours. Going to take some texts, some YouTube questions. When, Sammy? Whenever you want, Kippy. I also have a massive fake trade proposal for you guys. Oh, my gosh.

Which people loved our last fake trade. No, they hated it. Oh, my God. Fake trade Friday. You created it, people, with your interest. Fake trade Friday. I like the sounds of, with your interest. Fake Trade Friday. I like the sounds of that. We're going to wait for that one.

My mentions have not recovered from that. Oh, you still get the odd, like, drifter. In retrospect, I did make a trade for Timo Maher without including a first-round pick in it. So, maybe I deserved it. Oh, very leafy. Yeah, but Nyes is the first round pick. shop he's a value he's more valuable than the first one well the next two hours we've got uh mike russo covers the minnesota wild they of course are in town to play the toronto maple leafs tonight you can hear the game right here on

sportsnet 590 the fan pre and post with gordon stelic bre Brent Gunning, Mike Russo in about 20 minutes. Doug McClain is a regularly scheduled hit at 345 Eastern. Yep. I have no idea what he's going to say on the Boston Bruins and what happened last night. And what does that mean for Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs? The real admiral host of Spittin' Chicklets podcast on Barstool Sports will join us in the second hour.

Of course, he's from Boston. Proper Boston. You can't make a trade like they did last night and not have someone with a Boston accent on the show. I love it. Well, guys, that made Boston better, huh show. I love it. I love it. Wait, guys, that made Boston better, huh? That's not awesome.

I've got some thoughts. I've got some thoughts. Did you cry when you heard that trade? Because all I heard in the last little while is Orlov and Hathaway to the Leaf. How do you? I, okay. I don't know where I want to start with this. Because I've been thinking about this a lot

since I saw that trade announcement. And I thought, I don't know if I want to, I'm going to say it, that if the Toronto Maple Leafs made that trade instead of the trade they made, they might be closer to a Stanley Cup than they are today. Well. Yeah, I don't agree but i i understand i understand

that i would have preferred a first a second a third and a fourth for orlov over ryan o'reilly i think that's crazy talk this to me is the we should have got felino over hall for some people or taylor hall for some people but i think the for some people. But I think the drop-off... And I like Ryan O'Reilly. I know. After the Leafs' top four forwards was so significant, top five forwards, so significant that Ryan O'Reilly is just a massive gain. Orlov is a great player.

I like Orlov, too. I don't know how much better he would have made them. I mean, he would have made them better, no doubt. This is not taken away from Orlov, but Ryan O'Reilly just made such a difference for the Leafs. Immediately. And I like Achari more than Hathaway. I believe that you win championships and seven-game series

off the basis of your own zone. Goalie defense first. Go cheer for the bruins then bud you two guys are unbelievable listen i think the best player in either trade is ryan o'reilly so i imagine having a different opinion than that i think that what that trade did was made me feel better about the leafs price because the leafs got probably the best player in both trades. So I know that's kind of counter to what I'm thinking. But in terms of what the Leafs need, a top pairing or second pairing defenseman

and a really gritty, big, underrated forward who hits and fights and can score a little bit, that to me was more important. Did you like Craig Smith? big, underrated forward who hits and fights and can score a little bit. That, to me, was more important. Did you like Craig Smith? No. I don't really have a lot of Craig Smith thoughts. That's just $3 million off the books. Yeah, I don't really know.

It's just a cash component. He's a non-player for the Ruins this year, Craig Smith? I'm not killing Dubas for not making this trade. I still think the Leafs made a great trade and they got two really good players who are going to help them. But I just think Orlov is just such an important piece that the Leafs could have really used.

Really used. I mean, he would be perfect. The other thing is how many minutes are you going to squeeze out with the likes of Matthews and all the likes of Matthews and all the rest of them, Orlov, or a top four defenseman,

there's a chance that they're going to average five, six, seven more minutes a night. Like, do you ever envision Ryan O'Reilly playing over 20 minutes for the Toronto Maple Leafs? I mean, I don't know. Do you ever envision Ryan O'Reilly playing over 20 minutes for the Toronto Maple Leafs? I mean, I don't know. Mitch Marner, Austin Matthews, Nylander. He PKs and power play guy. I mean, I could see him getting to 20.

You're going to max out 17, 18 minutes with him. Yeah. But a defenseman at 24, 25, 26 minutes, a shutdown guy like Orlov. I mean, he's not going to play 25, 26, 27 minutes. On some nights, he may. You don't know the circumstances. You know, if somebody goes down, these guys have the ability to go deep in those type of minutes.

Mm-hmm. I just, again, if I had my choice, if I was Kyle Dubas prior to the O'Reilly, I think I would have tried to focus on a first, second, third, and fourth on a top defenseman. You know, we've also had the conversation on this show where you've said. By the way, I am just getting murdered on YouTube. Yeah. So Kipper and Sammy. Sammy is long gone. On this this show how much you've hated the

leafs dependence on the top four every day this year it's like they can't forward can't just be these guys can't just lean on this can't put it all in them poor mitch marner played 26 minutes the other night yeah i would have liked the balance out on the back end that's all yeah right and and morgan still hasn't gone to the level that he needs to yeah right and that's the other thing too if morgan was acting like josh morrissey all season long yeah that's you'd feel a little better no kidding i wonder then if they look at the orlov trade and they do what we're talking about here and putting yourselves in their shoes and saying okay if we did that how do we look did they suddenly go god it really changes our team if we

go get a left shot guy who's elite we suddenly we got to do it like does this incentivize them the arms race in the east or you mentioned in your article right for me it was there already yeah this absolutely puts the whipped cream and cherry on top that you have to go now and double clutch on maybe uh gavrikov out of columbus really yeah because there was there was the sense that there was a a uh an arrangement or a pending deal and a lot of people and we'll get maybe mike russo who's got a keen eye for this time of year to maybe he's got something on that but there was a real sense that columbus and boston had something there really and at the last second this probably came up for boston so they changed well it came up because washington came up washington lost against detroit and i think that was the game that the capitol said forget if we don't beat detroit i'm

we're we're uh we're gonna sell a few pieces here it's crazy right now like you look at the standings on any given night and over the next week there are teams in that eastern conference race where if they lose they might decide to go one way. And if they win, they may go the other. And that's what happened to the Capitals. I don't think it's fair in terms of comparing Orlov and Gavrikov, who's a better player. I think it's pretty clear that Orlov's a lot better. Orlov can do more. Presumably the cost would be more in line with what the Leafs could stomach, even though it would still be a lot for Gavrikov. Did Gavrikov's, did the ask on Columbus now come down

to losing the Boston? Is there a wiggle room for maybe the Leafs to get in there and not maybe pay as high of a price that they were asking two days ago? Or is there too many teams out there that still need a left-handed top four guy? Probably still a lot of teams, wouldn't you think? Edmonton? You know, though, you brought this up with a couple guys.

And you said that, you know, in the Chikrin deal, would they get Vigemalka? If they did, Gavrikov, would they also get Korpisalo? I've really come around to this goaltending thing where, like, you've got to get someone. And Korpisalo, to me me is a great next option for you so gavrikov has a lot more appeal in like a bigger deal and now you're talking about bigger pieces you know my wish list what's what's corpus allomic 1.3 no what's yours oh if if somehow some way they could spin Ekholm and Saros. Yes, I love it. I love it.

That one would change. Yeah. Now you see Saros going up against Vasilevsky. Oh. You'd have to do an NBA trade where you're like, all right, my first next year, the next year, the next year, prospect. I was saying a draft class for O'Reilly would be multiple draft class for that trade. Plus Matthew Knife.

I always want to say, never mind. It's something else for a different day. I always say Andrew Knife. That guy used to work. That's all-time blockbuster right there. Do you imagine? Can you imagine that and then losing? That would, you'd have to, you'd have to really.

You'd have to move. Dubas would be persona non grata in toronto if they made all those moves it's again it's this stupid salary cap that uh yeah gotta go through hoops i think but if like i said though if there's one thing for me that this trade did with the bruins is that it made me feel so much better about the o'reilly price and think that like now that i can kind of convince myself that this is the going rate at the deadline, like those are two high prices that got paid. Yeah, it is. It is the going rate.

No question. And either you're in or out. That's the way it works. So I'm, I am definitely coming around and I would actually say it goes far as to say I am around on O'Reilly. Yeah. And I don't want it to be perceived as like, I'm, you know, Mr. Negative, but I just like that trade a lot for the Bruins.

Well, I put a higher premium on the blue line than I would for the Leafs adding a fifth very good player. Yeah. And that's what it is. Yeah. A fifth. Yeah.

It's not like he's going to come in now and be number two on the depth chart. It's still Matthews. It's still Marner. now neil anders put himself in there and and he's a nice villain off those four guys oh yeah but a top 4d would have slid in at number two on your depth chart ryan o'reilly that cost you a first a second a third and fourth is still considered your fourth or fifth best depth guy on the hockey club yeah yeah i get the point i got you i understand you know they they they still top heavy they are top heavy they are you know

the top becomes a pretty deep top though eventually. Eventually, it's pretty stable once it's thick all the way through. But I still am curious to see what happens here. I've said it. I wrote it. They're going to add a D-man. I don't think this is we got Ryan O'Reilly instead of a D-man. I think it's we got Ryan O'Reilly instead of a top D-man. I think they may have to go to Gavrikov or someone of that.

That, to me, is a significant upgrade. Well, he's playing 22 minutes a night. I shouldn't slough him off as nobody. Yeah. That to me is significant. That's not a drop off. Does it bother you that he's playing on a bad team? It's a lower tier Orlov.

Yeah. Orlov is actually, I mean, he's very good. I wonder what he's going to cost. Obviously, the Bruins are just planning on letting him walk, I would assume. But, yeah, I mean, does it bother you that Gavrikov would be coming from a bad team or Chikrin would be coming from a bad team? Like, Orlov's been playing games where they've been trying to win and he's playing 22 minutes a night.

Orlov's won a cup. Yeah. So does it make you feel like can they make the adjustment going to games that matter? Yeah. I'm okay as long as they're healthy and they they feel good still think that there may be a sense that chikorin doesn't go anywhere really which would probably uh break his heart but wouldn't it piss you off if you've been sitting out for trade related reasons for what two weeks how does that happen don't go how does

that happen that he's like pulled out and then, two weeks? How does that happen? And then he don't go? How does that happen, that he's, like, pulled out, and then now two weeks later he's still not? Yeah. Seems bizarre to me. I don't know if they had something there that fell through or what. And Columbus is trying to get him. So imagine now that you do get traded this year and you're still out of the playoffs.

I'm Eric Lindros, or whoever you want to use. I'm not going. You trade me somewhere else. I'm not going. You trade me somewhere else. I'm not going to the worst team in the league in another irrelevant market. No disrespect, but some good. I don't know. Does he have any say at all?

At 4'6", would he put Columbus on a no trade? I don't know. Can we go to CapFriendly and find that out, Sammy? Find out what? Chikrin. Yeah, what about him? If he a no trade i don't know can we go to cap friendly and find that out sammy uh find out what chikrin yeah what about him if he has no trade protection yeah any protection at all yeah i'll look it up right now so speaking of injured guys and coming back did we mention injured guys i thought we did anyway speaking of matt murray we yesterday we kind of put luke fox on blast about not asking about matt murray wow, we got the update today. But Lucas made a good point,

which is that Murray wasn't eligible to come off LTIR until March 1st. So he's not. We weren't asking. Oh, yeah, I guess we did insinuate, yeah, that he could play this weekend, which he can't. Right. We did insinuate that. Yeah, we did.

And Luke, I woke up to a text from Luke Fox. I was like, oh, what's this about? What did you do? So we've officially apologized to the Winnipeg Jets. Oh, and Luke Fox. And Luke Fox. All right. So the no move clause doesn't kick in until next year for Jacob Chikrin.

All right. The last two years of his deal. Oh, really? Mm-hmm. Which is why the moving is happening now. Well, Columbus wants to get him now though yeah so they probably could because they they won't maybe they don't get the opportunity in the summer i'm not going um do you want to hear the murray update yes we do yeah here's what's

up with matt murray from sheldon keith earlier yeah for sure i think we will see him continue to progress i think you'll see him in practice tomorrow with us. And the expectation is that he'll join us on the road trip coming up. All right. He's ready to go. Can he play in two games enough to make you feel comfortable? I don't think there's anything that's going to make anybody feel comfortable from this point in.

Two bagels. He goes, shut out, shut shut out and he's probably not gonna play back-to-back games i don't think it's whether he's capable of of hitting a a good level or a high level he's done it in the past he's won stanley cups he's done it with the leaves but can you count on him is the only question yeah and knowing the answer to that because the answer is no if you look to his recent history is it david ridditch for a third again at the deadline someone else i mean it just it can't be matt murray he can't he has a high ankle sprain he's a goalie the playoffs start in six weeks yeah you almost have to play him

in edmonton wednesday just to get a final feel you do you have to get him in and not it can't even be calgary it's got to be edmonton why is that just because they're better offensively and really challenge them you're facing tampa in the b Bruins, two of the best teams in the league. Put them up against two of the best players in the world. That's a good test. Sorry, but throwing you in the deep end here. Well, I mean, he's supposed to be your highest paid goalie. He's supposed to be, quote, unquote,

they wanted him to be the starter going into the year. You'd better hope that after however the hell long he's been off injured that he's ready to come back and play against a good team yeah but do you want to step against nolan ryan for his first pitcher that i do i do like you can't protect them they protect this guy so much in terms of you know the how long he takes to come back and how much they you know work with them and make sure he's feeling right i know that's how i feel about sandin right now and talking about okay let's go talking them up and it's like yes guess what there are many good hockey players in the national hockey league you're happen to be playing your first game against the best one yeah them's the breaks buddy get in there let's see what you got the

oilers are the top team in the nhl by expected goals best power play it would be a it would be a tough one for sure we want to get to sheldon Keefe talking about lines being settled. I wanted to ask you guys. Kind of like the same thing he said last day or so. It's kind of similar. To be honest with you, boys, I grinded through there today. There's not one thing that we can pick off of that. Yeah, there is.

Well, I wanted to ask you about Sandin first. Okay. My friend Brent Gunning texted me this morning and asked me is this a um held out for trade related reasons without saying it fascinating i thought it was a good question and i wanted to pose it to you guys i'm gonna say no i'm gonna say no to as a conspirator you know as someone but i don't hate the idea that you know he's not quite right let's make sure he's right in case we do decide to trade him you don't want to trade damage goods or risk re-injury or something before you make a deal okay there you go i don't want to be

disrespectful to him but when you pull people out of the lineup, they're a lot better than Sandin. Yeah, I guess Gabrikov is. I know he is, I should say. Yeah. Right. Gabrikov has to be the lowest quality player you've ever heard. No disrespect to him. We are talking about guys that sit out that can implode a trade.

We're talking about a guy that's added on. We're talking about a guy that three-quarters of the league could go, what are you giving me with Sandin? Are you giving me a guy that's potentially a top four guy? Is he a five or six? It's like when you go is he a offense defense is he physical i don't know last spring my wife and i were buying stuff for the garden and one of the things they sold was a pack of seeds they didn't tell you what kind it was just it was vegetables flowers put it in the ground see what happens to whatever. Put it in the ground and see what happens.

That's what Sandin is to me. Throw him in the ground. I don't know. You might get something. Maybe it'll suck. Maybe it'll be good. He's not the centerpiece of a trade. Why would you sit him out?

I like the idea that, yeah, like Gavrikov is going to fetch them a first. First. You know, whatever. So, yeah, you sit him out and make sure you get it. Sandin is going to be, will you please take him instead of Lilligren? That will be his addition. Could you, like, you want to protect a fourth-round pick? He'd be more than that, wouldn't he?

Dermott went for a third, didn't he, to Vancouver? He went for a third. I would put him then in that same class. Yeah. It's fun. It's tough to even say that just because, like, expectations and hopes for Sandin have been maybe he'll take over Riley's spot in the power play. And all of a sudden he's a 40 point D man. And it just hasn't,

hasn't come. No. And it doesn't for everyone. No. All right. We'll wait for Michael Russo. Ryan O'Reilly has played 53 games against the Minnesota wild in his career.

And he scored 16 goals, 17 assists, the most against any team in the nhl for him so so he's had the wilds number so we expect another night like in buffalo for him and mitch marner and tavaris i don't think we're seeing that night again as as a leaf that was a big night let's welcome in michael russo from uh the athletic he covers the minnesota wild and uh uh where do you want to start uh michael you you want Wild. Where do you want to start, Michael? You want to talk Dumba?

You want to talk about general manager Bill Guerin coming on our show, knowing that he was part of a three-team trade yesterday and didn't spill the beans on our show? What time was he on your show yesterday? Yeah, 4.15 15 till four 30 maybe. Yeah. Yeah. So it was definitely in the works.

Okay. Word around two 15. Yeah. He's got a good poker face, I guess. You know, but yeah, I mean,

look, we've been writing about this for about three weeks at the wild have built all this cap space, which is again, kind of ironic because they're a team with all this dead money. But for many, many reasons, they've accrued a lot of space this year. And if they're not going to use it, which doesn't mean that they're still not going to try to add something,

you might as well go get some assets. So in the case of Ryan O'Reilly, the one thing that they did do there was ensure that one, St. Louis started selling, but also got Ryan O'Reilly out of the conference just in case some of the teams that they were competing with for a playoff spot or could meet in the playoffs would get O'Reilly, and they were a little worried about that, so it got them out of the conference.

But it also got them future draft picks for very, very minimal cash. I mean, it's $74,000. And in the case of yesterday with Dimitri Olof, I mean, it was the same thing. I mean, $86,000, it's dropping the bucket for an owner, and it gets them a draft pick. And, you know, in their mind, it was absolutely worth it. So we'll see. I mean, they still have $11 million to play with

if they want to go out and actually add at the deadline. And I think that's the one big reason that they're doing it. But so crazy is that they have all that cap space. I'm looking where they are in their standings. They're three points out of first in the Central Division. They have a really tight salary cap in the years ahead with the buyouts. Like this to me is like go, go, go time for them if they want to get through a softer Western conference.

Why does it not feel like they're in overdrive to get the big names right now? Yeah, I mean, look, you know, I think that right now if he could get Patrick Kane, he would absolutely do it. He would pay the price for it, you know, but Kane is going to give, by all reports, Chicago a list of about one. And if that one is not the Rangers and the Rangers can't make it work,

would he go to another team? Potentially. But if you're going to go to another team and you're Patrick Kane, are you going to choose Minnesota over other options like potentially Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas? But trust me, I think that if he could get Patrick Kane, that would probably be the one guy he would make an exception for. I do think that they've investigated Tyler Batuzzi, who, again, reports are right now that Batuzzi is sort of off the market. Would he pay the price there?

But in terms of other guys, I mean, there's just not a lot of other guys that I think that he'd be willing to sacrifice a first-round pick, his top prospect for. Now, would he still go out and get a rental and give up maybe a second or a middle prospect or a third or something like that? I think he absolutely would. But right now it just hasn't been something that has been – I think what he wanted to do is have the team speak to him

and say how they were going to do here on this last homestand. And originally it got off to a disastrous start. They seem to have gotten out of what were their woes. And as you mentioned, now that suddenly they're back into a position where a couple more wins and they could be on the top of the division. Now Colorado has got a bunch of games in hand and all that stuff. So, you know, I don't disagree with you that, you know, there comes a point where it's like at some point you've got to go for it. But right now the names that he would be willing to sacrifice

as top, top, top prospects or a first-round pick for, I don't think that he has the ability to get anyway. But, you know, if Patrick Cairns, you know, all of a sudden said, hey, I'd come to Minnesota, I bet you there would be a way that Billy Caron would figure out how to get it to going we're talking to michael russo covers the minnesota wild for the athletic uh yesterday on our show general manager bill garren said that uh he likes matt dumba's game we have not really heard his name out there should we take him at face value that uh he will not strip this team down in any way, shape, or form?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, he would trade Matt Dumba only if he got a suitable replacement for Matt Dumba. And right now, I don't think that he thinks that that could happen. Look, Matt is, you know, one, there has not been for the times, not only Bill Guerin, but in the past Paul Fenton, before that Chuck Fletcher, that they've tried to trade Matt Dumba. There just hasn't been a ton of interest out there, and that apparently has been the case again.

That's all indications that we're going. Is that, you know, there's a lot of defensemen out there, and Matt's not number one or two or three or four on other people's lists. The other thing here right now is that Matt is, you know, he's played the most five-on-five minutes on the team. He's probably playing his best hockey of the season. They've got Jonas Brodine out of the lineup right now with a foot injury. So I don't think that he feels like, you know, one,

even if there's a little interest in Matt Dumba out there, that what he could get from Matt Dumba would at all be worth discarding him if he can't get somebody of equal or better back in either that trade or a simultaneous trade. So I fully expect Matt Dumba to be here after March 3rd. I don't think Matt Dumba is going to be here after July 1st. But it just sounds to me like he's just going to kind of look at them as, quote, their own rental at this point.

You know, as many prospects as the Wild have that are defensemen in their system, the reality is that professionally right now there's nobody that they could just put in the lineup and give top four minutes, you know, where we saw last night. Even though I thought Addison and Dakota Mermis did really well, you know, you take John Merrill and Jonas Berdina out of the lineup and things get thin really, really well. You take John Merrill and Jonas Perdine out of the lineup and things get thin really, really quickly. And now if you get another injury or two, this team could be really, really thin.

So I just fully expect that Matt Dumbledy here after March 3rd. So Russo, day of the game for the Leafs. We love to have on the local guys and give us sort of a preview of sorts of their teams. Could you just fill us in on where the Wild are at in their season, their style

of play? Can you give us an update on what Leafs fans can expect from the Minnesota Wild at this point of the year? It'll be interesting how they look tonight. Second of a back-to-back. Last night, for some bizarre reason, every time the Wild play Columbus perennially, not just last night. It's just a grind, and they

got to put in an exuded, immense amount of energy and effort to beat that team. And last night was no different. They wound up winning 2-0, but they had to defend a lot, and they defended well. They are one of the best defensive teams in the league in terms of every defensive metric. They're getting really, really quality goaltending right now, especially from Philip Gustafson, who's going to start tonight. Especially at home, he's been unbelievable at home.

10-1-1, I believe, in his last 12 at home. And he's just been tremendous for them. And this is somebody I think that we all thought when he was acquired for Cam Tell that it was almost like an afterthought, that it was just like a consolation prize because Cam wanted to go somewhere else. And then he's come here and he got off to a rocky start. It's just been tremendous.

And to the point that he started until last night, six of the last eight games with Flowers struggling a little bit. And they started to ride him pretty well here. And so he's going to get the start tonight. They're a team that really has trouble scoring, which has been fascinating to watch because last year they had such ease in scoring. They were a third-best 5-5 team in the league offensively last year. They had a 25-cum-behind-winds, 9-multicum-behind-winds.

They had something like 12 or 13 six-on-five goals, maybe even more. It was crazy to watch them last year. And this year they're actually on the bottom of the league. Other than Kaprizov, it's just been a grind to get anybody else to scoring. If you go through their, their goalless droughts on this team right now, it is, we're talking, you know, many, many of the forwards have goalless droughts, you know, well into, you know,

almost 20 games. I mean, it's, it's been unreal to watch how hard it is for them to score. And last night was no different. They got off to a fast start. Here's a great stat for you. Until last night, in the last 17 games, they had two first-period goals. And that's enough. What?

Yeah. And last night they scored two. So they got off to a 2-0 start last night. You're thinking, wow, they're going to blow Columbus out. And then they didn't score again the rest of the game. And it's just been like that. So, you know, Kevin Fiala's loss has not only taken 85 points out of the lineup, but it's just had this trickle-down effect throughout the lineup

that's made it just so much harder to get secondary scoring. You just pretty much concentrate on shutting down that top line, and you're probably going to win most of the night. They've gotten themselves out of a big-time rut that they were in for about a month here with four wins in a row, but it is still a team that has to defend first, get great goaltending, and then just worry

about eating out 2-1, 3-2 wins. Speaking of that great goaltending, is Gustafson's run now put him in a position where meaningful games down the stretch or potentially a first round could leave Marc-Andre Fleury backing up? Yeah, I mean, I really do think so. I mean, I don't think the Wild are in a position.

This is a team that, you know, since 2003, they've been past the first round twice. You know, that's just crazy. And last year, even though Cam Talbot had a point streak down the stretch of 15 or 16 games, they went with Fleury. They went with the resume, and they didn't go with Talbot until it was way too late in a must-win game in Game 6 after sitting him for two weeks despite his hot streak. And it caused a divorce in the relationship where he wanted to move on,

and he obviously got that wish to Ottawa. And I don't think the Wild could afford to do that again. They have to get past the first round this year, as you guys mentioned, a wide open. So to me, it's incumbent on them to pick the goaltender that's playing best going into the playoffs. Now, could that still be Fleury? Absolutely. I mean, you know, I think Wild fans, because Gustafson is just a different style goaltender,

and when he wins, it's really quiet and simple, and he just looks like he's calm and that and all that stuff. And obviously, he's been winning. It creates this perception that he's just so much better than Fleury, who we know is a very aggressive, sometimes spastic goalie, and can leave you a little nervous about just the way he looks. Even last night, he gets the shutout, but there were some hairy moments in there just because of his style difference. But if he is not playing nearly as well as Gustafson down the stretch, I think they're going to have to make that tough, tough call.

And they're going to have the ability to really test both of them down the stretch here. It's crazy, actually, if you look at the Wild's schedule, as condensed as it's been in February, they actually have a lot of off days in March. So there's not a lot of back-to-back. So it's not going to be one of these things where they're going to need both goalies.

They are going to be able to really pick one and who to go with the majority of the games. They have a lot of, tonight it's not one of them, but they have a lot of simple games coming up. The Wild are 21-7-2 against non-playoff teams, and seven of their next, eight of their next, seven of their next 10 now are against non-playoff teams. So the Wild, you really have the ability to peel off some points here. And if Gustafson continues to be well, I really do think he's going to put the coaching staff and Bill

Guerin in a really tough decision coming back. Because again, you know, Flurry signed a two-year deal. So if he takes a backseat to Gustafson going into the playoffs, you know, Flurry's going to know coming into next year, it's going to be a lot of the same. You know, the success of the Minnesota Wild

kind of hinges on them getting some goals. You mentioned that they struggled to score. I've been watching them the past week, and I watched Kaprizov make a play against the Kings. It was unbelievable to set up a goal. Scores in their last game. It feels like this guy plays over 20 minutes a night for them. I heard people going into the season

picking him to win the heart trophy, which seemed a little ridiculous, but how has he lived up to expectations this season? I think he's got 34 goals in 58 games. It looks like it's gone pretty well. Yeah. I mean, obviously,

you know, Connor McDavid's going to lap the competition in terms of the heart. But again, the definition of the heart is most valuable to his team. And it's, it's hard to come up with too many more players in the national hockey league that is more valuable to, to his team than Cabrillo Caprizo. If you take Caprizo out of the lineup and they're, they're battling for kind of a dart

right now. I mean, I promise you that, um, they, he is everything for this franchise, especially in a year where it's been so hard for them to score. And, and he's worn that stress lately. I mean, he looks, there's been a lot of times in the last month, you know, there was a stretch where for a month, the only guys that had goals on this team that were forwards were him, Zuccarello, Boldy, and Eric Sinek. And it felt like at five on five,

especially that he felt every single shift he had to score or make a play or they had no ability to score. And he's worn it. And, you know, and to his credit, he hasn't shown his frustration. And to his credit, he continues to perform at a just masterful level every single night. And what I love about him, because – and I've covered – I haven't covered a ton of – I've covered the league now 28 years, but I haven't covered a ton of personal stars in that time.

Covered Pavel Bure, covered Marion Gabrick, but really that's about it between Florida and Minnesota. Caprice, what I love about him is he's a grinder. I mean, this guy goes to the tough, tough areas. He is not a peripheral player by any stretch. He doesn't cherry pick looking for breakaways. He goes to the hard areas and scores his goals that way. And it's just really impressive to watch. If you hit him, he's coming back at you. He'll get angry and he'll give it to you. And he draws you in. He's,

you know, usually in the top five every year in drawn penalties and not drawing him by diving, that's for sure. I mean, you have to, you know, he's always moving his feet. So if you're going to defend him and you're close to him, you're probably going to have to put a stick on him or hold him or something to fend him off and obstruct him, and that's why he draws so many penalties. So he is a special, special talent, and, you know, he is mid-20s now,

and they've got him for three more years under contract, and a lot of that coincides with the dead money. And they are going to have to try to figure out a way to build a surrounding cast around him. Or, you know, they are going to risk in a couple years him saying, hey, it's a grass greener somewhere else. And so that, I think, is part of the pressure that Bill Guerin is going to have to figure out here

in the next couple years is how to, during this dead money time, to keep Cabrillo Caprice up, one, happy, but two, feeling that the future is bright here in Minnesota, that if he can now, because whatever he's going to want on his next contract, he's going to name a number in the wilder and have to give it to him. And it'll be interesting, you know, when that time comes. But for the now, he is by far their most valuable player and one of the best players in the league.

Am I a big thrill for you being on the same show as Doug McClain? Yeah. I know. I was a little disappointed that Doug wasn't on with me. It would have been great drama. He would have just ripped me. You guys have a history or what? We have a great history.

Yeah, I know. Yeah, I covered him down in Florida for a long, long time. So, so yeah, so he's, he's still one of my favorite, favorite people.

Nick knows, I mean, he's, he's, he's a beauty. And, and you know, I honestly,

as he likes to say, he taught me what off sides was, what the red line was. There were some, some funny moments. I mean, when I started covering the Panthers, my first year as a Panther, I was back up to the back up.

My first year in the NHL was 95, which obviously was his first year as a head coach. And so his three years, I covered him down there, and I was basically a rookie beat writer. And he likes to joke around that he taught me the game, but he really did. I mean, you know, the biggest thing about, you know, working with professional coaches and every single coach and GM and player that you ever cover, you learn more and more and more about the sport from.

But, you know, he was the very, very first, and it really was a learning lesson on just how to deal and question a professional coach. And you guys know he could get a little fiery right now, so we had some back and forth down there. But he was just awesome, awesome to deal with. And really, I mean, it's stupid to say when you're a beat writer covering guy, but in a lot of ways he did take me under his wing in terms of teaching me

how to cover the sport at the very, very beginning of my career. Somehow I think those kind words that you had for Doug will not be going back your way in about eight. Oh, sure. They will. But you might want to stick around just to listen to it one way or the

other. And if you don't hear it, I'm sure someone's going to tell you about it, but we really, really appreciate your time, Mike coming on the show. Yep. See you guys.

Take care. Thanks so much. Covers the, coming on the show. Yeah, see you guys. Take care. Thanks so much. Covers the Minnesota Wild for the Athletic. Does a really good job, despite what Doug McClain's going to say in about seven minutes. Well, how critical could he have been of Doug if he didn't know the game all that well as a new coach? Don't you just, at that point,

just assume the coach knows everything? Wouldn't that be the way to go? Yes, but we are talking about doug mclean true true true all right uh go to break anything else you want to get in before we go to break sammy see uh i almost said sammy captain casperi captain on waivers today yes former leaf little connection there boy just to never he never found it, eh? Wow. Just go back and that trade, they ended up with a first rounder, I think, from Toronto, and that was the Phil Kessel.

Was it not, Kapanen, part of the Phil Kessel? Honestly, this is one of the things I'm the worst at. Yeah, are you? No, he was part of that trade. Yeah. I think. What? Oh, the part of the.

Come on, Sammy. He came to Toronto Through the Kessel deal Is that what you're saying What's going on here No no Terrible at this How did he end up down there

Yeah Casper the captain was part of that trade On July 1st 2015 So there you go Okay We we're gonna take a quick break we're gonna bring on uh doug and and completely drive this off a cliff perfect all right let's do it all right quick break these words and we're back with doug mclean everything raptors before and after the games the raptor show with will lou subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts

do battle against the minnesota wild tonight and then a very big Western road trip. Yeah. Yep. No, it's massive time of year. By the way, I just wanted to clarify. Thank you, Lee, for 1984 on Twitter. Kapanen came to Toronto in the Kessel deal. Correct.

Ended up back in Pittsburgh for a first, which was Amarov, Rodian Amarov, and a prospect who they traded back to Pittsburgh in the McCann deal. There's plenty to get into in the next little while with a guy who's going to have a tough time following up Mike Russo. Can you handle it? Who?

Mike Russo was a guest on our show before the break. Who the hell is Mike Russo? Who the hell is Mike Russo? He's a writer for The Athletic. He covers the Minnesota Wild. I know it's hard at your age, but just try to remember. Seriously. He covered you.

He covered you in Florida. I know. And he actually had some decent things to say about you. Well, he should. When he started Coveners, he didn't even know what an offside was. Now he's an expert on hockey. Seriously. I had to take him up to the whiteboard and show him what an offside was.

Now he's one of the preeminent hockey writers in the world. What are you saying? You created a monster? Now he's telling GMs who they should keep, who they should trade, salary caps. I mean, he's a genius all of a sudden. I said, no, no, the puck

has to cross the line for the player, Mike. Listen, Mac, they've got to start somewhere. It's not that complicated, Mike. I know. Anyway, he's a nice fella. He's a nice fella. That's right.

We only have nice fellas on the show. I had a devastating injury yesterday. I was in the hot tub, the pool, the sauna this afternoon. I was playing the championship point. We won the match, but I hurt my calf. It seized up my calf. But the guy I slammed the ball on, I slammed a serious cramp on my calf. But the 78-year-old I slammed the ball at, he fell trying to get my shot, and I had to

pick him up off the court with my calf muscle hurting, so it was a tough day. Maybe the two of you should just... I'm coming back. Maybe the two of you should just lay off the red wine a little bit. You know, at first I heard ESPN was going to cover Pickleball, and I didn't get why, but I got to tell you, I'm seeing

it. I'd watch that. Yeah, I know. Anyway. Okay, so listen, enough. I take it too serious. I got to take it. I take it way too serious. But anyway, no, nice of Russo.

I mean, he's a nice guy. I don't want to talk Russo. I don't want to talk Russo. I don't want to talk pickleball. I want to talk about the Leafs going out. By the way, another guy just sent me a note and said, I hope Kippy's paying you well

because when you're on, he agrees with me 100%. He loves the show when I'm on. Well, we're thankful for that. Can we just... I love listening to you when I'm on. The nuts and bolts here.

The Leafs paid a hefty price for two forwards that no one will argue that they don't make them better. And then we see Boston, pretty much the same type of package for two guys that will make them better. Orlov, top four guy. Ryan O'Reilly, a top six guy. Do the Leafs have to do anything to kind of match what Boston did last night? Well, like Orlov's a guy that's sort of become a really all-round guy in that he's a defender and he can move the puck and create.

So I thought it was a great addition. I really did. I mean, I know they were talking Gabrikov. I think they did better with this pickup. You know, I know it's a tough place, but they spread the picks out. And, you know, it's a tough place, but they spread the picks out. And, you know, Boston's better. Yeah, they're better because of it. And Ryan O'Reilly, look, I mean, I watched the Buffalo game that night,

and it was exciting to see that. I can only imagine how Kyle and Brendan felt watching that performance by Ryan O'Reilly, who has proven to be, you know, the Stanley Cup winner. And it was a good move. I see where they have him in the top six. I really would like to see them set up their third line to be a really top third line.

And I know Taveras, he seems to want to play the wing. I'm caught off guard by that. I'd love to see him in that three hole. Chari's a good pickup, too, for the fourth line. I like the move. I like both moves a lot. So now we have to wait to see what Tampa does and what the Rangers do because the East is loading up, and it's going to be an unbelievable playoff.

Tampa, I mean, they'd be a little nervous about this move. They would be. Are you surprised that Dubas got aggressive like that? And do you expect he'll continue to? Like, is it enough now? Or do you think you've got to continue to sell out assets and get even better knowing that Boston is as loaded as they are? Well, I still think they've got to, you know,

there's still a major question with their blue line. I still think they need another top guy on their back end, and that's tough to do right now. And I think that's got to be something they're considering. And then we come back to the same old problem. Is their goaltending going to be good enough to to beat vasileski and company that's that's still a big question mark but i you know you love how kyle got aggressive yeah i know they're giving up a ton of assets and they had given up a ton prior to this with the felino deal

and and the other deals they've done so this kyle had no choice how you can't blame kyle dubas so you shouldn't be surprised that Kyle Dubas got aggressive because his job's on the line. And six consecutive years of losing. They've got to go for it. They've got a good team. They've had a good year. So, yeah, they've got to still try to improve their team

with the deadline coming upon us. I really think they have to still continue to try to improve their team to be a real contender. We're talking to Doug McLean, former NHL president, general manager, and head coach. Mac, did Columbus get caught here with Gavrikov? There's so much talk about a pending deal with them and the Boston Bruins.

And what happened? Well, Washington lost to Detroit. That's what happened. It made them sellers. And all of a sudden Orlov's out there and they jump all over it. So what does that do to the market? What does that do to Gavrikov? What does it do to Chikrin?

Well, it's probably, you know, like Columbus are all excited about getting these high picks and getting first-round picks for their assets. And I like it. I like what Kekalani has been able to do running prices. Maybe he got a little greedy and looking for too much. But my problem is when does it catch up to you that you continually give these assets away that are core pieces of your team?

So, you know, they've got to be a little careful. I've given away eight players, eight plus players from their run when they beat Tampa Bay. And, yeah, it's great to have all these picks, but eventually you've got to win games. And when you're sitting in 32nd place, I know it's all worth it if they get Bedard, but, you know, yeah, maybe they got a little greedy, asking a little too much. But, you know, yeah, maybe they got a little greedy asking a little too much, but, you know,

Gabrikov still a good pickup for somebody. I don't know that you want them long-term, but I think short-term on a three-year deal or something, Gabrikov could be a good pickup. I know Columbus were nervous about giving him a long-term deal. For whatever reason, they were nervous about giving him a long-term deal and I'm not sure what it was.

Well, we'll be interested to see what happens with him obviously could help the leafs given their own decor situation what do you expect to see or what do you want to see from the leafs down the stretch with how they use the remainder of their game should they be in the look they expect to give you game one of the stanley cup playoffs do you want to see more experimenting what's the coach's role here on the way to the finish line? Well, I think you've got to get your team ready for the playoffs and focus on playing playoff-style hockey. And I think, you know, the addition of a Gabrikov type of guy on the back end would go a long way.

They're playing, I mean, against Buffalo the other night. That was as good a first period and a half as I've seen the Leafs play as from a complete game. So I think they've got to be focused on playing playoff-style hockey, not the fancy game, but the playoff-style game. And that's what they're striving to do. And I guarantee you, Keith is trying to get that through to them. And, you know, you've got to be ready.

And in the same time, you've got to do everything you can to finish ahead of Tampa. And there's a two-point spread right now. And, you know, to me, home ice is going to be important. It's not going to be the end-all and be-all, but it would be nice to jump into the lead in that series. I know they had the lead last year, but still, it's going to be the end all and be all but it would be nice to to get jump into the lead in that series i know they had the lead last year but still it's going to be important but tampa play playoff style hockey most nights most nights but when it's really on the line they're they're they're prepped to play that way the leaps we haven't seen that yet i think they're

capable of it and i think they still they still need great goaltending, which hopefully they'll get from Samsonov, but they still need another defenseman, in my opinion, to play that playoff-style game. So Gabikov would be a good pickup. Chikrin, I'm a little nervous on Chikrin. It's going to be an astronomical price, which is obviously the reason he hasn't been traded yet and i mean i don't know if he's a playoff ready style defenseman

i i hope he is if they get him but i'm not sure he's that yet at this stage in his career he's never been in those type of series and that's that's going to be real that's going to be real important for the guy they pick up to move into that. And I think he's going to be a top four guy. Mack, is Ryan O'Reilly and Achari enough to drag guys into that playoff fight? Because they have been accused at times of not looking like a playoff style to advance it is it is it just a matter of two guys

pulling that out of them is it sheldon keep asking for more out of the next 24 games to look playoff ready you know what i think a cherry is a sort of guy i talked to guys that played with him in boston and they really they really liked him because he's a battler. He can skate. He can chip in important goals. I think he's a really important guy. I really do. And Ryan O'Reilly, there's no doubt that I don't care if you're John Tavares,

Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, Nylander. How can you not look at this guy and follow him? Because of, you know, this guy was, he was not, Buffalo there was issues there, but he went to St. Louis and reestablished himself as a really team first type of guy. I love the fact that they got a team first type of guy. I love the fact that they got a team first type of guy. Can he come back to

where he was in his heyday in St. Louis? That's a big question mark. He's got the smarts. I don't know if he's got the speed. If that's still there, obviously that's a concern, but he's got everything else that you need at playoff time.

That's what I love about both those players. I think both of them are capable of dragging guys into this fight i really do curious to know what your thoughts on you know that fourth line with alex kerfoot on it now it's aston reese achari kerfoot you know since uh the trade has been made i was looking at their fourth lines in their last three playoff series um jonah siegel had written an article on it and some of the lines were you know it's thornton adam brooks and jason spezza it's kasha colin blackwell and spezza it's you know it's some real hodgepodge fourth lines is this aston risa charry kerfoot one good enough kerfoot on the fourth line seems strange to me but what are your thoughts you know i i you know we've talked about the third and fourth line for three

years now on this show you know have you guys been on the air that long three years oh it seems like my lifetime it feels like it yeah yeah i know me me for me what about for me every friday afternoon like i got nothing else to do on a friday like seriously but anyway i i like that that look at that they're like a curve foot's not the perfect fourth line guy but you know what he's smart Like seriously. But anyway, I like that look at that. A curve foot's not the perfect fourth line guy, but you know what? He's smart enough. He's got speed. I think he's a smart enough guy.

I think it could be a really good fourth line. I'm not sure about their third line, but I like their fourth line. So, you know, I mean, I still think that they've improved. I really do with these two acquisitions. And, you know, look, how can they not be ready for the playoffs, this group? How can they not be ready to say, we've got to do something? They know what's at stake with this group. They know what's at stake for the coaches, the management, and themselves

if they don't do some damage in the playoffs. So motivation-wise, they shouldn't have a problem with that. And technically, Keith is solid enough, a coach, that he should be able to handle that now that he's gained some experience. But this is an experienced hockey team they're going to face, and it won't be easy, even with these replacements, but this gives them a better chance. All right, I want to keep it within your coach's fraternity and talk to you about Craig Berube's comments the other night.

Sammy, do you have the... Let's go to Craig Berube here. I want you to have a listen, Mac, and I want to hear your response. Uh-oh. Derek? Our best players don't play with any passion, no emotion, and no inspiration at all. They don't play inspired hockey.

You cannot play in this league without emotion, grit, being inspired. They're getting paid lots of money, and they're not doing the job. End of story. That's it. Wow. Tell us how you really feel. Yeah. You okay with that? Yeah, that's a coach that's really frustrated and really ticked off.

And Craig is a straight shooter and an honest guy, and obviously he was really ticked off. And Craig is a straight shooter and an honest guy. And obviously he was really ticked off. I'm always nervous about making those type of comments, coaches. You know, you typically don't hear that from guys that, you know, from the top guys. I haven't heard a lot of that. I mean, you hear comments, we didn't have a good game. We weren't ready.

But that's a shot from the bow, and that wouldn't sit well with a lot of people, I guarantee you that. A lot of players would hate those comments. You know, we've heard Thomas come out and say, you know, he doesn't know what he's talking about, basically,

what Thomas said about the comments, and you know what, I don't really, I like Craig Berube. I really like him a lot. I just think he's so ticked off that, you know, does he probably regret saying it? I don't know. You know Craig better than I do,

but I would think he's... A lot of coaches have gotten in a lot of trouble making those type of comments over the years. You know that? They really have. Just to follow up what you said about Robert Thomas, this was his quote. I've been a part of this team for a long time,

and what he said couldn't be further from the truth. Let me ask you something. Does that put Doug Armstrong in a tough position because you've got a coach and player on one side, and you've got also an owner out there that needs to sell tickets still to finish out the year and why would anybody want to go if if they're mailing it is in as much as craig barubi says yeah army army backs his coaches pretty well and he's got a good feel on his group, as good as any GM in the league.

But you know what? It's not a good look. It's really not a good look. And owners would be asking some questions, but they trust Army and they probably trust Brubate. But it just catches me off guard. I think those are comments that I would recommend to any coach, that you say it to your group and you say it to them one-on-one

or you say it in the dressing room. But I don't like when it comes to the media. I really don't. Oh, I imagine, JB, it was already said. Yeah, I also like it myself. I agree. Yeah. You like it? Yeah, I like it. I do like also, I like it myself. I agree. Yeah. Yeah.

You like it? Yeah, I like it. I do like it. I like it because... You ever hear, when you were a little runt running around the Islanders room, did you hear Al Arbor talk like that to the media? You know, no, you can't recall that, Doug, when I was five, no. He had some pretty rough years on the Island at the end of of al's career and i never heard him come out like that i mean i i just i i just i don't know that there's any

value in it i if he said it in the room and said it to his team guys i don't know there's anything to gain from that well i really don't to me it's almost a self-protection sort of thing and so maybe that's not for the team's benefit either so maybe you know maybe i'm off base here but i think that given where this team is they're at a turning point right i mean they were in the playoff race until god their last 10 games they've been terrible ryan o'reilly's gone tarasenko's gone he came on our show and said teams tank to get players as good as we have talking about kairu and thomas he basically handed the keys to these guys and said it's your team now and they responded with you know frankly piss poor efforts so you know i'm not sure what he's supposed to do necessarily like this is the next group of guys for them as they kind of tank on this season and

move off into the future hopefully it sets the tone of what's going to be acceptable for the leadership of his team i think you make a good point you just lost your heart and soul captain and you've waved the white flag a little bit. Yeah, you're saying, okay, it's your team. You show us what the next leadership of this team looks like, and I don't know how long he's been frustrated. The fan base, they don't want to hear that, though, right? No, nobody wants to hear it, and I still go back,

and I want to preface this with saying I have a lot of respect for Craig and I coached against him in the league and I know what a competitor he was, but I still don't think there's any value in that and going to the media with it. I don't think there's any value of it. Like players, players, there's nothing that ticks players off more than a coach going out in the media and talking and them saying, is that the same guy that's in our dressing room? Is that the same guy? I hear it about coaches all the time.

And I just don't think there's anything to gain from it other than why wouldn't you sit Robert Thomas down and Cairo and these guys and say it to them? And I'm sure he has, I'm sure he has. And isn't that enough? Do you have to go to the media with it and, and, and create this? It puts Craig in a tough spot.

It puts army in a tough spot. It puts the owner in a tough spot. And the fans are saying, wait, what am I listening to here? I just don't think it's, I just don't think it's, it's, it's that valuable I just don't think it's that valuable.

I don't think it is. What if he feels like he's going to be fired and he's like, you know, this is my, you know, if he feels like his job's in jeopardy and it's these guys costing him or, you know, not responding to him sort of as a nuclear option, still too much, eh? Well, if I was interviewing, say he does, and I was interviewing him, that would be one of the first questions I'd ask him. Like, explain this comment. You're a Stanley Cup winning coach.

You're a player's coach. You're perceived as a player's coach. I just, I've seen, you know, I go way back, and I remember, and you wouldn't have been born, and Kippy would barely be born, when Orville Tessier said the same thing about the Chicago Blackhawks. And Terry Murray said the same thing about the Philadelphia Flyers in a series against Detroit. And it was very similar comments.

And I'm thinking, where is this coming from? I think there's something to be said about keeping things in the dressing room. I don't have a problem with you ripping a player in a one-on-one situation. And I just, I'm against it. That's just my own opinion. I don't think it's a smart move.

That's my own opinion. I want to sneak this one in before I let you go. And that's Pat Kane. If you were shopping right now, would you be all over this? Is there a part that would hold you back on maybe not knowing what exactly you're

going to get with Pat Kane? Where are you on that? And linking him back to the Rangers. Well, you know, the Rangers are going for it. And I read this morning what they have to do to make this happen. And, you know, it's down to playing with 20 guys the rest of the season and moving people up and down and around and going with a shortened lineup. I love Patrick Kane.

You know that. He's a talented guy. The Panarin history is really intriguing. He's a winner. I'd love to see the Rangers get Pat Kane, but Tarasenko and Patrick Kane, I'm not sure

there's... When is there too many guys? Who's going to have the puck? How many guys can you appease and put in key situations when you've got

the top six that they have? I don't know. I mean, look, it looks good. It sounds good. I'm not sure it's the right move for the Rangers. And I love Patrick Kane, man. I love him. If they didn't have Tarasenko, I would be saying, yeah, go for it big time. I'm going to tell you something right now that's just going to absolutely make your weekend.

You've got hundreds of more watchers on YouTube than Mike Russo had. You know what? That may be the biggest insult I've ever had in my career. And you know what? I have been insulted really bad by a lot of people in my career. Yeah. And that's one of the top. Okay.

That's one of the top flags that you've given me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought I was going to cheer you up. Well, listen. You know what? I've been looking for a way. I've been looking for a way to get out of doing this damn show,

and you're getting real close to it. No, no, no, no. Strike that from the record. Okay, strike that last comment from the record. Hey, Mac, thanks for doing this, man. Really appreciate it. No, no, just one final thing. As I was leaving the pool to come up here, Jill said the final thing. She yelled at me when I was leaving the hot tub. She said, what is Kiprio's paying you for this?

I said, honey, it's not about money anymore. It's just about, you know, helping people in their careers. I'm getting sick of helping you though, Kiprios. Hey, Little Buddha is going to be sold in Florida soon. In a month, I can send you a can.

Not even open. Coupon. All right. Thanks for doing this man good luck continued good luck with the show I appreciate that Doug McClain I don't think he liked that last YouTube comment

well it was a great comedy hundreds more yeah and apparently anyone's talking about is like should I put my toque back on yeah that was a big there's actually a poll on our uh youtube chat whether you should or not that's completely off the rails no that is i did vote in it i said no i did or did i i voted no yeah i like i voted

no no yeah yeah it looks good today for a guy who's wearing a toque do we do we have an update on the poll what is What is actually the poll? They wanted you to put it back on, but I think they're wrong. The people are not always correct. I'm going with the vote. After the break. The vote said 64% yes. Put it back on.

He just got a haircut. It's looking good. I just got a haircut too. Yeah, it's looking tight. 170 votes on that. All right. Well, let's get the nose up, please. Or else I'm going to have to go with whatever is on the poll after the break.

You're like Elon Musk. I do whatever the poll says. Until it's inconvenient. We got the real admiral. We got rear admiral coming up. All right. From Chickletson, the Barstool Sports Group. I don't know if I screwed that up.

You did. We'll talk again. All of that and more after the break. Get your vote in. Discussing the biggest stories that matter to Toronto sports fans. The Fan Morning Show with Ailish Forfar and Justin Cuthbert.

Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Max talking about coming out of the pool of Asana and putting a toque back on. Because of an internet poll. Dave, sis boom bah, how did we finish off on the poll? Do we have any idea?

It was 63% put your god. I also like the idea of Kipper asking sis for quotes when he doesn't have a microphone. This is just yelling at the glass. All right. As we promised, host of Spittin' Chicklets podcast on Barstool Sports. Let's bring in R.A.

How are you, pal? Good. What's going on, gentlemen? Thanks for having me. Oh, listen. Can't have a blockbuster trade with the Boston Bruins and not have a Boston accent in the show. Well, thanks, man.

I'm still in shock about it. I mean, they've been kicking tail all year. Now the rich got richer, as they say. I'm pretty excited about the trade. Undoubtedly the team to beat right now, I have to say. Did this one surprise you? Yeah, yeah. And I say it every year, Kip.

Like, you know, expect the unexpected. You always hear rumors. I mean, I didn't hear all of the ruins at all from the 9,000 people spreading rumors out there. It just always seems to be a deal that people don't hear coming. That comes. And a guy like Hathaway, too. I mean, he's a poopster down there in the bottom six. He's talented as hell.

He's a great defensive forward. He'll make the fourth or third line, wherever they probably put him on the fourth, I'd say. Plus, he's a local kid. I don't think you can underestimate that. I mean, you guys get local guys all the time up there. They seem to play a little bit better for the Leafs. Well, you know, guys from local, he's a main kid.

He's going to play his ass off of the Bs. So, I'm fired up there. I really can't believe how much better they got with these guys. All up, probably underrated playing second fiddle to Carl Stroll all those years. He's going to slot wherever Montgomery wants to put them in the top four. It's a good

damn boss. Good couple days, yeah. Alright, you got to help me. I'm dying here. The Bruins have lost eight times this season in 57 tries. We've become a Bruin show with Sammy and Kip here bigging up the Bruins. Is there a soft spot Leafs fans can cling to? Is there somewhere they got to get better still?

Or is this just the best version of this Bruins team you've seen in years? Yeah, I mean, you could probably quibble with, oh, they caught him. You know, he was another defenseman and probably a little bit more depth. And that's exactly what Sweeney went out and did. I mean, if the Leafs fans need to hand the hat on something,

I guess you could say Allmark's playoff inexperience, that's probably a bit of a stretch, even though he's playing this year. But I don't know. It's tough to find any change to the arm with this team right now. But, of course, you know, like Marshawn said the other day, the records mean nothing. This is all about getting the Stanley Cup. I mean, especially a guy like Bergeron.

He's got to go to the Hall of Fame. He's been to three Stanley Cups already. He wins another one. He can really solidify himself. I'd like to show that. For a care of the big bad ruins of the early 70s. So, I think this team is going all in, you know, for themselves, obviously, on a cup. But I think the idea of winning one for Bergeron, in other words, for Bergeron, is really fueling these guys.

All right. Is there a feel that one way or another, this is, this is it for Patrice and Krejci? You know what? As far as Patrice, I don't think he even knows, you know, I think he's going to see how the year goes. I mean, obviously it'll be a storybook ending in the bones when he retires. I'll, you know,

while Ray Bork with a different team, but you know, sort of same idea and probably the same with Krejci. I mean, I think he's probably more likely to retire considering he went to Europe for a year already. Then they sort of got the band back together for this year. But, yeah, I honestly don't think they know right now. I think they're just kind of winging it and seeing how the season goes.

You know, I've heard you guys talking on your show about the Maple Leafs. You've got Biz has given the Leafs a lot of love. Whitney's pushing back against any love for the Maple Leafs. Where got Biz has given the Leafs a lot of love. Whitney's pushing back against any love for the Maple Leafs. Where do you fall on the spectrum? What do you think of this Leafs team and their chances in playoffs? You know, like I said, the Leafs are the pre-2004 Red Sox. They kind of love them. We'll lose the thing about them.

But I don't know, man. It looks like they're going to draw Tampa Bay once again. The best goalie in the world, Vasilevsky. I'm a Leafs fan. I don't know, man. I'm probably pooping down my leg a little bit right now. It's like that team is, you know, I mean, what's the franchise? You know, the franchise.

What am I thinking of? Dynasty. That's right. I'm sorry. Late night. You know, that's a dynastic team down there. And Toronto Sunday is our runoff for the first time in almost 20 years.

I don't know, man. It's going to be a tough task. Tampa's not going to lay down. They've got a chance to win a third cup with this team. I don't know, man. I'd be scared if I was Toronto. Your thoughts on the domino effect. We assume Boston's done here.

You wouldn't mess with the chemistry anymore, would you? No. I mean, I don't really know that they need anything at this point. I mean, they just went out and got a great defenseman, a great fourth-line guy. I can't imagine they'd go too much with this. They already kind of have too many defensemen right now as it is. But, yeah, I think you just mentioned the ripple effect. Now, you're probably going to see you get reeked off the trade

and whatever else that might have been a log jam there. But, I mean, there's still a lot of big names to fall to as far as other teams. So hopefully we get something to celebrate on trade deadline day. Yeah, it's been a pretty good one. So, you know, looking around the league a little bit, Colorado is a team that's been injured. They win the Cup last year.

Boston is clearly the favorite this season are you still scared is colorado give you the most fear of any team to you know disrupt boston's plans here uh yeah i have to defend the champ anytime i mean they may have a question goal well then again it really didn't matter what the last year camp but didn't put up the best numbers and they still won the cup uh but you know conor mcdavid i know Colton may be a question mark, but Edmonton, with the way he's playing right now, I'd be scared to go against him, the level he's playing at right now. But, yeah, defending champs, you know, as long as they're out there,

they're probably the challenge. But I don't know. Like I said, the Bs, if Omar can play the way he's been playing all year, I can't see them not being the team to beat. How about Pat Kane? Does the league need him in New York City right now? I don't think the league does.

From a marketing perspective, it would be huge eyeballs. Yeah, I mean, of course, if they get bounced in the first round, it won't matter, but I think, yeah, if that's where Pat Kane wants to go and that's the only place he wants to go, then that's where he'll end up. I mean, he can dictate where he wants to go.

Tell the Blackhawks, that's the only place I want to go. I mean, then the two GMs should be able to hammer something out, especially with teams taking on a third team to eat some of that money, you know, like a problem with draft pick or whatever. But I would say it's sort of like Taylor Hall a couple years ago when he had total control, wanted to go to Boston and told Buffalo that's the only place

I'm really willing to go and they made it happen so if the Rangers and Blackhawks want to make a trade happen they will because if that's the only place he's willing to go to then they're crazy not to come to a deal You know it's so funny talking about where guys will go given I want to ask you about Brad Marchand and seeing

some of his comments on Twitter lately, joking about guys not wanting to go certain places. The All-Star game, he was like, if it's in Edmonton, Seattle, whatever, he'd boycott it. Marchand must have a special place in the heart of Bruins fans. This guy's not just an excellent player, a guy who's got Hart Trophy votes, but he's also got a bit of that Boston swagger to him.

I mean, this guy's going to be a Bruin for life one way or the other, no? Oh, man, I hope so. I mean, I think, after how many guys we've seen switch uniforms late in their career, it's tough to say that, but yeah, I think he's hopefully going to finish his career ahead. His personality is great

for the game. I think he's actually starting to win people, fans of other teams, which is pretty unbelievable when you consider who it is. But yeah, the Twitter stuff, the Instagram stuff, it's the type of personality that the league could use a lot more of. I mean, there's not too many Marchands out there, but yeah, he's

a poopster, again, on the ice rock. He likes to play around, that's for sure. Marchand, Bergeron, Lindholm last year, Orlov this year, great goaltending. Marchand, Bergeron, Lindholm last year, Orlov this year, great goaltending. Like, the Bruin fans have already

planned the parade, have they not? Like, you can't envision what a disappointment it would be if the Bruins lost. Best. You know, less than 2019 not too far away. I mean, I'm an older brooms fan so i know you know i know how close it can get and not happen but you know i think our younger fans a little cocky

given the 20-year run we had but yeah i think i'm you know i'm optimistic but it's the playoffs man it's the nhl playoffs you gotta win games and you know anything can happen i mean every year we say that and there always seems to be a big upset. But, you know, they've got to go out and do it. Like, again, to go back to Marshawn's quote, the records mean nothing. It's all about winning the Stanley Cup. That's all people care about. No one says, oh, we're the most points, we're the most wins.

It's all about the Cup. Yeah, man, I'm optimistic, but certainly not cocky. We're all looking forward to it. Rear Admiral, really appreciate it, man. Thanks for your time. Thanks for coming on, R, really appreciate it, man. Thanks for your time. Thanks for coming on, R.A. Thanks, Justin. Thanks, Kip.

Have a great weekend, guys. Okay, you too. There you go. You got your proper Boston guy on the... That was perfect. Yeah. Perfect. Knows his stuff, too.

He's been watching this team for a long time, writes a blog on them. You do have a sense that, like... They know. It's so perfect. It's so... so perfect never works in hockey does it best plans can you go from beginning to end yeah on this run all you can do is be as solid as possible when the damage starts because it's a gauntlet to get through the postseason what is their worst stretch worst stretch? They lost three in a row. Did they?

I think they did. They did right before they came and beat the Leafs. Right before the playoffs. No. I'm sorry, the All-Star break. Yeah, when they came and beat the Leafs on that Wednesday night, that was to end the three-game losing streak. Is that enough adversity to learn for your playoff run?

Or do they need one more bad stretch to really feel good, bad, and otherwise? I don't think they need any sort of education. Do they need one more bad stretch to really feel good about their chances? I don't know how that works. They have 93 points in 57 games. Yeah, they're good. They just added Orlov. So, listen, I hope to everything wholly that we are talking about the Leafs having to deal with them.

Because that means that the Leafs won a first round series. Or they fell dramatically into the wild card spot. Or that. Or that. Which, yeah, not going to happen. Not happening. Okay, are we ready for Fake Trade Friday? One more.

Just one more before we go into that and some texts and all of that um and i just want to follow up a little bit on the conversation because i want to get your thoughts uh jb on again the barubi thing and not necessarily i know we went through already with with the comments from thomas but just is this a is this just the old school guys taking one last shot of of kind of rocking the boat because tortorella comes to mind and uh sutter comes to mind where they they're just they're not too scared to just call guys out you know yeah is that is that the trend now that you got to be completely honest everything's around around social media is or podcast is just this being authentic this is as authentic as

coaches can get yeah is it not but it's tough because it's a sensitive generation right kairu and thomas are not o'reilly you know not his age with a dad who's a mental health and a mental strength coach um you know it's a little different with those guys so i do think you have to be more careful however i think with anyone when you try to get a message through to them enough and they don't respond you have to use increasingly loud tactics to get their attention. And, you know, there's no doubt in my mind that Berube didn't have this one game he didn't like it and he came out and said that. He probably said it to them in November

and he said it to them in January and he said it to them in February and he's just had enough. And he feels like those guys are going to cost the team playoffs and cost him his job. And eventually this is just the loudest way to say what needs to be said sammy you with me here i so i listened to that press conference and what he said was actually at the end of the press conference and he was asked all these questions he was on the press conference for probably about two minutes and 30 seconds

and he was given like the reporters were basically like, your team's pretty bad. Like, they're not. And he's like, yep, yep, yep. And he was kind of short, kind of short. He was trying not to say too much. And then towards the end of it, he finally got one. He's like, look. And he said what he said.

And then he got up and left. Okay. So he was incredibly, you could tell he was pissed off. They kept asking him over and over and over and over. I don't like that as much. That means it not calculated and he finally was like i'm saying it yeah so i thought i would add that for context one last follow-up on this for you sammy representing leaf nation if that was sheldon or another coach saying that in this market how would you and your leaf nation respond i don't want to put myself in the shoes of the st louis blues right now who are at the downturn of their uh their

time so it's a hard one to kind of look at you know like it's the leafs are at the peak of them trying to compete but if i it's a hard one to put yourself in because i think it's a complicated relationship with uh the way the blues are right if you're a fan of that team you it's very similar almost to the raptors like you had just won a championship in the same year that the raptors did yeah you are a scrappy team that kind of was unexpected and then they did the opposite of what the raptors did this deadline they traded their guys yeah right so you're just kind of in that afterglow still sort of where you're supposed to be kind of appreciating the fact that you still want a championship but you're kind of not yeah you know like people like oh you got a championship but you're also like yeah but i'd like to win this year kind of thing so i think

it's a complicated one you'd probably be happy that the coach said that because you just want to you want a chunk of meat you're pissed off that your team sucks and you want the the coach to say something coaches lost the room who are the guys gonna ask for a trade too is the coach gonna get fired now that the guys aren't you know they got the long term contract get rid of that guy yeah like it would it would be speak to now what you know now there's a rift in the room between the highest paid guys and the coach and it would have had uh a similar effect of when when they lose in the first round the last few years remember all those comments and the what's wrong with them and i can't boys i can't do that again it went i mean it was pretty strong pretty strong when they lost last spring.

Right? From who? From Leaf Nation. Yeah. It was really like, there were people who said they couldn't believe Kyle Dubas came back. Right? I mean, that passion. Is it crazy to say I thought it was worse two years ago in Montreal?

Thank you. That's what I was going to jump in. Really? The vitriol when they blew it against Montreal. Was worse for Kyle than last season's 10 times worse oh okay like maybe not for Kyle I guess I think everyone wanted everyone's head trade the stars trade the guys who didn't produce trade the coach that's still by far the hardest one to swallow Marner for Jack Eichel yeah well I didn't know about that specifically but oh yeah that was a heavy one here yeah I'm gonna be shooting my Gavin here yeah how many points I Eichel. Yeah. Oh, I didn't know about that specifically. Oh, yeah. That was a heavy one here.

I'm going to be shooting for Gavin here. How many points did Eichel have? 40? Oh, no, no. That was just... What did he finish? Dead last? Yeah.

All right. Speaking of the Lightning, they're chasing the Leafs. Gave up a point to the Sabres. Labushkin with the winner. Labush! My boy. Oh, I miss him here. Could they get him back? Leafs gave up a point to the Sabres. La Bouchekin with the winner. La Bouch. My boy. Oh, I miss him here. Could they get him back?

I don't know. No. I got multiple DMs from people being like, are you going to crap all over Vasilevsky because he gave up six? It's like, yeah. We're going to, yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's definitely what we're going to do. Guy that, you know, like has won multiple cups and has been clutch in every big game ever it's like

yeah he has a bad regular season game we got a crap all over him they give him a consmite that it's over yet yeah oh yeah okay they need to shop for a goal that's a wild game fake trade friday tune in people can we just talk about page first nope oh my god he's good right did you see the feature on him for the television. Did you happen to see the goal he scored, one of the goals he scored on Vasilevskiy? I last night I didn't know. Okay. So he comes in and big shoulder drop, cuts it, backhand, five hole, like straight through

the five hole feathery. He cuts it is on like all of his goals. But like just the way he drops the shoulder. Yeah. He bites so hard. And he's got Vasilevskiy like, you know, when the goalie kind of way he drops the shoulder yeah he bites so hard and he's got vasileski like you know when the goalie kind of looks like he's dancing because he's so lost he twisted the best goalie on earth into a pretzel so i just wanted to give tage's shadow

because i love tage and he had a hat go go look at the record when he scores and when he doesn't score and the difference yeah amongst o'reilly and tovarisres and Marner was that he didn't score. They don't win when he doesn't score. Oh, yeah, yeah. Tage. Yeah. Against the Leafs. I'm talking about Toronto Buffalo.

Okay, yeah. Right? It's like Kaprizov they were talking about before. It's like he has to score for them. He has to score. There's certain guys that have to score. And for the most part it's probably it's it's around marner marner needs points for the leafs as well but it's a much more balanced attack

with three or four stars up front but tage thompson if he if he's not putting the puck in the net they there's most most often they lose they're dying i mean're exciting, though. They take chances. They play a really open brand. They play a brand that you think would get killed in playoffs, but they're sure fun to watch. Did you see the... Oh, you didn't see anything.

The overtime, there was a bang-bang play where a good Canadian boy, Stephen Stamkos, took a dive in overtime to try to draw a penalty, and that's what set up the Labushkin overtime win. Really? Yeah. Took a little dive.

Oh, he doesn't die he dove i'm sorry kippy he dove i would i'd hate to say it because i love him he's a good canadian boy he's gone to another level you gotta watch the highlight he dove okay are we done yes fake trade friday let's go okay okay get everyone ready on sportsnet get ready

to clip this trade is that was that what we're calling it yeah because this is the last one so far 100 000 people watched it last time so all right fake trade friday um we're trading the toronto maple leafs are trading for jacob chickard okay hold on as you know chickard has four 4.6 million dollar contract till 2025 number one d-man and you want someone on a power play yeah okay yeah i want someone who can play 25 minutes and run my power play. Now, do you know, like, the ask was two first-rounders and a prospect, I think, three pieces.

Okay. Well, we'll see if this does it for you. Here's the thing. With Chikren, I want Brown as well to play on my third pair to block shots and hit guys. Okay. Okay. And then we're going to get a third back from Arizona as well. To play on my third pair to block shots and hit guys. Okay. Okay. And then we're going to get a third back from Arizona as well.

So it's Chikrin Brown and a third. And going the other way is Matthew Nyes, Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Lilligren, and a first in 2025. Matthew Nyes, Sandin, and Lilligren? Yep. A first in 2025. That's the big version of the trade. There is a smaller, downsized one. It's too much.

You're giving up too much. You're giving up too much there. Yeah, you are. Nyes, a first a couple years from now, and 2D, man. Boy! Yeah, I think you're giving up too much. I'm hanging up the phone. Kyle Dubas. You got 2D coming back.

You got Chikrin and Brown. Brown's a monster by the way. 6'5", 220. Yeah. And he blocks shots and hits. And Chikrin's going to be here for three years on a cheap, cheap deal. Like Hagel, you got to pay for that deal. And you get a third back in my deal. It's not my deal actually. It's a guy I've been

texting with and I don't have his permission, so. Yeah. Okay, well, then, all right, hold on. Maybe a third, a first and a third. For simplicity's sake of everyone listening, then, can we do Lilligren-Nize and a first in 2025 for Chikrin? That's Lilligren-Nize and a first in 2025 for Chikrin. If my choice is this or nothing at all, I have to go with you.

You would do it? Yeah, I would do it. So what I said to him was, first I want to know if they would take Sandin over Lilligren. Yes, that is a very important question. 2025 appeals to me. You know, pushing that off so you can still have your 2024 first. Lilligren's really, like we've talked about this, but Lilligren's like playing at the end of games. He's a player.

He's kind of too important to them right now. He is on their second PK pair as well. He plays with Geo. I'm starting to hear some things like they don't want players back. They don't want to take on. They both got one year left, right?

At 1-4, both of those guys? Yeah, they do. But they're in a bit of a financial crunch and i don't know how bad it is some are suggesting to me it's worse than arizona yeah arizona wow and who could have seen that coming it's every nine months i i don't know if they'll they'll want okay renner sandin they just may want okay here's knives in a first give us checkering yeah may want... Okay, here's knives in a first. Give us Chikrin. Yeah, knives in a first and knives in a first and a third. Yeah.

I think could get it done. Yeah. Really? But I don't know where they would be on the cap. I don't know if it'll work. Not way it'll work. And what's Brown at? I don't know.

Yeah. You got to jump through hoops now with your salary you do yeah they would have to figure something out you know because there's no salary cap in playoffs you wonder if they cut their roster down to 20 guys on the way in to just i found it so interesting to hear that the r may have to play with a short-handed just to slide in Pat Kane. I'm like, come on. It's the NHL. Can't be under man. No. Josh Brown makes 1.275 this year and next.

I'm sorry, Bonnie. Too much. How about Sandin Nyes in a first in 2026? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. All right. Try to make chicken work for us, guys. I've declared that the chips are in the middle of the room or in the middle of the table.

So if my only option out there is chicken and giving up knives i would i would take my chance love it love it i'm telling you you got it you you the alternative of of losing in the first round on a rental on ryan o'reilly like you you think you're going to resign ryan o'reilly losing in the first round no but if you win do you think you if you win a round or two well there's already some people talking about what would ryan o'reilly get out of the toronto maple leafs like what would you sign him for and it's like it's a double-edged sword like the answer is you probably don't sign him at all if you don't get out of the first round but if you do get out of the first round and he's incredibly valuable, where do you think you're going to sign him for four or four and a half million dollars?

Yeah, he plays great. And all of a sudden it's like he's playing great. He's at $7 million center at least. No, he's made a strong argument that he's still as good as he's ever been as a 200-foot centerman. And that price is six, six and a half million. Yeah, and he says, I want 30 million for four or five years. We got a question about this from Leafs Truth on Twitter. What would a realistic Ryan O'Reilly contract extension look like?

I don't think you can go more than four years. He suggested six years, six million times three years, or four and a half times five years. You know what's interesting is like what's what was codry's age when he signed this summer i think a year younger so codry was 31 and o'reilly's 32 do i have that about right yeah so he just went seven by seven oh listen i don't think that uh no one's given o'reilly seven years. But what are we watching here? Did he just knock? Did he help you knock out Tampa Bay in the first round?

But this is the difference for you between being worth $49 million or $4 million a year? Did he go toe-to-toe with Braden Point? Yeah. Did he go toe-to-toe with Anthony Cirelli? Stephen Stamkos? Did he rise? Did he do everything that leaf fans added hope yeah then why isn't somebody going out there and giving them 35 or 40 million dollars over five years

six years young team like one of those buffalo detroit ottawa team that says hey we could use a veteran leadership we're about to turn the corner. We need to solidify second line center. I see it. But the one thing is you can't play good here and sneak by. If he plays good, his value is going to get blown up. And that's the dilemma for the Leafs.

But then again, Giordano played really well and he just decided to play for less because he wanted to be here. What's it matter to O'Reilly? We don't know what his priorities are. There was no market for Mark Giordano. There was no market for him. Okay, maybe he could go somewhere and get a million and a half. We're not talking.

It's apples to oranges here. Giordano had nowhere to go. Seattle, they said he couldn't play 5-6 on our team. It's not even close. Well, if that's the case, they're he couldn't play 5-6 on our team. It's not even close. Well, if that's the case, they're terrible at scouting. Mark Giordano was really Spezza at the end. I'll pay to play. In fairness, Spezza at the end was a wonderful contributor,

and the Leafs said 750. I mean, he was a great player for them. He led their team in playoff scoring the last year. Nobody else wanted him. Nobody else was going to pay him a great player for them. He led their team in playoff scoring the last year. But nobody else wanted him. Nobody else was going to pay him a million and a half. All right, we're derailing if we're just going to dump on Giordano. He's been a wonderful player for years. I'm not dumping on him. I'm telling you where the market was for him.

Yeah. And it's not even close to Ryan O'Reilly. No, I understand that. I totally get that. I'm not dumping on him, and he's been awesome, and he's done more than you could ever ask. Yeah. But that's not Ryan O'Reilly.

No, he's in a different boat. July. For sure. Okay. Are we on to questions? Yeah. Yes. Did we ever, did we have Thomas responding to Brube?

We're past that. Yeah, we're past it. But the only, the interesting thing I found out from that is that Robert Thomas does a weekly hit on ESPN Radio in St. Louis. I think they pay him. I think they give him like a couple hundred bucks to come on. Can you make an 8.5 mil? I don't have anything.

If I was St. Louis, Doug Armstrong, Craig Brube, I'd have no problem with Robert Thomas standing up for himself. No, you'd want him to say exactly that. And what a great message to all my season ticket holders. Of course I care. Players saying we care and that's not the case. And Craig probably let his emotions get the best of him. And that happens sometimes.

And let's all move on. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Tom Brady did a weekly hit in Boston when he was with the Patriots. Carries a little bit more weight, I'd say. Yeah, carries a bit more weight. My point is, what's it cost us to get Matthews for a weekly hit? What's his weekly rate, do you think?

We've got to get some Balenciaga jackets to pay him. Pay him in jackets. Pay him in Gucci toques. Gucci toques is all I get. No other apparel, just toques. It's going to be two grand a week. What else do we got here? You guys ready for some questions?

I think we're ready. Like 20 minutes ago. I was going to call you the D word on the radio. It's Friday. I don't think I could say that. I might get a text from Fabs. All right, this is a DM I got. You know, question for today's show.

What's the cost for a significant D now that the Bruins made their moves with the Caps and this person included a barf face emoji, which I agree with. What would you give in the current lineup for someone significant? What can the Leafs get? Sorry, what can the Leafs get uh what sorry what can the leafs get someone like shen for that's from mark dumel shen i heard right now that the price is a second rounder but they'll settle for a third rounder at the deadline really i would be surprised if someone didn't snap them up for a second like david savard went for two seconds just two years ago that's you think edmondson charotte there are uh there there's teams out there that says he's

five six seven at best so i don't i don't i don't i'm not giving up a second rounder yeah for a guy that a rental to play on a contending team he could be a healthy scratch yeah and you know what it's possible in toronto like it's not impossible to see him come in and just be like ah you can't keep up or whatever like it's so yeah i guess in second third but if i'm the leafs and it's deadline day and no one's got him and a third is doing it yeah i'm doing it i can't argue with that yeah um what we got here is we just got this not a question but we keep talking about arizona taking on salary but they just traded for shea weber could they not package him with chicken to the leafs for ltir space there's only so much sounds good yeah i don't know but you're right k. You can only go so far into LTIR.

I think it's like 10 or 11 million or something. So I wouldn't. You would need Brandon Pridham in here or David Kapp friendly, which I assume is his last name. David Kapp friendly? Yeah, I can't go that deep. I'm not that. Sorry to put you guys on the spot with that.

It's a great question on on what's allocated and where's the max and this is what kills me when we talk about a lot of these trades and and we go well they'd have to move some money around to you know get that guy in it's like okay well someone does that you know like they they would have to do that it's impossible for us to go well you know he's a 10 free agent 10 point bc3 you know so i don't know some of them are tough you know when we had bill garan on and i threw out the figure of a hundred thousand dollars for a fourth rounder and it ended up being like 72 yeah thousand i'm like it doesn't seem like that much cheap oh my god the

leafs would be dying if they could buy picks for 70 grand. Oh, my God. They'd have every pick. Wonder what a first round pick would be. There is a part of me, if I was an owner and a general manager asked me that, you know, I want to buy a fourth round pick for 80, you know, 75, 80 grand. And it's like, I'll be like, no, I'm going to go with the BMW. Driving away in your Tesla Cybertruck know what i've seen your fourth rounders i'm going to buy a car that's right let me just

check your history yeah 10 years of drafting none never hit on a fourth i'm not buying a 16 year old in the dub right now i'm gonna buy a mercedes um i got a couple a quick one here this one's from ross uh dean nicola you should do an over under on drop calls for the week what would you set the line at to be four or five and a half four and a half is a good number four and a half we'll set that for next week and what are we going to take the over the under i'm going hard under i'll tell i'm taking the under two i think we've been under that 90% of the time. Maybe we set the line too high. Okay, we'll set it at three and a half.

You have yet to disappoint me. I'm going over. By the way, we got buried for our Tiger Woods picks from a PGA guy. Well, I got a DM from a PGA tour guy. You be getting DMs, huh? Yeah, I get a lot of DMs. I got to open DMs and people just feel that I guess I'm the most accessible of the three on the show.

And they just, I get hammered. But yeah, this is from, I read his question actually, but I was going to, Mike Dumal, he's a, I think that's how he pronounced his name. He's a swing coach, does a lot of golf stuff. He said, I'm a performance coach and consultant on the PGA Tour and a coach golfer living, and I wanted to send over a hot tip. If you want free golf products from companies, stop having brutal takes on what Tiger will shoot and be way off. Send me this stuff.

Send me. I had the under. Yeah, and he shot a 69. I had the under. Send it to me. Last one, because I think, is Tanner Jananeau on the leafs radar and that's from toronto sports he's on everyone's radar you know what i mean not gonna give him up no and he's not even he's he's not hathaway or achari where they're gonna need a new contract he's he's an

rfa if i'm not mistaken. He's also a borderline star. He scored 25 times and led the NHL in fighting in the same season. You don't give that guy up. Yeah. He is unbelievable. He's a valued guy. I know he's struggling this year badly in terms of offensive production,

but the Preds are no good. We actually did a show with Luke Gazdik, who basically was saying that maybe he needs to fight less. Like if you're fighting a dozen times a year and you can score 25 times in the league. That's pretty cool. You know, maybe shift your focus though to the stop punching big men part of it.

Yeah, he's going into Tom Wilson territory. Yeah, and he fights guys like that. One more quick one because it's from Owen Sound. Who is better, Justin Hall or Luke Shen? You would prefer to have Luke Shen in the playoffs. Owen Sound, we don't have time to ask. That's great. That's great.

It's great for the sound. We don't take the Owen Sound questions. Oh, I had to sneak it in. We get enough Owen Sound input per show. I think I bring down the – What was the question again? Hall or Shen? Justin Hall or Luke Shen?

Game one, playoffs for the Leafs. Who's in? Oh, gosh. I'll take, I'll try Luke Shen first. Yeah. I don't even like my answer, but I just, I don't have any edge. It's sexy amongst Leafs Nation to hate on Justin Hall, but I probably would take Hall.

I mean, I probably would too, but I do think they need edge. I'd like that physical element to try. Yeah. Just to mix it up a little bit here and there. You remember Labushkin in that first playoff series? And I know he wasn't perfect. He made mistakes. He shouldn't have been playing on the top pair, but he ran some guys.

Oh, yeah. I mean, he caused some real, like, get your head up through the neutral zone situations for the opposition. He hasn't been great in Buffalo this year, though, get your head up through the neutral zone situations for the opposition. He hasn't been great in Buffalo this year, though, I don't think. Look into that. Look at some numbies. Well, they're giving up a lot of goals. I mean, how good can he be?

Fair. Right? All right. We're good. Yeah. Thoughts on tonight? Minnesota Wilds. Sam and Justin are doing the the leaf stock post oh yes tonight

we are i think austin should be good for a couple of goals tonight coming off of a very quiet game earlier this week wild on a back-to-back with travel they don't score much as is at least with the best line in the league yeah you know tough not to see the leaf for victory it'll be fun rare friday night no saturday no saturday friday sunday not for me they're going back to a hockey Yeah. You know. Tough not to see a Leaf for victory tonight. It'll be fun. Rare Friday night. No Saturday. No Saturday. Friday, Sunday. Not for me. They're going back to a hockey night to Ottawa and Montreal.

No, they're not. Yeah, they are, I think. What choice do you have? Signature game. You can't put Leafs on every Saturday night. It's got date night written all over it. I'm going skiing on Saturday. Are you?

Yeah. On the Blue Mountain? Yes. Our thanks to Mike Russo, Doug McClain, Rear Admiral. Who? Rear Admiral? Rear Admiral. Admiral.

Thank you. There we go, Kippy. All right. David Siss-Boombaugh is playing my Next Reward app. He's closing in on a $10 gift certificate. I don't like it. I don't want to give it to him. But I might have to.

All right. Derek Brandeo, thanks for a great week. Sammy McKee. JB, big plans? Work, work, work, buddy. All right, there you go. Are you on tonight? I am, yeah.

Okay, your job tonight is to drop the real Kipper and Bourne somewhere in the show. You got it, buddy. It'll be in. Alright, and thanks to all of you for sticking around dealing with us all week. Have a safe weekend. Give us a rating and a review if you got time, and we'll see you next time.