Real Kyper & Bourne - Canucks Get Reinforcements + Oilers Find Gear

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne bring in Oilers analyst Rob Brown to discuss Edmonton's recent surge. He gets into Darnell Nurse's simplified play since his return from injury, Evan Bouchard making a case for an 8-figure extension, internal belief in Stuart Skinner, where they need to add the most, and much more. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee project what Connor McDavid's extension might cost. Finally, Canucks analyst Dan Murphy (30:37) discusses Rich Tocchet airing frustrations with the Vancouver media, Thatcher Demko's season debut and JT Miller getting closer to returning to the lineup.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right let's get the national hour going on the real kipper and born show nick kipper is justin born sammy mckee this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 you're watching listening sports at 650 in vancouver sports net 960 in calgary in a few minutes we'll welcome in rob brown former nhler edmonton oiler analyst they've gotten hot in the last little while quietly maybe or not so quietly yeah i think fairly quietly it's just they kind of been winning what do they got three in a row here and um you know five of the last six i think six the last seven something like that good win last night also dan murphy is going to join us right in about 35 minutes we're gonna talk oilers we're gonna talk canucks and senators a little maybe demko demko yeah coming back it's been a while

um as far as the uh the Oilers are concerned, they picked up a player on waivers today. Who'd they get, Sammy? Alec? Regula. Regula. I believe he was third in line behind Evan Bouchard and Boquist in London.

I believe he's a right shot D. Pretty young, obviously. Which is very, very... He's a 6'4", 211-pound right shot d pretty young which is very very he's a six foot four 211 pound right shot d he was a third round pick uh and he has played 22 career hockey games he is 24 years old if you are six foot four 211 and a right shot d you can be pretty bad teams will give you a chance i'm not saying about i don't know anything about the player. I'm just saying.

At least ran Lilligrant out for. It's like those dimensions. People are like, yeah, sure. Let's try. I'm not sure that's going to satisfy Oilers fans. If.

He's new Vinny Deharnais. They don't see anything else between now and the trade deadline. No. Today. I came out with first sports net.ca, a bit of a trade list that has names that intrigue me yes so you know whether you feel or don't feel that rasmus anderson will get traded in calgary or not by March why I find his name intriguing moving forward.

That's the type of thing I wanted to put together. And I included Sam Bennett, guys, on my list as well. There is no chance Sam Bennett gets traded. I can't disagree with you, but there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that I've been privileged to know, including the number of teams that are going

after Sam Bennett. Yeah. Okay, so Barry Zito is going to walk into the locker room of the Florida Panthers. Hold on, before you start, I want to say I love that he's on there, and I'm excited about this conversation. Drama with the Florida Panthers is great.

It's a great list. You be Matthew Kachuk, I'll be Barry Zito. Matthew, we made a really tough decision for our organization today. We traded away Sam Bennett. Matthew, your thoughts? Did we get McDavid back? Your thoughts?

We're going to pick up this conversation after we get to our first guest. Brownie, save me here, would you? How are you? I'm very good. How are you guys doing? We're good. So big waiver wire pick up. They get help on the blue line.

Brownie, great shirt. Yeah, look how sharp we look. That's nice. A little baseball shirt. Did you guys go two for one we did we got a deal you know what it's like gibber we didn't make a lot of money when we played we do the two for one things um find value boy they uh they're winning now the oilers and yet they found a way to add depth to their blue line off the waiver wire what do you see i honestly when i saw the pickup i thought it's

someone for the minors honestly i really know nothing about this player at all um i think right now they're happy with everything that's happening on their back end uh kulak has been exceptional this year moving up into a top four spot darnell nurse is having uh aurgence. He's been on a lot of nights the Oilers' best defenseman. And I think Emerson has really taken the role as a third-pairing defenseman and a penalty killer and run with it. And Troy Stetcher, he's shown why he's been around for 500 games in the National Hockey League. He's an undersized defenseman.

He just knows a way to play and keep himself in the lineup. So this team is – everything's going well right now for the Edmonton Oilers. It's a good time to be an Oiler fan again. So what do you see out of Darnell Nurse? Because we do know he's been a bit of a lightning rod out there at times. And certainly at 9.25, some people feel like he'll never be able to live up to that which kind of puts him behind the eight ball but for me since coming back off the injury and the hit to ryan reeves it's almost as if you know he's dialed in or focused into being a simpler player yet not as complicated as we've seen him in the past?

Well, I think part of, well, the big problem for Darnell Nurse is his contract. And people out here in Edmonton see that contract, and they expect him to play like a defenseman that makes $9.2 million. And they say, well, I mean, that's McCarr money, or that's Quinn Hughes money, or that's so-and-so's money. Darnell Nurse isn't those players and I think at times Darnell because of his contract felt that he had to do more than he was and he would force things and he would try to do too much he would try to carry the puck in he tried the long

60 foot pass and a lot of times he's getting himself into more trouble then that brought out the boo-birds it brought out the media on him the social media and it affected the way he played i think right now he's just forgotten about all that and he's gone back to what made darnell um successful he plays a mean game and he plays a simple game and when he does both of those he's very effective he has been a lot of nights the other's best defenseman he's he's playing with a snarl again. And the biggest thing with Darnell Nurse, he's playing with swagger and confidence. And when he plays with swagger, he's hard to play against.

So there were a lot of question marks this year with Darnell Nurse. I think he's answered them. And he's been very, very good. His teammates have his back. Leon talked about him the other night after the game. Ekholm talked about him, saying he's been our best defenseman for quite a while now. He'll never play up to the contract he had,

but you just want him to be the best Darnell can be. And I think that's what we're seeing here so far this season. Brownie, how has Kapanen been since they picked him up? We followed him here in Toronto for some years and know the speed he's got. He's fast. It'll be interesting when they get fully healthy, where and if they continue to put him in the lineup. Right now, he and Lippen put Coles in.

They were guys that were in and out of the lineup wherever they were before, and now they're both playing with Leon Dreisaitl, one of the best, if not best, passers in the world. Kapanen's been good. The production hasn't been there, but I don't know if anyone, if you guys watched the game last night, there was a shot block on a headman shot late in the game that Kapanen went down and blocked. That was a big moment in that hockey game,

and it was appreciated by the fans at Edmonton. He got a rousing ovation for the remainder of that shift and when he left the ice. So he, like a Pitkosan, understanding the opportunity they have here right now. And there's an appreciation for that. He does have speed. I think he's a guy that would be very good as a penalty killer.

Probably fits in better further down the lineup because if you're playing with Leon, there has to be production. But I think he has surprised a lot of people. A guy that you just pick up for nothing, and all of a sudden you're like, oh, wait a second. This guy fits in quite well. So he's, I think, a new lease on life here in Edmonton, and he's taken full advantage of it so far.

Where's Evan Bouchard's game on this recent run here for you and you know are we still hearing noise about this guy making over 10 million dollars on his next contract uh yeah you will hear that for her there's there's you either love Evan Bouchard or you have a distaste for Evan Bouchard um I think what you've seen in the last little while, you've seen some of the reasons why he's going to get $10 million when he's moving the puck. The goal he scored in Ottawa, end-to-end. The big slap shot on the power play.

But you also, if you saw the Toronto game, the big giveaway that created the turnover, the big goal for the Leafs in that game. Last night against Tampa Bay, Kucherov was silent. His line was silent all game long. And then Bouchard throws a puck middle of the ice in his own zone, goes off a player, and they score seconds later. They have to get that out of his game.

And when he simplifies his game, he's incredibly effective. But he's still prone to the big mistake. And I think that him not making the Team Canada, the Four Nations, last night he's playing against the coach who was part of the process that didn't pick him. And there was the play that would have been in the second period, the one that gave Kucherov and Gensel the goal. And their coach is probably thinking, that's why we didn't pick't pick him great talent he just has to get rid of the big mistake

and it has creeped into his game a couple times this year and they also didn't pick the goaltender there who's been very good here right he's six of the last seven starts above a 930 save percentage his you know is there belief again that this is the guy that they can ride to win the stanley cup there's belief in the dressing room i i believe that skinner's good enough uh we still get a lot of phone calls on our rt our show after the oilers games with with chad that uh we don't believe that this is the goal you got to go find a different goaltender skinner's not the guy yet i'm like well i mean he took him to game seven last year and he gave up two on the road in game seven most nights that wins you a hockey game uh he's been excellent as of late there's a lot of reasons

the other season has turned but probably the biggest one is the goaltending has solidified skinner last night he outplayed vasileski. He beat Binnington a couple games ago. I mean, both guys are Four Nation Cups top goaltenders. So he has the ability. For him, again, it's confidence. But right now, Stuart Skinner has been excellent. He was in not a tough game yesterday for him. I mean, Tampa didn't have a lot of grade-A scoring chances.

But there were three big saves in that game. There was one points-blank one in the second period. There was a Kucherov breakaway, and there was a big glove save near the end of the game. The others weren't getting those saves in the first 10 games of the season. They're getting those saves now from Stewart Skinner. He's been excellent. There would have to be a major meltdown of this season

for them to push off of Skinner? I can't see that happening at all for a lot of reasons. A, they got no salary cap money. B, the assets that you would need to go and trade for a top-tier goaltender. And the fact that most teams won't trade. If you got a really good goalie, they're not getting rid of him. Stuart Skinner is their guy.

They have belief in him. This team, this general manager, this coaching staff, and certainly the players believe Skinner is good enough. He's well-liked by his teammates. And right now, the way he's playing, you're like, okay, that's the guy that took us through all the way to the finals last year. If he can continue that, this team is going to continue to push up the standings and challenge for a division in a conference. So to me, Skinner and Pickard are their guys.

They're very happy with the two of them and they should be with the way they've played over the last probably six, seven weeks. Yeah, it's funny going into the year, I was in the camp that had him as a guy who could have a great year. You know, that confidence from playoffs and kind of the age he's at, it just felt like he was due to break out. If he continues to play like this, I think the numbers will end up reflecting a pretty good season. So then if you look at this team, and we know how close they were last year, and they're starting to look like that team where if they play okay, they win.

That's how you know a really good team. Like, they just have to be okay, and they win. What are they missing? Like, what from here till the deadline is going to be like, all right, we got to find this little extra something to put us over the top. Well, it's funny this summer they, they signed Skinner and Arvidsson.

That was going to be the second line to play with Leon Dreissel. We've got a second line. Now we have the best top six in the national hockey league. Jeff Skinner has spent most of the time on the third or fourth line. And when Arvidsson's been on the line with Leon Dreissel, I think he has two goals on the season until he got hurt. So I think for me, their second line needs to be better. Not Leon.

Leon has been exceptional all season long. But they do need more consistent production. I think Pekolzin's been very good with Leon. But again, he's got, I think, five points on the season or six points on the season. And that's playing primarily with Leon. They haven't had anyone score on his wing other than Pekolzin

in the last 15 games, maybe. Something along that line. So I think production out of their second line, I think they will get more abrasiveness when Evander Kane comes back. That's going to be a little more swagger. You're addingiveness when Evander Kane comes back. That's going to be a little more swagger. You're adding something for nothing when Kane comes back into your lineup.

And then on the back end, I think they want depth. Kulak has been exceptional this season. He and Nurse have been playing together. And people are saying, well, now you move Kulak up and you just get a third pairing defense at the deadline. The problem with that, if you don't get a top four guy, if someone in your top four goes down nurse at home or bouchard you've got nobody that really can fill that role in the organization if kulak is one of your top four so i think they're going to want to pick up someone as a depth defenseman like a four or five at the deadline you can never have enough defenseman right uh. So this is, to me, that's it.

Depth defensemen, number four or five defensemen, they need some scoring out of their second line, and I think they will welcome Evander Kane's abrasiveness and physicality back into the lineup whenever he comes back. A four or five that you speak of probably is in the ballpark of $5 million out there. Russelainen in Philly comes to mind for me. Not crazy about the years that he's had, but I think he's played a little better in Philadelphia.

But what's to give up to get your four or five on the blue line? See, this is the problem for the Oilers. They don't have a lot of assets. They've moved a lot of assets over the last number of years um and if they get into a bidding war with other teams if there's say rusa lane and or or fowler or whoever you you see out there is a top four guy and there's going to be there's always multiple teams that want those players if they start throwing assets out there i don't know what the Oilers have. They don't have a lot of assets. They've lost a lot of youth.

I think the Broberg and Holloway loss has really affected the Oilers. That's two young players right there. Broberg being your top four and Holloway is having an exceptional year with St. Louis. I think Bowman is going to have to get creative. The Oilers are a good team. You've got Leon and Connor who are at the top of their games. They've filled in the rest of their lineup quite well. I think that they, to me it's a must.

They're going to have to upgrade their blue line just because if any injury befalls one of their top three players, that would be a big loss for this team because they don't have the depth in number six, seven, eight, nine, or wherever you may go down into the minors. So looking at the Pacific Division, curious what you think of a couple teams around the Oilers. The Canucks are within a point of them, and the Kings are ahead of them. It feels like the Oilers are the best team of that group.

Hopefully Canucks fans weren't listening to that, but where do you see them amidst all those teams? I see Vegas and the Oilers as the two best teams. I just love the way Vegas plays. I have a newfound respect and I've said it many times for Jack Eichel.

I wasn't a huge fan of him until I saw him in the playoffs against the Oilers a couple of years ago. Okay, this guy is good. He's very good. So I think those are the two best teams. I do believe Vancouver has the ability to knock teams off once they get fully healthy,

once Demko's back and playing and playing to his potential, once JT Miller gets back playing. He was awesome last year against the Oilers in the playoffs. But I think the Oilers, I like them better than both those teams if all the teams are healthy. I do believe that any team that comes out of the Western Conference

to go challenge for the Stanley Cup will have to go through either Edmonton or Vegas, or possibly both of them to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals. I think they're that good. And the team that scares me the most in the other conference, or the other division out here, is the Colorado Avalanche. I think when they get fully healthy,

and now they've got two goaltenders that they believe they can trust, and Wedgwood's got two wins for them, and he's going to be their backup, that's a team that can scare you. Because any team with Rantanen and McKinnon and McCarr, they're going to be a hard out. But I believe in the Oilers division, I believe it's Vegas and Edmonton that will be battling it out. So if I read this correctly here,

and the depth that you may have mentioned just earlier, you're not quite there that as is right now that the Oilers could beat Vegas as is? Well, the problem for me, I believe the Oilers and Vegas are tight. And we just watched them play the other night and it was a one-nothing game. I thought the Oilers were a bit better. It's a great

1-0 game. It was a fantastic game. Yeah, 100%. Aiden Hill was sensational in that game for Vegas. The Oilers outshot them 16-2 in the third period. Hill was outstanding. I believe that those two teams right now would go and be a seven-game series, but I believe Vegas is going to be better

after the trade deadline. As we've seen, they're not afraid to make a move. We've seen that the last number of years. And I do believe the Oilers are going to have to get better as well. I think the Canucks are going to make themselves better. I think they're going to try and make a splash at the deadline.

Dallas now all of a sudden has some money free. They're going to make a splash at the deadline because they got Sagan on injured reserve. So I don't believe any team in the Western Conference are going to stand still. I think they all need to and will improve at the deadline. I think the Oilers, to me, the one thing that scares me about the Oilers, if one of their top three defensemen

get hurt, Nurse, Ekholm, or Bouchard, I don't believe they have enough depth in their organization to cover one of those three off. So I think you want to have a number four defenseman come in, and then that'll give you a bit more depth in case organization to cover one of those three off so i think you want to have a number four defenseman come in and then that'll give you a bit more depth in case of injury what do you think makes the coach there stand out like what's a unique characteristic of a chris knoblock team do you think because he's we've had him on our show before and he's a very quiet soft-spoken man i think that's the biggest thing i think he he's very calm. He's calm. Extremely calm.

Yeah. And you'll have – there was a game this year. I think it was this year. They had two or three goals go against them where it was like they kept going to review and they kept losing these reviews. And you look at him on the bench and it's like he's thinking, okay, I've got to pick up eggs afterwards on the way home. So it's like just nothing bothers him. And I do – this Euler team for a number of

years were very undisciplined they would take a lot of bad penalties and some of them were their star players this team right now is a very disciplined hockey club they don't take dumb penalties i think a lot of that is a reflection of their coach he doesn't get fired up so the players don't nothing seems to bother him so now it doesn't bother the Oilers the Oilers give up too early okay we'll get through this the Oilers start you know it's a fire drill late in the third okay well calm down we'll figure it out and I think also communication I know that when Kipper and I when we played it was you were told to do something and you didn't did it you didn't ask why it, you know what, I want you to go run straight in the boards

as hard as you can, bang your head 10 times. Okay, coach, I will do that. Okay. Whereas your generation goes, why? Yeah, I'm going to need some answers here. Tell me why. Nowadays, it's different. You do want to know why.

And so I do believe the communication with Knobloch is very good with his players. I mean, and he's still hard. Like, he benched Drysaddle earlier this year. And Leon wasn't happy. But what did Leon do? He went out and I think he scored the tying goal and then the game winner in overtime. Something along that line. So I think communication is huge and just his calmness.

And to me, he's a lot like i when i watched tampa blade john cooper's the same way nothing really seems to rattle him and i think those are the type of coaches that have success nowadays to brownie's point the fourth uh fewest penalties in the nhl this year uh i gotta ask you one more um and that's as we close out 2024 there's a there's a hockey player that's eligible for a new contract uh in july named connor mcdavid is there any talk at all about it or how much money or the length of it deal or what like like where's the where's the the vibe in edmonton on connor mcdavid and his contract well i think this is one where they give him a pen okay write down what you want and we'll get it for you um i think when when leon

signed all fear of connor leaving left uh they're best friends and i think now and it doesn't mean he's going to stay but i think there was a ton of fear that if Leon leaves, okay, Connor's going to follow him. But as soon as Leon signed, like even the press, all the media said, okay, calm down, everybody. Connor's staying. There was more Connor staying than Leon staying after Leon signed the contract. I don't, we don't hear a lot about numbers.

There's no one, no one's really worried out here about that they feel that at the end of the season well there's two things that the edmonton fans believe in at the end of the season they'll be holding a stanley cup and then about a week and a half later they'll be signing connor mcdavid to an eight-year contract so uh i hope both of those come come true because we saw how much fun it was last year at Edmonton out here. Connor will sign a big, big deal. I don't think it'll be Juan Soto money, but I'm sure that it will be enough to

help be able to get him through the next few years here in the Edmonton winters. Awesome stuff, Brownie. Really appreciate your time as always, my friend. Sounds good, guys. If I don't see you beforehand, have a very Merry Christmas. You too. Thanks, Brownie. Rob Brown, former NHLer.

Does a great job covering the Edmonton Oilers for Chad. Yeah. Do you want to hazard a guess at the number? You know... You said for three years it's going to be $30 million. I just feel like he's in a tough spot. And I got to, this must be a horrible feeling to be like at the top of your profession

worldwide and have a feeling of, I don't want to take too much money that people resented on the cap. I also have a responsibility to the Players Association to keep it as healthy as I can under the restrictions of a salary cap. But they don't get to be Juan Soto and go, highest bid, let's go, most money wins. And so keeping that in mind, with Dreisaitl at 14, I don't know if he can go much further than 15, 5, 16.

Really? I'm surprised. That's what he said from three years ago. He said they're going to make $30 million combined. Yeah, but we didn't know the salary cap was going to go up this much. 30 and 32. Between 30 and 32. So as I had them combined.

I wonder if the skyrocketing cap will help him make 17. It could. It could. I mean, he should make 17. He should make 17. And if he's going to sign for eight years. It could be. Listen, if it was 20, I wouldn't argue it if he said 20 yeah max yeah

but he won't what does it do to the rest of the team what does it do to give them another chance to win a stanley cup if if he hadn't had one by the end of this year so i mean the thing is with his number with like any superstar i'm like oh boy that 18 million we're giving mcdavid's really holding us back yeah you're not thinking about that for one second when he's putting in 150 points every year you're not really worried about that but there's a guilt factor that of course no other player has to deal with if you're the oilers you're leaning on that guilt oh yeah like a player in a sport has to deal with whatever than hockey exactly i was gonna say they're what are we the only guilty conscience boys the hockey guys it's like oh i don't know like oh geez goodness i don't know better not take all the money

he's gonna spend it on aloe hats and the one that could be dangerous is smoothies anyway yeah that one that one could be dangerous because no one will ever accuse connor of taking too much money but that guy could be accused of it oh yeah let me ask you has the big mistake d-man ever become not a big mistake d-man do you remember any jake gardeners that like at the end of their career stopped doing it or does a guy like bouchard thrive because he takes chances and to take chances and make plays you have to sometimes give up the odd pizza can you fix the thing they're talking about that may have kept him off team can i think you can i think brownie talked about it a little bit. You could kind of calm it down a little bit. Curb it.

Curb it. Dial it. Yeah, dial it down. But if he's going to do, if he's going to make 10 sheets, it's because he kind of looks like Eric Carlson. Yeah. Shooting it in the net. And I want to clarify.

It's okay to be a big mistake D because you do make exceptional plays. If you get 70 points a year, you can make the odd mistake. Yes. You know, the guys who lead the league in points often lead it in giveaways too. That's kind of how it goes. Having said that, I'm kind of happy they left him on the team. But having said that, it makes you nervous.

It's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary. Bet365. Must be 19+. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Light night on the ice tonight. I wanted say that late night late night two games uh the anaheim ducks are in ottawa a game that's on our network our very own justin bourne on the

panel tonight with i believe david amber luke gazik and sam cosentino if i'm correct there you go uh the analysis for you you work tonight and tomorrow night? Yeah. This guy works, man. He's a worker. Your wife's going to think maybe you've got something going on on the side. And then she turns to the TV. She's like, oh, there's that dork. He's out there.

Physically can track me at all times. The Ottawa Senators are huge favorites at home. Minus 245 on home ice. They obviously need wins in the worst way possible. Anaheim and their horrible jerseys coming to town plus 200 uh i have no idea on that game you be buyer beware on either side uh the other game on the ice tonight new york rangers in buffalo to take on the sabers these speaking of two teams that need wins desperately the The Buffalo Sabres are plus 125 underdogs against New York Rangers, 150 on the other side of the money line.

Again, no idea, but you probably got to go with the Rangers. They have Shesterk and Annette. No way. Right, no way. The Rangers are dogs right now. Yeah, yeah, but I mean, I don't know if you've seen the Buffalo Sabres recently, but they're bringing masks to the game, like the bags and palm trees.

They're back to wearing the bags. And they're bringing palm trees now because of Kevin the game like the bags and palm trees like wearing the bags and the palm and they're bringing palm trees now because of kevin it's not pretty there either pal so a lot of rangers standing in the building tonight there'll be a lot of rangers fans there yeah it's gonna be an ugly one i have no idea so anyways that was game time presented by bet365 visit the app play the sods and find out why it's ever ordinary at bet365 plus 19 plus i dare you only Please play responsibly. We should go to get to Murph. I was just going to say that I just don't understand Kevin Adams going to the public

and talking about what is missing from players wanting to come and play in Buffalo. I think it was Mike Harrington. It was one of the Buffalo reporters, Lance Lukowski, who asked to speak to Adams and they just said, okay, let's just talk to all the reporters at once. So it was kind of an impromptu press conference. Which makes his mistake even worse that he got

sucked in or he just wasn't prepared to go to the public and then didn't... He had to have a message to bring to the public and then didn't... Yeah, he had to have a message to bring to the public. He did. Like, when you do that

and you just... When you start talking off the top of your head, there's nothing but trouble for those guys. That's when you become pure Dorian and go, we're a team. Yeah, or the rebuild's over. The rebuild's over. Yeah, we should go.

Okay, let's go to break and then when we return, some news and notes and dan murphy we talk demp go next on the real kipper and boring show dive deep into toronto sports and the nfl the jd bunk is podcast subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts all right we're back a reminder this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 let's welcome in dan murphy host of hockey night in canada does a terrific job covering the canucks on sportsnet. Wow. Mr. Smurf.

How are you, pal? I'm good. How are you today? Well, you set the table for us and we're not even there to have dinner soon with you. Hey,

for those of you, for those of you that can't see on zoom, man, he is in the Christmas spirit right now. Fantastic job. Yeah. Listen, I, I don't know where we want to start here. in the Christmas spirit right now. Fantastic job. Listen, I don't know where we want to start here. Do we want to start about Talk It and how he's maybe running out of patience with,

I don't know, Murph, guys like you, asking him about Petey after every game, or do we just go straight to Demko? Where do you want to go? Well, let's start with Talk It. Okay. Because I think, you know to go? Well, let's start with Tocantin. Because I think we've seen how he's conducted himself for the last season and a half,

and he's one of the most engaging coaches post-game. He rarely mints his words. He tells you honest answers. He doesn't speak cryptically. So, you know, for him to, you know, be running out of patience a little bit yesterday, said two things that, yes, one, in this market, people fixate on Pedersen a lot.

And I think probably that comes with the price tag of over $11 million, his contract being at this season. And two, I think the talk is probably a little disappointed with the way his team has played so far this season and you know that's not to say there haven't been challengers there have been a ton uh but i think that uh that answer last night and the lack of patience and a little bit of frustration in his voice uh probably you know is a combination of both of those things and is there any thing like maybe he doesn't want to slander Petey? Like maybe he's not that happy with Petey's play,

but he's just not looking to cause another rift here? Yeah, well, I mean, I think that's it. I mean, I think Pedersen's what, God, he's got, I think, 25 points in his last 18 games or something like he's producing. But I think he's only got three five-on-five goals this year. There's no question he is better now than where he was at the start when there was a lot of focus on him. But I think in this market that if Pedersen goes a game and doesn't have a point,

the first question is what's wrong with Pedersen? And when he has a couple of points, the question is how good was Pedersen? So this always seems to be a focus. And perhaps Tuckett thinks it shouldn't be as much of a focus on the one particular player at this time. And I think you're right. Probably there's a little frustration with one of the guys that he hoped would be driving play right now, especially with some of the absences. And while Patterson has picked it up, you know, he's in a different stratosphere now in terms of paycheck and he's got to be one of those guys that can drive play on a nightly basis i want to get to dempko but my my last comment on on

talk it was just his ability to where we can physically watch him catch himself yeah he worked through that whole process he's like oh get off thisoh. Uh-oh, get off this train. Get off it. Get off it. I know the Vancouver market. Get off this train track here. And I thought he turned it around pretty well for a guy that probably understands how sensitive the market can be.

Yeah, and you see that with a lot of Rick's answers. Like he'll start giving an answer on something and then he'll be realizing that this might be criticizing someone else and then he'll be well not not to you know not to criticize this but give an honest answer realizing that it could be misconstrued onto another player so i find that like because he's so honest he's not a good liar right like he's not a good liar when you ask him questions about who might be in or out and if he's not supposed to give an answer you can tell right away whether he's telling the truth and i think that's probably a pretty good quality for a coach to have yeah for sure so we will uh get into demko then he made his return after a couple of games backing up

which is kind of strange to me don't know if you have a thought on that but how did he look in his first night back well i mean he said that in his first game, he wanted to put his knee through hell. And his teammates said, we got you. All right. I thought he looked pretty good. You know, he gave the puck away on the opening goal, played along the boards.

But I think he looked pretty solid. You know, like I said, there was multiple breakaways i mean the thomas one shorthanded in the first uh i think a puck out by debrusk and that was kairu that went on on one i believe also holloway had one there might have been a two on oh so he faced a lot of quality chances um and but he said after the game you know like he's always quite critical and he felt rusty and he said he overthought things. But these are all probably things he believed was going to happen in his first game back. I think the real good thing is that they took the ice today and he was a full practice today.

So there wasn't any lingering effects. He wasn't too sore to practice today. So I think the fact that he got through the first game looked decent and the next day was able to practice i think it's a great sign for this team is that's seen enough for maybe some fans who were starting to question like if in fact he'd ever come back is that too strong of a statement here no i you know i think just because of the nature of how it went right like um you know he played game one of the playoffs and then it was like oh if they make it to the conference finals he might be playing and maybe he was lying to himself thinking he might get back and then also we get to training camp and he's not going to be available and we don't know for how long and there's no timeline and he's dealing with an injury that nobody's ever heard of before and no hockey

players ever had so i think you know i think there was there should have been a lot of questions asked like is it possible to come back and you know there were times where like you'd have three or four practice days and then you wouldn't see him for two days and you wouldn't really know what was going on and the stock answer was always like well he stacked four or five good days together and then you'd ask them in a week and that's what they'd say so i think that you know kipper you're right that questions were being asked like is he coming back and i think the fact that he was back last night and and looked pretty solid uh at least it's that's one hurdle cleared for the goaltender um or if we had rob brown on before you and i implied that all things he you know right now now that maybe Edmonton, I thought was a bit better team than Vancouver overall.

But that doesn't really account for a fully healthy Vancouver team. You know, looking at a fully healthy Canucks squad, how far away is it from that being possible? Is there any chance Miller is back anytime soon? What's the update on where he's at? Miller skated again today, but it was not with a line uh so he didn't speak uh he may speak tomorrow after the morning skate i don't think he'll play tomorrow night but uh they didn't rule it out i would think probably saturday is a more logical uh you know target date for miller to play but you've still got verona who's going to be out you know for

close to two months. So, you know, they're not going to get him back anytime soon. And I think I need to preface, like, you know, we have to be critical of the team because they haven't performed well. Nothing's really seemed easy. They're not driving play at five on five. You know, they're finding ways to scrap out results and wins. But it's been a really trying season, if you just think about it, from the Dakota Joshua

to stick their cancer in September to the Demco news. He wasn't going to be ready. Horvath had to leave the team because his father passed away. You had Besser missing close to three weeks of the concussion. The Miller news, and then right after that, the Hronik injury. So they've dealt with a lot of things this year, and they've still kept their head above water. So I think that's admirable.

But I don't think we're going to see a healthy team for you know probably six seven weeks until herona comes back and they need him back i will say this that you know myers and susie really struggled at the start of the season i think they've gotten their footing uh susie and myers have both been much much better last five six games games. And that's, you know, a welcome sight for Canucks fans and definitely a needed one for the coaching staff because the defense had been a bit of a problem. And when you lose Hronik, you know, you want to play, you know, Hughes 30 minutes a night, which he has been. But, man, he's going to get worn down if he's doing that already.

We're not even, you know, what even a third of the way through the season. Once we see JT Miller back in the lineup and everything seems to calm down, will it just be back to normal again? Will there still be speculation on what really went down and why? And is he happy here? Are we going to hear trade rumors from here on in? Like, what do you expect once he starts playing again? I guess it depends on what he addresses. I mean, he's been always a pretty straightforward guy, an honest guy.

He doesn't try to hide from things, but this might be something he doesn't want to expand on. I believe that he wants to be here. I believe that he wants to be here. I believe that his family loves it here. You know, he's got incredible support from the fan base. Like there was a WWE event here at the time when he was during his leave of absence and a JT Miller chant broke out in the wrestling event.

And they played the other night and another chant broke out the night, JT Miller during the game that he's not playing and I think that there's a good connection I think he really does like this city um but you know and if he doesn't want to expand on on why the leave happened aside from wanting to get healthy uh then I guess we're always going to have to wonder uh we'll have to respect his decision but i don't think i don't think the trade questions in my mind are not legitimate i i don't think he's looking to go somewhere else and i really don't think the canucks are looking to move from somewhere else murph there's no canucks game tonight why are you dressed so nice well because i thought jt miller was going to

speak today so i wore a tie to the rink and then he wasn't going to speak. So I didn't want to. Any explanation why, if you were expecting him to speak? Well, because he skated yesterday. He skated this the third day in a row, and we thought maybe he'd be on a line and maybe look like he was going to play tomorrow. He wasn't, so he's still not on roster. So I guess once he's going to be on the roster and he's skating, then they'll make him available.

So I would say if it doesn't happen tomorrow, I'm not sure what the schedule is if they skate on Friday, but if it doesn't happen tomorrow, I would be very, very confident it happens Friday or Saturday, depending on the team skates. Excellent feedback, my friend. Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate your time, Murph. Excellent feedback, my friend. Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate your time, Murph. Really good, Murph. Thanks a lot. Okay, boys. Have a

good one. You too. This is Dan Murphy, host of Hockey Night in Canada. Interesting team, man. To his point, they have been through it. God, it's a couple months into the year here. They have had a year's worth of drama. So you mentioned Quinn Hughes there. Can I read you amazing Quinn Hughes stats from last night?

Of course. Dimitri Filipovich, host of PDOcast. Good Twitter follow. Canucks with Quinn Hughes on the ice tonight and last night. 29-49 minutes. 49 shot attempts. 21 shots on goal. Six high danger chances.

Three goals. canucks without when he was on the ice 31 minutes 51 seconds nine shot attempts four shots on goal two high danger chances zero goals oh he is the biggest factor in the play when he's on the ice for that team they are a different team with him out there he's a breathtaking hockey player he is unbelievable and it's just you don't see him you don't see him and then all of a sudden he's on the ice for that team. They are a different team with him out there. He's a breathtaking hockey player. He is unbelievable. And it's just, you don't see him, you don't see him, and then all of a sudden he's got the puck, and it's like, oh my God, it's on the net.

You don't see him, you don't see him, then he has the puck for a full shift and a half. It's unbelievable. It's like trying to contain a Jack Russell Terrier. He's everywhere. Guys like that, and there's a few. Makara for sure. Adam Fox kind of was that guy, but he's fallen off a little bit.

But, hockey's never looked kind of like basketball more, where it's one point guard. The lateral movement's crazy. Who just controls the game. East, west, north, south. I get the ball. I move it fast. Oh, I get the ball. I move it fast. Oh, I get the ball.

I'll slow it down. That's what Hughes and a few of them can do now. Marner does that for the forwards. For sure he does. And he makes the opponents react to him where they have to play at his speed. Pace of play. They dictate the whole game when they're on the ice.

It is phenomenal. McDavid, you know, I mean, just a few. McDavid's the only one who does it. Well, him and McKinnon do it at a high speed. They say, we're going to play at this tempo. And everyone's like, we can't. He made everybody look so stupid on that goal for the lightning. I just skate down the middle.

I'm just going to skate right through here at top speed. And they're like, oh, we can't touch you. I would say that's the patented McDavid finish. The little, like, quick clack to the low blocker chip. I mentioned to you guys on Sportsnet CA, I got a list. Do you want to kind of pick up where we kind of left off? Where we were being mean. Disagreeing with one of your.

One of the notes that I have on Sam Bennett is the fact that they aren't close. They won't. They aren't close. Not even close to a contract. I do believe the last I've heard, and always things can change, right, is that they didn't even want to pay him what Carter Verhage is getting paid.

Oh, get out of here. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. What did Carter Verhage get, Kip? I believe it was 7 or 7-1. Yeah. He got, where is it there? Yeah, 7, 7 even.

7 even. Okay, 7. Yeah, that's offensive. But, I mean, isn't that how negotiating works? You say something silly, they say something silly, and then you say. I don't know. Let's get less silly as the deadline approaches. Yeah.

If that's the game that you're playing, then what's the point? The one I agree. I am all about. Why are we both doing this? What is this a good number for you? Let's do that number. I, I think with the Panthers, you know, the Leafs have their core for the cost, a lot of money.

If you have add Bennett at, let's say it's eight million or something in that range you're looking at 10 to bark off nine and a half to kachuk reinhardt for eight six lundell's five for a lot of years for haggie seven for a lot of years if now he's eight for a lot of years or whatever the number is i mean that is you need minimum guys for your bottom six from then on and and that's tough. Eckblad, what are you going to do with him? Yeah, he's last year before UFA making seven and a half. He's not taking a pay cut. You're going to pay him the same?

Maybe he wants a raise. Who would you rather have on your team, Bennett or Eckblad? The only problem is you don't have any of the team. You need a defenseman. A defenseman, forget about Bennett or Eckblad. A defenseman is more important. You just don'tman. Yeah. A defenseman, forget about Bennett or Ekba, a defenseman is more important. You just don't have anyone else. A forward still might be easier to replace than that type of defenseman.

So he may leave. I think that's what you're talking about. He's going to leave. But like, he's not going to get traded midseason. Yeah. I just, so I totally get where it's all shaping out, but it's like they just won the Stanley Cup. He is, to me, one of three players that defines their identity.

Yeah. He didn't finish my role play situation. Then we got the Brownie. Right. Remember, I'm Zito, you're Kachuk. Sir, we traded Sam Bennett. Then what? What does Matthew say?

Yeah. Cool, cool, cool. Who'd you get? Cool, cool, cool. No, Sam Bennett wouldn't be for two firsts and a second. Sam Bennett would be for someone that can come back and still help us win. Yeah. That would be the stipulation of a sign in trade.

Who's the D-man? That makes sense, right? Does it not make sense for a D to come back? Yeah, I think it would. Although in your article you mentioned Mason Marchment. Maybe a Mason Marchment if he goes to Dallas. Dallas adding Bennett would

change things. Yeah. I would love it. Have fun in the other conference. Rob Brown mentioned Cam Fowler to Edmonton on our recent segment here. I like the look of him Monday against Montreal.

You think he still has something to offer? We'll see him tomorrow night on our telecast Leafs in Anaheim. Very much looking forward to that. I think there'll be a few teams pitching for this guy. I gotta tell you, this trade list that Kip wrote

is loaded with canadian team players you got rasmus anderson nazem kadri brock besser by the way kip is not saying these are they're getting traded he's saying these are intriguing names that if things don't go for vancouver fans a certain way rock besser and i i mentioned in the article is looking for north of eight million dollars over eight years that's a significant contract to offer him. If Vancouver is not in a position to make that commitment, are you in the same boat as Florida? You got to grant them?

I think there's a much different conversation, and Vancouver fans could yell at me, but I think trading Besser as the Canucks for a D-man to help is a much different conversation than trading Sam Bennett. Like, you know, I think the Canucks can be similar without him, but without Bennett, the Panthers aren't the Panthers. A lot of talk that I, the feedback I got off of my article on social media was they,

they like Dobson in the Island for. Besser for Dobson. Yeah. Who does an islander's guy fans yeah it's not happening beat it i bet they like that you're not trading a winger for a top 2d although i will say lou lamorello did trade devon taves for two second rounders, if I'm not mistaken. See any good? Oh, my God. Maybe he'll be good enough one day to represent Team Canada. Yeah, on the first pair.

Watching that Colorado team last night. Boy, they hung one on old dude with his pens. Yeah, they're back. I think they showed some big cojones there, changing two goalies in a week. They're not messing around, man. Yeah, five points each for McKinnon and Rant in last night. Woo, buddy.

And there's another one. Maybe they'll trade Rant in midseason. What did you think of my Thomas Placanik's turtleneck today? It's Steve Jobs. I was hoping you'd take the coat off and go full Apple Watch on us. I rarely like to blow smoke up your behind, but you look like a million bucks today, buddy. You look really good.

I got date night with the wife and I got a Mercedes-Benz event tonight. So listen, if you guys are looking for late minute presents for your wives, I can get you a really good deal. If you said AI, create someone who looks like they drive a Mercedes, this is what it would

create. Boys, I can get a good deal for you. Just let me know. $3.99? Nice cars. Enjoy your night, everybody.