Real Kyper & Bourne - Canucks Reflections + A Threat of a Preds Rebuild

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by Sportsnet's Dan Murphy (2:37) to share an update on Thatcher Demko, if the Vancouver Canucks met their pre-season expectations a month into the year, where other teams in the Pacific Division rank in comparison to the Canucks, how Kiefer Sherwood is outperforming his contract, Jake DeBrusk's transition from Boston to Vancouver and the consistency on the ice from Conor Garland. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee share their thoughts on Connor McDavid's speedy return from injury, Barry Trotz pondering a rebuild in Nashville and John Tortorella's future with the Philadelphia Flyers.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 take it national on the real kipper and born show we are live on sports at 650 in vancouver sports at 960 in calgary and seen throughout the country on sports net this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 in a few minutes we'll welcome in dan murphy host of hockey night in Canada. Does a terrific job covering the Vancouver Canucks for Sportsnet. And just tweeted out some interesting biz, as they call in the business, a video of Thatcher Demko

on the ice in LA, I guess they're in now, right? Because they were just in Anaheim last night, played LA tomorrow. That'll be interesting. 6-2-3 after a rocky start. And we had Steve Aliquette on the show on Tuesday, and he had mentioned, we'll get into this with Dan, that perhaps whatever he's dealing with,

he's just going to have to continue to manage it and monitor it at least this year, perhaps his whole career. That just doesn't seem sustainable, does it? And is that where it's at right now for him? I mean, if you're Canucks management, would that be a concerning piece of news for you, that it was about management? I'd be scared to death right now.

Yeah. That my star goaltender right now can't figure out or move forward off of something that's ailing him since who knows how long ago. Yeah, the good news is Kevin Lankanen having a heck of a year. I mean, we had Valley come on this show very early and say that Lankanen's the next guy who could pop off with an opportunity. Eight starts, he's got a 923 save percentage for the Canucks. That's a good number. And when did they get him? It was like right at the end of training camp

or like they signed him late, right? I thought it was at the end of the, like early in the training camp window. Anyways, maybe I'm wrong. But September 21st, they signed him. Is that right? Yes. Oh, geez.

Yeah. Hasn't held back the brilliance of quinn hughes their captain and his historic run to uh would you like to say it to be in with bobby or go ahead quinn hughes is the fastest defenseman to 300 career assist there sorry here's a list of the fastest defensemen to 300 career assists. Bobby Orr, Brian Leach, then Quinn Hughes, followed by Paul Coffey. Okay. Crazy. Those are decent names. I mean, those are the names. We'll talk

about the captain of the Vancouver Canucks, Petey. We'll get into it all with Dan Murphy, who we welcome in. But the more pressing thing is the latest tweet from you, Dan, on the star goaltender, Demko. So where are we in terms of when can he play?

Here's the answer. I don't know. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that was Dan Murphy. They're not painting themselves into a corner with a timeline here i mean he's made small strides um he's been on the ice now with teammates a couple of times he was on the ice prior to practice today taking some shots from jason kroeg and a couple teammates and then once practice started he just went through a solo routine with the goaltender coach so you, you know, he's going through his movements.

It's a little more dynamic, but he hasn't participated in a full practice in any full drills. He hasn't done any of that yet. So there, you know, the message that I think Taka gave maybe four or five days ago sounded a lot like the one that Demko gave in training camp, which was I'm stacking a lot of good days on top of each other, back to back to back, and we're just going to let this play out, and when we're ready, we're ready. So they're not giving any sort of timeline.

Murph, so the Vancouver Canucks are about a month into their season. First game was October 9th. Where are they compared to what expectations were heading into the season? Well, the first five, six games, while they were getting results, I think they only had one regulation loss. There's something off. Like, I don't know if the vibes were off a little bit. The team wasn't playing great.

You know, the top defensive pair of Soucy and Myers were struggling a little bit. The power play wasn't clicking. As we've talked about, Pedersen was operating at like 70%. JT Miller had a bit of an injury. There's just everything was going on. Plus, they're trying to incorporate, you know, seven new players into the team and they don't have Demko. So it was a little bit of a rough start. I'd say that the last couple of games and especially last night and we have to at least think about

the quality of opponent in Anaheim but last night was kind of the first game this season where I've seen them look like the team they were last year in terms of the way they defended they didn't give up odd man rushes which they had been bleeding so far this season and they really controlled the neutral zone

so I'd say last night was the first real game where I saw a team that looked like the team from last year. And there's no questions. The expectations have risen, right? And this team caught a lot of people by surprise last year. That won't happen again this year. And they know the heat's on to take another step. And whether or not they can do it remains to be seen.

But I'd say that the rough start is over and they're starting to turn the corner, I think. The Canucks haven't won a ton at home. They seem very comfortable on the road. Petey scored a goal last night. Is that the best place for him right now on the road? Yeah, maybe. He definitely looked a lot better last night.

I think he finished with nine shot attempts, six on goal. He had the goal to tip. He was right in front screening the goaltender. You're starting to see him challenge defenders one-on-one again, take pucks to the net with a little more authority, and shoot. And really, I mean, I guess we always think maybe he's just overthinking things a bit because he's got a lot of talent. You go back to last season.

It was like basically I think it was around Valentine's Day where kind of things fell off a cliff a bit and really haven't rebounded. And that includes the playoffs. And so there's been a lot of focus on him and for good reason. Top five cap hit in the league. I think he might have the second highest salary in the league this season. So the expectations are there. But I'm still banking on the guy that's been a point-of-game player this whole career until the last, you know, 30, 40 games to bounce back.

And I think, again, just like his teammates and the team overall, last game we saw signs of Pettersson looking a little more like the guy of old murph the uh the division is interesting you know the canucks end up winning it last year uh king's on top of it right now but personally i'm not a huge kings believer what are your thoughts on edmonton and vegas like i'm trying to handicap this specific division where do you have the canucks compared to to those teams and who do you like best? I mean, I guess I always kind of default to, to Edmonton just because of McDavid and dry side will have a tough time, you know, thinking teams can, you know, stay with those two horses throughout the whole season, but the Canucks did it last year.

You know, I think that those three teams are clearly the best division, but I don't know if I'm a believer in LA, but a lot of their numbers look really good, and I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow night. So if I was to handicap it, I don't know who I'd pick, Vancouver or Edmonton. If you had asked me this a week ago, I would have said,

well, something doesn't look right with Vancouver, so I'm not willing to bet on them. And then Vegas, I guess you always kind of want to say they're going to take a downturn, and then they never do. But I would still say they're probably just a little bit, maybe one step behind. We're talking to Dan Murphy, host of Hockey Night in Canada.

Moments ago, we talked about Quinn Hughes and the fact that his three assists last night got him up there with some of the fastest in NHL history. And is it just is it just a given now that when this guy goes out there, we're looking at one of the best, most dominating players of this generation? Well, I mean, I didn't know that he was going to get better from last season. He definitely has. I know the default answer for a lot of people is that mccarr is the best defense in the league it might be but i think quinn hughes has got to be right there with him and i was i would just look at some other like numbers and i'll look at it here when i'm talking to you but in terms of defenseman he's number one uh high danger chances when the team's on the ice, 58-21. Scoring chance is 134-67.

This is all 5-on-5, number one. Shots for and against, 138-78, number one. 4-C-4, number one. Expected goals for, number one. The only one he's number two is goals for percentage. The Canucks have outscored their opponents 13-4 with him on the ice at 5-on-5. The only guy he trails is his D partner, Filip Hronik.

So he'll have himself, like if the rest of the team hadn't looked great from the start of the season he has looked excellent since the start of the season um you know just it always seems every week we're coming up with another stat where the names like you played with brian leach i mean we all know bobby or like these are the top of the top of the guys that have ever played the game and i just don't see this guy like slowing down trying to get better he always is working on something his shot now is an actual weapon um and so he's always seeming to add something to his game to make himself more dynamic the thing that always stood out to me is i remember going through some numbers on staff leads last year, and it was puck touches.

Just the amount of times in a hockey game he touches the puck. Like, we say in hockey it's not like the NBA where you can get the best player of the ball. Like, hockey, it's not that predictable. But Quinn Hughes, his puck touches per game are, like, miles ahead of everyone else in the NHL. Is he that active without the puck? Because I have to believe that you're putting yourself in different spots than other players to get the puck as often as he does.

He is. He is moving all the time. And I think that's one reason why they still, I mean, they signed Philip Hronik last year. As a defensive partner, he knows where to get him the puck and when to get him the puck, and that he has to get him the puck. And I think that's why it's worked so well. You know, I think also with offensive zone time with the puck,

I think he's right up there with the top forwards in the league. Like, so he's always got the puck on his stick. He's always looking to attack. He's always embarrassing guys by walking them at the blue line. He's so shifty. I love the way he baits players into chasing him behind the net to break out, thinking like he's moving slowly and then just takes off. I think on this show last year, I called him the best player on the team.

It wasn't particularly close, and I think that's still the case right now. Kiefer Shearwood, Where did this guy come from? And you can't envision this team without him right now, hitting everything that moves. There's a couple of guys like that, but Sherwood for sure leads the league in hits. He's on a line right now with Beluger and Heinen. And it's for sure been one of their most consistent lines so far this season.

They have controlled play when they've had the puck. He certainly has rattled some cages. He had a nice hot mic moment last night when Zegers turned away from a check. But Sherwood, for a million and a half for this season and next, he has provided a ton of value. In fact, he's one of many value contracts we have. We talked about Pedersen making max dollars. How about Lankanen under a million bucks?

That's a 6-0 now. You still have Hoeglander making, you know, not a ton of money. Sherwood at that. Then Brandstrom, who's been playing now, making 800 or 900 grand, I'm not sure. So they have a lot of guys on these value contracts like Sherwood that are outperforming those contracts by a wide margin. Sprong, Heinen, DeBrusque, how have the off-season additions fit into the Canucks? Sprong, as advertised, you know,

in and out of the lineup a little bit. Incredible shot. Great skater, very powerful. Shows great offensive instincts. And instincts and then you know once in a while he'll be sat because he knows and the coach knows they really want to work with him to make sure he can become an everyday player uh i think that debrusk is finding his way he's scored now in back-to-back games he admitted um you know it's a little tough he even admitted it's a little tough when you're out there with quinn hughes because he doesn't know where he's going so

reading the play of your teammates yeah and I think he's coming around to that. And who else were we talking about? Heinen, Danton Heinen. Heinen, yeah. With that line, he's been so fast, so defensively responsible, been a great penalty killer. So I think those guys have all kind of found their way with their new teammates.

It might have taken a little bit longer for DeBrusque, but I believe he's finding it now. You know, I'm watching the Boston Bruins, and I'm thinking last night against the Leafs, they're missing a Jake DeBrusque. Now, he's always battled, I think, consistency throughout the regular season, but to me, this guy's a real playoff type of guy

that rises up to the occasion. And I'm just thinking maybe that's just ultimately what that signing's for, for the Vancouver Canucks, that a guy with his experience over the years in Boston will just find a way to rise at the biggest moments. The only thing is, you know, those expectations of those dollars and if the market like Vancouver will demand a lot more out of him between now and getting ready for the first round.

Well, I mean, he's probably a little bit lucky that Pedersen had struggled the way he had because people weren't paying attention as much to Jake early when he wasn't scoring and giving him more hope, but he's been much better. But you're right. I mean, we all assume when they signed him, this was to play alongside Pedersen.

That didn't last very long. Now he's playing on with Besser and Miller. And it seems like that line is reading off each other. Well, he knows what Miller and Besser want to do. Straight lines. So, yeah, I mean, definitely they want guys that can perform in the playoffs. It's no secret what happened last year. The goals and chances dried up. They couldn't score, especially the last, what, two games against Edmonton. They scored three goals, but they never looked like they had a chance in those two closing games. So to add more offense, I think, was a big thing. I'm just curious why some of the offensive numbers are down

for a guy like JT Miller on pace for 75 points. Does he look like the same player? Well, I think the one thing is that Tuckett wanted to, you know, add some new wrinkles to this team. He's really trying to get them to, like the goal they scored off the rush last night was what he wants. As Heinen makes the play on the wall, up to Sherwood, Sherwood to Brandstrom, back to Sherwood,

and it's in the back of the net and the defenseman joined the rush. So I think they've had a little bit of trouble incorporating that in without kind of sacrificing what makes them so good as a team defensively. That's really what they're built on. And I was surprised, too. I was looking at numbers yesterday. Shot attempts this year, only Detroit's worse than Vancouver. Yes.

But the difference being Vancouver's second best in the league in shot attempts against. So they still have a positive differential. So I think that's, they're just trying to not give up what made them good

and still trying to add some offense to it. And that is definitely a work in progress. When you look at the Pacific and specifically the Edmonton Oilers, Dan, they aren't the same team, obviously,

that they had finishing game seven. Connor's going to come back a lot faster than we thought, but are they still the team for you, or are they going to be in a situation where, much like Vancouver, I think they're looking for blue line help, and until something comes around that reinforces, you know, is this thing kind of

wide open I think it's wide open most definitely um you know and the Canucks are thankful for that because Lankan has been so good imagine if they didn't get him on the eve of the season like I I wonder where they'd be um but yeah I think it's wide open um you have to go through Edmonton I believe I mean most odds makers still have them as better than Dallas, I think, to win the cup. So yeah, I think it's a toss-up, but I would say you need to go through Edmonton to get there. And there's one other player I think we have to mention. If Quinn Hughes has been the best player, the most consistent forward on this team has been Conor Garland. Yeah.

He's playing four minutes more a night almost than last season. Coach has given him a lot more ice time. He has been fantastic. I think some people in the market are calling him Mr. Wolf from like, you know, whatever the movie was where he was like the fixer guy. Pulp Fiction. So if you need somebody fixing, you got to know Pedersen now, right? So Pedersen's coming along.

So Garland has been absolutely fantastic. And he has been, without a doubt, I believe, their most consistent forward to date on this season. So he went from playing 14.5 last year to playing over 18 minutes this year because coach can't afford not to have him on the ice. Dan, everything wraps up against L.A., and then is it back to face Edmonton and the Rangers? Yeah, like a six game homestand, I think, after they get back from this and then they go for six on the road.

So a chance to clean up what's gone wrong at home. The last home game against Jersey was ugly. They just got ruled. So, you know, they haven't been terrible at home. But just like I said earlier, it's just kind you know they haven't been terrible at home but just like i said earlier it's just the kind of the the vibes haven't been there and i think they're trying to turn that around the crowds have been great uh they want a little bit more but uh we'll have to wait and see if they can do that because i think it's five straight wins on the road now but only one win

at home ice so we'll see all right uh from here you go down to the beach and and do some uh bench pressing or is that what they do in LA on the beach? There's some broke down there. Do I have a roller blade and some jean shorts? You would. Oh, there's a visual for you. Hey, Dan, thanks for doing this, pal. All right, boys, have a great day.

You too. Thanks, Murph. That is a great Dan Murphy. Pretty decent road trip to get to take in November, though. Oh, listen, I used to circle L.A. when I was a kid. Yeah. When I was a kid, when I played. Yeah.

Like, that's when the schedule came out. It's like, when are we going to L.A.? Yeah. Not a whole lot of people circling Columbus, I don't think. Yeah. Let me guess. Were they in the league when I was there? Yeah, I'm guessing not so

how long do you think they because coming back from injury here obviously is a hot topic with david coming back but you know it's got to be so hard like you said scary with demko because we're not talking about you know just a slightly above average goal here we're talking about a top five top top three, top two kind of guy in the league. It's just like an unidentified weird injury that there's a pop-a-lop of this or whatever it is that's going on.

I'm nervous for him and Canuck fans. I hope it doesn't end up being like a Carey Price scenario. But listening to Valley on our show Tuesday, and more than happy if you didn't catch it, download it. But he talked about it may be the best that it gets for him.

And you got to learn to live with whatever you're dealing with or manage it to the best of your abilities and then it just becomes about him versus himself on any given day on on what he can put up with or live with wow that's a that's a tough pill to swallow yeah that it will never get 100 well yeah i mean he's 28 years old He turns 29 in about a month. You know, that's really good goalies like Demko can have careers that go into their mid, even late 30s at times. But it certainly feels less likely if every day is a battle to get yourself feeling game ready, you know? And like, you know, he's not going to participate in the Four Nations. Like that's...

Yeah. Missed opportunity, unfortunately. Like even if he was able to come back and play, you would never throw him in that tournament. Nope. You got to bubble wrap him. To playoffs, basically. I guess...

Maybe for the rest of his career. And then it also, does it depend how well Lankanen continues to do? If Lankanen's very good, does that buy Demko more time to sit out and rest this thing? If he misses a whole year, does it help? Yeah, I think that just has everything to do with how his injury reacts. Is there swelling?

Is there time when you need just to stay completely off of it? You just hope he can buy you time for sure yeah you look at that team the Canucks and you know it's JT Miller rules I know I love the roster but it's been sort of an uneven start and there's been you know Pedersen worries and Jake DeBrusque only has two goals he's their big free agent acquisition their starting goalie you know unidentified injuries and you know they got 15 points from 11 games like yeah no they're fine they're doing good here i i think it's if you're a canucks fan if you can survive this sort of early season uneasiness and get a rhythm going here maybe get demko back get de brus going get pedersen going maybe they are going to live up to

the preseason expectations here you made it abundantly clear that there's no push from San Jose, Anaheim. No. Seattle's cooled right off. Yeah. And Calgary's cooled right off. And do we believe that LA's a legit 8-3-3? I don't, personally. I think they're a plus-one goal differential.

We saw them come to Toronto a couple of weeks ago and I said that's not a good hockey club. What was the score of that game? I thought they lit it up on them pretty good. So here's my question for you. Talking to Murphy says that their shot

attempts in a game or shots whatever, something about their shots, was like second last in the league. But they're actually fine there because their shots against are like first in the league. They're very good at keeping shots down. That to me is a coach. Like Rick Talkett saying we're a low event team. We're not going to run and gun.

How do you feel? They have all that talent. Is that a surprising way for a team to play when you've got Pedersen and Besser and Millerughes and on and on i gotta think with talk it and here in toronto barubi who they the expectations are to keep the puck out of the net first so that's what a coach you know yes yeah now is there going to be times when the guys are like, ah, let's open it up.

I need my cookies. Yeah. Coming up. Like, Petey needs cookies. He needs it badly. They all need cookies. Their stats are... What he wouldn't give for a hattie in a game.

You know? Like, get two and shoot one into an empty net. Like, honestly. It is a challenge for sure. I think coaches need to respect that these guys need to go out there and perform to feel good about themselves or to get a fan base off their back i agree with that sometimes you gotta go empty net let's put this guy out but you gotta like as long as you think that it's maybe one step back for two steps forward all you got to do is get that mindset

ready for april yeah right and 82 games there has to be some forgiveness at times talk it and other coaches have to turn the other cheek and say he's cheating but he's pressing and he needs some reassurance. And I think that's okay. It's just all about April. Do you have, have you gone through an 82-game dress rehearsal and practiced enough shutting down to get it done in the playoffs? You know, I often check out like SportLogic where teams are at in the, you know, i often check out like sport logic where teams are at in the you know expected goals for and against and are they performing uh you know like you would think they would any any of the teams in the clump that perform decently in those metrics have a chance to

win the cup like the canucks are going to be one of those teams that have a chance in the pacific to win a couple rounds and you never know yeah and so you're right it's you know i think it's a good thing if I'm a Canucks fan that we're talking about the playoffs how do you get ready it's November 6th how are you best building your team for playoffs that's low shot event stuff to me is a good sign that's like okay the coach has convinced him to play a certain way in a way that works well in the postseason that feels like progress even if some of the offensive numbers are down. And then to win four rounds, 16 games, you got a goalie that is making saves that he should make.

It's the ones that kill you that you roll your eyes on. And I don't know who that is going to be when it's all said and done for Vancouver. We watched a Stolarolar is a backup goalie for the florida panthers come in like he's been shot out of a cannon for the toronto maple east leaps like length ever had that type of goaltending in the last three or four years of getting bounced from tampa bay to florida would have found themselves in a conference final or a Stanley Cup final all day long. One goalie with one of those performances. That's the difference between winning and losing now in this league.

But they scored two goals a game, Kipper, for eight straight games. It's tough to win any games like that. But Astolas can find a way to win a game seven yes scoring two goals for sure yeah they've been going to deciding games consistently and if you get one game where a goalie pitches you just one maybe just one max patrick he shoots one in the net one of those games okay you want a little game time sure let's do game time it's game time presented by bet 365 visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet 365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly so the first one i have uh uh mcdavid's coming back tonight you got you're on the the television tonight aren't you i am really fun panel tonight myself da colby and

gazdick oh that's a really good panel looking forward to it with a really good hockey game with the return of conor m against the Vegas Golden Knights, right? Good rivalry. I think it'll be a great game. Lovely on dry saddle to get a goal tonight. You know, he thought he was good since McDavid went out, and I love him to get a goal at plus 125. The other thing I was looking at,

some of the stuff to play around with on Bet365, there's the best regular season record, but there's also the worst regular season record on there. The haters ball. And I listed the four, the five favorites. So the favorite is the Sharkies. My Sharkies at plus 125. The Blue Jackets are plus 500.

The Ducks are plus 650. The Blackhawks are plus 800. And the Canadians are plus 850. Is there anyone outside the Sharks on that list that interests you? Because to me, I watched a bit of that Ducks-Canucks game last night. Boy, the Ducks are the opposite of good. Is there anyone that Barry Trotz might bring up that could finish down at the bottom?

Yeah, I mean, God, I didn't even think of that. But their winning percentage is 375. The Ducks is 417. Let me see where the Predators are on that list. think of that, but their winning percentage is 375. The Ducks is 417. Let me see where the Predators are now. The Predators aren't this bad, are they? So what is that? That they are not even close

to the top. No, they're not. But Barry Trotz had a comment that we'll pick up after the break that may suggest otherwise. Yes, sir. And that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play the stars, and find and that was game time presented by bet365 visit the app latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at bet365 must be 19 plus ontario only please play responsibly okay more on barry trotz's nashville predators plus we'll get us some sound on connor mcdavid returning coming back a little over a week guys and we got to talk

about the jets boys and we got to talk about the Jets boys and we got to talk about the Jets and and torts vintage torts last night boys vintage shorts so lots to talk about isn't tons don't go away real Kipper and Boren returns after these words big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs Jays Raptors and the NFL the JDunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back. This is our real Kiprin Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, and Sammy's nephew, Ben.

He's back in studio now. He's back in studio. I'm so nervous. Yeah? I'm not used to a live studio audience. He's not even paying attention. Oh, he's paying attention. Oh, he's locked in?

He's locked in. I love it. He's locked in. Three games on tap. As we mentioned, the key one, Vegas and the Edmonton Oilers, led by Connor McDavid, back. Yes. Let's go to the sound, Sammy. I can only tell you how it feels.

It feels really good. I'm not part of the media team, you know, doing the media releases. So I was pretty lucky. It was not very good initially, and things have turned the corner, you know, really, really quickly. And it feels good. He was asked about the Oilers putting out, saying that it would be two to three weeks.

Yes. And he's like, I'm not part of the media team or whatever. He's such a grump. He's such a grump. God, he's such a grump. God. I mean, he answers a lot of questions every day. It's a whole extra burden being Conor McDavid.

Why are you so pissy? Sure. He's not pissy. Yeah, he's pretty pissy. You think he's pissy? Pretty grumpy. He's grumpy. Little from Calamare. Him and Dreisaitl are both very grumpy.

Which, for the record, I like. I would like my players to be grumpy. Grumpy players are good players. You think, I don't know, nine days is too early? I don't know what it ended up being. It's a week and a half too early for you? It didn't appear good at the time and now it's like a week and a half.

Well, it didn't appear bad at the time either. It just felt strange. It was like something obviously was tweaked for him to directly go to the room right after. I got Dr. Jason Smith ringing in my ears, fellas.

All I can think about is him being Dr. Dr. Dr. It in my ears, fellas. All I can think about is him being a doctor. It's how you often think you're ready to go with a high ankle or an ankle sprain where you often think that you're ready to go and it feels good and you're at real risk of re-injury. That's all I can think about. And he's...

Hey, I mean, you're on the game tonight. It's great he's playing. But I just mean, like, it's... He wants to play. He's a super freak athlete all he cares about is hockey he's not like the rest of us exactly of course kind of he's a super alien yes he's just different but and maybe he heals differently of course he would no but he definitely like would have been hammering the medical staff and being on the medical staff and greasing the medical staff and being like, it's feeling better, it's feeling better, it's feeling better. He wants to play.

He's an occupier. All he cares about is hockey. All he wants to do. 82 year before, 80 year before, 56 game season, every game, like every playoff game, like he just plays. Just, I'm happy he's back.

A coach, a doctor, a trainer, Jeff Jackson, do you envision anyone going, I don't care what you think you're not playing tonight yeah that's for sure you know protecting the investment but if connor says i'll sit out if i have to but i'm fine you know it's like well then what are we sitting this guy out for he says he's fine yeah you kind of just gotta let him play i trust him yeah got to let him play. I trust him. Yeah, you got to let him play. Yep. Okay, well, you'll monitor it real close tonight. That's for sure.

Yep. The Oilers are like, I so chest his foot. I know. It's also a super hard thing to talk about, though, right? Because, like, it's probably okay. No one wants to talk about the specifics of what it is. You kind of cross your fingers, and then if he plays well, you go, ah, maybe he's not quite ready. Or sorry, if he plays poorly, maybe he's not quite ready.

And if he plays well, you go, guess he's fine. I don't know. Wait and see. Preds. Preds. Preds. The record for the Nashville Predators at this point is 4-7-1. They are last out of eight teams in the Central Division.

Minus 12 goal differential is the worst of any team not named San Jose in the West. Can you bail on a plan after like a dozen games? What do they spend yearly on Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly'reilly and marchesau it's got to be roughly 15 million brady shea brady shea and they they went a little crazy they went in on winning some hockey matches here um yeah let's get to the so this clip is from i believe i just wanted to give the credit to the radio station uh let me just quickly pull it up it's from 1025 the game in nashville stillman and company so he was on there asking about it and i gotta tell you boys this Let me just quickly pull it up. It's from 1025 The Game in Nashville, Stillman & Company. So he was on there asking about it.

And I got to tell you, boys, this clip is wild. I listened to it, I heard about it, and then I actually listened to it and played it, Derek. You know, we will be limited a little bit because some of the contracts that we do have, you know, if we don't get it going, then I'm going to start our rebuild plan a little bit. You know, what we did in the summer was, as I say, fantasy hockey until we become a good team.

We do not become a good team, then, you know, we're going to see a lot more of our kids start, you know, starting their process. Oh, boy. Okay, but like what contracts are you moving out for the kids to come? Fantasy hockey. Boy, he didn't waffle though, Kip. He was pretty direct with the plan here. I don't know. Give me another week.

American Thanksgiving, Christmas. They are at the very top of the, when you sort the teams by salary, they're at the very top of the league. You know, the thing is those big names that they signed weren't signed to massive dollars right march or so's five five um o'reilly is four or five and those are not monsters shea was seven which is pretty damn high stamkos is eight yeah stamkos is eight philip forsberg's a good player but he's eight and a half until a long time from now 29 30 like are you moving him like what do you mean but he's 8 1⁄2 until a long time from now, 29, 30.

Like, are you moving him? Like, what do you mean? But there's no— Some of these guys have, like, wives and kids. They've been settled. They bought homes. Yeah, we saw it on the really thrilling episode of the Amazon series where they went out for dinner with their significant others.

It was awesome. Looked like March or so. Very entertaining. Oh, it was thrilling. What did they order? Oh, yeah, I think they got some carbonara. Maybe a shrimp cocktail. Anyways.

But that would be, I mean, unprecedented for a team to say, we had 99 points, we spent $20 million per, you know, our roster this offseason, and by December we're punting. We're punting and starting a rebuild. I've just, hearing that clip, it's so shocking to me. I don't know where you even start with that. I think, to me, that's insincere. I think that's a threat he's talking to his team.

Also, if you look at their schedule coming up, Washington Capitals have been pretty good, boys. They got the Caps tonight. They got the Florida Panthers back-to-back. So that's their next two games. Utah? No, they got back-to-back. So that's their next two games. Utah. No, they got Florida-Utah. Sorry, am I going the wrong way on that?

Yeah. I have Wednesday, November 6th. Thursday, November 7th at Florida. Yeah, at Florida. Washington, Florida. Oh, you think? I thought we got a semantics battle here. You said back-to-back.

Like those two games are back-to-back. I thought you meant back-to-back. I see, I see. My apologies. Nope,. You said back-to-back. Like those two games are back-to-back. I thought you meant back-to-back. I see. My apologies. Here we go. They got a back-to-back game. Washington, Florida, and then it's Utah, Colorado, Edmonton. Oof.

Like what calms him down? Like one and four doesn't. No. Two and three doesn't. Three and two? Maybe. Maybe it buys you another week. Three and two buys you another week three and two another week so you

gotta beat utah colorado and one of florida washington or edmonton i don't know anyway they're in tough they're in real tough uh need their goaltender to start doing goaltendery things can i ask you a question of how often the team that quote-unquote wins the offseason actually like wins anything. It just feels like these, like the big spend, it just so often these big free agent signings do not work. It's a dicey time to spend to go all in, man. And, you know, I crapped all over the lightning for not bringing back Stamkos.

How many points does he have so far this year? Like, man, I just... Not a ton. Meanwhile, Gensel is point per game, isn't he? Yeah. Nashville, I will say, they have three first-round picks this year. Two second-round picks.

Yep. And then a pick in each of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Just humor me, man. Who would Barry Trotz go back and say, I got to get rid of you now? On that roster? Yeah. fourth, fifth, and sixth. Just humor me, man. Who would Barry Trotz go back and say, I got to get rid of you now? On that roster?

Yeah. He would never do that to him. Marcius Ola, the guy's a consmith winner. You punt on Gus Nyquist. He's 35. Oh, there'd be a lineup for him. I like him. What's his deal?

It's 3.18 this season, the last year, and then he's UFA. Yeah, very reasonable. Oh, yeah, team take him for sure. Oh, yeah, he'd fetch you something. This Tommy Novak they thought was going to take a step. They're paying him $3.5 million. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know.

He had 45 points last year. What is that doing, though? Yeah, moving those guys. Yeah. Dante Fabro is a guy that's always, you know, in rumors, and he's a UFA after this year. So there's definitely guys that don't train. All right, we've spent too much time.

There's a fascinating story. If we spend any more time than this, no one's going to watch. That's the wildest flip of all time, I think, maybe. Do you want to do torts? Because we had vintage torts. It's been a while since we've had vintage torts. How did we not mention Philly among teams who could finish with the worst record in the NHL? This team, no good. Yeah.

They are 4-8. Yeah. They're in that conversation. And we had vintage torts. This is his entire press conference from last evening. It's a really long one. So here, if you want to play it, play it. You said this morning you wanted to see progress in certain areas.

Did you see enough of that tonight? No. As far as guys getting off the schneid, you get one. Frosty gets a bounce. Tip gets one. At least good to see them get going. Yep. What was it that you didn't think was going to happen?

I'm not going to dissect it. Thought someone would call us off the play today. Okay. And that was the entire scrum. 4-8-1. We thought it was bad with Rube. Brooksy, if I want to explain it to you, I will. Because it's what I'm saying, Brooksy.

It's a great drop. Because it's what I'm saying, Brooksy. He has a relationship with those people. Surely he knows they got jobs to do. Just give him a cliche. No. No, it would go against everything he believes in he's been in the media a minute ago no no no no this is listen we're talking about him i guess in a way that has

given him something more it's like that sort of stuff will get him attention and for a split second gets us not talking about how bad they are. But then we ultimately get there anyways, right? Yeah, they're a minus 15 goal differential team. Michkov, 10 points in 13 games. Konechny is their only guy at a point per game, and he's minus 9. Morgan Frost, minus 12. For the life of me, I'll never understand that whole dynamic with Sean Couturier oh yeah this is being named captain

this one's stuck in here and then then turning around and basically saying i don't see a captain in him right now and then healthy scratching him healthy scratching him playing 16 minutes a night the constant uh comments about like what's wrong with his game. Yeah. That one was mind-numbing for me. Mm-hmm. And I don't think they've recovered off of that, to be quite honest with you. No.

So, yeah. But he's not. We talk about hot seat coaches. I don't think he's in there. He's part of the plan and part of the build. And they like the culture that he sets. I think they're just, he's part of the sort of the plan and part of sort of the build, and they like the culture that he sets. I think that, yeah. The relationship with Jonesy and the relationship with Breer.

Like, you think it's... Keep going above. And, yeah, Mr. Comcast himself. I think there's a lot of people on the board that are huge fans of his, and if he wants to step down or step back or find another role, then I think he's in a position to call his own shots

and just you know when your team when your roster is the way it is there no one coming in is going to help it it's like bringing in marty c and luigi during that rebuild like what's he what he's supposed to do as a coach so yeah so you the other thing too is um you know jamie drysdale has got a lot of hype on him and there's good reason he's a top first round pick but has got a lot of hype on him, and there's good reason. He's a top first-round pick, but there's a lot of weight on his shoulders right now to carry that blue line, and only three points,

but the minus 10 really sticks out. Yeah. How long do you say he's learning, he's young, he's whatever? It hasn't come yet for him. He's only 22 years old but at 5 11 uh and getting lots of power play time you would expect a few more points god he's playing a ton he played 24 minutes last two games carter heart disappearing yeah right just poof for sure no goalie um okay you mentioned the goal differential for the flyers and it's down near the bottom but the top of the league and goal differential is by far the goal differential for the Flyers, and it's down near the bottom.

But the top of the league in goal differential is by far the best team in the league is the Winnipeg Jets. They are plus 32 goal differential through 13 games a season. Next closest is the Rangers at plus 20. They are 12-1, 24 points, 923 winning percentage. You know, they've had hot starts, and they've been shocking to me. But this is... Plus 32 is off the charts.

This is out of control how good they are right now. Yeah. And, you know, they've had a bit of a softer schedule. It hasn't been, like, all unbelievable teams. They beat the Lightning in there. They beat Utah last night. The only team to beat them is the Leafs, which is funny. But they're awesome.

Neil Pionk's been good for them. Josh Morrissey's on Team Canada. Yep, 100%. One of the questions that we were kicking around doing on our broadcast tonight that we're probably not going to do so we can answer it now is, in that game tonight with Vegas and Edmonton, is which of these D are going to be on Team Canada at the Four Nations faceoff? And it's Theodore, Petrangelo, and Evan Bouchard.

And is it all three? I would think all three, yeah. What's tough about Bouchard is once you get there, it's like he's not going to be power play one. Kale McCarr is, right? Yeah, well, Kale McCarr got banged up last night, so hopefully he's feeling okay. But it's McCarr, Taves, Petrangelo, Theodore, Morrissey,

and then it's like Dougie Hamilton.ilton like him more than bouchard but yes my point is morrissey has like made himself a lock on that list is morgan riley in that conversation not for me dougie hamilton for you kip over bouchard bouchard to me like kind of needs morrissey's got 16 points of 13 games. He's a plus eight. I think if Dougie Hamilton, if New Jersey kind of starts going north and he's coming off a major surgery and he starts getting a rhythm going, Dougie Hamilton's going to be hard to keep off this list. Noah Dobson was like last year would have been a lock, but he's having a tough year for the Islanders, so that gives Bouchard a chance.

But anyway, that was meant to be about Morrissey. And Mark Shifley, Team Canada guy 17 points 13 years i don't know where he fits in i i you know do you believe in constructing a fourth line that grinds yes i do and like you know if you go back like people mention you know you know give me, if I go back to 2010 in Vancouver, you know, I remember third and fourth line grinders and Tavares was one of those guys. Like he was a star with the Islanders. And then he goes and plays third and fourth line minutes. Eric Stahl, I think, was one of those guys too.

Their third line was my favorite hockey line of all time in 2010 with rick nash jonathan taves and mike richards there you go yeah it was like their shutdown line yeah right frontline guys good luck that check there he goes at the dressing room door so is sheifley gonna be that i think Shifley could be one of those guys. I just don't know. You're going to have to kind of revisit all the choices. And I know Brad Marchand was named as one of the locks in. Yeah.

But you can't unlock him. Right. And I'm sitting there going, like, if you had your choice right now between Brad Marchand and Mitch Marner last night from Toronto and Boston, you're taking Marner all day long. They're not in the same conversation. Right? For sure.

So it's... But they'll both be on the team. Marner is definitely on the team. They will. Yeah. They will, but where is Brad Marchand? Is he a left winger for Sidney Crosby in the Four Nations? If he's going to be there, I don't think you can say just,

well, maybe you can. Maybe just play fourth line or play. They can take 13 forwards. Maybe he doesn't play. You know, if he's. I thought he got hurt again last night, Marchand. It's been a couple times. He's been battling lately with the injuries and the.

So anyways, just want to make sure we mention the Jets because I can't tell you the amount of DMs. You guys never talk about the Jets unless it's about their attendance. Bah, bah, bah. Yesterday I was running through the Canadian games. People were upset I missed the Canucks and the Jets. They were just at the bottom of the list. I didn't get to them in time because of start times.

Anyway. You just hate Canada, Marnie. We know they exist like their their start right now like 500 hockey from here on in yeah they're good good shape here that's it's crazy that over an 82 game schedule if you get off to a really good start in 12 games you're the rest of your season looks vastly different from the majority of the rest of the team from everyone else yeah they're expected goals against second best actual goals against first best like they are defensively really really stout what a start to the season for the jets uh

they've got some uh they got some tests coming up here which is gonna be great their next game their next like listen to these the next next five games. We're going to learn a ton about them. They are against the Avalanche, then against Dallas, then the Rangers, then the Lightning,

then the Panthers. Panthers again. Wow. It's their next stretch of hockey. All right. So we're about to learn. Yeah.

That's a big stretch of hockey for them. Man. Kiel McCarr. Talk about Team Canada. Left last night, didn't come back. Yeah. That's a big stretch of hockey for them. Man. Kiel McCarr. Talk about Team Canada. Left last night, didn't come back. Yeah, we're talking about leg, right? Is that right?

Right leg while turning the offensive end. Tweak something. Skated off the ice. Ben Nair said he didn't leave an update, or didn't have an update, but he tweaked something. Yeah. Colorado's going to be in a grind here, I think, too. They've been without five of their top nine, I think. And there's no signs that Branton is going to be in a grind here, I think, too. They've been without five of their top nine, I think.

And there's no signs that Branton is going to sign. I just wonder how much of a distraction that is. Well, Lekkonen coming back. I don't know. Is it? Literally the first I've heard someone mention it. So not in Canada, in Colorado or around the team you think it is? Yeah, I think people are a little nervous right now how could you not

be you're banged up you know my car's leaving games whatever anyways yeah it's uh winning will keep people around i think nachushkin can come back in about a week um he's eligible supposed to be coming back soon like they have some troops coming back that would go uh a long way ben Ben, how do we do, buddy? Excellent. Hey, come here. Oh, my God. Ben, everybody.

Ben, everybody. Come on. We just give a wave. You don't have to say anything. We'll just say this is. Oh, my God. Sit down. Are you sure?

So. Have you ever been on national television before? I have not. How do you feel about that? television before? I have not. How do you feel about that? A little nervous? A little. Look straight in the camera and you say, thanks for watching and listening, everybody. Thanks for watching and listening, everybody.

Yeah! A wink to all your friends at school. All right, thanks for joining us, Ben. We appreciate it, pal. Oh, my God. Can't be here too nice. I love it. He reads better than you, buddy.

There's a lot of things better than me. All right. Brad May. Dan Murphy. Thanks for joining us. Enjoy your games tonight. Edmonton and Vegas. Live on Sportsnet.

Watch my buddy JB tonight. I'm going to Bruce Springsteen. What? Wow, amazing. We've got no time left. I love Bruce Springsteen. See you later. You've heard of him? Of course. The screen door slams. Have a great night, everybody.