Real Kyper & Bourne - Crosby Era Closing in Pittsburgh?

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the second hour with more reflection over today's trades before they are joined by former scout Jason Bukala (5:31). He shares why the Byram/Middlestadt trade is a puzzler for both sides, Lindholm's fall-off in Vancouver and the unprecedented idea of the Canucks flipping him to Pittsburgh. Then, on what Walker brings to the Avs, Tampa making a long-term play for Hanifin and if Dallas has enough in-house to stand pat at the deadline. To close, they regroup with Sam to discuss Crosby trade rumours starting to float around, what he would cost and Rasmus Sandin signing an expensive extension to stay in Washington.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.

come on in this is the real hipper show and born i'm also here i don't think i've ever done that before that's kind of focused on me maybe the first week of our show he did that it is the national edition it's like uh trade week makes you do and say goofy things brain is too many places at once nick kiprios justin bourne sammy mckee we are the real kipper and bourne show we are live on sports net sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary. This hour, a real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. In a few minutes, we're going to welcome in Jason Buchla, former NHL head scout.

Does a terrific job writing for Sportsnet.ca, pro hockey group. He's going to sum up what has transpired in all of what? 18 hours? 20 hours? Half a dozen trades, Sammy, if I'm not mistaken. We have, since the Mantha trade, one, two, three, four, five, six. I feel unprepared having spent the last 20 minutes

talking to Brad May. I feel like we missed three trades that may have happened. No trades. Nothing major? Nothing happened while you guys were talking to him. If you weren't around for our first hour of our show, we had Brad May, former Vancouver Canuck, twice. I had to remember that.

He had to remind me that. Twice he was Vancouver Canuck. Anyways, he was fantastic. If you get a chance, download us wherever you get your pod and listen to the entirety of having Brad May in our studio. I love in-studio guest voice. He's just so candid, right? And he's a smart guy.

He's an intelligent guy. He just don't last 20 years in the National Hockey League playing a role without social skills, hockey skills. Let alone his run in media sense. I mean, people want to hear what he has to say. And just had some great thoughts on a ton, including on the Rempe, Reeves, and where we're going with all of that.

So once again, if you get a chance, download it. It's a terrific listen. Now, where do you guys want to start off in terms of the latest of the trades? Let's just go to the Edmonton Oilers because I like the trade for Adam Henrique. I think he gives them a tremendous look as a 6-9 forward. And he's got skill.

I mean, he's not the best skater, but he's a smart guy that finds a way to make a difference on a hockey club. I think it's a great pickup. and Carrick's another depth guy. It wasn't cheap, but here's the but. Both these guys don't play defense either, and I think they're still a little vulnerable there. You know, it's interesting. I really like the addition to Henrique, and I saw a stat yesterday, and I forget where I saw it, in the last uh 600 minutes of hockey without mcdavid or mcleod on the ice the oilers have about like six

goals like they just don't score when mcdavid and dry saddle are not on the ice i feel like i didn't say that very well but they don't score and those guys aren't on the ice so it is another guy who can give them some scoring but also play some two-way hockey. I think Sam Carrick is a, you know, a Coke machine of a player. He's just tough to run into. Great. But I'm with you that it would be tough to go into it and be like, yeah, we're going to do Kulak, CeCe, Desjardins, and we're going to win a Stanley Cup.

You know, Bouchard makes some defensive errors. So it's great. I like it. Deadline hasn't passed yet, but I do think that they need to make an addition or two on the back end. Yeah, totally agree with that. But boy, they do score a lot when Mc need to make an addition or two on the back end. Yeah, I totally agree with that. But, boy, they do score a lot when McDavid and Drysaddle are on the ice. I mean, they score unfathomable.

That OT goal last night was just beautiful. You guys can vouch for me in the group chat when it was 1-0 Boston. I was like, you're not shutting these guys out. I bet on the Oilers. That was an awesome hockey game. It was. Potential Stanley Cup final matchup. Yeah, the boys teed it up that way, and I don't think it disappointed. No, it was a it was and uh potential stanley cup final the boys teed it up that way and i don't think it disappointed it was excellent i was quite surprised that boston had that much

juice coming off of back to back yeah on a travel yeah the boston is a they just play such solid hockey good positional hockey they made it difficult on edmonton most of the night you know as you mentioned against a good leaf team the night before so i love that tying goal because it just shows you that they can score in different ways like they just that was a fire drill and there's just three edmonton oilers in the crease pushing it over the line i don't even know how it went in but it goes in right you don't see that from the leafs as much what killed me though is how the boston bruin player let the puck get to mcdavid off the one draw like you just that's the one thing you take away you gotta deny it come your angle and say figure it out another way you know you watch boston all year long and they had a tremendous start and i know a lot of

it was credit towards the goaltending and it was like they're not missing a beat with patrice bergeron and kreitsche gone but they are missing a beat without those guys because they don't close out games nearly like they did before when Patrice was on the ice. They've blown eight third-period leads this year, which is very unbruin-like. Eight? Maybe nine after last night.

Yeah. I mean, one and nothing. And that is missing one of the best defensive players in the history of the game. They're vulnerable. You heard it here first. Okay, let's welcome him in. He is our real Kipper and born NHL head scout. Let's welcome in Jason Bukla.

Bukla, what's going on, buddy? Oh, not much. You know, not much today. Not much at all. Like, when you were actually working for a professional hockey team like the Florida Panthers, like you must have been sweating bullets this time of year. It wasn't fun. Like, well, it, you know, it had its moments of fun and it had its moments.

Like even before that, when I was in Nashville, we picked up Peter Forsberg at the end of his career. That was a great day. That was fun. But in Florida, towards the end there, it was like, which way are we going to go here? The day we brought Lou back, that was kind of a fun day. But I don't know, man.

Boys, it is stressful. I'll tell you something else. When you're sitting in the boardroom and you're watching all these names fall off the board, literally in front of your face, it's like, it's like oh what are we going to do here you know and is that what say the toronto may police might be going through right now you're going okay we had some holes to fill and there's less spackle available all of a sudden so true good way to put it too because we're getting down to the spackle here fellas like it's not uh's not, I don't know, slim pickings.

Like, what are you going to do? What do you want to sacrifice here? No, what do you want? That first rounder, draft capital-wise, do you really want to dip into your prospect pool that you do have right now for some of these names that are out there? I don't know.

Like, I'm more apt at this point in time definitely to float that first round pick than I am minton cowan i guess nimala if there'll be a taker there um i broke down a lot of tape on hill to be just in case somebody out there wanted a goalie and got a lot of work to do there uh so we've had these conversations right and and you get into these positions that your position of weakness only gets it's like you're digging a grave in your backyard right now. You know, it's just getting deeper.

So where do you, Books, where do you draw the line? Does it get to the point where some general managers are sitting there going, okay, I almost have to make a trade just for the sake of making a trade because if I don't, people are going to be all over me on doing nothing here. Yet you can't make chicken salad out of chicken. That's the truth, right? I'm not going down that way, but I'm not tree.

I don't have to front the media in Toronto. So, like, I'm in the background saying, you know, I'm not just making a trade for the sake of making a trade. Now, having said that, you know, I still think we got to beef up on the back end with one more right shot guy, if I could. Let's not forget what some of beef up on the back end with one more right shot guy if i could let's not forget what what some of these guys on the left did this year like i feel like ben was game and what he provided for our team over the last couple of months especially i feel like

he did a really good job let's not discount what he's done and and you know devalue some of the good things that we've done but uh i don't know and you know what do you do in the two hole fellas do you want to keep uh domey there and try and keep because he's he's arguably not arguably for me he's looked the most energetic he's looked all season long in the last three weeks like we need him to be the best version of himself down the stretch so a lot of moving parts i'm um i'm reluctant though to just make a trade for the sake of making a trade. I'd rather roll the dice with what I have. So looking at all the trades today, Books,

there's been obviously a lot of action. Asking about a couple guys who you've probably watched as juniors because they're still young guys in the NHL. Casey Middlestad and Bowen Byram go in a one-for-one trade. What did you make of how that shook out for those two teams? I'm taking a breath here because I don't know if I should go down this road or not. Go, go, go, go. I'm going to because I love being with you guys, so this is good.

I'm not a Casey Middlestead fit. It never happened. I don't want to sewer the player, but at the same token, this is a guy that he's a good perimeter skill player. He can produce offense. He wins between 45% and 48% of his draws. Guys, he's got, I think, 27 hits or less in the entire year. Things like that stand out for me when you're going to be a playoff team.

You accidentally run into people in the national hockey league. You just do. It's a fast game. You just run into people by accident unless your back is to the boards the whole time and you never play between the dots. So I'm lukewarm on him. I think he is already the best version of himself. That's my vote.

On the other hand, Byram, I think, has got top pairing upside. If he's healthy, he's had a few conkeys, as we know. If he's healthy, I think he can play as a one. Now, here's the thing. Where are we going to spend the money in Buffalo when we've got Power, Dallin, and Byram in the future? It feels like the Ottawa Senators' situation right now with their three lefty, doesn't it?

So, curious to see how that build-out goes but on the surface for me straight up the best player in the deal is byram it feels a need on the on the other side as in the two hole it is an upgrade on johansson for colorado i get that and they brought in walker to take byram's place for for this year so um but on the middle stat thing there uh i'm uh i'm gonna be interested to see when the games get really hard. There's some big teams in the West when he starts getting leaned on heavy, hard games and playoffs. I'm curious to see how he does.

Some general managers, like Barry Trotz, we're saying that the prices were absolutely ridiculous. And now we see what Tara Sanko go for a fourth, I guess. We've seen Mantha not get a first rounder. Like, is everybody coming down to earth here in the last 72 hours? Well, two things.

Tarasenko controlled where he was going. So you know how that works sometimes. You know, Florida's a contending team. There's a huge Russian population, guys. I'm sure you're aware of this, but in the Miami area, there's a huge Russian population, like where Bob Arosky lives over there. So they're comfortable in that area. Kind of like in New York, you know, like the Russians like to go to play in New York as well.

I think his family lives there too. I think he has family there. Brighton Beach. Yeah. There you go. Like it's a comfortable fit that way and of course they're a contending outfit so that's one the other one uh with vegas and this is where this is where i you know i've used this term and i'm gonna keep using it because i kind of like it like it just makes me itch every time vegas makes a deal like this at this time of year. Like they take on the full salary or pardon me,

they take on salary at this time of year, whether it be 50% or not. And, you know, and they still have money in the bank. So that's a conversation for a different day, but it does, to your point, prove that there are deals out there to be had. If you're comfortable with the fit and you're comfortable with the capital coming back, i just don't know you know what toronto specifically all they really have fellas is the first right i know we're doing the national show right now but specifically for them they got the first i'm interested to see

what vancouver does i think they're all in on the gensel situation personally and i think that that's going to be an interesting one to see play out so the the Gensel to Vancouver thing seems like it has real legs. The idea that Lindholm could conceivably be traded, like what are your thoughts on how they've handled what looked like was maybe Pedersen insurance and Lindholm hasn't fit? Has that shaken out much differently than you thought it would? 100%, it has.

So a couple of different angles on it, Borny. Like when the Pedersen noise was starting to kind of creep into conversation, I'm sitting there going, are you serious? Like honestly, we worked so hard to bring an elite franchise player in our system. How can that happen, right? Because he certainly didn't earn that. You know what I mean?

Like some guys, they wear on you and they earn the conversation, if you will. That wasn't one um the the entirety of the lindholm situation he started out we've seen this before it's like when you make a coaching change sometimes guys get a bump early when they arrive in a new team fits well he plays in the two now he's playing in the three and he doesn't look at all comfortable he's a shell of himself like i have to say that. Like I, you know, some of this has to be on them too, because we're talking about multimillion dollar athletes playing a kid's game and people are paying big bucks to go watch them play. So it's up to you to play better than he has.

But this whole other conversation that's creeping in now that they can move him again. And don't forget, he doesn't have any trade protection. No, like technically that could happen that i haven't seen that in my career full full disclosure i've never seen that like pick up a rental and and throw and obviously spend assets and then move them again i've never seen that but that noise is making the rounds i've heard from more than one person today i'm sure you guys have too like even boston's been swimming in those waters. So, Books, when you're sitting there with your group, you know,

around your general manager, like how often does chemistry come up? And it's like, okay, it looks good on paper. And, yeah, and then it's like even with Lindholm in Vancouver, where does it go from, let's give it time to, is it a chemistry thing? Yeah, that's interesting because, you know, when you make a deal that far in advance, you're obviously hoping that there's going to be a fit chemistry-wise. Like, you know, you're going to get the move in.

You're going to be not living in the hotel. Because you know how it goes, Kipper. Some of these guys move in at deadline, and they live in the residence inn until the end of the year. You know what I mean? So, I mean, this gives him a chance to get comfortable ahead of time in his real life um so the the fit though in terms of the way that the canucks are playing are trying to play right now um it seems it seems disjointed for him i i do have to say this though

i believe it i believe he's a better player than what he's what he's showing right now i still think he has good value for the canucks down the stretch and into playoffs. I try and make the Gensel deal and still make sure I have Lindholm somehow. How that happens, I have no idea, to be perfectly transparent. But I still think that you give this an opportunity to run its course. He's a right shot, wins a lot of draws on his strong side. We all know how important it is to start with the puck in playoffs. so let's not just peel it all back and strip it down again let's uh let's be cautious with our thinking so looking at the uh the western conference obviously the canucks are

gonna have to deal with colorado who also added sean walker and shipped out ryan johansson i guess why don't i start there and just get your thoughts on that addition is walker move the needle for you walker's a um i i think it's it's one in for one note but they're different like byram is a transporter he's got better legs he'll front the play he'll drop he'll he'll join as a second layer more often than walker will walker can do that guys like he he will do that and you know it fits and starts but what he'll do differently is um he'll be blocking more shots and he'll be he'll have a little bit more bump to his game he's not a giant he's like 5 11 but i think he's like a buck 97 so he's plenty strong enough right so walker is more an interior defender stronger um i think

that really on balance that just makes their team the same on the back end if that makes any sense really what they were looking for was the upgrade in the tool so books the other day we mentioned hanafin i mentioned hanafin as a match for possibly the tampa bay lightning it wouldn't be uncommon for agents or reps to go and talk to clubs to see if there's an extension. It happened with Lindholm from Anaheim to Boston when he signed an eight-year deal with a 6.5 AAV. My understanding is that may have taken place already between Hannafin and the Tampa Bay Lightning,

and now it's just a matter of whether they can get a deal done on the compensation here. So where are you on Hannah Finn and the potential of Tampa Bay making a long-term investment, much like Boston did with Lindholm? It feels a lot the same to me, Kipper, to be honest. Like it feels exactly the same. And what was interesting today too, I don't know if you guys noticed when henry steel got shuffled around tampa absorbed 25 points on that contract so that tells me something that you know they obviously have a plan in place where they felt

like they can pick up some capital somewhere else because they still had enough in the bank to maybe go and do what they're about to do which i believe is get hannifin um here's something else for our listeners and viewers to be aware of when a player goes to places like nashville carolina dallas the florida panthers and you know if if uh if hannifin is going to be a one in toronto and he commands 10 million a year i'm just throwing a number out there okay if he's going to be a one in toronto at 10 he's a one in tampa at eight and a half you know because your state tax your cost of living all the rest so what and then of course the player might say to himself well i might take a little bit less because of the way i want to live down here too it's like there's a lot that goes into

these deals and i absolutely believe that his representation for sure has talked to tampa or whoever it is about uh you know because the boston bruins was another team that you know he's a boston kid i thought that they would try to make that fit i'm not saying that it still might not happen what i'm saying is that there's going to be a conversation at to see if there's a deal in the drawer for sure in my estimation yeah i wonder if that fourth that they absorbed for taking that money on doesn't eventually just go back to Calgary. That's like, what are the assets they end up moving? So we'll keep an eye on that.

You know, I was asking about the West before, because looking at the top of the Central, Colorado adds a couple of players. Dallas has added Tanev, and they brought up that Stankoven. Stankoven's off to a really good start for this Dallas team. Can he be an NHL contributor now?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. 100%. You know what? And some of their aces that they could bring up in playoffs, fellas, the Maverick Orks, Liam Bichelle, when he comes back over from Europe, he's on loan right now, but they're about to end over there. I mean, Dallas is structured and loaded like

they they got a lot of great things going on there jim nill uh joe mcdonnell uh we've talked about it i think before like they were in detroit before when detroit was really good and they came over to dallas and all they've done is repeated the same sort of model and and their depth is outstanding in dallas so um you know this isn't a one-year thing for the Stars, by the way. This is a long-term play. They're going to lose some veteran guys. You know, eventually Joe Pavelski is going to turn 50 and he won't be in the league anymore.

But, I mean, until that happens, until that happens, does Logan Stankovic put him in the lineup? This guy plays like his hair is on fire. He's hard to defend. He goes to all the hard areas. And he's an energetic, he's an infectious young player. Love that kid. In our first hour, the name Colton Pareko came up quite often

for the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I'm just wondering, where are you on Colton? JB says to me, with six years left and uh an aav a six five and maybe some wear and tear on him maybe doug armstrong would be very willing to get rid of that contract and i'm saying no he's probably looking for something significant and uh it might be rather costly where where are you on colton i think it it's costly still, to be honest with you. I think anybody who plays the way that he plays and in his mold. So listen, it's really a two-pronged question, isn't it?

Do I want to trade for him? Yeah. Do I want to take on that term? No. I don't want that part of it. So it's curious how to handle it. I guess if you're in the total win-now window, listen, the Toronto Maple Leafs aren't winning the Stanley Cup if Colton Pareko comes to town, okay, guys? But if Colton Pareko somehow fit into, I don't know,

the Florida Panthers right now or the Colorado Avalanche for that matter, it's a different vibe, that trade, if you get my drift. So I don't think this ages well, Borny. I don't know what side of the fence you're on there but i don't think it ages well and that would be my uh high-end reluctance to make a deal like that i'd go down the dumba i'd go down the dumba uh cave before i went down that right now at uh three nine and see if arizona can absorb some cash i don't know how many contracts they've ate so far because that's curious. You know, they've ate a lot of money over the years, so I don't know what they have left,

but I'd go down those waters instead. Is there any names out there that you feel like might have value for a team that, you know, maybe not on the radar, not, you know, I know we've been turning over every rock and most of the names are out there, but is this just anyone that you like more than you would say public consensus does well before nash vegas went on this run i really like the carry a kid on the back end that

you know i really do he's not a giant he's like 5 11 buck 80 soaking wet but he is hard to play against front sit he's got i bet you he's got 130 blocks i haven't looked it up but i bet you he does like that's the way he plays he's really hard to play against it's not too often in the league anymore that you get a guy who's undersized but he jumps out at guys and you know he blocks it uh quickly and effectively and can return to position you know like david savard that'd be a nice add, right, for a playoff team. But David Savard has to play between the dots. If he gets outside the dots chasing a defensive play, he gets his return to net front.

He's got a delay in there, right, guys? He's not as fast as some of these other guys. Gary does both. I really like that kid. I don't think that's going to happen now. But, you know, isn't that interesting? Because you know how guys like Jimmy Rutherford make deals early in the sequence or early in the trade season?

I bet you he could have had maybe Carrier two weeks ago. He can't have him now. Until they won eight in a row or whatever it's been. One more for me, Books, before we let you go. I know you're right back on the phones books before we let you go i know you're right back on the phones uh the moment we let you go so i know that we talked about gensel being linked to the vancouver canucks but where are you on the pressure on kyle kyle dubas in pittsburgh to get this right here because he is really coming off of the carlson uh trade that uh maybe had something to do with sinking their season.

I'm not sure yet. We'll see how it completely plays out here, but he's got a, he can't get this wrong on Gensel. Yeah, I totally agree with that. And here, here's where I am with it.

I do believe that ownership there still felt like they gave him a mandate to a degree that we have to be the best version of ourself with what we still have here and so when he presented the carlson option they thought that that was going to be a good fit okay but in the big picture everybody that like the three of us know and i don't know why i shouldn't speak for you guys it didn't feel right when it happened to me i'm like are you serious like this just doesn't feel right i can go get two players for the cost of that i need to improve this roster on the fringes fast forward to today what we know i think the market for genzel is a small one so i think he's actually lost the

assemblies of control over what that return is going to be so pittsburgh's in a pickle fellas they uh the farm's way below average. They do have a little bit of draft. I read recently where Kyle said he's got all this draft capital. I'd love to run into him at pub and have a beer and look over his draft board because that's not draft capital. You know, that's just not good enough. So they're in a tough spot.

It's going to be interesting to see what the return is. And more importantly, I don't know if you guys noticed this or not, this is a concern of mine. When Pittsburgh was bad a long time ago, Kipper, remember? Empty seats at the Igloo, right? Before the lockout. Before Sid. I mean, empty seats.

And last night, I think, was it CBJ last night? The building's half empty. I know it's CBJ, but it's still the Pittsburgh Penguins. So, I don't know. Huge, huge task at hand there. A lot of lifting Penguins. So, I don't know. Huge task at hand there. A lot of lifting to do. Hey, awesome stuff, man. Really appreciate your time always, Books.

Thanks, Books. That's good stuff. Hey, no problem, fellas. We might have nothing to do on Friday, so I'll just come over and sit with Sammy in the corner on the couch and drink coffee if that's okay. Buddy, come hang. We'd love to have you. All right. Go attack, Sammy. On sound attack. Go attack. See you, fellas. Thanks, bud. the couch and drink coffee if that's okay buddy come hang we'd love to have you all right go attack sammy on sound attack go attack thanks bud he is jason bugle a former nhl scout and writer now with

the sportsnet.ca and of course he's got the the pro hockey group as well yeah attacker struggling are they yeah have we almost done the season yeah and they have a streak of, I think it's 13 straight 30 win seasons, which is, I think, a CHL record because they're just always good, not great. How many games do they play? They play 62, but they're in danger of not hitting it. They've been struggling. But never know in the playoffs. We'll see.

And that has been your attack update. Thank you. All right. Where do you want to go? Do you want to do game time or do you want to do my... Do you have any more trades? I do have a... Let's do it after the break.

Let's do game time, then do the fake trade. Okay, do the game time. Okay. Do the game time. Do the time of games. All right. It is, in fact, game time. Presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. At Bet365, must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Looking at the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Looking at the board for tonight, three massive favorites. The Buffalo Sabres are in Toronto to take on the Leafs. The Leafs are a huge favorite at minus 185.

The Detroit Red Wings are in Colorado to take on the Avalanche. And the Ottawa Senators are in Anaheim to take on the Ducks. All minus,tawa senators are in anaheim to take on the ducks uh all minus one of them leafs are minus 180 colorado is minus 190 and ottawa is minus 190 if you parlay those three together the faves the faves is a plus 258 and i'm looking at you to tell me who screws me and why is it the ot Senators? Yeah, that could be it. Or is it the Leafs?

The Sabres have been, I mean, just dummying the Leafs. They've played them twice this year. Would you like some stats on that? Go ahead, please do. The Sabres have won both their meetings with the Maple Leafs this season, outscoring them 15-7. 6-4 in the first one, 9-3 in the latest one.

And the Sabres have won three straight games versus the Maple Leafs in six of their last eight meetings, going 6-4 in the first one. 9-3 in the latest one. And the Sabres have won three straight games versus the Maple Leafs in six of their last eight meetings going 6-2. That's just ridiculous. It's really not great, Bob. So in your parlay, my parlay here, that's not even a great number, but you think it's the Leafs that's cruising and not the Sens? No, I think no. You're telling me the Leafs are going gonna lose two in a row going into boston

tomorrow night let's say it's not gonna happen but i think that there's a big time overlook factor here for the leafs and the sabers i mean between the deadline and two bruins games it's tough to even be aware you're playing the sabers at this point yeah so that's what i um that's what i had here and i was just looking at the NHL Central. Do you have the standings in front of you there, Borny? I do. The NHL Central division. How far back are the Colorado Avalanche?

Colorado Avalanche are? Four. Yeah, four points back, one game in hand on Dallas. They are plus 360 to win that division. Ooh, I like that. Their trades they made today, you would have to say that division. Ooh, I like that. Their trades they made today, you would have to say that they improved. You know, you can say what you say about Middlestad.

Clearly, Books isn't the biggest fan of him, but I think that helps their center depth. He's definitely better than Johansson. They add Sean Walker, probably going to go on a bit of a run. It's not bad value for them to win that division at plus 360 for me. I will note, to not offend our Jets viewers,

that by points percentage, the Jets are the best team in the division. They're ahead of Dallas and Colorado. Did you watch the Dallas comeback of San Jose last night? It was goofy. They were done.

I asked about that Stankhoven kid. I like him. His shoulder pad's way too big. Oh, thank God you said it. He looks like a football player. No, his hockey style is not great. He looks a turtle. Seems to be fine. He looks like a bit of a ninja turtle.

It's not great. He's just carrying around. Pick up Emmitt Smith's shoulder pads and resume playing. Anthony DeClaire looked okay last night. I didn't mind him. I didn't mind him in Florida. Maybe he's just... Maybe I just noticed him too much

because we were focused, obviously, on the Leaf Flyer second round, but I could see him moving somewhere. He's a guy you scored 31 a couple years ago. We know he can skate. That's always useful if you're a team that doesn't have useful guys in your bottom six. Can I interest you in an Anthony DeClaire-Jan Ruda package

from the San Jose Sharks? Okay. Wow. Not everyone at once. A couple of middling players off the worst team in the league. I just heard some... Those are groans, boys. All right.

And that was Game Time, presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365, must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. All right, let's take a quick break, and we'll come back, and we'll pick up a little bit more on the Pittsburgh Penguins, because you only had the Sid Crosby trade with Mitch Marner earlier in our show.

Yeah, well, I may have something else after the break. Do you have another one? Potentially. We'll have to see. All right. Because I'm hearing stuff. What are you hearing? We're going to go pay some bills, and then we're going to come back and talk about the stuff. Stuff about teams and things?

Yes. What a tease that is, Kimpy. More. After the break, stuff about things and teams. There you go. Hey, it's Ben Ennis. And I'm Brent Cunning. We got you covered on all things leafs rafters and blue

jays every weekday morning six to nine it's the fan morning show sports net 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcasts nick caprio's justin bourne samuel mee. The Real Kiprin Bourne Show. So, there seems to be some, there's maybe a bit of a momentum shift into a lot more focus on Sid Crosby. Okay. I'd say in the last little while here. And there seems to be a narrative out there that he wants to compete. He doesn't want to lose in the next three or four years. And there's some people, and I've had two different calls linking Sid to Colorado.

Today. Today. Today. colorado today today today but i'll tell you right now that it's not from people that i believe that are in the know right now it just seems to be there's an energy out there and you know and i'm starting to look around too and then i see our good buddies uh Missing Curfew say, are we on the verge of Sid Crosby leaving to chase another mug? I'm like, okay, that's. A third person saying something.

I don't, I'm sticking to what I've said in our conversations in the past. I see this guy as a one man organization and I don't believe for one second that there's anything to it, but people think, and I think we might hear a little bit more of this even when Jake Yensel gets traded.

They're not, to be clear, it's not going to happen before Friday. Don't look at me like I have the answer. Because I'm telling you right now, I don't. Why are you making that clear? Because, I mean, you're going to trade one of the goats in the history of the league in two days with no smoke? I don't know crazy to me uh what i have heard was just that the genzel thing is not something he wants to happen right like he that's a good player that they have and yeah competitive guy who still thinks they can make

the playoffs and whatever do Do they play tomorrow? What would an L do for them tomorrow? Push them over the line that this year's a write-off? Oh, they're done. Yeah. Well, listen, that's very interesting food for thought. They've made attempts. Who's made attempts? Kyle Dubas.

Multiple attempts to sign Jake Gensel. Right. Gensel does not want to do that well he i think he will if they give him all the money yeah but is is jake gensel in a position now where he rethinks about it like sid's a 90 100 point guy and it's not like you think he's gonna fall off the face of the earth next year either buddy this can't happen kyle dubas cannot take over the pittsburgh penguins and four months later trade jake gensel and sydney crosby that can't happen that won't happen would you like to hear my sydney crosby fake trade that i came up with we have one for

you if you're interested love it colorado has two firsts in the next three years, which, you know, you burn. What do you trade? Everything. Trade. I don't know. I,

again, if, if Sid specifically wants to go anywhere, it automatically devalues the, the, the, the, the price.

He's a bidding war. Exactly. You're now in a position where this guy saved your organization. I bet you Penguins could get Casey Middlestad back. Right? You're not in a position

to completely hoard here. This is about whatever Sid wants. I tell you, I want it to happen. To be honest with you. Not because I want Pittsburgh to lose Sid or I want drama. I just, I want Sidney Crosby in the playoffs. I want to see him win more cups.

I want... I don't want a sad, I don't want a sad Sid. No, and I also... Can I tell you something? I take back the thing I just said. I do want the drama as well. I saw a sad Sid the other night. Against Edmonton. He's had... Sidney Crosby? He's got his head in his hands, bud. Listen to me. That is a horrific look for the National

Hockey League. Horrible. If this guy for the first time I've ever seen Sid Crosby, I saw no hope in him. And that's a bad thing. The Illuminati's going to make it happen the league wants it

i want him out of there so having said all this uh i'll present to you my fake trade please uh you know who has a lot of great history with sydney crosby multiple cups jimmy rutherford he runs the vancouver canucks okay a lot of connections there vancouver canucks going for it looking to make trades sydney crosby to the vancouver canucks for their first round pick in 2025 tom willander who is their top prospect guy that they're you know six foot one right shot swedish defenseman okay and then brock besser and neil's hoaglander for sydney crosby so if i'm kyle dubas i'm saying you've traded me i think it's from is it valander velander pronounced or is it whatever velander a first hoaglander fine. Besser, okay. Yeah, I mean, no.

You know, right? Like if you're Pittsburgh, no. I want... Two firsts? Who's the best player not in the NHL? That's the guy I want, you know. Two firsts, yeah. No, it's got to be futures and prospects.

Like, you can't trade for Sid and then... The trade is one for one. You can't. you can't can't trade for sid and then the trade is one for one you can't you can't it's just about tom villander one of the top prospects outside the nhl two first round picks sam it's a good deal for for sid yeah yeah and pitt should bite on that should bite on that yeah that's that's your future coming up trades that's your future coming up okay let's keep her like let's put let's put sid in a toronto maple leaf uniform right now okay sid no trauma please yeah yeah perfect for marner done no that's no again it's stupid see you went from actually being okay intelligence to just being a dumb man. Like that. We need that drop, by the way.

No, Derek's not here. Tristan? Okay, put him in the uniform for me. Walk me through what it would take. Two first-rounders and Cowan. I mean, if I'm Pittsburgh, now I'm listening, because... Oh, my God, Don. What are we talking about here?

What else? 8.7 this year and next? Yeah, that is worth it that is like you're getting a premier leader in the history of the game still in his prime yeah come on it's sid what else okay two two first rounders cowan and what else bobby mcmahon i think you got to throw in there god sprinkle in a little Bobby McMahon. You just, you bought a car. You're not losing it because you're not, because of the mats. Okay.

I don't, I would throw in literally anything. Yeah. Please. You know, it's funny. It's funny watching what Leo Messi did for Inter Milan. You know, the, or sorry, not Inter Milan, you know, the... Sorry, not Inter Milan. Miami. Putting Sid in Vancouver or Toronto would rock

the hockey world. Rock it. Yeah, of course. I mean, any Canadian team. Put them... No, I don't want them in Ottawa right now. I don't want them in Montreal right now. No. Edmonton's got 97.

They just paid for Shifley, so they're not going shopping for Sid. It's Vancouver or Toronto. Any Sid trade would rock the hockey world, regardless of where he goes. Like, him going to Colorado would rock the hockey world. Yeah. Rock it. So. Okay.

Well, hey, listen. Anything's possible. gretzky got traded you know as he is the expression i'll say another thing too is i was adamant a week ago two weeks ago that this guy's gonna finish when again when i saw him coming off of these tough losses in Calgary and Edmonton, I'm like, Sid, you want three more years of this? I don't think Sid is emotionally ready to go play for another hockey club. You are the ultimate hockey 24-7. You live it. You breathe it.

And you're going to breathe three or four years of what Kyle's cooking right now? Yeah, well, if that happens, then Pittsburgh is tearing her down, right? Like, you're tearing it down. You're not winning a cup with Malkin and Letang at the heart of your team. So I don't think it's going to happen, but it's more realistic today than it was for me yesterday. You know, you look at these guys who are players for life. They're one team for life, and then the team's no good,

and Patrick Kane goes, I can't do this, or the team decides it's not, whatever, and all of a sudden he goes to Detroit, looks pretty good. You know, Brett Favre went and played for the Minnesota Vikings. Everybody does. Gretzky, Messier. Only though Mario did. Except for Mario.

I love people throwing the same trade now. Two first-round picks, Ethan Cowan, Lilligren, and Martin Jones for CrossFit. And Buick. But Mario, go find his chart. Okay? So he still had, in the 90s, Jager. You know, he had some good players around him. And then there was that little window. He went away.

And then he comes back. And lo and behold, he's playing with the next you for the league. Yeah, he played 05, 06. He played with Sid. He played with Sid. And now you've got purpose and you've got hope and you've got growth. Sid doesn't have that. No, what is it, cash, hope, and jobs?

He's got nothing. Yeah. Just $100,000 and the best life ever. But not fun going to the rink now for right well hey listen that is uh food for thought food for thought i yeah i support rutherford and tree living phoning kyle and saying come on hand him over come on come on just trade um trade me him trade the goat to me you traded for Carlson come on you can do anything not afraid to swing big anyway

not to turn news and notes back into bash Kyle time but just not a great summer didn't put them in the right position they had cap space and he spent it on bad things they had some bad deals for sure they had six years contract They had cap space. Yeah. And he spent it on bad things. They had some bad deals. Has he got seven years?

For sure they had. But they. Six years contract. Or a cow contract. But they spent $25 million on Christian Jari, Carlson, and Ryan Graves. Or $20 million on those three. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, they had to move guys out, which, you know, they got rid of Gremlin off the books.

And what are you on Gremlin, by the way? He's available. My goodness. But it's back before... The feeling in Pitt is like it's as bad as it was before Sid showed up. Just right in that small little window where it was like... And then

they draft... They pick number one and they've never looked back. Yeah. Anyways. What else we got? sandin yeah sandin sent a contract extension rather a rather large one who are they bidding against even four and a half million for five years four and a half yes i've watched him he's still 23 million dollar contract you can't for five years you can't predict what he's gonna do out there. And what does he do? Like, he's not an offensive producer. He's not a defensive stalwart.

They are so hung up on getting new defense. That's what I heard. Washington is. Yes. And that's why they're in talks on Chikrin, too. Washington is. Yes. You think Jensen out?

Like, they'll turn over a couple of bodies there. So what do they've got? Carlson and he's at the end of his fairway or fair. Oh yeah. What's his name? Ever hurry fever. Yeah. I know that's it.

That's all they have. Yeah. Whatever his name is. General manager, Brian McClellan said he would like to add young players to the mix, even while selling similar to the trade he made for the Maple Leafs for Sandin getting high picks and flipping them could still happen before the trade deadline Friday. That would be ideal, McClellan said this week.

That's the type of thing we're looking to do. Yes. It's like AI generated. You read that better than game time. Thank you. They always said I'm a great reader. So that's an interesting contract. Actually, let me say, correct the interesting part.

That's too much money. Just the odds of him outperforming that contract which is the point when you sign someone to five years are basically nil like he might give you the value if he stays healthy which he also hasn't done a ton um so that's a weird one and then nick sealer signed to stay in philly uh that contract is a four-year deal for 2.7 million per year yeah i don't know you know there's that that mind the dollar no don't mind it at all and the analytics are great on him yeah so he just hasn't been this guy he's been a third pair guy right he's played he's 29 years old but it that that will hold its value i think think so, too. And you can flip that any time you want. Is it legal to sign contracts without a no trade?

Did he not get some sort of coverage? Oh, it's allowed? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Seems like everyone gets one these days. Sorry, not to go back to Sid, but we just got a text that Sid may never play another playoff game right now. Yeah, that's actually a fair point.

If you look at Pittsburgh's arc, what reason do you have to believe that next year they're a better team? How are they improved? Sorry to go back to it, but that just hit me like a load of bricks. Well, I mean, they lose Jeff Carter. There's $3 million they can spend. Jansen Harkins makes nothing. They don't lose anyone who makes anything this year.

And he's still shooting pucks in the net and he's still turning his hand over on a face-off that was nasty i don't know how they're supposed to get better raquel has four more years after this at five million i wonder what they riley smith they must trade they'll trade riley smith this year he's gone what about their head coach sullivan like this guy i don't know this came in and said he's not going he's not going anywhere basically he may have as much or more power with the fenway group than even kyle they they fenway group loves them yeah loves the coach yes loves the coach that's it so that's an interesting dynamic i wonder if they would outright sell.

I wonder if they would look at selling. Does Jeff Carter want to go play somewhere as a centerman at 39 years old? They should be selling. I don't know. Is there going to be a demand for Jeff Carter? No. By the time we come on the air tomorrow, how many more trades do you think we'll have had?

I think we'll see some tonighters. Is there some, not a lot of teams playing tonight. Is there only three games, a few predictions that Gensel will be gone by tonight? Well, there was the rumor that they wanted to wrap this up by tonight. You know,

it's funny with all the different, like moving parts that have to go into trades now, because of the flat salary cap, you don't have time during the day during the one day to do this and it's just sort of expanded backwards last year there were 16 trades in the two days leading up to trade deadline so we're at six or whatever already i would imagine we'll see more trades tonight and there'll always be a handful of those traits where you're like, okay, where did he play? Who is he?

Oh, yeah. Give me a bio on him, please. Does he shoot left? Yeah, that's always the tough part. Can't follow every single guy in the league. We may get a few surprises here as well. Hope so. Hope the Leafs surprise us.

A few surprises to go. Tara S tarasenko i don't think we talked about this in the nhl hour um any reason to think that i don't know i we're blaming the poor return on the no trade is that kind of the consensus books was well yeah that uh there's limited opportunities for i think ottawa Ottawa to max out a deal. And either he stays the rest of the season or he moves to Florida, I would imagine. But outside of that, he's not a premier scorer anymore. He's there to add depth to the organization.

And if he plays nicely in the sandbox and it appears that, you know, he's got the blessing of Bobrovsky, who probably runs the show there in many ways, one of the leaders. If he's happy, he's down there and they can hang out. Maybe it's a nice mix. There you go. We'll wait and see. I got to go to TV.

Leave Sabres. All right. Oh, you're on the TV tonight I'm on the telly awesome wow that broadcast got a whole lot more handsome

I'm debating on whether to go or not to the game oh yeah why not go see the Leafs lose to the Sabres I'm sure

just get tired I'm a little I got a little stuffy nose is that from Slapshot the Dead Killer Jason Bukala and Brad May and we're back tomorrow

on the Real Kipper and Boren Show