Real Kyper & Bourne - Deadline Directions with Jason Bukala

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with another look at the Oilers' performance last night and the unsung impact of Zach Hyman. They are joined by former NHL scout Jason Bukala (4:19), who shares his thoughts on Matthews vs. McDavid last night, a by-the-numbers evaluation of the Leafs' core four's recent stretch and why Toronto should stand pat at the deadline. Then, he takes a look around the league - which teams will go all-in at the deadline and which are planning for more minor moves. Finally, picking winners in playoff matchups if the season ended today.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.

welcome into the real kipper and born show this is the national edition we are live on sports net sports net 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary always always this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 the kiprio sammy McKee, Justin Bourne, Derek Brandeo, Jen Rolnick with you in the next hour. We're going to welcome in a few minutes Jason Bukala, former NHL scout, writer with Sportsnet.ca. Pro hockey group?

Pro hockey? I can read. Is it in there? I thought I didn't put it in. That's why I was worried. Buddy. Did I put it there? Oh, you did? Okay, good. You're a pro. Good. I wasn't sure. It was kind of a... Anyway. I work alone. Sorry, buddy.

No, not really. I don't work alone. If that's true, do I get an hour off here? We could use an hour off. Hey, I just wanted to make sure I said it because our boss texted us. We'll be live at the NHL Fan Fair at the Metro Convention Center on NHL okay NHL fanfare at the Metro Convention Center yeah so I just want to make sure if you're listening we're not under a bridge no all right real place cool yeah there you go I just want to make sure I

mention that because our boss texted me good yes Mark that's always the way to go do you want to talk about the Oilers last night? Yeah, I do. Because to be honest with you, I didn't think they were great. I didn't think they were that good. Yeah. Is that you don't think the Oilers are great? What impressed me the most is that they were down to nothing they stuck with it they pushed through it and they weren't that great like as in they still have another gear i don't know what they

have left but they they might be the best when you when you can find ways to win like that and and i didn't think darnell nurse handled the puck very well last night. Bouchard's still this guy with a rocket of a shot, but sometimes really tough. He'll never win an Oris. How's that? Yeah, that's fair. Ever. But he can bomb a puck like Al McGinnis.

That might be a loan to help him score 60 points and make eight million dollars i just can't i have a hard time imagining beating that team four times in the best of seven oh that's for who any team who's good vegas yeah la vancouver but you're assuming conference final you're assuming you're possible you're assuming. Conference final? You're assuming. Very possible. You're assuming that you're going to continue to get that goaltending from Skinner last night. Well, by the way, he looked excellent. Yeah, he looked good.

Like the read he made on the Holmberg one-timer from Matthews, he didn't buy Matthew shooting for a second, which is a bold choice. And he made the right one. I thought he looked really good. Also, another thing that came out of that game, I don't know if people have talked about this, but next time we do Best on Best, Zach Hyman is absolutely there. Well, yeah, is it happening soon? Yeah, next year, right?

They're going to play something. I don't think there's anyone close that works with him as hard as this guy. I get McDavid, and he's a force too, but there are no off shifts for this guy. Like, Leafs don't even have anyone remotely close to this guy when it comes to just dog on a bone. It is remarkable how he's gone at age 32. I don't know how old he is.ose batista it's unbelievable the not yeah the disallowed goal was a display of hockey i mean my lord and he just we had rob

brown on yesterday and he had the the comment where he said that mc uh that hyman does as much for mcdavid as mcdavid does for Hyman. Yes. And you see it. He's digging out so many pucks for him. The lanes that McDavid has to the net. He, like, yeah. To me, he's playing on McDavid's wing 14 Canada next time we do it. Yeah. He's unbelievable.

Crazy to think. You're right. I don't disagree for a second. Yeah. Anyways, we got books? Yep, we got books. Let's welcome in Jason Bukala, former NHL scout.

Does a great job writing for us on sportsnet.ca. Good friend of the show. Bukes, what's going on? How are you, pal? I'm doing fantastic, guys. I don't know how much of a fan of the show I'm going to be after this segment, but we'll roll it out anyways, for sure. Okay, so pretty signature game last night you know for the

whole country to see two top players uh in in the game right now in mcdavid and matthews uh you tell me where you want to start on on what you got out of last night's contest well from a fan's perspective i thought it was highly entertaining to be honest with you i mean the first the opening 20 minutes was a track meet. I thought it, you know, they traded some chances. You know, I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but I can disagree a little bit with the coach in Toronto when he says, yeah, the Leafs hit, you know, the post on Bertuzzi, you know,

the big save moving right to left there on Holmberg and Nylander in the second period, even off the crossbar. But even in the first period, guys, if you want to break down the tape, I mean, they gave up some great chances in the middle of the ice around the crease. Jones was really good, I thought. But, you know, again, you know, they they traded opportunities in the first period. I was listening to you talk about Bouchard there before I came on. And this is what you get, isn't it? You know, and the thing of it is on the first leap goal, great kind of sidewall rotation.

Matthews comes around the back door, you know, slides back door there for the open tuck. But Bouchard's just sleeping at the wheel, guys. And that's in the first five minutes. So that's actually like the opening shift against the top player and you know you get that player card before the game like you know where they're starting let's let's at least shut it down for a period so i don't know there was a lot of great and there was some bad but it was highly entertaining yeah and the oilers uh really found a way you know they they started taking the play to the Leafs at one point and

the end result was that the Leafs top guys ended up being outplayed, I think you can say, by the Oilers top guys. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts on the Leafs. I know a lot of scouts and coaches look at things in segments and we had chatted about something. What have you seen of the Leafs stars over the past stretch?

Well, we're at that time of year, fellas. We're coming out of World Juniors. We got the Prospects games bouncing around, the All-Star games on the horizon. Of course, the trade deadline is sneaking up on us. So it's that time of year. The pro meetings and amateur draft meetings are starting to happen, and we're starting to strategize.

So my way of doing things is that I broke down the Leafs in a 15-game segment. I really think that that tells a story. We're hearing a lot of noise in the last 24 hours about, well, we were good two weeks ago for a four-game run, and then now this has been this. But I broke them down over 15 games. And I just want to present some things to you from an in-house meeting perspective.

So if Tree's asking me a question, I'm just going to tell them what I'm finding out and what I'm seeing out there. I'm going to present this to you. This is over the last 15 games. The Leafs have played eight bottom 16 teams. They've played seven top 16 teams, so-called playoff teams,

or at least right on the bubble, okay? Over that period of time, the core four, if we want to call it that, and we do want to call it that, Nylander, Matthews, Marner, Tavares, 33 games played because in between there, Matthews had a nail list and he had to skip out a game, so I had to massage it a bit. But over those 33 games against bottom 16 teams, 48 points plus nine out of the lead four.

48 and nine. In the top 16 games, they played them seven games all in a playoff series. Let's look at it that way. A playoff series, seven games. You want your best to be your best, right? Ten points over 27 games between them, minus 13. Is that good? So, you know, if I'm being asked the question, what do we need to do to fill some holes?

The first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to go to our GM and I'm going to say, okay, well, let me look at the lay of the land. So let me pull up a team that I believe is a real good team and call it the Vancouver Canucks. Let's go to the Vancouver Canucks. What have they been doing over the last segment? Same thing, 15 games. Their top line, 54 points segment same thing 15 games their top line 54 points plus

31 in 15 games played uh hughes and aronic uh 22 points plus 24 demco 916 257 and then the florida panthers who we have to catch right we would all with that. They're a juggernaut in the Atlantic. How about this one? In the top, exact same thing. Their splits are the same. Eight games against bottom 16, seven games against top 16. Reinhardt, Barkov, Verhege to Chuck. In the top 16 games, 28 games played,

48 points plus 16. Sam's cringing over here. Boox, man. Well, here's where I'm going with it, fellas. Now, I haven't even got started. I'm sorry, I'm foaming at the mouth a bit here, but I'm going to look at our draft capital.

I'm going to look at our draft capital. I'm going to look at our asset management. So, imagine that our top assets are you know like the hildebees of the world easton cowan fraser minton nimala noah chadwick playing out saskatoon that's our best buy okay that doesn't mean that the colorado avalanche and the calgary flames and the san jose sharks valued our our five guys in their draft cycle of prospects the way we do that's our top five.

Who out of that mix do we really want to give up in a trade scenario based on the statistics I'm providing you right now to get us to where we want to go? I'm leaning right now that the body of work, if I'm put on the spot right now, this isn't the time to be trading out assets, draft capital. We got to run the table with what we have right now, because I'm going to tell you guys, we got a lot of holes here. We have 13 wins out of 42 games in 60 minutes played.

13 60-minute wins. Like, you know, like, I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer, but I'm trying to be a realistic team builder is what i'm trying to do for you so you're you're books you're telling us a team like toronto could actually be looking at all of this and say uh keep our powder dry let's go into the off season and reassess uh what can we get for tj brody at the deadline uh unload, I don't know if they're going to unload. I think they're good enough that they believe that they could potentially win a round.

But I'm not adding to the group to make that happen. You know, let's manage our own rentals, if you will. But then if I'm putting into play anything to plug a hole, it's going to be out of my draft capital cupboard. Like one of my fifth rounders, I've got two fifth rounders. It's not going to bring back much guys, but what I'm trying to say is you're going to have to shop around in the, you know, in the swamp, if you will,

to try and find something to plug a hole here or there. I like I'm watching that game last night. I don't know that they can get any more out of certain players. I really don't. That was 40 minutes of, I think mostly what game last night. I don't know that they can get any more out of certain players. I really don't. That was 40 minutes of, I think, mostly what they can give. And then it falls off in the third period. You know, they run out of gas. Let's be honest. When it's a track meet and there's a little bit more relentless compete on the other side of the ledger,

this team finds a way against the really good teams to kind of run out of gas a little bit. So, you know, I just want to be realistic. I don't think this is a Stanley Cup contending team. I think they're up against it in a lot of different ways in terms of draft capital, in terms of asset management, the depth of the assets. And I don't know that I'm selling anything more of what I have right now to further jeopardize the future. I think that we reassess in the offseason when some of this money comes off the books

because, you know, clearly, you know, the Bertuzzi's and the Domi's and stuff like that. We got to take a longer, harder look at that stuff and see where it goes. But the numbers don't lie. And I'm not talking five games, you know, four games. I'm not talking about a week. Like I could go back 25 games if you guys really wanted me to and I could tell you the picture doesn't get a lot better. Talking to Jason Bucala

does a terrific job on Sportsnet.ca so what you're telling us is don't expect Brad Treeliving to spend a first rounder on Chris Tanov. So what team in Canada is in a position to give up a first rounder to go for it? Vancouver Canucks for sure.

Winnipeg Jets, I would say so as well. Here's one thing that I'm going to throw out at you guys, and it's going to start coming out before the trade deadline. This draft cycle, so putting value on draft cycles is what's going to start to happen too, right? So there's two things that play the value of a first round pick in this draft cycle and if you're a good team you're talking late 20s so teams are going to start to look at that and they're going to say well

i don't really love that area even between 25 and 35 i'm not in love with that but guess what that team's got some assets or an asset or two even a secondary asset that i might value more than that 25 to 35 guy with my first round pick if you're following me that's where toronto falls off they don't have they have a first round pick that could be called 20 all right which might have value but it's not gonna have exceptional value in this rotation of the draft so where do you go next you go to an asset and they don't have that asset fellas the way that the winnipegs do the mcgrorty's the uh you know um uh the salamonson kid in sweden i mean in vancouver look at the guys that they got right now the

wheelanders the lekaramakis even pot koles and in the minors atu ratu in the minors, Atu Ratu in the minors, like they've got some flexibility there. It's fascinating, you know, looking at it from, you know, I always look at the Winnipeg Jets books and for years I was like, why don't they do more? Why aren't they more active? But they're, you know, Sheffield has been very patient and now you can see the assets pile up over time and they do seem like they're in a position if they wanted to get more aggressive where the Edmonton Oilers are at in their cycle, dial up over time and they do seem like they're in a position if they wanted to get more aggressive

where the Edmonton Oilers are at in their cycle watching that team who's now won 11 straight games you know is this the time for them to say all right we're gonna take on the west we think we we got a legit shot at this yeah for sure Edmonton I mean but again they're in a little bit of a different scenario I would suggest that they're probably better seasoned to be a playoff, to go on a run in the playoffs, even than those other two teams. Like, I really love Winnipeg. I love the structure. I agree with you.

Vancouver's on the come see. But I would still say Edmonton is the most dangerous prop there, okay, or the most dangerous team. Again, though, guys, like, the asset management, the cost associated with bringing in a guy in like um so some of the guys that i when i look at edmonton like i look at mcleod in the three hole okay and i immediately think of myself okay it works for now i get it but then i start thinking on my wish list like so monahan's out there at one nine you know if you can massage it

because you know he doesn't necessarily fit the mold of their team, per se, like an attract-meet scenario, but he does the other things very well, doesn't he? Like, he can kill penalties. He's almost 60% in the face-off circle. We all know that, Max. Okay, come play off time. The Adam Henriks in Anaheim, they're going to absorb

some cash, depending on what kind of money you want to send back. It might have, you know, massaged your roster a bit. There's a really serviceable guy, too, for those types of contending teams. 18 minutes a night, play all situations, secondary power play, 56% in the face-off circle. And he's gone to a Stanley Cup final before. These things matter in the room.

So Edmonton's the team. Not sure about the asset management. It's going to be curious to see how they do that. Hey, Books, when we go back not too far ago, it sure looked at the time that Kevin Sheveldayoff was trading Pierre-Luc Dubois in a position of weakness. And, I mean, all the cards were against him. A guy that wanted out.

Teams knew that and yet somehow he was able to flip it into really good pieces coming back is that trade out there more or should teams be more confident now if they if they were willing to move at the at the time the thought of a top three or top six players that they could turn it into two or three serviceable players i think i think absolutely they got to be aware of that that's that's those discussions are happening right now real hard to make that happen at the trade deadline easier to do that the off season when you know kind of everybody's had a little bit of a chance to let things simmer a little bit differently. But that trade right there, it went beyond the X's and O's of the game.

It went, you know, it fit in certain categories. A, skill with Velarde, you know, speed and veteran presence, you know, elsewhere in the lineup. But more importantly, they had a plan to build a team and a personality amongst that group they needed a reset in winnipeg i think we all knew that a like on the outside looking in with the captain and different things and there's just some noise at the end of last year let's just say that so they address that with uh with some real savvy moves and i don't know that winnipeg needs to do anything at the deadline,

like getting Connor back. They're going to probably leave money on the books here. I talked to Chevy last week, morning at you and I were kind of talking about a little bit last week. I talked to Chevy and he's like, it's gotta be the perfect type of fit. Yeah. We'd like to have, you know, somebody else in the three hole to maybe do some heavy lifting. Maybe we want another defenseman or, you know, there's a bunch of maybes,

but it's going to have to fit what they have going on in the dressing room off the ice because they're really, watch that team. Like that team, they're toeing the rope in the same direction every shift. They just love each other to death. You can just tell. So, Books, this time of year for a scout, you know, coaches are telling their GMs, hey, here's what i'm missing gms are looking around the league going okay what are the prices here's what i can get i always say that scouts

and the team knows first about their prospects and where they are and which guys are you know have disappointed in their first year pro maybe how often now would a gm then go to a scouting staff and talk about their internal prospects and say where are we at with this guy do we believe in him you know okay how would you feel if we moved this guy that guy the other day well so it's super important that's that's the beginning of the process at the meetings both so i can only speak to my history and that's like so in florida um both on the pro side with altura and then myself and my staff on the amateur side. But Brian McCabe was our director of player development.

The very first thing that we would do is get a lay of the land of what's going on with our group. Because it has a trickle-down effect there, fellas. It can help strategize your draft targets. I'm not talking... We're all drafting the best player in the first round, so don't get me wrong there. But as Caber's saying, this guy's ready,

this guy's in Europe, he's close to coming over, blah, blah, blah, you can start to massage where your targets are around the world, call it second round and beyond from there. On the pro side, it's the exact same thing. You know, we're hearing, the GM might present to you that he's got a call on player A. Dennis Senko, for example, who got traded out of Florida this year to Vegas. Okay, he was our first-round pick at the Dallas Draft. Vegas has always had a shine on for him.

It didn't work out. You know, he's in Henderson now scoring over a point a game. They love him. He might end up wearing a uniform at the NHL level for Vegas. That's an example of, you know, a call. Do we really value this guy? What's his trajectory? If it's a no, we move him out.

But it could be the other way around, too. It could be that, you know, we value him more than whatever the guy coming back, even in short order, could be. So it's delicate. But the one thing I have to say is this. Don't ever fall too in love with your prospects. You can't do it. You got a Euro guy for four. you got a chl guy for two then we're shopping in free agency at the college level the euro level blah blah blah blah it's all team building it's all fluid i always told our guys

as soon as you draft them hand them off the caber and pretend like it doesn't exist anymore as hard as that is to do and i want to ask you from a scouting perspective when perhaps you've leaned in heavily on one guy in your in your organization and you're basically the reason why we draft this player so in in toronto we watched uh pontus holmberg uh I think, 156th overall. He apparently had this horrible camp, gets sent to the minors, and today he's starring on the number one line with Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner.

Like, is that equivalent to a scout giving birth? I'll tell you what's equivalent to a scout giving birth. is the mackenzie wiegers of the world when they're the third last pick of the draft and they go off the way so the paul gallagher's of the world who worked for us in halifax he's still getting free coffee and donuts all over no you know what kipper like homer's not a one like you know it's you know what, Kipper, like, Homer's not a one. Like, you know, this is a nice story that he's an NHL player. That's where it's a feather in your cap. But it speaks more to where we're kind of all over the place right now

that he's playing in the spot that he's playing. That's, I don't know, I'm trying to be kind. Well, what you're saying, it's by weakness, but not by strength, this decision. Yeah, they're identifying. Outwardly, they're saying all the right things. Inwardly, behind closed doors, they're like, oh, my God. Like, what are we going to do to plug this hole or plug that hole?

Or, you know, they're seeing some things. They're seeing the same things that I'm talking about here. They'll never talk about that. And it's, you know, I'm not trying to, I don't want our viewers to, you know, blow us up and say this is a completely bad news story. They're a good team. They're a playoff team. This isn't a Stanley Cup contending team.

Okay? So let's be realistic coming out of meetings and make sure that we strategize. It's okay to reset in the offseason and go from there you know not every year can we keep having the same discussion some things have to work better a different way great stuff you got anything else i'm just gonna say you don't know this market then it's because they're gonna say it i agree the team shouldn't i'm 100 with you but that's what's going to be said by fans. You know, how do you not go in with these guys on your team? But I'm with you. I get it.

I get it. I'm just trying to give you guys some background noise that if I was asked, this is just how I would have to realistically present it. That's all. For sure. Hey, great stuff. Really appreciated the feedback on players who play against top teams and bottom feeders that was some interesting stuff books thanks for doing this man thanks books no problem hey sammy wipe

away the tears buddy tomorrow's a new day ah thanks books appreciate it buddy jason bucla i would actually like to see like the whole league like leading scorers stats by playoff and non playoff opponent like-playoff opponent, like at the time you played them. Because I do think you would find guys who feast on the weak teams. Yeah, there's four of them right here. Oh, good gravy. Willie's not feasting on anybody right now.

How were you when you played? Bad at hockey. No, stop it. No, you're competitive, but I don't ever recall feeling like I'm going to have a tough night because I'm playing a certain team. I always felt like they're all the same, and the approach to play is all the same. Yeah.

I get it. There's some teams that are really, really good. I get that part but i i just is it psychological well i think it's psychological in your preparation you know going into a game where you're like okay this is a legit team gotta put in a little more you know be on my toes tonight i do i will say i i probably succumb to the whole thing where you're up three nothing against a bad team and you go god God, this is going to be a walk. And all of a sudden, you know, you're down 4-3 or something.

I get the idea of just like not keeping your foot on the gas, which is not what the Leafs have done. They've been playing good teams who have out-gooded them. The Florida number was just a real – as soon as he started into the Florida thing, I'm like, this is going to be a good number. I know it's going to be a good number it just it shows you that

I don't know it's I think a lot of Leaf fans like you said would have a really hard time swallowing the pill that they're not going to be making this season but yeah I think it's getting closer to that

they're the only team right now that is But, yeah, I think it's getting closer to that. They're the only team right now that is truly trending in the wrong direction in Canada in terms of expectations. Yeah, sure. Today. Yeah, Ottawa's struggling. No, but they're kind of, they were done a while ago. Yeah, you know, what's really, really fun is how good, legitimately good Edmonton, Vancouver, and Winnipeg are.

It'd be nice if one of them were in the East so they didn't have to eliminate each other. Yeah, but they're all good enough that they won't. They could go deep. There's definitely a real shot at an all-Canadian conference final in the West. For sure. Which Rodgers would probably be happy about. They haven't had a ton of...

We'll take anything we can get right now in this country. I don't agree with that, but Rodgers does. If they would get... If the Leafs can patch a hole or two here, we know they can create. You know how we always say, it's never as good as it looks or as bad as it looks during you know one of these patches i don't think this is a team that can't win a playoff round and that's a pretty good hockey team so i am curious to see if

they will still you know unlike what books thinks they should do if they would still make some sort of aggressive move yeah drop down to the but here's the thing it's like well you know maybe now that they won't have to face florida or but florida's gonna end up in the first place position and at least give me a wild card then get to play florida in the first round they're gonna play florida in the first time fascinated by the thought of what a leaf sell-off would look like bertuzzi you know at half his thing brody like you got some pieces that if you wanted to sell bring some back some firsts who sorry to do more leafs here but who's going for Bertuzzi right now? He's got one goal in his last 22 games.

Yeah, he had 10 points in one playoff round last year. Oh, you could sell that off. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Imagine the Leafs. The Leafs may have to eat a little bit. Trade him to Indiana for a few first-rounders.

So, if we – no, maybe we'll save this after the break. You go to game time, and then we'll go to break all right uh it's game time presented by bet365 visit the app the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary at bet365 it's game time on tarot only please play responsibly i am way too bad at reading things to have something play also playing while you're talking oh my god like i immediately lose my train of thought like it is gone yeah yeah i need blinders i spook like a horse um so i'm looking there's only two games that's kind of funny what that i spook like a horse yeah okay other stuff i don't it's not very funny i feel like i got approval for laughing at that okay good good uh

one game got postponed tonight due to weather so uh there's only two games on the schedule or is it buffalo yeah buffalo got postponed so the bills can play outdoor but the sabers can't play inside how about i guess tnt because of this instead of showing buffalo who's at chicago has to show is it florida detroit or some really good game that probably should have been the game yeah so that's the game I'm looking at for tonight. Can I ask you how many games in a row you think Sam Reinhardt has scored a goal? I unfortunately know this answer.

It's a long time. Seven, right? He's scored a goal in every game since the new year. If there's a hockey game being played, Sam Reinhardt has scored it. I'm a huge sam reinhardt fan and i did not i was not in those early years in buffalo i thought second overall pick in the draft yeah was good player but at one two or three you you want franchise face with those picks.

And he is in that kind of Zach Hyman kind of wow year. I'll probably wear this one a little bit at some point, but I just don't think a seven-year deal is going to age well to him. Well, it's also what kind of worries you is that it's the Jonathan Huberto effect where you're just having a career year. And he's having a massive shooting percentage year, too, like double his high ever. If he came back.

Yeah. High is 15. He's like 27 or something. If he came back and scored 25 next year, like, would you be shocked? No. Right? So you got to be careful now on what kind of term and money you want to pay him.

So let me get this straight. What you're saying is don't pay him at his absolute apex? It's not always about money. And just as a note, the last game he didn't score in was december 30th against montreal and the game before that he had two the game for that he had two the game for that he had one so he's a little hot wow and what i'm getting to is you'd be an idiot not to bet on him to score because all he does is score so give me a goal uh from him and uh win i roll with it plus 210

but he's he's turned himself into a real leader on that club too, which I love. Like he's captain material for me. Really? Yeah. And the other game on tonight is the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils. Devils are pretty heavy favorites, as you'd expect.

Montreal's been, you know, they've just beat Colorado, but I can't give them any love on the road, so give me New Jersey a minus a goal and a half. Did you see the numbers on Nathan McKinnon, Rantanen, and Jonathan Duran? Minutes played losing to the Montreal Canadiens in regulation. No. 29 minutes.

Oh. No way. What? 29 minutes for Rantanen. 28-56, McKinnon. In regulation? In regulation? No way.

That was just, wasn't that back-to-back with the Leafs? Beckner, what are you doing? Was that back-to-back or it might have been one game? No, it was Monday. Okay, so Saturday night Leafs. I think it was Monday. Then Monday. He had 25 shifts.

There will be nothing left of the Nate dog. January 8th against Boston, you had 30. It'll be the Nate puppy because you cannot play this guy 29 minutes against a non-playoff team. If you're Winnipeg, you're going, do it. Keep playing. Run them 30

a night. Now it's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, let's take a quick break. When we come back, a few news and notes,

including I want to play a little bit of a game with you, and we're going to do it in the Western Conference. Okay. Okay, yeah. That's actually what we do. We're at the halfway mark, so we're going to look at first round matchups if they happen today. Love it.

And we will eliminate some very good teams in the first round. I'm sure. So stick around for that on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. We're back after these words. Breaking down the top stories in hockey and Elliott Friedman every day. The Jeff Merrick Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back into the Real Kipper and Boren show. I'm Kipper, I host Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. All right. Welcome to the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. We're there. Halfway edition. How about that? Yeah.

We are now, as of today, starting the Stanley Cup playoffs. We are. And we're going to do it in the Western Conference. Okay. Because as of now, this is your matchups to start.

Vancouver Canucks versus the Edmonton Oilers. Oh my God. Stop the season. Stop the season. In the first round. Stop the season. We want it right now. I don't care. Stop the season. How fun would that series be?

See, okay. We're going to play this out. But on a side note, it really sucks that we're going to have a conversation now that everybody's going to play this out. But on a side note, it really sucks that we're going to have a conversation now that everybody's going to have three months from now is why are we allowing top teams to play each other in the first round. But we'll have that conversation a while ago. It's almost like there's a system that worked perfectly forever

and we had to change it for some reason. Continue. Don't derail me. No. Who are you taking in the first round, Edmonton or Vancouver? They're both smoking hot. You know, I have a really hard time here. You know why?

I would pick Edmonton. I would. Because Edmonton has recently gone deep. They've been through some playoff battles. You know, they got the best player on earth. Jesus. But him and a Pics do Skinner over Thatcher Demko? How can I do that?

You can't. I can't do it. You can't. And Petey will have enough to saw Connor a little bit. Yeah, is he on an actual saw? A weapon? What's he doing it with? I don't know.

I think Pettersson's having a great year that can... He can go. He can match up. Mine's based in the goalie. Game seven. Yeah, no, I get all that. Sammy, how about you? Who are you taking?

And how many games? I'm going oil. You're going oil? Yeah, I just think... But this is as them started we're starting right now this isn't about when it actually starts if we're starting right now yeah hottest team in the league their top line is the best line in that by far they got their power play yeah yeah what have the canucks done lately buddy i know but they don't have mcdavid and i mcdavid

that line with mcdavid like Brownie was talking about yesterday, even the goalie stops that are goings in the net. He was right. Yeah. So give me the Oilers. Sorry, Vancouver. All right. I'm also taking Vancouver because JT Miller.

You love Miller. You're such a Miller fan. I am. I'm a huge Miller fan right now. And I'm not uh an evander kane i think he's i didn't like his game last night against the leafs really yeah i think he slipped new coach is not working well with him he had one moment where he had a dash yes down the left wing and he cut in and he missed back in and that was pretty much the only time i

really noticed i actually can't believe he didn't tuck that. Me too. That looked like a... He had Jones stuck to the bar. He really could have put that in. You think maybe he's got a little bit of a... I got my big deal thing? The thing that Willie is rumored to do?

Is he got a little Willie Dillard? I would never say such a thing. I got my big deal and I can kind of... I would never say such a thing. ...fit the foot off the gas pedal a little bit? I't know i'm not saying just an observation i don't actually know okay okay abs versus the stars these are great that's an amazing series too yeah i mean you just talked about the husk of nate mckinnon after playing 30 minutes per night in the regular season against Montreal. I think I picked the Stars to win the Stanley Cup.

I'm going to take Colorado. I would like to take Colorado. It's such a mismatch in net to me. Gorgiev's had a good year. I think he's an all-star, but when it comes down to it, he's going to play 70 games this year. The last two Cup champions, Aiden Hill and Carson Kemper. Great point, too.

The Stars don't have McKinnon. Yeah. Golden Knights versus the Los Angeles Kings. Can you explain to me? Kings just hanging on by a few minutes to get in. What happened to the Kings? No idea. I actually don't have an answer there.

You know, they still have a very, you know, quality roster. Nothing drastic seems, I don't know. I'm taking Vegas. Name me another team that needs a goalie more. I don't know if they exist. I guess you're talking about the only two are Jersey and Carolina. Merz Lekins? So Vegas is my pick.

Yes. Merz Lekins? Yeah, they'd be desperate enough to take him. He's got the monster out of him. He's ready. Are they going to trade for another inconsistent Columbus goalie? Wasn't Corpus Alli really good there? Yeah, until the playoffs.

Until he wasn't. Elvis has got, like, high maintenance. High maintenance written all over him. Oh, yeah. The goal you don't want to be the main point of attraction. In Los Angeles, too. Yeah. I don't think we have an issue with the Jets and the Predators.

Jets and four on that one. All right. So Jets mopping the floor. Give me the Jets. So we have three really good teams eliminated. There you go. Winnipeg versus Vegas and Vancouver, Colorado. Oh.

Yeah. Great series. Yeah. Wow. Great hockey series. Great series. Yeah. Wow. Great hockey series. All right, let's do these. All right. Bruins versus Lightning right now.

Wow. Stop the season. It's not easy to just hand it to Boston. No way. With Vasilevsky and the experience there. Well, there's that whole thing of last year in the first round where everybody and their mother picked the Boston Bruins over the Florida Panthers, and anything can happen.

Yeah. I mean, I am taking Boston for our purposes here. Just as an aside, there is an alternate universe where Boston wins in that overtime, and the Leafs play Boston, and they go in with the underdog mentality, and they win that series. Definitely.

Being the favorites didn't help much. Being like the game starting at home and you're supposed to beat a team, that's like the worst spot for the Leafs. Everyone across Canada is loving you griping about the draw. Let me ask you something, though. There's no question that if Tampa Bay makes the playoffs, and that's still an if, that it could be a big mistake underestimating this team. Yeah, the first place team.

If this is like the eighth place. Edmund Kuch, Stamkos, Point, Sorelli, you know, Sergeyev, Vasilevsky, John Cooper. Vasilevsky. Good luck. Right? You know? But they cannot, they can't, they can't defend.

And they can't. This is dash 20. Yeah. It's remarkable. So. Okay, Boston. I think we're taking Boston. I'm taking Boston.

Yeah. All right. I would take Boston too, but the Tampa Bay Lightning are not going to be a treat for the first overall team if they're the eighth seed. You know? It's not going to be a treat for the first overall team if they're the eighth seed. You know? It's not going to be a fun one. Nope. Hurricanes versus the Philadelphia Flyers.

You skipped one. Oh, no. We're saving that one. Oh. All right. Carolina-Philly? Yes. Three games, Carolina.

I don't know. I think the Hurricanes are in trouble. What? Yeah. I do. I do. I do. I just think that it's – I think all the synergies with the Flyers. Wow.

In this one. Yeah. They're going to trade half their team for that. I think Flyers – I think Carolina would probably win it, but Flyers take a chunk out of them. They're hard to play against. I think the Flyers missed the playoffs by eight points this year. What?

That was a massive – Really? Six points, I'll say. They're good to play against. Missed the playoffs by eight points this year. What? That was a massive number. Really? Six points, I'll say. They're good, man. They got a 6-14 winning percentage. They don't suck. Good goalie. All right.

Really good. Okay. And Konechny, he's turned himself into a major player. He is a very good player. I'll take the flyers and six on that one wow keith jones wow that's you know okay what do we make out of the business i get it what do we make out of the new york rangers guys the team that uh looked really strong for a good portion of the first half and then went into a bit of a skid. I think they've won the last two, which kind of brings them back up a little bit.

But do you ever see the Red Wings upsetting this team? I'm just at the haters ball today. Detroit stinks. Detroit Rangers is an amazing Jersey matchup. Great jerseys. Great. It's an aesthetically pleasing series. Those two jerseys are as nice as the guests.

Back in my Discord days, I used to rank the matchups. That would be my number one series. There's so many times. Even the final last year, if you just put two historic franchises with those rosters, it's like, oh, my God, what a final. But it's like the Knights and Panthers. You know what I mean?

Anyways, but the jerseys matter. And the Rangers in a walk. Just not to derail this, but NHL All-Star jerseys, they're very bright. Very bright is a hilarious assessment. Yeah. It's candy ass. It's too red. Turn down.

It looks like a stop sign. Turn them down. Turn them down. Agreed. Is that the Biebs? Yeah. That's his brand, his design? Drew House, yeah. Hockey comes to... Yeah, they look like

children's practice jerseys. The All-Star game comes to Toronto. Sponsored by... You know, what's the fun dip? Yeah, that's what they look like to me. Okay. We lower ourselves to that. That's okay. Are the kids gonna buy it? Maybe. They want a semi one. I'll take it. What are you gonna do with it? Wear it?

No, I'll give it to my nephew. Yeah. Okay, that wraps up the Eastern Conference. Oh, did I miss a series, Sammy? I think you may have. Which one did I miss, Sammy? Florida Panthers. Versus the local side. Maple Leafs. This is your chance for payback.

As our good friend Daryl Sutter once said, waste eight days, boys. That may be one of the best lines going into a playoff series in the history of the game. And the team he was talking about won in eight days. Exactly as he said it would go. Colorado beat Nashville.

I think they beat them in overtime. Three of the four games or something. But anyway. Leafs are maybe getting one. Is there a chance Bobrovsky turns into a pumpkin? And everything he shoots goes in? They got to get into the offensive zone, buddy. Yeah.

I mean, they lose. Yes, Florida. Florida, Florida, Florida. And I get Kachuk. And I get Reinhardt down there. But please, the ultimate guy for me is that Barkov. Oh, I love him. Yeah?

Oh, what a player. And you want to talk about your own zone and being in the right place at the right time at the most critical moments? Yes. He's as good as I've seen even in my era. Like he is, again, I played with some good guys in their own zone. Trust me.

But he's old school, man. In any era, at any time, this guy would be lights out. He's like if you turned Austinin matthews goal focus to defense you know like he's like that you know dominant at that one particular there's just no and he gets cheating yeah constantly on the right side of the puck he's got he's got a stick as good as matthews to steal pucks plus he plays the body plus he's got 46 points in 40 games right they're gonna give him the uh 35 assists 11 goals and you know he's not the most fearsome guy but when you have every other guy on your team is a scumbag you fit in yeah right like every other guy is gritty on that team so

works all right and that's our midpoint Stanley Cup playoffs. Then you got Boston, Florida, Carolina Rangers for your next round. Or Philly Rangers. So, yeah. Philly Rangers would be beautiful, too. Jersey. Yeah. All right, anything else?

Strike your fancy in terms of around the league. Yeah. Bill Guerin not ready to wave the white flag yet in Minnesota. Why not? I think he should. Do you think anybody, like, I guess the feeling out there is if Marc-Andre Fleury gets traded, he wants to go to a team where he's going to play and not back up. Is there a team that exists right now?

Is that L.A.? Is he better for L.A.? Is he better for Carolina or Jersey? One of those teams, Carolina or Jersey, they're going to trade for a goalie. I don't know if his game is strong enough right now to carry a team. Does anyone remember the Black Knight from Monty Python? This is Minnesota to me.

You come back here, I'll bite your kneecaps off. Why are they still fighting? He'd be fun in a dressing room, that's for sure. He's a 297 897 and 19 22 games played yeah 19 started so i think he's an upgrade for uh teams like i mean new jersey can't get a save carolina can't get a save like i think he's an upgrade yeah but he's not the be all end all for you i don't know you're just hoping to get league average or something compared to getting terrible goaltending at some point and oh go ahead you know you go i was just gonna say i go week to week the golden do we know what's wrong with him

sounds like his kidney his knee yeah lower body sucks not great for them they're in a little bit yeah i'm because i'm going to the game on Saturday night in Vegas. Oh, are you? Giving you permission to take another day off. I will say, I do, you know, the thought has crossed my mind that your guys' attendance has been elite this year. Like, no sniffles, no one's taken a day. The only guy that's taken a day, and this is my second day that i've taken was me and i'm the producer i should not be the guy leaving we have nowhere

to go i hope that's our problem uh i'm going to vegas for three nights with my wife so wow where you stand i can't remember yeah they were nice but you bought tickets to the game yeah got tickets to the game and how was that experience is it a really pricey i would say it's exactly cheap yeah i mean it's vegas so you're not getting a deal but it's not terrible penguins i thought kip would know the actual golden knight or something get to see uh get to see sid there are no freebies out there with the prices they charge today someone's taking, no one wants to take a hit on tickets, right?

Nobody. They're large. They're large. The prices. You've never gone to a game in Vegas? I've never been to Las Vegas in my life. Oh. Yeah.

I tell you what, the experience at a hockey game, they do a terrific job in the presentation. You've been? I covered the Stanley Cup finals with Washington. Who'd you work for then? I was carrying Elliot and Kelly Rudy. Yeah. Yeah.

That sounds familiar. Did you have any fun in Vegas? Yeah, I did. You did? I did. Did you reheat it up at the craps table? I'm just not a gambler, though. David Amber and I hit the craps table.

I held on to the dice for about 40 minutes. That's record setting. I think I'll put 200 bucks on red. That'll be my gamble. I don't gamble. NHL All-Star red? Sure. Bright red.

All right. All right. Our thanks in the first hour to Nazem Kadri of the Calgary Flames as they get set to meet the Toronto Maple Leafs and also Jason Bukala, former Pro Scout. Very good. And a terrific job with Sportsnet.ca.

Just two games on tap tonight, but including our signature Wednesday night hockey game on Sportsnet, the Montreal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils. Enjoy it and we're back tomorrow for more Real Kipper and Bourne. And if you get a chance, give us a rating and review.

Thanks, everybody.