Real Kyper & Bourne - Forecasting the NHL Season with Doug MacLean

Episode Date: September 25, 2026

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne kick off Friday's edition of Real Kyper and Bourne with Doug MacLean (4:35) to break down his NHL division winners, compare the outlooks for the Maple Leafs and Senators, and weigh in on Toronto's Arizona team trip. He also discusses how the Leafs should handle Gavin McKenna early on, shares his thoughts on Connor Hellebuyck and Dylan Larkin trade speculation, and examines the ripple effects of the rising salary cap. Later, the crew answers some listener texts and continues the conversation on how the cap hike could reshape the league.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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Didn't take long here to kick in our first off the rails Friday of the season on the Real Kipper and Born show. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Jake the Snake Shultz, Derek Brandeo, Sammy squared. And in a few minutes, Doug McLean, former NHL president, GM, and coach, who's had a wonderful run here on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. led to another book, led to demands on podcasts. I think he's in a movie now. Starring. Starring? I think so, yeah.

Opposite who? Sweeney? He'll do Jason Bourne movies. Yeah, maybe it is. He'll be along in a couple of minutes. Sydney, yeah. Oh, yeah, I'm sure it should be thrilled about that. Oh, my God.

That's all we need. I'm telling you what I know, Sid, just telling you what I heard. It has to be. There's room for another grandpa. Call her the kid. Granddaughter movie. Before we get started, any word on the Leafs in Arizona? What's going on?

I mean, are they there? They all have heat stroke. They're dying out there. I heard at the turn, they're on their seventh Michelob Altra. They have at least three grease missiles in them and they're ripped. That's what I heard. I heard they got to get back soon, right? They're playing too.

Tuesday. Game coming up. Maybe they only got in nine holes and had to come back. Flew all their bags down there for nine. We'll get Doug McLean's thoughts on Phoenix as well as so much around the National Hockey League. Sammy, you got any takes on if Toronto fans boo Vladdy tonight or not? So your boy will be in the building tonight. Oh, interesting.

Going down with the LaCone boys. And will you boo? I don't know. I don't think so. I think, like, I think this has been a really bad year, okay? This has been, and now those comments were the cherry on the poo-poo Sunday, boys. There's no question, but we're with this guy. It's 13 years here.

It's a long marriage. Like, you know, you guys have both been married for a long time. There's certain things you've got to just give in and let slide and just, you know, certain things you got to eat. And this may be one you just, that's not booing in the last thing of the season. We'll go to counseling with them. Yeah, like, talk to someone. What's booing going to do? Is it really going to make you feel better?

him out of here. Is that going to make them have 10 more wins to make the playoffs? They booed Larry Murphy. They booed Mitch Marner now on upon a return. Those guys weren't on the team anymore. Right? They left the team. Yeah.

So, I don't know. We'll see. I bet you there's some booze. I bet you most of the people just stand up in chair. He is playing tonight, though, isn't he? I don't know. Reminds me the old Simpsons McGuire line, you know, like, do you want to know more? Do you want to see me hit Dingers?

I just want to see Vladty hit Diggers. Well, let's do that. Preferably more than one at home. Well, next year is the home. Don't hit any at home this weekend. When they're out of it, like two home runs this homest. Really rough people. He's just red hot.

Boone him as he goes around the face. Steve Lawrence cleared waivers. Yeah, that's good. Does that surprise you at all? It does. At a million five? A million five? One three.

One three. One three five. But it's, you know, that time of year, right? There's a million people on waivers. And I think teams are just sorting out their own rosters and don't really have the time to take someone on in addition to everyone else. they just cut. So I think everyone likes to break camp with their own people.

Yeah. It's time to do it. I would suck, too, if you were. You didn't get through the boys for? And you thought you were getting ready for a trip to Arizona with your team and they send you to the Marleys. You don't think he came into this camp looking at the numbers going, oh. I would have hoped that he could have figured it out here.

And I told you guys yesterday that I thought that the writing was on the wall for him anyways. and just more changes, right? Bring three, four faces in, new faces. It's adding and subtracting. That's why I sat there and I said, too much of the same guys on the fourth line. Something's got to give. You guys were talking about it before the show

about looking at some rosters around the league. I look at Vancouver couldn't use Stephen Lawrence? Yeah, I don't really do. Calgary couldn't use Stephen Lawrence? Give their own guys a chance. You know who could use a Doug McLean? on a Friday? Oh, boy.

Everybody but us. Oh, we want it. Bring it. Let's welcome my man. Wow. Do you get this? You're on the road, obviously. So why are you on the road?

Where are you? I'm in Freeport, Maine on the way to Florida. Like, seriously. And I just had to, you know, I said to Jill, we got to get a hotel, honey. I can't do this in the car. It's national TV. and I've got to be ready.

So I check in, I dropped the big dollars to get a real nice hotel. I even took the pillows. I took the pillows off the bed so you wouldn't be able to tell it to a hotel, but I guess you can. I think you painted an optical illusion on your wall. I got to tell you, I haven't talked to you all summer. I'm blowing away in PEI and in the Maritimes, the popularity of your show. Everywhere I went this summer, it was real Kipper and born, real, and Sammy, Sammy got mentioned every once in a while. Oh, thanks, God.

It was unbelievable the response. And I said, is it because I'm on or? And they said, no, we like the show, you know, so I thought it was more me. But as I said to people, this is the second longest tenure job I've ever had. And I'm very excited. And I said to Jill today, there's a possibility that I may get a gold watch or something. For being here as an employee for this long. Have a good year.

That's all I can tell you. Have a good year. We'll revisit that. But anyway, I'm serious. So we went out there, what, a week and two weeks ago now, Mac, maybe two and a half. three weeks ago, the NHL alumni, Glenn Healey, Gary Bettman was out there as well. We ended up in Charlottetown where we had... Charles Barclay was out there?

Had a magnificent three days. And of course, tourism is a big part of the NHL with their partnership. And they showed us a fantastic time. And, of course, Mac wasn't invited, but I called them up anyways. I got to tell you, guys, Kipi phones me. and said, hey, I'm in Charlottetown. There's a reception. We're going to dinner tonight, but there's a reception

and come on down to the reception. So I said, okay, Nick, what time is your reception? He said the reception's at 6 o'clock. So I race to Charlottetown. I walk into the reception at two minutes to 6, and they were packing up the tables. And heading out. The only alumni guy I met at the reception

was Rod Langway, who I had coached Washington and we had a nice chat he and actually Paul Cavalien and there as they were all leaving to get on the bus to go to dinner so Kippy missed the reception by an hour and I missed the reception so anyway but I did go to dinner with yes I said get on the bus good I said get on the bus and we had the best lobster I've ever had oh we had a great it was all good we had a great Forbes McPherson who's the coach of UPI panthers owns the lobster place in in in north a thrustico and they put on a fabulous, fabulous show for the alumni. And you know what? It was a thrill to be there with the alumni. I'm serious. It really good. Yeah, we had some big names.

And good guys. And I mean, I met, I saw Paul Cavalini and Rod Langway who was with in, you know, Washington, St. Louis, Darren, was there. Jack Bunkabum was there. You know, Wendell-Clark was there. I mean, Kirk Muller. And you. And you, Mac. Kevin Lowe. I got a great job. I got a great chat with Kevin Lowe. It was great time. Okay, Mac. So, your trip to Florida, you've got Jill doing the majority of the driving because you have been doing your homework

for your first show here this season with what your thoughts and ideas are on what we could be looking at by April here. So why don't we share a little bit of that now? Well, as you

know, my predictions were pretty close last year. If you guys kept track them. They were reasonably close. I mean, I'm not, I'm not saying I'm the best at it, but I've got, okay, here it goes. The Atlantic, the Atlantic division. I'm just going to give the winners of, so the Atlantic, the top three, Florida, Tampa Bay, Montreal. But here's the change. I've moved Montreal to number one after the Crider deal. I've got Montreal at one, Florida, two. Tampa Bay 3 in the Atlantic. I've got Carolina, Washington, and I've got Philly in there right now

in that division. Buffalo is there. There's a group. There's so many. In the Pacific, Vegas, Edmonton, L.A. Here's the big one. In the central,

Colorado, Dallas, and Utah. No many. And I've got many rate there. But I tell you what, Utah's improved their team a lot. I think they're going to take a big step. I think Montreal has improved, continually no proof.

So the wild cards are going to be frightening, guys. They are going to be frightened. I've got, again, same as we talked about last year, one of Toronto or Ottawa are getting in. One of the two will get in. But look, the competition is, you know, New Jersey are going to be better the Bruins are going to be okay. Columbus, I'm not sure.

The Rangers are going to be awful. I mean, Pitt, I mean, it's going to be a dogfight voice for the wild cards in every, in every division. So that's my top three. I guess the shocker is Utah and Montreal, but I really feel Montreal are poised to have a big year. I really am. Mack, unlike last year, first off, good to see you again. I hope you had a great summer. You know, you look fresh.

You're ready to go. Thank you, fresh. You know what? And I mean, I, you know, I keep following you guys. I never, I've never met you. People say, what's morning like? I said, how to hell I know? I never met like that. You know, I go to Toronto.

I never get, they're scared to invite me to Rogers Center. So I, you know, I, you know, but I'm going up October 20th. We're having a major unveiling of the, the new book, the, the life of an NHS. The uncensored life of an NHL GM will come out. Oh, I like it. I like it. Looks great. See, that's the vision.

That's the view. The GM has the clouded view, the foggy view from the press box there. Clean your glass. Yeah, it's going to be on Vail October 21st. What the hell does the, what uncensored mean? Like, when is, is that the new catchphrase now? Uncensored. So what does that mean?

F bombs galore. That's for the guy. in the airport that walks by and sees that on the shelf and sees uncensored there. And I had said to Simon and Schuster, what about the chaotic life or, you know, and they came, I'd like to take credit for it, but they came with uncensored and I really like it.

So, you know, I think it's going to be a good read. I really do. You know what happened is everyone saw the subtle art of not giving an F in the airport and it sold a zillion copies. And they're like, that's the thing. People like curse words. Get in there.

Oh, by the way, I got a problem. Jeff Rimmer, there's a big problem. My God, Borny's book coming out. And Jeff Rimmer's got a book coming out. And I'm having a problem because Rimmer is phoning around all the networks trying to get on to talk about his book. So he's phoning around and I said, Rims, you can't do that. They're supposed to phone you and ask me to go on.

We're back, baby. We're back. The only one I wanted to ask you, sorry, I'm going to bring it back to hockey if we're good on that. Please do. You didn't mention the 109 point Buffalo Sabres. And you know what? I've got them right there.

And I've got them right there. I'm just a little nervous of a drop-off. Tuck leaving. Tuck leaving. I still, yeah, I'm a little nervous of a little bit of a drop-off. And, you know, I mean, but what a division that is going to be. So I've got Buffalo penciled in just off to the side there because I'm really hoping they have a good year.

Okay. We got, look, Toronto's, look, Jersey's going to be better. The Bruins, I've got, I've got the Bruins and Toronto and Ottawa in a dead heat. Okay. So let's go there here. Let's focus right now and you can throw in Boston a little bit here. But focus on the Battle of Ontario here. And if you have one of those teams getting in,

what is the separation between Toronto and Buffalo and Ottawa for you? Who are the X factors here on who gets in and who doesn't? Why? Well, let's look at Toronto, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo. And I like the Toronto forwards. I know they're top-end forwards or could be difference makers there. but I also like Sanderson, Shabbat,

Clevin on the left side in that defense. So Ottawa's defense, in my opinion, is much better than the Leaves. The forward, top heavy forward group in Toronto are better than Ottawa's, in my opinion, with the loss of Brady Kachuk. You know, so I think they're right there.

The wild card is going to be, can Allmark be better than last year, And can Bobroski be better than last year? That's going to be real important. Can TANF stay healthy? You know, he and McCabe is a shutdown pair. That's fine, but then it exposes a couple of other guys defensively on the back end. I think it's going to be a dogfight between those two teams to get in.

I really do. I don't see both them getting in again, but, you know, either one of them could get in. And Toronto's got the real wild cards there. I like Jimmy Hiller. I don't know how good a coach he is, but I think the players really like him, and I think that's important right now. But, you know, there's some real, I mean, Rattish,

what's really what's he going to be like? You love his shot from the point. I worry about him defensively. I worry about Morgan Riley and who he's going to be playing with. You know, so I think there's a lot of question marks, guys. So, you know, I'd like to see Toronto going to McKenna. I love watching him, the kid. He's looked good in a couple of games.

So it's going to be a dog fight, boys. Could the difference be that Toronto bonds faster to start the season? Well, they should because they're going to care. They're going to, do they know Arizona's a five-hour flight? They're going to care them back so they can see Austin's house and type of house? Like, seriously. What's wrong with? going out to, what's the little place by the border there?

Niagara Falls? Why don't they go to Niagara on the lake? Just play some black, Jack. Down to the Falls. And they could have Jack Armstrong come in and do a motivational. So, I mean, look, I just, I'm surprised by that one. I mean, I know the Muscoqas, there's a lot of things going on, but Arizona, like, don't you try to get away from Ford?

five-hour flights, like, and you're, you're going there three days before you kick it off. When they're four and one, when they're five-and-one, Mac, you'll know why. Yeah, hey, I hope, I hope for all your guys' sake, they are. I don't care, but I know you guys are really vested in it, and I know it's important, and that, you know, I understand that. But, look, I could care less who gets in or who gets out, so, you know, we'll see what happens. But I think it's, it's unbelievably close. when you look at the teams and you try to sit down and really put numbers as to where they are,

it is really tough, let me tell you. You know, we are very different from last year where we had totally different takes. I agree with pretty much everything. I've got it all pretty similar. I want to know with this Toronto thing, one more thing on them, is how you think they should handle Gavin McKenna early. Do you give them Austin? Do you give them PowerPlay 1?

Do you ease them in? What's the best way to get the most out of this guy? He's, what, 17 minutes in a couple of games? it's not like they're shying away. I mean, the kid has got such great hockey sense and vision. I think that helps the fact that I wouldn't give them Austin right away. I really, I'd give him. I'd play him with Tavaris and whoever, whether it's Nieland or whoever it is.

I mean, and a good second line. I think he's capable of handling that. I think eventually he's going to be a real good power play guy for them. The kid, I like the fact he's living with Tiberis. I love that. You know, we've all tried that. I mean, I remember putting Brulet with Luke Richardson, and it was, you know, you try that with everybody.

I would have put Jared Deb with a family, but he brought his 37-year-old hooker girlfriend over from Russia. So, you know, I couldn't put him with him. Oh, my God. I couldn't put him. Oh, no. Oh, no. Other than that, you know, I think it's a good thing.

I like, you know, the kid looks good. I think he will grow, he will really grow quickly this year. And, you know, I say by the second half, he's going to be a really good player for them. And it's a lot, it's a lot. But, you know, their top end looks good. They keep, isn't it bizarre? All we ever talk about, oh, look at their bottom six. Are you kidding me?

I look at their bottom six. something. Who's any good? They couldn't play Cisions in, in Vegas in the playoffs. I mean, what's his name, the kid from Columbus,

like is Matthew's best friend. Oh, Roselvic. Doheim? I mean, he was not very good in Washington. Like, come on, where's, why do people keep raving about this bottom six? And that's all they want to talk about now. Edmonton, oh my God,

I watched him the other night. all he talked about is Edmondson's bottom six. Like seriously, boys, that's what we've come to with the salary cap is the bottom six has become the major part of team construction now. We know it's important. We know it's important, but that's all we talk about.

Other than Messier and Babcock, oh my God, Babcock, he can't wait. He can't wait to hear himself talk. Oh, my God, I'm tired of it already. Anyway. We're back. I'm so scared to ask another question. I ain't got nothing right now.

Go, please, Tabie, go. Yeah, sure. All right, we're talking about some of these, I don't know, bigger off-season moves. One of the things is that big story is non-trades. We're waiting for Hellebuck. We're waiting for Larkin. Kind of waiting for Hughes.

What's your take on superstars in wait here? You know what? I'm really, I'm kind of ticked off with guys with five years left on their deals. You know, I look, I understand the Hellebuck. Buck thing after the, you know, the, you know, the gold medal and the reception with the family. I get all that. I understand that.

But if I'm Chevy, and I know Chevy a little bit, and I've had Chevy as a top five GM in the league for what he's had to do to keep that franchise competitive. And I feel for him. But I'm going to tell you something, this is not going to be easy. for Hellebach because the little bit I know of Shevitt, he will not, unless he gets the right deal, he will, this guy will sit. And does he come back to the team? You heard the Conner's kids say, Conner say, hey, if he's going to make a commitment to come back

and want to be a part of our team, great. But I'll tell you what, Larkin and him have put themselves in a bind that I would not want to be like. Tough to make deals for either one of them. I don't know where it ends. Let me ask you that, you know, some of the stuff that we see today isn't necessarily something that we've never seen before.

Like, whether or not it's a guy asking for a trade, right? Yeah. A star whining out. Or stars having influence over the next head coach. Like, that's been around forever. But can we not keep anything, in house anymore? Can we is it impossible today

for hellabut to go to Winnipeg or Larking to go to their teams and keep it under wraps and just pretend that everything's fine until something happens but no longer is anything a secret anywhere anything. Everything has to come out

and it's made it way worse. It's it hasn't changed that much except you know the guys with five your deals. That's a little different. As bad as I was saying this to somebody the other day, as bad as it wasn't Columbus, I never had one player ever asked to be traded. Not one player

ever asked to be traded. And we had tough times. I think that you're 100% right in that. To keep a discreet, to give yourself a chance, but to put yourself out there and put the GM and the organization and the fan base turning on them. I mean, I'm watching Larkin. I mean, this guy, to watch him give his interview the other day was sad to watch. It was just, yeah, it was a complete disaster. It was awful. And this is a top young player who's had a great start to his career and to see him what he's going through right now

and why did it have to go that way. I mean, but also by the same token, Nick, you can't give three teams. You can't, you can't hamstring an organization like that. And Hellebuck, he's a gold tender. The gold tender market is a lot tougher than moving a defenseman or moving a forward. You know, so it changes. But I'm telling you, I would not want to be dealing with Chevy right now. I'm telling you, unless he gets the right deal, he won't move.

And Detroit can't afford with missing the playoffs 10 years in a row, they cannot afford to make a bad deal. And they don't even have a GM. I mean, geez. What is going on? What is going on with that? They're waiting for someone from another sport. Do we know what they're looking for here?

I saw a guy just got fired over with who. Was it Liverpool or somebody? Maybe they're bringing him in. Somebody in the U.S. or the soccer league in England. Maybe they're bringing him in because he's good in analytics. I don't know. But I think it's they want a data-driven guy. I know that the guy that's running the search,

Len Perna, was a, was a, When I was at the Red Wings, he was with us for five years. He was a Jimmy Lights guy. He moved when Jimmy went to Dallas. Len Perna went as one of his top business guys. And Len started after Jimmy left Dallas, Len went on his own and started a search company. And he's the guy, who's a quality guy, Lynn?

And he's the guy that's in charge of this search. But like, if you're in, I mean, I've watched the last two NHL searches and I'm a little confused by them. You know, I watched the trauma search. You should just pick a guy in hire him, right? Was that not the old? I thought it was better. After you phone daily or Batman, you, you know, then you would.

But anyway, look, I think it's, it's an interesting time. And, you know, the caps going to 127. Okay. So that's great news. That means the business is thriving and it's great. great news or is it is it not it is it is for some teams it is for all teams is i think it is for 20 teams i think it's great news for 20 teams but i like just think about this guys columbus blue jackets last in the league and revenue okay when i was with columbus we were doing

four and a half million a year tv i bet you they're doing 30 million now now i'm not sure with their local tv deal where that's dropped so They're last in the league and revenue. The Winnipeg Jets are scrambling. Can you imagine if both those teams don't fix, make the playoffs and fix the hell of buck thing? And the cap going to $127 million, I think it's devastating for a lot of the bottom teams. I know it's great for the stars. I know it's great for the salaries.

But what's it due to the bottom third of the league? That's what I want to watch and see how we'll have those bottom third. go right back to where it was 20 years ago and just have their internal cap. And their fan base is just going to have to suck it up when they say that we're not a cap team. Yeah. And you know what? You know, the one thing that ticks fans off more than anything is if you're not at the cap. That's the number one thing that bothers fans.

What do you mean? We're not a great team. And we're not at the cap. All of a sudden, you have cheap owners. And that's what they're calling the ownership in Columbus. They're calling it now in Detroit. I mean, when I was in Detroit, we had a $17 million payroll. And Detroit had a $77 million payroll.

And that was in 19 whatever, you know, in 2001 or 2002. So like I think it's going to be tough going for the bottom third of the league. I really do. But great for the players. So, you know, what we've watched this summer with Ben, Tilly and, you know, Larson, I mean, it's been unbelievable. It's been exciting to watch for our fan, really. Yeah, the Carlson deal this summer, were you surprised by how that all shook out,

the kind of changed the landscape, all of a sudden, Celebrini gets 18, Badaard's getting 15, things done changed. I was shocked by it, to be quite honest. And then I looked at, I looked the other day, he's going to get $38 million this year, a dollar a year. That's what he's going to get. He's going to get his 18 salary and what is it, 19 and a half signing on a

so all of a sudden, that owner is writing a check for him for that 19 year old for $38 million a year. Better shoot a man. And then Cutter comes in at about 36 million a year. So because of the bonuses and the

salaries, it's unbelievable. What would it feel like? what would it feel like to have that much money coming at you and say he scores one goal at home all year? No, no, listen. I told you guys this before when I gave Nash the big cap deal, which was the best rookie deal ever in the history of the league. And I have Nash making $15,000 per power play goal. Dave King leaves his coach.

I end up coach. every time the power play come up, especially a five on three, I'm thinking if I put Nash on, he's going to score, and that's going to cost me 15 grand. And I know, I know Mr. Mac,

Mr. McConnell is sitting on his box saying, oh, no, there comes Nash on a five on three. Anyway, I think that sounds like to work. Rooting against your own guys. I love it. Okay, so one more for me.

It's a story that kind of caught my eye because it's someone that we both know, someone that we started, what, 20 plus years ago, hockey central at noon, it was me, you, and a host name, Darren Millard. I thought his name was Greg Brady. No, no, he was after they fired Darren.

And now I hear he may be the e-bug for the Vegas Golden Knights. No way. At age, drum roll, please, 57 years old. You can have guys that have guys that have. have up to 80 NHL games now. They got Mallard. Well, you know,

3.7. Can he do it? I had him out to a few skates with the Big E. I watched him play summer hockey and P. He goes out with my son Clark and play summer hockey with the West End. They're called the West End Mustangs.

Malard was their goalie for a couple of summers. I went to a lot of games. You know what? He's got talent. We know that. He's got talent. when it comes to talking. When it comes to talking, I'm not sure,

but you know what? I'm afraid that he's going to get it and he's going to pass you in minutes play. So look, but he's going, you know what? He told me this summer, he's going on the road with the team this year.

Yes. Before he was a studio host and in-game hosts at home, now he's going on the road. So maybe it's a natural. And look, they use them in practice a lot. And you know where else they use them?

They use them in the team pitcher. Because the goal he's don't, a couple of years, the goalies haven't showed up for the team pitcher. He sits there and then they replace his head with the other guy. So a big thing in the NHL is surge pricing. So when, you know, really good players come in, they charge top dollars. Where does the price go when they see a 57-year-old in the NHL?

they'll think his name is less finkly than the Pittsburgh Penguin Gump Worzley you know what I think it's great and I have I got to call him because I just saw it yesterday that it was there and I thought oh man is that the best or what that's the best

I would love to see that can we lock you in for a round of golf October 20th what was that? Can we lock you in for a round of golf October 20th when you're up here for the book? Guys I'm going to I'm going to be like Rimmer I want to be phoned around trying to get on a lot of stations. Yeah, I mean, that would be great.

For sure. I played golf with Jim Clark last week at Eagles Glen in Somerside. So we're playing on number five or number 15 pair five. And the second shot, he hits his five iron and he throws his club. I said, Jimmy, we did that when we're 17. What are you doing? Well, I was older than that. Anyway, then we get to the green and he's got a parr.

I said, why did he just throw your club? He said, well, I was frustrated. I said, oh, my God, tell me about it. So, yeah, I will, well, I'm going to be busy, guys. I don't know if I can commit. I don't know. I don't know. Let's see what we can do.

Happy to plug your book one time, you know, in three weeks. Maybe two, but that's the max. Hey, listen, draft days over 50,000. thousand sold and you guys were a big part of it. Honestly, Mac, that's really impressive. That's a huge number of grad. And it's still selling. It's shocking to me.

And I'm hoping game day it'll be fun. All right. Author, President Arthur. James Patterson. We've got you doing a movie by the end of the year. So just sit tight. By the way, they have called by agent about who has a movie rights for game day. It has been asked.

All right. Who's playing Mac? I can't wait to find out. Is Sam not working? He's here. Marty Feldman's playing Matt. All right, Mac. Not a bad start to the season.

The people in PEI will be excited that I was on. Thanks a lot for having me. I appreciate it. All right, everybody, Doug McLean. Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it, pal. What could be a scary season on Fridays. I just hit the break.

We'll regroup after that. Hit the break. We need to regroup here. Hey, before we break, text us, 59590. 59590 is the line. Text us, give us some takes from across the country. And if there's no one from across the country,

we'll do leaves takes. So text 59590. We'll read them over the break. Okay, catch your breath, everybody. It's not the fastest hour in hockey for nothing. Back after these words. Dive deep into Toronto sports and the NFL, the J.D. Bunk is podcast.

Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. All right back at you. Nick Caprio's Justin Boren, Sammy McKee. It's Friday. And if you, by chance,

they're just joining us now and you miss Doug McLean, don't download it. Just move on. I got no comment. Your honor, I plead the fifth. Aronious!

No, no, no, no. Go back, download it, Spotify, YouTube, visit it again. I would love when he's up here to take him out for a round of golf. I'd like to hear him uncensored. Yeah. Uncensored. Yeah. We got him every Friday uncensored.

Where's the censored? Yeah. I assume he's doing some. There'll be some as fun, probably. He is just a lot of fun. Yeah. You can go to a restaurant. You could just be on a bus.

You can whatever. You're just going to get the same guy that you just. saw on our show. So before he gets the text, there was a couple of things that actually I was interested in talking about before we got the text. Yes. First thing is, this salary cap number is crazy. I know he brought it up a little bit with Doug, maybe worth a little bit, a couple more

minutes here, a conversation. Yeah. According to, you know, NHL gave us, this is from the sportset.com. NHL gave us its first estimate for the 28, 29 salary cap, $127.5 million. They are projecting revenues of $8.1 billion. Yeah. I worry about now the separation between the haves and the have-nots coming right back.

I worry that the have-nots will be less competitive. The teams that can't sell enough tickets or popcorn or boxes to support. So what does Ottawa, what kind of revenue does Ottawa have to drive to support a 127 U.S. salary cap? I get that Ottawa downtown building. I think my feeling with it, though, is like if you are, one of these 10 teams, five teams, whoever it is that can't spend and compete up to that level. Yeah.

Don't you feel like the fans will basically revolt, boo, be upset until you end up selling for some cash that goes to some private equity or something? Like, don't you think the type of ownership structures we see will change more than there will be teams not spending? Or the flip side of that, would it be the razification of hockey where teams that aren't able to spend as much are able to bring in people that play it a different way in terms of using analytics and the churn of entry levels.

I don't know where the edges are anymore. They're tough to find it. It's a fair point, but not everyone can do it. I totally agree with you, J.B., that there's almost an entitlement from the fans that you own a team. And we know where the prices are and we can read what they're worth today

and how so-and-so just stroke to check for $7, $8, $9 billion in the NFL and you guys are closing in on $2 to $3 to $4 billion, I don't want to hear non-cap team. Right. No, everybody's a billionaire. This is everybody's toy, and the toy needs to go to the salary cap.

And also, I feel like if revenues are that high over $8 billion, these owners, even the ones of the lesser teams, presumably are getting some pretty nice checks from that. Like, you know, I know you're talking about revenues, but there's these TV revenues and everything else they're pulling from expansion fees. I don't think some, you know, many of these guys are broke. And if they are, that probably has to change.

But yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see how it affects things. I think, Sammy, you probably think for the Leafs, that's a good thing. Yeah, I do. I think, you know, I've always kind of thought that that's... And the Rangers and Montreal and the one that people care about. All the ones with the most fans are going to be good. What a terrible idea.

idea that is. Yeah. I don't know, Chicago, all the, all the, the big market teams. I am curious to see how GM spend now, though. It's like, you know, compared to, like, giving an eight-year-old a $20 bill in a convenience store, it's like, what are you going to buy now? You can buy whatever you want. So Judd Moldover, who is the agent for Connor McDavid.

Yeah. Austin Matthews and Zach Wrenski. The salary cap is projected to jump to $127 million. In the summer of 28, 29. Not even where I'm going. Okay. I could if you want. I thought that's good.

Sure. Like they're all signed with the least super team cop. We went there. I mean, those three guys are going to, it's going to be an unbelievable, like summer, first of all for Judd, but those three guys, the time that cap is jumping, it's going to be insane, the numbers. Pressure on those guys, not tough, but like, you know, Matthews, if he has a good season or two here, yeah.

A good season. Yeah. He is, this is a big year for him. Can you post, you know, again. I still think he gets a huge number regardless, but. It's great for everybody, but it's not really great for everybody because the only ones that are moving up there with that number are the stars. That's not true. Oh, Vili Kuyvenin just got four times eight.

Oliver Moore just got $21 million like that. Justin Sordief, if that's his name. You can find me examples all day long, but the majority of your third and a half to four and a half lines will still sit there at one one one. because you're just not that important. And I can find an example to replace you. Sam, I look at today now Anaheim, and they've got like they're over $30 million in two guys. So, you know, let's just say someone wants to sign McDavid, Matthews,

and Wurinsky. So if the cap's at 127, 135, somewhere in that ballpark in two years or three years, you're still giving half to three guys. Yeah. I get it. It's always been percentage of the cap. It loosens things up, though, you know, beneath it.

But I see your point that it's still the bulk of the money. You'll still go down to, I don't know if I have enough room to add to really support three guys. And at the end of the day, you're just like, no, it'll be like basketball. Just leave them out there for 25, 30 minutes. they should be able to carry the team on their own. But realistically, the guys who will be getting the most money are the guys who move the needle, who score the goals, who sell the tickets? Yeah, like Vladdy.

Oh, well, you know. That's the danger, though. Sure it is. No, that's the danger. Of course, no. You know, these guys don't come through and they get ripped. Yeah, all these guys who just signed these new deals, not all of them are going to hit. Well, like, let's just think of it.

I would be like the first one to report the Montreal Canadians for cheating. They are cheating. someone investigate them for cheating because their contracts, they're ridiculous. Carolina is no different. Well, I mean, Lane Hudson, who, you know, I'm not necessarily as high on as most people. Like, I mean, I think-

Nobody feels worse than him and his family. Well, he's got a long way to go to be- He left $40 million on the table. At least. 40. Over one contract. Yeah, over one contract. What, like, Demadov?

In the year when the, what percentage of the cabas? Demadobs, 12, 14, 15. Well, let's see what he does this. year. No, I'm just saying, though, if he would have waited after this year and put up and was signing today. 55 points, 60 points. What do you have 63 last year? He'd be Fantilli plus. Yeah, it's changed very rapidly. I don't know if ever, do you feel like the Carlson thing changed everything? Like made everyone go, oh, you're allowed to spend those numbers?

Capriza immediately looks fine, good even. Oh, yeah. And the day that was signed, we were all like, whoa, they were desperate to keep him. Crazy. Yeah, and this is all because of an offer sheet. It's not all. The cap was going up. No, it was not. It was going up, but you still had control of suppressing right from the top.

And you could separate Connor from the rest of the league. When Austin's scoring 69 goals, you could separate him from everyone else. but when you see this guy that's done squat in Anaheim, then everybody's going, uh, okay. All right. And that's what changed everything is that those guys, we get it. They're the best. They're the face.

That guy, Carlson, he ain't the face. And he's done Jack's squad. And then for five minutes, he's the highest paid player in the league. So that just pulled everybody up. Fantilli made. $20, $30 million just by waiting off Carlson. $25, $30 million by just waiting. Wow.

I guess, I mean, you talk to more people than I do. I just thought eventually you guys would be making this much money with the cap going up and becoming free agents and all this stuff. Yeah, maybe in two years or three years, but not in five minutes with an offer sheet. It is crazy. You know, like we pay extremely close attention to this league. And there are guys who signed 20 plus million. million dollar deals that if they walked into this room, I'd be like,

I'm not sure. Bill McOyvenin, you know, like it's... But that's where the league's at right now is that you're just, it's just guesswork. It's hedging that this, this guy's going to turn into something. And the more contracts we see, the more we're going to get a percentage of guys that miss. I think if I had to, I'm going to put words in your mouth here,

but I think I know the answer. Of all the ones that have been signed, The Booium one was. Oh, yeah. Insane. We don't, like, nine and a half? What is he? Yeah.

975. Okay, I get, I get the potential and I get the upside. But are you sure? No. That's the one where I'm like, a lot of these are like, oh, it's $4 million. If he's a, you know, a third liner, it's not the end of the world. You know, this one, that's real money. That's real money.

Yeah, 9.38. But then, like, how much do you have to outperform that amount? for it to be great, to be a true, because right now you're, what's he worth now? I don't know, two million a year, one and a half, you know, whatever, based on what he's done, minus 23 last year. So you're so far below it for a few years. How much do you have to exceed it for this to make sense? I wrote about it.

I know I can see the idea and what they're trying to do. This just strikes me is when you're a good young player on a bad team. You just want to lock in a few guys who are going to be around, you know, and he's going to be a part of whatever comes next for them. Well, I hope so. You just be better hit. I don't even know if you love putting that on him. Is that the best thing for his development to say?

Just, I don't know, people would be mad at that in Vancouver. They're, you give a guy a lot of money. It could mess with his head, right? Especially when there's still development, physically, mentally. Yeah. I guess you know, I thought it was too long of a conversation to go to tax. We'll get tomorrow and tax next week. Trevor Zegris got a penalty for tuck in his jersey in. What happened to the league?

Did you guys talk your jerseys? Don't talk it, no, but Wayne Gretzky did. That was cool. In the NHL? Are you crazy? Yeah. There's only one guy that had that look and that. Gratz.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Why would a fourth liner ever try to look like that? Junior you talk? No. Sure. I don't know. If it did, if it did, it was on it.

Yeah. And I had the Cooperalls too, right? You know, I might have been Ken Reed who tweeted it. I forget, but it was like it's, let's. Let some of these guys have some personality. Like, you know, Zegris is the tuck-in guy. You know, he's the tuck-in guy. I personally think,

I have no idea. You kind of deserve a penalty, in my opinion, for that look. I don't know. I don't know what the thinking is. I think the idea is that you need to be able to see the number for a fan in the 500 section to be like, oh, that's Egress. Yeah, listen, if I do believe that's why it is. If Connor McDavid tucked his shirt, I wouldn't have a clue who he is out there.

But I think it's other guys. Still, it is. It reminds me of the time on the opening night. I think it was in Winnipeg. The Leafs played there. And they won that game. I think they won 7 or 6-2. Played great.

Patrick Marlow had a couple goals. Pretty excited about that. But Leo Kamarov was still on the team. And he had his visor up like this. And it was a pretty crucial point game. Early in the game, they gave him a power play. And for his visor being on wrong. And I was outraged by that.

It's a similar thing. It's an equipment malfunction. You're not allowed to do it. Anyways. There's something to be said for. Didn't an NFL. Didn't an NFL? Didn't an NFL guy.

just recently got fine for doing something he's been doing for years. Yeah. Kyle, yeah, use check from the 49ers for the chugging the beer celebration. So he's gotten away with it for a long time and now they just find him 15 grand, I guess. Yeah. Yeah.

The mothers were outraged that their children were going to start chugging beer after touchdown. I have no idea. I would have just said it's actually coffee. I just love chugging my coffee. It's pretty good. It's coffee. It's great. And the last thing I would like to do is just respond to the,

15 DMs I woke up to today about Stenberg. I see you. Patrick. I see you. I see your, I see your, they have been taken. I don't think you ever made the claim he was not going to be good. They have been taken in by me and I acknowledge them. I've seen them.

That's where I'm at. 3 and 1. 10. 10. They won 10. I didn't even see. They won 10. Hopefully it's a, it's a great rookie race.

Yeah. Between those two. I think it's going to be fun in this market because every fan of every other market is going to be shoving those clips into our face to say how much better. Oh, your face. No, just the whole fan base's face. Okay. Yeah.

It's great. It's fun. All right. We've got a guy. Fun's good. Love it. Fun is what we do. For sure.

Especially that Doug McLean segment. That was fun. That was fun. You're heading to the ball game tonight? I'm going to the ball game. Yep. Yep. When did you buy the tickets?

I've had them for a while. The group's been coming in for a while. So we got them. Going to real sports first. So I'm going to tell you something right now. Maybe it's the first bitch. Yeah. Not going to lie.

Our thanks to Doug McLean, former NHL President, GM coach and now author. We're going to hear all about it, I think, all season long. So just pace yourself, people, pace yourself. Our last show this week at 3 p.m. Eastern, as we kick it up now, 4 to 6 Eastern, starting Monday. The season kicks off Tuesday. Yeah, John Chica on our show on Monday.

All right. Not a bad week. A great week. Also, I have a new article, two sentences on every NHL. All right. Enjoy your weekend, everybody. And we're back Monday, 4 to 6 p.m. in our regularly scheduled time.

Stay safe, everybody.