Real Kyper & Bourne - Free Agency Winners & Losers

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Gord Stellick and Sam McKee look back on yesterday's action-packed open to free agency and the biggest stories of the day. They start with Stamkos' move to Nashville and the Lightning's cut-throat decision to let him go. Then, they dig into the Leafs, their new trio of defencemen - Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jani Hakanpää, the plan in the crease and captaincy questions for John Tavares. Next, they discuss the Canadian teams' movement so far - Slafkovský's big extension with the Habs, the latest on the Oilers' GM search and more. Finally, they weigh in on the Blues' activity today and the Rangers' plan for Trouba.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right here we go a couple more shows as we take you from nhl free agency into your summer months nick kiprios in for justin bourne he's lovely. He's talented. Put your hands together for the lovely Gord Stelik. Being a ski racer coming down. Holy mackerel. I was caught. Anyway, looking forward to it. Kipper, always great to catch up with you and Sammy. And a whole lot to digest after a whole lot to digest yesterday.

Like I said, we'll justin bourne a day off today we still have sammy mckee derek brandeo jake the snake schultz with you for the next hour live on sportsnet 590 the fans sportsnet 650 in vancouver and sportsnet 960 in calgary always watchable on sportsnet 360 and sportsnet plus the sour real Kipper and Bourne is brought to you by Bet365. Okay, Gord, yesterday over a billion dollars spent on free agency and none for us. Well, by the way, really good job doing the ins and outs and everything. Not really, Gord.

No, that's not easy. That's not easy. Not a lot of, you know, like Frank Gifford did it. Not a lot of that. They can do what we're doing as the analysts. So you've done a good job. Evidently, you're not getting any more money for it because you're complaining on July 2nd.

Yeah, we'll find out later. No money for us. No money for us. Kipper, it didn't start great. You know, if you had to go back and listen to our first week of shows, it probably would be a special kind of torture. Buddy, today wasn't great. Yeah, no, it was great.

No, you nailed it. You did. Gord's so nice. No, but Gord's right. And I love him. You are really good at it. No, stop it. No, no, seriously, Kipper.

Stop it. No, the ins and outs, people go like, just the stuff, because I did it as well. Just, it looks easy, but actually I found it the most difficult thing about just, because it's always on your mind. That's all I'm saying. When you're sitting here, you can just go, blah, blah, blah, just go blah blah blah blah blah and i love it you know what the real secret is like i don't care well that's the secret yeah is i could totally screw it up and i'm so far

beyond worrying about embarrassing myself or someone coming in walking in the door and saying okay that's enough you're out i'm evolving you know you know when the fan started as canada's first all-sports station you were winning a stanley cup in new york 93 yeah i think you were in grade two or something like that i was six years old okay sperm back so um so the guy uh i've been on a bit and i was making the transition like you were and i remember i mean don cherry was huge huge right huge personality and he said and he said gordon my boy you're doing great you're doing great don't you ever get smooth like those other guys like only he could give a backhanded genuine compliment like that like don't you ever

get smooth so true to my word 10 decades later i never got real smooth that's hilarious i love that is that's a great story yeah and you've been true to your word i i don't think of you as smooth well because they're not and also i was with dan shulman and you're trying to oh my god i know and you're and you're and then so all of a sudden i found he would talk and then i'd so i'd i go well nick uh you know and i go no no just be yourself just be yourself so we're glad you are yourself on our show for the next hour and uh you know no guests just us lots of talking looking back 24 hours or prior uh your thoughts on uh what would stood out biggest story i would start with you was what yeah okay i mean lots of trades

lots of stuff so that was great once stanley cup was hoisted steven stamkos is the bigger story i mean that's just the biggest story because you don't see that happening it's like sydney crosby leaving pittsburgh or something like you you know years ago when people in toronto thought he was going to come here so it's a great story on many levels kipper and you know part of it as well it's a great story about julian brisbaugh whether he's right or wrong business is business and there was a number he wasn't willing to meet and decided there was a parting of the ways and he decided the guy hoisted the stanley cup twice but i got to get down to business and what's best for my team in 2024 which people didn't expect was going to happen i'm going to take you back to your general managing days,

either with the Leafs or, you know, the sample size that you had with the Rangers. Right. And business was business back then, too. But we did see on occasion for certain players between management and who's on the ice that there would have been some soft spots where you would have said, you know, give him the extra this or give him the signing bonus or give, you know, whatever.

But was yesterday a line in the sand that was a huge wake-up call that the loyalty days or owing anybody for anything is over? Loyalty, you bank a lot on it. It's promised a lot. How does Mikhail Sergachev feel? He's in the second year of an eight-year contract, and they sell Tampa Bay no-tax state. I have no idea what the taxes are in Utah.

I don't think it's a no-tax state. He didn't think he was going to be in Utah, right, when he signed that deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So I think, Kippy, you're 100% right. The New York Rangers, you saw a little bit of it with Barkley Goodrell and some others and maybe let's hey look at the carnage of head coaches look at the carnage of head coaches look at the demands and the pressure to win okay out there I think it's been unparalleled compared to other years and all that so I'm yeah I'm just thinking that that's something there is a tax

factoring in under five I think in Utah okay whatever but i mean he wasn't expecting to go to utah when he signed the eight-year deal okay so he and i to be honest with you i don't know about you sammy as well but but kippy i thought steven stamkos um point kucherov sergachev headman and vasilevsky, those six will be there forever. The other guys will go in and out. But he flat out said, we're a better team with Jake Gensel than we are with Stephen Stamkos. And, you know, I'm one of those that got caught by surprise.

The guy had 40 goals last year. He's only 34 years old. Stamkos, I think it's a great, great win for Nashville, what happened yesterday. Do you want Julian Brisebois' clip on Stamkos first, or do you want Stamkos? Well, we could probably julian brisebois clip on stamp coast first or you want stamp coast well whatever you will we could probably go with um brisebois first and then we can go to stamp coast all right here we go general manager tampa bay on steven stamp coast i'd like to start off by stating the obvious i know that it is disappointing that i was not able to come to terms with steven

stamp coast on a contract to keep him within the organization. I know the fans are disappointed. I know Stephen's disappointed. And I'm disappointed. Like everyone, I wanted Stammer to stay in Tampa and finish his career with the Lightning. But like for every player, there were also limits I felt like we had limits that I felt like were the limits that we could allocate in terms of cap space to him. And obviously, Stammer is sincere in all of his statements saying that he wanted to stay in Tampa. That shouldn't be questioned.

He definitely wanted to stay in Tampa. But at the same time, it was clear throughout our process that he also had financial expectations that he expected us to meet and ultimately I felt and made the decision that if I agreed to the terms that he wanted in order to get a deal done I would not be putting ourselves in the best position to chase championships going forward and ultimately we need to make decisions that are in the best interest of the team's success. Okay, regardless if we think it's right or wrong, I do respect Julian for making a tough decision. That in itself, some general managers can't. And they just kind of sit on a fence or they just wait for an answer to come to them instead of them taking charge and being the guy that has the answer. So I'll give him respect on that where he kind of falls off on me is is the fact that you know even in that clip there's a there's a sense that i'm disappointed okay and and i wanted to try to make it work

feel and it's like no no no this was written on the wall you were driving you knew a long time ago that you didn't want him back. And to me, that $3 million on an AAV over eight was just insulting. To me, if you really wanted to try to find a solution, don't you have two or three different offers? Isn't there different ways to skin a cat here? Well, it sounded like it went off the rails from the start. And it sounded like it got personal, which it should start and it sounded like it got personal which it should never get personal i mean he's you know he controlled it so when he says i'm disappointed well you know you could have controlled it like what you wanted you valued ryan mcdonough and maybe you look at it okay we

needed to stud d that's more important than steven stamkos he you know he also got connor connor geeky 11th overall pick of arizona a ago. So he's saying, you know what? That's my next guy to fill the void there. But you're the ex-player. So what are the Tampa Bay Lightning? You won a Stanley Cup. So the players in Tampa Bay, are they saying, I can't believe this? This is brutal?

Or are they saying, you know what? I'm sad about it, but I respect the business side. He's trying to do what's best for the team. And on the other side, whether he's saying it, does Julian Brisbane kind of saying, guys, I really don't care what you think. Okay, I'm in charge. Nevermind the Stanley Cup rings in that.

It's business. I'm in charge of business in 2024, and I'm going to do it my way. What are they saying? Would you like to hear what Hedman had to say about it today after he announced his contract? Let's go there first. I'm just going to read it.

I don't have the clip, but I'm going to read it to you. Okay. It's losing a guy that has been my best friend for the past 15 years seeing stammer go was not something anyone expected same goes for me it's a sad day sad day not just for me but for the fans the organization in the city of tampa for what he has done it'll be hard to imagine going into our locker room and going into amelie arena and not seeing him on the ice. Yeah. And to answer your question, Gord, listen, ultimately, I'm not playing in the NHL to earn best friends. I'm here to maximize my potential and win as many championships as I can.

So you're talking as a player? As a player. Okay. Okay. So friendships are great. Yeah. as they can you're talking as a player as a player okay okay so friendships are great yeah but ultimately if i think i can win or even advance my career with or without you i'll choose without you if if i think it's best for me and and and winning but you don't necessarily know that so your first your first thought is like we're losing a guy that we really like,

that we've won before. So there's a little bit of a void that Gensel cannot fill until he starts proving that he's as good as Stamkos or can do the things that Stamkos did, and we are still on our way to thinking that we can win championships. So that will come much later. The only example I can have when I look back, and I wasn't there when Mark Massey left the Rangers,

but that was a void that the Rangers never filled. And Brian Leach was never the same without him. And we know that Victor Hedman just signed an extension, four years, $8 million, but we don't know exactly how it's going to affect him, physically, emotionally, whatever. And you just have to wait and see. Well, that was a nice PR statement he's reading,

but he's also saying that while he goes, can I sign here where's the new contract like i mean if it was something about i'm not clear if i'm going to sign here now and that because uh at the end you know you know what it's like uh quite often a lot of the um partners the wives and spouses they only watch when their husband's playing you know they only really focus when he's on the ice and that uh i'm not saying all the way, but it's a team business, but it's a selfish world. And, you know, as you know, right, Kipper? It's a total me world when it gets down to the nitty gritty.

I often tell people that I am so happy that I lived in a non-salary cap era. So when a guy like Luke Robitaille comes into our dressing room with the New York Rangers and tells us that, you know, he just signed for $20 million and we are just happier than hell for him. Okay? Now, when someone says that in the room, it's like, your first thought isn't, I'm happy for you. It's, what's that mean to me?

How much is it left for me so getting caught here so here here headman is best friends with stamp coast and essentially the reason why they got rid of you is so i could get the eight times four right yeah yeah well and also if he was asking for four years initially stamp coast would they have acquiesced and figured something out obviously he was asking for more but you you're right. Right now, it's kind of, geez, I'm really happy about your contract, Nick. Let me get a pen out. How much is left in the cap? Because they're going to tell it. They're going to say, Gord,

you know where we're at the cap. Look at the figure there and that's all we have. Well, you shouldn't have given Nick so much. Well, you've already done it. So you're right. Before, it was used as leverage. You used it as a comparable in arbitration. There was no cap. Teams like the Rangers in Detroit bring it in. The more, the merrier. The better the signings and it's a comparable in arbitration. There was no cap. Teams like the Rangers in Detroit bring it in. The more the merrier, the better the signings,

and it's a different world. Players have never been more jealous of each other than this era with the cap era. And it's something we knew and we talked about in the 90s was that this is what salary caps do. That's what they do. They make you fight over money. They'll make you fight each other for it.

And unfortunately, that's what's happened here. And the fans lose too because they lost their legacy player in Tampa Bay. Well, they do, but also it does come back to management. Like Mark Masi left on his own volition because neil smith and the rangers were a dollar a dollar shy and a day late okay as they say right as carolina was with genzel genzel wanted to stay if they would have offered him early early eight times eight he's there would have had him you know what they do they tell him no they tell him why no. They piss him off.

And then they come back to the draft and they offer it to him. And it's like, you dummies. Yeah, it gets personal. Yeah, I guess. You tell the guy you're not worth something and he's probably going to forget about wanting to go there. And then you get that contract offer. You don't want to keep it.

But how about Barry Trotz? He's basically saying, I don't want the team david poyle gave me when i had a coach all the time i believe they worked together for so long i know and he's yesterday he was so on david poyle well totally like i mean they had david leg wand forever that was their only forward they had great goaltenders great defense no forwards and what it started last year when they were sellers of the trade deadline and they got better they got not you know then they went and got nyquist and ryan o'reilly and these kind of lesser known free agents last year and then boy oh boy to have stamp coast land in your lap and then the other

two uh although you know the the brady shea contracts interesting money wise but generally to get a ufa you spend a little bit more and defensemen seem to be a little bit more of a premium but they got a a real trifecta. Too often we say teams, you know, people get excited about the emotion of July 1st and they overrate how much the team has improved. But in the Nashville's case, boy, this was, they certainly stole the show.

Yeah, it's another guy that went and signed there that not on the same level as Stamkos, Gordo, but the Marcheseau thing where he wins their first cup in franchise history. He's the Conn Smythe winner, and he says that they never really even wanted to sign him. Like it's another, you know, Kelly McCrimmon has made a lot of cutthroat decisions there, and it's another one that he made on free agency day.

And, you know, two guys that got slighted by their organizations end up in Nashville. So, like, they're a lot better, Nashville. Like, that's, you know, they were plucky enough last year, and you had those two guys. It'd be really fun to watch them play this year. Nick Kiprios, Sammy McKee, and the very smooth Gord Stelic in studio today. You know, Gord, the Leafs got knocked out, of course, as we know,

in the first round. And it took everything for Sammy to not talk Leafs all the time since they got knocked out. Yesterday, we weren't on nationally. We spread our wings. It was an hour and a half of Leafs. What was the Jack Campbell offer you had a couple years ago? Oh, here we go.

Jack Campbell had a big game, and Sammy was going to give him, like, Ovechkin money or something like that. I called him Cujo multiple times. I said you can't let him walk out the door multiple times. Yeah, I said a lot of dumb things about Campbell. We're going to give Sammy his fill here and let's talk

Leafs. They made I guess the blue line the priority with Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsen and Yanni Hock. Hock and Pa. And Pa. Hock and Pa.

Yes. That's a big thing nowadays about the Hock and Pa. That seems to be a big social media thing. You can become a star with anything that has to do with Hock. Brad Trelibbing, one thing he did in Calgary, two things he's done here, I think. Calgary, he focused on defense. A lot of trades, you know, Dougie Hamilton, whatever it may be,

like a lot of bringing guys in, signing free agents. So he's looked at that a little bit more. He also hasn't given up draft picks the same way Kyle Dubas did, which I'm glad because the Leafs, I mean, Nashville, they got like multiple draft picks still because they were sellers and they've accumulated all these. And Toronto has draft picks that befits a stanley cup champion which they're not so i thought he did a decent job okay i thought he did a decent job he's stuck because they don't have a

lot of money so if they wanted you know say pesci for example or or they wanted brady shay whatever the bigger name defenseman uh they weren't going to get him. I think Tanev is the right kind. I mean, if they play like they're supposed to. So if he is the great partner for Morgan Riley, okay, we know he's a solid shot blocker, physical defenseman. We know the style he is. And if Oliver and Ekman Larson is a better power play point guy than Morgan Riley, you know, if they have the right kind of niches,

if they scouted them appropriately, then I like those particular moves. But there's no question, I wasn't expecting wow. You didn't get wow. You need the Bobby McMahons of the world to improve. You need the Matthew Nyes of the world to improve. You need Timothy Lilligren to really improve, you know, some of those guys from within to get there. They're not as good a team as they were two, three years ago. Two, three years ago, I had them as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. They still could win the Stanley Cup. They could do it like Washington did when your best days are behind you, but you get hot in the playoff.

But that's what's disappointing. When Florida hoisted the Stanley Cup five years ago, I, and certainly Sammy and many of us, thought that'll be the Toronto Maple Leafs. If there's a team from the Atlantic Division, that should be the Toronto Maple Leafs. And here we are five years later. It's not.

It's the Florida Panthers. And you can't cry over spilled milk and you can't fix it all in one day. For a team that struggled to score goals or get a power play goal here, they lost Bertuzzi. And Bertuzzi didn't have a great year. But there was a presence that he brought every night. At least the opposition would look at a guy like Bertuzzi didn't have a great year, but there was a presence that he brought every night. At least the opposition would look at a guy like Bertuzzi and say,

I don't know, might be a tough night against him, but they've lost that presence here. So where are you up front for them? And the distraction of Mitch Marner. Well, I mean, Leon Dreisaitl is a distraction distraction too I I think in both cases Edmonton and Toronto you just got to go in that if you're talking about winning the Stanley Cup which both teams are your best chance is 100 million miles more with Mitch Marner in your lineup whatever I mean whatever you get for Mitch Marner in a trade isn't going to come close so I I'm I think Calgary I think Brad Treliving and Calgary would rethink Matthew Kachuk

well just stay see where we go they had a really good team that year you know and and you made the preemptive trade and hey what the hell take a chance go for it like kawaii leonard with the toronto raptors one and done but you still ended up with wieger and it was a solid defense yeah but but huberto that contract that's a contract's a killer. That contract's a killer. So anyway, the Mitch Marner distraction, I don't understand the whole distraction element, how it got to that point, but that's a story for another day. Up front, yeah, Bertuzzi really found his way the last half of the season, a rule.

That's a loss. Max Domi really did. What about in the playoffs? Showing his versatility and filling in, really did. So the point is, I don't know if some of the young kids are maybe available to start coming, but there's no question. You're not getting a wow factor guy back, and those days are over. So last year against the Boston Bruins,

because right now we've got the enormity of all these years with no playoff success, but last year you break it down. They competed hard. They went to Game 7 in overtime. They didn't have Matthews for a chunk. They didn't have Nylander for a chunk. And, well, things like the power play not going. They ran into an excellent goaltender.

So I'm still bullish about this particular team and the way it is evolving. But it just doesn't have – it had more of a wow factor a couple years ago, but they lost in the playoffs with more of a wow factor. Maybe they can go further with less of a wow factor. I think I really like how much better the decor looks. I think if you look at it right now, with adding Tanev, adding Oliver Ekman-Larsen, adding Hockenpah into the mix here,

I think it looks better. But, you know, you think about that series against the Bruins last year. I mean, what were the scores in every game? 2-1 or 3-1 or 3-2? Like, there was no high score in games. that series against the Bruins last year I mean what were the scores in every game two one or yeah two or three one or three like there was no high scoring games the defense wasn't an issue and when it comes down to it every single one of these playoff failures that we always talk about boys it's always the lack of scoring and I understand him addressing the defense and getting

better guys in here I totally get that but when you look at that forward core right now, it's just going to come down to the same thing that it always has, where you need the guys that have underperformed. And I'm not just saying Mitch. I'm saying Austin. I'm saying Willie at times. Tavares, you need them to perform.

And I just, I don't have the faith that it's going to break through one of these years. How many games, consecutive games was it? They scored two or three goals in the playoff god like it was seven heading into this anyway whatever it may be but you're right i mean and those are the guys they've re-upped he landed every up matthews uh i mean taveras that'll give some cap space but i mean those big four have never never been the big four in the playoffs and there's going to be a big ask on top of that on on mcmahon and matthew nice yeah they've got to carry a lot of freight on

that left side yes yeah oh no totally i mean again we're jumping again we're jumping you know and also we're making the assumption they make the playoffs because we're already jumping to game number 83 which every year we jump to game number 83 again because by and large those other 82 games have been relatively speaking exceptional or satisfying at least but i still think they're an easy playoff team but you wonder about you know detroit ottawa buffalo i'm not saying they're ready yet but they've been on the outside looking in for a while i don't know if it's time that one team in the atlantic gets disappointed or not i don't think it is and i certainly don't believe it'll be the toronto may police but god heaven forbid you get down to that next level like new jersey and seattle did

last year playoff success and then out of the playoffs and we're just making this assumption they're going to be in the playoffs yeah the atlantic's extremely competitive there's a lot of good teams in the east a lot of teams got a lot better too so yeah kipper on hawk and pa yeah you see that what simmons wrote yesterday yeah, he wrote that there's a serious situation on his knee. Yeah. Have you heard anything on that? The only thing I would tell you is that you got to really believe that the Leafs knew about it and checked it out

and had their doctors look into it. Either maybe he had their own physical on him or they just took a report off of it but i gotta think that they checked it through and through and were comfortable enough not just to give him a one-year deal but give him a two-year deal yeah that to me is the second year is significant for them but he also played his last game march middle of march and never returned and the other thing that kind of concerns me from just looking from afar is that they let this guy go who's six foot seven 230 230 31 or 32 years old. So not old by any stretch. They let him go and they replaced him with a guy that they paid twice as much for.

I don't care if it's the Bushkin or not. They were willing to pay another guy three and a half million dollars over a guy that they could have had for a million and a half or two. Now, did John Klingberg have injury worries heading into this season? Did he arrive as damaged goods? I mean, did he arrive at the question? He always had hip issues. He had multiple hip surgeries.

But Brad wanted to make it very clear that they didn't get damaged goods. Yeah. But it was a $4.5 million contract that he signed for one year, right? Yeah, so I don't know. I mean, you hope this isn't the case and kipper you know what nowadays i mean they really do check these things out do but dallas was not comfortable with his knee yeah

that i know for a fact that they thought that it wasn't just a doctor going in there and cleaning it up, that there was some issues that left him questionable. You know, if you're dealing with anything that's bone on bone, which I think Steve Simmons described in his report, you can go through stretches where you're fine, but then if you disappear for two or three games, it's because something's flared up. Well, but that's why it's 1.5 million. That's why they couldn't keep Ilya Labushkin,

who we talked about, or Joel Edmondson, right? I mean, they would preferably, because, you know, just like Luke Shen last year, he played so well that he got kind of money that was no longer a sixth commensurate with a sixth or seventh D. So I would have to think that's, because to your point, Klingberg more was expected.

That was a bigger ticket. If the players hurt, of course you can, then the cap isn't a problem. So obviously they were looking at, they needed to get us to me a seventh D. He's got a whole lot of size and they're taking the optimistic point about a guy that's got question marks.

Look like a lot of players do who've had some health issues. You know, Joe wall, they're their number one goaltender, you know, and joe wall i'm really big on joe wall but you have to be worried about injuries because if there's been a history of it it's a it sometimes you look back you look back and you never look back and other times it never goes away that i mean you mentioned the the playoff thing gordo and i do think that they have enough talent where if joe wall gives him league average or above goaltending that they're going to make the playoffs but where

it goes a little sour for me is his inconsistency staying healthy and if he's away and then stole ours maybe it's his first time being a starting goalie in toronto matt murray backup you get below average goaltending that for me is where like the real concern is, is the goaltending. I don't necessarily trust Joe Wall to be super healthy the entire year. That's concerning. Well, Stolarz, all these Florida Panther players celebrated the ones they didn't re-up

and got big contracts. You know, Lomberg getting $2 million in Calgary. Montour, big money in Seattle. Stolarz, $2.5. That's not backup goaltender money that's 1B and he really did a solid job his stats are great last year in Florida so

you're hoping that okay they have a tandem here that's the hope. Boston Allmark, Swayman yeah no no exactly usually doesn't end up working well and then like you saw in Boston, eventually one goes, but for a year anyway, you know, get some depth there.

So again, it's. It buys, it buys wall time though. Yeah. Yeah. And also not, you know, and also if they can split the games more. Exactly. Buys wall time. But you know, you were the one guy and it goes back that nothing.

It was off the charts when john taveras was signed on that day july 1st like off the charts happy days are here again all those and and kyle dubas made a remark back then that he believed everybody else was he had an understanding about every other with nylander matthews marner which very quickly and started with nylander that he didn't he didn't have any idea what kind of money they would, like would they take a hometown haircut or what, or didn't. And it started those problems. And you were the one guy that mentioned it last night. That night, that night it means.

Like it's great to have Tavares, but that $11 million on top of everything else is going to, it's going to handcuff you. It's a domino effect. It's going to handcuff you. And here we are six years later, and the handcuffs get tighter. Yeah. I got to ask you, before we go to break, we the handcuffs get tighter yeah uh i gotta ask you

before we go to break we had a conversation you brought up john tavaris i mentioned uh the leafs may be having conversations on when to go to austin matthews for captaincy anyone talk about that uh yeah i kind of kind of had a life of its own listen that conversation like is inevitable so would would you deal with it sooner or would you just let him ride it out, keep the captaincy, and then make Austin a captain next year? My gut feeling would be the latter.

And I also look at, you know, John Tavares came here and incurred the wrath of Islander fans, which he's continued to incur the wrath to come home. Kipper, I always talk about it. The dressing room is real. Nobody else outside of the dressing room is as plugged in about like, is he the de facto leader, got to be the leader, you know, and they'll be pissed off if he gets a seat taken from him.

Or you know what, when you shake things up and hey, they did it in San Jose. They've done it other places. They've changed the C. That if somebody else truly, just a leadership group is one thing, but it's truly the person, then he should be wearing the C.

Is it super important? He wears the C, I don't know. Again, like I'd like to get a read there. John Tavares is such a professional. He's such a great pro he does all the little things we don't see well he's not a dynamic personality and i'm not saying that's what you should have but i i kind of look at that in a captain a little bit more fiery or what have you so and in toronto it just adds more layers about being wearing a c in a canadian city or an original

16 so to answer your question i i don, I don't like letting it ride. I don't think that's the right term because I think he's a quality captain and leader. So I would leave it for another year because obviously that's a big year with his contract being up. Think of the things you know. It's not something that's going to keep Austin Matthews here or not because he signed for a few years.

Like what do you think? I would give it to Austin because I want more ownership on Austin. For me, it's not about what it takes away from Tavares. It's challenging Austin. It's what it gives Austin now. Do you think Tavares would buy it? Like, not that it matters. How do you think he would feel?

Listen, I would hope he'd say, I had it for six years. I see the writing on the wall. I would be happy to pass that torch on. So, well, and you know what? Instead of playing the I'm insulted card. And we want someone to be, again, to go back to your 94 team, be that Mark Messier in the playoffs. Any of them, okay?

Any of them. Be one of those personalities that we say at the end of the playoff that, oh, my God, like, you know, Austin or Mitch or Willie or Tavares or Morgan Riley, like, like they, they, like they did what Gary Roberts did, you know,

or they, you know, they, they, they, they did what Darcy Tucker did. They, you know,

they did what Matt's did, you know what I mean? Like, you know, even though Matt's doesn't get enough credit for it, you're all in on Austin, you've made him the highest paid guy a couple of times here. He's your face.

You've built the whole thing around him. Just now make it abundantly clear, but this is here he's your face you've built the whole thing around him just now make it abundantly clear bud this is now it's your team this is your room this is your players you know i kind of prefer you not disappearing to arizona for two months of the summer and hanging around here more maybe it puts more of that feel to him that this is your town. This is your team. This is your room. Keep the guys together. That's where I would go with it. And you know what I like about Akipi, thinking it through,

is, you know, little things can be weird, okay, and can be a precursor of things to come. There was that strange game that didn't matter between Tampa Bay and Toronto, and all you watched is if Kucherov can get more points, and can Austin Matthews get 70. And you know what? And that almost was a

bleep up heading in the playoffs that said, okay, that's where we were all wrong. Like, I was caught up on about, like, because he got on that tear at the end, and then you go, we're always, and I mean, we as fans, we're kind of over-focusing on the wrong things. You know, it still would have been neat, but you know what, now, okay, now the hell with it.

Let's have Austin and everybody ready. And I'm not saying they weren't, they don't try to be ready for game number one or whatever, but whatever that next level is for a playoff game and all the individual stats, you know, and I do believe them all when they want to buy in the team concept about team stats. But it is funny that we were getting set for the playoffs with this ridiculous regular season game that it

was just feeding austin and feeding kucherov and it was like we were watching i don't know kids play or something like that with one elite player on each team being fed the puck by everybody else okay we're gonna go to break my Very smooth. Put a mandate on it. Did he? Okay. But when we return, plenty of talk about Montreal Canadians re-signing their young stud. A great signing,

I think, in Vancouver. They didn't get Gensel, but they got a guy that's pretty familiar with at least his last name around Sportsnet. Yeah.

Adam Henrique, also re-signing in Edmonton. Plenty more still to come on Real Kipper and Born and Cordstellic. Unrivaled insight, analysis and opinions on all things Blue Jays. Blair and Barker.

Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts sammy mckee gourd stellick and now sammy a little game time uh yeah it's july 2nd and i still need to read it but a little more um july 2nd. Please. You didn't even try. I've only done this 150 times this year, and I still have to read it. So it's game time. It's game time.

Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 is a 19-plus Ontario-only. Please play responsibly. Now, since there's no hockey, and I gave out a horrible Blue Jays pick yesterday because Blue Jays suck,

I thought I would look at the regular season futures for next year for the awards. Michkov is the favorite for the Calder Memorial Trophy, tied with Macklin Celebrini at 4-1 and Logan Stankova next at plus 450. Cutter Gauthier, plus 500, and Will Smith, plus 500 as well. So interesting there. Interesting to see what they get at Michkov.

I'll give you guys one guess who the favorite for the Hart Trophy is. Oh, McDavid. Yeah, it's McDavid. Do they do second and third? Yep. Okay, so would McKinnon be right there again? He's second. So McDavid is a plus 175 favorite, so barely anything.

McKinnon's plus 700. They would throw Austin third. Plus 850. Gensel? Gensel, he's down the list. All I know is, you know which rookie is going to get booed the loudest in an opposing arena? Oh, my God.

Carter Gauthier in Philadelphia. Absolutely. He's going to get it. Jake Gensel is 201, Gordo, so you can make some good money on that one. The favorite for the Norris for next year? The favorite for the Norris next year is Kael McCarr. Okay. The next closest is Adam Fox and Quinn Hughes.

And the last one I'll bring up here is the Rocket Richard favorite. I think you probably know who it is. Austin Matthews. Yep. And he is a minus 110 favorite. And where would Hyman or Reinhardt be? Because they may have well had career years and never get close to that again.

Reinhardt is 100 to 1. So they're feeling the same thing as you. Zach Hyman is 22 to 1. So they think playing on the line with McDavid that he's got a chance to repeat what happened. So give me second and third on that out of curiosity. Pasternak is plus 550. And Leon Dreisaitl is plus 850.

Kirill Kaprizov, sorry, is plus 800. So there you go. All right. And oh, I guess we should do the Vezna while we're at it. Igor Shisterkin is a favorite. Jeremy Swayman is the second favorite plus 600. So some interesting numbers there. He is good.

Yeah. He's really good. He's really good. Really good. Yeah. That was really good. He's really good. Really good. Yeah. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app,

play the stars, and find out why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay. Speaking of young studs,

Gord, and I'm not going back to your high school days. George Vanya. Yeah. You were there too. Yes. Yeah.

Slavkovski. Yeah. went from a guy that i thought maybe could use some time in the american hockey league to 60 million dollars on an eight-year deal who showed tremendous strides but it's i cannot believe in such a short period of time that he went from a guy struggling to now 60 million dollars how surprised were you to see that extension um i don't think surprised at all because you know number one overall pick and you know you made him number one overall pick he really grew by leaps and bounds i know i know leaps and bounds 100 right and after this year they probably offer the same. You know what I mean? I don't think it would be much difference to the kind of saying, look,

Cole Caulfield and Nick Suzuki are 7.75. They made him 7.6. You've got, I mean, think of the Leafs, hypothetically, had Matthews, Marner, and Nylander in under 8 million, you know, a few years ago. I mean. So you're just hedging right now that this thing is going to be a bargain in three years. Well, look what New Jersey did withughes i mean jack hughes would love to not be

making eight million for the next seven years so you know the the the air of the bridge contract is gone the idea i think gary bettman thought when 2005 you get the entry level it's fixed you'd get unrestricted free agency it's after. So you'd hit a home run then. And the four years in between would be bridge deals. Well, that's not been the case. So you re up in, in return, you get term and the backside.

I always liked this guy's personality, big personality, really liked it. Love the way he loves the game. And I, you know, you got to believe in the guy, like he's improved and you've made a commitment there.

And if worse comes to worse, first of all, it could be a hell of a deal year, six, seven, eight, or like what happened with all of a deal year 6, 7, 8. Or like what happened with Alderweirend, Larson, and many others, what happened to him in Vancouver, you buy them out.

It's not the end of the world. It's not what you prefer, but it's not the end of the world. Yeah, there's a chance that you look at this in three years and he's dry sidle. And you're like, wow, we got one of the, you know, a premier player in the league got 7.6 million or whatever. But the other side of it also exists too. But I don't know. It was just a

it was a sticker shock number for me so how about our buddy jacks in edmonton jeff jackson said he's not going to be a general manager in the big picture so and i believe that why anyone who's a president asked brendan shanahan that question years ago when he when there was no gm before he hired lou and i just said what about you and he no. And I can see that now why people like being president. But did you like what Edmonton did? I thought like whether, you know, Jeff Jackson, if it's a short time, not a long time, I think his body of work the last 72 hours was really solid.

Listen, he's managed to bring a lot of guys back. That was part of that. His whole third line. Right. So that gives you at least another shot of keeping this energy in in the room i'm not sure what he's going to do with evander kane uh skinner is now there three million so there's a sense that maybe they're either trying to try to move him or they get a secondary situation where they can buy him out you like arvidson i like arvidson i do too like i just

thought that was another as a depth guy i thought that was another he's a fireball yeah so i think the one exception i kind of questioned a little bit of the draft was the sense that they had to give up a first rounder to move into 32nd to go get sam o'reilly from the london knights and this has nothing to do with me questioning sam o'reilly right but for a team that it will be in a must win mode next year wouldn't you have liked to held on to that first rounder at the deadline obviously yeah couldn't agree more couldn't agree more well yes instead of a guy that won't help you for a couple of years you have to look at both though and the thing is being in the scouts meetings and i'm i miss being in the scouts meetings i don't in many ways because they were

long okay but i mean i loved hearing the everything about everything and first of all you only get one out of every 32 players that are discussed. Right? But I like to hear, like, say, Nick Kierpios and Sammy, their opinions on all the players, and then you store it. A guy named John Chapman was just a great scout. He coached out in Lethbridge, and then he scouted with the New York Rangers when I was there.

And you listen to his opinions about everybody, and you go, man, he really knew his stuff. You know? And so if you got a scout, and Jeff Jackson very plugged in, having been in the player agent business, that for whatever reason, they have a feeling that this guy is a, whether you want to call him diamond in the rough or whatever it may be, then in the big picture, that's what you're looking at.

Okay, we're going to give them a better pick next year than 32nd overall. We hope not. Or 31st overall. We hope not. Maybe. but yeah so i that that's all i'm saying that you as a general manager you got to play things both things you know different ways so you know not having that first round pick sure is a trading chip you don't have but you also have to look at the talent coming in from the bottom up as well and i guess if you want to look at it from that that's a good point gordo and if sam o'reilly is really good this year in london and he's lighting it up ala cowan did this year where he was looked at as one of the prime prospects outside of the nhl you could maybe use him as in a trade at the deadline next year instead of the first round pick or something so

you could look at it from that perspective as well but i was kind of i love those kind of deals though you always want like minnesota wild moved up one pick, right? Yeah. Years ago, Ottawa moved up two picks to get Eric Carlson. I always wonder, what's the dynamics, how that happens? And I'll tell you, Kipper, a general manager, you have a big staff, but you got one individual, maybe two, that have your ear, okay? And all of a sudden, it's like that old EF Hutton commercial, when EF Hutton talks, everyone listens. If that person comes to you and you go, okay, you know,

Kipper's at a different level, so we really got to get Sammy. He's big on Sammy in a way that he rarely is big on someone, and we got to figure out a way to make this work. The Vancouver Canucks end up with Jake DeBrusque. I'm a huge Jake fan, especially and Sammy's pointed this out, how much he's killed the Leafs in the playoffs. Good riddance.

There's some guys that can rise to the occasion at a certain time of the year and Jake's that type of guy. That's what the Leafs need in the playoffs. They need a Jake DeBrusque type performance, but you're right about that with Jake DeBrusque and even if you didn't like him i'd be afraid to tell louis that you don't so we always do because he's one of the but the best

guys going but he was a physical force i thought maybe there might have been in calgary a little bit more noise about naz cadry maybe thinking about moving on as well it just seems that calgary's in this rebuild mode yeah do you think he still has a future in Calgary? So I wonder what teams look at the $7 million figure. I think that's a good number for Kadri. He certainly went there expecting to win. I know he's already won in Colorado, but when he went there, that was that team that,

see, they had that one meteoric year and Daryl Sutter was being viewed as kind of a brilliant Forrest Gump. And then a year later, he was out to pasture. Well, they lost to the Oilers in the second round of the playoffs, right? Was that the Battle of Alberta when McDavid scored in overtime? But also, I mean, Mangiapane signed his contract that year, got a ton. Lindholm got 42 goals, which he never came close to.

Like, all these guys had marqueee seasons and they brought Kadri in. And anyway, I would think it's not over. Just because July 1st doesn't mean things are over. And I would think that if you're looking, I mean, and Nazem Kadri, that's the kind of player the Leafs have needed in the playoffs. He always went a little too far. I mean, the feistiness he had to, but they really, that's what they needed. That was the perfect kind of guy.

I'm not saying he's going to come to Toronto or anything like that, but I got to think there'd be noise about Nazem Kadri and I'd be on Craig Conroy. I think it's going to come. It may not even come this year, but it will come. I look at the Calgary Flames right now and I go for Craig Conroy.

This is all about getting to a new building. Yeah. Right? So... Bridging the gap. Bridge, just bridge it. And then when we get into that new building

and we start jacking the prices up, you need a good team to justify $30 beers. Yeah. Well, 40 by then. Raptors didn't need that this year. Well, that means compel the Jays about, you know, that's why the extra disappointment when you've done what you've done to

Rogers Center. Yeah. And, you know, you got to have a playoff team. You know, that kind of thing. Maybe they still will. I don't know. Anyway, whatever. I'm not going to talk baseball.

They don't. Blues busy this afternoon. Yeah. Big signing. Yeah. Well, they acquired matthew joseph uh radic fax up from ottawa and then from dallas and a third round pick with matthew matthew joseph for future considerations and then they signed pavel buchnevich to a six-year contract

with an aav of eight million dollars that's a big ticket wow yeah that's the that's a the rangers let him go yeah i really like him a lot. Every time I watch the Blues, he really pops for me, but I'm surprised at that number. It seems like a lot, does it not? Again, you look at it, and that is, like Kipper said, the problem. The number affixed to the cap world, first of all, whether there's jealousies internally because there's only so much of the pie

to go around, so there's resentment in some cases and the other one is just saying hey what do you think nick kiprios yeah this is it yeah yeah yeah then at that yeah well i don't know about that you never used to say that no you're right you never used to say that like how's your d look it's nick it's sammy it's whatever the salary didn't come up at all one more as we closely uh closely run out of time here but this whole jacob truba story with the Rangers, and I haven't really followed that closely, but there's a real sense that the Rangers want him out.

And I don't mind him. I get sometimes he can make some aggressive moves out there that he gets caught on, but there's still value for me in what we still consider the best open ice hitter in the game i well it's kind of funny chris drury's gotten kind of snarky about a lot of things right now and again is he doing what julian brisbaugh did in tampa bay about just saying hey uh business is business and then you know sammy truba something about his his wife

is going to medical school so that's a complication to go somewhere else story yeah i mean you know, Sammy, Trouba, something about his wife is going to medical school. So that's a complication to go somewhere else. It's part of the story. Yeah. I mean, you know, and then, but I don't talk, I was actually talking to Brian Burke earlier about different things. And you're saying, isn't there like, if Detroit wanted him, is not the medical school in Michigan, any, any, whatever.

But how much should the team worry about that or not? You can say, well, that's not the team's problem. But yeah. And he does have no trade, no move protection. And I'm sure exactly when it drops to a certain amount of teams. But there is a sense that he's exercised it and it's pissing somebody off. So here's the headline from Larry Brooks' article in the New York Post. Wife's hospital residency among factors

keeping Jacob Truba with the Rangers. So, like you guys mentioned, there's other things other than him wanting to be, you know. Yeah. I mean, that's why they give him no trade clause. Well, that's why he negotiated. That's right. That's why, you know.

It's with Marner right now. It's like, if he had a no-move clause, he probably would be moved. This is from Pete Blackburn's Twitter account. The Truba stuff over the past few days has been so uncomfortable in a lot of different directions. I get wanting to move on, but a no-move

clause, no-trade clause doesn't just belong to a player. It belongs to a family, too. It doesn't matter who wants to exercise it, and we probably shouldn't know that stuff. I thought that was a good tweet. I think that's bang on. Nailed it. Totally. Pete thought that was a good tweet i think that's totally nailed it totally because the background is good follow because now information you don't know about it used to be the fact book you know hey nick and his wife ann marie and there's the name of their three kids and they do whatever and let's do if you know you know now information's

kept pretty tight in that regard so you know what's not a secret cord what's that smooth you are we love you gordo. We love you. Well, I appreciate it. Hey, shout out to Dale DeGray. Yeah, worst move I made. Took Brad Marsh in the waiver draft, then dropped Dale DeGray. They got claimed by LA. And that's why I'm broadcasting now, Dale.

You're doing a great job. Shout out to your tack, baby. Love it. With the Owen Sound attack. Thanks for doing this today, Gordo. Hey, that's the slice. Great job, Kipper and Sammy. I've enjoyed watching, listening all year.

One more show tomorrow. Join us on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Have, that's the slice. Great job Kipper and Sammy. I've enjoyed watching and listening all year. One more show tomorrow. Join us on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Have a great night, everybody.