Real Kyper & Bourne - Inside the Islanders with GM Mathieu Darche

Episode Date: October 23, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look back on Dustin Wolf's post-game comments calling out his team after the Flames' overtime loss to the Canadiens. Then, Islanders GM Mathieu Darche joins the show (12:34) to discuss his early impressions of first overall pick Matthew Schaefer, his transition to GM, succeeding Lou Lamoriello, and how the Isles take the next step towards contention. Later, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss whether the Flames should tank this season, if the Canadiens' strong start is sustainable, and who the Habs might target in the trade market.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.

right back at you on the real kipper and born show the kiprios justin born sammy mckee jake the snake shills derrick brando for the fastest two hours in hockey we are live on sports net 360 sports net 650 in vancouver 960 in calgary and always streaming on sports net plus don't catch us live no crying in baseball right just go to uh

get up and then he hit a big home run just go to Spotify Apple podcast and YouTube and have a listen at your convenience this hour of real Kippin Bourne brought to by Bet365 in a few minutes we'll welcome in the general manager of the New York

Islanders Matthew Darsh who you know had his hands full And, J.B., you know this from your association over the years with that Islander organization. It's been a challenge. A real challenge. They've got a bright light and an 18-year-old rookie here who's sent an NHL records right out of the gate. But we'll get into that and so much more.

And outside of that, Sammy, you've got your starting pitcher for Game 1 in the World Series. Trey, Trey, Trey. And I'm wearing these stupid headphones like DJ Jazzy Jeff. over. It's like a Cone of shame for a dog after they've been

at the vet. You forgot my eye for me. He'll never look bad in his fingernails. So I'm like an idiot.

You're going to game one. I'm going to game one. Yeah. I heard your story yesterday. Do you like Trey? I got offered two behind the J's dugout for tomorrow night.

For free or for pay? No. No. pay. No, I'm not paying for it. Oh, are you saying you're going? No, I'm not. I'm working. Oh, no. Oh, Kip, you got, just leave me alone, buddy. I'll do it solo. No, I'm working. No, we gotta talk to somebody. No, we gotta talk to somebody. No, we got to somebody. I'll do it. I got to, I got to work. Anyone listening? I got Toronto and Buffalo, regional on Sportsnet. All they had to do is move the game to five and I'm gold.

Yeah. They move it from 730 to 7. What does that do for anybody? Everybody, seriously. It's about Saturday. It makes Saturday viable. The Saturday. Kippie, I'm sick for you, brother. That's honestly,

listen, we have an incredible job and we're blessed to get to do what we do, but that is one of the toughest breaks of all time. I'm fine. No. Sammy, I'm fine. Okay. I will say this.

If I do the early retirement thing, see you later. Can I say something? Going to game one, then moving to Florida. For the son of a Greek, immigrant kid who went from like nothing to winning a Stanley Cup 30 years ago in 1994 okay everything is well below that including game one of the world series you've hit you've

hit your career high you know what I don't feel bad for you anymore thank you yeah you want you want to you got the Stanley Cup above your head in Madison Square again yeah so I I I take it back I I love like living vicariously through you now going to your Stanley Cup world series Super Bowl whatever it is to you by far the biggest game I'll ever attend it it's great to see how excited you are and I do bigger I this year I will take a page out of Mark rassier because when we won the Stanley Cup we took it to the china club right and I'm up stage I'm on stage with like Brian leach and Ricky and a few of the other guys and we're going crazy and at the other side of the

room was just mess just having a beer yeah almost not by himself but he's just standing and watching us now like hey mask you get up here man this is great this is awesome he's like yeah i've done it five times before i i just like watching you guys i do this most of the seasons i play so so i don't know like what i love to go to a world series in my home town In game one, yeah, I would. But not the end of the world to miss it. Well, you're going to see Young Trey. You Savage start his fourth postseason game.

He has three career regular season starts. It gives Gosman a chance to pitch on regular rest. The Dodgers haven't seen you Savage before. If you're going to beat them, you need some things to go right. And I think one of those things is, hey, here's a guy they haven't seen. Otani pitching game one. That's the only thing missing. He's not going to pitch to all game four.

Yeah, the reason, when Otani is pitching game. Game four, I'm like, oh, I got four arm's better, three arms better. Game four. He's like starting one, three, five for the J's. So we'll see. But you savage is a great call. Great call. Great call. All right. So one more sleep over. Sammy, one more sleep and you're good to go. I know we got Matthew Jarch coming up in a few minutes. Do we have time to kind of talk for a lot of people, including in Calgary, who listen on Sportsnet 9, I'm sorry, 960 in Calgary.

Dustin Wolf. Yeah. And his choice words after a disappointing loss in overtime, you know, they got a point off of a team that's pretty hot right now. But let's go to his comments after the game, and let's pick it up from there, okay? this is Dustin Wolf It's tough

I mean I can't generate offense So I do I hope that our guys can generate a couple I'm glad we got We got one there We got a point but We got to keep working to To find more offense

Okay it skipped out on me Did you hear what we needed to hear? He said that I can't generate offense Is what he said to say Okay but he also had the other line that I know that he said at some point was that I did my job yeah did he did we hear that that was maybe where it skipped out yeah okay it skipped out did it skip out for everybody I think maybe okay we'll play one more time Dustin wolf on not generating offense it's tough I mean I can't generate

offense so um I do my job I try to keep the puck out of our head and um no hope that our guys can generate a couple and it's I'm glad we got We got one there. We got a point, but we got to keep working to find more offense. Okay. It's been a busy week in postgame comments that can cause a ripple. Stolars, you knew where I stood from day one. I'm going to go to you first on Dustin Wolf, J.B.

Yeah. You know, I thought the Stolars one was so much about the physical nature of it and not protecting him. and guys falling on top of him and looking through screens and his frustration with the way their team was playing. I really didn't like the Wolf ones,

which I know runs counter to what I said about Solar's the day before. Solar's ones felt much more I'm mad at the where we are going. The Wolf ones felt like these guys aren't doing good. Like I did my job, they're not doing good. It feels a little bit more finger-pointy,

even though I'm sure it's not. The other part is that Wolf's not, numbers this year so far are bad and i know that that's a big part of why you thought the stole ours thing you didn't think he has the cachet to say it wolf is in year two or three in the n hl probably three um and you know had these second worst goals above expected in the league last i checked going into last night he was very good had one very good game but i don't know i didn't like it yeah the the cash a thing can can play a part in it but i'm not even sure The greatest of the greats would come out and say,

I do my job. That's the one that really bothers me for sure, is this is a game that we're supposed to be all in this together. And that one doesn't support that. That one is a very individual. I had my man. I had my man as the classic phrase The worst

The one where you've turned your back on the team The worst Yeah come off the ice coach wasn't my fault I had mine You know that's that's up to the coach to say You had your man You had your man You didn't

That's up for the coach To say that Not the player To his teammates And certainly Not to the public So Much like the Stolar's

situation I look at it from a player's perspective in the dressing room, how we look at each other, how we treat each other, and nothing good can come out of this for Dustin Wolf telling 20 other guys, 22 other guys with some healthy scratches, I did my job, you're not doing your job. You know what particularly kind of gets my goat about this one is, you know, for the Leafs, I always felt like there's more for them offensively.

There's more for them physically. There's more in there. You know, I'm just going to pull it up real quick. But last year, the Calgary Flames finished, where do you think in goals for per game? 25? Yeah, they're 29th. Ooh, even worse.

Yeah, so there's three teams worse than them in the league. And they had 96 points, by the way. 29th in goals four per game. So there's not more here for the flame. So for Wolf, it's like, you know, what are you hoping to inspire? You don't have the talent. The team does not have the talent to score a pile of goals.

So that's kind of his spot. He committed how long to be there six more years? I think six. Like you're going to be there as a part of the rebuild and you're going to need to build with the team. You can't get blood from a stone. So I'm less sure what he's hoping to inspire from his team and more sure he just wants people to know he's got his guy.

Yeah, yeah. I think I do like seeing how, like I watched the whole press conference and that was his last answer. and he was steaming mad from the start of it and you do want the guy to be competitive and pissed off and mad or whatever. But even if you say I can't generate offense, but then saying like, even if you just say that,

but saying I did my job is the biggest hockeyman red flag you could have. There's no coach that wants to hear that. I'm starting to wonder now too. And, you know, one thing that the public or the fans aren't generally privileged to is the dynamics of a PR department, right? And I'm just starting to wonder now, even from when I played to today, what has happened there? Is it strengthened? Is it

weakened in terms of the relationship between a player and is PR people in the room that are supposed to help you and when you are steaming mad say you know he's not doing interviews who is who's reading the room here who is understanding that after a game if there's levels of frustration like that's a PR department's job is to feel the vibe of the team and and where you need to kind of go with your players and prep them there has to be conversations hey how you feeling um oh like you know stolars and i know matthew's on the line here but my my last thought is with with stolars my understanding is he probably said a few things in the dressing room you know you might want to catch him before he goes to the microphones as well so

um anyways that's just a thought there uh off the top of my head but let's welcome in the general manager of the New York Islanders, Matthew Darsh, who's certainly recovered nicely off of maybe a slow first couple of games. Matthew, thanks for joining us. How are you? Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah. So a lot of places that we can go, but let's go to an 18-year-old rookie who, I don't

know, is playing like a guy that's been 12 years in the league, the minutes that he's played, the offense that he's provided. Give us your early thoughts of your first pick overall last season in Matthew Schaefer. Well, he's been as advertised, right? You guys have seen a few games. He's, you know what surprised me the most I've been telling people is how, you know, you always expect those 18-year-olds, especially the high-end guys, first pick overall offensive guy to come in.

All right, they have the offensive game, but sometimes like, all right, there's a lot of work to do on the defensive side. And trust me, there's still the work to do with Matthew on a lot of facets on the eyes. But what impressed me the most is his defending, how he's able to defend with his legs, with his stick. He closes guys early. So that's been the most impressive feat. Never mind the offensive stuff, which is extremely impressive. I mean, even when you look at the data behind it, he's one of the these with the most burst over 20 miles an hour.

And he skates like the wind. But his defending is what really sets him apart with other 18-year-olds. that I've played in the NHL before. It's one thing, and I'll let J.B. jump in here, but I just wanted to follow that up with, you know, I've been around long enough where I've watched a few 18-year-olds try to come in as a teammate. I've watched it with Chris Pronger early in Hartford.

And there's a real sense of they're in a development stage no matter what. And is there a thought that it's still early, too much? too soon. How guarded are you with this guy? If it does go a little bit south here, do you pull them way back? I mean, we've never seen the minutes out of a defenseman like we have early in this season with Matthew and you guys here. But how much of a conscious look at, okay, like he's still developing here. We've got to be careful. Well, when he came in, obviously, everybody knows he didn't play a lot of games last year. You got hurt in Erie, and you got to hurt at World Juniors.

So we knew he was very talented. So let's give him training camp, see how he looks. Let's give him the first few games and see how it looks. And, I mean, there's only two games. I mean, two out of six is still a third of the season. There's only two games. He played 25, 26 minutes. So is that the amount of minutes we necessarily wanted to play every game?

Probably not. But the last few games, he's been 18 to 22-ish minutes, which I think is very manageable for. his age. But we're giving him as he can take. And obviously, you have to be cognizant that he's 18 years old. He's never played a grueling schedule. Like, especially what's coming up. We have 16 back-to-backs. We haven't had one yet. So we know it's going to be a condensed schedule the rest of the way. But right now, like, he's making us a better team, and he's playing in all situation, and he's having an impact on games. So it's tough to not put him out there. But I'm sure

there'll be moments during the year where it's tougher. It's normal. It's 18. He's, he's, he's playing against men for the first time. But so far, nothing is, he hasn't shown us anything that, ooh, we got to be careful, uh,

because it might be too much. And you know, like I've told people, like you guys have seen him pre-draft and you hear his interview. It was like, the attention of being a first overall pick and especially in a market like New York, like his maturity is what sets him apart. I think he's able to handle that.

I've really, I got boys that are 20 and 22 years old. They weren't mature like that at 18. I'll tell you that. much. So his maturity really helps him deal with all the attention that comes around with being a first pick overall and in the market like New York. Yeah, he's leaned in really well, I think, just even seeing the postgame interview on Long Island. So I wanted to get your thoughts on how it's been taking over on Long Island. It's a unique place to live and to be a part

of and you're taking over from Lou Lamarillo, who obviously had a very strict set of rules and all that how has that adjustment been for for you taking on that oh and i also wanted to add um i know you've been involved in the community quite a bit in your first summer and the gillies family was very grateful to have you at their event this summer so i know you've you've already been out there on the island in a big part of thing well i know you're a vet because you already say on the island and not in the island so i've learned that pretty quick uh i was told my first press conference i don't say in long island you say on long island so i figured that it's been great and you know like to be able to have success, like you need great ownership.

And I've been very fortunate having the support of the ownership here. I mean, you've been around here, Justin, too. Like, you've seen the arena. It's a top arena in the NHL. It's a great set up, great practice facility. Listen, I can't take credit for it because I wasn't name yet, but we won the lottery. You know, and you can take the job and you're, and I won't take any credit for that one. Even if I was GM, you can't really take credit because it's luck.

But it's been great. I mean, the island is an awesome place to live. You know, you're in New York without necessarily being in New York, so it's easy access to New York. And in the off-season, not that I've had time to play much, but there's a lot of outstanding golf on Long Island. So our players really enjoy living here. The way it's set up with the practice facility and the game rink,

I don't have to get into traffic, which is not an easy thing to say in New York, so which is great. I'm able to get to both arenas without traffic and in 15 minutes from where I live and to both arenas. So it's been awesome. You're watching and listening to Matthew Darsh,

general manager of the New York Islander. So Matthew, it's one thing just to take over a job in the NHL as a general manager and there's another one where you take over for a guy like Lou Lamarillo. So how is that transition? Is Lou still readily available? Is he in the office every day?

Like what, what, how's that role been kind of defined now moving forward? No, Lou is not involved in hockey operations at all, but I, you know, he's very generous that if I've needed him and I've, I've, I want to lie to you, I've reached out to him a couple times when I first got the job because I had a few RFAs with, with our rights. Obviously, he had started discussions with agents, so I was able to pick his brain on what kind of discussion he had. So if I want to use him, I know he's very generous and he tells me, hey, if you ever want to call me, I can. But officially does not a role here. But he's been very generous with anything I've asked of him when I got the job. And, you know, yes, he's a – but I'm different than Lou, obviously. And it's – if I try to be Lula Murillo, I'd be phony.

And people ask me, if I try to be Julian Brisebo, I'd be phony because I have to be who you are. So, yeah, some rules have changed. that's who I am and you've seen some of our guys with beards and it works for Lou and I have to be me and even the first time I met Lou you know he said hey be you you know and that's the first piece of advice Julian gave me when I took this job as don't try to be anybody else that knew they gave you the job because you're you so yeah some things are different and because I'm doing it the way I see I see it to be successful so that's how we that's how we're going So, Matthew, how do you plan to sort of pivot this organization last year?

You guys moved on from Dobson, grabbed two high picks, Atchston and Eklund, as well as Schaefer here. So you're not doing a rebuild, but you have some great young talent there. What does the process look like of getting where you are now, which is a competitive team to where you want to get? Well, I mean, obviously we were able to replenish the prospects pool a bit. And some Islanders have gone, you know, like some playoff runs. the last five, six years. So where I came from, I know a thing or two

about trading a first round pick. So you know that they haven't had many the last few years. So I think I've had more this year in my first draft than I, more first round picks and my first draft than I had my six years in Tampa. That's hilarious.

So it's just, you know, I don't think I need to burn anything to the ground. We're going forward with it, but I was able in a year. Part of it is luck, right? That we, especially with the first pick overall is we replenish a prospect pool and we're going forward and now gradually and we have some guys that have been drafted before that are playing college that will turn pro after this

year so we have we have guys in the near future coming in whether they're on the NHL or spend time in the HL but we're we're trying to build towards it I still have a lot of good pieces you know from my goalie to to we have some strong defensemen if you look at the center line with Barzol, Horvad, and Peugeot. That's pretty good top three center right there. Never mind the wingers. I have a lot of good wingers that have been in the NHL. I've had success in the NHL.

So I didn't think we needed to burn it down and rebuild, but we're moving forward with an eye on the short term and obviously on the long term also. Patrick Waugh and the relationship that you guys have moving forward. We heard Patrick go public on helping. his goaltenders, particularly Sorokan, and he could use a lot more of his

experience as a goalie and kind of take himself for a second out of being a head coach and sharing the things that he went through with his goaltenders. Is that something that you guys had discussed prior to leaning on more?

Is it something that was a real conscientious effort to pull more out of Patrick than just being the head coach? Well, one thing that people think maybe because we were both French-Canadian, I didn't know Patrick before. The first time I got Patrick's numbers when I got this job,

the Friday I got name, I got his number. I mean, like anybody, like last year, I think the first time I spoke with him last year in Tampa, he was walking to the bus. I was walking through my car and we chatted because I obviously know he is and he know who I am because I paid for Montreal. And then that's the only time I tried. I didn't have his numbers.

So I met with him and I wanted to work with him. And Patrick is more humble than people. think he is like even for goalies he said a precision has changed from when i played i go i'm not going to coach a technical part of it but like we uh patrick and i talk i say yeah but you know a mindset of a goalie that doesn't change right the competitive mindset and how you maybe you bounce back after a bad goal or a bad a bad game so that's what he's he's taken on a bit more with with our goalies this year because like he said like the position like the way the butterfly is played back then no there's no goalies that play that anymore.

The position evolves, so he's not there on the technical side, but on the goalie mindset, he can definitely help. And it doesn't matter who the goalie is. They still know he's Patrick was. So there's some things he can bring as far as I might. I mean, Kipper, you played against him, I'm sure, quite a bit. Like, if there's one thing, Patrick's a competitor, scored a goal.

I got a goal against him in the Montreal form. Yeah, but you know how competitive he was and the mindset. Like he's, like, you hear stories of Patrick when he played. And if he walked in the room after the second, he said, guys, just score one. There's no more goals coming in. Well, there are no more goals that were going in. You know, so that fiery competitive mindset, he still has. So he can be a resource for a goalie.

But I think he tries also, especially on the technical side, not to be too much because of who he is. You know, so yes, that's why we let the goalie coach do his job. Matthew, obviously when you take over a new organization, you're not as familiar with all the players throughout the whole system. Since you've been there, is there anyone that's caught your eye? And you've gone, okay, well, I didn't know that that guy had that ability or, you know, that sort of thing that surprised you in a positive way? No, I mean, obviously when you start interviewing for those jobs, you do a lot of research, but like, and you watch games.

And by the end of the days, you don't know their personalities. And obviously, we've had, we have some great personalities here. Actually, it's funny, I have Matt Martin working with me now. One of the players that I, I mean, there's a lot of players I've learned to enjoy, but like Cal Palmeri, I was like he's, he's like that greasy old school player, you know, like he creates havoc in front of the end. He comes out of the corner.

Like I call him like a greasy player that I knew he was, but I've learned to appreciate it even more since I'm here. Like he just finds a way to get the places. He finds a way to come out of the corner with a puck. And he might be in the goalie's face a few times, you know. I like Corey Perry that we had in Tampa. So he's got a little bit of that gamesmanship in front. front of the net so yeah it's you know the i guess getting to know those players and then there's also

getting to know staff and stuff i know you guys recently moved on from the goalie coach uh pierro greco there i knew him a little bit from here at my time in toronto is it just a matter of you're new there get the guy you want in there sort of thing or is it dealing with the goaltender how do you come to a conclusion early in the season like that well we you know obviously i'm first i'm still evaluating a lot of things i just felt there was the right timing for um a reset with our goalies. You know, I looked at last year and this year. And our coach in Bridgeport was the goalie coach for Ilya in Russia. They had success together. So I just felt the timing was right to have a little reset for our goalies. And we brought Serga up here. It's done great things with the

organization. After seven years, I just felt it was time maybe for a different voice and a reset for our goalies. Just in terms of, you know, I know your job description. isn't to sell tickets, but it's, you know, being a small part of that New York area in my career, I know the challenge is for sure in the competition to put people in seats. But again, just to kind of circle back to Matthew Schaefer and what he could mean moving forward for this organization in a very competitive area, Matthew. Well, our fan, I've really, because if you meet the kid too is how he's generally, win-winly is a good person. I mean, his parents had a great job raising him. And listen, the kids

turned 18 in September, and he already has an NHL building chanting his name after he scores a goal. So life is pretty good for him. But for sure, like, he's a dynamic player. Like, he's exciting to watch. Like, when you're, listen, I got a front row seat from the press box. And like, the way he skates is, I wish I skated half as the way he does. Maybe I would have played more games in the NHL, but the way he skates is he's an exciting player to watch. He's got good chemistry with guys like Matt Barzell. They like, when you look at them on the eyes, they seem to click together. So it's, it's, it makes it exciting for our fans to see a, you know, like the first of all pick that's really panning out right now. Again, I don't want to oversell because

it's six games in. So we always have to, you know, make sure because there's adrenaline, right? At one point, there's a grind to a season. But right now he's been, and for our four, fans. His personality is engaging. And the best example I gave you guys saw the video we did when we signed his contract. We brought 20 kids that lost that parent, which the same thing happened to him. And we were due going to the Mets game, he was going to throw the first pitch and announcing his signing there. And at one point, we had about 20 kids. I had to tell Pat Morris his agent, well, he kind of needs to, and it's, that's nothing to do with cameras. At one point, it was just us in the room. He was taking 15, 20 minutes with every kid, asking them about their

story telling them about his story how for him grieving was talking about his mom but like how many 17 at that point it was 17 17 year olds act like that and he's got an engaging personalities and when we've done fan events like he's genuine with the fans which makes it excited for everyone a three game losing streak has turned into a three game winning streak as you guys continue against Detroit tonight best of luck Matthew thanks for joining us all right thanks for having you guys yeah thanks for time appreciate it Matthew Darsh. Yeah, listen, I mean, I asked him a little bit on that because,

and yeah, he spoke of Matthew and how great he was. I didn't want to revisit that part, but just the part of, and you could speak into this because you grew up in the area. And like, it's tough to, it's tough for the Islanders right now that they haven't had a winning history. The competition around there, like, part of what I see with Matthew Chaffer is just not that he can help me win games today,

but he can help get people excited around here and starts thinking about selling this building out consistently once again. Yeah, you know, it is funny. Like the Islanders, how long ago was it they went to back-to-back conference finals? Like three years ago or something? It was right after Lou left the Leafs and they always talk about it.

No, it was after, sorry, it was after Tavares left, and they got to talk about how much further they went without Tavares. You know, they had pretty good runs there for a bit, and then it was a lot of drama with the building, and I think people kind of got out of the routine of going to Islanders games, right? They were in that, in Barclays, and it was just kind of, it wasn't good for them for a while, no doubt. And this Schaefer thing could not come at a better time for the Islanders,

at a time when UBS Arena is amazing. You want to go see a game, right? You go see this kid, it's exciting, got more first-round picks on the way. they're the All-Star game next year, that was just announced. So it does feel like it's kind of becoming cool again around there to be into the Islanders. Can we just quickly stop on that conversation, the All-Star Game thing? Yeah. Where they were like, well, do the send-off for them to go to Mo Han or whatever.

They're like, we're not doing that. Yeah, actually, we're not doing that. We're not doing that. We'll have him in 2027. What was that idea? When did that happen? That was flew. Like two days ago.

Okay. I did not hear that. Oh, yeah. They just, you know. There'll be no send-off. No. They were going to have the All-Star game. And they're like, oh, we're going to do a send-off event.

No, that's not happening. The players are like, that's not happening. So we've got to fly to there, then to fly. That's like, no. And even better, you know, the Islanders should be in a better place. You know, a year later and you get Schaefer, hopefully another year under his belt and get the other kids in there. So hopefully there's excitement on the island at that time.

So good stuff. Did you guys want to break and then maybe pick up the Wolf Stolars conversation again? We could talk about that a bit more. We didn't really finish it. buddy you're the producer you run the show whatever you want to do let's take a quick break we'll catch our breath and when we return as sammy mentioned plenty more more to get into including the matriall canadians who keep finding ways to win demadov with a really sweet game winning goal pass are they starting to look a lot more real to you guys moving forward we'll get into that more when we return to real kipper and born hey it's matt markezy and i'm mike futa we're discussing the top story Stories of the day across the NHL and the hockey world. Weekdays at noon. It's the fan hockey show on Sportsnet 590, The Fan,

and wherever you get your podcasts. Reminder this hour of Real Kippur and Bourne brought to by Bet365. Nick Kippreel's Justin Bourne. Sammy McKee. What's going on over there, Sammy? I'm getting, like, I just, we're in this sweet spot here. We're getting texts. I'm getting texts from my buddies about Boba Shett coming back

and how does this work. and the fit. Going to play second. Maybe. Can I kind of score on a limb and say that's a massive risk? This is a world. You're worried defensively? This is the world GD series.

And you're going to put a guy he's never played one defensive snap there. I mean, you know he had the most hits in baseball this year. I'm not saying you leave him off. Yeah. But it's an awkward fit. It just is. Are you going to play? Jimenez has been unbelievable at short.

The ultimate overthink is don't play boba. You're going to play him. I know. But it's an awkward fit. All I'm saying. So then you put old janky knee Springer out and right so that he can DH. I mean, listen, you've watched Barger play third, right.

You know, you watch these guys. They can catch a ball. They can catch a ball. I know it's not as easy as that. I understand the fit's not perfect, but you just got to find a way. Yeah, you need their, and you need offense be to Dodgers. Okay. Calgary and Montreal last night.

Yep. once again Dustin Wolf getting a lot of attention right now with his post game comment with I did my job I can't go out there and score

you know I would have been okay with I can't go out and score like it's just stating the obvious which is fine we've heard it before it's okay just the part where I yeah yeah it's it doesn't doesn't seem like spur the boys on because

you know they have more sort of thing but I don't know maybe we're reading too much into it but he clearly is in a frustrated spot the flames now weirdly like what are they won six and two what do they say about a golf tournament you can't win it on Thursday but you can lose it are uh they're pretty close to losing the golf tournament here on Thursday I was going to say they're plus six on Thursday at the master's here. Our Eric Francis, who's been a guest on our show many times, we should get him back on, is full board. Tank, tank, tank, tank.

Thank you very much. We said it yesterday. It is the most obvious season. Like you don't want to just suck for something that you don't, you know, there's lots of drafts. You're not sure about the top of the draft. If there's ever been a year to just really try to have the best odds at the first overall pick, Gavin McKenna is a real prize. You know, it's not fun, though, when you're a fan of a team like that.

Going to the game. And it's October 23rd. And they're going, we'll take your ass Ms. Anderson off your guys. How is that cadre doing for you guys? Well, we'll take him, too. How is Rasmus Anderson going to like Vegas? I think you'll like it there? Yes, very much.

Yeah. I do think he'll like it. You think you think Vegas is the only team that wants him? No. Come on. I think they're the only one with the Cajones to make these sort of moves. They just get everybody. I don't want to hear that.

I'm tired of these general managers, just not making trades so they can save their own asses and not put their necks on the line here to try to get better. I think the biggest flaw in general managing in the NHL today is guys not trying to win the cup because they don't want to get fired. If you try something and it fails, you get fired. If you try nothing, eh, they're being patient. You'll run out your six years until they say,

it didn't happen. I'm just, as a fan, I'm sick of every good player ending up in either Florida, Dallas, or Vegas. It's like, oh, where's Rassas Anderson going? Oh, probably Florida, Dallas or Vegas, right? Like, it just feels like those three teams. That's a newer development, right?

For sure. Within the last three years, but those teams have bigger Cajonas than other teams. You know what else they have? Sure do. no state tax no state tax you know what else do i those guys want to play there they have good team of course the weather's one you know state tax or no state tax you still have to have assets that people want and jim nils they've done an unbelievable of drafting and having assets

and making trades and like i mean what did they get miko ranting for wasn't even anything was it oh logan stancovin first maybe two first i don't know if it was two first yeah cal The Leafs, I mean, serviceable players in the draft, but who's that gem that people would actually pay to go see by themselves? Well, they haven't drafted high enough. They've been good and they've traded their first in the Leafs case. You still want to find something in that first round. Like, is it just a given now that if you're not drafting in top seven, top eight,

I don't even know if top 10 does it, 9 and 10 does it, but it's almost as if you fall off a cliff at some point between 15 and 20, 20 to 30. It's like, you know, there's like statistical analysis and the value of a pick, and like 1 to 3 is through the moon, 1 to 5 is very good, 5 to 10's pretty good. You get into 11 to 16. You're kind of running out of steam after that.

It's the same as a second. it's from there you get a hit rate of you know 2% I don't know what it is yeah it's not good and by you know low I mean of guys who actually go on to play 200 NHL games I think is the standard people call a successful pick I would I guess there's different that all the different sports have really different drafts in terms of depth them like the like the NBA only has two rounds but the baseball draft has like 150 rounds and NFL is however many rounds is there a limit on baseball rounds now I don't know they didn't used to but like they're like Kevin The 800th round pick. Like, he was such a late pick or whatever. I think there is a limit now. But I would think that hockey has the most hidden gems, like late in drafts if you were going to pick between the four major sports.

I don't know. That could be totally anecdotal. Anybody can throw a dart and get lucky when you throw thousands. Yeah. And. Not Kyle Dubas. He doesn't go. Currently, in the NHL, how many fourth rounders are playing?

You know, I actually very recently saw stats on this. What's it like, I don't know, 10% of the league or something is drafted in the fourth round? Six, yeah. 6% of the league is fourth round or after, or just fourth round in total? In the fourth round. Okay. Yeah, like, I actually think one. Six percent of fourth rounders make it.

It's either one in eight or one and five players are undrafted in the league. 6%. And then it's just... And then it's first. I'll tell you something between like four and whenever. I don't know when they stop now. What did they stop? 10? 11 round? 7th. Okay, there was some...

It used to go to 12 or 14 rounds. Yeah, that's lucky Luke. Was Luke again? And they're like... Then somebody in the office went, got really smart and said, you know the odds of any of these guys making our league? Well, and they said, like, why don't we just wait to the good, then sign up?

So the... The number of current players right now undrafted is almost twice as high as anyone from the fourth round on. Yeah, that's... I did hear something. So Sammy, you're still holding out for Nick Robertson for a fourth round pick.

Buddy, I'm not holding out. But hey, by the way, we'll talk about in the least hour, but your boy Nick Robertson out of the lineup. I'm just, the discussion is that like there, it's really hard to find people, players that can change your organization just like that outside of picking first, second or third overall. It is so hard to know how players are going to develop.

And I really, I had my, so I obviously played in the minors and saw some guys go on. to have success that I went, yeah, you know, like where you're like, didn't see that coming, not the most toolsy guy. And then, you know, with the Marley's, all these kids who are their prospects watching them come up and, you know, that Trevor Moore, a smaller guy went on to score 30 goals in the NHL, you know, that's legitimately surprising. And then there's guys who you go, really, this guy couldn't do it. But I just, I feel for scouts, it's a tough job to have a sense of how these guys are going to grow and develop. Bobby McMahon made the NHL at 26, 7?

You know who's not drafted in the fourth round? Demandov. Nope. He was a high pick. For good reason, it looks like. He does shifty things. We had Matthew Darshon, general manager of the New York Islanders.

If you're just joining us, download us, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. You can watch us on YouTube and catch that. I forgot to ask him about the decision

not to resign Dobson and whether or not his giveaway last night might have been one of the reasons why. Did you see that? I did see it. Yeah. I got to.

I'll tell you, I understand watching that, going, it's the Leo DiCaprio mean, pointing the screen. But outside of that, you can't argue, man. The Montreal Canadians are a team that looks hungry. They look energized. They got a vibe to them right now. Yeah. How long is this going to last, J.B?

I'll say all the positive things about them in terms of, like, the chemistry they seem to have. Marty St. Louis seems to have a very genuine rapport with the guys. Great belief in themselves, good offense, all that. It's all going the right direction. I will then note that, you know, they've had a pretty soft schedule. Now, granted, Toronto Maple Leafs have two. Montreal Canadians have at least taking care of business,

but, you know, last minute goal against Chicago, OT win against Seattle, OT winning against Nashville, OT winning against the flames. Like, these are not the leagues. My idea. So I think they're good. I think they're going to be a home ice playoff team. But, you know, I don't think they're going to run the president's trope. Another thing, if we're going to do negative HAB stuff, which I would love to do.

I didn't mean to. No, it's not where this conversation is heading. That's where I'm taking it. I think they need to see Sam Montembo be good again. And like this Dolbish is a pretty great story. But like, is he going to be the starting goalie that's going to play 55 games? Maybe. I don't know.

Like, I think the guy that was on team. Canada's taxi squad last year that's supposed to have the pedigree that's supposed to be your starting guy you want to see him look better and that you can kind of go back to him. Dobish has been awesome and he really like I mean he jumped out to me last night watching that game like he's he's a really good goalie. He started 5-0

last year, 4-0 this year, second time until history that's happened. You know, I just you got to get Mott and Boe going and I got a couple half fans in my life that I'm texting about Ma'am I mean, I'm just trying to text chinksy things. I'm like, these guys are unbelievable. You can't beat this game. You can't beat him. But I do think that they would like to get

him going a bit because he's been pretty bad to start the year if it's one thing over the last few years teams have been searching desperately for was a right-handed d now it's second line centerman and i think it's led by the montreal canadians uh you mentioned cadry earlier would that would that be a guy that you could see would make sam cadry happy Remember his dad is like wearing Habs jersey to the Leafs father's trip. Is that right? Yeah, he's a diehard Habs fan. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Yeah. Right now it's Capitan Evans and, of course, Suzuki at the top. But how do you like that type of caliber going to Montreal moving forward? Yeah. Like you would make them better, right? Oh, would it make them like instant compete with what we still think should be a Toronto, Florida, Tampa Bay scenario.

Yeah, I mean, perspectives on the season are changing greatly as the bottom four teams in the Eastern Conference are Boston, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, and Ottawa. So the door is wide open. I mean, Habs fans listening to this.

Like, oh, second line, second land center. It's sit or bust if you're the Habs. Like, you know, like, Cadry is... I mean, it's such a half man. Like, he's got a lot of money long term left in that contract, right? Is it three or four more years in that contract, Kip? I'm going to look right now.

I think it's a lot left. And I guess with the cap going up, it's not as much of a percentage or whatever. But the SID thing is perfect in terms of length of contract, cap hit, where they're, like, it's just that. If I'm a Havs fan, I'd be excited about Cadre. I understand it. But, you know, when you're promised Sid and you get,

it's a different thing. Well, you make a valid point here, Sammy, that he's got. This plus three. He's all of got four. Yeah, he's got four, including this year. Yeah. Takes you to 2030. That's seven.

Yeah. But seven's not even real money anymore. Yeah. Listen, seven can easily go to five. If you give them the assets, let's go. You give them anything that they think Calgary can think can speed up their process. I think seven becomes five pretty quickly. So you immediately start looking at Montreal and go Oliver Cappan, do they?

They like him? Who else can we talk about? I just don't know what their prospect pool is. I don't know that stuff anymore. They got their defenseman there, too, the right-handed shot that they picked a few years ago. They had the injury problems. Ryanbacker?

Ryanbacker? Yeah. Yeah. No, so I think they're in a really good spot. And, you know, I don't want to go full Morgan Riley here, but, you know, where they're at and their rebuild, I remember that feeling. Oh, that's fun.

At the start, when the least were like when Austin Matthews scored four goals in his first game and you're thinking about what it all, all could be when it's all in front of you you know it's it's it's a different animal and this is such a nasty past good good captain backland good read by back door hey yeah whoops yeah i gotta be honest with you good read i'm hating three on three hockey now yes i just i hate it i told you agree i hate it and you know no conclusion no even like it just it's it's just a want to go back to darts it's just a dart thing it's like one guy just pivoted We're talking darts.

No, I'm like, even Stolars giving it to Nielander earlier this week on his back check. It's three on three, man. It's shinny hockey at its finest. Guys don't know where to really truly stand. It is a different skill set. No, no, no.

It's not a different. It's not hockey. It's not hockey. No, it's not. It's more hockey than a shootout. It is. Let's rent the ice. Oh, how many guys are we got?

Oh, we only got six. guys, okay. Let's bring the nets in. No, let's use the whole ice. You know, hey, Betman, you got a better idea over there? Four on four. I'm not paid to come up with a great idea for them. Kipper wants five on five grunts.

I don't know what I want. I don't know what I want, but I don't want a team to lose a playoff spot because they don't, some teams are better at shinny than other teams. I'm with you I think it used to be awesome when it first came in when it was just like breakaway fast break away fast

break away fast now it's hold on to the puck for 35 seconds leave the zone come back in pass it it's just been overcoached it's not as fun as it was and then the regroups

and then you're holding out of the puck for like two minutes right if you don't like what you see you lose the opening draw come back lose the draw some guys are out there like you got your star out there

for a minute and a half chasing a puck for a minute and a half and now he's got to come off. But their coach to not shoot because if you miss, it rims around and it's a two on one. So it's like, don't shoot until you have a perfect, a perfect look at the net. And it's just, it sucks. I tell you, my coaching strategy were I in the NHL right now for three on three would be, here's my idea, okay? Skate fast. Try, try. Right now everyone's like, oh, it's like NBA, we'll set up on the outside.

It's like, lolly gag. Why don't you press the defense a little bit? trying to take one in like take some strides on defense pay pace pace pressure yeah like you don't have to sit i'm this close to telling you let's just ditch it and go to rocks paper scissors at center ice you curmudgeon how about a how about a slap shot fun i enjoyed damadov's vision back door matheson yeah good play i think we should do hardest shot competition and i'll tell you another thing i mean i wouldn't even i wouldn't even count goals it's not He shouldn't count stat goals in overtime.

I actually think goalie shouldn't wear it on their state percentage. I actually can hear that. You can't count a shootout goal. You can't count a shootout goal. I'm not counting an overtime goal. No, I don't get it. Sol. No, sorry, five on five or 60-minute hockey for goals counting.

All right, our thanks to Matthew Darsh in the first hour. We go to Leaf Edition Hour next. Don't go away. More Real Kippermborn after these words.