Real Kyper & Bourne - Is Colton Parayko Going to Buffalo? + Deadline Check-in with Emily Kaplan

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by St. Louis Blues host and reporter Andy Strickland (9:38) to weigh in on the potential for defenceman Colton Parayko getting traded to the Buffalo Sabres, if he would invoke his no move clause to block the trade, why the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions are avoiding a full rebuild, the uncomfortable factor if Robert Thomas ends up staying despite the rumours, and the latest on Jordan Binnington's future. Then, Emily Kaplan, ESPN Hockey Reporter, joins the guys (31:00) to chat about the defensemen market, Chris Drury's message to New York Rangers fans, if Bill Guerin will make a deal with his counterpart, and if the Florida Panthers will become sellers as they listen to calls for Sergei Bobrovsky.  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, coast to coast. It's the national hour on the real Kippur and Bourne show. We are in the heart of trade week right now. This is the good stuff. Friday, 3 p.m. Teams are working hard. We're live on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, 960 and Calgary streaming always on Sportsnet. Plus also available Spotify and Apple Podcast and YouTube where we always appreciate a thumbs up.

This hour of Real Kippenber and Mollinger. born brought to you by bet three six five all right boys at the leaf hour edition we wrap that up but uh the news continues to trickle in uh let's just recap so far what we know colton preco it's close becoming a buffalo saber we believe that the deal has not been stamped just yet perhaps the last guy that needs to do that is colton himself who has a no-move clause. And nothing makes it more likely to get a yes on that than winning games and showing your real team for years

if this had been Perako and the Sabres. Going back a decade and a half, he'd have said a path. And having it trickle out in the news doesn't help. No, but as of today... Or does help, sorry. I think as of today, they might get a yes here. That decor is going to be as good as any the league has seen, I think, for years.

Rasmus Dahlin, Samuelson They've really come... Power, Byram, Kesselrigg. I've come in in their own right now. And I think it's unfortunate for Kevin Adams

that it just didn't happen fast enough for him. He just missed the window. Honestly, if they had won like two more games in the first half of the year. It's crazy. He must be so sour.

Sit on the sidelines watching this. So sour. He's got to be enjoying it though, right? I do wonder, though, this is the sort of thing that puts it over the top. Like, is this why you went to Kekyllinen? Because he's pulled the trigger and hopefully going to bring them in a big thing that turns the corner. Who knows if this is able to happen if it's not him.

Also, alternate reality stuff. Also, right before we went to break, I teased the potential trade as well from Frege. Great Jersey choice behind me for a reason. That McKenzie Weeger potentially on the move to the Utah mammoth? I mean, again, for Utah, these teams are trying to turn a corner and go from rebuilding to contending. And these are the steps you take. Yeah. And, you know, given up a first rounder or a top 10 pick in the last year or two doesn't seem to be much of a problem for these new teams now coming up through the system.

Well, they've been loading up with assets to do this. This is the point of being bad is that when you turn the page, you really turn. it. And typically what we've seen in the past is first rounders going to teams that will be drafting from 26, 27 up. But the likes of Colorado and Dallas and Edmonton, they're out of bullets already. Yeah, they're out of bullets.

Because they've been good for a while. But these teams that are up and coming, I mean, Utah, they've got just a whack of picks. only in the next three years. You know, the one thing about the likes of Aprico and McKenzie Weger is that they're not $9 million players. They're both, I think, in the ballpark of 6, 2, 5, 6.5, 6 and a half, which is a really reasonable price. As the cap goes up, I mean, if you get a few good years out of these guys

and they're proven pros, they're probably going to be okay as they get older, these are good guys to get. and legitimate 21, 22, 23 minute a night guys. For now. Yeah. For now. Yeah, for the next couple years. At least, yeah, two, three.

Right. Yeah. They could minute much, I think, for three or four years. And you look at Utah who's sniffing around the playoffs and dying to get in it and give their fans there a little something, something. This is the type of thing that can change things around. I'm watching the Ottawa Senators last night blow a two-goal league. lead not once but twice against the Evanton Oilers and go get McKenzie Weger.

Go. Descends. Yes. And he's from Ottawa. Chief. Yeah, that would have been a really good fit. The Oilers, that type of game last night is how they continue to do what they do. They're dead to rights, down a couple goals to a very good team, find a way to get into overtime, get the win.

They'll sneak in a playoff. based on games like that and God knows from there. I don't think you can play like that sneak in and expect much more than a round. Ah, you've seen that West, man? They are, no. Conference final. Edmonton defensively is a dog's breakfast guys.

Yeah, and they'll handle Seattle and whoever else, Utah, and then they'll get beat up by a good team. I think it's just, I think it's just, it's coming back to them now. There's just too many questionable. signings in Edmonton. And it's catching up to them. It is funny. I just gave you that decor how good it is in Buffalo, how load it is.

Turn the page to Edmonton. And, you know, it's Nurse and Emerson and Stasney, you know, Walmans, whatever. I know Bouchard is awesome. Eckholm. Like, it's just not. Connemouth. Connemouth, he will make a huge difference. Connemariff, if he will help. Jake Wallman. They just signed him to $49 million.

God, that's so many million. He's in the last year. of his old deal at 3-4. 7 million hasn't kicked in yet. Right? And it's 7 times 7. Do you know how many minutes he played last night? I'm not going to like this.

I don't know. 17. 11. 11. Yeah. Now, if you want to just be a little fair to the guy, he's battled some injuries, I don't know how healthy he is.

That's, I guess he's, you got to be considered, you know, where he is physically, but... But you said the deal isn't... He's 30. You can't... He's 30 today. Can't play him more than 11 minutes last night. And you're going to get age 31 to 37 or whatever those years.

Mind you, a Pani, they got to unload that. That's in the works now. But Frederick's killing you guys. Killing you at almost $4 million a year for four points this year. Scored the other night. He's red hot. I mean, for him, before that.

You got 25% of his points? It's just, they're, they're scrambling right now to add another defenseman. So here's where we're at. Just going to track down Andy Strickland out of St. Louis.

Oh, great. I actually had to produce. I leave the room. You did a great job there. Anyways, because we're supposed to have Rick bonus on. Thanks to Rick. And I texted him,

I said, we're going to, he's like, what's the big news? He was, well, he was interested. It's relevant to his division,

I would say. So that happened. And then we're going to have Emily Kaplan at the bottom of the hour to talk about more of this stuff. But yeah, so we're just waiting to track down Andy to talk about St. Louis. Maybe we'll have some information for us, but there's still nothing that's come out since that happened. Okay. Bricks more than welcome to come back on. If he breaks a big trade, I guess, Columbus.

Tell us what's going on? What are the blue jackets going to do? Nick Polino, back to the blue jackets, a possibility? I feel like if we had Waddell on, he would break it. Oh, yeah. Because every time he comes on our show, he's like, yeah, we're going to sign Olivier and we're going to sign everybody, basically. Remember that? We should legitimately get him back on.

He would break news. So, yeah, the Uighur thing, interesting, sounds like, who would it be? Maverick Lamaroo or something going the other way. So very clear that the flames are building, they want their time to be in their new building, which I love. Yeah, sorry, I'm looking. So T. Jiginla is a Utah prospector. Yeah, yeah. He was, uh, no way.

I just think of Gimlin the Flames was so amazing. He's like one of the most prize prospects in the league. You're not going to trade him for. Weger. You would for Robert Thomas. For sure. Yeah. But that's, but not from Weeger.

I don't think so. The Calgary connection is undeniable. They've got, they got two or three of those type of guys. Yeah. For Weiger, for Weiger, it would be a first round pick and maybe a prospect. And I don't know if you got to give him a, top 10 of your previous drafts. I mean, that's what Bookes came on our show and was like,

they have too many players to sign. Yeah, for their contracts. They can't, they can't sign enough guys. But they're not going to. If you're going Robert Thomas, you talk about Teage, but you're not going to do that for Weger. Although, how sick would it be to have Teage in. If you're the Flames, you're like, look, we'll do Weeger and a first.

Let's go. Just give us Teach. We want the Aguinala. Well, could you go Weager and Katz? Audrey? Oh, for Utah? Okay. And spice it up a little bit. Let's let it be a bigger deal. We have someone to talk about this stuff with. We got Andrew? Yeah, we do. Andy Strickland, what's going on, my friend? Bellas, how are you? We're good.

It's a rainy day and cloudy day here in Seattle, but it's great to be with you as always. All right. So, how busy is Doug Armstrong right now with the Buffalo Sabres? You tell us. pretty busy i mean you know i had heard yesterday that the conversations has shifted away from all the talk about robert thomas and they were focused on a right shot d you got just a faulk here and obviously coltie peraco um both with term left on their deal sorry i'm reading text messages as they come in both a term left under their deal following this year parakego with four years left i believe i think you have uh justin faulk with just one so the compensation coming back obviously would be a little bit different, but Pereco would certainly,

okay, so I'm getting a text right now saying that this reporting about Pareco to Buffalo is premature. It's from sources close to Colton Pereco. I'm not suggesting that it's not happening, but he does have a no trade clause. I would imagine that is a big part of it. He would have to waive his no trade clause to go. go to Buffalo, but again, a right shot D, you look at the other big twin towers they have in Buffalo, there'd be a lot of size on the back end, but there's talk about Merca, obviously, I rather Merca come in the other way.

You see the reports about the first round fix and whatnot. So Merca, big 6-6 defense, probably plays with a little more physicality than Perrako. So, you know, you got Alexander Steen coming in next year. People have to remember that also as the general manager, even though Doug Armstrong is going to be here. So this is truly a little bit of a transition period for the blues. Nobody expected the season to go the way that it has. And so I think that they are looking to shake it up. Now it's in the players' court.

We'll see how this plays out. Andy, I mean, you're around that team constantly. You probably know Pareko better than most. You see an issue where you wouldn't go to Buffalo? Is he a buffalo? Does he like chicken wings? Is he a Bill's fan? Is he a Josh Allen fan?

What do you got? What do you got? I would, to be honest with you, a little bit surprised if he were to go to Buffalo. Now, I'm from Buffalo originally. So I love Buffalo. Buffalo is soft spot in my heart. It's a great town. I don't live in Buffalo, right?

I mean, I like Buffalo an awful lot. I'll tell you this. And talking to some of the players, morning. You know, listen, I think people recognize where Buffalo was at. And I'm a big Yarmel Kekkelananan fan. I've known Yarmel for years since he was running the amateur scouting here in St. Louis. And

you know, I think the perception is starting to change, and that's a real positive. And I think it was different years back, obviously, when they were a playoff team. But I think players realized they've got a lot of good players on that roster. And if they were to get a player like a Pareko or

Robert Thomas, who was rumored before, I'm just saying players who are in that category, that would be a real win for Buffalo. It would show a real changing of the garden in terms of what the perception is of Buffalo throughout the National Hockey League amongst its players. But I just got a text, again, like I said, that this reporting is a little bit premature. I'm not second-guessing the reporting, but again, when a player has a full no-trade clause, they have the right to exercise that. And I would imagine it's in Perrako's court right now to make that decision. Does he want to go to Buffalo? Andy, despite all the rumblings,

and talk about Thomas and the Buffalo Sabres, the exact same scenario. No move clause for Thomas. And if it's shifted from Thomas to Pareko, is there a chance it shifted because Thomas said no? I can tell you Thomas was never presented with anything to even consider. Again, lots of talk out there and a lot of rumors and I think these are substantiated. I think they're real discussions that are going on behind the scenes.

But there was never a trade that was brought to Robert Thomas as of this morning for him to reject or to accept. So again, I'd be a little bit surprised if he were to accept the trade to Buffalo. Not completely shocked because we're talking about a little bit of a different Buffalo situation than what we've seen in recent years. they're a competitive team, they're in the playoffs. So it's a different situation. But it probably wouldn't be on his, you know, high on his list of teams that he would want to go to. And I would imagine that's the same thing for Colton Pereco. Pereco is from Edmonton.

You're taking him further away from where he's from. Not that it necessarily matters. I mean, he still has a contract. He's getting paid to play at the NHL. But I'll be interested to see how this. plays out. And if these guys say they're willing to go to Buffalo, that would be a little bit of a surprise for me. So what have you made of the Blues decision to blow it up like this? Like Thomas and Cairo, his eligible names was really surprising. I think to a lot of us not in

St. Louis and you're Bennington, Raco, Falk. Like these are big pieces. But I guess if you're going to go back and take another swing like 2019, this has to happen? Well, I think they have to decide what's the quickest way to get back to being at a championship level. And getting to that level. I mean, they had expectations to be a playoff team this year. I mean, obviously after the season they had last year, coming out of the Four Nations where they were one of the top teams in the league. Robert Thomas led the NHL and scoring coming out of the four nations last year.

The final 25 games of the season, he was unbelievable. So I don't know if they're really looking to blow it up as much as just kind of change the core as it sits right now. after this season, I think maybe the question becomes, is this core group good enough to get us back to being at a championship caliber level? That's the question. So I don't think you move everybody, but you start maybe with one guy, maybe then the next guy.

But listen, the idea that they're going to move four or five guys or six guys here at the trade deadline, I never ever thought that that was going to happen. And obviously, I still don't. I mean, you've seen guys get moved. Nick Bukestead got moved a few weeks. ago. They had to move on from Robbie Fabry. They moved on from Matthew Joseph. And I know some teams are kicking around, maybe looking at acquiring Matthew Joseph. We'll see how that plays out. He's not an elite NHL player by any means, but he's probably better than being in the American League where he is

right now. So, you know, so I think those are some of the moves that we anticipated. You have other guys, obviously, that maybe would have some attraction to some teams, the few suitors of the world, the Oscar Sunquist of the world. But, you know, we're getting into some big time names here. The Thomas is the Cairoos. And certainly has gotten everybody's attention, but Thomas, Kyru, they've got full-do trade clauses as well. And I think they're just saying, hey, we had expectations.

We haven't met those expectations. Where are we as an organization? Where do we want to be as an organization? What's the quickest way to get there? And that's why the price tag is so high. I mean, all these guys are available if you're really willing to give Doug Armstrong what he wants. then he'll move these guys

but he knows he doesn't have to move him but if you're willing to give him what he's asking for and let's face it there's only a handful of teams maybe it's smaller than a handful who truly have the assets to make some of these deals work Andy no he doesn't have to move them but they're names and I'll throw in Braden Shen's name out there in Cairo

it just seems like they've been out there forever and now Thomas's name has been out there no one's squashing it there's really no going back and saying, oh, guys, listen, come to camp, we're going to build around you. It's just a matter of time, isn't it? Even if it is going into this summer?

Well, I always look at these deals as summer deals anyway. I feel like they're easier to get done in the summer. I feel like everybody keeps their players. Everybody has money in the NHL nowadays. Outside of a handful of teams, maybe the Colorado's and the Dallas and some of these other teams that are right up there and, you know, ready to go for a Stanley Cup. But with the cap going up and how much it's expected to go up moving forward,

I think everybody feels like they have money, so they keep their players, they pay their players. You know, listen, Robert Thomas and Kairu, I mean, they're really good players, you know. I'd like to see, you know, you build around some of these guys and add more good players, you know, to where maybe they're not the guys you thought they would be when you signed them that, hey, they were going to be the guys to put the organization on their back and take them to another Stanley Cup. But I do think they're really good players that are difficult to replace that are 26, 27 years of age. It's hard to replace these guys.

But, you know, Doug Armstrong is so good at negotiating these type of deals. Alexander Steen, very smart hockey guy, that I do have, and I think the fan base has faith that, in the event they were to move some of these players, as shocking as it may sound, they feel like the pieces they'd be getting in return would be setting this organization up moving forward where they can win in the short term. So that's why I'm always curious.

If you make these guys, make these trades happen and you move on from some of these guys, what are you getting in return? And does it make the organization better moving forward? And I think that's where you have to wait and reserve judgment. Basically, they're not looking to unload these guys to give them away,

just to dump some salary here. They're throwing them out there and saying, hey, if you're willing to give us X, Y, and Z, then you can have Robert Thomas. But if you're not willing to give us what we're asking for, we'll keep them and we'll hang on to them for now. So you mentioned only a handful of teams that can make these big deals.

Who do you think are sitting there with a bag ready to spend? Well, Utah is one of them for sure. Yeah. I was looking into it the other day. I think Utah has a prospect who leads the, The OHL in points per game, the Q in points per game and the dub in points for game. They can't fit them all. And they have a Russian defenseman who's like a point per game right now in the American League.

Like they got all these guys. You know how hard it is to get a top three pick? I mean, you've got to like really try to tank. Hey, they've been bad a long time. A long time. And so they got all these guys from being bad for so long. Now they're just going to give them all away to go get a player off your roster. I just don't see that happening.

Then they may be willing to move one of them, maybe two of them, but certainly not three. And I always felt like with a guy like Thomas, probably throw Cairo and maybe Pareko in that list as well, that it's going to take three pieces to get it done, not two. But, you know, Utah, prior to that Arizona, they had to try to be that bad. That's how bad they were for so long. They got all these picks. And now their prospect pool is loaded. but I don't think they're looking just to get rid of them.

I mean, they had to be bad for six years, and it's hard to get a top 12 pick. It's hard to get a top three pick. It's almost impossible. You've got to be so bad to get a top three pick. The Blues haven't had one. I think they've had a top 10 pick in recent years. They got Divorsky, and you've got to go back to 2008.

They had the fourth overall pick in Alex Petrangelo. Outside of that, they always pick in the 20s, and they get great players, like a Robert Thomas, for example, and snuggerood. You know, you look at Jordan Khyber being a second round pick. Colton Pereko being a third round pick. They've done a great job drafting. Andy, I got to ask you about Jordan Bennington

because so much talk about his struggles going into the Olympics and he quieted the crowd there. What do you got for us? You keep looking at me like I got three heads when you come close to the camera. Because it was a tweet, but it was coming from the... I follow you, 590 the fans, sports now, whatever. Hey. It was you guys.

Was it? It was you guys. Good. I think you tagged me. Yeah, he sent a tweet about what he said during his interview. Nice job, Tammy. I didn't do it. Bennington and the market, we know Joel Hoffer's the goalie of the future here.

So it's just a matter of time before Bennington's gone. Is there enough for him to move? I know he's got half the league. He can shut down. I don't know what kind of markets out there. There's a lot of speculation right now that Bobrovsky might be warming up to the idea of maybe finding another team. I don't know what that does. But where do you see Bennington?

Frozen? No, no, no. I didn't know if you were finished. Yeah. Where do you see Bennington situation going? Yeah. Yeah. Great question.

And he has like a 14 team modified no trade list or whatever. but they're going to treat him like he's got a full no trade he's earned that not going to send him to somewhere where he wouldn't want to go same with the captain braden shen i think they would certainly work with him on that much like minnesota or vancouver did with quinn hughes you want to put these guys in a spot that they want to go to by the way bobrowski i hear he wants a marshan type deal in terms of the the term that's their biggest issue he wants whatever six years or whatever he's asking for a ton yeah so but for bennington You know, who needs goalies anyway, right?

Edmonton, from what I understand, it's on his no trade list. I don't think he's interested in go in there. You hear Ottawa, don't think he wants to go there. Carolina? I'll tell you where, maybe, you know, I mean, do they really need a goal? I mean, I, I, you got another year of an improving one. Yeah, yeah, I'm with you there. People throw out Montreal, that would be interesting.

Vegas would really be interesting. You'd be getting Bennington for another year beyond this season, too. So I think most players, they don't turn down Vegas. So that would be something that would be really interesting in the event the Blues are really looking to move Bennington. I'll tell you the one team that I think before his career is all said and done, that he would love to play for him if it wasn't St. Louis. Because I know he loves it here in St. Louis.

Big part of the community has had so much success here. He's an icon. and he always will be here in St. Louis is Toronto. I do know. And but under these circumstances right now, it's just the timing isn't right for him to go to Toronto. I don't think he wants to play for this Toronto team. Everyone's been talking.

He's not afraid of the spotlight, is he? No, but like, you know, they're just not in position to win right now. So I don't know why he's. He's the only Canadian team that's not on his no trade list. All right, all right. I got to get one more question. before we go. The other Leafs players, anything on Lawton, OEL,

McMahon, expectations where they may go, or is that, that's not your beat? No, it's not. But, I mean, you look at Detroit, Detroit's still looking for a defenseman. They lost out, obviously, on Myers. On Myers. Buffalo's still looking for a right shot D, too.

So, and we'll see how this plays out with, with Colton Pereco. But the Blues have another one here on this roster, too. So it's kind of a crazy time, man. We've heard all these rumors for years about St. Louis, and then it just doesn't ever really, the hype never really matches what actually happens. This year it just feels a little bit different.

Can I tell you why? Because Doug Armstrong. Are you sure he's coming back next year? Can we get him in a Bennington deal? Come on, Strick, give us something on Army next year. He's got a contract to come back to St. Louis next year. So, listen, Doug Armstrong is still in the prime of his career, even though he's been doing this forever.

And I think he's even admitted maybe, having him not manage a team or not be a general manager, even though he's going to be the president of hockey, that's going to be a real significant. adjustment for him. And if you're asking me, if I think that will he ever become a GM again? Now, he's not going to go work for somebody else.

Like in the past, Toronto was a rumor. Like, he wasn't coming to Toronto to work. No, he's going to leave to go become president of hockey operations somewhere else. Yeah. Well, although he's got that here and say, he's going to be president of hockey. Okay. Like, nothing would, nothing, I wouldn't close the door on any of that.

And Toronto is always, Toronto is always, been that team. I think 98% of the teams around the league, it would be easier for him to say, no, I wouldn't do that. Maybe Toronto would be a little bit of a different scenario. All right.

Now you're giving us something, Andy. Chumming the wires. Thanks for doing this, pal. We just put a tweet out while you were talking. Yeah, you should get, take a good, close look at your phone. Sammy's just putting that out right now on your behalf. Oh, my, oh, please don't. You guys get me fired. Note to 590 Twitter.

Eddie Strickland on the latest on Colton Pereko. Still not a Buffalo Sabre just yet. Thanks, Andy. Juicy. Juicy. It's game time. Presented by Bet 365. Visit the app Flatis Dodds. Ontario only must be 19 plus.

Please play responsibly. Five games on tap tonight, including on Scotia Bank, Wednesday night hockey, the Toronto Maple Leafs in New Jersey to take on the Devils. Austin Matthews has not scored in a long time. Always scores against the New Jersey Devils,

21 goals and 22 games against them. Give me a Austin Matthews anytime goal tonight at plus 140. That is, that's my pick for tonight. A couple of other games in Anaheim, sorry, hosting the Islanders, two good young teams, minus 110, both sides of the money line there. Matthew Schaefer is unbelievable.

And Vegas in Detroit to try to beat a team that's in a playoff spot for the first time since November. That was game time presented by Bet365. This is the app for the odds. It must be 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Okay, let's catch our breath. When we return, Emily Kaplan, ESPN hockey reporter,

just as busy as everyone else. But she's got a few minutes to stop by. Shout out McKee. What a show you scheduled today. Oh, my God. Plenty more. Juicy. on trade deadline week here on the Real Kipper and Bourne show.

Don't go away. Hey, it's Aylish Forre afar. And I'm Justin Cuthbert. Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the fan free game. 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 590, the fan, and wherever you get your podcast.

Welcome back to the program. A reminder of this hour of Real Kipperman Bourne brought to by Bed 365. Nick Kiprios, Justin Boren. Loving our chat on the YouTube channel. How about a thumbs up for our Sammy? Jam-pack show today, Sammy. Way to go, bud. But to go and Strickland Kaplan back-to-back on a busy trade day is really elite.

Exactly. Emily Kaplan will join us soon. Certainly tremendous buzz going around the National Hockey League. And we've got a signing too as well. Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood signing a big, massive contract. I wrote written earlier that. that you just weren't sure.

It took so long for them to realize what the number was. And I think they knew the number all along, why they needed to wait so long. Well, because it's a bad number. It's not a great number. I'll give you that. But you traded for the guy. Yeah, well, and you knew the number, J.B.

Well, and there's this thing with the salary cap doing what it's doing, where I think teams are going to go hate the number. However, we want the player and we're going to have room, so we'll do it. That's the key point. Five years, 28.75 million dollars. Shout out to a key for sure. By the way,

when everyone says, congratulations to the player, you know the deal is good for him. Welcome in, Emily Kaplan from ESPN, who's, is this the biggest window you've been off your phone?

Emily is talking to us today? You know what? I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to be off my phone when I talk to you guys. Yeah, that's okay. You know what we had Andy Strickland on? He was checking his phone

while we were talking. It was so cool. So if you need to do anything at all, just carry on. But we're not taking our camera off of you. Cool. The best is when it's like my friends text, man. I'm like so excited. I've gotten to learn.

I've got to go check in. They're like, what are you doing March 27th? Want to get dinner? I'm like, get off. So I'm the worst person to be around this week. But I'm glad that I'm not alone. Just before joining us, your last conversation, your last text to anybody was on who? Colton Pereco trying to figure out what exactly is going on right now.

So it seems like that's a deal in place and it sounds like it's going to happen, but there's obviously a little bit of a hang up here. And I think that probably involves him, you know, having to make that decision away if there's no movement clause because you know this. Like when you sign up for something and then all of a sudden they're like, hey, the contract we gave you, it's not going to exactly be honored that way. It's a big life decision. Is this a surprise for you?

Is this just the start of the St. Louis Blues? because if we go back earlier in this season, the blues were pretty much out of the gate as the first team to say, we've got guys for sale. Who wants them? You know, I don't know if this is necessarily the first move for them, only because I feel like this is what Doug Armstrong does. Like he's done this several other times, including last year,

where he just puts all of his players' names out there and nothing is guaranteed to happen because he set super high prices and just like, I'm open for business. And so maybe there's more that happens, But I also wouldn't be shocked if so many of these decisions are just punted to summer because a lot of these guys that we're talking about are under contract for several more years. What I do think it is the first domino for, though, is just the trade market specifically with defensemen. Like everyone wants a right shot defenseman. Rasmus risk to line in.

Like a lot of team to rent on him. I'm curious, you know, does that become the next guy that goes here or guys that lost out on Paraco, what they do? And then for me also, it's just the Buffalo Sabers. Like, I just love the fact that Yarramakina's like, enough is enough. We're in playoff position right now, about to break the NHL's longest playoff drought. Let's just go for it. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's dicey times to get into playoffs. They got to make sure they do it.

I appreciate them going hard too. You're seeing a lot of these teams make a pivot from we're rebuilding. We're trying to get good to like, okay, here we go. And Utah is one of those teams. McKenzie Weger, rumored to be going there. I'll be honest. The conversation that everyone is having around this trade is like, is there a way that T. Jigginla could go back to Calgary?

is there a way to make a package happen? If you're the flames and you're aiming at being good in a couple of years, that's like the holy grail of a player to acquire. Yeah, I love when they make emotional choices like that too, right? Because just think of how popular that would be in the market and they've gone through so much. And now they have the new arena coming. But like that would just be a massive wave of good publicity.

So I honestly, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't put a ton of my focus into the Canadian teams. You guys got that covered. Utah is one of those teams. I just haven't been able to infiltrate yet. So I have no idea what's going on there. Appreciate the honesty. Okay, so south of the border outside of St. Louis,

what is striking your fancy right now in the trade world? You know, Vincent Trocheck situation, for sure. I just feel like Chris Drury kind of backed himself into a corner by putting out that letter saying you're going to retool. And maybe it was just preparing fans for our time of Panarin, which obviously was a shocking one. You get rid of Carson-Susie, but it feels like there needs to be more.

and Trocheck is the big chip out there, right? Like, that's where they can get the most value at this deadline. I don't think anything's going to happen right now. It should start Gner Fox. And so I know there are offers out there. It just feels like Drury is saying, hey, if I'm giving up this guy who just proved at the Olympics, I'm so valuable for three more playoff runs at a pretty good cap hit.

Like, I just need to make sure that I'm putting my team in a good position. So the link with Trocheck and his... Look at my phone, guys. You know, keep checking. Keep checking. Trocheck and Minnesota, Bill Garron, the USA hockey, of course, is there. But we know his preferences to stay in the east.

Could Bill Garron talk him out of that? I think so. I think that the way Bill Garan is operating right now is catching a lot of players' attention. Like, he's wheeling and dealing, and he's saying, like, hey, I'm not afraid to go for it in the same way that we're seeing with Buffalo, right? Like, this is a team that hasn't gotten out of the first round

in a decade. You sign Creel Caprizz off to this massive conference. contract, you got to convince Quinn Hughes to stay this summer. Like, why not go for it right now? And so I don't think Minnesota is on his no trade list. Like, I haven't gotten that fully confirmed, but I know that there's a lot of respect between Vincent Trocheck and the style that he plays and Bill Garrett and what he's trying to operate there.

And I do, I have heard that there is a deal in place that Garron obviously offered to Drury, a guy he knows well. They were at the Olympics together with Team USA. I think Drury is just like, okay, is this the best I can do? I think he really wants your off as a player. And from my understanding, Garen has just said, like, no, that's not what I'm willing to offer. Yeah. So let's keep the focus on the tri-state area there in general.

The Islanders, the Devils, these are teams that are kind of a different ends of where they thought they would be this year maybe. It's been really interesting to watch both of them. How active do you think those two teams would be? I think the Islanders are very active behind the scenes. Like, I think we don't really know about Matthew Darch in his tendencies, but like we can kind of guess by what we've seen so far. and the fact that he came from Tampa where obviously there are a franchise that does a bunch of wheeling and dealing.

Like I heard that there was some kind of conversation around Connor Garland and Tyler Myers going to the Islanders. Obviously that didn't happen with Myers now going to Dallas, but I wonder if there's still something there or those are the type of players that are looking at. And then with the Devils, like, it's hard for me to kind of gauge how active they're going to be.

And I feel like they might not be that active at all. I know the position they're in, right? Like it's highly disappointing. They're not going to make the playoffs. All they have to hang their hat on right now is like all the good publicity that Jack Hughes is bringing them. But, you know, you don't get good publicity into Stanley Cups. Like they want to get those four years. I know, exactly.

So, you know, I think that Tom Fitzgerald's, like, open for hockey trades. And I think that's why you see some of his defense men, you know, those names out there. But like, who's making real true hockey trades right now? There's so many teams clustered. It's just hard to navigate. You're watching and listening to Emily Kaplan from ESPN. does a terrific job covering the National Hockey League. Emily, as far as the Stanley Cup champions are concerned,

the Florida Panthers looking forward to next year already, I'm sure. A lot of their issues built around injuries led by Barkov, but what are you hearing on them? What are you hearing on the availability of anybody? But Brodowski seems to be the name out there that is most, inviting for fans to wonder what's going to happen with them? For sure.

Well, this is a front office, right? That's been super aggressive. It has made some pretty brash decisions. So I know they're like thinking of all contingencies right now. It definitely feels like because of the way they came back in the break, they're going to be sellers and they've got a couple pending UFAs. I know teams would be interested in. AJ Greer is like perfect for the playoffs.

I wouldn't be shocked to see him go. Brobrovsky is the one that I'm like having a bit of a harder time just getting a handle on. It's very obvious that his agent, Paul Theophanas, who has negotiated some very big deals lately, is not on the same page at all with Florida in terms of what the next contract could look like. He has some trade protection. I'm just wondering, like, who wants him that badly that would give up the right package to Florida to make this make sense? You know, I think we have a team like Edmonton who already made their business. Everyone, you know, kind of points to Vegas and Carolina to me that those are the two teams that publicly will

say like, no, no, we're good with our guys, but privately are like, can we get upgrades and what would it cost? So I have no idea how to handicap this. I'm kind of skeptical that he gets dealt at all, but it's Florida. It's a, you know, again, a brash organization. I wouldn't be shocked either. You know, the last thing I'll ask you about is just these guys at the, you know, the very good teams, Colorado, Minnesota, and Dallas and the Central, all three of them in that sort of

arms race. Curious to see, like, is Colorado going to be able to be able to? to afford to make a big move. You'd mention, Cadre at some point, do you think that they're done trying to add to what is already a very good team?

No, sorry, I thought the last question was going to move at USA Olympics. I can't believe you guys have moved on. We are moving on. Never happened. I understand.

No, it's all good. I do think that, like, that's the arms race going on right now, specifically like Dallas and Minnesota. They're meeting in the first round. Dallas now has that Tyler Sagan money that they have access to to to spend. You see them get Tyler.

Meyer's like I don't think they're done but Colorado's the sticky one and they made that trade with Sam Gerrara like everyone I've talked to is like okay they're gearing up cap space and for what I know they've looked at cadre I sometimes wonder like just you know when you're talking about the emotional stuff with Jerome McGillow's son coming back to Calgary like just the good vibes and good juju that they had and that Stanley Cup around like why not bring the band back together so I think that's the one that I would love to see I know it's been talked about I just have no idea for going to see it because I don't think Calgary is in a position where they feel like they have to do anything

because he's under contract for a couple more years. Anything else we've missed south of the border here, Emily, that also you're keeping an eye on? Good question. I live in Chicago. We know what they're doing. I don't know how many more draft picks they need to amass. They're pretty good here.

I think Detroit. Yeah, Columbus is kind of interesting because I think they were waiting to see how the games went this week. I think they'll probably just hold on to their UFA. and then figure it out. But Detroit for me, like, that's the one. And I think here in the States, you know, with the Rangers out of the playoffs and the Toronto Maple Leaf selling,

like we need a big market. And I know that Detroit would do very well for us, you know, if they make it through. And last year's deadline, remember, like, all the guys were kind of looking around saying, like, we've earned reinforcements. Where are they? And Steve Y was like, nope, like, I'm staying the course.

And so I'm really curious because I think they've earned it even more with the way they played this year if he finally gets it done because they've got the assets to do it. Yeah, no question. everybody watching Detroit closely, especially after Dylan Larkin spoke after last season. I love that by him.

Yeah. Right? Like, way to actually say it out loud. Way to challenge Stevie Y. Right? Mm-hmm. Emily, great stuff, as always. So appreciate your time.

Thank you for doing this. You guys rock right back to my phone. But I have a great time. Thank you. Emily, Kaplan, ESPN. Detroit has so much cap space. Three first still. It's three years.

Dragger. saying that the Utah thing is a thing, but no teach. And then he said hashtag sorry. You, cowards. No teach. That's no fun. So he's saying he's off. He said that it's untouchable.

It could happen, but he's basically saying it's untouchable. Emily mentioned something there that I thought hadn't really crossed my mind, but Bobrowski Vegas. Okay, I just want to back up for a second, okay, on the goalie market. This is incredibly tough time for a goalie to pack up and go and pick a team that, that, I don't know, like, is Bobrovsky going in there? And are you renting Bobrovsky for two months? Yes.

And what is the upside for him that he gets this massive six-year deal spread over, you know, whatever number he wants? Aren't you raised as a boy that Stanley Cups are the most important thing? The man's got, you know what? He's untouchable already. I just, I don't, he's a legend down there. That's, I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that.

All 15 guys that follow the team and love him. Not a fan. It's funny, right? Because there's this whole thing about you should be ruthless. You should trade guys when they're done. You should be trying to win. This isn't whatever. And then there's, you know, the complete opposite of that is that makes no sense.

Bob has been there. Bob's your dude. Bob's your uncle. Bob is your uncle. Maybe he's just, we know he's built differently. We do. He's just,

he's this machine. You'd think if you saw him and the way he looked after himself, he's 25 years old. He's just a freak that way. If the man wants to play and he's got the energy to do it, go for it.

But Vegas, again, he's staring at a guy who just signed a $6.25 million contract. Aiden Hill. What's it due to Aiden Hill watching Bobrovsky come in? Vegas does seem like the ruthless.

We don't care. I mean, I mean, Biden Hill's the Woody Heraldson means buying his eyes with his money. He's got a huge contract. Like, it sucks. You've turned him in a Robin Lennar

where it's like, yeah, he's here, but he's like, oh, oh, where is he? Okay. Don't talk about him. He's in here. Don't talk about him. He's in the room.

Right? It's like, it's not the way you really should do business. Sign a guy to six years, $36 million. Vegas is this whole time has been the team who everyone goes, oh, they're disrespecting their vets and they, that's not a way to, you know. I don't get the disrespecting vets. Oh, that's been the whole thing about how cutthroat they are

and they get, you know, they win their cup with the misfits. Didn't Alan Walsh put out like a painting of them stab at a sword in the battle? Got it with a sword. No, okay. Maybe that's a good example. Yeah. Okay. But, you know, they do what they need to do to win.

This one's a tough one, though. This one's a tough one to pull off. I agree that it is from a do you believe in Aden Hill? Do you still think he can be? Aidan Hill, they got went out and got Carter Hart and signed him to a two-year deal for a couple of million. I got news for you. He's got to kind of stop, though. It's not fantasy football here.

Right? Is that we're saying? They're people? That's the argument. They're people, but you can't just... Sports are moving in this direction. It sucks. People that you believed in a short few weeks ago or months ago.

Listen, that makes sense on a human level. But I think sports are getting more and more ruthless. The jobs are harder to keep. Anybody seriously see Bobrovsky going to Edmonton? No. No. Okay. No chance.

Go to the team. Thank you. And they're in the same boat as Vegas. You kind of made your... bed already, guys. Yeah. Please. I disagree on Vegas.

Bobrovsky is the exact type of move they make. But I also... He hasn't been... Newsflash. He hasn't been very good this year. But there's the thing. Bennington and Bobrovsky

are so funny to have these conversations. It's like, proven winner, proven winner, playing terrible, playing terrible. Both guys. Like, you want to bet on their... Here's the downside. You still play terrible and you fizzle out

in the first round and your stock potentially goes down. Okay. That's a danger. For sure. This is the don't go to the combine. Bennington wants one team, one new team,

and he wants a chance to be there for the next five years. He's not going to babysit your prospects for a year. So you think those guys want to get paid again before they try to do their thing somewhere else? I think you got a better chance of getting a better contract. if you shut it down. And if you think about the hockey... Winnington doesn't care.

He just wants to win. Who's that? Bennington. Yeah, you got to get off this a little bit. I think he wants money to. I think money helps. I don't believe it either. They got a better chance of protecting themselves

even on a long run to stay home and rest, for God's sakes. Look at Bobrowski. Look at the wear and terror he's had for the last three years. He's played an extra season over. almost any other goalie. Stay home and rest, by it, you've earned it. It's funny, like,

not, can I make it a nationalistic thing, but like, you know, Bobrovsky wants to get paid and you got Panarin wants to get paid. I'm more inclined to think that Bennington has been paid and would go somewhere and try to win.

I think it's more important. Like Strick says, he wants to come home to Toronto and win. If he's going to Montreal or Carolina, if he commits to Carolina, or Montreal. It's like, I'm coming to be the goalie for the next five years, but you're not just bringing me in for a year

so I can groom that guy and then I'm out looking for another job. Totally. I'm not going to keep it warm for Fowler. I'm not working that way, bud. I'm going to one team. They're going to sign me to a six-year deal at X amount, and that's my exit plan. Yeah, I think you're right about that.

I think he... So they'll be going in with heart and... Aiden Hill is their goalies. And you know, Bobrovsky for five years after that doesn't help you. That's no. Yeah, exactly. So they're not going to give me the contract I want, right?

So why would I go to Vegas? Well, just if you're willing to... To prove myself? No, you think you're going to have a chance to win cups, and it's better than being in St. Louis. Have you seen Vegas? Two words.

Big and slow. But they, I mean, a lot of their numbers suggest that they've been pretty good for a lot of this year. You can't get a safe. The goaltending stunk. They're the Ottawa senators. of the West? Well, yeah, except they get to play in the layup line Pacific. So they get to

play in the playoffs. The Sun would have a thousand points. Yeah, they were the best team in that division. Jam-packed Sammy show today. David Pagnoda. Well said. Emily Kaplan. Andy Strickland. Andy Strickland.

And you bumped Rick Bonus. He's a legend. How could you bump Rick bonus? I did hate doing it because I love bones. Wow. I hate it. All right. We'll get them on soon.

We'll get them next week. We will. All right. I can't stop reading. Still got some work to do before we hit that Friday, 3 p.m. deadline. How many games tonight on tap, Sammy? Five. Five.

Watch whatever you want to watch. And we're back tomorrow on the Real Kippering Bourn Show.