Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs' Deadline Reflection with GM Brad Treliving

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne are joined by former NHL President and general manager Doug MacLean (1:15) for a deadline edition of Off-The-Rails Friday! Mac gets into the Mikko Rantanen situation, what Scott Laughton brings to Toronto, the Panthers' last-second swing for Brad Marchand, the Canucks' quiet deadline, whether the Oilers did enough and much more. Later, Leafs GM Brad Treliving (24:38) joins the show to recap his moves today and discuss what Brandon Carlo brings to the blue-line group, the pressure put on by in-division trades and how the day impacts negotiations with Mitch Marner. Finally, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee discuss the Jets' additions and which teams improved their Cup odds the most on deadline day.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Welcome back to the Real Kipper and Bourne show. This is our Trade Deadline special. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, Jake the Snake, Jules already one hour gone by like that. Truly a blink. I cannot believe we're an hour in our thanks to Elliott Friedman who just joined us Giving us whatever he had left, right? Yeah Hey, and he he poured his heart out 21 of the last 24 hours. So It's Jen Rolnick have to get straightened out Sammy man. Hey you changed the jersey anyway Yeah, well I changed the jersey but we're on national for the whole thing

For clarifying that in a few minutes, we'll welcome in Doug McLean it's We could go like a very long time but you don't get the real gist of it until we've heard from Doug McLean on Friday. I look forward to someone weighing in on the Don Sweeney comment about contract talks with Brad Mersenne. We just had a gap. Oh, interesting. Had a gap.

Okay, let's not waste any time driving this thing right into the ditch. Let's welcome in Doug McLean, former NHL President, GM and head coach. And and hold on Doug, I got to pay the bills here this hour of real Kipron born brought to you by bet 365. In many ways, we are gambling with you on the show. We roll the dice every time you come on. How are you man? Tell tell Don Sweeney I've had a gap between my teeth my whole

life and I've lived with it. I sucked it up and you know it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt my TV career. It didn't hurt my hockey career and he has a gap with his captain. Give me a break. What a joke. Is today a day where you really enjoy being retired? I've seen you on a few trade deadline shows myself. You wouldn't have made it. You would not make 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. anymore, right? You don't have that in you. Oh, I started at 8.30 this morning with Stelick.

Like, leave me alone, guys. And then I'm on Vancouver, I'm on Vancouver. I mean, like, it's ridiculous. But I wouldn't have done this show tonight, but my daughter Mackenzie is here and she wanted to watch me on TV because she hadn't seen me in five years. So that's the only reason I'm doing it. Okay. Doug McLean, former NHL president, GM and head coach. What do you, Oh, just a minute. Jeff, Jeff Rimmer's phone with me with their trade deadline scoop.

No, no, tell him it's over. Grims, the trade deadline's over. I don't need your scoops anymore. I'm on the air. Seriously. I mean, who does that? I know, you got Coonan, we heard. Okay, which one is on the top of your list

in terms of how big or how surprised you are. Where do you want to go? You want to go Leafs Carolina? You want to go Ottawa Buffalo? No, I want to go Dallas. They, they had the best day of anybody. They got the best player that was available. And I think now let's, it'll be interesting to see if I'm wrong in this, but I think it was the perfect fit with the makeup of their team, with what they have for big forwards that can make plays. They've got an unbelievable mobile blue line to play. Like, let's not kid ourselves. Rantanen played with McKinnon and at the prime of his career, Landiskov.

He needs really good players and Dallas have really good players. And I think it's a great fit. I think Jimmy Neal hit a home run. I really do. And I, you know, 12 million, 12, 7, whatever, you know, 12 million apparently at 27, 28 years of age with the talent they have, with the gold tending they have, with the upside of their back end when it's healthy.

I think Dallas had a big time day. Let me ask you something because a lot of talk now is, oh, we're finding out what kind of player he is without Nate McKinnon and the lack of success in Carolina. And one of the things that kind of gave me the thought about where Ranton and situation can go in Carolina is somebody mentioned to me real early, his heart will never be in it in Carolina. So let me ask you, did you ever have a player

that you knew his heart wasn't in, I don't know, Detroit or Columbus and he just had to go? The only player I knew that I definitely knew his heart wasn't in it was Nick Kiprios when he got sent down to Baltimore with me and the American Occult League. You wanted to be in Washington. You had no interest in being with me in Baltimore. That's right. So I think you might be... Todd Marshawn didn't really have his heart in Columbus when his quote in the paper was, the owners are putting shackles on us. And Mr. McConnell phoned me and said, get him out of here, get him out of Columbus. That's

it. You know, so no, you were really the only guy I experienced. Do you think though it affected him and his performance? And do you expect him to see the Colorado ranting in, in Dallas? I was shocked that he didn't hit it off with all that shock. That surprised me that that was not a good combination because I would have said it would be a really good combination and it didn't work. The other thing it was was, you know, I heard Elliott mentioned about the schedule, you know, and I mean, he didn't get I mean, I was in the NHL 25 years and I still haven't found Raleigh.

You know, I mean, I've been there. I've been to Carolina to play and I still don't know where Raleigh is, other than now I know because my sister lives there. Like seriously, Dallas? Have you ever been to Dallas? It's a great town. It's a great hockey town. They've got a great organization. I think it's a great fit. I really do.

And I don't know if I've ever been to Dallas. I've a great hockey town. They've got a great organization. I think it's a great fit. I really do. And I don't think I mean, Tom Dundon is a chief negotiator in Carolina, apparently. I'm not sure that's great, you know, but as I said to your buddy there on the morning show and NHL Stelick, I'm not going to criticize the NHL. I'm going to be nice today. You know, so I apologize, Mr. Dundon, for your negotiating skills.

I'm sure you've flown into Raleigh a few times to play golf, Doug. There's supposed to be some good places around there. I've been to Raleigh Airport. I just never have found downtown Raleigh. That's all. I just, it can't be. have you ever found it? It's not easy to find. I have I've covered a Stanley Cup there. All right. Raleigh fans are gonna be all over me I got so many fans now mad at me it's unbelievable. So listen I think it's a great fit I think it's the trade of the day but there was some great deals today

there was some great deals. How did you think Brad Tree Living did with Toronto give up a couple of firsts but ended up with a couple of real players? You know what I said I didn't like the Shen deal a couple of weeks ago to you guys and I wasn't for it and I like this guy as a third line centerman. He's got bite, he's got competitiveness, and he's gonna have McMahon with him that gives it a nice look on one side.

I like their third line all of a sudden. I think it's a good combination. And I don't know the kid, but I talk to scouts that like him because he's got fire. He's got character. He's got playoff mentality. And I think when you're going to play against Tampa and Florida, you need that type of player

really bad. So I like him better than, I mean, look, I love Shand. I love what he's done in his career. I think this is a better fit for the Leafs right now. I don't know if he's done in his career. I think this is a better fit for the Leafs right now I don't know if he's gonna score. He's not great defensively which bothers me a little bit You know, he's got to play that he's got to be better defensively than he's been in the playoffs when you're playing Florida Tampa you got to be better defensively than what he's shown. So that's gonna be an interesting test I don't mind the

price for him, the fact they're picking up half the salary. Carlo, I didn't like Carlo last year in the playoffs at all. I think his game has slipped a little, but I think Brad did a real good job. I think he's a real good pickup. In the number four hole, I think he's a good pickup. in the number four hole. I think he's a good pickup. The shock of the day for me, Kip, Nick Robertson, state of leaf. I thought by the start of this year,

that was inevitably not gonna be the case. I didn't know, I thought he left in training, I thought he held out in training camp and never come back. No, no, no. Dog! No, he's worked hard. He was nice to Kipper at that event. He's working hard

and he's playing bigger than he really is. That's all that matters here. I couldn't get him in my lines today. That's great. I missed him. So that's great. I think that's really positive. Obviously you guys really like him as a kid and that's great. I'm happy for you. You know, I'm not sure he's going to be there against a Tampa and Florida, but we'll see. We'll see. Yeah. Marchand. You guys really want to move this conversation along here. Yes. We want to get to the meat, the meat and potatoes of Brad Marchand now as a Florida panther and where you had this on your on your scale of zero to 10 surprise scale. You know what, I wouldn't say it was as high

because you and I talked during the Four Nations and prior to the Four Nations that that was gonna be Brad's coming out party or was it gonna be the end of Brad and Boston? And I think we had that conversation. I was still shocked and surprised. You get nervous when you have a, as a general manager, you get nervous when you have a player

with the miles Brad has on him. He's your captain. He's a loyal, loyal guy. He's played for a discount. You know he deserves it. I was surprised. I would have thought they would have got him done on a deal. I really was.

And to see him go to Florida just blows my mind. It blows my mind. And is it disappointing here? You know, I guess we cover the lease every single day. There's some people who are surprised it's within the division. You know, is there some thought that he should have gone somewhere to the West? Edmonton. Yeah. Right. I, I, yeah. I, but I don't know if he would have gone there, but I'm just, I think it,

and I'm going to say something I probably will week. I don't think this bodes well for the Boston Bruins. I really don't. I think sometimes as an organization, you have to make a decision that I'm going to show some loyalty here. And I know Tampa didn't with Stamp Coast. Although Stamp Coast had an offer and could have signed and could have stayed and could have finished there, which I wish you would have by the way.

But now I just, I just wish it could have ended better for Sweeney and for Marshawn. And I think he should have ended in Boston for what he's brought to the table for the Bruins. I really do. And it bothers me a little bit. So do you feel like there's enough like sandpaper between the two of them now that even if you try to maybe revisit in the off season as a free agent to go back, you think it's too much water under the bridge? Not a chance. Not a me. It's too insulting that a captain of an original six team gets pushed off for a second rounder. I will be shocked if that happens.

And I hope Brad doesn't do it. Yeah, fair enough. I think it's justified there being some frustration with how that all played out. Let's not forget something you guys have no clue about and I'm gonna tell you you have no clue About the size we have as maritime don't ever forget that About the what you want I'm saying we have pride us maritime. He is not going back to Boston. Give me a break. All right All right, All right.

Let's talk Canada. Let's move about Canada a little bit. Ottawa senators get Dylan Cousins. They move out Josh Norris. The Cousins, you know, he was a, people thought he was going to be the Sabres captain. Do you like Ottawa adding him for Norris? They got Zetterlin too. I love it.

The kid from San Jose, people tell me this guy has a chance to be an unbelievable player. He's 5'11, 220. People tell me they are shocked at how good this kid is. So I'm anxious and I didn't know him. But people, I had two calls from people after me saying, don't forget how good this guy is. Don't forget how good this kid is going to be attitude character. They tell me it's over the top. So they're raving about the move. Cousins is going to be real interesting. First of all, Norris, unfortunately for nor he's a hell of a player. Norris talent. Very, very, very, very talent player injuries have been a problem. And I'm not convinced they didn't want to break up Brady and not Norris.

I'm not sure that I'm not sure that that was, I just, I've watched and I listened and they're great friends and I'm not sure it was time for a separation there. They do that with my son in grade three, Doug. Have you heard that Nick? I have heard conflicting reports there about the dressing room sometimes. Remember the Jays dugout? They're like, ah, these guys too chummy.

Like for some reason teams don't like that. I don't know. I just think that, you know, sometimes you have to move somebody out for somebody to take a big step. Well, that's not a negative. I'm not saying negative. You know, a bigger, a big step and take charge. I, I, you know, I give Ottawa some credit here because they didn't necessarily win in the talent department. And we know a lot of teams are like, take the talent before anything else. But they, Cousins gives them a different look and a different feel.

And he'll be better on a better team. He's better surrounded there. I, you know, I've been a little tough on Staios with offseason acquisitions the Perons and some of these guys. I Really like his work today I think Steve I think Steve Staus had a good day today and I think cousins needed it desperately needed a change and Like people were telling me today. There's no way Chicago should have taken Was a Kirby dock ahead of him in that draft.

It wasn't even close. And even Byron, I think it was, there was conversation that this guy was that good. So we'll see. But I think it was a good move for Ottawa. I really do. And I think Ottawa is really excited about it. And that's not a knock on Norris. I coach Norris's father in Midget with the team Atlantic under 17 team. Dwayne Norris was on my team, a Newfoundlander and went on to play

at Michigan State. Is Norris an East Coaster? His father was a Newfie who played for me with team Atlantic in 1987. So his father was a hell of a player, Dwayne Norris. Never played in the NHL. What a hell of a player. I didn't play against him. So Mac, if we push a little history for you boys, you're always trying to educate you. Thank you. So appreciated. If we push out West, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, If we push out West Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, like fairly quiet today. Yeah. And the Vancouver quiet. It's a big deal. Vancouver. I did a radio out there. I really made Vancouver's sort of lost in the woods. Like what is going on guys? I mean, this, this is a team guys. I said this about Nashville on your show in the fall, that Nashville lost

their identity. This time last year, one of the toughest teams to play against in the NHL was the Vancouver Canucks. You don't remember how tough they were to play against last year? And they've lost their identity. They've lost. They're not a hard team to play against. What has gone wrong there? And it's not just Miller and Pedersen. I mean, seriously, I'm just blown away by it. This was a good hockey team. If I'm not mistaken, I probably picked Vancouver to win the West this year. Check your files. Check your stats.

I loved that team last year before game seven against Edmonton. They were real good and tough to play against. And now he'd all for Miller. I mean, is that his name? He'd all he'd all he'd all for Miller. Oh my god, that's the opposite of what Miller was the opposite player. Yeah, they're mad at Alvin for saying that the offers for Besser were so bad, if you had heard them, you would run away. There are people are saying that kind of devalues your own player

a little bit there. Well, I mean, I wouldn't have gone there. Well, I would like best No, you don't go there. That must have been miscommunication or something. That must have been miscommunication or something. I must have been a mistake. You know, maybe. But look, I Besser Besser, you love Besser as a coach. You know why? Because he scored his goals and he scores big goals. And I thought for sure LA or somebody would have taken them today. But I mean, I guess eight times five is skating bothers me. I he's skating is a touch off and it could fall off.

But I mean this team, they've got to figure this out. What is going on there? Mac, it pains me to give you full credit, but when the Buffalo Sabres moved Casey Middlestead to Colorado, you told me that would never work. Now he's moved to Boston. I can't think of a player that suits less the Boston Bruins than Middlestead. But Charlie Coyle now Colorado Avalanche. What do you think of that trade? Well, I think I've got to give C Mac Chris McFarland who was with me for 11 years in Columbus I got to give him credit. He moved off Middlestad

he knew he knew it was not a good fit once he got and he and he he bided his time till he could move him out and He brings in Brock Nelson who everybody likes as a player like like a two-way guy, a solid, a playoff type guy. And then he brings in Charlie Coyle. I thought CMAC had a good day today. I really did. And, you know, they're a good team right now. They're, you know, them and Dallas and Edmonton and these teams in the West, it's going to be ugly in the playoffs. And the East, I mean, it's like the Leafs, you applaud the Leafs for what they did, but they got to play Tampa now and Florida. And don't think Columbus will be a walk in the park and don't think Ottawa will be a walk in the park in the

first round if they make it. So you know what? It's going to be, it's the same as we say every year, the first round is going to be the best hockey you could ever imagine And some good teams are gonna go home early I know we have to get out in about four minutes, but Doug did Edmonton do enough? Yeah, did he did you get did Sammy tell you to start my yeah, well for me? We got to this one. Hey, let's get you on the clock for a four-minute farewell now, by the way I know it's you so four minutes lead, four minutes and 50 seconds. Do you like Frederick and Wallman and Jones if you like for the for the Oilers?

Uh, Stan didn't have a good day for me. You know, I mean, this is a, this is a team that went to the finals. I mean, you know, wallman, he's what? Look, he's, he's got some great offensive skills and he's not great defensively. Does that sound like a great fit for Edmonton Oilers? Weak defensively? That scares me. I mean, you know, they've nurse really doesn't want to play defense. Boucher really doesn't want to play defense. I was just calling the whole game. Well, yeah, they got at home, they got nurse, they got to figure out who's going to be their shutdown pair and figure this out. But, you know, you never underestimate McDavid dry side. They're going to be tough. They'll be good. But I thought Stan missed the day. All right. I mentioned Winnipeg.

We got to at least give them some love here. And Jets talk. We got to get our just talk. A tan of Brandon Tan of going there. Good energy guy. They didn't get their centerman, but still the favorites here. Look, Chevy Chevy is one of the quality guys in the game. 14 years as GM there. He's one of the good people in the game. He's a, he's a bright guy. He

paid his dues. He learned from one of your greatest fans, one of your greatest idols, butch scoring in the international hockey league. I think he was with butch was he with butch? Yeah, he was with butch. And where was it in Utah? My dad, my dad coached with those guys. That's right. So he learned from a good group. I think. Look, I like their team. I wish they would have been able to get the second line center. Namishnikov has been a good fit, but I think he's better in this three hole. So, you know, I liked the Tanof. He'll drive people crazy. He's a great penalty killer. He's an energy guy. Shin, they needed another defenseman. I like their team. I wouldn't want to play them in the first round, especially if Hellebuck finally takes the step.

That's three minutes. Okay, that's three minutes right there. Okay, we got a second. You want to squeeze anything else out because we're dumping you for baseball. We gotta go. We oh no, you're done. You know what? It just was such a treat for you. You know, you have Elliott Freeman on one of the icons in Canadian broadcasting and I get to follow him I should And you guys you guys have Rejuvenated my career and I really appreciate it. Well for many of our followers now Vladie gets to follow you

Well, for many of our followers now, Vlady gets to follow you, right? Who's Vlady? A Blue Jays baseball player. Yeah, and also we have Brad Treeliving, do we not? We do. We got Brad Treeliving. But we got to go to break now because many of our viewers are going to go to a baseball, right? The Jays and the Yankees.

Guys, hey, thanks a million for having me on. No, no, no. Thank you. and the Yankees. Guys, hey, thanks a million for having me on. No, no, no. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Doug McLean, former NHL president, always on a Friday. All right, Sammy, we'll take a quick break. We'll take a quick break. All right, we're back after these words.

It's more Real Kipper and Born. Hey, it's Matt Marchese. And I'm Mike Feuda. We're discussing the top 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. Welcome back to the show, Nick Iprio,

Sammy McKee, Justin Bourne. Let's welcome in the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's always nice to get someone that was actually in the trenches on a day like today Brad tree living tree. Thank you for joining us I know it's been a long day and if you got a little bit more juice, we could sure use some right now, but What's it? What's it like for you on a day like today? You're a general manager that has a strong reputation for having a lot of lines in the water. Is it you just circling the deck waiting for a nibble? Is that how you describe a day like today?

Well, you know, you've... No matter what you've done prior to deadline day there's a there's a tempo to it you know it's usually an early there's usually an early tee off and uh and then you know you for the most part you've been in discussions you know there's stuff that comes up throughout the day kipper that that maybe you haven't you haven't looked at or depending on things that you do. A lot of the stuff you've had discussions for a while, you've got things framed up and the pace of the day picks up depending on where you are and where your team is at. You know, it can be busy as a buyer, it can be busy as a seller.

It's nerve wracking when you're not necessarily exactly sure what might be going on, but I think the staff, you know, we were prepared and the staff did a great job and it's a busy day, long day, but you know, we think it was a successful one. So often on these days, Brad, there's a real big fish out there and I think teams, competitive teams are in it until they're not in it. I'm not sure what you can tell us about being in for one of the biggest names I think available in the day and

then maybe setting an internal deadline of when you're in you're in and when you're out you got to move on and can that describe maybe what your day was like today? Well I don't I as a policy chipper, I don't speculate or talk about or comment on speculation, right? There's lots of... Yeah, I get it. I tried. But we had to try, Brad. Yeah, good try.

But the word I would use on, not only today, but as you get to the deadline, is discipline. You know, we were out in Denver, so I think it was at one o'clock. You know, I thought the bell rang at one. So there's mile markers, right? When you're kind of going through and if you're working a certain file and you have a pretty good temperature of what teams may be looking for in this year's market. Obviously, we added a center. You have a pretty good feel coming in. That's all the homework you have to do and the work you have to do in preparing for the

deadline of what might be available. And then, you know, who may be fishing in what waters, but you have to be disciplined in terms of setting timeframes. The managers are pretty good. It's a competitive group, but you're usually fishing in more than one lake. And so it can be, yeah, you're trying to forecast that. So what may be happening is if, you know, there's a field to it where you think something may be getting close,

may not be getting close, you have to pivot. But I think it's important to set mile markers and times where you're, you know, you can be fissioned for option A and the bell goes and you haven't been able to check down a little bit. So that's all part of it. And you've got a staff that may be working different files. But you're taking and giving a lot of phone calls and texts and trying to, and then there's the devs and flows. You can go quiet for a little bit of time, but certainly trying to balance the day and balance your time.

But I've been doing it a long time. And that last, I mean, we finished the Carlo deal. I think it was, I think I looked at my watch and it was 58. So we got under the wire by two minutes. It's not the closest I've been there, but it's pretty darn close. So it picked up at the end for sure.

Just for our listeners and watchers, if it's 2.'s 258 Eastern time, as long as you got a call into the league, you're fine. Is that is that it? Yeah, call or register really register your your trade with with central registry. So, you know, Brandon Pridham is typing skill cut test today to get it, get it cooked up there to get the email in on time. But you got to be under the wire at three Eastern before the bell goes off. So, um, you know, that's, that's the critical part of it. And then, you know, there's, they go through

the trade calls and you're getting in the queue now for, um, to get everything finalized. It reminds me a KIP, of being in a silent auction on a couple of golf balls or something. Just making sure no one overbids me at the last second. But there's not a town that's ready to kill you if you don't get it. There's the last minute flyby.

Last minute flyby. Yeah. No, that's scary. You don't want the last minute flyby. So you ended up with Brandon Carlo. And I don't know what your list of ideal fits for your team would have been I have to imagine he's fairly high up that list. How do you see your D pairs looking with another big right-hand D? Yeah, Justin he he certainly was a guy that

you know, we know well and I've watched him a lot of our group has watched him a lot over the years. And I think he's been, you know, they've had a lot of success in Boston. That's a hell of a team that Donnie's put together there. And year after year, you know, they've been a great team. And, you know, I think, you know, you've got the sense the last little while Donnie may, the last little while, and. You know, you know, you got the sense the last little while

done. They. You know, make. Make a decision here to maybe. Um move some people along, so we had some discussions. I just think he fits really well. He's. He's a big long guy. He moves well. He's got great range. Um you know those long

sticky guys are hard to play against, and it's not. No it's not about throwing guys over the boards, but it's just they get in the way, right? They're long and it's hard to get through. So, Lairley moves well. Axel on the PK. Hard around the paint, you know, and that was one of the things, you know, we've been trying since we got here just to

have some more length in the blue line. And he helped bring that, you know, Chief and I talked a bunch as we're leading into this, you know, depending on, you know, what may or may not come our way, how things set up. But, you know, getting another righty there was important to me. You know, Jake's played a lot in the right, but you see now with Chris Tanner being out a little bit, just a depth getting testaled, and having another guy who can eat big minutes, eat big minutes in the penalty kill. You know, how everything's sort of, so that's, you know,

Chief and the staff will figure it out. But we've kind of looked at a couple of different options. I'll see once Chris gets back, obviously, with, you know, Chris and McCabe, and, you know, is that opportunity that, you know, I think there's that different options now of, you know, whether that's, you know, whether that's Riley and Carlo, and then you've got you know, whether that's Riley and Carlo, and then you've got Oh and Benoit and Myers there. So I think there's some flexibility. I think everybody does some different things. And you know, so it's, like I said,

the goal was to come in here and make our team better. You know, hopefully that's, we feel confident we've done that. You're listening to Brad Tree Living, General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tree, no secret that this week we saw division rivals in Florida and Tampa Bay get better. And I just wonder what kind of pressure you felt

on a day like today to do what you did. Well, I mean, let's be honest, you pay attention to what the neighbours are doing, right? And that's the job. You know what's going on with the league and that's the job. But you have to have a discipline about you, you know, not just because somebody, you know, hey, listen, there's always lots of media talk and speculation and that's part of what gets the juice of swallowing is what may or may not happen. But when you're actually in the business, you have to have a discipline of just trying to make a team better, doing what's right. And it's

not just about somebody made a move and now we now we gotta keep up with the Joneses. But you do, Brad, you do feel better today going toe to toe or shoulder to shoulder against the Tampa or Florida. Yeah, and those are two great teams. And the depth of this division, and I think it's the strongest or as strong as any division in the country. You look at those teams, the year after year have been there. Obviously, the Tampers, the Bostons, the Florida's Stanley Cup champions, the Cubs to Tampa's one, Boston year after year, and

then those teams that have been building. There used to be sort of a separation there with sort of the four, and then the other four, and those days are gone. Those teams have been building for a long time. They're making pushes now. So I think it's competitive every night, but you certainly pay attention what's going on around you, but ultimately, you know, the job is to find out where there's areas your team can strengthen. And it's my job and our staff's job to, you know,

be focused on that. That's, you know, that's what we try to do to hit us today and throughout this week. Tre, like a lot of your fans, and we do it here on our show, drawing up sort of ideal lineup for you guys heading into playoffs, do you think you'll have access to injured guys like Patrick and Hockenpah? Well, we're hopeful.

We're hopeful. It know, we're hopeful. You know, it's been a long road for Hack, so he's still working away at it. You know, Patch came back. He played right before the break and, you know, had a tweak. I think it was the first practice back after the break and just, you know, kind of try to work through it and took a day here and had some stops and starts. And so, you know, doctors just determined that he needs to get it better. So we're hopeful that he'll be on the mend and that we'll see those guys. But we're not sure. At the end of the day, we're not sure. We'll see how it goes.

The addition of Scott today gives us a little more depth in the middle. I think it gives some different options for the coaching staff. I know they've got the marker out today and looking at different combinations. So what we try to do is give the coaches as many options as they possibly can to ice the best lineup. And I get the question, but we can't the after the loss with Vegas. And now, you know, you get through the deadline, as you guys know, and Kipper, you've gone through it as a player. It's always a little unsettling time, right? Like it's exciting for fans,

and we're all, you know, you're out there and trying to help your team, but, you know, and it's, there's a human side to it. So, for the players too. And there's a lot of stress and not, hey, everybody knows what they signed up for. Nobody's a lot of stress and hey, everybody knows what they're saying Dr. Verdon, nobody's asking for any apologies but as much as it's exciting that we've added some people here today, we had some guys that laughed and some real good people.

Connor Timmons, Connor Dewar, and then the young kids, Nikita Gravankin and Fraser, they're good guys. You know, their world's got turned on its ear today. And I, you know, I'm aware of that. And, you know, that's the other side of this business. You have to do, my job is to do it, do whatever we possibly can and push as hard as we can to make our team as good as we can make it. But you can also do it in a way that there's a sympathetic understanding, do what those guys are going through, packing up their bags today and getting out of town.

So that's the other side of it. But we're focused on tomorrow night in Colorado and Chris has done a hell of a job over the last little bit you know improving what was already real good team so we've got our work cut out for us for tonight. Brad one more for me and I promise I'll let you get some rest I promise and once again we saw a very significant potential UFA sign in Dallas I won't mention his name but you you have one as well in Mitch Marner. Does a day like today give you the confidence that you could revisit him down the road and

still get him signed to a new contract? Well, the good news about that is I can give you the same answer I gave you in training camp. That our focus, you know, today and the rest of the season is going to be on the season. And Mitch has done a real good job of just focusing on the team, on his own play. And he's been terrific. I mean, look at the years Mitch has had. You know, he's driven the group on many nights, especially, you know, there's chunks of the season earlier on when Austin was out,

and you know, we've proofed out with a lot of injuries, and Mitch has driven the group many nights. So we'll continue to try to do businesses as quietly and behind the scenes and try to not make too much noise here in Toronto. And, and worry about the games and when it's time to worry about those things, we'll, we'll get them addressed. Okay. You keep doing that and we'll stir up the noise. No, no, no. Just win, just win. That's all this time of year. Have a great game Saturday night in Denver and wish you the best of luck moving forward.

Brad Tree Living, everybody. All right, fellas. Thanks for having me on. Take care. Thanks, Tree. Okay. I tried. Yeah.

Hey, listen, you got to ask questions. He's got to not answer them. So that's kind of our mutual arrangement here. But like it kind of changes things a little bit. Like, Branton is not there anymore for the Toronto Maple Leafs if Marner leaves. And you know, that's kind of been lost a little bit all day is that you are now in the real wheelhouse of watching potentially Mitch Marner walk out the door for nothing. Yeah.

Yeah. Like that? Let that sink into you Sammy a little bit. I think it's been sinking in all year bud. No, but now it's real. But they were never trading with the deadline. We've known that that this is a possibility Are you just yeah never know never? Yeah, you know, I I Don't want to have this conversation today, but I do think that you know, Mitch wants to be here

I think they want to have Mitch will see how postseason success goes But if they're decent, I think everyone wants that to continue. So Yeah, I just ran it. I don't even want to ask this question. But does ranting his number affect Mitch Marner's number? Because I think a lot of people think it should. They're they're they're both they're both in the ballpark guys. So yeah, it again it.

Factors in where what taxes, cost of living. I mean, those things, as I said earlier in the show, matter to players and agents. And there is a sense now that certain teams like the Rangers, the Leafs, LA, they gotta go a little larger here. Those state taxes in California, New York, much different than other teams.

And we know what it's like in Canada. So if you think that's the arrangement, you go, here's where we think you are compared to Rantan. Here's where you think you are. And here's the math for our state versus their state. Here's the okay. And it wasn't that long ago. We thought Rantan was going to get really close to 14 and it didn't happen. Now, that's the actual number, but we're not factoring in all the other things but what was the thing that

What not cap friendly? What's that a Puckpedia? What was the the over the eight-year deal? Verse from Colorado to Dallas the difference was four million dollars. So yeah swing based on taxes for That's a lot of money That's a lot of money. But it's not a lot of money. Yeah. So these guys will retire at $182 million and it's like, okay, give it, give it take $4 million.

Do they really care? Better to pick the city you want to be in that have $192 instead of $188 or whatever. I buy that. Yeah. Okay. Jets talk. Jets talk. I feel for our Jets tough day because they got better They got better. They got better. They're having a

Fantastic season okay, so franchise history are you are you talking about not getting another centerman? No, I'm talking about everyone around They're division better their division gets coil and Brock Nelson while Dallas gets an eco-ranting Yeah, whoo, but somebody's One of those teams going to be very disappointed I'm gonna be very in the first round. So somebody's going down You think that Connor Hellebuck? Oh, you think that the Jets will win their first round series against whoever they're gonna play because they're probably gonna win their division It's very clear. That's why you got to win the division. Let those two teams beat each other up a couple guys get hurt for sure

Either one of those teams is no fun in the second round. Oh the Jets It's hard to win the Stanley Cup. They usually ought to beat some good. I'm just saying our beloved Jets We're having such a wonderful year. It was a I like tan ev for them Shen. We all know what Shen can bring Yeah, but God those other two teams got so much better I'll never forget though the one year the least win a playoff series Running their most Lucien's just standing between the benches just being like that's enough Yeah, you know and then you can provide a nice presence, but who is it? You know that he just punched out that game. Yeah, he just punched guys out. Maroon. He's a beast.

Yeah, anyways. Winners and losers, you wanna do that or do you care about that stuff? Yeah, I do, for sure. How many games, are there games? Tonight? Yeah. I think there's multiple.

Someone send us a picture of Brandon Carlo at the airport on his way to Colorado. It's actually him at the airport. I feel like that's six games six games. That's crazy There should be zero games. Can you get it should be a little guys give the guys a night off zero games That's crazy as a reminder this hour real kipper and born brought to you by bet three six five I've got a game time. We didn't do game time. Oh get it in Oh my it's game time

Is there by bet three six five visit the app latest odds and find out why it's ever ordinary at bet three six five Let's put 19 plus on terror only please play responsibly. That's rude. I I haven't forgotten all year. We just had so much to talk about So I think we should probably check in on the Stanley Cup favorites after all the deadline moves have now come in here This was I'm quickly pulling this up the Stanley Cup favorite It is not the Winnipeg Jets still Edmonton. It is not Edmonton. Yeah, who was it? You just told me the other day It is the Dallas Stars the Dallas Stars have moved into the number one spot on bet 365 as the Stanley Cup favorite plus 550

Florida Panthers Florida Panthers second Vegas Tampa Bay second. Vegas, Tampa Bay or Vegas? Vegas is 10 to 1. Tampa Bay Lightning is a nice number. 12 to 1. The Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning at 11 to 1. Yeah, I can't say I love that. Jets, Jets, our beloved Jets. Give me 15 to 1.

All the way down at 13 to 1. The disrespect by our beloved bet 3 6 5 come on Colorado 8 to 1 and the Washington Capitals are 11 to 1 So caps went out and got the Ville. Yeah Could win the president's trophy big year always about to set the world record for the world's greatest great guy Anyways that was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the athlete's side to find out why they're ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus.

I'm Terry Olme. Please play it responsibly. It is. And Brad Tree Living touched on this. Just my recollection of as a player a day like this, there is no better feeling all season long to get through the trade deadline, walk into your dress room, look around the room and go, whew. We made it.

No, it just like, and then just knowing that this is our team, this is what they think we're gonna win with and we're all part of it. And it's like, it's an unbelievable feeling. My ranger team in 1994, we were out west in Calgary. I don't know how many trades we did, six or seven. It was crazy. And we were first place overall,

and we made half a dozen trades. And I'm like, oh my God, I don't wanna get called into the office, please. And it was like, whew, it's over. Whoo, thank God. How about him telling us 258? Yeah. These guys like that's,

you know what I was thinking that whole time is I have a Gmail feature. We get that feeling whenever like that close to a tee off time. To run into the tee box. I have a Gmail feature where my emails, I think they wait 30 seconds to send and I can hit undo cause I'll be like,

damn, I didn't attach whatever. I think I would mess that up. I think I would be the guy submitting a trade late. It was the feature. That's tight, man, 258. Yeah. All right, the dust is settled, guys. All right, so biggest winner.

Okay, and not just today, but just trades and who's put themselves in an unbelievable position. I mean, the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup last year. They added Seth Jones, who plays 22 minutes a night. They added Brad Marshand. They added a depth guy, Nico Sturm. They, you know, they're, they were great.

They got better. They have, they're going to roll out Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, the Chuck will get healthy. They're going to be a nightmare to play. Yeah, well Dallas got a pretty good player too. Yeah. Fun day today. Boy, that was a blast. Yeah, it was a blast.

Great show. All right, our thanks to Elliot Friedman, who joined us off the top of the hour, Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, and General Manager Brad Treeliving. And Doug. Oh, and Doug. Oh, I forgot about Doug. Doug McClain. Oh, he's gonna be pissed.

He gave us his time. Enjoy your weekend. We're back on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody.