Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Injury List Lengthens

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee look ahead to the Leafs' matchup against the Golden Knights and discuss injuries piling up for Toronto. They discuss the loss of Max Domi and David Kämpf, what to expect from call-ups Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin, and Craig Berube's choice to leave William Nylander and Mitch Marner on the wing despite the desperate need down the middle. Then, they chat about Joseph Woll getting the nod in net against a premiere Vegas team. Later, The Athletic's Jesse Granger (32:04) shares a Vegas POV of the game and discusses what the Leafs can expect from the Knight's yearly visit to Scotiabank Arena.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 in to the leaf hour on the real kipper and born show we are live on sports at 590 the fan and sports at 360 sports that plus nick kiprios justin born sam, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, Jake the Snake Schultz with you for the next two hours as we got half a dozen games on tap tonight, including the Vegas Golden Knights versus the Toronto Marlies. Yeah. I knew you were going to say that. Did you? I did.

You know me so well. I do. I do. I knew you were going to say that. And why did I say that, Sammy? Well, because it's the Marlies. The bottom six is the Marlies. Yeah.

We got some serious changes tonight. Domi now out to go with the other centers. Okay. They're dropping like flies right now. And it feels like no one is like, they're not saying anyone's injured. Everyone has like precautionary and something's nagging them and they're just going to give it some rest. So Domi has been moved to IR.

David Kampf to IR as well. Long-term IR. LDR. So he's not, he can't be back until mid-December. December 14th against the Red Wings. So, yeah. That's some serious wear and tear. Yeah.

And 20 games into the regular season. This point you had about a hard training camp, it had some weight to it. Yeah. Value to that point. You know, once in a while you're right about stuff, and that one seems to be pretty right. Because they are fighting.

First time this week I've been right. Nailed that one. We'll see. This is, so tonight the lineup looks like McMahon up with Tavares and Marner. Pontus Holmberg is going to center Nylander and Nyes. And then a third line of Nick Robertson, Fraser Minton, Nikita Grabankin.

Yep, that's an AHL line. That's an actual AHL line. Connor Dewar, Stephen Lorenz, and Alexander Steeves on the fourth line. Yesterday we had our good buddy Jason Bukala talk a lot about Minton. So there is some sense that there's some value that you're going to pick up right away. With Nikita Grabenkin, we're not really sure. We do know that he's somewhat of a fiery type of guy.

Who's liked him? He can play the body, and he had a good training camp to the point where I think Craig Berube really singled him out as being this somewhat infectious kind of personality guy. Yeah. I mean, in preseason, he got in a fight and he gave it to the crowd, gave him the business like he was feeling himself a little bit.

I will say one nice thing about this prospect for the Leafs is he is 6'2", 210, and 21 years old. Oh, that's nice. And he can play rough. He doesn't mind mixing it up. And I think he's got a real shot here at uh not necessarily becoming an everyday player uh anytime soon but he he can turn into a bit of a fan favorite i think moving forward and in 13 games to marley's got 10 points four goals six

assists and it's tough to get points in the american league zero pims zero pims yeah zero pims that's staggering considering his preseason run here yep um what are your thoughts on guys coming up i let's say early like this is earlier than they wanted to go to it do you want to first hear what tree had to say so this is about minton from brad tree living from yesterday from yesterday Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I would have preferred to leave him down there for a little bit longer just to stabilize. I think you've got to be careful, especially with young guys, bumping them up and down.

He's coming off the injury, but he's had a great start. He's a smart, smart player. I mean, what jumps out, you know, is just his hockey IQ. He's, you know, he talks on the bench like a coach. And you've seen that even in the start that he's had with the Marlies. He's really intelligent, sees the ice, knows the game. Like I said, he had a tough injury to get over. He missed a lot of time, but, you know but he's been off to a great start down there,

so we'll give him a look-see here, and we think he's got a great future in front of him. A little look-see. Yeah, I think he's got a chance here to answer the first question of, you know, if you need a centerman, I'm your guy. Really? Yeah, you think he has a chance to actually stick?

Well, listen, I mean, it's, again, you know, I'm not an NHL scout like our buddy Books, but I agree with him that it's a long shot and you shouldn't really kind of be leaning or depending on it in a year that you're supposed to compete for the Stanley Cup. Six injuries, though. But this is a great opportunity to showcase what, you know, could be a situation no different than some of the young kids that just come along every once in a while in surprise,

and you wait for them to falter, and they don't, and then they keep going, and they keep going. Wyatt, I don't think he'll ever be Wyatt Johnson. Right. But I don't think when Wyatt Johnson stepped into Dallas and anyone really thought that he'd stick around that early and be that effective that early. For sure. And I'm not comparing him to Minton, but I'm just comparing the sometimes

you don't count on it and sometimes it just shows up. And I think Minton has had a strong enough start to his pro career, albeit the training camp that he had last year that made noise into the regular season to start. And then coming off this injury where he was again looking pretty good in training camp. Yeah. And then it got derailed with the injury. But he goes to the Marlies, picks up where he's left off.

And now it's like, oh, pretty good opportunity here. Yeah. Yeah, it definitely feels early. I think it's interesting that everyone who describes him talks about hockey IQ and intelligence and maturity. So he has a lot of like old guy qualities for a young player which i think is nice for a leafs team that i don't think you would say always has the most conscience like i think craig bruby has helped that out but the team typically not as much the one thing that like does concern me is he's never had a huge track

record of offense he had a 31 goal season in junior you know would have liked to see him be the man in the american league for a little bit before you know because here it's going to be don't worry about scoring take care win draws be on the right side of guys all that kind of stuff which is good but you know maybe for his overall development i mean they even said themselves they don't love this but so i i'm not sure how i feel about it kip like i don't know if i want him to show well and stick for the whole season. Yeah, if you look, it feels like it's not going to be a short amount of time that he's here, too. If you look at the injury camp. Camps out to mid-December.

Camps out to mid-December. Domi just goes on IR. Matthews is still eating, you know, bratwurst right now. No, he's back. He's on the ice. Oh, is he? I think so, yeah. Oh, okay.

Trip with her? I'm sure. Well, let me confirm. I thought David Alter reported. Okay. Anyways, so he's back from his tryout with Bayern Munich. So I don't know. I think there's a real opportunity here for Mitten to play

four or five or six games as like the third line center, fourth line center. Like he's going to be playing a lot. So it's a big chance for him. Like Kippy said, he could go a long way. Give him a look-see. Give him a look-see. All right. Let's going to be playing a lot, so it's a big chance for him, like Kippy said. He could go a long way. Give him a look-see. Give him a look-see.

All right, let's go to Craig Berube for our first Kippers Clipper of the show on who exactly is playing center tonight. I was thinking about it, but Holmberg will go in the middle. Yeah. And he's played the middle before, and we had him moved around a little bit, so he'll go in the middle tonight. Why are they so hesitant to try one of the guys? Because they're like us.

They're not really sure. Right, but you can't get an answer until you find out. Give it a run. So you're more confident in Holmberg and minton and lorenz than you are in william kneelander and mitch marner it's weird if there's ever a time we're talking about it at practice we got them to make lineup decisions they're asking about marner at center willie's been you know rumored to play center. Why are you doing this? I guess one of the things is like Marner is playing so well right now. For sure.

I feel like it's like the one thing they need, him and Willie playing well is what they need to win games right now. Do they not want to take him out of the rhythm he's in right now? But Pontus on the second line is great. Like, no. Yeah. That's the answer. I think that's a valid point.

They've won what? Five of six here. Five of six here. Five of six here. Things are going well. There's no reason to come out with any type of major... Panic? Not panic, but major look-see. How's that?

Where it's like a huge eye-opener. Oh, they're going to do this now but isn't that a time to do it before if you need to do it give or have your teams out what happened yeah but what happens if they they they pick up where they left off against uh edmonton and washington washington's back half of the game and uh tavaris and marner find a way, and Nylander find a way to score another two points each. Bobby McMahon's awesome. And Minton, to your point, doesn't need to score but be on the right side of the puck

and doesn't spend a lot of time in his own zone, is feeling comfortable, then just keep calm and carry on. It's the plan. So then if it goes badly tonight, then you start doing it. Well, to me, it would have to be real ugly real early for Ruby to come out of the second period and go, okay, I got to get the bingo bangle balls out now. I don't think in game.

That's what I'm not alluding to. But you go through this game with your Pontus Holder as your second line setter. If they're down 3-0 in the first period, you won't see him stay with the same lines. I'm telling you, though, the depth lines. For 60 minutes. Vegas can't hang with the Leafs' top end to me when they have Matthews, Nylander, Marner, Hummond, even Tavares and Nyes.

But down the lineup for Vegas, like once you get away from basically Eichel and Hurdle, it's, you know, this is middle six guys. Nick Waugh, Keegan Colzar, William Carlson, Brett Howden, Tanner Pearson. NHLers. They're going up against Minton, Robertson, and Grbank. Yeah.

And that should be... That could get exposed tonight is my... That should... Yeah, just men against boys there yeah right surely so let's listen to clip three on what old craig burby would like to hear from grabenkin i haven't had a chance to watch him a ton in them with the marlies but he's a big guy he was strong he's strong on pucks he's physical you know he's got good size you know just that's your game um and and use that to your advantage like just be smart with pucks you know be be simple and smart and use your size in the offensive zone and your your strength on the puck and and you know get your shots off and get to the net and be responsible defensively you know

that's the biggest thing i tell all these guys to the net and be responsible defensively. That's the biggest thing I tell all these guys is you got to be responsible defensively. Do you think anyone's directives from Berube aren't keep it simple? Yeah. Like Matthews, Marner, Neal, and Tavares. Which really solidifies the fact that, to your point, Minton, just go out there and be David Camp.

Do your job. Be on the right side of the puzzle. Literally, his job is to recreate David Camp for the next three weeks. Yep. Which is attainable, I would say. Other little bit of news, which you guys aren't going to like. They're starting Joseph Wohl tonight. Yeah, I'm okay with that. You are.

No starts. He hasn't played in a week. He played last Wednesday against Washington. Yeah, he's okay with that. You are. No starts. He hasn't played in a week. He played last Wednesday against Washington. Yeah, he's the backup goalie. He's not the backup goalie. Yes, he is. I know Anthony Stolarz has been the best guy ever. Yeah, he is the backup goalie, but the backup goalie needs to play now.

And play him against the worst team on Sunday night. This is one of the best teams in the league coming in on home ice. You didn't go into this season with him as your backup goalie. And you want to give him a chance to get going. I made this argument to you guys before. He's played, he's won three of his last four games in which he's given up eight goals over four games. So he's winning, his save percentage is up,

he's playing well, get him in the net. I thought he played well against Washington and another solid effort will not create a goaltending controversy. It won't. That's how good Stolarz has been. He's only first in the league in save percentage. He's been off the charts.

It's not what Joseph Wall does moving forward that will dictate a goaltending controversy here in Toronto. It will be that Stolarz falls off, and if he falls off, how much does he fall off? I don't think it's a

controversy by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, it's the opposite of that. Stolarz has far outplayed Wall. He's been available from the start of the season i just think that you come off a good game on saturday night in hockey canada multiple great saves you go to wednesday night on home ice against one of the best teams coming into the league that's a starting goalie start and i give it to the starting goalie and you go sunday night against utah at home yeah perfect spot for the backup i think it's the wrong choice i think there's a more pace of pace of three starts a month.

Yeah, but then you haven't played. It's a schedule thing for me. I think there's more to be gained by playing Wall in this game in the big picture. And again, a guy that ended his season horribly, started his season horribly, and now you've got a little bit momentum, and he's got some reps behind him. He's had some good practices, and this is a very good test for him at home against a top team.

So, Sammy, if you needed the points or if you felt like you got to turn some momentum around or you know can't mess with this game i'm with you it stole ours all day long but i think big picture this can only help the the grand scheme of things yeah like moving forward tonight's game one of the playoffs there's no doubt like no one's sitting here making a case for joseph wall i don't think and he's good we were all in agreement that joseph wall's issues have only been around his health and not whether or not he's a good goalie or a capable capable goalie they did commit 11 million dollars to him this summer yeah yeah okay so listen i know all that what you're saying good good i just disagree good test he came off this like curious injury at the same time as

stolar's stock went like straight through the roof and then he had a bad first game and everyone you know us included were like ah this guy you know and then he's played four times since and been very good do we know who joseph wall's facing 200 feet away we do it's not samson off it's aiden hill yeah aiden hill but we get to take a look at really a shame potential goalie isn't it no it's not it's not a shame because i would have loved to seen it i would like to see him play too no because i've said so many bad things about him and the way things go for these out like the out of like i've talked about this a million times the show out of conference weeknight opponents at the scotch bank arena rarely goes great like it's never a amazing crowd it's kind of a you know it's just kind of a dull thing and sam's not coming in with this team with

the chip on his shoulder he would have made 45 saves people would have been making fun of me like i just i could know how it would have gone so i'm glad he's not sorry do you want to hear something crazy i hope he comes in as a backup of the shell aid and hill the uh the leafs since 23 24 uh are much better against the west than the east like significantly better um plus 44 compared to plus one in goal differential. So they do okay against these Western Conference teams. Not that you can lump Vegas in with that. Western Conference, there's a lot of bad teams.

A lot of bad teams. We do have Berube on starting wall with clip four. Wall tonight? Yes. How difficult of a decision was that considering the way Anthonyony played on saturday it's always a tough decision with you know i think goalies and like i said we've been kind of a rotation here and i think it's uh worked well and we're going to continue to do that

since when did they say it's a rotation here i remember that i missed that one too i don't think he really believes that but it's it kind of protects him and he protects his two goalies yes it does yeah I don't need to die on this hill mid-November but as a start I would just I just love watching Anthony Stoller's

you know it's been a long time since the Leafs have had one of the best goalies in the league and he is one of the best goalies in the league when you have a tough opponent you usually start your best goalie. So that's it for me. That's it. I move on. Simone Benoit draws back in for Yanni Hakenpa.

Kind of slid under the radar for me a little bit, but last game Hakenpa only played 12 minutes. You've got to be so careful with this guy. The guy paired with Morgan Riley, tough to get in just for 12 minutes. Right. Yeah, I guess that makes sense too, right? You miss this game and all of a sudden you're letting him have a week between games, which is good.

We have gone on the last few years about giving guys rest and taking guys to Tavares. We've often said, listen, let him play 60 games. Just get him ready and it doesn't really happen. But it's really happening with this guy yeah like even performance notwithstanding you think he'll miss games just getting him in a position where you think he might be available by april will be a huge win which is crazy because like the way he plays you need him to be like finishing checks blocking shots.

But then you're, like, so careful with him. He's, like, the world's toughest Fabergé egg. They asked, like, why. And he's like, oh, I just want to give him a rest and get Benoit back in there. He's missed too many games. It's the coach's decision or whatever. But, yeah, I think, what did you say the number was?

I set the over-under at 30 and a half for games for him played. Yeah. And I think you took the under. I took the under on 40, I think. 40. 40. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's a safe bet, I would say. That seems very safe. Seems very safe. The Max Domi injury, we're not sure what it is. Do you have anything on that? Just connect the dots. Okay. Hard training camp, pulled groin, right? That won't heal. Hard training camp. Pulled groin.

Right? That won't heal. That won't. So, again, just looking at the schedule and the days between games now, going from Saturday to Wednesday to Sunday, there's not a better opportunity for some of these guys just to take a couple of games off and get seven to ten days to heal something up. I think that seems to be the theme of them just saying,

just come back when you're fully ready. Let's listen to clip one from Ruby. He needs some time off. He needs to rest to get healthy. That's the bottom line tried you know we practiced yesterday but wasn't um wasn't doing well wasn't doing well so how much of the i guess like are we giving it a pass now for the 13 game pointless streak or whatever he had going in like how much of this is that and confidence?

It's all combined. I don't know. I mean, you get a partial pass, right? You can't give a full pass. Yeah. I don't think he's been horrible. There's some nights he's played 20 minutes. Yeah, and there's some nights he's skating.

He's really moving. Been snakebitten, breakaways. I think the break will do him good mentally more than anything. Like, heal whatever you need to heal, but another week off just to

kind of reset. And he doesn't need to be a top scorer, but he does need to be a guy that can contribute 40 points 40 40 plus points a season if it's 50 it's particularly when he's playing with marner and tavarez like he's gonna chip in yes and i just think the break again will do him well mentally and and physically here that's what it's also i think about yeah agreed with that um one of the things we have on here is uh we do have a clip on tan of mccabe we got two in one sec chris tan of this year is averaging 3.5 blocks per game which is the highest in NHL history behind only

one year Chris Russell was 3.6. But he's on pace to shatter the single season Leafs record. Hopefully not his limbs. He's on pace to shatter his ankle. I'm sure he's already got a bruise or two

that may be more than that on his hands or his leg. Just to pick up our ho like, huck and paw conversation, like, just make sure you're ready in April, buddy. You feel the same about Tana? Well, that's a lot of blocked shots if you do the math. Oh, sure. 230-some over the year. Tons of wear and tear, and he's not 27 quite the opposite of that right

so it's 34 the opposite of 27 it's okay 72 i never thought i'd say this but it's okay to flamingo oh god you don't pay tan of great. Just one. It's okay. You've got a goalie back there. You've got two goalies right now. I can show them how to do it where you say, I couldn't quite get to the lane. I'm pretty good at not getting to the lane. Were you a Flamingo? No, I just couldn't quite get there. Just a step slow. Hey, Mayera,

you never lived that down. A Flamingo? You might as like, it was right up there with turtling. Was it to actually lift a leg? Where you actually lift a leg. That's not cool. To not block a shot. But you can't get to the lane in the first place.

Let's tune in. Let's listen to that clip. Is that okay? Yeah, go for it. Something else on Tana McCabe, clip six. Very good. Very good. Solid defensively, obviously.

And I said it the other day, they work really well breaking pucks out of their zone. It's not always the cleanest breakouts, but they do a good job of getting it out. And so very solid defensively, killing penalties and all that grunt work. They've been great for us. That to me, though, if you're going to point to one thing that is different, that just, let me hear me out here, gives me hope for a playoff series. Oh, for sure, buddy. I've been hoping my whole life. That pairing, being healthy come playoff time, does give me hope against another team's top line.

Again, you have Matthews and Marner had health with their their ability to play defensively like that is a true go up against another team's top line and win your minutes type of type of deal so tana has been worth every penny for me and like i i just i have nothing but positive things to say about him i i love watching him play i think only the pair of slavin and burns have been better at limiting chances this year. Then McCabe and... Doesn't surprise me. That fits the eye test. Yeah. Been very good.

So, Berube got asked about his first NHL game today because of Grbanken making his debut. Do you want to hear the clip about it? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Flyers. I had 56 penalty minutes and less time than that on the ice.

That's what I remember. I forget the time on the ice, but it was lower than the penalty minutes. That's what I remember. He had 56 penalty minutes his first game? So I went back. Kill a man? I went back and I dug up his first game. I think this was his first game.

He played seven games at the end of the 86-87 season, and I went back to the seventh game of that, sort of the seventh last game of that season. So who's he chasing around the ice all night? It wasn't 56. It was 26. Okay. But it was against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 26, 1987.

He fought Jay Caulfield? It doesn't say who he fought, but in the first period, he had a rough. In the second period, he had an instigator and a fight. And later in that period, he got a misconduct, a fighting, and an instigator. And then he wasn't involved much in the third period. So that's how you get to 26. He knew what he was there to do. And this is the most amazing part is the fight and the instigator

was at 50 seconds of the first period and the misconduct fighting an instigator was at 1909 of the second period. So it's like right at the start of the period and right at the end of the second period. I love it. I don't think we're going to see that from Grubankin. He knew his role. That's how you stick.

What do you remember about yours? Well, mine was I got claimed off of the waiver wire, and I had to go back and play the same team that I just got claimed from, the Philadelphia Flyers, and they're all chirping me, and it's like my last thought was I was going to fight anybody there. You know? I mean, my head was still spinning at that point. I was like a little over my skis.

Was Berube on that team? Oh yeah. Oh my God. There was meatheads everywhere. Talk it Berube, Chick Rin. Oh my God. That Dave Brown.

It was like, like, and you didn't fight, but it was never a fighter. I got news for you. I was like... And you didn't fight. But I was never a fighter. I got news for you. I was a lover. I got a few YouTube videos that tell me differently.

That's interesting. I don't know how I got tied up in all of that. A lot of puck touches in that game? I went in there with my autograph book. Get it in deep. That's all I remember. He had good puck touches. Before we go to break, do you want to hear Bruby? So he was close with Montgomery with the Boston Bruins.

Had him as an assistant coach in St. Louis. Fresh when Montgomery was at a treatment from Dallas, I believe. They hired him as an assistant. Let's listen to Bruby on that. It's upsetting. I know Monty personally, and we brought monty into um st louis to work with us for a couple years and he was fantastic um you know i feel for coaches and i'm you know it's a tough business it really is it's uh this one's more personal for me

that was a good fantastic he meant that yeah um well well we don't have the Grebenkin thing. We do. Oh, you do? We do. All right. The Monty thing, not surprised that Ruby loves him, eh? No, you've always heard great things, and he went through a horrible time, as we know,

well-documented in Dallas, but it was never about, like, you know, the type of guy that uh we just heard from from from craig brooby that that that's always kind of followed him around st louis detroit montreal pittsburgh there's some options for monty um yeah i i i think so. But as of now, I probably think these teams would lend towards. And it's not that he's inexperienced. Right. But he would not have the same clout right now around those teams as, say,

Joel Quenville or Todd McClellan would have. All right. Last thing, Grubankin's first NHL game. We were just talking first games. Doesn't really speak English but is willing to try, and I think that's the coolest thing. And this guy has seemed unafraid every step of the way with the Leafs. Yeah.

And we have a clip of him. What was he asked, do you know? Not really. This is just his scrum. I don't think it matters what was asked. This is what he said. Enjoy a long time. I hard working every day.

Today, enjoy. Wait. Chance. Please give me chance. I go work. Help teammates win. Not win. I not enjoy win today.

It's enjoy. I love that. Pretty good. I mean, if we win, I'm happy. If we lose, I'm not. I just, I can't believe the guts that takes. The absolute guts. Just stand up there in your second language

with all these media guys breathing down your throat holding a recording. Be like, say words. If I was in Russia, I'd be like, Russia, Russia, holding a recording. Be like, say words. If I was in Russia, I'd be like, Russia, Russia, borsh. I don't know, Ovechkin? I don't even know what I would say. Ovi was like that when he first broke in. Ovi still is.

Ovi, the best clip of all time is him getting the hole in one. I swear to God. That's right. I played with Esa Tikkaninen where his English got worse as his career got longer he just put in less effort but I

you know not always the most comfortable public speaker myself oh really there's no one in here but anyway good for Gerbanken ok let's take a quick break uh and when we return we'll welcome in uh jesse granger who will uh kind of feed us a little bit on what

we can expect out of vegas tonight he does a terrific job with the athletic and uh we'll figure out uh if logan thompson who's uh aiden hill aiden hill yeah i get those guys mixed up oh they're both in vegas and they both catch do they not logan thompson's not in vegas no they were in vegas that's why i got them and they both catch on with right hands do they not i want to check that out let's hit the really put me on the spot there no answers okay jesse you'll know when we return the real kipper and born dive deep into toronto sports and the nfl the jd bunk is podcast subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever your podcasts. Nick Kiprios. Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, right back at you. I feel shame because I pride myself on knowing players that shoot left or right,

but I screwed up Aiden Hill and Logan Thompson. Easy to do. Two good Vegas goalies once upon a time. All right. You know who can straighten me out is jesse granger golden knights covers them with the athletic welcome in jess how are you i'm doing good how are you guys yeah we're good we're good uh once again vegas golden knights uh a team very much in the thick of things it just it's part for the course now when it comes to, I think, George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon and finding different ways

to keep this team competitive. Yeah, it's actually really interesting because after losing the scoring depth that they lost this offseason with Marcia So and Stevenson and even some guys like Amadio and carry it at pitched in, we all kind of expected this team to have to win two to one games and their defense is good. It was the biggest reason they won the cup. We figured,

okay, they're going to come in and win some tight checking games and pull out some one goal victories. And it's been the exact opposite. They haven't defended as well. The goaltending hasn't been as good as it has been, but they can't stop scoring. So yes, this team does figure out ways to win they just seem poised um it's a group that's played together for a long time and they find ways uh no matter kind of which direction the game goes to pull it out this year it's been a lot of high scoring games well to that effect

jesse i'm going to read you um jack eichel's points per game over his years in Vegas. First year,.74, then.99, then 1.08, and this year, 1.56. What has gone on with Jack Eichel that he's suddenly this superb offensive force there in Vegas? Yeah, it's really interesting. He's playing the best hockey I've ever seen Jack Eichel play. And it's not as if he's on one of these lines like you see in Colorado where they stack all the stars on a line or sometimes they'll do it in Edmonton. I mean, he did play with Mark Stone for quite a bit, and those two work really well together early in the year. But lately, he's been playing with Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeev, who are both capable scorers but are not superstars. They're not the players you typically see on a top line on most NHL teams.

And yet Jack Eichel is carrying this line. He's driving the offense. Once the puck's on his stick in the defensive zone, it's his ability to transport it to the offensive zone, gain the zone entry, and settle the puck and set up the offense is second to none. I mean, it's basically 100% when he gets the puck on his stick. So he's allowing Barbashev and Dorofeev,

who are both kind of net front guys, they're not going to drive the offense themselves, but they do get to the dirty areas. They do get to the areas where they can score, and Eichel's been getting them the puck, and they've been converting at a really high rate. Now, is that shooting percentage for the team overall going to continue? Probably not.

We are probably going to see a dip, which would probably lead to Eichel's points per game dipping a little bit. But I think that it's legitimate. I don't think this is just a hot streak. I think if he stays relatively healthy, I expect him to hit 100 points for the first time. Is this just the evolution of a talented player? Because the Jack Eichel we all kind of remember was the six years in Buffalo

and quietly behind the scenes, not happy with the coach or not happy with his ice time or his teammates or whatever it was. And then he goes to Vegas and just finds his spot. Do we just leave it, Jesse, to a guy maturing? Is it as simple as that? Yeah, I think it is. And I think there are other factors. Like I think the team he came to was a big help. He didn't have to be the savior. He didn't have

to be the leader. He could kind of sit back and just be Jack Eichel and let Mark Stone and Alex Petrangelo. And at the time they had guys like Jonathan Marcheseau and Alec Martinez that were really strong veteran presence. He kind of just got to play his game. And I also think that Bruce Cassidy was the perfect coach for Jack Eichel. They're both kind of Boston guys. They get along well. I think Cassidy instilled some of that 200-foot game that we didn't see in Buffalo. And Eichel's physically capable of doing it.

He's so strong. He's got such a strong stick. His first stride is so good. He can close distance really well. He has all the attributes to be a good defensive center. I think Cassidy really brought it out of him. And he's just, he's been everything for this team. He's, he's one of their top penalty killers. He's the, he runs the power play runs through him. He drives the offense at five on five. He does everything you need out of your top center. And I just think that it was a very good combination. I think the golden Knights had a lot of what Jack Eichel needed,

and I think Jack Eichel brought a lot of what the Golden Knights needed. If I was a Vegas fan, the very best thing about the Amazon series was that his episode was the most boring one. It was just like, yeah, I just go to dinner, take care of myself, and play hockey. That's wonderful. It's what you want from your star players. We'll turn the page to your goaltenders, which fascinate us here.

We've talked about them quite a bit. I'm going to start with Ilya Samsonov because we talked about him, oh, I don't know, every single day last year. What are you guys getting out of Samsonov? Are you enjoying the experience this year? He's been up and down, and to be honest, that's kind of how I see his game overall. I think the structure of his game is not great by NHL standards,

and I think that's why you see the fluctuation of good games and bad games. But he's very athletic. He tracks the puck well. He has good hand-eye coordination, like reactions to plays in front of him. So he's kind of a rhythm goalie. When he's feeling it and he's on rhythm and he's seeing things well, he's really good. When he's not, his structure lets him down a little bit,

and he'll let in some goals that, that kind of surprise you and, and, and are a little bit of a letdown. So I think you're going to get that with Samsonov and that's so far, it's been pretty even. I mean, he was injured for a little while, so he hasn't played a ton, but I think he's, he's given the golden Knights what they need out of a backup goalie. We've been healthy. And I, and I think that this team will play better defense as the season goes

on like I mentioned earlier they're not defending the way we expected them to Petrangelo and Hannafin and Theodore they've got great defensemen but they haven't defended as well so the goalie numbers have suffered a little I expect both Hill and Samsonov I expect their numbers to get better as the season goes on as this team kind of finds its way defensively. Jesse, the one thing about Samsonov that we covered over the years was just how emotional he got during games or after games, and he wore it definitely on his sleeve. Have you seen signs of that, or is he better now as he's gotten older of maybe keeping his emotional cards very close to his chest?

He's been pretty tempered from what we've seen, and I think that it's also just like the expectations aren't there anymore, so maybe that allows you to just naturally calm down a little bit, right? Like in Toronto, the expectations are very high. You're the starter. You're expected to be the guy. I think he comes to Vegas and he's behind Aiden Hill who won the cup here and is clearly the coach's number one goalie at the moment. It is, it is a pretty even rotation, maybe 60, 40, but Hill is clearly the guy. So I think that that takes a little pressure off of you. And yeah, he has seemed a lot more relaxed. He's a really

easygoing guy. I like talking to him in the locker room. Definitely different than I expected him to be, I guess, just from seeing interviews with him before I got to deal with him on a daily basis. But yeah, he's been pretty chill. So then the other guy, does he get talked about enough from a Team Canada perspective?

We do a pretty common discussion around that. And he seems like one of the guys who should at least be in the conversation. Yeah. Aiden Hill is, is the consistency throughout his career. Hasn't been there.

And I think that injuries were a big part of that, but when he's on, he's very, very tough to score on. I mean, because he's so big and he plays big, he's, he uses that frame.

He stands tall in his butterfly. His shoulders are really wide. Like he, he he's only six, four, but he looks six, six in there. And he's a good blocking goalie that reads the play well. And he's athletic when the play does break down and he has to leave that structure. Most goalies, his size, I think aren't as good at, at kind of making an athletic play as Aiden is. So when he's on, he's very, very good. We haven't seen the consistency. And unfortunately for him, I mean, Bruce Cassidy even mentioned that early in the year,

he played Aiden Hill intentionally a couple games. Like, it kind of messed up the rotation with Samsonov and Hill, specifically so that the Team Canada people, Doug Armstrong and St. Louis, and a few others along the way, he wanted them to get a look at John Cooper in Tampa. They wanted him to get a look at Aiden, and he didn't play well in those games. So, obviously, they're not going to hold those one-game sample sizes against him. It's a big- John Cooper in Tampa. He would, they wanted me to get a look at Aiden and he didn't play well in those games. So obviously they're not going to hold those one game sample sizes against him. It's a big picture.

Look, I do think he'll probably be one of the three. I don't know if he'll be the guy Jordan Bennington is playing pretty well. He played really well last year. It hasn't been quite as good this year. I think there's a few options for them to look at, but I think Aiden should be right in that mix.

And then, like I said, his, his ceiling, and that's part of why the Golden Knights chose him over Logan Thompson and why he's the number one over Elias Samsonov is because Bruce Cassidy has seen what Aiden Hill plays like when he's on a heater, and they want to cop largely because of it.

And their mission, I guess, is to try to get him on feeling good and in one of those rhythms when the games get important. We're talking to Jesse Granger, covers the Golden nights for the athletics. So Jesse, the backbone of this hockey club has to remain the blue line led by Alex Petrangelo.

There's Theodore there's McNabb, but now the commitment to go out there and get a note, Noah Hannafin and sign him to that long-term deal? How has that enabled Vegas to go to another level? And what have you seen out of Hannafin since he's joined? Yeah, it's been an interesting road for Hannafin here. Last year, he came in after the deadline and was an immediate, just seamless fit.

Perfect. He was playing. And in the playoffs, he was one of their best players every night against Dallas in that first round series that went seven games. He was so good. This year, we haven't seen that level quite as often. He has had a few games where he, like the one where he scores his first goal, he takes over, he starts carrying the puck up the ice. He's so smooth.

I don't think Hannafin is maybe quite as high-end offense as Shea Theodore. He may not be the workhorse that Alex Petrangelo is. He doesn't have anyannafin is maybe quite as high end offense as Shea Theodore. He may not be the workhorse that Alex Petrangelo is. He doesn't have any like specific skill that he's elite at. He's just so good at everything and he's smooth. He's a great skater. I love his gap control. I think his timing on attacking players as they cross the blue line is as good as it gets. But what's interesting is he looks good at the eye test but when you look at the analytics the the on ice numbers the the the kind of underlying numbers they haven't been good for him this year and like I said they haven't defended as well as we expected them to as a team and I think Hannafin playing a lot of minutes is probably just if the team's under underperforming and you're

out there all the time your underlying metrics aren't going to be as good in terms of just the goals allowed and the chances allowed. So it's been kind of a mixed bag for him. I think he's a very good fit on this team, and I think he's a great pickup, and I think he's going to be good for pretty much the extent of this contract. But he hasn't been at the top of his game so far this year. He definitely still has some room to improve.

Get your thoughts on handicapping the Pacific Division, three Canadian teams in there that we pay close attention to how does vegas fit in do you think uh right now i think they're in first place is that you think they're the best team in the division well it comes down to edmonton i think edmonton certainly has the highest ceiling if they start clicking they i think they have the highest ceiling of anyone in the division but i think think the Golden Knights are the most consistent and the team you can count on to bring the same level every night. And throughout 82 games, I wouldn't be surprised if the Golden Knights do end up winning this division just because of that consistency.

I just think that this group, I mentioned it at the top, they've played together for so long. They've won so many big games together. The vast majority of this team went on the cup run together. I just think this team knows how to win. And when they're not at their best, when they're having a bad game, this team, um, they, I think they have the best record in the league when trailing going into the third period this year, this team finds ways to win. So yes, I do think that they're probably, if I was picking a favorite to win the regular season Pacific division, I think the golden

Knights probably are the favorite, but in terms of which of these teams is like the biggest cup favorite, I still think if Edmonton finds their game, they've got that ceiling. Calgary and Vancouver are interesting because they, they, they're both, I thought Vancouver has played better than I expected when considering Demko's out. I thought that might be the death of that team with Demko missing all this time early in the year. And it hasn't been, they've played pretty well. Rankin has played really well for him and and the team in front of them is playing well. And Calgary is getting good goaltending as well. So I think this division is better than I expected it to be

coming into the season, more competitive. And I think the Golden Knights stack up well. So what's the situation, the latest situation on Stone before I let you go? And, you know, not that it has anything to do with a trade deadline but i mean you know this team as well as anyone is it par for the course that we're just going to see a big name added to the vegas golden knights by by march is it shaping up to be one of those hey who knows what what the cap could look like for this team

by the time the trade deadline comes around? I'll start by saying I will never count this team out to add a big star player because I've done that before and I'm always wrong when I say that. I think there's a chance, but I will say, first of all,

Stone, I don't think has the injury. I expect him to be back relatively soon. I think he could be back as early as tomorrow in Ottawa. I don't know if he'll play tomorrow, but I think there's a chance, but I will say, first of all, Stone, I don't think has the injury. I expect him to be back relatively soon. I think he could be back as early as tomorrow in Ottawa. I don't know if he'll play tomorrow, but I think he's getting pretty close to a return. So I don't think that that is going to open up space for a deadline ad, at least this current injury. So they don't have a ton of cap space. They do have a lot of cap space. What concerns me about their ability to add another big star at the deadline, the way they've done for the past several years, is they've spent a lot of their assets.

They had a ton of picks from the expansion draft. They've kind of exhausted those. They don't have a first-round pick for the next two years. And they've traded all their top first-round prospects, really, except for Trevor Connolly, who they just drafted, and Brendan Bresson, who just got sent back down to the AHL a couple weeks ago and hasn't. I don't think his stock is as high as it can be.

So I think even if they do want to add a big piece, I think it's going to be tougher for them this year. They're going to have to be more creative. And like I said, I'll never count this team out, but I do think they don't have the cash, the prospects, the picks to go out and push their chips all in the way they have the past few seasons. Jesse, great stuff. Enjoy the game tonight.

Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Jesse. He's gone. Was he in a hurry or did we cut him off? See you later. Good stuff. Yeah, legitimately good stuff. Got to read for you guys.

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Be quiet. Okay? I am 100% going to send some money at break here. You got to read this next time. Tomorrow? That's a long read. Tomorrow. How do you not handicap Vegas as the number one team out of the West?

Vancouver won the division last year. People forget that. But not looking pretty. And I get Winnipeg and their amazing start, and I'm not saying that Winnipeg can't beat Vegas. You're talking in the West. I'm talking the West. When you look at that blue line for me,

and still Petrangelo leading the way, and got Mark Stone healthy. Yeah. Man, and the depth that you were talking about on the third and fourth line. Dallas still pretty good in the central. Minnesota's not going to stay up there. Yeah, no, you're right. Unless the Oilers get red hot.

But you look at the Oilers' blue line and you compare it to Vegas. No, you're right. There's no contest. Particularly with a nurse injury right now. Yes. Hyman came up a little lame last night, too. Hopefully he's okay. Did you see him get lit up by Jackey?

I did. Oh, my God. Two quick things. Vegas, plus 18 in third periods this year. Best in the NHL. And most wins in franchise history through the first 150 games of a franchise. Sorry, 550 games of a franchise. Sammy, you're pretty confident tonight.

No. Do the underdog Leafs? Zero confidence. Zero. Massive. Massive? Massive. Oh, boy. franchise sam you're pretty confident tonight no the underdog leaves zero zero massive i mean under massive mass i mean listen they got an ahl lineup and they started the backup goalie they got no chance tonight all right that's a good reverse jinx effort there you go you got the bet all set up no what is it comfort bet what do you call it happiness hedge all right all right don't go away craig conroy general manager of the Calgary Flames,

next as the real Kippenborn show goes national. Don't you dare go away.