Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Trade Takeaways with Brad Treliving

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

The deadline is all wrapped up, and Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee break down the day headlined by Vegas' big splash at the buzzer for Tomáš Hertl. They get into the biggest stories of deadline day - potential injury and contract concerns around Hertl, the Oilers stay relatively quiet and the Jets make a push with a trade for Toffoli. Then, the guys discuss trade winners and losers. Later, Leafs' GM Brad Treliving (20:42) joins the show to share his thoughts on the team's moves at and ahead of the deadline, what newly acquired Connor Dewar brings, his faith in the group and looks ahead at a probable first-round matchup against the Bruins. Finally, some thoughts on the Leafs' greasy 4-1 loss to the Bruins last night.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right come on in all you hockey fans exhausted from trade deadline day welcome everybody to our special edition of trade deadline day real kipper and born show it's nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo, and Jen Rolnick for the next two hours. Special edition 5 to 7 Eastern here on SportsNet. SportsNet 590, The Fan, and SportsNet Plus.

And whenever you can't get us live, please download on your favorite pod platform and find us. And if you want, give us a text 590-590. We'll see what we can squeeze in. But I'm not sure what we're squeezing in

because we've got Brad Treeliving, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, in about 20 minutes. We've got Elliot Friedman, who's going to join us at the top of the hour to kind of dissect what the heck happened. And where would Off the rails friday be without doug mclean later on in the show does it qualify as an off the rails friday if the

deadline falls on off the rails friday i just spent a minute saying i don't hear anything i don't hear anything and then it's because i got uh my ear pods on and i'm not plugged into the the the monitor here so that that tells you everything you need to know about off the rails friday don't you yeah we're off the rails good they're also called air pods kipper they're not ear what did i say ear pods you always call them your ear pods they're air pods but get with the time to go in your ears i just added to Off the Rails Friday. That's what I did purposely. Did you see that? I did.

See how that works? You're nailing it, crushing it. How many trades, Sammy, did we have today? Lots. Lots of little ones. Do you want me to count them out live here? Do we think it's around 20? Sure.

You don't have to count them, Sammy. No one's going to call your bluff. Okay. But would you say the best was saved for last the biggest the biggest surprise it seemed like everything was kind of fitting in there was a couple of bigger names out there still to be played out including to foley going to the winnipeg jets which there's not a person uh in this country that doesn't like that for the Winnipeg Jets. No kidding.

But outside of that, pretty consistent with maybe the fillers for teams around the edges. And then, boom, San Jose moves their prized possession up front, Thomas Hertel, to Vegas. And we're like, no, that can't be right. Vegas. Vegas, baby. And if I may add to that,

Hertel has been added to LTIR for Vegas, which means they now have $6.75 million in cap space to fit additional call-up. They have infinite cap in Vegas. They actually have figured out how to play in the NHL without the salary cap. It's like a glitch. I don't know, left trade, left trade, start select, ABA. Okay, for the record, I really, really like this trade more for San Jose than I do Vegas.

Tell me more. Why is that? That's the first time I've heard someone say that. Because San Jose is so bad that you're not going anywhere with Thomas Hertel. Anywhere. Agreed. So who's the centerman they got back? David Edstrom.

Edstrom. Edstrom. Which I think has got a lot of upside from what I hear about him. Okay. So it fits better for the rebuild plus the draft picks. It just makes more sense. It does. But I don't like that they retained salary for six seasons.

You know what? You got to pay for the draft picks. You got to. Like, it's just the cost. Yeah, like, it's just the cost. Yeah. JB, it's just the cost of doing business. That's all. It's not your money anyways.

It's some rich billionaire that we don't know. It's not the money I'm worried about. It's cap space when they do want to compete. But to your point, maybe they think the cap in four years when they're competitive is so high that what's a million bucks? So what exactly, what were the picks? It was a first and a, Sam, did you have it? Yeah, it was a 20-25 first round pick. Yes.

And the Golden Knights got a third round pick back as well. Is that correct here? A third round pick? Am I looking at that correctly? There's no way. No. I'll tell you what it is right here. Yeah, it is. It's it is it's uh it's it's edstrom

and a first round pick that's what it is and i think that's it's it's good just to move on yeah it for the future yeah you know so either way for vegas it's it to me is just so impressive and what they've done here over the past week. I mean, Anthony Mantha, Tomas Hurdle, and Noah Hannafin have suddenly been added to this team. You're going to get back Mark Stone at the end of the year. You still have Eichel in the mix, Chandler Stevenson. This decor is loaded.

Like, the top of the West is unbelievable. Colorado probably made as big strides as Vegas did, or close to. They're in second. But, I mean, boy, Winnipeg, Dallas, Edmonton, you know, did their work early. It's the top of the West. It's just loaded. Now, Hurdle is hurt. Hurdle?

Hurdle. Right? Yes. So. But he's supposed to be back by the end of the season. Yeah. Yeah. And I think this played a huge part in this trade is that if you look at this guy's history

with knee injuries, it goes back to 2014, 2015. I think he had major surgery. He had ACL, MCL. Yeah. 2014 2015 i think he had major surgery had acl mcl yeah and then just recently he was out before the all-star break ended up playing in the all-star break and then comes back and then if if you kind of followed that story a little bit it was like i decided to have surgery again, which meant I'm not sure if he and the Sharks were on the same page with his knee history. Do you think there was tension with him and the Sharks? I get the sense that there is.

I'm not here to tell you that I can confirm anything, but I just get a sense that they were just tired of dealing with constant knee injuries with this guy yeah maybe they're worried he's never going to be the player they thought they were buying six more years is scary if you're worried about that and just to confirm it is hurdle in a third round pick in 2025 and a third round pick in 2027 to vegas so they got two picks out of it as well, and it's Edstrom, a first-round pick, and 17% of Hurdle's contract retained. Yeah, part of what you're paying there. He's had some major injuries with his knees,

and it's great if he comes back, and he's great, and he and Vegas can live happily ever after, but I think it was a concern for San Jose. How safe are these knees right now moving forward on this contract? You know, taking it at face value for the player we know he can be. I mean, he's an elite guy, right? He scored 35-plus in the league.

He's big. He's a really valued asset for a team that you know vegas needed a little bit needed a little bit of help scoring this year and and so you love that for them but certainly if that's a more of a concern that i had heard previously that's that's something to keep an eye on so how much i mean i don't know i wish i had in front of me but like how much are they gonna add once the playoffs start it's got to be close to 20 mil. When guys come back, yeah, Alec Martinez and Mark Stone. Stone, Hurdle now. Hurdle will come back.

He'll probably come back in the regular season, but yeah, towards the end there, it's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. Yeah, they're playing like a $100 million cap. I'm sorry for my Oiler fan friends again. Yeah. They're going to have to go, well, I mean, maybe they're going to slip down to the wild card spot here

and you're not going to have to deal with them. You know, Nashville is somehow ahead of them in the standings, which is crazy, but it just sucks for a lot of people. I mean, I don't mind it. They're using the advantages, I guess, that they have. It's hard to kill them for it. But at the same time, if you're a fan of a team that's going to play in the playoffs, you are seething today.

Edmonton didn't make a move. Kip, your thoughts on that that or do you want to go somewhere else no i'm okay with that just saying that there was a sense that ken holland was still looking but didn't have the sense of urgency when he was able to pick up the the two forwards from anaheim you know like i like the oilers pickups i think obviously karrick is a certain type of player that they they like and Henrik fits a need. But, God, this team is so good. So good.

And to leave them without really a second line. You know, they're short a guy in the second line. They're probably short a defenseman on the first or second pair, depending on how you feel about things. And you're short a backup goalie. They did get Stetcher for some depth. Sure. things and you're short a backup goalie they did get stetcher for some depth sure but not someone that maybe a few oiler fans were screaming to upgrade from cody cc yeah so it's very possible

like they've been a pretty good defensive team and when skinner's the good um they can outscore a lot of problems too and like this oilers team is never one i'm counting out i've got my own money on them coming out of the west still i still believe in them but yeah today i think other teams improve over the last couple days and close the gap significantly so we we saw some significant trades uh in winnipeg or sorry in uh vancouver and edmonton but we saw a significant one once again uh from Winnipeg Jets. Tyler Toffoli, his name had been out there. There was a sense that Winnipeg was interested,

but almost had a feel like, yeah, we've heard that one before on trade deadline, Winnipeg in and then never closing out. But I thought this was a really, really strong move by Shovel Day off to look at the West and go and i see what's happening here and i i need more depth i mean yeah i think i talked about them not having as much offense like the jets are a team that because they don't have if you ranked the best hundred forwards in the nhl you know you might have shifley in the top 30 eelers connor whatever you think but they don't have any top 20 guys and so they're gonna have to have scoring throughout the

lineup and boy this is a big addition for them it's actually tough to figure out where to put all of their players given how many forwards they have they have as good a full 12 as any team in the nhl with the foley so i'm excited to see where he fits in and you know what sort of impact he can have chevy's added some good guys over the years you know like yeah nita rider at the deadline last year and a mess and a mess nicov was helpful too do you think he's surprised no first in that trade to get him was it a 2024 third and a second in 25 no no i'm not because you know you see the price of Sean Monaghan that goes for a first earlier on, and then you get Toffoli on the day four.

Traditionally, centermen have always carried a higher premium. Yeah, that's fair. To me, that's one of the guys that was still left heading into today that I figured would have been part of, would have got a first. I got a, I got a, I get the sense too, is like, you know, Gary Bettman going out there last week, the talk about wanting the community to get re-engaged, corporate getting more involved.

Toffoli adds to that. Come come on we're doing our part here so let's go a building needs to be filled renewals need to come in we're doing our part i think it's a strong message from the winnipeg jets we are stacked and we are right in the mix to be a potential stanley Cup finalist from the Western Conference. Like, they are, you know, they're not, I don't see a world where they're not one of the favorites to me. Like, I know it's a tough slog in that Central Division,

considering what Colorado did, considering what Dallas does, getting Tanev or whatever, but they could beat either of those teams in a playoff series. They could go to the finals. So you're right, Kipper. It's a good message to send. Just so solid. Like, you feel like out of their 10 or 11 guys who could shoot it in

the net someone's gonna have a good playoffs you know like a couple of guys are gonna get you enough goals then with hellebuck you just feel like they can compete they added colin miller as well uh on the back end he was in new jersey this year play 16 minutes a night he's got a lot of uh playoff experience went to the the Cup Final with Vegas in 2018. Just shores things up in the back end. I still would have liked to have seen a little something else there, but I think a lot of teams feel that way. It was tough to make moves.

In about seven or eight minutes, we're going to welcome in Brad Treeliving, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. A couple of pickups, depending if you're a Leaf fan. I'm not sure how excited you are, but a necessity. If you want to take a long run in the playoffs is that depth. So he was able to solidify a couple of pieces, including Joel Edmondson, who did not play last night in Boston. But do you guys want to go just winners and losers here

for the next little while, and you want to include what happened in the last few days, or is there something specific today that you still want to get to well i think it's what's a i don't i just loser i don't want to call kyle dubas a loser again here but i didn't love that trade but if we want to get into that stuff we can i don't know if you guys talked about that today on on the show i just felt like that was the biggest one and it feels like we haven't really addressed it. So I think that probably we should go there. Yeah. So what are your thoughts on the return for Gensel, Kip?

It's kind of tricky now because a day like this or days towards the trade deadline, you're also talking about some assets that you haven't really been privileged to follow or hear enough information on so as far as i'm concerned yeah genzel was the biggest prize that you had out there in the last two weeks a month i don't know how far you want to go back yeah good player but the one thing that i know about Pittsburgh is they're not big and they're not tough and they're not heavy and everything that tells me from bunting going to

Pittsburgh to these these picks like there's nobody six three and above they're just they're almost like cut from that same Toronto Maple Leaf. Let's just get the most skilled guys here. It looks like he's taking a blueprint a little bit off of that. You know, if I were in his shoes and looking at the age of the core guys and thinking when you want to be good is now, basically, and you don't want to lose Genzel for nothing. Dubas lost a ton of players for nothing

when he was with the Maple Leafs. I get the idea of seeking out prospects and not picks. You know what I mean? Like, try to get guys that maybe they can help you. I don't know if it's next year, but at least the year after that. Bunting is the guy that you take to Crosby and go, he's a 60-point guy.

Like, we didn't get you nothing in return, and you kind of hope that you've appeased the team in the short term, still feel like you're competitive, and one of these guys comes through, you can say, all right, we turned a guy into someone, but I have talked to a number of scouts like you probably have, and none of the people I've talked to have been like, oh, I really love this kid they got. Like, they all sound like lottery tickets, you know,

kind of B-level prospects, and who knows, though. Sammy, do we have Sid Crosby's post-game comments from last night? Now that we're on the subject of Pittsburgh, I wouldn't mind bringing that up because it was almost painful, JB, to listen to Sidney Crosby. We do have it if you want to hear it. Yeah, absolutely. Let's go to Sidney Crosby last night after a very tough loss to the Washington Capitals. It's not going to be anymore.

What are your thoughts? I mean, he's a great player, great teammate, you know, a friend. I think he did everything he possibly could, you know, in his time here. You know, it's just a privilege to play with him for the course of that time and, you know, some great memories. And, yeah, it was just a privilege. That's all I can say. What are you thinking about the rest of this season? I mean, I know you're trying to get into the playoffs

and win every game, but also managing the sense of this message? I don't know. I mean, it's probably a better question for them. So did any of that distraction from playing to what happened tonight? That was his comment. I don't know. Well, it's, you know, how do you feel about, you know...

And he said, I don't know. Yeah, ask them. Ask them how, you know, they can tell you they feel like we're quitting. And so I feel not great, Bob. It's just on the surface, a trade for the best guy available at the deadline for a former Sue Greyhound,

three skilly guys and no first round pick. It's not a great, it's not a great pick. Everything's great. You didn't get a, like you got a first round pick if Carolina makes it to the absolute meat grinder of the Eastern Conference, which they haven't shown a propensity to do. It's just, how do you not get a first guarantee first rounder in that

trade that's i think it's funny the way that they listed the trade eh that they got a first and a fifth in the deal like that was the way it was announced first and a fifth which reverts to a second and no fifth if they don't make the cup final yes which is you know a very pr way to advertise it we got a first and a fifth in this deal. Unless a likely thing happens. Unless this super unlikely thing, like less than 10% chance thing happens, and it's a second. I thought that was a bit of a sales trick.

I do think it's a great ad for Carolina to get Gensel. And Gensel's an excellent player. And you know what? And you guys, I like the Kuznetsov thing. I know Kuznetsov is a complete flyer, but as someone who once upon a time got sober, the idea of wanting to come out and be your best self and committing to this new focus and energy and whatever,

just knowing how I felt, I don't know Kuznetsov's situation. Not that far removed from the player assistance program, but for a flyer for three and a half mil or whatever they're gonna pay him this year next that that flyer scares me yeah it does and i don't i don't think it enough was spent on the fact that this guy had just been coming out of a nhl player Player Association assistant program, which doesn't really tell you much. It protects whatever issues he's had.

But the man has had some issues. For sure. My first thought is coming out of the program, and listen, I mean, I'm talking to an expert here. All good. Okay. And is Carolina, are you putting him in the best position now of strength to come in? Like did four weeks in this program, he was in February 5th.

Now he's going to resume his career. Like, how big of a flyer is it that you're coming out of a program and you're ready to go and you won't have some pitfalls that you had before now i've been on enough clubs where i have seen certain guys have some issues off the ice come into the dressing room look us in the eyes and say boys, boys, I'm going to be better. You don't have to worry about me. And I'm going to do everything I can. And I'm good.

And I'm changed. I'm a changed man. And guess what? Doesn't happen. You know, I think we can go deeper on that. We do have our guest. Okay, let's welcome in Brad Treeliving, Toronto Maple leafs general

manager uh brad thanks for doing this i know it was a real busy day here but uh your thoughts about uh the trades that you made including uh connor uh uh doer from minnesota for a fourth just your overall thoughts today well thanks for having me on guys. Yeah, it was, I would call it Nick, sort of a usual trade deadline, you know, day and, and, and, you know, leading up to it, obviously you sell lots of deals, take place probably in the last couple of days leading up to the deadline. I don't know if it was that busy for us today

you know we kind of spent the weeks leading up to the deadline to you know certain things that you you may try to accomplish or trying to accomplish and have a good understanding of of what you may or may not be able to get done as far as the acquisition today of Connor Dewar, you know, as we looked at our group here and identified some needs, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we had some needs, if you will, going into the deadline as we watched our team. The reality was we weren't going to be able to fill

everything that we we wanted to and certainly in some cases that a you know whether it be you know the things I always look at is is you watch your team you determine what your needs are then you look at it is is what you need a available you know what's what's the cost what's the acquisition cost and see you know do you have the cost to get the acquisition done so as we looked around one of the things that we wanted to try to add to our group is add a some depth at center somebody who's defensively responsible is a good penalty killer.

You know, one of the areas of our team right now is our penalty kill that needs to get better. You know, we're not able to airlift a bunch of new penalty killers in. So, number one, we've got to tighten things up from a structural standpoint. But, B, if there's an area to tweak ourselves personnel-wise, it's an area we want to do. Connor is a guy that came in from a cost fit in terms of a cap hit. A real competitive player.

You know, a lot of people may not be familiar with him. Excellent penalty killer. Has some flexibility in terms of positional utility. Can play center, can play the wing. And like I said, he's got some grease to him. We're excited to add him. It gives us some depth in the middle.

Like I said, the guy who's got a skill set in terms of penalty killing, defensively responsible. So glad to get him as part of the group here today. Brad, how much is what you did here and what GMs generally do with the deadline reflective of your belief in the team going into the trade deadline?

Like, you know, you look at some top teams and you say, okay, they really believe in them. They're going to make the big swing here. On the other hand, you know, I guess you could say that you believe so much in the team you didn't want to make a big swing. How much does it reflect belief in team what a GM does? Oh, you're always watching.

And what I say, Justin, is your team, you take your cues from your team. Now, there's guys that you just go back and look at teams that have won a Stanley Cup, and there's teams that have won a Stanley Cup and there's teams that have won a Stanley Cup that do very little at the trade deadline. There's been teams that have won a Cup that have done things at the deadline. So I think when you're trying to add and you're

giving up assets to your team, you're trying to give yourself a better chance. Certainly your comfort level in giving up A assets. Not only, I don't necessarily say it's not a reflection of a belief in your team, but you also look at where your situation is. What is your, you know, in terms of future assets, what is your asset base look like, whether it be young prospects or picks and those types of things. So, you know, certainly when you, you know, the message I gave to our team leading up to the deadline is I do believe in this group.

You know, our plan is not to subtract if possible from the group, and we'd like to add to the group. And then you go from there, and there's got to be a fit and a match. And like I said, the things I talked about earlier in terms of a match from availability and then the ability to acquire those players. But certainly you always take your cues from your team and where they sit before you address anything on the deadline. We're talking to Brad Treeliving,

Toronto Maple Leaf general manager. Brad, i know last night you didn't get the results that you wanted against the boston bruins i found it kind of interesting that after a very spirited game at least within the physicality department boston went out and got patrick maroon uh what did what did you learn about your team last night and what did you learn about what it's going to take? Because we all think this is heading towards a round one matchup. I think 75% were the odds that you and the Boston Bruins will be their puck drop. Yeah, I do think, Nick, you got to be careful of just, you know, focusing on one team. Obviously, we look at the... I get handed odds and all sorts of numbers each day

about probabilities and whatnot. Listen, Boston's a real good team. They've been a real good team for a long time. They're playoff-hardened. It was a good atmosphere in there last night. They were honoring the 2011 Stanley Cup team. there's lots of juice in the building um you know there's some real good things from last night and obviously some areas that we got to clean up i think you know we we i liked i like the competitive nature of our team last night if you're talking about things that i

liked i like the competitive you know i thought we were real competitive physically. I thought we were really engaged in the game. We made some critical errors. I disagree with the five-on-three call, but we were 30-some-odd seconds from having the penalty killed. We don't get a clear. It's in the back of our net. We turn a puck over. It's 2-0.

We got ourselves back into the game at two one um you had some chances to tie it up you know we have we have a we have a good real good chance to tie it up at two at two two puck comes down the other night and it's or comes down the other way three one so you know one of the big takeaways i take out of that game is number one we've got to make sure that we're emotionally invested, emotionally and physically. It's an area that we've really tried to push in our group since, you know, since we've gotten here is talking a lot about, you know, the game within the game and the emotional and physical investment that's

required at the most important time of the year. I think we were invested in that game. But also, when you're playing a good team like Boston, you know, they don't beat themselves. You know, they don't make the critical errors. And you look back, and the game is a game of errors, but we made critical errors that I thought they capitalized on, and those are errors you can't, you know, you can't make at playoff time.

You've got to be good with your discipline. Your special teams have to be good. You've got to toe that line in terms of, you know, making sure that you're disciplined, but that you've got to be ultra competitive. And so that's the lesson that's got to stay with us. We can't beat ourselves. We can't make critical errors that gives a real advantage to an experienced team like Boston.

So these next 19 games, number one, they're there. We've got to qualify for the playoffs. We've got to earn ourselves a position to be a playoff team. And we've got to use these 19 position to to be a playoff team and we got to use these 19 games to get our our game in a position where it can have success in the playoffs brad uh you guys added some muscle not that doers a big guy but yeah feisty fella and you've a couple of d-men in that obviously uh you know big heavier type guys you know how much can this i guess you talk about physicality and competitiveness and how much of it has to come from your core guys from matthews from marner from kneelander

the guys who are on the ice the most for you in playoffs and how much can you lean on the guys around them to be that sort of physical edge to help them through well to me it's all i mean you have to be physically emotionally invested i mean it's not and that it's all, I mean, you have to be physically, emotionally invested. I mean, it's not, and it's not mean about running guys through the wall or anything like that. But, you know, you're fighting for every inch of ice when it comes to playoff time. And, you know, at the end of the day, you're always led by your top people. You know, they have to lead the way for you. And, you know, that's just the way it is.

When you look at playoff series, yes, age-old adages, your top guys sometimes saw off, and it's the depth that can push you through, and I totally agree with that. But in terms of leading the way, you're taught people have to do it. And, you know, as I talked to our group, you know, leading up to this deadline is, number one, I said I believe in you. We're going to do what we can to add to this group. You know, we're not we're going to try to help ourselves and add pieces and not take pieces away.

But at the end of the day, you know, the answers are right here in this room right now. And they're the ones that have to really – they're the ones that are going to do the heavy lifting. You know, you can have support around them, and we need to support them. But they're the top guys, and they're top – you know, these aren't just good players. They're top players in the league. And, you know, they've gone through playoff success. And I haven't been, or I know they've gone through some playoff heartbreak here. And I haven't been here.

But, you know, it's just, those are, each one is another, you know, just another opportunity to get better. And until you break through, everybody says you haven't broken through. The list is long of guys that, you know, that didn't get through until they finally got through. And so that's, you know, ultimately our big boys have got to lead us. And then the rest of the group has got to be there in lockstep to support them and do their job.

This isn't, as I said on day one coming here, this isn't about one, two, or three, or four guys and we just put everything on their shoulders. They've got to lead the way and the rest of the group has got to be real good support and push and pull and make sure that they're doing everything to help support our top people. And that's just the way it's got to be.

And I've got all the faith in the world in them. And like I said, we've added some reinforcements here. And I know our group's excited. They're excited about the challenge ahead. We're excited as well as trade deadline's over and we get towards the Stanley Cup playoff. I know it's a long day for you, Brad, but we really appreciate you stopping by.

Thanks for doing this. Okay, thanks, fellas. Have a good night. Thanks, you too. Brad Tree, Living General Manager of the Toronto Reef Leagues. Listen, they can work around the edges all they want. If you're not even coming remotely close to matching Pasternak and Marchand's intensity from Nylander, Marner, Matthews, Tavares, they're cooked.

It's actually crazy watching that game last night and hearing different people's takeaways from it i know sammy you've got takeaways from it too but i i gotta say i thought that team the leafs worked competed took it to the bruins were in their face and then there were the guys you just mentioned so i thought as a whole the team was really good the guys who you you're talking about and why i asked tree about them i thought they were they they weren't up to the level last night and it could be a back-to-back it could be sick it could be it could be it could be but it wasn't there last night i mean how do they have the bubonic plague how sick are they like they're out there playing i i think there should be it's the

nhl you're making 11 you should be held to a certain standard if you're sick and you can't play you can't play but yeah it's a it's a tough visual for me that we're in the third version of a bottom six or different guys or whatever you want that are on one year contracts and they're the ones trying to be the guys that are lighting a fire under them tyler bertuzzi's beating the crap out of people those guys's why they get those guys. Because they don't have it at the core. Domi's trying to fight Marshawn. Domi's beating the crap out of Charlie Coyle. But that's...

But like... Those are afterthoughts, right? Those are... Players? Well, I don't know. What was the score when Domi went after Marshawn Kings? So it's message sending. But that's not where the games won and lost

you just all these guys come in here Kipper and Borny and they all come in and they get a taste with this core and they leave Foligno you know Ryan O'Reilly Luke Shen

Achari Achari I guess you know, Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Shen, Achari, I guess. Yeah. But now it's, we're watching it happen again, where it's these guys who are dog fighting in the front of the net. Bertuzzi's dropping the gloves. Domi's getting into it every game.

91's just watching scrums. It's like, it doesn't matter if those guys aren't engaged. That's what I mean. That's the problem. That has always been the the problem it's the core of the problem and we always dance around it but that's the core of the issue like willie kneelander like you're the last man back it's do they is that just not the unwritten rule here jb where you just do not dance you know how it is kip there's like

a couple guys a team maybe 10 guys in the league who you say have added up there you know roll the dice and willie's close to that group if not in it play with many coaches that would just do that Alex Kovalev and Connor McDavid he can't do it. Yeah. You know, like he's close to that. I that that doesn't upset me last night. Connor. It's not good. Connor when he when he's turning up towards the blue line, he knows that he's protecting the puck

and he's going to skate it back or he's going to make it a nice outlet. This is fine, but we're talking trends. Like is this something like Willie does this a lot? He doesn't do that. I guess he done it again this year? Like, to me, that's not a trend that I worry about necessarily. What I worry about. Unless it's game six or game seven.

Sure. Yeah, I wish it wasn't against the Bruins, too. That's fair. Hey, listen, it's fair. It's not a good play. You shouldn't do it. The coach should tell him, don't do that. But to me, I see Austin Matthews going to finish checks

and stutter stepping first and kind of pulling up and you know i i see guys in the scrums that are as you mentioned not those guys is it's not can they play can no like they can't can matthews play that style last night and still be the 70 goal scorer that, you know, we think he's heading towards. He wasn't anywhere near the middle of the ice the entire night. None of the, according to sport logic, the Leafs had one high danger chance at even strength.

And they scored, was it, was it scored? Oh, at even strength. I was going to say, did they score physical for those guys? Every time the temperature gets ramped up and it's intense and physical and it's loud and all of a sudden it's a playoff feel, you know, they pull up. Yeah. A little nervous.

Maybe. Well, the big, it scares the hell out of you that the two superstars, I guess I guess Marchand's a superstar and Pasternak's superstar, for the Bruins just can't wait to play the Leafs. That's their favorite thing to do. And the Leafs hate playing the bruins and those two things every time you watch do they hate the panthers and yes the bruins yeah now i don't feel like you guys did about the game on mass last night like in talking to you

about like i thought the leafs were you know again back-to-back situation i thought they were very competitive the bruins got 23 shots. Wolden makes saves. Typically, you get a couple of saves. Matthews and Martin will play better. Like, it's not tough to envision a game where that's a closer game. When was the last time we saw a game like that

out of the Toronto Maple Leafs? And that was the most physical, emotional game. Yes, but it's all the guys that, that quote-unquote don't matter as much. But you're not going to have Matthews and Marner fighting anyway. I just want them mad. I want Marner to celebrate his goal like Connor Geeky celebrated his goal. I want them to be angry one time. Maybe wrong guys to get angry.

They're skill, skill, skill. I know. Right? There's lots of guys that do both, boys. It's going to be a challenge. Maybe Connor Dewar can come in and rattle him up a little bit. He's a needle mover. I pre-like Connor Dewar.

I've watched him fight four times this year. Okay, that's enough. What's his hometown again? He's from the Pa. The Pa. Yeah, Manitoba. 5'10 out of the Pa. All right.

Got to be tough. Scrappy. You want to go to a break? Yeah, let's go to a break. We'll do game time. Okay, plenty more still on this trade deadline, including Elliott Friedman at the top of the hour and Doug McClain.

Back after these words. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Trade deadline day.

Big names? No. And not so big names. I just, before we get to game time here, saw this tweet from Greg Wyshynski. He said, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Mark Stone has lacerated his spleen.

It will miss the rest of the regular season. And it's unknown how much time he will miss after that. It's impossible to know what the timeline is. Where's my camera? Could it be six weeks? Fingers crossed, if everything goes well, we could have a very... I wonder what the timeline is.

Very. That spleen becomes un-lacerated right around springtime. I got in trouble yesterday for encouraging HIPAA violations on the air. So no comment on you? Apparently not. All right. It's game time.

Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds to find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, before I get to the games,

there's four games on trade deadline day. You want none? Yeah. Has that always been a thing? It's been a popular conversation. Do you agree with that? Do you care? Listen, there could be more action two nights before,

three nights before. What's the GM doing anyway? Right? You think they're all sitting around watching us, right? What do you mean? TV made it what it is. Before, it would have been throughout the day, like you get a 10-second update, and then you go about your day.

Would you have always known as a player when deadline was, though? Oh, yeah. Like even 19 days? Oh, yeah. And then you're like, no phone call, no phone call. Don't have my cell phone with me. Yes. It's nervous times for a lot of players

yeah so uh having said all that the winnipeg jets tonight visit the seattle kraken and to me it's a really good number for the jets just to win what minus 120 money line i feel like they're going to be very inspired by another addition. Foley's not going to suit up tonight or whatever, but just the fact that they made another big trade, they're a much better team than Seattle. They're looking to get into the top spot in that Western, in that essential division and stay there.

I, I love the Winnipeg Jets minus 120 in Seattle tonight. All right. That is a, I would even call that a lock for me. And the other game tonight, it's Dallas Stars, Anaheim.

Not going to do anything with that. Minnesota visiting Colorado. Speaking of two teams heading in two different directions here. Winnipeg just, I mean, sorry, Minnesota just stripped down.

And the other one I'm looking at, this is a weirdly short number to me. The Detroit Red Wings are in Arizona. They're only minus 135. Not sure why that is. A little bit fishy to me. The Detroit Red Wings are in Arizona. They're only minus 135. Not sure why that is. A little bit fishy to me. But give me the Detroit Red Wings at minus 135 over the Arizona Coyotes tonight at Mullet Arena.

Alright, the Avalanche, Trennan, Duhame, Mittelstadt. Okay. Hey, by the way, you see Bo Byron last night? Bo Byron? That's who they traded? Yeah see Bo Byron last night? Bo Byron? Is that who they traded? Yeah.

Just snap one under the bar for Buffalo. Good hockey player. That's the best trade. For Buffalo. No. Period. Period. Most impactful? Best trade.

He has a chance to be a legitimate top pair guy. I think he's got a chance to be a legitimate top pair guy i think he's he's got a chance to be a star doesn't that feel redundant with power and doline there like like where is he gonna get on this yeah i know they're all three are left-handed shots but i'm sure somebody can play the right side yeah i just think like for power play time like this guy feels like oh i'm stuck behind my car my whole career and they're like here's dolly i i think forwards are a dime a dozen compared to a very good d look at the toronto maple leafs they've been looking for how long since borya solving since as good as byron morgan riley we like but is morgan riley a number one defenseman yes but that's not the question you're asking.

No, no, no, no, no. He's not. He's a two or three. No, no, no. He's definitely a number one. He is a number one defenseman on a good National League hockey team. But is he on a Stanley Cup team? There's two different conversations.

Is he one of the best defensemen in the league? Maybe not. But is he a number one defenseman? Yes, because default, he's a number one defenseman on a team. I would have another. I need another 1A with him. We've always needed that, Kipper, this whole era. Last night, everybody's watching the Boston Bruins against Toronto.

Lindholm's not even in the lineup. That guy's 24 minutes. That guy's a beast out there. Okay? And now it's Charlie McAvoy and him against Morgan and who? Who's backing Morgan up? Let me wrap up. I'm just saying,

so when you get a chance to get a defenseman like Bowen, it's like, yeah, go get him. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app, play the stars, and find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365. Must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now out why it's never ordinary. A bet 365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

Now I got to ask you, Cameron. This is a... Did Marshawn do that on purpose last night? On that? No, there's no way. There's no way. There's no way. No, okay.

There's no way that you can track that from where he came from. And if I'm not mistaken, Charlie Coyle was between the two of them and it was but once you're into a i can't uh no realize you're gonna run into once you're into like that window where it's like i'm not slowing down and i'm gonna drop my shoulder and you're gonna take the brunt of this he's gonna elevate his elbow into his head yeah whatever the case is sammy you know what that's the game bud okay that's the game and i whatever it is whether he did it on purpose or didn't is irrelevant what mattered was he masked it around to play on the ice that says hey boys big fish sometimes eat the little fish and move on rad marsh and is the like pavel datsuk of deception except when it comes to hurting people by accident.

Do you think he should? It bothers me. He should fight when he does stuff like that. Like when Max Domi goes up to him and asks him to fight, when you're up 4-1 and your building's rocking. I disagree. Why doesn't he have to fight, Kimmerer? Because you don't have to fight.

A guy like that can call his shots or his terms. Okay. I'm with you, Sammy. No, I just, I feel like. I think it would be nice if he did, but at the end of the day, do you want, if you're Montgomery or any other coach with your frontline guy, do you want a Max Domi taking you off the ice or taking free shots at your head? I don't want that. I don't want that.

I don't want it. I'm sorry. And yeah, he's dirty, and it'd be nice if someone gave it to him every once in a while, but he's at the point where he can dictate. I didn't get any texts from Leafs fans after he cross-checked, McCabe cross-checked him in the chin last night. No one texted me and said he shouldn't have done that. I didn't get that text. I got a text from Leafs fans after he cross-checked, McCabe cross-checked him in the chin last night.

No one texted me and said he shouldn't have done that. I didn't get that text. He also speared McCabe in the gonads. That's why he's been doing it for his whole career. That's why he loses the benefit of the doubt. I think it's a tough visual for the Bruins captain to be doing this multiple times in a game lying on the ice when he's screaming at everybody and running around like a chicken with his head cut off. I his fans is they love it they go he knows what

he's doing he's making some leafs how many times have i said to you too this is that if he was a leaf he would be my by far favorite player in the history of the game you can't recognize that this is part of his game if i was a leaf fan i was probably saying that he should have fought domi last night if he was on the leafs it It's like, it's a tough look. But they beat him. Of course they did. And if he got a couple shots in. But he also took a head shot at one of the Leafs young guys and knocked him out with a concussion.

Well, not a concussion. He's going to play or whatever. But he left the game. I don't know. Just thought maybe he was eligible to fight. It's a valid concern. Marner limped off the ice a little bit when he missed his net. What happened there?

Yeah. Didn't like that. No. I mean, look, they lose any of those guys. It's night-night. Listen. You can't lose any of the quarterbacks. I wouldn't expect Marner to play tomorrow night.

Oh, really? You think it's something more? Be careful. That's all. You think he's not going to play? I don't know. Okay. I'm just, I had heard that there might

be a little bit of a concern uh about him how big of a concern would you relax you could use a rest anyway you could use a rest they can all use rest the plague mitch has a broken leg no no no no come on come on relax i sound like my wife right now relax you know what hockey is so hard why do you just shoot in that net hockey is hard you couldn't make the decision when we watch you watch from afar and you're sitting on your couch

and you're eating your chips but like pucks are bouncing they're rolling and you know how it fell on his stick you don't you don't have to apologize for the guy no i'm just saying he'd say i should yeah he should have shot it but i don't know what he was thinking there had to been some reason why he delayed that's all i'm saying i think it's just hockey's hard yeah i think he thinks the goal is going to come diving across and he can wrap it yeah whatever he just he. He just didn't feel it was the right time.

A little double-edged. It happens. Which he's regretting today. That was the turning point in the game. Because they were playing pretty well. They were coming a bit. And the back goes in the nets. 2-2.

Different game. And then what happens, happens. But anyways. All right. Still plenty to get into. We said we weren't going to talk about the Leafs. This has been the Leafs hour. We got Elliott Friedman.

Is there anything left out of Elliott? He's going to come in here. And he's going to look like he's just been through the Leafs. This has been the Leafs hour. We got Elliott Friedman. Is there anything left out of Elliott? He's going to come in here and he's going to look like he's just been through the ringer. He has been. Lots to ask him about. Plenty. And then also Doug McClain on Off the Rails Friday. Oh, he's just been

stewing all day watching these trades. We'll get his thoughts as well. Don't go away. There's plenty more on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show.