Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs vs. Oilers - Makeover Matchup

Episode Date: March 1, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee reflect on the Leafs' recent moves, how the new additions bring energy to the team and fanbase, where they fit and what Dubas' next move should involve. Then, a discussion on the defensive pairings and where the new guys slot in. They are joined by Hall of Famer Kevin Lowe, who breaks down tonight's Leafs vs. Oilers game, what Mattias Ekholm can add in Edmonton, what else Ken Holland has in store for the deadline and their postseason outlook (41:46). Leafs Nation's Gord Stellick on the Leafs' new and improved bottom six, their goalie conundrum and the biggest challenges that lay ahead for the team (1:06:38). Kyper, Bourne and Sam close with the hottest stories around the league, some breaking news and how top Eastern Conference teams have looked after making some deals.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.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Honest answer is no. Again today, can we? That was fun, but it was exhausting. It was electric. That was... Like, that really felt like a deadline day. Yeah, it did.

I mean, for the Leafs, I imagine that was their deadline day. I can't imagine that there's too much more. Not that I think they're done, but that was the climax, I think. Well, we're not slowing down today. Next two hours, Kevin Lowe, six-time Stanley Cup champion, former teammate of mine in New York, will be joining us, Hall of Famer. We're going to get the buzz out of Edmonton as the Leafs and the Oilers clash. We've got two fan base, like, in seventh heaven.

Yeah. Do we not? This has to be the highest ratings for a regular season game, I don't know in how long but both fan bases are fired up sammy's fired up for tonight boys i'm walking on a sunshine today i can't wait i yeah i think you're on to something there about the ratings and about the way people feel about this team and the way that you know people have looked at this leafs team for i would probably say since the montreal collapse yeah that you know it's all it's you know it's just more of the same regular season

meaningless regular season still the same guys like i don't need to watch until april that has been completely thrown out the door now that they have also a quarter of our team well that's the it though that's what i mean because it's like what is this team now i don't know what they look like like my dad texts me this morning he's like can you give me a program for tonight so who plays for this team how about luke shen missed out and get number two by like a day mccabe claimed it right and yeah so he's going 22 double twos i love it, right? Yeah, so he's going 22. Double twos, I love it. All right, let's go right away to a Kippers Clipper, Sheldon Keefe, on the changes within his group. I think, I don't know if energize is the right word,

but I think everybody's gelling well. I think all the guys that we brought in are just tremendous guys and have great personalities, and that's allowed the transition to happen a lot smoother. They're all Lafferty, I guess, would be a little younger and less experienced, but, you know, the guys we brought in are veteran players that have been around the league a lot

and, like I said, have great personalities. So I just think the energy of our group has been excellent away from the rink, too, like not just in the building here, but you see in the hotels and some of the meals and things that we've had. We've had some off days. The guys are out and having fun together. So I'm seeing, frankly, seeing more of that than what we've had in the past. So that's a really good sign and shows that the guys that we've brought in

have fit in well with the group and our guys have embraced them. And that's gone right through the city. As you mentioned, you've gotten a few calls from people that you don't necessarily hear from. Everybody's aware that the Leafs have made changes. They don't even know what they are. No, my wife was like, I heard the Leafs made deals.

Do I know any of the names? I was like, you do not. But it's very exciting yeah like i have buds that i wouldn't normally you know talk to a ton that are leaf fans i know and we wouldn't really talk about the leafs it's it's got the casuals more back into being a non i got a window roll down today taking my kid to school someone slowed down rolled the window down what do you think of the moves? Oh, yeah. You know? Oh, yeah.

Holy mackerel! Just, like, legit guys that you know right off the bat. We could sit here on any given year and go, Aston Reese. We've done that. We've done it on a number of players. Sam Lafferty. People are going to fall in love with this guy. I'm shocked to hear you say that.

I think he's a real pro. He's diligent in his work. He takes his craft seriously. This guy's a pro. To a certain extent, we knew Nola Charry was going to come in and be that bonafide bottom six energy guy.

Lafferty, for me, has the biggest kind of window to play different roles for the club. And I think when it's all said and done, he's a guy that will jump over yarn crock he will jump over uh kerfoot everybody talks about the lost speed yeah from pierre engvall well this guy's got this guy's got speed you know it's interesting you say that about you mentioned engvall and the speed that lafferty brings um lafferty was the one guy that i kind of a wild card for me.

You know, you heard Keith just say now, like he's one of the younger guys that they'd brought in. At what, 27? Yeah, not a child. But it is funny to, you know, to look at the guys that they've brought in here now. And really, I wonder if Kyle Dubas looked at this team and was like, Kerfoot,foot sandin how long did he

know that these guys didn't have what they wanted how long did he know that he wanted this competitiveness this fire it's almost like when you finally decide to break up with someone and then all their little habits annoy you like when did he know this was coming it's that's a good question and i don't know if we'll ever have the answer to that and um whether or not it was just one of those awakenings where you just wake up one day and you go i can't live like this not working it's not working or did did brendan who's from everything i've gathered over the years, gave him autonomy to work on trades and build his team? Did he kind of step in there and say,

come and watch some video of the time I won the Stanley Cup in Detroit with the Maltby's and the Drapers, and come and watch these guys in the bottom six, and maybe you can help us find a few more of those guys a little from column a a little from column b it is it is just to me i was struck by that thought today of like they've clearly they made a decision to pivot and to get competitive and to get a type of player like did they just discover last week they needed that? Or how long has it bothered them for?

Anyway. Let's just be grateful that it happened. The light bulb went on. Wouldn't you say that this is a bit of a heel turn by Kyle Dubas on his loyal supporters? You know, I see your point. I know he's not like Mr. I know he's not Mr. Chart. He only thinks about charts,

but I would say a lot of his really loyal defenders would be, you know, they'd be people that would defend. Let's say, just say, for example, Pierre Engvall's chart. Right. And how he wins. He wins a lot of the minutes he's on the ice

and he's got a good chart and sandin an excellent chart as well a good chart guy yeah but this is a both of these trades that like a lot of these trades he's made are anti chart hard over chart baby big time no so like you have to say that there is and he traded guys that he's been loyal to, which has also been something that people have said that he's been overly loyal to his guys. There's something there with him really changing his perception. I think people, though, if you really look at the moves Dubas has made, I think people would make the case that he's brought in heavy before.

You know, he's brought in Jake Muzzin and Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmons. And Nick Patan and Tyler Ennis. He's brought in both, but he hasn't not brought in big guys. Simmons, Clifford, Muzzin. Like, those are trades they made. Done. Yeah, yeah. They didn't pan out.

Past their expiry dates. Yeah. Muzzin was, when he was healthy, he was all in. We saw full value off Muzzin. Yeah. But not enough. Not enough. You know, whether Gio or Brody, they're a different type.

They're not that, they're not what we're talking about here, but there's no doubt. There's no doubt he's gone in a different direction. Yes. No doubt about that. Yeah. The guys that he brought in that are the quote unquote heart guys are young and more

prime love this this is my fourth line if i'm the gm this is the type of fourth line i build these guys are still like 27 or 30 hungry skating fast hit maybe a chip in here and there but yeah all right uh the change that i think still caught people by surprise is Sandin. Out of the lineup, traded to the Washington Capitals. In return, Gustafson in a first-round draft pick, Boston's pick, coming to the Toronto Maple Leaf. That in itself, I think, is a feather in Kyle's cap that he was able to address everything that he has up until this point and find a way to get his scouts a first-round pick.

Let's get Sheldon Keefe on Sandin getting moved. Well, I don't know if I'd say it didn't work out. I mean, he's played a lot of hockey for us, played a lot of good hockey for us. I think it's just a situation where we've added guys, and he was going to be on the outside again this season. And he's a young player that wants to play and has value again this season and his young player that you know that wants to play and has value in the league and all these kind of things and you know I think

that's more of the reflection of where it is you ended up you know obviously Kyle was able to get a first round pick and we also bring in a player that I think has a very similar skill set but is further along in his path there's more experience in the playoffs and all those kind of things so it's just a nature of where we're at i heard him say rasmus was unhappy in that spiel did you not saying i think that was pretty clear from the moment he wanted a bigger contract and just that whole thing just it never got back on the rails no it's tough you know you and guys are late to camp you know i think you can argue argue that marner's worst year as a leaf was related to that that that neil under his worst year as a leaf was related to it you know that start of the year you got to kind of get things rolling out of the gates it never got on track for sandin as you mentioned and then

he was going to be the seventh guy he wasn't happy he's young he wanted more i am shocked he warranted a first rounder i'll be at the 32nd overall pick it's the next question though is what does that become and is gustafson a part of their plans for real? I didn't know Gustafson could play both sides. That's interesting. Gustafson, to me, is Sandin in the playoffs, just that seventh guy right now. After everything we've seen out of Kyle, I'm not sure this is it. You're not, eh?

Probably about 80% there, but I think there's still some wiggle room where with this change of philosophy all of a sudden out of Kyle and Brendan and Sheldon, what are they thinking about Hall today? Are you comfortable right now with Justin Hall and Morgan Riley? So first thing that came to my mind

as you were talking just now is if could could could you flip out justin hall his two million dollar cap hit and maybe upgrade a tad because you do have some wiggle room now yeah do they have much well i guess if you send a guy down or something right now if you activate murray and send wall down you have about a million bucks 900 to a million so there's that to begin with that is enough for matthew nyes but then there's another body you know does someone have to go down to make room there as we mentioned they have 90 like something kind of feels like it has to happen here but i did think of hall as you were talking there. So I made the D pairs today and tried to figure out what it looks like.

I'll admit that Hall is a little bit of a sticking point. Yeah. Because you do Riley with, who do you like him with? I like him having someone who's defensively responsible, like Brody. Some people may say McCabe there. But then your next pair, if you do Riley Bro brody is maybe mccabe hall which is your closest you can get to what muzzin hall was and then geo lilligren or geo shin is kind of how that looks yes you know i'm with you i i don't think there's it's like mccabe hall is your second

pair or shutdown pair i don't know it's mccabe brody or mccabe uh riley and if it's mccabe brody which i love and would love to be a shutdown pair for them then you have riley hall you have riley lilligan riley shen no you know riley hall is really your only option there so i think you would get a lot more excited if if morgan looked more like morgan yeah i would but i feel like he needs some protection right now which is you don't love but it could be wrong there you could find it other people may disagree on how they feel about morgan riley but he plays a certain way and he's played best with Ron Hainsey and Zaitsev and Brody over guys that he needs to look after all right let's go to Sheldon Keefe on on so many defense

it's no different really for me than where we were at last season you know last season at the Deadland we had a Jordanian and Labushkin shortly before that so it's not entirely different for our group we have lots of competition lots of support for the group if there's injuries or whatever the case might be, lots of options for me. You look at the guys we talked about yesterday, that we added, they both have far different skill sets that can bring a lot to our group when we mix them in.

So it's a good problem for me to have. And again, I think specifically with Shen and Gustafson, you've got two guys that have been in this position before in terms of coming in and playing on real good teams and playing deep in the playoffs and moving in and out of the lineup, all these kind of things. So like I said, it's a good problem for me to have, and we'll find ways to get everybody involved.

Luke Shen's going to be an interesting storyline for me. Yeah. A couple years ago, you had a guy that could clear waivers. Nobody was going to look at twice. He was able to go back to tampa bay play this role beautifully yeah earn a stanley cup then he ends up in vancouver logs a lot more minutes finding himself beside quinn hughes i got killed for saying hughes needed a better partner last year vancouver fans loved him with hughes loved him now as he

as he put himself in a position to come here and and forget about like replacing possibly lilligran as a six could he step in and and take hull out with morgan riley that's interesting it's really interesting because i did just mention the type of guys that Riley has had success with. And Shan obviously did with Hughes. That's something I didn't even consider as an option. You don't look right. You keep your right-handed shot and you, all you do is just get somebody out there that could punish guys.

Yeah. Every opportunity he gets. And I know people were critical of Labushkin getting the minutes he did with Riley last year, but I think Labushkin only played 15 minutes a game despite playing with riley like they kind of found these around that oh he did crush some guy um yeah i had a couple things there that sheldon mentioned one is that they had familiarity with going in and out with teams so i think they'll know that they are not coming here to be constant mainstays. But the other thought is last year going into playoffs

against Tampa Bay. Do you remember the lineup they started in games one and two? The fourth line, it was Wayne Simmons, Kyle Clifford. It was their biggest, heaviest guys. I remember Sheldon had the quote. He was like, I think there's going to be a lot of pain or I think there's going to be whatever it was they put the refs on this violence is what he said so that's why they started those guys and then what spats ended up there later on in the series

yeah so my point is i wonder if in round one or games one and two luke shen starts in lilligren draws in later in the series as maybe things calm down and become a hockey match more than intimidation fest it's not a bad thought i don't know i thought no i don't mind that but i to have luke shen come in and play with morgan riley right away that is that's one to get the brain around kepper well but that's why it still doesn't quite fit i don't know it's it's a lot more realistic today than it would have been two years ago about seven years ago were they both here seven years ago five four years ago yeah five years ago yeah no but like i listen there's some night you don't know which justin hall you're gonna get That's the issue. That's. Yeah.

And this may be a Dubas Shanahan battle because let me tell you, the fancy stats on Shen this year, they don't like him. Yeah. And Justin Hall continues to kind of grade out fairly well by that stuff. You know, defending the blue line and stuff that Shen hasn't done particularly well this year. Yet another heart versus chart battle. It's a huge heart versus chart battle. Listen, there's, got to say it battle it's a it's a huge heart versus chart battle listen there's gotta say it there's a there could be a major foot speed issue here with shen yes yeah no you

do have to say it now you're you're playing the top lines great point yeah you can play it with quinn hughes when you're playing the bottom 16 teams as well. You're not playing Tampa every single night. A lot of teams weren't willing to go third rounder for a guy that they perceived as a sixth or seventh defenseman. That was a bit of a delay in Vancouver. Yeah, was it? I don't hate the cost on Shen. I think a third rounder for a guy that could be a 6'7 on a playoff run is fine.

The trade basically ended up being Pierre Engvall for Lukeke shen so i do hate this by the way and i i and luke shen or uh and no it's a crummy return for engvall that may be his worst deal in this whole thing engvall's a legit 15 20 goal score now he's 26 years old he's placed 15 16 minutes a night he's scored 15 goals three years in a row pks he i mean he's an effective chart guy he he's not a throwaway hockey player he's not and a third rounder for him in 2024 i'm kind of under zero reputation no one wants him helping me win in the playoffs no i understand that the market's not there for him the amount of times i've spent on this show and leaves talk and any show I've ever been on in the last four years harping on

Pierre Engvall, I'm not going to sit behind the glass here and say it was a bad trade for him. I've seen people say if you traded Engvall for a seventh, the Leafs would still be happy. It's the cap space they got back, right? On occasion on this show, we have had Sheldon lead a

Kippers Clipper with talk of Engvall. I hate this show. We have had Sheldon lead a Kippers Clipper with talk of Engvall. I hate this guy. I think we could put that to bed and call this the final Kippers Clipper from Sheldon

on Engvall. Let's have a listen. I thought Kerford will go into that spot and Aston Reese will go back playing with Achari. So we'll look at that. Obviously, Pierre's a guy who's played good hockey for us, and there's some things that he does for us that we'll miss. At the same time, we've added guys, Lafferty in particular,

that will help us in the speed department. That you'll lose with Pierre there. Again, you're making the moves like we have. We were able to add a lot without losing roster players, but between adding others and managing the salary cap, the reality is that you're going to have to lose some guys. But certainly thrilled with the guys that are coming in. Okay, now I get to break down everything he's ever said about Engvall.

So basically what I got out of that clip was, yeah, there'll be some things that we'll miss, and there's going to be a lot of other things that we won't miss. Yeah, yeah, we won't miss that, and we won't miss that, and that, and that. Yeah, well, we'll miss the short list. We're not going to miss this long list of things that drove us crazy yeah just move on that's about it you know the 2.2 million that comes back with angval the frustration ends i think you know i i said today on twitter i like the trade for the islanders he'll be a fine ad for them but they have a lot of guys that play like the leafs just brought in

competitive veteran guys the leafs need less angval bye felicia that's exactly what i was looking for for pierre see you later see you later uh are we done on the d anything else you want to add is there a thought uh if we go back real quick on on the d 70 i don't love it let's see what Sheldon has to say about it. Yeah, I don't love it, but it's an option for sure. I don't think it's not option A. But I wouldn't rule anything out, whatever the games call for, or whatever the situation might be.

Like I said, because we've got lots of different skill sets on the back end, especially. We've got, you know, Gustafson's a bit of a power play specialist. And, you know, you've got that. So, yeah, there's definitely options there. Gustafson and McCabe can both play the right side as well as the left, in addition to Brody. So we've got lots of flexibility there. Lots of flexibility.

Them all being able to play the right side is very interesting to me. You know, just because you have so many options in terms of who can go where. I just, I'm curious what they think of Gustafsson. I have no sense for it. He mentioned PP Specialist. He's playing 22 minutes a night on a competitive team. The only thing is, is if, dare I say it, another consecutive year where the power play falters a little bit.

Right. And he's not in your lineup. Do you, as your only alternative, as Sheldon keeps only alternative is to go with five forwards. Like where is his option if he says morgan's struggling yeah you're so smart yeah no that's 100 and that's got that is something that has to be in the back of his mind that okay if we're telling people that this guy is everything sandin is but maybe even better on a power play.

Well, I can't summon them up from the press box. Yeah, our pal, the Oak Leafs on Twitter tweeted a while ago that the Leafs have had eight potential series clinching playoff games since 18-19. They could have won a playoff series eight different times, and they have gone 0-2, 0-3, 0-1, 0-1, 0-4, 0-2, 0-1, 0-3 in 0-1, 0-4, 0-2, 0-1, 0-3

in those games on the power play. That's a big deal. And they lost five of those games by one goal. Oh, my God. That's a big deal. You cannot tell me if they're 0-11 through three or four games that Eric Gustafson is not going to handle the pill at the top of the 1-3-1. So we're going to see it over the next 22 games,

almost certainly to get a look for him of what it's like to work with Matthews and Marner on the flanks. So who comes out? Well, in that instance, it's Morgan, right? No, I'm talking about the lineup. You've got to address him. Or is that your seven and maybe 11 oh i hate that i hate that but yeah no i see your point i would like to see if you play the right

side can he play with geo can you do a third pair of geo gustafson and let gustafson play pp minutes and no lilligran no lilligran yeah lilligran's been way too good this year we're talking like it's last year lilligran like he's on the way too good this year. We're talking like it's last year, Lilligren. Has he been way too good? He's on the ice at the end of games for the Leafs. He's a good player. He's been incredibly important. In all honesty, you're really hoping that Lilligren just finds another gear.

Yep. And that means he's legit 17 20 minutes a night that's maybe your 11 7 scenario is that lilligren is playing great through three or four games he's playing shutdown minutes he's second pk pair and you go we can't take him out we got to get gustafson in you know maybe zach can sit one out old aston reese can sit out a game and we go 11 7 all right in 20 minutes we're gonna have kevin lowe six times stanley cup champion he'll be joining us to help tee up the edmonton oilers and the toronto maple leafs new faces new numbers be a lot of fun tonight meaning that uh there's some new guys that are going to have to find a way to fit in real quick.

Let's get Sheldon Keefe on whose responsibility is that. Well, there's no doubt that I have a role in leading that and trying to allow those things to happen, basically in terms of how we manage our practices, how we manage our off days or scheduling, those kind of things. More so just trying not to get in the way or trying to facilitate some things that will allow different things to happen. You know, we've already, you know, just the other day in Seattle, we wanted it to be an off day mainly because, you know,

you need the rest and it's a long trip and all these things but you want the guys to be spending time together um so those kind of things are important but i think it is the players you know that are most important in terms of how they welcome guys and i know i think uh you know the springsteen concert the other night i think it was it was uh the new guys coming in. They didn't have much choice. They were told, you're coming to the concert. And I think everybody had a good time. It was a perfect way to welcome

new guys. Can you imagine if they win a cup, the boss is going to be a Toronto Maple Leaf legend forever. It'll be the new goal song. It'll be all boss songs. Would you say the Leafs have hungry hearts? The hungry charts, no more Oh boy Listen, if the Leafs changed their goal song to Born to Run

You would have no issues for Mike I wouldn't skip a beat with you No, I wouldn't mind that at all See, I already think that this team has a real legitimate shot Of looking like a close-knit group and i've heard the sound bites the last few years of this team being really tight and loving each other i just called bs right from the get-go if i don't see it if it doesn't pass the eye test for me on the ice, don't even breathe a word of how close you guys are off the ice. Yeah.

And we never really saw that out of this group that Kyle put together the last two or three, four years. Yeah. Now, with the way they play, and you got guys that wear their hearts on their sleeve, now you've got a chance to be to show people that you're close yeah yeah no for sure i i even think that in some of the quiet moments they seem to have brought in guys that are talkers energy guys that have some experience in these bigger moments and

don't get quiet and wilt i think to jason spetz a poor guy trying to get the leafs going sometimes as a guy in the fourth line going out there mucking. Like, you'd rather have some kid running around. And, you know, I think there's something to the wake-up call factor of this trade as well, right? Like, in terms of, you kind of alluded to it there, Kipper, but, I mean, not to make a cross-sport reference here, and we're not sure how this is going to work with the Jays,

but, you know, Vlade was really tight with Teoscar and with lord escarreal jr and they traded both of those guys and brought in different guys that are better defensively maybe a little grittier guys like there are parallels here that you bring in you just kind of shake up the apple cart and see that you mean business like i think that part of it talked about to chris pronger sorry chris pronger talked about bringing in brad may and what that meant to the anaheim ducks you've talked about bringing in mattoe and noon noon in to to the rangers you know like there are certainly instances of guys getting teams getting some guys like this at the deadline and at helping i know some people are asking is it too much have they done too much i'm always going to lean hard on no here because the core is the same

that the people who are going to make this team go are the same if they bring them to this close again there are enough people around them that they can help get them through now like i feel like if you change the core of a team you change the chemistry the locker room whatever but this is still matthews it's still marner it's still Nylander. It's still Tavares. And Morgan Rielly. It's still their team. Ryan O'Reilly can make some claim to it maybe, but. Yeah, I think he can make more than just some claim.

You think so? Oh, 100%. Yeah. And I just think that Ryan now has the ability to go in that room and go up to Tavares and say, hey, listen. We need more hair. Not necessarily.

I'm going to show you the way. I'll show you the way. I know you've struggled in your career this time of year. Come on. Follow me. Not the other way around. He's also, there's five guys who've been there. He's the old vet now. There's a whole there's five guys who've been there he's he's the old

vet now there's a whole bunch of new guys who's come after him he's probably showing him the way around the dressing room like there's probably some feeling that he's been here yeah i don't know what's it been two weeks yeah he's the fifth most most tenured guy in the least now it feels like it trade feels like a life ago so what do we expect the next 48 hours here i can i uh we've been positive here talking how excited we are can i put you guys in the trust tree here for a second well and before we do it do you want to end on positivity with ryan o'reilly's quote and then we can have it you know what let's let's throw that in because uh we do have one more kipper's clipper on uh on ryan o'reilly and what he thought of uh what he's witnessed so far out of Kyle Dubas this week?

Well, I think, yeah, I think we're all in. That's the group and consensus around and like I said before, that's an exciting thing. It's, you know, we've got a great game here, a great team here and a lot of good pieces and it's time to put in the work and start building it.

We're all in, baby. And don't you love the follow-up? It's time to put in the work? Yes. That. We're all in, baby. And don't you love the follow-up, it's time to put in the work? Yes. That's very captainly. You know, the other thing that, you know, shouldn't be brushed under the carpet is the fact that there is some breathing room with a salary cap right now and everybody said that you're going to have to, you know,

replace Jake Muzzin's 5.6. And essentially what he did was replace it with McCabe at a third of that price yeah so you know if Jake McCabe comes in and does play somewhat of a of a Muzzin role you've really freed up a lot of money right now to make a make at least an a legitimate negotiation to to to get ryan o'reilly signed on a new deal hmm or yeah lafferty yeah well he's got another year oh he's got one more year one five yeah well less maybe i'm chari yes i'm sorry yeah nola chari if if it works out well if these guys show that uh you know they're worthy of of letting this thing run for the next few years there's going to be a lot more wiggle room for

for for a cap that's going up to to make sure that these guys weren't just rentals yeah a lot hinges on jake mccabe and how he plays i want you were about to let us into the trust tree, and I hate to stop you there. No, I was just... Part of me wishes that the Leafs did the... I think I know where you're going. Did the Korpisalo-Gavrikov instead of Shane. I knew you were going to go, because it has to be said

that the one place we think they're still vulnerable. Is maybe the most important position in the sports yeah i want to fight back against people who are saying the least goaltending situation is not a problem because well they just don't know they don't know they don't know but but samsonov has played well this year and he's their starting goaltender and he is going to be in game one of playoffs that's great no problem there but goalies get hurt. And, you know, Marc-Andre Fleury pulled Matt Murray through when Matt Murray won the Stanley Cup. Who pulled Holtby through?

It was Grubauer when Washington won the Cup, winning a whole series. We had Scott Darling on yesterday who did it for Corey Crawford. You need a backup goalie in case your goalie gets hurt. Listen. And you can't do it to Joel Walls. He's got six nhl games he's played 17 games all year how closely did you watch calgary and boston last night watch the first

two periods and then my eyes i am watching the boston bruins that had no business being in that game filled in and i am watching off the charts goaltending out of Allmark. Like, stupid good. Yes. That was. And Samsonov's been good this year. Been awesome. Top ten.

But you're talking about now Samsonov to go up against Vasilevsky and Allmark who have shown long stretches where they are stupid good. Vasilevsky also plays 60 games a year. He's the most durable goalie in hockey. And there are some nights when he could let him three in the first period like he did last night against Florida and the game's over. But that guy could be worth two wins in a best of seven by himself. And the question is, if they need a 60-minute effort of Samsonov to win by himself, can he do it?

I don't know. But they have to live with that because you can't really improve on him unless you're, you want to get weird and start saying first, a first nize will do sorrows. We'll be, you know, like this.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, Leave yourself vulnerable the last two or three years, you know? Sure. Even if you go past Jack Campbell, you know, there's that one area where you can go, hey, you never got it right. And, you know, I had no problem with Freddie Anderson as a decision. You know, going into the playoffs, he had had great regular seasons, great career.

He, to me, was a fine decision. Since then, it's been questionable. But I just need someone who can at least... The idea that Joe Wohl could come in if he had to and be the same as the next guy that you might get at the deadline, I don't like that. It doesn't respect the position of goaltending enough to me and the pressure of Toronto and having to play well in those moments against tampa it's not fair to that guy in his development either so i just want to see them have a backup guy quibble you like with samsonov and the big pitcher and the leafs passed

yeah i just think they need some insurance in case something happens to a guy who's been hurt once already this year and so but are we just completely throwing the trust on murray out the window you can't lean on it. For me, it's just I can't. You're right. It's a trust thing, not about his ability to play, but about his ability to be available. And frankly, if he plays, I'm also still.

There's nothing out of Edmonton today that suggests that Matt Murray may play tomorrow night? Nothing has been said. Cricket's on Matt Murray. It has to play. do we assume right now they are looking around i do how can you not right and i also wonder if they would conceivably trade murray with an asset would someone want to see murray play just to know he can play like would they want to play him thursday night how are you not blowing up

whoever's running nationalist phone to get sorrows if you're doing this he's got another year at 4.6 million keep that in mind right you've gone this that's that's pretty that's a pretty number yeah you go you go sorrows wool at that point and say okay now kid time to figure it out you've gone this far doing what all this stuff to your team like would you give up boston's first and born child you're you're your first boston's first and your first for sorrows yeah done deal all day long let's go let's go all day long and then you fit it in and now you've got then you got to trade murray with something though and then it's more and no no murray would have to go back to nashville with that they'd have to eat that in two firsts good luck they

got askrov on the way they got a guy they love but you know behind sorrows uh i know we're talking a big little community in nashville too i don't know how many i don't know how uh uh keith urban is it yeah i'm not sure he may cash in his season tickets next year. I'm not going to watch. I'm not going to watch Matt Murray. It just, if you do all these incredible moves, and I am loving this. And your goaltending stinks. It just is an indictment. It's like, I just, I have a hard time believing that we're going to be sitting here doing our show at three o'clock with Paul Bissonnette in studio that day, by the way, on Friday.

What are we, like for a segment type thing? Yeah. Great. And we're sitting here talking with the Leafs goaltenders being Samsonov, Wall, and Murray still. Boys, I got to say that it's a failure. I love that. I like that it's a stance, and I feel, I don't know,

I guess I don't know if I feel it's a failure outright, because what if Matt Murray just gets healthy and is good, but it's just too big a gamble for me. I'm not depending on that. Thank you. Did Corporate Salo to L.A. feel like... How about bailing on John Quick at the end of his 10-year deal or whatever it's been?

Did Corporate Salo, like, did you really think that he was he was, uh, LA had Corpus Allo as their first choice after weeks of looking for a goalie? Or is that just, like, settling? I don't know. I would have settled for Corpus Allo. You would have? Yeah.

Not settling for John Quick, by the way. I'm the only way that's not a fan of corpus allum yeah that was a few years ago in the bubble a lot of blue jackets people were at that time all right uh but just before we go to break here so they didn't really didn't sound like they really were like in constant communication with Jonathan quick about this. No, he was told after, after the game that basically he's,

he's going to Columbus. Yeah. Like what, you know, they're going to make the playoffs. He's been there for 10 years. He's won cups with them. Everyone is so careful with Kane and the reputation and you know,

how he leaves Chicago. It's going to get a statue. He's going to get his number retired. And they just punted him to get slightly better in goal in a team that's never going to win the cup this year. That was ruthless, boy. Cutthroat. That was. Yeah.

Yeah, big time. I mean, it's the right decision. The team's better today than yesterday. Not really a great way to deal with one of your all-time greats you know a hall of fame guy presumably like trading cane to the coyotes right just saying hey we got a pick for you yeah anyways okay we'll take a quick break uh kevin lowe's gonna join us after the break we're gonna tee up the toronto maple leafs and the edmonton oilers in the second hour gourd stellick oh my god's just got to be dripping happy. Give me a few stop, boys.

Hey. Gross description. Can you be electrocuted if you're drippy happy? You're more likely to be, is my understanding. All right. Gord Stelik in the second hour. Wow. How many viewers on YouTube today, Sammy?

2,600 right now. Wow. Very impressive. Okay, we need thumbs up out of a lot of them. Let's do it. All right. Can you get it up around 500 thumbs up for the work of Kyle Dubas? What do you think?

Yeah. All right, we'll find out after the break you're watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born everything you need to know about the Blue Jays Blair and Barker be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts yes it is the Real Kipper and Born show and we've got a dandy of a hockey game tonight toronto maple leafs and the edmonton oilers uh kevin low joins us now lozi how are you pal hey i'm doing great looking forward to the game oh my goodness this one has a much different feel like um you know a lot was made out of advertising on the jerseys.

Will we have name tags as well? Yeah. I tell you, the managers are throwing away picks and prospects like drunken sailors. It's pretty amusing. But I know the fans love it, and I know everyone's looking forward to seeing the new players out there tonight. So let's talk a little bit about the one that Kevin, Ken Holland was able to land in Ekholm. No question, the last few years, the modern day Kevin Lowe, right? Stay at home, mind the net, get a little dirty every once in a while.

You must be loving watching him come to the Edmonton Oilers. Oh, I sure am. Yeah, he, in fact, I was, you know be loving watching him come to the Edmonton Oilers. Oh, I sure am. Yeah, he, in fact, I was, you know, looking at his stats and they're quite similar to my stats. Not a ton of offense, but enough that he's not just strictly a shutdown guy. You know, he jumps up in the play, but 6'4", 215, and he plays a heavy game. He's been noticeable in the years that we've watched the Predators. And so that's a big piece.

The Oilers really needed, you know, they had Puck moving on the back. Darnell Nurse has been carrying, you know, more than the load on the shutdown part than he probably needed to. So just a great pickup for Kenny Holland. And the piece I really liked, Kipper, was that hearing Ekholm speak about the opportunity and come. And I mean, any player in the league have a chance to play with McDavid and Dreisaitl and the Oilers are, you know,

got a chance to do some damage in the playoffs. It was nice to hear him, you know, pumped to come to Edmonton. You know, here in Toronto, we've been watching trades happen. And, you know, we meet in the studio here once a day and go, is it enough? Is it enough? And Dubas keeps making moves. Is it enough? That's the question for the Oilers here. They look like pretty good D pairs on the back end,

Nurse and Cece, maybe Ekholm, Bouchard, Broberg, Kulak. Is it enough for their D core or for their team in general, the Ekholm deal, to make you think that Ken Holland is done at the deadline? Well, I don't know if he's done, but I would say the defense looks pretty good to me, and particularly because Broberg's really come along. I mean, if Broberg gets a chance to play with Ekholm, that's going to be massive, you know.

Broberg's a big kid. I mean, he's not filled out yet but he's really to me he's got the potential to be I don't want to say headman in Tampa but he's going to be the type of player that can play a lot of minutes maybe Lindholm and Lindbaum in Boston right now

and then Darnell is a good shutdown guy Bouchard's a really good power play they have a little bit of everything. So I think they're fine on defense. But I know that Kenny Holland, I mean, it's never over until it's over. And he's already looking for some players. I think they need a little bit of grit on the bottom six.

Koston has been a big addition. And, of course, when Vander Koehn's back in the lineup, they do have more grit in the forward group. But if you're asking me, and I'm not making the decision anymore, i like to see a little more grit and a little more experience in the bottom six hey losey um when it comes to like jack campbell there's no question uh you know a lot of people have been disappointed with the consistency and uh yes he's shown that he's been erratic in terms of his play. But what does, like, Ekholm do?

What is restructuring a blue line do for goaltenders, especially the ones that play like Ekholm or you, you know, in your day? Well, I think, you know, there's a less, you know, it's a little less hectic in the D zone. You know, you're seeing shots coming from where the goalie's expected. And not that, you know, not that our defense was completely porous, but when you think of Tyson Berry, Tyson was playing great, by the way. I really liked the way he played this year.

But when you have, to me, when you have Berry and Bouchard in the same lineup, you know, the Rangers came in here a couple weeks ago. They got some big forwards. Our guys really had a tough time shutting them down in the D zone. A little too much offensive zone time in our end, and by having a guy like Ekholm, those guys can shut that down. But, you know, relative to your point about Jack Campbell, like, it's amazing.

I mean, in the last 12 games, I think he's lost one game in regulation, and yet, you know, I think the knock on him right now is everyone's waiting for, you know, when the game is 5-4 to just to make that last save like Grant Fuhrer has. And I think he's going to be fine. I think, you know, there's probably going to be a shared Skinner-Campbell tandem come playoff time. And I think with what we have offensively and adding Ekholm, that was a big addition. I think the Oilers are going to be able to make some damage,

certainly in the West. Of course, the East looks pretty powerful right now, but those guys are going to beat each other up. You can imagine someone's going to lose between Tampa and Toronto, and I don't like the looks of that for either of those organizations because they've given up so much but I that's the way that's the way the cookie crumbles and and we'll see what happens you know watching the Oilers team this year I mean for years McDavid has been McDavid he's been the best player in the NHL

this year though he's 25 points of ahead of the next best player in terms of points he's got 50 goals and only three players in the league have limped over 40 that's the part i wanted to ask you about is the goal scoring what are you seeing that looks so different this year in terms of being able to be the league's best goal scorer not just point getter yeah that's i mean he's he's just getting better all the time. And the great ones do, you know. But I would say that probably Connor, and I haven't talked to him about it, but it seems pretty evident. I don't want to say he has a shoot-first mentality like goal scorers,

but you can tell that he's not hesitating when he gets the opportunity. He's always been such a great playmaker and done that his whole life. But I think he realized now that teams recognize that. And, you know, Wayne Gretzky did the same thing in his career. You know, teams are trying to take away Yerry Curry and take away Tickanen. And then Gretz just took the advantage and put him in the back of the net. And I think that's what Connor's doing. And he can really shoot the puck. I mean, he's going to end up scoring probably 65 this year.

And I wouldn't be surprised if he scores 70 in the years to come. Losey, the other night when he did score his 49th and 50th goal, after the game, the one thing that I noticed is, you know, he didn't show the joy of a guy that hit a magic number of 50. And he certainly came across disappointed, first and foremost, for the loss, which totally I get. But I sensed more of it, to be honest with you. And I just wanted to get your thoughts and, you know, being in Edmonton and knowing Connor the way he is, but, you know, is there a part of him the other night that maybe gets a little frustrated that, you know, the team lost by a goal, he scored two, and yet it still wasn't enough,

and, you know, maybe a little frustrated at the thought that he does need to score two goals every night to keep the team in the game or what, but I just noticed, man man that guy should have been happier hitting such an amazing milestone well I did see him smile which is

what's going on here sorry no no problem is that just the intensity of Connor McDavid sorry I was just getting an emergency an alberta emergency alert in my in my uh earpod so another trade maybe yeah yeah yeah trade no no let me let me touch on that i mean connor you know wayne was the same way wayne you know the records came and he you know he was scoring all the time. It was great. He wanted to win a cup.

The cup was the most important thing, and that's the way Conor is right now. I think he's having lots of fun. I think he sees the team as much better. Hey, that was a heck of a game against Boston, one little bad break. Both teams went toe-to-toe to each other, and I think if anything, it showed that the Oilers are right there. Boston's the best team in the league right now. And it was a heck of a game.

So I don't think he's frustrated. I think he'll be excited about this trade. And, you know, I know that the Oilers are going to have a good run in the playoffs. The West doesn't appear to be as difficult as the East. And, you know, once you get in and guys like that take it to another level, they had the experience of last year, and that means a lot. And, you know, I'm not around Connor a lot,

but I do see him from time to time. And I think he's pretty comfortable the way things are and pretty confident in the group that he has. You know, their first-round opponent is still very much up for grabs. They're four points out of the division lead. Vegas ahead, L.A. ahead, and Seattle ahead,

all by just a few points there. Is any team in the Pacific scare you when you're looking at the Oilers? I personally like Edmonton's lineup the best, but three pretty good teams that they still could draw in round one. Yeah, you know, the team that played them really hard last year was Los Angeles. And, you know, the team that played them really hard last year was Los Angeles. And, you know, against all the other teams, and I guess it's always, you know, Calgary.

We haven't seen Winnipeg much this year. We played them a couple games back-to-back this weekend, so see how they've improved. But, no, they're all beatable teams, no question. And, you know, anyone like Dallas likes to play offensively and so does Vegas. You know, Seattle, I think they've had a great year, but I don't see them being a, you know, a team that the owners should have to fear. So the West has never been more wide open.

And, you know, it's a year. I'm sure that's what Kenny Holland's thinking when he made the move for Ekholm, and if he does make another move, got to take advantage of it while it's here. Losey, everybody watched Calgary kind of regrouped tree living. I mean, how surprised are you that they're on the outside looking in because we just figured this year it would be the Oilers and Flames going toe-to-toe right to the bitter end here, but that hasn't been the case.

Yeah, it hasn't, but they played a heck of a game last night, which has kind of been their season. I mean, they completely dominated Boston and managed to lose in overtime. I mean, the shots were 57 to 20 or 18 or something. It was crazy. I watched a lot of that game. I can't quite figure it out.

You know how it is. Some years you don't get the team confidence all going in the right way at the same time. You don't get on a little run where you bang off eight of nine games type of thing where you get your mojo. You know, that's probably they've they've bounced back on on you know the markstrom was your guy and then they've gone to the other guy and the other guy's not doing so bouncing back to the markstrom so hey listen i'm tough enough

time figuring out the orders i can't i can't figure out the flames but i don't mind seeing them where they are let's put it that way. We had Zach Hyman on our show yesterday, you know, looking up his stats this season. Ty, he's 14th in the NHL in points, or maybe he's 19th. Either way, it was like, you know, 69 points in 60 games. At five and a half million, tell us about the addition of Hyman

and what he's done for the Oilers. I mean, listen, I don't want to, you know, rub it in. Oh, go for it. No, no. I mean, this guy's been, as was advertised, I mean, he's, there you can't, you won't find a more quality guy. So that's, for me, is always a big thing.

Wonderful, you know, off the ice, everything he does in the dressing room. But his compete and his ability and his skill level has just been amazing as well. And it's nice to see him get his, you know, his just reward in terms of putting points on the board. And people are opening their eyes towards this guy. I mean, he can play on any championship team. He could have played on any Oiler team. He kind of reminds me of Craig Simpson, maybe a little better skater. Maybe his hands aren't quite as good as Simmers were, but man, he's a heck of a player and he's just had a great year. And, you know, we're really happy to have him. I think those type of guys are even that much more critical in the playoffs

and, you know, look forward to those guys having success. And clearly underpaid now, right? Stole them. You just absolutely stole them. Thieves. One more for me, Losey, and I want to take you back to your executive days. I'm watching the general managers now go through hoops to try to make trades, the retention on salaries and three-way teams.

And I'm just wondering how a Kevin Lowe would have handled a flat cap and the rabbits that needed to be pulled out of hats. How would you have handled being a general manager trading under these circumstances oh really difficult but but the the buyers or sorry the sellers have taken full advantage of it i mean that what the teams are paying here is it to me has never been seen i i saw a tweet where they said there's never been a deal before where there's been a first, second,

third, fourth, and fifth round pick in the same deal. And I mean, you know, even when the Oilers gave up for, for at home, I like him a lot as a player, but you know, Barry was having a great year. I mean, the Oilers have the best play, I think, power play in NHL history. And Barry was a big part of that and he was defending well. And so he's certainly not a throw in NHL history. And Barry was a big part of that, and he was defending well. And so he's certainly not a throw-in by any stretch. Schaefer in Seattle, Reed Schaefer is a big 6'4 kid who's going to have a good career. They gave up a first.

I mean, in past years, that probably would have been Barry and a first to get Ekholm. And this year, you know, you're throwing in another first. So I really can't say what I would be doing. I mean, I haven't followed the cap constraints that teams have that I obviously did when I was a general manager. So you don't really see the money. But, no, you have to be able to make deals

and not be afraid of looking bad. You know, the players, the fans are expecting the teams in their run to make deals. And so you've got to do what you've got to do. But the future of the organizations are going to suffer because for the teams that don't have success, like Tampa has in the past, they're not going to be able to, you know, point out, well, you know, we did what we had to do to try to get there. Unfortunately, we didn't win. There's only one team that's going to win

and there's going to be a lot of disappointment from many of those general managers who gave away all those assets. Well, enjoy the game tonight, man. That building will be buzzing and if this isn't as close as it gets to game one in the playoffs, I don't know what is, man.

It's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah, it's going to be a great game. It's always great to have the Leafs out here. I mean, they have such a big following out west, and it really upsets the O'Hare fans, you know, but it makes for great entertainment in the building. And, you know, the Leafs have a wonderful team, so I'm looking forward to it.

Good time for the game. Thanks for doing this, Losey. Okay, boys. Nice chatting with you. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. That is Hall of Famer. Six-time Stanley Cup champion. One he shared with me. Kevin Lowe. He had six, huh? Six. So many. I've seen

him before the show. Luke Shen got his two in Tampa. Can you imagine if he were to come here and get one, what it would do for his legacy? The prodigal son returns. The prodigal son returns. I mean, he'd be a hero. One thing I wanted to touch on from that interview is I know Oilers fans,

some faction of Oilers fans are upset about losing Tyson Berry. Kevin just talked about it. You think about a guy that uh is really good offensively but can hurt you defensively and but you never really like put one and one together for me anyways I know I don't follow the Oilers like I follow the Leafs but number one power play in the league number one maybe over the course of history Barry's on it yeah that's that's a bigger hole than people are letting on well for sure and that's a big thing but I did want to point out that their power play pre-Barry was also unbelievable like McDavid and

Dreisaitl drive that bus you know it's not that you can put anyone back there yeah but you know you can't a lot of guys can screw it up too yes definitely good so that'll be interesting so i think bouchard will take that role now jack michaels who you know he's a play-by-play guy for them was tweeting that the oilers power play pre-berry was 29.5 four and a half percent better than any other team and with barry was 28.4 3.7 his point was it was fine before okay it's been good it doesn't that doesn't tell us what it's going to be with bouchard full-time you're right that he could put a wrench in things and they do lean on it pretty heavily but i don't think the loss of barry is going to take them from a 30 power play to a 20 power play okay i don% power play. Okay.

I don't know. My point is you're not going to miss them. Connor's that good. He's that good. You mentioned the building is going to be buzzing tonight. Yeah. Yeah, more than one way. They're going to sell some beers tonight.

You think so? Yeah, leave fans in there. Over, under fights in the crowd, I'm set at like a hard four and a half. What would a ticket be going for in Edmonton? Would you like me to look that up? Midweek game. I could look that up. Just out of curiosity. It's no average game, Kipper.

No average game. Deadline week, big acquisition. I know, but money's tough these days. Yeah. So I'm not sure midweek would probably be a little easier on the wallet than say a saturday night i would think for sure anyways but people are surprised i think that at how well ken holland did in that deal he was taking a pretty good beating on twitter pre that i thought uh it's kind of double-edged sword, too, because we aren't talking about a guy even 28 or 29, right?

Who's that? Oh, in Ekholm, yeah. We're talking about a guy that's 32 with multi-years left on his deal. This is Muzzin. It's the big bearded 32-year-old who brings size and he'll give you a great playoff run or two, and then the last year or two, you hope he is playing. It might be exactly exactly

muzzin which and great if you're to Kevin's point it didn't cost them Broberg yeah they I couldn't believe the praise for Broberg from Kevin Lowe I did not know he said I don't want to say

headman but he's talking about the shape and style yeah you know. But it's a tough build. Is he 20? It's a tough build to get. Hey, listen, there are times when early in headman's career, I talked to a few people

and they're like, from the red light in offensively, the guy's brain dead. That's what one, I remember one scout telling me. Offensively he's brain dead? Offensively. That he has no feel for creating offense.

What did he get, 80 points the year he won the Norris or something? I'm talking about early in his career. I know what I'm saying. Really early. Yeah, it came around. And it came around. Yeah. Yeah, tough to predict the development of some guys.

So on the secondary market, I'm looking at the lowest price up in the bleeders. You're looking in the $260 to $300 range. Whoa, really? For like the worst ticket in the house. That's fun. Like middle of the ice, upper tank. On secondary market, $460. $460.

Lower bowl, I'm seeing $789 lower bowl uh i got i'm seeing 789 lower bowl i'm seeing i'm seeing you know 500 900 what kind of money do you have to have to be like yeah swipe it oil oil money yeah a lot of money there are oil people but i it's just gonna be a hell of a game and oilers fans need this one i i don't know if we know if Jack Campbell's starting. Oh, put in Jack. Put in Jack, you cowards. But it could be a really long night for the Oilers fans. I'm calling them cowards if they don't.

If Jack plays and he gets lit up. No announcement yet on starting goalies? I haven't seen anything, no. I mean, it's almost, what do we got, 4 o'clock here? Yeah. If they don't play Jack Campbell, isn't that everything we need to know about how they feel about where he is right now? Yeah.

I haven't followed their game log, but it feels like he's getting the bulk of the starts again from Skinner. Is that fair? Anyone know? I'm going to look this up here. It looks like he's playing tonight. No, this one. Listen.

You don't think Soup had this circled on his calendar in September? I'm going to give you Soup's last four games. 5-4 loss, 5-4 loss, 6-5 loss, 6-5 loss. That's not good.

It's not good. I'm seeing on the Oilers' Twitter they put Yeah, that's not good. No. Brad May. Well, it's not good. So I'm seeing on the Oilers Twitter they put out, you know, it's always Campbell, I'm playing against the Maple Leafs. It's fun to see buddies. And then I'm going to the different app and I'm seeing that Skinner's confirmed. So I have no projected. Expected. I would like to clarify that Campbell's games before that,

he won like seven straight games. I put a little, I put a chart in the uh in the lineup today two charts oh charts uh yeah that uh jack campbell elia samson off season's comparison jack campbell has a 348 goals against and an 884 save percentage a 774 high danger percentage and a cap hit of five i can't believe you put look at this chart campbell and samson off side by side just to look at the goaltending beating the poor campbell tuck here so mean 918 for samson off 230 goals against 895 high danger save percentage that's really good and he makes 1.8 i would absolutely if i'm uh jay woodcroft i just forgot the coach of the

oilers there if i'm jay woodcroft there is 0% chance I'm putting him in against the Leafs tonight. You've already got a guy that's, we've talked about his struggles with confidence and all that. Going up against his former squad in a building full of half, half full of Leaf fans. Chanting soup when he's letting in goals. Like, no, there's no way I'm putting him there. What does it do to his confidence when you don't let him play tough spots? Three nothing, 12 minutes in. No, no.

You want him to win a Stanley Cup, fellas. You got to put him in the big spots. I'm not putting him in tonight. That doesn't help him. That doesn't help him in game seven. He needs the big moments. No, no. You agree with me, Kim?

You get Ekholm in your lineup tonight, complete mulligan. The whole season's a mulligan for him. For who? For Campbell? Yeah. Fresh start? Yeah. So then you would put him in?

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, no way. You guys are nuts. You're going to break him. You're going to lose him for good. No, I'm with you, JB. Yeah.

Put him in. Here comes Guy to shut it down in front of you. How many shin taps is ekholm gonna get from soup and win in game one great play okay we'll take a quick break stelic tricity yes we are fully in our second hour which means we're gonna get all of it broken down in leaf nation and he does the pre and post stelic on tonight oh yeah we have the game on sports at 590 the nice all right it just keeps getting better and Leaf Nation. And he does the pre and post. Stelic on tonight? Oh yeah. We have the game on Sportsnet 590. Nice.

Alright. It just keeps getting better and better. Gord Stelic after the break. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. Real Kipper and Bourne. Breaking down the biggest trends in hockey. The Hockey PDO Cast with Dimitri Filipovich. Be sure

to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Great having on Kevin Lowe. Reversed hour, but now comes the showstopper. Is it good to be a showstopper on radio? I don't know. That's what I'm calling Gord Stelic. Okay. Sammy, we got him?

We have Gordo. Dog pound? Yeah. Tom Hickey, Dwayne Ward, whatever. The showstopper. How are you? I'm set. I'm outstanding.

I'm outstanding. Have you enjoyed the week so far, Gord? I have. Well, I have. I have. And, you know, Kippy, you and I did trade deadline days before the salary cap era when anything could happen on the final day. So we've seen more of late that it does happen earlier. There still will be things that will happen on Friday, but I've certainly enjoyed the week on and off the ice, yeah. And just, you know, you've covered the Leafs for a very long time, Gord. Where would you put Kyle Dubas' work compared to anything

that you can remember in the last little while? Well, you know, this is the most active since they was, I guess, John Ferguson when, again, the last year of no salary cap, Brian Leach, Ron Francis, those kind of players, right, you know, which made a difference in the playoffs. The big thing is, Kippy and Justin, that Leafs weren't in the playoffs for so many years. So, you know, it was like when Lou got Brian Boyle for a second-round pick, you go, holy crap, they're going to be in the playoffs.

It's expected to be in the playoffs again and making those kind of trades so certainly you know this is uh probably nick felino had a lot of hype as a one-off a couple of years ago but uh this this is his best work and i mean you're giving up futures but this is his best work i mean there's all the cliches right they got a swing for the fences whatever you want to call call it. And they certainly seem to be doing that. The days of getting Thomas Placanich feel so long ago. Oh, the turtleneck, the turtleneck. Yeah. And with Lou here, you had to shave that goatee. What a, what a crime. Do you still get excited at all?

I know you've been around this game and this team for a bajillion years. Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like uh make you sound old gourd but you've been around the team a bit now do you still get excited when there's all this action all this movement or is it just uh you know another day at the office well it's never another day at the office justin but you know so i guess i don't know what the right word is but i think people do get too excited like it like i mean it's so sexy it's so like everyone loves trains they just love them. And that's not the way, you know, you're going to win because of Austin Matthews,

Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William D. Lander, Morgan Riley, T.J. Brody, and, you know, all those particular individuals and that. But it just, I don't know. And the trade deadline, it's the old thing about the insatiable appetite. That's why we have 24-7 radio, 24-7 TV when tv when you know decades ago people wouldn't think you could sustain it but there's just there's an insatiable appetite for the sports fan and nothing is sexier nothing gives you more optimism than than a trade and all of a sudden you know jake mccabe right now is in in considerate for the norris trophy on and on and on and on you know so but i i uh it for the Norris trophy. I know, he's going to throw a pizza in game two and everyone's going to be like, boo!

On and on and on and on, you know? But I do enjoy this time of year. I love when it's over as well, that we don't keep because it gets a little over the top. And it's nice when you can close the door Friday at 3 p.m.

and we can talk about other things. You know, Gord, for our show all season long, we marveled at a team that could hold itself into a top five all season long, but there was a strong wish list that we had had and we had spoken in great lengths over the course of the season when it came to a top six forward,

a bottom six forward, a top pairing D-man or depth D. Did Kyle check all the boxes? Well, again, yeah, he checked all the boxes, but also it's like you can study better for exam and then the end result still isn't the same. You still get what all of us in sports media got to see or something, you know. But he did.

So you got Ryan O'Reilly top six. What got me, Kiffey and Justin, as the year went on is, and I don't want to go like way back about Berg, Zezel, and Osborne. I guess that's too far back, but about a defined third line and fourth line. And I just couldn't get excited about the makeup of any of those lines, you know, starting with Dennis Malgan at the start of the year and on and on and on. So I thought, I think that's as important as anything with Sam Lafferty and Noah Cherry, that you've got more options on those two particular lines. And then the big thing on D is, okay, so you get some depth in D and also with, with Jake McCabe now.

So you're looking at in the playoffs. So you've got McCabe, Brody, Riley, and Giordano, and basically those four guys can play about 48 minutes, and then your five and six can play 12 minutes. I mean, the Blackhawks did that a few years ago, that they sneak Kimo Tiemann on for an offensive zone faceoff, basically. I think they had three Ds you know, going all the way. So I like that part in many, many ways. Again, I'm really happy the way the goaltending's played out

during the regular season. I'd rather have Andre Vasilevsky on our team or Curtis Joseph or Ed Belfort, but we don't in Toronto right now, so that, you know, as Jordan Binnington won a Stanley Cup a few years ago, you know, other non-vestor trophy goaltenders have played well in the playoffs. And, you know, that's the one thing I still don't know.

It's not playoff proven at this particular point. Or Matt Murray, anyway, not for the last couple of years. But to answer your question, Keith, Kyle Dubas definitely did check all the boxes. So there's a number of things that I imagine Leafs fans, and in particular Dubas and Keith, will want to see from this Toronto Maple Leafs team with their new additions before they get to playoffs. Like we're going to want to see O'Reilly, Tavares, Matthews

as one, two, three centers. We're going to want to see, you know, there's 90 now. We're going to want to see them all get some run. Gustafson run a power play. What do you want to see most? What of the potential things the Leafs can do now interest you the very most? Well, I think the one is as well that I know because you have this, you're kind of home and cool as far as making the playoffs.

I do think it's still an important goal to try to get home ice advantage. Particularly against Tampa Bay, it seems it's rather significant. So in doing all those other things, I mean, still the ultimate goal is to carry at this pace that you've been for most of the season ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. You know, Justin, it is interesting about during the playoffs, do you think that you go three deep with the centermen? Is that more important versus kind of the two super lines

when John Tavares has been more important versus kind of the two super lines when, you know, John Tavares has been the guy that kind of acquiesced and got put on the wing in that line. So I do want to see the differences there that, okay, with three lines, is there not an appreciable drop-off? Is it actually a more effective way that you could go out and you can, you know, maybe check their big line? And, you know, so I want to see that again.

I do want to see the eyeball test more about Jake McCabe. I mean, I've liked with seeing him with a very bad Chicago Blackhawk team and that, but just as far as that evolves, I want to see what Morgan Riley's all about. He's not, obviously he wasn't added by a trade, but just, you know, he's a guy I'm, I'm very bullish on Morgan Riley, but he's a bit of a lightning rod that there's been times where he's been the next tier below Norris Trophy consideration versus a guy who's been a little bit inconsistent. So I'm just hoping that the D come together like that, you know,

in that respect. So I want to see that. And, again, I don't know what to say about the goaltending. I mean, I've seen what I've liked about the goaltending. If it starts to go south, it's too late. You got to go with what you have right now. But I do want to, I hope there remains a consistency in the goaltending. And then about the energy that Achari and Lafferty bring. I mean, I assume that's what we've seen it with Achari for a few games already. And I want to see exactly how does it shake out that

you get the third line that you're the most comfortable with and the fourth line that can you know be that odd energy line because that's something they've never had in the playoffs like a third or fourth line that's been a bit of a difference maker we're talking to Gord Stelic Leaf Nation pre and post game former Leaf general manager gearing up for big tilt edmonton oilers in the toronto maple leaf so uh talking about earlier about checking all the boxes we've seen kyle dubas in the past pull out a david riddich for a third round pick if there's anything out there like that would you would you do it or would would you just hope and prayer and pray that Matt Murray stays healthy enough to at least give you that type of look going into the playoffs?

Yeah. Well, you know, it's funny. One of the more personal guys, if you ever get him on radio, it's Jeff's that cough, right? And he was a third stringer that got a playoff start out of the blue. The year, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley cup. No Kippy and Justin, you know, again, what's the accurate read on Joe Wall? It seems like this is the year that, based on merit in the American Hockey League, you know, just like whether it's Swayman in Boston or someone, you know, when you play really well at the AHL level,

that it seems, based on merit, you feel like you're on the verge of making it to the NHL. So I don't know what is better. Like would a David Riddick be better this year than that as the number three? Again, I'm assuming Matt Murray, like if Matt Murray, if you got the heebie-jeebies about his health, well then you're talking about Joe Wall possibly being a number two, and then you really need to add somebody in depth. Do you guys think Jonathan Quick's going to stay in Columbus?

Do you not think they're going to eat 50% of his money and flip him somewhere you know like I can't see that yeah you know like I can't see that being the final spot for Jonathan Quick uh Kippy and Justin like you know I you know so I I wouldn't hey if you're trying to check all the boxes and you want to check the depth goaltending box for whatever the round pick it is I mean it shouldn't be overly significant I'm like I okay with that, but you know, it proved to be a non-factor with David Riddick when you're out in the first round, goaltending depth didn't matter. You know, well, yeah, it's,

it's going to be fascinating to see this leaves team the way they're constructed now, Gord, a little bit more aggressive, fast for checking type team. You know, we've been chatting about tampa bay you know the first round opponent this is a rare opportunity to build a team to contend with another team right i know you know talking to kipper he'd rather see them build to win four rounds not one but for dubas there's certainly one big hurdle here before they can even think about doing that how do you like the way they look against tampa's defense because I feel like with Chernak

hurt all the time Bogosian's up Purbix is in Flurry's in Cole's in like is it maybe the one area where the Leafs can get to Tampa a little bit well yeah and you know Justin I mean just like Connor McDavid Leon Dreisaitl Marner and Matthews are and are those guys that really are built for four rounds like just based on talent. They're built to go, you'd hope, all the way at some point. But to get to the minutia of Tampa Bay, I don't disagree with what you're saying and that they've been good pickups. Considering the opponent, I'll tell you, and you just cited it a bit on the defensive side.

I mean, God, the New York Rangers it a bit on, you know, on the defensive side. Like, I mean, God, the New York Rangers have a scarier defense than Tampa Bay. Now, Tampa Bay's got Stanley Cup rings, which is an intangible. And I'll tell you another one, and it's a little one. We always talk about Boston getting older. Now, they still have the Charlie McAvoy's of the world, a bunch of younger guys, so that's a bit of a misnomer. But they've shown, as they've got shown as they've got older they haven't got old right and it's you know having a phenomenal season and and in Tampa Bay's case you know a lot of their guys are in their early 30s which isn't old but

the Leafs guys man they're hitting the mid-20s they're prime right you know just so I don't know if that becomes a little bit of a factor as well, you know, incrementally swinging in the Leafs' favor. A seven-game series last year, if they could have scored in overtime in Game 7 when they outshot Tampa Bay, if they could get that Nick Paul goal from someone comparable and they seem to enhance their chances by upgrading their third and fourth line.

So that's what you're talking about. And again, you know, I like doing that. Does it make me feel better against Tampa Bay? I don't know what the word is. I guess it seems to be as an arm race that you've loaded yourself up with more weapons. How they get fired remains to be seen, but I don't disagree with that strategy, that philosophy. Two of the bigger names on the Leafs, Morgan Riley, as you just mentioned, and Austin Matthews have had peaks and valleys all season long in their game. If that trend continues for the next 20, 22 games, Gord,

is there any concern at all for this roster going into game one? Or have they done enough in the past to just give them the benefit of the doubt that they will be ready? Boy, if they're not ready, what can you say? I'd say absolutely give them the benefit of the doubt. I mean, Morgan Wright, he goes way back. I mean, he's experienced all those killer losses. It's not even that you've lost playoff series.

You've always lost in the deciding game. Like, it's almost unprecedented. I don't know other comparables in in that regard and you know you forget Austin Matthews in a lot of ways one of the losses on the one of the early losses to Boston could be thrown at Mike Babcock for deciding he was going to do it his way and Austin Matthews would get less time than Thomas Placanik or whatever you know just uh those kind of things so they seen a lot. And they've also seen guys coming up with their worst games, generally goaltenders in the deciding game or Jake Gardner in the deciding game. Last year really wasn't the case in that regard.

So I've got to think, you know, I've loved the regular season they've had. I've got to think they're loaded for bear, all ready to go. And I'm tired of the built-in excuse that, oh, my God, the poor Leafs have to play Tampa Bay. Like, as they talk about it, you know, they had Montreal and Columbus in consecutive years and they blew that opportunity. And if you're going to win it all, if you're going to go deep, you got to beat good teams. And, you know, maybe it's a little bit, it shouldn't be the case. You meet a team like Tampa Bay in the first round,

but cry me a river. If you lost, I, you know, no more about the handshakes being a little firmer a little bit more sincere it's time gordon why do you think things are happening earlier why do you think there's this weird run right now like there's not much left your years of covering the deadline is it is there anything that stands out for you that would be the impetus for this sort of early run here well justin the caps kind of twisted it that way for a number of years just because you know you can't wake up on draft day and and again i'm i'm going back a lot of years but to go back because david poyle is just retiring with the national

predators but there was a trade like 30 years ago that uh david poyle woke up as general manager of washington jack ferrar was general manager of Washington. Jack Farrar was general manager of Minnesota. They had not discussed this deal, and they made a two-for-two deal. Let me get it right here. Dino Cicerelli heading to Washington along with Bob Rouse from Minnesota and Larry Murphy and Mike Gardner going to Minnesota. You're talking three Hall of Famers of the four, right? And now in the cap era, you can't leave that to the 11th hour.

Look at all that went into the Patrick Kane acquisition. Look at all that Brandon Pridham's had to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs to make them cap compliant. So that's just not possible. And the other thing, though, Justin, is just this – I'm trying to figure out, did it happen overnight that the East became so dominant? Like I knew that that you know like the west was dominant for years i knew there was trending back in the other direction but i just

think that's been a factor as well that the east is a beast and you know and and gms have really responded and kind about you know the rangers get tarasenko then boston does something and toronto does something and you know every everybody's got to get in with a move or two because and that's why in the in with a move or two. And that's why in the West, I'm curious if someone might not go bigger in the West because there's a pretty wide open opportunity to seize to try to get to the final. Gord, do you think if you showed cojones as big as Kyle Dubas this week, you would still be the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Well, I prefer Chuck Swirsky's phrase, onions, okay? And trust me, in dealing with Harold Ballard, I'm satisfied about the size of my onions. And I did get two first-round picks in a trade for Ken Reget. Unfortunately, decades later, it's still the joke about our scouting staff didn't go further than Belleville as far as having three first routers that year. So anyway, Kiffy, I wish I

had year six having onions or whatever it was in that regard. What's your worst trade guard? Oh, gosh. I was walking on Yonge Street in the summer with a friend, and a car drove by, and someone yelled something at me. And my friend said, what did this person yell at you?

And I said, he yelled, Cordick for Cortinal. Okay? Like, I mean, it's like a beautiful summer day as I'm walking to grab a coffee. So, anyway, the upside is I'm still noticed, right? That's the upside. You know, like they don't know Floyd Smith or John Ferguson or all the others, Mike Smith or whatever. So anyway, that is something I will wear to my grave.

Listen, how about one that you turned down that you regret? You remember any of those? Well, because we weren't a winning team at that time, I'm actually more pleased about the Vultures moved in like crazy about thinking they could get, you know, and it's funny, before we traded Russ to Montreal a year later, I remember Pat like gave me a scolding that it got out the garth butcher you know the garth butcher for russ cordo perspective

trade and all that which we didn't pitch in that so i i don't i you know i i i kind of like i don't i i don't really remember anything that i turned down i i more remember i'm happy i turned down more because when you particularly when there was no cap back then, you're in a lot of ways dealing in a disadvantage going on. I'm happy about it. I sound like I'm testifying in court here, but you got Rob

Ramage for a second-round pick, and then Louis Francesetti for a fifth-round pick, and he got 21 goals that year. Little things along the way, you know, but nothing I'm going to put on my tombstone. Actually, I'm going to get cremated so I don't have a tombstone, so don't worry about it.

No dried-up shriveled raisins on that one, Gord. That's it. That's it. 100%. All right, pal. Really appreciate your time. Thanks for doing this. Thanks, Gordo.

Hey, thanks, guys. Have a good one. Yeah, you too. The big kahuna, Gord Stelic. The kahuna with the cojones. Yes. He seems fairly confident. He doesn't expect anything

to happen between the pipes for the leaves. Yeah, he's nuts. It's gotta happen. By the way, is there any GM in history with no awful trades? It's impossible happen by the way is there any gm in history with no awful trades like it's impossible to do the job if you have any sort of stones without getting something wrong when it comes to percentages just think baseball that you hit you hit the ball three times out of ten you can be a hall of famer. That's like three out of 10.

Not five, not seven. Get a few right. Trades are probably the same way. I don't know if that math checks out. Three out of 10. You're not going to the GM Hall of Fame. You got to win a three out of 10. You got to win a few pretty significantly for the three.

Maybe it's bad. I was in baseball on that. Wow. Great day. God, it's got to be nerve racking a for general managers knowing that like decisions like that can alter oh yeah years your career future employment and like you're tied to things you did in previous jobs like usually if you mess up in your first job washing dishes at boston pizza that would be me um you know you can live that down you were an aquatic technician as well i also was i delivered pizza there as well i worked my way up to waiting tables if there was no stigma i'd still be delivering pizza voice what i loved it best

job i ever had outside of this one i did it in in a couple places. What a career it should be. It's a great job. Anyway. The restaurant business? No, delivering pizza specifically. Just driving around listening to tunes. That's why I do this. Because I would drive around all day long listening to the fan, listening to Kipper on Hockey Central at noon, and I was like, I one day want to be on the radio with nick you play your cards right that could

happen what a story it's true though like i honestly yeah and then you get there and it's like no it's lived up to the expectation come on this is as good as it gets some days you get days like yesterday and it is as good as it gets i always told you that one of my favorite stories uh i'm playing with ray ferraro in new New York and coaches are coming in doing the pregame. And then there's Dick Todd, one of the associates coach and he's talking about our segments to, to win money.

And then he ends it with, okay, boys, peckers in the air. Ray Ferraro looks at me straight faced and goes, you know, you work your whole life to get to the NHL, and that's the help you get.

And it's like, you know, you're thinking you're going to get top coaching. It's a science. This is the NHL, the greatest league in the world. And all you're just told is to get on the ice with your peckers in the air that don't make no sense i will say that frustrated me throughout my career it was a constant source of anguish with me was that you know having a coach with his hand down his pants and his belt buckle undone sitting in front of the room with a bottle of chew spit beside him you know weighing in on something and then you know you're down to one but you've been playing fantastic he doesn't see anything but the

score and he's going i need someone in this room to go get in their face and you're like god damn it like get a little bit of thought some strategy here all right but no i was just gonna say uh yeah we're done ripping the league on... Well, it is human. It's human at the end of the day. For sure. We're just tongue-in-cheek in this thing. For sure.

There are some good coaches in the NHL. You do get some good feedback. Yes. We suck. We haven't forechecked. We haven't done anything. We suck. All right, anywhere you want to go in particular?

I just created a fake trade. Oh, hold on. Hold on, really? It did. Fake go in particular? I just created a fake trade. Oh, hold on. Hold on. Really? It did. Fake trade Wednesdays. I know. It's going to be past the trade deadline Friday.

Do we want to take credit for the Lars Eller trade that we called, or that Kipper called in the show two days ago first? Sure. Take the victory lap. That was written a while ago. Like that pickup for them. Good playoff performer. Oh, no. This guy written a while ago. Like that pickup for them. Good playoff performer. Oh, no.

This guy's a pro. For sure. And just watching him, covering him during their Stanley Cup run. He's a big part of that win. In Washington. Big part of that win. He was a stud. So I think that's a very good pickup for Colorado,

who might start to shape into maybe signs that they might legitimately take a run at uh defending the uh beat writer for them peter baugh who we've had on this show before tweeted out their fully hyper fully healthy hypothetical lines in colorado leckanen mckinnon ranton landis cog comfort nachushkin yes nieto new hook rodriguez cogliano eller o'connor yeah that seems like a chance elite go to the cup final again probably right so landis cog and then mccarr will come on after the trade deadline oh yeah i mean i think that'll happen yes yeah so he's saying he's healthy now. They should put him on now. Yeah, yeah, put him in.

No, I think they'll work their way around the cap as best they can. Eller's a little greasy, too. Yeah. He's got a little dirtiness to his game, which you need in the playoffs. He does. Yeah. He does. Okay, so what's left here, guys?

What, for the fake trade Friday? The Wednesday? The Wednesday? We just down to Chikrin really is the last. Give me another name. All right, I will. UC Sorrows in my trade. There's no sense that they're going to do anything there.

Okay. I don't know. Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit. I mentioned that a long time ago. I know. When you sell, sell. How old is Sorrows? 27?

Yeah. He's older. Yeah yeah they might want to keep him i love that uh he is names 20 he's 27 i'm gonna give you some names tyler bertuzzi from detroit like him back in play jvr no thanks doesn't excite me doesn't excite me either uh joel edmondson cam talbot shane goss, Desperate, Brock Besser, Nick Bustad, Max Domi. Oh, man, this is thin. Besser's got two more years at 625, if I'm not mistaken. He does, yep. So you're going to have to get New Jersey, Minnesota to eat 20, 25% of that. Trade has happened.

Oh, Shane Goss, Desperate. 20, 25% of that. Trade has happened. Oh. Shane Goss despair. This is just the most Shane Goss despair destination of all time. Oh, let me guess it. San Jose. No, it's a contender. All right, go ahead. Carolina.

Carolina, hey. For a third. Yeah, that's a Carolina move. It is such a Carolina move. Classic Carolina. Charts love them. He can move the puck Can't move a lot of bodies Carolina is flailing

To keep up Exactly Where Where do you envision Chickering going I had maintained For the last little while that there's

a decent chance that he could stay. If I'm Jacob Chikorin, I'm like can you hold out? Can you just stop playing for your team? He's so sour. How could you not be sour? The guy's been out since June.

He'll help out. I've heard you know as other people have mentioned too that like there have been deals in place and kipper you had talked about the one with la once upon a time that have been agreed upon between that's your information yeah see that's so that warms my heart because uh yeah i mean totally heard that and then the plug get pulled i think think, by ownership. You know, like not liking the money that they'd have to pay. It sounds like things are tight there in Arizona.

Yes. And not a good way. I'm not leaving. Does Chikrin to Pittsburgh make sense for you guys? Yeah. Yes. Because that's a bit of a rumbling right now. I could see that happening for sure.

Pittsburgh. And they waived a couple guys yesterday for cap stuff. They waived McGinn. They were talking about the Miller and Besser guy. They're looking to get a player here. Yeah. What about Ryan McDonough to Pittsburgh? 6.75, three more years.

Veteran guy to go with their veteran. Too much money, maybe? God, I like him with two other really good guys yeah you like him as your third best yes yeah i do at his age and the mileage that he's had i would think that it probably would just be too much weight on his shoulders there this is the most insane trade trade deadline i've ever seen that we're talking about chikrin and then after that it's like i don't know that there's an impactful player left you know like is jvr making moving the needle for anyone and then like a great player great

career but you'd need he's yeah he's finishing a seven million dollar contract. Yeah. JVR has a $7 million contract. Expires this year. Need a third team there, don't you? Probably. No one wants three and a half Schmill. Yeah, you're at least looking for 50%. Does Gibson and Gord Stelik mention Gibson? And I can't recall.

Is it three or four years a long time left four more years i think so let me just add six to five can you get anybody to pick up 50 or 25 of that like you want do you want to do retention yeah like double like anaheim would be excited to pick up 50% of that for four more years. He makes 6.4 until 26, 27. Yeah, that's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. It is. Yeah.

It's, I think, you pre-co is another name that I guess might be interesting. I don't know. So is, is Jersey and Carolina comfortable? Carolina. Carolina is, has had great teams and, you know, So is Jersey and Carolina comfortable with their goaltending? Carolina has had great teams. And, you know, we've heard from numerous people that they have been loathe to give up an asset.

They want people to come in, play on entry levels cheap. You know, they don't want to take any risks, spend any extra money. And they're going to blow a window. A good window is a great team because they failed to get team o'meara they failed to get the big fish this is setting up to be a very carolina hurricanes season again where they're great they're losing the second round absolutely elite yeah in the they're elite they're they're ahead of the leafs they're top five team in the league they're top three team in the league maybe they're the second team in the

league yeah regardless they just still for me they don't move the needle like i wouldn't be picking them against anyone it's it's a lack of game breakers right like when you look at their team and they have a lot of good players but like they don't have mcdavid and dry saddle or matthews and marner kucherov and Hedman, or whoever you think your two superstars are, Panarin and Zbigniew and on and on. Like, Svechnikov's good. Okay. Sammy, did you notice?

If the playoffs started today, they're playing the New York Islanders in the first round. I think it's a good series. To me, I'm picking maybe the Canes in like six or seven. That's a series with an elite goalie for the Islanders, gritty team that's built for the playoffs. That's no walk. Did you notice last night that you may have jinxed Nick Foligno? Did you see Foligno?

Yeah, you broke his back last night. What? Did you see Foligno come off the ice last night? Little Ginger? Oh, yeah. I was dozing, boys. I'm not going to lie. I think he was supposed to be late. Kidding aside, I hope it's not serious. back last night what did you see felino come off the ice last night little ginger oh yeah i was dozing and i think i hope it's not serious me too but it didn't look very good it was actually so they said on the broadcast i think they said leg but it did look like an awkward kind of i'm like i would feel horrible for him yeah we we've been been talking him up for days. He was just in the zone for the Boston Bruins.

Did we even mention Dmitry Orlov? Went into Boston, scores, scores, backdoor primary assist. They win 3-4-3. He was unbelievable. Did you do the game last night? I did, yeah. Yeah, he's really good. He was.

But this was like his best game in 10 years. To Zdorov, who stepped up on the five-minute-to-go game. And I love a big hit as much as anyone, but that's not the time to step up. No, you didn't think? No. I mean, to me, it was like if everyone else had kept playing, but everyone on his team was like, whoa, cool hit. Dubé stopped coming back.

Did Dubé collide as well in that? He took one of his players. Yeah, another player of his got wiped out, so he took out his own guy. Interesting trade just came in here, too. This is the best. This is from Chris Johnson saying that the Canucks have acquired Philip Hronic.

Oh, really? And a fourth rounder for a conditional 2023 first. The New York Islanders pick, I guess that they got in the Horvat trade and a 2023 second rounder. So Detroit's selling. But Hronik's a good player. Yeah. Isn't he pretty young?

How old, Sammy? I'm looking right now. 24? He is a 25 year old man who has his contract situation i'm looking it up right now that's all you need to know interesting on detroit you know i am glad we're getting to talk with detroit that is the most embarrassing two game showing I can recall seeing with your season on the line, playoffs in the mix. Ottawa comes in and, I mean, absolutely bullies

you. 6-2, 6-1, sit down. And you got Brady Kachuk going, hey, come on, who's there? Someone do something. And you just sit there with your... Embarrassing. One of my best buddies, Keegan, he texted me this morning. He said he's a diehard Red Wings fan.

He texted this morning. He said Brady Kachuk is our daddy. Yes. He owns them. Speaking of dried up, shriveled raisins. That's what Detroit showed. So, Hronik makes 4.4 this year and next. And then he's the RFA after that.

That's great. And and oh by the way they did sign uh dylan lark into an eight year and oh by the way today which stevie eiserman got his hometown discount yeah i don't blame him take it yeah and you know if you're dylan larkin you don't care about the half a million to stay home yeah you get to be the guy you're going to be a lifelong red wing you're going to be a part of this when it starts going the right way michigan yeah until they trade you with half your left in your contract like john quick but that's kind of a weird trade for the canucks like you're giving up a fur like just draft somebody i think it's their way of looking

at it like we turn bo horvat into a 25 year old right d with control who's an rfa after like i guess i like that i don't know heronic was the guy that uh ryan reeves annihilated that one time i just don't know where they were they going in two years vancouver you know he's he's 25 though like if he's 27 to 32 you know like you expect to be a good player that's a weird one yeah i'm going after the 21 22 year old though iold, though. I am. I guess it depends. Yeah, depending on what sort of window. But no, I don't agree. I think he's going to be good.

He's got some runway for them. I don't know. I mean, he's got 38 points this year as a guy who's, you know, a right shot guy who are tough to come by. I see your point. I see your point that he's not a prospect. He's had a lot of minuses oh my god there's there's windows that you you want a core group to to come up together

with which is why chicago to me is too far off they're trying to be good in 2028 yeah maybe they are really far off yeah they're five years away yeah five years away all right toronto edmonton give me uh give me some numbers tonight guys no idea so i'm gonna be the guy who's gonna get killed for this but edmonton no the leafs have gone in there and they spanked they've spanked them they remember the bubble they went there and beat them three straight times i feel i don't know what their head-to-head i have it in front of me austin matthews and conor mcd what their head-to-head is. I have it in front of me. Austin Matthews and Connor McDavid head-to-head. In the team record. What's Austin's record? The team record

is when those two guys... Austin probably missed some games. So Austin Matthews' record is 10-2-2 against the Oilers. They had their number, brother. Love it. Listen. It's going to continue tonight. You want to do head-to-head, do Marner and McDavid.

Marner's numbers are off the charts, too, I think. What do you really... It's automatic. It's Matthews versus McDavid. I think it switched this year. I think it's Marner versus McDavid. And that's the end of the show.

You guys. Still not enough love for Marner. All right, give me a score, JB. 2-1. 2-1. Stop it. Defense. Our thanks to Kevin Lowe and Gord Stelictricity.

We're back tomorrow. Enjoy the hockey game, everybody.