Real Kyper & Bourne - Oilers Bolster D-Core + Centreman Market with Jason Bukala

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee react to the news of the Edmonton Oilers reportedly acquiring defenseman Connor Murphy from the Chicago Blackhawks for a second-round pick, before bringing on Jason Bukala (4:47) of Pro Hockey Group & Sportsnet to get his thoughts on the move, how a former director of scouting like himself would relay info to the general manager on potential trades, what Robert Thomas offers on the market and if the Montreal Canadiens would take a look at the centreman, and why Craig Berube lost the Leafs' locker room. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam look at the Los Angeles Kings firing head coach Jim Hiller and placing D.J. Smith as the interim coach, and Kyper's 2026 Trade Board 5.0. 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.

We got a trade. Welcome to the national hour of the real Kipper Endborn show. Live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, streaming on Sportsnet Plus, also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. And of course, YouTube, where we love the chats, ripping on me, Sammy. Everybody loves J.B. though. I don't think that's true. Actually, I can confirm it.

We'll give a thumbs up. All right. Connor Murphy Now an Edmonton Euler This hour Brett Kulak just dropped This hour of Real Kippren

Bourne brought you by Bet365 That way Derek's not mad at me Yep A second round pick for Connor Murphy The Chicago Blackhawks Retained half of the $4.4 million And the Oilers are often running You know, it doesn't hurt the Oilers

It helps them They are shockingly bad defensively For a team that knows how to defend You would think and has some good players. So this guy is a reliable, steady defender. Big, oh, you don't think he's good? Big?

But don't you think he is? Oh, geez. Not my first choice for the Oilers. I will say it's uninspired. It's like, we need to be better defensively. Get the defensive guy. You know, like it's... I get that, but I've heard Connor Murphy's name out there for about a year and a half.

And to me, I'm shocked at a second rounder. Really? For Connor Murphy. Like that is, I thought they could have got him for a fourth. Hmm. But I guess you're paying for attention. They got to jump out.

They got to make sure they don't get caught. But the one thing that I will say about Connor Murphy is that he's coming from the Chicago Blackhawks where he was pretty much in a top four position. Yep. And he's averaging 16. minutes. Like that's really light for a top four guy on a team that is one of the worst teams in the league. So you're saying a bad team wasn't using him very much? No. No. And it's like,

he has in the past played 20 minutes, I think 21 minutes on some years this year all, season long. And Chicago wants to make a jump. They want to show that they can compete. You want to play well for your young kids. And they're only playing him 16 minutes while Justin Falks out there playing 21 and a half. Dougie Hamilton, 21 and a half. I'm like, why is this guy playing seven minutes less than all the rest of the guys that are available?

I don't hate the like cost or the fit necessarily. What I do think is it reminds me of the jari trade where it's kind of uninspired, where it's like, I'm not sure that we got a whole lot better. We needed to do a thing and we did a thing. I'm not sure that that thing was, to your point, you're trying to take a step, a significant step forward as a team. You're not a breath away.

Oilers have been really not great for a stretch here. Yeah. Like they, defensively, they're not good. History with Bowman, right? He probably was traded for him in Chicago. Bowman has loved him now for, a couple of years trying to get him. But for whatever reason,

never pulled the trigger. I think he could have had him a year ago for a second rounder. Chicago was like trying to shine up Connor Murphy the last year and a half to trade them. You're right. He's playing four minutes less per game. That's a big deal. That's big.

Four minutes less this year than last year. Yeah. On the same squad. Why? Somebody asked Chicago, why are you playing them four minutes less? than he did the year before. It's not because he's awesome. You know, it's not like they went into this year trying to tank. They're trying to hang around.

But now they're trying to tank, I would assume. But so, yeah, maybe on a good team, though, maybe there's more there for him. Maybe he's a guy who gets it up to better forwards. You can play in the other end. Maybe things start to look better. You know, he is a veteran guy. He's a big body. He's a lot of the things that they were said to be after.

But you're right. There were names out there and needle movers and, I even think Ekman Larson would have been a much better fit for them. Maybe the Leafs just didn't want to do it and wouldn't do it for that. I had heard the price for Oliver Ekman Larson is much higher. But like this is the thing,

that's the problem you've got to solve if you're the Oilers. You need the guy who's good. You don't need the team version. You don't have the assets. You don't. Okay. Okay, as we teed up in our first hour, Jason Buckeleneau joins us,

Pro Hockey Group, Sportsnet, Pugedia, and former NHL scout. Ooh, good week to lean on those scouting skills of yours. Books. How are you? I'm doing great, guys. Okay.

Not wasting any time here. Breakdown Connor Murphy for us. The price. The one thing that stood out for me right away when I just did a quick look, look, was this guy's averaging 16 minutes a night when in previous years he was up around 20, 21, like the rest of those studs available? So my first reaction right away is, is this better than what Brett Kulak was when

Brett Kulak played for the Edmonton Oilers? That's my very first reaction out of the box. And it's curious to connect the dots. I start in the fall when I'm going through all this and then we get to today and you see this trade. And obviously things didn't materialize so far the way they wanted with Tristan Jerry. But I'm not surprised at that. I don't think you guys would be surprised at that either.

And now the cost of goods is what it is. And I don't mind Connor Murphy. He's a five. He's a right shot five. He's got some leadership. He's got a little bit of pushback to his game. He's not going to create much offensively. They'll get in some lanes to block some shots as my earpiece keeps falling out here, my big head.

But anyways, you know, it's just okay. You know, what do you want to me? I'm not over the mood about this. It's just okay. And it reeks to me of a trade going back to where you're comfortable. And you're familiar with the product or a player that you're going to bring in. And you've Stan Bowman's obviously had him in the past. Connor Murphy's a pro.

He's an NHL player. Doesn't move the needle a lot for me. It doesn't solve the big picture things that the Oilers need to solve going forward, which is stopping more bucks. And again, when I start piling it on from the Kulak deal, when, you know, that whole Pittsburgh deal to get to where we are today, and you start to add up all of that guys, I'm not so sure that they're any better today.

than they were in October. Yeah. It'll be fascinating to watch the Oilers do what they do. Bukes, I imagine this is a funny time of year for scouts because A, the team is talking about trading prospects that you have probably brought on to the team. And then they're asking you a lot about other team's prospects.

How does a scouts involvement play out during deadline week? First things first, when you start drafting assets into your organization, never fall too in love with your own. That's a dangerous proposition. So when you're drafting assets, I had this conversation with one of our colleagues on the weekend, everybody thinks through the amateur draft that,

yeah, you want to build your roster through the amateur draft, and it is part of it. Don't get me wrong. When you're rebuilding, certainly that's part of it. But in the big, big picture, what you really want to do is accumulate as many positive assets as possible. What does that mean? Well, it means sometimes that it might not be a fit for you,

but it's going to be a fit for somebody in the league. And when it becomes a fit for somebody in the league, now you've got asset value, you've got asset management, and you can prop up your NHL roster in due process. So on the one side of it, Borny, it's that, you know, I really get excited. Our I'm sure guys would always get super excited about the draft. It's our Super Bowl when we arrived there at the end of the year. But then when you hand them off the player development, it's fingers crossed.

Let's see how the asset management goes. You start all over again. On the pro side of things, you've gone through everybody's depth charts throughout the league, and you're starting to mirror up what the draft is starting to look like this year, next year, and the way the deals are being signed and draft picks are getting tossed around, believe it or not, even first year, call it Ontario Hockey League guys, people are starting to get intel on them because when you deliver it up the food chain to the pro scouting department and you start looking at your depth charts

and where your contracts are going to be expiring and where are we really in our cycle with our team, a whole bunch of different things in there. It all goes into this big melting pot and hopefully you have enough decisions or enough options for your general manager to make wise decisions. You're watching and listening to Jason Bukala Pro Hockey Group Sportsnet,

former NHL scout. So when you guys are around a table, books at this time of year at the trade deadline day, is it strictly your information on the attributes of the players? Will you also give them an assessment of,

I think this guy's worth a first and a third, a second and a fourth. Do they want to hear that? Or do they say, no, no, that's my business here as a general manager. I'll decide what the worth is. A little bit of both, to be honest with you, Kipper. And here's where it's a little bit dicey

because every draft class isn't the same. Everybody wants to look at a first rounder. You know, the Celebrini draft class and the Bedard draft class, that's different than the Delafranier one back in the day, right? So you're going to get situations where the conversation is going to be, here's how the buildup goes. First things first, when I'm talking about asset management in relation to our organization,

when you're proposing, if I go to Dale Town back in the day and I've got my top 10 prospect list, or I've got my top top 10 previously drafted and developing players outside of our organization, and I present that to them. First thing you want to do is make sure that it ticks off the boxes of the quality boxes. That's how I define them. So what are the quality boxes? How do you want to build a team? Well, for me personally, you better be, you know, have relentless compete,

you know, obviously be able to play the game super fast and you better have a brain because if you don't have those three things right there, nothing else matters. Look at the Toronto Maple Leafs right now. They're missing. They got some skill and different things, but they don't have enough will and they don't have enough, you know, the coach said it the other tonight, right? Head and heart.

So I propose it to my general manager, these types of players. Then he comes to me and says, okay, what's this draft class look like? should I maybe be looking at, you know, a 2027 second or two seconds? Would you give up two seconds in 2027 books for this? Or would you give up a first in 2026? And through my staff's work, our due diligence, with the future drafts, we start to, you know, ping pong that back to them with as much information as we possibly have at our disposal at that time.

So it's a massive type of undertaking. Ultimately, it's the general manager and his AGM and certainly analytics will get involved, those types of things and upper management, I mean ownership, pardon me. And, you know, what's the pressure? What's the downward trajectory from ownership in terms of applying pressure? Because they don't have the information

that I'm providing to the general manager. There's a lot to unpack there, but stick with your staples and then strategize from there. So it's not often that like, you know, number one centers become available, top D, these sort of big names. Robert Thomas, though, is a name that's being floated. And he is a big get for somebody,

as someone who's on the market. Tell us your assessment of where he's at, how he can help a team, and the calculus that goes into, is it worth it to part with four assets they're apparently asking for for this guy? Yeah. So Robert Thomas, I go way back with Robert Thomas.

He played here in London for the London nights got traded to the Hamilton Bulldogs at the time at the back Memorial Cups, or pardon me, he went to the Memorial Cup of Hamilton. I believe he's Nick Suzuki like, to be honest, with you. I'm not so sure that he's a pure dynamic one, but I think that he's a plus two, if that makes sense. Like I'm a, Suzuki's a hell of a player, but you know what I mean, guys? He's not McDavid. He's not Celebrity. He's not like that. So he's not Eichol. I'm curious as to

why he's being made available. That is really concerning to me other than St. Louis feels like they just have to take some risk. Is he going to make the next team much better? Absolutely. Could he pop off? For sure. Could he be in 84, the schedule goes to 84 games? If he gets between 80 and 85, I think he's a plus player. I think he can be used in all situations. His durability has been tested a little bit recently, but he ticks off my boxes.

He's a mature player. He's a pro. He plays fast. He thinks it really well. And he's got a Ryan O'Reilly type of approach between the ears to his game. So you're going to get a real good pro that way in the room. He's going to come to play every day. So if he's a Nick Suzuki Light, does it make much sense?

for the Montreal Canadians to go there? Yeah, absolutely it does. Two things here, Kipper. This is where we start to introduce term, contract, and the projectable value, right? So with his deal that he's on right now, it fits their mold, if you will, their salary structure.

It doesn't blow anybody out of the water in terms of the other guys who are getting paid on that roster. And it still allows him at his age to grow as a group. It gives you a two-headed monster at the top, not super, super dynamic like some of these other teams. There's a drop off from one to two unless, you know,

you're either oil and you go McDavid Drysiddle, which is an anomaly. So, yeah, it makes some, it complements some going forward. I think it makes them a much better team still going forward. And they have got a boatload of assets, both prospects, draft capital, and, of course, money to spend. I got my trade board out on Sportsnet.com. and it's built around what you talked about, teams with the assets to pull this off.

Utah is another one. I assume if Doug Armstrong wants to send him that way, it's going to start with one of their top prospects coming back, including Jerome McGinnle of his son. Yeah, so Teage playing out in Colonna this year. They're hosting the Memorial Cup. Yeah, I can see that absolutely happening. You know, Teage, again, he's on the comps.

He's going to be a great pro too. He rips the pill a ton, extends plays in the hard areas. He's not like his dad. His dad played in a different era, but he's powerful like that. He's definitely going to be a top six shooter goal score. No question about that. I think you're banging on with the Utah thing Kipper. I think that they are poised and like they can pounce, can't they?

Anybody wants to take a minute to go to, you know, Puttpedia or wherever they want to go. Take a look at the embarrassment of riches they have for prospects. They have got, they've got too many prospects. They can't even sign them all. They're going to run out of contracts. Then they got all this draft capital. And then they got all this cash. Like what a huge opportunity to Bill Armstrong has in front of them there.

And the owner clearly wants to spend some money and ride some a wave of emotion towards being a playoff team. So I'm keeping a close eye on them. I think that's a good call by you for sure. As you know, on this show, we spend a lot of time talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs in our first hour. We just kind of kicked it around where they're at. Can Brad Tree Living dig the leafs out of whatever hole this is? This week? No, can they get it turned around and him keep his job and Barovie stick around and have things?

They're talking about a retool for next year, Bookes. Is that viable that they can be decent next year? Well, no. A playoff team next year. No, I don't think they're a playoff team next year. So here's my problem, guys. The DNA is fractured. If I'm going to stay consistent with what I'm preaching here,

I don't trust in the DNA of the group right now. I don't think on their hardest days, the day to day, this group, the team that we're seeing today, compared to teams in the past, where they teased us a little bit. Because I was buying the stock last year. I liked the way they played. I thought they were way more buttoned up defense with the goaltending, et cetera, et cetera. Now, as the three, four of us know with Samuel where they're dying on the vine right now as I have this conversation I know.

But here's the thing. The four of us would agree. The DNA is fractured, right? There's not enough pushback on your hardest day. What does that mean? There's no rebounding from that for me. You have to dig deep, take a look at exactly how your entire organization is programmed for the next two to three years. It's not going to be good.

In my estimation, it's not going to be good. And if you want to put some more bubble gum on a sinking ship here, go for it. It's not wise. They have no draft capital. They have no prospects. I love Ben Danford as a junior player. He's a five. He's a right shot five.

Like if we're talking about Connor Murphy today, you know, Ben Danford's going to be something like that in the National Hockey League is too. It's a reset is absolutely in order here. And, you know, a conversation for another day. But I came out of that game Saturday night. I was so tempted to start blowing you guys up. I reluctantly took a break. But I think it should cut deep. I'm at the, I'm right now.

If I was in a meeting with my bosses, I would be absolutely proposing them to them. It's time to start looking at cutting deep. because if you're worried about cashing checks or the stadium being filled and being a mediocre team, that's fine. You might get into the playoffs. You want you when we make big money going two, three rounds deep with the right group. This has been nine or ten years. There's nothing left in the coverts. It's time to turn the corner and some very difficult decisions have to be made.

Okay. And we'll see where it goes. Okay. Cutting deep means one or two things. Bye-bye, Austin or bye-bye Willie? So you have that conversation. There's no time for that type of deal to happen between now and Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern. Are you on board on that?

I'm on board with that, and that's why I'm perplexed when Borny says to me can tree get it done. I think tree's in an impossible situation when it comes to that. I don't know what the tea leaves are saying in regard to what his position is going to be. There's no sense firing the coach. I hear the same noise you guys do. there's no sense firing the coach between now and the end of the year. That does nothing. That's not going to help.

So, you know, right now I'm really worried about Boston's getting my first round draft pick. There's all this other stuff I've got to still deal with. It's going to be a summer thing. But Kipper, this team, look at what's going on in the Atlantic Division right now. Look at the Ottawa senators the other night. Like Sammy, they ran off, what, 18 straight shots and, you know, after the Leafs won up won nothing the other night, something like that.

So it's, you are what you are, and it's not very good right now. Yeah, no, that was all very informative and dead accurate. So we're continuing to look around the league and talk about Canadian teams. The Oilers make this move for Murphy. What's next for them? Do you think that, I know you don't think that there's a lot in the coverage for them to deal with, but they're limping around a little bit. Yeah, they're limping around a lot.

Again, it's, I don't know what's going on on the bench. I don't know what the communication is like around there. It just seems like they're coming into a really, you're coming down the stretch with a lot of noise. And again, you're trying to plug some holes to make it better with bodies. But I think, honestly, it's an inward thing there, Borny. I think it's, you know, the coach has got to get on the same page.

And everybody, everybody's a group has got to get back on the same page. Easier said than done, especially at the hardest time of the year. How many times do the three of us get together in October or November when teams get off the good starts? And then we say, well, let's just wait until January, February, March, when the games get super hard. And we'll see what everybody's made of. The oil have had, you know, hiccups in the past. And they've fooled us.

They come back to life because they're still a hell of a hockey team when they're flying. But so far, they haven't been able to come back to life the way they have in the past. So, books, we just mentioned really no time for cutting deep for the Toronto Maple Leafs with their big boys. But Jimmy Rutherford, Patrick Alvian, they've had plenty of time, plenty of time to cut deep. with a decision on Patterson. Do you expect him gone by the end of the week? I expect Pedersen. My recommendation to them would be that he should be moved on to another organization.

That's my recommendation. It's not going to work here. It's only going to get progressively worse. And I think I haven't read your piece yet today, Kipper, but do you have Utah floating around in those waters at all as well? Detroit, Carolina. And, yeah, Utah has always got. that that situation.

Nick Schmaltz, too, is not resigned. So there's one. I mean, you know, you got Nick Schmaltz. So I like your Detroit one there, the Swedish connection, as you know, going back to how Detroit has really valued the Swedes. And you have Nick Lidsstrom there and their player development, all that kind of stuff. And, yeah, it's time for that to happen. And I would get it back as many assets as possible there.

They're in a really tough spot. Like Brock Bessers signed long term. And, you know, it's, They're going to do some things here. I get it. But, you know, there's also some curious things are going to be left on the books there still. So Pedersen, it's time.

We've had enough discussion about this since he signed a big ticket there. And I don't think the coach is long for the way that he's performed. And that's two coaches in the row, by the way, for the same situation. One of the names on Kippers board is Alexei Lafrenier. And I can't quite make sense of a guy. He's one of the guys I feel like I get most wrong.

When I watch him play, I'm like, okay, big, skates good, shoots a good. I like everything about this kid. And the results are just never there. What's happening with that guy? Does he ever really blow you away where he takes over a shift and starts running people over with his physique? Because he's never really done it for me going back to his days in Ramoski. And I think it's a big tease. I really do.

And he's an NHL player. Don't get me wrong. He's an NHL player. but he's also got first overallitis, if you will, if that's a disease that you can carry around for your entire career. He's a guy, he leans more Adam Ernie on any night than he does first overall, if that makes sense to you. You know, like it just doesn't add up to me.

And I would personally be buyer beware on Lafranier if I was on the other end picking up the phone. I think there's a ton of risk there. I'm not so sure that it's going to materialize. I suppose it could be like, remember when Tara Vainan went to Seattle from Nashville and he might spike early with some offense in a different environment. But guys, when you're built like a freight train like that and you aren't really imposing and you're not really consistent, opponents don't fear you a lot. And that's a problem.

We were just talking earlier, books, about very seldom, do we see a goalie moved this time of year? It's just, it must be so scary for scouts. and general managers to do something yet, you know, Bennington's floating around there and all of a sudden, Bobowski's name starting to pop up. I mean, have you been in a situation where, you know, you thought about a goalie

at this time of year? Yeah, we brought Lou back. We weren't good, but we brought Lou back from Vancouver back in the day. Was that at the trade deadline? Yeah, it was right around the trade deadline. I believe now I'm thinking of it. Or it wasn't it in the summer now.

I'm thinking of it. But anyways, it's a conversation. The Lou conversation was like an all-year thing. If you can get my dream, like it was always going on. But here's where I would do my homework on a goalie acquisition. If you are looking at the competition come playoff time, if you're starting to size up what your team looks like, but you're also starting to size up what somebody else is going to look like,

and you're going to hear the rumors, you're going to get intel on maybe a goalie's getting moved. If it's really that, if a team is going to be picking up, if you're staring at the team that you're going to be playing, in playoffs and they're in the same sort of mix as you are, but they're not floating for a goalie or you're projecting the second round. They're not floating for a goalie. Be very careful about spending too many assets at the trade deadline on a goalie.

It's going to be expensive. I understand the winning pedigree. I would be shocked that Bob Rossi gets moved just because I know Vinnie Viola, the owner in Florida, he's so loyal and he's won with this guy. I just, I would be surprised if that happened. The Bennington one, I can absolutely see that happen. But again, it's going to be, what's he at, 5-5 guys? So you've got to find somebody who can eat 275

to make something like that happen. Not a lot of contenders can do that. Well, I did link them to Montreal and only on a short stint until you get your young guys going there. But I like Bennington with the strut, the attitude to come in on this year and next year for Montreal. And then you go to your young guys. So that's interesting.

Would you flip Montembow for Bennington and ride it out with Dolbysh as the backup? Because I think that makes sense. Yes, I would. Yeah, I think that makes sense. Fowler in there next year probably. Two years. Two years? Yeah, you've got Fowler waiting in the wings.

I don't mind that at all. So if you take a look at that, there, Kipper, that makes absolute sense to me. And so let's see, now we're starting to build a case, aren't we here for a bigger St. Louis trade with the Montreal Canadians. And the Montreal Canadians, they've done business before. and the Montreal Canadian, again, have tons of assets, tons of draft capital. They get it all. So I like the thoughts of that. I think Monty involved in that trade makes sense.

And then Dolbisch, by the way, I believe, is on a 9-0-2 run. It might be 11-0-2 right now for the Montreal Canadians in that. So Fowler weights in the wings and you write it out that way. That right there is a good talking point that makes sense to me. Hey, before we let you go, the draft. How is the draft quality this year? Where are the tiers? what are we looking at for teams who are excited to get back a pick in the first round?

Well, the flying my oint is that number. I draw lines in the sand, I call it. So, you know, your top three guys. Sometimes it goes to four, five, or six, for example. This year, you're at the top. You've got McKenna. Well, I don't have McKenna. I still have Stenberg, number one.

Time will tell. So Stenberg, McKenna, Verhof. That's still the way it is. But I've mentioned it to you guys before. Caleb Mahalcher, right up the street from us here in Toronto, playing for Brantford, the Bulldogs. Oh, boy, this kid is a pro. You guys know his dad very well.

And, I mean, he plays the game the right way. I'm now tempted to have my line in the sand at four. After that, there is a drop-off, and you're going to get into second-tier defensemen and second-tier forwards. But for that darting smaller forward, who's got a lot of momentum, keep an eye on the name Vigo Bjork out of Sweden.

He played in the world juniors, and he's a mid-range-sized guy, but he's involved, guys. Like he's not a wilting flower. He gets after it. At the S.HL level, he plays in all situations, and he's ticking off all those boxes that I'm talking about. So that might be a guy if the Toronto Maple Leafs are unfortunate to lose their first round pick.

That's going to be a guy that's going to be right in that wheelhouse for that pick that the Boston Bruins are going to have. Okay. So it is a great handle. It is a great handle. So just to stay on that, and I hate doing Toronto. talking at our national show. But Bookes, in your perfect scouting world, would you prefer, if you were a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs,

to take that top five pick somehow and keep it? But it gets punted next season where it goes unprotected, and then you might be in a position where you may lose the first overall pick. What would you prefer? Oh, boy. Geez, that's what a, what a horrible team in the league. If they go to, if they go to 32, I'll, you know, my forehead will cave in. But here's the thing.

I would, I would have it this year, Kipper, because I still believe in what I'm seeing here in that top five, hoping that they get at least, they could get a number one centerman in Malhulcha. They could get a number one right shot, D in Verha, you know, depending on how the ping pong ball is ball, for example. so I would eat it for this year and the sooner the better because they got to get some guys on the turnstile. That's the other thing. Like if you wait another year,

then you're another year, if you understand what I mean. So they don't have enough coming year over year right now. The sooner the better. And Malhotra is going to push for an NHL job next year. He's not good. Wow. Great stuff, Bukes.

You expect a lot of action here. I know we're dealing with no retention this year. overall seller's market, buyer's market. What do you see by next Friday? I'm torn. My over-under is like maybe 10 real good, what I would call quality hockey trades that are going to move the needle for me one way or the other.

I just think there's too much parity and some of these teams that need assets or need more, they don't have enough. They don't have enough assets and they don't have enough draft capital. So I'm hopeful for the fan of the game, game that it's going to be active but time will tell. Somebody's going to have to step up and take some huge risk. That,

I will say. All right, well, we got one in today. Connor Murphy, Edmonton Euler. And it starts. And it starts. Bookes, great stuff as always on our show. Thanks for doing this. Oh, thanks, books. We lost you. On a mute there, I think. That is big-headed. Jason

Bucola. Oh, he said it. He said it. It would be something if he didn't. That'd have been, that's when I know you're really on fire. Have you ever just called the guest It was at the deadline, Luongo. It was. It was March 4th with Stephen Anthony to the Florida Panthers for Sean Matthias and Jacob Markstrom. There you go.

You know, your point about this time of year and trades had this is the time, right? I know Sean McIndo, writer in the athletic, he wrote that this time last year, we had the Seth Jones trade year before Tannav got moved. But year before that was Meyer, Timo Meyer, Dimitri Orlov, Jake McCabe, and. Tanner Geno. Like, this is the time when the big ones happen. This is when Matthews for Robert Thomas and the first happened or whatever.

You know, this is the time. This is, I mean, maybe this year, the NHL general managers are so worried about their beloved sports net that they're going to wait until the day. Friday. So that we have a really exciting trade deadline show. Just wake up and get that reminder on the phone Friday. Today?

Today! That's not the style of a guy like Doug Armstrong. I think by Wednesday, Thursday. You'll know. He'll have flushed out what he wanted to. So they're trying to bottom out now, turn it around in like a couple of years, like an actual rebuild here.

I think so. They've declared, you know what, that's proactive. New general manager coming in, hand him off. He's got a couple of years runway because he's new. You can do this, wear the dip for Steen, and then let him come out of it. That's the way it's shaping up. Anyways.

Because, like, Cairo is, I gotta tell you, it doesn't seem like they love him. Oh, no, no, no, no. That's a love affair that's long gone. Right. So, you know. Fleeting? He's gone. And Thomas is not that far off.

Like, it's only a matter of time for Robert Thomas. This isn't just... His contract's so good. Throw it up in the wall and see if it sticks with a huge price for him. Bookes nailed it. Why? I'd be asking a lot of questions why you're trading them. Like, let me see.

They would tell you it's a timing thing. They would say that he's 38. He hasn't turned 27 yet, has he? No, but that's the thing. Is that, okay, then he's 30 when you start to come out of it. And you go, yeah, we could have got. Matthews is 28. They want people out.

You make the point that maybe, that's all I'm saying. I think they're proactive and not waiting for it to become a problem. I kind of like it. Game time? Game time. It's game time. presented by Med 365, visit the app for the latest odds. Must be 19 plus, Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. I was just quickly looking at the futures for the regular season awards. And I thought this was hilarious. You know what Matthew Schaefer is to win rookie of the year? Minus 1,000. Minus 3,500. Oh, my God. Minus 3500.

So if you, if you want, if you are, to bet the field, it's plus 11. Plus 1100 is the field. What would somebody have to do to take that away from him? Who's the next highest guy? Demadov is the second at plus 1,200. Bennett said, like he's the next at plus 2,800. Just two goals a game.

Exclusively hat tricks. Get on a Gretzky pace from here on out and he might have a chance. I thought the other interesting one was the Norris trophy. Zach Werenski is the favorite. plus 100. Kail McCar coming in second, plus 150. Who do you think the third favorite is?

Is it not Quinn Hughes? It's not. It's not. Shaver. No, it's not. Evan Bouchard. Plus 800 is the third favorite for the Norris trophy.

I can't delete the face I just made. I'm forward to the whole world saw that. Lane Hudson plus 1, Quinn Hughes plus 1, and I'm just quickly, Matthew Schaefer is a 100 to 1 to win the Norris. So I don't think he's going to be able to do that. That's funny because I saw several people

say heart trophy well not and the favorite for the heart is credible serious is Nathan McKinnis Nathan McKinnon at minus 120 Nikita Kuturov the second favorite at plus 260 and that was game time presented by bet who is my pick at the beginning of the year hold on Kooch yeah for MVP I think that's he's my in my in the lead for me as the as a voter that was game time presented by bet 365

must be 19 plus Ontario only please play responsible you say Schaefer was a hundred 100 to 1? I think you could do worse than that bet. Like, you're probably not winning, but... It's 100 to 1 for a reason. You're not going to get it? No.

I saw a mic up, and to be clear, he was joking. But he's like, this kid's making Brian Leach look like Carson Susie. One of them said it on... Oh, my God. I read the tweet, the quote. At the same age, Brian Leach would probably agree. Yeah. It's pretty crazy.

It's crazy. Do you think it's related to Team Canada? That he came out more determined than ever to make a statement? No. I just think he's not at 18. I also think he was really good for him to get this break in the middle of his rookie year, have that time to like that. So tired and give his body a chance to rest. Well, I just think it's good, you know.

A reset. Yeah. Reset. He gets where you, you know, he had a great start. He's resetting the puck into the net every day. Oh, my God. He's unbelievable. No stopping him.

Okay. We'll take a quick break when we were. return plenty more to get into we'll talk a little bit more on my list that's come out few names who's going where plenty more on the real kipper and bourn show don't go away everything you need to know about the raptors and the biggest stories around the NBA smith and jones subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts as a reminder this hour of real kipperman born brought to by bet three six five nick kipper is justin bournes Sammy McKee.

Are you allowed to talk about what you talked about in the break to us or no? Oh, that I did an event, wonderful mining crew. Yeah. Have a big convention this week. How many picks did you take history? I don't. I think it was around, well, they had over a thousand people.

Okay. And I started noticing duplicates coming up. And I'm like, again, again, I don't know. they said I may have taken 1,200 pictures. And I'm smiling in every one of them. I'm not sure I've been in 1,200 in my life. No, that's interesting. Yeah, and the length of time smiling in a day

should be under three hours, ideally. That's a workout in itself. Good work, Kip. So I'm watching TV the other day, and I'm noticing this commercial for, I don't know, a restaurant, pizza hut, I don't know. And, like, people are licking their phones. Yeah.

Is that a thing? Is that a thing right now? Of course it's not. What are you talking about? I don't know. There's a commercial. I know the one you're talking about. Okay.

All right. Yeah. So I'm beside the Stanley cop. And this woman comes up and goes, can I lick the Stanley Cup? And I'm like, excuse me? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm not the guy to ask. You absolutely should agree like that.

Your name is on it and you want to make it happen. And I'm smiling like I have 1,200 times. And the only thing I'm thinking of is we went from like washing fruit with masks on and gloves just a few short years ago. And now someone's asking me if they could lick the Stanley Cup. I'm like, where's this world going? We are heading it around the six year anniversary. Like right now, six years ago, we were in the teeth of it. But, you know, really, a lot of people have touched the Stanley Cup.

Not a lot of people. And that's not to say no one has, because I bet you over 100 people have licked the Stanley Cup. That's a great question. My goodness. All right. Talk about the Kings prior to the coach. Didn't mention that. They did fire the coach.

Jim Heller, relieved of his duties. DJ Smith in. Yeah. Clearly, they think that there might be something to salvage, if not a chance to get back in the race, at least it may set a different tone for the rest of the season. Let's check in with Ken Holland. We've got a clip of him talking about King's part in ways with Jim Hiller. You know, I didn't like the two games heading into the break.

I didn't like the two games coming out of the break and times running out. So it was either kind of just stay status quo and see what happened and see where it goes. but I felt that I wanted to make a decision and go with it. Once I made the decision on Friday, my wheels were in motion to make the move, irregardless to what happened in last night's game. And they did win last night. There was chance in the crowd of fire Jim Hiller.

That was a thing, which we've heard Brian Burke admit openly that's part of the reason he fired Ron Wilson when it happened here in Toronto. I think that does have some impact on people. And then the other thing is that they're just, and this is rare, but too defensive. Fans think they're boring. The team, they've got great defensive metrics, but they don't do anything.

They don't play. And then you trade for Artemmy Panarin. I wonder if part of it is like, I don't know, put this guy in a spot where he's in a neutral zone trap for $11 million a year. But is DJ Smith going to be like, now we're opening it up? Maybe a bit. I don't know.

I'm asking legitimately. Is that his, no? No. Are they going to look at DJ Smith is a real possibility to move forward or does this have Peter DeBoer written all over it? Ooh, it does have DeBoer written all over it because he's so rich. Because next year isn't the whole thing with like, you know, the Kings is they're trying to court the big names. They want the stars. They want Connor McDavid.

They want Austin Matthews. They want the guys. They want to become an attractive destination. And they're in a trade. It's L.A. They're losing. They're losing the biggest face that they've had in Kopitar and doubt he's given everything he has

but clearly he can't carry a blue line anymore. So they're in dire need of some fresh faces. Panarin, it's got a couple good years left, no question, but obviously it's still not enough. I don't think they, do you think they think that they're legit threats this year if they get in, they're only three points out of a playoff spot. You know, very realistically, could climb over Nashville, San Jose, Seattle.

You know, like there's a spot for the Kings if they play well. They're just not deep enough, right? Well, the Fiala thing is daggers. Like, they just, for a team looking for goals to lose Fiala is awful. Yeah. It's got to be hard for some clubs that sit there and go, okay, if we make it, are we pulling a Daryl Sutter here? eight days and it's over. Right.

Not the Pacific. If you can find a way into one of those top spots, then. All right. But if you play the Central, then yeah. The Pacific is currently, Vegas at 70 points, and Vegas hasn't beaten a playoff team since November 20th. That's unbelievable.

That is wild. I wrote today on Sportsnet.com. It's my trade board 5.0. We'll do another one. We'll update it throughout the week. Why? Boardman. Yeah, I'm a board man now.

Gets paid. Wait, you're just looking at me like I'm nothing but an invoice guy now, man. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. How dare I accuse Mr. Mining over here? But everybody's got to make a living. Yeah. So one of the things that I did mention is that, of course, the demand for Center Ice,

Ryan O'Reilly has made it clear, doesn't want to go anywhere. I don't know what today's loss. I don't think today's loss will change anything. For those of you that don't know, Detroit beat Nashville. Time was the puck drop, by the way. I don't know. Over breakfast, apparently.

Oh, my goodness. I looked at it. I would snuck up on us. Is it? I have a guy up there, sorry, I don't know your name, was like, it's because they wanted to be in prime time in Europe.

That's what he said. He said it was on the Detroit newspaper said that. So there you go. That's what I'm really. Let's focus on people like on this side of the land watching. Yeah. Let's make sure that the good people of Michigan are aware there's a game. But clearly with Ryan O'Reilly, Sam, Coast, and Marsha, so apparently not going anywhere,

I get Nashville salvaged something that was really ugly earlier this season. Their season was, oh, my gosh, we were looking at them going, what's going on there? And they're trying to make the playoffs. But like, where are you going? If you get there. If you get there. And so we're also going to see San Jose. They're pretty darn close.

They're right in the thick of things here. They're currently three points back with the game. So if you told me that San Jose might try to do something to get the kids, Sellebrini, Will Smith. I support that. Into a playoff situation. Let them get their feet wet. The feel for playoff hockey.

Their goal. Um, Ascarov. Ascarov. Like get him, get him a, a playoff experience. I see the value in that. Right. But like, you want to get Saros. You want to get Stamcoast some playoff experience.

Ryan O'Reilly, you know, like it'll really, it'll really help Marcia So O'Reilly and Stamcoast for the next few years when they're ready to compete. It is totally time to look around and be like, this isn't going to be good enough. we should probably get some assets back. You couldn't be more right. Couldn't be more right. Yeah, they should probably.

So Stamcoast of the Sharks? Is what you're saying? You can see it? Doesn't feel like it right now. I wanted to go on on my Pacific Division thing. So Vegas, again, hasn't won, beat a playoff team since November 20th. Anaheim ducks are one point back of the Pacific Division lead.

I watched the ducks the other night against Calgary. They are wide open. I'm like, that's a fun team. They're a blast. It's a wild ride. It is. It's a wild ride. Cutter Goce is a stout.

Two goal leads, below two goal leads. I don't want to bring it up with our earlier guest in this show. With Charlie O'Connor, who covers the flyers. But that one is incredibly regretful. Yeah, he's going to be 50 goals score next year. The guy could have easily been on Team USA.

I had him on mine. Easy. Nine shots last night. I think he's third in the league in shots. He just rips it constantly. Yeah. So Ducks one point back of Vegas, but they're no good.

they're like near the league worst in defensive metrics. They're also just really good offensively. So they're chaos. The Oilers can't win. I mean, I don't know. They're four wins in their last 10 games. They're four points out of first. Connor Murphy, that fixed it.

That'll help. And then sniffing at their heels there, San Jose, 62 points. Seattle's got 65 points. Like, that is a real. The Leafs are a playoff team on that side. You know, but we just bury them here every day. I think you mentioned it too. You don't expect Bobrowski to go anywhere.

I just, no chance to me. They don't win a Stanley Cup of the guy who's been there for 10 years and then say, oh, we got a second for him. Like this guy, they still think he can do it. I almost guarantee it. It's a bit of a factor. Florida wants to resign him for all indications, but not at the number that he's presented right now.

Right. Well, that's up to him. Do you have any guess the number? I'll guess, and I say he probably is in the six to seven range. Eight. I think he'd like a couple of years. I think he wouldn't mind 16 million over two. Yeah.

But he has not had a good year. Valley says he's not looking good. I think the number for a guy that's made a hundred million bucks. I know. If I made a hundred million bucks, I'd pay them to play another year there. Give me two more. I'll stay in the state of Florida. I'll play for five, whatever.

I'll keep taking my golf cart to practice. Yeah, get a guy behind you. You can play a bit more. Let's try to win another cop. I think the number probably could be a $3 million. What Florida would probably want is sign him to $3 million and put games play bonuses or wins bonuses and we can get you to five or five and a half if you have a great year.

Like Max Scherzer. Love that. Want to talk quick about Pedersen. I don't know if you're saying. saw his interview today. How are they going to trade him if he's not playing? Yeah, you got Scratch. What a miserable interview he gave today.

It's brutal. I mean, it's petulant, it's grumpy, it's... Did you clip any of it? Unhappy and sad. I had a hard time getting through it for over the first time. I did clip, well, because he got benched. So, yeah, foot benched him. And then, I mean, we have time to play the clips.

I don't know if we have time to play the clips. Sneak one in if we... Play foot. on benching him, if we could. Clip. I don't flip a clip. Maybe not. Okay. Anyways, he's just, the interview that he gave today was just really tough.

His time on ice is crazy, man. His last four games, 1549, 1540, 16, 25, 1420. Like, you know, they're... Maybe we had no time. All that lends me to do is just find a way to steal him. I'd go. And Alex with the Rangers, Lafranier, I'd try to steal him too.

Would too. Okay. I'm in on that one. I'd try to steal him too. No, I don't. I don't. But like we're in the eating business too, right? They can eat two million.

Everybody can eat two million. Bring Pedersen down to nine and a half. I'll have a conversation. Lafranier, bring him down to five. I'll have a conversation. Bring him. We got to go. Okay.

Our thanks to Jason Bucala. And Charlie O'Connor covering the Philadelphia Flyers. Thanks for watching. If you had a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Enjoy your night, everybody. We're back tomorrow. Real good.