Real Kyper & Bourne - Operation 'Keep Quinn Hughes Happy' in Vancouver

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a chat on the early surprises of the NHL season, including Nick Schmaltz leading the league for points for a surging Mammoth club, the Blues' slow start in the Central, and the Devils' impressive early streak. Then, Canucks Central's Dan Riccio joins the show (9:25) to share his thoughts on the Canucks' start, Quinn Hughes' injury, what the newly acquired Lukas Reichel brings to Vancouver, early returns on Adam Foote and Evander Kane, and much more. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam discuss Nazem Kadri trade landing spots and Macklin Celebrini's prospects for a spot on Team Canada at the Olympics.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.

Here we go. Hope everybody caught their breath, especially our boy Sammy. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne. Yeah, Sammy. Well-rested Sammy, I think. Jake the Snake Shilts, Derek Brandejo with you for the next two hours. We are live on Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, 960.

in Calgary and streaming, always on Sportsnet Plus. Always available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and YouTube when you don't get a chance to catch us live. This hour of Real Kippren Bourne brought you by Bet365. Plenty to catch up on, including Dan Riccio, Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Central from 4 to 6 Pacific Time, does a great job with our boy sat. And I don't know, I think pretty good overall for the Vancouver Canucks so far.

Yeah. You know, I don't know. I mean, everybody's 500, are they not? The whole league's like 500, it seems. Yeah, and I kind of like, you know, teams that are 500 right now. It's like, you're just sorting things out here. You can go either direction. There's plenty of time.

You haven't blown it. You haven't blown the golf tournament yet. Plenty of time. Sammy. Yeah. What's up, buddy? Did Sunday, like, was it a good rest day for you? Because I know, we know what's happening tonight, game three.

Yeah. Honestly, it was a fabulous day to, just get a lot of stuff done, you know, did some leaves, spent some time outside, you know, went to the grocery store. You just have a little, like, backyard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, I just little, just a little organization day. Got everything set for three straight nights of absolute torture chamber baseball.

But yeah, I mean, it was great Sunday. Not so good Saturday night. Really good Friday night. And that's that. But it's exciting. Jay's play a World Series game again tonight. Friday night, rule. I would tell you, it was very good in the building and outside.

the building afterwards. It was very, very good. It looked awesome. And you had a chance to go to game two and you, you, you slept through a call. I got a call from a close friend of mine. And, yeah, I woke up and I was like, oh, what if you were a serious sports fan, like, in terms of, like, jinxiness or whatever, you kind of screwed all of Jay's Nation. Yeah, sure.

Because you went to game one. Yeah. But honestly, I was, this is, I mean, this is really bad. I was so tired on Saturday. Like, it's just been, I was at games. You're wearing you down like a playoff. Game, I was at game six, game seven, and game one. The three best baseball games I've ever been to in chronological order,

I miss one. I got a miss one. So I did. Okay, one more of baseball. Yeah, let me have it. Are the boys going to see another stud on the mound? Because that was like, you're not supposed to finish a game. You're not supposed to complete games anymore in Major League Baseball.

I have a ton of confidence in the Blue Jays lineup. Like, I just, they've hit every single good pitcher they've had to face. playoff you know the mariners have some of the best pitchers in the american league and the jays touched them up and they were got to blake snell who was really good in the in the first in the first two rounds i would say yamamoto's a different cat fellas that's uh that's a that's a different animal i don't know what untouchable or unhittable is that's as close to it as he can but like yeah that's my my question he was laddie whiffed on three pitches in his first is bad and they said he had whiffed on two previously in the postseason i i think that that guy

I mean, for them to even scratch out or run over nine innings felt like an accomplishment. They had their chances early. He made a couple mistakes, but just when you kept them in it. When every single one of your pitches looks exactly the same coming out of the hand and they go to 15 different places, it's really hard to hit. So we'll see. But they'd have to face him again in game six potentially. So you'd like to have a lead going into that one as opposed to having to beat him to keep your season going. But we'll see.

Lots of baseball left. Tons. And in the meantime, we'll sit on Dan, who's going to join us momentarily. but out of the Vancouver Canucks we see a lineup that's scrappy Sherwood's Has he gone to another level right now? Seems like he has.

That was a pretty good find for them. Six goals on the season right now, which is awfully impressive. So, yeah, that's one of the bright spots. You know, Pedy's still below a point per game. We'll get a good weekend. He did. So we'll get some updates on where some of those guys are at.

Okay. So if we take a close look at league leaders, they're not really familiar names up around $9 or $10 million players here. Nick Schmaltz is currently tied for the NHL lead. And Utah. Yeah. The league leading Utah. That goal, Logan Cooley bumps it back to Dylan Gunther,

who bombs at home against Winnipeg. A division rival and beat them. I was kind of, that was a put the league on notice sort of game for me, where it's like, okay, could it be time for, uh, I did, two now? I did, uh, did you guys do any of those, seven straight win? Do you do those Sportsnet.c.a, like, team that will surprise you the most? Uh, yeah. Is that, did, I don't.

Did you have Utah? I did. I did. I had Utah. That's, that was a good one. I would say that, uh, just, looking at their roster, they have a lot of really fun, young, exciting players. And they have a...

I had Utah. You had Utah. Both you guys. There you go. Wow. The boys, they've all done. It's just, and they all not only to have a lot of young, exciting players, they have a war chest of assets to deal from, too, to get better. So if they're in it at the, if they're playing like this and you're heading towards the deadline, heading towards the next season, like, and they got an aggressive owner who we talk to, they're going to.

At some point, misery does pay off somewhere down. down the road with talent. Sabers fans are like, does it? It does? It wins that. But I will say, I love this because I do believe that the tear down is easy. The build back to average is relatively easy.

Now is the tough part. Okay. So you want to be a good team? You want to be a Stanley Cup contender? You have to be better than Florida was last year. Better than Vegas is, better than the Oilers are, better than Carolina, better than the devils. How do you get there?

from Peturka Keller, Genther Schmaltz. Hey, these guys are buzzing. But can you use, to your point, Sammy? They got six picks in the first three rounds of the next draft. Six picks. Can you turn? There'll be some flipping. Yeah.

Can they turn that into? They should. And they've got an owner who I think is itching to spend. Oh, yeah. He'd love for them to go up. We've got to get our boy back on. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to come on. Yeah.

Yeah. We didn't do our golf trip there this time. We missed out on that one. Hey, we took that one away. Oh, yeah. It's still there. Yeah, it's still there. Still there.

We'll play it. Yeah. Absolutely. No, they got a lot of good things going for them right now. The, you know, in terms of surprises, if you look around the standings, like, because Utah is good, you knew Dallas is good, you knew Colorado is good. Like Minnesota Wild, 3, 5, and 2, blues, 3, 4, and 1. And obviously, the flames, 271, but they're off a big win. And the blues?

Not a good start. No, not a good start for a team that's good. The Central is loaded. I'm like, I'm waiting to see the team that played Winnipeg Jets in that really exciting first round that. They essentially won until they somehow didn't.

Until it got like the rug right out from under their feet. That was an absolute rug pull. Rug pull. Yeah, I'm just looking at the Eastern Conference standings too. From last place until, you know, until the third in the Metropolitan is all eight to ten points. Yeah. There's a lot of mid going on out there right now, except the New Jersey Devils.

They are not bent. No, they have won eight in a row. Yeah. And maybe getting faster. I mean, that's a big win. To beat Colorado, like they, you know, Jack Hughes again. They, yeah, it looks like Sheldon maybe, made a pretty good choice to go there. He's a pretty good coach.

I know. That's what I mean. But it is crazy. You look at the Atlantic where the Leafs are at. Sabers 9 points, Ottawa 9 points, Leaves 9 points, Tampa 8 points, Boston 8 points. Yeah. That's tight. Tampa got them dig themselves a little bit out on the weekend.

How are they 4? Sorry, they're 3, 4 and 2. Yeah. Yeah. They won both games. So that's another one where they're, it's only a matter of time. before they start looking like a team that's most picked to win the Atlantic. You would think we would learn to not overreact after Edmonton last year.

What was Edmonton? Three in ten? I don't know. They were bad. No. They weren't that bad. No, the year before when they fired Woodcroft, whatever year was, that wasn't last year. That was the year before.

I keep getting my slow starts mixed up. But that one, they were off. They were like five and 12 or five and third. Like, they were really, really bad when they five. But we didn't think they were bad. I said they were going to miss class. Yeah. I'm an idiot, though.

All right. Let's welcome in, Dan, Danny, Richieo, Vancouver Canucks Central 4 to 6 p.m. Does a terrific job with Sad. How are you, Dan? Doing good, fellas. How are you doing? We're good. So we're just talking about many amongst the National Hockey League

bouncing around 500. How excited is 500 for Vancouver fans right now? Well, it's not incredibly excited. you know, Quinn Hughes was hoping for a six and four, seven and three start, as he mentioned before the season. So the first targets already missed in keeping the captain happy sort of season that the Canucks have going on. And I'd say the first eight games, there was a lot that you're kind of wondering, where is this going? It doesn't feel all that good. And then, you know, these last two over the weekend, even though they blew it against Montreal and almost blew it again last night. I think you started to see a little bit more of what Adam Foote wants this team to play like. So I think coming out of the weekend you got a few more positives but the injury bug is just crushing this team right now tell us about the injury situation where are they at well obviously uh the last one last night with quid hughes day to day i mean we've seen with this team sometimes the uh injury notes that they give us aren't always the most accurate you know Derek forbert at the start of the season was a maintenance day

and then now he's out week to week and he's been out for three weeks so it's kind of the same with that But with Hughes, I think, you know, he can manage the pain. He did it all year last year. If they say day-to-day with Hughes, I imagine he's going to be back pretty quickly. It's a matter of how quickly can they get him back into the lineup. And if he can, you know, get back to playing like he can be in a heart trophy candidate like he was last year, because we haven't seen that version of Hughes so far this year. Is there a sense of what is it that's plaguing him and is it a recurring thing?

Is it something that he's just going to have to manage from here on end? or is this something new? Yeah, it's a lower body injury. You missed four minutes, the third period on Saturday. It was kind of looking through to see what it might have been on the video, but nothing really that tells too much. So right now we're getting lower body injury, and I imagine he's going to, like most guys,

going to have to manage things through the year. I mean, the Canucks have played seven games in the last 11 nights after last night. And the schedule, I mean, we knew it was going to be brutal, but now that we've gotten into the season and we're actually seeing how rough it is. I mean, the games are coming hot and heavy. So I imagine it's going to be something he has to manage through the year. So because there were some injuries earlier in the season, particularly down the middle,

Heedle, Blugher, the Canucks went out and got Lucas Reichel traded a fourth round pick for Reichel. What were your initial reactions to that trade? Is it something that you think makes the team better? Well, his debut over the weekend was pretty strong. Even last night, you know, he hasn't played much center, but he was good in the dot last night against the Oilers. So some positives there. He brings a lot of speed. And in that way, he's kind of like Philippeitel in that got a lot of speed through the neutral zone can really bring

some speed and skill to this Canucks lineup. And they're going to need that. I don't think it solves all of their issues through the middle of the ice right now. I mean, you've got Pedersen that Adam Foote is having to lean on a ton in every situation on the PK, defensive zone faceoffs, taking the other team's tubs. With Teddy Bluger out of the lineup, you don't have that defensive minded kind of center. They're really relying on some young guys here. And it puts a lot on Pedersen. Reichael doesn't solve some of those issues. He's not the most defensively aware guy. This is somebody that's supposed to help them on the offensive end of the rink. So for Patrick Alvin in the front office, it's obvious that they're still looking for somebody that can help

Pedersen on the defensive end of the ice. So they can get their star center to play in more advantageous situations rather than having to always take those tough minutes defensively. You're watching and listening to Dan Riccio Canucks Central, 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific time. So Dan is, P.D. had a good weekend, I think. He was involved. We saw him carrying the puck. We saw him shooting the puck. Is there a sense that he's digging himself out of this prolonged feel of not being our superstar? It was the most promising weekend of Elias Patterson's game. in the last 18 months. Like really since he signed a contract Saturday.

That's all. I mean, he had one three-point game last year. It was three assists against Detroit. I think it was December 1st. And even that game, I mean, it wasn't like you saw old Elias Pedersen. It was, you know, he had three assists. And one of them was in overtime and Jake DeBruster's scoring a beautiful goal. So you haven't seen a version of Pedersen where he looked like this game breaker that we

gotten so used to seeing him be in 18 months. Really, since he signed that contract. That's crazy to say. It's crazy to think for a guy that's getting paid the money that he is, but that's where we're at with Elias Pedersen. And it's as good a sign as they've had, because even in the first bit of the season, he doesn't look like a gamebreaker. And the way that this team is built, you need Thatcher Demko to be a game breaker. You need Quinn Hughes to be a game breaker. And obviously, you need Elias Pedersen to be that game breaker. If that doesn't happen, it's going to be hard to keep Quinn Hughes happy. It's going to be hard to see this team make the playoffs. So with Pedersen, finding a new gear offensively, you saw the one-timer last night on the

power play. That's been absent from his game over the last little while, too. These are all incredibly positive signs for this team. And you just hope that he keeps building on it. You hope that, you know, a couple of nights where the confidence gets shot again doesn't send him into a tailspin. And that's what's kind of worrying about this situation is like, why haven't we been able to see this player for as long as it's been, but you have to just take with the positives right now and hope that he can continue building off this because this was a really promising weekend for him. Well, that's a bright spot in one of the ways that they could be better from last year. Adam Foote takes over for Rick Tocket. Are you able to see a difference? And I guess what

would those differences be, if any, from Adam Foote to previous regimes that have been behind the bench. I got to be honest, the first few games of the season, I wasn't, I wasn't very pressed. It was, it was not looking good. The, the process was not there. But, you know, the calling card of the team under Rick Talk, it was defensive structure, right? And people got tired of it. They wanted to see the team play a little bit better offensively. Once all this dump and chase and, you know, play some more exciting hockey. Let your offensive players do their thing. And, you know, that just, you know, that just.

just wasn't Rick Fockett's style of hockey. And he didn't think that this team had it in them to play any other way that they were good enough necessarily to play any other way, especially when they didn't have Quinn Hughes on the ice. Now, Foot, he's talked a big game about being more aggressive and doing some different things, but the defensive structure hasn't been good. They haven't generated a ton offensively. So when you think of it that way, it's like, what exactly are you building here. And I haven't seen much of an identity developing for the team with Adam foot. Saturday comes. They really outchanced, really played maybe their best game five on five against the habs, blew it on the penalty kill, which has been brutal so far this year.

But some really positive things developing as you're starting to see a harder forecheck. You're starting to see the team play with more success through the neutral zone and a bit better defensively. They didn't really give the HABs much at five on five. So there's some real positives coming out of the weekend. Last night's tough to judge without Quinn Hughes, but I'm hoping they're finding their game a little bit. Good. Are you enjoying the view? Can you see

Kimmer? Did we lose Kipper? What is going on here? I'm just I'm not handling the camera. As I can assure you, I was just literally just looking at an Austin Matthews chart. And I DM somebody like, can you explain this to me? And then it's me? We're like, are we back here? What's

going on? I'm there? I thought we were floating up to the ceiling. Yeah, he's back. All right. Let's talk about Kiefer for a little while here and what you've seen out of him and this next level stuff. Can it continue? Is he, is he ready now to go to the next level?

He feels like he's taking a step. You know, that goal last night, he made, he made Echholm look like a pile on, you know, in that first goal that he scored. It's pretty impressive what he's done. I think the shooting percentage, it was good last year. And even this year, you know, it's like over 30% right now. He's kind of like, he's the Ernie Clement of the Canucks right now. Just everything he touches finds a hole in the outfield.

And Kiefer Sherwood's case, it finds twine. Everything he puts towards the net just finds the back of it. And it's impressive. You know, he gets all over the ice. He's hitting everybody. You love to see this kind of a player on your team. And that he's bringing some added offense is a bone. is that I'm not sure the Canucks banked on this when they signed him for two years at 1.5 per a couple

years ago. But now you're kind of in that territory where it's like, all right, like we like a lot of this, but do we want to commit to four years around four million or maybe it's even a touch more than that? They've approached Sherwood over the summer and talked contract a little bit. I don't think either side felt that the numbers were aligning at the time. And with the way Sherwood's playing, you know, his stock's going up and his price is going up. But, you know, his player is going to be in his 30s as much as you're really liking what you're seeing and what you're getting out of him, the commitment to a term deal and a much higher number is something. I don't think the Canucks have yet been convinced that it's, it's the right

thing to do. But with him, if he continues playing like this, I think you may not have any other choice. I agree with that. Like the caps going up, you got to keep good players. Well, to me, it's similar to Dakota Joshua, guys. Like, they, you know, Joshua had that 18-goal season with the Canucks when they won the Pacific Division. He was hitting everything. He's a good power forward, sticks up for his teammates and all that. And obviously there was some injury reasons as to why it didn't work out last year and why eventually got traded to the Leafs. But, you know, that was a good player that they committed to on a four-year term.

And it kind of bit them a little bit. And when you're looking at, okay, what are we going to have to pay Hughes as they still think about that and have to think about that? and have to think about that. We want to add a top six talent, want to add a top six center. You kind of don't want to bite yourself with too many guys making that the money in the middle range of four or five million bucks

that can kind of weigh down your cap, especially if they don't live up to it. Well, Alvin, and maybe Rutherford can look at Connor Brown leaving the Edmonton Oilers and going to New Jersey and what he's doing for them right now and adding. So that's the type of situation that you're dealing with. you know, in all probability, you lose them, your team's not going to be as good. It's actually funny because, like, the middle class has kind of been, like, laughed off as like,

oh, you need the stars, then you fill in cheap. And it's like, we can get some pretty good middle road players, it helps too, right? I mean, it's tough to know who's the right guy and who isn't. Yeah, speaking of, in the league now, too, like, with the cap going up, the middle guys are going to get paid more. But, you know, 32 teams already talk of expansion even more so, guys, you know, like, teams are having to keep their talent because there's just such a lack of talent available in free agency or in trade teams are just too reluctant to give it up uh dan speaking of uh connor brown's ex team uh your your thoughts on the edmonton oilers and they're their slow start yeah i don't know uh exactly what's going on

with uh the two big guns they have on defense um well more so at coleman and bouchard i mean it's just been a highlight reel of not very good for those two guys at home you kind of expect it to be a lot better but last night was was not great um he's supposed to be their defensive stopper supposed to be the guy that settles down evan bouchard on that right side as a pair and he just hasn't been very good um it might be you know a little bit of early season we've been to the cup back to back do i really have the same intensity motivation to play at that level right now and that might play a part of it it's been a annual thing for the oilers that they just aren't very good out of the gate. So I imagine that has something to do with it. But I'd be, you know, I know

Connor's only got the one goal so far, but I'd be more concerned about what's going on defensively for that group. Yeah. Well, that's interesting. Maybe I'll, I'll get you to kind of carry on with the Pacific Division because trying to size up where the Canucks are at in that division compared to the competition. You know, Seattle's off to a weirdly good start. I think Vegas is legit. The Kings, I'm less sold on. Where do you see the top of the Pacific right now? I still do think, obviously, Vegas looks like they're going to run away with it right now. Edmonton will get up there. They'll find their groove over the course of the season. But for me, if you want to make the playoffs out of the Pacific Division, I think it's going to have to be in that third spot because you look at Utah and what they're doing in the Central.

Yeah, the Central is brutal. Yeah, you already got Colorado, Dallas, and Winnipeg there. So you might get five teams out of the Central in the playoffs over in the Western Conference. And I think the Canucks, I call it coming into the season, they're going to be battling with L.A. for that third spot in the division. Is Seattle ready to keep this up over the course of the year? I think it's going to depend on their young guys. You know, they've, Jane Wright seems like he's taking a step. And Maddie Baneers, after kind of getting a bit of a sophomore slump and signing that his own big contract and not really living up to it, he seems to be finding his footing as well. For me, it comes down to the third spot in the division. Can, can the Canucks really step into that? right now it's it's kind of going to be a I don't know if a turtle derby for it is going to be the best the best way to describe it but I'm not too sure I see where the great team is outside of Vegas and Edmonton is in that Pacific division as far as goal tending you think they're just going to they have no choice but to sit on Skinner and Pickard with Edmonton yeah I think maybe you hope Connor Iman Connor Ingram can figure it out at some point and and maybe find some of his game that he had a couple of years ago with Arizona and with Utah. So I don't know what it is with Edmonton. You know you have to figure this spot out. There's not enough goalies to go around across the league. Should they have made a bigger play for

John Gibson or cap situation doesn't really allow it? Skinner and Pickard is clearly not the answer. You need something a little bit more back there. But I also see the other side of it where it's like, well, there's no really great goalie for us to go out and acquire. So what are we supposed to do? It's a really difficult spot. They kind of just have to hope that one of these guys finds a groove until something opens up that meets their standards with trade acquisition costs, but also fits in their cap situation.

You're just kind of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with how to fill this spot on their roster. And I just, I don't see how they do it. Reach well, just with Edmonton in mind and thinking about the. Canucks, how has the addition of Evander Cain worked out so far? Canucks fans okay with things? Uh, yeah. It's been tough go so far for Evander.

I thought he was better last night, but, um, we were going to say he's added. He's just the aura of him too, right? Yeah. I mean, you got to look over your shoulder every time he's on the ice no matter what. It's an element for the Canucks. Yeah, he's, he's added a little bit more physically, right? Like, there's been some games where he really steps in with a, big hit and changes the momentum, which is kind of what you want to see. But they need some goals

out of guys. He's got zero so far through the first 10. And he's, he's had his fair share of looks. He just hasn't been able to finish. Last night was a step in a better direction. It's kind of a Vander Cain, though. Like he takes some bad penalties that frustrate you. When he's on his game, he will wow you. You just haven't seen enough of the wows so far for the Canucks. Great stuff, Dan. We really appreciate your time, man. Thanks for doing this. Yeah, fellas, any time. Thanks, reach, appreciate it. Dan Riccio, Canucks Central, 4 to 6, Pacific.

Yeah, Seattle's a weird team. You mentioned that, and I was kind of looking at their roster going, like, how are they off to a good start? Can I tell you why? Please. Because they've got a coach. Yeah? Yeah, they've got a coach.

And his attention to detail is, like, night and day from what they had, especially the last. All before, it's Lane Lambert now? No, it was Disco Dan. Bilesma. Right? And listen, I don't want to knock on the guy, but like, I don't know where that signing came from.

Yeah. Well, he was the coach of the team. Sure, okay. And they were having some of the same guys coming up, and they wanted to do the John Cooper thing. We never dropped his name as a legitimate contender anywhere else. No. And he just the attention to detailed, my original point,

is not anywhere near what they're getting now. And they just look like they're structurally sound for me. And to reach his point, like, not talking about the cracking like anyone cares, but Baneers is better and right is better. Those are nice surprises for them. Like that marchments there now, Stevenson's all right. They still may be missing a pure, pure shooter.

Like Eberley scored a couple of nice goals there. But I think as far as putting the puck in the net, need some help. They're going to need to get a little deeper. That Berkeley Caton's on the top line. You know who interesting me? I looked up as Yanny Neiman that they had 21 years old, 6-4-220, scored 30 times in the American League last year. He might be a hot player. They just drafted him

in the second round. And Marchmont's given them. Yeah. Like, we're talking about Evander Kay. And he's a guy that has to, you have to look over the shoulder. Sorry to bring up the Leafs in the National Hour. No, why didn't a lot of teams take him when Dallas came away. Nothing.

No, they trade the Morgon. They got Morgon. No, no, the lease. Buddy, I know what the Leafs trade for. I meant what did the Cracken cheer for? I think it was money. Yeah, for Dallas, it was freeing up some money. But, no, I mean, like, they trade, like, I don't know,

it just felt like a guy that the would have been a perfect fit for what the Leaves kind of need. Yeah. And I just, you know, I watched. And they invested a bunch of time and money into them. Well, it's a different. And then they're like, all right. Nah. Let's trade it for the Swiss League MVP.

So, I don't know, I just Finish the conversation on the Kinex We were talking about it there. It's Quinn Hughes thing, him banged up. This is definitely a thing with him now, I like that he's a, not, wouldn't go as far as to say Band-Aid, but he does go in and out of the lineup a lot,

and it feels like he's banged up quite a bit. It's just... I don't know if it's, like, it's something always new with him, or is there just something that... Last year, I think it was lower body, too, right? I would say the thing that scares me most is the phrase, manage it. Like, you're just going to have it all year

and, try to have it that's always terrifying is that means something he he's 82 well last year he missed a bunch of time yeah last year he missed 14 games yeah yeah but he's been okay but this is a team that cannot go four games without him missing

no he is the most important like if you're going to power rank guys that are most important to their team in the league I think he'd probably number one would be really tough to challenge that I mean well maybe jack use maybe Connor McDavid He's pretty good Yeah but You pick him more

Because it's such a drop off From him to Petey right now But you know If McDavid David drops off There's dry sidel still And Nate McKinnon probably

But there's Macar Also Quinn plays 26 a night I think it's I actually do think it's Quinn here It is because there's There's nothing else Because he's He's way up here

and then there's a drop-off. You know what I hate, though? I don't like that, like, you know, Reach has to set it up. Like, this is his, the keep Quinn Hughes happy season. Hughes wanted a six and four or a seven and three start. Hughes wanted this.

Like, you know, anytime you have the whole organization trying to be like, oh, are the grapes peeled enough for you? Will you please stay? It's like in a relationship. If you have to do that, they don't like you.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Like, if you have to be like, But if you really love them, you've got to try. I don't think that's how it works. It's going to end badly. No? I don't know. If he's signing another contract, I don't think it's going to be some eight-year

it's going to be very similar to what McDavid is probably. That's interesting. Do you think? Yeah, I think I hadn't thought about it that. Yeah, I think in a perfect world, whether you're Vancouver, Edmonton, you just, no matter where you are in the standing, four and four or six and four, you just want to hear out of a guy. I love it here.

I want to stay. I hope we can get a eight-year deal on the table and live happily ever after. Like, it's almost as if those days are kind of gone with a few guys. You know, part of me as a hockey fan, I kind of like that. I like that it's like, you know, the NBA has such thrilling player movement. Things are changing all the time. I don't. But there's somewhere in the middle between the NHL and the NBA.

But Conner's two-year contract with no raise has just left more speculative. now, including do you like it here? Do you want to stay? Those questions never got to answer. And I've said this before, and I'm not saying the leaps are different. I think Austin Matthews is the same way. And Quinn Hughes has got that same thing.

Everybody, like me, like me, like us. Just like us, please say something. And I don't know, you're right. Maybe Matthews, maybe Matthews is a year or two away from making leave fans wonder if he stays going. 100% think we're 2 years away from that. Yeah.

Right? I mean, I, what do you get the ring on today? I don't know. He just warred. I was going to say, you guys had a big function tonight? No, no. Usually come in here. You've got a suit in the ring on.

I'm like, oh, he's going to me. No, no, no. Going to kiss some babies. Yeah. I think there's a mystery there. And, of course, there's always, for these guys, I think their feeling is I'm going to make my money no matter what,

so I don't have to commit to it in one particular spot right now if I feel like I don't want to stay. And at the same time, I think as fans, it's okay to not care as much about the details. Just enjoy the team you have. Roof for this team. It's tough to know where it's going to go. You can't predict if they're going to stay, you leave,

so why worry about it? But that's not sports fandom. You're always looking ahead. And you're always... But not three, four years. Because that's half a career, it's not. Well, with Quinn. It's 18 months.

Yeah. For who, Quinn? Yeah. Quinn's a different name. Like, I know Connor's on three, technically. But if. Not technically. He is on three.

Okay, he's on three. Technically, he's on three. Yes, he's on three. He's on a two-year contract. He has this one, yeah. But if the first or the second year go south, you and you and, He ain't getting to the third. What?

Why wouldn't they just... You think he's... Just keep him through the three more kicks at the can here, Cap. I think if this year doesn't go well and next year doesn't go well, and then you're going to win the cup in their third year? If it just... Maybe. If it looks like the team's still heading south?

I don't know. He set it up so he could bail. Did he not? Wasn't there the window? Isn't that the whole reason behind just a two-year deal is, for the window. I think the whole, I mean, if the window closes,

if the window closes, you think he's sticking around? No. Okay, that's my point. But I don't think the window's going to close in two years. Okay. Do you? All I know is,

I think it's a possibility. I've been a giant, like, hey, believer or whatever, but if Eckholm's not good, they're in real trouble. And Bouchard could stand to look a little better too. They're also not, like, some of these up-and-comer teams here

that have some, young talent that are maturing plus they got a boatload of assets and i'm edmonton does no oh sorry the teams underneath them now that are starting to push up oh yeah they all they've got young superstars and they've got assets and they're going to flip them and i don't know what's left really in edmonton and toronto for assets now you you guys keep telling me that the leaps are going to go out there and they're going to go get this big winger and I keep asking you how they're 2038 first round pick by no problem 2037 too no one trades for those because they're useless to the general manager I wouldn't say they're useless useless are you sure about

that the NBA wouldn't useless I mean I don't want to go to doom and gloom here but you wouldn't want to have a Leafs 2028 for a show and pick? Oh, great. Tell me who wants it. Like, anybody. Great pick to have. Leifes 2028. Who's going to trade for that pick? Tell me. Craig Conroy for Nazim Kadri. I don't know. I don't know.

I just throwing a name out there. I'm saying, and Sam is saying, the Leafs could very well be bad very soon. And if that's true, that's a good pick. But there's nobody that can top that pick. Oh, well, there's lots of teams. Well, then I'm telling you it's useless. Yeah, that's fair. Okay.

That's fair. Why would I go and get that pick when I can go get one this year or next year? Because you're forecasting that a team that has already looked shaky may not be as good in a couple of years and it may be a higher pick than they anticipated. Conroy needs to wonder if he's going to be around to pick it. Listen, you're right. I get it. I get it your point.

Your point is that the Leafs aren't going to trade or something. My point in all of this is that the Leafs in Edmonton, they don't have much more in the cupboard to go and prove much more than This. Yeah. That's my whole point in all of this. Yeah. And that's,

this has been really good. I'll remind you. That's why. That's why Connor maybe just be looking at, okay, let's see how this year goes or next year before I even think about. Yeah. Listen to you.

You're all hot and heavy for the fantasy land of these teams coming up from the bottom and flipping them. But like, hey, it's tough to get there. I know. It's been the Stanley Cup final with this team, two years in a row.

The odds of going three in a row. I mean, it's hard, right? But you bet on the teams have been better. The Florida's been, there three in a row. Yeah.

I'd rather take them than Utah. Lots of work ahead. Emeroni. Eight games in. Yeah. All right. Let's take a quick break.

We'll pick up on Calgary and Nazim Kodry. Elliot put some news out there this weekend about a possible trade. If so, when we'll discuss when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne. Hey, it's Aylish Forafar.

And I'm Justin Cuthbert. Join us as we discuss the most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the fan pregame. 6 p.m. weekdays on sports stats, sports at 590 the fan and wherever you get your podcast. A reminder of this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to by Bet 365. Nickyprio's Justin Boren, Sammy McKee.

So the flames will not trade it. Asim Cadre before game number 1,000, which is six from now. That's so nice to them. Yeah, that's courteous, I suppose. Very sweet. It'd be very funny to trade

him before and be past the cost of the silver stick onto the new organization. Those things are a thousand bucks. You pick it up. Yeah, those boys can buy him. Keep going. Those boys can buy him a watch. 10, 20? They can buy him a roll. It doesn't matter. I mean, that's hell of an accomplishment for a guy that

He should have played a thousand years. Great to have it happen in Canada. I don't see him getting traded till after the new year. I don't get a sense that this is going to happen anytime soon. I could be wrong completely. If I were him, I'd be like, if we're doing this, can I just get started somewhere else? Like, I'd like to set up my place before playoffs. That may be the case for sure.

I just, I don't know whether or not, you know, money's a factor here. like he makes seven so how much do you want the other team to eat how much they want to take on now compared to maybe getting through the season a little bit more without them i had it yep it's always a factor guys burn more money take it as far as you can before you you add it all on but yeah i could see that kept i don't see the one thing is that like playoffs and the playoff races are really tight and last year the calgary flames missed the playoffs they tied for the final playoff spot 96 points and they didn't get in yeah these points are crucial if you think you need cadry to help you i don't want to wait till march to get cadre i want to start getting those points but you

watch him on the weekend too and he's still so good and he's exciting and he brings joy to your season ticket holders and your team the teammates and it's a timing issue here i i i believe he's going to get traded this season yes like pre-deadline yes yeah but not within the next two weeks you got to still sell a lot of popcorn in that building and he's an exciting player yeah that's a really good point i could see calgary being like listen we're two seven and whatever yeah we're trying to not abandon the season ticket holders here it's always a factor for sure actually Actually, the more I think about it, there's no way they're trying to now. Right?

Like, that organization is one that needs some people to come to the games. Not now. Can I ask about two separate destinations for Asim Kadri? And neither of them are Canada. Neither of them are Toronto. Okay. First one. Florida.

Ew. I hate that. No Barkov. She hadn't said that. They had the cap space. But Barkov's, I believe, coming back. Before the playoffs start? Well, it all depends on what they've done, right?

If you're telling me that they want a centerman now, they probably do. Then it's just a matter of balancing whatever you have to do come game one. Yeah. I mean, the new playoff salary cap definitely hurts that. Yeah, but I mean, at the same time, you could picture that. They send out some contracts the other way and you could see that maybe more of a hockey trade. I'll tell you the team Devils

Okay Carolina Carolina Yeah Yeah Really You just guessed that Or you

I guessed it because I think they're Yeah The best team in the league Or the top three And I know they're competitive And they're looking They're just Constantly

Looking And They feel like they fell short On Rantinen And they just can't Get enough offense in playoffs, right? Their scoring goes.

Yes. The big Aho and Svetnikov are so good, but they're 80 point guys. 80, you know, they're not. I know Codry's that too, but you'd rather have a lot of 80 points. They are in the must-win mode right now, Carolina. Yeah. Yeah, they're there. It's really funny, you know, that Carolina team.

Rod Brindamore's been there, I want to say eight years or something. They've won a playoff around, seven years. They've won a playoff round every single year he's been there. You know, tough to say. see that's like a must win team when they've got a they've got a lot of really good players but it feels like their destiny is blow through the metro and lose to florida every year but maybe this is a different year does that's i think they know they need high end i my only question of that one is i don't know that cadry's good enough to solve the problem they're trying to get

solved but i would say that a lot of times when they've run up against florida in the playoffs they've been run through by florida's uh pugilance yeah yeah pugnacity whatever it is they've been run through by that and you at least can sell yourself that he's going to be able to answer that a little bit right oh no he's the interesting what about the mammoth he's got the sandpaper for sure mammoth for nas that's interesting that's one of those places that like i want utah to do good but i don't want them to take players i enjoy watching because i don't watch them a ton maybe i will start now if they're going to start being competitive but as of right now they get the 15th place.

What do you think, Keper, what do you think Conroy is looking for in a deal for him? Futures or players? A blue chip prospect. Okay. Right? Okay. So I think, I think a first round or a blue chip prospect, you know, is it two or three pieces depending on how good the two pieces are if you need to add a third one?

They have them straight up for Cowan today. the leaves happened if they said here's Cowan today I think Craig Conroy would Drive him in a stretch limo Cadry to Toronto for Cowan. You'd have to retain with that too. Maybe I mean you had to drive

another brand new open gardener. Drive him right down the gardener. It's wide open. Cadreys 35 or 36? 35. They'd launch him in a catapult across the province. You got one blue chip prospect in your in your cupboard, you're the leaves, you're

going to give it up for naz at this point at this point you would i don't think that's selling completely out can i tell you i'd have a it'll be a long meeting yeah there'd be a lot of people there we'd be some chas but there'd be some there's some teams that have two or three of those that they can dangle and they're in a better position to make the trade certainly and that's that's the challenge but you know montreal's another one we hear a little bit they would love a second line centerman right behind Suzuki. Yeah, you can picture that time. But is Cadry again

at 35 years of age in that window now for Montreal to win now? Yeah. I don't think so. No. To me that one just doesn't make enough sense where I see Montreal currently. Like, they're getting better.

Dobson made sense for them because of his age and their whole thing like that, that works. Someone like Cadre would be like, well, maybe you think a little too. too highly yourself um could could could the la kings right i mean there's a lot byfield a lot of teams that would know and then copatar who's retired who's on this retirement tour oh boy right again yeah Craig conroy should be they could use some help down the middle um speaking of blue chip prospects celebrini oh boy did you want that that that overtime winner is as

unique a release as I can remember seeing a guy. Well, what I love about the OT winner, A, he just raw outskates a guy. Fast. Which is really nice to see. But also that he shot it from distance, which is a really clever shot. It's not just like, check out what I can do. I'm an Instagram, like, you know, the whole everyone made for his egress for years. It's like, this guy's purpose-driven hockey player. It's a shot through your

stride, which is really hard to pick up. Really hard. That was brilliant. So the next natural question, I don't know if we've talked about it yet, we might have. For me, it's getting closer and closer to being on Team Canada. Okay. I listen to a lot of people sit and they look at the points and they look at and they're like, oh, yeah, he's on the team. That's not the way a team's built.

It's, you're going to ask. You don't need fast defensively responsible snipers that are. Defensively responsible now. He is. He is. That's part of his calling card is stick checks and his back. He's a really, he's not going to be on the first line, Kip, but a guy that can contribute. I don't know.

I've not seen enough, you give me eight games, and now he's Selky, trophy, shut down guy. That's what I said. That's exactly what I said. He said he's just, I said he's defensive responsible. Really, Sam, really. But everybody's talking about the offense and how great he is and how many points he's gone. And everybody's going to go expect him to go bump who out of the lineup to play power play. Well, that's, that's, I mean, Mark Stone's not going to be on the team.

Is he hurt? Yeah, he's banged up. I'm not saying he can't get himself on the team. I'm just sitting there going. I think he's on the team. You just, where are you going to, where would you slot him today? Well, what's hard is, okay, so you take the four nations face off team. And then you go, who you're taking off?

Travis Kineckney, probably coming off. Brad Marchand? No, because he was one of the guys, right? Wasn't he one of the first, whatever, that got named? But not for the Olympics. I think they, maybe not. No. So Brad Marchand is maybe, after that, it's like Seth Jarvis.

Sam Bennett. Can I watch three months, please? I'm just saying there's like two guys you might take off the team. And the guys in wait, it's like Mark Schifley didn't make it. You want Mark Schifley on the team? Yeah, I want Mark Schifley and Celebrini. And Celebrity. One too, bang, bang.

But if I had to pick one right now, I'm taking Mark Schifley. Yeah, but we said we would get to pick two. So I take those two. Well, listen, there's a list and I'd have to go to the article I wrote, but there's a lot of good guys vying for those spots. There are a ton. Experience and, you know, big game stuff. Like, I think Celebrini is going to be a fringe guy, a cusp guy. I don't know.

Devastatingly fast. Got all the tools. Played with Sid at the World Championship. Sid had nothing but great things to say about him. My gut right now is, yeah. Yeah, me too. But it's going to be last guy, plays 12 minutes a night. Yeah, that's fine.

And I also think if it's between him and someone else, you want him there getting the experience, as it looks like we're heading into an era of consistent international play. You want him a part of the whole program from the, from the jump? Yeah. All I know is that he's, I think back to 2006 when they didn't take Sid, they didn't take Eric Stahl, they took old guys that were slower and whatever and it just didn't, it didn't work out. There's no question.

He's going to be a special player. He's amazing. He's my, honestly, he's on my short list of favorite players to watch. You know, for Seth Jarvis right now, lighting it up. Seth Jarvis is unbelievable. Yeah, he's there. I know, but he was like a kind of a borderline kind of guy. and now he's just a house on fire.

Hey, you know who wasn't on the team last year? Also Shifley? Sirelli. Is he going to replace? Give me Slaugrini over Suzuki. 100%. All right, Celebrini over Suzuki from McKee. Easy.

And I love Suzuki. Own Sound attack legend. Big Suzuki guy. But Celebrity is just better. Wyatt Johnston, Mark Stone. Robert Thomas, Tom Wilson. Yeah, Suzuki. Depends what you're building.

You like Suzuki. I do. Yeah. For Team Canada. Yeah, he's starting to. He's a good player. He's starting to give me that Patrice Bergeron vibes. What's really changed for me was the end of last season

where they needed every point they could get. And when the game was close, he made plays for them. All right, this conversation isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Big E on the other side of the door. Eric Lindros, when we return in studio as we get ready to raise some money Easter Seals will tell you all about it but the boys are going to play

a little leaf edition as well don't go away