Real Kyper & Bourne - Pettersson Signs & Devils Ditch Lindy

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the Canucks locking up Elias Pettersson to an 8-year extension over the weekend and they compare the contract terms to William Nylander's. They are joined by SN650's Satiar Shah (3:19), who shares his thoughts on Pettersson's extension, where the team is on a Guentzel trade, other targets at the deadline and who from the lineup is dispensable. Then, they are rejoined by Sam McKee to react live to the Devils parting ways with Lindy Ruff. Finally, news & notes - the idea of an NHL play-in tourney, the Penguins transitioning to full-out sellers and the Hanifin to Tampa Bay rumours growing stronger.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 i'm shocked are you with us shocked by are you with us oh it's time it is time welcome into the real kipper and born show this is the national edition of our show we are live on sportsnet sportsnet 650 in vancouver sportsnet 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 in a few minutes we're going to be joined by sat shaw host of canucks central canucks game host we'll talk about pd and his new eight year 9.8 million dollar contract and what this does for the Vancouver Canucks moving forward. What are you looking at me confused for?

$9.8 million contract? $92.8. Yeah, there we go. What did I say? $9.8. So he signed for just over a million. That was the delay. The Canucks couldn't believe how low he was willing to go.

He's like, please don't trade me to Carolina with all those fins. I'll take nothing. I'll take nothing. I'll take nothing. So are you debating this because you've got that Willie Nylander versus Pedersen kind of comparison? Make no mistake, it's all about the Leafs here for Sammy. I don't know. They put me on national radio and television,

but I am a Dumbo Leaf fan after all. And I just, I thought about, I saw it, and I saw that it's an extremely similar number to Willie's contract. me on national radio and television but i am a dumbo leaf fan after all and i just i thought about i saw it and i saw that it's an extremely similar number to willie's contract uh point you know a hundred thousand bucks more a year yeah i and i was wondering who is better it's pd right i told you my my pd is he a hundred thousand dollars better or is he well more five hundred thousand dollars more than i told you my take on it was that Petey went, I'm definitely more valuable as a centerman who's younger than that guy.

Three years younger. So I want more than him. But I also don't want to call a ton of attention to myself and make a big scene here. So just give me more. Can the Leafs get one of those guys? Just 11-6 is fine. I think you got to push for more.

But it really... There was a sense that Vancouver just really forced them here and then there was that whole kind of public persona out there I think the fans were getting a little tired of Petey what do you mean?

like you want to stay you want to go, why are you so coy like if they're offering you close to $12 million, why aren't you taking it? Now you run the risk of being too greedy. He started to feel it. I'm surprised to hear you say that. Vancouver fans are very measured.

There's a PR aspect to this, though. And, I mean, I don't blame them for getting uptight. The days of these type of guys going into contract years and being coy or worse, misleading or downright lying, they're over. The fans are going to hold their feet to the fire. Oh my God. Look at John Tavares. That went well. Right?

Yeah. Like, will that guy be able to walk into that building after he retires? Probably eventually. Vince is getting love in Toronto again. But there will be all, there'll always be that film. Oh yeah.

And there'll be lots of people who never forgive him for sure. All right. Let's welcome in Sat. Host of boys. Canucks Central. How are you, pal? Doing great. How are you guys doing? We're awesome.

So everything's all good again, right? Everything that transpired in the last weeks or months to get to that point, it's all forgotten, right? With Pettersson, now that he's signed, sealed, and delivered for the next eight years, correct? Yeah. Sunshine, rainbows, lollipops, everybody's happy. Nothing else to look at here.

Everybody's excited to think the Cucks are winning the Stanley Cup. But no, of course. I mean, there's still trepidation about their recent little slide here, what they're going to do with the deadline. But it removes a big pressure point away from the organization. And I got to say, the fans were on tilt the past couple of weeks over the Pedersen thing too. And doing the post-game show and doing so many shows here in Vancouver, I'm glad I don't have to debate people about Pedersen and him, you know,

asking for $12 or $13 million a year. So I'm glad it's all been put to rest at this point. Was it tiresome for Petey as well, just in terms of the fan base? And was there a risk that he was going to lose people or people in his corner? Did Vancouver smoke him out and did it work? Well, I think, so I don't think the Canucks were smoking him out with the rumors that were out there,

but I do think with how they handled the carolina hurricanes um trade offer is really what got them going and i think there's some good reporting done too over the past few days about how pat brisson and his agency also sat down with them after the all-star break and mentioned how they felt maybe if you want to stay in vancouver maybe we should get this done and why wait until after the season so i think that was part of it but i do think the pressure point really came to a head after the canucks sat down with Pedersen and told them, you haven't given us an indication of where you're headed. And as long as you're not giving us an indication,

guess what's going to happen? Teams around the league are calling us. And at some point, they'll call us and give us something we may have to consider. We want to keep you, but if you don't want to be here, we may have to think about taking some of these trades. And I do think that really spurned it on. And Pedersen, I think all along, as you mentioned, wanted to stay in Vancouver. You don't want to be here. We may have to think about taking some of these trades. And I do think that really spurned it on.

And Pedersen, I think all along, as you mentioned, wanted to stay in Vancouver. He did a really good job of keeping those cards close to the chest. And I think the fact that he wasn't revealing his indication and revealing what his feelings were about the city long-term made a lot of fans uneasy. They felt like maybe he didn't love them back. We were joking around on the show that maybe Canucks fans would feel like, does she love me does she love me not does she love me does she love me not i think that's kind of what was going on here with the fan base so i do think that trepidation was was

causing a lot of consternation i'm not sure that got pedersen to the table but i do think the canucks sitting him down and saying we want to keep you but if you're not giving us an indication one way or another we may have to consider a trade i think that's what really got the deal done he seems to not love attention like media attention do you think he only signed for 11-6 because it's just like not make yourself a target in a market that can get loud because i think he's worth a lot more yeah i'm with you now i don't know if it's about the market necessarily because i think if it was that much of a concern, then I think he would have pushed his way out. And if he was that against dealing with the pressure of Vancouver, and if you couldn't handle it,

I think he would have used this opportunity to go elsewhere. So I don't know if that's the factor. I truly believe it's an indication of he's happy to be in Vancouver. And he understands if you want to have a chance to win long-term, you have to leave a little bit of money on the table. You have Quinn Hughes up in a few years years who knows what they're going to do with that your dental who could be looking at a big ticket as well and let's be realistic here i mean how much money do you leave on a table 400 500k per year like i don't know if he's going to get

12 and a half but yeah maybe 900 right but you know i think it's one of those things where i think it's in line with what the hometown discount most players give they don't usually give a million or two off per year they give you anywhere from like a few hundred k up to a seven eight hundred k or perhaps so i think he did the hey traditional superstar wants to stay i'll take a little bit less to stay in vancouver and i think the main reason he did so was because he wants to ensure that they have room to keep quinn hughes long term and also give this team the best chance possible to win but i'm with. I think we were all kind of floored. He accepted a contract under 12 million per season.

We're talking to Satya, host of Canucks central Canucks game host. Speaking of room, like is there, is there room for Jake Gensel? Like there, there, that talk's not going away.

No, I think there is room. So the Canucks have about roughly $2 million in cap space. If they can get Pittsburgh to retain, can they move a million-dollar player out and make it work, for instance? So I think there's a pathway for them to trade for Jake Ensel. Honestly, I think the biggest question here is, can the Canucks make this deal without trading their one or two best prospects?

And if they can, I think they'll be looking really long and hard at making these deal happen. The question I have more than anything is what is Pittsburgh asking for? If it's a look here, a Mackie will lander. I don't think that gets done. I don't even know if Vancouver trades Hoaglander,

for instance, that he's had 20 goals this year. He's played fantastic. I know a lot of teams are asking about him. Now, if Vancouver is willing to do that, they may have the inside edge to go and get, get Jake Gensel.

I think part of it also comes down to, do they feel like they can extend him? I don't think they make the deal for Jake unless they can get him signed to a contract extension. And I think that's going to be a big part of this too. Is Gensel, is he BC boy? Where's he from?

Where's he from? He's American. American. Oh God, that's not BC at all. DC boy maybe? No. Okay.

Well, that's good. I can't sell him on that one then um yeah all right so how about the rest of the uh deadline how is it shaping up for the canucks obviously a team that has stumbled a little bit since sort of mid-february got a win yesterday which was nice but do you think it's it's all or nothing on gensel or do you think there's other things in the works i think think they have a list of players that they're after. I don't know exactly

everyone on the list, but I do think Gensel probably ranks very high on it. Now the market for him, they just may get outbid. They already gave up a lot to go and get Elias Lindholm, so there's a huge bidding war for him. It may give them sticker shock and not go through with the Gensel trade, but I'm still expecting them guys

to make some sort of an addition up front can they add a player who can maybe play in their middle six on the wing a little bit if they can't get that high end top six player will they also look at grabbing a depth player in the bottom six i can bring some size some snarl some toughness we all know how much jim rutherford appreciates players like that the canucks they have some solid players of course they do some solid players, of course. They do lack a little bit of brawn up front. So I think if they could add someone like that to their depth, I think they would look to do it.

On the back end, it gets more complicated. I think Chris Tannev was somebody they were really in on and really wanted to make it work. But again, they weren't going to outbid Dallas to make that deal happen. So now with him being gone, I'm just not sure there's a legitimate top four righty defenseman or top four defenseman available that really will make, make Ruth think to go on and make that deal.

I would expect that maybe add a depth defenseman, maybe a six, seven, someone that can fight for the six spot. Maybe it can give them a little bit more added depth. I know there's somewhat concerned that if they hit some injuries in the playoffs and have to rely on guys like Mark Friedman, or perhaps some guys in Abbotsford that gives them a little bit of pause.

So I do think they want to add a depth defense if possible. So I wouldn't be surprised, guys, that they add two or three guys, if they can't get the big player, that provide more depth throughout their lineup. Who's expendable, in your opinion, right now on that roster? Man, it's tough.

I think Sam Lafferty, all of a sudden, and again, I'm not expecting them to trade him, but he's been healthy scratch now, I think four or five times this season. He hasn't been playing as well as he played earlier. And what we're looking at here, because the Canucks have about $2 million in cap space, if they move a player making $1 million, that gives them about $3 million. So again, Gensel's making six, can get them to retain. There's a way to make that deal happen.

The big one to me is going to be Niels Hoaglander, right? And if the Canucks really believe in this player and his talent and believe he's going to be here long term i don't expect him to go but he's a guy that i know teams are asking about and then we get into some bigger items right would they move a conor garland if a deal could get done but again he has two years left on his contract is that something that's going to happen is the door i was going to talk about on the back end my guess would be if something out of left field happens, maybe a Conor Garland type, because I know long-term, I'm not sure they're married to him being part of the organization,

but I'm just not sure they're at a point right now where they're going to be thinking about a guy like Brock Besser, for instance. I think that's an off-season thing if they can't extend him. So it's going to be down to Lafferty, Hoaglander, perhaps out of left field, a Conor Garland. I know Ilya Mikheyev has had his struggles, but he's making 4.75 for the other couple of years beyond this. So I don't think the Cucks are against perhaps making a move along those lines.

The question is, how much value do those guys have? And can that actually be a make way for you to make a deal for a bigger acquisition? While they're making these decisions, to what you attribute the the skid why why have things kind of uh been a little bit more of a struggle for them of late does it look like something that's just a temporary glitch or a real issue so i would i would side on it's more of a temporary glitch than a big systematic issue and if you kind of look at their underlying numbers over this past 13 14 game stretch they've actually been one of the better teams in the league, top 10 in a lot of their metrics. So the metrics are a lot nicer to them.

However, they've gone away from a lot of their staples that they've been successful in. They're giving up a couple of odd man chances because they'll be overaggressive at times and not taking care of business in their own end. So I think those things have crept into their game at times. They've gotten away from being as aggressive on the forecheck here and there. But overall, it comes down to the special teams. Their power play was one of the best in the National Hockey League for the first 20 games

and has really fallen off a cliff the past 20, 30 games or so. And as long as that's sputtering, the PK is kind of middling, that's been the biggest indicator. And you are going to have a stretch where you are going to lose some games. It's the first time this season

the Canucks have gone through some real adversity. So I'm willing to chalk it up as that's just what's going on here. We've seen some signs of their five-on-five play getting back together over the past few games. L.A. was a bad game. They played well against Boston. It was good against Pittsburgh overall until they lost in overtime. And against Anaheim, one of the lowlier teams in the league,

they played the cleanest game they've played in a while. So I think there's enough evidence here to suggest that they are going to get out of this and be competitive again but they have a tough schedule are they going to continue winning 70 of their games the rest of the way i think that's the big question if they're able to pull that off you know it's remarkable sat the conversation that we're having when you think about what potentially the uh the expectations were before the season started and i'm just wondering now uh as we start kind of forecasting first round playoff matchups and there's going to be some very good teams knocked out in the first round in the stanley cup playoffs especially in the west if in fact vancouver does find themselves on the outside looking in how do you think it would be looked upon, you know, at this point for Vancouver Canuck fans?

Because you just wonder where that break point is in the trade deadline to get them over the hump or not. And if they don't actually go in a little bit all in, you know, how are Vancouver Canucks going to take that? Well, I think there will be a little disappointment considering how far they've gone this year if they aren't able to give them a little bit extra help here to put them over the top because it's pretty clear that in there especially if they want to go with lindholm petterson and miller down the middle all three guys they're

short of winger it's very clear you need one more winger to make that work and i think if you don't give yourself the best chance after making a Lindholm acquisition, I think there'll be a little bit of disappointment. But I do think, considering how well they played, considering they've signed Pedersen now, they traded away assets, and not only to get Lindholm, they traded for Zdorov,

traded for Lafferty earlier this season, traded for Casey DeSmit. They bought out all of Reckman-Larsen and signed a bunch of guys in free agency, a few to one-year deals. So it's not a full-on all-in year, but it's been a very push your chips into the middle year pretty aggressively. And I think if you have that goal now to make a push in the playoff,

if you can only do a one-and-done and be done in the first round, I think that would really be viewed as a disappointment. So I think Kipper, I mean, you know Rutherford as well. I think when he feels like he senses his team has an opportunity, they're going to do everything possible to give the team the best chance as they can heading through the deadline. And I think just getting to the playoffs and maybe losing the first round, I don't think it's going to be viewed as a win at all for this organization.

How has Lindholm played versus expectations? Does he change how people have slotted in, but yeah, go ahead. Sorry. No, I mean, he's had some struggles, right? And I think the biggest issue has been he hasn't fit with JT and he hasn't fit with Elias Pettersson. So now he finds himself playing on the third line, so to

speak. And he's been good defensively. He really has, right? He's been solid in the PK. He does his job defensively. He's winning face-offs. He's doing little things late in games when does his job defensively. He's winning face-offs. He's doing little things late in games when he's out there that are positive to help your team win. But there isn't a big push coming offensively. He hasn't found chemistry with the top six guys yet. And they made this trade early so they can buy themselves some time

to perhaps get him acclimated before the playoffs. They had 30 games when they acquired him. And it looks like they're going to need all those games to really figure out how he fits in and i think that's been somewhat i think disappointment is a hard word harsh word for it but i do think it's been a bit awkward getting his fit going with the team i'm not sure if the organization feels the same way again they made the trade early because i think they could see it would take some time for it to to come together but i do believe when the trade was made, the expectation or the hope had been, can he play with Elias Pettersson? And the fact that that hasn't happened, I think puts, again, going back to the trade deadline discussion, a bigger emphasis on, do they have to find a winger here for Elias Pettersson if you really want to push?

Do you need a top six guy to play with Pettersson or need somebody else that can move in to play with Lindholm perhaps. I think that's what is becoming obvious here, that if you're not going to have Lindholm and Pettersson play together, you're really a top six winger short. So you got a feel for this week in terms of the Canadian markets on who might be the most excited or has the potential to add the most? So I'd say Edmonton is probably going to make a couple moves here. I set the over under for Canucks trades at two and a half. I'm being very aggressive here because I think I'm going to shade the over.

I think we'll make three deals, whether it's moving somebody out, making a couple acquisitions. I think they have to play musical chairs a little bit here to make the numbers work. So I wouldn't be surprised if they make room makes the most deals. And I think the team that's really quiet right now that's really you know waiting for the opportunity to pounce is the edmonton oilers they see the opportunity they have this season and they've been reluctant to trade some of their prospects and draft picks but i think once we get

close to the deadline i wouldn't be surprised at all if edmonton makes a major noise last one for me just looking at the pac Pacific division and thinking about, you know, you got to play your way through that at some point, are the Canucks favorites against the Oilers? Are they favorites against the golden Knights? Like these are really good teams in that division this year. Yeah. I mean,

that's the million dollar question, right? I think based on the regular season, you know, obviously Vancouver has the inside edge by five, the standings, but I bet you, if we,

we get to the playoffs and i think the big question for vegas is is mark stone going to play what's jack eichel going to be like what acquisition did they make at the trade deadline so i think that's going to determine whether i view vancouver being a favorite or not against vegas edmonton is fascinating because i think they clearly have the edge with their forward group mcdavid and dry sidle and their forward i think the depth they have the versatility they have there's a lot to like about their forward group i give the vancouver canucks an edge goaltending of course overall on defense slightly but i would say edmonton's probably favorite i still think even if the canucks win the division come playoff time

they play edmonton and vegas there'll be a slight underdogs against those teams can we just not give Vegas Gensel now and have Stone come for game two or game three in the first round? Isn't that just a foregone conclusion? Sure. That's what it seems like. But I think Canucks fans are hoping and praying that the Vegas Golden Knights aren't able to pull another rabbit out of the hat. But I think we're all kind of terrified at the prospects of the Vegas Golden Knights

getting everybody healthy and making that type of acquisition. Because I still look at Vegas, even if they don't make a big acquisition, they still, to me, have the most complete team in the National Hockey League when they're fully healthy. Yeah. Great stuff, Sap. Really appreciate your time, man. Thanks for doing this.

Hey, always a pleasure, boys. Appreciate it. Thanks, Sap. Appreciate it. Canuck Central does Those are great jobs. Would you like some breaking news? Yeah, I didn't want to seem like I was trying to get rid of Seth. I hope that didn't come across.

But go ahead and give us the news. That the New Jersey Devil just put out a tweet saying, we have relieved Lindy Ruff of his head coaching duties and named associate coach Travis Green as interim head coach for the rest of the season. Yeah. I don't know. Like, why didn't they get a goalie?

That's a rough thing right now. Why didn't you get the man a goalie? Like, it's so obvious. The one team all season long that needed a goalie the most yeah you hung them out to dry you know i just gonna see if i can find this real quick but the devils were second last in the nhl and team save percentage and their coach gets fired right now they are yeah i was just quickly about to look that up who Who's last? Ottawa. Poor Ottawa. Poor Ottawa.

Man, you nailed it. You know, and... How'd you not get the Markstrom one done? Push it over the line. It was like they wanted retention on Markstrom. The Flames weren't doing retention. And then they eventually said, okay, we're fine without retention. And now too late.

And I know there's lots of talk on uh saturday's headlines with elliot uh with with mark strum and he thought he was going to new jersey yeah he mentally committed to going into a playoff race here yeah and then he has they might make it and he has the rug pulled out from underneath him. Not cool, man. And I get the frustration with him and perhaps Craig Conroy or someone upstairs in Calgary that don't come to me if it's not going to get done. You better be sure you have this approach

me i got a no move i'm in control i've got a no move so i give you my blessing to get the deal done with new jersey but like it can't get out yeah right it can't get out that's all if you're gonna do this you do it quietly No one has to say anything publicly. You're not shopping me. I'm not talking about leaving. But once it's out, how do you... And I'm sure it was New Jersey. That didn't want to go through with it.

I heard a couple of different kind of scenarios where they thought they had a deal, then maybe perhaps New Jersey changed it or Calgary may have tweaked it. But my sense is that New Jersey changed the parameters on it. Whatever the ask was, whatever the parameters were of the deal, they changed significantly enough

where I think Craig Conroy pulled the chute. Wow, just said that's not good enough for us. What's crazy now is the Devils are seven points out of a playoff spot with one game in hand. It's too late. Like, to me it's too late. Let them to me... It's too late.

Let them finish the season. I think that's a major indictment to me of the front office. They're not acting on a team that's a very good team. Yes, with elite talent on it. They got killed by Dougie Hamilton being out. I'll tell you what I'm hearing about New Jersey

is that there's two schools of thought. One is we really need a goalie, and then there's this analytical team that says, don't worry about getting a Markstrom. We can win without him. They were doing okay. Yeah, well. Ed.

When did he sign an extension? Wasn't that somewhat recently? I would suggest that the analytical department in New Jersey carry a very heavy hand with the ownership group. Well, listen, that ownership group is heavily invested in, you know,

multiple sports and lean heavily into that way of thinking. Right. And they've had success in other sports. I think Liverpool, I want to say the 76ers, they've got ties to or did. If their general manager Fitzgerald's saying, I've got to go get Markstrom,

and you have someone in that department saying, well, the numbers suggest that we can win with this guy, this guy, and this guy. I find that hard to believe, though. How could you watch those goalies? That's one thing to me where the parallel's been made a million times.

I'm not going to be the guy to claim to make it, but like the NFL running back to the goalie, where it's just like you can plug anybody in there as long as your systems is good. I mean, at the end of the year, right, Aiden Hill won it last year, so you can be like, hey, well, could Akira Schmid be Aiden Hill or these guys that they have as a goaltender? But when it's legitimately killing your season yeah you have to make a move like the analytics can say one

thing but when it's just clearly a great team with great players and you just can't get a save they made the big timo meyer deal jack hughes brats an all-star he shares unbelievable they traded for palat they traded for toffoli like they got talent how's that timo meyer contract looking by the way not great thanks um you know john marino good player but they're missing dougie 28 points in 48 games minus 24 this right now to trade for markstrom is well useless to them right here's why it's not terrible is there's two more years on it okay it's fair enough you know so if you do it and it doesn't get you in you go okay well we got it anyway but you've also i'm 34 years old and you trade for me after i don't get a chance to get a man to try to win

a stanley cup in my career year right i'm playing great i'm burning an opportunity to win a stanley cup in my prime yeah you dummies and i think what's hard if you're the devils is like dawes and schmied the two goalies they got going right now are both 23 years old like maybe they believe one of them is going to become something or whatever but i just think this team is too good to not have acted on sooner and i actually think if you didn't you don't like rough and what's happening, that this should have happened sooner too. What are we doing this now for? It's the old, we've tried nothing, we're all out of ideas,

and now it's too late. They're going, what about a goalie and a new coach? It's like, wait, where have you been? It's ugly right now in New Jersey, and it's not that far removed from how ugly it is in pittsburgh right now yeah like would you be shocked if you heard if dubas fired sullivan would that shock you yes that would no wouldn't shock me um are you kidding me let's do game time and get into this more after the break you said he wouldn't be shocked sullivan got fired

we're gonna move on? Yeah, that's why we call it a tease in the business. All right. Talk about that when we come back. We have lots of Pittsburgh thoughts that we need to stretch out. Devil's just lost to the Ducks and the Kings. Yeesh. Ducks is tough.

That kid, what is his name? Dostal? He did to the Leafs. I think he made like 55 saves. 59 against the Leafs. No, he was unbelievable. And he stopped a last-minute penalty shot to tie the game.

It was like last second against Jack Hughes. Big point. Yeah. Anyways, it's game time. Presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plays. Plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Couple excellent hockey games tonight, boys.

Gotta tell ya. Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs and an elite flickback option with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Two excellent hockey games. Four of the powerhouse teams in the Eastern Conference. Can I go as far as to call the Leafs a powerhouse? Who's old Rempe got a fight tonight? I mean, no one on Florida, is there?

The whole team? I know the whole team fights, but no heavy. There's no heavy. The Rangers are plus 105 underdogs on home ice. Love the Rangers in this game. Back-to-back? It's not back-to-back. Oh, yeah.

It was Saturday night. They had a night off. Love the Rangers. Think it's sort of a statement game for them on their home ice against the other team that's supposed to be tough. Think the Rangers will take them. 105. I got the Rangers losing by

a half dozen. Really? You think they smoked? Yeah. Wow. I disagree with that. I was impressed with the Rangers. Rangers are a good team. I found it kind of interesting that the Leafs aren't pushing harder for Rempe to be suspended off that charge.

Really? I'm just saying. Come on. No, I'm just saying no. What do you want them to do? No? I'm just saying. Come on. No, I'm just saying no. What do you want them to do? No, I'm just saying that... I want to know what you're saying. I'm saying that Sheldon really presented it as the guy just

crushed my guy's head against the boards. He should be suspended kind of feel. You're saying they want him to play against Florida. Thank you. Yeah, I love that take. That's a great cake okay thank you lap go go in there and be the human missile on the florida panthers lineup for florida do not do not suspend them one game hold on go in there and run kachuk's head sam bennett's head be the human missile against the florida panthers i think you're right. I think they looked at the schedule. Can I just have a quick

thought on this? What you said about them getting suspended? I watched the game the next morning. So I was out for dinner with my mother-in-law, Carol. Happy birthday. 60th this past weekend. Went out for a lovely dinner and didn't watch the game, didn't take in anything. Just watched the next morning. Knew the score or whatever. And I was going

through Twitter and after I said people want this guy thrown in jail for that hit. Hit him with a tire. People wouldn't have survived in the 90s in 2000 with Twitter. It's like, oh, he hit him hard. It was two for charging. What do you want to put away for life? Oh my God. Two for charging.

Is that charging? Put him in the box. That's fine. Anyways. I was stunned. He's 6'8". And he jumped. And he took lots of strides. Tall guys are allowed to hit too. Jesus.

God. I'll give him a fine. Oh, Mike. I was blown away by the response to it. It's like, holy. Never watched a hockey? It's still hockey. You're allowed to hit.

Anyways. That's it for game time. Sorry. I didn't mean to get into it. That was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest on to find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Did I do a pick in there?

You didn't watch any Hockey Night in Canada live Saturday night? I didn't watch a second. Are you one of those guys that can't get updates? No, I don't care. I knew the score. Yeah, yeah. But I just watched it. I knew the score. Yeah, yeah. But I just watched it. I woke up the next morning, had a beautiful cup of coffee,

watched the game. It was awesome. I find it really hard to go out for dinner with my wife and not every look at my phone every five seconds to see where the score is. At the establishment we were at, well, TV is were at well tv but like it was far so i could see things but nothing like no details but i had a lie i put my kids to bed at like 8 30 and i usually get the game seven o'clock game started around then and yeah if i see what's going i know

the leafs are down like four or something like that it's not fun to watch it so i try to avoid the updates if they had a got starched six zip yeah i not have gone back and watched it didn't happen it was a good good game did you close us out on game time i did bud nice job pal thank you i don't think i gave a pick but that's okay okay when we return plenty more on nhl news and notes including the pittsburghuins. Where do they go from here? Flames Hannafin, according to our Elliott Friedman, may be heading towards sunny Florida.

Tampa Bay, possibly. So much more still to go here on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. We are back after these words. Breaking down the top stories in hockey and Elliott Friedman every day. The Jeff Merrick Show.

Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee as we bring it home on this Monday. So following up on the Lindy Ruff firing, and if you're just tuning in now, Lindy Ruff has been fired. This Sportsnet stats, wonderful Twitter account, or X account if you want to follow them. New Jersey goaltenders owned a 890 save percentage during his near four-year tenure as bench boss. 31st in the NHL. You can't win it. Checkers with an 890.

You can't win anything. 890. Didn't help losing Dougie Hamilton.ilton i mean it hurts a great deal he's a that's a big one too but you know behind him the decors you're on the hook when your decor is marino siegenthaler colin miller brennan smith kevin bollock it's not uh severson uh they did they get rid of him yeah they traded him to columbus today um you gotta find replacements good yeah you gotta find replacements though for those type of guys i guess to plug up poles yeah talk about a forward heavy team though so but i mean that's i mean that's just the more

of how it's not necessarily like i'm sure listen i'm not in the day-to-day of the Devils, so there's probably fans listening to this being like, no, he's bad, no, there's fire Lindy chance again or whatever. But from an outsider's perspective, you know, you don't replace Hamilton. You don't have a goalie. Those are two pretty big detriments to success. I also wonder for Lindy's demise, if Timo Meier being a brand new addition who

hasn't worked at all if he's on the hook a little bit that maybe they don't they don't think he's been putting a spot to succeed or remember when i said at the trade deadline last year in one of my fake trades at the leash trade for matthew nice what is glad that didn't happen just as a general conversation and i'm sure this will lead us to pittsburgh because i include include them but here we are now going into march yeah we got a trade deadline that's focusing and that's a good thing because i think it'll take the attention away from the fact that we our playoff races suck again how's that again oh no just suck every year they they suck. Like, so Pittsburgh sucks. New Jersey sucks. Washington won't make it.

They reek too. Right? Isles? I think. Buffalo? Buffalo disappointed us. Ottawa disappointed us. Calgary's got actually a decent story, but they're not going to be in it

seattle's not in it like what are we doing yeah what contention are you making here what do you want to see i hate to say it do it do it do it 20 teams in the playoffs there it. 20 teams in the playoffs. Yeah, there it is. 20 teams? Just four more. 20 teams. Yeah. And then the other teams get multiple week buys? What's going on here? Well, no, there's less.

Go ahead if you have more to add. Bys, throw three out of fives in for the next four teams. Just something. There's got to be some tiers to keep the regular season interested. So you're playing for the top two spots, which are a buy. Or you're playing for the top six spots,

which now you're getting wildcard seeding. And then you're playing for a play internee. There needs to be a different way to go about this. Yeah. And I'm a traditionalist and i like you have to work hard to get into the playoffs but i don't want to see this well kip you come to me next year and say i offer you utah and atlanta is nhl teams now we got 34 teams and you want to put 16 teams in the playoffs? All those owners who just paid a billion dollars, you're going to give them zero gates?

More owners than not are not going to get playoff gates? Not a chance. You take that to your owners and say, do you guys want more teams in the playoffs? Every one of them wants to see their 20th seeded team. Get a chance. But it's all revenue. It's all league-driven revenue. And it's all league driven revenue and it's good for

the players it's good for the owners so as much as i hate the thought of short and regular season then no i don't think you need to shorten the season somebody shortened the season here yeah i think it was the quebec the junior league qmj hl did yeah well shorten the seat if you're gonna have i'm fine with it i just don't think playoff teams and shorten the regular season i'm fine with that but i don't think they'll do it and i i think i don't think you have to i think it's not a bad idea i don't think it's a bad idea and maybe it's a trade-off they won't take maybe it's a trade-off for the players association because the lure is the money but i think to get the cap up for sure but i think that you can do this in a way that you don't play a lot of extra hockey for these guys like it's

just if you mention buys and you mention other ways of going about it like it's it's just including more people and yeah a lot of those mushy middle teams they're kind of interchangeable anyway so at least encourage them to try to win and to trade for good players and to push down the stretch and keep their fans invested so they can be the team that has a good first-round push. I just, I've seen what extended playoffs do in the other leagues. Just waters it down. It's just an extra week you have to wait for the good stuff. Like, I look at the NFL, they added the extra team on both sides,

and there's just way too many games on super wildcard weekend you can feel that you can feel that way because your toronto maple leafs are going to the playoffs for those two seed every year for for for those markets though yeah in say arizona or or pit it would still excite them if they would know we suck yeah but it's at least hey there's always that hope that we can get hot at the right time or would it be great we hate we hate the market coming in so it would be an epic upset we can anything's better to look forward to than this right now the, the Leafs in Boston, who are kind of going to toil in the 2-3 seed,

would have a push to get into the top two and maybe get passed around. And then if you added two teams that could be included in the West and the East, all of a sudden you bring in six or five fan bases on both sides, you know, who suddenly have a chance at, hey, if Dougie Hamilton gets healthy and we get a goalie, we can still do the thing we thought, you know who suddenly have a chance at hey if dougie hamilton gets healthy and we get a goalie we can still do the thing we thought you know like yeah but that's such a unique case i am so against

this and once upon a time okay talk to me about a play-in series sure don't talk to me like that's part of it that's part of what i don't want to have any reason why the team that's grinded all year for 82 games and is the far and away best team has to deal with the 10th place team in the conference. It's a gift to them too, Sam. They're getting the worst team. It's rewarding them for a good season. They shouldn't even have to play those bums.

It's like, why would they even have to deal with those guys? So you'd rather they play a better team? That's a better reward? I'd rather just have it be one through eight like it should be. We just play playoff hockey. Because it's simple and I understand it. I haven't had to think. You know, once upon a time,

16 out of 21 teams made the playoffs in the National Hockey League. Were you? I don't think you were born yet. But if you were, would you have been complaining about that? Not sure. Let us present to you a format first, and I'm not going to do it right now. Okay.

We'll lay out a format where we find a way to make this uh you know digestible i so how many so there's eight teams i'm making that so i like the the two teams at the bottom do something like that where they have to play each other and the other teams that are actually good don't have to worry about it yeah that's fine and i think it gives you the chance to play you tell me the winner the winner of each division wouldn't welcome a week off? Sure. As a buy. Yeah, that's huge.

And what is it in the NBA right now where 9-10 play a game to play the winner of 7-8? It's like there's a, yeah, something like that. But the four teams, 7-8, 9-10, playing a little mini tourney to get in. That's fine. If you want to do that, sure. And that's, I think, to do that sure and that's i think what we're talking about don't make it more teams i want to do anything that's better than this well that's better teams though sam that's more teams no because they have a chance to get

into the playoffs as the 10 but you're thinking i'm thinking of more teams being like more seven game series no no no no no no no no i threw out best of three or best of five at the most. Whatever it is. But some of these markets between March and mid-April need better hope. I'm looking at the Pittsburgh Penguins right now. And what are they thinking right now? And what does it do for home gates if your team is still alive in March? You know, whereas right now, if you're looking at the schedule and you're, you know, Boston,

or sorry, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Jersey, Caps, like, you know, there's no reason to go for something this big. Did you see the image of Sidney Crosby with his head in his hands on the bench in Edmonton last night? No, I didn't. Pittsburgh just lost to the crack and the flames and the oil. I almost threw my remote to my TV. I was so mad at it yeah maybe want to cry sarah mclaughlin singing along what are we doing to this poor guy free him that's pretty good free the man why you have a beautiful voice

so now we're supposed to just watch sid get his 80 90 points again next year and just fade off into the sunset as a babysitter. I can't take it. Sam and I are going to be at the Paw Patrol and go free him. We're going to wrestle him. I cannot watch Sid still be Sid and miss the playoffs next year for the third time in a row. Kyle will bring in a couple more no-name projects for the bottom six. That'll definitely turn out.

What's his name? Pooley Harvey? How's he doing? Two-year NHL contract? How about the pressure on Kyle Dubas right now to get it right on Jake Gensel? I mean, are we saying... Are you kicking them out of the playoffs?

They're done? Oh, they're done. But they're done. Are you kidding me? I'm not kidding you. Are they done? I have them done. Oh, my God.

They're pretty done. They're so done. I have them like a Burger King Whopper. They got grill marks all over their asses right now. They're pretty cooked. They're cooked. I mean, it's not just how far back they are. It's the teams you got to clear.

One, two, three teams in their division. Yeah yeah they got to go ahead of yeah it's over it's over god we just wrote off jersey and they're two points ahead of them yeah we did that's a good point so what are you going to get for gents on two first rounders hang on if philly sells philly's got 71 points if they sell and we think they're going to get for Gensel? Two first rounders? Hang on. If Philly sells, Philly's got 71 points. If they sell and we think they're going to sell. We've been crying about teams that aren't even close. And Philly's going to. Philly's just been good all year. Philly's in the playoffs and we're going to talk about them. Selling.

Selling. But we've had the president on the show and the GM. Yes. The president said, we don't think we're a playoff team. And the general manager was like, well, listen. Yeah, really? You know, like. I love the way they're doing it.

And, you know, I've watched a lot of Flyers this year. They just play hard. Yeah. Like, they take a collection of not great players. Did you guys see torts on Bobby Brink and the other kid? Did you happen to catch the clip? I did. No, I missed it.

What did he say? Yeah. Oh, people wanted him. He said, I'll murder you in cold blood in front of your parents, is what he said. No, he didn't actually. But he lost it. He basically said, get'll murder you in cold blood in front of your parents, is what he said. No, he didn't actually. But he lost it. He basically said, get your ass off me. He benched the guys for a period and a half for a lazy D-zone effort.

Oh, you want to talk about social media. How did I miss that one? They wanted him charged with abuse. Oh, I know. Saturday night, was it? I know. Probably that's why I missed it. Yeah.

I'm like, that's just a normal. He's yelling at a coach of's just a normal coach in the 90s Kids making a million dollars to Play D-Zone coverage I have to make an admission about something Something that's been a long Time take of mine that I just can't stand Should we go grab HR now?

No I've flipped on torts I like torts You're a team torts now I am. I think he's aged extremely well. And I think the way that he's doing it there, that team. I see the videos with him with the dogs.

And he loves dogs. And he just seems like a great guy off the ice. I'm a dog guy through and through. Can you Google Torts on the weekend? Can you watch the meltdown? I'll watch it at the show. But listen, I flipped on him. I flipped on him I flipped on him I like him I just I've come around

we'll revisit this conversation in 12 months when the stakes get higher and he snaps well I just think he's I know what you're saying I know exactly what you're saying he is there's a lot of qualities about him that you love

except the one time that he snaps yeah Except the one time that he snaps. Yeah. Well, the 10 times that he snaps. Yeah. It's fascinating. But yes, I'm curious to know. You know, they say guys like that have a shelf life with players, right? Like, can you do that for a whole career?

For a guy, probably not. But he doesn't care. He just wants to win every year and see what you can do from there. All right. What are your thoughts about hannifin going to tampa bay do they have anything left after winning their cups to just just to grab a guy like this again i mean could they just get more breaks tampa you think they win by luck well no they got no packs no first round rounder this year or second rounder.

No first rounder next year. But to me, if he's like, I want to go to Tampa, you can trade for me, but I'm not signing anywhere other than Tampa. I want to go to Tampa. It nukes his value, and he's probably going to end up in Tampa, no? I guess maybe they have some prospects I'm unaware of.

They have a first in 2026 second in 2025 so i'm not sure the complete math on no state income tax but thought was calgary offered him 7.5 times eight so he's going to probably leave in the ballpark a 10 or 15 million dollar sign in tampa and they could get him for for six two five six five pardon cheating oh yeah six five that's definitely that's a level playing field which is which is i actually agree with you that is ridiculous north of seven five in canada yeah that's that's what you're playing with i got it he can they can sign him for less they they do it with everybody. I had a conversation with my buddy Neil Corbett about this the other day, about Canadian teams and how I don't think in your day, was it as recognized the tax implications and how Canadian...

They were higher. They were generally higher. I came from New York, which is pretty much a wash. Right. But people understood that Canada was a significant... I just feel like now, we talk about it all the time. They're on everyone's no trade list by, by my understanding,

all the Canadian teams, you know, the, the tax situation does make it. So players genuinely want to stay away from it. And it does seem like at some point an unfair, you know, athletic advantage.

Justin, it doesn't seem like that. Yes, it is. And it's warm. And they get to play golf after practice. Well, but that's the thing. You go, okay, well, that's just the market and whatever. But this is like there's an actual imbalance

where teams cannot spend the same or give the players as much money that they can keep. What happened to Torts' arm? I'm just watching the video. He's in a sling with a thumb. She looks unhinged. I know. You know, the other thing I hear that's not helping

is the fact that Tavares has taken CRA to court for the $8 million tax dispute. Like, that stuff... The other way around, right? They're taking Tavares, or is that... No, I think Tavares... They've charged him with $8 million, and he has to fight.

He's got to contest it. So he has to go back in court. I know our boy Walsh recently said on a podcast, there's ways to protect money in Canada. So my whole point is that stuff scares athletes. That's not helping when you hear that. Yeah, I understand. There is like the RCA, I think there's a way for athletes to hide some of this money to later in their life correct but this is

his contention right that i think patista had this issue too so all he's gonna go back and revisit time in the country to time out um i think i think they want to tax him as if he is here all the time he's here all the time. And he's not. And he's not. I don't think so. You know, especially early on that signing bonus. But, I mean, I don't know. I'm just spitballing here. But, yeah.

Sammy and I want to level the playing field. Canadian teams should get to spend more. You heard it here first. City News 680 broke out here all of a sudden. The Money Channel. We've got to bring Gavin back on. J.B. Sammy. No no we'll get stew gavin he they knows all about that stuff break it down all right man that's a fast uh two hours guys

and it's just monday ruins tonight boys let's go all right big week six games on tap pick your favorite one and we're back tomorrow as we get ever so closer to the nhl trade deadline on friday 3 p.m eastern our thanks to sat jaw who joined us earlier in the program and billy jaffe enjoy your games everybody and we're back tomorrow on real kipper and born