Real Kyper & Bourne - Projecting Roster Changes + All Caps with Alan May

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

The Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli (2:52) joins Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne to discuss whether November is a good time to make changes to teams' rosters, the impact of the new faces in Washington, the long-term effects of David Pastrňák's benching in Boston, Nicholas Robertson's activity on other GM's phone lines, Vancouver's search to shake up their blueline, head coaches on the hot seat and the pressure on Kevyn Adams in Buffalo. Then, former NHLer and Capitals analyst Alan May (31:04) jumps on to chat about Alexander Ovechkin's goal-scoring in 2024, Pierre-Luc Dubois' fit on the second line, Spencer Carbery's second year behind the bench, and their chances of another post-season berth.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

all right let's take it national live on sports at 650 in vancouver and sports at 960 in calgary this hour of real kipper and born is brought to you by bet 365 nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee in the next few minutes we'll welcome in Frank Cervelli, hockey insider, president of Hockey Content, Daily Faceoff. Also on board in about half an hour, we'll talk to Alan May, my former teammate in Washington, and now doing a terrific job breaking things down for the Monumental Sports Network.

Covering those surprisingly good Washington Capitals. They are surprisingly good. The reason I texted Alan today is because watching the start of the season for Ovechkin, I think we all have to prepare ourselves for a potential of this happening this year. This year. So he would have to have a 40-goal season.

He's on fire. Yeah, it's completely reasonable. It's within the realm of possibility here. So that was the reason I wanted to track him down. It's like, what are they planning? What's going on here? Maybe they're starting to scramble around me like, oh, God, he's actually getting hot here and they look good.

So it's interesting to me. It is going to be interesting. Well, there was a feeling in the last year, year and a half, based on his numbers, that it was slowing down. And Washington made the decision to not pause, but actually build. Yeah. It looks pretty good right now and they haven't even really had matt roy who is like their big offseason d signing i think he's only played one game this season so

their underlying numbers are way better their team is way better than it was last year and kudos kudos to the effort made by uh is it brian mcclellan there still? No. Brian McClellan's still involved. He's the president though, but there's someone else. Anyway, they've done a good job. I know we got Frank coming on, but at some point, I want to talk about your article on

sportsnet.ca. I caught it out of the corner of my eye. I'm planning on reading it tonight, but I already can tell you I'm fascinated by it because it's based on the fact that we've got 32 teams now in the NHL and not all of them could be filled out with bonafide NHL players. No, sir. So it is basically an article on a watered-down product correct well yeah it is

it is yeah yeah check it out all right all right okay let's welcome in frank frank cerebelli dailyfaceoff.com frank thanks for joining us man so listen there always seems to be this pause in the NHL between training camp and somewhere, maybe American Thanksgiving or after that, where everybody feels like they got a terrific roster. They drafted well. Their prospects are ready for the next step. And then at some point, reality sets in,

and they all look at each other in a room going, okay, we ain't that good, man. We got to go get some help. And that's when you get busier. So are we at that point, Frank, where teams know what they've had coming out of training camp and we'll start seeing some, some teams maybe move some bodies. Yeah. Kipper.

Now that we've gotten to november and the calendar has turned i think really now the urgency for a few teams ramps up now it's really interesting though because of the conversations that you just talked about um i talked to one general manager last week who was working the phones trying to improve his team i said well what are, what are you looking for? He said, to get better. And I said, yeah, yeah, no, I get that. But what is it that you're looking for? He goes, I'll know it when I see it. And he wasn't playing coy as to not give me information.

You know what those calls are like. It's trying to get blood from a stone. Not possible. But in this case, I actually checked in with some other managers who I thought that he might have called. And I said, well, what is he looking for? They said, I don't know. He just went through like just about every guy on my list and on my team and was like,

hey, is this guy available? Is this guy available? Point being, there's a handful of teams right now that are feeling the pressure that need and know that they need to get better. But it's difficult to make moves at this exact juncture because there's a few teams that really like what they have too. Yeah, you know, when I sort the league by points percentage, I can talk myself into the top sort of eight teams and be like, yeah, yeah, that shakes out.

You know, I could see those teams being playoff teams. But then you go to the very bottom of the league and there's the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Islanders, and the Nashville Predators. Those are three pretty good teams that I think a lot of people saw as playoff teams this year do you see those teams getting desperate enough to actually get active and make moves soon i see three teams all three of them for totally different reasons justin kind of handcuffed yeah i mean the islanders are more or less locked in with what they have they haven't just doubled down or tripled down.

They've quadrupled down over the last four off seasons with their group. If anything, with the Islanders, and I don't even know that this is in Lou Lamorello's DNA, I could see them going the other way at the trade deadline. If this continues, might have to say goodbye to Brock Nelson or Kyle Palmieri, who, by the way, have had pretty much the only two really positive starts to their season. The Colorado Avalanche went into this year as the biggest wild card in the NHL. They had serious cap space limitations by virtue of Gabriel Landeskog and Val Nachushkin's uncertainty in when they'd be back.

Nachushkin practicing today, eligible to return to the lineup on November 15th if he receives his final clearances. And then on top of that, because of those contracts and because they couldn't go out and spend that money, entered with a really thin roster, and then the issue was compounded with the injuries that they had. The Nashville Predators went out

and spent a whole pile of money this offseason. But what I'm really struck with was a conversation that I had almost one calendar year ago with Barry Trotz. It was at Hall of Fame weekend in Toronto. I had him on my podcast, and we were talking about the build process of the Preds. He said, you know, as we look at it on paper now, we're thinking maybe three years from now is when we'd be back into a competitive cycle and have a chance to win.

All of a sudden, they go on a heater last year they make the playoffs and then they go and add three massive pieces in marsh so stamkos and shea and they're going well holy smokes we should be now in the mix because we've added them and you just don't get to snap your fingers and go from team that was in rebuild mode to playoff team and then all of a sudden vault yourself into the inner circle of Stanley Cup contenders. That's not how it happens. This isn't Major League Baseball. You don't buy yourself a World Series. The Dodgers can.

The Yankees can. You can't buy yourself a Stanley Cup. So just sticking to the East, I'm quite fascinated at this start because it appears that the Rangers in Carolina are where we thought they would be, and that would be in all the class of the Metro. I'm going to stop you there, actually, because I wasn't sure on Carolina. You weren't, eh? I mean, they said goodbye to some really good pieces.

Brett Pesci, Brady Shea, up front, no more Jake Gensel. I thought they'd take a bit of a step back this year maybe five six seven points still be a good team and a playoff team but but yeah okay so so meaning class there there no real threat of them missing the playoffs right um okay and and in the uh atlantic it seems like right now florida's kind of pushed themselves right at the top. Whether they stay there remains to be seen. Tampa's right behind them. And then you get into that one game over or even or one game under.500.

There's just a clump of them. And we got Toronto and Boston in the mix. Ottawa's in the mix. So where do you see this? Do you see it as what we thought maybe could be a 4-4 from each division turned into a 5-3? What have the Washington Capitals done to really throw a wrench into that because we think New Jersey's still going to be there? We all thought they were going to make the playoffs this year. Did we not?

Yeah, I had New Jersey there, and and the caps i saw as a firm playoff team by virtue of the changes that they made in the offseason the amazing thing about their start and not just alex ovechkin turning back the clock with goals in four straight has been that they've accomplished all of this and and play with a really structured style i think spencer carberry has done an unbelievable job in Washington. They've done it all without Matt Roy. Huge free agent signing. I would argue the best pure defender in the free agent class. He's played eight minutes and 39 seconds so far this season,

two periods and out. He's getting closer to a return, and that should further boost a Caps team that's been really stingy to play against so far this season. They've given up way fewer shots than most other teams, and they've had important steps forward. I heard you guys talking about them on my way in from some of their younger guys, Connor McMichael, Hendricks LaPierre.

Those guys have all taken a big step forward, which has been huge for Washington. But to size up the Atlantic, I still think the Leafs are going to find a consistent stretch and probably pull away from that clump of teams. But after that, I kind of see it as absolute pure chaos. I think there's a real chance that for the first time in almost a decade, we have a division where all eight teams finish with 80 or more points. So essentially, basically everyone's 500 or more. And where does the chaos come in?

Well, any team that goes on a three-game losing streak, you're going to see tons of panic in each market because all of a sudden you don't go from third or fourth place all the way down to seventh or eighth. And it's going to be a big swing either way. I think that Boston will find a way to also normalize a bit but that last chunk of teams it's going to be a dog fight all year i think in terms of trying to avoid the roller coaster and the fits and starts of an nhl season

okay one of those teams obviously in the in the mid is the boston bruins we saw their superstar pasternak get benched for an entire period. What are your sources saying? What do you know behind the scenes of that story? Well, naturally, we're going to make a bigger deal out of this than the Boston Bruins will. You know that's the case. The one thing that really stood out to me,

and I compare it solely to Leon Dreisaitl getting benched a couple weeks ago in Edmonton the big difference is it's one thing to have a player sit out for a few rotations like Dreisaitl did and it's another for an entire period and I know that I'm sure there were previous conversations with with Pasternak in terms of what exactly Jim Montgomery is looking for the non-negotiables and I'm sure the tone-overs that occurred on Sunday were certainly not within the boundaries of what's acceptable. That said, it did feel like kind of a large punishment

for a guy that still finds a way to really impact the game. I mean, go back and look at their power play goal that they scored in the first period against the Kraken. He doesn't end up on the score sheet. He doesn't get a point, but there's three Kraken players draped on him in the front of the net, which allows Charlie Coyle to get the puck and score. So even as someone who plays a bit of a deceptive role or a guy that can pull opponents away from your other players, he still is serving a big purpose for the Bruins. And yes, the start may have not been perfect for Pasternak,

but I think kind of maybe a little bit of a heavy hand from Jim Montgomery that I think everyone's been feeling the heat there. And yet Boston comes through with back-to-back wins, 2-0 on the weekend. You know, if you feel like your job's in jeopardy, a lot of coaches go, I'm going to do it my way, and we'll see if this works or see if it doesn't work, whatever, but doing it my way.

Justin, I've heard a bunch of coaches say, if I'm going to get fired, I might as well go out on my own terms. Exactly like that. Yeah, no, it makes sense to me, and I don't know that he's at that point, but you can see mentally him being like, well, let's start trying to do it my way,

because it's not working. Looking at some teams around the league, we'll just start with Toronto. So Toronto trades Timothy Lilligren. It just doesn't seem like Lilligren's a Berube guy, you know, and doesn't have the build or the type. Nick Robertson fits that mold too. It feels like if someone's going to get traded in Toronto,

he's the next guy to go. There have to be some other players around the league, I would imagine, who are in similar boats where it's like, this guy's footing with his team is not all that solid. Do you think Robertson is a potential name to get moved? And are there other names around the league that you're hearing frequently in trade rumors? Yeah, so Robertson is certainly the guy that I would circle on that list

in terms of choices that the Leafs have to make with their roster in the coming days. We know that the clock is ticking on the conditioning stints for Hockenpah and Connor Dewar. They're chock full at 23 men on the roster right now. The only person that has waiver exemption, of course, is Matthew Nyes, and he's not going anywhere. So it's either waivers or trade. And I can tell you that there was at least one team

locked in on Nick Robertson well deep into training camp that the Leafs felt like they could have made a move if they needed to. So I'd be curious to see if that team is still ready, willing, and able to make a move. And to answer the other part of your question, yeah, I think there's a few players around the league that it's kind of wait and see mode, but I'll give you an example. The Seattle Kraken, they have a situation right now. Vince Dunn is on LTIR when he gets off. They're probably going to have to move forward. And two names that have popped up repeatedly in discussions and talks are Brandon Tanev and Yanni Gord. Yanni Gord's off to a tough start this season.

No goals, three assists in, I believe, 12 games, something like that. So he's struggled. His minutes are down two and a half to three minutes a game off of last season. He's someone that has certainly a ton of experience, valuable experience in the NHL. And the Kraken haven't seemed like they're interested in moving him just yet. And the same kind of goes for Tanev. Both these guys are pending unrestricted free agents,

so you'll hear their names a lot throughout the course of the rest of the year should they remain there. But Seattle wants to get better and quicker, and Tanev's the guy that impacts their forecheck. So you don't really want to remove him, but I don't know. We'll see. They've got decisions to make as well. We're talking to Frank Cervelli,

Hockey Insider with Daily Face-Off. So if we're to talk out west in terms of shoring up a blue line, is it Vancouver or Edmonton that strike first? What are you hearing from those two clubs in their search maybe for a defenseman? Well, if it's strike first what are you hearing from those two two clubs in their search maybe for a defenseman well if it's strike first the answer would clearly be vancouver one the edmonton oilers are accruing well we're accruing cap space prior to the mcdavid injury i think they're not right now

but they were beginning to bank space and ultimately I think the play would be for Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson and company to hang on as long as they can and continue to accrue space and then at the deadline, pull the trigger on a more sizable impact transaction on the back end. The Canucks, we know from their profile and Patrick Alvin that he continues to call around the league, try and find the pieces possible to put in the lineup to improve that team from an efficiency standpoint and moving the puck on their back end. He's the most aggressive GM in the league, bar none.

That said, they do want to see what this team looks like with their full complement for the first time, Dakota Joshua nearing his return, Derek Forbort as well. And once Forbort and Joshua get in the lineup, then the Canucks can begin to kind of tinker a bit. But make no mistake, Patrick Alvin's been working the phones. That's been very top of Rick Tockett's wish list is more efficiency getting the puck out of their own end. Speaking of non-negotiables, that's it.

Outside of their first pair, they don't really do it very well because there's a bunch of limitations on the guys further down their lineup frank if you're gonna make a coaching change in the nhl you kind of have to do it early enough in the season where there's enough games left to right the ship uh and you don't want to do it too early because you kind of got to see how things are going that means you kind of enter a coach firing season part way through the year i don't know do you think we're getting kind of close to that and if so who where are the hot seats around the league i mentioned montgomery he could be a potential name uh are there others you know i've seen a few talked about that i think are absolutely ridiculous so let me start

with them and kind of cross those off and uh in chicago kyle davidson actually addressed that one today with luke richardson calling it quote ridiculous and would totally agree uh there seemed to be some chatter out of montreal what happens with marty saint louis as the habs continue to struggle in a year in which they expected to take a step forward not happening um the coaching staff and the front office are in lockstep together and i think this is more of a roster construction issue not to blame on the front office but just a few players particularly on their back end that just aren't ready to take the full step forward yet and they're in this awkward period between hey do we go out and support these guys now and trade for something

when we're really not ready that doesn't really seem to be a path that they want to go down either. I would say Derek Lalonde in Detroit, there's been tons of kind of smoke around that for it seems like a while now, stretching back into last season. They need to see results on the Iser plan. I would say that he's probably on that list somewhere. We just touched on Jim Montgomery. I do think that seat was starting to sort of uh it was you know level one on the old car heat seat uh setting it was not like level two or three but um certainly kind of uh just warming up a little bit but outside of that i'm

not really seeing a ton else in terms of action on the coaching front frank if we if we go behind the bench and take the stairs up to the front office where are we with a guy like kevin adams in buffalo i think and lou lamorello with the islanders uh jb just mentioned yeah i i struggle with the lou question because i don't i don't really know how to answer it. I mean, 82 years old, same thing that we've seen, just banging your head against the wall, trying to have this team break through. And yet we're not seeing results. And now we're also running into some significant injuries.

I mean, this is a team with a talent differential relative to the rest of the NHL that is certainly not in the Islanders favor on most nights. And then you take Matt Barzell out of the lineup. That's not easy. So I think it's a fair question to ask when it comes to Kevin Adams. This is year five. I think he understands the pressure that he's facing. His predecessor in Jason Botterill only got three years, and he was out. Kevin Adams, I don't know. Someone's going to need to explain the Lindy Ruff decision to me a little bit more, like I'm five years old, because you talked in such a great point, Justin, about the time to make a coaching change.

The Devils are the perfect example. They waited too long last year. They played incredibly sloppy, made the same mistakes time after time, time to make a coaching change. The Devils are the perfect example. They waited too long last year. They played incredibly sloppy, made the same mistakes time after time, and yet they waited until their season was more or less over before making the coaching change with Lindy Ruff. And the Sabres turn around and say, hey, we watched the Devils this year, yet we're going to hire Lindy Ruff, and we're not going to interview anyone else.

So I'm not understanding that. And I think watching the Sabres team, who I think is loaded with talent. By the way, full disclosure, I picked the Sabres to make the playoffs. Me too. Hey, there's someone else. I didn't know.

I'm not a Sabres hater, but I can't watch this team with how sloppy they play. And they're not improving defensively. They have not found a way to defend, which I don't know that you can just... Can you go trade for that, or is that an overall team mindset, structure, and mentality? Got to get a question about goaltending in New York.

No team depends on one goalie more than the New York Rangers and Shusterkin. Is there any movement? It's, it's so quiet in terms of where his contract is going. And every day that goes by that he's not signed is making Ranger fans very nervous, Frank.

Well, you knew that the information clamp down was coming. Once it was reported that he declined the Rangers' massive offer. And totally understand it to that point. But I also feel like in talking to people in and around the Rangers' organization that they feel like they're in a pretty good position. They don't see a huge reason even though he's super important and even though uh a lot of their success does hinge on igor shesterkin it's still going to be really difficult to beat their offer and you could create or or bake any kind of conspiracy theory that you want that oh he's

going to end up going to a uh no state tax team and everyone says wink wink the vegas golden knights in the summer if he goes to market it's still a seven-year deal and right now the rangers to match 88 million bucks you need to go seven times 12.57 that's a massive jump from 11 flat which is why i think the rangers are in a pretty solid position and and will they move i'm sure they'll move a little bit but they have been super clear since the start of this process that there is a limit in terms of what they're willing to offer because they need to pay the rest of their team and i understand that from their perspective as well uh last one for me frank there's a couple of wingers that have

contracts coming up uh mitch marner being one caril caprizov another um are you hearing anything on either of these guys uh these guys were talking on the panel last night about caprizov getting paid 369 billion dollars or i forget the exact figures but it was a lot of money thrown around yeah i mean he's gone to the sam reinhardt school of how to have a contract yeah because it is well it's unbelievable how well kaprizov has played i know last night uh his point streak ended but he's been phenomenal and he's a guy that's dragged that minnesota wild team into the fight on a night-to-night basis i haven't heard anything in terms of their contract discussions i don't think there's any concern from the wild standpoint.

They're like, we're paying this guy, whatever it takes to keep him. He's probably going to eat up a huge chunk of their Parise suitor, buyout money. That's about to come off the book. So as good of a feeling as that is, they'd also know that they're devoting a part of that to curl Caprizov

and Marner. No, I think it's been rather quiet on that front. Frank, great stuff. I know we packed a ton in for you, but as always, you come through with flying colors for us. Thanks for doing this, man. Good to see you guys. Yeah, thanks, Frank. Frank Cervelli.

DailyFaceOff.com. Takeaways? Lindyroff was weird the hiring but that's just a relationship that's comfortable with an old pair of shoes yeah

but not interviewing anyone else there was a time when the Islanders weren't giving some alumni the opportunity to interview for a coaching job it was low time for the Islanders and Clark, were just like giving some alumni the opportunity to interview for a coaching job. Just kind of like, it was low time for the Islanders. And Clark Gillies was one of them.

He gave Lindy Ruff the like questionnaire to fill out. And Lindy filled it out flying colors. And Clark ended up getting an NHL coaching job interview based purely on Lindy's answers. Wow. Which is actually even a funny way to interview for a head coach to begin with. But anyway, so I got La La for Lindy.

Whatever works. Whatever works. The one in Detroit, though, La Lawn. La Lawn, yeah. I've heard that that's getting people where we're hoping for more progress by now. Yes, I think he's got himself in a position here where i don't think anything's kind of imminent no but they they've they got to make a little bit of a move here do you think like we have seen some teams go on some heaters

we're gonna see a team get on a seven or eight game winning streak here soon. Like, is someone going to Carolina six in a row with it? Carolina six in a row, Florida five in a row is as hot as it get in the NHL right now. But that's what Detroit needs. Yeah. One of these teams in the middle path. Somebody needs one. Is it the Leafs on the cusp of the Bruins have gotten two in a row.

That's a huge game Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. You know what is fascinating is like the Oilers getting two two in a row. That's a huge game Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. You know what is fascinating is like the Oilers getting two wins in a row with McDavid out. You know, we've seen it here in Toronto tons. Riley gets suspended five games. All they do is win. Yeah, but Dreisaitl is very comfortable. He's good.

Carrying a team on his shoulders when McDavid's not there. You should just never play them together. I know they often don't, but. I would allude to something like that in game time. Oh, good. It's game time. Visit our app, Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary.

At Bet365, must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, what I was trying to do on Friday before my phone malfunctioned was look at some of the futures for the awards. And we were talking about Nikita Kucherov. I think that was in the break. We were talking about Nikita Kucherov and how good he's been this year. The favorites for the Hart Trophy this year.

Nikita Kucherov is the favorite at plus 325. Connor McDavid is still the second favorite at plus 350. Jesus. Which is actually… Coochie-co jesus which is actually coochie coo bit of coochie coo showed up my boy david i have heard that i was sipping tea and i spit it out when he said that uh connor mcdavid at plus 350 is pretty good value considering there's already talked about him coming back this weekend and eventually he'll get hot capriol caprizov plus 450 mckinnon plus 500 panarin mccarrarr, and Austin Matthews at plus 1,400.

And then it goes up to Aiko at plus 25. And Dreisaitl plus 2,000. McKinnon looks really good with McCarr. Like if they drag that Colorado team into playoffs, either of those guys has a real chance at winning the heart. McCarr is interesting at 12-1 to me. And the Norris Trophy, it is Mikael McCarr is a minus 140 favorite at this point. Adam Fox next closest, plus 550.

Quinn Hughes, plus 750. Evan Bouchard is plus 1,200, and then it kind of goes up from there. I might bet that McCarr number. It's not going to get worse. And the Rocket Richard trophy, still the favorite, Austin Matthews, plus 140. Is he on pace for what, 35?

He still crushed it. There was many stretches in his career where you just absolutely feel like this guy's a goal-a-game guy, right? There's many stretches where he's a two-goal-a-game guy. And now he can't score in a soccer net right now. And the last thing I want to bring up, to make the playoff odds, we were talking about the Boston Bruins, and will they make the playoffs in the first one we were talking about?

Playoffs? They are a minus 160 favorite to make the playoffs. If you don't think they're going to make the playoffs, it's plus 130 right now. So the books still favor them as a playoff team. To me, I know it's early it's only like 12 a dozen games 13 games but for me it's shaping up to ottawa or boston it is detroit could sniff around but it's ottawa or boston for me too i think the the scoring of the ottawa

senators is certainly woken me up a little bit the last week and a half, two weeks. The Senators are minus 105 to make the playoffs. They're now favored to make the playoffs. Sens fans, you should have heard. Bet365 believes in you way more than I do. Here is the, they have 12 and 13 points, Boston and Ottawa.

But Boston is a minus eight goal differential. Ottawa's plus nine. That goal differential tends to work out. If you're a plus team, you tend to get in. It's one of the most telling stats. It's crazy. You sort the league at playoff time, and it's like the 16 teams who are in,

usually plus, just barely. Wasn't Washington big time minus? It was 37 mid-playoff. That's insane. Anyways, that was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app latest odds to find out why it's ever ordinary at Bet365. It's a 19 plus. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. So the curveball for me is the Washington Capitals. They hold their spot in the Metro and get in. Competitive division, boys. Right? A lot of good teams. Then it puts basically Florida, Tampa, and Toronto in competitive division boys right a lot of good then it puts basically florida tampa and toronto in the atlantic and then you're left with the bruins and the senators yeah no it

does feel like they have improved enough that this is a playoff capitals team and i think a really good point by frank was uh connor mcmichael and and Alexi Protas have been major surprises, both with 12 and 11 points, you know, double-digit points. Yeah. Which, I mean, it's like free money finding those guys. We'll find out how major they've been when we come back with Alan May, capital analyst with Monumental Sports Network, and the increasingly stronger odds

of Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record as early as this season. That and more when we return to Real Kid Pro and Born. Most important sports stories of the day and tee up the biggest games of the night. It's the Fan Pre Game. 6 p.m. weekdays on Sportsnet. Sportsnet 590 The Fan and wherever you get your podcasts. Last block. This hour, a real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365.

As promised, let's bring in alan may capital and capitals analyst with monumental sports network and former nhl teammate of mine and a real happy guy because his washington capitals the team he covers is eight and three and ovi's like old ovi or new ovi i don't know but he's got seven goals he's on pace for 52 Mayday and uh this guy ain't slowing down well he's refreshed Ovi because already every single game he's played this season was better than what he was last year and last year he just didn't have it he you know he didn't have his legs but I was really worried he didn't have a shot for the majority of the year he wasn't making great passes it seemed like he lost his hands.

And I know that after his father had passed away, he had never been the same stats-wise. I think the offseason was something he really needed. The mental, the emotional, the physical commitment are all back to the normal levels I'm used to with Ovechkin. And his line with Stroman

Protis has been doing everything. And defensively responsible and always been leading the way in the back check and just little plays that we hadn't seen in the past I've been really impressed with his overall attitude and execution of everything but the line one of the kids that doesn't get enough I think attributes around the league or I'm probably use a better word for that but Dylan Stroman has been killing it all season long he's been an incredible washington capital in his short time here so ellen the uh the caps are a really positive surprise i think not surprising their playoff team last year but far better uh than last season what do you have is the the main reasons for what

appears to be such a drastic improvement over the summer? Well, I'm not throwing shade at you two guys because I love you both, but a lot of the media that I did hear over the offseason, they didn't notice the June that the Capitals had, the July that they had. They didn't go out and act like they won the Stanley Cup. They didn't have a parade on July 2nd. What they did do is they went out and they put together a very methodical roster of how they wanted to place players. It was a gamble on Pierre-Luc Dubois, but we saw him play at Columbus, and he was always a very good all-around player.

I thought he played well in the Winnipeg as well, but last year, everything was out of kilter in Los Angeles. So I think by bringing him in here, he's fit in so well with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael. What an incredibly complete line that is. Dubois is not putting up the points like McMichael and Wilson are right now, but he's got puck possession. He's bodying everyone off the puck. When you look how they were able to build this roster, the fourth line, Taylor Radish, 20 goals two years ago in Chicago.

Last year, the only person that seemed, well, maybe there was three guys that had decent numbers in Chicago with Bedard. There was a couple other players. But you look at that. He's been very well on decent numbers in Chicago with Bedard. There's a couple other players, but you look at that. He's been very well on that fourth line with Nick Dowd. And then Brandon Duhame brings a lot of what Nick did when he played. It was a guy that finishes his hits. He can notch a goal here and there.

He'll fight. He'll drop the gloves. He'll do what he has to. So you got, you got some more sandpaper and Duhame on that line. But I thought they were very methodical. The fact that they're 83 without Chippen, who's been like a left-handed John Carlson, and Matt Roy was injured in the first period of the first game,

to be where they're at right now, I think is very, very good. And this team will only get better as the season goes on. And they build even more confidence within the dressing room, which they're carrying out onto the ice. How close is Matt roy coming back and what does that mean to uh charlie lingren who's coming off a pretty good season last year and the fact that logan thompson's there now well the biggest thing matt roy i think he's going to play this week in the next few days i wouldn't be surprised if he plays wednesday

and dylan mcaath has filled it incredibly well and sent a lot of messages around the league with that fight with Matt Rempe. But he's kept his game simple. Matt Roy is one of the best defensemen in the National Hockey League analytically when it comes to defensive defense. Outlet passes are excellent. So he's got a bulls to the lineup. And when you look at Charlie Lindgren and Thompson,

they're both winning their games. And yesterday, Charlie Lindgren was put in a tough spot. I thought the Caps lost. They ran out of gas in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes after probably using too much fuel in that game against Columbus in the first period the night before. But, you know, the goaltending, it looks like it's going to be a true one-two punch all year. I don't know who the one and who the two is, so we're going to go 1A and 1A+. But right now, everything's going well for the Capitals. They're killing penalties at a great rate.

The power play is a work in progress. But I always say if you're dependent on your power play to win games, you're in trouble. You've got to win five on five. And one of the things that the Caps are executing very well this season, five on five. And they don't have to dumb it down like they did last year. Last year, for my job of covering this team every single night, I had to bite my tongue a lot because it was pretty tough to watch, even when

they were winning. When they won, they won a close game, you know, 90% of the time. When they lost, they lost bad. It felt like 90% of the time. And that made for that horrible goal differential. But at the same time, they knew what they had to do to win games. They've taken what they learned last year defensively. I thought they'd gotten a little bit better so far this season. But now they're able to unleash the dogs and create offense. Because you see what the young guys are doing in protest at McMichael. They're blazing.

They're lighting it up. They're going up and down the ice with a lot of speed and a lot of confidence and finding ways to score goals and create offense. The head coach there is a University of Anchorage alumni, so you know he's a brilliant man like myself.

Tell us about Spencer Carberry's role in the success of this Washington Capitals team. You know what I love about Spencer, and first and foremost as a former player, Garbery's role in the success of this Washington Capitals team? You know what I love about Spencer? And first and foremost, as a former player, it's not that he went to University of Alaska all the way up. But it's the fact that the way he communicates with the players and he communicates with the press.

The players buy everything he's selling because he doesn't lie to them. He's very positive. He gives them a roadmap for how to play. And then in the press, he brags them up when they win. And when they lose, it's a short one and a half, two minute presser. Doesn't ever throw anyone under the bus. There's a lot of coaches in the National Hockey League that love to throw their players under the bus. That creates animosity because it goes against what you're saying in the room and in the office, on the plane, wherever it is to your players. And then you're throwing them under the bus, that creates animosity because it goes against what you're saying in the room and in the office, on the plane, wherever it is to your players,

and then you're throwing them under the bus. So I think the biggest thing, the honesty, the passion, the conviction that he's had last year when they had those tough losses, he wasn't burying guys. He was trying to find a way with his coaching staff to amplify the players at what they do well and what they needed to correct. So an incredible communicator, an excellent tactician, as are the guys on his bench, because they've taken what they've got for a roster this year and they've upgraded everything they've done.

Last year, he had to figure it out on the fly. This team's not very fast. It's not scoring goals. This year, he's got a team that's fast and can score goals. And it's pretty big. It's about, I'm not sure, I think they're the third largest team in the National Hockey League. All the players they've brought in are free.

You can see of the seven guys, six of the guys were 6'2 or plus. Maggi Apani, the small guy, is the most noticeable hard worker every single night. And so they brought in a great group of players, and I think they're playing more of a big brand of hockey. We're talking to Alan May, Capitals analyst for Monumental Sports Sports Network I want to switch it back to Ovi a little bit here and just in terms of what's in store as he gets ever so closer to Wayne Gretzky's record here Alan and I assume he's been focused right from the get-go. There's nobody that wants this record more than Ovi to end after this season.

He does not want to go into a summer of having it hang over his head. So where does that put the Washington Capitals in terms of the prep work to build up to this? Has it changed because it's a lot more likely that it will happen this year with a 52-goal pace than it would have been what we thought at the beginning of the season? How has the landscape changed as we prepare for this? Well, the biggest thing right now is I haven't heard, you know, if he's asked a question about the goal-scoring record, he said, yes, I do want to have it.

But at the same time, he'll always finish that sentence or that statement with, we want to have it but at the same time he'll always finish that sentence or that statement with we want to have success we want to be a better team we want to have playoff success so when you look at it from inside the dressing room the players have all been focused on winning games and what he's doing right now is bonus and it's backed as being i wanted did not want him to go out and end his career these last few years on a whim i want him to go out and end his career these last few years on a whim. I want him to go out for his sake, for our sake, for the game's sake, to go out skating like he is and playing like he is. As far as the team is concerned, they've had plans in place for a couple of years. The way we market on our broadcast, you know, my network is now owned by the team.

We're not muted. They don't force us to say anything. I'm still allowed to have my opinions. And my opinion is i hope that when we get to that record and the ovechkin if he is able to do it this season that is on a night that we're broadcasting espn and tnt tried to handicap late in the season and take a bunch of our games you know they can take in the states i think it's 12 or 13 games so they took 12 games they punched they took a bunch of us early and at the end it's going to load up again in that last part of March and early part of April. On our error, selfishly, I know all, regardless of whose error it's on, but there's a lot of plans in place. Right now, we show every night the OB watch, every night that he scores, we highlight that.

But the biggest thing is it's a lot more fun covering this team when they're winning. And, you know, no matter what, because in the States, it's a way different relationship you have with your fan and your regional networks. And we don't bury our players. We highlight the game. We look for positives.

And we don't have to find a villain because hockey season ends after the last game and it doesn't start until the first game in the states it's not it's not crazy all the time like it is back home in canada you know they're checking in who's doing what on their vacation and everything here when hockey starts officially pre-season doesn't start the cap season opening night starts it for them when it comes to coverage of the team. And so it's a lot different relationship. People are coming to our games. It's a thrill for them every night.

The team's a lot better. Last year was very painful. This year has been spectacular every single night. Well, listen, I don't know how many people had the Washington Capitals making the playoffs at the beginning of the season, but I imagine at 8-3 to start, it would be a big disappointment if they miss it at this point for you. Well, it would, and the only way I think that happens

is if they had a catastrophic injury problem. And I really did, in every show that I had done this summer, every talk show right until today, I felt that they would make the playoffs, and they would be first or second in the Metro when it was all said and done. Because when you look at the roster, the way they put the roster together, guys, they plugged in pieces. You know, when the New England Patriots were doing well, you know, they were plugging players

into the proper place. Then you have the growth of these younger players, like Connor McMichael, all of a sudden is an every night NHL player who's probably exceeded what they thought his potential was. Alexei Protas using all six foot six, using his skating, using his speed. So they've had upgrades there. The defense has gotten better by having Chikor in the lineup for the eight games, forced other players to play less.

Rather than Farabari being John Carlson's partner every night it was Jacob Chikrin and they look excellent together Faribari would go down and he plays with Matt Roy that's going to be a great defensive compliment the goaltending last year you know it was a tough year for Darcy Kemper I love the guy but it was a tough year the team didn't seem like they played as well this year what do got? Logan Thompson at 5-0 already. I think it's 5-0. And when you look at that, just a lot of confident pieces that they added to the lineup. The fourth line wasn't enough last year.

This year, the fourth line has been tracking very well. And the players on the penalty kill, excellent. But the five-on-five game, when it's as polished as it is right now, they can play any style of hockey. I think Tom Wilson's back to being a very formidable player, and he's fitting perfectly well with Dubois. They're both 6'4". Physique-wise, they look like the exact same guy. They're both jacked, they're big,

and they're dominating inside the offensive zone as far as controlling the puck. Dubois, even yesterday against Carolina, who was in your face all game, he was bodying his shoulder and guys off the puck. Dubois, even yesterday against Carolina, who was in your face all game, he was bodying his shoulder and guys off the puck all game long. And another thing with Dubois, he's not in Winnipeg, he's not in Toronto, he's not in Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton. He doesn't take a beating in the media if he makes a bad pass here. So, you know, they're not under the microscope. They can live their lives. There's good and bad with that, but I prefer,

and I think that's why the American teams have won the Stanley Cup for so long. Since the Internet started, the players aren't being hounded all day. Don't you blame us. I went home. I took my 20-year-old son to Edmonton last year for the Stanley Cup Finals. I said, you want to see what real playoff hockey is? He was in Vegas with me when the Capitals won the Cup. We sat in a box with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly every game in Edmonton.

And that cash register that they have in Edmonton, the 50-50 was like 25 million. The games, the people were lining up at 2 p.m. out front of the arena. And after the game until midnight, everyone was just going crazy. So it's a hockey-mad country. I don't blame it. I hope a Canadian team wins soon. And I think it would be absolutely amazing.

And that whoever, if Toronto ever wins it again in our lifetime, whoever wins it on that team is a legend forever. Whoever the coach is, whoever the general manager is, it'll be incredible for hockey, and hopefully it won't have to be 50 or so years until it happens again. But I'm not blaming the media. I'm just looking at it's a lot easier to play hockey in the United States as a National Hockey League player.

Alan, great job as always, man. Thanks for doing this. Stay safe tomorrow. Good luck. The other May Day. I believe he's in D. dc on november 5th tomorrow what's happening tomorrow oh boy oh yeah something um large election yeah uh that was a lot of information chris patrick is the gm there by the way his name i was uh i forgot i have a question for you do Do we have time? Yeah. Yeah. And not to disrespect Chris Patrick, but it's hard when you've got these presidents and these bigger names that you still know probably are pulling the majority of the strings. So this Ovechkin record thing.

Yeah. How do you think fans and the NHL are going to receive and promote this? You can't help but be sensitive of the political landscape out there. And I'm sure they have daily meetings on it, to be honest with you, on how to go about it. And i don't know what that means i have no idea what that means but you know this is a guy that's been in the league a long time between himself and crosby and a few others have really carried uh the mail for the league and And he needs to be well-respected, but I don't know what that means,

to be quite honest with you. He's as big a star as we have in hockey and have had. You know, what's hard is, this guy has Putin on his Instagram page. I don't know. I haven't checked lately. Has that changed at all? Is it not changed? I haven't checked either, in fairness. I don't know. I haven't checked lately. Has that changed at all? Is it not changed?

I haven't checked either, in fairness. I don't know. But I mean, like, if I'm not mistaken, I think Gretzky's Ukrainian. You know, like, I'm just saying that there is some tension about, they're not even allowed to be in the four nations face-off,

you know, the Russians aren't. So I'm just curious if there's any sensitivity around promotion of this or not. The answer is yes. and to what degree we don't know right the conversation around that part of it has certainly you know cooled though like around the ukraine no it's around like his the controversial part of it like it was when it first started like he was fielding questions about it in like press conferences and there was the tension with the pr like There's all that stuff.

And that just feels like it's taken a backseat to this, and I don't say that's the right thing. I'm just saying it's kind of the way the internet works, the way our day-to-days work, that everybody moves on to the next thing. We're a long ways from the record here. So I feel like that's part of the cooling off. I mean, as Canadians feel one of Gretzky's big records

going away. Someone who, I don't know, is not. I've never thought it was this. At the end of the day, since 1972, they've been our biggest rival. Right. Right? Russia. Canada, Russia, Canada, Russia, Canada, Russia.

I just don't know that we're going to get Canadians standing on their seats. A Russian's taking one of the greatest. True. Right? One of the greatest. David Amberkov? Right?

A rival. A Canadian rival is taking one of the best records out there in hockey history away. And that's where you come into play a little bit, right? With your emotions. Yes, and I don't want it, but I have come to grips with it. I mean, he's the greatest goal scorer the league's ever seen. Well, not yet. No. Well, but he is. Well, I don't want it, but I have come to grips with it. I mean, he's the greatest goal scorer the league's ever seen. Well, not yet.

No. Well, but he is. Well, no, not yet. Okay, okay. The man with the most goals is the greatest goal scorer. Statistically speaking, you are correct.

But not even on a point per game, or goal per game basis. Yeah. I just think it's a big, big story that's starting to sneak up on us quicker than I thought. How about the other Mayday saying that they're stealing all the games from them late? That's a nice little nugget. I love that nugget.

That ESPN and TNG. ESPN should hire May and their crew for the game if they get the game. Of course. I love that. Just trying to muscle in, eh? Those big networks. That's great. Good for ESPN.

You should do. Yes. Spend billions on it. We want that one. That one's going to mean a lot. Yeah for ESPN. You should do. Yes. Spend billions on it. We want that one. Yeah. That one's going to mean a lot. Yeah. All right.

Just like that. Two hours in the books. Our thanks to Alan May moments ago and Frank Cervelli from DailyFaceoff.com. We're back tomorrow on The Real Kipper and Bourne Show. If you get a chance, give us a rating and review. We'd love to hear from you. Have a great night, everybody.