Real Kyper & Bourne - Real Kyper & Bourne Free Agent Frenzy Pt. 1

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

With NHL free agency kicking off today, Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start the three-hour special edition by reviewing some of the morning moves. They start with live reaction to Stamkos signing with the Predators before touching on the Leafs bringing in Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Then, they get more in-depth on Toronto's moves - Stolarz's role, Tanev's term and Domi's hometown discount. Later, they discuss Reinhart's contract with the Panthers, Matt Murray re-upping in Toronto, the Canucks landing DeBrusk and the Leafs sticking with Liljegren. Finally, they close the first hour with some Mitch Marner thoughts.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.

what do you say sammy all right kipper what Kipper? What's going on, buddy? Ready to go? Ready to go. Three hours here. Happy Canada Day, everybody. Nick Kiprios. In the big chair for the next three hours. And I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Have we ever sat at this table together?

Sammy McKee. Yeah. But we do have Borny eventually, I think. We do have Justin Bourne from out west. How far? Oh, there he is. Oh, wow. I know, I promised this great background,

and now I'm just in a room. Sorry. All right, tell us where you are exactly. All the watchers and listeners on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Plus. JB, where is your location? i am currently in the guest room and my mom's house i'm in colona bc colona bc you know what they're getting a little bit of rain it's been the world isn't on fire here so it's all positive things here gonna sneak out and

play gallagher's canyon i think in the next few days times. Well, as long as we've got you, that's all that matters. And man, how much can we jam into the next three hours here? And we're going to take some text messages as well in the next three hours, plenty going on, whether you're watching on sports net or listening to us, you're going to get your fill of information.

And remember this hour of real kipper and born brought to you by bet 365 like i said nick kiprio sammy mckee justin born from lovely british columbia derek brandeo and jake the snake schultz for the next three hours so man oh man you you talk about some of the big fish out there do we want to start with your toronto maple leaf sammy you lead my friend i think we go leafs you know they're this is what we're our bread and butter this is the the show that we do a leaf sour on every day and we're not on in vancouver today we're not on in calgary today so you know we're they kind of let the guys do what we want to do here so i I think we should start with the Leafs. Breaking news, and it pertains to your Toronto Maple Leafs.

Steve Stamkos is not coming to Toronto. Signing with Nashville. Okay. Four years, 8 million AAV. How's that to start our show off? Hmm. 8 million AAV. That's a pretty big ticket that is an extremely nice

ticket for a 40 goal score and appropriate i might add so oh yeah so things has earned it i mean last three years once you have uh 40 35 and 38 or something some Some great years. So things are happening. Elliot Friedman's just tweeted that Oliver Ekman Larson is going to Toronto on a four-year ticket at three and a half million per. Chris Tanev has already signed. Max Domi has already signed. The Oliver Ekman Larson thing just happened. So, yeah, things are happening here in Leafland. Where do you want to start, Borny?

Do you want to start with the first thing there, Oliver Ekman Larson? Do you think the Tanev thing is more important. Where do you want to start, Borny? Do you want to start with the first thing there, all of Eichmann-Larsen? Do you think the Tanev thing is more important? Where do you want to go? I think, you know, I'll just kind of zoom out on how I feel about where this day is so far for the Leafs compared to other teams. And I understand they had to fill in at the fringes. It just so far, fellas, I can't say I love it. You know, like six years for Chrisris tan i've had so many years ekman larson you know i just saw ryan suiter get bought out once then go to another place

after a hopeful year and get four years then get bought out again so i don't know sammy i these are fine players and uh you just look at playoffs are these the type of guys that help you get through ekman larson just want to cut maybe helps, but he's a third pair guy about to make three and a half million for four years. I don't know. I don't feel awesome about things so far, if I'm being honest. Yeah, I think that that number, I think there's a bit of sticker shock there because you kind of think maybe the power play situation again here where this is kind of like a more less

hurt John Klingberg situation where they're trying to bring in a guy who has the ability to run a power play a bit and maybe take that off Morgan Riley's plate. And that's been such a huge issue that killed them in the playoffs. But yeah, like at first blush, I can't say that I absolutely love that. Like what's his role? Is he a bottom pair guy in this team?

Like how dependent on Oliver Ekman Larson are they going to be? That's the part of this that I'm like, oh boy, that's a little bit concerning. Yeah, 30 points last year, oh boy, that's a little bit concerning. Yeah, 30 points last year, 32 points, I think, nine goals. Is he going to take Morgan Riley's spot in the first power play? No.

Do they see him as a second pair guy? If they do, is that good that a guy that just played third pair on the cup winner, they see as a second pair guy? He's a fine player, and they're better for having him than not having him. If the salary cap didn't exist, I'd be'd be like great but i'm not sure this is the best uh allocation of dollars kipper thoughts on ole left-handed klingberg yeah yeah i mean that's it's hard i

think he's better defensively than klingberg a little bit they've come to the conclusion that morgan riley cannot be a number one power play guy. Yeah, and that's what the impetus is. So OEL is the plan for PP1? I do believe so, my friend. Wow. Ugh. Ugh.

Sorry. Yeah. You know, that's not... You look at the best power plays that are just going on in the postseason, you got guys like, you know, what's his name? They're named Bouchard running it for the Oilers and seeing what Montour was doing in Florida. They couldn't go that big, guys.

They could not go six or seven for a number one D. That was clear about a week ago, I think. That was Montour, I think, is in Seattle now. Yeah, apparently he signed him in Seattle for $50 million for seven years. Over seven. Leafs couldn't go there. Zdorov, I still think that there's interest. They're just hoping that his price comes down.

Really? Yes. I would like that. I think they would consider five they're scared that someone's gonna offer five and a half or six yeah okay you know are they don't feel like certainly they're no better right they're giving more money to low grid for the same player they're giving more money to domi for the same player they're paying matthews more kneelander more you know where where so far

are they better in free agency you look at some other teams you can certainly see how they're improving the leafs i don't see it well and again chris tan of they were able to take a guy in his mid-30s and get him signed for under under five when guys i, I'm telling you, teams were willing to go five or six years, or five or six, between five and six million on a shorter-term deal. For Tanev. For Tanev.

That's why the Leafs had to go close to $30 million because he was getting $30 million somewhere else. So they just spread it out. They'll either wash it with uh a buyout or he magically you know ends up on the uh long-term injury reserve yeah and so kevin weeks here now is saying uh that anthony stolars has signed a two-year contract with the toronto maple leaves uh in the in the mid 2 million aav range apparently according to kevin weeks so that's something that's coming out right now uh so there's maybe

their goalie help i guess so yeah they signed wall earlier today to a 3.6 or whatever but i wrote an article in the toronto star last week saying that it's it's a roll of the dice now right with no legit guy out there like mark strom or all mark that this this was the avenue that they had to go a guy that could come in and be a support guy for for joseph wall i think stolars doesn't have any uh in any inkling to go out there and try to earn the number one job at training camp. He is there to be a support guy. I don't know if he's ever played 25, 28 games in an NHL season. And I don't,

I don't see him now jumping to 45 or 50 games. I don't know. I don't know. Kip, unless he backdoors it, unless he backdoors it, his career high in games is 28 with the anaheim ducks in 21 22 uh played 27 with the florida panthers

in 23 24 so played and played one game in the playoffs obviously came in for his safe percentages for those he was really he was really good this year like really really good he was a 203 goals against a 925 save percentage in 21 22 he was a 917 and a 267 so in his two biggest years where he played just under 30 games he was you know above league average in both those with the save percentage so i guess if you're depending on joseph wall and you're thinking that he's going to be dependable, this is a really good backup, right? This is a guy that knows. Stollars is what, 29? Is that fair?

Stollars is 30 years old. Born in January 20th, 1994. So he's 30 years old. He's 6'6". And barely played. He's a big goalie. This to me could be Aiden Hill or could be Logan Thompson or could be one of those guys that you say you got two guys

that have the opportunity. Neither guy has played 40 games. I don't think in their career, both of you have the chance here. And I think they're two good, capable goalies. I like their odds of getting decent goaltending next season with these two guys. That's like my favorite choice for a potential backup for them. So you think that there's more of an option here that it could be more of a, you know, a bit of a competition here in terms of between wall and, and stole arts. Without knowing. I mean, Kip seems to know stuff. I know. I'm just telling you, I don't anticipate that. I don't, they had it last year, right? They had the, Hey,

the net's up for grabs and there's Samson off and then there's Murray. And then it's like, who's the number one and who deserves to be, who deserves the narrative that they should be number one. I think they've had enough of that. I think that they've, judging by the amount of money that Wall's getting and the feeling that he was just unlucky last year, this is our number one goalie.

3.66 million for three years for Wall, by the way. That was announced today. That's not money that you sign a guy and say, hey, go back up or be a good strong support guy. That was Samsonov's

starting goalie contract last year, right? What did he make? Three and a half? And they told him the net was up for grabs. But they're not saying that to Stolarz. They're not selling this as you have a great opportunity here to take the net and run with it. That's not happening. They may not be selling it that way, but if you're Stolarz,

you're looking at it and going, oh, the kid who can't stay in the crease? Yeah, I'm going to go back up for him. So, yeah, so Freed just tweeted out the total for Stolarz. It's two years, $2.5 million contract. So a two-year, $5 million total contract for Anthony Stolarz for the Leafs. You're at six mil for your goalies. That's great. Listen, I...

Oh, no, it's even cheaper next year, right? Because Wall's still in his original contract. Does his contract kick in after next year? I believe he has one more year at his entry. Yeah, so you're paying $3 million for your goaltending next year. Woo! Yeah. That's nice.

More than $3 million. Outside of that, Wall and Stolarz improved immensely because they've got a legit shutdown defenseman now in Chris Tanev yeah I think kind of buried the lead for sure and let's do that Chris Tanev um this is just the least I've been looking for Jason Brough had a funny tweet out of Vancouver that um you know this is it's like when Pacquiao and Mayweather finally came together for a fight and it's like you got exactly what you wanted but you wanted it five years ago so it is great he's awesome i love chris tannev he's a perfect fit you just hope he's still got

gas in the tank yeah for sure and i do believe he does but to say to stay consistent with the toronto maple leafs over the years a wonderful retirement contract for chris tannev absolutely just the country club. Come on home, baby. We'll comfort you. Come on home. He's got a... Come on.

Oh, yeah. He's happy. But apparently his brother works for the TTC. His dad works at like a farm near Toronto. Like he's as Toronto as it gets. Oh, yeah. No, no. 100%.

And I do believe that Chris Tanov is a type of guy that when he retires, he's also working with the team. So that, the main reason why Brad Treeliving was so hot and heavy on him is because of the type of person that he is and the influence that he can come. And as much as some of the players over the last year and a half, two years would love to tell us all how close and tight they are as a group, kind of not true. He needs to come in there and he needs to grab that room a little bit.

Well, isn't that six years says go ahead and do that. And he can quietly do that. Isn't that sort of his reputation is like a wonderful glue guy teammate like i've i've heard that a lot with him so they loved him anywhere he's been vancouver and calgary they've absolutely loved him and let's not forget he was excellent for the stars in the playoffs this year like he was really really good so i mean what percentage of the cap is 4.5 million if you're looking at the cap percentages here you're getting a top pair he's going to be top pairing he's probably

going to play with morgan riley right or jake mckay with one of the left-handed guys yeah you're immediately spending five percent of your cap on a top pairing guy like the term is you know scary but there's probably going to be some chicanery with that let's be honest here there's going to be you get allergic to his equipment yeah there's probably gonna be some chicanery with that let's be honest here there's gonna be you get allergic to his equipment yeah there's gonna be something that goes on a little later in it but if you look at the the next two or three years which are the very important years with matthews or whatever having tanev up there with riley is a really really exciting thing for me i have to tell you i love it actually he's actually the perfect guy for riley in that you know he's always played well with ron hainsey

or with shen or yeah shen you know one of these shutdown guys well tenev is one of those guys but he can play yeah you know so you know you you make morgan riley the best version of morgan riley by adding tenev tenev on a one-year deal what's he worth next year if you sign him for a one-year contract you sign a one-year seven seven six six and a half seven yeah so you know you're you're getting value on the player and you hope that they figure it out on the back end so yeah this is this is the bright spot of the day even if you don't like the term chris tanniff should make the term now is we had i had this conversation with you guys last week about guys in their mid-30s getting seven or eight-year deals, and Tampa tried.

Tampa tried. And this is the only way that you're going to be able to get someone's AAV down like that at that age. Yeah, right. And Tampa not so much for obvious reasons, state tax, but Toronto needs that advantage. No, let me correct that. Pretty much every Canadian team and markets like the Rangers and LA need advantages.

They're getting killed right now by non-state tax. Yeah. Do you think that's oversold? I see people tweeting, ah, the tax thing's overblown. I don't think it is. I think it's a huge deal. Well, yeah, a guy just scored, you know,

how many goals? 70 goals, including a Stanley Cup winning goal who was excellent defensively and a power play killer, just took $8.5 million for eight years in Florida. Like, everyone's like, no, it's because he's a team-friendly guy. It's like, no, because that's an $11.5 million contract, contract basically if you put it out anywhere with taxes so anyways

we don't have to get too much into that i think that sam reinhardt deal was done a long time ago well it seemed like it went right down to the wire didn't it there no i think it was just announced as a wire thing i think listen you're having conversations. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All season. Of course. So when he goes from being a 30-goal scorer to a 40- or a 50-goal scorer, close to 60, I think the conversation remained the same, that we'd love him back, but it's going to have to start with an 8,

and whether he scores 40 or 50 or 60 goals, it has to start with an eight for him to stay. They can't go nine, 10 or 11. It's just, it's not happening. And the other thing too is, it could have just been a career year. Well, for sure. I'm waiting to get in and say that.

Do we really look at him and say, now he's a legitimate 50, 60 goal score and maybe we might have the same conversation on Hyman, but does he appear like every year he's going to score you 50 or 60 with his eyes closed? No, but I think he's going to be worth $8.5 million regardless of what he does going forward. But $8.5 fits.

Yeah. I was so ready to come on air today and be like, Sam Reinhart is in the bottom 20% of skaters in the nhl he's never had a year anywhere close to this you know like i don't like this contract and then he signs for eight by eight and 8.6 or whatever and i'm like ah that's really good that's a really good number yeah but the point is it seems like all parties involved recognized that sam reinhardt wanted to stay it's a good fit he recognized it might be a career year this is a good way too that if you're not awesome in four years they don't have to trade

you because you're making eight million against a hundred million dollar cap you know you're still useful at that point so for him it's a good way to build stability it's good for the team it's a great this is what contracts should be it works for everyone so they did it i love i like love that contract do we can we give max domey some credit too for for maybe not pushing his aav as high as it it could have gone at this moment if he was still free yeah i i'm surprised that it was as low as it was and you think there's other teams that were willing to go for is that the reason that what is the number exactly it's three points yeah three seven five okay you have four years at 15 yeah four years at 15 uh 3.75 uh that's why i just i literally copied and pasted from sports net website so let me bury them that math that math doesn't work no okay well does it i don't

know i'm not a mathematician buddy i mean no no no 15 okay 15 blame sports now pal I don't know. I'm not a mathematician, buddy. No, no, no. 15. Okay. 15. Blame sports day, pal. I don't know. Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. No, you're staying corrected. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you. No, staying corrected. Thank you. Four years, 15 million. Could he, on a short-term deal, on a short-term deal, I don't know whether teams were willing to go four years, but I think for two years, somebody was willing to go nine for him. Two years, nine million? I think he could have got between

four and five. For me, anyway. So I do believe that at 375, he gave them a true discount. I do too. Go ahead, buddy. This for me is like, let's say you go to like a beautiful hat shop, you know, and there's a great fedora

and it's a really really nice fedora and they want to sell it you know it's a hundred dollar fedora and you can get it for 20 bucks i can get the fedora for 20 bucks it's a great deal it doesn't work for me it's still a fedora as cheap as it is it doesn't make sense for me personally so the domi contract is a good deal and it's good value for that player i'm not 100 sure it makes sense for the toronto maple leafs you know he has to be in the toxic top six to produce not sure he's a top six guy not a defensive guy he was best at center but i don't know that he's a set like i love the contract for the player i just don't know that it fits for the leafs i i really thought is he

gonna play with matthews is he gonna center center Matthews now? Is that what we're... I do believe that he'll start the season with Austin. Yeah, I do. If he centers Austin Matthews and this is the best value contract they could possibly get, it's a steal for a very good player. I think he starts on the wing with Austin.

Yeah. And I think... I don't... Go ahead, Mourney. Okay, go ahead. No, no, I don't know that he's a centerman, so if he plays with Matthews, I'm in. Yeah, I just really think after watching him for a year

and being familiar with his game, I think you kind of know what you're going to get from him, and you're going to have some moments where you don't notice him a ton, but when he's really on and he's skating well and he's playing with good players, he's a productive guy. I don't know. He's flexible. He could center the third line.

He could play wing. He could play productive guy. I don't know. He's flexible. He could center the third line. He could play wing. He could play top six. He could at times be bottom six. And at 3-7-5, that's a fantastic range. I just think Florida versus Edmonton Stanley Cup final. Like the Leafs are in that series. What's his, where is he in that group? So I'm with you guys.

He's going to have some great games and produce and whatever. He is flexible. It's good value. I get all that. I get it. I get it. He's a good player. So we got a lot of where is, if they're in a series with Edmonton or Florida

in a conference final or a Stanley Cup final. We got a few more questions, like where's 16 and where's 91? Yeah. 16 is not going anywhere. Yeah, he's not going anywhere, right? Do you guys want to check in with other non Toronto Maple Leaf things quickly before

we keep talking Leafs here? Yeah, give us an update. Things are happening very much so here. I'll just go. The Preds are going nuts they signed stamkos like you said they signed marcia so uh brady shea has landed in nashville as well on a seven year seven million dollar contract old team david perron decided two year four million dollar contract with the ottawa senators uh i'm looking at some other ones here i think the bruins have signed elias lindholm for a seven year contract at 7.75 million dollars uh and zadorov and they signed zadorov is it seven years

five mil there i think it's seven years five million here i'm seeing uh matt roy signs with the caps for six years 5 $5.75 million. People are rich. Yeah. People are making money. Like I said, the Leafs had interest in a lot of those names, but it's too rich. It's too rich.

I love Arvidsson-Dennington for two years, $4 million. That's a great deal. Let me correct myself on Zdorov. It's a six-year contract carrying a $5 million AAV. Let me tell you something. If I was Brad Tree living, I would have pushed for that one. I would have actually tried to make room for Zdorov. I think that's a big miss.

I completely agree. Six by five, totally agree. Totally agree. He's now gone to your rival. I would have gone five to five i really can't wait for zadorov to catch william nylander over the middle in the first round of the playoffs next year and just completely the exact thing you're sick of playing yeah zadorov of course we've watched him some nights in november december throw up a pizza and go, oh my God, where's your head? But that guy's level of play rose dramatically the bigger the stage got.

And that doesn't happen all the time with players. He earned a lot from me watching him. Can he be a little mouthy? Can he rub teammates the wrong way? Can he get a little cocky and arrogant yes yes yes yes but i tell you what go find a guy that size that hits boys hits hammers guys hammers guys yeah. Like, that to me is really the guy that the Leafs could have used. Totally agree. I do think that that's a pretty rich contract. Like, six, eight million.

I'm not worried with that one. The Lindholm one, they gave him almost eight million. That's almost Sam Reinhardt money they gave for a lot of Lindholm. Yeah, but he's going to put on that stupid sweater. He's going to turn into David Krejci. Like, I just, things just work out for them, and that's just going to work. I just, I can picture him in that jersey. I can picture him playing against the Leafs. He's going to turn into David Krejci. Like, I just, things just work out for them, and that's just going to work. I just, I can picture him in that jersey. I'm going to picture him playing against the Leafs.

He's going to be excellent. I can just, I know that that's going to work out for them. So, that's my only take on it. Brett Neshe, Brendan Dillon. Yeah, so the East is getting better here, folks. The East is getting better. They are getting better, and the question is, you know, with Tanev right now, and Oliver Ekman-Larsen on the blue line,

and I get that that's a priority is the blue line, but it's not Montour. It's not Zdorov. It's not legit, like, heavies. No, Ekman-Larsen, four years. You know, they want guys who can skate and move the puck, and I know everyone's. So he's a left-side guy, OEL?

Yeah. I don't know much in this world, but I usually remember lefts and right shots. You were correct. He shoots left. So we're just to kind of revisit the OLE thing because we were moving past it. The power play stuff with him. I were moving past it uh the power play stuff

with him i looked up his career high in power play points here his career high was 2015 2016 with the coyotes he had 27 power play points last year with florida he had uh 11 power play points so he probably didn't get a ton of time he played 18 minutes uh per game last year i don't think he probably wasn't on the top unit montour was on that top unit for most of the season and most of the playoffs right and then it was game seven that they put hey maybe that's a good sign but game seven they put ekman larson on that power play or whatever but yeah i i can't say i love that one boys i gotta be honest i'm not over the moon about the ekman larson experience for four years like didn't this guy just get sent packing by the Canucks?

And I guess he was decent for the Panthers, but I don't know. Yeah. A little worried about that one. I mean, it's, you know, one of those middle-class contracts that's not the most expensive and you need players and yada yada.

But yeah, peace. I don't know. I'm with you, Sam. It's fine. It's fine.'s fine it's just you know you look at all the the signings that happen immediately as free agents open and their impact guys it feels like the leafs are really locking up mediocre here yeah i mean the thing is when you have a really good core like they're still going to be very good next year right like they're still going to be a playoff team they're still going to be very good next year, right? Like, they're still going to be a playoff team. They're still going to be in that conversation.

But it's just beyond that's when you start worrying a little bit. But, yeah, I'm not worried with them. They're just very similar. I would have loved to have seen Jonathan Marcheseau sign or, you know, someone who kind of been an impact guy in pressure situations. We were talking about Zdorov picking up his game. Marcheseau has a con smite.

You know, we haven't... I guess Tanev can be that for them, but... You guys want to hit a break, and then we'll come back and maybe do Lilligren. There's still so much to talk about. Bertuzzi. Robertson. Apparently demanded a trade, so still lots to get into.

You want to hit a break? All right, let's hit a break. Catch your breath, everybody. It's Free Agent Frenzy on the real Kipper and Bourne show back after these words. Diving deep into Leafs, Raptors, Jays, and NFL. The JD Bunk is podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hope everybody's enjoying Canada Day. And also enjoying the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Three hours. We're already flying by. Judging how fast that 33 minutes just went, three hours isn't going to feel too long. No kidding. More breaking news.

Toronto Maple Leaf breaking news on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. Boys, I told you from the very beginning, Matt Murray, not out of the picture, just signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs at $875,000. Okay. To play hockey for them?

Third goalie, bud. you need three yeah so i don't i don't hate it that number that's fine and i guess if you need a third goalie i mean joseph wall is one of your goalies and the other stole ours is career high in games played is 29 so having a third one's okay i'm just not sure if the third one they just signed is able to do it still, but we'll see. You know, why not take a flyer on a young guy? No. He is young.

Hold on. Hold on. Matt Murray is young. Do you know Matt Murray? Is it his agent that's friends with you? Matt Murray, do you really trust him? The Leafs, buddy. Everything I'm telling you because I know the Toronto Maple Leafs.

No agent, the Leafs, bud. What about them? They like Matt Murray. Wow. But it was Dubas' connection, right? It's the Leafs that have liked Matt Murray is the reason why I've been talking about Matt Murray. He looked as flexible as the Tin Man the last time we saw him in the crease. Maybe things have changed.

He's healthy. Maybe he's been oiled up. He's oiled up. He's got new. He's Humpty Dumpty. He's back together again. And listen, if I'm wrong and he's healthy and he's got the Tin Man oil juice, then yeah, he could be great.

He could absolutely be good. This is the same as Joe Wall. Joe Wall is definitely healthy, then awesome. So we know this. I like it because we know the shortage of goaltenders and how teams are always looking for a goaltender. And if he could prove that he's healthy, if he could be with the Marlies and and show that he's

he's good down there if he gets called up if wall goes down and he finds himself playing 15 20 games who wouldn't trade for him making no money by february march i think he's an asset so but would he where's martin jones yeah martin jones i think he's gone but would he uh clear waivers when you have to clear waivers there's a one year is a one-way thing like you have to clear waivers the start of the year he's gonna clear waivers i think at a training camp you think right i don't know maybe you had a chance to sign him for a million nope everybody passed on it the least got him for 875 true you think people are gonna claim him now well maybe somebody's goalie goes down in camp or whatever but yeah i think exactly it's circumstantial right i all of a sudden need a goalie i need one with experience hey he won a stanley cup

he's healthy okay give me a third or fourth round for him yeah anyways okay yeah you're right it's i mean it's depth that you hope you don't need. A couple, just a quick one here before we get into some more Leafs stuff. Vancouver Canucks signed Jake DeBrusque to a seven-year contract with a $5.5 million AAV. Well, this is plan B because they didn't get Gensel. And it's cheaper. Much cheaper.

He had 19 goals and 40 points last year. Got the Zach Hyman deal. It's UFA. You know, like it costs you extra term or extra dollars. That's what you're paying instead of an asset. So sure. Like Jake Gensel, sorry, DeBrusque is worth 5.5 million. Go look at his playoff numbers for Boston Bruins.

They are outstanding. This guy shows up. Yeah, because he plays for the Leafs every year and he kills them. That's why he's good. He's 5.5 million. He's just not seven years at that number, but that's UFA. Yeah, that's it. So Lilligren, Lilligren thoughts?

The lily pad. The lily pad. The lily pad. Yeah. This is a direct reflection on knowing that you couldn't grab a big fish here. He's a right-handed shot D who on some nights can show the hockey world that he's capable of playing 15, 17, maybe 20 minutes a night once again not unlike matt murray there's an asset there that probably needed to be protected and to be re-evaluated down the road so yeah how much do you think the high ankle sprain really changed who he was when he got pushed from behind to the boards for marshan because i think he was playing really well up until that point. And we had,

remember we had talked about him taking steps and looking better, but then is it just the Lilligren thing or was it the injury that, you know, there's where he gets hot and then he goes away and it kind of, it's kind of a yo-yo, but I don't know. What, where are you at on that?

Cause I see a little bit of talk about that, that it's season got the rail that I'm trying to, I'm trying to play both sides of this without saying that i actually think i actually think that you have put so much into timothy lilligran and it's so hard to find a right shot guy and was he 25 years old he's one of the few guys on your back end that can skate the puck out and make a pass i i think it's fine to watch him play for a season here this might be the year and I'm not being facetious when I say that, where he is impactful and he can really move the puck up the ice for them. You know?

Yeah, I'm past that. I think he is what he is, and at times he can go through good stretches. It says everyone needs 400 games as a D-man to become 300 games. I think at times he can be a liability. He's a 5, 6, a 7 for me. And if you need to overpay a little bit to keep that asset, maybe convince a team that he could be a top 4 and you can slide him at the deadline for a 2nd or a 3rd

or a younger prospect, it's it's worth keeping but i don't have high expectations that he's ready to go to another level yeah i can see it i personally can see it i can see him having a year where he has career highs offensively i also i again i look at the stanley cup final and go put Lilligren on either one of those teams. And I'm talking about that's the guy you're going to eat alive. You know, like it's a puck into that corner. OEL Lilligren third pair. Like that's not, that's not going to cut it.

So maybe he's your seventh guy and he comes in to pinch. But he strikes me like Domi, a guy that like he'll help you get to the playoffs. You know, I don't playoffs. I don't know. I don't know if he's the guy who's going to move the needle when you get there. But if you're paying a guy $3 million, you're not picturing him being a 6-7 guy. You're picturing him like, what would a $3 million be? A 5-6, a 4 even, right? Yeah.

Sure, because what's Benoit going to make his year four? I believe that maybe the Leafs are more on Justin's mindset, that they're willing to wait a little longer and see if he can go to another level. So there's protection without commitment. Yeah. Yeah. You know, of all the deals, this one to me is just like,

let's see, let's get into the year and see how this goes. He's an asset if you decide he doesn't fit. You know, like I said, a right shot guy with a year and a half to go at the deadline with, you know, for, I just think it's a reasonable deal to move and let's see how it goes. So that one doesn't bother me all that much. All right.

So we can't have a first hour without bringing the name Mitch Marner up. So let's do it. I just, I find it really interesting that you can bring up a high ankle sprain for Lilligren that happened, I don't know, in November, December. It's funny. I just think it's interesting.

I just think it's funny. I just think it's funny. And whether it affected him, but you would never say, well, Mitch Marner had a high ankle sprain too in the latter part, and no one ever cared that if it affected him at the end of the year. No, because there has been other years

where he doesn't have a high ankle sprain and it looks exactly the same in the playoffs. That would the that would be the rebuttal to that but yeah high ankle sprain suck they there's no question and i think he does deserve a little bit of kudos for coming back from it not looking perfect but kind of fighting his way through it but yeah it didn't look great in other years so i think that's why people didn't give him the benefit of the doubt correct bernie i just i just can't look at the leafs and like these fringy guys they're signing and not panic without mitch marner like you need superstars on this team for it to to be to trust that they're going to win games and all you have to do is fill in at

the fringes i just can't imagine a world where you trade mitch marner and all of a sudden you get two mediocre pieces and now it's on Willie and Mitch as Tavares leaves. Sorry, it's on Willie and Matthews. I just... You got to keep Marner, man. So have you heard anything on this? Has there ever been any movement

or are you just still sticking to slow? Quiet, slow, slow. Okay, okay. So let me ask you something now. Ask away, buddy. All right. And you are the president of Leaf Nation. Yeah.

So the season ends. Another disappointment. Questions get thrown at Brad on Mitch Marner. No signs at all out of him on, we love him. We want him back. We're going to try to sign him. It's a priority. He didn't get any of the Austin Matthews love the year before.

So everybody comes to this conclusion that he's done. He's out. He's gone. We're going to make trades up. Right. And, you know, Frank Cervelli's conversation, I'm not throwing Frank under the bus. I'm just saying that that was the narrative

that they're going to push hard into the draft and he's gone and, like, nothing. Nothing. Buddy, this is it every year. Everyone does this whole draft thing. The draft, nothing. Not even like a whisper. Yeah, the draft is a real like everyone's horned up about everything happening

and then everyone just makes their picks. Well, they're going to see if they can move them at the draft. That never happens. Yeah, like then they just make their picks. It's like, oh, well, they made their pick. So tell me. Yeah. I'll go to you, Sammy, president of the Booster Club.

Thank you. What is going on? Tell me, in your opinion, where is the wind blowing on this? I think it is almost as dependable as the Leafs bowing out early is this exact same narrative that happens every year about the core four where everyone's like, it's got to be done. It's over. Never again.

And then, you know, as the summer progresses and as the sun gets warmer and everyone's like, oh, he's truly, he's going to get traded at the draft. Surely he's going to get traded before July one. Surely he'll be traded in the off season and then training camp starts.

And then he's just playing on the team and everybody's back together. We're just heading back to run it back. Ville here, boys. Like it's just, it's, I just feel like it's going to be exactly the same. i don't know if that's necessarily right but that's what's going to happen jbu get the same sense yeah i feel like you're taking a victory lap on this

today kip have you felt like this is the case the whole time or what no i'm not taking a victory lap i'm not but what i am trying to make a point of is that like that i'm a dumbo is that what you're getting this is this is really a uh a no-win situation from many different angles the time to trade them if you were going to trade them was last year before the gnome of click kicked in right yes right after last year when the all the dubious stuff happened when there was that change over and right in that little window where brad for living was getting the key codes to the doors that was the time when it was the time to trade them but now they're just screwed like the more i what they talk about the more i want to do it the more i think about what they could trade for and get the cap there's just no there's just nothing what are they going to do

they're stuck and you know what man it's going to be crappy it's going to do? They're stuck. And you know what, man? It's going to be crappy. It's going to be crappy for Mitch because they're going to boo him. Not going to boo. No way. No way, Barney. They're going to boo him? No, they won't boo. People online versus people who go to the games are two different people. I really don't think he'd ever get booed unless they're on a 10-game losing streak. Even if it's not Mitch, you know who they're going to boo?

They're going to boo the Leafs. Yeah. People are sick of this. So, listen, that's a whole different kettle of fish here, right? So, you tell me there's no possible way he gets booed or anybody gets booed if they're in the hunt atop the Atlantic Division. And there's a very good chance if they are, he's going to be a big part of that. So now if you tell me if they're slow out of the gate

and they're struggling to make the playoffs, then he may get booed, but he won't be the only one. No, the whole thing's going to be booed. But I mean, I don't think that that's going to happen. And I don't think it's going to happen either. I think they'll just be good. Listen, guys, if we're talking about them getting booed, he's at the top of the list. For sure.

And it's not like someone else has a foot on the same ledge of the pedestal as him. He's up there on an island as a guy who people have. Can they still be a top team and Mitch not being a part of it and then them booing him?

What do you mean? Say that again. Create a then them booing him. Like, I don't. What do you mean? Say that again. Create a scenario where they boo him. It's because he's not producing. It's because the Leafs are great and he's holding them back. Like, I don't see it. I don't see the booing. Playoffs will do when they're going out in six games,

but I don't think in the regular season. But then it's over. Then he's walked. By then, like, give me a scenario. A scenario where they boo Mitch this next year? Yes. Well, I think if a story got out that they had tried to make a deal and he was unwilling to be traded,

it becomes a little bit like your boy. But trying to make a deal and it getting out if that's their if that was their plan to embarrass him or push him out they would have done it already do it at the draft they would have done that already yeah right feel like just started at the draft boys well then if we're just heading to the same thing it's just gonna be the same thing. It's just going to be the same thing. No, but you know what this is? It's the San Jose Sharks for all those years where people just didn't care, didn't give a damn about their regular season or what they did. So Mitch can go out and have 120 points,

and the team can go out and finish second in the Atlantic because they never win it with 108 points. And people won't care. They're not going to watch. They're not going to follow. They're going to say, show me when it counts because you never succeed when it counts. And that's when it gets bad.

But by then Mitch is one foot in free agency and he's gone anyway. So yeah. March them all the way there. Yeah. That to me is watching a guy that age put up 120 points and be regarded as one of the best producing. He hasn't put up a hundred points before. 120.

JB just said 120. I didn't hear that. Sorry, I was looking at it. He just said 120. Okay. Like, it's a disaster. Disaster. But that's why they're screwed. Because he doesn't probably want to sign long-term, does he? Does he want to sign long-term? I want the Kip deal that he mentioned the other day. Can you do four years of them?

Can you get... He just... Some commitments so we're not all year going, is this here are they trading them is he gone like that might be the first Matthews that might be the first start of maybe trying to at least get you know a feel is that you got to think that if they're not pushing hard a trade behind the scenes, then they will make him an offer. It might be an offer he can refuse. And once it gets out, then the pressure mounds. Is that their strategy?

Maybe. I think Mitch would do a lot of good for himself by not thinking he's Austin Matthews. He is not Austin Matthews. And so to move on from a guy who just won the Rocket with almost 70 and Selke and tried to be the same guy as him, if he took 11 and a half for four years or something, I think people would love him. But he never does that, and he won't.

He'll end up grinding them and feeling upset because he's not being held to the same respect level. So Stamkos did that. Stamkos just did that to Tampa. Yeah, but there's a difference with Stamkos in terms of cups and wins. Well, and having won two Stanley Cups. I get that part. That's a pretty important caveat.

It's still an asset that you ultimately lost. That's all. Yeah. That's the comparison. For sure. Not the Cups, not respectability, just watching an asset leave for nothing. Immediately, they let an asset go for nothing, and for an extra million on what that guy got,

they got a better hockey player in Jake Gensel. They had a plan to replace him when they were going to lose him, and they had to get aggressive to make it happen. I don't see a world where the Leafs are going to be able to do that. Yeah. You know, like it's, Tampa's better today. No disrespect to Stephen Stamkos, who had 80 points or whatever last year. But, you know, Gensel's going to have the next five years,

he'll be a better player than Stamkos is. So I don't know how the Leafs would be able to do that. They made some decisions in Tampa. God. They did. Hard ones. Good or bad, whatever side you sit on the fence, they made hard, tough decisions.

Yeah. Like, just gone. You know, Sergachev, bye-bye. Jeannot, bye-bye. Stamkos, bye-bye you know bye-bye stamkos bye-bye let me tell you something though that that uh tanner you know that you know one is an all-time bad maybe the the worst in history trade yeah a great vote for one five a pick in every round of the draft just about to get a guy who was never impactful the trade was uh it was a round round three round four round two round one yeah like under different circumstances that's almost a fireball offense that trade yeah yeah barring the context that everything else they do is brilliant

yeah well that one alone is almost enough to change the, the narrative, isn't it? Yeah, for sure. So we still have a couple more Leafs thing. I know people listen, they love this,

but I mean, we still have to talk about Bertuzzi leaving. We still have to talk about, you know, Robertson demanding a trade. So do you want to maybe quickly do that when we come back after, after the, after the break?

We're not breaking yet, but I'm just asking you. Yeah. No, we don't want to start the conversation. We got a few minutes to talk about uh let's go uh tyler bertuzzi and the fact that they they took a chance on domey and bertuzzi on one year deals one made it one didn't so i don't know batting 500 on this one i'm i'm okay with him walking yeah i gotta say i like five and a half million bucks for a guy with 30 games that a goal last year even a lot it just didn't work for him because of the power play situation like bertuzzi

sneaky needs the power play i think he's gonna have a good year in chicago um but yeah it's a it's a fit thing i talked about the fedora i'm not sure well you know you want to wear the tyler bertuzzi fedora even if he's cheap either here so yeah i i think that it's a big missed opportunity with him because when they signed him i really thought he had a chance to be like a huge huge all-time fan favorite and he was just a lot like foot speed a lot less waytime fan favorite. And he was just a lot less... Foot speed. A lot less greasy. Way more passive than I thought he was going to be. Exactly right.

Like, I remember that first game they played against Montreal and the puck was underneath the goalie and he just came in and jackknifed the goalie and there was like a huge fight and I think Giordano was involved. It was like a big melee. I was like, okay, this is what Leaf fans thought. And then it just like never really happened again.

Show me that like once every two weeks or once every 10 days there was what's that right just the fire just the greasiness and uh just he just disappeared far too many times for me yeah way less noticeable at times and i thought hosted through the year he ended up remember he punch a size was it witherspoon or Lauco, whoever it was in Boston? No, it was Witherspoon. It was Witherspoon. Witherspoon.

And you're like, this guy has that in him. In the last 60 games, you didn't see him so much as raise his voice at anyone. Yeah. All right. Let's talk a little bit about Nick and then some other stuff around the league when we come back. Is our hour up? We're up.

The first hour? Yeah, we're done. Oh, my. Just two more of those and then we're done? Yeah. Wow. Two more and then we're hitting the the first hour? Yeah, we're done. Oh, just two more of those and then we're done? Yeah. Wow. Two more and then we're hitting the patio, Kipper. A very, very fast first hour on the real Kipper and Warren show.

All right, thanks. And no guests. We'll maybe track one down for the second hour. All right, plenty more to get into, including Tavares, guys. Yeah, we're going to have a conversation on the captain of the Toronto Police when we return to our special edition.