Real Kyper & Bourne - Sway Stays

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne begin their national hour by bringing on former NHL goalie and NESN analyst Andrew Raycroft (3:35) to discuss Jeremy Swayman and the Bruins agreeing to a contract extension, how the team's relationship and his performance will be affected and the state of the Atlantic Division. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee chat about a waived James Reimer getting claimed by the Anaheim Ducks, the New Jersey Devils' regular season ceiling and expectations for the plucky Sabres and Red Wings.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 affiliate.

let's welcome everybody in the real kipper and born show this is the national hour we are live on sports at 650 in vancouver sports at 960 in calgary and seen coast to coast on Sportsnet. This hour of Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. And if you can't catch us live, you can always download our pod on Apple, Spotify, YouTube.

Where else, Sammy? Everywhere. Everywhere you get your pods? Everywhere. You can get us. And tell us you like us or hate us and give us five stars. Great. Okay. Oh, the old rating and review. Everywhere. Everywhere you get your pods? Everywhere. You can get us. And tell us you like us or hate us and give us five stars. Great. Okay. Oh, the old rating and review. Subscribe.

Do everything. I read a review. It went on you. Oh. Wow. Can't be great. No, it was really good. Oh, like.

Thanks, Tom. Which then I did a thumbs down. That was a positive. I get a thumbs up or thumbs down. I'm going to find it for you. I got a buddy, my buddy Donnie, who loves this show. And once in a while, he'll send me a negative YouTube comment. I'm like, Donnie, brother, I don't read these for a reason.

Yeah, no, I'm actively avoiding these. Like, Donnie, relax. Well, it's all based on how much you talk Leafs in our national hour. I think that's the one that gives you the... They hate that. So, generally, I like to think I'm a fairly positive guy. I want to start by complaining about the way the NHL season starts. Can I do that?

Is this the right forum? Starts Wednesday or starts in Prague? Yeah. Did it? It started, right? It started, yeah. What, at lunchtime on a Friday in Prague? Yeah. Did it? It started, right? It started, yeah. What, lunchtime on a Friday in Prague? Great.

How many people watched that? Nine? 10 a.m. Saturday morning? Not prime time for a hockey game? That's not for you. Okay, so that's not for me. Can the start of the season be for me and not St. Louis, Seattle at 4.30 on a Wednesday? Tuesday.

Tuesday? Tuesday. What are we doing? Well, that's, I'll tell you what we're doing. What is Wednesday? Tuesday. Tuesday? Tuesday. What are we doing? Well, that's... I'll tell you what we're doing. What is that? We're kissing the ass of ESPN and Amazon. That's what we're doing.

Can we not? It would be great if what we did was it's opening night. It's Saturday. All 32 teams are playing. It's opening day. It's a big deal. It's a thing to sell.

It's hot. NFL had their first night. Baltimore Ravens right at the gate. They are the kings of the castle. For a reason. They make good decisions. But if you were going to try to do 16 games in one day, it's virtually impossible.

They do it. It happens throughout the year. The NBA doesn't start with the Charlotte Hornets and the, I don't know, the Toronto Raptors at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning. No. They start with the Lakers. Like, launch the season out of a can,

and we're like, oh, it's actually started. Yes, there's preseason games going on. So they wanted the triple header Wednesday, or I'm sorry, tomorrow, right? Yeah, it's a triple header. It's a triple header We're like, oh, it's actually started. Yes, there's preseason games. So they wanted the triple header Wednesday. Or, I'm sorry, tomorrow. Right? Yeah, it's a triple header. It's a triple header. Triple header, baby.

So the first game's what? St. Louis. 4.30 Eastern. Could you name two more middling teams in the league? The 18th and 19th ranked Blues and Kraken.

Where's the Kipper? Later today, the last was Blackhawks against the team that just came into the Utah Hockey Club. At least Boston, Florida. Oh, yeah, Boston, Florida. Are you good?

Yeah, but come on. People agree with me on that. You feel better? That was as mad as I think I've ever heard you. It's stupid. Let's start off this national hour welcoming in Andrew Raycroft, retired goalie. Does work with the Boston Bruins. Co-host of the Morning brew with our good friend billy

jaffe and of course yours truly razor pulled over facetiming us thanks for doing this pal how are you i'm great yeah i just ran out of my daughter's hockey practice i started at five so i'm just missing warm up and i'll get we really appreciate your time because there was no bigger story in the National Hockey League this weekend than the thought that maybe Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins would not agree to a contract in time for opening game. Doesn't mean he's playing opening game, but I think the Bruin fans can have a bit of a sigh of relief here.

I'm sure you've been busy with this story, but you're the guy that we wanted to talk to about this and just overall your surprise in a very short period of time coming off Cam Neely's comments to Louis Gross' comments to where we sit today. How did you see this play out? Well, I was surprised it didn't get done over the summer to be honest i thought they would both be in a place where where they could get it done and

and if there was a holdout it would be a few days you know jeremy but we heard obviously a lot of talk of the arbitration etc that you know maybe he'll he'll sit out a few days make everyone answer a few questions but at the end of the day, get it done. And then with the press conference last Monday, that was an interesting morning. When Cam piped up and said, I was surprised, that was the one where it's, ooh, here we go. And of course, he went on and talked about the 64 million reasons, the statement that night. And you get out of there monday and and uh of course my phone's buzzing everyone's talking about okay now what does this mean and december one

really got put to the forefront right away a couple couple days later and just being around it you're like okay maybe this actually closed the gap and now in hindsight uh i know lewis gross did an interview today and kind of talked about that got the wheels going. That made us talk. That made us communicate a little bit more. And then at the end of the day, guys, you know it, Kipper and Bourne, you guys know it as well as anyone, money talks. And both player and team were going to be hit financially finally tomorrow or today, I guess. So that's really the the ultimate pressure point and we saw it play out that that money at the end of the day talk the bruins are going to get hit with

cap issues and and jeremy swayman was going to have money taken out of his pocket on a daily basis and unfortunately that was the pressure point that got things done so do you think there'll be any repercussions from this in terms of a the relationship with swayman and the team or swayman's ability to be up to speed early on um you know what what can come from the way this played out sorry well i think i think the team relationship player relationship i think that's fine the fact that it's an eight-year deal if it was a three-year deal um you might be thinking differently we might be expecting something to happen again in three years but with eight years this is going to be more than water under the bridge once the season

gets going no big deal at all you move on um hockey wise performance wise it will be interesting to see where where jeremy's game is at um he was training with the college guys around the corner but we all know that that's a little bit different. Now, he has an ultimate belief in himself. I won't be surprised if he plays tomorrow night. I know that was, like, when Montgomery talked about that last week, that was part of the same conference call as negotiating time. So, there was a little, yeah, he was undecided today, Jim Montgomery was.

I didn't 100% say it was Corpus Allo. So if we don't see him tomorrow night, Jeremy Swayman, I got to imagine he's doing the home opener. And we'll see. For Bruin's sake, you hope, and his sake, you hope that he's up to NHL performance. If he is, then that's a whole other discussion of why are we even doing preseason, and that can be an interesting one.

He might be the guinea pig for kind of the swell that was coming the last couple of days with some of the injuries and people talking about preseason. So it remains to be seen. I didn't see him on the ice, so I can't tell you what he looks like. He practiced today in Florida, but it wasn't my own eyes looking at him. We're talking to Andrew Raycroft, former NHL goalie and now studio analyst for the Boston Bruins.

So the whole play out of Cam Neely calling out the 64 million reasons, the sign last exhibition game that said 64 or get lost. So once things went a little public, of course, egos are involved, right? And the tendency for us outside looking in is trying to evaluate, was there a winner? Was there a loser?

Who looked better? Who looked worse? Did Cam's comment absolutely work? Did the kid cave? How do you see it well i i can't you can't say like you know after signing a 66 million dollar deal that that you caved that's pretty good stuff good point what a loser well 32 in his career that's uh i would cave all week so bad if i was getting 66 million you know dollars let alone million so I don't I don't

I think at the end of the day it got pretty much as fair as possible I think the word you know like it wasn't like the way it would have caved I think we would be saying the word cave if it went into the regular season and either the Bruins went seven and0 or they went 0-7 and one of two parties had to go hat in hand to the other, that would have been a cave situation. This one I think is a little bit fair. It's a lot of money for a guy who's only played 132 games, but with the term and being as young as he is and the cap going up, you would expect this to be a pretty good deal from the Bruins side in four or five years.

So I think it hit the sweet spot, and it comes down to performance now, right? It's Kipper, you guys know, there's no bad players in the NHL, just bad contracts, and that's now Jeremy Swayman's expectation as an $8 million guy. The first time he gives up a bad goal, of course, Boston media and media in the nhl is going to go to the contract but that's what you have to live with when you're when you're a big boy razor massive turnover for the bruins this season it's a heinen and lauco and debrusk and all these guys out but you get elias lindholm in and zadorov what are your thoughts on the changes made there and where it

leaves the Bruins well so I I think they're better than they were on this day last season going into last season they had lost Bergeron they had lost Krejci who's gonna play center is is Pavel Zaka number one center uh on the back end who's filling in like for three or four years it's been who's the big left-handed for three or four years, it's been, who's the big left-handed defenseman that the Bruins have? They're too small in the back end. Matt Gryzliks of the world, just not big enough. That narrative has all changed.

The back end is huge. The depth players, the Kasteliks, the Max Joneses that they brought in as well over the summer made them bigger in the bottom six. So I think they're better than they were last season. There still a hole jake debrusk leaves a hole on the second line he played with charlie coyle and brad marsh on almost all season last year they didn't fill that role they didn't have money to fill that role so right now it's morgan geeky on that line can he add to his 17 goals last season i think that's the real question for this team is is not depth scoring but can they score enough you know especially in the atlantic division when you're looking at the florida panthers the toronto maple east and even the tampa bay lightning

can they score enough so i think they're but no question they're a better team than they were going into last season with their back end being very big very long very mobile that's mason lowry too right he wasn't in the lineup last season he emerged against the toronto maple leafs last year and then elias lindholm centering the number one line with david pasternak and then moving zacko over to the left so zadoroff can he pick up like he ended up being this cult hero for the vancouver canucks man he was like all world has he picked up where he's left off is there an adjustment will we see him slowly work into a top four role well yes i think that it i think he's in a perfect position for signing a huge deal in

the summer the expectation's kind of low um he doesn't need to score 15 goals he doesn't need like he's the right now through going into tomorrow night it looks like he's on the third pairing with andrew peak uh bruins went with lindholm mcavoy then low right carlo and then zadorov and peak so if he fits into the Bruins system, understands D, you know, the dots in and B is that physical presence. I think his bar is set fairly low that he can continue to be the guy that he was in Vancouver just by because he doesn't have to overreach and be something he's not. Do you see anyone in the division like where are the Bruins in this division now? Florida coming off a cup, Leafs probably a little bit better, but you've got some teams chasing Detroit and Ottawa and Buffalo all trying to get better.

Kipper picked the Bruins to win the division, I'll have you know. Do you see them as that good? I do see them that good. It's going to be like Florida. I don't think they don't care if they win the division, right? The Florida Panthers don't care as long as they're the the eighth seed they're they'll probably be more happy playing in that position um i think toronto is just going to score a lot of goals and similar to last year they just get into the playoffs because they're so talented i think the bruins are in that situation

now the bruins did go 10 and 0 to start the season both the last two years. I don't expect that to happen, but I do expect them to be a 100-point team. But I don't think, similar to Florida, I think, and really probably the Maple Leafs are thinking the same thing, just get in because the Atlantic's so difficult. It is the best division, I think, especially the top four teams. So I think that they're going to compete for that top spot because again i think they're better than they were last year and they were one point away from winning the division last season so i think they will compete there i don't think it's a team that's like gonna try and get 85 points i think they're more of a 100

point team um and and then playoffs it's all about matchups, as we've found out the last few years. So in terms of the center ice position with the Boston Bruins, obviously Elias Lindholm comes in, and he goes pretty much 1-2 with Coyle, correct? Correct. In my world, those are two good centermen, but I don't see them as legit number ones. So how does it play out uh in this middle this that they're going to do this by committee here or is lindholm a legit number one guy on a contending stanley cup team no that's that's that is a question and i would somewhat agree with you

uh well i would agree with you not somewhat i would agree with you. Well, I would agree with you, but not somewhat. I would agree with you in that. Now, the only caveat to that championship idea is when the Bruins, and we're going back to 11 and 13, I know that was a different game then, but even in 19, Bergeron, it wasn't like he's a 100-point guy. He was never a 100-point guy. He plays a 200-foot game and let his wingers do the work. Lindholm is cut out of that same mold. Charlie Coyle is cut out of that

same mold. So, again, that's where I go to the wingers and a guy like Jake DeBruyne, a 30-goal guy that was pretty consistent or close to it, that's where they're kind of missing out. So, I think with Lindholm and Coyle, they just add so much defensively in their 200 foot game

but they do need some more goals but they need pasta to get 55 they need marshawn to get back up over the 30 mark and chip in so that's i do agree with you in that respect where you you know it's not sasha barkov right it's not connor mcdavid but i think it's just built a little bit differently no I look around the league now I'd love to get your thoughts on goaltender tandems it seems like tandems or even trios are kind of the way to go now I'm curious uh how much Swayman will give up to Corposalo in terms of games played but also just your thoughts on the way the position has changed in terms of how much guys play yeah I think it think it's just so hard to be a goalie in the league.

There's so much east-west. The players are so good. The power plays are so good. You just can't play 70 games. You can't play 65 games. I think it's just too much of a load. So I would expect, specifically, Swayman and the Bruins with Corpus,

I think it's a 55-30 mix or, you know, however you want 50-32 or no more 55-27. And I think that's really the ideal sweet spot for all teams. Try and get their starting goalie under that 60 mark or right around the 60 if necessary. And then the other guy plays, you once a week basically i i think that really is the best mix and you know the the guys that play a little bit more are the ones that they're fighting for a playoff spot down down the stretch and they end up getting 15 of 20 at the end of the year or 15 of 18 at the end of the year um but the good teams ideally they're always going to be right around that 57 to 60

bat most for a goaltender it's just so hard to be a goalie now just one more thought on that and i promise i'll let you get back to your daughter's practice okay um last year we saw this amazing chemistry between between uh allmark and and swayman uh allmark's gone. He's in Ottawa now. And we had Steve Ellicott on last week and he talked about sometimes guys like a comfort zone on knowing what kind of player they're going to be. And if you stretch them out from 30 games to 40 or 50,

some guys just can't make that adjustment. So I'm asking you for Allmark to step out of the scenario that he had with Boston, a very comforting situation to now being the man in Ottawa. What do you expect out of Allmark in Ottawa? I'm watching intently on that. And just as much that as just being in Canada. It's different, right, guys? You know in canada it's different right guys you know about it different and i i too well too well yeah um and ottawa's not toronto but ottawa's still in

canada and if it gets off the rails a little i like so i am in i am curious in that because it was and to be honest a little bit with swayman right like he had the first year was tuka and omar and and now omar like it's different being the man and it's definitely different being the man in canada so i think there's a lot to be watched when it comes to that and what valley was talking about is 100 real it's it's easy to be in a comfort zone when you know okay i lose this game but the other guy's gonna win win and everyone's going to forget about my last loss rather than losing to Toronto on Saturday night. Then playing in Montreal Tuesday night, losing that game, and coming home,

having to play three games in a row after losing two in a row and playing the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night to get in the playoffs. That's different pressure than going every other and everyone forgetting your last start. So it is something to watch for, for sure. And Linus is an unbelievable goaltender talent wise, but it's definitely something he hasn't tackled before. Razor.

Great stuff, man. And we're going to let you go get back to practice to the stale coffee. And I don't know. Dad's complaining. Thanks for your time, man. We appreciate it. No,, man. We appreciate it. No, anytime, guys. I appreciate it. Thanks and enjoy the first few weeks of the season.

As you will as well. Andrew Raycroft. Yeah, it's going to be an interesting play for sure. You know, as far as Swayman's situation, come on, between Boston and maybe even Lewis Gross, you guys couldn't get there without all this drama.

I agree with that. Like, you're going to get to this number-ish anyway. Razor got a legitimate laugh out of me. With what? With the, I would have caved, like, that's cave, that's great cave. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got a good laugh out of me.

If you spent all summer asking for 10 or 9 1⁄2 or something significantly more, and you stuck on it, and, you know, it's not like there weren't legitimate arguments to suggest that he should get to nine. But there's enough to contradict it. It depends if you staked out those positions knowing they were bargaining positions or if you actually expected to get 10. The guy hasn't carried the load for an NHL team and proved he could do it.

So I think that's enough to say, all right, you're not going to be the highest paid goalie in the NHL, but I think he's good enough to get the contract. He got for sure. Like, I think, I think he, would you put him in the same boat as broken? Yeah.

Broken. Just darken. Vassal. He's below. Whoa. He's below those guys for me. Like I, like if I had a winner take all,

I'm still taking just certain or vast. For sure. Yeah. It's unique. There's not too many, and Shostakhin's one of them where they're young enough that they can demand a higher number based on the fact that there's so much upside, but the danger is the upside never comes.

I saw today that Shostakhin's likely to get, what, 11? Well, that's interesting. He held out swayman held out as long as he needed shisterkin to sign so badly yeah set a number then say i'm two million set a number and just go okay the market's changed he's 11 five there's new money in the system there's new money in the system the cap i don't know what it's set at now, $88 million? Yep. It's an artificial number.

It's not really $88. No, it's not. It's more than that. The cap should be much higher. They kept it lower so the guys could pay off their escrow. The thing's going to just jump in the next two or three years. Good. No time.

Yeah. And I think at 825, this is a contract that if Jeremy Swayman does what he's supposed to do, it's going to look really good for the Boston Bruins at 8.25 in four or five years. Oh, just what they need is more contract luck. Value deal. Wow.

They don't know how to do that. Yeah. Marshaan still makes six. Is that? Yeah, right? He's in the last year of his contract this year. He's getting the Hart Trophy votes for like a decade getting six. They're just going to be really good.

They're going to be really good. The Bruins. It's a good lineup. And you asked him about Lindholm? Yeah. Lindholm is going to turn into Patrice Bergeron putting on that jersey. He's going to be elite. He's just going to be elite defensively.

He's going to be unbelievable defensively he's gonna be unbelievable lindholm of calgary no question number one line no question lindholm mcavoy lowry carlos adoroff peak on the back huge huge defensive core guys and up front they're looking at zaka lindholm pasternak marshand coil geeky you know they're good they're really good i like frederick down the lineup brazos six six love a lot of good players love frederick down the lineup brazos six six love a lot of good players love frederick yeah so yeah bruin's good in conclusion great i want to stay on goaltending a little bit demko you mentioned earlier um not off air that you think he might be out a month is it uh donnie and dolly wall is that the name of the show the uh excuse me

for not getting that right maybe no let's Maybe? No, definitely not. Another month? Another month or so into November for Demko, I think was the report there. Saw that just before we came on air. But that's, you know. You okay with? Shelob's had a good camp, and it appears that there's momentum coming off of his spring that he can hold the fort here.

Yeah, I think he's fine, for sure. But, like, one of the reasons the Canucks were the 110-point team last year, Demko's elite. He's a Vezina-caliber guy. They claim that Patera today off of waivers from the Bruins. Claiming a goalie makes you go, okay, they're going to be without a guy for a little bit here. But there is like some

issues going on with his knee that has to be dr jason smithfield yeah well i mean we had him on earlier and there's no question that uh he led us to believe that there are other issues going on here that a guy that you think might be out of a game or two in april isn't ready in october it's a long time they signed patera they also signed nils hoaglander to three times three don't those contracts i find especially in this cap era where it's either going all to the big boys up front or you're signing for 750. There's very few now that end up in the $3 million range. Hoaglander's one of those guys. You don't like it?

Or you think he could drop? I typically think, having watched the Toronto Maple Leafs for years, you love these guys until you pay them. You know, you'd love to have. Who have they done that with over the years? Whether it's Engvall or Kerfoot or Yarncroft or Kampfer. Until you give them the $2.5 million, then you're like, ugh, it was fun when we were getting them cheap.

So Hoaglander is better than that. I think Hoaglander is still going to contribute. He's a valuable guy. They may get good value on this deal yet. But you're right. It is one of those deals that's kind of that middle number where you're like... And Engvall was on waivers?

Pure Engvall on waivers. What's he got left on his deal? Just six years? 3.15 or something? Five or six years, anyway. What the hell was that? I got to tell you you that might be the weirdest nhl contract ever but he would have known that pierre engvall was a certain type of player

in toronto he would have known that and i don't know why he loves these long-term deals to guys like that like he's not nick paul engvall he never was you know you take a guy's a fringe guy's motivation cool him in there's a few examples from lou yeah you know maybe it's like lose a little bit harder to play for you got to keep your you know beard shaved off and your hair cut and you got maybe he just wants to make sure no one can run away once he gets him under a deal or something i don't know why he likes deals like that but this is wild and also he got a 16 team no trade in that uh which obviously doesn't matter now yeah but that's he did he has no trade in that deal which is like yeah who are you out the other team should get protection that like they

won't get at that point if you're thinking about trading um you might as well give him the cause because no one's taking him with that number. Now for the record, no one's claiming that contract. He's going to get through. And the Islanders, this is a public shaming. He's still going to play I bet you he plays 60 games for the Islanders this year. And then for the second and the third game

he disappears. That's Butch Goring on Pierre Engvall. That's right. That was two years ago. That's just not Goring on Pierre Engvall. That's right. That was two years ago. That's just not a wonderful drop in by Derek. That was actually Butch Goring. Butch Goring. That was moving in the old studio.

I remember laughing so hard when he said that. Oh, my God. Paul Derek. Yeah, really good. You know what? This guy is six foot five. He skates as well as anyone in the league. He shoots as hard as anyone in the league.

It's like if you had no toolbox to operate the tools. Nobody in the National Hockey League can get to the wrong spot faster than Pierre Engvall. What would you say? I saw someone call him athletic today. He's not athletic.

He's just God-given tools and hasn't figured out how to use them. That's how he made the NHL. Oh, yeah. All right, Sammy. Look at him. What do you got for us, game time, baby? All right. It's game time presented by Bet365.

Visit the app for latest odds. It's game time. It's game time presented by Bet365. Can't do that to me, Derek. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

Derek hasn't figured out yet that I am literally a chimpanzee. And if as soon as that goes in my ear, I'm like, I can't do it. Got to start over. A couple things. We're looking at the most goalie wins in the NHL this year for the regular season. And the favorites, this is in descending order. They start with Jake Ottinger is the favorite for the most wins by a goalie this year. You got no backup?

At plus 600. Yussi Saros is plus 600. So they're both favorites at plus 600. Igor Shosturkin, plus 700. Stu Skinner, plus 700. Andre Vasilevsky, 10 to 1. And Thatcher Demko, 10 to 1, which I thought was very interesting to have Thatcher Demko if he may miss a month of the season.

Vasilevsky's backup is... That list came out before Swayman signed. Right. I looked at it today, so no, it didn't. Really? Maybe you get value on Swayman. Yeah. You think they paid attention to that signing?

I think they paid the closest attention. How could you not have Swayman with the Boston Bruins not on that list? I mean, that was just the first. No, but this is you finding value. Do you have the. I'm just pulling it up here. You can get Swayman. So there's multiple people in front of Swayman as well.

Swayman is at 14 to 1. That's first. I'm sorry. And they put Demko on that list. Demko is 10 to one. More likely than Swayman to get a bunch of wins. Yep. Okay.

Then why aren't they paying attention to the fact that this guy is hurting and not starting? I got to tell you, there's not many people that pay closer attention than bookmakers. But you're on one here. You're on your. Yeah. So you found some value. If you want to bet on a Toronto Maple Leafs goalie to win that, it is Joseph Wall at plus 3,000, 30 to 1.

If he plays more games than the goalie who wins the most, that would be a good year. And there's another one I wanted to bring up with you guys here today because I found this one really fun. The finals exact forecast. So you can bet on the exactly what's going to happen in the final. So, for example, if you want to bet on a reverse of last year's final, the Edmonton Oilers to beat the Florida Panthers, that is 45 to 1.

If you want to bet on them to beat the Devils, it's 45 to 1. Is there a particular one that you think? What's your Stanley Cup final pick, Kevin? Well, is there not years now where the team that wins lost the year before like florida lost in the cup final than one would they be vegas who no vegas no no you're working on a theory here yeah i'm working on don't work it out on the air okay the the leafs to beat the Oilers is plus 8,000. Yeah. So there you go. It's just not enough value there.

Okay. Great bet. Insanely specific pick. Make like a Christmas present and wrap it up. Oh, tough crowd today. Holy smokes. That was game time.

Presented by Bet365. This is the app for the latest songs. Get found as bet. And find out why it's ever ordered at Bet365. That's the number one price to bet. Kip found his bet. And I know why it's there. Or maybe that 365. Hurry up. Ontario only place play is possible. All right, Sammy.

Nice job. Okay, we'll take a quick break. We'll get into the news and notes of the National Hockey League. When we return, what did you ask me? Who's in the Stanley Cup final? Yeah. All right. Maybe we'll discuss after the break.

You're listening and watching Real Kipper Unborn. Diving deep into Leafs, Raptors, Jays, and NFL. The JD Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Coming down the stretch here, this hour of Real Kipper and Bourne, brought to you by Bet365,

Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Anaheim Ducks claim veteran goaltender James Reimer off waivers today from the Buffalo Sabres. I started my career being claimed off of waivers in my early 20s. This guy's 36 years old. I started my career with James Reimer in the ECHL.

Really? Yeah. How was he back then? I don't know. I was terrible. I wasn't paying attention to anyone else. I was with the Reading Royals and I played one game with them in

2008. Listen, he's had a hell of a career just in terms of being a serviceable NHL goaltender. You were minus one in that game, by the way. Sorry, buddy. I did get traded right after one game. What is Reimer's career

earnings? I gotta think maybe 30, 40 million bucks. I don't know how to use Puckpedia yet. I know. I feel the same way. It's like I do not know how to access it. Cap Friendly would have had the answer to me already. Listen, I don't want to disparage Puckpedia because it's a great job. I just don't know how to work it yet.

Yeah. I'm the same way. So he signs in the summer for a million dollars with the Buffalo Sabres. Career earnings, 35 mil. Okay, I was close. Very good. Right? That's a...

Great career. Nice. He has actually out-earned my hockey career. Right? Nice chunk of change. Figures he'll take another run at being in a situation, comfortable situation, which I think he liked in Buffalo. Then he wakes up this morning and goes to the rink

and finds out he's got to pack his bags and go coast to coast to Anaheim. I got to think he's sitting there going, what am I doing? Well, this is, it gets to this point for everyone at the end of their career where you have a block of years of the team, some years of the team, and then it's in going back to 2021, it's, sorry, 2019, it's Florida, Carolina, San Jose, Detroit, Buffalo, Anaheim.

And at some point you go, I just don't want to do this anymore. Well. Wife and kids. And I assume he would have cleared waivers, except Gibson is still out with appendectomy. Epidectomy? Yeah, it was close. It was.

Not bad. I'm in the ballpark. You're getting there. But they got a young kid there, do they not? Well, they got that Dov Stahl. Remember that kid? Oh, yeah. He has shown signs of brilliance. Yeah. But they got a young kid there, do they not? Well, they got that Dov Stahl. Remember that kid? Oh, yeah. He owned the Leafs.

He has shown signs of brilliance like any other young goaltender. Right. Right? With tremendous upside, except we can't tell what's between the ears. And I'm pretty sure that Toronto Sun put out an article or a headline that's like, no-name goalie shuts down the Leafs. Yeah, it was super disparaging. I think Ducks did a big post about it and getting all bent out of shape i remember that

like waivers i was my early 20s when it happened to me so i was just happier than a pig you know what from florida by washington philly philly by washington and then you got to play and then it's like you're playing you're not that. That's the best. You're not going anywhere. Yeah. And it was great because it's just me. Pack up and go. But this guy's got to pack up and go. You got.

Sit in a hotel. The coolest cities in the league, huh? Like Philly's great. You got to go to D.C. You got to be in New York. You got to be in Toronto. Hartford. Hartford for you.

Oh, is Hartford not the coolest city in the league? Well, listen, if you want to get insurance, it's a great place. You know, either sit in an insurance seminar or get car insurance. I think you can get a good deal in Hartford, Connecticut. There is value in Hartford. But clearing waivers got to be a blow to the ego too, no? Well, you know, teams do that sometimes to show the player that no one wants you.

Like guys that are asking for more ice time or complaining. It's like, you know who wants you? Literally no one. Not one team. Yeah. Not one team. What's going on with the Florida Panthers? Because they had scheduled a ceremony for their Stanley Cup rings,

but that got canceled because there's this storm coming that's even worse than the one. Hurricane Milton. Milton's coming through, and it is bad. What is happening? It's actually terrifying. It's really bad. Terrifying.

Yeah, like Category 5, they're calling for people to evacuate. It's really scary. Tampa Bay Lightning have left Tampa Bay to get to Carolina for their opening game just so there's no travel issues. And then they've canceled the game. They had a preseason game tonight that's been canceled, right? Yeah, which was weird that there was ever a game tonight anyway. Very strange.

Yeah, but they canceled it as well. So, yeah, thoughts with people in Florida because that's a it looks scary. You got into it a little bit with Andrew Raycroft with Swamming going back to Boston and what maybe that Atlantic division can be. Do we expect somebody to come out of the Atlantic

division in the Stanley Cup final? Because you asked me I don't know, you want to talk about a potential Stanley Cup Final or do we save that for tomorrow? But if you look at the teams outside of the Atlantic and the East

who do you think outside of that would be in the Stanley Cup Final? Outside of the Atlantic? Because I look at these teams. Jersey, Carolina, Rangers, Rangers are the one to me. Because I look at these teams. Jersey, Carolina, Rangers. Rangers are the one to me. Rangers, Penguins. Rangers are the one to me.

That really stands out to me. But the Devils, come on. Like, I'm not. Everybody is so horned up about the Devils. Well, I'm not, Doug. I'm not. Like, I think they're good. Yeah.

And their potential to be very good. But, like, you know, just something so horned up i can't think of a a new coach better scenario than the new jersey devils for sheldon keith you think it's the right team for him i don't know if it's the right team but all i'm saying is there's a lot of coaches out there would have loved to walk into hughes and markstrom now their goaltender and but they scored a goal last game where andre palat went in there and like bodied someone off the puck and it ends up on nason's stick you know just beautiful i did you guys take anything away i see people like what chaos shout out to pete blackburn and dj being there the heading for their podcast today

was like the the saber season was fun while it lasted or something to that effect i mean i watched a lot of both of those games and the devils were skating circles around the sabers like they are a big bad i think it's more about the devils than buffalo i still do buffalo's okay they they don't even have that so you're buying the devils big time yeah yeah i'm starting to i'm starting to buy into regular season for sure they're not big right like it's not like hughes and brat are going to overpower anyone in the playoffs but that brat can fly yeah so fast they don't even have luke hughes in the lineup they don't have brett pesci in the lineup oh they've come on hamilton's two guys come back yeah like it just does get a little better for them

so it's gonna be really fun here for the first month when maybe the least getting used to the new system with brube maybe a slower start than you by a fast well you know they play the second night of the season here leafs on the second half of back-to-back traveling there there's chance for early panic here what do we think about underwhelming loss to Montreal going there 0-2 Buffalo goes and gets

Lindy Ruff Lindy Ruff's the guy that you hire if you gotta get in you're almost ready or you just need a nudge to get into the playoffs. That would be a huge accomplishment for this team, getting in the playoffs. So I had an article out yesterday that was about my expectations for every NHL team.

Do you just sit there all day and write articles? How many articles have you got out there? 32. But I do have one. Expectations for every team. Two sentences. Just what I think is going to happen with every team. And I was like, I think this Buffalo team could have a good back end,

could surprise people. Actually a pretty good team. And already had that paragraph sent to me like, ha-ha. Idiot. Give it a sec. Let him play some games. I just think I look at this Boston or Buffalo lineup and they just don't have that much of an identity for me.

No. Right? Not up front. So, Tage Thompson, I know we called him Mario Jr. Tage LeVue for a bit. Yeah, Tage LeVue. For a long time. For a long time.

Whole first, second season. Had a bit of a setback last year when it comes to you know managing high expectations he could still score like he can still come up with maybe 35 or 40 goals but score 40 every year but who who's who's the face of this team who's the the leader who's the alpha dog who Who's the... Dylan Cousins? No. Alex Tuck? Is it Tuck? No. The face of the team is Darlene. It's power.

It's Darlene and power. Darlene is the face of that team. Yes. Darlene's now the captain. He's their number one defenseman. Okay. He's a Norris level guy. But up front.

No, they don't. You know, every team has prospects, and for years they've been like, here comes JJ Paterka, and here comes Jack Quinn. It's like, everyone has these guys. You need to trade for some. I wish Owen Power had a mean streak in him. Yeah. I don't see it.

No. You know, it's tough when you're big and everyone says stuff like that. And you're like, can I just be good? No. Is it not okay to just like shoot it in a bunch and defend well? No. I don't think you can maximize if you just want to be good. Yeah.

Like, or do you want to be great? Like, Hedman. I remember, and I think it was Brian Lawton drafted Hedman. And, you know, he loved him, obviously. And we've had this conversation on this show over, you know, if it came down to Hedman versus Tavares, if you had the first pick still go ahead and and lotten loved them that much but there was that those first couple of years where you know i think headman probably looked a lot like owen power where you're like all this this uh great potential and had great upside.

But when does you start seeing a guy like fully committed and physically engaged and taking control of a game? Because Hedman's not a mean streak guy either, but he uses his size in a way to protect the net. I mean, Owen Powers is in his fourth season, starting his fourth season. Yeah, can't be right. He's 21 years old.

This is his fourth NHL season? He played eight games in 21, 22 at the end of the year. Does that count? Yeah, I mean, he played in the NHL for a season. And then he played, yeah, 22, 23, 23, 24. He's 21. No, those eight were when he signed, I think. Yeah, still, I think. Yeah, still.

At the end of the year. This is the fourth NHL season he is playing. We're having a semantics battle. He's 21 years old. I'm fine with it. He's 21. I'm fine with it. I am not concerned about him being really good. I think he's going to be very, very good.

I do believe that these big guys take time like Chara did. Zdorov was not a star immediately. He's a star now. Can you get it out of a guy? Yeah. You can? I think to a certain point. Well, the anger is the key.

I got news for you. The controlled anger or that edge, it sets guys up to go to other levels. Right. As long as it's controlled and it's like yeah you know yeah i guess you're talking stanley cups playoffs that sort of thing i don't know if power will get there he needs to show he needs to get to the level where he's like a 25 goal a year nhld at that size and then we can worry about layers. Let's just get that offensive piece.

I know. I mean, you're right. 21, lots of upside. Still the body needs to develop. The mind needs to develop. Right? Yeah. Awesome name.

Power. All right. What else is of interest? Hall on waivers. Justin Hall on waivers. So the Detroit Red Wings, let's keep it in the Atlantic here for a hot sec.

Hall has, I believe he makes 3.4 this year and next. So no one's claiming that deal. Detroit here. Are teams catching them? The Iser plan, is that what we were calling it? Terrible name.

Like now Ottawa, people like Ottawa more. I've seen a few people like Buffalo more. What's up with detroit they got good players they got great young players but who uh lucas raymond okay insider insider okay and they have by all accounts one of the best farm systems i think larkins i think larkin's a good player i don't know if on a championship team, is he the number one guy? I think he's pretty good, but that's next level stuff. Yeah. I question a few things that Stevie Eisenman's done over the last few years.

I look at Andrew Kopp and Comfort, and I'm like, they're the same. And they were also. Do you need two of them? Paid well. Ben Sherratt was paid a lot. Justin Hall was paid a lot. You know, these are... The other one

I have issues with Detroit is, do I want Tarasenko and Pat Kane both in my top six? Can I have both of them? They're the same now. Yeah, and I love the idea that you could have one of these

guys at the end of their career shoot it in the net for you. But two? Yeah. Do you need two of them? That's listed. That is their second line. Yeah. With Comfort in the middle.

Tarasenko, Comfort, Kane is your second line. It's not. In the Atlantic? That ain't right. I like how you're talking like it's the AL East now. Tarasenko. You know, it's like, that doesn't play in it. That doesn't play in it.

Tarasenko works best with a strong room. I.E. St. Louis, I.O. Florida. Tarasenko in Ottawa was a disaster. Really? Yes. In that he just didn't work. Didn't move the needle. Yeah.

Right? Didn't help. Didn't, you know, wants his ice time and didn't seem to have a great influence on the team. And I don't know about Detroit's room right now if they're ready for a Tarasenko. Yeah. I think Derek Lalonde, great guy by all accounts and a lot of people, great coach. Great Hockey Night in Canada analyst breaking down. Yes.

How to beat Tampa Bay. But I think the last Bet365 odds I saw, I think he was the favorite for the hot seat, like the hottest seat around the NHL. So we'll keep an eye on things there in Detroit. Okay, and as we get ready for Wednesday, more and more talk about the Montreal Canadiens, and that's the other team that, are they ready to make noise

and play significant games in March, April? I don't want to be dismissive, but no. Jack guys trying to make noise. Jack guys, the thriller. You know, I love Slavkoski, fully believe that he's going to be the real deal. I like Caulfield more than most people. I just, this D is too young to be competitive.

Way too young. Vancouver traded for Eric Brandstrom, trading out Tucker Poolman. Cat move. Retaining $500,000 of Poolman's deal. Correct me if I'm wrong. Was he not, was he not considered a key piece in trading

uh yes it was eric carlson or mark stone mark stone to vancouver to vegas yes he was when he came back to ottawa yeah yeah and then so it's just he hasn't found his footing uh so pullman goes to colorado which pullman's a pretty serviceable guy. You get him for $2 million. Be a good fit for a Colorado team there. And just for Vancouver, save some money and see if Branstrom can figure it out. There you go. You like Colorado?

I don't know. To make any noise at all? Because it totally depends if they have Natchushkin or Landisgaard. We wouldn't be shocked if they somehow found themselves in a conference or Stanley Cup final. Natchushkin or Landis Kog. If they have both guys, they can win the Stanley Cup.

If they have neither guy, they're not going to win a round. I still think Landis Kog is a tremendous long shot to resume his career. I hope I'm wrong. But he's been out for how long now? Two years?

It's going to be by the time he gets back in the mix. That's a long time to ask a guy to come back and be great again. That's how good everything else feels. His joints must feel great. Pliability up top is great. All right. All right. What do you want to talk about tomorrow?

Tomorrow's the opening night Of the NHL You didn't hear? Oh I'm breaking down Utah Blackhawks So will we have Utah Blues Will the game be over

By the time we go to air? No it'll be on Literally while we're Making our first hour It'll be on Oh they better have A hell of a first period Give us some juice boys

Still Some meat on the bone Before we get everything going On this side of the country Wednesday Good night. Big night. Our thanks to Andrew Raycroft.

Have a great night, everybody.