Real Kyper & Bourne - Vally's View: Toronto's Number One

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne welcome back Steve Valiquette (5:31) to discuss whether he would trade or keep Elias Pettersson, who's performing better by the numbers between Joseph Woll or Anthony Stolarz, and if the Edmonton Oilers need to bolster their goaltending. Then, Nick, Justin and Sam McKee chat about Sidney Crosby's future in Pittsburgh, the prospect of forming a 'Big 3' of Crosby and Brad Marchand alongside Nathan MacKinnon, and Carolina preparing to shop Mikko Rantanen.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

All right, let's get her going. National hour starts right now. We are live on sports at six 50 in Vancouver and sports at nine 60 in Calgary. This hour of real Kipper and Born is brought to you by Bet 365, Nick Kiprios, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandale, Jake Schultz, and welcoming back into the fold, our very own Justin Born.

Good to be back, very excited. This is the second most exciting time of the NHL calendar. So you're good, you're caught up, or am I better off asking you if you would give up Minnie and Mickey for Goofy? Buddy, I would trade those first two in a heartbeat. No value. Hearing bad things about Mickey off the ice.

Bad things about Mickey, no. Minnie, she talks too much. I feel safe though. The whole thing was really, you know, it's roller coasters and donuts and all the swimming. Fireworks. Fireworks. It's on fireworks.

Yeah, it was really cool. But I did miss hockey and I'm tired. I'm happy to be back. In a couple of minutes. Reunited, it feels so good. And we'll reunite with Steve Alliquette coming up in a few minutes. Analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG, Clear Sight Analytics. Pretty convincing win by the New York Rangers. Yeah. And who sent the tweet that said It said JT Miller's got like 14 points in 11 games and Pederson has eight shots on goal

in this roughly the same amount of games. And that sound you just heard is all of our Vancouver listeners screaming at you on the radio. They know I will say they know they can't stop talking. When you guys brought that up to me I went through his game log and since the return of you know after the four nations break He doesn't have a game with two shots on goal. Oh and in his last five games He has a total of two shots and one point Jesus, it's really not going great

So Miller wasn't the problem for Pete. Now, I don't care. I took him off my trade board. You did? I did. I'm curious about that. No one wants a guy who can't score for 12 and a half. A number of reasons. I really felt that when they moved JT Miller, there was a sense of commitment

that we are gonna work with him. We picked him, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We essentially picked him. Yes, we picked him. Can't pick him and then unpick him in a week and a half, two weeks. Has anyone, so he's paid like what, a top 10 guy for sure, probably?

11.6 puts him... He might be sixth or seventh in the NHL in salary. For sure. He did have some comments today. He faced the media. And he was pretty forthcoming. This is from Brandon Batchelor on Twitter. He says, I haven't played to the expectation

I have of myself or the franchise has of me. I'll be the first one to tell you that. But that's in the past. I just want to take these last 22 games, plus hopefully more, and play my best hockey. I wish we had more wins. I wish we had played a lot better,

but I can't dwell on that anymore. I'm just trying to look ahead. I want to turn around more than anyone. Good practice day and ready to go for tomorrow. Yes, yes, yes. That is not a quote where he says, I'm sick of talking to the media I want to turn around more than anyone. Good practice day and ready to go for tomorrow. Yes. Yes. Yes. That is not a quote where he says, I'm sick of talking to the media. And he says, I got to be better.

Well, we're going to work one more of those and they'll bury him out there. What do you mean? I'm just saying if if Petey shrugs it off and doesn't one of those where he's yes, if he comes out and just does another one that entire to sick and tired of talking to you guys that sort of thing yes there's there may not be going back back on your trade board at that point it would be ridiculous now to think that there's a team that would be willing to pick up his contract as Is right now we did the Shen talk in the Leafs hour about you know

Teams wanting to shed big contracts for no asset just take this off our books Petey thing is interesting like if there's no way they're there No, they're not there. They're not there for sure, but Like what would it take like a first? First would that be enough for Petey? It's a big ticket for a guy who's got 35 points in 55 games or whatever it is I Gotta give him credit for saying that stuff you do have to give him credit because I want him to figure it out

Because he is a fun player to watch that's the opposite of What his tact has been to this point this season for him to come out and say that you hope that kind of wakes him Up and resets him. I saw like a highlight clip. Somebody tweeted it out of him in the bubble It's just like it's a different human reverse. It's like down like flying through people. You're like what happened? reverse hits, like bar down, like flying through people. You're like, what happened? Maybe it's a Matthew situation, mystery, injury. Like you just don't know what's going on with him. Let's go to a guy that often does know what's going on.

Let's go to Steve Valakett in New York, who has witnessed every single 14 points in 11 games by JT Miller for the New York Rangers. And where are you after that trade with JT Miller? Where are you with Vancouver staying with Pederson? You know what, boys, I'm a believer in having an alpha dog in your lineup. That's a top player. I could tell you that much. You should see what this guy's like on the bench. JT Miller's got everybody going. He's tapping the bandage at one minute. He's coaching Cooley the next minute. So Cooley JT Miller and the bandage ad are the top line right now. And they are a difference maker. I'm

wildly optimistic about what the Rangers could do now. Things have totally changed here. Back to back shutouts. And you know what? I was looking at some PD data over the last few weeks because this conversation hasn't gone away. You know what I thought was the most remarkable stat that I came across for him? It's breakaways.

Three years ago, he has 39 goals. He had 23 breakaways, scored on eight of them. Good average. Do you know how many breakaways he's had this season, fellas? Handful? Two. Geez. Two.

Wow. So he's not getting the one-on-one breakaway speed at all. And you can go to the NHL edge data on his speed bursts and all that kind of stuff and it backs it up, but he's just not getting behind people. You could talk all you want about him having his one timer in a holster, but he hasn't been getting his one-on-one looks. And I think that hurts.

And you guys know what it's like when you're not getting your chances, specifically the good ones, you can't feel good about yourself. And with everything that's going on, I can't believe I can look at that roster and see Horvat and Miller and Patterson a year ago and possibly have none of them. It's it's unbelievable in a year. You know, after guys careers are over, you often hear Yeah, you go back to that year and here's what was going on. know I was off the ice it wasn't right or here's something happen with a

girlfriend or my you know I found out that I whatever it may be it's just unusual you know we talked about Matthews at the start of the last hour it's unusual to see elite players without explanation suddenly not be elite Valley so I had one that happened to me, Borny. My son was born and I've heard you guys talk about kids being boy. It's a real thing. I didn't know what sleep deprivation was. I had no idea. I've always slept really well and my apartment also heard you guys talk to last week Kipper about your apartment in New

York City with Gordon and how much it cost. So my apartment in the city it was 750 square feet for 5800 a month and five hundred 500 per car in what year what year was that this was oh seven oh eight nine scary That's USD. Yeah. Yeah, that was right on the West Side Highway Yawgs was right down below me Chris jury was a good so I was a great setup. Yeah, that was right on the West Side Highway. Yawgs was right down below me. Chris Drury was, so it was a great setup.

Oh yeah, oh it better be. Like what are we talking about? So the crib that I have for my son, it's just born that summer, it doesn't fit through the doorway of what I thought we were gonna do because it's a one room apartment. I thought I was gonna be able to take the crib out.

He'd sleep in the great room. My wife and I would have the king. I'd sleep well. Well, the crib doesn't fit and he was born premature a month. So we had a 10 day where he was in the incue. So I'm sensitive as it is and every time he rolls over, I'm checking on him to see if he's still breathing. And the human side of it just killed me.

I remember driving to practice and saying to myself, I just got to get through today. I just got to battle through today and I'll get some sleep tonight. And that went on for two months. And then I started taking Ambien, and then that was dangerous. I took Ambien once for a pregame nap just to try and get down for nap. Wow. You know, it got that bad for me. So when I hear certain things that I don't know enough about because I'm older now, I don't judge as quickly. Maybe Petey and Matthew secretly have kids at home? Is that what you're telling us? It could be anything. I know, I know. It could be anything. I'm kidding, absolutely.

You know, I know, I hear you, man. It's wild though. The likelihood of, of Pedersen now being traded at any point with his full salary, do you have any data on like the odds or how much they would have to kind of retain or is he just, is he still in the wheelhouse

where he could have an off year and come back and still be the 100 point guy that they're paying for? You know what, Kipper, like, I don't have the answer for you that way. I don't get into the weeds of the contracts too often. In fact, Lou Lemereau once in a meeting told when I spoke up on this, Stevie, stay in your lane.

I was like, okay, got it, Lou, got it. So the data that I use is typically about, in a better way, rehabbing the player. And I'm gonna segue this to the Spencer Knight story, because I think the organizations of the future are going to see when certain things are happening with their players that they can create Correct and rehabilitate within so they can take their depressed assets Petey right now or Spencer Knight at this time last year and then elevate them into being able to be big trade pieces because the day that Spencer Knight leaves the team last year, right, he leaves the team because he's having a an episode and he leaves the team. He actually was sent down to Charlotte left his bag in

the hallway and kind of went missing for two weeks was the story I heard. And okay, so maybe that day Florida says to themselves, let's get this guy together. Let's get him right. Let's rehabilitate him. We're going to support him and I shall player assistance program all the above. Yes, yes, yes. But most of all, let's help him get back on the ice on the business side, which they did. They've got Leo Luongo, they've got Roberto Luongo, Francois, layer, Rob Talis, they have one of those really big bully departments. And they've got Leo Luongo, they've got Roberto Luongo, Francois Allaire, Rob Talis.

They have one of those really big bully departments. And they've got such depth there that they were able to rehabilitate the athlete, get him back to being near his prime. And over the last month, he has the best expected save percentage in the NHL. He has the best save percentage on all scoring chances when you remove the noise, an adjusted save percentage in the NHL. He has the best save percentage on all scoring chances when you remove the noise in adjusted save percentage. So when you take an athlete from being depressed the way he was and then being able to bring him back to where he is, check out some of these numbers. Like I was going, I was going wild on this today and I watched a bunch of

his games and as well as last night's game against, what was that, Chicago and LA, right? So breakaways, this season, 12 breakaways faced one goal against, East to West, 15 scoring chances, one goal against. I'm looking at this in terms of, you know, what the fit is for Chicago. Well, okay you could be getting a franchise goalie right here right now and this is all based off of a trade that you're happy with if you're

Florida and You're very happy with and pleased with if you're Chicago Maybe Florida thought they weren't gonna have a Stanley Cup winning goalie there because they weren't sure about him getting over his OCD and all these things. But I've been on the ice with him in summertime. He's from the area and he is a specimen of an athlete. He's got the tree trunk legs. He can do anything athletically. He's enormous. Even going back to when he was 14 years old, I'll never forget this one, I was hearing locally about how good this goalie was. And it was Mike Richter that finally put me over the edge, Kipper. He called me up and he said, look, this kid's 14. He's at the training center tonight, skating with a bunch of other studs.

He was there with Al Samuelson's kid, who was really good. He was there with Zegris. They had this skating group. Anyhow, I get on the ice, see Spencer Knight for about five minutes, and just say to myself, this is the best 14-year-old I've ever seen in my life. You know, he was as big as he is right now and everybody else was down to his knees, just dominating.

He made a save with his shoulder and his elbow that he should have probably chased with his glove but he's doing it the NHL way as a 14-year-old. So I'll never forget it. I skate up to him on the bench, right, grab some water for a second and I said, hey, like really good job where you got your glove, you know, positioned downwards. So you used your chicken wing on that save, took a drink of his water. He looked at me and he said, I've already got a goalie coach. Hey man, I got no sweat.

Not trying to pick anybody's pocket here. So I know he's got the confidence. I love the kid. And look, he went through something. But point is, is what's better than, because I look at the Rangers and they sold low on Kako, Krabs, off Leah Sanderson, you know, and that's where you lose right now, fellas, in my my opinion because can you imagine if the Rangers had those three players? playing a role on the team Commensurate with where they were drafted in the top ten you got to be really confident in your ability to assess your your talent or read the tea leaves because

There's a lot of teams that like to play it safe, right? But it takes a lot of guts to, to, to, to move on a guy. And I'll give Chicago credit to it's at the end of the day, it's still risky on Chicago. Is it not with, with Spencer Knight? But also the fact is that you, you got to take your chances every once in a while. And in many ways, the Washington capitals also rehabilitated Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was also in that, we're buying low here. We may have to take the whole contract, but we're not competing against anybody.

It's not gonna cost us a ton. Like, you gotta be really confident in your homework to go out and do this. Logan Thompson would be another one from Washington. Strom, you know, I even wonder about Washington a little bit. They bought cap friendly this summer and they've had quite a bit of success. You know, like, what are they doing? You know, there might have been something there that they've pieced together,

but 250 scoring chances is a lot of shots. 250 scoring chances. And so going back to January 1st, Spencer Knight's the top goalie in the league, Logan Thompson's number two. So those two guys have been completely rehabilitated. Logan Thompson's got a brand new deal. Vasilevski has moved his way all the way back up to the top.

So these, oh are Dustin Wolf. And excuse me, if you're going to talk about who we're talking about for the rookie of the year, Dustin Wolf is in the top five of every major statistical category representing the goalies and he's all the big names and I don't think you're seeing that from as good as Celebrini is. I know you saw him last night and whoever else is vying for the Calder. Man, oh man, Dustin Wolf has to be he has to be the heads on favorite right now. And, you know, if you're a betting person, I think that's some pretty good money to put on him to to win a Calder.

Yeah, Dustin Wolf would probably have a better chance if someone on Calgary could score a goal here or there. That would be really helpful for them. You mentioned that Vasilevsky's clawed his way back to sort of the top of some of your metrics. We covered the Leafs in the first hour. Little concerned about Vasilevsky kind of looking like old Vasilevsky. Yeah, a little bit. He's been the best goalie, I guess going back to just a little bit before Christmas to now.

And when I look at when I look at who's favorite here in our model, I'm looking on my dry erase board behind me. Toronto, Florida and Tampa. All the model likes all three of those teams very well, mostly because of the way they're defending all three of them. Where they're defending. And then out where they're defending and then out west Colorado Winnipeg Dallas and Edmonton but Edmonton's really fallen off defensively recently and then you know I'm looking at your goalies when you guys are trying to evaluate who's going to start game one what conversations are you having between Stolarz and Wall? It's changed but I imagine and, and I'm not going to, I'm going to speak for you guys here. I imagine everyone would pick Stolarz today.

I wouldn't hesitate if it was tonight to put Stolarz in first. Sammy? Yeah. Three for three boys. Sammy? Yeah. Yeah. I think the same thing.

I was looking at a few factors here and I think this is going to be the conversation and some of the questions that you're going to have on your show. But not every team has to go through this because Stolarz and Wall have been so good, both of them, and not every team has that problem. It's a similar problem. Swamen and Almark gave the Bruins a couple of years ago. So who's playing better is going to be a big question down the stretch. You're going to all, you're going to feel comfortable with who's playing better. And since January 1st, it's been stole ours, but he's got a smaller sample size because of his injury. So this is going to be one that's just going to be punted for the future.

But the next question I think we have to ask ourselves is who's been more consistent over the year? What do you guys think has been more consistent overall? Full sample. Geez, I feel like you're leading us that it's Joseph Wall, but I don't know. What do you guys think has been more consistent overall? Full sample. Jeez, I feel like you're leading us that it's Joseph Wall, but I don't know. Yeah, honestly, from my eye test, Stolarz. So Stolarz has had more big games, but overall solid average, give yourself or give yourself and give your team a chance to win games. The positive game percentage for wall is higher. It's 84 and a half percent compared to 77 percent.

Both great numbers. Both great numbers. But consider that's just a little piece. Another piece would be who does our team play better in front of? Does our team perform better in front of Stolarz or Wall? And the answer on that one is Stolarz. The team defends better with Stolarz and Net. Who plays better under pressure is another question. And pressure can be two ways for me. It can be, you can identify it at least analytically to, you know, get you

to the video to watch. Who has the better safe percentage when the score is tied? We are up by a goal or we are down by a goal. And there's a big difference here. This might surprise you. Stolar's is 12 goals better than league average. Wall is four goals better than league average. And big significant bump would be when the score is tied. So that's more time tied in a playoff hockey game than any other game score. Wall is a minus seven. Stolarz is a plus one. Both goalies are better when they're up by one

or down by one. Scortide being the one where they're not killing it. But overall Stolarz would be the guy that if we started today, it would get the net. And then the last reason, which is just my own bias, it would be seniority. I think it's easier to go with the older guy. And then if he fumbles it put the young guy in Mm-hmm this time of year if if teams have a little bit of a question mark with their goal-tenning Is there a percentage where a solid defenseman could come in and and and help a goalie out because The two examples that I have and we just mentioned Vasilevsky,

you know, uh, uh, double a water is the, uh, general manager of Tampa Bay, uh, breeze, breeze, breeze boss. Sorry. Uh, and he, he, he thinks that Ryan McDonough is playing as well today at age 35 than he has at any point during his tenure in Tampa Bay. He's been that good. Coincidence that it falls into Vasilevsky now playing great hockey. You mentioned Wall or Stolarz. Coincidence that the goaltending got a lot better in Toronto with Chris Tanev. How far is the team away from just getting that one defender to help out a goaltender? I think it's everything. Kemper the teams that I had named off earlier, they're all just strong defensively and specifically

in three areas. And this is where I see good news for the Leafs comparing the Leafs last year to this season. Big improvements, big improvements from odd man rushes last year where the Leafs last year to this season. Big improvements, big improvements from odd man rushes last year, where the Leafs were 19th in the league. And then this season, fifth. And that's that's a number I brought up here for how long have we been doing this fellas four years. And for the last six years, the team that's won the Stanley Cup has been a top five performer in

that stat. And again, if you're putting money where you want to make a little bit here, you know, give me a DM and I'll tell you those five teams on the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs. So the other area is Dodds down in the D zone last year where the Leafs were 24th, not a good number. This year, their fifth, Dodds down defending in the D zone last year where the Leafs were 24th, not a good number. This year, they're fifth, dots down defending in their D zone. Last year, the East to West pass, they did it well. They were ninth and now seventh. So those numbers are just around where they were.

But this to me is really telling when you start looking at what chance types influence these numbers. So how about this one? Last year, the Leafs breakaways against, they allowed 114 on the season. That was 28th in the league. This year, they've allowed 53, which ranks them fifth. They've given up the fifth fewest breakaways this year. Great number.

Another great number, because you want your goalies to be warm when they face difficulty. This year, the Leafs are 29th in clear sighted shots against. 29th is a good number because you're allowing your goalies to see a lot of rubber with clear view. So some may say Tanab screens the goalie a lot because he's always in the way trying to block shots. I would argue that with he and McCabe playing as the top pair

of guys. They're clearing better than ever before right? So now you're allowing your goalies to be great. You're keeping the play on one side of the ice. They're not seeing one-on-one Lux and they're seeing clear view shots slot area chances this year, 132, that's fifth best. Fifth best. You got a follow up?

Deflections, three, all good stuff really for the Leafs defensively. And I know last night was last night and I wonder sometimes when they drop games against bad teams, but I think it's good environment for their goalies. Alright, that makes sense. Not on the the lease. Okay, I'm gone. All right, um, just last one for me then Valley Tonight the Edmonton Oilers are playing the Anaheim Ducks Calvin Pickard is gonna start not Stu Skinner Skinner's last four starts have been kind of rough Do they need to make a move to shore up their goaltending given how good the rest of their team is? Good question Barney. I'm prepared for you. All right some homework for you. All right to make a move to shore up their goal-tending given how good the rest of their team is?

Good question, Barney. I'm prepared for you. I've got some homework for you. All right. So last week when you were away using your fast pass at Magic Mountain while we were still on the roller coaster of the NHL. Well done. We talked about Bennington in the environment that the Edmonton goalies have played in all year, Pickard and Skinner. Imagine that you just plop him in there and he's faced all of the same shots, his strengths against their weaknesses and vice versa. He would have stopped 17 more goals than their tandem has allowed this year.

It's a lot, it's a lot. Now, another goalie that could be rumored to go there is John Gibson. So when I put him into that model, he'd only be a plus three. And part of that reason and the big differences is that Bennington is really good off the rush. He's got a very good rush safe percentage

for the last five years. He's been in the top five. He's always been very top safe percentage, reading off rush, odd mans, et cetera. So the big issue in Edmonton this year, right now, overall defensively, when you include PK and all game situations, they're still okay.

However, dots down D-zone that we were just talking about, 24th, East to West D-zone chances against, 23rd, and odd mans against. Last year they were top five, that's why they got to the final you know they were right there with Florida and this year they're 15th in odd man's against and if you watch Edmonton play for a few nights you can see that Stu's just not even moving close to as well as he was last year never been a huge Skinner fan off the rush movement wise, but right now he's, he's struggling in there moving side to side.

Would you do it? Would you, would you push for Bennington? If you're Edmonton, I would, I would, I would no question about it. I would because you've got two nuclear weapons there in dry saddle and McDavid and enough to win Yeah, you need something to push you over the line. I got one more for you And I don't know but it seems to blow my theory of just have a good defense and you have a good goalie theory but Carolina and I look or love Slaven burns Walker

It's's loaded. Loaded. So like what's their problem between the pipes all these years? We're on the same page. Also did homework on this one. All right. Carolina. Well, Carolina, they're a team we see quite a bit.

So when I'm preparing for the Leafs on Friday or even this is the process I go through. We had the Islanders yesterday, right? Like I go through every goalie this way. You'll get a kick out of this Borny because of the Islander connection. So Sorokin, right? Sorokin. If you play the wrong game style against him, you're going to lose. He has the third best rush safe percentage in the NHL.

That's where he's an NHL goalie. He's very good off the rush. In fact, when I'm coaching goalies, oftentimes I show them how he advances out where he is when the play comes to the dead angle, how he plays off the rush. But if you play him in his own zone in the D zone, the Islanders struggle at covering net front. And this is the weakest part of his game. Net front with traffic in front of him, shots from the point.

He has allowed 26 goals this year. That's second worst in the NHL. And I don't know if you saw the Islanders' Rangers on Tuesday or you're still with Mickey at that point, but he was scored on four out of the five goals on net front. And the Rangers just on net front. And the Rangers just figured it out. And the second part of it is they stay away

from the lower part of the net on him. He's one of the best in the league at just ceiling down low. He's got a 986 safe percentage on the ice. Seals really well. But when you elevate up on him, and specifically over his glove where he has a 75% safe percentage, fifth worst in the

NHL, where did the Rangers score last night? All four of their goals were in the upper part of the net. You know, so that's what you're doing. Sounds like the oiler should trade for that guy. Well, there you go. There you go. That would solve their problems. You're the one that brought it up.

Horses for courses, right? So quickly here, I don't know if I'm on a time crunch with you guys, but Carolina, this is what's been wild about them this year for me. And again, I go through this process with them and I see them enough. 91 breakaways allowed, that's 28th in the NHL, Carolina, they they were never that team before they were responsible defensively, they weren't taking chances. This year, they're blowing the zone. And I wonder if sometimes the star players that it's always a challenge to get those guys to check if

they're just like, screw it. Hasn't worked Rod's way. We're just going to go for it. Like I feel like they're blowing the zone more than ever. 100 rebounds allowed. That's 27th in the NHL dots down in their D zone. 31. Odd man rushes against 30th. It's like, so Kipper, you know, if you want to say upgrade Kachetkov, he actually hasn't, he's been performing well. His environment's tough. It's been tough for him this year.

It's not your typical Carolina setup. Wow, that's, yeah. Great info, very insightful. The cheating on Rod Brindlemore team to boot. I don't. Yeah, which and I look I've had these meetings. I've been I've seen it. You know, I will never forget this one guys.

We had a really good team in New York. Oh seven. I thought we could we could win and but we had the team that was off the rush loose and playing pretty silly at the offensive blue line. We're in Washington. We had a few of these turnovers that went the other way. Our coach calls meetings with us individually. I've been around long enough that I feel I could speak up in a one-on-one meeting in his hotel room. He asked me what the problem with the team is and I'm like, hey look, I got a front row seat every night. This is what I'm seeing.

It's OK for Jagger to turn it over at the offensive blue line. You don't sit him. And then what happens when Dubinsky does it? And then what happens when Callahan does it? Everybody feels like it's a free pass. Hockey players crave structure and accountability. And if those things aren't in line with your stars, you have no shot.

And that's the biggest difference I've seen since JT Miller's been here. It's almost like they're afraid of him, Kipper. They're legit afraid of him. I feel like Zabana Jad is like, John Giannone, who I work with for pre and post, he's between the benches. And he's like, last night, he's like,

Valley, every shift he comes off, he's tapping me, a guy saying, hey, hey, he's encouraging him. It's going well. You never know when it's hey, he's encouraging him. It's going well. You never know when it's going to go sideways, but so far it's going well. And it's almost like having a new coach and JT Miller joining the team. It's really changed that balance. You don't want to be the next PD. This is the part where... Well, the guy's got 15 points, Mika does, since January 1st. He's leading the NHL. This guy

was whiffing on one time. It was like it was his birthright six weeks ago. This is the part of JT Miller I loved when he was in Vancouver. And then, I don't know what happened. He's like the Tortorella of players. Although, Torquist is stuck in it for a while. We needed an alpha. We got it.

I kind of lied. I got one more for you. Just hold on, hold on, hold on. Just quickly, you got to do this quickly here So it's clear for me and all the listeners here. We hear you often say rush chances I just want to be clear on what that constitutes Is it anything that comes in on a clean entry zone and no matter if the puck is shot off the wing or

Works its way through the slot to the other winger and then a shot on goal are they all the same? Great question so any odd man rush would most frequently give you the high danger scoring chance the good one you know even when a puck carrier steps into the middle of the ice and he's a shooter on a two-on-one those go in more than 20% of the time, which is why I qualify it as high danger. So when I'm looking at stats that are relevant, I will remove the ones that are perimeter shots or a two on two entry that doesn't have any value if they're shooting for a four check. But if any of the rush chances, whether they're odd man or even result in a scoring chance

Okay, there's high danger or mid danger So a guy can cross the blue line pull up hit a driving guy to the the wide and that's That's a rush chance. Okay. Yeah, think of it as the continuation Yes, the continuation of an entry if it gets stopped to a scoring chance unsettled in the corings Yes, that becomes OZP great stuff man. Really appreciate your time is always on Thursday. It's an education It's Tuesday What did I say Thursday? Well, buddy, I let him do the that's six concussions. I can say whatever I want. Okay, we gotta say we gotta wait

Bye. Bye. Thanks, Val. You're always Boys. All right. Sorry Sammy. I got rushed. I got my days of the week wrong. I'm sorry I don't know who has a longer. Goodbye Mackers Valley He's got so much info though. I feel like you could do that for another segment. We could just carry on I mean that Can't leave stuff the leaf stuff Carolina stuff Mac would get jealous That's good. I wish gonna break them. We'll do game time stuff on the other side. All right, you heard him and May have a ranting an update. Maybe oh my good. All right, don't go away more real kipper and born after the break

Dive deep into Toronto sports and the NFL the JD bunk is podcast subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts Welcome back to the program. I'm Kiprius Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee. All right. We get into a little NHL news and notes as a reminder. This hour of real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by bet three, six, five. How to trade as well. Oh, game time.

I got to game. Yeah. How can I forget game? It's okay. It's game time. Is it about bet three, six, five? Visit the app latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. A bet three, six bet 365 must be 19 plus

Very only please play responsibly lots of action on the ice tonight One game I was looking at I saw some clips from Sydney Crosby being asked about playing with McKinnon at the four nations And if you'd like to continue to do that in Colorado because they're playing there tonight He said there's lots of speculation out there and I believe the Penn's PR guy waited and said They all play together again at the Olympics. So there's some there's some fun going into that So in that vein, I'm gonna do a little same game parlay tonight give me a Nathan McKinnon point a Sydney Crosby point and the Colorado Avalanche money line pays plus

145 so a little bit of this the Nova Scotia connection and the Colorado Avalanche to win a game that they probably should Get traded ever. No I'll answer the answer the question. I just answer the question the Edmonton Oilers home for the Anaheim Ducks We're gonna talk about the Oilers as they just made a big trade today Edmonton Oilers home for the Anaheim Ducks. We're gonna talk about the Oilers as they just made a big trade today. The Anaheim Ducks are plus 280 underdogs in that game. The Edmonton Oilers minus 360.

And like you said, Calvin Picker getting the start ahead of Stu Skinner. And the last one that I will bring up, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the red hot Columbus Blue Jackets. Two of the better teams in the league for the last couple weeks. The Tampa Bay Lightning's big faves on home ice,

minus 150 on the second half of a back-to-back coming off a loss last night to the Florida Panthers. Give me the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight as a plus 125 underdog in Tampa. Okay. That was Game Time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the solids and find out why it ever ordinary at bet 365

Must be 19 plus on terror only please play responsibly blue jackets the most surprised I've ever been by a team through 60 games I think it's fantastic. It's amazing. It is so cool. I Have a quick thing Jersey talk. I know you hate it. I watched a bit of that outdoor game Yeah, it was a great scene. Yeah, and I thought like Why are those not the Columbus Blue Jackets full-time jerseys? Those are 10 times better than anything they've ever worn. They're so nice.

But the blue with the cannon may be one of my favorites. Unbelievable jerseys. No team has ever done less than the blue jackets with red, white, and blue, and with their everyday jersey. And then they do this which looks amazing We got to get that Jersey. We got to find a way to get that Jersey Up no listen. I'm gonna leave something you left the leafs on a national show. I'm gonna start finding you That's fair. Well, I can't grew court

I mean our good friend Donnie with al who came on and told us everything that's happening with the team I'm sure he'd send us one. Oh, let's hit up Donnie. Yeah. Yeah. All right. That's the most beautiful jackets. We really like the stadiums Didn't mind the Red Wings as well, but it's just like when you've seen the same Crappy blue jackets with that bug. Oh, it's like oh my god do something and they did something so good for that. Don't don't Don't poop on the bug if we're asking him to send us a can of Jersey Well, they don't have the bug. They haven't had the bugs since like let her rip 1998 I'm old now, but they did have like the lime green bug to start which is very weird. Did you wrap up? Yeah, we're done Okay, what was your question?

Crosby Unpaced for yes 85 points in 80 And you asked me is it will he ever he's just gonna miss playoffs for every year to the end of his career I will say this that Crosby Nate McKinnon and Brad Marchand mm-and playing on Colorado could be real. Is real. Clip it.

It is real and the only thing stopping them is the three of them deciding. They just have to say here's what we want. What? No way. Exactly. Sid has to be like, I'm in. Sid's in and Marchand's in. The three of them can be together.

So your point is the Avs would do it. The Avs would move the assets. The Avs would do it. Sam with the jaw drop. Wow, that's interesting. Imagine, listen, the Avs brought Ray Borkin and finally got Borkus Cup. They get the East Coast Line, a Stanley Cup.

And we know Marchand now officially is out week to week. Week to week. But Colorado's been knocking on that door and Sid knows he's got an open invitation. Just give them the word. Yeah. How do you even trade for Crosby? How do you make an offer?

Like, we'll give you a first and a prospect. And it's like, for Sidney Crosby? That one is... What do Gretz get traded for? A lot of money, right? That one goes less about what Pittsburgh feels like they need and more about... Making it happen for Sid. Sid, you've been good to the league.

Anything you want. That's interesting. All right. That's fascinating. You know, the whole good to the league thing is really... I'm debating bringing up the Gretzky stuff right now. Have you heard all the ruckus? Do you want to talk about it? Well, you know...

With the political part of it? People are mad at Gretzky for... Listen, Wayne's been amazing to me as well as he's been to most... Like everybody, right? It's really hard. He's done more for the game in the NHL. It's really hard watching it from afar. Yeah.

You know, it's upsetting. And I think that- Heartbreaking is what it is. It is heartbreaking. There's a lot of Canadians justifiably upset, I think, you know, at having seen him support the US president at a tough time. I'll speak for myself, myself included.

Yeah. It's been really hard. And I have some family who's not in love with it either, but he's done so much for hockey and the game in general. It is a weird crossroad right now. Not even a crossroad, just... No, no, it is a weird crossroad because... For how great he gets talked about going forward.

It is, it's bringing sport and politics together, and it's bringing like lives. Like lives are at stake here. Jobs are at stake. Putting food on the table is at stake here. So everybody's got a right to feel a certain way. Yeah. And I think that's fair. I actually don't know that there's a clear answer here. Obviously Wayne's entitled to have his opinion We're myself included

I think I'm justified in being offended by seeing him support someone who so actively wants to harm our country because Wayne's been a Great Canadian So it's like this like cognitive dissonance that sucks that I don't want to have that's for someone who we've just like held up as one of the greats one of the great Canadians, so now that's hard to say and It's gonna be interesting to see how that gets played out if at some point Wayne makes a statement or yeah I don't know. Yeah, I've just like and Maybe I shouldn't be brought it up. No, it's been on my mind. It's oh, it's fair. It's certainly fair

I mean, I'm sure as you guys are the same Fair and certainly fair. I mean I'm sure as you guys are the same Amongst group chats front talks with friends family my mom my dad They like it's a hockey topic talking point Doug Ford came out today and said basically, you know cut him some slack He's been a great, you know ambassador for the game and all that like I'm sure there's you know, not just way I'm sure there's a lot of guys in the league that are pretty supportive of... Well and that's, that's a thing too. However, it's just like, if you know... I don't want to do whataboutism here, but like there is definitely guys in the NHL that

like, probably some Canadians in the NHL that would have, they're dual citizens, probably would have voted for, like there's some complicated, but they're not Wayne Gretzky. But also I think there's the, you know, you can hold those opinions, but when you're aware that a whole country is so affected and hurt by it, maybe that, maybe, if you don't want to be at the forefront of that conversation, don't say anything. I just would, you know, just, you know,

you don't have to promote the other view unless you wanna get yourself in the crosshairs, which is what's happened here, so. Anyway, we had a- It sucks. Yeah, it sucks. That's where I'm at on that. It sucks.

Okay, Brantanen. Brantanen. The latest I had heard is that clearly he's not gonna sign this week. The balls- He's not. No, he's not gonna sign this week. The balls in Carolina's court, I'm hearing that they are shopping them right now.

Really? And there are multiple teams right now that they're discussing ranting in with and what could a package look like. This is not me insinuating that it's a done deal that they're ready to trade him. They always have the ability to keep him and try to work it out down the road.

Maybe this is a playoff team, right? This is a team that has high expectations. They would want a guy who could help now. Exactly. So they are looking at options of moving him and getting a quality player back. Remember they gave up Necas for him. They'd probably hold someone as high as that kind of standard to come back

I don't know if it exists but they are working on that to find out as as we speak and the crazy part is they traded what they traded for him and Part of what they paid for was the retention. Miko's contract right now, you're getting a 4.6 million dollar Miko Rantanen, who is a 1.25 point per game playoff performer in his prime. Do you know how much retention do they have? Can they retain up to 50% if they wanted to, Carolina? Yes, they have the retention slots.

Okay, so that's now even makes it that much more attractive. And I'll give Tom Dunn credit for that. At least there's no question that you needed Chicago to pick up 50% for the thought of moving him. It's a waste if you went to all that trouble and you don't need it this week. So I think it's still real that he could be moved by the Friday deadline.

It's just tough to see a team who trades for him who obviously wants to win the Stanley Cup giving them someone they can use for a Stanley Cup run unless. Yeah, it's really tough unless you need just a very different type of player. He's looked better recently to rant and he started to heat up a little bit around. Yeah, it's really tough unless you need just a very different type of player He's looked better recently to rent and he started to heat up a little bit around. Yeah, it's funny His points haven't been there, but I've watched some games and he's he's a horse. He still looks really he cannot score Till next season. Yeah, he is gonna be one. He will be the highest paid winger

Between him and Marner Next year more than dry. Sallie think I Don't know who I have no idea. I have no idea to be honest six four two fifteen and yes I'm to your point. He is coming around here. I'm telling you some here. There's been a lot of people that You know that's they're making early judgments on this trade for fromakesh. I can't say his name. Nagesh.

And, Rantan, because Nagesh has had a really hot start there. I'm just telling you, when the calendar flips to playoff time. Who would you rather have? You look at those playoff stats, and I understand he's played with Nathan McKinnon. I understand all that. Like, is he had 105 points in 80-something playoff games?

Like, Nagesh, Nagesh, God damn it. Can't say it. Is he had 105 points and 80 something playoff games like naked? He he has not been a playoff performer at all he's actually been the opposite of that so we'll see what happens Maybe playing there is a different case But just be careful making the this sweeping generalizations about that trade like a week or two after it's been made here Yeah, I think the story is yet to be written. Can Colorado trade from back right now? Oh my god, imagine. I actually don't think you can do that Yes, you can you can trade a guy have them retain and then get them back or no you're retaining. It's your money Yeah, no, no, no, you're you're you're you're missing something. They didn't trade him to Carolina traded Chicago. Yes, they did you're right. And they traded them without retaining. Yeah.

Right? Right. Yeah, you're right. So Chicago did the retaining, Chicago traded it without retention. So they could trade them back to Colorado. Oh my God. Yes.

With Carolina retaining. For Natures. Yes. For Natures. No, no, for somebody else. For somebody else. End up with Natures again and Summer Rantinens money? It just happened. Yeah.

That's a strange one, isn't it? Yeah, it's possible. Holy, that's fascinating. But there's no rules. The way I understand it. But like, you can trade a guy back to where he came from, like within a certain- No, but they didn't trade him. Oh yeah, right.

That's the whole point. He went to Chicago, right? That would be fascinating. Holy smoke. Usually, the same year, you cannot trade a guy back to the team that you came from. He went to Chicago, right? That would be fascinating. Holy smoke. Usually the same year you cannot trade a guy back to the team that you came from. But this is Chicago. Yeah.

I can't imagine the player they would... I don't know. What do you like on Colorado's lineup? Keep an eye on that. They're making a lot of moves. They just made that big move with the... Middleset? No.

I mean they got Lindgren and they made that trade with the... I hear they're sniffing on something else too. Who? Colorado? Oh yeah. Yeah, you just said it was Sid and Marchand. No, no, no. He just said they would. That could happen in the summer.

Yeah. That could happen in the summer. For sure. Not now. Sid's not going anywhere now, but listen. I would. It's a long season for Sid. What are the Rangers trading Lindgren for?

I think they're pretty good. It's just, yeah, I don't know. It's just beat up all the time. Yeah. Just think he can't stay healthy and they got to pay him. He needs a new contract to. All right. Fantastic to have you back.

But I agree to be back. Our thanks to Steve Valakette as always on a Tuesday. We're so happy. Our Justin Bourne is back. You're back. Everybody a Tuesday. We're so happy our Justin Bourne is back. You're back. Everybody's back. We're back tomorrow.