Real Kyper & Bourne - Vegas Going All In

Episode Date: March 7, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with some thoughts on the influx of trades in the Western Conference and the budding arms race between the Avalanche, Canucks and Golden Knights. They are joined by Golden Knights reporter for the Athletic, Jesse Granger (4:57), who shares his thoughts on Vegas' moves for Hanifin and Mantha, why Vegas is going all-in this year and whether Guentzel or Buchnevich are still in play for them. What would be the most entertaining first-round opponent for Vegas? Later, they regroup with Sam for news and notes - the Devils shopping Toffoli, a look ahead at this summer's UFA class and the future of the Bruins’ goalie tandem.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.

right on the set we're going national here okay sammy we can't leave the suite then for the national show no one cares about the leagues right i think it's you they don't care about very true nick caprios justin bourne and everybody. And we do care about you. Oh, thank you. Sammy McKee for the next hour. We are live on Sportsnet. Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver. Sportsnet 960 in Calgary.

This hour, Real Kipper and Bourne brought to you by Bet365. Less than 24 hours to the NHL trade deadline. Of course, Sportsnet will be there every step of the way for you. Tomorrow starting 10 a.m. If it's 10 p.m., we're in trouble. 24 hours till the start of our show, which will be the trade deadline wrap-up. All national, both hours. Just a reminder, tomorrow we will be starting at 5 p.m. Eastern. And we will be on for two hours.

So we get to kind of wrap everything up, breaking down Crosby to the Canucks and everything else. Stay tuned. Now there is also talk that Sid, they could be offering Sid a new three-year deal by July. He's eligible for a contract extension, Pittsburgh. Is he going to stop taking 8.7 million at some point in his career?

Oh, this one goes to 10. 10. no way 10 it's sid crosby scoring 90 points i'm joking they should give him 15 lifetime achievement award 20 mil a year salary cap exemption for that would take him to 40 and then you could see him shutting it down, I think. Yeah. Unless, of course, Vancouver wants to step up or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, I think Hoglander for Crosby, it's there for him. Make it happen.

We're going to welcome in Jesse Granger in a few minutes. Golden Knights covers them with the athletic NHL network as well. So we're going to talk Vegas and pulling rabbits out of their hat as Noah Hannafin ends up there. What are you shaking me off like an O2 fastball right now? He's mad at the Knights. No, I'm not.

You're jealous of the Knights. You know me. My Golden Knights love the Knights. I just, I don't know how they do it i am so impressed pure alpha they do whatever they want i'm so impressed by them like they clearly know what they need to do to keep people involved there to keep them having stars being good and they just trade like the the conroy thing on the trade it's like it's this year's unless we trade it again then you get next year's yeah it's like they just win every trade they're in they get stars they make guys go on ltr by hitting them

with a tire iron i i don't know what they do but i love it we'll get into more detail on vegas in a few minutes but in the meantime guys uh colorado avalanche i've lost track of how many guys up front they've traded for we know walkers there they're doing but today was another huge day brandon uh duhaime big from the minnesota wild for a third round pick yeah he's a he's on his way there 26 years old and trennan from nashville mean skates like they needed two of these guys? Yeah. That fourth line is suddenly so good.

Well, we mentioned it when the Leafs played them. Remember how we talked about outside of their top guys, they were looking a little thin. It was like a lot of Ryan Johansson and Colton and Parise and, you know, it's guys that aren't exactly household names at this point. And I think Joe Sackick agreed. He's like, yeah, time to completely rebuild my forward core. And it looks really good. It does.

Middle stat is a 2C now between Nikushkin and Drouin. You know, I've always liked Colton and Miles Wood as a third line. Duhame with Cogliano and Trennan. Then with Walker being added to the back end, you know, it's Taves, McCarr gerard manson walker you know jack johnson a fill-in is your six but geez that's a really good hockey team yeah the top of the west is loaded i think there's six teams in the west that may be might be better than the second best team in the east are the oilers and vegas headed on a collision course in the first round. Like Colorado, Vegas, Edmonton, all in this trade deadline.

Kings are ahead of them now. So it's Kings. It'd be Kings, Oilers that started now. But, you know, with these additions, you got to think they're going to get better. Like someone may go home very disappointed in the first round. Someone will go home. You know, there's six teams here. I think that are you say Dallas is all in as well, right?

I mean, I mean, Winnipeg's all in. They've got Sean Monahan at it. I mean, the West is going to be a absolute dogfight this year. Slog. Yeah. Okay, let's welcome. Let's welcome in Jesse Granger. Jess, how are you, man?

Thanks for joining us. You do a terrific job covering the Knights for the Athletic, the NHL Network. First of all, what do you make of this whole thing with Vegas, and how do they keep pulling this thing off? Yeah, I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on, guys. I was listening to you just before I got on here. And yeah, the West is pretty wild.

I asked Bruce Cassidy yesterday, like, what's it like for you watching the deadline news and all the trades go down as a coach? And he's like, yeah, I just keep hoping to see guys go East, but they aren't. They're all coming West. So he's getting ready for it. And yeah, the Golden Knights are one of those teams loading up. And I mean, Kelly McCrimmon's ability to pull off the trade is impressive. ready for it and yeah the golden knights are are one of those teams loading up and i mean it kelly mccrimmon's ability to pull off the trade is impressive i mean he goes after a lot of guys

but so do other gms it just he just ends up getting his guy just about every time it seems like over the last five years or so and they clearly came into this trade deadline with with their sights set high and they've got two good players, one really good player, and Noah Hennepin tonight. And the way they've set it up, and they gave that fifth-round pick to Philly to retain even more of Hennepin's space, it looks like they're going for another trade, and it could be a big one. They are going all in with this team.

They realize the window is not going to be open forever with some of their better players really aging, and they've just decided to go all in. Okay. We're going to definitely touch on that, on what may be coming. That's a lot bigger here. But in the meantime, where is the Noah Hannafin fit? Not just short-term, but long-term here.

Because this is a defense that is the envy of most all teams in the National Hockey League where's the long play for Hannafin here yeah I really think that's that was my biggest takeaway from the trade last night was this is definitely not your typical rental I think this is looking forward to the future for this blue line and like you mentioned they're a very good blue line last year in the playoffs they were the best and that to me, the biggest reason they won the Stanley cup. Yes. Marcia. So and Eichel scored goals and Aiden Hill played his best two months of his life in net, but they're, they're six defensemen were to me, the reason they won the Stanley cup. And this year they haven't been as good and they've had some injuries that they've dealt

with, but recently they've all six been healthy and the results haven't been good. They've been getting up a lot of goals. Alec Martinez is the oldest player on the team at 36, and he looks every bit of it these last few months. Now, he has been put on IR since then, so he was dealing with something, so that's part of it, but it's also just these guys are getting old. Alex Petrangelo is still the best

defenseman on this team, but he's getting older. Braden McNabb is a solid second pair defenseman, but he's not hitting as Braden McNabb is a solid second pair defenseman, but he's not hitting as much as he used to. Those big hip checks we used to see every game are kind of disappearing. I think this was Kelly McCrimmon saying, look, our blue line is good. Let's not wait for them to fall off a cliff before we try to infuse some younger players in it.

Hannafin's only 27. He'll be the youngest player on this blue line. Nick Hague's the only one younger. He's even younger than White Cloud. So I think I expect an extension for Hannafin, and I expect him to be a big part, him and Shea Theodore, to kind of be the pillars of this blue line for the next several years. And I think Hannafin's a perfect fit for the system they run.

I think the system they're running in Calgary was a little bit of a zone scheme, similar to what Cassidy runs, so I think that'll be an easy transition. And he breaks the puck out of the zone really well. To me, when the Golden Knights are struggling, that's their biggest problem is turnovers exiting the zone. They've really struggled with puck management, getting out of their own end lately. And Hannafin's so good. He's such a good skater. He just takes it out himself if he has to. He has a great stretch pass. i think he checks a lot of boxes for him right now what they need and like i said makes them younger so if you look at um goals four per game the vegas golden knights find themselves behind dallas edmonton vancouver um and even sorry i think there's another one ahead of them in their division there so they've got

their third i would say fourth or fifth best offensive team heading into the postseason do you expect them to find a way to add more goals here before it's all said and done yeah i do think they'll get another winger um whether that's one of the premier wingers ganso and buchnevich and those guys or maybe maybe the next year down if they don't get one of those guys i could see them go into the next year down they already and added mantha who isn't an elite scorer but he is having the best shooting season of his career. He's scored quite a bit for Washington, so I think he's going to add a little bit of that.

But, yes, I do think that they're going to add at least one more guy, and it'll probably be a winger that can score some goals for him. Their identity is defensive, and that's just the way Cassidy – like Cassidy always prefers to win a 2-1 game, and it worked in the playoffs. They did have some games where they went off with the goals, but for the most part, they were playing a defensive strategy trying to win low scoring games.

And I think especially against high powered, high octane teams like Colorado Edmonton, even Vancouver when their shooters are going, I think Vegas is definitely going to try to keep games tight and, and they prefer a tight check in style. So while I do expect them to add scoring, I don't expect this team to try to outscore teams in the playoffs. They can't get Gensel.

That would open up. That would be an investigation. It would be an inquiry. There would be like, yeah, it's just, that's not happening, is it? Well, so they had Hannafin retain 50% with Calgary, and then they paid that extra fifth round pick to have Philadelphia retain the extra 25%. And what that did was it gave them over 3 million in usable cap space.

It would have been under 3 million. That got them just over. And if you bring in Gensel with 50% retained, it's exactly $3 million. So I don't... I haven't heard that they're getting Gensel. We lost that. I have not heard that.

I don't want this to come off as a report that they're getting him. But I'm just telling you, connect the dots. The way Kelly goes aggressive after these guys, it makes a lot of sense. Jess, you don't get radioed on our show. You just spitball it crazy. Yeah, we just throw things at the wall, man.

No one takes us seriously. See if it sticks. Yeah. He traded for us yesterday. You're fine. Wow. Would not shock me. That would be a game changer beyond belief.

And to me, I don't think it's likely just because of the extension that would come after it. Like, I think they gave up a lot for Hennepin. I think they got a pretty good deal. But they gave up a good amount for Hennepin. But that's because I expect them to sign him. They haven't liked to buy rentals that they aren't going to sign. Like, you saw the Barbashev deal last year. Pretty much every big player that they've added at the deadline, they end up extending, and I don't see a way for them to extend Gensel.

So to me, that's why if they were going to get one of those top guys, I think Bucinavich might be a little more likely just because he's got another year a term. I don't know. I think with Gensel, the extension next year makes it really sticky. Who do you consider Vegas' top competition in a pretty stacked Pacificific division i mean the west in general is very good but the pacific itself you're gonna have to go through vancouver edmonton

la quite likely yeah i mean it's they're all very good i think that vancouver to me is is a very good team but they just have not matched up well with the golden knights and this has been i mean for years they've they've struggled. If you look at their overall record, it's very bad against the Golden Knights. But even this season, I think Vegas is a big, heavy team. And as good as Vancouver is playing this year, they are a little smaller. They're more finesse. And I think Vegas has been able to bully them around.

Things change pretty quickly in the NHL. I think Vancouver can absolutely beat them in a playoff series, but I would favor Vegas over Vancouver. Whereas Edmonton, I think, man, you guys mentioned are they on a collision course? I sure hope so because that sounds the most fun to me in the first round. Last year's series in the second round was phenomenal. These teams do not like each other.

You talk to players from both sides. They won't come out and say it's the biggest rivalry, but they do not like each other. If they play in the first round, it's going to be a lot of fun so that's kind of what i'm rooting for so does the mark stone situation and his status does it feel like last year's status or is this one different is it uh is it is the feel that it's a lot more unlikely that he'll return like he did last year so it's it's actually funny that you say that because it's a little like i think we don't remember it as as it was as it happened in the moment last

year because going into the playoffs last year nobody picked vegas to do anything in the playoffs and it's because they didn't look great down the stretch because they didn't have stone and we didn't really expect stone to be back the first game. I mean, he didn't get on the ice with the team until like a couple days before that opening day of the playoffs. Heading into it, I thought Stone was going to be out. And if he did come back, I thought it was going to take him a long time to get back to being himself. Clearly that didn't happen.

He jumped right back in game one. He was amazing and led them all the way to the cup final. So I think it feels similarly to last year, but that's because last year I was skeptical going in. I didn't expect him to do what he did. So yes, I do think there's some, I don't think everybody in Vegas is confident he's going to be ready for the playoffs. Do you remember the,

the viz that they had of him jumping on the ice for the first time at the practice facility? And you're like, Oh, that guy ain't playing. It was very, he was very ginger stepping on the ice for the first time at the practice facility and you're like oh that guy ain't playing it was very he was very ginger stepping on the ice and it's the it was his back was it not yes yes yeah last year it was he had had his second back surgery in like i think nine months they were only nine months apart he had the first one the year before and then last year he had a second one this year obviously is not the back. But it's, yeah, I mean, I don't know what his timeline is. I do know that it's probably going to be close to when the playoffs start. Wouldn't surprise me if he misses some playoff time, though. Do you think it's unfair for people to be skeptical?

I understand where the skepticism comes from because it's the same player for years in a row. That's been put on LTIR. Three years in a row. Is it use that space? Well, they, they,

it was the, the year they traded for Eichel. They, they had stone on LTIR and then they, they are sorry. They had Eichel on LTIR and then they swapped the two. So it wasn't the exact same situation, but the year they traded for Eichel,

they were using a lot of LTIR that year. Just like they did last year. and just like they are right now. But I always say this, like, you can be skeptical, and yes, it is very fortunate timing for a very unfortunate thing to happen, but to me, that's all it is. Would the Vegas Golden Knights rather have Mark Stone healthy? Yes. If he's going to get hurt, this was the ideal time for it to happen.

Oh, it was fantastic timing well it's just jesse a part of it for me is like it's the most unprovable thing on earth it's my spleen it's like how can you say it's not hurt you know it seems so well i think he had surgery for it so they can prove i would imagine with how much attention is happening on this the nhl is very much. I remember last year asking, and the NHL did check in on Stone. As the regular season was winding down, the NHL is checking in and making sure everything is above board.

So I would expect with as much attention as this guy. And what's funny is, yeah, they won the cup, and Stone gets a lot of attention. Half the league is using LTIR right now. they're just not using it as aggressively as the golden knights so by chance that vegas and edmonton clash in the first round is that a good thing that at the very least you envision a conference final between these two. Not a first-round match. Someone's going to go. Some fan base is going to just be devastated after this trade deadline

that one of these teams could be out. Yeah, I mean, I agree that it does feel a little anticlimactic for it to happen in the first round, but the way I think about it is if you get that, then you get two more rounds. If whoever wins that, say it's Edmonton, you get Edmonton-Vancouver in the second round, and then you get Edmonton-Colorado in the conference final. That sounds amazing, too.

Or the other way, say it's Vegas-Vancouver. That'd be a great series. And then Vegas-Colorado was an excellent series two years ago. So I think there are a lot of good matchups in the West. The playoffs in the West are going to be spectacular. I do see why you would maybe want that one to happen a little later, but I, I personally just give it to us in the first round.

These teams don't like each other. The way it ended last season with the, the Petrangelo slash on dry sidle. I just, that series is going to be money. And you, you, you like them to,

you like their chances against Edmonton looking at the, the, the moves that they made at the trade deadline? How do you see them matching up against each other this time? I definitely think Edmonton's a tough matchup, but I think Vegas does well against that type of team. They beat Edmonton last year. I mentioned the Colorado series the year before when Vegas beat Colorado.

The Golden Knights have the type of forwards, the type of defensive lockdown forwards that give high-octane offenses problems. They were able to shut the McKinnon-Rantanen line down two years ago. Last year, William Carlson did a phenomenal job against McDavid. You're not going to shut him down, but you can at least neutralize him a little bit to let your depth take over. So I do think Vegas matches up well. To me, that series is going to come down to goaltending

because Aiden Hill hasn't been playing as well lately. Last year he was obviously on a heater, and he started this year on that same heater. If Aiden Hill's playing at his best, I think Vegas has a clear edge over Edmonton. If he's not, then it comes down to how Skinner's playing, and he's been up and down too. Early in the year he didn't look like he had it.

Lately he's been a lot better. So if those two teams play to me out of Aiden Hill and Stuart Skinner whoever's feeling it that's probably the team I'd pick well we're looking forward to it um last one for me just want to get your thoughts on Jack Eichel's season and where he's had at in his career is he a different player from when he came to Vegas or still sort of the same point per game guy that can break a game open? No, I think he's a much different player away from the puck. He's so good. And so when he, when he first came here, when, when Bruce Cassidy first came here, he and Eichel met and we've talked about it a lot over the last year because Eichel, he kind of challenged him defensively away from the puck to be better. Last season, we saw it a little bit in the regular season,

but then when the playoffs got here Jack Eichel was a different player he was a monster away from the puck his back check I mean just the physical tools he has he started using them to take the puck away from people and he was so good and then this year I thought he kind of just rolled in and kept that playoff form up I thought early in the year he was a selkie candidate obviously that injury that took him out for a couple months is probably going to take chances of that away. But I really do think he's one of the better off-puck centers in the league.

Plus, he's still the point-per-game guy that you're used to, that he's been his whole career. So, yeah, I mean, he didn't look great in his first game back, but it was his first game back after knee surgery. So, cut him a little slack there. I think he's going to be a big part of this team. And you guys mentioned with the additions, Vegas should be better down the stretch. To me, Jack Eichel is the biggest

addition. They've been without him for two months. They get him back. He's their number one center. I think he's going to be a big part of whatever they do down the stretch. Jesse, really appreciate your stuff. Good luck covering the trade deadline tomorrow. It's all over, pal.

You can focus on just being lazy again. Yeah, they keep me busy for this week. Thanks for doing this. Yeah, thanks, guys. Thanks, Jesse. I was really talking about us. Yeah. Being lazy.

Yeah. It's a busy week for everyone. Busy week tonight. 12 games on top. We're speaking of Vegas. They go against Vancouver tonight. Great game. So if there's a wish list for Vegas and it's

and it's Gensel. They don't have a ton of scoring. If you shoot for the moon and end up with the stars or is it the stars or the moon? Hit the moon. If you don't get Gensel, is Riley Smith

good enough for you to come back? There's a comfort zone. He's beloved there. When I went to that game, he came back because it was Pittsburgh. People were bawling in the crowd. People were weeping. Is he Riley Smith?

He's an original misfit toy. bawling in the crowd but he's he's weeping riley smith yeah he's an original yeah he's an original misfit toy he scored he scored the stanley cup winning goal last year you know in some cases a fan base might prefer to see a guy like that come back and say let's do it with the family here you know yep they also didn't they just kind of trade him for nothing maybe they don't want to bring him back either he doesn't want to come back. Yeah. Well, let's just, you don't believe it. Don't believe what?

The Stone stuff. Well, hold on. I heard your tone with Jesse. I believe. I saw your face. I believe he has an injury. Okay. I believe that if he, if playoffs started April 2nd,

there's a chance he might be ready April 2nd. I think it's like, if playoffs started April 2nd, there's a chance he might be ready April 2nd. I think it's like, okay, he's hurt. Why don't we just make sure he's healthy? We'll make it to playoffs. And even, yeah, I'm just, I think, expressing a lot of people's skepticism. I'm speaking for the people.

A little skeptical. Jake Gensel ends up in Vegas. People are going to be screaming bloody murder. Oh, yeah. Watch Mark Stone come back to you. I'm telling you. Sorry, I'm ready. It will piss off a large fan base. And you could start with the first one here in Toronto

where they've been pressed up for the last few years as we well documented that in our first hour. Well, I mean, they're in LTIR. Listen. Yeah, they'd be so screwed without it. They have Murray on there. It could be so easy for John Tavares to come up with a bad back here and take

one for the team and solve all their problems. Every last one of them. Let me ask you, is that not a reasonable competitive thing to have a discussion about for a month to arrest a veteran guy and add another? Of course it is.

And you can't tell me over the course of his career you couldn't legitimize something on wear and tear for him at his age and go, I need a few months. My hip flexors are killing me. I need a month. Buddy, you flexors are killing me. I need a month. Buddy, you're talking about this is Vegas versus Toronto. They got the Tavares and LTIR. Gary's sending on a SWAT team to Ford Performance Center,

kicking the door down, being like, show me the leg. Show me the leg. Are you kidding me? I will say. That's a reality show. Oh, my God. If they get Gensel, I think the NHL will have to make some sort of formal, some formal proof of Stone's injury will come out.

Like, I know they've been investigating it the last year. There are doctor reports. There are. They do go down that path. But I think they're going to have to make it public because I think the fans are going to scream bloody murder that this is unfair. Yeah, listen, first of all, you're not making anybody's medical records public.

That's not happening, James. Seems like a bit of a dangerous precedent. I'm not asking for an open book, but you don't think the league would have to validate that they operated fairly. They can report that they are satisfied. There you go. But they're doing that because they're not questioning anything right now publicly.

So according to the NHL's head office, it's passing the smell test. He should have to submit his spleen in a manila envelope, mail it to the NHL prove its damage i yeah you know who i really do feel for is my edmonton fan brethren yeah watching this happen watching a competitor play to a 98 million dollar salary you're a direct competitor who's gonna have like the second the playoff starts round opponent you're immediately gonna have stone in there you're immediately going to have Stone in there.

You're immediately going to have potentially Gensel, Eichel's back, Hannafins in there. Looking at this, they're playing Vegas in round one. I mean, the Kings have been better, so they're kind of going back and forth, but they haven't made the additions. I am dumbfounded. I like the Kings. I am dumbfounded that, you know, you shut down the league.

You got a bunch of lawyers in a room battling over a collective bargaining agreement. And no one saw this, that you get to kind of wipe out. And if you're injured, then you get to do this, this and this. And then in theory, you can win stanley cup with a hundred million dollar payroll yet others are still at 80 yeah it's it's it's crazy you should even in playoffs you should have to dress a 20 man roster that fits under the cap so you can carry more guys but if you can't dress 20 players that fits under that's not in the spirit of why we have a salary cap to me it's like you know it's insane to think that okay season's over now bring back everyone who's been hurt and they do the wwe gift

for the guy with the leg and here's the thing i get why I get why, like I said, my Edmonton fan friends are pissed. I get why other people around the league are pissed. But this is a very clear loophole that a smart organization is driving a Mack truck through that loophole. You're also implying that there you believe it's a little... I wouldn't say it's all super above board. I wouldn't go that far it's just incredibly gray gray exactly you know what i think the trade deadline is too close to the

playoffs so you only got to sit out a month it's a month from march 8th yeah to when the season ends it might be more april 10th or something so yeah you're right backed it up a month and it's a lot bigger ass to say well you, you miss a quarter of the season or more. Early February, that's it. And then, because it's a big ask for a guy to miss that much of the season and come back for playoffs game one. Yeah, it's really set up

to ask a few guys to pull the chute. It's interesting to know if, you know, a guy like Tree Living wouldn't call on whoever Gensel, whoever it is. You like call on guys like that. See if there will be a trade to be made and then take it to a guy on your team and say,

what do you think? How are you feeling? Could you use some rest? I believe that conversation happens. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how could it not?

But when guys are retired, you've got to have doing podcasts going oh they came to me you also have to have loophole went on remember we went on instagram and then and then lou was like take that back it's like i'm sorry i was hurt you have to have a willing participant though yeah right and like clingberg in toronto wanted to have surgery that was lucky for the Leafs. Could he have played? He's been a good soldier all the way along.

It does make sense. First of all, he was playing horribly. So let me send the message to everybody that I'm hurt. I'm going to get better. And then this summer when you sign me, you're going to get a healthier defenseman. So it plays well for Klingberg to go back and say, listen, if Klingberg was playing great and still hurting,

he's going to play through it. You're not taking yourself out of the game when there's only upside for you. So it made sense for him. So there's a willing participant. It's legit enough where he does need cleaning up. I don't know where you are on, like anybody can go in there and clean anything up. I can book next week.

And with my shoulder and my possibly hip, they can go and clean it up and you're much better for it. But you don't do it because it's like, what's the point? So I have, I'm just looking at, I mean, the Leafs, like people are texting me like, you jealous fools. The Leafs use it, blah, blah, blah. It's like, yeah, the Leafs, I want to be clear, are fully using this to its maximum potential.

They have Jake Muzzin, Matt Murray, John Klingbergberg and interestingly enough connor timmons on ltir yeah today that was a little strange is it not yes when he comes back someone was he was he was it was mono wasn't it but hold on this is people are misunderstanding the leafs are in ltir because they have injuries to players who can't play anymore they can't they can't play. Can't play at all. Muzzin is done for life. He's a scout. Yes. He's a scout. You know, like their guys aren't coming back to do hockey in the playoffs. Yes. Which

Vegas's are for a third straight year. Three in a row. Yeah. It's like Tampa did it to a great effect when they won. That's the reason they won cups. They were like $100 million over the cap. Kucherov was skating for three months and then it was like oh i'm feeling better all of a sudden yeah game one yeah you should at least have to come back game two yeah game one first one maybe keep up appearances pretend here yeah we're doing game time or we're

taking a break we'll do a break and then we'll do game time okay sammy's after the break game time plus to foley to vancouver what he's sitting out right not playing tonight we'll get into that and maybe more gensel after the break you're watching and listening to real kipper and born breaking down the top stories in hockey and elliot friedman every day the jeff merrick show subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back into The Real Kipper and Boren Show. 12 games on tap at busy, busy night. Sammy's going to get us all ready with game time.

Wow, what a tee up. You're really good at this, Kipper. Don't try this at home, folks. It's game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for the latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Now, I'll get into some of the games for tonight,

but I was just looking at, because we were talking about what a gauntlet the Western Conference is, and I'm just looking at what the favorites are to win that conference. The favorite to win the conference on bet 365 is the Edmonton Oilers at plus 275. The next favorite is the Canucks at plus 425. Goes Colorado, Jets, Dallas plus 525. That's a good bet.

And the Vegas Golden Knights plus 700. And after that, it's Kings, Preds. Would this have been updated since the trades yeah yeah they keep it they but it's not building in future trades and the team that seems most likely to make one is still vegas which at that point it's like that's where you might potentially get value is all of a sudden they add genzel and they might move to plus 600 i gotta tell you i love the stars plus 525 there yeah that's good bad like they to me i think they're probably i don the stars plus 525 there yeah that's good bad like they to me i think they're probably i don't know if they're better than the canucks but they're a

really good team and uh looking at the looking at the eastern conference the no surprise florida panthers a pretty overwhelming favorite they're plus 275 to win the eastern conference boston bruins are plus 500 rangers plus 500 carolina who's rumored to be in the sweepstakes for Jake Gensel. And they also have activated Freddie Anderson today off IR. So they're plus 600. And then the Leafs are plus 600. And then it drops off Lightning, Red Wings, Flyers, Islanders. So anyone...

I like Carolina there. Yeah. But I mean, it feels like it's just going to be tough. Is Freddie going to break hearts again? You know, I don't think he was as bad in playoffs as everyone in Toronto remembers him being. Oh my God. I know you're a diehard Freddie Suckers player. You couldn't make

a big save. Are you kidding me? Jake Gardner has been lambasted in this city for being minus five in game seven because Freddie couldn't stop a beer. Now that I know it bothers you, i actually think he was really good well now you're gonna kill him right now you know i if what was his numbers in over 900 just look at the elimination game numbers that's all you need to know yeah i know he could not rise he's he was he's a guy that can help you

get the play and make the playoffs and that was Lou Lamorello's big signing in Toronto. He gave up a first, two firsts maybe. He gave up something very big. Then he signed him to a $5 million a year contract. It was a great contract. He gave them playoff type of goaltending to get in. You know what, though? His demeanor very much matches that of the rest of their core,

which is very even and level. Yes. Not his fault. Yeah, it doesn't quite go your way. And if there's a little heat, then I got to take a few days off. Yeah. So I'm just looking at a couple. He could have been a great goalie, too.

I think he's a great goalie. You're right. In the playoffs, he wasn't. He was never the best goalie in a. I think he's a great goalie. I just, you're right. In the playoffs, he wasn't. He was never the best goalie in a series. Not once in his time in Toronto. Not a ton of big games tonight, really. I'm looking at it here. I mean, the Leafs and Bruins is probably the premier matchup.

That's large. Flyers paying a visit to Florida. I feel like that could be a bit of a grease fest. I guess the question is, do you believe the Penguins are done? Do you believe the Devils are done? Yeah. Are the Islanders? So it is Washington and Pitt.

That's going to be my next one. Okay, go ahead. Pittsburgh's massive favorites are minus 170. To me, it's like they should not be favored about that much against anyone. What's minus one and a half? Minus one and a half is plus one and a half plus 145 will be crushed after losing edmondson emotionally their defense it'll just be no good once upon a time we'd start the conversation with that game with sid versus ovi it's ovi it's not the playoffs

yeah no it's a different different vibe no i traded to colorado and yeah now that the leafs are sniffing around all right uh that was game time presented by Bet365. Visit the app for latest odds and find out why it's never ordinary. Bet365 must be 19 plus. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Best player that you would have liked your team to get at this deadline has to be Yakov Trenin.

Like, you know, we do our Leafs hour. I didn't mention it there. But, like, if you're the Oilers, if you're Canucks. Is he your Janot from last year? Yeah, but probably a better offensive player. And cheaper. Yeah, double-digit goals like I think a couple years in a row. He's got 10 goals.

Remind me what Tampa paid for Janot again. I will remind you. A first, a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth. That's crazy. It is crazy for a bottom bottom what four bottom five when they traded for him the year before he had scored 20 times he scored 20 as a six foot four guy who fought more than anyone else in the nhl and they were like we're gonna have him for his whole career now you're stuck with him for his whole career

he's been okay i mean he's got 12 points 42 games dash 11 i'll walk back the okay part then maybe he's just been not very good but i you know i like that pickup a lot for trennan's uh for for them there you mentioned something about yeah to foley i don't know what's going on with jersey but they are shopping him he is uh so they're just punting season's over teams that need scoring wingers vancouver what do you think goal yeah would you go there i i mean i don't feel like that's what the canucks need personally. Like, I think they could use Elias Lindholm to play better hockey. Um, I don't know.

Tough for me to say, like I, adding good players is always a good idea. What's that cost going to be? Do you like them for Vancouver? I don't know. I'm uninspired. I am depth,

depth, depth. Yeah, that would help. Right. Uh, but at what cost? And I think he, he I think he can score.

He can shoot it in the net. Am I crazy though? Is that like not the thing they need? Besser, is he just too, are they too similar? Yeah, I think so. You know, I could just use a little bit more, I don't know, like Bucinavich or like a bigger move like that. I understand it's not easy, but like, wouldn't you love that for them?

Yeah. And if Gensel, if he doesn't end up in Vegas, Vancouver doesn't seem to have enough, I think, to dig on. What is it? They don't have enough that they want? They don't have enough assets? It's just, I would imagine up until now, Kyle's prices have dropped somewhat here. So maybe they get back into it.

But I was told the other day that it's just, it was too rich. If prices drop here, is it like, should we see if we can re-sign this guy sort of situation? Someone did mention to me out of Pittsburgh that they may try to revisit signing him again if it's a reasonable number. So what does that mean for Gensel, who's one of the best scoring wingers in the game?

Is that they're going to try to steal him at eight and a half, nine? You know, it's not like, what are you offering Gensel when it's like, we're not the no-tax state. We're not in a playoff spot with a bright future he likes it there okay and he loves sid and if you're telling him that sid's gonna stick around for the next three years and we're gonna gonna re-up him you know dubas has the advantage in pittsburgh and that he didn't sign all those contracts, right? Like the Malkin-Latang, was that the previous guy? It was the previous.

You know, like could he approach them and say? The answer is yes. Okay. I think it's easier. It's easier to be like, hey. And I'll tell you the one place that Malkin would go, but I don't know if like where this isn't for tomorrow at 3 p.m but if you eventually had to move that contract he would go to florida oh god all right no i'm just saying though and it's that

that whole thing about uh bobroski and teresanko the russian community down there they love it down there but he wanted to go there he i think was, if it wasn't going to work out in Pitt and he wasn't going to get his extension through Brian Burke and Ron Hextall, then he was going to try to pick his spot. And that would have been Florida. But you have made the case to me in the past that all these guys that came home to Toronto, Joe Thornton and wayne simmons and

marlo and ontario boy and there's a list of guys who came home it's not necessarily for the right reasons like if you want to go to florida to retire to retire live on the beach be in a russian community like just just retire and also well but you might as well keep you want to keep playing tax-free might as well grab your money but don't you get your money to retire tax-free no you don't you don't no you can't just pack it in and not get and keep getting paid no no there has to be a reason why yeah you can injury retiring get paid yeah but yeah so like if all those guys want to go down if i'm florida and i'm like i don't know that we want to be your retirement home at the right you're not here for hockey but at the right price it could still make a lot of sense if you

see value in it but you don't want to overpay for that value so if it fits in like we're not paying you you know gino we're not paying you six and a half or seven to come down we're gonna pay you three three and a half right for a one-year deal unfortunately his contract is many more years oh i know it's yeah it's a little uh it's probably a little late to think that way but after this one and i don't think letang wants to go anywhere no so i i think there's a good right shot to you for the least i think i think you're married i think you're married to those uh those contracts hey did you see the Forsling contract with the Panthers today? Another good one. And this is a pretty remarkable story, isn't it?

I didn't love it. Was he a waiver claim? He was. Came out of nowhere. From Carolina? Was it Carolina that waived him? Really? Maybe not.

That would surprise me. Okay. Let's find this, though. Yeah. But he ends up signing an eight-year deal for 5.75, which in Canada is like 12. Forsling was with Chicago. No, he was claimed off waiver by the Carolina Hurricanes January 9th.

There you go. 2021. Who gets put on waivers and then... Signs an eight-year deal three years later. Three years... Signs an eight-year deal? Yeah. Three years later? Three years later. Gets an eight-year deal. Well, when you play really well for three straight seasons with a team,

they usually want to keep you around. Just eating major minutes. Do we give enough credit to that Florida blue line? No, we give them credit every day. It's all we do is give them credit. It's a Panther's hour. Oh, my God. every day it's all we do is give credit panthers oh my god we talk about vegas's blue line being the best and big and strong and and mobile but like out of nowhere this this florida blue line

yeah became pretty darn impressive here funny because it's a number of you know shelter dogs if you will you know it's oel who was fresh fresh off a bio Montour had lost value from what he once had maybe. And, um, Forsling was a waiver claim, like guys that are reclamation projects who've done very well for themselves.

And they're going to their next, I think their next mission is to make sure Montour doesn't go anywhere either. He's he's UFA. Yeah. He'll sign for eight years, ten bucks per. If there's a few teams looking for a legit top four D,

it looks okay this summer with a few choices. Forsling's off the market now, obviously, but Brett Pesci's still out there and I don't know what Carolina's going to do with him. Carolina just lets him become a free agent. That's what I'm thinking.

They're way too cheap. Yeah, to lose an asset like him. They don't rent their own players. It's interesting. I wonder if they're trying to turn him into a player today. You know, like sort of a one-for-one guy with some term, or find out where Pesci would extend. The Leafs would have great interest in him this summer.

Yeah, like would Carolina want Brody or Lilligren? Probably not. No. I'm just thinking about like a guy for Carolina they could use this year that isn't a punt. Then you'd have to give up your first Lilligren, and then you'd have to give up your first yeah lilligran and then you're you sign and trade yeah you do a first in lilligran for apache and an eight-year deal eight no six how old is he

he's a little older isn't he i'm gonna tell you he's not like 28 is he he's 29 turning 30 this summer not till november not till november okay i think it's safe to say that guy's gonna end up with a five or six year deal yeah six six if you bring the number down i guess it would depend on carolina liking the other player that would be going back as well and i'm not sure the Leafs would have the one you need. So, yeah, lots of teams out there would have interest in a deal like that for Pesci. I would keep an eye on him. I think something will happen there.

They also signed Jonah Gajevic to a two-year contract today, the Florida Panthers. They were busy. Strong opinions on him. Yeah, he's a play-for-the-attack, hard-nosed guy. Yeah, he's tough. Just really one of their kind of identity guys. You know what's in the bottom one of their like kind of identity guys one of their you know what's in the bottom half of their lineup i love that martin up there so what team

out there it was florida outside of maybe vegas or boston or carolina strike you as um i don't know low in the weeds right now that uh needs to step up well is la just gonna punt on the year? Good question. Just watch all these teams in the West get better while they, you know. Would you not be trying to get Allmark out of Boston? Yeah, you think they might move one of those goalies? You really?

I heard the Swayman thing is close. On an extension? Yeah. And if they do that, do they then trade Allmark? God, I can't see him doing that. what's all mark have left on his deal this year next five right so can you can you keep him and just go into the playoffs with these two guys or does that yeah does that keep uh another asset that could be better utilized and cap space with five million dollars to take a run out of stanley cup this year yeah that's what you're weighing uh out i don't know what their

third goalie situation would look like but yes wayman's 25 and all marks 30 so you can imagine which one they're hoping to hang on to there yeah that's that's definitely a a spot to watch too because otherwise in terms of goaltenders like if you thought it was going to be new jersey they're not trading for anyone anymore they've seemed to be going the other direction sell mode now they were so close to markstrom and i would imagine it just gets blew it revisited in the summer. Or, you know, someone mentioned to me that the ownership is not interested in Calgary taking the next two or three years off to rebuild. No.

They don't feel like they have a bad team and a bad building at the same time. Yes, that's really well put very well put yeah so well the thing is they got this wolf and they got the lidar it's not like you're gonna lose could you keep them and just say markstrom's hey he's gonna be a good goalie in his later 30s he's 34 right now and he can still keep this level for 36 37 that that long i think you can certainly say you're going to do that and drive the value up which doesn't hurt either um can i ask you guys a really stupid question you've done it for three years why do you want why do you want to stop now so this is a leaf thing sorry national hour we're about to wrap

up here sheldon keith says he doesn doesn't anticipate Joel Edmondson will play tonight as he's arriving around the time of the game. However, there's a number of game-time decisions due to the flu that may force Edmondson to make an appearance at some point tonight. Jake McCabe has recovered and will play. Like, at some point tonight? If they declare him, can he come in late? If he's on the game sheet. If they put him on. Yeah, if they put him can he come in late put a guy in the line if they put him on yeah if

they put him on the game sheet he could he could show up in the third period like he could hang out in the dress like how the guys in my beer league team showing up halfway through the first period they're like yeah this guy we just traded for who misses 30 games a year due to injury we're gonna throw him in no warm-up right off the No knowledge of the systems. Field goal kickers do it all the time. That's right. They sit there, come out and kick one through the post and then go back and sit there forever. So what you're telling me is,

if he's not there on time and they put him on the game sheet, he can still play. That's my understanding. Okay. So wasn't that dumb of a question? Or was it dumb? No, no, no. Really good question.

Thank you. So how many, like, you got a to feel there's a minimum here, right? You can't come to the game with like 12 guys. Yeah. You mean like the zigzags at 11 p.m.? Grinding to get seven guys. Rent a goalie. Yeah.

Seven guys. Not enough to play a beer league game. So what you're telling us is that they could be playing with 17 skaters. No, I just think these guys are pretty sick, fellas. And we saw it last night. It was a pretty sick effort. And I'm not talking about the good sick. Yeah. I'm worried about this evening.

They got the flu. It happens. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Play the world's smallest violin for me, please. Oh, yeah, Kipper. I know.

Come on. Kipper, you were talking about it. Whoever's in tonight. You said you had the sniffles yesterday. You were wearing a toque. Buddy, I'm 57, and I'm soft as a pillow right now. I'm not in the National Hockey League. Good argument.

Great. Great job, boys. Okay. Our thanks to Jesse Granger. Covers the athletic for Vegas. Great job, boys. Okay, our thanks to Jesse Granger. Covers the athletic for Vegas. Great job, Jess. And we're back tomorrow, 5 p.m. Eastern.

Have a great night, everybody. Trade deadline.