Real Kyper & Bourne - William Nylander's Ceiling + M&M Reuniting Again?

Episode Date: December 12, 2022

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee break down the Maple Leafs' successful weekend against the Calgary Flames, what's William Nylander's ceiling as a goal scorer, and if they would've traded Nylander for Jonathan Huberdeau earlier in the year. Leafs' radio colour analyst Jim Ralph joins the boys to discuss (42:22) how Conor Timmins has performed alongside T.J. Brodie, how William Nylander has matured over the years, and why he thinks Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner will reunite on the same line come post-season. Then, former NHLer and Sportsnet hockey analyst Colby Armstrongs weighs in on (1:18:44) how the season has turned around for Sheldon Keefe, the changes in the Leafs' demeanour on the ice, and his reaction to former Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chára's comments on the 2011 Vancouver Canucks. 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.

ready to kick off a great week you're jumpy yeah sorry unprepared for your energy nick kiprios jumpy justin bourne derrick brandeo frank the tank and our boy sammy mckee wherever you are sports at 590 the fan sports that's youtube channel sports nets now i don't know podcasting itunes spotify we are so happy you are bored and i know the season is just roughly like 30 games in but i heard one of the goofiest comments pre-show. God, I hope it wasn't me. No, it wasn't you. It was Sammy.

Yes. And here it is. Oh, boy. Is Bob Barker still with us? Sammy. Sammy. Is Bob Barker still with us? Yes.

You don't keep track of him? Yes, he is. Good, good. 99 today. Yeah, so I saw it come up in my Twitter feed, and I was surprised by that. I thought maybe it was like in memoriam to him or something. I can't believe he's still with us. You're one of those guys.

The price is wrong. As soon as you see somebody over the age of 70 trending, they're dead. No, it's not even that. I thought Bob Seger was trending. Is he dead? I don't know. That seems to be the theme. I would like to think that Bob Barker is part of the greatest maybe movie scene of all

time. Like a top five movie scene of all time with the golfing, the pro-am with Happy Gilmore. And then they end up getting in a fight and he punches him in the face at the end. I honestly think that's my favorite maybe ever. It's top five. It is. Elite movie. We got a clip of

him and we do. Yeah. Drew Carey. Yeah. Drew Carey. This is my this is my first clip Kipper's Clipper of the week and we are dedicating it to Bob Barker along with Drew. Let's have a listen. Who else has a question?

Go ahead. Can you give us your line from Happy Gilmore? He wants to hear your line from Happy Gilmore. Now you've had enough. What happened? Kipper is shocked. Did you beep it out? shocked did you beep it out what did you beep it out for

career protection not getting fired you can't say the b word i love i love that you wanted to come out start the week with bob barker saying Do we kind of send out those emails again about, you know, colorful language on the show? I love it. I love that you tried to slide that one under the radar. I did try to slide it in. Derek was like, no. We're signing me.

All of a sudden he's quiet again. If you wanted to slide that under the radar, you should have given it to me, and then I would have told Derek it was bleep, and then i would have told derrick it was bleeped and then we would have snuck it in because derrick's literally the one who prevents swears i am such a rookie at that i apologize channels if you want to sneak a swear on the air yes make sure you talk to me derrick like i didn't have you as a goody two shoes he's a professional

I don't have any control of what happens that's okay I've learned a valuable lesson good to know you gotta circumvent the situation anybody else's birthday we need to cover or are we good no we're all good Saturday night

didn't have the vibe I think coming off of uh convincing la game but hey at this point points are points correct correct i mean i you know sheldon wasn't as uh complimentary of his team i don't know not maybe not as complete a performance as we've seen from from the leafs but such a leafy win to me where you just have enough skilled players that you can overcome crummy goals against and not a perfect game. Willie Nylander may feel a little differently because he did have a career night, did he not?

Five points. And when he's gone, he's gone, right? And he's been going a lot more and a lot more consistently than we've seen probably at any point as a toronto maple leaf he's never even had a four point game before so yeah i mean he's he's creating offense at a fairly elite rate i just think he looks so strong now he looks like a grown man you know he's only like 40 some goals behind michael nylander's career? Like he's really putting together a nice little hockey here.

I did play with his dad. Talented guy. Yeah. But you want to talk about some nights disappearing or some nights just not having it? That was Michael. Yeah. Apple doesn't fall far, that whole thing. Yeah. So William Nylander now has 19 multi-goal games and Michael. Yeah. Apple doesn't fall far, that whole thing.

Yeah. So William Nylander now has 19 multi-goal games and Michael had 18. So that's pretty impressive that he's 26 years old and starting to, you know, Michael is a good player. All right. Let's go to our second Kippers Clipper behind the legendary Bob Barker. That's great. We're going to clip him the rest of the day, and he'll always be behind Bob Barker. That's right. Okay, let's go to Sheldon on his overall thoughts of the hockey game,

and then we'll get into his thoughts on Wee Willie. Yeah, I mean, obviously we're thrilled that we get the win and, you know, get two points. I thought we did. I thought we still did a lot of good things in the game that help us ensure that we get two points. I thought we did a lot of things that were not good in the game that made the game a lot harder on ourselves than it needed to be. It's been quite some time since that's been the case.

I thought today was not indicative of the type of game we've been playing. And as a result, the game was chaotic. Okay. They're not all oil paintings. No, they are not. And sorry, boys. I was just trying to – I was a little quiet there. I was trying to figure out their YouTube situation.

We're now live on YouTube. We had a little bit of a technical difficulty, but we're now live on YouTube as well. So I thought you kind of mentioned how it was a Leafs-y win. I'd say it was very 2019, 2020, early parts of 2021 type of win where their defensive game has been a lot better in this stretch. And that's been a big turning point for them. It was not there. The goaltending has been really good for them in this stretch.

And that was certainly not there, but their skill guys did what they needed to do so i think i kind of agree with sheldon on that you know sheldon saying that like because of the way they played the game looked chaotic he's right when you look back at some of the games they've played where like not much has happened they just beat the kings you know just beat them that was kind of then the game ended like you know like it wasn't like drama both ways like this one disallowed goal not disallowed you know nine goals in the contest it just it feels like when they're they're not as tight defensively the game gets a little little wonky on them one thing i did want to note is a sam mckee note in here that the leafs have scored 64 goals since november 1st matthews neil under tavars and marner have 42 of those 64 goals that's 66 of the goals from four

guys so pretty pretty top heavy this group right now not getting a lot of depth support scoring but it's built that way it is built this is the way it needs to be yes if you don't get that percentage of scoring from those four people you're not going to win i don't know if you saw the least bottom six on saturday night yeah but i don't think you're gonna get that percentage of scoring from those four people, you're not going to win. I don't know if you saw the Leafs bottom six on Saturday night, but I don't think you're going to get a lot of goals from that. Yeah. Any Joey Anderson thoughts from the group? Yes.

I remembered he was playing when he was tripped by Lidar and late in the third period. Played 10 minutes. I was surprised by that. That's incredibly shocking. But just enough to let those four other guys rest. Yeah, that's perfect. That's a really good point.

But do you want to, so you and I have had this conversation on other sides of it. Maybe you don't want to do that all year where it's like, Hey, four guys go get the wind, but that's, there's no alternative to that. So, so if you're saying that mid December, what are you saying mid-april i'm saying thank god they traded for two good depth players or they'd be in trouble every other night yeah for two months

yeah it's gonna be a big big ask you know over the course of 82 games those four players those four elite players mind you you should have one or two of them going every night and you know there's going to be some nights where it doesn't happen but it's not very often and so far the plan has worked we'll see if it can sustain a whole year in playoffs but okay let's uh uh let's go to Sheldon on Nylander's five-point night. You know, I think he's just been consistent with his play on offense and how he pushes the chances that he generates. I think over the years we've had this conversation a number of times. And last season he set kind of a new standard for himself.

And I think, as I've said in the past, he's got a long ways to go still in terms of what his potential is and what he can do. And you're seeing that. And he's producing at a higher clip. He's been very consistent to start the season here. To me, you know, when we look at it, there's, you know, I think Willie can and should be in that top elite tier of players in the league and he's working his way there so i think that's you know in terms of his play with

the puck that's it like all of our players there's a whole other side of it on the stuff without the puck defensively and that's a whole other uh area to discuss and talk about but when it comes to the offense and consistently making plays and helping our team win games, he's been very good there. I can't argue anything Sheldon just said. No, but it is noteworthy, I think, that he can't just say, he's been great.

You can't overpraise for fear, I think, of Nylander backing it off. Of resting on his laurels and now having a 10 game nap. It really does feel like every compliment to William Nylander has to be backhanded. Right.

It really does. Like it just, that whole, but he that's, that's on him. The last five years of being this ultra talented guy that just didn't show up. I love that.

Consistently. You've done this. You've made this bed you you you don't deserve the benefit of his doubt just yet not on a five point night uh mid december with everything we've seen in the past yeah i mean and in their playoff games that they have played and they're been okay he's been good in the playoffs he's been okay yeah i mean compared to a lot of other guys if you're talking about if you're talking about providing enough offense to keep you close i'll give you that if you're talking about influencing a series then they've all failed in in those first rounds yeah there's not been one guy where you felt was dragging them to a win in any

contest or anything yeah last year he was good the year before i think he was very good um but last year he was yeah he's good but you're right so that's interesting though because you could almost book it now okay five point game how many does he get over the next 10 games you know let's keep an eye on that to see if there is a okay now i can relax moment just in terms of you know where that that ceiling is for for willie and i i don't know if it was three or four years ago i made a comment and i remember it i said that this guy will have opportunities to win rocket uh uh trophies for best goals yeah right yeah and he has that rocket rocket richard yeah he has that ability yeah he's got that shot that can beat you from 30 feet out yeah and he is a natural finisher for sure whether or not he's dipping a shoulder and going

sliding that uh backhand five hole. Do you think he meant to go five hole in that? Yeah, I do. Yeah. I do. Absolutely, I do. He's on pace for now, is it 43, 44 goals? It's in the 40s, whatever the number is.

When you see him putting in 30, 35 goals, to me, that's just enough to get by yeah that is not what sheldon's talking about about a ceiling and a bar i think he should be minimum 40 plus every year yeah and on a career year he should be uh a 50 goal scorer yeah you know 50 is not out of the question this season you're right i can see that from his ability it just it hasn't quite come together and uh because we've had those dips where he has 10 games where you don't hear his name for a while so he's now he's now eighth in the league in goals uh oh ninth in the league at goals 17 and he is top 20 in points with 33 so i'd say like this is the most production they've got.

What did he get, 80 points last year? I think it's heading in the direction to go even up from that this year as it did last year. Listen, not all guys have the meteoric rise. You measure them against the guys that are on his team, right? Look what Marner's done. Look what Matthew's done. Tavares has been consistent to get around 85, 90 points every year.

Not everyone has a linear development in terms of their linear development what's his best year point wise yeah is it 70 no it was last year wasn't it 67 no he was higher than that i don't know 38 he had 37 goals 80 he had 80 points last year okay so he jumped so he went yeah like Tough because there's those weird years in there with like half seasons and stuff, right? What was his goal total? 34 goals and 46 assists. 34 was career high for him. Yeah. At this point, that number should be higher. Yeah.

With his skill level. Yeah. Oh, listen, 34 for me with that talent? Not enough. My two cents on Nylander as a finisher is in tight sometimes. He's a shooter finisher. He shoots it past goal. He's got a hard shot. He places it really effectively.

You know, not always the, I don't know if he's a great shootout shooter. It's something I would have to look up, but it doesn't strike me as one of those type of guys. So there's more goals to come. He gets a ton of chances. I think Sportlogic had him as one of the leading breakaway getters in the league. Is that a flattering stat?

Well, Johnny Goodrow leads the league over the past four or five years, so it's stylistic, we'll say. So when Sheldon talks about Nylander getting up there with the elite, and we are talking about wingers here, right? Are we not? We are. So who does he speak of now? Panarin.

Panarin. Well, Mitch Marner's maybe the best winger out there right now. Complete winger. Yep. For sure. In terms of elite production, though, I don't know. I mean, for goal scoring?

No, I'm talking about the capabilities to be up and spoken of in this manner. So here's the right wingers in the league that he is behind in points. He's behind Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, David Pasternak, and Nikita Kucherov, and that's the end of the list. Okay.

That's good players. And I've said all along, I wish he can turn himself into a poor man's Pasternak. Yeah. He's that. He's definitely a poor man's Pasternak. I would say he's middle class Pasternak. He's getting there, man.

I'm just calling you a middle class Pasternak yeah but what he's missing is is uh Pasternak's consistency his uh work ethic and his edge that nasty all I I could spear you as much as I could beat you with a skilled play I'll hear you on the edge part of that kipper but i think if we were watching david pasternak every single night we'd be having a lot of conversations the same we do about willie in terms of his having nights off like it's not like he's been dominant not even close not even close all right yeah not for me anyways yeah listen i think i don't think i don't think he's come close to taking the nights off willie has the last three or four years and then we're talking about the playoff runs too which you don't want to put any no credit behind no i'm right let's not mention that that has nothing to do okay but he's been

good in the playoffs really right that's seven games if willie can come underneath that now all of a sudden you've got yourself a player yeah and pastor or i'm sorry uh uh if we're talking about uh uh you know high elite players like panarin i don't know what's going on with panarin but last time i checked uh probably his head coach hasn't been too happy with him and he's 11 six by the, if I'm not mistaken. We do have another Keefe on Neylander. If Willie needed as much motivation, do we want to do that?

I don't know if I put that clip in. It's in there. I think it's a combination of things. It's a combination. He's maturing. I think over time, you get sick of having the coach in your ear all the time and you want to get that sorted out yourself before the coach has to come and get there.

I also think our players internally amongst themselves are pushing each other. Those top guys, they're pushing each other. And like I said, Willie, I think has potential to be in that top tier. Austin and Mitch have really established themselves in that very exclusive top tier in the league willie should be right there hanging with those guys and um he's pushing himself and then they're all pushing one another which i think is how the how that group gets to even greater heights that should give you everything you need to know on how sheldon's been riding willie

kneelander the last few years to get to another level willie deserves some credit for sticking it out not saying get me out of here because sheldon's been there the same voice all over him you know willie like poking and prod and trying to get the most and he's just kind of okay you know all right new day yeah he takes it pretty good so deserve some credit there and again i mean sheldon's nailed it that a coach can only go so far with that messaging before he gets shut uh shut down or shut out and it has to come within your peer group in the dressing room so sheldon doesn't have to do it now mitch can do it or austin can do it or morgan riley can do it because those guys have got that in the room

yeah they've been with each other long enough he's going he's going right a little bit of ribbon from the guys yeah and i think there's probably a natural competitiveness with you know that you're in that core four right like you know that you're part of that and seeing all those guys play so great over the past since this point streak started which feels like i think it was remembrance day the last time they lost in in regulation so that's been a long time when you're seeing everybody else dominate in the big four you want to be part of that and it's natural motivation you're getting better the puck's going in it's a recipe for success yes indeed, indeed. Yes, indeed.

What did you guys think about the whistle down goal? Were you convinced that that would have been waved off Saturday night? The squeaker through Murray? Yeah. I was confused. I thought that whistle meant end of play, and it was end of conversation. I didn't know the rule that you knew.

Did you know it, Barney? You know, if I'm being 100% honest, I i knew it the other way the old intent to blow like the ref could blow it you know say i meant to blow the whistle by that i didn't realize that a whistle could blow and the puck could go in and the ref could go wow it was still moving like a jump shot if it's a continuous motion you didn't know that i didn't know that yeah no i didn't know that so i thought keith did a great little breakdown and if if you want to hear it. Yeah, let's have a listen. The rule's pretty simple. As soon as I saw it back right away, I said, oh, that's a goal.

The way the rule is, even if the whistle goes, if there's a continuation of the play and the puck lands in the net, it's a goal. If that puck stopped on the goal line and they come and poke it, then it's not a goal. That's the way that I understand the rule. So for me, it was pretty straightforward. No sense complaining about it.

Just move on. They got it all dialed in, eh? The video coaches there getting goals overturned. That one they didn't stress out about. Which leads us to, you want to finish that off or you want to go to Matt Murray? That's what I was going to say. Okay.

Which leads us to kind of an ugly goal. Not too many we've seen on Matt Murray. We could pick out a dozen of those type of goals last year on Matt Murray as an Ottawa senator, but we need a searchlight to find him this season. You know, there's a piece of me that's like oh it's two a couple in two games now let's hope we're you know we don't need the jack campbell season where everyone says vesna in the first half of the year and all of a sudden it starts to slide away this is let's tighten it up again this is precisely the reason i have not even

considered a close to a victory lap on matt marie you've hinted it's hinted when he's playing well how can you not be happy about it right like i'm not jumping from the rooftops here this is a day-to-day game-to-game situation yeah about him and like that was his first really bad one right since montreal the since the opening night i guess you can talk about tampa wasn't great so your mileage may vary on that one i didn't love it but yeah but i i thought he was pretty bad on saturday night no yeah no not great but uh not bad enough where you sunk the game this very jack campbell last season though where it was like yeah it was oh you know they got one more than the other team campbell could have been worse but yeah no again you're allowed to have some bad games no one plays great 82 times or 40 times whatever goalie plays so not going to

panic about it but not a great show yeah and the other good part according to daryl sutter was you got the officials on your side i got no time for this at all sutter said something about the officiating said let's have a listen to daryl sutter uh talk about the officiating after saturday night's hockey game well that's one thing i learned a long time ago eric when you're in the in chicago all those years when you play and you come into toronto you know what goes on you know what goes on do you but this is two games in a row you guys had a lot of penalties So then write about it How about Daryl telling Eric Francis

Story ideas Eric come here I got one for you Write about this I would love a buddy cop movie with Eric Francis and Daryl Sutter Those two seem to have Just a splendid relationship I love those guys It's just not true.

Okay. Do you remember a lot of the penalty Saturday? Yeah. Okay. I mean. None of them stand out to me as egregious. I think post-game hockey night in Canada reflected on them. I think the only one that I think was soft for me anyways was Backlund's shove in the corner right a little soft but other than that i

think you know the huberto high sticks a dude in the head no there's a lot of hey control your stick here yeah yeah and it's just not true i mean statistically penalties called against toronto for toronto you know these guys are not from Toronto. Frankly, if I'm not mistaken, don't most people not from Toronto hate Toronto? Isn't that a thing? Am I, you know? That would be a thing. Okay.

So. Yeah. Sour grapes. Claim the officiated. Hate us because they ain't us is a big part of that. What's that? Hate us because they ain't us is a big part of that. Yeah, I believe that's a thing.

Well, I think it was more than that just a toronto thing he totally ripped his team for losing in columbus the night before he probably thought that they were closer or better you're onto something here um let's deflect a little bit off of my team and what the problem is let us let me just throw the focus on the officials and we'll get out of dodge here. Yeah, I agree with that. I like that. It's kind of like Herb been saying F Croatia. You know?

Is it? No one talked about their crappy first game loss. Everyone was like, oh, he's talking about F Croatia. Hopefully it goes better for Saga. Crappy first game loss is the highlight of their tournament. Yeah. You know what? The one thing that I am starting to kind of feel for is that this double minor,

we got to get rid of the double minor. I am not a fan of the double minor for high sticking. When there's blood. Yeah, when there's blood. It is so arbitrary that, like, someone has, like, thinner skin or something, so we're like, now it's an extra penalty. You bit an old coal sore, and now we go to a double minor. I can break your jaw and still get a two-minute penalty.

Funny enough, when my jaw broke, there was no blood. I can just absolutely graze you. And that's four minutes. You know, that's an awesome point. It's something I've never thought of. Oh, yeah. It's just something I've accepted forever. Bite the inside of your lip or something when you get body checked. It is stupid. Stupid.

And guys do try to bite the lip or something when they get high sticks. They go to a minute. They try to, you know, you got adrenaline going. They can't draw blood fast enough. Give it a try. Matthew's got it pretty good there, right? So it's two minutes or it's a five-minute major. Yeah, he either meant to stick him in the face.

That's a five. You didn't. It's a two. How long has that rule been around? Long enough to piss me off. People didn't believe. I don't remember it coming in or whatever, but you're right. It doesn't make any sense because something that doesn't draw blood can be way more vicious,

like you said, than something that doesn't. That's something I never thought of, Kip. You're right. The other thing from Calgary's perspective here is they're just not that good. Hmm. You think? Yeah.

Like I'm watching Saturday night and they're slow. Yeah. I'm like, I'm watching Saturday night and they're slow. Yeah. And they lack offense. Yeah. And what, what? It's not good. Yeah. They've got the, it's not good.

They got a little bit of a, yeah. A Brad May thing going on right now because the buildup off of this trade was huge for both clubs and right now and i don't know what tomorrow brings or next month or next year but i will say today this has been a really bad trade for both teams yeah neither team looks better well florida's terrible the one thing with calgary so i wrote an article today on strength the schedule like who's had the hardest who is the easiest to go the flames have had the literal who's had the hardest, who is the easiest to go. The Flames have had the literal hardest schedule in the NHL and have the easiest schedule in the NHL remaining.

I know there's still 50-some games. It's probably not that big a swing, but I think it's hard when you've got new players on your team and you're up against some good teams early. Tough to get that kind of mojo going. I can see a world where the Flames find it this season, put it together a little bit. Like Huberto, for example, 115 points last year.

I didn't notice him. I didn't notice him. Saturday night. I snapped a beautiful pass to Noah Hannafin for the first goal if the Flames scored. Okay. But after that, was he an influencer in the game? Did he?

What would you say? Did he dictate play? Absolutely not, no. No. He did not control the match. And that contract hasn't started yet. Before the season, would you have traded Willie Nylander for Jonathan Huberto? Yes, without flinching.

But you're right. Now you're not like... I don't know if I would have. Pardon me. Huberto was a top five Hart Trophy guy would have. Pardon me. Huberto was a top five heart trophy guy last year. He had 115 points. To Willie's 80. Yeah. I don't know.

You would have to ask me then. Because my mind is blurred now. But I don't know. I really don't know if I would have. If I'm trading Willie Neal for an elite defenseman, that would always be going into my conversation. So maybe if it was both of them. Cal, save your time.

You would have. I think the majority of anybody would say yeah i would yeah and they would see the 115 points and uh in the mvp talk but it really i'm not sure he'll ever reach that or come close to it ever again. It's crazy because you're right. You think about Willie now and it's like if he's a 45 goal guy, not a chance you trade him for Huberto. Huberto is going to get 95 points with 18 goals. You'd laugh at trading Willie for Jonathan Huberto. In the contract, 10 years times, what is it? Eight times 10 and a half. That starts what is it eight times ten and a half that starts

next year eight times ten and a half so you'd be like okay well what are you attaching to huberto to get new lander how much are they eating but here's this is like the perfect scenario for huberto is that you got traded to a team where the owner was in a full panic because all he saw were players who want to leave and you had a guy who wanted to stay no not no you didn't want a guy that wanted to stay necessarily you needed you needed to sign him or else he would have gone too so you overpaid. Right. So that's what happened here. Yeah. So if Huberto doesn't get the 115 points and have that career year, and say he scores 85, where's his marketplace on a new contract? Boy, it's still a lot of points. And he's still a fairly primate guy.

It's high. It's not whatever. It's 8 million a year or something. 8 times 8 or, you know, 8 times 9. I don't know. Yes. 8 and a half. Yeah.

Ballpark. Right. But he got an extra 2 per year. An extra 2 and 14 million because he had an owner who panicked into, we can't lose anybody anymore. How do you get a panicking boss that sounds like a great spot to be we have any at rogers i don't know is anyone freaking out about

losing us um yeah no no no bueller cadre what'd you think of cadre uh yeah i mean it was nice goal should have bet my life savings he's gonna score that was a lock but um yeah he's fine scored didn't notice him a ton i would say i wouldn't say he was going to score. That was a lock. But, yeah, he's fine, scored. Didn't notice him a ton, I would say. I wouldn't say he was playing with the recklessness, and I wouldn't say he was noticeable for that part of his game as much as I would usually think. Wouldn't you agree? I just think when I watch him and when I watched him in Colorado,

and we all believe that that was just the perfect spot for him, he needs to come behind someone. Yes. Like a, you don't want him to have to be the guy with the pressure to score. You want him to be the guy who follows up and contributes gravy. And Lynn home had a, an amazing year last year with Johnny hockey and, and Matthew could choke,

but he's not that guy either, to be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah. I know he's not that guy either, to be honest with you. Yeah, I know. It's interesting. You know what I was thinking about, Goodrow, and this is all related but not directly. You know, we give guys such a hard time, or I do anyway sometimes, about just wanting to make as much money as they can during their career.

I've been giving Johnny Goodrow a really hard time. Wasn't it you who said to me that that offer was way more than anyone else was offering them in Columbus? Calgary's was way more than Columbus's. Calgary's is

more than Columbus. Oh my gosh. I think they got to 11. Okay, well then, yeah, he's a coward. I stick with it. I'm just going to say, if you're going to make millions more, it's millions. I understand it. He took, yeah, he shaved, I don't know, 15, 20 million bucks. Oh my God. I guess

even your take home after taxes, if it's better in Columbus, still not. He loses the extra mil and change off of seven years and he gives up the eighth year at 11. Wow. 20 million bucks, bud. Well, just didn't want the spotlight, huh?

Didn't want the pressure. No, no, no. I'm just going to go earn my money. No, I'm going to go somewhere just closer to the family. Just buy a farm in Ohio for $3,000. And didn't want to play in Canada anymore, buddy. Didn't want to play in Canada anymore. It. Didn't want to play in Canada anymore. It's an interesting sliding door

to get assigned with the Devils. It was like a big rumor that he was going to go to the Devils, right? They were in on him. They never, nobody stepped up. Like, this is how you know for sure. Is because Columbus went and knocked on Kadri's door first because they thought they had no shot at Johnny Goudreau.

Oh, really? So the first offer. I've seen the clip where they find out that Goudreau's interested. They're like, wait, what? The first big offer out of the gate, Columbus thought that they had a better shot at getting out of the gate and getting cadre than they did johnny hockey they'd have been better off and that's why they looped back because cadre said no i want to go to a contender or i have different reasons to not

want to go to columbus and uh that's when columbus regrouped and said uh johnny hockey still around yeah well there is a clip where they find out that he's interested and it's through a teammate of his, it's Goodbranson actually, I think, who's like, hey Johnny would come play for your team and they're like Goodrow? Johnny Goodrow? Yeah. Okay. Tell him we'll give him $70 million.

But that's really where it stemmed on, and especially with Huberto getting that money, is that, so when you start hearing that, you know, Johnny Hockey's turning down $11 million per season and Matthew Kachuk's not re-signing. You're urgent to keep someone.

You're urgent to go out there and say, we got to prove that people want to play uh in calgary in canada whatever and we're gonna we're gonna go up another million and a half for a guy over market value and that's that's how we ended up signing you know they're a pretty good defensive team and they just don't produce offensively they're begging for him to find it they're slow yeah they're slow and we saw lucic healthy scratch guys now think about this for a second that's daryl sutter that's daryl's that's daryl's guy yeah i mean look at it though kipper it's toffoli's not fast cadre okay lindholm's not that fast mangiapane then you go

down the lineup trevor lewis lucich like that's they are 18th in the NHL in points percentage the yeah I still think they're a playoff team I actually I'm very confident they're a playoff team but the what what's the big difference this year and their defense is actually probably improved we can all say that with Uyghur. Not getting a save. Exactly. Yeah. I think they had the worst save percentage. Ladar. Ladar is huge. Did you like Nylander's 30-footer finding a way to go through him? No, I did not.

I thought he made a few decent saves in the third. I thought he stepped up a little bit in the third period. But, yeah, the one that beat him there, that was not pretty. Okay. As ugly as it is in Calgary, just to kind of bookend this trade, like Florida is god-awful. Guys, they ain't making playoffs. They're not making the playoffs.

We're trading for Matthew Kachuk because he's going to be the difference maker. And point production, he's there, right? He's having a career year again, is he not? Yeah, he's going to be the difference maker and point production he's there right he's having a career year again is he not yeah he's been good it's been good but it's not he's not a difference maker for them to win games to influence games yeah it's not happening he's 37 points in 27 games so far for matthew kachuk this year 13 goals but they are 13 12 and 4 in 29 games 13 wins in 29 games denting games for him man they're behind the capitals the red wings the rangers the islanders all these teams they got outworked last night yeah by seattle funny too because isn't that what they tried to fix with their identity they tried to get harder grittier not the idea of getting

chuck and get moving on from uh huberto people have been questioning matthews a little bit this season how about barkoff i don't know is he getting questions are you you may are you giving him right now i'm like where is he no idea where is barkoff in all of this and uh i know he's been hurt i know he's been out of the lineup but when he's been in uh there's just no signs of him being a elite guy this year wild wild swing for florida who just won the president's trophy we would be remiss if i didn't ask you your thoughts on david camp uh timothy lilligren and i cannot believe we went 38 minutes starting started

do you want what were they going in one and six or something six in a row they'd lost okay six in a row you know coaches get paid for making tough decisions or good decisions. I guess they did something. I mean, you can't necessarily blame him for trying. Now, if they would have been scored upon on that first shift, you know how the narrative would have gone. Yeah, I don't know. They still would have felt justified just doing something else, wouldn't they have? But there would have been Sammy going, come on.

Yeah, just start your best guy. Just go with your best guy. Not me. I actually. You're okay? I love David Camp. I'm president of the David Camp fan club. You know what would have happened?

If they had won that opening faceoff. One guy, whoever got the puck, would have taken it back behind their net and they'd have changed two. Lilligren or whatever. They'd have changed a D-man and Camp would have changed. We talked about this after the game. I thought it would have been that they'd throw it back to the D-man and they would have sent one forward. They would have changed. We talked about this after the game. I thought it would have been that they'd throw it back to the D-man and they would have sent one forward.

They would have changed. The plan would have been both guys. My understanding from what the Marlies have been testing this out for them a little bit. And it sounds like the plan would be. Face off, win. Face off, win. Puck possession.

Get your good stars out. Start with a conservative mindset until you get it. Then you put on your gunners. Interesting. Yeah. I like it. Yeah, why not, right? Can we listen listen to keith's clip on it yes figured sandy would be the most likely to take a stick in the face well i listen we it's no secret that things haven't gone gone well for us in over time we've tried a little bit of everything in terms of mixing and mashing our top four guys. And it hasn't gone well.

And the reality is we've lost to some teams that have taken a little more conservative approach off the start. And I think given what we've been through, I think we needed to shock the system a little bit and try something entirely different. Shock the system. And they do, and then they go score. Who clipped them? Huberto? Yeah. I mean, those are nice breaks.

Oh, yeah. Off a face-off where a guy just doesn't really focus on his stick positioning and accidentally clips somebody. Those are nice breaks to start a face-off. But that's why it's been so wild that they've been one and six and lost six in a row. It's like you expect to get a break somewhere along the way. And they got an absolute peach of a break on the winner.

Yeah, the pass is off. And he just lands on a stick in a sweet spot with a wide open net and he shoots it in. Can they save a little bit of those for April? Well, it's not three on three in April. I'm just talking about breaks in general. Listen, and if maybe they can get better than a 630 save percentage in overtime uh they might be okay i love that all right hate sneaks back in well i

mean no you're you know it's not good you're not losing faith right now did you drop a little bit of faith in matt murray just based on a no an? Listen, every goalie has bad games. Okay. But it's just, it's more the, when he was going well, the confident look of him and how locked in he seemed, that game, it was the lack of confidence in his game. He just looked, he looked off. So I just hope that's a blip as opposed to a trend. Okay. Yeah, just move on.

We'll just, we'll askalph after the break how's that and then we go to colby armstrong in the second hour so we got plenty plenty more meat on the bone on bob barker day on the real kipper and born show right on back after these words this is real kipper and born on sportsnet 590 the van how we doing sammy everybody back on board on uh on our youtube channel i'm getting notes that uh uh people weren't getting. I saw your tweet. The visuals.

I like that there's just an off button for it. Listen, I'm trying to do some research for people that are quite upset that our YouTube channel wasn't on at the beginning. And I've narrowed it down to Sammy pushing the wrong button.

You got it. There's a big red on one there. Yeah, yeah. I know that's your job, Sam. No, no, I'm not joking now. Like, what did you do to screw up all the viewers to start the show? I did nothing. He literally never has anything to do with the YouTube channel.

Did you fix it? I did. How did you fix it? Clap on, clap off. Unplug, replug. He's not joking. Ralphie's there, please. Ralphie, come and save the show, please.

He's gone. He was gone. I was talking to you and he's gone. It's a Christmas miracle, but the opposite. It's a Christmas nightmare. You've turned him into our YouTube channel. You hit the off button again. I hung up on him.

Oh. You hung up on him. Only one thing is allowed to work at a time. All right. You think he's... Hey, do you like Malgan the other night? Do you like him on Saturday? Nothing special.

Why? I... I... I... Yeah. More than Robertson in that spot. I feel like sometimes he has the hockey puck. Robertson doesn't ever seem to.

That's nice. I was about to say, please, Ralphie, save the show. And then you, you bailed. Yeah. I've got a history of saving things, haven't I, Kip? Yes, yes, without a doubt. But Leafs don't need any saving, even when it's not looking as good as it has the last little while.

They still managed to get points. I mean, I said it earlier in the week, last week, they can't do anything wrong right now. It's unbelievable to run on consecutive points. Yeah, and then, you know, Harry Neal always had the great line, too. He said, you don't criticize the wins. You know, you're going to have enough games where you played well and didn't get it, so, you know, enjoy the role.

And I remember that 16-game point streak in the early 2000s. It was sort of the same thing. I don't know if you're probably similar to me where you can remember stuff from 20 years ago than you can 20 minutes ago. Breakfast. Yeah, I know. But I can remember during that streak,

the one overtime loss they had in the 16 games. They were actually down the goal to St. Louis with about three minutes left, and Tom Fitzgerald took a double minor for high sticking. So they're still down the goal. They're shorthanded. They pull the goalie to play five on five. Joe Nguyen

tied it with about 30 seconds left, and then Chris Ponder won it in overtime. But that's how they got the point. You know, you pull your goalie and score a shorthanded goal to 30 seconds left, and then Chris Ponder won it in overtime. But that's how they got the point. You know, you pull your goalie and score a shorthanded goal to tie it late, and that's what it feels like they're doing now, that, you know, whatever moment they need, they seem to be getting right now. Yeah, I love the idea of not criticizing the wins, too,

because sometimes you do play well and deserve better results. You know, someone who has faced a little bit of criticism this year that was probably time to turn it around a little bit is Austin Matthews, a guy. I think he's got an eight-game point streak right now. He's scored in six of the last seven games, three points on Saturday night, eight shots. Have you seen him starting to come around,

using that wrist shot a bit more? Yeah, and I think that was even the goal in the first period against Calgary. As much as you like the tap-ins from the side of the net or the redirections or the rebounds, it's like Ovechkin's one-timer, Stamko scoring on a one-timer.

Those are the ones you love seeing. Those are the fun ones. There's a build-up to it where you're saying, oh no, likes has it in the middle of the slot, moving on the goalie. And, you know, there's a certain amount of, I think, excitement to it. So it's, you know, I don't think anyone ever wanted to see Barry Bonds hit an inside-the-park home run.

But, you know, it still shows up in the stat sheet. But the thing is with Austin Matthews as well, it seems like because every time he's not going, I think he's got, what, six in his last seven? Yeah. But then, you know, Nylander will have a two-goal game to stay ahead of him for the team later, or Tavares was doing that.

So it seemed like as soon as he got on a roll, somebody else was on a roll as well to keep him, you know, second or third in team and goal score, which let's face it, that's a pretty nice problem to have. It was almost as if last season, every time Austin Matthews stepped on the ice, you would almost expect a goal. And you start thinking about like the number of shots he gets or the opportunities he gets.

And it's almost as if you're shocked when it doesn't happen and now we're watching mitch marner on a on a run on his consecutive point streak and you start going five on five all the power plays even the shorthanded uh opportunities where he's a threat first minute last minute of every period and you like, why shouldn't this continue for a long period of time as long as he's healthy and the other guys are having great seasons? There's no reason to think that this could end. No. Let's go back to Kepford and Borny, the first 10 games of the season.

They're going, oh, my God, this isn't going to end either. We haven't seen one reason to believe they're going to come out of this. And they eventually do. But you're right. It's no different, I think, than when you look at McDavid and Drysaddle and Edmonton. They're going, there's just too much skill, too much talent there, you know, to have it go away for an extended period of time. And they just hope, you know, once once you get into playing for real in April

that if it disappears, it's for a couple of periods or maybe one game as opposed to two or three in a seven-game series. What are your thoughts on Connor Timmons thus far? He gets paired up with TJ Brody. Kipper and I were kind of hypothesizing. It seems like they want him to have success they're putting him in a position to have success is he someone who you think can stay in the lineup uh when they need to i guess as a seventh guy yeah i mean i

think you um you've got to be pleased that every game he's looked more comfortable i mean that um you know i mean arizona was sending him down to um you know to try to get his timing and everything else because he hasn't played hardly over the last three years. So I think that's what you love about it is the fact that every game he's looked a little more comfortable. And let's face it, it's probably a little easier to get your feet wet with a team that's on a roll like Toronto now as opposed to Arizona. So, you know, obviously the talent was there that got a misfire.

So, yeah, I like the fact that, you know, it's like putting Nick Robertson on a top six spot. Put him in a position to succeed because you may not think you needed him, you know, back in September before you had all the injuries. But I think it shows that once you get into, you know, back in September before you had all the injuries, but I think it shows that once you get into the postseason, if you go through it again, I think you want to have as many guys ready as possible.

We're talking to Jim Ralph, the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs color analyst. I love that. That's great. There you go. Yeah, you are, buddy. You are 100%. Willie Nylander, a career night, Saturday night, and we heard a sound bite off of Sheldon Keefe

talking about just definitely more consistent, definitely more influential between off days now for the Toronto Maple Leafs. How high is his ceiling for you? Well, you know what I like, Kipper, is that you can see the maturity in him, like even in the interviews. And you can see it on the ice.

I remember early on, it was right before, it was right near the end of the year. And it might have been his third or fourth game. Remember, there was a two-on-one, and he went to the Nats. And the guy didn't get him the puck. And you could see him, like, roll his eyes as if, oh, this is crap. You think, oh, my God. You know, is this going to be one of those talented guys that never makes it?

And to see the maturity through the years. Like, even, you know Even the celebrations on ice, it's more about business than it is about flash or anything else. I think you love the fact that he's continued to improve. He didn't plateau at 25 goals. I think he's on pace for 48 or 49 now. Last year, it was a career high 35 so yeah i mean i think he could be a 50 goal 100 point guy easily in this league yeah i mean it's high

praise but his coach seems to think so too ralphie i wonder uh what you think about the them being split up like him having austin matthews and then marner being with tavarez since they've made that move they've obviously as a team had a ton of success. One of the things that kind of stands out to me is Marner and Tavares draw the hard matchups, like the best D pair, the top line, they start in their D zone and life has been easier for Matthews and

Nylander. Do you think this is the best construction of their forward group going into playoffs, you know, to, to make it a little bit more challenging on an opponent to match up against Marner and Matthews, clearly the two best. Okay, I'll go out and make a prediction.

I think when the playoffs start, it'll be Marner and Matthews back together. You do, right? I think it's a long stretch. I think it's great how John Tavares is, I don't want to call it a bounce back year, but he's put up great numbers from the start. You know, it's obviously a luxury when you've got, you know,

those four in your top six that you can mix and match. But I still think it's, and you see Edmonton does it, you know, with Dryside and McDavid. Things aren't going well. You put them out together five on five, and they can destroy a game for the opposition so I still think I like the you know Marner's you know ability to set up and Matthew's ability to finish so I'm going to say we got a few games to go

before then but I'd be surprised if if we don't go back to what's worked, especially last year when it comes to the line combinations. So I'm just curious on your reasoning behind Matthews and Marner ultimately being together. Would it be when it's all said and done that a guy like Matthews would – who needs who more? Let me put it that way. Well, let's put it this way, Kip. James Van Riemsdyk had a career high in goals playing with Marner.

Yes. And Don Tavares has a career high in goals playing with Marner. And Austin Matthews, well, we know what he's done playing with Mitch Marner. So I think everybody needs Mitch Marner, you know Meyer to put up decent numbers. But I just think if you've got arguably the best setup guy in the league with arguably the best finisher in the league, I haven't turned down any general manager's jobs or anything. But I think that's a pretty good combination.

Yeah, they've had some success together. Might help, too, when you know that you've got to sign the guy in July. Yeah. What do you think, Kipper? I'm curious your thoughts on that. Should they keep the lines as is or go back? I've said this all along, that your best goal scorer, when push comes to shove, Matthewss is gonna want martyr yeah but who cares

what he wants what's best for the team did you hear what i said he has to sign and you know you want to sign him in july win a stanley cup and he'll stay they care yeah win a stanley cup and he'll stay um i'll go back to ralphie now um let's talk about the bottom six because that's way less fun um are they any closer to finding solutions here you know we're talking off the top of the show that these big four you know for the leafs they got to score the goals or there's no next plan do we have an identity taken shape are we any closer to what it's going to look like in playoffs uh no i mean you know your guys back too no you got to get that you got to get that uh gooning ball back in the lineup first for the next game.

And then, you know, Yarncrook is going to play a part. I don't know if you'll see him back in the top six. But, you know, I've liked the progress. Even Zach Asson-Reese has been much more physical and noticeable of late. So I think there's still some fine-tuning to go there. I think David Camp, for a bottom six guy, is a lot like Mitch Martin in the top six. Wherever you put him, he's going to be effective.

So I think you like that. I think it's just a matter of trying to build around that. But, you know, they've had too many injuries, and especially, unfortunately, for Nick Robertson going down, that means somebody else has to move up in a top-six role, and it was Melvin. And Joe and I were laughing because Melvin took the stick to the face and was gone the last game. And you're thinking, boy, Yarncroft got hurt when he was playing

with Tavares and Marner. Robertson got hurt. Like, nobody's going to want to play with him. You're the sacrificial guy on that line. But I think you've got to, same as the defense, hopefully you get everybody back healthy to fine-tune what you've got heading into the postseason. And watching Matt Murray probably have his first average game

or even below average if you're Sammy McKee talking about him. It's inevitable, right? I mean, you're not going to be the first or second star every night of the season here. But anything you saw that might have led to him having an average night? No, I mean, I think he was right when his post came. He talked about it was sort of a scrambly game. But boy, what a difference in postgame interviews between Matt Murray and Jack Campbell.

You know, Jack might have pulled himself before overtime. And Matt Murray just kind of shrugged it off saying, you know, it was a weird game. And pucks were bouncing in. But yeah, even the it's funny, the one that the Calgary up 4-3, the one that had to be reviewed, continuous motion, the review kind of took away from what a horrible goal it was. Right. It's like, really, you know, you almost wanted to say to Calgary,

like, really, you think that shouldn't have gone in? You know, even if the rules said it should have. So, yeah, it was an off night, but I think he's the reason they win in Dallas, hands down. They end up winning that game 4-0. So you could say that

hopefully everything evens out at the end and they turn around and 1-1 for him. Ralphie, last one for me. How many times did you double take, triple take when they started David Kemp in overtime with two defensemen? Yeah, I was thinking

the way they've gone in overtime, let's get it to a shootout. Just defend, defend. Just ice it for five minutes and try to get it to a shootout. But that was funny. But Sheldon Keefe had the good lining.

So I put that combination out there because I knew Sandin was probably most likely to take a high stick off the face-off. Brilliant coaching. You've got to tip your hat to Sheldon Keefe for that. Well, listen, they found a way to get through it. I think that's a real good sign when you don't necessarily bring your A game here and you they found a way to get through it i think that's a a real good sign when you don't necessarily bring uh your a game here and you still find a way but uh you know just watching calgary and and all that hype off that big trade um just your thoughts on cadre and a few of them uh what you were able to see out of calgary saturday night yeah I mean, I think that's a team that hasn't quite clicked.

And obviously, you know, Huberto's numbers aren't anywhere near what they were last year with Florida. And obviously Florida hasn't exactly benefited from Kachuk in the standings anyway. And I don't think we have to talk much about Columbus and Johnny Goudreau right now. So I think it's a work in progress, but I think it's got to come down to their goal training.

They've got to get Markstrom going again and talking to somebody in the playing system. They say, well, the good news is the way goalies go in the NHL, he should be really good next year. Everybody has a good year and a bad year, and they're back. But I think once they get their goal coming settled, I think they'll be all right.

Ralphie, always appreciate your time on our show. Thanks for doing this, pal. Thanks, Debra. Thanks, Barney. Thanks, Ralphie. You're off. I found it interesting, his comment on really feeling that Matthews and Marner will, when push comes to shove, that's his duel.

It's just, so if you... Yeah, go ahead. I want to get into what you told me. Yeah, so if you break down the competition that both lines are facing, the Matthews line with Nylander is facing second pairs, second lines. They're starting the offensive zone and Marner and Tavares are in the D zone against the top competition and thriving, which allows you to have Matthews and Nylander go tear it up.

Matthews has found himself again. Nylander five points the other night. Like your team is better when the other team has to go do you want to match up against the guy who just scored 60 i can't argue that it's a good look it works right now but i just i'm with ralphie i think that leash will be so short that the moment it looks like the dam is plugged he will go back to that and yeah say what you will and i get it well i'll just win you know it's all about winning the stanley cup but you run the risk that if it doesn't work and you've pissed off your best star player yeah who by the way you want to have him finish the rest of his career here that's that's not a good thing either it's not but like if you play him with marner because you

want to keep him happy and you lose yeah you know you're not guaranteed that he's going to sign here and the team can't get out of the first round we can't win yada yada yeah there's no guarantees on anything right if you know of course if you play him apart and they lose you know is he more mad more likely to go maybe a bit but if you play them apart and you're slightly more likely to win a stanley cup or win a round we can ask mark crawford if you can go back and lose would you lose with gretzky or without Gretzky? He'd like to lose with Gretzky. Yeah, but in this case, Gretzky is having them apart to me. That's your best team.

That's your best look. And I just think I would want to play for a coach who gives the team the best chance to win, not just cater. I mean, I know that's maybe naive, but... I think it's two different conversations, what I would like them to do and what they will likely do. And I'm agreeing with Ralphie that they will likely go back to Matthews-Marter.

Well, the reason I would like to go back to it is because no one goes through a playoff run without running into losses in a wall. You have to make changes at some point. Game one playoffs, are they together? Yeah, but it could come in game i don't want to argue about what well this is my thing so it's not to me will they be together it should they be that's the conversation is should they be and here's what i know about sheldon keith so we i'm when i was at the marlies i'm sorry marner and tavaris will have uh matthew knives on their

left wing so i'll be fine that's true so i'm with the Marlies in like 2017, 2016 maybe. We play Albany in the first round, and Albany is tearing us up through the neutral zone. Damon Severson, fast skater, yada, yada. Sheldon wants to, like, we're a couple games in, wants to switch it up, and we went to a trap. Like, no man forecheck. We didn't send anyone.

And it was the first change we made, but then people started scoring. Like, our better players just kind of came around and it worked. And we stuck with this bad four check, in my opinion, just because we had made a change and we started to have success. I think that's what's going to happen with Matthews and Marner. They'll make a change in game two if it's not working or early. And, you know, you win a couple of games and they'll stick with it. I don't think they're going to do the right thing because even if they start with them apart they're going to come together i think they should the team is better off when they're apart and right now it's hard to

for the coach right now if he prefers this or if he prefers the other way regardless of what it is it's hard to switch it up when you haven't dropped a game in regulation since, remember, we say. Yeah. Right now is not the time that you switch it up. It's when you go on a four or five game loop. They were doing okay. Which I think is probably going to happen at some point here that they'll lose three or four games in a row at some point

for the rest of the season, I would imagine. Of course, a lot. Four, maybe not. Yeah. Three? Yeah. If they lose three in a row and we're starting to wonder about them being ready for the playoffs

and we're yelling about it or whatever, I think they may, they could maybe switch it up a little bit. But what's going on in Kipper's brain right now? No, I'm just, it really, outside of that decision, everything else is just like bingo bango balls, right? Mulligan, Yarncroft. The only roster decision he has to make is this. This is it.

And maybe D pairs. You'll hang your hat on this. Yeah. And it'll work or it won't work and he'll either get fired or not. Good luck. Okay. We'll take a quick break one more time and then we'll bring back the arm dog. Colby Armstrong, former National Hockey League player, sports net analyst.

I don't know what he does now. Bar down or he's on spitting chicklets. He's in that group now. He's diversified like biz where he just collects checks now. They call me, I show up, I crush an energy drink and away we go. That's what we can expect after the break. You're watching and listening to real kipper and born and if you're watching on youtube hit the like button for us we love that back after this

this is real kipper and born on sportsnet 590 the van just waiting on Colby Armstrong. Says he needs a few minutes. Probably in the bathroom. What do you think? That's not a very kind assumption. Probably at a meeting. Busy can he be. At a meeting of some kind.

What's that? At a meeting of some kind. He's probably fighting and rough and rowdy or whatever the team he's around these days. No, he just had a meeting with his kid's coach. Oh, that sounds much more parental. So we get like two breaks during the show. I kind of like them, stretch out a little bit. The other part that I really like about our breaks

is I get to do a drive-by. Derek Brandale. I'm glad you mentioned this. Our tech guys, you know, little workstation. His snack table? It's like a mini mart. It really is. Where, you know table? It's like a mini mart. It really is. Where sometimes I'm in the mini mart and I'm like, I'd like to eat that, eat that.

And I know I can't, right? Same thing. I go there. He's got like cookies. I just had a cookie. I got in there. Did you get a cookie? I did, yeah.

I can't do that. I want to. What kills me is he's got the two liter of juice drinking out of it like it's a juice box. The 2L. It's huge. I've never seen a carton of iced tea bigger. It's almost like a Seinfeld episode, and I think he goes to Costco, and he buys like two gallons of beefaroni.

I expect to walk by and see a can of beefaroni one day on derek's desk listen i get it you know you gotta have you gotta have the snacks he's here for this show and the raptor show gotta hydrate juice it up it's uh also to uh lighten the mood here thank you for that it really worked well the best're the best. Really. Did enjoy the cookie. Thank you. Have you always been this snacky in your life? Yes. We've been working together a long

time and DB has always had the snacks. Before we get Colby, I have a snack-sized piece of information. Oh, nice segue. Wow. You could almost host with that sort of stuff almost is what i do almost evolving the uh thank you for canucks made an offer uh contract offer to bo horvat you knew that well whoever turned it down they now they're they're offer at the beginning if you go back in the summer

it really there was a real sense that it was we've got a contract we're gonna offer it to either you or jt miller but at no point did it ever seem like they were gonna get it done now jt miller's a double agent passing pucks to the other team for the canucks so it's almost as if that they were so insulted by bull horvat turning down their offer that they went to jt miller and upped it up you know and topped it up yeah and he was on the outside looking in from from day one of this season so horvat now is just waiting to find out what team he plays for because it won't be the canucks in late march well they just don't value him as a top centerman they don't they don't think he creates enough they don't think he passes the puck well enough

okay i mean that's fine enough if that's the criticism. I am curious to know what he could fetch them. Like, are they going to sell him for future assets? Like, do a rebuild now? Or are they going to try to trade him for a guy who can help them make the playoffs? So let's just do this exercise. We're waiting on Colby Armstrong, and if he comes in, maybe we'll even join him. Well, just quickly, before we get deeper into this conversation, just wanted

to make a quick announcement of the Toronto Blue Jays made a signing. They signed right-hander Chris Bassett to a three-year, $63 million contract, according to Jeff Passan, good right-handed starting pitcher for the Jays. So, more on that at the top of the hour with Ben and Blake Murphy.

We like that. I like it. I like it. I like capable starting pitchers. Does to throw it hard i wouldn't say that hard but that's a it's a good sign if the jay is kind of getting their numbers last year uh let me quickly pull them up for you uh you played the national league which is you know a little bit uh derrick's saying things in my ear as i'm doing this uh let me see here i'm pulling it up up. Do, do, do, do, do. Last year, he was a 3-4-2 ERA, 15 wins and 9 losses, which people don't really care about. 182 innings pitched.

He's got a career ERA of 345 in eight seasons in the MLB. A lot of those in Oakland. So he played in the top division there, but in the big park. One year with the Mets, he was pretty good. So good signing. Age? He is... How old is he? he will turn 34 in february ah fastball sits at 93 yeah so he's fastball sits so he's yet he's yet another poo flinger for the jays pitching staff yeah six foot five 220 pounds oh get in on the fortune wow he's got the same body as me. Sorry, 220, not a chance.

Ah, 205. 605, perfect. You 205? Yeah, yeah. I'm surprised by that. Soaking wet. Yeah, I was going to say. After a big meal.

With a pocket full of pennies. Okay, where were we? Horvat. Horvat. Horvat. Yeah. Okay, let's just go through the exercise a little bit. Okay?

Okay. Who will take him now who's contending? Colorado. Yes. But. It's the only name of a team I could think of. I feel like I got one. But.

As a rental. Toronto. team i could think of i feel like i got one but as a rental toronto and what are you willing to give up for the for for renting him like to me it would be it would be more on a team that would think that they could resign him and match the number where probably he and his agent think that they can get to which to me i think minimum he'd be seven eight eight two five that's the ballpark i have him at if he can score you know if you look at him and say hey he's uh score 35 35 40 goals yeah yeah that should put him around eight maybe just under eight seven five seven seven yeah over seven years he should be able to make 50 55 million dollars on a on a seven-year deal yeah colorado's had salary cap issues which is why they couldn't hang on to cadre who they loved you know and that's essentially the cadre contract yeah i colorado

could they rent him? Rent him, but not. It would still cost you a first and a prospect at the minimum. But if you're Colorado, you just want a cup, you recognize a window, you probably can live with a rental, right? Like one rental. I think you're okay with that. And are Vancouver fans okay giving him up for a first and a rental?

Depends what they want to do. This is the big divide. I mean, to me, they bet on the wrong horse. They did bet on the wrong horse. I would be happy to give Horvat somewhat of a similar contract that they gave to JT Miller. Yeah. Right? What's Miller's?

Eight times? I think he was over eight. Oof. But if I'm going to pick between those two guys i would definitely pick yeah it was a 56 million dollar contract over eight years so eight million dollars a year until 29 30 so i if i'm if i'm in a canucks fan i'm probably pissed off that they built around the wrong guy or kind of picked the wrong horse now so now you're gonna have to trade a guy that's probably a better player because you made the commitment to a guy who's probably a worse player

one's your captain and the other one isn't yeah i'm telling you that management has made some curious decisions and this would be the front runner for me of the most strange you don't think the the leafs would have interest in a guy making $5.5 million, probably owed to the deadline or three or something. You know, they want to trade. Let me ask you something. I guess it's old. They're not trading eyes.

And then who is it? Well, you're, you're trading Bo Horvath as a 35, 40 goal scorer. Probably. Yep. Yeah.

Okay. So Sammy, pay attention here. I'm listening. Bo's got 20 already in 28 games, by the way. He might score 40. How many on the power play? I don't have that right here, but I'm guessing a lot.

Yeah, I'm guessing a lot. Here's where I'm going with this. Yes. Okay. You're the Toronto Maple Leafs, and you've just traded for bo horvat who is coming off the first power play for bo horvat sammy you go first sandin five forwards tavarez give your head a shake please for a second no i think it would probably be william neilander probably and then you let willie do the second unit. Horvat has eight power play goals.

You just told me he's as good as Pasternak, and now you're telling me Willie's off the first power play. Well, let's be honest. It's Horvat who's on the second power play. There is no power. You're not trading for Bo Horvat to stick him on the last 10 seconds of a power play. Now the second unit comes out

with just 10 seconds left in the power play. You know? It's a good question, it not i would it is a good question an important one is eight power play goals this season by the way yeah thanks for listening to the show um you said that sorry my bad you're fine try to get cold here all good buddy the um that's the danger and you're you're you're now in the problem when you have too many good players and you're not going to resign them so you don't care that he's but willie will care no willie's on the powerpoint still bo gets to sit in the bench and be tavar is sitting on the bench no just bo bo does not get to play on my power play then i'm not he comes to play for my hockey team i'm not trading for him for to be a a third line checking the thing is we agree that this team needs more depth scoring another

guy another winger another someone anyone they trade for is not going to crack that top unit they are the team those four guys essentially yeah and so any depth scoring they get is complimentary go get somebody underneath that then that costs less to to get yes okay bow bow's expensive yeah and you can't maximize what he can bring you're telling me to very salient point here and i'm on your page tovaris goes down with an injury then you're trading for bow or ryan o'reilly yeah but if you're healthy going in there it's a tough extra piece to get. Yes. You had me on the stat page.

Tage Thompson is fourth in the NHL in points now. My goodness. Our boy. Meeting right along with Colby here. I can't get in touch with him in a moment, boys. All right. Let's go into news and notes. Can I just say that Colby's big time in us?

No, he's not. He doesn't need us. No, he's not. He doesn't need us. No, he definitely doesn't need us. It's game time. Let's get hungry. He's really good to us, so I don't want to say anything bad. He's just obviously, he's, anyways. We never got to get into Keefe on the reception for Marner's second assist and how the fans in Toronto saw Marner get a second assist

and lost their collective minds. I'm so sick of Marner talk. Did I just have a stroke? Like Chris Letang? Oh, my God. I thought I'd make you guys laugh. Okay, let's go to Sheldon Keefe on the warm reception as Marner keeps on ticking.

How dialed in our fans are on I mean, it's of course dialed in on that, but just in general. I mean, you look at the other night the reaction to the situation late in the third period. You know, with the situation there and the

LA player tonight. I mean, I didn't really know what I looked up. I didn't know what happened. And then you quickly learn that they're really attuned to what's happening. And it's terrific because it's so well-deserved for Mitch. I mean, this guy has really been driving the bus for us. So for him to get that reaction,

know that the people are behind him, I think is terrific. Feel good story. I like that we haven't talked about the number until you got to Ralphie or whatever, but it's the birthday situation. 25, we'll talk about it again. 30, we'll really talk about it.

But it's just, it's so in the flow of his game and it's so in the flow of his game. And it's so in the flow of these games. Like, it's not even, it's just completely, it would be so weird for him to not get a point. It is assumed it's happening. Right? Like, I'm so shocked if he doesn't get a point at some point.

So, yeah, I'm happy with our rule of the birthdays. Bunting has a, his assist streak was snapped. But he's up to a pretty quality run of play here have you been more impressed kipper with him getting closer to the guy he looked like last year uh no i think this is a new look for him okay yeah in a positive way yes i've liked his board work not necessarily within six feet of the net that That's what we saw a lot last year. And I'm seeing better puck battles, six feet off the wall, just maybe three feet inside the blue line or three feet outside the blue line. And just nice, subtle plays that are typical to me, playoff type of plays. Just bumping pucks up, having guys skate into them.

Yeah. Yeah. I like his look right now. Speaking of contracts, he's an important guy for them to figure out what his number is going to look like next year. Because I was looking at, so Eli Tolvanen was claimed by the Seattle Kraken today. And I checked out the Seattle Kraken stat list for their team. And it's like 25 points. Let's go to

Mr. Colby. Hey Colby, I want to tell you that Sammy and JB thought you were big timing us but I said no, he'll come on. He'll come on. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, boy. Sorry I had a little I'm sure

lunch with Wynn and Biz. JB, no, your guy, your I had a little, I'm sure. Lunch with Whit. And Biz. JB. No, your little guy's young. Kipper, you probably went through this. You know, you got to come in and talk to the team coach. Got to have a little meeting. Oh, my God. You're muscling.

You're big-timing the coach, too. Oh, is he not getting enough ice time, Colbs? Hey, wait. Hey, hey. You want him to go to the left lock system? Yeah, I'm old school. Kippy, I'm old school. A little tight in the screws, you know.

You got to tighten them up. So what's the issue? I don't know. I just want to step in and see if I can lend a hand when I can as a, as a parent coach on the side to give him a hand. You're like, by the way, I played in the national hockey league. If you need some help, that's great. Good for you.

What do you think? Do you think this guy's secure enough to handle a Colby Armstrong? He was good. The meeting went well, but the meeting went well. He was good. All he did was sit there and nod. That's all he did. No, he's been doing this a little while, so it was good.

It was a good thing. We just went over some standard stuff, right? Good. Good. And I gotta say, you gotta say concepts. You gotta say concepts and not system now. I found that out. You got to say concepts and not system now. I found that out. You know, first four weeks of the Leafs season,

you could have easily gone and talked to Sheldon and give him the same talk. But it's not necessary anymore. Sheldon's got it going right now. Yeah, he does how's it how the world has turned and it's coming up leaf land now yeah i mean it's crazy to think right with the amount of you know big time defensemen that are their lineup what's uh that they're playing this well what's been most impressive for you on this latest heater?

Well, I would say, surprisingly, they seem like they have a lot more spit in their game. And it's kind of crazy, right? Like, you give more to guys that are inexperienced. They seem to have a little bit more, a little bit more pop. I don't know. Does it seem like that to you and watching them? Like they came in here and handed it to the penguins a few weeks ago on hockey night in Canada.

And it was just, they're just looking like fairly confident, rock solid and resilient with their play. And, and it didn't look, you know, one dimensional, you know, one-dimensional. You know what I mean?

So I think the contributions from, you know, some of these guys that have been thrust into positions and had to step up is showing pretty well right now with some of the guys they have. Yeah, Coles, we've been trying to figure out, you know, they have had a better sort of defensive play and a little bit of edge to their game here and there. You know, we're trying to figure out, you know, they they have had a better sort of defensive play and a little bit of edge to their game here and there. You know, we're trying to figure out if their play is sustainable come playoffs. And one of the reasons that we have some concerns is sort of a lack of depth scoring beyond the the big four guys here.

You've played a role on a team with elite, elite players. You know, do you ever get in a position where you just wait for those guys to do it is it kind of hard to play in a situation where you feel like sort of the secondary cast to those guys well i think there's definitely like a pressure to it right like i think you know you can only go so long uh as one of those guys without producing for sure you know i think i think you know as a player in that position, you feel it. And what's the games on that? How many games can you go to?

Like five games without a point? You know, eight games without a point? You know, I used to have a coach who used to say to me, like, it was Michelle Terriott. He used to say, you know, you go out there, you play defense, you know, you give me this, you give me that, but you hide behind, you know, our system or like where you are in the lineup, which is saying like, we need more from you production wise. And I think that's, you know, where, where those players do feel that pressure to not

just be there, you know, and, and Zach Zach Aston Reese a guy that's a leaf has been an example of that for me for a while here as when he was with the Penguins good capable smart player but like are you going to do a little bit more like you have more and you know he's a college scoring machine and he comes in and he's like this defensive darling and and I think the analytics community really likes what he does when he's on the ice, and a good, smart player. But, like, are you going to provide a little bit more punch, whether it's physical or also production-wise? So, you know, I think there is something to be said about, obviously,

depth scoring, but something to be said about teams that have guys that give you a little bit more. And is that the difference? More often than not, it is, right? Like, look at Boston killing everyone right now. you a little bit more and and and is that the difference more often than not it is right like look at boston killing everyone right now start you know records all over the place with the way they've started and you know but they're getting it from everyone they're getting it through their lineup and and that's that that's a well-rounded team right that's what you need when you when

when it comes time to get her done that's's what you need. So the pressure is put on everyone individually, of course, in your role. And I think guys know that, and I think guys feel that too. You know, you do bring up a good point because during this run, man, it's been off the backs of really the four guys, Nylander, Marner, Matthews, and Tavares, and not much else in terms of really solid contributions offensively. And then you're living in Pittsburgh covering the Penguins and Sid, Still, Malkin, Gensel, Rust, and then Letang.

And then after that, man, it's sink or swim with those five guys, correct? Yeah, I think Raquel's been a good addition he hasn't like racked up points like crazy he's still having like a good productive year but everywhere he goes they line whatever line he's second or first line seems to you know dominate

so they've added him he's been good you know Kapanen sat out a bunch of games and has come back and looks to have like a little glint of hope that he can find, you know, being a contributor. Patrick the other night for him. Sid's been on fire too, right? Sid's a beast right now. And guess what?

Yes, I believe he has seven power play points this year their power play has been absolutely putrid for most of the year they're starting to get it going now and you got to think where he's where he'd be at you know league wise with the power play going because if you look at all the guys at the top right now 15 points 16 points they're they're killing it on the power play with added production. But I think on top of that, leadership, defensive play, setting the tone. You know, he does it all. It's amazing.

He's 35, right? Like, people talk about guys in the league that are awesome, and, like, he's now starting to be overlooked. I think this year he's making a statement with his play and his production right now that, you know, is he in the heart conversation maybe when it's all said and done? And we'll see. I think he might be.

Yeah, he's currently T6 and scoring in the league, tied with Pasternak. I mean, an unbelievable season so far for Sid. You know, one thing we haven't talked about yet in the show that I'm happy to have you weigh in on, I don't know if you saw the mini-drama with Zidane Ochara saying that the Bruins had heard the Canucks were practicing passing the Stanley Cup off before the Stanley Cup final in 2011.

Here on Hockey Night in Canada, Kevin Biexa went on and basically said, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Which, you know, really a great debate about respect and jinx. And with this really thing sort of happened. Did you happen to hear about that little disagreement? Bulletin board material we're talking about. Yeah. Yeah, totally bulletin board material.

And I thought in my head, I'm like, is this one of those Michael Jordan made up things like that? He he made that up. I took that personally. And I took that personally. Yeah, that exact line. Because it sounds crazy to me. Like, I'm a visual guy, so, like, I close my eyes

and I picture what this might look like. And, you know, the guys have their gloves off and they're in practice and they're skating around with the Stanley Cup and kissing it and passing it in order. Like, honestly, I can't see that happening. Now, I wouldn't call Zdeno. Now, I wouldn't call Zdeno a liar. I wouldn't call Zdeno a liar. That's one of the most credible

guys in the last 20 years you'll ever find. I'm sure he heard something from someone. And I'm scared of him, too. I'm not going to lie. When I played against him, I poked him just enough that he didn't cross the line and rip my head off. But I find that hard to picture guys doing that personally.

So I'm on BX's side with that one. Do I think they all lined up at center ice and did it? No. But could there have been some sort of gesture that just subtly happened? And would it have been the worst thing in the world if it did? We're not talking about, you know, guys doing something like absolutely. We're not talking about sneaking into a dressing room and measuring someone's stick here. It's kind of a goofy whole.

The whole thing's kind of goofy to me. You know, it's like, it's not that big of a deal, even if it happened just a little bit subtly, but it could have been enough to piss us off and then grow, you know, like this mystic story. Right. Yeah, this is an unbelievable story. Now I have another idea in my head of what he might have saw because i could picture myself being in the stanley cup final and practicing and you're messing around

after practice and you score and you pretend you're winning the cup like right you know like a goof around thing it's it's kind of go the lines. It happens when you're goofing around in practice here and there. And maybe he saw that. Maybe he saw something like that. Yeah, that's what I said. It's all purple monkey dishwasher. Someone saw something, heard something, and it got all twisted. And BX definitely wasn't out there because there's no way that hero was

practicing during the Stanley Cup final. There's no way. I think that's a very good point. We've settled it. Kipper's like, why are we even talking about this? Who cares? I'm with you on that, Kipper. It's just... Oh, by the way, it happened 10 years ago. Fair enough.

Fair enough. Where are you at on the Penguins? Do you want to get your thoughts on them before we let you go? Your thoughts on where they're at, where they they're going is this a team that's going to be uh they the real deal or no i think uh when i look at their team i think this could be i mean when i see malcolm the way he has jumped this year and uh you know the way sid's playing um tristan jari's game where it's at, where it came from in kind of the middle to start of the season.

And then, like, the guys that they have in their depth positions. Teddy Bluger's been huge. I mean, he's a fourth-line centerman that has completely changed their penalty kill and made it unbelievable. Do they have the depth? Do they have the team? That's kind of what you look at. And I think this year could be one of those years for them honestly i i it's crazy to think that they went on a i think it was an eight game

losing streak earlier this year and to say that but uh with the way things will come together if they can get that power play rolling hot like it should because this is a goaltending special teams league and they can get those to where it should be on the power play especially this team could have the depth and i'm wondering you know here with like ron hextall what he's going to be looking at you know moving forward yes with chris letang's back after having a stroke is that an issue still will his health hold up i'm sure You know, Jeff Petrie just got hurt last game. He's out of the lineup. How long? I'm unsure.

You know, but is there something to look at this group? And it's the oldest team in the league already, guys. It's only going to get older next year. Like, is this kind of a year when you look at it and go, okay, do we have the horses? Is it good enough now? And if so, what tweaks inside of that can we make come the second half of the season, seeing where we're at?

Because I think a lot of people at the Penns, you know, counted out even of the playoffs, just the playoffs. You know, but, you know, they've won five in a row. They've been one of the hottest teams, you know, in the last month or so. You know, Jari's back to all-star form, and things have seemed to settle in with their lineup and their depth and roles and what they have in their lineup.

So I think they're a dangerous team, guys. I do. And they are better than Washington, are they not? Yeah, I think they're better than Washington. I think they're probably quicker. I think they're deeper. And I think it's just a totally different story than what Washington has. And mind you, too, Washington did have, what, eight guys out for an extended period of time with injuries here

to start the season. So could that change? Maybe. But I just think they're in a much better position with the makeup of this team to being like a team that can make some noise in the playoffs. All right, we're going to let you go so you can make your 5-15 meeting

with your coaches, assistant coaches. I got to get in the lab, boys. I got to get the whiteboard out. I got to, you know know chock-tock time create some concepts and make the trainers nervous too Colby while you're at it make your kids trainers really nervous

oh yeah I gotta come in there and just set the tone hey Kippy alright good luck on that pal we really appreciate your time yeah good talking to you boys thanks for doing this I'll let him know. All right. Good luck on that, pal. We really appreciate your time. Yeah. Good talking to you, boys.

Thanks for doing this. Thanks, guys. But I get, like... How did we not ask him about LeTang and strokes? Well, he mentioned it, you know, and he said, you know, hopefully it works out. I don't think he knows much more than we know that it's a doctor's call. And if he's comfortable enough to go back out there and doesn't feel like he's in jeopardy as the doctors don't, then who are we? Fair enough.

Yeah, and just one note on the BX thing. I get it. I get it that you don't want to hear somebody saying something that affects you personally. Again, he mentioned, you know, it is in many ways an attack on a character thing because that's insinuating that we thought we had something locked up

and that we were arrogant and cocky enough and all of that. Right. I don't believe for one second it happened like that. No. And it's funny because when you do hear the story, it's either one or the other right it's either it happened and it was really noticeable teams out there practicing with an

imaginary you know in order now we know that it didn't happen that way because i was there i covered all the practices along with you know all the rest of them kelly rudy craig simpson sportsnet tsn we were all there and we all covered everything we didn't say anything could there have been some subtle uh things that might have happened that kind of insinuated that maybe they fantasize about something like that happening yeah but big deal well this is it's insane to me to suggest that the canucks practiced handing off the cup or whatever it's the it's the situation that colby laid out that i had talked about earlier this morning we were talking about if we wanted to talk about it or not on the show it's that someone saw them somebody tucked one home past whoever was in net and then he puts

puts his hands up in the air and he pretends to pass it to somebody else and over years and years of broken telephone we get to the point where they they talked it's probably an assistant equipment manager walking through the bowels of the arena and here's two of the captains saying who would you give it to first or something like that and that's the end of the story so um yeah probably didn't need uh as much on this as we did i like this it's a fun conversation to me they asked us if we could extend the story maybe think about doing a documentary on it um we said no but we'll give it uh three minutes on our show how's that and they were happy with that yeah we satisfied our yeah we satisfied

okay um where do you want to go uh did you ask me about eric stall well he scored his first as a florida panther yeah first goal and he's been played 22 games oh my god i know what's coming now you're gonna ask me about a Hall of Fame. Correct. Is Eric Stahl a Hall of Famer? Yes, and the answer is no. Oh. Yeah, no. Oh. I think he has the I think he has

the credentials, probably. What are the credentials? Two-time gold medalist for Canada. Yeah, that's kind of low on the totem pole. Stanley Cup champion? That's 1,300 games played, over 1,000 points. Oh, your mic's off, Kepper.

I thought you were whispering. No, I mean, games played, you know, in the last three or four years, you can always find some sucker team to take you on. You can go play fourth line for the Leafs. Those numbers aren't as important as they've been in the past um but i tend to a major award guys no major award all the very good to me i will say you know when we talk about these guys i really feel like fame should play into this more like your gut feeling on a guy did you ever feel like he was one of the best players in the league you know

do you feel like he was someone who a team could really that could drive a team by themselves that's why you've asked us about phil kessel and i'm like he's never that for me eric stall is closer no i disagree yeah eric stall is closer for me you know like uh big captain leader type the you know with you yeah but it's not i'm with you guys that. But it's not, I'm with you guys. It's not like a no-brainer to me. I'd have to see, stack it up against other people. Eric's brother. Jordan?

Jordan, you just mentioned it. Mark. Jordan. There's another one too. Jordan's a beast. Jordan would have had an easier time getting into the Hall of Fame 15 years ago, right doesn't jordan have the record for shorthanded goals in the season i don't know but right now it's just the bar's so high right now for me have to get in that you need you need career years you need to be a standout amongst your peers yeah uh maybe on more than one occasion but just simply having

a stanley cup and a gold medal for eric stall without ever leading the league in scoring or winning a major award or but chris coon has a couple of gold it's hard it's hard to it is it is so yeah the interesting conversation i've had this conversation with Stewie on the air before we played with him. And Stewie's, yeah, of course, no-brainer. So your mileage may vary on him, too, while we're on that expression. By the way, hold on a second here. I was way off on the shorthanded goals. Not even close.

Oh, really? Yeah. What is the record? It's 13 shorthanded goals. Listen, you shut off YouTube today. So, I mean mean we're not surprised on anything you do today i guess i remember him tying somebody because he had seven in a season once so anyways before colby came around we were talking about michael bunting and i was talking

about how important he is and scoring depth and why he's important so i looked at seattle's leading scorers because they claimed uh LA Tolvanen, um, 23 years old. Uh, I would have said two years ago would have been one of their highest prospects, massive trade trade ship. If he was traded then,

you know, he scored 11 goals in 40 games with Nashville the one year and now it's kind of not doing anything. So anyway, they claim them. And I look at Seattle's leading scorers and it's like, you know, basically Burekowski is 27 is 27 after that it's 23 23 23 18 16 16 16 15 15 14 13 12 like depth scoring the leafs it's unbelievable to drop off you have the big four and the bottom of that

is tavarez at 28 and then it's bunting at 20 and then it's kerfoot at 12 28 20 12 there's just no middle class of scoring on this team and that's why bunting's crucial he is their middle class of scoring their guy that it can like still chip in maybe it's 50 points a year but that's massive to have and i wonder what his next contract is going to look like if he's a 50 point guy this year he's at 20 through 30 games is you know is he mckea is he now worth four by four probably yeah and how's that working out for vancouver i don't know i literally don't know is the answer i know that he had okay and i'm not saying i don't like him yeah but this is the danger of getting caught up in in the hype if if they think that they can get the danger is letting them walk um no i think i i think they'll let them walk like mckeough if it gets out of hand and they'll

just go find another one mckeough has nine goals in 25 games this year. Which is pretty good. That's good for him. Really good. Pretty good. But I... We assume that the cap might go up. I don't know. There's still talk. I'm not convinced that it's going to go up three or four million dollars next year. And even if it does,

you got too many guys that still got to eat it up. It will be funny because, yeah, Kerfoot's expiring camp's expiring you're gonna lose three and a half million off a kerfoot but it's just not giving it to bunting or camp it's replacing kerfoot kerfoot you kind of you have him like he's almost certainly going to walk away right because you can't trade him because who's trading for an expiring curve foot at three and a half except for a team that's contending no one who's not contending would want them listen if if i feel like i need to be edgier in the playoff i'm still

moving curve foot for another three and a half million dollar that might be a little edgier and somebody else may need to get faster so it's not the worst idea it's it's still it's still out there yeah in my it should be still in play kerfoot uh what did i say he's got two goals and 10 assists through 30 games but if bunting ends up with another 40 plus points you think you can get to 50 yeah i do okay then that should garner two and a half three million dollars for sure on a long-term deal i think the leafs would probably entertain you know two and a half three million dollars if it's three and a half or four no see you bye interesting it's funny he's uh he's been stapled to austin matthews here in toronto like my goodness

what a blessing that's been for his next paycheck i gotta believe he's the type of guy who's older he's gonna look to get all he can wherever he can get it if you only have a chance at one real paycheck like this like if i'm michael bunting i am going to play for columbus next year so amy uh just quickly before we go to break just a reminder that the Jays signed Chris Bassett to a three-year contract. Tons of coverage coming up with Benny Boy and Blake Murphy. Talk about this. Yeah, I'm going to talk about it right now because I got all my New York buddies sending

me a note saying, he choked when it counted. Okay. When the Mets needed him most, he choked when it counted. All right. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. For more than that and more, tune in to Fan Drive Time

right after the break. Stick with us. I'm not a baseball guy. I just report. Thanks for joining, everybody. Like I said, give us a rating and review if you get a chance.

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