The Athletic Hockey Show - Is it do or die for the Oilers in Game 3?

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

Hailey, Max and Sean discuss the importance of game three for the Oilers, as Edmonton gets set to host game three of the Stanley Cup Final, down two games to none vs the Florida Panthers tonight. Plus, they profile new San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky, Patrik Laine looking for a fresh start, and a trade out of Columbus and the PWHL awards, headlined by a magical first season by Natalie Spooner. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another Thursday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. It's Haley, Max, and Sean here with you ahead of game three of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton. I think I'm at, like, I think I'm kind of pissed, guys. I said if this Cup final stinks, I'm going to be upset. And it doesn't stink if there's been some entertainment value. But the Panthers are up to nothing on the series.

and we're almost in do or die territory already for the Oilers. How are you guys feeling? I'm almost pissed. I'm on the brink of being pissed. I think we're there with do or die, Haley. I think if the Panthers win tonight, I think that that's an undigable hole for Edmonton, especially the way they've looked.

I mean, I do think they'll win tonight, honestly, not to get away. We're admitted into the show. Well, we may as well end the show now. Well, that's what everyone's been waiting for, Max Boltman's pick. No, but I think it's do or die already. I feel like the third period of the last game might have been do or die. You know, this felt inevitable in some regard because everybody was so excited for Panthers Oilers.

I was getting texts from, you know, hockey fans, but not diehard hockey fans who are like, seems like it'll be great, right? Connor McDavid. Panthers look really good. There is a little bit more of a buzz around this series, at least based on the quality of play that people were expecting. Yeah. In the most NHL kind of fashion,

I know we're just two games in, but man, it's fallen flat. And I think this is proof too where like, any series where a team goes up 2-0 is the error is going to come out of it, right? Like it's going to flatten out like a pancake regardless of how good those two games were.

Like there's just something about looking at on paper and being like this is 2-0 going into game 3 where you're just like, ugh. And I'm feeling that big time today. Yeah, I think it's been, I think the first two games has really, it's actually kind of another interesting debate because I was going to say,

I think the first two games have proven Sean and I correct in overthrowing Max by saying Stuart Skinner is the most important player in the series. Two goals against on 17 shots in game one. And then three goals against on 28 shots in game two. Obviously game two is a little bit better. He had more action against him. But the two goals against on 17 in game one,

you're just like, oh, it's going to be one of those. you can have what, I guess, 17 goals against on 19 shots. You face like nothing and you lose. But Connor McDavid also hasn't really made his impact on this series yet. So I think it's still up for debate because of the Oilers not scoring goals because Connor McDavid hasn't had much juice in the series. They've been outscored seven to one through two games already. And that one goal did not come from Connor McDavid.

He did assist. Are you still standing by your pick? Yes. I came on here also ready to gloat. I thought that this has proven why he's the most important player in the series because if he's not being the best player in the world, how much trouble are the Oilers in that? This is their biggest advantage is that they have the two best players in theory

in the series. And so far they haven't been the two best players in the series. I don't know. Bobrovsky's probably number one. And after that, I can list like four or five Panthers players who have been outstanding. in the series before I would get to McDavid and Drysiddle. I thought he was pretty good in game too.

I thought he had moments where it looked like he was going to take control. He set up that goal, the Matthias Ackholm goal, where that was, I credit to Matthias Ackholm, I guess, for catching everybody by surprise and, you know, beating Bobrovsky clean. It was soft, but it was clean. That goal was because of McDavid, because the, you know, he's below the half. ashes, you know, like along the boards, basically. And he just sucks in. The Panthers, like a tractor being pretty much and freeze everything up, makes a nasty pass into the,

into the neutral zone. And then there you have it. Like, there were moments like that in game two where you're like, this is him exerting his will. Like, we're about to see the takeover. He's going to have some end rush. He's going to do something. And it just didn't quite happen.

And I think that speaks. And I, And to our credit, I think that speaks to some stuff that we said about the Panthers coming into the series. Some of the things that they're good at in general and that they've been good at specifically during the playoffs thus far is, were there moments that David Pasternak looked, you know, great against them? Yeah. Did Nikita Kutrov look great against them? Yeah. were there, you know, flashes of, you know, the Artemopinian to the world against the Rangers where, you know, it felt like they were going to break through, sure.

But they've, it's been a bend don't break against elite players, I think, for them in these series. They play, they play the top lines to at, to a draw at minimum. And then they beat you down the lineup, right? So, so you hold McDavid in check, even though he's got these flash. is. And then, hello Evan Rodriguez. Hello. It's top line Evan Rodriguez.

We can't really say that. I guess it is true. But he's there. Being able to put him there is, right? Yes. And he's their eighth best forward or whatever, right? And he's the one who's doing. Not on the score sheet in the cup final.

And it's true. Respect Evan Rodriguez. Everybody. I think to Max's point on the importance of Connor McDavid, too, not to immediately just turn out of the Panthers conversation. I saw this from Arda from ESPN. Connor McDavid's on pace to become only the second player in the expansion era, so since 67, to have a point in at least half of his team's goals in the postseason

for a team that reached the Stanley Cup final. Wayne Gretzky did it in 88. He had 51.2%. And Connor McDavid's dead at 50 right now. So this guy is, you know, we all knew this already. This isn't groundbreaking, but Connor McDavid's. it is critically important to the Oilers offense. And yeah, he had an assist on that first goal, but it's just one.

Again, they're being outscored 7 to 1 through the first two games. So I don't think it is hyperbole for us to say that this is a really huge game three for the Edmonton Oilers tonight. And I think one thing that is fair to say about the Oilers is they start at the season, what was it, one nine and two? You know, we've seen the Oilers come back from, you know, really putrid starts to the regular season. Mind you, a seven game series is a lot shorter than an 82 game regular season, but we have seen this team look like garbage and then make the Stanley Cup final. So I'm

not willing to write them off yet, but it's really hard to imagine the Panthers squandering this, and this is going to now be clippable when the Oilers win in seven. Of course. And to go back to what we're saying also specifically about McDavid and in Edmonton's, you know, play with him in ice. Florida has the goals advantage 1-0. Edmonton holds the X goal advantage. They're at 55% there. Scoring chances for 1311 Edmonton, high danger chances are five to four Florida. Is that in general or when McDavid's on the end? That's a five on five with McDavid on the ice. Yeah. So they're winning his minutes. Yeah. But like that, but it's they're winning his, you know, their goals like, again, no, no goals in their and their, in their

basically playing even to X goals and scoring chances. Like, you take that. You take that 100 times out of 100 if you're the Panthers. And if that continues, then they might as well, you know, call the series before the game tonight.

Like they need, they need to win McDavid's minutes. I think that's become very clear over the last, over the last couple games. And they probably need to win him convincingly, too, is the other thing, right?

Like if you have, if you end the series with a one goal edge or something in McDavid's minutes, I don't know if, that gets you there. The guy I wanted to give him a culpe on from our list, I didn't, you guys wanted Anton Lindell on that list. I was kind of eh on it.

Sean wanted him as an avatar specifically of the Panthers depth. Yes. And that has not only proven right in the symbolic sense, Lindel has been really, really good and he was really good in game two. And I think that has been the key so far. And, you know, that's not breaking news here.

It's also why I think that Edmonton will win this game. because even though Florida doesn't present you any really easy matchups, the fact that it's going back to Edmonton and they will free up McDavid, they will get him away from the lines that have, you know, obviously we're talking about he's still been okay in his minutes, but I think the lines that, the matchups that will allow him to look like the McDavid we expected to see,

that's more likely to come in Edmonton because of the picking of the matchup. So I do think Edmonton gets it done tonight and it's because of the change advantage. It has nothing to do with only getting in, only getting in 22 hours early, which has somehow become. a big story in this playoffs. Just for the record, guys, that's how early teams usually get in

the night before a game all season long. This isn't going to be anything new to anybody, but this is what happens when you have two days off between games. Matthew Kachuk and Alexander Barkov were not sitting in Gate B at the Fort Lauderdale Airport with no water or snacks, you know? Like, let's just be real. They were sitting probably in a hotel or the private, plane area with whatever they needed and then they went on their charter and they got in and went

to their nice hotel. They are fine. I don't know why this has become such a big story. I don't get it. They were delayed like six hours. I wrote it in the rundown because people, there's a story about it on our website right now, like a news headline. And I just want to say for all those people who comment on all my PWHL stories being like, I don't care about this. Why is this here? Why do you care about the Panthers flight plans. I think this is twofold. I think this happening for two reasons. One, we have two days between games. Everybody is out of things to talk about, including us. I feel like I'm just rearranging words slightly differently than I did yesterday with Sean.

When I was rearranging words slightly differently than I did the night before with Shana, like, we're out of shit to talk about. That's, that's part of him. Right. And like, Barkov's not like out. So that just completely. completely took like that was the option that was it that was going to be everybody's story yesterday I want to talk about dry sidel or the airplane Haley you said it you nailed the other thing this is people projecting their own shitty travel experiences on professional athletes which is fine it's understandable I get it if you or me or my neighbor or your mother or who I like pick a random person.

If you're like, oh, man, I was stuck in the airport for six hours and I got out there later, blah, blah, blah, that's going to suck. It's going to suck for any normal person. Not the case for pro athletes who fly on chartered planes. It just, it just isn't. Like, it's not that big of a deal. I, um, Fort Lauderdale, they can go to Jack Nicholas's Golden Bear Grill at the airport while they

kill time. That's, you know what? That sounds like somebody who's been stuck in the Fort Lauderdale airport and had to kill time at the Jack Nicholas Golden Bear Grill when I was an intern in Fort Lauderdale of like 2016. I got stuck in the Fort Lauderdale Airport and I was in there's either a Chili's or a Chili's two and I was in there with my family. This is like probably 10 years ago now and I was ready to just I was ready to get on any plane. I was like just like put me on an airplane. I don't I don't care where it's going. I cried at the Nashville airport a few years ago because my flight got delayed so many times.

I just sat there in the lounge with like Chris Cuthbert and like softly cried to myself. I think I cried at the Nashville airport last summer for different reasons. Everybody craved knacks in Vegas at the draft. On the toilet at the Nashville airport. The other thing. One more thing about the travel stuff. One more thing about airports. Here's my other.

Here's my other theory. Here's my third theory. Airline food. My third fan. What is the deal? I think that media members, this goes for us to some regard to because we're all guilty of it. I think people have finally become aware, self-aware enough to realize that our readers, our listeners, whoever don't give a shit about our travel complaints. They don't care. We know that now,

after years of having that beat into our heads. I think reporting up. If I seek one more, delayed in the airport, ask me anything, I'm going to scream. Who cares? I think people, but I think people know that generally now. But I also think there is an impulse, there's an addiction to talking about this stuff

on, like, like when it comes to reporters. And the Panthers issue is like a workaround. They get to, like, we get to talk about travel shit without actually, but it's not ours, so it doesn't mean it count. It's a hack, 100%.

Yeah. I feel more bad for like the Sportsnet social team that got stuck in the Fort Lauderdale Airport for six hours sitting on the tarmac, you know, with no food or water than I do for the Florida Panthers. So I feel like I brought up a few hockey things and then we just skirt it over them. I don't even care. I knew what we wanted to talk about. I would rather talk about the dangers of like corporate mergers and the havoc that they've reek that they've reek on air. on air travel over the last 15 years. Like, that's fine. We can lean into that. Jesus.

We got to show the listeners aside of old SG that haven't seen. Oh, man. I think they've definitely seen it. He randomly goes off with rants every once in a while and people are like, oh. I'm going to go have three beers, come back, do the second segment,

and summarily he'd say something that gets me fired immediately. Let's go. Remind everyone that Sean did college for real. John Smart. Well, I was going to bring up the Barkov situation very quickly here, actually. I'm trying to play host and get it on the rails. He left game two after the hit to head from Leandro Seidel and missed the final like 10 minutes,

nine and a half. But according to CJ here at the Athletic All Science point towards Barkov being healthy enough to return for game three, he had a league source tell him that Barkov avoided a broken John was able to skate without the full cage. dry saddle obviously wasn't suspended for the hit and it's been two days so I don't think we can really debate or yell about that. I don't think anyone cares anymore. What I did find interesting was that CJ reported according to sources familiar with the decision making process. The Department of Player Safety didn't like that his forearm came up when delivering the check or that he left his feet in the process.

But they didn't see it as a chicken wing type hit where he fully extended so they didn't suspend him. So it's like, so you agree that he left his feet. You agree that he raised his arm. But it wasn't a chicken wing type of thing. So, and you have no prior history. So it's fine. This is what I was rolling my eyes about with Macon do yesterday. Because this is it.

This is the exact topic. I was trying to remember what it was. Like that sounds like a five minute major to me. But, you know, what do you get? Right. So like, I'm reading that. And I'm like, I don't get it. Well, I thought it was a five, too. But I also agree, Sean, I think it was you that said this.

Not every five, not every dirty hit is a suspension. The penalties exist to be penalties. They probably should have called a five. It wouldn't have mattered at that point in the game anyway. But I don't think it was ever a suspension to me. If the official misses a call and calls something at two that should have been a five, the remedy is not to suspend the player. It just isn't.

And people need to internalize that. And I think, you know, I think this is a pretty good example. Cody Cici was also a healthy scratch in game too. after being a dash two in game one. I haven't seen anything that would suggest he is back in or he's out again. Darnell Nurse obviously would have been the big question. You probably have to put C.C. in if Darnell Nurse misses game three, but it sounds like he's going to be good to go for game three as well.

So I do wonder if the Oilers come back with the same decombination. So they would have had Ekholm-Bouchard as that top pair, Kulak and Philip Broberg, and then Darnell Nurse and Vincent Day or Ney on the third pair. It's not like the team was that much. I think the Oilers look better in game two. Obviously, they still lose the game. So I wonder if you go back to Cody C.C. Or you keep the deep hairs the same.

But we talk a lot. There's a good Daniel Nugent-Bohman story about the Oilers defense and Darnall Nurse specifically on the site. So if you want a little bit more, a little bit of a deeper dive on that, seek it out. That's just you saying I'm not going to be speaking on this. I don't need to sit here. I don't need to sit here and read it.

Daniel's story. Like, it's long. Nobody cares that much. Okay, well, on that note, let's take a break then. This has been so great. I hope everyone's having a lot of fun. We'll be right back on this. We'll be right back on the athletic hockey show.

Sean did not have three beers during the break. I just want to be very clear. He was joking for legal reasons. That was a joke, right, Sean? Had four working on number five there, brother. that's not funny um transitioning from the stanley cup this is a really great show today transitioning from the stanley cup final over into a little bit of nchl news um before we started recording the san jose sharks hired their new head coach ryan orsovsky um max i know you have some thoughts on this one so

why don't we throw it to you what do you think about this hire by the sharks yeah it's an interesting one and he's been a candidate. This is not, he's 36 and he's obviously very young. I think he's the youngest coach in the NHL now, but he has been on the radar and he was a guy who had a ton of success coaching in the American League. One of the things I find most interesting about this is I think there's sometimes a thought that if you're an assistant coach, you have to go be a head coach before you can get a head coaching job. You cannot have had a better kind of head coaching situation and results than Ryan Worsowski did two years ago. He led the Chicago Wolves to the Calder Cup championship.

Their record was ridiculous. It was like 50, 16, and 10. They were an absolute wagon. And when he left, I was surprised that he left that to go be an assistant coach because of kind of that wisdom. Not only that, he goes to be an assistant coach on a team that's like one of the worst teams in the league does not have really any success to speak of. The fact that he gets this job, I think, really speaks to how strong results.

he got in the HL prior to that. And in my opinion, probably San Jose realizing we can't let this guy get out of the door because we have him in our organization. Let's not miss the chance to give him his first crack. A little bit of the path kind of reminds me of Spencer Carberry a little bit, right? He's a good point. Coached under Carberry too. Really successful H.L. coach Carberry was with Hershey.

Then he goes to Toronto for a bit is a, is an assistant. You know, on an NHL team, comes back to Washington, did a great, I think he, I think Spencer Carberry is a guy who probably deserves more credit than what, than what he's gotten for what for the season of Washington Capitals just had. Like, granted, there was a lot of luck involved in whatever, but, you know, give, give it up, give it up for the guy who's pulling the strings and setting a lineup and motivating those dudes night in and night out. Yeah. coming to the season with such low expectations, right? So I'm sure San Jose would take that kind of result from Orsoski in year one. And the other thing about Warsaw, that's impressive to me is like,

when did San Jose fired David Quinn? That feels like it happened six months ago, right? Like, like, we're talking. It's at the end of the regular season, six weeks, like, truly, if not more. You said six months. I mean, I was being, yeah, I was being facetious. I know that. But they've interviewed plenty of people.

They were connected with Marco Sturm for a while. Is this where Jay Woodcroft lands? Blah, blah, blah. There are plenty of coaches who were linked to that job. And the fact that they didn't just, that there wasn't a succession plan, they didn't fire David Quinn with the idea that they were going to hire Ryan Warsowski 36 hours later or whatever.

It seems like they made him work for it, right? And the fact that he came out of, you know, that process with this, job, I think is, I think is pretty, is pretty impressive. Yeah, I mean, he won the job, right? And David Quinn was fired in the end of April. So it's been a while. They did, they did the work. And he, and he won the job. And I think what's interesting, I think, you know, with his assistant coach duties, he was primarily used working with the defense and the penalty kill. And obviously, working with the team defense,

he was working with Eric Carlson, who had an incredible season and won the Norris. And we don't want to give the coach all the credit for what Eric Carlson did, because he won Norris trophies with different coaches, etc. So this wasn't just like a, wow,

look at the work that Orsowski did here to help Eric Carlson win a Norris. But, like, that was a really bad, that was a really bad team. And Carlson had a great season. And I'm sure the organization looked at him and said, did a good job with our defense, despite the fact that the team was not very good this year.

And I think to Max's point about his record in the American Hockey League, like, this is a coach that has done well with young players. I mean, the American Hockey League isn't always just prospects. There's always veterans. There's always bubble and fringe guys, right? But the fact that the sharks are going to be a pretty young prospect heavy team with some veterans and bubble guys included, like he has shown the ability to find success with a team that is. a mix of bubble NHL guys and prospects. And I think it's going to be really important for the sharks as they kind of move through this rebuild to have someone who's going to be good with those young players.

And the sharks don't have a ton of like elite defense prospects. I think Shakir Mukumadulan is probably their bestie prospect, Max. Does that feel right to you? I think that's right. Yeah. Like they have more like when I think of the sharks prospect pool, I'm thinking more of like what they have up the middle or on the forward group like Will Smith. But I think it's going to be important for them to have that coach who can help them

through this development stage. And that's where the HL experience kind of comes in, right? As you're used to working with guys at a developmental stage, I know there's an idea that the NHL is not a developmental league, but there's a good chance here that an important part of the Sharks roster for the next three, four, five years is about guys who are 19, 20, 21 years old. And I think it's an advantage to have. Now, maybe is there something to be said for having a lot? someone who's really been there a really long time working with those guys and maybe carries a little longer arc where they can point to this guy, this guy, this guy, sure. But I also am buying especially kind of with what we hear about this generation of young players, that a 36-year-old

is going to be able to connect with them in a really good way. Yeah, this guy's Maclon Celebrini's first, NHL head coach barring something very surprising, right? Like this is the guy who's going to be charged with his development, not just him, Will Smith, William Eccland. like there are guys there there's a i think ecklin's very is an interesting is an interesting factor here too because like what is what has warsovsky been successful at it's like taking a hl players young hl players and helping them make that next step in a lot of regards that's what william eclans turned into over the last year too orsovsky's last year um as a head coach in the hl 21 21 22 the wolves scored the most goals in the league and they gave up the second

least goals in the league and they won the championship. I don't think if I'm going to theorize why he would leave the HL for an assistant coaching job after that, it's probably because you can't do any better than that as a coach, but it still, I think, speaks to the fact that, you know, he goes to San Jose on a team that really the team that you see their assistants get promoted to head coach. Those are teams that are making the playoffs at a minimum. The fact that he was able to get this job, despite where San Jose's been at, I think really speaks to that and really speaks to what they saw of him working with him day and day out.

So looking ahead for kind of free agency trade talks, Pierre LeBron had a story come out on Wednesday, just some NHL rumblings around the league and it looks like there are, or it sounds like there are some trade talks potentially heating up with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Patrick Linae. LeBron says that his understanding is that the Blue Jackets intend to work with Patrick Liney's camp to find the Star Winger a fresh start with a new team. Obviously, Linae remains in the NHL, NHLPA player assistance program since he sought help from the program in January. He also had minor shoulder surgery, but is not expected to be an issue next season.

The expectation is he'll be ready to go for 2024, 25. So obviously there's a little bit of, you know, you want Patrick Lainey to be okay and like healthy, physically, mentally. But once again, he's kind of, he's 26 years old and he's looking for another fresh start in the NHL. So that would be a third team for Patrick Line. He's got two years left on an $8.7 million contract, a 10 team, no trade list. So it's going to be interesting to see where this lands for Patrick Linae. And you hope that he finds a place where he can be successful. But looking for a third team now for Linae.

We'll see how willing Columbus is. And Don Waddell's obviously the new big boss there. We'll see how willing they are to eat some salary here. Because 8.7 against the cap for a flawed player on his best day for two more. years is a tough ask, right? So you can, you know, hope it works out for everybody involved. And certainly Patrick Klein is at the top of that list. But that cap hit is scary. Yeah. What would it have to get down to, Sean, for you? What would you have to get down to for you

to trade for this guy? Five and a half. I think you could justify him at six, six even maybe six and a half. If he's right, if he's, if he's in the, if he's in their right spot and he's healthy and ready to go, then I agree. with you. I just think a lot of people are looking at Patrick Lainey as a former 40 goal scorer and thinking like LeBron wrote about the allure of getting a former 40 goal scorer at a reduced cost. But like he scored 40 goals in 2017, 18. We're looking at a guy who, you know, he scored 22 goals a year ago and 26 a year ago, you know. So he's had seasons where he has produced, you know,

between 20 and 30 since that 40 goal year. But like Patrick Lainey hasn't been that guy for a while. So I don't, I think we're going to be looking at a pretty small market. And I don't know how much teams are going to be giving, giving up for Patrick Lainey at this point. Just be cut just based on his offensive production over the last three years. Offensive struggles in Columbus.

And I think it's all going to depend on the acquisition cost. The two years prior to last year, though, he didn't play the full 82. He was still right around a point per game player. And it's a certain kind of point per game player. I get that they're not all created equal. He's not Alexander Barkov with the rest of his game here. But somebody's going to find a place for a guy that they feel can put up a point per

gamer close to it. And you hope if you're trading for this guy, and especially if you get money retained, but what your hope is that at 26 years old, you're beyond the point where you're, you're going to have to deal with like, I should be on the first line. I should be on the first power play at your line, whatever. If this experience has gotten Patrick Liney past some of that,

like those potential issues, then I think you're happy to take a guy who can score around a point per game, put them on your second line, whatever. And you probably are putting it on your first power play because he's got one of the best shots in the NHL. Yeah, I had 52 points, 22 goals for the Blue Jackets in 2022, 23. He was also a dash 12. So that's that other side of the puck conversation. in the year before that, 56 points and 56 games, 26 goals.

So, you know, this is a guy who's been productive offensively, even for the Blue Jackets. But, yeah, I just think he scored 40 goals. A long time ago, yeah. A long time ago. So we're looking at a point per game player, a guy with a big shot. Like, let's, I think they're, I just, I wonder how big the market's going to be for, for Patrick Linae at $8.7 million right now. And the risk is that he's had, you know, he's had four seasons in Columbus, two right around

a point per game, two and a half point per game. Football coin, which one are you going to get? And that's where I think if you want to be around, you know, between five and a half and a half million, that's a bet you'll take. Because it's a slight over, I mean, it's an overpay on a half point per game guy, but it'd be a huge steal on a point per game guy. And I think if you can get it into that range salary-wise, that's where you may be able to get something for him. I wonder if there's a concern that he hasn't played a full 82 since 2018, 19 as well.

Has to be. Like, are you, like, is, I think you're going to, you're going to, you're going to, you're going have to find a team that, for one, that the blue jackets are going to, they're certainly going to have to retain salary. I don't think anyone's going to take that cap hit on in full. And then you have to find a team that is comfortable with getting a guy who can just kind of be the trigger man, like just let him line up and shoot. And you're going to be getting a 20 to 30 goal guy for $6 million who might not play the full season. So we'll say. Carolina? would you do

if you're Carolina if they Cains take that on considering the Cains could we see well considering the Cains like to have like possession

and good two way play I wonder if that's a fit yeah 34 goal base or just say like let's see if it works because they've taken those kind of projects on before it'll be interesting

you got the we got the Waddell Pulski connection that'd be that'd be that would be compelling. Well, Waddell know their system really well. I don't know. I wonder if they would even let that trade go through.

I feel like the league would be like you're not allowed to do this. But, you know, for all these awards that we're talking about, you know, this is still a guy who has scored when he's been in the line of he scored at a 34 goal pace over the last three years. Like you're getting something from him. You're not getting $8.7 million worth of production, but you're getting something. So it'll be interesting. Yeah. And he's for the record is...

He's going to have control over where he goes to because of the 10 team trade list. So, you know, at the end of the day, the hope is that he can go to a place where he's going to, you know, personally and professionally get back on track. Like, again, I think over everything. Like, he's been in the player assistance program. So you hope that he is okay. And then he can kind of get his game back on track in a place that he feels can give him the fresh start that he needs. We're getting close to the draft. So this is a...

A reminder that the scoring winger, while extremely tantalizing always, it can go wrong. You can be really successful in the NHL, right? Like Patrick Lainey has career 388 points in 480 games. He is 204 goals in 480 games. And we're still talking about him as a distressed asset here. It is a reminder that as much as it is true, the goals are the hardest thing to do in the NHL. When you get to the NHL, everyone always wants more than just goals, more than just points. And they get you paid, which is a double-edged sword a little bit in a situation

like this. I just all, it always comes back to the, I feel like I've said this so many times. Like, every team is going to have guys that scores goals on it. Like bad teams have 25 or 30 goals scores on it. And the challenge is always with, whether it's line or or guys, from that cloth is you figure out whether their games in particular can transfer over to like relevant hockey teams. And that's not what Columbus has been for the last several seasons.

Also, I don't want to be too harsh. I don't, I don't think he's, did we call him a distressed asset? Yeah, and you're talking about retaining money on a guy their distress. I mean, he's a good player. We're talking, but like it's, hold your eyes at me like that. I've heard that a lot over the last couple days.

If you have to retain money, that's what it is. I'm not trying to be a dick. I like Patrick Lainty as a player, but if you have to retain money, that's the situation. $8.7 million is a lot. It's a lot. He's got one of the 50 highest capits in the league. You know, it is what it is.

One quick note back on the Stanley Cup final, just to do another throwback to that. It sounds like Chris Knoblock has said on tonight's lineup. You're going to have to wait and find out. Nothing super juicy there. But Elliott Friedman did just report that there is more concern about Evander Kane's health than Darnell nurses at the moment. So something to keep an eye on heading into game three in Edmonton, which again, we said is a must win for the Oilers, down to nothing, has only scored one goal at this point in the series. So potentially not great news there if you're an Oilers fan,

hoping that the offense can can kind of get back clicking together. Our ace fact checkers also remind me that I said the Chicago Wolfs had the second fewest goals against him Worsovsky's last year. It is the third fewest. Thank God you, thank God you clarified that, man. Had to be done. I think it's important that he did. Yeah, this is a podcast of integrity when we're discussing Max's contributions to the show. Beer number six, my bad.

Stop joking about that. He's not drinking. We're going to go for one more quick break. That's hilarious. It was fourth. Oh, my God, Max. Jesus Christ. Hey, I'm ending.

I'm just going to end the show altogether. No, we're going to do one quick break here. And once you're done listening to our show, you can check out some of the other great content on the Athletic Podcast Network. The NBA finals are in full swing. And we have you covered. The Athletic NBA show is recapping every game with the beat, writers who are at the games and in the locker rooms, listen to the athletic NBA show,

wherever you get your podcasts. And we'll be right back here on the athletic hockey show. All right, we're back with a final segment. And because I just got back from St. Paul, Minnesota, spent a lot of time in Minnesota over the last several weeks here. But I was in Minnesota for the PWHL draft and the PWHL Award show. So it's time for the PWHL Air Friar. So I'm just, that was just like a little pause for the crackling sound of the air fryer to be added in here. It's been a fan favorite this season. Who came up with that? Was that Sean?

Sounds dumb enough to be my idea, yes? Yeah. So to quickly wrap up the awards, Natalie Spooner cleaned house. The Natalie Spooner, who just had surgery on a serious knee injury might miss the start. of the season next year. It is devastating for PWHL Toronto, but she cleaned up. She won League MVP 4 to the year. And she also won the goal title and the scoring title after leading the league with 20 goals and 27 points this season. Four to the year. Most dominant player in the year all season, critical driver of Toronto's offense. She scored 29% of Toronto's goals and

factored into 39% of them. Five game winners, five first goals. multiple insurance goals to put games out of reach. Spooner was just unbelievable this season and the fact that her first year, the PWHL, is kind of sandwiched in between coming back from childbirth to be this unbelievable. And I should, she's not, she didn't become this unbelievable goal scoring talent. She just got back to it because this is all she's ever done is score goals in big moments and score a lot of them. But coming back from childbirth and then having knee surgery at the end of the season.

So she's come back from stuff before. She said at the draft, nothing is harder than childbirth. So like I'm going to be good. But just like a huge day for Natalie Spooner. That's a major card to lay down whenever someone's asking you about ACL rehab. It's fine. At the start of the season, it was a fair, it was an open question. I think, like, where is she going to go in the draft?

Yep. How high will she, like, what does she look like when she returns? And, yeah, she was in top form pretty quickly. 30% of your team's goals, I think that's pretty good. Yeah. I think the Spooner, I think what we saw in terms of the Spooner impact was, and now there were compassionate circumstance waivers that played into this, like Natalie Spooner on her own, Mara is not a fourth round pick.

But that's where she went. for reasons that, you know, are still unclear, like not super, like transparent out there. But she did say she got a compassionate waiver and it sounded like the league basically like assigned value to all of those players. And that's kind of where the team lost their draft pick. So Spooner, obviously, a steal, quote unquote, in the fourth round. But I think what was interesting, there was no compassionate waivers this year. And then we saw a couple players in the draft who had a year off of hockey for obviously different reasons than Natalie Spooner, but Claire Thompson took a year off and went third overall. So I think there were teams being like we can see from

somebody like Spooner that you can have a year off of hockey because you just had a baby and then you're the best forward in the league. Like no one was going to let Claire Thompson fall because she had a year off of hockey. She's younger. She did not have a baby. She was just in medical. school. So I think we saw teams being like, we're not going to dock players for having a year off, and we are not going to let this girl slip away. Third overall to Minnesota, Claire Thompson, probably the most impressive person I've ever covered casually in med school. Sarah Filier told me, she's like, I'm pretty sure she's like top of her class too, but she would never say that. Just casually taking a break from NYU med school to go third overall in the PWHL draft.

Haley, how big an immediate impact is Philly A going to make? Because I know that, the hype on her for a couple of years has been huge. And obviously we saw Taylor Heise right away have a big impact. Like how big a difference maker in year one is she? I think she is going to make an immediate impact in the PWHL. I think there was a lot of really interesting discussion over who could go first between filet and Sardacne. And I've kind of said like, yes, Danielle Sardakne, she's got pro size.

She brings a different element to Philead. And I think there's reasons to believe that Sardakne is going to make a great impact right away for Ottawa because she is like physical and she's big and she can drive the net. And we've seen, you know, like a Natalie Spooner, like bigger frame, like physical get to the net front players have success in the PWHL because of how physical it is. But I just think Sarah Filier's brain, like sets her apart from everybody. Like she reads the play so well in front of her, whether it's getting herself open, getting into a scoring lane, setting up her teammates. she can play up the middle so she can drive, you know, a really dynamic second line behind

Alex Carpenter, who was a finalist for the MVP in forward the year last year. Or you can kick her out to the wing and have her play on the top line with Alex Carpenter. And I think the idea of Carpenter and Filier on the same line setting each other up because Carpenter's a really smart playmaker, but she also has a wicked shot. Nasty, nasty, nasty shot. Like Carpenter is one of the most offensively gifted players in the PWHL and the idea of those. two on a line together is disgusting. You have a playmaking winger, setting up Carpenter, like, in the high slot or whatever,

like all those goals we saw are scored over the course of the season. Or you kick Carpenter out to the wing and you let Phileet be the center. I wonder if you keep Carpenter up the middle to give Filier a bit of time to, like, adjust to the physicality and the different pace of play in the PWHL. But I think, you know, Philead worked on her shot. She switched her stick to. She went to a different flex. So she changed her gear around a little bit, and she scored 30 goals in the NCAA last season, one of only two players who did it in the regular season.

Her and our favorite player, Abby Murphy, our favorite American Abby Murphy. So she's like added another level to her shot too. So I just think Philly A was the best of the class. And I think she's going to have an immediate impact in New York. And I thought New York had the best draft class of the day. I think Sean even agreed like Sean was watching the draft for a bit and kind of said like seems like

Pascal Dao is doing a really good job right now. He made a really interesting and good trade. He traded down from so he traded his seventh round pick to Boston for 10, 16 and 36. So he basically

got, he drafted eight players and he used those three picks for two elite right shot defenders, really good transitional D and a backup goalie. So New York did a really good job. They had a good draft last year too. So the difference this year is going to be what Greg Fargo, who just got hired as coach, is going to do to make this team actually click and see if he could put the puzzle pieces together. But he put together a really good program at Colgate and turn that program into a powerhouse team in the ECAC. So I think

it's going to be a good year for New York. I'm back on the New York bandwagon, folks. I'm picking them again. Just can't quit them. Have you learned nothing? Yeah. Apparently not. Anything else, guys? Anything else in the PWHL draft?

We liked, I guess we should talk about. Why did Amanda Castle fall so far? I think it's really, I think it's a weird situation. She was obviously a bit of a surprise to declare for the draft because she's been working as a special assistant to Kyle Dubus with the Penguins.

I think she would have gotten like a blessing to do both or take a step back to play. I think there's maybe some circumstances that would need to go right for Amanda to play full time in the PWHL. And I think that's why we saw her fall. And I was once, so once Amanda didn't go in the top two rounds, I thought like she's not going at all. So Montreal taking her with their final pick in the second last one of the draft was like a huge shock. because it was either a team's going to take Amanda Kessel for what she can bring to their top six immediately or no one's going to grab her.

So this was like a, oh, I did not see this coming at all. Like it was either she goes top 10 or she doesn't go at all. So I don't know. What's the percentage chance she actually suits up for a game for Montreal? I have no clue. Genuinely, like, I can't even, I can't even give you that answer. It's going to be really.

be it's going to be really interesting to follow with Amanda Kessel here. If you want more information on the PWHL draft and awards, I had a big best picks, big surprises, story on the athletic and also a wrap from the awards ceremony. Again, Natalie Spooner cleaned house. Her baby wore a full suit and a bow tie on the purple carpet to the awards, and it was like the cutest thing I've ever seen. I just needed to say that. And he also went up on stage with his mom and dad and all the awards.

And everyone started clapping for Spooner and he started clapping too. And it was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. And I just thought it was important for everyone to hear that. It's the most personality ever shown during a professional hockey award acceptance speech. Yeah, was baby Roy clapping for his mom. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. Anyways. Thanks, everyone for listening to the.

athletic hockey show. I always love doing the PWHL air fryer. But then I just ramble a lot. So I apologize for everyone who just had to listen to me talk for 10 minutes. Sean's rolling his eyes at me again, which is just so rude. I don't apologize for stuff like that. It's really rude. Anyways, thanks everyone for listening to the athletic hockey show,

The Prospect Series with Max, Corey Scott, and Chris, and their guest, Arpin, airs tomorrow on the Athletic Huffalo. How do you guys do you guys do that? with so many people. That's a great question. I can barely handle talking to just the two of you. I get overwhelmed. The interview will be with Arpin.

I don't know if we're going to have five people talking during that. It'll probably be more two or three of us talking to Arpin, asking him stuff about the Canadians. And then the other, it just kind of runs itself. I just kind of sit back and get out of the way. That seems nice. We should add three more people to this show and then I don't have to do as much. No, thank you. All right.

Monday's Athletic Hockey Show also with Mendez and Lazz shifts to two. next week. So just a little programming note there. Thanks again, everyone for listening. This has been the Thursday show with Haley, Max, and Sean.