The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Free Agency opens up, Red Wings put Filip Zadina on waivers, interesting players still available

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

Ian Mendes and Julian McKenzie discuss the moves in free agency over the weekend, including the latest with Detroit Red Wings putting Filip Zadina on waivers, the most interesting names still on the market, the Senators signing Joonas Korpisalo for five years, Penguins committing to Tristan Jarry and also being in on Erik Karlsson along with the Kraken, and much more.Subscribe to The Athletic Hockey Show on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. We are back. It is July. The 1st July, Athletic Hockey Show, coming your way. On a Monday, it's Ian Meadows and Julian McKenzie in that sweet little spot between Canada Day and the 4th of July. I mean, Julie, if we had to call this, maybe, do we, should we like start calling July 2nd and or July 3rd? Brett Hall Day. Why Brett Hall Day? Well, something that's like a dual citizen.

Like somebody who kind of represents Canada and the U.S. Is it Brett Hall? Is that the guy? That makes sense. I think with regards to our show, Brett Hall makes a ton of sense as an American Canadian. Now we have to think of, we have to put together a roster of the best dual national

NHL players. USA and Canada? Yeah. That's actually, if the USA boys didn't have tomorrow, July 4th off, that would be like a fun, like, challenge we should do for Custins with Custin's and Gentilly. That sounds like a really fun idea. Actually, how many guys even have dual citizens? Like Brett Hall obviously born in Canada, ended up representing the United States. There's been a handful of those guys.

You know, it's a random guy that I remember Adam Deadmarsh, who used to play for the avalanche and the L.A. Kings. he was one of those I got a pick who I represent. Oh man. Now I think about this too. We're at a point now where we're seeing kids of former NHL players who were born Canadian and then you see them like play in the states and stuff and then they just take up like U.S. like citizenship there, which isn't sort of the same thing, but like is sort of in that same vein, which I guess kind of changes that.

that pool of players, especially for the states. But like I'm trying to think of other... Adam Deadmarsh, I forgot... I mean, I remember him as a name and a player, but I guess I didn't think too much about the fact that they were like, you know, they had that opportunity to play for both teams. I'm literally pulling up a list of players right now who have dual... Like, who would work on both sides.

Apparently Marcus Felino apparently counts. Was he not born in Buffalo? I thought... I thought Marcus Felina was born in Buffalo, maybe not. He was born in Buffalo or at the very least, you know what? At least on Wikipedia, which you could take that for what's worth. It's credible. Oh, yeah.

It's super credible. But they have him listed as having represented Canada. You're right. He was born in Buffalo. But for Team Canada, he was on Team Canada at the World Juniors in 2011 that won a silver medal. Weird because his brother Nick has played for Team USA, right? Mm-hmm. I wonder if we've ever had that.

Maybe the Falinos are like the classic, it's Felino Day. Yeah. Something in between the first, something that brings our two countries together. Because I feel like Brett Hall doesn't really bring people together, but maybe the felonos do. Yeah. And like there are more recognizable name. You've seen them across decades.

Even like the current generation of hockey fans are familiar with the, a Falino brother, whether it's Marcus or Nick. Like, and I think it's, I, I have a pretty good feeling it'll continue for generations. to come. But yeah, I'm all for Fulino Day being today. Logan Brown apparently sort of counts. Logan Brown, absolutely. We're in the States. Played in Canada.

Who else counts as well? There's another name that I thought was fairly, man, where's this name? Stefan Mottoe apparently counts. Stefan Mattoe. Now we're going to lose the Devils fans if we keep dropping. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's actually true. We could probably put together a roster of dual nationals. I don't know if we could do it, USA Canada, but like, close enough.

Close enough. So here we are in between the 4th of July, Canada Day. And this is a really busy weekend or has been a busy weekend in the hockey world. Let's jump on something, Julian, that just kind of broke as we started recording here midday on Monday. That is the Detroit Red Wings. Wow. Put Philip Zedina on waivers. Elliot Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada, the first to report this. Zadina, just for the benefit of our listeners, if you don't remember, you're not familiar with him.

A top 10 picked, sixth overall. In the 2018 drafts, you're not going back that far. Five years, Zadina was supposed to be one of those cornerstone guys as Detroit started their rebuild. He was going to be a key piece. Remember, when Zadena was taken sixth, there was a comment he made to the, I think it was to the free press in Detroit, where he basically said he was going to make everybody

who passed on him regret it by like filling the net. Remember he made a fill, I'm going to fill the net. And the two teams that passed on Zadena in particular that people thought would rue the day were the Ottawa senators who took Brady Kachuk. And certainly there's no, there's no debate now in Ottawa,

but Ottawa fans were steaming mad. wanted Zadina over Kachuk, and Montreal, who took Yersperi Katskiniemi ahead of Zadena. Now, you could argue that Katkaniemi didn't quite pan out and certainly went to, you know, went to Carolina, all that stuff. But Zadena is available. Now, the way this works is you go with the reverse order, right? It's the lottery system. So the teams with the worst record get the first crack.

So Anaheim, Columbus, Chicago, those three teams, Julian, have the first crack at Phil Zadina. So he's under contract. You looked at Sondina, right? He's under contract. Do you think Philip Sedina gets past those three teams? I would like to see him in one of those markets. I think for his sake as a player, like, he could probably benefit from going to a team that isn't going to give him a lot of pressure. He could just kind of, you know, make mistakes.

stakes if he can. Arizona fits that bill for me. Just thinking of some of the guys who have ended up there, like a Yusuf Alamaki or Connor Mackey, who, you know, they're in a market where they're not looking to go anywhere. I know they got Alex Kerfoot the other day, but this is not a team that's expected to do any damage. Seeing him go to a team like that would make a lot of sense without looking at cap-friendly in front of me directly. I reckon that they're probably, it's probably got enough cap space to fit in Phillips Edina, under 2 million AAV between this season

and next season. No, I think for Phillips Adida, I'd be very surprised if he ended up going to some contending team. I think some of those lower teams on the, on the echelon would probably, I'd be surprised if he bypassed some of those teams as far as I'm concerned. I'd be very surprised.

Yeah. So, Detroit obviously sending a strong message by putting him on waivers. Like I said, this was a guy that was supposed to be he was supposed to be a key part of the rebuild, right? Like Lucas Raymond, Moritz, Cider. He was supposed to be part of that core. Boy, that's a surprising.

Can I add something to you mentioned that quote that he brought up about he's going to make all these teams regret passing on it. He said that, right? I vaguely remember him saying that. And if it's not what he said, then we can always correct. But I just want to make this point. I think draft picks have to stop saying this now. It's not cute anymore.

It's not cool anymore. You know, like you're just putting more pressure on yourself by saying, hey, man, I'm going to make all these teams regret doing it. How many athletes in the history of the draft have made a comment like that work for themselves? You know, you know the one that comes to mind? I'm going to switch sports here, Randy Moss. Randy Moss, when the Vikings took him late and the Dallas. Cowboys passed on him. Randy Moss was like, I am going to make them pay every time we play. And the

first time Randy Moss played Dallas was on Thanksgiving and his rookie year, I think he had three catches. That was that game? I think it was three catches for like a buck 80 and three touchdowns. Three touchdowns. Three touchdowns. 180 yards. Yeah. And that was right after the draft. Oh my God. So, but yeah, I mean, it was. You're making a bold statement. But here's my bigger question on Zadena. Is it not eye-opening to you that Phil Zadena, like Detroit couldn't trade him?

Like for a pick? Yeah, but like for somebody else's prospect that's not working out? Like, no? The thing is, is that like if you hear other insiders talk, like it seems as if a lot of other pieces were being dangled around at the draft in the hopes of being traded. And it seemed like not a lot of people wanted to play ball.

whether it was because they didn't see the fit in terms of maybe dealing a prospect for a prospect or they're dealing with cap space issues. Like we're coming off a time where the draft went the way that it did. And there weren't like an insane amount of trades. We're seeing guys sign on like short, cheap deals here. Like I think people would just rather do that as opposed to trying to move around some, some furniture to make it work. And it doesn't surprise me that Phillips Sedina did not get moved.

via trade. It wouldn't surprise me if Steve Arsman tried to move him at the draft. But like, I wonder if teams were just like, you know what, I want the draft picks. We need the hall. We need to build through the draft. Or they're just like, you know what? It's not worth it to move this player out

and all these pieces. I wonder what the asking price might have been for Phillips Zadena who has yet to make a significant impact in the NHL. Yeah. And by the way, here's the exact quote. Our producer Danielle has found it. The quote that Phil Zadena gave to the Detroit Free Press right after the

draft quote, I was telling my agent, if they pass on me, I'm going to fill their nets with pucks. That's the quote. There's no point. There's no point in saying that, bro. But, okay, but here's. I think if I'm, I think if I'm an agent and my prospect says that, my, my client says that, I'm going to them and I'm smacking them across the head. What's the point? There's no point. Okay. But then I don't ever want to hear you say, boy, I wish hockey players had more personality. Oh, don't do that. Come on.

Don't do that. You're allowed to show more personality and not put a target on yourself by saying, I'm going to make all these teams regret pass it all me. You know, do you think? I'm not saying don't show personality. I would have loved it if Connor Bredard

gave pick number one overall was like, okay, man, I'm going to be the man in, in, sorry, Chicago. I'm just saying it's getting to a point where saying, you know, I'm going to make these teams regret passing on it started to hurt guys a little bit more than actually helping. The one name I was going to think of, I don't know if he directly said anything to this,

but he does remember every single player who's drafted before him, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors. Man. But he, he got on, and Green did a pretty good job of, you know. Yeah, he did. Yeah, of being a key piece of that Golden State.

Absolutely. And it was the second round pick, too. Like, I can understand why you have that chip on his shoulder. Philips Zadillo's a top ten. you got to find a way to make that work. I mean, I'd love to know what happened in Detroit. I don't know if it's just a fit thing. I don't know if something else going on beyond the scenes.

I would love to know why it just didn't work. Because this was a player who was supposed to light up the net, who was supposed to be a key contributor for the Detroit Red Wings. But you're right. I mean, you look at some of the guys picked above him. You look at the guys picked after him. Look at, you know what? We did even mention, Ian, we didn't.

Do you remember who was picked directly after Philip Sedina in that draft? So I remember obviously that, you know, in that draft, Brady Kachuk went ahead of him. Rosmastalil, went ahead of him, Svetnikov, Kotkinieme. I am blank. I am totally blanking on who he went seven. Oh, boy. Should I give you a hint or should I? Give me a hint.

Still playing, obviously. American player, still with the team they were drafted by. has at least, I think, two brothers playing in the NHL right now. I think the second one is going to start playing, but there's one other one that is definitely playing in the NHL. The Hughes brothers. This is Vancouver. Quinn, Quinn Hughes.

Quinn Hughes was the seventh overall pick. Because I know that next pick. Where did, didn't Arizona, where did Barrett Hayton go in that draft? Was he? He was in there, wasn't he? He was the guy before Philip Zadena. He's picked one spot before. Oh my gosh.

Like, wow. That just shows you what a wild roll of the dice the NHL draft could be, because obviously now if you had your choice amongst, you know, Hayton, Zedina, Hughes, you know, whatever. It's not even close. Oh, absolutely. Quinn Hughes is a borderline Norris Trophy candidate now moving forward. There's an argument if you redraft that draft,

Quinn Hughes is a top three player. Yeah, I think if you redraft, I think Rasmus Dahlin still goes one. I could understand that. I think so. And then there's a great debate amongst Kachuk, Svetchnikov, and Quinn Hughes. Absolutely. You could talk me into anything, put them in any order you want.

People, some might be more partial to Kachuk, that's fine. Hughes, that's fine, whatever. But you're right. Like, I think there's an argument that Hughes is as good as anybody outside of Rasmus Dahlene. and you passed on him. Oof. Wow. That's the news of the day, I think, as we record this on Monday.

So far. So far. Things can change. Weekend was interesting. We saw a bunch of moves. Now, there are some big names who haven't signed yet. Are you surprised on any of the, like, you know, Vlad Teresanco hasn't signed. Matt Dumba hasn't signed. These are guys that had some pretty big cap numbers.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Taves, I kind of put them in a separate bucket based on their age and health stuff. You know, I'm not sure what the deal is on those guys. But like, if you're Vlad Teresenko, are you getting a little nervous that we're now like 48 hours into free agency and you don't have a sweet, sweet offer, you know, to jump at? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And for a guy like Vlad Tarasenko, who I still think it could be a good productive winger

if he's put in the right spots, not just, I'll pull off the stats just to be. make sure I get it right, but like I don't think he's necessarily been so lights out that teams really want to jump at the bit for him. And considering guys are signing one year contracts on the cheap, Vladimir Teresenko is probably going to have to accept something maybe around the figure like what Matt Dushain got. Maybe they're still trying to hold out for something a little bit more. But considering the spending habits of some of these teams, I don't see Vladimir Teresanko signing for more than like a year, maybe three, I'd be surprised we got four million at this point. So I'm not completely surprised, but that's only after we saw guys like Tyler

Bertuzi and Max Domi signed one-year contracts in Toronto. DeBi Toreloff is also on a short-term deal as well. Like we're not see, Alex Kalorn is like the most notable guy to sign a long-term deal. Well, like that's nuts. Yeah. Well, I'll say this. Like, I think people were surprised, like, Kalloran got paid, right? He got paid.

And good for him. I'm always a big believer in guys, you have a finite window. Go out there. Go get paid. Secure the bag, all that stuff. I'm a big fan of that. It is interesting, like, but Brad Trill living in Toronto got absolutely eviscerated on day one of free agency, right? He gets Reeves and, you know, they're adding sandpaper.

And then, though, on day two, he had some skill, right? he adds Bertuzi, he adds Domi. As you go around the league, how many fan bases are actually happy with what their general manager has done in the last four or five days? That includes the draft into free agency. Like, are there, like, how many teams right now the fans are like, yes, I believe what this guy is doing is right and I'm happy.

That's a good question. If you're including the draft and all of this? Everything, yeah. Let's include everybody in this and the draft because it's been less than a week. How many teams are actually, fan bases are like, yes, I'm happy. I'm happy with what we've done.

Columbus has to be near the top of that list. Not to say that they've been super productive in terms of getting all these three agents to come. When you have Adam Fantilli follow you at three, that's enough to power you for the rest of the summer as far as I'm concerned. Nashville, I'm intrigued about whether they're closer to being happy

than sad, I guess, at this instance, because it seems like they want to compete and they seem to have made some moves getting guys like Ryan O'Reilly to join the fold and Luke Shen. They intend not being competitive. There was one team I had a really good answer. I think Toronto, I think fans have maybe turned around on that a little bit,

but maybe I think that might be a bit more split because maybe they're still kind of recovering from the post-Kyle Dupis era where it seemed as if he were trying to get guys with a little bit more of an analytical focus. And it seems as if Bradshaw-Living is trying to get guys who are a little bit on the opposite of that. I mean, Max Domi has been, I don't know his analytics specifically, but he is a good player, and I don't think his analytics have been that bad.

But I think just like him, Tyler Pertuzzi, Ryan Reeves. Ryan Reeves is obviously going to be the poster child for like, oh, they want to be big and slow and fighting and all that. Like, I don't know. Carolina, I think fans of Carolina should like what's going on there, too, getting their goalies back and then getting to meet your Orlovry signed as well. I mean, no one's really talking about it because it's really early. I think Carolina looks like, I mean, they've looked like the team to beat for the last few years.

This might be the year. This coming season, this might be the year. They make the Eastern Conference final and they make the Stanley Cup final. Yeah. Oh, man. Like, it's, yeah, it's interesting. Like, there's a lot of fan bases, though, that I think are pretty, like, hey, how come you're not doing anything? Like, I know in Buffalo, they're like, hey, maybe we need a goalie.

In Ottawa, they're like, we need some help. it's an interesting it's an interesting week because this is the one chance I think you have as a general manager to really reshape your roster, right? Yeah. You should have some cap flexibility.

You should have the ability to do some things. And yet I felt like the draft week was pretty quiet on the trade front. Nobody did anything splashy or crazy. And even like you said in free agency, we haven't seen those massive. Now part of it is, this was a pretty weak class, right?

This wasn't an unbelievable class of, like, people were going to deserve seven-year contracts kind of coming out of free agency. But, you know, I think the longest term, if I'm not mistaken, Yonis Corpusalo in Ottawa, got a five-year deal. I think that's the longest term, is it not? Like, nobody else got more than five years, did they?

Well, then I was a free agent. I thought Alex Colorn got six years. Oh, yeah, sorry. You're right. Sorry, Colorn did get six. And a huge, huge deal with Anaheim for, for, No, you're right, sir, actually. Sorry, my bad.

It was four? It was four years for, for Alex Killorn. Because this is the first year of four. Yeah, sorry. What's the cap? Wait, what's the cap hit? 6.25. Yeah, sorry, that's what, you know what?

That's where the six comes in. Yeah, that's where we got mixed up. And not in the years. Excuse me. You know what? I actually thought, as soon as you said that again, I was like, oh, yeah, Callorne signed six years four point two,

but it was four years at six point two. Yeah, it's very easy. to get those numbers mixed up. Sorry about that, people. But like, when you heard that Ottawa lockdown former Columbus and L.A. goalie, Jonas Corpicella, for five years, what was your initial reaction? I thought it was a decent move. I don't think Corpus Salas a bad goalie.

We all know the senators are trying to be that team to make the playoffs perennially, and they feel they are at a point where they can have a team that should be able to compete in the playoffs. It's just that Atlantic Division is still pretty stacked with the Leafs. The Bruins are still a good team. the lightning as far as I'm concerned are still a team to look out for. Now they'll have more rest, so we'll see what happens there. The sabers are also trying to get in. The senators need a goalie to power them through.

They're seeing Philip Gustafson do well in Minnesota. They've tried all these other options. Matt Sogard could be the goal of the future, but maybe he's not ready yet. They need a guy who could at least work as that stopgap to kind of give him some help. But yeah, I think for the Ottawa Senators, I don't mind that move at all. I mean, I don't think the cap hit is that. extravagant, if I remember correctly, but I don't hate the move necessarily for the Ottawa senators.

I think they did okay there. You know, the one name in Ottawa that everyone, I think around the league is looking at is Alex DeBrinkech. And this is, Julian, this is, I think the brinket is the most interesting player in the summer of 2023. Maybe it's, maybe it's Connor Hellebuck. But I think there's an argument to be made for, the brinket. And the reason is, uh, the clock is starting to tick here. And, and you know what's

interesting? I'm seeing some people kind of take shots at Alex DeBrinquet now in Ottawa. People saying, this guy doesn't want to be here, get rid of them. What a joke. Here's my take on the brinket. Uh, he didn't ask to be traded to Ottawa. Okay. So he got traded here. He's got a chance to be an unrestricted free agent next year. He hasn't asked for a trade out of town. He's just saying, I'm not sure I'm willing to sign up for eight years right now. So I don't understand why he's being painted as the villain. People are saying he should expand his list of teams of where he wants to go so

Ottawa can maximize their return. Well, I don't know how you come down on this, Julian, but Alex de Brinkett's priority shouldn't be, gee, I hope I can get a max return for Ottawa. His only concern should be, how can I put myself in the best possible spot to get paid next summer? That's it. That's all he has to do.

The rest of it is out of his control. And I'm a little disappointed to see people running him when all he's done is come here and been a complete pro. He had a bit of a down year. But even in a down year, he had more goals and points. than Pierre Luke Dubois. So I don't know, I think he's a pretty darn good player. And if he has to come back and play next year, fine, let him come back and play.

But I don't understand why he's being, like, villainized. Maybe it's because of the fact that he's an American player who wants to seek greener pastures outside of a Canadian market. And maybe Canadian fans are sensitive to the fact that inevitably after, you know, whatever, however long these players play, they want to go home and they don't want to, in a Canadian market, maybe outside of Toronto or even a Montreal, but like, feels like we're both in markets where, you know, Ottawa, Calgary, great cities to hang out in sometimes. And I mean, maybe more Calgary than Ottawa. Let's, let's, let's, let's, let's kind of put a spate

to spate. But like, I think a lot of those guys, they ultimately want to go home. They ultimately don't want to be in a situation where they're dealing with whatever issues come with taxes in Canada. They just want to go home. And I think it's something just, just. on a grander scale of things. Maybe it's something that fans are a little bit more sensitive. I think if you put it well with the brinket, he has seemed like a consummate pro playing out that year in Ottawa, and he should be playing for himself.

He should be looking out for himself in terms of any potential contract, in terms of where he wants to go. At the end of the day, it's a business. And if he's in a position where he can hold some power in all of this, why not exercise that power? Why just serve this team that you don't necessarily want to commit long term to when you could benefit yourself and your family. Yeah.

No, it's, like I said, that's an interesting one to watch. Connor Hellebuck will be. I talked about this on the Thursday pod last week. I said, if New Jersey ends up with Connor Hellebuck, Julian, for me, they become the favorite in the East. But both McIndoo and Granger were a little less, they were like, nah, they're still some really good teams. To me, if the devil's got Hella Buck, he's the guy, and they're the team.

But I just don't know what the market is even for Connor Hellebuck, you know? Like, like how many teams could take him in at that salary and knowing that he could walk at the end of the year, be a UFA? Like, boy, it's an interesting, it's an interesting one because I just don't know how big the market is for him. Also, why commit over 6 million to a goalie when there are other guys who can make a little less, and we've just seen a team win the Stanley Cup with Aiden Hill before he re-up for a contract that even still is going to give him a smaller Aavie at 4.9 million for at least the next two seasons. Why, if your team, I mean, as great of a goalie, Connor Hellebuck is. And he's one of the, like, you put him in that echelon with like Andre Vasselowski and he, and he great. Shurkin as like the three, three of the best goalies in the league. We can argue all day about if there's anyone else that needs to be added as well or if I'm missing

anybody. But at the same time, if you have a good enough team, like the Carolina Hurricanes, for example, where you can put out a tandem of Antirranta and Frederick Anderson and go deep into the playoffs and not necessarily have to shell out tons of millions of dollars for one goalie, why do it? I feel like this year could go a very long way in terms of, of how goaltenders are commodified and anonymized by teams just off the fact that, like, you know, you don't necessarily need the goalie to get you through. You need a goalie to get you through. And I'm very intrigued about what that means for Connor Hallibuck next season when he becomes

an unrestricted free agent entering his age 31 year. Like, that's going to be very interesting. I was really interested to see. Just before free agency opened up, Matt Dushan got bought out by, uh, Nashville. They kind of cut him loose. And I think he automatically jumped to the top of the heap in terms of, wow, guys are available.

Who's going to get more value out of a guy whose contract was suddenly terminated or bought out? Do you think Dallas is going to get more out of Matthew Shane one year, $3 million? Or how about the Florida Panthers going in on Oliver Ekman-Larsen on a one-year deal at 2.25? because I would say that both guys are going to be highly motivated. And I mean, I like both those deals.

The smart gamble deal, nobody went multi-year. He didn't go north of, you know, 2.25 for Ekman-Larsen, three for Duchenne. Like, who's going to like their signing more out of those two? I still feel the Duchenne signing might be a little bit better. I still think he's a good player, just maybe not the rate that Nashville was paying him. he could still put up, especially on a team where he doesn't have to be the focal point.

You can count on him as a really good secondary score. OEL, just over the last few years, a lot of mileage on him, at least in Florida, at the very least, they don't have to run him as their first pairing defenseman. I just feel like there might be a little bit more wear and tear on him compared to what Matt Duchenne's gone through. And I think just with Duchenne in the new market that he said, he could probably put up a little bit more production-wise compared to to OEL, but you're right, both deals are more or less low risk and not a lot of commitment attached to both of those guys. There's a lot of commitment handed out by the Islanders and Lou Lamarillo. And it was like all of a sudden on Saturday, it was like, we would like

to announce that we have signed the following guys, Pierre Engval, seven years, Scott Mayfield, seven years, Ilya Sorokin, eight years. that was a lot of term to hand out, right? Like, I'm okay with Sorokin. Like, I, like, I think he's a top, certainly a top five goalie, possibly a top two goalie, top three goal, but certainly in the conversation as a top five goalie. So eight years at an 8.25 million cap hit, I'm okay with it. Mayfield at seven years, that's interesting. 3.5. Engval for seven years.

That's a long... Anyway, I just felt like that was a lot of term to hand out, no? To those other two guys. It is, but I wonder if it's a situation where they just say, hey, you know what? We'll give you the term in exchange for keeping your A.A.V. down, because Scott Mayfield, if memory serves, seven years, $3.5 million?

$3.5 per. And then Pierre Engval is at $3 million. Like, I think that's a situation where, maybe those guys might not have made too much more for so many other teams. But if you're able to get that security, if you're able to get that long-term commitment, that's a way for teams to kind of keep that AV down, especially if the cap's going to go up in a couple years or as early as next year, those are going to look like bargain deals by the end of that contract.

Contracts, I should say. Yeah. And we were wondering, too, speaking of guys kind of, you don't often see this as well. But like Tristan Jari got to free agency. had a chance to kind of dip his toe into the water and yet ends up staying in Pittsburgh five years and 5.375. Now, Jari, and we were kind of wondering,

I wonder what Cal Dupus could put his stamp on the penguins as general manager, and he opts to keep Tristan Jari. And I don't know what to make of Jari because I think he's legitimately when he's healthy and playing well. Like, I think he's a good, regular season goalie who can play you 45, 50 games.

His playoff track record though, it's just too iffy for me to go five years. But I get it. But they committed to him in a really big way, don't you think? Like, they've defeated at five years at 5.3.75, you're not saying, okay, like, you're like our number one A or like,

a tandem. That's them saying you're our number one guy for five years, right? I mean, even then, like, the cap hit is still like, I mean, 5375. I mean, that's not six million, but like that is not just a small chunk of change. Yeah. This is a team that has committed itself to doing everything they can to win a cup with Cindy Crosby, Chris LaTang, and ifgeny Malkin. And you're right. When Tristan Jari is healthy and is able to play for them, he is a solid option for them. And maybe the penguins looked at the market and they thought, well, you know what?

It's not worth it for us to shell out money at an Aden Hill. Well, I mean, that was already done. Branta and Anderson very quickly going on the market, then going back. I wonder about the options that were there if they were willing to trade for a goalie. I forget if it was which podcast I might have been talking about it on this, but like John Gibson, was that someone

who might have been worth it for other teams to look at? The penguins obviously don't feel that way. So I think they're kind of a situation where they're like, you know what? This is as best as we can get. It's interesting. Like, you're right. The penguins are trying to say themselves, we have to try and win at the tail end of the big three's career.

And now you keep seeing and hearing the Eric Carlson stuff. And I'm like, how are they linked to Eric Carlson? I think it's because if you're going to say, were in a win now mode, that would be a guy that you would say, well, wouldn't we want to get him and couldn't we convince him to come here and play for us

in a win now window, right? Like part of me thinks that would be appealing, right? But they just don't. But they're also over the cab. They don't have the cap space today. And they're trying to move on from Jeff Petrie, who is 35. Petrie's got two more years at like six million, right?

Yeah, over six million. I mean, maybe San Jose has to take on that deal or maybe Pittsburgh has to retain salary on that, but like, I don't know like how you do it without offloading some other salaries as a result of that. No, no, you have to. And I think we've been so obsessed

with a Carlson deal in which, you know, San Jose's got to eat some salary. I don't think we've looked at it from the perspective of like what you said, which is maybe San Jose's option instead of eating Carlson and not getting anything for it, is they eat a little bit of a petri

or a Carter or a Granland or, you know, whoever you want to put in that mix. Oh, yeah. Of a guy. Maybe that's a way you do it. But if you're Carlson and you've stated that your goal

is you want to play meaningful hockey, you want to win a cup. And they came to you and said, we can send you to Pittsburgh. What would you say? Because they just missed the playoffs and their three best players are north of 35. Yeah,

but their three best players are Sidney Crosby, Chris LaTang, and of Guinea-Mau. And they're all 35 plus, right? They're all 35. Yeah. So, yeah. What would you say? I don't think it's perfect.

I don't think it's perfect. But if you're going to be, a team where you're led by old guys who are hopefully trying to lead you to a cup, you maybe, you know, take it if it's those guys and you hope that at least they play up to a high level, but that does come with some risk involved. And you have to hope that the players that they're putting alongside them can help bring up that speed, can help bring up, you know, just opportunities for them to play really well. And it's not as if they didn't do anything. And guys like Lars Eller, too, I mean, they're also a little bit older. But this Penguin's team is

obviously trying to go for that cop. I think if you're at Carlson, then opportunity comes to you, I think you strongly consider it. I mean, the fact that you play with a guy like Sidney Crosby, even at age 36 or whatever, he's still, um, up till this point, he's still been playing like a high quality player. I don't think anyone expects the drop off to be that significant, but it's entirely possible that something happens. But I think you definitely look at that. I'm intrigued if Seattle ends up doing this. Like, that's a team that's been thrown out there for Eric Carlson. And I feel like if they acquire

Carlson, that speeds up whatever they were trying to do in terms of building their team. He might not feel they're quite ready to compete for a cup compared to what Pittsburgh's at least trying to do. But that would be very interesting. Oh, man. Seattle is an interesting team because I think they played so well last season

under Dave Haxdell and they kind of won with I'll call it average goaltending from Phil Grubauer and Martin Jones that you're like maybe they don't need a goalie but that's another team that I sometimes I wonder about them and like a Connor like if you were them would you

would you be more interested in Carlson or Connor Hellebuck if you're Seattle because I know they have Gruber the problem is they have Gruberra sign for like it's like four more years They're almost locked into Gruberauer for better or for worse, but I think he's got like four more years at almost 6 million per. So maybe it's a moot point anyway.

But man, like I look at them and I think, I almost think if they just got a little better goal tending. Like they have such a deep balanced scoring group up front with McCann and Wenberg. And I love the Tovinen pickup and whatever. Like part of me thinks that they'd be a good fit. just for a really good goalie. But man, you make a good case that Carlson could be good.

He'd be good in Seattle. Like, he's still playing at a high enough level. He's not going to get the season that he got this past year that won him a Norris trophy. But if he's still at his age, he's still at his point where he's still able to contribute

well offensively for a team. Yeah. Like, you know, if you're able to afford that salary and you have to offload some pieces, I assume you think about it. I still think with Seattle, though ultimately,

you're kind of going about your build and maybe you're not ready for an Eric Carlson yet but I am intrigued about the idea that they might be interested in him. Like I'm sure though Eric Carlson gets moved this summer, right? If you're San Jose, I know people have made the argument

the time to move him was the deadline, it didn't happen. But now that he's kind of come out and said I've watched other teams, I just want to win, you're coming off a Norris trophy, 100 point. his value will never be higher. This is the time to trade him.

And even if you lose the deal a little bit and you don't get the return that you want, I don't see how you're going to get a better return a year. Like, is he going to replicate 100 points? It'd be hard. No. I think this is the time to move on. Yeah, I totally understand why this is the time to move. He's not going to replicate 100 points.

Absolutely not. But the fact that he's still playing at a high level. and establishing himself. Like the fact he's able to get Norris at this point of his career, like that's putting him on that track to potentially be a hall of favor down the line, but that's another discussion for another day. That's still a player who could be an impact player

for your team, especially if you're competing for a cup. But yeah, Seattle really in that weird spot. All that to say, if to go to the actual debate, I'm the guy that's been saying that you need a goalie, not the goalie, so that probably leads me more towards taking Eric Carlson. but obviously Connor Hullabuck would be a clear upgrade on Philip Grubauer and Martin Jones in Seattle.

There's no question about that. This is going to be a fun week because there's still some decent pieces left on the board. Like I said, the Brinkett, Hellebuck, Carlson, you know, all those names that didn't move with the draft, they're probably going to get moved in the weeks ahead. As I mentioned, Teresenko on the free agent market.

Again, I don't know what Cain and Taves with their age and their bodies, if they even come back, if they even play. But there's going to be some interesting deals, I think, that are struck in the next few days. And I just, I don't know, like, when's the time? What's the date that all of like Pierre LeBron and Dregor and Friedman and Chris Johnston and all of the big insiders? What's the day that they all check out? Is it today?

It's under my impression that Pierre is already at his cabin. So then maybe nothing else happens for like three weeks, four weeks, right? I don't know about that. I think like I would give it until like this time next week. I think that might be the last possible day before like everyone kind of shuts it down. But also depending on what certain teams have out there in terms of assets, they can make a deal at any point. Like the the Cachuk Hubert O trade happened like late July last year. So we have the flames this year.

year. They're trying to figure out what guys they could resign and what guys they might have to move. You know, if a team loses out on the Eric Carlson sweepstakes, do they follow suit on the Noah and if it sweepstakes or do the flames just let those guys play out those contracts? Like, who knows? So I have a hard time thinking that like, you know, even if even if we do kind of slow it down after maybe July 10th, that nothing is going to happen after that. at the same time, it is my understanding, at least off of Twitter, that Pierre LeBron has already retreated to his cabin. Having recorded the Chris Johnston show with Chris Johnston, I can confirm that he is very much ready to go to whatever cabin he so chooses, because he is tired. And I imagine that Darren Dregor and Elliot Friedman, actually, I should mention, last week for the very first time, I met Elliot Friedman. Nice to you. What? You've never crossed

pass with him? Never cross pass with him. Never even, not even like sent him like a DM or nothing. Like he's, last week was the first time I, in Nashville is the first time I ever met Elliot Friedman. I've known him for about probably 20 years. Like

one thing I'll say about Elliot, as big as he's becoming, this, I remember I first met him when he worked for this score. Yeah, which was a kind of a startup television network in Canada in the late 90s, early 2000s. Julian this guy's ego has not changed.

Like he's the same guy. He's the same person he was 20 years ago. And I, I've watched him explode. Like his career has just taken off with an upward trajectory that I don't think anybody could have predicted 20 years ago that he would be this big and this good. But he's the same guy. He really is.

Like I can't stress that. He's the type of guy that if you ran into Elliot Friedman at an arena or, you know, train station airport, he would give you the time as a as a hockey fan. He would. He'd be so happy that you stop him to say hi. He's that type of person. Not everybody in this industry is like that. Yeah. I'm not going to name names, but not everybody's like that. Ooh. And he's, he's a real one. He's a real one.

Ian Bendez, when you say, I'm not good name names. Ooh. Oh, I know. We don't gossip and tell all this show. That's after we stop recording. I'm like, the following people are jerks. No. So next week, next week, when I pull up to Ottawa and I'm invited to the Mendez family dinner, that's when the teas getting spilled. Yeah. Next week, you're rolling in. I'm having you for a barbecue. You tell me what works. I'm having Julian over for a barbecue. And I'm getting my blue tina cookies too. Yes, done and done. The Danish, the cookies are coming your way. Absolutely. Absolutely. You'll go by Sked very soon. There we go. Okay. I want to wrap up the pot.

throw one more signing at you because I think you're actually going to have a very good read on this for Avalanche fans. Yes. And that's Jonathan Druand. The Montreal Canadiens had him on a very big contract. He came in with a lot of expectations. He was a highly paid guy. They traded Surgachev to get him.

Didn't work out for a variety of reasons. He goes to Colorado and he signs it's basically league minimum, right? It's like $825,000. you watched him in Montreal, you know the player a little bit, Julian. Does this have the potential to be an unbelievable value signing for the avalanche?

There's a chance of that. I just want to say, I don't know how we go about rooting for players to succeed or just wanting to do well. I'll come out and say it. I hope he does well in Colorado. I think Jonathan Drewen, when you consider maybe some of the mental health stuff that he's had to deal with in Montreal, just being in that market. I don't know if you remember, but when Tampa Bay traded him to Montreal from Mikhail Surgachev, like Montreal thought of him as like this is like their guy.

Like people were trying to think, okay, he's like the center of the future. Like he was this super talented player in Tampa, third overall pick at his draft class. Like this is the guy. This was the dude that Canadian fans were going to see be super talented for years to come. And it just didn't work. It just, he never took it center, played on the wing. It showed like glimpses of brilliance at times, but not a sufficient amount for him to, you know, be worth the trade. Like, as far as I'm concerned, I mean, Lopi, I don't think people are going to fight over this.

The Canadians lost that trade. but I think for him to go to Colorado and play with his fellow Moosehead teammate in Nathan McKinnon. I think that's a really cool opportunity for honestly, when it came time for him to be a free agent, I was like, all right, Nathan McKinnon's calling him up. That's his dog.

Like, come with me to Colorado, we're going on a run for the cup, play like middle six minutes, show off your skill, just hang out, you're not in a high pressure situation. That's what brought him success in Tampa Bay. He has a younger player, but he played in those middle sixes with talented players. And if he's in a situation where he's able to do that and the pressure is completely off him, I'm not, I'm not saying he's going to score like 30, 40, 50 goals.

But there is a potential for him to be like a 15, 20 goal player if he just just focuses and just plays through that year and is insulated by some of the talent that they have in Colorado. I still think that Jonathan Dreway can be a good player. And he's still a skilled guy. And man, just looking at his years and junior, like, he could be really good player. He just needs that opportunity where he's just not in the spotlight, I find. He could still come up with some assists. I know he's gotten around 20 to 29 points over the last three years. I don't know if he's a 53 point guy anymore, but he is also 28 years old.

There is room for him to get back to being a 40, 50 point guy if he is able to, you know, just kind of just focus and kind of find that point where he can get on that trajectory. He still potentially has its best years ahead of him. I like the signing personally. It's low risk. You know what I would love to see out of this? And like you said earlier, you touched it so well.

Like, you're cheering for athletes. I'd love to see him end up next season as a Masterton Trophy nominee. That would be a successful season for me. That would be very successful. Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, with the mental health issues,

he had to deal with, in Montreal. Like I think that would be a really cool comeback story. And for him to do it with one of his boys from junior where they saw a ton of success together, that'd be really fun to see. Yeah. No, absolutely.

All right. So we're stopping this recording midday on Thursday. Reminder the, uh, midday on Monday, not Thursday. What did I just say? Did you say Thursday?

Did I? I don't know. I don't know. I've lost all the, I did. I did. You know what? Monday.

We're stopping this recording midday on Monday, and we want to let our listeners know because Tuesday is the 4th of July and a holiday of the United States, the Tuesday boys with five, I guess we have to say, because we're Canadian, five Zs at the end of it, not Zs, five Zs, not Zs.

The Tuesday boys, Gentile and Custin's, no show, so you're going to have to wait until Wednesday with Russo, Pizzo, and Granger. They'll have anything that happens between now and then, they'll be able to break down. Maybe, hey, Phil Zadina may have a new home by then, right? So you and I are getting together next week,

not only for the Monday pod, Julian, but in person, we're getting together. You're coming to Ottawa. Yes, sir. I can't wait, man. I can't wait. Gonna kick it with you. We got to get the whole Ottawa contingent of the athletic there.

So that's Sean McAdoo. Shout out to S.J. Mayor. Is it Mayor or Mar, actually? Oh my God. I should know this. That's one of my good friends. Mayor, I think. At least.

It's all my good friends at this company, man. I can't. I can't disrespect. Sarah Zee. That's one of our, one of our editors, S.J. A.k.a.

S. I can't disrespect her, man. Yeah, we all got to kick it. We all got to kick in. I'll do it. I'll do it on my schedule. I'm in Ottawa.

And we're all going to hang out. It's going to be fun. Yeah. It's going to be a lot of fun. Monday pod was a lot of fun. I want to thank our listeners for taking in this Monday edition, of the Athletic Hockey show, the Brett Hull. Oh, no, sorry, not the Brett Hull edition,

the Falino family. The Falino family edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. Follow us in your favorite podcast platform. Leave us a rating and review. We certainly appreciate that. You can follow us on YouTube as well. YouTube.com slash at the Athletic Hockey Show. Right now, a one-year subscription to the Athletic is available to you,

the podcast listener, for $2 a month when you visit theathletic.com slash hockey show. coursey