The Athletic Hockey Show - NHL Free Agency: Who made the best Day 1 deal?

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

It’s July 1 and NHL free agency is in full effect with the Toronto Maple Leafs signing two-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, the San Jose Sharks signing defenseman Jacob Trouba, the Washington Capitals adding former-Columbus Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner, and more. The guys break down all the big signings from the first day of free agency, as well as discuss extensions for Bowen Byram in Chicago with the Blackhawks, the Utah Mammoth acquiring Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers, and the latest on where Zach Werenski will play next season.This episode was recorded live at 4:00pm ET on July 1, 2026.Hosts: Max Bultman and Mark LazerusWith: Jesse GrangerExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris FlanneryWatch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowJoin our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkFSubscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Hey, everybody, Max Boltman here alongside Mark Lazarus and Jesse Granger for another episode of the athletic hockey show. A live episode of the athletic hockey show on July 1, the start of NHL Free Agency. And Jesse hasn't been the most exciting day. It hasn't had all the fireworks we maybe were hoping for with some trades, but we knew it was a light free agent class. And as we sit here at about 4 o'clock, the biggest deal so far done today is the Toronto Maple League. signing Sergey Bobrovsky, the number one free agent on Chris Johnson's trade board. It's an interesting one, right?

Babrovsky obviously has the two Stanley Cups. He's about as decorated a goaltender as you're going to find in the NHL. And so the Leaf's adding him on a three-year deal. You can see the motivation for that, right? At the same time, it's a 38-year-old goalie. It's a multi-year deal. And it's a $7 million a AV. It's not necessarily a cheap deal either.

What do you make of this one for Bobrovsky and the Leafs? Yeah, it's funny because like the overall feeling by people is that this hasn't been exciting, but like as the goalie guy, today has been awesome. I mean, we like last year, all the goalies resigned with their teams before reaching free agency. There was basically nothing left. Jake Allen was the highlight of the goalie class last year. This year, we've got Bobrovsky signing. We've got Stuart Skinner signing, which also has ramifications for Connor Hellebuck we'll get into. But there's a bit a ton of exciting things in the crease today. And obviously Bobrovsky highlights that it's, it's a really fun deal for me.

I mean, I like the, I'm always just looking for storylines and drama and Sergei Bavrovsky, the surefire first ballot hall of famer whenever he decides to retire. He's got two Vezna Trophies, two Stanley Cups. Every player that's ever done that in the history of the sport is in the Hall of Fame and he will join them. This guy, yes, he's coming off a bad season. Yes, he's going to be 38, but he's going to Toronto. And look, it could go poorly. It's so easy to see how it goes poorly. Goalys specifically changing teams this late in their.

career. It doesn't typically work out. It's very easy to see how it goes poorly. But if it goes right, like, I see some of these other moves where it's like, if it goes right, the ceiling still isn't that high. But if Sergei Babrovsky finds his mojo back and they can keep him fresh, they've got a good backup goalie and Anthony Stolars. The last time they were a tandem in Florida, they each had the best season of their entire career. Stolars was phenomenal for Florida. It's why he got the deal in Toronto. and he kept Bobrovsky fresh so that when he was in the playoffs, that was their first Stanley Cup win, 20, 23, 24. And if they can do that again, and look, the Maple Leafs,

when they get into the playoffs, there's so much, I feel like it's almost more of a mental hurdle than it is a physical hurdle. This team doesn't look the same as it did two years ago, but I think they're still good enough to get to the playoffs and compete. And if you get to the playoffs, I can't think of anything in the world that could possibly allow them to get over that mental hurdle more than having Sergey Babrovsky and, the net. It gives that franchise a reason to believe something is different. This time it's different.

We can do it this time so that when something goes wrong in the playoffs, you don't immediately say, oh, here we go again where the Toronto Maple Leafs were good. Because I feel like that's a real thing that this team feels when they're in the playoffs. And if you've got Bobrovsky back there, it at least gives everyone on the ice a reason to believe, like we've got, he is the dude. We've got the dude back there in the net. And he's going to be the reason it's going to be different this time. It's a strange thing because this is a win now signing. This is a 38-year-old goaltender who, you know, we don't know how, like everyone always says he's one of the hardest working guys around. He keeps his body in incredible shape. If anyone can play into his 40s,

it's him. But like you said, he's coming off a really, really bad year. He was atrocious this year for the Florida Panthers. We don't know what he's got left in the tank. So to sign, it feels like the Patrick Marlow signing, doesn't it? Whereas like three years? At that age, are you sure? And that went south pretty quickly. And it feels like this can too. I just don't know what the Leafs are trying to accomplish here. Do they really think, like, you kind of just alluded to it that, hey, maybe they sneak into the playoffs. He said when. He said when they're in the playoffs. I don't know anything about playoffs. Which is, which is kind of an insane thing to say, Jesse, no offense. This is, this team feels like the 11th or 12th best team in the East at best.

So what is signing a 38-year-old win-now gold tender do for you other than maybe, hey, is this, is just like a, hey, hey, Austin, we're still trying here. Don't leave us. Is that all this is? I think they're better than they were last year. I think you look at the underlying metrics. I think that that was a, they got really bad goaltending last year. Like Joseph Wall was hurt the whole year. Stolars was hurt. Hildo B had to play a bunch more than they expected.

He did admirably for a goalie of his caliber, but obviously it wasn't great. I thought they got some of the worst goaltending in the league last year. So I think that a tandem as strong as Bobrovsky and Stolars can make a big difference with a team that I think has plenty of talent. And yes, I know losing Marner is huge. They are not the same team that they were two years ago, but I think they're much better than they were last year. I don't think last year was a good representation of how good this team is.

There's also been some makeover. I mean, they bring in Darren Radish prior to the start of free agency. And now on free agency day, they bring in Jack Roslovick, Teddy Bluger, Colton, Sizzins. A lot of, you know, Rosliv could probably play high in the lineup for a decent chunk of the year. The other guys are really more to round out your bottom six. We also, I believe I'm seeing a trade, Chris Johnson retweeted. Yeah, the Leafs are requiring Nick Paul. from the lightning as we're speaking right now.

So that's another kind of like depth and another to Jesse's point, like playoff style player, right? Like if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs and you're trying to overcome the mental hurdle as well as the on-ice style hurdle, Nick Paul's a guy who's been there, done that and kind of has those elements. Is he still in the form that he was in when he was that guy for the Tampa Bay Lightning? We'll see. There was a time this morning where a lot of people seem pretty fired up about the idea

of the Toronto Maple Leafs making a push for Zach Werensky. And that's an interesting one here that is, it sounds like. You know, Darren Dregor had a report earlier this afternoon that was like, okay, they've kind of cooled it down. Maybe they're going to try and have cooler heads prevail, have Werenski play. That's an interesting one to me, Laz. Like, can you walk this back after the volume, the temperature being what it's been the last few days? Yeah, I don't know how you put the toothpaste back in the tube on that one, right? I mean, pick your cliche.

The cows are out of the barn, the genies out of the bottle. Like it got real ugly, real fast and devolved into something where it seemed like an untenable situation. And now, you know, according to Drager's report and there's no reason to doubt it, you know, they're trying to like, oh, maybe we went too far. Maybe this, maybe this isn't what we need to be doing. And, you know, the Dallas trade fell through. And we're talking about Toronto and Tampa were on his list. And neither of those teams really has the assets to make the kind of trade that Dallas could have made with Thomas Harley. So maybe, you know, it is one of those situations where even Werenski says, all right, I understand.

I can't completely screw you guys over. Let's see if we can make this work until a better situation presents itself. But there's got to be bad blood there right now. How are the fans, you know, if Zach Werensky is in that opening day lineup coming off the season of his life, a Norris trophy season, a lifetime blue jacket, how is he going to be greeted knowing he is desperate to get out of there? I don't know how that's going to play. I have yet to see a report that he's requested a trade though, right? I mean, isn't the whole, hasn't the reporting been that he just hasn't committed to an extension? If he wanted to stay, he's staying.

He's trying to orchestrate a trade and he's turning down trades to some places like he's clearly not stoked about being a career blue jacket. I just think there's a distinction there between that and like the Dylan Larkin situation in Detroit where like fans know Larkin requested a trade. I think it's a different, slightly different dynamic there. But I do share your skepticism of like our Blue Jackets fans going to be able to, you know, memory whole that and just. Especially that fan base, which has been down this road so many times before. Like they're already like, you know, 10 times bitten 11 times shy. I understand if you're a Blue Jackets fan saying to hell with this, why doesn't anybody want to play here? it's ridiculous. So I mean, I don't see how there's not going to be bad luck there.

I had hopes that there would be at least some splashy trade today involving one of the big names that we've heard floated out there, Werenski Lark and Jason Robertson. The one that may Jesse kind of be the most likely at this point could be Winnipeg and Connor Hellebuck. And that's because the Jets got Stuart Skinner today. Is there any way to read this other than the Jets preparing for a post-Hellibuck future? Yeah, I mean, it certainly feels that way just because. So start by saying, I think that there. the Skinner deal is incredible value for the Jets. I mean, they sign him two years, 3.7, 5 million. You look at the other goalies in the league that are making that much.

It's like backups, basically. It's Kevin Lankin and Charlie Lindgren, guys that are, have not played nearly as much as Stuart Skinner, let alone the playoff experience he's got. I know he gets a bad rap because he was the goalie for the McDavid teams that failed, but he is a good goal.

He is not an elite goalie, but he's a good goalie. I think it's a phenomenal value. Now, as good as that value is, you don't want to be paying Connor Hullabuck's backup nearly $4 million because if Conner Hellebuck's the starter, he's playing 60-something games. That means you're getting 20-something games. That's the kind of position you want to pay league minimum. They were doing it with, they were paying Eric Comrie very little and got away with it, Laurent Brasois before him. When you have one of the

few workhorses in the league, there aren't very many left these days that play 60-plus games, and Hullabuck's probably the strongest workhorse in the league. That's a position. you save money at. So to me, it doesn't make any sense. As good as that the value is, it doesn't make any sense to spend that much money and invest that type of capital into a position that's basically only going to play against the easiest teams, like you're going to play the most sheltered schedule possible. You can get away with a much worse goalie than Stuart Skinner playing that role. So to me, it tells me they're trading Hellebuck, or at least that's the intention. And I think that it helps them because a lot of the talk about like, okay, who's going to

trade for Hellebuck was, well, they've got to get a legit NHL goalie back in the trade, whether it's, I don't know, if you're going to trade him to Vegas, you want Aden Hill back. If you're going to trade him to Buffalo, you want Uco Peca Lukan. And they still might want that, but having Stuart Skinner there, this guy has been a starter in the NHL, he's played 50 games, it's no problem. He can absolutely handle it. I think if you're Winnipeg, you now have more leverage, more options. You're not limited to a team that's willing to send you a real goalie back.

You can just get whatever the maximum value is for Connor Hellebuck and who cares, what we get back is in net. Yeah, and Skinner's a workhorse, too. Like, he has been, he's one of the handful of goalies who can play 55 games in a year because he's done it. And he's done it in the playoffs, too, even when he's had to switch out with Picard and all that. He has a nice plan B.

He is not Connor Hellebuck, but he's a playoff tested goalie who has been to the Stanley Cup final twice. Stu Skinner has a really bad reputation that is not warranted. He's never been an elite goalie, but he is not some, like, bottom of the barrel, Dreg's goalie. He's a guy who has won in this league and has come really close to winning it all. So I do think, like, the value is there. The reputation is unwarranted, but he's not Connor Hellebuck, obviously.

All right. I want each of your top three landing spots for Connor Hellebuck right now. Like if you could, if you could, you know, match up team fit, obviously, I'm not just saying like, yeah, obviously the Florida Panthers would be great for Connor Hellebuck. But just given the totality of the situation, team side, given the situation, Hellebuck side. Like, what are the three top destinations? Jesse, you go first. So for me, Buffalo is number one.

I absolutely love the match. I think they can score with anyone. They've got talented blue line. They got away with goalies that were overperforming last year. Like they got good goaltending last year. This wasn't a team that got bad goaltending. But you look at the goalies and it's like, okay, that might have been a product to the system.

Probably they were playing on a heater. Like there's probably going to be some regression there. And then there's just the narrative. Like I was saying earlier, I love storylines. I love narratives. Connor Hellebuck is the only goalie. not named Dominicazic to win a heart trophy and three Vezanas. If he could do what even Dominic Cashik couldn't do and bring a Stanley Cup to Buffalo, that just cements him on the Mount

Rushmore of goalies. I would love to see just him trying to do that. And I think that they absolutely could win with Connor Hellebuck. That team suddenly becomes an absolute wagon in the east. Like, nobody wants a piece of Buffalo if you take this high scoring team with talented defenders and give them the best goalie in the world. Like that, to me, that is. picture perfect in terms of the match. And they have the young assets too. I mean, they have centers. They have prospects.

They can deal from picks, whatever you want. Rudy Merca, they can accommodate it. All right, Las? I mean, it's, it is Buffalo. Like, there's no way around it. Like, we all want, like, if there's one missing piece, it's an elite, elite goaltender in Buffalo that would put them over the top. Storyline-wise, it'd be amazing if you went to Edmonton.

I know they just signed Dev and Levi. I agree. But if he goes to Edmonton, there's no excuses there. We could joke about some of the contracts that Stan Bowman's handed out and Trent Frederick and the length and the no movement clauses with Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson. But if you put Connor Hellebuck behind that team, all of a sudden that's maybe the best team in the West. Like he can have that kind of impact there. And then, you know, here's Connor McDavid's last hurrah potentially. They went and got the guy.

Now do it. Let's see what you can do. Like I think storyline wise, Edmonton would just be absolutely fascinating. What would be your offer as the Edmonton Oilers to try? Because I was trying to think about the same thing. Edmonton, I think, would be the most interesting one to me as well. But who can they realistically, I mean, Matthew Savoy feels like he would have to be in it. I don't know that you want to do Vasili put Colson.

I don't really know that that's the most essential thing for the Jets to get either. I don't know what Winnipeg wants because I don't know what Winnipeg is. Like, is Winnipeg looking for futures or is Winnipeg looking to get back? You know, they're a year removed from the president's trophy and they also just missed the playoffs by a lot. So I don't know what Winnipeg thinks it is exactly. and what they would be even looking for in a hell of a buck trade. I'll throw another team in there that is, they have more to offer than Edmonton does. And it would just basic, like, I could just see every Eastern conference fans like face melt when I say this.

But the Carolina Hurricanes could use it. They have a open spot at goalie. They're not paying Brandon Bussie, hardly anything. This team just won the Stanley Cup. They only lost like, what, three or four games, the entire playoffs with a million-year-old Freddie. Anderson and Brandon Bussie and Nett, they only give up eight shots a game. Put Connor Hellebuck back there facing eight shots a game. They may never lose. That would be, and they have like tons of draft picks. They're not like the other contenders that have just completely emptied their cupboard of draft picks.

Like Carolina's got a ton of picks. They've got, they don't have a ton invest. Yeah, they don't have a ton invested in goal. Like if you, like, that's like just game over for the rest of the league. But I, and I think Connor Hellebuck, like, that's like, if he were making. a list of teams he wants to go to. Carolina is right there. I think Buffalo for the sake of the league is kind of the best outcome here because it's the most interesting, right? If he goes to Carolina, like you're like, all right, it's the Defending Cup champs. And it's really the arms race in the east is a great storyline, right? Florida loaded up, that would be Carolina loading up. We'll see what Tampa does later today, but a lot of people connecting them to John Carlson.

That would be kind of Tampa loading up. Montreal's not going anywhere. And at some point, I would have to think they're going to end up with a second line center here, adding hell of a into that mix, I think would be awesome. And add one more team to kind of the arms race. It would also be really funny if you went to Vegas just because of the league-wide meltdown. That would be a meltdown. I would be happy with that. You're telling me I get to talk to Connor Hellebuck every day.

Sign me up. You know, he has studied goaltending more than any human in the history of the world. Yeah, I do know that. And like, that kind of reminded me, like, the Skinner in, in Winnipeg thing. So I think it's a perfect match for him. He, so Skinner and Helibuck have the same agent. They work with the same coaches in the offseason. And for years, I have heard nothing but amazing things about like just the way Winnipeg views its goalies, like the patience they have. Like I think Stuart Skinner, we were talking earlier, he has a bad rap. And he's, he's, he's been jerked around. He's been pulled out of playoff series when he probably didn't. I think for him the person, he's, you hear nothing but good things about Stuart Skinner, the person. I think for him to go into a calm environment, like that is, that is the perfect place. if he's going to turn into, like, the best version of Stuart Skinner, I think Winnipeg is the spot for him. All right.

Elliot Friedman is reporting Vincent Trocheck is going to Utah. So that is obviously going to be one of the most interesting stories that we talk about today. Let's wait until we know a little bit more about the return to really dive into that one, but just put a pin in that. What would that just off the top of my head? What would that mean for Minnesota and Dylan Larkin? Like, how all in would they have to be on Trowman? They don't have. What do they have?

They have nothing to offer. market. No, I know. They need it. They need it and they want it more than anything. And there goes their backup plan. And by the way, Utah, like for Detroit fans, Detroit fans should be mourning this because Utah was the ideal partner for the Red Wings in a Dylan Larkin trade. And now they go get Vincent Trouchick. You have to think that that takes them out of the market. I'm fascinated what the New York Rangers are going to get back here because Utah's system is awesome. They have great young players to deal from. And if the Rangers just got one of those guys, that's a big, big deal for the New York. Rangers, we'll see what that comes out back to being. Maybe it's more built around picks. Maybe it's, players, we'll see. Put a pin in that. The other newsy signings of the day, Boone Jenner, four-year deal to Washington. Washington has been extremely active this week. Where do they slot now? I mean, is this the second best team in the Metro Las? I don't know. Like the East is so jumbled right now, and you have all these teams kind of, like you called it, an arms race, where a lot of, a lot of teams are adding a lot of pretty good players from a, from a conference that was already, you know, jam-packed

in the pretty good range with teams that were in that like 90 to 100-point range. I like a lot of what Washington's done. I don't know where this slots them in the metro. Yeah, probably puts them as the second best team, given the way of the rest of that. But in the Eastern Conference, still not in the top half, I wouldn't say, because the Atlantic is so loaded. But we're seeing so much movement in the East and these little kind of like, you know, secondary pieces that are getting moved around,

it's going to be fascinating to see how this plays out because there wasn't really a clear cut number one to begin with. There wasn't a Colorado or a Vegas out west. I mean, Carolina, they won the Stanley Cup, but I don't think anybody really had them as head and shoulders above your tampas,

your buffaloes, your Montreal's now. It's going to be really fun to watch the East play out. The West is, as the balance of power has been in the West for so long, it feels like we're finally shifting it back to the East where the East is going to be. I think the Atlantic's been pretty good for quite a while. I think they've got four of the last.

Pretty good. It's been pretty good. Yes. Four of the last six Stanley Cup champions, something like that. Not dynasties, but pretty good teams in the Atlantic. You're damn right. They're not dynasty. It's a legal definition there. Well, hey, how about one of the teams that has the best chance to build a dynasty, the San Jose Sharks? They've been doing some interesting stuff on their blue line today. And you can take that in either direction.

Interesting, right? I mean, they've got some big names back there and some big contracts. So they signed Jacob Truba, a four-year deal. I think it's eight and a half, eight and a half or eight point, eight-two-five. $8.25. And then they trade for Darnell Nurse at full freight, Jesse, four times 9.25. These are name players. This is a young San Jose team. This is a, in some ways, a small young San Jose team. Will Smith, they're going to bring in Evarst, Denberg, McLearno Celebrating up front. So you bring in two physical, good, big body veteran defensemen. You're also bringing in two really, really big contracts. Yeah. I mean, the fact that they paid to get Darnell Nurse blew my mind. I expected Edmunds. tend to be paying whoever took that contract on. The fact that they got a prospect back and didn't retain anything is wild. I agree with you that like stylistically Truba, I liked what Truba did for Anahe last year. And Anaheim's kind of in a similar spot to San Jose, like young, fast team that is

trying to learn how to win. I think Truba from a stylistic fit is perfect for them. The contract is wild. Now, maybe this is a case of Greer saying, well, we've got whatever, four. $40, $50 million in cap space, we're not really concerned if these are good values or not. Like, these aren't, the sharks aren't in the same spot that the Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights are where every $500,000 is precious and you can't have any overpay. Maybe they're just saying, we've got the money to overpay, the space to overpay. Let's just do it. And then in four years when all these young players need to be paid, these contracts will fall off

and it won't be that big of a deal. Maybe that is the case. But if suddenly next season, they're contending and they want to spend money and they're tied up with two of the worst contracts in the league, I think Trubas, we hasn't played a game on it. It doesn't look great. The money is not great. And Darno Nurse has been one of the worst contracts in the league. This could be a problem down the road if they get good faster than they thought and they have to give these extensions out faster than they thought. Maybe this ends some of the glazing that the hockey world has been doing with the sharks and Mike Greer because it's been a little over the top, considering, you know, they just fell back. backwards into lottery luck and to change their franchise. Made some nice moves, don't get me wrong,

but also a lot of this is just circumstance. The Truba ones, it's kind of mind-blowing to me because, look, do they need what Truba has to offer? They need to get nastier. They need to be harder to play against? Yes. Did Truba come off a pretty good year with Anheim? Yeah.

But he was playing with Jackson Lacombe. He's not going to be playing with Jackson-Lacombe in San Jose. He's slow. He gets out of position because he chases the big hits because that's what he wants to do. And he's a defensive liability. on a team that already didn't really have much of a team defense to speak of, I don't see how this trade, how this signing, excuse me, the Truba one makes the sharks

better. Darnel Nurse, yeah, the number is scary. The term is a little scary. He can still play a little bit at least. Truba is not a top pairing guy. If Truba is on your third pairing at $4 million, great. Yeah, let's go. But as a top pairing guy, which he needs to be at $8.25 million, playing with Darnell Nurse,

that's a top pairing that scares me a little bit. If the Sharps are supposed to take a leap this year into playoff contention, that's not the way to do it. I think it's a little harsh. Like, I think they're probably both best cast as like number four defensemen as kind of the physical guy next to a puck mover on a second pair. But to your point, Las, like I'm talking about them both being best cast as a number four defensiveman. They're both being paid like top pair guys.

That might be your top pair in San Jose. And that could lead to some frustration, right? You're going to bring along Sam Dickinson. You're obviously going to hope that he's going to progress and do a future, certainly top four and ideally top pair guy, but he's not going to be that right away. And so you're going to spend a lot of the next two or three years with these two guys, at least one of these two guys and quite possibly both of these two guys as your top pair for San Jose. And that's going to cause some frustration.

These are two players that I like both of them. And I think either one of them would have been a nice ad. Having both and having to rely on both possibly together, I think if you talk to the fan bases of the teams they were both on, you get a sense that there's probably some frustration in store for the sharks. But it's interesting. I mean, the sharks are clearly trying to, to, to, year up here. Like, Macklin Celebrini almost willed them into the playoffs last year.

They're clearly trying to prepare for the possibility that he gets them into the playoffs next year. And these are two guys that I think their teams have probably, you know, nurse to your point, Jesse, I'm sure. In the Stanley Cup runs, yes, there have been moments that it hasn't looked very good. I think there have also been a lot of nights at the Stanley, that the Edmonton Oilers were grateful to have darn on nurse in some of those hard environments, playoff environments. Yeah, I mean, if he made six million a year, it would be fine. but he's like the top five highest-paid defense in the league.

If he's your number four, you're pretty happy because it's specific elements. And it's like, yeah, this guy goes with our, you know, shifty power play guy on the second pair. But when this is your top pair, it's a slotting problem. Right. I don't mind the darnel nurse edition. I mind the darnel nurse edition alongside the Jacob Chuba edition. When you put them together, it doesn't make sense.

I think best case scenario for San Jose is like you said, Dickinson plays with one of those two on the top pair, and he takes a big leap. And then Kesselring maybe on the second pair with the other of Truba. And like, this is best case scenario. And that's another guy. Doesn't sound that great. I mean, Kesselring, right?

Like, that's another guy who you're kind of saying, like, this is a team that, you know. There are some big shots on that back end now, though. You got some booming, booming, booming slap shots no matter who you got back there now with Kesselrack and Truva and Nurse. So at the very least, they'll be interesting on the power play. All right, so here's what Molly Walker is reporting the return for Trocheck is. And we had just talked about earlier going to Utah. It's a little underwhelming here for the New York Rangers.

It's Sean Derzy, Cole Bodouan, former first round pick center, kind of projects it like a third-line center type. And a 2027 third. So the Rangers do not get their first round pick. They basically substitute in Boduan as the first round pick. And then it's Dersey and NHL player and a good NHL player. I like Sean Dursey. In fact, he's the exact kind of guy that I think if your second pair was Darnell Nurse and Sean Dursey, that's kind of the fit you're looking for there.

He's kind of that number, second pair puck moving type. But for the New York Rangers here to not get the true premium asset, like even Boduan, it's a nice player. It's not really a premium asset here. Yeah, you wonder if they could have done better at the trade deadline. They waited because they didn't feel the urgency. And the market was softer than I think people thought, considering we thought that there were only two centers available.

And one of them was Vincent Trocheck and the other one was going to cost a fortune in Dillon Larkinsaw. I am. I'm a little surprised. This is the budget win for sure. And by the way, if the wild don't get Dylan Larkin now, the wild, they're going to look at this return and go, oh, crap, we could have beaten that. We could have done that. Yeah.

Yep. And for Utah, it's great. I mean, this is a team that is on the rise. We were just talking about San Jose. Utah's in a similar position. They're kind of one year ahead in that. And they've got great wingers. I mean, Keller and Kraus were great last year.

Gunther and Yamamoto on that second line. They did need a little bit. Like, obviously Logan Cooley is the future, but they needed another. good center and a center who can like thrive in tight checking playoff games like that's Vincent Trochecks. So for Utah, I like to fit a lot. You got to like that as a, your three centers down the middle and you got Barrett 8 for sure. But Schmaltz, Cooley, Trocheck, that's that's almost Colorado level, you know, a step down with McKinnon, but that's pretty impressive. It's interesting. It's interesting to get this done without

parting with their top assets. It makes me wonder what else could Utah do? Can you talk get in on the bidding for Connor Hellabuck, right? Is it a fate of compliment? they're out on Larkin kind of thing. And there's trade lists involved, obviously, here. But Hellebuck to Utah, speaking of desirable destinations, that could suddenly be an awesome spot for Hellebuk to land. Yeah, it could. And Vamelka is like, we were talking, like, Winnipeg doesn't have to have the goalie

coming back, but Vamelka would be an excellent, like, Vamelka Skinner, that's an excellent tandem. And they'd probably make combined about what Hellebuck made. So if you're Winnipeg, like, obviously, you're going to get worse, trading the best goalie in the world. But that's not a bad way to come out of it. All right, we talked about some of the money that's been flying around here. And it's not just in the true free agent market, last.

Like, we're even seeing it show up on extensions. Like, what was your reaction when you saw the number for Bowen Byram's? He had all the leverage, right? I mean, with everything the Blackhawks gave up to get him, what are they going to tell him? You can ask for the moon. They basically have to say yes. But what was your reaction when you saw the final number for Bowen Byram, which was six years, $12.5 million a year?

Did he have all the leverage? I mean, he clearly wanted to come to Chicago. and if Kyle Davidson has said you're getting 10.5 or 11, would he have said no? Would he have played a hard ball? I don't know. It's a very high number. Look, it's Kyle Davidson thinks, firmly believes that Bo Byram is a true number one defenseman who just hasn't been given the opportunity yet. He's 25. He fits the timeline. He's going to make magic with Connor Bedard and the power play. He's going to see a huge uptick in points next year as the number one power play guy and playing with Bedard as the fourth winger on that line. He's going to put up some points. And if Kyle Davidson's right, then two or three years from now, this is going to be a steal, right? Because the price only goes up. I equated to this. When the Blackhawks signed Brian Campbell in 2008, that was the signing that kind of signaled like, hey, we're serious now.

You know, we got Kane and Taves and Keith, and now we're going to try to supercharge this. He got $7.something million. The cap back then was $53 million. It was like 12.5% of the cap. This, $12.5 million, when it kicks in next fall, is going to be $11. percent of the cap. We have to kind of recalibrate our minds to the numbers we're going to see because Kielma Kare's going to get $1920 million. So is Quinn Hughes. The numbers are going to go through the roof here. But still, I don't think you had to give him $12.5 million. He didn't have any leverage.

You got him. He wants to be here. I don't think he's going to say no to $11 million. It just seems like they were negotiating against themselves a little bit. Yeah, I totally agree with Mark that if he becomes what they hope, then this deal is fine because of... like you said, the growing cap, but he hasn't shown it. Like, it's, it is a big if. This is a guy who, and it's not like he hasn't, like, maybe you can say he hasn't had the opportunity, but like, Buffalo wanted him to be that guy. Like, it's not like he has been stuck behind, like, impossible defensemen that he

couldn't come up. McCar and Dahlene for the power play side at least, right? Okay. Maybe on the power play. But like at five on five, he hasn't been, like, you need more than just the power play points. Like McCar and Dahlene are dominant five on five players that just take games. over and Byram hasn't looked anything remotely close to that so far. Maybe he will. Maybe sometimes guys get

on the power play to get the puck touches and all of a sudden the five on five looks different like that. There is a route to get there, but we have yet to see it. And $12 million is a lot for maybe if he turns into this. My guy, Scott Powers, put it best the day after the trade went down that because you did, like, like, like Max said, you had to sign him right away to like to kind of like backup. She's like backing up your bet and craps, right? You made the bet. Now you got to back it up. there's no test drive here. He's getting number one money without ever having been a number one. This is a pure bet.

This is Kyle Davidson saying, God damn it, this guy's going to be a number one. I believe it. I'm putting all the money behind it. And I think that's just where they're at right now is it's a gamble. It's a high risk, high reward gamble. And the one thing you can look at is the money probably doesn't matter that much. This is not going to be an albatross contract. The way things are like, Connor Bredar is going to get his 14 or 15 million,

but nobody else is really like lining up in the next six years. years to get that big payday. Artem Leveshinoff and Anton Frandell, their next contract are probably going to be more like bridge deals the way things are headed. So it's probably not a huge deal. It's just a lot of money. It's sticker shock. I think we're going to have to get over that, though.

I agree with you. And you see it around the contracts around the league, a lot of numbers. And you're like, ooh, but within a year or two, it's quite possible. That's just going to be the norm. I mean, even Bowen Byram at 12 and a half, like if Quinn Hughes is making $16, 17 million, you know, if he's in line with Carill Caprizo, a year from now, it suddenly slots that Bowen Byram contract and looking like, okay, yeah, like that guy's worth probably $4.5 million less than Quinn Hughes. But right now it's

not the case. And I wonder like how good does he have to be in Chicago to be worth the trade plus the contract? Like it's, it sets a really high bar for him to clear. It does. And he talked about that today. He was in town looking for, he just got married like two days ago. And he was in town with his new wife and they're looking for a place to live now. So he stopped by to talk to the reporters. And he said, He's like, I understand the pressure I'm under now and the expectations on me, and I look forward to that. And it's the right attitude to have. He believes he's this guy.

He believed that he was this guy. I remember during his draft year, I remember, you know, I was, it was the Hawks to Kirby Doc that year at number three. And most Hawks fans wanted them to take Bo Byram. So it's kind of fascinating to see that now that he's in the prime of his career, he's coming here. And with those expectations, he knows it. Kyle Davidson knows it. And every single Blackhands, Blackhawks fan knows it. he's going to have to be, he's been, what, a 42 point guy or something like that is the most he's ever been.

He's got to get into the 60s or 70s here. And he's got to play defense. You know, he's got to be a two-way guy. He's got to be a true number one. He can't just be an offense-only guy. Yeah. I think it's funny. You can see the biases from the teams we cover.

Like Mark covering a team that, like, is building through the draft. And he's like, okay, they don't have anyone to pay for the next six years. Like, they're not going to have any big money. I cover the golden nights. And I'm like, I feel like you could add three, $10 million. players in the next couple months. Like, just the way we view the roster building. The way we view the roster building is just because that's what we deal with on a daily basis.

I used to do that. When I covered the hogs back in the day, every summer was like, oh, we're dumping Andrew Shaw, we're dumping Patrick Sharp, we're dumping Dave Balland. I remember those days. It's a different mindset for sure. One more goalie deal, Jesse, I wanted to get your thoughts. And we talked about Bobrovsky right off the top of the show. The reason that that domino falls, the reason that Sergey Bavrovsky leaves, the reason that Sergey

Babrovsky leaves the Florida Panthers, just as they're loading up everywhere else, is that they brought in his replacement in Jacob Markstrom in a trade from the Devils. How do you think Jacob Markstrom slots in for the Panthers? Yeah, it's super interesting because he's in a similar situation to Babrovsky. He's obviously a little younger, but he's an older goalie who's coming off a really bad year. It was a disastrous year for him in New Jersey, and it's been a couple years. He was amazing that last year in Calgary before going to the Devils. but it's been a while since we've seen Markstrom at a high level for like an extended period of time.

He's shown us flashes. He was good in the Olympics, I thought. He was good in that one playoff series for the Devils against Carolina. Even though they lost in the first round, I thought Markstrom was phenomenal. But we haven't seen him play well enough to live up to the Panthers have cup expectations. Like we haven't seen him play at that level in a very long time. He comes back to Florida 13 years after being there as a rookie. It's going to be interesting.

I have some concerns just because he is an aging goalie who relies heavily on his athleticism. He is a big man who moves in a way that most guys that size don't move. And it worries me that if he does start to slow down a little bit, like his superpower is kind of making off schedule saves where he's just kind of flopping around and making big stops. You don't usually get that out of a goalie that size. And that's what has made him special for his entire career. And it just seems like that's the style of goalie who can fall off a cliff. And if that has happened, it's going to be bad for Florida.

I mean, it's certainly a risk. Max, I want to, you know, you're hosting here, so I understand you're during the conversation. But I do want to ask you about Dylan Larkin. You're our Red Wings guy. I know that I've been that beat writer. I know you wanted the band-aid to get ripped off today. And now you're staring down a whole summer of chasing this down, which is the worst feeling

you could have as a beat writer. But what do you expect to happen here? This relationship is not salvageable, right? We're not having a Werenz, a Werenski situation here, right? So if nobody has what Steve Eisenman wants, what's going to happen here? I think it would have to me. I mean, I don't think it's that nobody has what Steve Eisenman wants. I think it's going to necessitate Dylan Larkin being willing to go to, you know,

the number of teams that it's going to entail to get a move done, right? And that's where the two things you're talking about kind of collide, right? Like on one hand, you could say, all right, well, if the list is that small, come to camp and play. And that's the, that's the tact I think the Red Wings would try to take. I do still view that as a negotiating tact, right? Like, I don't think it's really good for anyone for that to be the situation, but it's the threat that they want to give, basically to try to get Larkin to expand his list. And it's a battle of wills, right? And Steve Eiserman is, is a person that's pretty willful, right? So it's, you can see how it can go that way. So that's, I think it's

going to drag at this point is how it seems, but up until the point where the Red Wings feel like they can make a suitable deal. And maybe that, maybe that requires, maybe it does get him to the preferred destination, but it requires some creativity. It requires a third team. It requires, you know, whoever is Minnesota, Vegas, like making some puzzle pieces work to where there is a return that the Red Wings like. Maybe it requires Larkin just outright expanding the list and you get some destinations in there, right? Like, you know, that's how I, I just think it's going to have to take more creativity and some give from probably both sides. Could you see this going into training camp and waiting and seeing if there's an injury

in camp that opens up another suitor? I mean, could it drag on that long? But I don't think, again, I don't think it's about like an injury that needs to open up a suitor. I think it's about the list, right? Like it's desperation could be a matter of a factor too, an opportunity. I mean, you never. Yes, it can.

It can. Right. For sure. To continue that, I want to ask you, Max, like, so earlier last said, like, we don't know what Winnipeg is. Like, what do they even want back? I feel like Detroit's kind of in a similar situation where, like, they, they, they signed Terraceov.

They brought Gibson in. Like, this seems like a team that's trying to win now. And maybe the leash with Iserman is getting a little short. Like, do you think they want futures? Do you think they want to make this a hockey trade? I tried to ask Iserman this over the weekend, that he didn't want to talk about anything relating to Larkin. You know, he basically no comment to the questions until the end.

And then he said, I'll give you an update. And he just gave it an update. And so that was my question for him, though, was like, what does it? everything that's happening this offseason mean for the direction of the Red Wings. And I think you're you're spot on, Jesse. Like the move today to sign Arvinson and Terrace up. Like I don't think these are like make or break kind of moves. But they're also not the moves here like, okay, we're going to go back into a deep rebuild here. So I think that tells you they're not interested in the full, you know, wholesale thing here. But there are so many dominoes here yet

to come. We don't know what Patrick Kane is doing. He's still out there as a 442 PM. That's a big one for the Red Wings. Maybe not fully related, but certainly like an interesting ripple there is one his close friends, Alex De Brinket, who was the Red Wings leading scorer last year. You know, De Brinkett is from Detroit as well. And, like, I don't think it's impossible that the Red Wings are able to kind of keep and extend Alex DeBringit. He's a year out from free agency. That's another thing last to your point about, like, what you're thinking is a beat writer

on July 1. It's not just the guys there now. It's who's a year out that I need to be watching for, right? So there is a path for them to keep a lot of good players and try to remain competitive. But look at the Atlantic Division right now. Like, I don't see a path for the Red Wings to make the playoffs out of the Atlantic division right now, not with what. Florida's doing, not with what Tampa is, you know, already done kind of continuing to try to do.

Toronto is loading up. I don't know that you could say the Red Wings are better than the Maple Leafs right now. The Bruins, like, they're kind of a weird team because every year I look at their roster on paper and I go, meh, and then they kind of make the wild card. I think the Red Wings, as we sit here today, are the eighth best team in the Atlantic Division. So if they're seriously prioritizing now players, you know, Lark in return, I think that might be a big mistake. I think you almost have to take, It doesn't have to be just truly draft picks. It can be like prospects. It can be 19, 20-year-old guys who are going to be in the NHL pretty soon here.

I think you're kind of deluding yourself if you make this trade for guys who are 28 to 32 just based on where the team stands right now. You mentioned Patrick Kane. How about why? I'm surprised there's not more talk about Anaheim. You know, Joel Quenville's there. It's where he had his best. He lived with Pat Verbeek when he was a youth player. Like it feels like all the ties are there.

It's a team that's on the rise and could be contending this in the nethering. next year or two. I wonder if Kane just decides they screw it and leaves the original six for I've I've wondered about Anaheim. I've wondered about Minnesota right and and you know the Hughes factor there right like Quinn Hughes goes somewhere and people want to play with Quinn Hughes right competitive team. They just let Matt Zuccarello go which I thought was interesting like that's a Matt Zucorello I think is pretty underrated player. That was my favorite signing of the day. You got one million plus bonuses. I know for a guy who was basically a point to game player last year. He's a power play wizard.

Artemi Panarin is going to be his new best friend because all he does is going to set him up for those beautiful one-timers. That was a great signing by the Kings. Absolutely. And so when I saw that, I was like, maybe Patrick Kane fits there. Maybe he fits that hole in Minnesota. I've also thought about Toronto. As you know, Patrick Kane loves a stage. He loves a market that loves hockey. He's played for three original six teams.

Toronto could be a fourth. Be playing with Austin Matthews, be with Gavin McKenna, chance to mentor the future. What did you see from Kane last year? What's he got left? It's interesting because there was a time through the middle of the year. He was coming back from an injury that it was a struggle for him. And I was like, okay, maybe it's starting to wear down. And then in March, when most of the Red Wings went off a cliff, he was one of their best players again. And I think he kind of found his rhythm.

So there's still juice there. When you have the brain and Patrick Kane sees the ice better than possibly still any hockey player in the game. It's him. It's Leon Drysidal. Like it's Mitch Marner, like it's a short list that he's still on of the most, the best vision, the most creative players in the NHL. Yeah, the legs aren't there quite as much anymore. No, he's not going into any corners for you.

He's not a 200-foot player. He's obviously not killing any penalties for you. Was he ever going in any corners? Exactly, right, exactly, right? So he's not going to be a huge goal scorer, but he can still get you 20 goals. He can still get you 60 points. He can still be a huge difference maker for you on the power play.

Like, this is still a top six, I think, forward. Maybe it's third line on a cup contending team, but I think he can still play for a second line. His game was never predicated on speed. It was never north-south. It's always been east-west. It's always been his vision. He never gets hit.

And it's not because he's fast. It's because he has spitey sense where he senses the contact and he's able to get away from it. He always struck me as the kind of guy who could play into his 40s and still be effective. And I agree. I think there's still a bunch of 20 goals seasons left in that guy. Yeah. He can be a top six guy, like just as like the third best player on a top line. Like if you like if you just want to move your best players more down the lineup to spread the wealth, like put a guy like Kane up on the top line and you're not going to like he's going to.

scored a bunch of goals. He needs to play with a shooter, someone who, a smart shooter, right? Someone who can see that Kane is trying to open up time and space for him and get to open ice, and Kane will find him. And he needs to play with someone who's hard, fast, go to the net, retrieve some pox and make everything work. You know, he had that in Detroit, like with the Brinket, with Andrew Copper, Marco Casper. I think like that there's, and it wouldn't shock me if that's still where this ends. I'm not, I don't, I wouldn't rule that out at all. I think he's just kind of surveying his options here, obviously on July 1 and seeing what's out there. It won't shock me if he ends up back in Detroit.

But if it ends up somewhere else, like those are the kind of players that he needs to be playing with to maximize him and keep the impact, you know, where it wants to be. I thought it was interesting. You said Zuccarello was your favorite signing of the day. I think I agree with you,

but I'm curious, Jesse, do you have one that stands out as a favorite? Sergey Babrovsky. No, no, seriously, though. No, it's the Stuart Skinner signing. Like, I've been ranting and raving about it on Twitter, and everybody's been telling me how stupid I am because everybody hates Stuart Skinner.

But I just think a goal, like the number below four million is unbelievable. When you look at all these other deals that are getting handed out, how sparse it is, like how hard it is to find a starting goalie. Edmonton wishes it still had Stuart Skinner. Like, it's crazy to me that they were able to get him for that, for that price. So yeah, that would be my favorite. Anytime a player chooses Winnipeg or Columbus, I am very happy for those fan bases. So good for Winnipeg. A guy who was done a lot in this league wanted to be there.

We gave the sharks some crap for the defense move earlier. I think Mason Marchman up front is a nice signing there. The contract, you know, the sticker shock factor. We talked about it all episode. It's real. That's the going rate now, man. I think $7 million for Mason Marchment, like a hard 20-goal player, rounds out a young top six.

He's going to protect those guys. I like that ad for them. Perfect fit in terms of what they needed. Yep. A couple other extensions. I mean, Nico Heeshire extends in the devil. I don't think we're too surprised about that. the Demadov on ELC, I think that looks like just we're going to be talking about that in the same way.

Holy. You look at their cap sheet and there are no palm trees in Montreal and they pay very high taxes. Apparently it is possible if you build a team that people want to be a part of and you sign guys early to long-term deals. They have like six great players signed long-term under 10 million each. They've done a fabulous job up there. Yeah, we're going to be talking about this Demadov one, the same way that we talk about how good the Lane Hudson contract is, how good the Nick Suzuki, the Cole Caulfield contract is, right? I mean, Ken Hughes has this down. He knows what he has. He's going to have to get a second line center,

I think, especially with the way the East is loaded up. But this is another one that we're just going to be raving about for years to come. People want to be Montreal Canadians. It's fun up there, man. I think more than that, though, it's just the signing them early off the ELC. Like, it's just, you now it takes some conviction, right? Like, there's a risk there and it takes, you have to put yourself out on the line a little bit, but you can lock these players up early for, like I'm trying to think of like Nathan McKinnon's deal a long time back. Like he,

his deal was unbelievable for a while and that's, it's the same thing. Like if you can. That's because he wasn't very good yet, though. He didn't get good until his fourth year really. Yeah. Like these guys are already pretty good and they like they don't, they could have gotten a lot more money than this.

It's, I try to think about like, when does this go wrong? Like there are, there are some examples. Like Kockiniemi was, you know, maybe like not an ideal.

contract. Josh Norris, he probably paid too early for Ottawa, although they were still able to turn him into Dylan Cousins. It just seems to be the dominant strategy. I mean, Chicago did it last year with Frank Nazar. He had not shown very much. They signed him to a number. The number at first, you're like, wow, that's kind of a lot for a guy who hasn't really done a lot yet. And here we are a year later with the cap gross. And you're going like, oh, Frank Nazer's under market for what he does. Number two center for $6.5 million. That's good business. That is good business. So it just, I know it in theory it can go wrong. And I could think of maybe a couple examples. off the top of my head about contracts that maybe seem like they went long a little early,

but they're the minority. It does seem like this is the way. We have to get our brains out of the flat cap era. We're still stuck so many of us and myself very much included you. You see the number. You're like, oh my God, for that. The term, the cap is going to be like 140 million in a few years. Like these are not big numbers relative. We got to start thinking more about percentage of the cap and less about the numbers themselves. And by the way, it's a better order of things too, right? I much prefer this, where, you're paying a player and you're projecting a little bit for what they're going to be because they're 22 or they're 23 years old. But that contract is going to expire when they're 30 or 31.

And then you're going to do a new deal based on projecting what that's going to be. I far prefer that to the old way, which was you squeeze a guy until he's 28 and then you have to pay him so much money for what he's already done and what he's not going to repeat into his 30s. For his non-prime years, exactly. This is so much better of a way to do business for the NHL. I think it's better for the players. you get the money earlier and you can see the cap's going to go up, right? So, yeah, sign long term and you'll get your money now. The players should be signing three or four-year deals, not seven or eight-year deals, but the principal is there, yes. Well, the team's not going to sign a four-year deal out of ELC. That'd be crazy.

It's also better for the players because it doesn't, like, tarnish your reputation because you're not getting paid insane amounts of money as an old man. Like, this way, as the player, you're getting all your money and the fans are pumped about the, like, the fans all love the money you're making because you're You're awesome still, rather than paying them on the back end, and now you get all the money you deserved. But the return is every fan that has loved to your whole career now hates you because, and once you traded, because your contract's a disaster. And then he can go cup chasing me more easily at the end of your career because you've already made so much money.

You can pick your spots and not be worried about, I got to get that one more big deal. I got to get that one big deal. You can do it either way. You can spend your last year's ring chasing on like one or two year deals or you can sign sweetheart hometown deals and everyone's like, oh, this guy loves us. Let's build him a statue. you, exactly. So I just think it's a much better,

much better order of things in the NHL right now. Is there anything I haven't hit on that you guys want to talk about? I mean, Corey Perry, back to the Kings, do anything for you? The Kings are getting very old and slow. I have a little bit of a concern about how old and slow the Kings are getting with Zuccarello and Perry in some of these guys.

Yeah. They're also interesting. On the six-year deal, by the way, one and a half million. Six-year, one and a half is ridiculous. The Kings are interesting to me because I feel like, similar to what we talk about with Minnesota,

like they're loaded. on the wing. And they sign Perry and Zuccarello, but that's two more wingers. And you add them to like Panarin, Fiala, Kempay, Laferrier. Right now, their second line center is Eric Halle, who they also added today, but who is not, that is not who you want to be your second line center. Like, it's byfield and that's it. Like, I don't know how that team is going to look up the middle. Well, why didn't they beat the offer for Trocheque? I feel like they could have beaten the Trocheque offer. There, maybe. It wouldn't have been very difficult. It wasn't much of an offer. interesting all right well maybe we wrap there oh actually you know what jesse there is one more i want to

get you on we haven't talked we talked about the edmontonelius we did not talk about their goalie situation here there was some thoughts early in the off season when the sebastian cosa smoke was billowing in in detroit in grand rapids uh that edmonton would be a natural landing point for him it obviously was not he goes to utah they pivot to another young goalie who hasn't really been able to break through in the nchel in devon levi is levi jari like do you like this sign is Levi, or this move, is Levi Jari a viable tandem for the Oilers? It's a, it's not a move with much like, like, I'm not confident that it's going to work, but I do see a route.

Like, I think it's a risky move. It's a lot of ticket. You're taking a goalie who has not shown that he can do it in the NHL. But I like it. I don't like it as much as I would have liked COSA because COSA's got a better pedigree. We haven't seen him struggle for as long to break through as we have Levi. but I think that from a stylistic perspective, I really like the way Levi fits with that team. He is a smaller goalie, a little bit undersized, but not like he's not super tiny, but he's just a phenomenal skater.

And like when I think of Edmonton Oilers and the way that they play a fast hockey game, like you need a good skater to keep up with that. And at times, that was probably Stuart Skinner's biggest problem playing behind that team was he's more of a positional blocking goalie. And there were times when the game looked too fast for him. And I think that Levi, now you got to like, what's the percentage chance that he hits and becomes what you're hoping? It's probably less than 50%. However, if he does hit, if that lottery ticket turns up, I think he's the perfect style goalie to play behind that team. A fast skating goalie who reads the play well, he's great on his edges. Like he is the style of goalie the oilers should be looking for. It's why I couldn't believe they traded for Jari. Like not only was he old and getting paid a bunch of money, but he also was not. was not the style that they that they should have been going for like i think that levi there are things

to like about this while i while i wouldn't put money on it working i think there is a chance it works out and it's a pretty low risk chance like you're not paying him a bunch of money they paid a fourth round pick to get him it's not like they invested a ton into this i could hear the pain and jesse's voice at the beginning of that twisting himself in a knot trying to think of something positive to say about the eminent and oilers goalers goalie god bless you jesse i like to hammered the oilers goalies he's hammered Yeah, I liked it. Yeah, we have Calvin Pickard again. I think he's, I think Devin Levi is better than Calvin Pickard right now.

So there's that. I think he's better than Tristan Jari. I think, like, if you were to tell me who's going to be their number one goalie by the end of the season, I think it's more likely Devin Levi's the guy. Like I want to see him get an opportunity. Buffalo didn't have much of a choice. He was going to be waiver exempt. He wasn't going to clear waivers.

There's no chance that a goalie in a league like this where people are just looking for, like I said, lotto tickets. He is a lotto ticket. And he has the talent to be very good. if he does hit. So somewhere in Connor McDavid is listening to this show right now, it's screaming into a pillow after you just said that. It's not ideal.

Like if you're the Oilers and you're trying to solve, like that's what I put. It's like this is no surefire solution to the problem. Like this is again, another hope play by the Oilers that they can fix this by being cheap. They didn't invest a lot in it. They're being cheap. They're hoping that they hit the lot of ticket.

Well, they weren't cheap in signing Ryan Shea to five years and $4 million a year. It's like they get the darn old nurse contract off their books, and they're like, here. I was in Edmonton for the Babcock Breast Conference. I was talking to an Eminton reporter who I won't name. And I'm like, I was talking about the Connor Murphy, Jason Diggins. I'm like five-year deals with no movement clauses. I wouldn't give up five-year deals to some injury.

I like those guys, but they're injury prone and they're in their 30s. And the reporter who shall not be named goes, you think Stan Bowman's going to be here in year three of that deal? Edmonton. Well, I mean, Ryan Shay had actually a pretty nice year in Pittsburgh last year, like 30. point season. I just, you know, again, it's the sticker shock. You know, it's what, it's whatever, but do you, I'm sure there's a five-year bet on that? Like, it's just a lot. So, but that's the story July 1. It's not just this year. You can go back to every July 1 ever and people are saying, like, you got how much for how many years? And that's, that's how it goes. It's just the caps higher,

the numbers are higher. The term, ironically, not higher. This is pretty par for the course in terms of a term. But it's nonetheless, tale is all this time. That is going to do it for us. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Athletic Hockey Show. Remember to stay tuned with us here on the YouTube channel, subscribe to us, and stay reading on The Athletic. We'll talk to you soon.