The Athletic Hockey Show - What's the holdup on the Colton Parayko trade? (with Chris Johnston)

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

On NHL trade deadline eve, Hailey and Sean welcome NHL insider Chris Johnston to discuss what the hold up is on the pending trade involving Colton Parayko and the Buffalo Sabres. They talk about the latest speculation involving players like Robert Thomas, Nazem Kadri, Vinny Trocheck, Scott Laughton, Bobby McMann, Conor Garland, Dougie Hamilton, Jordan Binnington and Sergey Bobrovsky with the deadline quickly approaching.Hosts: Hailey Salvian and Sean GentilleWith: Chris JohnstonExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff DometWatch 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. What's up, everyone? It's Haley Salvean and Sean Jintilly here with you for another Thursday edition of the Athletic Hockey Show. The trade deadline is just one day away. NHL insider Chris Johnston will join us shortly to discuss what we can expect before the bell rings Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern. First, let's bring in Sean Jintilly. We've already seen a couple moves so far at the deadline.

We haven't talked to each other in a while. It's our first pod back since the Milan Olympics. I guess I was on the show while I was in Milan. It's all kind of a blur. I don't remember much about those. I was going to say it. And it's not because I was, you know, partying around Italy. I just wasn't sleeping.

How about you tell me if you were on the show when you're in Milan? Were you? Were you? I can't recall. I think maybe twice. I think during our last record, you were somewhere in the airspace over, I don't know if you were in Switzerland or where, like, we're. wherever you were.

I lost, I lost track you. Oh, no, it was in the arena after the women's gold medal game. And I had to have a camera off. I don't know if you were specifically. You could have been anywhere, you know. I was standing in front of like a really generic wall. And Jeff was like, no, you have to have your camera off.

I was like, no one's going to know this is Santa Julia. I think you might have been outside the arena. Wink, wink, nudge, yes. I don't remember. It doesn't matter. That's where that took place. Anyways. So I apologize to everyone.

My voice sounds terrible. because I'm still in the post-Olympic, went to bed at 4 a.m. every day. You're working a million hours mode, but it's the trade deadline, so I'm here. It's fine. I can't call in sick today. Thanks.

All the listeners are probably like, I wish you would have. All right, we've already seen a couple of moves so far. We can talk a little bit about these before bringing in CJ as we look ahead to Friday's trade deadline. Mackenzie Weiger to Utah with four years left on his deal. That's the big one that stands out to me and we can start there. He agreed to waive as no trade clause for the deal to be completed.

Calgary is set to receive defenseman Olimata and three 2026 second round picks. These are Utah's, one of them is Utah's own selection, one from the Sends, one from the Rangers, and also a prospect. Do you have a thought on this deal for McKenzie Weger and Utah? I like it for The Mammoth. Get him out of there. I think I like it for both sides. Honestly, Weiger hasn't been great this year. There is a little bit of an asterisk there.

Good as a player is McKenzie Weger's been over the last several years going back, certainly to when he was with Florida. There's a lot of miles on his tires, and there was some concern. I actually talked to some people about that for an off-season project where people are like, I don't like, is he? He's only 32, but, you know, those are, he's locked some pretty hard miles over the year. So there was concern over the potential that he was going to hit some kind of wall relatively soon. And his performance in Calgary hasn't quite been up to snuff with what we've come to expect from him, right?

So there has been some degree of drop off. I can you attribute that to just simply playing for the flames? Like, I think that's also very possible, right? and I think you put him in a different environment on a better team. I do like what he can bring to Utah, not just this season, but for the next little bit. So yeah, I do like that trade for The Mammoth. I think that's a win for Craig Connery, too. I like the approach of getting multiple second round picks and having that be the basis for that deal.

I think in some ways I would rather have three second rounders than one potentially late-ish first rounder. Like, I think that's a good win for Craig Conroy. I think it makes sense to generally stockpile picks in the second because we've seen that from teams who've successfully exited rebuilds over the last couple years, including the Utah Mammah. Those are good assets to have, whether you use them on players, whether you use them like the Pittsburgh Penguins have over the last year or so. You flip one for Yeager Shinnakov, which is paying off for Pittsburgh on and on.

I think we've seen second round picks, you know, be pretty useful. particularly over the last couple years. So I think it was good on the flames and good on Craig Conroy to add a few of those. Yeah, and I think the Uighur is a right shot D. Those don't come cheap this time of year. He's got, what, another four seasons

on his contract. He's an upgrade on Olimata. That much is true, regardless of age-related decline and they didn't have to give up the top prospect or a first-rounder to make this deal happen. And only one of those second rounders

was one that they own themselves. So I like it for both sides. I agree with you, Sean. And especially we'll hear from CJ later in the show. We know that the free agent market's not great this summer. So if you want to go out and get a right shot D that's got some term, this is your time to do it. And I think the mammoth got ahead of it.

And I think this deal looks even better when we compare it to, like we're saying they didn't have to give up the first rounder. Sure, it's three seconds. but I'd rather be the Utah Mimit than the Edmonton Oilers right now. Yes. And what they've given up in their trades. So they trade for Connor Murphy. That's the first deal that comes through from the Chicago Blackhawks for a second round draft pick.

But then there's the Jason Dickinson deal. Sean, you're not a fan of this one. Let me pull up the exact details here because they're not great. Do you have a thought first, Sean? Well, I have eight tabs open. It's a trade deadline, folks. I do. It's brutal asset management by Stan Bowman.

I think what we see here is he has to send a first round pick back to Chicago basically to cover up for a mistake that he made with the Andrew Mangi Apani deal. Like you sign Manjiapani to a contract that was questionable at the time. It's not 22 anymore or whenever Mangiopani was at his best with Calgary. He's pretty far removed from that. I think anybody watched him in Washington last year could attest to that. So he signs them to a deal that seemed like it was going to be a problem at a time, at the time.

It's a team that doesn't have money to play with from a cap standpoint. We've seen that, you know, dating back to, you know, the blues offer sheet saga, right? Like, they don't have, they don't have pennies to pinch here. So every dollar counts. And the fact that they have to meaningfully improve this team. And the only way to go about getting that done is, by attaching a first round pick along with Andrew Mangy, a Ponny's contract,

along with 50% retained, you know, from the Blackhawks, which also costs Edmonton on the back end to bring back Jason Dickinson is brutal. And I think ultimately you're looking at this, the oilers are a train wreck right now. And the big ads, and CJ spoke to this.

They shouldn't just automatically assume that Edmonton's done. They do have a little bit of space to play with. But their big ads right now are looking like Connor Murphy and Jason Dickinson to a team that's come up short, I think, in a lot of different ways. Particularly... Groundhog Day. What's that? Groundhog Day. It's Groundhog Day.

You have poor secondary scoring. You have another bad bottom six. It's a bad defensive team. Goaltending is an issue. This is the same problems for Edmonton with different faces. And I don't think that anything about these last couple deals, even though Dickinson and Murphy are both useful. useful in their own way. I don't think that changes anything here.

Yeah. So the details was, sorry, Jason Dickinson and Colton Dock for Mangiopani in a first round pick in 2027, and then there was some salary retention. And Jason Dickinson's been like a good defensive player for the Blackhawks. He could slot in as a great 3C, but like

if I'm an Oilers fan, I don't know why I'm excited about that again, because it's just Groundhog Day. You've got Connor McDavid and Leon Drysell, you need more saves, you need more secondary scoring. And it's like, how is it 26 and we're having the same conversation. It's a joke, but let's... The parallels between Edmonton and the 2010 to 2014 penguins are crazy. I, and I saw this discussion happening, happening yesterday. You know, it's superstars surrounded by inconsistent goaltending, let's say.

I think that's kind of goofy, because the penguins had already won a Stanley Cup. Completely. Like, I'm sorry, that's not the same. Yeah, that's where that's... And then they won another two. And that's where I was going with it. Okay, sorry. I was like, that calm is dumb. The difference for as brutal as the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the playoffs from 2010 to 2014 and as brutal as that lineup was where it's AHL defensemen and, you know, replaceable fourth liners surrounding two superstars, the difference was that they already won a cup

and that they came out of it in won two more. So we know that, we know that Edmonton hasn't accomplished what Pittsburgh did on the front end of that. and it's, you know, certainly debatable whether they're going to be able to accomplish it on the back end. So, yeah, it is. It's just, it's frustrating. It's frustrating for someone who just watches the league and pays attention to things.

I can't imagine how frustrating it is for A, Oilers fans, and B, Conor McDavid, Leon Drysidal, and this is just the latest bit of proof there. Yeah, it's rough. Okay, we've teased that CJ's coming on. We also haven't mentioned the blues, according to sources to our level. staff, Jeremy Rutherford, Matthew Fairborough, and Chris Johnston, they all worked together

on this story yesterday. According to sources, the Blues have agreed to trade Defender Colton Pareco to the Sabres pending Perako's approval. That story came out 12 hours ago. Thursday, Wednesday afternoon is what it came out. What's the hold up here? Is this deal going to materialize? It's a good thing we have Chris Johnson coming on the show to help us understand what's going on here. That's coming up next on the Athletic Hockey Show. All right, joining us now is NHL Insider for the Athletic and TSN. He's

going to have a busy day tomorrow. He's also the host of the Chris Johnson show. It's Chris Johnson. What's up, CJ? Thanks for doing this. I know it's going to be a busy couple days for you here. Yeah, it's been fun, though. I don't know why. Maybe having not as much lead up because of the Olympics

might have kind of compartmentalized this for me. Usually I'm totally burnt out by now, but I'm feeling fresh and ready to go. All right. We got to start here, though. What's the hold up on Colton Pareco? As we're recording this right now, we can peel back the curtain a little bit just in case

something changes in the next two hours. But we haven't seen a deal materialize yet. What's the holdup? Could this happen in the next couple hours before the bell rings on Friday? The holdup in this case is pretty simple. It's said he's got no trade clause and has the ability to stop a trade like this. And I think it's something that he needed time to process and think through, work through with the people he trusts in his life. You know, I was told early Thursday to expect that this will go through.

So at this point, I'm operating on the assumption that that's going to happen. You know, the blues played in Seattle on Wednesday, so they're on the West Coast. It might take a couple hours depending on what time everyone's getting out of bed and getting that paperwork filed. But I don't think there's any issues when it comes to the exact deal being discussed. don't have all the pieces of that in place or know exactly what the trade looks like beyond, you know, the reports of it being Merca, the defenseman that Buffalo drafted in the first round last year plus a first round pick is part of this package. But, you know, it kind of, it gets messy around trade deadline is the best way I could put it, right? I mean,

there's obviously a huge push for people like myself to report on these kind of stories. I think sometimes trades are completed and more sloppy of a manner, I'll call it just because there's a bit of a rush and there's different competing forces around these things. And so obviously this one went public maybe a little sooner before all the eyes and T's had been crossed and dotted. But I do think it's going to come through here on Thursday. Yeah. So that's just the way that cookie crumpled on this one. Like there's nothing to read into but as far as the lag between the reported details and the in the completion time. Like it's just sort of the way the way things fell out. Is that where we're at on it?

Yeah, that's my impression. You know, I don't think this is a case. It could be interpreted from afar. You think maybe a team's exerting pressure on the player. You know, I don't read into it that way. I mean, my understanding here, obviously, is that Perrako, you know, wanted some time to think through things. He didn't just jump out of bed and, you know, it's pre-game nap and, you know, sign off on the no move clause, no trade clause and, you know, allow the trade to go through on Wednesday. But, you know, it doesn't seem as though there's any ill will.

I mean, look, and Colton Pereko has been a St. Louis blue for a long, long time. I think he and the other veteran players on that team understand where they're at. A number of their names have dotted our trade board for months now, frankly. And really, if you go back to last season, a lot of blues, including Pareko, we're on the trade board then. So, you know, this has been a long time coming. And, you know, I think that ultimately, you know, he's going to get to where he needs to get to, at least based on the information I have to sign off on that deal. But a little unusual to have it drag on, I guess, other than the fact that.

we saw something not the exact same circumstances, but with Tyler Myers, it took a few days for his deal ultimately to go through and end up being a different trade than initial one that Canucks brought to him. So a lot of players with no movement, no trade clauses out there, and it has an impact on the timing of everything. Might as well ask about Robert Thomas now. Obviously, Praco's teammate with the Blues. We'd seen him connected pretty directly to the Sabres on Wednesday is when that really hit the fan. You got fans in Buffalo chanting Robert Thomas. where to think stand with him and how likely is it that not obviously not not necessarily the sabres but how likely is it that something gets done with him somewhere before the deadline well the sabres

those reports were true i mean the sabres were heavily involved in robert thomas while also trying to get a right shot defenseman out of st louis that ultimately led us to the point where they they narrowed in on that that preco package and that deal happened and you know i think where where things are with Thomas, frankly, is that it's not dead yet. You know, the Utah mammoth have been connected in for a long time now. You know, we saw them make a pretty big trade to get McKenzie Weger out of Calgary on Wednesday. And even after doing so, you know, I believe the mammoth are well positioned to still take a run at Thomas. You know, they gave up a lot for Weeger. They gave up three second round picks that they had in the 2026 draft, but they didn't touch any of their

first rounders. They didn't touch any of their top prospects. And obviously, if a Thomas deal is going to happen, and you're looking at probably three significant assets at least to get them from St. Louis. I think Utah should be viewed as the most likely team if something happens. And if it's going to happen, I think it has to happen on Thursday. Because much like Colton Pereco, as we've learned here, Robert Thomas has a no trade clause. And it might take him some time to work through to see what to waive it now, the pros and cons of that kind of decision. You know, he's obviously got a number of years left on his deal.

So it's not just about, hey, is it a city I don't mind spending some time and the team has a chance to win this year? I mean, it's a lifestyle decision beyond just the hockey aspect of it. So, you know, I think basically we're either going to get Thomas News or not on Thursday. If not, you know, this conversation will probably be picked up in the offseason. But, you know, the sense I have with the Blues is that they really do want to turn things over. And, you know, moving off a player like Pareko kind of tells us that, you know, he was a key part of their Stanley Cup win in 2019. He'd sign a long-term extension there, you know, a big part of their culture. You know, Thomas, I know he's younger and people are saying, why do you want to move him?

I really do believe they're trying to clear the decks. You know, they're going to have a change in the front office with Dargonstrung after this deadline, effectively moving up to the president's role exclusively in having Alex Dean become their GM, heading into next year. We sort of saw something similar like this when David Poil was going out in Nashville a couple years ago. He made some big trades to try to set the table for his success. and Barry Trots. And so, you know, I do think that St. Louis will be a key player yet still before this deadline, even after the Pareco trade goes through, you know, whether or not it's Thomas

probably depends on where the offer gets to. I mean, this is just, it's not a player they have to trade ultimately. And it's, it's not someone they can afford, you know, most teams are on a league feel they don't have a true first line center beyond the obvious ones, beyond maybe those are the top of the standings. And so to give one up in mid-career who signed to a pretty good contract. I think they have to make sure they're getting back the right return. And, you know, I still think that there's a deal to be cooked there between the mammoth and the blues, but they have to actually get down to business and get it done today. Yeah, you mentioned this in relation to the mammoth. They keep their powder dry, right? They don't move a first round

pick for Weeger. They don't move any of their top five prospects. They keep the cupboard stocked enough if they want to do something with Thomas. Now, you look at what the Sabres did potentially. in the Pareko deal, you could say that they moved in a similar fashion, right? Like, they still have assets there. Is it crazy to say that there's still a potential player in the Thomas discussions, or does it seem like they took themselves out of it with the Pareco deal? To be candid, I don't know. You know, I don't know where they stand.

I certainly see the Sabres as a team that's going to still be aggressive. You know, I think it's clear Yarmoukek Lek-Line and recognizes the moment that, you know, is at hand in-bombox. You just see the enthusiasm that the fan base has had lit under it. I mean, no fans have really taken it worse than they have over 15 years. I mean, they've lost basically almost a generation and a half, have not seen playoff hockey there. So it's important, I think, for them to get in and they're in a pretty good spot right now, but also to have a chance to make some noise.

And they don't want to be making just short-term moves. I mean, they're trading for a guy like Pareko, if they're chasing a guy like Thomas, or even if they make other moves, I think they're going to be looking at players with some term on their deals. They want to not just rent a few players for assets and potentially lose them for nothing this summer. They're looking at a bigger picture in Buffalo because they're hoping this is the opening of a window where they're going to have a number of years in the playoff windows. So, you know, I think that wouldn't surprise me if they're back in, but I don't have any information specific to that. You know, it might be tough for them to do.

Just given the fact that, you know, they took a run at it. and they weren't able to hammer something out with St. Louis and then pivoted to this deal, you know, it just might be a sign that they're not able to align, I think specifically on not the future facing pieces, but more, you know, sorry, getting not the future facing pieces, but more perhaps the ones that, you know, are playing for the team now is, is part of what held up my understanding that Thomas deal that the savers and the blues were discussing. So, you know, this is kind of how the league's supposed to work. I mean, this is an interesting trade deadline. You have the Buffaloes buying.

You have Utah out there, the former Arizona coyotes. I mean, these organizations that have been at the bottom that have stockpiled assets are now on them in the region. I'd say, look out for the Detroit Red Wings at this deadline. They've been quiet to this point. But they're another team, I think, you know, that could step forward and make some interesting trades. And so, you know, it's bad if your, I guess if your team has been in the playoffs every year and they're not going to make it. But the league's pretty interesting right now in my eyes. Let's get to the Toronto Maple Leafs here too.

We can follow up on the Red Wings because that's super interesting, CJ. But the leaf scratch, defenseman, Oliver Ekman, Larson and Forward Scott Lotton and Bobby McMahon, yesterday night against the New Jersey Devils, like shortly after Craig Broubay said, like, nope, nothing going on there. We're not going to be holding anyone out for trade-related reasons. And I go back to my days covering Broadtree Living and the Calgary Flames. And he would always say, I take my cues at the trade deadline from, my team. And we'll probably hear Tree say that tomorrow when you guys interview them on TSN or whenever the

athletic people get a clip from from Tree. So what cue are the Leafs giving Broad Tree Living right now? Like what does this move scratching these players tell us about what the Leafs could be doing on Friday? Well, the Leafs have won two games in regulation out of their last 18. So I think that the queue for a month now, because that extends way back before the Olympics has been at the Leafs are sour. Saturday night against the sense seemed like a pretty pretty good cue 22 to two shots or whatever it was was a nice cue yeah even in new jersey i think it was 47 20 something shot i mean look the leaps have been on the wrong end of some beatings this season and they were meant to be a contender like this was not the plan i think it's important to revisit that because it's been apparent for some time now that it's not going to

go where they want it to go but it's going even worse than i think anyone could have guessed and so what are you trying to accomplish in this deadline the leaps are hoping to get to get some future assets, some younger players, some prospects, some picks, you know, sell off guys that maybe aren't part of the long-term future. And as of our recording right now, I can tell you, they're not getting a ton of offers, that, you know, it's not to say by any means, it's not predictive because we still have 30 hours, give or take, until the trade deadline for things to heat up and maybe the leaves to be more involved than they are to this stage. But, you know, the scratching of the players in New Jersey was really just a preventative measure. It was, you know,

they were getting some calls on those guys and they've had those players on the market for some time now, is my understanding. And they just wanted to be careful. I mean, the last thing you want, of course, is to be working an Oliver Ekman-Larsen deal and then see them go down with an injury in a game. So, you know, often when players are scratched like that, it's because a deal is imminent. That's not the case here for the Leafs, even as a Thursday morning. I've been told they don't really have anything, you know, too hot, at least as they start today here. So there's a lot of work to be done. I think McMahon and Lotton are the two players of most interest probably

because they're both pending UFAs. The Leafs haven't closed the door on signing McMahon in particular, but I don't think they're going to let either of those players just play it out and walk away as free agents. So either there's a contract extension in place by Friday through Eastern or they'll be traded for something. The Ekman-Larsen deal is a little more nuanced because he's under contract for two more years. he's having a great season.

He actually doesn't want to be traded as his partner and wife is due to get birth here in the near future. He likes Toronto. He chose to sign there as a free agent. So he'd like to stay. But I think the Leafs see some of the prices for defensemen. And so they're gauging the market on him. And so as we sit here now, I can't tell you if they're going to trade one player, three players, six players. They have a lot of players available in the market, but they're not getting a lot of bites on the fishing line just yet.

Okay. I've got to ask about Detroit. What makes them so interesting, CJ? They're Buffalo Light. I mean, they haven't suffered quite as long, but it's been a long time since they've been in the playoffs. And, you know, they've, I think they've performed to a point where the front office, you know,

feels comfortable that, that they're, this is the year, I think, to push a few more assets in. I mean, you might recall last season, Dylan Larkin, you know, voice some displeasure after the deadline that, that they didn't do more to try to augment the team. I don't think we'll be in that position. this time around with the Red Wings.

And we already know that they were the team trying to get Tyler Myers. He ultimately goes to Dallas instead. But the need in their eyes for someone who can play on the right side of their blue line is still there. They've been involved on talks on players like Vincent Trocheck and some of the other centers on the market. I think even Robert Thomas they were inquiring. I just don't think they could get to the kind of ask that St. Louis is going to need to make that work. But I would think when the dust clears on Friday that we'll be talking about them bringing in some help but forward in addition to a defenseman that can play on that right side.

And, you know, they have the right number because of where they've drafted of prospects and draft picks. And I just think hunger, it's all aligning for them to be aggressive. So, you know, Steve Eisenman is a little bit like Julian Breezebois, is, you know, former protege in Tampa. He likes to operate in a little bit of silence. He likes to maybe, you know, the element of surprise is it in his pocket more than some other GMs just in terms of, you know, specific info, in terms of where they're going to go. But I'd be stunned if he was quiet at this deadline because the opportunity to make the playoffs is sitting there

and I don't think he can leave any doubt about giving his team the best chance to get in and make some noise. I mean, Eastern Conference, I think, could be wide open. Beyond Tampa and Carolina, there's not a lot of heavyweights or teams that have had playoff success in recent years that are going to make it. So our colleague, Pierre LeBrun, was all over this yesterday, but why are we talking about Florida trading Sergey Bobrovsky? It is as simple as him being 37 years old and on an expiring deal and, you know,

just the particulars of that situation because I think that's an interesting wrinkle that's been thrown in over the last 24 or 48 hours. Yeah, I'd add the element of contract discussions between Bobrowski and the Panthers not really going anywhere productive. You know, that the Panthers, all things being equal, would like to keep him, I mean, pretty self-evident. Their goalie that's taken them to three straight cup finals and won them the last two championships, you know, going to going right from wherever his career ends to the

Hall of Fame. And I think that the Panthers would like it to be from South Florida to the Hall of Fame. But, you know, at this stage, there's nothing that appears even close in terms of an extension. There's no expectation that's going to change before the deadline. And so, you know, Florida is a well-operated team. I think that they're looking to see, does anything make sense in terms of moving him since we're not signing him? And they've, you know, decided they're a seller at this deadline and they're not going to try to make an unlikely push for the playoffs with the injuries they've had and just where they sit in the standing. So, you know, I don't know if anyone steps up and makes that deal. I think it's intriguing for a few teams. You know,

I look at a team like Montreal as an example. You know, they've been, I think that they're a little hesitant to bring in a goalie in general just because they feel they have their future and Jacob Fowler and the minors right now. You know, they're not looking necessarily to acquire goaltenders with a lot of term. I don't think they're getting it on Bobrovsky, but they at least have to have the conversation. You know, my sense is they're not going to go down that road, but, you know, it's a different proposition to be renting a goalie.

We just, we don't see it too often, right? Usually the teams that are in the rental market for any player, you know, have the goaltending position, you know, locked down. I can go way, way back. Once upon a time, kids bring out your history books. The Edmonton Oilers made a deal for Duane Rollsson. at a trade deadline and ultimately went to a Stanley Cup final back in 2006. But, I mean, I'm bringing up an example from 20 years ago because this is not a common thing that happens.

It's not an every year type of thing. So, you know, you look at the struggles in the Vegas crease. I don't know. Is there someone else that makes that pitch? At this stage, I don't have any concrete info on a team making a hard push for Bobrovsky, but, you know, it's only really been in the last day or so that he's truly been on the market. And we're just sort of seeing how things sort themselves out there. I was kind of laughing reading through Pierre's story that came out yesterday.

He's like, I know about Boebrovsky's like, I know everyone's going to scream Oilers. They need more saves still, but can they really swap number one goalies twice in one season? And then he slid in that Edmonton is probably on Bobrovsky's no list anyways. So just a funny little drop in there from our friend Pierre. Do you think the Oilers are done, CJ? Like maybe it's not a goaltending thing, but could the Oilers be doing a little? little bit more. They've preserved a bit of cap space. So, you know, maybe there's another forward they can bring in. I think that they look at their team this year as it was in prior years.

And look, they've lost some depth in the forward group, right? They moved on from Evander Kane and, you know, Connor Brown and just some players that, you know, aren't headline makers at the stages of their careers, but guys who scored some big goals for them and were parts of those runs to the back-to-back cup finals. So, you know, I think that they will hang around the market to see if anything comes to them if it's cheap. But, you know, that being said, they've spent a lot of assets in the last couple of days. I mean, they gave up a first round pick in part to get off the money of Andrew Majupani, in part to get Jason Dickinson in at half retained. But either way, they still traded a first round pick for Jason Dickinson. They made the deal for Connor Murphy.

You know, Edmonton is clearly operating, and I don't think we can play in them. I mean, this season is not how they envisioned, but you still have prime con. to McDavid, you still have Leon Drysidal putting up five points and five four wins that are just shootouts, I mean, that which happened earlier this week. You know, you've got these world beaters. You're just trying to give them any correct complement of players that can help them try to get over the hump. And when you look at how weak the Pacific Division has been, I mean, it's it's a tick above the American Hockey League right now, but only barely. Just barely. You know, there's a path there, though.

I mean, the three best teams in the West, all play out of the Central. and only one of Colorado, Minnesota, or Dallas is going to get to the conference final, just with the way this playoff format works. And so that tells you one other team below them in the standings is going to get to the conference final and play one of those teams. And, you know, Edmonton's vying to be that team. Obviously, Utah and Anaheim are dreaming of that too. And, you know, maybe L.A. can get in there.

But look at Vegas, you can't discount, even though they've had a real tough goal of it this season. And there's still opportunity there for Edmonton. And so I think they will look to make another move to help that forward group if they can. But they're getting low on cap space and assets. So it's probably not going to be a headline ground. If you want a 2029 first round pick, just call Stan. He's probably got one of those. 2031.

Just keep kicking again down the road. It'll be fine. Between Edmonton and Minnesota, there's not a lot of draft capital left. Bill Garron likes to burn through those picks for our buddy, Mike Russo. All right. We know it's a busy time for you, C.J. So one last question for you, we can let you go. Who is, like if we're scrolling through C.J's big board,

and everyone should check that out. It was updated this morning on Thursday. If there's one player on this big board that we didn't talk about here that you think is very interesting, someone to watch, who would it be? Well, I'm going to go off the big board, actually, and mention a player who's not yet on. He'll be on the next version of it, but that's Simon Nemich. And, you know, New Jersey,

New Jersey is kind of an interesting team for me at this deadline for the opposite reasons of all the other teams I mentioned. It's been an abject disaster, you know, where that group is at. They had high expectations. They're way out of the playoff race. You know, it sounds as though they've made a bunch of their defense been available. So that's some of the veteran guys, the Dillans and Siegenthallers. But, you know, the fact that they're looking at potentially moving on from Simon Nemich, if he can bring them back, you know, I think an impact forward, you know, it does sound like there's some traction there and there's some interest. So, you know, if we've already seen trades that don't normally happen at the deadline,

you know, usually, let's face it, it's old guys on expiring contracts for futures. That's almost what the deadline is. I mean, we've seen McKenzie Weger with all this contract traded already, right? It's not just the old expiring guys. And so, you know, I think we're moving into an era where more teams have cap space, so you're seeing more hockey type of trades, we'll call them, around this time of year. Also, there's no one available in for agency. I mean, anyone, I'm telling you right now, don't even work.

about your July 1st. You can do whatever you want because there's not going to be anything. There's not going to be anything that exciting there if you're hoping your team buys players, just because most of the headline guys are off the market. So I think trades are where we have to look to. And someone like Simon Demich, you know, recent high draft pick, the right shot defenseman, young, upside. You know, I can see him move by Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time. And if that happens, it's going to be a pretty big deal that probably hasn't been discussed too much yet. All right. So you're saying Pierre's going to go to his cottage a couple days early this year. I mean, let's not kid ourselves.

Pierre is at that cottage on June 26 and 27 and 28. He occasionally drives downtown to do a TV hit, but like he does most of that period with a glass of wine from the dock anyway. The doc, the doc photo is taken. We know it's taken days before and only sent out on July 1. Like he can't put this one past us. Well, and I'm lucky enough. I've been a guest on that dock literally over 15 years.

Oh, good for you. you guys. Yeah. I shouldn't be kicking them too hard because I want an invite back this summer. Yeah. No kidding. This was probably it for me. I will say I put my hat in the ring for the cottage in Milan.

We went to like this Canada bar for one drink. And Pierre couldn't walk one foot, one step without someone being like, oh my God, is that Pierre LeBron? And I just stood in front of him and said, no, it just looks like him. Nope, just looks like Pierre LeBron. Bodyguard? Yeah, and I was like, this isn't Pierre LeBron. Leave him alone. And he's wearing like a TSN jacket. I'm like, no, no, just to look like, leave him alone. Put in a bodyguard shift. Maybe you can get a get some dock time. That's the, I think I did a good job. Yeah. Yeah. Smart. Yeah. All right. Thanks so much, CJ. The bell rings at 3 p.m. Eastern for the trade deadline on Friday. You can catch CJ on TSN's Trade Center. Should be a good day. Thanks so much for doing this.

Yeah. Don't miss our opening. skit. That's all I can say. I'm ready for you. Okay. My acting duties will be judged in public here pretty soon. Great. Can't wait. Thanks so much, CJ. All right. Thank you so much to CJ for doing that. That was so nice to just be like, CJ, tell me about this and have him sit and talk about things for five minutes at a time. Mute my mic and sit back. Can you enlighten me for 25 minutes? Please. Thank you. Please don't thank you. I do have to say the LeBron bodyguard thing I thought was like the funniest thing that happened to me.

I didn't have much free time in Italy. I was like, this was it. If that was the most interesting thing to happen to you in four weeks, you were over there or whatever it was. Outside of work, I didn't have much other like free time. So just telling people to go away, this isn't Pierre LeBron was. Pierre, Pierre doing the Queen Elizabeth wave through the streets in Milan at his, at his adoring, at his adoring public, hello, hello. It was truly crazy. It was wild.

I've never seen anything like it. Yeah. And he was so nice. Like he was like, hey, yeah, hey, how's it going? Nice to me. I was like, no, it's not. He just looks like Pierre LeBron. Passing out little pieces of paper with the address at the cottage, which as we've established, of course, is 1-1-22 boogie-woogie Avenue, somewhere.

in northern Ontario. I better get an invite for all of my hard work. You're a big shot TV person. That's who it's, that's who it's reserved for now. No. I don't have a full-time contract. If you don't, if you don't spend X amount of minutes on Canadian national television, guess what?

You're not going. Ain't going. Yeah. Rival networks. It's never going to happen. All right. So this came in while we were talking to CJ. This is from Darren Dregor's TSN colleague.

The Vegas Golden Knights in Washington Capitals are an ongoing discussions on a deal sending Nick Dowd to Vegas. It's not done yet, but expected to be completed this morning. So we obviously don't know the return. We don't know the details, but anything you like about the idea of that, assuming by the time we hang up this call, it will be official. And this will be old news. But, Sean, what do you think about Nick Dowd? Yeah, I think Nick Dowd is still a useful player. I think he's still a pretty good defensive bottom sixer. And I think he makes sense for Vegas because he gives them flexibility to movement Marner back to wing if they want. I know he's been

Marner's been playing a good bit of center over the last little bit, which is all well and good. But I think if you add Dowd, you can potentially have, um, you can have Eichl, hurdle, Dowd and then Colton Seasons down the, down the middle if you want or, you know, keep, keep Mitch on the, on the wing and, uh, just have Dowd be your fourth line center. I think that's, that's, that makes a ton of sense too. Um, I am frankly, I think that's the route I would take if, if our Vegas at this point because Martin's made more sense

at center, frankly, over the last little bit than wing. It seems like he's a little bit more of a fit there. So I do like having, you know, doubt in the mix,

really on any playoff team because he's a good defensive fourth liner. And I think he makes a fair amount of sense for Vegas specifically. So yeah, it's fine. We'll see what the price is.

I can't imagine as much, but I think he makes them better. Were there any big takeaways from that chat with CJ? The segment's literally just debriefing everything CJ said. the one thing that there was a ton there. The Leaf's not really getting any calls on the guys that they've decided to put on the block.

That was like, oh, that's... I mean, who should be, like, no one should be surprised by that. This is something that... As a girl with anxiety, I was like, oh, I feel sad. It's something that happens to bad teams, and it's something that happens to the discourse in the dialogue around bad teams. This is across sports. We're not just talking about.

talking about the NHL, we're talking about baseball, whatever. Everybody overvalues their own guys, especially when it comes time to move folks out at the deadline. And I think like the barometer of who's good and who's not gets wacky when you're talking about a team that doesn't have that many good players on it. So yeah, like Bobby McMahon is one of the Leafs seven best forwards. That doesn't mean that he's of true value to other contenders, to the degree that they think, right? Like, everyone loves Scott Lawton. He seems like a great dude. His leadership is, you know, the first thing you hear people say about him and he's been a good player in the past for, particularly for the Philadelphia Flyers. That doesn't mean that he's, he's the kind of guy that's

going to net a meaningful return. So I think there's some degree of, you know, just because leaves fans in Toronto media is in, in, in the thick of it where you assume that, you know, okay, we're going to be able to trade these guys for something meaningful. That's not necessarily true. Yeah. You know, you can't trade all the players that put you, that put you in a bad spot, you know, for nice returns because that's just, they have that kind of stink on them and it's, and it's deserved.

All that said, though, they haven't ruled out signing him to a new contract either in terms of Bobby McMahon. So, fine. Yeah, that's fine. Just extend, extend all that. the guys that that put you in in this spot. I mean, it's not Bobby McMahon's fault that the Leafs stink, Sean.

Like, that's a bit, that's a bit much. It's not Bobby McMahon's fault that they wanted him to be something. He's not. I always, that's where I always go. You can go get,

Bobby McMahon didn't put the Leafs 21st in the NHL standings. You got to go get, you got to go get two more Bobby McMahon's at Bobby McMahon's previous salary. When you're talking about whatever, whatever deal he would net, you know, in free agency and then that just screws with your cat more potentially. Like he's a useful player,

but like part of the reason Bobby McMahon is good and part of the reason Bobby McMahon is worth having on a half decent team is because he's cheap and he's about to not be cheap. So, and there are no other Bobby McMahon's coming through the system for them. Not Bobby McMahon's fault. I saw this tweet from our pal Greg Wischinski and I know we chatted a bit about this.

We didn't go there with, I wouldn't call him a friend, colleague. We talked about this before recording. We didn't go there with CJ. But like CJ did kind of mention it. Like the pressure that is on insiders this time of year. So this was Greg Sweet. I can't recall the last time we had three trade, deadline trades leak, Myers, Brego, and Weiger

without any of the main players having agreed to waive their trade protection. Like there's been three trades now that they're like, there is a trade to announce, but also we don't have the details and also the player hasn't agreed to the trade yet. So stay tuned. It's getting, it's wild this year. And we're probably going to see that again today with Robert Thomas. I know by the time this publishes, we're going to have Colton Parakego, like,

like, he'll accept it. Because that's just our luck. I hope he doesn't. I hope he says, like, you know what? No. I'm sad on it. I like St. Louis. My family likes St.

Lewis, like, try again. I hope it happens because it'll be, it'll be deserved. Do we think it's GMs leaking early to put pressure on the player? Like, the player's going to look like an ass if they don't say yes, even though that's why trade protection exists. Like, it's just a loophole to be like, oh, well, blues fans are going to hate you now because they heard that we could have gotten a first round pick and a great prospect if you would have decided to leave. And since you didn't now, Colton Perico, we hate your guts. So you better. to accept the deal because now you're going to be public enemy number one. If I had a guess, I would say in some cases, it's a leverage play.

And then in some cases, it's just learned behavior because we always see NHL players wave these clauses. You know, like, how often does it happen? It's like rare is the case when a player wields it in a way that stops a GM from doing what they want to do. Yeah, we kind of saw with, we saw it with Marner. We saw it with Marner, I guess, to some degree. We saw with Panarin.

But those guys are still the exception to. the rule. Like typically when guys have no moves or no trades, you know, that doesn't stop something from getting done. And I hope it happens in this case. Like I hope Colen Prico's playing for the Blues on Tuesday or whatever. I think I think it'll be completely deserved. It would be funny. All right. As we wrap up here, I feel like I was just rambling for eight minutes just to make sure nothing else came in under the wire. We got to get the CJ stuff out to the people. We'll just say Pierre LeBron, our friend and a colleague who we love, he has a beautiful cottage. He's such a great guy. He did kind of reiterate

CJ's point on Robert Thomas. So just something to keep an eye on as Thursday continues. Trade deadline is not until tomorrow, but today feels mighty important on the Robert Thomas trade watch. This is from Pierre. As a reminder, as per his full no trade clause, any deal needs his blessing, as we've seen with other players with those clauses this week, a player needs time to digest the decision at hand. It's not to say it couldn't go tomorrow, but I would imagine leaving some wiggle room time-wise for that decision would be part of things here.

So expect a Robert Thomas has been traded to TK team here, but he hasn't approved it yet. Let's wait and see. So just that's what we can keep an eye out on this Thursday. That's Pierre being a pro. He took my point. That was the way I was going to come out here. Because guess who has a no trade clause? Robert Thomas.

So we get to go through all this again. It's fun. an under-discussed part of Robert Thomas Wednesday was his no trade class. That's what we're watching. Yeah. Will he be on the move? Will he wave? We'll find out on Friday by 3 p.m.

Thanks everyone for listening to this episode. Thank you, Sean, and to Chris Johnson for doing this. I realized after the fact that he was recording on his cell phone so we couldn't even see text coming through. So I actually felt very bad. Once he pulled his phone off the thing, I was like, CJ, don't you have a laptop? No, he's just, he's got true, true insider. He's just got four separate phones. We're the reason CJ didn't break the Nick Dowd trade.

It's fine, Dregers is teammate, but oh my God, I feel, I felt kind of bad. The athletic hockey show is going all out for the trade deadline. Look for Breaking News Live Pods on Friday throughout the day and a trade deadline rap show at 4 o'clock Eastern, hosted by me. and a cast of athletic people who we aren't aware of yet. But they'll all be great. Eight games in the NHL Thursday night. We'll see if anyone gets pulled off the ice.

Enjoy the games. Enjoy the games. Enjoy Robert Thomas Watch. We'll be back tomorrow.