The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - The Hockey Show: Crosby, Hughes, Kaprizov OH MY!

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

Minnesota Wild superstar Kiril Kaprizov reportedly turned down the largest contract offer in NHL history, and the guys are here to break down the ramifications. Plus, in wins and fails of the week, Marc-Andre Fleury returns, Sam Bennett is having the year of a lifetime, and Roy hates the Hershey Bears' new jerseys. Then, Greg Wyshinski of ESPN joins the show to discuss the possibility of a Sidney Crosby trade, Jack and Quinn Hughes vocalizing their desire to play together, the potential return of the NHL to Atlanta, and changes in the new collective bargaining agreement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Defender. With a towing capacity of 3,500 kilograms and a waiting depth of 900 millimeters, the Defender 110 pushes what's possible. Learn more at landrover.ca. One and sip, and two, and sip, and three, and sip. Oh, hey, I'm just sipping Tim's all-new protein ice latte. Starting at 17 grams per medium latte, Tim's new protein. Lattees, protein without all the work, at participating restaurants in Canada.

Coral Caprisoff reportedly rejected the richest NHL contract in that sports history. But the Minnesota Wilde says that report is bullshit. We talk about that with Greg Raczynski and more. This is Aki Show. All right, we got David Druk over here. The hockey news. Ethan is in the studio on the ones and twos, not the sticks. Please don't ever say that again.

And Rosie's somewhere in America. Somewhere in the backyard brawl in Bryce Virginia, I believe. She's covering football with Lucy. This is the hockey show. My name is Roy Bellamy. Let's get into the news of this week. The NHL has announced that Dylan Dubei, Kyle Foot, Alex Foreminton, Corderhart, and Michael McLeod

will be officially eligible. to sign with any angel team starting October 15th, and we'll be able to play in the National Hockey League starting December 1st, the 5 were acquitted of sexual assault stemming from their time on team Canada's under 20 junior team in 2018. Now, the league took into account that they haven't played in 20 months, and with that, I expect to see the Edmonton Oilers probably try to sign Carter Hart because they need a goaltender.

But, I mean, this is probably an insult to. women who are trying to get into the game, trying to grow as fans in the sport, I don't think they're probably taken too kindly to this news, David. No, it's kind of like a no-win situation at this point because you're going to be upsetting somebody, whether you're upsetting people that want to see the game moving forward, whether you're upsetting people, are they going to say, hey, these guys, you know, they went through the legal process. They were found, you know, not liable or whatever the term is up there, and they should be able to go on with their lives. Like, they're valid arguments to be made

on both sides, and you're just not going to make everyone happy. And, you know, as we've seen in the league right now. You got Stan Bowman, you got Joel Quinville. Everybody's coming back, so just kind of follow suit. Yeah, it's just not a good look for this league, and this league's had plenty of situations where they haven't looked good in the decisions that they made, so kind

of quickly getting these guys back into the league is kind of off-putting. I would imagine that they're looking to get into February, March, where this can all get swept under the rug, and we can move on to Olympics and Stanley Cup playoffs and not talk about the blemishes on the league. Yeah, and that's kind of deal. Make people forget, I guess. Oh, yeah.

A suspension to me is an admission that there was wrongdoing here. Yeah. And if there was wrongdoing here, the suspension shouldn't only be until December 1st, considering the circumstances and the allegations within this case. So that's really all I have to say about this case. We know what's going to happen from here. Carter Hart's probably going to be the next goaltender of the Edmonton Oilers. And I mean, I just think the whole thing is a mess and really upsetting.

All right. Let's go on to the other news of the week, according to Frank Zarelli, Carrillo Capriets off, his representation. It's turned down the richest contract in NHO history would have been eight years, $128 million, an AAB of $16 million. That would have been the richest contract in HHSH. That's how you build a winning team.

Yeah, yeah. You build about a quarter to cap around one guy. Yeah, that's how that usually works. So you know what that tells me? Apparently, he's better than Connor McDavid. I was going to say, sorry, David, this is a fascinating situation to me because McDavid hasn't even signed his deal yet. And if you're Caprizov, you're probably saying, I want to see what McDavid signs for

and then maybe ask for a little bit less than that, right? Because maybe McDavid gets 19 or 20 and then you can ask for 17 or 18. But what happens if McDavid takes 16 and a half because he wants a team-friendly deal? And if you're Caprizov, you have to go back now and say, oh, about that 16, hey, how about that? that's what I think I deserve. And then the Wilder are going to be saying, should you only be making $500,000 less than Connor McDavid in an average annual value?

I don't know about that. Or, or follow me down this rabbit hole. He wants to be traded. He's driving up the price on the Wild because he doesn't want to be there anymore and they're forcing their hand to have him traded to another team. What do you think about that, Dave? I mean, he's going to be UFA next season. So there would have to be some kind of back channel talking you would think

because a team's not going to pay whatever price you'd have to pay. to get a Carrillo Caprisov, even at a UFA year, without knowing that there's some future involved. That'd be one hell of a rental for the playoff run this year. I don't know, man. It's pretty crazy to think that, like, Minnesota is a good hockey town. Yeah. They got some good players there, you know? Matt Boldie, Marco Rossi.

They got some good young talent there. Yeah. I don't know, man. Where's he going to go? Yeah, so a couple of things to add on here. First of all, Elliot Freeman on 32 Thoughts Report. His kind of suspicion was that if, Caprizov is saying no to this deal. There's somebody out there that's telling his camp.

We will offer him $17 million, $18 million, $19 million on the open market. Because, again, once he hits the open market, he's only going to be able to be offered seven years by any team. So they would be able to give him an higher average annual value. Now, Joe Smith and Michael Rousseau of the Athletic did say in their article about this, about this, you know, the deal being turned down, that he's told, Caprizov has told them he loves the area but he's also said that winning is the most important thing to him. Now if winning this is the most important thing, turning down

$16 million is a tough way to sell that to any franchise because that's going to be a huge chunk of a salary cap that you're going to be taking up if you're going to want more than $16 million average annual value. Well, going to a local Minnesota blog 10,000 takes. Get it?

You get that pun? That's a good pun there. While General Manager Bill Gilgeron is vehemently denying the report, claiming that is bullshit. I know two things. That info didn't come from us, and it didn't come from Carrillo's agent. I don't know where it came from. So basically, uh, well, he's calling it bullshit. Well, he, but listen to what he said.

He's not exactly denying, he said that info didn't come from us and it didn't come from them. He's not saying the info is inaccurate. I know we didn't leak it. I know they didn't leak. You know what I feel like you've got to kind of read between the lines a little bit there. Yeah. And in this article from Smith and Rousseau in The Athletic, they talk to Bill Guerin, and he's basically admitting this happened and we kind of have to reassess the situation.

And they still want to sign Caprizov, obviously. Their owner, Craig Leopold, has said nobody can pay him more money than we can. Nobody's going to offer him more money than we can. Where do they go from here? I doubt they expected him to turn down 8 by 16. So will that continue? Will they be the team that offers him the most money? That's a shitty feeling, isn't it?

Yeah, that's not good. To offer somebody that kind of money. And it gets turned down. Like, we are doing such an awesome thing. He's going to love, like, you know, to get Claire the best birthday present ever. You're so excited to give it to her. She rips off the paper, and she's like, no. She likes the paper more than a gift.

This is arguably, this is also arguably the second best player in franchise history behind Miko Koev. You can't lose this guy if you're the wild. And so I think you have to be a little bit embarrassed if you're the wild of kind of a bold statement. We just got, I mean, he could be, no. I can't deny that at all. Let's say he could go down as the second. He could even go down as the best player in franchise history. So it's fascinating, and it's going to be fascinating to follow for the rest of the offseason and regular season.

We'll talk about this more with ESPN.com. NHL writer, Greg Rishinsky, in a moment. But let's get to our wins and fails of the week presented by Yeager Meister. Serve it a code or don't serve it at all. Yagermeister, damn, that's code for more. Visit yagelmeister.com. drink responsibly. David, what is your win? Well, I actually have two wins

this week. You got two of them. We got a late-arriving win right before we came on the show. But my first win of the week win is Calgary Flames, you win. You know why? Does he just locked up an excellent, excellent young goaltender, Dustin Wolf to a very team-friendly deal, I think. Seven years, 7.5

million for a starting quality high-end goaltender. I think Dustin Wolf was a big reason why Calgary was even in the playoff race for as much of last season as they were. He's definitely a battle, or he's so athletic. He's had a great attitude. I'm very excited to see what the future holds for for Mr. Wolf and Calgary there. And my second win, which we just found out, like right before we came on to record the show today, one of my favorite goleys of all time, Mark Andre

Flurry. The flower. The flower. The second flower. Yeah. Coming out of retirement, he's coming back to Pittsburgh on a PTO. He's in a play in their preseason game. I think it's the 28th, the 27th. The 29th. The 29th at, okay. I think it's. the home game on the 27th against Columbus, Ethan, that they're doing it in... It's one of them. Because they're doing it in Pittsburgh. Yeah, of course. It's going to be probably the most watched...

Pre-season game of all time. It's standing room only for a pre-season game, but I mean, could you... Is that so cool, though? Like, I'm tempted to go. I'm not going to go, but the thought crossed my mind. So it's really cool. I mean, he's not coming out of retirement or anything. He's just going to do this, but how awesome.

Even a one-day contract for... Yeah, go out as a pen. He never should have left Pittsburgh. Like, what were you thinking, sending him to Vegas? And then he did all that amazing stuff there. So, but very cool. Double wins, gold tender. Yay.

My winner of the week is the fact that South Florida now has a major league pickleball team. Oh, God. The Paul Meach Royals have launched. And they have some big names who have joined the ownership. Sipping the Kool-Aid, Roy. The former North Carolina Tar Hill basketball players, Tala Hansborough, and Marvin Williams. Okay. Coach's cornerback, Kenny Moore.

I hated Marvin Williams when he was on the hall. Tyler Hansborough, to me, is the worst. That guy, his fights with U.D. This is a hell of a group. Tennis player Bianca Andrescu, and the reason why I'm bringing this up is because Florida Panthers, Captain Alexander Barkoff, is also an owner. He's a team owner, folks, in his second favorite sport, technically, pickleball, which is an offshoot of tennis. So good for him. Congratulations, Barker.

You are now a team owner, Ethan. Just to add something, our buddy Dave Damshack from Football America, message me just before the show and was like, the pens were bringing back Mark Andre Fleury. Oh, it's only for a preseason game. Dang. So I guess the nostalgia tour is really revving up in Pittsburgh this year, especially if Sidney Crosby is going to have to go for Dave

Dave's a man. All right, my win of the week. Sam Bennett, what a year for Sam Bennett. Bennie? Married Cup, Kahn Smyth, new contract, Benny's buddies. What a year for Sam Bennett. And he brought the cup with him to the Humane Society in Broward County where he has

Benny's buddy set up of course his adoption program for every time he scores a goal and he got to, some of the pups got to hang out with the Stanley Cup and I just love looking at puppies in the Stanley Cup. It's a beautiful thing. My background on my computer. Can I show his background? Yeah, it's so twerky. His background is Benny with a cat and a Stanley Cup.

He's not even a cat. It's a baby cat. He had the kitten in there. And scoop from our friend Jess Blaylock. She said both of the cats that were in the cup for Benny's picture, they've already been adopted. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, Benny's the best.

They didn't have to score a goal for that one. What a year for Sam Bennett. David, what's your fail in a week? My fail of the week, we're going back north of the border. The Connor McDavid obsession is real, and it goes all the way up to the top of the political food chain in Canada. We are in a crisis. The global trading system has been upended. Supply chains have been destroyed.

McDavid is unsigned. There are you. This is not a transition. This is a rupture. So that's Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressing the nation, apparently, on the importance of global trading, supply trains,

Connor McDavid's extension at Edmonton. And we know, Roy and I have been privyed to just how big of an oilers fan Mark Carney is. It runs very deep. So, yeah, this is like red level in Canada. This is Code Red. McDavid. If Connor McDavid leaves Edmonton and signs with an American team, it's going to be a mess.

That's going to be the Civil War that we did. Every time I want to take care of Canada seriously, they do something like this where the prime minister's up there talking about hockey. No, that's a Barack Obama-level joke there where he just mixes sports in with his humor. So good. Good for him. Good for him. My fellow week, the Hershey Bears. Now, I realize that the Hershey Bears are the affiliate of the Washington Capitals.

They've been the affiliate of the American Hockey League affiliate for Washington for the past 20 years. And they're celebrating. For four games this season, they are hosting Capitals Night, and the Failed is to Jersey. Jersey is terrible. Oh, my God. This is a 90s-2000s-era-inspired jersey, uniform. You know, the teal, black, gold, and white jerseys? Yes.

The Screaming Eagle. The Olaf Colzigs. Yeah, the Kozig era. Yeah, this one is beige brown, black, and they call it the screaming bear. It's as bad as you think. I like it. It reminds me of a movie that you know recently called Cocaine Bear. That looks like that bear.

Cocaine Bear. Oh, like the Bruins Cocaine Bear. Yeah, yeah. He did those big bloodshot eyes. No, like the Screaming Eagle works because Eagles fly. Eagles come swooping in. Well, this one is a growling bear with one paw, swiping on the front of jersey with a kind of modified chevron on the bottom that says bears on it on the stripe

unique good colors cool logo i like it yeah nothing to this like you know i don't like roy your fail my fail the week yes that's called a transition one of my uh great one of the things i love most on television is nerds on jeopardy that don't know sports oh jeez and we had another great instance of this roll the tape uh canadian girlfriends for 600 Leon Drysidal stars for this northernmost NHL team, but went to warmer Spain to propose to Celeste Desjardin. Ian, who are the Winnipeg Jets? You know what?

Not a bad swing, though. Edmonton is further north, Ian. Back to you, Stacey. That's not a bad swing, because I feel like... It's not even the same province, yeah. You hear more about Edmonton generally than you do about Winnipeg? Like, I feel like Winnipeg just feels like it's a more remote place. This is not only not knowing sports.

This is not knowing geography and not knowing that Edmonton is more north. Credit to the dude who made the northern most. Yeah, but at least he named a team. You think the other one, they're pulling out, the L.A. Kings, like, they don't know. Well, at least Ken Jennings said dry saddle correct. Right. I was thinking the same thing.

Yeah. Alex Trebek was like the master of pronunciation, though. Well, it's Canadian. DSBN.com senior NHL writer, Greg Rissensky's coming up next. This episode is supported by FX's The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke. Allow us to introduce you to Lee Raybon, a quirky journalist slash rare bookstore owner slash unofficial truth seeker who's always on the tale of his latest conspiracy. This time, his most recent expose puts him head to head with a powerful family that rules Tulsa,

meaning only one thing. He must be on to something big. FX's The Lowdown, premieres September 23rd on FX. Stream on Hulu. Oh, folks, football season is here. It's your season, your shot. The NFL is rolling, and every touchdown brings you closer to a payout with Draft King Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL.

From first TD scores to anytime props or even the rush of live in-game betting, every snap is a chance to win. New customers, this is for you. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app. Use code Dan. That's code Dan to get $200 in bonus bets instantly when you place just a $5 bet. Plus, over $200 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. In partnership with Draft Kings, the crown is yours.

Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. In New York, call 8778-8-8-Hopen Y or text Hope and Y 467-369-369. In Connecticut, help is available for Problem Gambling. Call 888-789-777-7 or visit ccpg.org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino and Resorting, Kansas, fees may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction.

Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expires 7 days after issuance. See Sportsbook.draftkings.com slash promos. NFL Sunday ticket offer for new subscribers only in auto renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use excluded. Restrictions apply. Additional NFL Sunday ticket terms at YouTube.com slash go slash NFL Sunday ticket slash terms. Limited time offer.

With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Greg Wachinsky is a good person who deserves better than being on this show, but he's here anyway. And we appreciate you joining us there, Greg. Keep saying yes, so we keep having them on. I don't know why. A month ago, you wrote about the Hockey Diversity Alliance is their fifth anniversary in June of 2020.

They started as a group text between current and former NHL players, and it turned into a full-fledged coalition within. that's within the time of civil unrest. This was the time of COVID. This was the time that George Floyd was murdered. So you wrote about the HDA. Five years later, tell us how the group is doing and what it's been going through since their beginning. Well, the exciting part is there's now palpable results

from the group's work. Like they had a huge hockey fest in Toronto. They had one in the summer. They had one in the winter. They're doing a bunch of trying to get young, diverse communities to try out hockey in the greater Toronto area. They've worked with some groups. I want to say Detroit, maybe Chicago, maybe it was Chicago as well in trying to develop more youth hockey. And I think that's really been the HDA's biggest influence in their time is working with these youth groups.

I mean, Anthony Duclair obviously has done some stuff, did some stuff. when he was with the Panthers and continues to do stuff in other stops around the NHL. And, you know, I think, I think Akeem Aliou and the folks of the HDA are finally kind of, you know, after a long time in existence and some stumbles, not of their making, have started to get some salient results. And the stumbles, by the way, are, you mentioned George Floyd. Like, when the HDA started, they had a flood of sponsors come and be like throwing money at them. And then we're going to, you know, sponsor this and sponsor that. And then, as we all know, like, the public front-facing statements about diversity and inclusion in the years that after the George Floyd incident, you know, kind of went by the wayside. And so the funding.

So they have a few sponsors that stuck with them. They're obviously looking for more. But they kind of overcame that and are now, you know, really, really making some important inroads. trying to create more opportunities in youth hockey. Well, you mentioned Akeem Aliou and how he was treated in Calgary and how that career went. And the banana that was thrown on the ice because Wayne Simmons played a preseason game, and many other incidents that has happened in the National High League in the past. We've gone from that to 2020 when Matt Dunbar took a knee at Center Ice in an empty arena

because of COVID, and the NHL themselves creating a coalition, the player inclusion coalition, has there really been any progress within the league to make the sport more inclusive even after the aftermath of players bucking against wearing pride jerseys? Has there been any progress made? Well, let's not forget the NHL putting their own end racism signage in the arenas

during the COVID games in Toronto and Edmonton. They were also kind of leaning into this too. And if you can look back at those games and those moments in the league, you also had, you know, games that were postponed because of other incidents that happened and the players kind of banding together and saying we're not comfortable, you know, playing a game under these circumstances. As far as the things that they've done, and you're right, they do have their own diversity committee and initiatives within the league and they don't work with the HDA. In fact, one of the things that I wrote about in that story when I talked to

Akeem recently was, you know, maybe a willingness from the HDA to try to find a way to partner with the NHL at some point because that relationship is, is fractured. And frankly, it's not existent at this point. So we'll see where that goes. But as far as what they do, like I've looked into it, I will fully admit that I check in now and again just to see if that webpage is still there for their diversity committee, considering the way that things have gone with other leagues and other corporations in the U.S. It is there.

And if you check out their social feed, they do promote and mention some of the events that they've done. Again, a lot of focus on youth hockey, a lot of focus on opportunity and things like that. And they don't really blast it out there and it's not really front of mind. But there are events that go on throughout the year that they are a part of. And you can kind of like find that when you go on their website. Greg, we got some pretty cool news this morning. that Mark Andre Fleury was coming out of retirement to rejoin his good buddy, Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh.

One last hurrah. It's going to be probably the most attended preseason game in NHL history. I would imagine they're going to have standing room and they're going to bring in extra seats like they would at the Orange Bowl down here. So casting aside how cool it is that Mark Andre Fleury is making this comeback. You know, how long do you think his buddy, Sidney Crosby, is going to keep that penguin sweater on? Because I personally think Montreal, Roy, maybe Detroit, but certainly he's...

I'm not saying anything, man. You know, the writing's on the wall. He's on his way out, right? Yeah, is Florey coming back to Pittsburgh? It's got real Steve Carell coming back before the office is canceled energy. Yeah, I mean, listen, my take on Sid is this. I had someone tell me in the off season that Sidney Crosby is going to play in the playoffs the matter if it's in Pittsburgh or it's somewhere else this season.

I asked Sid about that at the Player Media Tour. He didn't quite go as far as to say that. I think he's trying to really keep an open mind about Pittsburgh trying to pull a Washington Capitals and surround the veteran corps with younger players and different players and seeing if they can maybe squeeze one last drop of juice out of this thing before the team gets blown up.

But I don't think it's going to happen. And, you know, Sid himself said, most of the punditry is going to pick us to finish last in the division. So I think within the first two or three months of the season, I definitely think it could happen before the Olympics that we could see Crosby go to the penguins and say it's time. I do think, though, it should be noted that there are people in Cid's life that I think would love to see him move on, not only for the betterment of him, but also for the betterment of the NHL. I mean, he is one of the most legendary players of the last 50 years in this league,

and he is persona non grata at the most important time of the United. year, three years running. And even before that, the Penguins were really a contender. But then you have Sid, who clearly has incredible affinity for the Penguins, I think, has always fancied the idea of playing for one franchise. And, you know, there is always the possibility that they get good by the very, very end of his career. But overall, I have to imagine that the time spent losing is really weight on this guy and that

he might, you know, go to them and say, I'm ready for another opportunity. Is it crazy to think that Mark Andre Fleury is going to be the savior in all of this and he's going to fall re in love with Pittsburgh it's going to go beyond a preseason game he's going to take over for Kristen Jari and Archer C-Lovs and he's going to lead Crosby and the Penguins back to the playoffs

it's going to be the most amazing Cinderella story that everybody but Roy loves. Is that what's going to happen? No, but he's better than the goalies they had right now. It's like at the very least me he does play another year, who knows? But if he plays another year, does he have to give back all the gifts from last season? No, no, no, no, no, no. In my eyes

Yes. If you do the retirement tour and you get a rocking chair and this and that another. A rocking chair. And then you don't retire. You got it. Yeah. If you're a cop and you get a gold watch for your retirement, then you decide to still be a security guard somewhere. No, no, no. No, yeah, you put it on a bus. You turn in a Dennis Hopper. Yes, exactly. That's right. That's how you knew he was a cop because that's for the watch that they give you. I love that movie so much. Listen up, hot shot. What do you do? Tell that wild cat.

That wild cat That's right That's right Pop quit Drive around the airport That's the only way You drive because there's no The copters can't go above the airport

Because of the air traffic control rules So You mentioned Detroit You mentioned Montreal I think both of those teams Has something in common Which is a lack of any guarantee They will be in the playoffs

And I think wherever Sid goes It's not going to be On the bubble It is going to be on a team that can contend Where he can feel comfortable that he might have multiple rounds in the playoffs. I mean, we've all known the McKinnon connection from Cole Harbor and what have you. And so the avalanche can't be ignored.

One thing somebody told me once about said that stuck with me is though, if he goes to Colorado, is he taking a cut in minutes? Yeah. He's going to be on the dirt line. Is he two C? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is he not playing his spot on the power play anymore? Like, you imagine if Sidney Crosby comes to your team, you acquiesce. It's like Gratzky going to your team, right?

No. Who knows? I mean, like, maybe he's going some play. Maybe Montreal is a cleaner place for him to go because you can go to Nick Suzuki and be like, hey, buddy, Sidney Crosby's over here. And all of a sudden, you know, you're Nick Suzuki and you're playing second line minutes for a couple years until Sidney Crosby retires. But if you go to Colorado, I mean, it is an interesting conversation to be had.

Like, does McKinnon move to the wing on Sid's line? Who knows? But that's a different conversation that we had than, say, like, Montreal. or Detroit. How dare you compare Cindy Crosby to Wayne Gretzky as far as giving up a spot? From a prestige standpoint,

it is absolutely the right comparison to make a generation of players treat Crosby with the same, like a hockey deity, like all the people in Gretzky's era treated Gretzky. I know he doesn't have the same grandiose stats because he didn't have the pleasure of playing in the

1980s where goalies didn't know what the hell they were doing. But he's a pretty good hockey player. and I think he would be treated with the same reverence as Gretzky when he bestowed his glory on the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers at the end of the group. Why didn't Gretzky at the end? If we're talking, you know, this is what Crosby?

Go back to Edmonton? And even Canada. Just go back somewhere in Canada. Is he from Alberta? Critsky? No, he's on the east side of him. Oh, going back to his original team. I forget he didn't feel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway. Why did he go back, why didn't he go back to Edmonton instead of spending the rest of his career in Los Angeles in New York? Well, St. St. Louis? Louis. I don't, I still, I still can't figure out that St. Louis thing. That was a, you know, a strange anomaly in the, in the Gretzky. It's like when my boy Bredor ended his career in St. Louis. How did that not work, though? Brett Hall, Grant Fjord. All I know is it's going to be great when Roy has to root for Sidney Crosby to bring home the Panthers third straight title this year in the Brad Marchand role. And he has to do what Mike Ryan did with Brad Marchand this year. It's going to be so awesome. I can't miss my ass. How do they have the money to do this?

They'll figure it out. They're going to give them a no-show job or something down there to make the money work for Sid? Crosby's going to take 870K instead of $8.7 million. That'll be what it is. Let's just hope there's, let's hope Billy Zito knows a tree planting company down there that you can hook them up with. We'll figure it out. Wish, you mentioned the player tour in Las Vegas that you were just at. And interestingly enough, hockey players actually said interesting stuff this week.

I cannot believe it. There were a few interesting storylines that have come out this week in the lead-up to training camp. I'm going to tee up two for you here, and we can attack both, but you can pick which one to go first. The Hughes brothers, who you talk to, in terms of them both kind of saying, hey, I'd really love to play with my brother, which we all kind of knew, but now it's out there. And there was the Jim Rutherford comments earlier this off season, so that kind of revs everything up. And then, Carol Caprizov turning down the biggest contract offer in NHL history. So you've got both of those options, which one you want to go with first? Well, I'll go to the Hughes's first.

I was happy my colleagues in the media that were there at the Player of Media Tour got the most thuddingly obvious question out of the way, so I didn't have to have to ask it, which is, would you like to play with your brother? Would you like to play with someone you're quite fond with that you grew up with that you shared a life with? I don't know, maybe. Yeah, that guy sucks. So with that off the table, I asked the question that I was interesting. in, which is, like, what do these guys think when all of a sudden the president of the Vancouver Canucks is putting Quinn Hughes' business out on Maine like he did? And Jack is like, I was a little surprised he did that, to be honest with him. And, you know, he's like, I got no control over this

thing whatsoever. But if Jim Rutherford wants to keep on talking about my brother, you know, wanted to play with me and Luke, by all means, continue to do it. And, you know, Quinn was a lot more political about it. Like he said, look, you know, I got all the respect in the world for Jim Rutherford, you know, I'm sure he's got a reason for having said what he said, and he said, I'll leave it at that. So I don't know. The interesting thing I talked with Quinn about with regards to the Canucks kind of putting out, you want to play with your brothers, is, you know, when we've seen teams get ahead of

free agency and make trades. I mean, that is the reason Matthew Kachuk became a panther was he communicated. I'm not going to, I'm not going to resign with Calgary. Calgary's like, let's just get ahead of this thing. boom, the Hubert O weaker trade happens. So if it's been established that Quinn's going to walk, one, do they get ahead of it and just trade them? And then two, like, what does that do for him in the market?

What is the reaction from the fans? And Quinn Hughes told me, hey, like, it's entirely possible that things are going to get awkward because the fan base is now under the understanding that I want to play with my brothers and my brothers are not in Vancouver. So that was an interesting conversation to have. Let's go into the CBA really quickly here because they're trying to roll things out this season.

What are the immediate impacts that's going to be instituted with this section of the CBA going into the season, and who is it going to affect the most? Well, they're rolling out the long-term injured reserve rule changes this year. So basically, you know, if you put a player on long-term injured reserve, there's limited. on how much of that salary cap space you can use to replace them. And more importantly, you know, in order to open up all of that salary cap space, you have to declare that that player is not going to be playing for you for the rest of the season and the postseason. So the whole sort of like being able to use all that salary cap space to overload your team with contracts.

Then, oh, my God, Jesus has risen. He's playing game one of the playoffs. He's no longer injured. That's not going to be happening anymore. And then on top of that, another way they're trying to clamp down on this is they have created a postseason salary cap for the first time. So the team that you put on the ice has to be cap compliant. As an agent told me, you could have a team that's like $130 million payroll, but the team that you actually put on the ice, the roster that's playing that night, has to be cap compliant. And, you know, I'm still waiting.

These guys are real smart in these front offices to see if there's ways that you could find loopholes for this thing. But I do think that it's the most intelligent way to try to attack what is perceived to be a problem. I happen not to think it's a problem. I think it's a genius way to get around the salary cap. And you do suffer not having that player in your lineup in the regular season, by the way. So there is a level of sacrifice. But I've talked to a few players, Natham Khadry being one of them, a few players to play a Mediator, who are happy to see those loopholes closed because they feel like it does give certain franchises

that know how to utilize that loophole. competitive advantage. With a 84 game season coming next season and, you know, they're losing a couple of preseason games and adding two in the regular season, are we going to start to look at teams going half speed, knowing that they have a playoff spot? A lot more teams doing that option going into the playoffs when they know they have a spot clinched. I don't know, man. Like, we've all talked about load management in the NHL in light of what we see in the NBA. And we've never really seen it manifest. Like the only time you really see play players leave the lineup is in the very, very last part of the season when you've got a

playoff spot locked up. And then the last maybe two games of the year, you're icing an AHL team instead to the guys that, you know, you usually play. But, I mean, you know, the 84 games season is a really interesting twist. The players I've spoken to love it. Mostly because they love not having to have a grandiose preseason, which they don't think they really need and don't want to play games that are completely meaningless. I do find it interesting

there wasn't like a whole hell of a lot of hey where's the bonus that comes our way for playing two extra games on the regular season schedule the entire CBA negotiation was pretty much

we're all fat and happy and we're not going to really fight the league on a lot of stuff so I'm not surprised there wasn't pushback but overall I mean I think the players are pretty happy to have a shorter preseason

longer regular season so I don't know about you Greg I personally have a hankering for something that hasn't been satisfied in like 20 some odd years. And I really could use some more hockey in Atlanta. I don't think Oh, for crying out loud. Are we

going to do this again? I don't think that two times was enough of a try to let it stick personally. I miss going to games at Phillips Arena and how one side of it just kind of comes up straight. There's just so much that I liked about Atlanta visiting the CNN situation there. This all sounds like

sarcasm. Georgia Tech. I do miss the Thrasher's jerseys. Yeah. Oh, God. They're not going to do that. Remember that one time they made the playoffs and they had those baby blue-powdered jerseys and... He said Atlanta on the sleeve. Yeah, those were... So anyway, sarcasm aside. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Greg. I just filled the entire room with it, man. How close are we to getting a third hockey franchise in Atlanta? I liked the blue jerseys. Love them. Love them. The third jerseys they came out with right before they moved where it looked like someone like melted a box of crayons, those were terrible, but the rest of the jerseys were fine.

First of all, you know, keep in mind, the winner in all of this is, Canada because they're going to get another team eventually if we put another team in Atlanta Quebec. They got Calgary, they got Winnipeg, who know, Quebec City you're on the clock. It's going to happen. The NHL believes a couple of things.

One, they believe that the demographic and business community changes that have happened in the state of Georgia and specifically around the city of Atlanta since they tried the thrashers, what like 20 years ago, I guess it was, it is now. They believe all

those changes mean that that area is much more favorable to the kind of demographics they need for hockey. They're not going to build an arena in the same spot they built that ballpark for the bridge, right? Just out of downtown. Yeah, they're looking at the suburbs. They're looking at Forsyth County.

Of course they are. And they're looking at, I forget where the other one is, but it's like a former mall, I think it is. So, you know, the Forsouth County one is the one that has the juice right now because it's like a $3 billion project that's been approved by the county. It's a mixed-use community with a hockey arena and a whole bunch of other stuff going on.

We don't know if either of these ownership groups really have the scratch to pay for an expansion team. The fee could be upwards of a billion dollars this time based on what franchise values are looking at right now. And neither of them have presented a formal plan to the NHL. And that's the takeaway from my conversation with Bill Daly at the player media tour in Vegas is like until the NHL has something concrete from these guys. And it doesn't have to be shovels in the ground concrete.

just concrete xyz here's how it's going to happen they they can't go to the board of governors and an open expansion process so you have two groups from Atlanta they're waiting for proposals on one group in Houston they're waiting for a proposal on and then other places that have tried to make noise about hockey noorlings being one of them and we'll see how it shakes out but I'd be shocked that there's not a team in Atlanta within the next three to four years is it surprising though that at this point of the process that there aren't like firm plans and like these things aren't having already like all the eyes dotted and T's cross like well ahead so they can go to the league and say hey we've got all this straightened out we just need your go ahead so i've thought

about that and i wonder if the this is just my speculation i wonder if the experience in tempi a tempi Arizona has made the NHL be a bit more yeah yeah skittish and and wanting to like don't even you're not crossing T's and dot and eyes you are using the sharpie the big fat sharpie to dot the eyes and Because of what happened in Tempe with the coyotes and that arena situation and that ownership situation. So I think they're doing their due diligence. And again, the money they're asking for is going to be enormous. And I think that's also part of it too. Well, at least it's not like the New York Islander situation in the mid-90s where they just got a guy who just did not have no money.

Remember that 30 for 30? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There's been there. Let me listen, listen, the guy in Arizona was a throwback because there was a time in the NHL where you'd have these stories every, like once every five years of guys looking to own teams and all of a sudden it becomes just a giant mess. John Span. So it was nostalgic to have that situation play out. Oh my God. Wish. I want to go back to the Karil Kaprizov signing that we mentioned earlier, or the non-signing, I should say. To me, this is the attempt. To me, this is fascinating. He's one of the best players in the league, in my opinion.

and he just turned down an $8 by $16 million deal. I think it could end up with him making a lot more money. It could also end up with him screwing himself based off what Connor McDavid takes if he takes a team-friendly deal. And it could also end up with him not in Minnesota at all. So where do you see this playing out? Because I think it's going to be one of the most fascinating stories to follow for the next year if he ends up going to free agency next year. Well, your last point I think is the most important one, which is that maybe he just doesn't want to be in Minnesota, which is kind of my, take away from from the whole thing i mean if you go by the reporting on this he turns down

a contract that would have been the richest in n hl history richer than the the the contract alex ovetchenstein with the capitals back i think in 2008 um okay so he turns that down well maybe he doesn't want to go eight years that was one of the theories from minnesota fans maybe it was the years and not the money that was the problem well michael russo from the athletic is like actually they've never talked about a shorter contract than eight years okay so it's not the the gears, and it's not the money, I mean, I ain't no math major, but putting two and two together, maybe don't want to be in Minnesota is the situation. See, I told you.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I just, I'm very interested because, you know, there's reporting that he loves it there and that they've been working on a deal. They're going to continue working on a deal, but I mean, when he turns down eight by 16, I mean, that's it, maybe, maybe it still happens, who knows, but I mean, the bottom line for me is that you turn down that level of money. You're not looking for anything shorter term. what do you want? You don't want more money, or you've already gotten all the money, right?

You know, I've read reports of like, well, his agent maybe knows that there's an even richer contract out there for Capri Soff. Maybe there is. I mean, he's a fabulous player. He's multiple 40 goals score over multiple seasons. He's also a guy that has some health issues, you know, in the regular season. But ultimately, it could just be that he wants to move on. And that's why he's not taking that money. And, you know, again, put on Johnny journalism hat for a second, I've been trying to like tell people just think logically where this

news comes from. Is it the agent or the player being like I turn down more money than anyone's ever made in the NHL before? Bill Go ahead and it wasn't either of them. Teammates, teammates, it's me, Krill. How do you feel about me turning down more money than you'll ever make in your lives?

He was at a captain's skate. He was at a captain when that report came out. How do you think that went wanting back from the locker? So I would, when you, again, I'm not saying I know this for sure, but I am saying that like we've seen it before where if a team feels disrespected in a contract negotiation, it's usually the team that's putting out that news to the world that, hey, we did our best. And sometimes that we did our best messaging comes out before we have to trade him because we did our best. And it wasn't good enough. Oh, boy. Finally, what is the biggest story coming into this season?

Oh, that's a really good question. I mean, from a player perspective, it's Mariner in Vegas, and when that return happens to Toronto, just because he's now ratcheted up the rancor since leaving and playing this victim card. I didn't feel safe there, all this other stuff, and the debates about his legacy and what the Leafs are going to be without him, it could be on the level of the John Tavares

return to Long Island, which is still one of my favorite games I've ever covered in my life, where they were putting his jersey in the middle of the parking lot and running it over with cars and throwing rubber snakes on the ice during the game because he left the Islanders. So from that perspective, it's probably that. I think obviously the Crosby situation and the McDavid situation, which we really talk about,

are both going to play out in interesting ways. Like, does McDavid enter the season without a contract for next year? where does Crosby end up and then from a team perspective we and this is obviously salient to the folks I'm talking to now we may be in the midst of a dynasty and what is that going to manifest

as have the Panthers made a mistake running it back with everybody on the roster and not trying to maybe turn it over a little bit more or is this going to be a third straight cup and a fourth trip to the cup final in four years for this team scary so that's it

scary I mean not for me for everyone else oh okay no it's the the cap's going up like they've got everybody locked up

and they're about to get $10 million off their cap when Bob is off the boots after that season so I feel like there's a lot of runway for the Panthers yeah but also then

you have to replace sergey bravsky yeah and you can do that for less than 10 million probably no for sure but I'll say that kid that kid they got from Columbus I'm I'm bullish on that kid

yeah Bill Zito once told me that he thought he was the most talented goalie that Columbus had in their system when Zito was an executive there. And, you know, Columbus, for what it's worth, does not have a Department of Goaltending Excellence, like the Panthers. I'm intrigued to see if they can maybe...

Yeah, if they can unlock whatever has been locked up in this guy of talent-wise, because I think he's really talented. Greg Rysinski from ESPN. He's writing about hockey, and we're getting back into it, folks. It's what, what, next week? Next weekend. We're back, pre-season training camp coming up. Thanks, Greg.

Any time. Thank you to Greg Voshensky. That was excellent. That was real good. He knows his stuff. Yeah, he does. You think he likes us better than Merrick? No.

I mean, we're not professionals like, Jeff. I mean, he tolerates us. We're in the professional or hockey writers association, just like Jeff Merrick. But we just aren't professional like him. We're professional like us. Well, that's true. All right. I don't know who's in the video room.

I know. Oh, you know what? Is Gino and Dan. Danny's back there. Yeah, Danny's back there. So we like to thank them for doing what they do. Ethan? Thank you.

And I didn't say thank you to you. I love the show. Hey. And I didn't say thank you. I'm thanking you, Roy. Oh, yeah, I appreciate you. Thank you. In the back seat of a car in West Virginia something. She's still logged on or not?

No, she left. Good luck, Rose. That's David Jorak. My name is Roy Bellamy. We will see you next week. Training camp starts. Oh, my God. And we're almost there, man.