The Hockey PDOcast - Caps vs. Canes, Nikishin’s Arrival, Coaching Carousel, and Teams With Most To Lose in Round 1 This Year

Episode Date: April 11, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Emily Kaplan to talk about last night's Capitals vs. Hurricanes game, what she learned about the Caps being around them throughout the whole Ovechkin goal chase, Nikishin's arrival in Carolina, the coaching carousel this offseason, and the teams with the most to lose in Round 1 this postseason. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEOCast. My name is Dmitra Filippovich and joining me as my good buddy, Emily, what's going on? Not much, Dmitri. You're going to have to excuse my voice. Usually I get the case of the first round sniffles because of all my travel and this year came a little early. I'm going to call this the Alex Ovechkin sniffles because I was chasing the big man around the country the last couple weeks. So I'm battling through, but I'm always happy to chat with you. Well, it's always a blast to get It's been way too long since we caught up. I had to drag you.

I know you're very busy with your TV broadcast commitments, but I had to drag you into the show and get into some of the stuff with you, especially, you mentioned the Cains there. You were at the Hurricanes Capitals game last night, and I wanted to start off talking about that and kind of running through some of the interesting notes. Obviously, I think there was a lot of intrigue heading into that game because it was the rematch from last week's brawl-filled meeting between the two.

It's also a potential round two meeting. between the hurricanes and the capitals. I thought, I'm curious for your take on this, I thought it was an impressive in-game bounce back from the Capitals in that one because they got absolutely steamrolled in the first period. The shots were 15 to 5 for Carolina

had felt even more lopsided and watching it in real time. And maybe it would have happened anyways because of the scheduling, right? Like the Capitals had been off since Ovechkin's record breaking game on Sunday. I'm sure they partook in some celebrating in the meantime.

Then they had this 20 minute. ceremony before the game unveiling this Ovechkin sculpture which was absolutely terrifying to look at. I don't know how it looked in person but on the broadcast I was like oh my god that is a frightening thing to look at but I'm going to give

credit to Spencer Carberry because one of my kind of themes this season has been enjoying how mad he gets at his team when they're not playing up to his lofty standards for them and then how they respond and that's obviously a hallmark of a good coach right having a feel for their group

knowing which buttons to push and getting the most out of them, not only from game to game across the season, but within these games. And that's what we saw on Thursday night from the Capitals. And they bounced back in that second. They look like an entirely different team. I had them down for 16 shots, 12 high danger chances. They scored three goals. It could have been even more. They hit a post or two. They were flying. And if you just look at the sort of before and after of that first and second period, it was quite a testament to, I think, the job he's done all season, but also like this team's ability to kind of even when they're not playing well, regroup and put their best foot forward within the same game.

Yeah, I think you're bang on it so much of that. The subtext for this game for both teams was that they were already secure in their playoff position and neither team was playing really well. And both coaches told us like, we've got to find our game at some point before the playoffs. Like the Keynes was like, look, like it can be tonight, it can be next game. Like we've just got to find it. We know who we're playing. And for the caps, I mean,

I'd been around this team for over a week, you know, embedded with them. And there was the subtext, and, you know, the guys finally said it out loud once Alex Avesekin broke the record. There was so much pressure and so much attention to try to get Alex Leveschkin the puck. Guys were forcing it to him. They lost their way. And they felt such a massive relief when it got done because it was this historic moment. And they're like, great.

Now it can focus on the amazing team game that got us here. And you mentioned it. Like the pregame ceremony, the layoff between games, like all that can truly. attributed to it. They get out there and defensively, they just look so porous. And remember, this is the game, again, coached by Spencer Carberry that got into the playoffs last year by winning so many games by not scoring goals. Like defense was their hallmark. And this year, they found so many ways to get more offense out of guys. And now it's like, okay, well, what is this team? Because they just look like an absolute mess. And I do think the turning point in that game was Alex Ovechkin,

but because of his physicality. And their coach, Kirk Muller, told me, like, once he laid out that really big first hit. We had nothing going for us at the time. The crowd got into it. All of a sudden, you looked down the bench and these guys are like, okay, if this guy at this age is going to lay it out physically like that, then we can too. And I felt like Alex Ovechkin dragged them into the fight with these massive hits. Maybe, you know, Spencer Carberry told us that he wants to rest Ovi, you know, at least one or maybe two of these games down the stretch. They've got it back to back this weekend. They were playing so poorly, like, oh God, like maybe he has to play in all of these games and maybe he was ovi being like not coach like i need a break like let me lay it all out here

now um but i just felt like i'm with you it was just such an impressive um adjustment um the way that they cleaned things up defensively and then swarmed carolina with an attack um and that's why they won all these games this season and are the top seat in the east yeah i imagine it's it's natural to human nature to have a bit of a both emotional and physical kind of exhale once you reach the finish line in that journey they were on. And I think it really benefits them that not only did it not linger through the postseason into next year and obviously the off season, but also that there's this little window here with a handful of games between the end of the regular season, the start of the playoffs so that it's not just immediately having to kind of turn over on you page

and get into the postseason with that fresh on your mind. It is really funny. For all the talk made of the Evechkin goal scoring, chase and everything, one of the things that's come out since then is, oh, he's actually pretty close to reaching the NHL hits record, too, and then he starts throwing those hits, and it's funny now that that's going to become a new thing. But I mean, you've been, as you said, with them kind of tracking this and following a Bresbyn for the past week

or so during this sprint towards the finish line. You got any interesting nuggets from kind of being around the team during that time in terms of what you see and sort of how the sausage is made kind of any other, I guess, takeaways that you might not have known otherwise from spending so much time with them.

You know, I think it's cliche, Dimitri, but like being around that team and that group of guys, like it's just a group that really enjoys each other and really likes each other. And there's just a special juju there with so many of the guys that they brought in that are all in their mid-20s. They're all just like great locker room guys.

And you can just tell they've got this chemistry. And I think, you know, I was talking a lot of people, especially in other sports. And they were so surprised by how happy Alex Ovechkin's teammates were for him and how universally beloved he seems. And I'm like, this is the guy that like, you know, Alexi Protas when he was a rookie and, you know, had his stuff in Hershey and needed to get a car to get back there.

And he asked, if Gennikuznetsov and Kuzi goes to Ovi. And Ovi comes up to Pertas and is like, why didn't you come to me directly, you idiot? Like, here's my car, borrow it for as long as you want. Like, this is also the guy that, you know, is so much happier for his teammates' goals than his own goals at times. The night before the game in Boston, he's going out to a college bar because he wants to bond with his new teammate Ryan Leonard. And Leonard's like, look, a lot of my buddies want to meet. you. And he's like, yeah, no problem. I don't mind being seen in public. Like, I'll do this to bond with you. So all this is to say that, like, Alex Svechkin's a really good teammate. And, you know,

we sometimes think of him as selfish, especially when he's just like banging his stick on the ice, demanding goals. And, you know, he has that one special gift. Another thing is, I think, a lot of the unsaid part about it is, like, we're watching this guy. And, you know, we always make fun of his diet and his choices that are a bit unorthodox, you know, the Coca-Cola on the bench, the subway sandwich and Cheetos before road games. And he's not skating the most out there. Often, like, you know, we don't see his tracking stats for how far he goes, but, like,

I'd imagine it's in the lower half of the league. But Spencer Carberry A has done such a great job of cutting down his minutes, putting him in positions for success. He doesn't play 4 and 4 anymore. It's so many more quality zone starts. And I think that is why he's had so much success. But also,

like, there are aspects of his game that are just so elite and, like, he's just built different. You know, the physicality is one of them. we're talking about the hits. I just think he has that alpha killer instinct in him that he can turn it on when he needs to. And that's why he's truly unique in one of one and why he's been celebrated the way he has

over the last week, but probably for eternity. Yeah, it's a bit of a chicken or the egg, but it does feel like in both their respective conferences, the Jets and the Caps have been atop of East and the West pretty much the entirety of the season. And it feels like the universal theme between those two. And the Jets have certainly had much more continuity in terms of less turnover, pure guys they brought in this off season,

but the vibes have been so immaculate between the two. Now, I think it's easy to have it be that way when you're winning as many games as those two teams had, right, as opposed to if you're going through losing streaks, if you're kind of struggling to get to the playoffs, maybe it feels a little bit different. But yeah, just kind of tracking them from a distance this year, it feels like everything they've touched has turned into gold. And it's been a remarkable season for everyone involved. I can't really, you know, you mentioned the stakes for these two teams and how they're

already kind of set. On the other side of it, I can't really read too much into how the hurricanes have looked since clinching their playoffs. At the start of the month, they've given up 14 goals against in their past four games that they've lost. They've looked quite uncharacteristically sloppy under Rod Brindamore in those games, but they've also been locked into this two, three matchup with the devils with home ice in that series in round one for, for not only weeks, but maybe months now. Like, it seemed like an inevitability because no one in the Metro was going to catch the devils and the hurricanes weren't going to catch the caps. they were kind of locked into this place.

And that brings me up to kind of one of the problems, I guess, with the current playoff format. And everyone is so fixated on, you know, when you get these series like a potential Florida, Tampa Bay in round one, all the years, the Leaps have been, you know, a top five NHL team in the regular season. And they've played another team that was top seven themselves.

We're going to get stars, avs in round one as well. And everyone makes a lot about how overqualified those series are to have one of those teams bowing out of the playoffs after the first round. I think the bigger issue for me is in not having a one verse eight in both conferences, teams like the hurricanes here get sort of locked into their position, right? If it were one versus eight, they could conceivably be still battling for the second seed in the east and home ice in round two.

And that would be a big deal. And I imagine they'd be playing much differently than they are now. But because of the situation, there's no stakes. They're kind of locked in. And so they're just playing out the string here the rest of the season and you get some of these wonky results. And I think we've seen that around the. league as well this entire week where there's some lopsided scores some very bizarre performances

very sloppy kind of reminiscent of preseason hockey and i know elliard friedman's talked about this i'm curious if the way this is unfolding is going to get the league to maybe revisit this down the line in terms of maybe adjusting the playoff format getting back to that one verse eight just so that we ensure that there are legitimate stakes heading into the final week beyond a few playoff races just so that the quality of hockey is better, teams are more prepared for the start of the postseason, and everyone is more involved. Because what we've seen this past week or so

has not really been representative of meaningful, competitive hockey for a lot of teams. Yeah, I know fans, and I'll put myself in that group, really want the one-verse-eight format for playoffs. I think it would create for more exciting matchups down the road, and it would eliminate the situation where we have, like, Stars v. Avs, everything I've ever heard from Gary Bettman and his league office,

any time I ask is that Batman really likes the current format and there's zero appetite to change it. And when Gary Betman likes something, I think it's really hard to move him off it unless he has compelling evidence otherwise. And I think it was based on spitting chicklets. I'm pretty sure this is the league stance that

when you have the format that we have now, there's the most eyeballs on the first round and therefore you're guaranteeing these really exciting matchups. And I can buy that, but I think that's a short-sided view because then we already have those eyes on the first round. Let's get the momentum going for later rounds and let's ensure that those, you know,

best incredible matchups happen in the conference finals and the Stanley Cup finals when we can have massive ratings on, you know, a really big network. So is what it is. You know, I think it is interesting. You know, the last couple years, especially last year, like the races came down to the final game of season and we had meaningful games where like anything could happen and teams like the Blackhawks could be spoiled. or the penguins or this and that.

And this year, it just feels like everything has been so predetermined for a really long time. And, you know, especially in the East for a while, it just felt like none of those teams wanted to grab those two wild card spots. And everyone was just spiraling. And then the senators of Montreal Canadians were like, okay, we'll take it. And we played pretty well. And everybody else just sputtered to the stretch. I mean, the Rangers, the Red Wings, like, they just gave nothing.

and it was right there for the taking. So it is what it is this year. It's a little unfortunate because I'd rather these games be meaningful, but I do know that we are going to have a pretty exciting playoffs. And as it pertains to the hurricanes, you know, Rod said it, you know, like we got to find our game, you know, whether it's tonight, whether it's not, like we've got to do it. It was funny, though, because I was listening to Logan O'Connor from the Aves,

and he was saying, you know, they look amazing right now, right? Like, they're rolling right into the playoffs, like, looking like the team to beat. And he's like the year we won the Stanley Cup, sputtered into the playoffs and you know i i guess we'd much rather have the situation where now where we feel good about ourselves and i'm like fine but you still won the stanley cup so like sometimes it doesn't really matter uh how you show up because i do think that uh switch just can flip uh once the games really mean that much yeah that's a that's a fair point i mean i'm a two minds of it because on the one hand just on the way the discourse happens in sports now

it's treated like such a failure if you're one of these top teams that loses in round one and it's viewed as such a disappointment yet at the same time from an entertainment perspective while everyone's going to be so excited about around one there's four games every night you're flipping back and forth it's just such a roller coaster ride the quality of hockey is undoubtedly better as well right because the toll of the long postseason hasn't taken its course on a lot of these players bodies and so guys are healthier they're playing at peak performance and you get sort of the best hockey in round one and round two and by the time you get to the conference final and final it's kind of everyone's being held together by duct tape and you're just, you know, last man standing essentially. So I see both sides

of it, but it would be interesting from a match of perspective and especially from making the regular season more meaningful to have a bit more a variability there. On the Canes, so earlier this week, we got news that Ivan Demidov was leaving his KHL team to join the Habs for the stretch run today, before we started recording, we learned that Alexander Nekishin was doing the same and he's finally coming to Carolina. Now, this is a player who, we've been waiting for it for years. He's long been viewed as the best defenseman, not in the NHL. He probably won't make his debut for the Canes until we get to that round one series against the Devils.

But I'm curious for your take on kind of how this is unfolding, just sort of this landscape in general of some of these players being pride from the KHL, jumping into the NHL for the stretch run in the postseason. And maybe in this case, particularly the impact a guy like Nikitian could have on the canes, not only for the rest of this season, but obviously heading into the offseason when they have guys like Burns and Orlov as UFAs and are, our, certainly going to be right up there amongst the teams that are going to remake or be most aggressive about remaking their team heading into next season. Yeah. You know, I'm probably going to

cover the Capitals first round series, which is looking like it's against the Canadians. And I'm so excited to see Demidoff because everything we've heard about him is that he was the best prospect, not in the NHFL right now. He seemed to be doing great as a teenager in the KHL. So I'm just so curious. I think Marty San Luis is such a fascinating coach and getting the most out of these guys. What he looks And I think this intriguing storyline that now we get as fans and media of like, how do you thrust somebody into a well-oiled machine when it matters the most? And, you know, how much leeway do you give them? You know, we're seeing the Rangers in Game Perrault right now.

Like, okay, is that the right development model when you've got your top prospect? And then you want to sit them for a couple games, especially non-meaningful games. These ones matter. As it pertains to Nikitian, like, I think the Keynes, I mean, look, it's not their biggest need as an organization. I think when I look at this team, I see a team that's, just so consistent every night. You know what their identity is. You know what their effort's going to be. And like for whatever reason, they just don't get enough goals. And like, whatever their expected goals is, they always fall under. You know, Rod was telling us yesterday, like, Jackson Blake

should have like X amount of more goals than he does. Like, he just gotten lucky for whatever reason. And he should have set up Sebastian Aho for X amount of more. Like, you know, just is what it is. All of that said, I do think their defense, like low-key has been a bit of an issue this year. they've been kind of resting guys intermittently before the playoffs. But it feels like Jacob Slavin's almost taken a step back. Maybe because he's – and I hate saying that by Jacob Slavin because he's the perfect defenseman. But I think he's a bit overtax and sometimes with this partner.

So I'm curious to see how this guy comes in, what type of burden he relieves. And like you said, you know, he's going to obviously assert himself in their top six if he's as good as we thought they were going to be. You know, does that make some cap casualties over the summer? Can they bring in other guys to improve? I think the unspoken word is that Burns just isn't quite the same player that we're used to him being. So I'm curious what his long-term future is, if there is one. But nonetheless, it's all exciting when you can add new juice at this time of year.

Yeah, I think he hit the nail in the head. The defensive system is always still quite good because they pressure so much and they don't really give you a lot of time in the zone and a lot of looks at net. But as you saw on Thursday night, they are very susceptible to speed in particular. They give up a lot of breakaways. part of that is because they are so aggressive deep in the zone, but I think they're 23rd and inner slot shots allowed, and that's not really, you know, in line with where the hurricanes have been previously.

And you mentioned Slavin, I think it's fair that, you know, a trend we've seen is that some of the guys who were either notable omissions from their respective four nations teams or just didn't play and got those two weeks off really benefited from that quite a bit and came back recharged and refreshed and had been the more productive players, whereas some of the guys who are involved, have either gotten banged up since or, you know, their play is dropped off a little bit. Now, in Slavin's case, I do think it's a bit more just having Burns as a partner, and he's a 40-year-old now. So it's very normal that he's, you know, entered this decline phase of his career. But I saw this crazy stat where, and I've been wondering why the Hurricanes PowerPlay

has been so ineffective this season. And Burns has spent quite a bit of time on it. And he's actually been outscored on the Power Play 4 to 3 this season, which is remarkable, considering obviously you have one extra player on the ice. So yeah, Nikitian, you know, double digit goals in each of the past three KHL seasons. I think he's going to give him a bit of pop there, obviously a massive player. So he's going to add the physicality as well. And I think they have another guy in Scott Morrow who got a bit of a 10 game cup of coffee earlier this season that looked quite ready to my eye as well. So I imagine those two guys figure into their plans quite a bit. But, you know, the reason why I brought this up is Nikesian coming in on an ELC, of course, is going to be another player that gives them a lot of

flexibility, right? I think that was part of the logic and you did a lot of reporting around the deadline, around the Miko-Ranton saga and kind of how that unfolded, why the hurricanes chose to do what they ultimately did. And they clearly prioritized the long-term flexibility in Stankovins, cost-controlled ELC, the picks they got in return, not committing the salary, the Ranton obviously got from Dallas along the way. And so now you look in for a team that, you know, might not necessarily be near the top of the contenders this season, but it's still very live to at least make another conference final this year, they're going to enter the offseason with around $36 million in cap space, a lot of guys already under contract.

And so, you know, the sky's the limit for them in terms of every move being available to them. And I'm very curious to see what Eric Tulski and the hurricanes ultimately choose to do with it. Yeah. Well, the one thing I know about them is they're going to continue to remain aggressive. That's just within their nature. You know, they're going to take their gambols like they did with Jake Gansall and they did with meaker rantanin and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't work out but it's not going to prevent them from trying and I think you know the one thing again like that we can just look like

at apps out of our observers is like are you really going to fault somebody who goes for it like I think that makes the game more exciting in so many ways this is a risk averse league this is a league that has been afraid to do offer sheets for so many years because GMs don't want to ruffle each other's feathers and that's not the canes and I I just love that about them so I have no idea what's in store for their offseason. I do believe that this team, as it is, is built to sustain. You know, I just think they have a really good core. They've identified some really good young players to build around.

Logan Stink COVID is now a part of that. Like, he's just a perfect hurricane. He's going to be a fixture in their top six for years to come. But what else does that look like? I don't know. You know, I think goaltending will be interesting with Freddie on the last year of his contract. You know, they probably don't trust Kachkov completely to be the 1A, like they probably are going to need to figure out something else there as well.

But what does it look like in terms of free agents, but also hockey trades? Because I think that's another thing that they're just not afraid of either. Definitely. You mentioned the offer sheets there. Obviously, a lot's been made of the success, the blues and Doug Armstrong enjoyed and sort of rejuvenating their franchise to go along with bringing in Jim Montgomery and the coaching change in season in this dual offer sheet, stealing both Broberg and Holloway and the impact those two guys have had.

and not only getting the blues towards the playoffs this year, but I think just changing their outlook moving forward as well, where all of a sudden you have these two guys for cheap at a reasonable price you paid for them that are in their early to mid-20s window, they can play with Thomas and Cairo and give you more upside moving forward as well. In conversations you've had with people,

do you think this could finally be the offseason where we actually see that offer sheet utilized a little bit more? I know for various reasons, NHLGMs have historically been, very reluctant to do so. Yet I keep hearing how with the cap going up this year, teams finally having more flexibility. I think the dynamics changing in general in terms of contracts

and how teams are going to use this extra space, are we going to finally see a bit more aggressiveness there and teams actually pursuing it a little bit more than they have in the past? I think so. I think obviously the Blues have shown that it can be wildly successful with their two pickups there. There's a lot of interesting candidates this summer that could be offer sheeted.

I think that Evan Bouchard is the name that a lot of people are bringing, you know, top of mind. Marco Rossi, J.J. Paturka. I think those two guys are interesting because they've kind of been trade bait guys already. So, you know, I don't know if it's necessarily like the offer sheet's the only way to get them. I almost wonder, you know, if they're both available with their given teams, like if teams would just go that route. And I don't know. Like, I think I keep hearing mixed things from executives around the league. A lot of people do believe that.

that this will become a more common practice that the Band-Aid's been ripped off. It's proven, you know, proof of concept now and it can work. And then other guys are like, look, like, there's a reason why I hadn't been done for so long. And it's not just because it's a handshake league, but largely because it is a handshake league.

It's just a lot to give up. And so I have no idea. My gut says we'll see at least one, maybe two. I don't think there's just going to be this, like, tsunami where this is like, whoa, all of a sudden, like, everyone's being exposed and everyone's trying to get poached. and it's just absolute mayhem.

That said, I do think we're going to get a lot more summer activity at large this summer, specifically with hockey trades. And I know everyone kind of hates that term because a hockey trade, inherently is a hockey trade. But I just think with the new flexibility, the certainty that Virginia has for the next three years of what the cap's going to look like, that's going to create some more movement. I think that Utah's, you know, I want to talk to you more later,

so maybe we can revisit this conversation in a couple minutes. But in terms of thinking about the teams that it could be most aggressive, of and active this deadline and actually utilizing this, I keep coming back to Utah, right? Not only because they had this initial year one success in that market. Obviously fell short a little bit of the playoffs, but still took a step. Guys like Gunther and Cooley took massive leaps as players,

and they're under contract. And then you have Ryan Smith as the owner coming from the NBA, where that's a bit more common practice and them having all of these resources. And in particular, you look at their 2026 draft capital and they have their own first. They have three seconds, two thirds. They have all their picks.

They could conceivably get into that $9 million offer sheet range, which a lot of teams are very reluctant to are unable to do. And so that opens so many doors for them. So I think Utah is definitely a team for me to watch there. You got what other broadcasts have you done recently? Obviously you've been following the caps very closely here over the past week or so. Any other teams that you've crossed paths with or been embedded with a little bit over the past month or so? Yeah.

I mean, a lot of the teams that have crossed paths with or been embedded with a little bit over the past month or so. Yeah. I mean, I mean, a lot of the teams that have covered this year pretty extensively are not going to make the playoffs. The Detroit Red Wings was around them a ton. The Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers. We did have their game against the Devils recently, Rangers Devils. And the Devils, I just want to be a really interesting team. I think that a lot of people who are going to count them out in the series against the Carolina Hurricanes, I feel like that might be one of the most heavily favorite series in terms of everyone going for the Hurricanes. And obvious reasons, right? You don't have your two best players.

Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton. We don't know when Hamilton's going to return. GM Tom Fitzgerald did not rule it out to me that Dougie could return in the regular season. I don't know if that's likely at this point, but I think that shows how close he is. So I think that gives me some encouragement. I just think that they've shown a lot over these last several weeks,

and I think that Sheldon keeps a really good coach and the commitment the team has away from the puck. It's pretty noble. And I think, you know, yes, they've had a couple off games, but when they're clicking at their best, This is still a really good team with some top talent. I think Yesper Brat has had an unbelievable season. Nico Heshaer is not getting enough love for the two-way play that he has.

And as long as goaltending shows up, I wouldn't be shocked if the devil surprised people now. I know Markstrom hasn't been as good since he came back from injury. Jake Allen, in fact, has been quite better. But these are the guys that they brought in for these moments, and especially Markstrom that he could shoulder these big moments. And I do believe that they view him as their guy. So that's a big storyline for me to watch.

And I'm just curious to see how they do. Yeah. And as you mentioned earlier with Rod Brindamore and Jackson Blake and the hurricanes always undershooting their expected goals, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see around one series where Jacob Markstrom looks really good under a lot of volume. And you're like, oh, man, it happened again. You mentioned a couple guys there for the devils that have really stepped up. You didn't mention Nico Hishier there.

And I wanted to give him a bunch of love as well because I believe they've played 15 games since Jack Hughes got hurt, he's got 10 goals and nine assists during that time. He's playing nearly 21 minutes. Is that a couple just monster efforts, both in terms of usage, but also goals to carry the team. I think that game in particular that you watched last weekend against the Rangers. He was awesome, had that beautiful setup on the short-ended goal as well. And he's just been, he's been such a stud. I mean, he's taken his game to such a whole new level. And especially without there are other sort of one-a, one-1B center available, it feels like he's shouldered an even bigger burden. And one of my concerns in a playoff series would be especially without home ice.

The Hurricanes and Rod Bindamore are going to be able to get, you know, Slavin and Jordan Stahl out there quite a bit against his year, especially if he's playing with either Brad or Meyer. And then all of a sudden, the devils just don't add that much scoring depth beyond that. So that would be one of my concerns given the state of their team. But I wanted to shout out his year because I think he's been fantastic during the stretch. Yeah, no, I'm with you. And I think now it's like the trendy, I don't know, Alex Barkoff's most underrated player in the league. And now I feel like everyone's like, okay, like, let's just make sure that we like, don't forget about Nico Heathier because he's been incredible. And he's just such an understated personality.

I think just the way he plays the game, it sometimes looks really effortless. And it's the devils. They're a smaller market team. So all of those reasons, he doesn't typically get as much love as other guys around the league. But I'm with you. I just think the way he stepped up, Brad is another one. Like, I've just been really impressed by his season. I think he's taken a star turn to look into a really assertive offensive weapon.

and he's just, he's so talented. Those guys, I think Jersey should feel really good about. Of course, you don't have Jack Hughes. And like that is a big issue. Like, I don't want to gloss over that. Like, it's a game-breaking talent. He shifts play so much. You know, I know a lot was made over his play at Four Nations,

but I still just think that he's an absolute stud in this league. But I think a lot of guys have stepped up. And another one is Luke Hughes. I think, you know, immediately when Jack went down, they put Luke on PowerPlay 1 because they needed someone to help. with zone entries. He's been really good. And Luke Hughes is someone who's been used to playing all situations and being the number one defenseman his entire career. He's finally getting all of those responsibilities with the devils. And I think he's risen to the occasion. I'm really sorry to hear that

you've covered so many Bruins and Rangers games this year. That's a very noble job by you. Man, that's Rangers team in particular, I know that their most recent game on Thursday, they completely blew out the Islanders and put up nine goals. But it feels like in watching them play out the string, just what a miserable season it's been. And within the, effort involved as well. Like, it's got to be the biggest disappointment in the league. Yeah. I honestly, I've met a loss for words sometimes when I talk about this team. I think some of it is self-inflicted, and we can't ignore that. That it's hard, you know, at this point to remember because it feels so long ago. But like, it began with them forcing their

captain out of town early in the season. And then the GM telling everybody pretty much publicly that other big time veterans on that roster were available via trade and to expect the locker room to be like, oh yeah, no, everything's fine. Like, we believe we're going to buy in. Like, that's naive. And I just think that management told on themselves that they felt that they looked at last year and they thought that Igor should start getting masked up a lot of issues. They didn't think they were a good enough team to win.

And that's why they wanted to orchestrate these shades. That's fine. But I just don't think whatever's going on in the locker room, you know, it's the composition of guys. They're going to have to ask a lot of questions, a lot of soul searching this summer. But it just wasn't the right DNA. to be able to move through that type of adversity. A lot of great players on that roster.

You know, a lot of guys that underperform this year. Adam Fox, I think he's got to be dealing with some physical ailments that they haven't released because he just hasn't looked like himself. You know, I know that Mika Zabanajad has been examined under close scrutiny. You know, it just wasn't the year for him. I think his bounce back ability, I still believe in a lot of his talent. But it was a struggle. And Alexei Lerfranier, once he got his contract,

actually didn't quite look the same. So I think over the summer, they're going to be one of the most fascinating teams because I don't think Chris Dury's done yet. I think we're all probably expecting a coaching change at this point because it does feel like Peter LaViolette wasn't able to get the most out of them or push the right buttons down the stretch.

But it was a malaise for a lot of it. And they just lack that punch. They lack that fight. And it's tough to see. It's certainly been tough to watch. Emily, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll finish up. I got a few other things I want to hit with you on the way out.

you're listening to the Hockey P.D.O.cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right. We're back here on the Hockey P.D.O.cast, joined by Emily, I thought it'd be fun for us to run through, especially with the playoffs starting this next Saturday. So we've only got about a week or so left here. The teams with the most on the line over the next month or so now, I'm kind of limiting it to just like sort of the first two rounds, which will happen in the next month because I think it's obvious by the time you get to the conference finals, what's on the line for whoever makes it there. But just in terms of especially getting through round one, and kind of building off the season they had and having a bit of initial success

and ensuring that they're not won and done. Let's run through maybe our handful of teams that sort of have the most on the line in terms of those stakes. Do you have one obvious one that kind of comes to mind that really exceeds everyone else? You know, I don't think it's obvious, and I think both of these teams are going to be fine

in the terms of like, I don't think the GM is going to get fired, I don't think the coach is going to be fired, I don't think there'll be wholesale changes if they lose. But I look at the Star's avalanche, And I'm like, both of these front offices have put so much investment into improving the team this year. Obviously, the stars with the big Miko Rantan and acquisition, but they've made others, right? Like, this is a team that, you know, had an obvious need for defense, like, made some pretty big trades in the middle of the season. And then the avalanche who basically overhauled their entire roster, their entire goals in the department in the middle of the season.

And the fact that one of them is going to be eliminated in round one. Like, that's just a really tough pill to swallow. So, again, like, I don't think either management groups have risk. of losing their job. I think both coaches are going to be okay. But just in terms of like you put in so much investment to see it all go down the drain, I pick one of those two teams. That's interesting. I considered them. I didn't ultimately have either in my top five, I think for the stars, especially with the Mero Hayskin and injury and the fact that it seems like he might not even be available for this round one series or at least to start it. I think that's a very clear

excuse you watched them play recently and just how porous they are defensively and not really resembling a star's team under Pete DeBurr at all, though I do feel bad for a guy Pete DeBurke because the camera keeps panning to him out for every one of these goals against, and he looks just increasingly miserable about it. But, you know, the Rantan extension, eight years, they also, that same day at the deadline, extended Wyatt Johnston, which is incredibly piece of important business for them. So they're kind of set. I think it wouldn't be certainly disappointing for them, given how good the team is generally, especially the forward group, to be one and done, and they've had a couple long post-season runs in the past few years.

So I think it'll be disappointing on that end, but I think ultimately losing, especially if the defense does them in, I think that's something where you can enter the off season and be like, all right, well, we clearly need to get better on the blue line. But there's the reason why we lost this series. The reason why I didn't include the aves was on the one hand, considering how well they're playing, I think it would certainly be disappointing. And, you know, you look at this era of Nathan McKinnon, Kail McCar, and Jared Bednar, and the fact that they've made it pass round two just once. Now they did win a Stanley Cup that year,

but it feels kind of incongruous with how good those guys have been for them to have had that little relative post season success. They did kind of reset their timeline a little bit, right? Both them and the hurricanes in the process of those Miko Randinan trades in bringing in Natchez, he's got the extra year in his deal, a bit more flexibility. We're going to see with Gable Annescog having his H.L. conditioning stint, I think they're certainly going to get some clarity

if he's able to come back and what he looks like at that point this postseason. So even if they were to lose in round one, and I wouldn't expect them to in a series against Dallas, given the state of those two teams, I think it'll be a disappointment for them, but they'd also be able to go like, all right, well, we have a bit of a better feel now

for what we're working with. We can regroup and improve our team this offseason and get back at it. And I think that would be the logic. So I don't think either those teams while disappointing. I don't think the stakes for them to win this year are necessarily as all in as it might be for, an Edmonton or a Toronto or a Winnipeg, which are the three teams I had at my list.

Classic Canadian bias. I'm with you on all three of those teams, though. And if you're thinking about, you know, probably the way you phrased the question to me, I think those are the obvious answers of look like we've got the team. The stakes are here. And if we don't meet expectations, there's going to be consequence. And I do look at all of those teams. An interesting one to me, too, would be the lightning, if only because this could be a referendum

them on their core. Like I just think that, you know, Vasilevsky looks like vintage Vasilevsky right now. Like that that shouldn't be an issue. And, you know, I think Julian Breesbaugh has been pretty adamant that he doesn't want to tear this down, that he thinks they have enough high-end talent, especially in their top six. I mean, who's matching the talent in their top six, that they can just kind of patchwork this and keep their window open. But if they do flame out really early, you know, where does that leave them?

because they've risked so much in terms of draft picks. They really don't have a prospect pool. You know, Isaac Howard is returning right now to Michigan State. Who knows what the future holds there. You know, can they keep going on as they are? Are they going to have to look at themselves in the mirror and just say, like, okay, like, do we have to go in a different direction? Now, I actually have a lot of faith in this team.

This is one of those teams that I think no one's talking enough about that could play spoiler in the East tier. Like, why not them? But if it doesn't work out, like, that's another team that I'm looking at, like, okay, like could this change the course of direction of their franchise? Yeah, I'm with you. They check a lot of the checkboxes that you look for for a legitimate contender. Obviously, the path for them, especially a round one matchup against Florida, would be incredibly difficult. But they do have everyone signed in their core, right?

They're one of the teams that was able to go out and add Burek strand and the fact that he has the money owed to him next year because they knew the cap was going up and they already had no impending deals of their own so they could just add extra salary. it would be a third straight round one exit though right now they've lost the quality teams along the way and this happens as we said in this format so they wouldn't be the first team to go through that but given this core's expectations what they accomplished previously and the fact that you know i wouldn't call it stale necessarily because you watch them play and they're just so incredibly dynamic and explosive offensively but these guys have been there for so long john cooper has been there since what 2013, which is just an incredible timeline and longevity for a head coach. And so you get to a point where it's like, all right, if you get three straight round one exits, especially to Florida and

back to back years, you're in state rival, all of a sudden, I do think you need to do some soul searching or kind of question asking in terms of, is this just our fate now that where we're stuck in? Was it just an unlucky year? Or kind of what can we do to extend this window with these guys, especially while Kutrov and Hedman and Point are playing at the level they are? Totally. And I think their big issue over the last several years has been depth, right? Like, we know how talented their top end guys are. Like, again, I just don't think anyone can match the talent of their top six. And I think they address depth some.

You know, it's funny. I was in Tampa at the trade deadline and resplaus. Like, everyone's going to focus on Yanni Gord, right? The nostalgia factor, you know. This is not vintage Yanni Gord coming back. Like, we have to adjust our expectations. The big part of this trade for us was Bjork Strand. We needed a left shot.

you know, again, signed for an extra year. We just felt like he was the bigger piece in this to me. All that said, like, Yonigard's done pretty well there, and it has been way more productive than he was in Seattle. I think that just emotionally or, you know, stylistically just wasn't the fit for him. And Björch has improved their depth and those two guys. Now, I don't know if it's improved their depth enough. Like, there's still some holes in that bottom six there.

But like you said, the John Cooper team, you know exactly where you're going to get in terms of style, in terms of effort most nights, and any of those guys that they have on that roster can be game-breaking talents. I thought at the trade deadline, they were going to try to get an extra defenseman. I think that's another area of potential weakness for them, just their depth on the blue line. But I, again, like, I hope to cover them in the first round, and I hope to cover them beyond that. And I think there's a good chance I will, because I just think they're a really good team. Do you agree that Winnipeg enters the postseason with the most online, especially in round one, you know, after their win on Thursday, in kind of solidifying

their spot atop the central that at least get to avoid a Colorado rematch in round one and they're going to get either the blues or the wild whoever finishes in the wild car two in the west, which is obviously a very winnable series for them. But considering the playoff baggage, the fact that, you know, they have some questions with the guy like Nick Eeler as being a UFA this summer. They're currently sitting first in the league and are most likely going to win the president's trophy. And then you sort of have this backdrop, which I have. have been talking about a lot in that, you know, the cap goes up from $88 million to $95.5 next year it's going to get into the 114 range three years from now.

And I think there are fair questions to ask about whether in that type of a at a price point or that type of financial landscape, how they're going to be able to compete with some of these other bigger market, deeper pocket teams. And so if there's a year for a team to be all in and really viewing it as Stanley Cup or bust, I'd say the Jets probably qualify that more than any other team this season. Yeah, that's a great point because, you know, and I don't even know if it's unspoken because I think we do kind of say the obvious out loud a lot, but like this is not an attractive city for free agents to go to. Like they have a hard time getting the top talent and therefore so many of their trades, you know, have to hit and so many of their homegrown talent have to hit and they have. And they got really lucky and maybe it's not luck more so.

It's just a testament to the system that they built that Connor Hallibook's like, yeah, no, I feel really comfortable taking less money to stay here because. I believe in this organization and how long has he kept these guys afloat. He's absolutely unbelievable. I do sometimes wonder if he's a bit overtaxed. He has crumbled in the last couple of playoffs. And that's something that I've always wondered about his workload. And I'm curious to see how he shows up this year. I don't think anyone's going to lose their job because I think ownership understands the systems that they have to work under.

Like I think Kevin Shevoldaoff is safe. I think coaching staff is safe. But you're right in terms of like, this is your best opportunity. do it now, this is the year for them. And I worry about their depth a bit too. I just think that while they have been so good and they're so strong defensively, like there are a couple things where I'm like, like typically the teams that win the Stanley Cup have this or that.

And I don't know if they necessarily have it. This should be their year. You know, for all the talk, you mentioned stars abs in round one and certainly Florida, Tampa Bay would qualify as well. maybe the most interesting matchup from what the losing team does in the offseason might be Edmonton versus L.A. for me with it being the fourth straight year, right? Because on the one hand for Edmonton, it's very obvious. You have Leandro Seidel, who has been the best skater, in my opinion, in the world this season. This is the final year. He's at $8.5 million. He jumps up to 14 next year.

This offseason, you enter the final year of McDavid at 12.5. You came so close last season. They had a hellish off season. They lost a ton of youth and speed and skill, and they don't look quite like the same team. Yet if you have dry saddle and McDavid Healthy, I'm going to have a hard time picking them to lose in any given matchup. And on the other side, you have this Kings team, which is objectively playing at a higher level right now, is looking like they're going to have home ice for the first time in these four straight series against the Oilers. And they made a lot of changes this past off season. Rob Blake kind of doubled down on trying to become more difficult to play against and more physical.

and all of that. And they've been much better than I thought they'd be. Yet if you lose for a fourth straight year, especially with home ice, I do think you enter the offseason being like, all right, well, maybe we won't play the Oilers every year moving forward,

but we've clearly hit a ceiling here, and that ceiling is losing in round one to a team in our division. And so what's the point even at this point? What do we do? And so it would be incredibly cruel, but at the same time, I'm so fascinated by that series, because, you know,

the dire state of the team that loses, I think is going to be very real in a couple weeks. Yeah, I'm with you. That's such a fascinating series. And as I've gone around the league, the last couple weeks, something I've heard consistently is the kings are sneaky good. Like, teams that go and face them, come back and being like, okay, like that team is legit.

I kind of view them differently as you, if only because I think that they're a team that has exceeded expectations this year, that maybe they're a step forward than where they thought they would be. And I've heard about some of the players that they've tried, tried to acquire over the last several months, whether, you know, it's poking around Mika Ranton and poking around Brad Marchand. And I just get the sense that like they love this team. They love the core. They know they've got a lot of great guys here. But they're not afraid of making bigger splashes and adding. And I think this summer will be fascinating because I do think, you know,

they're ready to be that Splashy Kings team again where they go after those big names to supplement the core that they already have. So I think that they're in really good shape. going forward here. I think that they've got a strong identity, strong pieces, and, you know, lost in all of that, is that, like, Dark Sea Kemper looks really good, way better than he did in Washington. And that was just a trade that worked out spectacularly for both teams. As for the oilers, like, I think, you know, you could talk about the hangover of making it all the way down there to the Stanley Cup final, you know, the exhaustion or workload for Connor McDavid. I think now looking back, everyone's like, why didn't he take a break after Four

Nations? You know, he just, that's not within his name. He wants to be the captain. He wants to be out there. But it clearly, you know, it all took a toll on him. Their off-season moves just hadn't worked out. And I think they made a couple poor choices that they had to pay for afterwards. And it's just unfortunate because when you have the two best players in the world, you want to support them with the best cast around them.

And often you're limited because of what you can do, that you can't afford those misses. All that said, like, as long as both those guys are playing in a playoff series and they're going to play in this playoff series, I'm never going to count the oilers out. It's just like that's how good those two guys are. Goaltending is a big question mark. It's an area that they didn't address. And again, like I just think that the depth issues might show up.

And, you know, the two guys that lost at the offer sheet, like, yeah, I don't know if it was a miscalculation, just misplaying whatever. But like, doesn't it look like they could really use a Broberg right now? Yeah, it certainly does. All right. Let's end with this. I got a couple mail-by questions. I don't want to run by you quickly. The first one is a question saying,

what teams does Emily expect to make a coaching change as soon as the season ends? You mentioned Peter Labiolet and the Rangers there and a bonus question on top of that. Who, in your opinion, would be the leading favorite to land David Carl if he chooses to come to the NHL? Oh, yeah, it's interesting with Carl

because I went out to Denver to do a feature story a couple months ago and it was my first time meeting David Carl. And I really do believe he is so fine staying there and the stability of college, understanding, you know, what's around him. You know, I think maybe he looks at Jared Bednar and is like, look, there's a pretty big age difference between us. Like, if I could just

take a job with the abs after this, like, that'd be great for my family. He thinks it's all nuts. But you know this summer someone's going to throw an offer at him that he can't refuse. And I do think that it's going to come to a head where he really has to say, okay, like, am I firm in my beliefs that I think the NHL is just absolutely vicious of the way they treat coaches? Or do I want to test myself at that level. The two teams that come to mind for me are the Blackhawks and the Bruins. I just think of what would be attractive to him, an original six team. I think what would be attractive is stability, especially with the Blackhawks and how they're just so long-range thinking right now. I think they wouldn't be afraid to put a really long-term deal on the table.

So those would be the teams that I would keep an eye on. As for coaching changes, the expectation around the league is definitely the Rangers will go for a coaching change. I do believe the Blackhawks as well. I think that the ownership group still believes in management and Kyle Davidson. And I think that they love their young guys and they want to see this come to fruition. But Ander Sorensen, really good guy. I think they'd love to keep him in the organization, but probably a different head coach. And then a lot of the interims that were brought in, like Joe Sacco, I would expect a different coach there.

but again, I wouldn't be surprised if Sacco stays in the organization because they really like him and everything that he brought. It's just, you know, he was dealt a really hard hand. All right. One final one on the way out here. Let's have a little bit of fun. We got a, uh, in the Pediocas Discord, we've got quite a special individual pixies. And he is obsessed with every time, uh, the ESPN broadcast comes on how your look and hair

changes so dramatically on every broadcast. Do you have anything to say about the allegations that you're in fact a shapeshifter? Um, I would say, I don't think it really changes dramatically. I definitely change my hair color a bit. I'm a bit on the reddish side now. But I like different fashion, different clothing. And so sometimes maybe what I wear, the perfect way I look.

There are different makeup artists in different cities. Sometimes I've got to tell the girls to turn it down a little bit. Like I'm off there Barbie a doll. I'm an actual human beings. The fake lashes don't need to really be fake or that big. But I would push back pretty strongly against those allegations. But I appreciate him paying attention. Well, you're not going to be the first person to push back against Pixies' takes, so I'm right there with you.

All right. But they can watch it, man. Yeah, exactly. Emily, this was awesome. Thank you for taking the time and coming on. I'll let you plug some stuff on the way out. You're saying you're probably going to be covering the Capitals Round 1 series. Do you have your assignment yet?

You know which series you're going to be balancing around to start the postseason? Oh, yeah. I'd love to be able to cover one series. Now, the way it goes for us is especially the first round and the second round as well. Like we, it's, the broadcast window is a wild. So Turner starts on Saturday, ESPA, and we've got Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I think we might even have a Thursday window.

And it'll likely be, you know, one city, one city, one city, city, city, B, bouncing between two series. I'm guessing I'll stay east. So, you know, I think the caps, because so many of our big market teams are out or probably our alpha, but I'm really hoping to get down to that battle of Florida if it exists because I think that's going to be spectacular hockey. Awesome.

Well, enjoy the ride. looking forward to watching you on the broadcasts and this was fun that's all from us for now. I'll be back with one more show here to close out the week.

Thank you for listening to the Hockey-Pedio cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.