The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 344: Trade Winners, Losers, and TBDs

Episode Date: February 26, 2020

Emily Kaplan joins the show to empty out the trade deadline notebook, and help sort through all of the player movement we saw. We discuss the winners and losers, the prices that were paid, the teams that went for it, and the teams that we wish were more aggressive.See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 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.

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and joining me is my buddy, my co-worker, my colleague. It's my good pal, Emily Kaplan. Emily, what's going on? Buddy, co-worker colleague. I love it. BTC. I'm great. How are you? I went back and yeah, because I was listening. I remember last time I had you on, we were trying to figure out what the correct terminology was and whether it was like unintentionally hostile or whether it was friendly enough. And I couldn't pick one of them, so I'm going to go with all three of them. We've really come a long way. I feel like we mentioned this every time. But from episode one when I was there when they're making smoothies in the background to now when we're buddy co-workers and colleagues all three yeah well it's an exciting time and it's an exciting time in the in the hl calendar as well um we're going to today we're

gonna do some kind of like deadline wrap up we're going to winners losers um you know wait and see teams that kind of road the fence we're gonna empty out the notebook i've got a ton of notes here um you i'm sure have many as well and and i was telling you before we started recording i've intentionally avoided your content over the past couple days not because it's not great and everyone else should check it out for sure, but it's because I want to react organically to all your takes and not know where you're coming from. So I'm excited to see where this goes. Yeah, well, as I told you, I also like to intentionally not read my work. So I think it's a very excited. All right. Well, now that we've kind of let this marinate for about 48 hours

and the dust settle, and we've seen some of the new players at least play a debut performance with their new teams yesterday. Let's get into this. Give me a, well, since you're the guest, I'll open the floor. You can take it any way you want, whether it's like a big over- overarching takeaway, whether it's a specific winner or loser, just let's start the discussion and see where it goes. Overpayments. I think that was the big takeaway for me.

This was a year where like there weren't that many sexy names available, especially when the Rangers decided to keep Chris Kreider. And, you know, it wasn't the number of first round picks. It's just the players that ended up getting first round picks really surprised me. You know, I listened to Chuck Fletcher

talk and he's like, I didn't really feel like this was a year where anyone was really an impact player but then to see what the islanders gave up for jean gabriel peggot um to see you know the fact that bark like goodro got a first round pick those were pretty surprising moves to me yeah it was i guess it is all about sort of supply and demand and if you're a desperate team you kind of have to take the best thing available and i and i'm sure the the senators are happy about that i think in a you know in an ideal world in a regular situation where it was it was such an interesting uh market that was available both because like so many of those kind of sexy rental names were already

on contenders that weren't incentivized to move them, or because we saw teams like, you know, Taylor Hall, Jason Zucker, even Blake Coleman, teams get kind of proactive and acquire their players before the deadline. So when it came down to that final couple hours to make a move and improve your team, if you're the Islanders and you're looking around and you're like, oh, well, we've had all these injuries. We basically have Matt Barzal and that's about it in terms of center depth at this point.

We need to do something like John Gabriel Pajot was the only player available. And in that case, like, the senators have quite a bit of leverage. So I actually went into it thinking that they'd have to get creative to get a first for him because I didn't think any team would actually pay that type of a price for him. And not only was I wrong, but they got a first and a second. I don't think they'll be getting that conditional third because I think the Islanders probably are not winning the cup this year.

But still, it was quite a haul for the senators to get. So they kind of cashed in in terms of that supply and demand. Yeah, I've got to say, we critique Pierre Dorian a lot. And I think a lot of it rightfully so. we've counted 40 different trades and some of the mining leaguers with 40 players left his franchise since the start of the 2017-18 season that's absolutely insane but um you know fan apathy is at an all-time low and tenants is bad the fact that he was able to pull this off for a guy who had never hit 20 goals in his career until this year and has only done it because he's riding like nearly an 18% shooting percentage um good work by him another thing i feel like i noticed is this is a year where it feels wide open there's no real clear front rudder. I know Tampa has surged of late, but any team feels like if they get in, they can do it.

So that, I think, played into a lot of people's decision. And then, yeah, like you said, the guys who acted early, I love Jim Rutherford's approach, the fact that he did that Zucker trade, what was it, about 10 days before the deadline, because then he can see his team for a couple games, see how they're playing out, and then decide if he wants to make more moves.

And he did, and he got almost every fringe forward that could possibly play in the middle six available, and I love that. Yeah, it's funny because we always joke about how the penguins had this like a knack to have this like random player name generator where you look and some no name, no one's ever heard of that's up from the HL is all of a sudden playing on the top line and scoring 20 goals. But now that death chart, especially up front, it's just completely full.

Like even their fourth line has above average NHL players. So their ability to both have the star talent up front with Malkin and Crosby, but also be able to kind of come at you in waves in that protester. a typical Mike Sullivan system and not really have much of a drop-off is going to be really enticing to see. I think, you know, especially you were talking about how wide open it is and how many teams are talking themselves into, let's make a move here because we could make a run just because of how open it is. I think that was particularly true in the Pacific Division, right, where we saw, you know, Vegas made a big move of acquiring Robin Lennar. We saw the Oilers, Acquire two-winger

to play with Connor McDavid. We saw the Canucks a bit proactively go and get Tyler to Foley to replace what they're losing with Brock Bessor's injury. We saw the flames go out and add a couple of defensemen in particular. Augustus and couldn't help their power play. So I still think like a lot of those teams are probably going to need some things to fall into place for them to make that long run because I do think Vegas is pretty clearly at the top of that pack. But when it's that open and there's so much jockeying for position, I see why a lot of those

teams are like, this could be our year. So why not just go for it and see where it takes us? The only guy who didn't do that and I was expecting him to. is Joe Sackack. You know, the Colorado Appalachian. I've talked to Nathan McKinnon a couple of times this year, and he says, in my seven years in the avalanche organization, this is the first time I truly believe that we could win the Stanley Cup.

And we've seen them be a bit banged up lately. They've now slipped the third place in the Central Division. Good stronghold on third place, but that's where they are. They've got the cap space to do it. We heard all these wild rumors about what they might do. They were in on Taylor Hall early, and their big move is getting Vladom Mestikov for a fourth round pick. And look, I think that could.

be sneaky good value it's a thrifty move he definitely fits into the style that they play but i was kind of hoping for more from them yeah i like domestic calls versatility you know depending on um their health and how to decide to play they can move him from the wing to down the middle and and he certainly stylistically fits i added him as one of my big losers just because uh it felt like they're really trying to kind of have their cake here and eat it to where like i think they acknowledge with how wide open the west is and where they stand in the central that they have a good chance you have Nathan McKinnon as we saw last postseason you're always going to have a puncher's chance in the in the playoffs but they also feel very kind of like hesitant to make the first bad step

that they've really made over the past couple years and maybe that kind of uh you know that that fear is paralyzing them a little bit here where they didn't want to take on any future money but i viewed it as a bit of a missed opportunity here because if you look ahead the next year they only really have about 50 million committed i think in next year's team with two goalies already locked up their top three defensemen, you know, their top line, and then you've got the second line of like, Cadre d'Anse going to Comper. And so basically they're going to have 30 to 35 million to kind of play around on the margins. And obviously, you know, they're probably going to pay Brokowski and they have a couple young guys that they need to extend as RFAs. But I view this as an

opportunity for them with McCar and with Landis Gog, having this sort of wiggle room where they're making way less both this year and next year compared to what they're going to be making after the summer of 2021 for them to go and get a guy like, whether it's Kyle Palmieri, whether it's Thomas DeTar, whether it's even a rental like Chris Crider and take a couple legitimate cracks at it as opposed to sort of sitting on the fence and trying to get the best of both worlds. So I viewed it as a bit of a disappointment just because I would have liked to see them be more aggressive. I totally agree. And look, we should be complimenting Josaka Ki, built the team the right way, slowly draft and developing. But like at some point,

you got to shoot your shot. You do. And I wonder if part of it is, you know, they've been such a great story and kind of a hockey world darling in terms of their their rise over the past couple years it feels like they really have been infallible and really made no bad moves and so i wonder if part of it is like they're they really are kind of hesitant to um to make that home run swing because it could backfire and then all of a sudden they feel like that's going to like completely reverse the momentum of this team they're building as opposed to all the good vibes they have right now but I really think that there was any number of wingers out there that would have really been a fascinating fit for them, especially if you're pairing them on McKinnon's wing and just letting those two guys fly.

So I don't know. I wish they had done more, especially with the state of the West. I mean, we saw the blues went out and acquired a Marcos Scandela a couple days before the deadline, but they kind of stood pad with their team. I think they're viewing Vlad Tarasenko's return as their big deadline acquisition. The stars didn't really do anything themselves, and so I thought an opportunity was there for the abs to really kind of, assert themselves amongst that group and be like, no, this is the year we're really going for it.

Yeah, I think you're, I think this is a Canadian term. Bang on there. Bening on there. I guess the hurricanes, we can talk about them a little bit. I had them as a winner because just what I was saying about the abs, like they're kind of the opposite in the sense that I think they have a less positive outlook, especially for this season in terms of where they stand in that completely loaded metro division. but they certainly weren't afraid to dive into the deep end and make a couple of splash trades.

They acquired Brady Shea. They acquired Sammy Vattenin. They made that splash trade for Ravinichrothic. And so they still, I think people are a bit annoyed or concerned or disconcerted about the fact that they didn't add a goalie and we'll see how long it'll take before Marzic and Rimer come back. But, you know, knowing how invested that team is in analytics and sort of their forward thinking, I think they're viewed it as like, we like our chances regardless of who's in it. I mean, all jokes aside about the Zamboni driver winning a game for them against the Leaves, like I think they weren't going to be a team that was going to invest heavy assets in a Robin Lennar or any other goalie.

So I never viewed that as a kind of realistic landing spot for them. But all other moves aside, like I really liked what they did in terms of adding guys who fit that mold of being in their mid-20s and their prime and under contract for a couple years moving forward at really reasonable cap hits. Totally. Yeah, I think this is going to be the one non-ebug hockey podcast you're going to listen to this week. So that's our only be there is talk. Yeah, no, they truly, they have faith or they say they have faith in both of their minor league goalies. One of them won them in the HL called their cup last, or two years ago, rather. Was it last year? I don't know when the checkers won. And the other is Anton Forsberg, who has about 45 games, I think, of NHL experience. So, yeah, I think they kind of view that as not a replaceable position, but kind of a replaceable position. I loved what they did. If you look at it from the big picture, they added two core players at the deadline, which is nearly impossible to do.

I've talked to some Florida Panther players who are shocked that Vincent Trocheck was traded. There was some scuttlebut about it, but this is a guy we've been talking about as a really great center in this league on a very value-friendly contract. I think he probably came back a bit too soon from that ankle injury in 2018-19 season.

and that may have been a reason for his struggle. I do know the team is also kind of trying to adjust to the Joel Quindville era. But the fact that he was even available and that they could snag him for a pretty good price is pretty incredible to me. Brady Shea, maybe not necessarily worth a first rounder, but a great contract. And like two years ago when he had that breakout year with the Rangers, everyone's like, this guy is the future. I think he can still get back to that.

And those were the two biggest, that was their biggest area of need. They've been looking for defensive help ever since Dougie Hamilton went down. That was accentuated even more when Brett Peschi went down with a long-term injury. And I feel like this is GM Don Waddell saying, we're not going to let some bad injury luck ruin the momentum that we've built from the beginning of last season. For them, the on-ice success ties to the off-ice success, which is so important in that market. And they've got to keep that momentum going. They've got to keep the excitement there in Raleigh, people keeping going into those seats.

and I was super excited to watch their first game last night with all these new faces in the lineup. Well, in the ads, and we'll see Vaden and he'll be a while before he comes back from injury, but I think he'll sort of fit in naturally as that replacement for Hamilton on the power play. But with Shea and Trocheque, which were the two big sort of investments they made in terms of all the all the future capital they gave up for them. What I view it is, like they really fit the way the hurricanes like to operate in that market with the realization that despite all, like how fan-friendly they become and how how, how, you know, they're cultivating this excitement in hockey.

They're like, they're not going to be able to be one of these teams that is just going to be outright spending with the absolute financial juggernauts in the league. And so they add Trochik and Shea, who are two guys who, like I said, are in their primes. They're basically going to be paid out through the rest of their 20s. And they're kind of at reasonable capits. And I view how the hurricanes are building their team here very similarly to what the blues have done, for example. you know they have that top-end guy making north of seven million dollars or north eight million in a in ahos case like terranco but then they have all these guys who are just like good players who are in that like four to five million dollar middle tier which

feels like it's kind of being squeezed out in the league it feels like many more teams like the leaps are kind of trying to draft the young players that are superstars and then paying them accordingly and basically going with like a stars and scrubs approach for lack of a better term where they're just like, we're going to have all these stars. We're going to make it work around the margins with guys on ELCs and veteran players making league minimums. And the hurricanes and the blues have gone the complete other way where they're all of a sudden just packing their team with as many good but not great players as possible.

And I think Trocheck and Shea really fit that bill. Totally. The fact that Shea is under contract for four more years at $5.25 million when everybody is expecting the cap to go up with a new TV deal coming in 2021. That's great. That's cost certainty. And, you know, we can make fun of Tom Dundon for trying to cut corners all he wants. But he's a businessman.

And cost certainty is something that he values highly. Well, and I think we already saw it in his debut. He slides right in there and plays in the top pairing. I think he led the hurricanes in 515 usage, actually playing alongside Jacob Slaven. And that sort of skating of his and ability to jump in the play, I think, really vibes very well with what the hurricanes are trying to accomplish and how they want ideally play. And I think with Shea, I mean, you.

he hasn't necessarily had the greatest year or the greatest past couple years. He's been kind of thrown into the deep end, playing all the hard minutes on the tall pairing all of a sudden this year with Jacob Truba. And it's funny to look back at it like a couple years ago, as you alluded to when he burst on the scene with that skating of his and playing on the third player in sheltered minutes. I remember everyone falling in love with him and being like, this guy needs to play more. He's the shiny new toy.

And then now that he's been around for a while, everyone kind of moves off of him and looks at other players instead and with the Rangers having, you know, Fox and DeAngelo and they have all these young defensemen that they've drafted highly over the past couple years coming. I think for them, they viewed it as like, let's just get another first rounder here, especially since we didn't get one for Crider after we decided to keep him and open up some minutes here for some other young defensemen that are coming along the way. So it's just kind of how the league works in terms of like our excitement about guys when we first see them as opposed to how they've already been around the league a couple years.

Totally. I feel like this is the perfect segue to talk about the Rangers because they were one of the big wildcars of this trade deadline, right? Chris Kreider was the biggest name available. And they announced pretty early on Monday that they're going to extend him. You didn't listen to me and Greg's podcast, but I shared my little conspiracy theory there, and I'll share it with you now.

I feel like there was something to the car accident on Sunday night involving Igor Shisterakin and Pavel Bouchnevich and the fact that all of a sudden they magically came to terms with Chris Kreider on Monday morning. You know, they've carried all this good momentum and good juju with a fan base. They're on this winning streak. Igor Shisterkin's the guy. And then can you imagine going to trade deadline day

after they're on this bit of a streak and saying, hey, our top hot shot goalies out a couple weeks and he fractured his ribs in a car accident and we're getting rid of Chris Kreider, a fan favorite who really want to stay here. Maybe that's the thing that moved the needle with a contact extension.

Who's to say? But look, I love the fact that they kept Chris Kreider and I love the fact that they're going for it this year. Like, the rebuild should be over. It was great. It was done the right way, but this team has proved a lot to me in the last couple weeks. You know, I'm a little bit surprised they didn't move. Ypres fast, he was a pending UFA. Maybe they could have gotten a little bit of value there.

There were teams interested in Ryan Strom and Tony DeAngelo, who are our phase. But the fact that they move Shea's contract, move She and moved his contract, I mean, they can now pay them this summer. And I really like the direction this team's going in. Yeah. I mean, they're clearly ahead of schedule. they went from being a young, exciting team that was great on offense to actually piling up the wins. Now I still think they rely on their goal tending so much and they have the talent to carry

them there. But especially in that metro, I think there's still a bit of a ways away, but they're only a couple points out now. I think with the Crider thing, I think it was as simple as, you know, the abs very clearly did not, as we talked about, want to move premium premium assets for a rental at this point with their sort of franchise trajectory. The Bruins already made their move, and we can talk more about that in a minute, acquiring Andre Kasha. And so if they just looked around,

I think the market of teams that had that sort of need and fit and was at a point where they were willing to move a first and a top prospect and maybe another conditional pick for Chris Kreider, all of a sudden wasn't there. And so from their perspective, they were like, well, you know, we have sort of a good thing going here. Crider is a heck of a player still. That seventh year they gave him probably is not going to be ideal when he's in his mid-30s,

but at that $6.5 million cap hit that they were able to sort of get as a bargaining chip for them, it's going to be fine over the next couple of years, especially since he's playing in the top six, and he adds that kind of dynamic element of the speed and the size and the power and all that. And so I think for them, they just viewed it as like, let's just keep him for now for the next couple of years, and then we can play around with it. I think the other thing that helps here is, you know, they move Shays contract, but if you look ahead, they also moving forward are going to have so much, not necessarily dead money expiring, but money they can probably be used more optimally with Henrik Lindquist's contract coming off

the books after next season, with Brendan Smith, with Mark Stahl. Like this Rangers team is all of a sudden, I know they're going to have to pay all these young players eventually, but they're going to have so much financial wiggle room to get back to being sort of that free spending, Euro rangers team that we've come to know and love. It's so true. And like my dad is a huge New York Rangers fan. And he pointed it out and I think this is true. Artemi Pinaran is truly the first time they have splashed for a big free agent before he's hit his total peak.

Like they've really, really hit money on that. And yeah, I just love the direction they're going in. I think they're in great shape. All right. You want to talk about the Bruins? Okay. Well, yeah. Let's do the Bruins.

So I have a few thoughts on cash out because that trade came out, I believe, on the Friday before the dead. line so the Bruins kind of got ahead of it and I think we get into this kind of like echo chamber or group thing on Twitter where it feels like everyone forms opinions on players and then you sort of just stick with it and ride it and Kasha is a great example for me because he's been an analytics darling I've written about him I've talked about him on the podcast where I feel like years now like he've checked all the boxes in terms of he's a possession beast he's great in the neutral zone he generates shots and an extremely high rate. He's always amongst the league leaders

in terms of production on a permanent basis. And it's hard not to look at him and watch him play and be like, man, this guy could be something really special if he's fully unleashed and gets to play with great players on a permanent basis. And so I think it's really easy to talk yourself into that. But it's funny because I've talked about him so much on those various platforms.

And recently I've had quite a bit of pushback from people in the league working for various teams that are like, yeah, we would not touch him with. a 10 foot pole like just because of his medicals were so concerned about not only his body deteriorating but obviously the multiple concussions he's had at this point and so I know various teams have different medical staffs and different opinions and I think the hurricanes last summer were interested in and we're going to trade him if Justin Falk allowed that trade to happen the Bruins clearly aren't particularly concerned about it I think certain teams are maybe more willing to

be aggressive or take risks with with injury prone guys but I think just expecting Kasha to come in all of a sudden be this rock star, superstar. I think there's a bit more nuance to it than you would know just based on reading sort of Twitter's reactions to it when the trade happened. Totally. I think another huge component of that trade was the David Backus contract. In fact, they found someone who was going to take it on, not something that I thought was possible.

Yes, they had to give up a first round pick in the process. But overall, when you look at everything that went into that trade, I do see it as a win for Boston. And I really like the other moves they made as well. I mean, you know, one of them was minor of shipping Danton Hinen out, but he was the guy that was, you know, digressing a bit offensively. His numbers has gone down. I feel like they know their window is in the next couple years while they still have Marchand and Bergeron and Charra. You know, Marchand's probably going to outlast those guys, but they still have all those guys in their prime.

And, yeah, why not go for it right now? When you look at it, they're once again at the top, I think they're headed for an absolutely heavyweight collision course with the lightning and we can talk about how the lightning improved as well but i think they really did kind of kill two birds with one stone there with moving the back as contract which i don't think was as onerous as people would would believe i mean you know his six million dollar cap it is obviously devastating for the bruin's next season because they're going to need to pay de brusk andrewck they're going to need to hopefully get in and extend troy krug when he hits the free agent market but for a team like the ducks i mean they can just they have so much cap

space they can easily absorb that and then even if they want to buy them out i think they only have to really pay them two million dollars in terms of real cash so getting a first out of that isn't a particularly bad piece of business for them especially if they are worried about casha but for the brun's they kind of clear that money moving forward but they also fill an obvious need we saw last year what adding marcus johans into the mix did in terms of getting a transition player who can be kind of a secondary playmaker for them and if kasha can actually stay on the ice and buck some of these injury concerns, he fits in so seamlessly next to David Creachie as a guy who can help get them the puck in the offensive zone and then retrieve it for him and basically make all sorts

of, facilitate all sorts of things for the Bruins when their top line isn't out there. And I think, you know, they've been so good in terms of their defensive shell, the goaltending, the top line, the power play that we lose sight of the fact that like, I think Bergeron, Marchand and Pasternak are basically accounting for like half of the team's overall goals and when you're playing a team like the lightning in round two and they can come at you in so many different directions with so many different scoring threats having a second line that can legitimately keep up is going to be huge for Boston totally um but yeah that check magic with kasha and khrigchi's going to be awesome i wanted to talk a bit about the black hawks because that's the

team that i follow most closely just because i live in chicago and i thought a lot about missed opportunities at this deadline and and and where teams could have done better and one of the things and it might seem minor, but the Blackhawks should have traded Erica Stoff's in this summer after he's coming up with 17-goal and 60-point season, and they already have a defensive logjam where they can't really guarantee him a great spot in the top six. You know, to get a third-round pick for him feels a bit disappointing, especially because he is such a popular guy in that locker room and he has slump this year. So that was a missed opportunity for them.

But if you look at the big picture with the Blackhawks, I think the issue is this is a team that's retooling. And it's not easy considering how they are saddled with some of these contracts. And it's not easy working with this fan base, which quite frankly has been spoiled from winning three Stanley Cup's last decade. But they're just not in great shape. And, you know, the Robin Lainer situation, I kind of look at it as he fell into the Blackcawks laugh this summer. They didn't expect him to be available. They get this incredible goalie right hitting his prime. He's off a Vesna finalist season. To let contract talks fall apart like that and only get a second round pick for him in return. And prospect, too, our Chris Peter says, isn't quite exciting and Slava Denim. Not great.

And I look at the bigger picture with Stan Bowman, and I'm like, I understand that you're retooling and it's not going to be easy. But you're always going to be stuck in mediocrity if these are the moves you're going to keep making. And I wonder if they would have been better off doing something more drastic, like trading Brandon Sod. Because I know there were a lot of teams interested in him like the Bruins. Yeah, I just wonder when you look at that situation, like what the plan or endgame is here. Like it feels like they're stuck in the middle right now where they're not very good, but they have a couple of aging stars and they want to do right by them and be competitive and maybe take one last run with them while they're still somewhere around their primes.

But the supporting talent around them just isn't there. And I feel for Bowman from the perspective of it's tricky moving a goalie this time of year. And we heard him talk about it after the fact that the market isn't really there. because chances are if you're a good team that's a contender you probably already have a top goalie that you rely on and so you're not necessarily in need of one um so it felt like you know Vegas maybe Carolina but they likely weren't going to pay that price as we talked about so they were kind of they didn't have that sort of leverage when it came to moving them from a supply and demand perspective but it's especially once you hear some of those reports and I wonder how much validity

there is to it but let's say there's even an ounce of truth to it that Lanner actually came to them and was willing to take a very reasonable, I think, three-year deal, making even slightly less than he's making now, just so he has some of that sort of longer-term stability and security, and he can stay in one place. And for them to pass on that, at least for now, they can obviously revisit it come July 1st, but there's just a weird vibe to the fact that they decided to go that route.

I think ultimately getting a second round pick for a goalie that if you don't view them as part of your future plans, I'm perfectly okay with it. It makes a lot more sense than just sort of holding a hard line and just being like, oh, we're not going to get what we want. We're just going to keep them and let them walk in a free agency. Like a second Olympic is better than nothing. But ultimately, it just seemed there's some sort of a stink around there and I can't really

kind of wrap my head around it. Yeah. Just as the Rangers, I think their moves were almost dictated by their performance before the deadline. I think the Blackhawks were too. They went on this one and four road trip that totally sealed their fate. And yeah, getting rid of Lainer, now almost feels to me like they're ready to tank the rest of the season, even though technically

like they could still make a run, because the goals they have that could go behind Crawford are not great. Malcolm Subban, who they caught in Vegas, he doesn't have good numbers. I think we're past the point where we believe he could be a number one in this league. Colin Delia's in the HL, they clearly don't have too much faith in him if they had to go out and get a replacement for a laner. So I almost feel like they're just throwing in the white flag, and that can't feel great for the players and it can't feel great for the fan base.

it can't but on the other hand i would argue that they probably should have come to that decision a long time ago like we're on like a year and a half now of this being exactly who the black hawks are right where they like have these flashes of brilliance but ultimately they're one of the worst two or three defensive teams in the league they don't have depth they're probably stretching their veterans far too thin because though that lack of depth and asking duncan keith to still play 24 minutes at this point of his career and so i think they went on that run and like kind of late 2019, early 2020, where like they talked themselves and do, oh, we could sneak in on the, in the wild card and reinvigorate our franchise here. But I think that was kind of a red herring.

I think ultimately, if they had acted sooner like you talked about with Gustafs, then they probably could have gotten much more than they ultimately wound up settling for. Totally. All right. What other teams do you exist? Well, let's talk about the lightning because we talked about the Bruins. And I think that's a natural part of that conversation. I think most people would just look from the outside and go like okay they gave up a first and a top prospect for blake coleman they gave up a first for for barclay goodrow now they also got back philadelphia's third so ultimately i think that winds up being like moving down 50 draft slots or so it's not entirely just giving up a full first for a good row but i think not just interject right there like everyone's kind of forgetting the fact this is

it's going to probably be a very low first and a high third yeah exactly yeah so it's not necessarily as bad i think you would look at goodro's stats and be like okay i think he has 26 career goals. He's like not a guy that you would typically see associated with this price. But I think for the lightning, you can't view those transactions in isolation. You kind of need to view it from the bigger picture where they are obviously on a on a crazy run. I know they've lost a couple of games here recently, but they're spread up there again as being one of the best teams in the league. I think they're going to have a great chance to advance very far in the playoffs. But they also are viewing this cap crunch heading into the summer, much like they have in the past, where they're going to have to pay

both Sergachev they're going to have to pay Anthony Sorrelli quite a bit more than they're making right now in their ELCs and so they're going to need to create some of that money now last year we saw them move j t miller for a first i think this summer we're almost certainly going to see them move at least one of alice corin and tyler johnson maybe both maybe even yani gore like i think they're going to really explore that market and they're going to be able to recoup a lot of this draft capital we saw that first they got for jt miller i think a lot of teams around the league look at them and go like we'd love to have any of these lightning players. They're very good, very productive. We can bump them up to our first or second line, whereas they're playing on the third line for the lightning and get much more out of them. And so they're

going to get some of those draft picks back. And for them now, they have Goodrow and they have Coleman making less than $3 million combined next season and they can bump those guys up the lineup. And they also have this defensive versatility now where they can afford to keep playing Stamco's Kuturov and point together as this devastating top offensive line because they have Sirelli, Coleman, Gord, so on and so forth. In their second and third line, they can soak up all those defensive minutes and play the kind of the shutdown matchups. And so just the way this roster has come together, I think they paid a high price, certainly.

But when you view it from that perspective, it makes a lot of sense what the lightning did. Totally. And, you know, I sometimes wonder about rookie GMs. Like, I've paid a lot of attention to what Bill Guerin has done with patience in putting his stamp on the roster. And I look at Julian Brist Braw and I know that he's had a big impact, you know, as the number two to Steve Iserman. But I really love the way he's just acting with conviction.

And that Blake Coleman trade was all about conviction. He's like, I'm getting a player that I believe is only up and up. I am getting him at the right time as he's ascending. I'm getting him because he has cost certainty next year and is going to be great for us. And I don't care what I give up. Now, they did give up a lot. Nolan foot is a very good prospect. A first round pick is a first round pick.

But this is a team that isn't thinking about the future. They know their window is now and they know they need to get a lot. over that psychological playoff home. And I know that Park Lake-A-Drow with the great defensive skills that he has. I know, like you said, he only has 26 career goals, but he's more of a checking guy. And Blake Coleman will help them get there. Yeah, and you look at it. You know, I mentioned how they like the load of that top line.

Now, I think that Stamco's Kutraulte of point at 5-1-5, they only really played them 41 minutes last year. I think they were hesitant to put all their eggs in that one basket. This year, they've played nearly 300 minutes together. They're outscoring teams 29 to 12 in that time as expected. And so that's obviously a devastating. stating line but with how sirelli's playing now and during the selki conversation legitimately getting coleman and gudrow i mean goodrow uh for all of his sort of lack of offense and and

poor counting stats was the leading uh penalty killer on a shark's team that was literally the number one penalty killing unit in the league this season and coleman is right up there as one of the best most sort of dangerous in terms of just creating penalty kill chances as well so they got all these guys that fill like very specific needs and sort of niche skill sets for them. And so I think this lightning team is really dangerous. And I'm really excited to see how they're going to match up with those top sixes versus Boston in a potential round two matchup. Yeah, they're almost role players.

And also I always take pause every time someone says Goodrill because I think it's Johnny good time. I'm like, what did I miss? Yeah. Johnny Goodro, taking a, taking a pee, a very legendary week. And then the one's four, very deadline weekend. Um, okay, well, you know, let's stick with the Alberta theme because. I actually did like what the Oilers did.

You know, I would have potentially preferred them to get more aggressive in terms of paying a bigger price and getting a Brennan Saut, getting a Kyle Palmyrie, getting one of these like legitimate difference makers on the wing to play with McDavid. But at the same time, I'm going to list off the list of wingers that McDavid has taken regular shifts with this year. He's played 632 minutes with Zach Cassian. He's played 207 minutes with James Neal, 112 with Josh Archibald, 78, 3,000. with Alex Chassan, 74 with Sam Gagne,

and then over 50 minutes with both Joachim Nygaard and Patrick Russell. And that's an issue for the Oilers. Like, Connor McDavid can make all these guys look much better than they are because he's the best player in the world. But all of a sudden adding... With all those nobodies. Exactly. But all of a sudden adding Athanasius speed,

adding Tyler Ennis's skill. And we already saw it paid evidence in their debut. I know it was against the ducks, but you look at it. And both of those goals they created at 5-1-5 seem like very replicable plays where they're just, they get the puck, they attack on the rush, they're using their speed, the opposing defense is so scared of Connor McDavid, they're playing back, and it creates all of this extra room for Athens CO and Tyler Ennis that they've never really had to play with before.

And so we'll see, you know, when Neil comes back, when Zachasking comes back from the suspension, how this top nine shakes out, but all of a sudden, the Oilers have significantly more wiggle room, more flexibility or weapons to play with. And the bar was obviously, like, impossibly low for them to clear, but they did it and they improve their team without paying an exorbitant price. And so I really like what Kenny Holland did there. Yeah, of course, it's typical NHO where you're a new GM and what you do is you go and get the players that you know.

Mike Green, I think, is kind of an underrated pickup. I think he can help their power play. He's been a good soldier for all those years in Detroit, especially the last couple years where they've been very, very uncompetitive. And I'm excited to see what he can do. But Athena, S.U, who I finally learned how to pronounce things to our Chris Peters, who reminded me it rhymes with happy to see you. I think we'll be a really exciting player to play with McDavid.

He's never been able to play with some. Neither of these players have been able to play with someone that can match each other's speed. He'll be able to keep up. I think Athanasiou is going to have to adjust his game. He's a guy that likes to hold on to the puck a lot. So is McDavid. One of those guys is a lot better with the puck and it should go to McDavid. So he'll have to adjust in that sense.

Athena's not great away from the puck. He's not great defensively. Those are things he's going to have to work on. this isn't a perfect fit but look he's a guy under team control giving up only two second round picks for him isn't terrible he's got great hands he can score um and this ideally will be someone who can give connor macdavit consistency because he is a restricted free agent this summer and ideally if you're giving up this much for him it means that you have a long-term future for him and they will sign him to a new deal this summer yeah and especially with i know yamamoto was out right now but

with the sort of success that while macdavid was out yamamoto dray sidle and nujan hopkins had all of a sudden this top six makes a lot of sense and you're bumping some of these role players who have out of necessity had to play in scoring lines to you know to line up to line up roles that are much more befitting of their skill sets and so everything's kind of shaking out in edmonton so i like to see that um let's uh you know i had a team here that i didn't know whether to put them as a winner or a loser i kind of had them as a tbd and that was the montreal canadians because on the one hand um you know this is the third straight year of missing the playoffs they've had two total playoff wins over the past five years in that market i think people are growing pretty restless and they're going to need to do something

at some point they're caught similar to what we're talking about the black hawks in this weird middle zone where they have some good players uh but they clearly have flaws and they're also staring up at the lightning and the bruns and even the leaps in their division and so for them they're trying to figure out how they can you know most optimally move up while also giving themselves a future chance to compete as well and you know they did a masterful job i think over recouping assets they trade a fourth for marco scandela and then they immediately flip him for a second a conditional board they get a third for ilia covichuk who they basically signed off the scrap heap when no and wanted them they get a pick for for nate thompson um but the reason why i was really fascinated with

the haves and the discourse around there i'm not sure how much of you this you caught but you know mark bergivan and the haves have really come under fire of late in terms of how they're viewed around the league in terms of their treatment of players, you know, in fact, and the fact that they haven't really been able to entice any legitimate UFA players to come and sign with them in the summer. And it feels like, you know, you watch these interviews, exit interviews with Kovalchuk and with Thompson, and they're like going out of their way to talk about how Berzavent and the Habs are a first-class organization, how they handled everything in the best way possible and, you know, sent them

to places where they'll have a chance to play and compete for a cup. I'm sure that's the case. It does sound like they probably could have got an equivalent, maybe even better pick for Liyah Kobachuk for somewhere else, but he wanted to go play with Ovechkin in Washington. But it's funny. It felt like they were kind of like reading this script where it's like Mark Berzman's like,

okay, I'm going to send you here, but you need to hit all of these points in your exit interview because we need to make it clear that the Montreal Canadians are a landing spot in the future for good players. That's hilarious, and I could totally see that being a thing. Yeah, I totally agree with, pretty much everything that you just said. And to the point of Kobe, I almost feel like this is the rare case where you trade a

player at the deadline and then have just as good of a chance as anybody else is resigning him. I think it's just a matter of money in term that will work because I don't think Kobe's playing for $700,000 next year. But look, I do think that this is a critical point for the franchise. And, you know, they're hosting the draft in Montreal this year. They have 14 picks in this draft, including six over the first three rounds. that should do well with a fan base, but this fan base isn't looking like, you know, it's all exciting to get these traffic.

They want to win now. And unfortunately, this is yet another year where they were promising signs and they were on the right track and it all just derailed. Well, and they have a lot of tough decisions to make or at least like important decisions moving forward. You know, they have, they basically have Weber and price under contract until the end of time for big money. But beyond that, between I think this summer and next summer, they're going to have to make

decisions and decide how much they want to pay Brendan Gallagher, Max, Domi, Jeff Petrie and Thomas Ittar, free agents next summer. And I was kind of surprised there wasn't more traction on them being moved at this deadline. And so they're going to have to do something. And I think, as you mentioned, with the draft being in Montreal, which, by the way, I can't wait for, and it's going to be incredibly exciting to be there. I think if you can find some sort of a bookie that's willing to take a bet that the Montreal Canadiens make some sort of a big splash trade, I would put a lot of money on that because with those 14 picks, with the draft in Montreal, with the sort of restlessness and the fact that they need more on ice results in the present. And I don't think while as

exciting as it is to have a bunch of third round picks and it's great asset management, I don't think your casual fan is being very excited about that, especially considering you're probably not going to see that player for four or five years down the road. I think that we're going to see them package a bunch of those picks and really dip into the trade market and try to add at least one, and maybe two or three players that can help them as soon as next season. Totally. Any other teams? Well, you know, let's stick with the HABs.

I actually thought one of my sort of big takeaways was, and I know it's not the sexiest sort of topic, but I think all the rebuilding teams did a really good job, actually. You know, with Detroit, with Ottawa, with the devils, with the Kings, like all these teams made the trades they needed to make, got a ton of draft capital in return. I think those teams, if you include the HAB, so those five, have 24 of the first 62 picks at this year's draft.

And so they're going to be dominating the top of it. And that's what you should be doing when you're one of the bad teams. And the Kings are actually like a really interesting team for me. You know, last year, for example, they had so many picks that they were able to like package 64 and 126 to move up and get a top prospect in Samuel Fagamo at 50. And so having all that draft capital allows you to make trades like that. And for them, you know, over the next couple of years, they're going to have the Jeff Carter contract come off the books,

the Dustin Brown contract come off the books. And they have this, you know, I'm sure Chris Peters would vouch for this, one of the top prospect pipelines in the league already, and they already have another 11 picks coming in this year's draft. And so they've been kind of the dregs of the league for the past couple years in terms of basically being the exact example of how winning Stanley Cups and then committing to those players can go wrong on the aftermath of it. But they're really kind of digging their way out of that under Rob Blake.

and I think the future is really bright for the Kings. It totally is. A couple of the names that Chris Peters told me about of guys that could place Alec Martinez as soon as this year. Kale Klaug, he's been in the H.L. Tobias Bjorn 40th or 2019, first rounder, Mikey Anderson. These are all really top prospects,

and I know they do have one of the best prospect pools. And it's been bleak the last couple of years. I think the Ilya Kovilchuk signing was just not understanding a full sense of self and understanding where they were, of maybe looking in the mayor and saying, hey, we're not a contender right now, and that was a total fail.

They got out of it, though. And they're getting out of this dark period. And, you know, with the Pacific Division, as wide open as it is over the next couple of years, I wouldn't be shocked if they were competitive, maybe not next season, but the season after that.

Yeah, certainly, I think it's still a couple years away, but they're definitely trending in the right direction. All right, I've got a couple other teams that I wanted to quickly get through here. We can talk about Dale Tallon and the Panthers, or we can do Vegas acquiring Rob Lennar. I know we talked about him a little bit with Chicago,

but which one of those interests you more? I kind of want to talk about the Panthers because they're in this precarious spot. They are a team that wants to win now and feels like they need to win now. And in the same sense of the Carolina hurricanes, there's a lot of external factors about drumming up fan support. Joel Quinville told me earlier in the season,

like, it's easy. We can get this building fill. We just need to win. And, you know, they obviously made that investment this summer and getting Quenville and also making a ton of other moves like Nola Chari and Brett Connolly and kind of depth pieces, Anton Strollman. Getting rid of Vincent Trochek, though, as I mentioned earlier, was a bit mind-boggling to me. And I know they did it in a way where they could still stay competitive this year.

And they did add a roster forward in Eric Hala, who now is getting the tag of journeymen. He's been on so many teams. But it was peculiar to me. And I wonder what the long-term prognosis of this team is. And I do know that there was a couple names that they were considering trading like Mike Hoffman for one. I know they put Mike Matheson on the market. I know they were in discussions for a lot of other guys. And I'm not sure they're a better team right now than they were before this deadline.

Yeah. Well, so it was really funny. You mentioned how the Panthers themselves were some of their players were shocked that Trojik was moved, that people around the league were surprised. I think anyone that read ESPN in the week leading up, to the draft is not particularly surprised because our good friend, Tim Kavanaugh, had me do a fun little project leading up to the trade deadline where I was like, write about a bunch of trades that you think make sense and that we could see, we might not see, but that you'd like

personally like to see. You probably have a couple of them, right? I did. I actually had Robin Leonard of Vegas, which I didn't really see anyone else talking about that much. I think you're the only one who had that in the world. But the Trocheque one was, and I actually prefaced. that like the opening sentence of that section was I have to confess I don't know why

mini-chojic is available but there's enough smoke here that I can totally see it happening and especially considering that the percentages have kind of been working against him that he's been moved down to playing with worse players I mean he was playing with mark pissick most recently who's literally a defenseman it felt like dale tallon this was an optimal sort of like dale tallon overreacting not understanding, process over results, and trying to get out of that contract. And they basically just took back this sort of like grab bag of players. They got a couple interesting young guys. Lucas Walmark's a nice player. Akala's perfectly reasonable player, but he's also up for a new deal this summer. And after the fact, we heard that, you know, you never know with these trades and that's what

makes it difficult to analyze them, sort of what else was available, whether a certain other team had a competitive package or potentially one we'd even view better but for whatever reason the team trading the player didn't take it and i know the sabers have already come on and jason bottle talked about how he thought he actually put together a more interesting package for trochick and for whatever reason the panthers went against it but it sounds now like the owner sort of mandated him to cut salary moving forward which is like it's so ironic considering the crazy spending they had last summer signing you know brobroski connelly stralman so on and so forth nootrari like they spend so much money and all of a sudden the owner's like well we're not getting what we thought we were going to get out of it so let's

completely go the opposite direction and it kind of puts Dale down on a tough spot but at the same time really just shows how bad last summer was in terms of them just spending crazy money with no sort of regard of future ramifications of it i can't believe i mentioned breck connelly and an tom stralman as their big offseason signings and i neglected Sergey Brodsky. Yeah, they've got that money on them. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, no, I do think this is one of those situations where ownership mandates are getting in the way.

And to be frank, and what I've heard is I'm not sure Dale Tellen totally has a future with this franchise. I know he's also making more money than the ownership wants to pay. And I believe his contract is up this summer. So we'll see how this all shakes out because, you know, the Atlantic Division is, it's a tough one to crack and they haven't been able to do it so far. They're still hovering around the wild card race. Do you see them at the playoff team? I'm not sure I do. Yeah, I mean, the fact that the leaves have been faltering so much opens the door for them a little bit, but I mean,

basically that would be a ticket to just get completely stomped by either the lightning or the Bruins in round one. So I don't think it's necessarily a particularly appealing and result regardless. So yeah, they're in a very tough spot here. For sure. All right, we can move to Lainer to Vegas, though, because you did call that. I love it. I think I absolutely love it. Like you mentioned, there wasn't really a goalie market out here, and no one was thinking of Vegas because they do have Mark Andre Fleury.

But the truth is, Mark Andre Fleury hasn't been his usual self this year. And there are some compounding factors. He's grieving the loss of his father, which I know deeply affected him. But another big thing is that he's been overburdened with workload ever since, you know, Vegas's existence. And it really would behoove him, especially the, way this league is trending with goalie workload management to have a solid guy that can come in and share some starts. And as long as everything Kelly McCrimman says is correct and Mark

Andre Fleury really was on board with this, this is the best goalie tandem in the Western conference right now, probably the second best in the league behind what Boston has. And it sets them up really nicely for a long playoff run. Yeah. And I think that's a great point in the sense that Flurry obviously his performance hasn't matched his sort of pedigree or world we think of them this season. I think part of that is certainly the usage, you know, his age, the mileage, the fact that they haven't had a reliable backup behind them since they came into the league. And so I know there's not that much left in the season, but at this point for Vegas, considering how close the Pacific Division is, they can't really afford to just throw away any

games. And so now they can basically alternate those guys and keep both of them fresh, especially Flurry. And I think there's a legitimate case to be made that Lennar, at least for right now, is the superior goalie. I mean, you look at Vegas's performance this year and their 23rd in team save percentage. Their goalies with Flurry and Suvan have combined to cost them nearly 20 goals against more than you'd expect based on the sort of shot profile they've given up, whereas Lennar has been one of the top five goalies in the league. And so I know people worry about in-season traits for goalies and adjustments to system and sort of knowing where your defensemen are going to be. But Lennar's coming from a spot where he literally had no

help in front of them. And so it's going to be hard for Vegas to be worse in that regard. And so if anything, they're going to make life easier on him. And I really view Vegas as the closest example to last year's St. Louis Blues, where their results have been kind of underwhelming. I think everyone's expected them to be better. They haven't really bottomed out the way St. Louis did at the start of last year. But they are kind of this sleeping giant where they're arguably the best 5-15 team in the league. They're absolutely dominant in terms of puck possession. And if they can start getting some saves from Lennar or a sort of more well-rested flurry. I think they're clearly the best team in the Pacific,

and I think there's a case to be made as the best team in the Western Conference. Yeah, I do think their defensive structure has improved a bit, too, under Peter DeBore. They look just, like a better team. And yeah, with Lanner, you know, like I mentioned, I watched more Blackhawks games live than any other team,

and he kept them in so many games, especially early this season, that that team had no business staying in. And when he's on, he's on. and I think he's going to thrive there. Plus, let's remember he's playing for a new contract. And guys who are playing for new contracts typically rise to the occasion and play out of their mind.

Yeah, I will say, I know he's had a couple of big goals for them in his first couple of games with them. I would have liked to see them be a bit sort of more aggressive or ambitious with the defensemen they targeted instead of settling on Alec Martinez, especially considering the price they paid for him. But, you know, one of my big sort of overarching takeaways of this deadline was if you're a rebuilding team, like let's say the senators or, or the red wings or any of these teams that are basically not trying to win right now,

but are trying to, um, you know, grow their young prospects while accumulating as many drafts as they can. Like the way you go about it is you sign a veteran defenseman that you can flip at the deadline, right? Like you look at some of these returns that, uh, Brendan Dillon got that Alec Martinez got, uh, just all these defensemen that went for second and third round picks.

Like teams were basically just giving those picks away like they were candy. And whereas I thought the prices for the forward. are much more reasonable, especially the rental one. So I think if you're a team that's looking at like the best way to accumulate draftics of the deadline, it's getting a lot of these veteran defensemen that contending teams really seem to value highly this time of year. Totally. You mentioned Brendan Dillon.

I just wanted to mention the capitals quickly. You know, they've been one of the most complete and dangerous teams all season long. They did slump a bit, you know, from the new year to the deadline, slumping by their standards. I really like the moves that Brian McEllular. and made now getting a defenseman at the deadline is now an annual tradition for him. Brendan Dillon, though, he has a lot of toughness. He has playoff experience. He has reliability.

He can play in their top four. I think that was a really smart move. And why not take a gamble on Ilya Kovych? The price was really low. It was really fun to watch him on that nearly all Russian player power play unit last night. We've seen now that he does still have something left in him because of the that stint in Montreal. And, you know,

Brian McClellan was totally pressed against the cap. He couldn't make too many moves. The fact that he could get a Kyle of Ilya Kovilchok's caliber for $350,000 because the Canadians took 50% of its cap. Like, that's the best value he could get per type of player possible. Like, he did great. He really did.

Yeah, it was really funny that he was retained. And now four teams have Ilya Kobichuk on their cap books, which is pretty funny. Yeah, no, I also, I think we did hear that I think the Bruins also were willing to trade for a Coblechuk. I think a lot of teams would have been much more willing to trade for them, but it was so tough for them to save face with their fans and their owner that they didn't sign him like Montreal did when he was available for 750K. And so now giving up a draft pick for him is tough. And for Washington, that third rounder is ultimately not irrelevant, but an asset you can certainly move when you have the title chances that they have. And I like that they address these sort of specific, not necessarily needs, but fits on their roster where Dylan all of a sudden comes in and immediately as his annual tradition steps in and plays in the top pair with John Carlson.

You have Kovalchuk. He's going to play on that third line with Eleanor and Hagelin, but gives them another weapon on the second unit powerplay alongside of Etchen. And so you can never have enough scoring. And I think especially how Kovalchukes look rejuvenated in Montreal, I think I'm really excited to see those two together and see if we can get like one magical run out of them. totally is and how cute is it that they've dreamed of doing this since they were teenagers yeah teaming up together ovechkin and colvichick and it's just just and it's funny to me that covalchuk and patrick marlowe have combined for more than 1,000 career goals and have zero stanley cubs and they're now playing sidekick to sidney crosbie and alice ovechkin riding their

coattels to win their first i think it's a pretty neat storyline to follow yes it is um oh the one another point that I had before we do get out of here. Like, you know, like a team like the stars, I think they were linked to Joe Thornton. They ultimately didn't do anything. I would have liked to see them get another secondary playmaker similar to what we said about Kasha going to Boston where when you're so reliant on a couple of guys, just getting someone else who can mix it up and carry the puck and get you some easy offense. Like they struggle so much to do so as a team would have been nice.

But I think that like them, the predators, they also kind of rode the fence. They had Craig Smith and Michael Grandland. his expiring contracts that they potentially could have moved but they're playing well enough now that i think with ryan else's return they're just going to see where it goes the rest of the season like if these teams just optimize their usage more usage more and just play their best players like forsberg needs to play so much more under john hines in in Nashville i think with dallas i know they pride themselves on defense but it's pretty clear watching those games that rupe hints and denis garyana of are like they're two most dangerous players out there so i just want

to see these teams play their players more. I can't believe this is a revolutionary or a hot take, but it's like, just play the players that give you the best chance of outscoring your opposition the most. It's so hockey that that is like a controversial take or something that people have take issue with. I could not agree more. Gioriato is like one of the most exciting players to play, but we don't get to see the best of him. And yeah, the Della stars are a team that their leading score is Tyler Sagan with 48 points. Like Quinn Hughes has more points than that already. They definitely could have used some offensive help, but they've also been one of the best teams in the league over the last couple months. And I don't think Jim Nill needs to be in business of trading prospects and draft picks away, considering how poorly they've been at using both of them.

They've got to use all the opportunities that they get. So I'm fine with them standing pat. It would have been cool to see Big Joe reunite with Little Joe, but they're okay rather they are. They are. I mean, I think Haines and Guriana are tied for the team lead and goals with Jamie Ben, and they play 14-42. and 1247 per game respectively. And as you look ahead to a potential round one matchup with a team like, let's say, Colorado, who generates offense so easily, I know it's like your offense versus defense,

stylistic clash of two teams going at it. But Dallas is going to need to find a way to score more goals. And I think playing those two guys is going to go a long way. So I'm curious to see how that unfolds over these final 20 games. Emily, this was a blast. I think we hit all the main topic. Is there anything else in your notebook that we didn't get to? No, I don't think the same.

are worth talking about so no I mean the buyers I love that uh you know they went after went after Wayne Simmons and he's gonna try to help them get into their playoffs so that's yeah and everything's fine and everything's dandy in Buffalo everything's Danny in Buffalo um all right well this was a blast Emily where can people check you out and where can they follow your work online yeah I'm on Twitter at Emily M. Kaplan you can read all of my stuff and Dimitri's stuff and Greg Wershinsky stuff at ESPN.com slash NHL. And I'll also check out being Greg's podcast, ESPN on ice. And Dimitri, I think you are due for a home and home.

So we'd love to have you sometime soon. All right. Well, let's set that up. I'm looking forward to it. Emily, this was a blast, as always. Enjoy the final 20 games in the season. And we'll check back in with you soon. Likewise.

The hockey pediocast with Dim Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud. PDRCast.