The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 390: Trades We'd Like to See

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

Thomas Drance and Ryan Lambert join the show to help get ready for the upcoming deadline by pitching trades we'd like to see. Topics include: Obstacles standing in the way of meaningful trades this deadline The small list of teams that are true buyers vs. the many sellers The impact players realistically available Trades we'd really like to see Ridiculous three-team trades that'll never happen but are fun The best landing spots for Taylor Hall The Islanders trading for Palmieri (which happened!) Stories about Lou Lamoriello and Mike Hoffman Fixing the Bruins secondary scoring issues The Jets improving their defense Creative ways for the Golden Knights to add firepower Colorado's need for a better backup goalie Aggressive  bigger picture moves the Oilers can make 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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My name is Dimitri Filipovich. And joining me is my colleague from EP Rinkside. It's my good buddy Ryan Lambert. Ryan, what's going on? Hello. I'm chilling, man. Second podcast record today. You know how it is. Look at that on the grind.

And also joining us to make this a three-person podcast is my good friend, long-time friend, been on the show a bunch of times. Most recently, my puppy playday pal, Tom, Thomas, what's going on, man? I'm doing well. And I'm excited we have Lambert here, too, because he can open sort of like the Boston chapter of the Mount Pleasant puppy appreciation and hockey stats nerd society. You know, he's a good fit. He's a good fit for the aesthetic that we're ascribing to of late,

which is basically just watching our puppies chew each other's faces while we debate like really esoteric hockey topics. So glad to be doing this live and glad to be doing it with Lambert. That's basically the extent of my social interactions these days is like meeting up with you at a socially safe distance and just watching our puppies play. I'm just looking at them like, they're little kids at the playground. I'm being like, wow, they're growing up so fast. So this is the plan for today's show.

I got you guys here. We're going to do a trade deadline preview. We're recording this on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully, by the time people listen, it won't be too dated. But it seems like things are pretty quiet on the trade front. So I think we should be okay there this year. So the plan is we're going to do trades. We'd like to see I gave you both homework.

We're going to pitch them to each other. It's not necessarily trades. We will see because that's usually boring. it's usually like Luke Lindning for a third round pick or something like that. And I don't think anyone wants to hear about that for an hour other than Ken Holland, obviously. But we are going to try to keep it realistic and plausible. So players that are generally available on tradeboards, or at least reportedly, and then kind of just passes like the logic test of, yeah, can this financially work, make sense, all that stuff.

But we're not going to get too bogged down with the returns. We're going to mostly focus on the players going to the teams. And so I don't know. I guess so let's open it up with this, since it is a bit of a trade deadline preview. How are you both feeling about this actual deadline in terms of the activity level? Do you think it's going to be true that just because of all the financial complications and obstacles that it's going to be more quiet than ever before? Or sort of just like what's the temperature right now? How should fans be feeling heading into this trade deadline?

Yeah, it feels like it's going to be a dud, right? Yes. For sure. Nobody wants to take on money and nobody wants to have to cross a border and there's so many hoops you have to jump through. And there's also like six teams that legitimately feel like they could actually do anything of note in the playoffs. So the number of teams that will actually be buying and like willing to meet all those other criteria is going to be so small. it's going to be like the incentives to buy if you're a fringe contender are nil, right? Like what's the advantage of getting your owner six playoff dates?

Like what you really need to drive activity and prices at the deadline are like the team that's sixth best in their conference that's like, but maybe we can win around. Our goalie's hot. Like now's our time, you know, or like a team that loses a player to injury like the Canucks last year and it's just like hanging on for a playoff spot and it's just like we'll over pay for a top six winger. sure. Yeah, let's do it. That's just not going to happen this year. Like there's no business case you can make to go all in unless you're, you know, and I'd put the list at five. Like for me, it's Toronto, Tampa, Carolina, who, you know, they're not going to add spend. Vegas, Colorado. Maybe, maybe there's a few other teams that could get into the mix like Minnesota. But I mean, the list of buyers is low. That's going to depress prices. There's no cap space in the system. You know, we're looking at, I think it's 18 teams within a million dollars of the upper limit. Like, it's just grim in terms of those sort of semantics. So everything has to be money and money out, really complicated. I still think we see five to ten moves.

All of that said, I still think we'll see somewhere in the range of five to ten moves, which would essentially double the amount of activity we've seen over the last 85 days since training camp opened. But, you know, I do expect a quiet deadline. And, you know, I'm really curious to see. Like, one thing I'm really curious to see is which teams hold. tight to their 2021 picks and push picks that they're trading into 2022 and which teams sort of prefer the opposite because I'm sensing a pretty significant split in how those picks are valued around the industry. Like there's teams that see 2021 is all opportunity and there's teams that see 2021

the draft anyway as like all downside. And I'm just really curious to see how many 2022 picks we see. Like I think teams that really sort of believe in mining opportunity like that. Like I think teams like, you know, your, your Toronto's are really going to try and trade 20, 22 picks instead, just sort of seeing it as an undervalued market or, or anyway, a chaotic market where there could be higher upside than normal in the mid-round. So that's sort of one of the weird subplots that I'm tracking is like a bona fide hockey nerd. Well, the Leafs are going to keep their 2021 first so that at the draft, they could trade it down

for a 2021 second and then a third and then of the third and a third and a fourth and a sixth. Yeah, I don't know if this is just reasoncy bias, if you guys feel the same way, but it feels like this year more so than others just because of the alignment of the schedule where you're just playing the same teams over and over again. It feels like the gap between the top teams that really are contenders and should be buying and the others is more noticeable than ever before. Like when you were listening off those teams, I really do feel like there's probably 24 to 25 teams that either should be full out sellers or standing pad and can't justify. acquiring rental players and giving future assets for it because if you're battling for the fourth seed in either the west or the central like how appealing is just being fed to the avalanche or the or the Tampa Bay Lightning. It doesn't seem like the incentive is there acknowledging that the NHL playoffs are stupid and if you get in you could

conceivably win any series you're in. So but but it just I don't know it just feels like this year out of all the years it just doesn't make sense for a fringe sort of fourth fifth team in their division to even be trying to go for. Yeah, I mean, you know, you look at the standings and like, I think it's two divisions, the central and the west where it's like even the fourth place team has a negative goal difference. And it's like, yeah, what do we do? Like we should just, whoever finishes first, you should get a buy because like one of Chicago, Nashville, Columbus and Dallas. Dallas, yeah, a game below 500 we have packed like they were a playoff team. they might be though right like that's the best team of the four are you listed they are but they

have so like i i keep saying it but they seem like ideologically bound to we can never be one or one game above or below 500 like we have to be making sure that if we that we never have a winning streak of more than two games or we're losing streak of more than two and so like yeah i mean you know the only one that feels like it's even remotely up in the air is the east. And that's just because the four teams that are already definitely in the playoffs all kind of stink a little bit.

And so they can't figure out like, oh, you know, we're the islanders. We're the best team in the division. And then they give up eight goals. And they're like, oh, maybe not. And then the next game, they score seven. And they're like, we're back. We can't figure it out.

See, the islanders. We're going to talk about the islanders a lot coming up. Yeah. Is the West, the best division in hockey? Like, how sad is that? They are. The answer is yes. Well, just because they have like two of the best five. They have, they have, they have, but they also have the fewest soft teams. Like, Anaheim's the only really bad team in that division. And even they at least work hard and have John Gibson who can get hot on any given night.

You know, like, though, I mean, I had this realization the other day, but I was looking over it and I was like, you know, the West is not good. And yet I think they have like three teams that would for sure be doing better than Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa in the north, right? Like, they have, they have like five teams that I'm pretty sure are playoff teams in the north. So, yeah, LA is interesting, right? Yeah, I think so. Like, they're not good. And I don't, and no, coming into the year, none of us expected them to be, but they were really good to start the year. And now they've been dropping off. And it's like, oh, I guess this kind of just like feels like them getting where we always thought they were going to be. But how they got there is maybe more interesting.

than anything else. The Blues have like seven goals in their past six games or something, and their coach just openly flame their entire team to the press. So it's not great. I think the argument is there for the West, but I certainly think beyond those two teams, like I don't have faith in any of them. All right, let's get into it.

Let's try to manifest some trades and put them out into the universe because I think all three of us have no faith that the NHL GMs, even in an ideal world, they make this look like the most difficult task in the world coming up with creative trades. And I think this year especially, it's going to be really tough. But let's get into it. Drans, since I know that you've got some spicy ones, I'll give the floor to you here first.

You can lead us off, tee us up with your first trade proposal. Give us like your third most interesting. Yeah, not the spiciest. We're not ready. Yeah, we've got to work our way into it. Yeah. I've got one that's a really natural segue. Actually, I've got two that are natural segues from what you talked about with the Blues coach

with Barube flaming his entire team. And so I've got two iterations of a Mike Hoffman trade. And I'll pitch you on them both sequentially just to start us off. So Mike Hoffman is, you know, someone I worked with, first of all. And I think he's a good guy, like much better than his reputation indicates. Look at PR your hands. I also want to tell you, I also want to tell you guys a story about Mike Hoffman. Mike Hoffman in the year I worked with him in Florida, scored 35 goals.

And he had, with the equipment trainers, like a system of dashes. And these dashes, so he has his curve and then he has dashes on his curve, which corresponded to like launch angle or the shape of the bottom of the stick for how much of it would be on the ice. And he worked through and tweaked it to the point that he had 11 different dashes over the course of the season and finally figured out like one for the power play against a left handed goalie, one for the power play against a right handed goalie, one for even strength. Like he's just like a savant.

an absolute machine at that right flank one three one. And also if you graph high volume perimeter shooters and how often they hit the net, it's like Mike Hoffman in the top right on an island and then everyone else. Like this guy is a machine on the power play. However, he's a pure DH. Like he is a pure DAH. He's one of the NHL's best power play players at that right flank, but you have to play him at that right flank to get value out of him. And at five on five, you want him on your third or fourth line at this point in his career. So the Minnesota Wild have a 12% power play conversion rate. I love this already. They have Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala. Kevin Fiala would be better anyway if you moved him to the bumper running that right side flank. This is the team that makes sense for Mike

Hoffman. Now, I don't know that Garon's going to do it because, you know, he's in that new GM like clean out the culture sort of mode. But Mike Hoffman from the St. Louis Blues for a 22 second round pick with 50% retained, which is cap compliant once the Minnesota wild terminate the emergency conditions on the loan for Chad Rao or Johnson. This is a trade that, like, you cannot tell me, you cannot tell me that Bill Guerin needs to overlook his, you know, any cultural reservations he has for a guy who's actually a good guy anyway. And acquire Mike Hoffman, that power play would instantly become at least league average. And right now they're the worst among any of the playoffbound team. So I've got three instant thoughts. One, your anecdote about Hoffman's blade and his curves.

I love the idea of him just having conversations about it with Ryan O'Reilly and the Blues dressing room. And Ryan O'Reilly just being like, what are you doing? I'm just using the most outrageously simple one for every single game state. Two, I was thinking that those two teams are competing for the same playoff spots. They wouldn't make that trade. But then I realized that the Blues have fallen 10 points back of the wild. So that's probably not an issue in that regard. And I think stylistically it makes sense.

I love the idea of Kiro Kuprisov passing it to Mike Hoffman. I don't know how many more times I can watch and pass it to Victor Ask and Victor ask just do absolutely nothing with it. It's driving me absolutely insane. And so just as a fan, I'd love to see it. Make sense. I can tell you've done the homework and checked out the cap implications of it as well as soon as you're citing Rouse contract.

Yeah, the fact that you know it that much is. upsetting. This is so Hermione Granger shit. Not to be like too millennial about it, but like, yeah, for sure. Bill Garrett right now is like opening up his own team's cap-friendly page being like, oh, shit. I guess that's right. Yeah.

Let's call it in. So you like that one as well, Ryan? Yeah, I like that. I do wonder, like, you know, I feel like they're trying to push him out the door in St. Louis, right? They're like, we tried it. It didn't work. He was supposed to be the Tara San Francisco.

go insurance and well, I mean, you see how that went. So yeah, get lost. We don't need you. We'll take the second round pick. That works for me. Yeah. He needs to be used. Like, designated hitters is generous to my opponent at this point. I think like it's, it's tough to watch him at five-on-five. And so for a team like the Wilde, who are a good five-on-five team and just really need that power play scoring makes a lot of sense. So, yeah, he's the guy. He's not a DH. He's the guy you bring in to steal a base when you're down to in the ninth inning. Like, you need, you need, you need, you need, you need him moving from first to second in a damn hurry.

Well, that's it. And I think if you go to evolving hockey.com and go to like the GAR metric, you'll see that he's like one of the most valuable PP players in the NHL over the past two years and like one of the worst five on five, right? Like the split is so dramatic. All right. I've got another Mike Hoffman deal for you. Um, this is a three team trade.

This is a three-team trade that addresses some significant issues for two contenders and gets Hoffman off the Blues books. So from Vegas, Robin Lennar, Vancouver's 22 third round pick, okay? From St. Louis, Mike Hoffman at 50% retained. From Carolina, Joey Keene and Peter Morazic. To Carolina, Robin Lennar, to Vegas, Peter Morazick, Mike Hoffman at a $2 million dollar cap hit and to St. Louis, a 20-22 third round pick and

Joey King. Wow. That's something. It's interesting. The problem is that Carolina adds money, right? Like, I don't know that Carolina is going to add money. That's not really their MO. But like, that team in front of Lennar, I mean, now you're cooking with oil, right?

Like now Tampa Bay is a little more nervous. How many teams does Robin Lanner have to play for, do you think, before the end of his career? Like, he's just doing the tool. he's hitting every spot he can. Well, and I think Vegas was like ready to commit to him. And now Mark Andre Fleury's like for sure going to win the Veznes.

So no, no, no, no, no, I was just saying he's not going to have enough games played at the end of the year to compete with. Well, first of all, Vasilisky's running away with it. Yeah. Okay. Well, he's going to be a finalist. Yeah, yeah, I think that's probably right. Yeah. I agree with that.

I do think, and we've seen it, Flurries come back down earth a little bit lately Leonard since he's come back has been really. good. I still think letters the superior goalie. And I think by the time we come to the playoffs, he's going to be, I think he was really telling that last year they went out and identified it and traded for him and then just gave him all of the important starts, despite their fan base, really wanting to play those games. And I don't fault him for it. I actually thought Carolina was an interesting team to target him at last year's trade deadline before Vegas got him. I'm just not sure that Vegas is going to move on from him because I do still think that they believe he's their best goalie and rightfully so. So, so then sub in.

Mark Andrea Flurry at 50% retained, which they were willing to do in the summer. He had an alternative ready to go. This is amazing. This is podcasting, folks. But Flurry at 50% retained actually probably makes more sense for Carolina. If you think. Saves them money and it's only a rental. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, their commitment, they're not actually adding cash because that would be cap neutral with Peter Morazix 3-2. So, I mean, that even maybe makes more sense. sense if they do if they did it that way and and vagus's power play could use some work right there at 17 um they're all over the place like they're swapping out theodore and pietrangelo on that top pair they haven't figured out what makes sense they've had a max patcheretti both on his downhill side and his one-timer side at the flanks they've been bumping marshal so between you know a high volume shooting

spot at the left circle and at the bumper spot and you know you put in mike hoffman on the um right circle you put Pietrangelo at the point you've got a righty passing to a lefty like now you're talking now you're cooking with oil and you just have Mark Stone creating havoc at the net front like all of a sudden you get Mike Hoffman you play him on that fourth line like literally your

fourth line becomes something like no sick Reeves and Hoffman it's just like two guys who don't hurt you and a guy who's going to be a lethal against the grand attacker like also it's quietly Vegas is in trouble right like we kind of know

this like they're not they're not they're kind of a paper tiger in that west i don't know that they've spent super wisely like they need a shot in the arm somewhere in their bottom six in my view and uh for me this trade makes a ton of sense if they can get hoffman um while you know still bringing in a quality backup and carolina can upgrade their gold so anyway that's my that's my thinking there yeah i mean i think that i think that's a great idea especially because Vegas kind of suffers a little bit from like the Montreal Canadians West Semmel or a syndrome where it's like Oh yeah we we generate XGs like crazy

Oh do you convert up well no you don't want to we don't want to get into all that But we we get a lot of them and and you know that's what cost them against Vancouver I mean a bunch of things came together for them last year or against them But you know that that's the that's the Vegas problem in a nutshell and Mike Hoffman is a guy that turns XGs into Gs. In theory, St. Louis would say, no, he doesn't, but okay. I think Vegas is a good team. I think they're in trouble against Colorado in a series.

Both teams are fully healthy. I was trying to rack my brain around improving their team somehow because I do think they need some more firepower, but kept bumping into trying to make the cap machinations work because they're still up against it. They literally could only dress 10 forwards the other day. So yeah, I'm not sure if that necessarily represents enough of an upgrade to move the needle for me in that series. But I like where your head's at, Tom.

I like that you had a backup Mike Hoffman trade and then an immediate backup to your backup. The pivot was incredible. Huge pivot. Loved it. All right. Ryan, I'll let you go now. Give me one of your trades. Okay.

this trade involves 14 fraud. No, it's Johnny Goodrow to Pittsburgh for Jason Zucker. And like, you know, Calgary retains a bit of the money to fully even it out. Two reasons here. They, I think they would like a little more wing depth. Zuckers clearly not fully working out as a lot of us probably expected. And I think it would piss off a lot of Philly people to see Johnny Godro. end up in Pittsburgh.

And who doesn't like that? So I have some stats here because I was going to talk about Mangiopani later because I think someone needs to steal him from the flames. But since Darrell Sutter took over on March 11th, their leading forward skater of 515 is playing 1340. Their 10th forward is playing 1152. Brett Ritchie is their fourth leading 515 forward. In Ice Time, Milan Lutitch is fifth,

both ahead of Elias Linholm and Matthew Kachuk. I can't see how this isn't working. I still think, you know, Johnny had a really bad year last year. He's only two years removed from legitimate heart votes because he was fantastic that year when Calgary won a bunch of regular season games. And I think he's looked good this year, maybe not back to that level. But he certainly looks like he's still got stuff left in the tank. It's clearly doesn't work in terms of fit with their current situation.

I don't know, though. I feel like if I was trading him, I would want something more than Jason Zucker in return. I love Jason Zucker. I'm saying, like, you know, that's the, if you want to throw in picks or whatever. Right. I think that's just, but like, just because those two guys make a decent amount of money against the cap and that sort of thing, those seem like the two most natural players, you'd swap one for one if you were doing that. And maybe, I don't know, maybe Jay's like what Daryl Sutter.

Well, I don't know. Who can tell? I guess that's the point, right? It's who can tell what Daryl Sutter wants. Yeah. Well, first off, the flame should not be making roster decisions based on what Daryl Sutter wants. Well, he's their coach for the next five years? Yeah.

Was that the number? The thing is, like, they really need to trade Sean Monaghan while they still can. And it seems like there's not an appetite to do so because they still think he's good, I guess. but the fact that he's still young enough still has term on his deal at a reasonable price. Like I think there's certainly a team out there in the league that probably thinks he's a top line center still. And it's been a while now since he's looked like that slash had shown any evidence that that is the case.

So he's one of those players. But like I'd even bother doing like Seth Jones or Sean Monaghan trades for this exercise because they're just like so out there for the current NHL landscape that there's just no chance of them happening. So I don't know. Goddrault's got to get out of Calgary. That was my main thinking on. Yeah, it's sad.

It's sad watching them there. It sucks. I had an iteration. I had a Godro going to Buffalo in a package that included a ton of stuff from Calgary and like Noah Hanofin, Bennett, and who equalized the, oh, and Lindholm for Eichl and Jeff Skinner.

That was my like pie in the sky. I ditched it. But that's my pie. I don't think Jack Hick will arise in Calgary and doesn't immediately request another trade. But the, I mean, Calgary, I think the next GM that comes in is going to look at this and blow it up, right? Like, I think that's pretty clear. Yeah. At this point.

Should. Yeah. And should. And so they need top end talent. I mean, I could see them doing it, but I do think they'd need to get like a second and P.O. Joseph or a first back or something like that. Like, they'd really need to be looking at this as something that jumpstarts that rebuilding effort. And, you know, Zucker is almost like a guy you try and rehabilitate and then flip again. But yeah, I mean, in that context, I could see it.

And I'd love to see Goodrow play in Pittsburgh. Like, that would be awesome. He, he would be a great fit. Like, he might be a great fit, too, to, like, increase the longevity on Evgeny Malkin, right? Like, that's sort of the impact that he could have. Or they could just plug him in on a third line and see if he can be, like, Phil Kessel 2.0, just like wrecking bottom six competition in a support role. All right.

I'm going to give you guys my first one. Okay. So the Islanders need to fill the hole that's been left behind by Andersley's injury. They have cap savings to do so now since he's on LTIR. I think the Islanders, it's one of the more interesting storylines to me this season because they've gone from this team that was overperforming their expectations for a while and leading us to sort of be skeptical of like how sustainable is. is how good are they actually to just now legitimately being a very good 5-1-5 team.

Two games ago, they dropped eight 5-on-5 goals on the division-leading Washington Capitals. Last night, they piled up 23, 5-on-5 high-danger attempts on them, including 15 in the third period of a tie game. They're just really good across the board defensively, but I think it was to surprise some people to know that they're, I think, fourth in the league and 5-on-5 scoring as well. Now, their overall offense isn't as good because they struggle on the power play. And obviously, most recently they've been using Matt Barton on their top unit power play and Leo Komarov playing on the top line wing with Matt Barzal and still getting it done.

And I love when people tell me that Barry Chodz isn't the best coach in the NHL. But so I think this is a type of team where I think they are legitimately good and they do important things really well. That division, as you alluded to earlier, Ryan, we kind of know what the four playoff teams are going to be this year. I don't think any of them necessarily scare you or preclude you from thinking that you could win it if you're one of those four. And I think that Islanders have a good of a chance of anyone there, especially since what they do well, it seems to be very repeatable. And I could see that working in a series against any of those three other teams. And so I like the fit of Kyle Paul Miri there. I was thinking of Taylor Hall.

I was thinking of a couple other forwards. But I think Paul Miri makes a lot of sense just because we've seen him succeed with puck carriers in the past, whether it was with Taylor Hall during his MVP season or whether it was Nico Hishier. He's strong on the power play. He's been one of the most consistent goal scores in the league over the past however many years before this down season, which seems to be fully shooting percentage driven. And so I just love the idea of plugging him in there on the power play on the receiving

end of Barzala passes and going from there. It seems like the price is going to be pretty reasonable. I don't even know what to estimate what kind of like draft pick or futures compensation is going to take and whether Palmierry or Hall is even to be more expensive at this point. but it'll be pulmonary for sure for sure it's going to be pulmonary 100% but it still can be but it will be too excessive I feel like at this point especially with his down season I think it's I think I think I think you'd be shocked by how low Taylor Hall stock is around the league right now I would I would not be yeah you know like it's you all I mean I didn't I see somebody like last

week being like I or maybe it was a little longer ago than that but just saying something along the lines of like, yeah, maybe a second, maybe a second round pick for Taylor Hall. And it's like, who, that guy was like the MVP a couple of years ago. Yeah. I think, I think Kevin Adams scrambling. Like scrambling. Yeah, no, I think, I think Paul Merey will go for a lot more than Taylor Hall. But I still don't think it's to be much because if you look at it, I think he's only got eight goals this year.

And it's because he's shooting like 9%, which is funny because he's historically been like a 13% shooter every single season. But if you're trading him to the islanders, right? Don't forget the Lou factor, right? Like, Lou's going to get his guy. He's going to pay what he considers to be fair price because that's how Lou does business, right? And Palmieri is a guy who he like mined from Anaheim when he was in New Jersey, right? Like Palmieri is like a Lou original and never doubt a manager's ability to double down on one of their modestly good moves and overpay. I actually have a palmieri to the Islanders trade too.

So I'll tell you the price I have. Give me the details of it. I had Samuel Bullduke and Colorado's 2021 second round pick. That's, I see, I think that's a very reasonable offer for the Islanders to make. And it's, you know, I think the devils, it's obviously hindsight. And I think it's unfair because no one could have seen this coming last February. but Cobb-Palmyri with like a year left on his deal and potentially two playoff runs was floated out as a team like maybe the Islanders before they got Pajot or the Oilers were interested

in and I was saying, yeah, they should trade him now because it seems like it's going to go for a really high price. And they, I think, wanted to keep him around for Jack Hughes and maybe potentially even keep him on board as a trigger man for him. But it obviously hasn't worked out and now settling for a second round pick is obviously not ideal, but it's better than just letting him walk and losing him for nothing. So can I tell a quick Lou Lamarillo's story? I've never played this story on a podcast, but I want to quickly. I don't remember exactly the reason, but he wanted a suite for a Panthers game.

I like Panthers Islanders. He wanted a suite for a Panthers game. And, you know, I know like Lou Lamarillo, the owner of the Panthers, Vinie Viola had been a minority owner in the New Jersey Nets when they were like under the same umbrella. So I know there's a relationship there. You know, it's hockey royalty. I'm going to take care of him, right?

So, you know, I set up, like, full press box services in the suite. And then I contact my counterpart with the Islanders, and I ask, you know, does Lou want any catering in the suite, right? Like, well, happy to do it gratis. It's hockey legend, Lou Lamarillo, whatever he wants. And the order comes back, and it was a gallon of boiling water, eight slices of lemon and a fruit plate. And I was just like, oh, this guy's going to live forever.

Like, this guy's for sure going to, I was expecting, like, snow crab, like, and that was, that was him indulging. He was like, this is a wild. Like live it up blue Usually you just have some celery But you know what tonight Let's go wild South Beach baby

Anyway I had to tell that story It's a classic for me Like I just love that detail Dude's rock All right Drands it's your turn Give us another trade Well we've talked some Taylor Hall

So I've got some Taylor Hall I've got two Taylor Hall iterations One's a three-way trade I've got Taylor Hall to the Panthers for a 22 second and Henrik Borgstrom So a reclamation project in Borgstrom Borgstrom was like pretty good Like he was excellent at the University of Denver

And then had like 18 points in 50 games At the age of 22 in the NHL And since then is like washed out He's like barely even a really good player in Liga I have no idea what's going on there. There's some tough questions to be asked, but that's why it's a high upside swing for an organization in the Sabres

that need to take those types of swings at the moment. And the Panthers are like one of the very few teams that are like playoff bound and have a ton of cap space. So I like that fit. And then here's my three-way trade. From Colorado, Tyson Jost and Martin,

Tyson Jost, Martin Cout, a 2021 third round pick and a 2022 third round pick. From Buffalo, Hall at 50% retained. From Detroit, Hall at 50% retained. Okay. So to Buffalo, they retain $4 million on haul. They get Cout, Tyson Jost, and a 2021 third. Detroit gets a 223rd, and they retain $2 million on Hall.

Colorado, cap neutral. This works under their cap, gets Taylor Hall for $2 million. But, okay, so then they're also giving up Jost, right? Two-thirds, Jost, and Mark Cow. I don't know. Everyone keeps linking Taylor Hall to the avalanche. I don't sense that they're that interested in him. Yeah, they might not be.

Their offer to him was $4 million or something this past summer? But that's like, I don't think they're interested in him if the conversation includes names like Connor Timmons, right? Right? Or, I mean, forget Alex Newhook, no chance. Yeah. They have another good forward prospect, though, whose name just escapes me at the moment. But, like, those guys aren't going. But, like, Martin Cout, I don't think they'd value Tyson Joost a ton.

He's been good on that line with Nachushkin and Don Skloy, I think. Yeah, but I mean... Yeah, he's a perfectly good player. Yeah. He's okay. I'm just... He's about to get lost in expansion anyway. And, like, Taylor Hall on your third line.

Like, talk about nitrous. you know like that's insane especially in that environment oh god no one can skate with them already and you add taylor hall in a depth role like come on um and then you do it in a in a way that actually works with your cap you're you're giving up two thirds uh a c plus prospect and count like your fourth best forward prospect and um and tyson jost who you're going to you know expose an expansion anyway like i mean i just don't see the downside for colorado and i see Detroit making a couple moves like this. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve is a pass-through. Yeah. Yeah. Stevie's going to open a laundromat and just laundered cap hits for

mid-round picks for the next week. And it's going to be a beautiful thing to see. I was going to say, have you been watching any Red Wings broadcast recently? But then I realized in my head, why would anyone have been doing that willingly, except for me, because I'm an absolute lunatic. But just watching these games and just Steve Eisenman, just a 40 chance involved of getting the Wings broadcast to be running just highlight packages of Luke Glenn Denning winning face-offs is amazing. It's just like free marketing. It's like, yeah, what else are you guys going to talk about?

I remember when we were doing Puck Soup a week or two ago, Greg was like, oh, everybody's going wild for Glendanning. And I was like, what? He's like, oh, yeah, they're pumping his tires big time. Like, everybody wants to trade for this guy because he can win a face-off. And I'm like, but he's bad at literally everything else. And Greg was like, people don't care. People don't care about that.

They only care about Paysaw. I have been rooting for Taylor Hall to Colorado since the offsy. I just want to see it happen. I want to see him be, again, just put in a position to succeed. You know, people are saying, oh, what if he goes to St. Louis? And I don't want to see Taylor Hall miss the playoffs again. I want to see him on. not just like a pretty good playoff on team.

I want to see him on a juggernaut. Because I think like him on Colorado, him on Tampa would just be like, come on, we're just having fun out here, boys. But I, when I wrote down my haul trade, I said haul to Toronto. Love it. For three reasons. They're weirdly shallow on the left wing. Like you don't think of them as having any depth issues up front, but their left wing is

like, eh, it's okay. Well, Galkynic, right? Galkynic, that's all you need to know. Well, second thing I wrote down, if they can fix Galkenia, they can fix anyone. Right? Like, if they can put, like, if the team and the organization is smart enough to put. Champions aren't born. They're made.

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winning idea to the world, team up with Shopify, the commerce platform powering millions of businesses down the street and around the globe. Sign up for a free trial. at Shopify.com slash bluewire, all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash blue wire to start selling online today. Shopify.com slash blue wire. Alex Freaking Galcenauk in a position to succeed, Taylor Hall's going to have 15 goals down the stretch. Like just the way things go, right? And then the third thing that I wrote down was, what if the cup final had nothing but five or four games?

Wouldn't that rock? Yeah, I'm in. So let's go. Let's file it. Let's end up into the league right now. Taylor Hall, Taylor Hall, going to Toronto and playing with Marner and Matthews. Like, who doesn't want to watch that? Okay.

I have more Hall thoughts, but we need to take a break here to hear from a sponsor. And we'll do plenty more. This is a radio tease right here. We'll be to do plenty of more Taylor Hall stuff on the other end. All right. Back after the break. So I also had Taylor Hall to the last. Leafs and now we're talking.

Here's the thing. So he's having a horrible season by the boxcar stats. He's having horrible luck. He's got two goals and 19 points and 37 games. He's shooting 2.3%. I've seen expected goal measures that have him anywhere between 7 and 10 goals below expectation based on his shots. Just hasn't been able to escape the year from hell in Buffalo,

unlike pretty much everyone of his teammates. And it kind of feeds into this narrative of he's not an impactful winning player and there's takes out there that it's like, I wouldn't even be interested in adding Taylor Hall to my team. And I just don't get it. Like, I think if you're expecting the league MVP point per game production, yeah, you're going to be disappointed. But if you just strip away the numbers and just the logic of like how shooting percentage

regression works and stuff and you just literally watch Taylor Hall play hockey, which I doubt any of these people where these takes have over the past couple years on the Sabres and on the coyotes and on a rebuilding Devils team, I actually have watched the tape, and I'm going to give you a watch the tape argument, right? I watch the games argument right now because it's just so bizarre to me that you would think, like, he is the ultimate role player. I think that's where he's at his best, when he's forechecking, when he's retrieving the puck, when he's just like being tenacious and annoying.

And those are usually the types of grinders and role players that people love and glorify. And just because he's Taylor Hall and he's been in some bad situations, any one-line league MEP a couple years ago, people can't reconcile that those two things are true at the same time. And I think going to the Leafs here, I actually think playing him with Tibera's and Elander on that line makes so much sense to me because he can really just basically be there. I love it.

He can basically be there, Zach Hyman, what Hyman is to Carter and Matthews, where he's just retrieving the puck, he's setting them up. They're both, I know Tiberas is having a bit of a down shooting season, but they're both historically pretty well above average finishers. And so the idea of just affording them extra offensive zone possessions through his hard work seems like a no-brainer to me, not to mention that he's historically a guy who draws a ton of penalties as well and the least of a top five power play. And so it just seems like a no-brainer.

If they could make it work with a three-team trade where there's multiple retentions there, as you alluded to Drans, I think that is the big move that they need to make to really go all in. And I think they should be going all in because this is a unique year where, they don't have to play anyone they don't have to play anyone who's like legitimately daunting until the final four right and who knows if they're ever going to get that chance again and so I just think

it's a no brainer and I have no time for the arguments that Taylor Hall can't contribute to a winning team because we just haven't seen him in a situation where he's been allowed to do so and I think he's been horribly miscast and so I think that is the right fit for him so I like the uh... him is the bird dog for Tavares and Nielander

like, let's go. I was thinking more, you put him in the Hyman spot and then you bump Hyman down to do the same thing. But it already worked with Hyman and Matthews. So why fuck with, yeah. You can swear. It's okay. Okay.

Well, then why fuck with that? I, the reason to, the reason to fuck with it is that, um, I think Tavares, like, Tavares is at his best with a guy who soaks up a lot of space and is maybe a little less reliant on foot speed than Hall is. So I just think he's a better fit for Hyman as like an Anders Lee proxy than he is for Taylor Hall. Like I just, I feel like you're going to see a lot of Tabaras as the trailer behind Nealander and Hall, if that's the lookier line. Whereas if you put two assertive two-way guys like Hall and Matthews together, like, can you imagine teams trying to break out against the Maple Leaf's top line if you've got Hall and Matthews on the ice at the same time? Like just enormously disruptive. Be like an elite NFL pass rush or something. Like it would be fun to watch.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of teams in on a haul, so I'm curious to see what happens. I think the leaves are the best one. I agree with you. The blues would just be just very sad. I really hope that doesn't happen. Like they are horrific at attacking off the rush, so I get the perspective of adding some team speed, but they have so many issues that I just don't think that really moves the needle. Yeah.

I can't remember somebody today was talking about like if they just went 500, because that's the other thing with St. Louis is their entire rest of their schedule is just Colorado, Vegas, Minnesota, repeat. And so if they like, even if they won like 60% of their games, they'd still only have like a 45% chance to make the playoffs. And it's like, well, forget it then. Yeah. All right. So we're in agreement on Hall there.

Grants, give me a, give me another trade. I've got you, I've got a big sexy one for you guys, ready? A big sexy hook you're going to love. And it involves Mike Hoffman. The Boston Bruins Trade Jake de Brusk And a 2021 first round pick To the Anaheim Ducks for Hampus Lindholm

Now here's why this one makes sense The Bruins in acquiring Lindholm Move to a 4-4-1 protection structure for the expansion draft So you protect Coil, Marchand, Bergeron, and Pasternak and we just stop with the like Bruins need to protect Trent Frederick BS that you're seeing out of the Boston area. And then they protect Greslett, Carlo, Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy. And with McAvoy and Lindholm, all of a sudden have the best defense pair in the East, like probably, right? I mean, all of a sudden you're looking at playing 25 minutes in the playoffs with Bergeron, Mershan, Pasta,

McAvoy Lindholm in front of Rask. Like, come on. Now all of a sudden the Bruins are a serious team. They're not adding a ton of salary here. You know, you're welcome Jeremy Jacobs because Lindholm only is making 3.75 in salary this season. Like it's barely a prorated salary ad for the Bruins. And then for the Ducks, it allows them to move into a 731 protection structure and expansion and mine de Brusk.

Lindholm's a UFA after next season. At this point, like, are you going to resign Hampus Lindholm with where they are at in their development cycle? Like, does that really make sense? Or does it make more sense to roll the dice on an undervalued player like Debrusk, add a late first rounder and just sort of keep building? And now, and now you can protect like Troy Terry and, you know, all the other sort of players that the ducks are looking at like being pretty crunched on, which includes like Sam Steele and, you know, who I don't really love, but Max Jones, like the ducks are going to be exposing a ton of talent up front if they go 4-4-1.

This allows them to shift to 7-3-1. It's a way more efficient route for them and lets them continue building for the future. This one needs to happen, boys. It would just be great. I love it. Grants, I had the same trade. No!

Lindholm to Boston. Yeah, I did. Let's go. Let's go. I didn't have what Boston gave up. Jake DeBrust is a perfectly good. I've said it a million times. I don't get the hype with him other than he scored whatever 30-something goals.

his work a year and because I think he shot somewhere around 600%. So, like, I've never really gotten it with DeBrusk. I think he's, if you're Boston and you're got to give something up, you know, just to get salary out of the way, he's the, he's absolutely the guy that you do that with.

Absolutely. I had a good comp. I had someone drop a good DeBrasse comp on me the other day. Someone in the industry dropped. Evgeny Dadinov, like he could, If he tops out, he could be like Evgeny Daddanov, which is like a complimentary top line piece, right? Like a fringe top line piece as Debrusk's ceiling if he can sort of learn. Yeah, that's a ceiling. Yeah, absolutely.

Away from the puck. So, yeah, I mean, look, I still like, I still think Debrusk has some like breakout potential, though. If he goes to a team where it's just all opportunity, which it clearly would be for him in Anaheim. Anyway, I like that fit for both clubs. I like the brusk better than both of you. I do, I add the brusk in a second for Vince Dunn. Uh, similar thinking because I think the Bruins are in a very, very weird spot here where they clearly need to improve their roster if they're going to actually contend this season.

They kind of have to contend this season because of the respective ages of a lot of their key players and they don't really have much flexibility to do so. There are really weird teams statistically where they still do a lot of the things really well that they've done that have been their hallmarks over the years. Their top defensive team, their special teams is the best in the league pretty much at both ends. and they are a 5-15 possession team. Now, offensively, their 31st in high-danger attempts, 29th and expected goals, and 27th in actual goals.

And that's because their top line has scored 26, 5-1-5 goals combined. There are 10 other regularly used forwards of 24 goals combined, including one from Jake DeBrusk, three from Charlie Coil, and zero from David Creachie. And I think the issue with just adding a forward, which I've seen a lot of people say, It's like the Bruins need someone who can score goals and help unlock David Creachy. And I get that and they could certainly use that.

I think it's kind of like treating the symptoms and not the cause, though, because if you look at who's been playing blue line minutes for them this year beyond Charlie McAvoy who's at a Norris level season, like Carlo and Groszick can miss a bunch of time. And otherwise it's been a bunch of veterans who we know we aren't good or a bunch of young guys who are probably being overstretched at this point of their careers. And so adding a Lynn Holm would be amazing. I kind of targeted Vince done just because it seems like he's on the outs on. on the blues and they want to move him. And he adds a bit of that sort of spark element where he could play make and get the puck up more quickly for them. So I think we're on the same page there.

Obviously different players, but on the same page in terms of I think they need to add a good defenseman that can help eat up a bunch of these minutes to help their offense as weird as as weird as that sounds. I don't know why they're not playing a con more. It's played like one game, I think, right? Yeah, I find that baffling. And also I have time for Jeremy Lozahn. I think Jeremy Lozahn's

Yeah, I think He's fine. He's fine. He's fine. He's a complimentary piece. Yeah. Yeah. The thing though with, oh, wow, it's crazy that the,

David Creachy's not scoring and they, and the top line is out. Yeah, this is an episode of the PDO cast from 2020. This is an episode of the PDO cast from 2019. Like, you can, you can just go down the list. This has been the problem in Boston forever. And every time they go out and get a forward, they quickly figure out, well, that, that guy wasn't the one. But the next one will be. will be. And at this point, I agree. Like, this is the kind of the thing we saw in the early

Connor McDavid days in Edmonton where it's like, oh, he's doing a lot of it himself. And then he can't do anything else because he has to go get the puck and take it 200 feet because nobody on the blue line is doing that for him. And yeah, I mean, obviously, and especially with Grizzlick missing a bunch of time. Like, that's the big problem in Boston. They have Charlie McIvoy can get the puck out of their zone and nobody else can. And Hamas Lindholm, well, okay, he's good at that. The one year work for them was when they got Marcus Johansson and Charlie Coyle. I think that was the year they lost their blues in the cup final.

Yes. But those are like the two. And it actually worked. It's like, wow, they have a second line that can score at 5-1-5. And why was because they got two guys and not one. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes. All right, Ryan, next stop, what do you got?

well on the topic of Vince Dunn, let's go Vince Dunn to Vegas their their left side stinks it's bad

it's I wrote it down I don't know if this is literally what they're going with right now but Martinez McNabb and Holden is what it seems like they're going with on the left side right now that's not going to cut it against Colorado Amalinch

I like Vince Dunn I think he's kind of in a situation where It just doesn't really line up with how he's being used and how the team wants to play or has to play or whatever you want to say. And, you know, I think Vegas has some pretty clear deficiencies in various places. And certainly, like you would say, center depth, but there's no Michael Granland is the, is going to be a big change. They're not going to have a center depth at this deadline.

Yeah. So I don't know, like they need to improve. They're not going to, they're not going to, they're not going to, they're not going to, they aren't going to get a center. They have the two best coalsies in the league right now, maybe. And, well, with all due respect to hell of buck and down. But then, yeah. So they need, they need defense. Vince Dunn seems like a guy who they could have for quite a while and use effectively. Well, and the thing with Vince Donne is he's really cheap and cost controlled right now. And so for them financially to make it work, that'd be huge because I think what he would provide to them this season significantly outweighs, like how much he'd cost them financially. And there's very few players that they could realistically acquire like that right now. So I like it from that perspective. I like that the Vegas Golden Knights get to acquire Colin Miller 2.0 left-handed Colin Miller with, like that's a good thing for that. Vince, Don's better than Colin.

Yeah, I'm just saying. I think so too, to be honest with you, I'm a big Vince Dunn fan, but also it's a guy who we've just never seen play top four. Like we've just never seen him play match a minute. So he's done all these sexy things, but does it translate against tougher comp? It's just like it feels like 2016 Colin Miller all over again. And that is a risk you're taking if you're Vegas. Although in Vegas's case, you're just going to play them with White Cloud on your third pair anyway. And the best part about it from Vegas's perspective is they duck expansion.

Like almost no teams except like Vancouver and. Vegas can add Vince Dunn and keep him away from Seattle. Boston. But Vegas can. Well, no, but yeah, I guess Boston, because you probably just. Well, now that they have Lindholm and Mack. Right. And that was the other thing I meant to say about Boston and Lindholm, too, is like,

Boston and Anaheim love trading with each other. They're like, oh, all your problems will take them. No problem. That's great. So I, that was another reason I like that trade. But, yeah, I think. I think Vince Dunn is the kind of player that Vegas can put him in a position where he can grow in a way that now he can't in St. Louis because they don't have that extra top pair guy. Well, here's the problem. Here's the problem.

Well, it's actually a good thing in this case. We actually have seen Vince Dunn play top four minutes and it was with Alex Petrangelo as a sheltered pair where they absolutely crushed it. Now, they don't have a Colton Pereko to just eat up all of the defensive minutes without the prey. But I would be intrigued. And I think they would get more out of Petrangelo as well because I think they've been sort of miscasting him in terms of acquiring him and just expecting him to do everything, which he wasn't really doing towards the end in St. Louis. He was being used very effectively to succeed. So I like it. I like it a lot.

All right. It's my turn here. I've got the abs. I think the abs. I think the abs need to acquire backup wholly. I know they acquired Jonas Johansson. That's not going to be enough for me. me. It's working great so far.

I mean, I think, I think people went. Is it, Ryan? People went into last year. He's winning. People winning. But he's winning behind the abs. Yeah, I understand. Wait, wait, wait, hold on. He won one of his two games. I don't think we could use a lot of it.

That's 500, baby. If that's all you're getting out of your backup, I think you're fine. He's not going to play a second in the playoffs. Either way, I don't think. Well, I mean, after last year. Yeah, Mike Hutchinson, you know, you've got. Grubauer and you've got Frantzose. I'm with Dimitri. They need more goaltending depth just in case. Sure.

Well, here's the thing. People went into this year trying to throw cold water on the avalanche and all the hype about them saying their goaltending wasn't reliable. And I think the bubble obviously wasn't an accurate representation because Michael Hutchinson was playing Game 7 for them in that series against the stars. Grubao has been excellent this year. I've got him as one of my Vesno finalists. But he's also started 31 of their 38 games because Frantzius has been out all year

and they haven't had a reliable backup. And Grubauer, I know he's an upcoming UFA, so maybe they don't care about overextending him here, but he's also never played as much before. I believe his career high in NHL's like 45 games or something. He's well on his way to exceeding that before you account for the playoff run. And so just I think this team is so good that it's kind of reckless to go into the postseason without a viable backup just in case of injury or poor performance because it's goalies and that happens sometimes.

And there's no one that they're going to get that's going to be better than Philip Grubar. But I feel like someone like a Jonathan Bernier, for example, assuming he's healthy, I know he's been out for a while. Like, yeah, just go and get him. Even if he doesn't play a single minute for you in the playoffs, that's good. That means things turned out pretty well for you. But I think this team can make a long run even with Jonathan Bernier in it because they have the best defensive metrics in the league and they score a ton of goals.

So I, meanwhile, I don't think Jonas Johansson and Hunter Miska qualify as big league average or good enough to win behind that team. So that's kind of my logic. I just think it would suck to see them lose in the playoffs again because their goalie got hurt. And you really are like one unfortunate injury away from submarineing your entire season. And I don't know, that makes me uncomfortable for a team that's this good. Yeah. And Bernier is like the one goalie that's been floated anyway as being available.

That's actually worth acquiring, right? Like I really can't think of another goalie that we're like, oh yeah, he'll definitely be available. Well, I've yet to hear a logical argument for why the Panthers would trade Chris Trigger right now. Yes, right. Like, he's obviously not going to be there long term, but he's their best goalie right now, and they're a pretty good team. Like, if they have to play Tampa Bay or Carolina and round one, that's going to suck, obviously, but there's still a good competitive team that hasn't won a playoff series since 1996. So I think just they're not going to get a premium asset back in return for a 27-year-old UFO who has, like, 30 career games.

So just treat Drieger as your own rental and just have him be your number one goalie or 1A1B with Bobowski for the rest of the season and just lose him in free agency. That's fine. Like what's the point of trading him to Colorado for like a third round pick? It just makes no sense to me. I've got a very similar trade by the way. But I have for Scott Wedgwood. Scott Wedgwood for me is like the sleeper third goalie. I had it as a conditional fifth.

It can become a fourth if Wedgwood plays like four. games in the avalanche make the conference final. So that was my, that was my sort of rendition on a similar theme. But I agree with you. I think the abs need additional goaltending depth. Grubauer's got durability concerns. We don't know what's up with Franco's. To have this team end up playing a playoff game in front of Johansson would be catastrophic. Yeah. Yeah. So sure. I like, I like Riddick there actually more than I droid, but it's fine. Yeah, but Riddick, um, I don't think anyone trusts Riddick right now. I think he's a good reclimate.

I think there's no Scott Wedgwood. No, but Riddick, I think there's been concerns that Riddick didn't show up to camp in shape. Like, I think Riddick's more like you take a gamble on him in the offseason and try and rebuild him and believe in that, as opposed to a deadline guy who at least makes you not lose sleep if you're starting him the next day in a playoff game. You know what I mean? Like Wedgwood's kind of, well, you still lose sleep. It's Wedgwood. I showed up to this podcast out of shape, so it's fine. I'm not going to beat up. Hear me out.

Big save Dave. I screwed it up. Never mind. We're bailing on that bit. We've gone this long and I haven't pitched a Vancouver Canucks trade, so I should do so. I mean, I think they're going to resign Tanner Pearson, which is an error. But this is what I think they should be looking at in terms of a Pearson deal. And this is a three-team trade going through Stevie's laundromat.

again. So from Vancouver, Tanner Pearson at 50% retained. From the Toronto Maple Leafs, as we discussed, the Maple Leafs need left wing depth, a 22, fourth round pick, a 22 fifth round pick, Timothy Lilligran and Timothy Lilligran. From Detroit, 50% retained on Pearson and Tarot Heroes. So Vancouver gets a 22 fourth, Timothy Lilligrin and Tarot Heroes. They just need bodies at this point if they're going to have to finish the season when the majority of their team's been COVID positive. So I just like the inclusion of an additional body who can play games for you and who you're not going to be too worried about.

To the Maple Leafs, Tanner Pearson, Tanner Pearson comes out of this trade with a 938K cap hit. So this does not preclude them from then going out and also getting haul or doing something sexier. This is like, let's go. You're now looking at like curfoot, Thornton Pearson on your third line. and then Detroit gets a 20-22 fifth round pick for their trouble. So that's my,

that's my, what the Canucks should be looking for is like a mid-round pick. Timothy Lilligrin, who like immediately plays top four minutes for them. And, you know, just a live body up front. They get off Tanner Pearson and Toronto adds like him,

like 120K above the veteran minimum. I mean, this is a win, win, yeah. And Jim Benning watches some Leaves playoff games, falls in love with Tanner. Pearson and throws a bunch of money.

This year is $6 million. But that's fine because you've added a good defenseman in a fourth. Like whatever. If you're going to overpay the guy anyway, do it after you've monetized him. To be, I want the one takeaway from this podcast to be Dran says six by six, Tanner Pearson, that's fine. That's fine. At least get Lilligrin for it.

Come on. All right. Come on. I like it. I like it. All right, RL, do you have any more trades? I have like one or two more, but I'll like it. have two more on my board here.

One of them, I think this is just kind of everybody's saying that this should happen, but I wrote it then anyway at Colm to Winnipeg. I would, you know, I would just like to see what if the Winnipeg's second best left defenseman wasn't Derek Forbork anymore, you know, what's that world look like? It looks like a little bit, a little bit less like the Hellebuck show, right? Like that's, yeah, and that's the thing. Everybody's saying, oh, yeah, they're looking to make a big splash here, or as big as they reasonably can, given the constraints of the situation and blah, blah, blah.

And it's like, this is the only one that may, like, maybe, maybe you say David Savard, but like, you know, at home's the prize here. And the question, I guess, becomes whether Nashville decides they want to sell after this heater they've been on for the last little while. while. But if they make the right decision and they do just start selling despite everything that's happened in the last few weeks, like Echholm, the Winnipeg is one. Perfect sense. Yeah, I was going to say just because they're back in that playoff spot now that Saros is playing really well. And at home's been playing huge men's. He'd be like 28 minutes for something or something the other night for them. And he's been playing well. And the reported offer or ask was

like high Nola in a first and another asset. And I think that's too much just because I don't think at home necessarily. It warrants it for a team that's kind of at their arc that the Jets are right now. But I think they do need to add so. And I mean, they're like hard matching Neil Pionk and Derek Foreboard against McDavid in these games. And it's like, I mean, regardless of what Paul Maurice is going to try to sell you, like, this is a bad defensive team. And they get by because they have a top three goalie in the world, maybe a top two goalie in the world. And once again, he's up there.

I think he's third and goal save above expected. but all their defensive metrics suck. And even if their internal stuff is different than the public metrics we have, I find it hard to believe that any of it paints them in a light where all of a sudden they're a good or even respectable defensive team. Trance, I know you are quite down on this Winnipeg team. I kind of, I am. I waffle on them because there's obviously red flags,

and I think we can't dismiss them. And I don't think they're very good, but their formula of a ridiculously good goalie, a top five power play, an opportunistic scoring off the rush. In a long sample, that'll come back to buy you. Unfortunately, the playoffs are not a long sample. So it's very easy to see a scenario where a team with that recipe gets hot and wins games they shouldn't.

And so, like, I'm kind of sitting on the fence here in terms of like embracing the possibilities for the Jets. And obviously, adding a guy like ECHO and would certainly help a lot in terms of defensive metrics. They're playing the Oilers. They're playing the Oilers in the first round. Dry-Sitle McDavid, I'll overpower them for sure. and Edmonton's got a mobile enough defensive group that they can keep up with them, right? Like that, I mean, that's a really bad matchup for Winnipeg from my perspective. It'll have to be the Hellebuck show if they're going to win.

But it's going to be- Unless they upgrade their defense. It's going to be Connor Hallibuck versus Mike Smith. Yeah, but Mike Smith is fine. But the, but the thing is the small sample thing goes either way. Like, obviously you'd rather bet on Hellebuck, but I'd rather bet on Hellebuck over 20. I don't know that that matters when I just think, like, I think the Oilers, are a rock to the Winnipeg Jets' scissors, you know? Yeah, I don't think anybody's saying that they're just going to be able to lock down

either of the top two lines. Like, even if they get away with locking down one of them, well, okay, here comes Leon Drysiddle. He won't MVP last year. He had 140 points or whatever it was. So, yeah, that's a tough sell. I love their third line. I love cop, Lowry Appleton.

that's like plug it into my veins um i just that defense core if they look if they had another top four defensemen i'll probably change my tune a little bit on on the jets but i think that's i also think that second line is softer than people realize like dubois wheeler i agree you know that's that that's not scaring me not not nearly the same way that um or sorry it's shifely wheeler um but the but the obviously the ealer's conner line is sick yeah uh i like david sabar there for a significantly smaller price. You can read my take on that on EP ringside. That's what we call a plug.

I've got a David Savard trade. All right. Let's give me one. I'm sending him to the Panthers for Sarah and Noel and a 2022 third round pick. Eckblad replacement basically. Obviously familiarity there with Zito. I think that one makes sense. And I've got another Panthers one,

which is another Vancouver Canucks one, too. This is a Panthers Canucks trade. So without me involved. Maxim Mammon to the Canucks for 22 conditional seventh round pick can become a fourth round pick if mammon signs in Vancouver and a third round pick if he plays 40 games next year. Mammon is good, man. Mammon is like a play driving tough as nails winger who has no end product, but like he's

a perfect fourth line wing, especially for a team like Vancouver. And then he's a Russian speaker to play with Podkoulson. They basically do like a Russian Bash Brothers thing on their fourth line next year. And you can have him for the low, low cost of a conditional seventh. like what tell me I'm wrong like what what why would you not do this you only got six trains on this and you're like okay it's malman for conditional sevens i'm i'm i'm i'm so dedicated to this like who says no who says go go check out go check out max and mammon is like like look you don't want him playing up your lineup but he's like a play driving fourth line winger who's six foot three

230 pounds can fight. Like he's like an old school prick player. And he's scored in the K this year. He had 45 points in the K this year. Like this guy's not going to, you're not getting him for his scoring, but it's like this is the perfect low cost. All it's going to cost is a one way deal.

Six three and cut. Like, fuck, go get this guy. Someone needs to go get this guy. One thing I will say about the Jim Benning era in Vancouver is they have not traded enough draft picks away for players who don't earn any good. We're hearing it more and more. More and more people are saying this. Jan just left speechless.

I love it. I will say, I like the Sabard to the Panthers trade. And I think if people are paying attention in Elliott its most recent 31 thoughts, just hear like a one line sentence that was like, I wouldn't be surprised at the lightning are in on David Savard. And like literally every other GM should be like,

like, oh God, we need to jump in here before they get him for like a sixth. So I will say that. What should the Oilers do? We haven't really talked about that much beyond my Luke Lynn Denning joke. But I do feel like it's kind of disappointing for them to just do nothing because McDavid and Dreider are playing at such a high level right now that I'd like to see them get aggressive beyond even any rentals. Like I'd like to see them make a future facing trade in terms of getting someone who they're going to have. for beyond the season, it's a good player because they do have a bunch of assets that they could trade in terms of non-NHL pieces.

But I'm really curious, like, is there anything you see that makes sense in terms of an upgrade for them? There are a couple guys that where I thought about it. And I was like, I guess I like this guy maybe a little more on a different team. So I'll burn one of my other trades. I originally had, and this could be the jumping off point, Ricard Raquel to Carolina. know. That's that that I figured that was Taravine insurance. And right now

without Terravine and in the lineup, they go Natchez Fogel fast and McGinn down that side and Raquel helps a lot, I think. Um, and so I think, you know, I don't think it's telling tales out of school here to say, Edmonton needs wing help. Um, so if you want to say Raquel to the, Oilers, hey, cool am I to stop you. I do have an Oilers trade for you.

I have them trading Caleb Jones, Alex Chason, and a 2021 first round pick to the St. Louis Blues for Mike Hoffman. He's going to say it. Jaden Schwartz. I like that. Contingent on Schwartz agreeing to an extension prior to the deal. St. Louis has to retain a little bit to make the money work. But it's not, you know, it's a pins. And look, I think Schwartz is the type of

player that the blues probably have to look long and hard about whether or not they're going to resign considering how the season's gone. You know, I'm not sure, like, he has a pretty expansive, limited no trade. I guarantee you, Edmonton is on it. But look, I mean, you get to play with McDavid. Like, he's the type of dynamic sort of player, though, that I think could really give some of that sort of long-term additional dynamic depth to the oilers and I just think it's a crazy, crazy good fit potentially. Like can you imagine Schwartz's

just like all around intelligence playing with dry-sidal? Like man, that to me just seems like such a match made in heaven, hockey heaven anyway, if not lifestyle heaven in Edmonton. But yeah, that would be though, that was the Edmonton trade that I was sort of looking at as something that I would consider I included Caleb Jones in there, right? Yeah. Caleb Jones, I think, is...

They're going to lose a defenseman in the expansion draft. Yeah. That's just how it's going to go. And St. Louis isn't super well positioned to protect him either. Well, I've got to lose wins done and any other number of trades that we've already proposed here. That's true. That's true. So, I mean, you know, I just think that makes sense.

Caleb Jones also is better than he's shown this season in Edmonton. Like, he's been underutilized there. So I think that one makes sense. I also like your Schwartz trade there because you put him on the opposite wing of Pooley-R-V and it's like, let's go, fellas. We're loading up the bus here. Yeah. I like it.

Yeah. Whether it's Raquel or Schwartz or I'd even say like Philip Forsberg, if you want to get crazy or trying to steal Sam Reinhardt from the Sabres, like I want to see the Oilers link to more aggressive big picture trades as opposed to like fourth line guy who's in a way to face-off. I really just, I understand like Ottawa media has like galaxy brain full time and they can't help themselves. But like, come on. Like let's, you see the Leafs link to all these guys. It's like, oh, they're, they're considering Philip Orricks.

Like, why are the oilers not in on this? Why is this not a thing? And it needs to be because I'd love to see them at another legitimately good top six player. The Edmonton Oilers couldn't possibly lose a trade involving a Reinhardt. So I'm all aboard the stamp train. Let's go. Nice one. All right.

I think that's it. Did we get to all of them? I don't have anything left, so. I have one more, but it's pie in the sky. It's for John Gibson to end up on the Leafs. Okay. I don't know. I'm not even indulging that one.

I also had one more, and it's Bobby Ryan to Tampa. I just want it. It seems like it. Oh, that's nice. I like that. That would be nice, right? I'm all aboard. I'm all aboard a Bobby Ryan, Pat Maroon, and Kuturov double shifting,

fourth line. Like, sign me up for that. Yeah, sign me up for that. I'm on board with that. All right. So, Maxim Mammon for a seven. Conditional. Conditional, of course.

The equivalent of a bag of sticks and pucks. It could become a third. You could work his way up there. All right, let's plug some stuff. Drenz, for more great Maxim Mammann comment content, where can people check you out? Where can they find your work? Oh, all over the place these days. Theathletic.com, of course.

and then the Vancast is my podcast project. I've also just agreed to be a contributor with the Sakarison Price podcast. Make sure to support them, especially if you're a listener in the Vancouver area. Local media needs your support. And also I'm contributing at 650, SportsNet 650 these days. So good luck avoiding me if you're in Vancouver, unfortunately. You're a busy guy. Lambert, are you writing at any enterprising sites?

Oh, I'm trying to think. I feel like there is one. Oh, it's called eP.rinkside.com. I don't know if you guys have heard of this one. It's me. It's Dimitri. It's Jayfresh. You know, I can just pull up our slack and start rattling down the list here.

It's J.D. Burke. You know, on and on and on. Those are David St. Louis. Mitch Brown, Rachel Dory. I'm just scrolling up. These are the people who did the most recent chatting. So, yeah, we haven't. I would say stunningly good

collection of writers over there and everybody's turning out a lot of content honestly. So yeah, check it out. And then of course there's the Puck Soup podcast which I have mentioned. Multiple times on this episode already.

I think your opinion on whether you should listen is probably formed by now. But I would encourage you to check it out because I think I say smart stuff on there. As an EP ringside subscriber, by the way, I just want to add, you gentlemen are doing great work. I get full value for my subscription. So I just want to shout out.

Amplify Ryan's plug. And if people want to join Dranson and join the EP ringside product, they can use promo code I Love EP to get two free months on an annual subscription. So please check that out and support our work. And fellas, this was a blast. I'm glad we got to do this. Hopefully people enjoyed the reasonable and unreasonable trade takes. head here and hopefully it's a fun trade headline and you guys enjoy it and we'll have you

both back on sometime down the road. Great. Thanks, bud. Appreciate it. Hockey P.DOCAST with Dim Filipovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovic and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com slash hockey pdfast.