The Hockey PDOcast - Episode 444: Your 2022 Stanley Cup Champions

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Peter Baugh joins the show to discuss Colorado's victory over Tampa Bay, how they won the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, and the people that helped finally get them there. Topics include: Their defensive performance down the stretch of Game 6 The heights Bowen Byram took his game to How much credit Jared Bednar deserves Val Nichushkin's future after this run If you haven't done so yet, please take a minute to leave a rating and review for the show. Smash that 5-star button. If you're feeling extra generous, you can also leave a little note about why you recommend people check the PDOcast out. Thanks for the help, each one is much appreciated! 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 Dimitra Filippovich. And joining me is my buddy Peter Bob. Peter, what's going on, man? Hey, how are you? I'm good. I imagine I'm a bit more well-rested than you are, although not nearly as well-rested as I would like to be. But that's okay, because we're recording this the morning after the Stanley Cup was awarded

in the Colorado Vunch won it. And so I figured, you know, I typically like to give myself a bit more time to kind of digest this stuff and maybe even rewatch it and think about her a bit more. But it's still, you know, it's hot. It's fresh on the mind. I think people want to listen. And it's, it's fitting that we do this now to kind of put a bow on the Stanley Cup playoffs before we move on to offseason content and whatnot. So where do you want to start this conversation? Because obviously we're going to kind of focus from the ass respected as the victors here and you cover the team. You know, now that you had whatever how many hours have passed since since uh all of last night's festivities what's kind

of most fresh on your mind or what's the thing you kind of keep thinking about the most um in kind of the afterlife of it all yeah well one is obviously the emotions you see on the ice after you see nathan mckinin crying while he's hugging his dad you see darren helm crying while he's holding his daughter. You see all the remaining members of the 2016-17 teams standing together for a picture going from the worst team in the league to this.

And from a hockey perspective, I think just that third period, we were talking about it a little bit before we started recording, but it was maybe the best period of hockey. I've seen the avalanche play all year. And given the stakes, given everything that was on the line, and even

they didn't score. It was just a clinical. I mean, they allowed nothing that entire period. And I was I was so impressed with that. I thought that was a really, really gutsy effort that third period. Yeah. It's interesting you bring that up. I was thinking about that as well because after the game, I was watching the sports night feed and Elliot Friedman and David Amber were interviewing Darcy Kemper like right after the game when everyone's celebrating and whatnot and they kind of pull them aside. And they essentially asked him what he was thinking, you know, when they went down one nothing early on in game six. just knowing how well Basilevsky was playing at the other end and how, you know, it likely meant from his perspective, like he didn't really have any wiggle room anymore

to make any mistakes because if you go down to nothing or three nothing, like, you're probably not scoring enough goals to come back against the lightning in that scenario, right? And, you know, aside from being like such a classic hockey guy move on his part to just deflect attention from himself and kind of be programmed to make everything about the team, he, like, his answer was pretty much entirely about like how the guys in front of them made life so much easier for him by just like limiting what he actually had to do. And especially in that third period, you or I may as well have been out there because aside

from that one shot, I believe Kuturov got on kind of like a one-timer with, it was a great scoring chance. It was like the kind of classic like going north, east west made a move one time or quickly from Kutra where he snaps it. And that was a real scoring chance. But aside from that, like you or I may have as well have been in net. the first, what, 11, 12 minutes of that period because the only shot the lightning got on it was a dump-in by Ryan McDonough from Senator Ice, essentially.

And so he's right in that regard where like it really was about as clinical, a defensive effort as you're going to see, especially given the stakes. And for me, that was a takeaway because for all the offensive firepower this, this Colorado avalanche team has, just that attention to detail. and when they're buzzing like that, how they're able to almost like suffocate you in a way defensively, where it felt like the lightning weren't able to complete two passes back to back, right? Like they weren't able to exit their zone. It felt like they were jumping every passing lane.

They were on all those breakouts. They weren't giving them any traction. And then I just love to see that because so many times in that instance, and I think the abs themselves have fallen into this in the past, it's kind of human nature to shell up a bit and be like, all right, we're just going to not mess up here. So we're going to sit back. We're going to try to absorb their best punch.

We're going to block as many shots as we can. And we're going to hope that our defensive shell is strong enough to, you know, hold on to this one goal lead. And instead, they kind of went the opposite way and attacked instead and just didn't ever let Tampa even throw that punch. And that was just so impressive to me. Yeah. And that's the way they needed to play.

I mean, because like you said, they, they've referenced a few times game five against St. Louis. I don't know if you remember that off the top of your hands. head, but that was the game that they had, I think, a 3-0 lead and blew it. And they referenced learning from that and just how they got away from their game because they didn't want to mess up, all those things that you said. And last night was an example of them sticking to their game, having long offensive zone shifts where they were just keeping it in the offensive zone.

So it wasn't that they were, I mean, they were playing well in the defensive zone. But the big thing was that they just weren't really letting it get into. the defensive zone for that long. And I thought Bowen Byron after the game, I talked to him and he said, we went out there and we probably played one of the most perfect clinching third periods in the history of hockey. So he was a little excited. And rightfully so. That's maybe a bit of a hyperbole, but also like, I mean, it was a darn good third period against the two-time defending cup champions. So maybe he's got a point there that it was one of the best ever. Yeah, well, it's funny enough because I thought that game two they played earlier in the series was about as comprehensive of performance as I've seen on that stage as well. Obviously, in a much, you know, the stakes are high because it's still a game in the Stanley Cup finals, but it's game two, it's early in the series. They're at home. There's not as much pressure. You go up a few goals and all of a sudden it's a lot easier to kind of keep your foot on the pedal and finish that off, as opposed to this where you're on the road, you've already blown game five at home. You know, you still like your chances in a game seven going back.

in front of your home crowd, but you don't really want to let it get to that point either. And so it's an entirely different sort of psychological exercise, I guess. And so for them to pull it off in that fashion was impressive to me. And, you know, for me, like, I really honestly have no rooting interest. I just cheer for fun hockey and good stories. But this is a sport where often you can kind of wonder whether it's a feature or a bug that the playoffs can be so random sometimes and like how much of it is a meritocracy because it feels like being the better team doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win.

And in this case, for me, it's just so immensely satisfying that it really does feel like the best team in the league this season wound up being the last one standing. And as a fan, that's kind of all you can ask for. And the second best team probably was the second class. Yes. And I'll also add with the game two versus game six. The biggest difference to me was that I thought in game two, the lightning just didn't have it that day. Like they played poorly. I don't think, I think last night was about what the abs did.

did more than what Tampa didn't do, if that makes sense. Like I thought that Tampa was playing okay, and they were playing desperate hockey, and they were trying to get anything going and throwing stuff at the wall, and the abs just weren't letting them have it. Yeah, I think against a lesser opponent, the Lightning, I mean, would have had more opportunities, obviously.

It did feel like, you know, maybe it is unfair, maybe to Navs because they obviously kind of created their own knocking out of, it didn't feel like the Lightning just kind of ran out of gas. And, I mean, I felt like that way in round one against Toronto at times when I was watching them. Like, and they kind of made a habit of sort of playing possum in that regard where they looked like they were kind of just down and out. And then all of a sudden they, like, do the Undertaker Giff of just popping back up.

And, you know, to their credit, like, after game two, I did a podcast with Shana Goldman. And I think listening back to it, the general tenor was like it felt like that might as well have been the show that we ran after the Stanley Cup final was over. Like, it felt like it was done. Like after that game, too, it just felt like I didn't see a roadmap for the lightning, acknowledging that they had bounced back in previous rounds in similar fashion. Watching that game too, I was like, I don't understand how they can skate for this avalanche team.

And to their credit, the end of that series was very tight. I believe in the final three games, every single second of game time was played within a one goal scoreline either way. Wow. One had a two-goal lead at any point in the game. And, you know, two games went to overtime, whatever, yeah, four one-goal games.

Like, it was about as tight. as you can play it. And so as a spectator, that's really fun because, yeah, you want this stage to be played in that type of fashion. And the lightning really gave the avalanche everything they had. And so, you know, credit to them, but the avalanche were, it did feel like throughout that series, the superior team. Yeah. And I thought for me, it was what it came down to was, it was the goal towing because the avalanche, if the avalanche could get enough from Darcy Kemper, like you said, they had the better skaters, but Andre Vasselisky is such a Trump card. so many ways. If they could get enough from Darcy Kemper, they were going to be okay, especially after they had that two goal lead. And Darcy Kemper's credit, he's taking a lot of heat up points because he has let in

some bad goals. But I thought last night, he was excellent. The first goal he allowed was not a good goal. But he shut it down after that, and he was very, very good. And I thought the same thing for game four, the overtime win with the Cadre goal in overtime. I thought he was excellent in that game. So I think Kemp,

deserves a ton of credit. Even if he wasn't good at these playoffs necessarily, like some of his advanced metrics were not great. I think he clearly had a very good last two wins for the abs. They needed that. Yes. Okay, totally off-topic question. I don't know if you wrote this story this season.

What on earth was going on with Darcy Kemper's equipment all season? I have no clue. He had to switch brands of skate blades at one point because he had, I think it was in November. There were like three times in two games that his skate blade just fell out of his skate. And like that led to like they had to switch goalies one game. They just were like, it just kept happening. And they were like, all right, Darcy, you're getting the night off. We're going to Pablo Frantzos this game.

He had that. He obviously had a stick got caught through his mask. like I don't really have an answer to you as to what was going on. I know he had to switch skate blades at one point. He also at one point, like, stepped on his skate lace and had to get a lace repaired. And like, he had some weird stuff that happened this season. But hey, he had an amazing regular season. And he was off to a good start of the postseason before the stick got in his mask and

struggled. But he had good games. when he needed to at the end of the cup. Yeah, it's the classic example is like, all right, my one wish is to play behind a really awesome team at the Colorado Avalanche. It's like, all right. Especially after being in Arizona. Yeah, we can grant you that wish.

Unfortunately, you didn't say anything about all your equipment malfunctioning and every other thing going possibly wrong. But it all worked out. A stick getting caught in your mask. And yeah. Yeah, and funny enough, in the, in the biggest moment of the season, it was actually Vasilevsky's equipment that let him down a little bit with his helmet. coming undone. So, all right, well, let's, let's kind of get into the specific, like,

skater performances then here that I wanted to highlight a little bit. And, and you mentioned Bowen Byram earlier. Now, this is going to sound sacrilegious off the top initially, considering the names involved in this series. You've got Victor Headman, you've got Kail McCarr, you've got Devon Taves. I mean, it's a Ryan McDonough, Eric Chernak. You know, it's a star-studded group of defensemen. I thought, for my money, Bowen Byron, was the best defensemen of all of them in these six games from start to finish. He didn't have necessarily the high highs of the wow plays, the McCar made every once in a while. But for the most part, just in terms of the consistency, it really felt like just watching him play, it was about as thorough

performance as you're going to see. And considering the season he had, the ups and downs that he faced for him to end the season on that note was just such a remarkable story to watch. And listen, like he credits to Jared Bednar as well. I mean, I guess Bowen Byron made it easy to him, easy for him because he was playing so well. But when you look back, like I tweeted this, Bowen Byron played more five and five minutes in this series than any defenseman. And now, Kill McCar, you know, kills more penalties, plays obviously the top unit power plays. So they kind of balanced that out in that perspective. But he was leaned on and they were playing him with Taves with McCar, you know, with Eric Johnson.

and they were playing with all different combinations depending on the situation. And with him out there, the avalanche outshot the lightning 79 to 44 at 515 in the series. And he saved his best performance for last with what I thought was like a true star making performance in the clincher where he was arguably the best player on the ice from start to finish. And so yeah, I guess we got to talk about a bit about Boyn Myron. I talked about him a lot in this podcast or this postseason. And I thought his emergence, especially after the Sam Jard injury, was a game changer and they really needed it. and he stepped up and did everything you could possibly ask for. Yeah, that guy is a, he's a big game player.

I would still, I would, I would say, McCart still for me was the best defenseman in that. Well, he had the most to do, right, and the most pressure on him, sir. Yeah, exactly. And he played a lot of minutes, but I do think that this was, I mean, just an absolute unbelievable showing for Boe environment. And I thought last night in the third period, I was like, this is a big game player. Like, you look at him and it was funny.

His preseason, he was pretty meh. He didn't really do much. He was at rookie camp. He was fine in the rookie tournament. Didn't wow you. First game of the season, the lights are bright, and he is on from the jump. Scores one of the first ass goals of the season and looks electric from the beginning. And probably it would have been in the Calder.

trophy mix if he hadn't got hurt. Took him a while to work back. Samuel Gerard goes down in the Blues series and immediately, and Byron was playing well before that, but he raised his game. And then in the cop, like, like you said, just an excellent, excellent showing. And credit to Jared Bednar for, I mean,

because he played him a lot. Like, he stuck with him a lot. And I thought that that speaks a lot to Bednar's trust and willingness to trust a young player who's, I mean, that's the youngest guy on the team is 21 years old. And it speaks a lot to Byron's ability to step up because I saw those numbers that you put out there. It was remarkable. He had a, I didn't really, it's funny because last night I kind of felt was all about, like, for me, capturing the emotions.

So I haven't even, like, dived into, like, all the, like, hockey specific stuff. So to see those numbers when I did, I was like, they didn't shock me because you could tell how well he was playing. It's like, dang, like, he really, like, he was a, I mean, it was a star level performance. Well, let me give you some more numbers on them. So he played 2452 at 515, which is like two and a half minutes more than anyone on the team. Six shot attempts, including one where he rang it off the iron and very easily could have scored, set up five, five-on-five shots for his teammates. And that doesn't include a beautiful assist on the one-timer for McKinnon's goal that got the abs on the board.

And yeah, it was just, it was pretty much everything you could ask for from him. I imagine the moment he's eligible for his extension coming off as ELC, that's going to be very high on the to-do list for the avalanche, because, you know, knock on wood, health permitting, like it feels like it's only a matter of time before his offensive numbers do actually match up with the way he's been playing, right? Like he didn't score this postseason. He has zero goal.

Yeah. And it felt like he was within like a centimeter or like a five or seven. six potentially, right? And if you replay it a hundred times, it feels like a bunch of those scenarios do come true and he scores a ton of goals. And it feels like heading into next season, like my expectations for him offensively are going to be through the roof. And so I still feel like you could probably just because of the way the salary caps, like the contract structures work and stuff and how RFA is so little leverage. Like the light avalanche will be able to like leverage this into a reasonable cap figure where assuming he's healthy and playing at this capacity, it's going to be like

he's going to provide great value for them moving forward. And so that's why I think, like, they're going to be all over this. And rightfully so because he showed throughout this entire postseason, but especially in the stand, like a final that like it used to be McCar and Taves, and now it's Macar Taves and Byron, I think. Yeah. And that's not even to mention Gerard, who's, who's darn good player himself. Like, it's, they've got a wealth of, of defensemen that are going to be a problem for,

for opponents. And we'll see what they, because they are going to have some decisions. to do with their defenseman with like Manson's a free agent. Eric Johnson only has one year left on his deal. Jack Johnson, I know, is kind of a guy that maybe isn't a fan or an analytics darling. He's a vibes guy. He's a vibes guy. And I'll tell you what, like my bar for Jack Johnson, and this is going to sound mean

and I really don't mean it in a mean way. But my bar for Jack Johnson is, did I notice him in a game? And if the answer's no, that means he played just fine. You know, like he didn't mess up. And the entire Stanley Cup, he put together games where I know his expected goals weren't great. And I'm sure there are, like, reasons for that. And he's obviously not to the level of some of his teammates. But he, I thought he was pretty sturdy.

So credit to him for coming through like that. But once again, like, I'm going to keep going back to this. Let's give Jared Bednar a bit of credit here. Because in some of these games where he felt like he couldn't afford to have Jagg Johnson out there, he wasn't forcing it just for the sake of rolling three defense pairs. Like he was creatively mixing matching. Like I said, he'd get Byron out there with Taves. Did he get Byram out there with McCar?

He'd get Bacar and Taves. Like he'd mix and match like his top four or five guys. And there were certain, like, there was one game where I like looked and it was like, the third period. And Jack Johnson had played five minutes or something for the game. And it wasn't because he had missed any time going to the room or was injured. It was just because Jared Bednar was like, I'm going to go down with my best guys here. And I'm going to play, especially on the road where,

I don't have last change and I can't control the environment that I'm going to have them out there for. I'm going to just, I can't risk it. And that's a sign of a great coach that understands his team and his personnel and the gravity of the situation and isn't just like robotically going through the motions and just rolling is like all lines and all partners as if it's the preseason. And so it, Jerry Bender is not going to get a ton of credit in the grand scheme of things here because the avalanche of so many star players and they have so many, you know, different areas we can focus on of like, oh, this guy did this. did that and the coach often gets lost in the shuffle similar to what john cooper has gone through over the past couple years but i thought he did a really great job in this series i mean like how many different top line combinations that they throw at the lightning in this series it felt like mcannon played with pretty much every single four they have on the team yeah i was going to bring that up

too of his it was always lanniske mccan-ranton ran in it before this postseason like that was there And they still, they would roll that line when they really needed a goal or when they really wanted to get some offense going. But this postseason, and late in the regular season, and actually Gabriel Lannisog's injury allowed him to do this a little bit. But late in the season, what they did was they tried to tinker with their top six just because they knew they were going to, last year in Vegas, they felt like when they had to shuffle things, they just kind of panicked almost, not panicked, but like. like it took a while to get going, you know, when, when things, I mean, you remember, they, they lost two games in a row and then they couldn't really regain their footing. So this year, they tried out all these different things and they had Ntushchechen with the top line. He was excellent. They had Lachanin with the top line and he scores the game winning goal last night.

You had, it was an impressive job of pushing the right buttons. And I, I thought that Landiskechak deserves a lot of credit for that and Nachushkin, because those are the, two guys who it felt like you could put them in any spot and it would work because they're just such like they're great puck retrievers they're great defensively all that yeah i mean i'd like it in in the last game he was up there on the top line with mckinan and and and he was i mean he scored the the winning goal but he he was making a lot of remarkable stuff happen with his passing as well i think you know i i've given this a lot of thought in terms of like joe sackic gets a ton of praise and deservedly so for, you know, winning all of the trades he makes and the job he's done putting

this team together. I think credit certainly goes to the fact that the avalanche, I think, are one of the preeminent organizations in terms of their embracing and usage of analytics and how they functionally, you know, leverage that into identifying certain players. And I'm sure my pal, Eric Parnas, once he's done celebrating, is going to be listening to this. And I'm super happy for him and he deserves all the success in the world. And he's been on this podcast a ton in its early years. But you know, you've got that. I do think Bednar also deserves some credit because you see all these players that come in

and pretty much find immediate success on this team. And it's easy, you know, to say, okay, well, they have a ton of great players already. So there's an environment and infrastructure in a place where, yeah, if you're a true lechidon and you go from playing with like random players on the Canadians to all of a sudden playing with Nathan McKinnon or whatever, like you're going to look pretty good. But Bednar really does, I think, a good job of enabling and empowering a lot of these players. Like, man, it'd be a really fun chat to have with Josh Manson, for example, to just compare, like, how he felt playing in this environment to the past couple years in Anaheim, because I've never seen that guy, like, pinch as much as he did in these games and have these, like, scenarios where he's, like, leading a two on one or three on two rush or whatever. Like, he wasn't, I think he did it a couple times in game six here.

He was on the rush with, it was a three on two with Pam Lackinan and McKinnon. Who would have thought in the beginning of the season that in the Stanley Cup, the Abilenech would have a three on two rush let by Manson and Lackett. Yeah. And pretty funny. And a coaching goes into a lot of that because there's certain coaches that would be like, listen, like you're our physical stay at home defenseman. I don't want you doing that.

Like there was a play. And pro scouting also. Yes. No, certainly. But there was a player earlier in the game. You mentioned that one on the goal, obviously. I think earlier in the game, he had one where he was on like kind of like a delayed three round two rush or whatever. And he did like a given go and actually crash the net. And then he wound up like falling into the backboards and it took him out of the play a little bit of the play a little bit of the play a little bit of the play in this free. And like he, Josh, man, he's as a veteran player. So I think he gets a bit of a longer leash regardless. But Benar basically allows all these players to basically just play in this free four. environment where you might be our number four defensive defenseman, but you can basically play like Nathan McKinnett if the opportunity presents itself. And that must be pretty cool for any player to come into. And especially a guy. I mean, and that's like obviously, Keel McCar would have been great wherever he went, right? Like wherever he was drafted, he had all the tools and all that. But you do have to think of like how much has he benefited

from being in a place that has encouraged him to do what he is able to. Same with Bowen Byer. And Devon Taves is a perfect example. He went from being a very good defenseman with great underlying numbers in New York to being maybe not a star, but a guy who's finished top 10 in Norris or top 11 in Norris vote in the past two years. Yeah, maybe not a star, a superstar. On his podcast, Dave, Devon Taves is a superstar. I was actually having a debate with someone if Devon Tad is a star.

And I think what the resolution came to, because I was initially like, yeah, he's one of the best defense in the league. And with the resolution we came to is maybe in stature, he is not a star. Like, Nazim Khadry is probably more faintness than him, for example. Yes. But Devon Taves is an elite level player and a star level player, even if maybe he doesn't carry that aura. Yeah, he's like, he's like one of those like really nice high-end bottles of wine that a true connoisseur would really appreciate. But maybe if you're just like a novice wine drink, or you'd be like, all, whatever. like, I can't differentiate between these two. Like in the sense that, yeah, you're right.

I think like a casual fan at home that especially isn't an avalanche fan. I'm sure they've heard of Devon Taves, especially now after they won the cup, but probably wouldn't be able to pick them out of a line. I mean, hasn't heard a sound bite with him. Like, what does Devon Taves' voice even sound like? Yeah. But, man, is he a damn good hockey player? So I'm right there with you on that.

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all lowercase. Go to Shopify.com slash bluewire to start selling online today. Shopify.com slash bluewire. One final guy I wanted to talk about was Valichushkin, because I mentioned how I thought Bowen Byron was the best defenseman in the series. I thought Valentushkin was the best skater in this entire series. And I mean, yes, like certainly lower list of responsibilities

than some of his other bigger named teammates. And, you know, I thought in the, it's funny enough. And in game six, you know, there was that report of like, oh, is he going to play or not? He was kind of hobbling on his way into the rink. I thought there were times where he kind of looked like he was a, bit slow in terms of what I've become accustomed to seeing like with his puck pursuit. But then as that game went along, especially in that third period, he once again showed

his value where he was such an instrumental part of that forecheck where he single-handedly caused like three or four, either direct turnovers or harassed the defensemen into making a poor play with a puck where they basically just had to shoot it into the neutral zone. And it was from start to finish, just a remarkably dominant physical performance from him where He didn't have the wild plays that the McKinnon or Macarra had. But man, that puck-hounding mentality is what made this avalanchev's team so special. And no one embodied that more than Balanchuskin, I thought. Yeah.

I mean, that is Jared Bednar's type of player right there. He loves a guy like Balmachushka, who can forecheck and work hard and do all the things that he does so well. And that's why they were so excited to get Arturian-Lakening. And they told him, Sackick said that what they told him when, what the front office told him when they got Lackney is we got you a mini vow. And I think that's an apt comparison. And yeah, Nchuschen was unreal these playoffs. He, it felt like he was making himself like $100,000 on his next contract with every shift.

He was, he was phenomenal and deserves a ton of credit. Well, listen, there's no question that he's played himself into an entirely different tax bracket this postseason. Like, I think we all agree on that. the most interesting question for me is whether he's played himself into being viewed internally as a core member of this avalanche team and whether the avalanche organization views him as such because if they do especially in the short term like they'll be able to move stuff around and make the money work to keep him regardless of how much interest he gets on the open market and like what insane amount of money some other team is willing to throw at him and from his perspective

I'm sure he'll have to take a bit less to stay on this avalanche team but considering the success that he had and the fit is just so ideal between player and team that I doubt he'd have it better anywhere else. So we'll see how that goes. But what do you think about that question of whether he like he earned himself more money and earned himself more interest around the league, but might have also in a way earned himself more interest internally because I'm sure they avalanche valued him a ton as a player before this.

But just seeing the value he was able to provide to them, it has to at least make you think about like whether we need to kind of do everything. being possible in our power to try and keep this guy. Yeah, well, I think his age makes him someone that you can potentially view as one of your core pieces because you have like, for example, a guy like Nazim Kodry is 32, I think. So you're going to be a little more hesitant to give him high AV over a long-term view. Whereas Natushkin, I think is 27. I think 2013 was his draft year.

So you're maybe going to be a little more willing to. to give him a good amount of money on a longer term deal because he's on the right side of 30. If they think his game can continue to translate well, I mean, I think he's a vital, vital piece of this avalanche team. I thought he was incredible all season. And I think that he was incredible in a way that is sustainable, which I think is what the avalanche probably will need to look at is how much can he sustain this production and how much are we willing to pay for that production if he can't sustain it.

So it's going to be fascinating. But I think the fact that he is a guy who can play on your top line with McKinnon and Lannis, I play with skilled guys. He can also forecheck like how he can play on your penalty killing. He can be a power play contributor. I mean, he's an excellent player. He had an excellent season. Yeah, yeah.

I'm fascinated. See, I guess the reason why I thought it was so interesting is because this avalanche organization has been so diligent about the types of finance. commitments they're willing to make because they acknowledge, like, we have a lot of upcoming expenditures with McCarra's deal and then with McKinnons and they already extended Landiscag rent and there's going to be a lot to account for here, right? And that's why in the past they've probably missed out on, you know, they notoriously offered or Tammy Panera and only a three-year deal or whatever because they're like, listen, like we we don't want to commit $11 plus million

dollars five years from now because we are probably going to need that money elsewhere. And so with Nchuschen, like one, two, three years potentially make sense. But then when you go further down the line, especially at whatever category that is, it becomes a bit dice here. So I'm really curious. I mean, there's going to be a lot of obviously questions for this team. It's still going to be a great team. They're going to lose a couple of these players, but the core is going to be in place.

And so there's a lot to build around it. As we've seen, they've been so good at identifying players. They can plug and play to fit around those guys that I think there's no reason to believe they can't be this good again next year. So I'm excited. about it, Peter, I think that's about it. Was there anything else from this cup final that you figured we needed to touch on here as we put a ball on it?

I think that should be good. I appreciate you having me on. You need to get some sleep, man. You've been putting it to work here. Yeah, I have, other than a few hours on the airplane this morning, I've not slept since before the game. So I'm probably going to go straight to bed after that. I love it.

Hopefully you get some rest. and enjoy a bit of downtime. Hopefully the listeners enjoy this conversation and satisfies them a little bit as we put a ball on the season. So Peter, this is a blast. We're definitely going to have you back on something down the road. I'm glad we're finally able to get you on the show. And we will chat soon.

So until then, take care, man. Sounds good. Thank you. Cheers, pal. All right, that is going to be it for today's episode of the Hockey PDOCast, and that's going to be it for the 2022 NHL post season. So hopefully you enjoy the games. You enjoyed the past six,

seven weeks or whatever, uh, of content and in coverage on this feed. And, uh, we're going to, we're going to switch gears here. And, um, you know, in a couple days, we're going to start moving on to, to offseason content. We're going to definitely do a mock draft, uh, as always with, with our pals, uh, Cam Robbins and Chris Peters. I believe this is going to be the, uh, the third year in a row we're doing so. So that's always a blast. We're going to do some, uh, some free agency preview content or or maybe some like trades we'd like to see just to kind of get you thinking about, you know, who's going to be available and what certain teams could do and, uh, and go from there. So there's, sure, there's going to be plenty of fun stuff to talk about.

Before we get there, I did want to do this kind of one final show to put a bow on the, the cup final, the, uh, the avalanche victory, kind of what we saw just because we hadn't done a show since, since game two. So hopefully, uh, that satisfied that. And, uh, and now we can move on and, uh, start thinking about the, uh, the, uh, upcoming chaos, it's going to ensue. So if you did enjoy the show and you've been, you've been liking the content here, you can certainly, as always, help us out by leaving a quick rating and review for the show wherever you typically listen to it. So definitely smash

that five-star button. If you're feeling generous and you've got a bit of free time, reviews themselves are also greatly appreciated if you want to kind of go above and beyond. A bunch of you have done so already. And it's always cool to see people just write out quick notes about either what you enjoy about the show or, you know, giving people a heads up if they come across it, kind of why they should check it out or why you've been enjoying it. So, uh, thanks for doing that if you have already. If you haven't, uh, please consider doing so now that we're going to have more free time here, uh, with no hockey to watch. So the shows are going to keep coming on this feed, though. So looking forward to that. Uh, thank you for supporting us. Thank you for checking, uh, the show out

and for listening to, to all the stuff we did, uh, during the 2022 season. It was a blast. It was, uh, it was the best the best water we've had here on the PDOCast so far, and I'm looking forward to what's ahead. So thanks as always. Enjoy your summer. Enjoy your offseason. We're going to be back here in a couple days with some more content.

Until then. The Hockey PEDEOCast with Dmitri Filippovich. Follow on Twitter at Dim Philipovich and on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com slash hockey PEDEOCast.