The Hockey PDOcast - Getting Into the Christmas Spirit by Giving Teams Their Presents

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Thomas Drance to get into the holiday spirit by giving out gifts to teams that would benefit the most from them. 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.

It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filipovich. Welcome to the HockeyPedio cast. My name is Dimitri Filippovich. And joining me in studio is my good buddy, Thomas Drands. Tom, what's going on, then? I'm doing well, buddy. Doing very well. It's been a fun week of hockey.

I'm excited for a brief holiday break. I'm excited to see Macklin Celebrini at Rogers Arena tomorrow. Very excited about that. In fact, that's like an early Christmas present for yours, truly. So it should be a ton of fun. and I mean, I thought it was a really fun hockey weekend. It was a really fun hockey weekend. We're back with our Sunday special.

And to get into the holiday spirit for Christmas, with it being just a couple days away, we thought we'd have some fun. We play a little game here today. We promised once we initially introduced this concept, yeah, weeks ago now, we're like, we're going to like feel it out. We're going to get into a rhythm. And then the whole plan is once we really get into that mid-season groove, we're going to play some games, do some themed shows as well.

And I feel like we're here. This is the perfect time of season for us to do that. So here are a good season, right? It's a great season. Here are the rules of the game today. So I've assembled a bunch of random gifts. And I've written down all these gifts on a piece of paper. Obviously, this is an audio format so people can't see it.

But we've got this hat here. And I've put all the names. It's a Navy. Just to set the scene. It's a Navy Dad Hat. It's a Navy Dad Hat. I think it's the Sioux Falls weiner Dogs hat. Very cool as well. And what we're going to do is we're going to do is we're going to take turns.

We're going to go back and forth. you'll start. I'll go after and we'll kind of keep alternating. We're going to pick the gifts out of the hat. We're going to assign the gifts to a team that we think would benefit from it most or we think is most fitting. Now, I think we have like 16 or 17 different gifts in there. The rules are we can only pick teams once. So once you've assigned a gift to a team, we don't want to make it unfair where it's like one favorite child. They get like four gifts and then we have a bunch of teams. You're welcome Columbus. Exactly. And we'll, but okay, so now to put a fun ring, on it though. We're going to play a game of like white elephant or a Yankee swap or whatever.

PD or Yankees. Heliocast Yankee swap. Exactly. Whatever you know it has where I think let's set it at. Do you want to do three opportunities each? Sure. So if you pick a team, let's say you pick Columbus, I can jump in and steal that gift and redirect it to another team. So we have three of these each as we go along. Let's start. Let's yeah. I'll let you go first here. And the fun thing is I've picked these gifts. Yeah, I don't know. There's some fun ones. There's some serious ones. You don't know any of them yet.

So you're going to be some idea. Hopefully you can read my handwriting. It is pretty neat. We'll see. This is why it's good that you did the writing and not your pharmacist friend, me, Thomas Trans. Oh, we got a spicy one right up the hop. New owner.

Whoa. That's a heavy, that's a heavy way to come in. So I picked it. Does that mean I also have the gift? Yes. man, a new owner for an NHL team. Okay, I made that one specifically so we could include one team. Really?

Yes, come on. Who is it? The Buffalo Sabres. Are you kidding? Come on. Yeah, come on. Let's free the franchise. You want to free the franchise from the Puculus?

I mean, it's been a tough run. You remember the days of the Villaleno contract? Dude, so he bought them in, what, February 20, 2011? Yeah, the Christian Air Hoff. That was the last year they made the playoffs. They have not made the playoffs since under his overseeing. Stunning. As we've talked about,

they haven't utilized any of the perks of a deep pocket team to leverage what the years they've been rebuilding, right? They never use LTIR. They never buy bad contracts to get picks. They finally bought out Jeff Skinner this past number, but I believe that was like the first time they've done that. Like they're not utilizing any of their resources. They went into this season with a bunch of caps face for some reason.

We all appreciate having flexibility. ability, but as we talked about, the one player they did go out and spend $5 million on Jason Zucker has been one of their best players. And the actor would have been nice if they had a couple more of those guys with the remaining capital they have. This past week, we all saw the reports that they had the in-house team meeting canceling the practice before a game in Montreal. They decide the verdict is, we believe in our group. We're not going to do anything. And then they know show against that. We get absolutely throttled by the habs, wind up losing at home to the leaves badly, and then to Boston again over the week.

weekend. Okay, you've made a compelling case. I do want to say though, you know, and this comes from my experience working in the Sunbelt with the Florida Panthers, right, is the one thing that Pugula has done indisputably that is of tremendous value despite the team's absolute, like, abject failure during his tenure is you haven't really heard the same rumblings about Buffalo's relocation threat that you used to. You know, like for all that the franchise has struggled massively, for 15 years, there's been relative stability from a locational perspective that didn't exist previously,

right, that or at least was a little bit more touch and go previously. That said, you know, we look at this team and I think we have a pretty good sense. that they cut to the bone deeper than most teams during the pandemic from a front office standpoint. They brought in, you know, Adams, who's obviously not like the most experience.

It's not like they went out and hired a top candidate or a top lieutenant or a guy with a ton of experience. You're right that they haven't used all their resources very wisely. So, yeah, I mean, I think they, like, it's them or here's my dark horse contender, the Calgary Flames.

And the reason for that being that the Calgary Flames have finally kind of decided to lean into a rebuild. Or did over the last 12 months. And now here they are keeping pace, neck for neck with, you know, the Edmontons and, well, maybe not the Edmontons, but certainly the Vancouver's and the Utah's and the Dallases of the world right now, Colorado's. And are they going to be able to maintain some of the smart long-term thinking stuff that they kind of did in the first year of, Craig Conroy's tenure, given the win-now pressure that's always been on this franchise for as long as I can remember, right? Do you trust that that ownership can continue to take the long view of the way this franchise clearly has to? Even if guys like Zeri and Wolf and, you know, you can mention 10 great stories with the flames,

guys who have looked more ready not just to play in the NHL, but to help you win, than I think we could have reasonably expected this year. So that would be my sort of secondary choice. That's fair. And I will say there was a time there where they were sort of the poster child for what you don't want to be as an organization. The intersectioning thing. Yeah, in the murky middle, right? I will say, though.

Now they're like, now they're like Philadelphia West. They're like. Yeah, but at least they have not that these guys are like in that select group that we talk about of like the legitimately meaningful needle moving franchise players. but at least like you're getting legitimate contributions from young guys like Zeri and Coronado, Dustin Wolf, and they're still playing like a legitimate style as well where they're very frustrating, very competitive, pretty high event.

And so like I think there have a lot that's admirable. They're obviously, I don't think the end goal here is making a serious playoff push or competing for a Stanley Cup, but I think that's fine. Not every organization is they going to be able to do so. Obviously, I'm sort of tempering that way. If they view this start to the season,

the right build is done. And we need to like, as that now and send spend futures, then maybe I'll revisit my thinking. I don't really see that happening right now. I hope not. I think, I mean,

I think their management group has done a good job. And I'm pretty confident that they're clear-eyed about where they're at as a team. But all of that said, I just think we have to note the long history, right? Past, past behavior can sometimes predict future behavior. And, you know,

if there's like an ownership group that I would not trust, to take the long view where they should. It's, it remains them. So I think you're right. It's got to be Buffalo. The Buffalo Sabres right now are tied for dead last and point percentage with the Chicago Blackhawks. Their last win was on November 23rd. Then we're currently recording this on December 22nd.

I believe there might have been someone in the meantime, but I believe like, because what, this is like up to 14 games or something now or 15 games since they've won a game. The last long losing street I can remember like this was the Buffalo Sabers. in 2021, Jack Eichols last year during that sort of the COVID season. And you mentioned like the hirings and all of that. I think that's fine. But how many different coaches, GMs and rosters have we gone through now of them having the same results and missing the playoffs with one common denominator?

So obviously there's a lot of moving parts here and it's not necessarily as easy as just blaming one thing. But I do think like the governing body overseeing all of this. is so deeply entrenched in all this and it's clearly the organization is just rotten. Like every year we're doing the same thing and having the same conversation. It's incredibly bleak this year.

It is incredibly bleak. You know what else is kind of amazing is they never bring in like the rotating cast of general managers and head coaches that have gone through there. They never bring in the guy and it's like he struggled in Buffalo, but then went on and in a stable organization did better.

You know, like the people who fail in Buffalo don't even get second looks. So it's like, are they just really bad at hiring? Well, Seattle Cracken love picking up former Buffalo Sabres employees. So, yeah, and I also just don't listen. Not for the top job. You mentioned the market and sort of the, obviously the relocation is a different subject. I just don't buy that that whole we have taxes and all palm trees thing is a justifiable excuse.

It might be in terms of competing with some of the top teams in the league, but I just said they're tied for 30 second in the league. Like I think there's a middle ground there. I don't think the reason why they're struggling the season is because they can't attract guys. It's like, come on. Well, also, also that might, you know, that might hinder you from landing the guy who's got five options. That might hinder you in the Panarin and John Tavares sweepstakes, you know, the top 1% of the 1%. But we're talking about a league where you have seven years of team control over players you drafted and where the sabres themselves are sort of proof of your ability to.

to sign your own guys, right? I mean, you know, there's counter examples. There's examples like the Jeff Skinner deal where, you know, they sign it and everyone in the league was like, we get why the employer would sign that, but not sure about the team. And clearly they had to pay something of a Buffalo tax. But for the most part, like they got reasonable deals done with their own core group. We've seen teams like Winnipeg sustained success year after year. We've seen teams like Nashville, with the exception of this season, sustain success year over year.

I mean, there's no reason why Buffalo can't. Okay, we gotta move on. We're 11 minutes in and we've done one. Yeah, one. Fair enough. There's your dry Christmas for a lot of teams out there. Ooh, playoff run. Ooh.

This is tough because I think that my two most intriguing teams here, and playoff run like justifiably, let's say, like making it, what the Canucks did last year. Yeah, Dame seven of the second round. You get, like, what, seven or eight at least home? Because a lot of game revenue. Yeah, because that's also what Seattle did in their. second year, right?

Yeah. And that was a certain festival season for cultivating fan base, yeah, all of that stuff. The two teams that come to mind for me here are the ones that we highlighted at the end

of last week's Sunday special, the Utah Hockey Club, and the, and the Ottawa senators. Yeah. And since then, both teams had very successful weeks. Utah wound up beating the Canucks.

And by the way, let's quickly talk about like how unbelievable the end of that game was. Right. I know how there was like no gentlemaning agreement between the two clubs in the final couple minutes. up. Yeah, got their ties. They're both like, no, we're not each getting a point. We're going to try to win this here. And then the overtime was just back and forth, like four minutes and 48 seconds worth of action before a surrogatechap finally wins. They win a game against the Minnesota Wild. The Ottawa senators start their road trip out west with three wins. I don't even think they've necessarily played their necessarily played their road trip out of West with three. I thought they played awesome against Vancouver, to be honest with. They were pretty lucky to steal that one of Vancouver. They played a great first period, but there were stretches there certainly where they took their foot off the gas a little bit. I thought I thought they played awesome against Vancouver, to be honest with.

But here's the thing. This is a team that would not have won these games in the past because unsurious teams find ways when they're not playing at their best, especially on a long road trip to blow games to lose valuable points. And this is the mark of a serious team that is like here in terms of like actually competing and being taken seriously as a competitive organization. And so that's a massive step. I want to give it to Ottawa just because I think it's been so long for them.

right and they've had so many stops and starts and obviously the whole pyridorian era um i feel like actually getting this young core they've had to like get to this level now is an incredibly exciting development the case for utah is purely year one also it's it was such a joke of an organization for so long that seeing them actually spend money and rewarding this team now with potentially taking a few more home run cuts would be very exciting and they obviously have a ton of assets to do so so i'll go with i'll go with i'll go with ottawa just because I feel like you and I have been higher and then probably than anyone maybe not covering the team

locally has been this year. And so seeing them reward us for that faith has been really exciting and I want them to keep it going. So I'm going to go with Ottawa. I'm stealing it and I'm giving it to Utah for the sole reason that I really want Ottawa to have success. I like watching that team. I think they played the right way.

By the way, Jake Sanderson last night head to head against Quinn Hughes. I mean, that looks like a player very much leveling up as just a two-way dominant force at this point. But I wanted to go to Utah because I think it would be incredible for that market, especially in the event that they sneak in is like the second wildcard and Vegas wins the West and you get that like all Western matchup. I think that would be huge for that marketplace.

I think it would be big for the league to have that level of success right off the hop in that market and I just can't support an Ottawa playoff run until they have a new barn. I'm sorry. Also, they were in the Crawford's final like what, 2017? So that hasn't been that long. True. They're five points up now on the Rangers after the Rangers lost today. The Hurricanes with the same number of games played. Don has them up to 65% playoff. Probably Utah's up to 50 as well. Yeah. And they're only a couple points back of the Canucks now and obviously they're ahead of even Colorado in the Central Division based on point percentage. So both teams are definitely trending in the right direction. I think both are very worthy candidates of

these picks. Unfortunately, the Ottawa Senators will not be getting a long playoff run this year because you've just stolen that from them. So we hope you can sleep at night knowing that you're the single, the sole responsible person for that. I mean, I'll send Ian Mendez a gift to apologize, but no, I'm sorry, I like what they're building in Ottawa. I like what's cooking there. I was really impressed with the seriousness with which they played against the Canucks last night, but I want this for Utah. Get a new arena, Ottawa Senator. Sorry. All right. Time machine. Either go back in time or fast forward. I love this one. Now, I think we should keep it within reason, not like, let's go back 10 years and change something fundamental now the way you've seen the full careers.

Yeah, I was thinking more like back to this past off season, whether there was a mistake you made or a misstep or, and that's why I included moving forward as well, because I think there's some interesting teams that would like to fast forward the rest of this season. Right. I think, so there's a lot of different ones. that you could pick, but it's got to be Nashville, right? I think we've got to go back to the offseason and do Nashville. And it's like, hey, instead of bringing in high price free agents, why don't we keep building, let's retain keeper Sherwood.

Let's, you know, eschew the big glitzy signings. Let's keep Ryan McDonough. Honestly, let's re-sign Tyson Barry. He was a fine fit affordably for them. I mean, I just can't think of a team that has more decisively changed their overall trajectory as a team and had it gone worse than it has for Nashville through the first 34. And I was really optimistic about what they were building. You know, I mean, fast forward through the season.

It's like, Tomasino's gone for a very little return and immediately has, you know, has freshened Pittsburgh up a whole lot. Dante Fabro. Dante Fabro, right. who's playing huge minutes for Nashville. So, you know, you see like, and these players have gone to teams that really needed bit players. They're kind of blocked with the Predators

and immediately there's a freshness to their, that they brought to their new team that really could be Nashville's. So, I mean, I think it's got to be the Predators with a bullet, but I'm happy to talk about other teams. No, that's the right pick. Honestly, the reason why I included the caveat of fast forward and you would think it's like the bad teams

who just want to have in a miserable season. And Asheville certainly is, I was thinking of the Florida Panthers. Because obviously their games are very exciting. And every time they step on the ace, I want to be watching because stuff's going to be happening. But in watching them over the past 10 days, I was reminded, I wavered a little bit. I was reminded that they're the best team of the league. And their fastball is still unhittable. They had a couple games there.

They get shut out by the Canucks and Barkovs out. They get shut out by the flames as well. And then they come back. and play this incredibly entertaining game against the advent controllers. And they're down a couple and you're like, oh, man, this is going to be a third straight loss for them. Whatever, it's a West Road trip. It's not the end of the world. But like, it's not a great look.

And then they come back, they score a bunch of goals. They really just essentially just throw haymakers back at them. Then they go into Minnesota and absolutely pummel the wild. Then this game over the weekend against the blues is a pretty low event game. But Barkov has the best shift of the season, wherever you haven't seen it. I posted it on Twitter. He just is out there for two minutes, steals a puck like four or five times, dances around a guy, draws a penalty, and then 10 seconds later on the power play, scores the goal and wins it. And it's like, this team is just, yeah, they're the highest gear they can ratchet up.

I think it's also, there's something so cool about like a defending champion always, where obviously they're not going to be as motivated throughout the whole regular season because they have grander aspirations in mind, but their ability to like turn up the notch when they need to, just to remind people and just to show that they still have that in their bag. They've done that for me. And so for me, it's like I almost want, like, if they were them, I'm sure they would just love to start playing meaningful playoff games and trying to work towards their goal of winning 16 of those games right now as opposed to like, especially with like how aggressively they play and stuff. There's so much risk every time they play for a key player getting injured. They want to manage bark off of minutes,

especially, certainly as well along the way. So for them, like, I'm sure they're enjoying this ride, but there's a part of me that's like, all right, let's just get their playoffs for them. and see them at full health playing the way they are. Yeah. By the time you make it to a third straight Stanley Cup Binal, if they're able to do so, you've effectively played an extra season over the course of three years. We saw Tampa do it, but they had a break, right?

They had the COVID break between the first, in the first one. And then they played a short season. So what Florida is kind of trying to do is, feels pretty unprecedented from just a load management perspective. so I think that's a really sharp pick for the fast forward. Okay. I'm next here. Oh, I'll put two of them.

Defensive game plan. Oh, man. Oh, we got to give this to the New York Rangers. 100%. I don't even know if I really need to expand on this. Necessarily their defensive metrics have been in the toilet all season. They acquired with Will Borgon this week and are playing with Brain Schneider, but still, they had a nice little game where they won in Dallas,

but they lost today, as we said, Turk Carolina Hurricanes. They've been free-falling. feels like after, like I think part of the reason of the timing for that trade was obviously to try and throw a life raft to their group before the holiday freeze for the roster. It still feels like that's obviously not the final piece for them. Yeah, and it feels like as soon as they're able to trade, I imagine we're going to be hearing a lot of stuff about that as well. And I'm very curious to see what they wind up doing there, whether they take

like a hard reset. I find it hard to see them doing that with how all in they are on this group. but yeah defensive game plan it's got to be then they're probably the most egregious culprit of anyone of like especially the rush defense and just getting pummeled

in transition like that I gotta give it to them can we shout out the Montreal Canadians before moving on yeah but it just feels like lower stakes way lower stakes without question

but nonetheless I think Montreal is kind of the disorganized but fun team also I think I did like them getting Alex Carrier for oh yeah Yeah, for nothing.

Very modest price. I guess Barron's not nothing. You mean, he's a leasing. But I mean, I think there's only a position to do so, and especially bizarre considering I know a lot's change for Nashville since then, right? But like, they kind of have, we're at this crossroads last trade deadline where he was a very hot commodity carry it was and they decided to keep him and extend him. Well, I also wasn't very high on Justin Barron.

Like, I feel like the Montreal Canadiens getting a just like a real live can play matchup minutes defender is a huge deal for that hockey club. So, no, I mean, I really like that trade. Especially if they're going to monetize David Savard at this year's deadline as well, right? Just gives them like an actual veteran defenseman that they can play without getting embarrassed. For sure. It's just their power play is run hot and I think obscured just the extent to which they've been like pretty widely outscored and still look pretty disorganized when I watch them play at 5 on 5 anyway. So, you know, I think Montembow and the power play have kind of served to, I think, create a false sense of midseason momentum.

To aggress, yeah. Yeah. And I just don't see that progress being made, and I don't think it will be until they have that defensive game plan. And maybe a little more two-a-solidity. That's fair. All right. I think it's your turn. Let's do one more before we go to break.

Okay. New head coach. Ooh. Man. It's a tough one for me, actually. The, I mean, my temptation right off the hop is just to select Detroit. Yeah. That's kind of what who I had in mind when I had in mind when I.

Yeah, when I wrote that one. And I think it's got, like, I think that's got to be the pick because I honestly, I mean, we've been all over Greg Cronin, but I think that team's actually got to faking some subtle steps of progress. And in any event, that that's pretty low stakes, much like the Montreal Canadiens example. I do think Chicago would be pretty high up on my list, but they're also relatively low stakes and they just changed their head coach. So I suppose we got to give the new guy a little. little bit of time before really criticizing him, although I think a head coach with some weight to work with Connor Bedard would be just what the doctor ordered, or at least like a young guy,

like a Baderd's answer to Worsovsky, I think would be, you know, a heck of a big deal for that team. You know, things have kind of settled in Pittsburgh and anyway, I think Mike Sullivan's an elite head coach, so I'm not going to pick them no matter what. That brings me to Lolland in Detroit. And, uh, I mean, the Detroit, what Red Wings? are just a mess. They generate absolutely nothing offensively. They're completely relying on their power play to look threatening in the slightest. And it's been multiple years now in which this team

hasn't been able to control play five on five at all. And when I look up and down their roster, I mean, as much as it's clearly lacking, it's not lacking. They should be better offensively, even strength for sure. Yeah, well, I mean, guys like Andrew Copp, like Andrew Cobb's not a high-end player, but Andrew Cobb should be able to help you drive. You know what I mean? On defense, guys like Edvinson and Sider and DeBrinke it and company, like, they should be spending more time in the offensive zone than they do as a group. Well, and we said this for the past couple of years, and it was masked last year by an inflated shooting percentage and obviously their power play was really good, but even in these lean years where they were kind of rebuilding and sort of trying to reload for

whatever they'd look like in a couple of years, there was very alarming offensive signs of like they were trying under Derek Lelon to like play, shut it down, defensive hockey to prepare for the playoffs. It's like, you need to take this natural step and progression of letting your young players free to cook offensively to develop. And then that's going to come along the way. They sort of missed that step. And we're veering very closely to like it being too late in that regard for them. I mean, I would have loved to see them be proactive.

And as soon as Jim Montgomery became available, although it seems like he was probably always just going to go to St. Louis. Yeah. And that was his first priority. So it might not even been an option for them. I'm going to steal this one. and I'm going to say the Anaheim Ducks. Now, I would have stolen it for the Sabres.

I'm not necessarily even sure how much in you coach over Lindy Ruff would change things right now with how bleak it's been. I can't support the job he's done though because of how disorganized they've been and how, like, as soon as they take one punch early in the game, they're like, all right, well, it's not our night. Yeah, it's like, I feel like a coach should be able to rally a team, especially with theoretical offensive juice that they have. I got to go with the ducks for obvious reasons for anyone that's listened to this show at all this season. I hear you about the quote unquote progress you're seeing. I still think an alarming regression or stagnancy from a lot of the young players that should be taking much bigger steps. This year, part of my concerns about usage have been alleviated with the campfowler trade, because at least now there's room to play all their young defensive at the same time.

But I'm just not seeing nearly enough to show for how much young talent they have this season from them. And obviously with all the whispers that have been girls. about discontent and his communication and relationship with all the players, I feel like doing something now before wasting just another full season there in Anaheim would be nice. Obviously, low consequences because regardless of what they did this year, they're not going to bounce back into the playoff race necessarily, but I feel like you shouldn't be taking for granted and kind of wasting 40, 50 games of meaningful reps for young players that clearly aren't really getting them optimally or benefiting from them the way they should.

Fair enough. so you're just going to leave Detroit's playing in their own end of the rink? I will. I will. You know what? We'll see. I'm sure Detroit's going to come up here earlier as we go along. Let's go. Tom, let's take our break here. And then we come back.

We'll jump right back in it. We'll keep playing our game of PEDEOCAST. The Yankeeswaffe here. You're listening to the Hockey Pediocast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right. We're back here on the Hockey Piedocast with Thomas Drans doing our Sunday special. Tom, I think it's my turn to pick a... a gift to give.

Ooh, look at this. A player who deserves more attention and appreciation from the masses. Ooh, I like this one. Give a player recognition as a Christmas gift. I feel like you have to make sure that it's not a Florida Panthers player. Well, it can't be because we already gave, oh, we didn't. We didn't give Florida Panthers.

That's what I'm the answer for it. We probably should be keeping track of teams we have given most stuff too. That's fine. All right. I'm going to go on brand here. Alexi Protis. Yeah, I like it. So 5 on 5 points per 60 this season, minimum of 250 minutes played.

Brendan Hagle first, Ivan Barbershev, second, Nikita Kutrov, third, big pro, fourth in the league. The thing that I love about him above all else is how unique he is in the sense that obviously he's 6'6 and moves like a freak out there in terms of how much ground he covers. but I love the idea. So I tweeted something about how he was leading the league and even strength scoring at the time. And I got a couple of responses of people being like, first they were like, because I just tweeted a picture on and they were like, is that, is that Nicola Yokic?

And his headshot looks eerily similar to him as the fourth Yokic brother. He's 6'6 and he currently has been registered for nine hits this season in 32 games. And I love the idea as well that that's driving. some old school types just just wild because they're like oh my god this guy just not not using his size he's not and and that's such a misunderstanding of who he is as a player he's so good with his stick out just like knocking pucks down just just using his reach and then how he utilizes

his frame like in terms of like the boardwork but also protecting the puck distributing it he's scoring a bunch he's just such a fun player to watch and obviously you and i have talked about him a bunch on this show but when i tweeted out that picture there was actually genuinely a bunch of people who didn't recognize him or weren't familiar with his game. And I feel like that needs to change. And I'm sure it will if the Capitals can keep going on this dream season they're on. But he's not only one of the most fun players in the league, but has been also one of the most efficient offensive players in the league.

And he's just a total package. We need to see this version of Protis in the playoffs. Yeah. And you know, like to wait it all real hour. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, I like it. You're not going to steal it for anyone else? I'm not.

You didn't want to give it to Carter Carter's area? I guess we already, did we do the flames? We haven't done the... We just mentioned them tangentially... I mean, Conorzerri is a really good one because the guy has the puck on a string. But I think Alexei Proto is actually the right call. We were watching a Flames game maybe a couple weeks ago.

And you made a comment of like, every time I watch Conner Zeri, he's just getting from point A to point B through creative means. Yeah, regardless. Like, he's not like blazing speed. No, nothing... In fact, he does it in slow motion. Nothing overtly obvious.

And yeah, it gets to where... he needs to be with a puck. And then I sent you this clip from the other day they were playing the senator's. And he just starts juggling the puck through the neutral zone to enter the zone with it. And I'm like, man, this guy is just creativity in hands and Zach on the right level.

And he's got a modest eight goals and 12 assists, but it's nothing like crazy in terms of young players who are scoring up on. I feel like if you're not watching the flames and you're just sorting by points or you're looking at like the young stars in the league, you're not like, oh, Connor's area popping off the page.

But I implore you to watch him play because he's just, he's so fun. And as soon as he's going to start scoring more because he's way too talented not to? Yeah. And then he's going to start getting the recognition he deserves. He's also got a rare, he's got a rare gravity. Because he can always get through defensive structures,

because he is comfortable skating with the puck or handling the puck or making plays down low, he draws so much attention. And then he's got the vision to pass out of it. Like, he's got a pretty rare gravity, especially for a guy who's neither a giant human being or a burner. He's just a real good idea. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Puck moving defenseman. Ooh. This is, this is competitive. There are a lot of teams that can use one.

This is, I'm glad you pick this so that I can steal it no matter who you give it to. Well, I'm going to give it to Vancouver. I'm sorry, I'm going to give it to Vancouver

for selfish reasons. Okay. Six on five. I just want to watch a better defenseman place. Six on five in Vegas the other day. And I'm pretty sure there was a disagreement

between the players on the ice. It's, you know, 56 seconds on the clock. And the players are like, let's get our goalie off. And Rick, It's like, nope. And, you know, Kevin Lankin, like, being urged by his teammates to get off the ice sort of starts going.

And he sees Tocke's hands still not up. He stops. There's this mess. Finally, the goal he does, in fact, leave. And leading the breakout is Carson Sousie and Noah Juleson. And not only does it result in a quick turnover and an empty net goal, it actually results in a quick turnover in which Vancouver doesn't get the entry. And then Brett Howden scores on a breakaway to ice the game. And it's just like, what did you think would happen?

or I think what proceeded that also was a long Quinn Hughes shift. Right or hemmed in. And so I saw people being like, well, you know, Quinn Hughes was just gas. So they had it's like, well, I think this illustrates the problem. It's like, Grice Hughes was tired. So we had to send out Carson Sousy in this offensive end of game, high leverage situation. That's not good enough. No, you.

And like, I can't even, I would love to be critical of a coach for not pulling their goalie in that situation every time. And yet if Rick Talk, it's like, I got to give Hughes 20 seconds before I, pull my goalie. I'm like, yeah, that makes sense, especially with Eric Brantstrom having fallen off and Philip Peronick out of the lineup at the moment, you know, this Canucks defense has Quinn Hughes and like five, six foot five guys, many of whom I actually have time for if they're like third pair power penalty kill specialists. But in combination, you know, a thicket of trees in Quinn Hughes, there's just no secondary push. And so this Canucks team is generating like fewer shots than Detroit and the New York Islanders at five on five. They,

across their last 18 games dim, they have 30 high danger scoring chances in minutes when Quinn Hughes isn't on the ice. And the amount of minutes is astounding. They've been outshot by 35 without Quinn Hughes on the ice. They just can't get out of their own end of the rank. And so if there was a team that I could

install another puck-moving defender, ideally one who was like six foot one so that Rick Tocke and Adam Foote would actually feel comfortable playing them. It's Vancouver and I'm doing it for selfish reasons. I'm sick of glassing out. I need to watch some breakouts. And I need to watch Olias Pedersen and J.T. Miller and some of Vancouver's skilled forwards get a few more passes in stride in moments in the in the 6th, in the 6th, in the 6th, in the game, when Quinn Hughes isn't on the ice 5-on-5.

The Canucks are probably the right pick. I'm going to steal it. Yeah. And I'm going to give it to the Dallas stars. That's fine. Because it's actually in terms of the right side, you look at the talent there and how badly maybe they would have been a good pick for Time Machine. because I feel like they really could have... To the deadline?

Well, no, to rewinding to the offseason where they lost Chris Tannenving, Free Agency and decided to replace them with Matt Dunbaugh and Ilya Lubbushkin, and we're like, this is our right side. Yeah. And you watch them now, there's just so much, not maybe as much on the plate of Quinn Hughes because the Dallas Stars have more talent generally,

but there's so much Armiro Hayeskin's play right now where he's logging insane minutes for this team. I don't think they're, they're well served to do so because they need to keep him fresh so that he's not tired out like he has been every postseason once they get to the western conference finals and i just feel like they need to add a legitimate right shot guy they have the means and the resources to do so with all the picks and prospects they have but also the cap space with tyler say again on l t r since say again was god he has been heard but since he got ruled out and went on l t i r two two

2, 6, 1, 2, 3, 3, 1 is the goals they've scored. And I just think they need to get much better at getting the puck up ice quickly because their entire system revolves around that of winners, wind his own and trying to get out in transition and then allowing their defensemen to join it. They need to give Pete DeBore more options as well so that he can potentially just play Mero and Harley full time. We know he's probably not going to use his third pair, especially Niels Lundquist, when push comes to shove in the playoffs.

This is a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. This isn't good enough right now, especially when you look at the West, pretty much every series they're going to play. And the other team's just going to pin the back of their ears and essentially just rush after the defenseman and try to punish Mero every time he retrieves the puck and then try to force all the other guys into turnovers. And I think that's going to be a legitimate problem unless they get at a guy who can meaningfully create and distribute that way. So I'm going to go with the stars here, although I totally, and I'm sorry to deprive you as I're going to watch the same. I'm using it five other Canucks defensemen that you watch this. season, but... I'm used to admit.

Is it my turn? It's your turn? A CD to improve the vibes. Oh, no. And then in brackets, I wrote, do they even still make those? Now, this may be a personal thing, but growing up, my mom would always get me a bunch of CDs and they'd be, like,

ones that she thought were like hip bands. She was like, oh, like, this is what people listen to, right? Even though they'd become outdated. And so I'd get all these CDs and I'd be like, all right. And she'd be like, oh, now you can play them and you can be happy. I think, ah, I don't know if that's going to work. I just want to listen to rap. Oh man

There's a lot of teams To pick from here And well that's because it's a whole The whole league's on Tilton That really is It's unbelievable And we've already taken Unfortunately a couple of the teams

Off the board Well you stole my Canucks one So feel free But I'm gonna go with the Seattle Crackin Yeah I think that's right I think we both like the deal they made To sell Will Borgon before the deadline

Yeah I'll then get Capo as an intriguing young forward, a type of move that they haven't really done much in the short existence that I think we both wish they had done more. But also, like, I do think it's important that at this stage we note that, like, I think Kako's sealing outcome is something like Nino Nieder Rider.

Which would be a smash home run. Would be a smash home run. But my point is, I think that's the high end of the range of problems. Yeah, the issue is that I noted at this point, Nino Nieder Rider at age 22, already to 25 goal season, right his resume. So I don't know if I necessarily even see that. But Kako had a really productive season at roughly the age of 22,

just like rate stats All-Star because Gerard Glant didn't play young guys. So I don't know. I mean, I think he still has something like that, but I think that's the high end of his range of outcome. So while I like the Krakken rolling the dice on an upside forward, I don't think Kako, I don't think Kako's actual upside has any relationship anymore to his draft stock, if that way. makes sense. No, it's been six years. Yeah. Um, the Islanders probably would have been, I think,

the obvious pick, but I think we want to mix it up a little bit. So, yeah, that's why I give the cracking. Do you want to steal it for anyone? Nope. You can keep it for the cracking. I want to see, I want good things for Maddie Baneers. All right. Scoring juice. Oh, man, there's so many teams that could use this, too. Can't do the Nashville predators who are dead last in the league. Yeah, no, I'm, and, we're the Anaheim Ducks. We're a second Danlers. It's 100% the Anaheim Ducks. I want the end of both. No, there's one answer here. Come on. Okay, who you, who, you well, you can steal it. I want the ducks, I think. You can't do the ducks because I already did. I took it for a, oh,

for hire, right, or coach replacement for a great. Okay, okay. So then. I mean, there's two pretty dick's here. It's got to be Boston. Yeah. It's got to be Boston. There's no question about it. Now, I guess I didn't think of them right away because it was just last weekend that I saw them put up five goals against the thing. I saw their best offensive performance of the year. An eruption spot. an eruption spot against the Canucks. But the Bruins, I mean, they're the definition of pop gun.

And it makes a lot of sense. Now, what would scoring juice actually look like? Like, what would it look like for the Bruins to have scoring juice or this Bruins team now have scoring juice? I'm pretty sure it would require,

like, the reincarnation of David Kreichie. Like, I feel like what they really need more than anything is just a puck-dominant center that some of their skilled wingers can play off of instead of having to kind of do it all themselves. You know, I just feel like,

I feel like their centermen are, they have the collection of centermen that are the least dangerous with the puck on their sticks of anyone in the league. And I think it shows every time I watch them, I actually find it mind-blowing. And I just think it's asking too much, even if Marchand kind of defends like a center,

and even if David Pasternak's as puck dominant as a center, it's got to be them. And that's, I think, what it would take for that to flip on them. So, yeah, Buffalo, I'm sorry, the Boston Bruins, offensive juice, you get that under your Christmas tree. Enjoy. I mean, they're 28th in the league in all situations scoring on a permanent basis. Yeah, it's ugly. The fact that they have hung around the playoffs spot speaks to what's going on in the East wildcard race for a second straight year, but also So I think there are a couple.

But also they're games in hand. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like they are fifth in their own division by games in hand. I know. But they're a top 20 team in point percentage, which I feel like considering how bleak they've been offensively is. But it feels about fair. Yeah.

Top 20. And that's like all based on, you know, swayman defensive play and just like institutional know how when it comes to winning. You know what I mean? Like they're they're getting by, but they're not getting away with it. Yeah. I thought the Blackhawks would have been an interesting pick. Just to give Connor Bardard a fair shot, although since the coaching change, he's been scoring much more. I've no one noticing him any more highlight real plays from him as well. They've gotten him some minutes.

I just want him to have a running mate, man. Yeah, so that would be awesome. I want him to have his Eklund. You know? Yeah. Just like another young forward to do fun stuff and rift with. But hopefully it can be Nazar. Yeah.

Or the top four pick they're going to get again this year. I was going to see the Kings, but the Kings are up to 13th in goals this year. even though it does not feel like they're watching it any single game they play. Unless they're playing the Rangers. And you're in the age case, I was running into Barcelona. Yeah, they went Harlem, they went Globetrotters versus the Washington Generals in that game. It's a nice development for them. I was talking about this with Palcann Robinson on the last show.

Alex Turcott is like playing with Copartan campaign right now and killing it. It looks very good. He looks so fat. Lafairier got significantly better this year. And so a lot of these young guys are like actually showing very positive signs. They still need more from Byfield, certainly, although he's going to a nice goal against Nashville. But, um, all right. Is that my pick next?

It is. Next up. A marriage counselor. Oh, my God. Well, buddy, we have to go with the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah. I don't, I don't know what else to say. Um, but obviously just watching the games, it's clear.

Like, you don't need to buy into to scuttle butt or rumors or reports. You can just watch general interactions and vibe of the team watching the games. And I feel like they're at quite an impasse right now and just need to figure it out. I thought Kevin BeXA on the Hockey-Nand-Canada panel made a great point of like, yeah, when I played, there was a lot of guys on the team that I didn't like. But you maintain a professional relationship and the team is what matters and you figure it out. You don't need to be buddy-bodies and hanging out with everyone in the off season. But like being able to actually just share the ice with someone is a very positive step. feel like the Canucks with their top two centers just need to figure something out.

I don't know if it's necessarily. I don't know how much you want to get into. I don't know. It ultimately doesn't matter in terms of the gossip. They just need to, yeah, they need to play more cohesively. Yeah. Well, and also it doesn't matter provided that it doesn't impact performance. I don't know whether it has or not, but I'm watching this Canucks team play. And within the first five shifts of every game, I can tell you which version of the Canucks is showing up. And there's a version of this Canucks team that can like shut down the avalanche in the Florida the Panthers and it's really impressive. And look, is it fun to watch?

Is it high octane attacking hockey? No, but it's winning hockey. Yeah, right? That's how they play it last year. And then there's a version of this team that can show up and give the way six breakaways to the St. Louis Blues. And like most weeks, we get both. And so provided that this team's inconsistency, and I don't just mean inconsistency

results because that's fine. I mean inconsistency of like competitiveness and focus. So long as that persists, we're going to look for reasons why. and that's going to drive that conversation. So I think you're right. I'm not stealing that one. I don't want to touch that one more than I have to. Every day in this market.

All I'm going to say is I thought it was really funny. The Deerina DJ on Saturday and I played Toxic. Oh, this is really funny. You're not wrong. All right. Who's next? What do you get a man that already has it all? So give me your thinking a little bit on this one and then I'll give you my answer.

Well, it was for a team. that you don't know what they should add because like obviously every top contender is going to try to refine around the edges and try to bolster debts and all that but there's a bunch of teams right now especially up top where you're like they're pretty sad like they don't really have any weaknesses yeah don't have anything and so i think so i think it's the new jersey devils for me it's the new jersey devils i have the hardest time coming up with what they should do now i think there's a few teams that fit this mold. Like Winnipeg, I think, would also be a really good

pick for this. And yet, unless Winnipeg's finding one of those deals where they're cashing like three of their good players for one great player, you know what I mean? Which is nearly impossible to do in season. I don't really see I don't really see holes there. But at least, at least I could

say, hey, I think Winnipeg could use one more elite winger. Yeah, like one more elite winger, right? the top line guy. And look, that's true for everybody. Once you get into the like, could, you know, could they be like the LA Kings adding Marian Gabrick that one season or whatever, right? You're really talking about teams that already have a fire going and you're just talking about maybe throwing a little bit of extra lighter fluid on the conflagration. With New Jersey, though, like, I feel like their elite talent is already playing. I feel like their

defensive group is complete. I think Jacob Markstrom's awesome. but also a really good fit with how they're playing. Like, I think you can absolutely go deep into the playoffs with Jacob Markstrom. In fact, I think he's going to be an edge for them in a lot of these games once we get down to the sort of pointy end of the season. So I think it's the New Jersey Devils.

They've got it all. I think they could add... I think they could add one more finisher, especially, like, they really like Andre Platt in a top six role with Hughes and Brat. But I just feel like adding another, like, guy who can, because they create so many chances. Yeah.

And just adding someone who can reliably score at an above average rate. But I don't know. I could use a bit more scoring. For sure. Like that guy maybe with some size. Yeah. I guess I could, I guess I can make the case, but, you know, like, you can contrast it with any other team.

I mean, I can't pick Washington anyway, right? Yeah, we already took Protis. So like Panthers. Yeah, but I, but I, but I, but I, but I, a secondary puck mover. Yeah. Like I still think when you get into games against New Jersey and Carolina and Washington come playoff time, you're going to want the Montour replacement, even though they've been

totally fine without Montour. Right? And Montour has played great for Seattle. This isn't disparaging Montour. This is complementing the Panther system. But I still think when the rubber meets the road, they're going to want that secondary puck mover. And so I would give, you know what I mean?

Like every other team I can tell you something that I think they could use. New Jersey, I struggle with it the most. I think we got time for one more. Ooh. Okay, this is a good one. A clean bill of health. Hmm. So I think the Colorado avalanche would be an obvious choice for this.

I'm going to go with the Toronto Maple Leafs though. Yeah. For their goalending. For their goalending with Anthony Stollars, who I unfortunately cursed because Kevin Woldy and I just saying his praises and talked about how it was so nice to see him healthy and then he immediately hurts his knee and is out for about a month or so. Austin Matthews, who, as usual, the reporting on it is very limited because they're quite secretive.

but it seems like he did reaggrate wherever was ailing him previously. Hopefully he's back soon. But yeah, I just feel like seeing them at full health, especially with Matthews, in this line of thinking, because he was so good last postseason in the first two games before he got banged up,

and then we didn't really see him in full form for the rest of that series. So I would like to see that. So I'm going to give the leaves a clean blood health. You can steal it if you want for the avalanche. No, I think you're right. I think the Leafs... We got one more minute. I want to say the Leafs with some goal tending.

Come on. All right. And I like Joseph Wool, but he just shouldn't play every day. No, and also he was banged up. Yeah. Like, yeah. He shouldn't play every day, but also he was banged up this week too, right? So top six, middle six forward.

Man, the top six, middle six forward. A team that needs just a little more depth. I mean, I'm going to go with Tampa Bay here. Yeah. And I'm going to add that they need to be right-handed. Yes. like the thing that I enjoy more than anything else in the, there's two things I love more than anything else in the league

when it comes to watching the Tampa Bay Lightning. One is the way that Nikita Kuturov gets every quote unquote bounce because he's never lucky. It's just that the puck seems to follow him around. His anticipation is the best I've ever seen. And watching their power play operate. But watching their power play operate without a right-handed finisher in the Stamco's spot, I feel it like a nagging pain.

You know, like I feel it like a phantom limb. there's like something about it that's, I know how joyous it can be. I know that there's an element of this Tampa Bay power play where it can feel like they're going to generate a shot that is an absolute no doubt about it goal provided that the shooter hits it. And right now, they just don't have that gear five on four. And like, you know, whether it's a Daniel Sprong type or something higher end, I just want them to have that gear, five on four. Yeah, the player made in a lap for that specific skill set and role. Yeah, not that he's going to be available, but it's Kyle Palmieri.

be so sick. Yeah. No, I think that's great. Obviously, on the power play as well, but even at 515, just to give them a few more options, they kind of rotate that second line. But whether it's Nick Paul or Conradiki, centering the third line, just giving them someone with some offensive juice to actually be able to play and score would be huge. So I think Tampa Bay is a great pick.

All right, that was fun. We have like four or five more gifts here. We're not going to be able to get to them. I think it was a very successful Christmas, though. I think the teams are all going to be quite happy. with everything we gave them. Congratulations, guys. Hopefully everyone enjoyed those gifts.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the show, Tom. Hopefully everyone enjoys the gifts that they get from their families, however they celebrate this holiday season, right? Yeah. Well, Ottawa Senators fans are going to need some after you deprive their team for a playoff. So let's leave. It's yet something else to be happy.

I mean, look, I think they're going to make the playoffs. I was deprived them of a playoff run. Fair. So I'm sorry about your round one defeat to Toronto. Sure, yeah, it'll go over well. Anything you want to plug? Canucks talk, obviously, on the Sportsnet Podcast Network and at Sportsnet 6.50, noon to 2 p.m. every day. Going on a little bit of a holiday hiatus here for a bit, but we'll be back in the new year, and I can't wait for it.

And then obviously covering all the scuttle button drama with the Vancouver Canucks over at the athletic. It's been a bit of a grind lately, but I'm pretty confident the stretch run is going to be a lot of fun in the Western Conference. Awesome, buddy. We'll keep up the great work. Happy holidays. that everyone hope this help you get in the spirit. We've got one more show here coming on the PDOCAST feed before we take a little break ourselves. So looking forward to that. Please help us out with a five-star review wherever you listen to a show.

And thank you for listening to the Hockey PDOCast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.