The Hockey PDOcast - Mailbag Questions About Firing Cronin, JT Miller Trades, East Wild Card, and Dudes Who Rock

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Pete Blackburn to answer your mailbag questions about how badly the Ducks need to make a coaching change, our picks for the East Wild Card race, the Canucks issues and JT Miller trades, and Dudes Who Rock. 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 Hockey-PedioCast. My name is Dmitri Filipovich and joining me for the final show of the week, my good buddy, Pete Blackburn, Pete. What's going on, man? Not too much. Thanks for having me back. It's going to be fun. We put up the bat signal for mailbag questions in the PDIO cast Discord.

Our listeners delivered with some fun ones, so let's just get into him. Luke asks, now we've referenced Luke. He's asked questions on the show before. is our resident down horrifically bad, Ducks fan in the Piedocas Discord, and he's quite frankly been through enough. His question goes, with the Yakub-Silberberg story coming out about Greg Cronin trying to embarrass his players mid-game, at what point do either Pat Brabeek as the GM or the Samuelli's as owners wake up and make a change?

What do you think about this, Pete? I mean, there's been obviously a lot of smoke coming out of that camp about stories, Greg Cronin and kind of how he treats the players, he approaches the gig and some guys don't like it. Some guys don't necessarily have as much of a problem with it. And from what I've heard, there's been like a little bit of separation between the older guys and the younger guys and their reception of,

of Cronin and how he approaches things. Although, you know, Silverberg is an older guy who clearly wasn't, wasn't too fond of his tactics. I just think that when, when the results and the performance of the team is regressing and not moving forward as a young group and you've got some displeasure with the way that things are being approached inside that locker room in terms of the team approach,

I think you got to make a change at some point soon, whether it's in season, whether it's after the season. I think the duck's got to go in a different direction. Yeah, it's certainly not the first awkward player interaction we've heard about in involving Great Cronin. Obviously, what comes to mind is the Aaliyah Lubbushkin stories about Cronin's extended story times that rubbed him the wrong way last year. As tough look as it is, though. And I think this was a tough look because Silverberg was a very well-respected veteran who was with the organization for 11 years, including some really, really good ones for the ducks there in the mid-2010s.

I actually thought that that wasn't the most alarming story to surface yesterday. for me that was, and I'm not sure if you caught this, in a media availability, I believe, pregame, Greg Cronin was asked about Mason McTavish and kind of where he was going to play him in the lineup, and he referred openly to Mason McTavish as a quote-unquote third-line guy that has some offensive ability. Miss McTavish, and that's how blew me away.

I had to make sure that it wasn't one of those like fire Greg Cronin accounts that was like posting some sort of some fake quote and nope sure enough it came from him and he actually described him as that and McTavish is a player who they took third overall in 2021 he scored 17 goals as a 20 year old he scored at a 24 goal pace in his 21 year old season and he struggled big time this year

so that especially after that quote it was cool to see him go out and score two goals and be named one of the stars of the game against the penguins on Thursday night what's interesting about that though is, and it seems like Greg Cronin, at least for now, in relation to this question, has the backing and support of the GM, Pat Rebeek.

McTavish was not a draftic of Rebeek's. He was taken in 2021. Rebeke was hired in 2022. It'll be fascinating to see how they come back to that in negotiations this summer when McTavish's ELC expires. But for me, the big issue here is exactly what you said, and that relates to McTavish, and that's why I bring it up. It's these young players who are either stagnating or regressing when they're supposed to be in peak developmental years, right?

Obviously not every guy is going to develop in a linear fashion and just be better than they were last year, certainly. But you'd expect to see more steps, especially considering we saw a lot of these guys come into the NHL and immediately look like they belong. And now some of the defensemen are in and out of the lineup, the forwards aren't producing the way we'd expect. I'd argue only Leo Carlson just because he's an absolute beast and maybe Jackson-Lacombe. Those are the only two young guys that have really gotten better this year to my eye. A lot of the other guys have either stagnated or aggressed. And so that's the big red flag for me. It's not even the fact that they're 28th or whatever in point percentage and suck again this year.

It's the fact that what does this mean moving forward for a lot of these players and whether it's detrimental, I guess, to whatever their final form is. And so I honestly don't know if I were to the Ducks, if I'd even wait till the end of the year because there's still 35 games left and they're valuable for a lot of these players. But knowing NHL teams, they probably will deal with it in the offseason. Yeah. And I mean, you kind of mentioned it. The McTavich quote to me is wild. And, you know, probably a signifier of like a bigger problem there, which is, you know,

like you said, the young players not moving forward. And when you're a young player in the league and you're playing on a team that's rebuilding and trying to take some steps forward, you don't want additional hurdles. And like additional hurdles can come from issues with your coach, your coach putting you in a box as or defining your own ceiling as a young 20-something year old who is a high draft pick who we've seen like show flashes. of high end upper echelon talent, like potentially top six, potentially top line talent, you don't want your coach to define you as a third line player.

And like, I guess Cronin could say, you know, that was a motivational tactic and the results speak for themselves. But at the same time, like I said, where there's smoke, there is, there tends to be fire. And there's a lot of smoke coming out of Orange County about just like, this guy is not making the young players feel comfortable and not allowing them to move freely through their progression. Yeah, they're 30 second in like every defensive metric except goals against because their goalies both rock. They're also 30 second in goal score this year. And just look at what Dean Evanson has done for the Blue Jackets. Obviously a different situation. Maybe they're a bit further along.

But just a lot of the young players thriving and having fun again and they're scoring a bunch of goals. what a difference that makes for the optics or reorganization. I don't think anyone's expecting the ducks to be good in the West or even competing for a playoff spot right now, but the manner in which they're doing it is so unacceptable, in my opinion. So that's where I'm at. Also, between Verbeek and Cronin, you can only have one leadership member who wears comically oversized glasses.

That's true. Although I really want to know what the story was because when McTavish came out for one of his three stars after scoring two goals, as I said, he was also wearing comically oversized glasses on the ice. So who knows what's going on? It's just a way of appealing to Cronin. Yeah.

The two goals weren't enough. My, uh, my, my glasses are what's going to do it. All right, here's a question from backhand sauce. Were Pete's picks to be the Eastern Conference wild cards ahead of the Bruins? Now, first off, boom, Pete, you've been roasted because this question implies that the Bruins will not be making it. I literally said earlier the season that I don't want. them to make it.

It's just they're not good enough to be there. It's interesting. I was looking at the, the betting odds for all these teams involved, and there's so many of them to sort through pretty much everyone other than the Sabres is alive right now. The implied probability by the market has it. Senator 60% likelihood. Bruins 54, Rangers 51.

And then you massive drop off, Flyers 19, Habs, 18, CBJ 17, Isle 16, wings 11 penguins 8%. I think that tells you everything you need to know in terms of even the market not really knowing what to do with this wildcar race because of the volumes of team involved because it's kind of surprising to see three teams that are all 50% plus considering there's only two spots available like you compare it to the west and there's one spot between Vancouver, Calgary and Utah and they're all plus money right now.

So if you believe in any of those teams, you can make a nice little chunk of change betting on them the rest of the season, whereas the East is just an absolute mess. Where are you out right now with this wild card race in terms of, let's frame it two ways. One, what you think will happen. And then two, what you think the most fun outcome would be in terms of like an entertainment perspective and just best, the most beneficial for the league.

I think like most likely outcome is the Rangers getting back into it. and forcing one of those, like, more preferable teams out, for me, at least from an entertainment perspective, like ultimately, I want Columbus and Montreal because those two teams are young and fun and they're new. And I love their, I was almost just said, I love their fan bases. I love one of their fan bases. I love the Columbus Blue Jackets fan base. But I will say that, like, both of those teams bring a pretty electric atmosphere.

And if they get into the playoffs, it'll be very. really cool and exciting to see and like a fresh new fresh new face on the postseason block a team that we haven't seen in a little while um but like ultimately i'm not going to root against the bruin i just don't think the bruin's really stand much of a chance at making some real noise and i don't have a lot of faith that they're going to get in and i think there are positives to the bruns not getting in which is you know maybe a kick in the pants to that front office a kick in the pants and a necessary humbling to reshape what that roster is going to look like. But ultimately, I think the most likely scenario is that New York gets back in on the strength

of like really, really strong goal tending. And then like maybe like Ottawa, maybe if, if Omar comes back and is healthy and kind of rocks down the stretch, that's, I hope that Columbus doesn't get ousted, but I wouldn't be shocked if they weren't there at the end of the year. Yeah. Ottawa is interesting because all the defensive metrics are actually quite good. they just really inexplicably struggled to create a 5-1-5

and you saw that first hand against the Bruins on Thursday where at 5-15 their 29th and goals 28th and high-anger chances their offense is just completely dried up which seems a bit surprising considering the personnel they have up front

you'd expect them to be much better there and lacking defensively and that hasn't really been the case doesn't help when they get goals taken away by the officials either they literally had a goal stolen from them on Thursday night They did. The Bruins are 27th in goal differential still at minus 21 this year. Now they're getting better goaltending. Swayman, he had a couple rough starts recently, but was really good for a long period of time there.

Had three straight games, I believe, where they gave up 45 shots or so, and he held them in it. Now, they played 11, their last 11 games, they scored 34 goals. David Pasternak has a point on 20 of those 34 goals. So I remember last time I had you on it was right after the coaching change, right? And we wanted to make sure that we didn't like absolve the players of what was going on at the time with Boston struggling. And we talked about how Pastornak just wasn't nearly the same offensive player that he had been previously. And so he's really, really turned that around and he's been a rock star again during this stretch. So if you're going to tell me that Swayman is going to be at his peak and Pastornak is going to be driving offense like this, That is an intriguing combo, but I'm with you.

I feel like watching this Bruins team is such an evident lack of offensive juice, and it feels like they have to win such a particular way in every game, and I just find that so unappealing to watch. So I don't know, I know certainly I don't want to watch more of them. I think 82 games of the Bruins is enough for me this season. Yeah, absolutely. And they're a team that also, like, they are not talented enough, and they're not smart enough.

Like, they really are not a smart, smart hockey team. And when you, you can't just, you can't just coast by on the strength of a couple of players playing at a, at a really strong level. I, and, and hope to get anywhere. So, like, it's not, it's not an entertaining product. It's not a very good product. So why would anybody want to see extra games with that team involved? Yeah.

When you're young and you're dumb, there's a certain charm to it. It's like, oh, you'll learn their lessons eventually. When you're old and dumb. They're figuring it out. It's not very redeeming. I've had a lot of questions about the Rangers and whether they're back or not. Now, there's 7-0 and 3 in their last 10 games. They've only given up 15-5-on-5 goals in those 10 games.

Igor Shisterkin has played seven of them. He's given up 10 total goals in those seven games, the 9-48, say a percentage. So there's that. And the power play, which was really inexplicably struggling at the start of the year, has started to score a lot again. They've scored eight power play goals in those 10%. 10 games. So if the question is, are the Rangers back? If it's the version that we saw in previous seasons where they were so reliant on goaltending and power play, then I actually do think

my answer is, yeah, they kind of are to that form. But I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say they're back in terms of like being the legitimate contender that I think we expected them to be at the start of the year where they came out and they were playing so much better at 5-1-5. They still haven't really been that in my opinion. Yeah, it's just, I mean, I think the term back, I guess, it depends on your definition of that, where it's like, are they back to being a respectable team that is in the picture? I think that is true. And I think that the answer is yes. And like you mentioned, the big spikes that they've gotten to help them become a good enough hockey team again are sustainable because we've seen them in the past.

Like, I think that both those things, the power play and elite elite. goaltending from Igor absolutely sustainable. Do I think that they're like a really good hockey team? I don't really. I don't think so. Yeah, they still look flawed. You're right. They were so catastrophically bad defensively in the middle of the season there that they're

not that. And I think Will Borgon playing with Kendra, with Kendra Miller and like they've been their top pair in terms of 515 usage that self-stabilized things. Their next four games are Colorado, Carolina at Boston versus Vegas. So I think that'll be an interesting test for them to see if they are. truly quote unquote back. All right. Is that enough on the Eastern Conference wildcard?

I feel like we covered it quite a bit. You and I have spoken so much on our shows about the Blue Jackets. I don't really have that much more new stuff to add. I think I'm with you in the camp that they'd probably be the most fun option out of any of these teams. Just in terms of storyline, rally around them. Also individual players and seeing them on a more national stage because they're so fun and gifted. I feel like that would be really fun. But I don't know.

the markets clearly don't believe in them yet. I believe Dom's model, the athletic is still pretty low on them. I get it. They're bad defensively, as you'd expect from a young team. But man, when they're on, they can score and keep up with any team. And we've seen that. They've probably played the highest number of six, five games of any team in the league this season. Yeah.

And the only, the last thing I'll add is like the Canadians. I don't believe in the Canadians as like a, as being sustainable as to what they've been over the past like month or so. but man there's so much fun to watch and it's just like I I want that to keep going as long as long as it can even as a Bruins fan like it has been so much fun to watch and seeing the life kind of injected back into that that that market and that fan base after a lot of down years I just feel like the the NHL's better when the Canadians are relevant and fun completely agree for okay speaking of that then Fabella boy asks does lane hadn't Does Lane Hudson inspire hope for the short kings like Pete that they too can achieve greatness? Now, I think we had a question like this about Logan Stankov in last year, and then we use it as an opportunity to talk a lot about him. I think representation matters. So I'm sure for people like yourself, Pete, seeing Lane Hudson out there dominating must make you feel like you can achieve greatness as well. I think the ship has sailed for me, but I do like it for my brethren.

I always Everybody who like Who knows me He knows that I always root for the short guys And it pains me It pained me when Lane Hudson was taken By the Canadians Because I knew that he was going to be electric

Got to watch him at BU Just scored big goals all the time With such an electric facilitator And playmaker And I just couldn't wait for him To get to Montreal Because I believed in him And it's been awesome to see

the early returns. He's been so good this year. Still obviously has a lot to work on. But yeah, like I'm, I'm still going to rue for him. One, because he's small. Two, because he's electric. Three, because I have that hockey east tie to him.

And yeah, it just, it bums me out how likable this, this iteration of this Canadians team is, because they got a lot of guys that I really like. And another one, like, they are the short king team right now because Cole Cawfield also lighting it up. He is.

And you've got Brendan Gallagher. of course, as an OG short king. And yeah, with Patrick Lione, gunning and scoring goals as well, they've been really fun to watch. Meeks asks, as the game adapts and continues to grow, how do you feel media should adapt with it? Is there an area where media coverage

could stand to improve the most, it being less serious and more fun, more serious and data-driven, what do you think? Now, I'm very curious about this because you yourself have established a really unique and fun show that covers hockey on a daily basis.

So I'm sure you have, some thoughts on this as it relates to not only your show but I think the media landscape as a whole because I think we both agree that hockey certainly I mean all sports media but hockey is well because it's on the forefront for me has a lot of ways to stand to improve I think what uh what do you think in terms of the way of the league is kind of covered these days um I mean I think it's it's in like a fairly good place in that I think it's trending in the right direction I think that a lot of places are figuring out, like, more of what people's tastes are. And as far as, like, the way that the question was framed, like, more of this, less of this,

like, serious or data-driven. Like, I think ultimately, it's, and it's kind of a boring answer. Like, ultimately, the best product is something that brings a little bit of both. Like, entertainment has to come first. And I think that it needs to be palatable and, like, authentic for it to be. at its best, but, like, you don't have, you have to make sure that the data and, like, the analysis that you bring is brought in a way that's consumable and digestible and palatable. Like, it can't just be graphs thrown at you.

Like, that, that has a place, obviously, but it's probably not on broadcast, probably not on TV, not on intermission reports. You got to find a way to package it in a way that can be consumed by the masses. And I think that there's still a ways to go to figure out what the best sort of hybrid presentation of like intermission reports are. And like you look at the difference between TNT and ESPN in the States, which I don't know how familiar you are with those products being from Canada. But like ESPN's product is so much worse from. from just strictly speaking from an analyst standpoint, but also a like authentic,

like loose, palatable conversationalist standpoint, where it feels like they're trying to be like loose and fun and just have conversations, but they just don't have the atmosphere or maybe the talent. I don't know what the answer is there, but it just doesn't come off as authentic. whereas TNT has done a much better job at finding the people, the segments, the way to package them to be both entertaining and informational.

And I think that that's kind of what a lot of these teams in markets should be striving for is that mix of what people want to hear and what they want to be entertained by. Yeah. I'm completely with you. I don't want to see like one instead of the other. I think there's a nice balance to be found and kind of intertwining them. The stuff that I had written down was I do wish there was sometimes a bit more of a intellectual curiosity, I guess. Like it feels like I'd love to learn about the game.

I feel like I learn new stuff about it every day even in doing this show or watching whatever game's on and you just get better at it and you grow along the way and you incorporate it. and you incorporate all that stuff. And so I just feel like an intellectual curiosity and just like a love of the game that drives it ultimately. Yeah, as kind of a cliche as that would sound. Sometimes a lot of the broadcasters are so like robotic in terms of just like checking boxes along the way. And it's like so cookie cutter.

And I think that's where you're describing the discrepancy maybe between the two national ones. And in the States, it feels like that's not what TNT does. And they actually try to have fun with it. and provide a level of, I guess, accessibility and more freedom in what they're covering. And so I think that's very transparent to anyone watching. So I completely co-sign what you said there.

And I agree with you. Like I like the intellectual curiosity part of it. And like I think that people who are really in the weeds get there and they experience that where they're like they want, they can't get enough. They want more. They want more. They want more.

I do think the entertainment is the gateway drug to that. because the entertainment is like, oh, this is interesting, this is fun. How do I find more of it? I feel like that's the first step. So you got to bring one to, I think, incite the other. And this is certainly even more true for people who are on the TV broadcast because I feel like if you're an average fan at home and you don't follow the league that closely, you tune into a game, you kind of want people to give you answers,

maybe on shows like yours or mine, we have a bit more leeway. Like I'm very transparent about not knowing a lot of stuff. And I think that's fun and okay. And so like sometimes just like asking questions about why something happened and not actually being like, all right, this is. I know all the answers and I'm going to tell you why. I think there's room for that in the game as well. Right. Like not everyone knows everything about everything.

So it's okay to ask questions about it. And I kind of like when broadcasts and. and panelists acknowledge that, I guess, and even poke fun at themselves when they are wrong about stuff. I think that's all part of it. So let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll jump right back in here. We've got a few more mailback questions to close out the week.

You're listening to the HockeyPedio cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right. We're back here on the Hockeypedo cast with Pete Blackburn. We're doing some mailbag questions from the listeners. Pete, Mr. Matthews here asks, what's your view on the Kinex organization with how they're handled the JT Miller saw guides. Clear the team still has a reasonable shot of the playoffs,

but not the ceiling we saw from them last year when they shot 12%. Does trading JT give Vancouver the option of getting back to that ceiling in the future, perhaps with players more aligned with the timelines of Quinn Hughes and Elias Pedersen? Yeah, I mean, I think ultimately if you're going to trade one of those guys, you're looking at Miller, just timeline-based and just wear and tear-based, he's also not going to bring you back the haul that you're, probably hoping for, especially with no real leverage. So, you know, I don't, I don't know if I see the Canucks problems being fixed this year.

I think they're too much of a mess on, on the back end a little bit. And it's just when there's so much going on over there, it's, it's tough. And somebody described them to me this week as having an A game and having like a D minus game. And that's essentially what they've been for, for, what I've seen from them this year. It's like they're either, they either look really good or they suck. And they really,

really stink. And it's been, it's been tough recently. It seems like the good games are pretty few and far between. I don't know if they're really going to save this. They might be in the same ish position as the Bruins where like they couldn't get in, but I don't know if I believe in them truly making a lot of noise if they get there. Yeah,

the stinkers lately, the Hurricanes game on the road, the Jets, the Kings game at home, and then this most recent Oilers game on Thursday night all come to mind in the recent past. I guess you could lump in the home game against the Sabres earlier this week where they blew that third period lead

and then anyone watching is like, all right, they're probably not going to score here and salvage this, and sure enough they lost. There are three points back of the flames now. Calgary is a game in hand. Utah snuck up to one point behind them the books, as I said, still view them as the favorite out of those three teams to kind of figure this out, which might be damning with fame praise considering the competition.

I think the reality of the situation here for them, though, is that if the Canucks could get even close to 50%, I think, of what fans think a J.T. Miller return looks like in a trade, he would have been dealt weeks ago. Like, I just don't see anyone on the market, especially with the Rangers turning their season around, as we said, in part one and kind of bringing themselves off the mat, playing respectable hockey again, maybe the desperation isn't there for them. A lot of the other teams in the mix, the stars, hurricanes, abs even, are all like very calculated franchises who probably don't want to just throw a bunch of assets at a player who's owed $8 million for five more seasons

after this one into his mid-30s. So I just don't really see. the trade that's going to make the Canucks better unless it's a massive step back so that you can either rest of season or this summer try to take a bigger step forward and that's probably the way you'd go about it. I noticed an interesting, I don't really brought it up before, but we had a listener in the Pediocas Discord bring up the fact that if you look at Pedersen's contract, he's got no trade protection for the rest of this season and then I believe a no move clause kicks in this summer and this is year one of his year eight deal,

I think they're pretty clearly going to do everything they can to keep him out of the two, considering he's only 26 years old. But I feel like if you're going to make this move, doing it now, not even to salvage this season necessarily, but just to have a better sense of like evaluating your team and a player like Pedersen more fairly

the rest of the season before you're locked in for the next seven years might be an interesting way to look at it as well. So I don't know. Are you saying, I just want to make sure, like, you're saying get rid of, if you can get rid of Miller to see what Patterson can be without Miller there as his like adversary. Yeah. I mean, I didn't think about that, that part of it. I do know that like, I bet that Vancouver didn't think they'd be in this position where they're counting down like the expiring clock on Miller's, or on Patterson's trade protection window.

Like that is crazy to find yourself in that spot, but it's true. Like you, you want to know who you got as like a real key piece to your team making over $11 million for the next seven years. Like if you think he's soft, if you think that he's he's not going to be like the teammate or, you know, the locker room guy that you want him to be or the leader that you want him to be, given his inconsistency issues, like I like him as a player, but I wouldn't. I wouldn't think that they were crazy for dealing them before that that no move clause kicked in. Yeah. I just, I've seen people being like, oh, this is such a media fabricated story. And it's always something, some dramatic with the Canucks. And I assure you that is not what's going on here.

Like, and I think that's pretty transparent to anyone that's watched this team this season. Like, they're clearly. This year, it's gone back years. It has gone back years. But even like, like, you watch their performance this year. And they had injuries early on, certainly. and especially the state of the blue line, it's not good enough. So like, it's a deeply flawed roster to begin with.

But as you mentioned, the volatility and performance and effort and attention to detail in some of these games is so dramatic that you can just tell, like, without any other information that there's something rotten, right? Like, just some of the stinkers they lay is just so, it's such an embarrassing showing and so unacceptable. So I don't know. I'm right there with you. But yeah, it'll be, I think the real timeline, though, for them is Quinn Hughes is a UFA summer 2027, right? So you have two more seasons after this one. And that's the timeline I think you're working against.

I know it's a tough pill to swallow for the rest of this year because that spot is there for you as the wild card and the success you had last year. It's tough to kind of take that big of a step back. But ultimately, I think everything should be done under the objective of like, how do we maximize these next two years as opposed to just being so tunnel visioned for the rest of this one. Let me throw this out there just out of my own curiosity. What are your thoughts on the framework of a deal between Pedersen and Owen Power? I, that's a good question. I mean, I'm still maybe the last big Owen Power believer that's still standing.

I still think there's a lot there. I've seen it pointed out. I don't have his contract up right now, but I believe Pedersen has a bunch of signing bonus money that's due. And I'm skeptical that the Sabres are actually that interested in financing it. They might have to put off their scoreboard plan. And they might have to sell that new scoreboard. I might have to buy somebody out. I mean, the issue for the Canucks is if they're, and it's true for Miller as well,

unless you're just purely viewing it as addition by subtraction using that cap space elsewhere. But like the reason they wouldn't trade Pedersen beyond the fact that he's still only 26 and fairly recently was a very impactful player, is there just like any trade you make? It's tough to envision a scenario where you're better on. off as a team on the ice right now. Unless it was a massive futures oriented deal and then you went turned around and spent those on another player in his prime. That's possible.

But otherwise, I just don't really see it. All right. Here's a fun one for us to end on. So we had someone bring up the fact that they'd like to see us make a recurring segment that's just quote unquote dudes who rock where you get to highlight a player who's recently either been crushing it or needs more hype. I'm curious, I gave you a bit of an assignment here. Is there anyone that comes to mind for you that's really fit that criteria for you recently?

Yeah, I love this, this prompt so much that I, you said like give me two or three players and I made a lineup. I did three forwards to defensemen and the goaltender. Hell yeah, let's go. And it's kind of like a full season thing. And number one, like Kiefer Sherwood has, I've been very vocally in support of Kiefer Sherwood, just as like an electric, electric guy who can play up and down the lineup is leading the entire league and hits by like more than a hundred than the next guy.

He has been, I've fallen in love with Kiefer Sherwood. He's just like sandpaper, my kind of guy. The next one, Alexi Protis, like so fun to watch, huge,

absolute rig. I think he's, he's been a huge part of what Washington has found this year. And I know for a third forward here, like, I know that you're on this guy, Pavl Dorfiev, has been so much fun to watch. So those are my forwards that I've kind of just latched onto this year that I was unfamiliar with their games prior to this season. I mean, you absolutely crushed it. And I'm not surprised Protis is a no-brainer. I had Dorofi have on mine as well.

And then I ultimately wound up picking someone else. But just on that note, he's up to 21 goals and 48 games sandwich between Tate. Thompson and Jake Gensel in Goals per hour this year. Shooting the puck is such a, such a joy watching him, just rip it. And I love how emphatically he's also answered everyone's questions about whether Vegas had enough wing talent after they lost Jonathan Marshall. So this summer, it's like, he's like, yeah, I'm just going to score 40 goals this year and rock every step of the way.

I strongly considered Kent Johnson here because he's kind of quietly producing at this 33 goal, 70 point pace. he's fifth in the league in five on five goals scored on a permanent basis and he's not playing with the varankov marchenko absolutely nuclear combination that we always talk about but we've done enough CBJ talk here so I'm going to give you one that shows you that I'm really reaching deep in my bag and is someone way more niche than those two and any of the guys you mentioned mackie samoskevich

who was stuck playing single digits per game with fourth liners pretty much all year. And then recently, their scoring dried up. Carter Brahegey took a million shots in a row without scoring. Bennett had nothing after being named a team Canada. And so Paul Maurice just decided to mix everything up.

He loads up Barkov, Ryan Hart, and Kachuk at 5-1-5. And one of the beneficiaries is Sam Miskavich gets promoted to playing with Sam Bennett and Toulouse Serenin. He's playing 15, 16 minutes a game now. I thought I was watching that TNT game against L.A. closely the other day. He popped off

the screen for me. He was all over it, creating a bunch of chances, a phenomenal skater. And I feel like there's opportunity for him because he's just cheap, instant offense. And the Panthers need that right now. And so if he can stick in a scoring role and not be playing on the fourth line, I think a lot of points are coming for him. So he hasn't really been scoring much yet. But in the honor of this question of dudes who rock who deserve more hype, I wanted to shout out Mackie. You said you had a full lineup. Did you only do forwards? No, I have two defensemen and a goaltender as well. First defenseman is another one of your guys is well, Kesselring.

Michael Kesslering in Utah has been a ton of fun. And Craig Morgan just did a profile on him this week. So if anybody wants to go check that out, shout out to Craig. I love him. Kesselring is just a very fun player to watch. And Utah, I'm excited about Utah. I'm more excited than I thought that I would be at this point in the year. So they're not like a great team.

But I think that it's, there's enough there for my big concern was, would there be enough there for the bones of a brand new fan base to latch on to? And I think the answer has been pretty emphatically yes, which is, which is awesome to see. Uh, the other defenseman that I have is,

I thought Lane Hudson would be too easy in terms of like everybody knows that he rocks. He's not really flying under the radar at this point. But one of his teammates, Caden Goole, like obviously a guy who has a little bit of, a name brand appeal, but like, I, I think that I've been more impressed than expected by him to this point in the year. Just kind of an electric guy to watch for both like his skill set standpoint, but also the violence standpoint.

Like there's a few times per game where you're worried that he's going to kill somebody. And it's happened a few times throughout this year where, you know, he absolutely crushes dudes. And so I think that's, he's an energy guy and I, and I love what he's been able to bring to the Canadians on the back. And again, not like a perfect player still developing, but fun to watch. That's a really nice shout. Kessel Ring is obviously an awesome shout as well. He's, I've really been blown away by his offensive game. Like obviously like a big guy who can move, but seen him shoot the puck this year has really surprised me and he's just getting better with every game. So yeah, I feel like, uh, I don't know how I feel.

right now because on the one hand i love all the players that you reference so i'm glad they got their love on the other i feel like you came and stepped on my corner and just showed me up because i i just put forth mackie samaskavitch and meanwhile you're like naming all this full lineup of dudes the rock so i feel like you're kind of showing me up on my own show apologies i'll finish it off with my goaltender which should surprise nobody that listens to what chaos uh peter kachecoff like not the best goaltender but entertainment value just through the absolute roof. He is for better or for worse,

an absolute chaos god. And we call him goalie with a knife on our show just because he plays with the energy of a guy who has a knife stashed in the back of his pants. And I love that so much. Yeah, we did a entertainment value rankings

for goalies on the show recently. And he was number one. So I think justified in everything you said. I was looking it up by the way. I just wanted to fact check myself. on the show here and Pedersen is due 10 million in signing bonuses this summer

and then 35 million total in signing bonuses to be paid out over the length of that contract whereas Owen Power has nothing coming his way so I and you know what sucks is that if you're trying to do that deal if you are Buffalo I guess if you're Vancouver and you're trying to do that deal you can't even wait until the signing bonus is paid this year because then the trade protection kicks in yeah yeah yeah that's right all right pete uh what do you

got a plug here on the way out let the listeners know about your show and any uh any fun guests you've got coming on uh what chaos is live monday through thursday at noon eastern uh our show lives on youtube after the fact so if you can't catch it live catch it there and on podcast platforms uh we kicked off Jacob Lauko movie club this week. So, Yacoblauco, sorry, called him Jacob.

Jacob Loco. He's the best. He's the goofiest guy in the NHL. I love him so much. He came on to discuss the movie The Substance with us. He's going to join us once a month moving forward just to review

random movies. And it's going to be a great time. We've got guests coming up over the next couple of weeks. We've got some young guys. We've got some old guys. We've got a nice little mix. So, and for the trade deadline that is nearing, we will have, again, a 24-hour stream.

Last year, it was insane. So, yeah, find us there. Awesome, man. Keep up the great work. You know, we talked about the ducks earlier, and I know you've got, you've had Frankie Petrono on the show, and he was an awesome guest. Alex Clorin really wants to come on the P.D.O. cast. I don't know if he personally does, but his, like, PR agency keeps messaging me about

getting Alex Cloran on the show. and I mean I'm sure he'd be a great guest obviously he has a wealth of knowledge and experiences from his time with the lightning maybe after after Greg Gordon gets fired he'll come on and share some stories but I wanted to to shout that out all right my plugs give us five stars wherever you listen to the show pop into the pediocast discord we just crossed 1,200 sickos in there if you listen to these shows and dig them I feel very confident you'll fit right in with that community it's just an awesome resource for hanging out every night, watching games, chatting with people, just stay away from our top contributor pixies, and you'll have a good time. That's all for this week. Hope everyone has a great weekend. We'll be back on here Sunday, as usual, with Thomas Drans for the Sunday special. Thanks to Pete for coming on. Everyone go check out with chaos. And thank you for listening to the HockeyPedio cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.