The Hockey PDOcast - Second Half Storylines

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Pete Blackburn to work through the storylines they're excited to follow in the second half of the NHL regular season.  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 HockeyPedocast. My name is Dimitra Filipovich. And joining me is my good buddy, Pete Blackburn. Pete, I think this is your first time on this season. How's it going, man? It is. It's my first time on.

Happy to be back. Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure. Now that you got your own YouTube video show, it's tougher to book you. I feel like it used to be more available, but now you're big-time. Me, you got to run to do a Seth Jarvis interview after this. just keeping us on a tight schedule. So yeah, I see how it is. Listen, you act like I did not.

It texts you with this summer before we even launched our show saying, come on anytime you want, and you have not been on yet. So I don't want to hear it now. All right, all right. Well, we'll make that happen for sure. But here today, here's our plan. We are going to look ahead to the second half of the season where it feels like we're at the halfway mark. I know the league likes to pretend that the All-Star break is that. But really, it's not all the teams are around 40 games played right now and so what we're going to do is we are going to highlight some of our most interesting storylines that we're excited to watch on full down the stretch some of them i'm sure will be serious and actually important uh others might be a bit more

uh self-serving for whatever our agendas are or whatever we want to uh get the listeners on board with but we're going to have some fun with it see how far we can go and uh and hopefully get people ready for what should be a fun second half of the season. So as the guest, I'll give you the floor here first because I gave you a bit of homework to come up with a handful of storylines you're excited about. Give me your first one. First one, I'll go with like a pretty standard one.

I feel like the team that's been among the most interesting this season is the Edmontonoylers. And at the outset of the season, we were even wondering, would they make the playoffs was the hole too deep? Now, I feel like pretty confident that they're going to make the playoffs. is just where are they going to finish. So, like, that's a big storyline for me to keep an eye on in the second half is just, like, how much does this tear continue for the Oilers?

You know, can they play almost near perfect hockey or, like, unbelievable hockey to the point where they finish, you know, they, I don't know, like it in the top couple spots in the division, or do they sneak in as one of the wild cards? Like, their roller coaster ride this season has been one of the most fun and interesting storylines basically day to day. Yeah, that's a good shout. I had them on my list as well, and the way I framed it was, can the Oilers come all the way back to win the West in terms of actually finishing first in the conference now? They've got quite a bit of work still cut out for them because while they've been on this tear, so the Vancouver Canucks and so have the Winnipeg Jets, who each have

a, well, the Jets have an eight-game winning streak of their own, a sort of mere Edmonton's nine-game winning streak. So there's still 14 points back of Vancouver with four games in hand, but left to go. They still have one game against the Canucks, one game against the Jets, and then two against Vegas and three against L.A. So it feels like they're right there in terms of potentially being able to climb all the way back where it feels like just yesterday we are all making jokes about how they had the same number of wins as the San Jose Sharks. And now we're at this point where it's not that impossible that they could do it. They're on this nine game winning streak since November 24th, Pete, they are 17 and 3 in their past 20 games, and they've outscored teams

81 to 44 in that time. So you could stretch it even further to since the coaching change, which was pretty much exactly two months ago now. But yeah, it's been a pretty good run of hockey for them. And it feels like the sky is the limit in the sense that they're getting better goaltending, but also like a lot of the issues they had in terms of just like having this catastrophic rush defense in front of them has been short up a little bit. And it feels like most importantly, McDavid is fully healthy now where he wasn't at the start of the year. And so just having him basically performing at the exact same pace he was on last year puts them right atop the Western Conference for me,

even if the standings don't necessarily reflect that right now. Yeah, I mean, the fact that their defensive structure isn't a complete circus and they are getting some say, games like that alone has kind of put them in a better position. But like you said, McDavid, you know, when McDavid was clearly injured at the beginning of the season, And I think like in early November, I got him for part odds, like plus 250, 300, something like that. And it's just like, it's unbelievable how clearly he was not himself and then how clearly he is back to being himself. So yeah, I mean, you mentioned the fact that like they have all these games against, you know, teams that they're kind of trying to jump here. And they have been playing unbelievable, but one of the best teams in the hockey for the last two months.

but they're also still the Oilers and you know that they're going to hit a skin at some way before the end of the season. I just wonder how much that sets them back. So I'm curious to see where they finish. Yeah. Well, so past 25 games, you mentioned McDavid,

46 points in those 25 games, which is pretty much an identical pace to when he had 153 or whatever last year. And they've stumbled upon this combination now with him and Hyven, where their 5-1-5 numbers are just like, are hilarious.

With them on the ice together, shots on goal are 255 to 144 for Edmonton and high danger chances are 119 to 44 so they are just they're basically putting up like power play numbers at 5-15 with those two guys out there and last night against Detroit they similarly dominated them and took that game over and won it as well so yeah they are they're in freak mode right now all right so we both had that one you mentioned the the macdavid heart odds here's my first one for you then since you kind of took one off the board for me already. Can Nathan McKinnon finally win the heart? So I love that. I've been waiting for him to get one. Well, so 2018, he finished his second behind Taylor Hart, the Taylor Hall, right? And he

had 60 first place votes that year. 2019, he finished sixth. 2020, he finished second again with 48 first place votes. Third in 2021. Wasn't on the list in 2022. And then fifth last year. So he has been right on the precipice there. It feels like, I mean, he should have won it the Taylor Hall year in hindsight. But it feels like for the most part, he's been dinged a little bit just because the team around him has been so good. But with their injuries and with how they've sort of had to give players away, I guess, because of the cap and not been able to retain them, their depth is kind of diminished. And so now they're just riding their top guys to an almost unheard of degree in these games to the point where the other night against Boston,

and they played him 30 plus minutes and their top five guys essentially all in the 30s. And so if that's going to keep up and he's going to keep producing this way, then I really think he's got an interesting shot and it's going to be an absolutely ridiculous sort of top of the class there, right, with him and Kuturov and McDavid, of course, and Panarans having a phenomenal year. And so there's just so many choices to pick from. But it feels like he's getting a lot of momentum right now based on the way he's playing play. Yeah, I agree.

He's elevated kind of his stardom even to a higher degree than kind of what we've come to know from Nathan McKinnon, which is crazy to say. He's been one of the biggest stars in the league. But like the goals that he's scoring and kind of the highlight real plays that he's delivering in big moments this year have been awesome. And like, you know, I just want him to get a heart at some point because it feels like at this point he's like the guy that's always a bridesmaid, never a bride. and you know, and you talk about like kind of this status of the Colorado avalanche as a team right now is a team that doesn't like fully have it together but has so much top top tier talent that they're kind of like still one of the best teams of the league despite that just by relying and leaning on those guys.

It's made it like for a really, really interesting and like we usually do our watchability rankings whenever I come on this show. I feel like the abs have been one of the most watchable teams. in terms of like for better or for worse because they have definitely had those like holy crap this team can come undone very quickly but also can be extremely dominant and have you know a plus stars who are playing some of their best hockey this year so uh yeah the abs are being really really fun and to watch at least for me from a neutral perspective and nathan mckenon has been unbelievable so i do like the idea of him making that push this year hopefully

Well, and if you get into these competitive environments where they're playing against another top team, you can feel comfortable that you're not going to have to wait very long for these guys to get back over the boards and get back on the ice, right? Because they pretty much are playing every other shift. And at home in particular, McKinnon has a point. He's got this stretch now where he has a point in all 23 home games they've played, 46 points in those 23. And so that's kind of an interesting subplot to see if that continues. And I'm excited because I've seen them live a couple times.

I feel like I've never really actually seen Kail McCar play live because whenever they've either been in Vancouver and I've been in the press box or I've seen them elsewhere. It feels like he's been like outer or whatever. I've never really just gotten them to see them playing at their full capacity, but I'm going to Denver in March. So I'm looking forward to that. I think I'm going to catch Rangers abs in March. So hopefully everyone's playing in that game and it's an important one. So yeah, that should be a good one. But yeah, I mean, he's Kutrov had this big lead in points at the start of the year.

and now he's cut it to just two and he leads the entire league in 5.15 points. So there's a very compelling case here for McKinn, if he keeps this up to finally get over the hump for the heart. Okay. What's next on your list? I have the goaltending arms race because I feel like there is so many guys that have been thrown out there as potential goaltenders that could move. And there are definitely a lot of teams that are in the market for goaltending

to kind of solidify their playoff chances down the stretch. So, like, we haven't seen the first big splash yet or the first domino fall. And I feel like once that kind of happens, the floodgates might open. And I don't know who the first guy is going to be. I saw right before I jumped on here to do this. Kevin Weeks tweeted a picture of Jacob Markstrom with the eyeball emoji. I don't know what the hell that means. But, you know, I'm keeping an eye on the goaltending because it does feel like once either the market is set or like the first

Domino Falls. You've got guys like potentially like a John Gibson and Elvis Rosalikins, like a Jake Allen, McKenzie Blackwood potentially. Like there are a number of guys that could provide really, really solid help for teams that kind of desperately need it heading down the stretch. Yeah, that's an interesting one to keep in mind. Certainly with Markstrom, I'd be curious to see how that unfolded because it feels like, you know, the track record, I guess, of like big name goalies moving in Cs.

season is not particularly prolific, right, in terms of, like, it actually paying dividends because there's so much to consider with, like, defensive system and how that all fits and what's in front of them and all that. Like, it just feels like very, I can't think of very many examples where a big name, important goalie actually moved and made a huge difference. Generally, it's kind of these, like, under the radar guys who get hot and you find out of nowhere. So it certainly feels it didn't like ride Miller in St. Louis?

I mean, it was, uh, that was, that I remember, that was fun. I was one of my first seasons covering hockey full time. And I remember that was a big deal. And certainly not an era that I look back at. I remember very fondly. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens there. Okay, that's a good one. My next one.

How far can the Jets ride this thing that they're currently on? And as a sort of art beat of that, does saxophone squirtle win just the heart? for its regular season performance, or can it also win the consmice too? You got to took like two of mine there, and one of them was essentially created just for you to pander

of what other Pokemon will start playing musical instruments to drive a team to success. I know that you're obsessed with saxophone squirrel. I mean, how can you not be? I didn't realize

I didn't realize that it was like very strongly co-opted by the Winnipeg Jets this year. I know that like you super got into it And you were keeping me up to date with kind of like the rise of Saxophone squirdle. And you're like, hey, the Winnipeg Jets are kind of lashing on to this. But like I tweeted the Saxophone Squirtle yesterday about like a Trevor Zegris thing. And all my mentions were just Jets fans being like, nope, can't do this.

This is cultural appropriation. So I guess I'm leaving that to Winnipeg. But I also had on my list like are the Winnipeg jets truly, truly elite? And like, can they finish like near the top of the Western Conference? at the end of the season. So the Jets ride has been unbelievable. And, you know, if you're making a list of most surprising teams this year in the league, the Jets have to be near the very top for all the right reasons.

And not simply because, like, Mark Sheifley and Connor Hellebuck were talked about his guys that could be shipped out of there. And then, you know, obviously Blake Wheeler and his departure. And the fact that they're doing this without Kyle Connor, like one of their best players, has been pretty unbelievable. So the Jets have really, really kind of struck me as a surprising team that I didn't see coming. Yeah, Saxo and Squirtle is definitely a Jets thing. I know that the Cracken played it once.

The Ducks actually, you mentioned Ziegers there, tried to play it once as well. But no one's buying it because it's a Jets thing. And the Jets, to their credit, have been a phenomenal job. We love when teams, social media accounts have some fun with this stuff, right? And actually listen to people and get involved with whatever is topical. In this case, they've done so to the point where I shouted him out earlier this week, but his name's Quentin Rob, and he does, like, the game presentation for the Jets, and he's sort of the mastermind behind all this, saw what we were talking about on Twitter,

and then jumped on it and started using it at the games. He photoshopped or whatever did an edit of this video, where remember the, it was the bubble season when there was like no fans in the stands, and Bud Light Seltzer became a thing, and then Nikolaeilis scored a goal once, and then, like, celebrated with the, but light selter can, uh, in the stands because it was the only one there. Oh, yes, yes. Yeah. So, so, so, so yeah. So, yeah, so he replaced the mascot with saxophone squirtle

playing playing the tune and it basically just to an audience of one of Nikla Eilers and it's phenomenal. I tweeted it out. So highly recommend yeah, people check that out. They haven't seen it on my feed, but yeah, since they, uh, since they embraced it and since they gave the people what they wanted their nine o and one their one OT loss there was to the Blackhawks of all teams since the start of December, 16, 1, and 2, and their losses were to Montreal, Chicago, and San Jose, up 36 or 67 to 31 in that time. And the reason why I bring up that stat is because that means that they've given up 31 goals in their last 19 games. Top 5 defensive team, getting phenomenal goaltending from both Hellebuck and Braswans. So I think it's the real deal.

They have to fix their power play. They're obviously going to have to stay healthy, right? like they're going to get Connor back at some point here. Sheifley just got hurt. I'm always a little bit worried about Gabe Valardi because it feels like he's always on the precipice of getting hurt, but whenever he's out there, he's phenomenal. And so this team's really good at they keep this up. I'm very curious to see how aggressively they push

at the trade deadline, right? I'm not sure if we're going to do any trade deadline topics here in terms of our storylines to watch the rest of the way. But the last time where they were this good was that 2017-18 season, I believe, right? When they made the big splash and they went out and they added like Paul Stasney at the time and they moved the first round pick and they made a big push that season. So I'm curious to see like how much because they've been a very conservative under Kevin Shevold Day off over the years, right? Like they generally try to get guys who are going to want to play their long term and have either term on their deal or they can retain them at a reasonable price.

They rarely ever go big name shopping. But in this case, they're first in the league in both raw points and point percentage. And so this keeps up. I think they're going to be pretty motivated to do something big this season. I also, I just feel like really, really happy for Conor Helibuck's, especially because he's been one of the best goaltenders in the world stuck behind. Typically, a Winnipeg Jets defense that is not very strong and kind of leaves him hanging out to dry. And a lot of the Jets' success that they have seating in the past handful of years has come basically just Connor Heliboff failing them out

defensively. And now that's kind of flipped on a Ted with with bones behind the bench. Like their defensive structure is much better. Like you mentioned, they're not giving up. a whole lot, you know, in terms of like their high danger chances. They're not giving up a ton of great opportunities and Connor Hellebach on top of that has been unbelievable. So it's been like not a full identity ship, but like the big, the big detriment to the Jets in years past is now like their biggest strength. And Connor Hellebuck is kind of reaping the rewards and kind of his due over there. So I'm very happy. Yeah, they're to that point, they give up the third few of shots on the slot, the fifth few of shots total, and the fifth few has expected goals, and they obviously league to league and goals against.

And so you're getting good defensive structure with strong goal tending, a lot of depth up front and on the blue line, right? Like a lot of contributors. And they have a top line now with the way Eelers and we'll already have been playing together that is dominating every time they're on the ice. And so that's all of a sudden a pretty intriguing formula for a team that can really make some noise. So I'm in on the Jets beyond all of the jokes about a saxophone squirrel and how it occupies all of my brain space. Okay. What's next on your list? I know you had the Jets there and you kind of shouted them out as well, but I think you're next up here because I'm not going to let you steal that as my topic.

I'm going to say the goals race in terms of Austin Bathieu is, I mean, like right now at a 69 goal pace for the season, which is nice and also like pretty. pretty all-time. I'm in terms of like adjusted scoring. Like that would be an incredibly, incredibly impressive goal scoring season if you finish with 69 or anywhere near around there. Like one of the better, better seasons that we've seen. But also like, I know a guy that you love to keep an eye on. Sam Rinehart in Florida, like right now, directly midway point in the season on pace for 60 goals in a contract year. So, like, very curious to see how long he keeps this up, where he finishes at, and how much it gets him paid this summer, or potentially before it. He stays in Florida. But, like, Sam Reinhardt must love, love, love, love money because he is finding his game and his peak at the right time and kind of him playing with Barkov has been unbelievable to watch this year. And so kind of keeping an eye on the goals pace and seeing who finishes near. or top there. Yeah, I agree there, but as long as he stays healthy, Austin Matthews is,

with all due respect to all other guys, in a class of his own when it comes to goal scoring. You mentioned the 69 goal pace, and I know why you did that because it is nice, but 33 goals and 38 games gives him an 82 game pace of 71. I know he missed only the one game so far, and that's what brings him at a total, but if he can stay healthy because, for whatever reason and it you know whether it's been kind of like minor injuries or just sort of trying to pace him and keep him healthy for the playoffs he generally tends to miss like eight to ten games or somewhere in that range over the course of the past couple years right and so if he can actually put together a full season here i'm very curious to see what the upper ceiling is of what he can

get to because like david had 64 last year right ovech can add the 65 in 0708 and if he can potentially flirt with that 70, that would be something else. And it seems plausible, right? Not only the pace he's on, but just the sustainability of it. Like you watch him play and he's averaging about like three to four. Three plus shots from the slot per game. He leads the league in cycle chances, four trick chances. I'm almost to the point where I know he's been a bit streaky this season. Like he started off with a couple of hat tricks and then he went on this stretch where he didn't score and then he went off again. But whenever I watch him play, I come away surprised if it happens to be a game where he didn't score in. And now that he's having these games or he's having two,

three goals at a time as well, all of a sudden, you start to get to the point where it's adding up real quick and he's almost halfway there. So I think 70, assuming health is very in play, and that's a very exciting subplot to follow. I had somebody to tell me recently that Austin Matthews got pissed off at David Posternaut, just because of how many had directs he scores. he's just like apparently took that personally it is now just depositing him in bunches but yeah I guess he was like a little jealous of posse or not for how many uh how many addies he was putting it in the back of the net so um we don't have to like get too deep into this but we had this conversation kind of recently do you think that from a pure talent standpoint

not from an accomplishment standpoint like it's awesome matthie's the best american player that's ever played I thought you were going to ask if he's the best goal score ever because obviously we have had this kind of debate with Ovechkin, right, and now that he's pushing Griske's mark. But the reason why I bring that up is just like, when I mentioned that 65 goal season Ovechkin had, and part of it, like his volume is just, and his prime was insane, right? Like he had 446 shots that year. He attempted over 900 shots. And you look at Matthews now this season, he's on pace for that 70, shots on goal, pace 367, shot attempt, 700, just so, much more like efficient and part of that I think is also um the development of like shots and

you know that like little dragon release that he has as well it's totally changed the game and also just the school scoring environment is much better than it was during a lot of a vetchkin's prime years but like his ability to get the volume there while also having higher efficiency like he's getting into some pretty rare fighter in that regard as well so i think that's also an interesting debate um not to totally uh dodge your question there because i haven't really thought about it but but yeah i mean he's getting up there like it's the the efficiency and the totals he's putting up are just like almost unassailable at this point from especially from a goal scoring perspective yeah i mean obviously he's got some work to do to like truly kind of close the gap in that conversation just based off

um you know stats and also accomplishments and team success certainly hardware yeah so um but i think like from pure talent standpoint i think he's like he's like the best American goal score we've ever seen, quite possibly the best American player we ever seen. I couldn't tell if you were kidding there about the Pastornak thing because I was the person that told you that. Was it you? Somebody said that recently that I didn't know.

It was me. So I had Darryl Belfrey on this past week to do a David Pasternak deep dive, and he obviously has worked closely one-on-one with Matt, who's for years now. And he sort of shared a bit of insight into, the process and the offseason of like just trying to figure out how to take your game into the next level and how to you know stack together these performances and at the end of the year reaching even higher level from a production perspective and it's always I love the insight

into like how these guys think because he had a similar thing with queen hughes where it was like trying to figure out all right how do i get to a certain point total so that i can get into this like norris conversation right and it was like all right well you got to start putting yourself in a position where you can be more of a shooting threat and then eventually start scoring some goals and that'll get you to a certain level. And with Matthews, it was, he had a lot of games where he would just score one goal or potentially two goals, but all of these like hatcher performances were sort of eluding him. Whereas Pasternak, I don't know how many he has now, but I think it's like almost 20 hat tricks in his NHL career. And it seems like when he goes off, he really, really goes off,

while also being pretty consistent. And so Matthews and him were just trying to figure out, like, how to get to that point where you're getting the best. of both worlds and you're able to sort of match that as well. And I love that insight in terms like how these elite guys try to sort of stack themselves up against their biggest competition and peers and how competitive they can get in that regard. Yeah, you're welcome for that insight. One final note on this that I think will help him this year as well. I know that Martin Jones has had this nice little run here against these California teams recently, right? But with all of their defensive issues still and the goaltending concerns that they have. And then,

it feels like this year more than previous seasons, they're getting in these game environments where they're actually having to sort of score more and push for offense and play some more high-scoring games. And this Leafs team is at its absolute best when they're playing from behind or where they're getting into sort of track meet and they really have to just go all out for offense.

And if that's going to be the case, I think that's going to help them achieve that even more. So certainly something to watch the rest of the way. All right, Pete, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we will pick the conversation back up. You're listening to the Hockey Peelecast streaming on the SportsNard Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the Hockey Peele cast to close the week out with people. I've been P.

we're doing storylines that we are excited about for the rest of the way. I'll give you the floor here. What's next on your list? We've had so much overlap so far. You can tell that we're talking off air and trading ideas a bunch because it seems like we're sharing one brain here. and we're sort of cannibalizing ideas from each other, but I'm curious to see what you have next. This always happened.

The shared brain syndrome always kind of reveals itself. Well, you know, too smart, handsome guys. I'm not surprised. I have, can Carter Bedard still win Calder? And if so, would it be the most impressive Calder campaign ever in terms of adversity for a rookie to still come away with the hardware? Because, I mean, you still get the points lead. You still get the goals lead at the time of his fractured.

but on top of that and missing a bunch of time his quality of teammates has been extremely low probably I would assume like the lowest for any potential Calder winner in a long time and just like that plus all he's been dealing with in terms of what's going on in Chicago like that you know that would

to me be like the most impressive Calder win in quite some time if he were still come away with it. And I think there's a non-zero chance, even despite the injury and the weeks that he's going to miss, non-zero chance that he wins the Calder. Yeah, well, how, I know he's going to miss the All-Star game, right? And we're going to have to get a replacement for that. But what's the report?

It's like six weeks or so that he's going to be out. Six to eight weeks, yeah. Yeah. I think I would still view him as the favor of it. Obviously, that's a lot of games to miss, right? And it's going to give players an opportunity to catch up. up from a county stats perspective. But considering the fact that I felt like before he got hurt, the only real competition he had was someone who profiles is kind of like a defensive defenseman.

I know the Brock Faber's like been getting some PP1 ice time and is getting some point totals of his own. But it's not like there's someone else who had a close enough goal or point total and all of a sudden now the extra six weeks worth of the games is going to push them over the top. So I feel like you still, just from like a, what you mentioned there in terms of the context and the circumstances and also the fact that he was billed to us as his generational player that was like a can't miss prospect. And then he delivered on that despite all the adversity that he was facing. I feel like that's been implanted in the voters minds firmly enough that it's going to take something pretty ridiculous or them just like shutting him down for the rest of the season.

For us to get to a point where someone like truly disloders them at the top of a calder. Yeah, and I mean, shutting him down for the rest of the season after he comes back, or at some point in the stretch run would be devastating, but also probably pretty smart. I feel like the Glockhoffs, especially considering where they might be sitting in terms of the standings and the race to the bottom. But I don't know, we'll see. I mean, this has been a really awesome class of rookies and young players this year.

And, you know, the fact that he's so firmly at the top. of that group is impressive in its own right, but then you look at kind of who he plays with and kind of the stuff that he's been going through over there is, it's super, is super aggressive. Yeah. I mean, the betting market still has him as a prohibitive favor, and actually Luke Hughes has passed Brock Faber per second behind him. So, yeah, it seems like the market and the general consensus, yeah, he's minus 180 still, and Luke Hughes is plus 400 second favorite. So, um, yeah, it seems like, the market and the general He's minus 180 still and Luke Hughes is plus 400 second favorite. So yeah, I guess that speaks to just how remarkably good he's been. And you're right, I don't think that the Blackhawks really

have to worry about it because I guess the sharks are doing some impressive stuff in their own regard in terms of losing games and doing so independent of fashion. But trying to get the best odds possible for Macklin Celebrity, I guess, will be up for consideration. And so they wouldn't if he's healthy enough they're going to play him because he's just so good and he the league wants him to play it right because it generates buzz and attention and people want to see honor and are playing hockey but um yes i'm gonna watch for it down the stretch for sure okay well here's mine then how many people can you and i convince to join us in the kiro marchenko appreciation society i it's you know a month or so ago i i i i I would say maybe we have a bit harder of a time than I'd like. Just based off of place in Columbus, nobody seems to really care about that team. That team has had some tough losses, some tough vibes. I'm not totally sure I love Pascal Vincent over there behind the bench and kind of the way that he's running that team.

But with the way that Marchenko has been playing and sort of the purposeality of he's showing up the we had him on what chaos and was one of our more highly regarded interviews, at least from our listeners and stuff. He's just the most charming, like adorable guy. So those two things combined, I think Marchenko's fan base is rapidly growing as it should be. And I just hope the Blue Jackets can kind of like piece it together and have him be a central part of that team.

Yeah, they're having another miserable season, right? their 28th and point percentage, 26th and goal differential. And yet, at the same time, I find myself tuning into their games to see what he does next. He just has such a, like you mentioned the personality and stuff, which really shine through in your interview with him. And I thought the bit about his just utter, about disdain, but just lack of interest in, in the concept of music was genuinely hilarious. And very, very cool.

Like the way he presented it was, I don't agree with it because I'm the type of person where if I'm not doing something, I like have to be listening to a podcast or music just to keep myself entertained. But he clearly just beats to his own drum. But his game on the ice is also that of a total rock star, right? Like when you watch him play just the way he moves around, how he shoots, the types of goals he scores,

it's very exciting. And now you look up and he, the next game he plays will be, the 100th game of his NHL career, and he's already got up 34 goals so far, which is very impressive considering the environment around him as well that I mentioned. And so, yeah, they've been really, you know, if anything, they've actually been really good from a goal differential perspective with him on the ISFI-15. It's really been an issue when he's not out there, which just speaks to his importance to this team already. So I love the combination of him and Igor Chinikov as well and when they have Varankov out there with them as that Russian line, they've played really

well together and I want to see them grow more together. So hopefully we get to see that down the stretch. I just want to see him feature it more, right? I think that was part of the disappointment of when Boone Jenner was named their All-Star. I know that he's kind of more established and he's their captain, but it's like if this event is about showcasing your talent and in particular like letting younger fans sort of get to know some of these more unheralded stars on teams, and they might not necessarily follow and just see that shine through. I can't really think of a better example of that than Kiral Marchenko. He sort of checks all of those boxes.

Agreed. And like him in the all-star environment where it's kind of like, you know, buttoned down, guys get to show more of their personalities and stuff like that. It's a huge bummer that he's not their representative. No disrespect to Boone Jenner, but like Boone Jenner is not a real exciting choice for an all-star game. and I know the blue jackets are kind of painted into a bit of a corner with the season that they've been having

but I feel like Marchenko deserves it. Well, if I want to see if I want to see someone dump the pocket and then go and lay the body with a head and then kind of grind out a 40 second shift. I know again. That's no athletic.

That's not Hercenko. Exactly. Exactly. Yes. No, the thing that I love about that as well is in that environment, I feel like not only would you like get to see Marchenko flourish more, but I feel like he would also carry himself as if he belongs there as well.

You know what I mean? Like sometimes certain guys just look out of place in that environment where it's like, all right, well, this is kind of weird seeing them out there with all these other superstars where he's obviously not established either from a reputation or a production perspective yet there. But just the way he plays and the way he carries himself, I feel like, would fit right in with all the top players in the game. So that would be hilarious. You know, you mentioned the, you mentioned Markstrom and Kevin Weeks.

his tweet with the eyeball emoji earlier. He just did one with Elvis Merz-Lakins as well. So I don't know what's going on here. But this is going to age well, I guess, for your storyline being goalies on the move if there's anything to this. See, I'm curious. Okay. What's next on your list? I'll link what we just mentioned to like the New Jersey Devils, because the New Jersey Devils have had a bit of a rocky start to the first half. And they're one of those teams that we looked at. We were like, okay, can this team take the next step? Is the team legitimate?

Are they going to get the saves? Are they going to piece it together and put together a deep run this season? And obviously, the results have been mixed and there's been ups and downs. But, like, the one thing that we can all agree that they need is goal-tending. And they really, really need that stability. I want to see, do the New Jersey Devils make a big splash in between the pipes? Like, do they go out and get a guy like Markstrom? Do they go out and get a guy like Reslykins? You know, and how much that kind of pieces them back together makes them a tighter unit, makes them more of a contender down the stretch. Because like if the Devils finish this season as a team that kind of like sputters out or doesn't address the things that they need to address to get back

in in that playoff picture, I'm going to be extremely disappointed because this team feels like it's ready, but just hasn't really put it all together yet. And I'm waiting to City if that happens this year or if it's going to take another summer. Yeah. No, I mean, listen, I don't think the defensive environment has been particularly great. Certainly it's been a step back from last year for a variety of reasons. At the same time, though, they are 28th. in goals against and 16 in expected goals against. And so I know like they're giving up a lot of quality chances off the rush and stuff and they've progressed in that regard. But they're really, their goalies are not doing any favors. And especially you watch a guy who beat take Vanichick play

and he just, for whatever reason, just seems totally lost, just swimming around in net, cannot handle any rebounds, looks like he's just always facing the wrong way. Just everything's going wrong that it can in net there. And so a little bit of stability would certainly help. I'm curious to see how they approach it though, right? Because with Dougie Hamilton essentially out for the rest of the season until the playoffs, it gives them a bit of wiggle room financially in terms of using that LTIR money to potentially add for the rest of the season. But then obviously they have to figure stuff out heading into next year if it is a goalie with future money on the books. So I'm curious to see how aggressive they are this year despite all of these struggles because of the state of the

Metro Division, they're still right there in the thick of things with like this old glut of other teams, right? Like, teams like the capitals and the flyers and even the Islanders are ahead of them and the standings there. And I certainly think none of us thought that would be the case heading into the season. So it's been disappointing, but it's also despite how bleak it's been so far, it's not like it's a lost season yet. So we'll see. Although, you know, with all the injuries that they have, including the forwards as well, beyond just Dougie Hamilton, it's kind of tough to talk yourself into making some sort of a big push and going all in just for this season considering all that. Yeah, I think the league is a better place when, you know, Jack Hughes

and the Devils are kind of in the mix. And like, not to look too far ahead, but if they do sneak in and they get one of the wild-hard spots, like there's a good chance you get another range here's devils meeting here to, in playoffs. And that's something I think we can all kind of get behind. Well, that would be really interesting because the Rangers have obviously been better than them this season and at the same time the one thing they struggle with is i think think they're league worst in defending against a rush and so uh i think they would struggle with a healthy devil's team skating as fast as they are so that would be a really fun for a variety reasons okay um i guess we already did kind of i had like best macklin celebrating landing spot

we already talked a little bit about the black hawks and and the sharks do you do you have one in terms of what your favorite would be in terms of like what the best or i guess most fun from a league perspective would be I guess the Ducks is always the cop-out answer just because they have so much young talent already that seeing them at another high-profile guy would be really fun but also I think there's an argument to be made

that the sharks sort of deserve it just because of how bad they are right now and it feels like if anyone is due for a player like that it's probably them. Yeah, I think the sharks are probably at the top of my list but just because like there's very little to get excited about when it comes to the San Jose Sharks right now. And like I hate when, you know, I hate when there's that sort of pace with a team where it's like there's nothing at all even.

I mean, like they have some players that are nice and, you know, worth monitoring like in Eklund. But like I just, they need cornerstones. Like, they really need guys that are going to help them paint a clear picture for the future. And a Celebrity in San Jose would be fun. And it's like kind of just spreading out the talent a little bit, the young talent from different teams. Like, I would prefer not to see Celebrity end up in Chicago. I would prefer to not see them end up in an Anaheim just because, you know, kind of diversify that young talent. All right.

let's do a you mentioned earlier how we generally when we get together we do our watchability rankings in some form um let's put together like our favorite team or maybe even we can take it from a player level as well but favorite team to watch right because last year you and i were the um the leaders of the buffalo sabers bandwagon from an excitement perspective and we just discussed how things have really gone off the rails for the devils and how um it's been disappointing just from an entertainment him in perspective, it's been a very, very bleak saber season, although in their most recent game against Ottawa wearing the Goathead jerseys, Tage Thompson looked like last year's version, where they ripped two off the bar and in. So hopefully that's a sign of things to come,

but that's certainly been sort of the most disappointing storyline for me. Is there a team that's really captivated you beyond, I guess, kind of the obvious ones that sort of filled the shoe, that's filled the void that the Sabres left behind the season? I mean, like the Oilers, the obvious one, you know, like, I think that not worth kind of getting into because we already have. Colorado for the same reason, it feels like an obvious one, but like the Detroit Red Wings are a team that has been somewhat like the Buffalo Sabres in terms of, they've got a lot of good players there. They can play in high-op-tained style. You know, they're not amazing defensively or in net. So, like, there are, it's typically high.

games typically kind of these these exciting exciting games but like beyond that like there hasn't been like a maybe the arizona coyote yeah i was teeing you up i was trying to i was trying to guide you towards the coyotes there yeah yeah maybe the coyotes just in terms of like the the comebacks and sort of like the drama that they have in their games but like in terms of star power like the coyotes don't have the same pull as last year sabers did um But they are a very, very exciting team in terms of the swings in those games. Yeah, I'm with you on that, although I will say with Clayton Keller and his combination with chemistry with Nick Schmaltz, but also with Matthias Machelli, who is rising up my

individual player rankings from a watchability perspective. There's certainly some flair and some splashy plays there. So I think the coyotes are there. I guess kind of it's a bit of a cop-out because they've been really fun. for a couple years now and they made the Stanley Cup finals last year, but I do think just how good and how exciting this Panthers team is this season is probably going a bit under the radar as well, just I think we all expected them to take a bit of a step back because of their injuries and because it felt like last year's run was a bit of an aberration. But if anything, I think they're not only

better, but also so much more fun to watch. It feels like every single night they're playing, something is happening, right? Like, they never just have a very generic 3-1 game. where it's like, all right, nothing of note happened. Like, there's always some sort of post-whistle skirmish or incident or back and forth or it devolves into a high-scoring game or an overtime winner or Sam Ryanhart scoring a bunch of goals. Like something is always happening in these Panthers games. So I think just from a bang-fair buck perspective on a consistency basis,

the Panthers have been right up there for me in terms of like teams I'm seeking out to watch every single night. Yeah, but now they don't lose. So it's less, it's less of drama in that way. keep winning games again. That is true. All right. Do you have anything else on your list that we missed?

My one final one that we have was sort of biggest deadline move to get excited about or look ahead to. We already kind of hinted at it about the goalies. Is there anyone, like, I assume a Laslan home is going to generate a lot of buzz if the flames stay this way, but I wouldn't. I think it's going to provide a lot of value. from an on-ice perspective, I wouldn't necessarily say in terms of, like, excitement, though. That's something that is going to, like, appeal to a fan that doesn't really just appreciate,

like, the nuances of his game and the two-way play and stuff. Is there any players that you can think of that would make, like, the most sense and also be plausible in terms of biggest deadline movie be excited about? Yeah, I mean, like, I don't have specific players. My last one was more like, what are the teams? that start to strip down this year. And I think, like, Calgary is certainly in that mix. I think, you know, the obvious one is probably Anaheim.

They are going to have some pieces to sell off. Even in Ottawa. Like Ottawa, Jacob Chikrin's name being out there again is kind of crazy. But, you know, I'm curious to see which of these teams start to strip down and kind of say, this isn't working, so we're going to make some changes. Well, it feels like the senators are certainly prime. to be that team based on all the rumblings you're hearing about them, like being desperate to shake things up. And it feels like every 32 thoughts I read from Elliot Freeman now in some

different ways sort of phrases it like, they're looking to send a message to their players. Yeah, it's like they want to, they want to change things. And it's like, all right, well, that's probably going to involve something big because otherwise, I'm not sure what you're going to accomplish if you move sort of a bit player that doesn't really move the needle either way. So that's something to watch for certainly. I'd be very intrigued by that. I, you know, before I started recording with you, I did a mailbag with our pal Ryan Lambert, and I pitched him on the idea. Well, we talked a little bit about under the radar players, and then I was talking about Casey Middlestad and what a season he's having for Buffalo and how there. And in this interesting

spot where they got to decide whether they want to pay him and re-sign him as an RFA this summer, or whether they want to move them while he still has trade value in that regard. And I kind of linked the Jets to that because I think something they could really use is another center, especially to the top of the lineup that can make plays. And now with the way, I know Sheffley just got hurt, but the way him, Ballardi and Eelers have been playing, I love that line.

Connor is going to come back. I don't want them to mix that up. And the idea of like middle stat passing to Connor on kind of like a sheltered second line highly appeals to me. So I kind of wanted to shout that out as one potential trade that I'm throwing out into Ether. And right now that I'd really like to see.

But we'll see because he's been really good and he's still young enough that the Sabers might just decide that they want to keep him long. term. Yeah, I hear you. I mean, there's plenty of storylines that we can kind of keep, keep an eye on beyond what we've already been mentioned. But like, it's going to be an interesting second app for sure. Okay. Pete, I'll let you plug some stuff here on the way out then. Let the listeners know about your new show and what they can expect from that moving for. Yeah, new shows, What Chaos, a daily show. It's on YouTube podcast platforms. We go live

every day at noon, Eastern, Monday, through Thursday. And so, yeah, check us out there. YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, all that good stuff. Awesome, man. We're looking forward to, looking forward to making my debut appearance on there with you. And continue to talk shop. While you're talking about YouTube, go check out the Hockey-Ocast YouTube channel.

I mentioned that David Pastor and an episode I put out there. You can watch the full deep tie with me and Dale Belfrey. We've got Nikolai Eelers and Gabe Vlarity coming next week. So look forward to that. Join the PDOCast Discord server to join the PDO-Cast community. Pete doesn't really know what Discord is yet. So maybe if we keep building that community, maybe it'll convince him to hop on

and get one going for his own show as well. And that's going to be it for this week. So thank you to everyone for listening. Enjoy your weekend. And we'll be back back next week with plenty more of the HockeyPedio cast as always streaming on this board's night radio network.