The Hockey PDOcast - The Brady Tkachuk Trade, and Teams To Watch This Offseason

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Shayna Goldman to break down the Brady Tkachuk trade, his fit with the Panthers, and where the Senators go from here. Then we go through our most interesting teams to watch this offseason, and the decisions they have to make. 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.

dressing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey-Pedio cast. My name is Dimitri Fulipovich. And joining me is my good buddy, Shana Goldman. Shana, what's going on? Hey, thanks for having me. It looks like we have a couple things to talk about today.

We certainly do. So you and I had kicked around the idea of doing this show around the weekend and settling in for Father's Day and enjoying some equality family time. And of course, Bill Zito comes in off the top. Top rope makes a pair of trades culminating in the acquisition of Brady Kachuk. And so you and I are going to start off today's show. Breaking all of that down, our original plan was to continue our offseason coverage here, the PDO cast. You know, we did the front office perspective with Steve Waryer last week.

We had Kevin Woodley on to talk goalies, your colleague, Domestrishian, to talk UFAs. And you and I were going to get into the most interesting teams heading into this summer. I did have the Florida Panthers right near the top of my list. And so it works out nicely for us, but we'll talk about them, the senators, the crackens role and all this, some of the fallout as well for other teams. So it's going to be a jam-packed show. But let's start with, I think the Panthers side certainly makes for the most sense right out of the gate, the most consequential, particularly for the purposes of this season with the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit of the fit. in acquiring Brady Kachuk. Yeah, when they traded for the 25th overall

overall pick yesterday, it was like, okay, so where is that going? Because you're not using it. We know how the Panthers operate. And I think, you know, they're a really interesting lesson in team building. Teams like Vegas and Florida, there's so much conversation around, like,

the fact that so many players want to go there, and it's like, yeah, because they build this environment. They don't care about the draft picks and what players might help them five or six years because they're focused on the right now. And, you know, it's interesting to see. if you build an environment that players want to go to and you know that there will always be players that want to force their way there, you know, you might not have to spend as much to bring in

those players so you don't need as many assets and you don't have to worry about what, you know, someone, some 18 year old that you draft is going to do in four or five years because you know you're going to be able to just bring in an NHL ready player. And we've seen Vegas do it for years. We're seeing Florida now do it for years. So with all of that in mind, you know, it's not surprising that they, are spending four draft picks to bring in something like Brady Kachuk. And I mean, I look at it a few ways.

Like on the one hand, I think he's going to be a much better fit there than he was in Ottawa because I don't look at him as that number one, number two forward, which he doesn't have to be in Florida, right? You have Barkoff and his brother right ahead of him on the depth chart. He's more in that tier with the Sam Ryanharts of the world. And, you know, we got an example this year of what the Panthers look like. If Sam Ryanhart's the number one forward,

we've gotten examples of what the senators look like with Brady Kach as the number one forward. You have him as one of the guys and you have this incredible second layer. Do I think he's necessarily worth that high of a cost, especially if you're bringing him in to be a three or four? Maybe not, right? But, you know, I think some of the leadership elements of his game get a little bit overhyped. But, like, at his core, there's someone who has picked up the pace on the score sheet. He's great at driving, scoring chances.

And I think he'll fit in well there. I worry a little bit about the foot speed, but I think he's going to be a good fit there. And you see why the Panthers make these kinds of moves, right? like this is something to better their chances of winning in the next couple years. So let's go through the timeline because they initially send Mackie Samoskevich, who is a 24-year-old RFA to the crack and they get that 25th overall pick you mentioned in a 2027 second. And when they acquired that extra ammo, I think everyone started to look at the situation

and came to terms of the fact that this was the first step in a process of acquiring a bigger name player, right? I think a lot of people kind of drew the through line to, Connor Hellebuck, and they still don't have an NHL goalie under contract after all this. Dylan Larkin potentially, we know that he was, or they were on his shortlist of preferred landing spots. They go the Brady Kachuk route instead. And that 25th overall pick essentially was property of the Panthers for, what, three,

four hours total in the sequence of this, because they package nine, 25, their 29 first, and a 27 second for Brady Kachuk. And, you know, I thought the Panthers pretty clearly leveraged. this draft asset, that ninth overall pick, that they got because they were forced to take a step back this year and miss the playoffs after Sasha Barkov got hurt in the preseason. And then the cap space that opens up for them this summer with Abraski's $10 million coming off the books.

And this is how they choose to fill it. And they add Brady Kachuk to this forward group. I imagine the lines are, at least out of the gate, going to look like Barkov resuming his role with Ryan Harder and Verhege. That Lundell lose the reign in a Marchand line, which was arguably their best line in their most recent company. victory and then Sam Bennett centering the Kachuk brothers. Now what's interesting to me about this team is they're clearly positioned now to be

not only a contender but arguably the favorite heading into next season. I do think there's a certain level of systemic risk for this team though in terms of this approach because all out of the analysis I've seen is kind of framed through the lens of if they're healthy last year was a one-off and they're going to resume but competing for a Stanley Cup the way they were the three previous seasons and I think that's correct but I do think there's also a level of heightened risk

for a group where they essentially have two or three guys in their four group who are under 30 at this point and you know the Barkov one for example is more of a freak injury in the preseason where he tears his ACL but we did see some accumulation for some of these

other guys over this past season because of how much hockey they've played and how late they are into their careers and so So I did want to acknowledge that a little bit because I still think they probably have the highest upside at full health of any team in the league. But I think they also probably have an elevated risk as well compared to some of these other teams because of the way they've constructed this group with a bunch of 30 plus year olds who have played a lot of hockey over the years. Yeah. And, you know, one of those players is Carter Verhege, whose game has taken a step back. And you look at Brad Martian.

Yes, he's still fantastic. But he's also the 38 years old. Like, you know, that matters. So this reset year in so many ways was important to them, I think to help sustain this window, but also now you're going into next year with everyone being a year older. That's very tough. And obviously we know the coaching has done a really good job managing these players and, you know, balancing everything. But you could see the potential pitfalls.

And that's why it's so important to find those, you know, if you're the Florida Panthers and you're throwing out your draft picks, there's nothing wrong with that. But it's important to find those market inefficiencies. That's a big reason why they are who they are today, right? They found Carter Hage and signed him and made him. into a really important player. They found Gus Foresling off waivers. And you look at what a player he has been for them. And even also just seeing guys like Seth Jones and knowing this could work in your

system. But like Mackie Samiskevich, in theory, should have been one of those guys to have internally. So moving him obviously is a bit of a tough blow. And yes, you're getting a more known commodity in Brady Kachuk. But to say it's one for the, you know, you're trading in one player, pulling out another who's young and maybe could have helped extend this a little bit. Like that is one challenge of it all. So it's a big risk for them to take.

It makes sense why they're going to keep taking these big swings? Like, why not if this is your window? And you have it that players want to come to you. So that can help you potentially spend less in some situations than you might have elsewhere, like go off. But that is definitely an important part of the conversation too, right? Like you think Brady Kachuk is going to fit there. You think Brady Kach is going to make you a better team. And now you have that kind of sandpaper that you can spread out across the top nine, too,

even if they don't go with those combinations, like you said, that make perfect sense. But, you know, this is never a perfect science. The Atlantic Division is getting better around them. And we're seeing some teams do it with a younger, speedier approach like the Montreal Canadian. So it's going to make for an interesting conversation in an Eastern conference that's not going to be any easier to plan. Like, sure, senators just took a step back. And if they don't do something big, that's one less team to worry about as much. But, you know, there's still a lot of teams in this conversation.

And it doesn't feel like it because he's been around for a long time now and he doesn't necessarily have the most fleet of foot game to begin with even though he's in his prime. But Brady Kachuk is turning 27 this season and that makes him the second youngest forward essentially on this team just behind Anton Lendell who's turning 25. Everyone else is either, you know, Lucerne's 28, Matthew Kuchukes 29 and then everyone else is 30 plus. I think Brady Kachuk is very interesting to me as a player because all. On the one hand, I view his reputation as sort of this top of the lineup superstar player who was a captain of a Canadian team to be overinflated in some ways because of his last name and the association that comes with it. We've seen, as you mentioned, the offensive limitations in Ottawa because of the way he plays and what they needed him to be essentially as either their first or second option offensively along with Tim Stutzler. that culminated in this past postseason where they get swept by the hurricanes in round one. He doesn't register a single point.

I think they got outscored three nothing. In his five on five minutes, he won't need to do that. In Florida, it'll be much more of a secondary or complementary role, which I think he's much more suited for. I think the reason why that gap has existed, though, is because of how inefficient he's been as a shooter, right? Like, you look at all the heat maps, and he's generally one of the biggest drivers in terms of scoring chances, and he lives around the net. and so he racks up this high volume of quality looks. He's been under 10% as a shooter for his career. And really in some ways has been an expected goal merchant at that.

Just jamming away pucks at goalies pads includes shooting 5.7 and 7.5% at 5-on-5 the past two years. And for as good as he's been, I was looking at some of his counting stats. And even during this past four-year window when he's kind of hit his prime, he's produced at around a 34 goal, 75 point pace over 82 games, which is very good, even in today's game, but especially when you're comparing it to Jason Robertson or some of these other wingers that we're going to talk about later that the senators can pivot to, there are certainly elements of his game in terms of additional value with that sandpaper you mentioned and the hits and the work he does around the net and how good he is as a forechecker and all that sort of stuff. I'm not discounting that by any means, but I do think it's like interesting the way this was sort of viewed as this seismic block. rockbuster and you kind of believe a player this caliber was traded to a team already this good.

And I think he's going to fit very well and have a great time playing for the Panthers. But I did kind of want to note that as well because it's not even production that we've seen in line with like Amico Ranton and those moved in previous years and players who have been much more prolific offensively, I guess, than he has so far in his NHL career. Yeah, if his last name was Johnson, this conversation is completely different and he wouldn't have nearly the hype that he has. If it wasn't for the international tournaments, I don't think the hype would be that high either

because, you know, for foreign nations, we had no idea what he would look like in that kind of environment at this level, right? We had no idea. And he gets it for the brashness and the clutch goals. Last postseason, he's scoring big goals for the senators when they needed it most. And you're like, okay, maybe he can step up in big moments

and actually be the finisher at times that he hasn't been. And then it doesn't happen this postseason. And it's not for a lack of trying, but the discipline. The discipline was a huge problem. I'm like, yeah, he has an early fight in this series against the Keynes, but also there are times he's in the penalty box while his team is going on the power play. That hurt them. There were so many missed opportunities because he wasn't there.

Now, maybe in a different environment on a team that's a little bit more offensively minded, team with more playmaking talent, that could change. We saw with guys like Zach Hyman, who there were so many years, he's at the top of the charts in XG, but you could see it's so many goals below expected. He's just not finishing those chances. You put him with Connor McDavid, and you can see. see the swings change in his game. Like it's it's not just the benefit of his surroundings,

but he raised his game to play in that, you know, system and with one of the best playmakers in the world. Maybe that happens here. Like his brother is extremely talented and is a really crafty playmaker. And Barcoff's an incredible passer. And we're seeing that from, you know, for Hagee, that's a part of his game that doesn't always get enough hype. But Brad Marshand or Lund out, like all of these players could help him,

you know, better those looks that he's getting. So it's not just that he's getting to the right areas, but the pre-shot movement, it's going to improve his chances of scoring. But that's a big if because it's been so many years of him falling below that mark. So, yeah, all of the other elements of his game matter. But sometimes those elements just take up so much of the airspace that it's the focus above all else. That's important to have. It's important to have players that can play that style and can bring the energy.

But if you're expected to be a top contributor to, you know, be worth the price of acquisition for one, to get that contract like one, you need to do a little bit of everything. So yeah, 70 point forward, that is valuable. Maybe it'll be more here. But it'll be interesting to see.

Like, is he someone that's going to get power play one time? I'm not sure. Like, you know, there's a lot of talent in Florida. So it's going to be a different outlook from that perspective as well.

But yeah, the value tends to get so, so much hype from so many other elements than what he actually contributes on the score sheet. Yeah, to answer your question, because I did give it some thought. I'd say no in terms of power play one, especially because, you know, their power play,

even when they won Stanley Cups, wasn't necessarily a strength throughout those post seasons. But the way they're set up, especially on the right side where they kind of run that triangle with Barkov on the half wall, Matthew Kachuk is the goal line passer, and then Reinhard in the slot, I'd expect that to continue. And that's kind of put him on the outside looking in. I think the biggest selling point beyond the fact that he's a stylistic fit and a fascinating spot if he is playing with Bennett and Matthew Kachuk is this chaotic, disruptive line that's going to play Panthers hockey and try to mix in shenanigans on every other shift, especially

in the postseason. It's how good he is as a forechecker. And by Corey Schneider's tracking, he had a hundredth percentile forecheck involvement last year on the senators. And we know that's been a bread and butter of this Panthers team. And they're going to need it because you kind of hinted at this a bit earlier. But it is interesting to kind of compare and contrast, compared to some of the other teams they're going to have to go through in the Atlantic, whether it's the Habs or the Buffalo Sabres. And just in general, today's NHL game kind of speeding up and being so much more reliant on speed and scale. The Panthers have a ton of scale, but I think Harmon Dile had the stat that only were Hagey and Marsh End were above average in terms of like NHL edge speed bursts on this team last year. And it's generally going to be more of a kind of ground and pound, slower throwback team.

And Brady Kachuk is only going to strengthen that existence. strength without necessarily addressing some of the foot speed weaknesses. So I think it'll be fascinating to watch. And I think it's a really interesting fit. I guess my last note on the Panthers, kind of looking ahead a little bit, is after this move, they have about, what, $8 million left in caps base. They haven't addressed the goalie position with Bo Bavrovsky and Teresov being unrestricted free agents.

And prior to this, I think a lot of people expected that they'd go in the direction of Connor Hellebuck, I expressed some skepticism because one of their weaknesses of the team has been giving up a ton of breakaways and we've seen that from Brodsky in past both seasons. And I don't think that's necessarily something you'd point to as a strength of Connor Hellebuck's game relatively compared to all the other stuff. He's good at. They obviously chose to go his direction. I think there's still ways to get creative about it.

But I guess I'm very curious to see what they wind up doing in terms of addressing the position. If I were them, I'd probably just use one of the proprietary models to look at which goalies were the best at stopping breakaways and just sort by the most cost-deficient one. But I'm fascinated to see what they do with that because they're going to need to bring in at least two guys to fill that position. Yeah. To go back to your other point real quick, too, like they're leaning more into that forechecking strength.

And it's a good thing. It's been part of their like championship model, right? They were the best rush team in the world. They became one of the better forechecking teams. But you don't want to like lose and tilt too far one way, right? They couldn't win games when they were way too. rush oriented. You look at the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the best four checking teams in the league.

They happen to win the year that they have more of a rush biggest attack and they can be a little bit more versatile. So that's going to be a big thing like to not lose their versatility here. But on the goaltending of it all, you know, they benefit from being in total control of the puck and playing shutdown defense. So they don't need this incredible goal. Like they don't need the $10 million dollar gold tender anymore. Right.

Like everyone wants to take away from this year's postseason of like, you don't need someone like that net. It's like it depends how you're built. If you're built like the Hurricanes and the Panthers, you know, and the Hurricanes were another team that they play great defense, but when they allow a shot, sometimes it's a higher danger chance off the rush. So it has to be a goalie that can withstand that. It's a different type of pressure. It's a different type of style. So I am curious about Tarasoff. I think he was pretty good for them last year. I wouldn't hate that as one of their options. And then, you know, you dip into the free agent market and look elsewhere, but it's going to take a little bit of creativity here and also like knowing the strength of their goalie coaches

and that developmental pipeline too because sometimes that's the key. We've seen so many goalies switch teams and then, you know, they struggle or some goalies really find their stride. And I think that that goalie coaching element could be huge here. Yeah, you know, I mentioned the the heightened risk, I guess, of injury. I did want to note that I do think a lot of this is dependent on his brother, Matthew Kichuk just being healthier than he's been the past two seasons. Because, you know, he missed a bunch of time with big injuries. And even when he did play, I thought he was much more limited physically than he'd been previously.

And I think like him being back up to speed and kind of facilitating as a playmaker is going to allow a lot of this stuff to fit into place. If it doesn't look like it did a couple years ago, then I think it could be a bit of a different conversation. And on the, on the Kane's point, I'm kind of viewing it as just salivating it idea of getting what part three of panthers hurricanes the east final potentially next postseason and i think the the stylistic differences would be very interesting to watch between these two teams you know the next dominoes that i'm looking to fall i'm still curious to see what happens with

evan rodriguez i know that i keep kind of pigeonholing them into every trade but they still i imagine are going to explore upgrades and as i said they have about eight million left in cap space to figure out and play with rodriguez is owed that signing book bonus, but once that's paid July 1st, I presume his salaries, like 850K or something this season. And that becomes a very interesting asset. They still have 40th and 48th overall and that second rounder they got from the Cracken. So there's pieces here. A guy like Sandusville Manus, who played because of all their injuries and had a great season, I think can mix in as well. So there's still some extra, I guess, buttons for them to push. And I'm sure Bill Zito is going

to do that between now and the start of next season. Let's get into the Ottawa side here. And it's undoubtedly a tough pill to swallow at face value, right? You're trading the captain of your team in division to a team you're theoretically trying to compete against and beat for a collection of assets that I think you and I both view as intriguing and probably on the better side of what they realistically could have gotten, yet still, at least at the present time, as we're speaking, don't represent a current roster player that's going to fill all the contribution you're losing from Brady Kachak and especially coming at a time for the senator's organization where they went through that massive rebuild. They missed the playoffs for seven straight years. They finally

kind of turned the corner on it two years ago, get back into the playoffs and have just two total wins in the postseason to show for that reemergence. And now they're kind of having to take a step back and figure out what the next moves are going to be. Now all these picks they accumulated, I think give them a bunch of options. And it could be, a combination of moves or one big one potentially. And I'm curious for your take on kind of what that looks like moving forward and what the next step should be here for Prestise Deos and the senators. Yeah, I mean, the whole thing is like,

if you're getting a return that is based around draft picks, there's so much uncertainty to it. That number nine pick, you know, that's extremely valuable. You could get someone that could be your next franchise player. But it's a big if because the draft and development process is not a slam dunk. There's no straight line. line to success. It's different for every single player. You can't even look at it and say, well, the ninth overall pick generally brings this. Yes, there's still a ton of variance within that.

So it's definitely one of the big challenges. And then there's like a patience element that you have to deal with. And you have to hope that everybody else is okay playing that long game once again, right? Because there are other players at certain points of their career. It's Tim Stutzel is 24 and Jake Sanderson's 23. So if you are not a true contender now for another two years, they still have a lot left in the tank. But then everyone still has to be, still has to want to be a part of this process. And I think that makes, you know, things even more challenging for them. I would be curious how they view these picks. Like is, is the intention to make every pick this year? I don't know. Is it the intention to take a bolder stance? I think that would be

really fascinating here. They have more assets. They have more flexibility. Why not go for it? Because you could also argue that, yes, they spent so much time rebuilding towards this window. But this window was always going to be flawed with Brady Kachuk as their number one or number two forward, right? Like, ideally in a perfect world, they were always going to get someone that was better than Stutzla and Kachuk that would knock them down a peg and kind of reset the entire depth chart, but it's easier said than done. So maybe this opens the door to shaking things up without necessarily taking such a massive step back. I like the idea of going for those picks that are in a few years.

Like, yes, there's delayed gratification waiting, you know, till what, 2029 for a first round pick. but the Panthers might not be as good in 2029. It sucks. It's top time protected, but that pick could be of more value then than it would be this year. If this is a team that could be picking, say 30th overall, we don't know. The whole idea is, you know, now you have to just sell hope if you're Ottawa. So I'll hope that those picks will become something,

whether it's through the draft or through the trade process, because you have to get creative in today's NHL. They have all this cap space. You can't just go on to free agency and go, we'll find a difference maker because you won't. There's what two or three available and then you're usually overpaying them at the wrong time in your career. And especially now it's going to be even a worse time for them because they're not ready for that 29 year old to just step in. So it's going to force them to be really creative here.

And it's a front office that they are newer like Steve Steele's running things is not, it's not like he has five, six, seven, eight years of, you know, experience in this specific position. So it's a chance for him to kind of define his tenure in a way too. It is. An interesting part of this is, and there hasn't, at least from what I've seen, been much reporting on it yet, but just based on the timeline. And I imagine these conversations having taken place before the trade actually happened. As I mentioned, there was a four-hour window, essentially, between the two trades the Panthers made. I presume that the senators preferred 25th overall and the second rounder that they got on top of it to just taking on Mackie's MS. Kiskevich and viewing him as a potential roster piece with upside instead of that.

And I imagine that indicates that they wanted more liquid currency essentially to facilitate further trades of their own and those being easier assets to move than a player who is an RFA and needs a new deal. And so I think that presents a lot of options and indicates that they are going to be aggressive trying to replace Brady Kachakir. I've seen Jason Robertson certainly floated around. and obviously you and I both love the idea of Robertson replacing anyone. And if anything, that would be a massive upgrade for them

because he's just an entirely different caliber of top line producer than Brady Kachuk was. I'm still skeptical. That's going to happen mostly because I can't fathom the gym now and the stars are going to let it devolve to the point where they don't have Jason Robertson on the team next year because there's just no way they're going to be better off for it. So I'll need to see it to believe it. But that or even a couple of smaller moves would be interesting

because the Senators team already had some offensive limitations and this isn't going to help it. Yet post Olympics, they were the third team in the league in points percentage. They finished top five in pretty much every five-on-five metrics. Like there's a very high level or high floor of team defense that's still going to be in place. And, you know, they were already viewing Stutzla and Sanderson, who were 24 and 25 years old, respectively,

as the true kind of foundational building blocks. and we both view them very highly and think they're legitimate needle movers and game changers. And so kind of what they do around those guys will be interesting to see. They have a bunch of cap space, about $24 million, I believe, by my account. Got to figure out what's going to happen with Jordan Spence next. And also approaching a crossroads moment with key contributors like Drake Batherson and Ardenzub, who are playing on very low AAB numbers for one more year before they hit the unrestricted free agent market. And so this could look a lot different very quickly.

And I guess that's what makes it so imperative here for Steve Steyos to kind of definitively in one way or another act between now and really July 1st, as opposed to kind of trying to keep one foot on both sides of the fence. Yeah. Like I would understand if they wanted Sam Scavich because you look at him and you go, well, he could be the next Troy Terry. He could be the next Adrian Kempate. Like there are similar signs between their games at this point in this career. that that could be like a really interesting pathway. But like if you were Ottawa, do you think you can get them to that level?

If you don't know and there's more uncertainty there, maybe you do want the draft picks just go and aim higher. And there's nothing wrong with that as long as there's a plan there. Because I think the other part of it is say they realize they have to take a step back and slow things down even more because here it is they get to this point where they have a playoff window. And then over the last year it's, okay, but do you have a second wave behind your top guys? because those top guys are flawed in their own right that it's even more important to have that

a second wave and now they get it with Shane Pinto and cousins and Batherson. So it's like, now what? You now you need to find that top wave again because you have the second wave established. So it's all so tricky. It can all fall apart. And if it does fall apart, you know, it's going to be harder to rebuild now the track record because the teams are, you know, it's this empowerment error. And teams, you know, players want to go to teams that they know want to compete. are going to constantly make moves and not always play that slower, long game. Not everyone's in for that long hole at this point.

So that's going to make a difference too. Like if you say, okay, you have to step back, even if that's the better step, right, how much does that hurt your reputation, I think now is going to have to be a part of the conversation? And how is it going to change the outlooks of the players on that roster? You know, a guy like, say Sanderson or Sitzla and then anyone that you're trying to bring in if they have trade protection, if they're a free agent. And obviously that's not the case with every single player.

But you know, you can offer sheet someone tomorrow. They still have to sign that offer sheet and want to come to Ottawa. So I think that'll make it even more complicated for them to navigate because it just feels like the NHL is changing so much. So it'll be really interesting to see where they go because they could have a huge off season. And like you said, they could totally go for a Jason Robertson. And I don't see it happening either. If it was say Robertson for Kachuk, I would still say I wouldn't do that if I'm Dallas. But I would say, okay, maybe maybe that's something to chew on a little bit.

but more than just being like, well, it's not happening now. Even if you are to sign this massive offer sheet and give the stars all of these draft picks back, I'm not sure it's just that cut and jar anymore. Yeah, I mean, listen, it was kind of overshadowing all of this is it was undoubtedly a difficult situation for the senators to navigate because regardless of what he'd said in his media appearances in the meantime, like, this was clearly bubbling for a while now. And he wanted out and was not going to sign an extension when he was eligible. next summer. And so I do think acting now as opposed to kind of bearing their head in the sand and playing it out and waiting to see what happens next year and then acting with even less leverage,

at least allow them to maximize the number of assets. They go back here and gives them more time to kind of pivot on the fly. So it's a tough look. But at the same time, I understand that part of the business and especially all the reporting that's come out since in terms of like what a headache and distraction it was like they have a chance to to make more out of it there's more uncertainty because they just subtracted one of their best players without replacing them for the time being but at least they have resources now to to try and accomplish that so you got any other notes on any angle of this deal i do want to talk more about samiskevich and in the crack in here in a second we can do so after the break but before we do that any any kind of parting shots on

either the senators of the panthers or are you ready to move on i think your point of about the distraction is such an important one here. Like, it's not just you're building a contender with a player who might not be as strong as you want to lead the way, but that cloud around it as much as he might have denied it, you know, the podcast of it all and knocking his goaltender. And yeah, everyone could talk their way out of it in any which way. But like, that still existed. That was still an issue.

So it's funny to see anyone saying, like, well, should you have pause now drafting Americans? And it's like, no, but maybe that team USA. group of players like they want to play together like understand that and maybe that's the group to be more wary of but this i don't think this should be like necessarily a black mark on every single american player coming up the ranks and through the draft like you shouldn't want to draft them and have them be your difference makers but when there's as much noise as this situation like it's a unique one because of that this isn't just oh a player's making a trade request it's a captain of this team in a very important time with the constant noise around him

like that mattered here a lot. Yeah, I'd be more wary of just trusting podcasters in general and hitching your wagon to them. So you've got to be careful for those, for those podcasts. Listen, they couldn't, they can have a podcast studio in Florida now. That's important. It is honestly much nicer

recording with people in person. It allows for easier banter. All right, Chana, let's take a break here. And then we come back. We'll jump right back going on. I've got a couple other things I want to run through with you. You're listening to the Hockeypedio guest streaming on the Sports Net Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the hockey

video cast run by Shana Goldman. Jaina, we were talking about the Brady Kachuk trade before we went to break. As part of it, we kind of in passing reference Mackie Samoskevich and the picks that the Panthers got that helped facilitate it. I do want to talk about him and the crack in here and the role they played in it a little bit. And, you know, I don't mind the shot they took on Samoskevich. He's a player I've been quite fond of.

He didn't take the step that I hope for this past season after such a promising debut in the NHL. I think a lot of it was due to the fact that he shot. shot under 7% and maybe you could argue he just needs to become more efficient as a shooter, but he creates so many chances. He has so much juice as a skater. He draws a ton of penalties. This is the type of profile, I think, for a 24-year-old that you want to bet on as an ascending

player that's going to improve. And if anything, those suppressed counting stats maybe provide an opportunity for the Cracken here to get him long term on a number that's lower than it would have been otherwise if he had been more efficient as a shooter. I guess my concern for the Cracken, though, especially. especially when you compare this with the extension that Bobby McMahon got on the same day. And that one really squeezed it under the radar because it dropped like four minutes before the Brady Kachuk trade came down and kind of overshadowed it. It's sort of, I guess, just the eternal question we have with the Cracken as an organization in terms of the end goal.

Because a lot of these moves in a vacuum, I think are totally fine and justifiable. But then you kind of put it all together and evaluate the totality of the work. And it's an organization that finished 25th, 29th, and 205th. the past three years and has just assembled this, you know, Motley crew of middle six wingers especially, but just kind of good players that we all like, but not really true top of the lineup guys who really make a difference and give your team a chance to compete.

And you still look at this team. And beyond Maddie Baneers, who I'm quite fond of, it's a lot of guys who I like but don't necessarily love. And they still have cap space and they're going to make other moves that come. but I think it's kind of more of the same from the crack in terms of a lot of the reservations I have in terms of what I guess the plan is and then how they're accomplishing it. Yeah, it's a group of guys.

No one has emerged to be the guy. Maddie Binae shows signs of it, right? He has a lot of signs in his game, his ability to retrieve products and break them out with control. And, you know, those are like sulky caliber signs. And I think the offense is getting better, but you still want him to take that next step. And you could also say, well, he needs a little bit more support to do it. and there's a bunch of guys instead of that needle moving winger.

Can Samiskevich become that? Maybe like the skill is there. The potential is there. I like the crack and betting on that skill. And it's tougher to say, okay, well, with more opportunity, he's going to reach that next level. Maybe.

But it's also different. It's totally different environment. It's not Florida. It's not, if you jump up to the top six, as who you'll be playing with. It's a totally different conversation. It adds more uncertainty to it.

But I think that's the right type of swing. And I like that it was a trade down an offer sheet too, because that you see floating around of people saying, well, why not just off for Sheetam? You get the contract figured out in the moment. Sure. But they traded the 25th overall pick,

which I think is going to be less valuable than an unprotected first next year. Because we have no idea how the cracking season is going to work out. And we just saw it this year. They can be in the playoff picture all year and then slip out when it matters the most. And all of a sudden that pick could be somewhere in the top 15 versus number 25, which a lot of draft rankings are saying that's where things start to trend down. So they still have their pick this year, which can help them bring in another difference maker. I like it from that side of things.

But yeah, it's a bunch of guys. And they had that depth approach and it worked for them. But I don't know if that gave them false hope either, right? Because, yes, they were able to take out a star-powered team like the Colorado Avalanche a couple years ago with this really deep approach and three disruptive lines, but it hasn't worked since. So I do want to see them take bigger swings. And it's not to say they're not going to, right?

Because McMahon was a fit. That's a good utility player to have a huge. your top nine. Sam Skevich shows a lot of potential. That's a good player to have ideally in your top six. But what are you going to do around that? And as long as this is just the start and the very tip of the iceberg for Seattle, I think it could work out for them. But there's still a lot of work to do because even if you say tomorrow, they're going to do this really bold swing and still go after someone. Like say, we'll keep throwing Jason Robertson's name around until he's extended because naturally he's one of the highest players that you could try to go after with an offer sheet. I still would

look at this team and go, okay, but what's next? It still has to be a series of moves. So I really want to see if they can just kind of change their tune in, go for this more aggressive approach this summer. And there are picks and players that they can move to speed things up without necessarily jumping the gun. And, you know, we've seen it before where teams try to like speed up their rebuilds by too much by, look at the sabers, handing the Moleson Akposo contracts. They're always front of mind to me. Like, that is your, the pitful to avoid if you're trying to build a contender is jumping to players who are in a different age range that are not as good as you should be angling for either.

And it feels like the Stevenson contract was kind of that. So it's learning from those mistakes and finding a series of moves with those guys in that right age range. And if you're Seattle and you have cap space and draft picks, which not everybody has, right? A lot of teams have cap space, but maybe not the assets to move the needle in a trade. there's an opportunity here, but we just need more out of them. Yeah, no, we definitely do. All right, let's close out today's show. We got about 15 minutes left and do our original plan,

which was running through some of the teams where we're most interested in this off season either because they have high leverage decisions to make or just a bunch of assets and we want to see how they use them. I'll give you the floor and let's kind of speed run through as many as we can here. You kick us off and then we'll just go back and forth on it. Okay, I'm interested in Utah. I think that since the franchise has moved from Arizona, it's a completely different vibe and energy.

You have an ownership group willing to spend and invest in players. We've seen them take big swings ever since from the Sergachev trade to bringing in McKenzie Weger at the deadline this year. I think they were really smart about how they did it. They moved a bunch of second rounders and they could afford to do it. So I want to see what the next move is here for them because I think that they have this incredible up-and-coming core. They play with so much speed, so much pace,

They're so exciting. I liked a lot of what I saw in round one, but there's some question marks down the middle behind Logan Cooley. So not a ton of centers on the market, but their team, I think, that has more leverage to try to bring someone in because they have all of these assets at their disposal and a really deep prospect pool that I would be interested to see if they can find someone without completely clearing the pipeline,

like to have that balance of the young players and the veterans. I think they've done a good job with it so far. I would love to see them make a splash or two this summer. Oh, undoubtedly. I'm kind of jealous that you stole the mammoth from me, but it's nice to have a guest take as opposed to me just trying to force them into every conversation. They have about $13 million in cap space.

Brad Hayden, as an RFA is the only real contractual decision they have to make. And I do think their team to watch in terms of trying to level up. We've seen them make these moves, right? Last offseason, they made the particular trade, which unfortunately didn't work out as well as you would have hope, considering how good Josh Stone was for the Sabres. but they acquire McKenzie Uighur at the deadline. And, you know, they're holding firm to all these prospects that they really like,

that they're going to start incorporating more and more into their team, but still a bunch of assets to really make a sizable deal. And I think it'll be interesting to watch. My first team is the Washington Capitals, who, you know, we're still waiting to find out whether a vet can we'll be back for another season. But regardless, at present moment, they have like $32 million in Capspace. We know they aggressively pursued Nikola Eilers this time last year and wound up finishing as the runner up, and it turns out that was a great decision by Nicola Eelers, because

things worked out well for him since. But they have a bunch of openings. They, I think there's a lot of reasons to be excited. They were probably one of the best 16 teams last year and just didn't make the playoffs and airily on the outside, but they promote AILA Prowded and Cole Hudson down the stretch, and they show great signs. They've got other prospects that have been playing well in the HL. They have the 16th and 18th overall pick. They have Connor McMichael as an RFA, who had a bit of a down year, but was very productive with the previous season. And I feel like they have a very compelling package

to offer for whatever player you want to think about in terms of an impact guy atop the lineup that can help kind of incorporate or complement some of these younger players on the way up. Yeah, I like that pick a lot. They're definitely interesting. And I think the coaching element of things for them makes it even

more fascinating because I would trust whatever the plan is, like give them to Spencer Carberry, let them cook. Let's stay east. Let's go Buffalo Sabres. I think this year was really promising, really exciting, but they obviously have to build on it to keep it that way and keep this window that they finally opened to stay open. When we look at what they did at the deadline,

was it underwhelming to see them go for Stanley and Chen? Absolutely. But when you heard the original reporting, they were in on Robert Thomas, they were in on Pareco. It feels like those were in the right direction. Like they acknowledged they needed a right-handed defenseman and hear someone that kind of goes against the green of what they have.

they wanted another center because Tage Thompson's not your perfect number one and he's someone they have shifted to the wing before to try to maximize his game. I am so fascinated to see what they do. We know Kekeleinen likes to take big swings. They have the assets to keep making moves

to keep making hockey deals. You look at it over the years. Obviously it was Kevin Adams for a lot of them like the don't trade but this is not just moving players for prospects. They've done a lot of player for player deals like Cousins for Norris and the Byram trade for Middlesad. So I'd like to see them build on that here. Now to hear Byram's

name, again, I'm tired, I'm bored, I don't care when it happens, wake me up because I've just heard it far too many times. But that's a way to kind of build up the right side a little bit more. I think that'll be intriguing if they can extend Benson and make that priority number one and to figure out if tuck could be a part of the solution or if you're looking for a tuck replacement. I think there's so much opportunity here. There is. And I think you and I spoke like right after that round two series against the habs and I was kind of noting that while I was disappointing the way it ended

I think the way the postseason played out for them really helped kind of paint a favorable light on like what matters for them and then what doesn't and what they can work with and how to level up even further and take a next step next year and so I think they have a lot of options available to them I have a lot of notes on the sabres but I'm also doing

a deep dive on them later today with Chad de minimis for the Patreon they're the next team on our offseason blueprint series So I'll save for that. Yeah, I'm excited about it. How about the Blues who are holding 11, 15, 29, and then three straight picks, essentially, in the third round. They have 20 plus million in Capspace. They have a couple veterans that are going to be, you know, trade pieces that people are fixated on. And Jordan Cairo, Colen, Pereko, Jordan Binnington.

They have this top line with Thomas Nuggerud and Holloway that was arguably the best line in hockey. from like March 1st on. And, you know, it sounds like Robert Thomas has been taken off the trade block if he was even on it previously. And I think that makes a lot of sense. He's on a great deal. And he's in his prime. And he's a really good player.

And they should probably keep them. They've been incorporating a lot of young players. That top line and Joel Hofer were so good down the stretch. And Alex Steen's taken over the situation. And so I feel like it could go one of two ways. But despite taking a step back last year, I feel like they're pretty well positioned to, you know, not necessarily compete in the Central because of how good those top teams are in that division, but still be a riser within the context of the NHL.

Yeah, I want to, I want to see what Alexine can do, like, as GM, it feels like it's a new, it's a new error, but it's not, but it's a good chance for him to make a name for himself. Okay, I'm going to go with the sharks. We all love the sharks. They were one of the best stories. You know, the season was incredible. Macklin-Colabini is everything and more. So all of that is great, but I think it's going to be interesting just from the drafts alone,

because, you know, the number two pick, you look at it and say they could go for someone like Stenberg and it would make perfect sense, even though they have a ton of wangers already, you got to draft for the best player available. But then all of a sudden, one of the wingers they have could become trade bait to help them figure out what to do on defense. They have two defensemen signed for next year. That's it. So there's a lot of decisions to come there.

I would be really interested to see them trade down. We never, ever, ever see teams trade down, you know, from two to four or five. So we don't even know what the basis for a deal of that would be. think that could be another fascinating way for them to take this next step. I think they've done such a good job, you know, bringing up the young guns and letting them thrive, but also finding that balance with veteran talent, guys like Wenberg and, you know, Tofoli and now Kiefer Sherwood. So it'll be interesting to see how they can kind of work on their defensive game or

help the goaltending stabilize a little bit more to support this really exciting up and coming forward group. I think they're the team we all love to watch play. you want to see that happen. And sometimes with rebuilds, we get that one really exciting season and then things kind of go south for a few more years. And then we all start getting impatient because we saw that one good season. I'd love to see them just like keep up the energy and keep up this pace.

Yeah, the only argument that I'd see against moving down from that second overall slot is just this is likely the last time they're going to be able to add a blue chipper like this because we expect them to make the playoffs as soon as next season. And, you know, if they take Stenberg, he very realistically could help them as soon as next year, whereas if they go Chase Reed to try and add a right shot defenseman, it's probably a couple more years down the line. But they move down from 20 to 27 and get Michael Kesselring, which I think is a very high upside move for a low cost for them.

And I feel like if anything, maybe using that 27th overall pick to add another defender potentially is a path forward to them, especially because there's a lot of defensemen on the market right now that have inefficient contracts, let's say, in terms of what they provide compared to what they're being paid. but it doesn't necessarily matter as much for the Sharks because of how clean their books are

and how much cab space they have to work with. So I think they could much more easily justify it and it would make a big difference for the quality of their team for next season. So yeah, I expect my career to do something there. All right, how about the L.A. Kings, who bring in Peter Lavielat as their coach to replace Jim Hiller, Anzi Okopatra retires. They have this Brent Clark deal to figure out as an RFA

and what commitment they're going to make to him. It's the final year of Drew Dowdy at $11 million. They're clearly looking for centers to kind of compliment Quinn Byfield atop the lineup, I think, regardless of what they do, unless it's something meaningful on the blue line. I have major concerns about the personnel they have and the lack of skill on it and how that's going to fit within what Peter Lavila is going to try to have them playing with, but it's going to be the first full year of Artemie Panarin there,

and he made a big difference for them offensively upon his arrival midseason last year. And so I guess I'm curious to see how they address the opening created by Copacar's retirement and use some of the assets they have in front of them right now. Yeah, very curious to see how those defensemen they currently have handle a Peter Lovillette system. And now that we have the news that it's Phil Housley as an associate or assistant coach, he's going to run defense there, I'm not very high on him. I don't think he runs a great system.

I don't think there's going to be as much change as maybe there could, would or should be. You look at a coach when they have time off and you think this should be your time to step back and adjust, which Peter Lovulet generally has not done. And the fact that he is hiring Phil Hasley again tells me not going to happen. So that blue line could be a real problem. Speaking of blue lines, that could be a real problem. The Ducks, another team, only two defensemen signed. We're rounding out the California trio here. And obviously, the most important one is La Come and he has a great contract. And they showed so much promise. They make it to round two. Leo Carlson's a star. Cutter-Gote is a star. Back at Seneca. Like, great.

great, great up and coming players to have, but how do you build on that and balance some of the veteran contracts that they've been willing to take on in the past? I think it's good to use your cap space. And obviously a good chunk of it, you could put 20 million of it away for Kattega-R-Tia and Leo Carlson right now, which is going to leave them, you know, around 23 to work with. I still think you can, like, rebuild a blue line with that, but it's finding that balance. You know, they had Goudis, they had Truba before. How do you bring in veterans without weighing the group down? because when you look at what they did in the postseason, it was some of the veterans that were holding them back.

So I'm going to be really interested to see what they do. Their team, them and the sharks, we've seen them before, leverage their cap space to get some assets out of teams. If they can do that here, I think that would be huge. Because, you know, you want them to keep this window open and keep building on it while finding a little bit more sustainability in their own zone because the offense is there. It's popping.

The goaltending is great, but you need something in between. And you didn't mention Mason McTavish there. who kind of fell out of favor in the playoffs last year and was being healthy scratched at times, but because of his age, pedigree, and positional availability, like is still going to be in high demand. And some curious to see if they use that

to potentially address the right side. My last team here, quickly to close out is the New Jersey Devils who are coming off such a miserable season last year. They somehow finished 31st in 5-on-5 goals per 60, which seems nearly impossible. Given the talent they have on their team, They have a new GM and the previous era under Tom Fitzgerald, in my opinion, was defined by the, oh, man, we tried to do something, but it just didn't work out.

But we were in it. And all the reporters making sure to note that he was very involved, despite not getting it across the finish line, Nico Hishier is going to be 28 this year. It's the final year of him at 7.25. And it sounds like he's going to sign a medium term extension to stay there. So that takes him off the board. But Markstrom's two-year extension they signed before the GM change. is kicking in. Simone Nemitz is an RFA looking for a massive pay raise.

They have the 12th overall pick. And then they have this Dougie Hamilton Wildcard where he has $9 million for two more years left. But once that signing bonus is paid, it's just a $1 million salary for next season. And so I guess I'm very curious to see what Sunny Mata does here and taking over this team and trying to reconfigure it and address a lot of the concerns we had with them last year that led such a poor season for them. Yeah, it felt like the Devils just wanted to be the Florida Panthers, even though they're not built to be the Panthers,

and they were trying to, like, force a style on a team that didn't work instead of addressing what they actually needed and just leaning into their strengths and adding some dimension without crushing what makes them so special to get them some actual scoring depth would be huge here. The Nemich situation is fascinating to me. It's giving Marty Natchez of do you sell low now, or do you try to rebuild his value a little bit

and then figure out what to do? Because, you know, had the Keynes move Marty Natchez in that off season before extending him, who knows what they would have gotten for him? And instead it's this needle mover in the ranting deal. And we've seen the domino effect and how important that was through their cup final run. So I'm fascinated, obviously biased it being a nerd as a general manager. But I think Sunny Meta could have this huge moment when we're seeing Errik Tolski thrive of this, you know,

thinking general manager instead of just the former player perspective, like what's he going to do here? I think that's great pick. As you know, this is a lot of fun. I'm glad we got to talk about the Kachuk trade and kind of highlight some of these situations we're interested in. I'll let you promote some stuff on the way out because I know, as always, you've been very busy atopletic writing about a lot of this. Yeah. Just wrote about Nyes and McTavish, what they bring as trade assets, why their teams might trade them.

But also coming up this week, a lot of contract stuff, RFA, I think is running tomorrow and projecting the 2027 UFA class and what they're going to be looking for. We'll be coming later this week. Awesome. We'll keep up the great work. And we'll have you on again soon. If you enjoyed today's show, give us a five-star review wherever you listen, subscribe to the PDF cast Patreon as well.

As I said, we're doing the Sabres Deep dive with Chad Diminis today. We've got David Castillo on later to talk a lot about Jason Robertson and how that's going to play out in Dallas. That is all from us for today, though. We'll be back soon with plenty more. Thank you for listening to the Hockey P.D.Ocast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.