The Hockey PDOcast - Vibe Checks for the Top Teams Post Trade Deadline

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Shayna Goldman to take stock of where the top 10 teams in the league are at after the trade deadline, how things have fit with their new editions, and the direction they've been trending in. 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.

since 2015. It's the Hockey PDOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEOCast. My name is Demetri Filippovich and joining me to close out the week in style is my good buddy, Shana Goldman. Shana, what's going on? Hey, thanks for having me. So I thought it would be fun exercise for us today to close out the week. We're a week removed from the trade headline. I know you wrote recently a big, very insightful piece on the athletic kind of along these lines, but to get a kind of lay of the land where everyone is right now, post-ed-edline the way they've been playing in the first couple games since all the deals, do a little bit of a vibe check on all the top contenders, the top teams,

sort of take stock of how they've been using their new players, where they're at right now, and kind of what the near future holds for them. Let's start with the hurricanes, because I feel like last Friday at the trade deadline, when they made the Biko Randinen trade and shipped him off to Dallas. They took a lot of heat for the way they handled the entire situation,

having Ranton in there for a pretty uninspiring 13 games, and then taking what was perceived as a pretty big step back for the rest of this season as Stanley Cup contenders, kind of downgrading from him to a bunch of futures and essentially Logan Stancoe. But since then, we've seen them play two games. They beat the Jets 4-2 at home. They beat the Lightning 4-1.

I believe they were up 3-0 in both those games into the third period. And so two really impressive showings against two top teams. And, you know, we've seen Stankov, and he scored the Power Play goal in his debut. He's kind of playing on the third line now. So I don't think we've even seen the fully formed version of him. But I think we both agree that the fit for him on this team is very inspiring moving forward. Obviously not the high-level offensive player and point producer the Miko Ranjan is, especially on the PowerPlay, but gives them another dimension.

and factoring in everything they're going to do this summer with the cap space and the draft capital they have now, I'm not going to say that I'm necessarily completely doing a 180 on my stance that they took a step back this season after these two games, but I do feel like, especially when you look at their path ahead, a likely round one matchup against the devil's team that's going to not have Jack Hughes or Dougie Hamilton or Jonas Seganthal for the most part, then round two against probably Washington if they take care of their round one matchup. It's probably the most doable path for any team in the East, considering what's going to go on in the Atlantic in the first two rounds.

So I do feel like the door is open here a little bit for them to save their season in the sense, then it's not necessarily viewed entirely as a disaster. Where are you at with them? And kind of how do you think we should be viewing all of what transpired with them around a deadline? Yeah, I feel like there's so many takes flying around. There's so much rancid and discourse. And it's like, of course, naturally, I have to add to it. But I don't think we could just say, hey, there's a winner and loser in this situation.

Like, cut and dry, you want to say, okay, the star's got the better player. They won. The Keynes lose. Sure. But I feel like it's forgetting the context of the entire situation. And that's going back to last summer, right? Like, Marty Naches, how many teams wanted to acquire him at a low after a down year? And the Keynes were like, no, we're going to stick with our player and see what happens.

And he got off to a great start, especially on the score sheet. But like, there were some red flags below the surface. The scoring did slow. And they went, okay, we're going to be. make the best of the situation. So I liked how they handled that and they brought in Miko Ranton. Obviously on paper, like he seemed like a really good fit for them and it didn't work out. I don't think he got enough time to gel there. I don't think the vibes were right. I think the pressure of the situation was tough and like they could have taken two paths here, right?

They could have said, this is our deadline rental and we're going to roll forward with him and that's that. And they wouldn't have been wrong to do so even if he walked at the end of the year like Jake Gensel, right? It makes them better right now. But to take a step back and go on paper, he makes us better, but right now we aren't playing better. Let's take another aggressive approach. Let's see what's out there. And, you know, I was one of the people who didn't think they were actually going to move him. I thought, why not listen to offers?

If you're a general manager, it doesn't matter who's available, who's untouchable. You listen to everything and just see if something kind of like strikes your interest. And here's a deal that did. But, you know, the fit just wasn't as strong as it could have been. I think a lot was made of his play because of the scoring. I think it was better below the surface. But you could still say, like, it wasn't working out as well. and this is a different risk to take.

And I like that. I like that they took an aggressive approach. I think we all clamor for general managers to be interesting and try something and do something and go against the green. And here we go. Eric Tolski did that. This is the first-time general manager who gets a massive deal done earlier in the year

with other first-time general managers and Kyle Davidson and Chris McFarland. I find that really interesting in some of the comments about how those GMs communicate more, that it already strikes my interest. Sure, this one didn't work out perfectly, but you look at it and go, they took a risk. They tried. And I think that should be commended. And when it didn't work out,

they could have taken the easier path and just let it ride, or they say, you know what, we're going to look to the future. I don't mind that. And like you mentioned, like their path to the Eastern Conference final is doable in theory. And you could say, well, maybe they'll get crushed once they match up to a team like Florida and Tampa, say it's one of them because they've loaded up so much. Maybe those teams will be so beaten down going, you know, through each other, get through the Atlantic. You're going to be looking a lot different, and I assume by the Eastern Conference final. So maybe there is a way for them to take a step further. But they position themselves well for the future.

So that's not a bad thing. Those two first round picks, they have a year and a half to make them into trade assets. I can't imagine Carolina using both them to draft players, that I think that there's still an opportunity to find a player potentially who is a better fit, who clicks with the team and wants to be a part of it long term. So I know there's like a lot to make of it. Oh, they lost the deal.

But I like how they handled it to an extent. It's not perfect on either side of it, but I think that they navigated a tough situation in a different way that why not go for it? Why not just take a leap and go for it? And, you know, the fact that they're playing well now, that's good. I think Stankovins is kind of like the perfect fit for them too. He's not Miko-Ran. He's not Marnedin.

He's not Marni-Hs. He is Logan-Stankov. That's totally different. He has a huge ceiling. So I'm intrigued to see what happens. And I also want to see if now, you know, there's a new opportunity for Svetschnikov to step up. to step up. Can he take it? Can he run with it? Like, I don't think the canes are dead just because

they lost Rantanin. It's just a different outcome than I think we all saw coming. Yeah, the optics of the outcome don't look good on them just in terms of the whole saga, but I'd argue that the alternative of Rantaninan looking miserable there, I'm sure that, you know, when the puck started going in more form if he had stayed, it would have a different vibe and tender to it, but at least for the 13 games we saw, whether it was the on-ice fit or him not wanting to stay the their long term or a combination of everything, it didn't look good. It wasn't a good fit. And I feel like that would have just been hanging over their heads during this entire

stretch run as an inevitability. Whereas now there is sort of this perceived lack of pressure in a sense where I think everyone sort of recalibrated their expectations for them this season. I was like, all right, well, they're playing the long game. They're going to reload in this summer and look different next year. And this was going to be a gap year for them anyways after all the guys they lost in free agency last off season. And so it's not that big.

of a deal. At some point, you do need to push your chips into the middle of the table and go for a run when you're kind of hanging around this contender bubble the way they have for the past five years, but I feel like the openings and opportunities will be there for them. This wasn't necessarily a one and done. And I do, I think Stankovin's really interesting. We haven't seen it yet necessarily, but I think that combination he has, which is a pretty rare one of the skill as a puck carrier to actually enter the zone with possession, make some plays off of it as a passer to set some of these guys up with speed, but then also the motor and the foreshacking ability to earn big time minutes from Rod Brindamore down the line and kind of endear himself to him in terms of playing

style is certainly there. So I feel like his runway is very encouraging. My final note on the hurricanes, and I'm sure you've seen this as well, since the new year, they've played 28 games. They have six power play goals and they have six short-handed goals in that time, which is an incredibly bizarre stat on the one hand, a good one, that guys like Ajo and Jarvis look so dangerous and we saw them create one of those goals against the lightning most recently, but also clearly need to get their power play going as well if they're going to be taken

seriously as an Eastern Conference finalist at the very least. Let's talk about the Panthers next. So they gave up three goals against in like an eight minute span in the third period in Boston the other night. They were up to nothing, blew that game, lost three, two. If you remove that, the rest of the 350 minutes they've played in March, they're up 17 to three. They've played pretty much flawless hockey. We saw them going to Toronto on Thursday and execute

traditional Panthers hockey. They played a great road game. Wound up winning that one against the Leafs. It's a big one in terms of seating in the Atlantic. Dom has them as the current Stanley Cup favorite in terms of his probabilities. Aaron Eklad is going to be out until game three of round one. We've seen Seth Jones step up,

play big minutes on that top pairing with Gus Borsling. Made a nice play on the power plate. to keep it in against Scott Lodden and set up, what I believe wound up being the game winner in that one also has had some struggles in terms of matching up against the Matthews line and Pastor Nax line in the past two games and being exposed a little bit more. But I imagine that adjustment in playing with forcing in that system,

it's going to even itself out. What are you, where are you at right now in terms of the vibes on the Panthers and kind of the way they've been looking in March for whatever six, seven games they've played in this time? Yeah, I like what I'm seeing because I think you're seeing different guys step up to and like, you know, they bring in Seth Jones and he starts with

Michael, he starts adjusting there. And then you're thinking, okay, well, he's a top four guy, not a top guy. That's ideal. He's not a first, you know, a power play quarterback. He shouldn't be. You even go back through the Columbus years and it's like he either was second to Zach Ransky or they shared the role together. So I think it's just kind of like keeping in mind what his true strengths are and trying to separate him from the value of his contract. But like, I know that's hard to do. And I think it's hard because every player should have to play up to the contract that they sign but blame management don't blame the player the player should be taking it um and it's tough to just say like okay this this guy has to be a nine million dollar guy every year he wasn't he was never going to be

that so you can take all that away and it can like help settle him down the fact that he has to play a bigger role now is a little i don't want to say concerning it's just different because now you're saying okay everything that you just said the last week throw that out the window but it's also you know a position the panthers have been in before they've been without aranaq bled down the stretch numerous times now because he's had injuries. Obviously it's a different situation now. It's also a good way to get a preview of the team of what they could look like next year with Ekblad's pending unrestricted free agency in mind. So I don't think that hurts. And it's going to be a minute to not just now adjust to playing Florida Panthers hockey, which is totally different

from the blackhawks, but now do it in these bigger minutes. And now here's a new partner after you started with someone else. So there's an obvious learning curve there. What's interesting to me, I think what this team is the fact that the goaltending now is all the more important. But Brofsky hasn't been perfect this year. We know his playoff records have been back and forth, but he seems to have like hit his stride over the last two years. So I think it's very important that the defense is better because Spencer Nye's not behind him as well as he's been playing. And it's even more important than he gets goal support, which he has. So that's definitely encouraging. Obviously, they're without Matthew Kuch and Brad Marche and who they acquired is not

ready to play yet. So the reinforcements are coming. But if you can get everybody clicking, that when you're, you know, two top players come back into the fold, you're going to be looking a lot better in the postseason. I think someone like Sam Skavich has really excelled now getting more minutes. I think all year he's been very good in a bottom six capacity, but he's cooking on that second line. And he looks good on the top power play unit. And, you know, Sam Bennett, whose play really, you know, suffered heading into four nations. Once he got that nomination to Hockey Canada, everyone was looking, I'm going, well, he didn't deserve it in the first place. And now he's not, you know, performing well. I think he's picked up the pace too. And he generally isn't the driver of

his line. He doesn't have to be when you have Kachuk as your winger. But the fact that he's stepping up is encouraging to because if you're going to win a playoff series against Tampa or against Toronto, you need him to be operating on all cylinders. And that's being a pest and playing a hard game and also chipping in some scoring. So I don't think it's bad for them that they're going to be getting different looks. I think the best team sometimes have those lines that they know, these are lines, these work, this is our top line. And that's great and wonderful to have. But to be truly prepared for the playoffs and to go through this division, I think you need to know all different combinations and have that at the ready knowing, okay, this isn't going.

We know we can swap, you know, Reinhard and Barkoff and go with Verhege and Barkoff and put Reinhardt here with Bennett and just start mixing and matching all these combos and see what you have. So I think this is going to open that opportunity up that they're even more prepared for the playoffs in a weird way. I completely agree with that. And I think the last time you and I spoke was sometime in kind of like early February. And it felt like the Panthers were at their low this season at that point. They're really struggling offensively. And the point we made at the time, there were some sort of tactical issues and usage issues at the time.

But the biggest thing for me was I felt like come this part of the season, once we got out of the Four Nations break, they'd start to ramp up. They'd start to really make a push in terms of getting into playoff for them. And it feels like we've seen that, right? Especially some of these big games recently, whether it was the one out of the Four Nations break against the Lightning at home, after the Jones trade, when they ended the Lightning's winning streak, or a few others sprinkled in against top opponents. where it feels like Barkov in particular has really taken them very seriously and increased his effort level and really given us the fully realized version of what he's obviously capable of come the postseason. And so it remains a frightening team. And I feel like what you saw on Thursday night is how they're going to play in the playoffs.

And they're obviously going to be getting Ekblad and Marshand and Kach back in the meantime as well. So, yeah, the arrow is certainly up for them. Let's stick with the state of Florida then and then quickly talk about the lightning because it feels like they're sort of on the opposite spectrum right now. I think you and I were both quite high on the deal they made with the Cracken to bring in Bjork, Strann and Gord, paid a big price to do so, but both guys fit perfectly within the M.O. of Julian Breezeball and the way this team operates. It's been an ugly week for them, though. They lost 4-0 at home to Boston, lost 4-1 to the hurricanes, we mentioned earlier, and then lost in a shootout against the flyers on Thursday night. Now, I think Hedman missed one of those games.

Kutrov missed the one in Philly, so take that into account, certainly, but hasn't necessarily been a continuation of the way they were playing, previously where coming out of the Four Nations break, they were red hot, they were winning every game, they were shutting teams down defensively, and they haven't really looked apart recently? Are you worried about this three-game stretch we've seen from them, or do you feel like they've already shown us enough in the meat of the season that that's probably more reflective of what they're capable of? Yeah, I think it's just a bad stretch. And I think it happens everyone. Like we saw it with the Panthers. It's obviously like a really bad stretch. And yeah, like you mentioned, they lost. Victor Hedman. He, if I remember correctly, got hurt early.

the game against Sabres and then miss the game against Boston entirely and then Kuturoff is sick and he left a game early and then missed an entire game. Plus you're trying to work in some new faces and that hasn't gone perfectly. I know like the underlying numbers for Yanni Gord and three games aren't great. But also like he is coming back from injury too. So he missed a ton of time this season that I'm not worried just yet. I still think the lightning did the right thing. And the playoff formatting drives me up a wall because I look at how the way Florida and Tampa

loaded up to say one of them might be out in round one if they have to play each other and I think that's disappointing but you still have to load up in order to get through that matchup so it makes a lot of sense to me I like the way that they view draft picks is their collapse one day going to be spectacular hey maybe but if you have Thursday in the cup rains are you going to care that much no probably not you it's it's the way it goes in this league and they know it they took so long to build to this point and they built through the draft and with their core and then have found players to supplement around them and done it in the right way that, you know, eventually they're going to have to start the process all over again. So it's going to take them a while to do that and they don't have

many picks in the near future, but whatever, that's a later problem for them. Like, spend. I like, I like the idea of like, you know, they don't need to worry about the odds of a draft pick turning into a player when they can bring it a player who's going to help them right now. And that player's timeline's not going to line up with their timeline right now. So they're not worrying about it. All of that, I think, is well and good. And I think this time around versus say the Tanner Geno deal, the players are actually worth the cost. I want to see them start moving these players around, though. Like, I know last night they had to change up their lines.

I think Nick Paul was playing up a Braden Point instead of playing on the line with Sorrelli and Hegel. So he was finally getting a couple games with them. Now they're switching that around. I want to see Bjorks Jane get some looks in the top six. I think putting him with Gord to start because there's a familiarity factor there is great and wonderful. But I want to see his right-handed shot up in the top six.

I think he's a much player than, you know, just third minutes. And I think once everybody's getting back and clicking and finding their new footing, like you can start mixing and matching the lines and seeing what combinations work, what isn't going to work. I'm just not, I'm not worried about them yet. I look at them before the deadline. I don't think that they changed the lineup so much that now they've disrupted what was working. I think everyone was operating at such a high level that now they just brought in accents to help them play to their strengths. I think they'll get there.

And I'm really curious if we're going to see that, like, loaded top line get broken up a little bit more like maybe there's a little a little bit of that that they can start working with um i think it's going to take them a couple games to like get back on track vasselovsky's had three pretty ify outings after he finally was playing at that elite level again i just i think it's a bad trend but i'm not going okay it's a pattern this team's in trouble yeah i'm not either i guess the one issue is that it's so tight in atlantic and i feel like not only getting out of that round one match up and playing a wildcard team instead but also just getting home ice in round one is going to be an incredibly valuable commodity to all three of

these teams and the Panthers are in the driver's seat right now. So that would be a bit concerning for me if this lingers. But I'm with you taking into account some of those absences and also what the final version of this forward group could look like one day as we get into the start of the postseason if they actually finally go Gensel-Point Kuturov and then you play Bjork Strand with Sorrelli and Hagell and then you play Paul and Gord on the third line and even bring up a guy like Connor Gehke from the HL, all of a sudden, that's just so many different weapons and playing styles.

I mean, it's unbelievable. So many complementing skill sets, so much size and speed and skill. And we know that John Cooper is going to get the most out of those guys with deployment, right? He's going to send that top line out with Hedman for offensive zone starts. He's going to use that second line buzz saw in the neutral zone. And then you have

Gordon Paul to essentially go out there and hound opponents. You've got a fourth line that's really good at sort of being a black hole offensively for both teams. And so, It's a perfect combination of players, and we just haven't seen it yet in these three games, but I imagine we will. And they'd be smart, just like what you said with the Panthers, to be experimenting with every different possible look in these final 15 games.

Let's close out the Atlantic and talk about the Leafs, who are down at 8% Stanley Cup probability in Dom's model. They were in the mid-teens for the majority of the season by my count. I imagine part of that is just the increased likelihood of having to play Tampa Bay round one and Florida round two based on the current. standings and what a gauntlet that would be to get through. Their approach to this deadline was doubling down on the concept of team defense, right? They brought in Scott Lawton.

They bring in Brandon Carlow to play with Morgan Riley. They didn't add any scoring pop. And I think one of my concerns with this team, and it's been a recurring one for pretty much every postseason of this era of the Leafs, has been the pressure now on the Martin Matthews combination to just carry this team offensively. You're certainly going to see bursts of brilliance from Willie Nealander, and you're going to get that, and that's great. But I feel like for them to get over the hump and really make a long postseason run,

they're going to need Matthews and Warner to carry the team offensively. And we're going through the stretch where Matthews, including the Four Nations games, has three goals in his past 19 games played. Those three were an empty netter against the hurricanes, a goal against the penguins, which probably shouldn't even count in today's climate, although Tristan Jari has been playing really well lately. And then a goal in Vegas where he in a blowout where it was like 5-0 and he made it a 5-1 game. And so he hasn't really been himself.

We know he's been banged up physically. You watch him and he certainly doesn't look like he did for all of last year. There was a play at the end of that Panthers game on Thursday where empty net, he gets the puck in the left circle. Great shooting opportunity from a scoring area. And he fans on it. He whiffs neutralizes the entire possession and nothing happens. and the Leafs lose. And so that's been a massive red flag in terms of his scoring ability recently

and whether he's going to be able to get back to his level. And I feel like that's sort of probably the biggest question mark with his team heading into the postseason. Yeah. I mean, like I think that they technically address their needs. I just don't love how they did it, right? I think they went very defensive. And I just don't know how necessary it was.

Like acquiring Brandon Carlo, I really like for them. Price side, just looking at the fit, I think that there's a lot of potential here because he's not, you know, a big puck move or anything like that. But I think that he can be the stabilizer that Morgan Riley needs. And I think the structure of the Leafs has hurt Riley. It seems like now in the last couple months they're saying, yeah, we want him to play a little bit more and play to his strengths and play to play to his instincts and free him up a little bit. Okay, so you get him a stable partner, which I think will allow him to do so. I think that I'll let some play driving from the back end.

I kind of wish they brought in another puck mover for that defense, though, because I think that they could use it, especially if you're not going to load up all. offensively. Scott Lawton's a good player. He's a really good defensive center. He is a three a three that fits really well. One, two, three behind, you know, Tavaris, he could take some of the defensive workload off Tavares, which would free him up offensively, and all of that is nice and well and good on paper. But like you, I look at Angar, I wish they had another score. Maybe shifting Max Domi to wing more consistently instead of playing center will help him out. The return of Kali Yarncrock, I think that Tavares line doesn't need someone like super offensive. You have Tavaris Nealander like they are the drivers and it just is going to help line up balance but a third line

score i feel like would have gone a long way just another versatile winger something would have helped and like you could play nick robertson more but it just doesn't seem like they're completely committed to that the fourth line doesn't do enough for me offensively and like you said like the pressure is going to be on these guys and yes it should be pressure is a privilege and a guy like matthews and marner and tavaris and nielander they should all be under pressure but if you don't know if these guys can perform in the playoffs and you don't have that consistency from them enough, why load up more pressure? Why not try to alleviate it from them? Like, you've worked in this structure under Craig Bruy, now bringing players who can kind of go against the grain of what's

been, what's gotten them to this point to help them, like, add a different dimension. I'm a little disappointed that they didn't. And, you know, maybe this isn't the year for them and it's because of the Matthews injury. He definitely has not been at 100%. He's not playing at that level. But now there's even more pressure for him to find that level when he just might not be capable if he's that unhealthy. Like, we don't know all the details on the injury. We just know that he's not able to play at the caliber they need of him. So now it just feels like a weird time.

Maybe they don't think this is the year and the Atlantic's too good and blah, blah, but I just think that's the wrong attitude to have. And I can't see them thinking that, especially with like the Marner contract in mind. So if this is your way of going for it, it's a weird way. in my opinion to compete against Florida and Tampa. Like, yes, you might have a good chance of shutting them down, but in today's game, that is not nearly enough. It's why a team like the Kings can't get past the Oilers.

Like, you have to push them to play defense more. And that's where I'm concerned with this group. Well, especially the way Craig Brubay's been deploying his lines. You look at that game on Thursday against the Panthers. They're at home. They have the benefit of controlling matchups with last change. And they use Matthews and Martyr for like 10 and a half of their 13 minutes. at 5-1-5 head-to-head against Barkov.

And that sounds great in principle. We love that from an entertainment perspective as viewers to be like, all right, we're going to see the best-on-best-power, duke it out and see who wins. But realistically for the Leafs, if that top line is just going to play the other team's top line to a draw, all of a sudden now you're requiring your depth scoring to come up even bigger and kind of push you over the edge.

And in this case, we just talked about the lightning's depth. We know about the Panthers' depth. And so they're playing from behind there a little bit. So it's a bit of a confusing strategy, certainly. The caps are the last Eastern Conference team that I thought we should talk about, but I don't have that much to add on them. We didn't see them do that much of the deadline. They brought in Lars Eller earlier this season.

They brought in Anthony Boveillier as sort of a bottom six piece. I think, you know, this exercise is kind of a vibe check for the top teams. They are the top team in the East. Their vibes have been so immaculate with everyone's performance and everyone leveling up and scoring on all their shots and how just they haven't really had. they had like a little three or four game dip recently, but bounce back, sort of winning games again. We haven't seen an extended drought or struggles from them yet this season.

And the vibes have been so good that I feel like nothing's really changed for them since the deadline. Yeah, they really didn't need to do much. And it's because also like they had one of the most aggressive off seasons out of anybody, right? Like you're not supposed to use the deadline to rebuild your team. You're just trying to find little pieces to accent it and take you to the next level. And like that top six, I would not want to disrupt anything. I would not want to disrupt the chemistry and what they have. going. I do think like the Pavilion's interesting. Like sure it was an overpayment, but I'm intrigued

by it, especially what Spencer Carberry said when he was working into the lineup. He was like, I'm going to start him with Brandon Duheim and Nick Dowd because those guys communicate so often. I think it'll help them, you know, get up to speed a little bit quicker and hit his stride with our playing style. And it just keeps reminding me that like this team, it feels like they don't need to go that much bigger because they got all these reclamation projects. And they have a coach who did so much with a very weak group last year and now here's a group that has a lot more skill in it and you look at how they're just performing at a rate that's greater than the sum of their parts the best addition they have is that coach and I think Carberry is pushing them in the right direction

I think the other thing too is like they're goal tending even if say there are trends in the wrong direction I think we're seeing Charlie Linger and pick up the pace a little bit more and Logan Thompson hasn't been as perfect lately you have you know a guy who could be the one a if you have to swap things around. Like, they just isn't, they built the team so well in the off season, they really don't need to do much, and that's really impressive. Completely agree. All right, Shane, let's take our break here.

When we come back, we're going to switch gears, talk about the Western Conference contenders and do a vibe check on each of them. You're listening to the Hockey P.D.O.cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. All right, we're back here on the Hockey PEOCast, joined by Shana Golan. We're doing a vibe check for all the top contenders in the league in part one. We cover the Eastern Conference. Let's get into the West here. And let's start with the top team in the West,

like Jets. Now, they didn't do much. I think it was a bit disappointing, certainly, that they left the trade deadline with $7 million in unused cap space. They used a couple seconds and fourths to bring in Luke Shen and Brandon Tanev. Now, I will say, since then, we saw a game in Carolina they lost, where Logan Stanley really, it felt like it was kind of the final straw, where he got sort of isolated and exposed with the hurricane speed and picked apart. And then since then, we saw them put and Luke Shen in his place in the game at home against the Rangers. And now Neil Pionk is going to be out for week to week. And the last time we saw the Jets missing a top four defenseman.

Dylan Sandberg had a personal matter and he missed the game against the Islanders recently. We saw Logan Stanley step up into the top four and play like 22 and a half minutes in that game. Now the projected defense pairs with Pionk out are actually Luke Shen bumping up to the second line. And then a third pair of Hayden Flurry and Colin Miller, which if it can, continues would be an incredibly encouraging development in my opinion for the Jets because Luke Shenz presence clearly makes the coaching staff feel like, all right, well, we have a big body who checks a lot of the boxes that Logan Stanley otherwise would. So we don't need both of them. There's a redundancy. And so Logan Stanley's going to be the odd man out. And so in a weird way,

while it wasn't necessarily the ideal home run swings that I would have seen from, would have liked to see from a team in the Jets position, it does in a roundabout way accomplish a sort of potential net positive for them in removing pretty unarguably the weakest link of their lineup. Yeah. Like I don't think Luke Shen is perfect at this time of year. Like this point in his career, I don't think it's been great for him in Nashville. He doesn't, he didn't even play against top competition. He didn't do that well.

But I think Dylan Sandberg's so good that, you know, it can make up for a little bit. And I think I, if I'm a coach, I rather have that than Logan Stanley. And the fact that they realize you don't need both them in the lineup. Sure, right? Like the defensive structure has been such a strength for them. I think it's so important that blue the line. clicking because, you know, their forward group isn't perfect defensively. I think a lot of them picked it up this year, but I think that blue line has, you know, really helped them do it and be just

like a complete effort. So hopefully this can keep it stable and doesn't require Connor Hallibuck to do literally everything because I want that man to get some rest down the stretch, please, because I think that is what he needs to play well in the postseason. My bigger issue with them, honestly, is what they did up front. That Tuesday position, I think Nemeskopf's been very good, you know, between Perfetti and Eilers when they need him to be. But to me, he's a good utility player for your bottom six. And in a perfect world, you have a better two C. And I don't, I feel like I'm going into the narratives and I'm saying it again,

like the playoff pedigree. But it does matter to an extent. And I think with Eilers, that's the kind of guy. Like, I want to see him make an impact in the playoffs finally. So I would have liked to see him have a stronger two C to help him get there. And what bugs me even more isn't just that they didn't go for one. But you look at who they might match up against, right, in round one or round two. It could be a team like Colorado, let's say.

If Dallas finishes, if Colorado beats Dallas and you're going to get the abs and the jets in round two, they have Brock Nelson the best center on the market. Okay. So not only did you not add a center, now your rival has them, but then they also have Charlie Coil. Like, I just feel like they let their, it hurts more that they didn't add, but that their rivals added so much. And I get it. You don't want to like mess with too much if you've had this really successful season. But I just think that there was a way to really help their chances to go on a deep run and try to extend the magic that's worked well for them all year. No. I mean, there's no denying that. Even if it's not Colorado at round two, if the stars are the one that gets out of that matchup, you're looking at down the middle, Wyatt Johnston Rupert Hintz and Matthew Shane. So it doesn't get any easier. And so it's going to be, it's going to be tough. But, you know, in the purposes of exercise, the vibe check, the vibes similar to Washington.

have been so good all year in Winnipeg, and it feels like that's still the case, despite the fact that I think you and I both, the opportunity cost of not making a bigger swing up the middle could potentially come back to bite them in the playoffs. Let's talk about the stars then next. So Rupa Hintz is still out. He took a puck to the face in that game over the weekend against the Oilers. We're getting to see Wyatt Johnston and Rantanin together,

which I think is the right combination from a skill set, hand in his perspective, giving Rantaninan that play. making right-hand center that he thrived so much with playing with Nathan McKinnon in Colorado. So I'm excited to see more of that. The stars are going through the stretch now where this weekend they're playing at Winnipeg and then they're playing at Colorado with Mikl Rantenen's return against the abs in on Sunday. So those are going to be two very big tests for them on the road. I think there's still some questions about Mero Hayskinin's availability come the postseason, whether he's going to be able to step back, come in and step into 25 minutes the way he was playing pre-year-old.

previously, I think that is a pretty big assumption or ask at this point. And I think they sorely need it based on the other options they have on the right side. And you saw that game in Edmonton, how they were sort of taken advantage of without a lot with a lack of it. But they are the favorite right now on Dom's model at 23% to come out of the West and be the Western Conference representative in the Stanley Cup final. And so I think that's pretty impressive, especially considering their potential path of round one with home ice advantage against the abs. And then round two without home ice against the jets. it's a pretty gnarly slate to go through, but this team is obviously,

especially after the Ranton and trade, so loaded up front. And for whatever our concerns are defensively for them, it seems like they're poised to outscore a lot of those problems in any given series. Yeah, the defense definitely isn't perfect. Like in a perfect world, Cody Cici, Matt Dumbah,

Brendan Smith, none of them are going to, I'll be playing meaningful minutes, right? And if Hayeskin is healthy, hopefully they don't have to, whether he plays with Harley, they split them up to, divide and conquer a little bit better and they've done it both ways before so who's to say but they

they definitely need a healthy hayskinen um i think they're going to be in a lot of trouble if not because they're going up against opponents who bring a lot of speed like you go up against the a aves and their speed is one of their best strengths and those are a defenseman who can't keep up with it honestly and you know say they may get deeper and you see a team like Vegas or even edmonton i could see that being an issue once again but the forward group is so strong and i think it's so important because it was an issue all year, right? Like the Marchmont, Douchain and Sagan line was playing so well that it helped make up for what the Jason Robertson line wasn't doing.

So once those injuries happened to Marchman and Sagan, it was like, okay, now you need Robertson and Hints to be the guys. And, you know, they're very good players, but I don't think in a perfect world, like they're the ones carrying everybody. I think the strength of the stars has always been their depth. So now that you have Ranton and Johnston, it's like they're put together. sooner than expected because Ranton obviously started the game with Hinson and then the injury changed things but I really think they are the perfect match between Johnson being right-handed.

I know we think of him as this guy that shoots the puck a ton and generates his own scoring chances and he does that. But he also, if you go through like all three zones tracking has generated a ton of high danger passes this year. So give them someone like Ranson and who can finish them. You're going to have two dual threats. And I think that's really important. You look at a team like the Jets. It's Kyle Connor and Shifley playing on the same line. You have two 30 plus goal scores. The same goes for, you know, Pointing Gensel in Tampa Bay. If you can have that here, that's the one to punch that few teams are going to be able to stack up to. So they could have a strategy that almost reminds me of like when Vegas won the cup, how they had those forward pairings essentially.

It was, you know, Eichl and March or so. And then you had Stone with Chandler Stevenson. And on the third line, it was William Carlson and Riley Smith. And you just interchange the wangers around them. Like, they might have that potential there for them, which I think would be a really good thing. because, you know, they have a deep lineup and that's going to help them stack up. And say, Jason Robertson and Rupa Hints are technically your second line. Like, that's elite.

So I really like what they did. I definitely want to see more of them. It's been tough because they haven't played a ton just yet. But these next two games are going to be so telling. Like, I cannot wait for either matchup. Yep. They're going to be awesome. And I think tell us a lot about where they currently stand and what the vibes you're like.

Let's put a bow on the central and quickly talk about the abs. I did like 15 to 20 minutes off the lead of Sunday's show about them. So I don't have too much new to add. I think the opportunity for Nelson play when the Chushkin and Druin is going to be awesome to get the most out of his skill set and give him more scoring opportunities that he had. With the Islanders, the depth obviously would bring in Coil and completely making over their forward group is exciting. And we've already seen Coil provide a little bit of offense and just give them minutes at 5-1-5 that they weren't really getting from that spot. previously. I'm curious to see what they do. You know, they brought in Eric Johnson as well. We didn't talk about it that much because it flew a bit under the radar, but they're mixing him in now and

they're trying to make a point of getting everyone in and making sure they don't go too long without playing what they did against the Leafs over the weekend where they played Malinski and Gerard together and really had a great game out of them. I'm excited about that. But then that leaves you with this Lingren Manson pairing that is kind of limited in terms of their puck moving ability and foot speed. And so I'm not sure if in the playoffs against the team like Dallas that has so many scoring weapons if Jared Bednar is going to be comfortable going that way or if he's going to kind of try to mix and match with those four. I guess those are my only real questions for them because the forward group right now looks pretty good in the first whatever three games we've seen

from them. Yeah, it's a good question to have. I think honestly you look at all of their additions and it's with Eric Johnson, Lingerin, Koyle, and Brock Nelson, like they are all coming from teams that have had a lot of struggles and maybe played these guys in either roles that were above their depth and asked them to do too much or they didn't put support around them. so going to Colorado, it's going to be a totally different situation. I would be worried about a Lingren Manson pairing for sure, but I think you split them up and you can divide the minutes in the right way. Like, yes, they're going to give you that, like, grittier sandpaper, like heart and soul

style game that's going to help in the postseason. That's great and wonderful. But if you split them up and put it on two pairings, I think that's for the best. I think it's tough because you look at someone like Ryan Lingrad, and it's easy to be like, yeah, he's totally watched at this point in his career. The Rangers overused him and the injuries have taken their toll and all that might be true. but I think in a different environment, they can totally change that. And I think Jared Bednar, the way he spoke about the analytics of it when he was asked about it,

like, it was really refreshing because he's saying, like, we might look at things that they don't, and we're going to apply them differently because I think he can be good in a better setting. I think that's going to be true for Coil at 3C. And I think especially with Brock Nelson, who sure is scoring down this year, but you look at who he played with. And I think he's everything that Casey Middlestat wasn't this year. He's really good in his own zone, so you don't have that same defensive weakness. he generates his own scoring chances and shoots the puck well.

That's something middle stat didn't do enough. He was, you know, like overpassing on everything. And then the passing, he sets up so many scoring chances, which is the strength of middle stats game that didn't come through this year. So I like all of that. The Eric Johnson one, though, is like, in a way you could say, like, oh, it's a throwaway trade. You're not going to see him a lot and he's not going to play a lot of minutes.

There's been so much roster turnover this year in Colorado that I actually like that addition even more because I feel like they almost need that glue guy. Sometimes when teams make too many changes, like the vice. vibes, the chemistry, everything gets offset. And I feel like bringing him back, especially after moving out a core player and rancid, and it's going to help, like, settle things down. And I love his attitude about it. Like, he'll just shovel ice.

He doesn't care. He just wants to be there. I think it's exactly what this team needs, you know, in an odd way. And it's, it's the other side of the game that sometimes, like, can get overlooked. The fit, what they're doing, you know, their numbers, this and that. Like, the vibes are important. I like that for them. Yeah, the familiarity and just how much everyone clearly loves them every time you see an

interview about Jack Johnson or one of the players being asked about him. It's just like effusive praise and just clear that he means a lot to them. So I'm with you on that. Let's quickly rattle through the Pacific. The Oilers have gone just three and seven in their past 10 games since the Four Nations break. They've given up 40 goals again. So we've all spent so much time talking about the fact that they didn't bring in any insulation or a viable backup for Stuart Skinner's struggles. Skinner struggles have continued. I think just as concerning for me though when you look at this team is that in that same time period, they're also 27th in the league in 5-15 goals per hour. For the year, they're down to 27th in 5-on-5 shooting

percentage. They're getting nothing out of the bottom six, really, guys like Kappanin, but Colson, Henrique, Yanmark, Max Jones, Connor Brown. They've combined for a couple goals in that entire stretch. They're getting nothing from them. It's remarkable that they've struggled this much considering the fact that Leandro Seidel scores every single game. He's got a 60-to-game point streak. He has a point in 38 of his past 40 games, I believe. He's been unbelievable and is the deserving favorite for the hard trophy right now. But he's almost doing a prime Connor McDavid act this season in carrying this team offensively with very little support around him.

And Jake Walmans look great. I love his versatility. We've seen him play on his offside with Darnel Nurse in his debut. We've seen him play on his left side with Evan Bouchard. They're using him in minutes with McDavid at 515. The numbers are really good. I think that was a great addition. But there's still so many unanswered questions and concerns for me with this team.

and the fact that they keep losing these games in pretty uninspiring fashion, they're running out a runway here to kind of figure out their act before the playoffs start. And so I do think the, you know, I'm not sure how high your concernometer is for them, but the vibes clearly aren't very good

in Edmonton right now. No, they're not. And I think it was so easy for everyone to be like, yes, they need a goaltender. But I just ask, who were they going to acquire, especially, you know, Vamalka extended, Blackwood got dealt. Like, they missed out on their opportunity

to move, to get a goalie. So I think they're focused. he should have been in front of the blue pink. Like in a perfect world, yes, they'd have a more stable crease. They don't. That was their vibe last year, too, and they made it work. I think that they need better defensive support, and I think they need better goal support. And you wouldn't think you'd be saying that about the Oilers, but, you know, here you are. They made a lot of good swings in the offseason. And I think a lot of us liked the idea of Arvetson and the idea of Jeff Skinner, and it just hasn't worked out. Pair that with Ryan Nugent Hopkins, not scoring as much on the power play. And

Zach Hyman not, you know, finishing his chances as often, you're going to have a problem. So I would have liked to see them add another top six winger. I know Trump Frederick can add some versatility to the top nine. I'm very intrigued to see what he can do in a different environment, new setting with high-end players like that that, you know, he didn't really often get to play with in Boston. So it's a new chance for him. And there's the return of a Vander King, but I'm very underwhelmed about that one too. So I would have liked to see them do something to punch up their offense a bit more. I do wonder about Jake Walman's impact. Right now we're seeing him play top four minutes because Ekholm is out.

And I think it's going to be cool to see how well he clicks there because at home's game has declined recently. And it may just be due to injury, but also, you know, the age factor that I wonder if woman, you know, can kind of take over for him in a better role.

But if they end up slotting him on the third pair, maybe that's the offensive spark they've been missing because, you know, more likely he's going to match up with bottom six forwards in his minutes. And no one on that defense is really good at breaking the puck out of their own zone. Like dry-sidal does it all the time. McDavid, obviously is a transition machine. But if Jake Wallman can be that for the third pair and can help lead the rush out of his own zone with control, maybe it will help put those forwards in a better position than they've been

all year and they can work with things a little bit better. I still have low expectations for them, but that's that's the one thing I'm wondering if maybe it'll help a little bit. Well, and we're staring down a very likely fourth straight round one meeting between the Oilers and the Kings. and this is a good segue for us to get into the Kings because I'd argue the vibes for them are on the uptick. We've seen them play better lately. They're the best home team in the league. Right now they would have home

ice in a round one meeting against Doylers, which would be the first time that would happen. And so that would be huge. And I think the last time you and I spoke, it was right after these two teams played each other. It was a very tight, low-scoring game in Edmonton. And one of the concerns we expressed was it was kind of the same old, same old, where you can match up

Mikey Anderson and Phil Dono against McDavid. You can get you know, Dowdy and and Copa tar out against Dreys Idol. But at the end of the day, in a one-goal game, are you going to have any other solution for breaking through and creating enough offense to get by? Because you know that especially with their power play opportunities, the Oilers will probably make the most of their chances.

And now all of a sudden, this combination of Fiala and Bifield that we've seen together seems like it's given them a path towards that at the very least. They've been producing so well. Them with Laferrier has been dominating every single, 5-15 metric, by field scoring goals, Fiala shooting the puck, they're both playing a ton, they both look incredibly dynamic together. And so if this is something that really sticks and is a thing moving forward, maybe it does

give them a viable path to actually entertaining the possibility of this year being different compared to the previous three post seasons. Yeah, wouldn't that be exciting? I like that for them because I think the last time we talked to you, like Kevin Fiala still was underperforming. He was like 170th and like scoring rate or something ridiculous. And you're like, okay, flip the switch. and he finally has and he's been so good because like no he's not he's not ever going to stack up to dry

solid and McDavid and that's totally fine but he can be a really good winger he can be a huge difference maker he has a lot of skill with his puck moving ability with his shot now you're finally seeing it that second line is absolutely cooking in their minutes and I love that for you know quentin byfield he's playing at center now I feel like he has the winger support that he needs and they can use him in any in any way they want you know I think that they have a lot of depth at front that you look at those three lines that they can roll and like any of them could be thrown into a shutdown situation any of them could play an offensive role and i think that's great i would have liked them to go for someone a little bit bigger than kuzmanko like one one better winger i

would have liked but i'm honestly intrigued by that because you know kuzmanko is a bit of a flash in the pan he had that one really good season but he played well with peterson that year he could keep up and compliment high-end talent. And I feel like the Kings are one of the few teams that might be able to insulate him enough that you don't have to worry about his weaknesses. You don't have to worry about the fact that he doesn't drive play, that he's bad defensively or he doesn't move the puck well. He's playing with two really good players that if they can just feed him pucks and let him

like find his shooting game again, I'm really interested. And he's been shooting the puck a ton since he's been playing with Kobatar and Kempai that I wonder if there could be something there. If he can start finishing his chances a little bit more, and they have three lines that can put up points because that Denno line with Fogel and Moore, I think they could be really good disruptors and just be that pesky third line to match up against.

Like, there really is potential for them there. There certainly is. We got to get out of here. I want to quickly talk about the Golden Knights. We've got only a couple minutes left, but they're sort of just taking care of their business, right? It's been a very drama-free season relative to Golden Knight standards, even at the deadline.

We saw them bring back Riley Smith. They brought in Brandon Sodd in the wing previously, but they didn't make a home run cut at the deadline, despite their official team Twitter account trolling us near the deadline. They're 8-2 and 1 in their last 11 games. Since the four nations, they're in the mid-50s in all the 5-1-5 metrics. According to Sporologic,

they've crept all the way up to first in expected goals against allowed. Also inner slot shots allowed. They've really rediscovered the defensive forum. This is without William Carlson and Shea Theodore available as well. And with the top three power play, on top of that. So considering their path of, you know, likely row one matchup against say Minnesota with home and then having a round two home ice advantage against either Edmonton or L.A., it's shaping up pretty

nicely for them. And it's almost, it's surprising to see them going through this season the way that they have compared to everything we've gone through with them over the past two or three years. It's nice to have a healthy Mark Stone do down the stretch. A nice change for them because he looks great. But yeah, like I like them. It's like, I think that this team, they've loaded up so much on defense and at center that is obviously, wait on their ringer depth compared to years past, but someone like Dorfie of like stepping up, he's a shot volume machine, he's great on the power plane. I think now with hurdle and sod, he looks really good at five on five too. Like, I don't think they needed to do a ton. I think someone

like Riley Smith, if anyone knows how to channel his best game, it's going to be Vegas. And the difference between him playing there versus with the Rangers or Penguins is that he's not going to be asked to play second line minutes. He's going to be a true third liner, which is, I think, perfect for what he brings to the lineup. And, you know, they know he's great with William Carlson. And that is a really good option to have on your third line. So in a way, like Carlson, when he's healthy, you could be like their own, you know, deadline acquisition. I know teams always think of it that way.

It's not as exciting or disruptive and this and that. But they didn't need to be. Like, they're making it work despite key injuries. So I'm not super worried about them at all. Like they have a pretty good path here. And they're playing really well. So if they can keep channeling that, like go off Vegas. I completely agree.

All right, Chena, we've got to get out of here. I'll let you quickly plug some stuff. Let the listeners know about that. check piece you wrote and wherever else you have you have coming at the athletic yep uh you can find all my work at the athletic uh i'm going to do some things on like faces and new places and things like that and talk about playoff formatting in the coming weeks and you know things about what we learned about the league in march at the end of the month to follow up that five check piece after the deadline and anything else you can find uh you know the too many men podcast and whatever else it's it's there

you'll find me on twitter it's uh i got rid of the high school handle so now you can find me at shana goldman underscore to find all that stuff. There you go. We'll keep up the great work. This is a really fun exercise. Perfect way to end the week. Hopefully the listeners enjoyed it. That's all for us. For another week of shows, we'll be back Sunday night, late Sunday night this week with another edition of the Sunday special with our guy Thomas Drans. Hope everyone has a great weekend. And thank you for listening to the Hockey-Pedio cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network.