The Hockey PDOcast - Who's to blame in Pittsburgh, and your mailbag questions

Episode Date: April 13, 2023

Ryan Lambert joins Dimitri to eulogize this year's Pittsburgh Penguins. Then they talk your mailbag questions about what the Sabres should do in net, who to cheer for and against this postseason, and plenty more.This podcast is produced by Dominic Sramaty. 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. 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.

Lessing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filipovich. Welcome to the Hockey PEDEOCast. My name is Dimitrippovich. And joining me is my good buddy, Ryan Lambert. Ryan, what's going on, man? Hanging in there, you know, waiting for the season to wrap up, basically. Oh, well, that's a glass half empty approach.

I think waiting for the players to start is the glass-fold way to say it. Well, here's the problem, right? Start on Monday. It's currently Thursday. That feels like it's a long time from that, you know? I don't like those two days off. I get it, but I don't like it. Yeah, but those of us, you should know this in the,

in the content preview game or the preview content game, I should say, benefit on that. I need a few days to get my previews ready, you know. I get it. Okay, here's the plan for today. We got some great listener questions from our faithful listeners, but first we have to do a bit of a eulogy for the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose disastrous season was finally put to an end yesterday. And I think mercifully so as, you know, and I don't know how you view this,

but I think as shameful as like missing the playoffs the way they did and ending this, you know, 16 year streak or whatever they had in the fashion they did, which was like losing at home to the 32nd ranked Chicago Blackhawks playing on a second of a back to back, having like Buddy Robinson of all people just stick final dagger in your year, it might be a better alternative than getting dogwalked by the Bruins for four games. I don't know how you feel about that. Yeah, you know, I think anytime there's like a juggernaut team like this now,

I will forever think of the Darrell Sutter quote. It seems like a waste of eight days. You know, when he's talking about playing the abs last year, he's like, we're going to get, whoever gets that eight spot is going to get destroyed. What are we talking about? And it feels like the same thing with the penguins for sure. Well, speaking of Sutter, I mean, the flames and penguins were, from my money, the two most disappointing teams this season.

Yeah. And both essentially had their years ended at home by the Chicago Blackhawks within like a week of each other. Yeah. There's something just so poetic about that. Very funny. Okay. So when things go this wrong and certainly they did in Pittsburgh this year, as we just said, there's a lot of blame to go around, right?

I think it's like kind of like a sign of organizational failure of or rot like from the top down ownership management coaching players no one's blameless in it who do you think in this case gets the most of the blame for for the penguins falling short of even making the playoffs for the first time in 16 years do you not have to say we're on hexahl I mean look it's tough right because he wasn't the guy who said we got to re-sign Malkin and Lachang, first of all, right? Like, that seemed like it was a management above or like ownership or whatever, slash Sidney Crosby decision. So, like, not that those guys were the problem this year by any stretch of the imagination,

but they sure did cost a lot. And, you know, they're now suffering. a little bit from what ailed the penguins in the early 2010s, which is that they don't have anybody who can play well when those three guys are off the ice, basically. Yeah, I mean, I have no issue with the direction they chose this summer. And when you have, like, when you have, like, legends that mean this much to organization that are still playing at this high of a level, like, I'm fine with it.

if you look like crosbie was eight in the league and even strength points malkin was over a point a game sure those guys certainly were not the problem by any means right it's it's funny you that you bring up the those like 2010s versions i think of like the last year under bilesman and shiro right i think it was like 2013 14 and you look at like the list of players they played even on there on in the top six wings but especially the bottom six and some of the deaf players and role players they had it was just like how is this the best you could do at the same time time. If you look at that year, Crosby and Malkin were accounting for like 27% of their cap or something. Whereas this year, they make less than 15 million combined. They were a great value combined for

what the Penguins were paying then. So there's really no excuse, right? It's like you have enough money to build out a competent enough team considering the level these guys are playing at to at least be one of the best eight Eastern Conference teams. I just, I don't know. Yes and no. I mean, if you if you look at like the the penguin's cap structure there's a bunch of guys where you're like that guy's making that much money you know um like jason zucker five and a half million bucks but he was good this year yeah but like is he a five and a half million dollar player you know um and and like the the the petri trade obviously not so good uh i don't know what happened to brian do a movement. I mean, they're ready to roll that guy out of town on a rail and he's a pending

UFA.S.A. I mean, he was atrocious this year. I know that's what I'm saying. I cannot stress enough like buyer be aware on whoever talks themselves into signing him this summer. Like good, good luck with that. Yeah. I don't know. Here's the thing for me. Like on the one, like I do think it is a heckstall slash Burke problem because they inherited a group that had much better players and then through a series of moves they like actively just made their team worse every step of the way right like the mccan tenev evan rodriguez like all these guys who would have been brilliant bottom six players third liners for them this year which is exactly what they needed they were like happy to just let them walk out the door and then they brought in significantly

worse options and then paid those guys right and then yep i mean this this deadline was the final nail in the coffin in my opinion for Hexol where it's like you finally rid yourself of some of these self-inflicted errors right like you get someone to take on brock mcgin's deal you you get caspari cap an claimed and shed his entire salary which you paid for just this past summer and then you turn around and just devote that to michael grandland who gave them one goal in five points and 20 games and about as about his listless a performance as you're ever going to see like he may as well have not even showed up in Pittsburgh at the deadline. Yeah, signed for two more years, by the one.

Like to actively go out and get that player. And this is the classic thing of like, ask any hockey writer. Oh, should I trade for Michael Granlin? And, you know, if they're paying any attention at all, they're going to be like, no. What? It's not that hard. Like, I don't, this is what, you know, what we talk about when we talk about like the 200 hockey men, you know, Like they just, he must have made a decision that Michael Branlin was good like four years ago when never checked back in it.

There's no other explanation for that transaction. Well, and that's, and it's not even. They cleared, they cleared cap space to get him. Yeah. Insane. And I gave up a second round pick to take on his contract. Like if anything, it would have been like the pet predators give you a second to, to clear $5 million in commitments the next two years. I don't, it's not an analytics thing, right?

This is like anyone that's watched hockey. Watch a game. Yeah. Is it like a pro scouting? flaw because I doubt that Ron Hextall himself was tuning into Predators games to check out how Michael Granlin was looking. I'm sure there's people to work below him that were giving him advice to do so. I don't know. Did you just go rogue all of a sudden? I was like, you know what? I've always wanted to acquire Michael Granin. Maybe. Who knows? I don't know how much of Tommy had there. But I

that's the problem for me here. And that's why I push back. I've seen people also blame Mike Sullivan, right? It's been years since this penguin's team has come through in big moments and all this stuff. and they keep losing to teams, they should theoretically beat. And I do have a bit of time for that argument because it's like, yes, they've certainly lost along the way

to teams that you would have thought they would have been favorites against. At the same time, all of these names are talking about, Granlin, like, oh, every player they brought in their bottom six

is not a Mike Sullivan player. And so that makes me think that there has been some sort of growing divide between management and coaching where I just refuse to believe that these are guys that Michael Sullivan was like,

I really want to have this guy because I feel like I can, using like Michael Granlin hasn't for checked in years and that's a staple of a Mike Sullivan system. So I just, there's a massive disconnect there. And so I'm curious what's going to happen there because it certainly seems like Hextall and Burke will be gone. I mean, Frank Sarvelli put out a piece today. And when the knives come out like that, like he was not holding back at all in terms of like some of the stuff he was saying about like Hextall's whiffs along the way and then noting his seven year NHL GM track record and like pulling out all of these stats, that's a, that's a

clear indication that it's a matter of time here, right? It's over. He's not doing that for someone who's going to be giving him intel at this summer in terms of what he's going to do with his penguins team. So that's clear. And I'm fine with that. And so I do think if they're going to go that route, they're probably going to keep Mike Sullivan because they just gave him an extension.

And it seems like if you bring into GM who's more in line with the coach, there's probably something to do there as opposed to if you decide to clear house completely and get rid of Mike Sullivan, I don't think he's going to. to go a single day without a job. Like, I can take up three or four teams that should be immediately calling him. So I'm kind of curious to see how that develops as well. Yeah. And the thing, like you say, they signed them to an extension.

Yeah, it kicks in after next season. So they're not going to can the coach and then pay him for four years, you know, or like to do the buyout of four years of contract, basically. So, like, if it's a disconnect with the coach and, and Hextall, you know, that that speaks to the, the cap and thing, too, where it's like, well, we just signed this guy. Turns out I don't like what he's given me, you know? And it's like, how do you make that decision or make that mistake? Like, how does, how does things change so much in the course of five months or whatever, you know? Yeah. I, I was thinking the flames would be a very, very,

good landing spot for Mike Sullivan if he were let go, right? That seems like personnel-wise, there's a lot of players there that I think would thrive. Like, he would love Andrew Mujapani. And so I'd be curious about that because it does seem like Daryl Sutter also will almost certainly has coached his last Calgary Flames game, right? If he gets bump him through front office or something, that's an entirely different conversation. But I find it hard to believe that he will be coaching the Flames next year based on like the amount of not only questionable decision-making, but like discontent that we've heard reported from key players on his team. Yes.

Yeah. And when it reaches that point, it's like that's probably the last straw. So I don't know. I think that would be a good fit. But yeah, I mean, we got a question in the mailbag of like what you would do if you were running,

if you got handed the car keys basically to the penguins, right? And you were there next GM. Yeah. Ironically enough, the first move is almost certainly buying out Michael Granland after. Yeah, totally. games, but it's like you save $4 million against the cap next year and then three the year after.

I think it's a no-brainer because no one's taking that contract. So there's that and then it's just like begging Jeff Carter to retire because you cannot be paying him $3.125 million next year. So I think those are kind of the first two moves. But then after that, like there's clear you have some cap space, right? You'd have like $25. They have like $20 million. Yeah.

And then if you've made those two moves, certainly. And then the two moves, yeah. Yeah, so you can do that. You need a new goalie, right? You need to replace Jason Zucker, who was good, even if you think he was a bit overpaid in the top six wing, probably had a defenseman, and then just like entirely replace your bottom six.

Like bring in six new players, essentially. Yeah. And I think, I don't know, I still think you push all in the next couple of years. Like I would be trading my first round picks. They should not own any more draft capital for the next couple of years because every decision they've made so far is, all right, we're going to try to maximize this window of Crosby and Malkin,

and that was the biggest failure by this regime, not doing so this year. Yeah, totally. And that's the thing I was saying earlier about, like, there was no way they were ever going to let Malkin and Latang walk, or even one of them walk, because Crosby's like,

you're competing with my friends from work, the entire rest of my contract. Whatever happens after that, that, you know, that can be a different conversation. But he's got two years left, and they were always going to have to sign those guys to be at least vaguely competitive. I want, you know, this is the classic thing. You'd never get a straight answer, but like if you could give them truth serum or whatever and say, like, what do you think happens next year? I really wonder what Crosby has to say about that, you know?

but they're a team kind of like the Calgary Flames and that the state of the roster right now kind of dictates, you know, the rebuild doesn't start anytime soon. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think those guys are playing at too high of a level to seriously consider that. No, for sure. Our pal Adam Grets put together a list on Twitter. I'd highly recommend going on his Twitter feed and checking it out

of every acquisition Ron Hextall's based. in his seven years running the flyers and penguins, both via signing and trade. And like the Ricard Raquel, one last trade deadline was legitimately good. I was, I was a bit worried at the time in terms of how much he had left in the tank, and he was phenomenal for them this year.

Pretty much the only player you could argue was like a good player. And everyone else was what you'd expect. And the lack of, this is what we talk about, right? The lack of ambition and creativity just reeks of every one of those moves. And so I guess if you're coming in and being the Penguins GM, I guess just having a little bit of innovation would go a long way in this case. So that's what I would try to strive for more so than anything. Yeah, no, totally. It's, you know, when they hired him, I was like the guy that built the flyers, you know, because like here's the thing.

Okay, obviously the flyers stink this year, right? but if you're heckstall, what you point to of like what I had success with is he drafted a lot of guys who were supposed to be the future of the flyers. Maybe they didn't all work out and that you can say that it's a development thing or a coaching thing or whatever. But like he drafted a lot of guys that two years ago, everybody was like, oh, you should be a good NHL player for quite a while, you know?

And how are you going to do that if you're the GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins? Like they were not in the same spot as the Flyers were. You know, like they didn't have the kind of, we need to draft a bunch of guys who are going to be good in the league in three years. You know, they've been in going for it mode since 2013, let's say. You know, like we've got to really sit down and figure this out. And so for like a decade, they've been trying to win the Stanley Cup and not worried at all about first round picks, really.

You know, and so you don't bring in Hextall, a guy who's only thing he did well was draft guys pretty well, you know? I felt like this was always going to be a disaster. And then obviously like Brian Burke being the guy at the top of the pyramid was like, oh, what year is this? Oh, okay. Great. Yeah. Yeah, which was like exemplified by like when they acquired Jeff Carter, he actually played well for them right after acquisition. But then like for a bit, yeah.

And we're loading him with a two-year deal, which now they're paying. which now they're suffering for is like the classic of like this is where it could go wrong. I guess are the biggest losers here like the flyers because in this entire conversation I was thinking it's like all right, their last two GMs were Chuck Fletcher and Rod Hextall like two of the most in over their head GMs that I can remember other than I guess Jim Benning from the past like 10 years of NHL hockey. I guess we should throw in a Paul Fenton as well. But yeah, it's like a short list of guys that just like were.

so ill-equipped to handle the responsibilities of that job and being given the car keys to important NHL organizations. Yeah. So not ideal. All right. Anything else on the Penguins or do you want to move on to some of the listener questions we got? Let's do the questions. All right.

Kevin here asks a fun one. What would your plan be for next year for Sabres goalies and Devon Levi? So you're pretty familiar with Levi having covered college hockey. recently. I guess so how aggressive would you be is the question here, right? Because the Sabres this year were unequivocally, it was a home run season for them. They fell short of the playoffs, but they were playing meaningful, competitive games with the season on the line well into April.

They just recently got eliminated. They were the most fun team in the league to watch for a significant part of the season. All their players pretty much theoretically at least be this good or better. forward. They have a ton of cap flexibility. They have significant draft capital. They also have one of, if not the best prospect pools in the league because they've drafted so many guys high in the draft the past couple years. So there's an influx of even more talent coming here. How aggressive do you go now? Because I do think next year, like this is the 12th straight year they missed the postseason. There should not be a 13th. Like next year, you go from being a fun story.

You go from being a fun story to like legitimately competing, not for a playoff spot. but maybe not a Stanley Cup, but like being one of the better teams in the league, I think it's pretty clear that should be the goal. Now, obviously you don't want to sacrifice the future to do so, but I do think that should be what you're trying to achieve. Yeah, I'm trying to think who's like a good, um, UFA goalie because, like a veteran guy, obviously,

because, um, you know, I said this in an article I wrote this week. Like you don't enter the season if you're the Sabres with your goalt and intended being Craig Anderson and Eric Comrie. And you're like, and we'll miss the playoff by a couple of points, maybe. You know, like, you're fully invested in. We're not going to be all that close. And the team played well enough to at least get you there. But, you know, when's the last time a rookie goalie got a team into the playoffs?

And as you said, wasn't just like, oh, yeah, they kind of got in a lot. little bit, you know, like, when was the last time a rookie goalie? And a rookie goalie, who, by the way, is under six feet tall, um, did that. It doesn't, it just doesn't happen in the modern NHL. And so I think you need kind of a, like a one A, one B situation, even like I, I really believe Devon Levy can be a legitimate NHL goal tenders. Um, but, you know, you need a one A, one B situation. And so like, am I,

depending on, you know, what he's looking for, am I thinking about an Yelia Samsonov or, or anti-Ront or like Freddie and now I'm just naming God some of hurricanes,

I guess, but I'm, I'm being more aggressive than that. I've given him a lot of thought. Craig Anderson is going to retire, right? I would trade it, Ugo Pekulukinin because

whatever you can get for him, because I believe next year he can't be sent down to waivers. You don't want to have three goalies on your roster the way they had this year. And I don't think he can be the backup, right? Especially if your starters, Levi. I think you can't be wasting valuable points if you're in the position they're in. So I would actually go on the trade market. And, well, first off, I would try to put together a significant godfather offer for UC Soros,

who is 28 years old, has two years left. to five million. The Predators will see how aggressively they're going to rebuild. Like they certainly were massive sellers at the deadline. Barry Trotz is coming in and take over the team. They have Yaroslav Ascarov. I think they could probably be talked into it if you were willing to pay 110 cents in the dollar or whatever room.

But the other one that I think is interesting, Carter Hart. That is interesting. That is interesting. 25, one year left that just under 4 million and then he's an RFA for one year. believe once again if the fires are serious about tearing it down and trading everyone away and properly rebuilding for once um they should at least consider that and i know he's still so young right that it's like it's tough it's a tough pill to swallow but if you're really going to be serious about it and do it properly you have to at least consider it because the sabers do have

the resources to to make it worth your while and so those are the types of goleys that the caliber of goalie that i'll be going for beyond like oh let's bring in camp talbot and maybe he can give us 30 good games. Like I think you do need to aim a bit higher, and I would be comfortable as Levi play 30, 35 games for you next year. But the other guy needs to play like 50. Right. Yeah.

So that, that, my only thing with that is I wonder what they promised Levi in terms of clearing the decks to get him X number of NHL starts. Like if it's 35 and you're going with Soros for the other 50 or whatever. Yeah, then that or what, you know. Yeah.

But, yeah, if it's like 50, 30 or whatever, like with Sorrow, if you can get U.S.C. Soros, who's like a top three or four goalie in the world, then go, then obviously go get them. Sure. Like I said, I was just thinking more along the line. So if they kind of said, like, we'll give you a crack at being like the actual day one starter, that obviously changes the math. That's all.

Sure. But given where the NHL. is headed, like, I think 40 games is fine. Like, most goalies should not be playing significantly more than that. And there's going to be injuries as well. I think, I don't think Devon Levi would be very upset if it was like, hey, we're bringing in UC Soros and he's going to play 47 games and you're going to play 35. I don't, if you're Devin Levi, you're going to be like, this isn't what I signed up.

Or if anything, you'd be like, wow, this is cool. Like, I get to play, share the net with like the best undersized goalie in the league. This is an awesome. That's exactly right. This is a phenomenal situation. We're going to like turn this short king's in net brand into a thing, start selling T-shirts. It's going to be a whole thing.

I would love that. From a branding perspective, it's a no-brainer. I just, again, I just wonder if Nashville does it just because it's, you know. He's so good. He's so good. And they've been very hesitant to give up on like the like, you know, big names in that franchise. You know, they're, they're nibbling around the edges.

a little bit, Maddie Eckholm and Victor Arvinson, you know, whereas if you give up on sorrows, you're really saying to the locals, like, yeah, no, it's going to be rough for the next few years. And as much as Ascarov seems like he's going to be really good. And beyond being one of the best three goalies in the world for years now, he's also like so fan friendly and marketable as well. Likeable. Yeah. And so it's like he is the face of the franchise now. It's like, as much as I love Philip Forsberg and Yossi, It's like UC Soros has been the natural predators. And so if he's not on the team anymore, that's an entirely different landscape you're dealing with.

But Askerob also, everything I've seen from him in the HL, he seems like he's going to be a gem from a marketing perspective as well. So I don't think there's necessarily a wrong way to go about it. But yeah, it's fascinating. I think, you know, the Sabres have been very careful about like managing expectations here and sort of slow playing this, right? like this deadline, their big move was bringing in Jordan Greenway, who the coach really likes, and they paid a second or whatever for it. It wasn't anything extreme. But there does come a point where you have a couple chances to really push your chips in and call your shot and go for a home run swing when you're in the position they're in. And so like timing those and nailing those

is going to be key to turning this into like from a fun story that everyone's rooting for to becoming one of the preeminent franchises in the league. And I think that's within the realm of possibility. I don't want to put the cart before the horse here and get carried away. But there's like so much to like about the current situation that I want to see them maximize it. And I don't know, maybe trading for a goalie isn't the way to go about it because you and I both are pretty pretty on the fence about like how much you can trust that and how much of a difference it can make. But I think Soros is one of the few guys that I'd be willing to invest in. Yeah, like I said, top three or four, easy last few years.

So if you're going to trade for a goalie, that's the guy to get for sure. Yeah. You know? Okay, Ryan, let's take our break here. And then when we come back, we'll power through some other listener questions. So looking forward to that. You were listening to the Hockey-Pedio cast streaming on the Sports Night Radio Network. Everything Canucks before and after the games.

Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, welcome back to the Hockipedio cast, joined here by Ryan Lamber. We're doing some listener questions. RL, here's the first one from Pablo. Which team is ripe for an upset this postseason? So let's go with it as like purely round one. Which favorite do you think, especially based on seating, I guess, is most likely to be,

to be upset by a team below them? Do you want me to give you mind? Yeah, go first. Very, very, very obvious one. Yeah. Too obvious. It's so obvious that it scares me and makes me think that it's not going to happen. The Carolina Hurricanes.

Sure. Since the Svechnakov injury, it's been a full month of hockey now. They are 8, 8, and 1. And in that time, they are tied for 29th in goals per hour with Anaheim Ducks. Only the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators are scoring goals less frequently than them. Now they certainly have the defensive environment to. win games even when that's the case. But if they're going to play around one series against the New York Islanders,

the shot totals in those games are going to be absolutely hilarious. They're going to be like 45 to 22 every game. And people are going to be like, how is this happening? The hurricanes are so unlucky. And the Islanders are going to win at least a couple of games in that series, if not potentially be there for an upset because it's just a horrible matchup from that perspective. going up against Dalia Sorokin. And I've been so out on the hurricanes this year because as, you know,

it's clear like this works in the regular season. They've won a ton of games. It's been a successful year for them. But I think we've seen the issues with playing the way they play in the playoffs. And I'm kind of done being surprised every year when that happens. And I'm so I'm so vocally in on that that I feel like this is the year they're going to finally break through because I'm like finally getting the stones to just. just like go in on that take.

They're finished, yeah. Yeah, because even last year, right? I remember like you and I, we had our Jack Fraser on with us and we were doing like a preview and we're talking and they won that series against the Bruins, but it was like, oh, like, you know, this team is really good. Like, look at all these underlying numbers that suggest that they're the best team in the league and there's a flaw in offensively the way they play.

And against elite goaltenders, it's going to be an issue. Now, if Islanders have enough supporting talent to actually score. enough goals themselves to win those games is a different conversation, but eventually they're going to run into a team that has a combination of a really good goalie and awesome skaters, and it's going to happen. So I think they're kind of my pick, and it might be an obvious one, but that's the one I've got. Yeah. You know, I was all, I was going to say, not along similar lines, but certainly in the same,

in the same division, like New Jersey is a team, like the vibes are great. but they haven't been like unbelievable for the last several games, I would say. And also you want to talk about a team where you're like, ooh, the goal tend to get catch up with them. Like that is the number one concern I would have, especially if they draw the Rangers where it's like, okay, now you have to score Cisirkin. Like, that's going to be tough.

And, you know, I don't know how much of an upset it is for like, I guess it depends on where they've got it. Obviously, New Jersey could jump Carolina tonight. And then they draw whoever finishes first or ahead in the Islanders, Florida thing. But, you know, like there's just a lot moving around in the Eastern Conference. So I'll go to the West. And I will say, as much I said on Pucks 2 the other day, I think this is the team to beat in the Western Conference.

and yet would I be shocked to see them go out in the first round if they have to play the Los Angeles Kings? The Edmonton Oilers would be, would be, you know, I just wouldn't be surprised if it happened, that's all. As good as they're playing, like, I don't know that anybody's playing better than them lately, right? Like, they're so good. In a very sustainable way for ones too, right? Yep, totally. And it's not just since they got Echholm, which obviously everybody's been talking about for a little while now. like the sad I saw the other day

was they have eight regulation losses since Christmas break Wow you know and like But with with that having been said In a seven game series against the Kings I feel like that would almost be a bigger hurdle than whoever Like you know if they play Vegas Or you know in the second round of that of that bracket you know So that that's my

answer, but it is contingent on them playing the Kings and not Seattle or whatever. Yeah, that's a, I mean, that's a brutal draw. And I think I could see that just, and that's a vote of confidence on the Kings. That's not anything against the Oilers, because I, that's exactly right. They've been playing phenomenally.

They've basically, they've answered every question we've like ever had about them, right? Like, their defensive stats are all significantly better. They're winning the minutes without Connor McDavid on the ice. Leandro I say it was carrying his own line at 5-1-5.

Like every single thing when we've been like, well, this team's scoring a lot on the power play. But I don't know, these things worry me about them when they play a really good team in the playoffs. They're doing every single one of those things now. And yet it's going to be seven coin flips against the Kings. And that's brutal. That sucks. Yeah. And they play a very annoying style.

And they never take their foot off the gas pedal. And there's going to be no easy minutes in that series. So that's a brutal matchup. I think like similar to what I said about Carolina, I'm very skeptical about Vegas. They're like almost a carbon copy in the West because their defensive system has been really good under Bruce Cassidy. I still, we've seen them in the playoffs in the past and I haven't seen anything this year that makes me more confident that they can generate really good chances against good teams when they get into those games. And so if they're playing Winnipeg, I think they're the superior team. but against Connor Hallibuck, I could kind of see them tripping up in round one,

even though they're going to be a heavy favorite in that series. Sure. That would be my pick as well. But yeah, it's tough to think of beyond, I guess, whoever plays Boston. Like that's going to be a massive – Yeah, of course. That's going to be a massive betting spread in terms of them being a favorite. For the most part, all these other ones should not be that divisive, though,

because – or I guess they should be divisive because, like, you could really make a very reasonable case for either team in the series. Let me ask you this somewhat related to the overall question here. Which team, if you're the Bruins, would you want to face less, the Islanders of the Panthers? I did this yesterday with our pal Matt Porter. Oh, okay. I think I land on the Islanders because. Yeah, they have a goalie, right?

No, I mean, I'd be more okay playing the Islanders, I think. Oh, okay. I don't know. like the panthers do scare me a little bit i i understand all the issues with that team with a lack of depth with some of the players they're relying on with the goaltending situation all that but they do still have a significant amount of firepower and sure they do it would just going up against kachuk and barkov and for hagi would just not would give me a little bit of pause right whereas against the islanders they're i kind of know what that series is going to look

like they're going to just dump it in every time the brunons now unlike two years ago have the defenseman to beat that for a check and get the puck out of the zone. And once they do so, I think their depth is just going to pummel the Islanders. So I think Islanders have fewer ways, I guess, to beat the Bruins or fewer concerns for me. But I don't know, neither one's certainly a pushover. Like I thought, if it had been the Penguins, that would have been my preference because I think they certainly would have just destroyed them in four games. But both of these teams at least give you a little bit of pause.

yeah although i what's your answer to that i think i think i'd rather play florida just because like the boston bruin's going up against alex lion feels like it's a it's a it's a pretty uh it's certainly preferable to uh you know playing ilis sorokin that's all yeah like syroquin sarokin is like the goalie in the league right now that i'd be like oh he'll steal a series

if any goal he's going to do it, it will be him, you know? So. Yeah, well, now that's UC Soros isn't making the playoffs. I think that's exactly right. That would mean my pick as well. Okay. Here's the next one then for you. I'm pulling up the listener questions here.

I mean, we got so many fun ones to choose from that I want to pick wisely. Okay, which easy chatter asked, which playoff team from this year is least likely to make the playoffs next year. Least likely. So I guess the pick would have to be between the islanders and the Jets, right? I guess maybe you can make the case for the Cracken as well if you just want to see. I was going to say Seattle wouldn't be, you know, maybe at the, the Jets is a very interesting one just because so much could change this summer with their roster.

And they do still have obviously like one of the great goalies in the world. so that always is going to help you look better than you are as the predators, right? Whereas Seattle, it's like, boy, they really feel like they just had a shooting percentage here. And I'm not saying they didn't play well or whatever, but like they got to 100 points. I don't think anybody had that written down as a real possibility, right? So they seem like a regression candidate. And then the Islander is like, yeah, sure. but again, like, they have the elite goalie

who is always going to make them look better than they are, you know? Let's work with this way. The Islanders finished with the same points percentage as the Calgary Flames, you know? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think that's a bad thing

if you're talking about them in terms of, you know, they got there They got there with a great goalie, but I think for them at least you would say, well, the goalie should still be great, and a full year of Bo Horvett and Matt Barz altogether

should help as well. Right. That's all. Yeah. Yeah, I think those are the obvious three. You know, we're not trying to trick anybody with this one. Well, no, I guess you could make the question, you could make the point, though, like in the metro.

So assuming a competent GM comes into Pittsburgh, they're going to be better next year. Although I guess you'd be betting against Crosby and Malkins' health, which is not the most unreasonable thing in the world. But I was just thinking like them and the capitals, it seems like neither of those teams are necessarily going to willingly lay down next season. So the Metro is going to be tough. But it's true for every division.

The NHL is good right now. It is. The bottom of it, right? Some of the teams are at the bottom are a joke right now. And I think a lot of that is just because Connor Bedard is so special. this draft is so highly regarded. But for the most part, beyond Arizona, just because I think everyone is like skeptical

that they're ever going to spend enough money as currently constituted to actually be a real NHL franchise. Yeah, they're not. So these teams at least have a path to being exciting and having some good young players within the next year. Having a Sabres style season. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Although I guess the Blackhawks, unless they get badard, they just have torn it down so much that they just have like, they're literally starting from the absolute bottom. Yeah. It's going to take them a while to build it up. But even like Columbus, if they get Godard or Fintilly, they've drafted a bunch of young defensemen that could conceivably come in and play next year. Like it wouldn't be that stunning to see them be competent.

Like they were a joke defensively this year. And so I'd expect them to be better next year. I don't know. Maybe I guess San Jose is still so far away. So I guess San Jose and Chicago are the two kind of exceptions here. Yeah. I thought we were just talking about the Eastern Conference. It's like, no, anybody in the East, basically, like, it wouldn't surprise me if they took a, maybe Philly would surprise me a little bit if they took a decent size step next season.

But, like, you know, Detroit feels like they're a player three away. Ottawa, the same thing. Obviously, we talked about Buffalo. And even Montreal, like, if they can get everybody healthy and, you know, obviously stop tanking this next season. You could see them having the building blocks of something at least interesting, if not actually good. Yeah, I agree with that. Jacob Underwood asks, why do you think league's 8 percentage is down from 915 to 904? I think that's a less interesting part of this question.

The more interesting part is, or I guess he said over the last decade. And should we value truly elite goleys more than we do? That the last part is an important part of that question for me because I think the answer is yes. Yeah, I mean, I think, again, like I've said it a few times now. There are just like a handful of guys who were like clearly this guy's going to be like a 920-something goalie in a league where the same percentage keeps going down, down, right? Like Saros Hellebuck, Sorokin, Shasturkin, are probably like the four guys. Is there anybody I'm missing? That's like, oh, no, that guy's like a layup to be one of the five or six best goalies in the league every year.

Helibach Shosturkin, Sorokin, Sorokin, and Soros. Sorokin and Saros, yeah. Yeah, Vasilevsky. Basilevsky, sure. Yeah, of course. I would add, I would add Audinger to that list. It's been such a short period. Looks like it's trending in that direction for sure.

He hasn't shown us anything, I guess, yet to believe that it's not going to happen, although I would have probably said something about Thatcher Demko along those lines last year or two years ago as well. And he took a little step back. But yeah, yeah, the list is short. And I think part of it is, right, you're completely right there are lack of confidence in the projectability of the position. But if you know that this guy is going to be at that level or somewhere around that, as everyone around him gets worse and less effective, that makes them more valuable.

And so I completely agree with that. I do think we need to kind of put more emphasis on the elite goalies being much more valuable than we sort of lead on because we just generally sort of like throw our hands up in the air and go, oh, complete random list. And then there's five or six guys where it's, it's not random that they're really good every year. So. Yeah.

And it's funny because I think, you know, we were talking about Florida, but then giving Vobrovsky that contract feels like it scared everybody off of really investing in goaltending. And then I think it's, Hello Buck is the first one of the like handful of guys we just mentioned who's up soon. And like, I think it's after next season,

right? his his like six and change deal ends and you know how do you not give hell a buck at least what nine million dollars especially if the cap goes up significantly you know and he'll be the first goalie in a while to warrant that kind of money like obviously I think we all thought the the Brodsky thing was a long-term overpay but in the short term I think we all kind of thought Oh, he could deliver on that and then he didn't, you know? So I do wonder about that. But yeah, I think that there are, again, six goalies maybe where it's like, yeah, break out the checkbook, whatever he wants.

It's fine by me. Okay. Socialist Hockey Guy asks, would like to hear some pitches on who the bandwagon team this year should be for neutral fans? It's a good question. It is a good question. it has to be, I think, between the devils. Sure. I mean, the devils are the most fun team,

although if you've been listening to the show, you probably would have jumped on the bandwagon at the start of the year. That's what I was going to say. Less dirty about it. Yeah, that feels like it's almost not even a bandwagon at this point. It's just everybody going, yeah, they're pretty cool. Yeah, it's just like, oh, Jack Hughes, Jasper Brad, and he goes here. Yeah, I like these guys.

Yeah. Yeah, these guys are awesome. It's kind of like jumping on the, on the avalanche like two years ago or whatever. That's right. Maybe the, oh, man. Do I circle back to the Kings on this one? Yeah, but see, I think you should be training for the Oilers.

Yeah, no, I totally. Not only is, like, think about the run McDavid was on last year, right? Like, that was not only so cool, but very important for the sport. But also they should be rewarded for, doing smart stuff that actually made the team better now. Like if it was purely a power play thing and I was still like, oh man, there are like 47% expected goals here at 5-1-5.

This is all a joke. I wouldn't be seeing that tune. But I think in this case, it's like there's actually a lot of smart things to root for as well. So I don't know. But yeah, maybe whoever wins that series, that should be your team your churn for in the West.

Yeah. So I guess I'll do a preemptive plug right now on Saturday I will be publishing I did basically they were like what are you got for us for like a fun way to look at the the you know like preview the playoffs a little bit and I said what if it's like it would my idea was it would be cool if these guys won

that that will be the pitch like ranking those teams one through 16th that's literally what this question is yeah no so my answer for that again like I just don't know if this is like a bandwagon thing just because like they're a really good team and they've been recognized as such for like most of the year is the Dallas Stars. Not to give away the article, but like I love this Dallas Stars team. I think they're so cool. You know, they got a couple of the classic old guy without a cup. And they got Jay Gottinger who we love

and Heiskenen and Robertson. So like there's just a lot there for us to, yeah, exactly. And the other thing is, you know, everyone, what's the knock on Pete DeVore? Well, he gets really close to winning the cup in the first year and then he doesn't do anything close to that ever again. Wouldn't it be nice for DeVore to win the cup final? Yeah, that would be cool.

So I guess my answer is Dallas. But again, like is that bandwagon to say like, oh, one of the best teams in the, in the, leave you should root for them to win the Stanley Cup. I don't I don't think they're not necessarily thought of that way though even though that's kind of what the standings would reflect. I still I don't think necessarily people have caught on to that but if you especially if you look a little bit under the hood like

they've been winning a lot of games this year very handily like oh they're even smacking teams around and so I would love it if they weren't playing Ryan Souter on the top pair for some reason but yeah I like that all in the best part of that, I think on the pizza burr note would be he has the exact same facial expression at all times regardless of what's happening. And it's kind of one of mild concern. It's like someone messing up, messing up his Starbucks order or someone taking his drink and him thinking it might be his. And so even if they won the cup, I'm sure the camera would pan over and he would have that

exact same look on his face. So that would be a nice note of unintentional comedy on his part. Yeah, no, I think that's a really good pick. Okay, one final question here. it. Nicholas asks, do you think, and if so, in what way, did Brent Burns' exit from San Jose affect Carlson's epic season? Now, I don't really want to do a whole Eric Carlson thing here. We've done it many times. Clearly, the circumstances helped him for both good, I guess, open the door for this and also there were some drawbacks that affected it as well. I think the way I read this initially though was how they retained money and basically gave Burns to Carolina this season right and then Burns has this awesome season playing with Jacob Slavin on the top era and revitalizes his career after a few down years. The fact that they're retaining on him now and then that happened I do think is kind of playing a part in why they seem to be drawing this really aggressive line in the sand of like how much money they're willing to retain on Carlson and any trade they make and why it didn't happen.

at this year's deadline. I do think that's kind of part of this. Yeah. The thing that like just jumps off the page for you if you, you know, watch the sharks a lot this year is, is that like he started getting way more power play time and became more focal point on the power play. That's it. That's literally it. Well, he does everything for them. Yeah, no, for sure. That's what I'm saying.

And that wasn't the case. know, the previous plan with Brent Burns as the trigger man or whatever you want to say on the, on the Sharx Power Play is, give it to him, he's going to shoot it really hard. You know, he has, it says here, 26 points on the power play this season. Last year he had 10 and no goals. So I think that probably has a huge amount to do with that, honestly. Well, and on the one hand, like the fact that he clearly is just like trying to create everything and taking chances because the team sucks. It doesn't matter.

He has to do it however you want to frame it. Is helping with some of the point totals, right? Like he's he's not even trying at times to defend and that's allowing him to be in situations where he can maybe like push the envelope a little bit to create more offensively. at the same time though I have a hard time believing that pretty much any other player like maybe kale McCar any other defenseman you could put in this position and he could lead the league in even strength scoring

or five on five points or whatever he leads in and have 100 plus points from this position with this cast of characters around him yeah like people are making it be like oh well you could put any defenseman in this spot and if they don't have to worry about defending and going back on d and exerting energy there they could do this it's like I don't think they could I think what no I totally agree

he's created some of these it's like him drawing attention from four guys on the other team and then hitting some fourth liner for a easy tap in and it's like that's pretty cool regardless of what he's doing on the other end how about this this season he set a career high in assists per 60

at five on five this is a guy who won what two norruses before and was like seen as all this is like an all offense defenseman. Yeah, he doubled his five-on-five assists for 60 from last season. Doubled it. Unreal. Yeah.

Yeah, he rocks. He's so cool. Definitely does. All right, R.L. This is a blast. I'll let you plug some stuff. Let the listeners know where they can check you out and where they can find that piece that you talked about in terms of rooting interest for the playoffs.

Yeah, E.P.Ringside.com. You know, got a lot of good stuff going on over there. as Dimitri will definitely tell you. And also my podcast is Puck Soup. If you all listen to that, great. And if you don't, I don't really want to hear about it. Awesome, Ed. Yeah, I will have some playoff previews as well on the appearing side

and we'll be covering the full postseason there extensively. So if you haven't hopped on board yet, highly recommend doing that. Smash that five-star button wherever you listen to show to help us out. And we'll be back with more of the Hockey Pia. So thank you for listening to us here. on the Sports Night Radio Network.