The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Jamie Benn Returns, NHL Free Agency Fallout, and Trade Rumours ft. Brian Burke & David Pagnotta

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

On today’s episode of The Sheet with Jeff Marek, Jeff is joined by Brian Burke to break down a wild week across the NHL following July 1st Free Agency. Jeff and Burkie recap the biggest signings, trades, and roster moves from around the league, including Jamie Benn returning to the Dallas Stars on a new contract, the latest surrounding Jason Robertson’s future in Dallas, and what could still be coming as the NHL offseason continues. Then, Dave Pagnotta of Daily Faceoff and The Fourth Period joins the show to dive deeper into the NHL rumour mill, recapping everything that happened during a busy week of movement and looking ahead at what moves could be next. Dave shares the latest on potential trades around the league, whether Morgan Rielly could still be on the move, the ongoing Jason Robertson situation, Claude Giroux’s future, and what the Edmonton Oilers have done and could still do to improve their roster. Plus, Jeff and Zack discuss James Dolan handing off day-to-day responsibilities to his son, what it means for the future of the New York Rangers, and more NHL offseason headlines.#TheSheet #NHL #Hockey #NHLOffseason #NHLFreeAgency #Flyers #DallasStars #NYRSHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Canadian Blood Services: https://www.blood.ca/Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!#NHL #TheSheet #JeffMarek #DavidPagnotta #TorontoMapleLeafs #LeafsForever #JosephWoll #SamuelErsson #EmilAndrae #PhiladelphiaFlyers #VegasGoldenKnights #JohnTortorella #CHL #DanMacKenzie #MemorialCup #HockeyReach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Flames_Nation🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And hello, welcome once again to the program, finishing up an impressive and busy week. Hart Levine, the Capshark from Puckpedia putting out an interesting tweet a couple of moments ago. Almost a billion dollars has been spent slash committed going back to July 1st in the opening window of free agency. So when you asked me whether it would be above or below, whatever the number was, and I said, I'll take the under. Boy, could I have been, I could not have been more wrong, Zach. I could not have been more wrong. Dave Pango is going to stop by. DFO Insider from the fourth period.

We'll stop by here. A little bit later on, we'll talk about amongst other things, Clod Giroux, Tyler and Hutz were talking about this on DFO Live. It does sound as if there is mutual interest from both the player and the team with Clod Jeru and the Edmonton Oilers. We'll see where that ends up. In the meantime, I'm going to ask Brian Burke if he has a favorite hockey nickname, current or past. Let's get Brian aboard, who

I believe is dressed like he's going to Hawaii, but he's actually in Calgary for Stampede. Is that true, Berkey? Yes, we're off to the rodeo here a little bit. Do you have the cowboy boots? Do you have the big belt buckle? What do you have? I know you get the Hawaiian shirt on.

I have two pairs of really good cowboy boots, but these are being replaced. It's really hard to get the out and off, so I'm wearing sketches. You're the best, Berkey, I swear. It's so good to see you. And I saw you on Sunday as well.

And I want to get to that, the Luke Procop documentary that we were both attending. And you went up on stage and had some wonderful things to talk about and say about that documentary and that young man and your wardrobe, too. We're going to get to that in a second. But before we get to the week that was around free agency and trades, my favorite nickname right now in the NHL, is Eric Howla, whose nickname is Howla Fama. I think it was probably one of those nicknames that you give yourself. I'm going to guess that Eric Howla probably gave himself the Howla Fama nickname. But are you comfortable yet when people say, here he is Hall of Famer, Brian Burke?

No, I'm not used to it. I'm still getting used to it. It's wonderful rain. I'm sure I'll enjoy it. But right now it's still waiting to go ahead and find someone else. Burkey, this was a wild week. As I mentioned off the top, Hart Levine putting you up the tweet and he documents all of this at Parkpedia.

A billion to almost a billion dollars spent so far. We'll pass this today or tomorrow or some point this weekend. But I know that the salary cap has been lubricated this offseason. I get it. The free agent class isn't what many thought it was one year ago. But again, managers. are not shy about spending right now, almost a billion going back to Wednesday,

to which Brian Burke says what? Well, I expected a big surge. I'm not sure I expected a billion dollars to be spent, but I'm not surprised by this at all. He had a lot of pent-up free agency, or no free agencies, a lot of pent-up demand, and a lot of money priming the pump,

and it was designed or almost guaranteed to result in a big spending spree. But I didn't expect this one. Yeah, this one's been interesting. And, you know, there's a couple that are, you know, trickling in here today. Vinnie LaTerry signs with the, the Toronto Maple Leafs, an $850,000 cap hit there. It's a one-way deal. Manhankinson, the agent, Nolan Foote, a one-year two-way deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

So we're getting at this point now where there's been the big signings. There's still some that are out there. and we think about perhaps Anthony Mantha topping that list. I mentioned Claude Giroux. There is interest from the Oilers. I do believe the player is interested as well. As well, we'll stand by to see where that goes.

But like, from your experience, what's happening right now? Is this like a lull before the next wave of big signings amongst the free agents that are still out there? The biggies? Well, I think that is a lull. But I think what the push here is the pressure on teams to make the playoffs. that haven't made it is greater than it's ever been. We're teams who are expected to advance beyond the first round

and were eliminated. The pressure is greater than it's ever been. And that's why it's the third fact. But one is the lack of free agents, two is the amount of money. And three is the pressure the GMs are under now has never been more. And the pressure, and you feel it in all the games. I mean, we've used the stereotype before. There's no such thing as an 82, soon-to-be 84-game schedule.

It is 84 one-game schedules as it exists now. Okay, Toronto Maple Leafs. We were talking about this yesterday. Is it movement or is it motion? We're not sure. We'll see when the puck hits the ice in October. Brobrovsky, Roslovick, Blugher, Duhame, McEwan, Nick Paul, Colton, Sizzins. This goes along with the first overall draft pick and the number one D they picked up a week

and a half ago. Having a look at what Toronto did, Berkey, what do you think? I'm impressed because I think each of those players provides a very specific need. I think it fills a very specific vacuum for the Leaps. So Do Ham is good at one thing. Rossi makes good at another. Add some toughness. I think it's really a well-done job.

And I'm not a big, I don't know John Tucker that well, but I'm impressed with him, day one when he started. I'm impressed with what he's done. It's, I mean, right now you look at it and you say, volume and you look at all the players and like I look at all these guys and I'm like yeah I really like these players is there not a concern and I've said before like the schedule maker can do the maple leafs are real solid here if they book like a 10 game road trip to kick off the season because these guys haven't played with one another and haven't been around one another when

you start out a season with a bunch of new faces it's tough 23 guys and 23 ubers it's hard to gel What do you do when you bring in this many players all at once, Berkey, as the Toronto Maple Leafs are poised to do here? You're getting around the road right away or stop some type of training camp event where you go away to Parksville or, you know, Huntsville or someplace close by, where the players have to be on their own for a day or two of home. But these aren't kids. These are all guys in five or six years ago.

They'll lend in a lot easier than a bunch of kids will. It's an interesting time. The one thing that we've been following as well, outside of following the signings and the trades, is the drama and how public things have become. Like we saw dueling statements from Don Waddell and Zach Wrenski over a trade that went nowhere with the Dallas stars believed to be Thomas Harley going back the other way in a one-for-one deal.

Both sides putting out statements sort of recommitting or restating their vows to one another, a second marriage of sorts. How did you read the Werencki situation that became so public so quick? Well, I think Werenstis is going to be the thing that spurs some type of activity on this type of activity where players who were committed to long-term deals, then demand the trade. I think the reason to have to do something now. I felt up until now there are isolated instances.

It's clear it's concerned here, in my opinion. I think the Warnski thing is going to be the tipping point. But you can see, anyone else does not issue statements. He, he's mind his own business. He's a quiet guy, very professional.

You'll tell. He's sour, big time sour. Well, the other thing about it, too, is, like, this has been the story going back to when, you know, Doug McLean was managing the team. Like, the history here is players leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets. That's why, you know,

getting, you know, the late Johnny Godreau was such a coup for Columbus because here's a high-end, elite-level player, not just in the NHL, but on the international stage as well, who's saying, I want to play in Columbus. Like, the story has always been who's leaving. And here's Johnny Goodrow saying, no, I'm choosing to be here. I'm a superstar and I want to be here. Like at some point, I can feel Don Waddell's frustration. That story has to end or else it's not going to end very well for Columbus.

It makes no sense. There's a wonderful place to live. I remember when Todd Marchant came to us in Anaheim, I said, you must be really excited to come to Newport Beach. He said, Berkey, we loved Columbus. We loved it there. They had a huge house, big yard, safe schools. It's a great place to live and a great place to play.

That's why the narrative has to change there. They've got to win some games first. Right. And they can't take a step back in whatever deal they make here, and we'll see what happens with, Elmarchenko, we'll see what happens with Zach Werenski. I still, I'm wondering about all of this, Berke, I'll be honest with you. I'm wondering about all of this from a fan's perspective.

Like, let's just say Zawrenski does make it through the summer. I'm skeptical about that, but let's say that he does. Game one at nationwide, what's the reception going to be? I mean, it's all out there. Like, everything's out there. And there was no commitment in the statement to stay past the two years of his contract. I don't know that it's that it's not already too late and something needs to be done with Werenzky and Columbus.

Well, usually they use metal detectors when they come into the building. They'll be checking for right through in Columbus. Overranked tomatoes lettuce. He'll get a very poor reception. My guess is down you'll figure something out. This will be resolved before a training camp. If not, it's going to be really tough for that. Jamie Ben resigns with the Dallas Stars one-year contract.

It's a league minimum with bonuses. He gets up to two. Captain of the team, long-time leader. I want to use this for a jump-off point for a discussion with Jason Robertson because that situation continues. I know that there were players that called Jason Robertson over the last little while to say, hey, like, we're a good team. $12 million is a lot.

That's a lot of money. Like $12 million in Texas goes a lot further if you're in Ottawa or whether you're in Seattle or whether you're in, you know, wherever other teams that were interested in St. Louis. Like, it's a good salary. We're a good team. We're close to being a Stanley Cup team. What are you doing here? Does someone like Jamie Ben coming back move the needle at all for a player like Jason Robertson? Or are these two things mutually exclusive? They're mutually exclusive for me because it was clear to me that Jamie Ben was always coming back at some point. Jim Noah has been so public about it.

As long as I'm here, he's going to be here. He's a captain's a great kid. So I think it was always going to happen. I don't think it was always going to happen. I don't think these players respond to pressure from teammates. I think they were to point out when they're gone to their agent and said, I'm ready to play this card. He says, you're ready to go all the way.

You're ready to get the rotten fruit and all the people booing you in the phone calls? Right. And when you play back in Dallas, we're going to get booed. You ready for that? Yeah, I'm ready for that. I'm ready for that. You know, the, it seems like both sides here are stuck on two numbers. Like, I'm always curious, like, what do you do when the team is stuck on one number and the player is stuck on another?

Now, he does have arbitration rights. Like, all of this could just go to arbitration and then they could trade him or they could trade him now. Or they could just, you know, he can go to arbitration. They could just eat the number and go through the season with Jason Robertson and then watch him walk away. If you're Jim Nill now, Berkey, what are you doing in Dallas? Well, I don't know. I don't think they're dug in pretty good. I think it's going to go somewhere else now.

I think it's a case of where they're dug in too deep. I can't see either side moving at this point. So I think he's going to go somewhere else. We shall stand by. It'll keep the summer interesting. You mentioned needing to do something about this idea about, you know, players negotiating their way out of, out of, out of town. Whether it's Ottawa with Brady Kachuk, we'll see about Conrad Halibuck in Winnipeg,

Dylan Larkin with Retreat Red Wings, almost and perhaps soon to be again, Zach Wrenski in Columbus. This is something, and you've been there for these meetings, this is something that's collectively bargained. It's not just a matter of the NHL saying, well, that's it for no trades. Like, no trades go back to, I looked this up a while ago, no trades go back to 1923 with King Clancy. King Clancy was the first player in the National Hockey League with the Ottawa Senators having no-trade.

1923 was written on the side of his contract that he cannot be moved or sold or nothing can be done with King Clancy and this contract. It flared up with Daryl Sittler, as you'll recall, who didn't want to go to the Minnesota North Stars. He wanted to stay with Toronto. We've seen the no-trade issue come up before, but now it seems as if it is more of an issue than it's ever been. But it's not as if the NHTAL can just wave this away. This has to be bargained, Berkey. It has to be a tough negotiation because it's very important to the players. Here's the answer.

The answer is don't give out full, no trade, no moves. Only one player in 100 should get in a closet guy, one on every team, one out of 32 maybe. So those other guys are giving them out too. They're giving out like movie passes. It's too easy to get a no trade. Put a list on. Put an 8-team, no-fly zone or a 10-team no-fries-one. and don't get full-no trade.

No, then the problem will go away. You know, conceptually, it all makes sense until there's one team that really, and listen, there's 32 teams in the NHL here in competition for players, as you well know, is fierce. And if it's the deciding factor between getting a player and not getting a player, guess what? Nine times out of 10, or in modern day case,

10 times out of 10, the team's going to say, okay, it's a modified no trade or a no trade or a no move. It's just the way it is. Then don't ask to lead to save you in collective bargaining. You're going to give those away like that. Don't ask you to bail your ass out in CBA. But you know they will. You know, Doug McLean would tell me the stories about, you know,

managers meetings and you were there too. You know, the commissioner would go through all the salary commitments and Doug would have to stand up and justify every. it's an awkward moment for a general manager, and Gary would always say, now it's my job to save all of this. I don't know why we keep turning to Gary, Ben, and ask him to save a problem.

We can solve ourselves. I never gave a full no trade, no move, but I don't believe. They happily'd be wrong. Someone called me up and tell me I was wrong, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. I gave some wiggle room, so I had some power to control what happened with the player. Um, elsewhere around the NHL, there's a, there's a few teams that really did themselves some good.

And I think we put the Washington Capitals right near the top there, whether it's Alex Tuck, whether it's Jordan Cairo, um, whether it's Alexander Ovechkin coming back for another, another kick at it's. Um, the Capitals here have done, uh, an enviable job of trying to get themselves back into the playoffs here. and they already have young players that are ready to take places when we think about Ryan Leonard and we think about Cole Hudson and the two Protis boys, et cetera. How do you look at the Washington Capitals right now and then as a sidebar to all of it, the return of Alex Ovechkin for at least one more season? We suspect the last. I think, O'Bohby, it's a good thing.

Anytime Ovechkin comes back, that's a good news for every team in the league, not just the Capitals. He's an iconic guy. I think it's great. He's coming back for another year. I do suspect this will be its final year. But him coming back is always a boost. Always good news.

I don't think Washington's that much better. I think Alex Tuck's deals, so they age very poorly. I think it's overpay for what he does. I like him. I like him for five years of eight mil, not 17 years at 500 mil. What about the Jordan? I mean, Cairo addresses something.

Cairo addresses what they tried to address. last year with Nick Eelers. He eventually signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, and that is speed on the wing. So Eelers goes off to Carolina, wins the Stanley Cup. I think they've probably tried to grab Cairo all season long.

His name was all over Washington around trade deadline. It's Connor McMichael, another pick, and a first to get him. But that definitely has been a need for Washington, more speed. But when Michael's gone, you look at the net.

I always look at the net on a team and say, okay, who's gone, came back, are they dramatically better? I don't see Washington being dramatically better. I just don't. I think the players they lost, they're comparable players. The flip side to it, too, focusing on Alex talk for a second, you know, is having a conversation with someone this morning about this,

about a team like the Buffalo Sabres. And there's going to be internal progress. Like, Hellenus is going to get better. Ossland is going to get better. Like, it's going, Kulich, if he's healthy, is going to get better as well. But there's also going to be sophomore slumps with a lot of, lot of these kids too. And the Buffalo Sabres have lost Bo Byron. Byron, we can quibble about that trade itself and how much the Buffalo Sabers ended up, or the Chicago Blackhawks

ended up paying Byron. But what do you look at when you look at the Buffalo Sabres who just had such great momentum, got a series win in the playoffs, you know, went two rounds here. Like, are they, can you count on them being better just because of internal progress? Yes, I think you can. I think what they did last year. They won't be able to duplicate what they did last year. They'll have a good year. And they will get better. They've got a good young team, and they will get better.

I love the discipline when Yarmal said no, Alex, suck. I want you back. I'll tell you well. I'm not giving it eight times ten. I love the discipline there. What's the rest of your... Oh, by the way, before we let you go and let you get to Stampede here, quick thought.

We were all together. You, me and Zach. You were one of the stars of the show, but not the star. That was Luke Procrop in the documentary. the hockey player, which I saw for the, I saw for the first time, Zach and I.

The Luke ProCop stories, I'll be honest with, it's, at times it is a really, really profoundly hard one to watch. I think it's an important one for hockey. And I think it's an important one for people in hockey to see as well.

I love the Q&A after where he talked about your suit, but then hearing you talk about Luke was fantastic. Just so everyone knows, so Berkey's up on stage and the first thing he says is, my suit doesn't match. My jacket doesn't match my pants. It was very close, but it was black and dark gray.

It didn't match. It was awful. It was a funny moment, though, Berkey. We all had a good laugh in the audience. Your thoughts on the documentary. I think everybody should see this one. Well, Taylor Prestidge is the guy that put it together. He produced the whole thing.

And he did a great job. I think it was a very respectful film, dealing with very tough topics. I thought Luke was wonderful. He's a great kid. I thought I never met, Lucas. So nice to me. He said, I met you. When he was drafted by the hitman,

and I was working in Calgary. We brought him to say hi. I met him. I didn't remember. He's like 5, 10 then. Now he's 6'5. But I thought the whole thing was really first-class. Ode and I went.

I thought we were lucky to be there. It was great. They're very, very respectful about my son, too, and their treatment of him. Yep. I thought it was great all the way through from the beginning to the end. And Luke Prokop is someone that is, as I've said before,

really easy to cheer for. Yeah, he's a hero. He's a hero to me. Yeah. He just helps a lot of kids. He really has. And it's an honest look at his life. And it's an honest look at his decision to come out too.

And I thought it was really great that his parents were there in the audience, too. And I got a chance to talk to both of them afterwards, because that's a massive part of this story. And as a parent who's gone through that as well, Berkey, I'm sure you can certainly sympathize with that. I thought it was a terrific evening all around. I thought it was too. Thanks, I thought it was great.

It really was. Okay, Burkey, off to Stampede in your sketches. In your sketchers. And your Hawaiian shirt. And your Hawaiian shirt and your sketches. Is that Brian Burke? Nah, he never wear Skechers in a Hawaiian shirt. that can't be.

That's someone that's trying to look like, Berkey. You have yourself a good time. Partner, we'll talk next week. There is. Brian Burke.

A couple of things. Dave's going to be stopping by in a couple of seconds here. I mentioned Clod Jew and we're off the top of the program. There are, just so we have a sort of context

for anything with Clod Jeru, there are a number of teams that are interested in Clod Jeru. And Ottawa is one of them. The Ottawa senators would love to have Kloe Drew back. There are other teams that are interested.

I think there are other teams that have made offers. I do believe the Oilers, and I'm not the first one I mentioned this, like the Oilers are one of those teams. Moving, when you've played your whole career, here's the one caveat I'll throw in on all this. When you've played your whole career in the Eastern Conference, it's tough to go west for a lot of players. A lot of those reasons are travel. A lot of those reasons are our family. So if there, if there is a poll, it's probably still to the east for Clodjeru, but that's not to say that there

aren't teams, and I think the Oilers are right up around the top of that list, in the Western Conference that are very interested in the services of Clod Jeru. And again, just because you don't go on July 1st, doesn't mean that there's not interest. And, when you consider Claude Giroux's personal situation with his family, his history, both in Philadelphia and certainly in Ottawa, he's a Hearst Ontario guy, you can understand that poll. You can understand that talk.

Where does this end up? Not sure. But there are a number of teams, Edmonton being one of them, that are very much interested in Claude Jureau. As they should, even just to win faceoffs. He's like a 60% guy. like he can play certainly and he can help you in a lot of different ways but man just having like almost an automatic guy at the faceoff you know I'm talking about Zach like I know you don't want to pay big bucks for a one skill player and Claude Juru is not a one skill player but if that one skill is winning faceoffs and you'll go back and you look at your seeds and like oh man if we would have like one maybe two more wins and a couple of draws one in these situations Claude Juru is a valuable guy very valuable guy.

Yeah, and I know that a lot of people are going to hear me say this and go, oh, brother, this guy's doing it again. But that was one of the things that we talked about with the Leafs guys in Oberga and Rosehill and I talked. Yeah, I came away from Free Agency Day. You know, you can pick apart a lot of the different moves and all that stuff. But one of the things that we noted that happened for the Maple Leafs coming out of Free Agency on July 1st was they added a lot of faceoff wins, whether it was with Nick Paul or Sizzins or if you want to go through Bluger and whoever else you want to throw in. in that mix of guys that could play center for this team. There's a lot of guys who can win you faceoffs, which is a pretty important thing,

and especially, you know, when you're trying to make sure that you can play offensive guys in the offensive zone, having guys who can play in the defensive zone who are going to win you faceoffs to start with the puck. It's a pretty big key to success. Look at Jordan Stahl in the playoffs. He was playing Fogo, which, you know, I grew up playing lacrosse off getoff in lacrosse.

He was playing Fogo on the power play. Go out, win the draw, get off the ice. And that was what he was doing for Carolina. Now, he did a lot more than that, but that was one of the big keys to Carolina starting with the puck on the power play. No doubt.

And I know that the, like, there is a certain feeling in the analytics community that, you know, all plays are a chain of events and the face-off is just one link in that entire chain. It just happens to be the starting, the starting of that chain, the starting link in that chain. to which I always came back with like isn't that the most important one?

Like is that not more important than what happens in the third link of something? Like again, like when you have to chase game, man, it's hard and it sucks. And I get at their lengths and this is like a quick turnover game. We just go and watch. It's always interesting just to watch like I'll take a period every now and then and just go like, I'm just going to say turn over every time I see it. Like try to do this next time you're watching a game. If you're watching a listing with this program right now,

Just take like 10 minutes of an NHL game. And every time there's a turnover, say turnover. Or just put down like a one on a piece of paper and then look down on it after 10 minutes. It's incredible how often there's a change of possession, like almost instantly, like right away on a lot of these plays. But I still defer to I'll take great face off guys all day long. even if it's just like, okay, there's three seconds left, we don't want them to be able to get a shot off. I'll win that draw.

There are just some draws that you need to win. And if I ever get my wishes that we'll never see another face off in the neutral zone and all the face off. You're trying to kill these guys. I'm just like, yeah, man. Then faceoffs all of a sudden become more and more important than ever. Yeah. Yeah.

You're putting so much more pressure on these guys with it. Yeah. Yeah, I know, I know. And it's a level of comfort, I think, for everyone involved too, right? You look at a guy going into a dot and a defensive zone draw on a penalty kill. And you can sit there and say, okay, we're going to kill off 20 seconds here because this thing is going to come back to our defenseman and out of the zone more times than it is not. Or, you know, late in the game, as you mentioned, three seconds, five seconds left, the threat of a shot at the end of a period. Because you don't know you're going to win it.

It allows everyone else, including the coach. coach, which is pretty important there as well to have confidence in the group and saying, hey, we can get out of this period. We can get out of this situation. They're so vitally important. It's ridiculous, but it's a very important factor to have. It's a big one, certainly. Okay, so we are, what do I have on the list here today? Oh, I know. Before we get to Dave, you watched that video of Connor Bedard yesterday? Oh, man. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Just why.

And we don't know. Maybe you've seen, I don't think there's anything out yet about what it is. Is it shoulder? Because that goes back to December. Is it wrist? Don't know. It just looked like he was in agony coming off the ice. And I don't know, call me naive, but like, what's he doing on the ice on July 2nd?

I know that he loves playing. I'm going to play it all. But like, what do you, you're not 17. You know, my kid was on the ice yesterday. He's close in July 2nd. He plays you 18. Like, okay, sure. But like, why does he need to be on the ice right now?

Oh, that's the reality of these players these days. It's not just him and the kids that are doing this. This is, there's a lot of guys. They take two weeks off and then they're right back on. Isn't that the thing we talked about with Kutrovs? He goes and goes like, cold for two weeks and then next thing you know he's back at it and holding camps down there in Tampa I know I know I know but it's a changing landscape Jeff come on it just sucks when

you see it and you try to think to yourself like what are you doing like again like we've seen players injured in the gym too right like I mean a couple years ago like Jack Quinn had a bad one like from the gym it happens every year oh gym injury it sucks it's awful but you have to be in the gym summer. Like you spend the entire year tearing your body apart. You need the summer to get your strength back for the following season. I don't know that you need to be on the ice on July 2nd. That's all I'm saying.

It wasn't anything like he got run or anything. You know, though. Freaky things happen when you're on the ice. Anyway, just sucks. Like, I have no comment for it other than it sucks. And I just wish that Connor Bredard weren't on the ice on July 2nd. Okay. The only thing, the only way, as Dave's standing by here, my last thought on this,

the only way I will agree with you on this is, no, I don't agree with you. The only thing I will agree with you on this on is, was his shoulder at anything below 75%? If the answer to that question is yes, then being in the situation that he was, being on the ice, I think is a different situation. If being in the one that he was in which it was essentially like live action, where there were other players in a drill that was taking place, then maybe, Jeff, I can agree with you and say, Connor, maybe not the situation to put yourself in.

But otherwise, I'm not with you on this one. It's a different landscape, and I get the players who want to be on the ace at all times. And in his defense, too, on that, final note, this is a guy who's had a couple of tough seasons, not necessarily just personally, you know, there's being good and bad in them, but team-wise, and he's probably like,

I'm going to do this. I'm going to be the best I can be coming into this next season. We're changing this whole thing. So there's that much more determined. So for that, I applaud him, actually. Okay, so you know who's going to be the tie breaker on this? As you throw it back to the old man, it's going to be Dave Panyoda, editor-in chief of the fourth period and our DFO insider who did sterling work on the free agent day on July 1st.

Okay, so you break the tie here. I don't think Connor Bredard needed to be on the ice on July 2nd. Zach said, hey man, that's the new reality. deal with it, Grandpa. What do you say, Dave? You know, because it was tough to watch that. Like, watching that video, Dave, aren't you like, man, this sucks?

Because A, his health, B, his team, C, his contract. Yeah, exactly. I mean, look, I mean, look, Zach's right in a sense that, yeah, the guys just want to be guys like that. Okay, thanks for joining us, Dave. It's been a lot of fun having his conversation. Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on. Here's the thing.

The new guys, the younger guys, they want to get out like two weeks and then they're out there. But I agree also with you, Jeff. They don't need to be right now. But there are a lot of guys that are like literally two weeks. So I know a guy that was back on the ice within four days of his season ending, his playoff season ending. So it's too much. Give your hips a rest. Like let your hips.

recover. Remember having this conversation with Maddie Nicol a couple of years ago. I'm like, what do you do with your athletes when they first come in? He's like, we don't do anything with them. It's like they do, you know, a gentle activation. They'll roll out. They'll stretch. Stretching. Their bodies need to heal. Like you need to take like a month to heal your body. It's because it's not, again, it's not just the games. It's the practices too. And it's just so much. It's like give your body a chance to heal up. I don't know. I get that. I get the there are a lot of guys that are out there right away and maybe I just need to get used to it

but my first talk going away from that is why's Badaard on the ice? Yeah. Look, I agree with you. It's weird. I agree with both of you because the new guys definitely go on the ice, but they shouldn't. They should just take that break, relax, let the body heal a little bit

and just give it a rest. Because you're not going to get incrementally worse or better if you take two, three, four weeks off and start hitting the ice at the end of July or beginning of August. A lot of guys still do that, the older guys. But just to freak, what he did? Hit a rut and then just went down.

Like, that's what it looked like, at least in the video that I saw. Yeah, there's nothing. No, no one took a run at him. It wasn't like a collision. Just a freak out of those. Freak along the boards and he was holding his wrist elbow shoulder. Who knows? Yeah.

I mean, for a guy, for a guy looking for Capri Sof money, you know, you're probably going to want to just, just kind of hold things tight until. Okay, let's use that as it. Because I know what you're saying. I think everyone sort of gets where you're at on it. When you mentioned CapriSoft money. So I'll just ask you bluntly. Do you see someone going above Capri So. Either by signing.

Yes. The restricted free agent or by offer sheet. You do, eh? Yeah. Yes. Well, are we including McCar? Are we talking extensions to? Uh, you know what, then?

Yeah, because McCar is going to go over Caprice off too. Yeah. So we will see, we will see someone go over, go over, go over Caprice off this year. And I, and I don't think Quinn is going to sign. How about this one? How about this one? How about this one? For next year.

For next season. Do we see someone go over? Caprizov because I'm of the opinion yes I think it's I think it's off for sure I think so I think that's why the ducts are totally frozen here yep yep and that's why we're all like they're gonna sign some defensemen right they can't right now because they don't want to get their ears pinned back by an impending offer sheet for Leo Carlson

when they signed Nick Jensen they were telling other people out there they were done for the time being that was their last their last signing for for now until they figure out presumably until they figure out what's going on with leo carlson and cutter goche um there are teams that internally have discussed submitting an offer sheet to leo carlson a big one like 18 i believe i believe that i believe that i believe that because that's the way you're going to get him only way you're going to get him and he's the guy yeah at center with his capabilities, with, I think he's underrated too. He's going to get better as a two-way center and get better offensively.

There are legitimate teams looking at this going, if we throw 18, 19 million bucks his way, and I'm not sure on term, but I know the money, is that enough to pull them out of the O.C? and Pat and Company are doing a very good, Pat Verbeek and everybody there are doing a very good job in trying to scare everybody else to say, just go for it, match it. We're going to match whatever it is. And then you're going to have to deal with us afterwards. Okay.

I'm glad you got us there. So here's the conversation I had with Woshenski yesterday who brought up a great point. And that is even if you don't get the player, let's just say your, for sake of argument, Carolina because they've been an offer sheet team previous and you look at Carolina and you say to yourself, you know what? I can kind of see Eric Tulski do it. Even if you don't get the player and they match, you know who notices your fan base? I've always maintained that when I hear a general manager say, oh, we're not going to bother with offer sheets.

They never work. So we're not even going to try. If I'm a fan of that team, I'm pissed off. It's your job. This is a device that you. you have. This is a legal tactic in the CBA and you're saying, oh, it's a fool's errand. It'll never work. So I'm not even going to bother. I'm going to go fishing with Kenny. No. If you do it, even if you don't get the player, your fans like, right on.

My guy's trying to do this. My general manager is not taking the summer off to go to some hunting lodge. He's trying to get Leo Frickin Carlson. Or he's trying to get Adam Fantilli. Or he's trying to get Connor Baddard. Or he's like he's trying to make our team. better in July and August. Even if it doesn't work, the message to your marketplace is a really positive one. That's why I've never understood

and I've always hated managers saying, ah, they never work, so I'm not going to bother using it. Go tell your fan base, you're not going to, tell your fan base, you're not going to try? Seriously? Yeah. I mean, look at Jersey. They tried to trade for Hayden.

They tried to trade for them. Didn't work out. So they said, okay. we're going to do this. And they did it. And I think, I mean, I don't know one way or another yet. I still haven't been able to gauge. I don't even know if anything's popped up in the last hour on that front.

But I would imagine Utah's taking the second round pick. I, you think so? Because to me, it kind of looks like an easy match. And part of the strength of Utah has been down the middle. But the problem is they're frozen for a year. So it's a matter of, does New Jersey get Barrett Hayton now? Or do they have to wait and get them next year? And you could, you can still continue the negotiation process and do a little side deal.

I think that's what happened with Edmonton, right? They, they, St. Louis sent something back afterwards. I don't know if it was a draft pick or, or, I think there was something else in the whole Brobeard Holloway thing. Yeah, there was something. Yeah, that's right. They sent something. It was it, it was a defense prospect that went back the, that went back the other. way to the Edmonton Oilers. Yes.

Yeah. You could still do that because it's the, I mean, again, they tried to trade for him during the draft and it didn't work and they went this route. You know, the player has to accept, again, you can't just sign people willy-nilly. They have to agree to the deal. You submit to the agent, the agent goes to the client, the client says yes or no. Like that's yeah. It's the way it is. That's how the offer show team is. So I wouldn't be, I, I, I, The Carlson one is so interesting. Oh, it's juicy. And it's so obvious.

We're seeing the whole thing play out right in front of us because Anaheim's frozen and you can see it. They're not doing anything. And Anaheim has like some pretty big holes here. We talked on Wednesday about their back end and you can see. Yeah. You look at San Jose, darnel nurse, Jacob Truba right this way. Anaheim, we're good. Yeah.

And they were, the ducks were in on nurse. They've poked around on Riley. They were, yes. They were talking to other free agents. and they can't do anything right now. You know what they could do? What's that? They could sign Leo Carlson and Cutter Goce themselves and get it over with.

You know, that could be one thing they could do. Give him $18 million if somebody else is going to get it, give it to him. So it was this, so Zach, who, again, doing his job. So Zach, and we'll get the bio on Paul Fisher here. So left shot. So Paul Fisher and a third round pick in that St. Louis situation. So played at Notre Dame. He is a fifth round pick, 21 years of age, and a third round pick went the other way.

Thanks, Doc. So a little bit of something extra to cushion the blow. It's nothing. I mean, you're going to lose the guy. Those are two big guys to lose that they lost. They could certainly use at least one of them. Yeah, it's, it's. I get the old school mentality, but we're in the new school.

Guys are skating. So the GMs might as well, too. I guess. Yeah, no, fair. And just to make Don Waddell's summer even worse, like, if this happened with Adam Fantine and Columbus, can you, can you imagine? Can you imagine? Like, but hang on, but like, it's not as if that potential's not there. Yeah.

Yeah. And he's, where do you find? I think he's what, in the, anywhere from eight to ten range? Oh, 100%. I mean, I think everyone's waiting for, and again, we'll see, not that you can negotiate off an offer sheet, but I think we're all waiting to see what kind of Bredd's contract is going to be like, and then Fantilla does his deal.

And barring an offer sheet, that's where Leo Carlson makes his deal off of what Bardard signs for. But 10, sure. I think we can all see it. And Wadd needs a good news story here right now. Like, if you're Jack Reeves right now, you're like, I can be a good news story. I can go to arbitration and walk in a year, but I won't do it, Donnie.

I'll take the contract right now. You want to do five or six? I'm right here. Yeah, give me the bucks. Yep, exactly. He's ready to go. He's their new guy. Yeah.

Yeah, Werensky's situation was like, okay, that should have been the good news, but it's not done. No, no, I know. This is, this is pause. Like, those dueling notes, Dave, did you not hear, okay, this is two guys, just pausing this situation?

Yep. I think so. This is just a pause. They need, they need to. And I feel, I just feel for that, that organization, the fan base and whatnot. Yes. Yeah. Like, I'm, I'm a big Columbus fan.

I think it's one of the most underrated cities in the league. I love visiting. I love going there. I've got some ties to it, you know, certainly. But to go back last year when they had the outdoor game to see the city and everything again, like the fans there love. that team. And sure, yeah. It would be like they need, they need something, something strong this offseason to really push them forward. And if this team can get back into playoffs, I mean,

they go nuts there at nationwide. So I'm, I'm hoping they do. And look, Donnie's trying to do it too. He's trying to see, okay, we've cushioned this a little bit and push it aside. Where else can we fix this team? How else can we improve this club? And I'm curious to see. see what, if anything, they can pull off in terms of additions moving forward here. Aside from the Fantilli deal and everything else, what else are they going to do? Because they're still, you know, as far as I'm aware, they've been mobilized on the phones trying to make a few things happen. I'm not sure if they can, but they'd like to upgrade that team trying.

And they can't take a step back, man. They can't. No, no, no, no, no. Not if you want those boys to stay. They can't. Oh, God, it's so tough. Oh, God, it's so tough. We would always say...

Well, that's where the experience of Don Waddell kicks in, right? That that's... Yeah. They wanted to have somebody there that was going to be able to help navigate troubling waters, and he's in him now. Does Ilya Kovochuk have one year left in him? Can he go get back his old Atlanta Thrasherwinger? Get Kovalchuk back for a year.

Get in there. Help him out. Help them out. Yeah. Where, from what you've been able to glean... Where do you think things are at with Robertson and the Dallas Stars? Because for everyone who thought that, you know, attaching Lubbushkin's contract to Maverick Bork in Nashville was going to get the Jason Robertson deal done, not so fast.

Two sides are locked. Yeah, I got the update yesterday while Irf and I were doing a quick recap on things for the insider edition. And my question was to this individual close to the situation, have, has there been any traction in the last little bit here? Are you anywhere closer? No. That was the exact answer.

No. Two letters, one word, no. Nope. I'm not, this is another interesting one. Like there were teams beforehand, speaking of offer sheets, there were teams before this, that we even got to July 1, before we got to the draft, that we're contemplating should we go after Jason Robertson on an offer sheet 15 plus? and I think they're still under consideration.

And I believe some teams have reached out and had conversations. Now, I don't know if an offer sheet has been presented, and we won't know until A, somebody reveals it, team or player slash agent, and B would be if he actually accepts one and signs it. But there are teams that have reached out. to at least, the very least, understand where things are at on that front. And they have to contemplate, just like some teams are doing with Leo Carlson.

And I'm sure others, they are debating internally whether or not they can go after him at 15 plus. And I think the inquiries are more trying to gauge would he want to do that here based on obviously what happened with Seattle. I was going to say he had that in Seattle and said no. Like that to me is like a shoe go away. We're not there. Like we've said all along. I think you and I are both on the same page. He wants to be in Dallas.

Yeah. But he wants to be in Dallas on his terms. Period. Yes. That's where he wants to be. And I know that there are some players that are miffed by it. I know players have reached out to him and tried to talk to him about the situation. Yes.

I'll take it a step further. I know that there are some people that aren't exactly thrilled with, you know, social media pictures of being at the World Cup and here's me golfing and all this while, you know, Jim Nill and Tom Galardi are having like an existential crisis about the Dallas Stars. I don't think that's going over very well either with the organization, to be blunt. No, no, they're not overly thrilled. And, you know, we thought on July 1 that, okay, they're back at the negotiating table. maybe someone's finally going to bend a little bit and we're a couple days later, we're still waiting.

And as of last night, you said it, no. There's been no traction on that front. So unless something happens today or over the weekend or, you know, the longer this goes, the bigger the risk of the offer sheet actually comes into play, even with him wanting to be there. So I got a text from someone after Jamie Ben signed saying, does this move the needle at all for Jason Robertson?

My thought is no, but I'm curious if you think, like, you know, okay, Jamie Ben, captain, the leader is back now. Does that change anything for Robertson? I don't believe so. You don't believe so, correct? No, I don't. I think everybody knew Ben was coming back. I don't know the full parameters of that contract.

I know it's 850, but I don't know if there's any bonuses or anything tied to it. But I think everybody, everybody on that team knew that the captain was going to come back for what could be his last ride. I don't know if that's going to be indicated at any point. But everybody knew he was coming back. So I don't think this has any effect at all with respect to Jason Robertson and how that situation is currently playing out. Clod Jureau. So I mentioned a couple of times on the program before he came on.

Like there is, like Clod Jure has a number of different situations that he's mulling right now, as I understand it. I do believe that Edmonton is one of them. He has, as we all know, strong ties east and strong ties with the Ottawa Senators. I'm not sure how this one plays out, but Klojuru definitely has a number of options that he can pursue. Do you have a spidey sense on this one? Does he stay east? I mean, we've seen it before.

It's always tough when someone spends their whole career east, sets up their family, all of it. It's tough to go west. We've seen it before. But nonetheless, not to say that it can't happen. and listen to a team like Edmonton would certainly present an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup. But do you have a spidey sense on how this one goes? And I think that's something that he's seriously considering is that possibility going out, joining the Oilers in their quest for a cup.

I think Otto is still on the table. Philly was in this for a stretch. I was told earlier today not to expect it unless something changes that Philly's out. So again, they could circle back and something could happen. of earlier today. It sounded like Philly was out and Ottawa, Edmonton were kind of the options here. And I think him and Ryan, I think they're fully considering that possibility of going to Edmonton to, yeah, chase the cup, play with two of the best ones in the league, add some veteranship. Understand where his role is going to be. It's going to be, it's not, this isn't

Claude Drew 10 years ago. So understand his role is going to be a little limited, but he'll still have opportunities to succeed there. And I think that's something that's being taken into serious consideration for him. Darnell Nurse. Speaking in Philadelphia, we'd wondered about Darnell Nurse with the Flyers. We'd wondered about Darnell Nurse with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Greyhound Connection. We had also wondered about the Boston Bruins. And it sounds like there was certainly interest, but there was also some kind of holdup.

Now, Boston was in an interesting situation over the last week in change. Like, they were interested in Maverick Bork as well. We had heard that going back to Friday in the first round of the draft, and even before the draft started. And they went the J.G. Paterk away and the Maverick Bork discussions obviously went away. But it isn't as if Sweeney here wasn't trying to make the Boston Bruins better. What do you hear? What do you know about Boston?

Yeah, Boston's been pretty active. So the nurse thing was real. they had a trade in place with the Oilers to acquire nurse. The player going back wouldn't waive there are no trade protection. So Edmonton obviously pivoted went San Jose's direction. But the Boston Bruins have definitely been active. And you mentioned Peturca. That's one of the boxes that they checked.

I think they're still looking for another forward, another top six guy to add to that mix. I mean, center would be ideal. But it seems like the center market is a pretty tough one at the moment. But they are looking to add a little more firepower to that roster up front. And with noticing what other teams in that division have done, noticing where the Canadians are at. And Florida's presumably back.

And Tampa's jiggled a little bit with the lineup. And Toronto got better in their bottom six. And obviously Bob's there now. Ottawa, you know, they have to make their change, but Eklin's in the mix. And Ottawa is another team still looking to add another top six guys. So it's almost a race now to see if Ottawa and Boston can kind of, who's going to make the move first in terms of adding another forward, you know, to their grouping. But Boston without question still seems to be pretty active.

You know, they add Borgon on the back end. They bring in Petrka, as you mentioned, but I definitely see them, wanting to make another ad and a almost, maybe significant would be, I don't know if that's the appropriate term, but impact. They'd like to make another impact addition to that roster by all accounts. Toronto Maple Leafs, quickly, I've got a couple of seconds with you. Morgan Riley, is this, is this thirst going to get quenched here? Like, is this going to come to like a terminal point and it's off to somewhere else?

or is that is, is Morgan Riley a Maple Leaf? I mean, look, I was told after we left the studio on Wednesday that it's a matter of when, not if, he's going to get traded. And the when is the biggest question mark because there is no timeline. Like, I think the Leafs are prepared to start the season with him. But, I mean, I think they'd like to make it happen before they get to that point. Yeah. But I was told Wednesday, it's a when, not if scenario, but what's the when?

Can't be defined. Could be this week, could be next week, could be next month, could be into the season. But it certainly seems like at some point by the time his contract ends, well before his contract ends, excuse me, he's going to be, you know, sporting another jersey at some point. Man, the Riley thing has been out there just for so many years, for so many. I mean, I can recall, you remember all this stuff with San Jose around Carlson and how much. attention is there going to be and how many first round picks and all those types of like like I don't know how close that was but man it sure felt close for a while for Morgan Riley so we'll we'll see where that one ends up the ducks and again just to reiterate

on that one like the ducks just seem like a viable option once they need blue liners for one yeah there's nobody you got your skates go hit the ice because they may yeah they may call they're like this close to asking Leo Carlson if he if any of his buddies play defense. Yeah. I mean, there were, here, I'll add this as well with respect to Riley because I just remembered. Sure.

I don't know if I said this earlier this week, but the Leafs were talking to a free agent defenseman and they indicated to that individual or his camp, we have to figure out Riley before we can approach you officially. That player has since signed. So it just seems like it's, that's the goal to happen. But again, they don't want to. Vinnie DeHernan. Vinnie DeHernan, is going to throw a name back?

Yeah, sure. Sure. Why not? But, yeah, it just seems like it's a when not if scenario for Riley. Yeah. Heading into the weekend, what are you curious about? For me, it's Anthony Mantha. I mean, the Robertson thing is the Robertson thing.

That's always sort of in the shadows. That's a ghost as our offer sheets. But for me, it's Anthony Mantha. Do you have a name that's got your eyebrows raised? It would be him and probably Eli Tolvinen. Tolvinen's generated some interest out there as well, but him and Manta kind of in a similar position in terms of just waiting, waiting to see how these few days have gone.

And if teams that have pivoted to the trade market and can't figure anything out, pivot back, and go after either Toulvin and or Manta. So those are definitely the two guys that I'm curious about to see what happens over these next, whether it's today, Saturday, Sunday, I think they would prefer, certainly, to get something done by the end of the weekend. But there are teams that are kind of poking around on that front.

Interesting. Figure out the trade market, circle back there. Anything gone to Keishin? Well. Like Carolina knows the marketplace. Like last time I checked in, it was like just figuring out the marketplace. Like Carolina knows the marketplace at this point.

Yeah. And it seems like they just want to bring in somebody. So there's two things that I've heard on that front. One is still there's still a little hellabuck chatter. Kind of in that one with that team. And I still wonder about if Buffalo is going to be able to figure that out. But if it's not in a move in that front, are you packaging him with Jasperi Kakenemi to get that contract off?

Some people wondering about that. I don't think so. But there are some people curious about that. and then, of course, how can they replace that piece on that blue line? That's the other element that they're looking at is, if we're moving to Keishin, are we doing it in a manner, regardless of who else may be attached, are we replacing them on the blue line,

or are we making this move and then figuring out the decor, his spot on that roster somewhere else? They have options, as far as I can tell, but I don't know if anything is close on that front with respect to him specifically. Let me, I'm just trying to sneak in as many under the wire as possible here with you. I swear, I'll release you into your weekend in a second. I had a conversation this morning and we were talking about Tampa and the Dennis Hildebee's situation.

And, you know, Tampa's come out so like Hildebee's going to be our backup here. So they just got out and signed, you know, Mad Sogaard and Olivier Rodriguez. And they've got, you know, one-way contracts everywhere here. and again, I'm not suggesting that like someone's injured and that's why they're bringing in all these veteran goaltenders plus Dennis Hildeby. But like is something going on in Tampa? Like all like that's a lot of,

that's a lot of goalies, man on one-way contracts. It is. Yeah. They're not kind of looking at it and go like, what's going on with the goaltending in Tampa? I also wonder on that front, I get what you're saying. I'm not going to say it.

I get what you're saying. Is there a big piece out there that's... Something happening here that, like, shouldn't be just behind the scenes, but should be more of a conversation? Just precautions, taking precautions, perhaps. This is a lot. Like, is someone hurt?

Fortifying your ebug. E bugs can travel. Maybe just making sure you get a good one. Are they going three goalies? Maybe with Hildeby, you can give him more ice time, you can give him more starts. Maybe, you know, the other guy there is playing less. And maybe he's playing less to start the season. Maybe more.

A lot of goalie's there, man. Just ensure that they've got their crease covered. And where the market is. is where the goaling market will be by the start of the season. If you send a guy down on waivers, you might be able to get away with it. And maybe just hedging their bets on that front. Gotcha.

All right. It's one of those, we shall see. We shall see type situations. You're the best pal. Great job this week. Great job. All you, man. All season. Not sure what your summer is going to look like. But we're keeping it hot here. So we're going to keep a glide through. Not sure what you have planned.

But listen, we'll bug you. We'll keep it going. We'll keep it going. Like, we'll keep, we'll keep bugs. Yeah. As if stories are going away here. Listen, we'll be about Jason Robertson in September. Who's kidding who?

You'd be good. What's Jim Nill going to? Jim Nell hasn't slept since mid July. You be good. We'll chat soon, pal. All right, buddy. Have a going. There he is, a great day, Pan Yota,

from the editor-in-chief of the fourth period, and also DFO Insider, the Insider edition of a daily face-off, him and Erfan Gaffar. That is the rundown insider edition. What did you send me, Zach? You're sending me more stuff. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

I just think something to Sylvan. I was doing some sleut thing. Oh, okay. You want to share that with everybody here? I was just like, I wonder if there's anybody out there that Dave could have been talking about with the Leafs. Dave had put a tweet that mentioned somebody because I thought I saw him say something. And I was like, I remember. Hey, Dave, this is you?

Maybe. Hey, Dave, this is you? Dave said there's considerable interest. This is on June 30th and Mario Ferraro. We'll see which teams go term with him. If the Leafs move Riley can see Toronto pursuing Ferraro. That was one I think a lot of us in Toronto had thought would be on the radar as well. King City guy grew up in the skate parks of King City.

He was a skateboard kid, I think, growing up. I don't know the skate parks of King City. some growing up. He was a kid that we all knew when we were growing up. Oh, yeah. This guy's going to go on the show. This kid's going to play.

Yeah. He could skate like you wouldn't believe, man. It was unbelievable. Yeah. He's really nice. There was like a ton of talk around him with Rangers a while ago. Yes. That there was a lot of interest there.

That might have been Johnny Lazarus and personal interest, trying to will that into existence yeah yeah yeah hey i was uh so people i don't know while the show's going on and stuff i look on twitter to see if news is happening or anything like that yeah he sends it to me yeah um yeah well the uh there's there's something popped up on my timeline here i think you might be interested in it actually happened while we were on air so convenient timing uh nikita kutrov and brayden point are skating i don't know if that's uh what you doing Also, in other news, the big story of the day, maybe. Sergey Bobrovsky officially will wear number 72.

Him and Gavin McKenna talked, and Gavin McKenna gave him number 72. What did he get? I know that's the news everybody wants to. What did Gavin McKenna give him for 70s? They didn't, he didn't disclose that information. It was just they had a chat, and he said he's a good kid. He's looking forward to seeing his growth in the league.

That's what Bob said. I was like, okay, of course. he gave you the number you wanted. Of course you said he's a good kid. Yeah, he's a good kid, he's a good kid, he's a good kid. The Tampa thing is interesting. I don't know if there's a there there, but it just sort of strikes me as weird.

There's a whole lot of goal he's there. And you're either looking to move or insulate an injury. Don't know. I kind of got the same impression and more so on the second point that you made in terms of insulating injury. I don't. think two part two part let me let me say with this yeah one i think that getting dennis hill to be

is an upgrade on yonis johansson so i think that part of that implies they want somebody who's going to play more games to take more away from vassie if the expectation is that hildo bee can play um that's point number one which then makes me start connecting you know string and pins on my board as i start to look around and go what the hell's going on as you've done the same thing and I wonder if there's not a move to be coming here because they want to make sure that in case Hildo be can't play someone else can. So I don't know. That's the same direction my head went as well.

Maybe. There's a guy who's dealt with some significant injury here over the last couple of seasons. And he plays a lot of games, like a lot of games. Oh, yeah. I wouldn't be surprised. As we like to say, yeah, that's interesting. All right, a couple things before I wrap up here. First, starting with a message from our friends at Airbnb.

It's you and me. Hey, Zach, summer's on the horizon. And, you know, we've spent a lot of time on the road this year. But here's my question to you. Zach, what would your ultimate summer road trip be? Go. For me, summer's all about golfing, getting out on the course. So going back to places that we just went to and just visited like Banff and the Okinaugan,

I think that would be the ultimate getaway with some of those incredible courses, beautiful weather, the scenery, it's some of the best that you can find. It's some of the best that this country has to offer. Now, for me, it's easy. New Brunswick, specifically St. Stephen. Now, my background. When my family immigrated here to Canada in the 1800s from Ireland, that's where they settled.

I went there earlier this year when you and I were in St. John and took a little side trip. It's gorgeous there. I spent the day. I could see myself actually living there one day. Now, after New Brunswick, Montreal. So here's the deal. For me, Montreal is the one place in Canada where you wake up, you decide what kind of day you want to have, and the city allows you to do it. the festivals, the concerts, the patios, the people, the cobblestone streets of old Montreal, street performers, you name it, it really is the best. And honestly, those kinds of trips are exactly why I love booking homes on Airbnb. You actually feel like you're part of the place instead of just passing through. And that's when it hit me.

While I'm busy blending in with the locals, why not let another traveler do the same? After all, while we're gone, our place back home is just sitting there. So hosting our place on Airbnb could be a way to make use of that space on our own schedule and maybe have a little extra coming in at the same time. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. Do do do do do do wrapping up another week here. And again, we will be keeping the feet hot.

The schedule, the summer schedule, we should probably put out soon. sooner than later. But we're still, we're still chugging along, Zach, you and me. Still doing it. There's still hockey stuff happening.

We will still be aboard for it. Anything, anything you're looking for this weekend. Other than Canada, other than Canada, Morocco. Yeah, that's top of mind, honestly.

Like, I'm not the biggest soccer guy. I think a lot of people that know me know that, but anything that involves my country, I can get behind. So I'm pretty excited for that. but I think I just want to see what the hell is happening with Jason Robertson.

And I don't think we get a solution this weekend. But even the drama of it from a pure entertainment perspective has been fun to watch. If Robertson just wakes up and says 12 is enough, 12 works, then it's over. Because I don't think Dallas is coming off that number. Yeah, fair. And I mean, I guess it's not up to the, you know, it kind of is everybody's problem. but like how the hell is that received in the room if he just has to walk back tail between the legs after what he's just done here there are some players that i know aren't exactly thrilled with how this is gone that's what i mean

like understand well a is jim nil thrilled nope if he signs him obviously it's like okay we we understand what we've done here and what the point we had to get to um blanking on his name you can fill this in but the owner of Dallas is Tom Galardi. Tom Galardi. Thank you, Tom Galardi. Like, is Tom Galardi looking at this being like, I have spent so much time and money and effort to get this team to where it needs to be and you're haggling over this, this, this and this. Like, yes, it's great that you signed at the number and you came back and we could finally reach an agreement, but we don't remember, we don't forget, excuse me, what has taken place? And then the teammates being like, what the hell was that all about? Like, you were almost

a member of the Cracken. Like, you said no to, it's a, Four teams. Now you're here. It's a weird one. I feel like it... I just feel like no matter what, this is not going to have a pretty ending for them in there. I don't.

I don't know how the team receives it well. From the team point of view and some of the players, but they should be working on other things right now. That's what I'm with you. To make this team better. The team is right there. This team is right there. again the comparisons to the Thornton sharks but they're right there yeah yeah no like I'm with you

it's just right now given the situation it feels like a team that should have been looking at free agency or the trade market or whatever and saying let's go find what we can to get ourselves over the top got put in handcuffs by Jason Robertson or at least maybe not maybe it's unfair to put it on him in specifically but the situation situation at hand. They felt they were a little bit handcuffed by some of it. You can just say like we're moving them and move him, whether he wants to sign a contract or not like you want to,

what's a year's worth of Jason Robertson to you? They might, they might just do that. Donnie does dishes. I'd let him get offer sheeted. That's what Donnie says in the chat. Jim's calling. Somebody, please.

Just offer sheet the guy. Four first round picks. This is going to be four first round picks. This is awesome. All right. Can I ask you a question? Yeah, of course. One thing I was thinking about here.

Sure. We're getting to a point where we're starting now the NHL. This is the first year of it, really. Player empowerment, all this stuff. Trades, draft picks. Everybody's moving. They want out. They want to dictate their little.

Let's go. Let's go. We're not quite there on office sheets. Do you see, like, like, we're, we're, Trending, but we're not there yet. Do you see the NHL making a push to say, we'll make it a little bit easier? We're not necessarily changing the compensation, but restructuring the format. So maybe there's more tiers.

And then maybe as the tiers go, it's a little bit watered down throughout the tears, if you get what I'm saying. So it's not just like a big chunk of two mill and two mills and so on. think the NHL right now is absolutely thrilled at how many people are still tuned in and glued to their product after they've handed out the Stanley Cup. The draft always pops it for obvious reasons as the July 1st, but it's not just because of these things. I think the NHL is finally now comfortable with embracing bluntly, drama.

And offer sheets are drama. That is a drama device. That's what offer sheets are. And I think the NHL is thrilled at how the conversation about their sport continues. And I think that they're probably thinking in their minds, okay, how can we have this level of interest and excitement every single year? Let's lean into that as much as we can. So to your point, if that means creating more tears,

For offer sheets, 100%. But the other thing is, too, there's also now a younger cut of manager in the NHL. Who just submitted the first offer sheet of the summer? Yeah, Mr. 666. What an awesome wrinkle. Such a nice touch. But he's been a jam for five minutes. Don't forget.

all of these managers, the new breed of young general manager, grew up dreaming about, because everyone is a hockey fan before they get in. Sunday Meadow is a massive New Jersey Devils fan, as we all know. grew up thinking about offer sheets as a tactic. Why don't these old general managers use these? Oh, right, they're all buddy, buddy, they don't want to raise salaries, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They don't care about that.

They really don't. And you know who else doesn't care about it? Owners. Owners alike, use it. If it's going to get the player, use it. If we're going to do it. It's always just been the general managers who are like, oh, I can't do that to so-and-so. Oh, man, how will they feel about me at the next manager?

Sunny Meta doesn't care. Eric Tulski doesn't care. The new breed of general manager doesn't care. It's a weapon in the CBA that I can use. And listen, who used it in St. Louis? Wasn't a kid. St. Doug Armstrong. True.

Again, I keep coming back to something that Wish and I talked about yesterday. Your fan base will love you even if you don't get the player. Show them that you're still at work and you're still trying. And you're still trying to make this team better. What does Tulski always talk about every single interview? Even after he wins the Stanley Cup and he comes and he talks to us, what does he say? I can't stop working until I have the best 23 players in the NHL on the Carolina Hurricanes. That's catnip for fans, man.

That's catnip. Yeah, man, that's our guy. That's our general manager. And whether it's trades, whether it's signings, whether it's draft or whether it's offer sheets, he's going to try to fill this team with the best 23 players he can find. And he's not going to stop. We did they get those for a fan. Oh, you know, an offer sheets don't work.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Kenny, I'm coming fishing this weekend. As opposed to, I'm going to offer a sheet your ass. I don't care that it's July. I don't care that it's August. I'm offer sheeting your ass. I'm offer sheeting your guy. I'm going to steal your guy. You want some draft picks?

Okay, fine. Go here. Here's some lottery tickets. We're getting your guy. All these guys who are so competitive against each other on the ice, the minute they put on ties, all of a sudden they're gentlemen. Please. Yeah.

Please. come on stop stop anyway well it's fun it provides some entertainment it continues to give us stuff to talk about

which I answer your question yeah I think the NHL is loving what's happening and anything they can do to encourage what we're seeing now next season and subsequent seasons the NHL is all four absolutely I was just thinking about it

like it doesn't have to be a major overhaul. I just was looking at what the draft sheet compensation was yesterday and what you have to have and thinking, we could probably tweak this. Maybe you don't need to have, maybe certain picks don't need to be yours. Maybe the first round picks do. Maybe the second and the thirds don't.

You know, I don't know. There's way smarter people who have to look at the ramifications of these things than I, but I was just thinking about maybe you make it a little bit easier from the tiers. Maybe it's not as excessive. expensive in certain spots. So that was just one of my thoughts yesterday on the offer sheets because it's like, okay, the one was great and it was fun. And we like what it does to Utah in terms of, hey, look at this poison pill that's

buried into this offer sheet. But then that's kind of it. Like we're waiting for Leo Carlson one. It might come, but who knows? Go back to New Jersey for a second here, not with Barrett Hayton. But you're going to tell me that the Gritsick contract wasn't partially fueled by the threat of an offer sheet form. Like, not all offer sheets have to be massive.

The Gritsich contract looks to me like that's, again, Sunny META saying someone might sting me here. Let's get this done. Let's get this done. I know it's not a massive one, but again, it's a tactic in the CB. It's a device in the CB if you can use. And obviously, Sunny Meta is well informed and aware of this.

And I have a hard time believing that our Sini Gritsick contract was not I want to say the majority of it fueled by, but at least in the back of the mind of Sunny Meadow when he did it. Like, this guy could get offer sheeted here. So let's, let's get, let's get this wrapped as soon as we can.

Anywho, next week we'll talk about, next week we'll talk about Barrett Hayton. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Next week, all you want to know about Barry. His dad, I think, so here's what I know about it.

So it's Peterborough family. Barrett was a lacrosse player. Dad was a, a hockey player too, and I think he played lacrosse as well, I believe. I think Jeff Toey was the main scout there with the coyotes who identified Barrett Hayden. It would have had the background probably with the dad going back to Peterborough because Jeff Toey would have run the Peterborough Beats for about a million years. I'm guessing.

Good lacrosse player. Peterborough, good lacrosse ground area too. Lakers, right? Peterborough Lakers? That's the team? Yep, that's correct. I know enough about lacrosse to sound dangerous. Oh, that's Peterborough Lakers, of course, a long time.

Victoria Sham rocks. I can fake the funk with you, Zach. I can fake the funk. All right, that's it for us. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being in the chat. Everybody listening to this on your favorite podcast platform.

Thank you. If you're watching on our DFO, YouTube, thank you as well. Again, feed stays hot. You keep coming back. We'll keep barking it out. Got it? Deal. We're back.

Monday for the sheet, 1 o'clock Eastern. Talk to you.