The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Jason Robertson Turns Down $15M Per Year in Seattle + NHL Draft ft. Pierre McGuire & David Pagnotta

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

It's finally NHL Draft Day, and The Sheet with Jeff Marek has you covered from every angle ahead of tonight's first round.Jeff is joined by Pierre McGuire and David Pagnotta to break down everything you need to know before the picks start rolling in. If Gavin McKenna does indeed go to Toronto at No. 2, what happens next? Which teams are primed to shake up the board? Could we see another wave of blockbuster trades before (or during) the first round? And which prospects could surprise everyone by going earlier than expected?The guys also dive into the biggest story of the day: Jason Robertson reportedly turning down an eight-year, $15 million AAV extension from the Seattle Kraken as part of a sign-and-trade agreement, sending shockwaves through the league and throwing one of the NHL's biggest offseason storylines into even more uncertainty.#NHL #NHLDraft #Leafs #TorontoMapleLeafs #JeffMarek #PierreMcGuire #DavidPagnotta #JasonRobertson #SeattleKraken #DallasStars #GavinMcKenna #Hockey #TheSheetSHOUTOUT TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Canadian Blood Services: https://www.blood.ca/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach 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.

Okay, more of the same. More of what we ordered yesterday today? Yeah, probably. Plus, we'll throw in the NHL draft as well. Welcome to the sheet for this Friday, June the 26th. Glad to have you aboard. I am once again at our downtown Toronto studios. Really nice spot. Life would you done with the place here, Zach. Really nice touchups here. Really good. I like what you've done with it ever since trade deadline. Speaking of trade deadline, it does feel like another trade deadline around the NHL. That will continue. We do have the latest on various situations, starting with the Jason Robertson Saga, and I got a little bit more information on that too that I'll share with you coming up in a little bit. In the meantime, because we have so much business to take care of, enough of the chit chat off the top. Let's get right into the heart of the discussion, shall we? The blueprint is powered by Fandul. Download the app today and play your game on Fandle. Glad to have you aboard

today. Coming up on the show in a couple of moments, you'll hear from Pierre McGuire. Peter and I will be hosting the pre and post for the draft tonight right here on our daily faceoff YouTube channel. So stay tuned for that. We're going to go over who we may think are the big winners and who could be the big losers and may as specifically who we think might be the biggest faller that happens every year in the draft also dave pan yoda will stop by uh dfo insider great show last night and we'll talk about what's happening today right now it seems like it's a little bit quiet the calm before the storm if you will uh but we will talk about jason roberts in that situation and other issues as it relates to the trade market

around the NHL, which is hot, hot, hot. And oh, yeah, there's an NHL drafts tonight in Buffalo. And with that, we'll bring on the great Pierre McGuire, who I'll get a chance to spend the evening with tonight. And we had a great time yesterday, you and me wandering through the Hockey Hall of Fame, which like you, is like Toys R Us for me. Do you want to tell the quick story?

Because I've told the story on this program so many different times. The Hall of Fame when I was a kid was my babysitter. My parents would drop me off. I had a notebook. I'd make notes and all that. and what was your initial introduction to the Hockey Hall of Fame? You and I spent about an hour and a half there yesterday. A delightful hour and a half too.

It just went by so quickly, Jeff. But my hot moment was when I was a young boy, my parents and my brother, Regan and I had Halliburton Hockey Haven. And when we came back, we stopped in at the old Hall of Fame. But what I remember the most is at Halliburton, the great Johnny Bauer was one of the coaches. And all the kids had gone to the kids had gone to the home. movie theater into town and my brother and I didn't have enough money. He must have spent it

earlier. He didn't have enough money to go to the theater. And Johnny Bowers said, come with me. And he took my brother and I of the theater and bought us a ticket to get in and paid for our coax or our cream sodas, whatever we drank at the time. It's awesome. It was just so good. And I remember meeting them in a bunch of different events or the course of my career. And I would always bring that up to him. He says, I don't remember it, but it sounds like me. It does. He was like the kindest man of all. all time. I can't remember how many different times I would like, he would invite me over to his, his house in Mississauga had like his own little mini Hall of Fame in the basement. And he was just

like bringing like random people from the neighborhood. Hey, you want to come on. Look at the replica of the Stanley Cup trophy of all these. And old memorabilia from his days with Cleveland, his days with the Toronto Maple Leaf. So he was like maybe the nicest man. And that covers some ground in the history of the NHL. But tonight it is the NHL draft. We, we all expect Gavin McKenna to go first overall. Correct, Pierre? I believe so, yeah. No, I would say correct. 99.999% unless something unbelievable happens. He's going to Toronto. I'm excited for the lease. I'm excited for Austin Matthews. You know, I know people in Toronto don't want to rehash it, but losing, you know, Mitchell

Martin or hurt them offensively, getting a player like Gavin McKenna is going to help a little bit. The explore experience at Easton Cowan guide, especially during the American Hockey League playoffs this year, that's going to help. So it's more positive. than negative. And I think McKenna is really going to help them on the power play. If you watch the play this year, you just saw the creativity and the ability to not only shoot the puck but make plays. He loves a puck on a stick. And he's a feisty kid. He's not, he's not intimidated physically. So I'm excited. I think it'll be a good pick. And I think Toronto will start to retool and rebuild the way they're supposed to. You know, one of the,

one of the things about this year's draft, I mean, Gavin McKenner really, you know, after the role of junior, back to Penn State, really distinguished himself as, as, as, as, you know, one of the as top of the class. There was Gavin McKenna, and then there was everybody else, and you can discuss where, you know, where the next tier is

and the following tier, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It's been said the draft begins this year at two, and we'll see what the San Jose sharks do. There's one agent who I really admire, I don't want to say who it is, there's one agent that I really like

because when he tells his kids that are heading into the draft, he has the same saying, and I just love it. He always says, this is your wedding, it's not your marriage. To that end, how often did you ever catch yourself saying it doesn't matter where you get picked?

This is just the beginning of your career. And I love how this agent puts it, this is your wedding day, this isn't your marriage. I have a really good story on that the 1990 draft, it was like it was yesterday. Yarmor Yager won fifth overall. Pittsburgh traded their second round pick for Joey Mullen. And in the seventh round, they took a player out of Belmont Hill High School by the name and Ian Moran. And I happened to be at the Penguins draft table.

It was my first draft ever working. And I didn't have the draft any other time, but I had never worked at. I was for Pittsburgh at the time. And we took Moran, and I remember calling Ian up afterwards and just saying, hey, we took him in the seventh round. He goes, I actually got picked. He didn't even think he was going to get picked. He ended up that 11-year career in the National Hockey League.

So it really, it's not so much about, you know, where you get it. It's how you perform after you are picked. It's just the first day. And most of the players that are picked, no matter where they're picked, eventually they'll probably play for two or three teams, not just the team that drafted them. It does seem, it's interesting, too, because I can remember, and you can certainly as well, you know,

the great Sam Pollock always saying, don't give up on a kid until you're 100% certain. But now you go back and, you know, look at drafts, you know, not that long ago. And it's like, okay, three out of the top five have been traded, eight out of the top ten have been traded. I don't know if this is just, you know, recent phenomena or, you know, desperate managers. But it seems more and more like teams give up on kids way too early now, don't they? Yeah, and part of that is because we have an 18 year old draft.

One of the coolest things you and I did just at the hockey all fame, at least from where I sat, Jeff, who's going to eight-inch dressing room, the replica of the Montreal can't just in all those famous sweaters. And I pointed out to you and to the audience, Gila Fleur was drafted by a 20-year-old. He wasn't an 18-year-old. In his first two years in the league, even though he got good numbers in Montreal, they were pedestrian numbers for what the people were expecting.

And there were big rumors going into his third year. It's actually going to be traded out of Montreal because he underachieved. And that was as a 20-year-old. I think one of the things that really hurts us as an 18-year-old draft. It doesn't mean that it's not a good thing. I just think it hurts players long-term. I really believe that. Speaking of the draft this year, I was mentioning this the other day, the equalization for CHL NCAA was supposed to start at next year's draft.

But they've moved it up one year early. So a team drafts a player out of NCAA. They've always had four years to sign that player. Now when they get drafted out of the CHL, they have as well four years to sign that player before they go back into the draft, which I'm guessing is going to mean the obvious. Now teams will be more comfortable taking CHL players later in the draft, where generally it's been a lot of college players late in the draft. Correct.

100% correct. And I believe that's what we'll start to see. So hang on to your hats. I know the first round is what gets covered tonight. But tomorrow's going to be a really important day for a lot of players and for a lot of team. Stenberg. I think a lot of people are wondering, you know, the San Jose sharks move Eklund to the Ottawa senators. And that opens up a spot to be filled by another sweet.

do we expect Stenberg to go second overall to San Jose? I don't think that pick might be in play. I agree. I still think that picks in place. I don't know if I can say someone of San Jose. But I can tell you, you know, I spent the month of May over in Sweden, and I spent a lot of time at Angle Home or the Supreme had their training camp for the world championships. And I saw Stenberg a lot.

I saw him practice. I saw him play. I thought he and Vigo Bjork really stood out as underage guys. I like Jack Berlin as well as a draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers. thought those three kids in particular really stood out. But now, Stenberg reminds me a lot of a player that I had the honor and privilege of being part of drafting in Pittsburgh and Marcus Naslin in 1991. If you look at their numbers, they're extremely similar, extremely extremely similar, whether it be in the SHL or in the U20 League. So, you know, you look at the whole thing.

He's a can't miss. And his world champion performance, championship performance would speak to that. Jeff, I thought he was outstanding at the World Championships for Sweden. Yeah, absolutely. And we completely expect Gavin McKenna to walk into the NHL next season. Stenberg, the exact same? Yes, I believe that as well. You know, the biggest thing is, again, you get kids out of Jurgarten.

That's one thing. You get kids out of Feralanda. That's one thing as well. Those two programs in particular, they produce a lot of players, as we know, Stenberg's a Frilynda guy, so that's in Gothenburg. and they just produce players. They do a real good job. But I remember watching Simon Edvinson there, Daniel Alfordson,

go Eric Carlson, and you go over to Juror Garden, and it's the same kind of stuff. So that's where Vigo Bjork play. So you look at it. I think the truth of the matter is that kids coming out of really good programs, they have a legitimate chance to have an opportunity to play in the NHL earlier rather than later. Do we expect Chase Reed to be the first defender selected Suissemary Greyhounds? I would say yes, I just did a huge hit for CBS sports in the United States, and that's the guy that I picked.

Whether he's going third in the draft or whether he's a first defenseman, I believe he's going to be the first defenseman. I don't know if he's going to go third in the draft or not, but he'll be the first defenseman picked. The biggest thing about him, and I think you would agree, because I know how much you watch it, his abating ability for a man his age and his size is pretty phenomenal, and his ability to dominate with the puck is pretty phenomenal, too. So I would say he's one of those guys that's either going to be a one or a two over the course of his NHL career. Those are can't miss guys. And the thing about Reed is it was five minutes ago that he was cut by Waterloo of the USHL. And now all of a sudden, we're talking about him.

He's a top three pick in the NHL. Well, one of the things that I'm pretty encouraged about, and I think you would agree, the fact he's going to Michigan State, Adam Nightingale's done a really good job, building that program up. And I think the fact that he's going to leave Susanne Marie and go play for Michigan State is a huge thing. Look at what that did for Porter-Martone last year.

I mean, it really helped change the trajectory of Porter-Martone. A couple of things here before we let you go. It's a busy one for all of us. Vancouver at 3. I do wonder if it is going to be Chase Reed that ends up there with the Vancouver Canucks. The other available candidate, of course,

Caleb Malhotra, his father, Manny, ex-N-HLer, now head coach of the Vancouver Kinnucks, you know, I've kind of always said that if there's any family that is mature enough to handle that, it's the Malhotra's. I just don't know that Vancouver would want to put Caleb Malhotra through that. You know how players will talk about the coach and they just wouldn't be comfortable talking about the coach when that coach is one of their teammates' dads. Is that fair? It is fair. Absolutely. It's fair. It doesn't mean that it's a knock on Manny and it's definitely not a knock on Caleb.

What I'm really encouraged about with Caleb in particular, and I think you know this as well or better than anybody. A lot of young players, when they get the puck on the stick, they don't always accelerate. This guy accelerates the pace of the game with the puck on the stick, which is, I think, a phenomenal athletic trait to have, number one, and number two. I like the fact that he's going to play for Jay Pandolfo because the defensive part of the game will be taught really well by Jay at Boston

University and yeah no I'm really encouraged for Caleb I don't know if he ends up in Vancouver but if he did I wouldn't be complaining you know I think again just going back to it Steve Nash believes his uncle is that correct yes yes I'm only being a smarty pants

and then you know you got all that except going on I don't know how he can miss he's just a phenomenal kid and I come from his father's a tremendous man I got to know his father so well for career and I just just think he's one of those players. It's just really, really special athletically.

He's kind of falling into Buffalo's lap here at four. The one player that I do want to ask you about is... Buffalo keep it for? Okay, so my thought on... I'm glad you asked that. My thought on this one is they keep it if Malhotra's available because I think that they want to center. But if Malhotra is not available,

I wonder if they move it. If Malhotra's there, I think they take it. But if he's not, then I think they might entertain moving the peck. Does that... That's sympathetic with you? Yeah, that's kind of where I'm going. So I think two still in play. I think four could be in play.

And I'm curious to see what the Rangers do. They had that minor move today where they traded Brett Barard to Montreal for William Trill. I think they know they need defense. Trudeau's a way undervalued asset, by the way, in defense. I watched a lot of American League games. He played for LaValle the last four years. He's a really serviceable player. He is.

He's a serviceable player. Let me get this one under the wire. Keaton Verhoff, we wonder about. but here's the caveat. He chose to go to North Dakota along with Colerushney. Bold move, especially for a defender, going to play against older, stronger kids, we understand it. If he would have stayed in Victoria,

given the skill set and the trajectory he was on, would he have been a surefire top three, top two pick had he stayed in junior hockey in your estimation? He might have passed Chase Reed. He might have been ahead of where Chase Reed is right now in the eyes of the scouts, because he would have stockpiled a plethora of. points. You would have been

up the point total is huge. And you know, you look at his size, you look at his ability to defend. I know there was some knock on him in terms of his overall speed and skating. The problem is you're playing against men and I don't think people realize that until they get the college hockey. Gavin McKenna found out. It's not that

easy. Hey, I use this story all the time. Brady-Kuch's draft year, he had eight goals at Boston University of eight. His next year on a non-playoff team in Ottawa, he had 22, eight to 22. Come on. It's not a thing.

Everybody thinks. Yeah, it's a massive jump. All right, listen, look forward to seeing you and working with you tonight. You and I hit the airwaves at 6 o'clock Eastern right here on our daily face off YouTube channel. Look, dude, it was a pleasure hanging out with you at the Hall of Fame. That was a real treat for me.

You are, as we all know, the Encyclopedia. So that was going through the Habs room was phenomenal. Thanks, pal. We'll see you tonight. Thanks a lot. See you later, Jeff. Enjoy the gratitude, everybody. So draft show tonight, we're going live from Toronto with the aforementioned Pierre

McGuire for pre and post draft coverage plus custom player profiles for each of the picks in the first round. We've spent a lot of time on these things. Hope you like them. Leaves Nation also will be live for Toronto's first overall pick. Canucks Army will do a live watch-along. And Barnburner is bringing the draft night energy with a live hangout from Calgary. Follow every pick, every reaction, and every future hockey star with the Nation Network.

Check out all the featured show. on our YouTube and our socials as well. We are standing by for Dave Panjota. We're going to get into some of the trade talk and the trade discussion around the NHL. And it's vibrant, even though it is a little bit calm right now. There's a few things. As we went off the air yesterday,

I was leaving you with the idea that watch the Seattle crack in there, poised to do something big or try to do something big. and that was the Jason Robertson situation. We all know what happened. The offered a eight-year deal at $15 million per, as reported by Elliot Friedman, and the Robertson camp rejected it. Now, that's a whopper of a deal.

The St. Louis Blues also made a significant offer to the Dallas Stars for Jason Robertson. He had no intention of resigning there. I do think that there was one other team, at least one other team, that made an offer that was at least similar to what Seattle offered as well. So it's not as if there aren't teams that are circling and making offers. This comes back to the point that I think I've been trying to make here for the last 48 hours. And that is the preferred destination for Jason Robertson is Dallas. I think he wants to stay in all things indicate he wants to stay in Dallas.

He wants to be a Dallas star. He just wants to have it at his number. And as we've been talking about for the past however many days here, that number is $14. $14 million in Dallas. Don't know about bonus structure. Don't know if it's, you know, majority bonus. Don't know that at all. But it does very much seem like Jason Robertson does want to.

stay with the Dallas Stars. He just wants to do it on his terms with his number. Now, one of the things that we don't have an answer to is we know that how, you know, Jim Nill probably feels about this, the general manager of the Dallas Stars, probably not thrilled. The first contract negotiation was a challenging one as well. I think that's been well documented. This one is as well. I would imagine the owner Tom Galardi probably went to bed last night. a little bit upset at the entire situation too. But the one thing that a few of us wonder about, and maybe you wonder about this too, is, and we'll get Dave on here as soon as he joins us, one of the things that I wonder about

is how did Dallas Stars players feel about this? Like if you're a Dallas Stars player and you're like, okay, it's a summer. I'm watching the World Cup and I'm enjoying that. But I got my eyes on what's happening with Jason Robertson. How do you feel about your teammate and what's going on right now with this situation with your team? Probably a little bit uncomfortable. Players do talk. And the other thing about it, too, is as much as players will say, oh, I don't follow any of that stuff, they do.

They all do. And they talk about it. And they all have group chats. And some of them are probably hanging out together watching the world. World Cup together and following this and saying, what the heck is going on with Jason Robertson and our team here? What are we doing? What is he doing? And does that change anything about maybe how they feel about their teammate? Don't know, but this one has become very public. And the other side of this, too, as Greg and I talked about yesterday, the Seattle Cracken, I don't know. I don't know that this is a

trend yet. But listen, they made a big swing for our Tammy Panarin. He went to the Los Angeles Kings. There were discussions about Robert Thomas, who ended up going nowhere. But there was, you know, a situation where Jason Botterill was, again, swinging for the fence with Robert Thomas. There was also this Jason Robertson situation right now. I don't want to say that it's a thing right now.

The players around the NHL are saying no specifically to Seattle. on a consistent basis, but it is a little more than a little bit troubling. I don't think it's at the mayhem stage right now where players are deliberately saying, I'm not going to go to Seattle. I don't want to go that far. What I do know is Jason Botterill is taking massive swings right now. And considering what just happened with Jason Robertson yesterday, like I think that in Seattle, they thought that they had them.

With that number, 15 million times eight, I think in Seattle, they thought that they had this player. And again, I believe there was at least one other team that made a similar offer. And still, Jason Robertson said no. So Jason Botterill is not the kind of general manager that says, oh, well, I tried. I'm sure Jason Bottero woke up again this morning and is back at it with other players. because the feeling in Seattle is, and we've been using the analogy of just, you know, hitting singles to get on base and not swinging for the fences. And then right now, the Seattle Cracken are very much of the mind. And Jason Botterol certainly is that they need to swing for fences.

And, you know, I was on 710 this morning in Seattle and making this point, even very quietly and subtly, the Mackie Samiskevich move is, I don't want to say it's a swing for the fence. but in some ways it's kind of a more aggressive move than we've seen from Seattle in quite some time. In that, they're betting on a player having a higher ceiling than he's been able to show so far with the Florida Panthers. And let's face it, Mackie Samaskavage with the Florida Panthers was blocked. And there was no way he was going to get full-time duty here. Now, there's the Michigan Association. Bottero went to Michigan. He played with Maddie Baneers.

We all understand all of that. But what I like about the Sam Miscavich move for Seattle here, one defense. Seattle a little bit here. What I like about that is, this is the Seattle Cracken saying, we believe that there's more to this player. Alexander Mandricki does the handles the analytics department for the Seattle Cracken. She's the assistant general manager with Jason Botterall. So she would have a big hand in this as well. And what I like about it here is they're not just getting a player that they know and that a lot of people in the organization know, but they're betting on this player having more potential than he has shown so far with the Florida Panthers.

I like that. That's one of those. We think there's more here. We're going to slot him in a spot where he's going to be able to demonstrate that. And for that, I applaud the Seattle Cracken. I know Cracken fans are feeling pretty bad and pretty bummed out. I get it. When some players start to say no to your organization, say no to your city, it's a tough

one. It's a gut punch. And I get it. but I think if you're a cracking fan, you can take Solis knowing that you have a general manager that is still very much swinging for the fences for you. So we'll see what Seattle comes up with. But I think we're probably, Zach, I think we're probably at the place now where we can say, you know how very sneakily Carolina is involved in all these big deals and you don't

find out about it until after like the Jack Eichael deal when he went from Buffalo to Vegas. And then we found after, oh, yeah, by the way, like, Seattle was in, Carolina was in on that one. Or, you know, Artemy Panarin. Like, you find out afterwards that they were in on all of these. I think we're at a place right now where we can say the Seattle Cracken. When big players are available, Seattle is listening.

And the other thing about it is they have picks. Like, I don't think that Seattle picks seventh tonight. I think they're very much trying to move that pick. They have picks and they have players. and when teams are talking to the Seattle Cracken, and I think the teams that are looking for a player to walk in right away, like a young player, the discussion is around Shane Wright,

who's an NHLer. But I think for teams that have a longer view of, you know what, we're rebuilding and we want someone that is, that has a high upside that we can plug in in a couple of years and maybe sees a little, needs a little bit more development, I think that's where you start to see O'Brien's name start to pop up more and more. But make no mistake about it.

Seattle Cracken, open for business. Yeah, good on them for being involved in this. The initial reaction, too, by the way, with the Robertson thing, that's a lot of money. $15 million. I was with Rosie when it happened. And he just looked at him and he was like, holy shit. Like $15 million, eight years.

It's a lot to turn down. And it kind of makes you start to wonder what exactly he's looking for. I think he's, I know, good point by you. Preference would be to stay in Dallas, which makes a lot of sense. He wants to be in Dallas. I think then, which I'm going to kind of push, put it back on you, would be, if it's not Dallas, then where the hell is it, Jeff? Because you pointed out the teams that we've heard are in on it. You know the one that was right there last night.

Like, where is it that he could end up? Because who are the teams that are competitive, aren't a good, window here with a chance to win and have the money that he's looking for. Yeah. Because he's obviously asking for a lot. Yeah, he's asking for a lot. I mean, I think you wonder about the California teams, right? I mean, you look at the family.

I think you wonder about Anaheim and you wonder about Los Angeles and you probably wonder about the San Jose sharks too. There'd be a big market, obviously, for Jason Robertson. Goals are expensive after all. And there are teams out there. Like I've wondered about the Chicago Blackhawks specifically. Like again, and we saw this with the Bow Buy remove, which I don't think history is going to be kind to. The Chicago Blackhawks need to show that they can have a winning season or the beginnings of a winning season.

Like that ownership group wants a return on their investment. Not unlike how Henry Samueli and the Samueli family, Henry and Susan, kind of said to Pat for big, okay, the development time is done. We need to start to see some results this season. And good on Anaheim, they got it, read the message, and the Anaheim Ducks made the playoffs, one around, and all of a sudden, things are looking more optimistic now for the Anaheim Ducks.

So that ownership group gets the return on investment. And I think Chicago is in that spot right now, which, as I was mentioning on the show yesterday, probably gives you a good indication of why Kyle Davidson made that move with the Buffalo Sabres and brought in Bob Byram. And is it an overpay? Yeah, of course it's an overpay.

I think we look at this one like, yeah, it's an overpay. And now you also have to pay Bobiram. And what is that number going to be? And you've surrendered a lot, including the fourth overall draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres. We'll see what they can turn that into. I would wonder about Caleb Malhotra. It's believed that the Buffalo Sabers are looking for a center if they use that pick.

do they want to go Caleb Malhotra or do they want to go Vico Bjork, we shall see. But the Blackhawks are very much in we need to have a winning product here and we need to be competitive. And we need someone to play with Connor Bedard. Could Jason Robertson be that guy? I don't think because Dave's going to be joining us here in five minutes. He's running behind. I don't think that even though I do think that Dylan Larkin is a player of interest for the Dallas. I don't think that Jason Robertson is a player of interest for the Detroit Red Wings,

which is why, and I'll join all these three teams together, as we all sort of play fantasy general manager on what's going to happen with Jason Robertson. Zach, does this one not look like it's going towards a three-way deal? Yeah. In order to make this one work, there has to be another team involved here. So everybody can get a little bit of what they want through all of the, this. But then at the same time, I say to myself, okay, so if Jason Robertson's going to go to

Chicago, if it's $14 million in Texas, what's that number in Illinois? No kidding. Well, that's part of my thought process yesterday when this all happened was, where is that? Because this guy is looking for a ridiculous amount of money here on this deal. But yeah, as for a three-way deal, I think that that definitely makes a lot of sense. I saw you put that out. I think yesterday you're talking about that on Twitter. I think you would put that in. It's like it does start to check out when you look at here too the fluidity ahead of this draft of draft picks. Everyone seems to want them, but also everyone who has them seems to want to get rid of them here right now. Look at nine. Look how much nine is moved. Right. That's on his 15. Pick nine is on its 15. Right. And then we're looking at pick nine.

We're looking at San Jose. Do they keep that at two? We're looking at Buffalo. at four. Do they want to move that? We'll look at the Seattle pick at seven. And then that pick almost ended up on a third team within one day yesterday there, Jeff. It almost went from Seattle to Dallas to Toronto in that one if that one was going to continue on. But that does make a lot of sense to me here if that's going to be the case, especially when I hear you start to tie some of these teams together and who could be interested in the player and who's also trying to improve

their team everyone is trying to do, but, you know, with some of the assets that could be available, you know, if Detroit does want to jump in on something, if Chicago does want to jump in on something, it's like, okay, we can all get together here and check boxes for each other. Yeah. There's a few names. And I mentioned Larkin. Like, I do think that that is something that Dallas pursues, you know, if you want to do like, who's the leading candidate here?

I would have to say the team that's most interested, probably the Dallas stars. This is a team that, you know, Rupert Hens gets injured in the playoffs last. and they look really slow, really fast. And Dylan Larkin gives them a major injection of speed. But I really like, can I throw a team at you on Dylan Larkin? Of course. Toronto, yes.

Bring everybody here. Everyone to Toronto. I know. No, a team that made a move yesterday that didn't bring a player back, a team that's shipped off a bunch of guys over the last couple of days. So their former GM, actually, the Colorado Avalanche. You know what? The Larkin to Avalanche thing to play.

behind and the Valerian Nchuschuskin goes to Columbus yesterday in a deal that no one saw coming for not a lot by the way like did that not strike everybody is like okay this is valerian and Chuskin here um especially given some of the prices over the last couple of days i know so the the the the larkin colorado thing that's kind of been out there for a few years the idea of larkin playing behind nathan mckenon i would not shrug that one off either um but i i do think like the lead dog in this pursuit is going to be the doubt. Like there will be teams, obviously. You have Dylan Larkin in the market.

Like there's going to be a lot of teams lining up to try to get them. The other player that we wonder about here too, and I would wonder about talus with this player too. What's going to happen with Zach Wrenski with the Colorado out with the Columbus blue jackets? Like, is he going to be the next gold medalist to find an address somewhere else? I believe it was Elliot that reported that Don Waddell is going to be meeting with Werenci. after the draft this weekend to find out what his intentions are. Yeah.

Maybe, again, that's a situation where he gets married to the Dallas Stars. Because the one thing that terrify, I can tell you this, the one thing that terrifies Dallas is they don't want to be seen as this generation's version of the San Jose Sharks, where every year everyone says Dallas Stars could win the Stanley Cup, Dallas Stars are going to win the Stanley Cup, Dallas Stars is going to be in the competitive thing. and they get there once and they don't win. Yeah.

And in an era where you look at the San Jose Sharks with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marlow, et cetera, and these guys have a couple of Stanley Cups in them. And at the end of it, they have none. Dallas does not want to be that team, especially after the owner a number of years ago, essentially gave Jim Nill everything that he asked for. Right. Everything that he asked.

Like I will say this, Tom Galardi is an outstanding owner. And the one thing that he has done is he's giving. in this organization every single thing that they've asked for. Everything. And I think probably that's what, maybe with the Jason Robertson situation, maybe that's one of those things that really burns at Tom Galardi is like how much further can we come here? They're essentially offering him the Miko Ranton and deal.

And I don't know, maybe have they, do they make, you know, the first six years of the eight year deal all bonuses? And if so, holy smokes, what an offer. Like that's the thing about Galardi is very generous. and loves his players and loves his team. And I think he's probably looking at this and saying, like, how much more can we give? How much more can we give to this guy? And he's already given a ton to the organization and everything that Jim Nell wants.

That's got to burn. We got a trade for you here, Jeff. Oh, you do? Big one. What do you got? The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded the rights to Samuel Harrison to the Ottawa senators for a fifth round pick in 2027. surprising absolutely no one. Yeah, exactly.

I think the minute that that deal was made, that Sam, that they were not going to do anything with Samerson, other than, you know, just let them walk away, but at least you got a fifth round. If you're Maple Leafs fan, at least you got a fifth round pick for someone that you weren't going to do anything with in the first place. Question for you as we just wait for Dave to jump in here.

Question for you on the Werensky, Columbus, Waddell, pre-post-draft situation. My question is about the timing. Yeah. Like if you are Don Waddell, would you not rather have this conversation prior to this draft with everything that's going on, with how everybody is moving around some of these picks here? And I mean, more specifically, which you can still make the trade after the fact. It's not like it's locked down and okay, no, that's it. But with some of the defensemen that are available, you know, we talk about the picks that are out there, whether it would be two with San Jose or.

or four or seven or nine, and you're trying to get into that top 10. Yeah. Columbus could have an opportunity here to find a guy to not be Zach Werenski. It's a high bar. It's big shoes to fill, but replace in a couple of years, Zach Werenski. It's a very different path that you head down as an organization and as a team.

But I would be looking at it saying I'd rather have this conversation now and have an opportunity to get in there rather than after the fact. Okay. So I would throw this back at you. I would believe that Don Waddell would have already had these conversations with a number of teams. I'm not sure what's happening with my player. I'm going to talk to him after the draft. But if he's available, what is he worth to you?

And you don't have to talk to the player first before you start getting a sense of the value of all of your players. And make no mistake about it. If they end up moving Zach Werenski, it's for players. It's not for picks. like the Columbus Blue Jackets are not in a, hey, we're going to take a couple of steps back here. Like, it is going to be, like, if they move Zach Werenski, it is going to be for, like, I don't think you're going to get a defenseman that's commensurate with the same quality as Zach Wrenski. You're probably going to get someone close and it's going to be that defenseman plus something else.

And I don't think, well, it might be. Like, if it's, if it's Dallas, that would make some sense. Yeah. like that would absolutely make some sense. But it wouldn't be that. It would have to be, it would have to be like Harley Plus if you're doing, if you're doing that with Dallas.

And I would assume that the Dallas stars would be interested because they're looking to change up the look of this team for next season. But regardless of when they talk to Zach Wrenski before the draft or after the draft, I would have to think that the foundation for anything that Don Waddell would have to do, those conversations have already been had, that they've already had those conversations. and Don knows exactly what he can get from who because it's not as if he's a rookie general manager. You know, Don Waddell has been around a long time and Don Waddell has a handle on what everybody in that organization is worth.

Now, as we talked about with Aaron Portsline yesterday, there's a lot of things up in the air with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nobody saw the Valerian-Nachuchkin trade coming, but there it was. Like a few moments after we get off the air with Air Portsline, bam, here comes Valerian-N-Chushkin. and now he's a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. But there's a few things. Like there's the Adam Fantilli deal, as we talked yesterday about the Jet Grieves deal. Krollmarchenko's name is very much out there.

I know Montreal Canadians fans are thinking maybe Karel Marchenko can end up here. A lot of teams hoping that Karel Marchenko ends up there. But Columbus, again, is one of the more interesting teams. The one sensitivity that Don Waddell has about all of it is they can't take a step back. like they need to keep moving this thing forward. There can be no more false start and we're going to zip this thing back in a couple of years after we load up with some more draft picks. Those days are done. Those days are done for the CBJ.

We got Dave. We got Dave. All right, man. That's awesome. He is the busiest guy around DFO. He's everywhere and for good reason. Thumb on the pulse, breaking the trades, breaking them down. He's Dave Panyoda and he joins us here on.

on the sheet. Dave, first of all, thanks so much for parking time on a very, very busy day. Looking dapper outside of the atrium, which, by the way, Michael Farber, can I just make a quick point here? Michael Farber, the legendary Michael Farber, always maintains that this arena, Key Bank, is one of his favorite arenas in the NHL because it has an atrium. And when you have an atrium, that means everybody, it doesn't matter, like rich, poor, middle class, whatever. Everybody comes in in the same spot and they're all together to do one thing.

It doesn't matter your economic status or whatever. Everybody comes in at the same place and everybody leaves at the same place. So if you wonder why Buffalo Sabers fans are always so together and so passionate, Farber, who's a legend, as we all know, always says it's because of the atrium. More rinks should have atriums. I don't know if you ever thought on that one, but we'll start out before we get the trades. atrium's in the NHL. Yeah, you know what, Jeff,

I've experienced when I was younger, used to come down here for games, Canadians games and Leaf games with my buddies. It can be a little dicey at times coming down the escalators all at the same time from different band bases. So I like

the atrium idea, the premise of it's cool. It just can get a little personal. It was like that at the I remember I remember going to one Maple Leafs Philadelphia Flyers series and it was like Maple East fans like and they had

I think they had won that game too. I had to tuck away their jerseys really quickly because of how hostile that Philly crowd was. Okay. So a couple of things here. So Zach and I went over a few things and we'll cover off the headline story from yesterday which has bled into today

and we'll see if it hits a crescendo before the draft tonight. what is the latest that you know about the Jason Robertson situation? We know there are other teams other than Seattle. I reported on St. Louis yesterday, I believe there was at least one other team that offered a similar package for Robertson as Seattle did. And there are probably more. What's the latest from your vantage point? What do you hear?

What do you know? Yeah, the talks, Jeff, they're still ongoing. You know, Dallas is trying to find the right package. Now, I don't think they're completely, I don't think they've completely closed the door on possibly signing him. But they're going to have to obviously up their ante quite significantly. You're talking about 13 plus in order for something to kind of, you know, happen there. And obviously they're not getting to that point. I believe San Jose at some point has had a conversation as well with the Dallas stars about Jason Robertson.

I'm not sure where that has gone if that's really led to any traction. But it certainly seems like there are, as you mentioned, other teams kind of in that mix. and Jim Nill is trying to maximize whatever the return is here. They want immediate returns, obviously. The Dallas Stars are looking at competing, obviously, for a Stanley Cup. They love to be able to keep Robertson, and he wants to be there. But, you know, they've got to make the money work at the same time. And right now they're kind of weighing their options, Dallas's,

respect to what alternative options may be if they're going to move from today. What I wonder about any return for Jason Robertson, if it gets there, are they trying to get what Detroit would want for Dylan Lark? because that does seem like the logical destination. Right. And, you know, the interesting thing with Detroit in their situation, as much as they also want immediate returns, kind of you're moving out of star,

you want to bring in a star back. Some teams are going only futures. And that would, I mean, a push comes to shove, and that's the only option that's, you know, potentially available. That might be something that they want to do. They may pivot and go in that particular direction. We'll see kind of where that. that obviously, you know, ends up.

But there's, there was that talk before, you know, is Dallas in the mix? I wonder about Utah as well with respect to Robertson. But is there perhaps, and I think you've even put this out there as well, the possibility of a third team. Yes. That might get in the mix on that, on that possibility. And we've been hearing some of that noise as well out here, you know, as we're five hours, just give or take, five, little over five hours away from the draft.

Sorry. Yeah. It's curious in Buffalo because everything's about the draft and Buffalo's hosting this year. But what's the bigger story in Buffalo right now? Is it the draft? Does Buffalo keep the fourth overall pick? Or is it all the trades? And Buffalo's been right there on all of it.

Like this has kind of been like a real signature week for Yarmu Kikelanan. And he holds the fourth. Yeah, exactly. And we'll see how much longer he holds the fourth because they've been actively shopping that pick as well, trying to bring in somebody that can replace Alex Tuck immediately. I know there's been some discussions on defense. I know that they kind of poked around a little bit on Brandon Carlo with the Toronto Maple Leafs, among others.

But there seems to be a discussion point with respect to the fourth overall pick. And I'm sure some of the fans out here, by the way, a lot of elite fans here as well, here enough for number one. But they, you know, the Sabres fans, I mean, they're curious as well. They want to know what's going on here. The Sabres have a lot of irons in the fire. I wonder if they're trying to keep a lid on things to make a big announcement when Gary hits the podium. this thing.

Yeah. But they are very much active on the fourth pick. They're looking to bring in a first line caliber player. And then there's all that hellabuck talk as well with respect to goaltending and what happens there. UPL's name that's made the rounds this week. And it's got a little bit louder in the last 24 hours or so. You know,

that's interesting because one of the things that I think initially once the Buffalo Sabres were out of the playoffs, I think, and when everyone's emotional, there's a lot of talk about, you know, we've got to do something with the goaltending. And I think that's where a lot of,

of the Hella Buck conversation started. And I'm not saying that it's still not there in Buffalo, but it almost sounded like they arrived at this point where they were okay with Lukinen and Lyon and Lyon. And for Luchanan specifically, the feeling was we can't really judge him. That was his first playoffs. Like we can't really, we don't really have a handle. That was the first time that he, that he's had a shot at it. But as it's become, to your point, more and more obvious that Winnipeg will probably have to

do something with Halibuck, it should be no surprise that that noise gets louder at all. Right. And no, you're right. And look, Kevin Shovel Dayoff, their GM spoke earlier today. And wouldn't about variety things, including He wouldn't address the trade request. He kind of ignored that, kind of shifted away from that, pivoted and tried to put up a little smoke screen and not talk about it. But, you know, he acknowledged the fact that they are having conversations with our buddy's eyes walking by here. Hey, Dr. Zed. There he is.

They're also, you know, they're weighing their options as well. And I think New Jersey's been in on that mix to a certain degree. At least they've had that conversation. We know Florida continues to circle back and try to make that happen, which, I mean, if you're the Jets, you have to have Lundell in that deal, right? Like, I don't see another scenario. If it's Florida, where it makes sense. I know Lister Rhinon's name has been brought up in conversations along with other pieces.

I'm just not sure. I don't see it. I mean, I'm not Bill Zito. He's a lot smarter than I am, clearly. But they're looking around to see what options are there. But certainly the Jets having those conversations, we all know by now it's no secret. They want a two-seat. They want another second-line winger.

They're just starting the conversations with Cole Perfetti, who's an RFA, to try to get something done there. But they need a second line. They don't have it. They have goal, and that's kind of it. And if that means moving Hellebuck, getting those pieces along with some, something else and then addressing your goal tending from another option, I think that's something that they're considered.

Seattle Cracken fans right now, like this is another gut punch. I don't want to say, Dave, that this is a trend that hockey players are saying no consistently to the Seattle Cracken. Like, I think they were in on, they were in on Robert Thomas. They were certainly in on our Tammy Panarin. we all know about the Jason Robertson situation right now. Do you think this is a trend or this is just Artemy Panera was a one-off?

Jason Robertson's a one-off. I think it's, yeah, I think it's circumstantial. I don't think this is going to be something that's across the board. They've been trying to take a big swing for a while. Remember, this time last year, at the draft, they tried to go after Jordan Cairo with St. Louis, weren't able to pull that off. And I think there was some no trade protection kind of tied to that as well.

Obviously, he's a cap now. But they've been trying to take that big swing. They've been looking for that first line caliber player. They offered Panarin just over $14 million. I think it was $14.5. Something along those lines in order to entice him to come on a longer term deal. He only signed two years with the Kings. It was more term that was attached to it with Panarin.

He didn't want to do that. Now, again, personal choices and I think, again, circumstantial. And I think there's a couple reasons with respect to Robertson. Obviously, there's that jock tax that's kicking in in a year or two. that's a fit of a factor as well. But he also wants to win. And I think in certain circumstances, you know,

I mean, we're at a trend now where everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to push for that. I think Seattle certainly a ways out from getting to that level. I think that was a big factor with respect to Robertson as well. We'll see if anything kind of evolves on that front. But Seattle,

no secret, as we mentioned, they're big fish running. And if they could try to bring somebody in that can be at the top of that line, they're looking to do it. Seventh overall pick is in play. And we know Shane Wright is also in play.

He's been for mid-season. Yeah, it sounds very much like in Seattle. For teams that are competitive right now and are looking for a player to step in the conversations around Shane, right? For other teams that are taking more of a long view, it sounds very much like Jake O'Brien. Like that, and who's probably a couple years away, one more year. And one year in the American Hockey League, maybe two. Yeah, he generated interest as well. But I think their preferences, they're trying to push the right narrative because I do believe,

I don't think a formal trade request has been made, but I do believe there's been acknowledgement that Shane Wright would welcome a change of scenery. And I think Seattle knows that. What Dave is referring to as well is the Millionaire's Tax. That bill passed two months ago, and that goes into effect in 2028. And I believe it's at 8.8%. But we can remove Washington State from being a tax-free state. That is now-

For athletes, yeah. Sorry, athletes, 8.8%. No, millionaires. Yes. You got to make a little less. Yeah, so I guess you're not going to be moving to Seattle anytime soon, then, Dave Panyoda. Let me ask you. Not if you lend me some money.

Let me have. Mine makes noise in my pocket. I like that long, quiet green you're walking around with. Let me ask about the Toronto Maple Leafs and we'll let you go on that one. And I know you got a busy day here. You mentioned a bunch of Maple Leafs fans there. They're going to be picking first overall, Gavin McKenna, etc. But Matthew Nyes, that name is still out there. And the one thing that I keep coming back to is like this happens every now and then.

You have a player that teams are willing to overpay for. So maybe you have the obligation to see what the market says. Is that the reality with Matthew Nyes? They have some, like, John Chica has someone that teams are willing to overpay for. That's what they're listening. That's why they're listening. If somebody is going to seriously overpay for Matthew Nyes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to consider that.

But beyond that, like, Chikek, I was there yesterday at the press conference when Jim Hiller was introduced as head coach. afterwards chica addressed the media had some conversations about some of the other stuff he's doing and he addressed matthew nice he mentioned his age he mentioned his capabilities and production on the ice and he mentioned the contract that he has

and he said all of those components are what we want here in Toronto so if you basically a message saying you've got to in tight you've got to twist our arm you've got to give us an offer we can't refuse and some in order to consider it I'd be surprised at this point if nize has moved because I don't

anticipate a team getting to that level That's the same thing in St. Louis, what they were doing with Robert Thomas. They waited for a while, tried to see something going on with Thomas, weren't able to overpay, and he's sticking around. So I think it's a similar situation in Toronto, although he did address Morgan Riley as well and tried to calm the waters there, but there's chumming the waters on the ride from. Speaking of St. Louis, real quick, they have four first round picks. I don't think anyone thinks that they're going to make four first round picks. I believe the Robertson offer was three of those. what do you expect out of St. Louis?

It seems like the teams that I was watching for going to the draft, Seattle, that move is already made. And St. Louis as well has, with a new general manager coming in, it sounds very much like Doug Armstrong wants it very much set the table here for Alex Dean. Yeah, and that's why I'm not counting them out with respect to, at least, they're one of the teams that asked about Robertson as well, right? I mean, we know, as mentioned with respect to McTavish on that. they're another team that's both around on on that to see if that's a possibility.

I'm with you. I don't expect them taking all their fourth round, excuse me, first round vicks to the bank with them. I think they're going to move one or two if they don't have that, that other deal kind of in place. But they've been looking. And again,

they took Robert Thomas off market. It doesn't look like there's something there with Colton Perico, that that's a likelihood of either. We know they already moved out Jordan Chirut, but they're also fishing. They're looking to see, you know, is there a hockey move to be, is there an immediate impact type of player that could be had in order for them to improve their roster immediately and help some of the younger guys that they've got there and enhance them even further?

So, yes, St. Louis, certainly a team to look out for it. And just circling back on Toronto, one of the things I want to mention in the last few days, number of teams and even agents have told me that the word is that Toronto is one of the busiest teams and most active teams out there in terms of trying to improve their club. So we'll see what else they have their sleeve. By the way, I'm sure you saw, they've traded Sam Erson just before I jumped on with you to Ottawa for a pick. So he clearly not part of their plans.

They don't have to find out. They got a, I think it was a fifth round pick. Yep, fifth round pick. Absolutely. Dave, great stuff. Enjoy the atrium. Enjoy the key bank and enjoy the draft tonight. And enjoy looking at your phone all night for trades.

Yes, it's going to be busy. I just charge this baby up. So see how long that lasts. Good. Keep a charge, pal. Keep a charge. You're the best. Thanks as always, Dave. Later, buddy. Take care. Dave Pan, Dave, DiFo, Insider, and from the fourth period as well alongside Erfang Gaffara, daily face-off, rundown insider edition. There was a lot there. Before we get to some formalities here, Zach, you have anything that you want to pull out of Dave's conversation that struck you or tickled you under that bearded chin?

Yeah. The Hello Buck situation is just interesting. And what's interesting too is what you keep bringing up about Buffalo and UPL. And the thing I keep coming back to is what you always say that, you know, Eric Tulski tries to do. And I think that it's something that is a good lesson. It's kind of an obvious one. But it's like it's an important one if you want to have success. What Eric Tulski does is if you can make your team better do it. Even just a little bit.

Yeah. Even just a little bit. You do it. I get the idea there in Buffalo that you look at UPL and say, well, it was only his first time in the playoffs. But if Connor Hellbuck is available. Yeah. I just don't know how you pass that up. Now, price is important.

The cost of acquisition is important. But it's the one I just keep thinking about. It makes so much sense for the Buffalo Sabres to pursue it and for him to land there. He's got his team USA teammate, Tage. Thompson, excuse me, sitting there on that roster as well. So it just makes a lot of sense to me. And I know you say that about UPL, but I'm like, it's Connor Halibuck, man. Well, that's the thing that I wonder about right after the playoffs too, or right after

Buffalo exit is, are the Buffalo Sabres in a position right now? Because it happens. Like, you look at winning cycles. And at a certain point, you're on your winning cycle and you say, okay, now it's time for the big move. And the timing is so specific for it. You can't make the big move too early. the big move is waiting for you to make right when you're on that precipice of needing one last big move

to put you over the top. And the thing that I wondered about, even though it was their first time in the playoffs in what felt like a century, are the Buffalo Sabres ready for that massive move already? And is that move Connor Hallibuck? We shall see. We shall see. This segment, by the way, a presentation of the Ninja Crispy Pro Countertop Glass Air Friar. Get faster, crispier results at home or on the go with legendary Ninja Air Frying Power. Prep, cook, serve, and store in non-toxic clean crisp glassware. Get more out of your air fryer with the Ninja Crispy Collection. Shark Ninja is elevating the air fryer experience.

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The rumors are wild out there. And one of the teams, you know, that we're wondering about are the Anaheim Ducks. Mason McTavish is front and center. But this is like, this is very much a team that's also looking to improve their back end. And I think is willing to move out younger players, like younger defenders on that team, maybe even someone like Olen Zellwiger, to get there. I really do wonder if tonight is their night to do it. I don't think that this is a team that's looking for anything other than. more veteran players.

Do you agree, Zach Phillips? Do you agree? Yeah, I do. It's kind of funny you bring that up. That's a team that I keep, I've brought up numerous times on Leaf shows that I've done here, especially on our network, is calling the Anaheim ducks.

I don't know what you have to go the other way that they would be looking for necessarily. I don't know if Morgan Riley is a piece that fits. And obviously there's more that has to come back. I want to clarify that because I know the chat will jump on me and say, look at this delusional lease fan. He thinks he's trading Morgan Riley for Zell Wigert.

That's not what I'm saying. But I do agree. I think that that's one of those spots that you have young pieces where they look and say, we want to get better now. It's a little bit different than what Chicago is dealing with where we keep talking about them, similar a little bit to Detroit where it's like, hey, you're getting out of the green banana business. Yeah.

But they're kind of in that boat as well. You know, Anaheim is one of those teams too because he focused so much on the Chicago Blackhawks and what they need to do and what they've already done with the Bo Byram deal. And that move has rightly been panned from the Chicago point of view. But, you know, Anaheim is one of those teams. That's, that's, let's lap them. You know, San Jose has lapped them.

Montreal has lapped them. Like all these teams that sort of started their rebuilds at similar, if not identical times, have all lapped the Chicago Blackhawks here. Yeah. And you wonder about like teams that are, I was talking to someone about. about this last night. Teams that are attractive or not attractive to players based on how they play and how committed they are to winning. I think we're at a point right now and we'll see what Kyle Davidson can do about it. I think you have to really, because for the last little while,

it's all just been about kids developing, kids developing. When is it going to be the commitment to winning? We saw that with Montreal. We see that now with Anaheim. We've seen it with San Jose. when does it start with Chicago? When? And I think further to that point, it's great to want to do it. It's great to start doing it. Easier said than done,

but you got to make the right moves. And I don't think that the one they did the other day is necessarily one that really takes that big step forward to being in the right direction. And that's obviously the Bowen-Byrum trade that I'm talking about for the fourth overall pick. There's more to the trade than just that. but I appreciate, like what you talked about with Mackie Samiskevich in Seattle.

That's when it's, hey, they're trying. They're working on it. They tried with Jason Robertson. They're trying. They're going for it. Those moves make sense. You want to take big swings. You want to put your team in a better spot.

But are you just making moves for the sake of making moves? And that's one thing that Kyle Davidson has to make sure he avoids here is because I feel, and I might be proven to be an idiot, it's happened before. So I'm willing to accept that. But I feel that this move doesn't do enough for Chicago. There still has got to be a lot more. Oh, 100%. There's still a lot more heavy lifting here to be done.

Okay. NHL season may be behind us, draft on the horizon. Fandul, you're home for all the action on and off the ice. From blue line to bet slip, got you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. Yesterday was a juicy one.

That was fun. Miss Buck drop, no sweat with the live. Same game parley. You can build your bets up. until the final buzzer. Download fan dual sports book today and play your game. And we remind you please play responsibly 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling of the gambling of someone close to you,

please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Creative, Zach, what do you have for us today? So I really wish that this was available because it was one thing I was like, there's draft stuff that you can do but i'm like oh man the one thing that would be so fun is like does buffalo pick at four yes no i was trying to i was trying to think about those it's not available unfortunately but you can kind of bet on it in a way if you want to see i'll pick at seven exactly exactly that's it i will i wish those were available maybe fandwell can get them that's good ahead but uh what has come up and i think this is just fanduel again just seeing

you know, they put up radish stuff and they've got like more Leafs things. We talked about the McKenna specials the other day. They've got more McKenna stuff up here, Jeff. So I just wanted to highlight some of this. You obviously have the ones I showcased where he scores 30 plus and then the Leafs make the playoffs. That one is available. The record's 30 plus and the Leafs win the Atlantic Division. Okay.

They've also now put up beyond Gavin McKenna goals. Okay. They've put up Gavin McKenna regular season. and points. Just obviously highlighting these. You can see there, 50 plus points, 55 plus, 60 plus, and 70 plus. The highest at 70 plus is plus 750 for Gabby. There's not a between 40 to 50 points.

I'd be way more comfortable with that, no? It's not available. It's not available. We're just assuming this is going to be minimum 50 points for, you know how hard it is to score 50 points is already? I know. I know. Hang on.

Do you know how hard the end? NHEL is. I'm with you. NHL's hard, man. I want the kid to succeed. I want them to have a great first year here. But I just don't think that that 50 mark at minus 700 is where I'd want to be heading. No, I know. Get in.

Get in. Get in. Listen, man. It's going to be a really big night for you and your team picking first overall, Toronto Maple Leafs. I know you're excited about it. And for a good reason. It's a totally tough season.

the Maple Leafs and there's a big reward. At the end, as Dave was just mentioned a couple of seconds ago, it sounds very much like Toronto, one of the more aggressive teams out there right now. We'll see about picking up other picks in the top 10. We'll see about Matthew Nyes. We'll see about Morgan Riley, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But normally on a deal like this, we would spend the entire time talking about the draft itself. I know a lot has revolved around trades and for good reason. This feels like trade deadline week. But let's focus on the draft one more time. This segment is a presentation of Canadian blood services who invite you to experience what giving feels like in a world that can feel isolating and divided blood and plasma donation

offers something rare and fulfilling, real connection, real purpose, real impact, and this one is really important to yours truly. Every summer, people across Canada get swept up in the excitement of the season and donation routines can slip, but the need doesn't. This is a moment to rally together as a nation and for new donors to experience firsthand what you, you're going to you get when you give. At a moment when Canadians are looking for positive ways to show up for one another, Canadian Blood Services is issuing an invitation to new donors, fill every donation share in the country this summer. I'm back in mid-August for another. I go every three months. Book atblood.ca through the Give Blood app or call 1-3-8 to donate. Do it. And we've been focusing

on in this Game Changer segment, individual players. And it's a Gavin McKenna's. and the Stenbergs and Carls, et cetera. But today, I thought what we'd do is we'd have a look at our resident draft expert, Stephen Ellis's list. And mock draft, he got his final 96. Do you have, and you want to read them out here for us, starting with Gavin McKenna. Yes. What do we got from Stephen Ellis?

So we've got number one, Gavin McKenna, number two, Ivar Stenberg. You go down to number three. And I want to pause on this one for a second. Yeah, I don't know that that happens. I, okay, I don't know that that one happens. That one, again, if it, unless San Jose moves the pick, and they might, I agree with Stenberg. I can still see Vancouver though going Chase Reed. I can see them going Chase Reed.

I understand the temptation about Malhotra. I just don't know that they want to put Caleb Malhotra in a situation where he's in a room with teammates and dad's the coach. it makes it uncomfortable for teammates and it would make it uncomfortable for Caleb. I think he's good enough to go third overall. I think he's good enough to go second overall. I just don't know that Vancouver wants to do that. I can I can see them going, going Chase Reed on this one at three.

Continuing on, you have, he puts up your Buffalo Sabres selecting Chase Reed at four. Flip those two for me. Okay. So read at 3, Malhotra at 4. I'm in throwing darts. Okay. And then Carson Carroll's at 5.

I can see that. That one I'm cool with. I think they like Carl's. And he's the farmer, by the way, just like last year with Brady Martin. He's the farmer of the draft this year. Right. Vigo Bjork at 6. Mm-hmm.

Listen, I can see it. There are some general managers that have Vigo Bjork in the top 5, and there are some that even have him over Caleb Mahotra as the top. top center in the draft, the only issue is the size. Yeah. But this guy works hard. This guy battles. This guy is skill.

Like there are some general managers individually who have him top three, but their scouting departments don't. And then the question is, if you're a general manager, you always can get a hot water with this one, do you go against your scouts? Right. And that's never a good idea. Yeah. That's never a good idea.

Then you got Keaton Verhoff at 7. Okay. Verhoff is going to be a really interesting name to watch. We talked to Pierre about Keaton Verhoff earlier on the program. I don't wish this on him, but if you're going to find one player that may go lower than he should, it might be Keaton Verhoff here. And again, I'll go back to that,

what that agent always says to his players before the draft. this is your wedding day it's not your marriage doesn't matter where you go you still have a huge career in front of you and this is one of those situations where and i do commend him because he put himself into a more difficult situation and by the way michigan was involved in this too like michigan was was trying to get keaton verhof he ends up going to north dakota and it's it was more difficult for him if he were to stayed in victoria probably would have had a tremendous season and there would be no doubt about him being a top three, maybe a top two pick.

If someone's going to fall, it might just be Keaton Verhoff. And I think that that necessitates a recalibration of how we feel about players that go to NCAA in their draft year. But by the way, I don't see Seattle making the pick. Yeah, good point as well. This mock draft,

Ellis, what are you even doing? Why bother at this point? All these guys are going to be different teams, looking there. Winnipeg Jets at 8th taking... So the thing about Albert Smiths, he'll walk in next year. He'll play next year.

There's a few. Like, Gavin McKenna walks in next year. Stenberg walks in next year. Albert Smiths walks in and plays in the NHL next season. Yes. Okay. And then San Jose at 9, taking Daxon Rudolph. So according to...

So then they get the one forward. and the one defenseman like yeah again like if they if they're there for it i wouldn't be wouldn't shock anybody if um if they end up end up taking a defenseman that's the one area of need i mean up front like their top six is stacked completely stacked so uh wouldn't surprise me and wyatt cullen at 10 and we'll uh we'll we'll pause it there from the development program it's been a great season for for wyatt cullen son of matt cullen uh legendary n hler and he matt cullen was always the guy that Jim Rutherford would always bring back. Wherever Jim Rutherford went, Matt Cullen follow.

You know, managers, for Scotty Bowman, Jimmy Roberts, everywhere he'd go, he'd take Jimmy Roberts. Matt Cullen was the Jim Roberts for Jim Rutherford. That was always his guy. So happy for the Cullen family. He will go most likely top 10 in the NHL draft this evening. That is game changers. I presented by Canadian Blood Services.

All right, floor is yours to conclude the show. Your team is. front and center tonight. I know the trades are the trades, but tonight is supposed to be about the kids and the draft. And the wonderful thing about the draft every single year is,

it's always a good news story. Like that's the wonderful thing about the draft. It's all positivity. It's looking for the future. The kids are happy. All of it. What do you expect out of your squad, the Maple Leafs, tonight, Philly?

Yeah, I think they're, I think they keep it simple from the perspective of the first overall pick. I imagine this is Gavin McKenna. Don't overthink this. Pick the kid. I'm very, I'm excited about it. Honestly, I think from just like a fan perspective, it's a cool moment here for this,

especially, you know, the 10 year anniversary. Matthews was picked in Buffalo and all that stuff lines up. It's cool. But watching his media availability, listening to his quotes in his comments and stuff, it's kind of fun, him talking about wanting to be the villain in everywhere he plays, every arena that he plays in and stuff, it's like, okay, this could be cool, could be fun here. and I think Leaves fans are excited. Beyond that, Jeff, genuinely, I got no goddamn idea.

I have no clue what the hell this team is going to do because at every moment you find out Nize is available, Carlos is available, these guys are available, the Leaves are trying to get into the top 10. They're looking at two. They're looking at four. They're looking at nine. They were looking at seven. I'm like, you know what? This is going to be a roller coaster ride. And in my brain, I don't want to have expectations for what happens beyond pick number one.

I think that I've set that. And I've locked in, it's Gavin McKenna. Beyond there, I'm excited for the roller coaster ride that will be the draft tonight because I would not be shocked in the slightest if John Chica starts slinging deals here and tries to move himself into the top 10 in some facet. So I am excited about tonight. He was hired to turn this thing around ASAP. That was the mantra from Keith Pallion.

Don't forget tonight, 6 o'clock Eastern right here on our daily faceoff YouTube channel. He was truly alongside Pierre McGuire for a full, pre-game coverage and also post-game coverage as soon as the first round is done. Plus, all throughout the draft, what you'll see coming out of us here at Daily Faceoff, custom player profiles for all the picks in the first round. Also, Leaf Nation live for Toronto's first overall pick. You're part of that one, Philly. Canucks Army doing a live watch-along and Barnburner bringing the draft night energy

with a live hangout from Calgary as well. Follow every pick, every reaction, every future hockey star with the Nation Network. and check out all of our featured shows on our YouTube and also on our socials. This is a big one for us here, folks. It's been a wonderful season. You got trade? Well, not anything done here, but Dave, this guy gets off the show and then right to work.

Right to work. Sounds like the ducks are engaged in trade talks involving Olin Zellweger. Okay. So, I mean, nothing official on that one, but just wanted to throw that update as we get off the air that that's happened. Oh. Did I get it? Yep.

Sal Wrigo's this word? Yep. Wow, funny how that happens. Okay. All right. So there you go. Anton Wahlberg and the 45th pick. Yeah.

I wasn't saying you were wrong. I was just saying there was no return or official, anything official yet. But I got the team right. You did. There it is. I wonder how that. I don't know how I knew that. I just came off the top of my head.

Magic, magic. I don't know about that. Watch Seattle with Robertson. Anyhow, okay, listen, thanks so much for stopping by today. Really appreciate it. You know, the number's been great all week long. You guys love trades and you guys love the draft. And it's great to be part of it here at Daily Faceoff.

Thanks to Dave Panjota for stopping by. And also, thanks to the great Pierre McGuire. We had a great time hanging out the Hall of Fame yesterday. You're going to see what we did a little bit later on, probably sometime in the summer. But essentially, Pierre McGuire and I just got like our geek on yesterday at the Hall of of Fame and went from exhibit to exhibit to exhibit and just like emptied the brain, emptied the notebook on stories. We walked around the Montreal Canadiens replica dressing room as well and did stories on all

the play. It was honestly, it was a lot of fun. And we really think we're going to package it all up for the summer. And we think you're really going to enjoy it. I had a great time. Pierre had a great time. It was fun. Like it was just a fun time hanging out for a couple of hours at the Hockey Hall of Fame and

talking about, you know, the beaver on top of the Vesna Trophy. and the Bobby Warpinball machine and the late John Garrett's great Birmingham Bulls mask, etc, et cetera, et cetera. So a good chance for you to get your geek on with us. Thanks to Pierre for stopping by. Thanks to Dave for stopping by. Thanks to you for stopping by whether you're listening on your favorite podcast platform or watching us on our daily face off YouTube.

We appreciate the attention. And we'll see for you again. We'll watch for you again tonight. 6 o'clock Eastern, our pre-drapped show with yours truly and Pierre Maguire. On behalf of us all here at our downtown studios, thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. We are back later on tonight, 6 o'clock Eastern for round one of the NHL draft. We'll see you then.