The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Luke Hughes Extends & Oilers Add Ingram ft. Brian Burke & James Nichols

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

The newest episode of The Sheet with Jeff Marek leads off with Luke Hughes’ extension in New Jersey and what it means for the Devils’ cap, lineup construction, and expectations this season. Brian Burke also joins to break down Kirill Kaprizov’s record-setting $136M contract with the Minnesota Wild—the richest in NHL history—and what it means for future stars like Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. They dive into the Edmonton Oilers’ addition of Connor Ingram in net, plus the rough-and-tumble Montreal vs. Ottawa game that got everyone talking. Later, James Nichols stops in for a deep dive on the Hughes deal, exploring the salary cap implications, how it shapes the Devils’ lineup, and what their expectations are now. From blockbuster contracts to playoff-level intensity in preseason games, Jeff Marek and his guests cover it all.#TheSheet #NHL #JeffMarek #BrianBurke #JamesNichols #KirillKaprizov #MinnesotaWild #ConnorMcDavid #ConnorIngram #EdmontonOilers #LukeHughes #NewJerseyDevils #MontrealCanadiens #ottawasenators Shout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_en👍🏼Simply Spiked: https://www.simplyspiked.ca/en-CAReach 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.

Hey, it's Jeff Merrick here. My family and I were just on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. And as a hockey media personality and show host, it can be tough to get away during the hockey season. While we were there on the way down, I thought to myself, wait a minute, when we're down here enjoying the sun and the ocean waves, we could be hosting our home on Airbnb while we're away. Your home might be worth more than you think.

Find out how much at Airbnb.c.ca. And the contracts are coming fast and furious. Yesterday was all about Coral Caprisoff. We'll get into that deal again. We're coming up in a couple moments. And today it's all about the Luke Hughes extension. That's a lot of money. Or you know what?

It feels like a lot of money. But when you have a look at where the salary cap is headed, Pretty soon, it's not going to feel like a lot of money. And that's just the reality that we all find ourselves in right now. Welcome to the sheet for this Wednesday, October the first. Glad to have you aboard today. And coming up on the program here, I don't want to get this sort of teed up quickly

because Brian's got a lot of really interesting thoughts, as he always does, on these latest contracts. And we'll talk a little bit about preseason, most specifically, what we saw in Quebec yesterday. Daily Outland is powered by Fanduel. Make Every Moment more with North America. America's number one sports book, and that is, of course, Fan Duel. And coming up on the program today, he's a mere matter of couple of moments away.

He is Brian Burke, who joins us each and every Wednesday here on the program. James Nichols will stop by. We'll talk about the Luke Hughes deal and what's next, if anything, for the New Jersey Devils. More on the Kroll Caprizoff, resetting of the marketplace contract with Minnesota Wilde yesterday, and the Edmonton Oilers have added a goaltender who is on his way to Baker's feel. Let's bring him aboard right away. Every Wednesday we're joined by Brian Burke, the man who really needs no introduction. And here he is, the loquacious and always dapper and well-coffed Brian Burke.

And we should mention as well, you're at the Mark Curtin celebration of life right now. Yeah, I did not know Mark well, but I admired him like everyone else. Everyone liked Mark. He had put up a great fight at the end, so good for him. And I'm glad to be here today in his honor. Yes. Okay. So to some of the business, and we'll rewind and get to Capriza off here in a couple of seconds, Berkey. But right off the bat, I mean, the new, we are all wondering, was it going to get done, was it going to drag into the regular season? What was that going to mean for the team? What was that going to mean for the player? What was that going to mean for the family? But Luke Hughes, that deal gets done. Seven-year contracts, $63 million. $9 million is the AAV. I want to get to Lane Hudson here in a couple of seconds and maybe Thomas Harley as well. but $9 million for Luke Hughes, to which Brian Burke says what?

Well, I'm happy for the Hughes family. I think it's a lot of money. I think it's a lot of money for a player that has not been durable so far. So to me, it's a question mark. Caprice, I was a bigger question mark for me. But I like when players get paid. I like when the marketplace moves.

I said this last week, there was a log jam. We'd take one signing that set it off and it has. Yeah. But you'll see, we're not done with the biggest contract they've ever seen yet. Well, do you, just, let's go down that road quickly. Do you think that will be Connor McDavid, or is he going to do the short-term hometown discount for the Edmontonel?

And all this is he tries to help Bowman keep his team competitive. Well, as an agent, you're going through when you're doing the math, you're saying yourself, okay, I got eight years. I got 16, 17, 9, whatever. I can do that for eight years and lock it in. But the cap keeps going up. If recent memory shows you, the cap keeps going up in this, players quickly fall behind the wayside.

So the Lou Hughes or Jack Hughes or Quinn Hughes is grossly underpaid after two or three years sometimes. I think if you bet that the cap's going to keep going up, which it will certainly for the next two of the years, and you've got to grab the money and go shorter term, which is what I think Connor's going to do. But if you think the caps can go up indefinitely, then eight years doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Yeah, let me, um, it, one of the side.

side bars to all of this is, and you mention value contracts. And right now we look at, you know, Jack Hughes at $8 million. And you say to yourself, when it was signed, we said, wow, that's a lot of money. And now we kind of look at Jack Hughes's contract and say it's one of the best values in the NHL, provided he can stay healthy, which, you know, he's had the shoulder issues. He's represented by CAA, all the Hughes boys are. And whether it was the Nathan McKinnon deal when he was in the sixes, we all looked at that and said it's the best value contract in the NHL. Jack Hughes were looking at and saying it's one of the best value contracts in the NHL.

I mean, you've worked all different areas, manager, you've been an agent, you've worked with the league, you've worked with teams, and you've worked as a broadcaster. Does that resonate with agents and with players? The idea that, you know what, I don't want to be the guy that people look at and say he's the best value contract in the NHL. We suspect the Luke Hughes deal will look like that eventually.

But does that resonate with players? Oh, you get the best value contract in the league. I think you have to go through as an agent. When I used to represent players, let's say, here's what you're signing. Here's the risk of being underpaid or being a value contract. We didn't use that term back then. But I think you have to go through with their client and say, here's the risk.

You want the security. If you blow on your shoulder, you're getting all the money anyway. If you want that security, you've got to sign for a multi-year deal, long term's best. That's the best security you can get. It may not be the best value you can get. And that's the betting game. And the team sometimes says, we're not doing this. Let's go seven years.

They want to lock up the term. did um like one of the questions that i think we wonder about all this and we'll you know wait to hear from from tom fitzgerald the general manager of the new jersey devils why do you think this one took so long like i i completely misread this i thought of all the of all the restricted free agents i thought that you know this one would get done quickly there's a lot of you know veteran um you know a lot of veteran people on both sides of it not just c a and tom fitzgerald but also jim hughes jack Hughes has gone through this. Quinn Hughes has gone through it. Like, I just looked at this and said, there's just too much expertise here for this one to drag on. But it did, Brian. Why do you think that happened?

I think it's like the ice going out of the lake in the spring. One big piece moves, then a whole bunch of other pieces move, too. I think they were all waiting for a shooter drop. I think they were waiting for Connor, but Carol Caprice jumped in there instead of new bar. And that's going to move a lot of ice. So the risk, of course, with Caprisov is he's averaged 65 games a year the last four years.

Yep. He has that injury issues. He's an exciting player. What cracks me up, when you set a new marketplace, the owner or the GM gives the same speech every time. You know, we don't care. We the player wanted to be here. We had to do it. It made sense.

It's always the same speech on why they had to pay the guy when they didn't really have to. said no. But it cracks me up there. I'll give the same speech. And I've done it too. I've overpaid where I felt I needed a player. You know, let's do the Caprizov conversation because it is a fascinating one. And again, it's the reset of the marketplace. We need to start to really get used to these numbers in the high teens for NHL players. I do wonder how much, well, first of all, Paul Theophanis is the agent here. And really, you know, Yarmulkekeleana would always say sometimes the team has the hammer. Sometimes the player has the hammer. In this situation, the player had the hammer and, you know, got the Minnesota Wilde to a place where they were just negotiated against themselves. They had turned down the original deal that was that was offered and they bumped it up even more and Capri's off signed. But this is a year after Craig Leopold, the owner of the Minnesota Wilde said, essentially, I'm paraphrasing here, nobody can offer a more term. Nobody can offer a more term. Nobody can offer. for them more money and that's what we're going to do to keep Currell Caprize off.

Like everything lined up here for a massive, massive payday. To say nothing of the fact that they just got out of salary cap prison with Souter and Parisi. And now all of a sudden the thought about losing their marquee franchise type player was just unpalatable for Bill Garan. Is that the way you saw this? Yes, that's the way I saw. But that's the way you always see it. So how you justify it and rationalize it when you pay a player that much.

say we had to do it he had all the cards he had the hammer sometimes you have the hammer sometimes harrison and told me when I was a young agent Harry said we can sign everyone so there's no salary cap by then he said we can sign everyone I just have to say yes I prefer saying no

and that's why deals don't get done Harry could say no in seven languages and so to me it's very different now and I understand the angst that's going on in Edmonton and in Minnesota before the pre-solve sign. But it is inflationary,

and you have to see where this goes. I can't see these salaries increasing as at this same rate for the next five years. I cannot. We cannot. Well, I mean, the cap's going up to 104 next year, then 113 after that. Like, there's a lot of room here to sign players.

And you know what salary. I mean, the salary caps are, the upper limit is a magnet for, for a lot of teams. And I think for a lot of teams, too, Berkey, and you, I'm sure, felt this pressure

when you were in Toronto or when you were in Calgary, a lot of the really, you know, hot hockey markets. If you're not spending, you really hear it from your fan base. Like,

you really hear it. Well, it's a paradox because you hear it for sure. But fans hate highly paid, highly compensated players that are not playing well. The team's not in first place and the players not getting a point in game.

They turn on those players pretty quickly. Canadians resent high salaries for guys who aren't trying their best than doing their best all the time. So it's a real trap. When you look at the Caprizov deal, we always wonder about the cascading effect and what this is going to have. I want to circle back on Hughes for in a couple of moments here

and talk about Lane Hudson and what that next deal could look like poy cortex is licking their chops at this one. But who does this one affect the most? Is it Connor? Is it Jack Eichol? Is it Kyle Connor? I mean, he's a winger. The other two players I just mentioned are centers.

Who does this one benefit? Maybe Martin Aches with the Avalan. Who does this deal benefit directly? All of the above. It helps everyone that's in this circumstance. I said this a week ago, waiting for one shoe to drop and then a bunch of them are going to drop. And you're going to see, I think Kyle Connor,

Connor McDavid, all signed deals, not necessarily in the next couple of days, because they've got a year to go. But before the season begins, you'll see three or four more guys sign up so they get that injury protection. It helps everybody.

It very much felt like the Kyle Connor number was going to be somewhere in the, I don't know, 11, maybe $12 million range for the Winnipeg Jets. Has that sailed now? I was going to say, Bricky, has that sailed now? I think it was moving up before that, though. I really found once Caprisov said no to 16, I think the market changed right there.

I think Jack Eichol, he's an old dummy. The agents aren't dumb. I know what we like to think they are and say they are, but they're not. The agents are pretty sophisticated, and they'll be read this, and that's why they all waited. So let's just wait and see what happens. Someone's going to make a mistake here. Let's wait for him to make this mistake, and then we'll all pile on. That's what's going to happen.

How many angry GMs are there out there now after the Caprizo deal gets done? Because now there's a super high comparable that's in the marketplace. There's a new shark in the water here. Well, I think what Craig Leopold said is probably right in terms of the marketplace. They love Kiral Kapriza. I think it's a great player. They love his flash. He's got Panache.

He sells tickets. He's a really exciting player. But as I said, he plays 65 games here the last four years. He's not getting younger. You're getting older. So we'll see. But there's no question to move the goalposts for everyone.

It seems as if, you know, as much as you might look at the Caprizov deal and say, okay, well, listen, if Crowell Caprizoff is worth of 17 million on the AAV, then it stands to reason that Connor McDavid has to be more. More success, more trophies, you know, already sort of, you know, cemented a position in the hockey hall.

of fame for all of his achievements. But it very much feels like that's not the case, Brian, that he's trying to thread this needle of, I need to get paid what I feel is fair and what I deserve, but also try to leave some money in Stan Bowman's pocket to ice a competitive team. I don't think we should look at Carole Caprizov and say, okay, so McDavid's got to be a million or two million more. How do you feel about the McDavid situation in the Caprizo world? Well, the upper limit is 20% of the cap and then he gave me the year.

And so by waiting that cap goes up, he's eligible to sign a longer-term deal. That goes down in a year. The length of the term he can sign goes down in a year. But I think in terms of, why wouldn't he ask for at least what he's made, as long as he's under the 20% cap and leave some money to sign teammates, I think going above Caprisov is a natural. I can't see him doing it for less. I can't. It's an interesting time.

Luke Hughes and that deal, the $9 million on the AAV, I know it's different and different positions, but now he's making more than his brother. Jack Hughes on the New Jersey Devils. The other thing that is intriguing here is Sean Coffey at Cortex would be the agent now for Lane Hudson, who I'm guessing has to be the same. second happiest person at the Luke Hughes deal after Luke Hughes.

Well, Matthew Nyes, I think, set a new bar for guys coming out on entry level in terms of what they were going to be paid. So I think for Hudson, the same thing. They got to be licking their chops as well. But this is a special player, too. He's done some things that no one else has done to this point. So they're not really comparable, but they're all comparable to a point. They all lend ammunition to the agent's side.

Should be fascinating. Oh, real quick, do you have a thought on the Mason McTavish deal? That was one that we were wondering about and every team thought that they were going to be able to steal him and there's their second line sent and they're going to make a deal with McTavish. And it felt very much as soon as Pat Ferbik got, allowed himself to get to the number seven,

this thing was done. And it seems as if that's the bar that Anaheim has for players. Yeah, I think so. I think Pat Verbeek's a stubborn guy. I think he took him some time to get there. I know from a comment I heard from an agent that they were frustrated. They weren't able to get there sooner. The agent's side was, but they didn't say that to me, by the way.

He told someone else that. But I think Pepper Beek, he played for me. He's a stubborn Dutchman. He's a, I love the guy, but he took him while to get there. But I think it's an important signing. They have, like, look, Anaheim has a number of it, whether it's Catergoche, whether it's Pavel Minchikoff, whether it's Olin Zellwiger, like this is a team in Jackson Lecombe, and he's, he's an entering on because he's, he's arbitration eligible. Like they almost got into the room with Troy Terry, but before the door opened, they got the deal done. How do you feel about Anaheim's situation here? Like some, some big pieces, some big pieces have been.

signed, but there's still more business. And now it seems Pat Verbeek has his bar. And that's the message to everybody else who has an expiring contract. Well, I think that's exactly right. I think the key is that Anaheim was the most improved team in the league. I think last year in terms of point and point year over year improvement. But they made a coaching change anyway, which is pretty bizarre or different. Unless you realize you say, well, they're bringing in Joel Quindville, who in my mind is a best. coach in the NHL last five years, 10 years. So I think it makes sense, even though Greg Cronin did a real nice job.

The team is taking a big step. They've made some big pieces move in. Simon Cavish. They've done a couple of good trades. I think they're ready to take the next step. But I'm going to wait and see on them. I want to wait and see. To me, a lot of it is going to rest on the health of Lucas Dostal,

who's ready to be that next superstar goaltender in the NHL. To me, they're one of the most interesting teams to watch. They really are. And I know you love that right side with Jacob Truba and Radco Gudis. Like that's that's a Brian Burke right side of the blue line there. Mark Andre Fleury. Mark Andre Fleury. I'm going to buzz through all the hot button topics here for you as we kick off this week.

Mark Andre Fleury has his retirement period and shootout Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. And it's a great success. The building is full. Everyone's grabbing T-shirts. having a beer and, you know, big cheers and standing ovations for Mark Andre Fleury, et cetera. Do you think this is just a one-off in the NHL? Or is this a blueprint for what you can do in an exhibition game? Use it as a way for fans to say goodbye and to fill the building in a time where buildings aren't full?

Well, I don't know if it works everywhere. It certainly worked well for this in this case. I wish I thought of it. For a goaltender, it makes sense. I never did this. I never thought of it. I wish I had. But I think it was a smart move. It generated a lot of goodwill. You're talking about there's only a handful of players you can do that for because he's a special player. He's a great player, great person, beloved wherever he played, every stop he stopped at.

He was loved by everyone. So I think it's not necessarily one-off because I could see someone else doing it. But what a great idea. What a great stand-up. What a great guy. Fall is here and everybody's getting back from vacation, headed back to school, and you know what that means. Yep, it's time to slide into some bombas. What's bombas, you ask? Only the most amazingly comfortable socks, slippers, teas, and underwear made from the most premium materials.

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for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S-C-A-S-C-A-slash the sheet and use the code the sheet at checkout. Hey, it's Jeff Merrick here. My family and I were just on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. And as a hockey media personality and show host, it can be tough to get away during the hockey season. While we were there on the way down,

I thought to myself, wait a minute. When we're down here, enjoying the sun and the ocean waves, we could be hosting our home on Airbnb while we're away. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. Yeah, like it's impossible to say his name and not smile. Everybody has great memories of him on the ice,

great memories of him off the ice. I'm just happy that he went out, you know, with a win last Saturday, too. Like, I don't know. Like, I wonder about having this conversation today here, Berkey, players like, I don't know, Jonathan Taves. Like, if this is a one and done with him in Winnipeg, do you do the PTO with Jonathan Taves next year? Or maybe Pat Cain or maybe Stephen Stamcoast down the road, players that have gone elsewhere that come back to quote unquote retire as part of the team what they're most associated with. Yeah, I think that you've got to weigh that carefully

because I think Jonathan Taves, if they did in Chicago, it would be a big deal. In Winnipeg after two years, say he's done after two years, they have mixed reviews. I think it's very situational. It depends on the player, the reputation. What are you accomplished in that city? I can see it being done again.

When teams have send-off nights and retire sweaters and retire numbers, it's a huge deal. Players love it. The fans love it. deal. We had a trade in the league today, the Utah mammoth and the Edmonton Oilers,

Connor Ingram, the netminder, who will go to Bakersfield in the American hockey league. And we always, you know, cheer for the person and hope that he's sorted out his personal situation. It's been a challenging time for Connor

Ingram, his mother passed away, everything else that he's gone through. You cheer for the guy. What did you make when you saw this? Is this just strictly oilers looking for depth, depth in net, and they could still be looking for a replacement in the backup position? I think it's just buying time. It's a good move to get some depth.

I'm buying this player too. I don't know him, but I'm cheering for them. Like you said, Jeff, everyone is. We all want these guys that are battling issues to sort them, I'll move on. So good like to Connor. I think it's just insurance that makes sense to me. Something interesting that came out, and the numbers are always staggering for some people. So Sportico has come out with their NHL franchise valuation rankings.

I'm not sure if you've seen this today, but the average NHL team is now worth $2.1 billion. The Toronto Maple Leafs are first at 4.25, followed by. the Rangers at 3.65, the Montreal Canadiens at 3.3, the Bruins at 3, and the rounding out the top 5, the Los Angeles Kings, at $2.96 billion. We had a conversation last week about what franchise values were when Gary Bettman took over. When you go back to 1993 and then look at what franchises are worth now, and again, and the average team is worth $2.1 billion. What goes through your mind, Berkey?

Well, first off, the Forbes did this for years. The taxed valuations that had no reflection on real valuations. The issue is, for me, is when does this stop? Right now, the only way you can't paper and pencil and the revenue, if you're going to pay $2.1 billion for Pittsburgh, if that's what family gets, which they're not going to get, I'm told. let's say they get that. You're going to pay $2 billion.

You can't paper and pencil with ticket revenue and television revenue. You can't recover the money until you sell the team. That's a tough bet. And it's a vanity purchase for most of these guys. They want to want a team because you used to be a mansion in the Antons. You used to a mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. That was a private jet. Now it's a pro team.

So the expansion and the growth of values, these franchises is staggering. It cannot continue, but it's going to continue for their foreseeable future. You know, I always think back, this is decades ago, reading a Sports Illustrated interview. It might have been Tom Verducci interviewing Tom Hicks, who owned the Texas Rangers of MLB. And his point about why he bought a baseball team was he said, look, it's like this. I became, you know, wealthy beyond my wildest. dreams in the oil business, but it wasn't until I owned a pro sports franchise that I could

pick up the phone and get a table at any restaurant I wanted on any night that I wanted to go. We don't tend to talk about it a lot, but like there is that sigh that you mentioned like it's a it's a it's a it's a vanity play for a lot of these owners like that does get you into a club and there is a lot of fame attached to owning a sports. team and right now it seems as if there's there's certainly in hockey there's more people who want to buy teams than there are teams that are available you have a thought on you know part of the motivation for buying a team here and how do you put a value on all of the sudden you know the late eugene melnick was you know he was a guy from biovail until he bought the ottawa senators

and then he was hey there's there's the owner the ottawa senators yeah until you want a sports team you're just the rich guy once you buy a team you're somebody with the air quote you're somebody with a capital S. And you do get the restaurant reservation. You don't just get the reservation of the rest of it. They get the private room. All your buddies get this ancillary value as well. And you get the private parking space and the whole bit.

It all comes with that. But it's also a good business because a steady appreciation of franchise values has led these guys to look like geniuses when they sell their teams. Like if Fenway gets out now, they're talking about selling that team for 1.7, 1.75, they get out now. They bought that team for 950 million, what, five years ago. That's pretty good markup, pretty good return.

So it's a good business. It's going to have to, at some point, it's going to stop, but not in the foreseeable future. You know, interesting in this valuation, the Florida Panthers on the heels of winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, their valuation has gone up 51 percent now just under $2 billion at one. $89 billion. Do you think that, let me ask you, let me ask you this way. Do you think that if winning Stanley Cups should take you out of the revenue sharing pool, specifically if you win more than one?

No. I don't think you should penalize excellence. I think what Bill Z was done is when I like the fact that changing how the long-term injury is calculated. Yeah. So there's a plow component now. But other than that, no, don't penalize people who are good at their jobs. Don't penalize success. No, I don't think you should.

But I think you've got to realize the way the system is built in with revenue sharing and covering losses for teams that struggle, the system is rigged, so you can't lose a lot of money, in my opinion. It's a good thing. Now, I think over time, if you're really putrid, you shouldn't be rewarded. They shouldn't cut it off at some point. but in the short term, the system the NHL has negotiated makes perfect sense. Let me close on the, with a final thought here on the Florida Panthers.

The news around the team this week, not good with the Alexander Barkoff injury, may not play at all this season. I know you have a relationship going back a number of years with Sam Bennett, who you had in Calgary. All of a sudden, you know, we're like, looking at other players down the middle. I wonder if they put Reinhardt back at center or they just leave them on the wing. How do you feel about the Florida Panthers without Alexander Barkoff for the season and maybe the playoffs as well?

Well, without him for the whole season and maybe the playoffs, but then you have no Kachuk for at least a couple months. Yeah. And they'll stephenation. So they're in trouble. They're going to have a hard time to keep in pace until they get healthy. Barcove is a huge hole. You can't replace a player of that value in that size. And I think that the only thing I'd say is the timetable on an ACL reconstruction has been short

into six months, I think, in a couple cases. A couple of players have come back in six months, I believe. I was reading about it last night, I'm pretty sure. So we'll see if that six months works or not. They're talking seven or nine. They'll probably go on for the year. and they have to make that determination early to deal with the cap consequences.

You see, Bill, if it is the year, I mean, I think we're all wondering about either Malkin or Crosby or someone like that. Do you see Bill Zeta going big game hunting here? Yes, I do. I think he's, that's his nature, and I think he's not going to sit by it. It's no different.

We won in Anaheim, Scott Neer-Meyer and Tammu both retired. I went out and tried to replace them both right away, big mistakes, but I went out and went big game hunting right away and maintained our level of success. So yes, I think he'll do exactly that. I don't know about the names, but he's going to go for a replacement for sure. Real quick before I let you go, you have a thought on the Anthony Stolars deal? Like Stolars has been that guy that all the goalie coaches and goalie experts have been, you know, screaming about like everyone's sleeping on Stolars. There's a good goalie there. They were saying it in Anaheim.

They're saying it in Florida when he backed up Bobrovsky and has really sort of actualized now as a legit starter with the Toronto Maple Leafs, even though he's had the hospital bracelet issue at times, too. You have a thought on Stolars here with the Maple Leafs? I think it's a sensible deal in terms of term and money. I heard some wild Romans about six-year deals and big dough. I think it makes sense. I do worry about the hospital bracelet with Anthony Stollars. I love the player, but he's 6.5. He's 85 years old.

He's been hurt a couple of times, so just kidding, Anthony. I know you're not 65, but you do get banged up, and you're at the size and age, size and age concerns me for a player like this. He's so athletic, but the bigger you are sometimes, the harder is to get around. We'll see. I hope I'm wrong. I hope both cool with Toronto have great years. We'll see.

Listen, when we speak next week, we'll be talking about actual games, and that'll be a wonderful thing. Burkey, you'd be well and our best of the other Curtin family as you're there celebrating the life that was one of the great people of the game, the late Mark Curtin. Thanks for stopping by, as always, Berkey.

Thank you, Jeff. There is Brian Burke in Milton, Ontario at the celebration of life for Mark Curtin. He was like a battler on the ice. He was a battler off the ice and really fought right

to the very end and had an entire army of people around him too. I'm sure it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a wonderful event going on right now because Mark was a wonderful guy and had that infectious personality that everybody wanted to be around. We still have a few things go over here and I'm going to be joined in a couple of seconds by by James Nichols who seems like we just had on like five minutes ago talking about Luke Hughes the huge deal gets done and so here we go again in the meantime I would like to remind you that this show is

brought to you by Simply Spiked. Gathering with friends is about creating memories, and you do want those memories to last forever. Enjoy every juice drop all season long with Simply Spiked. Available in three delicious flavors, the OG summer classic Simply Spiked Lemonade is always a favorite. Or try a sweet and juicy sip with Simply Spiked Peach, or check out the newest flavor in the simply spiked line up, simply spiked Limeade, perfectly sweet and tart. Don't know which one you want to try. Cherry Limeade, maybe Blackberry Lyme, made, why not try them all with the Simply Spiked variety pack? These juice beverages or 5% alcohol contain real fruit juice and are the perfect and refreshing drink. Simply Spiked pairs perfectly

with any occasion, hang out with friends, backyard bonfires, and more. Simply Spiked launched in Canada in 2023 and has been bringing the juiciness ever since. Pick up Simply Spiked at your local liquor store for your next hangout. Must be legal drinking age. Please celebrate responsibly. Zach, you have a couple of thoughts here on the Luke Hughes deal. I know that we just got to wrap our heads around these new numbers, right? Like 17 pops for Caprizz off and we all went, whoa, that's a lot of. And then you look where the cap's going. You look at the player and go, okay, well, we better start to get comfortable with these.

Man, I saw nine this morning and I went, wow, that's a really big number for a defenseman coming off his entry-level deal. But get used to it. like with the rising cap here, and again, it's going to 104 next year and 113 after that. These are just numbers we're going to have to get used to.

I have no idea what Lane Hudson's going to sign for. You know, that one, that one's a shocker. And by the way, I also think that Thomas Harley is interesting, too, because that's a no-tax state.

And how much that, because I think we looked at that deal and said like, oh, wow, what's Harley going to get? Hold on a second. It might not be as massive as you might think,

it is because of the no state tax issue with the with the Dallas stars but anyhow you ever thought on the other news of the day uh Luke Hughes the deal is done well first of all if you want a player on your team to extend make sure somebody for that that covers their team joins the sheet because it seems like that happens here pretty regularly now so we're only two weeks in small sample size but yeah yeah so then the next thing we miss getting Eric we we miss getting Eric Stevens on though to get Anna they get Anaheim covered off so we We missed on that one. But I'm just going to pretend that didn't happen.

We're batting 100. Okay, well, very good. Or a thousand, okay. A thousand, whatever. Yeah, sorry. But we're hitting a hundred percent, batting a thousand. Guess what, buddy Biancala. It's a dated reference.

Go ahead. Yeah, I don't know who that is. Oh, geez. I had the same reaction as you. Yeah. But I think that it was lessened once I saw the, I'm going to say his name wrong, and I apologize, but the Frank Nazar deal, Naser deal.

Nasar earlier. Because that one had more shock value when I saw the price tag on it. And then once that came through, I think the numbers that started to roll through after kind of all were like, oh, it's not that much because we saw this. Right. If it was just his and then other numbers came in lower, I probably would still be thinking about his going, holy crap. I can't believe that happened. But still, same kind of, wow, that is a big number. big picture maybe not so much cap going up you also take to social media and immediately it's

like well the percentage of the cap and it's like okay it's true it is true but every time i'm like still that number just seems huge it just seems big and like the fact that he's making more money than his brother who yes yes was arguably more established at the time that he signs the deal and is a better player, I will say, in my opinion. Jack is. Jack is the better player, yes. Yes, those are the ones where I'm like, hmm, feels weird. Daddy's got that number, but then you're like, well, Jack's probably looking there and going, hmm.

Yeah. Remember what my brother signed for? I remember how much I helped you out? see the the number the number is interesting because when if if we're going to keep on going down the it's only a matter of time before Quinn Hughes shows up then it might like that 9 million A.V might look like a really expensive number for a guy that's not anchoring your power play because that's going to be his brother Quinn yeah it's great number it's awesome but then Quinn's going to come in and grab all the power play time if if if that's the road that this is going down just slid that one in there

if if again it's it's it's it's it's if like yeah so if you said to if you said to Quinn Hughes or I mean because this would be a sort of point of consideration um if you want to go play with your brothers you'll be taking Luke's power play time does that change anything for Quinn Hughes I'm going to say no. Sorry, bro. Beat it. Yeah. Take your power play.

Do you want to play together or not? I'm the big brother. Remember all those times in the backyard when you hit me in the shins and then I had to put your jersey over your head and remind you? This is a time where I'm going to remind you. Interesting times. Interesting times here. The trade today, Connor Ingram gets another start and he'll start with the American Hawks. Hockey League in Bakersfield.

And look, like everybody, we're all wishing the best for Connor Ingram and would like nothing more than to see him, you know, get his game rated and see him back in the national hockey league. I think we'd all like to see that. So we wish him all the best. But the story of the day is the Luke Hughes contract. And someone who just hung up on us about, I don't know, a day ago is back again. because Luke Hughes is in the news back again.

He is James Nichols, and he joins me. How are we doing? Oh, buddy, we got you. Where are you right now? You're a nightclub? So I pass it. God forbid I get to go to the gym, right? I'm passing through.

I'm like, you know what? There's a Starbucks right here. Let me just sit outside, but it wasn't working. So we're inside now. Okay, awesome. Okay, so I know it's a busy day for you, obviously. Thoughts on, you know, anything in this Luke Hughes deal, the seven years, the $9 million, the 63,

like anything in here surprise you and I was kind of saying like look we got to get used to numbers like this now like there was that time I remember like it was like Johnny Godro and Nathan McKinnon and I seemed like Morgan Wright like everybody was signing for six and at that time we all went whoa that's a big number for these players and they all turned it out to be outstanding value contracts anything grab you about the deal either the term or the actual compensation no the only thing that surprised me about the deal was just how long it took to get here

Other than that, the number on the term is exactly where I expected it to be. The number on the AAV is exactly where I expected it to be. You know, you look at what happened yesterday with the Kareil Kiparzaa's contract, right? Obviously, he's got the most lucrative contract in NHL history right now. And for forwards, that number's just going to go up, right? He's set the bar and now everyone's going to probably meet that bar. Perhaps, you know, someone will surpass it if, you know, that's Connor McDavid or if someone comes close, right? On the blue line, you look at who's coming up, right?

Lutz Brothers coming up in a few years, Quinn will be a UFA in two seasons if he gets there. Cam O'Car will be a UFA in a couple of years if he gets there, right? What are these guys' numbers going to come in at? And you're going to see some monster numbers come in here. So the $9 million didn't surprise me at all. It does kind of make me wonder if he's a successor for somebody else who makes $9 million on the devils. But we'll see. It did not come to me as a surprise whatsoever.

You know, I don't know about you, but the first. person I thought of as soon as the deal got announced was Lane Hudson. You know, Cortex just got a very, very expensive client now. Is that the first place your brain went here? Yeah, first thing I thought was, okay, so Lane Hudson might be, what, an $11 million player, right? I mean, that guy, he's going to come in and cash in on a big contract there. So for sure, one of the guys I thought of, and, you know, I sat there and I said to myself,

you know, this is interesting, right, because Luke Hughes was invited to that USA camp and Lane Huntson wasn't. So let's see what happens for him. Well, he's going to play for Canada. Isn't he? James, isn't, isn't, like, I sort of made the joke that, you know, Lane Hudson is compensation for, you know, for Brett Hull. You guys took Brett Hull.

We'll take Lane Hudson. Thank you very much. And we'll call the whole thing even. So what are the expectations now for, for good cues? Like, when does he get there? How does Sheldon Key? Fuse him. We're not talking about Ethan Edwards anymore. Like, like, where are the dominoes that fall now? Yeah. So obviously, you know, unfortunately for Ethan Edwards, it looks like he's probably going to go back to Utica.

He was the guy who's named the successor potentially. You know, Sheldon Pete really liked what he saw from him. Maybe he'll get a cup of coffee at some point, barring an injury or something like that. But he'll go back. And Luke Hughes will slide right in. And, you know, Sheldon said, like, obviously that's Luke's spot, right? So he'll go right back next to Pesci in the top four. And the expectations, I mean, you know, coming in late to training camp, should they be sky high? I think the thought was that Luke Hughes was going to take another step this year in his development and potentially grasp that number one role. I think they want him on the first unit power play.

How much time does he need to catch up? We'll see. We saw his brother do it a couple years ago where he was out of training camp for a little bit, but then came in and almost scored at a point per game pace. Does he have that in him? Not sure yet. Not sure he was quite as good as his brother as he is at this. point in his development, but certainly the expectation for Luke Hughes at some point, whether

it's this year or moving forward with this contract, is for him to become the number one defenseman in all facets of the game, all three zones of the ice. They want him to be that well-rounded number one who can, you know, score on the power play, defend in his own end and transition that puck. And, you know, I think Sheldon even said it at some point in this camp, but Luke Hughes might be the best skater on the team that you don't have now. So that's the expectation. It's sky high for him. You know, one of the things that we were talking about before he came on, too, like if Luke Hughes gets to that spot that you're talking about,

number one guy, power plant anchor, all of that, does that keep Quinn Hughes away from New Jersey? It's interesting, right? I did have that same thought. Does he even maybe hurt his development, right? He doesn't get those top line minutes anymore. Now it's twins. You know, maybe it does keep him away.

But I don't know. I think that the overall, the goal, goal for those brothers. I mean, as Jim Rutherford has said on multiple accounts, they all want to play together. So does it scare them away? I don't think so. I think everyone's happy so long as they're all shipping and producing. And I mean, come on, because you imagine a power play where there's three

Hughes brothers on one unit, whether it's the two defensemen at the point and maybe one on the bumper? How many, are they still only playing with one puck in the NHL? I didn't check this morning. Are they still just using one puck puck or have they changed up? Because that trio is going to need more than one puck,

James. Yeah, as far as I know, maybe they'll cut the fucking half and just have two hams on the endscore at different directions. Let me close with this. I'm not sure if you saw the Sportico piece today on franchise value in the NHL and the average worth of an NHL team, $2.1 billion. Maple Leafs come in at 4.25 and then at number 10, with an increase of 21% of 21%, the New Jersey Devils at $2.06 billion. Do you have a thought on that or you have a chin scratch on what that number means?

You know, I think Tom Fitzgerald has said a lot that they do a lot of investing in the team. They want, you know, the players who they're maybe bidding on to you be able to come here and say like, oh, this is a destination. That's a word that Fitzgeralds use a lot. They pour a lot of money into the organization to try and make it better, make it better all around for both the players, but the fan experience as well. They pour a lot of money into that. So it doesn't surprise me that it was increased by that much.

I think it was just outside the top 10 in terms of franchise worth. And you look at who the owners are. They're like the third richest owners in all of sports, right? With the commanders and the 76ers in the fall, too. So they're pouring a lot of money into the team. They're pouring a lot of money into the Prudential Center and they're pouring a lot of money into the fan experience. So, no, certainly not surprised that that number rose the way it did.

That's awesome. Listen, let's get back to it. Thanks for battling the audio wars for us to get through. Yeah, sorry about that. No, no, no, that's fine. Technology makes our lives easier. Thanks, bud. We'll talk again soon.

Yeah, thanks so much. Hey, it's great. Cancun, Mexico, and as a hockey media personality and show host, it can be tough to get away during the hockey season. While we were there, on the way down, I thought to myself, wait a minute, when we're down here enjoying the sun and the ocean waves, we could be hosting our home on Airbnb while we're away. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host. He's been on the program before. He's a very thorough reporter.

And I'm sure you've read his work and watch slash listen to him here and on other podcasts as well. Great guy, diligent reporter too. Okay, before we wrap up the program here, a couple of things still to get to. Do we have that board with all of our offerings for this season here at Daily Phase-off? So the return of the impact players, Johnny Lazarus and Colby. Hohen, 9 o'clock Eastern, morning cup of hockey. DFO Rundown will be released Mondays and Fridays. Me and Jason will record Sunday nights for a Monday morning release.

And then Fridays, Jason alongside Mike Rupp, who joins the mix this year, only to happy to have Rupper aboard here on Daily Faceoff. DFO Live kicked off today. Tyler, your Remtruck and Carter Hutton. Are your conductors with this one? The sheet goes Monday to Friday, 1 o'clock Eastern. And this is an interesting one too. This is, right now it's just Wednesdays,

but it's already going to be a destination property for a lot of people. And that is DFO Rundown, the Insider Edition, hosted by Erfang Kafar and co-hosted by Dave Panjota of the fourth period. That will be a must tune-in-to program as are all of our offerings. So a more robust schedule here. on Daily Faceoff on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts. All right.

You ever thought of any of that, by the way, before I just sort of move along? No, it just two things were funny today. I watched both shows. It took Laz about a minute and a half into the show to reveal the nickname he calls his girlfriend. That was interesting. What was it?

I'm going to go to some of the podcast next. What was it? Do you recall? Yeah. Are you here? Sweet baby. Sweet baby? Las.

That was the nickname. How old is he? Yeah. Las, you're a young man. Come up with something a little more creative. It's how this. Not only a show started, the season started. That's awesome.

So that was interesting. And then Tyler at the end of the show on, the DFO live today said to Hutton, you know, we've got something along the lines of, you know, we've got about 220 more shows of this. And I think Hutton was like, holy shit, that's a lot of shows. Didn't say anything out loud, but I think there was a moment where Hutz went. Wait, how many of these were I have to do? Hang on.

What did I commit to? If I have to do this many shows, like, I'm going to have to really start paying attention here. It's great to see those two guys on. I love that show today. and they, for first guests, we're talking with the Florida Panthers with George Richards, and always good to see him on the program. The Daily Face Off Survivor Pool, by the way, is live,

and if you think you've got the hockey knowledge, you go to the distance, this one's for you. It's a game of elimination strategy and a $2,500 grand prize for the last fan standing. Here's how it works. You start with two lives. Each round, you pick one winner from the slate of NHL games, but here's the twist. You can only use each team twice.

throughout the entire contest. Get a pick wrong? That's one life gone. Lose twice. You are out. The pool runs until there is just one person left standing. And that winner takes home $2,500. So are you ready to outlast the rest?

Sign up now at daily faceoff.com or hit the link in the show notes and may the best fan survive. Dan, dun, dun, dun, done, done, did I make that dramatic enough, Zach? The sheet is powered by Fan Duel, home on the same game parlay, make every moment more on Fanduel. Fanduel, proud to connect fans of the major sports moments that matter to them.

What would we serving up today, Zacharoo? No board today, but we're just going to direct people's attention to the fact that there's three preseason games on again. You can bet on all those. And then if you take a look over at the headliners market, that was the one I brought up last week when it was in regards to Wanzai Kopitar, the one last dance. They're kind of filling out those boards. there's are those markets there's a little bit more in there that you can kind of go take a look at

and i just wanted to use this moment as an opportunity to promote our show that we have coming up on friday it is a bold predictions show which i think will be uh i think it'll be a lot of fun we've got a bunch of guests um shana's going to stop by las Tyler your mchuk they're going to come through the show oh sweet baby sweet babies coming by I can't even get it out. I don't even want to call on that. Yes, he's coming by. They're committed.

They've sent over their predictions. It'll be fun. So if people want to get involved as well, I urge people to tweet at us and comment at us on social media at the sheet hockey, what your bold predictions are for the season, because some of the best ones, Jeff, I may just bring up on the show. If there are some,

within reason let's say actually just get ridiculous I don't even care no I don't care I don't care actually I'll take that back get ridiculous what's is within reason

and I'll bring the best up Give us your wildest predictions for this season Nothing is off There's off limits at all Yeah make it Make it wild and make it taste Go nuts

Go nuts Go nuts go crazy Okay that wraps it up for us Here on the program Thanks to everybody in the chat Colton Davies Laz and I are the same age Is that true?

Wow Holy smokes Big Willie Stiles is in there Jeff's in there Zax's in there General Sourdess We got the regulars man This is good So a lot of fun in the chat as always

Thanks so much for watching on YouTube Or listening on your favorite podcast platform Tip your driver There's Zamboni driver on the way out Thanks so much for joining us Thanks for the buns and the use of the hall We are out until tomorrow Wishinsky returns for the second

Of his two appearances per week So look forward to that And who knows who's going to sign next. That's all we're due this week is we're just talking about contracts. So we'll see what the rest of the day brings tonight and what the morning brings tomorrow. Maybe new contracts.

We shall see. Either way, we'll be here at 1 o'clock Eastern. Right here on our daily face-off YouTube channel. Thanks for joining us. We are back tomorrow. I said 16 hours last night. Every day this week, every day this month. I can't get out my head

Lost all ambitions day to day Cause you can call it all right I went to the dark man He tried to give me a little medicine I'm like now and that's fine I'm not against those methods But it's new It's me and myself

And how this is gonna be fixing my mind To go on the back I turned on the ears I do you want to be a little bit. I turn on the night. Hey, it's just enough, Merrick here. My family and I were just on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. And as a hockey media personality and show host,

it can be tough to get away during the hockey season. While we were there on the way down, I thought to myself, wait a minute. When we're down here enjoying the sun and the ocean waves, we could be hosting our home on Airbnb while we're away. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca.