The Sheet with Jeff Marek - NHL Trade Market Explodes: Kyrou, Byram, Nemec ++ ft. Brian Burke, Julian McKenzie, & Rachel Kryshak

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

The NHL offseason is officially in overdrive. With the 2026 NHL Draft just days away, blockbuster trades are flying across the league and Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke, Julien McKenzie, and Rachel Doerrie to break down one of the busiest stretches of the summer so far.The panel dives into the Washington Capitals acquiring Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Connor McMichael, prospect Milton Gastrin, and the 16th overall pick, a move that gives Washington another elite offensive weapon while St. Louis loads up on draft capital.They also analyze the Chicago Blackhawks' aggressive push forward after landing Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Louis Crevier, the 4th overall pick, and the 45th overall selection. What does it mean for Connor Bedard, Chicago's rebuild, and Buffalo's draft plans?Plus, the crew breaks down the Calgary Flames acquiring Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Etienne Morin, two conditional first-round picks, and a second-round selection as teams continue to reshape their futures before draft night.With the Brady Tkachuk blockbuster still sending shockwaves throughout the NHL, Jeff, Brian, John, and Rachel discuss which teams could be the most active over the next 48 hours, who might be next to move, what contenders are trying to accomplish, and how the draft board could be impacted by the flurry of trades around the league.As the NHL trade market reaches a fever pitch, don't miss this complete breakdown of the biggest stories, rumors, and moves shaping the future of the league ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft.#NHL #NHLTradeRumors #NHLDraft #JeffMarek #BrianBurke #JulienmcKenzie #RachelDoerrie #Hockey #NHLTrades #JordanKyrou #BowenByram #SimonNemec #DailyFaceoff #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.

Welcome to our ongoing coverage of trade deadline 2026. I'm your host, Jeff Merrick. Welcome to the sheet for this Wednesday, June the 24th. I know it's supposed to be draft week, but it is very much turned into trade week. And who knows, by the time this program is over, there may be one or two more blockbusters still to come. A couple of quick notes here before we get going on the program, Landon DuPont, presumptive first overall draft pick in next year's draft, who we most recently saw playing with the Everett Silver Tips.

We'll be heading to Michigan next year. DuPont's group hasn't made it official yet, but that is the direction that it is heading. And we expect Landon DuPont to be in Ann Arbor playing for the Wolverines next year. Michigan State was in on this one too, and Everett was as well. There was a chance he was going to go back to junior hockey, but he's made his decision and he is off to Michigan. One other small note that we should also keep in mind for the draft. this year's draft Friday and Saturday.

There is a new four-year signing window equalization. Now what I mean by that is, if you draft a kid out of college, you've had four years to sign that kid. So you get a four-year glimpse until you need to make your decision whether you're going to sign the player or not. For the CHL, it's always been two,

which means later on in the draft, there are more college kids that get drafted than CHL kids because you don't have as long a window to see them and make up your mind. Now with the four-year period, which was supposed to begin in 2027, but the NHL has informed the CHL that no, in fact, equalization window of four years will go into effect for this year's draft class is very much in effect. So you have four years, you drafted out of the CHL. It doesn't matter which round it's in.

Teams have four years to make a decision. So I expect to see more players from the CHL. drafted later on to trades. And there have been a lot of them. And we're going to spend the next few days here. Also focusing on the draft, but focusing a lot on the changing landscape around the NHL. Teams needing to get better.

A lubricated salary cap right now means trades a go-go. And all of our guests on the program today will discuss trades. And we'll also talk about the Hall of Fame with one very special person. Here's the blueprint powered by Fanduel. I'll download the app today and play your game on Fanduel. In moments, you're going to see what a Hall of Famer looks like. Brian Burke joins the program for Civilian Wednesdays here as it does each and every Wednesday. Julian McKenzie covers the Ottawa Senators.

They've been busy for the athletic. Rachel Krechak will stop by as well from ESPN. We'll talk about the trades and we'll talk about the draft as well. We'll talk about Hall of Fame induction ideas and the trade market, which has just exploded. In the meantime, I am thrilled to announce our next guest like this. He is a hockey Hall of Fame inductee to be, the class of 2026. He is Brian Burke, and he joins me here on the program. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what a Hall of Famer looks like.

First of all, congratulations, Berkey. How are you, pal? Oh, great. Thank you. A great couple of days. I would imagine. You know, I had Patrick on the program yesterday. I do want to play a clip for you from that in case any of our audience missed it.

But tell us about the call, getting the call to the hall. What was it like for you? What's your story? Well, I had been, I had to recuse myself. I had been nominated. I don't know by whom. But as a member of the selection committee, if someone nominate you, you have two choices. You have to say, no, I'm not eligible.

Or I recuse myself from all of the liberty. all votes, all meetings, and see what happens. So I recuse myself. But I know from being on the selection committee, they usually call by about one. So 1 o'clock came and went, and I'm like, screw it. I'm not going to get in. About 1.30, I got the call, and I don't know, shoot.

So it was kind of nerve-wracking. You know, always didn't... Of course. And in moments like that, you can't help but think back to... And Patrick and I were, you know, recounting your career. on the ice and off the ice and saying like this is the definition of a builder. You're someone that left the game in a better place than when you started, both on the ice, off the ice, in the NHL, various teams, various leagues.

But like what did you reflect upon right away? Before we get to some of the things happening in the NHL here right now, and it seems like it's trade deadline week, well, what are some of the things that you reflected on over the last couple of days here since getting the call? Well, just so many people who are important in my life are gone. My dad's gone. My mom's gone. Pat Quinn's gone.

Bob McCann's gone. All these people that work before me are with me. Jack McAllarkey. All people are really critical. JJ, Jimmy Johansson. All these people that were so important to me are gone. It's a sad day. A lot of this, as you get older, it's inevitable.

People on your list fall up. I don't take anyone out of my phone if they pass. So I've got my phone reminding me every day of all the people who had an impact. They're no longer with us. I'm the same way. I have a hard time. And I don't. I don't take anyone out of my phone when they pass.

It's, I don't know what it is, but I guess we're the same spirit. And I don't think we're in the minority. I think a lot of people have a hard time and just leave those people in their phones as well. Really quickly, have you started to think about your speech? Because Patrick and I were wondering if there was a time limit on speeches and how many stop signs, would Brian Burke drive through on route to his speech? Have you thought about it? No, I'm sure there's a time limit.

I've not received any. I'm told the Hockey Hall of Fame does an amazing job of organizing everything. Kelly Mask and her crew. I have received any yet. It's going to be a great night. Now, before we get to everything NHL and over the course of the next few weeks here, I'm going to ask you a bunch of Hall of Fame stuff and get your thoughts on it, but I wanted to play one clip for you.

So Patrick and I essentially spent, I don't know if your ears were ringing or your ears were burning, but we essentially spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about you as we have a close-up of that glorious shot behind you at the Brian Burke last call to eye look. And Patrick had a great idea. And for those that may not have seen it, Berkey, maybe you didn't see it. This is your son's big idea for your induction night. Can I just say my big hope is that Kevin Lowe introduces them and we find. finally get to see a barn fight. I just,

Kevin, if you're watching, you know, I don't know who picks, who gets to do the nomination speech. Love to have you. You and my dad can just go out at once and for all. We can put this whole thing to bed.

You have no idea how much of a great historical moment that would be. That would get replayed over and, and that's just on my show. I was like on a loop over and over again. And to be, to be clear, Kevin, one of the classiest,

nicest people in hockey, even when he and my dad were doing that nonsense. When I saw Kevin around the ranks, he was always kind to me and patient with me. There was no like, hey, your dad's being weird, so I've got a problem with you. So love Kevin, just to be clear. Okay, Brian, your son's idea.

Kevin Lowe introduces you, your thoughts. I don't think that's going to happen. Kevin started this whole thing. So I was being a jerk, so I guess I kind of started. But Kevin challenged me to a fight. He was doing an interview. He had a couple of glasses of wine. He said, Brian Burke, I'm so sick of his shit.

Tell him anywhere, anytime anywhere. So I called Glenn Siddler. I said, that is not how you challenge someone to a fight. Here's how you challenge someone to a fight. I'll be with the Hollywood and Lake Plaskill, the first, second, and third. Tell him, Kevin, I'll be there. I'll run a bar and he'll kick his ass.

I'll drive him to the hospital. You have made a bunch of. men's since Kevin Lowe. Like we like for those that may not be you know familiar this is all over over an offer sheet. It's all water under the bridge. Now it was it was burning at the time.

And and that was a sort of accentuation mark on all of it. But you and Kevin have made up since. And I don't know whether Kevin introduces you, but you're both in the Hall of Fame. The beauty of hockey guys is Kevin Rowe and I would have gone, he would have shown up for that fight in the heartbeat, who would have fought and sorted it out. That's the beauty of hockey players.

He's not afraid of me one bit. I'm not afraid of him one bit. We both would have showed up on time. Both would have fought by the rules. One of us would have driven the other one to the hospital. There's so many great stories about you, Brian. I don't know if you want to, I don't know how many people know about the Siddines.

Like you were actually the one that pulled the trigger and brought those two together, if we can recount that one. But like, as I was thinking about you, You're like when I saw the news and I got it on my phone, I started thinking like all the great stories of Brian Burke on the ice, off the ice, all of your support for various causes. Like you've, it's not just that you've made, you know, hockey a better place. Like, look, the Department of Player's Safety is because of you. You were the foundation of that.

You know, the PWHL, you know, you are always a driving force behind women's hockey. I was telling people yesterday on the program, you would always tell me, like, it's one thing, Jeff, to say I support. women's hockey, it's another thing to buy a ticket. Go buy a ticket. You want to say you support women's hockey, go buy a ticket, go buy season tickets. Like, and there's LGBTQ, you always march in pride parades. Like, you've done so much. Let me close the Hall of Fame talk on this one. Of all the things that you have done on the ice, off the ice, with teams, various leagues, all of it. What's the one thing that if you could point to one thing, you would say,

I want to be remembered for this? Oh, I haven't given that enough thought. Let me give that some thought, and I'll try to have a better answer. I'm not going to out the best of stuff. I would say, no, I have to give it some thought. Give it some thought. I would like to think I've always viewed the game of hockey is really important to me and essential for my life,

but I always had a bigger purpose. Absolutely. And attaching yourself is something greater than you always makes you a better person yourself. Okay, so we will talk about you and the Hall of Fame and subsequent weeks to follow. But again, on behalf of all of us here, congratulations and really well-deserved, the true definition of a builder, someone that made the game better and left it in a better place.

That is you, Brian Burke. Now, to trade deadline week or the draft. I mean, I don't know how inconsequential the draft is going to feel after we've essentially had a better trade deadline than we had a couple of months ago. But even over the next few minutes here, we wonder about, you know, trades going down with big names. Has anything really jumped out at you? I mean, the Brady Kachukh trade was massive.

I'm going to talk to Julian McKinsey about that in a couple of moments. Yarmokicelainen back at it yesterday in the trade with the Blackhawks, Bo Byram going, and he picks up a couple of high draft picks and also a really large defenseman, second pairing shutdown D, Louis Crevier. What's caught your mind here? What's caught your eye? Well, everyone's open for business. And often there's a quiet period before something.

happens. But this one with bang, bang, bang, it's been great. This is exciting for a guy who works in the media. And for like for you, Jeff, like this is exciting stuff. These are big names. You're fishing with big lures, big baits. It's fun. That's great. I love it. It'll take the stay on the quiet trade down the line. Well, that's the thing, too, because this is what you're known for. You, like, you've made every manager's made small trades. But, you know, one of the things that you've always been able to hang your hat on you make massive deals. Like, you've always been someone that wasn't afraid to swing for the fences.

That's why I'm like, this is a great week for Brian Burke. There's massive trades that are going on. And he's going into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The big one so far, Brady Kachuck. Did you see this one coming this way? And let me frame it this way. I had a conversation with someone this morning who said, it wasn't because of the Kelsey Brothers,

but in conversation, you know, with Brady and with Matt, you know, the Kelsey's have gone on to say their biggest regret was not being able to play on the same team, that the brothers weren't able to play with each other. And that seems to them to be a great loss. And that had some kind of impact on the brothers. Nonetheless, your thoughts on Brady Kachneau of Florida Panther. Well, I love the big deals or big deals. Cliff Fletcher told me that, the young.

he said you have a deal they have a deal it's good one for one try and make it two for two try to make it three for three deliberately try and make the deal as big as you can you get to stop the press's impact so to me those big deals are huge because people are like whoa and brady kachuk falls into that because the high picks three of them four in the second i mean that's a huge deal and it's one where i think the a dollar one of a sudden has got a full price. They get a distressed price. And now, and we saw this, and Steve Stios goes into business

and to try to replace that spot. William Ecclin comes in from the San Jose Sharks. We're seeing draft picks flying out the window right now. San Jose is holding a lot of cards at the draft after that one. And, like, if you're Steve Stoos here, like, put us in Stan, you know, Steve. I mean, we talked yesterday about, you know, protégés and helping you know, younger executives, you know Steyos well.

You're Steve Steyos. Brady Kachuk says, I want out. This is too much. You go to business. You get them to Florida. What do you do the day after? What do you do when you're rolling up your sleeves if you're Steve Steos? Well, I think the important thing I noticed, he didn't say I want out.

He said, I won't sign an extension. You're not asked for a train. My understanding is you're not saying I want to get traded out of Ottawa, but he said, I'm not going to sign an extension. when time comes. Might as well ask for a trade in my view. So they got preemptive and said, well, we're not going to wait. They made a hell of a deal of a movement.

And they immediately started trying to convert that draft capital when they asked that can help them win and replace Brady. When you look at the Florida Panthers now, didn't make the playoffs last season, as we all know. But I think now all of a sudden they go from that to becoming one of the favorites for the Stanley Cup. And still without a goaltender, though. Are they Cup favorites for you now with Brady Ketchuk in the lineup?

Well, I love Brady, but I don't think Brady's going to have the impact everyone thinks. So what's his best year in the NHL so far, goal-wise? 20-something goals here. Let me grab it. Playing first line minutes on first line. 28, me. So he had, no, sorry, I apologize. He had a 37 goal season and a 35.

Those were two years ago. Okay, two years ago. So he's a legit front-line player. He's a 30-35 goal guy, yeah. And I thought it was lower than that, but you got to replace those goals. Last year he fell off. But this is an impact guy,

scores goals, and he's a pain in the ass. He's going to make Matthew, and the bigger pain in the ass. Eyes around the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, and eyes around the Maple Leafs leading into Friday by way of trades as well. We all expect the Gavin McKenna selection

to go according to script, but if you're writing a script here now for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who made the deal last week with Tampa, the sign and trade, bringing in Darren Radish, you're John Cheka, Matt Sundin, what are you thinking about? Like, who are your guys? What are the areas of interest for you? Well, you have a really good safe option, which is pick McKenna. The draft McKenna, no one's going to say a word. Everyone likes the guy. Everyone likes to pick.

They win the lottery. They get to win the lottery. They get to pick Gavin McKenna. They have a safe option. out. What my view would be, since he's not a generational player, there is a debate over who to take, then shop that pick and see what you can get.

I don't sense they are. So I think they're going to take McKenna, and people are going to be happy with that. Absolutely. Do you see the Maple Leafs making any other moves before Friday? It seems like every team is frisky right now. Yeah, they got cast-based on, moving while. They'll look for some help.

He's going to be active. Yeah. Well, one of the things about Maple Leafs that I think people have a hard time with, and I certainly do, I don't understand where all the Matthew Nyes talk is coming from and why, unless Matthew Nyes wants out. Here's a 23-year-old, cost-controlled power forward who has a skill set that few others have, and every team covets. He goes to the net hard. He's big, he's strong. He can score goals.

You know, his ceiling is probably a 35, maybe 40 goal score. What am I missing here, Berkey? I'm with you. I wouldn't trade them on a bet. I wouldn't be talking about it. In fact, I would have called him and said, stop listening to this talk, Matthew. We're not moving you. In fact, they haven't done that.

It leads me to believe they're at least entertaining, possible. I will tell you this. Matthew Nyes, as was Pittsburgh, we had to pick right after Matthew Nyes. We took Tristan Braves. We were going to take Matthew Nyes. The Leaves took him one player before we were going to take him. Max, he told the draft guy put Nise's name in

X and they took that close to get him. I love the kid. I would move him. Was there any talk about then, we've seen this before, like when you identify the player that you want, maybe you have intel that someone else might jump up before you.

Was there any conversation about trying to move up to get them? No, it really wasn't worth it at that point. Matthew Nice was a good prospect, played at the University of Minnesota, big kid, but he wasn't in a sure fire star or anything. Injury is an issue there.

So it was essentially a first round, a first round player you get in the second round. Yeah. Walk us through where you think, Yarmalekalainen is thinking here. Well, a couple more things from this week. You're the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. Moments

ago at his press conference, he was talking about he didn't have any other options, that there were no negotiations with Bo Byram. He was going to have to trade him. He did. Got a heck of a return. And Louis Craveill, a fourth overall and a 45th overall. Also, and Chicago adds to over $9 million in cap here,

Jordan Greenway goes to the Chicago Blackhawks too. So they take a quote unquote cap dump. And all of a sudden, the Buffalo Sabres are flush. They're in the driver's seat. They're at home. You know how much general managers love to put on a show at the draft when it's in your backyard. I don't think Yarmot is done.

Do you think Yarmu's done? No, he's got the fourth pick. He'll keep trying to move up, try to add different assets. When the drafts in your building, it used to be a lot more fun when all the teams were there. It's still a big deal,

so they're going to try and make some noise on top of this deal. Why do you think this is all happening right now, Brian? Is it just that Brady Kachuk went and now everybody, all the dominoes are starting to fall? Like, explain the dynamic between GMs right now because every couple of hours,

It's like, bam, St. Louis moves Cairo to the Washington capitals. Bam, Bo Byram's going to Chicago Blackhawks, and there'll be more deals today. Number one for me is that it's like the ice breaking up in a lake. One big piece has to move before all the other pieces move. There's always a delay. When you watch the ice caught in a lake, there's always a hesitation for that one big piece moves, then lots of pieces move. So it's a dynamic to it that once to make that one big deal,

it starts a flood of other moves. Second, salary caps going up, there's no free agents. It's a recipe for great deals. Recipe for lots of them. And that's what we're seeing so far. Brian, final thought on your week so far. Like, I know you're still thumb on the pulse

of everything that's happening right now by way of trades and the draft on the horizon. Like, this has been a great week. I was saying to Patrick yesterday, a great week for Brian Burke and a great week for the Burke family as well. Do you want to put a sort of ribbon around your week so far? Well, I never dreamed I could have a day like this. I never dreamed I'd be in the hockey alpave.

No one does. No one ever started in hockey and figured, okay, I'm going to be in the hockey all of fame. I never thought of being working or playing in the NHL when I started playing hockey. My sole goal was to get a scholarship. So everything that's happened to me is just gravy. I've been so blessed and so lucky. All my speeches are going to be as a long set of thank you. You've touched so many different areas that is going to be a long list.

It's not as if it was just one area, whether it's, you know, college hockey, whether it's, you know, going to law school, Providence, whether it's as an agent, as a manager, working in the NHL, work with LGBTQ community, work with the PWHL and women's hockey. Brian, that's going to be a long list. and that distinction sits well with you and looks great on you. Congratulations again, my friend. Thanks.

There he is, Brian Burke. Hockey Hall of Famer, I should say. Brian Burke will be wonderful to see him sneak into that jacket next year. Okay, so a couple of things, and let's get Zach aboard for this one before. Oh, hang on, we have an Alex Tuck update. So Yarmokikelan on Alex Tuck. I think he's moving on. and getting into free agency.

There was some speculation with the Byron Greenway move yesterday and the freeing up of cap space that that could be allocated to Alex Tuck. But I think we've been consistent on this one all season. He's looking for the Adrian Kempe deal. Like, that's what he wants. And the team that I wonder about if he gets it from, Seattle. Seattle's taking swings.

Jason Bartol's taking swings. That's the one team that I think. But there was some speculation or a belief, that maybe this was freeing up the cap space that Yarmou Keckelan needed in order to bring in Bo Byram says, though, I think he's moving on and getting into free agency.

You want to do a quick here before Julian stops by and any names that you want to sort of throw around or we haven't even talked about Jordan Cairo. And like on a normal day, that's a massive story. Yeah. But considering everything that's happened, all of a sudden, it's like, yeah, Connor McMichael just got traded too to the St. Louis blues.

So it's Jordan Kairu for Cona McMichael and Milton Gastrin as well from Modo, Swedish Center. So St. Louis picks up two centers. Connor McMichael still without contract. Jordan Kajru wrapped up. The moment that, like this is how it felt to me, the moment that Washington fell out of the Nikolai Eelers sweepstakes last summer, they started to look at Jordan Kairu because they wanted to replace.

They wanted that speed on the wing. And we talked about even a trade deadline. Cairo to the caps. Kaira to the caps. It didn't happen. And now Kaira has gone to the Washington Capitals. And they get their speed on the wing. So I did an audit yesterday of our shows.

You know how early we talked about it? January 22nd, it got brought up. And you said the exact line, Washington is looking for speed. I was holding that on backpocket to tell you here today. Yes, you brought that up. Washington is looking for speed and bringing up Jordan Kairu. And if he could be somebody that the Washington Capitol is starting. You want to know where my brain was when that trade happened happened yesterday?

I texted you and said, Connor McMichael to St. Louis. I just lost over the fact that Cairo was moved to Washington. Yeah. Listen, man, like I still don't think that, obviously, I don't think any team is done, but I still see St. Louis making big moves. I really do.

Like, I think that there's a new general manager coming in, and this is a new general manager that is going to try to, you know, reset the landscape here for the St. Louis Blues and some names that we're used to seeing on the St. Louis Blues, we might not want to say we're too comfortable seeing them there anymore. And again, I'll throw in before because Doug Armstrong has been this general manager before and we'll see what happens with Alex Dean. When you throw around the term offer sheet, throw it around around St. Louis because that's an organization. And again, like offer sheets don't happen without the blessing of the owner. The organization of the St. Louis Blues are not shy about using that.

CBA approved quote unquote tactic. So let's see what happens here with the St. Louis Blues. And we've got a lot of things to get to too. One thing we want to mention, one of the biggest days on the NHL calendar is almost here. Daily Faceoff has you covered. Join me, Tyler Eramtruck, Carter Hutton, and Dave Panyota, live from Toronto for the Daily Faceoff Free Agency Special.

We'll be breaking down every signing, every rumor and all the big moves as they happen. this kind of feels like a free agency week trade deadline. Anyhow, catch the live show July 1st, noon Eastern on the daily faceoff YouTube channel and on our socials as well. Okay, coming up here on the program now, please to welcome Julian McKenzie. He's double trouble. One, he's a contributor to the athletic covering the Ottawa Senator is also the author. And I've wanted to have you on to talk about this because this is one of the best books that I've read in a long.

It's so good, Black Aces. and I want to have you on again to go deeper into this because there's so much that I want to pull out of it and talk to you about it. Listen, I've gotten to know over the years. There's one quick note here, the Carnegie family who are lovely people. And I remember I had a chance before he passed away

to meet Herb Carnegie twice. And both times were like, Julian like emotionally profound. once on the air where like our whole studio was weeping, including Herb. Right? Like it's his, his story is both, every time I go to Herb Carnegie Arena,

formerly North York, I always think of him and beautiful murals of Herb and beautiful, you know, pictures and memories, etc. It is one of the most profound chapters in your book, but not the only one,

but that's the one that I'm just like, because I read it and I'm like, remember going through the Herb, chapter and I had to put it down a few times. Anyway, I want to say home run book, I want to have you back on to talk more about it, but a couple of quick thoughts before we get into the Ottawa senators about Black Aces. First off, thanks for having me and that really means a lot for you to say that. It's true. Yeah, I think of all the chapters I put together, the Herb Carnegie chapter, that definitely made me feel some things, particularly the way that it starts where I use

an interview that he did with Elliot Friedman, and he's weeping openly at a memory that hit him early on in his life where he's told by an assistant coach with the trauma Maple Leafs at the time that if someone found a way to turn him white, he would be on the team. And for that to still affect him decades after the fact, like, you can find the interview on YouTube if you haven't seen it. Like, that cuts at you. That would cut at anybody who was put in. in that situation.

The purpose of Black aces was not just to highlight stories of unfortunate racism that unfortunately is still a thing that affects minority communities, not just generally, but also the sport of hockey. My hope was to introduce people who hadn't known stories like Herb Carnegie before. There are people in the book, obviously, like a P.K. Suban or Jerome McGinlow,

who people are more familiar with. But my hope was that people would be able to connect with some of the lesser known names, including a Herb Carnegie from this book. So I'm glad that you enjoyed it. And I'm glad that people have enjoyed it. Loved it. And again, like, we have to have you back on to talk deeper about it.

And whenever I hear things like, oh, it's not an NHL issue, it's a societal issue. Well, like, look, hockey is in our society. And the way you improve a society is everybody has their block. And everybody acknowledges that our block needs to be better. That's how it all grows. So I don't like this sort of shrug off of, oh, it's a societal issue. It's not a hockey issue. Hockey's part of society.

Let's try to make our little corner of all of it a lot better. Okay, so that's coming up with you once all this other crazy chaos simmers down and we don't know when it is going to simmer down and in the eye of the hurricane are the Ottawa senators. I can't think that you thought that, let me be afraid this way. I don't think that you were surprised that Brady Kachuk got traded, thinking as most of us did that eventually it would happen. but did it sort of catch you anyway

even when you know something is going to happen when it finally gets there you're like whoa I should have been more prepared for this Yeah I there were whispers in the days leading up to the trade that this would happen and it felt like a lot to process

but to even give a slightly better answer to the question you're sending here I there was a part of me that thought that Brady Katie Kachuk was going to run this back like one more time. And then like next year, if it didn't work, he had a year left on his contract. And then he could go to the organization and be like, you know what? I gave it all the tries I could.

I'm getting out of here. Trade me to wherever. And then the team could get a return. Like, I mean, I know he said in the past that like he's not his brother and he's his own person. That's essentially what Matthew Koduck did four years ago, right? Like he realized Johnny Girore wasn't coming back. He left for free agency and he looked at the team. He looked at the situation.

He said, you know what? I want to go somewhere else. And he told the Calgary Flames like, hey, I want an opportunity to play somewhere else. I'm not going to extend. And we know what happened after that. I just the fact that Brady Kachuk, this narrative kept following him even though there were different points where he said, I wanted to stay in Ottawa. I want to stay in Ottawa.

I'm committed to this organization. remember the team at different points, whether through players or whether through ownership, refuted a lot of those rumors too. Even though they did their best to do that, it still felt like when is the other shoe going to drop? And I think for fans, I feel for them the most because it's one thing for us in the media to hear stuff like that,

and we have to be on our guard and prepare for that possibility. If you're a fan, particularly a fan of Brady Kachuk, you see a lot of that stuff, and you see your organization dunking on it and you're thinking, well, yeah, our guy's never going to leave. Even in the back of your mind, you might think, hey, he might leave the idea of Brady Kachuk stepping up to everybody and be like, hey, like, Ottawa's my city and I'm committed to the city.

You go behind that. So I feel a lot for fans on that. I hate it for fans, bluntly. I mean, this is a reality. Like, I grew up a kid in southwestern Ontario. And I remember when, you know, Lany McDonald got traded. like that was the first one for me Julian when I was a kid where I was like

whoa you mean like he's not going to be like number seven is that he's not playing anymore like he's he's not going to be on beyond this team um so that was the first when it hit me that you know Lanny McDonald was not going to be part of the team but you know I I wonder I think about young fans

and like my Lanny Brady Kachuk is someone's Lanny McDonald to me. Those are the ones that I like again like the cutaways to kids with tears always crush me after a loss like

oh man I don't need to I don't need to see it. You know what's happening but like honestly Julian those are the ones those are the people that I feel for the most by the time you get older you get cynical and hardened and iron skin and all that kind of again like maybe it's a byproduct of age I think of those other kids because I remember myself when Lany McDonald got trade. Does that resonate in Ottawa right now with like, I'm sure you're seeing it and hearing it.

Oh, my son or daughter is just heartbroken about this Brady Kachuk thing. I've seen a lot more people online, particularly part of Sends Twitter, and you know about how vibrant of a community that could be, even if the fan base is smaller compared to other teams. I've seen a lot of people be upset, but I still think that in due time, in spite of everything that they've endured in the last year with Brady, I think there are going to be some people

who will sit with themselves one day and be like, oh man, we had this player in an organization and for everything he gave on the ice and what he did in the community, it sucks that he's not here. And you bring up an excellent point in the fact that, you know, not everyone's online.

There are a lot of people who live in this city who I'm sure are disappointed and hurt that Brady Kachuk wouldn't be here. And you know one thing Brady Kachuk did a lot when he was here? He did a lot of stuff in the community. He did a lot of stuff. with kids. So there's a lot of kids, I'm sure, who are having that moment where either their parents are explaining it to them or they're figuring it out on their own. Yeah. And they're hurt by it.

Maybe they don't understand all the geopolitical nuances and everything to do with what it was like on the team or anything like that. But like, yeah, I'm sure there are a bunch of people in this market young and old who will look at that and be like, oh, man, like this this sucks and we'll just feel hurt and they'll feel worse about it, I'm sure. But there are definitely people who are like, we're going to miss that guy. You know, there's, I was saying this to Berkey before he came on. Like, I had a conversation with someone this morning who brought up an interesting point about the Kelsey's and said that it wasn't necessarily faded that Brady and Matthew were going to play. I'm sure the parents always dreamed about it.

But like, look, like, bluntly, like Dallas has tried to do whatever they could to bring in Brady Kachuk. Like this is like Tom Gull, like one of the owners' favorite players in the NHL move heaven and earth to get Brady Kach. Chuck to the Dallas stars. Like other teams feel the same way too. You know what the marketplace for someone like Brady is. And what someone mentioned to me this morning is, you know, conversations with the Kelsey's who have been on their podcast before, you know, the Kelsey's have said like the biggest regret that they had was not being able to play on the same team.

And this person said, don't discount how much that meant to those two brothers, hearing things like that. Like, does that find an audience with you that here's, you know, game knows game and like these guys you're relating to the kelseys and saying like we never got to do this don't squander your chance if you can ever get one to play with your brother this find a home yeah i i i could understand that i think particularly with those two like i've had people say to me for the last how many years that this is something that at some point they probably would like to do and and with respect to brady who i could understand was trying to be

as genuine as he could be on the podcast, talking in front of media, on Pat McAfee yesterday. And at one point, I think on the podcast, he says, hey, I took Matthew out of it.

I looked at the Florida Panthers, and I was like, this is a team that finds a way to, to have a chance of the Stanley Cup every year. And that's why I thought about going to that team. I'm sorry, bro. You mean to tell me that never popped in your head once?

The idea of playing with Matthew Kachuk, at this stage of your career. Maybe it came to you at some point where you were like, you know what? Maybe at the end of my career, me and Matthew can go to St. Louis and stuff like that. But like you get the opportunity

to play with Matthew at four nations. You get the opportunity to play with him at the Olympics. You win with him at the Olympics. You see him every day. And you know what? I'm not even talking out of my, I'm not even talking out of my mouth with this.

You can go listen to the podcast and listen to how Matthew describes that situation. It's a dream come true on Pat McAfee. It's the Olympics on steroids. Like Brady probably thought about this. And if he didn't think about it that much, he definitely had a lot of familial influence that surrounded him over that possibility of playing with his brother.

That definitely was a factor in all of this. 100%. Now, I want to ask about Steve Staeos. So William Ecclund comes in. A different player, different skill set. You know the team was going to get a different look the minute that Brady could check exited. Steve Stios isn't done.

Is he? He's not done. No. I'd be surprised if he was. I mean, look, I thought if this trade was the ninth overall pick for Mason McTavish or any of the other high-profile players who may be out there, guy like Jordan Kairu, for example, who gets moved to Washington. Like, I would still be looking at this and be like, okay, you're not done. You got this whole of draft picks. And even before you make this trade with Brady Kach, I was banging the drum saying, okay, this team needs. help on the wing. They could use another defenseman.

This team, this is a whole other discussion to have. They need another backup goalie to help out Linus Allmark. This is an offseason where there are opportunities for Steve Steyos to make tweaks in and around his roster. And the Brady Kachuk element was just another thing. It ends up getting accelerated to the top of that list. But like, that's one of many things that had to get dealt with for the Ottawa Senators to get better.

And there's no way, I think, Steve Stales has done ahead of the draft on Friday. I'm curious to know what's going to happen with that 25th overall pick. Are they seriously going to pick with that pick? Are they going to move it in any way? Like, I have a lot of questions. You know, I thought that I kind of thought that they would package the pick that they used with San Jose on the Eklund deal to try to move up knowing that.

And again, like this was Michael Ann Lowers junior team. Steve Stios was a general manager. They have had so many viewing. of Caleb Malhotra all season long that I'm like, okay, you can see this coming a mile away. Like they're going to try to get up even higher to grab Caleb Mahotra, one year at BU, then on the Ottawa senators,

and off we go to the races. But the name you bring up in Mason McTavish is a fascinating one. For the Ottawa senators, again, I'll go back to the Bulldogs this time, Hamilton. And I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, you know, I think Mason McTavish, after the Peterborough trade, lived with Steve Steyos, stayed with Steve Steyos for the remainder of his season and going to the Memorial Cup with the Steyos family.

So there is an association there. Look, it's not working out in Anaheim. I don't know what happened. Was it an issue with the past coach Cronin? Don't know, but he's a different player. He seems like the kind of player that would benefit most from a change of scenery. I fail to believe that Mason McTavish has forgotten how to play hockey and he's probably ready for the change of scenery and McTavish does seem like kind of an obvious one here for the Ottawa Senators. Yeah, I'm just curious now, like, what is it going to take to make that work?

Because you already flipped your ninth overall pick to San Jose in the deal that I thought that actually was pretty good to make. And I get it. Like, you know, some people might look at that and think like, oh, like maybe there's a higher quality player you can get, but like you get a young 23-year-old going on 24 who has hit the 50-point plateau the last few seasons. You give him a prominent role on your team.

Maybe he gets better and he turns himself into, you know, a solid top six producer for you. Plus you get two prospects, including one who, in Casper Halton and who I think he puts himself, what, in like the top three of your best prospects you have in this organization right now between Carter, Yack and Chuck? I watched him. like on in London.

He's a really nice player. Really nice. Yeah. Like I think ultimately through that, at the very least, you're able to help your roster right now and help your prospect. Well, I can understand the logic with that. But my biggest question is if that ninth overall pick is gone and Mason McTablish is still someone you'd like to bring in, I mean, even then, I think for a player like that,

I don't know if Anaheim wants to necessarily give that player away. You might have to move a player off your roster to make that happen. And I mean, not to say they cannot absolutely do it, but maybe the quality of player you'd have to move away changes if you're packaging them with the ninth overall pick compared to if you're on draft day and you want to bring in Mason McTavish, but the 25th overall pick is the best draft capital asset you have.

Jordan Spence, excuse me. Is Jordan Spence here? Like one of the obvious candidates? I mean, it would make, I mean, that's, someone I'm thinking of in a scenario like that. I know Steve Stales was saying there are ongoing discussions with Jordan Spence. He didn't specify what those ongoing discussions were. Is it a contract?

Is it a trade? We don't know. But there seems to be a lot of noise around this type of player. And I think at this point, if you're the Ottawa senators and you're trying to make your team better, he's a player who ends up being a trade chip for to accommodate a piece like a Mason McTavish or any other forward winger you think makes sense for this team. You know, right now it seems if all the attention is on, We'll close on this one, Julian.

It seems like all the attention is on the Atlantic Division right now. Like it seems like arms race, everything happening. We're waiting for Detroit to make, you know, the Larkin deal here. Boston has been quiet so far. That probably won't stay the same. But do you have a thought on just the Atlantic Division in general? And what we're seeing in advance of what we expect to see in a Dylan Larkin trade, I've been on the record of saying the most sense here probably is the Dallas Stars,

how they make that happen. I don't know because I don't know if they want Jason Robertson at that number. Maybe it's a three-way deal. Here we go. But just a quick thought as we conclude here on the Atlantic Division itself. It's such a fascinating division and I'm not just saying that because I cover a team in that division. But seeing all of these teams work towards getting better, like it feels like a gauntlet with the quality of teams that are in there. Like the Montreal Canadians had this like incredible run to the third round.

And yes, they got lucky at different points. But like it just got harder for them with, I mean, who knows what Buffalo ends up doing after all this is said and done the dust clears, right? I mean, they already make the big Bowen-Byrne move and they get a number four overall pick. Maybe they do something else with it. Who knows? Or Tampa Bay is always going to be a team that's looked at as a class of their division. and I know Darren Rash has gone, who's someone that they could get into to replace that, right? Florida got better, obviously.

The Boston Bruins, you mentioned that. Like, they're a team that's going to try to get better. Detroit's a team that's going to try to get better. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the number one overall pick in this year's draft, and they're going to find a way to get better to. To make it about Ottawa, even from last year when I saw some of the teams, like a Boston, like a Montreal, try to get better, my first thought was like, okay, what are the Ottawa senators going to do to keep pace

with those teams. And I get the regular season only counts for so much, but you don't want to be in a position where you improve a little bit, but not enough, and your guys internally don't improve enough, and everyone else around you has taken those steps and has lapped you,

and you're left behind. Like, that challenge, I think, goes up by 10 this off-season with the amount of trades and activity we've been seeing over the last how many days, and especially if a lot of what we may be hearing comes to fruition. Fascinating time.

By the way, and we will have them back, to talk more about Black Aces. Julian McKenzie has been my guest. An excellent, excellent offering. I want to see on bookshelves everywhere, as do you, as do your publishers, I'm sure, too. You be well, my friend, we'll chat in a couple of weeks. We'll get into Black Aces then.

Sounds good, man. Thanks much for your time, man. There he is, again, Julianne McKenzie, from The Athletic, author of Black Aces as well. Eyes on the Ottawa Senators, eyes on a lot of teams in the Atlantic Division, not just for trades, but also, oh, yeah, there's a draft at the end of this week.

Oh yeah, there's a draft going on Friday and Saturday. All of it has been overshadowed, as we know, by all the trades that have been going down. Before we get to Rachel here, this segment is a presentation of the Ninja Crispy Pro Countertop Class Air Friar. Check it out. Get faster, crisper 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 Crisp. collection. Shark Ninja is elevating the airfire experience. Yes, they are. The Ninja Crispy Pro is a

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visit the link in our description or go to shark ninja.ca. With that, the trade and draft. Talk continues here on the program. We're trying to get Mike and Buffalo, by the way, to come on here in a couple of moments to wrap up that. Yarmu Kekyllian and press conference. In the meantime, we turn to our dear friend Rachel Kriach from ESPN, ESPN.com.

Rachel, how are you today? I'm doing well. I am surprisingly not as tired as I thought I would be after staying up all night with those trades. How are you? Pretty good. Yeah, good too. You know, it's one of those like paste yourself through the week. But then how do you do it?

It's like taking a drink out of a fire hose every couple of hours. There's a new trade or a new rumor or a new name that's out there. A couple of things. What's more interesting to you right now? What happens by way of trades this week? or what we see at the draft, knowing full well, there's a real intersection point here that we've seen, whether it's pick four, whether it's pick nine. Like, there are a lot of intersections, obviously, and things will start colliding come Friday. Yeah, I think I'm more interested in the trades just because of the draft element of it.

This is more than ever a year where I wish we had a centralized draft because the amount of looking at who is speaking to who, on the draft floor. Like the level of tweeting and blue skying that would be happening would be absolutely incredible and it's already brilliant theater. But I think we kind of have this inflection point where the cap is going up so much

that teams that want to look to get better quickly can actually afford to make these deals for huge star players with big salary. And so that's why you see some of the deals that we have and they don't want to wait for guys who are maybe two, three years away in the draft, they want guys now. And that's why I think that the trade part of this is very intriguing.

Because if your guy gets selected, well, can you just move that pick for a guy that you actually want now? You know, you're right. And it's a fascinating week here that we're saying, this is better than trade deadline. Like, bluntly, this is better than, way better than trade deadline week or weeks leading up to it. And I think a lot of it, too, is,

and we see this every year starting on day one. You know, next year the schedule goes from 82 to 84 games. And I've said before, it is not an 82 game season. It's 82 one game seasons. The idea of easing in, because we've all seen this, like teams used to like ease into the season. But now you hit the ground running. And it's a sprint from game one to, well, next year it's game 84.

And the pressure from ownership, And this is one thing I don't think we talk about enough. The pressure from ownership to win now is overwhelming. This isn't just the manager making decisions. This is the owner saying this is what we're going to do. You go out and do it. And right now, if you look at teams that are successful, the Stanley Cup rewards those who are brave.

You're brave. You take big swings. The Stanley Cup will reward you. Eric Tolski's been saying. He was on the program last week saying, like, we want people that take chances. Where the NHL has always been a very buttoned down conservative place. We're going to make our picks. We're going to be very conservative. We're going to overvalue everyone in the organization.

And that's why we're going to seem like we're frozen. Like, it feels like those days are gone, Rachel. Well, it does this season right now. Like, as the people would always say, oh, we don't want us to get too much like the NBA. The hell we don't. This is fantastic. This is the closest thing we've seen to the NHL get close to how the NBA conducts business. Well, I think there's a little bit to that owner thing, right?

Like, you're looking at a situation where the cap is exploding and some owners, if they're not getting playoff revenue, they're probably not going to want to spend to the cap. And that's impactful. But on the NBA thing, I'm thoroughly entertained by all these trades. Like yesterday, my phone was melting with. everything that was going on. And I finally had to just go, okay, I'm turning notifications on for like two insiders that I really, really trust. And outside of that, I don't want to hear anything else. But if you think about the NBA thing, I actually don't mind if we get to a point

where we're seeing a ton of trades because I think that player movement is healthy for the league. The part of the NBA that I could absolutely do without is the notion that there needs to be a collection of talent on two to three teams. I don't like the, I need to go to this one place and this one place only. And maybe it's a list of three teams. And yes, those places have to be desirable to play. But I think you're getting dangerously close to an environment where that could be the case. And that runs in direct opposite to what Gary Betman wants, which is parity. And that is quite literally the whole purpose of revenue sharing in the salary cap. And so I think the cap going up is excellent for player movement, which is excellent for entertainment.

And hockey has never been more at the forefront. But at the same time, you also don't want the same teams in the cup final in the conference final every single year because eventually you will lose fans that way. So it's interesting. We've talked a lot about no trades recently for the obvious reasons. I was pointing out yesterday on the program because I was turning in. I was going old man, Merrick on this one, Rach. It was like the first no, the first documented no trade clause.

In the history of the NHL is 1923 with King Clancy. Good. With the Ottawa senators. You would know that. Well, hang on a second here. Like that anyone else can use that no, everyone knows how to use Google. You can find this. Like, this isn't news.

But that was the first documented one, right? I mean, famously, Daryl Sittler refused to waive his no trade. That led to other trades, Landy McDonald, et cetera. I talked about that with Julian McKenzie a couple of seconds ago. So like the no trade thing has raised its head before. The problem with it is, I mean, these are issues that are collectively bargained between the NHL and the Players Association. Exactly. Teams grump and growl about it.

But, okay, do you want to reopen the CBA and what are you giving in order to do something with no trade, no moves? All of a sudden, everybody gets really quiet. When it's like, oh, we have to give something to the Players Association in order for them to do something like limit no moves and no trades, which have been collectively bargained and fought for for a number of years, all of a sudden everyone gets real quiet about no-move clauses. Well, and the thing is, is we're hearing a lot about the no-movement clauses on the players' side of it. What about on the team side?

Like, why should somebody like Morgan Riley, who has stated he wants to stay in the city of Toronto, loves being a Toronto Maple Leaf, and in a time where there seems to be some players who maybe don't want to play in Canadian cities, A, why would you trade somebody that wants to play for your organization if you're in one of those cities? But B, we see guys getting vilified like Brady Kachuk, and that's, I think, a completely different thing where he straight up lied to the entire fan base about it. But you see guys get dragged through the mud for requesting a no trade or requesting a trade with a no movement clause and controlling their fate. But what happens? Why isn't there enough vitriol directed at a team that's forced to. a guy to waive their no movement clause.

Really the only guy that has had any sort of vitriol directed his way is Chris Drury for how he handled various members of the New York Rangers. But I think there's not enough loyalty on the team's side. And so why are you expecting there to be loyalty on the player's side? Where I think there is a difference, though, is I agree, I've heard you say it before. If you have a no move clause, the team shouldn't be allowed to ask you, to waive that. Like, that just shouldn't be allowed in the same way that I think if you're a player that has a no move clause that you negotiated with your contract to stay with that particular

team and you all of a sudden request a trade, that no move clause should probably be voided or at the very minimum taken down at least a few notches so that you're not just going, oh, I have negotiated the right to stay here and now all of a sudden I don't want to be here. So I'm going to choose where I go next. I think there needs to be a balance. Listen, I don't disagree with that. I think players should be compensated for waiving no trades, that does necessitate an opening of our favorite document, which I know you take to the beach every summer, the CBA. I read that twice.

Anybody want to do that? Yeah, I know. It burns your eyes. It's crazy. It's ridiculous. Okay. So, arms race right now. And, you know, Yarmulkekeleine a moment ago saying, you know, thanks, but no thanks.

You know, Alex Tucker is moving on. But of all the trades we've seen so far, all the rumors that we've seen so far, we've seen so far, like, what's the spiciest one for you? Or is it just like we're still in the after effects, the shock waves of the Brady-Cachuk deal? But what's the spice in your chili for trade deadline week here? Oh, man. So I'm interested to see Washington because they just acquired Jordan

Kairu and they seem to be a front runner for Alex Tuck. And they have Tom Wilson and Ryan Leonard, which doesn't give me a lot of confidence about Alexander Ovechkin returning next year, which would make me sad. I really enjoy watching him play hockey. I still think he's coming back. I still think he's coming back for one more, but I could be wrong. I still think he's coming. I hope so.

I hope so. He's right there with the team. Keep saying he thinks he's coming back. We'll see. I hope so. But I think the Bowen Byram situation, Yarmot Kekalinen fleecing the Chicago Blackhawks on the very day, the anniversary of the Artemie Panera and Brandon Saad deal,

like at this point, if you're a member of the Blackhawks organization and Yarmow calls you on June the 23rd, don't pick up the phone. Just let it go to voicemail and maybe leave it for another day. But you look, it's, thank God, Bowen Byron is a Chicago Blackhawks fan growing up. Because I looked at this trade and I went, unless there's a contract in the drawer, you just let Darren Ferris represented Bowen Byron get traded for a fourth overall pick, which is going to allow him to put you over the barrel in a negotiation. And all of a sudden, Bowen Byram is making 12 and a half million.

when he probably should be making eight because I think a lot of Bone Byram's year last year was half him and half Owen Power. I don't think Owen Power gets enough credit for how good that pair was for the Buffalo Sabres. And so I'm interested to see Byram's impact in Chicago. I've no doubt he's going to be great on the power play. But at the same time, I'm not, in fact, I'm almost positive that one of Carson Carls or Chase Reed, Keaton Verhoff would have been a better option than immediately paying Bowen Byron. I like the idea of what Kyle Davidson is doing.

Like they need to get out of the prospect. Like I've always referred to it as green banana business. Like I like that because right now, like they need to compete. Like this is a team like, okay, enough of this are the kids getting better? They need wins, right? They need to be what the San Jose sharks were last season. And there needs to be like a return on investment here from ownership. This is a big year for the Hawks.

As much as everywhere there, oh, everyone's extended. Everyone got to say all these. No, no, no, no. They need to see some results this year from the Black. So I like the idea that they're turning young players and picks into NHL players. But I don't know that that means you go into a situation where you take like one of your best shut down. in Louis Crevier, who was outstanding, suppressing shots last season for the Chicago Blackhawks and move him along with four and 45, and you take what many are considering to be a salary dump

in Jordan Greenway and say, okay, there's our tidy bit of business. I really hope that Bo Byron works well with the Chicago Blackhawks, because that seems like a mass. Like I had one person yesterday, this is going to be a dated reference, Rachel, I apologize. Someone said to me, this is Dukakis versus Bush Sr. That's how much of like a landslide is what this was in the favor of the Buffalo Sabres. For all of our, our follow, for everyone that follows politics in the United States. That's how this one person described it to me yesterday. But I like the idea of it.

I unfortunately do have to follow politics in the United States now. So I know what you're referred to. But like the idea behind it is right. I think this is what Kyle Davidson should be doing with the Chicago Blackhawks. I just like this one, the execution of this one. That's it, right? I completely agree that the Black Ox, they have to take a step in the way the sharks did or the ducks did, right?

But you also, and we can have the same conversation about the Vancouver Canucks, when you draft for position and you don't take the best available player on the board, that is how you end up where you end up. They took Levshinoff when they should have taken Demit off. Then there was Beckett Seneca that was available. They had every opportunity to draft the winger to play with Connor Bedard. And both of those players were better than what they took at the time. Then you look at Vancouver.

Instead of taking Zach Benson, they take Tom Volander. It's just it creates this cycle. And if we're in a situation today where, let's say the Blackhawks did draft Ivan Demadoff or Beckett, Seneca. then we're not even considering the fact that they absolutely are praying that evar stenberg falls to them we're now in a situation going which of the top tier defensemen are the Chicago blackhawks going to take to finally fit that hole or fill that hole in their prospect pool and lineup and then that gives you like i think we're having a totally different conversation if we're talking about a Chicago core that has badard frondell um Ivan demadov and whichever one of chase reader Carson Carls gets to pick four. And you have to take a step here because, I mean, if Leo Carlson's an offer sheet target, so is Connor Bedard. And I'm not saying that the Black Ox wouldn't match it.

But you don't want to be in a situation where a team is offering your guy $18, $19 million a year. I don't. First of all, I don't know that he would sign it to begin with. I don't either. First of all, it's going to be a whopper of a contract. when it comes to offer sheets, I'd be more concerned if I'm the Dallas stars and Maverick Bork. Oof.

Like that one is. But would you, okay, so you're, let's say you're Kyle Davidson, right? Yep. Would you take the Eric Tulski route? And I think anytime you could take an Eric Tulski route versus an anybody else route, you should take the Eric Tulsky route. He could have been the GM of the Hoss, by the way. He was one of the finalists for the Hoc.

He could have been the GM for the Hoss. My goodness. It's all right. Do you take the, Eric Tulski way, which is your betting that Logan Stankhoven and Jackson Blake break out, and they obviously have, and you sign them to

depressed contracts that are long-term deals. Do you do that with Connor Bedard? Do you say like, instead of signing at $10 million, $12 million for four years, like here's $16 million bucks for seven or eight years. Let's just get this done because I

don't want to be walking you to a spot where you have to re-sign the way Austin Matthews did for a significantly elevated number. Identify your key players and sign them for as long as possible. Period. Identify your core, lock it up as long as possible. Now, maybe the other question is if you're the player, do you do that?

Knowing where the cap is going. Again, like, do you want to ring the bell in your career once, twice, three times? Like, tell me where to stop. Like, this seems like, you know, Jud Moldaver from the team. is his style. You know, that's like, don't just ring the bell once.

Like, ring it a few times. I know hockey is conservative. We talked about that at the outset. Hockey's a really conservative place and players like to have a comfortability. That works for a lot of guys. Like, geeky in Boston popped when he had that security.

Some guys need it. Some guys, it really benefits them. Other guys, you know, Austin Matthews comes to mind right away. They're happy just to keep ringing it every few years. So I think it all depends on the player.

but if I'm the Hawks, I want Bedard long-term period, don't you? And this is your last opportunity to sign him for eight years. Like, I would get that done. And I'm not sure that I would think twice about it, quite frankly. The same thing for Zach Benson in Buffalo. Like, that's eight years at 10, 11 million bucks. Thanks for coming. All set.

Way to go. Macklin Celebrini, the same thing. Macklin Celebrini could comfortably ask for the Carill Caprizo contract. And I don't think my career should think twice about it. There are, listen, you hit on something really good there, and that is there are some contract negotiations that aren't negotiations. Like the, like, the, the Connor McDavid contract negotiation wasn't a negotiation. You tell us what your number is. Isn't it the same thing with Macklin Celebrany? I know we're getting off of trade and draft here, but like they could sign San Jose could resign him on July 1st. I don't know how much of a negotiation. that is, though. Considering the half that he has behind him and who he is and who he's becoming and where he is in the game already, that's one of those things where you're Mike Greer, you're like, can you write down a number on a piece of paper and try to leave us some dignity? So it's funny that you say that because I was having a conversation with an assistant general manager about Matthew Schaefer. And I said, if you're the guy tasked with Matthew Schaefer's inevitable contract extension in New York next summer.

because obviously just a rookie this year. How do you approach that? And he looked me straight in the face and he said, I signed the bottom of the check, I turn the check over and I say, fill out the details. And I'm going to trust that he knows he can't make everything

if he wants a competitive team around him. I think Mackin-Cellibrini knows that. I think Connor Bedard knows that. But if you look at, if we get back to the draft, right, there are so many, I remember going into 2017, and this was just before I,

work for the devils. And this was post-Matthews and McDavid draft classes. And everyone was saying this isn't the same draft class. There's not a high caliber player the way that there has been with Bard and Celebrini and Schaefer. Well, who got drafted in 2017? Kale McCarr seems like a pretty good hockey player to me. I think that it's not fair to these guys to say that there isn't that type of impact player. Just because they might not be that type of impact player today doesn't mean that they might not go to college for two years, Carson Carls,

and be that type of impactful player in 2029, 28, whatever the case may be. I think we have to be careful there. Okay, so I'm glad you got us to the draft here because let me close on this. Let's spend a couple of minutes with your list. ESPN.com. You can see Rachel's story on. draft rankings. Let me get the headline.

Final 2026 NHL draft rankings, projections for top prospects. You have Gavin McCowning going first overall. Wow. Yeah, I have a mock draft that I've had to rewrite three times in the last 12 hours. Trust, trust, trust. Did yesterday's move with the San Jose Sharks and the Ottawa Center cement Ivar Stenberg, going second overall to San Jose?

There's the spot. Yes, absolutely. All right. have Carson Carl's at three. Top-prang defenseman, Prince George, on his way to No-Dak. Yep. I do. I think that the Canucks are going to go with Chase Reed. The more that I think about it and the more that I hear things, I think the top five is the two forwards at the top.

And then you get Reed, Malhotra, and Albert Smiths to the Rangers at five. I think that's where they. They really want Carson, Carl's, by all indications. I don't know that Carls is there when the Rangers pick. You think he might go forward to the Sabres? Carson Carles? We don't even know if they're going to have the pick. No, I'm just saying like I think that, you know, the New York Rangers, I think,

listen, it sounds like there's an expectation that if Carson Carl's is there when the Rangers pick, that that's a guy that they're taking. So you were at the Combine. Yeah. I had heard that the Rangers, at least the high. up had raised their eyebrow on the fact that Carson Carl's, A, made it, like, seem that he wanted to play for a Canadian team. And B, wasn't necessarily a big city guy. And I'm not sure there's a bigger city in the NHL than the Manhattan. I mean, I wonder, do you, if you're James Dolan, you just see what happened with the Knicks, right? And inevitably, that's going to have some kind of impact on this. We talked about ownership. If Chris Drury goes to him and goes, Albert Smith can play. in October, or in September, I guess, now. You know the owner has some kind of say, they might want Carl's,

but if Dolan says, I want the guy that can play in September, do they get boxed into taking Smiths? He can play next year, absolutely. Malti Guffington might even be able to play next year, too. And I think that's another wild card, like Super U-18. I think that's another wild card here as well. I just don't know that, like, again, The golden rule is not due on to others, as you would have others do on to you.

The golden rule is he or she who has the gold makes the rules. Like that's it. That's correct. If your owner says like, this is what we want. Well, guess what? Albert Smith's, welcome to the New York Rangers. Let me get one more name out of you here. Vigo Bjork, who if he wasn't as small as he is, might be the number one pick available.

Like if this guy is six foot three, he's going first overall. Premium position, motor that won't stop, high skill, high energy, all of it. And production. Where does Vigo Bjork go? Oh, man. Okay. So Vigo Bjork is like one of my draft sons. He's like the kid where it was probably January.

I think it was like around the world juniors. I was sitting there going, okay, I'm going to make my first list. and I was going through the model because the model is like heavy for the first go around. And his numbers are hilarious. Like he is so good. He projects to be so good. And then I go, okay, I'm going to change something manually just to see what happens. And I changed his height to six foot two.

And the moment I changed his height to six foot two, his draft value went to number one on the board. So I agree with you that he would probably be Toronto's pick at one if he were a couple of inches taller. I think he could go as high as four. I really don't think we should count out a team trading up with the Sabres to get him. I would not be shocked if he went ahead of Caleb Malhotra. And I do think Calgary really likes him at six, even though it's kind of out there. They like Carson Carls if he gets there. But the flames need a center.

and, I mean, quite frankly, so did the Winnipeg Jets. Vigo Bjork is a guy where, what if he grows two inches? What if instead of like 59.75, he's 511.75, then I think we're having a totally different conversation because right now, like his comps are Braden Point and Logan Stankovin. Well, those guys are pretty good to me. Pause on that. Did Logan Stankhoven change how teams feel about Vigo Bjork?

and I was as guilty as anyone else saying there's no way this guy is going to be a center. There's no way that Logan Stancoven has been. I could not have been more wrong. Anyone in the Stanley Cup? And it was Carolina's best line. Yeah, and not even just that. Like Vancouver's scouting staff wanted to take Logan Stancovin in the draft, but Danila Klimovich had a ridiculous U-18 and Benning and the chief executives for the Canucks

saw that and said, no, we got to take the big kid. I think they probably regret that a little bit because Logan Stankovin would be exactly what the Vancouver Canucks could use right now but I think with Vigo Bjork you can't afford to make that same mistake. I really, I have him four on my board. I think both he and Kleppov go later than I would personally take them. Yeah, you love Kleppov.

But I also think, oh man, yeah. I think both of them have a legitimate chance to be probably top three forwards in this draft class. Excellent. I love it. Rach, thanks as always. Good to see you again. Great backdrop, as always, cheering on Team Canada at the World Cup. By the way, how are you enjoying World Cup this year?

Oh, my goodness. I mean, I have two teams to cheer for. Yes, I know. Canada and Germany, I know. Friends on both. So it's been a lot of fun. I'm going to the, Matt, the German match tomorrow. So that'll be exciting. But when you live 15 minutes from where the finals being held, there's kind of a buzz around here that really hasn't been for a very long time because both the Giants and the Jets absolutely suck.

So it's really cool. Like I love the World Cup. It's appointment television for me and the stories coming out of it. Like Cabo Verde and Cote d'Ivoire completely overperforming. Like we get to learn about different countries and you see all the fans come over, like Norway doing their row where the sky. the Scots drinking Boston dry of beer, which is very funny. Like, it's just, it's the absolute best.

I actually like it more than I like the Olympics. Really, eh? Yeah. I just, I mean, you know me. I am a soccer kid, like, as much as hockey is a thing. I'm a soccer kid. And it's just one of those things where I think the stories that can come out of it and the passion that you see for the various Navy,

and the different traditions that they have, I think is very cool. It gives you an opportunity to tell stories that you don't traditionally get to tell, especially in North America, where soccer is very clearly not the sport of choice, be it hockey, basketball, baseball, football. I mean, I think you look at it, and there's just so many different things. So I'm really enjoying it. And I'm very fortunate to get to go to at least one game that the Germans are going to play in, and hopefully a couple more after that.

Listen, I think it's important right now in North America to be celebrating a lot of different cultures and a lot of different peoples and a lot of different traditions and understanding one another. I think this is a great time for this event to be in North America. This ends political commentary right now.

Rachel, great to see you again. Continued success. Great piece. Check out ESPN.com. Her finalist is now available for your judgment and mine. Thanks, Rachel. Please don't yell at me on Twitter. Bye. That's what Twitter's for.

What are you talking about? Don't yell at me on Twitter. Come on. We all know what we signed up for here. Okay. Speaking of draft, a couple of things here. I want to talk to you about this next segment, which is a presentation of Canadian Blood Services,

and that is Game Changer. Canadian Blood Services, who invite you to experience what giving feels like. This one's pretty important to your guy here. In a world that can feel isolating and divided blood and plasma donation offers something rare and fulfilling, Real connection, real purpose, real impact. 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 for new donors to experience firsthand what you get when you give. It's a great feeling. 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. Book at blood.ca through the Give Blood app or call 1-3-8-2-Dlate.

1-3-8 to donate. And Zach, today we are highlighting someone that I know you're a massive fan of, despite you're wearing your Kitchener hat right now, not your Bulldogs. Or you could be wearing a BU hat right now, and that is Caleb Malhotra of the Brantford Bulldogs. Of course, his father, Manny,

his head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, had just an insane second half of the season. 29 goals, 55 assists, 84 points. The family background, you know, it's like whenever we talk about the nurses, the old saying is, you know, when you show up at an event when there's someone from the nurse family there, you have to understand that you're competing for second place. You can say the exact same thing about the Malhotra's.

This is like the one thing that I've been saying to people, and I talked a lot of the combine to people and sort of framed it this way. What you see from Caleb Malhotra on the ice, oh nice, is shifted out. to the Bulldog Chappo there. Good job. Yeah. You see Caleb Malhotra

on the ice and you say he plays a premium position center. I know I made a lot towards the end of the year of the fact that, you know, Jet Lechenko is a first round draft because of the Philadelphia Flyers. He was the winger.

Okay? Like Caleb Malhotra was his center and he's someone that's already been drafted into the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Malhotra was his center and Jet Lachenko is a natural. center. No offense to Jalachanko, this is just how good Caleb Mahotra is. But the thing that really resonates, I think, with a lot of people as well, if you're on the fence about Caleb Mahotra,

the one thing from an organization's point of view, we talk a lot about pride of ownership in a lot of different walks of life and a lot of different businesses, some things that you just do because you have a pride of ownership over them. And the thing about Caleb Mahotra, or anyone in the Malhotra family, that's one of those people that when you bring them into your organization, you're like, and we have Caleb Malhotra. He's like someone you take pride in saying,

that guy's going to wear our jersey, our logo, and is going to carry that wherever they go. You can't say that about every single player in the draft any years, but when you go through the list of players that we've seen go through the draft, right up around the top, as far as like we're proud to select. We always hear managers get up there.

We're proud to select. When you select Caleb Mahotra, understand you're going to have like a pride that this guy is going to carry your logo with like distinction in class for the next 10 or 15 years. You have thought on Caleb Mahhotra? Yeah, I mean, we got to speak to him, right?

And we got to, we put out that interview that you did to sit down with him. And you can tell there's a lot of maturity and just how he handles himself. Oh, no. Caleb was a matured. Sure one, sorry, yeah. I just ask some questions. And there's a lot of maturity in how he handles himself, conducts himself, does interviews.

There's a lot of maturity in how he plays, too, right? And just his approach to the game, we talked to a lot about the fact that he brought up to Jay McKee before the season had started to get to know the names of the officials and the linesmen. Like beyond the officials, the linesmen in the league across the OHL. It's just, it was fascinating to watch him. And I think that that's one thing that's very interesting about this is everybody talks about his character. And when it gets to a point where it's everybody is talking about it, like very obvious statement here.

But it's just like undeniable what that guy brings to a room and what he can do for your organization and for teammates and stuff like that. And that was another thing too, like just the way his teammates looked at him, talked about him and stuff. It was it was glowingly from everybody. Yep. We shall see where he goes. Vancouver may have a very interesting decision to make here at three if they still have the third pick, too, which we anticipate they will. But we'll see. Again, like I've given up outside of McKenna going first overall to your team.

Yeah. After that, I don't know. Yeah. Well, you want to hear a funny tweet that I read and I've been waiting and it's perfect for what's happening right now. This is our friend Blake Price. Oh, yeah. He tweeted just before we went live, I just saw this, because I think my mouse might stop working after this

because the amount of clicking and refreshing I've done throughout the show today. Who uses a mouse still? Okay, yeah. But Blake Price said, today's the day, the Canucks will phone another team. Dot, dot, dot, presumably. I just laughing at that.

I'm like, we see all these teams, all those teams active, this team's calling this team, oh, they're interested in so-and-so, they're interested in these picks. And I think there's Blake Price. The Canucks will phone another team, presumably. I just had a laugh at that one. Yeah.

Look, I always say the same thing. Whenever you see tweets about all this team is talking to this other team, they do every day. I hate to break the news to the end. That's not news. Oh, and by the way, they should be. Because if they're not, they're probably not doing their job. It's their job.

It's their job. Okay, and it's our job to put our man, Philly on the spot. It's the NHL season. concluding Carolina Hurricanes. Congratulations. You're the Stanley Cup winners. Fan Duel, you're home for all the action on and off the ice from Blue Line to Bet Slip. Fan Duel has you covered all season with unique promos, live offerings, and more features to let you play your game. If you miss Puck Trap when the games are on, no sweat with the live same game parlay. They take care of that. You can build your bets up until the final buzzer.

Download Fan Duel Sportsbook today and play your game. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or the gambling, or 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, Zach. So this is a new market put up by Fanduel here in the last 12 hours, I believe, because I looked like again last night for stuff. No, not on Darren Radish. A new one that's popped up.

This one involves the Kachuk brothers. And it's not about the... It's not about what they can do together, more so what they can do against each other, Jeff, because Fandu has put up season long head-to-heads for the Kachuk brothers this season. So who will put up more points this season? You can bet on that straight up whether Brady will get more, and that is plus 225, whether Matthew will at minus 290, or you can do season-long spread. Will Brady-Kichuk finish with or cover the spread of plus 8.5 points on Matthew

Matthew Kichickchuk. So will Matthew Kichuk get nine or more points than Brady Kachuk? To be honest with you, Jeff, I don't even know if I have a question for you on this one or like a prediction or a thought or anything. I just thought this is cool. No, yeah, super cool. I would think Brady Kachuk, based on availability. Because I don't know, given the miles that Matthew Kachuk's placed on his body, whether he's going to be available for enough games to get more points than his brother Brady. Like, honestly, I don't know what Matthew's body is going to be like, honestly,

for the rest of his career. Same thing I'm saying about Brad Marchand, too. When he's in there, he's certainly more, he's certainly effective, obviously. I do think that, you know, health versus health, they're both healthy. I still take Matthew Kachuk over Brady Kachuk. But how would take Brady Kachuk on that one?

I was getting more points in Matthew. Just because I don't know that Matthew's going to be in it all season long. That guy has played hard, hard hockey for a long. long time. And that adds up. It's kind of like how, I was thinking about this a while ago. You know what I was thinking about?

No. Ever since I was born, ever since I was born, I've been alive every single day. That adds up. It really, really adds up, Zach. What is,

we're talking about the maturity thing. I've been alive every single day since I've been born. It adds up, man. It really, really does accumulate. It's been a long life. It's been a long life. Man, it's been a long life.

Well, I will, I know, I'm joking on that, but this has been a long week. Last night, I was scheduling shows for today and for across the network and stuff and helping all more and getting prepared for the draft. And I went, oh my God, it's only Tuesday night. And we've had all these trades slinging around. We're talking about the draft stuff. I'm trying to schedule. Talking to our boss, I'm like, yeah, tomorrow we'll be doing this.

And he's like, no, Thursday. I'm like, whew, wow. Where are we? Like all of this news breaking at the rate that it's breaking right now has got me lost in the week and where we are. More come? Yeah, I know. There's more.

We're not even to Friday yet. Where I think it's just going to be bafo. And by the way, our draft car, on Friday. Yours truly alongside Pierre Maguire gets kicked off an hour before the draft

right here on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel. You are going to be doing a watch-along as well. There's a number of watch-alongs that we have going. Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver,

I believe, Edmondson as well. I think it's just those three. Those three? Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Yeah. Plus, us pre-impost. Plus, yeah,

us pre-imposed with Pierre-Maguire. so that'll go right before the draft and then immediately following. You can flip over to Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and you can find me and Pierre and various guests as we break down everything that we just saw and that includes trades too

and we'll have Stephen Ellis on the program, various coaches, family members from prospects as well. So we've got a lot planned for you come Friday, day one of the NHL draft and the culmination of NHL trade deadline. At least it feels that way. All right. I saw your tweet last night.

Oh, it's best trade deadline ever. This is awesome. This is fantastic. We all feel the same way. Well, it's like, I feel like I can't leave my computer right now. You know how we do the live reaction videos and shows and stuff for Leafs News? I feel like at every waking moment I need to be sitting here ready to respond to something. It's a lot, but it's so much fun.

I've had so much fun for three days. You've got to be in push-up position, or as Mitch Hedberg once said, Dogs are always in push-up position. Why, Mitch is great line. It's all right. Dogs are always in push-up position. Great line, Mitch, great line. And that we'll let you go with a big smile,

courtesy of the late Mitch Headberg, the great Mitch Headberg. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Thanks for interacting. Thanks for the tweets. Thanks for the interaction on the chat. Thank you, whether you're watching

on our daily face-off YouTube, whether you're listening on your favorite podcast platform. Look, man, it's busy, and we all know it, and we're committed to staying right here with you. all through it, and that goes into free agency and also past free agency. We're keeping feeds hot for you, and because there's a lot going on, and that's going to continue. And the craziness continues all through our schedule, through your schedule, and the NHL schedule.

Glad to have you aboard for the entire ride. We're back tomorrow, 1 o'clock Eastern for the sheet. We'll talk to you then.