The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Emily Kaplan

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Marek and Wyshynski are joined by Emily Kaplan to break down the trade freeze tomorrow at 3ET, Olympic implications around the league, who could be buying or selling, and what to watch as the NHL calendar hits a critical turning point.#TheSheet #NHL #TradeDeadline #ArtemiPanarin #JackHughes #NewJerseyDevils #JeffMarek #GregWyshynski #EmilyKaplan #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.

Let's ask Emily Kaplan, who joins us now. She's the voice of reason and sanity here. She'll know if they'll travel to Lambo. Emily, so will they travel? Will fans travel to Lambeau Field, if they have an NHPA? Oh, absolutely. You think so, hey? It's a destination at Lambo.

People haven't gone. I live in Chicago. So it's not a very far drive. I think a lot of people could just fly into Chicago and do that drive. I would be careful because there's a lot of state troopers on that drive. And not that I would be speaking from experience, but it's a great place to get a speeding ticket. But no, LAMBO is an absolute destination.

I think America's Railroad Museum is in Green Bay. I think it would just be really special. And I've always just thought it was like a huge miss that the NHL has no presence in Wisconsin. It's such a great hockey state. So yes, they would travel. Are you a heavy foot driver? Like, if you were driving in Dili Plaza,

the president would still be alive, is that what you're telling us? Like about your driving here, Emily? Are you that driver? I'm a female from New Jersey. That's all all right. I'm a female from New Jersey. Yeah.

I mean, that goes part and parcel. The train museum is very interesting because now I'm thinking about one of these teams is going to dress like conductors or something as they go into the stadium series game. What's the situation with Penn State? Obviously, they had their big outdoor game the same weekend as the stadium series. It was a huge success. It looked great. You are an alum.

Where are we with like putting an outdoor game in Penn State? I am a proud of Penn State alum, and I love that we are a hockey school now. Look, I know that the NHL has always looked at Beaver Stadium as if any of the I'd love to go to. And I think they've kind of moved the targets a bit. At first, it was, okay, there's not enough luxury hotels. And now the talk is, well, it's undergoing renovations. We have to wait for those renovations to be complete. Penn State put on this outdoor game because they have Gavin McKenna. And they're like, holy cow, this can be a cash grab. Why don't we seize the moment? And it was. It was incredible. You have that moment. There he scores. It's an epic game.

But it reminded me a lot of our stadium series and just how iconic it was. I think the NHL has definitely been in contact with them. I think they're a little peeved maybe like, oh, why did state go and do this without us. Like we've been talking to them, we want to be the first ones to go there. I would look at them in 20-28. I also know that 20-year anniversary of the Winter Classic.

Remember, Buffalo was in that first Winter Classic. So maybe Terry Pugula, you know, the connections with Penn State, buying the program there, do the Sabres play there as a node to it? Or do we go to the new Buffalo Stadium for the Winter Classic? Could 28 be Beaver Stadium?

But I think all of those are in the mix right now. That's awesome. And obviously, Buffalo will be two years removed from their Cup win in 2028. So like, exactly. We'll be the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Yeah, the new Panthers. They may never lose.

Let me, I want to get to Panarin with you, but let me just park a little sidebar on the, on Terry Pagula's hockey team here. They may never lose another game again. I stopped thinking this was cute because we've seen 10 game winning streaks before from the Buffalo Sabers. I was like, okay, yeah, we've been false started before with the swords.

I said to Greg, like last week, like my tongue is not used to saying, these words together, the buffalo sabers are good. See, there's still a part of my tongue that is sore because I've never said that. Or I haven't said that in like 14 years. You said it in like a 10-game winning streak in November. What's that? You said it in like a 10-game winning streak in November.

They always have one of those. But now they're like, I have to, like, they are. Now the Benson injury, we'll see what happens there with the shoulder. But like in that line with Thompson and Tucker has been fantastic. But like Buffalo Sabres are, are good. I don't think the great team, but like, this is a good team, right? Like, I'm not missing something here. There's a good team, Emily.

You're not missing anything. You know, I almost feel guilty. We had their first game back. It was an ESPN game right when they fired Kevin Adams. And I'm on intermissions. We've got John Tortorella on intermissions. And I'm going through, like, which candidates we're going to replace Lindy Rough with. John Tortorella, you know, we're kind of egging him on.

It was super silly. Looking back, like, that is a take that did not age well as all. And all I was hearing at the time was, okay, there's going to be more changes that they don't write the ship, but I've never seen a team write the ship this quickly. And I want to give credit to Kevin Adams. I know everybody's doing it, but like he built this roster. I just see no floss. And I see a guy in Alex Lyon who has gotten teams into the playoffs before. He can be that guy.

He did it for the Florida Panthers a couple years ago. You know, we'll see what's going on with this UPL injury. But the forwards are playing with confidence. The defense, I think, can stack up with any defense in the league when they're all healthy. And it just feels like a lot of the burdens that they've had to deal with and, you know, some of this drama, it's off their backs. And they're just playing free, good hockey. And they absolutely look like a playoff team that cannot be stopped. But do we think so?

You hit on the glorious conundrum, though, for Sabres fans, which is that whatever happened to start this streak, the roster was built by Kevin Adams. Like, this is Kevin Adams' team. And it worked. I mean, maybe it took Alex Lyons fourth in the league since December 1st and goals saved above expected. So maybe it just took some good goaltending. But like, this is a Kevin Adams roster. It's good for his resume as he vies for that tennis, that Nashville job, probably. Completely.

And I just think the thing about teams, though, is just like, I love that you just seek these things. And this is why I miss podcasting with you, Greg. And I'm so jealous if you guys get a reunite one day. ESPN and nice reunion, ladies, gentlemen. Obviously the OG pair. It just, I feel like with hockey, it's all about. timing. It's all about peeking at the right time. And the Sabres felt like they had it all to begin the season. And they just like had all of these crazy fluke things happen to them.

Like, for example, Zach Benson getting hit with a puck two days before the opener having to spend a night in the hospital. Like things like that. Like everything just didn't line up their way. And now it feels like since they made this GM change, everything's just lining up their way. And I hate to blame it on the hockey gauze or credit them. But it kind of feels like that's what it is. No, you know what I think it is? Trust me, I've thought a lot about this one. Because Yarmou Kek-Kelan, it's not as if he just suddenly appeared at that press conference after Kevin Adams got dusted. Like Yarmouquet Kalanin has been around this organization for months and quietly taking stock

of everything, the American Hockey League team, the NHLs, like all of it, okay? I think that there was this idea that we all know this is, and this goes like right to the players. Like, Emily, you know, you can't lie to players. They know. Like, they see it. They feel it. They feel the tension between Kevin Adams and Yarmokkekeleinen.

And then finally, Adams, even though I think they'd won three games in a row when he got, when he got dusted. It was the idea of like, okay, finally, that has happened and now we can move on. That this is no longer this sort of weird dynamic in the organization where it's like, okay, what time is it? Who's our general manager? They dealt with the Kevin Adams situation and then Yarmu came in. And there was this sort of soap and warm water feeling that all the players had, like,

okay, we knew this was coming and now it's happened. Now we go play. And now he's our boss. That's an excellent theory. because I really do feel like there was some kind of burden. There was just something that was weighing this team down. And I don't want to say Kevin Adams was a burden, but it was maybe the inevitability that there would be a change.

Here's the change. Let's go play hockey. Let's be the team we know we can be. We know there's going to be a breakup. Let's just get it over with. Right? Let's just rip the Band-Aid off here. We know where this relationship is going. Anyway, go ahead, Wish. Yeah, I believe that's what Bill Haslam said at the press conference for Barry Trots yesterday.

So the Panarin sweepstakes, Our good friend Vince McCogliano of the athletic kind of put out his tears, if you will. It's very athletic to put out some tears for who he thinks the... Shout out Chris Brough. Old ESPN. Chris Brough, the king of the tears. He was a former boss at ESPN. One of those guys, one of those great vision guys.

I miss Chris Brow. He's a good dude. Huge idea guy. So he has it as like Panarin wants to go to Florida. And could that work out, who knows he seems to believe there might be some smoke on the Tampa side? things. L.A. obviously has been hot for him, and that seems to be a destination that Panarin might like. San Jose's thrown their hat in the ring, said, well, we'd love to have them. Washington's been in the mixed. I've been on the Carolina thing for a while, but that might not necessarily be an

extension place for him. How do you see Panarin shaking out? And will it shake out before the Olympic deadline? Because my God, how much longer can you keep this guy out of the lineup before Marty Walsheps in and says, guys? That's going to be an interesting situation if it does drag on past the Olympic roster freeze. Here's my read of the situation. Artemi Panarin has all the leverage, right? He is the no movement clause. He can decide where he wants to go and what he wants,

and obviously he wants a contract extension. The Rangers really didn't have leverage here because as fabulous as a player that Artembe Panarin is, like last year's Brock Nelson was a need to have for the Colorado Avalanche. You need to have a Brock Nelson in order to go for a run. Obviously it didn't work, but it worked out with the player. Artemmy Panarin for a lot of these teams is a nice to have. And therefore, like, I don't think the market was quite there. So when they sat him out, they're trying to create some leverage here and some kind of pressure point, like deadline spur action. So they've been having all these conversations behind the scenes. And Artemey and his agent have been having conversations, where does he fit in?

What do you see your future? I want to see an extension. The teams that were offering him extensions from my understanding, I don't know if he's necessarily like, yeah, that's exactly what I want. I think now what's going on behind the scenes is there weighing? Is there a possibility that one of my preferred destinations, whether it is the Florida Panthers, which I do believe is where he would like to go, maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning, maybe the Dallas Stars, could I go there as a rental? What creative solutions could they find for me? And so I do think that we are getting to this pressure point was tomorrow's 3 p.m. deadline that something should happen because there is now enough momentum.

But we're sitting here today and I have heard nothing concrete. a lot of conflicting information. I cannot guarantee you that it will happen. You know, it's fascinating because he's not getting paid, not getting played, but he's still getting paid. Like he's figured out a way to make free agency. Like right now, essentially, he is a free agent because he's not playing at all,

and he's dictating where he goes. And he's just offers are coming in, and he's going to decide. Like, here we are February 3rd, and our Temi Panarin must feel right now like he's a free agent. Florida's interesting, like the whole state,

both the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas as well, is this sort of headed in the obvious direction. I want to go where there's sun and I don't want to pay state tax. Like,

is it that simple because that won't be L.A. That won't be Sano's. That won't be L.A. No, that will not be L.A. Like, is that essentially what we're, Occam's razor, right? Is that what we're looking at here,

Emily? Because that's kind of the way it feels. And if I'm, listen, if I'm our Timmy Pinar, and I'm probably doing the same thing. I heard you before, we got on. I am so in your boat, Jeff. I've been saying this to anyone who wants to hear

for years. Like, I'm in the woo-woo, warm weather for the joints, extends your career, you're happier, you feel better. Like, that's as much of a thing as the tax situation is a thing. Like, I don't think enough people talk about that. I do think that there's a reason that people want to go to these teams. And yes, it is the weather. Yes, it is the taxes, but it's also the winning culture. And this is a guy that would love to win a Stanley Cup. And none of the teams that were mentioning in the mix for our Temi Panarin are not content. Right? Like I think, you know, we talk about him as the flash and how fabulous the end of a player he is, but he's also competitor and he wants to win. I think the reason that we're mentioning those teams, though, is if he wants this sum of money and he wants this extension and he firmly believes that he can play till 40 or beyond, well, not many teams can fit that or want to fit that into their cap right now.

There's a lot of other things they want to do, and your money just extends a lot farther. The same salary in L.A. as Hart-Levin, the Puckpedia tells us all the time, is a lot different than your salary if you're in one of these known. next states. And I think that's probably part of this equation as well. Yeah. So he's going to, he's going to probably end. I think there's going to be some team that hits the number for him financially and then the deal gets structured in some crazy-ass-ass-bill-Zito Marchand way. Like, you know, I feel like there's a money number he wants. And then, you know, it's on the team to kind of figure out how to massage that under the current cap is probably the issue. Totally. And we see these teams are so creative, right? Like they find ways to make it work. I think

whatever the deal is for Temi Panarin is going to be something that none of us expected. One thing I do find interesting, though, is like I remember when Claude Giroux, right, he kind of forced his hand to go to Florida and there was no leverage on the Philadelphia Flyers part. And honestly, the return that Florida gave was quite kind given that they didn't really have to give that type of leverage. I do know, though, like GMs are friends and Bill Zito and Chris Doria are both on that team USA management staff. Like, I don't think he can get completely fleeced here.

Like, it has to be something that makes. sense for the Rangers because Chris Dray's reporting up to his boss James Dolan saying if I don't want to pay Rettamie Panarin, it's because I can get the right assets for him. Well, you got to go bring in those assets. You know, one of the things that I always wonder about. And mainly, Emily, it's because we see these types of deals

in junior hockey in Canada all the time. And it's essentially the two-part deal where the compensation may be underwhelming to get Artemey Paneran, but then in the off-season, there's an equally underwhelming deal that gets made

where that's your payoff. That's where you, that's where you, like, I'm still surprised that we don't see more of those types of deals. Like,

I'm going to help you with your run this year and then you're going to help me in the summer because I'm essentially going to send you, I don't know, like a third round pick

for Anton Lundell or something like that. You know what I mean? Like I'm just shocked that we don't see more of those. Like that future considerations are never actually

future considerations. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, precisely. Maybe the NHL as a wild place it is, maybe just isn't as lawless as junior hockey is my take there. No, it's not underhanded. It's just a team. Listen, Emily, I mean, Brian Burke would always tell me when he started in the industry,

the way that managers judge trades was if the person you did the trade with got fired because of it, it was a good deal. Like there were pirates. There were pirates that ran NHL teams. Now it's just, oh, what do you need? How can I help you? What can I mean? And that's all that this is. Just two teams helping each other.

Just two tiered trades. That's all. That's why Vegas is what they are is I think Kelly McCrimmon bought the junior hockey mentality of management. Pandid Weekings. That's a great point. Seriously. Like the way that they are so cutthroat and do their business out there to always

struck me as like he thinks he's still managing a junior hockey team. But like for the betterment, you know, you need that kind of a vibe. We've had you on now for a while and neither of us have asked you about the Olympics, which is probably like chief on your mind considering you're going to be heading out there in short order. Here's where I am with Team USA, okay? I would be shocked if Canada doesn't play for gold at this point. Unless they're goaltending completely malfunctions,

I think they are the best team in the tournament and it would shock me if they didn't play for gold. I'm not trying to jinx them. This is how I feel. I'm getting a little bit more concerned as we get closer to the tournament that there's going to be a game in which the U.S. is trailing 2-1 in the third period.

Maybe it's Slovakia. Not in pool play. Not in pool play. No, no, no. No way. In tournament play. In tournament play. And there's going to be that stress of not only we're trying to win the first gold for the U.S.

since the miracle, but then on top of that stress, like a parfei, is the stress of we can't embarrass ourselves in front of Canada. We've got to play them again. and I'm worried that there's going to be a game in which they blow it because they're just going to grab their sticks that tightly in the third period. Where are you right now as an American hockey fan on this team? Where I am is that I leave tomorrow and I haven't packed a single thing, sent the boyfriend out to the ride theaters today to put in my first love laundry.

So if anyone knows me, that's where I'm at. Look, I think when they built this roster, Bill Garry knows exactly what he's doing. He loved the vibes of Four Nations. He thought it was such a good team. And he didn't want to mess up that chemistry. And he felt like this is the identity where we can win. I think the biggest issue, it's not looking ahead to Canada. It's that this is a team with versatility, with a bunch of grinders.

They want to play a physical game. We obviously see them prioritizing size with a lot of the players that didn't make the roster. They're smaller players. Hint, hint, wink, wink, this is the style we want to play. But when they needed a big goal at Four Nations, it was hard to find. And they didn't have that guy. And I think that's the one thing as an observer of the game that I wonder about because you've got guys that can be that clutch, right?

Cole Cawfield always comes in the clutch. Jason Robertson scores a lot of goals. Patrick Kane even, like, that could have been an option of, like, he's showtime for a reason. Like, this guy just shows up and has that aura around him. Do they have that guy that's going to step up? And I think a lot of their offense is going to have to come from the defense. It's from the Quinn Hughes of the world, and that's going to be the biggest difference they got from Four Nations. They had the player there.

Like, they're one shot away. But the problem is Kyle Connor was wearing a suit. and Matthew Kachukh could make it through the game because you had to have Matthew Kachuk in the game because of the Bell Center on a Saturday night and all the TV appearances afterwards and everything about everything about that. That's what gives me, honestly, Merrick,

I'm glad you said that because what gives me a little bit of hope as an American is the fact that they play that gold medal game with 10 minutes of Kachuk, with Kreider broken, and without Quinn Hughes. And with a great opportunity by Austin Matthews where he could have sent it home. Yeah, yeah. So we've we've not seen the fully armed and operational battle station that is Team USA quite yet against Canada. And I'll say this, Austin can be that guy. He's always been that guy, right?

Like, he always is propped up to be that guy. He's America's next great goal score. He's the one that possibly could have chased down Gretsky and Ovechka now. I know he's been injured. It hasn't been the greatest start, but he's starting to come to form right now. And he's going to be the captain. And this is a huge, huge tournament for Austin Matthews. If USA wins gold, I can't wait to see the reaction at Scotia Bank Arena for the underperforming Toronto Maple Leafs when Austin Matthews, their Olympic gold medalist captain hits the ice and they do the congratulations video. And I hope it is a warm reaction, Toronto. By the way, the reaction to Toronto, they'll be too busy blaming Mark. for tanking team Canada to consider how good Matthews was for the Americans. Yeah, you just know that he's going to like, you know, turnstile Mitch Marner on route to scoring the gold medal winning goal.

Emily, I know, right? Like, listen, man, write the script. Before I let you go, I do want to ask you about Barry Trots and the National Predators. This one's got that weird sort of like something happened that no one's talking about here. New owner Bill Haslam wants to have at least one hand on the wheel. I understand it. You know, it's the old, as I like to say, the real. you know, the real golden rule is he who has the gold makes the rules,

and it seems like this kind of has that vibe about it. How did you see the Barry Trott situation yesterday? No, I think it was something that was inevitable. I think just how poorly last season went with how many big moves that he made. It was clear that he probably wasn't going to be the guy that was leading this team long term that said he is an icon in the game. He has done so much for the game. And there's a level of respect that you have to give to someone like that.

And he honestly earned the right to walk away on his own terms. So I think the way they did it was a way with a lot of dignity that was proper for Barry Trots. I love the reception that he received yesterday from the fans. I'm really curious here, though, because I don't know if enough is being amade about the fact that, and I heard this actually weeks ago, that they were going to hire CAA as this consultancy group to bring in. And I came from the NFL. Things are done very differently there. I covered the NFL.

I'm a little aware of how things work in the NBA. agents maneuver these kind of deals all of the time. And they're very much placing people. And whereas in the NHL, it's always been a higher friend and there's all of these rules about conflict of interest. And so I'm curious, like, CAA is a global firm here. How differently are they going to think? How much can they get in the owner's ear about voices that we haven't heard before,

what they think is the right direction? And so I think this hire might be one of the most interesting GM hires that we've seen in the league in some time. Or we see someone that we completely expect. So we shall see how this all unfolds. I think it's a little bit too early, but I love the way that they did treat Barry Trots in the end. Love it.

Here's the boyfriend with the dry cleaning. Thank God. Thank goodness. That's what I'm going to take. The CAA stuff to me is fascinating because there are consultants, and you and I both know them, that help out these teams with their searches. And the NHL has also been very active in some cases

to help out owners trying to pick new GMs and new guys to leave their hockey operations. But getting CAA involved, and having them be like in the press releases is a pretty unprecedented thing for an NHL team. And it does make me wonder. Well, first of all, it's obvious they're going outside the organization to probably find somebody if you're hiring CAA to do it. But like one guy that got mentioned to me by a couple people yesterday is Ryan Getslaff,

who's part of the team Canada Brain Trust. He lives in Nashville. Like he's an interesting guy for that gig. But I do wonder ultimately if it's the NHL having more influence in the search than C. CAA, then maybe Gets Laf gets higher on that list than he would with CAA because the NHL would be the one pushing them. I don't know. It's interesting to say. Yeah, no, I honestly, I have no way to handicap it right now. I'm not behind the scenes, but I just think whoever they pick will be really telling.

And we know it's a copycat leak, right? If they come and they bring in an agency and they identify someone that's successful, other teams are surely going to follow. Your dry cleaning has arrived. So I know you have packing to do. I know. Don't have to sweat that one, Emily. Listen, thanks so much. Don't worry. I just saved it all for like the 136-hour stretch where all the NHL trades are going to go down.

So it's going to be a really fun day in our households. Did ESPN give you a new jacket for the Olympics? We did get some nice little fleece zip-ups. Brilliant. That's all I care about. They gave me a jacket for the Beijing thing that didn't work, that didn't happen. And I still use it because it's real good. But I look, I got a jacket out of the deal.

I didn't get to go to Beijing, but I did get a good jacket out of the deal. And you know what? Sometimes that's okay. Emily, enjoy everything that Italy has to offer, including so great hockey. We'll check back soon. Thank you, guys. You're the best. I appreciate you both.