The Sheet with Jeff Marek - Things Are Happening! ft. Brian Burke & Steven Ellis

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

On this episode of The Sheet, host Jeff Marek is joined by Brian Burke for a wide-ranging conversation covering some of the biggest stories around the NHL. The two dive into the details of the newly ratified CBA and what it means for both players and teams moving forward. They also react to the Montreal Canadiens' blockbuster trade for Noah Dobson and discuss the implications of John Tavares re-signing with the Maple Leafs on a team-friendly extension. With the draft approaching, Burke weighs in on the smoke screens being thrown up by teams across the league. Later in the show, Steven Ellis joins Jeff live from Los Angeles to preview the 2025 NHL Draft and highlight the top prospects to watch.#NHL #TheSheet #JeffMarek #BrianBurke #StevenEllis #NHLDraft2025 #NoahDobson #MontrealCanadiens #JohnTavares #TorontoMapleLeafs #CBANews #HockeyTalk #NHLTrades #TeamFriendlyDeal #HockeyRumors #NHLNews #DraftPreview #HockeyAnalysis #DailyFaceoffShout out to our sponsors!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼Ninja Kitchen Canada: https://www.ninjakitchen.ca/products/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system-zidFN101CGY?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=olv&utm_campaign=25Q2-Crispi&utm_content=en👍🏼Budweiser: https://www.budweiser.ca/ca_enReach 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.

This episode of The Sheet is sponsored by the OCS Summer Pre-Roll Sale. Sometimes when you roll your own joint, things can turn out a little differently than what you expected. Maybe it's a little too loose, maybe it's a little too flimsy. There's a million ways to roll a joint wrong, but there's one roll that's always perfect. The Pre-Roll. Shop the Summer Pre-Roll and Infused Pre--roll sale today at ocs.ca and participating retailers. when you see a headline that reminds you of Bob Cole, everything is happening. Thanks so much for that, Zach. But everything is happening right now. In advance of the first round of the NHL draft

in Los Angeles, everything is happening. Noah Dobson has been dealt to the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of first round picks. I don't think for one second that the new general manager with the New York Islanders is Matthew Darsh of course is done by any respect with those picks as he probably looks to move up to grab James Hagens and and make it a twofer for the Islanders points to draft Matthew Schaefer first overall but even before

we get there there's plenty of machinations and plenty of other things that were waiting to happen and then this is gonna be one of those drafts that's gonna feel like after every single pick there's going to be a pause or there's going to be a timeout because teams are talking. And when there's a draft like this, like there's a consensus number one overall pick and that's Matthew Schaeffer.

And Matthew Darsh has already said he's not trading the first overall pick. So we know that Matthew Darsh is gonna get up there and he's gonna announce that the New York Islanders are drafting Matthew Schaeffer. It's the right decision. Enjoy Matthew Schaeffer for the next 10 or 15 years, New York Islanders fans.

But then after that, we get a whole bunch of question marks. Are the San Jose Sharks married to that second overall pick? After that, we get a whole bunch of question marks. Are the San Jose Sharks married to that second overall pick? Or will they move down? Are they willing to trade that pick? Utah, I'm looking your direction. Nashville, I'm looking your direction as well. Or the San Jose Sharks just say, now we're gonna make that pick.

And if they do, is it Michael Mesa, or is it the name of the day, Anton Frondel? Again, I reminded everybody at the beginning of the week, this is one of the weeks of the season, and perhaps the biggest week of the season, where everybody, lie is such a strong word, triesries to disguise the truth. Yesterday with Pierre Maguire I used a World War I saying or was it World War II saying

which is in wartime, this is from Winston Churchill, at wartime the truth is so precious she needs to be tended to by a bodyguard of lies. And I think managers look at that right now. There's the truth and you need to surround it with lies because right now the truth is way too precious. But the truth is the New York Islanders have traded no Adopsin to the Montreal Canadiens. John Tavares has resigned with the Toronto Made Beliefs. It is a four-year contract. The AAV is $ million, four point three eight million dollars. To which I

wonder, and Zach maybe you can help fill in the blanks on this one here for me, when's the last time the Leafs got a break on a contract? Like on the open market, and I'm thinking of like teams like Anaheim specifically specifically Anaheim he probably could have gotten a no short-term deal maybe like a two-year deal 16 million dollars I wonder about Utah with with Tavares I wondered about Anaheim with Tavares this is a break on the contract by John Tavares for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brad Treliving When was the last time they got a break like this? Wendell Clark? How far back do we have to go? Lanny?

Well I was going to give them a break in 2016 when Matthews, Marner, and Nylander were all rookies. Maybe that. Another entry level deal? Yeah. CBA mandated. Well and then Lou didn't want to give them any of their Schedule A bonuses. No way. And then finally had to relent so I wasn't even a break that's very true because I actually forgot about that so never

mind you remember that right they they didn't have a break right no this is a long long long time especially as a may please fan watching where I've been like wow what it like, very good job. Yeah. That up at that term. It feels like a win all the way around. It feels like a win. One thing to keep in mind here, and again, like there's going to be more trades and more

movement here as everyone seems to want to get this done right here. There's something I think we all need to pay attention to here with the San Jose Sharks selecting second overall. Again, we're going to talk to pay attention to here. With the San Jose Sharks selecting second overall, again, we're gonna talk to Steven Ellis coming up, and by the way, Bryan Burke is finally back for Civilian Fridays after a two week hiatus while the show was on the road. One thing you need to keep in mind here,

we always look at how much cap space teams have to spend. San Jose Sharks have $44 million worth of cap space. So if they wanna make a deal and bring in big ticket IE name players, my career is very poised to do so. We'll see which direction this thing heads as we approach seven o'clock Eastern. And don't forget our draft show tonight

goes just after seven o'clock right here at our daily face-off YouTube channel. Meanwhile, Daily Outline powered by FanDuel, make every moment more with North America's number one sports book, and that is FanDuel. Coming up on the program today, he'll be here in a couple of seconds. He is the one and only Brian Burke,

someone who knows a thing or two about pulling off trades, about pulling off trades at the draft. I mean, Matthew Darch, congratulations, moving Noah Dobson, but then what Burke did with Vancouver so many years ago with Henrik and Daniel, that is still the top drawer move. Stephen Ellis will be aboard. He just released his draft rankings this morning.

We'll get to him about him. We'll get to that conversation. We'll talk about Noah Dobson, now the Montreal Canadiens will talk about John Tavares. The CBA, there's a new CBA, and again, like it's topic number five today. Rumors, trades, the NHL draft in Los Angeles, and that's where we're at right now.

Now, bringing aboard our man for civilian Fridays, this segment is a presentation of Budweiser. Budweiser is encouraging buds to make time for hockey, not excuses, every goal, every check, every win is better enjoyed with your buds. Phone a bud, text a bud, ping a bud, and call out their excuses for bailing on hockey. When it's hockey time, it's go time.

And man, is it ever a pleasure to welcome back to the program the one and only on draft day here, day one, the one and only Brian Burke. Burke, I know that you have a significant history when it comes to A, the draft in making picks and also making trades. I always got the sense, Brian, that this was one of your favorite days on the calendar, true or false? True. But you know what? After I did the deal for the twins, it kind of dried up. It was really hard for me to do a deal after that. Kind of wreck the market. Not just for me, for a lot of guys. Why is that?

I think it worked out pretty well for the Vancouver Canucks. It worked out great, but I mean, we've heard managers before have the reputation, don't do a deal with that guy, you're going to have to count your fingers after you shake hands. Did you get that? Like where other managers gun shy about making deals with you at that point? Yeah. I'll never forget. I went to see Doug Ryan's bro and we were trying to trade Bobby Ryan.

We thought we could get Bobby Ryan on a five or six or move down. And obviously we weren't allowed to do that, but I talked to Riceville. So we can get something where we both get something good. And he said to me directly, cool was I've seen your act before at this draft. I'm not talking, you know, walked away. So I was the under the, a couple other gyms told me the same thing. You know, you got, you got people twice. You got the prior deal, 93, you got the twins. That's all.

Those were, uh, those were substantial. You know, you got, you got people twice. You got the prior deal in 93. You got the twins. That's all. Those were, those were substantial ones that, that people still talk about. Today, Matthew Darsh, new general manager for the New York Islanders moves Noah Dobson, first pairing right shot defenseman to the Montreal Canadiens. So now all of a sudden their right side has Hudson and has Dobson as well. I want to park the Montreal conversation, but I want to ask you about Matthew Darsh. Now it's his first go around in the big chair, but he's been part of an elite

level NHL team for a long time and been around Breezebois and Iserman, et cetera. So as much as it might feel like he's new, sure he's in charge and making the final call here, but he's been around it for a long time. Here's my question to you. How many managers right now and how many agents do you think are testing Matthew Darsh? I think everyone wants to test you. When you're a rookie, you get tested.

But I think to me, the key is with Matthew Darsh, I like the fact he has the proper background That's a manly X jerk that knows how to use a slide rule. This is a guy that went and worked for a championship team Put it this time reminds me of my past so I know championships Before that when I work for Pat Quinn you work for a great guy to learn your craft to get better at it You work your patient now to get your shot. So, you get better at it, you work, you're patient. Now you get your shot. So I'm not surprised that that's you, Darsh, got a good chance and has made a huge first deal.

You can't be afraid. Even if you're a rookie, you can't be afraid. You're right about that one too. Like this is a bold first move. Normally when managers get the big chair, their first move is kind of a quiet move, but there's no wading into the kiddie pool here. This is Matthew Darsh diving off the 15 meter diving tower into the deep end.

What do you make of the Dobson deal? Like Montreal sends two first round picks, Emil Heinemann as well, who's poised to set the record here for most teams. Mike Sillinger, Heinemann's coming for your record of 12. But two first round picks and no one thinks that Darsh is done. Everyone thinks that Darsh is going to package these picks, still try to move up, wants to grab James Higgins, bring the local boy home.

How do you evaluate this trade? And we should point out too, that a contract extension comes along with this. Eight years, 9.5 is the AAV for Noah Dobson. Well I don't think this deal makes sense unless he was signed. So this is a nice piece of work. It's a very expensive deal but good players cost good assets. It's not easy to get a player like Noah Dobson signed for eight years after this was this draft. Once the CBA kicks in, you can't even do eight year deals anymore. Yep.

So to me, this is a nice piece of business. I don't think he's done. I don't know Matthew well. I know him well enough to say hi to him. I respect him. I don't think he's done. Why would you be done? Well, and the thing about it that we all wonder, like this doesn't always work, but the vibe out there very much is

that he wants to grab James Hagens, who at this time last year, we're talking about being the first overall draft pick. Now it's going to be Matthew Schaeffer. That story, when it works, it's great. And I want to get to John Tavares here in a couple of seconds. When it works, it's great,

but it doesn't always work out when the local boy goes home. Yeah, like were you ever weary of that, or is it anything that you really wanted to do, or did it just depend on the player? It depends on the player. If you're gonna be a local boy coming home, Ilders are a good place to do it, because you're probably kind of alone.

You're kind of left alone there. It's not Toronto, it's not Vancouver, it's not somewhere where every second guess, every single move you make, they'll critique you badly. So to me, if you're going to bring a homeboy home, New York Island is probably a good place to do it as any. He's a good player. Now, he's dropped in the draft. Everyone say his first overall year ago, he dropped down to five. I don't think there's any doubt he's gonna play and play certainly within a year.

He's a remarkably creative player and he played on a really hot line at Boston college as we all know with Perot and Leonard. And we'll see, like I have a hard time seeing a player like that get past a team like Nashville, who's always wanted a high scoring center and a skilled center. But here's the other complicating factor

and what makes this year's draft so fascinating. I don't know that San Jose is gonna keep the second pick. Now San Jose has got $44 million worth of cap space. They have some needs on the blue line. They have Michael and Sellebrini. They have Will Smith up front. At that point, does someone like Michael Misa become a luxury item?

I mean, I look at this, this might be the one draft where it seems like more teams than not are saying, whether it's Boston, whether it's Buffalo, whether it's Philadelphia Flyers, yeah, our pick is available here. Do you have a thought on this year's drafts just with how many teams are making picks available? And if you're the San Jose Sharks,

do you just keep the pick and take Mesa or do you say, let's see what we can get for it? Well, you have to ask. You have to put the pick out there. You say to yourselves, say to everyone who calls, same answer. I'm keeping my pick unless someone blows my doors off and you wait and see if someone does someone will maybe often the best thing to do more often than not is keep your pick pick the player you like and wait and

see him develop that's the best thing 90% of the time. But there's some guys in the Hall of Fame that did it the other way too. So that's, you know, to me, it's all a function of what the draft is. The reason we were able to do the deal for the Twins was the first round was so weak. It was easy to get people to move their picks. So worst first round in the history of the NHL. So you got to evaluate that, but if you've got good players around you, yeah, pick unless someone blows you away. You know, that's what I'm wondering about Matthew Darsher's swinging it

back to him one more time. Um, if you want Hagens and you've got those two first round picks from the Montreal Canadiens in the Noah Dobson deal, at what point do you know when to pull the trigger? Is it a matter of like, would Darsh be calling every manager before he makes his pick and saying, who are you going to take? And if you're going to take James Hagens, would you be interested in these two picks? Or would everybody on the floor already know, look, Darsh has put those two picks in play. That's hard to do on the floor. You got to do a lot of work before.

Everyone thinks we did the deal on the floor for the twins. We did. We did all the groundwork before that. Same with Chris Breyer in 93. So to me, you've got to do all the groundwork before it and say, if this, if this becomes, this scenario becomes possible, if we would move this pick, what would we be willing to trade for? Let's have a good idea. You're wasting time. Um, this is the week, you and I have talked about this before, where there's,

uh, there's a lot of deception. There's a lot of sleight of hand. There's a lot of mirrors and black curtains. I'm always reminded. And I said it again off the top of the show, the Winston Churchill line about truth at war time is so precious and sacred that it again off the top of the show, the Winston Churchill line about truth at wartime is so precious and sacred that it needs to be attended to and protected by a bodyguard of lies.

That's kind of how I feel about information around this time. Like, is this the one week, like from manager to manager, where everybody tries to cloud up or muddy up what they're really trying to do? Well, I don't think it's a lie. I think you can stretch it a little bit. Yeah, the other great quote is the first casualty of war is truth. Yes. So I think people feel they're entitled to stretch it a little bit.

If you flat out lie to a guy, he'll never forget that. I know what happened to me once. I've never forgiven or forgotten that the GM involved. I'll never do a trade with him again. He's long gone as a GM, but remember he flat out lied to me. I was like, you can stretch it a little bit. You can say we might do this, we might do that. Even if you have no intention of doing it.

You flat out lie to a guy. He's never going to forget that. Okay. So we've lie to a guy, he's never gonna forget that. Okay, so we've got the draft in Los Angeles. I can't believe that as far as topics go, a new CBA, although it hasn't been ratified yet, is down the topic list. I wanna get to one more thing here. John Tavares resigns with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Brad Trelevin getting this deal done. It is a four-year deal. The AAV is $4.38 million. Significantly less than he would have got on the open market. I'm of the belief that Anaheim would have offered somewhere between 7.5 to 8 on a short-term deal, like maybe two years, but nonetheless. Utah as well, I think is a team that we look at that would have been out there for John Tavares

at a bigger price point. What do you read into this one? We're trying to figure out, Zach and I a second ago, Berkey, when the last time the Maple Leafs got a break on a contract like this, John Tavares, four year, I know he's not 25 years old, but still $4.38 million on a salary cap that's going up, up, up.

This is a tidy bit of business by Bradshaw Living. Well, I agree with that. I don't think it's a big break. I don't think he's gonna get seven million for more than two years. And I've never heard that figure. I don't think he would have got seven million for even for two.

The big fight with the older guys, Marshawn found that out with the Bruins Stamco's found it out with with the Tampa Bay the big fight now for 27 and 28 year olds his term So for John Tavares, he had a four-year deal that kind of dope. I think it's just right. I don't think it's a great break I don't think he gave up a lot. I don't think they gave up a lot. I think it makes sense. I'm glad, I like this player a lot. I'm glad for him. He should finish his career here.

I like it, but I don't say, ooh, ooh, what a great deal. What did JT make a deal? But I mean, you gotta look, I think at a certain point as a manager, don't you get away from the actual number and just look at percentage of the cap? Like in a couple of years, this thing's gonna look minuscule. Yeah, we'll see what John Tavares is doing in four, in three years too.

It's not, there's some risk involved with a player of this age. Now when he signed for seven years, I thought he would lose his face over that time. I said this contract will age poorly. I was wrong. John Tavares has earned every cent he earned on that contract. He was paid fairly. He earned every dime they gave him.

So no problem. But I'm not sure it's gonna age gracefully four more years. We'll see. It could be a buyout year that last year. Speaking of buyouts, really quickly, just a quick thought on Mark Edward Vlasic, uh, who, um, went on, uh, waivers for the purposes of, uh, of, uh, of a buyout, unconditional waivers.

I think we tend to forget that, you know, he was on team Canada a couple of different times, uh, was a real good defender for a long time, was part of that San Jose Sharks team. We think of Thornton and Pavelski and Marlowe, et cetera, that were always in contention for winning the conference championship, if not the Stanley Cup. Do you have a quick thought on the career of,

because I really do believe this is the end, for Mark Edward Vlasic? Yeah, it's a sad day. The end comes suddenly for some players, more suddenly than for others Some guys ride off gracefully into the sunset some guys get a buyout in a short bus ticket They had a short bus ride to the airport and that's it and with Mark Edward Vlaska looks like more the latter He's an end sure swiftly and surely but let's not overlook his career. This guy was a really good player. He's a great kid.

I got a chance to talk to him in Sochi one time when he was playing for Team Canada. We were waiting out to go to the leave the Olympic Village and he was standing next to me and I never talked to him before. What a bright kid. What a nice kid. So good luck Mark Edward. What a bright kid, what a nice kid. So good luck, Mark Edward. Piero Lebrun, a minute ago, reporting the Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired Charlie Coyle from the Colorado Avalanche. Listen, Columbus is one of those teams

that was in the running for Noah Dobson. It looks very much like the Columbus Blue Jackets with Don Waddell here. They just moved Danel Tarasoff, the goaltender, to the Florida Panthers as well. It seems like Columbus here, Berkey, is going to continue to be one of those teams that continues to remake the team and they have the feeling very much like they're closer than farther away to a playoff spot in the metropolitan. Well, picking up Charlie Quirrell sure looks like a team that thinks they have plans. It looks to me like he's a good, he's playing second line center.

I think at this point now, feature 3C, you got a real good team. So it looks like they're producing building blocks around their team. I like it. I like Charlie quite a lot He's a good player, but um, I thought that I thought Charlie close and it moved to a contender It was closer to the front of the line and Columbus no offense to Columbus, but we'll see find out now but we'll see, find out now. Did you know socks are one of the most requested clothing items by organizations addressing homelessness? Bombas also makes incredibly comfy underwear and t-shirts, which by no coincidence are also some of the most requested

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because Bombas has a 100% happiness guarantee, which means you're covered for life. Reach out to their happiness team for easy returns, exchanges or replacements. So to feel good and do good, go to bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombas.ca slash the sheet and use the sheet at checkout. What was Don Waddell like to, I mean you both managed at the same time, what was Donnie Waddell like?

He was a much nicer guy than I am. He was a much much gentler guy, much more polite, always polite. Donnie Waddell, everyone liked Donnie, a lot of people didn't like me, but everyone liked Donnie. I liked Donnie. He's a good man. Donnie's a very wealthy man. Yes. Real estate magnate. Yep. Did he make a lot of money with porta potties and real estate? That's how it started. Adrenals?

Yeah. Perfect. We were still playing in Northern Michigan. He played one NHL game, Donnie Waddell. Yeah, he was one of the cup of coffee guys. He was one of the, he was one of the, the cup of coffee guys. He was one of the cup of coffee guys. Yeah, for sure. Um, okay. Let's get to a story that on any other day, most days on most, most weeks, Berkey would be the number one story, even though both sides at their press

conference today, um, announcing the, uh, the MOU, the memorandum of understanding. Uh, even though neither side has ratified it. Berkey, there's a peacetime CBA. You know, this didn't happen in 94. This didn't happen in 2003, like this, uh, 2004, five. This, we're not used to this, you know, the, the last time it was the COVID CBA and both sides just had to keep the game on the ice and there was different motivations, obviously, for that thing to

get done quickly. But I'm stunned. Like, I don't know about you, but I'm stunned that we're still over a year out from the expiration of this CBA. And there's the NHL players association. There's the NHL on stage in Los Angeles, announcing an MOU on a new CBA. I'm stunned. I'm stunned.

Well, I'm not stunned because I think this process started long ago and the notion of being able to avoid a work stop as you get a deal done is phenomenal. It's a testament of the people involved. So Marty Walsh would get a lot of the credit. Ron Haines, he deserves a lot of the credit for a mate. I think he speaks for the players with measured voice. He's a very realistic guy, very rational guy. I think he had a lot to do with this. Gary Bevin, Bill Daley, congratulations. It's a smart deal. I don't know all those, a few things I have to find out about, a few things I don't like about it, but in general, it's a peacetime deal that furthers the cooperation and coordination of the league and the players association,

continued growth. It's a win-win. That's great. I think it's Gary Babbman's. I think this will be the final piece he wants to do before he sells off into the rise at some point, hopefully not too soon. Yeah. You know what?

That's a good point too. I've wondered if, um, if through, cause right now, like he's the position in his career where he's writing his legacy. And I think that Gary Bettman, the commissioner wanted to show that he could do a CBA clean, you know, without a hammer, without a lockout as we, as we've seen before. And he's done that. Um, I still wonder if he wants, if he wants to be responsible for one more round of expansion. without a lockout as we've seen before and he's done that. I still wonder if he wants to be responsible for one more round of expansion before he hands the keys over to Bill Daley, the deputy commissioner, but we'll see.

A couple of things in this deal I'm curious about and curious about your thoughts on. 84 games. Now it's a reduction in preseason games to four, but it looks like we're playing 84 games, Berkey. Man. I think this is my one beef and it's a very significant beef. I have said from the get-go, we've played too many games already. Adding games makes no sense. And it's bullshit to say, Oh, there were taken two preseason games out,

replacing them with real games. Don't tell me the word tears the same out of preseason game. True. Don't tell me this isn't just another chance to put some more money in the players pockets without thinking about the consequences. We should be going backwards. Your games played, not forward. We should go to 76 games played. There's a way to do it. We'll talk about it another time, but that's my big beef. I also don't know where they stand on the revenue sharing and the floor and the ceiling. I didn't see anything about that yet. Well, the, the interesting thing about this, the ceiling is, and I wonder, like,

I'm just trying to imagine, think of like the, the, the Gary Bettman motivation here. Um, so a couple of months ago, the NHL, the NHL, the NHL, the NHL, the NHL, I'm just trying to imagine, think of the Gary Bettman motivation here. So a couple of months ago, the NHL put out the salary cap numbers, the ceiling, right? So they put out 95, 104, and 113. Just to give the players a look at how much the salary cap is going to grow.

I don't think that Gary Bettman and Bill Daley do anything frivolously. I think everything they do is calculated and there's a reason why they do it. And I can't help with thinking these numbers were put out as a demonstration to the players about how much money was out there as a subtle reminder that we'd like to do this CBA

and get it over with quickly. And we don't want big fights over players looking for a piece of expansion, players looking for other pieces by looking for new places to fight. I wonder if this was done deliberately to show the players, look, this is the money that's out there.

Don't make us do anything we don't want to do. Agree or disagree? Agree. A hundred percent. And Gary doesn't do anything haphazardly or without great thought. He's a very thoughtful guy. I like the way the league is moving. I wonder what the ticket prices are going to look like with this model though.

It's fine to say here's the salary cap goes up. I know one thing, ticket prices are reaching a peak at some marketplaces already. This just says they're gonna charge more, people are gonna pay more to go to games. That bothers me. Also, I do think expansion is built in. I'm hearing $2 billion for expansion during Atlanta and Houston. And I'm opposed to expansion, as you know, at any price. I think it's a mistake. We're going to end up with 40 teams or 36 teams. That's crazy.

I have a Stanley Cup parade every 36 years. Crazy, nuts, dumb. What's your issue with revenue sharing? If they're going to maintain the same thing. Right now, the lesser revenue teams are subsidized significantly by the higher revenue teams. There's no change to that formula. My guess is there's no change to that industry gross fund. There's some mechanisms built in there to help grow the game. I wanna see if those are maintained.

My guess is they are. I think they're wanting to do more for the middle revenue teams as well. Some of the, well, we'll see when we get all the details of this thing. Here's the one thing that I wonder about. Should winning the Stanley Cup take you out of the revenue pool, revenue sharing pool,

at least for one year, or winning two Stanley Cups? My view is no, because one, you shouldn't be penalized ever for doing a great job. What they've done in Florida is a great job, they shouldn't be penalized for that. I think for what bothers me more is, you know, it's a draft lottery. Too many teams involved. It's ridiculous that the Islanders are picking first. That's insane to me. There should be five teams in the lottery, no more than five teams.

They pick an inverse order. If they pick two years in a row where they miss their lottery teams, they drop out of the lottery. No more in multiple trips to the buffet line. I don't think the top five picks in the NHL draft have changed much in the last five years. It's gotta stop. Okay, a couple of quickies here for you. I'm really curious to see what Utah does. Now Utah's already made the one big move

bringing in JJ Pratserka from the Buffalo Sabres. Michael Kesselring, Josh Doan go the other way. Kevin Adams is kind of getting booted around for this one. And Bill Armstrong is getting the flowers on it. I wonder what else they do. Like I wonder there's a right side hole right now on the blue line. I wonder about Aaron Ekblad. I also wonder about Vladislav Gavrkoff, two big right shot free agent defenseman. I think Utah is poised to do big things here in the off season if they can.

Do you have a team that you have your eyes on here? And listen, maybe it's that team that has $44 million of cap space to play with right now and that's the San Jose Sharks. Well, San Jose, I think Mike Brear can improve his team a lot. The problem is there's not enough players. All the people are there to sign this guy. They're gonna sign Martin, they're gonna sign this guy, they're gonna sign that guy.

There's not enough players, spots to go around. Maybe not enough cap room to go around. So people are saying we're gonna improve our team. We got 44 million. and room, we're going to get this player, that player. I think there's a limited number of quality players to go around. I don't think people are going to see as much activity as they thought. You'll see more trades in hockey deals than free agent deals. Let me ask you about Mitch Marner. He's going to market. I mean, even Brad for Living is saying unless there's something that significantly changes, he's going to test. Vegas seems to be the biggest magnet for him. There's a that significantly changes. He's going to, he's going to test. Um, Vegas seems to be the biggest magnet forum. Uh, there's a lot of talk about the Carolina hurricanes, a lot of talk about the Dallas stars.

That would mean some, some cap maneuvering there for Jim Nell. Um, do you have a thought as this Marner process continues to play itself out here? Maybe, maybe the one thing that we do know is it's not going to be over on July 1st, that this is going to be one of those situations that's going to take itself out here. Maybe, maybe the one thing that we do know is it's not going to be over on July 1st. That this is going to be one of those situations that's going to take a few days. Well, that's what the agent said.

And I think he's serious. None of you believes that. But think at the right offer, the right situation, they're going to go. And I think that Vegas is a real possibility. I hear Adelheim is making a real hard push. So we'll see. I don't see how Dallas can do this. I don't see how Florida can do this. Yeah. So to me, um, I think that's what they're looking at as a model.

I'm not sure that works, but I think that's where I keep her in those two teams. Do you think Florida, and again, like teams will always change. We, we know that, but do you think Florida by and large can keep the band together here and take one more run at it? I don't see how they can keep their team together. I, they, they, they lost significant pieces a year ago. It's amazing that Montour gone and look at the list of players that left, Stolar is gone. Everyone said, well, they're going to be real hard to repeat with the players they lost. They're going to lose

more pieces. I'm not so sure. It looks like there's a whole bunch of teams, Dallas, Toronto, all the same teams that can't get over that hump and win that cup. And so to me, they're all trying to catch on, catch on to Florida. I'm not sure if Florida can keep the group together for another try. Uh, the McDavid question still burns.

The McDavid question is still out there. The press conference that he gave, I think, just raised more questions and then provided answers. And we were talking the other day here on the show and coming to the conclusion that it seems like Conor McDavid is looking for a reason to stay. That's what he wants to do. And now it's up to Stan Bowman to show him why he should stay in Edmonton.

Where is Brian Burke out of the Conor McDavid situation? I don't know, Conor. Bowman to show him why he should stay in Edmonton. Where is Brian Burke out at the Connor McDavid situation? I don't know, Connor. He said, I had me a couple of times. I really like him. Obviously as a player and as a person from what I've seen, I think he wants to stay. I think that's a sincere reaction. He's trying to find a reason to give Sam Bowman a reason to stay.

I don't think he's going to do a seven or eight year deal though, in the new system. I believe he's going to do a mid range deal, four or five year deal and see what happens. You think we see more and more, more players doing that? Like I know in the, in the new CBA, it's going to come down a year. The max it can sign, uh, is, is, uh, is, is seven years, but you think we start to see more guys and it's almost like a basketball style, two years here, two years here and just keep ringing the bell the whole way. What does Jack Hughes make now? What does Kel McCarr make now? These guys that grab eight years,

they're all woefully underpaid after two or three years. If you read what Gary says, the caps will go up. Anyone who doesn't shut me down your deal is a fool. It's going to go up to 113 in a couple of years. Why would you lock in now? Remember when all those guys signed $6 million deals? Like it was like Johnny Gaudreau did and Nathan McKinnon did and we all said, wow, this is a lot of money.

And then five minutes later, they're all underpaid. Like all of them, it took like one year, Brian. I think you're bang on, like why would you do a, listen, unless you're like a lower end player that just wants the security. But if you're a high end guy, why lock in on term? If you're a low end player, you're not getting seven years anyway.

And if you are, if you're a frequently injured player, I get security if you're a guy that has been banged up or has some injury concerns. I understand taking the security. Otherwise do a three year deal, save as much money as you can, and then get back to the table. Let me close on the Atrami belief question really quickly.

If you're Brad True Living, what are you doing with Matthew Nyes right now? It seems as if the two sides aren't exactly close now. Matthew Nyes is a restricted free agent, but even Brad Trilliving himself, and it's rare to see a general manager bring this up unprompted, mentioned offer sheets yesterday. I don't think he's getting offer sheeted. I think he's just keeping up cap room to make sure he can match an offer sheet.

He doesn't profile as the players should be offer sheeted. I think he'll get a deal done and stay right where he is. All right. Berkey, this is great. Enjoy the draft and what might even seem like trade deadline as well tonight. Thanks for the insight. As always, look forward to catching up next week. Thanks Jeff.

Thanks for having me on. There he is, the great Brian Burke, no stranger to this day, draft day, well round one anyway, rounds two through seven go tomorrow. And speaking of the draft, let's get to Los Angeles right now. And our lead draft analyst is the one and only Stephen Ellis, whose final mock is out there right now at dailyfaceoff.com. And Stephen, before he came on, we were talking about the San Jose Shracks. Like we're just going to bracket the Islanders here for a second, even though Matthew Darsh is going to come out the star of the day.

He's already made the one move with Dobson, probably make more moves later on leading into the first round here. But there's a lot of talk about San Jose, either who will they take or will they trade the pick? Teams like maybe Utah and Nashville, looking at Michael Misa, trying to move up. What's the buzz now? What's the scuttlebutt in Los Angeles?

Given how this has gone in so many different directions, like I wouldn't be surprised if what happens is they go up to the, to announce their pick, they wait too long and they have their pick taken away from them for mis- I don't know what to believe. Like the people that were telling me yesterday it was gonna be

Rundell or same Mesa now they're saying well, maybe the tree like it's Do the San Jose sharks know at this point like I'm not sure so it's it's trying to kind of weed through what's real What's not and I think there's kind of a good equal number of people that are saying one way or the other at this point I good luck San Jose. I have no idea what you're gonna do. All things being equal. Because we always talk about all the trades and all the movement going in and then teams just go in there and they make their picks. And we say the same thing every year.

It feels different this year. It feels different this year. But let's just say the San Jose Sharks go up there at number two and make their pick. Misa or Frontal? Do you have a thought on either? I think Frondale gets past Chicago. Like if San Jose takes Mesa, I think Frondale is taking it. Chicago is going to Frondale. But who do you think the San Jose Sharks take at two? Who I think they could take? I put I put Frondale on my mock draft year today and I feel a

lot less confident about that at 5am local time here than I, yeah, I feel a lot less confident now than I did at 5am local time. It's 1230 here. So, we'll see. I think for me that pick has always should have been Michael Misa. I think regardless, you're always going to take the best player available. And when you're looking at that high of the draft, I get the idea for drafting for specific needs or specific situations,

but those specific needs could change on July 1st. So for me, go out there and pick the best player available. That is always the right choice. And I think when you look at Michael Misa, just based off the pure skill, the offensive ability, what he could do about fans of the ice, like there's a thing that like players need to be applauded for being in the right spot at the right time. And that's Michael Misa.ed for being in the right spot at the right time and that's Michael Misa

He's always in the right spot at the right time and you see him being able to put that production up And I remember watching him like in his OHL draft year and he looks more like a two-way player He's become more offensively dominant since then but he still has that two-way nature in him And if I had to pick any player in this draft that I think could go out there and score the biggest goal to win the Stanley Cup, if I needed it right now, it's Michael Misa. Give us your thoughts, what you've seen, what you hear, what you know about Anton Frondel. You know, you hear the Barkov situator, the Barkov comparisons, and like, I don't think that's completely a hundred percent. They're definitely not at the same skating level. But what you see is a guy that's still got the hockey sense.

He's got that big body, the most difficult player to play against this draft. So if he goes number two, like I do see the appeal. It's just, I don't know if that's what I would do personally, but I'm not an NHL GM. So there's that. Brady Martin's been making waves the last month or so. Now he's not there, he's at the farm because he's a farm boy and he has chores and obligations and things he needs to do at the farm, which I would imagine, Stephen, general managers would love.

Didn't go to his draft because he had work to do on the farm. That is, I can see the smile on your face from ear to ear, that is a manager's dream. Puts aside personal glory because he's got work to do on the family farm. You ever thought on Brady Martin here? Well I think you've, you know my opinions on how much I love him as a player and how much you love him as a player and my wife's family, they're there on the farm. So I understand it's very difficult to just kind of walk away from that and everything. But I the fact that he's that hardworking nature you see on the ice is a big product

of off the ice. And this guy where you talk to scouts like last summer, even like recently, they say like, this is, it wasn't always clear if hockey was gonna be the future for him and whether or not like, we talked about hockey or the farm. Like the farm was a high option for him. And I still think could be down the line, but I think imagine if he put a bit of extra work

on making sure he'd be a better skater, like that all of a sudden, this guy's dominant. And that's the thing. Like the things in his game that he's missing right now, as soon as he gets in that with the NHL coaches and his full focus is trying to be the best hockey player possible, I think he's going to become one of the most dominant players we see in this draft. So I'm high on him. Don't think he's going to Utah at number four. Will he be gone by six? I think so. I want to hear my favorite Brady Martin story. Let's hear it. Don't think he's going to Utah number four. Will he be gone by six? I think so.

I want to hear my favorite Brady Martin story. Let's hear it. So he gets drafted by the two St. Marie Greyhounds and he's, uh, he's going to his, to his first year, uh, with Kyle Raphdus, his team, and he's got his bill. He's trying to sort out his billeting situation, which family he's going to live with and what he wanted to do he was trying to find a billet family that could accommodate a cow Because he wanted to bring his cow from the farm to Susie Marie because he wanted the milk from his cow every morning

Brady Martin couldn't find couldn't find a billet family Can you imagine being a billet family and like getting getting like the note from Cal Rafters to GM of the Susie Marie Greyhounds? Can you accommodate a cow we have this new kid coming in from Almyra? And he look he's looking for a place to house his cow. Do you have you have appropriate lodgings for a cow? That's Brady Martin. I feel pretty I Would have loved to see him go to like missus saga That's Brady Martin. It's my favorite Brady Martin story. That's the thing I would have loved to see him go to like

Mississauga. Where do you put this thing? Poor James Richmond. How am I going to get a freaking, will any billets have a place to put a cow? Do anyone have a backyard? Anything, anything. Yeah, anyone in Mississauga,

yeah, we barely have backyards. So one other name that, well first of all, Caleb Dainoyer's name continues to pop up. Like at the Memorial Cup, Barry Trotz, GM of the Nashville Predators was all over Moncton. But the Chicago Blackhawks have had seven different meetings with Caleb Dainoyer. Quick thought on him, and then I wanna talk about

Jake O'Brien of the, of the Bulldogs too. Start with, uh, with Dana YA. What, uh, what can you tell us? Well, you look at him and you see the numbers like over 80 points and all that, the production and you say, okay, that's pretty good. But you compare it to a guy like Jake O'Brien or Porter Martone, who could be available at number four. And you're looking like, okay, well like what's the deal here.

And I think there's a couple things that are intriguing. He's very physically strong. He's someone that you ask any teammates, any coach he's ever been a part of, they will always tell you like, this is one of the best kids you're going to find on a personality level, but also leadership. You'll look at all that winning he's done at all these different tournaments. And then he put up 80 something points despite playing through multiple injuries throughout the year, like he moved from center to the wing.

So he didn't have to take as many faceoffs and he still was extremely productive. And yeah, he was not great at the Memorial Cup, but from an overall standpoint, you look at it and say like, imagine if he was fully healthy, like 90 something points. So it feels like he's underrated just like James Higgins. Okay, give us a's underrated just like James Higgins. Uh, okay. Give us a nickel and diamond on, on James Higgins, because we're, I think we're all wondering now, okay, at what point is Matthew Darsh going to call one of these teams and say, look, I got two first round picks from the Montreal Canadians. Do you want them in exchange for your pick?

So we can take Higgins. It's like, it's basically, it's going to happen. Just announce it, man. Just pick a team. I don't care. Make it happen. And it's interesting though, because it's like with Hagans, I saw one tweet, I can't remember who tweeted yesterday. And it's like, if you watched him for the first time this year, never seen what he did in the last couple of years, you'd say like, yeah, he's a good prospect, not a number one prospect. And it feels like he didn't dominate by any means this year, but the hockey sense is still there. And he can do some great stuff. He's so skilled. He's one of the best players with the puck on a stick. And

you watch what he did with NTDP. He put up a ton of great numbers, but he wasn't just playing with star talents. It's not like he had Will Smith and Ryan Leonard and those guys have played with, like he's playing with one of my all time favorite prospects, Teddy Stiga, but Teddy Stiga is not a huge point producer. So the numbers he's putting up was incredible. And I think the fact he'll be able to play with anyone, play so many different roles. I'm not too worried about his lack of a big frame.

It's Logan Cooley, Jack Hughes right there. You know, the interesting thing about Hagens too, playing on that line at Boston College with Perot and Leonard, one of the things that someone that was there who's like watches all the games told me, we think that Hagens is getting kind of a short shrift on this one because, you know, Ryan Leonard like needs the puck and gets the puck and he goes to the net. There's not a whole lot of, you know, flow back and forth. Once, once Ryan Leonard gets a puck, he's not one of these guys where if you give him the puck,

he just might as well go off on a line change. It's not that bad, but you give Leonard the puck. He goes to the net. Like that's his puck. He said, if it were a different kind of winger along with Gabe Perot, you might see a different James Higgins. Do you believe that? Yeah. He didn't have to dominate by any means. And I feel like a lot of his defensive impact

was maybe ignored by a lot of people, I think, this year. Watching him at the World Juniors, he clearly wasn't the offensive dynamo of the three, but he was doing a great job making sure he was the first forward back. And it didn't seem like bigger players really intimidated him too much. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see what he does do next year at BC with those two guys gone. We'll maybe get to see him with Teddy Stiga again. I'm excited to see that and which is partly why I want to Nashville to maybe take a run at Higgins.

We'll see what happens there. But it feels like we could just write him down on the years. One more name and then I'm going to make you smile. Watch this everybody. First, Jake O'Brien. Listen, he's going to play on one of the best lines next year in junior hockey with Merrick Vaneker and Caleb Malhotra. Played last year with Nick Lardis. That's not too shabby either. Your thoughts on someone who still needs to fill out, has room to grow, has a body that's going to accommodate a lot more muscle, and if someone's going to be a top 10,

do we say top five if you squint hard enough pick? I could feel confident about him at number five for Nashville. They need a center. I feel like he's got a decent frame, but he's got to fill out, like you said. And Nick Lardis owes him a future paycheck for how many great passes he would see from him this year. 71 goals for Lardis. Good on Chicago too, but still. O'Brien made so much that happen

and watching O'Brien do what he was doing. Like the puck is glued to his stick. I love that. Yep. Absolutely. Okay. I'm going to make you smile now. Tell us everything we need to know about Jack Ivan Kovac. Your favorite netminder in the draft. You're correct. Yes. Yeah, my favorite goaltender because it's

watch him in a one on one situations he rarely loses and he can handle those breakaways. And I did a poll of OHL players, like who was the toughest goaler to play against in the league? Doesn't matter what draft situation there is in almost every single one of them, Matthew Schaefer included said Jack Ivovich. And it's a guy who's just he's small, five or 11. His dad's six foot five. You kind of hope he'll be six foot five. Yeah. But he didn't grow at all this year. So that doesn't really help. Yeah. That's not a confidence inspiring. Um, but you watch

him at all these international tournaments, purely dominant, just great glove hand, very athletic reminds me a lot of Dustin Wolf at the same age. And Dustin Wolf, I had him as a first round prospect in 2019. So I don't have Jack have a COVID because a first round prospect because I still don't feel hard to be fully all in on goalie, small goalie prospects, but he is easily one of my favorite goalie prospects. Off to Michigan next season from the Brampton Steelheads. Listen, enjoy the night. We'll be checking in on the draft show with me and Pierre Maguire after seven o'clock Eastern. Look forward to it and I look forward to that program

and looking to look forward to chatting with you again later on this evening after We get a clearer sense of who's doing what and who's going where? Thanks for lifting the fog a little bit with us today much appreciated pal Let's just move on to 26. I got my 26 draft rankings beside me my 20. Okay, so who's numbered? So we're okay. We know that Gavin McKenna is gonna be number one. What do you have Ethan Belchets of the Windsor Spitfires? Where do you have him? I got him at number six right now. I He's And I don't know if it's higher or lower than other people but I've never seen a dude physically dominate all

Walks in as a rookie and he's like six five two thirty and guys are bouncing off of him Belches is a phenom and you I'm guessing you probably watched him, you watched him before the OHL because he's played Oakville. Oakville Rangers, I believe. Yeah. Did you get a chance to watch, you probably watched him then before he joined Windsor, right? Watched him a lot. I remember watching him. I think he had a, was it a hat trick against Berry in the, like with the Berry junior Colts or like that star team everyone was trying to be in. He kind of just took Oakville like on his shoulders and said, watch this dominated that game.

Okay. All right. We'll get to 2026. We'll get there, Steve and just calm down. Let's get through tonight and the rest of the weekend. Okay. You be well pal. Thanks for checking in. Thanks so much. From Los Angeles, Steven Ellis, his mock draft available right now at daily faceoff.com. Is there, Zach, anything that's happened

in the last half hour other than the Columbus Charlie coil deal that I need to comment on here? Not that I have seen, not that I have seen lots of people talking to people, but nothing that has happened here. Or looks like Islanders are still active, but that's what we're getting.

So. This is a draft where you want the old school draft of everybody on the floor. Because there is so much movement with so many teams willing to move picks. And so many teams thinking that they have a shot next year and willing to acquire and move players to get there. This is a draft where you want everybody on the floor and walking around talking to each

other. That's what you want. But yes, and this is one where we have the coverage where we've got us sitting here and Stephen Ellis live on site telling us okay it looks like we now have Matthew Darsh he's walked up over to oh my god is he walking over to the Nashville table he is and now he's walking over and him and Barry Trouts are holding hands walking to Central Registry oh my god what's back to you yeah no I could have what could have been?

What could have been? Anything standard before we get to the conclusion here of the show and remind you, draft coverage tonight for us here on our daily faceoff YouTube channel with me and Pierre McGuire and a list of guests like coaches, managers, friends and family of the prospects you're going to hear call tonight. That gets underway at 7 o'clock eastern. I know you and your team, Zach, have been working around the clock and I got a chance to look at some of the graphics and things that you have put together and I don't know where you find the time but nonetheless, bless you, well done.

Anything from the program today that stands out for you, whether it's Dobson Islanders Schaefer who's picking where JT extension coil trade all of it what jumps to you? Well, I touched on the JT extension with you off the top I think the one thing for today is just the uncertainty and like it's great We'll see how the draft goes and it's good for us Obviously, especially when I'm sitting here like trying to put all this stuff together and be as prepared as possible for chaos to happen. Yeah. Just to prepare for chaos and be like wow at least people are saying that something

could happen. We'll see if that plays out but I don't know I said to you off the top very actually before we started the show and I don't know maybe it's just because this is the most I've been involved in coverage of the draft and it's fun league to this extent but like I don't know maybe it's just because this is the most I've been involved in coverage of the draft and it's fun league To this extent but like I don't remember a draft going into where it's felt this Uncertain like we come on here and we're there's a there's a conversation about who could go second But then it's it's beyond who goes second. It's who picks second? Does San Jose even wanna keep that pick? Okay, now San Jose moves.

Who goes there? And then what happens with the ones after them? Because you talked about it. Let's say Misa doesn't go second. Is someone really horny to get into the third pick now and they wanna jump up there and they really want Misa? Where they didn't think they could get him at too. It's like, that's what this draft feels like where I feel

like that hasn't necessarily been the case to this extent in his past the only thing I'm just trying to think back of all the drafts that I've covered professionally the Montreal draft man that was a weird one because there was the Shane Wright, Yuraj Slavkovski issue. Like question mark, like who's gonna go first overall to the Montreal Canadiens. And then Shane Wright just started slipping and fell to the Seattle Kraken.

And do you remember what else happened that year on the first round? No. What else is that year? The makeout in the stands? Something major. Something major happened that year that threw a wrench into all of it. All the proceedings.

And carried on into the following morning I I don't remember no what what was that one the Rogers system went down no one could use their phones oh yeah I couldn't touch of my wife until the next morning I'm like I remember going to bed that night I'm like did like an apocalypse just happen? Like is this like 28 days later? I can't communicate with anybody, I can't get in touch with anybody, and everybody was the same way. And then there were those trades from Ottawa, right? Talbot, Alex the Brinket, and then I don't know what else happened later on that may have gotten scuttled or pushed, but the whole system fried or went down, whatever the technical

term is for it. We're like, no one can talk to each other. I'm like, what are the biggest communication days that you need on the NHL calendar? No one can talk to each other in the rink. We're outside the rink. What a convenient time Oops, I forgot that that happened. Yeah, that was wild. That's funny. Yeah, that's crazy. All right, let's uh Let's hope that doesn't happen tonight, too Let's hope that I know I don't don't want to jinx what we got going on here either Okay, the sheet is powered by FanDuel.

Oh man, crossed your fingers. Home of the same game, Parlay. Make every moment more on FanDuel. FanDuel, proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Yesterday was juicy from our friends at FanDuel. We got anything, what do we got lined up today? So they've added a ton of stuff here today

and there's a lot of different directions that we could have gone. Like you can bet on what players will be drafted in the first round, who's gonna go in the top 10, top five, et cetera. You can pick all that, you can pick the exact orders. So FanDuel's done a pretty great job of putting up a lot of stuff for people.

But based on, let's call it the noise of the day here Jeff. I've picked this specific market just because I think that like if somebody decides to get nuts this is where it starts. Who goes second overall? And right now Michael Misa is minus 440 the reason i just picked this out is because minus 440 like that implies there's a uh a strong possibility likelihood let's say that michael missa goes second overall and i don't necessarily think it's minus 440 worthy Put it this way, if I think if Nashville or Utah trade with San Jose for that second pick, then it's Michael Mesa. If San Jose makes the pick, I think there's a chance that it's Anton Frondel. Right. But to say like right now, like again, like this is gonna be one,

again, this is gonna be one of these drafts where it's gonna be like after, I think, like after every pick, there's gonna be like, all right, time out. There's gonna be so many time out, this draft may take like five hours. Don't say that. Oh, you know what?

That's a really good one too. If there's a trade up to number two, it's for someone to grab Michael Miesel. I can see Nashville doing it. I really can. And don't forget, Barry Trotz and my career have a background in making trades and making big trades together. These are two general managers that are very comfortable making deals together. Even going back to the Nashville draft, Nashville know, Nashville tried to move up to grab

Will Smith in the San Jose spot. Ultimately they couldn't. Yaroslav Iskarov was going to be part of that deal. They ended up making a deal for Iskarov later, but still, like those are two GMs that when one manager wants something from the other, these two guys find a way. So if Nashville really does want to move up to number two and San Jose is interested in gathering assets and again I'll point this out maybe a big contract and we all know that the Nashville Predators have a lot of big contracts on their hands. If they want to do that,

San Jose can't accommodate. That's why if there's one team that I can see jumping up to grab that pick and make a big deal, make the first splash after Schaeffer goes to the New York Islanders, I wonder if it's the Nashville Predators. Because those two managers find ways to make deals and seems if I've always had an open line to dialogue. By the way the other thing is we're talking about Mark Gavrilovic. Yeah. You know what's gotta suck? No, what if what's gonna suck? It's his teammate buying him out Yeah It's like how you said you gotta get Matt Martin to make the trade call this is yeah I know I sort of thinking about Casey's on the move just like ruthless stuff

Mike we're buying out his teammate Matt Martin's got it That's good, that's all this see cuz he's getting traded. Oh man Could be real to any of these things have happened yet, but we'll see how it goes So we'll stay tuned for all that tonight Thanks for joining us on the program today. Thanks to Brian Burke for stopping by it's been a couple of weeks without Berkey He came back with the Vengeance and was excellent as usual. Thanks to Steve Van Ellis for stopping by from Los Angeles and giving us a little time and temp and a little preview. Some of the names you're gonna be hearing and seeing later on tonight.

Speaking of tonight, Pierre Maguire and I will start our broadcast here on our daily Face Off YouTube channel at 7 o'clock Eastern. Really hope you can join us. It's kind of it's of going to be like a casual watch along more than anything else. Like we're not going to try to replicate what Roger's ESPN does. It's going to be more casual, more conversational, less formatted, this segment to that segment

to that segment, and it's going to be more drop-ins. Have a lot of coaches lined up, have a lot of general managers lined up, have a lot of other people lined up to drop in to sort of color in these players that are going to be selected here in the first round. Also should mention the CHL is looking to break a record. I think is it 22 or 23 the CHL's record for most players in the first round.

That would have been the 2012 draft, the Nathan McKinnon draft, and the CHL is poised to come close, equal, or maybe even break that record tonight. We'll keep that going. See where that one ends up. Anyhow, thanks to Berkey, thanks to Alice, thanks to you in the chat, thanks to everyone that tuned in today on a very, very newsy day. Really glad to have your attention today. Thanks so much for sharing your time with us today, whether it's on YouTube,

whether it's on your favorite podcast platform, and Podcatcher, thank you so much. And enjoy the draft tonight. Hope you can hang out with us. If you have ESPN up on one or Rogers up on one, pop us up on another screen. Me and Pierre will do our best to keep you entertained for the entire night.

And Dan McKenzie, by the way, the president of the CHL, will stop by at the end of all of it. How's that? Deal? Thanks for joining us. We'll be back in three hours. Conduct yourselves appropriately. We'll talk to you in three hours. Pack yourselves appropriately. We'll talk to you in three minutes.

Bye. I went to the dark man, he tried to give me a little medicine I'm like, nah man, that's fine I'm not against those methods, but I knew It's me, myself and how this gon' be fixing my mind I feel on the record I turned down the music I do wanna break it I turn down the music

It's enough, they're better than just sometimes losing Helping on the days that went wrong