The Sheet with Jeff Marek - What's Next for McDavid? ft. Jackie Redmond

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

On this episode of The Sheet, Jeff Marek is joined by Jackie Redmond to break down all the latest storylines around the NHL. The duo dives into the Edmonton Oilers’ locker cleanout interviews following their Stanley Cup Final loss, and what the players had to say about the road ahead. They also focus in on the surprising Connor McDavid comments... Plus, where does Mitch Marner stand ahead of July 1...#TheSheet #JeffMarek #JackieRedmond #NHL #EdmontonOilers #Oilers #LockerCleanout #MattDuchene #RyanDonato #DallasStars #NHLFreeAgency #HockeyRumors #MitchMarner #MapleLeafs #LeafsForever #NHLOffseason #HockeyTalk #DailyFaceoff #StanleyCupShout 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.

Hockey fans, get ready for an in-depth look at the future of the game. The Sheet Draft Special is live on the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel Friday, June 27th at 7 o'clock Eastern, hosted by me, Jeff Merrick, alongside my co-host Pierre Maguire and a slew of live guests. We're bringing you real-time coverage of the 2025 draft, diving into every pick as it happens, from top prospects to surprise steals, team strategies to player potential. We're breaking down the entire night with expert analysis and insider insights. Don't miss the Sheet Draft Special, live June 27th at 7pm Eastern on the Daily Face

Off YouTube channel. Subscribe now so you don't miss a moment. Brought to you by The Nation Network. Well that was interesting. You know what I'm talking about. In Sport Talk Radio, what we're about to play is what we like to refer to as, when it comes to hockey media. Well, just to be blunt, this is a protein shake. Have a look. know, all along. The work that's gone on behind the scenes, the conversations, the

endless, you know, disappointments and, you know, some good times along the way obviously as well. Yeah, we're all in this together trying to get it over that finish line. With that being said, ultimately still need to do what's best for me and my family and that's who you have to take care of first, but of course there's unfinished business here. Winning would be at the top of the list and then winning would be the... It's the most important thing. If I feel that there's a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem. You know, yeah, again, it's only been a couple of days.

You know, I'm sure we'll get into it over the course of the next couple of weeks. But again, I'm not in a rush to make any decision, so I don't think that there needs to be any timeline. You know, I know people are going to look at that July one day and and be looking to see if there's anything done. But for me there's no... I'm just not in a rush that way. No need to panic here everybody calm down everything's okay Zach everything's fine no problems here okay everyone's gonna focus on two things

look at that little Cheshire cat look at you little grinning cat okay so everyone's gonna focus on a couple of things. One, I can see the headline tomorrow in the Edmonton paper. With that being said, it's going, might just be the headline. The other one, and I'm curious, I'm really curious how Oilers fans feel about this one. If I feel there's a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem. Now you can read that... Well, I mean, the most obvious way you can read that is get a goalie.

If they get a goalie, I'm re-signing. If not, I've got one more year left on term here. Everyone's gonna take this and run. But... All season long, I think we've been pretty consistent on this show at least about The McDavid situation and that is don't draw a straight line Between Leon Dreisle signing and Connor McDavid signing or his wife opening restaurants or or what? Do not draw straight lines between these things. And it is not 100% that he re-signs with the Edmundson Oilers.

It's not. You heard him, right? This is not, there aren't just people in the media making up stories. You just heard from Conor McDavid. It would have been very easy to say, as we heard from Evan Bouchard and Corey Perry today, I love it here this is where I want to be. I want to stay, I want to come back, I this this this. You know it could have been handled and it's not as if like

this is a microphone right in someone's face after a game. This is with a couple of days to think about this. Saying something along the lines of we've been here for a long time, I've been here for 10 years. These people are like family to me. I know how they feel about me. They know how I feel about them. I'm sure we can get something done and bring a Stanley Cup to Edmonton. I'm sure that's what Oilers fans wanted to hear. Instead, they heard with that being said. And they heard, if I feel that. So again, this doesn't mean that he's not resigning with the Edmonds and Oilers.

And I think McDavid pretty much chummed the waters for lowering expectations of what may or may not happen on July 1st. I.e., if July 1 comes and goes, don't freak out because that's not the target that Conor McDavid has if he's going to resign with the Edmundson Oilers. Again, I understand this is what Oilers fans want to hear today. They wanted to hear it all out of Conor McDavid.

This is still going to be... And again, I think when push comes to shove still, I think that Conor McDavid does resign with the Edmundson Oilers. I don't know that it's an eight-year deal. You know, he's a Wasserman client and most famously, you know, Waston Matthews from Wasserman likes to do smaller deals to maximize his compensation based on the salary cap going up and up and up and up. But there is still a question behind all of this and that is will he resign with

the Edmonton Oilers? And for those of you who thought it was a hundred percent, guess again, it's not. I think the odds are still that he resigns with the Oilers but to say that it's a hundred percent, Zach, I think is folly. Before we get into the update here and what's coming up on the show, you got a thought on that one? Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's more likely than not that he signs again at Edmonton. But also throw this out there, and I'm curious if you view this the same way. I wonder if he's seen people in the past, i.e. John Tavares leaving the island as one example and learn lessons from those guys and the way they approached media availability and answering questions about their futures with a team and decided in this instance

Leave the door open best to leave the door open not that he leaves not I'm telling you this now So that in a year, you're not surprised when I walk out the door But I don't want people of Edmonton to think this guy's back I'm gonna get this deal done I'm going to be here and just kind of hey because he's very smart and calculated about how he approaches things we've seen his media availability his entire career he's always been very mature he's always handled it with a level head and just thinking two steps ahead. That he didn't go in there and he's not walking away going, oh my God, I can't believe I said that.

He knew what he was going to say. He knew how he was going to answer it. He doesn't do things frivolously. And he was ready. Any sane person would say, this is a major decision in my life. I'm going to consult with my family and my agent, my representation. I just think the Oilers fans were probably waiting to hear something along the lines of what Corey Perry said or what Evan Bouchard said.

Love it here. Love it here, can't wait to come back. We've got a good thing going. Let's keep the ball rolling and let's keep the band together. More on this for pretty much the balance of the show, although some other things we want to get into with a really special guest here on the program too. Daily Outline for today's program is presented as always by FanDuel. Make every moment more with North America's number one sports book, FanDuel. And coming up on the program, you'll love her on TNT, you'll love her on WWE as well.

Former colleague of mine back at the old shop and someone I'm proud to call a friend and a colleague going back a number of years. She's Jackie Redmond, she will stop by here in a couple of moments. I think we may say a couple of things about Conor McDavid still. I think there's still some fertile ground to go over with Conor McDavid in that press conference

today. Should also talk about what Leon Dreisel had to say, Evan Bouchard had to say, Corey Perry had to say, et cetera. Was a pretty interesting day around Oilers Nation. Signing season on the horizon, of course July 1st there, and free agency. All the hot button topics and players, most notably more rumors around Sam Bennett

of the Florida Panthers. In the meantime, this segment is a presentation of our friends at Budweiser. This Budweiser is encouraging buds to make time for playoffs, not excuses. Every goal, every check. Every win is better enjoyed with your buds to make time for playoffs, not excuses. Every goal, every check, every win is better enjoyed with your buds. Phone a bud, text a bud, ping a bud, call out their excuses for bailing on the playoffs. After all, the playoffs are

the most wonderful time of the year. Make them count. When it's springtime, it is go time and it's time for us to go to one of our favorites and someone who's a real force in two industries, hockey and pro wrestling. She's a, I know you're the best. What's going on Jackie Redden? How you doing today, Jack? What's going on? Oh, I'm so good.

I'm home for the first time in a month. I had a nap about two hours ago. I'm still recovering from an awesome Stanley Cup final. But yeah, I would never ever turn down your show if I have the ability to do it. So I was happy to be here. Well, that's it. Thank you, Jackie.

It was a huge year for you. And I guess a happy one as well. I know you're a big London Nights fan and yes, you know, they kind of dig what they did at the Memorial Cup. I'm sure you're all decked out in green and anyhow, but if we get there, we get there. Cause I want to talk to you about Paul Heyman a little bit later on too.

I know it's one of your favorite topics, one of mine too. I'm trying to figure out, I'll tell you later. There's something I've been chasing for about 20 years with Paul, and he'll never admit it to me. And I want to see if I can worm through to Paul through you. It's a great story. I'm going to get there in a second. So you saw the Conor McDavid quotes.

I'm sure that, um, all of those fans wanted to hear him say something along the lines of, look, uh, every, both sides want this to happen. Uh, I'm sure there's a middle ground we can, we can hit here where I stay in Edmonton O'Haller where for however more many years, and we chase Stanley cups, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Instead, we heard things like, with that being said, and we heard things like, if I know, all right, like, oh man, that turtle net's tight.

Like, oh, I didn't expect that phone call. Just wide brush thought, what did you make of the McDavid presser today, Jack? I think I felt how Oilers fans probably felt, which is nervous, uncomfortable. Why didn't he lead with like, I love being an Oiler and love to stay here as long as I can.

I don't know, like I understand, I was listening to you guys talk about media training and leaving the door open. That way if he does leave, they can't go back and say, oh, you said you wanted to be an Euler for life. But he didn't even really say very many positive things about being an Euler. Can't you kind of balance the two things

where you kind of talk about that you love being in Edmonton, you love being an Euler. If it works out, you'd like to stay there. However, your family and their needs and you've got a season in front of you that you're focused on. I just think there's a better way to tow that line. I felt like he was very much more on one side of that fence than the other. Even bringing up sort of his time there so far, he led with, well, there's been like a lot of heartbreak and a lot of disappointment, some good times along the way too.

And like, why is that second? Why, why are we saying that part second? Coming in for the save, Jack, it's a wrestling term. Someone's coming in for the save. Someone's coming in for the save. Hold on a second here. I will say though, I will say though, um, I grew up a Leafs fan, so I always expect the worst. So that's maybe why I lean that way, I will say though, I grew up a Leafs fan, so I always expect the worst.

So that's maybe why I lean that way, you know? You only hear the negative, oh man, that's your default setting Ajak, is just like hear all the negative stuff right away. But here's the other thing that I'm sure like Sports Talk Radio and Edmonton is probably on fire with this one. Here's a quote, if I feel that there's a good window to win here over and over again, then signing is no problem.

That's a really big caveat, saying if I feel there's a window here to win over and over again. Now, the first time when I first heard it, I thought, okay, that's Conor McDavid saying to Stan Bowman, go get me a goalie. But I wonder if it's deeper than that as well. Perhaps there's an understanding that it's not going to get any cheaper there.

Like Evan Bouchard is going to get either from the team or from an arbitrator, $10 million. Right? Like it's going to get more expensive there. If you're going to go out and get a goaltender, that goaltender is not, it's not going to be an inexpensive goaltender. It's going to be an established goalie and it's not going to be an inexpensive goaltender, it's going to be an established goalie and it's not going to be cheap. And this is a team that has $12 million of cap space

and Evan Bouchard is going to probably take 10 of it with his new contract. Like I looked at that one and I said, oh man, is that Conor McDavid sort of acknowledging that we got there twice in a row and now it's going to get even harder because contracts are up. Yeah, I mean, it's an interesting comment, right?

Because they're coming off back to back trips to the Stanley Cup final. There's some fan bases out there that would would love to say they've seen deep runs like that. So, you know, the question becomes how, you know, Connor, David, with all due respect, best player on on the planet, but like, how can you really judge, you know, until you kind of see how those contracts work out, what it looks like going into this season,

and then from the franchise's standpoint, how long do you wait if you don't sign Connor McDavid to an extension this summer? You don't want to play that game where, okay, well, let's just see if we can give him a winning season and then he'll stay or we, you know, we, we prove that we know what we're doing over this, this last season and then he'll stick with us. Like teams have tried that and got absolutely burned. We're watching it with Toronto right now. I feel like, you know, um, with Mitch Marner. So I don't really know the answer to that question.

I just think that at the end of the day, it's human nature. And I think that in some ways, I know it's only been a couple of days since, since McDavid and the Oilers had their hearts broken for the second straight year in the final. But I do believe that everyone deep down knows what they truly want. And I think that at this point,

he probably already knows what's more likely to happen in this situation. He's just not gonna tell us. Well, it kind of feels like, I don't disagree with you, Jack. And I know you're probably talking about, you know, the team that you grew up cheering for when you talked about, you know, back-to-back Stanley Cup final appearances

and deep runs, et cetera. Sometimes the veil you wear, Jack, is very thin. I know what you're talking about, but still nonetheless. So here's what I think, one of the things that I'm curious about, does it not seem as if the position that McDavid is putting the Oilers in is one of, okay, now you have to audition for me. You have to show me that I should resign here.

Like I wonder at what point, because this is almost like stages of grief now. Like first there's a stage of like shock where everyone goes, wow, did McDavid really say that? And I wonder at what point it might turn, you know, from frustration, maybe even into anger. Like is he saying the sort of team has to audition for him in order to get him to re-sign here?

Just the idea of like, well, if there's a window here, then I'll resign. Otherwise, sayonara, you got nine out of Gretzky and you got 10 out of me. Yeah, I mean, it's a bold statement when you look at it that way, right? It's a bold thing to say, hey, show me that we're actually gonna win here

when it's the hardest damn trophy to win in professional sports, even when you have the best player in the world on your team. We've seen that two years running, right? It ain't easy. And I just look at, I'm not saying that Matthew Kuchak is Conor and David, obviously, but I think we've seen players put you know, put themselves first, put themselves before an organization and say, I want out of here and go somewhere else and have a lot of success. And so I have to imagine that.

McDavid sees that happening with other people and has to wonder like, you know what, maybe I need to do the hard thing. Maybe I need to be selfish. Maybe I do need to leave here for something to give and for something to happen." And people seem to have forgiven Matthew Kachuk. I mean, I haven't checked the pulse of Calgary Flames fans and how they're feeling, but that was a tough off season for them. But I think that all that stuff matters matters and I think we live in a time now where loyalty isn't necessarily as high on the priority list as it was for guys, you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago who were, you know, the legends of the game of the facer franchise. We might even see Sidney Crosby go somewhere else like that I think is a realistic possibility.

That's me. That's I mean, again, like you're starting to see the beginning of the end of that quarter in Pittsburgh. You know, Malik is not going to be re-upped one more year. Is he going to retire? Who knows? LaTang's always been a question mark. And at some point, like I think we're all after Four Nations saying, you know, one of the crimes in the NHL right now is we're not going to see Sidney Crosby in the postseason. But we'll, we'll park that one for a second because I'm curious about your, let me personalize this, Jackie. So you just spent a lot of time around these two teams,

right? Like you just spent a lot of time around these two squads. Was there an appreciable, again, like this is, this is a vibe check, Jack, like there's, there's no right or wrong answer. Like what were they both like to be around? Was there, were they more different than similar? Were they, what were they both like?

Because it seems as if Florida is really comfortable in their skin where Edmonton obviously still has something to prove. Yeah, I think you could sense that in the vibes around the teams for sure. Particularly following losses, right? Like I followed these Panthers pretty closely the last three years.

I went all the way to the final Following them two years ago and they lost So for me, it's it's it's the vibe after a loss. What does that room look like? What does it feel like? What does it seem like is going on even between periods after a last second goal, right? That forces overtime we saw the Panthers in that situation. And they just know who they are so well and trust in what they're doing that they never seem rattled by anything. I don't know that I've ever seen the Florida Panthers rattled or afraid of the moment. And I guess that comes with winning in a Stanley Cup final as well. I think that's certainly part of it. But I think that they had the in a Stanley Cup final as well. I think that's certainly part of it.

But I think that they had, they had the essence of that even two years ago when they lost in the final, they said this, we know who we are. We know how we play and we know how we have success. And they don't ever, ever, ever change that. Right? Like they never stray from who they are. And I think with the Oilers, there's certain points that you can look at in their run and in the cup final

where they kind of stepped away from what got them there a little bit, right? They kind of changed what they were doing and they didn't necessarily trust the entirety of their team to get it done. Whereas Florida never did that. Even when they blew a three nothing lead to the Edmonton Oilers,

they were still rolling four lines deep, playing the way they play, and just trusting that over a seven game series, they would prevail. And I love that. I mean, they talked all postseason long about how even in training camp, they're always talking about,

we're always building for game seven. That's all we focus on, and how are we preparing for a seventh game? Because winning one battle doesn't win you the Stanley Cup. You have to win the war and the final battle is game seven. And so their psyche and their mental approach to the game, I think is second to none because they accept that they're gonna lose

and they're gonna have bad games along the way. They go into the start of a series knowing that and being okay with it. And so they have this swagger, man. Like they have this swagger about them that's honestly almost annoying. It's almost, I love them. Those guys have been so good to me.

Like I'm not even trying to be like a hater because literally those guys, you know, here's another example and I think this is part of it. Like Brad Marshann has a media scrum that lasts 15 20 minutes I need something he stays in the room talks to me 15 minutes after that. The room is empty He's running to catch the bus, but he's not even annoyed. He's like totally fine with it. I just think that they Have this swagger about them that I envy. I wish I had that much confidence in my own life

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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. slash the sheet and use the sheet at checkout. Listen, trust me, don't we, don't we all, um, let me ask. I, I heard, I'm glad you got us to this particular note because there's someone, there's someone want to run by you. So I heard so I was on the treadmill today. I was listening to the athletic hockey show and Sean McIndoo down goes Brown.

Love him. I know just the best guy. Um, and that's a really good podcast. Yes, he is. So he brought up something. I was just like, ah, you know, when you hear something, like, oh God, I wish I would have thought of that. So to the swagger question about the Florida Panthers.

So right now we're all asking the dynasty question. Is two cups and a Stanley Cup final, is that a dynasty? And the guys on the podcast were talking about, no, you need three. But really, if you're the Florida Panthers, you should be chasing four. Now, one of the conversations I had with our mutual friend, Julie Stuart-Banks and Nate Thompson on their podcast today

was, you know, there's still a question of, in the salary cap era, who's the best team? Is it these Panthers? Is it Tampa? Was it Pittsburgh? Chicago Blackhawks? LA Kings? Like you take all these teams at the height of their powers,

put them in a tournament, who wins? The question I think still is I don't know. I don't know. But if you win four in a row, that ends all of it. And Sean's idea was, and this is ripped right out of the pages of pro wrestling. Sean's idea is next year, the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup,

nobody touches it. We're here for- Nobody touches the cup? We're here for four, not three. Treat it like the conference. Hey, we're here for four Stanley cups. Not you want to talk about cocky? Tell me Jack, like, you can't see Matthew Kajak doing that. No, not touching it. We're here for four. We don't want three. We want to send a message.

I mean, listen, I would, I would, that would take some huge balls to be like, we are not going to do the most special, unique separation and listing of the Stanley cup, robbing the hockey world of all of those amazing photos. Oh my God. I would be so mad. Like I would truly, that would be so, listen, that is cuz tell me like between Like Brad Marchand and Matthew Kachak and Sam Bellic the cockiest players in the game

We're not touching the Stanley Cup because we're here for four. We're not here for three. I love it Jack, come on give it let the pro wrestling side you come out a bit No, no, I hate this. This is where my curious comes out because people always say like, oh, the handshake line is like one of the best traditions in professional sport. And it certainly is. I love the handshake line. But I just think the fact that we have a sport that's so unique in that players lift this

trophy and skate around with it for the fans if they happen to be at home or an empty arena if they're on the road and like have this whole tradition. You can't, you cannot take that away. Also, there would be a problem because you know the roster is not going to be exactly the same. You can't, the first time guys would have to do it, right? But you're saying if just those core guys that are still here. Okay, okay. I like the whole team idea, but I will, I will budge. I will bend for you, Jack.

Like I'll say like, all right. Okay. Just the guys that have done it before that are there for three. So Barkov, not touching the thing. Kachuk, not touching the thing. Bennett, not touching the thing. Sam Bennett? Yeah, not, not touching.

Cause Sam will be back? Yeah, I'm, I don't know about you I'm I'm assuming that he does come back. Like I've always said, like he gets to July 1st is catalogs in time. But I think I think if you're Bill Zito, whatever, whatever it takes, especially now with the consmite. I mean, I just he to me, why leave? You know, I understand that he could get more money somewhere else, but like he's going to get a lot of money regardless

And I just think that he you know, you look at it the start of his career. You look at his whole trajectory He's found such a home there. I just don't know I just don't think it would take much convincing and I think You know people can get creative and try to find a way for him to make money in other ways You know that that are outside of his contract. So yeah, my money's on him staying as well. I think that he'd be silly not to. When we were together at Rogers, did you ever get a chance to talk much to Bob McCallan? Did you overlap much with Bob? No. He was there, but honestly I think I met him one time. Okay, because he had it, he used to always have a great line.

And that was like, whether it's a contract negotiation or thinking about going somewhere else, Bob would always have the great line. He told a lot of people this and it was always, don't fuck with happy. If you're happy, find a way to stay. Find a, and that's what I keep thinking about with Sam Bennett.

He's happy, they're happy happy find a way to stay it works So perfectly there, you know, and he's getting married in early July like early July is gonna be so huge for Sam Bennett, you know, he's gonna get massive payday his life is gonna change, you know, he's is you know life partner I think they go back a number of years to like elementary school Like it's gonna be great to be saying, I know he's gonna own like, there's gonna be like two weeks of July's gonna be just owned by Sam Bennett. It's gonna be so fantastic. And that's, I keep thinking about Bob McCown, you know, Jackie, like don't fuck with Happy. Don't fuck with Happy. I've heard that before. And it's, it's so, it's so, so true. And

it's very clear that he has such a good thing there and they have such a good group there. And it's very clear that he has such a good thing there and they have such a good group there. So I guess I don't know, time will tell. See. Who are you most curious about, Comfrey Agency, by the way? I wanna ask you about Paul Maurice, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Florida or Edmonton,

although they seem to be the big question marks here. I mean, of course, Connor McDavid is the talk of the town today with what he had to say, but we can be waiting a while to get the answer to that question. For me, I think the most fascinating player now is going to be Mitch Marner, not just where he goes, but also what it looks like, how he does. I just think it's so fascinating. I think it's what's really interesting to me and I have your thoughts on it is just the the

apparent tension between not him and necessarily the market but him and the actual franchise like it feels like and based on what we're hearing that it's not good and I don't understand how we got there like I can get I can I can understand like it's a hard market to play in of course it is And he did actually carry the majority of the weight for the losses when that maybe that wasn't necessarily fair. He did shoulder more of the load than Austin Matthews who is you know just as guilty of underperforming in big moments. So I don't know. I just I don't know how how they got there. I don't know why he's so angry at the team. I think part of it I I've always felt this way about, about Monter specifically.

Obviously he wears his heart on his sleeve. I think that there's a part of him that wants to go down as the best Toronto born maple leaf of all time. And I think, and even though it looks like he's gone now, there was a time that where he had a real shot at that. And I really think that it's difficult. As much as everybody loves like the local boy goes home story, doesn't always work. Like more times than not, it doesn't work. Like ask Sheldon Suray how it worked going back to Edmonton.

He's a Sherwood Park guy. It did not work at all. There's just way too many pressures outside of just- David Clarkson. David Clarkson's a great example, Jackie. That's a fantastic example. And now he, and how many times was he like, Clarkson like a punching bag or a punchline to someone

in their hockey anecdotes, just because he had the nerve to sign a massive contract, which everybody would have done in the exact same scenario. I always think it's harder when you're the guy that stays. Everybody else can escape. Marner's there and he's doing cherry tournaments and it's local endorsements and he's always around.

And that's why I think a lot of it is he became essentially, maybe I'm over simplifying this, but he became a punching bag in Toronto because he was always there. You know, other guys escaped to go somewhere else and he's a punching bag in Toronto because he was always there. Other guys escaped to go somewhere else and he's a local boy and stayed there. And he became like the poster boy for the lack of performance for the whole team, rightly or wrongly. And probably-

To the point, I haven't thought about it that way. Like everyone else can escape, but he's just- He's there. Constantly, there's no escaping hearing about it, reading about it, seeing, you know, even in the summertime, hockey shows and sports networks talking about the Leafs. So yeah, I've never thought about it that way. Maybe for him, it felt even more overwhelming criticism

than the other guys, because they got to go to Arizona and go and just escape it completely. I've never actually thought about it that way. You think you'd fit in Florida? it completely. I've never actually thought about it that way. You think you'd fit in Florida? No. Why not?

Because I think that he and it's not completely his fault, but he was raised in a culture that breeded a lack of accountability. And it's not his fault, but I think that the Florida Panthers are all about accountability. They're all about being on the exact same level. Every single player in that room is expected to do all of the things that nobody wants to do.

Even Nate Schmidt, right, had a great conversation with Nate Schmidt last week. And he said, Jackie, I had hard conversations with Paul Maurice where he said, Jackie, I had hard conversations with Paul Maurice where he said, if you want 15 minutes, this is what I need out of those 15 minutes. And I said, okay, I wanna do it. And then I would go do it.

He goes, you know how sometimes you say you wanna do something and then you go to do it and you're like, oh, this is hard. I don't know if I really wanna do it. Like he said, if Nate is great, Nate is very open and honest. Said, you know, it took me some time to be like, okay, I have to do this if I want to really like,

be a part of this. And so I think that, I don't know that it would be easy for any star player to fit in the Florida Panthers dressing room. I think Brad Marshand does because he just has the right personality and he's always had that Gritty side to his game. That's always been there. He's always kind of done some of the harder things Especially the things that become even harder come playoff time. I just I just don't know that Marner

Here's I just don't know that he fits the DNA there So let me let me let me just jump. The reason I'm wondering about this is, we'll see how many players come back and we'll see how many players escape and how much cap space is available. But as we all know, like eight million in Florida is 10 million somewhere else. Nine million in Florida is 11 million somewhere else.

Again, small, small sample size. But I don't know how you felt about it, man. I got really seduced watching Bennett and Marner play together with the Four Nations. Like playing with a different center and that center specifically, it just brought out like a different or it maybe it didn't bring out a different Mitch Marner. It just allowed Mitch Marner to play the way that he plays and there was someone else to do all that other lifting for him.

Yeah, I'm not saying that that Bennett is a better player than Austin Matthews. I don't want to be misconst other lifting for him. And I'm not saying that Bennett is a better player than Austin Matthews. I don't wanna be misconstrued that way. He's a different player, but there's so much of like a skill overlap between Marner and Matthews that they were more similar than they were different. And I look at Bennett and Marner, I go,

they're more different than similar and that's probably why this could work. And again, this is like a couple of games, Jack. It's only a couple of games, but I'm watching these films, I'm like, man, I wonder what a full season of this would look like. I don't know, maybe we're trying to force something that's not there.

It's interesting. No, no, I don't think so. I think lots of people have talked about Florida. And I also think, to be clear, I do think that Mitch Marner, wherever he goes, will be one of these guys that goes off and probably wins the Stanley Cup somewhere else. And Leafs fans will say, oh oh we never should have ruined it with

Marner, we never should have let him get away, which I think is you know revision is history. I think that the Leafs for the most part the front office is the ones that put themselves in this position with Mitch Marner. I hope he has success, I think he almost cares too much or at least at one point cared too much about Toronto, cared too much about the Maple Leaf success to the point that it like affected how he played, particularly in the early years. Um, so I do think he'll go win somewhere else. And I mean, Florida, the one thing there is like that Florida's got depths that,

you know, Marner's never seen playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs. So maybe you're right. I don't know. I just don't see him as a Panther, but I didn't see Brad of our shan as a Panther four months ago either. And he like was their famous arguably one of their MVTs. So, OK, let me let me ask you about another thing. So I want to eventually get this to Paul Heyman.

I'm going to use Paul Maurice to get us there. Wow. Paul to Paul. Paul to Paul. And listen, from Maurice to him, we'll get there a couple of, but like, there's an element of like, you can't miss Paul Maurice press conferences. You can't miss Jackie Redmond interviewing Paul Maurice. Paul Maurice always gives you, always gives you something. Now I go back to like, I, I used to do color for the Toronto Marlies, AHL team when Paul was a coach. So I got to sit with him and talk with him and you know what he's like.

You always walk away from every conversation learning something. It's, he's a remarkable human being and remarkable hockey mind as well. When you go to interview Paul, whether it's, you know, in game on the bench and you get to spit out two questions really quick and then here comes Tuck Drop, or you get a chance like after a game, or maybe even before a game where you can spit out a couple of more questions than just two really quick and then back to the action.

How do you approach, I'm curious, this is like pull the veil back here inside baseball. How do you approach conversations with Paul Maurice doing TV? inside baseball, how do you approach conversations with Paul Maurice doing TV? So I think I approach the two situations that you mentioned differently. The bench interview is something I approached probably differently than anything that I do

in the game or off-camera. And that like I always am wanting to make sure that my question has to do with the actual game. They understand why sometimes people, you know, they ask about something that was newsworthy that day or something that was like a story going into the game. I'm always like, okay, make sure I'm paying attention to what's happening in this game so that I ask the appropriate question for what we're actually watching. And a lot of times I come up with my question based on what Kenny Albert and Eddie Olchuk and Brian Boucher are talking about.

Like, okay, they're noticing this trend. Maybe that's what I need to ask about. You don't always have that. But when you have to do it in the under 10 of the first period, that's a tough spot because sometimes nothing's really happened in the game yet. And you're like, man, I don't have a groundbreaking question. I'm just going to ask for his assessment of the first minutes. Because like, let's not overthink this here. You know what I mean?

We've seen 10 minutes of coffee at this point. Sometimes there's no brilliant question. You just have to let the coach say what he wants to say. But outside of the game, you know, we do these coach meetings. The rights holders do these coach meetings after morning skate usually, where we get to talk to the coach.

And those are lengthier conversations where you're not handicapped by, you know, time and being on television. And so I always was like, I may never get to use this, but I'll have it in my brain. What do I, what do I actually, what am I actually curious about? What do I want to know? Or what do I not understand that I can understand by asking and leaving this conversation? And he's always so great like I have the amount of voice recordings I have on this phone that are like 15 minutes long Well Maurice Telling me about something cuz he's so poetic and he can't help himself like you could ask something a great example

And it's you know I pride myself on when a coach tells me I ask a good question, and this was the one time during the conference final where Paul Maurice went, that's a really good question. I brought up Seth Jones, and I said, you know, Seth Jones comes here, and we, for the most part, know what his reputation is as a player,

but I had looked at the numbers, defensive numbers, of like puck battles won, stick checks, blocked passes, things like that, broken up play. And he was either first or second in every category for the Panthers and in the top five in all that that was a big part of his game. And I asked Paul Maurice A, did you know that? B, you know, how has he been able to sort of do that? And he gave me this very long answer about how they used to play one way in the West and they play this way in the East

and how it's sort of shifting. And he always knew that it was there for Seth and he had to get off his rocking chair, so speak for some of these elements to come out and this is my long-winded way of saying that Paul will take your question and he won't just answer the top layer of it he'll give you three or four layers below that that actually weren't even what you were looking for and then you walk away and you go what what was he talking about? What did he say? And you listen to it back and you go, oh my God, there's like three or four things in here that I didn't know I would get from asking this question. Am I making sense?

You did. And because I can recall one answer where it was, you know, all like, everything is prologue. And I remember like, he did a sort of, like, a sort of historical runway after you asked a question, and then paused and said something along the lines of, so I guess what I'm saying is yes. What? That's Paul. That is completely Helmos. That is completely Paul Maurice. And that's why I have to record him every time because I know that when I listen back, there'll be things in there that I can use or learn from that I didn't even catch in the moment

because he went back and gave me not just the answer to the question, but he gave me the lead up to how he even got there and why it's that way. And these are all these outside factors that you weren't even asking me about, but here they are. And so I love that about Paul. You can learn so much if you listen.

Speaking about learning, you have unlike anyone else. And by the way, just, I think I can tell the story now because it's been enough years. When I was working at TSN doing Off the Record and doing the wrestling shows with Landsberg and Makowitz, then WWF, now WWE, offered Michael a job as announcer on RAW. And he thought about it and went back and forth

and we talked about it plenty. And he said, I said like, what's sort of holding you up here on this one? He said, if I go into that world, I can't come back into this one. And that was the belief. Like Jack, that was the belief in the industry. Right? Like I'm sure you've heard this way plenty of times,

like Jackie, you can't do both. You are the first to my knowledge to do both. Like this is one of the reasons why I think, first of all, I do, and I think a lot of people have respect for you, a number of reasons, but one, you set your own agenda, you tell people what you're going to do, you're not gonna be defined by anybody else,

and you are able to straddle two completely different athletic worlds, one that's cooperative and one that's competitive. And for years and years and years, we were always told, and my dumb brain believed it, you couldn't do both. You know, there's an old saying about, you know, that a little boy goes up to his mom one day

and says, mom, when I grow up, I wanna be a hockey player. And she says, son, you can't do both. You can't grow up and be a hockey player. I look at you, Jack, and I say like, you have been able to do both. And again, like I tell people, it's like an Olympic diver into the water with no ripple. How have you been able to do this before we get to Heyman?

Well, I'll start off by saying, when I took the job at WWE to go backstage, which is only two years ago, which is kind of crazy, I had people actually say to me, like, how are you going to maintain your credibility in hockey if you're doing wrestling, if you're doing, you know, it's not real, it's not this. How are you going to, how are you, you're not going to be able to keep your credibility in hockey. And I, you know, to quote Liv Morgan said, watch me because I do believe and have always believed that the proof is in the pudding.

The proof is in what you do and what you put out there. And so at the end of the day, I was lucky enough that when they hired me, they said, we want you to do hockey. Well, if you need two months off every spring to go do the Stanley Cup playoffs, like we'll give it to you. We think it's great for our products that you're doing it. And it's great for you because you love it. So credit to WWE for that and being such an amazing employer in that way. And so for me, it was always just about

the credibility part of it was always just about, you know, making sure I knew my shit and I was prepared, which I had to do anyway, just to get into hockey. You know, I had to leave Canada to cover hockey. You know this. He talked about me leaving Sportsnet in the makeup room. And you said, and I will never forget it, if you are going to take this offer from NHL Network

to Sportsnet to try to get an opportunity here, be prepared to leave. That was your advice. Just don't try to use it as leverage. Your only leverage is if you're ready to go. If you're ready to go, then do it, yes. And I said, you know what? I wanna do hockey, I gotta go.

Like I gotta take where it is. Anyways, but to answer the question about doing both, I think it's just, it's using, my time management really has been the biggest thing. And I think that I've actually grown in my role in the NHL by being a part of WWE because they make you think about moments in a completely different way. They make you think about making everything a moment. You know, the Miz, I talk

about him all the time. I have so much respect for the Miz because no matter what he's doing, no matter what work he is given, he takes it no matter how small it might be. And he goes, I'm going to make this something. And so for me, you know, I think when I first started in hockey, particularly with the cliche intermission interviews or post game interviews or whatever, I almost felt obligated to ask the questions that you always hear. And being at WWE, you know, I start to look at them different, even the bench interviews, right? With Paul Maurice and different coaches, I go, I don't necessarily have to ask about, you know, the

multiple turnovers in the neutral zone, I could come in here and ask something different if it's there. And so for me, I kind of try now when it's there, never to force it. But if it's there, to just have a moment, you know, because I think that's what we remember. That's what we look back on. We remember moments, we remember big goals, we're going to remember that the Panthers are undefeated eating blizzards the night before road game, we, we remember big goals, we're gonna remember that the Panthers are undefeated, eating blizzards the night before, road game.

We're not gonna remember how many times Edmonton turned the puck over in the first 10 minutes of a hockey game. Because that's not what we cling to, we cling to the human, we cling to the story of success. And so I think with WWE, it's such a storytelling avenue that I think I've with WWE, it's such a storytelling avenue that I think I've become a, I've found a way to try and be a better storyteller,

if that makes sense. Because I think my job, that's actually as much as it's reporter, I actually think my job is storytelling more than reporting. 100%. And you make money with your face. How many times have you heard that?

You make money with your face. How many times have you heard that? You make money with your face, your facial reactions to all of it. Okay, so let me tell you. So much. I've been on a, you've heard that a million times, I'm sure, back to day. So I've been on a hunt forever. I've asked Paul about this before,

and he's always like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So when Paul owned ECW, okay? So that's when I was doing a weekly wrestling radio show, live audio wrestling. And we'd have Paul on all the time. And every week, about three or four days before every show, like before every ECW show, I would get an email,

and I'll never forget the email address. It was RVD, the number four, Prez, so Rob Van Dam for president. That's right, you got a thumbs. It was RVD4Prez at hotmail.com. And what it was, it was a detailed rundown of all the characters, like all the wrestlers, storyline arcs, where it's heading, why they're doing it, like all of it.

And I'm convinced, because I don't think it was like Joey Styles or anything like that, I'm convinced it was Paul. Like there's no one- And it was after it, everything that was sent to you. Bang on every single week and I'm convinced that it was Heyman. He's always denied it but does that sound and again maybe maybe he's gonna take this one to the crematorium and I'm going to my crematorium and I'm never gonna know and he's gonna have the last laugh but I've always thought oh my that I was Paul Heyman. I've asked him countless times. He's always laughed. No, no.

What do you think his motive would have been? So I would talk about his show more. If I knew what was happening, right? I remember talking, okay, so I remember having a conversation once. Oh yeah, John. By the way. 100% of Julian.

It's true. So if Paul. So I remember having a conversation. This is way going back to my wrestling. So I remember I spent a very weird weekend with Roddy Piper once. So Roddy was in town and the group that I was working with, we were looking to do a book with Roddy Piper. And so I hung out with him for an entire weekend.

I don't know how I survived. Roddy was an interesting. He's gonna be powering you here. No, I know. Like it was, this is back in the boozy drug days. And I remember asking him about his ring entrance. And this was the era where everybody hit the ring on fire, starting with Ultimate Warrior.

Like get to the ring in like two seconds. Right, ring on fire, ring on fire, hit the ring on fire. And Roddy would walk slowly and he would look at the crowd. He would look and he would take his time and it would take him like two minutes to get to the ring. And I said like, you know, you're from the era where guys ran to the ring.

Why did you walk? And he said something that I've always remembered. He said, first of all, I grew up in the territory, in the territory system where our money, our paycheck at the end of the night was based on how big the house was. So I got really good at counting houses. And so I would walk and I would look at the crowd

and I would be counting in my head how many people were there. So I knew if I was getting a light payoff or a real payoff, because I knew how many people were in the building. And he goes, secondly, and Jack, this is the one that always stuck with me. He said, if I run to the ring, the announcers have about 20 seconds to talk about me. But if I take two minutes, they have to talk about me for two full minutes, tell my whole story, make me seem larger than life. So by the time I hit the ring, everybody thinks I'm a superhero.

You can't do that in 15 seconds. So I walk slow. Wow, that's actually so smart. It's these little things, like maximizing your time and your moment. Like I would never come up with something like that. I think that is beyond smart. Like if I want, okay, wow,

how did no one think of that sooner? That's crazy and so cool. And if Paul Heyman, if Paul Heyman, if Paul Heyman really did send an email, if he's behind the RAD, with your email account emails, how many shows do you think he was doing that with? Oh, trust me, I am not, I am not like, I'm sure like, you know, Meltzer got them to like, I'm sure like everybody got them in the industry. I'm sure like, plenty of people got them in

the industry. And it was just a of people got them in the industry. And it was just a way to get more people to talk about it. Tell me one more time what the email is. I think when I see him and I have not seen him in over a month, okay? Cause I've been off WWE. I am just gonna say the email to him.

See what he says. Hang on. I'm texting it to you right now. Okay, perfect. says. Hang on. I'm going to, I'm texting it to you right now. Okay. Perfect. It's rvdforprez at hotmail.com. I'm not even going to say hi. I'm just going to say rvdforprez at hotmail.com and see what he says.

Okay. You just got it. rvdforprez at hotmail.com. Or doesn't say, what are you talking about young Redmond? I can't wait. It's going to be so good. I can't wait. I don't know what you're talking about. So there you go. You can do a journalism. You can do a journalism for me. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

This is gonna be my scoop. I gotta get to the bottom of this and figure out if Paul Heyman is behind these emails from however many years ago. Like I'm fascinated with the man. and figure out if Paul Heyman is behind these emails from however many years ago. Like I'm fascinated with the man. I love it even when I know he's bullshitting. I love it. I just love it. I love so much about how Heyman talks and how Heyman thinks.

When I was in Florida for games three and four, I listened to the Tetragrammaton podcast with Rick Rubin, three hour pod with Paul Heyman. All of it, brilliant. Like so, like he's, I, I, and even when he's like a bullshitter, like you just love him. Right. Cause you know where it's coming from. What's the most, like what if you learned from Paul?

Like what's Paul? Because no one, no one goes through Paul Yoo without learning something. No, he, he's like a maestro. Like he just conducts an audience like I've never seen anyone. Even, even I say audience, you think like a WWE crowd, which of course is true. But I mean, even just like an audience of three people in a conversation, you can find yourself in these places that you didn't know you were going and learn so much.

But I think for me, you know, when I first started, the company was sort of shifting and changing a little bit and the backstage reporter role was also changing. And you know, I have liked wrestling in my life and I have followed it in my life. But you know, I didn't know necessarily about all the nuance of wrestling and how you're supposed to, you know, maybe talk about somebody, talk to somebody and the different things that you can do to quote unquote put that person over or elevate what that character or that superstar is trying to convey and who they are. And I never thought that I had anything to do with that.

But Paul Heyman taught me, well, you have everything to do with that. How are you asking the question? How are you addressing the person? What is your facial reaction when the person says something out of line or the person says something funny? Like everything that I do in those moments without speaking has to also tell the story of the person I'm talking to. And so for me, I've learned a lot from Paul about those types of things.

And he's great too, he watches everything, he doesn't miss anything. And so, you know, if I do an interview and he sees something, you know, like he'll text me, I'm like, let's chat, I'll go and we'll talk about it. And I was like, there's new, I wish I was thinking of a specific example right now, but there's been times where I go and we talk and I go, oh, that's such a simple thing that makes so much sense.

I think one time, one time my hockey background came out as and I say hockey background, not just as a broadcaster, as someone who grew up playing hockey and just being in hockey rinks and speaking the way hockey players are sort sort of tend to speak. And I think I honestly, this is actually kind of embarrassing. I think I addressed a WWE superstar by just their last name, or I addressed them by like a short form version of their name and he is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Jonesy? I can't remember who it was.

I'm trying to remember who it was. And he was like, I think maybe, maybe it was punk. Like maybe I just called him punk. I can't remember. But he was like, whoa, whoa, whoa maybe I just called him punk. I can't remember, but he was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And it was one of those moments too, right? To go back to your Piper story where it's like,

you need to like, we're selling all the time. And so you need to say someone's full name all the time. And the way that I address someone like Bron Breaker when he was a solo superstar is different than the way I'm going to approach someone like The Miz or Rhea Ripley. All of those people, there's a different cadence to how they should be addressed. I learned that from Paul. I think about that now, about all of the things that I'm doing when I'm not actually the one speaking. And half of it isn't doesn't even

end up on camera, right? Because they zoom into the one shot. But it's a he's like the whole time they're talking, you need to be giving the appropriate without being distracting. It's like an art. It's crazy, because it can't be about me. But I also need to be part of telling that story of like, am I intimidated? Am I afraid? Am I impressed?

Am I be, are my eyes being opened right now? Like what is happening in this moment that I can do to sort of help elevate those words? I know that was a really rambly answer, but he's the best. And he's always willing to help. That's why everybody goes to him. Like everybody goes to him. Like everybody goes to him. You always see him talking to different people backstage

and kind of helping us all collaborate to go back to you calling it a collaborative business. It very much is. Yeah, like it's all like, I've always made like, it's to me like, listen, I mean, it has a number of fans from a number of different walks of life. And I'll tell you, there are so many lessons that other sports can learn from professional wrestling by way of marketing, by way of storytelling, by way of getting,

to your point, getting athletes over. I remember going to, I know we're getting heavy here, but I remember going to UFC fight at MGM grand, it was Ortiz versus Shamrock too. And until then, UFC was always just sort of presented as like two fighters are getting in the sock to honor and they're going to fight, but this was the first like big time pro wrestling presentation, kind of like they did in Japan. And I'm like, they got it. They got it.

Now it wasn't the biggest show they'd ever done, but that was the beginning of. And now I look at the UFC presentation. it's ripped out of the pages at WWE. All you have to do is open your mind and say, what can I learn from this presentation? What can I do from this? Anyhow, I've kept you way too long. But I've given you homework too. I gave you some homework too. I can't wait.

RVD for prez. Let's go. All right. You're the best. RVD for prez, let's go. All right, you're the best. Listen, enjoy your relaxation now. Enjoy your pillow, enjoy your tea, enjoy putting your feet up. Man, what a dynamic run that was for you.

I know we talk a lot about the Panthers, but great job, you. Honestly, I know you're not the kind of person to take a bow, but you really deserve one. Excellent work, Jack. Enjoy the kind of person to take a bow, but you really deserve one. Excellent work, Jack. Enjoy the rest of your spring slash summer, and we'll look forward to catching up again. Sue, you'll be good.

And report back, RVD4Prez, hotmail.com. Oh, but I will text you immediately, and I know I said I need sleep, but I'm gonna go play pickleball because I'm obsessed, and I just can't get enough, so that's what I'm gonna go do. I wish pickleball was actually played with pickles to me that would be more of a dynamic that I could get into but nonetheless enjoy Jack we'll see ya be

good. Hi! There she is Jackie Redmond from TNT and you can watch her on WWE Raw as well. God she's the best like what a year just on fire like completely on fire this season specifically. Zachary do you have a quick thought or two on, on Jackie Redmond? Like just tremendous performer. Just tremendous. Yeah. I think Jackie actually really kind of.

She was already out there where it was people were taking notice, but this year it wasn't a year where it just elevated, whether it was the bench interviews, if it was the stuff she was doing from the moss pit where Wayne Gretzky was giving her props, like that kind of stuff, the work she's doing on WWE, stuff with Pat McVie, like it kind of just elevated. And like when we put out the promo for today, the response that we got,

whether it was across social media or people coming early to the chat, the amount of people who were so excited to hear and see Jackie on our show like the feedbacks amazing it happens on Leafs morning take when they have her it happens on morning couple and they have her like it's been awesome and it was pretty great to have her on the show here as well today you know she referenced a conversation that her and I had in the makeup room at sports night where she was like look I got like, I have this offer here. I really, really want to do hockey. I would like to stay, but I can't

get anything in the hockey department. And I just said, like, you have to be able to leave. You have to be prepared to leave. You can't just sort of shrug and say, oh, well, maybe I'll try again next year. And she's like, I know, like Jackie knows, like honestly, I don't really, I don't, I don't think for one second that she was looking to take my advice as much as she was just sometimes just looking for someone to echo what you're saying. And I think that's what she cut. I think her mind, her mind was pretty much made up. And I knew that like, and I think anyone who knew Jack back then looked at And I knew that like, and I think anyone who knew Jack back then looked at her and said like,

there's an old saying like, there's good and then there's American good. She was American good. You know, go and crack it in America. Go do it in America and right away. And honestly, I'm glad that she does it with pro wrestling too. That she's able to walk that line.

Finally, there's someone that can do it. In establishment sports and cooperative sports. Anyhow, thanks to Jackie Redmond for stopping by and listen, it's her day off and she's got her time off right now and we appreciate her stopping by the show. So, here we go. This is always your challenge every day.

The sheet is powered by FanDuel, as you know, Zach Phillips. Home of the same game Parlay, make every moment more on FanDuel. FanDuel are proud to connect fans to the major sports moments that matter to them. Zach? Okay. This is where we're gonna really see... You know that saying you always say, but there's nothing like a well produced show, this is nothing like that.

And this is nothing like a well produced show, yeah. Yeah, this over the next like two weeks is where we really find that out. I'm gonna be digging and I'm gonna try and get into contact with people at Finwell and see if they can make some special stuff for us. Oh nice. This one I wanted to throw with you, throw to you.

Okay. Because there's a team that has jumped up on this list. Mitch Marner, next team. Third on the list on the odds board that is, is the Pittsburgh Penguins at plus 600. So I wanna ask you two parts about this specifically. Number one in the favorite here is the Vegas Golden Knights at plus 600. So I want to ask you two parts about this specifically. Number one in the favorite here is the Vegas Golden Knights at plus 195. That is pretty far ahead of Carolina at plus 470. Then the third team is plus 600 with Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Chicago falling

after. So two parter, one, is Vegas in your mind deserving to be this far ahead? Isn't this much of a favorite? And two, are you surprised to see Pittsburgh jump up there? Is this kind of just speculate? Like, how did that happen? It's kind of, I guess, what I'm getting at. Why do you think Pittsburgh happened? Well, Dubas. Yes. Like, that's it. Like, that's Yes. Like, well, that's it. Like that's that's it. Like, but my pushback is like, they there's nothing about where they're going that would indicate to me that Mitch Marner signing would be their logical next step.

So the one thing that Fenway Sports going back to when they hired Kyle Dubas was pretty adamant about is like, this is the plan. The plan is the big boys retire as penguins. Okay? The big boys retire as penguins and so while we, while these players string out the remainder of their contracts Dubas is tasked with building up the farm system, building up the prospect pool, all of it, building up draft capital, all these types of things. Now, if along the way you can pick up star players that aren't on their way out of the game,

but are still in the prime of their careers, that are willing to come in and help your younger kids along with, listen, playing with Sid Sidney Cross he's pretty attractive too, I think that's something that you know Dubas would look at and say yeah I'd be amenable to do that because it's not costing me any assets other than the cap space and the actual cash it's a free player not giving up anything for it. I don't think you I don't put it this way I don't think you'd be in the market to trade for something like that unless there's been a major philosophical shift with Fenway Sports that I'm unaware of.

But right now it's like, yeah, the rebuild is on with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The rebuild is on. It's going to be tough slash near impossible for the Penguins to make the playoffs. What's that going to mean for Malcolm LeTang and specifically Sidney Crosby who still has lots of hockey in him. But I'm not surprised by it, that Pittsburgh appears there because there was a, obviously a synergy between the Dubas camp and the Marner camp.

And he paid him once and he could pay him again, I just don't know that they'd be the, like when I look at Marner I say a couple things. One, obviously he wants to get paid I mean you hit free agency like this is your right and you know to he wants to call a shot where he wants to raise his family and You know he wants the chance at the Stanley Cup Which is why you might look at Chicago and say wow does he want to play with Bedard?

sure, he does but how far is Chicago away from winning the Stanley Cup versus Vegas or Carolina or Dallas or Florida or whomever? I think you, I think, I think like those are the boxes that he's checking. I think that there's a number, there's a place to raise a family and Stanley Cup. And probably families first. Family, number, because I think everyone's gonna pretty much have the number and then it's gonna come down to where do you want to raise your family. And are you competitive for the Stanley Cup? Yeah.

I still think Carolina, and I could be way off on this one, but I still think that Carolina makes a lot of sense. He is a Rod Brindimore style player. He really is Yeah, I think if they get him there, they can't be done though. I don't think he's the piece No, put some over the top. They need more Driver maybe if that's kind of the way you want to put it I think they need another piece to go alongside that but yeah I think him and JT can go you can you can lose two of your players there him and

John Tavares can go you know you know what makes me actually sick and I still think about it sometimes and that that scumbag Wyszynski just threw it out there and like a passing by comment the one day. And I, like I've not forgotten about it. I've like brought this up a few times because like the less sense that it makes, the more sense that it makes. And it was about Eric Carlson and the Panthers letting Ekblad walk

and trading for Eric Carlson and him playing with Gustav Forsling. And it's just like, it makes no sense. And I'm bringing this up partially just because you talked about Marner in Florida and stuff, and like people are asking how would that stuff make sense. That's just one of those ones, like Wish said that. And all I could think about is like Eric Carlson goes there.

He plays with Gustav Forsling, and he's getting like 100 points again, and he's winning the Norris. Yeah. And just you know I'll tell you what for the year they'll say that for the longest time for the law because I think that I think that that that Bill Zito did inquire about Eric Carlson like there was a belief that Carlson was going from San Jose to the Florida Panthers because I think I think Zito was on him for a while. Like honestly, there was a couple of deadlines ago.

But before he went to the Pittsburgh Penguins, everyone thought that Eric Carlson was going on the Florida Panthers. Because I know that Zito slash Sonny Mehta had him on their list of guys to to acquires. They're putting this thing together But yeah that would torture you. Yeah. Yeah fully. That's why I say scumbag by the way It's respectfully and I thought it would torture me. So that's what I'm sorry Referred to you as a scumbag on the air today, please take no offense take no slight

All right, a lot of stuff for tomorrow. We'll go over a lot of free agent things and buyouts because that'll be a lot of fun. How many buyouts were there? One, two, three, four, five, six buyouts, seven buyouts last year. Atkinson, Bokefest, Campbell, Nishikoff, Skinner-Sutter, where you buyouts last year. We'll see how many there are this time around and who is on waivers for the purposes of buyout to come tomorrow. So that'll be interesting. All this up for grabs tomorrow on the program. Meanwhile, I want to thank Jackie Redman from TNN and WWE for stopping by and spending probably more time than she bargained for because she has a very exciting pickleball game to get to which she's playing right now.

So thanks to Jack for stopping by. Thanks so much for being in the chat. Thanks for watching on YouTube and do all the likes and the subscribes on our daily face off YouTube channel and we'll love you forever. Do the same on your favorite podcast platform and we'll love you forever. And watch slash listen to Morning Cup of Hockey tomorrow and we'll love you forever. And watch slash listen to Morning Cup of Hockey tomorrow, and we'll love you forever. That is at nine o'clock Eastern,

and then at noon it is DFO Live, and then our little act at three. And there's your broadcast day. And we'll probably talk more about McDavid tomorrow. Because everybody will. Until July 1st. And then probably after. And into next season.

And it'll all be fun. Except for maybe fans in Edmonton, who it won't be fun for. But for the rest of us, it'll be good. I'll be having fun. I know you'll be having fun because you have that streak about you. Get a little bit older, get a little more compassionate. Right now you're just a snide friend.

That's Zach Phillips everybody. And I'm Jeff Merrick. Thanks so much for joining us today. We're back tomorrow. 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 turned on the record

I turned on the music I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music.

I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. I turned on the music. Hockey fans, mark your calendars. The daily Face Off Live free agency special is coming on July 1st at 11am Eastern. Join me, Tyler Uremchuk, alongside former NHLers Carter Hutton and Matthew Barnaby, plus analysts Jeff Merrick, Colby Cohn, Johnny Lazarus, and Hart Levine of Puckpedia, plus a full lineup of insiders from across the network. We're bringing you three hours of comprehensive real-time coverage of the NHL free agency window. We'll be breaking down every major signing, analyzing team

by team impacts, predicting what comes next for the league's biggest names, and delivering you the latest news as it happens. If you want expert insight, live reactions, and a front row seat to one of the most exciting days on the hockey calendar, this is the show you don't want to miss. Tune in live on July 1st at 11 a.m. Eastern on the Daily Face Off YouTube channel for the Daily Face Off Live free agency special brought to you by The Nation Network.