The Steve Dangle Podcast - 2023 NHL Predictions | January 6, 2023

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, Steve, Adam, and Jesse make their predictions for the rest of the NHL season, including awards, standings, biggest surprises, biggest disappointments, and more. Originally aired: January 6, 2023 Visit https://sdpn.ca for merch and more. Any opinion expressed is not advice, a promise or suggestion that increases the chance of winning. Gambling can be addictive, please play responsibly. To learn more, visit: https://help.sportsinteraction.com/hc/en-us/articles/216779528-Responsible-Gaming-Self-Limitation-Self-Exclusion Or if you have concerns about a gambling problem, call ConnexOntario 1-866-531-2600. Ontario Only. Must be 19+ or older to play. Visit this episode's sponsors: https://sportsinteraction.com/sdpn Follow us on Twitter:@Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram:@SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Steve Dangle Podcast, powered by Sports Interaction. Want to bet? Spank Andy. Woo! S-D-P-P. The Steve Dangle Podcast, with your hosts, Steve Dangle, Adam Wilde, and Jesse Blake. Let's go! So today is our final, final holiday episode.

We'll be back Monday, and all the way through free agency. So you don't have to worry. also we have a live show coming up in kingston on the 24th of january uh you're just doing the announcement like this i'm just saying i'm not gonna tell you how to how to get in for it yet what but we have a live show coming up on the 24th just drop a bomb yeah you know what's hilarious it's on the 27th oh it's on the 27th not on the 24th there you go so now you know 24th is tuesday oh okay i thought it wasn't anyway long story short there you go uh so so jesse what are we doing today today we're running through we're looking into our crystal ball okay okay and we

are telling you what is definitively going to happen in 2023 okay based on all right our smarts okay and brilliant yeah that's what's happening today okay all right i'm ready i'm ready you forget this every single episode but we got to get to david first oh hi dave let's bring him on you can bet that with david bastel brought to you by sports interaction get in the action and make a play 19 plus please play responsibly dave it's our last holiday episode and really next week we're getting into like full-blown let's go let's get to the all-star game then it's trade deadline then it's playoffs baby so what are we going to talk about in terms of like long-term great profits at sports interaction that people can jump on now let's let's yeah

let's talk about that that mid-season stanley cup uh futures bet at sports interaction uh and i'm gonna give you a big surprise here and i and i i wonder why in a sense just because of you know i know it's a good team but how could the avalanche still be number one at 701 because right now the avalanche number one boston is just mills just right behind them uh 7707 i believe at number two which i thought they were going to kind of make that jump guys but you know the avalanche are missing half their roster i know that but are you still confident that they can make that push and get this all together in the next couple of months uh it's it's tough but i feel like the avalanche's odds aren't gonna get any uh they're not gonna get any tastier than this right now

because they're in on everyone, right? Like trade-wise. Yeah, Bo Horvat. Imagine adding him to that roster and they get healthy. Are you going to get them for less than 7-1? All the Avs need to do is get healthy and into the playoffs. Yeah. Oh, that's a really tough one, man.

The Avs are, I think $2 seems staying away from that one. Oh, wow. Yeah, I'm staying. Jesse, what about you? I'm sticking with my pick. I don't like people who flip-flop, so the New York Rangers. Boo. They're the best team to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of the season

based on the depth of their talent and everything they have and the best goalie in the world. And I think that's going to continue throughout the playoffs. And I think the New York Rangers have a really good shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Almost 19-1 odds on that, too. 19-1. What?

Yeah. $2? $2? $2, Steve, can be tempted. Dave, what do we have next? Yeah, next, let's go to the Atlantic Division. Maple Leafs are part of that. dogfight for

top spot. I still think they're in reach when you look at them at four and a half to one. Boston, of course, is number one just because of what they've done, but they're not going to maintain this pace, are they? I mean, surely not, but unless they're the best team in 25 years.

That's the thing. I have a hard time believing that. Every time we'd say that about Boston, though, they go and they do it. That's what's so fucking annoying about cheering against the Bruins. I thought everyone was underrating them I didn't think this I know

But they're already this far ahead Who's catching them? That's the question It's not that Can they maintain them? It's a two horse race right now Yeah It's Toronto or Boston

That's what the odds say too Yes And like it's worth Placing a bet on Toronto Because if Boston takes a little bit of a step back And Toronto remains hot Toronto has a good shot at winning the Atlantic What about Winnipeg?

What? The Atlantic The Atlantic We're talking about the Atlantic I said what I said But Winnipeg has decided to stay in the Central. Yeah. Listen, Winnipeg has played in all sorts of divisions.

They were in the Southeast. Why is it so strange that they can win the Atlantic? He makes a good point. All right. And with that, Dave, we will see you live on Monday, my friend. Sounds good. Happy holidays, everyone. Okay.

So what predictions do you want to start with, Jess? Let's do the awards first. I think that'll be the best thing to run down. All right. on wednesday we talked a little about the stanley cup let's start there who's your stanley cup prediction who wants to go first uh i'll go first um i have predicted uh this team would make the stanley cup final and i think it was back-to-back years except for last year carolina hurricanes i have the carolina hurricanes last year was about a really good team finally

getting over the hump that was colorado they had this weird second round hump this year it's going to be carolina that finally does it okay but who's in the finals isn't that the question no stanley cup oh yeah no let's let's we can do the finals who are they playing who's coming out of the west oh that's an interesting one we're gonna we're gonna go all glittery fun it's gonna be carolina versus vegas oh i like that i like that a lot jesse what about you i got the new rangers to the surprise of everyone what i think the uh new york rangers are going to come out of the east it's going to be a hard-fought battle between them and boston and tampa and toronto but eventually igor will prevail panarin will pot so many goals and zabinijad will raise his arm

like merrick malik and take the new york rangers to the stanley cup final and out of the west who will they defeat i think it'll be probably either winnipeg or edmonton pick one what i think you're out of your mind i'm gonna tell you right now i have picked one winnipeg jets hey all right jessica the stanley cup final everybody um it's gonna be a battle of the two goalies who are probably the top two in the league um no disrespect to soros and sorokin and all the other great goalies but hellebuck versus sturkin in the stanley cup final that's what i'm thinking is happening i i think uh i think you guys are both crazy to write off the the abs this early they have been unhealthy and i grant you that uh but they're still the abs and

they're still going to be healthy and uh or at least they're going to be healthy enough i think nathan mckinnon being back they're going to make some sort of big trade you know that's going to happen they need that extra second line center they need that they still they already have one but they need they need like another another person of cadre's skill level uh and they're gonna do it joe sackick's gonna do it um so the abs are going in the west and in the east another team that's going to have a big trade deadline is boston and this is it it's the last ride boston's going all the way to the show uh the big show anyway and and i think and i hate betting against the leafs but i i do think the boston bruins are so good this year and this is

it i hate this division bro i hate it i hate it also but it's true when you take a look at this and you're like trying to predict and everything you realize how much deeper right now the east is than the west yeah it's not it's not even fair right now there's uh chasm this year that hasn't been there in years past yeah it used to be the other way around yes all the time all those california teams when they were strong and now they're all weak ish so except for la yeah they're yeah sure all right next award we are gonna do art ross this should be the easiest award in the world my pick is connor mcdavid uh can you explain that's uh i don't care connor mcdavid uh yeah yeah connor mcdavid all right heart trophy this one's a little trickier connor

mcdavid oh i think just because there was so much noise about him early on jason robertson there was so much noise excuse me about jason robertson winning the heart yeah you think he's gonna win the heart trophy yeah over conor mcdavid over conor mcdavid the season that conor mcdavid's having because everyone when they vote on the heart trophy they go okay who other than conor mcdavid can i give this to we've seen it happen yeah more than we saw them we saw them do it with taylor hall yes it should have that should have been conor mcdavid's trophy uh conor mcdavid's gonna put up like 60 goals conor mcdavid is the oh what are you talking about he's art ross and heart baby what are you talking about it's your first time watching the

league my pick for the heart trophy is conor mcdavid all right now this one i think is a little more interesting okay rocket richard who you got steve jason robertson i think that's a good one i think jason roberts is gonna i'm gonna go a little by nick i'm gonna go a little off the board here i'm gonna say tage thompson ah you stole my pick uh because just because tage has been so dominant it's not dallas fans are gonna be like what you don't like jason robertson of course i like jason robertson but tage thompson is the only guy on buffalo they can regularly score anyway so he's gonna get a lot of opportunity to do it and the way he's been playing with using his body to just dominate teams in a way we haven't seen in years yeah tage thompson

man desi tage thompson is my pick as well i think because like you said he's the only one doing the scoring for for buffalo that he could just muster his way to maybe a rocket richard this season unless conor mcdavid keeps it up because his pace has been absolutely absurd it's been at a 70 goal pace all year it's not going to keep up maybe it will who knows but i think tage passes them uh they're very close right now i think he edges them out at the end of the season all right this one very there's not a clear front runner at all I don't think Norris trophy there isn't this is the one that

I put the the most research into so the Norris trophy is based on points it's based on how many people actually watch you and it's based on reputation yeah Eric Carlson is having an absurd season He's already got, uh, at the time we're recording this 42 points, which means he's on pace for like 90. Um, but everyone knows he's not good at defense. So, and also the Sharks are likely, very likely are not going to make the playoffs.

Rasmus Dahlin is in there as well. The Sabres are probably not going to make the playoffs. They might. And that I think changes the conversation. so to me if we're getting rid of non-playoff teams and we're doing reputation i'm going adam fox oh interesting adam fox i think he's fifth right now fourth or fifth in uh defensive scoring and i believe he's won it before he has and uh people love a reputation pick there's another guy who you guys might pick and i just don't think he's gonna get it he definitely doesn't

have the reputation but like you said a lot of this is a which defenseman scores the most points you know that they leads to that and then this player is also pretty good defensively unlike eric carlson so i think we default to the defenseman who's going to put up the most points and is decent defensively which is winnipeg jets is joshua morris oh man he's been great we're gonna see if there was a most improved trophy he'd probably win it yeah well i don't know why they don't have one all the other sports all the other sports have them um i think we're gonna see a winnipeg jets team that's gonna finish very high in the standings very high in the western conference either one or two or three top three somewhere in there they're gonna win their division and

joshua morrissey is gonna be a standout breakout candidate for this season and if he is top three top two in points maybe he passes eric carlson i don't know how you don't give him the norris trophy for a team that builds prides itself on a great defensive game yeah i i don't agree or disagree with either of your picks guys i mean kale mccarr you still have to have in there as a potential he's kale mccarr all the time but i'm gonna go off the board uh with a guy who also is not getting really his due and and he's not gonna get listen i'll be full on with you i don't think he's gonna win this but i definitely think he should and that's rasmus dolly wow rasmus dolly who is third in defensive scoring right now in the nhl on a team that isn't very good and uh

has finally started to become the player that we all kind of thought he was going to be. This is probably not the year. This is probably the Norris setup year, but to be different and to give a guy some spotlight who deserves it, Rasmus Dahlien has been unbelievable. Too many penalty minutes to get the Norris, you think?

Too many penalty minutes. Oh, man. Another guy who could probably be up for most improved player. Yes. Honestly. Yeah, no question. No question.

Next one, Jesse. Calder Trophy. Ooh. This one I think is easy. Yeah. i'm interested what your answer is uh mr maddie benears interesting okay i think he's gonna lead all rookies and score and he's on a very good team the seattle kraken very surprised good um i don't know how mad benears gets it like who else is competing with him who you got great

question adam who do you got all benears i a colper fetty i guess you could throw in there too but but i i i think maddie benears i think i know where steve's going and i think he he's a close i shouldn't say nobody's competing with him because this guy's second and it's it's not a too far off second i think you're both completely wrong uh i mean when your team is one of the best in the league and you're their starting goalie you have to go with logan thompson it's not it's not bad at all you have to go look i think there's going to be some marks against logan thompson not that it's fair because he has such a great team in front of him i think people are going to look at maddie been years ago he's actually leading the team whereas logan thompson a lot of people

I would, I think, see him as he's very, very, he's been great. He's been a great surprise. They're thrilled about it. But he also does have a great team in front of him. The Golden Knights don't need to be good this year. Like, they, when it was announced Robin Leonard wasn't going to be their goalie, it's like, oh, they might

stink. They don't have a friggin' goalie. No, they need to be good every year. That's their owner down. That's their ethos. I mean, like, they don't need to be good based on expectation. Like, we were all like, oh, yeah, but they don't have a goalie. Well, they do. And it's Logan Thompson, the rookie. okay all right um i don't know about that one but it's close it's close like he's i think he's

second but i don't think he edges out maddie veneers also yanni gourd adam leading the team what are you talking about maddie veneers well no but he's like i mean is yanni gourd the driving the offense in the same way that maddie veneers like maddie veneers is pure offense yanni gourd is not the same in that regard he's driving the christmas suit vibes Not that, yeah, listen, if people are going to take me wrong here, Matty Beniers' ceiling in terms of points scored over his career, I'm yelling at the comment section before we even have one, is much higher than Yanni Gord's. Can we agree on that? I just like Yanni Gord. I'm exhausted. I just don't want you to disrespect him. And Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle and Andre Berkoski, who actually leads the team in scoring. But Matty Beniers right now, as we are recording, is third in the team in scoring.

Guy's kid. His kid's amazing. Eberle and Berkovsky yeah he's having a fantastic year I don't know Steve I don't know Steve you gotta probably give him that we touched on this a little as well I think we all gave our picks and you can bet that but let's just get them out there officially Jack Adams trophy right oh boy I put money on Sheldon Keefe that doesn't mean I think he's gonna win I got Jimmy Jimmy Monty Burns that's my pick I think what boss is doing is unbelievable you know he's a brand new coach i see i agree with you but i also think boston was is is a far

more talented team than a team like the jets yes and what rick boness has done in there and completely changed the culture that was supposed to be poisonous and these guys hated each other and the two-star players didn't want to be there and they're stripping their captain who they tried to try to trade this summer and all of a sudden they're this good man i don't know i think you gotta give them that you know what i think you sold me rick bonus people don't pay attention to the jets enough but that was a big dramatic story last year they're listen ultimately it comes down to a race between two guys who were supposed to be on teams that were taking a step backward 100 the bruins because of injury and age the jets because no one seemed to enjoy being

a jet and both teams are doing great i'm gonna give it to boness just for the story and poor lindy the guy who goes on a 15 game win streak and we're like nah fuck off man those those fans threw those drinks onto the ice and they threw all their playoff hopes out the window. No, stop it. Stop it. It's a really good pick because a lot of the reason that the Jets are playing

the way they are is because of his structure and what he's brought to the organization. The players haven't really changed. From what it was last year to this year, it's not the players, it's how they're playing and the effort they're giving on the defensive end especially. And that's on Rick. Who was the guy that even filled in for, who was the guy

that took over after Paul Maurice? but what even was his name laurie dave laurie was it dave laurie was dave laurie like not a fit like look at what this guy like they say changed you know coaches mean you know all coaches don't mean that much or whatever uh man they really really for sure do i think they do next up who makes the biggest splash at the trade deadline what team who goes for it uh i gotta who sends two first round picks for nothing so i gotta i gotta go with the team that um you know what all the phones went out on day two of the draft and this team uh wasn't bothered because they didn't need them uh because they didn't have any picks the colorado avalanche

yeah we already know they're willing to sell the absolute farm to do this um i think there's missing one or two picks from this year um even though they didn't pick last year at all but we're forgetting how many prospects they also have they still have a glut of guys who they got either directly from or as a result of the matt duchesne trade every everything must go everything that's not tied down my answer is easy it's boston they always go out and get the best person at the trade deadline they always go out and get the who's the guy that's available okay that's the guy we want taylor hall and rick nash and uh i mean the charlie quill pickup i always talk about like a holy shit wow pickup hampus lindholm last year um you know they they always go out and spend

at the deadline and this is the deadline for them to spend this is the deadline for this team this is it so i think if you're boston who cares fire them all into the sun go get go load up become like a transformer where you literally add cars to your arms and legs to power up beforehand. Honestly, I think awesome. They're going to be great Boston Bruins, man.

This trade deadline is going to be exclusively Boston and Colorado. I don't know how you guys didn't pick the biggest spectacle on earth, the greatest show in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights. All their glittery, shiny things. They're going to go out and they're going to have with what money? They're going to have

a top one or two or three team in the western conference and they're gonna say hey we are vegas and all we do is move bodies to try and get more better bodies yep that is all they're gonna do and i think going into the trade deadline we're gonna see them go chase after whatever big fish is there because they're vegas and they don't care that you've been here for an hour we're gonna move you because there's somebody else who might be better most teams uh would be too afraid to end phil kessel's uh iron man street with a healthy scratch vegas will do that in a heartbeat no yeah and not even apologize you're like oh mark stone signed for five years they're like i don't know maybe we just trade him get somebody else yep william carrie like everybody loves uh

jonathan marsh or so what if we just traded him what if we just did whatever it took yeah and i think like if there's a real opportunity because the west is a lot weaker than the east here that they can come out of the west very easily and make it to another stanley cup final and if adding a couple more pieces plus they have their first round pick package that with one of their stars to get a bigger star vegas is doing it they have so much ltir too yeah shea weber robin letter zach white cloud brett howden and nolan patrick like and i think most of those guys or at least three of those guys may never play again um it's they have three and a half million dollars right now on in ltir space i guess they could do it but they are also believe it or not they're the 96

they're the highest paying team this year overall 96 million bucks not surprised not surprised at all that's right and like injuries happen if an injury happens and it frees up more ltir space like or more lti space like they're just gonna go and spend it and there's no salary cap in the playoffs folks remember that exactly what all right we did jack adams we did trade deadline let's do something negative oh first head coach to be fired who gets handed the pink slip first what was the year we went and no head coach was fired during the season oh that was two 2019 i want to say it was right before covid 18 19 i think yeah that was crazy but then somebody got fired on the last day yeah their season ended but the season was still going on yeah it was like

they're 82 and the next game's other teams were playing and they were fired so i think it kind of it doesn't count but who gets fired bruce budro bruce budro um that's not a bad pick and i know that's sort of obvious there's other ones in there that i'd like to pick because i think that they should go but bruce is the obvious one rutherford didn't want him anyway so didn't hire him didn't want him the only reason they're keeping him right now is because travis green's contract is they're still paying for him and they now have to pay for bruce budro as well and the team sucks so you know you got to think it's at some point they're going to be like okay well we'll just bite the bullet there's one there's half a year left on both of these deals

you know what i i think this could double down as my bold prediction oh because there's who gets fired coaches of disappointing teams yes right also coaches of teams whose management think they're doing a pretty good job and like i was thinking dallas eakins just because of the effort level of the Ducks. The Ducks don't care that they're bad. They're going for Bedard. The Blackhawks don't care they're bad. Most of the bad teams in the league, they don't really care they're bad.

This team spent a fortune this past summer. They moved heaven and earth to get better and they have gotten nothing but worse. Daryl Sutter. Oh. Oh. Shit. But he's a favorite of the owner.

Murray Edwards loves Daryl Sutter. No one likes wasting money. I went out this offseason, I got this guy, I got that guy, I got that guy. People thought, despite all odds, we got better. You disappointed me in the playoffs, and now you're disappointing me in the regular season. I wonder if he's gone. Jesse, what do you got? I don't know if I'm certain this is going to happen, but I think there's an inkling that it could.

You might not be wrong either. Peter Laviolette in Washington, in the Capitals. if this team because they're in they're in a mode where they need to go for it all the time their their gm has said it their president has said it their owner said it as long as alexander ovechkin is here we are trying to win and they are not winning right now no and what do nhl teams do when they're not winning they fire their head coach in hopes that that sparks the locker room i think there's a good chance if the washington capitals are sitting outside of a playoff spot come late january early february you just see them try and do something to spark the team

and you get rid of mr peter laviolette oh easily the best story in the nhl is if barry trotz goes back oh wouldn't that be storyline set for you that's so it's not happening but imagine he's probably still mad at them for not giving him just a couple hundred grand more yeah it was stanley he's right like are you kidding me also they should have resigned him the year before that's when they pissed him off it was the summer before his deal expired yep and then he's like fuck you i'm gonna win the cup and leave yeah and he did um okay so we've got that one done let's do a uh let's do a couple more surprises so let's do biggest surprise to miss the playoffs who you got

missing the playoffs and be like oh my god Calgary Flames if they if they can't pull it together I believe in the

Calgary Flames but I don't believe in the system that they're playing the other thing that you know I was watching them the other day

and Ryan Leslie brought up a really good point and he said that the problem seems to be finish and you look at

the Calgary Flames and you see finish like people from Finland no no like finish as in like

they finish to play and score a goal guys um the they have a bunch of playmakers right huberto's a playmaker cadre's a playmaker lynn holmes a playmaker none of those guys are like you know grim reaper scores like oh fuck we're gonna this guy's definitely scoring on us tonight i think the calgary flames have all the talent in the world but it might just be a little bit too much of the what do they call it uh in you know remember the little uh things you'd get in nhl where it's like there's this person's a playmaker a plr or something like that yeah yeah this is too much plr not enough sco so that's that's my pick uh i can go next steve because it looks like you're

still looking for yeah please go next i think i think this is an easy one i think i'm i'm doing a i'm performing a layup here st louis blues yeah yeah the st louis blues always have high expectations um they're always trying to contend they're not definitely not in rebuild mode but But I think it's fair to say they don't have it this year. It doesn't seem to be clicking. They haven't been able to put together a consistent stretch of winning hockey. And you look at things like their goal differential and how they're playing defense and their goaltending isn't there, Mr. Jordan Binnington.

I don't think the St. Louis Blues are a playoff team. The West, when you have LA and Seattle sneaking in there, there aren't enough playoff spots available, especially if a team like Calgary, who they expect to contend if they try and get in there as well there's not there aren't eight spots that the blues can uh get into so i think they're gonna miss the playoffs and it's not gonna be a happy time they have a goaltending situation they gotta figure out better has been better lately but i think you know they do miss billy husso for sure yeah they had a good one-two tandem when they were both working and it's not there anymore and they don't they don't have the goal scoring goal scoring is not there for st louis

i'm torn i'm torn there's one from our predictions video from before the season so i was higher on the bruins than you guys and i was right about that and then there was another team i was much higher on who has just not been good at all and that's the nashville predators um i don't know if you would say they're a surprise because they're behind both the teams that you guys mentioned so i'm gonna go with another team because you mentioned a team that is currently out of a playoff spot at the time we're recording this and you mentioned a team that is also out of a playoff spot at the time we're recording this so i'll say a team that's in a playoff spot, the Edmonton Oilers.

You think they're going to miss? What? They're like one point back. Oh, my God. They're one point up right now. Potter McDavid missing the playoffs at this point in his career? I don't believe it. Adam's basement is always so cold, but right now, it got real hot.

Yeah, it sure did. They are in a similar mold. Oh, I know. But they're in a similar mold to so many teams. If they make the playoffs, no one in their right mind bets against them because they have an actual fairy tale God Thor Ragnarok monster, um, on their team and Connor McDavid. True.

I was talking about dry side, uh, but, uh, the, the struggle in the regular season, man, they really struggle in the regular season. They struggle to get stops. They struggle to defend anything. They struggle to consistently, uh, play in a way that the fan base can be satisfied with. Yeah. ah you know what you guys pick two teams not in the playoff spot i'm picking one that is fuck it there you go there you go it's an oiler's not making the play wow one they're one point up

at the time that's a steve where are you from canada what part of canada scarborough no eastern bias are you a toronto media person no which means you automatically lie just ask people in edmonton in arizona you know what none of us yeah fuck when did arizona get lumped in there the truth none of us from you eastern canadian canadian media man to sink entire nhl franchises with your podcast maybe i should have said the team that won the president's trophy last year the florida panthers honestly that's a good pick too i don't think that'll be a surprise i mean it's a bit of a shock they did like they scored 100 or they had 126 points last year as a team If I'm not mistaken, they gave up an unprotected

first-round pick for Ben Chirac. And this is not the year to do that shit. So that could be a big problem. That's a big one. Let's flip-side jersey that question. Biggest surprise to make the playoffs? I'm going to go real quick. I think this is an

easy one. They are really in a playoff spot. They're going to cement their playoff spot heading into the end, back half of the season, the Seattle Kraken. i think they hold on to that spot they're a lot i'm yeah i have to admit when i'm wrong and they are a lot better than i thought they'd be i thought they were because garbage everything they displayed in that first season it was it was bad bad goaltending defense was like and then no scoring i've never seen a team not be able to score goals like the inaugural year

seattle kraken and this year things have kind of flipped they've been playing good defense they get timely scoring maddie benears as we mentioned is a star in the making and i think the seattle crack can hold on to their playoff spot and they make the playoff i don't think i don't think they'll go deep but i think they'll make new jersey devils um i think that obviously yes listen they have they have been amazing for most of this year but to to be honest with you outside of new jersey who was like yeah devils woohoo there were some people who were saying don't sleep on them but did anyone think they were this good no nobody did not even new devils fans and you know it um so i want to say what a pleasant surprise new jersey has been um and it's kind of fun to see

and you know as of this recording they're on they just snapped a bit of a losing streak but i think how can you not go with the devils who were so fucking bad last year and they used eight goalies and all of them had a save percentage under 880 i don't i don't know how the goaltending was so They're one of the coldest teams in the NHL right now And they're still like 9 points up And it's genuinely a surprise If they end up in one of those top spots In the playoffs

I'm really I'm struggling with this one I'm torn between two teams And one of them Is higher up And has a stellar home record Which is why I think you might be wrong About the coach getting fired

The Washington Capitals They're out of a playoff spot right now But they're one of the hottest teams in the league They have a stellar home record Which means their coach is able to At least do his job at home And the other team that I want to say Just because we all

As soon as they went on their Annual November dip We said that's them, they're gone They stink Meanwhile they have 7 wins out of their last 10 Buffalo Sabres Look at the Buffalo Sabres goal differential in comparison to the league where do they sit uh this what that's crazy the sabers are a plus

18 that is that's a top 18 crazy level goal difference crazy there are what one two three four there are only four teams in the east with a higher goal differential than the buffalo sabers it's unreal the hurricanes who are first place in the metro are a plus 14 what they're they're getting real unlucky in some of these losses the buffalo sabers have been a lot better than people realize this season that's wild and the thing working against them is they have a below 500 home record but wow wow if they had a little like if they had a little better goaltending and maybe some more defense and like overall score like i'm naming i'm naming every part of their lineup a little more scoring a little more defense a little a little more goaltending

buffalo sabers are like right on the cusp that's a very good pick yeah maybe they belong where they are but um i think people uh slept on them after they they did their annual dip and everyone went ah that's what they are don't look behind you you might find the sabers hey think you know which way it's gonna go make your bet at sports interaction whatever your sport sports interaction as you covered pregame live betting on all major sports and of course prop bets who doesn't love those want to bet head to sports interaction.com slash sdpn 19 plus please play responsibly who finishes last and then who wins the lottery uh the team that finishes last is the chicago blackhawks they're like beyond not even trying the ducks at very least have like young talent

worth fostering the blackhawks are just they they traded for peter marazic on purpose come on they're not even trying that was my pick as well i think the chicago blackhawks are doing the best job at tanking i've credited kyle davidson with this many times he is if your job is to suck he is sucking the hardest yeah uh blackhawks are going to finish 32nd um now guys i i the ducks are the blackhawks are super bad like they are the only nhl team right now with a win percentage under 300 it starts with a two starts with a two oh my never seen it like that but points percentage but i want i do want to point you in the direction of the ducks i would have said columbus a couple weeks ago because they are fucking terrible i i i can't believe like i knew columbus wasn't

going to make the playoffs i didn't know they were this fucking bad they're so bad they don't have like any nhl talent no they don't and also like warinski's out and like you know all that stuff but to me watching the ducks play and this is why i got so mad at the leafs when they lost them early in the year the ducks don't play bad they play depressing and yeah you know like sometimes loveless oh yeah like they died you saw dallas eakins his face like some ducks fans actually thought i was defending him the other day and i was like i don't know i don't know what's defensible there guys he's get me the fuck out of here yeah he's like he's i said he's had the worst luck with terrible talent teams which he has but those teams have always played like

shit under him and this is no joke i i i look at as of this recording the anaheim ducks are 31 in the league chicago blackhawks 32 the ducks are up three points on the blackhawks the blackhawks have three games to play now there's no guarantee the blackhawks get a win in those three games because they're terrible they're so bad but i gotta say man uh if we're gonna pick someone other than chicago the anaheim ducks are um they're the worst movie you've ever seen they're terrible the ducks are three six and one in their last ten the blackhawks are one and nine wow plus eight straight every time the ducks step on the ice you're like the other team is better than them every single every time it's just so it's you watch it like any person who's watched

any kind of hockey to see oh the other team is better yeah and that's not good yeah like it's it's awful awful hockey they're playing what i think gives the blackhawks the edge is they're bad and they're gonna get worse yeah like they're trading guys oh yeah let's let's get to that then um so i'm gonna name players do we do the draft lottery part oh yeah okay let's do that as well I think Chicago finishes last. They lose the lottery. Arizona gets it. Oh, they have to get it.

Conor Bedard. Too perfect. Conor Bedard to the Arizona Coyotes. Yeah. That's my pick. What do you think? Then he gets to make like two NHL debuts, like his actual NHL debut, and then the first game in Tempe.

Eight years from now. Yeah. Easily maximum chaos lottery winner, Vancouver Canucks. oh i like that absolute maximum chaos no team is more head or chicken with their head cut off right now and no team will double down on what they're already doing more than the vancouver canucks it'll be so fun the blackhawks are gonna get it guys uh the nhl needs chicago to do well um and the blackhawks are gonna get the number one overall pick this year no they don't what are you suggesting they rig it no i'm not saying i'm not if they did rig it the

smart thing would have been to give conor mcdavid to the leave so i don't believe that they rig it but i think chicago chicago is is for sure getting this one yeah i know the penguins were about to move and then they got sydney crosby yep like it's not right that might might have been right we're gonna sell that team and then there was some phony other kind of lottery yeah they went after the lockout and you should you should if you don't know as a fan what happened after that lockout where the with a panther sorry the penguins got crosby you should look it up it's pretty fucking if it happened today with social media oh my god you can can you imagine however he did save the penguins there they've won cups i'm happy for him three there you go next one uh well i'll

keep going to what we're saying piggybacking off the blackhawks i'm gonna name players and we are going to name where they are going to finish their season on what team oh i like this start with the Blackhawks? Let's start with Patrick Kane. Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh my god, please, god no. I think it's going to be the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don't. You don't think so? No, I don't think

he fits what they're trying to do. I keep, the thing people keep saying is him and Matthews want to play together. You know what? I don't know. I have no idea how they would make this work financially, but he feels like a perfect fit for Vegas. Oh,

doesn't he though? You're right. I have no idea how they would make that work. You're right. And I'm not going to bother putting too much research into how they would make that work. It's Vegas. Who cares? You guys are both wrong. What is it? The New York Rangers. Oh, the biggest American star goes to New York.

I can see it. Jonathan Taves. Winnipeg Jets. I did this previous episode a couple weeks ago. I think he's going to the Jets. Winnipeg Jets. It makes sense. I'll go through it on that. And I like that. I think he seems like a great fit there for a team that

needs like a defined leader who's one yeah i think i mean they're they're a great team pretty hard to team or pretty hard team to beat up the middle oh yeah at him and he plays defense which other forwards there do not so that i like that yeah you take the burden off them yeah yeah you're plugging in taves to your third line center yeah like that's incredible even fourth to start man they've got a lot of talent yeah put them on the wing for god's sake bo horvat colorado oh he ends up in colorado the perfect nasm cadre replacement push new hook down or put him on the wing he just he makes that team instantly more formidable bull horvat the least won't give up what they need to give up to get a guy like bull horvat she's not gonna have it's

not in kyle dubas's nature unless he's a third line right wing grinder named nick felino um that one time dubas did it he got burned and he's never done it again and what team's he on now fucking boston that's right that's right i think leafs are gonna run into nick felino in the playoffs it's gonna be awful i gotta look here for a second because i want to know of the playoff teams who's having trouble scoring right i didn't mean to do that what are you doing i don't know what steve was actually i'm not did you push about you pushed a button okay one team that kind of intrigues me because they seem willing to fire everything into the sun all the time are the florida panthers and they need goal scoring uh they need to make

the playoffs they need to play defense too they need to play defense but uh the the florida panthers need to make the playoffs they make a lot of sense for a guy like that because i think they're just off and i feel like they need a guy to come in there and go hey isn't this fucking great we play hockey in florida and then all the guys all the rest of guys in the room go you're right we do how amazing is that we can go golfing after this this is incredible I think Bo Horvat makes a lot of sense In Florida based on the run and gun style they play And he's responsible and he's a great leader

And he's a heck of a lot better spend You know In terms of a deadline pickup rather than like Giroux Or Sherrod which is what they did last year They do not If I'm not mistaken have a first round Pick until 2026 Well they'll have to figure something out

My pick is Vegas for many of the reasons that we've run down I think Vegas goes after Horvat and they get him JT Miller vancouver vancouver vancouver i don't think i get jvr oh not toronto though that'd be great you know what florida yeah florida makes sense florida i think that makes some sense carolina but does he play a brendamore style oh yeah you think so oh yeah 100 they'd shelter him so much yeah i know but do they need it they need over the top production okay they're always

solid and steady you shelter him you put him on your power i wondered about horvat and carolina too that was one that i was thinking like that'd be dangerous unfair john klingberg oh i got one ottawa senators you know what and i still think they missed the playoff oh yeah yeah yeah that's my pick klingberg plus an extension makes sense oh yeah right like if they could work because that's what he wants yeah and otto was like we need something god please help us yeah and he's the same that he's the same player as shabbat is he not essentially like they so where are you gonna find the time for that and not that they compete for the power play spot yeah but i don't know i think i think i think ottawa wants a defenseman so badly

that they don't even think about it. You know, it's kind of like an irrational move where it's like, John Klingberg's available. And they just go take it from Anaheim. So, okay, then on that track, I think Klingberg goes to Edmonton because they're looking for a defenseman, something fierce right now,

and they're willing to give up a ton for not a lot. And I don't think Klingberg would cost as much as some of the people that have been floated there. And they don't seem to care the type of defenseman that they get. They just need another warm body who can move the puck. And actually, I feel like he would be a better fit in Edmonton. A puck-moving defenseman like Klingberg,

they got guys that can rough you up and that sort of thing. I think Klingberg, he makes a lot more sense than some of the names I've seen. There are two teams currently in a playoff spot who have a sub-20% power play. Shockingly, the Carolina Hurricanes. That's weird. And the New Jersey Devils.

Really? I'll say the Devils. Interesting. With Dougie Hamilton there. I just think he fits the way that they play hockey. And then you'd have a right side Of Hamilton, Klingberg Severson

You're moving a lot of pucks I like that Last one Jacob Chikorin Ottawa Just shut up and kiss I don't think Edmonton's Going to get him, I think it's going to be Ottawa

Shut up and kiss My pick is the Arizona Coyotes I don't think they get it done this year i think it's more of an off season thing or next year's he's been real good as good as advertised like i was tired to hear it about him because i'm like listen he hasn't played a game in months and he's currently playing the best hockey of his career go figure this one is where does he start next season david postardock boston i think he i think he re-signs in boston they're gonna have lots of cap space he seems

like the guy kind of guy too that um like he's the one that carries the torch along with marsh into the next generation of ruins yeah and is willing to go through a couple lean years to do it yeah they've won a lot they've won a lot of games and and i feel like pasternak it just it wouldn't it feel weird it was like seeing johnny boy chuck not as a bruin for the first time i was like this is weird this is wrong this doesn't feel right i i think i think he's a bruin too i don't think he stays or i don't think he would want to go almost feels like he should be getting more award consideration yes considering how good he's been and how good the team is the correct answer is the la kings

the right side that the right side is kempe trevor moore uh kaliev and then balardi right and trevor moore sucks what he's actually really good i'm just i'm just giving like a hard time i think you find a way to slot passion knock into that lineup for a team that i don't i'm not saying they're desperate for scoring all of these years, but they've never been the highest scoring team. They found other ways to win. I think Pasternak is exactly what the Kings need

depending on how this playoff run goes for them, and I can see them signing it. I'll tell you why I love that idea. It would take away their cap space for Matthews. Ah, that's true. Matthews to the Coyotes? No. Stop. Matthews to

the Bruins? I think it's the Leafs, Kings, or bust. You don't think New York I think Rangers are going to be in on that Yeah I think they'll be bidding I think every team should be bidding Okay Let's finish this out Super Bowl predictions

Oh Starting with Steve Well you know I mean who's Better at football Than Josh Allen Oh right He's a big football Player who's good at football

and he's going to put the rest of the NFL through a table and this is the year the Buffalo Bills finally become the Buffalo Bills and win. Allen's going to pass it to, what's his name? Stephon Diggs. For sure, Stephon Diggs. Or Dawson Knox. Who's the other one?

Dawson Knox. Dawson Knox. Gabe Dave. That's a real name. Gabe Dave. His name's Gabriel Davis. Gabriel Davis. Gabe Dave.

um uh and uh vincent dorst it's like made up yeah that was not bad i like this little bills i like this one a lot you know who are they playing oh let's see if he gets one in the nfc let's see if he can pick an nfc pick an nfc team steve just pick one uh is this when they collide josh allen and joe burrow No, that's an AFC team. Fuck, wrong conference. Then probably the Rams, I bet. They're not going to make the playoffs.

Not going to make the playoffs. Yeah, you got to get one. You did pick an NFC team, though. We got to give them that. We got to give them that. But they're not going to. This is my favorite thing. Steve talking about football.

It's like, that's. Cardinals. They're not going to make the playoffs. You got to pick a playoff team. Texans. nope the cowboys there you go that's a good cowboys bills that could happen cowboys bills man okay jesse i love this question because first off i love the way the divisions work in the nfl um currently tom brady of course is top of his division and his winning percentage is 429

the bucks are six and eight the steelers are also six and eight and they're bottom of their division it's hilarious uh the way hilarious the way it all works but i think i think it's gonna be buffalo and it comes down for me to the eagles or the vikings in the nfc uh because i know the cowboys are like the toronto maple leaves they're gonna go get odell they're gonna go get what was that defensive guy that they're talking about joining it anyway what endorsed is it vincent norris dutch vanderley they're gonna go get dutch hey dutch um they're they're they're uh they the cowboys will crumble under their own pressure yep as they always do always do that stephen

smith will walk around with a cigar and a cowboy hat on which i love and um i think i think it's gonna be i want it to be minnesota buffalo because i want it to be like the ice pool i want it to be two fucking winter teams who could forget two also like not a real thing oh those are those are two hurt franchises those are two devastating teams that can't win anything yes you know having them both in the super bowl neither of them are gonna win like it's gonna be it's gonna be like a tie yeah it's gonna be amazing i can't wait it's a great thing about sports so fellas someone's gotta win right exactly thank you steve you're right man you're right um I think the San Francisco 49ers and the NFC do something crazy with...

So they're currently running their third string quarterback. And they're really good. It's crazy. And his name is Brock Purdy. Shut up. Tell them where he was drafted. Brock Purdy is famous for being the last pick in the draft. Wow.

He was the last in his draft class year. He was the last pick that year. And now he's currently starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He's the only starting QB to go last overall to start a game ever. and he's he's been playing really well because the offense is so good that he just needs to manage the game not fuck up and he's been doing a great job at that and i think like their defense is great and their running game is spectacular with christian mccaffrey that they can uh get to the super bowl but i think they lose two three of us got them buffalo bill that's right i want

the bills to win for all the bills fans that i know i'm a stealer fan but how can you not cheer for the bills yeah being from the gta like yeah there's so many bills fans here absolutely unbelievable yeah you know you really know nothing about football like you don't it doesn't factor in your life at all what's the line the line you turned out every year i watch one super bowl a year no i watch one tom brady game a year the super bowl yeah you said that for 10 years straight and you've been right every time all right um we got a two more we're doing nba finals prediction You know a little about basketball Oh man

I do You know What was the final score of the Nets Warriors game The other day I was like 148-119 Or something stupid Fuck, because I like the Warriors

But they got absolutely Killed um with basketball i find you often just go with the obvious answer so probably celtics and uh is it memphis what are you talking about it's um the uh in the west yeah curtain uh it's the nuggets grizzlies pelicans which which seems john moran on again he's on the grizzlies he's on the yeah Yeah, I go with them. Okay.

Are you a John Moran fan? John Moran's awesome. Big fan. Yeah, he's a cool dude. You made me doubt myself for a second. I was like, it's him, right? I don't know, man. It's like we saw Boston play the Raptors the other day,

and Boston is very good. They are so good. And they just turned it on and the game was done. Yeah. Yeah, but, you know, again, I'm going to go with a team that's already won, and it's a league of superstars. The reality for me is that Boston doesn't have a player like Giannis.

and milwaukee is ahead of boston oh i'm adam wild i talked to yannis's agent all of a sudden i love milwaukee yeah you should check it out on agent provocateur his name's alex saratsis the guy's really interesting i'm gonna bet on the team with the most octagon clients yeah that's right that's right noted alan saratsis client yannis atena koopa um we're gonna make t-shirts um and i i mean i want i want the pelicans to do it i want the pelicans to be in the finals I don't know why I've got a bit of a soft spot It's mostly because of Zion There's just something about the Pelicans

That I've always liked and they've never put it together Quite like this But they're third in the conference He's one of the most visually unintentionally Funny athletes of all time And I can't help but cheer for him No you gotta cheer for that guy Who walks like that?

He's a professional athlete? What? No he's unreal No one jumps like him either No one moves like him you can't him and bull bull i've never seen another human being look like bull bull does oh that's a that's a freak of nature yeah he is and he's dead yeah yeah it looks like his dad yeah yeah you're right victor women yama looks kind of like that too just he's just he's gonna change sports like if he if he lives up to the potential that he could be uh when banyan is

gonna be insane i can't wait yeah it's gonna be so i can't wait to see him suit up for the raptors um shut up hopefully not the raptors are that would be bad stop it um okay last one uh my pick would be um the bucks i love the bucks as well i think yannis can come out of the east even though the nets look crazy good right now durant's back like full strength so they might upset the bucks but and then the west our boy kawaii leonard really very injured right now he's only playing part-time like he's playing like every other game and like a couple minutes uh off the bench and that sort of stuff championship formula that's what he does hopefully by the end of the year if he's healthy and him and paul george are running that clippers team is very good and

very deep and i think they can come out of the west you're gonna bet for paul george in the playoffs yeah playoffs paul george right next to him kawaii letter okay yeah i can break all that okay okay and the clippers the most tortured friend if we're talking about tortured franchises getting championships the bills and the clippers are right one two man like even when they have a good summer kawaii is like sorry i can't play yeah like it's just oh you feel for them like leafs fans like we have championships i guess like those teams don't yeah imagine imagine the montreal canadians were called the toronto canadians and the leafs had to play in the same city as them and they then they win championship after championship after championship

statues for of your rival of your toronto canadians you play in the same building And you've won nothing And you get the home games that they didn't want Like you get the dates that we didn't feel like They're like oh we gotta move you For a Taylor Swift concert Nobody cares about you Oh my god

Clippers it sucks to be a fan Last two questions I forgot this one We're gonna guess Connor McDavid's final point total Closest to Gets a prize at the end of the season 134

what's the prize we have to determine that oh okay okay $5,000 okay from who we'll find it I'm confident I'm gonna win I have to be because I can't afford that

we take the equity out of Adam's house okay I don't own this house, I rent this house figure it the fuck out it's not our problem I say 160 so here, he's got 65 in 34 let me do some quick math

that's so dumb by the way so let's assume he plays all 82 games he is currently it's Christmas, at the time we're recording this on pace for 156.7 points wow What was his number last year?

Not that. It was less. He was on pace for over 180 points through the first six weeks of the season, something stupid like that. So I have him dropping, but still 134 would give him the best offensive season of the last since like Yager probably. Oh, Jason Robertson, though. They're going to win the Hart Trophy.

Yep. uh so steve 134 134 i believe kutrov has the cap era record of 132 160 once oh my god wow you think he's gonna go up yeah he's going up he's going to maintain and increase his point yeah because the others are going to get better holy shit yep and now is it closest to without going over or closest to closest to close oh fuck i was just gonna say 134 and then i get everything in between but that's not how that works um hmm i'm gonna cut you guys in the middle i'll say 141 so 134 141 160 holy shit let's go baby big gap i want to go a little higher 143 okay oh that's trash all right all right 134 143 160 last prediction and then we'll call it a show

Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Win a first round series This season Yes And they're going to beat Tampa I hate you for asking that question I refuse to answer it That's it

No that's not how the game works Come on Give us an answer I'll say yes I think they're going to win Because I have the vision the steve dangle podcast powered by sports interaction want to bet follow the guys on twitter at steve underscore dangle at adam w y l d e and at jesse

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