The Steve Dangle Podcast - Midnight to Marner | June 25, 2019

Episode Date: June 26, 2019

On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, we give out our Crowns! (00:00), Carl Söderberg was traded! (05:40), Patrick Marleau was traded, but we're really talking about Mitch Marner (12:50), Nikita Zaitsev, J.T. Miller, and the Vancouver Canucks (1:09:00), Carly Zucker and the Minnesota Wild (1:20:00), and the press conference: Jakin Smallwood, Kyrie Irving, and Max Kellerman (1:32:00). Originally aired: June 25, 2019 Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/FsWrZ0E53gs Merch: https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/fancydangleshirts Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Subscribe to us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/steve-dangle-podcast/id669828195?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know, if I was going to give my crown to somebody, it would be John Chayka. Wow. And it would be because he acquired Carl Soderbergh. Yes. He wins the crown today because he gets Carl Soderbergh not at 4.275 or 4.75, which is his cap hit. He gets him at $4 million, but 4.75 is his cap hit. So he saves his owner $750,000. John Chayka, everybody.

John Chayka. John Chayka. John Chayka. Jesse? My crown goes to Steve Dangle. Are we allowed to give crowns to people on the show? Sure. By the way, I should mention that, you know, the Steve Dangle podcast has signed up with Crown Royal.

We're homies. We're buddies. Pals. Pals. Some would even say it's a partnership. Yes, somewhat. They would. Anyway.

Most would say that, I think. Some would. Some. So what I would say to that is that, yes, you can. You can give your crown out. Now, when the Leafs come back, we have to talk about Leafs. But since the Leafs are not playing, who's your crown going to? My crown goes to Steve Dangleglin for making his way to Vancouver,

to Toronto, and back again in the span of three days. Whoa. Yes. And doing all of this on little sleep, changing time zones, jet-setting around the world like the globetrotter he is. I slept okay. Did you? Yeah. Some people say sleeping is hard when you're traveling different time zones.

Jesse, if Steve was a minor league player, how would he have made that journey? He would have had to walk. You bastards! He would have to walk there Because the train is broken down There's just no way There's no way To get from one location to the other

How would he do it? If you're a minor league player I walk real fast You gotta take a bus, you gotta take a train, you gotta take a car But you can't fly Those planes don't exist Steve, your crown My crown goes to the city of Vancouver

oh the city of vancouver for protecting the sanctity of their city by not allowing uber or lyft oh boy why are they doing that because no well you know why because they have a service where you can um you'll see you'll pull up a little map on your phone what and you'll see a car on a street corner a little smart car you can reserve that smart car you get in it and drive to where you go and then you just leave it there and then someone else picks it up actually actually because we have that as the equivalent of bikes yeah cardio right oh yeah yeah something like that but that's more like car rental so i just want to get in the crown for having that but not uber because that would be silly that would be preposterous instead let's just pick up and leave

cars wherever has the government said why uh i don't know um you know you know what was funny to me it listen everyone i met in vancouver was great but it was a bit of a it was a bit of a twitter thing uh so when i got there i was on the train and i was just like oh there's no uber so like i got i got mugged and and someone you know pooped in my lunch and just yeah and i was making fun of the people who were complaining and then i tried to get anywhere i was like no this sucks This is actually bad You forget what life was like before Uber Yes

For sure But what I found was funny about it Is if you go to someone in Toronto And you go Hey man getting around your city sucks What do we all say Yeah I know For sure

Fucking blows People in Vancouver were like Yeah well go fuck yourself and never come back At least on Twitter It was just, ah-ha, ah, the foolish non-locals trying to find out how to get around her. Ah-ha. I can't believe a station or a city that has an all-traffic radio station. Do they?

Yes. What? 7.30, a.m. 7.30. All traffic all the time? Has an all-traffic radio station. A city that has an all-traffic radio station would dare have the gall to come at you and say, yeah, no, the traffic's not bad here. Ridiculous. That's ridiculous.

Listen, I had a great time I love Vancouver All the people I met were wonderful But like, listen If it's difficult to get around your city, just say it Can I extend my crown? Yes I have to further my crown to Steve

Because I actually managed to get around No, I forgot why I originally Wanted to award you my crown There's two parts, one for you navigating the airwaves Two You scored your first goal No, your second goal, but it looked nicer First one with a real shot

Yeah, you scored a goal before But you scored again And it was on like a snapshot Congratulations Thank you I don't even remember if my first goal was forehand or backhand That's how chaotic it was I was just like

Like that This one was I got the puck along the half wall And I had a path And I was going to pass it But then they told me They're like, you have a path, shoot And so I did

And I didn't mean to put it top corner But it went top quarter That almost reminds me of watching Carl Soderbergh Yes Which is the real reason he came to this show today For Carl Soderbergh trade breakdowns Carl Soderbergh Insane, and Kevin Connaughton

Whoa, in the third round pick Guy Kevin Connaughton, what you expected That sure isn't Colorado's got 30 million bucks to spend this summer On what? I don't really know man Because there's no defenseman that you really want to buy With 30 million bucks

Well, and they're trying to offload Tyson Berry, like, as we speak. What are they? Listen, I don't, I am, I can't really question the Avalanche anymore. I really questioned them for a couple years there, but they've turned it around and made it amazing. However, I am a little concerned about what, like, you know when someone does something super bad, and then they, they start to improve, and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, and then they overcorrect?

Yes, yes, and now they're super good all of a sudden. Yeah, but then they're like, then they go past good, and they go back into bad. Like, you're not sure. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, you swing too far to the right or too far to the left, you're kind of wrong. We, first impressions are important, and Joe Sackick proved that, because I think a lot of people have been underestimating him for too long, but no, after that one truly, genuinely

terrible season, the Colorado Avalanche are back, very extraordinarily back, and they went from being this team where, uh-oh, what if someone offer sheets Mikko Ritten into I am the one who knocks and they might be able to retain him and offer sheet somebody Yeah, but by the way, if no one gets offer sheeted, we need to hold a funeral for offer sheets We do we physically genuinely like yes, you could have held a funeral for it last year the year before And then next year is gonna be ah, who's gonna get offer sheeted and no one's gonna get offer sheeted And we're gonna stay here and say we should hold a funeral for offer sheet Is that what I said?

Excuse me, sir. We're on a funeral for offer sheets this year. Put on my cumberbund and talk about offer sheets. This was really before social media kind of took off, like before Twitter, but I think 50 Cent once held a funeral service for Fat Joe's career. Because he dissed him, and they had a battle or something,

and they both released mixtapes about each other, and 50 Cent won in his own mind, so he had a funeral and said goodbye to Fat Joe's career. That's how memorable that battle was. I don't even remember it. Yeah, well, exactly. And then I think he went head-to-head with Kanye and released, like, AO technology, and Kanye's like, okay, I'll put out stronger now.

Yeah, yeah. And Fat Joe's had a hit more recently than 50 Cent. Has he? Oh, yeah. Oh, what was it called? It was... Up something. It was nominated for a Grammy.

Yeah. Up something. Cumberbund. It was called Cumberbund. Yeah, that's it. No, yeah. Isn't that it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the one.

That's the one. Oh, my God. I want to die right now. Yeah, all the way up. I remember that Because I remember being at the Grammys And Fat Joe's walking home I'm like, oh my god, my 14-year-old self is dying inside

With Remy Ma and French Montana Yeah Like two years ago French Montana needs a little more credit than it gets French Montana's quite good A lot like Carl Soderbergh Bouncing back from his 14-point season By the way, Carl Soderbergh's got a year left

At 4.75 Now, he will only be owed 4 million of that But This brings me to my, and we won't spend too much time, don't worry, on the Carl Soderbergh deal. What are the Coyotes doing? Boy, really good question. Like, where are you going? Like, I thought for a while we had a handle on what John Shaker was doing.

But Carl Soderbergh is not the guy I don't think that, like, unless he's looking for third-line depth in his lineup, I don't get it. For a year? He's not going to be a UFA. Here's the problem with the way hockey is covered, or at least the way we try to predict the future. We look for gaps. We look for holes. We go, who has cap space?

Who is cash strapped? Who has a lot of picks? Who does not have very many? Who has free agents? Who needs defensemen? Who needs forwards? Who needs goalies? Forget all of that.

Throw aside all logic, did anyone call any of the trades that have happened over the past week? No. We talked about Patrick Marleau moving. I don't know if we once brought up Carolina. JT Miller might have been brought up. Not to Vancouver. Subban, yes.

Devils, no! No! Not for a second. And Colorado having, like, Colorado's going to, like, struggle to hit the cap floor at this point. Yeah. Not literally, but yeah. I don't get it. Adam, speaking of trades, when Calvin DeHaan was traded, how sad were you from a level of, I'm going to rip my heart out?

For Gustav Forslund? Come on! That was a very this show trade. Yeah. Because it was Calvin DeHaan getting traded. Chicago. The Blackhawks getting the better player for no good reason. Why did they kill him?

I don't know. I don't know. It makes me so upset. Because you know what? Calvin DeHaan's the guy they needed when they brought in Jake Muzzin. Yep. If they had been able to sign Calvin DeHaan last summer, they wouldn't have traded that first in Sean Dursey.

Like, that's the guy they needed. That was the extra guy they needed. And they didn't get it. If they could have got him. If they could have got him. Apparently, they were close. They were right there. And he was clearly available.

I think it was the fourth year that the Leafs didn't want to go four on him, and I think he went four in Carolina or something like that. I think, if I remember properly, I mean, I don't know. That's one of those ones where there's been a couple trades recently where people go, wait, that's all it took? But the Leafs, and I know it's a how can we make this about the Leafs. That one is worth making about the Leafs a little bit. Yeah.

Just a little bit. Well, the Subban one, I can understand. The Leafs were in on him. Well, they wanted. He's a $9 million player, they wanted them to retain, and Nashville's like, no, we're going to sign Matt Duchesne. So we can finally complete the Matt Duchesne for Kyle Turris trade full circle. Yes. That trade is, yes, exactly.

That trade... The Zuban one. Yeah, it's cheating to look at it this way, but it will end up being Davies, two seconds, Santini, and Matt Duchesne. Like, really, in the eyes of the Preds. The theme of this offseason, the theme of all of draft weekend, was cap space. Yes. And how important it is. And the thing is, Elliot Friedman has said this many times.

We've talked about it on the show, too, but perhaps not enough. The most valuable thing on your team, besides an elite player, like if you have an elite player, if you have an Austin Matthews, you have a Sidney Crosby, you have a Connor McDavid, superstar, the most, more valuable than the second line guy is cap space. It's the ability to keep the door open and go, I'm going to go left here, and I'm going to go right here, and I'm not going to lock all these doors and just lock myself in. And it works both ways, too, because if you're a team at the top

and you have cash space, then you're adding a piece, and if you're a team at the bottom, then you're taking advantage of the top teams who are strapped for cash. And, you know, a lot of people were talking about the cost of the Patrick Marleau deal. Are we just going to dive right into that? No, we're not. We're going to dive into Mitch Marner talk.

Oh, are we? Yeah. Wonderful, great. Are we going to get back to Subban at any point? Oh, yeah. And Brian Burke going on radio and saying, Subban, out of the states is welcome wherever you go. Oh, boy.

Oh, yeah. Okay, well, here, one more thing there. Interesting that it came from Brian Burke, who also outstays his weapon. Well, wherever he goes. One extra thing there on the Marlowe thing. I'm kidding, Brian, by the way. I'm just joking. People were talking about the high cost of getting rid of that contract.

No one had a problem when it was Muzzin, and they just cleared more space than Muzzin makes. You know what I mean? So a first-round pick that is hopefully going to be 31st, but realistically somewhere in the 20s, for six and a quarter million dollars in cap space when you badly need it? Sorry, that's not a high cost. It's just not. And, oh, well, they put themselves in this position,

this, that, and the... Okay, that's fine. And if I had wheels, I'd be a wagon. This is the situation they're in. You already did your whole Marlow thing. Yeah, like, do we need to talk about that right now? Let's do it again! No, I'm kidding, yeah.

Well, did we talk... We didn't talk about Marlow. No. No, it happened after the show. It happened at the draft. So I guess we're talking about Marlow, then. Yeah. I didn't want to leave it at Marlow.

No, no, go to Marner. I believe you just took us there We have to go there now Fine Iceberg Freaking iceberg Adam's messaging yesterday And he's like

Well there's not a lot to talk about I'm like The draft I was joking Oh Okay It did not read that way Sorry

Alright so we're not gonna talk about Patrick Marlowe But we're gonna let Steve Have five minutes About Patrick Marlowe And then we'll get back To Patrick Marlowe 30 seconds

So Patrick Marlowe Man I love that Tray for the Leafs Oh yeah I don't love that It had to happen Yeah, it allows them to retain Mitch Marner and go. Go.

Well, you either have Patrick Marleau or you have Kisperi Kapanen and Andreas Janssen. I mean, basically. And ultimately, yeah, it's a price you have to pay. Lou left us with, Lou Lemrell left the Leafs with Patrick Marleau and Nikita Zaitsev. Those were his parting gifts. He did a lot of great things while he was here. You're going to screw up at some point as a general manager. Those would be two of the major ones.

Those would be two of the contracts where, if I'm an Islanders fan this summer, I go, well, yeah, Panara-Moravsky, that's great. And if we get them, excellent. But if he doesn't get them, that's where I get a little freaked out about Lou Lamorello's direction. Because it's not the superstars that Lou Lamorello struggles finding. When he went out and got Freddie Anderson, he was right. He was bang on the money, go get a goalie, spend what you've got to spend, do it.

Kind of like what he tried to do with Jersey and Cory Schneider. And had Cory Schneider not had that brutal hip injury, he'd still be Cory Schneider. Yes. I worry about the mid-range guys Lou Lamorello has a track record Of overvaluing mid-range guys You look at a Travis Zajac Kind of guy

You look at Who are some of the other guys on the Devils There were some really weird contracts When he was still there And it's been a few years I was about to say David Clarkson But no, he made him and then And then had to unmake him

But I think I think ultimately Obviously, Lilo Amarillo is a Stanley Cup winning general manager, but he is still a guy that overvalues guys that are not superstars. Well, and we spent most of last summer criticizing his signings on the Islanders. They worked out. Well, they worked out year one. Like, that's the problem.

Most free agent signings, when we look at them and we say the contract's not very good, it's not about year one. Because Patrick Marleau was great year one. Yes. and, you know, okay year two, stomachable year two, year three, okay, no, we're done here, we're done here. And that's a light example. I'm talking about the guys who are approaching 30 or about 30,

looking to get seven, eight-year contracts. Tyler Myers, which I suppose we'll get to later as well. First, do you want to do five minutes on Tyler Myers? Absolutely, all right, so Tyler Myers. What do you guys say to the naysayers who said it's disappointing that the Leafs won't have a first-round pick until 2022? And they don't have one this year, and they don't have one next year, and then you've got to wait another year.

I think that's not necessarily the case. I think you can pick one up. Yeah, because they traded away next year's pick for Marla. Yes. 2021. That's 2021. No, next year is 2020. They said traded away.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. Sorry. Oh, my God. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I think you're also in that zone now where you've got superstar talent, assuming Marner stays, right? So not that you don't want to draft that, but that's where a scouting staff is truly great. That's where you need to have a brilliant scouting staff. You look at Detroit.

They traded first-round pick after first-round pick and still managed to find superstars. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been able to restock the cover, not necessarily find another Malkin Crosby. But they have found guys, Rust, Gensel, whoever else, you know, like you can name a few people with Pittsburgh over the years. Matt Murray is another one that comes to mind. They were able to replace a starting goalie. You know, these are things you've got to contend with if you're going to be a top team. And the Leafs are in the top, I would say the top, I don't know, 10% in the NHL. Like what are they?

What are they, finished seventh? Eighth? I don't know. No, higher than that, I think. Yeah. So if they're the top five team in the NHL, which they project to be, chances are you're going to have to trade some picks. Chances are the salary is going to hurt you a little bit. Somebody's salary is going to hurt you somewhere along the line.

The question is what, where, and when. And I find it funny because I think we're adjusting to this new reality. We were used to the reality of, okay, let's dump everything. Can you bring up round one? Let's dump everything and let's pin all our hopes on these new draft picks. That was a funny little era because there was no pressure. It was like, let's just hope these draft picks work out And by golly, aren't these kids fun to watch

The games were secondary to the trades Yeah The games were the stuff that got in the way of the trades Now, we're looking at And you have to remember too, if you're not from Toronto Or you've never been a Leafs fan or a Raptors fan or a Jays fan There's about 20 years there where there was nothing happening So the trades were the only thing to talk about

So in Toronto, we hyper-focus on that stuff Because that's what we've been That's been ingrained in us Because we really had no hope It was a tough go Now that we've got some successful teams, it's hard for people to go, oh, crap, now we're going to have to give up assets to get rid of some bad assets. That's just the way business works. It's the way the NHL and the hard cap work.

I think in this particular situation, you look at Jarmo Kekalainen's comments on Patrick Marleau, the Patrick Marleau trade, which was that much money for a first round pick. You're out of your mind. I'd never do that because essentially that's what Carolina is doing. They're buying a first round pick. And I mean they may have had to let go Of Calvin DeHaan because of it But maybe not they'll buy I think that was part of the plan

So Kekelein is basically saying I wouldn't have done what the Hurricanes did Now I think he's nuts But I also don't think his reality Is maybe the same He also has no picks We already know his feelings on picks And Tom Dundon

Saved the $250 million He was going to invest in that football league and has, I guess, put some money into the Carolina Hurricanes, where I don't think the Columbus Blue Jackets have much money. I think that they can spend to the cap, but I don't think they can do trades like, hey, let's buy a first-round draft pick. And let's do the new trend of 90% of your contract is in salary bonuses

and stuff like that. Where did the Kings pick in the first round, like around the 20s? The Kings pick that was the Leafs pick. Because, Adam, you said something there. that I think was really important. Just because the Leafs don't have a first-round pick doesn't mean they can't get any good players. Subban was drafted in the second round.

Exactly. Duncan Keith was too, I think. Yep, and you're talking more projects, and they might take a little bit longer, but you get good players. They picked 22nd. 22nd. You know who was available at 22nd?

Nick Robertson. And you know when he was also available was 53rd. And you talk to a lot of people around the draft, Nick Robertson was an extraordinarily good pick at 53. And who's to say the Leafs wouldn't have even tried to pick him at 22? I don't know. Or 23, whatever you said it was. The last two years, by the way, the Leafs finished.

Yeah, he was projected high. Yeah. The Leafs finished seventh in the standings last year and the year before. Okay. Okay. So there you go. Well, you know, I just look at it and I go, this is the new reality of the team. Yes, it sucks that you're not going to get a first-round pick.

But remember, the graph every year, the advanced stats community, and God bless them, they put out the graph of value of picks. Yeah, first overall, and then... And then it falls off. And once you hit about 20, 20 to 40 is about the same. Yeah. No, it's 20 to 230 or whatever it is. It's minimal.

So then you're looking at guys, you're taking swings at guys who have, like a Kasperi Kapanen, granted he was a first-round pick, but late, who have unbelievable speed, but they're missing this part of their game. They have unbelievable hands, but they're missing, maybe they need to work on their skating. And that's what a development system does. You develop the end of their game that's holding them back from the NHL. They may already have, a lot of those guys that were drafted,

have NHL-level skills, but not the complete package to actually be an effective NHL player. Or they're undersized or something. And that's why Timothy Lilligren, 17th overall pick, guy hasn't seen a game. No. They're taking their time. But they're taking their time. Taking their time.

So with that in mind, the Leafs do clear it, and they do a little bit of tidy work, I think, with the Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Janssen contracts. Yes. Three in four years. You've got Kappy for three, Yanni for four. Big fan of the Janssen deal, actually. It's a great deal.

The fourth year is big. It is. And none of those have been officially signed yet. No. So that, to me, is very interesting. So they've agreed to it. I guess in theory they could be offer sheeted or something, but as we've already discussed, that's not going to happen.

They probably don't want to leave. And also they would have to agree to it. They probably don't want to leave. No, I don't think they do. I don't think they do. I don't know exactly what the percentage is, but Hyman makes, I want to say it's 2.7? He makes 2.25.

Hyman makes 2.25? Who am I thinking of? Connor Brown? Connor Brown? No, he's 2.1. No one on the team makes 2.7. Oh, okay, I'm wrong. So never mind.

The percentage for Kapanen and Janssen is higher than Hyman, but it's not astronomically higher. And the fact that you're able to get two guys who hit 20 goals for that amount of money for that term, pretty good, man. And assuming, like, I mean, God, most teams would be happy throwing a first-round pick at either of those guys. Like, in terms of if you drafted a guy like that in the first round, I'm not talking about in a trade, but if you said,

hey, man, I'm going to draft this Andreas Janssen kid in the first round, 25th overall, and he turns out to be a 50 or 60-point guy, which is what we think he'll be, a 50-point guy. 45-50? You'd be happy with that. You'd be pretty happy with that. I mean, to pay that amount of money for a 45-50-point player,

that's pretty good. And once Marner gets locked up, fingers crossed, toesies crossed, now you're looking at an offense, which is, I mean, what makes the Leafs special, right? An offense that, like, the top six is locked up. All of it. The whole thing. Hyman, Tavares, Marner.

What's your top six? Well, let's put it at what it was last year. Okay. Hyman, Tavares, Marner. All locked up. Marleau. Yeah. Matthews is locked up.

Nylander's locked up. And then who do you put in that? Cappy or Jansen. Cappy, Jansen, probably Jansen at very least to start. And then you've got Kadri and Kapanen on the third line. Yeah. Yeah, so now you're even going outside the top six guys that are locked up. So, you know, their defense is really concerning.

I don't think they're done. But the fact that their top six is essentially a lock for at least the next three years or whatever, that's pretty awesome. And that brings us to Mitch Marner because the reason those contracts haven't been signed, it's been widely reported, is because they have to say, listen, we've got to figure out what the Mitch contract is first before. So he may cost them a couple hundred grand each. Justin Bourne pointed that out. That's not a fun conversation. But where do we stand with Mitch Marner?

And I'm going to start with this. This is from First Up this morning on TSN 1050. And here we go. This is Darren Dreger. I'm going to be careful not to throw out a specific number, mostly because I'm not sure if it's true. It was thrown at me by an agent and an NHL executive yesterday that you could see an offer sheet, whether it's Marner or someone else,

at five years in the teens. Is that 13? Is that 14? What? If you're an NHL team that has cap space and you believe that Mitch Marner, Braden Point, Rantanen, Tachuk, Aho, who, by the way, we should also talk about Aho's interview. Yes. That's an interesting one.

Extraordinarily interesting. Or any of those other players are game changers. They are cornerstone pieces for your franchise. Why wouldn't you offer sheet them? Where's the guarantee that four first-round picks are going to develop into something that's going to be equal or better to the value that you've already seen in these three years in the National Hockey League at the highest

level and emerge and develop into the star or superstar. At least in the player you're offer sheeting, you've got a body of work to work off of. I am literally going to dig a hole in the ground and bury offer sheets if nothing happens. I'm literally going

to dig a hole in the ground. On one point in theory, he's correct. Yeah, oh sure. On one point in theory, he's correct. And he's been correct for 10, 12 years, however long we've been having this discussion. The point is, if you are looking to build a franchise, or if you believe you're one piece away, and Brayden Point or Mitch Marner or Sebastian Ajo is your guy, to go along, say you're the Avalanche. And you're like, I want someone to play with Randon.

And since we don't pay Nathan McKinnon much, we can take the money we should be paying Nathan McKinnon, and we'll pay Mitch Marner. You know what I mean? Yeah, we'll pay Mitch Marner twice as much as Nathan McKinnon. Yeah. yeah would that even be yeah i mean pretty close 13 yeah so you know like i i understand what he's saying there there's no question that in a vacuum that makes a lot of sense however i do find it very very interesting that this stuff continues to come from one person and that it continues to

be an escalating situation as in two weeks ago that number was 10 and a half and then it was 11 And now we're talking 13-14. And allegedly he turned down an $11 million contract times 8. No, it was 10. 10 times 8. See, I've heard both. Okay, so Brian Burke said 10 times 8. Yeah, I think.

And then didn't Freed say something about 11 times 8? Maybe I'm wrong. Oh, I don't know if he's turned down 11 times 8, man. I don't think Elliot's reported that. Oh, because I did hear this. I'd take 10 times 8. Like, as a fan, I'd be happy. Yeah, I'd be fine with that.

It's still an overpay at that point, though. Yeah, but it's the eight. Yeah. The eight makes it good. So what the interesting part about that is that now, evidently, they've come closer in terms of money. But now Mitch Marder says, no, I don't want to do eight years. I want to do five. Which, to me, says that's, no, then you're not close.

Right. Because the money completely depends on the term. And five years means Austin, Willie, and Mitch are all up in the same year, which they'd never do that. No, I think Willie would be the next year. Willie would be the next year because he's a seven-year deal, isn't he? No, Willie is the same year as Austin. Oh, yeah.

Six in last year counted as year one. It would be all three. Yeah. Which makes no sense. No, they're never doing that ever. No. I'd rather do a four-year than that. Yeah.

I mean, what if you have to and you go, that's tomorrow's problem? No, if you have to, then get rid of it. There's no have to with the Leafs. They have the power here. and you gotta take advantage of that so here's what else we know so I'm gonna continue this a little bit because the 31 Thoughts podcast

if you haven't caught it this week is quite illuminating because guess who? Chris Johnson coming on and just dropping bombs and one of the interesting things I found in this and I know a lot of people are really pissed off about it is it seems like the Marner camp

at least in their messaging is putting out that they're negotiating from a point of we feel disrespected and that's not just mitch marner mitch marner feels disrespected evidently and so does darren ferris and i don't know if i've ever seen in the nhl publicly an agent say i'm disrespected i feel disrespected dragger said darren dragger said this first i'm going to set this up on tsn 1050 that he was surprised that dubas and ferris didn't meet at the draft ferris is evidently annoyed who said this this is dragger ferris is evidently so you know it's true ferris is annoyed dubas didn't just cave and give marner ten and a half by five

as in five years at ten and a half million each no no why would they agree no so so no so darren ferris feels a little disrespected there now you got mitch marner and this i'm going to read a bit of a thread five no i also know what sorry um and again thanks for thanks to james for uh james at account for hockey for some of this stuff up because obviously I heard it I know he said this

but he sums it up perfectly in a few tweets so Elliot Friedman says he thinks Dubas threatening not to match any offer sheet that

came through scared Jansen and Kapanen to sign the deals CJ agreed with that good job CJ put the panic

scale on Marner at about three doesn't see an offer sheet coming he said he is worried about the relationship being strained internally

because, not between management and player, but between player and players. If Mitch Marner signs for whatever he signs for and somebody has to get moved, or if you're Janssen and Kapanen, you have to take less because Mitch Marner, there could be some issues there. And don't kid yourself, guys.

That is a thing that you have to take into account. Now, if you're looking at this from Mitch Marner's perspective, you should say, why should I care about that? Yes, again, in a vacuum, you're right. He should go and get as much money as he wants. But if he's going to commit to this team long term, and he's got to be in the dressing room with Kapanen for three years and Janssen for four years, maybe you're able to put that aside. But that's a lot of money for them. It's more money for them than it is for him.

I think they buried the hatchet quick. And the one thing is, the tweets do make it sound a little more salacious than it is. Because I know how, like on this podcast, we've been just cherry-picked quotes and put together. So the tweeters rip these sentences But it is a larger conversation Like Chris is throwing out hypotheticals at some points But all of this is true But it is hypotheticals in a larger conversation that they have

That's very intelligent Now I have not spoken to Elliot Freeman Or Chris Johnson about this show But it did So you heard it? You heard the audio? Yeah and I just want to quickly Here's where Mitch Marner feels slighted

And I just want to drop this in before you get into that Friedman said that Marner would feel hurt by Dubas saying the not matching comments the offer sheet comments, but that it was absolutely necessary that Dubas do that CJ says this is about respect rookie bonuses, which he didn't get because Lou Lamorello wouldn't give that to anybody but Austin

Matthews, and not getting ice time early on in his career, which was I think his second season, I remember Nick Kiprio was going, well they might have to trade him, he's playing on the fourth line with Matt Martin, which he was for fucking two weeks so I don't know if there's a, Mitch Marner's motivation

i think comes from having a chip on his shoulder you know they get into it there but you know he's small and beat the odds and that's great but it seems as though he's negotiating from that point of view rather than from a hard numbers point of view there seems to be emotion in this which is where i will hand it over to steve yes so it seemed very cryptic and i have not spoken to my colleagues elliot friedman and chris johnston very ballsy of me to call them colleagues but uh it seemed very cryptic it seemed just as you put it adam uh it's not about numbers it's about respect there's a lot of emotion going on here and what what frege said to what frege said that i thought was telling without telling

was he's got people in his life he's he's had terrible um he's had terrible contract negotiations in the past and i mean he's elliot friedman high-stakes stuff adam you've had that brutal you've had brutal contract negotiations uh you know me to a much much lesser extent it's my least favorite thing i freaking hate it um but in that process adam have you gotten emotional during your contract talks? Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. That's why I hired an agent.

That's why you hired an agent. But your agent doesn't live with you. No. So at home, at night, I'm sure you lament about it to, I don't know, maybe your friends. Which I did. Yes.

Maybe your wife. Yes, which I did. Therapist. Therapist. And what did all those people do? A lot of times they told me to calm down. Told you to calm down. It'll work itself out.

You'll be fine. My mom was key for that. I got some stories for the book one day. Oh, I'm sure you do, Adam. Can't wait to hear them. It was very cryptic, but it seemed pointed. I'm not sure he has that person. Yeah, because Elliot said in the podcast that it was his wife that helps him through those things.

Yeah, and I mean, I'm not saying Mitch Marner needs to settle down and get a wife. He's like, what, 22, 21, something like that? But he has someone to lean on all the time. Yes. And I'm not... Who's there for Mitch? Well, because his dad, and let's be frank, let's just base it on what we know about Paul Marner and what he said.

His dad seems to have the same attitude, which is you are down on Mitch. And here's the thing. If it's about respect, and you are a member of the Marner clan listening to this, you know who does give you respect? People that matter the most. The fans.

The fans adore. Mitch Marner? I think this is not going the way they thought it would. And I think there's hurt feelings. What do you think? What do you mean? When I said, you know what, remember when Oh no, you don't. You weren't here.

So, I was talking about, you know what, if Marner doesn't sign, trade him. Whatever, whatever. I don't even care anymore. Ian Tulloch was sitting right across from me there and he goes, where was this energy for Matthews? Because, you know, Matthews you know, that contract number is

the best part about it is Auston Matthews is elite for the next half decade the cap hit is very very high it won't be in half decade though, it won't be in three years like two years I'm sure but what he said was where is this energy for Auston Matthews and I said you know what, I hadn't

snapped yet I hadn't snapped yet and it's been I think a calendar year of this shit between different players and it hasn't even been Marner for very long But the second Matthews signed that deal

Darren Ferris Like, on your mark And he was ready for this shit He was gearing up for it Like he knew his client was going to be last And alright, Matthews is signed Here we go But what I don't think they counted on

Was public opinion Being genuine Fatigue They are, we are tired For the teams, we've said how many times for how many months on this show, Mitch Marner's the most popular Toronto Maple Leaf. Yeah. And, I mean, and Elliot said it best, and I hadn't heard it put in these terms.

He's like, he's got the chance to be the best Toronto-born Toronto Maple Leaf of all time. And CJ cut him off and said, maybe the best Leaf? Maybe. Ever. Maybe. Ever. You never know if he leaves. I like to peruse Leaf's Reddit every once in a while.

Oh, God, really? And one of the things that was the most upvoted, I think it was like two days ago, was somebody's like, remember that one time we found Paul Marner's burner account on Twitter? Why don't we talk about that every show? Like, we really should. So, yeah, back in 28, yeah, it was like in December, too, and then blew up again after the Athletics article came out. So it feels like the fan base is also being like, okay, if this doesn't go well and the end is happening, we're all going to turn on you, Mitch, because it seems like the people around you are kind of not in the best, they're not in the best light here and everybody doesn't

seem very happy at the whole situation. It's not even a turning for me. It just won't let you go. It's not a... We've, we've, here's the thing. The one thing in Toronto is we've let superstars go. We watched Roger Clemens walk out the door, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Doug Gilmore, Matt Sundin.

It's true. We've seen them go. go like go and we haven't had a lot of stars here and we've seen them all roberto alomar walk away and walk away with vicious comments about the city too and its fans being totally shitty and then we welcome them all back yeah but but what i want to say and then i'll let you you make your point here steve is i know what it's like you'll say mitch mart is an adult he needs to take responsibility for his agent for his parents for all that yes but he's 22 years old and i'm not letting him off the hook by saying this but i can tell you this the confidence i had at 22 years

old versus the confidence i have now versus the self-assuredness i have now is completely different and yes he's going to be a multi multi-millionaire his grandkids and great grandkids will be set for life but he's still a 22 year old and what i would say to him is make damn sure that you know what's at stake here because if you want to leave it's ultimately like if he does leave it'll be Mitch's choice 100% his agent will look at him

and go do you want to sign this the other day he's an adult and he's making this decision himself and I'll be bummed sure

I'll be bummed but is he gonna if you look at any Tracy McGrady interview recently Tracy McGrady flat out is like I fucked up

when I left the Raptors correct I really fucked up now Tracy McGrady was a phenomenal basketball player but he would have been even better

had he stayed with Vince and the Raptors Because that team was going to be something. But he wanted his own team at, I think it was like 23, 24, and he wanted his own team, and they shipped him off to Orlando so he could be his own star. I think it was that, and I think what a lot of people maybe outside of Canada don't understand

about how special the Raptors win is, for the first 20 years of the team, no one wanted to play in Canada. There was this taboo about Canada. No one wanted to play here. Yeah, and there was one little two-year window where we were like, oh, we maybe got something here, and then Tracy McGrady left. And then you get a guy like Steve Nash who's like,

oh, I'd play in Canada, but not for the Raptors. You guys suck. Yeah, and then he signs in L.A. and sucks. And the Raptors make the playoffs. I felt that was like, that's a little bit of justice there. You're like, ha-ha. But in all honesty, I think the problem that Mitch is going to face is, is it really about the extra million dollars a year?

Because that's really what it's going to come down to here. Is it going to be about the extra million bucks? I really don't even think it's that big of a gap if I had to bet. And if it is, if that's what's really the most important, do you really think that you can't make that some other way without having to put it in escrow? It's not even just about that. But that's what I mean, though. If you take the emotions, the disrespect, the disrespect, I'm mad, my dad's crazy, my agent's negotiating through the press, you take that all out of it. I don't even know what it is.

Is taking the number from 10 to 10.5 really going to hold you up? It's not. We've said, oh, he shouldn't be the highest paid winger in the league, whatever, whatever. With Matthews, we talked about the number and what we wanted it to be, and it was higher than what we wanted it to be. But at the end of the day, I was like, you know what? Matthews is a leave guaranteed for the next five years, and that's pretty dope. That's the best part about that deal.

Pretty happy about it. Yeah. would I like Marner signed a 10 I'd prefer if it was less if it was 10 times 8 shit yeah Marner's a leaf

for the next 8 years that's 30 that's a long time the best so good and then who knows that sounds like

an 8 years from now problem you know that's yeah salary cap might be in the 100 millions who knows

the show will be 14 years old go to school the show will be in high school take it to it's first day of high school They'll be like, you're not cool anymore, dads

Behave now This show is all of a sudden too cool for us We can't do it anymore Whatever, dads Hey, hey, when you're studying in there Make sure you leave the door open In there, in there, rascal I know this one

I don't want any grand podcasts just yet You gotta take the podcast and the movie with another podcast and you're trying to pretend like they're holding hands in the back and you're trying to pretend like it's not the most awkward, hilarious thing ever? Driving home podcast from a party. I'm really upset. I'm disappointed in you, but I'm glad you called. You did the right thing, podcast.

Sorry, where were we going with it? Like, okay, there are so many bigger things in all this. the the respect factor for sure you know maybe you want to be you want it to be your team no no wait wait though get respect by winning maybe you want to be the captain maybe you think maybe you think if they listen to you more you'd win maybe you think you should be paid more maybe this maybe that maybe that the one little sticking point i cannot get past and it's what makes me feel like the advice this person is getting is poisonous you're upset you're still upset about your rookie bonuses yeah you're still upset about not making

the leafs as soon as you were drafted oh i'm sorry you didn't get to play 20 minutes a night next to pa parento i'm sorry i'm genuinely sorry for that let me tell you if you get 40 50 let's say even 60 points or something uh in your first season no he's not getting 60 point pa parental scored 19 goals stop he's not he's not getting 60 points on the 15 16 maple leaf so let's say optimistically he gets 50 then the next year he gets 60 and then and which is what he got and the next year he got 65 or whatever it was you gotta you think you're signing this deal no you think you're signing anything close to this deal no first of all you would have signed it last year Second of all, it would have been a lot less.

Where is this coming from? Okay, you already didn't make the NHL at 18. That was four years ago now. And the contract where you didn't get the full bonuses, that was three years ago. And at the end of the day, at the end of your career, how much money did that cost you? Probably a few million bucks.

Max? Maybe. Maybe. Who's to say he would have hit all his bonuses? In 15-16? Not in 15-16, no. Are you joking? Okay.

Mitch Marner would have scored 20 goals on the 15-16 Leafs at 18. No. You're out of your minds. No one would have. They were shit. So follow-up question. That's one of the worst teams ever assembled in this city. And they did him a favor by keeping him out of that lineup.

Why do you think? Oh, I'm sorry. You won enough trophies to build a house with That year In London Steve Why do you think in his mind Making 11 million dollars

Versus making 9 and a half Makes up for those things It's It's me and my friggin car And he's He's holding out for more than a dollar It's a win He's negotiating not to negotiate

He's negotiating to win He's looking at not getting his rookie bonuses the way Subban looked at getting a bridge deal in Montreal. And it's just not the same situation. It's just not. They had this long, drawn-out thing, and he ended up having to settle for the bridge deal. But he goes, my number is nine. My number is nine. And then he got nine, and all of a sudden the Habs were surprised.

almost like 19-year-old Mitch Marner goes, give me all my rookie bonuses. And the Leafs go, no. And he goes, okay, I'm signing this but I'm just letting you know my number's 11. Three years from now. What? It's not the same situation.

To back you on that, it's also there seems to be a lack of, like, tell me about what's happened to him that he's so hard done by versus what happened to any of the other players nothing nothing nothing he got put on the fourth line a couple times for a couple weeks span his ice time has consistently been amazing he just had

one of the best seasons any leaf has had over the past 30 years on a line exclusively on a line built and on a power play unit built not just built for him with a superstar he recruited What else do you want? They got John Tavares, and they put him with you. They could have put him with anyone. And they had a conversation with you and said, hey, listen, if we bring him in, everybody's going to have to make a few sacrifices. They had that conversation, by the way.

That was the thing that they had with at least Mitch and Austin. They said, listen, guys, we want to bring in Tavares. Are you in? Yeah, we're in. Okay, everybody's going to have to make a few sacrifices. None were made. And that's Austin as well. Yes.

Yes. Because Austin didn't cave on his contract. Here's what I can't help but wonder. So, okay, Paul Marner, God knows what he's telling him. Darren Ferris, I think it's pretty public knowledge what he's telling him. And now he's got to confide in his teammates. So he goes to Austin Matthews, let's say. Let's say Austin Matthews is his best friend on the team and he confides in him.

There's only two conversations I can really envision. austin who got his money saying yeah mitch go get your money who cares yeah which is what you would say which fine yeah of course as a good friend or it's matthews going yeah man like try to make a sacrifice for the team to do it for the good of the team and mitch telling him to go f himself yeah yeah he says bullshit you didn't yeah exactly yeah so uh i just want to know who party four is like i want to know if there's anyone else can i i also want to say something about the way and i've been very critical of darren ferris and i think rightfully so i've gone at him multiple times because i look at that negotiating style and a it's never really worked for him personally it's

never worked for darren ferris b it's such a destructive way to toy with somebody's reputation um you know you look at you look at your clients yeah that's what i mean not darren's reputation If you know, okay, you have the next pick, and you're not sure who to pick. It's between two guys. One of them is represented by Darren Farris. The not Darren Farris guy. Fuck that. I am not picking that kid.

I'm not. I'm not. If we're talking about special talents at fourth overall, like Mitch Marner, I suppose that's a little bit different. If this is like a third round thing, and you've got two guys on the board. Jesus Lord, no. Yeah. Do I need that headache?

God, no. No. God, no. If I'm an NHL executive, that's what happened to Jack Johnson. Was he a Darren Ferris guy? No, he wasn't Darren Ferris. But I want to say, because he was like a third overall pick. And I can't remember who, I think it might have actually been Jim Rutherford,

was in charge of the Hurricanes at the time. And he had a falling out with a certain agent. I can't remember who it was. And he just went, you know what, fuck this. And he just traded all the players he had who were signed with that agent. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, and I mean, you know, a few years ago,

what was those guys getting traded out of Carolina? I suppose it's different. Was it Pat Brisson? Was it? I don't know. Jesus, maybe. There's a name. There's a pretty big name, so a bit different.

With Darren Ferris, though, I find this, like, Darren Ferris is taking Mitch Marner's sparkling reputation and dragging it through the mud with the fans. The fans, you have to understand. He's like a Care Bear in this city. You have to understand that Mitch Marner, if you're not from this city, He has a sparkling reputation here and it is deserved. Yes. And he is

using, Darren Ferris is using that political capital up so he can make a few hundred more grand, honestly. I mean, you can't tell me that $80 million isn't enough. That sentence is absurd in and of itself.

Right. Right. For us peons. For any human on earth. It should be. I just don't know. We've had this conversation so many times, but But I, as a pleb, don't understand the difference between $80 and $88 million. And I don't think it would matter if you invested it properly anyway. But what is he planning on doing with $80? Once you get into that kind of wealth, you just turn it over to a money manager,

and the right one, you can double or triple that money. Seriously. I'm not kidding. You have too much money not to make money. Yes, exactly. That $8 million is going to be like, yeah, don't worry, we'll figure that out. And, you know what, we'll do a Red Bull sponsorship once a year for eight years and we'll be fine. But hold on, though.

Hey, one sec. When a negotiation occurs, all it is is it's an argument that's legal. As in, it's the same argument you have with your partner, except that it's legal. And when you argue with your partner, the goal is not to argue to win. The goal is to argue to resolve the issue in front of you and to not be disrespectful because you don't want to have to pay for it later going, you really hurt me. It's, did we really discuss this issue or did we attack each other personally? And what's happening here is they are attacking the way the Leafs do business, which is a personal attack. And I understand from a somewhat from an outside perspective, well, okay, like, you know, this is all negotiation tactics.

But I don't believe that these negotiation tactics are going to win. Darren Farris has in the past, and I want to read this tweet to you. Kevin Pappetti. Kay Pappetti on Twitter. good follow he said here's here's darren dragger and on the 5th of september in 2017 still a sizable gap a gap in contract talks between flames and sam bennett possibility bennett heads overseas until a deal is in calgary is done narrator he did not next tweet josh anderson's agent by the way this is from the 21st of september 2017 josh anderson's agent darren

ferris to me via email we're heading there to switzerland next week in the absence of a contract Columbus Blue Jackets. He did not. Bob McKenzie, 18th of September, 2017. Only two RFAs not signed this season and not with their respective camps. Andreas Athanasiou in Detroit and Josh Anderson in Columbus.

And to finish that off, there was one more thing. Hold on, Bennett. I think you skipped the first one. Did I? Well, the first one is sizable gap with Bennett. Second one is Andreas Athanasiou. Ah, this is the other one

from the 5th of September in 2017. Andreas Athanasiou is in ongoing discussions with KHL teams. Unless something shifts in Detroit, indications are he'll jump to the KHL. He did not. He did not. This is a guy who has a playbook. And I keep saying this. This is the Darren Ferris playbook.

But the difference this time is it's ridiculous. It's a real superstar. It's ridiculous to say Marner would go to the KHL so he doesn't know what to do with himself. And Mitch Man You don't need to do this This doesn't need to be this hard It doesn't even sound like

Does it sound to you Like there's a giant gap No Like listen if they came together and they agreed on Six or seven years at ten and a half million Is anybody upset I don't like ten and a half I don't like it

I think he's nine and a half If we're being realistic Yeah, because Kucherov blew him out of the freaking water, and he's making nine and a half. Ten and a half is my drop-dead number. At that point, I'll take the four first-round picks, please. And the cap space. Because a lot of teams, and this was brought up today. Because the reason that no offer sheets have ever happened is because everybody's afraid of the redemption.

Because the team that loses and still gets the picks is going to come back with cap space and be pissed. And what did we say at the beginning of the episode? Cap space is king. It matters. It's the second most important thing behind elite talent. And if the Leafs, and they said, the league is afraid, and this was something that was tweeted today, the league is afraid of the Leafs with cap space and four first round picks.

They're more afraid of them with that than they are with Mitch Marner. Yeah, because that's absurd. It's absurd. It's crazy. There's so much leverage in every negotiation. I don't know. Don't Tracy McGrady yourself, Mitch. That's all I'm saying.

You got the chance The statue is being cast right now For you out front Get the cup, win it here Then you can go somewhere else if you feel like it But I don't think you do If you win the cup elsewhere I guarantee it's not going to feel like

You're going to think in your head What if I'd won this in Toronto If you're Mitch Marner, you absolutely think that You know, I wrote that in the open letter And I'm just at a point where I'm like Listen, what do you want dude Listen, what do you want Like, it's like if you've ever run a business where you had to, you know, hire employees or whatever,

you've probably had employees quit on you. And what'd you do? You hired a new one. Like, listen, I want Marner to work for my company. If he doesn't, world keeps going. You gotta hire a new one. Still got a company, yeah. Like, fuck.

I watch hockey for fun. Like, my world doesn't begin and end with Mitch Marner. I would really like him to play for my hockey team for a long time. I've enjoyed watching him. I'm just getting bored. I've got a Nylander sign and a Matthews sign jersey I'm holding off

on the Marner sign until he signs where did you get the Nylander one from it was a present I know when you got the Matthews one it was also a present

it was a birthday present it was very nice alright but the I'm going to relay a story and then we can wrap this up and this is this is a story

that's since been printed so I can actually relay it but before it was printed it was told to me by one Curtis Joseph so I was at remember the oh yeah

some people call him Cujo Cujo that's my stat of the day like the movie remember the say hi to Phil moment say hi to Phil

yeah so that same party which was Ty Domi's book launch I happened to be talking to John Shannon and Curtis Joseph and Christine Simpson

as well we were just hanging out talking and Curtis I was talking to Curtis Joseph about his career and I felt bad

asking him because I'm like every asshole fan must ask this stuff and I don't know how we got onto the subject but we were talking

about free agents and we were talking about playing in Toronto and I said is it really as great as they say and he said yes absolutely

and I said you know what what is it when did you start to believe that like when did you realize that and he said when i was pulling up my pad and i think he knew it beforehand but essentially the idea was he said when i was putting on red socks in detroit and the other goalie at camp who was not dominic asha because i think he came along the next year one of the other goalies or a rookie i'd love to know who it was who screwed up carter shows his head permanently i would love to say that i would love to know that so the goalie or is it yeah some rookie looks at him and goes you don't look right in these colors you don't you know why that goalie was probably from ontario yeah like half of

the fucking league yeah and i don't know if it was win a cup here it was a it means the most a player said you don't look right in those colors imagine what that does to your head if you're a professional athlete who just had a heartbreaking leave from the from the area from it from it and you're a goalie it's a little bit different when you're a goal and when kujo went to detroit never the same And so I look at this and I go Mitch When you put on socks for another team

And this is why I don't think it's going to happen When you put on socks for another team Is it really going to feel the same? Doug Gilmore was elite for 45 minutes Look at how he's treated in this city God, is it God? I don't know

Now, I want to ask you I want to put a line in the sand here gentlemen Are you ready? Jesse, we're going to start with you. Yeah. What is the final story? How does this story end with Mitch Marner? What's your prediction?

If I'm Kyle Dubas, my line in the sand is double digits. That's all I want. 10.00. You're coming in under double digits. That's it. 999 or something like that? Doesn't matter if you want to be 9.8, you want to be 9.7, whatever it is. It's double digits.

and it's not five years because that can't happen. What if what you got to do is it's 9-9-5, let's say. Sure. Five years. No. You trade them. Do you do six years? Yes. Okay, but not five.

Not five. You can't line up on the other side. You do six. If you want to do four, you think about it, you probably just sign that. You can't do five. That's it. So I think it's going to come in somewhere under double digits and anywhere from six or four my absolute and i think he does it my absolute highest number because he's not dumb

well there's that i believe that my absolute highest number is 10 5 it has to be higher than five years minimum six okay minimum six and i'm not happy would you take a five-year deal at that number yourself for five years from now yeah when does it get signed i don't i don't want I'd almost rather sign him to four or six than five just because of the situation. Actually, I'd rather sign him to four so then you have to do his deal first next time. So he's not waiting in the wings again. Yeah, because I know it's going to take a year. So then here's my next question, guys.

In wrapping up your predictions here, and I'll give you mine in a second, when does this get signed, if it gets signed? So you think he signs. Do you think he signs? Does everybody think he signs with the Leafs? Yes. Okay. So you think he signs, you want it to come in under 9, what do you think will happen?

I think it comes in under 10, it's July 2nd. Okay, when no offer sheets come? Yeah, July 2nd, July 3rd, in and around there, and I think it comes in under 10. Steven? Six years. Six years? What day is today? Today is the 25th, so we'll know in 10 days, if Jesse was correct.

June 28th. Why do you say June 28th? Because he's going to meet with the three or four teams or whatever, right? This isn't going to interfere with free agency. This is going to get done. Yeah, you're probably right about that. Because I feel like so little of this has to do with business, and it has to do with emotion.

At some point, it's going to drop. It's going to crack, and it gets done. Can I change my answer to 11 a.m. on June 30th? Sure. You want to get super specific. There you go. I like predictions. Yeah, it's fun, because it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if you're wrong. And people are like, you're wrong. It's like, ah, it doesn't matter. Who cares? It's going to be right. Here's what I will So what do you say You say

I say June 28th Um We have a lot We have a live show July 4th It will happen before then Okay Um

You're not gonna like me If you'd asked me yesterday Fuck off Don't you dare If you had asked me Don't you dare I know what you're about to do If you had asked me yesterday

I'd have said July 5th Cause July July 5th is like A Saturday right And it's like It's like You know after the week The crazy week or whatever

Watch this Um But I feel it in my bones. We will be talking about this until December 1st. No! Mitch Marner will not be in camp.

Do you fire Kyle Dubas? Because that's ridiculous. If that's two years in a row with your star player is going to December 1st. Then he gets traded. No, but then Kyle Dubas is fine. He's not. Mitch Marner is not signing in the next two weeks, guys. It's not going to happen.

I say I say December 1st. So are you firing the GM? No, I'm not going to fire the GM. You don't file Kyle Dubas over two years in a row? Darren Ferris is acting like a clown. I don't know what Darren's like personally, but this is a clown show. I just realized what's about to happen.

It's going Nylander, baby. Get ready. Strap in. After Canada Day, I'm going to fill in on a couple different time slots on Sportsnet 590, The Fan, for two weeks. Last year, we did the Kawhi trade show. Mitch trade? I'm getting the Mitch trade show.

Son of a gun. Son of a gun! I can't believe it. If you do get... I don't think they trade him before free agency. No. Because... I don't know.

I don't know that. I don't know what I know anymore. I think that they wait. Because then, here's the thing. The second he doesn't get an offer sheet, all the power is in their court. Yeah. And then you trade him to the team who didn't get the free agent they wanted. Yeah.

And you've got a ton of teams with a ton of cap space. And then Darren and him will get the money they want Because now you've traded for Mitch Marner Now you gotta sign me to whatever I want, right? Sorry to cut you off I think He ends up I'd love, love

To see the Islanders come in on this I'd love to see them do it And watch the Leafs dunk their head In the toilet You don't have any money You don't have a building I don't mean on the ice necessarily I just mean financially

Or, like, someone was talking about Carolina. Are you out of your mind? Well, if you heard what they offered Sebastian Ajo, it's not going to happen. Florida is going to get Bobrovsky and Panarin. They're Instagramming about it today. I don't know. Oh, I do. Come on.

I don't think so. Who's going to get them over Florida? Colorado. You're out of your mind. Yeah, they want to go to an icy climate again. And I love Colorado. The Nuggets are great. The Rockies never are.

But the Avalanche are back to being a good team. They were good a couple years ago. when they were a wildcard team. They had a mini run. They had a run. The food definitely tastes better. Denver's awesome. But are you telling me that those guys

who have been linked to Florida forever are not going to Florida? Forget it. Side note about the Colorado Rockies. Sorry to interrupt. No. They had one of the worst hashtags in the history of postseason.

Oh, no. When they made the playoffs, they were Rocktober. Oh, yeah. And you were tweeting about it. I tweeted about it. I went on a tweet thread about how I hate Rocktober.

Jesse never rants, but he hated Rocktober. Rocktober. Social media things. You know how there's too many sports teams in North America? One of the ones

that I routinely forget exists is the Colorado Rockies. Yeah, I know. Well, I think that they just are never a top player for whatever reason. I think it's that park, right? Aren't they in thinner air

so there's more home runs to hit there? It's a weird place. Yeah, it's a weird place. I don't think I believe that. Oh, dude. They talk about it as if it's gospel.

Yeah, the balls travel. They also talk about the turf. Balls travel further on Coors Field because there's the air spinner more like out of Coors Field

you don't believe this it's an actual I'm sure it's science I do believe it I do believe it I just I'm sure Lauren's made of it that needs to be

they have a line in the top of the stadium there's like purple seats and those are seats that are exactly a mile high from Elshire because they're

mile high wow you go sit in that row of seats I love that shit I love baseball is ridiculous oh

Cincinnati has more Nats per capita than any other baseball park. And the balls don't go as far in Cincinnati because the ball gets slowed down by all the Nats. All the Nats. Yeah, baseball does really boil it down

to every possible fact. People always ask, you know Mike Francesca's old partner, a Mad Dog, he has to do a show on the MLB Network in the off-season, too, every day about the MLB. And you're like, how do you find something to talk about?

And then you realize, like, baseball is so in-depth. You can talk about anything all the time. Other fun stadium facts. The Texas Rangers out in Arlington, they have trouble playing day games during the summer because it's so hot in Texas. That's right. So the majority of their games throughout the summer are night games because it's cooler. Wow. That's so unbelievable.

It's like having to walk a hairy dog. Like, if you don't have a short-haired dog, you can't talk about during the day. No, no. Yeah, or it's got to be a real short one. We've got to bring water with you. For a long time, there were no lights in Wrigley Field, so all their games were day games. That's right.

In Chicago. That's right, that is true. We didn't have lights! Baseball sucks! Baseball's hilarious! Name another sport where every playing surface is different. Yeah, imagine you go to every NHL city and the rink is a different size. This is 203 feet, not rather than 200.

We don't know why. We just made it that way. Like it's so weird Architecture That was a part of the game Hey fans We're here in Brooklyn tonight As the Islanders

Take on the Hurricanes Hope you brought your flashlights Because there are no lights In this building Every player gets a concussion Yep I Anyway

Back to the original thing Where were Really hope Mitch Marner stays But I think this is going to December He gets slowed No The Brandon Shanahan

Has to step in Long before that This does not go to camp This does not go to camp Brendan Shanahan Why do you think that changes things No he's got it Like if Dubas lets it go on that long

Dude this cannot I'm sick of it I'd rather trade him I'd rather get a shittier package Honest to God I want to know who the team is in September I think Dubas will make the decision Ahead of Brendan I agree

You know what I was telling people at the draft Kyle Dubas is about to have a grown ass man summer He's gonna There's going to be some shit And I don't think everyone's going to be happy about it It might have to be one of those off-seasons That isn't good until they hit the ice So Adam, you think it's going to go to December

And it's going to be as a result of Derrick Ferris If Marner has to get traded He is I gotta tell you, man, he's going to regret that He's going to regret the hell out of that This isn't worth it, but yeah, I think December 1st I'll say he'll regret it even if he wins Even if he wins

Like wins the negotiation? A Stanley Cup. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think so. So on December 1st, is he traded, or is that when he decides to deal? I think he's traded that day, and somebody works out a deal. Interesting. They won't let him sit the whole year without some value back.

Well, I mean, they could, but the other thing, I mean, it gives them some options, and that's where they don't have that much cap space to really play with. But if I am the Leafs, the thing I do is wait until July 5th and go, okay, who missed out on Panarin and Bobrovsky? Who needs a superstar score? start calling them and add Paul Fenton to that list just because he's nuts. My summer just turns into spite. I don't even worry

about making my team competitive next year I just try to fuck over other teams in free agency I don't even worry about it. I want to see the Kyle Dubas revenge story If you're a Leafs fan and you're upset about this be upset, that's cool. Just know that next year they'd have a ton of cap space to spend in free agency

Now, let's move on because I know Nikita Zaitsev's name has been floated out there a few times and there were some deals or whatever I'm of a weird opinion that you're going to have to trade Jake Muzzin to trade Nikita Zaitsev. What? Why? One of the issues that Kyle Dubas is facing is the same issue that

Jacob Truba was in Winnipeg, which is you want a similar player back. He still doesn't have an extension, does he? Truba? No. Interesting. So Truba, you're not going to get a right-handed shot back for Truba. The point is to stack up your right side, right? That's what you want to do.

Yeah. I think you trade Jake Muzzin for the right-handed shot defenseman you're looking for, and then you trade Nikita Zaitsev for whatever. And the reason I think you do that is I believe Travis Dermott, whether you think he's ready or not, is ready. And whether Babs really thinks he's ready or not, he's ready. Well, he won't be ready for the beginning of the season. Sure, but okay, that's the first few games, whatever.

So he misses a month. What? Fine. And it takes another month to really get up to snuff. You've got to put Travis Dermott in that situation at some point or another and see what you have. I believe that you cannot go into that next season with Nikita Zaitsev. He's gone. He's got to go.

But I also don't believe... I think that's a tactic. I think that there are two guys on this team that are potentially really tradable, and I think it's obviously Zaitsev's going to go. But I believe you trade Jake Muzzin to get the right-handed piece you want, or it's Nazem Khadri. I listen to both of those options for sure. The idea that...

I mean, Muzzin's not coming back after this season. No. So, yeah, I'm open to that. I like him. For sure. I like the way he plays. It's easier to get left-handed D. Yeah.

It just is. So, yeah, if you can trade him, and yes, great value, but if you can get the right-handed guy you want, there's decent left-handed D out there. Yeah, I'm open to that, dude. I like that idea. Now, I found it really, really funny, because the Canucks always do this this time of year.

They go from absolutely brilliant to clinically insane within a few days. And this time it happened on the same day. They are brilliant at the draft. Brilliant. Brilliant drafting record. You thought so? Well, they were good this year. Their fans were very funny when they made that pick.

Podolskan, I can't remember how to say his name. And it's like everyone in the arena forgot they were there. Ole! I didn't mind that pick for them because I think he's going to be a very good NHL player. And when you're picking 10th overall, the guy probably won't be ready for two years anyway. So he can't be here for two years. So what? You pick the highest skill guy.

And I trust the Canucks draft record. I think it's worth trusting. If it takes someone a couple years for the Canucks, I think that's sort of their advantage. Yeah. Because they're about to have an expensive few years as guys come off their ELCs. Besser needs a new deal and no one's talking about it. Yep. Because he's like the 12th most interesting RFA.

but that aside how is it that the Canucks had to pay a premium for the Tampa Bay Lightning to dump their salary on them I don't know how do you pay for 30 point TJ Miller or sorry JT Miller how do you pay a first rounder plus how does that work a guy who makes five million bucks and yes probably underutilized in Tampa what are you looking what at what point does that make sense and it leads you to believe that the Canucks are actually good enough that you think that you're probably going to be in the playoffs next year. This was the thing, and this is what people kept asking me at the draft. Do the Canucks think they're good?

And listen. They've got good pieces, man. For sure. And the really good pieces that are only going to get better. Jakob Markstrom had a very underrated season, very good in the Canucks net. The Pacific Division I don't think really scares anybody. The Canucks could make the playoffs next year Maybe even in like

A top three season They could make the playoffs I'm just not convinced they make much noise And I'm also not convinced that happens Like it's not a slam dunk I suppose I suppose you gotta do something And you're trying to improve your team

I just don't know I don't know if that was the move I don't hate it if Miller is your third line setter Oh, I still hate that. Even if he's your second line center, then it's Sutter, Miller, and Bo Horvat. That's a good three down the middle. It's not the greatest. For like $16 million total.

Boy, they got a dumb Sutter. Yeah, they really do. She's the six of that 16, or seven of that 16 or something. Well, it's cheap because it's not good. The Leafs is expensive, but it's good. But if you surrounded it with high quality wingers, then maybe you have something there and a defense that can hold its own. And maybe you have something there that's going to make the playoffs and who knows when

you get to the playoffs. Maybe. So don't hate it in that respect. But, well, on the note of their defense, they're letting a pretty decent defender just walk by the sounds of it, which is very confusing. I mean, you could potentially trade Muzzin and just be like, all right, here's Hutton. Yeah. Well, I was also thinking, too, if you wanted to trade Muzzin and get something back for him,

you could re-sign Gardner if you really wanted to at that point. Maybe. If he leaves. Maybe. I don't know. Here's the other thing with the Miller trade that is so interesting. John Shannon went on Sportsnet 650 and said, they said, like, this is weird. Were there a lot of teams in on Miller?

And John Shannon said, no. There were not a lot of teams in on Miller. So they paid a high price for a guy that nobody was really in on. And why would you be? this is the thing people talk about in Vancouver the conversation last year when Beagle and Roussel were signed is

it's not really a big deal when Sutter was signed it's not really a big deal they won't be good for a while and it's not like they gotta chew up the cap space somewhere the problem is when Besser, Pedersen and everybody else needs a big fat deal like what the Leafs are dealing with right now you're still gonna have Jay Beagle, Roussel

this guy I think Miller's got a year left or whatever But it's these dumb, and they're not done. They're going to give Tyler Myers more money than Kevin Hayes got. The rumored Myers deal is lunacy. So six years, eight million, apparently, is what I heard. No, I read, no, I thought they were discussing eight years. Eight over eight for a 30-year-old guy who was a third-pairing defenseman in Winnipeg last year and still didn't have good results.

Even seven. Even six, I think. At $8 million? One of the most chronically overpaid defensemen in the league. Sounds like a really good guy. He's a right-handed shot. He can put up points. But did you know that Tyler Myers, one year,

I've brought this up a bunch of times, but just not for a while. One year, Tyler Myers was the highest-paid defenseman in the National Hockey League. Is that his first year in Buffalo? No, it was, yeah. Remember Buffalo lost their mind for a few years there and they had back-to-back years, they had the highest paid defenseman in actual cash

and both years it was a different defenseman. The first one was Tyler Myers. You want to take a stab at who the second one was? I have no idea. German. Can you name a German-born NHL defenseman? This is how messed up it was.

I believe it was Christian Ehrhoff. Really? Oh, right! He was making $12 million in actual cash. That's right. Look that up on CapFriendly. I want to make sure. He had a ridiculous deal. That's right.

The Tyler Myers deal will either be, as reported, four years at six or seven years at eight. Oh, my God. Those are the two numbers they're discussing. Four years at six is a lot less insane. Four years at $6 million per season. I don't even hate that. Or seven years at $8 million. Why are you paying more for more years?

At that point He's 30 years old Should be paying less Yeah we're not talking About a young guy here We're talking about a guy The sun will be setting On his abilities

At that point So we'll see What on earth The four The four times six I do hate It's just not a Show in and show out

We talk about How it's Such a shit deal You know Sort of like The Luchich one I wouldn't Give him either

Of those deals Jeez, man. What a confusing team. Also, did you hear that apparently Peter Shirelli may have joined them? Yes, apparently. Yeah, it was Andrew Walker, I think, that broke that. He said that they've offered him a position, which I find... He had himself a weekend, Mr. Walker.

He did. I find it really, really weird that they would bring him in after what happened. Who? Shirelli. Oh, I was like, what are you talking about? After what happened in Edmonton. Dude, they just recycle the same 200, 250 guys? Yeah, he's an NHL executive.

He gets a job. That's it. That's how it works. Wow. That's nuts. And I do hope they sign Tyler Myers because it will continue to prove my point that Vancouver goes from brilliant to nuts within two weeks. Draft to free agency.

They're crazy. They're stupid. It's insane. Jim Benning needs to have his phone taken away. And Jim Benning, really? He hasn't done a bad job. he's gotten some great pieces in there but it's all through the draft

if you had Jim Benning Potato versus Jim Benning as in only draft I bet Jim Benning Potato wins you know he's been a punching bag on and off on this show it's a little bit more on than off after a nice little

streak there right he can't get out of his own way he had a bit of a streak you know who's on a streak like a good one Mark Bergevin Man, we hammered that guy for like two years. It's because he hasn't done anything. What's he done?

I really liked Cole Caulfield. The Max Domi trade was obviously smart a year ago. It worked out when we all said it wouldn't. The return for Max Pacioretty was very good. Tatar worked out great. He's put together this really nice roster of prospects, especially on offense. Well, he also got himself into the mess that he created and then cleaned up. Yes, but if we're talking about hot streaks, cold streaks, I'd say a bit of a hot streak.

And Benning, ice cold, and he started to heat up, and I'd say he was just above room temperature. And, uh-oh, it's getting a little chilly again. Now, have you heard of Carly Zucker and the tweet, the infamous tweet? Yes. Oh, I love the Minnesota Wild. You know what, we should start a feature called This Week in Paul Fenton. Yes. And literally every week this year, we just go, here's what Paul Fenton said or did this week.

Have we ever seen someone so instantly become a unanimously agreed upon bottom 5 GM in the league? Oh, no. But if I'm the Leafs, I'm calling him. Every day? Every single day? Here's what I don't get. First off, I'll read you this and then we'll get to it. You know, we don't hear many complaints from Minnesota Wild fans.

They're always sort of in it. I think we alienated too many of them. Well, you hated Chuck Fletcher. You didn't hate Minnesota Wild, though Minnesota Wild. That was a fun rant because so many of them were like, all right, okay, I get it now. And you know what? You're not even wrong. Yeah, because they're very kind.

Like, dude, we get it. No, that's fair. But I want to look at this because I think it says a lot. So Michael Russo, who does a lot for, he's an incredible reporter for the Wild, and he said, Fenton on Jason Zucker. I don't plan to get rid of Jason unless the right thing came to me. I listen to offers and I make offers. It doesn't mean that he's pigeonholed into something.

I love Jason as a player. And Carly Zucker retweeted it and said, I totally get it. I'm not planning to get rid of him as a husband. But I'm always open to offers if the right thing comes along. She was being very sarcastic. Jason Zucker was almost traded to the Flames. Then he was almost traded for Phil Kessel. And for some reason, this poor guy who's just signed this contract last year,

he just signed it to commit to them to stay with them. I remember he scored a hat-trick on the Leafs, and I was like, who the hell is this guy? Yeah, and apparently the Leafs are interested in him. Why shouldn't they be? Why shouldn't they be? Now, I think it becomes very interesting for the Leafs if the other guy they're rumored to want to move on from, Jared Spurgeon, who is also really good. Yep.

Like, that becomes, well, now they need a right shot. I'm not saying you flip Spurgeon for Zaitsev. I don't think the Leafs would get that lucky. But I do think Spurgeon goes, and then they're going to be like, well, we need a right shot guy who's got a manageable cap hit. Nikita Zaitsev. Now, the other thing that I love,

you guys saw the quote from the draft, right? So Paul Fenton talked about the draft picks. And he said, we got a lot of young guys in the system. And I'm paraphrasing here. We got a lot of young guys in the system. But what was nice was all of these young draft picks

that were drafting coming up to the table and they were taller than me. Man. Media training, dude. Like, even if you're kidding, I, benefit of the doubt, think he's kidding. I don't think he's kidding.

Yeah, me neither. I, benefit of the doubt, think he's kidding. Man, you've got to know how that sounds. And even worse, you've got to know how that reads. You've got to know how that reads. How tall is Paul Fenton? Don't know. Because if he's like 5'5 and makes that joke, it's funny.

Okay, funny. It's really funny. I don't think you can Google Paul Fenton height. I will try. All right. Also, fun fact. You can Google anything. Adam, this is a fun fact for you.

Uh-oh. Carly Zucker is a radio host. Is she? Yeah, she hosts a show called Overtime with Carly Zucker on K-Fan in Minnesota. Oh, that's sick. Oh. Is it still on? Yes.

Or is it done for the season? Because I've got to imagine. Oh, I don't know. It's pretty interesting. I don't know. I don't think it's a hockey-specific show. Yeah, she might just be talking about Minnesota sports. Girl.

I'd be very interested to hear that. Now, this falls into, I guess it's the other end of the spectrum, sort of, of what Elliot friedman was talking about you know the people in your life that sort of calm things down but remember the first time he was on the show back at your old apartment there he talked about um talked about listen tell your family members to stay the hell off twitter and tell them to not read what is said about you and certainly not to relay it to you so sometimes it works out in the opposite way uh they don't calm you down they sort of add fuel to the fire yeah i i i know the tactic right now is to say well you know we could easily keep him

i think they're trying to move jason zucker i think well i think the zuckers are ready for jason zucker to move paul benton by the way going on 411 nhl game so his height is readily available yes oh hey so i didn't even know that yeah he's an athlete so 511 so he's my height yeah that's a regular-ass height, so I don't know if he's joking. No, he's not joking. I think he's going back. He's basing it on what it used to be like when he played. When did he play? He played

his first year in the NHL was 1984-85 for the Hartford Whalers. He was pretty standard. He played from 84 until 92 when he retired as a player of the San Jose Sharks. Played 60 games in the last season. 11 goals in that year.

Here's the best part. Career high 32. Wow. They had a 32-goal season. Jason Zucker. Winnipeg Jets. Yeah, that's when everybody was scoring 30 or 40 goals. Jason Zucker and Jared Spurgeon.

That's who the Wild want to move on from. Who do they want to bring in? Who do they want to bring in? Wait, are you asking me? Who do they want to bring in? I don't know. Who are the Wild going, you know, we could use a little... I mean, it's Paul Fenton, so what do you think?

My assumption is an obscure player in the Predators organization. you mean one wayne simmons oh my god is it really several teams including the wild have shown interest in simmons who will be looking to bounce back from a tough 2018-2019 they are about to be bad oh boy and i hope for wayne's sake that he gets as much money as he can out of it for wayne's sake he doesn't go to minnesota yeah that's true wayne go get your money though like whoever just take the money man i need another uh stanley cup and rouge hill moment yeah true you know i want Wayne Simmons to win the Cup. Oh, boy.

It's not going to happen to Minnesota, man. He can play up and down the lineup. He plays a heavy game that the Wild lack and he's a protector of teammates.

I mean, yeah. This is according to the article, but this guy is so strong playing in L.A. once he literally caved Eric Nystrom's cheekbone in during a fight.

Eric Nystrom of the Wild. When he was with the Wild. Ah. Ah, yes. Listen. Wayne Simmons is a great player, I think.

Maybe a bit past his best, but still valuable to an organization. I hope he goes and makes his money. Will the Wild be the oldest team in the league? I don't know what the... What do we always say? The worst teams in the league are the teams where you go, I don't know what you are.

What are the Minnesota Wild, everybody? What are they? I don't know, man. I could not tell you. I do not know. Other than a bunch of former Predators. And it sounds like about to be more former Predators. You might think I'm crazy here, but I think the Leafs and the Preds could have...

Leafs and the Preds? No. Could have a potential thing, and then we'll do the press conference. Interesting. I think the Predators want a guy like Nazem Kadri. I think you're right, but they're about to go out and get Matt Duchesne. Yeah, they are, but I think that they would want to move Kyle Turris. I think you're 100% right, because let's say Duchesne signs 9-5, which it sounds like is reasonable. Johansson makes at least 8.

He makes 8. He was 8 over 8. So 8. Oh boy. And Torres makes over 6. Yeah. That is a very expensive top 3 that I don't even think is all that fantastic. So if you look at Kyle Torres, he had a brutal year last year. so they're selling low on him and if I'm the Leafs, Kyle Turris while small, plays the system that the Leafs play

he plays the type of hockey they play I don't hate Kyle Turris at 3 million bucks oh, salary retained if Nikita Zaitsev's going the other way and you look at it and you go, they just lost a right-handed shot defenseman

so they, yes they have to absorb money and I don't know why Nashville would necessarily do that They've got some young prospects or something. I do know that the Leafs were interested in Robbie Fabry as well. I'll be interested in Robbie Fabry for sure. So maybe there's something to be worked out there,

wherein, I mean, Turris has got a long time left on that deal. That's the one problem with it. But at $3 million buyout, like, if he plays well, great. And if he doesn't, you buy him out, and then it's a million and a half on the cap. Boy, I don't know. I tried to picture it.

There could be something there, for sure. Babs would just be like, you got me a small guy. No, not another one. Or a team of Nick Patans. Hey, Nick Patan, I want you to line up next to right-handed Nick Patan, who we just... Kyle Nick Patan, and Casperi Nick Patan. Trevor Nick Patan, you're scratched tonight. I don't know, I think there might be something there.

There definitely could be someone there. As long as you can get Robbie Fabry back. And we know the Leafs and Preds were speaking, so there could be the framework to an alternate deal. There was the Subban deal. That often seems to happen. Maybe a Connor Brown you throw in there too? Could.

You know what was very interesting to me? So the salary cap seemed to be the theme of the weekend, and I guess flooding into this week as well. Vegas hasn't done Really anything The Carlson deal that they signed That is a very very Very good deal

But they still need to move Money out Colin Miller seems to be A slam dunk to me If not to the Leafs then to somebody So I am a little bit Confused by how quiet things seem to be He'll be on the Blackhawks don't worry

They'll get him for nothing Why are they getting everybody all of a sudden? Because Stan Bowman is the He's got to be the most charming man in the world Oh my god Would you like an autograph from my dad? They're saying that Pavelski is going to go to Chicago as well Anders Lee

They're saying both of them Overnight You're the best net front presence team In the entire league For the next two years Holy shit I don't like those contracts beyond a couple years Term is an issue

They would be right back in it. Particularly with Pavelski, but holy smokes. He's still such a good player. By the way, I want you to know that in Toronto, Darren Drager is now trending because of his comments this morning. He has worked his way up over the course of this show from 10th in Toronto to now 4th. Just Drager. But why does he keep doing it? Well, because he obviously has a close relationship with this...

No, I'm kidding. That's why. Oh, yeah. That's why. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen. I take what Darren Drager says as gospel for what Darren Ferris thinks. Yes.

Yes! 100% I don't think, the one thing about Darren Drager is like, well you know he's not lying just doesn't mean that it's going to happen Fair? Fair. Well Mitch Marner might get 14 million dollars Maybe we should stop ripping on Drager

just because, I mean he's putting he's not necessarily giving us information as much as he's giving us verbatim their thoughts You know what I mean? Yeah, he doesn't even take time to take it from the email and go, you know I'm going to rearrange this sentence a little bit and soften it nope just here it is one of these days his tweet is gonna start with

fwd colon like he's just gonna accidentally screw that up yep re colon redacted redacted on emails and then that's here's not even that yeah no it's just gonna give everybody the tweet the email address yeah yeah anyway good times at the ranch let's do the press conference steven dangle you were at the nhl draft this past weekend in vancouver sure was some 700 and no 207 rounds so 7 times 31 some 210 11-ish players were yes drafted yes who was not drafted it jayken smallwood jayken smallwood oh come on unfortunately it did not go in the nhl draft even though this was his first draft eligible year yeah i texted him in the morning um i was yeah i was texting with jayken what did he say texted with him in the morning and he wasn't optimistic

about it and i'd spoken to some people and they're like yeah it's not looking good um and then as soon as the last pick was announced and it wasn't him you know just sort of send him like a motivation going forward and and i mean he knows his hockey career is not done and uh you know he certainly wouldn't be the first guy to you know have a uh long wonderful nhl career after not getting drafted his first year of eligibility so you know his next move is continue in the uh i do not i don't know if he's on anyone's uh invite roster Okay. Might be.

I don't know. Okay. I'm just curious. Glad to hear you're texting with him. Yeah. He's a good guy, man. He's a good guy. What a weird...

It's weird the way people come in your life sometimes. Can I play the two of you audio and then we can go? The audio? Yes, sure. Can I play some audio? I'll just play it from my laptop and then insert it after. It'll be loud enough. Does that work?

Yeah. All right. Are you guys listening? Listening. Are you ready? Mm-hmm. that the fans didn't welcome welcome him in more um towns like those are so rare they don't come by fast and i think it serves us right that now he's gone and look at what we're left with

oh my god wow no that's him that's it it's the inflection that is him it's not just the voice it's the inflection wait is that kairi i didn't i didn't catch that at all when it happened live Are you just blown away? Hold on. Play it again. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Play it again. Okay.

One more time. I'm going to try to find a different one. No, no, no, no, no. I'll play this one more time. Can we compare that to another Kyrie interview, too? By the way, are they saying right now that Kyrie Irving called in to a sports radio show to talk about Kyrie Irving? I was just calling in saying that with such a rare talent like Kyrie, it's such a shame.

Keeps doing that. there and that the fans didn't welcome welcome him in more um towns like those are so rare they don't come by fast and i think it serves us right that now he's gone and look at what we're left with oh my god wow no that's him i have to be honest they wouldn't say oh my god that's him unless they were basically one million percent sure play the flat earth i have another clip I have another clip where he talks about Flattery. I have another clip where they compare his voice. Let me just bring it up.

There's no way that happened. Come on, now. Come on, now. Did he really just take the heat off Kevin Durant that fast? Oh, my God. Having it out for him? Because I'm like, I don't know. Listen to this.

Here it is. Oh, my God. wow no that's him that's it it's the inflection that is him it's not just the voice it's the inflection in the way he talks i didn't i didn't catch that at all when it happened live oh are you just as blown away as i am no i'm not i'm beetle is you are that's not kairi oh yeah that is it's a bad we know it sounded like we want to hear the beginning again is this kairi yeah it's the cadence it sounds like kairi trying to disguise all right they're playing you can't hide that you guys are tom put a side by side you want to hear side

hold on hold on before we do is it kairi on the phone or just kairi speaking no kairi speaking all right with such a rare talent like kairi and then you start figuring out what is important to off the floor. It's such a shame that the fans didn't welcome him in more. It'll be an unbelievable experience for something new.

So, for context for everybody listening, Kyrie Irving is going to be a free agent this summer, and he had a terrible year in Boston. He's leaving.

And he's leaving. He's going to go to New York and he's going to play for the Nets. Or maybe the Knicks. Who knows? And it sounds like he called in to

Zolik and Bertrand, Which is a local show That's a catchy name On 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston Oh that's a big station Yeah so he calls into the station That certainly sounds like Kyrie It sure does sound like Kyrie

Whether it is or not I don't know But man I would love to see that That's not the first time that's happened too There have been other players that do that I know that there's stories out there And I can't think of any offhand But I think people have been caught Oh no

Well, Durant with his burners Yeah, that's Twitter though That's very different There have been players that have done that And I can't think of who But anyway, I have to say That is pretty compelling I mean

And if he is caught doing that, what then? Yeah, what the hell? Why the hell do the Nets want him that bad? Why are they in such a hurry to give that guy a max deal? He's like, I'm not a leader, I don't like it So then you don't give him a super max I think it's the sports thing about the guys that are just going to get a next contract. Any guy who can play at that high level is just going to get it.

Another team is going to be like, oh, he won't be the problem with us. And he's going to go there. We can fix it. Exactly. And then he's going to go there and be the problem. It's a shame that you guys are not the geniuses that we are. Yeah. We can fix them.

We, the Wildcats. Yes. Are better than you, the Wildcats. So much smarter than the Wildcats. Literally all sports executives are Spider-Man pointing at himself. like that you know what i mean yes um but uh i also want to i just want to jump in here hayley wickenheiser has officially been brought into the uh hockey hall of fame what's the what's the class uh i believe i'm looking hang on hang on well she's one of six jim rutherford got in for the

builder category uh sergey zubov is finally in hey i'm very underrated yes check forward Oh, it's a Canadian forward, Guy Carboneau, and Czech forward, Václav Nidomansky. Okay. Don't know who that is. Not aware of him. International player. They're doing their best to honor the guys who were in the Soviet bloc, right? Yeah.

I thought Guy Carboneau was already in. Yeah. Hey, Haley Wickenheiser. It was only a matter of time, right? Oh, yeah. Top-scoring female player of all time. Noted member of the Leafs organization. That, too.

Yeah! All right, are we done? Are we all done? Okay. Man, that Kyrie clip is fucking nuts By the way, a million people have sent me Max Kellerman rapping, have you seen this? Oh no

Can we watch Max Kellerman? No, my heart I don't think I could Okay, while you're pulling that up Before the show is ruined Thanks everyone who came out to the Regal Beagle In Vancouver That was a very, very good time

We were like 200 a year, it was fantastic Shout out to everybody who I met at the draft Oh, did you see that clip of the Red Wings fans who, like, put their head in their hand the second that off the board. So I got to interview one of them. Man, what is going on with that? Did they draft off of Ken Holland's list?

Maybe he thought he still had, like, Tampa's pick or something. It was a very strange move. Odd start, but hey, man, listen, you got to give Stevie Y a little bit of rope here because I think he's earned it. Yeah, it was a great weekend for the Winged Wheel podcast. Jesse, do you have it? Is it his, like, OG rap video from 94? Yes.

No! When he used to be a rapper? Have a look. No. That's him? No. The video, by the way, is Max Kellerman, the pale white rapper, back in 1994. I, what do we think?

I think my day's ruined. I think if you were to show me a video and say this is Max Kellerman rapping, that is much better than I thought it would have been. Oh, way better. He's got some flow. He's passable. For sure. Even though his skin's European, as he says. It's no reasonable doubt, but it's back in 94, but it's all right.

What city is that filmed in? It almost looks like it's filmed on Bay Street, doesn't it? With, like, Queen's Park in the background. It's definitely not Toronto. It's definitely not. But he was on a song called Young Man Rumble. Yeah. I don't know.

He's very threatening in this video, by the way. Who's he? Looks like he's got pillow fists. By Max and Sam. Max and Sam. Wow. All right. Should we announce our live show?

Oh, yeah. Hey, we've got a live show next week. Next week. Coming up. Isn't it next week? July the 7th. Coming in hot. Not July the 7th.

No. July the 4th. Thursday, July the 4th at Old Flame in Port Perry, Ontario. It's a brewery. You're going to have a good time. They have delicious beer. And here's the best part about it. We will set up an Eventbrite, and we will have to sign up, and we will control when

that all goes out, so we'll make sure it goes out on time. and what was that there's only gonna be there's only gonna be about 80 slots guys only gonna be about 80 slots

what was that I'm tired I can't be tired only gonna be about 80 slots guys but Jesse will not be tired for our live show

at Old Flame that's right live so we will see you there it'll be like our unofficial last show of the season

yeah and we'll try to book some major guests we'll see yeah oh that'd be cool yeah we'll see what we can do follow the guys on twitter at steve underscore dangle at adam w y l d and at jesse blake

the steve dangle podcast brought to you by panago pizza order at panago.com and stuff your face with deliciousness