The Steve Dangle Podcast - Notre Kreider | September 14, 2026

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

On this episode of The Steve Dangle Podcast, 00:00 Kreider and Bolduc sign 21:00 Tomorrow's deadline for deals 38:00 Noah Östlund's new deal 45:00 Chayka's sit down with CJ and Jonas 1:17:00 Drake Batherson's extension 1:25:00 Mark Stone's Vegas extension 1:31:00 Sakic is reinvigorated Come see us at The Course and The Clubhouse!: http://sdpn.ca/events Visit this episode's sponsors: Sign up for a free trial at https://shopify.com/sdp now to grow your business, no matter what stage you’re in. Join us on Tuesday September 22, 2026 for a live stream on our YouTube Channel in partnership with the The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Road Hockey Event. All the proceeds raised during the live go to one winning team, helping them hit their fundraising goal or climb the draft board for a celebrity player on Game Day. There are two ways to get off the bench: register a team at http://pmcfroadhockey.ca/, or just tune in on the 22nd! Watch all episodes of The Steve Dangle Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEidkgWpSiHVkYT7HrIzLPXlY Watch clips of The Steve Dangle podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEieOJuIrqWyZPWSIJtVMCbLz Buy SDP merch https://sdpnshop.ca/ Visit https://sdpn.ca/schedule to see when our next live stream airs! Check out https://sdpn.ca/events to see The Steve Dangle Podcast live! Watch hockey with us! Live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk7FZfwCEifCTX0vkKEaGg9otrW4Zl2k Subscribe to the sdpn YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sdpn?sub_confirmation=1Join Subscribe to SDP VIP!: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0a0z05HiddEn7k6OGnDprg/join Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/thestevedanglepodcast Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sdpvip/subscribe - Follow us on Twitter: @Steve_Dangle, @AdamWylde, & @JesseBlake Follow us on Instagram: @SteveDangle, @AdamWylde, & @Jesse.Blake Join us on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/MtTmw9rrz7 For general inquiries email: [e-mail] Reach out to https://www.sdpn.ca/sales to connect with our sales team and discuss the opportunity to integrate your brand within our content! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You gotta try breakfast at you gotta try. And what better way than with a delicious Pret organic coffee? Starting with just $1 all day, every day now until December 31st. You gotta try breakfast at A&W. At participating A&W locations in Ontario. With your host, Steve Dangle, Adam Wilde, and Jesse Blake. Let's go! And I'll get right in in that hurricane system.

Yep. So that's my one. destination. My two destination is a team that is under the 23 man roster spot currently. Oh. They have cap space and can always use forward depth just like the hurricanes, the Montreal canadian. Interesting. Oh, that's my number two landing spot. And they've been looking for a winger. They've been looking for a left winger. I think that can fit right in their lineup there. I'll pull up their depth chart here. So those are my one and two destination of Kreider. I don't know if I'm going to be right, but I think I might be right.

Jesse. Oh, that was right. Turns out you were right, baby. That's right. Now, that was Jesse's Chris Kreider clip, which we put on our social media. And I just want to read out some of the comments pre-Christ Kreider signing. Another brutal watch. Keep it up, boys, from Boop 88.

I'm calling you guys out by name, by the way. That a boy. Boop. Bruce DeSuchier. I don't even know how to say your name. I'm sorry. Bruce. I took their names out of myself.

Social media. Unless Price himself publicly says he's cool with Crider, I would rather than miss the playoffs than have him on the team. Oh, my goodness. Brendan Lamoth, him in Montreal would just be wrong. Good player, but wrong. Kane, 292, Steve has it right. Fans would just boo him constantly.

I don't think Jesse understands how much he's hated in Montreal. Joseph Ross 998. Hell no, Montreal hates him. Ders for days says that's bait. not so much anymore. And I got to say this, Jesse Blake, a lot of people coming back to this clip

going, wow, so you did know. And I, listen, I'm sure that was just an analysis of people who might need a really strong power left winger. And obviously we know that, you know,

they made a hard push for Matthew Nyes and that clip that was released over the weekend from the Montreal Canadians, they totally got screwed on that. But this guy's, I mean, older, but he's cheaper than Nise. And you just, did you know, did you have a sense?

Or was this just a guess? No, the fit just made sense. I think in the, when I'm talking about the hurricanes and the Canadians, I think you can deduce from that previous conversation about how I kind of landed on that. And this is a team that's always needed that help on the left side. Kreider is such a good, cheap option. He's three years away from that 50 goal season he had. He's not ever going to be that player ever again, but it's not like he can't still score

goals. 22 last year, I think he could score 25. on this Montreal Canadiens team. They need the left wing help and they need the second line center like that true second line center and that's so they've solved one issue here for really cheap and it's smart move

by Gordon and Hughes. Jesse. Yeah. Oh no, no. What were you going to say? No, I was going to just on the signing itself apparently it came out that he contacted the Canadians

is what I think it was Gordon who said today which is interesting. That's how fucking right you were. He was like, Great. Jesse, you're right. I will contact Vinnie. What is he? Vinnie Altieri? Jimmy Altieri. Jimmy Alti. Vinnie. Yeah. No, I'm wrong so often. It doesn't feel right to know. No, no. Victory lap this. It's Adam's idea to do this. Ride this the whole season. Don't think this is my idea to dunk on people's Instagram handles. No, no. You want to put it out there publicly. You're going to get it back.

Jesse. Yeah. As the member of the show who has taken the most heat for being a closet Habs fan, Does it give you pause at all that, you know, maybe all the pandering with Lane Hudson last season didn't work? What do you mean? Well, they didn't. Well, just to follow up, let me say that comment, Steve. I don't think Jesse understands how much Habs fans hate Chris Kreider. And I don't think Jeff Gordon does either. Just to add to that.

Or, you know what? I think he has a real understanding for how much they love winning. And all I was saying is, you know, you were saying Hudson for Norris, Hudson for Norris, Hudson for Norris. And it turns out it bought you no goodwill. Amongst like the comments that everybody who said I was stupid for even suggesting at the idea. I'm just saying. Yeah. If I could say this to Habs on Reddit dug out a quote about Kerry Price and his knee injury,

which was absolutely a collision between Chris Kreider and him when we know that. he said it was part of he said it was part of the knee injuries I wouldn't call it the problem and this is the collision that they had Price if you remember was outstretched and Crider lost an edge going in and obviously they'd had history before

where they'd bump behind the net whatever so there's already rivalry there but he did it on purpose and was tripped or was tripped and did it on purpose Chris Kerry Price said but no I don't harbor any animosity towards him it was just a play and it was in the playoffs and it was kind of a quick play

I definitely don't harbor any ill will towards him. And that was when it happened. Yeah, season after it happened. But the Havs fans remember, man. Yeah, and they don't forget because that 2014 run for anybody, because that happened so long ago. Let's be honest, this was 12 years ago.

There's a lot of new hockey fans who are listening to this, a lot of new Montreal game fans who might not even know that this was a thing. But 12 years ago in the Eastern Conference final in game number one, Crider gets tripped by Eamelin from behind. his stick wax him on the shin pads. He goes in feet first into Carrie Price, and Price's knee goes against that post. And a lot of people, I think, forget, because I did a deep dive on the actual incident that happened over the weekend as when I was looking up everything about the trade.

Carrie Price stayed in that game, and he ended up allowing two more goals after that. And then going into the third period, they decide to pull him because I think it was Michelle Tarian's, like there's no sense in keeping Kerry Price in this game anymore. He's injured, plus we're down all these goals. And then he misses the rest of the series. Yeah. And then, but then Dustin Tocarski has a phenomenal series. Very good.

He was like a 940 save percentage of that series. So Carrie Price goes out for the rest of that, the playoffs. They obviously lose. A lot of has fans look at that run as their best chance at the cup, even though they were in the cup in 21. Right. This one was like an actual good team and that one's more of the miracle run. So that's why it kind of sticks in their, in their minds for so long.

But Carrie Price comes back the next season fully. healthy wins the heart and the Vezna that 14, 15 seasons. So it didn't immediately like take him out and end his career. It's just the knee injuries piled up so much with Kerry Price that it definitely had an effect on his career, but it wasn't like the defining one. And it seems like 12 years later, we can all understand it was a hockey play and you can hate him. But now he's one of yours.

Cheer for him. It's, I mean, it says, I don't think that'll be a problem. Yeah, no. I don't think that'll be a problem. They will. They're a funny fan base. They're either going to boo him the first time he gets the puck And then cheer for him the other times he gets the puck

Or they're going to cheer for him every single time he touches the puck You know in the because you know how Montreal does it They do a three hour documentary leading into every first game of the season So at some point they're going to bring Chris Kreider out Do you boo him in the intro and then cheer him every time he touches the puck Because I think if you boo him in the intro it's funny Right like it that would be funny like boo but welcome to town we're pumped that you're here you know what i mean or in the same because there's got to be a

reaction you got to remember he's going to hold that torch for five or six minutes yeah so they have time to do both yeah you're right you're right they do have time to do both how the the when when you say the heart and the vesina at the next year i don't understand i don't understand that was the greatest single season goaltending performance of the of his generation yes since like the lockout but probably since like 2000 like The mid-90s get a little ridiculous when nobody's scoring anything. And like the Broder. Since has a.

Mika Kiprasoff has a, yeah, like it's one of the greatest. Broder didn't do this. No. He didn't do this. 66 games played. He had a 44, 16 and 6 record with a 933.

It's stupid. The only goal-tending performance I remember being better was Mika Kipersaw. spent, I think, where was it? The most of the 05-06, oh yeah, 0-3-04, Mika Kipersov's goals against average. I know. Flaude Statt, 38 games was a 170. Yeah, no, he was unbeatable.

And then the next season, after the lockout, a 207. Like, but dead puck era, right? But they come back, scoring up, and he still has a 207. That's the other great kind of goal tent. Price was the greatest goalie of the second dead puck era. Yeah. And I will fight to the death that there was a second dead. Bakira, but whatever, he was the best one.

Now, Chris, oh, sorry. And just on the history and the lore, Kreider did have history of doing this in the round prior. Oh, yeah. Because Brandon Pruss, after the game when Crider takes out price, he's like, he did this to Mark Andre Fleury in the previous round. And so, like, Crider at the time was a pretty dirty player, just did this to a previous goal.

You should ask Alan about this. Crider going into Flurry in the second round. He probably hasn't forgotten this. Should I? He does it again to carry a price. So everyone's like, yeah, of course he did it. It wasn't just an accident. So it's the same thing with running into stallers.

You know, it's an accident in the same way. So Habs fans, they have a right to be upset. But now he's yours. As long as he's scoring, he helps you win. He's yours. So producer Drew being producer Drew was like, well, how would you feel if the Leif's went out and got Sam Bennett? if the Leafs went out and got Sam Bennett

here's where I would get upset there's only two scenarios number one is if the NHL actually started punishing him which they would which of course they would his first game he'd get a five game suspension

the second thing is if he look at me sideways I don't give a damn if he stopped injuring players Sam Bennett makes $8 million because he injures players yeah well yeah I know he scores and the cons my and did, yeah, but...

Yeah. He got there because he's a dirty fuck. But if he played for my team, what murder? Imagine he stopped playing like Sam Bennett? Yeah. He decided to believes you'd be pissed.

Okay, like the last two years of Brady Kachuk, yeah. Like, Brady, there was pre, and then there was... I'm going to Florida eventually. Get me out of here. Yeah, and I don't want to be injured when I do. Now, Chris Kreider has, is talking to the media right now,

so I've got a couple of quotes, but I do want to say, I misquoted. Carrie Price's comments about Chris Kreider were from 2025, which I think makes something better. Because now he's looking back on his whole career and going, yeah, I'd have no animosity towards him. So Habs fans, if Kerry has forgiven him, you must too. And here's what he said.

I think just everything they're doing here and have been doing for years now, the culture that they've built, the group that they have, it's a pretty big hockey city, the passion. I've tried to explain it to some of my friends. It's not just a sport here. It's a religion. It's going to be a pretty amazing place to play if you get the opportunity to play,

and I'm really excited to play at the Bell Center. And I think, you know, already the PR campaign has begun. And I don't think that it's going to take long. If Chris Kreider is Chris Kreider, like normal Chris Kreider, he was very good, very effective for the Ducks. As the playoffs went on last year,

I think they maybe relied on him a little too much. He was a little too high in the lineup. But Montreal doesn't have that problem. They have a first line. They have most of a second line once they get that, whether it's Oliver Capitan or an outside hire. It's a one-year deal. One-year deal.

What are we talking about? 2.15 million and guaranteed and another 3.25 in potential bonuses, according to C.J. Yeah, so there's some risk involved with him. So remember, he left $4 million on the table. Okay. Right?

So it was, he was owed $5 million this past season. He already got a million in bonuses. What was left is $4 million, so that's what he walked away from. Well, he's already made up guaranteed more than half of that. And I assume, I don't know. know what the bonuses are, but I assume it's like, did you get out of bed this morning, Christopher? Those bonus six games

play it. They're so stupid. Just give them the money. So these ones are a little more difficult to reach. Oh, okay. It's not the did you wake up today? It's not the Jonathan Tays bonus. It's not, or the Bergeron one was ridiculous. Yeah, the first one's 10 games, $2 million. That's the get out of bed in the morning. You get your two million

So that's, he makes up his money plus $115,000. No, because his total would be $4.1.5 million. Right. So he's short four. Trust me, I got that. I got it. Okay. Yeah, because he needs to make it.

He needs to make up $5 million. So he's still short. But he got a million from the ducks in bonus. Isn't it the bonus? Isn't that off of like the six or is it five and then the minus? No, no. So the money was the money was five. He's making up four.

Yeah. Okay. So yeah. Then he's plus already. So 10 games he'll play. At 10, 20, and 30 goals is 250K each. So the 30 goals is pretty hard. Yeah.

Even 25? Did he have 22 last year. So he gets half or three quarters. Sorry, three quarters, two thirds is what I'm trying to say. Look at us all. He still gets half a million bucks. Look at us all. This is why we're podcasting.

Yeah. So it's 10. Also the morning. 20 and 30 goals, 250K. And then. 500K, 40 goals. Hell yeah. Go for it.

Go for it. So I think he's going to probably settle in that 2.5 in the bonuses. Say he hits 20 goals plus the 10 games paid or played. That's 200 and $250K, right? Kreider's got to go up to his linemates and be like, that blade's not nearly flat enough. I expect to be set up every day. Everybody's got to just be passing me the fuck.

A 40 goal season out of Christmas. Crider in 2027 would be crazy. Yo, can I just suggest this? 40th goal goes in against the New York Rangers. Or the Ducks. Rangers. Yeah. Ducks.

There's no animosity there. They both decided to walk away from the deal. He didn't want to be there anymore. You're right. No, no. The range has to be the Rangers. You're right. Eliminating them from the place.

Oh, now we're talking. Okay, Marty St. Louis has also signed an extension. He was going into his last year, so he will stay with the... Former teammate of Chris Carter. That's right. That's so freaking crazy. Wow. The connections on him signing with Montreal is Martin St. Louis was his teammate.

And then his ex-General manager is now the president. Jimmy Altier. Our Jack-Eye's deal should get done soon. He should be ready for camp according to Pierre Lebrun this morning. And Zach Bullduke signed his extension. And it's actually, honestly, for the player that, I mean, I think he had a season last year that wasn't quite what they expected. I think they expected a little bit more.

I think there were some injuries in there, if I'm not mistaken. It was up and down. He started stupid hot. I think if he becomes the player that everybody thinks he's going to become, he's got a four-year extension at $4.2 million. There's no risk there. That's crazy low. What?

A little bit of a risk. I mean, yeah. But like a few years ago, that would have been an albatross. Like, that's a boat anchor that you can never properly get on. Um, that's not like, that's a third point season. Four point two million dollar player with term. That's a third liner. Yeah.

Yeah. He'll probably play with Kreider. That'd be a fun line. I think so. And I think, you know, I mean, I don't know if it's going to be to know or Evans. I can't imagine who their center is going to be. But it would be kind of fun if it was Denno. But I look at this and I go, uh, you know, if he goes up back up to, you know,

where he was with St. Louis the year before, which is 19. goals. And you expect that he's probably going to be at that level. Montreal already plays sort of a chaotic, offensive thing. So they should be scoring a lot of goals this year. Dude. Well, they're going to happen. This is going to be killer.

If he scores 25 goals, two or three times over that contract, it's 100% worth it already. Million percent. Like, listen, I think we all expect the HABs to be very good. Yep. At some point. I, I, so we haven't done our Atlantic prediction. yet. No, we haven't. They're a candidate to win the division. Yep. And they're a candidate for regression. Yep. Frankly. Yep. Based on what we saw in the playoffs. They're what they've basically

always been. They're can't miss. Yeah, they are at full blown entertainment. They're, they're, they're going to be interesting through the wins. They're going to be interesting through the losses. They're going to be interesting until game 84. I was talking to somebody this summer about them and they said I was like well I mean you know yes they did get to the third round but you do have to kind of look at okay well you know they had nine shots in game seven against

Tampa and then twice twice you know they ran they wrote the hot hand they're like well the great thing about that is if Dobish falters a little bit they've got a better goalie waiting this person thinks foulers better and so it's just isn't it funny how his hair's been rich itself yeah

like yeah well if the lack falls off they got this carry price kid. The Slovakian or Czech guy gets us through the playoffs, but wait a sec, there's a younger guy behind them that we expect to be better. It's crazy. It's crazy. So, yeah, we'll see what happens about Montreal. Pretty damn good day, I think. I thought the, the Crider signing and the Bull Duke signing

to me kind of went hand in hand in that putting Crider in the top six allows Bullduke to play lower in the lineup, which should ease his development. Oh, that's a good point because if that's the second line left winger that crider is and bull duke i know he might play on the right side uh occasionally down there on the third line but if he's on the left side you just don't have that pressure on him this season to go into the top six he can truly grow into being a goal score because that's what he was in junior yep he put up i think wow i think the stats were like 55 and then the next year 50 yeah over a hundred goals in two seasons yes it was in the queue in the

Q, Quebec kid, you know, and so I think they expect him to be more of a goal scorer in the league as opposed to what he's been right now, which is, you know, less than 20 goals. That's within for the Montreal. So hopefully Crider just allows him to play his game more. Looking at his ice time too, like, uh, Kreider was like 17 minutes a game on average last year. Bolduc was, he went up a full minute over the previous year in St. Louis, which is his best statistical year. But it's still 1338.

And I think, I think, Jesse, that's a really good point. He's going to have to, Bullduke over the course of this deal, needs to seize that spot. He needs to come in and go, no, sorry, Chris, this is mine now. And I think that's good internal competition, right? One year deal. One year deal. It's right there. Yeah, absolutely.

We are the Steve Dangal podcast. I'm pretty excited about this here announcement. Yeah. The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Road Hockey event fueled by Longoes, the biggest road hockey event in the world. The world! Wow. We're going to be a part of it. And we're pretty pumped.

We're actually doing a live stream in support of it beforehand. So it is October 3rd. But next Tuesday, September 22nd from 7 to 9, we are doing an SDPN live stream baby right here on this channel. Part of the telethon. It's like a telephon and variety show, five teams, one winner. Every dollar raised on the broadcast goes towards the team's fundraising goal. And we're hosting this event again, like I said, live here. Remember, two and five Canadians will face cancer in their lifetime.

And that means basically every family in the country is touched by cancer. And if you're not aware of the Princess Margaret, it's world-renowned. Jesse and I, when we were on the radio, used to work with the Princess Margaret on the lottery side. And, you know, one of the things that blows you away every time they bring in somebody who's been treated there is, Jesse, it's not just the research and the cutting-edge treatments. It's the bedside manner. It's how it happens. Yeah, no one treats people better than Princess Margaret. The road hockey event raised 3.3 million last year.

Here's the goal for this year. Can we get us there? It doesn't have to be just us, but everybody jumping in. $4 million. $4 million. That's what we'd like to do. Now, if you want to register a team, you can right now at pmcf, roadhockey.ca, and get in on our stream, September 22nd, right here on SDPN. Now, I wanted to go to this as a second story, and this is a very nonsensical second story,

but I want to talk about how quickly things change in the NHL. Okay. Now, one of the things that we've seen, obviously, this year is an explosion of salaries, right? I mean, Zach Bulldoch's making $4.2 million on 12 goals last year. There's probably going to be some signings today. Yes, because as CJ mentioned this morning, this is the final day, is it not? Final day for an eight-year deal. Yeah.

But midnight tonight, and then after that, it's only seven years. There's a few RFA specifically like Cutter Gochay, who we're really watching for. I guarantee you that frigging deal. is going to be done as soon as we record the show. But I wanted to talk... It's tomorrow. I don't know. Tomorrow, okay.

So I want to talk about this guy. There's money out there. There's money available and people need veteran defensemen. And Carson Sousie has signed a PTO with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now, I want to remind you that Carson Sousie was a top four defenseman in Vancouver. In 2025, at the trade deadline, March 6th. He was traded to the New York Rangers

for a third round pick. Last year, he was in a very surprise move because they never make moves between each other. The Rangers got their third round pick back, but this time from the Islanders for Carson Sussi. So he was worth a third round pick in March? Like six months ago. Wow.

And he's a PTO guy now. Dude, Blankenberg's not a PTO guy either. Yeah, and we're going to talk about him, but the Leafs just got him on a PTO. So much of it, you know, when it comes to these September contracts, is a little bit of grease in the wheels, and maybe we'll get there. But it's also just you misplayed your hand in July.

Yeah, well, okay, I think the biggest, and this is where I wanted to go with this, is Logan Stanley. We've mentioned him a little bit, but the rumor out there was he was going to get the Zadorov deal, which is six times six. The rumor that I put out there. Well, no, but it wasn't you.

It was actually people that we talked to. It didn't come from nowhere. Millions was available to this player. And he doesn't have a contract yet. No. And now, like, okay, we're heading into camp next week. Yes, he's a massive human being. And yes, he had a random outburst of scoring last year.

I think he had seven or eight goals where he would only have one every year. This doesn't happen. Like a defenseman coming off a by far career year. just who's not having a dance partner. Yes. And, you know, unfortunately for him, he doesn't shoot right. If he did, he'd be signed. 100%.

But, you know, this is a 6'7, 231 pounder. And the league is not getting smaller. Everybody's getting bigger. And this guy doesn't have a deal. Carson Sussi is signing on a PTO. Very curious to hear what might have been offered to those players July 1st, July 2nd, that they turned down. I do wonder if some of the,

these players are waiting on certain situations to be resolved. You know, like we said, like Batherson's a big deal. Gochay's a big deal. The Ducks couldn't do business until they did this Crider thing. Yeah. Even if they had the deal with Cutter Goce set, I guess they could. You can go 10% over in the summer. Yeah.

But it totally screws you. Well, like, you know, we were like, well, Vitrono. You got to get rid of Frank Vitrono. And I think what happened is they called 31 teams and they all said no. Yeah. We saw many times your coach scratched them last year. Yeah. No. Let me see his points again. Does that say single digit? No. How much does it? No. And it's deferred. No. Right? So I think some of these guys are waiting now. I just want to say next time we talk about expansion and you're like it's going to water down the product. Look at all the players who don't have a contract right now. Now, none of them are real like game.

Game breakers. No. People will make the argument. They're talking about star power. Sure. No. It's still going to be the same layers. There's only one McDavid and one McKinnon and one dry saddle.

How many superstars do you think there are in the league? And if the answer is 32, I think you're abusing the word superstar. Yeah. There's five? Three? Yeah. And then you got local stars in your markets, right? I think there's, I think it's close to, I think it's more than five.

Super, superstars. Do you consider McCarren McKinnon superstars? Yes, yes. Do you consider McDavid, David Drysidal superstars? Yes, yes. Okay, so it's already more than three. Yeah, but they're hogs, though. Yeah.

You don't consider him a superstar in the late, like, I guess you're talking about a marketing perspective, not just a play. Like people, I want to make that distinction. That's the thing. He puts up a ton of points and goes home. Yeah, and that's certain players. I'm so sure, yeah, I'll give it to, He will round out the, okay, if you didn't want to give it to Kudraub, we'll round out the five.

Sidney Crosby. Yeah. Superstar. Still, doesn't matter where his play is. I think you're closer to 10. Yeah, five is ridiculous. Yeah. But it's not 32.

It's not 32. Yeah. I agree with you there. It's definitely not 20. I think it's like that. Brady and Matthew are superstars. Absolutely superstars. Don't.

No, no. No, no. Because the criticism is the quality of the on ice product. I would on ice I don't think there's a problem with the on ice product especially if you keep expanding No no I agree

But like those guys are superstars On ice Matthew Kachuk is absolutely Absolutely not Absolutely is He's in the same In the playoffs Matthew Kachuk The category we're talking about

Is Connor McDavid Nathan McKinnon Matthew Kichuk is phenomenal In the last Yeah He is when it Listen I hate it I hate it so much

But when the lights are brightest that guy is on every game doesn't matter how injured he is. Sure. And you say not a superstar. Where is he ever finished in league scoring? But in the playoffs, he's won two cups.

Yeah. Been to three straight finals. Yeah. Won a gold medal. How many times he's he the best player on those cup teams? Oh man, Steve, I don't know. He was the best player of the year they lost.

No, I listen, he was. And he had the broken, was it, Sterdom, which sounds awful. Awful and horrible. But the next year, okay, maybe was it Barkoff? Was it Barbrowski? Like who was the best player? Keep listing his teammates.

Go ahead. I mean, who else is better? He's not a super. Jesse, what do you think? Where do you come down on this? On ice? No. Wow.

Jesse. I want to know what you think. I think you'd have to hammer out a definition of what exactly you're talking about. Yeah. To nail down. If you're only talking on ice, if you're only talking on ice, if you're only talking on Kutchev was a superstar. Yeah.

And I said him. But if you're talking like off ice stuff, then it's like he's on the cover of a video game. Yes. Yeah. He's on People magazine. than a superstar in that sense. In terms of all that, like I'm pushing back at the argument

that if the league expands, the products can be watered down. Oh, no. No, I don't think there's so many good hockey players out there. We agree on that. Right now. Yeah,

that's like where we got through this conversation is Logan Stanley is a good hockey player. If there were more teams he would have a job, and I think he should have a job. Uh-huh. That's what the PA is going to. 100% agree with you. Somebody's going to sign him,

and they're actually going to have found value there now. Like, that's where Logan Stanley's at. Because remember, he was flipped for, was he not flip for like a second round pick? Like, what was the... It was a weird package of... It was him and Luke Shen. I want to say the jet's got...

Was it Radamirka? They got like a prospect of significance. For Isaac Rosen and Jacob Bryson and a conditional fourth who turned into Zach Wooten. Got it. Okay. There you go. I don't know much about Isaac Rosen, but apparently... Well, he's a 14th overall pick.

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, he's a very high pick. So, listen, I know this is going to get clipped in whatever. Matthew Kuchuk is in. incredible player. He's he's definitely top 50 in the league and probably higher than that. He has two cups. He has a gold medal. Everyone should want him on their team.

Let's be a little more selective with the word superstand. Okay. Is all I'm saying. Logan Stanley, by the way, had Wow, Logan Stanley almost had That's a superstar. Almost had 30 points last year. He had almost as many points as Zach Bulldoch. He had, what was it, 11 goals? He had nine goals,

12 assists in Winnipeg, and then another five when he went to Buffalo. That's crazy. That's pretty good. And only 59 games played for a guy who, one points. That's not bad at all. Although he had 17 in Buffalo too.

His career high was one goal. Oh, right, right. His career high was one goal. Yeah. And he just started hammering. He had more than 50% of his 14 career goals last year. 14 career goals.

Isn't that incredible? That is nuts. Yeah. Maybe that's just the league getting smarter. Yeah. Is that possible? I don't know. The league looked at that and they went, yeah, but.

What are we doing? Pierre LeBron is now reporting. Maybe we won't miss it. Carter Goce contract looks like there's progress. Substantive talks happening between both sides right now. Come on. Yeah, that's going to get done before the deadline tomorrow. Absolutely.

Just because the way they can structure it. Nobody wants to learn the new rules when they've been trying to figure out this contract for the last like three months. You know? Yeah. Like just stick to the rules we have and get it done. So what does victory look like here? Because I'm going to say the deal has to be at least. five years.

Yes, I would agree with that. Yeah. Okay. So if, well, then there's no deadline about tomorrow. Who cares? Right. But the, the structure of the contract, front loading it with bonuses and all that, all that goes away. So just the, the way you structure a contract is you need to get it done the next 48 hours.

I can't imagine that the Ducks would want him and Carlson going to UFA the same year. What? Is he a year behind Carlson? I know he was at 10C. so nobody RFA, which means nobody could offer sheet him. So I don't know maybe he won't be an RFA, or maybe he would be an RFA after, you know, if it was a, like to me, this contract's got to walk him to free agency.

And I get that if I'm the Ducks, but I can't have him going to free agency the same year as Leo Carlin. Yeah, but the Pavurbeek isn't good at seeing the future. Well, that's true. And understanding that you need a plan beyond what's in front of your face. So I don't think he's going to do this deal smartly. because he has a history of doing deals poorly. How old is Goce?

Do we know? 22. He's 22. So he's older than Carlson. But it was games played. 22 years old. Okay. So that would mean he's 27 is the free agency cutoff, right?

Or specific amount of games, whatever you want to get. Unless you're Michael Bunding and then it's, yeah. So I would imagine then this, this got to be a six-year deal. He's not going to sign another. He wouldn't sign a contract now and be like, yes, I would love to go back to a restricted free agency. If you want to play chestnut checkers, you offer an eight-year deal to Nathan Gosey and just hope no one notices. Nathan Gautier. He's on their team.

Stop it. They smell differently. Gosser. Same age. It's gocher. They're never going to notice. Pronounce it right. Gocher.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Anything. Because Leo Carson's deal only goes to 2031. Yeah. It's only the five-year deal. So anything longer than that covers, like, them being UFA at the same time, right? Or them coming up on contract at the same time.

let me amend that then because yeah five years would be disastrous uh let me go six it's got to be at least yeah six plus pretty good and i think that i think it's 14 million is my guess yeah no 14 14 3 i'm gonna go high i'm gonna go 15 5 6 year deal i'm gonna say anything under 15 is a victory anything under 16 is a victory if it's eight years oh i can't imagine he signed it an eight year deal. Would you? Not at this point. I don't think any of this timing is coincidence. Interesting. But Jesse also mentions, and I think he makes a good point, it's the front-loading bonuses stuff. Yeah. But the Ducks aren't usually a team to do that, right? They are not, like, the Jets are kind of a team that doesn't do that a whole lot. The Sabres don't do that a whole lot.

They don't usually, they do their best not to do that. No, Ducks fans are funny because we talk about the Ducks like they're a small market team and like I mean, they're on the outside of Los Angeles. They're a pretty big market. They're on the outside of Los Angeles, but also, like, also, like, struggled to get a foothold of relevancy for, like, even after winning the cup. 100%. Right?

Yeah. But, like, over the past, like, six months, they're like, you know our owner's, like, rich, right? Oh, the Samueli's? Like, especially rich. Like, they're all rich. These guys are especially rich. Yeah, they're just, they didn't get rich by doing stuff like that. No, that's right.

But, like, remember, they signed France. Frank Vitrono and we were like, the ducks? Yeah. And they do that. But what was the wrinkle on that? That he's bad. Well, he was good for them, but they also deferred his salary. Yeah, yeah.

Which is cheap. No, no, that's what I'm saying. They deferred his salary and we were like, the ducks. That he's bad. Sorry, no, he's not, he's not bad. I'm bitter against him. I had him in fantasy last year. Oh, okay.

That's fair. Yeah, he'll turn it around, followed by him violently not turning it around, ever. It was, I was very sad about it. I think that's a fair anti-bias to have. Everyone's like, oh, aren't the ducks great? I'm like, yeah, most of them. I'm going to bring up something that we were going to bring up later, Steve. I like your vendetta against Frank Crono.

Oh, this guy's going to give me points and hits. It's going to be great. Nothing. Well, I had Mitchcoff, and I drafted him in like the first two or three rounds. Well, that explains your guys. Ducks. So the team that made the most money last year in just total revenue dollars was the Edmonton Oilers.

431 million. So that. Number two, despite their awful, no good season from hell, the Leafs were number two at 382, and the next closest to the Leafs, the LA Kings, at 347. Third from the worst. So the Columbus Blue Jackets had 164 million. They were the last place.

Ottawa Senators, 169 million. The Anaheim Ducks at 175. Is this the calendar NHL season or the calendar year of 25? They are, so it's 0405, sorry, 04, 2425, because the revenues of the, like, it's, I don't know what they, how long they take. They always take a little bit longer. So I'm not really sure if it's Q to Q. I have no idea. So this isn't last season.

No, it's sort of. Right. Yeah. So Edmondson goes to the Stanley Cup final. That makes sense. That's why they, but they stack it up on CNBC as, that's why I was surprised to see them on CNBC. as 2025, which I'm like, well, it's 2026. I should look at that.

But yeah. Right. Yeah. I was just trying to figure out why they're one. Yeah. And then the least go to the second round that year. Yeah, that makes sense. I bet they're down this year.

Oh, yeah. Like them not making the plan also drop them a little. Now that I know that. Yeah. I wondered if it included the, um, the, I just, because they said 2025. So I'm wondering. Is there an article? Yeah.

Yeah. CNBC's got it. Uh, read it and it's entirely. Yeah. Entire. I love details. So I'm just trying to figure out here. Canadians, Oilers.

It doesn't say anywhere where it starts and where it. Methodology. Here we go. It doesn't say the dates yet from what I'm seeing. Valuations are based on team's current arena unless agreement, blah, blah, blah, EBITA. They are for the season, 2425. So that means more.

Okay. So, yeah, the Montreal Canadian. June to June. June to June, June to June, the 24, 25. season. So do we think so Montreal this past year, if this comes out like next season, they'd be at like one or two. Yes.

Eastern Conference final run. So you got to think like it's not. And they say each home playoff game is worth five million U.S. now. So the Ducks got deep in the second round. So they'd be a lot higher. Maybe they're willing to do these bonuses. It's like the team doesn't make money, but that doesn't make the owner not rich. Yeah. But also I think that team.

is probably going to make a lot more money now. You've got like legit superstars for the first time in a while. You would hope so. Since Gatslav Perry, honestly. You would hope so. Like, listen, um,

uh, Gary Batman is in the Hall of Fame and it's something I'm resentful of. But, um, a lot of the stuff he was made fun of for years and years and years ago has paid dividends. California's a hotbed. It is.

Yeah. No, I think that Texas too. The, the criticism against, against Gary in this context is not that he has made money, which he has for the league. It's that he has been outpaced by every other league at least double. By leaps and bound.

And could have made the same amount of money as those leagues. When he took over, the NBA and NHL were on the same track revenue-wise. The NBA has tripled the NHL since then. So I think that's, it's not that it's not making money. I mean, you've got to be kind of dumb in sports to not make money on a professional level. at this stage. You had a full season lockout at the dawn of LeBron James.

Yeah. You are all-time stupid. So listen, you guys have probably heard us talk about it before, but if you haven't and you haven't purchased anything on the sdpn.ca website, you should, because we run on Shopify, Jesse Blake.

And I always go to you because you're the one who set this up. I don't, listen. Is it easy enough that even Steve and I who are non-technical could figure it? 100%. Yeah, the back end of our shop is built on Shopify because Shopify makes it super easy.

Where you can get merch with Jesse's face on it. That's right. And Steve's face and Adam's face. Jesse, a lot of times when new businesses are starting and when we were starting this one, and when it became more than just like three guys with a YouTube channel and we wanted to actually become like a company with multiple shows and stuff, people spend all night trying to figure out, you know, how to put an online store together, logistics and all that. Shopify kind of takes care of a lot of that for you.

Yeah, the integrations that you can. do with whatever like shipping platform or product platform provider that you have, like the back end integration that Shopify has as opposed to like other websites or trying to do it yourself. It just makes it so easy because it's the number one platform. It's the best platform. So they work well with all these other sites when you need to just connect everything together. And a really important thing about starting a business, getting paid, shop pay, the easiest checkout on the market. You should check it out. And if you're ready to hear the cha-ching of your first sale today, head over to Shopify.com

slash sDP to start your free trial today. That's right, it's free. Start your free trial. Shopify.com SDP. That's Shopify.com slash sDP. The Sabres just announced the signing. A player with 68 career

games and 27 career points has signed an eight-year deal. Who do you think it is? 68 career games. I assume last year he was a rookie. Yes. Jesse. Have you seen this yet or no? I got the notification.

Ah, damn it. Okay. So I'm going to get Steve to guess this. I'll even give you the person's name. I need you to dress the GAV. It sucks because that team's so young. But they were also really, really bad. So some of their young players have actually been there kind of a weird amount of time.

It was taken in the Uriest Levkovsky draft in Montreal. Oh, doesn't help me. You did watch a lot of him last year in the playoffs. So like, no, they already signed Benson. but like I don't think he was a rookie Jack Quinn I don't think was a rookie Swedish Swedish

Oh Oh Hellenius? Nope No Not Swedish Oh he's yeah he's finished Isn't he?

Sure is Okay Piece of crap Who Noah Ocelin Oh he didn't play Damn it Okay

You trick me All right now how much money is Noah Oslin going to make per year with 27 points in 60 games last year, eight year deal? How much per season? Six and a half. Six point six. Steve Dingle! Yes!

Well done, man. That's good. Well done. Good guess. Man, the money can fly it out of here is great. We kept saying it. Man. But every time I see it, I'm like, damn.

That's insane. 27 career NHL points. That's going to be a great deal. if he pans out even to 80% of what they think he's going to be. Well, I mean, we looked at Samuelson was another one they did, and we're like, no, and that's panned out very well. If you, it's completely flipped from a few years ago. It used to be if you're the player, term is the victory.

Now it's if you're a team, term is the victory. If you're the player, term is the concession. Yes. Oh, no, I get guaranteed money for a long time. Sucks. But my agents, we can't agree to that. Right. No, it's, uh, wow.

So he'll be paid till he's 30. And then he can just sign another massive free agent deal if he wants to. Generational wealth right off into the sunset. Good for him. These guys deserve it, by the way. Oh my God. Like hockey, we, hockey's an insane sport. Insane.

84 games of full contact. Mm-hmm. What? That, that makes no sense. How does anyone, like, you ever look? At the like all-time games played leaders and you're like, does that shit say 1700? Yeah. And you look at how does that?

How? I mean, you look at old hockey games from like the 80s too. As much as the pace is, it's almost like you're some, you feel like you're watching men's league. Like it's they're just slapping pucks around like. Oh, but the violence is insane. You're wearing no equipment. No pads and getting two hands slashed with wooden sticks. And it's an elbow bike or two games.

Yeah. Like, yeah, 1700 games. plus the playoffs you're looking at close to 2000 and preseason which count. Which was long back then. Yeah, you're riding a bus that's like powered by coal. And your training was like,

you know, in between cigarettes at the gym. Jersey made of asbestos. And you wouldn't have skated all summer. You just showed up to camp with skates and not back into shape. How? Yeah.

It's crazy. And you look up, you're like, when was the last player to not wear a helmet? There was a McTavish, wasn't it? There's guys on color, television smoking on camera.

I think it was McTavish 95-96 with the Blues? Yeah, like the Lion King was out. It's crazy. With Osland, it'll be fun to see him healthy because a lot of people who didn't follow that series closely

probably didn't realize he wasn't there. He played first three games of the playoffs in the Boston series and then he got a high ankle sprain. Oh, I thought he got it in Montreal. all. No. Oh, my bad. That was the only playoff games he got into, just the Boston series there. But then the first game that he was in in the Boston series, a goal and an assist. Yeah. So it's so disappointing, you know, 22-year-old 21 at the time, maybe, goes out there and, you know, scores a big playoff moment.

A couple games later he's injured. We never get to see him again and see what he can do in the playoffs. So clearly the Sabres believe that there's so much more than he's already provided in the league, you know, in that rookie season, where he also had an upper body injury. to end the regular season. So they're just hoping like a healthy season. He's playing hopefully center for them because that makes them even more important, makes the money you're paying for him less because he's playing a premium position. So hopefully he can just be their third line center coming into this season and maybe bump up to two, who knows.

But I think they really like this kid and they're just willing to take this long bet on him. Yeah, you got the lineup on the screen right now. Yeah, he really ties it together. Right. Hey, how much cap room do they have now? Jess, do we know? Hellenus isn't... 5.1 million.

So they do have enough money to grab Connor Hellebuck, too. Because they could drop... They could send $3 million the other way, and they're fine. I will always... Unless they make the deal, I don't think they need him. I think this is one of the teams that were strongest in safe percentage last season,

with Luchanan and Lyon and the Dov Ellis as their third goalie. Like, I think they're fine in net. I would rather them devote assets to other parts of the lineup. He really is Schrodinger's goalie because I was just like, yeah, but they, they, their goaltending kind of faltered in the playoffs. Oh, we're talking about Connor Hallibuck. Yeah. Yeah.

The goalie who continually falters the playoffs. Also, would we be talking about them that way if Montreal had not had lights out goaltending? Yeah. Oh, no, their goaltending was garbage. Buffaloes? Well, but is that Montreal's forwards making it look like garbage because they're so good? their forwards are incredible. Stop a park.

Okay, all right. They weren't good enough. Fair enough. Okay, this article we've been waiting for and very excited about released this morning. Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston sit down with John Shika at the Toronto Maple. And, you know, as we all remember back in May, I think it was May the 3rd, pretty spicy intro for Jean Chicaa here in Toronto. And in fact, back then, we didn't even know how to pronounce his name properly. We thought it was Jacob.

Right. And nobody ever corrected us when he was in Arizona, but now that he's here, get it right, you idiots, you morons. Now, I think it's been fascinating. I think it's fair to say all the teams that have remade themselves, and there have been some good ones, St. Louis, Washington, some other ones. The Toronto Maple Leafs have remade themselves in a much deeper way than I think basically any other team because, and it says this in the article, 30 staff members gone.

A lot of turnover. That's non-players. In every aspect of the team. team. Analytics, health, whatever. They brought in, and I forgot about this because it was buried in the August dump of information. Andy O'Brien, who is Sidney Crosby's guy.

That's Sidney Crosby's trainer. Now works for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That's right. That's a big deal. And there was also a bunch of other hires, obviously Judd Brackett, who apparently ran the draft in Buffalo that was so well received. Again, prospect, people who do prospects for a living, I don't envy that job. but I'm always happy if the Leafs get a good grade

because honestly every time they said hey the Leafs did a great job drafting Austin Matthews but don't look at the rest of the draft because it was awful. They were right. I think Joseph Wall went that draft but that was it. It didn't go great. And so it seems like there is one two punch of Matthews to Brinket would have been killer.

It would have been great. Would have been great. Could have had it. And I think for us here on the SDP we do follow the Leafs very closely. We're Leafs fans. It got stale. I think the whole organization got stale. I think it got stale somewhere in COVID.

I think maybe after the Montreal Canadian series, they started to just... That was so long ago. They just started to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. And they kept all the same people. And then Bradshaw Living comes in and they bring in more people and don't let anyone go.

And it's like, well, okay, well, we don't need to let these people go. They're really qualified. And that's true. Sure. But like at a certain point, you're not getting results. So whatever is.

it is, you got to shake things up. And it sounds like it was a seismic shake within the Leafs organization, not just the people that we saw brought in on July 1st. Like, listen, I don't get the impression John Chica has very good bedside matter at all. He, enough people have said he's like kind of cold. And callous is maybe too harsh a word. but you guys ever seen moneyball you know when they make Jonah Hill whatever his character's name is just walk in and trade a guy

yeah like that's his life except he doesn't have to put on an act I think he's just like yeah so anyway you're not on our hockey team anymore so here's a number to call so remember the Jonah Hill so you can call her and she's gonna

oh you have Google don't you number number I'm not giving you a number. In the scene, he gives her, here's the assistance. Oh, yes, but Adam, that movie took place a long time. Yeah, that's true. I don't think he even provides a number.

Well, now the Leafs give you AI. Here's what you should do. Ask Claude. It's Adam. Adam, what do we know about Bradshaw living? What do you know specifically about Bradshaw living? One of the best guys. Oh, what are the best guys?

Everybody loves Brad. So you can imagine one of the, one of the best guys. Maybe having trouble being like that. Right? Sometimes you are what success. You are what ails you? No, no. Success. Well, yes, but what I'm trying to say is sometimes you just, you don't need the best candidate. You need the best candidate for now. Right. Right. Hey, um, we need someone to completely just turn the organization upside down and shake it violently. And that's what John Chike done.

For better or worse. Some people have called him Roboscika because he's a bit robotic in his delivery. Great. And people that have worked with him who have been let go by him talk about maybe perhaps not the greatest bedside manner. But Jesse, one of the things that we've been begging the Leafs to do for a while. And this goes back to the Dubus era. I think well-intentioned though it was did not serve the team, which is doing right by the

player, doing right by the person, not being vicious enough when the results don't come like a team like Vegas, for instance. Now, do you think we're in that era now? Because there was a lot of movement this summer, and we'll get into the players. We're going to get into some of the quotes from the CJ article. Do you think we're now existing in a Maple Leafs world where people aren't kind of like,

okay, I'm here now and I'm going to stay for a while? Is there a specific player you're thinking about? I wasn't even talking about players. I mean, Matthews is the big one, and I don't think they're trying to scare him away. but, you know, let's talk about who are something. Callie Yarncrook. Do you think Callie Yarncroke lasts four years under this new regime?

I think people underrate that player and that's a hill I'm prepared to die on. For the first two years, sure. Yes. And then he got not good. Do you think Calli Yarn Croke regularly makes the lineup if this is the group that's in charge? Today, probably not. I think there's a reason he's playing overseas now. Yeah.

Okay. Other guys they hung on. I remember early on in the dubous years, the Roman Polack thing. I could never understand. That was a Lou Lamarillo thing, though. I think he loved him. Three times. Yeah, exactly.

There are guys that just kind of stuck around. Now, this year, obviously you've got Gavin McKenna coming in. But, you know, it's funny how much a first overall pick sucks up in terms of oxygen. Because we also have one of the leading right shot defensemen in scoring last year who actually finished higher in Norris voting than Matthew Schaefer. So insane. He had over 70 points? He shouldn't have.

No, no. But he did. I watched him. He's great. He's great. What? And then, you know, a two-time Stanley Cup winner in Sergey Burbrowski coming in. That, like, we're not talking about Brobrovsky.

We're not talking about radish. No, they're going to hit the ice and we're all going to be confused. Okay. It's going to be great. Okay. The hardcores won't be. The hardcores are hardcores. Most people are going to be like, Bob?

Yeah. But you know how many Lee fans? Again, again, this is the internet, right? We're in our own little bubble. You know how many people are going to be like, who's the bald guy? Darren Radish. Oh, he's new.

Where's he from? He makes what? Yeah. They got on that early. Only makes like $8 million. What do you mean that's cheap? It's pretty good. He makes eight.

Now, what do you mean that's cheap? John Chica in the article says, talk to any elite power play, mind, coach, player, and handiveness really matters. A left shot can still walk the line and get the shot through grade, but certainly as you write the script, you'd like a right shot from the top

that the defense has to respect. And we do, he said, I think the other thing is, as much as we like the point production and power play, Darren's just as ready to hand back there. You can put him out in all situations. You're not going to hide him. You're not worried about who he's going to play against,

and he's going to go out and play a solid game. It's not going to be dazzling, but that's not what we were looking for from him. Jesse, I mean, you're around the team all the time. You've followed the team closely since you were a little baby. They've never had a right shot big PowerPoint guy. No. They haven't had it since Borea Salming.

Yeah, no, this is a need, and they went out and addressed it, which is good. Like, I think check on the box of the move. I don't think anybody can go. complain about the contract these days with now that we see where contracts have gone like this just fits right in there with with where the salary cap is at like it'll change their team entirely the closest they've come to getting a like big booming right-hand defenseman ironically is a guy they got from Tampa Pavel Kubina that's the bar um now one of the things that jean chika says and i don't want to read the whole article out to you because you should read the article

but he talks about if it's game seven and you're playing a team like Florida who do you want a net? And he said, I want Bobrovsky at 38 do you agree with him? Yeah. In a one gamer.

Yeah. Are there, I mean, how many goalies would you put above him in the league? Even at 38 in the playoffs? Some. Of course. I still think people, have forgotten about and are disrespecting Andre Vasilevsky. It's a short list.

It's a very short list. I go Vasi. Dobish. Dobish for sure, man. I mean. For sure. Yo, we've got evidence. He won two of them.

He beat Vasilevsky. Dobish all day. He might be the number one pick right now. You got to go on the latest, right? You know, short list. But okay. So that's great. One game, game seven.

The problem is you got to get this. How are you guys feeling about, and this is initial, and we'll get into this more and more as the season goes on, but I think one of the storylines we're going to follow is how do you feel about Bobrovsky playing 50 games? Because he likes to play a lot. A-OK. You're okay with it. Totally fine. I expected you to be, you know, Tina Glenn about this.

I thought you'd be worried. No, because the information, like, listen, if Bob gets hurt, he gets hurt. I'm kind of throwing my hands up there. he gets hurt. And maybe I'll be guilty of some revisionist history and I'm going to be like, so wait, you went into the season with a 38-year-old backed up by a man made of paper mache

that might have been an oversight. Earlier in his career, Bob was straight up injury prone. It happened all the time. And some of the analytics guys were like, wait, like I remember, oh, God, was it Demetri Filipovich? Who was it? They were like, so wait, you're going to give when Florida gave him that crazy deal, eight times 10.

So wait, you're going to give him $80 million when he's a goalie who relies on, you know, stopping shots low and his crazy flexibility who has groin issues. Okay. And then he was awful. He was not great early. He was not great. But if you go back and look, at some point. those problems rectified themselves. He's played, I think 50 would be the low end.

Well, it might have to be with Anthony Stollers. As much as I love Stollers, he does not play more than 30 games. In his 30s, 50 is the low end, and you're going to go back and be like, well, what about these two seasons? COVID. 50 at the low end, and he had the two cups out of it. Jesse, do you feel the same way Steve does? I do. I'm 100% on Steve's side here.

Which means you're on John Chica's side. I know. It's Steve Dangles. If anybody's in Chica's ear giving him notes, it's Mr. Dangle over here. I'm like John Boy with the Yankees. I give them their lineup. You make the lineup for the Leafs. I think you speak for the fans and Chica only listens to the fans.

So I don't know. I think like Brobowski is at his top of his game when I think he gets to dictate what he gets to do. Like this is the kind of guy he is. And I feel like you just play him as much as he wants to play. And you obviously work with the goaltending coach and everything. but I got no worry about Bob Rossi going out there playing a whole bunch. This is, this is since the beginning of the,

this is from the beginning of the Matthews era. 1617, games played for Bob. 63, 65, 62, 50 in the COVID shortened season, 31 in a 56 game season, 54, 50, 50, 58, 54, 52. Yeah, this is his MO. He plays 50 plus games every year. Why would you ever make him change his ways? If anything, you're trying to maximize the amount of good,

hockey he has left. I don't imagine he has 10 years left in this league. It's probably like two. So play him the whole bunch of these two years and then happy retirement. Happy Hall of Fame. Yeah. First ballot. Oh, easily. First ballot. Less than first. Now, let's say he wins. Zero ballot. Two Stanley Cups as the goaltender of the Toronto Maple Leafs. They named the hall after him. Does he go in as a Florida Panther or a Toronto Maple Leaf? Blue Jacket. Okay, there he go. Um, who remembers his first team. It wasn't Philly, was it?

Yeah. It was. Because they also had... They fumbled the bag so hard on. Who was the other crazy Russian goal turner? They had him. Przgalov was incredible when he was on. When he was on, when he was in talking about space.

They fumbled the bag cataclysmically. And then it was like Brian Boucher stepping in and going on a run. That's all time. You think it's going to be the same way with Stollers and Wohl? Or the Leafs that picked the wrong guy? I don't. Woll ends up being Brobrovsky. I'll be honest with you.

Probably. I mean, Leif's luck maybe, but hey, there's a lot of forces. Like, yeah, the Leafs gave up on them,

but it's also a goalie in Philly. Like, there's a lot going on there. That's a Dragon Ball Z fight. You got to be, you got to be ready to go. Yep. And that's my biggest criticism

of Joseph Wall. Right. And I think that's the Leaf's biggest criticism of Joseph Wall. And I think that's, you got to be ready to go. That's watching the game. And you got to,

You got to be ready to go when you're not 100% is what I've heard. That's the thing. That was the criticism. Well, we've already talked about what a completely ridiculous and unreasonable sport hockey is. Yeah. And I'm not talking about his absence from the team last year, to be clear. I'm talking about all the other, like, you know, not being, what do you mean you can't go in game seven in 2024?

You can go. You need to go. Or the, listen, man, all I know is we would watch. And I love him. I love that player. Who's playing? Who's playing? And how long?

For how long? Now, I want to talk about this to Austin Matthews. And they touch on this. They said, for all that's changed, arguably the biggest source of optimism in Toronto is the fact that Matthews remains. Even with two years on his deal, there was more than a little uncertainty.

And if you remember, after locker clean out, I think Jesse were there for this. He said, you can't really predict the future. Yes. And whether he'd be back. I was there for that. And Chica said he connected with Matthews during his first day on the job to discuss how to win what's important to him and what's important to the group and how do we collectively attack this right? And he said it's, and the article goes on to say it's no coincidence.

The new GM acted so swiftly and aggressively in revamping the organization. Matthews wanted to see progress rather than vague promises about what might happen. And so understandable. Yeah. You know, funnily enough, us too. Yeah. We all kind of felt that way. And I think when you look at beyond sort of the players that they brought in on the bottom six,

first off, we know Roslavik and Matthews are good buddies from the U.S. program. But Brandon. The video coming out today. I was trying to figure out the lineup. Oh, okay. Yes. Let's talk about Brandon Duhane, who is arguably in no disrespect to Brandon. He doesn't have to be an everyday player on this roster.

He probably will be. but what does Brandon Du Hame bring other than nine points in a season? Like we all laugh at that John Carlson Giff of him being a dog. So his numbers, you're going to have to do a little scrolling on NHL.com.

You're going to want to get off the summary page and go to the drop down and hit Miscellaneous. Miscellaneous contains blocks and hits. That's what you're looking for out of him. Maximum effort, make the other team worse, be a good penalty killer. That's what you need. And is vibes in the dressing room.

And that's something they sort of, they talk about that a little bit when they revamped their bottom six about how vibes were sort of important. I'll be honest. It seemed awful. Well, and like it's not like it's bad people, but like when I look at like Bobby McMahon seems like a good guy. Nick Robertson seems like a great guy.

Like everybody had raved about what Nick Robertson's like to deal with. Calli Yarn Croke, Stephen Lawrence. These are not, but is there anybody in there who's like, you know, when Scott Lotton left, was there anybody in there who's like a spark plug? Jesse, did you get that sense? Like you were down there. You're talking to the guys. Cowen by the end of the season.

Yeah, no, Lottin was such a good locker room guy. Like everybody loved him. And the vibes were just so off by the end of the last season. Like I don't think anybody's creating any good momentum with the Leafs in terms of just locker room culture at the end of last season. It just needed a full overhaul there. A reporter came up to me. I was at Leafs Media Day. I guess this would have been the beginning of the 15 and 16 season.

And I'm going to remind you, they finished last. Like I was interviewing friggin, what was his name? I don't even remember the guy's name. Nick Spalling. Right? Like, I remember Nick Smalling. Those were the guys on the team. Joffrey Lupal was still there.

This reporter comes up to me because the 14-15, the end of that season was so miserable. And they go, your videos are the only thing they got me through last year. Nice. Because they were there every day and you think it's bad, you know, for fans at home. Like these guys were just like, hey. And the players are like, hey. And everyone involved hates what they're doing viscerally. That's what it was.

Now, I don't know. That's how it was last season. Yeah. Not even like just amongst the players, like amongst the people in the organization. Because everybody was just so uncertain about everything that there was there was just negative vibes all the way around. Because Bradshaw Living got fired like two weeks left into the year. March something. Yeah, and there's still games to be played and everyone's just moping around and they don't know what they're doing.

And the players, they're just trying to get to their summers. It wasn't great. Like an hour and a half. Before, wasn't it the Ducks game? Which one? Wasn't it the highly anticipated who's going to beat up Radco Gudis game? Right. And Bradrow living quit, or not quit, resigned or was let go or however?

Is that? I forget the timeline, to be honest. Yeah, but it was very close to game time and everyone was sort of like, what? And Barubei was still there. You was still there and we thought he was going to be here forever. Yeah, there were rumors they were going to keep them. Oh, 100%. I this is obviously you know you know maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see on account of they ended up winning but uh boy the Marley's sure seemed like they had a great time yeah the Marley's run was fun and we didn't get to it as much because of the playoffs the NFL side that was happening but those Marley's guys they had a good time with that and what's important though is is the guys who got to experience both yeah somebody like Easton Cowan like deserve to have that type of playoff

run with the Marleys because of everything he went through with the Leafs. It wasn't just the winning. Like that the experience in the AHL like seemed like such a breath of fresh air. Like, hey, you guys seem to enjoy your life. Yeah, because I felt bad for the kid. Like your first taste of real NHL everyday action is on this miserable team. And like something catastrophic happens. And everybody's like, you stood up.

Great job, little kid. Nobody else on your team gives a shit. And then the season's over, his head coach is eventually gets let go finally. But thankfully, he got to experience some joy with the Marley. Surviving Baroube's system, I think, was the biggest credit I can give Easton last year. Surviving his system and looking good despite it. Because I think the system was holding the whole team.

It's not, it's not, it's not outrageous to say that Matthew's two worst point years were under Craig Barubei and there's a reason for that, right? And the ideal way this turns out is we look back and we go, oh, Baroubae was Matthew's Dale Hunter. Yeah. Like that's what I'm hoping. What he did to Wolevetchkin. We're about to find out. We are actually on Austin now.

Yes, it is. Because he's going to get all the offensive zone time. And it takes a village. Like I talked about, you know, the right guy at the right time or whatever. Like Baroube, I don't really think did Cowan any favors. But. after the Goudis neon Matthews, we don't know what was said in the locker room,

but it can be assumed he tore the friggin' pain off the wall. And the only player who got it was Easton. And it changed who he was for the rest of the season. Brandon, Carlo, going out there and hugging people. Yeah, Neelander was upset for like two shifts. I was like, oh, he might go. You didn't go. No.

All right. Thanks, well. Appreciate it. But the kid got it, and that's enough. So the other thing I kind of want to, wanted to talk about in this article is, you know, where Gavin McKenna slots in. And here's what he says, John Scheika. We'll start him off in a position that we think puts him in position to have success. And then you drop the puck, sorry, and then you drop the puck and he earns it.

We're certainly never going to hold him back from anything. But I also think we need to be realistic about an 18-year-old player coming into the league. And that says to me, they're open to him playing with Matthews right away, but maybe only in spot selections. Maybe that's Roslivik's spot up on the top line. I think people are going to be very underwhelmed when they see Matthews out there with Roslavik and Paul. Although I kind of like Matthews and Paul together. I like all of those players.

Yeah. Is that your first time? So is McKenna setting up Colton Sizzins for one time or what are we doing here? Well, here's what I had because I'm really not sure. But I want to try something along the lines of. Paul Matthews, Roselvic, and you're able to start them in the ozone a lot. Cowan with Tavares and Nealander. Steve, aren't you forgetting?

No, I'm not. McKenna Sisson's knives. Oh, that's fun. Spread it out. Okay. And then the fourth line is the fourth line that everyone has. Joshua, Bluger, Duane, Lorenz is the extra. The difference is, so Puckpedia has Zach McEwen as an extra.

I see literally, zero purpose in using up a roster spot on him when you're about to potentially lose Bogru to waivers. Right. That's a useful player. What are you doing? No, I think you keep Bo Grue.

Yeah. Yeah. And then I got a question about the defense pairing since we're on it. And I know you got a full video breaking this all down. But please, please don't let it be Morgan Riley on the top line. It kind of sounds like it's going to be Riley Radish. McCabe Tanev. But, like, is TANF going to start the season?

It's not a matter of, like, him being on the top pairing. It's a matter of time on ice, I think, for Morgan Riley. You can have Riley radish as your top pair, but, like, I assume the time on ice between those first two pairs will be pretty similar. Ekman-Larsson-Stetcher is what Puckpedia has. I kind of think it'll be Andre Echman-Larsen, and I'm not sure who plays what side.

and who is that a new player Emil Andre yeah and guy that we all love who we never heard of well and like looking at this if I'm Stetcher who just signed a new deal I'm like why do you guys need Nick Blankenberg well I like Troy Stetcher I think Nick Blankenberg is probably a better player

I know he is and you know having watched all the Colorado games that I did last year playoffs. Blankenberg, when McCar and then Malinsky went down, it was Blankenberg. And listen, was he outmatched in that position? Sure, but did he do a good job? Yes. We're asking you to be the sixth or seventh player on a team that finished fifth last last year. But he can move a puck. Yes. He can move a puck. He can handle a puck. Stetcher on his best knights can too. But there are nights where that's not consistent, which has kind of held him back. Yes. And he got, he got, listen, you. It's an 84 game season. They're all getting in.

You were waived last year and you got a multi-year contract out of it that pays you like a little under $3 million. Like Troy Statcher won. Oh yeah. And we're happy to have him here. That's a good dressing guy. Yeah, I just don't think he plays every day. I agree. I don't think Blankenberg would either.

No, that's probably right. Or Andre. Which is, isn't that a healthy situation? Well, do you think? Okay, so Blankenberg's a lefty, right? No, he's a righty. Well, then that tells me Chris Tannab's probably not ready for. That's what, that's the conclusion I came to.

No, Chris Tanna's ready. Yeah? Yeah, yeah. You think so? Yes. Chris Tannav will be in the lineup game one. I'll put money on that. Is he insurance?

What do you mean? Well, Blankenberg is he like... Do you need Tannav playing 84 games? Can he play 70? I would assume like he doesn't need to be in every game, but I think Tannov is healthy for the start of the season. God, I hope so. Me too. I think he's healthy come Wednesday.

Because like I look at that and I'm like, yeah, that looks wonderful. So anyway, is the most like... Florida, if you go back and look at the stats from the 2025 playoffs, well, Florida and Ottawa came to the same conclusion. Hey, if we beat the shit out of Christopher, we're going to have an easier time with this team. And Tanna, by the end of the playoffs, I want to say, didn't he still lead in hits taken?

Like, they hammer the shit out of that guy. He's very important to the Leaf's plans. So please be healthy. Now, is he going to be healthy when we reach November? I don't know. Is he going to be healthy come to playoffs? Who knows? But I think to start the year, everybody in the organization is under the assumption

Chris Tanna is healthy and Chris Tanna feels the same way. Hey, so we know Stollers is a very good puck handler. And the reason Chris Tannab got bashed to death in the Florida series is when Stollers went down, Wol's not quite at that level. And how's Bobrovsky? That's a good question. Would he be a goaltender, tend the goal candidate, or would he be a pretty damn good handler of the puck? I feel like nothing's really come into mind.

I think he's generally a good puck handler. Okay. As long as you can stop it behind the net sometimes, that's all you really need to avoid the defensemen getting killed. Okay, so that's, there isn't a whole lot more on the Leafs, although I do recommend you read that article because it goes in depth on like some of the training staff and people that they brought in. One, can I make one little flag? Please. Because when the Leafs got John Chica, we were trying to figure out, okay, like, who are the people he deals with? Who are his guys?

And we learned who his guys are. And the Leafs are now full of John's guys from Arizona. And they're full of Judd's guys from Minnesota and Vancouver. And Judd is now a John guy. Chica, Chica worked at CAA in between the coyotes and the Leafs. and you're starting to see the fingerprints of that show up more and more in little ways that don't necessarily scream at you. Brendan Brisson is the son of Pat Brisson. Who is?

And he's a CAA client. Nick Blankenberg, I'm sure got many offers from around the NHL, despite the fact he's on a PTO. He's a CAA client. And Andy O'Brien, he's he CAA? Longtime trainer of Sydney. Crosby, who is CAAA and skated with Pat Brissonne when, or sorry, Pat Brisson, with Brendan Brisson when he was a little kid on account of he's Pat Brisson's son. Okay.

So there's all sorts of, I mean, listen, what we were talking about is some GMs will not answer the phone. Yep. If Chica calls. But you know what he has in his back pocket? Deep connections at the most influential agency in the sport. that matters. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Anything else you guys want to say on the lease? Because I got some other stuff. I hope they win. Bruce Garriac. Yes, no kidding. Bruce Garriac of the Ottawa citizen and son.

I think of both papers sometimes? I don't know. Anyway, he was reporting today that the Batherson extension, they're hoping comes in before tomorrow night at midnight because obviously they're looking for that eighth year. Drake Batherson has low key because outside of, outside of Ottawa and Sends fans don't take this personally. When we were talking about Ottawa,

last year was Brady and Linus. That's who people were talking about. And Batherson has always sort of taken a backseat to Brady, Tim Stutzler, Jeff Sanderson, even, um, Jeff Sanderson, Jake Sanderson, uh, even like Thomas Shabbat. And I think very underrated player, 71 points.

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff Sanderson also very underrated Hartford Whaler. 50 goal score. Also spells Jeff the weird way, the G-off way. Off. Oh, that's weird. That is weird. All you G-offs out there, get it together.

That's why he's not in the hall. 79 games, 71 points, 33 of those goals for Batherson. If Zach Bullduke's $4.2 million, what is, and Noah Oslett is six point something, I think Drake Batherson is about to sign the biggest contract in Ottawa Senator's history. Isn't that nuts? He's going to be a 10-1. What's the record? I mean, it's got to be Brady's, isn't it?

Hmm. Here, you know what? Let's look at a biggest. I think Jake Sanderson makes more than Brady. Yeah. Jake Sanderson was this, and that's like seven something million, right? Tim Stutzler holds the record, and he makes $8.35 million, 66.8 million dollar deal that expires in 2030, 2031. Adam might be right.

Yeah. If Tim Stutzelow is the record, the current deal he's on. Yeah. Out of like every Ottawa senator ever? Ever. Okay. Then Jake Sanderson's number two. Then yes, I think Batherson's going to be higher. But Batherson's going to be the first $10 million man in Ottawa.

Has to be. So has to be. On that vein, what did Alex Tuck end up getting? 10-5, I believe, from the Caps. I think that's my number if I'm him. But he's younger than Tuck. No, if I'm Drake Batherson, I'm asking for at least that. Yeah.

He's a good player, man. lethal shot. I know. Yeah, I think 11 for Batherson, I think it's fine. I would want more than Tuck if I was Batherson.

Oh, I would want more than no, if I was up. No, I think in comparison, no, but I mean like Batherson's a couple years younger.

He's been there the whole time. He's willing to commit for you. Basically, you sign an eight-year deal. You're committing your career to this team. And you need guys in Ottawa like that, especially after the Kachuk stuff, right? And here's an American guy

willing to stay for eight years. Drake Batherson? Yeah, he's from Fort Wayne. Oh, well, he very famously played for Team Canada. Oh, okay, so he's a both guy. Yes. Fort Wayne? Yeah.

I did not know that. Yeah, he represents Canada internationally. So I don't know his history. As should the Hudson's, let me just say. You know what? I mean, if Bill Garen is going to disrespect you like that, Lane Hudson. You know what? That's all I'm saying.

Bill Gavin. Okay, this is a crazy name I'm about to throw out there. But I wonder if this player is like, I think I signed my deal a little too soon. I'm asking for the Kyle Conner number if I'm Drake Batherson. Okay. Now, for those who don't remember, because I can't pull it out of my head, the Kyle Conner number is 12 million. Mm-hmm. And then no move clause.

And that expires in 2034. I think Kyle Conner is a better goal score than Batherson. I agreed. Sure. He's one of the best goals in the league. I don't think it's close. Sure. but he signed that earlier.

I'm younger also than Kyle Connor if I'm Drake Bathurst. I think. Yes, you're younger. They're pretty similar. And you know what? There's only a six-gold differential between the two of them last year, at least.

Look at the career number. Oh, Kyle Connor is clearly a better goal score, but if I'm Batherson... Zoom out a little. So, what do you mean? 323 to 149, Jesse? What's the big difference? No, no.

found it. I ask for the Connor number. Yes. Yes. You ask for it. I might be willing to settle for the Tuck number. 10.5? Yeah. How many? What are Tuck's numbers from last season? Is that the direct comparison? His regular season was insane.

His playoff was, oh my God. Yeah. Do something. I remember Batherson had like a decent playoffs for a team that was in the playoffs for four games. Yeah, he showed up. And nobody scored. I believe Batherson had like three goals. Tuck, I think Tuck had 33 goals and 33 assists last year.

So right in line with Batherson. Yeah. Batherson had just a few more assists. I don't think you're far off at all in that. Like, that's the number right there for Batherson. My bet is 11 or 115. I think you're right. I think too.

I think it starts with an 11. I think you're right. Yeah. But I think the Kyle Connor number is interesting. The Tuck number is even more interesting because he was traded and was going to free agency. And that's how you get. Yeah. That's how you get that number that high.

But I would also argue Tuck signed that contract before we saw, we thought that was eye-watering at the time. And then we saw Leo Carlson signed for $18 million. Well, he's one of the ones who started it. Oh, he's signed for, oh, well, then I want. So that's why I think Batherson's going to come in closer to the Connor number than the Tuck number is just because of how things have changed. You know what?

Also, maybe we jump it up a couple hundred grand too, because this isn't a contract for this season. This is for next season. It's when it'll kick in. He's under contract right now. So you got to think about next year's salary cap. And if Tuck is 10.5 at two years older this past season, and then it's another year removed from that for Bathurst.

And free agency. It's probably 12. See how we're creeping to. Now you just said a number bigger than Connor. Yeah. Which is nuts. But Connor signed his contract before. Uh-huh.

Yeah. It's somewhere in the 1112. If you're 13, I think you're too much. Kyle Connor signed that deal in 2026. He might as well have signed it in the 70s, I think. Eight times 11.5 is 92 million. That would outstrip the Stutzler and Jeff, or the Jeff Sanderson, Jake Sanderson deals by almost 30 million.

If it is 12, 5, it's 100 million exact. Now I'm talking myself into, as for the Marner contract, eight times 12 and a half. Well, I think Jesse made a good point. If it doesn't start until next year, you should ask for a 12 and a half. That's crazy. Yeah, now that we talked it out a little, I don't see a problem

it being in the 12s. And I think Drake Bathurst... I think that contract would be particularly interesting because Drake Batherson is a player that plays most things. He can do most things. And he's a point of game guy.

It's always important to know where the point of game guys at in terms of where this... Because you know the superstars are big. But Kail McCar making $20 million doesn't really tell me much about the rest of the league. It's the guys who are the point of game guys

that I'm like, okay, now I'm gonna... Now I got you. At least it forward, right? And the legal... Carlson thing is a little bit different because he got offer sheeted. But like what are those guys in their late 20s about to go to unrestricted free agency? What are they making? That tells me the benchmark for everybody else.

Related point. Your scouting department has never been more important. Oh, in the NHL? Never been more important. Well, I think if your scouts have been traditionally overworked and underpaid, start asking for some more money. Cool. Especially if you're a good one.

And your job as is overworked and underpaid scout. is to find a player who you can underpay and overwork. Because everyone is getting paid these days, and you need to find some deals. How do you feel Jesse and Steve about the Mark Stone extension that was announced over the weekend? It's a two-year deal for $18 million, so $9AV. A-O-K.

Like really good, eh? A-K deal. You know, because I still still, stand by my theory that as soon as they're able to, Vegas is going to throw him in the garbage. I wanted to bring that up. Yeah. Because you've been, you were preaching that all playoffs, like even when we're heading into the off season, you're like, this guy's not going to be here for very long because he's going to be the guy that kick up the door. You still think that? Well, and then he proved he's still useful when he's in the lineup. He's still an all-world

player. He's an Olympic caliber caliber player, but like, we're all waiting for, you know, at some point the wheels are going to fall off. And Vegas is like, how's two years for you? And it's not a crazy number at all. Nine million. Did he take a discount? Yes. Or not discount, sorry.

Did he take less than his last deal? He's taking a pay cut because his current deal that he's on this season. It's the same thing with the Bathurston deal. This deal isn't for this season. It's for next season. He's making 9.5 this year. And next year he'll be making 9 million year after that, 9 million. And Vegas exists over the salary cap.

So like if he gets hurt, they'll just LTIR him and figure that out. It's full, no move. Like he has full protection there too. So he's going to dictate if anything happens. So that probably saved a couple million off for him, right? Vegas is probably like, well, if you want the protection and we can't move on from you, then you're taking less money. Probably.

You know, can you shoot some social media post for a tree planting company? It sets them up to be successful for like and going after more. people. I mean, they had to take a year off going after the big superstars this year, although they did get Rasmus Anderson anyway. But like next year, I would expect them. Whoever's available, they're going to be like, yeah, we'll take him. I don't see why Stone can't be an effective player for the next two years and then you're walking him to retirement or the $1 million deal.

Like, I don't see it. Yeah, he becomes like the Jamie Ben of the Vegas. That's exactly what I was about to bring up. I don't see him not being effective for the next two seasons. And even if he's not there for the regular season, I can seem just turning it on for the playoffs. And the Jamie Ben, Tyler Sagan situations that are happening in Dallas

were just guys who've been here forever. And then now you're here. We're going to retire your number one day. Come back for the million dollars if you still need to at the age of 37 by the end of this contract. So I don't know. I think this is a Vegas golden night for life. You know, it's funny.

We're like, oh, they lost Pavlore Fave. Like, who are they replacing them with? And we said William Carlson. No, there's another guy. on that preposterously stacked team that we just sort of forgot in Mark Stone. Yep.

Yeah, man. Yeah. No, it's a really good deal for him. It's a good deal for them. They also signed Braden Bowman to an extension. Saw that. Any relation?

I don't know. I wondered that immediately too. I don't know if he's related. Braden Bowman. Give a sec. Elite prospects. Six year extension with Vegas carrying a 3.4 million A.A.V.

That, listen, they do pump out, like your Zach White Clouds and who was the guy that went to Nashville last year who signed the big five-year contract extension that right before the season with Nashville who was previously in Vegas was traded for Colton Sizzins. What was that guy?

Oh my God. I don't know, man. Oh, God. I got a part of it. Or Zach? No, I don't think it's him. Let me just check the Preds roster here. There's somebody I'm thinking about it. Oh, the defense. Wait, you're not talking about this offseason. No. Is it Nick Hay?

Nick Hay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like they had, they find these guys. And I wonder if they just see Brayden Bowman as the next guy who will do that. And he's probably like, hell yeah, I'll take the money. Let's go. He's not a bad player at all. No, but take the money. It's weird. You kind of look at his numbers from the regular season. And you're like, why didn't you play very much in the playoffs? Like John Tortorella liked his lines. He'd rather roll out Rasmus. I don't do anything, Anderson. A little bit of, a little bit of Mackie Samiskevich when the Panthers were winning the cups.

Like, hey man, that was great. Anyway, enjoy the popcorn. No, he's a good player. Yeah, no relation. Yeah. No relation to Stan. Scott? What if he's related to one or not the other? I don't know if that'd be possible.

I don't think so either. Do you remember Braden Bowman in the playoffs? No. I feel like he got into games, but not many. He got into one single game. Oh, it was freaking game six. He got into the final game of the playoffs. last year. And that was it. He played on the fourth line. Just going to say, I did a lot of,

I did a lot of Vegas games. No, you wouldn't have streamed that. Steve would have streamed one. And it was that one. So they're good at these depth guys, man. I was bringing up the fence, but they're also like, I'm so mad about that trade with Washington that Vegas made, nicked out. Oh, yeah. I'm so fucking mad about that. That guy was so unbelievable for them in the playoffs. There's another guy they didn't have all season and they're going to have them all season. And I'm pretty sure they flipped a third round pick, same as the Islanders did for Susie. Second and third. Okay. Still. And he's 35. I get it. But holy shit, that guy was great. They were throwing second round picks out the door during the playoffs.

How come none of the second round picks we've traded for centers, Brian Boyle, Thomas Placan. How come they haven't worked out that well? Well, I'm mad about that. I will be forever mad about that Nick Dowd trade. That was a great trade. And it's Vegas. I don't want to give them credit. Nick Felina. Oh, don't, Steve. Was that a first and two-fourths? No, let's make this show four hours. Oh, that sucks.

Hey, it looks like, according to the Denver Gazette, that a reinvigorated Joe Sackick will be the general manager of the Aves this year. Apparently, team sources said Sackick has been, quote, reinvigorated since accepting the job in June, and that being swept in the Western Conference Final by the Vegas Golden Knights got his competitive juices flowing. The expectation is that Sackic will handle the role of GM full-time. And then we'll continue to reassess beyond that. The Avalanche are very happy with the supporting cast around him, including assistant GMs Kevin McDonald, Andrew Wilson,

and special assistant, Andrew Cogliano. And they did do an extensive search, but they didn't find anybody that they liked. And I also think, let's be straight about this. I know they did some deals this summer. But Chris McFarlane left because Joe Sackick wouldn't give him the autonomy he wanted. Right. I do like the Joe Sackick went to the Kyle Dubus School of the best GM candidate is me.

I also, can I be honest? What? I also think the ownership group there, while loaded to the absolute gills with money, doesn't like spending a whole lot of money. Really? On that. I'm sure that they're happy to spend it on players. I'm not saying that.

I think management-wise, I think they're more than happy to just let Joe do it because it's, A, they trust him, he won a cup. B, it's cheaper. Because remember, it's not. not like he signed a new contract. They're going to reassess after this season. It's not like he got a bump. I think they're happy with this is what Joe makes and we're happy to have them here.

I think the Kronkies have a good history of spending on their sports teams. I didn't say that they don't spend on ice or on field product. I think overall in terms of their, I'm talking to their entire organizations. I think they have a good history of spending, putting money into them. Let me offer another possibility that I'm not even sure I buy, but how appealing is the job? You want to have autonomy, don't you? You want to have the ability to do whatever you want.

Do you know that you have that when you go to Colorado? Yeah, because there's a guy who can do your job better than you above you. I think Joe Sacki is a great GM and I'm glad he's doing this. You also want to win and you want a cup and like you work in hockey. Like relax. It's a pretty good job. But I'm just saying like, do the candidates that they want necessarily want that gig? I don't know.

I don't know. I think Sackick's a big personality, but also the Aveser, is it so bad that Sackick is in charge? History dictates no. No. But when they won in 22, he was the GM. He built that team and they won. And then I think like he's been the guy in charge of all of the moves, kind of the overseer of the whole operation. And now that he's back in charge, I think it's only a good thing.

This is great for the Aves. A couple of last minute things to fit into the show. and then we can do a press conference or we can wrap it up. First off, remember last week we were talking about the Sportsnet Plus saga, where if you want to watch Monday Nighthockey, you're going to need the Sportsnet app

or be a subscriber to their cable package, which will then give you access to the app, but you still won't be able to watch it on traditional television. In the wake of, and this is reported online, Bell will now make TSN premium free if you are a Bell TV subscriber. So they're going the opposite direction with, and they have the NFL rights, they have Formula One, they have a whole bunch of, they have some, they have the Memorial Cup in the spring, they've got all the, you know, the winter tournaments too. Like even like the Gretzky Halinka they have. Oh yeah.

You know, they've got everything. World Juniors. I thought that was fascinating. Listen, I'm not, Bell usually, there are a lot like. Rogers, they're just less in the in the in the newspapers. But I thought that was kind of a fun move. Not that it helps people watch hockey, but still. It helps people watch some hockey, just not the NHL.

I got that email and I was very happy about it. There you go. Maybe you feel nice. I don't know. At the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, you're watching tons of football on Sundays, right, Steve? Listen, I know you're, maybe if you watch it a little more closely at them. Your fantasy team absolutely whooped me yesterday.

Oh, my. Embarrassing. Embarrassing stuff. But... Listen, Adam, there's no... There's no shame losing to the champ. Not only did you do good. I did bad. It was terrible.

Like, it was a 70-point spread. It was crazy. No, listen, make championships, not excuses. I do wonder... I wonder how long this lasts. Like, you know, how long does this free promotion last? Because Bell's not a company that, like, wants to give you discounts. I thought you meant my reign over...

No, well, that's probably... I was like, well, I can tell you at least two years. I mean, if you keep having Derek Henry, then it's... going to keep happening. We got to take him away from you next year. I had the 12th pick, boys. I know. Before we wrap here, Bo Horvatt, captain of the New York Islanders replaces Anders Lee. Oh, good. The New York Islanders announced that. And Alexander Hermanov, or Kermanov, depending upon how it's actually pronounced, the seven-foot whatever defenseman that San Jose drafted. Did you see him get into a fight over the weekend? I saw him cross-check someone about 20 times. He's already been suspended in the

Oh, I believe. Yeah, and the game, has that even started yet? No. It's a three-game

suspension, and then he got into a fight with a child. Oh, wait, sorry. Phone here says that person is six-foot-three.

Yeah. We can't run the clip because it's an NHL clip, but it's, wow. One of the more fascinating prospects

in the sport, and fort. I hope he plays. I hope he plays NHL games. Oh, yeah. On the note of Bo Horvack,

can you think of any other Metro Division news? Like a trade? Like New Jersey? No. The guys on Twitter at Steve underscore Dangle at Adam W Y-L-D-E and at Jesse Blake.

Connection complete.