Jeff and Elliotte give a thought on all 32 teams and what they are looking to do as the trade deadline approaches.
Buckle up! Before Jeff and Elliotte run through all 32 teams and what they are looking to do as the trade deadline approaches, they provide an update on the Claude Giroux trade situation (00:30).
Pacific: Anaheim (2:30), Calgary (3:30), Edmonton (4:15), Los Angeles (4:55), San Jose (5:45), Seattle (7:00), Vancouver (8:10), and Las Vegas (9:00)
Central: Arizona (11:30), Chicago (12:40), Colorado (16;15), Dallas (17:40), Minnesota (18:55), Nashville (19:40), St. Louis (20:25) and Winnipeg (22:15)
Metro: Carolina (23:05), Columbus (24:05), New Jersey (25:20), New York Islanders (27:35), New York Rangers (28:40), Philadelphia (29:20), Pittsburgh (31:40) and Washington (32:30)
Atlantic: Boston (33:30), Buffalo (36:00), Detroit (36:40), Florida (38:40), Montreal (39:00), Ottawa (40:30), Tampa Bay (43:00) and Toronto (44:10).
Music Outro: Alexisonfire - Sweet Dreams of Otherness
Find tickets to the Born & Raised music festival in St. Catherines HERE
This podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.
Audio Credits: Sportsnet
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
Jeff Marek [00:00:08] Okay, back to the podcast.
[00:00:09] [SFX puck hitting post.]
Jeff Marek [00:00:12] Our vow for this podcast is we're gonna try to be as quick as possible. Welcome to 32 Thoughts the Podcast presented by the all-new GMC AT4 Lineup. Elliotte, 32 teams, 32 thoughts, in advance of trade deadline. We start in the Pacific and we'll end up in the Atlantic. Anaheim Ducks. What's the latest?
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:30] First of all, Jeff won't be screwing around as usual, so. I do want to make one amendment. Let's do Philly first, and then we can go the rest of the way.
Jeff Marek [00:00:40] Fine.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:41] Philly first, because they're the most pressing team. Giroux. Here's where we are. The team left for Ottawa, it was reported on Friday night, he wasn't there with them. And if he's still not traded by Sunday, which is their next game, which is the Islanders, he's not gonna play that game either. Claude Giroux has told the Flyers he wants to go to Florida, they know he wants to go to Florida, and I think ultimately they will do the right thing by him and send him to Florida. That's my prediction. I could be wrong. That's my prediction. And by the way, I wanna say I thought the Flyers an outstanding job on Thursday night. It was a great night, including his dad reading the lineup card. And I think at the end of the day, they recognize with all of that that the right thing to do is to [follow] Claude Giroux wishes. The thing is, I think they like Colorado's offer better than the Panthers' offer. I think the Panthers are sitting here saying, we know we're kind of in the driver's seat here, so why should we pay too much of a price? And I think Philly has said, I think Philly understands that to some degree, but they're also like, we can't let you grind us that badly. At the end of the day, I think it might not be what the Flyers fans hope to see, because I think the Flyers will send him to Florida. But I do think the Flyers feel the Panthers have been... too... I don't know if I want to say greedy, but they've probably been too tight-fisted on the offers they want to make, and I think Philly wants to make them a little bit better. That's where I think it is, I think he ends up in Florida. I just think the Flyers want the Panthers to get a bit more serious in their minds about what to give up.
Jeff Marek [00:02:26] First class job by the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, tremendously done by that organization. Okay! before I was so rudely interrupted by your editorializing. We'll start in the Pacific and we'll, we'll start with the Anaheim Ducks. What's the latest on Hampus Lindholm?
Elliotte Friedman [00:02:41] I woke up on...
Jeff Marek [00:02:42] Friday.
Elliotte Friedman [00:02:43] Thank you. To some notes that talks between the Ducks and Hampus Lindholm... I don't know if they ended or there was a deadline or what exactly the situation was, obviously, I'm not in the room, but I heard they got to a point on Thursday night where everybody realised it wasn't going to work. So barring a change, and it would be a real, sudden surprising change, Lindholm is gonna get traded. There was somebody who told me Thursday night they thought Rakell might resign, and there was someone else who told me Thursday night that it's not going to happen. You know, the same agent, Claude Lemieux, represents both players and he's not talking. But I, just sounds like both of these guys are going to be moved.
Jeff Marek [00:03:26] Quick question they move Hampus Lindholm, does that open the door even more for a Jacob Chychrun trade in Anaheim?
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:31] You know you've been the one on top of that. It makes sense, but you know, there's a lot of teams going for Chychrun.
Jeff Marek [00:03:37] Calgary Flames. To Brad Treliving after making the move for Calle Jarnkrok. Are they done?
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:42] You know, the one thing I wonder about the Flames is a guy like Lindholm. Just because Bob Murray's there now. Darryl Sutter was a consultant or mentor to the Anaheim staff when Dallas Eakins first got there. They've played a lot against him, being in the same division. Treliving likes to be on in everything. I worry about their chemistry. Don't fool around with it, they have a great chemistry. But there's a lot of connections there to Lindholm? And sometimes it makes me think, does a team think about it for that reason?
Jeff Marek [00:04:16] Edmonton Oilers, are they done? Sounds like they're going with the goaltenders. Is this the roster, though?
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:22] I think so. There might be a tweak here and there like, you know, you were the one who reported Dean Kukan the other night. You know, someone sent me a note in the game last night against Washington. You know, he accidentally scored on his own net, I don't make fun of, and that happens from time to time, he's a good player, but someone sent me a note I thought I would share with you. He said that he was so upset when Jeff said that he could be going to Edmonton, he decided to sabotage the trade. I thought that was a funny line. I don't think Edmonton does anything major, I think if they do anything, it's a depth move.
Jeff Marek [00:04:54] Los Angeles Kings.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:56] I think they're very active behind the scenes. I think they've talked to the Canucks about Garland. I think that's a guy they wanna do. You know, they have some injuries. Arvidsson's out. You know, I think they want to add, I think they want to reward their fans, they wanna reward their players, they've earned it this year with the way they've played. I'm not convinced they wanna trade their first rounder. I think Vancouver wants a first rounder, so that'll be a grinding negotiation there. But I do think the Kings are active and I think Garland is one of the guys they've talked about.
Jeff Marek [00:05:24] Couple of things there. I wonder about Brock Boeser, considering what he can do to a sagging powerplay that we've seen so far and secondly, it was nice to see Alex Edler.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:32] Yes.
Jeff Marek [00:05:33] Back in the lineup last night for the Los Angeles Kings, that was that was good to see.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:37] I would say this about Boeser. I think the issue with Boeser is that I think anybody who trades for him wants to extend him, and I'm just not sure there's gonna be time.
Jeff Marek [00:05:45] San Jose Sharks, they made the big move and re-upped with Tomas Hertl. Anything else for Joe Will?
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:49] I don't know if there's anything else hugely pressing. That's a big victory for Joe Will and the Sharks. You know, Will especially made it very clear he wasn't trading him and he was gonna sign him and they got it done. That's what San Jose wanted, and I know people are looking at it saying this is another eight year deal for an older player. Yes, I get it. I think all the questions are valid, but the organization set this as a target, this was what mattered to them. They wanted to show their fan base that they weren't punting on Hertl and trying to win as quickly as possible. They did that in their market. That's a big deal, it's important to them. I understand the business reasons. Sometimes, you know, we forget that, you know, sports are supposed to be a game, but they're a business first and foremost and the Sharks like Hertl, and there were reasons that they did this to their market. And the biggest deal is what Hertl's contract is going to do to the market, to Johnny Goodrow, to Filip Forsberg, to J.T. Miller, to Nazem Kadri. I think if they do anything, you know I think it's gonna be more, it's gonna be smaller. However, the one thing I wonder about at the end of the year is Vlasic. If this continues. I wonder if he gets a buyout.
Jeff Marek [00:06:59] Hmm. There's a few players like that around the NHL we'll get to them over the course of this podcast. In Seattle, I don't think it's an everything must go sale, but they are open for business. Their latest business, re-upping with Jared McCann and trading Calle Jarnkrok to the Calgary Flames. What about the Kraken?
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:15] You know, someone sent me a note this morning. Montreal screwed everybody. They got too good a return for Chiarot.
Jeff Marek [00:07:22] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:23] So, you know, Ron Francis wants a first rounder for Giordano. I think he's very much on Toronto's radar. I think Kyle Dubas has made it very clear to everyone, he does not want to trade his first rounder, he's gotta find another way around that or change his mind. Like, I think that teams are looking for left hand Ds, so when you're talking about guys like Lindholm and you're talking about guys like Giordano, I think it's Toronto, I think it's Boston, I think it's St. Louis, and I think it's potentially L.A. So I think those are the teams we're kind of looking at here. I'm not, you know, Carolina, I've been talking about with D too, and I think they are interested. I think they wanna look at things, but I'm not sure they want to pay for a rental. I'm really not so, I think it's, you know, what's the best package that Francis can get for Giordano, that's what he's focussing on right now.
Jeff Marek [00:08:10] Tough loss for the Vancouver Canucks Thursday night 1-nothing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings. We've talked plenty about Vancouver all season long and specifically since Jim Rutherford took over. What do you see happening with them come Monday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:08:23] Well like I said, I think there's some Garland-L.A. talks going on right now. We'll see if that goes to any fruition. I don't think Miller's getting traded. Boeser's a complicated one. I wondered if Schenn might go up a bit because the offers for him might go up because he's on such a good contract for next year. I was told it's still more likely than not that he stays in Vancouver. You know, the one guy there is Motte. I mean, Halak, at this point in time, he hasn't waived. But I just don't know if the interest is there the way it's unfortunately it's gone for him this year. Obviously, the one we'll probably be talking about the most is Motte.
Jeff Marek [00:09:02] Vegas Golden Knights and the latest news, and we're still waiting to hear an update. Jack Eichel left the game last night and did not return. That would add to the injury woes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:11] Unbelievable.
Jeff Marek [00:09:12] I know. They did welcome back Janmark and Howden and Derrick Pouliot showed up in the NHL, played for Vegas last night. What happens here? Vegas is perhaps the most interesting team come Monday now.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:24] That was a huge win for them. Like just a ginormous win.
Jeff Marek [00:09:28] The Panthers, they beat.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:30] Peter DeBoer when all 1990s Pat Quinn. The world is against us. They hate us.
Recording [00:09:38] [Peter DeBoer: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think this is a David versus Goliath kind of thing right now. I mean, no one's giving us a chance to win this game. So, you know, that's, that's, that's a mentality we have to take and come in and and have a real good game.]
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:52] It was pretty good I gotta say, it was, it was. It was very well done.
Jeff Marek [00:09:56] Sure.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:56] So I heard the broken kneecap report like everybody else. I was careful with it because one of the things about Lehner is, you know, he's been upset about how his injuries have been reported this year, so you gotta be careful until you get the confirmation. Like I had heard he was probably going to be out for the year, but then Lehner came out yesterday and said, that's not true. I may not be out for the year. And so it's always tough. You gotta be really careful with this kind of thing. I just think the Golden Knights are trying to establish timelines. You know, I wondered if there was any chance they might be a seller. They might just simply say, with all the injuries, that's not our year, but I don't get that impression.
Jeff Marek [00:10:37] Who's the owner there again?
Elliotte Friedman [00:10:38] Yeah yeah, I know. I'm just saying, like sometimes, like they've never been in this position before, so you never know how a team is going to react, but I was kind of wondering about it. But that win kept them alive and, and now, you know, we're recording this in the morning after Eichel looked like he might have like broken his hand or something. So you know, who knows what all this means. But the fact is Jeff that I think injuries are going to determine all of their timelines. And I think they're looking at a goalie. And if they have to do that, and that might be their most pressing need.
Jeff Marek [00:11:09] That's the Pacific, onto the Central.
[00:11:22] [Break]
Jeff Marek [00:11:24] Elliotte, we'll start with the Arizona Coyotes. We've talked so much about Jacob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes, but there are other names, and I believe that, you know, Karel Vejmelka may be one of them. What do you hear about the Yotes?
Elliotte Friedman [00:11:36] The big one's gonna be Chychrun. Is Chychrun gonna be the guy? That's kind of what I look at here. It's a really interesting situation Jeff because sometimes when a guy gets hurt around the deadline, it throws the whole thing into chaos. And even though it doesn't appear to be as bad as it could've been, it's still a little bit of that here. The thing is, if you're a contender and you like Chychrun, you know that there are teams, as you've mentioned, Anaheim and the other team, I think, is Columbus have really looked at it, and you know, you could lose him to a team that's not gonna make the playoffs this year. So now you're sitting there saying, oh god, you know what, I probably have to do this. I think Boston's around there. I think St. Louis has been around there. The other thing I've heard about Columbus is they're not crazy about giving up a first round pick this year or next. You know, that's one of the issues I've heard with the Blue Jackets, but they've been around there on this. I'm not so sure yet about Vejmelka. We call it riding the Ferris wheel because the agent is Darren Ferris. That's what Arizona's doing right now. They're riding the Ferris wheel with Vejmelka. We'll see what happens there, but I think they do want to sign him. I think that's their goal. So I would be surprised if he was traded.
Jeff Marek [00:12:42] Chicago Blackhawks.
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:43] So Chicago's made its first move. They've traded Brandon Hagel to Tampa Bay with two fourth round picks for two firsts, Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk. And basically, what this is is it's a situation where they look at their readiness to win. Hagel is signed to a great contract, two more years at 1.5. This is what Chicago was telling us, Kyle Davidson has said, this is a rebuild. And by the time that Hagel's contract is done, this excellent contract they signed him to, they're not gonna be ready to win. So why not maximise the return and send him somewhere that is more ready to win? And they asked a high price, like if you look at it, they got two firsts and two players for them that are gonna play for Chicago right away. I heard that what they were asking was big. I think Toronto was one of the teams that was around there. And I think when you look at Toronto here, like you're trying to look at what they got Chicago and what Toronto had to offer, Tampa offered two firsts. Toronto, they probably asked for Knies. I would think they asked for Knies, and I just don't think Toronto wants to do that. So you have to look at all the other teams out there and see who they have that was comparable that Chicago would ask for. I don't think Toronto was doing that. I think Tampa Bay was willing to pay that price. They want to win again. He fits in a perfect identity of what the Lightning are trying to do. I see exactly why Chicago did this. This is gonna help them, and as Davidson called it, they're rebuilding. And they were swinging for the fences, they were not trading Hagel unless they were getting a lot. The other thing for Chicago, I think they look at in this trade, Jeff, is that Brandon Hagel's 23, he just had a breakthrough season. If you take a look at his shooting percentage in his NHL career, last year, nine goals in 52 games, 10%. This year, 21 goals in 55 games, 22%. That's outstanding. I think what they're hoping for is they're saying, look, Boris Katchouk is 23 years old, he'll be 24 in June. Taylor Raddysh, he just turned 24 earlier this year. They're hoping that these turn into their Brandon Hagels, guys who weren't going to get a lot of opportunity in Tampa simply because there were too many good players there on low-level contracts, entry level contracts. They're gonna have opportunity here to be successful, and I think that's the way Chicago looks at it, they're hoping these two players with more opportunities will be their Hagels. You know the other one there is Fleury. It'll be interesting to see now, you know, how does this affect his decision. It doesn't change the goalie market at all. But how does this affect any decision that Fleury will have to make? You know, Vegas has said they're not doing this. Toronto has said, well Toronto hasn't said anything publicly aside from, we like our goaltending. I think they looked into it but again, I don't think it's something that they want to do. I think they'd rather solve this one internally. The belief is Campbell's coming back. Washington has been around it. We've all talked about how Fleury isn't sure he can wrap his head around it. I don't know. There's some teams that aren't crazy about trading for goaltending at this time of the year. I find this one a little harder to read, but I am curious, Chicago's veteran players, how are they going to react to this? I think this is for franchise direction, though. It's exactly what Chicago needs to do and wants to do.
Jeff Marek [00:16:16] Let's get to Colorado then, what do we see with the Avs? We've, we've kind of married them along with the Florida to Claude Giroux, what do they do now? Now they've already made the Josh Manson deal, but we don't think that they're done by any stretch.
Elliotte Friedman [00:16:28] You know, I think Colorado, look, they're looking for another forward. They haven't given up on Giroux. I don't think it'll be them. I think Giroux's going to Florida, but I think they haven't given up. I think that's the kind of swing they want to take. You know, I think they're around on Copp. You know, you've mentioned Max Domi. I think they're gonna add another forward. There's to me, I don't think they're done. This is their year. I think they're going for it. And I think we're in a situation where we should watch them. Like, Helleson, I heard and some people told me was probably true that, he saw how packed that team was and he was like, you know what? I'm not sure it's the right path for me and I think that's one of the reasons they traded him was they knew he might prefer a more, I wouldn't say, easier opportunity, but a more open opportunity somewhere else. I don't think they want to trade Byram. I don't think they wanna trade Newhook. I don't think they want to trade Barron. I've wondered about a guy like Shane Bowers. I mean, there's another talented young player who's kind of blocked a bit, right? So that's the kind of decisions I think they're considering. But I think they're gonna go out and try to get another forward.
Jeff Marek [00:17:34] One of the things for Colorado too, we should mention how they also made the Tyson Jost for Nico Sturm deal. Dallas Stars, overtime win against Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, of note there Elliotte, John Klingberg with a pair of goals, including the OT winner. He needed that, the Stars needed that what happens with them come trade deadline?
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:52] All of a sudden the Stars have gotten really interesting. They don't want to trade Klingberg. They've resigned Pavelski. I'm really curious about Radulov because the Rangers are a team that's had interest in him. They're not trading Holtby and, you know, Holtby is trying to get healthy. There was some worry that Holtby might not be able to play, and I checked on Thursday and I was told, you know, don't go with that, it's not true. They're working on it. But you know, Holtby is still not 100 percent, you know, they put Sekera on waivers, so they'll create some cap room for them, assuming he clears. This has not been a great trip for them so far. They got shut out in Toronto, Montreal's kind of a revive, but that was an overtime win for them. The math is really good for Dallas. Now you've gotta win those games, but their math is really good, and all of a sudden it looks like Dallas has gone from seller to potentially buyer in just a couple of days. It's really been interesting to see that transformation.
Jeff Marek [00:18:56] Minnesota Wild. This has to be a go for year for the Minnesota Wild, given the cap nightmare they have on the horizon starting next season. True?
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:04] Yeah. You know, I think, you know, one guy I kind of wondered about for them was Austin Watson, I think they want to add some edge. I'd heard Dvorak, they can't fit it. And that was also a while ago. I think they're looking to add some beef on defence and up front. You know, Austin Watson would make some sense for them. I think they were looking for like a Ben Chiarot type player on defence, but like someone with a bit of edge to them, I'm not expecting major surgery. I heard he looked at the goaltending market, but like Ken Holland, didn't like the prices. I think they're probably depth moves for them. I could see a guy like Austin Watson being one of their targets.
Jeff Marek [00:19:39] What about the Nashville Predators? They follow alphabetically, what happens with David Poile's team?
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:44] It's a good question. I mean, the number one thing is Forsberg. You know, I heard the Hertl contract complicated matters. It probably moves Forsberg's number up. I don't think they're trading him, I think they're keeping him and, you know, I think here we go, and they try to get him signed. I'll say this like, I don't think it's always easy, but I do think Forsberg wants to stay there and I think they want him to stay. That's kind of where we are. You know the rest of the roster, I've heard depth moves for them. Somebody told me to watch like a guy like Freddy Meyer. You know, he's a guy that could go out and, you know, somebody else come in. David Poile's not afraid to make big swings, but I'm not expecting that here. Could be wrong, but I'm not expecting that.
Jeff Marek [00:20:24] Talking about big swings, let's get to Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues. They've been attached to a lot of names, most notably defenceman, whether it's Jacob Chychrun or Ben Chiarot. What happens with the Blues here?
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:36] This one's gonna be fascinating. Doug Armstrong has told people he thinks his team is good enough to win.
Jeff Marek [00:20:42] Mhm! Oh yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:43] And I think they are. The issue there is he doesn't have a lot of flexibility. I think he's trying to move money out. You know, I wonder about a Scandella. [unclear] is a guy that, you know, I think they've looked at too, you know, Frank Seravalli reported Binnington. It makes sense. That would move our money and for the moment, he lost his job. I would be very interested to see how Binnington's gonna react to that. He's got a lot of pride. You know, he's one of my favourite players to watch because, you know, he's a guy obviously who succeeded a little bit late and he's like, he's got that chip on his shoulder. I'm really curious to see how he's going to react to that news.
Jeff Marek [00:21:23] You're just waiting for him to finally get the fight that he's been itching for for about five years.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:26] Maybe it happens now, who knows, but that kind of idea makes sense for what I think St. Louis is trying to do, because I think they're trying to add. Chychrun they've been in on. He doesn't like rentals.
Jeff Marek [00:21:38] No.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:38] Remember when he traded for Scandella, he extended him, right? When he traded for Bouwmeester, he kept him right? I think if he knew he could trade for someone and extend him, I think that would really be something he likes. Look, I think he's in on Lindholm too, like those kinds of players are the players he wants. You know, he believes in his team's culture. And if he can move money out, trying to trade for Lindholm and extending him.
Jeff Marek [00:22:02] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:22:03] The other one I should mention there, I mentioned Provorov's name, not because I'm convinced he's getting traded, but because that's the kind of player that I could see St. Louis being interested in. And they have a coach who knows him.
Jeff Marek [00:22:16] Winnipeg Jets. We've talked a lot about Andrew Copp, but is there more?
Elliotte Friedman [00:22:20] I don't know if there's more right now. I think their big decisions come in the summer. Look, you know, we talked about this about, you know, Winnipeg and Vancouver, you know, all the losses there are around the race. It was a tough one, as you said for Vancouver last night. The math is not good for Winnipeg. I think the offers on Copp, my guess, and this is purely my guess, I think the offers on Copp will be too difficult to pass up. I just think they're gonna intensify. And, you know, you're probably not gonna keep them right. But boy, if I was wrong on that and the captain to make a run for the playoffs, depending on like, they play Boston Friday night, I could be wrong, but I think they end up trading him.
Jeff Marek [00:23:01] Let's get to the Metro, Eastern Conference. Carolina Hurricanes, they've been attached to a lot of, you know, most specifically defencemen all season long Elliotte. What do we expect out of Don Waddell?
Elliotte Friedman [00:23:13] The Hurricanes are good enough to win. They know that. I think there are people in the organization who look at it like we have a chance to win this year, let's go for it, and I think they are considering that. I don't think they're too crazy about paying a ton for rentals. But I do think there are people in the organization who are like, if we can upgrade our defence a little bit, you know, we have a real shot here. So I think that's what they're gonna look at doing is upgrading their D and going for it that way. I'm just really curious to see how high a price they'll pay for a rental. You know, they're a smart organization and they kind of look at it like, is there a rental who's worth, say a first round pick? And I think philosophically, some of that argument is no. But they also know they're good enough to win and they have prospects they believe in coming. So I think they try to add D because they think they're good enough.
Jeff Marek [00:24:07] Columbus Blue Jackets. You know, the interesting name attached to them is, as you mentioned earlier, Jacob Chychrun. I've reported on Max Domi, who's looked real good in the last little while. Specifically, what happens with CBJ?
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:21] I don't know if it's gonna happen, but I think Jarmo Kekalainen has a chance to get a spotlight on this. He's willing to do a lot of things. You know, he's willing to trade people out and he's willing to acquire like, we talked about Chychrun, right? Like, I think that if they could get a good player with term, a player that they like, who they think fits with them for a few years, they could do that. It wouldn't surprise me, for example if, you know some of these Vancouver players who have term that are potentially available, you know that they were looking at that if they thought they could help them for a while. Because, you know, they know they're not going to make the playoffs this year, but they have a lot of assets and they want to get better. So I think he could be involved both as a seller and potentially a buyer. It may not happen, but I think he's kind of got that philosophy. Like you said, he's got a lot of pieces he could move, Kukan, Domi, players like that. I wouldn't be surprised if a young player with term got traded, if Columbus was on the receiving end of that.
Jeff Marek [00:25:22] New Jersey Devils and Tom Fitzgerald.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:24] They have pieces to move. Blackwood's health... I don't know what his situation is gonna be. He's available. It's been a really hard year between the Devils and Blackwood. You know, whenever somebody changes agents, as Blackwood has, I always look at it and wonder, 'kay, you never change agents because you're happy with your current situation, right?
Jeff Marek [00:25:48] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:48] You're all, you change when you're looking for a change. Number one, I think the injury situation with him this year has been hard. You know, I think they've had difficulties, and I'm not saying anyone's right or anyone's wrong, because I don't know, but I think they've had difficulties getting on the same page. So that's one problem. The vaccination issue was another problem. It caused a strain. It affected their season. I just think it's been a really hard year between Blackwood and the Devils, and I think everybody has to figure out where they want to go here. Can it be repaired? Does it have to be a trade? Can he even play this year? What's the story there like, the Devils have to sort out their goaltending, I think that's the number one priority because obviously Bernier's hip and health is a question too.
Jeff Marek [00:26:36] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:26:37] The rest of it, you know, Severson's heading into the last year, what's his future? I think they're looking for some wingers to play with their really talented centres. You know, New Jersey is a team that believes it's better than its record shows. They believe they're better than they are, and they point to their result against Colorado the other night as kind of proof of it. But you have to sort out the goaltending, and I, and I think that's probably priority number one for them.
Jeff Marek [00:27:06] Safe to say Pavel Zacha's name will pop up between here and Monday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:11] Yes, I think that's true. You know, we've talked about Vancouver, we've talked about Montreal. I'm sure there's more.
Jeff Marek [00:27:17] Anything to the Ty Smith whispers that are out there? I mean I'm a little bit surprised by considering how young he is and what the position is, but before we get to the Islanders, do you have anything on Ty Smith?
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:28] I think it's something that's not impossible. A year ago, I would've been shocked at that. I've just heard it's not impossible. I don't know how likely it is, though.
Jeff Marek [00:27:37] Islanders. Now, you know, full well that anything you see now will probably end any discussion of that person because it's Lou Lamoriello, but what about the Islanders?
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:47] Well, I'd heard Varlamov's name, and then someone told me the other day that they'd heard that Varlamov was staying, but I think he'd been out there or talked about with him. But someone called me the other day and said, they don't think he's gonna end up moving. You're right, it's Lamoriello, who knows? The names out there that have the most traction are Clutterbuck. There's been some Parise. He's trying to win the Stanley Cup, I could see Lou Lamoriello doing Zach Parise a favour and saying, Is there somewhere you want to go where you think you can win? Because he doesn't have a big number and he can fit in a couple of places up and down a lineup, so that's another name I would wonder about there. I mean, you know, my, my, my thing with Chara, just wondering if Toro--
Jeff Marek [00:28:29] Oh, get a room, get a room, you two.
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:31] I mean, but it would be I mean, it's up to Chara. Does he wanna go anywhere, does he want to stay? You know, people listen to him. So those are the kinds of things I'm looking at with the Islanders.
Jeff Marek [00:28:40] New York Rangers have all been about it this season. We talked about how this season, maybe some found money for them, arriving two years before they thought they would be here, but they're here. So where does Chris Drury do?
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:51] You got Vatrano. I like for Vatrano, Vatrano ran out of room in Florida simply because of roster and cap space, it's not like he's a bad player. I still think he's in on the D, all those left hand D that we've talked about, and you know what? I've heard he made a pitch for Radulov, so this is a go for it year for the Rangers. I think they're also looking at players that don't jam up their cap anymore for next season. They've got some things they have to deal with there. So I think they're gonna look at some more rentals.
Jeff Marek [00:29:20] Philadelphia Flyers. And we talked about Claude Giroux off the top of the show, but there are other interesting players here who may be moved and I'll tell you what, like, and again, last night before I went to bed, was having a conversation with someone who's talking about circling around Travis Sanheim. There are so many people that I talk to that keep bringing up Sanheim around the Philadelphia Flyers Elliotte. What do you hear? What do you know?
Elliotte Friedman [00:29:44] You know, like I said, they're trying to get Giroux to Florida, but I think they wanna get a better offer. The Ristolainen thing? Someday I'm gonna, when this is all over, I'm gonna pump Chuck Fletcher full of truth serum and say, take me through the last two months. Because people were convinced Ristolainen was getting traded.
Jeff Marek [00:30:04] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:30:04] And then he kind of refocused and said, no, we, we want to keep him. Sanheim's name has been out there. However, people have told me he plays with Ristolainen, they've made a commitment to Ristolainen, why wouldn't they keep Sanheim? To me it comes down to Sanheim or Provorov. And again, this is me talking, my thing. Provorov's name is out there a little bit, I'm not sure it'll be now. They're at a crossroads with Provorov and he's at a crossroads with them. He's a talented guy who's regressing, and everybody here has to figure out why. It's never one person's fault. I'm sure some of it's environment, I'm sure some of it's him. I think the question becomes, what do they do with him long term? And if they decide that Provorov's gonna move, I don't understand why they wouldn't keep Sanheim. And if they decide Sanheim's gonna move, boy, if you're trading Provorov, you know, all of a sudden you've got two pretty big holes on your defence. What are you doing there with a team that says it wants to compete? And Braun's gonna be gone too I think, one way or the other. So that's my question is, what is the long term vision, because I can't imagine, I mean, if it does, I would like to see what it is, but how would you do a long term view without Sanheim, Provorov, and Braun? It just, especially with Ellis's health the way it was this year I, I kind of look at it like, how do you make that work here? So I gotta think if Provorov's long term going, Sanheim's gotta be long term staying.
Jeff Marek [00:31:39] Other team in the Keystone State, Pittsburgh Penguins. I'm of the belief that they're looking for a defenceman who can move his feet and in our last text exchange last night before we, we packed it in, I was wondering to you about someone like Nick Leddy, who was held out of Thursday's game against the Vancouver Canucks. I'm hearing Penguins and, again, defenceman that can move. What do you hear about Pittsburgh?
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:02] So they're not trading for Brian Burke? Is that what you're telling me? You know, that makes a lot of sense. It sure does. I've heard that they just don't wannna tinker. They think they've got a really good chemistry. They've got a big win in St. Louis. They lost in Nashville, but they played really well. They're, they're better than the sum of their parts. They've got a great coach and they've got a great leader and, you know, everybody there plays hard and falls in line. I don't think they wanna screw around with that too much. If they tinker, I think they'll tinker like you're saying, like something like that.
Jeff Marek [00:32:31] Washington Capitals. We most recently talked about Max Domi and the Caps. What else is out there?
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:37] Well I think they're gonna add a couple of weeks ago when they were losing all those games at home, I think Brian MacLellan was not sure. He made the Western road trip with them. He liked what he saw. You know, they're happy with Vanecek. Vanecek has really stabilized them, but I still think they're gonna try to add, you know, Fleury or another goalie. They've been looking at a depth forward. Domi, I heard the same as you, I heard Domi potentially there. I think they were interested in Jarnkrok, obviously Peter Laviolette connections. I mentioned Austin Watson earlier with, with Minnesota. I think that's another guy that fits Washington's mould, a tough forward. And also, there's a Laviolette connexion there, right?
Jeff Marek [00:33:17] From Nashville.
Elliotte Friedman [00:33:17] So, you know, I do think they're gonna try to add another forward and potentially a goalie. So I think they're going to be active.
[00:33:23] [Break.]
Jeff Marek [00:33:33] That's the Metro, let's get to the Atlantic, starting with the Boston Bruins. And what's the one lesson that Boston's learned in their last couple of seasons about playoffs Elliotte?
Elliotte Friedman [00:33:41] You need to have a lot of D. A lot of D.
Jeff Marek [00:33:44] Are they hunting for D?
Elliotte Friedman [00:33:46] They're hunting for D. Boston, I think has a chance to be really busy. I think, you know, they've been in on Chychrun. I think they're in on Giordano, I think they're in on Lindholm. Copp is a kind of guy that fits what they do. I think they've checked in on the Vancouver guys. I think Don Sweeney has a lot of oars in the water. Now I've asked about, you know, David Krejci, you know, his season ended in the Czech league the other day. You know, could he come back? So far I don't really have a clear answer on it, and he's gotta clear waivers. So that's a tricky one too. And, you know, the league will be on alert for this kind of thing like someone asked me, could say Arizona or Montreal, pick him up on waivers and then trade him to Boston? Everybody's all over this situation watching for any kind of circumvention to block it. I love these creative ideas, but believe me, I've already had teams saying there's no way that's gonna be allowed to happen. I would like the carnage of it. But, you know, people are watching out for this. There's no question, but as a matter of fact, one GM, he laughed. He said to me, if Montreal was to do that, say or Arizona was to do that for argument's sake, I would trade them a first round to not trade him to Boston. Like it was just funny and everybody was just kind of laughing about it. I had a conversation with someone about Bergeron this week because when they went into the bubble, people told me Bergeron was gonna retire. He didn't want to play if it was gonna be like this. And, you know, obviously that didn't happen. And at the end of last year, they left up the Bergeron again and he came back and obviously it didn't happen and I think the Bruins, what they do is they just say to Patrice, it's your call. We want you to play, we love you, we want you to play forever, but they know it's his decision. And you know, the one thing though that someone said to me was, Bergeron has kind of always said, I'm only gonna play as long as I feel I'm at an elite level and he's having an elite season. So it's up to him, his body's been through a lot, but they kind of look at it lik,e every year we try to win because we don't know how much longer we're gonna have this right? So I think they're going to take some big swings. DeBrusk, I just heard it hasn't changed that even though he'd like to be traded, the Bruins have said, we're trying to win this year and we're not going to make ourselves worse.
Jeff Marek [00:35:58] To Bergeron, he's gonna win the Selke again this year.
Elliotte Friedman [00:35:59] I think he will.
Jeff Marek [00:36:00] Talk about going, he's winning the Selke, that's the kind of season he's having. Buffalo Sabres, couple things here. I look at the Sabres and I say, they could be the, will hold some money to help facilitate a trade team and also, you know, I wonder about Craig Anderson and whether they just go to him and say, what do you wanna do? What do you hear about the swords?
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:18] Colin Miller is one, I've heard Mark Pysyk is another, like just talented players who, who fill holes. Anderson, as we stand here, it's gonna be up to him. First of all, they have to get, they would have to get blown away with an offer to even go to him, and then it's gonna be up to him. The thing I've heard about Anderson is, they really feel he's been good for their culture and I think they would like to keep him if they can.
Jeff Marek [00:36:42] Yup.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:42] And that's pretty much where it stands I think with him.
Jeff Marek [00:36:46] I hear the same thing. Detroit Red Wings could be a busy team Elliotte We mentioned Nick Leddy earlier. That isn't the only name that's out there for Detroit though.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:55] The thing with Yzerman is that, he doesn't think like a lot of us do. A lot of us think this, Yzerman doesn't think like that. He, he's very analytical, determined in his thinking, and he's not afraid to make decisions that the rest of us aren't willing to make. Like one of the reports out here is that it's anybody but Seider and Raymond. And, you know I said, you know, they can't be talking about Larkin, can they? The guy is having an unbelievable season and he clearly loves being a Red Wing. And, you know, someone just said to me, like, who knows Yzerman? He said, don't necessarily say that Larkin would get traded because I think it would take an unbelievable offer for Yzerman to consider that. But don't fall into the trap of putting your thoughts on the way Yzerman thinks, and I think that's a good way to kind of look at it. I don't think Larkin's getting traded. I think Yzerman's invested a lot into Larkin, but I think that he wouldn't be as close to it for the reasons that a lot of us would be close to it. And that's one thing you have to remember when thinking about what Yzerman and Detroit might do. That's the way I look at it. I look at it from outside and say, no way, no chance, Larkin, and I think that's the most likely answer? But Yzerman wouldn't be as afraid to do something like that as I think a lot of other people would be.
Jeff Marek [00:38:30] You know, further to your point about Steve Yzerman, what was a trade that shocked us all last year? Mantha for Vrana.
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:36] Yeah, that one came out of nowhere. McLellan's a pretty quiet guy too, you know?
Jeff Marek [00:38:39] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:40] That happens, yes.
Jeff Marek [00:38:41] Okay, Florida Panthers, the obvious is Claude Giroux, is there more Elliotte? Is there more? We just saw them, of course, making the move for Ben Chiarot. Is there anything other than a potential Claude Giroux trade?
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:51] I think until we get that the Giroux one sorted out, I think we're in a holding pattern, cause it's a big deal, right? It's 8.25 so until we get that sorted out, I just don't think we know.
Jeff Marek [00:39:01] All right. Montreal Canadiens, first of all, welcome back Jake Allen.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:04] Yeah, it was great.
Jeff Marek [00:39:05] Despite it was a losing effort by the Montreal Canadiens, great to see Jake Allen healthy enough to play again. What do we expect out of Kent Hughes come Monday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:14] Montreal. This is what Kent Hughes has taught us in his short time as GM. He sets a target and if you don't hit his target, he's not making the deal. He's set the target for his want for Chiarot. He got it, and he made the deal. That's the thing with Petry. You know, all eyes have been on Dallas if they're gonna do that, I don't know if it's gonna happen, but basically, Kent Hughes has said. give us what we want and we'll do it. Don't give us what we want and we won't. And I think that's the case with guys like Lehkonen, you know, what I thought it was interesting, he said that Jake Allen is going to stay the rest of the year. I wondered if someone would take a run at him.
Jeff Marek [00:39:50] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:50] I think the biggest storyline in Montreal is not a trade story. It's a, can Carey Price play story. Because if Carey Price could come back and play a few games this year, then we'll see what happens with him in the offseason. If he can't come back and play, then... That's one of the reasons I think they want to move the Shea Weber contract, because what happens if Price can't play either? And I think we should watch for Arizona for example with the Shea Weber contract.
Jeff Marek [00:40:15] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:16] But I think there's a situation that he said, here's the prices. If you reach them, I'll deal these guys. If not, I won't. And I think his price is high on Lehkonen too.
Jeff Marek [00:40:28] Ottawa Senators. There's a couple of decisions here. Nick Paul may be front and centre right now.
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:32] The magic number I've heard with Nick Paul is 3, or as close to 3 as you can possibly get. You know, I've heard that on the open market, and I've asked other teams about this. I said, could you see Nick Paul getting to three million a year? And some teams said, they'd all probably want to keep it to like 2.85 max or stuff like that but, when you get a bidding war and you could get one for him, then you know it can happen. Ottawa's continued to make moves. I think they're... I don't know if I would call them incremental, but I don't think they're in that range. Now, Nick Paul though, do I think all things being equal, he wants to be an Ottawa Senator? Yes. Yes, I do think he wants that. So sometimes you just say, look, I wanna be here, let's make the deal. And I think it's possible that could happen. But right now, from what I understand, they're just not close enough as we tape this on Friday morning. I think that could change. Maybe Paul says, just do it. I don't know what's gonna happen here, but they're not there yet, and there is a lot of interest.
Jeff Marek [00:41:34] Real quick, Anton Forsberg, does he go by Monday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:37] I'm not convinced he will. You know, Murray's hurt again.
Jeff Marek [00:41:41] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:41] Ottawa has a lot of picks and prospects.
Jeff Marek [00:41:44] They sure do.
Elliotte Friedman [00:41:45] And, you know, do you look at it and say, we have to give out, you know, you don't have Matt Murray, you're not sure we are with Gustavsson, you know, do you want to continue looking at Forsberg? And also, you have to give your fans a reason to come to the building. You aren't making the playoffs this year. Your fans and your players are frustrated with what's going on. Do you have to give them a chance to win some games? And right now, Forsberg's the guy. I think about it, like a lot of fans do at times too like just trade, trade, trade. But sometimes you have to think of it from a business point of view, and the business point of view with Forsberg is, if we win games, do we make our players feel a little bit better? Do we make our fans feel a little bit better? And the cost of that is important because it goes into your season ticket sales, it goes into the overall feeling around the team. You know, I would be curious to know if Ottawa thinks there's there's a shot that Giroux plays there next year.
Jeff Marek [00:42:42] Oof.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:42] You know, nobody's gonna talk about that now, but I have wondered about that. What are the chances that, you know this summer, you know, he's got, he's got a tie-in there. He lives not far from the rink. This is just me talking out loud.
Jeff Marek [00:42:55] Played junior at Gatineau, oh yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:57] Yeah. Are they waiting to take a shot at him?
Jeff Marek [00:43:00] Interesting situation there. Couple more teams before we wrap up here getting you all set for trade deadline on Monday. Tampa Bay Lightning. I'm having a hard time believing they're not gonna make some kind of move Elliotte.
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:12] Well Jeff, you were right. They did do something. They went out and they got Brandon Hagel. That is the perfect kind of player that Tampa would want. What is different between this year and last year, they lost three players in Goodrow, Coleman, and Gourde, who had that kind of identity. And now you bring in Hagel, who's not only got that kind of identity, but he's signed for two more years at a manageable number. You know they gave up a lot to get him in terms of futures and picks. But Tampa doesn't care about that. They care about winning, and this player is gonna help them win. You know, our good buddy Irf Gaffar had mentioned Motte, some other people suggested maybe like Zach Parise would be a fit for them. This is a perfect, perfect Tampa player, and it's totally what you would expect them to do. I'm sure there's other teams that're gonna have to play Tampa just gritting their teeth when they saw that this was coming down.
Jeff Marek [00:44:10] And we'll finish up with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Eric Kallgren wins his second as the netminder for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm guessing it's pretty much a guarantee he'll play Saturday against Nashville. Other holes to fill though, we've talked about defencemen, we've talked about fourth line forwards as well. What do you think Kyle Dubas does before Monday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:44:31] Kallgren has given them a chance to breathe for a couple of days, like that's just for everyone to breathe.
Jeff Marek [00:44:37] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:44:38] I think he goes for D. I'm not convinced he's going for a goalie. I don't think he wants to trade his first rounder. He has a situation where they've traded two of the last three, and, you know, unfortunately Amirov is, you know, we wish him all the best.
Jeff Marek [00:44:51] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:44:51] In his current situation. But you don't know what his future is gonna be, right? So I don't think he wants to trade his first rounder. I don't think he wants to trade his top prospects for a rental. I do think Dermott's gonna get treated. I think everybody here realises it's time for a fresh start, team and player. So I think regardless of whatever happens, I think he's getting moved. So I think they're gonna try to get one or two Ds, and I think they're also gonna see if they can get a depth forward. It's a hard thing like Simmonds and Spezza, they're such great pros and they're such great people. But I think they feel they need to upgrade the fourth line. You know, one thing I've heard is I think they've been asked about Engvall, and I think they've said no, and it's same for Mickeyev. I think they've been asked about Mickeyev, and I think they've said, no, I think they've said look like, that line this year has been one of their best lines. Why would we do that? So I think Dubas could do, a couple D and a forward, and some of it might be moving money around. The only way I think he'd can go out and get a goalie is because Joseph Woll got hurt.
Jeff Marek [00:45:53] In the Hershey game yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:45:54] Yeah. So he might have to get another goalie for that reason, but I don't think he's looking for a number one guy, say.
Jeff Marek [00:46:01] Whoo. Okay. There are your 32 teams. Enjoy trade deadline. We're on the air ten o'clock eastern Monday morning. Hope you can join us for part of, if not all of trade deadline activities. Anything you want to sign off with here Elliotte as, you've just used up a lot of oxygen in the room going through 32 teams. Do you have any any oxygen left in your room?
Elliotte Friedman [00:46:24] I, no, and there's no oxygen left in my brain either Jeff, so. I mean, Amil edit this fast because it's all going to change.
Jeff Marek [00:46:32] Yeah, exactly. We'll get this one out ASAP and we'll let you know. This is super cool taking us out St. Catharines own Alexisonfire. The guys are back with their first studio album in 13 years, along with 30 plus tour dates over the coming months. I know I'm pumped about this. They're also headlining a four day festival in their hometown from June 30th to July 3rd, and that features city and colour, Billy Talent, Broken Social Scene, Pop, Sam Roberts and many, many more. Ticket info is in our show notes. From their upcoming album, Otherness, here's Alexisonfire with Sweet Dreams of Otherness on 32 Thoughts the Podcast. Have a great weekend.
[00:47:05] [Outtro music.]