Jeff and Elliotte wonder what the Oilers will do next as they fall to the Senators, discuss Montreal's GM search and give some background on player agent Kent Hughes (who is in the running for the job), and explain why Florida is the real deal this season.
It might be a busy week around the NHL. Jeff and Elliotte kick the podcast off by focusing on the Montreal Canadiens and their search for a general manager as they close in on their preferred candidate (00:10), they give some background on player agent Kent Hughes who is in the running for the job as well as Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche. They also provide some updates on Vancouver's search (12:00) along with Anaheim and Chicago (14:15).
The guys then get into the situation in Edmonton and their performance against the Senators (16:30), the Dallas Stars and John Klingberg (27:15), Florida strikes goals (30:30) and they take your questions to close out the podcast (36:00).
Full transcript for the episode can be found here by Medha Monjaury
New Podcast Intro Music by Jane’s Party. Thank you to Zach, Tom, Devon and Jeff for composing this season's intro music.
You can find their full discography on Spotify
Music Outro: Bilderbuch - Gibraltar
Listen to the full track on Spotify
This podcast is produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.
Audio Credits: AM 560 Sports WQAM and 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.
OPEN //// Jeff Marek [00:00:00] One of those weeks where there's no news? Let's just read the CBA.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:04] Okay.
Jeff Marek [00:00:05] Elliotte Friedman, Montreal is hot. Now, I don't know if Montreal is as hot as your outfit on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, but right now Montreal is hot and, true or false, close to naming a new GM?
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:19] I think they're getting close. I think it could be this week. I think Vancouver is winding down too. But Montreal, to me, is the team that's the closest. It sounds like it could be this week. Basically, where it is Jeff, is that we're taping this on Sunday night while Dallas is trying to steal this playoff game from San Francisco, and--
Jeff Marek [00:00:39] So you'll be nice and focused for the next hour here, this is great.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:43] No, Amil got mad at me. He was mad at me because I wasn't focused enough. He said stop paying attention to football, so I'm just, focused, I'm proper.
Jeff Marek [00:00:51] Behave. Behave.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:51] I've got my eyes on the prize, and the prize is the podcast.
Jeff Marek [00:00:55] Focus. Focus.
Elliotte Friedman [00:00:56] But I am wondering if there's any possibility that maybe we might have to rerecord on Monday morning or, is this a Monday announcement at all? Because I think that the Canadiens are getting close. Kent Hughes, the player agent, who's someone Jeff Gorton has been interested in all along. He has to make a decision. Is he in or is he out? Is he part of this search or is he not? And if it's not him, I think it likely comes down to Daniel Briere or Mathieu Darche. There's always a possibility there's someone out there we're not seeing, but I think it's those two in particular if Hughes is out of this.
Jeff Marek [00:01:39] Okay, so people who listen to this podcast certainly generally will be familiar with the names and the resumes and the biographies of Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche. Perhaps not so much of Kent Hughes. For those that may not be familiar with this person, who is a significant person by the way in hockey, who handles millions and millions of dollars for players and some very significant ones: Kris Letang, Patrice Bergeron, I'm looking in your direction. Tell us a little bit about Kent Hughes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:02:08] He's from Quebec. You know, someone told me once, like his brother is Ryan, and Ryan Hughes was a first round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques in 1990. Technically, he was a second round pick, he was the 22nd overall pick, in 1990 that was round two. Now that's, you know, 70% of round one. He played NCAA hockey, I think, at Middlebury. And the joke I have been told is that if, if you could combine Ryan's natural ability with Kent's ferocity in the boardroom, you would have had a hell of a player, like basically an unstoppable player. And like all good agents, he's a bulldog. He's really passionate for his clients, and he has a couple of kids like I believe he's got a kid who could be a first round pick this year. So, you know, he's been around hockey and he knows hockey, and he knows Gorton, Gorton's very comfortable with him. So I think basically what it stands right now is they wanna know if he's in. Does he want to be part of this process? Is he going to throw his hat in the ring to become GM of the Canadiens? And if the answer is yes, he's very much a candidate, and if the answer's no, it's likely one of the other two guys.
Jeff Marek [00:03:27] As I mentioned, Kent Hughes handles a lot of money for a lot of players.
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:31] Yup.
Jeff Marek [00:03:31] And I mentioned a couple, Kris Letang and Patrice Bergeron. There's also Darnell Nurse and Drake Batherson, et cetera. And, you know, here's someone who's been doing this for a long time. He's now part of Quartexx. I wonder at this stage of Kent Hughes's life, and I don't really know Ken Hughes, you know him a lot better than I do.
Elliotte Friedman [00:03:51] Mhm.
Jeff Marek [00:03:51] Some agents we know want to be general managers. We've seen that before, like the long term play is, I want to be a GM. Have you ever gotten that sense from Kent Hughes and what would be attractive, and on the flip side, what would dissuade Kent Hughes away from this job at this point in his career and life?
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:11] What's not attractive about being the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens?
Jeff Marek [00:04:15] Let me pause on that because one, it's a humongous stage.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:19] I don't care.
Jeff Marek [00:04:20] That's attractive for some people and not attractive for others. I get it, for you? Embrace it, that's fine. There are some people who look at it and say, I may be interested in the position, but there's a lot of things that come along with it. We talk about how presidents age in the White House, so do general managers in Montreal.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:37] Yeah yeah yeah. I understand all this. My point is Jeff is, he's one of the top agents in the sport right?
Jeff Marek [00:04:42] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:42] Do you think that that would faze him?
Jeff Marek [00:04:44] I don't know.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:45] My answer to that is no. You mentioned that he's got big time clients who are French-Canadian. Letang, Bergeron.
Jeff Marek [00:04:52] Yeah. Beauvillier.
Elliotte Friedman [00:04:55] Beauvillier. I don't know the answer to this but, what do you think guys like Letang and. Bergeron would say about that? Hey, you're going to be the GM of the Montreal Canadiens.
Jeff Marek [00:05:04] Hang on.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:05] Do you think that those guys are telling him to back away from it or telling him to go for it?
Jeff Marek [00:05:10] So just so we're clear here. So you're saying that if Kent Hughes becomes a general manager of the Montreal Canadiens that Kris Letang and Patrice Bergeron at the end of the season will sign with the Montreal Canadiens?
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:20] Absolutely.
Jeff Marek [00:05:20] Am I hearing that correctly? That'll be the new headline on the podcast: Terrify Everybody in both Boston and Pittsburgh.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:29] As a matter of fact, I'm reporting it. Put it out there on Twitter. Look, like, Bergeron's a Bruin, and that's all he's ever gonna be. And even though Letang is not signed with the Penguins yet, I think that getting him re-signed is a big priority for them, providing they can do it right?
Jeff Marek [00:05:51] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:05:51] I think the Penguins think that Kris Letang is a very big part of what they do. All of that being said, you think those guys are saying to their agent, don't go to Montreal and be the GM or go to Montreal and be the GM?
Jeff Marek [00:06:07] I would imagine they're probably saying go to Montreal and be the GM.
Elliotte Friedman [00:06:10] It's the Montreal Canadiens.
Jeff Marek [00:06:12] I get it.
Elliotte Friedman [00:06:13] It's the Montreal Canadiens. This is a big job. You know where the Montreal Canadiens, I think, are going here. This is about to be a very big job. You're gonna test the limits of a lot of people's patience, and you're probably not gonna be good for three or four years. I'm just saying, if it was me, I'd still do it. I would be all over it and I would still do it. Now, why wouldn't he take it? I think that the issue is, it's always about business, right? And, you know, first of all, finances always matter. What's the deal? You know, what's your setup going to be? You're leaving something that is secure in terms of, you're the boss and you're making a lot of the decisions, and yeah, you're still going to be making a lot of decisions here but the security isn't the same. That's number one, and number two, you know, you never know like, another agent said to me this weekend, you never know what the financial arrangements are. You know, what do you have tied up in your agency? That agency that Kent Hughes runs was bought a couple of years ago by the Saputo family. What's his deal with them? What's tied up?
Jeff Marek [00:07:25] That's Quartexx, just so all the listeners know, that's Quartexx.
Elliotte Friedman [00:07:28] So from a business point of view, the question is, does it make sense for him to go? And I have had a couple of agents said to me that any time, you know, it's like if you ever saw Jerry Maguire, he said, it's kind of like that, you know, what are the finances tied up in that kind of thing? An agent can't just wake up one day and say, I'm leaving the firm. Oh, no, there's a battle over. Do you have equity in the firm, what happens to that? What happens to your clients, can you--well he wouldn't be taking them with them unless they're signing with the Montreal Canadiens.
Jeff Marek [00:08:01] As you've reported!
Elliotte Friedman [00:08:02] As I have reported on this podcast. You know, what's the deal? You know what happens to his equity, what happens to his setup there? And you know, those are all big questions and you know, like I said, some agents said to me, it's, it's complicated. You know, I had some guys who said to me that they wondered if it would be hard for him not to take a pay cut to get to that job. I don't know, but they said that that's another thing that they're they're asking. So, like, look, I think from the heart, all of the reasons are there to take the job. I think from the head, the business challenges or the financial challenges of doing it might be an issue too. You know, the other thing is, like I said, he's got a couple of kids who are really good players?
Jeff Marek [00:08:50] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:08:51] You know, does he wanna be on one team or does he wanna be able to follow his kids around? And his son's name is actually Jack Hughes, funnily enough, there's gonna be another one.
Jeff Marek [00:09:02] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:02] And he's playing at Northeastern, he's a good player. And, you know, maybe he wants to see his son play as an agent and parent as opposed to an executive with the Montreal Canadiens. So these are all the questions.
Jeff Marek [00:09:15] Mathieu Darche and Daniel Briere, what do you think people should know about these two who are widely considered rising stars in the management field?
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:23] The thing about both of them that appeals is that they've worked their way up. Briere hasn't walked himself into like a GMC. He's done a lot of, he started, I wouldn't say at the bottom, but in Maine, he's started doing a lot of the things that, you know, you have to do and learn to understand the business. He's had a major role in business operations. You know, this weekend they had a COVID outbreak on the coaching staff of Lehigh Valley, and he went behind the bench.
Jeff Marek [00:09:55] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:09:56] He was an assistant coach for two games on on Friday and Saturday night. You know, so he's learnt a lot about the business operations, how things work. You know, all, you know, he started small and he's working his way up and, you know, the other thing I'm wondering about this too is, you know, Briere played in Philly, they know him in Philly, Comcast owns the Maine Mariners, I've heard they really liked the way that he does things there. And I actually wonder if Comcast is going to say, we would really prefer to keep Briere in our organisation.
Jeff Marek [00:10:30] Here's what I wonder: if Kent Hughes ends up getting the Montreal job.
Elliotte Friedman [00:10:34] Mhm?
Jeff Marek [00:10:35] I know a default position for that might be, hey, let's see if we can get Danny Briere in as an assistant? I can't see that happening just knowing how Comcast feels about Briere and the plans that they would have for him and his future. I would think that that would kind of be a no-fly zone.
Elliotte Friedman [00:10:51] You know, Darche is another guy. He's, he's learning at the feet of very smart people in Tampa. It's an elite organisation in terms of both results and how it does things. And you know, the other thing too is there, there are a lot of people in Tampa that don't get a lot of attention besides Julien BriseBois who do good work, whether it's an Al Murray or a Stacy Roest, you know, the other people who, who are kind of the lieutenants there. And you see their approach and you see how they go about things. Neither one of these guys, Darche or Briere has started at the top. They're learning, they're working their way up and, you know, look, when the seat of power in Montreal's gonna be Gorton. But you see why they'd be interested in those two people. The other thing too is, I'm really curious to see who else, whether it's Emilie Castonguay or Daniele Sauvageau or other people they talked to here who end up being part of the Canadiens organisation.
Jeff Marek [00:11:53] Vancouver.
Elliotte Friedman [00:11:54] So I had a hilarious exchange this weekend with someone who says he's not convinced it's gonna be Patrik Allvin. And I said, I got to tell you that is the opposite of what a lot of people are hearing, and we're trying to figure it out if it's real or if it's like a total smokescreen that's being thrown out there.
Jeff Marek [00:12:20] So why were they saying that it might not be Allvin?
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:24] They just heard that maybe it just wasn't going to work out that way, whether it was Rutherford's choice or Allvin's choice.
Jeff Marek [00:12:32] I was gonna say, whose choice is that?
Elliotte Friedman [00:12:34] I don't know. But again, I have a rule. Go with what you're told at the beginning. There's a lot of times in searches where what you're told at the beginning generally tends to be pretty intuitive. Right at the beginning in Montreal we were told, Kent Hughes, watch him, and we're still very much in that. Right away in Vancouver we were told, Patrik Allvin, watch him, I think Jeff, you and I were the first to report it. And he's still there, right?
Jeff Marek [00:13:05] Oh yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:06] And I've just wondered if, you know, now it's kind of, okay like trade deadline or the draft when people start lying to muddy up the waters. You know, I think they're serious about Mellanby, too. I know Rutherford's got a long history with Sean Burke. I also wonder in Vancouver. I think Ryan Johnston.
Jeff Marek [00:13:30] Yup.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:30] I've had people tell me that he gets an elevation as part of this. But the same thing. I'm wondering with Montreal, I'm also wondering with Vancouver, is there a chance at all that Rutherford hires multiple people from the group he's interviewed?
Jeff Marek [00:13:48] Hmm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:49] Also, I think there is interest in adding a diverse person to the staff.
Jeff Marek [00:13:53] I believe that 100%.
Elliotte Friedman [00:13:55] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:13:56] I think that Rutherford has indicated that the people that he's spoken to, that this does mean a lot to him to do that.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:02] Well, I mean, you and I have talked about this. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens after this Olympic window closes and who continues to play and maybe who retires and--
Jeff Marek [00:14:12] And who walks into positions, yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:13] Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Marek [00:14:15] While we're at it, the other two GM searches who, I think it's safe to say we should expect to take longer, and that's both Anaheim and Chicago. Any updates there?
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:26] Anaheim, I heard, is behind everybody else. I think they've got a list of 10 to 12 people who they're gonna get to now. You know one of the names I think they're really interested in there is Chris McFarland from Colorado. And I'm not saying he's the only one, but I think he's of interest there. And, you know it'll be interesting to see kind of how that all plays out. But again, I think there's plenty more.
Jeff Marek [00:14:52] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:14:52] Chicago I'm hearing two divergent things. One is that it's, you know, Kyle Davidson stays and has a big role with a more senior person brought in. And the other is they go out of the box. I don't know if I'm going door number one or door number two there yet.
Jeff Marek [00:15:15] Okay, interesting. Seats looking to get filled. One of the many stories we're following lately on 32 Thoughts the Podcast presented by the all new GMC AT4 Lineup, talking Oilers next.
Elliotte Friedman [00:15:53] Connor,.
Jeff Marek [00:16:35] Oh, boy. Um. Elliotte, I know that Connor McDavid understands that he has responsibility to meet the media after games, he's the captain of the team, he's the face of the franchise, etc. I know that not always do people agree with what he has to say, but I don't think you can ever accuse Connor McDavid of ducking media. He doesn't do it. But I watch that Connor McDavid press conference on Saturday after the loss against the Ottawa Senators, and I said, this is not good. This is one that you need to make up an excuse and don't go out there because the damage of not just what McDavid said, but how he said it. And that's there, that looking to the back of the room, you know, my balloon's gone, it's not coming back look like, that's a tough one for him, and that's a tough one for the organisation.
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:29] I know I'm supposed to come up with more hip references like Cobra Kai or something like that, but I'm thinking.
Jeff Marek [00:17:39] Okay Hawk!
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:40] Season four, spectacular. I can't wait for season five. Cannot wait.
Jeff Marek [00:17:44] My kids are all about it.
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:45] I just want to tell you though, the LaRusso family, they're the worst people on the show. I root against them in everything. They are terrible people. I do like the Hawk guy though. Anyway, back to the Oilers.
Jeff Marek [00:17:58] Yes.
Elliotte Friedman [00:17:59] It was like Animal House. All is well when the parade is turning into violence and a riot. It was tough to watch. Now first of all, McDavid can't say no. If he doesn't show up after a game like that one?
Jeff Marek [00:18:12] Story.
Elliotte Friedman [00:18:13] You know, he gets roasted!
Jeff Marek [00:18:14] I know.
Elliotte Friedman [00:18:14] As pissed off as you are and as mad as you are, he has to show up and he has to talk. You can't run away with it. So, Jeff, you said, off-mic, you should have used this line talking on the podcast, but you forgot to do it.
Jeff Marek [00:18:29] I'm a bad host, that's been established,
Elliotte Friedman [00:18:31] No. As I say in the commercials, you carry this podcast well. You know what that was for McDavid, that was the thousand yard stare.
Jeff Marek [00:18:38] Oh yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:18:39] That's one of those things, the words don't tell the story. The look on his face tells the story?
Jeff Marek [00:18:43] You know, that's the look of, I can't believe what I just went through. And I don't have the words to explain it to you. As much as I enjoyed doing walk-off interviews and intermissions, and you did plenty of them as well.
Elliotte Friedman [00:18:55] Mhm.
Jeff Marek [00:18:56] I know the players were usually at a loss for words when you ask them to describe something that happened in the game because they're sort of in the middle of it and they say it's not happening in the brain. The game is happening to them or through them and asking them to explain it is tough. It's hard. And I think asking McDavid to explain, you know, that game against the Ottawa Senators Hockey Night in Canada Saturday. You know, right from the beginning like to give up the first goal, but then they come back and has a 3-to-1 lead, and you think Ottawa's tucked away, and then they just fall apart. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion. And McDavid right away, like he doesn't even get to the hot towels and he's there in front of a microphone saying, I don't know what happened. I don't have an explanation. It got away from all of us. I wish I had words for you, but I don't.
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:44] See I wondered if it was one of those situations Jeff, where he just said, I wanna get this over with. I've seen that before. Like a PR person will go to a player.
Jeff Marek [00:19:53] Yeah,.
Elliotte Friedman [00:19:54] You know, do you wanna wait 10 minute--No, let me just get out there and get this over with.
Jeff Marek [00:19:58] There's a couple of things there. One, I don't know that he would have had the words to articulate what he just went through and two, I don't think he wanted to bury anybody. I think that he looked at that and probably said, I don't want to bury a goaltender, I don't want to bury defenceman, I don't want to bury a forw--I don't want to bury anybody here. Did you not get that?
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:16] Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:20:17] Because here's the thing, players know.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:19] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:20:20] Players know where the issues are.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:22] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:20:22] What have we always said on this podcast? You can't lie to players. The players know.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:25] Everything went badly as you said, they've [got out] with that. First of all, I know, I heard all you Sens fans. I heard you, I saw all your tweets from Sens fan. So I get off the air and a few of us are just sitting down chatting about the show. My mentions are being filled by Sens fans saying, where's our credit? We are the kings of Alberta.
Jeff Marek [00:20:45] That's true.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:47] Where is our credit?
Jeff Marek [00:20:48] They would [unclear].
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:49] And you know what, you guys earned it!
Jeff Marek [00:20:51] Totally.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:52] Those were not flukes. You beat Calgary and you beat Edmonton. Those were not flukes.
Jeff Marek [00:20:57] You know who I feel good for? Matt Murray.
Elliotte Friedman [00:20:59] Yeah, very good.
Jeff Marek [00:21:00] That's who I feel good for coming out of Saturday and this last couple of games in Alberta. That's who I feel good for.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:05] Someone was watching on Saturday night happy for Matt Murray, and that was Kelly Rudy who roots for Matt Murray.
Jeff Marek [00:21:12] It's good.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:13] But everything went wrong for Edmonton in that third period. You got a 3-1 lead one lead, you lost the lead. You know, you gave Stuart Skinner an opportunity and boy, you know, the toughest thing for me on air was, I don't wanna kill the kid. He's still young, he's got a bright future in front of him, but you can't run away from it, right? They couldn't get the save when they, when they needed it. And it's unfortunate because Smith is hurt and you're clearly struggling with your faith in Koskinen. You give Skinner the opportunity, he can't hold it, now you're thinking, now where do I go? And Stalock, obviously isn't ready to play.
Jeff Marek [00:21:47] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:48] He's gotta get ready. But you know, the thing is, the Oilers have their scouting meetings in California.
Jeff Marek [00:21:53] Yup.
Elliotte Friedman [00:21:54] So you know, they're gonna be all together. But one of the things I kind of wonder here is, look, if you're not gonna trade for a goalie and you're not going to fire your coach, which, you know, we know that Holland doesn't wanna do, then the thing that you can do right away and both Kevin and Jennifer talked about this, is change the way you play. And I think that what the Oilers have to do, is they have to decide we're gonna play like a team that has to win every game 1-nothing or 2-1. Now, that's counterintuitive when you have two nuclear weapons like those two guys.
Jeff Marek [00:22:28] McDavid and Leon, and you're gonna say, we need you to play like Bob Gainey?
Elliotte Friedman [00:22:32] But you know what? This isn't working, Jeff. You have to change your mentality. You have to say, we're gonna try something else. Some people might look at me and say, that's insane, but look at the chances they gave up when they were up two, look at the opportunities Ottawa got. You have to change your mentality. That's what you have to do. You have to say, look, and someone called me today when I said that on Saturday night and they said, you know, they don't have a goalie to win 2-to-1, I go, look, you're right, I'm not going to argue that point with you, it's stupid to do it, but for me, what I'm talking about is the mentality that you have to do that like, it's too easy to gain ice against the Edmonton Oilers. You have to make it hard for people. It's, that's what the difference has to be here, is that the Oilers have to commit to a way of playing that makes it harder to get up and down the ice against them, harder to get to the key areas. And I know they're not really kind of built that way, but I think now it's as much a mentality as it is anything else.
Jeff Marek [00:23:36] Let me ask you this, though.
Elliotte Friedman [00:23:37] Yeah?
Jeff Marek [00:23:37] Is that what Connor and Leon signed up for?
Elliotte Friedman [00:23:40] They didn't sign up to lose.
Jeff Marek [00:23:42] No, they didn't. But they also didn't sign up for them to profoundly change the way that they play. Like within a team, there's a couple of things, there's like individual players and there's a team and you know, players have individual expectations of themselves. And for players like Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, things like Hart trophies and Art Ross trophies means something because they're a couple of the few people in the NHL that are consistently in a position to win them.
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:04] Yeah, you know what, Jeff? I've got to tell you something, the way, what you're doing right now isn't working.
Jeff Marek [00:24:09] And now you're saying, Leon, we want you to win the Selke.
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:12] Jeff, it's not working. Somewhere right now in my head, there's Craig Simpson saying, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again. That's one of his favourite sayings. Simmer says that all the time.
Jeff Marek [00:24:26] The caveat that you opened up with, I think that that's where the issue is. If you're not going to get a goalie, get a goalie. To me, I would turn around, say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. We have to profoundly change the way that we play, how we play, what we signed up for here because you don't want to go get a goalie?
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:43] Yes.
Jeff Marek [00:24:43] What?
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:44] Yes.
Jeff Marek [00:24:44] What?
Elliotte Friedman [00:24:45] Jeff, I think you're so wrong on this one. I think you are totally, totally wrong on this one. I mean, you know how I feel. Even if you go out and you get a goalie, I think you have to change the way you play. It's not working. The shortest short term fix you can do right now is change the way you play.
Jeff Marek [00:25:06] I don't know how that goes over.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:09] What would you rather do? Lose?
Jeff Marek [00:25:11] I don't know. What would you rather do like alienate two franchise players?
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:15] You think that they're happy right now? I mean, we started this segment talking about the way McDavid looked.
Jeff Marek [00:25:20] Yeah, abso--and do you think.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:22] What about Kassian's quote? "We're talking about the same bleep that we were talking last week.".
Jeff Marek [00:25:27] I know.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:27] I got to tell you something, if you walked in there today and you were head coach Jeff Marek, first of all, what an absolute disaster.
Jeff Marek [00:25:33] Great idea. Wonderful.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:35] But if you walked in there and you said guys.
Jeff Marek [00:25:37] Position this hockey, here we go.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:39] We have to try something new and this is what it's gonna be?
Jeff Marek [00:25:42] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:25:42] You don't think every single one of them is going to say, okay, we gotta try it? Like the league isn't about style points. I can't imagine for a second if you went to McDavid right now and said, Connor, we gotta change the way we play, you think he's gonna say no?
Jeff Marek [00:25:57] Go to Connor McDavid and say, we gotta put bungee cords on your hockey pants and if you get too deep in the zone, we're going to pull you back? He's going to say, yeah, I'm here for that?
Elliotte Friedman [00:26:04] What would you rather do, lose? And first of all, you know, it's not gonna be quite like that.
Jeff Marek [00:26:10] There's a references to use with Jacques Lemaire in the Minnesota Wild I'll stop--
Elliotte Friedman [00:26:13] That's actually, it's actually pretty funny. You know, it's not gonna be that bad, but you know, what are we doing here?
Jeff Marek [00:26:19] I would just like to be in the room when that conversation is happening.
Elliotte Friedman [00:26:22] I guarantee to you. He would say, fine.
Jeff Marek [00:26:24] We know we have problems and our solution is for you to change your game Connor. I would just love to be in the room to hear that conversation. I get that they don't like losing. I don't think you turn to Connor and Leon and say, the solution is you guys changing your game. I think the solution is, we need to change the composition of this team. To Kassian's point, we're talking about the same thing over and over again. Well, the same problems that they had in the summertime are the same problems they have right now.
Elliotte Friedman [00:26:48] You know, I don't want to keep talking around in circles on this but my argument is this you, can change what you're doing or you can do the same thing and I'm changing what I'm doing, and I just refuse to believe that great players like that wouldn't say too, you know what, we're struggling right now, we're gonna change what we're doing.
Jeff Marek [00:27:09] Edmonton brings out the best in a relationship, that's we've found in the last couple of podcasts. John Klingberg, speaking of drama.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:16] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:27:18] This continues.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:19] Rick Bowness all but said he was getting benched if he could do it.
Jeff Marek [00:27:23] He said, yeah, if if the situation were different, if he had everyone available to him, then the decisions would have been different than we saw. And we saw John Klingberg as the third pairing defenceman. I know they were hot at Klingberg about the Florida game. That's pretty obvious.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:40] I don't think he was the only one.
Jeff Marek [00:27:42] No, he wasn't the only culprit. Like Florida's, we're gonna get to Florida here on this podcast because they've really stuck at teams.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:48] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:27:49] Really good teams, and everyone's like, oh wow, they beat up Columbus, oh and you're digging them up? Yeah, well they also, you know, they did--
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:54] They also pounded Tampa.
Jeff Marek [00:27:55] Destroyed Tampa like they've done this to really good teams.
Elliotte Friedman [00:27:59] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:28:00] But Klingberg's in a really bad situation right now, and we've talked on Hockey Night in Canada here on this podcast about the trade request that goes back to late November or early December, which is looking as, if we can't come to an arrangement on an extension, perhaps the best thing here is for both sides to walk away. Now it sounds very much like Dallas is more aggressively trying to move John Klingberg. I don't know where he ends up, I don't know how quickly he gets there. It sounds like Jim Nill and the Dallas Stars want to do something soon.
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:32] It's pretty clear to me that they're motivated to do it.
Jeff Marek [00:28:35] Do you have a thought on the Klingberg situation here?
Elliotte Friedman [00:28:37] I'm with you. I think the desire is there to have a divorce, and now they're just arguing about where the partner's moving to. The Stars get to keep the house. The other partner has to move somewhere else, and now they're figuring out where it's gonna be.
Jeff Marek [00:28:52] You get the house, I get the dog. Let's just call it even. It's interesting you know, some names appear right away. Like, you know that Carolina has inquired before. I would imagine some of the teams that would be interested in Jakob Chychrun would also be interested in John Klingberg, whether it's the Los Angeles Kings, whether it's the the Anaheim Ducks, these types of teams, but it looks like he's going somewhere. Here's the thing Elliotte, did you not get the sense that this off-season Jim Nill thought that he might arrive here with Klingberg? When you look at who he went out and signed, most specifically, Suter and Hakanpaa, like did it not look like he was loading up on Klingberg insurance, and I know that Thomas Harley's on the horizon, will probably be a full time NHLer as soon as next season.
Elliotte Friedman [00:29:36] But I still think they would have made the deal. I think they were ready to make a deal with Klingberg. It just never got close enough.
Jeff Marek [00:29:42] I just don't think that it was at eight years though.
Elliotte Friedman [00:29:44] Yeah.
Jeff Marek [00:29:44] I think Dallas wanted something shorter term.
Elliotte Friedman [00:29:46] It was on their terms, but they were willing to do it.
Jeff Marek [00:29:49] They were willing to do it, but I don't think they were willing to do an eight year deal. Something a little bit higher than people may think, but on a shorter term. I think that's the way that Dallas saw this thing playing out. And from Klingberg point of view, like you mentioned this in the last podcast. I've been here from day one. This is the team that I know. This is the one where I want to build the type of legacy, it's where I want to build my life.
Elliotte Friedman [00:30:11] Other guys got taken care of, I want to be taking care of too.
Jeff Marek [00:30:14] Others guys who are taking care of, what about me? And it looks like that's not gonna be there for John Klingberg.
Jeff Marek [00:30:35] Okay, so we mentioned the Florida Panthers, and you know, I put out the tweet on Saturday as they were ripping through the Columbus Blue Jackets like a hog in the truffles. Is there another league that, you know, is there another higher league that we can put the Florida Panthers that's not the NHL because it seems very much Elliotte like they're ready for a league higher than the NHL right now, the way they are just mowing down teams.
Elliotte Friedman [00:31:00] They look fantastic. Just excellent.
Elliotte Friedman [00:32:12] Who are the all-in teams this year? Florida's an all-in team this year. You know, I wrote last week that two teams you're gonna hear in every trade rumour, Carolina and Colorado. I think you're gonna hear Florida in every trade rumour for defenceman. I think they want to add another D. I think they feel they can make themselves even better with another defenceman with some gravitas and they have to go for it. The way they're playing, this has to be a go for it year. Now all the anti-Florida people out there, they're pointing out that this team has played 38 games and 24 at home. Yeah, yeah, I get it. They're still really good. They can score right now like nobody else in the NHL can score. Nobody can score like they are right now, and it can't stay like this, it's not gonna last, nobody's gonna average nine goals a game. But if you see to me a team that can score consistently, that is built to score consistently three, four, five goals a game even in the playoffs, I would say that they're built that way. And they have no choice. They have to go for it this year. This is a go for it year now for them.
Jeff Marek [00:33:21] It's a go for it year for a number of reasons. One. You know, this is a, Huberdeau's playing out of his mind, Alexander Barkov is still obviously the the elite centre that he is. Anthony Duclair is having a spectacular season, we probably don't talk about Anton Lundell enough, their fourth line is super effective with Lomberg, Luostarinen, and Hornqvist. But the one reason why I say, yeah, you know what, go for it? Sergei Bobrovsky, man. You're getting a hell of a season out of Sergei Bobrovsky right now, and we've seen Bobrovsky struggle before, we've looked at Bobrovsky and said. oof, this contract's gonna be bad for a long time, that's $10 million for a guy that's, you know, losing his spot to Spencer Knight. He's having an amazing season. That's why I look at this one and say, Cats gotta go for it. Cats gotta go for it. You get goaltending like this and scoring like that, and a season like this out of MacKenzie Weegar and Aaron Ekblad? Say nothing [unclear] has been really good too, you go for it.
Elliotte Friedman [00:34:22] Once the playoffs start, the most valuable player in the NHL is Andrei Vasilevskiy. Chances are that you're going to have to go through him to get there. You may avoid him in the first round, but that doesn't mean you avoid him somewhere else. The way that this Florida team comes at you in waves is the best chance of beating him. Load up and go for it now.
Jeff Marek [00:34:51] You know who we should probably give some acclaim here. Who's that? There's one person that always gets left out of this conversation, and understandably so, the player's performance has been outstanding in Florida. You got a thought or two on Andrew Brunette through this? It was big shoes he walked into, it's a big team he walked into, and this team is dynamite.
Elliotte Friedman [00:35:10] You know, Bill Zito said to people that Andrew Brunette was gonna get a runway. And you know what? That runway is now world's longest tarmac like, you know, who's, how are you going to make a coaching change now?
Jeff Marek [00:35:22] Listen, I just wanted to make sure that we get his name here on the podcast because that guy deserves a ton of respect for what he's done with the Florida Panthers.
Elliotte Friedman [00:35:29] Players clearly like playing for him.
Jeff Marek [00:35:31] They love it and they love playing right now and they play all three periods as we've talked about, it is relentless. God it's gotta be so hard playing against that team right now. Quick pause Elliotte, back with emails, phone calls, next on 32 Thoughts.
Jeff Marek [00:35:54] Okay welcome back to the podcast, finish up with a couple of emails and phone calls here Elliotte. We're going to start with Molly from Minneapolis, who by the way, is a recent listener, she just started listening to the podcast in November.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:07] Oh, welcome aboard, Molly!
Jeff Marek [00:36:08] She's got a great question too. From Molly in Minneapolis. "Am I crazy in thinking Giroux and the Wild would be a good fit? They still need a good top line centre, and I feel if they're ever going to get past the first round again, they need to make a big splash at some point, even if it's just a rental due to their upcoming cap space issues." Claude Giroux, Minnesota Elliotte.
Elliotte Friedman [00:36:30] No, Molly, I don't think you're crazy. As a matter of fact, it's one of the teams that I had on my list for Giroux. You know, he doesn't play as much centre anymore, but I don't know if that really matters. I think he's still a smart, talented player. It's one of the teams that makes sense to me. I don't think you're crazy at all. Now, if you were an older listener, I might say you're nuts but because you're new and I want to keep you here, I will say, I will agree. No in all seriousness, Molly, I do agree. I think it makes a lot of sense even though technically Giroux doesn't play as much centres he used to.
Jeff Marek [00:37:03] Can, though, he's just, yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:05] Yeah. For me, it kind of fits. There's definitely a logic to it.
Jeff Marek [00:37:09] I think Wild do something. I think to to Molly's point, there's some salary cap pain coming up, and if they're close and got a shot and that's a really good team, I think Bill Guerin does something. From [Gillain] in Halifax. "Why is Calgary not mentioned as being interested in Chychrun? Calgary could do very well with him on PP-1, any thoughts on his fit and the price it would take to make him a Flame?" Well real quick Elliotte before I turn it over to you, the price is young player, high end prospect, first round pick.
Elliotte Friedman [00:37:38] You know, the only reason I haven't mentioned Calgary very much is that, I think Calgary as a team that, you know, they went through a phase there where they dealt some picks. And I think their general philosophy has been, particularly depending on what happens with Goodrow after this year is, kind of keep their prospects. Now I think that Eichel was one person that they considered doing it differently for.
Jeff Marek [00:38:06] Mhm.
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:07] You know, I don't think they were ever close to acquiring Eichel, but I think they considered the possibility of it. Other than that, my sense with the Flames? I don't know that they want to do that. I don't think they would want to deal the draft and prospect capital that would cause, that would get them Chychrun right now. I could always be wrong, but I haven't sensed it.
Jeff Marek [00:38:30] What are you... Speaking of Calgary, do you have a thought on the the talk about Mark Giordano? Back in the mix?
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:37] Well like I said, I think the agent did a really nice job with Eric Francis, they are getting it going again.
Jeff Marek [00:38:43] Mhm!
Elliotte Friedman [00:38:44] I could see the possibility of it, but you're not doing it until you're a little more certain about your place. Like, I still feel pretty comfortable that Calgary is gonna be okay, but suddenly there's a bit more doubt and they've gotta get going. You know, right now, if you're Calgary, you're not, you're not trading a first round pick, right?
Jeff Marek [00:39:01] No.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:02] Unless you have some protection there?
Jeff Marek [00:39:04] Yup.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:05] So let's see where we are in a month.
Jeff Marek [00:39:08] Okay, this one from Adam. This is an interesting one. "If a player has played 60 games at the trade deadline and is sent to a team that's only played 56 games, and he plays all 26 remaining games for a total of 86 on the season, is there any extra compensation or limits to games played built into contracts, or is it simply X dollars to be paid out from July 1st to June 30th, no matter how many games get played?"
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:36] No, there's no extra games in terms of payment but you do set a new NHL record I think.
Jeff Marek [00:39:43] Oh, it's either... funny we just mentioned Bill Guerin. I think it's either Bill Guerin or Jimmy Carson who's played the most.
Elliotte Friedman [00:39:52] You know who it is, and I just double checked it. Actually, you're right about Carson. The other game I was asking--name I was checking was Bob Kudelski.
Jeff Marek [00:39:59] Oh it's not Guerin?
Elliotte Friedman [00:40:03] No he's at 85. Carson, Kudelski are at 86. Carson, '92-'93, and Kudelski '93-'94 because remember Kudelski had that really good year for Ottawa, where he got hot and then they traded them. Right. Guerin's 85, so 86 would tie the record. No, you don't get paid extra, but you do tie a record.
Jeff Marek [00:40:22] Okay, that's a good one. A voicemail here from Aiden. Let's roll this one in.
Caller [00:40:28] [Hey, Jeff and Elliotte, Aiden from Miami, B.C. A massive Arizona Coyotes fan. So I'm wondering, this is especially a question for Jeff because he's been speculating on it so much, the Jakob Chychrun trade, the realistic trade possibilities. You said St. Louis, L.A., Anaheim. I'm wondering from the Coyotes' perspective, obviously, they're going to ask for a massive haul back in return, which is exactly what is necessary but what are the chances you think of the Coyotes landing like, a Jake Neighbours or Hofer from St. Louis or a Byfield or Turcotte from L.A. or a MacTavish from Anaheim?]
Jeff Marek [00:41:04] Ooh, okay, those are some big names there. And Jakob Chychrun's a big name, too. First of all, to the Jake Neighbors-Joel Hofer point, that if I'm the Arizona Coyotes would be part of the ask. Like I would imagine if they're looking for a prospect, considering there's a positional need, I would say Joel Hofer for the St. Louis Blues. I know teams have tried to get him before and St. Louis has always resisted. To me if you're looking for a prospect you're looking at Hofer, maybe you're looking at Jake Neighbours who's, you know, shown in his brief stint that he's, you know, pretty close to playing in the NHL. I think maybe you wonder about Scott Perunovich as well Elliotte. For the Los Angeles Kings. I'm kind of of the mind that, and Elliotte you can correct me if you think I'm wrong on this one, that they'd listen on any of their prospects not name Byfield. I think they would listen to whether it's, you know, Turcotte, whether it's Brandt Clarke, whether it's Akil Thomas. I think they would listen on a lot of those names. As for MacTavish being a piece out of Anaheim, oh boy, did they like him? They love him.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:16] I can't see them doing that.
Jeff Marek [00:42:17] They look at MacTavish and they look in the in the future and they see Zegras and MacTavish 1-2 up the gut.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:25] I can't see them doing that for him.
Jeff Marek [00:42:27] That's what I'm saying, I cannot see MacTavish. I can see a lot of other players with Anaheim, but. And I know, you know, Jakob Chychrun gives you a Hampus Lindholm insurance in case he walks away. But I gotta tell you, they, they love MacTavish something crazy. They think they got a great one there. He's outstanding.
Elliotte Friedman [00:42:47] But the thing to me is, I'm gonna flip it around. I think if you're Arizona and you're making this trade, you have to get someone who is dynamic.
Jeff Marek [00:42:54] Totally. That's what you ask for. All these names that that Aiden's benching here, yeah, you asked for these names.
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:00] I just think that if you're Arizona, you have to get at least one player that you're, that your fanbase looks at and says, you know what? I'm excited that we traded. I hate that we traded Chychrun, but I'm excited that this is who we got for him.
Jeff Marek [00:43:13] Yeah.
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:14] That, you have to get one name will make your fans say that. Because if you don't, then you've really got a problem.
Jeff Marek [00:43:20] You do. Listen, thanks for the voicemails. Thanks for the emails. More of them next podcast Anything before we wrap up here Elliotte? Oh by the way, do you have a word or two about that outfit on Saturday?
Elliotte Friedman [00:43:32] Ryan Reynolds wore it at the premiere for Red, that movie with Gal Gadot and The Rock, and I sent it to Deb Berman and said, I think that looks great. Now he wore a different shirt and tie combination, again, like I've told you this and you know how I feel, there are people who write to me and say, oh you're trying to be the next Don Cherry. Look, I freely admit it. I will never be able to carry Don Cherry's jock when it comes to this stuff. He is on another level and there's only one Don and there's never gonna be another one like him. But I like for people to have fun. I think sports are supposed to be fun. Hockey's supposed to be fun and I just want people to be involved. I love the creative insults I, I love the memes of Kenny Rogers roasters. I love all that stuff, I--I just want people to have fun. I want people to have fun with the show. And I think what it does to with me and I tell this to young people all the time, you gotta push yourself out of your comfort zones. 30 years ago or even 20 years ago when I first started hockey night in Canada, I never would have done that. But now I find it helps me think of myself a bit differently, push myself out of comfort zones, and if I get ripped in a few insults along the way, but people have fun with it, I'm good with that.
Jeff Marek [00:44:50] Whatever, I thought it looked good. Good for you. Taking us out a four piece Austrian rock band based out of Vienna. Bilderbuch has released six full-length records over the last decade, including three really well-produced EPs. The band's sound is as eclectic as Marco Rossi's game, what? Oh, Vienna? You get it like, Austria, like, okay, I just read the script that Amil gives me here.
Elliotte Friedman [00:45:14] Oh wow.
Jeff Marek [00:45:14] Just for a reference. As eclectic as Marco Rossi's game mixing pop, indie, rock, hip hop, dance, and punk from their Schick Schock album, here's Bilderbuch with Gibraltar on 32 Thoughts the Podcast.