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Jason Gregor, Sports 1440 Edmonton and The Daily Faceoff · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

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Speaker 1: Joining us now Jason Gregor on the Beacon Plumbing Hotline.
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Speaker 1: He's with Sports fourteen forty in Edmonton, also a big
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Speaker 1: part of the Daily Faceoff. We also know him as
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Speaker 1: Noah Gregor's favorite uncle. Jason, thank you for doing this year.
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Speaker 1: Appreciate your time. I hope you're having a happy Friday
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Speaker 1: and missed a crazy draft week. But first off to you,
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Speaker 1: what's the biggest storyline heading into the NHL Draft? O?
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Speaker 2: Well Man, We've seen the first top five pick traded
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Speaker 2: since two thousand and eight already in the Bowen Byron
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Speaker 2: Chicago trade. And I actually didn't mind that trade off Chicago.
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Speaker 2: You know, there's lots of rumblings maybe about the Sharks
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Speaker 2: and number two. I gotta see it to believe it, guys,
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Speaker 2: because it doesn't happen very often. But like, no one
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Speaker 2: can complain if there's not a lot of trades tonight,
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Speaker 2: because we've had an unreal week of trades in the NHL.
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Speaker 2: Likes that's better than any trade deadline. Arguably probably going
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Speaker 2: to be bigger than free agency, just when you look
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Speaker 2: at the quality of players that have been moved top
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Speaker 2: pair defense, when top line forwards, second line forwards, it's
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Speaker 2: you know, it's been unreal to watch, But I'm I'm
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Speaker 2: gonna say the top ten picks and does somebody try
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Speaker 2: to make a big splash the fact that the Sharks
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Speaker 2: have two picks and they traded Ecklund away to get
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Speaker 2: a pick, which I'm not really sure why they would
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Speaker 2: do that. So I'm wondering if they've got another domino
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Speaker 2: to fall.
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Speaker 1: We're gonna get to a lot of this here, but
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Speaker 1: Gavin McKenna evar Stenberg a big part of the conversation
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Speaker 1: that maybe go off the board here, Chase Reid looking
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Speaker 1: to go off the board early, and then really who knows,
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Speaker 1: But I want to first touch on the crack inside
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Speaker 1: of this. Jason, there was a pledge for a prolific
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Speaker 1: off season and the wheels got in motion Sunday. Pretty
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Speaker 1: sensible trade made Mackie Samuskevitch, then Bobby McMahon reups for
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Speaker 1: six more years. But then last night the firestorm hit
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Speaker 1: with Jason robertson that news on our Hands. First off
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Speaker 1: the bat, where do you think it puts the Krake
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Speaker 1: in right now with a reality that they face.
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Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you know, I credit Borer like hey,
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Speaker 2: he's taken swings here. That's what you want your GM
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Speaker 2: to do. No one can say he's not trying. But
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Speaker 2: unfortunately he's kind of still paying the price from his predecessor,
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Speaker 2: because when you look at at the from day one,
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Speaker 2: and this is not me in hindssight. I didn't love
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Speaker 2: Seattle's approach at the expansion draft. I thought it was
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Speaker 2: way too cautious. It basically said we're going to be,
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Speaker 2: you know, five six years before, really competitive. And that's
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Speaker 2: hard to do because in the draft lottery you got
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Speaker 2: to get some luck, not only getting a higher pick
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Speaker 2: and winning it, but then making the right pick. Because
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Speaker 2: you're still drafting seventeen to night year old kids, and
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Speaker 2: they all look good at seventeen and eighteen, but they
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Speaker 2: don't all. You know, if you're a number one and
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Speaker 2: a number two and three, they're not all. They're not
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Speaker 2: all equal. Just because the number two of the year
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Speaker 2: before is a great pick or it turns out to
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Speaker 2: be a great player, doesn't mean your number two is
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Speaker 2: going to be. So I give him a lot of credit.
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Speaker 2: You know that they've been swinging here big, you know,
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Speaker 2: to make Jason Robertson the second highest paid player in
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Speaker 2: the NHL, and I know a lot of people were like, gavit,
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Speaker 2: it's because the new tax coming in, and I'm like, hey,
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Speaker 2: let's let's pump the brakes on that. Even if you
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Speaker 2: add that, so that's thirteen point five million in a
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Speaker 2: no state tax in yeah, no tax state. Excuse me, right,
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Speaker 2: So it's thirteen point five which would still be top
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Speaker 2: four highest guy forward in the league. Right, So they
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Speaker 2: made a huge offer here, and right now, players in
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Speaker 2: hockey that you're a free agent, it's your right to
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Speaker 2: not say yes to a contract offer. I got to
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Speaker 2: see what he gets here. But hey, we saw Ranton
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Speaker 2: and turned down Carolina and look they won the Cup
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Speaker 2: a few years later, So you can always be careful
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Speaker 2: what you wish for as a player.
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Speaker 3: It's easy to say the no state taxes thing plays
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Speaker 3: a role because you look at what Florida has done,
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Speaker 3: the success that the Dallas has had, Texas being and
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Speaker 3: a no tax state. But if you're the Seattle crackt,
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Speaker 3: you've seen robertson go, You've seen la ben erin go,
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Speaker 3: and like you said, I'm not blaming Botchral for any
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Speaker 3: of these moves. Where do the cracket in your mind
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Speaker 3: go from here. They're clearly willing to spend. They're clearly
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Speaker 3: willing to go prolific. And it's not Jason or the
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Speaker 3: front office's fault. If a player turns you down and
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Speaker 3: you've done all you can do, if you're the Kraken,
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Speaker 3: where do you go from here?
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Speaker 2: Well, you know what, Number one, you got to make
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Speaker 2: sure that you have good drafting and not just in
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Speaker 2: round one. Guys, like I know everybody talks about Florida. Florida.
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Speaker 2: Last I checked, there was no It's not like they
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Speaker 2: just changed the rules from nineteen ninety eight to two
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Speaker 2: thousand and one. You know, any playoff rounds they won
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Speaker 2: in Florida zero But guess what, there are still no tax.
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Speaker 2: But then they got good management and they had to
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Speaker 2: run the Bennett trade, the Reinhart trade, now the Kuchuk trade,
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Speaker 2: and they get a lot of people thought what Kochuk
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Speaker 2: for Huberto and Wiger. Clearly they were right, and then
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Speaker 2: the Foreslean waiver pick up right, like, you've got to
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Speaker 2: make some really big moves and none of those guys.
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Speaker 2: Kochuck was the only one at the time, and he
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Speaker 2: didn't have a no movement clause, but was coming in
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Speaker 2: later on, but Bennett and Reinhart, you just make really
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Speaker 2: good trades. So that's what you have to do, right.
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Speaker 2: You have to be a team that builds Tampa Bay
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Speaker 2: one and became dominant for a decade through the draft,
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Speaker 2: not just first rounders. Koutro Off fifty eighth, bradon point,
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Speaker 2: third rounder, Pullatte seventh rounder, like, we go down the list, right,
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Speaker 2: So to me, Seattle, you're in a tough division because
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Speaker 2: you got McDavid in Dry Suttle and you got Vegas.
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Speaker 2: Right now you've got Anaheim. You're amateur scouting has to
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Speaker 2: be awesome. And then you've got to make sure that
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Speaker 2: you properly develop your young players. And then you know what,
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Speaker 2: you make a good move on waivers here there, or
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Speaker 2: a good trade, you know, but you make your organization
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Speaker 2: one where people want to come and you've got to
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Speaker 2: build it up. Like I like the Bobby McMahon move.
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Speaker 2: I think Bobby McMahon's a good player, right, but you
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Speaker 2: need to make more of those, right, Like Seattle's still
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Speaker 2: trying to get rid of some of their older players
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Speaker 2: who are past their best due dates, right, Like I
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Speaker 2: like Schwartz, who was a great player, but not anymore. Right,
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Speaker 2: so you bring in Bobby McMahon, that's an improvement. And
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Speaker 2: that's really where I see Seattle going here is at
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Speaker 2: least they're trying. You got to be aggressive, and Carolina
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Speaker 2: is a great example. They went for rent and it
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Speaker 2: didn't work, but instead of getting mad, they just pivoted
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Speaker 2: and made a good trade to get stan Covin. They
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Speaker 2: still have a first rounder, and then they'll create some
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Speaker 2: cap space for them to bring another player. So it's
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Speaker 2: got to be all encompassing. There isn't just one way
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Speaker 2: to win. And you can't just say, well, if if
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Speaker 2: you're in a state that has taxes, we can't win.
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Speaker 2: I just I think it's kind of a lazy.
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Speaker 4: Argument, Jason, with Paneren and now Robertson, obviously Seattle's got
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Speaker 4: a little bit of PTSD with these situations. Put your
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Speaker 4: player hat on though for me, and answer the question
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Speaker 4: why not Seattle? Why are players saying no to Seattle?
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Speaker 4: Take the tax part out of it. What are the
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Speaker 4: other reasons?
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Speaker 2: Well, I think when I look at it, La now la, hey,
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Speaker 2: it's LA. But it was also only a two year deal,
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Speaker 2: so Paneren probably feels like, Okay, I can go there's
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Speaker 2: there's Kempei, you know, there's Fiala. Their top end guys
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Speaker 2: are still better than Seattle's top end guy. So if
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Speaker 2: I'm a top player, if we look at most of
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Speaker 2: the top scorers, you know, Celebrini is an exception this year.
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Speaker 2: He's a little bit of a freedom fighter. But usually
7:14
Speaker 2: there's duos. Right, You've got look at Martin Nachs comes
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Speaker 2: in and he really helps out McKinnon after he had
7:19
Speaker 2: Ranton And oh yeah, that Cale mccarr guy's pretty good.
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Speaker 2: And then you got dry Suttle and McDavid and Bouchard
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Speaker 2: and you have coocher off and Bryden point and you know,
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Speaker 2: usually if you want to be a high end guy,
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Speaker 2: and Robertson's a pretty good scorer, right, But Mitch Marner
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Speaker 2: he goes because there's Jack Eichel, Right, so I think
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Speaker 2: now you got to get one. And usually the best
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Speaker 2: place to get a top end guy is through the
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Speaker 2: draft if we look at it historically, right, Like there's
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Speaker 2: been a few trades lately, and I like Matthew could
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Speaker 2: shut but he's like he's a one time one hundred
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Speaker 2: point guy. He's not a top ten scorer all the time. Right.
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Speaker 2: Robertson has actually has been for the last four years.
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Speaker 2: I think he's ninth in the NHL in that time,
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Speaker 2: so he has that first stretch. But even him, that
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Speaker 2: one hundred and nine nine point seasons a few years away.
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Speaker 2: So I think right now, Seattle, and it's hard for fans.
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Speaker 2: I get it. Everybody wants to win right away, but
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Speaker 2: it's freaking hard to win right now. You just want
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Speaker 2: to get competitive. But sometimes, like Seattle, I felt the
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Speaker 2: worst thing that happened to them. I know this sounds counterintuitive,
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Speaker 2: was making the playoffs the second year, right, but then
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Speaker 2: look what they did, guys. The reason they made the
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Speaker 2: playoffs because their fourth line scored like forty five goals
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Speaker 2: and five on five on that fourth line that year. Yeah,
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Speaker 2: and then they let them all go. I'm like, but like,
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Speaker 2: what what you just had guys who contributed and then
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Speaker 2: you let them all go. Now, I'm not saying they
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Speaker 2: all would have repeated it, but they had a perfect storm,
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Speaker 2: and I think it kind of set them back because
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Speaker 2: it changed their expectations and I think they should have
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Speaker 2: had this was our plan, and then they kind of
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Speaker 2: deviated from it. And now it's up to the current regime,
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Speaker 2: who didn't who wasn't part of it? Now they've got
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Speaker 2: to fix the problem, and it's hard to fix it quickly.
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Speaker 3: Jason, you talked about, you know, teams wanting to win now,
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Speaker 3: and you can talk about collusion with Team USA all.
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Speaker 2: You want to.
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Speaker 3: But the reason why we're seeing all these trades, I mean,
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Speaker 3: how many players have we seen traded and moved in the.
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Speaker 2: Last four to five days?
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Speaker 3: Is this a scenario of teams wanting to keep up
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Speaker 3: with the Joneses. They need to keep up with the
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Speaker 3: Floridas and Tampas and vegas Is of the world, because
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Speaker 3: those have been the ones who are winning, and you
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Speaker 3: see all of these guys moving. What do you attribute
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Speaker 3: all of this pre draft movement this last week two, Well.
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Speaker 2: It's the fact that we finally have some cap space freedom. Right. Basically,
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Speaker 2: the cap was flat for five years, and it like
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Speaker 2: it would go up a million bucks a year, right,
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Speaker 2: So that makes a big deal. And then if you
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Speaker 2: look at the team though, so Florida obviously they're involvederus
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Speaker 2: of the Kuchuk trade, right, but they still gave up
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Speaker 2: a lot, right, like three first rounders and a second rounder.
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Speaker 2: We'll see, you know, if they can maximize those picks.
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Speaker 2: And then Buffalo was the only other team that's really
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Speaker 2: been like a playoff team. You look at Washington, non
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Speaker 2: playoff team, Toronto, non playoff team, San Jose, non play
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Speaker 2: like a lot of these other teams. So they're trying
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Speaker 2: to play catchup, which is normal. But you know, Vegas, Edmonton, Montreal, Carolina, Dallas,
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Speaker 2: none of those, like the top teams in the last years,
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Speaker 2: have yet to make any moves because everybody else is
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Speaker 2: trying to play catchup. But some teams have more cap
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Speaker 2: space now to finally make some move.
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Speaker 1: Jason Gregor joining us right now on the Beacon Plumbing
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Speaker 1: hot line and Jason, this league by far has the
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Speaker 1: most no trade or no movement clauses out of any
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Speaker 1: major professional sports league. I mean, it blows the NBA,
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Speaker 1: the NFL, major League Baseball out of the water. And
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Speaker 1: it seems like the balance of power is shifting one
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Speaker 1: way and is to the players, and for a majority
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Speaker 1: of them, they have control where they want to go.
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Speaker 2: They hold the cards.
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Speaker 1: I recall many years ago it was the extreme measure
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Speaker 1: to lock down a player, a franchise player with job
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Speaker 1: security and give that player a no movement clause now
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Speaker 1: are being given out like candy. Has the NHL gone
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Speaker 1: too far with no trade in no movement clauses?
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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yes, next question.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's an it's an issue. But I
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Speaker 2: also think right now that there's a little bit like
11:18
Speaker 2: remember the NBA went through their time where oh, we're
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Speaker 2: all going to try to build these super teams, right,
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Speaker 2: and a few of them were successful, but a lot
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Speaker 2: of them weren't. And you know, even if you go
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Speaker 2: back to pre salary cap in the NHL, the New
11:31
Speaker 2: York Rangers spent more money than anybody really or right
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Speaker 2: up there, they never won. They never came close to winning,
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Speaker 2: right you had four or five teams. And so we
11:38
Speaker 2: look at Florida and they got Brady could chuck now
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Speaker 2: and everyone's like, oh my god, it's a super team.
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Speaker 2: But when I look at Florida, first of all, we'll see, okay,
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Speaker 2: what are they going to do in goal? And then
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Speaker 2: as they get older, right like, they don't have any
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Speaker 2: first round picks here for a long time. So I
11:53
Speaker 2: think their strategy is and Vegas has never really used
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Speaker 2: it and it's worked, is you know what I think
11:57
Speaker 2: at times we overrate first round picks and really just
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Speaker 2: picks overall into what their value is. We always think
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Speaker 2: of best case narrative, Like you watch tonight at the draft,
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Speaker 2: look at the comparables. It's always a bunkst Hey, this
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Speaker 2: guy's like a comparable to like a first line player
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Speaker 2: or top pair defense.
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Speaker 1: The next fill on the blank, just keep going and
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Speaker 1: going well.
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Speaker 3: And Becketzeneca wasn't even supposed to be top a third
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Speaker 3: overall pick. Beckett Seneca was supposed to go late first,
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Speaker 3: early second. He could even believe it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, And so that's where to me, like, look at
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Speaker 2: most Cider. I remember when he got picked. Everyone was like,
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Speaker 2: oh my god, because everybody sees the public available and
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Speaker 2: those guys do a great job, like those guys Steve
12:33
Speaker 2: Ellis and Cozantino and a lot of those other guys
12:36
Speaker 2: man like Craig Button. They spent a ton of time.
12:38
Speaker 2: But Button only does his own individual and he's the
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Speaker 2: first guy to admit that how I view a player
12:44
Speaker 2: might be different than however or al or might view
12:46
Speaker 2: a player. And we could all be professional scouts and
12:48
Speaker 2: we're all going to have a little bit of a
12:49
Speaker 2: different viewpoint on what we like. And then there's does
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Speaker 2: the guy have a girl spurt? And more importantly does
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Speaker 2: the organization develop them properly? Are they rushing the player
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Speaker 2: now he loses his car confidence? Is the coach sitting
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Speaker 2: them on the bench? Right? So there's all those factors.
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Speaker 2: But going back to the no trades, I do think
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Speaker 2: there's too many of them at times. I understand why
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Speaker 2: you you give them out for some places, but I
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Speaker 2: think it's now become it's like anything, it's hard to
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Speaker 2: put the genie back in the bottle because guys look
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Speaker 2: around and they say, well, I really want it, and
13:22
Speaker 2: eventually it's just gonna take more teams saying you know what,
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Speaker 2: I'm not doing it. We're gonna limit it to three
13:27
Speaker 2: or four guys per team and that's it.
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Speaker 3: And even too much Yeah, yeah, I mean, listen, I
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Speaker 3: think I mean, as far as no movement goes for
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Speaker 3: my money, you gotta be Lebron James, you gotta be McDavid,
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Speaker 3: you gotta be Celebrini. If you're not a blue chip,
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Speaker 3: A one player, then I'm gonna move you.
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Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
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Speaker 3: You don't that clause should be reserved, I think personally
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Speaker 3: for that high end pick a player I want to
13:53
Speaker 3: switch a little bit to the Oilers, and obviously outside
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Speaker 3: of player movement, Edmonton's been the talk of the NHL
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Speaker 3: all the last week because of the Mike Babcock hiring
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Speaker 3: and his past, the investigations, everything that's.
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Speaker 2: Been going on.
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Speaker 3: Why do the Oilers feel that Mike Babcock was the
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Speaker 3: best choice for this team? And just what's what's the
14:14
Speaker 3: overall sense, I'll step in it. What's the overall sense,
14:17
Speaker 3: the overall mood in the City of Champions after after
14:20
Speaker 3: Mike Babcock's hiring.
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Speaker 2: Well, I don't know if I've ever seen a team,
14:25
Speaker 2: you know, roll out their players to defend the hiring,
14:27
Speaker 2: but that's kind of what's happened here. And hey, Mike Babcock,
14:30
Speaker 2: no one couldn't deny the stories from Johann France and
14:34
Speaker 2: to lots of other players, like they're on record by
14:37
Speaker 2: other players. This isn't you know, backdoor whispers that everybody says, So, hey,
14:43
Speaker 2: that's the past. Now, Mike Babcock, a lot of us
14:46
Speaker 2: probably disagree with how he's treated players. The one thing
14:49
Speaker 2: I at least respect him about in his press conference
14:51
Speaker 2: was he showed you exactly who he was. You know
14:54
Speaker 2: I wasn't gonna apologize, goes this is you know who
14:56
Speaker 2: you're getting at least like, hey, I'm hard on players,
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Speaker 2: And now I don't necessarily agree, having talked to players
15:02
Speaker 2: who played with them, that he's harder on the top
15:04
Speaker 2: guys and he is on the bottom guys, like he
15:06
Speaker 2: might demand more of them. But you talk to players
15:08
Speaker 2: and it's hey, you can be demanding, as Rod Brindemore,
15:10
Speaker 2: you have lots of coaches who are demanding. You just
15:12
Speaker 2: don't want to be demeaning and degrading and stuff like that.
15:16
Speaker 2: So now it's going to be on the leadership group
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Speaker 2: of the orders to watch over that to make sure
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Speaker 2: that's not happening, which we can debate if that's a
15:23
Speaker 2: good idea, like maybe focus on playing, but the leadership
15:26
Speaker 2: group feels like they need a coach who's harder on them. Okay,
15:31
Speaker 2: my counter to that is you went to Game seven
15:33
Speaker 2: the Stanley Cup. Finally went to Game six of the Stanley Cup.
15:35
Speaker 2: Fund like, your team's really close, and I get there
15:37
Speaker 2: desperate to win. They really want to win, and I
15:39
Speaker 2: understand it. But my other side is, well, if you
15:42
Speaker 2: really want to win and improve defensively, why do you
15:44
Speaker 2: need a coach to tell you that you're like, no
15:47
Speaker 2: one told Sidney Crosby to do it right, like I
15:49
Speaker 2: thought he just did it. So we'll see. They they've
15:52
Speaker 2: definitely opened this up. If it works, everyone's going to
15:55
Speaker 2: say good for you. It worked, Hey, you were right.
15:58
Speaker 2: And if it doesn't work, then there's gonna be a
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Speaker 2: lot of like what happens? And is there going to
16:03
Speaker 2: be some players who get the Babcock wrath that has
16:08
Speaker 2: happened in Toronto and Detroit and Anaheim? And what's the
16:12
Speaker 2: long term effects? You hope it doesn't happen, but the
16:15
Speaker 2: fact of the matter is it's happened in every other stop.
16:17
Speaker 2: Quick quick follow up to that.
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Speaker 3: Have you have you heard or had a chance to
16:21
Speaker 3: talk to that leadership group McDavid, Drisidle, Bouchard, Hymen nuge
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Speaker 3: about Mike Babcock And what is the sense that you're
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Speaker 3: getting from the bus drivers, if you will, of that
16:34
Speaker 3: team on on his now being their coach.
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Speaker 2: Well, Zach Kiman played for him in Toronto and feel say, hey,
16:42
Speaker 2: you know what, he's a very prepared coach and no
16:45
Speaker 2: one's really ever disagreed about his technical side. But he
16:48
Speaker 2: also hasn't won a playoff round since twenty thirteen, and
16:52
Speaker 2: you know, and hasn't coached in the league since nineteen,
16:54
Speaker 2: so things are different. He has a really good hockey mind.
16:56
Speaker 2: They also had a DJ Smith, who I think might
16:58
Speaker 2: be the important part here. He's a really good coach.
17:00
Speaker 2: He's now being in the league ten years, he's been
17:02
Speaker 2: a head coach. Lots of coaching staffs have a former
17:05
Speaker 2: head coach as an associate coach. It kind of gives
17:07
Speaker 2: you more experience. He's a very funny guy. I think
17:10
Speaker 2: he's got a voice now to maybe, hey, Mike, that's
17:12
Speaker 2: not acceptable. But you know, if you read from Hyman
17:15
Speaker 2: to McDavid, all of them have said, hey, we feel
17:17
Speaker 2: that Mike. We had a conversation with him. He told
17:20
Speaker 2: us the truth that you know what, I'm gonna push you.
17:21
Speaker 2: I'm going to demand you, like their minutes are going
17:23
Speaker 2: to come down, right, Like that's that's it. But like,
17:26
Speaker 2: let's be honest, guys, Like and I talked to Chris
17:29
Speaker 2: Knaublock at the end of the year. Did Chris Knoblock
17:31
Speaker 2: like his first year when he came in no experience
17:34
Speaker 2: in his first sixty nine games in regular season the
17:36
Speaker 2: Orders were the number one team in points, top five
17:38
Speaker 2: and goals for top five goals against. They went all
17:40
Speaker 2: the way to Game seven the Stanley Cup Final. As
17:42
Speaker 2: a rookie coach with no experience. They listened to what
17:45
Speaker 2: he did and then slowly eroded. And I talked to Chris.
17:47
Speaker 2: He would be the first to admit he didn't have
17:49
Speaker 2: a great year coaching last year, just like some of
17:51
Speaker 2: the players. But a lot of times we'll give guys
17:54
Speaker 2: an opportunity to bounce back, and so he didn't get
17:57
Speaker 2: that opportunity. Okay, I just find a little odd that. Well,
18:00
Speaker 2: I don't think I don't think knaw Block can change
18:02
Speaker 2: and be harder on guys, But you're hiring Babcock, Well,
18:05
Speaker 2: he can change and not be his hard on guys like.
18:07
Speaker 2: It's kind of a contradictory statement there. But the Hymen,
18:12
Speaker 2: Dry Sidle, Bouchard McDavid have all said that we feel
18:16
Speaker 2: that he's going to hold us accountable and that's what
18:18
Speaker 2: we need.
18:19
Speaker 4: Jason. The hiring of Dabcock obviously is part of the answer.
18:25
Speaker 4: What do the Vonton Olders need to get back to
18:27
Speaker 4: that final round? What else do the Vonton Olders need.
18:31
Speaker 2: Well, the Darnell Nurse trade is one what are they
18:34
Speaker 2: going to get in return? Like a Darnall Nurse has
18:36
Speaker 2: some parts of his game you don't like, but there's
18:37
Speaker 2: lots of parts of his game I do like. So
18:39
Speaker 2: you can't just evaluate a player on what he doesn't do.
18:42
Speaker 2: You got to look at what he does do. In
18:43
Speaker 2: number one, he's available every game in nine years, the
18:45
Speaker 2: guy's missed eighteen games. Right, So you get into the playoffs,
18:49
Speaker 2: health is such a key composent guys like look at
18:52
Speaker 2: it every year. The healthier team when you get to
18:54
Speaker 2: the final often could be the team who wins. Really
18:57
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, just because the gap
18:58
Speaker 2: is so small between the two teams in the final,
19:01
Speaker 2: And like, if Hyman's healthy the one here, do they win?
19:04
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer, but I think their odds
19:06
Speaker 2: are better. So you need that because if you're gonna
19:09
Speaker 2: replace Nurse, you're also got you got to have somebody
19:12
Speaker 2: who's physical on your back end, right, you need diversity
19:15
Speaker 2: in your line. Not every guy has to be a banger,
19:18
Speaker 2: but not every guy has to be a puck mover.
19:19
Speaker 2: You need something that way. So I think to make
19:22
Speaker 2: a trade they can't make another Stuart Skinner trade because
19:25
Speaker 2: Stuart Skinner was a whipping boy. By law, I'll get
19:27
Speaker 2: rid of stew Skinner and can't win a stew Skinner.
19:29
Speaker 2: And they got rid of stew Skinner, and there was
19:30
Speaker 2: a worse trade. They got a goalie who makes twice
19:32
Speaker 2: as much, who isn't as healthy, and they gave away
19:34
Speaker 2: Brett Kulak and a second rounder. So they can't make
19:37
Speaker 2: another move like that. And then they still got to
19:39
Speaker 2: look at what's gonna go on goal You got Tristan
19:41
Speaker 2: Jari and who are they bringing back? Connor ingram Is?
19:45
Speaker 2: Does Terrasov test the market? Is there a trade? What
19:48
Speaker 2: do they do? And the other thing is it might
19:49
Speaker 2: be a small I think they need a right shot
19:51
Speaker 2: center on their foreth line because you look and like
19:55
Speaker 2: Stenlin is a guy I would look at big time.
19:57
Speaker 2: It's a right shot center. He took six hundred defensive
20:00
Speaker 2: draws last year, five hundred the year before. The guy's
20:03
Speaker 2: like a fifty nine in the face off. So then
20:05
Speaker 2: because you're not putting McDavid or dryst on the penaltykill anymore,
20:08
Speaker 2: thank god, but you need a guy on that side, guys,
20:11
Speaker 2: because if you Watchever you call the games. Most face
20:13
Speaker 2: offs and the offense is zone in the power play
20:15
Speaker 2: are to the goalie if he's facing up to his
20:18
Speaker 2: right yep, because it's a left shot on his back
20:20
Speaker 2: end on the offensive side and you need a righty there.
20:22
Speaker 2: And the orders. You know, they have all lefties. So
20:24
Speaker 2: that's a small thing, but I think it's important one for.
20:26
Speaker 3: Them knowing that this is we're having this conversation before
20:31
Speaker 3: the first round. We're having this conversation before Canada Day
20:35
Speaker 3: and Free agency Day. Handicap this division for us moving
20:39
Speaker 3: forward to next season. I don't foresee any of the
20:43
Speaker 3: top draft picks in the Pacific making a Beckett Seneca
20:48
Speaker 3: like improved. What do you call that impression? If you
20:51
Speaker 3: will next season? Looking at the teams that were in
20:55
Speaker 3: this year versus out, who do you think falls out
20:58
Speaker 3: of the playoff mix in the.
21:00
Speaker 2: In the Pacific? Who gets in? Is its status quo?
21:03
Speaker 3: Is Vegas gonna somehow bleep their way back into the
21:08
Speaker 3: playoffs and get back to the Cup final? Where do
21:11
Speaker 3: you see the twenty six to twenty seventh season with
21:14
Speaker 3: two extra regular season games going for this division?
21:19
Speaker 2: Well, I still view Eminton in Vegas as the two
21:21
Speaker 2: top teams right now, Vegas would be number one, Emonton
21:24
Speaker 2: would be number two. Anaheim, I like, you got to
21:28
Speaker 2: do it for more than one year. It's hard, right,
21:30
Speaker 2: We've seen Hey, everybody thought Ottawa made the playoffs and
21:32
Speaker 2: they're just gonna go and Skyrocket hasn't happened. So I'll
21:37
Speaker 2: take those two. I like Anaheim a lot, but they
21:40
Speaker 2: got a lot of guys like, what's gonna happen to McTavish.
21:42
Speaker 2: You know Pat vord beec Is. You know, he's the
21:45
Speaker 2: little ball of hate when he played, and man, he's
21:46
Speaker 2: a ball of hated negotiations that seems to some of
21:48
Speaker 2: his guys, which is fine, But so what are they
21:51
Speaker 2: going to do after that? You know, La, are they
21:54
Speaker 2: going to get a center because they don't have Hanse Copatar.
21:56
Speaker 2: Now that's a massive loss for that organization. But they
22:00
Speaker 2: have panerin all year and they should have Fiala and
22:02
Speaker 2: they've never had the two of them together. So you know,
22:04
Speaker 2: have you Anaheim? La there, Vancouver's at the bottom, Calgary
22:08
Speaker 2: thinks at the bottom. San Jose, I know they had
22:11
Speaker 2: a great run last year, but they just got rid
22:13
Speaker 2: of Ecklund what are they gonna do on the back end?
22:16
Speaker 2: And Seattle's a team to me that I look on
22:20
Speaker 2: them as Seattle, San Jose in La. Who can one
22:23
Speaker 2: of them? Could easy be fourth if they get hot
22:26
Speaker 2: or if they don't play well, they can be sticks.
22:27
Speaker 2: But that's kind of where I see those three teams
22:29
Speaker 2: right in the middle. You probably have to be at
22:31
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be a little bit higher next year.
22:33
Speaker 2: Obviously there's more games, so at minimum probably ninety five
22:36
Speaker 2: points or ninety four to get in. So not a
22:39
Speaker 2: huge jump, but a fairly significant jump for you know,
22:43
Speaker 2: those two teams. And really for Seattle, it's who are
22:47
Speaker 2: any of their young guys gonna pop? Right? Like I
22:50
Speaker 2: really like Kat and I don't know what to expect,
22:52
Speaker 2: but we've seen young guys come up bigger sooner than
22:55
Speaker 2: you think, right, Like can kapitl CaCO take another step?
22:59
Speaker 2: Can Shane Right take another step? Or are they gonna
23:01
Speaker 2: move Shane Right in a deal to try to augment
23:04
Speaker 2: something else? Right? And And to me that's where I
23:06
Speaker 2: come out. And you know, like any team you get
23:09
Speaker 2: consistent goaltending and you'll have a chance.
23:10
Speaker 1: Hey, Jason, finally to wrap all this up. Let's just
23:13
Speaker 1: look forward, maybe the best we can ten years down
23:15
Speaker 1: the road. How believable is it to think Gavin McKenna
23:20
Speaker 1: will have a generational superstar type of career by that point.
23:24
Speaker 2: Wow. But to use the word that is like the
23:27
Speaker 2: bane of my existence. I think generational gets thrown out
23:29
Speaker 2: way too much. So I'm gonna say zero because a
23:32
Speaker 2: generational player for me is Sidney Crosby Novechkin. Then I
23:36
Speaker 2: got Connor McDavid, and I'm not even sold that I
23:39
Speaker 2: would put McKinnon in there yet because if you go
23:41
Speaker 2: look at his first five years of his career, fifty
23:44
Speaker 2: point player. Yeah, Like McDavid was one hundred point guy
23:46
Speaker 2: right off the gate, right, So like, generational is hard
23:50
Speaker 2: to be, and especially for wingers. So I think it
23:55
Speaker 2: Like Patrick Kin, we'd all agree, unreal player. No one
23:58
Speaker 2: ever calls him generational, but he's a first ballot Hall
24:00
Speaker 2: of Famer, no question, but he's not a generational player.
24:03
Speaker 2: If Gavin McKenna could have a Patrick Kaine career, he'd
24:06
Speaker 2: be doing cartwheels. That's an unreal career. So generational, I
24:09
Speaker 2: think there's zero chance of generational because it's really hard
24:12
Speaker 2: to be that. But can Gavin McKenna have a really
24:15
Speaker 2: solid career, Yes, I don't know if he can be
24:17
Speaker 2: I don't even I don't even think he can be
24:19
Speaker 2: Patrick Kane because we started this talking about I don't
24:22
Speaker 2: like to make the expectation that's so high. If he
24:25
Speaker 2: becomes Kane, that's unreal. But right now I think would
24:28
Speaker 2: be unfair for me to even think he would have
24:29
Speaker 2: a Patrick Kane like career because his career was unreal.
24:32
Speaker 1: Great stuff. Man, Really appreciate you, Jason. Hey, you do
24:35
Speaker 1: great work. We'll get you back on at some point
24:37
Speaker 1: down the road. And hey, let's just say ten years
24:38
Speaker 1: so we can have a few crack and Oilers playoff matchups.
24:41
Speaker 2: How fun would that story be as well? But I
24:43
Speaker 2: want to go to that arena. Come on down, man.
24:46
Speaker 2: We look forward to having you