Latest / Seattle Kraken Audio Network / KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Capital gain (10/11)

Transcript

KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Capital gain (10/11) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to Kraken This Morning, a presentation of the Kraken
0:05
Speaker 1: Audio Network and Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. Here's Mike Benton.
0:12
Speaker 2: Can confidence continue to breed production and success? That's the
0:16
Speaker 2: biggest story to tell here for the Seattle Kraken today
0:18
Speaker 2: who take on the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of
0:21
Speaker 2: their five-game road trip. Mike Benton with you for Kraken
0:24
Speaker 2: this morning. On a Sunday, October 11th, we have a
0:27
Speaker 2: 2 p.m. faceoff on tap for the Kraken and Capitals
0:31
Speaker 2: at Capital One Arena. Everett Fitzhugh, Al Koniski on site.
0:35
Speaker 2: I'll join you from Network Central. Airtime coverage opening up
0:39
Speaker 2: at 1.30 on 93.3 KJRFM and the Global Credit Union Network.
0:44
Speaker 2: Kraken Audio Network. We're going to hear from Ryan Winterton
0:47
Speaker 2: coming up in just a bit as he spoke with
0:49
Speaker 2: the media at practice on Saturday, and he was a
0:52
Speaker 2: big part of the Kraken storyline from a Friday night
0:55
Speaker 2: win in Detroit when his fourth line combined for a
0:58
Speaker 2: seven-point effort. We'll get Winterton's perspective on Friday night, plus
1:03
Speaker 2: emerging success from his line. Plus, we'll also check in
1:07
Speaker 2: with John Walton, radio play-by-play voice of the Capitals. From
1:11
Speaker 2: Alex Ovechkin's pending retirement to emerging new faces in the Capitals' lineup,
1:16
Speaker 2: the Kraken certainly have to be on the lookout for
1:18
Speaker 2: as they have won three of their first four games.
1:22
Speaker 2: We'll hear from John Walton and his perspective coming up.
1:25
Speaker 2: in a few moments. Scary news on the Kraken side
1:28
Speaker 2: they had to endure as far as an injury update.
1:30
Speaker 2: Jacob Alonso will be out indefinitely, the team revealing on
1:34
Speaker 2: Saturday he was knocked out of the season opening win
1:37
Speaker 2: October 1st in Calgary, an upper body injury, later diagnosed
1:42
Speaker 2: as an anterior mediastinum hematoma.
1:45
Speaker 3: A vascular pseudoaneurysm.
1:47
Speaker 2: The Kraken saying, quote, in a statement given his unique injury,
1:51
Speaker 2: Jacob will continue to be evaluated and monitored closely by
1:55
Speaker 2: the medical staff in Seattle through the healing process for
1:58
Speaker 2: a gradual progression to return to hockey, end quote.
2:02
Speaker 3: Certainly, a speedy recovery wished his way.
2:06
Speaker 2: As for Friday night, the Kraken began the game in
2:09
Speaker 2: Detroit on relatively difficult terms, outshot at one point, 16-3
2:13
Speaker 2: in period one.
2:15
Speaker 3: That was right before... This app.
2:17
Speaker 4: Ahead for Ottavainen. Off the boards, tracking it down. Mahura
2:22
Speaker 4: now leaving it in front. Capocacco in front for a.
2:25
Speaker 5: Berkeley Caton shot. Scores!
2:29
Speaker 4: What a give and go. Berkeley Caton toward the net.
2:32
Speaker 4: Capocacco feathers it in front. And the Kraken tie the
2:35
Speaker 4: game at 1-5. 08 to play in this first period.
2:39
Speaker 6: Well, Seattle gets this puck deep right away and goes
2:41
Speaker 6: to work.
2:42
Speaker 5: And you're right.
2:42
Speaker 6: Capocacco with a Excellent feed to Berkley Catton, who just
2:46
Speaker 6: makes a great move to come left to right across
2:48
Speaker 6: Gibson and puts that puck over his left pad.
2:51
Speaker 3: This game's tied at one.
2:52
Speaker 4: Myers flutters it ahead.
2:53
Speaker 7: Off the end wall.
2:54
Speaker 3: Winterton out in front. Gaudreau scores!
2:58
Speaker 7: Here's McCann.
2:59
Speaker 3: Centers a pass in front. Samuelskevich scores!
3:03
Speaker 4: And Myers oversteps the puck. Ryan Winterton takes hold of it.
3:07
Speaker 4: Now Gaudreau near side.
3:09
Speaker 3: Off the bar!
3:10
Speaker 5: Scores!
3:14
Speaker 4: Seattle goes back to back to back.
3:17
Speaker 3: It's a 4-2 Kraken lead.
3:20
Speaker 6: Well, this time the pressure is coming on the half
3:22
Speaker 6: wall by Ryan Winterton, who gets a second to make
3:26
Speaker 6: a pass. He finds Goudreau at the top of the circles.
3:28
Speaker 6: Goudreau's red hot. He's already got one this period. He
3:31
Speaker 6: leans into a wrist shot, beats Gibson. Top shelf, glove side,
3:35
Speaker 6: 4-2 Kraken.
3:35
Speaker 3: Here comes Seattle.
3:36
Speaker 5: Two on one.
3:37
Speaker 3: Down the far side. Ben Myers scores! Benny Myers, fresh.
3:45
Speaker 4: Out the box, and the Kraken to a 5-2 lead,
3:49
Speaker 4: 5.55 to play in the second.
3:53
Speaker 6: Well, when you've been sitting in the box for two minutes,
3:55
Speaker 6: your legs are fresh, and Ben Myers does exactly that
3:58
Speaker 6: as Berkley Catton pokes the puck up to him, recognizing
4:01
Speaker 6: that he's coming out of the penalty box with that
4:03
Speaker 6: head of steam. He's got Shane Wright on a two-on-one.
4:06
Speaker 6: He's a left-handed shot on that right side, which means
4:08
Speaker 6: he's got a good look at the net.
4:10
Speaker 8: Puts it over Gibson's glove hand shoulder. Settles, walks in, shoots, scores!
4:18
Speaker 8: Vince Don slowly skates.
4:21
Speaker 3: Into the high slot.
4:23
Speaker 4: Waits for traffic in front, rifles it in past Daniil Tarasov,
4:27
Speaker 4: and the Kraken, their third six-goal output of this young season.
4:32
Speaker 2: So it's no longer just, well, you beat the Calgary
4:35
Speaker 2: Flames situation. The Kraken hung six goals up on an
4:39
Speaker 2: opposition for the third time in just the first five
4:41
Speaker 2: games of this regular season, ending in a 6-3 victory.
4:45
Speaker 2: Eleven players had a point or more in the game.
4:49
Speaker 2: The Kraken got seven points out of their so-called fourth
4:52
Speaker 2: line between Ben Myers, Freddie Gaudreau, and Ryan Winterton, with
4:56
Speaker 2: Myers picking up three points in the second period alone,
5:00
Speaker 2: tying a Kraken franchise record. Gaudreau picking up his seventh
5:04
Speaker 2: multi-goal game of his NHL career. And the Kraken have
5:08
Speaker 2: put up 21 goals in the first five games, their
5:11
Speaker 2: most through five games in franchise history, topping the mark
5:15
Speaker 2: of 20.
5:16
Speaker 3: Set two seasons ago. Still, a lot of hockey to go.
5:20
Speaker 2: However, the Kraken and Ryan Winterton are so far pretty
5:24
Speaker 2: encouraged with the results, he told the media after practice
5:27
Speaker 2: on Saturday.
5:28
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think through the first couple games we've been connected.
5:31
Speaker 9: Obviously there was a game there in Vegas and Edmonton
5:34
Speaker 9: where it kind of didn't go our way, but I
5:37
Speaker 9: thought for the most part we're getting pucks back and
5:38
Speaker 9: we're looking to the inside. Looks like most games pucks
5:42
Speaker 9: are going in for us.
5:43
Speaker 5: Which is a good sign.
5:44
Speaker 10: We talked about this a little bit yesterday, but Freddie
5:45
Speaker 10: had said that you guys were kind of talking more
5:47
Speaker 10: like as a line.
5:48
Speaker 11: What's that conversation been like? Like what, what is it?
5:51
Speaker 11: Is it like execution things? Is it belief things? Like
5:54
Speaker 11: what is that conversation?
5:56
Speaker 9: Honestly, right now it's, it's a little bit of everything,
5:58
Speaker 9: but right now it's just belief. Like we know we've
6:00
Speaker 9: been together for a bit now and, um, you know,
6:02
Speaker 9: we feel like we're one of the better fourth lines
6:03
Speaker 9: in the league and that we can be the best
6:06
Speaker 9: fourth line in the league.
6:07
Speaker 5: So I think it's just a confidence thing.
6:08
Speaker 9: And, um, You know, kind of last night, it was funny,
6:11
Speaker 9: we were talking all morning about, you know, how we're
6:13
Speaker 9: due for one and how we're due, we're due, we're due.
6:16
Speaker 9: And then sure enough, Freddie scored two and Benny had
6:19
Speaker 9: a great night. So, yeah, I think it's a bit
6:21
Speaker 9: of confidence and obviously just getting on the same page,
6:23
Speaker 9: which I think we have been.
6:25
Speaker 10: From your perspective, what is Ben Myers like as a
6:28
Speaker 10: teammate and as a player? Like what kind of stands
6:30
Speaker 10: out to you that makes him unique?
6:32
Speaker 9: Yeah, he's a true professional. You know, takes care of himself,
6:35
Speaker 9: takes care of his teammates. And, you know, I love
6:37
Speaker 9: playing with him.
6:38
Speaker 5: It's a lot of fun.
6:39
Speaker 9: He wants to pluck on a stick, and he makes
6:41
Speaker 9: great plays with it.
6:42
Speaker 5: He makes it easy.
6:43
Speaker 9: On us, and he's a great teammate, and he's a
6:45
Speaker 9: great pro.
6:47
Speaker 11: I was just going to ask about the PK.
6:49
Speaker 10: How have you been feeling about some of the changes
6:50
Speaker 10: you guys have made to the PK so far?
6:52
Speaker 5: Yeah, it feels good.
6:53
Speaker 9: I think overall it's been pretty good, but obviously a
6:57
Speaker 9: couple mishaps here and there, which we'll clean up. Obviously,
7:01
Speaker 9: Washington's got a good power play, so we'll clean things up,
7:04
Speaker 9: and we'll be ready to go tomorrow.
7:05
Speaker 12: With you and Ben, how do your skill sets complement
7:08
Speaker 12: each other when you're on the ice together, do you think?
7:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, I like using my speed.
7:11
Speaker 9: You know, they're both pretty fast, and, you know, they
7:14
Speaker 9: can kind of hit me in stride and kind of
7:15
Speaker 9: vice versa.
7:16
Speaker 5: They're good in the corners.
7:17
Speaker 9: You know, I'll stay net front for them and let
7:21
Speaker 9: them kind of do their thing. And, yeah, just, you know,
7:24
Speaker 9: they kind of make time and space for themselves, and
7:26
Speaker 9: I kind of try and fill spots when I can.
7:28
Speaker 12: Lane had said last night that you guys are fast,
7:31
Speaker 12: and Ben's a little fast, and you go fast. Freddie's
7:35
Speaker 12: not slow, but he's more like the brains of the operation.
7:38
Speaker 5: What does that mean? I think he's spot on there.
7:42
Speaker 9: Freddie's kind of a silky player and finds me and
7:45
Speaker 9: Benny quite a lot. Like you saw in his goals
7:48
Speaker 9: last night, he's got some hands and can finish the puck.
7:52
Speaker 9: I think just playing to your play style. I'm a
7:54
Speaker 9: fast skater, so I like to use that speed. Benny's
7:57
Speaker 9: fast and creates separation and creates time for himself.
8:00
Speaker 5: I think it's a good combo.
8:02
Speaker 11: What difference have you seen in Berkley Catton's game this
8:04
Speaker 11: year so far?
8:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, he looks fast. He looks fast. He looks good.
8:08
Speaker 9: You know, it looks like he improved over the summer, obviously. And,
8:11
Speaker 9: you know, he's had a big couple of games here,
8:13
Speaker 9: but we're obviously going to need him to be good
8:15
Speaker 9: the rest of the season, too, and all of us
8:17
Speaker 9: as well.
8:18
Speaker 5: But he looks really good. Yeah, I think we're liking
8:20
Speaker 5: what we're seeing.
8:21
Speaker 10: Do you feel like there's a difference in kind of
8:22
Speaker 10: like his confidence or his tenacity at all, just like
8:25
Speaker 10: trusting himself?
8:26
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think confidence for sure is huge, especially at
8:29
Speaker 9: this level, just trusting yourself and not being afraid to
8:31
Speaker 9: make plays, which you've obviously seen.
8:34
Speaker 5: Him doing. So yeah, it's been, it's been great to watch.
8:36
Speaker 3: All right. He is a friend, very dear to us
8:38
Speaker 3: here for this program.
8:40
Speaker 2: And he joins us once again, ahead of the Kraken
8:43
Speaker 2: and the Washington Capitals, the one and only John Walton
8:47
Speaker 2: joining us right now for the Capitals radio side here
8:50
Speaker 2: on Kraken this morning, John, thank you very much here
8:53
Speaker 2: for joining us.
8:54
Speaker 3: And, you know, first got to ask.
8:55
Speaker 2: You the Capitals after this season, we'll no longer have
8:58
Speaker 2: Alex Ovechkin in their room as a player. This is
9:00
Speaker 2: a top story. It appears on this team and, and,
9:03
Speaker 2: I mean, I go back and say this for other things. Eventually,
9:06
Speaker 2: everything has an expiration date. Ovechkin's career on ice will
9:10
Speaker 2: end after 22 years, and nobody will have scored more
9:13
Speaker 2: goals than him in NHL history. Hard to fathom that
9:16
Speaker 2: this was possible about 20 years ago, but here we are. So, John,
9:22
Speaker 2: of course, he got here before you, but to you,
9:25
Speaker 2: what were the capitals before Ovechkin got here, and what
9:28
Speaker 2: will they be after he's done?
9:31
Speaker 7: A good question after and before that, you know, the
9:37
Speaker 7: fan base and a lot of it rooted in Maryland
9:41
Speaker 7: goes back more than 50 years now, but I don't
9:43
Speaker 7: know that they truly arrived until Alex came on the
9:47
Speaker 7: scene in 2005, because in the last 22 years, a
9:51
Speaker 7: whole lot has changed for the better. And they'd only
9:54
Speaker 7: been downtown, what, seven years by the time that he
9:57
Speaker 7: was a rookie. So by and large, you know, the
10:01
Speaker 7: Ovechkin era pretty much covered the building too, with the
10:04
Speaker 7: exception of the first few. And drawing from Northern Virginia,
10:09
Speaker 7: drawing from Maryland, drawing from DC, drawing from beyond, I mean,
10:13
Speaker 7: he made this a hockey town. I think that's probably
10:15
Speaker 7: first and foremost. And you know, the high school programs
10:19
Speaker 7: and the youth hockey programs and the learn to play programs,
10:23
Speaker 7: exponential growth across the board since 2005. There were some
10:28
Speaker 7: rinks in Maryland. There were a couple in Northern Virginia,
10:31
Speaker 7: but certainly not what we've seen over the last 20
10:34
Speaker 7: years and just the absolute explosion of the game all
10:38
Speaker 7: through the region. So I think that's probably the biggest legacy,
10:43
Speaker 7: at least in terms of a local level. Yes, the
10:47
Speaker 7: Goal record is shared with the hockey world, but specific
10:51
Speaker 7: to those in the Mid-Atlantic. I mean, this is the
10:55
Speaker 7: thing that has really put him above and beyond as
10:58
Speaker 7: far as the Capitals. I mean, number one on Mount
11:00
Speaker 7: Rushmore for Washington forever and ever here. with what he's
11:04
Speaker 7: done and how he's electrified the fan base here. And
11:09
Speaker 7: I think going into the post-Ovechkin world, I think they're
11:13
Speaker 7: pretty well positioned. You know, the new building renovations will
11:16
Speaker 7: be done in the fall. It's going to be the
11:19
Speaker 7: better part of a billion dollars that have been put
11:22
Speaker 7: into the one block area, mostly in the arena, absorbing
11:26
Speaker 7: some of the other property around it. And, you know, positioned,
11:30
Speaker 7: I think, pretty well for the future. So exciting times,
11:33
Speaker 7: even though this era is coming to an end. It's
11:34
Speaker 7: certainly bittersweet. But I think on the whole, we're a
11:38
Speaker 7: whole lot better for Alex Ovechkin passing through here on
11:41
Speaker 7: any number of levels.
11:43
Speaker 2: I think the later we begin to look at a
11:45
Speaker 2: person's career, it often shifts to what's next. And the
11:49
Speaker 2: Capitals had a pretty aggressive offseason. They brought in Jordan Cairo.
11:53
Speaker 2: They brought in Alex Tuck. They brought in Boone Jenner. So, John,
11:57
Speaker 2: where's the bar set for the kind of impact that
12:00
Speaker 2: they have to make this season?
12:01
Speaker 7: I think the sky's the limit. I mean, they've gotten
12:04
Speaker 7: off to a really nice start here. I'd say one
12:07
Speaker 7: bad period in Tampa Bay where I think there's a lot,
12:11
Speaker 7: you know, Spencer Carberry probably doesn't want to hear it,
12:13
Speaker 7: but I mean, when you're on a back-to-back and you're
12:15
Speaker 7: playing at the defending champs and Tampa Bay and taking
12:18
Speaker 7: it on the chin against the Rangers, and then they're
12:21
Speaker 7: coming home angry, their home opener and John Carlson's on
12:24
Speaker 7: the other side, there's plenty of circumstantial evidence to say, yeah,
12:28
Speaker 7: you know what? That was probably going to be Tampa
12:30
Speaker 7: Bay's night. When you look at it in the rear
12:32
Speaker 7: view in the last two periods, they still managed to
12:34
Speaker 7: find their legs and at least draw, even if not
12:37
Speaker 7: produce a whole lot of offense, everything else. They have
12:40
Speaker 7: capitalized on opponent mistakes. Their forecheck has been relentless. The
12:44
Speaker 7: line of Tuck, Dubois, and Wilson right now might be
12:48
Speaker 7: the best in the NHL, and I don't think I'm
12:50
Speaker 7: overstating that. It's offense, yes, but it's a lot more
12:53
Speaker 7: than that. It's forcing D-men into mistakes. This team missed
12:58
Speaker 7: Pierre-Luc Dubois so much last year. He was injured on
13:00
Speaker 7: Halloween and ended up only playing in 29 games all season.
13:04
Speaker 7: And the Capitals ended up missing the playoffs on the.
13:06
Speaker 5: Last day of the year.
13:08
Speaker 7: If he plays instead of being out, if he played
13:11
Speaker 7: 75 games instead of 29, the Capitals are easily a
13:14
Speaker 7: 100-point team, I think. He certainly would have made the
13:16
Speaker 7: difference for six or seven points. And I dare say
13:19
Speaker 7: a lot more. So when the Caps finished on the outside,
13:23
Speaker 7: you want to say, oh, well, it wasn't that great
13:25
Speaker 7: a year. And anytime you don't go to the postseason,
13:27
Speaker 7: it's obviously disappointing. But this team still had 95 points.
13:30
Speaker 7: They still had more wins than the Flyers did. They
13:33
Speaker 7: just didn't get a lot of points beyond 60 minutes.
13:35
Speaker 5: Philly did.
13:35
Speaker 7: They got in and the Capitals ended up getting bounced
13:37
Speaker 7: on the last day. So I think this year that
13:41
Speaker 7: taste is still in their mouths from last year. There's
13:43
Speaker 7: a little bit of chip on the shoulder there. they've
13:46
Speaker 7: gotten a lot they're the biggest team in the league
13:49
Speaker 7: and one through four there really isn't a top line
13:53
Speaker 7: I think I probably would say the Tuck Dubois Wilson
13:55
Speaker 7: line is you've got 30 goals for potential on three
14:00
Speaker 7: of the four and even line four if you want
14:02
Speaker 7: to call it that I guess it's changed a little
14:04
Speaker 7: bit now that Leonard's gone down there he certainly is
14:06
Speaker 7: a 30 goal potential and they're really a line that
14:09
Speaker 7: gets more time than the other right now. So they're
14:12
Speaker 7: a balanced attack. They're tough to defend. They've got a
14:15
Speaker 7: Vesna-level goaltender in Logan Thomas. But three out of four
14:19
Speaker 7: to start and some home cooking here for the most
14:21
Speaker 7: part through the month of October.
14:23
Speaker 2: Jean-Pierre-Luc Dubois had a tough ending to his one season
14:27
Speaker 2: in Los Angeles. He came over. All of a sudden,
14:30
Speaker 2: he looks like a brand new player. What's one example
14:33
Speaker 2: you can think of of the kind of impact that
14:35
Speaker 2: Spencer Carberry has made for him in his game?
14:38
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, he.
14:39
Speaker 7: plays to Pierre-Luc's strengths. And, you know, LA, I, you know,
14:44
Speaker 7: with Columbus, he's a young player in Winnipeg, whatever. I mean,
14:47
Speaker 7: you can look at his previous stops, LA, he was
14:49
Speaker 7: just totally miscast. I mean, they just mismanaged him. That's
14:52
Speaker 7: not beyond Pierre-Luc to be able to play. I remember
14:54
Speaker 7: we went in there then the year he was there,
14:55
Speaker 7: we were there in late November and saw him playing
14:59
Speaker 7: on the third line. And I think he only had
15:01
Speaker 7: like 11 or 12 minutes. And I was in my
15:03
Speaker 7: first thought, because I didn't know him and I don't
15:06
Speaker 7: see the Kings a lot, obviously in the East, but
15:08
Speaker 7: my first thought was if Pierre-Luc Dubois is your third
15:11
Speaker 7: line center, you must be really good. And yeah, I
15:14
Speaker 7: had Kopitar, but I mean that he was told one
15:17
Speaker 7: thing and then was given something else. And the Kings
15:20
Speaker 7: went through a coaching change. I mean, things happen. It's not,
15:22
Speaker 7: not dumping all over the Kings, but I mean, it
15:24
Speaker 7: certainly was not a fair judgment on Pierre-Luc for his
15:29
Speaker 7: time in LA. The Kings mismanaged his situation. And when
15:32
Speaker 7: given the opportunity to, an opportunity to come to DC
15:36
Speaker 7: as it has happened more often than not, when guys
15:39
Speaker 7: have a pretty good talent level, Logan Thompson, for instance,
15:42
Speaker 7: Pierre-Luc Dubois for another, I mean, guys come here and
15:46
Speaker 7: reinvent themselves. There's here that I would put second to
15:49
Speaker 7: none with any organization. And it's no accident going back
15:51
Speaker 7: to 2018, even a guy like Brett Connolly who washed
15:54
Speaker 7: out in a couple of different organizations before coming here,
15:57
Speaker 7: finding a home on the third line and won a
15:58
Speaker 7: Stanley cup doing it. So it's, I think that that
16:02
Speaker 7: culture was built over a lot of years. I've certainly
16:05
Speaker 7: seen it develop over time, not just with Ovechkin, but
16:07
Speaker 7: Tom Wilson and TJ Oshie and Nick Backstrom. This is
16:11
Speaker 7: Tom Wilson's team. You can put the C on him
16:13
Speaker 7: on opening night for next year. There's not going to
16:15
Speaker 7: be a debate about that, I don't believe. It's going
16:17
Speaker 7: to be pretty seamless. And I think just when guys
16:22
Speaker 7: are welcomed into this room, they excel at the role
16:25
Speaker 7: they're in. And you mentioned Spencer earlier. You're going to
16:28
Speaker 7: be out for D zone draws. You're going to be
16:30
Speaker 7: out against the top players in the league and challenged
16:33
Speaker 7: him with defending. You know, if you're playing the Leafs,
16:35
Speaker 7: you're going to see a whole lot of Austin Matthews.
16:37
Speaker 7: And if you're going up against the Florida Panthers, you're
16:41
Speaker 7: going to get the Kachuk brothers. I mean, you're going
16:43
Speaker 7: to play against the best. You're going to win a
16:45
Speaker 7: lot of face-offs, and you're going to get the puck
16:48
Speaker 7: up ice and get in on the forecheck. And we
16:50
Speaker 7: don't care how many goals you get. That was basically
16:53
Speaker 7: the message from day one. Now, he gets goals, and
16:56
Speaker 7: he gets a lot of points, and he's getting a
16:57
Speaker 7: lot of points to start the year. But there isn't
17:00
Speaker 7: a lot of focus on offense. It's like, this is
17:02
Speaker 7: your job.
17:02
Speaker 5: Go do it.
17:03
Speaker 7: And he does it. He loves it. He loves it here.
17:05
Speaker 7: He loves his teammates. Huge, huge acquisition for the Caps
17:09
Speaker 7: to bring him in.
17:10
Speaker 3: John Walton joining us here on Kraken this morning.
17:12
Speaker 2: Radio play-by-play, man, of course, on 106.7 The Fan and
17:16
Speaker 2: the Capitals Radio Network. I want to get to Ryan
17:20
Speaker 2: Leonard and the deal he signed. recently, eight years, $ 84 million.
17:26
Speaker 2: And for a first round pick back in the 23 draft,
17:30
Speaker 2: you know, in the previous lands, we look at this
17:32
Speaker 2: and say, oh my goodness, like that's a lot of coin,
17:35
Speaker 2: but it seems to be like a different world that
17:37
Speaker 2: we live in right now, John. So what's your take?
17:40
Speaker 2: I would say maybe on the shift that we're seeing
17:43
Speaker 2: with the salary cap and the kind of money that
17:45
Speaker 2: is being given out here to different players here these days.
17:49
Speaker 7: Well, I mean, I think the Philadelphia Flyers probably have
17:52
Speaker 7: as much to do with that as anything, and big
17:53
Speaker 7: offer sheets for certain Anaheim Ducks and all of that. But,
17:57
Speaker 7: you know, with the salary cap going where it is, and,
18:00
Speaker 7: you know, you're going to be $ 140 million here in
18:02
Speaker 7: a couple of years, I think Ryan Leonard's going to.
18:04
Speaker 1: Be a steal.
18:04
Speaker 7: And I think Justin sort of, you know, he signed
18:07
Speaker 7: a contract after one year in the league that I
18:09
Speaker 7: think a lot of people outside of D.C. thought was eye-popping, too.
18:13
Speaker 8: But.
18:15
Speaker 7: That is the economics of the game. And you want
18:17
Speaker 7: to get your players locked up when you identify someone
18:20
Speaker 7: that you've targeted, developed, and see the potential thereof. And
18:25
Speaker 7: Ryan Leonard's contract is going to age like a fine
18:28
Speaker 7: wine because he is, I think, from what we've seen
18:33
Speaker 7: early with good health, he's a lock for 30 goals.
18:36
Speaker 7: And it would not surprise me if it were higher.
18:39
Speaker 7: He has come in with sense of confidence that I
18:43
Speaker 7: don't know that we entirely saw in his first year
18:46
Speaker 7: and he still scored 20 but it was a pretty
18:48
Speaker 7: uneven 20 goal season he was starting to catch fire
18:52
Speaker 7: in December he had a four point game in San
18:55
Speaker 7: Jose and then he went to Anaheim and Jacob Truba
18:57
Speaker 7: planted him on the injured list for the next four
18:59
Speaker 7: weeks and he had a little trouble coming back from
19:02
Speaker 7: that didn't produce a lot but then he finished strong
19:04
Speaker 7: and he also was his first full season 82 games
19:07
Speaker 7: coming out of college so I think he's come back
19:11
Speaker 7: with a better understanding of what needs to happen over
19:14
Speaker 7: the course of 84 games. He's been terrific through the
19:17
Speaker 7: beginning of the season. And I really liked the fact
19:19
Speaker 7: that he's playing with sort of, and Boone Jenner now
19:22
Speaker 7: there has been terrific on that line too, because he
19:25
Speaker 7: plays to his role, maybe even a little more down
19:27
Speaker 7: in the lineup that he might have done in Columbus,
19:30
Speaker 7: but you know, there's not as much pressure on him.
19:32
Speaker 7: He's great on the PK, but he's also opening some
19:35
Speaker 7: time and space for the speed guys on that line
19:37
Speaker 7: and sort of, and also Ryan. So again, I mean,
19:40
Speaker 7: they're just a balanced team because of them. And if
19:42
Speaker 7: you could on paper, I mean, when you look at
19:44
Speaker 7: your line chart for tomorrow and you see Ryan Leonard
19:47
Speaker 7: on line four, you're like, wow, the Capitals must be
19:49
Speaker 7: really good.
19:50
Speaker 5: And I think they are a.
19:51
Speaker 7: Good team, but I think it's just it's more of
19:53
Speaker 7: an indication that they are just incredibly balanced up and down.
19:56
Speaker 7: you're not going to see one line get a huge
19:58
Speaker 7: minutes over the other against the Kraken. You're going to,
20:01
Speaker 7: you're going to definitely see, you know, a pretty balanced attack.
20:05
Speaker 7: Nobody really worrying about the, the minutes too much. Pierre-Luc
20:09
Speaker 7: Dubois did miss practice over the weekend due to illness.
20:12
Speaker 7: So we're not entirely sure for his status, but hopefully
20:16
Speaker 7: for the Caps, he's able to give it a go.
20:18
Speaker 2: Capitals cooled off a hot start for the Rangers, beating
20:20
Speaker 2: them 3-1 back on Friday night. And down 1-0, they
20:24
Speaker 2: came back with three unanswered goals and as well a
20:27
Speaker 2: tough scene for Igor Shosturkin, knocked down, and reports say
20:30
Speaker 2: that he will miss the remainder of this season. But
20:34
Speaker 2: for the Capitals, you win three of your first four games.
20:37
Speaker 2: How far do you use this as a way to
20:39
Speaker 2: appropriately measure the potential of this team?
20:43
Speaker 7: Well, four games. doesn't a season make, but I think
20:45
Speaker 7: what they're doing is their blueprint. They haven't fluked their
20:49
Speaker 7: way to three wins out of four. I mean, stopping
20:51
Speaker 7: the Rangers on a four game win streak. And yeah,
20:54
Speaker 7: Shusterkin got hurt, but Grant came in and played great.
20:57
Speaker 7: I mean, he was a little shaky maybe in the
20:59
Speaker 7: first couple of shots, but I thought he played really
21:01
Speaker 7: well in relief and it's going to be his team now.
21:03
Speaker 7: So I guess we're going to find out for at
21:05
Speaker 7: least the next few weeks as he takes over. But
21:09
Speaker 7: they're winning the same way. I mean, Cole Beaudoin makes
21:12
Speaker 7: a mistake coming out of the corner, and Boone Jenner's
21:15
Speaker 7: there to capitalize. We've seen the Tuck-Dubois-Wilson line do that
21:19
Speaker 7: to Carolina, and then they did it to Pittsburgh on
21:21
Speaker 7: Wednesday night. If you make a mistake against the Capitals
21:24
Speaker 7: right now, you're going to pay for it. And I
21:25
Speaker 7: think that's probably the most impressive thing about this team
21:30
Speaker 7: so far and what they need to carry through what
21:32
Speaker 7: is an eight-home game month of October this Not a
21:35
Speaker 7: lot of travel here. That obviously will even out at
21:38
Speaker 7: some point when we make our way out to the
21:42
Speaker 7: Emerald City in December. That's part of a 14 and
21:46
Speaker 7: a half.
21:46
Speaker 5: Day road trip.
21:47
Speaker 7: So we will pay the piper at some point here,
21:50
Speaker 7: but home for now and taking advantage of that. And
21:54
Speaker 7: I think that's what they've got to do through October.
21:56
Speaker 7: Then the road schedule starts to pick up in November.
21:58
Speaker 7: It's really heavy in December. But if they continue to
22:02
Speaker 7: have good health on the whole, they've been missing Matt Roy,
22:06
Speaker 7: still very much a question mark for the Kraken game,
22:08
Speaker 7: but he doesn't seem to be anything that's too long-term.
22:12
Speaker 7: He's a big meat-eater. They need him back there, but...
22:15
Speaker 7: Other than that, they've had fairly good fortune so far.
22:17
Speaker 3: John, you're a pro's pro. Certainly appreciate this.
22:20
Speaker 2: Sorry to miss you here on this side of the trip,
22:22
Speaker 2: but for you and the rest coming to Seattle here
22:25
Speaker 2: in December, as I say, like Christmas, it only comes
22:28
Speaker 2: once a year. So I'll look forward here to Capitals
22:31
Speaker 2: Road Trip Christmas, certainly when you roll in.
22:33
Speaker 3: Appreciate you. Thank you.
22:35
Speaker 7: Always appreciate coming to Seattle, Mike. Thanks.
22:37
Speaker 3: All right, John, appreciate you.
22:38
Speaker 2: That's John Walton, radio play-by-play voice for the Capitals on
22:41
Speaker 2: 106.7 The Fan and the Capitals Radio Network as Lane
22:45
Speaker 2: Lambert reunited with his former team, winning a Stanley Cup
22:49
Speaker 2: championship together. a little over eight years ago when Lambert
22:53
Speaker 2: was on Barry Trotz's staff. There are just as many
22:57
Speaker 2: players on the Kraken roster matching the amount of those
23:00
Speaker 2: left over from the Capitol Stanley Cubs squad still in
23:03
Speaker 2: the nation's capital.
23:04
Speaker 3: That would be two.
23:05
Speaker 2: On the Kraken side, Chandler Stephenson and Philip Grubauer were
23:09
Speaker 2: a part of that team. On the Capitals side, two
23:12
Speaker 2: of their most recognizable names still remain. Ovechkin is one,
23:16
Speaker 2: and Tom Wilson, who John Walton hinted at potentially for captaincy,
23:21
Speaker 2: is number two. The Kraken stand four and six, all-time
23:25
Speaker 2: against the Capitals, looking for their first win in D.C.
23:28
Speaker 4: Since.
23:29
Speaker 2: January 11th of 2024, when they won 4-1. This will
23:34
Speaker 2: be the first of two meetings. The Capitals make their
23:37
Speaker 2: only visit of the season, and presumably Ovechkin's last time
23:41
Speaker 2: he'll face the Kraken coming up at Climate Pledge Arena
23:45
Speaker 2: on December 10th. Looking forward to talking about it with
23:48
Speaker 2: you and much more coming up for the 2 p.m.
23:51
Speaker 2: face-off today. Airtime coverage at 1.30. Everett Fitzhugh, Al Koniski
23:56
Speaker 2: in the nation's capital from the booth. I'll join you
23:59
Speaker 2: once again right back at Network Central all across the
24:02
Speaker 2: Global Credit Union Kraken Audio Network. Big thank you again
24:06
Speaker 2: to Ryan Winterton and John Walton for joining us. And
24:09
Speaker 2: for Kraken this morning, I'm Mike Benton. Have a happy Sunday.
24:12
Speaker 2: Your home for the Kraken. Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.