Latest / Seattle Kraken Audio Network / FULL NEWS CONFERENCE: GM Jason Botterill and CEO Tod Leiweke (4/22)

Transcript

FULL NEWS CONFERENCE: GM Jason Botterill and CEO Tod Leiweke (4/22) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

0:00
Speaker 1: Coming this morning, for covering this today and for all
0:03
Speaker 1: your coverage all year. We really appreciate it. Joined here
0:07
Speaker 1: at the table by our CEO, Todd Laiwiki and our
0:10
Speaker 1: general manager Jason Bottrel, both have some brief opening remarks
0:15
Speaker 1: and then we'll take questions. There's two mics in the
0:17
Speaker 1: room as well. We're streaming on all our platforms and everything,
0:20
Speaker 1: so you're waiting for the mic. Is really helpful for
0:22
Speaker 1: anyone tuning in. And with that, Jason over to you.
0:26
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, good morning, Thank you very much
0:28
Speaker 2: for coming down.
0:29
Speaker 3: To CACI today. I really appreciate it.
0:33
Speaker 2: A year ago when I met with everyone, talked a
0:37
Speaker 2: lot about my commitment to billing a winning franchise here
0:41
Speaker 2: for this organization and for this city. Nothing has changed
0:45
Speaker 2: from that standpoint. We have the pillars in place for
0:50
Speaker 2: the Krakend to have a lot of success. Great ownership,
0:54
Speaker 2: passionate fan base, climate, pledger arena, an amazing practic facility
1:00
Speaker 2: here at CACI, NHL players who are proud about being
1:05
Speaker 2: in the Pacific Northwest, and a pipeline of young players coming.
1:11
Speaker 3: Well.
1:11
Speaker 2: I think the future of the Seattle Kraken is very bright.
1:16
Speaker 2: Bottom line is we're not where we want to be
1:18
Speaker 2: after five years. It's an important time for our franchise.
1:25
Speaker 2: We have a strong foundation here, but changes need to
1:29
Speaker 2: be made. When I was introduced last year as JAM,
1:34
Speaker 2: we are very clear that I would have final say
1:36
Speaker 2: in hockey operations decisions. We may changes on and off
1:40
Speaker 2: the ice, to our players, to our coaches to strengthen
1:45
Speaker 2: this team. When I reflect back on the season, there
1:48
Speaker 2: are moments that I was very proud of. Going ten
1:52
Speaker 2: to five and two in January, playing seventeen games in
1:56
Speaker 2: a month, putting it ourselves in a position to be
2:01
Speaker 2: in a playoff spot at the Olympic break and at
2:05
Speaker 2: the trade deadline was something that was a big accomplishment
2:08
Speaker 2: for our group. We talked at the start of the
2:11
Speaker 2: year about wanting to be in the playoff hunt. We were,
2:16
Speaker 2: but ultimately we fell short. I think you saw that
2:22
Speaker 2: with our players last week at the exit meetings and
2:24
Speaker 2: at final interviews. There was disappointment. There was frustration. At
2:30
Speaker 2: the end of the day, not making the playoffs was
2:32
Speaker 2: a missed opportunity, especially for our division. This year, looking ahead,
2:39
Speaker 2: we will be very aggressive in finding ways to improve
2:42
Speaker 2: this team. We'll focus on players that can help and
2:48
Speaker 2: help our team play to lane standard, a team that
2:52
Speaker 2: plays with speed, that attacks and competes every night. We'll
2:58
Speaker 2: look at the free agent market, but that can't be
3:00
Speaker 2: our only avenue. We'll evaluate trades and we'll find creative
3:05
Speaker 2: ways of continuing to developing our young players next steps.
3:10
Speaker 2: We've always spoken to all of our players through exit meetings.
3:13
Speaker 2: We've begun internal discussions as an organization building towards next year.
3:20
Speaker 2: Todd will update you guys here in a couple of
3:22
Speaker 2: minutes just on where the audit review is and we
3:25
Speaker 2: plan to leverage those ideas and those suggestions in the
3:28
Speaker 2: upcoming months. I'll hand it to Todd and they certainly look
3:31
Speaker 2: forward to answering your questions.
3:34
Speaker 4: So that my comments at the press conference about a
3:39
Speaker 4: week and a half ago definitely drew some interest, and
3:42
Speaker 4: I'm happy to expand upon that. But you know, it's
3:46
Speaker 4: we're five years into it, and it's totally appropriate to
3:49
Speaker 4: stand back and lay fresh eyes on this. But it's
3:53
Speaker 4: it's not just an outsider, an outside group or a
3:56
Speaker 4: person that's going to help us do that. Over the
4:00
Speaker 4: last number of days, our owner has literally met with
4:02
Speaker 4: our team captains, our coaches, and you know, the positive
4:07
Speaker 4: thing about that is the guy to my left here
4:10
Speaker 4: supports that he's not threatened by the process. He's embracing it,
4:16
Speaker 4: and we will do an audit. We're talking to multiple
4:19
Speaker 4: people about their potential fit to help lead that. We've
4:23
Speaker 4: had inbound calls from other enterprises, and we're gonna get
4:29
Speaker 4: it right. There's no timeline to necessarily finish it, there's
4:34
Speaker 4: no timeline to officially commence it, but in fact it's
4:36
Speaker 4: already begun and we have an owner who's deeply committed
4:40
Speaker 4: to winning, and she came away I think from her
4:45
Speaker 4: discussions with the captains and the coaches, and she's got
4:49
Speaker 4: a clear vision that there's something great to be built
4:52
Speaker 4: on here. But we still have work to do, and
4:55
Speaker 4: so I'm happy to answer questions on that. I'll let
4:57
Speaker 4: you finish your remarks and if there's other question so
5:00
Speaker 4: I can answer on that, I'm happy to do it.
5:03
Speaker 5: Cool, good questions, Jason Todd, thank you very much for
5:09
Speaker 5: doing this here today. And first off, Lane Lambert said
5:13
Speaker 5: that he'd be working with you kind of with the
5:16
Speaker 5: changes maybe coming here to this roster potentially, So we've
5:19
Speaker 5: heard from the team about this with you know how
5:21
Speaker 5: quiet the locker room was at some points from this
5:24
Speaker 5: past season. So how much is culture going to be
5:26
Speaker 5: a part of the conversation with how this roster is
5:28
Speaker 5: potentially turned over for this next year.
5:30
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's always You're always working on your culture,
5:33
Speaker 2: You're always building on that. First off, I've enjoyed my
5:37
Speaker 2: conversations with Lane two at the season, and I'm certainly
5:39
Speaker 2: looking forward to We got coaches meetings this week assessing
5:43
Speaker 2: our entire group, and obviously culture is going to be
5:46
Speaker 2: a big part of it. I think it's always a
5:49
Speaker 2: unique mix. We were proud of our culture because we
5:52
Speaker 2: have players who want to be here. You look at
5:54
Speaker 2: our track record of resigning players who have come to
5:57
Speaker 2: our organization. It's, you know, whether you go Jordan really
6:00
Speaker 2: this year, Matti Bannier's Joy deccord. Players come here and
6:04
Speaker 2: they want to stay here. I think, you know, we
6:07
Speaker 2: have young players coming up through our system. I'm proud
6:10
Speaker 2: of our young players. They're very determined individuals to get
6:15
Speaker 2: to this NHL standard at such a young age. I
6:19
Speaker 2: think we utilized I want to say we utilize seven
6:22
Speaker 2: players under the age of twenty three. After the trade
6:25
Speaker 2: deadline and that's great experience for them, but it's it's
6:28
Speaker 2: you saw the intensity down the stretch. You saw the
6:31
Speaker 2: intensity of playoff hockey the last couple of days. Like,
6:36
Speaker 2: it's an experience for some of our younger players going
6:38
Speaker 2: through that, letting sort of mentoring them, teaching them that
6:43
Speaker 2: at is a big part of our future and what
6:47
Speaker 2: we have to do from a hockey office standpoint and
6:49
Speaker 2: a coaching standpoint for our younger players. Same thing within culture,
6:52
Speaker 2: like we have to continue to help Matti Beniirs continue
6:55
Speaker 2: to become a better leader. We have good human beings,
6:58
Speaker 2: good people in our locker room, but when they go
7:01
Speaker 2: through adversity, we have to find different ways of helping
7:04
Speaker 2: them through that process.
7:06
Speaker 5: With the trade market, we've heard about cap space that
7:08
Speaker 5: you can weaponize the picks that are available out there.
7:12
Speaker 5: Do you think that also prospects and young players are
7:14
Speaker 5: a resource that you can deal from here with this
7:16
Speaker 5: or is that kind of like a handsoff thing you think, no.
7:18
Speaker 3: One hundred percent there.
7:19
Speaker 2: We'll look at every way to utilize our players to
7:22
Speaker 2: improve our hockey team. It's putting them into different places
7:26
Speaker 2: and positions honor a National Hockey League team, or if
7:29
Speaker 2: it's something that can help us get more established players.
7:32
Speaker 2: We'll certainly look at it the exciting thing where we
7:35
Speaker 2: are now moving towards here now and then the next
7:37
Speaker 2: phase in is organization. These players are finally ready. I
7:40
Speaker 2: know maybe our fans and people are tired of talking
7:43
Speaker 2: about prospects, but you just look at this year like
7:46
Speaker 2: we finally had from our first draft. You know, Winterton
7:50
Speaker 2: and malantson coming in and being regulars in the National
7:53
Speaker 2: Hockey League. You look at the twenty two draft, you know,
7:56
Speaker 2: players such as Yanni Furcus on the defense end, Jugnaut Nelson,
8:00
Speaker 2: they're finally getting into position where they're ready to play. Unfortunately,
8:04
Speaker 2: we're not the NFL. It's you know, this week the
8:06
Speaker 2: people are players are gonna be drafted. They'll be in
8:07
Speaker 2: the in the NFL next week. It takes a longer
8:10
Speaker 2: process for these players to come through. What gets us
8:13
Speaker 2: excited is they're now pushing knocking down the door to
8:16
Speaker 2: play national hockey games. It's not just sort of oh,
8:18
Speaker 2: down the road three or four years. They're ready to
8:21
Speaker 2: play now.
8:23
Speaker 6: Jason, yep, last three years here, you haven't had more
8:25
Speaker 6: than eighty one points in the standings, missed the playoffs
8:27
Speaker 6: last three years. Obviously, where do you feel like the
8:31
Speaker 6: shortcomings are right now with this team to getting to
8:34
Speaker 6: where you want to be getting back into the playoff conversation.
8:37
Speaker 2: So I would say this year was different with excitement.
8:39
Speaker 2: Element was that we were part of a playoff race.
8:42
Speaker 2: You know, we weren't playing games in March or April,
8:45
Speaker 2: because you can say whether that's the quality of our
8:46
Speaker 2: team or just we were in a battle for playoff games.
8:51
Speaker 2: And I think that was a huge advantage for a
8:53
Speaker 2: player alike Berkeley, Catton, Ryker, ev and Shane Wright to
8:56
Speaker 2: experience that. So a little different than the previous years.
8:59
Speaker 2: If I do think think there's just a shortcoming, you
9:01
Speaker 2: look at anything from where we can have a big
9:03
Speaker 2: incremental improvement would be just our offense and creating more offense.
9:08
Speaker 2: And I think big part of that's not just you know,
9:11
Speaker 2: things in the offensive zone, but it's being sharper from
9:14
Speaker 2: a defensive standpoint, sharper the neutral zone, so we don't
9:16
Speaker 2: spend nearly as much time there. The other element that
9:19
Speaker 2: we have to continue to improve on is our special teams.
9:21
Speaker 2: I thought that was a real force. Our power play
9:25
Speaker 2: through to the Olympic break I want to say we
9:27
Speaker 2: were right around you know, top ten at the Olympic break,
9:30
Speaker 2: and that dropped off in March April. That's something that
9:33
Speaker 2: we have to continue to make sure is something that
9:37
Speaker 2: is an asset for us moving forward.
9:39
Speaker 3: Jason, yep.
9:41
Speaker 7: When you look back at the deadline, do you feel
9:44
Speaker 7: like you were able to accomplish what you would hope
9:47
Speaker 7: to do at the deadline? And then were you surprised
9:51
Speaker 7: I'm guessing yes, But were you surprised by the way
9:53
Speaker 7: this team is underperformed over the last you know, five
9:57
Speaker 7: weeks of the season.
10:00
Speaker 2: Surprise you know, I would say just say I think
10:03
Speaker 2: I'm with our players disappointed. I knew it was going
10:07
Speaker 2: to be a challenge. If you looked at it at
10:08
Speaker 2: the Olympic break, I was proud of where we got to,
10:14
Speaker 2: but you looked at the strength of schedule, I knew
10:15
Speaker 2: it was going to be a challenge. The unique element
10:18
Speaker 2: of the year or March and April. We knocked off Carolina,
10:23
Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, and Vegas, but struggled with other teams. And
10:29
Speaker 2: if you really look back, and there wasn't a lot
10:30
Speaker 2: of games where I was really frustrated with the team, like, oh,
10:35
Speaker 2: while we were gotten blown out. But you just look
10:37
Speaker 2: at the overall record from you know, the Olympic break
10:40
Speaker 2: on it was unacceptable. You know where I look at
10:46
Speaker 2: our team, there's you get to a trade deadline, you
10:50
Speaker 2: always want to add more to your group.
10:52
Speaker 3: You just do right.
10:53
Speaker 2: But my focus on at the trade dead one was
10:56
Speaker 2: I wanted to keep the group together and I wanted
10:58
Speaker 2: to add something just because because of reward them to
11:02
Speaker 2: the getting to that point. This wasn't a situation where
11:04
Speaker 2: I think we can make possibly find a way to
11:06
Speaker 2: get into the playoffs something. You know, we're sitting there
11:08
Speaker 2: at the Olympic break, We're sitting there at the trade
11:10
Speaker 2: line in a playoff position. That team deserved to be rewarded.
11:14
Speaker 2: That team deserved to stay together. The previous two years,
11:18
Speaker 2: I was part of it, and I completely agreed with it.
11:20
Speaker 2: We traded away players to get draft assets. It was
11:24
Speaker 2: a situation where one the team deserved to stay together,
11:27
Speaker 2: not sell off free agents, and two if we can
11:30
Speaker 2: add something to the mix. We certainly wanted to do
11:32
Speaker 2: that and brought Bobby in. I thought it was a
11:37
Speaker 2: good acquisition. I thought he fit in very well with
11:39
Speaker 2: our group. Relationship with Lane before so that relationship could
11:43
Speaker 2: get going right away. I think Bobby enjoyed playing a
11:45
Speaker 2: bigger role here and the things that our scouts in
11:48
Speaker 2: our R and D department had talked about, his assets
11:53
Speaker 2: that complement our group really well. His speed has shot
11:55
Speaker 2: into the net. I think fit in very well with
11:57
Speaker 2: our group then, especially with the injuries to Worts and McCann,
12:01
Speaker 2: I was very thankful that we had him there and stuff,
12:03
Speaker 2: And just to me, bringing a player like that in
12:06
Speaker 2: just allowed us to stay in a little bit longer
12:08
Speaker 2: into the battle and give hey, give some of our
12:10
Speaker 2: younger players more of an opportunity to be in the hunt.
12:13
Speaker 8: All right here really for either one of you, but
12:15
Speaker 8: just you know, you mentioned a fans perspective and maybe
12:18
Speaker 8: not wanting to talk about prospects at this point, but
12:20
Speaker 8: for fans who have been with you, guys who have
12:22
Speaker 8: been investing, who have been going to games for several
12:24
Speaker 8: years now and have been waiting for a winner, why
12:27
Speaker 8: should those fans be excited about the present and future
12:30
Speaker 8: of the crack And what would you say directly to
12:31
Speaker 8: those fans who have had their patients a little bit
12:34
Speaker 8: tested throughout this process.
12:35
Speaker 2: Well, I think just from the standpoint that our players
12:38
Speaker 2: are continuing to develop. Are the fact that we were
12:41
Speaker 2: in a playoff huntil a week to go in the season,
12:44
Speaker 2: the things that I just mentioned and stuff too, the
12:46
Speaker 2: fact that we had seven players under the age of
12:49
Speaker 2: twenty three or twenty three and under play in playoff
12:52
Speaker 2: or in the playoff hunt games. From that standpoint, you
12:54
Speaker 2: look at our team in Coachilla Valley here right now,
12:56
Speaker 2: I think we're the youngest team in the American Hockey
12:58
Speaker 2: League going into the playoffs this this week. So the
13:02
Speaker 2: players are continuing to produce and continue to develop. The
13:05
Speaker 2: other element is just yes, we have draft picks. We
13:07
Speaker 2: have high draft picks. We have four first rounders in
13:10
Speaker 2: the next two years. Whether that's bringing higher end talent
13:13
Speaker 2: into our organization or looking at possibly using that from
13:18
Speaker 2: a trade perspective. To me, this is what we need
13:21
Speaker 2: to continue to bring. We'll bring There's going to be
13:23
Speaker 2: a lot of NHL ers in our group that we
13:24
Speaker 2: have coming up. Continuing to find high end talent. That's
13:27
Speaker 2: what we're mandating and that's what we're looking for for sure.
13:31
Speaker 4: And I'll just add that, you know, I think that
13:34
Speaker 4: when you look holistically, what this ownership group has done
13:37
Speaker 4: in Samantha and our other investors. We've done a lot
13:41
Speaker 4: right here. We sit in what I believe is the
13:44
Speaker 4: best training facility in the NHL. I believe our arena
13:47
Speaker 4: is arguably the most beautiful arena in the world. Tonight,
13:51
Speaker 4: the Torrent will play in front of a massive crowd.
13:56
Speaker 4: We have done a lot right here. This is the
13:59
Speaker 4: most important piece to me personally, is to get this right.
14:03
Speaker 4: I've had a pretty good track record with organizations and
14:06
Speaker 4: being part of winning organizations. We have all the DNA
14:09
Speaker 4: here to be a great organization and we are going
14:11
Speaker 4: to push hard. Our owner, Samantha Halloway, is going to
14:14
Speaker 4: have it no other way. And when we talked about this,
14:18
Speaker 4: you know, sort of audit and it has drawn a
14:20
Speaker 4: lot of interest. You know, that's that's the way she
14:24
Speaker 4: wants it. We are going to examine and turn over
14:27
Speaker 4: every rock, no stone unturned to get this team kicked
14:31
Speaker 4: to another gear. And when you look at all the
14:34
Speaker 4: other pieces that we put in place, the hard, hard
14:37
Speaker 4: work of doing this, the improbability of a privately funded arena,
14:42
Speaker 4: all the way through this journey. For me, for the
14:44
Speaker 4: last eight years, there have been doubters, but I've been
14:47
Speaker 4: a constant believer, and I believe that we are going
14:49
Speaker 4: to get this to a good place, and I think
14:52
Speaker 4: the majority of our fans do. I will say this,
14:55
Speaker 4: I think we as a community have some of the
14:57
Speaker 4: greatest fans in the whole world, and right at the
15:00
Speaker 4: front of the line or the Kraken fans who have
15:03
Speaker 4: made our building an incredible place to go night after night.
15:06
Speaker 4: They've cheered their hearts out, They've fallen in love with
15:09
Speaker 4: this team, and they do deserve a winner.
15:13
Speaker 9: So Todd, I know you said you're going to leave
15:15
Speaker 9: no stone on turn looking for that solution, and I
15:17
Speaker 9: know that audit's still ahead of you. But if it
15:20
Speaker 9: is determined, say by the audit or by hockey ops,
15:23
Speaker 9: that maybe taking a step back or a transition year
15:26
Speaker 9: next season would be best for the team in the
15:29
Speaker 9: long run, is that something that ownership would sign off
15:32
Speaker 9: on or is that a non starter for you?
15:33
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think that. I don't want to
15:35
Speaker 4: speak for Sam, but I will share that. You know,
15:38
Speaker 4: I think she feels that, you know, the adversity that
15:41
Speaker 4: came after the Olympic break, but by the way, we
15:43
Speaker 4: had a great Olympic break. We were feeling really good
15:46
Speaker 4: about the team, and that was a really hard period
15:49
Speaker 4: of time. None of us were happy, and I've said
15:51
Speaker 4: that before, but we're going to put this adversity to
15:54
Speaker 4: good use and we are going to examine exactly where
15:57
Speaker 4: we are in this journey. And the goal is not
15:59
Speaker 4: just to make the playoffs. The goal is to build
16:01
Speaker 4: a long term winning team. And as Jason said, I
16:04
Speaker 4: think the pieces are in place. I think our ownership
16:06
Speaker 4: feels that we've got to add to those pieces. We've
16:10
Speaker 4: got critical pieces in place. We've got to add and
16:12
Speaker 4: push this to another level. And there was a consistency.
16:16
Speaker 4: The audit didn't isn't going to begin next week or
16:18
Speaker 4: in two weeks. It's actually going on now. And it's
16:21
Speaker 4: interesting the feedback that comes from coaches and players. There
16:25
Speaker 4: is a consistency of saying, you know, we want we
16:29
Speaker 4: want this to be a winner. We think the pieces
16:31
Speaker 4: are here. We've got to push harder and hold everyone
16:33
Speaker 4: more accountable. And that's really what that's that's all about.
16:37
Speaker 4: I'll make one last comment that since the season ended, uh,
16:42
Speaker 4: you know, Jason has leaned in and things do feel
16:47
Speaker 4: like they're a little different for him in this offseason
16:50
Speaker 4: and just the engagement of Lane Lambert, for instance, I've
16:53
Speaker 4: been doing this for a long time. You know, he's
16:57
Speaker 4: got Lane and meetings where I hadn't seen him before.
17:01
Speaker 4: And Lane is having direct discussions with the owner and
17:05
Speaker 4: there is total transparency going on with the organization and
17:09
Speaker 4: it's it's encouraging.
17:13
Speaker 10: Jason.
17:14
Speaker 11: We've seen teams go a decade or longer recently without
17:17
Speaker 11: making the playoffs, and they probably didn't think it would
17:20
Speaker 11: take that long to get back. What is your process
17:22
Speaker 11: for identifying if the Kraken are headed in that direction?
17:25
Speaker 11: And if you or the audit determine that they are
17:28
Speaker 11: headed in that direction, what is your plan to turn
17:31
Speaker 11: things around?
17:32
Speaker 2: Well, look, I believe we're in a role where when
17:35
Speaker 2: we're closer to the playoffs this past year than we've
17:37
Speaker 2: been in the previous that we just talked about. Plus,
17:39
Speaker 2: we have a pluth thorow of young players coming through
17:41
Speaker 2: a system where we're not a declining area.
17:44
Speaker 3: We've talked about.
17:45
Speaker 2: Probably forwards being an area where we have to continue
17:48
Speaker 2: to develop and add to that group. That's where we've drafted,
17:53
Speaker 2: that's where we've taken our high picks. That's where you
17:56
Speaker 2: know a player we haven't even talked about yet like
17:58
Speaker 2: a guy like Jacobrien who's having an outsetting season that
18:00
Speaker 2: we drafted last year, probably turning pro next year. Where
18:03
Speaker 2: is that going from that bit? So to me, the
18:05
Speaker 2: fact that that's been a focus of our organizations from
18:07
Speaker 2: day one and that's a sort of a key area
18:10
Speaker 2: for us moving forward. It gives us a lot of
18:13
Speaker 2: promise and a lot of belief that we're heading in
18:15
Speaker 2: the right direction.
18:17
Speaker 12: Hey, Jason, to seven players that are under twenty three,
18:22
Speaker 12: two parts here. One is what did you like about
18:24
Speaker 12: those players? Anybody stand out things that maybe even somebody
18:28
Speaker 12: had a schedule. And then secondly, can you talk a
18:30
Speaker 12: little bit about lax and the process try the process
18:34
Speaker 12: down in Coachalla Valley.
18:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I would just say, like what I like
18:37
Speaker 2: about our group of young Fords coming is just how
18:40
Speaker 2: diverse they are. I think you saw that this year
18:44
Speaker 2: with Jacob Mallanson bringing bringing energy, bringing a physicality to
18:47
Speaker 2: the mix that I think our team really needs. I
18:52
Speaker 2: also liked the fact that you know, we saw growth
18:56
Speaker 2: in Ryan Winterton this year. Young man dealt with a
19:02
Speaker 2: lot this year and every time he was in the lineup,
19:04
Speaker 2: he was a big impact. And when he wasn't his
19:06
Speaker 2: speed was something that we were missing. But to me,
19:10
Speaker 2: he's shown big growth and utilizing that speed, becoming a
19:16
Speaker 2: consistent NHLer and now it's exciting to see where his
19:19
Speaker 2: development's going to go in the next couple of years.
19:22
Speaker 2: Here another one, I'll just bring up his Oscar mollguard
19:25
Speaker 2: for first year kid coming over from Europe, the fact
19:28
Speaker 2: they got to play in the Olympics for Denmark. His versatility,
19:32
Speaker 2: but you know, his two way play. I think he's
19:35
Speaker 2: a player I think very similar to in Berkeley Catton.
19:39
Speaker 2: These players with high end hockey sense. They learn, they
19:42
Speaker 2: take the offseason to really figure out their different experiences
19:46
Speaker 2: and really take a big step in year two. And
19:48
Speaker 2: so we'll be expecting from both of them. But the
19:51
Speaker 2: one player that I was disappointed that just because from
19:53
Speaker 2: an interstandpoint, we couldn't get up at the end of
19:55
Speaker 2: the year was Furcus Jagger. Fercus, to me, he took
19:58
Speaker 2: a big step down in Coachella Valley. Talk a little
20:00
Speaker 2: bit about what lacks is Derek lax Den, Troy Body've
20:04
Speaker 2: done down there. You look at all the numbers, it's
20:06
Speaker 2: it's not just this year, it's almost historical. How young
20:09
Speaker 2: our team's been down there, especially our defense corps. The
20:13
Speaker 2: fact that they were able to survive at the start
20:15
Speaker 2: of the season and then really thrive in the second half.
20:18
Speaker 2: They're certainly going to have a very difficult matchup against Bakersfield,
20:22
Speaker 2: a little bit more of a veteran team in the
20:23
Speaker 2: first round here, but we're ecstatic with the job that
20:26
Speaker 2: they've done down there in all positions. I think our
20:29
Speaker 2: forwards are a little bit more NHL ready, but how
20:33
Speaker 2: young our defense corp are. Having a player like Jugnath
20:36
Speaker 2: make the All Rookie team down there was outstanding. And
20:39
Speaker 2: you know the thing getting back to Furcus, you know
20:41
Speaker 2: him and Morrison this year and Yanni when they were
20:44
Speaker 2: down there were a dominant line and for all those
20:46
Speaker 2: to be young kids and to be circled in the
20:49
Speaker 2: American Hockey League is hey, when you're playing another team,
20:51
Speaker 2: they were circling those guys on the board. The this
20:53
Speaker 2: is who we have to stop. That's a big challenge.
20:56
Speaker 2: And for someone like Ferkus, who was you know, sort
21:00
Speaker 2: of finding his way last year to being a go
21:02
Speaker 2: to player this year, fun to see and we look
21:05
Speaker 2: forward to seeing them in then HL And in your
21:07
Speaker 2: future question for Todd.
21:10
Speaker 13: There's a lot of profranchise in this country that you
21:12
Speaker 13: can look easy. Oh, they don't have the support, they
21:14
Speaker 13: don't have this this as you describe this franchise clearly
21:16
Speaker 13: has that support, the investment, a lot of good things
21:18
Speaker 13: going on here. So with that said, when you have that,
21:21
Speaker 13: can it make it that much more difficult to figure
21:23
Speaker 13: out what exactly needs to be done to take that
21:25
Speaker 13: next step because there's a lot of things being done right,
21:27
Speaker 13: it just isn't necessarily showing up in the way you want.
21:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that if you have if you have
21:33
Speaker 4: challenges outside of the things you've addressed, then it's a
21:37
Speaker 4: real challenge because it's hard enough, you know. But I
21:42
Speaker 4: think we have so many of the right pieces in place,
21:45
Speaker 4: and you know, one of the things that Samantha talked
21:47
Speaker 4: to the players about on the outbound is do you
21:50
Speaker 4: like playing here? And they view us as an absolute
21:53
Speaker 4: first rate organization, But they did talk a little bit
21:58
Speaker 4: about the perception Seattle has from around the country and
22:01
Speaker 4: how they believe there's a little bit of work to
22:03
Speaker 4: be done travel and leisure. I'm not sure they're reporting
22:08
Speaker 4: here at this press conference, but some weeks ago they
22:13
Speaker 4: raided the best cities to live in the world, and
22:16
Speaker 4: we were the best city in the US and ranked
22:19
Speaker 4: number three in their study of worldwide cities, and they
22:22
Speaker 4: factored in lots of things. But this is a great
22:27
Speaker 4: community and we have a passion for it, and we've
22:30
Speaker 4: got to do a better job of telling that story
22:32
Speaker 4: and promoting that to the other players. It is a
22:34
Speaker 4: long way to travel, Jason's team travels more miles than
22:39
Speaker 4: most any other team, but we've tried to compensate on
22:43
Speaker 4: that by making this place that the players and their
22:46
Speaker 4: families want to be. And the reason that Sam asked
22:49
Speaker 4: the players that is that's very much on her mind.
22:52
Speaker 4: How do we become absolutely best in class as a
22:55
Speaker 4: place that the players and their families not only want
22:58
Speaker 4: to come, but want to spend their career.
23:01
Speaker 14: You touched on this briefly, but what makes you confident
23:04
Speaker 14: that Lane is the right guy for this job, for
23:07
Speaker 14: this group, And what's your impression of how they felt
23:10
Speaker 14: working under him, and just kind of the buy in
23:12
Speaker 14: of the group Except for me.
23:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, what I would say about Lane is just
23:23
Speaker 2: to me, he came as advertised when we're going I
23:26
Speaker 2: did not know Lane very well heading into the interview process.
23:30
Speaker 2: You go through the interview process, you get a feel
23:31
Speaker 2: for a person. There's always a chance that they trick you.
23:36
Speaker 2: But I would say what Lane presented to us is
23:40
Speaker 2: exactly how he was throughout this season. He was direct
23:44
Speaker 2: with our players, He was intense, he was accountable, and
23:51
Speaker 2: I think our players appreciated that. I thought on practices,
23:56
Speaker 2: there was a clear mindset what had to happen in practice.
24:00
Speaker 2: I liked that it wasn't just an old school sort
24:03
Speaker 2: of thought process about the year with such a condensed schedule,
24:06
Speaker 2: especially in December when we were going through that one
24:08
Speaker 2: nine and one stretch, You know, it wasn't a scenario
24:12
Speaker 2: where we just have to practice, practice, practice. What do
24:15
Speaker 2: we have to do? What do we have to get
24:16
Speaker 2: the rest, get this this team back on track. Probably
24:19
Speaker 2: one of the bigger things that surprised me and just
24:21
Speaker 2: I enjoyed a lot was on the off days or
24:24
Speaker 2: on our practice day, just the discussion with him on
24:27
Speaker 2: what do we have to do with some of our
24:28
Speaker 2: younger players from a development standpoint, and I shouldn't even
24:31
Speaker 2: say younger players. It was also a summer veterans struggling
24:35
Speaker 2: with a wall play or struggling around front of the net.
24:38
Speaker 2: Just what do we have to get, you know, justin
24:40
Speaker 2: Rye or just Campbell to be working with him. So
24:43
Speaker 2: that sort of wide range of opinions and viewpoints was
24:48
Speaker 2: something that I thought he did a very good job
24:51
Speaker 2: and certainly look forward to figuring things out with him
24:54
Speaker 2: over the next few weeks here in preparation for next season.
24:57
Speaker 15: Jason, there's been a lot of talk about the younger players.
24:59
Speaker 15: I'm curious what you make of Jared McCann's comments from
25:01
Speaker 15: a few days ago, but the younger players needing to
25:03
Speaker 15: buy in, needing to take losing more seriously, and just
25:07
Speaker 15: the nature of, you know.
25:08
Speaker 3: What's going on in there.
25:09
Speaker 2: Look, I think we're all disappointed, like we've said before,
25:12
Speaker 2: right of not finding a way to get into the playoffs.
25:17
Speaker 2: I would say this about our younger players. They're determined,
25:22
Speaker 2: there's a drive in them. There's a reason why they're
25:24
Speaker 2: in the National Hockey League at such a young age.
25:27
Speaker 2: That being said, this was an experience for them just
25:31
Speaker 2: being a part of a playoff push and realizing, Wow,
25:33
Speaker 2: how much intense it really goes into a game, how
25:36
Speaker 2: much harder it is get to the front of the net.
25:40
Speaker 2: You know, it was just, Hey, this is a discussion
25:42
Speaker 2: I had with Berkeley Caton. You know, one of the
25:44
Speaker 2: last few games in Vegas, he was driving the net.
25:46
Speaker 2: There was a loose puck there and you just just
25:49
Speaker 2: couldn't get there, right. You just realize how fast you
25:51
Speaker 2: have to get there and utilize your size. There's an
25:54
Speaker 2: intensity to the National Hockey League playoffs and this year
25:57
Speaker 2: with the Olympic break, it really started than in there.
26:01
Speaker 2: So these are the things that are our young players
26:04
Speaker 2: learn from. And this is important from both hockey oup
26:06
Speaker 2: stand and coaching standpoint to educate our players on it
26:09
Speaker 2: to make sure that they're more prepared moving forward.
26:13
Speaker 15: Also at the beginning here that you've had final say
26:15
Speaker 15: for the past year now, and God a couple of
26:16
Speaker 15: weeks ago said that final decisions are uniquely yours. So
26:20
Speaker 15: how much influence did Ron have in the decision making
26:23
Speaker 15: process this past year when that change was made, And
26:26
Speaker 15: what's going to be different now that he's out.
26:27
Speaker 3: Of the picture.
26:32
Speaker 2: So it was it was certainly an emotional time. Ron
26:37
Speaker 2: as a mentor, Rowan as a friend, and I really
26:42
Speaker 2: enjoyed working with him, and it was it was an
26:44
Speaker 2: emotional time for a lot of people in this organization.
26:47
Speaker 2: You go to most organizations. Here's an example.
26:49
Speaker 3: I was. I was hired in Pittsburgh. I played. I
26:52
Speaker 3: worked in Pittsburgh for ten years. You know.
26:54
Speaker 2: Some people were hired there by Jim Rutherford, others were
26:56
Speaker 2: by Racehio, somewhere, Craig Patrick. Everybody in this order organization
27:00
Speaker 2: and hockey ops was hired by Ron Francis. So it
27:03
Speaker 2: was emotional from that standpoint.
27:06
Speaker 3: You know.
27:07
Speaker 2: Throughout this year, I certainly talked with Ron on on
27:12
Speaker 2: a lot of different opinions and different things. His focus
27:16
Speaker 2: was mainly working with ownership, looking at the bigger picture
27:20
Speaker 2: of things, looking at things with a sort of a
27:22
Speaker 2: long term range within our organization. But you know I
27:26
Speaker 2: certainly ran things by him a lot from that standpoint.
27:28
Speaker 2: But yes, the final decision was always from that bit.
27:33
Speaker 2: Our focus now as a group here is you know,
27:36
Speaker 2: I think there's always a difference. As much as Ron
27:39
Speaker 2: is a mentor and friend, we all have different sort
27:42
Speaker 2: of approaches to going about things, different personalities, different ways
27:45
Speaker 2: we structure meetings, different ways we interact with players. All
27:49
Speaker 2: I can tell you is like the way I operate
27:52
Speaker 2: with my staff is certainly direct communication, try to make
27:56
Speaker 2: sure they have clear goals and clear understanding what they're
27:59
Speaker 2: doing moving forward.
27:59
Speaker 3: Here.
28:01
Speaker 2: Will continue to be very aggressive in trying to one
28:05
Speaker 2: interact with my own staff, but also just building this
28:08
Speaker 2: team and making sure the staff understands where we're at
28:11
Speaker 2: as an organization. And then to me, excuse me, Todd's
28:15
Speaker 2: touchdown it a little bit. Just continue to make sure
28:18
Speaker 2: our players feel comfortable being in Seattle and anyone who
28:21
Speaker 2: comes into our organization. You can talk about Bobby McMahon
28:23
Speaker 2: here at the trade inline and the free agents we've had,
28:27
Speaker 2: they have been very impressed with, you know, the support
28:31
Speaker 2: move into Seattle, the resourcess we have at the facility here,
28:35
Speaker 2: the resources we have from strength and conditioning, the food.
28:39
Speaker 2: It's it's very impressive from that standpoint. So we feel
28:42
Speaker 2: we're doing a lot well there. But we'll continue to
28:44
Speaker 2: work on that and then just continue to find people
28:47
Speaker 2: and employees who love being in the Pacific Northwest, being
28:52
Speaker 2: a part of our group here, being a part of
28:53
Speaker 2: the community. So that's how I'll operate and continue to
28:57
Speaker 2: work with. But you know, I would also say, just
29:01
Speaker 2: as as our staff, I think there's people in our
29:04
Speaker 2: staff here who is ready to take on bigger roles,
29:07
Speaker 2: and I'll certainly lean on them, and then we'll continue
29:10
Speaker 2: to look at different ways of adding people to our
29:13
Speaker 2: organization over the next couple of months. I think last
29:15
Speaker 2: year we added Ryan Jankowski to the mix as an
29:18
Speaker 2: assistant GM, and that was a big addition for us,
29:20
Speaker 2: just bringing in some new thoughts, some new experiences, a
29:24
Speaker 2: different perception, and I think that's really helped our group
29:27
Speaker 2: move forward here.
29:30
Speaker 4: The food was a little bit of an issue the
29:32
Speaker 4: first year. We had a nutritionist who didn't think ketchup
29:37
Speaker 4: should be on the table, and you know, there's a
29:40
Speaker 4: lot of good Canadian kids like that's more important than
29:43
Speaker 4: that's the vegetable, all right, So we ended up fixing that.
29:46
Speaker 4: But since the food's been pretty good and we're scoring
29:49
Speaker 4: high on that.
29:49
Speaker 2: So do you remember that those are deep conversations making
29:53
Speaker 2: the cracking better?
29:55
Speaker 14: Jason, how would you assess the leadership group in the
29:58
Speaker 14: locker room? Obviously, when you guys traded Yanni Gord last year,
30:01
Speaker 14: you lost a letter, you didn't get out a new one.
30:03
Speaker 14: Just kind of how would you assess the what you
30:04
Speaker 14: saw from them this year and then maybe what changes
30:07
Speaker 14: you might look for moving forward.
30:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're always looking to add to your
30:10
Speaker 2: leadership group. What I would say with our leadership group
30:13
Speaker 2: right now is we have players who have been in
30:15
Speaker 2: the National Hockey League a long time, have experience, certainly
30:18
Speaker 2: go out of the way to make our younger players
30:20
Speaker 2: feel a part of the group.
30:21
Speaker 3: Here.
30:22
Speaker 2: You saw Chandler Stevenson step up this year and had
30:26
Speaker 2: taken Berkeley Catton. You know, I think there's a real
30:32
Speaker 2: connection to the area of the people. You know, just
30:36
Speaker 2: whether it's Jordan every pointed out to where to go
30:38
Speaker 2: to eat, where you know, where the best options are.
30:41
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of communication from that standpoint.
30:44
Speaker 2: I think from you know, it's especially with some of
30:47
Speaker 2: our younger players who have now been around a little bit.
30:49
Speaker 2: I'm looking a lot at Maddie from that standpoint. I
30:52
Speaker 2: know he wants to take on more of a leadership role.
30:54
Speaker 2: There's certain things that I would just say behind the
30:56
Speaker 2: scenes that we see him moving into bigger roles, taking
30:59
Speaker 2: on more responsibilit We do have a quiet room, but
31:02
Speaker 2: he's one of the ones who always tries to be
31:04
Speaker 2: a little bit more vocal and try to bring the
31:07
Speaker 2: group together. And I think He's kind of a great
31:09
Speaker 2: mix between our veteran players who have been around a
31:11
Speaker 2: little bit and these young players who are coming up
31:13
Speaker 2: from Coachella Valley. And I would say with just those
31:17
Speaker 2: two players, you know, Maddie, he has an ability with
31:21
Speaker 2: his background to really interact with anybody and find a
31:24
Speaker 2: way whether you're from Saskatoon or whether you're from Helsinki,
31:28
Speaker 2: he seems to find an ability to interact with you
31:30
Speaker 2: and communicate with you. And we also saw that with
31:33
Speaker 2: Berkeley cat in the day we were drafted him, you know,
31:36
Speaker 2: the next day when all the other picks were in
31:38
Speaker 2: Vegas there, you know, we had a little you know,
31:41
Speaker 2: hospitality hour afterwards, and there's Berkeley sort of holding fort
31:44
Speaker 2: with everybody from that standpoint. So it's great bringing these
31:46
Speaker 2: players who have been leaders in the different spots and
31:49
Speaker 2: we understand there it takes time for them to become
31:52
Speaker 2: leaders at the national hockey level, but it's something that
31:54
Speaker 2: we have to continue to work with and continue to
31:56
Speaker 2: deal with. But lastly, just getting back to what I
31:59
Speaker 2: did like a lot about our leadership group is to me,
32:01
Speaker 2: there's always growth, just like there's growth with our team here.
32:04
Speaker 2: But I felt Lane had a direct line with the
32:06
Speaker 2: leadership group, and to me, that's the biggest area right there,
32:09
Speaker 2: is that communication moving forward.
32:14
Speaker 16: Todd and Jason. Great to see here. We're in kind
32:19
Speaker 16: of a bookend situation with the new teams to the NHL.
32:23
Speaker 16: They're both playing each other in the playoffs right now.
32:25
Speaker 16: With Vegas, you know, like the gold Standard only missed
32:28
Speaker 16: the playoffs one year, but the community really rallying around
32:34
Speaker 16: that team. Of course it's the first ever team that
32:38
Speaker 16: they've ever had, first major pro team down in Vegas
32:42
Speaker 16: and now ranks all over that town. With Utah, you know,
32:47
Speaker 16: missing the playoffs in the first year, barely now in
32:51
Speaker 16: the playoffs in year number two. But you know, their
32:55
Speaker 16: owner Ryan Smith before the before the team even touchdown,
33:01
Speaker 16: putting together this huge, you know, all inclusive party for
33:04
Speaker 16: the fans and stuff like that Seattle when we started
33:09
Speaker 16: Beautiful Arena, beautiful expansion draft party. But a lot of
33:14
Speaker 16: people brought in from out of town to work with
33:17
Speaker 16: this team and for this team, some locals being jaded
33:21
Speaker 16: or or jilted hockey programs not well connected with when
33:28
Speaker 16: you look at Utah in Vegas, both on the ice
33:34
Speaker 16: and with the with the experience of the team both
33:37
Speaker 16: on and off the ice. What does that look like
33:40
Speaker 16: when you say things are going to change moving forward?
33:44
Speaker 4: Let me let me say a couple of things. I'm
33:47
Speaker 4: immensely proud of what we've done in the hockey community.
33:51
Speaker 4: We built this facility and some said why build onto
33:55
Speaker 4: an existing and our ownership had a huge commitment. I
33:59
Speaker 4: think we have the best trend center. I think we
34:01
Speaker 4: literally changed lives. We have a group here today called
34:04
Speaker 4: REWOP Refugee Women's Association. They've been with us from day one.
34:08
Speaker 4: These kids, not when they came and learned to skate,
34:10
Speaker 4: they learned about life here and they're here with us
34:14
Speaker 4: every week. There's incredible mission in what we've done. In
34:17
Speaker 4: this same ownership Samantha Holloway is building Memorial Stadium. I
34:23
Speaker 4: don't know. I've worked in this business for a long time.
34:25
Speaker 4: I've never worked for a more committed owner, and so
34:28
Speaker 4: I'm immntally proud. And unlike those other teams, we had
34:33
Speaker 4: to do something different. We had to build an arena
34:36
Speaker 4: and it was privately financed, and there's not many of
34:39
Speaker 4: those in the land. This was of immense difficulty in
34:44
Speaker 4: what we did. No drama, no taxpayer money, no going
34:49
Speaker 4: back saying there's COVID, we need help. We did it
34:51
Speaker 4: the hard way, and so you know, there's things that
34:56
Speaker 4: we grade ourselves all the time, and there's things that
35:00
Speaker 4: we're not getting the grades that we want, but there's
35:03
Speaker 4: a lot of things where we get high grades, and
35:05
Speaker 4: I'm proud of it. And so that's part of why
35:09
Speaker 4: I'm so confident that we're going to get the hockey
35:12
Speaker 4: piece right here, because so many other things have right
35:15
Speaker 4: And it's the same ownership pushing and I'm proud of
35:19
Speaker 4: our ownership. Samantha's here virtually every day, and this is
35:25
Speaker 4: as connected and committed as an ownership group as I've
35:27
Speaker 4: ever worked with.
35:28
Speaker 6: So flat cap Era presented its own unique challenges now
35:35
Speaker 6: that the CAP's kind of going up and teams going
35:37
Speaker 6: to afford to kind of keep their stars if they
35:39
Speaker 6: want to. What do you see as being the big
35:41
Speaker 6: challenge and trying to go get frontline pieces with the
35:44
Speaker 6: way the player kind of management's going with the cap
35:48
Speaker 6: and everything at this point in time.
35:49
Speaker 2: No, I think that's you know right there, it's one
35:52
Speaker 2: of the big challenges moving forward here. Now there is
35:54
Speaker 2: a lot more cap space available in the market. I
35:57
Speaker 2: think you're going to have a lot more budget teams
35:59
Speaker 2: than just cap teams now, so those are things to
36:01
Speaker 2: certainly focus in on as possible trade partners there. But
36:05
Speaker 2: I think you're just even seeing it with this free
36:07
Speaker 2: agent market this year. Will continue to be aggressive there,
36:09
Speaker 2: but it's it's there's not a plethora of players out there,
36:14
Speaker 2: certainly high end players, because teams have just had the
36:16
Speaker 2: cap space to certainly resign their own guys. So I
36:19
Speaker 2: think it just goes to show you the importance of
36:21
Speaker 2: drafting and development. And then also too that I just
36:24
Speaker 2: added is like, you know, it's finding the right trade
36:27
Speaker 2: partners to make hockey deals, and that's what where we'll
36:29
Speaker 2: certainly be aggressive on with that in mind.
36:32
Speaker 6: How big a priority is it to try to keep
36:34
Speaker 6: Bobby McMahon here then, given given that and the fact
36:37
Speaker 6: that he's been here and Ben shown he can be
36:38
Speaker 6: a scorer for you, and how does he kind of
36:40
Speaker 6: affect duringto your plans.
36:41
Speaker 2: Here those you know, look, as we said before, we
36:43
Speaker 2: were very happy of getting Bobby. You know, he he's
36:47
Speaker 2: certainly delivered what we wanted to from that perspective. You know,
36:51
Speaker 2: we also saw off the ice, just our interaction with Bobby.
36:54
Speaker 2: He's very serious about his craft about continue to improve
36:59
Speaker 2: his game. I think he certainly enjoyed working with our
37:02
Speaker 2: coaching staff and our development staff on just his own game.
37:05
Speaker 2: From that standpoint, you know, he fit for for someone
37:09
Speaker 2: who just came in recently, sticking around with our team
37:12
Speaker 2: for a little bit, sticking around the area to get
37:13
Speaker 2: to know a little bit more. We clearly going to
37:15
Speaker 2: stand Bobby's going to have options as we move forward here.
37:18
Speaker 2: We've been in touch with his agents. We'll certainly keep
37:20
Speaker 2: those dialogues going to see if we can get a fit.
37:24
Speaker 17: Your question about the audit you mentioned, you know earlier,
37:27
Speaker 17: just touching on it a little bit as much as
37:29
Speaker 17: you can, What exactly does it look like in terms
37:32
Speaker 17: of working with an entity and individual?
37:34
Speaker 3: How much can you divulge about.
37:35
Speaker 17: Where you guys stand on the audit of getting that started.
37:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so you know it's we've we're talking to
37:41
Speaker 4: a number of individuals. There are a couple of firms
37:44
Speaker 4: that have we're considering will work. They will work shoulder
37:50
Speaker 4: to shoulder with Jason, which is a terrific thing. He's
37:53
Speaker 4: not threatened by it, he's encouraging it. The report will
37:57
Speaker 4: land on the owner's desk, and it's really not going
38:01
Speaker 4: to look at just near term. It's going to say,
38:04
Speaker 4: what over the course of the five years that we've
38:06
Speaker 4: done well, what are our core competencies and what are
38:08
Speaker 4: the things we can improve upon. We have some suspicions
38:12
Speaker 4: is what those opportunities are going to be to get better.
38:16
Speaker 4: But it's really a cool thing that the owner and
38:20
Speaker 4: our hockey organization want to lay fresh eyes on this
38:25
Speaker 4: to not only validate what we think, but also potentially
38:29
Speaker 4: to uncover things that might be sources of opportunity to fix,
38:34
Speaker 4: but also sources of strength that we haven't fully accounted for.
38:38
Speaker 4: So it's going to be a busy offseason and you
38:43
Speaker 4: know that's ongoing right now.
38:46
Speaker 17: Or something you mentioned your previous experience with plenty of
38:49
Speaker 17: other sports franchises. Is this something that you've engaged in
38:52
Speaker 17: with some of those other teams, or where did this.
38:54
Speaker 4: Kind of company has And you know, I've walked into
38:56
Speaker 4: some challenging situations. You know, I've yet to get hired
39:01
Speaker 4: somewhere where everything was running perfectly, And you know, this
39:05
Speaker 4: situation for the last eight years has had as great
39:09
Speaker 4: a challenges as I've ever had in my career, but
39:12
Speaker 4: there were challenges at the Seahawks, or we're certainly challenges
39:14
Speaker 4: with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and you know, occasionally periodically
39:22
Speaker 4: getting fresh perspectives is super helpful, and that's what we're going.
39:25
Speaker 3: To do there.
39:28
Speaker 10: We talked a bit about some of the prospects you
39:30
Speaker 10: already have in the organization, some of the constraints you're under.
39:32
Speaker 10: But this off season, based on what you see this
39:36
Speaker 10: this is for Jason, based on what you think this
39:38
Speaker 10: team needs. What is on your wish list.
39:42
Speaker 3: My biggest wish list.
39:43
Speaker 2: Obviously we've talked about looking at everything available, like, look,
39:47
Speaker 2: when you don't make the playoffs, you have to look
39:48
Speaker 2: at everything that's out there. But to me, the biggest
39:51
Speaker 2: thing is just changing your mix. From a forward standpoint.
39:53
Speaker 2: We're excited about some of the younger players coming in,
39:55
Speaker 2: but we don't we obviously understand that young players can't
39:58
Speaker 2: step into top line role right off the bat. If
40:01
Speaker 2: we can find a mix of you know, adding a
40:04
Speaker 2: player or two that have more of a track record
40:07
Speaker 2: of producing the National Hockey League also too, you know,
40:11
Speaker 2: we know exactly how Lane wants to play. Play with
40:14
Speaker 2: a lot of assertiveness, aggression, speed, if we can, can
40:18
Speaker 2: you find players that are going to willing to go
40:20
Speaker 2: the net and just create more chances there. And I
40:22
Speaker 2: think that those are the biggest things that we'll be
40:23
Speaker 2: focused on.
40:25
Speaker 10: And a couple of weeks ago, Todd, you said, we're
40:27
Speaker 10: going to go back to the model we started with.
40:29
Speaker 10: We were going to have a GM who makes the decisions.
40:32
Speaker 10: What are some of like based on that, what what
40:36
Speaker 10: are some of the responsibilities that maybe we're split that
40:39
Speaker 10: have kind of come into come into your court.
40:42
Speaker 3: Well, let let me see.
40:43
Speaker 2: Just be direct, Like I felt in everything from a
40:46
Speaker 2: hockey ops decision that I had the final say on it.
40:50
Speaker 2: Over the past year, I I I had numerous conversations
40:54
Speaker 2: with Ron. I always felt I could rely on them
40:56
Speaker 2: as a as as a resource, but things from a
41:01
Speaker 2: hockey ops department that was from the day I was
41:04
Speaker 2: hired as a general manager.
41:05
Speaker 3: That was very clear.
41:06
Speaker 2: And to me that was how why you know my
41:09
Speaker 2: relationship with Ron worked because he he used to sit
41:11
Speaker 2: in the GM chair. He knew that, you know, you can,
41:14
Speaker 2: certainly to have a strong organization, you have to have
41:17
Speaker 2: collaboration with ownership with my staff members on different ideas,
41:23
Speaker 2: whether it's trade, whether it's coach, whether it's you know,
41:26
Speaker 2: how we're going to develop our younger players, and and
41:28
Speaker 2: there's not always a clear path in some of these decisions.
41:32
Speaker 2: And I certainly utilized him. But in all these cases,
41:35
Speaker 2: I from the day I was hired here as a GM,
41:37
Speaker 2: I felt that I had the final say in those matters.
41:40
Speaker 10: Last, but not least, how optimistic would you say you
41:42
Speaker 10: are about resigning Bobby McMahon.
41:47
Speaker 2: I've come to realize with resigning players and trades, you know,
41:53
Speaker 2: until it's over the line, that's that. That's what I'm
41:55
Speaker 2: really optimistic when I get assigned a contract or you
41:58
Speaker 2: know it's being done take care of. But look, we've
42:02
Speaker 2: touched on it a lot already here. Just the fact that,
42:06
Speaker 2: you know, coming into a situation, did we want to
42:09
Speaker 2: win more hockey games with Bobby around one percent? And
42:12
Speaker 2: that's the disappointing factor of it. But everything that we
42:15
Speaker 2: could control, you know, how we took care of him here.
42:18
Speaker 2: His interaction with our strength and conditioning staff, his interaction
42:21
Speaker 2: with our coaching staff, his interaction with those players, you
42:24
Speaker 2: know them going away this week together as a group,
42:27
Speaker 2: with the players, Bobby being a part of that, him
42:29
Speaker 2: staying around a little bit more to get to know
42:31
Speaker 2: the city a little bit more. From that standpoint, to me,
42:33
Speaker 2: we hit a lot of positive things with Bobby, and
42:36
Speaker 2: to me, you know, there's things that we can certainly offer.
42:39
Speaker 2: We're a growing team here. There's a role for a
42:42
Speaker 2: player like Bobby right on our team right now, and
42:44
Speaker 2: I think he's excited about some of the players that
42:47
Speaker 2: we have moving forward here too, growing up and the
42:49
Speaker 2: interesting aspect and sitting down with him at the end
42:51
Speaker 2: of the year, talked about he's the good thing about
42:53
Speaker 2: seeing a lot of these players come up at the
42:55
Speaker 2: end and seeing it the one player I had to
42:57
Speaker 2: talk to him a little bit about Furcus, but he
42:59
Speaker 2: knows Furcus very well from training with him in the
43:01
Speaker 2: summer and just from being in small town Alberta there
43:05
Speaker 2: and stuff. So it's it's a good fit from that
43:07
Speaker 2: perspective too.
43:09
Speaker 7: Jason, you mentioned that there's some coaches meetings that come
43:11
Speaker 7: so maybe this decision hasn't been made yet, but do
43:13
Speaker 7: you anticipate any changes to Lane's staff for next season.
43:17
Speaker 2: That's something that's still up in the air and that
43:19
Speaker 2: we'll eval evaluate. We're going through coaches meetings right now,
43:22
Speaker 2: evaluating players. You know our systems, what we what, we're
43:25
Speaker 2: proud of, what we do differently moving forward here, it's
43:29
Speaker 2: just a situation. The next couple weeks, I'll sit down
43:31
Speaker 2: with Lane closely. I appreciate the work ethic of our
43:34
Speaker 2: assistant coaches this year. I thought they in positive times
43:39
Speaker 2: and negative times, they came up with new ideas, a
43:41
Speaker 2: strong work ethic. I think if you came to Casey
43:43
Speaker 2: and Day, you see it working with a lot of
43:45
Speaker 2: our players after practice. So as I was impressed by that.
43:48
Speaker 2: I was proud of that. But it's a conversation with
43:51
Speaker 2: Lane to make sure we have the right mix just
43:55
Speaker 2: you know, to me, it's very similar to everything else.
43:56
Speaker 2: Lane has a better feel for our organization now, a
43:59
Speaker 2: better feel for these assistance after working with him for
44:01
Speaker 2: a year. So making sure we have the right fit,
44:03
Speaker 2: right mix to be successful next year.
44:06
Speaker 7: And then what'd you make of your goalies this year?
44:08
Speaker 7: And maybe the what we saw from Grooby getting back
44:11
Speaker 7: to what he was previously, and maybe a little bit
44:13
Speaker 7: of a step back at times from Joey, especially late
44:16
Speaker 7: in the year of the year.
44:20
Speaker 3: Overall, they they did, they did their job.
44:22
Speaker 2: They they weren't the reason we didn't make the playoffs.
44:26
Speaker 3: I felt we had strong goaltending throughout the season. If
44:30
Speaker 3: you look at that.
44:30
Speaker 2: January, we had exceptional goal tending in January. Goaltending and
44:34
Speaker 2: power play really helped us through that month. And just
44:37
Speaker 2: I think having a strong depth in that role there.
44:40
Speaker 2: Joey I thought started off extremely well.
44:44
Speaker 3: I thought at.
44:44
Speaker 2: The end of January there he went into the Olympic
44:48
Speaker 2: break playing well at CPA, having a big victory I
44:51
Speaker 2: think in Vegas, I that is, and then beat in
44:53
Speaker 2: La thought he was good coming out of the break.
44:56
Speaker 2: I think there's an adjustment for our entire group, right.
44:59
Speaker 2: This is wh area that we have to continue to
45:01
Speaker 2: look at. If you ask Lane, you ask our coaches,
45:04
Speaker 2: they were happy with the work ethic of our players
45:08
Speaker 2: coming out of the break of the practices, but obviously
45:11
Speaker 2: we didn't get the results we wanted to come in
45:12
Speaker 2: out of the break. So it's something that we clearly
45:14
Speaker 2: have to focus in on. Are we going to have
45:15
Speaker 2: Olympic break next year? No, but we'll have a you know,
45:19
Speaker 2: an All Star break, and we'll have a five you know,
45:20
Speaker 2: four nations break the following year. So it's something that
45:22
Speaker 2: we have to continue to focus in on. I thought
45:25
Speaker 2: Joey had a really strong game against Carolina here at
45:29
Speaker 2: home at the start of March, and then after that
45:31
Speaker 2: he wasn't bad, but he just was one save that
45:34
Speaker 2: he would just always want to sort of find a way.
45:36
Speaker 2: And the thing that I enjoy working with Joey is
45:39
Speaker 2: there's always a thought process on how do I get better?
45:42
Speaker 2: What do I have to work on, and having Collins
45:45
Speaker 2: Zuliana or a new goalie coach in there, he has
45:47
Speaker 2: a great relationship with him. That's something that I still
45:50
Speaker 2: think that Joey can get better and better. I don't
45:52
Speaker 2: care what age Joey's at like to me, he's a
45:55
Speaker 2: developing goalie right now and that's exciting.
45:57
Speaker 3: Gruby.
45:58
Speaker 2: On the flip side, like I thought it was, it
46:01
Speaker 2: was one of the success stories of our organization this year,
46:03
Speaker 2: just his rebound and you know, you look in January
46:08
Speaker 2: how we played, and then I thought at the end
46:10
Speaker 2: of March he gave us a spark again with some
46:14
Speaker 2: efforts in Tampa Bay and Buffalo there, so very happy
46:18
Speaker 2: with that. Very disappointing got the injury at this season,
46:21
Speaker 2: I think that was indicative though, like he stayed healthy
46:23
Speaker 2: for most of the season, better training in the offseason,
46:26
Speaker 2: really focused in with our strength and development staff throughout
46:30
Speaker 2: the summer. You know, we're hopeful here that he can
46:32
Speaker 2: get healthy and actually participate in the World Championships with
46:36
Speaker 2: Team Germany again there, which I think would be great.
46:38
Speaker 2: But everything that we're focusing on with him right now is, hey,
46:41
Speaker 2: how do we duplicate the season and stuff with him again.
46:45
Speaker 2: On a different note, it wasn't by design due to
46:49
Speaker 2: the injuries, but we were really glad that we were
46:53
Speaker 2: able to get Coco and Ausmin up for games at
46:55
Speaker 2: the end of the season here, and I think both
46:58
Speaker 2: of them have been a huge part of our success
47:00
Speaker 2: in Coachilla Valley this year, especially with such a young
47:03
Speaker 2: young deco down there. They've faced some high quality shots
47:07
Speaker 2: and they've handled it in there, and you know, for
47:09
Speaker 2: both of them to get NHL experience to sort of
47:13
Speaker 2: take the next step in their.
47:14
Speaker 3: Career gets us very excited.
47:16
Speaker 2: And so we've we look at a situation of having
47:19
Speaker 2: two veteran goalies in National Hockey League, two guys in
47:21
Speaker 2: the American Hockey League right now. Then we look at
47:23
Speaker 2: Vasivoy over in Russia, sarn and Over in Finland, We're
47:27
Speaker 2: excited about our depth and we feel that's a sort
47:30
Speaker 2: of an area of strength right now in our organization.
47:33
Speaker 18: Hey, Jason, you kept four under strict free agents of
47:36
Speaker 18: the trade deadline. You re signed one of them. Is
47:39
Speaker 18: there any plans to resign any of the.
47:41
Speaker 3: Others of our excuse Mera the other UFAs that were Look, look,
47:46
Speaker 3: this is.
47:47
Speaker 2: Where we will be evaluing things over the next couple
47:49
Speaker 2: of weeks here and stuff. UFAs always have options, right,
47:52
Speaker 2: we get that. But we've certainly stayed in touch with
47:55
Speaker 2: our agents. We've certainly trying to figure out what's the
47:58
Speaker 2: best mix for our group you're moving forward. We've always
48:01
Speaker 2: had kept a good dialogue with them. We certainly talked
48:03
Speaker 2: about it. I think you know you saw it was
48:08
Speaker 2: it was a significant injury to Jaden Schwartz in that
48:11
Speaker 2: Ottawa game, and uh, you know, whenever he's out of
48:13
Speaker 2: the lineup, it certainly hurts our team and just he's
48:17
Speaker 2: a big part of our leadership group. From that standpoint too,
48:21
Speaker 2: I was really glad to see him come back and
48:23
Speaker 2: that was great to see. But no, we'll keep that
48:25
Speaker 2: dialogue going and see what's the right fit for our
48:28
Speaker 2: group here moving forward.
48:29
Speaker 18: Melanson was a step in the right direction, But in general,
48:33
Speaker 18: was your team harder enough to play against?
48:36
Speaker 2: I think when we when we played well, yes, it's
48:40
Speaker 2: do we have to improve on our consistency in that area,
48:43
Speaker 2: yes too. I I look at the Tampa Bay game
48:47
Speaker 2: in Tampa Bay, that's a team that's fine for not
48:51
Speaker 2: only in the playoffs but going for a Stanley Cup.
48:53
Speaker 2: We got an early lead on them, They pushed back,
48:55
Speaker 2: they were physical and it was great scene anywhere from
48:58
Speaker 2: Berkeley Catton to Adam Larson, Mont Tour, Bobby McMahon. Players
49:03
Speaker 2: stepping up in those roles and handling that physicality. Now
49:06
Speaker 2: being able to play that over eighty two or next
49:08
Speaker 2: year eighty four games, that's our challenge. We have young players.
49:12
Speaker 2: It's a confidence in playing in those environments. But then
49:16
Speaker 2: it's also a challenge to our strength staff to get
49:18
Speaker 2: these guys physically stronger moving forward. You know, it's something
49:21
Speaker 2: that we continually talk to not only a our kids
49:24
Speaker 2: who are nineteen and twenty years old, but you know,
49:27
Speaker 2: players like Matty Benier's, players like you know CaCO just
49:30
Speaker 2: continue to change their physiques a little bit to be
49:33
Speaker 2: prepared for that physical battle.
49:35
Speaker 18: Last last quickie. I know it's early, but if you
49:38
Speaker 18: fantasized it all about what you might do should you
49:41
Speaker 18: win the draft lottery.
49:44
Speaker 3: Well, look, we've got a lot going on here right now.
49:46
Speaker 2: Already I'm going we're going to go on to the
49:49
Speaker 2: thirty two bar and ground.
49:51
Speaker 4: We're all more and welcome to if that happens.
49:54
Speaker 2: But in all reality, like just being serious, it's it's
49:57
Speaker 2: where I trust our staff, our draft staff, our amateur staff.
50:02
Speaker 2: You look at Robert Kron, Ryan Jankowski, we add to
50:05
Speaker 2: the mix there and stuff. This year, it's been a
50:07
Speaker 2: unique year for them, right We were in a playoff
50:09
Speaker 2: position for a lot time of the year. So then
50:11
Speaker 2: what are you staring at from that standpoint, you're staring
50:13
Speaker 2: at a pick seventeen to twenty five or something like that.
50:16
Speaker 2: Now we're having a pick that's going to certainly be
50:18
Speaker 2: in the top eight, so they've had to be cover
50:21
Speaker 2: the draft. We also have Tampa base first round pick,
50:24
Speaker 2: so they've had to look over. We've got a lot
50:27
Speaker 2: of US staff members over in Slovakia right now for
50:30
Speaker 2: the eighteens. But I've been oppressed of how their communication
50:34
Speaker 2: as a staff. Ryan bringing some new ideas into it
50:37
Speaker 2: Roberts had his staff. It's like anything else, right. Just
50:40
Speaker 2: like players get too familiar with each other, I think
50:43
Speaker 2: scouts get more familiar with each other, a cadence and
50:46
Speaker 2: what the organization's looking for. So proud of the group
50:50
Speaker 2: that they've done and the work they've done, and looking
50:52
Speaker 2: forward to our meetings there at the sort of like
50:54
Speaker 2: the third week in May.
50:55
Speaker 3: To get that list right.
50:56
Speaker 1: Let's go to you and then if anyone else has
50:58
Speaker 1: any last questions.
50:59
Speaker 6: We'll start to Jason with With Berkeley, obviously you played
51:02
Speaker 6: a lot of the wing this year for you, do
51:03
Speaker 6: you do you would you make of his time there?
51:05
Speaker 6: And do you want to see him get back to
51:06
Speaker 6: playing down the middle here eventually? And what what what
51:09
Speaker 6: kind is the process going to be to doing that?
51:10
Speaker 3: If you do?
51:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's uh long term. Yes, we see him
51:15
Speaker 2: as a sermon. And I think the thing that excited
51:18
Speaker 2: me about Berkeley, you're always you're always concerned about nineteen
51:21
Speaker 2: year old playing in the National Hockey League. The fact
51:23
Speaker 2: that our veteran players, including Chandler, sort of took care
51:27
Speaker 2: and made it at ease outside of the game of hockey,
51:30
Speaker 2: I think allowed him to be comfortable with our group,
51:33
Speaker 2: but you saw in those first few games. I think
51:36
Speaker 2: his first couture games was was Philadelphia and Washington like
51:41
Speaker 2: physical teams, and he handled himself in there. Did he
51:43
Speaker 2: win every battle, No, he got he got bounce around,
51:46
Speaker 2: but he stuck his nose in there and went right
51:48
Speaker 2: back at it. And I think just we see him
51:51
Speaker 2: in the middle of that ability to be creative, to
51:54
Speaker 2: have the puck on his stick a little bit more,
51:57
Speaker 2: you know, creating things, you know, with his speed through
51:59
Speaker 2: the middle. That's where we certainly hope to see it
52:02
Speaker 2: longer term. We utilize a little bit at the end
52:04
Speaker 2: of the season, but to me, it's just more of
52:06
Speaker 2: a standpoint through the summer of him understanding routes a
52:10
Speaker 2: little bit more, watching video from that bit, and then
52:13
Speaker 2: more importantly is just getting his body that much more
52:15
Speaker 2: physically stronger. And the thing that we've talked to him
52:18
Speaker 2: and the thing I think we've seen a lot with
52:20
Speaker 2: Ryan Winterton. We have a lot of players, a lot
52:22
Speaker 2: of very younger players who have speed. It's now showing
52:25
Speaker 2: that speed every shift out there, you know, and this
52:29
Speaker 2: is not something unique to our younger players. You look
52:31
Speaker 2: at some of the elite players it's just you wonder
52:34
Speaker 2: a player like you know, Nathan McKinnon. It's just every
52:36
Speaker 2: time he steps on nice you see speed from him
52:38
Speaker 2: and stuff here right, Ryan Winterton has always had speed.
52:41
Speaker 2: I think this year he's done a better job on
52:43
Speaker 2: every shift. You're seeing him on the fore check, You're
52:45
Speaker 2: seeing him utilizing that with Berkeley. A big thing of
52:47
Speaker 2: his development is just continuing to utilize that speed on
52:50
Speaker 2: every shift and attacking a little bit more out there.
52:53
Speaker 2: But overall, proud of what he accomplished this year. He's
52:58
Speaker 2: a competitive young player, want to produce more. I know
53:01
Speaker 2: that's something that he's going to work hard in the
53:03
Speaker 2: off season to make sure he puts himself in a
53:05
Speaker 2: position where he's producing.
53:06
Speaker 3: More next year.
53:07
Speaker 2: I'm also proud of our our coaching staff on finding
53:10
Speaker 2: the right roles for him, you know, whether it was wing,
53:13
Speaker 2: whether it was PP two, and working with him to
53:16
Speaker 2: continue to develop his game.
53:18
Speaker 1: Let's finished strong with Mike.
53:21
Speaker 5: Jason. Moving forward, what do you consider the strongest part
53:23
Speaker 5: of your sales pitch to potential free agents or guys
53:26
Speaker 5: who maybe you're thinking about coming here via trade.
53:30
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's just things that Todd touched on
53:32
Speaker 2: already you talk about our ownership, any resource that we want,
53:37
Speaker 2: we have here, our facilities, you know, and just what
53:42
Speaker 2: we have coming, you know, It's it's exciting. I think
53:46
Speaker 2: the growth of our young players, having these players, having
53:50
Speaker 2: these not only I think what you're seeing right now.
53:53
Speaker 2: It's not just first round picks who are coming into
53:54
Speaker 2: a mix, such as Shane Wright or Manny Binier's or
53:58
Speaker 2: Berkeley Catton and eventually Jacobrien. You know, it's a situation
54:02
Speaker 2: of like Jacob Allanson being I want to say, a
54:05
Speaker 2: fifth round pick, it's Ryan Winterton, a third round pick,
54:08
Speaker 2: like we have them coming, and I think that gets
54:11
Speaker 2: you know, people excited and stuff about here. But at
54:14
Speaker 2: the end of the day, I think NHL players they
54:17
Speaker 2: want a path of where this team's going, but they
54:19
Speaker 2: also want to look at a what do we have
54:21
Speaker 2: right now? And I think it's an amazing balance that
54:25
Speaker 2: our players have here, and I know.
54:27
Speaker 3: They've talked about it.
54:28
Speaker 2: It's there's a passion level in Climate Pledge Arena that
54:32
Speaker 2: they absolutely love, right and when we give them a
54:36
Speaker 2: reason to cheer, they're cheering really loudly and have a
54:39
Speaker 2: lot of intensity. And then there's an ability for them
54:42
Speaker 2: to live their lives outside of it. There there's you know,
54:45
Speaker 2: they can get away, they can be fifteen to twenty
54:48
Speaker 2: minutes away from our facilities and they feel that they're
54:51
Speaker 2: on a beautiful lake or just removed from at all.
54:53
Speaker 2: And that balance, I think is something that a lot
54:56
Speaker 2: of our you know, NHL players appreciate.
55:00
Speaker 1: Thanks, everybody appreciate you coming. Thank you all your coverage
55:04
Speaker 1: all year. Feel free to stay as long as you
55:06
Speaker 1: need and UH