[Music] Canak Central Thursday. It's the eve of the trade deadline in the National Hockey League. One of the big pieces appears to be off of the board. We'll get to it in just a moment. It is the Kintec Studio. Dan Reicho, Satyar, Shaw with you. Canak Central for Enzyme Pacific Vancouver's premier Chrysler Dodge Ram and Jeep Superstore on 2nd Avenue between Cami and Maine or at Enzyme Pacific Chrysler.ca. Tune in on trade deadline day. Sports at 650s coverage brought to you by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. In Mount Pleasant, try AJ's traditional New York pizza or sink into their famous Detroit pizza, only at AJ's Pizza Order Online at AJ's Pizza.com. I know, this guy. AJ's Dot Pizza. You lean into that one, right? I just knew the reaction would be great. No, but you did both of them. Both of you did like a big like, whoa, huh. That was the one I think I heard. You did the Detroit, but you did the Detroit. Only it, part of it. So you did both. It was not like a Detroit. It was Detroit. You lean into both sides of it. I hate this so much. It is Thursday. So yes, there is a Conoc Central Roundtable. That means Biknazar Post Game on Conoc Central is joining us in studio for a round table. And of course, you hear them on the people's show as well. You know what? Let's just get right into it. It's the open. Welcome to the open. Oh, that's your home. Are you too good for your home? Answer me. Not sure it's considered breaking news anymore, but it is developing news. Jake Genssel appears to be headed to the Carolina Hurricanes. And that's where we open the show today. It's fractured news. Yes. It's breaking. Is it not quite broken? This happened yesterday for us with Noah Hanifen. We didn't get the full details of the trade in the entire two hours of the show. So we've got some experience with this now. We do. And Fractured is the right word because also some broken hearts. Canucks fans who wanted them to land Jake Genssel. And perhaps people holding out some hope that maybe just maybe in the 11th hour, the Canucks could swoop in. Jim Rutherford has never denied the guy who truly wants. Well, this time the Canucks seem to have been denied the guy they were really after, but also not denied because the Canucks offered everything possible. And they said no, they had restraints in their offer. There are obviously things they weren't ready to do. And that's why ultimately they did not land Jake Genssel. As far as what we know right now, Michael Bunting has been held out of the Hurricanes game for trade related reasons. So we assume he is a part of the deal going to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yeah. And honestly, the other part of it, the best part of it is he's staying out east. Yeah. The best player in the trade market, Jake Genssel is not coming. Yeah. But Jake Genssel is not going to the Western Conference. And considering the way Vegas has been loading up, I think everybody was kind of holding their breath wondering if they could land him. After the Hanafindil, they left just enough cap space open to at least be able to acquire Jake Genssel at 50% retained. So yes. And given the trade with Calgary and the conditions on the first rounder, they still had assets to be able to put into a Jake Genssel trade. But the way this worked out and from a Vancouver perspective, you know, why don't they have the best deal on the table for Jake Genssel? Well, they've already made their big move with Elias Linholm. And two, it seems as though the ask was pretty high. Now we'll see what ends up happening here with the prospects involved going to the Pittsburgh Penguins. But we've heard out of New York guys like Gabe Perot and Brandon Othman being named as Wants from Pittsburgh in order to get a Jake Genssel deal done. We've heard from multiple people around here that Lekarumaki and Willander were the Wants from the Vancouver Canucks. Ho Glonder was potentially a want. And those just felt like bridges too far, it seemed for the Canucks front office to go. And that's really where this fell apart. The Canucks weren't willing to pay the big price for Jake Genssel. But it's not really rooted in reality, right? I'll just talk about this at the end of my show. It's like, how many top prospects actually move? Come deadline. Not many. So never like, if there's a player that's just a rental as Jake Genssel is currently, like the top prospect doesn't move. No, now we don't know which prospect is moving yet. There's a few good prospects, but they're clearly not moving their top guy, which is Nikhishan. No, he's not going at Russian Nikhishan. That's what they've said so far, right? And then ultimately we'll find out. But if if a say a top two or three prospect goes, that's still a high end prospect. So we'll see if if it is a high end prospect that they're moving, or if it's somebody you would classify as a B plus, maybe A minus, not this ace blue chip A plus a type of prospect. The Canucks don't have that guy to offer outside of the Cara Mackey and Wallander. The... Well, Bruce Davis was the one. Well, Bruce Davis was one, but even Bruce Davis wasn't considered this like A prospect, like right now. Oh, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. More of a B prospect. Yeah, like Cara Mackey and Wallander are considered blue chip prospects. Yes. They're the only two blue chip prospects that Canucks have, right? And then there's a pretty steep fall off from those players in their prospect pool, that is. Even Bruce Davis, but there's a big gap. You go from A plus guys to B plus guys. There's no even A minus, really. All two rock, who's more of a B plus A minus, maybe, in the middle there. He hasn't taken the step they had hoped this year, which somewhat mutes where his value is at, but Colson, kind of the same thing. I think Elias Patterson, the defenseman, who Dolly mentioned is coming over to Adverseford soon, he's a guy who they like a lot that maybe some would consider close to being that caliber. I think they're reluctant to move him as well, because he's maybe the only guy that they look at and say outside of our top two guys, this could be a player that could be a legitimate top four guy for us. Whereas everybody else is kind of viewed as maybe a third pair guy, maybe this forward can be a third line forward, a four checker, a penalty killer, maybe somebody who can play a sheltered role somewhere, they don't really have guys that are A-list players outside of the two or three guys we just mentioned, and they don't want to move those guys right now. Well, and Holelander's got a huge value, too. Well, he goes beyond prospects, but with how he's played, he's got 19 goals on the season. He's talked 10 in the league in five on five goals at one million dollars. Yeah, at a very cheap rate. And if you're willing, they might be willing to move him in the off season, perhaps, depending on what they have. It's more about if you're trading him now like we've talked about, what else are you getting back in return and how much is it getting offset by his lack of production? I mean, his production going out the door now, right? So I think that's what complicates that. So I don't think the Canucks could ever really seriously have outbid teams. It was more about could things align for them on the market so they could get the player, but they were never capable of outbidding these teams if they were reluctant to trade their top prospects. This late-bunting inclusion, though, it strikes to me like I'm prepared to be underwhelmed by what the ultimate trade looks like. It'll probably exist in the Lindholm trade. Right. Somewhere around there. And now you throw in punting in there and you just think, well, that's the Cosmanko takeaway. And it's not even make way. It's, Pittsburgh can figure this out and not take on money, but it feels like it's going to exist in that realm. And while expensive, is it overwhelming? Yeah, well, we'll end up finding out, but tomorrow. Like, when you add bunting into it, it means there's probably a pretty significant package beyond him. Like, it would depend. Like, I would imagine this guy who's just in the first year of a three-year deal, like, are you paying a premium for them to take Michael Bunting or does Dubis, who has prior history with this player, just wanted the player? Do you think Kyle Dubis thinks it as, oh, we're taking on this contract for you, or do you think we value matter what he thinks? It feels like that should be one of those things where it's like, I should get a draft pick for taking this guy. So the biases of GMs, though, right? Yeah. And it's very clear that the mandate in Pittsburgh under Dubis isn't to rebuild, because if it was rebuilding, you would not be adding salary. And not only adding the bunting contract, look at all the salary they added in the off-season long-term. Like, they're committed. Like, they're pot committed. How are you getting out of the Raquel contract? You just gave Ryan Graves all that money. You just pay Tristan Jari. Unless you're talking about-- Riley Smith has another year. Yeah. And unless you're talking about moving, say, Latang, or perhaps moving Malkin, like, who's getting traded? They came out and said, Russ isn't getting traded. Yeah. So like, who are you moving? You're committed here with this Ross. Well, Kyle Dubis has not done a great job with this team. That's just-- I mean, that's the long and short of it. Maybe Crosby will ask out by next week. They had a ton of cap space to use last summer, and they spent it on a lot of guys that aren't doing much. Riley Smith, Tristan Jari-- well, Tristan Jari's been an up and down season. Ryan Graves was awful in our viewing of him here in Vancouver, and hasn't been very good for them. So, yeah, I'm not in love with what Kyle Dubis has done to this point. He clearly wanted, or from Elliot Freedman's reporting, he liked what Carolina had to offer from the get-go, and it seemed as though that was always going to be the team, assuming Dubis got whatever prospect it is that he wanted. But the question now is for Vancouver, yes, when that Vegas isn't getting this player, that Edmonton isn't getting this player, but what is the next move for the Vancouver Canucks? They've already made their big move with Elias Linholm. Jim Rutherford had some quotes today at Canucks.com about how that's developing and being honest about it. Both sides would be happier if there was a little bit more offense from Elias Linholm to this point, but there still feels like, especially with everybody else getting into a bit of an arms race in the West, that the Canucks could still stand to add another player? Or do you just bet on your structure and what you've built to this point in the season that that will give you a chance to have some playoff success? I mean, I think you can bet on both, but you have to add something. Between now and Friday tomorrow, I'm pretty sure they'll add something, and I'd be surprised if it's just one piece. I still think they'll add a depth defenseman, and they've come out and said that they don't think it's going to be too hard to add a depth defenseman at some point. And right now, I think if you haven't made any trades at this point, you wait until Friday, because the prices will also start dropping. And for those depth defenseman guys and those guys that are kind of viewed as a secondary tertiary pieces, they ask, Kim can be high, like Zukr thing, they're asking for a second, does that drop tomorrow when teams have to get off a guy? So I think for Vancouver that who's already made their Linholm acquisition, they can afford to wait out and see if they can pluck a few guys value-wise. But if you're not getting Gensl, and to fully as somebody I know they have interest in, the question just is, I'm not sure Vancouver and Jersey are great trade partners. And I think that's what causes the problem here with these two teams trying to negotiate a deal, because I'm not sure they quite have what New Jersey wants, and what Vancouver would have to give up to make the trade might be too much to pay. Again, you kind of find yourself in a similar situation that again so on. Because if you don't have enough of the types of pieces they're looking for, you have to overpay by extending yourself and paying a premium on your better assets. And if you're not willing to do it for Gensl, you're willing to do it for Tifoli. How pivotal does Tifoli become now though? To me, he looks like the only one that really fits. I know Zukr names gets mentioned. Zukr doesn't... I'm uninspired by that one. Zukr, you know how I've used Zukr, guys, if they get him. He's an upgrade on the PDG Mikayev types that could play with Miller and Besser. That's it. He's not going to be a solution for Pedersen, I don't think. That's how I view him. So it doesn't solve the question of a winger frilly as Pedersen. I might rather dip my toe in the Eberle waters than I would James and Zukr. But even then, it's like I got my concerns about Jordan Eberle. I have some concerns too, but I think I could live with Eberle with Pedersen. You know, I could live with that. And then you could maybe still add, you know, a barobana of type or when it's cheaper forward types, right? Alex Barobana, let's go. So maybe we see them, you know, flip to do something along those lines. You know, something is a shade below, but I'd be stunned if they don't add at least a forward and perhaps adept defenseman by tomorrow. There is one other big time forward that is available on the trade market. The asking price is said to be high, but he does have terms. So by the thought of the Canucks not willing to pay another huge price for a rental player, wouldn't Pavel Butch Nevich fit a little bit more of maybe what they could be looking for as far as what they'd be willing to pay. And also, you're adding a forward that can help you next year as well. Don't you think that's like equal to the, well, we'll see what the Gensil price is, but the added year feels like you're paying a tax. Yeah. Yeah. So the ask for Butch Nevich was two first-round picks. Which is equivalent of which the translates to two premium assets. Top prospect and your first round pick. Or two top prospects with two picks. However, you want to view two top assets. But it's easier for them to hold on to the line. Because they can wait till next year. And it's like, remember, we've talked about the JT situation. You know, how much does it change from the deadline to the summer? And then maybe you end up signing the guy anyways, because does anything really move the needle enough? Because remember, you know, the bi-room stuff I think has been fascinating. Because that's the guy that when teams called on whether it was Bo or JT, and then when Colorado, we knew had interest, Vancouver always wanted a bi-room type. They always wanted that. And they never tried that free. When New York called, who were they asking for? Schneider. Braid and Schneider, right? These guys seldom get moved in these types of deals, right? So unless you can get a player like that, you can wait till the deadline and get a first and a prospect and live with it. So the question really is, how willing is St. Louis to play ball? Is it, hey, we'll trade this guy if we get the premium, or is he actually available for trade? Because that asking price, I still don't know if Vancouver is willing to do, you know, a future first, and say, like, here in Mac, if you're between a bitch. And if you're a dug-on, I'm showing you're St. Louis, you're like, well, I can trade him next year for a first round pick and a decent prospect. If I'm going to trade him this year, I bet I should get a top prospect. So that may be where it lies the issue. We'll see if it happens. And still, they're hanging around the playoff line. Yeah. And I'm sure they still want to go to the playoffs next year. So, yeah, pay the tax. If someone has to make it worthwhile to pry him out of there to say, hey, look, we might go to the playoffs next year. Might be a division C3, might be a wild card team. But if you're asking me to cash in on this guy and I have to go solve this problem, you're going to pay the tax. Yeah. And that's the thing of the guys with term, as much as it's nice, you get two shots at it for the acquiring team. But it also means you got to pay more. Would you pay that price if they retain half the salary on them? They said they're willing to do it. Like, would you do one of your top prospects and a future first? If they're retaining, that would be hard to pass up. You're getting like a big time player at like under three million. Are you moving one of the big two? You would have to. I mean, you're not making that deal. Yeah. The move would make you uncomfortable. But you're getting a pretty high-end winger for this year and next. But it's a year and a half, right? You only got so many more years of Thatcher-Demko and Quinn Hughes signed that very favorable numbers. How do you maximize those? And so that's why you're holding on to like Lekramaki and Willander. Yes, love them as prospects. Willander, sorry, Lekramaki just won MVP for Orbro this year. They still got two regular season games to go and they're just like, nope, you're our guy. And it just kind of shows you how good he is still at 19 being that level of a player in the SHL. But as we've talked about, this might be a player that's still two, three years away. And if your window is the next, let's say two years after this one with Demko signed at five million bucks, how do you maximize that is the priority? Yeah, and I wouldn't put it past, again, I wouldn't put it past this team to do something along those lines with this front office. Because they settle along for moving our top-end guys. We want guys with term. And I think part of the reluctance with Genssel too was, there was no real guarantee you could sign them. Is one year enough term though for Bushnovich? I guess the question. I'm not sure it is. I'm not sure it is. For them. I'm not sure it is for them either. And what I was going to lead to, we get this text and how often have we been asked about Alex Tuck guys over the course of the season? Like what months, right? That's a guy who has three more years on his contract or two more years beyond this, right? You're getting three runs with him. Yeah. And he's making under five million. And he's one of the rarest players in the league, a legitimate power forward who can score, and it has some big size, right? Is he actually available? Who knows? There have been rumors that he is, and he's not. Like, who wouldn't shock me if we see the connects pull off something out of nowhere, like the Rhonic thing, for instance. And here's a guy that they pay a big price for. But you can understand why he's going to be here for a few years. I think we're all kind of hoping. Maybe they pull something like that off. I just don't know if a guy like that's really available. I feel like the tuck rumors probably start because other GMs see Buffalo in the situation that they're in, and they're like, yeah, I'd like that guy. But if I'm Kevin Adams in Buffalo, that's a guy I'm not moving, right? Because of how unique a player he is. You know, one of the things I think they felt about middle stat, just from poking around a little bit on that, was that he could be a little bit soft at times. And that they want to get harder. They want to have more pros on their team. You know, those kinds of things are very much a real scenario right now for the Buffalo Sabers. A guy from Buffalo too? Yeah. So in Tuck, yeah, I would be shocked if Alex Tuck got traded to anybody. But yeah, that's more of a, okay, here's at least an asset we can move forward with over the next three years that you'd be willing to part with a top prospect. Would you guys be more willing to part with the first rounder than you would any of the prospects? Probably the first rounder would still have to be lottery protected. I mean, unprotected. Unprotected first rounder. So, I like the JT Miller deal. Essentially, how much belief do you have in this group to make the playoffs again next year? Yeah. I mean, make the playoffs next year. I think next year's pick. I'm not as scared of. I'm more scared of the year afterwards. So 22 years, 25, 25 would be like, I don't know if I do 20, 25. Who knows what happens between now and that? Next season, I think there's a good pathway that even if they miss the playoffs, they'll probably be on the borderline. Yeah. I mean, I don't see them being this precipitous fall where you're worried about a top five pick. Unless devastating injuries happen or tornado hits Vancouver and they got to play in Saskatchewan for half the season. Who knows, right? But outside of that, I would be more worried about 20, 25, 20, 26, sorry. Sort of the bet Calgary might be making with Vegas that the first round pick gets pushed down the line because who knows how much longer Vegas is going to be able to put guys on LTR and just load up to a cap that's well over $100 million every year. Yeah. Well, all the guys are getting older so they wouldn't get insured. So it quickly gets easier. Before we get to the roundup really quickly, just a couple of guys, because people are wondering what else can it connect to? We've all heard Zucker. We mentioned Buraban of type declare as more of a bottom six guy that can fit in, perhaps. All these guys are kind of options. The player that they've been linked to that has some term as well has been Jordan Greenway. An extra three million next year. Yeah. And the year after I think, right? I think it was Dolly Welles said price is high for Jordan Greenway. So it's like, you know, he's got some term, but you also have to move salary off. Yeah. And have to make it happen. And is he good enough for you to pay a big price for? Like he's a good player. He's got size, but he's got what nine goals. Like, I can't pay a big price for guys who score as much as the guys that are already here. Yeah. Where's he gonna play? Could you play him with Besser and JT? Is that asking too much? Would be a lot. But I mean, hey, I mean, why are you trading for a player who's making 3.3 and paying a price? Yeah. If you don't see him maybe working out in a higher world than one career he currently has. And if you don't see that, why make the deal? Yeah. The phrase I always think of, and we said it so many times when the JT both things were happening, it was like, you better be right. Yeah. No 100%. And you make a decision like Jordan Greenway and you want to play him with Miller and Besser? Boy, you better be right because being wrong is going to cost you in a big, big way. Minnesota hung on to that for a while. It didn't work out. They finally moved him to Buffalo. Hasn't worked out in Buffalo. Now, do you put him in a more structured situation in Vancouver and all of a sudden, hey, there's Jordan Greenway. We've all been waiting for them. That's what I mean. Yeah, but that's what I mean. Depends on the price, right? Like I shouldn't have to pay for an if. Yeah. Well, to me, if the price is high, but if the price isn't high, different story, right? Because this text says Greenwood would be more of a direct replacement to Joshua. And I do think you could view it like that. But I mean, would you rather try to get Joshua signed for under $3 million as a term? For a term, as opposed to, right? So I think that's something I would try to do first. Depends on what the price is. But if the price is going to be high, how much better off are you doing that? Or just doing something around the edges? You do a baribana, if you do a zucker, you do maybe a Jordan Eberle. Like I think stuff like that might just be, you might be better off doing so. Is the around the edges stuff good enough, given what the other teams have done? Because I got to be totally honest. I don't feel overly threatened by some of the moves that we've seen. Except for Vegas adding, uh, Hanifen? And I guess I'm just lower on Hanifen than everyone else. Well, Vegas, I'll be. It's a good move. Like, the scariest thing that could happen with Vegas is if Mark Stone shows up, you know. Game one. I'll, uh, Kevin Nash at the side of the wrestling ring. And he's just like, nah, I'm fine. Or Paul Pearson in a playoff game, you know? And it's just like, that's the thing that would scare me the most with Vegas. I still think they're pretty formidable. I never stopped thinking that they were pretty formidable. Colorado, I think you don't have to worry about as much in Dallas as well. Because like, hey, we're in the Western Conference final if we meet these guys. Yeah. So yeah, well, Colorado for me. I mean, they just naturally have a higher peak than Vancouver. Because they got more of the, like, guys that can go supernova. Yeah. But they finally got a little bit of depth. Like their depth was atrocious. But their bottom can fall out because, yeah, like, I really like Casey Middlestadt. But how much does he actually solve? Yeah, because they're, they're total depth. How much better is he than Ryan Johansson? Who was the total drag? See, I started already lock on Twitter. Be like, would you take Ryan Johansson at 25%? I wouldn't touch Ryan Johansson. Well, and he was apparently not great for that locker room as well. So it just didn't fit in. We don't know what happened. I'm not trying to, you know, disparage him or anything. All I'm saying is the way it was going there and how he played. I'm not touching that. Like, I'm like, yeah, exactly. Like he may need to get through the air to find a fresh start elsewhere, you know, figure out where a good fit for him would be. I just don't see the fit on this roster. Managed to have two goals on the Canucks though. Yeah. I mean, both of them are pretty lucky. Yeah, they were. I think the best solution for the Canucks is the last Linholm just starts scoring. And Jim Rutherford alluded to that today. And even Linholm to the athletic saying, I need to play better. Ultimately, that's what helps the Canucks most here. After they made their big move, it hasn't felt like a big move because that player hasn't played like a big player in a big edition. All right. Quickly on the roundup, Canucks in Vegas tonight. So Canucks get the first look at Anthony Manta, Noah Hanifen in Golden Knights colors. You know, I wonder, I hate the word measuring stick or term measuring stick. But it still feels like the Canucks are trying to prove themselves against a team like the Vegas Golden Knights. That's going to be a big one tonight. Jonathan like our Mackie named MVP of Orbro's season today. So his impressive year continues. Phil Kessel, more discussion about Phil Kessel today. Chris Johnston saying it is trending towards assigning, but it's just kind of been all over the place. The fact that it hasn't been signed yet still is a little bit surprising. As for the avalanche, what they did, do Haim to the abs for a 2026 third. They also got Yakov Trenen from the Nashville Predators. So their forward group looks a lot more formidable. They, of course, added Sean Walker as well yesterday. And in other news, Troy Stetcher to the Edmonton Oilers and Gustav Forzling. Oh, you got to love the no state tax. We're pulling this for a Canucks central roundup. Former Canucks? Former Canucks. Signing a big deal. Great waiver wire success story. Gustav Forzling was also waived by Carolina, so. What's Adam Clindenning up to? Yeah, Gustav, I mean, I don't know if any of those contracts impact Corona significantly. You don't think so? The Forzling one? Yeah. Why would Forzling? That's a mailbag question, by the way. Okay, we'll talk about it. We'll wait for that. I'm not here for the mailbag, let's talk about it now. No, I'm kidding. Okay, all right, do you think Forzling at 46 million on eight years is a bargain? Yes. Bargain? I mean, it's a fair contract. Yeah, it's probably appropriately valued. I don't know. Because I'm applying you and get as much as Mackenzie Wieger. I'm applying the Florida tax on that. Yeah. Because the real value of that is probably what? Another million per year? Yeah. Between LTI and no state tax. Man, these American teams getting real frisky with all their benefits. It's Dan Reichow, Satyar Chow. Warmark Stone. Last one is clean and you're calling it a benefit. Hey, Canucks are spending well into LTI. It's funny when Leaf fans complain about LTI and it's like, you guys are like $100 million already on the cap. It's just there guys don't magically get healed at the start of the playoffs. Like most teams. Bick will hear you tonight on the Post Game Show. See you. There he is, Bick Nazar. People show host and of course, you're hearing post games here on the Canucks Central podcast feed as well. Mailbag, yes. A trade deadline edition of the Mailbag is next on Canucks Central. The most opinionated Canucks show out there. Canucks taught with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans. Be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
