I know that some in our audience know the finer points of hockey. "The Chris Johnston Show." "We are your friends." "The biggest stories bringing you inside the game." "What did you hear?" "The Chris Johnston Show." "What is going on?" "Here's Chris with your host, Julia McKenzie." "Part of the game." CJ, it is silly season, rumors, and trade talk and speculation. Running wild and rampant. The CJ show, of course, is the place to clear through all the mush and get to what's right. I have a list of players I would love to know what you're hearing on them, and we're going to start with the player we kind of casually mentioned at the end of last episode, and you ended up writing something on him for The Athletic. What are you hearing right now about Edmonton Oilers' forward, Leon Dreyseidel? Well, it's probably the biggest piece of business Edmonton has to take care of this summer after their Game 7 loss in Stanley Cup. Maybe it could become one of the biggest storylines in the NHL. I think that depends on how things play out, and really, the situation is this. Leon Dreyseidel is eligible for unrestricted for agency next summer. That means he's eligible to sign extension Edmonton as of Monday, July 1st, and I think depending on how things materialize here, this could turn into a situation where Edmonton's perhaps having to look at trading him. And so at this point, look, the champagne still hasn't dried in the dressing room down in Florida where the Panthers won that series. Edmonton just flew back home Tuesday. They're doing some exit meetings this week. They're not in a spot where they've dug into this one just yet, but Leon Dreyseidel holds all the cards here. It's no mystery or it won't become as a surprise to you to learn that the Oilers badly want to keep the number two player on the roster behind Conor McDavid. I think that they're willing to extend themselves pretty far or financially to do it. It's up to him whether he wants to explore those contract discussions now or not. And so this looms as a massive storyline, I think either way, because from what I can gather, Julian, I don't get the sense that Edmonton has much appetite to walk him into his final year if he is reluctant this summer to sign a contract extension. It seems to say there's no chance they would do that, but I don't think it's their preference to do that just because this time next year we'll be having the same discussion about Conor McDavid. And I think there is some sensitivity to the possibility. If you leave things unresolved with Dreyseidel and yeah, you go in again next year, then next summer there's a world where maybe he's walking away for nothing and then you've got to try to convince Conor McDavid. It's a good idea for him to lock in long term, whereas if Dreyseidel, and I really have to stress, this is an AF, these discussions haven't got going yet because the season only ended on June 24th for the Oilers late at night on the other part of the continent. And so there hasn't really been an opportunity to get into these sort of discussions at a high level, but if Dreyseidel isn't looking to stay right now or some kind of extension, I think they have to explore the trade market. He does have a limited no trade clause rather, but there is an ability for them to trade him to half the league. And if he's not sure he wants to stay, I think the Oilers have to do everything they can to get the best assets back to convince Conor McDavid a year from now that even in a world that could include not Dreyseidel as his teammate, that there's a path for him to still win a championship and keep that window open in Edmonton. And so at this stage, we're kind of framing where things might go and what might happen, but there's just not tangible enough information or action yet to dictate where this goes. But my goodness, the fact that it kind of hangs so quickly after the season, I'll say this, the NHL schedule maker did neither the Florida Panthers nor the Edmonton Oilers any favors by having a cup that goes to June 24th because quite naturally, their focus has been all on what's happening on the ice, giving themselves a chance, the chase of championship, even one team that wins one. And now there's some big business decisions that have to come in a matter of days. And meanwhile, most of the wrestling is already well into its planning. And quite frankly, I think it's tampering season around the NHL. I think there's a lot of free agent deals already baked in, whereas teams like Edmonton and Florida obviously just haven't been able to do that kind of business because they've been focused on the games they've been playing until this week. I can totally understand if you don't have an answer to this question yet. But do you have any sense on where Leon Dreyseidel at his camp might be leaning towards in this situation, whether it's resigning or looking to test the market? I have zero sense, to be honest. And you know, Dreyseidel was pretty open during the year. He did an interview with Mark Spector of Sportsnet in January, where, you know, he talked about, you know, the affinity he felt for Edmonton, his desire to want to get the job done for that team obviously came within one goal or two goals that, depending on how you look at it, one win of doing that alongside Conor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard, the rest of the Oilers. But, you know, I don't know how, but he also mentioned in that interview that there's lots of things you have to consider. You know, he's got to talk to his family. He's got to consider lifestyle things. I mean, it's not, I don't think there's any sense that he doesn't like Edmonton or anything like that. But this is a big decision, right? He'll be turning 30 pretty soon into when the extension would start. I would expect it to be a seven or eight year extension, you know, basically maximum length. They were pretty close to it. And so this is a contract that will take him through the last of his best remaining years of the NHL player. And he has to decide, where does he want to do that? Is there anything else that's kind of in the back of his mind that Reid want to play? Does he want to be the frontline frontline guy, you know, obviously with playing with Conor McDavid, you know, he's always sort of going to be, I'm not that he's second fiddle. I mean, look at the numbers of guys throughout 500 point seasons, 350 goals, plus seasons, had a really strong playoffs until getting injured. And I think that slowed down his production late in this playoff run. But, you know, there's a lot for him to work through. And so I don't, I don't know how getting so close and not quite getting over the top binder might not affect his thinking. But, you know, I would think that there's going to be some soul searching. And, you know, I know the way the Oilers are viewing this is that this doesn't have to happen in the next week. I mean, the life versus the first day he can sign extension, but that's not a deadline. That's the starting period for where I think discussions can can pick up and they can work through it. So I would think that this will be there's going to play out over many weeks, maybe even a month or more before there's clarity there. And, you know, ultimately, I think Leon has to decide what he wants to do because this is his last best chance probably to sign up a big contract to set up where his next years are going to be to figure out what he wants from his career. You know, I can't imagine any of this hurt. It was unreal. I know you were in Edmonton just seeing the excitement around that city. How close the team got? They've got some some other decisions. Obviously, they've got UFA's like any team. So there's going to be a certain amount of turnover, but there's no reason to predict the Oilers key pieces are in place. I mean, you've got McDavid for two more years. You've got Heimans, some of them. Stuart Skinner is still coming into his own. There's a deal that Evan Bouchard is going to have to be seen, but he's a restricted free agent when his new contract is due. So, you know, I think that there's there's the main pieces are in place. And so I have to believe Lee on dress. I don't think he can win a cup in Edmonton because if how close they just were, and I don't think the window is closed by any stretch, but you know, there's there's lifestyle and family and all this other things that go into those decisions. And so we kind of have to wait and see where Leon winds up. And I think that's where the Oilers are at it. I mean, they're waiting for him too. Obviously, they they just want to sign him. I don't think that they set that the Oilers are exploring trades for him. It's just more if he doesn't want to sign. I don't think they have any other choice because they are worried about the that the so-called double whammy that could happen where if Leon leaves and they don't make a trade for him, that maybe Conor McDavid could be leaving. And obviously that would be catastrophic for mean that the window would slam shut if that was the scenario that played out. And so this is going to be a fascinating one this off season. I'm sure we were not done talking about it. Oh, man, I don't, I mean, look, you obviously, you would know more than me. I don't see it getting to that point where he gets moved. But we're talking about one of the biggest off season stories ever. If it gets to a point where Leon dry side who still top five player in this league somehow ends up on the move, that is definitely going to be a story we'll be monitoring here on the CJ show. But we have to, I don't know if you have it. Go ahead. This is different. This is different than some other players. Like in the last few years, we've seen Boston take David Pasternak into his last year, last season it was William Nylander in Toronto. It could be Mitch Marner this coming season in Toronto, you know, players that go into the last year. But Edmonton's a different place, right? It's, it's, you know, the Oilers are very realistic that they're not probably going to be a top destination for free agents. They have to sort of keep their own and build their own. And so I don't think they can be as casual or I don't think they can spin the dice and just be like, well, let's hope maybe he changes his mind in January. Like, like, I think they need they at some point they will need a decision. Again, that that's still a ways in the future. I think that they can be a little bit patient given the season. Everyone's got to process what just happened and take a breath and really, you know, start to look ahead because they've been so locked in the moment through this this playoff run. But I don't think they can leave it unresolved in October. Again, it's not 100% chance they don't. But I think it's very likely it's going to come to head at some point this summer. Either, you know, are you signing? What does this contract look like? Let's, let's start playing that way. Or if you're reluctant to do so, then we got to, you know, weigh our options and see what else we can do. Anything else you're hearing on some of the other pending UFAs in Edmonton? Not a whole lot. I mean, they have a group of them, right? You know, Connor Brown, the TSCN Mark guys actually played very well for them in the Cup final. Corey Perry, Warren Fogle, Vincent D'Arnay, who was in and out of the lineup in the playoffs. You know, I think that they want to keep about three or four of those guys. But it's all going to come down to what the contract expectations are and if they can get to work on it. And frankly, those decisions just by nature, the fact they can all be free agents as of Monday, that's what these next few days are is the Oilers now go through their eggs and meetings. Obviously, you have a chance for Jeff Jackson to start having those discussions in a meaningful way with the agents for those players. But you know, I do think they want to retain some of those guys, but only at a certain price. And you know, that's, that's where the team like Edmonton, and I'm sure you're going to start asking about Florida's UFAs not long after this. It's a natural segue that they are really at a disadvantage with the schedule because obviously every other team that had played their last game, whether it was a month ago, two months ago, even two weeks ago, it's had a chance to get, you know, through those discussions. I mean, there was no point in having them during the cup final because even if, you know, the Oilers talk to the agents for those players, they knew the agents were going to go to the player in the middle of the cup final. Hey, let's have a call between games three and four to weigh your options. I mean, it's just not something you can do. And so it's such a rush job now to see what they can get done. But certainly, I know Edmonton likes a lot of those players and they're open to keep them. Okay, you are right. My natural segue was to go to the Florida Panthers, specifically with Sam Reinhardt. You talk about the champagne, not even being dry in the Florida locker room. You guys didn't even let him get off the ice after he won the Stanley Cup before you were asking about a future in which he said that he very much wants to stay in Florida. What's next with him? Well, I think Florida does have an advantage being a team that can offer him an eight year deal, whereas the open market, of course, will only yield seven. Yeah, I think that they put a pretty substantial offer in front of him or his camp already. And you know, this one feels it's more reading the tea leaves. Like, I think there's certainly a point where Florida will walk away because they have to be smart. But, you know, I believe Sam Reinhardt, when he says I want to stay and when he's on the cup and saying this is, you know, I think he said something along the lines of this is the best place in the league to play. You know, obviously, he's been part of that team making its rise and, you know, reaching the cup final now in two straight years, winning the first championship this year. You know, if he looks around and his, you know, teammates are driving golf carts to the practice rink, you know, they have a lot of their key pieces signed. It would be pretty hard to walk away from that. So I will never say never. But I do think if I had to sort of say what the most likely outcome in my senses is that he will stay, you know, I think it's way more likely that Brandon Montour will hit the open market just because of what he can get out there. I mean, you know, I'm hearing things like seven times seven or maybe even a little bit more than that for Brandon Montour. It's hard to imagine Florida giving him that sort of money just because, you know, they sign go stuff fordling to an eight year 5.75 million dollar deal in March. And so, you know, teams end up getting sort of internal structures. You know, it'd be hard for me to imagine that they're going to give Montour that much of a delta above what they're paying fordling, especially given that fordling was their top defenseman throughout these playoffs in the season. So, you know, I think when handicapping the situations in Florida, you know, I think right, there's a good chance he stays where as Montour, yeah, had a pretty nice celebration on the ice, but the opportunities ahead of him are pretty lucrative and I think would be difficult to pass up, you know, at this stage of his career. I have to double check this. I believe the Panthers parade is either Sunday or Monday and a handful of guys in that parade Sunday. Okay, so they'll at least have, well, still like, that's so close to the free agent period starting and all of those decisions for Bill Ziedel to deal with. What a wild situation. Yeah, it's, I mean, it's unusual. Obviously, every team that wins a cup usually players and sometimes marquee players are hitting the market, but usually there's two weeks of partying first, not five days, you know, partying with old teammates. But, you know, I think everyone gets it. I mean, look, it's a business at the end of the day and, you know, it's not like the Panthers don't like Montour and Montour doesn't love Florida. I think it's just, at a certain point when the money gets to, you know, a level, I mean, there's just no way around the fact that, you know, players got to make the best decision for him and his family. So, I don't think there'll be any hard feelings at that parade. I think most of Montour's teammates will be happy to see them, you know, get the bags and where else. But, you know, it just feels, it just feels as though that's, that's where that's likely headed. And look, it's other guys like Al Wreckman Larson played very well for Florida in the playoffs. You know, he's, he's really resuscitated his career with this year in Florida. You know, he told me on the ice he had about five or six options in free agency last year. He went to Florida. He's like, I made the right choice. But, you know, he signed a one year deal is a bit of a prove it situation for him after the way things ended for him in Vancouver. But, you know, I, I think you're going to see him getting three and four year offers on the open market. You know, it's not to say that, that he's leaving Florida. But, you know, there's, there's a very real opportunity, your possibility of that. And so, man, in a cap league with this schedule, it's, it's brutal. Like, save for those players, what you have them, because five days, six days later, you're going to be seeing them pull on another team sweater. And we're going to talk more about the Cup Final, a little later in the show. And, for the Leafs, contingent of people who listen, yes, we're going to have a Leafs corner. We still have a few more names to go through on what CJ is hearing. How about Jake Genssel? Obviously, went from Pittsburgh to Carolina. I saw Josh Joey's article in the athletics saying there might be a small chance he might want to come back to Pittsburgh. But it seems like he is going to test the open market. I wouldn't go that far, actually. I think that there's still a couple days here before July 1st. And my sense is Carolina is still very much interested in retaining Genssel, similar to how I was talking about Sam Reinhardt. I mean, they could get to an eight-year offer for Genssel, which obviously no other team can, which is by virtue the way the rules work. And so, let's, let's, let's play out a little bit more. I mean, for Genssel, it's a tough choice, because, you know, he didn't choose to be traded to Carolina per se, right? That's just the way things went down at the deadline. He had a very productive time there. I think he liked his time there. But, you know, you've played this far and you're this close to free agency, don't you want to at least peek into the open market, see what else might be out there, maybe choose your own destination. But at the same time, the hurricanes, you know, they'll have a lot of balls in the air with, with Pesci and Shea is free agency with Tableter. I know as a free agent with Martin Nachis on the trade market, you know, a lot of turnover coming in Carolina. But I do think the hurricanes are going to make a strong pitch still to retain Jake Genssel. So, you know, we'll have to see where that goes. I mean, if, if he hits the open market, I think Pittsburgh makes sense. There's been a lot to talk about Vancouver. You know, I wonder about a team like Tampa, someone whispered in my ear that maybe in a world potentially, if Stephen Stamkos was moving on, which is not clear yet, but, you know, the Genssel could be a replacement there. You know, Jake Genssel is going to have a ton of options if he gets to July 1st and, and decides to test the market. But, you know, I'm not at a point where I'm ready to rule out the hurricanes as a possible spot where he may, he may in fact stay. Well, I mean, we got to throw Detroit in there too, and you could put that for Genssel or for, or for Stephen Stamkos. Just, you metric Stamkos maybe think about the Detroit trade yesterday in which Jake Wallman made the move to San Jose. Still wondering why they would do that, CJ. Why would Detroit make that? It's easiest why they're doing it. They're clearing out cap space. What is it obvious is how they intend to use that cap space, but, you know, to trade Jake Wallman, who was, you know, top six player for them last year to staple a second round pick. To him, you know, as a sweet nerf to induce or entice the sharks to take him. At this point in time at full freight, right? There was no salary retained there. You know, there's some whispers now is the bio period is set to begin officially on Thursday in the NHL. It's going to be very small. Again, usually the bio window lasts 10 days or 12 days depending on the cupends. This is all going to be a race between Thursday and Sunday where we're going to get biodes, but there's some talk that the Red Wings might look to execute a buyout or two in this window. So, you know, clearly they're clearing out space to be players either, you know, both could be both the trade market and the free agent market. You know, I would think there's a lot of reason if San Francisco sits July 1st, I could see a lot of reasons why that would be a fit for him and for them. Obviously, a long, you know, history of working with Steve Eisenman, the Red Wings GM who was in Tampa for so long, pretty close to his hometown. Probably a team that I think Sam Coast and a lot of players would look at is, okay, maybe this is a team I can win a cup with in a couple of years time that they're building in the right direction. You know, clearly they're being quite aggressive. You know, they also traded a player they took in the sick around last year to Nashville, you know, on Tuesday or was that Wednesday? What days today? Today's Wednesday. On Tuesday, they traded a player that they selected in the second round and clipped them to Nashville to get the pick that they've stapled to Wallman. I mean, Stevie Y is cooking there in Detroit and we should very much keep our eyes on that situation because obviously it's a precursor to further move or moves to come. You know, there's been some talk that maybe the Red Wings would look at John Gibson as an option, which is interesting, right? I mean, Gibson's name has been on the trade market, I'd say, for at least a year, if not two. You know, Anaheim has Lucas Dostell, who just won the the Gold Medal for Cheche at the World Hockey Championship had a nice season for the Dost and I think is clearly their goalie of the future. You know, it would be a way to clear some money up the books for them, but also perhaps to, you know, clear out some spots for Dostell to have more starts moving forward. And you know, I think at this stage of John Gibson's career, I mean, he's he's going to work hard for the Dost over the years, but he's been there through some long years with some poorer and poorest defensive teams in front of him. You know, I can only imagine he'd be at a stage where he'd welcome a chance to go play for a team with, you know, higher aspirations in the short term. So, yeah, there's a lot going on out there. It's been such a weird goalie market, too, right? We've already seen four goal tenders traded. I mean, the carousel is swinging, have a new trade board coming out for the athletic today. And, you know, in the top, you know, 10 or 15, I don't have it right in front of me, you've got Philip Gustafson, the goaltender in Minnesota. You've got Tristan Jari, whose name is out there. You've got Gibson on that list. UC Sorrows was a little lower. I'm not sure that Nashville is going to move him, but you know, there's there's a lot there's a lot swinging behind the scenes. And I think that's tied to the fact that free agency doesn't doesn't have the front line top top of the top of the rotation starters available so much. So anyway, I'm going in all directions here, Julian. Focus me, my young man. Linus Almark, who was just traded to the Ottawa senators had a little zoom avail with media today. He said really interesting from him. Ottawa was not on his list of teams in his no trade clause. So he had no problem going to the Ottawa senators. But what about an extension for him? You can't rule it out. You know, I think that that both the in the team are comfortable letting this one breathe a little bit, let him get situated in the city. You know, one thing about Omarq is, you know, it's been described to me that he's very much sort of a he's a kind of a quiet family man type of person. I think he's mindful of of getting his family in the best possible position. And so maybe that's why a place like Ottawa could be appealing. I mean, certainly a great place to live. You know, again, a team that I if they get things right, they should be on the up because a lot of their players are in the right window where you expect them to get better. And so if that ends up being a good fit, if he has a good year, if if it works from him from a family perspective, I would certainly think he would look at staying there because I do think on the surface, it makes a lot of sense. But, you know, no one is rushing into that either the team or him and the senators are comfortable making the deal knowing that, you know, they've they've got to win them over a little bit too. And obviously want to, you know, they want to they want to get the they want they want to see what they have in him as well. I mean, there's some risk in that trade. I mean, obviously, Unis corpus allah had a difficult year there in Ottawa, but with them retaining 25%. Look, I don't pretend to know goalies. Goalies are voodoo to me a little bit. It's hard to you could just see who stop in the pocket and who's not. But I had someone I trust in the goalie world say that they that he believes that corpus allah is a pretty good bet to have a rebound, especially a, you know, playing behind Swamin, you know, you would expect he's more of a 30 game kind of guy in that situation. And he was saying that a Walmart may regress, you know, that so on the surface, I think a lot of people are saying, wow, Boston only got that for, you know, but they did get a first round pick. And they may have got a goaltender who gives him a pretty capable, you know, number two option while getting rid of all market year before he could have left in free agency anyway. So, you know, in the moment, sometimes the way we react to these trades, it looks a little different six or 12 months later. Let's see how this one goes, you know, I was of the mind like many like, Oh, wow, this is a no brainer for Ottawa. But, you know, you have to remember that Bruins team that that Omar played behind, you know, pretty stout defensive team. You had three three really strong years there, but you know, it's a different animal when he's stepping to in Ottawa, where I think that they're still looking to solidify themselves defensively to a certain degree. But you know, he's probably going to be facing a little different and more frequent quality of shots than he did in his last stop. Okay, what about Jeff Skinner looks as if his time in Buffalo will come to an end? Yeah, he's been out there on the trade market, you know, with obviously Buffalo preferring to deal him away if possible, rather than then go in the buyout option. I mean, he does have a no movement clause. So, you know, that's it's a difficult trade to execute. No movement clause doesn't prevent a player from being bought out. And so, the expectation is very strongly that, you know, either way, his time in Buffalo is going to end, and you know, it might be imminent now with this bio period opening on Thursday and the savers so far not being able to move on from him. And, you know, that would make sense if you're in Jeff Skinner's camp. I mean, why unless you're really getting traded somewhere, you know 100% you want to play. Why not just not waive the no move? You get bought out, you get paid 66% of what you're remaining. And I think it's a reasonable bet. Then you become an unrestricted free agent, you get to choose your next home and you can probably make up the 34 or 33.333% of your contract that that, you know, is lost in the bio with the next contract. So, you know, I would expect here as much as we have the free agent lists and we've had a free agent board already go out, we're going to see a number of names added to that board because there's going to be buyouts. And then there's also qualifying offers due to restricted free agents on Sunday. And I think, you know, as in past years teams, teams are going to, there'll be some surprisingly good players that become UFA's because they didn't get, you know, qualified by their team. And that usually happens in a case where teams a little nervous about what a player might get in arbitration that, you know, teams don't like to go to arbitration typically with players. Obviously players don't like that process either can be nasty and you're leaving it up to a third party. In this case, the arbitrator to dictate what the next contract looks like. But, you know, in these next few days, you know, Jeff Skinner would be one I would expect will be added, but possibly a few others to the, you know, to the number of free agents that are available. Next on the list, Oliver Schillington. I tried to do some digging in this for myself. It seems as if both sides between the Flames and Shilliton are still trying to discuss a contract. I think a lot of fans are wondering why it's taken a bit of time. What insight have you heard? I haven't heard a lot on this file, to be honest. I mean, the reason it's taken a bit of time is because he can be a UFA, right? I mean, that's even even when you've had the situation that Shilliton has and obviously hasn't played a lot in recent years and last season, you know, he still has a chance to go and sign with any other team if the Flames don't give him the kind of offer he wants. And so that, you know, that's decidedly in the player's favor, I would say, you know, the team can try to play hardball or what have you, but I don't have a whole lot. I didn't realize we're going to talk about them, but so to be honest, I don't know a whole lot about the specifics of his situation, but, you know, team has to compel you not to become a free agent when you get this close to July 1st. And that, you know, we've seen a few do that. I mean, just on this day, Liam O'Brien signed a three-year extension with Utah, which obviously played last season in Arizona. You know, he signs his deal. Dylan Demello signed a four-year contract in Winnipeg when he could have been a UFA. You know, he got a pretty good premium. He got 4.9 million against the cap, which, you know, probably wasn't necessarily going to be out there in free agency. And so, you know, I don't think it's personal when he gets to this point. But if you're Shillington or any other UFA, if you're Tyler Myers and Vancouver, you know, it seems like Tyler is a good bet now not to stay with the Canucks. I know he wanted to, but, you know, it doesn't sound like the talks that they've had have been productive towards getting a deal. And so, when it's only a few days away, I mean, what's a few more days to see what the market might be out there for you? So, you know, I would think Shillington, that kind of sums up where he's at, is just the flames have to give him a reason to stay. And that would be probably security and money that they might not be willing to give out at this point in time, because they're also looking at the markets and what we have other options, if not you. Man, if I'm a betting man, I think he ends up staying just because I know the flames are ultimately going to need defense in any way. I don't see it getting to a point where it drags on for a really long time, but we'll have to wait and see on that one, Sage. This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place every game every Sunday, and you can even watch up to four different games at once with Multi-View, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. I got it this year. It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com/bsdevice and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket for Out of Market Games excludes digital-only games. Something else from any of the pending UFAs or anything you're hearing. We're trying to get that out now. I mean, there's a lot swirling around. You know, Detroit is a situation a lot of people are obviously focused on. You know, I've heard the Rangers are trying to move a defenseman maybe perhaps to set up. You know, a lot of the reasons the trades happen now, I mean, it's because there's, you know, the draft is here, so teams like to get a pick that can make right away. It's also because for agencies coming and sometimes it's clearing money out, which, you know, I think explains a trade like the Jake Wallman deal, Detroit made. You know, I think the Rangers are looking at a similar type of move. One of their defense been to meet a lot of talk that Jacob Troopah could be the odd man out there. Not because he's disliked or anything, but he's almost a luxury at this point in time. They have Adam Fox and Braden Schneider, who are also right shots who play above him. You know, Troopah is making $8 million in the cap. Do you really want to have that much money invested in what is, you know, effectively a third bearing defenseman for them at this point. He also has a contract that's a no move clause, but it becomes a 15 team no trade on July 1st on Monday. So, you know, I think that there's also that dynamic. So that's, that's something to keep an eye on. You know, Carolina, I think is going to be a very active team just because of the number of free agency potentia of walking out the door, plus the nature's trade that they continue to work on. You know, the Jets, you know, we have to see what happens in Winnipeg with the Rucker McGorary situation. Also, Nikolai Yillers, his name being out there with him one year out from potential unrestricted free agency. You know, it's always about the leaves around here, I guess. So you like to pin at leaves corner. So, you know, important week for them where, you know, we'll get a little clarity. I would think, you know, with Brad Trill, he's speaking to the media later today on where things exactly stand with Mitch Marner, you know, how he plans to approach revamping his blue line. I think that they'll be looking for two right shots in free agency or maybe get trying to get one by trade, but certainly adding two more right shot defenseman to their group here in the next week or so. I don't even know what else, man. My phone's been, been on fire since I got to Vegas here late last night. So I just, I'm just going stream of consciousness right now, but that's some of what I've been hearing. And, you know, obviously we'll keep you, I don't know when we'll do our next show. Maybe there'll be an emergency pod of something big enough necessitates it with us post once you get down here to Vegas this week. But yeah, it's a, it's a great time of year. If you like transactions, it's, this is a very compact and crazy week. I don't know how many trades we'll see. There's obviously going to be a few more. I think sometimes we overhype the trades at the draft, but but certainly I expect three or four trades of some level of significance and then obviously a whole slew of more minor deals that go down, you know, plus the buyouts, plus free agency opening. Plus, hey, there's actually a few teenagers being drafted to some teams this week too that are going to be players that will be worth following here for the next number of years. Man, could you imagine if you were a draft prospect expert too? A lot of not. I mean, there's only so many days in the week. I'm happy to leave that to the Scott Wheeler's and Corey Pronman's of the world. Bob McKenzie still puts out his definitive list. For TSN. You know, there's, I don't, I quite honestly, there will be someone selected in the top 10 that I will not know that person's name heading in. I know that's a embarrassing to admit. I did meet for the prospects during the Cup final and really, really nice, actually really nice kids. And so I'll be excited to see, you know, what, what becomes of them this week, but my goodness, it's, it's quite a week in Aki this week. Yeah, I'll, I'll be joining you in Vegas later tonight. And as you kind of sort of alluded to with next week, Monday, I believe that's TSN. Well, it's one everyone's going to be doing their free agent frenzy shows. So since Siege will be deep in that, don't expect to show on Monday, you'll know very soon about when our next episode is. Did you fully make sense? We haven't, we haven't probably yet. We haven't coordinated with producer Nick and, and you, but I would think it makes sense because so much of the action happens on the first day. I say like Tuesday morning, we just go back on, we sort of reset where we at who's left to sign? What are we hearing there? And, and, you know, sum up the day that was, but I mean, there's no point in doing it on July 1st. It'll be going to be a shit show. That's my, my official, that's my official term for it. I know it's going to be a shit show. I like that. Did you empty all that you could on Leafs corner? Just want to make sure we cover that base. So that way people like six six zero don't come at us for not satisfying conditions of Leafs corner. Yeah, I mean, it sounds like Tyler Bertuzzi's likely to test the market at this point. Not totally clear on Max Domi. There's sort of mixed signals there. I think that, that certainly Max Domi is a pending UFA. You know, naturally, like this time in Toronto has a long history to organization. I don't know that the contract talks have got to a point where designing to compel him to stay. I mean, he's, he's looking for some security, right? I would think it would take a brief maybe four year deal at minimum to, to compel him to sign before July 1st. I don't think the door is totally closed there yet. But, you know, there's, there's a lot of other players around, you know, won't surprise you to know that Chris Tannov is a player of, of significant interest to the Leafs. Given the history there with Bradcher living, the fact that they were connected to him pretty prominently before he was dealt with Dallas last season. You know, I think the Leafs are willing to get creative on a contract with Tannov even despite his age and some of his injury history. You know, you might see him sign a longer term extension or longer term contract with Brevery lands. And, you know, that could be a way to, to lower the AAV slightly, obviously for him, it's huge security. But it's, it's kind of interesting that what did he sign a four year deal when he was a free agent moving from Vancouver to Calgary? Like, I don't think you can rule out a five or six year deal for him in free agency this, this time around. And, you know, I think Toronto is going to be one of the teams they're knocking on his door, but they're, they're far from alone. A lot of players, a lot of teams out there, like the player, and so does the Dallas Stars where he finished last season. I think they're going to try to, you know, keep upping their efforts to sign him as well. So, you know, that's, that's someone to watch for the Leafs. You know, in goal, they're, you know, sounds like Kevin Weeks first reported that there's a year out, an extension in the offing for Joseph Wall, you know, that would just be a pure bet at this point. If, you know, that ends up coming in a three or four year deal, you know, a year out from when he's actually his contract expires, that's, that's betting that it's smarter to sign him and given that security now give him peace of mind, and that the best is yet to come for a guy who's, you know, had some pretty, pretty big highs, I'd say, like, like his top end in Toronto has been very enticing, but obviously dealt with some injury issues, wasn't able to play game seven against Boston, you know, it's something your organization wants to get to the bottom of. And, and, you know, in terms of free agency, I think Laura and Boswell and Anthony Stolars are, are two players that the Leafs are looking at quite prominently to, to maybe be, you know, run in tandem with, with Wall next season. Yeah, I mean, on the blue line, Matthew Roy is someone that they have some interest in. I don't think Sean Walker maybe is as much of a fit, don't think Pesci's a fit for the same degree, but you know, we'll have to see where the dominoes fall. You go in, you go into July 1st with a plan and then everyone's in somewhere else, then you got out to the plan. So the fact that the Leafs need two defencemen, you know, I'm sure in a perfect world for them, it's like tandem and Roy, but the world might not be perfect. And so if they don't get those guys, they'll, they'll have to look at some of the other options available. So much to get through with all this off-season talk. We didn't even mention Marty Nature's who we've mentioned on previous episodes, but we haven't even discussed this situation. Uh, there's the Matt Vey-Mitchkov situation in Philadelphia where it looks like he's going to be signing with the team in a matter of a couple of days. We were talking about the, yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, we were talking about the Edmonton Oilers just now, and we haven't even talked about what's next for Ken Holland, the GM of the team, who's at his final year of his deal. Like, there's just so much to go through through this off-season. And so if we didn't even get to touch on today, my head is spinning after that entire segment, I can't imagine what you're going through. Like a good thing I'm on my second coffee in the morning here. So I'm, uh, only your second. Only my second. Well, it's still relatively early in Vegas. And I got my run in this morning. So I'm on the good side of it right now. But you know, Ken Holland, look, he signed a five-year deal. The five-year deal expires on Monday. You know, it sounds like at this point, he's not going to come down to the draft. I think the Oilers are interested in keeping both him and Bob Nicholson, who have been with the organization for a while, maybe in slightly different roles, different titles than where they've been. And, you know, I don't know if those guys are going to take those jobs or how that's going to shake out, but if there's still those discussions ongoing, you know, I would expect for the near-term that Jeff Jackson, who's the president of the team, will effectively be the general manager. You know, sort of heading up the hockey decisions, hockey operations department. Obviously, he's been heavily involved having worked there now for the last year. And, you know, we'll see how things shake down because, again, those are conversations that weren't happening during the playoff run. So now they're starting and, you know, I don't want to jump to the conclusions about what may or may not happen because, you know, there's just not the decisions haven't been reached yet. If there's one thing we don't do on this show is jump to conclusions. We probably do. We do. We're guilty of it. We're here. It's always like, what's going to happen? It's a joke. It's a joke. Yeah, you're right. Okay, I think we've done as much as we can in terms of the rumblings of the speculation. Can we take a moment and just look back at what was a brilliant Stanley Cup final series ends in seven. The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions. They don't get reversed swept. Phew, on that point. Your thoughts on the game seven that was and the everything just around it. Well, I'm not a please like my sport guy, but I must say it is gratifying to see the TV numbers both in the US and Canada reflect, you know, what I on the ground thought was a fantastic final. I know there were some lopsided scores in that series, but it was compelling as hell. Storylines, the game seven from a hockey standpoint to me like that is that is like what makes our game great. I know as much as we all might like a six five game, a two one game seven is kind of what you expect, right? I mean, Pittsburgh Detroit 2009 was a two one game seven. Those teams, both like the players on both sides, just battled their asses off. Nothing came easily. Obviously, there weren't many power plays in the game, which you would kind of expect further that moment and you know, it's one bounce or one shot difference. You know, Stuart Skinner might prefer to have the Sam Reinhardt goal back. Rescores off the branch kind of on a play that, you know, look relatively innocent, but at the flipside, you tip your cap, you know, Zach Hyman at the side of the goal, Conor McDavid had chances, you know, in the third period and the combination of Babarosti and A to Leastorainen and, you know, the sprawling Panthers found a way to keep that out. And man, it was just tight and tense. The building was just like, oh, like, I can still kind of feel it a couple of days later in my, my soul, just the way that game felt. I mean, the, the, the stakes are so high. And it was pretty cool being on the ice afterwards and seeing the emotions spill out. Actually had a chance to meet Palm Reese's son, Luke, who says he listens to our podcast. He's, uh, he's in his studies at law school. He's in his studies at law school down there in Miami, but said that, that he's a fan of the short kings on the podcast. So try it out. If you're, you're hearing this, Luke, I hope you had fun. I actually told him to mix in a water, which Julian, you know, is, is a advice to you, because I mean, look, it was right at the start and he was like, wow, Christian, it's only to mix in a water. But I do think it's important advice right before you go into what I can only imagine the next 24 or 48 hours of his life looked like that for that. It was pretty cool to see his dad to lift a Stanley cup. I mean, if anyone might have been the most emotional scene is Palm Reese, the way that the look on his face, the interview he gave to Kalbukoska is talking about his, his own family, his own history, his own journey to win that cup. You know, Sacha Barkov, the first Finnish captain got a call from the Finnish president after that that's, you know, Finland's a real hockey country and took a call from the president after to congratulate him and the other Finns, Lindell, and Luster Aynan, route to on their coaching staff on the team. It was, you know, it was a great file. And, you know, one of the coolest moments, Julian, quite honestly, is people might not realize that Patrick Hornquist remains, I think he's called a consultant and scout for the Panthers. You know, one, two cups as a player with the Penguins was part of Florida's turnaround and obviously sort of gets a third and the administrative side, you know, I stopped them on the ice and was, was just kind of asking about the Panthers turnaround. And he said, I think losing last year made a big difference in any on his own volition set. And I think Conor McDavid is now going to win a Stanley Cup for having been through this. He's like, you can't really tell someone about this or teach them, you can't use words to describe it. Like, once you feel this, once you've been in the moment, he's like, you just have a little bit extra to give, you know, in terms of wanting so badly to win it in the future. And he was, he was predicting on the ice while the Panthers celebrated around us that we would be seeing Conor McDavid cup down the road. And so, you know, I think it's a pretty, it sets up a pretty compelling story in Edmonton is, is, you know, now McDavid and dry sliders chase continues to try to get back to the top of the mountain after being so close. So, you know, I thought it was a great series. I stand by my decision as one of 17 consummate voters, despite all the shit online about Conor McDavid's selection as the number one Con Smythe pick. That was a feisty, you damn okay, feisty. A lot of our very feisty of you to go in that way. I'll say this, any fans who are second guessing it, I got no problem with you. But a lot of our colleagues around the league are sitting at home on their couch, second guessing. I don't know why. I mean, the guy led, he had 20 more points than any Panthers player. He set an eclipse records by a guy's by the name of Gretzky and Lemieux. There's no chance to even get to game six and seven without him. I recognize he did not score a point in either of those games, but it's a two month award. And I just have a hard time looking over that two months and saying that anyone was more valuable in the playoffs than McDavid was. And a story full stop. And you can quibble with the second and third place votes. The only thing I'll say there is we've already highlighted a couple of times on the pod. The votes go in before the final buzzer. So it's a hard thing. I voted before I saw Bob make those game saving stops in the third period. There's a chance maybe he gets my third place both instead of Gustav Forzling. I had Barkov second and McDavid first. But all being said, I still think we got the right winner. I got no problem with Conor McDavid, by the way. If anyone cares, not coming out to take the trophy. I think that's a picture you don't want to exist forever. I mean, you look at the J.S. Gairwa, and he just looks miserable in from 2003 when he had to come back out. That was a time where obviously he was focused on the team. We saw Conor McDavid stand on the ice and fist bump or tap each of his teammates since they went off. He was the last toilet to leave the ice and to come back on and accept an individual award right before the Panthers got the cup. It just wouldn't have felt right. So anyway, I just saw this shit online and it bothered me. It's like from people who should know better. I mean, again, there's reasonable disagreement. I'm not saying, but I can't believe how many people are like he shouldn't have won. What universe are you on? Look at the step back and look at it. That was a pretty special playoff. I mean, I've never, to my knowledge, that I don't think I've ever voted for a player on a losing team. But this was a player on a losing team in game seven in a two-one game. His team, the Oilers had five more goals in the series than the Panthers did, which I realized doesn't win you anything. We've seen other Cup winners, you know, St. Louis scored less goals in Boston the year they won Pittsburgh lesson Detroit in 2009 when they won like it's an unprecedented, but I'm just saying the margins were pretty thin on this one. And in that case, I'm comfortable voting for a player on a losing team because he was that special. You sat on this, you stood on this for a couple days. There was, there was, it wasn't like, I'm not going to say it was genuine. Yeah. And I'm just seeing all this shit. And I'm like, yeah, I wish I was sitting at home the last two months and on my couch and just be like, man, man, man, man, man, man. You know, okay. You know, here's the, for the record, I don't disagree with Conor McDavid winning. I think if I was in the building, I would still lean that way. I would strongly think about bark off in Babrowski's cases, obviously just looking at how that game unfolded. But you're right. Like Conor McDavid was within a stone's throw of establishing a new record for points in one single post season and was one game away. I get it. He didn't get points in Game Six or Game Seven, but was one went away from accomplishing something that hadn't been done in over 80 years. Like, and you could, and with the way Leon could I cite all the time it took from again to the series, you could say that was him. Like, I totally understand why you went that way. And let's use the argument against the people. And obviously we don't want to, I'm wasting way too much time on this, but he had four more points in any player on other team in the series in the final itself. You know, and you say, okay, well, bark off. Well, bark off didn't produce a lot in the final. I actually thought he played really well and especially in the losing effort in Game Six, he was by far Panthers best player to me. Babrowski got pulled in a game in the series. His, his numbers is he actually had a negative goal save above expected mark in that final series. He was fantastic against the Rangers in the previous round, but he had some ups and downs in the playoffs. Like, to use only that McDavid didn't have a point in Game Six and Seven against him is ignoring the fact that the other players that you're suggesting we should have voted over him all had perfect series or perfect playoffs or perfect Game Sixes and Sevens. It's just not, it's not a fact. And so that's, that's all I'll say on the matter because people are here for rumors and trades. They're not here for my rants. But I'm just, it just was really surprised and annoyed by our colleagues coming at us. Again, fans, fans, you got it, you got to clean slate. But like some of the, I know better is sitting at home. Didn't appreciate it. The I know betters, the only way this, the only way this rent would have been more fiery is if you just started name dropping people, just be like you. You think you know better? That's the, I don't, you're not that type of guy. You would never do that. You would never do that. But if you did do that, you would be standing on business, as we say, that would be hell. I get exactly why you feel the way that you feel. So this is how the players feel. This is how the players feel when the media second guess them, right? Like, I remember John Tavares, he has that. What's, it's like the famous quote about like being on the playing field, like you're in the game and other people who aren't in the game are second guessing you. Like that's kind of how I feel like obviously I wasn't in the playing field playing in the cup final, but I'm going through all that travel and working my butt off and I'm spending a tremendous amount of time thinking about that decision. I'm calling people or texting with people who are with the teams to gauge who they think their best players were. Like that's, and then someone who's not in the playing field, someone who's not in the game, someone who isn't jet-legged and not sleeping is just like, "Rag should have been this instead." That's where it got me. The man in the arena, I think it's called. Do you know that quote? I think it's called the man in the arena. I vaguely heard about that. It's really basically like you've got to be in the game to really know and to understand. And it is true because frankly, some of our jobs as a second guess players and like obviously you or I couldn't, we have no place on the playing field with any of these athletes. We've never done anything like them. We've never been under the pressures they've been under. We've never performed in front of 20,000 people. Like it, you know, it is true. So I get the irony that I'm bitching about this and yet for a living, it's my job to second guess people doing something I couldn't do. Okay, let me take you to another topic. Any quick thoughts on the Hall of Fame class that was announced yesterday? Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Ronik, Shea Weber, Natalie Darwitz, Chrissy Wendell-Pole, Colin Campbell and David Poel will be in the incoming class for the Hall of Fame. I don't have a lot of thoughts. I'll let someone else drag that. Like it's a decision made by 18 people behind closed doors. I don't know really what goes into it. I know that they have to get I think 14 out of 18 votes for each candidate to be confirmed. I'll just say this. I'm surprised. I'm a little surprised but not shocked. Like I didn't know if the sort of Russia-Ukraine situation would have the committee of a mind to put a Russian in. I'm not at all debating Pavel Datsyuk's Hall of Fame credentials but I was, you know, just I found that interesting that they didn't and then that they put him in and didn't put Alex McGillney in for the 15th straight years beyond me. But I don't, you know, this doesn't get me too fired up either way. If you have any thoughts, you can share them. Like I... I think McGillney should be in there, man. Yeah. That's a that's a big one. There's... again, I've said it before on different friends but I'll say it publicly here. I'm pretty sure I probably say on the podcast too. There should be no limit on the amount of women who get in. So to not see people like Jennifer Baderow and Julie Chu make it or have them wait longer to get in, that's ridiculous too. The seeing the discourse around Colleen Campbell getting in. All I'll just say about that is that is very fascinating and interesting to me. That's as much as I'm willing to say on that. Man, there was so much stuff this week. We didn't even get to... I mean, I could say this as a cross check if you think it's appropriate to do. We didn't even talk about the Phoenix... sorry, the Arizona Coyote situation evolving as it did with Alex Morello. Literally moments after the Stanley Cup final is done. It's announced that he's stepping away from his ownership of the team. Just, I'm sorry. This is such a ridiculous situation and the fact that it ended as it did, it's just... I'm sorry. I asked the questions about it when we first talked about the situation. It seemed weird to me in the light and now we're at this situation. I just think it's embarrassing that it's gone to that point. I guess he got his money though. That's why it's embarrassing. That's exactly why it's embarrassing. God just said he had the end of all of this. I'll just say though that it's entirely predictable this would fall apart. I'm not saying I predicted it would fall apart in a couple of months. I thought there might be some... I mean, let's face it. I thought it was going to go to that land auction, which was originally scheduled for the 27, which is what? Tomorrow? And I thought he wouldn't win the land auction and then it would fall apart. So I guess I did think it would be on something like this timeline. I mean, the whole thing was a ruse, whatever. Let's move on. The good news is is that now it clears the way hopefully for, you know, something to be built properly there. Danny Chell, I'll say, is really lucky that Ryan Smith was there in the offering that he offered such a great and appealing opportunity for them in Utah. You know, it shows. I mentioned Limo Bryan signing. He was a fan favorite with the Coyotes, the Factis. You know, the Spicy Tuna memory gave a pretty good speech when they went and visited Utah for the first time, the players, and he, the Factis, signing on. I mean, I think that the players are energized by the new opportunity with the Utah Hockey Club. And I do think we'll see NHL hockey in Arizona in the future. But the building's got to get built and owners got to emerge and all that. That's going to take time. And Alex Morello will just go down as another name that we almost forgot. We ever knew within, well, I don't know, six hours from now because I'm done with that story. Yeah. Do you have a stick tap before we wrap up? I will take Kyle. I have one. Oh, no, nice. I like that one. And I say this respectfully because I'm older than him, but he's the old guy without a cup that got his cup. You know, it was pretty cool seeing him and his son on the ice. You know, I had a chance to chat with him a little bit, like just what a grateful guy for his career. I thought he had really kind of a wise answer to a question. I asked him, you know, talking, he was saying that he's as appreciative of the hard moments where he was a long way from when he cup as he is at that moment of sort of ultimate redemption jubilation. Finally, winning a cup, you know, after all those seasons in Buffalo where he was nowhere close to it and, you know, believed in himself, found a way to contribute, you know, as a depth player on the Panthers. And, you know, he's going to make a decision here about his future, but whether he decides to retire or come back, he goes out on top. And I thought, you know, what a just a class guy for a lot of years in the HL 17 NHL seasons and was really happy to as I am every year. I mean, as you know, I'm not cheering for teams of these things, but there's always individuals that you're happy to see get the cup. As I mentioned earlier, happy to see Paul Maurice raise the cup. Happy to see all of rekman Larson and other guys always just been great to deal with over the years and in color poses as well. Awesome. I like that stick tap for him. I'm going to give mine to Pavel Datsyuk, one of the members I mentioned who will be going into the hockey all the fame. We remember him for the Stanley cops. He won. We remember him for his defensive play three selfie trophies. What I do hope people should do if you have, if you don't already do it, just type in Pavel Datsyuk on YouTube and just watch him break all the ankles possible. A friend of the show, Dimitri Filopovich, actually a couple of years ago, did like a little like mixtape, you get a little watch on on Twitter with all the times he's made all these incredible moves. It's just to see a player like him be recognized and be entered into the Hall of Fame. I like that. I think he was one of the coolest players to watch from the 2000s and to see him be a part of that Hall of Fame class. I have no problem with that. So I will give him my stick tap for this week. Yeah, but well said, what episode? Can't wait for the next one. It's all about to say. Yeah, seriously, if it's going to be anywhere near as fire is this one is you know you're in for a good one. Get your questions in now, whether on Discord or Twitter, no episode Monday. Expect Tuesday to be the next time you hear from the C. James. I don't know. I'm telling you get on a point. I think I think we might have an emergency. Yeah, I just think something's going to happen that might even if it's a quickie or something. Well, we're not going to forget about you out there. We're going to do as much as we can. Well, if it comes to that, it probably means it will come at you from Vegas when we will both be in Vegas. Anyway, thanks so much for listening. We'll be back when we'll be back. The Chris Johnson Show. Inside the game, twice a week. Follow Chris on Twitter at reporter press and follow Junie Mackenzie at jk and Mackenzie.
