[MUSIC] >> Van Morning Joe Sports, that 5-9 of the fan, Ben Ns, Brent Gunning, it's hockey season. I mean, training camp doesn't start until next week, but it's hockey season. I can tell you from experience, it's just like, in my family, it's hockey season. It's been a hockey season, honestly, since July, which is, I never played rep hockey. >> Yeah. >> So I don't really know this world, but my kid has been on the ice. It's literally since July, now not consistently, but he's, I've seen the inside of a hockey rank since July, which I never had as a child, and now it's in earnest. He had six AM practice yesterday, it's hockey season, and it's the rookie showcase this weekend. >> Yeah, I was gonna say don't bury the lead, we're gonna get to the East and Cow and play hockey games, okay, this weekend, and yeah, hockey, it's always hockey season in my heart, but I'm happy the rest of the world at large is now joining me. I also spent far too much time, and well, not too much, 'cause I enjoyed it, but shocking amount of time and rinks in very hot days in the summer, but hockey's bad. >> I saw you in one. >> That's right. >> Yeah. >> Varying differences of our children's want to do that, but yeah. >> Yeah, so we got the rookie showcase coming up this weekend, and there is one rookie that is a potential factor, and when we get Jason Bukell on right now, no doubt, we'll be talking about Easton Cowan, because he was the guy that I think initially had the Darcy Tucker comp, which he said, hey, listen, I don't mean to put expectation on it, but like that style of player, but yeah, it's quite a thing to be in the midst of your championship competition window, and I know that's, people outside of this market are laughing because the Leafs have only won one round during this window, but like there's just- >> It's also true, to be doing that, but also having a first round pick, now late in the first round, but like a first round pick that is a potential impact player this season. And when this year is done, like is it out of the realm of possible? I don't want to put any expectation unfairly on a guy that we've never seen play a regular season NHL game, but like is it, what would you put the percentage at? >> I didn't Cowan playing a playoff game for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2025. >> 5%. >> That seems very generous of me, quite honestly, like I think a lot would have to go wrong for the Leafs to find themselves in that position, obviously a ton would have to go right for Cowan as well, but I just think that they did the Frasier-Minton experiment last year, they saw it went- >> Different players though. >> Different players for sure, but I also think they've seen how the Matthew Nye's of it all has gone, and they didn't like have another choice with Nye's, they're like it was ready to come out. They could have had him in the Marley's, but it's not like he's not been a helpful player, but he also hasn't been necessarily shot out of a cannon. The way that we feel like he maybe had the potential to be and am I a little higher on Cowan? Yes, I am. >> Nye's his first kick of the cannon in the postseason though was so good, right? >> Mm-hm. >> Like he- >> Well, they're also not going to have that option. They're not going to be able to just like bring him out of the London Knights in the middle of May. Like this is part, I mean we talked about Bukla with this exact thing this summer. So yeah, that's the other part of it all. >> Yeah. >> If you could tell me that Easton Cowan go play a whole year in the thing and then they have some injury and they call them up, I'd be fine with that quite honestly, or at least open to it. But they don't, and they have to be here the whole year for that to happen, and that seems pretty unlikely. >> Yep, and who knows how the max patch already of it all impacts us as well. All right, this insider is brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit DonValleyNorthlexus.com. Today's insider is Jason Bukla, a sportsnet hockey central analyst, writer for sportsnet.ca, founder of the pro hockey group, former NHL director of amateur scouting for the Florida Panthers. How are you going, Jason? >> Good morning for us. Doing well, thanks. Time to get started today. >> Awesome. >> Rookie. Rookie games are up on it. >> Oh, we were started a while ago. >> I was going to say like you're talking to us. You've never stopped, right? >> Yeah. >> Like it's just like talking to you about, about, like on the kids name, the Canadian from the, the Yukon Gavin, at the, yeah, I've been, yeah, I've been, so yeah, you've been grinding all summer, Bukla. You're like me. Hockey season always lives in your heart. >> It never ends anymore when it first got into this gig, you know, a lifetime ago, you know, you had a month and a half, two months off in the summer almost, but not anymore. It's definitely a 12 month of the year thing, but it's good, keeps it, keeps it fresh, keeps it going. >> For fans in this market, like, we'll take anything we can get, obviously, right? Like the rookie tournament will be something that we will consume. But as far as front office and, and coaches are concerned and decision making when it comes to rosters are concerned, how impactful are things like the rookie tournament or exhibition games for that matter? >> It's a big deal, you know, because right after the draft, everybody convenes with their prospects at development camp and they, they give them some homework to go away from the development camp with, you know, whether, you know, they got to train a certain way, they got to work on, you know, their edge work with their scanning, their explosive, you know, there's always a takeaway, right? Then, you know, this is their chance to arrive and, you know, see what their fitness levels like, obviously compete internally, but then get right at it externally against the, against some other teams that, you know, the Montreal Canadiens have a very deep depth pool. So this is, you know, these two games this weekend for the deep prospect, it's important and so, you know, there's guys in this roster that want to not only make an impression, you know, out of the gate right away, you know, before they potentially get sent back to junior, for example, but they want to leave that lasting impression. But there's other guys that they need to graduate the main camp and, you know, start their clock with the NHL club, potentially, or, or at least give them, you know, something to think about throughout the course of main camp. So it's really important and, you know, it's not a flight or the radar thing for the scouting fraternity. I'll tell you that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the perfect guy in the leafs orbit that hits on what you just talked about there is maybe not making the team, but definitely giving him something to think about getting a main camp would be, would be a guy like Cade Weber. This was a guy they signed or traded for his rights and then signed at a Boston college. He strikes me and correct me if I'm wrong is just a guy who could maybe get here sooner, but has a much kind of lower ceiling than some of these other players we talk about. He's 23 years old. Is he a kind of guy that you're talking about of that ilk of players that, again, like all eyes are going to be on cow and all eyes are going to be on Danford. But honestly, it's like Weber is maybe the guy I'm most curious about in this thing. Yeah, I agree with that, especially at the, you know, six foot six, 200 pounds. You know, he's an older guy who's played college hockey and as you guys know, he's a defensive defense man, right? This guy's never going to move the needle offensively, but you know, he's a guy that, you know, value guys are absolutely essential in the salary cap world. I know the cap's going up and there's big money being spent at the top of the, the food chain, if you will, but guys like this who can fill six and seventh defense federal rules potentially, hopefully, they're very important to find. So Weber is exactly that. He's a, there's two types of things guys. Like you have to have a B game in the NHL before you have an A game and your B game's got to be threefold. It's got to be, you got to be able to move at NHL pace, think at NHL pace and you have to have relentless compete. Nothing else matters after that because if you don't have that baseline, you know, you're, you're not going to be a great offensive guy. If you're not competitive enough, Weber is just, he's simple to define. He's placed exactly the same way all the time. He's a big body. He's in the way. Kind of like Simone Benoit last year, you know, coming in, he's got to try and be like that. It's, I'll be interested to see how he does, you know, coming, he's got four years of, of college hockey under his belt. He's played against a World War competition. He's an older guy now, but he's definitely a guy who needs to have a big camp to try and leave an impression. Well, quickly, you weren't joking, Buka, like four years of college, one goal, the highest point. Oh, yeah. No, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's the Brad Marsh of, of college hockey. Like, this is not, this is not a guy who's going to be moving a lot of needles off mentally for sure. Like, I think, I think he had donuts for four out of the five years, to be honest with you. So he did. He had one goal in his whole college career. Yeah. As long as he flattened some people, that's a job. Well done. The Easton Cowan going to provide the other thing. He's going to not have donuts in the goals column. What is the arrival of Max Patrick ready on a, on a PTO do for, for his chances of even getting a sniff out of camp and getting somewhere close to the, the nine games he can play in the NHL before losing his junior eligibility? Yeah. I'm curious about this one here. So it's, my answer is that two different sides of it. Here's the problem. We've discussed this before. Here's the issue when a player is too good for junior hockey in my estimation, but the CBA doesn't allow him to be sent to the American League to further develop and be a recall if you will, which would be ideal, wouldn't it? Because, you know, he's a veteran guy. If he has a, you know, a decent camp, you know, he's going to be, he's going to get slotted into the lineup. That's just going to happen. You know, there's already, that's probably exactly what's going to happen. So, but it would give the Cowan a chance, you know, to, to kind of, you know, get his legs in the American League, but that doesn't, that's not the way it's going to be. It can't happen that way because of the CBA. It's going to affect Cowan's potential to stick long term. I still think he gets to the nine game mark. The Max Patrick ready signing is a veteran signing. It doesn't move the needle a lot for me. I have to be perfectly honest. I love this guy for the fact that he's bought through these horrible Achilles injuries, and I'm sure it's been absolutely, you know, treacherous to try and get back in the lineup, but, but he's, he's, he's Max Patrick ready, like this isn't the same Max Patrick ready years ago. So it'll be curious to see how much runway they give Cowan and what the competition looks like there. But, you know, the good thing about Cowan, we talked about this before, guys, if he does leave a mark, he can play up and down your lineup. Like he can kill penalties at the bottom. He can provide energy. He's going to score in time, but that's going to take time. But these are the types of things that happen in the NHL. You have to persevere in overcome competition. Yeah, you do, obviously, Nick Robertson, like knows that as well as anyone. And like maybe he, maybe some people wish he would have persevered a little more and keep his thoughts to himself. I'm not necessarily of that camp, but how do you think the, you know, the trade requests, the contract negotiation going deep into, into not training camp, but into September here? How do you think that impacts his standing? And just there has been some talk of the idea of him being under contract makes him easier to trade. That, obviously, the number he's at is a fine one, so it doesn't hamper it. But I would have always just assumed the NHL team would rather be, the team trading for him would rather be able to set the parameters of that and have the negotiation with him. But so what do you make of Robertson's kind of standing with the Oregon and how likely is it you think he breaks camp with the team? Not because he makes it or not, but just he's a leaf or not. Yeah, he breaks camp with the team, you know, 14 goals in his role, his limited role last year is very strong considering he didn't, you know, see any power plate time. It's a fresh start with the new coach. I'm not so sure that the player fits the mold of what the coach is going to be looking for in the middle of the lineup. This is a dart and bash guy that, you know, honestly, he did everything that he could last year to be the best version of himself. He took a lot of strides, man. He too. He was good in his training camp right out of the box last year was excellent. Like he, he left the mark for me early in training camp last year. And so if I want to look at it from his point of view, he kind of feels like, you know, I gave what I gave the best version of myself to you and it still wasn't good enough. And then he, you know, he, he dug his heels in a little bit. I don't, I don't necessarily disagree with that. The problem is that he has zero leverage and we talked about this. He had no leverage. He's a, he's an RFA who needs games. He needs to showcase himself. I'm curious to see how the camp rolls out. I'm curious to see how his camp goes. And then, you know, further to that, you know, is he a trade chip? You know, we've seen this. We've seen these types of things happen to train a camp before across the league. And we'll see. This is a show me a year, one way or the other for, for Nick Robertson and, and he needs to get off the good start. It's a business. I, I get it entirely, but like, would the trade requests and then the, the, I don't know, the, the, the subsequent fallout impact his standing within the organization, we did see this once with Rasmus Sandeen and there's a similar result, he eventually put pen to paper and then was on the ice and then was eventually traded out of, of Toronto. How do you think the Nick Robertson saga this off season has impacted the way the front office views him? I think that, you know, it definitely can. All school thinking is that, you know, you're, you're going to have a burr about that. You know, you should be upset with the player right out of the box of training camp and maybe hold it again. But I don't think that that's the way the Toronto Maple's are thick and I think they're really turning over a new leaf here again with the new staff and, you know, Lane Lambert, who I worked with a Nashville years ago, he's going to be in the ear of Nick, a lot of training camp and kind of, you know, pumping his tires, if you will, I don't think that they're going to hold it again. So my thing, they don't need any distractions like that and, and they're going to give him the best chance to, again, be the best version of himself. It's not ideal. I mean, come on. Like nobody wants a squeaky wheel, right? It's, it is pro sports. And if teams are going to do it to players, you know, in terms of like, look what happened to Jonathan Marcheso, you know, Jonathan Marcheso did everything you could for the Las Vegas call the night. And at the end of the day, he's, he's making personal phone calls to say, really? You don't want me here. Like there is a business side to this and you have to look at it for the player side sometimes as well. So just get off to a good start. Kid prove it. No, they're, they're absolutely is. I want to stay bogged down on the lease, but I can't help but shake this contract comparable. It's out there regarding Mitch Marner, but we're spending so much time talking about Marner. And there was the dry settle contract. And I think some people, maybe me, tried to wonder what that meant for Marner. And I think the answer is nothing. There's just like a schism or a gap between where the two players are, what they can expect to make. But Michael Ranton in the exact same position that both those guys in, he makes 925. How do you look at Marner and Ranton in terms of comparables in terms of what they could kind of ask for and get? And I also just look at the situation of the avalanche can go to Ranton and say, Hey, how does a $2 million raise sound? And that's not nothing. He's actually moving up. Whereas the Leafs get Marner at the exact same number of 11, five. It's like that's barely a half million dollars raise for him. How do you look at those two players as kind of contract comparables for one another? I think that's fascinating. So very, very similar to be honest with you in terms of contract value, regular season wise. This is different. You guys know it. I know it. He's a big, heavy player. He's got that power to his game. He's got that interior. For me, it keeps coming back to the reality that Matthew's got paid, but Matthew's is evolved. There's things that Austin Matthews has done over the course of his career besides score goals. Now blocking shots and doing all kinds of different things, being better on the defensive side. Where Marner's really a fine player, he's had great player top 10, like offensive player in the league probably top 15 for sure, top 10 for sure. So the difference is, though, guys, that you also get paid for results at the hardest time of year and your trust value, you invest dollars in those in the trust of that time of year. And the comparison is spot on. I just, he's coming back to playoffs and we need to, for me to spend the money, I need to have a result that I can rest my laurels on, like I need that, like I don't know how else to say it. I'm not trying to be a jerk. It's just a reality. Like, Brandon's won a Stanley Cup. You know what I mean? So, dry side has been so close. It drives me crazy, to be honest with you. I wish I didn't have to throw it out there because I think Marner is a hell of a player, but that's the reality. It, it, but it was the reality last season. Now Brad for living hadn't seen it from the close up seat that he saw last year's postseason, but he was in the same similar situation with William Neelander, and he just, he saw the glorious goals that he was scoring and the shirtless version of himself in Sweden, and he couldn't help himself. He gave him all the money. Like, I don't know, does having seen it firsthand that that postseason changed things? Or is, I mean, we did seeing proof of concept of him seeing the bright, shiny object. And I have no doubt that Mitch Marner is going to have a great regular season. What if Mitch Marner, yeah, it has even better start to the regular season that he's had in, in previous years. Do you think there's a temptation for Brad's living to just say, ah, screw it, throw all the money at him again? Well, the temptation always is there that you want to keep the band together, provided that they're performing at a high level and everything looks like we're going to trend in the direction that we want to trend in, honestly, the way that I'm looking at this is that, so imagine Marner scores 85 points. Just like him. I think he's going to get more than that. But I'm just throwing it out there. He's an 85 point guy, but he starts to play the game just a tad bit differently for Craig Brube. So, you know, he's just a little bit harder on things. Sometimes he's a little bit more dialed in on the back check. You know, he's a real smart 200-foot player when he's on, like he can do all those types of things. It's just that when games get heavy hard, you know what happens, right? So I would take less points, more detail in certain areas and pay them. That's what I would do. It's not going to be, I already know you can score 100 points. I already know that. I need the rest of it to start to evolve. The knee-lander one, that stands out as an issue, doesn't it? It's an easy example because he lingers pure offense and his B game is like, you know, laissez-faire. And, you know, and he's a different dude as we all know, so it's tempting to just make the payment. But, buddy, be very careful here. Yeah. Be careful. I think the other thing that's at play with this, and like this is well trodden ground, but it's just like, if they were ever going to play poker with somebody of like, okay, we'll call it a bluff. You want to walk? You want to not be a leaf, really? Hey? All right. Go ahead. That's the guy to do it with. And it's like, is that unfair? Kinda. But it's also like, "Life, welcome to life." If you think... Come on. $11.5 million a year, I'm not, I'm not crying in my, you know, my coffee. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, but for this stuff, I'm not saying, I'm not saying he'd be crying about that. I just mean, like, if you're Brad your living and you're, I think the best tactic you have of negotiation is being willing to walk him to free agency and say, okay, you're Mitch Martyr. Like, are you truly going to willingly walk away from being a leaf? You want to go be a yout in Utah or whatever, you know, whoever wants to throw the bag out of it? I think that's their ultimate leverage. And you said 11 and a half because that's what Neelander makes. I mean, I know that the warts exist in the postseason for Marner, but if you could get him at eight times 11 and a half, are you doing that extension sight unseen even without another postseason run? Well, he's getting that elsewhere in the league and, you know, the threat is always there that he's going to perform, you know, like Nazim Qadri did, you know, when he left town. So he's worth 11.5 even if it means that we take some of the eyes off of him at playoff time and all that sounds ridiculous. The fact of the matter is that's what he's worth in the league. That's what he's worth in the league. So you know, you want to put feels like he's already making 11, right? That's the thing. He's he's making 12.5. He's making north of 12.5 depending on the market. I would say that depending on the market, he's making north of 12.5 anywhere else, probably north of 13 fellas, probably north of 13. Wow, man. A lot of people shaking their heads, I think. And you're not wrong about that. And I don't think he'd be wrong to command it. But yeah, it's certainly like you said, a lot of people want to want to see it. But he doesn't make that in Nashville or Carolina or somewhere else where you got tax free dollars. That's another, you know, that's another discussion, but it'll be different depending where he lands. So don't you don't you lay that catnip for me and get me distracted complaining about state taxes. I the other thing I think about with the with the Leafs here is a blue line. This is something Ben and I talked about is they have a couple of guys on the blue line now. Paul finally signed up, Tana, of course, was their big, sexy ad at the beginning of it. How do you go about load management? I mean, none of these guys are 40 year old, mark your dano saying, guys, you can't take me out of the lineup or that I won't be able to get the wheels back going again. But how do you kind of manage Chris Tana's load? Because this isn't a guy who gets hurt through wear and teary gets hurt through blocking a shot with his hand. He's out for, you know, four to six weeks or whatever it is. But you need him at playoff time. How do you think the Leafs will will balance, I mean, specifically those two, but really just in general, load management on their blue line. Yeah, that's interesting. Tana only knows how to play the game one way. Right? You know, we all know that. Right? Yeah. Well, yeah, it's amazing. But it's also, it's also the tone you want to set with the organization or with the group. And, and again, like he coming back to, you know, he's going to be an example of how we want to play. You know, this is, you know, Craig Ruby and his staff are going to be, this is how we want to play, you know, in the trenches, we want to, you know, everything that we have, we want to lay it on the line. Now, that's really hard to do over 82 games. Everybody knows that. So yeah, that's going to be curious to me. I don't know what his minutes are going to, he's going to be even strength penalty kill for sure. Is he going to be primary penalty kill every night? So he's blocking, you know, shots with his, with his, whatever's left of his mouth, because I think he's got one tickle up in there or something, you know. I don't know, but, but it's going to be curious. So one thing that I will say guys is Ekman Larson is going to be, is a guy that I'm watching real closely out of the box. So out of the box last year in Florida, when they had a lot of injuries in the back and Ekman Larson was really good. I mean, probably the best version he's been of, of himself in several, several years, that really trended down. If, if anybody wants to look up the statistics in the back after the season, when the Panthers got healthy and into playoffs, that trended down pretty exponentially. So that's going to be a curious one. I'm talking about protecting guys like, like Lillegrine or, or, you know, obviously Tanne wasn't having stuff like that, but how can Paul, if he's healthy now, now that that, that's in the fold and he got Ben while there, you've got some choices to make. And yeah, you don't have to play Tanne every night, every night, but he didn't come home to sit out. He's too competitive. He wants to play every night. Yeah, he does, but also that's what the money's for a six year deal. I don't know if he was getting that anywhere else, but yeah, nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody. Jason always a pleasure. Thanks, buddy. All right, boys. Have a great day. Grab me on. All right. Thanks for doing it. Jason Buchola sports that hockey central analyst and our insider brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom, visit Don Valley, North Lexus.com. That was a, that was a good Toronto throwback from him there. Haven't heard a nobody, a good long while. That was good. I like that. I mean, so I bring up the, the knee lander comparable because it's like, it's, it's not that dissimilar to this decision, like that was the conversation about knee lander's extensions. Like you're really going to extend him considering the lack of post season success. And he just was blown away by what he saw from William knee lander to start the regular season, gave him all the money that the lease had still had no post season success. But now I guess it's different because Brad for living has seen it with his own eyes. Like, why is the situation different now? Is it because he already gave it? Like William knee lander, I get it. Like he was the one post season performer of all the big guys. I mean, barely. And it's not like, you know, the guy was a perfect post season player. I think he was also part of the post season problems for the sleeve steam in years previous, but still got all the money from Brad for living. I, I just, I, why is it different for Brad for living men mentally now when he looks at the same decision being made for Mitch Marner considering the same situation existed for the sleeve steam macro. Yeah. Last year, couple of who's talking to knee lander, couple of differences. One kind of minor, one kind of major, the minor one before last season, William knee lander's career high in points was 87. That's very good. And it's almost a point per game. In fact, it is point per game because they only play 82 of them. Then Mitch Marner's career high in points is 99. That's just factually more. If Mitch Marner gets off to a not 120 point pace, like William knee lander was for the first two or three months of the season, but a 130 point pace because that would be the step that he had taken. I do think we're having different conversations. And then the other thing is what I'm going to mention. I'm going to mention it all season long as we have these conversations. Because it is the most important factor of this is that we can all envision a world where William knee lander got walked to free agency and went, New York's kind of cool. Florida's kind of cool. Utah's kind of cool. Calgary's kind of cool. Where are they going to pay me? Where can I have a good life? That doesn't mean knee lander doesn't love being a leaf and cherish it. But I also think there's, you know, extenuating circumstances of him being happy to go elsewhere. With Mitch Marner, I think that is still the ultimate trump card that this org has is just being incredibly frank with him and going, Hey, we want you here. The number has to make sense. But do you Mitch Marner really want to not because we traded you away and you get to be a martyr, not because you were run out of town, but you willfully choosing to go to another place. Is that a choice that you're going to be able to live with 20 years when your career is done? That is the biggest piece of leverage they have. Maybe that holds no weight. I'm betting it does. And that that is the biggest reason why there's a difference between it between Marner and knee lander. Yeah, this part of that, the rolling of the dice we don't talk about though, like God forbid they don't sign him to the extension, not that part. But God forbid they don't sign him to the extension and they roll the dice with him in the postseason. And they do have the extreme postseason success. And he says, screw you. Yeah, it, and I understand what you're saying that ain't happening. It's not happening. It's what the Leafs aren't winning multiple rounds or him just saying thanks, but no thanks to the 12, whatever. Yes, it's yes to both. But it's the there's no world where Mitch Marner has a white hot summer and the Leafs are playing in a conference final. And it's been the exact opposite conversation because it will be the exact opposite conversation around all those guys. And then yeah, sure, it ends super disappointingly. And maybe the Leafs are playing hardball with you on a contract. But after that, like he's only lived being a leaf of frustration. The idea that he would taste it that he'd be so close. Leon Dreyseidel tasted it in Edmonton and was like, I gotta sign up for more of this Edmonton. And I know McDavid, extenuating circumstances. But the idea that Marner would experience a summer like that in Toronto and say, Yeah, you know what, that was good enough. I'm good. Can you honestly see that world happening? Because I think I might respect it though, depending on how it plays out, if he's like, I just didn't, I didn't like the narrative, I wasn't respected enough. And you didn't give me the deal that you gave William Nylander, you made me do things that you didn't make William Nylander do. And I have to wear everything. Yeah. No, look, look at what I did. And I'm going again, I got some motion front property in the desert to tell you if you believe that. I don't. I'm just saying. That is one of the scenarios that could play itself out. Look, I was right about Matt Murray coming back to the Leafs TBD on if he'll actually matter. And I'm going to be right about this. Okay. He might not be back next year, but it will never be because he's just like, I'm going to choose to go somewhere else. I don't think so. Okay. We'll see. Let's see if Luke Fox agrees. He joins us next is the fan morning show continues Ben and his friend gunning sports at five, nine of the fan diving deep into leaps, rafters, J's and NFL, the JD bunk is podcast, subscribe and download the show on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Fan morning show sports at five, nine of the fan, Ben and his friend gunning, NHL holding its preseason media availability in Nevada, Anderson, Nevada, just close to Las Vegas, it's just a good word. And, you know, the principals are doing the rounds, including Bill Daly. It's home at the Silver Knights, Henderson is as well. Okay. Yeah. A little fact for you there. Very good. You wanted to learn something every day. There you go. That's man. I did it before nine o'clock, which doesn't always happen. Look at me. Almost never. Not because of our guests, but definitely because of me. Yeah. You learn something from our guests and then I plot right back. Yeah, that's right. Anyways, um, there was some question about, hey, is there going to be an increased focus on building the brand of the National Hockey League and maybe some more microphones in the building and more availability for the players and build it. I said, yeah, we're working for that. There's still some old heads in here though that are like, maybe don't do that, which seems counterintuitive to what they're all trying to accomplish, which is grow the brand of the National Hockey League and bring it somewhere within the realm of the other North American pro sports. I'll let's talk to a man who is still in Nevada right now. It is Luke Fox Sports, that's own. How's it going, buddy? It's going okay. I'm not in Nevada. You're getting me at like 70%. I'm on a group. I'm in an Uber back home to my house after taking a red eye from Vegas. All right. So first question, hard machinations of the cap. I know the Matthews contract came in at like 14 point two. No, I'm joking, Luke. I wouldn't do that to you. We love you. We're happy that you took some time for us. Like, how was, how was the players to her? Ben just mentioned that they're the idea of players wanting to be more available or the league at least wanting them to. This is something we talked about all the time. It's like, what does it mean to grow the game? Do you have to go to Sweden? Does Austin Matthews need to play a game in Mexico City? Does he just need to wear the American sweater one time in his life as an NHL player to grow the game? How much of it also goes to just letting personality flow from these guys? But the thing I always bump against is, is it that the personality is not allowed to flow from these guys? Or is it there's just a certain lack of personality as well? Yeah, it might be a little call of a little call and be there. But what I would say is, yeah, the player's true is great. It's a bit of a whirlwind because you talk to almost a representative from all 32 teams now. That number might be increasing soon. So it's a bit of a whirlwind, but everyone's in a pretty relaxed mood. You know, the team chooses a guy that is happy to talk. And no one's lost the game yet. Everyone's had the best summer of their lives and their peak condition. And they're excited about their new coach and their new teammates. So it's very casual, a lot of positive vibes. And you know, there are a lot of guys that really showed their personality there. The Bill Daley stuff was interesting to me. And it started around a conversation about the new Amazon documentary that's coming up later this month. And he is promising like, you know, some of those these things you've seen them. There's a feeling that, okay, this has been pretty heavily edited. This is not as maybe as intriguing as drive to survive or full swing or are we getting enough access? And there's a sense that the league has seen the success of some of those shows and what they've done for sports that maybe surpassing hockey in terms of popularity. In part, because of that, they've drawn casual fans into it and said, we need to get on that bus as the phrase he used. So there's this promise that the teams had absolutely no say in the final edit. The new docu series, which is brand new. Usually the teams have a heavy say. Now, the league did take a look. So I wonder how many things the league will take out, but it's supposed to be more raw than normal. And the league is pushing for that. They want the personalities to come through in the series, which is supposed to be more player centric than team centric. Okay, give me a percentage chance that we hear William Neelander miked up saying, stop crying, bro. This isn't junior. We need it, right? He was like, he was miked up. So that seemed better, better be in it. I really hope I don't, I don't, I honestly don't know. Dude, nothing, nothing matters if that's not in it. Because yeah, you said it. He was miked. That's the, that's the moment we're all we all we can read the lips, we think, but like to hear the audio from if that's on in it, this is all meaningless. We joked about the Zapruder film for that of like, Oh, look at the angle. You can read is like, we have this Zapruder tape. If he was actually miked up, like we need it, we need it. Yes, we do. I really hope we do. And I'm really curious. Like my hopes are, I'm trying not to get them too high, but they are higher than normal for for this series. I am pretty excited because people are involved in it. We're the worst people in the world, by the way, because like, yeah, you took a red eye home, you haven't slept, you finally get to your house and you're like you can soon you'll be within eyesight of your bed and we're like no no no bad no no no talking yeah talk talk about William Nieland or in a Netflix series so you'll get us back someday but they won't be today yeah but the other the other really interesting thing that he said is that so next month the league is is gonna have a Daniel meeting with the GMs and the coaches and on the agenda is pushing them to push it he's like he's really stressing how they need the coaches by it right because players want to please their coach they don't want to say anything upset their GM or their coach and the league is meeting with the GM the coaches and say hey let these guys flex their personality more when they do interviews with the media let's mic them up more often let's get that footage out there you know even little things you see that gene of the editors after they lost game seven that went around like that was fascinating stuff I mean it's gutting but you know I think fans really enjoy that that look instead of just a more polished stuff no I wholeheartedly agree like anytime something feels like it's manufactured for us like even even like you know I'm a huge golf fan it's like they keep trying to manufacture these match events and it's like you just made it up it has no stakes I don't really care and the idea of there being some something that doesn't seem so polished and yeah like the league is going to have their their hands on it but I also think if you if we take them at face value that they do want to grow the game or have more of this in it then I would imagine they wouldn't try to sanitize it too much uh hot hot leaves time uh as it always is in my heart you know this Nick Robertson he gets his contract sign hot compa he gets his contract sign max patch readies come in a camp on a on a PTO do any of these things surprise you in the way they they played out there I'll be honest I thought the hawken pot thing was done given that it had gone on this long and I was surprised to see that deal ultimately come to fruition but do any of those moves I'll ultimately surprise you there and what are your kind of uh do you have high expectations for kind of any of them panning out uh I mean I think there's a chance that that you know Robertson's best days of hockey are still ahead I'm not convinced they're all going to be with the league um you know I'm I'd like to see that guy realize this is actual as a hockey player whether it's here or elsewhere uh hawken pot it's amazing how much documentation that that guy's generated he's a six seven defense win that chills panellies leaves the pad trouble killing panellies he's gonna get in in lanes he's gonna you know he's like a you know a Joel Edmondson Ilya Labushkin type replacement guy and he's also has questionable help so but you know I think he'll be a serviceable guy on the third pair and and that's about it uh patch ready is is quite fascinating and the fact that you know almaul's is tweeting that yeah it's a free seal but really he's on the team um so so what what's interesting to me is the competition uh for the for the winger spots now you know it's Matthew Nye's just slams on to to be up and on the top line or second line what about Nick Robertson who you know has in my mind the best way to use of a tab in the top stick because he could shoot the pot I don't think he's that effective he's in the bottom stick patch ready he's probably looking at this as a chance to score goals that you know try and replace something that producing left so suddenly there's there seems to be a lot of competition and they're over the cap right now so something has to go so whether that's a trade whether that you know stuff in the guy like Connor Timmons uh down to the minor um you know to be thinking how and get a shot suddenly there's like way too many bodies yeah especially in the especially up the F forward so this seems to be shaping up to be a pretty intriguing camp in terms of the fringe forward to make it yep and Eason Cowan gets a chance to impress this week and are you going to Montreal I am not okay good for you all right get some rest because you need to sleep we'll let you do that now Luke thanks thanks for doing this uh coming off a red I appreciate it okay have a good one guys you too Luke Fox you was Justin Nevada intrapid reported like literally just coming in from the road yep yep yep yep and uh now gets to see his bed and lie in it um okay a couple of things yes I had forgotten that William Neelander had signed up to do this this Amazon I remembered that I forgot that they like I don't know how the Oilers thing being like seen by my eyeballs wouldn't have triggered this for me but I forgot that like these guys were miked up last year maybe maybe I'm overdoing it maybe I'm overdoing it but okay it's a huge season for Mitch Marner obviously right oh no there's a huge season narrative wise and there's a huge is a huge yeah it's a moment a huge moment for Leaf fans in there the way they perceive the player yep right and it's not going to come during the regular season it's going to come in the post season in a contract negotiations perhaps take place during the regular season maybe there's no number for Brad for living in which he puts pen to paper with Mitch Marner I tend to think that that's not correct but like if it is honestly if it's the the the Neelander deal and that's just a tiny raise and they're paying the same amount you almost take that without the knowledge that he's gonna be better in in the post season but maybe I'm overdoing this that piece of audio could be so damning and like indicate not everything and everybody has moments right where they fly out the handle and they say things they don't mean but I think we get all if we see it's and it's going to come soon it will not come at the end of the season after our post season run where Mitch Marner reverses all the narratives it'll come in the middle of the regular season yeah William Neelander and Austin Matthews because like I don't think Matthews was mic'd up you could probably hear him through Neelander's mic as well berating Mitch Marner for sulking on the bench could have I again I don't want to over hype it or overdo it because who knows we even see it or hear it it's one thing to relip it's another to hear the audio synced with the video it feels like it could have outsized impact on the perception of the player and his standing within the city of Toronto maybe but I think it is also just as likely like we love a narrative we love to tear people down what else do we like to do Ben like to build them back up a little bit can you not see the world where that clip comes to the cold light of day as Mitch Marner has 20 points in his first yeah but he's always gonna do that but they're gonna do that but that look this is like this is where narratives go the idea of he took his yelling he grew like I think there is a world where you can kind of spin this the other way for him not in a positive but just in a like he grew up this is all part of it guys yell on the bench all the time we just happen to have this one moment miked up like that's all that's going to be said if he gets off if he comes to camp and says the wrong things on media day about the contract and then it's a snowball and then we get the clip of stop crying bro like then yes yes a thousand percent but I also I and that's why I think the timing of this like I'm trying to find the release date all I can find it's September okay fall so the season one of September so the season won't have started yet and I think that's the reason why it's good ever 23rd okay oh my god it's so soon yeah oh but now I almost wish this is like do you want more information and be disappointed or just live your life dumb and in the in the wilderness it's like I wish I didn't know about this because now there's no part of this that matters if we don't get that because it's just like everything's been said like I said no like I said if we don't get that it's all fraudulent none of it matters they they have no choice well so here's the thing that I and like I won't buy this this is the way the NHL would then sell this is like this isn't a series about Mitch Marner who cares give us the audio yeah what no it's the it's the most important franchise in the sport it's the one we all talk about all the time it is arguably the most lightning rod player now on that team being yelled at by the previous most lightning rod player we have to have it if for nothing else just for us like even if I don't care if it doesn't fit in the series at all they're like oh by the way we have this William yeah but I mean I imagine they're the whole premise is following a player throughout the course of the the season and how their season unfolds and what happens both in the regular season and in the post season and I would say what happened in the post season of the Toronto Maple Leafs and William Nylander rather important to the overall story arc of William Nylander removing that part of this docu series yeah is oh it's it's just it's not it is totally sanitized and you have no other choice but to believe that okay if the teams aren't involved that the NHL said okay just like tell us what you don't want yeah yeah or that William Nylander himself said can you please not and and I wouldn't blame him at all for feeling that way but then why wear the microphone then why do this right I don't disagree but I it also goes to how I feel about the way these things have gone and like and I mean these things is in these docu series right like I watched the first season of the F1 or two I watch the first season of full swing and one is an unfair and full swing golf is those are unfair examples because you're you're on a team in F1 but no everybody understands that you want to beat your teammate like there's an inherent rivalry between the two team members well but where I was where I was going with this as well is is that they do do a lot of like if you told me that this docu series the Nylander part of it 70 percent of his part would be like the trip to Sweden I believe it I don't know what kind of story they're gonna try to sell like for me the most interesting thing coming out of it is the idea or that we've seen is the McDavid and sitting there and naked and cold and all of that like just like I can't believe I just lost I can't believe they're announcing that's awesome but if they're gonna focus on like hey look at willy Nylander look how handsome he is he's cruising around in Sweden I can see that being what they build his part of the show around and then the postseason part is the oiler that they have like I can just as easily see that because who's it for it's not for me it's not for you honestly if you're listening I don't think they're making this series for you either they're making it so that some guy who or you know some person who like has an interest in sports a passing interest or like hey you want to watch this together kind of think that's who they make these things for yeah I'd be now practicing I think it's for them but I mean watching William Nylander yell at Mitch Marner's for them too like who I hope who who's that not for honestly well what I mean one guy oh yeah one of the biggest touring comedians Tom Segura heads to Scotia Bankarina on September 28th for his stand-up comedy tour Tom Segura come together we're giving away tickets all week long to enter all you have to do is tune into the fan morning show listen for the code word then text the code word to 59590 standard message and data rates may apply today's code word is laugh text laugh to 59590 right now to enter for your chance to win we will be giving one final pair of tickets away tomorrow but if you don't win with us secure your tickets at ticket master dot ca other there's a lot like we're obviously gonna be super focused on the Leafs part of this as well uh Jeremy Swamin he was part of this as well it's like how does he feel about coming out of the net and all Mark going in and everything that happened there I mean god it's like I really just want to like I'm still following him that's what I was getting at it's like and then you see the guys that are focused in this it's gone to McDavid it's math get shocked it's Lee on dry side like they want to do their playoff story oh look at that Quinn Hughes was featured as well those teams played each other in the playoffs like I'm not saying it'd be the right way to do it I'm just trying to picture this from a TV person's brain not a sports person's brain yes okay is it true that maybe the personality is of the biggest stars in the NHL are not the same as the other sports they're not overwhelming and they're not they're not like hey maybe they're good dudes and maybe you would want to sit down with them for a beer but like yeah yeah they're all kind of cookie cutter same sort of person and like very focused on hockey and working out that's true but there's just no debate that within the confines of the sport itself especially when you get the anxiety and the pressure and the stakes that exist within the Stanley Cup playoffs there's more than enough to make a very compelling reality TV show there just is like the Leafs alone and we got the Amazon that sucked the the one during covid and we got the one line from it that was it it's like you know under their beds I'll bet if you did an honest retelling of that and you I could have just given unfettered access the I could have made it way more compelling for sure then what we got yeah there is probably a million moments over the last now near decade of Maple Leafs postseason losses yep that if you saw him you'd be like that's that's the TV doesn't do it for me anymore I need to see more of that so I'm telling you that exists with this past postseason run especially considering the injury stuff in the cloud surrounding knee lander and Matthews but like specifically the on the bench stuff yeah I don't I don't disagree with any of that it's just like man you're a movie guy like you give two or three directors like a bunch of like it's like we got the Snyder cut of a movie or whatever it's like what movie do I want to watch I want to watch the Ben Ennis cut that you just laid out there but I worry that it's not the Ben Ennis cut yeah that's crazy talk I agree it has to be in there or I will not watch it all right well all right you showed them yeah in your face amazon all right when we come back tomorrow I was gonna say we'll do another show thanks and it'll be called the fan morning show and it'll be hosted by Ben Ennis and Brent Gunning and it'll be on Sports F5 on Infant good morning
