[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, we got a minute, and I'm going to buy that truck I've been wanting. Wait, don't you need, like, weeks to shop for a car? I don't. Carvana makes it super convenient to find exactly what I want. Hold up. You're buying a car on your phone? Isn't that more of a laptop thing? You can shop wherever you want. I like to do my research. Read reviews, compare models. Plus, Carvana has thousands of options. How'd you decide on that truck? Because I like it. Oh, that is a great reason. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. On today's episode of Lockdown Wild, we preview the Metropolitan Division. Who takes home the crown? Will it be the Rangers once again? Will it be the Islanders? Will the Washington Capitals ride the surge of Alex Ovechkin? We'll find out. [MUSIC PLAYING] You're locked on wild. Your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team, every day. What is happening, everybody? Welcome in to another episode of Lockdown Wild. Your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, we are your team, every day. And we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Make sure to hit that subscribe button on YouTube and follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel, now through September 22nd. All FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. On today's episode of Lockdown Wild, Isha Jeromey of the Sotepa joins us once again. As we dive into the Metropolitan Division, we'll see how things shake out as we project, how the standings will look come the end of the season. My name is Seth Topal, credentialed Wild Media member, host of the show since 2021 and joined by a good friend of mine once again. Isha Jeromey of the Sotepa and Isha continuing to maneuver our way through these divisional previews, training camp has begun. And so we're getting into hockey mode, just a couple of weeks away and you look at this Metropolitan Division and certainly has some firepower up at the top, but there are a lot of interesting things that happened in this division in the off season. Yeah, much like the Pacific, like there's definitely tiers to this division and we'll get into it. I feel like there is a three-team tier at the top and then like arguably one or two-mid. You know what, I'd say three-team-mid and then there's like one clear at the bottom. You can even say that like there's four teams in the mid section, but there's definitely like three at the top, a few in the middle and then there's like one clear at the bottom. Now some of you might be surprised to be like, "No, no, I think there's two clear ones." I will contest that as we get through this preview and projections here. And like I did last time, Seth, I went through every single team, identified their top forwards, identified good depth forwards, identified top defenseman, identified depth defenseman and then I graded their goalie tandem, coach obviously forwards as a whole and defense as a whole. And my team to start, the team I think will be the best in this division, but not necessarily by too much, is going to be the Carolina Hurricanes. Again, they're one of three in the top tier. I do think they're going to be the best team in this division and their top forwards out of, I have identified our Svechnikov, Aho, Jarvis, Nikash, depth forwards, Martinuk, Stahl, Kalkanyemi, Roslavik, Fast, top defenseman, Slavin, Burns, Gostesbir, despite how cheap he's coming in. If he's on a team where he doesn't have to be the top guy and can play his offensive forward game, he's going to give you 30 to 50 points in the bank. Well, I'd say 40 to 50 points in the bank, so I'm going to put him in the top defenseman. Depth defenseman, Chatfield, former Vancouver Connect, love him, so glad that he's been able to play his way into a solid depth role and actually make some money at $3 million as well. And Orlov, I know coming in is a pretty cheap contract, but I'm a little older of a player now, but Stanley Cup Champion has seen it all on good teams with the Washington Capitals in particular, so I like their depth on D, I like their top D, I like their depth forwards, I like their top forwards. Their goal is pretty good as well. I rate their goal is B plus, Rob Brindemore, A coach forwards as a whole, I grade them in A and defense, I'll say a B. Okay, so I like the Hurricanes, they're a team that, you know, it's crazy how many good players they have without having like those true, like they're just starting to, I don't know the right way per se to explain it, but they're just aren't a ton of those guys that are like the household names, but they just have such a solid roster that they're always going to be there when it's all said and done. And so I love stacking them in that number one spot, which leads me to believe that I think I can guess who's number two on your list. Yeah, well, number two, I put the New York Rangers as number two, but I honestly think the New Jersey Devils could could be number two, or even number one this season, given like how much young talent they have on the roster and how many of their young guys can pop, especially with their young guys being surrounded by a lot of really good top and depth pieces who are who've been in the league for a while, they're not and who've been in the league for a while and not to mention their acquisition of Jacob Markstrom as well. But I did put the New York Rangers as number two, they have top fours, such as Crydars, Abinajad, Panerian, Trocek, Dept Ford, such as Hido, La Franyer, Caco, Carrick, Coyle, Vessie, Brodsinsky, top defenseman, such as Adam Fox and Truba, kind of, Dept defenseman as Ligren Miller, Schneider, and Jones. I like their goalie tandem. It's not bad. I'm going to rate their goalie tandem as a B minus coach B plus, forward group B plus and defenseman B minus. So then I think as you alluded to, I would imagine that means that you're putting New Jersey third. Oh yeah, third with like the potential to rise to number one. Yeah, depending on injuries, depending on just how some of the young guys take a step forward. If obviously, Luke Hughes is healthy to start the season and remains healthy. Like there's some factors, but for the most part, like they actually have a pretty good team, like top forwards, Palat, Heesher, Brat, Meyer, obviously, Jack Hughes, Dept Ford, Tatar, Hala, Nosen, Carter, Carter's good, by the way too. And then top defenseman, Luke Hughes, Hamilton, Pesci, Dept defenseman, Segan Thaler, Dylan, Nemich. And I like their goalies as well. Like goalie, I rank A minus coach B plus, forwards B defense B. So I like the New Jersey Devils a lot as well. Highest variance, I think is the appropriate term for the New Jersey Devils there at three. Yeah, I think getting a few of their weaknesses really short up is going to do them some good. I mean, Markstrom is going to come in and be better than what they've had over the last few years. So that shores up that area significantly. And Sheldon Keefe is no slouch as a head coach. So he's going to be able to pull a little bit more out of some of these guys. Like you said, it's a good young guys too. Yeah, it's a good young nucleus. They just need a little more direction to kind of push them in going the right way. So I like them as the third team in kind of that first tier of those that are probably most likely to make the post season from the Metropolitan. Because you're going to get the first three. Beyond that, it's all about going toe to toe with the Atlantic, which we'll cover next week. But we've got five more teams, Isha. And so we'll move on to that next cropping of teams. And we'll talk about some of the iconic names that are part of the Metropolitan Division. All that is coming up as we continue today's episode of lockdown wilds after this. Today's episode of lockdown wild is brought to you by game time. Folks, listen to this. You've got college football going on right now. You've got the NFL in action. Major league baseball is getting close to playoff time. And before you know it, the NHL will be back in action too. And so as a sports fan, there's no better time to start thinking about which games you're going to. And game time can help make the ticket buying experience as stress free as possible. More time for you to tailgate before watching your college football team take on their heated rivals. More time for you to meet up with friends before going and seeing a Friday or a Saturday night game. Game time gives you the ability to see where your seats will be. And you can even toggle the game time picks, which will make it easier for you to save more on sports, comedy, theater, and more. 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Go to Carvonda.com to sell your car the convenient way. Welcome back to today's episode of Lockdown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen. Each and every day, reminder, the Lockdown Wild sweepstakes continues. All you need to do is take a screenshot showing that you are subscribed to Lockdown Wild on YouTube. Add in your name and email LockdownWild@gmail.com, and then you are entered for a chance to win two tickets to see the Minnesota Wild play. The Columbus Blue Jackets on opening night, Dino back in the building, and we will give you that opportunity. Again, all you got to do, take a screenshot and send it to LockdownWild@gmail.com with your name. You're entered in. It's that easy. Full contest description can be found in the description for today's episode. Speaking of Dino, that week on Fellowship of the Ring, that will be the guest on that episode. Oh, my. A little bit of a teaser there. So check out Fellowship of the Ring. One of the many shows under the soda pod network umbrella now. Yeah, and Michael Russo was the guest this week. Yeah. What I saw is a good training camp primer to get us started. I'm rolling my eyes because he was like, oh, watch. Oh, I'm going to tweet out lines from training camp first day, and everyone's going to come after me, a bunch of idiots, blah, blah, blah, and look at that bunch of idiots on Twitter, getting mad at him for line combinations. It's day one of training camp. Calm down, everybody. Jeez, there's 57 people in training camp. Calm down. A lot of looks. It's absolutely insane. Some of these fans, man, they're absolutely insane. Some of them, like I'm convinced. But anyways, they're passionate, which is good. Yeah, passion, passion comes second to none. Passion comes with an insanity. So we got our top three, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers, and the New Jersey Devils. So now we move on to this next tier. These are all teams that were separated by right up to the end of the season. Bisha, they were in a dog fight for a wild card spot up until the last day of the year. And so it's likely going to be that same thing going on this season. So who do you have at four in the Metropolitan Division? Yeah, so you said up there, there's like four teams that are pretty much going to battle out here towards the end. Now one or two could very well drop and just have bad seasons because they are leaning on some of their big guns. And we just don't know how good some of their debt pieces or young pieces are just yet. So at four, I have the New York Islanders, but I truly believe that either of the three teams under them could jump them, right? Like these next four are very much interchangeable. But I do have the New York Islanders. Their top fours who I have identified are Horvat, Barzell, Lee, and Nelson, Dept Forge, Duclerc, Pajoe, Envall, Palmeri, Sizicas, Home and Homestrum. As far as their top defenseman, yes, I'm including him in a top defenseman because I do think he's one of their top defenseman. And I truly think he's a top defenseman in Romanov. I absolutely love the way that guy plays. Dobson, Pelich, Pouloc. Solid top D actually in depth. They have Riley and Mayfield kind of takes a step down after that. Goal tenders, pretty damn good. I give their goal tending a B plus. I give their coaching a C plus. I think Patrick Watt is a joke of a coach in the National Hockey League personally. I think he's a junior coach. And I just, yeah, I don't think he's a good coach at the NHL at all. So I'm giving him a C plus. Just because I can't be, he didn't have too much of a sample size on his return. Was not impressed with what I saw upon his return. And I likely won't be. But maybe that's just a personal vendetta. I don't think he's a good coach at all. Forward's C plus and defense C plus as a well. I think the thing that will define these teams that we talk about next is that their success is going to hinder. And this might sound like I'm diving into cliche. But I feel like especially with these teams, because the depth gets a little more thin. A big injury is what likely will lead to a fourth to a seventh place finish in this division. Like if anybody has anything go catastrophically wrong, these seem just they just don't have as much as the top three in the division due to be able to overcome that. Yeah, no, for sure. Right under them where like I went back and forth on if I should put Philly above the New York Islanders. I they're pretty much one A one B sort of thing as far as this next year. I really like, I really like to fill it off. Your flyer is a young core. I love that Mitch Coffey is joining them earlier than we all expected. And I think their coach in John Torterella is one of the best coaches in the national hockey. He's one of the only old school coaches who continues to to be able to get the best out of his players. You and I will be you and I will be team Torterella long after we leave this earth. Like he just he just has the perfect recipe for getting more out of players. But not only like not only being able to like pull more out of particular players on the roster, but just being able to demand more from the whole team in general and knowing when to push the buttons, knowing when to kind of step in front of the the crosshairs for the team and knowing when I need to kind of light a fire under this guy a little bit. Like he just he's a players coach and he identifies players who want to win versus want to just be a star. And that's what I love about him. You buy into the system of winning and to like go to war with your troops and and and he will respect you even if you have a bad night. It's if you play selfishly and don't care about winning and don't care about the team. Obviously every player cares about winning plays about team, but puts you above the team. That's when he has an issue. And this is hockey. You can't put yourself above the team. This is a team sport to its core. And John Torterella, the only stop in the national hockey league that hasn't worked was one year in Vancouver. That was it. Other than that. Everywhere he's gone, he's found success. So then track Stanley Cup, you know, Stanley Cup champion, right? Stanley Cup champion coach got super close with the Tampa Bay lightning or actually no one with the Tampa Bay lightning. One of my say one with the Tampa Bay lightning and got super close with the Rangers many times as well. So yeah, absolutely love towards. So I mean right away, you can say I give the Philadelphia Flyers coaching and a but identify their top fours. I did put couturie in this. It's going to be interesting to see. Obviously he's had a lot of injuries, but you know, operating under the assumption that he picks up where he left off. He's one of their top fours for sure. Connecty Mitch Cobb, I think is going to be a top guy 100%. Obviously there's going to be some growing pains early, but I think he'll be able to. He's either going to be like rally right out of the gate and then probably like mid season have a little bit of a dip and then you know, in, you know, if there's no injuries and probably will end the year off strong or it's a little bit of a slow start and just absolutely catapults after that. But yeah, I got Mitch Cobb up there frost, love them, tippet, love them, Fairby, love them. And I think Bobby Brink takes another step up this year as well. Huge fan of Bobby Brink. Step forward, you have Lawton, Poehling, Akadiz, Forrester, Deloriae, and Johansson as far as depth forwards. And hey, I like all of them as well. Top defenseman, Sanheim, Jamie Driesdale again. I am going to put him in that top defense group. Obviously we don't know too, too much about him just yet, but his ceiling is super high and it's not like he's been hanging out in the basement much at all. And I think his floor is pretty high as well. Ristelainen, I know far from the player that he used to be in Buffalo and things like that, but still, I'm just going to put him in that top defense category. But you know, you could consider him in the depth category as well. Not many depth defenseman. Now is a Nula, Seelor. Oh, I should say, York also in the top defenseman, he's great. So yeah, Sanheim, York, Driesdale, Ristelainen, and if Ellis plays Ryan Ellis as well. But again, we know, we know his history with injuries. Yeah, is a Nula and Seelor as far as depth. So their defense is a little thin, but I like the top guys and their defense. So yeah, coaching a their goalies. I'll give a C forwards. I'm actually going to give a C plus on the defense. I will give a C as well. All right. Now, now I am intrigued because we have two teams coming up that have iconic players on the roster. And both of these teams are kind of trying to try and stay relevant. Yeah, trying to stay as competitive as they can. While those players are still on the roster and it's the bag has been mixed. So who is who's next up in your rankings for the Metro? Again, it could go either way, but I have Pittsburgh just above the Washington Capitals. And it's funny because like where they're pretty much like, they're very similar. Now, if if Nikki Backstrom didn't pretty much retire, right? Because he's, he's, I guess, unofficially, officially retired, right? Because of all the injuries he's facing and things like that. And if TJoshi is healthy this year, then those two guys, I mean, oh, she will be playing this year. But if Nikki Backstrom was there, then I'd probably rate the Capitals a little bit more. But like he's, he's pretty much done, right? So I do have the Pittsburgh Penguins above them. Top Fords, obviously, newly Resigned, Sydney Crosby of Guinea, Malkin. I'm going to put Rustin and Raquel also in that top Ford group. Dept Fords actually have a decent amount of Dept Fords, a Bunting, Eller, Hayes, Glass, Achari, Pustinin. And I'll put McGrory there as well. Again, I don't know. We haven't seen him at the pro level yet. So that's why I'll put him at depth. You know, halfway through the season, maybe he proves to be one of the top guys. But again, a lot of questions still, but he's a guy that's likely going to make the team. The reason he's not with Winnipeg is because he didn't want to play in the AHL. He wanted to play pro. So they're going to give him every opportunity to do so. Top defenseman, obviously Carlson and Latang, neither of them have really lost a step in what they, what they do best. But that's pretty much it for their top D. Now, they do have some decent depth in Pedersen, Grizzlyk, Graves and Ajo, but again, not not the greatest there. They're going to lean heavily on their top guys, especially since Latang can play more two-way than Carlson. Love their coach. Sullivan is obviously proven to be one of the better coaches in the National Hockey League. So I'm going to give their coaching in a goalie C plus forwards B minus and defense a solid C plus. Okay. It feels like to four through seven is going to be separated by five points or less. Yeah. They're just, they're just all, they're just all very similar. They maybe do things a little different way, but it feels like they all have kind of similar needs to get to that top tier. All right. So we, we roll through, that was number five. So who is number six? You're watching this, but let's, uh, Washington capitals. Yeah. And obviously top forwards, Ovechkin, Oshi, uh, Strome, Wilson, Dubois question mark, hopefully, I mean, they're hoping, right? Because he's basically Nikki Baxham's replacement, right? Right. So again, if he works out, then yeah, put him above, like there could be above, uh, Pittsburgh, where we just don't know yet, uh, depth forwards, um, man japani, and he's solid man. He's solid. You, you, some people could say, well, why didn't you put him in the top four? Like, sure, he could maybe be in their top four group as well. But I got him at very, it's their best depth forward, Nick Dowd, McMichael, Milano, Radish, Duheim, and lap here at a really good, uh, year last year as well. But again, none of those guys like are put up insane amount of numbers other than manji uponi. Those guys are more two way guys, very, very much core depth pieces, not guys who are going to help you score goals every single night, right? They're very much going to lean on, um, on ovechkin. If, you know, oh, she's there, Strom Wilson and, uh, and Dubois for that, uh, top defenseman chikrin. That's huge. Chikrin, that, that's great. He's going to help in the offense. Carlson obviously is going to help in the offense. And then on the, kind of the defensive side of their top forwards, they, they signed Roy, um, Roy, Roy. Oh, whenever I see, whenever I see Roy, I just think Derek Roy. So well, and I never know because there are variations playing in the NHL right now. Like the Kings, the Kings have a wah, I think, or a. That's the one that they, okay. So it's probably war, but there's one of each. Every time I read ROI, I just think, uh, Derek Roy. Well, there's, there's one of each in the NHL right now and it throws me every time. I'm like, cause I like, I make a point to like highlight particular players on the other team. And every time I see that last name on the roster, I'm like, which one, which one is it? I should know because I watched the draft and was, or sorry, the, um, free agency. And I was just like, Oh my God, they signed this guy for much money, but, uh, but anyways, uh, as far as the depth side, they got Sandin, uh, fear Hervey for Hervey, Van Reemsdike and Bear. Um, yeah, no, I mean, I like Van Reemsdike on the back end. I think he's a solid, uh, depth piece when, when Bear is healthy, he's good as well. Sandin is fine. I mean, it's just, there's not really many world beaters. Like, it's solid, but it's not that great. So, and coach, coaching wise to the Washington Capitol. I'm just not super familiar. So I gave of a cop out C plus. Um, and obviously last year was good enough to help them almost make the playoffs with the limited pieces that they have due to injury. So, uh, I'll have to see him again this year to be like, okay, this, this guy is actually like legit, but yeah, C plus not bad, not great. I personally just don't know too much about him. Yeah. Holy look, I want to give, I want to give the Minnesota boys some love. And he was really good last year, but that's just, I got to see some consistency this year. So I'm actually given their goalie, tandem, a C minus mostly just because we don't know yet. We don't know. Yeah. That could catapult and it could be way more come mid season. It could go up to C plus or even a B minus if he, uh, continues to carry them again. But I don't know if, uh, I don't know if Charlie there, if that was just a flash in a pan or if like they're really confident that he's going to be that guy. And if, you know, and I, I'm not there just yet. I'm hoping so because I like him. Obviously want to root for the Minnesota boy, but I just don't know yet forward C plus defense, um, C plus as well. We're, we're going to finish because I should clarify the, that was number seven, um, because we've got one more team who is eight. There's a little bit of a, there's a little bit of a separation, uh, between them and the, uh, the rest of the pack. So we'll talk about that final team. I wonder who that could be. And we'll just take a look at the, uh, the division in general who makes the playoffs who's out. We'll, uh, finish up with a couple of things here on today's episode of lockdown wild after this. Today's episode of lockdown wild is brought to you by FanDuel folks. You have heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book. Well, we have something a little different for you. Now through September 22, all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Then with the YouTube TV base plan, you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of market game. All you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel anytime. Folks, you've literally two more days to be able to take advantage of this deal. 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One final segment of today's episode of lockdown wild. Once again, we thank you for making lockdown wilds or first listen each and every day. Make sure to check out locked on NHL prospects for a second listen today so that you can take a look at the organizational prospect rankings that will be going on here as we get closer to the start of the season. Taking a look at the top prospects for every team throughout the NHL, locked on NHL prospects, keeping you up to date on all of your favorite future players as part of the locked on podcast network. Also, of course, with us getting closer to the season, make sure to check out everything that the soda pod has to offer as well. Fellowship of the rink are my my appearance on on the show with Isha also Judd's buds and I will just say just to give people a little bit of an enticement more on the way. More on the way and the return of an MNC AA. So there we go. All your college coverage in the great state of Minnesota. So a lot a lot coming this season as well as I've already posted five. Basically every single game that's not on a Saturday, I will be hosting watch alongs on the soda pod YouTube channel as well. If you want some different play by play from La Panta, which I know most of you do hit us up the soda pod will be live will be interactive and it's going to be a lot of fun. All the games are all the streams are already posted. They're already ready to go. So there's no excuse not to check it out if you want something a little bit different as far as play by play. That sounds like fun. I might want to join one of those sometime. Yeah, we'll have a lot of time between on commercial breaks where I'll be bringing people on as guests just to talk about the periods. So yeah, always the invitation is always out there for you. My friend. Excellent. All right. Let's we I'm not going to keep it in the dark anymore because we know who the eighth team is and really unfortunate circumstances for collapse going into the season like I I don't envy anybody on that team anybody in that organization having happened having had happened what just did going now and trying to get ready for a hockey season. Yeah. And so I'll say this though like obviously from a like heartbreak point of view, it's not easy for anybody for the management for the coaches for for Johnny Goudreau's teammates. And then again from a management point of view, right? They lost their if like their best player, right? And you just you can't replace that in the snap of the fingers and I'm not no disrespect. You're not going to be able to replace the person, the human, the man, and the player that is Johnny Goudreau. But you guys know what I mean from that point of view. So that's why Seth said like it's layered in just like the complications both from the heart and from a business point of view or just it's just it's just horrendous all around, right? I will say this. I've worked with back when I was living in Canada. I worked with a couple junior hockey teams and this happened a couple years before I joined the team. But there was in actually right before is a junior B club in the VIJL shout out to the Peninsula Panthers and they were just about to start their playoffs and they had one of their teammates one of their top teammates pass away in a car accident. And they were they just snuck into the playoffs and had no business going up against the top seed. And they they rallied together, right? It was almost like that that tragedy brought them together and they absolutely destroyed that that team in the playoffs. And they didn't end up winning the championship. But we there is a possibility that we see this team go on a go on a crazy run. Now, am I saying it's going to be an 82 game season run? No, but I I could see them really banding together and becoming even closer brotherhood and playing even that extra that extra step for for Johnny, right? So like that that could happen. Now, is it realistic just if you look at the team on paper? No, that's why I have them at the bottom here. But yeah, it's just I can't imagine what these guys are going through man. I can't imagine what these guys are going through. Top forwards though, as we'll get through this last one, Monahan, Fantilly, Marchenko, and Chinakov, depth forwards, Boone Jenner, Kent Johnson, Cylinger, Curly, Vorn, Vornkov, and Danforth. Now, Vornkov could actually end up being a top forward. He just like he put up good numbers last year. I just haven't seen enough from him yet for me to put him up there. And you know what? Van Reem's like, Van Reem's like signing a PTO. I think James Van Reem's like, well, likely make this team given that there's there's spots for him. There's spots for him up and down the line, but I'm not saying there's spot for him just on the top line there again. I'm not trying to be disrespectful here. There's just like there's not there's not a lot of depth on this team anyways. So I do think he and he played well last year. So I think there's like he put up well, almost 40 points. Like there's definitely there's definitely room for him on on this team. As far as top defenseman, you got Wrenski, Seversen, and Provarov. Depth D Johnson, Jack Johnson, I guess. Goop Branson, I guess. Harris, Ira Chek, and Christensen. So I don't like their depth D at all. I do like their top, their top defensive in though. So yeah, and their coach. Pretty good B minus for coach. Got love Dino. I'm gonna give him a B minus. I always liked Dino as a coach. I really did. I had no issue with him. It was just he was a little stubborn and shaking up the lines, but that's pretty much the only thing I was critical of when there wasn't really much else he could have squeezed from the lineup when he was a coach of the Minnesota wild. So I like Dino, giving him a B minus goalies. I'll give a C plus for group C defense C minus. So let's, I mean, we know obviously that the top three will make it, which will be the hurricanes, the Rangers and the Devils. Is the Metropolitan Division going to get a fourth team? Right now, I'll say no. Right now, I think this is one of the weaker divisions in the league, like I really think like though the Pacific has two really bad teams, you know, in the sharks and then the ducks, I'd say overall the Pacific is way better than then the Metru. Yeah, then the Metru. Yeah, it's just, if you were giving out letter grades, it feels like you've got, you know, whether you want to call like the, the hurricanes, the Rangers and the, if you want to call those like A tier. We'll say hurricanes, hurricanes, A, Rangers, A, New Jersey, A minus B plus. Yeah. And then it's just sees the rest. Exactly. That's exactly what I was going to say is it feels like there's a steep drop off and those, those next four are going to be fighting all season to be in wild card to contention. And I mean, those four in the Atlantic, not to get into it too much because that'll be what we talked about next week. But those four teams in the Atlantic, Florida, Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay are in the east. Yeah, like they're essentially locks to make the postseason. So there's one wild card spot up for grabs. And Detroit has made some Detroit is trying, Buffalo's trying, Ottawa's trying. This could be the year Buffalo pops and we're just like, okay, here we go, right? I've been waiting for this for 13 years. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, I feel so bad for that fan base. Buffalo's one of the seems like I always root for an end because I rooted for them in the dark days because I just wanted stuff like I wanted everything to be fixed. I wanted new management. I wanted new ownership, the whole nine yards. And they finally get all that. And they put together an amazing framework and it's just like, it still hasn't popped yet, but it should. There's like no rhyme or reason why it shouldn't anymore. They were literally two years ago. They were literally one of, if not the most fun team in the entire league. Like, I think pretty much everybody outside of the fan base is going up against Buffalo for a playoff spot. We're rooting for them to get in. They were in the Metropolitan Division. They're up there with Jersey for me. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I just, they just ran into just a couple of insane seasons from Boston and just they just ended up just outside of a postseason spot by two points. So we'll see what happens. That is our obstacle to tackle next week is the Atlantic Division. And then we finish amazing how that planned out that way. We finished with the central right as the season gets started. So thanks everybody for tuning in. Esha, thank you as always for hopping on here on a weekly basis. Always enjoy the chats and many more of them coming up here throughout the season. So looking forward to that and looking forward to once we finish hitting record here, hopping on to talk on the soda pod. So listeners have locked on wild. Make sure to check that out as well and make sure to hit that subscribe button before you head out if you haven't already and the like button so you don't miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. 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