Tuesday's episode is a special crossover with Seth Toupal from Locked On Wild! LOB host Jack Bushman and Seth discuss when the Blackhawks vs. Wild rivalry will become spicy again, expectations for Connor Bedard going into his sophomore NHL season, vibes around the Wild heading into this year, and a fun debate between Brock Faber and Alex Vlasic's contracts. All that and more on Locked On Blackhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.
SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@LockedOnBlackhawks
PODCAST: https://linktr.ee/JackBushman
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/LO_Blackhawks
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lockedonblackhawks/?hl=en
Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Place your first FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - guaranteed ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.
Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNHL and get $50 instantly when you play $5. PrizePicks. Run Your Game.
Still searching for a great candidate for your company? Don’t search, just match–with Indeed. Claim your SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLAR CREDIT now at Indeed.com/LOCKEDON. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
(upbeat music) ♪ It's the lockdown podcast network ♪ ♪ Your team every day ♪ (upbeat music) - Well, we got a minute and I'm gonna 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 special crossover edition of Lockdown Black Hawks and Lockdown Wild, what is Chicago looking to do to take a step up in year two of the Connor-Buddard experience and will a quiet off-season doom the Minnesota Wild for making the post-season? Plus, which contract would you rather have? Alex Vlasik or Brock Faber? (upbeat music) - You're locked on wild. Your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. - What's up? Welcome into a special crossover edition of Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Black Hawks, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day. And we thank you for making both Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Black Hawks. Your first listen each and every day, make sure to hit those like buttons on YouTube and subscribe on your favorite audio platforms so you don't miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today's episode of Lockdown Wild and Lockdown Black Hawks is brought to you by FanDuel. Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. On today's crossover episode, we take a look at what Chicago is looking to do for a step up in year two of Connor-Buddard's tenure. We'll also talk about the Minnesota Wild who had a quiet off-season but still have post-season aspirations and we will take a look at two young defenseman. And see which contract we would rather have based off of what they do for the team. My name is Seth Topal, host of Lockdown Wild and joined as mentioned by Jack Bushman of Lockdown Black Hawks. Jack, it's getting close to the start of the season which means that the central division collisions are going to be here before we know it. And let's just hop right in and talk about a season for Chicago in which they get Connor-Buddard's feet wet. He wins the Calder trophy. So I'll ask you point blank, what needs to happen here in year two for Chicago Brass to feel like the season is a success? - Yeah, it's a very good question. Before I get into that though, Seth, just want to say thank you for having me on the show, always fun when we get together for a chat. It has been long overdue and hoping that this rivalry that has kind of been extinguished these last few years, the Black Hawks have been bottom-feeding will really start to pick back up because it's one of those that I have really missed. But to answer your question, buddy, it's going to take a good effort from the Black Hawks as a team, but in order to do that, they really filled out the rest of this roster compared to what we saw last year. I mean, it really is night and day. And now what's going to be weird, Seth, is the Black Hawks are actually one of the older rosters in the NHL despite being part of this rebuild. Yes, I know, but you got to look at the guys that they brought in, table terra vine, and who's 30 years old now, which for some of us Black Hawks fans is real hard to believe. And I know making a lot of us feel a lot older as well, but bringing in Tyler Bertuzzi, another guy who's got a lot of NHL experience under his belt and then even Craig Smith, Pat Maroon, and then on the back end, Alec Martinez and TJ Brody. So there are a lot new faces and a lot of them are veterans. And that was done with purpose to make this team from top to bottom better because it's time in the rebuild for the Black Hawks to take that next step. Since Kyle Davidson has taken over, which was in early 2021, I believe it was actually in March when he fully got the interim label removed from his tag. But he was really tasked with just having to re-piece this Black Hawks from this Black Hawks organization from the ground up basically. And that meant, you know, trading away, Alex De Brinkett and Kirby Doc in order to take on draft picks. And that's really what has been the name of the game for the Black Hawks last few seasons. Stock piling draft picks, taking on draft capital and future assets to make this team better down the road. And part of that, unfortunately, is being at the bottom of the standings for a few years. And that's where the Black Hawks have been. But it really felt like after last year, it felt like there was kind of a vibe around this team where it felt like the organization realized they were starting to test the fans' patience a little bit. And it's time for this team to get better. Maybe not necessarily playoff contention or being in the conversation for that or anything, but just take a step in the right direction. Don't be in the bottom three, bottom five of the league. So they made sure to bring in veterans to not only make this team much, much better and much deeper from top to bottom, but also support some of the young guys who are starting to step on the scene. Obviously, Connor Badard is the one that everyone knows, but Kevin Korschinsky was a seventh overall pick a couple of years ago in the NHL last year. Frank Nazar, a kid that people have a lot of high hopes for and so on and so forth. And that's going to be the name of the game for these next few years for the Black Hawks. It's just more and more of these prospects that Davidson has drafted have started to arrive. And having the right veterans around to kind of guide them onto the scene, the veterans who are brought in aren't really future puzzle pieces of the Black Hawks, but they are going to be so, so important in kind of guiding these guys who we do think are going to be puzzle pieces in the right direction, showing them the ropes. A guy like Nick Felino, who was just recently named captain. So all of these additions were done with a purpose, Seth. And that's to make this team better this season. And there's been an intensity around Black Hawks training camp. They've been scrimmaging every day to open things up since they started on Thursday morning. So there's kind of that buzz around this team that, hey, it starts from day one. We got to take that next step, but we got to do it together and it starts at the top. And that's what I love about the message that's been sent. Whether you're an established NHLer or you're a fringe bubble guy trying to make this team out of camp, you got to fight for your job day in and day out and sending that message, bring that intensity, giving that vibe from the get go is really how I think you set the tone that it's time to turn a new leaf. So I really like what I've seen out of Black Hawks training camp so far. I like the veteran additions that we've seen in the off season. And now it's time to just put them in the right places and hopefully things start to mesh from there. - From the bard perspective specifically, is there anything you're looking for from him to see maybe that wasn't in the arsenal last year or is it just with any of those young players? Is it just more of the same and just kind of just adding little pieces to the game as you go, as you continue to climb that ladder? - Yeah, it is kind of more so the latter than the former there. Seth is boring in as cliche of an answer as that is, but it is just about getting more experience in some of the guys that have been brought in this off season like a Terra Vine in a Bertouzi or even Taylor Hall coming off of a torn ACL last year. He only played 11 games with the Black Hawks, right? It's just getting comfortable with those guys and taking that next step, now that there is more well-rounded and offensive-minded pieces alongside him, more competent players, I will say, that actually play the style of game that he can play. It's just about jelling with those guys taking that next step. I would just say the biggest thing in particular is probably working on his defensive game in the face-offs. I mean, that usually is kind of an area of struggle for 18-year-olds who come into the NHL right away and going up against grown men at the dot, but that was an area that Connor Medard really, really did struggle at last year, so much so that when Nick Felino was brought up to the top line as someone who's really been a winger in the latter stages of his career, he was taking the majority of the face-offs and then there was nothing really all too great and high in mighty about Medard's defensive analytics last year. We know what he can do offensively, but he is still gonna have to be capable on the defensive side of things too with the amount of minutes that he's going to have on the ice for the future, so those are kind of the things that I'm looking at in particular, but all in all, it is kind of just taking those next strides, taking, you know, piece by piece and just getting better day in and day out as cliches that is. - I just wanna say, I can't imagine, and this is probably why I don't play professional hockey, I can't imagine at Medard's age stepping into the face-off circle and looking across from you and being like, oh my gosh, Nathan McKinnon. (laughs) - Hey, Juan, here's my item. - Come on. - He draws me opening game of the year, but that's what's so incredible about Connor Medard is he gets puts in these situations at such a young age. He has the media frenzy, interviews, commercials, all this stuff, right? Everyone wants a piece of him, but somehow he was able to keep a good hat on his shoulders. He didn't make any like media missteps or get frustrated at times. He was, you know, open and acted, you know, like he was just a wide-eyed 18-year-old, happy to be in that situation, even though I'm sure it was a lot, and I'm sure he didn't wanna do a day in and day out. And then, of course, there were the reports that I'm not gonna get into on here, but what the internet can do and how sour that must have made an 18-year-old kid feel, right? But he handled all of that marvelously and didn't let it impact his game on the ice. And he's just such a great kid. He's, you know, as good of a player as he is, he's an even better person. And guys just kind of cling to him, even though he's a little soft-spoken for his age, it feels like just because of his greatness and his aura around him, guys are going to follow his lead eventually. So on the ice off the ice, it was a smashing A+ out of counterpart last year. - I'm afraid to admit you guys probably have your next core piece. It pains me to admit that, but you probably do. - Well, certainly keeping our fingers crossed that it's going to be another long run of a great here in Chicago at the Fairfront. - I hope not. - We'll see what happens though. We go from a team that had a very busy off-season to a team that did not. And I'll put myself in the questions, Sharon. Jack is going to pick my brain as to what Minnesota did this off-season, where they are hoping to get to. We'll talk about all of that and more as we continue today's episode of "Locked on Wilds" and "Locked on Black Hawks" after this. Today's episode of "Locked on Wild" and "Locked on Black Hawks" is brought to you by FanDuel. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you can place your bets. No more sitting at the computer like me with my fantasy rosters, having nine different tabs going. While I've got the three different tabs, watching four different games at the same time, FanDuel can help you streamline all of that into one easy location. Plus get this, you will get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Doesn't even need to be a winner. Just throw $5 down on the New York Giants to lose to whoever they're playing in a particular week, or for Sam Darnold to just continue to throw touchdowns. FanDuel can help you with all of your betting needs. And as mentioned, $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet at defanduel.com today. FanDuel America's number one sports book. Well, we got a minute. I'm gonna 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. Welcome back to today's special crossover edition of Locked on Wild and Locked on Black Hawks. Again, we are your team every day, part of the Locked on podcast network. All right, Jack, I'm gonna step into the, step into the chair and go ahead and pick my brain as to all of your burning Minnesota wild questions. - Yeah, I guess the first question I have before we get into any particular players or expectations for individuals or anything, I just kinda wanna know what are the vibes around this Minnesota wild team following what I'm sure was a disappointing year, not making the playoffs. And then as you've alluded to already on the show, not the most involved off-season, not a whole lot of moves made by Minnesota as a result of just kind of being handcuffed a little bit. So I'm just curious, what is kind of the level of excitement around this team, or what would you say are fair expectations for Minnesota going into this year? - It's a fantastic question because each fan base has, you know, you have the side of the coin that tends to be more optimistic, side of the coin that tends to be more pessimistic, I myself have free flowed between the two, seamlessly at points. But it is interesting because you look at the team last year that just was ravaged by injuries, but I think over the last couple of seasons, there were legitimate, there were valid reasons to say, hey, maybe we should look at this a little different way. Maybe we should try some new pieces, mix things up a little bit, and try to go at this a different way. And the Minnesota wild have stuck to the group that in 2021, 2022 was a 50 win team and 113 point outlet. There are some key subtractions from that team to this team, but the thing that I think is the common refrain from those that are just not really sold on what this wild team is gonna do is that this entire roster is basically, you know, two to three years older. And you're expecting those same guys to do the same things that they did a couple of seasons ago, and a lot of those seasons were career years for guys, not necessarily like, hey, this is something that we can consistently expect over the next few years. And so there's just this gridlock with the roster, and wild fans have heard over the last few years, especially how good the Minnesota wild prospect system is. You know, the athletic had them ranked as high as number one, two seasons ago. And you know, they're still in the top 10. And I think people wanna see just some youth and some excitement on this roster, some jolts that can maybe breathe some life into this team that at points last year just looked lifeless. Now, some of that due to injuries, but it is just a situation of do you believe that what happened last year can be avoided? And to be perfectly honest, it was a high volume of injuries that affected the team, but declining performance in other players, only one line down the stretch that was even capable of scoring consistently. Those are problem signs. Those are warning signs for kind of where this team is headed. And so the fact that for the pretty much third season in a row, second season in a row, the wild are just gonna get off the mat and go do it again. I think leads a lot of people to saying, well, if it didn't work last year, why is it gonna work this year? The wild do have some very good pieces on this roster. We'll talk about Brock Faber here in a little bit. They've got Koroka Prizoff, who is worth about 11 points in the standings by himself, which is something that not a lot of other teams in the NHL can boast. There are just are a lot of pieces on this roster that need to be fleshed out. I mean, the fourth line for the wild last year, I think in the final 40 games of the season are 30 games of the season combined for 10 points. Like, you just can't have that. Like you just, they need to get some deeper production from the lineup and that's where everybody points to the prospects. If these veteran guys aren't getting it done, let's get these kids in here and at worst, they'll get some experience and kind of learn on the fly, but that's where the gridlock comes in. And kind of talk about the kids a little bit here a bit more. When taking a look, at least from an outsider perspective, Seth, looking at this forward group that the Minnesota wild have this year, it's a lot of the same names up top. We know Koroka Prizoff is going to be the leading charge. Mad Zukarello's there, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Johansson, Joel Erickson, Akhrei, but as you kind of alluded to, when they had that big year, two seasons ago, that was career years from a lot of those guys and most of them are over 30 and not getting younger. And to me, it just kind of feels like for this Minnesota wild team offensively to get back to where they were two years ago, it feels like it is kind of on the young guys to make them, it feels like it's a make or break type of group for Minnesota in particular, the three I'm talking about are Matt Boldy, Liam Ogren and Marco Rossi. It feels like if those three are playing great, this Minnesota wild team offensively can get back to where they were obviously with Kaprizov leading the way, but is that kind of a fair assessment from an outsider perspective? It feels like if the wild get production from Boldy, Ogren and Rossi, there's potential for this offense to be really good. - Yeah, and especially on the Liam Ogren front because you look at what Marco Rossi did last year with 21 goals and the hope is that he can build off of that as kind of a foundation for the type of player he is at the NHL level 'cause he did that with two spots on the same line as him that really just were non-existent for most of the season. So 21 goals essentially by himself is pretty impressive. So the hope is that he can build off of that. Liam Ogren is the wild card here because as of right now, it sounds like Marcus Johansson is gonna get that second line wing spot again. I think we know the story as to what to expect from that spot and I think if you put somebody in there that it has more of a shoot first mentality that has potential to really be a line that can give you something to compliment what Corill brings on that top line. And the thing that really set this team apart in that 2021-2022 season was that they had two lines that could score and they had a third line that never allowed anybody to score. And as a result, they racked up just a huge goals differential with their number one defensive line. So if they could get something like that going, not necessarily for the third line, just one of those lines that can really come in and frustrate the top option for the opponents, that's gonna help them out as well. But for Blackox, for lockdown, Blackox listeners too, there was the news earlier this week that Matt Boldy's gonna be weak to weak with the lower body injury. By all accounts, it sounds like he avoided major injury. He's gonna probably miss most of camp, but should hopefully be backed by the season opener. So from a fantasy hockey perspective, you probably can still at least keep an eye on Matt Boldy in your drafts, but you're right, he's a huge piece of what this team is doing. And I just hope that if some of these veteran guys don't carry their weight, don't produce, that then Bill Garin takes a long look in the mirror and says, all right, we gotta fill these spots in the lineup with players that are going to. - And then on the defensive side of things, Seth, getting Jared Spurgeon back is obviously going to be huge. And it feels like Minnesota, from my side of things, it feels like I would feel pretty confident about their blue line going into this year, as far as bouncing back and putting up a better performance than they did last year because spoiler alert, we have already recorded the central division round table. I don't mean to bury the lead on what's coming there, but I know one of the things that you alluded to there, and I'm sure your listeners from lockdown, while they've heard this time and time again throughout the offseason, but the penalty kill and defensively, it wasn't what it needed to be. So kind of talk to me about your thoughts on this blue line of getting Jared Spurgeon back and then obviously favor another year under his belt, Middleton's there as well with Jonas Brodine. What do you feel about this defense this year because to me on paper, it looks rather solid. - I think defensively, I look at these three different groups for the Minnesota Wild, offense defense special teams, and defense is the one that I can definitively say is gonna be better this year because Jared Spurgeon being back is gonna do a bunch of different things. It's gonna take pressure off of all the other top four guys. It's gonna take pressure off of favor. It's gonna take pressure off of Brodine. It's gonna take pressure off of Middleton too, because not only are you not asking them to do as much as they were doing last year, you're also slotting them back into their natural point in the lineup. The big question for me, Jack, is gonna be, how quickly do they go zero to 100 with Spurgeon? Like, does he play maybe second pairing to start the year to just try to get him back and acclimated before going, okay, let's get you back up to 25, 28 minutes a night? Is Brock Faber showed he can do that last year? He played 30 minutes like seven different times, which is insane, but it's gonna be interesting to see how they kind of ramp him back up, but it's gonna provide a very big boost for this team not only defensively, but also from a leadership standpoint. Not having your captain all season and having your team look kind of rudderless is not a coincidence. And so the fact that he's back and will hopefully be able to help restore some order, especially if things don't go well early, that's gonna be big, but you're not relying on guys like Alex Gologoski, like John Merrill. Like Merrill is still on the roster as a seventh defenseman, but you're not relying on him for third pairing or even second pairing duty, like the wild world last year. It's just everybody slots into their natural part of the lineup and everybody's responsibility levels are dialed back a little bit, which I think is gonna lead to being able to utilize those top two pairings, especially pretty frequently. And I think that's gonna take some huge pressure off the goalies too, because you're playing behind some of those deep pairings that the wilds deployed at points last year, and that'd be enough to make me wanna pull my hair out. So the fact that everything just is kind of naturally slotted back in, I think is gonna be huge for this team. I'm sure Peter Morazic knows that all wanting to rip his hair out feeling all too well. But speaking of the goaltender set, the final question that I have for you here, going with the Phillip Gustafson Mark Andre Flurry duo in net once again for the wild, what is kind of your confidence level in that duo? Well, what did you think about bringing Flurry back? And then also to kind of tie a bow on that, what is the vibe around Jasper Wallstead still having to be kind of isolated out of that NHL tandem for another year one? I have seen him do unbelievable stuff in the NHL central division of my poor rock for my socks. Well, the ironic thing here is that the Minnesota wild have been pretty outspoken that they're going to try a three goalie tandem at points this season. And yeah, I've spent at least a couple of episodes talking about this. I don't like it from a roster standpoint because you're right up against the cap. And I feel like that roster spot would be better served, not having a goalie just sit, maybe play once every like five to six games, actually having a forward up that can assist. But they've, Bill Guerin has said, and John Heinz has said it's going to be a fluid situation, which means, you know, depending on the schedule, he may head down to Iowa, play some games there. If there's a heavy workload of NHL games, then maybe he gets called up to assist with that. Mark Andre Flurry is certainly getting up there. And so I worry about, I worry about the belief that they can just simply say, okay, we're going to go Gus and we're going to go Flurry for the entirety of the season and that that's going to hold up with the exception of maybe a couple of starts here or there for Jesper. I just don't see that being a reality. I'm not as worried about Phillip Gustafson. I think he'll have a nice bounce back this year after just some, really his season got buoyed down by two bad months. Beyond that, he was pretty good. I think he'll be able to bounce back. I just, I really don't know with Flurry at this point. Like he's capable of giving you, you know, one of those kind of turn back, the clock starts every once in a while, but it's just, we see it happen with every player, especially with the goal. He says, after a while, you know, your reflexes start to kind of drop and that's when you start to try to anticipate where the puck's going and that's when you get beat. So it's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I guess I just am at the point where I think Jesper is best served playing wherever that be, as opposed to sitting on the bench, but we'll find out. - Yeah, certainly an interesting situation. And I mean, just looking at Wallstead in the pipelines these last couple of years, I figured this was going to be the fitting time for him to take that leap of flowers coming back. I thought he was old when he was on the Black Hawks two years ago, so we'll see, we'll see. - Well, we'll find out. Well, let's, let's finish with a fun little debate because both teams have some young defense men at their disposal. And so we're going to take a look at a couple of contracts and see which we would rather have based off of how long and how much money the contract is. We'll do that to finish today's episode of "Lockdown Wild" and "Lockdown Black Hawks" after this. Today's episode of "Lockdown Wild" and "Lockdown Black Hawks" is brought to you by Indeed, we are driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search, match with Indeed. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors according to Indeed data and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. Plus listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com/Lockdown. Just go to Indeed.com/Lockdown right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com/Lockdown, terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Today's show is also brought to you by prize picks. Prize picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. All you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in. For instance, one Caleb Williams passing yard gets you one win on prize picks every week in September. That's right, only one yard gets you an automatic win every football weekend in September. Four weeks of free W's. Don't miss this deal on prize picks because it's gone when September ends. Plus prize picks helps you cash out even if your lineup isn't perfect. With the flex play, you can double your money even if one of your picks doesn't hit. Download the prize picks app today and use code locked on NHL and get $50 instantly when you play $5. That's code locked on NHL on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It is guaranteed that is prize picks run your game. Final segment of today's special cross over edition of Lockdown Wild and locked on Blackhawks. Make sure to subscribe to both shows so you don't miss out 'cause the season's gonna be here in like two and a half weeks. You're gonna miss out if you don't subscribe 'cause we've got you covered every step of the way. All right, we got a little debate to finish off the show here today. Jack, a couple of actually, a couple of young defense men that Chicago has on their roster. One currently signed, that is Alex Flasick signed until 2030, $4.6 million per season. Another that will be eligible for a long-term deal coming up is Kevin Korkshinsky. We'll talk about him a little bit here as well. And so I ask you between Alex Flasick and Kevin Korkshinsky, would you rather have what Flasick is signed for, what Korkshinsky will sign for? Or what Brock Faber is signed for right now at a clean, cool 8 million per? - Very, very interesting question. And I think for the Kevin Korkshinsky case, it's hard to put him in the mix here when we just don't know what he's going to do this season. Yet, and quite honestly, Seth, I wouldn't be surprised if he spent a majority of the year down with the Rockford I saw in the AHL because he wasn't eligible for that level last year coming from Canada in the junior system. And had he have been, he most certainly would have spent time at the AHL level. So I don't think he's quite honestly going to be breaking the bank like Brock Faber did or even, I mean, it would probably take a big third year for him to command as much as Alex Flasick got on this most recent deal just because their situations have been so different. What I will say from a Vlasic to Faber perspective is I do think their cap hit is rather interesting for what they provide. And I want to preface I am not making an argument in a world where I would rather have Alex Flasick who's 23 years old than Brock Faber who's 21 years old considering what we saw Brock Faber do in the NHL last year to add two years younger. We know he has the higher ceiling. He is the better offensive player between the two. There is no debate there. However, for what Alex Flasick provided the Blackhawks, mostly on the defensive side of things because offensively I did think he looked better and showed more puck moving ability than I ever foresaw when the Blackhawks first drafted him. And I think a lot of that has to do with how they handled him down in the AHL but defensively in what was basically his rookie year technically because he had gotten some NHL since he wasn't officially labeled a rookie. But for him to take on a top hearing role along with Seth Jones and quite honestly, he was better than Seth Jones on the defensive side of things right from the get go and to really be comfortable in those 20, 25 minute per night situations at 22 years of age. It was so impressive and you have to feel a sense of relief that the Blackhawks, especially having Kevin Korschinsky, there's another defenseman in the system, Wyatt Kaiser, they've had offensive minded defenseman, Adam Bocquist going back a couple of years ago. They haven't really had a rock solid defensive minded demand that they've developed since like Nicholas Jamerson basically and to feel like we have that in Alex Flasick and to really just establish himself as one of the premiers shut down defensive defenseman in the league at his age and to have him at that $4.6 million AAV through 2030. That's where I think this is a little bit of an argument. I don't still think I would go with Vlasick's contract over favors because he's two years younger and has the runway and has the higher offense and ceiling like there is superstar potential with Brock Faber, Alex Flasick doesn't have that. But I do firmly believe that in 2026, 2027, when we're looking at his contract and we see $4.6 million cap hit next to it, that is going to be one of the best steals in the NHL. I do firmly believe that, Seth. - I can't wait until about three years from now when Zeev Boyam and Brock Faber are both on the top line with matching eight by eights and just, just giving the rest of the league nightmares with what they're capable of. No, it is interesting though, because I'm sure a lot of people listening when they saw me tee that up, we're like, oh boy, here we go. - Oh yeah. - But it is all about getting value out of the contract that you signed players to. And obviously Vlasick is viewed on one scale. Brock Faber viewed on another and it's crazy that in his first full season in the league, Faber did things that make people look at that $8 million mark and they're like, that's a bargain. Like with all the things that he is capable of doing, the best part in my minds is the fact that he added stuff to his arsenal that he had never done before. Like manning the power play was something he never had, he had never done. And he just took to it, like a natural. And so that's kind of where I look at it is the higher the AAV, the more you hope that these players add to the mix. And Brock Faber certainly has plenty that he adds to the table. But this will be interesting to look at a few years from now and see where we're at with things again. But it wouldn't matter if it was 4 million, it wouldn't matter if it was 10 million. I'm very satisfied with what Brock Faber brings to the table. Oh, 100%. And quite we've been having this debate. It's almost an unfair conversation to have because they're just two entirely different players at very different stages of their careers. But of course, Black Hawks fans, wild fans have been in communication with each other. I'm sure since the counter-badard Brock Faber debates over the call their trophy. Sure, there were some salty Black Hawks fans out there that when Vlasik got his extension, wanted to throw some Jabs, Minnesota's way. So listen, I'm not here for those wild fans out there. I'm not here to say I'd rather take Vlasik over Faber. I'm not saying that or even their contract situations. I just do think it's going to be an interesting one to look at because both of them are signed on long term. They're both going to be big pieces of the puzzle for their organizations. And yeah, it's going to be fun to watch both of them shine on their respective teams' blue lines for years and years to come. I have two call their conversations that I'm just going to be part of for the rest of my life. Robertson and Caprize off and now Faber and Badard. So I hear plenty of it. But that's I think a nice little primer for getting the season started for both of these teams. Obviously we're going to see plenty of each other being central division rivals. So like you said, hopefully the rivalry can get rekindled here a little bit because it has been I think 15 straight in the regular season. It's been a little-- Oh my gosh. It's been a little long. I don't even think we beat Dean Evison. I don't think we beat him once while he was here. No, probably not. I don't think that happened. We'll see what happens because-- It's been tough. Yeah, it's been a minute, but better days are ahead for Chicago and better days are ahead for Minnesota, I'm sure as well. So thank you everybody for tuning in to this special crossover edition of "Locked on Wild" and "Locked on Black Hawks." Make sure to hit that like button before you hop off YouTube and make sure to follow on your favorite audio platforms as well so you don't miss out on any new episodes gearing you up to the start of the season. We've got new ones for you every Monday through Friday as part of the "Locked on" podcast network. A prime member, you can listen to this "Locked on" podcast and free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today!
