The NFL season is finally here so make sure you're ready with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. It gives you the most live NFL games all in one place exactly what you need to make your Sundays more magical. Sign up today at youtube.com/Sundayticket. Local and national games on YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket for Out of Market Games excludes digital only games. Chris Johnston Show. Your number one destination for a behind-the-scenes look at the game of hockey. Just thing on. Here's NHL insider Chris Johnston and host Julian Mackenzie. Big Money Siege. We're going to talk some money to start off our show today. A couple of goal tenders with some very interesting contract situations. Let's start with Igor Shastirkin in New York. It's out there that the new contract that he wants. He wants to establish a new market, he wants to blow the dollar figures out of the water that have already been set by guys like Sergey Babrowski and Kerry Price. But there's only a certain amount of time he wants to get a deal done. He wants something done before the regular season. If not, we'll just wait until the offseason. Where are we at with Igor Shastirkin in the New York Rangers? Well, it's a big decision for the Rangers because there can be risk. I guess on both sides if you go into the final year of a contract, the player and then the team end. But especially in a case where the player and his agent have indicated that they're not going to negotiate, it does create this window now in the lead up to the season to try to get it done. But just as we've seen Leon Drysighto reset the market for skaters. I'm sure it's not too far behind Conor McDavid's next deal and all the others to come with a rising cap has created the circumstances where you're going to see bigger and higher contracts being given out. Shastirkin looks around at whether it's UC Sorrows, Conor Hellebach. Some of these guys that have signed in recent years haven't managed to eclipse the $10.5 million that Kerry Price signed for all the way back in 2017. He's intent on doing it. I think the Rangers sounds like are willing to do that to a degree. At least have the window there of what the money you're looking at is. But I think Shastirkin wants as much as $12 million a year on his next deal. There's a bit of a clock ticking on when it can happen because once the season starts and if they truly don't negotiate, it can go a couple of different ways. But either way, he's going to be have the ability to walk free on July 1st. If the Rangers aren't willing to get them to the kind of dollar figure he wants, he can see if someone else will on the open market. One side says, the way things are going for goal tenders now, you have a tandem and maybe it doesn't make sense to pay your goal tender big money. The other side of this says, Igor Shastirkin is one of the best goal tenders in the world right now and you might be better off paying him. Which side is right? Which side are you on in this debate? Well, you know, it's funny the way it's gone with goal tending. You know, some teams have as little as 3% or 4% of their total cap dollars tied up in goal tending this season. Obviously, a pretty small number given kind of the universal thought is if you don't get good goal tending, it's going to be hard to have the kind of success you want. I think in periods, you can overcome maybe some rough goal tending. But in general, you know, you need that position solidified. But you know, it's we've just seen such a variance in performance. You know, the old saying goal tenders are voodoo that was kicking around on the hockey memes for a while. I mean, I do think, you know, when you get an established player, and I would argue at this point, Shastirkin is that I mean, even last season, he had a dip in his performance. But by the end, and certainly in the playoffs, you know, he was what you'd expect. If you look back over, you know, all this years with the Rangers, pretty consistently been among the best goalies, whether you're using say percentage or some of the other more advanced metrics. And so, you know, when you when you have that, that player, if he's in the right age, to me, I would be inclined to, to, you know, give out a big contract number. But, you know, there certainly is risk. I mean, the fact that Kerry Price is the highest paid goaltender in the league, but it hasn't, you know, played a game for some time now, and unfortunately, he's not going to be able to the forester's career underlines that. I mean, Montreal gave him a big eight year contract, and basically half of it, he will be of unavailable for so it can go both ways. But I, you know, I think eventually you're going to have to pay the top players. And I think you've seen enough from Shastirkin. That's just, I mean, that's my view. And I don't think the Rangers, I should be clear. This is a priority for the Rangers. I don't want to at all suggest that they don't want to sign him. I think it's just more about trying to hone in on a number that both sides can live with. You know, that's where the negotiation happens. And really, you know, we're having this conversation now because we're what? 10, 11, 12 days from start of the regular season. I mean, it's, it's a pretty small window now for them to get things done. And, you know, I think Shastirkin can feel pretty confident that he's going to reset the market. He'd prefer to do it in New York. And, you know, we'll, we'll see if they can grind away and get, get to a resolution here before opening night. So you're confident that these two sides can come to that resolution by opening night. Well, the path seems like it's there. I mean, if, if you want something like 12 and if they're willing to go above 10 and a half million, I realize there's still a million and a half variance in those positions and over an eight-year deal that equates to 12 million total actual dollars. So I'm not saying, you know, it's not, they're not right at the finish line, but there within a range, I think that you can find some compromise, or you should be able to find some compromise. I mean, this is, this is kind of how this is how the dance works, right? I mean, I know we're going to talk about some other contractual situations. Some of some of the dynamics are the same across them all. When you have a special talent like Shastirkin, someone who's so important, I think there's real value in locking that player up to and just having this not be a question mark or a discussion point before the season. You know, typically you find a way to do it that the Rangers just may ultimately have to stretch themselves a little farther than where they're sitting here today wanting to go in order to make it happen. All right. So, Igor Shastirkin and New York Ranger will obviously be monitoring that situation. Jeremy Swamin, we've talked about him quite a bit on the show the last few days. Still unsigned as of now. Our good friend, Pierre Le Brun, says he wants an eight year deal. Where are we at with Jeremy Swamin and the Boston Bruins? Well, it's status quo. And I think it's worth just updating that because it's, you know, a couple more days since our last show. And it's been a couple more days of Boston Bruins training camp where Jeremy Swamin's been nowhere to be found has not been part of activities as a player, not under contract. And, you know, it starts to feel like the regular season becomes a real big swing point. I guess in these negotiations, you know, on an eight-year deal, I think Swamin is looking for something like what Charlie McAvoy gets paid for the Bruins, nine and a half million dollars if he's going to commit that much time to the team. And, you know, obviously the Bruins are not of a mind yet to do that. And, you know, now they're kind of locked in. I think if you're on the team end of this, you're hoping maybe the player gets a little anxious, gets a little uncomfortable, recognizes, oh, wait, there's only an X number of pre-season games left. I mean, sees the opportunity to get ready for the season dwindling and maybe comes down off of some of his expectations for the contract. But I don't sense that from Swamin. I really, you know, the point we've made on a few occasions where we've talked about this is just a very confident guy. I think he has a deep-level self-belief. I think he's mentally prepared for this being part of the business. And so the weight goes on in Boston, you know, no sign of a crack or a change in positions just yet. And as I say, we start to circle, you know, early October now is as a period where you think they're going to take another stab at a conversation, another chance maybe to reframe where their discussions have been to find a solution because, you know, it gets very real once he's, you know, once we get to a spot where he could be missing actual regular season days of the season, there's a financial penalty for him and there's obviously potential consequences for a team that needs him. Do we get a sense? Do we have a sense of what Boston is trying to give Swamin? It seems as if we know what Swamin might want. Maybe what could the Boston Bruins be trying to do? Well, I think they're trying to keep him out of that kind of atmosphere that we're talking about, you know, really hinging on the idea. They just want to see a little bit more from him. I don't think that there's it's a case where they doubt him. I just think they don't want to necessarily pay him as like that clear number one guy and have it all sorted right now. And, you know, we've seen them do it with other players in their second contracts. I mean, I guess it's his third contract, although the goal tending the progression for goal is a little different because goalies don't typically play in the league right away. But, you know, that being said, yeah, I think that that they just want, you know, it would be probably more comfortable going shorter term and it's not as though they don't want to do eight years, but going shorter term and keeping his AAV down with the idea that, hey, we'll we'll we'll give you the out of the park home run kind of contract if you continue to play at that level. So, you know, it's not to say it's it's hard to say which way it's going to go. I mean, there's there's two two kind of solutions you see you can see them. Okay, just saying, all right, you know, we do believe in this guy, let's let's give him the long-term deal, or maybe typically in these sort of situations where you're at a deadlock on the money, on a long-term deal that the solution can be found in shorter term contracts because, you know, it gives both sides a chance to lower what they're going to have to, you know, get paid or pay out in the short term, but it gives you a chance to get back to the negotiating table in a couple of years and maybe, you know, get to get to where you want to be. When I asked you this question last time, if I'm a Bruins fan on a level of one to five, I thought it was a one to 10 and I said 18. But you brought you match to break it down to about a three or four on five. Is that worry meter? Is that level still there? I'd say it's still consistent. Still about a three and a half out of five, seven out of 10, whatever scale you want to use. Like, because what's happened in the last three days isn't what's worrying. I think I guess what's worrying is it's just three more days that time has gone by and there's there's no sort of clarity on the horizon. But, you know, it goes up to four probably when we get to the day or two before the season. And then we have to see how it goes. I mean, the funny part about this is, look, I know side neither side here would want to miss time in the season, but it's possible, right? I mean, when you get into the situation, you get dug in, is maybe Junus Corpusello has a pretty good start for the Bruins and that at least takes some of the heat off the short term where you feel like, okay, we're, we're, we're leaking oil here. I mean, that's, that's what they're going to be hoping for is if if they get to a point where Swamin isn't available for regular season games, if the team wins, it becomes a little less urgent, I think, whereas if they start, oh, in three and the goaltending shaky and, you know, naturally, there's going to be a lot of media and fan focus on, on the story and the event that happens. I mean, that's, that's kind of as crazy as negotiations can be. You can go on and on for months and then see, like, get feedback in a matter of days that is concerning and maybe, you know, compel you to act in a certain way. So, you know, we're, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I don't think the worry meter goes up just yet, but let's revisit it in a week or so. If it still remains, you know, without any sign of progress, without any sign of resolution, then it starts to tick in the wrong direction for Bruins fans. Since we have one for Jeremy Swamin, not to double back, but do you want to give a rating for Igor Shostjorkin? Just so, just so we have a number for Rangers fans on one to five, I think he gets a one on five the way you're describing it. I'd say like two out of five, but like even, even that's probably overstating it. I mean, that's, that's a little podcast drama here, maybe to say two out of five, but it's because, I mean, two things. First of all, he can go into the season and play without his contract and it doesn't mean anything bad's going to happen. Maybe they just get it done after the year's over. And so, it's a little different circumstance because there's not, there's not as many real tangible things that are going to impact the Rangers in the short term. And then the second fact is it just seems as though I think that they're in a range where you would think logically that they're going to be able to close it at some point in time and, and get, and get something done. So, you know, unless that changes, which it could look sometimes, negotiations don't all proceed in a straight line. I mean, sometimes it looks like things are headed in a good direction. And then, for whatever reason, they get spun off and the, you know, the sides stop talking for a little while. I mean, that, that sort of thing happens frequently. So, the, the, the Rangers' concern-o-meter can go up still, but it, it's in a good spot right now. It's almost that no concern. It's like so low, you can barely see it. Okay. Wait, we got a frick consistency sake. Are we calling it a worry meter or concern-o-meter? We're going back and forth. When you like concern-o-meter? I'm kind of digging, I'm kind of digging concern-meter or concern-o-meter. I think, I think you're on to something. I'm going to just for concern-o-meter, concern-o-meter. I've just for consistency sake, I'm going to start calling you at the concern-o-meter. You'll need it for a few more of these topics I want to bring up. Let's bring up another goalie in Linus Almark in Ottawa. You've been all over this story. He's a pending UFA. No extension talks have begun, according to you. What's going on there? It would be really bad if I can contradict in my own report here, wouldn't it? Virtually. They're going to try to discuss it. An interesting situation, because obviously big trade for Ottawa, I think it's such a big season for that team, and they're really hoping that he can stabilize their crease. When they look back at last year, one of the major holes that derailed the Senator's season. All that to say, obviously, an important player for them. The trade was made three months ago, and you'd think would there be time to start negotiating? You don't want to put yourself in a position. If you want to imagine how things can go, imagine he's amazing, which is great for Ottawa, but then there's a chance that he's going to leave, and it ends up being a one-year thing. It's hard to predict exactly where that'll go just yet, but I will say it's notable that the Senators, I think, are quite comfortable letting it breathe a little bit with Almark. They love the player, obviously, to go and make the trade to get him. I think everything they've learned about him even since he's been part of the organization has been positive. They want to give him a chance to love them back, in a sense. Get settled in the city with his young family, get comfortable within the organization and getting to understand what they're all about, and ultimately get to a point where he's comfortable giving them some kind of longer-term extension as well. I think that this will be one that we revisit during the season. Certainly no sense that they'll be open to talk as time goes along, but no discussions of any substance happening now on that front. Let's see where it goes. The stakes are high in Ottawa. I really believe that this team, they've accumulated a nice bit of talent that's either entering the prime or just on the cusp of getting to its prime with the Stutzlitz and the Kachucks and Norris and obviously Sanderson on the backhand, they still have Thomas Shabbat there. They've got lots of players, I think, that are there to like. They probably feel that they're not going to be ready to win until those guys are taking them to the point where they can win, if that makes sense. The team is built around those players, but obviously, someone like Hallmark can be a huge stabilizing force for the group. The more I look at the Atlantic Division, I have to say, I see potential cracks. This is not a prediction because I'm so lousy at those, but you can see circumstances where maybe Boston, despite some of the big for-agent swings they took, maybe it's a little bit of a step back. I'm not saying they missed the playoffs, but maybe aren't quite as dominant as they've been. So let's see how the Swamin thing plays out, but that could play a part in it as well. Tampa, losing Stamcoast, I still think, is losing part of your heart. Also say goodbye to Mikhail Sergachev. I know they bring back McDonough, but he's another year older. Maybe that doesn't work out as they hope. Maybe Vassaleski isn't back to full full health after last year was certainly a tough year for him. Maybe they're not what they were. Florida, I'm not going to take any shots at defending champs, but they've played two straights down like up finals. There's a lot of mileage on the tread. Toronto, if you look for areas where they could fall back, they've made what they hope are improvements on the blue line. It's a pretty old blue line. Do they stay healthy there? Does the goaltending hold up there? They're counting on a lot from Anthony Stollars and Joseph Wall, who neither of whom have really even been at 40 game per year goaltender, let alone a 50. I think ideally they're hoping Wall would be somewhere in the 40 to 50 range. Stollars would pick up the rest of the starts, but there's some questions there. Some of these established teams, those teams that have been making the playoffs every year in that division, I can just see a world where they all maybe aren't quite what they were. That's a long way of saying Senators fans. I'm optimistic that this team can have a great season, but if that's the case, I would imagine all mark will be part of it and they'll get to work on his extension sooner rather than later. Not to make this like an Ottawa Senators preview thing, but I'm wondering if their season's going to be close to what Detroit had last year where they were basically fighting to make the playoffs until almost the very last day. Just something like that. And to your point, guess who else is fighting for those playoff spots, the Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres, the Ottawa Senators are in that fight. And you can lump in the much confidence if you want to. I still don't know if they're good enough to make the playoffs yet. I don't think so, but Buffalo, Detroit and Ottawa are in that cluster of teams knocking on the door in the Atlantic Division to try to take advantage of one of those top teams falling off. It's a really interesting division. Yeah, I just you're right. And I think that it might be a little bit more of a compressed coke can this year. Like it might be, you know, it's sort of been a haves and have not division for a number of seasons in a lot of ways. Like there's been a pretty clear delineation between the top four teams and the bottom four teams for the most part. I'm not sure it's going to be quite that clear. I mean, what it might mean too is some of these teams, whether it's a Tampa or a Toronto or whatever, any of those, maybe they're getting to the last week of the season and they still got to win game 81 just to get in. I mean, they might still make the playoffs, but it might not be as comfortable as it has been some other years. You know, I think it'll be fascinating. That's what happens. And quite frankly, when we look at the center specifically, Julian, to me, if they're not in the kind of playoff race Detroit was at minimum, like that's that's a disappointment. I mean, that's that's what they've been they've been hoping for. Right is obviously they want to get in. They want to win rounds like like, don't get me wrong. But sometimes you got to walk before you can run. They haven't even really walked yet. I mean, heaven got to a point where those players are playing big, meaningful games, game 76, 77, 78, you know, under the pressure where you're scoreboard watching elsewhere. And you got to, you know, you know, certain nights you just have to win or the dreams going to die. I mean, so, you know, I think at minimum, they need to get there. You know, I'm kind of like, I'd love to see them get back in the playoffs. I think it'd be a great story. And you know, I do think sometimes fresh blood, so to speak, that, you know, it just helps freshen up the storylines around the league. I wouldn't, I mean, honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing a battle of Ontario get if Toronto and Ottawa could ever line up. I think that would be pretty that would be pretty electric. That means somehow there's still a rivalry there. It's been so long since both teams were really good at the same time. Right. It's kind of gone back and forth where Ottawa strong seasons. Toronto was in distant and then this last stretch of time, you know, Ottawa really hasn't been that competitive and the Leafs have been anyway, it would be great to see them both on the upswing or both in both with high hopes at the same time in the same series. Man, now I'm excited for that. I was already excited for the season. Now I'm really excited for the season. All right, let's get to speaking of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mitch Barner, he's a pending UFA this year. The last time he mentioned him didn't really want to talk about his contract. Where are we at with him? Well, I haven't asked him since, but I'm sure he still doesn't want to talk about his contract. But the one thing I will say is that I still think there's a window of opportunity for the Leafs and Barner to get something done before the season. Now it's not to say either side will embrace that window, who will embrace that chance and push something to the conclusion. But I think the more you look at the Leafs have managed to actually not to have this become too big of a talking point, relatively speaking so far. And when you look at the contract sign in the last year, I think it defines a window for a marner deal, right? In the last calendar year, we've seen his teammate William B. Lander signed an $11.5 million deal for eight years. And in the last month or so, we saw Leon Dreyseidel signed a $14 million deal for eight years in Edmonton. And to me, the next marner number probably falls somewhere between the two. I'm not saying exactly in the middle or anything like that, but I think that's the range of, it would be hard for me to believe that the marner could even ask for 14 credibly just because Dreyseidel's obviously put up greater point totals, had more playoff success as one heart trophy, has more credentials on his resume. But at the same time, I do see marner probably coming in above the knee lander number. And then it's just a matter of figuring out the sweet spot there. I don't see him, frankly, going above awesome Matthews 13.25 million, almost kind of an internal cap kind of thing. And so, you know, it's sort of what I talked about schistirk and like, it's not that much money. Obviously, every dollar matters in the cap. And, you know, but I do think that there's kind of a clearly defined spot where marner will fall. And you just wonder, I mean, I mentioned on a previous episode that I'd heard earlier in the summer that marner was like having some doubts about whether the Leafs truly wanted him and that he wanted to be there. Well, you know, I'm under the impression now that those doubts have been erased. Like, I think it's clear, been made clear to him that that the Leafs still see him as part of their long-term future. They'd love to have him. And wouldn't it be nice just sitting here thinking about it if they could get it done sort of quietly and amicably before the season? Not to say it's going to happen, but I just want to keep it on everyone's radar that it's it's a possibility, because I do think that there's still some level discussions going on behind the scenes. And a little bit of a dance to see if they might be able to find something that works on both ends. And you know, if not, I do believe everyone when they say, hey, we'll just let it go. And maybe they get ston mid-season like knee lander or even after the year. So it's not this if this is a concern-o-meter, it's still at like one out of five or whatever I'm putting the low ones at, because marner is under contract this year. And I think he's fine to play it the year without his deal. But let's not sleep on this window here where I think that, you know, they're going to try to at least see if they can get something done. It's funny you brought up the concern-o-meter, because I was about to ask, how do you have one or assess the situation for one of the most polarizing players I have ever seen for a team? Because there are guys who obviously are going to want Mitch Barr to stay. But we're not stupid. We know there are fans out there for the Leafs who are not big fans of this player, especially with how he is in the playoffs. It's fair. And let's not be saying that that's that's off of what people have said. Well, he's gotten a lot of the targeted criticism for, I think, the overall frustration of the team. And quite honestly, some of that criticism has gone over the top. Like some of the criticism isn't warranted. It's not just I'm not defending his playoff record. I'm merely saying it's not the he's not the only player on the team that hasn't scored a big goal in a game seven. You know what I mean? And you know, you're I think he's come to embody where some of that hate goes. And a lot of it is over the top, unwarranted, all that stuff. I also have the opinion, though, Julian, if he has one big playoff series or playoff spring, a lot of that opinion will change. Like, I think that the beauty is, yes, these that he's faced that criticism. He's faced those doubts and or whatever you want to call them. But he still has the chance to use the pen is still in his hand, right? He can still rewrite a different ending to the story. And generally speaking, when you're when your team wins or when you have some personal success in big moments, I mean, you only need to do it a couple times and it erases all the other years you didn't get it done. I mean, we look at I look at Sidney Crosby personally is like the best example of a true winner in this generation, right? He's won three cups in two Olympic gold medals. Well, he's played in the league for 19 years. So there's 16 seasons. He didn't win the cup too. And 50 of those seasons, he didn't even get to the cup final. But you know, obviously, I'm not hating on Sidney Crosby. My point is is, you know, I've seen this Roger Federer clip going around where he won X number of matches. I think he won something like 80% of his matches, but he only won 52% of his points. You know, it's sort of the idea that a lot of those matches could have gone either way over the years and he managed to get sort of the one extra point at the one or two percent. I mean, that's what you're looking at if you're the Leafs. I think you're you're looking and it's so silly, we're man, he reacts September 26 and I'm just like, Oh, just you get back to the playoffs next year and you make it happen. But that it's almost that simple. That's that's the level of analysis here. If they can have a big playoff spring and if Mitch Marner can do it himself, I think and look, he's still loved to by a lot of people. I mean, let's let's not let the loudest voices on social media dictate what's true sentiment to me. You take the subway down to a game in Toronto, you'll see a lot of 16 jerseys on your way there. That is very true. All right, that's a lot of contract talk to start. There's a lot of good nuggets of information to start. Well done siege. Earlier this week, we getting down to business Julian, we get down to business, we stand on business, we get down to business, all of that. Earlier this week, you were at the unveiling of the new Amazon NHL series. This is a long title, but face offs the big name you need to remember. It's not inside the NHL. Yeah, okay. I mean, that's not that long, I guess, but anyway, hot ice would have been a much funnier title. I stand by that there was there. I should have asked someone because there's lots of people there that probably would have known there was a working title that played on like the intensity and the heat aspect of the sport. I just can't remember what it was going to be. I didn't like, I see hot patch or something. I don't know. It was just something that played up how intense the sport is, which actually, I think was what's cool is what that's part of what they've captured here. I mean, they've captured some of the personal lives of players, I think, on a degree you haven't seen and peeled back the curtain, but they're also taking you inside the fire and brimstone of the sport and the Stanley Cup playoffs in particular. I think that's what's going to make this such a popular thing for hockey fans. What did you think of the trailer? What did you think of the event earlier this week? They also unveiled the hosts and full team for Monday night hockey on Amazon as well. Lots of things to take from that press conference. You were there. Jesse, Adam, and Steve were also there. Good on the SDPN, by the way, for being. We were out with numbers on Monday. Yes. Tell us about the presser. Well, what was cool is we actually got to see the first episode. It stars William Elander and David Pasternak and focuses on their long-ago friendship. They played together in Sweden when they were teenagers and became good friends. Obviously, they've been rivals on the ice in the sense they've played for the Bruins and Leafs in multiple playoff series. It just so happens, one of them scored an overtime winning goal in Game 7 of that series. I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who may not have caught it. Wow, okay. Well, fine. Do you know what the cool part about the series is? I think it's compelling, even though obviously you know the ending. If you're a hockey fan, the last two episodes, which I haven't seen yet, but they're devoted just to the Cup Finals. You're watching those two episodes. Knowing Florida goes up three nothing. Edmonton rallies back and Florida wins Game 7. I mean, but it's still, there's enough in there that you're learning about or seeing a different angle of that that is still going to make it worth watching. And so, I'm really excited about this. You know, the trailer, we talked with this actually a few weeks ago that I'd heard about the McDavid scene. Obviously, part of that at least is captured in the trailer when he's losing his mind and telling his teammates to dig in right now. That's such a, I'm sorry, watching that clip and seeing that emotion from Connor. Like, I've never seen anything like that from him before, but also I understand considering the circumstances, but that's awesome. It's a, it's a great moment. Isn't it awesome? You can say that about any player though. Like, I saw this and I didn't know like, yeah, I wouldn't have imagined that he would be like that. I mean, anytime you can say that, whatever it is in this show, or in these across the six episodes, like I think that's, that's part of that, that underlines that they did their job, that they're, you know, are delivering on what this thing should be. You know, I spoke with Steve Mayer at the event, you know, he's the NHL's director of con chief officer of content. Yeah, he's, I forget his job title. He's a very big deal in HL circles in terms of making sure that the product is visible and growing status of players and all that blah, blah, blah. Right. Well, he was a producer on the show, so he was intimately involved in bringing this together and, and seeing it to completion. And he said that in his view, he said, first of all, like, he needs no in Connor McDavid well. Remember those two last year, you know, conspired to redevelop the All-Star weekend and things like that. But the point is, he knows Connor McDavid. And he said, like, even he, in watching, was like, I didn't know this guy, I didn't know he had this side. And, you know, he mentioned to me, there's a couple other scenes that are not in the trailer where you see that. And he said that he thinks fans will come away with the most different view of, of Connor than any of the other players, that, that essentially you see more of him across the show than, than you will have anyone else, like that, you know, that he might, might surprise you or just, you might find interesting. And, I mean, when you're talking about the best player of his generation, the guy who just wanted to cons my trophy, you know, losing effort. I mean, that's, that's, again, I think that's pretty cool. Like that, this is the whole point of this is that you get to understand the sport on a different level or see some of the characters in a different way, appreciate what they do. I've got very high hopes for it. I'll say this. And, and having spoke to people with Amazon, I spoke actually to one of the fellows who, who is a co founder of the box to box film company. They're the ones who actually, you know, do the, the work, you know, that they, they put together, they have one drive to survive series, the golf series, you know, this, this gentleman is by the name of Paul Martin said that, you know, he went into this a little nervous. He said, he's like, I don't nothing about hockey, but he knew enough to know that hockey players have this reputation is not wanting to put themselves out there. And so he just, he just wondered how it would all go. And then he said, when they got into it, he found them to be by far the most accommodating of any of the athletes they've dealt with and the most open to sharing themselves and having it all kind of aired out. So, you know, he, he couldn't have been more clear. They want a second season, you know, Steve Maris said the same to me. So I think this is the start of something that you'll see more of. And, you know, the beauty is on October 4th, we can all binge watch six episodes because Amazon's going to drop them in one batch. For those that subscribe to Prime, I know what I'll be doing that day. I want to go back to the point you made about how players were very accommodating through the process. And obviously the stars that have been listed for this show are there. I wonder if we're starting to see a little bit more of a change in that mindset where NHL players, we still have that reputation of being reserved. But what a series like this kind of changed the tide for players wanting to show more of themselves, show more of their personality, and do more essentially to sell the game. I think so too. And a couple notes. So among the players, just, I don't have a list in front of me that I know have a significant role in the series. So you got Neelander, Pasternak, you've Gabriel Landis-Cog, plays a key role, Quinn Hughes, Philip Forsberg, Jack Eichl, obviously, Conor McDavid, Matthew Kachuk. I think they got some Jeremy Swamin in there as well, and some Zack Hyman, Drysidal. But that's just like a flavor of the kind of guys. And one thing Quinn Hughes said is that he actually is someone who values his privacy. He said in a summary, he loves to go back to Michigan and disappear for three months and no one hears from him. But when he started to hear that McDavid and the Neelanders had signed up, he's like, "Who am I to say no to this now?" And anecdotally from what I've heard is a number of NHL players have already put up their hand volunteering for the second season. And so, I hope you're right. I think that, first of all, everyone's going to see this and see that, "Hey, you're seeing Conor McDavid in a way you've never seen him before." And it's okay. People think it's cool. No one's criticizing him for it. You're like nothing bad happened, in a sense. And I think it makes it a little safer for everyone else to share more of themselves. And they actually credited Neelander of all people. He said he was the first player who basically just said, "Come to my house in March before the playoffs started. Whatever you want, here's what I'm doing today. You can follow me around." He ended up getting injured and missing the first three games of the series. "Come over and watch a game at my house with me." And even included, he was miked up for that argument on the bench with he and Matthew's and Marner in Game 4, that series with Boston, Game 5, rather. No, Game 4. Yeah, 4. And that's all just left in there. The Neelander said, "He didn't make any demands. Basically, whatever they got, they got." And he's even stuff like that. He's like, "It's real. It happens all the time. Fans want to see this stuff." And so I do think you're seeing a general shift in mindset, and I'm hopeful that this series will continue going in that direction. I think they're already considering all kinds of different stuff for the next go-around in season two. I think you might see some players who don't make the playoffs included. So it includes more potential to the league. They've talked like this. Do they focus on players, maybe family situations more, like some of their partners or their spouses, whatever? Do they involve coaches? I think that they're looking at all kinds of different ways, but they just want to peel back the layers and the curtains of the game. And I personally think it's great. I've had a few people kind of just friends and stuff texting like, "Do you think this really makes more fans?" And I'm like, "I don't know. It's hard to measure that. I don't know if someone's going to see this for the first time." And I'll be like, "Now I'm going to go to a hockey game. I don't know if it's that simple." But the way I view it is, in today's day and age, we're all competing for people's attention. And I think that there's enough clips from this will get people's attention, will get hockey out there in a different way than a traditional manner. And if nothing else, I think hardcore fans are just going to gobble this up. I would be shocked if they don't. I'm just binging Docs these days. I've watched every sports doc going. I actually just started to tragically hip one in the last couple of days, no dress rehearsals. So I love this kind of content with everything. And so I'm fully on board. And I got pretty fired up being at that event for a couple hours on Monday afternoon. It just seems like everything is in harmony. It feels like they didn't get any roadblocks. I think in the past, whether it's the NHLPA acting on behalf of players or teams or whatever, I think the NHL's met a lot of hurdles when trying to do this sort of programming. And from what I didn't gather, there was just none of that this time around. Two more things before I get to the final topic here. I've probably said it on the podcast. I've definitely said it to other people. So I apologize if I'm repeating myself here. But I wonder if this series could have sort of like an F1 moment. I think of friends who I've been friends with for a long time, but I've never discussed sports with or rarely discussed sports with. And all of a sudden, because of drive to survive, I see them in their like little spaces, hanging out together, talking about, Oh, who's going to be P1 this week and qualifying? Who's going to win this race? Like, it's, it's hilarious to see friends of mine who are not that into sports, all of a sudden get swept into F1. I know that's one example, but I'm wondering, but I feel as if if you're the NHL and you want this to succeed, obviously your hard cores are going to delve into this series. But don't you want that you have to want that out those I'd say those ones I just whether it actually happens. I don't that's that's a hard thing to quantify, right? I get that. It's just I just hope that it has some kind of similar impact, because of course you and I were going to watch that series. Of course, everyone else at the SDPN, of course, everyone around the hockey world will. It's all about that random casual fan or someone who might have been interested in hockey and they thought, well, you know what, maybe this is my my entry point in, right? Like, I would hope that it has some kind of impact. I would hope that it being on Amazon Prime versus like a Netflix doesn't affect people's perceptions of it. I mean, you think of a series like receiver or or drive to survive as I mentioned earlier, those are all in Netflix. Do you do you want to go on Amazon Prime and get that series? Like, I get it. Like, but at the same time, I just hope that I hope it has that impact is what I'm trying to say. I got to say, I like Amazon Prime better Netflix. I think Amazon Prime is underrated. I think there's like a whole bunch of good content that I'm interested in, but yeah, it's just Netflix is like the popular streaming surface that like, if you have to name one off the top of your head, that might be the first one. But like, there's Disney plus two, there's Amazon Prime, there's, I mean, in Canada, we have creative, right? Like, there's a lot of different options. Hulu. Well, we don't have Hulu here. I wish we did. But in America, I think it's just the US thing, unless you have Hulu and no, I don't. Let's not even I don't know how to find anything on it. I do know when I call up Amazon Prime and on my smart TV, though, there's always something I want to watch. Yes. The other thing I wanted to bring up, just wanted to go back to Conor McDavid, who is essentially going to become, I mean, I think off of the way that we discussed him in the trailer and and other parts of our discussion on this series, it's funny to think of this guy who we look as probably the best player in a generation. And there's still so much we need to know about him. And for him to say, it was never my plan to be the star of the show. Well, dude, you're you're the best player in the world. Like, it's it's really funny to have that thinking, at least in my head. But it's just hilarious that it's at that point where he didn't want to be the star of the show. And I'm pretty sure by the time I end up watching this, he will be all I talk about. He's open head first. He also, that's the other part of his quote. That's what he said to you head first off the diving board. I mean, look, if the Oilers lost in round one last year, he'd probably be the he would be the first episode like me, Lander, and Pastor Knack. And that would be it. But it's it was inevitable. He was going to be the star because they had content from two months of an Oilers, you know, playoff run, again, a year where that hasn't happened five or six times in HL history, where losing player wins as a cons might trophy for playoff MVP. He was the star of the show because he was the star of the spring. And the cameras were around for all that. And you know, I think on top of that, they found lots of compelling footage from him. And it stayed in there. Apparently, the scene that we should all be racing for excited about is, or I mean, the problem is it's a sad thing. But being in the Oilers locker room after they lost game seven, like apparently the footage they got there is like extremely powerful. And it becomes quite apparent what the loss bent to McDavid in a way that words couldn't that we get to see that scene. So I think that that I mean, good for Connor that he, you know, he said he's felt vulnerable in that all the fact all this is shared. But I think it I think it's good. And I think it I think it does help the sport. And as you say, Julie, and I just hope I hope people see the game and see you like, wow, a lot goes into this. And this is really interesting and gives them more reason maybe to care about the the NHL on a day to day basis. Awesome. Looking forward to watching those episodes when they drop. One more thing before we get to stick taps. Where are we at with NHL expansion? We've seen reports suggesting that the NHL would be looking into this and maybe that's a process that won't start. And then Gary Betman comes out and says all the talk about expansion is quote categorically wrong. Where are we at with NHL expansion? Well, I think it's important to just underline that, especially because, you know, next week on Tuesday, the the board of governors are meeting again in New York, you know, whenever anything like expansion processes begin or vote happens, it happens at one of those meetings with the board of governors, which is essentially made up of the league owners or controlling partners from around the other teams. And nothing's going to happen there. I think the league will will certainly update the owners on, you know, the expressions of interest and all those things. Obviously, expansion is somewhere on the horizon for the NHL. Like, I think that's inevitable, but it could take many years. And, you know, you have to keep in mind too, they can expand to places where even if they like the city where no arena exists yet. So a few of the mentioned cities out there don't have actually a shovel in the ground for an arena to be built just yet. So, basically, this is just a public service announcement to tap the brakes on expansion talk. Obviously, it's going to happen. Obviously, there's going to be news and developments from some of those cities, you know, maybe as they do start to actually get arena projects off the ground and have ownership groups lining up to try to get into NHL membership, but we're just not quite there yet. And until we are, I think some of the reports that have gone around were premature. So I shouldn't be planning trips to either Houston or Atlanta for NHL purposes is what you're saying? Or Nebraska. Nebraska has expressed interest in the NHL ownership as well. Okay. I'm serious. So I believe you. I have no reason to doubt you. So, yeah, I think Omaha and Lincoln, are they like twin cities or something? But they're definitely in Nebraska, for sure. At some point, the governor in Nebraska was in the NHL head office as part of a pitch. Okay. So it's not even just the obvious places. And certainly, I'm not sitting here by any means suggesting Nebraska is going to get a team. But, you know, they do, I think, have popular USHL teams and they do. There is a lot of, there's just a lot of, there's a lot of interest from random places. I think Gary Bettman at the All-Star Week, unless you mentioned Cincinnati, I think he tossed out there as one of them. Obviously, Phoenix, I think at some point, we'll be back at the mix again, pending an arena situation. So, you know, it's going to happen. There's going to be expansion, but I just, I don't seem like everyone all of a sudden out of nowhere seem to think it's happening next week. And that's just not the case. We've had that discussion about expansion before. I've said in the past, like, what's the big deal? Why is everyone complaining about it? I think I'm still there. But like, I could understand, like, having apprehension if it gets, if the league gets to like 36, 38, 40 teams. But like, I don't know if you want to grow, I mean, I don't know. I just, I'm not upset if they had two war teams that we chill on that for a couple of years. But also, if it's not happening anytime soon, then what's the big deal? Well, it's going to happen at some point. If for no other reason, whoever comes in next is going to pay over a billion dollars for their franchise, and that money gets spread around the existing owners, it's not paid out to the players in any way directly. I mean, it's just too much money to pass up if you're, if you're the NHL. I think so. Plus, there's a lot of big markets in the U.S. that they don't have a presence in. I can understand that argument, honestly, with having seven teams in Canada, with having three teams in the New York area, two teams in the L.A. area, there's just, as a result of that, they're not in as many individual U.S. markets as other sports. And I think they're going to make moves to correct that or change that as time goes long. All right. Keep an eye on Nebraska. Never thought I'd ever hear CJ say, keep an eye on Nebraska in the context of the NHL. But here we are. Do you have a stick tap before we wrap up today? You go first. I was hoping you were going to go first. One story we didn't get to last week, because it dropped after we did our episodes for the week. But yeah, I'm a jogger. 52 years old, intending on retiring from professional hockey after this season. I mean, do we really need to revisit his his NHL legacy and the fact that he's been managing to play pro into his fifties? Like, dude's a Hall of Famer. I understand why people want that that hold to be waived so we could just get in right away. I think I'm on those people side. Like, what are we? What are we waiting on? Like, get it in right now. What are we doing weeks working on a story last year? And I can tell you, I talked to all the important people. It's not happening. He's not getting it's going to be three years after his last pro game. Well, come on. Like, dude, we do is all a fake player. What are we waiting for? Like, anyway, forget it. He's going to be a Hall of Famer. At least at least we're not having a good discussion debating his Hall of Fame candidacy. We're just all impatient people. That's not that's that's a non starter. Yeah. I mean, and yes, for like a whole bunch of reasons, he could have stopped playing 15 years ago and probably still been in the Hall of Fame. I mean, that quite seriously. He had the numbers and credentials. And at that point, I'm going to stick tap another gray beard, although much younger, Nikolai Coolaman, back in the NHL on a PTO at 38. I had a chance to speak with him over the weekend. Kind of cool to see. He was back at Scotia Bank Arena. He began his career at the Maple Leafs quite some time ago. In the meantime, you know, played in Long Island, spent six years in Russia. He's back trying out for the senators. A lot of people wondered why why come back six years, almost seven years after your last game. He's doing it because his son, Alex is 15. He's in his OHL draft season and he wants him to play, want to give him the chance to play in Canada in a year that big. So they've made a family decision that he's going to play for the Don Mills fires and the GTHL is his wife and two kids who live in Toronto this year to allow that to happen. And he's not done with hockey yet, he hopes. So he's going to try to make the sense, you know, no idea if he can overcome what would probably be described as considerable odds to do it. But I respect, respect anyone doing what they think is right for their family and obviously was cool to see him back in a sense sweater, even in a preseason game at Scotia Bank Arena, formerly Air Canada Center. I talked about two hours before the game. He's like, I didn't know if I'd ever play another game in here. So, love seeing those older guys, whether it's yogurt or cool men trying to keep the dream alive as long as they can. That's awesome. And you can read CJ's story on Nikolai Cooliman at the Athletic. Great read, by the way, as is everything CJ writes. That's going to do it for our Thursday edition of the CJ show. Get your questions in for next week's episode. We'll try to answer as many as we can, whether it's hockey questions, food questions, music questions, because CJ just so well with those, or anything else you want to ask CJ or me, but mostly CJ. And subscribe to the book. Sorry. What was that? They could ask you. Well, yeah, of course they could ask me, but I know a lot of people would like to ask you questions. Yeah. Anyway, subscribe to the podcast and we'll talk to you guys on Monday or whatever next week. We'll figure that. The Chris Johnston Show. Follow Chris on Twitter at reporter Chris and follow Julian at J.K.A. Mackenzie. The Chris Justin Show.
