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Just thing on. Here's NHL insider Chris Johnston and host Julian Mackenzie. Big money siege. Let's look into the Canadians' Leafs game to start off our Thursday edition of our show. You mentioned it just before we got on today. All these other games at all these wild, crazy scores, and then Montreal, Toronto, a 1-0 game. It's just kind of funny to see that score line considering the craziness of Wednesday night. Yeah, 1-0 thing you associate with games in May and June, not games that are played in October, right? I mean, this is the time for, if you're Mico Rhett and to get your hat tricks in, when teams aren't in same cap, maybe goal tenders are still getting back up to speed. Which you don't expect? Exactly. You don't expect 1-0. But you also don't expect a 48-save shot-out for Samuel Montembeau. Pretty nice start to the year for him and what I think is an important season. And I had a little help from his goal post, but as goalies have said, you've got to stop the ones that are going in. And he did that. And yeah, interesting start to the year. I mean, it's amazing. We go through weeks and weeks and weeks of discussing storylines, like breaking down teams, and then a game gets played. And it just feels like everything spins in other directions. And obviously, some hope in Montreal, that team is going to be more competitive than they've been the last three years when they've been a bottom five team league wide. And pretty good first foot forward. Nice to see Cole Caufield score goal honoring Johnny Goodrow with the number 13 sweater on his back. And I just love the bell set. Or anyone who's a loyal listener will know that I have much affection for games in that building, as I know you do as well. So pretty nice opening night there in the Bell Provence. The best atmosphere in the league. I mean, I haven't been to every single rink. And Vegas very much surprised me. But I haven't found a rink with a better atmosphere than the Bell Center with Cole Caufield. He did score the one goal in that game. I thought it was just, it was fitting. I liked it. He did switch his number from 22 to 13 this offseason in honor of Johnny Goodrow. That was a very touching moment, I thought. Yeah, it looked like he pointed upwards and Skyward's a little bit there. And, you know, whether he did or not, just, you know, obviously he's doing that in honor of a player that he described as his idol. Someone who became a friend and a teammate, they played together at the World Hockey Championship in May. And so, you know, just, I'm a sucker for him. He just seemed nice to only fit in kind of that he would score the first goal of the year. And, you know, one point I didn't make on Montembeau, Julian, and I tweeted this and I was surprised that the number of people put it back on you. Yes, I wanted to get in on this because I saw this. And I don't think it was the first time you've made mention of that. And I think we should get into this. Well, okay, we're going to talk about Canada's goal-tending as we move into these best on best events, right? The next one up is the four nations face off in February. The team has to be picked by December 2nd. So, doing some quick math here, that's 53 days. It's not really that far away, right? A little bit more than seven weeks. Team Canada is going to have to put it in its roster. And, you know, who is going to be the goaltender? I think Samuel Montembeau has a fantastic chance to be among the three Canadian goalies. I'm not saying at this point he's going to be the starter. I think, quite frankly, the Canadian management's in a position where they have to go with whoever's playing the best at that point in time in their estimation. But, you know, people seem to think I'm crazy for suggesting. I didn't want to argue with the internet 'cause you can't win, but I want it to be like, okay, so if Montembeau isn't in the top three, who are the three that are 100% better than him? I mean, among the players you consider, Jordan Bennington, Stuart Skinner, maybe Connor Ingram playing in Utah. I mean, we're not in the era, and I'm sure there are others, but my point is, we're not in the era Aidan Hill won a cup in Vegas a couple of years ago. We're not in the era where it's like automatically, you have a Marty Proter to throw in there, or Roberta Lelongo, or Kerry Price. I mean, Canada, I'm sure lots of people paid attention to this as slipped as a goal-tending country. And so, Montembeau, I think that started this season. I don't know how much of a priority it is for him, but it certainly has a great opportunity here to be playing games at the Bell Center in February when the entire NHL is off wearing the Maple Leaf. And so, I just, the thought crossed my mind when he was having such a good start to the season that that's a positive for him. And I feel like I had a lot of people yelling at me saying he's not in the mix. I can tell you he is in the mix, and what happens in the next seven weeks will ultimately decide who the three goalies are. - Sam Montembeau won a gold medal with Canada at the World Championship. You would know better than me, but guys who play for Team Canada World Championships, like, Talkie Canada remembers that. And they keep that in mind when they build teams going forward. Like, this is not just a pick out of nowhere. We're just going off of one 48 safe performance. Like, Sam Montembeau is slowly building up a resume. He's building up a case to be on that team. - Sure, and you know, he's got excellent goals saved above expected numbers. He had a really strong season last year. It just, you know, gets lost a little bit, right? Montreal, his team has not played any meaningful games in a long time. He's not a household name. I mean, the Canadians got him by claiming him off waivers. So, you know, it's not as though he doesn't have the pedigree again of, you know, Kerry Price was a fifth overall pick, right? Patrick Waugh is winning cups, like, in his first year or two in the league. I mean, he doesn't have that level of pedigree or hype around him, but, you know, it's just, it's a reflection of two things. It's where the state of the overall Canadian goaltending zad is that there isn't the alpha dog, you know, obvious picks. And he's gonna, you know, I think he's got a great chance to get there anyway. So, I just wanted to touch on that since I have the microphone on the show, 'cause I didn't want to use, I didn't want to get battling everyone on Twitter. And, you know, it's not like a hill I'm gonna die on here. I'm just telling you as a fact, he's certainly in the mix. - Well, at some point, we are gonna, you know, do something involving the four nations face off in terms of a, you know, pick your team, Canada roster. And I'm very intrigued to know if, let's say we do this in, I don't know, the date you mentioned for when the lineup passed. - Well, if I'm doing it today, Montebose, one of my three. So, there's, there, I'll give you a spotlight. - Yeah, I want to know if in December, I want to know if in December, if we do this, he's still on that list, I would think he is. I think you're absolutely right to consider him as someone who has a chance to make the team, especially considering what goaltending looks like. No, he's not saying, he's just not saying, San Montembeau is the absolute number one goaltender for Team Canada, he's just saying, he has a chance at making that team. And I don't think he's wrong. - Well, let's hope he gets some better defense play in front of him in the games ahead, because, you know, well, it is a nice story on night one that he made 48 saves, if he's asked to do that too much, he might submarine his chances. - That's true. On the other side of that game, no Joseph Wall for the Toronto Maple Leafs is he's still battling a lower body injury, and Anthony Stoller has got the start for Toronto. What's going on with Joseph Wall? What's your read into that situation? - Well, it's concerning, right? I mean, he wasn't available for game seven against Boston in May, and then as a surprise on day one of the season, he's not available for the Leafs to start the year, five plus months later. Obviously a lot transpired in the meantime, including him getting a three-year contract extension from the Maple Leafs at the earliest possible opportunity. So he signed for three years beyond this one. And so obviously this is a player the Leafs believe in. I think he's given them reason to believe when he's played. For me, the biggest issue is that he's had a number of injuries, he's had different injuries, and he seems to be suffering from these injuries, not at periods where he's been taxed too hard, right? I mean, we haven't seen him really have a run as even a long, like a two-month number one goaltender, let alone a six or seven-month full-season kind of load. And I think that's where, for me, there's some concern here, is that you just can't rely on him at this stage. And the Leafs are in a pretty precarious spot to start this season, because he gets put on IR, which means he's out for the first week now at least, and potentially longer. He spoke to the media also, Julian, the day before they came. It made it sound like he was gonna play. I mean, if you look at his quotes, he's talking about how much he loves the Bell Center, and he looked up to carry price. And I mean, look, maybe he didn't wanna give away the hand, or maybe something has come up, but it's just, there's a lot of mystery there. And, well, I think the Leafs certainly feel good about Anthony Stolars. I think they should feel good about what they saw in the first game from him. Yes, he lets the one goal on a cross-sized pass in the power play, but other than that, clean sheet for Stolars and his debut at the Leafs. But he just never played a lot of NHL games, and they're already talking about starting him again on Thursday night. They're obviously planning to use him more than he's ever been used before. I think that would've had that, even with the healthy Joseph Wall, but just don't know how they're gonna manage this early part of the schedule as they get through this, and really, can Wall get healthy? I think that's been a huge organizational question. Again, the guy's in fantastic shape. It's not like there's concerns about his, anything to do with that he's doing away from the rank or anything like that. But for whatever reason, he hasn't been able to stay healthy. I don't know if it's a bad run of luck, or what it is. The Leafs, I know, have invested a lot in trying to get some of those answers for him, or in conjunction with him during the off season. But it's an auspicious start, I would say, to the year. On one hand, yeah, it's just one week, who cares? But if he's not back right away, I mean, you start to get some of the conversation in Vancouver, right? I mean, totally different circumstances. But it's the same situation where Thatcher Demko was unavailable at the end of the playoffs. You go through this off season, he's unavailable to start the season. In his case, it's a very unusual knee-related injury that he has. They don't have really a specific timetable on his return. And he's such an important part of the team. I think Joseph Wall, while nowhere near his establishment, Demko could be that for the Leafs. The promise is all there, but you're not getting the delivery. So basically, it's hard to come up firing yet until we see how long this drags on for. But I think there's reason for some concern, but the Leafs might have to use Stolars more than they want to. What if he gets injured? I mean, again, he's not ever shouldered a huge workload in the NHL. He's also has had some injuries in his past. Then you're down to Dennis Hill to be in Matt Murray. Is your tandem? I mean, it just feels all a little uncertain. And look, in some ways, that's goal-tending. We've seen a lot of good teams. I think of Carolina. Like they've consistently used three goalies minimum every year, right? Coach Etcom's been there. Obviously, they had Ranta and Anderson, and this isn't totally unique to the Leafs or anything like that. But they don't have a proven number one yet is just the truth, right? So you have a lot of players that have had nice stretches. And then you have a bit of a wildcard, Matt Murray, who has been a number one, but he's a long way removed from that. And he's coming off of the significant hip surgery last year that basically cost him the season. So maybe it'll work, but you can start to see some storm clouds gathering. And maybe Joseph Wall will put this to bed. It'll be healthy to play next Wednesday when they play or next Saturday. But if this drags on through October, I mean, this is going to be a major storyline in Toronto. Absolutely. To your point about Archer C-lops. Not the best start for the Vancouver Canucks. Just wanted to mention them briefly. You already have fans already clamoring for Kevin Lincoln to start the next game. What a wild barn burner. I think we might have had the game of the year candidate between Vancouver and Calgary. Yes, I managed to catch a little bit. I know you slept a little early, but just you mentioned the Archer C-lops, maybe you think of Vancouver Calgary and how that game went, yes, in the fact that, yeah, Thatcher, Demco, can't come back soon enough for that. Yeah. Well, and look, it's going to be a few weeks at minimum. Like best case scenario is a couple of weeks. So, you know, the good news is C-lops had a great run for them in the playoffs. I mean, I don't think we could overreact to one game positively or negative for any team, for any individual performer. I mean, I picked Edmonton to win everything on our last show and then they started with a six, nothing loss in the first sight of the season. So, I mean, if we were overreacting to anything, we'd be in trouble, but you know, C-lops did have a nice finish last year. Lincoln has been a really solid number two and including last season in Nashville. And there's a reason why they signed him. To have, you know, the depth that they might need to get through this season. But yeah, you can't get back soon enough. I love the play where Quinn Hughes is defending the empty net and then he's a long outlet pass to JT Miller and he rips on the tying goal. I mean, I might have slept early, but I certainly caught the highlights and that was a, looked like a great night there for the Canucks flames. And, you know, that's more of the game, as I say, that's more of the October games I'm expecting. It's wild back and forth and lots of goals and everybody's getting their cookies. Not these one nothing games. - No, a sick goal from Connor's area too in the overtime telling you an early candidate for game of the year. Siege, I didn't intend on this. This is a pretty goalie-heavy show. Like we mentioned San Montembeau. We just had a conversation about Joseph Law. We just casually mentioned Archer C-lops. And we also have to talk about goal tenders getting paid or wanting to get paid. - Right, we're crashing the crease here, brother. - Thank you for taking that term. - Yes, that's exactly what I wanna hear. That's what I pitched in the group chat yesterday. We gotta crash the crease and talk about more of these goalies around the league. We did work on the Linus Almark story yesterday, but I wanna get to Igor Shastirkin first. Was asked about his contract status. He is a pending UF at the end of the year. No comment after his first game of the season, which saw him shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins. Where are the Rangers and Igor Shastirkin at contract wise? - Well, it's an interesting situation, right? Because Shastirkin had wanted to get this done before the season started. Obviously, and evidently did not distract him because he pitches a shut out in his season opening start in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. And where they go from here, I think is gonna be very telling. The Rangers have not got up to where Shastirkin wants to be. And yeah, I point you to a specific number on the Rangers cap sheet. It's got a lot of numbers and I don't have them in front of me, but Artemi Panerian's cap hit is 11.6, blah, blah, blah, two, three, eight, four. He's got a very unusual cap hit, but it's 11.6 million in change. And, you know, there seems to be the impression out there that Shastirkin feels like he's the most viable player on the team and that he has a case to be paid as the highest paid member of the team, which I actually do think are reasonable claims. Like, I don't think that's out to lunch ridiculous by any stretch. I think that's a fair thing for him to say, but of course, if he's to say get paid 11.7 million just to throw a number out there, that's a long way above the next best gold tenders in a league. I mean, yes, there's the carry price deal that we talk about a 10 and a half, but, you know, carry is not in a league anymore. Among active gold tenders, the highest paid gold tender is Sergey Babrovsky at 10 million flat. So to go from 10 million to 11.7 million is a pretty significant jump. You know, obviously we're now seeing a bunch of goalies and I'm sure we'll get to them clustered in sort of the eight to 10 million range. You know, a bunch of these new guys signing are kind of getting up to that range and that's good. It's a sign of upward momentum if you're a gold tender. But, you know, for Shastirkin to pull vault right to the top, it takes a lot. And so the Rangers didn't get there. You know, what's interesting is usually I'd say a player in his shoes, and this goes for skaters that are among them. Like, usually the star is one eight years on a contract like this. I think that what's telling by Shastirkin is I think he'd consider that the eight year maybe isn't the be all and end all for him. I think the AAV is what, you know, has got his eye. And there's lots of arguments here. I mean, if we get into percentage of salary cap, I mean, when carry price sign is 10 and a half million dollar deal six years ago, that was a huge, hugely different percentage of the cap. Then even if Shastirkin got 11.7, again, to pick her number at random today. And so that's kind of where it's at. I just don't know where it's going because, you know, well, I have to believe if the Rangers came back to him on November 15th with the offer that he's been looking for, he'd probably accept it. You know, there's no firm indication at this time if he or his agent are willing to negotiate in season. You know, again, I think they will be if the Rangers are pushing their offer up. But if not, you know, maybe the year plays out. And, you know, there's risk in that for both sides. I think that the risk for Shastirkin just is a downswing in performance or injury or something that derails a season. And then, you know, he's, you know, I can't confirm the $88 million that Kevin Weeks reported he turned down. But, you know, I do believe it's in that range if it's not exactly 88 that the Rangers have been clear. They were willing to go above 10 and a half. So, if their last offer was 11, it would be in line with everything that I've been told. But, you know, they might be in a bit of a standoff here and it's unusual, right? To have, unfortunately, we're seeing, for those like free agency, we're seeing a lot of players come off the board in the last month. You know, there's been a lot of what could be big name free agents signing. But maybe it'll be Shastirkin. I mean, I believe he wants to stay in New York, but it seems like he's very set on getting a specific kind of contract and to this stage that New York hasn't been willing to go there. - Would you pay like 12, 13 million? Just thinking back to that random, that example we got a couple of days ago where we were asked, I think if you'd rather pay Egris Shastirkin 11 million, or I think Mitch Marner 11 million. I don't remember the specific number, but like this dude clearly wants to blow the top number already for gold tenors out the water. Like that's been out there. And maybe that's 12 million, maybe that's 13 million. If you're the Rangers, is that wise to do so? Especially when you consider the fact he might not even need the eight years. - Well, there's two ways to look at it, right? I mean, I think the fact, if he's willing to do it on seven years, it actually makes it slightly more palatable. It just reduces the risk that there could be a year later on that you're paying him a lot of money and he's just not what he wants was. The second part of it though is that on one hand, he might say, "Well, goalies don't make that much." And that's true. I mean, like if you look at the goalie leaderboard for contracts, there's not, you know, that's way far and above. But the second argument I would make to you is there's not that many, like if you move on from him, like if you don't want to pay him that, there's not that many other stud goalies out there that you can feel confident will be at the top every year among the goal-tending charts. And so like it is, he does provide something that's a bit of a scarce resource nowadays. And, you know, some of the other goalies that are in his class or that he's trying to get into their class 'cause, you know, he's probably not, he's not, he hasn't reached Vasilevsky levels yet, right? I mean, Vasilevsky has got the two cups and the cons mite and, but you know, he's in the conversation with the Hellebox and the Vasilevsky's as being among the best goalies in the league. I don't, I honestly think, it's, look it, I haven't done this in detail, but I don't think it's crazy to give him that. It's, it's bucking the trend. It's obviously taking away money you don't have elsewhere. You've got players like, you know, Alexi Lefrennier, who's, who's coming up on a contract. Like, you know, there's, there's trickle down effects to every contract you give out, especially big money ones. But I also think he's a big money talent. Like, like what are you, that, you know, if your answer is no, I'm not paying him that, then, then my next question is, well then what are you doing? Like are you letting him just walk away? Would you ever consider trading him? I mean, that seems kind of crazy, given the expectations on the Rangers season, off to a pretty good start. Want to know a start with, you know, lots of good vibes around it for them. You know, I, I just think sometimes when you have special players, even when the numbers get a little uncomfortable, you just got to hold your nose and sign the contract. But, you know, he's a, he's a UFA too. He's like, he's got, he's got a ton of leverage here, especially if he plays well this year. If he plays well, I mean, I could see him getting seven times 12 on the open market. I'll, I'll say that. Like if he, if he were to go free on July 1st, I think that would be out there for him. I think there'd be more than one team that would be willing to give him that. And so let's see, let's see where it goes. I mean, look, in the end, they might end up spicy in the middle and maybe he gets, maybe he gets Panerian's contract exactly, or gets 11 and a half million in season. But, you know, right now it's, it's at a little bit of a standoff. And I think there's, there's certainly some emotion around it because, you know, some of the numbers are leaking out there publicly. And, you know, nobody likes that. I mean, it just, it's, it's not quite on Swamin levels. You don't have the team president coming out and talking about the numbers, but, you know, it's, it's a, it's a high stakes negotiation. And, you know, at the Chisturkin, I think ultimately wants to focus on the season, but this has got to be somewhere in the back of his mind. - Could you imagine James Dolan having to come out and say, hey, I have 88 million reasons why I'd want to play goalie for the Rangers? - I could imagine that. I don't think it's going to happen. But I mean, it's not, you know, James Dolan runs that, that, that team. And I know the Knicks and everything. I mean, his word is, his word is law in that, that building. And so, if he wants to say something, I'm sure no one's going to tell him, don't say that. - Absolutely. Let's get to lead us all, Mark. Four year deal for him, 8.25 million AAV. As far as we know, complete coincidence that the AAV is the exact same as his boy Jeremy Swamin in Boston. What did you think of that deal coming down? - Well, I don't think it's a complete coincidence. And, you know, my understanding all along is the sense, you know, we're basically waiting for Omar to be ready to engage in contract talks. You know, they went through the off season. Obviously, they liked the player. They made the trade to get him with one year left on his deal. They didn't make that trade wanting to walk him right to free agency in summer 2025. But they wanted to give him time to get comfortable in the city, get comfortable around the organization and ultimately want to come to the negotiating table. And here we are, what? Sunday, the Swamin deal got done. So 72 hours after the Swamin deal gets done, he gets the same AAV. I think it's easy enough for us to connect the dots that, you know, and look, I think it should be the case. I mean, those guys shared a lot of success in Boston and, you know, I think you could, it's not, it's really not an apples to apples comparison. I mean, Swamin signs as an RFA, you know, it's six UFA years. Like I'm just saying, like, if you were doing the negotiation behind the scenes, I don't, I think that you'd be looking at different comparables, but it's easy enough to just say, look, I think I'm as good as this guy. And, you know, ultimately, Omar had a fair amount of leverage in his negotiation because the sense obviously didn't want to walk him into some situation where he leaves. And so, you know, I think it's fitting those two good buddies and former teammates end up on the same number. I think, you know, there's a bit of risk here for Ottawa. Obviously they haven't seen them play for their team yet, but I mean, there's risk in every contract. No way around that. And by limiting it to a four year deal, I do think that they do mitigate it to some degree. And, you know, it's five years now he's under contract to the team. You know, what were your impressions like being at the press conference? What were the vibes like? What did you take from yesterday? Just in like the last few days, I'll add the last few days 'cause you're right, Linus Omar has yet to play a meaningful game for that franchise. But just off of what he's done in pre-season and off of the impression that he's kind of left on teammates in the organization, this seems like a real breath of fresh air with this player. Basically, since 2017, goaltending has been this Achilles heel for Ottawa. I know I've written that before, but like you can look at the numbers. It has not been stellar for them. And since Craig Anderson has left, they've been looking for that ideal number one to replace him. Eunice Corpusala last year did not work with him in Ottawa. So for Linus Omar to come in and kind of just establish himself without playing your regular season game. Yet they play their first game tonight against the Florida Panthers. I think that plays a huge role in why the Ottawa Senators were very much enamored with this player and why they definitely wanted him signed. Like I think the vibes of that press conference, it seemed as if the sends obviously are happy to make the deal that they did. Players obviously seemed pretty happy about it. Now it has to go work. I wondered when this deal would get done. I figured with the way that Steve Stales was talking about it saying it's something they'll look at in the near future when I had that one on one within a couple of days ago. I figured, hmm, I wonder if this is something that could get done before the season. Linus had told me, you know what? I don't want to get rushed into anything when it's time to make the decision. I'll make the decision. I just wondered all along. Just think of human nature here. Going through a regular season, you don't have your contracts out. You're seeing that play out in New York right now. It can work for some people. It might not work for other people, but I understand why this deal got done when it did. Now it's just on Linus Almark to go out there and show and prove why he's worth that money. What I'm wondering now, and I'd love to know your opinion on this, you have the core that's there. Brady Kichok, Josh Norris, Shane Pins are all those guys. And then he signed Linus Almark, who's 31 to a four year deal. This seems clearly trying to make the playoffs and make the next step. Is that, that has to be, I don't know if the window term is the right way to place it, but I wonder if that could still sort of be used? Like is that some kind of pathway? Is that like some kind of window? That's the time they need to get themselves competitive. Not necessarily when a cup, but they need to be competitive in that stretch. I mean, they got to win a cup in that stretch, no? Well, I'm not sure you can't extend beyond five years. I just don't know if they can in that stretch. I haven't done the deep dive. How long is Kichok signed for? I mean, how long, the window is really like those, those eight year deals they signed those players to like, when do those start coming due? Because A, when at that time those players could leave, some of them, all of them, whatever, or they're getting big raises, which, you know, makes it further difficult to keep it going. I mean, I, I think the window like where they have to be trying to win a cup is like two or three years. I'm not saying they will get there, but like internally that's got to be where your focus is. I mean, there's lots of teams with that window and only one cup to give out each June. So, I mean, it doesn't, the math doesn't add up in the favor of any one organization, but I think there has to be urgency. You know, I think there is urgency, frankly. I mean, you look at their off season, like they're adding all these veteran players, they're trying to better surround Claude Giroux to be sort of a strong voice in the locker room to bring the younger players along. Like, I understand what they're trying to do there. The one thing I'll say I knew Almark too, and I don't mean to bring up any bad memories for anyone, and he's got a really strong track record. So it's not Apple's, it's not a perfect comparison, but it did remind me a little bit of the Matt Murray acquisition back in the day where they traded for him when, at that point, Murray had really been through some injuries in Pittsburgh, but give him the big deal before he plays there. And it's like, this is our number one. And obviously that didn't work. And then obviously, Corpusallo gets a pretty big free agent deal. This is our number one. Now, Almark has the best track record coming in of those players in the moment, but it's definitely trying to manifest something. And obviously those last, those prior two decisions didn't work very well for Ottawa. I think the odds of this one succeeding are better, but I mean, it almost, I hate to say it, like there's not a lot of fallback option here. Like this really better work. - Just hostile work also to your point of view. - It's a big amount of money. You don't really have another guy in the system that's poised to be a number one. If Almark doesn't run with it this year, I mean, it's a high stakes bet. Again, I think it's not necessarily a bad bet, but it's, if this doesn't work, I mean, you don't like to think of what the next steps would look like. - For what, to your point about Brady Kachuk, his contract expires 2028, but his no movement clause kicks in next season. Something to think about. - I mean, not that it's all tied just to Brady Kachuk, but like you're excited about those type of players eventually carrying you to better days. The Stutzla's, you know, I mean, and so to me, the window is as long as they're signed now where you have to be giving them a reason to resign. And one of the reasons would be if they feel like they could win a cup there. So you have to get your organization in a position where the players themselves believe they're on the cusp of doing something or else they're just less likely to stick around. I mean, that's ultimately why Leon Dreyseidel stayed in Edmonton, right? Is the Oilers got to a point where he truly believes he can win a Stanley Cup there. Obviously they paid him a ton of money and they gave him eight years, which no other team could do, but like that was the tiebreaker in the end. And so, you know, I'd say even like with Austin Matthews doing his third deal in Toronto, that came at a time when he felt like the Leafs gave him a chance to win a cup. Like if that goes away in any of those markets, the top players are gonna look elsewhere. - Absolutely. At Sierra, discover top workout gear at incredible prices, which might lead to another discovery. Your headphones haven't been connected this whole time. Awkward. Discover top brands at unexpectedly low prices. Sierra, let's get moving. - This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the new Pro Log EV, there's a lot that can impress you about it. There's the class leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design, and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit Honda.com/ev to see offers. - This episode of the Chris Johnson Show is brought to you by Mint Mobile. You know, when you discover a new binge worthy show or a song that you bump on repeat, and you just have to share it with your friends so they can experience how awesome it is, that's kind of what it feels like when you discover that Mint Mobile offers premium wireless for $15 a month when you purchase a three month plan. 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New customers on first three month plan only, speed slower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited plan, additional taxes, fees, and restrictions apply, seat Mint Mobile for details. One more goal is a story for you, Joy to Court, getting a five by five. Hasn't played that many games in the NHL, though, very interesting deal for him. Yeah, it tells us two things, right? I mean, great for Joy to Court, who really traveled the long road to a spot to get that kind of security in the NHL. I think 2012 is maybe when he was drafted. Anyway, it was basically a 10 year journey from actually played for the Senators very early in his career briefly. But he's at 69 career games. So to get five times five is really a nice story for him. But it also makes you wonder about Philip Grubauer, right, in Seattle, who's already on a pretty pricey deal, almost $6 million for him. He's had lots of injury, things to deal with since he's been with the Kraken. Hasn't given them the kind of goal tending that they would expect. I mean, again, I don't want to overreact to one game, but even opening day, they've got an afternoon game there. They're up to nothing. He lets in a tough goal and then up losing that to St. Louis, rather, 3-2. I think it tells us about the belief they have in Joy to Court, who, if you remember, was the star of the Winter Classic last year when it was played in Seattle. Ended up kind of taking the reins for that team and giving them a lot of great play. But I think it just, that's another team where we're talking about urgency. They have to win in that market. I think there's a lot of, they're not an expansion team anymore, you know what I mean? And they were big players and for agency, gave up a lot of money to Chandler Stevenson and Brandon Montour. And they've graduated Shane right now, one of their early top picks as part of the roster, played a good opening game. And so I do think that the patients will wear thin, I guess, with Grubauer if things don't turn around there. So, on one hand, they've now solidified, there's no question about Decord going forward for them and just be curious to watch how things materialize between him and his partner. Like, even think how unusual that is. On the second day of the season, he signs an extension. He didn't start a pretty good extension, you know, and he didn't start game one of the seasons. So, you know, there's a lot of tandem around the league. That's a true tandem. And now, Decord's getting paid somewhere to his tandem made. And I'm sure they're just gonna run with whichever player plays best this year. - Very quickly, Decord drafted in 2015. Seventh round pick, 199th overall. - And he played Arizona, right? Like before Arizona had a D1 program, I think. - Yeah. Shout out Decord, getting paid Arizona State. Yeah, spent three years with ASU. - Just remind me, because we didn't touch on it, but Carter Verhagie gets his big deal in Florida. - Yes, he did. - 56 million eight year contract. But Carter Verhagie was, you know, briefly and may believe, traded to the Islanders, cut it by the AHL Bridgeport a couple times, was in the ECHL for them, ends up making his way up onto a Tampa team that had all kinds of cap trouble. So, there was an opportunity for him, gets let go by the lightning, lands in Florida, obviously scored a ton of goals and become an impact player for the Panthers. But, you know, a guy who really was using the ECHL at one point. Like, if you had went to Carter Verhagie and said, "Hey, don't worry, bud. "You're gonna win a couple Stanley Cups "and you're gonna sign a 56 million dollar ticket "in a tax free state with all kinds of signing bonuses. "Just keep at it." I mean, he probably wouldn't have believed you. I imagine there was probably some days in Joey Decord's life if you had a said, "Don't worry, you're gonna get a $25 million deal here. "Just keep at it." So, I kind of like to highlight those stories of perseverance because at the same time we're saying this, there are players out there right now in No Man's Land, not sure about where their careers are going. And, you know, some of them are gonna beat the odds and make it to the big show and get all the good things that come with that. - I love that. That's a great way of putting it, siege. Believe in yourself. Are you ready to answer questions? We did not get to ask CJ earlier this week. So, we're gonna go through some questions today. How about that? - Thanks for everyone for sticking with us. Julian's got a big move. He's been a busy time in Ottawa. So, we did a Tuesday show. Everything's, this is like upside down week, but we'll get back to regularly scheduled programming here soon. - Yes. The first question actually is from Red Shark Pack. How was the move? It's still ongoing. I got a bunch of bins. I still gotta go through with all my stuff and still gotta get some furnishings together, but I'm here. I'm in Ottawa. I got my apartment. We're on the same time zone. It's happening. - Do you have a car in Calgary? Like how do you deal with a car when you move? - I had a, so basically I went to some shipping company and got them to, it was actually funny. I got them to ship it from Calgary to Montreal because it was cheaper for me to send it to Montreal where the company has a terminal versus Ottawa where they don't. So this weekend I'm gonna go back home to Montreal and I think around that time my car should be back and I'll drive it back to Ottawa when I get it. - That's good 'cause I love Ottawa, but it's a city you absolutely need a car in. Like there's just, it's not a, especially if you're going out to Canada, which I'm sure you will be a bunch to do the radars. I mean there's, there's no way around it. You gotta drive in Ottawa. - Oh yeah. Hat tip to Alex Adams from Sportsnet who's been literally been driving me all week. (laughing) - Are you gonna give him five stars on the Uber driver there or what? (laughing) - I might have to. Dude picks me up in a, in a nice ass Tesla. Like I might have to, man. Like this is a nice whip. - I'll tell you this. When I've traveled, I mostly try to avoid renting cars. Like I just don't like dealing with it, getting, you know, finding a gas station when you're going back to the airport, blah, blah, blah, blah. But Ottawa of course is the exception. You always have to rent a car there. I remember once I flew in and I got this giant pickup truck. Like I'm talking like a big ass pickup truck, which is fine. But like I've never like really driven a car that big, frankly. And then I had to go for some reason downtown into the market from, from the airport. And like I just remember driving around the market. Like it's so narrow the streets and I'm in this just like ridiculously oversized pickup truck and I think they didn't hit anything. But I just remember that was like one of the most perilous driving experiences in my life. I don't know why I'm told that story, but. - No, I love that story. It's a good story. Someone actually asked MLG Philly, what is the hardest arena in the NHL to get to based on its location and flight availability? Is Ottawa near the top of the list considering the fact that it's so far west from the city? - It probably is. The thing is I live in Toronto. So the flight thing is easy. Like there's a flight every hour from Ottawa to Toronto. In fact, Ottawa's so great. Like if you're flying between Ottawa and Toronto as long as you don't check a bag, you can basically, it's like getting on a bus. Like you can show up like a bit early and they'll put you on the earlier flight usually with no problems. So it's pretty convenient that way. Try to think of hard places to get to. Like Columbus is a hard flight city, but then the rain is downtown and there's tons of hotels and you just walk. So like that part is easy. Well, we're all, I mean, Glendale used to matrix. - When the coyotes were in Glendale, like that was a long way from the Phoenix airport. Like a long way. Raleigh is a little inconvenient because you kind of need a car there or lots of Ubers and sometimes the Uber situation isn't great. Like the highways, sorry, the arena's just off like this big highway. There's not like a hotel next to it. So there's always like logistics involved with covering hurricanes, games. I'm probably going, I've probably taken this question to heart more than the person meant, but. - No, I think they would appreciate this 'cause I'm trying, I mean, I haven't been to everything. So I feel like. - San Jose is kind of a hard place to fly to from far away. Like when I live far away. So like I know if you live in like Denver, like there's direct flights right into the San Jose airport, which is very close to the arena, but you know, usually got to fly to San Fran. There can be killer traffic. That can be like $150 Uber, which you know, depending on your company. Like it could just be like getting to San Jose isn't always the most convenient. I remember that San Jose Pittsburgh Stanley Cup final was like, that was a journey. But. - It sounds like travel logistics. - The person is like really like, I love, I love planning trips. I love figuring out the best, you know, most logical way to do this stuff. So. - That's why I'm wondering if we need like some kind of like matrix or some kind of like big map where maybe I should have given you this question in advance and given you like eight hours to like go through every possible NHL city and measure out like, well, it takes this much time to take an Uber. But with this flight, it takes this time. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Kind of like that Charlie Day meme. - Well, the person threw in two variables, right? They flew, they threw in like hard arena to get to, but then they also threw like the travel variable. 'Cause, you know, some places are much easier to fly to than others. Yeah, anyway, my brain's everywhere. - I think San Jose, for the purposes of this question, that's gonna be the answer. Unless there is a more difficult spot than San Jose. - No, I mean, a lot of the ranks are in downtown metropolitan places, right? And then usually when they are, there's hotels nearby and restaurants and everything you would need to go there for a day and a half and do your job. So like most of them are automatically off the list. Like there's not even a thought. It's just, it's more about, you know, like Florida's rink is kind of in this weird no man's land, although even there are hotels and a big mall near it. So. - Yeah, like at least I have that, but it's like, like if I wanted to go to the elbow room, like that's a whole journey. Like it's nowhere near the arena. - That's one of the many reasons why you won't find me there too often. (laughs) - Unless the Panthers go back to the Stanley Cup final, I guess. Next one from. - No, I was not, I didn't go, man. I spent all those days in Florida and didn't, I wasn't there. - You were not there. You just didn't, you just didn't go. - No, 'cause I didn't go all the way into Florida. Anyway, yes. - Anyway, yes. This next one from Eric, I really can't wait to hear the answer to this one. There's a few of these I can't wait to hear the answer to. Why does CJ not show, not why does CJ not show as much emotion about the Leafs failures compared to the Blue Jays failures? - I mean, pretty easy. I don't have the allegiance to them. So, you know, I'm not spending money on the Leafs. I spend my time on the Leafs at times, but I'm getting compensated by my employer to do so. So, I'm just not a fan of the team. It's that simple. You know, it's such a common question the journalists get. Like, it's so, I can't even explain to you how easy it is to separate the two, especially when you get to my age. And I've been literally doing this half of my life. Like, you just, it's just not, it's not nearly the same thing. The Blue Jays are what I do in my spare time. The Blue Jays are what I do in my summers when I'm off. You know, when I'm around the Leafs, I'm there always thinking about stories and talking to players. And like, it's, even when you watch a game, you just watch a game differently from a press box when you're gonna have to write, then a game you would if you had a beer and you're sitting in the, you know, in the first row of the 300 level or something. Like, if I'm at a Jay's game, I'm, you know, I'm not thinking about, "Hey, what would I write tonight if I was covering this?" Like, I've just, you know, one is work and the other is pleasure. I think it's the simplest way to put it. So, I don't have nearly the same motion, or really any emotion tied up in it. Yeah, like, I find people, I find more and more now, like, people don't get the fact that in our jobs covering teams, like, like, I'd much rather not be a fan of any team that I'm covering. Like, and people just don't have that. Like, I don't, I don't understand. I don't know if you've encountered it, like, so many times, but like, I get the sense that, like, people just don't get that, you know, if you're working in the NHL and you're working as a reporter, like, you're not a fan of the team that you cover. Like, I've had so many people say, like, oh, so are you gonna be, like, a fan of the fans? Or when I was going in Calgary, they were like, oh, so are you, like, a Flames fan now? It's like, no, like, I'm still just being objective during my job, like, I just find it really interesting that people don't get that. You can cheer for people, you can like people that you deal with, you can be happy when they have big moments, like, you know, it's not like you're cheering, rah, rah, or wearing their jersey, I don't mean anything like that, but like, you can be happy, I can feel happiness when I'm around, you know, someone who does something that's, you know, when you watch the Panthers when they're standing up, I can feel happiness for the people that I've known on that team and know, like, like, that's, it's not the same as cheering for them, like, a fan. Yeah, I guess it's like hard for me to understand how other people don't understand it, but of course, they've never done in my job. And, you know, like, like, my sister works in a bank. I don't actually know what she does at her job. Like, people might know we're sports reporters, but they might not really know what that means. Like, they know we go to the games, but they might not understand the exact interactions we're having, so, you know, I'm, to be honest, and I know Steve is a journalist, I'm more amazed that Steve can still care about the Leafs as much as he evidently does. Like, I'm more amazed that he doesn't burn out, because, you know, he's immediate personality, for sure. He does, you know, produces a ton of content. He's done it for 15 years or whatever it is with his LFR. I was like, I'm more amazed that he could maintain his fandom, let alone the question going the other way. I mean, to me, it's the easiest thing in the world. Like, I watch any two teams play and my cold, dark heart does not get excited when one scores a goal or lets one. Like, I'm excited to see the players do amazing things, and like, I'm curious about what it means for storylines and whatever, but just, it's pretty easy not to care who wins and loses in any given night. - This next one from D. Fizzle. After that, Jay's rant, I gotta know, have you guys had any, I'd like to speak to your manager moments, just those situations where someone really needs to be corrected by their bosses. You're basically asking if you've ever had a care in moment. - No, I worked at Wendy's in high school and I saw all kinds of shit, frankly, and like, people treat you like crap and, you know, I was there, honestly, when I first started, I was making $6.40 an hour working at Wendy's after my, you know, I go to school all day and then go to work and basically have to clean up junk and the garbage and make burgers and whatever. And like, take a lot of stuff from people. So like, I've never, I've always had a lot of empathy for people working in the service industry, which is largely what you're talking about, front-facing jobs that aren't necessarily glamorous. And so I've, honestly, I've never, I've never taken out my frustrations on the person or people in front of me. That includes like airline employees when things go wrong or anything. Like I just, it's not my mojo, but I will certainly, I got a lot of texts I'll say after that, Jay's rant. I got a lot of people who are like, hey, you were spot on. And like some people I didn't expect or didn't know that listened to our pods. So I mean, I got no problem taking it out on those people 'cause they're paid millions to guide the organization and they're just willingly ignoring the fact that the team is sliding in the wrong direction for three straight years and just trying to be like, well, it'll be fine next year. So I don't mind having a Karen moment on them on a podcast, but if you're, you know, if you're doing something that makes my day better, working at the grocery store or working for the airline, I'm not ever gonna, you're not gonna feel my wrath. - One thing to keep in mind in any of those situations, nine times out of 10, the person you're dealing with, like some kind of customer service rep, nine times out of 10, they've had nothing to do with whatever issue you're going through. That's something I just keep in my head every time. - Yeah, we all got a boss, man. We all got a boss. - You are absolutely right on that. This one from Tim Wiley, I can handle, journalistically what goes into moving from one beat to another? Do you get to say goodbye to previous beat colleagues and friends met in that city? How long do you get before you need to be in the new city? Do you give story ideas, tips to the new person covering your old beat? I guess it really depends situation to situation. I did get to say goodbye to basically, as many friends as I could back in Calgary, there were a few I didn't get to, but a lot of my journalism friends I got to say goodbye to, I even went to a couple of Flames players and let them know and I got to say goodbye to them. In terms of how long you need to be before you need to be in your new city to start, I wanted to get here as soon as possible, basically. So we're making it work and I'm gonna be able to cover that first regular season game for the sends in my case, but there have been people who have taken more time in their other jobs. And do you give story ideas, tips to the new person covering your old beat? Well, I guess this situation is a bit unique, right? Because the person who used to have my job works for the team now, so. Yeah, you and Mendez. Yeah, so it was a very interesting dynamic on not one, but I mean, we talk basically every day, but at least in our shop, like considering the people who have been around the team, like there's definitely different story ideas and other things to think on that I get passed on and I have to consider for my job. So it really depends per person, but at least try to give you the full skill, at least in my situation. Hopefully that answers the question. Honestly, it's a strength that you don't know the sends up and down. Like it's actually a benefit to you because your curiosity will find you the story. Sometimes when you think you know everything and that this isn't directed at you, it's just anybody, you miss things because you think you're on top of everything, but in your case, you probably don't know the prospect pipeline. You're not familiar with the drafting history deeply. Like it's gonna make you have to learn things and as you ask those questions of yourself and you discover things, you're gonna write stories that tell us something. So I've always actually thought it's better not to be an expert, quote unquote, because if you follow your intuition and you learn, then you start telling everyone you're learning and that becomes interesting coverage. - Again, another gem from Chris Johnson. He's so good at this. I'll get to a few more before we get to stick taps 'cause we will still do stick taps. Sam in Montreal, who is the best player you've ever seen in person? - Probably Crosby. I mean, maybe McDavid, I get like tough to say, probably Crosby at this point. But like, how do you define best, right? And I know that I can't ask a question back. McDavid's probably done the most individually spectacular things, I guess is maybe the best way to put it. Crosby's been like just the cream of the crop for so long. I came along too late to see Gretzky and Lemieux, at least as a kid, I saw them on TV, but I wasn't at the games or I wasn't interacting with them that way, so that's probably my answer. - Crosby, I've only seen a handful of times but he's amazing. McDavid would be up there for me, Nathan McKinnon. Nathan McKinnon needs to be in that conversation for me. I enjoy watching him play every time I get to see him in person. It's like watching a freight train run rampant on an ice surface. That's as best as I can describe watching Nathan McKinnon. I really enjoy watching him play. - Kootrov's pretty sick too. - That's pretty sick too. - Yes he is, Nikita Kootrov is really sick too. - And I've covered a lot of camp over the years and he's just like him-- - Yes you have. Man, yeah, I think Crosby, McKinnon. Yeah, Kootrov definitely makes some sense there in that top five. Austin Matthews is really sick to watch live. - I give him that prop too. - As at his four gold debut, that was something I'll never forget. - Man, I saw him score a hat trick against the flames last year and seeing fans throw hats on the ice. That's one of the cooler things I've seen in my short time covering the NHL. - What do you have, like six hat tricks last year I think? Seven, six, damn. - Was it six? - Yeah, he started with back-to-back ones to start the season. So he's already off-paced by not scoring in the opener. - I'm being facetious, I'm being facetious. - Obviously, he's being facetious. Don't get mad at CJ, please. I just have one quick one here from Sumer Sekon should be abolished the NHL entry draft. If players at 18 can just sign with whoever they want, doesn't it put pressure on teams to be better culturally rather than bottom out and hope to get lucky? - There's a case for it, but it's just such a change to the system, I don't see it happening. Like I could see where you're coming at. The other, I'll also say this though. Look, there's right now two players from the 2024 draft made NHL rosters. Jet Luchenko, who was picked 13th by the Flyers and obviously Macklin celebrating San Jose. So it's hard to say the team should be signing 18-year-olds 'cause maybe most 18-year-olds wouldn't then get signed. I don't know how that would all work, but I do recognize this as a, it's a tough system. You get drafted by a team, you're basically stuck with them for your first seven professional years. I mean, obviously there's exceptions, but that's kind of how it works. But, you know, I mean, it would be such a big change. I just, I can't say that it should happen. That's kinda where I land. - That's fair, that's fair. Do you have a stick tap for this week? - I do, it's gonna be a double stick tap and it's for Clayton Keller and Lawson Krauss who both played more than 500 games for the Arizona Coyotes and got to experience their first game together in the regular season in Utah on Wednesday or Tuesday rather. And I just thought what a cool night for those that have given so much to, you know, all the frustrations that they dealt with in Arizona, all the uncertainty to get a night like that in Utah where it was looked like an absolute party. Obviously the fact that the HC, the mighty HC started their new incarnation with a win over Chicago, helped things. But, you know, I just think to see the Coyotes organization, you know, I was at their last ever game at Molot Arena. Like they went through so much where they had to make do with so little and I feel like in one thing that's happening at Utah is they're getting like the proper infrastructure built around them. I know the arena, the Delta Center needs a lot of work. They're in a temporary practice facility this year at the Olympic Oval. That'll be a full-time new one that's being built now. But I just think that it must be pretty cool for those players to get to experience a little bit more like a top flight NHL experience and to play a game like they did it on Tuesday must have almost been a pinch me type moment. So stick taps to those guys for grinding through a lot of years to now. Look, there's expectations. You know, I think Utah could be a playoff team. And so this is a different year than unlike any of those guys have experienced. - All right, I like that stick tap. Usually with stick taps, obviously we're trying to-- - Usually I make it up on the fly and now you're doing it. Is that what you're saying? - I think that's kind of what's happening here. I'll just shout out all the fans who turned up to the live SDP recording yesterday at Greta Barn Toronto. And also Steve, who has a book coming up. And they were, are you signing books? Like this is, man, shout out Steve for somehow being able to be able to write books. Like that's so hard to do. But yeah, shout out to all the fans who turned up, who turned up at Greta Barn yesterday and watched the guys do their podcast. So that's my stick tap for this week. - I'll take it. Good job, buddy. - I'm trying to help everybody. - Oh, I will. I definitely will. I'm taking in this experience and enjoying every single moment of it. It's been amazing. You know what? Stick tap to everyone Ottawa who's been very welcoming to me since this move's been going down as well. - I need to report back on the candy situation in the press box in Ottawa. 'Cause I remember it used to be pretty decent. - Ooh. - You know what's going on? - That's going actually a few years since I covered a game there. So I don't know if that's changed under the Mendez regime with PR or what, but-- Earlier this week, we were waiting on a media avail and to pass the time, Ian Mendez showed up and handed out candy to everyone. So I'd like to think that's a precursor to more candy in the press box, but I'll report back with my findings in the group chat. - If I'm not mistaken, they used to have first-intermission hot dogs, too. So this is the important info I need you to go and report back on. I need to know what the situation's like in the press box. - I mean, they're probably not going to be the same standard as the Bell Center hot dogs, which I will get to enjoy over the weekend. But yeah, I'll report back on those findings in the group chat. In the meantime, thank you to everyone who was listening. Thank you to everyone who was watching and drop us some questions for next Ask CJ on Monday. We'll be back with more great content. Peace, guys. - The Chris Johnston Show. Follow Chris on Twitter @ reporter Chris and follow Julian at J.K.A. Mackenzie. - The Chris Johnston Show. (upbeat music)
