[MUSIC] We're back on Conox Central Dan Richo and Satyaar Shah. Conox Central is for NZ Pacific Bank. Cooper's premier at Chrysler, Dodd, Ram and Jeep Superstore on second avenue between Canby and Maine or at NZPacificCrysler.ca. Let's bring in our next guest, Irvangafar. Conox Insider, are you full on into golf season yet or what? >> No, because the weather has been so rainy, plus in a while. And unfortunately, because of that, I don't think anyone really ends right now. >> Yeah, right on time, Juneuary, just around the corner, it's already here. >> Weather is early. >> Weather is not cooperating. >> Well, honestly, guys, it's not bad. You know what, they were complaining that our water reservoirs were low. So let's fill them up before summer. >> [LAUGH] We needed a good rainfall. So we're kind of digesting the conoxies and digesting all of the availabilities that happened at the end of last week. And devising summer plans for this team. We talked about internal candidates for the top six in our opening segment. And sort of stumbled along with Nils Hoaglander. And obviously he played in that kind of a role for much of this season. But this is a guy that's never really found his way out of trade rumors. And I wonder if he's one himself, a long-term future in Vancouver. Or is this a guy that they're still deciding on whether or not he's a part of the core of the future here in Vancouver? >> Well, I think it's a little bit of both. I think you scored 24 goals in the regular season, all of them at five on five. I think you definitely earned yourself a look at this team. And being on this team for the considerable future, but this team has aspirations to compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs. And Nils Hoaglander was a helping scratch for games in the playoffs. So if you're going to commit long-term type of money to a player, are you sure that he can be that player? I know it wasn't sample size, but this was the first case to playoff hockey. And this is what it's going to be like moving forward. Is he going to be a guy that fits those plans? >> I'm not entirely sure. I think that right now he's a big trade ship. I think that if they did want to move on from some players and see him as an asset, I think the bag could definitely be won. But I'm not sure. I mean, look, the performances from a lot of the guys in the playoffs weren't very good with the exception of a few. But Nils Hoaglander was interesting because even when he was on the ice he didn't do much. >> Well, I think Hoaglander is young enough, though his first experience in the playoffs, that you can give him time to figure that out. And you're hopeful he'll be better down the road the next time he gets an opportunity. And that could very well happen, right? The biggest thing I wonder about is if the coach won't be able to trust him fully, to keep him in that spot consistently, then what is his pathway to be a top end of your lineup player in Vancouver? To me, that's the biggest thing they have to figure out here is does a coach believe in the player enough that they can make it work here long term? I have questions. That's why I mentioned in the previous segment, I would explore the trade market on him because I think that might be a best way to get value on the player. >> Yeah, I mean, look, I don't really know how, I mean, he's played 200, put over 200 NHL games in his belt, right? Now, I know the playoffs is a little different and things like that. But he still has NHL experience, he's an NHL hockey player we're talking about. So I do agree with you, like I would use him if you could in some sort of deal to try and get better. I think that what you saw was definitely of the small sample size. And yeah, maybe they want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but are you really waiting? Like your core is only getting young, only getting a little bit older, right? You've only got your goalie lost up for another couple of seasons at a really good team-friendly deal. Like your time to win and be very competitive with what you have currently assembled is in the next, I'd say, three to five years, to be completely honest. And then beyond that, you kind of have to see and reassess where you're at, right? The extension for Demko probably is going to come in at some point. If he doesn't end up being moved, if he's not your guy, if she laws end up being your guy, then that's a different conversation that we have to have entirely. But since we're talking about Neil's whole glunder, yeah, I agree with you, Seth. I mean, I don't think that any option for them is off the table when looking to improve this off the team. Well, the obvious thing here is in the backdrop of this whole conversation is the Canucks are looking at in their top six, right? And Patrick Levine didn't really shy away from it. Last week, when he talked to the media, when he talked to us, it was the most obvious and apparent thing as they fell to the Edmonton Oilers in that second round. Like, how much are they big game hunting? Is it in free agency? Is it the trade route? Martin, NHS, you know, like, what are you hearing on how the Canucks plan to fill this role? Well, I definitely want to fill it. That's for sure. I mean, the NHS one's interesting when there's smoke, there's fire, right? There's a lot of smoke around there a lot lately. Yes. Barry Cox and Yemi there's a player that they've liked forever. His name's always been linked to Vancouver in some way, shape or form. There's another player that you look at and say, okay, are the Canucks willing to try and figure maybe something out there? But again, like these are difficult moves to make. These are hockey type of moves that you have to make. These are moves that, you know, you're going to have to pay these players as well at some point. So from the Vancouver Canucks, like I just said, I mean, no option is off the table. I think free agency, you're going to probably be outbid by certain teams. I just don't think that you have the money to go and spend like that on certain free ages. I'm talking about, you know, the the gensals of the world and other players that are in that stature trying to get paid. I don't think the Canucks should go out and try and acquire a third over 33 year old in Tyler Tofoli. I really don't, especially because he's going to be wanting some pretty big money as well. I don't think that that's the answer. So if free agency is not the answer, then you're going to have to get creative. Now, that's why you mentioning the whole letter was interesting. Obviously, Ronik's name, you know, is going to be thrown in there as well. But, you know, there's other avenues that they have to look at. Yeah. And I think, you know, you mentioned Gensal. I think out of all the free agents, the only guy, I can see them actually being there is for Gensal, but there's obviously a number they can't go to. Like if somebody gives them nine and a half to 10 somewhere, or like, let's say, for instance, for argument's sake, that Florida or Tampa and these guys don't have the cap space, but a team that is a notes tax state gives them nine million. That means you have to offer close to 10. If it gets to that range, I don't think that the Canucks can do it. But I think if they could get them at like somewhere around eight to nine, I can see them being in on something like that. The only question is, is he going to explode through that range in free agency? Well, that's the thing. And I think that, you know, Carolina, the team that obviously is going to want to try and get something done, I think that, you know, for his sake, why not? Go and explore the market and feel what it's like to be wanted. And teams throwing boat loads of money at you and go on the tours and go meet with different teams and have that experience and then make your decision when you make your decision. Same for a live win-home, right? But look, as you like articles and things out there, they're right now, like, you know, scoring winger for Elias Patterson. Elias Patterson is 25 years old. He's the center of the National Hospital. He's going to be the third highest player. In the league next year, they're in a round, right? What is it? $14.5 million or something like that? Elias Patterson needs to go and then drive his own mind. Like, he's got to be that guy. You know, just hold on to, yeah, he scored some goals last year, but it's got to be Elias Patterson, right? 100%, but also like all those top players in the league, I'll have like a star player next to them, right? Like, I mean, like, even McDavid, dry. So like, they're, it's not like they're playing with chopped liver. They're playing with guys that are scoring 40-50 goals next to them. Yes, but they're also making things happen. True. 100%, 100%, but I would say that, like, I'd say new to right now and like, say, Hyman are better than any winger Patterson's playing with, like, clearly. Yeah, 100%. You just had a career year at 100 points themselves, right? Like, I think that, or it was the last year that he did. Anyway, he did it recently. But look, I'm just so you can't overspend if you're the thanks to every Canucks. To get back to your point, like, I agree with you. If something's willing to give Jake Gensil $10 million, you're not going to match that. Or even nine, I think, is too high. So that's why the interesting conversation is, is it going to be done via trade? Like, is that the way that they're going to try and improve the talking team? Or they're going to go and try and spend that money and then figure it out the rest of the way, and hope one of these young guys ends up handing out? So you mentioned the elephant in the room. And Elias Patterson continuing to be a big time topic of conversation. You know, a lot's been made of him admitting to his knee issue at the end of season availability. I think everybody's on the same page. Himself included that he needed to be better even though he was dealing with the injury. What have you made of some of the, I guess, fallout from Patterson admitting to his knee injury? And then he was hurt? Yeah. I think that that was probably the biggest thing that we all knew, that there was something going on there. It's no secret. It was pretty evident, even though when he said he wasn't hurt, he was hurt. So there is definitely that. And I think beyond that, players are hurt. It's just that time of the year. You're either going to play through it or you're going to sit out. And Elias Patterson decided that he was going to play through it. The coaching staff and everyone deemed that it was okay for him to play, so he won't play those games. Now, for him to not have the production, you're going to use that as an excuse. To a point, yes, I guess you can a little bit, but even then, there are other guys on that team that are playing hard. Brock had a broken finger. You know, Brock also was dealing with some other, a lot of issues as well. Quinn Hughes clearly hurt. You know, there are other players on this team. I'm not saying that Elias made, like, he went out there saying the injury was an excuse for him, but it almost kind of sounded like it a little bit. What else did? Yeah, you know, you're right. I mean, it's one of those things where he was the only guy who spoke about it. And he's the only guy that, you know, it became an issue about it. And I'm not saying he shouldn't have been honest, but that's just the reality of how this all unfolded. Oh, of course. And, like, I think that maybe he was one of the only guys that was at point blank about it. Yeah. And then he went out and said it. And that puts the team in a difficult position when talking now, being happy to speak as well after just to know what he had said. And things that happened. But no, I think that, you know, again, it was no secret that he was playing hurt. A lot of people were upset at his performance. And, you know, it's a big summer for him. Everything's gone. It's over now. The collection and the playoffs. We're not talking about it anymore. We're talking about moving into next year and who's going to be his scoring winger. And, you know, who's going to help them get over to the next step. But that starts with the guy that's currently there and for him to go and have a big summer. Absolutely. And, you know, you mentioned other guys that were hurt. Philip Heronic was also asked and he said he wasn't hurt. Now we know that Heronic probably was hurt. Like, I don't believe him, you know. So I think he was dealing with some sort of an injury. But I think he had a great first half, not a great second half of the season. Obviously dealing with something in the playoffs, not at his absolute best. A big contract. Do you think the playoffs have changed his standing with the team? Or do you think that they still are trying to get something done here and still believe in the player as long as that contract's not going to be more than seven plus million? Yeah. Well, I think that that's just it, right? I mean, you can believe in the player and really think that, you know, he can be something for your team, but at what cost? Like Philip Heronic is not an $8 million defense man, right? If that was what the ask is, I really don't think that he is. Someone somewhere might think that he is, but I don't think the Vancouver Canucks do. Even at seven and a half, that's a lot of money for a guy that, you know, rolled the coattails and Quinn Hughes for quite some time this season. And then in the playoffs in the second half of the season was invincible, except for the last game, right? Obviously, as you just mentioned, playing through an injury as well. So it's going to be an interesting time, right? The Canucks and his camp, I'm sure will talk or have been talking back and forth to try and see if they can hammer something out. But if they don't, like it's going to get to that point where that's why you're hearing these names, but from Carolina, that's why you're hearing all these trade rumors come up in the Vancouver Canucks because he's a name that could possibly, could quite possibly be brought up in them. Yeah, like the way I look at, at Roanik, it's like, yeah, maybe the Canucks aren't willing to go 8 million, but you know, Carolina, who's been linked to Roanik and as part of the the NHS conversations, you know, they don't really have much on the right side of defense beyond Brent Burns right now with all the guys that are hitting free agency on that squad. Utah team, they don't have a name yet. The Utah team doesn't have a defense been signed right now. And we know the new owner there is going to want to be able to field a competitive roster at the very least to take advantage of the honeymoon phase and start building that fan base out. Like, you know, for the more I think about this, it's like, you took so long to find a right shot defense and to find a partner for Quinn Hughes. Now you've got it. And I know you want to stay hard on not giving a player too much money, but at the same time, you found somebody that fits so well with your number one defenseman. It's hard to let that guy go and also knowing just how rare it is to find right shot defenseman. I 100% agree. But Dan, I was straight up as quick as Phil Roanik worth eight million dollars a year times eight years. No, he's not worth six or four million dollars. There you go, right? That's what he does. That's what he asks. But what do you do? Do you go to free agency and maybe overpay for Brett Peche? Like, what's the better alternative in this conversation? That's what I struggle to find out. You know, that's the thing, right? Is the better? I mean, it is, well, then you trade. You try and make a hockey trade if you can. I mean, it's very, it's going to be very tough to do, but we've seen this team and then this general management and this group of management been able to do that in their past, you know, going out and making moves, especially with Jim Rutherford, you know, at the helm. So it's a big summer, right? I think that when you look at it from an overall standpoint, the Canucks need to get better. They need to not overpay for their free agents. I really don't think that they should. And there are avenues to get this done. It's just a matter of how creative are they willing to get. And if you are going to spend the money, what is your, what do you prefer the most? What do you prioritize the most? And I think the number one thing, those glaring thing, what we talked about at first was a scoring winger, some depth forward, and then you can worry about your defense after. Philip Roaden got the only defenseman in the news. Obviously, agents putting in work this time of year. And Nikita Zadorov, I think, is looking for $49 million in free agency. I don't know. Milan Luche's got it. I can't eat. Yeah, that's maybe too fair of a point there. But the Zadorov conversation, it's funny, like I mentioned this to sat yesterday. He has that moment during his end of season availability where he's like, I don't know where you're getting these numbers from. It's like, well, we're getting it from your agents. That's where we're getting the numbers from. But what do you think happens to your Dorov? Here's another guy. Why not test free agency? Someone's going to pay you $6.6. Yeah. Someone even might give you five and a half times, six years. It's going to be term, right? For a lot of these guys that are in 28, 29 years old, maybe entering 30 years old, it's term. It's all about term. You don't want to sign a short-term deal. You want to be able to have that stability for you and your family to be able to know that you're lost in for quite some time. From the Vancouver Connects point of view, are you really, really willing to pay that top dollar amount and give years for him? I don't think so. Now, if they go down to $4.5 million times five or six years, maybe, I just don't know if I think he doesn't Dorov wants that. No, our team is probably willing to pay you. It's going to be a lot of back and forth. You're going to hear a lot of stuff coming out on different shows from agents talking to guys, to guys repeating what agents say, to players talking to people and people saying what players say, to all sorts of things. But until plans put to paper, they're really, no one really knows. So it's going to be an interesting negotiating tactic. We've seen it happen a lot, not just from Nikita's door of his camp, but from a different camps and different people about what they want or what they would like to see from their clients. From Nikita's door of, I don't think it's a secret. It's big money and term. And someone somewhere out there, I'm sure, is willing to do that. Is it the same thing true for Leenholm? Why not? Why wouldn't it be, right? I think that for him, especially you young family, he's a guy that we've heard the names about the Boston Bruins and other teams that might be interested in him as well. But that probably starts with near around $8 million. It's actually the only team that can give them the extra year at 8/8. I don't think that they're going to do that, to be completely honest. If it dropped down to maybe 7, you never know, 7 million times eight years. But even then, he's a guy that's going to want to go out there and explore the market as well. I'm sure he's going to have plenty of suitors that we'll be lining up for his services, especially with the playoff that he just had. Or if we appreciate the time, as always. Thanks so much for this. Gentlemen, see what I see my FA Cup win. More season in history. Still came out with a trophy. It's just United, but still we came out with a trophy. That is what you call that's class, that's great. That's great. That's the United Way. That's mad that you took away his Europa League spot for Chelsea. A little bit, but at the same time, I do find it funny that United fans are resorted to cheering for FA Cup victory after years of always winning championships, doubles, and trebles. Chelsea fans are allergic to cheering for a team to lose so they can hopefully qualify for Europa League. Sure. My other mighty have fallen. Both the teams are. It's no different from my team. It's no different from my team. Well, at least your team is going to Champions League, so you got that goal in the form. Yeah, because there's only two other teams that are good in it. All right. All right, quit it. Thanks, sir. All right, there is our phone. Good for our Canucks insider joining us here on on Canucks Central. And it's going to be a fascinating offseason for the Vancouver Canucks, as I think we quite mapped it out there, right? A lot of possibilities, a lot of big names, a lot of options for the Canucks. You have the situation with Philip Pronek, and what you're going to do there. Do you use them as a trade chip to maybe get a top six forward, but then you're going to have to go and help out on defense somewhere else. There could be a lot of moving pieces to this Canucks offseason. I mean, you know, we've been talking about this for over a week now, and when we dig into it a more, you just realize like, yeah, it's like we said yesterday, it's going to be tough for you to bring the same deck. You're not going to be able to raise your ceiling if all you're spending your money on is bringing most of the same players back. It's just not going to. So what you have to do is make some tough decisions. We know they're willing to be ruthless. Yeah. There are a lot of avenues that they can take here to get better. And it does lead us to believe it's going to be a pretty eventful summer. You know, we were talking in the pre-show. And one of the things that we talked about was Bo Horvat's contract and one of the things I remember so vividly from the fallout of that, Lou Zamarello saying, and his comment on the contract, it was too much money and too much term, but we got it done. And sometimes that's the reality of the situation as a general manager. You have to make concessions somewhere. Will the Canucks do that with some of their current pending free agents? Or will they move on and try to fill those gaps elsewhere? It's going to be an interesting off season. Dan Reicho, Satyar Shah. Coming up, we'll get into the conference finals. Owen Newkirk, Dallas Stars radio host on Canucks Central. Hey, it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff. Join us for Alford and Bruff in the morning weekdays for 6-9 a.m. on Sportsnet 650. Or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app. We're back on Canucks Central. It's Dan Reicho, Satyar Shah, here in the Kintec Studio. Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered by thousands of five-star Google reviews. Swore feet. What are you waiting for? Let's take a look in at the conference finals where the Edmonton Oilers stealing the spot in the conference final ahead of the Vancouver Canucks to take on the Dallas Stars. And Dallas now has a 2-1 series lead. Owen Newkirk, Dallas Stars radio host joining us now on the program. Thanks for this, Owen. How's it going? Hey guys, we're doing all right here. It's hot, humid, and we've had severe weather. It's all just half of the battle when you have two teams in the conference final of the NBA and the NHL at the same time. Make for a fun time. Yeah, sure. It's a pretty good sports time for Dallas sports fans. And you know, this Dallas Stars team, you know, we've watched all season long and seen, you know, this was kind of where it was projecting, saw them as a true Stanley Cup contender, and now they find themselves with the 2-1 series leads. What have you made of how the Dallas Stars have got here and how they look right now through three games of this series? Well, this isn't one of those situations at this stage of the playoffs where you expect your team to just dominate an entire hockey game. In fact, I think in the playoffs in general, that's a really tall ask. So it's more of a can you weather the other team's best moments and then produce your own and find ways to win? You know, like all our fans would love to see a team just storm through an opponent win easily and roll on to the next game in the next round. But you know, you get to the conference final, if not before that, it's just not sustainable. That's not going to happen. And so I personally, I'm very happy with where the team's at. They have won four games in a row on the road in the playoffs. They've won six of seven away from Dallas, which is remarkable. It's not that surprising based on the fact that they were the best road team in the regular season. So they've been able to sustain that. But if you asked me if they were going to go to Denver and beat the Avalanche all three times on the road against the team that had the best home record and a legit home ice advantage in altitude, I would never have believed you. Yeah, I mean, it was so impressive too in the opening round. They go up to go down to nothing at home and everybody thought they were done. And the next thing you know, they went in seven and they went every game in Vegas to go along in that series. But a player that really came to life last night with Jason Robertson. And for as good a season as the stars had as a team, he had a bit of a down year by his standards. I mean, he's here's a guy that scored 40 plus goals and back-to-back years had 29 this year. And you know, up until last night, three goals of 15 games, you know, not quite flashing his goal scoring as much. Is that what what needed to happen for him to really get going here? And can we see him get on the type of heater that he can go on? And we've seen in the past. I mean, it's certainly possible that he could do that. We've seen him score back-to-back 40 goal seasons. We know he has that touch. Last year in the playoffs, it was a struggle for him until essentially the conference final against Vegas where he started to come out of his funk. And look, this happens to a lot of young players when they first start playing playoff hockey and realize that it's very different. And they have to start to find a way to figure out and some do and some don't. The thing with Jason Robertson is that it's not as though he hasn't been producing. He just hasn't been scoring goals in his last 10 games until last night. He has 10 assists. I believe he's up to six goals now with the Patrick. So he's up to 16 points and 16 games. That's where top-level players typically should be in the playoffs at or around a point of game. The thing that caused the drop off this year is not something that Jason Robertson did in his game. It's that the stars are built differently. Last year, year before Robertson, hence Joe Povelsky, we call the Avengers line, have been really the ones that have been the drivers of offense. It was a top-heavy team where that line was the big producers of it. And every now and then you hope to sprinkle it through the other lines and get that production elsewhere. This year, the depth has been such. And I know that that's been talked about a lot, but I'll continue it. The stars have had such depth that, frankly, at times, the Duchenne Marchman and Tyler Seganline was the best line for the stars. And they were the ones that were driving the play. And then Jamie Ben and Wyatt Johnson. And before he got hurt, Evgeny Dodonov was a really good line. And they brought up Logan Stancov and Dodonov was on IR. And Stancov and played well with Ben and Johnson. And the fourth line shifts in. And so part of the reason why the numbers are a little different for the stars overall, for this year is they've had this mantra of a little less for a lot more. Jason Roberts is not playing two minutes on a power play. He's only playing half of that, because the second power play unit has guys like Matthew Shane and Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnson. And they've been able to create offense and sort of balance that out. When the first power play unit's not going, then the second line, second power play unit's going. If line one is getting bogged down, then it's the second, third, or fourth. So none of the stars have really put out, if you look at the regular season numbers, overwhelmingly positive, numbers. But as a team, they've gotten it done. And that's really what Pete DeBors and his staff have been trying to do all year. What does, I mean, we saw it a little bit last night, but how much does rope a hints mean to this squad? Clearly more than anybody would say, we're willing to say ahead. I mean, look, he's their number one center. And when you have a top line center, it balances everything else out. Stars have a great team with a lot of depth. But when you take hints out, now you're asking Tyler Sagan to play in the middle, or Matthew Shane moves up to the top line, or they brought Wyatt Johnson. Think about that. If you have Matthew Shane, Wyatt Johnson, and Sam Steele, as you're two, three, and four, that does a lot just by having him in the lineup. Then you saw with Robertson last night, hints create so much space with his speed, his ability to open up for his teammates, to get to the net and make passes, which he did a couple of Robertson's goals, and also just his ability to get help the entries on the power plant. We haven't seen a lot of special scenes in this series, but rope is a huge part of that. And there aren't many guys on the front end for the stars that have his kind of speed, because his is the kind that can keep up with him. It gave it or Nathan McKinnon. You know, Elias Patterson has that kind of pace. That's not very common. No, absolutely. And I mean, you see the difference when Rupert hints comes back at the lineup and what he brings to that team. And in terms of how they played, you mentioned their team game, and how selfless all the players have been. And we know how much depth they have up their lineup. But I know he showed well, but has been surprising to watch Wyatt Johnson take another step the way he has. I mean, he's legitimately playing like a power forward at times, and he's making things happen at a very high level. Yeah, it's remarkable. It really is. And as much as I'd like to say, we saw it all coming. We didn't because last season we were talking about whether or not he's going back to the OHL for his last year of junior hockey, or if he'd stay, then he got closer to the nine game mark. I think the stars knew before that, but it was still a topic of conversation. Then we're waiting for that first year wall. You know, what is he going to hit it at 40 games? Is it going to be at 60? What was really crazy is that the teenager, he kept incrementally improving his game throughout the season. He never plateaued, let alone fall off. Now, early this season, he had a stretch where he dried up offensively a bit, and that kind of got just, OK, this might be the sophomore slump. Maybe he didn't hit the rookie wall because he hit this. Well, he got out of it and ended leading the team in goals. And he's been fantastic in the playoffs. He had eight goals more than anybody else on the stars. And what's scary to me, guys, is why had Johnson just turned 21? Think about what he might be at 25. Some people were arguing that maybe because players are so ready earlier in their development than they've ever been, that maybe he could be peeking now, I don't believe that. I think he becomes a true adult, right? Again, he's 21. He's not a kid, but give him a couple of our years, and he really finishes his growth and evolution of physical development to go along with his incredible hockey at you. I'm kind of scared to see what he's going to be. Yeah, it's been unbelievable. And I mean, just the way Jim Nill has built this team. Not just why Johnson, but of course, Stankov and Maverick Bork is just waiting, probably going to get his chance next fall. It's been an incredible turnaround. And I think there's a lot of people here in this market. They should rebuild and not retool. And the Canucks have kind of found their way through a retail. But the Dallas stars are showing that you don't have to tank in order to build a Stanley Cup contender in the National Hockey League. No, you're absolutely right. But you have to hit on a couple of rarely key drafts. You still have to figure that part out. Yeah. The 2017 draft was the foundation. And then the 21 draft was the next level as far as building this sort of perpetual motion machine of development for the stars. Because if you get Miro Hayskin and by winning a lottery at the time, they still were doing three lottery picks. So Dallas got third to get Hayskin. And it was huge. Then they traded up and got a Jake Ottinger. And then they got Jason Robertson in the second round. That's a ridiculous haul for a single draft. Then you go to 2021 and you're able to get not only Wyatt Johnson by trading down, you add a pick, you get Logan Stan Coven and Artem Grusnikov, which was used then as part of the Chris Tannock's Raven at the deadline this year. Those are two drafts that help really set this thing in motion. Because again, if you take a couple of those pieces away, this is a good team, but with a little bit more of some holes to fill. Now you're talking about adding all that, adding Thomas Harley, a first round pick last year right before the playoffs and watching him butt into a top four defenseman. They have Lee and Bixell on the way, who's going to be a monster defender at the blue line. He's with the team now as a black ace. Like you mentioned, Maverick Bork is in all intents and purposes ready to go. He just has to get some NHL experience. He played one game against the Blackhawks earlier this year with the AHL MVP. I've heard people argue that they thought if Stan Coven stayed down, he wins the AHL MVP because he was that good. It's a good problem to have if you continue to have prospects developing and on the way while the other guys are are aging through their careers. Yeah, it's really been a master class of drafting and developing here over the past seven, eight years for the Dallas Stars, Jim Nill. I mean, coming true, I mean, initially people wondered it. Is he still the same guy? Was he a byproduct of the Red Wing system? And now you're seeing the impact that he's made. But obviously a big move, they made that the deadline was acquiring Chris Tannock as well. And in these parts, we know Tannock very well. And I know a lot of Canucks fans are proud to see him do well and show what he can do on a deep playoff run. But has he been even better and more impactful defensively into the team game than anticipated? All right. So buckle up. I'm going to say a lot of very nice things and they are incredibly genuine. We love Chris Tannock so much. And I'm not just saying that because I'm on Vancouver radio and I know where he came out through his NHL career. No, for real, he got so much into place on the Stars Blue Line because it slotted people in the right spots. And then also what he does himself. Tannock is a beast. You guys know it. We had that appreciation from afar. But now that you have them on the team, it's just another more intimate version of, wow, you're really good and you really make a difference. The Stars were very left shot heavy on the Blue Line. So much so that their best defenseman is playing on his off wing. Now, Miro Hayskonen is one of, if not the Stars, best options on the right, even though he's a left shot D. And so when Tannock was first acquired, I wondered if he would go to his left and Tannock would play on the right as top pairing. But they instantly started having Tannock play with Essel Lindell. And then I realized it's because Miro and Tannock are still the Stars best two options on the right side. Then they have options like Mills Lundquist, they have Andrew Donny-Hock and Paul is the right shot. And then Alexander Petrovic, who they brought up during the playoffs, who had been playing with the AHL Texas Stars. But that's just the way that works. Now, the other thing that really helps is Ryan's shooter is really, even at this age of his career, he's still a very good defensive defenseman. He doesn't quite have the 25 to 28 minutes a night offensive side of his game like he used to have when he was in his prime for a bulk of his career. So having a shooter because of the acquisition of Tannock playing as the number five, basically, as sort of the elevated third pairing guy, hasn't playing the minutes that he should be at this stage. He can still play late game situations and penalty kill if you need to shut things down and he's been a real part of that. But then you have Harley Hayskin and you have Lindell Tannock, and that's been an incredible balance. But then there's just those little things that you see Tannock do every now and then. The save that Jake Cottonger made against Conor McDavid in overtime in game one was ridiculous because we all thought that was going in. And then I didn't even see him in alive when I watched it. I thought Jake made a great save. Then you watch the replay and you realize that Tannock somehow darted like a superhero out of nowhere, gets his stick down and gets at least half of that shot. And that's the kind of stuff that we just go, wow, he's so, so good. And I know for one thing, guys, the stars, I'm not speaking for anybody in management. But from the broadcast side, we would love to see Chris Tannock extended with the Dallas stars. Yeah, he's one of those guys. If he does get the free agency, a lot of suitors, but I'm sure Dallas would do their best to keep him from getting there. But I didn't have to ask you. You mentioned it's a great time in Dallas with the stars and the Mavericks going deep in the postseason. And Luca Donch is just doing some incredible things for the Dallas Mavericks. Like how high is he moving up to charts in the Dallas area pantheon of athletes with how he's playing in the playoffs? Well, he has a very high bar to get over. I think we lost Owen for those. I mean, we're conduct central. So I guess it's okay if you lose the basketball question. But I have to ask about Luca Donchich because I mean, could you imagine being a Dallas fan right now? You have both the teams? Yeah, like potentially both going to a final looks like both could win. And both could win. We have we have Owen back. Thanks. So and sorry, we just lost you there. But yeah, on Luca Donchich, how much is Dallas falling in love with this guy? Well, you guys missed my best answer, I must say. No, but no, look, Dirk Novitsky is the king in Dallas basketball with the Mavericks. He has a statue outside of American Airlines Center. He was joined this year by Mike Madonna statue. They're both really well done. I'm not saying that Luca can't live up to that, but that's two decades in an NBA title. And Dirk is the, you know, from the basketball side of Dallas is everybody's favorite player because of not only the player that he was in the Hall of Famer, but also the person he is. He's an incredible human being. That being said, you watch Luca and Kyrie playing and they're incredible. And the fact that he's been this dominant in the NBA at such a young age is really something to watch because typically, you know, just like we talk about in the NHL, you know, this is a Wyatt Johnson type of thing. You get into the league, you go through your lumps, you figure it out, it takes time, you acclimate, and eventually you start to figure out what works and what doesn't. And you grow your game over multiple seasons. Luca came in and I know he was playing professionally in Spain, so that wasn't quite the same as coming from like a junior league or playing college. But having Luca come in and be as good as he is immediately just shows the kind of unicorn he is, because he's so physically powerful, but he can play like a guard. He's not fast, but he's not slow. It's a lot of fun, I must say, after the Rangers won the World Series for the first time in their franchise history last fall. And now you have the Mabs and Stars, both in their conference finals, and the Mabs are in a really strong position because of what they've done so far winning the first three games against the Timberwolves. It's a great time to be everything but a cowboy fan. Look, the Cowboys won 12 games the last three years. So, you know, for them, they want to win a Super Bowl. It's been since the 90s. We're getting close to 30 years there, but it would be hard for us to find a lot of Dallas sports fans not enjoying themselves right now. Oh, maybe the Stars and Mabs can show Jack Prescott how to get it done in the playoffs. I don't know. But before we let you go and just one last thing, did you hate the embellishment call on Marchman as much as the rest of the hockey world did last night? I'm really glad that you guys said that because sometimes when, you know, when you work for a team and you broadcast, you have to sort of tap the brakes and hope that you're trying to be as objective as you can because as a fan of the sport and the team that you're working for, you can't help but root for them. And so you wonder if some of that intrinsic bias is starting to creep in just because you see it from the side that you've been covering all year longer. In my cases, my 10th year with the Stars, I'm pretty positive that that one was bad from every angle, whether it was Stars or otherwise. Maybe the Edmonton fans thought that that was a fair call, but I don't know if anybody else has felt that that was an actual embellishment penalty. You know, I don't know if you guys agree with me. I'd love to get your take on the Jacob Truba elbow the other night against Evan Rodriguez. I thought it was more than two just because it's not a hockey play, right? It's lunging at a guy with your elbow. But he makes contact, shoulder, maybe the side of the neck and Rodriguez grabs his forehead. And that to me, look, I'm not trying to say Evan Rodriguez wasn't injured on that player. It didn't hurt to get a torpedo elbow to the side of the neck. But typically, if you get hit in the side of the neck, you don't grab your face. You grab where it gets hit. So I just had a wonder and I'm not accusing Rodriguez of embellishment, but to me, that left a question. Mason Marshman got cross-checked in the back right above the top of the pants and he was backing up in the play. Now, I'm not an NHL or I'm a very scrappy beer-leager. And I've been cross-checked right above the back of the pants before. And guess what? I fall down. Again, Mason Marshman might be a better skater than me, but to me, I really felt like that was a really bad call. But here's why he's already gotten a few this year. And I think as unfair as it seems, he's lost the benefit of the doubt with the referees because of some previous embellishments, good or bad. And so now I feel like they're looking for it with him and that's cost him in the case like that. Yeah, I really, I just don't think the NHL has figured out embellishment. I know they want to call it more often, but it seems like whenever it does come into practice, it's on the wrong play. And that's, it's been more than just the Marchman call in the playoffs, but that was certainly another case of it last night. Hey, Owen, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much for this today. Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it. There was Owen Newkirk, Dallas Stars radio host, and joining us here on Canock Central Stars have a two one series lead. Euler saying that will be Stuart Skinner for game four. And, you know, they did it during the Canock series going to Calvin Pickard. I'm not sure they want to go down that road again, but they're going to need a better version of Stuart Skinner moving forward in the series. And that's always going to be the question. And I will say, like, I've been really impressed with Edmonton, like I thought they were impressive against the Canucks in games six and seven. I think Chris Knop lucked. They're a really good job making adjustments and getting the best side of his team. They played really responsibly. I thought they played really well for the first two games in Dallas to begin this series, but that cold tenning is an issue. Yeah. And eventually it's going to rear its ugly head. Now they had enough to get past Vancouver last time. It's going to be a bit more challenging here against Dallas to do the same, especially with Rupe hints back. You see what a difference he makes. Yeah. I mean, it sort of, it took some time for it to take. The first period was kind of slow for Dallas, but once they got going in the second period, I mean, they, what did they, they went a time that was like 15 shots all for Dallas before Edmonton got one on goal. So, you know, it's going to be tough for Edmonton in this series. I think we all knew that Heather may be going to need a little bit better version of Leon Dreycidal moving forward, who's gotten pointless in the last two games, both losses for Edmonton, but an interesting time here. And, you know, you asked about TANF there. And we talked about it during deadline season and how the Canucks would love to get TANF, but it was going to be hard for them to do it cap wise and also asset wise. It obviously didn't work out for the Canucks, but we kept saying it at the time is Chris TANF not the perfect fit for with the Dallas stars. Like if you were to have a need as a contender, but also have it line up with the perfect player available at the deadline. I mean, that was the Dallas stars in Chris TANF and it's played out that way so far through the first two and a half rounds. They really needed one more steady guy. Harley moves the puck ball on the right side. Yeah. And like, Harley does a lot of good things, right? But he's, you know, he's, there are some gaps, but he's really good. I like Harley a lot. And then still growing though. He's still young for sure. And then Souter, you can't ask for him to play more elevated minutes. You saw what happened when you asked more of him and it doesn't give you very good returns. You're right. They needed Chris TANF. That's exactly who they needed. And they made it made a good team so much better already. Like they are probably to me, they're still the most complete team in the league. Now being the most complete team doesn't mean you're the best team, but like I don't find I don't really see any holes in their roster. No, they don't, they don't really have one right now. And it's been an incredible build for them. You know, I was reading a story about Jim Nill talking about, yeah, the big R word, the rebuilds sort of thing at the athletic from Mark Lazarus, who's covering the series. And, you know, they, they thought about it when things were going really ugly for, for Sagan and Ben. And it's like, how are we going to do this? How are we going to make this work? And, you know, that one draft class in 2017 changed so much for the Dallas Stars. Yeah. And it's also one of those things I think when a somebody comes over to become a GM like Jim Nill does. Yeah. You can't just expect right away to come in and they're going to hit on all their draft picks like they were the Red Wings back in, you know, the 90s and the 80s or whatever, right? Because it takes time for you to build the infrastructure to get your message across to what you're looking for, right? Creating the staff you want and then also getting the people in the positions that you want. And it takes a few years to build because, you know, for a couple of years, you know, there was, there were questions about, you know, is Jim Nill really 18 years or not? Because in the Chewskin pick, you know, I know it was, you know, it blew up. It blew up in a big time. And then then in 2014, there's just Julia's Honka and we didn't become what anything they wanted. Like they had a few draft classes where they kept pretty much punted on them. From the early years, it was just Rupa Hintz that really was, was there a big hit? They had guys like Machuskin and Jason Dickinson. But beyond that, they were struggling to get hits out of the draft until 2017. And now, you know, they've got Maverick Bork, who they drafted late, they've got Stankovin, who they drafted in the second Wyatt Johnson, they've, they've brought in a whole new young core to this team while drafting in the later part of the first round. It's obviously headlined by Miro Heiskin. And for sure, you know, the one year where they stunk, they, they end up landing who is an absolute number one defenseman. Well, they lucked out, right? Because they weren't really bad enough to get that pick. They won the lottery. Yeah, they're one of the teams that narrowly missed the playoffs. You know, like they're, they jumped way up. They jumped huge. It was them and the flyers that jumped up that year, right? And Nolan Patrick got drafted and Miro Heiskin got drafted. Yeah, worked out for for Dallas, not so much for the Philadelphia flyers. All right, we're going to continue the show. We got more to come. Obviously, we're going to set you up for Florida and New York game for that series coming up right after we sign off at five o'clock. It's Dan Richo, Satyar Shah, Canucks Central. We're back on Canucks Central, Dan Richo and Satyar Shah. Final segment. We were just talking about the fortunes of Dallas sports teams right now. Yeah, stars looking like they're in a pretty good spot. The Mavericks a game away from the NBA finals. The Mavericks one is the one that I guess surprises me the most because when they acquired Kyrie Irving, I was like, well, that's not going to work because it never works with Kyrie Irving. Unless it was like early career with the wanjayers and Cavaliers. Yeah, ever since then, it was kind of like, man, this guy is tough. He's shown moments, right? Like the talent's always been there. It's been more about, you know, is he in the right headspace? Yeah. And can you be more worried about the world being flat than he is his basketball game? Yeah, essentially, more or less. So I think that was always a question. But I mean, when you watch the maths in pretty much every game, they have the two best players in the court. Yeah. And in the NBA, that's pretty much all it takes. If you have the two best players in the court consistently, no, you need depth, obviously, it's going to take you a long way. And right now, it is. But what Doncic is doing is like, it's disrespectful. You see what he did to Rudy Gobert? Nobody should be able to do that to Rudy Gobert. I loved it. Yeah. It's great. Josh knows very well, how good the Mavericks are right now. Yeah. Yeah, they're good. They're good. Timberwolves nuggets. Timberwolves beat the nut. Oh, yeah. Timberwolves beat the nut. That's right. Right. Right. And Timberwolves looking, I mean, Anthony Edwards, I had high hopes for him. I think I just think it's too early. Yeah. He's been, he's been anointed a little. People are calling him the next MJ already. Yeah. But that happens like every year. It's an MJ is fun. Yeah. And the same thing with Jimmy Butler, I was like, Oh, it's Michael Jordan, his dad. It's like, what are we doing here? He is 22 years old. Yeah. He's young. He's so young. The hops are just like insane. It looks like he's on a trampoline. Well, I've done yesterday last night or the other night. Yeah. His two foot takeoff is ridiculous. It's like, what is, how does that even happen? You got rocket boosters in your shoes? Nothing makes sense anymore. I can't jump that high. I don't think you're juggling that. I'd be so impressed if you could jump that high to be honest. Reach set it as like, it was an option. Like people, but I think people are wondering, hey, maybe reach can jump that high. He needs to reset the record straight. Just, just letting everybody know. There was some doubt. Yes. Some thought you could. Some heard of the calves and they were like, you know what? Must be a lot of power in there. Cabs are quite big, but still can't jump that high. Yeah. But yes, Dallas sports. Great. Mike, the urologist and Brockville says, Cowboys, the weakest Dallas franchise right now. Who to thunk it? Yeah. Are they really like, they're probably going to be pretty good again this year? Well, I mean, for a week franchise, they won 12 games. It's just, you know, what's going to happen when the Cowboys get to the playoffs. That's the issue. Yeah. It's been the same story since they won their last Super Bowl. Yeah. In 93, was it? Right? 93. Yeah. The back to back years. Or 94. 94 is it? 93. Now the Rangers are defending World Series champions, but they're 25 and 29 on the year. Yeah. That's right. The Rangers won the World Series last year as well. I mean, I just want came out of nowhere. Like they spent all that money in free agency. I was like, man, I don't know if this is going to work. They seem so far away. And then all of a sudden there it goes 95, 96, 96. No, 96. Well, yeah, I guess Super Bowl 30 was their last win. Right. Okay. Super Bowl 30. Everybody think it was the 95 season that Super Bowl was in 96. Yeah. Right. That sounds right. Yeah. There we go. I forgot about that year. Super Bowl 30. I was, I guess it was Pittsburgh. Yeah. Let me. Oh, Josh is like, I wasn't even born then. So why are you asking me neither of our producers were born. Makes me feel like you're forgetting about the Texas Rangers. No, we spoke the Steelers. Yes. Well, the Steelers are supposed to know. Someone says we forgot about the Rangers. No, we spoke about the Rangers. Yeah. We mentioned them that they won a World Series. So now they can have three championships in the span of two years, potentially. This is like Boston esque. Yeah, you say that. And it's like Boston won 12 titles in 17 years. As a so the Patriots won six from 2000 major titles. Yeah. So sick. The Patriots from 2001 won six titles. Yeah. The Red Sox in that span won four titles. Oh my God. The Celtics won. The Celtics won a title. Now they've lost in the finals. So have the Celtics. I mean, so have the Bruins. So that's 12 titles between Celtics and Bruins had one. Six for the Patriots, four for the Red Sox. That's 12 titles in like 17 years. Celtics only had one. I feel like they would have had more. They lost in the finals in Game seven to my Lakers. Kobe. Well, they're like the 90s Atlanta Braves. All that success. They lost in the finals to Golden State too. So yeah, Dallas is pretty pretty pretty good. Yeah. On the Rangers and Florida Panthers here. I think everybody's expecting like Florida to just take over the series now. Like because they've had the deserve to win a meter battle one so far through the series, but they are down to one in the series. I get it. Like Florida can be really, really good. And I don't want to make it all about goaltending, but Sir Gabe Brodsky's got to make some more saves. But also like if you're going to let Alexis Lafford and you're just like walk through guys, that's going to be a problem. Yeah. The other problem being Oliver Echman Larson had a couple of really ugly moments in the last game. Yeah, we do have some breaking news from the Vancouver Canucks. We do. You want to play this finger? Let's play this finger sports net 650 breaking news. The Vancouver Canucks are making some changes to their coaching staff. They have parted ways with Mike Yo. So Mike Yo was inherited, I guess by the Rick Tockett regime kept him on for this year. Yozi got, as Rick Tockett would call him, Yozi got a lot of praise throughout the course of the season. What he did with the penalty kill and some different areas of the coaching bracket, but the Canucks are moving on from Mike Yo. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things where I wonder if he has other possibilities out there for him as well. And I'd say, I think it was a contract expiring as well. Yeah. So he signed a two year deal when he came to Vancouver last year to be Boudreau's assistant initially. And it was interesting too, because of how that all kind of came to be. And from what I've heard too, that the Canucks did offer, yeah, the Canucks did offer a deal to Mike Yo, but he decided to explore other opportunities. Just got that message. So all right. So it wasn't lip service from Rick Tock and how much he appreciated Mike Yo's contributions to the coaching staff. But as they put out in the release, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Alving announcing today that the club is mutually parted ways with assistant coach Mike Yo, the organization would like to thank Mike for all his work the past two seasons. But as you've just heard, you know, the Canucks wanted to potentially bring back Yo, but he is going to explore other opportunities. Yeah. So the Canucks did offer a deal to come back. So to your point, it wasn't lip service. He came here and it's interesting, because he signed a two year deal initially with Boudreau. And then the thought was if Boudreau gets like, Oh, could he be a candidate to take over? And obviously, they had other thoughts in terms of bringing Rick Tockett in to take over to be the head coach, but Tockett had to keep him on the staff, right? And not only did he keep him on the staff, he had a sizable role with the team and talk. It was very complimentary of the work he did. And I don't think it's lip service when you offer somebody a deal, you know, like I think when it comes to a coaching staff wanting to extend somebody and head coaching, let's extend this person, it's not out of any sentimentality. It's like this, this guy legitimately brings something to our staff. So he's exploring other opportunities, Mike, you know, which I guess puts an opening on the Canucks bench, obviously Adam Foote remains. Sergey Ganchar has been a fixture there, but there was talk at the end of season. Rick Tockett was asked about it, bringing in a power play specialist. How would they go about that? I believe Mike Yo did a lot of work with the penalty kill. So is there going to be a want to fill that role? And who could be the candidates for it? Something for our working minds to get to work on as the days go by here. But Mike Yo, no longer a part of the Canucks coaching staff. There is your breaking Vancouver Canucks news. And for as much as Rick Tockett has had a lot of success as the Canucks head coach, just arguably, you know, had the best start ever to a Canucks coaching career. 50 wins season here this season started great. Even the season prior when he took over from Bruce Boudreau, he's always given a lot of praise to his staff and the work that they've done and feels as though it's been a big collaboration as any good practice would have. But I wonder where they go now, because, you know, they've potentially had some holes that they could fill. But now you're maybe looking to fill both ends of the special teams situation on the Canucks bench as far as an assistant is concerned. It's gonna be really fascinating. Now the Canucks do have internal options. You know, the sedines have had like ever evolving roles with the team. Now is one of them or both of them going to be on the road with them consistently to take on that much of a role? Like, I don't know. But it's something that I guess we can't dismiss from the outside looking at who they have internally. Is Sergei Ganchar going to be full-time or not? Yeah. I know so far he's, you know, this is what he can do. It's kind of a part-time thing. I don't know where things are at. Does it evolve for him where he can do more things? So I wouldn't be surprised that somebody internally could kind of come in there as well. But it's going to be fascinating because he mentioned Talket that he didn't feel like they had to bring somebody in for the power play. Yeah. But you wasn't really the power play guy. So even if they worked more on the penalty kill. Right. So if they bring somebody in, where's the expertise going to be if it's from somebody outside of the organization? Is it going to be the power play? Because I'm not sure this is what you need to solve anyways with Mike, you know, parting or moving on to other opportunities. So something for the Canucks to get going on. And, you know, I think it's, it's not insignificant. The way that their coaching staff has worked, of course, Rick Talket the leader. But, you know, it's it's been a wild success since Rick Talket's taken over. And he's given a lot of praise to his assistance for being a big part of that success. And we'll see where it goes from here. So as we continue to look at the Stanley Cup playoffs and things ongoing there, the Rangers doesn't look like Phillip Eel is going to play for them tonight. It's really interesting with the Rangers here because they've been so good on special teams. They almost feel like the Canucks versus the Oilers to a certain extent. They're winning close games, you know, making the most of whatever chances they do create. It kind of feels like that story playing out because Florida, as we know, has been able to carry a lot of the play so far in this series. And when it comes to the playoffs, like, yeah, I get it. You want to have the puck more, but you're not always going to be able to. And the margins are so slim between these teams at this stage of the postseason. Sometimes it's about how you manage those moments in game. Well, it's not sometimes it's always how you manage those moments in game in a short sample size that matter more than did we carry the play for the majority of the game. Yeah. And you know, that's why it's so funny because when you look at when you look at some of the scoring chance numbers and everything like that to sometimes, what I look at is sequences oftentimes. I try to do it as much as possible when I watch and connects games because I think it gives you a more informed take on truly how many goals you could have really expected in the game. When you just look at the raw total, sometimes you're like, well, this team at 12, hiding your scoring chances should have scored three goals. Well, it's like four of those chances happen on the same sequence. Yeah, you can only score once on a sequence. But those tallies kind of add up in terms of value, right? And I think sometimes when we look at games, it'll be like, you look at the numbers, you're like, man, look at how lopsided they were, but how many came in sequence? And how do you handle those sequences and move on the rest of the game? And I think that's something that connects actually did well this season at times when they were being outplayed and you saw it against Edmonton at times, you saw it even against Nashville, where there would be these sequences that were pretty helter-skelter, did have some chances. But then after that, they kind of just slowed the game down. And then the rest of the way, maybe the connects would kind of edge the scoring chances. But it's like you survive the moment and then you moved on to the rest of the game and you won the rest of the game. And I think that's really what the playoffs are about to me. It's about how you recover in moment. And I don't care what the numbers tell you. It's about the sequences and how you survived them and move on to the other ones. You know, we started talking about basketball to open the segment and basketball is a game of runs. It can't like there's obviously not a ton of goals scored during these runs. But you know, you see the waves of momentum shifting in playoff games so often, like even in the Canucks Oilers games, it was like, man, Canucks really won that period or man, the Oilers really had that period. And then the script would be entirely flipped. Momentum did not exist game to game. But in game, you saw wild swings of momentum going either way. And how you manage that can ultimately show how you're able to win or not in the postseason. Yeah, absolutely. So we're going to keep an eye on that Florida and the New York Rangers coming up just after five o'clock here on Canucks Central and get to some of these texts in on the Dunbar lumber text inbox six fifty six fifty. A couple of questions about Jeremy Colaton, who was recently, I guess, parted ways with the Canucks is their AHL head coach. Would he be an option as an assistant on the Canucks bench? I mean, I, in terms of being a coach looking for employment, yes, an option, not a realistic one, I would say, I'd say what what Colaton is probably looking for is still, does he have a chance at getting a head coaching gig? And if not, can he be the second in command? Or does he go somewhere where he can be an AHL coach again, but have an out? Yeah, instead of signing a maybe a two year deal where you're committed, you know, does he go somewhere where he has more flexibility because he wants to be a head coach again in the NHL. That's his chief plan here at some point, right? And in Vancouver, I don't think they would bring Colaton in and kind of making the second in command. You know what I mean? I just don't know if that makes sense. And I think that's the only way you're going to be able to bring him in here. And I just, I just think it's time for him to go somewhere else. And it was, again, there was nothing acrimonious about their split. He's a guy that clearly wants to be a head coach somewhere. And the AHL is not where he foresees his future beyond maybe another year. It's, it's an interesting question from the listener, but maybe an unlikely scenario. Like, could he be somebody who does the Travis Green somewhere where he feels like Colaton? Yeah, where I go somewhere and maybe I'm the guy that gets a chance of the guy there doesn't work out or, you know, I wonder if you're hoping to be an NHL head coach in the future. Are you better off as an assistant or are you better to show what you're able to do as an NHL head coach or sorry, as an AHL head coach, because you're the guy doing the job rather than being the assistant similar to Dan Bilesma, who just got promoted from, you know, the AHL franchise with the Seattle Kraken to their NHL head coach, kind of got forgotten being an assistant for like six, seven years. And I think both ways can happen, but ultimately, you know, if it were me doing the hiring, I want to see a guy be able to do the head coaching gig, because there's a lot more that that entails than being the assistant. Now, Jeremy Colton's coaching tenure has been four years as head coach in the AHL, and then three years as being a head coach in the NHL. So he does have seven years of AHL slash NHL head coaching experience. So I think for him, it's about opportunity as well. And does he foresee maybe a situation where he can be the assistant and have another step up from there? You know what I mean? Like it worked out for Travis, for instance, right? Where, hey, he didn't get hired by New Jersey, but he was in the game, got a head coaching gig, and then ends up getting the job elsewhere. Yeah, I think Travis after his time in Vancouver was still well thought of enough around the league that he was going to get a gig somewhere and just so happened that it took a little bit of time. Penn's fan in Vancouver, if Todd Reardon comes in to replace Yo, the Canucks may never score a power play goal ever again. That's a Penn's fan in Vancouver. Todd Reardon. I don't think would coach, did he coach the power play in Pittsburgh? I'm sure he was he was coaching the power play because I know, you know, he got a lot of praise when he was with Washington for what he did coaching up their decor. So, uh, considering that, I think the Canucks, uh, with their decor, they like the way Adam foot handles the D and of course gone char is there as well as, you know, a part time associate coach. We'll see what they do with this other opening on the bench. Uh, this, do you need your PK coach before making signings or does the coach need to work with the players given? I think you work with the players given ultimately. And now the Canucks are going to have some work to do on the PK because guys like Blueghur and Lindholm and Joshua who were all fixtures of the penalty kill late in the season and in the playoffs where it started to see some real success. All those guys are unrestricted free agents right now. Ian Cole, Tyler Myers. I mean, Nikita's adore all these guys. It could be a wildly different penalty kill for the Vancouver Canucks next year. Coach included. Oh, absolutely. And I think the PK is going to be really, really fascinating next year too. Because it's not only about the defenseman, it's also a little to your point. I mean, Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueghur, Elias Lindholm, yeah, like it's, it's like essentially you're building a whole new PK. Yeah, most of your PK for a lot of these guys that are probably leaving. Whereas your power play, it's like at least four of the five guys are coming back. Yeah, which is a little bit easier for continuity sake, but power play wasn't working all that well. I think that's one of the reasons like Dakota Joshua is such a high priority because he was such a fixture on the penalty kill and was so good on the penalty kill as, as the year went on. And you need face off guys for the PK. Now one thing I think that really helped the PK down the stretch of the season and JT Miller admitted this himself. I think in one of the post game interviews you guys did with him is why is the PK working so well? Well, I'm not as big a part of it as I used to be. Well, I mean, I think part of it is also like diminishing returns. You asking JT to play 21 minutes a game is just too much, man. Yeah, you know, and putting him in high leverage situations. I thought JT acquitted himself fine at times late game situations holding elite some PK situations in the playoffs, right, where he's not getting all the minutes. But yeah, if you're asking him to be a big part of your PK, that's not a strength. Then all of a sudden, you know, diminishes his overall game if you're asking him to play that many minutes. I wonder about Patterson though, like I do think he can still be a guy that is a PK fixture. And the fact that his face off percentage this year came, he was break even he got the 50% this year. That's a big jump if you're 50% guy in the face off, Don, you're dependable. The thing that Lynn Holm brought that was so missed by this organization really since Brandon Sutter and J Beagle left, right shot that could win face offs on the PK was a big help. But we'll see what happens with Lislyn Holm and the other unrestricted free agents. All right. So that's the breaking news from the Vancouver Canucks. They have parted ways with associate coach assistant coach Mike Yo, he is looking and exploring different opportunities than the one here in Vancouver. It's Dan Richo, Satyar Shah, four producers, Josh and Ben, you've been listening to Canucks Central coming up. We've got the Rangers and Panthers game four of the Eastern Conference final. That's next on Sports at 650.
