(upbeat music) - Back in the Kintec Studio, KanoX Central. It was a great day. I felt absolutely dialed at the range today. - You did? - Yeah. - Oh, nice. - Just a little more in range session. - Nice. - Felt great. I don't think there's anything in the world where it's like, you go to the go, you go to the range and there's like zero translation to the actual golf course. - Yeah, it's crazy. - It's crazy. - I mean, I went to the range the first time a couple days ago. - Oh, oh. - I did, I went. - Yeah. - And I felt, I felt pretty sore the next day. I felt pretty sore. - Let's bring in our next guest. He is landing for our joins this weekly here on KanoX Central. You know all about that. Taken from the practice rink into the game. How tough is the translation? - Honestly, I was one of the few guys that I much preferred the game because then especially summer skates, like the guy's skill comes out and you can't, no one's hitting. Like I don't know how to get the puck back now. Like I need to dumb this down a little bit. - Yeah, it is funny though. Like with the golf game. There is nothing quite like going to the range and crushing it and then going to the course. - Especially when they got the mats out and just like everything is so pure coming off. Well, I figured it out now. And then I banana hook one right off one to start off the day. - I always love the banana hook or the slice that goes to fairways right to start the day. - Well, the tough one too, if I go right off the first one over on the North Shore, I'm putting it right on someone's roof. - Oh, it might have broken a window. Just gonna pick up and move. - Or you just make a quick U-turn and get in the car and take off as quick as you can. - I'm not liable for that. All right, moving on. So interesting times. The Edmonton Oilers tonight going for game three and it's one of those must win, but not really a must win, but it's absolutely a must win for the Oilers. And I think we saw the Florida Panthers really kick it into gear. And I just don't know if there's a team at five on five that can suffocate their opponent, quite like the Florida Panthers have been able to do all playoff in all season. - Yeah, I mean, I agree with that for sure. You know, you watch game one and especially looking after game two now, like the Oilers had to have game one. Like they played well enough, but Brodsky was unbelievable. So I mean, like it is what it is, but then the real Florida Panthers came to play in game two and like it just didn't like there wasn't one point where you're really wondering if they were going to lose the game or not, right? And like it just seems like they're building that momentum and even going back in Edmonton tonight where it's going to be crazy environment wise, like just that momentum of Florida, how they like you said, like they just completely encapsulate everything on the ice. Like no one can move anywhere. You know, there's two games in and they've have like David and Drycidal with one point between the two of them. Like that's a pretty dang good job. - Yeah, no, it really is, right? And I think the way they just kind of take away the middle of the ice, I mean, the fact that Edmonton can generate any real quality looks like how hard is it? I know it's hard as it is in the playoffs, but for them to be able to limit any real traffic or any sort of chances in the middle of the ice at all. - Yeah, I mean, but I think that's just how committed all their forwards, you know, on top of their D, are to playing team defense, right? And then it obviously helps that, you know, their leader, their captain is one of the best defensive forwards in the game, right? Like if you said at the beginning of the series, you know, there's going to be an end-to-end goal to have, you know, off a pass, who's making that end-to-end play? You're going to say McDavid, but you go back to game one and Barkov's that nice low and slow, he picks it up on his back hand and he takes off down the ice over to Verhagi for a goal, right? Like they can do everything, like he's on top of you, but at the same time, like because he's in the right position, he's now in the right spot to take off and now he's into the offense. And they have a team that are filled with guys that are committed to playing that way. - You know, Barkov, maybe we can talk about the consmith 'cause I've heard a lot of people say it's Sir Gabe of Rosky and for me, it's not, it's more Barkov, but, you know, he's developed into, he's taken over the mantle from best, you know, defensive player, defensive forward in the game from Patrice Bergeron and, you know, the Selky trophies are going to start piling up here for Barkov. You came up through Detroit, you played with Pavel Datsu, like he won three Selkies himself, like what makes these guys as good as they are at both ends of the rink? - I think like, you know, everyone talks about, you know, how they care about playing on the defensive side of the puck and all of that, and like, of course they do, but I honestly think it's more just, they want the puck back more than anyone else on the ice. Like, you know, when you're bringing up Datsu, like, he needs the puck on his tape to be the most dangerous on the ice that he can be. Like, that's where his skill comes out. And watching, like, we were showing clips from the day that I was drafted in Detroit, from the first development camp all the way through training camps, like, we were showing clips of Datsu getting Marion Hosse and Zetterberg, like guys like that, on the back check. And they're showing, they're doing it because they're going to score six seconds later. They're not doing it just because they care about the defensive side. Like, they want the puck back. - It's, you know, it's funny because this time of year, everything's so simple, isn't it? It's simply just kinda comes down to will and want and desire. It doesn't end in so many of these cases. - For sure, I mean, once things kinda get moving around too, like how many of the goals have come off just little turnovers, right? Like, it gets into like a four and a half second panic mode in the D zone. - Yeah. - And it just goes off your stick, and before you know it's in the back of the net, like a couple of Rodriguez, that's those right there. You know, it's just, it's finding for the Oilers, you know, they talk about how well they've always rebound, you know, when adversity hits. And you know, they have shown that they can do it, but you can't always come from behind. And that's what we were talking about in the Catac series. You know, in both of the series, really. Like, you can't keep relying on late comebacks and pushes from behind. Like, you're going to run out of space like that, especially against a team like Florida that, I mean, it just seems like there's nothing that's gonna get in their way. - Yeah, they, I mean, they are such a force. And, you know, like, I get that, that Biprovsky has been really good. And certainly game one, he stole the show. But when I look at the totality of the playoffs and how Barcoff's only been on the ice for eight, five on five goals against a huge part of the PK, he's, I think, tied with Matthew Kachuk in points for the playoffs and who he's had to go up against, always going up against the Tufts. I mean, I'll do respect to Sergey Babrovsky, but my cons might winner, if Florida is able to close this out over the next number of games, it would be Sasha Barcoff. - Yeah, I mean, like, I almost put that to where, like with the heart trophy and the Bezna, right? Like, you, of course your goalie's gonna have to be good through the playoffs to win. You know, so like, it's almost like, of course, they're gonna be in the consideration. Like, there's not too many years you can go back and be like, man, that goalie really got carried through. Like, Colorado's year, but even there, like, between Kemper and who has a Francis, sorry. Like, you know, they did a very good job still. But, no, I agree, like, Barcoff's job through this playoff is, like, I don't wanna say it's surprising because it is what you expect from him. And it goes back to, you know, the old thing of, you know, if he's in a different market, like, his name means something completely different in the world of the NHL. - Yeah. - Because he is that good. - So, Edmonton's got home ice advantage. They have last change. You maybe are finally able to get McDavid away from Barcoff and Gustav Forzling, you know, that's been a hard match that Paul Maurice went to in the first two games in Florida, you know, how much do you expect to see of McDavid tonight because it feels like this could be one of those 30 minutes out of Connor McDavid so that the Oilers find a way to win this game. - I mean, he was basically up there already for the first two, right? But, no, I mean, you look back over the last couple series and it's taken no block in the rest of its staff, a few games to kind of figure out his matchup and his lineups and now obviously with, you know, a bunch of injuries that have kind of popped up for Edmonton here, you know, let's try and find what's gonna work. Obviously, I think that they will have, you know, better options at it tonight as they try and maneuver things around. But, you know, for as much flack as nurses take and like taking him out of the lineup, you know, that's asking a lot of all those other defense men now and, you know, eventually someone's got to be able to move a pocket to get into the forward's hands and get moving 'cause right now it's, it can't just be won and done against Florida. Like, you might have to convert on, you know, a turnover here, you know, to get one, but at the same time, like, you're gonna have to find ways to get some sustained pressure as well. - Yeah, and the thing about Leon Drey's saddle in this series, which has been really interesting, has been like how he's been somewhat limited and I wonder if it's injury or just how they're playing him, but he's been, you know, notorious, I mean, notorious in a good way for essentially battling through anything, you know, having two guys on him, having injuries or whatever, but it just doesn't quite seem like he's been getting loose. Like, what are you seeing or not seeing with Leon Drey's saddle? - Yeah, I mean, I just think that right now all of the depth and help and support that Edmonton was getting for a bit there, you know, it's dried up across the board. So it instantly goes back to, you look at two players in Edmonton, like, yes, they've made all these steps with making their team better and becoming more deep, but at the end of the day, like, it goes back to those two. And Florida knows that. So if you just keep sticking on top of those guys and making every little inch of ice hard to get through, it really doesn't matter who you are. You're eventually not gonna be able to push through it. Like, you can't always have someone in your back pocket and still make a play. It's just too tough. - What'd you think of the Drey's saddle hit on Barcoff? - I think it's a guy that got a little excited to go hit someone while he was frustrated. Like, you know, I wasn't expecting him to get suspended, especially once they said, you know, Barcoff will be in and all that it'll be fine. You know, I think it's very different if it's two different players in that, or one different player in that scenario, but as soon as it happens, you know, obviously you're just hoping that Barcoff's head's okay, but past that, I mean, it moves along pretty quick. I mean, it's the finals. You can do almost, almost anything. Like, if you look back over the suspension hit, you gotta go back pretty far. - Yeah. - Yeah, well, we all remember Aaron Rome, right? - Yeah. - I mean, I was just gonna let it fly to whom everyone knew when I was talking about that one. - Everybody remembers Aaron Rome. - That four game, or the whole. - Yeah, but you, but that's the thing, like with the final and the playoffs in general, like, it gets tougher, but the game also gets a lot dirtier. I mean, you've played playoff games. How much extra do you get when the rest not looking? You take the little cross check in the lower back, whatever it might be. The game's just a lot dirtier come playoff time. - Yeah, I don't even think it's really when the rest not looking. You just know that I gotta actually do something here to get a penalty. Play the game long and get a feel for, okay, the game's getting a little over the line. Like they're going to call something. So it's just about being smart and picking your places, but you know, if you're getting your little scrums after whistles and stuff like that, like you're allowed to give an extra shot. And to be honest, you're so tired sometimes that you'd give it anyway, just because you wanna make sure you don't get one first. - Well, and I think that's one of my favorite parts about, you know, playoff hockey in general. It's every single scrum, something has to happen. And I mean, it's such a war of attrition by the time you get to this stage. One of the things that's kind of manipulating this week locally has been talk around Canucks free agents, the UFAs who may not be coming back because they may have their sights set on free agency. But in that stuff, we did hear that, you know, the Canucks were pretty aggressive with lies Lindholm prepared to perhaps go to as high as 7 million per year. They were aggressive on Zadorov, maybe not quite ready to go to 5 million. What do you make of where things were at with Lindholm and Zadorov and the fact that Lindholm is willing to walk away from quite a bit of money to go to free agency? - Yeah, I mean, like Lindholm's walked away from money before once, right? Like, so he's, you know, he's comfortable in that situation. You know, I wasn't someone that would ever have been able to do that, like I'd take the security in a heartbeat. But he's, you know, he's bet on himself once already and, you know, it paid off and it's, you know, it's gonna pay off again here. So, you know, I like that they're still trying to make this work and who knows what happens, but, you know, you have to try. If you feel that that player is someone that, regardless of what we have to do contract-wise is a fit for our team and we like what it brings, you try everything you can to make that work. Like, you know, the hard part is you have players that you like that are free agents now, but at the end of the day, you've lost them a second round and there's still work there. So you need to upgrade, but looking around where are you finding another Lindholm? Eventually, you're gonna have to pay someone to do that job and someone that you know and you've, you know, been around for a few months now and been through, you know, some pretty big experiences with on that playoff run makes you a lot more comfortable finding ways to make that money work. - Yeah, and at the end of the day, you know, if you're Lindholm, the idea of being the third line center in Vancouver, is it all that enticing for you? Sure, if the most money's on the table in Vancouver, which it wasn't going to be, then maybe it makes sense, but like Lindholm thinks of himself as a top-flight player. He wants to play with top-flight guys. He wants to be a number one or maybe a number two center wherever he's going to play. And I just don't think that option was here for him. - Yeah, and I mean, like, to be honest, I don't know what the number would have to be for a guy to sit there and his stall or on the bench and be happy with less ice time, regardless of the number, like you want to play. You've put in all this work and training through the summer and, you know, when you're sitting there sometimes and it's kind of on you with your play, you're thinking back to, you know, all the things you've given up through your childhood and life and you're like, I just want to play. And it comes down to that for him. He wants to be in a situation where, you know, of course he can win, but he can be the biggest part of that team to make that happen. - Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, you know, if you have a chance to go play with David Pasternak and Boston potentially, I mean, that might be a pretty fun opportunity. We'll see if that does come to pass or not for him. But the other player that connects to him and kind of linked with this week and we're still a ways away from free agency is Jake Genssel. Obviously, it would be a big piece. It would cost a lot of money. We've been, you know, all for it here talking about Genssel this week, but what are your thoughts on Jake Genssel and is it worth going after a player like that paying him top dollar to have him play alongside Elias Pederson? - Well, I mean, you know, it goes back to again of, if it's not him and you're not going to target it, who are you going to get to play with Pederson? You know, that we've talked about for the past few weeks that I've been on the show and I know you guys have talked about it a lot more. If it's not him who? And looking at him, he, you know, and Genssel, like, he can score, which is something that is not easy to do in the NHL and he's proven that, you know, over multiple years, but he also plays with a bite, not in the sense of like he's throwing massive hits and all of that, but like he's, you know, I heard of, you know, you guys talking before, I got on like, he's got a bit of dog at him. Like he wants, he has that will. And he's, you know, he's one of those guys that, you know, he had success earlier in his year or in his career, sorry. And he wants to find that again. The chance for him to come to a team where he's going to get to play with good players, where he's going to get a chance to score, which he loves to do and be on a winning team. Like, you know, looking at it from that side, like it is a fit. I would see him doing very well here. - Hey, Landon, we appreciate the time as always. Enjoy that duck hook on the first tee next time you're out. Okay. - Oh, it's the only thing I can count on in my life. - Thanks a lot, Landon. - All right, have a good one, guys. - There he is. Landon Ferraro, a real great addition to Canucks Central over the last couple of months. - Terrific, honestly terrific. What a find. - It is interesting with Gensil, you know, like, look, great players like playing with great players. And it's, I can see why that's part of maybe Lindholm's thinking as Elliot Friedman alluded to earlier this week. And I think the money's going to be there for Jake Gensil, no matter who he signs with, situation might play a big part in what his ultimate decision might be. - Yeah, and if you have sticker shock and I get it, it'll be a lot of money, but all the other free agents are getting paid a lot. The higher quality, guys, can you pay a lot? Even if we're talking Joshua here, look, getting a lot of money, he's the drawer, looking at five million plus. - Yeah. - You're paying a lot for someone, not always rather pay for the highest end player as possible if I'm overspending. You know, and the way Landon spoke about Gensil too, like the great he has, how hard he plays like, he's not the biggest player, but I always kind of laugh when people say he's soft. Small, soft players, like you guys haven't watched them play. - No. - You really haven't. - I mean, if he was soft, he wouldn't have scored as many playoff goals as he has and biggest such a part of big playoff teams. - 38 goals in 69 playoff games. - Yeah, it's an unbelievable number. You know, like a 40 goal pace, come playoff time. - Yeah. - That's not a small sample size either. - No. - And for all the talk about Sam Reinhardt and Sam Reinhardt's gonna get whatever he wants or he's gonna get a big money, big payday, like Sam Reinhardt and Jake Gensil had the same amount of points per game this season. - Pretty good. - Both at 1.15. The only difference is Jake Gensil didn't play as many games. Sam Reinhardt played all 82. Jake Gensil only played 67. And sure, he didn't score at the 57 goal pace that Sam Reinhardt did, but you know, could have got to 40 and could have got to close to or had upwards of 90 points had he played the full 82. It didn't happen, but this is the kind of player we're talking about. We pointed it out earlier this week. And quite frankly, these guys, like, that's the tier in free agency, right? It's Reinhardt, Sam Kose, Gensil. Reinhardt and Sam Kose, probably not making it to free agency. So then there's Gensil. - Yeah. - He's the top guy in free agency. Like the top top six forward out there and available. - Yeah, and it's gonna cost you to get him. - It would cost, but it's, again, like, I go for it. 'Cause next year, if you have Besser and Miller as your duo and then Patterson and Gensil, I'm not saying it doesn't matter what else you do with your forward group, but it kind of doesn't in the regular season. If those guys are healthy, now you need more. But like having those duos, like, I don't think people quite understand what would happen if you get Patterson with a high level player like that and he finds his game again. - Yeah. It would be something to watch. - Like we saw with Kose Manko, for instance, but Kose Manko's game was still kind of erratic, but he still scored a bunch. And you saw how dynamic that was. - Yes. - Now imagine with more consistent player doing the same thing consistently. - Would be huge. Possibilities are there for the Vancouver Canucks and look, you wanna get the most out of Elias Patterson. Sure, he's getting paid 11.6 million bucks. You wanna give him the best chance to not only make good on that deal, but also get above that. - It's Dan Rachow, Satyar Shah. Coming tomorrow, we're gonna have a mailbag. We are slated to be on from three to four p.m. Depends on what happens with Vancouver Canadians as we are the home of your Vancouver Canadians. But we'll have a mailbag for you. Satyar put out a question, answer with your question for us during the week and we'll get to your questions and more as well tomorrow in our show from three to four p.m. Four, producers Josh and Costa, my co-host Sat. I'm Dan. Enjoy game three, Oilers and Panthers coming up next on Sportsnet 650. (upbeat music) - Hey, it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff. Join us for Alford and Bruff in the morning, weekdays for six to nine a.m. on Sportsnet 650. - Or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app.
