[MUSIC] >> Knocks Central Thursday at Stan Reicho, Satyar Shah here in the Kintec Studio, Kintec Canada's favorite orthotics provider, powered, 5,000s, thousands of five star Google reviews, sore feet, what are you waiting for? Say beautiful Thursday, June the 13th, here in the lower mainland, just an absolutely gorgeous day, feel the summer air, says 22 on the thermometer, but it feels like 37. I don't know about 37. >> Definitely feels warmer than whatever the thermometer says, and don't tell me what it says in your car, that's not accurate. >> Sorry, Sat. >> Josh is like, whoa, when I was driving in, it was like 22, I'm like dude, the car is not accurate. >> It's way warmer. >> The real scale is whether or not Sat is sweating by the time he walks to the studio from the Skytray. >> Yes, exactly. >> What temperature do you think of this? >> I think it's 21. >> Okay, all right, I'm just kidding, I was bugging you, man, I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know what I'm talking about. All I know is that when I came in today, it was warmer than what the thermometer says, and I do know the car one is inaccurate, you know. >> Yeah, I didn't mean it as I'm just beyond. >> No, I know. I've seen it before, so somebody says it's 32, I'm like, it's like 24, relax. >> Yeah, Sat, the weatherman, Sat signs guy, Sat space guy, Sat, weather guy. >> No. >> No? >> Well, it makes me sound like a no-it-all jerk going on that way. >> Well, all right, let's get to the open. >> Welcome to the open. >> That's your home. Are you too good for your home? Answer me. >> Yes, it is the open here on Canucks Central. We bring you the latest on the Vancouver Canucks in our take on it. Little tidbits and news filtered out through the course of the day, and one of the things I thought was more interesting was the addition of Ilya McCabe to Frank Sarah Valley's trade targets list over at Daily Face Off. And he puts him at number six on the trade target list, which is just below Patrick Liney and ahead of Jacob Chickron of the Ottawa senators. So there is some smoke here around Ilya McCabe. And the idea being that the Canucks need to or are looking to open up some more cap space, which is sort of surprising given that they have what the sixth most available space right now in the entire National Hockey League. >> But it's not enough. It's never enough. >> If you ask Jim Rutherford and Patrick Galvine how much cap space they need, they'll always say more. >> Yes. >> Right? I think that's how they operate. So it makes sense, right? Like if you can move off Mikayev, especially considering the players the Canucks are trying to retain and also trying to acquire, it gives them more flexibility and they can do more things, right? The question really comes down to what is the cost of moving Mikayev going to be? The thing I will say about Mikayev, and I've asked around about Mikayev before, right? And he has a very good reputation around the league. >> Yes. >> Like he's known as a smart two-way player with size and speed, a lot. >> Something teams will always covet to some level. Size and speed winger, sign me up. >> Yeah, and especially with two-way value, right? And can score a little bit, although he didn't show that in the final 40 games, but can score 20-some goals every year or has shown that he can do it, but obviously had a really tough final 40 games and then the playoffs just couldn't score. But he's a guy that has a good reputation. The question though is, is a reputation good enough that teams will make deals and want something in return or are actually willing to maybe take that contract off or your hands? And that's where the question is, right? I think what Garland last year was like, there just was no market for him. >> Yeah. >> There could be a market, the question is, what's the price? >> I think it's a really interesting conversation with William McKay of those that have listened to the show for some time would know and maybe might even call me a McKay of Stan to some level saying for a long time that he needs to stay on Pedersen's wing because there's not too many better options that the Canucks have that part of his struggles were due to Andre Kuzmeko's struggles. You know, people will call me out on that take as well and maybe it wasn't entirely true in the end. But my feeling on Eli McKay have has been the same this entire time. He scored 10 goals the first half of the season, had 10 goals before Christmas. You weren't complaining about him then and then he had one goal the rest of the way. And it was brutal. Like he scores early in game seven against the Oilers. Who knows how that game goes differently. He had multiple chances, including that breakaway where he had Stuart Skinner beat. He just couldn't get the backhand onto the net and into the net. So there is a player there, maybe not one that's worth 4.75 million against the cap, certainly not with the way that he played this year. But there's a player there that I still like and still believe would and will bring value to this team. So I just have, I have zero interest in entertaining a trade that involves the Canucks having to part with a second round draft choice or something to that effect in order to move off of this money. I just, I, it doesn't interest me in the slightest. No, and I'm with you. I'm not giving up an asset to move McKay of. Would I dump his contract though if I had the chance? Sure. Right. Because I mean, like again, if you, the types of players you can sign this off season and the way you can fill out your roster, I think the cap space is about, and not like me, KF. Like I saw, like, am I moving in the KF just so that I have more money to bring back to Code of Joshua at $4 million? Like, no, I'm probably not. Well, it depends. Like I'm not paying the Code of Joshua at $4 million, but you have more space and free agency to go after more players, right? Like we were talking yesterday about, hey, if you are able to get a little bit more cap space, not only can you sign again so when fill out your defense, you may actually be able to sign a couple wingers, making $2 million or so. And considering how the market shapes up, it could be some, you know, some pretty solid players at a smaller rate, right? So I think there will be opportunities for you to take advantage of it. Yeah. So I'd be, I'd be open to doing it, but that's the question is somebody willing to take that off your hands. And I'm just not sure that's the case. You know what I mean? And if it is, again, I said McKay of actually has some value on the market. He has a good reputation. Even with me saying that, I'd be surprised if somebody just takes that contract off your hands completely. Yeah. I don't think you're getting rid of the contract completely unless you're attaching an asset to it and or you're doing some kind of a hockey trade, right? That's the other way potentially to make a positive out of Ilya McKayev. And that, I mean, it's somewhat intriguing. We talked about John Gabrielle Pajoe in the past. He's got two years left at five million per that solves your third line center issue. If you're the Vancouver Canucks, also a right shot center that can penalty kill for you. So with Elias Lynn Holm on the way out, maybe this is a better way to spend or earmark that five million dollars or close to five million dollars that that alien McKayev has on the books for the next two years. Guys like, you know, there are others you take a cop, a taco off the list, but you know, Kirsten Dvorak out of Montreal, I know has been mentioned, Riley Smith is somebody out of Pittsburgh who's only got a year left. That's at five million bucks. Could that be a better fit, a more offensive fit for the bank? Like those, that's the kind of thing you're maybe looking at in order to swap money out for money and maybe just see if there's a better fit around the league. Yeah. And the thing is, I'm not sure in that type of swap that you are necessarily getting a better player. You mentioned the balance back ability. Like I think next year McKayev is going to balance back. Yeah. I think he's going to have a full off season. He's going to skate better, I think. I think he's going to be a player who's going to regress positively. And if he's healthy next year, I wouldn't be shocked if he has 20 goals and 20 assists and has a 40 point season and is allotted for his good two-way acumen and his speed coming back. You know, and I think that all of a sudden is an asset to any team, if you get, right? So I wouldn't be against bringing him back for that reason. And also I'm not against, I'm against trading him, swapping him for somebody who's maybe not an upgrade. Yeah. I mean, I'm not getting any money out. I'd rather just bank on him giving you the balance back, right? But so that's the thing I'd view it. But if I can get all the money off, that's a different story. The thing, the other thing I want to say on, on McKayev 2 and why I wouldn't be so keen to move off of him, you know, we mentioned the size and speed. This team is already lacking size and speed on the wing. You're losing to, you're likely losing Dakota Joshua this summer. You trade Ilya McKayev, now you are even more deficient in size and speed on the wing. You move out McKayev, you bring in Jake Genssel, guess what? Yeah, Genssel's great, but you still have a size and speed issue on the wing aside from, you know, the guys that you have currently allotted in that scenario to your top six. And so that it's just really hard for me to get behind, you know, paying to move off of Ilya McKayev. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not paying to move off of him. And if you can move all the money off and all you're taking back is say somebody making a million bucks or something, sure, whatever, something you can bury or, you know, something minor. Okay, that's fine. The other scenario I can see with McKayev would be if the connects make a bigger deal, and he's part of the money going the other way. Similar to the Andre Kuzmenko. Yeah. Attachment to the Eliaslyn home deal. And if it's same thing, another year left on a contract beyond next season, and it was similar with Bevillea too with the connects that had had to acquire for one more year beyond that too. Yeah. So if you're making a bigger deal and you're taking on bigger on a bigger contract, that could be a part of the make way going the other way, right? That's maybe the most realistic trade I can see for Ilya McKayev. I think that is one way to make it make more sense because like I don't think for a second. And I think back to Patrick Olveen talking about McKayev, I think he was asked, but he was asked if McKayev is still an NHL player, which I chuckled at a little bit. Well, I mean, yeah. He's an NHL player, yeah. And you know, he was pretty strong in his defense of Ilya McKayev. Like there's a reason they gave this guy a four-year deal. For sure. But he did also say it's my fault he played in the top six. Yes. He's now a top six player. Yes. And I think how I think that was really interesting and fascinating about how they view their top six then. Yeah. So they view it as a player of McKayev's caliber, even when he's at his best, is not good enough to be the third guy on the line in the top six. What does that tell you about the quality they might be chasing then on the wings? Yeah. Or profile they're chasing on the wings. There would be upgrades then. That's how how I read it. I need money to get those upgrades into Vancouver because I know people are going to roll their eyes at this. But I actually look at next year and think to myself if the Canucks get Genssel and put him with Patterson. Actually, like McKayev, kind of being the third guy on that line. I wouldn't want Hoglander on that line. He has some size, speed, can forecheck, help those guys get the puck. You know what I mean? He's showing some ability doing those things, right? So I don't mind him being there. He just can't be the duo guy. Yeah. That's what he was with Patterson for a large part of this season. And maybe that's what they meant, what he meant by that. Like, you know, he's he's more of like a guy who helps a line and that can't be like one of the key guys on line. He's a complimentary piece. He's not a he's not a driver. No. And that's that's kind of what I would view it as if he comes back next season as not a negative. Yeah. But you know, it's interesting that Frank has him at at sixth on the trade board. Mm hmm. I mean, his name's obviously out there. So I just tweeted out with a quote tweet with the the link to the show today. And I said, the Canucks should keep Ilia McKay of how are you in ratio early returns. Not great on this take. Not a popular take. What's more? What's more unpopular that take or the cup holders take? Definitely cup holders. People had much stronger opinions on on cup holders. But this from Brian and Burke Mountain boo another one from G. Are you day drinking? Now why also what type of role would he play next season fourth line wing? No, he would play a larger role than that. Others put down some good memes on this and the Dunbar lumber text message inbox also is fired up about this idea. Send him to San Jose. Yes. San Jose is just ready to take on anybody and anything. I guess. My favorite reply to you was the one of the old photo of the guy in like the 40 standing up in the crowd. Yes. That's me. Yeah, that's you. Standing for Ilia McKay of yet again. But you know, when I think about this situation, I think it's interesting, of course, because part of Frank's reasoning for putting Ilia McKay of on the trade targets list is the Canucks are looking to open up more money to potentially sign their own free agents or whatever else they're planning on doing this summer. And now there's a lot that lies on that. One of the things I'm starting to wonder is, you know, do they feel like they have a real shot at Jake Genssel? But there is some notes about what else could be happening with the Canucks. Dollywall linking Brandon Duhame with the Vancouver Canucks. We know that was a name they were potentially after around the deadline. Yeah. They were linked to him during the trade deadline. So it fits. A lot of size. Has some size and physicality. He fits the mold. He's not quite a Joshua replacement. The offensive upside is in there. Yeah. But he's a guy with some size and brawn and toughness. Could be a welcome addition. Like I'd like to see a Duhame type playing down the lineup for this team. Yeah. Six foot two, two hundred pounds, you know, twenty seven years old is kind of right in the range of adding size and speeds to the fourth line. And I think, you know, it's pretty obvious that Sam Lafferty isn't going to be coming back to Vancouver. Could Brandon Duhame be a replacement for that type of player? I think that is something that could work for the Vancouver Canucks. So that's a name to keep an eye on. And also mention that there are double digit teams with interest in Dakota, Joshua, and to specifically the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks. Yeah. You know, I mentioned last week that about the rumor that the Red Wings are interested, the number of teams interested, and apparently that took off with Red Wing Nation. And they're... Oh, really? Yeah. And apparently they're pretty worried about Steve Eisenman signing another player that they're not very high on to a contract, right? And I think... Steve Eisenman's had an interesting time in free agency with the Detroit Red Wings. Yeah, it really has, man. And you know what? I've been skeptical about Joshua getting four million. But the more I look at it and, you know, with Elliot mentioning that Joshua seems to be at the top of the list of the type of player profile teams are after size, physicality, some scoring ability. He has, quote-unquote, he has it all when it comes to that type of player. So, man, this kid may get paid. And good on him. I hope he gets a massive contract. It's not going to be a Vancouver, but I hope he gets a massive contract somewhere. I mean, I wonder if, I think back to that we have to find the next Dakota Joshua. And I know Patrick Arveen wasn't speaking specifically to Joshua leaving, but the idea of that comment, I still wonder if, at that point, they already knew it was going to be tough to keep Joshua given the kind of money he could command on the open market. And as we've mentioned about him, this is his one chance. Yeah. That's it. Go out there and get the bag. Get everything you can, you know. Yeah. And especially if it's out there on such a short sample size that Dakota Joshua has realistically provided here. You know, and I know Dolly mentioned that he believes the Canucks didn't even get the three in their discussion so far. Now, maybe that's changed and maybe they have gone above that figure. But if that's where you're at. Like it's just the snack, you know, that's just far, far too low for what he can command. So like, I'm even sure he gets four, but I think he might get like five years, like three and a half times five, right? So about the total money, that's, that's what it comes down to more than anything else. One thing I actually started wondering about today as this situation popped up, but you look at the situation with the Canucks free agents and them all seemingly with one foot out the door because there's more money for them on the open market. Frank Sarah Valley reporting today that Ili McK f could be on the trade blocks so that the Canucks could have more money to keep their pending free agents. Like Nikita Zadorov looks like he's going to sign for more money elsewhere. The Lieslin home Canucks feel like they're out on that. Not going to go above a seven by seven type of deal. That's been the reporting so far Dakota Joshua looks like he's going to get the bag and free agency as well. Do the Canucks think they have to reevaluate what players are worth on the free agent market this year with the cap going up? We saw what Jalen Chatfield got today. Are guys just going to get more money this year than what we've seen in recent years? I think part of that is something that you're going to have to consider. It's like we talked about before, it's like you can sit here and say, "Well, don't spend money in free agency, but then how are you going to get better?" It's like you're not going to do anything, just wait and people age out, the next thing you know you didn't do anything. You have to get involved, and at some point you're just going to have to plug your nose and do something. But I think for the Canucks it's about the big piece again. It comes down to what's our big piece going to be, and from that it really helps. I can understand from the Canucks perspective where they're like, "Okay, maybe we're willing to go to five to Zadora, but not unless we clear space and not unless we get these other things figured out." It makes sense where it's like, "Maybe I will stretch, but I need the flexibility to do so." Right now that you feel like you don't have it, and it could be as simple as signing her own it, and also trying to keep a Luger, because as we talked about, once you feel that you're defense, you sign a Genssel type, and if you keep her own it, the money dries up really quickly. Really quickly. So it's like you're even just keeping a Luger if you move a little bit of money makes that easier as well, right? And I think their priority is still to have those big players come in, and beyond that, well now you don't need flexibility to maybe overextend yourself on a Zadora, overextend yourself a little bit on Dakota Joshua. And if you think you have a chance at a Genssel, do you really want to tie in five plus million on Zadora, right now, or tie in close to four million dollars on Dakota Joshua? I like you, Dakota, but I'd like to have the chance at a Genssel as well. Well, you don't want to have, as a situation where we're sitting here next season saying, "Well, you have Mckay, I have a four, seven, five, and he's not producing. You have Zadora getting paid five, and he's okay. You have Joshua making four, and he's fine, on pace for 15 goals." But all of a sudden you're talking about like 14 million in cap space for maybe a combined 22 goals. Yeah. And like these, okay, production. Then we're going to sit here and talk about, "Hey, what happened to all that, you know, efficiency again? Why is it not going on?" So it's like you need to remove one of those contracts, I think. Like if you move from Mckay of out, then I say, "Okay, we can risk somebody else maybe becoming the Mckay of." That's like good, but not quite where we need them to be. You just can't have two or three guys that are really underperforming what they're getting paid to perform at. Quickly on Jalen Chatfield, he gets a three-year deal at $9 million total money from the Carolina Hurricane. So he has Stan in Raleigh, and it's the terms of the deal that's got everybody talking. Year one, $1 million base, $2.75 million signing bonus with a no move clause. Number two is a $1 million base with a $2 million signing bonus. And then year three, only $775 in salary with a $1.475 million signing bonus, a 15-team no trade. So Jalen Chatfield not only got a nice deal from a total dollars perspective, he got a nice deal from the term and the terms of his deal here, a lot of front-loaded money on signing bonus. And we were kind of talking about Chatfield yesterday. Just briefly in terms of like, "Hey, if the Canucks don't sign Huronac or whatever, could they fill out their defense?" And what did we say about Chatfield, like maybe two, two and a half million or something? Well, he got three. I mean, not too far off of that, but I think it is pretty instructive about where the market is for free-age and righty defensement. And did he actually take in terms of total money a little bit less? Because he got the bonuses the way he wanted, he got a no move clause and everything. Did he do that in exchange for not taking as much total money? So does that tell you about where the market is? Because, you know me, I said, I made fun of the hurricanes the other day and I'm not a pew john how they do things. I find them very boring and just, yeah, I'm not going to do the hurricanes rant again. But I don't think they're just so foolish at giving him all those things because they're dumb. It's because of where the market's at. So if they're giving him the no move clause in the signing bonuses for a player of his ilk, who's only played average 14 minutes a game for his career, who played 15 minutes a game last year, 15. And I'm not even talking about a guy playing 17 or 18, like 15 minutes a game. If he's getting three, he probably can get three and a half on the open market. Yep. What does that tell you about all the other righty defensement out there? What does it tell you about Filipronic, you know, again, Tyler Myers. If he takes three, that's a pretty decent discount for the Vancouver Canucks to keep Tyler Myers based on this contract for for Jalen Chatfield. Yeah. And you know, I had somebody ask me Canucks insights on Twitter, ask me about it. I haven't brought up Chris Tanev's name in terms of guys, the Canucks go after or whatever. The reason I'm not doing the Tanev thing too much isn't because I don't think the Canucks have some sort of a chance, but it looks like he's going to be a guy who is going to get a pretty big offer for somebody. Yeah. The thought was five million plus maybe. And now with Chatfield getting three, is it really ridiculous for somebody to throw five a year to Chris Tanev for three years or four years? And if that's where it's going with Tanev, it's just, I'm just not sure it's going to align with Vancouver. And that's the biggest kind of hurdle. But at some point, whether it's your own free agent, Stan, whether it's somebody who's signing your free agency, you're going to have to pay somebody an uncomfortable number. Yeah. The numbers are going to be uncomfortable this year in free agency, especially July one, you're going to see some numbers that definitely have some shock value to them with more money in the league and obviously more money for a lot of teams to spend than we've seen in years past as there's no longer a flat salary cap. Quickly on the round up, blues extending Doug Armstrong is president for five years. He will remain as the GM for now and Alex Dean will be grown into the role of the next couple of years. Currently, he is an AGM and Kapo Kako signed a one year deal to avoid arbitration and stay with the New York Rangers. I did shed a single solitary tear when I saw this news today. Yeah, I was thinking about you earlier today. Tough one. Yeah. But makes sense for a second. Overall pick. Dan Riccho, Satyar Shah. Coming up, Landon Ferraro is going to join us his take on the Stanley Cup final. Maybe what the Canucks do with Ilya Mikayev. That's coming up next on Canucks Central. Hey, it's Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drans, get your daily dose of Canucks talk with us weekdays from 12 to 2 on Sportsnet 650 or catch up on demand through your favorite podcast app. (bell chimes)
