(upbeat music) - Happy Canada Day, it's fan morning show, sports nine, five, nine, and fan bananas. - Brent Gunning, we are live from the Royal Canadian Legion. Branch 344 1395 Lakeshore Boulevard, West, near Lakeshore. And Jameson, just had myself some breakfast and tater tots. Breakfast is going until nine o'clock this morning. - You were lying to me, you did. I see a crumb of it right there. - You think I was lying about something as serious as tater tots? - I just saw you eating muffins that I thought, like tater tots. - Tater tots, the corners don't have any nutritious brides. - I don't disagree, I just thought you'd like the alliteration of tater tots. But you would never lie, that's also true. Okay, live band today here, live from the Legion, one to six as well, barbecue coming your way. - Be a good name for a band. - Tater tots? - Tater tots. - Yeah, okay. - Yeah, I mean, what's stopping you from starting a band? - The lack of musical talent. - Oh, right, yeah. - Only that. - Yeah. - So the only thing stopping the Toronto Maple Leafs, the only thing stopping the Toronto Maple Leafs from totally remaking their team and trading away Mitch Marner was his full no move clause. - Oh, okay, that's just a little thing standing in the way, just like a clause that gives him full control over all proceedings. That's it. - Yeah, so free agency not yet open. And I suppose there's, I guess, a five hour window between now and noon in which a trade could be consummated and the Maple Leafs could free up whatever cap space would be freed up in the trading of a Mitch Marner, if in fact that was the impetus to trading him. But at this point, Brent, I find it hard to believe that that is going to happen. And if it doesn't happen, and the Maple Leafs have to do all their business through free agency with the understanding or the belief that Mitch Marner is going to be a part of this team in 24/25, does that mean it's over? That the whole Mitch Marner discourse, all the conversations and all the like parsing coffee conversations between he and Craig Baroubi, like all that is we wasted our time because it's just he's going to run it back and maybe there's an extension forthcoming in the not too distant future. - First things first, how dare you? We would never waste our time discussion the Toronto Maple Leafs. Any amount of time spent doing that is time perfectly well spent and never wasted. So how dare you first things first? In terms of the Marner of it all, I think the thing that has kind of changed my opinion 'cause my initial thought was, okay, maybe July 1st is in the hard stop because you have a team that misses out on a Jake Gunsell and they pivot, but they've already all done that 'cause he's gonna go sign with the lightning. And I do think that that would have maybe been the impetus for if there were two or three teams sitting there in a bidding war for Gunsell and then they miss out and they say, okay, we got this money burning a hole in our pocket, Leafs are maybe looking to make a trade, we can go and pivot, not say that still can't happen, but I think that the idea of it happening now is dead and gone. And I think the Leafs are not in a position because let's say the Leafs were able to, let's say there was a trade waiting in the hopper right here right now, Mitch Marner is gone. You know what they gotta do? They gotta go get another top six forward unless Nick Robertson is gonna be that guy and I think we've had our dalliances with that. So they gotta go get a top six forward and then they gotta go get the defenseman that they already wanna go get with the money. And guess what? Unless somebody's gonna tell me somebody is a free agent that's not, I don't think that those guys are just sitting out there to be had for the 11 million bucks that's Mitch Marner. So I don't really think this changes the equation at all. I think there is still very much a world. If he's extended, obviously that puts any of it in my opinion, but I still think there's a world where he is traded at a timeline similar to the Mathika Chuck trade of something two weeks from now when everybody goes to the cottage and everybody cools down and then-- - But if that happens, it's a hockey trade right? At that point it's your, whatever, there's no selling people on the idea of yeah, I mean the second part of this is coming. And I guess the example, if you're going to another sport would be the Tia Oscar Hernandez trade was like, ah, I mean, Harry Swanson looks like not the commencement return for middle of the order slugger, but look what we do with this money that never came. But yeah, I mean, if you're past free agency and you're looking at that trade, it has to be you're getting multiple pieces in return for Marner and then it's almost money in money out at that point. - Yeah, I also wonder, you know, like I don't think that this is the style of the defenseman, the triliving covets, and I know that I'm just tying the two together 'cause it used to be a leaf and there's been some connection to Marner in the trade market there, but it's like, I don't look at, you know, I look at a guy like Sean Dursey, he got a $6 million extension with the Utah hockey club, right? And I saw that and I go, mmm, that would fit nicely in a Mitch Marner trade. And guess what, there are going to be guys who have one year left on their deal who are going to sign extensions that look something along those lines. And I don't think that it predicates the least from doing a deal like that. You're right, it's not going to be the, okay, well, they got one player of note and unlike the mistake Brad your living made where he goes and gets Mackenzie Uiger and Jonathan Huberdoe, he's just going to get Mackenzie Uiger in cap space this time. That trade is not happening if it hasn't happened now, quite frankly. So I think you're right there, but I don't think it precludes you from a, okay, this guy's in RFA and he makes six ish mill and then you can, you know, you can go out and do your business to acquire, 'cause guess what, like as teams get close to camp, they're going to be teams looking to shed money as well. Like you can shed money in the summer and not need to spend it right away. So I think there's still a lot of different routes. I have been of the belief that they could extend him and still trade him 'cause it's no harder. I don't think that just makes like pragmatic human sense to do quite frankly, but I think the world where just 'cause he's not traded now means there's no trade coming, I don't necessarily believe it. - I think it drops off significantly though. - Yes, yes, the chances of it, 1000%. It definitely hurts the chances of it, yes. - Yeah, and the legwork, I'm sure largely has been done. May beliefs, you may recall, it's been a while since they played a hockey game. - So Bradford Living's had plenty of time to explore the trade market and it's not like, teams weren't talking, we saw them consummate a trade before game seven of the cup final. - He was allowed to be at the draft. - Yeah, he was at the sphere co-workers. - By the way, sphere every year. Why not have the draft of the sphere every year? - I don't know, was it so great? - Oh, you didn't like it? - I don't like, it's a big screen. Like we've never seen one of those have it in Jerry's. - Wow, wow, anti-sphere. - No, not anti, just like, what's so good about it? Like-- - Yeah, the big screen, you're inside a screen. - Why don't we just do it, okay. If I just told you it was the sphere, but it was an IMAX theater, would you have known any differently? - Honestly. - No, no, be honest. - I mean, it's a little more curve. - Sure, okay, so no. - And it's like over your head? - No, it's what I'm hearing. - I mean, if you were there, probably. But you were, oh, were you, I'm sorry, did I miss something with Vegas? - No, no, we'll talk to some-- - Barry and Melino, who was there, yeah. We'll talk to the people who were there. We'll get a sense of what it was like. - I'm just, I've already forgotten the sphere. - I've already forgotten what team it was. Was that the Preds who got their beloved sphere trip taken away from them? - That's right, it was. The Predators. And then they're under. - And they're under. - It's not even, it's not even that cool. It's just a big screen. You've ever seen one before? - Yeah, I think it's pretty cool. - Okay, you know what, prove me wrong, sphere. - What's that do there? - Send me out. - Prove me wrong, sphere. - No good, prove me wrong. - I thought the draft product on support stand. Obviously it's wonderful. - Obviously it's very good. - Yeah, the video. - The sphere's got enough positive press. I don't, they probably don't need to. - But there's nobody saying bad things about it. They gotta quash me before I start my army. You don't think that's happening? - I think they're, again, like the reviews of the sphere overwhelmingly positive. - Big screen. - Nice speakers. - Listen. - Seems like a lot of rooms, gotta be honest. - I like a contrarian take. - Yeah, I know you do, you love them for me. - Yeah, and you do Frank killed Frank and Shawshay. - I didn't love that one. - No, you didn't. - No, you didn't. - No, all right. - Okay, so Leafs, it would really help if somebody gave us some real figures on Chris Tanev if they could complete that. - God, it's, and it really does feel like it can't be a bakai. They're not gonna get away with the March year Dano. - I don't know, if I was Brad for living and I saw the Frank Surah Valley tweet and I said, oh, is that the NHL preemptively taking a strike at us? It wouldn't be emboldened me more. I mean, you know, you know my opinion on this. I was the guy who said that before they even hired a head coach, Brad, she's living, should have stepped to the mic and said, I watch Old Pueblo and the NHL won't let me have him. So this is very much my opinion on how the Leafs should operate, have never, ever asked for permission. And don't even beg for forgiveness. Tell them you're being forgiven. Like, thank you for forgiving me. No begging. - Yeah, I still think if that was the plan before the Frank Surah Valley tweet, it should be the plan after the Frank Surah Valley probably prelining up doctors who are gonna like get out of medical school three years from now to be like, hey, you're gonna okay this. - Here's the thing. Like, Chris Tan have upon signing whatever deal he ends up signing, we assume with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he's gonna have to pass a medical evaluation. I'm sure the doctors are like, what? Like, no, this guy can't play hockey today. Let alone three years from now. Anyways. - No, you're not wrong. - So what does an ideal day look like for the Toronto Maple Leafs today? - Quiet. - I don't know that there's the room to get out over their skis, but what was the one mistake that Brad should live in made last year? Right, he didn't make a million mistakes left, right, and center. There were two. The Ryan Reeves one that we have gone back and forth on it didn't kill them, but I think a lot of people given their drawers go, okay, did you need to do that? And then the other one is John Klingberg, and that did, actually hurt them. Again, LTAR and they were able to work their way around it as, you know, is par for the course in this league until now, apparently. But I look at it, that's the thing you need to avoid is the mistake. The thing that I am most worried about with tri-living, and I think he's done an excellent job building a blue line is feeling like he had to build his blue line right now. - Yeah. - Do it right now and do it with term and get every guy you need it in here, and that is the death now. You have to build this thing. This isn't to say like, go about it slowly and don't try to force anything and let my boy Ben Danford develop, and he'll be part, that's not what you need to do, but what you need to do is avoid going eight times eight on some guy who deserves four times five. - Well, yeah, that would be the, I guess, the Brandon Montre of it all, which is a guy that, hey, oh, he's gonna fix the power. I mean, he was off the number one power play unit for the Panthers in the postseason. - Every time we think we have the thing to fix the least power play, something else that else. - Yeah, I think that's what it is for me. Honestly, it is not a, normally there is a, I want player to fill roll X, player to fill roll Y. It is, don't get out over your skis trying to fill the fringes of the roster. - No, but I think taking a couple of swings at the top end or the top tier of the defenseman free agent pool would be good. Like they're gonna need more than Chris Tannov on the blue line here. I guess there are enough change in the couch cushions for Nikita Zadorov as well as a Chris Tannov. - So that is exactly the kind of deal that I think the term kills you on. That is a, and what is it about, right? Like I can, Brad's living would never nakedly step to a podium at the end of today or tomorrow and say, oh yeah, the last four years of the Zadorov deal are gonna be terrible, but Oz Matthews under contract for four years. So what do we care about that? I can live with that world, if that is the realization, that's how they're really trying to build this thing and the tax bill will come due when it's time to truly blow this thing up. I can like, I can hear that argument. It's just not the way I would go about it. I think Zadorov is a classic guy that if you gave him a six, eight year banger, where you would have stretches where you'd say, oh my God, how could we not give him 12 years? He is such a beloved person and great player for this team and could give you off it, but you'd also have long stretches where you'd say, this guy's killing you and he's gonna be on your books for five, six, seven more years. - Well, how much of that thinking then does exist with Brad for a living, especially if we're talking about the six year deal for Kristinov? Which, yes, we can all envision a scenario in which he's spending some years on LTIR, but I would like to give him the benefit of the debt with the thought that like, yeah, okay, maybe he is our Mark Giordano playing respectable hockey into his 40s, I suppose, but I mean also, the cap is going up and whatever four million bucks look like in six years, clearly a move of that ilk is with an eye to like, yeah, we'll deal with that when we have to deal with it. The idea is the window of contention is right now and how else are we gonna land Kristinov for next season? There's just totally no other way. So if that's your thinking, why can't it exist for Nikita Zadora? If you're just saying it's the wrong player. - No, it's not that it's the wrong player. He's just quite frankly too young. Like the difference with Kristinov and I know the league is gonna tell us, no, no, test test, that's not allowed as of right now apparently 'cause it's not in the spirit of the rule. I can easily see a world where Kristinov ends up on LTIR for the parts of that deal that does not hurt him. I don't think that exists with Zadora. He's just, he's a factually just younger player. An eight year deal is gonna take him to how old Kristinov is right now. Okay, so the idea that it's like we would look at him is okay, he'll just happily go away. No chance and I know we're not supposed to say that part out loud, but that is part of the calculation with all this. So I think that's the difference with Zadora for me is I love the player. If you could, I mean, this goes for most players on free agency. If you could get them for not the most term and not premium premium dollars, you would love to have them. I was the guy clamoring when everyone said, "Ah, who cares about that Zadora I've traded?" They'll be able to make a better one. No, they weren't. Zadora was the guy they needed. He would have helped them in spades last year, but that was acquiring him for a third and a fifth round draft pick or whatever the Leafs tax would have been along with that. Not acquiring him for the big money and big term he's gonna get. And he earned an omba grudge, I'm getting it. I just would like it to be someone else's eventual mistake and not the Leafs. And I, again, would, if I could sign him up for a four year deal, paying him fair value would do it in a heartbeat. But you can't, you're not gonna be able to do that. But you're not gonna be able to get an established quality starting goal tender. Those guys are all gone. Chico. And it looks like we're not, we're, we're talking Laura and Brassois, or we're talking about Anthony Stollars, who appears to be the, the new hotness. Yeah. As far as the Toronto Maple Leafs free agent pursuit of a goalie who has never played more than 28 games in a regular season. You know the, you know how many games Joseph Wall played this season? Obviously a career high. How many? 25. Okay. So that gets you to 51. Yeah. That's more than halfway there. Quite honestly. If I already just told you Joe Wall in a backup got more than halfway there. Like, oh, that's good math, honestly. What? Like, so, okay. Yeah, at their best and fully healthy. Yeah, sure. Could I buy into a Joseph Wall Anthony Stollars combo duo? Yeah, okay, there's not even close to a proof of concept there with these two guys playing enough, having, carrying enough of the workload to, to be a tandem. That's good enough or healthy enough to get you through an 82-game regular season, let alone into the postseason. What, what, what, what if the Maple Leafs are going to war with Joseph Wall and Anthony Stollars? I'm even looking at the history of his life, according to hockey DB, and with the Corpus Christi ice race, he once played 50 games. That's the most he's ever played. That was back in 11, 12, been a while. I am a guy who's kind of bullish on Stollars. I think all the questions you bring up about the amount of games he's played. Can he handle the workload, fair, fair, fair? I think of the options available though. He's the guy I feel the best about. And I'll just say it one more time. I wouldn't hate Matt Murray being a part of it. Yeah. Well, I mean, there's that. I think what you're looking at is at least some sort of Marley back up plan, whether that's a Matt Murray. For God forbid, now a Jack Campbell. Well, and you know who else is poking around. It's like he was on the bench last year, the Hill to Beast, right? Yeah. But I don't think he's part of the plans. We've heard from Brad for living explicitly that he doesn't believe within their minor league system that there's anybody ready to shoulder a load in the NHL this season. Yep. Yeah. But that's why I think you get your Stollars. Like you get your Stollars. You bring in maybe a Matt Murray as well. And then all of a sudden it's goaltending in the NHL. Like you're going to tell me it's completely out of the realm of possibility that the Hill to Beast plays NHL games next year. I'm not. It's goaltending in the NHL. I'm not ruling it out. All right. It is the fan morning show Sportsnet 5-9 of the fan, Ben Anis, Brent Gunning on a Canada Day. Live from the Royal Canadian Legion just off Lakeshore here at Lakeshore and Jamison. Very happy to be joined now by Nudgema Bond, national spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion. Nudgema, thanks for having us here. What a beautiful Canada Day right by the water. I wish the sun was perhaps honest. But that's coming in like an hour or so. But thanks for having us. It's going to be hot. Yeah, no, thank you. Both of you guys. Really great to be here. Yeah. I mean, I had some breakfast. We got breakfast today. What else do we have today? We have a barbecue, live music. Absolutely. There's some special guests, live music, like you say, a great barbecue, all sorts of things happening at the branch, both this morning and this afternoon. So we hope people come on down and join us. So, I mean, obviously, the Legion has done a ton of great things for a ton of people over the years. You were telling us about a couple of programs that kind of started here in Ontario that have kind of spread across the country. I know one of them had to do with service animals. Could you tell us a little more about that? Yeah, absolutely. So Ontario Command is doing some wonderful things here in the province and things that actually have then expanded nationally. So one of the programs is called Operation Service Dog. And that is what it sounds like. So it's a chance to pair veterans who may be living with an operational stress injury with a service dog that can provide them the help and the support that they need. And Ontario Command, since they started this program in 2018, has put in more than $2 million towards this program, towards training these dogs, and paired 61. So the stories are amazing that come out of these pairings. And one example I can tell you about is just a few years ago, one of the veterans who received a dog showed up at an Ontario Command meeting, a convention, and literally broke down. When he was talking about how this dog has changed his life, it's really that dramatic. And dogs continue to be trained. And so that program began in Ontario and other provinces are looking at establishing something similar. So that's just one thing. Another one I can talk about briefly is leave the streets behind. And that is a program whereby we partner with communities, and we go out and find veterans who may be living on the streets, unfortunately, and try to get them the help that they need. So we can go in, pair them up with support services. Also, if they are getting into a new apartment, for example, we can provide the first and last month's rent, provide them an apartment kit full of all the kinds of things that you would need. So these are absolutely fantastic programs. Yeah, those are amazing. I'm sure we've got some veterans listening right now. What is the best avenue for them to reach out, to try and access some of these services? Well, the Legion has over 1350 branches across the country. And any veteran can go into a Legion branch. They don't have to be a member. And they can talk to a service officer. So a service officer can then pair them up with services that they need. They can provide some emergency funding if that's required. And really, a branch is a place of camaraderie. So they can also come in whenever they like, join people for a breakfast like today, for example, meet new friends. One of the things we also do through our service officers is let veterans know about some of the peer support programs that are out there. So there's a program called Heroes Mending on the Fly. And that's where veterans can go out. They fly fish with other veterans. And it's a really relaxing, non-threatening environment. They can talk about their pastor or not. And so these are the types of things that we can help support them with. Yeah, it's amazing whether it be fishing or, like, you know, Ben and I were both golfers, right? It's like, sometimes you go out there, and it's like, yeah, I just need to clear my hat a little. And by the end of it, it's like sometimes you haven't said anything, and sometimes you've said a whole lot. It is amazing the way that that kind of works. I know something else the Legion has been pushing is just the idea of memberships. You know, I know there's recently been a change there where you don't have to be a veteran to join up. Just what does it mean to be a member to the Legion? And I imagine support it. Yeah, it's absolutely essential our membership base. We have over a quarter of a million members. Past few years, we've seen that membership grow. And it's a chance for people to come in and help support our veterans in any number of ways. So you all know about the National Poppy Campaign that happens every November. And that's a chance to go out, meet veterans, collect donations for the Poppy Trust Fund. And the Poppy Trust Fund is what allows the Legion to do what it does to help support our veterans, their families, our communities. So that's one thing, but you also get a chance to have that feeling of gratification when you see what the work that you're doing, how it's affecting the veterans in your community. And the Legion is so community oriented. We have so many branches in many different parts of the country. And anytime you go in, you will see that. You'll feel that feeling of camaraderie. And yeah, obviously we're a sports radio station. I mean, there's a sports connection for the Legion as well. Yeah, a lot of people may not realize that, but there has been a connection for many years. I could talk about the Legion nationals, for example. The Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships. They happen every year. They began as a national championship in the late '70s. And really, the origin was a chance for the kids of people who were serving overseas, perhaps, who are not always at home, to have something positive to focus on. It was an opportunity for that to happen. Essentially, it's held in the same city for two years in a row. This year in August, it's being held in Calgary. And the kids compete in all sorts of track and field events like you can imagine. So long jump, running, things like that. And they win medals. And I brought one here today just so you can take a look at what they do receive. This is the gold medal. Oh, wow. And so you see how it says, Calgary 2024. And then on the reverse of the medal is a scene. And each championship has a remembrance theme. So this one is talking about and really demonstrating Canada's mission in Afghanistan. And it's important for the kids to just kind of get a taste of that and understand that the reason why we have the freedoms that we have and that they can even compete in something like the Legion nationals is the sacrifices of our veterans. So that is part of it. And the kids come in. They're great athletes already. But a lot of them go on to do some national and international things. And we'll just throw out one name to you. So Wayne Gretzky-- Well, decent. Heard of him. Heard of him. You've probably heard of him. So the Gretzky family, all of the kids competed in-- before it was a national championship, they all had a part in some of the sporting camps that the Legion put on prior to the national championships. Wayne's sister competed in the very first championships. And she won a couple of gold medals. And so Wayne himself would have been at one of the sporting camps. His dad, Walter, was one of the game's ambassadors in BC back in 1998. And all reports are that he loved it. It was a chance for him to talk to the kids to kind of share some of his expertise, Wayne's story, that kind of thing. And so speaking of ambassadors this year, the ambassador is Mike Tronner. It's his second year. He is a well-decorated para athlete. He served in Afghanistan. He lost a lake. But he has gone on to compete in the Invictus game. So he's a great person. Last year, for example, he met with the kids. He shared his story. He just kind of rooted them on. That was kind of his role. He'll be back again this year. So it's really a fantastic thing. Also, we work closely with the CHL, the Canadian Hockey League. And so every year, there's a Memorial Cup. And there's a Jersey auction. And what happens is after the auction, the proceeds go to the Legion's Poppy Trust Fund. It's amazing. Let me jump in there. I actually don't know what's happened to them. But at the offices, what did it work? That was the same thing. They used to have them up, and they were put up in frames. Beautiful. And honestly, it just struck me how beautiful the jerseys were every time. And it's just say, we get so bogged down on what it means to be Canadian or whatever. And it's like, I'm hard-pressed to find two things. More Canadian than the Legion and the Canadian Hockey League. So yeah, as soon as you said that, it just jumped out to me, for sure. Yeah, they're Poppy themed shirts. They're really lovely, like you say. This year, the game was in Michigan. And $55,000 was raised, so that goes straight into the Poppy Trust Fund that I talked about. And it's really instrumental in helping us do the things that we do. One thing I'll mention briefly is member sports. So the Legion also has a member sports league. And people can play eight ball, cribbage, darts. And it's amazing the number of people that love this. And so also, like, locally-- And the world's best cribbage players. Are you really? Yeah, that's correct. Well, you should, like, join the league, hopefully. I'm thinking about it. Because you can play locally, and then you can do provincial ed nationals. And people take it really seriously. Like, it's a big deal. So we have quite a close connection to the sporting world. We love it to the sporting world. Really a supportive Legion, and we thank them for that, too. Well, it's a tremendous organization. We're obviously extremely proud to be here on Canada Day. Thanks for having us, Najma. Again, I'm going to go in maybe have a second helping of breakfast. E.D. By all means, thank you, Ben and Brent, both of you. It's been wonderful to be here. Thanks so much. Najma Bond, a national spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion. When we come back, we'll talk to Sam Cosentino. As the fan morning show continues, live from the Legion, Ben and his Brent Gunning Sportsnet 590, the fan. Unrivaled insight, analysis, and opinions on all things blue jays. Blair and Barker, be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. [MUSIC PLAYING] Fan morning, Joe Sportsnet 590, fan, Ben and his-- and Brent Gunning. We are live from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 344, Lakeshore, Jameson, breakfast, underway. More and more people around us, hammering those tater tots. Live band today, 1 to 6 on a Canada Day. Free agency opening up today at noon. Of course, the broadcast, Hockey Central signing season, starting at 11.30. The Toronto Maple Leafs control the rights of one Chris Tanev. Yes. The Tampa Bay Lightning control the rights of one Jake Genssel. We've heard more about the Genssel thing being closer to the finish line on a seven-year deal than we have about the Tanev thing, although nobody seems concerned about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the potential signing of Chris Tanev. No, no one does seem concerned. And I have a feeling, if there were alarm bells to be wrong, that people will be doing that around the Toronto Maple Leafs. I don't think that's, generally speaking, that's not a franchise that operates under the cloak of darkness, where we're not talking about them. The lack of noise makes me feel like there is a lack of anything to be concerned about regarding that. It is interesting, though, that we do seem to have a little more clarity on the Genssel of it all than Tanev. Yeah, we'll see. Plenty of time. Yeah. Rise and grind for the Toronto Maple Leafs brain trust as noon fast approaching. 11.30 again, Hockey Central signing season on Sportsnet, where you can find our next guest. Sam Cosincino, sportsnet hockey analyst, joins us online right now. How's it going, Sammy? I'm doing great, guys. You know what? You caught me. I'm still in the casino. Is this OK? Yes, absolutely great. Great. Yeah, should we do the draft of the sphere every year? Like, is it just like permanent location for the NHL draft? Yeah, well, I'd be working for free if that were the case, boys, so I think we've got to move on next year. What's your game, buddy? Are you a blackjack guy? No, I'm just a queer degenerate. Any table. Just walking around with fistful of dollars saying, please, someone take this from me. Please, that is hilarious. So well, when we talk about the draft being in Vegas, like, there was so much talk about the jam nature of it. And look, like, I get it. It's a work trip. Well, you've been a lot of these things. What was the feel in the draft in Vegas? I imagine it had a little bit of newness. And I'm not just talking about from people who would be there to take it all in. But even the people who were there to work it, it did seem like it just had a different feel about it, same because. Oh, yeah, for sure. It was super cool. I mean, it's not that there's tons of signage and everything everywhere, because there's just a million events that are going on there. And the hotels, as you know, there's tons of them. And they're spread out. So it was funny. I was telling someone this the other day. I'm like, these smaller cities, they make it a little bit easier to work, because you try and get in the bar a couple of nights before the draft and get some people marinated and get them with the loose lips and get them talking a little bit. But it stopped, man. You had to go searching for that kind of thing with all the hotels everywhere. But once you kind of get in, like, once we got to the sphere, I'd heard a lot from our crew that it was going to be a real challenge to try and get things done. And when we got there and you walked in, you were like, whoa, this is another level. This is a whole different ball game than anything we've ever seen before. And then the graphics, they were able to put up. The space they had in the floor was way more than I thought to accommodate the media, central registry. All of the teams had tons of space. And it gave teams an opportunity to do the Celine Dion and Michael Buffer things, which I think were just amazing touches. I wish we had had a little bit more of that throughout some of our other teams. So it was absolutely a killer experience. If they don't do the in-person draft ever again, where all the teams are there, they surely went out with a bang. Yeah, no, it was a great, great event. And obviously, no real surprise at the tippy top with the Macklin celebrating. Was there anything that was like a major takeaway surprise for you as far as the selections? No, nothing really. I mean, you saw the look and Beckett Seneca's face. I had him going five, which was two spots behind where he went. So maybe he's not reading our stuff, me and books or whatever. But you know, Tarik Parasak at 17, going to Washington, was a few spots higher than I had him. But he's definitely the first rounder. Amazing kid out of the Lethbridge, Alberta, like a fourth round pick in the WHL draft. So nothing really surprised me to be perfectly honest with you. I think when I go back and look at the 32 players, I mocked to go on one and a 29 and then went there. So I think it went pretty well that way. At least that part was predictable. It was a little bit scattershot after that. You know, you get into rounds two through seven and it got a little bit wild. But nothing that really, really surprised me, guys. I got to be honest with you. Yeah, I'm a little surprised. Not that I question your acumen, Sammy. But everything I heard about this draft is after, you know, whatever the number is. Some people say 17. Some people say 20. But there was a clear drop off and then it was a, hey, you might like a guy at 22. Some other team might have him at 45. So for you to be able to hit 29 of him in the first round, that's nice work by you. I got to ask you the stock question. What did the Leafs get in Ben Dandford here? And maybe a different way to think about it is, if we look at this, you know, you got a little baseball in your blood, Sammy, cause if we think of this as like a baseball prospect, well, what's his ETA? Like, are we thinking he's two years away? When can this guy, theoretically, at least factor in for the Leafs? For me, he's probably a three year guy. So, but then I love the player. I really do. He's got all kinds of grit, determination. He's got the intangibles. He's got leadership qualities. You know, he's a guy. He didn't play a ton in the power play, but some, so you're looking at point production, you're thinking, well, maybe this isn't the thing. But even one of those heart and soul guys, honestly, you know what your mind's gonna be a lot of, and this is really interesting, is Chris Tanneth. Cause he's gonna sell out, he's gonna block shots. He's gonna be that nasty piece of business in front of the net. He's gonna play when he shouldn't be playing because he's banged up and he just wants to do things for the team, a team guy, a glue guy. So that, he reminds me a lot of that, you know? Like, it's pretty interesting that the, you know, let me believe he's gonna go down that road and that's similar to the type of guy that they just dropped it here in the first round. - Yeah, they can go from real Chris Tanneth to the next Chris Tanneth. - To theoretical Chris Tanneth. - Yeah, he can hand the reins over to the next Chris Tanneth. - With his broken hands. - Yeah, when he goes on LTIR for three years, I guess. So Sammy, like when you did eventually find some of those execs with some loose lips, like where are we with the marner thing? Because it felt like, boy, it never really got off the ground as being a possibility. And I guess, I mean, we could be proven wrong here in the next four hours or so. But before the opening of free agency, that would have been the place I would have thought the Maple Leafs, if they were gonna do it, would have done it to free up the cap space to go after some bigger name free agents. I mean, do you think it's off the table now? What were you hearing around marner in Vegas? - He was probably the quietest of the guys that you were hearing about there, to be honest with you. And, you know, I think he wants to establish that he's in control of the situation. I mean, he's got an agent and Darren Ferris, who has a reputation for doing that and taking his guys to UFA status. And at the end of the day, like Mitch Marner holds the tarts. So if he wants to stay in Toronto and enjoy, you know, one final year here and take it right to the, you know, to the dance floor, then he has the option to do that. I mean, is it gonna get to a situation where midway through the year, the cap number goes down, he fits into team's pants, plans a little bit better. Mitch is realizing that it's gonna come to an end, that he may end up going to a place where maybe he thinks he has a better opportunity and something in the drawer for the long term, then that might play itself out. But I think this thing can go a number of ways right now, but the one thing that I feel about Mitch Marner is, I think he wants to let the Toronto Maple Leafs know that he is in full control of the situation here. - Yeah, I mean, he could let him know or he could just point to the paper that says I'm in full control here. You see that no move clause means I dictate where I go. You know, we've been so bogged down on Marner here, rightfully so, and I mean, God, like Ben and I do a show where at times it feels like we just come on here and talk about him for three hours every day. Do you think we've kind of lost the plot with the player a little bit here? Because we've been so bogged down in the contract and what it means, just let's say the Leafs were able to swing a trade, like, how happy would a team be to get Mitch Marner is not just a great player on their team, but like the best player on their team in a culture setter. - Oh, listen, he's a side, he goes player. Like, that part you can't deny. If you just look at the hockey piece, this guy's an unbelievable player. And quite frankly, like going back to those days in London, I really like him, I like him as a person. Now, you know, you see some of the snippiness that happens here in the market, and I think every player after a period of time, especially one as long as Mitch has been here, can get a little bit fed up with the media coverage. But, you know, the flip side of that is that media coverage is part of what drives salaries up in terms of rights fees, in terms of getting the name out there, in terms of growing the national hockey league, in terms of growing franchise values. All of those things help drive up the prices of player salaries. So, you know, sometimes in some markets, that's just the thing you have to recognize, not to tell players that, hey, I need to be out there and be the front guy in the media every day and be nice to the media and do all those things. Well, that can be challenging in a big market like this, but I think sometimes players lose sight of the fact that ultimately the media pieces what drives the economics and the economics of a lot of players like Mitch to make, 10, 11 million dollars a year. - Do you think there's a, and I don't say this is a player who hasn't lived up to his ceiling or anything along those lines, but let's say they were able to swing a trade and he's just free and clear and he's in, I don't know, pick your place, Utah, as far away from Toronto as possible. Do you think there's another level that he can reach if you just remove all of that responsibility from him? He can just kind of go play hockey. And I mean, he could be a captain of a team, just go and play hockey. It's a little different than being the kind of face of the Leafs. Do you think if he got out of here, he'd kind of get a new lease on life and maybe reach in even a higher ceiling than we've seen? - You know, there's two ways that I can go. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener. I mean, we can look at that. And the other piece of that is wherever he goes, like he's gonna be a star, he's a 90-point player, like there's no denying that. He's gonna be a 90-point player in Utah, Seattle, Columbus, Edmonton, Vegas, wherever he goes. He's gonna be that guy. And because he's that guy, not only the money piece, but the point production piece are also always going to put him front and center on whatever team he's on. Now, some of the markets have less media pressure, for sure. And he's not gonna be having to be the guy that's always out there front and center. And that might somewhat impact his ability to play on the ice a little more free and loose. But I just, for me, he's a 90 to 110-point guy, any which way you slice it. And because of what he's gonna make, he's always gonna be front of the line when people are asking questions. Maybe not as much in some other markets, but definitely, you know, in some of the markets that can afford that ticket too, the New York's of the world, the Vegas's of the world, Florida, Tampa Bay, like he's still gonna have to be out front there, any which way you look at it. - A little further down the order of operations was the most recent breaking Leafs news that Nick Robertson wants out, he's had enough. He's a restricted free agent. This is not signing a new deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He wants to be traded out of Toronto after scoring 14 goals in 56 games and playing just over 11 minutes a game. So the counting statistics from a rate perspective, pretty high for Nick Robertson. This is a guy that once upon a time was like, the next one for Leaf fans as far as prospects are concerned. He doesn't have a ton of leverage though. He has like about the opposite of what Mitch Marner has going for him. I mean, what do you make of a player who feels like he might be on the verge of breaking out and becoming a solidified national hockey league goalscore, asking out of Toronto and how that impacts the Maple Leafs decision making this off season? - Well, you know, I feel where he's come from, but he's also guy who's been banged up, who's developmental time has been slowed because of that. And so both club and player have been in this kind of waiting pattern. I love signs that I saw in his game last year, where he's starting to use his talents with a quick stick and decent speed and being strong down low to get underneath people to be able to backtrack a little bit, to start to show that he's got a defensive game that'll allow him to play in the top six. But if I'm sitting in Nick Robertson's situation and I'm reading the tea leaves, is he gonna play ahead of Tavares? Probably not. Are you gonna play ahead of Marner, Kneelander, Nye's? All right, well, there's like five guys right there. Then you look at McMahon and then you look at Domi. So he's sitting there sitting back saying at the very least, I'm a third line guy again. And if as a coaching, you know, a new coaching staff, if they tend to go the way of the old staff where all those guys are getting the heavy minutes in the prime time minutes, he's probably sitting there saying, "I'm in no different spot than I was before." Now, the Craig Barouba effect should have something to do with that, but it's a two-way street. If you're gonna play, you know, at least in a third line role for Craig Barouba, you better prove that you can play on both sides of the puck or you're not gonna play. So I look at Nick Robertson's situation as a guy who's about to break out. I really feel strongly about that. I understand his frustrations. I think if I were him and I were the club, I'd try and work it out, say, "Listen, man, "the third line is yours to lose." You need to go and play away from the puck. You need to play defensively, and you need to do your number one thing and that's score goals. And if you can do that in the third line role, you're gonna be happy with the minutes and we're gonna be happy with your production. - We shall see. Sammy, before I let you go. All right, dealer's showing a two. You got 13. (laughs) Are you hitting? Are you staying? (laughs) - No, I'm a hit guy. I know I probably would be picked up by a few people on the third line. - Yeah. (laughs) - Yeah. - Yeah, the people at the table are gonna be mad at that. - Yeah, but guess what? You've seen Sammy Cawes. He just looks at them in flexes and they're gonna pipe down pretty quick. (laughs) - Hey, hang on, wait a second. - Yeah? - Hit. - Yeah. (laughs) - Oh, I ate! And then the table's going crazy. Hit eight. - Sure, beat. - Sure, beat. - Sure, beat. - Uh, Sammy. Always great to chat, buddy. See ya. - All right, thanks, guys. Take care. - You too. - One thousand, you know, sports at hockey analysts, getting ready for hockey central signing season at 11.30. - That was way more fun than he expected. Like, it's like when Jeff texts him like, "Hey, man, I know your favorite thing in the world to do "would be to talk to Ben and Brent at 7.30 "on a Monday morning." It's probably like, "Okay, sure." - Yeah. - I feel like we had some fun with them. If I can, if I can, especially on a day like today, like this is like part of what we'll get into with Amber when he joins us later. Just like, the herding cats' nature of today, of like, keeping everybody on task and what's going on, I'm just happy we could start saying the same because day off of the left. - I gotta say, listen, all the different dates on the NHL calendar, you should be tuned in to sports at. - Obviously. - Um, obviously. - Free agency day, give me free agency day over a trade deadline day. - Mm. - And on trade deadline day, you're like kind of waiting and hoping that something happens. We know, lots is gonna happen today. - That's true. - Today's just like, factually, the lion's share, 80 to 90% of the free agents will assign two day. That's the way it works in the NHL. And yeah, I mean, we occasionally get great trade deadlines, but we're always gonna get something significant on free agent day. - And the deadline, honestly, we should put a, we should put a two week moratorium on trades leading up to the deadline because all we get on the deadline day is discussion of the deal that happened four days ago. - Right. - The guys are used to it there. So yeah, I love it. Also, I just, as we watch free agency unfold today, this is how it's done, Major League Baseball. You get your business done. - And insiders agree. - Yeah, I know they do. Weld some more power in your sport, baseball insiders. Ken Rosenthal, go get everybody to get your business done. This is how it should be. Everybody get your business done on the first, your second day is then go to a cottage somewhere. - Yeah, that's usually the way it works. - I know. - And I love it. - Right, the big names in Sam Reinhardt signing an eight year extension with the Panthers apparently before midnight. - Yeah. - I guess he has told noon today. I guess that's how it works, although I don't know. - No, I thought it was midnight. - I did too. - Until he had to sign the eight year deal. - I didn't see the free report until after midnight. So if the NHL is gonna be all spirit of the rule about Chris Tannov, I wanna know when, I wanna, I don't know if you can like digitally, or like you can go back and forensics ink of like, huh, how dry is this? I don't know. But I'd like to see proof that that was signed before midnight if it's eight years. - Well, and there could be some executives who didn't sleep at all. Like maybe that's, you know, the Chris Tannov deals being grinded out as we speak by the Toronto Maple Leafs who control his light, his rights and the exclusive negotiating rights until noon today. Still haven't heard anything definitive. - It always does. - It always just does make me laugh of like grinding out the details. It's like take less money. - No. - Okay. - All right, well. I'm gonna ask you to do that again in a couple of hours. I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but it really does, that's what my mind always goes. - You sound like a really good negotiator. - Well, I mean, I said take less. - Yeah. - And then they said, no. And I said, I'm okay. - No, I said, I'll do it again in a couple hours. You gotta grind them down. - That's really good. Yeah, you are persistent. - All right, time now for The Wake and Rake presented by Sports Interaction, your homegrown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. Canada Day, a fair at Rodger Center. It's like one of those days where my weather app, there was no cloud. It was just the sun. - Just the sun? - Zero percent chance of precipitation today on a roof open Canada Day. Astros and Blue Jays on SportsNet, SportsNet 590, the fan at three o'clock. Hunter Brown against Yariel Rodriguez. And it is the Astros favored, as they've turned their season around in a big way, minus 143, the Blue Jays plus 120, the total is eight and a half here, Brent. I think it's just got to take the over on the total there. Rodriguez struggled. Jay's can kind of hit now, I guess. I was tempted to take Astros just straight money line because it is the Canada Day jerseys they'll be wearing and we know how that goes typically for this Blue Jays team. But I think the best bet is just over. Got to pay a little minus 120, but that's what I'm looking at. - As a patriot, I'm taking the Canadian team. Wow, look at two against Hunter Brown and his 437 ERA, the Blue Jays plus 120, and at least offensively, they've given themselves a chance recently. Although not yesterday, they scored one run against the Yankees. So maybe they're due again. And Yariel Rodriguez, I know, were recency bias with his last start being awful. - Yeah. - It looked like a pretty incredible starting picture in most of his starts. - First score around, I really like to talk. - Yeah. - All right, that was the Wakenrake presented by Sports Interaction, your home grown sports book, 19 plus bet responsibly. When we come back, we'll talk to our insider, Reynolds LaVois of TVA Sports. What's the hold up with the TANF thing? Is there going to be a Mitch Marner trade? That and more next, as the fan morning show continues live from the Royal Canadian Legion, Ben Anisbrand Gunning Sportsnet 590, the fan.
