Dan and Sat are joined by former Canuck, Jannik Hansen, to talk about the moves the Canucks have made in the last few days and what we could be seeing in the next few days. Also, the guys have live reaction to the top two picks of the draft.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
kennox central draft a it's dan wrychowsat tr Shaw here friday june 28th and is draft night in the national hockey league and we're here in the kintak studio kintak canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five star google review sore feet what are you waiting for our NHL draft coverage brought to you by oxygen yoga and fitness not your typical yoga studio we've got lots draft coverage coming as the NHL entry draft is just about to begin but we start the show on the news of the day with the Vancouver Canucks and our Friday analyst piano cancer this analyst brought to you by the Magnuson auto group Metro Ford pork or quitlam and Magnuson Ford inabitsford on both sides of the Fraser to serve you thanks for this year and I know we've talked we've talked about it a bunch of times but what do you remember of your draft day it was a long wait it was two dot too long base to be honest no it was it was the first time I was in North America it was in Carolina obviously the first time seeing a stadium so you just you're in awe and wowed at the whole show that's being put on and all those things so like it was phenomenal experience and yeah I had to have to wait a long time for it to happen but but again just the experience of coming over here seeing what an NHL building look like was was worth it what kind of range were you expecting to get drafted in I think I was ranked on the European side in the top 2030 ish that being said I'd only spoken to if I say a handful of teams obviously Vancouver had spoken to numerous times and there was a couple other teams so it wasn't like I was exposed to to all the teams in the league not a lot of them had seen me play either but like I said I was ranked fairly high on the European side but but only by a couple of team obviously and it took a while yeah end up in the ninth round the now defunct ninth round but they they might even shorten the draft even further in the next couple of years but it's always a great story to catch up on that draft night coming up there in Las Vegas at the sphere it looks pretty cool on television of course all the coverage on sports net and we'll bring you every pick of the first round and tomorrow during day two here on sports at 650 with us and Canucks Central so a lot to get into Janik is the Canucks have started to get some things done it's been a busy couple of days it started with them you know locking in Dakota Joshua trading William McKay of getting Teddy Blooger and Tyler Myers signed the contracts as well and today we found out that Nikita Zadorov is going to hit free agency on Monday let's start with the latest news and the Canucks deciding like the price tag is just a little too rich to keep Nikita Zadorov in Vancouver yeah I think his his playoff performance obviously hurt that chance of him coming back because again his regular season that does not command four and a half million he's gonna get more than that probably but the way he played in the playoffs vocal you saw a noticeable hitting physical scoring those goals and somebody will overpay him and again if you get playoffs Zadorov for 82 games and in the playoffs then he's worth it the only problem is it like you probably expect him to revert back to what he was in the regular season which is a good defenseman don't get me wrong here he's still gonna be physical but he's not gonna score 20 goals for you put up 50 points and if he does that then yeah 5 million is no problem but but again you're you're paying for what you're expecting and again you're not expecting that the performance to the production you saw in the playoffs so that's probably why the ask is too much to stomach that being said the other signings it's great to see them bringing them back you like blue girl you like Dasha you you like Myers at the contract like that that's the thing right now you're always looking at your team and are we better or worse than last year and last year we had a really good team second round Edmonton Oilers who became seven on all these things regular season was really good but we need to get better and in order to get better we do need these players back and then we need to add so like we haven't had a chance to add players yet which hopefully will come here in a couple days and stuff like that so you have every opportunity now to actually make this team better than it was on paper whether or not they perform we'll have to wait and see but at least on paper you had an opportunity you have an opportunity now to make your team better than where it was when we left off and that's a positive because that's sometimes very hard to do when you have success you have success guys want money they want more money and now we can't afford them so now we need these young guys to come in and out of nowhere and out produce and you get me to get lucky with a college signing and all these things were right now that's not what we're looking for right now you're looking for yeah not necessarily a home run but you're looking for a UFA signing that will that will tilt this team better than it was when we when we ended in game 7 against that well and I think what the Canucks did was to take a pretty good run at Zadorov like for instance like I think the fact that he's not signing is because he probably wants a north of five million like how would you have felt if they had signed him to a six-year deal where it's a 4.75 or something would that have been worth it or would you still would have would you have had sticker shock because I wonder if they were willing to go that far yeah I know he's 29 30 years old yeah so so I'm not too worried about the five or six years but but again a player that popped up just a couple of days ago Dylan the Mellow in Winnipeg I know they're not same stature in any way but but he's a phenomenal defenseman to very good defensively put up quite a few points more in Zadorov and he signs just just an under five million so that's where it's like now you can't really push him that high so so I don't know if you're looking or they were looking at that it's okay he signs for this not now we need to get him in under obviously there's intangibles and stuff like that but but it's it's one of those where it's like did the sample size of Zadorov playing out of his mind was so short it was two rounds in the playoff he had his moments in the regular season but but does that mean you're you can command five million now on a team that are considering themselves contenders now that needs to push every single contract and I'll say Blueger comes back on a great deal took less than he made that last year Myers comes back at half of what he made like great again obviously Joshua deserves more the way he played whether or not he can continue this we will have to see it's one of those contract that can prove very well or they can turn out sour real fast as well so again it's you kind of have to pay because you have that package and we see it every year big physical guys that end up scoring they're gonna get paid can you continue to do that then again it will be a steal of a deal because he had he had something to this team nobody else does so Dorv added some of that physicality but it's on the back end it's hard for a defenseman to really really get physical if you just want to afford it's very easy dump the puck and then I'm gonna go take somebody out it's that simple so when you have Joshua it alleviates a little bit of that pressure to where now okay if we give up Joshua and Sador now where's all our physicality coming from so you get Joshua signed and you can kind of okay so Dorv you want too much we will go somewhere else now well I think in the the signings they were able to complete Joshua Myers and and Blueger all three of them you could have realistically seen them get more money elsewhere and I feel like that's part of the mantra of this front office like yeah we we'd like to keep all of you guys but if we're going to do this you got to play ball because we still want to put a more competitive team on the ice and then as a player you have to have that conversation with yourself and with your family like do I want to potentially leave the door open and go wherever the most money is going to be or do I want to lock in at a little bit lower of a number in a situation I already know yeah it's a tough tough conversation there's no question about that again it's easier to coming to the rink when you're winning last year I'm assuming it was a lot of fun in that dressing room like from day one to yeah it was over like where the last couple years they've been in that room it sucks when you're losing like you guys are we're after the players TVs after the players coaching is after the players like when you're winning life is easier and in a Canadian market they had a taste of it now and and you want that you want to live that breathe that so yeah it does intend to times you sell to take a little bit less in order to stay in that environment and again obviously players want the most of what they're they're worth but but again you start asking for that much now you you're gonna hamstring your team your ability to add that fifth defenseman we need or that the other scoring winger that we might need down the line that that's what we're we're trying to and that comes from a fan and a management standpoint like that's what we're looking at squeezing half a million here 200,000 here a million there and then all of a sudden we have a player that can make a difference and it's easy for us to sit and talk of course they should do that when you're sitting in your living room with your wife kids parents and all these stuff and making decisions and it's it is sometimes dollars and dimes and you do have to maximize your earnings it's only so long so it's not like I thought players for for taking the most that's available to them but again you'd like to you'd like to be in a video environment yeah of course you would right and I think you know you mentioned Tyler Myers and him getting him signed to three million per year for three years is a lot better than six million per season and we saw the best version of Tyler Myers last year we saw him play well in the postseason as well is it as simple as as long as you don't ask him something he's not capable of he's going to be fine well now when he's making three we're not expecting 15 20 goals from him that that's what it comes down to your contract dictates what we want from you and yeah Tyler Myers is the same player in October he was in in May there's no question about that he won't deteriorate or anyway but but now the that bar for him is not that he needs to be he needs to be the number two defenseman number three defenseman no he's making three million now that's your bottom pairing fifth defenseman fill in in the top four in in a pinch so so now he will he has every opportunity to play better than his contract so yeah it's the same player and like we've been after after Myers a lot especially early in the season and last year so so it's not like but but now again now you're not sitting there and then expecting him to carry play score goals produce be that be the the call to trophy defenseman we saw him 15 years ago however long it was and so so now the the bar gets lowered a little bit and again you mentioned it the best we've seen Tyler Myers play was in the playoffs because again in the playoffs money's aside now that doesn't matter anymore we're not worried about salary cap and all these things now we just need to perform the best that we can and that was him he's big he's physical he's lanky he's got good reads he can kill penalty and he's got a little bit of a mean streak to him so so again that's really all he needs to add now and every production offensive things that comes with him now is a bonus so it's like the the bar is lowered a little bit to where he can now outperform and now you have that extra money to pay it a quarter Joshua so now you're not losing players yannick we always appreciate the time we usually take you for longer but we're gonna be getting to our draft coverage today thanks for this sounds good take care guys enjoy there is yannick hanson former draft choice of the well not former he was a draft choice of the vancouver connects i always do that where it's like oh former first round pick no he just he was a first round pick yes wasn't a former first round pick he still is a first round pick it just was in two thousand whatever what but yannick was a ninth round pick yes he was so yeah 287th overall yes uh in the round doesn't exist anymore and the team the only other team other than the connects that he played for is selecting first overall in the draft the san jose sharks are on the clock do you think they're taking makna celebrate i mean i don't know what the heck my career is waiting for you know people want to get to their uh their steakhouse or their poker table their slot machines whatever it might be a little bit later on tonight in las vegas i'm sure but uh san jose taking their time with the first overall selection in this draft of course uh our draft coverage starting here today continuing all through day two tomorrow we will have the conox first pick which happens to come in the third round and uh we will likely speak uh with taut harvey uh heading up the conox scouting staff as far as their plans and what they looked for in the draft when it all gets said and done but let's start to focus in on number one in the overall and that is the san jose sharks here is my career at the podium in las vegas our great fans here in around the world yeah and a big shout out to our draft party at the shark tank we really appreciate your guy support and i'd also like to congratulate glince either on our uh terrific career in hockey making our selection will be one of the greatest passors of all time former number one overall pick and shark's great joe thorton here we go let's go shark with the first overall selection in the 2024 NHL draft the san jose sharks are very proud to select from boston university maclyn celibranie there is uh jumbo joe making the call there is one shark's fan that is so fired up so hyped so hyped the one shark's fan that was all at all 41 home games this year even the 10-1 loss to the the vancouver Canucks uh maclyn celibranie of course north vancouver's very own two straight years where uh kids from the lower mainland are number one overall picks and maclyn celibranie is center at a boston university tour up the nc double a this year scored 32 goals and 38 games and is worthy of being a number one overall sext selection to say the least yeah back-to-back years of vancouver native uh has been the first overall pick and we had shamed meloy on the show earlier this week and he said him he would put maclyn celibranie right there with connor bard in terms of overall ability and it makes a lot of sense when you look at what he did as a 17-year-old playing the nc double a he had 64 points in 38 games 32 goals which is absolutely unprecedented for a 17-year-old kid who do at the nc double a level he's i mean i i wonder how good he's going to be right off the bat you might be pretty good right off the bat but we're talking about a connor bard type of talent potentially with maclyn celibranie a true uh franchise changer you know i i know with uh i don't want to diminish other uh first overall picks but you know your islafkowski um even going back uh further years like a nail yacopob not every first overall pick is created equal right yeah exactly um and maclyn celibranie is as good a prospect that you will find at number one overall you mean you mentioned his his college numbers they're unbelievable and the one thing you you hear talking to people about celibranie and watching some of the tape uh he's got a pretty well-rounded game like he plays a smart two-way game always scanning the ice always in the right positions communicating helping with the breakout like he he plays a very mature game for somebody that is and had uh his age 17 season at boston university yeah absolutely and when you look at how far san jose has the ghost still it's an organization that looked like as much as yeah they've drafted some talented players they have a few guys they were really missing a franchise leader yeah they got a little smith last year another nice player nice player but like you're you're somebody that if you're rebuilding and you're picking in the top five you want to come away with game changer yeah the Canucks got one at number seven with queen hues and you won the noris trophy last night they got one at number five with lea's peterson as well if you don't get guys like that like you're you're not going to be able to turn it around you know what i mean like you can't be like edminton before they had mc david and dry subtle where the best players they got were like sam gonnier yeah right and like you know nudge and and taylor hall yeah like yeah they're just you know those guys weren't quite there right that's what maclyn celibranie can be for that they're uh maybe uh you know the the running mate the number two guy on a team and number three guy on a team but are they the guy and that's something that the san jose sharks were missing so now they definitely have a building block piece uh to start building uh this team around because it's been uh it's been pretty bleak in san jose for a long time and there's still a few years away yet yeah absolutely and uh as far as the sharks fan that was screaming uh rager says they have the one guy is too close to the mic holy crap he's louder than reachio knocking his bottle over that it was it was a it was allowed uh it was a lot of crash bang boom when the when the water bottle fell over uh the san jose sharks still do have another selection here that uh eleven in the first round so they will uh be a busy team in las vegas but uh maclyn celibranie as we all knew being the first overall selection here and that takes us to number two in the draft and you know there's been a lot of uh discussion as to where this would go because i've been demodov is a player that's got a ton of talent but maybe not the guy that is going to go at number two is the odds on favorite has become to the chicago black ox lev shunov a right shot defense man and that's uh what we're gonna find out next right we are gonna find out that that out momentarily but whoever it is is going to be mentored by elia mikev most likely uh i only part partially just when it comes to that that comment and we'll have some more on the connects and what's going on and we are keeping an eye on the latest on jake genssel i know people are wondering um not only about the draft but is jake genssel going to resign with the carolina hurricanes or is he hitting free agency or are his rights being traded as soon as we find out anything about that we will let you know about it but at number two at the draft this is not quite where it gets interesting it's just a matter of to your point is it a russian forward or a russian defense man i would guess you go with the defense man like especially with somebody like lev shunov who people say can be a franchise caliber d-mat yeah it's uh it's so hard to find the right shot d uh lev shunov has a lot of those attributes that you would be looking for in a star defense man chicago you know they're they're still very early in their build stage and you know you got connor bedard last year you have a lot that you are building around but the opportunity to get a big time right shot d is something that's really hard to pass on is he uh you know simon nemich who is a recent right shot pick by at number two overall by the new jersey devils when you get that player and we saw it with the conox last year with tom villander it's like yeah there's there's some other forward prospects here that are really intriguing at the same time to get a right shot d is kind of one of the building block puzzles you absolutely need to build a stanley cup team and you know they had it in the past with duncan keith who is a left shot but also brent c brook you know we know those chicago teams very well here lev shunov is potentially that guy the other options i've been demodov who you know if you look at a lot of draft boards talk to a lot of people is arguably the most like as far as offense goes he he could be a lot of people would put him right there with celebration as far as offensive upside and offensive talent in this draft one of the biggest things holding him back is because he played out in in russia there aren't many guys i could get eyes on him yeah and they had to wait for him to come over for him for them to measure him in and he came in at over six feet and that was something that people wondered about is he under six feet or is he somebody who was a little bit taller and he came in at six feet and like almost six one but not quite six one if you haven't got your top scouts or your gm looking at a player how much does that influence it ultimately yeah i think that makes it a little tough you know and push comes to shove though like hey at least we watch this guy mm-hmm well it's very different getting like to look at tape versus watching a player live right and you didn't even get those viewings in the world juniors as we know with the ongoing situation for russian players international hockey not a thing for russian players players of russian descent over the last couple of years but demodov in the mhl this year 60 points in 30 games elite prospects has him as their second ranked prospect but we'll see the chicago black ox kyle davinson is up at the podium in las vegas is chicago is ready to make the second overall selection first of all i'd like to say hello to all of our great fans back at our draft party in chicago at the barn and to make our selection 2023 first overall pick in 2024 called her trophy winner connor bard with the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft the chicago black ox are proud to select ardom left shunov ardom left shunov the defenseman out of michigan state university a spartan this past year is heading to the chicago black ox well you know i uh they couldn't let maklin celebrate be the only vancouver prospect to have all the shines they had to bring up connor bredard to remind everybody who went first last year uh but like we talked about left shunov a lot of people project him to be potentially his ceiling a franchise caliber defense one yeah if that's what you you can have and you have connor bredard i mean that's kind of the perfect combo and as good as demadov may be at the at the end of the day is a winger yeah and even an elite winger isn't quite as impactful as an elite defenseman especially right handed d and in this draft to be a really elite winger in order to have that level of impact on your team we might see as many as six to seven defense men go in the top ten and there are a bunch of righty defenseman and given what we saw last year with willander going up to a little bit of uh the opposite of last year where there's a lot of defense men this year last year there wasn't a ton of defense men in the first uh first ten picks but the ones that were there they got pushed up quite a bit right and i think the one i would keep an eye on is do we see a record number of defense men get drafted in the top ten tonight uh something to keep an eye on so macklin celebrated to san jose at number one number two ardom libshunov right shot d out of michigan state university to chicago we'll come back with more draft coverage every pick coming tonight of the first round and whatever the conox might or might not get up to as well it is conox central sportsnet 650 hey it's mike alford and jason bruff join us for halford and bruff in the morning weekdays for six to nine a.m on sportsnet 650 or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app
