WEBVTT
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Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the Woo Report. The Woo
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Report coming to you live, live from St. Thomas out
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in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'm your host, Sam Woo,
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here with a special guest from Chicago, Illinois, from the
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Hockey News, from PucksandPitchforks.com, and USA Today, Vinny Parisi, as
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we're streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, X Live,
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Twitch Live. And now on Instagram Live on the Let's
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Go Devils Network. Well, Vinny, I don't know if you
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can hear me right now. I think my feet just,
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did my feet just drop?
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Yeah, you look like you're frozen, but I can hear
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you perfectly.
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Oh, okay. Well, that's all that matters. That's all that matters.
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At the end of the day. I guess we have
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a little bit of feet issues. Yeah, I mean, you know,
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we are, you know, we are doing this podcast on
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a cruise ship, no less.
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Which is remarkable. How's vacation going? Oh, it looks like
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you just came back, too.
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So there you go. Yeah, I just came back. No,
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everything is going just fine. It's 96 degrees. I'm wearing
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my Jack Hughes reverse retro jersey here out on the ship.
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You see in the background, you see the nice scenery here.
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What's the temperature out in Chicago, Illinois?
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Chicago, Illinois is currently rainy and cloudy. Right now it
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is 75 degrees. It'll dip into the 60s this evening.
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Oh, okay. All right. It's not like in the wintertime
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when you're negative 35 and we're like, you know, 25 degrees,
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you know, making fun of us that we're complaining to cold.
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Yeah, there are many moments. And I know, trust me,
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I've been to New Jersey a couple times. I know
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you guys get cold and you guys get that ocean front.
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But the Midwest, man, lately, these minus tens. So there
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are times where it's, 30, 40 degrees colder here. And
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I'm not even really that far away in the grand
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scheme of things, but we're taking in the last little
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bit of summer slash early fall that we can get
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before we really dive into the national hockey league this season.
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Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, for folks that are joining in,
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I see Corbin in the YouTube live. I see Jorge.
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He says, yeah, hell yeah. And hear me, which is good.
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But right now I am out. Actually, my picture is
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frozen again. So, But I do see that I do
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have good levels here. But, you know, but camp has started.
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Camp has started. Lots of news around 11 p.m. Eastern yesterday.
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Let's start with the first one. The deadline, September 15th,
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the last time, the last minutes before the new collective
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bargaining agreement begins, which is, you know, midnight today or 12.01 today,
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September 16th. Luke Evangelista gets it done with Sonny Maeda.
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Deal five years, 7.25 AAV, taking advantage of the old
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collective bargaining agreement where you can front load these contracts.
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But from what I see James Nichols reporting on New
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Jersey Hockey Now, that the first three years he does
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not have any trade protection. So Sonny willing and dealing.
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What are your thoughts on that contract?
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I think it's great. So, evangelista i haven't been on
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since the devils traded for him i think luke evangelista
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is a great player is he a super duper star
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no but he's a top six play making forward who
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makes the devils better instantly um do the devils have
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a lot of guys who are pass first and what
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i love to see them add a guy who you
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really think of as a sniper yeah of course We'll
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see if something like that. But it's not like, you know,
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he sure. Bratmeyer, Jack Hughes, obviously, have also shown the
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ability to score 30 goals. Dawson Mercer gets 20 in seasons.
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He plays bad so he can score goals. Evangelista is
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a great playmaker. And if he could just get that
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shooting percentage up even 5 percent, he'd be a. 20
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goal score who has 50 assists. Like I really think
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that's the ceiling for him. He's a great player. So
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I do think it's a great contract for meta in
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the New Jersey devils to get completed in time. Um,
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but you know, it came in late at night yesterday. Um,
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I was excited about it because the Devils lock in
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a forward who I think makes them really good in
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their top six. They have Anthony Mantha, too. That hasn't
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even fully hit me yet. He scored 30 last year.
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When he's healthy, he can score. So it'll be interesting
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to see how the group meshes together, how Gritsuk takes
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the next step and all that. But with Evangelista as
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a part of the core now, I think that's a
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really solid move. I don't really get what Nashville was doing.
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But I still have yet to see someone give me
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a sound logical argument on why it was a good
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idea for them to trade Luke Evangelista anywhere, but specifically
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the New Jersey Devils. But they're the beneficiaries of it.
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His under the hood stuff looks real nice. There's a
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lot of those analytics that make it seem like he
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could even break out even more, which is exciting to
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think about. But at a base, he's just a really,
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really good player.
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Well, yeah, I think he's a very good player. I
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think the rumors were that he asked for $ 9 million
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AAV out of the National Predators, and they simply weren't
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going to give it to him. And then the opportunity
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arised only because Sonny Maeda took care of business early
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on about the salary cap situation, and what to do
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with Shimon Nemitz and what to do with Jacob Markstrom.
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The fact of the matter is he took care of
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business so quickly in such a short period of time,
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just basically just righting the wrong from the previous regime
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that enabled him to be patient and make the right
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moves and let the moves come to him. So you're
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thinking about what the Devils gave up in terms of
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draft picks. Well, that came from one of those moves.
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And was it too much? That's debatable. 12 goals last
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year that Evangelista scored. It doesn't worry me, but the
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56 points is something to build off of. You know,
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it's just a matter of how the Devils are going
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to use Evangelista. And he's going to be that energy
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guy that gets things going. Something that we wanted out
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of Palat in some respects.
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Just.
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that guy that just gets things going and get the
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players going. But I think it's so far, I think
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it's a good low risk deal for the New Jersey
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devils five years, 7.25 AAV with no trade protection in
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the first three years of that contract.
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And Stephen Stamko scored 40 goals last year for the
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first time in a couple of years. A lot of
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people attribute that to playing with Evangelista. So can he
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get Meyer to score 40 again? Can Nico Heischer cross
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the 40-goal threshold? I think it's absolutely possible on either front.
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I don't see him playing with Jack Hughes or Jesper
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Bratt a whole lot, just because there would be a
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lot of redundancy on a line like that. But on
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a line with Heischer and Meyer, it could be one
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of the best second-line centers in the NHL.
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Yeah. Well, you know, again, there was a lot of
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expectations when Palat was– you know, signed, you know, kind
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of mean the guy in the clutch also trying to
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get other guys going in some respects. He did do
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it at times, but it was just not especially in
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the playoffs. And I think he was, yeah, especially in
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the playoffs. And, but Evangelista, you know, my only, I
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think the only thing that could go wrong is if
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you put him on the line with Timo Meyer, if
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both guys can't finish, that's where you're going to have problems.
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It's just a matter of where do you put Evangelista?
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Do you start them on the third line and say,
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prove it that you're on the top six forward or,
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Or do you start him on the top six? But
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the Devils have so many options right now. This is
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what happens. And granted, salary cap matters. There's an overloaded
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amount of forwards that the Devils have right now. There's
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kind of a, you can say that even on defense
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as well, in some respects, is Seamus Casey or a
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sly of actually, you know, is that guy, you know,
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game one of this season, but I'd rather have him
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develop in the AHL. and also in goaltending. I mean,
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there's just a, yeah, they're not exactly the names that
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you want, like a Connor Hellebuck, but look, Jake, the
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snake Allen was above average last season. In my opinion,
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just didn't get enough starts. Nico Dawes has something to prove. And,
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you know, David Riddick is that cheap experience backup. So
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there's tremendous amount of competition going into the. Yeah, for sure.
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And, You touched on Meyer. Listen, since coming over from
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San Jose, I don't think he's ever been in a
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high-end offensive role since coming to the New Jersey Devils.
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When he was having success throughout his tenure in San Jose,
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regardless of what year it was, he got to play
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on the power player of Brent Burns, Eric Carlson, Logan
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Couture was there for a while. Joe Pavelski was even
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there at points. I'm thinking back to when they were
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in the conference finals that year they started. Vegas in
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game seven the one year. You know, that team was
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just magnificent. And so he knows what it's like to
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score goals with good playmakers around him. He sure is
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a high-end player, but I wouldn't call him a high-end playmaker.
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He's an above-average playmaker for sure, but he's not going
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to have 60 assists in a season, I don't think,
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maybe once. But, you know, I think that line as
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a whole, with those three different kind of skill sets,
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I could see it complementing Hughes, Bratt, and Mantha quite well,
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assuming everyone's able to stay healthy. But, you know, like
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you said, with the third line, though, who's to say
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Cody Glass with Gritsuk isn't going to be a top-end
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third line in the league? So we'll see how it
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all goes. But, yeah, the forward group is really looking nice.
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So if they can only get that defense to play
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up to their capabilities and stay healthy. I'm talking about
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Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. Dougie Hamilton was awesome from
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the point that he realized he wasn't being traded last
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year onward. The first half of the season was quite rough,
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but I think in the second half, when things started
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to mellow out for him, hopefully that's a whole season
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for him this year. Luke Hughes had a tough year.
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It was a tough year for Luke Hughes. But, you know,
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by all accounts, it seems like he's been putting in
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the work in the summer. He obviously wants to get
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on his two brothers level. So a top trio like that,
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Segan Dollar and Kovacevic and Dillon, those are good defensive defensemen.
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I know last year was rough. And I didn't even
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touch on Pesci, who, like, he's got the highest rating
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of every defenseman for the Devils in NHL 27 for
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a reason. Not that the NHL 27 ratings are the
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end all be all by any means. That game stinks, apparently. But,
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you know, he's well regarded as a high end defense,
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defensive defenseman in the NHL. So and he was injured
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and clearly a step behind last year due to the injuries.
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So we'll see how it all comes together this year.
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But like you said, everything coming together real nice.
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Yeah, everything's coming together real nice, Vinny. I got some
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of the comments in the YouTube live. Always something 17 says.
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I would have waited half a season for making a
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decision on resigning him. Well, you know, it's one of the, again,
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I think Sonny made a, he gambles. You know, because
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you know what? A 7.25 AAV is not a bad
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price in today's market. For a forward like Evangelista, like
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you said, is he a superstar? No. But will he
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help your team? Yes. We talked about getting that winger
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for Jack Hughes. Could he be that guy? Could he
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absolutely be that guy? You know, look, some of these
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wingers are out there like Jason Robertson. They're not a
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dime a dozen. And they cost a lot of money.
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And you have to take a look at that. you know,
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to that account. I tweeted this out earlier on my
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X account, at PrimetimeSamWu. You can also find Vinny Parisi
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on X, at Vinny Parisi. And you can find the
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Let's Go Devils podcast at Let's Go Devils Pod. You know,
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I tweeted this out that during that fan forum, you know,
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with the fans back in June with the season ticket holders,
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Sonny made us it every day he thinks about the
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salary cap. He was asked that question by Matt Laughlin.
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What do you think about how you're going to rebuild
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this team? And he went straight to the salary cap.
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He thinks about it every day. So he's careful with
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the amount of money that is spent, yet he somehow
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figured out, maybe through his analytics, through the scouting, through whatever,
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the 15 forwards that we all talk about that's 12 spots.
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We're talking about the competition at the goalie position. And...
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and the defensive position as well, yet still having some
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salary cap space to possibly make a big move. And
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I'm not saying he's going to do it, but a
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move like Connor Hellebuck or Quinn Hughes that are in
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the $ 7 million to $ 8 million range right now for
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just this year, he could still pull it off. And
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Dawson Mercer's contract looks like it could be moved easily
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if the other team were to take on his contract,
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which is at, what, $ 4. 5 million AAV. He has no
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trade protection. You know, Sonny's in the driver's seat right now.
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He really is. And I can address that comment, too,
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about waiting for Evangelista. For one, I do think you're
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going to be pleasantly surprised at how good Evangelista is.
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He proved it last year and the year before. There's
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a lot of trust there. But also, more than 60%
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of his $ 36. 25 million contract will be paid in signing bonuses,
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which wouldn't have been allowed if it wasn't registered before midnight.
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So that went into getting done at the time that
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it did.
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Yeah. So, you know, with that said, there were other
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moves that were made. One was expected. I wouldn't say
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it came out of left field, but there were rumors
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about the hiring of Ryan McCabe from the Florida Panthers
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and Jessica Campbell, who was with the Seattle Kraken. Let's
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dive into that. What are your thoughts on Brian McCabe
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and Jessica Campbell being with the New Jersey Devils in
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their new roles?
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So from everything I heard, Jessica Campbell's time in Seattle
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was one of their rare successes. You talked to me
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off air about a lot of things coming from Seattle
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being tough. I really think there might not be a
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team in the league I would rather be covering or
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involved with or a fan of less right now than
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the Seattle Kraken and I don't think they're going to
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come in dead last you know that's part of the
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problem there's not a lot of high-end skill there they've
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made a lot of drafting mistakes they had that one
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year where they upset Colorado in the first round and
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then they took Dallas the game seven in the second
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round and talk about what feels like a lifetime ago
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um but by all accounts her success her tenure there
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was good people liked the way that she thinks about
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the game. So that's why I think she's got the
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role that she does. As far as Brian McCann, he
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was apparently Sonny Mehta's right-hand man when he was in Florida.
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So this doesn't really come that much of a surprise
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at all. And he's not the first person from Florida
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to come on over following Sonny. So it does send
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a message. There's a lot of respect there. A lot
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of high-end people who have done some great things in
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the National Hockey League. have great respect and admiration for
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Sonny Mehta, that they want to continue to work with him,
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even though he moved a little to the north to
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run the New Jersey Devils.
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Yeah. Also, Joey B is saying that Vinny is in
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a hostage video with the background, and while Sam Wu
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is in Paradise, it's all you can eat shrimp waiting
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after the show. Very, very true, Joey. Also saying odds...
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that Samu wears a devil's jersey to a formal dinner
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on the cruise that's already been done, Joey B. I
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did go to dinner with my devil's jersey on just recently. Also,
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I see the camera feed is down. I'm going to
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try to adjust that while I talk. But here are
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my opinions.
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Really quick, really quick, really quick, really quick.
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Yep, go ahead.
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Katie, my wife, has demanded... That I have background paraphernalia,
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if you will, before the first episode of Game Day
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Live on opening night.
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Okay. All right. Well, it's good to know.
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I think I have to push my desk a little
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bit forward. Yeah, I have to push my desk a
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little bit forward, I think, so I have a little
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more wall space in the shot. But I have some
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stuff that I'm going to hang, and I won't look
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as much like I'm in. I got the light, though.
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Nobody appreciates anything around here.
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Oh, I know. I know. Hostage video. You know the
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ship is going to move in about five minutes, so
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it's going to be kind of cool.
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Then you're really going to out-background me.
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Yeah. Brian McCabe. longtime NHLer, respected him as a player
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when he was on the Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.
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You talk about culture. I'm also talking about development, development, development,
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because that's what did not happen under the Fitzgerald regime.
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The development was not there, in my opinion, where it
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needed to be. So you're talking about bringing a new
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GM for the Utica Comets, but Brian McCabe is going
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to be the assistant GM for um, of the Utica
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comments as well, but he's going to bring that player
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culture as well. We talked, we talked about development, you know, uh,
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Sly of do you send them in the AHL right away?
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Let him be part of that culture and that winning
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culture pipeline that would come up eventually to New Jersey Devils.
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I think that's very important right now. Uh, you talk
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about Jessica Campbell now taking over Megan Duggan's, um, Old
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position of player development, that's sorely lacked, I thought. I
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just think that there was no development, you know, coming
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from the players. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm just
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looking at the results too much. I don't know, but
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I'm not sure about that. hiring, but everything that Sonny
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has done, I've agreed with. So by default, I'm going
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to say this is a decent hiring only because I
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trust Sonny Maeda right now. When you look at the
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records in Seattle, I can't go by that.
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Yeah, exactly. The thing for me is the Florida Panthers
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had such success, an incredible amount of success. They are
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so good. I think they're going to be really good
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again this year. If you told me the Devils were
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going to make it to the conference final and then
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they played Florida... Okay, all bets are off at that point. Like,
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I really think they're that good. And people are like, oh,
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what makes you think just because they add Brady Kachuk
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they're going to bounce back? Well, they're not just adding
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00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.940
Brady Kachuk. Sasha Barkov played zero games for them last year.
348
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And then he comes back in the world championship and
349
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Finland magically wins the world championships. So this guy's a star.
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00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:53.869
He's one of the best players in the NHL. Top ten,
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top six center for sure. They're... they're just so good
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00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:02.539
and they've done so many good things. And Sonny Mehta
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was by all reports, a big part of a lot
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of their decision-making. I'm not saying he was the final
355
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.559
decision maker. That's why he took the job with the
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New Jersey Devils. Um, cause he was finally the final
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decision maker. There have been a lot of examples of
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00:21:15.730 --> 00:21:19.410
these guys who were parts of brain trusts who start
359
00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:21.529
their own, start their own way with a new team
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and fail. I'm not saying that's impossible, but the track
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00:21:25.230 --> 00:21:31.519
record with Florida is positive because And nobody can say
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that any move he's made so far with the New
363
00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:39.000
Jersey Devils has been poor. Would I have liked it
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00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:41.960
to be a six-year deal or a seven-year deal? Right now,
365
00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.839
my initial instinct is yes. But at the same time,
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you don't know what he or the team is going
367
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to look like in six years. So, like, what's the
368
00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:50.720
big deal of worrying about it right now? Think of
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00:21:50.769 --> 00:21:54.049
where the Devils were six years ago. Everyone wanted Hall
370
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extended to an eight-year deal. What a disaster that would
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have been in hindsight. So, you know, sometimes you just
372
00:22:00.849 --> 00:22:06.269
got to, you know, and listen, Taylor Hall, cop, good player. But, like,
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00:22:07.170 --> 00:22:09.250
the Devils were going to give him $ 9 million because
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00:22:09.269 --> 00:22:11.890
that was the going rate for a top three winger
375
00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:14.420
in the league. And then he wasn't a top three
376
00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:19.180
winger in the league, like, two years later. So it's
377
00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:23.329
a fine line. Sonny Mehta, so far, so good. It's
378
00:22:23.349 --> 00:22:26.670
hard to critique any of his moves at this point.
379
00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:31.099
And it's going to be a while. But I think
380
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.059
right now, I think Devils fans want results. They want
381
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to see improvement. I think Luke Hughes, I think he's
382
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.069
going to have an outstanding camp. I think he's going
383
00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:42.069
to come in prepared this year. The first time under
384
00:22:42.710 --> 00:22:46.410
Sheldon Keefe that he's actually in camp on time. I
385
00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:51.029
also think that Jack Hughes is feeling good, feeling confident.
386
00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:57.079
He had a great post-Olympics, won the Golden Goal. There's
387
00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:58.900
a lot of positive things to talk about. He Devils it.
388
00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:02.579
And I thought the Devils were pretty strong towards the
389
00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:04.579
end of the year, even when they had nothing to
390
00:23:04.619 --> 00:23:06.579
play for, which is also what we were looking for.
391
00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:10.460
I remember the last game of the season, Devils won
392
00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:15.420
in extra time and overtime. I forget who, but the
393
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:20.980
crowd was definitely into it. The other thing, too, as well,
394
00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:24.809
is people forget that the Devils started the first 10
395
00:23:24.809 --> 00:23:29.009
games of last season really hot. Maybe more. The first
396
00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:36.809
10 games this season. Yeah. I'm hearing something in the background.
397
00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:39.769
Is there a mouse eating something? I hear something in
398
00:23:39.809 --> 00:23:41.309
the background. I don't know if it's me or you.
399
00:23:43.470 --> 00:23:45.809
Did I groan at the fact that the White Sox
400
00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:48.069
are about to not be in first place in five seconds?
401
00:23:48.190 --> 00:23:49.710
I might have made a little noise.
402
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:52.240
I don't hear anything. I don't know. I was hearing
403
00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.299
something in the background, like somebody joined the podcast or something.
404
00:23:56.359 --> 00:24:00.440
I hear scratching or whatever. Somebody walking around. It's weird. Anyway,
405
00:24:00.930 --> 00:24:01.809
maybe I'm hearing things.
406
00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:03.710
Maybe the boat's moving.
407
00:24:05.990 --> 00:24:09.230
I don't think it's moving just yet, but I think
408
00:24:09.250 --> 00:24:12.789
we should wrap very soon. I was hoping we would move. No,
409
00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:17.119
they're still waiting for the last second stragglers. Here, I'll
410
00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:18.640
take the camera with me.
411
00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.420
It's gotta be scary being the captain of a ship
412
00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.000
like that and like making that decision that, okay, everybody's
413
00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:29.339
back on board. We can leave now. Cause like, what
414
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.220
would an American or someone who lives in the United
415
00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:37.390
States do if they got left at St. Thomas while
416
00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:40.210
the rest of the boat moved? Like, I remember when
417
00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:41.970
I went on a cruise, that was a fear. Like
418
00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:44.890
I made sure you're back on the boat an hour
419
00:24:44.990 --> 00:24:47.109
before they say they're going to leave just in case.
420
00:24:48.730 --> 00:24:52.299
Yeah. Well, This is a U.S. territory, so it's not
421
00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:55.119
too bad. So it's not like you're really in a
422
00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:57.500
foreign country, but you are. Well, yeah. Yeah, I know
423
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.900
what you mean. Yeah, but it's kind of like being
424
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:06.869
in Philadelphia, you know, in the States. It's just a
425
00:25:06.890 --> 00:25:09.109
different world. Yeah.
426
00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:10.690
I'd rather be there than Philadelphia.
427
00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:13.690
Yeah, so any last thoughts, Vinny?
428
00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:19.390
Yeah, I'm excited, Sam. The Devils, you know, I... I'm
429
00:25:19.430 --> 00:25:23.549
excited coming into this year. I'm nervous because if this
430
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:28.500
year doesn't go well, I'd be shocked if they didn't
431
00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:32.400
make a true shakeup to the core, probably fire the coach.
432
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.859
And I don't know. That stuff's icky. That's a sign
433
00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:41.089
of failure, and I don't like failing. So I really
434
00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:42.390
hope they get off to a good start.
435
00:25:42.710 --> 00:25:43.349
We all know.
436
00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:49.490
The crutch to this team is Jack Hughes. He was sensational.
437
00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:53.009
I think only McDavid had more points from the return
438
00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:54.630
of the Olympic break to the end of the year
439
00:25:55.150 --> 00:25:57.730
than Jack Hughes. If he carries that into this year,
440
00:26:00.269 --> 00:26:02.029
I don't see how the Devils are anything less than
441
00:26:02.069 --> 00:26:07.470
a top three team in the Metropolitan Division again. So
442
00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:10.259
we'll see how that goes. Hopefully he stays healthy for
443
00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.910
at least, you know, They're playing 84 games this year.
444
00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:15.990
Give us 78 games, Jack. 75 to 78 games. That's
445
00:26:16.009 --> 00:26:19.309
what they need. We'll see what happens with Quinn Hughes.
446
00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:23.430
I know you're Mr. Driving the Bus on that all summer.
447
00:26:23.490 --> 00:26:26.940
It's been absolutely hilarious to watch. I'm sure all the
448
00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:31.099
Sam Wu is an incel loser people are just having
449
00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:33.400
a terrible time seeing how great of a person you
450
00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:37.309
are taking vacations to St. Thomas and stuff, you're not
451
00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:39.490
in a basement in a hole in New Jersey, like
452
00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:42.990
they say. I love kind of seeing you give a
453
00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.710
big old.
454
00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.779
I think I'm public enemy number one in Minnesota, the
455
00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:49.019
state of Minnesota right now.
456
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:50.640
Oh, yeah. The state of hockey.
457
00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:51.579
Every single area.
458
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.140
Yo, the state of hockey is the state of Sam
459
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.680
Wu hatred now. And that's just an undeniable fact, which
460
00:26:57.779 --> 00:27:00.359
I find to be absolutely hilarious. I've been enjoying it
461
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.740
all summer. Really quick, where am I on the Quinn
462
00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:09.150
Hughes thing, people might be wondering? I just, it's crazy
463
00:27:09.190 --> 00:27:10.829
to me that it's not done. If it was such
464
00:27:10.869 --> 00:27:14.190
a lock that it's going to get done. Like the
465
00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:17.269
devil's traded for Luke Evangelista and 14 days later, he
466
00:27:17.289 --> 00:27:20.329
was signed to a five-year deal. And I know Luke Evangelista,
467
00:27:20.369 --> 00:27:23.809
he doesn't have the skill of Quinn Hughes. He doesn't
468
00:27:23.829 --> 00:27:26.730
have the consequence of Quinn Hughes. He doesn't have basically
469
00:27:26.809 --> 00:27:30.670
anything that Quinn Hughes has other than being an NHL player,
470
00:27:30.750 --> 00:27:33.579
but he's an impact player who will help a team
471
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.359
be better and So Quinn Hughes, you know what the
472
00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.200
max you can sign for is? Eight years is out
473
00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:44.279
the window as of today, which if he was staying
474
00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.700
in Minnesota, I don't see why he wouldn't do eight
475
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:49.380
years unless he really truly lines it up with Jack.
476
00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:51.180
But then it's just like, if you want to play
477
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:52.950
with Jack so bad, why wouldn't you just do it now?
478
00:27:53.269 --> 00:27:55.349
Which leads to the thought of if he's just going
479
00:27:55.369 --> 00:27:57.559
to go play for the New Jersey Devils. Does he
480
00:27:57.619 --> 00:27:59.420
want the extra two million that he could get if
481
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.609
he waits till July 1st because the salary cap is
482
00:28:01.619 --> 00:28:03.410
going to go up? So the percentage of a max
483
00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:06.769
contract is going to go up. I guess that's possible. But,
484
00:28:07.710 --> 00:28:10.470
you know, I don't see money being his drive. I
485
00:28:10.529 --> 00:28:14.190
really that's the one thing I've believed that Bill Guerin,
486
00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:17.720
Quinn Hughes, any of these guys have said. The only
487
00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:19.940
thing I actually believe that they said is that money
488
00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:22.660
isn't like the driving force here. Of course, he wants
489
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.819
to be rich. He wants to be paid. We all do.
490
00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:28.529
That's why we all do this stuff. But at the
491
00:28:28.569 --> 00:28:33.069
end of the day, he has hopes and desires for
492
00:28:33.089 --> 00:28:36.839
where he wants to see his career go. 60%, he
493
00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.720
ends up with the New Jersey Devils. 40%, he remains
494
00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:41.299
with the Minnesota Wild beyond this year.
495
00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:45.579
I don't know if you can hear that in the background.
496
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.470
I think we're leaving right now. I guess that's our cue.
497
00:28:51.549 --> 00:28:53.470
Everybody wave goodbye to Sam.
498
00:28:56.950 --> 00:29:00.480
But anyway, just just on that thought, because I know Mrs.
499
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:05.519
Wu wants to play bingo now. So can you hear
500
00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:10.069
that in the background? I can. It sounds lovely. Yeah. Yeah.
501
00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:12.109
So we'll be moving in a couple of seconds. But
502
00:29:12.869 --> 00:29:16.799
the Quinn Hughes thing. I called it all along in
503
00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:19.559
the beginning. I didn't think it was a lock. All
504
00:29:19.579 --> 00:29:22.589
the rumors about this three-year deal, I thought it was nonsense.
505
00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:25.549
I thought a lot of the rumors were nonsense. I
506
00:29:25.589 --> 00:29:29.349
think they were good ideas. I think they were well-thought-out ideas,
507
00:29:29.430 --> 00:29:32.089
but I thought it was all nonsense. What really bothered
508
00:29:32.130 --> 00:29:35.329
me was when Craig Leopold spoke to the media. And
509
00:29:35.349 --> 00:29:38.259
when he spoke to the media, he basically said, you know,
510
00:29:38.279 --> 00:29:40.000
we got the money. It's just a matter of how
511
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:46.180
many years. And then suddenly you've got Bill Guerin, the
512
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:50.220
rest of Minnesota Wild and their PR team, along with
513
00:29:50.380 --> 00:29:54.890
Mike Russo being the mouthpiece, trying to protect the owner.
514
00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:58.640
Only to find out there wasn't been, there's not much talk.
515
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:01.500
You can't have it both ways. To me, I think
516
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:04.259
the owner, the Minnesota Wild owner, if I was a
517
00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:07.500
Minnesota Wild fan, I'd be a little pissed being misled
518
00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:12.599
like that. And just to sell season tickets. After all,
519
00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:18.480
he is the, I don't know, the telemarketer of all telemarketers.
520
00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:20.480
That's how he made his money, believe it or not.
521
00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:22.660
So he sold you a bill of goods. And this
522
00:30:22.700 --> 00:30:25.809
thing is now going to drag along, my prediction, It
523
00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:29.890
goes to July 1st. A lot can happen between now
524
00:30:30.390 --> 00:30:33.970
and July 1st. And I think Quinn Hughes, very smart guy,
525
00:30:34.089 --> 00:30:37.869
and I think Quinn and Jack and Luke are playing
526
00:30:37.930 --> 00:30:43.170
this like it's nothing. But the reality is, once a
527
00:30:43.210 --> 00:30:46.779
free agency happens, where are the New Jersey Devils at?
528
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:52.160
Where are the Minnesota Wilds at? Now it holds both GMs,
529
00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:54.980
both Bill Tenney, accountable. So I think that's where it's
530
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.910
going to go. Very good, Sam. It's not going to
531
00:30:57.930 --> 00:31:00.269
be any time soon. So we have another 10 months
532
00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:04.410
of trolling with these Minnesota Wild fans. By the way,
533
00:31:04.809 --> 00:31:07.059
good luck with John Hines. He's a perfect coach for
534
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:10.819
that organization. But again, I think he's one of the
535
00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:15.200
most overhyped coaches around. But then again, maybe he's better now.
536
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:17.220
I don't know. I don't know what your thoughts are.
537
00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.759
Yeah, he's improved. The Devils were terrible when he was
538
00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.779
their coach. It's hard to hold him accountable when Michael
539
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:25.529
Ryder was your best forward.
540
00:31:27.589 --> 00:31:28.349
Yeah, that's true.
541
00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:30.549
It was a little after that, that John Hines game,
542
00:31:30.569 --> 00:31:31.369
but the team stunk.
543
00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.009
Yeah. Yeah, and he took over a bad team.
544
00:31:36.769 --> 00:31:36.970
Yeah.
545
00:31:37.150 --> 00:31:39.750
All right, Vinny, I'm going to hit the music right now,
546
00:31:39.809 --> 00:31:41.910
but I thought the chip was moving, but it's not
547
00:31:41.950 --> 00:31:46.589
moving yet. But anyway, we're disembarking. Well, I want to
548
00:31:46.609 --> 00:31:48.970
thank all those tuning in to the podcast. I'm going
549
00:31:48.990 --> 00:31:52.710
to drop the podcast maybe later at midnight. Also, happy
550
00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:57.640
birthday to Nick Villano. Today is his birthday, so we're
551
00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.259
not going to have to save the fan address because
552
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.319
he wants to celebrate his birthday with his family. He
553
00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:04.400
doesn't think that he could get back in time for
554
00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:05.839
the podcast.
555
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:08.440
Happy 21st birthday, Nick.
556
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:14.109
Yeah, enjoy it, Nick. Enjoy it. But we'll have to
557
00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:18.950
save the fan address tomorrow, 8.30 p.m. Eastern, pucksandpitchforks.com. Go there.
558
00:32:18.970 --> 00:32:21.809
Be there or be square. Thank you, Vinny. Coming on
559
00:32:21.829 --> 00:32:22.589
in the middle of the day.
560
00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:25.789
We're almost there, baby.
561
00:32:28.809 --> 00:32:32.569
All right. Till next time. This is the Wool Report.
562
00:32:33.309 --> 00:32:34.470
Let's go.
1
00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:27.750
Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the Woo Report. The Woo
2
00:00:27.769 --> 00:00:31.570
Report coming to you live, live from St. Thomas out
3
00:00:31.609 --> 00:00:34.689
in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I'm your host, Sam Woo,
4
00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:38.250
here with a special guest from Chicago, Illinois, from the
5
00:00:38.310 --> 00:00:44.780
Hockey News, from PucksandPitchforks.com, and USA Today, Vinny Parisi, as
6
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.479
we're streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, X Live,
7
00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.060
Twitch Live. And now on Instagram Live on the Let's
8
00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.509
Go Devils Network. Well, Vinny, I don't know if you
9
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:59.369
can hear me right now. I think my feet just,
10
00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:01.049
did my feet just drop?
11
00:01:02.609 --> 00:01:04.590
Yeah, you look like you're frozen, but I can hear
12
00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:05.569
you perfectly.
13
00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:10.629
Oh, okay. Well, that's all that matters. That's all that matters.
14
00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:11.609
At the end of the day. I guess we have
15
00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:14.640
a little bit of feet issues. Yeah, I mean, you know,
16
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we are, you know, we are doing this podcast on
17
00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:19.239
a cruise ship, no less.
18
00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:23.290
Which is remarkable. How's vacation going? Oh, it looks like
19
00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:24.250
you just came back, too.
20
00:01:24.269 --> 00:01:26.879
So there you go. Yeah, I just came back. No,
21
00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.640
everything is going just fine. It's 96 degrees. I'm wearing
22
00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.700
my Jack Hughes reverse retro jersey here out on the ship.
23
00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:39.230
You see in the background, you see the nice scenery here.
24
00:01:39.290 --> 00:01:41.310
What's the temperature out in Chicago, Illinois?
25
00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:45.930
Chicago, Illinois is currently rainy and cloudy. Right now it
26
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is 75 degrees. It'll dip into the 60s this evening.
27
00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.560
Oh, okay. All right. It's not like in the wintertime
28
00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:58.620
when you're negative 35 and we're like, you know, 25 degrees,
29
00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:02.140
you know, making fun of us that we're complaining to cold.
30
00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:05.489
Yeah, there are many moments. And I know, trust me,
31
00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:08.729
I've been to New Jersey a couple times. I know
32
00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:13.490
you guys get cold and you guys get that ocean front.
33
00:02:15.469 --> 00:02:20.560
But the Midwest, man, lately, these minus tens. So there
34
00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.780
are times where it's, 30, 40 degrees colder here. And
35
00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:25.759
I'm not even really that far away in the grand
36
00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:28.259
scheme of things, but we're taking in the last little
37
00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.060
bit of summer slash early fall that we can get
38
00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:34.050
before we really dive into the national hockey league this season.
39
00:02:36.110 --> 00:02:39.110
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, for folks that are joining in,
40
00:02:39.150 --> 00:02:41.650
I see Corbin in the YouTube live. I see Jorge.
41
00:02:41.689 --> 00:02:45.490
He says, yeah, hell yeah. And hear me, which is good.
42
00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.500
But right now I am out. Actually, my picture is
43
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.580
frozen again. So, But I do see that I do
44
00:02:54.659 --> 00:02:59.620
have good levels here. But, you know, but camp has started.
45
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:06.090
Camp has started. Lots of news around 11 p.m. Eastern yesterday.
46
00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:10.150
Let's start with the first one. The deadline, September 15th,
47
00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:14.569
the last time, the last minutes before the new collective
48
00:03:14.610 --> 00:03:18.930
bargaining agreement begins, which is, you know, midnight today or 12.01 today,
49
00:03:18.949 --> 00:03:25.909
September 16th. Luke Evangelista gets it done with Sonny Maeda.
50
00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:32.310
Deal five years, 7.25 AAV, taking advantage of the old
51
00:03:32.389 --> 00:03:36.129
collective bargaining agreement where you can front load these contracts.
52
00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.659
But from what I see James Nichols reporting on New
53
00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:42.500
Jersey Hockey Now, that the first three years he does
54
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:47.400
not have any trade protection. So Sonny willing and dealing.
55
00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.120
What are your thoughts on that contract?
56
00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:54.259
I think it's great. So, evangelista i haven't been on
57
00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:57.810
since the devils traded for him i think luke evangelista
58
00:03:57.849 --> 00:04:01.189
is a great player is he a super duper star
59
00:04:01.229 --> 00:04:07.310
no but he's a top six play making forward who
60
00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:11.409
makes the devils better instantly um do the devils have
61
00:04:11.449 --> 00:04:14.139
a lot of guys who are pass first and what
62
00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:16.120
i love to see them add a guy who you
63
00:04:16.180 --> 00:04:19.370
really think of as a sniper yeah of course We'll
64
00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:21.250
see if something like that. But it's not like, you know,
65
00:04:21.329 --> 00:04:25.100
he sure. Bratmeyer, Jack Hughes, obviously, have also shown the
66
00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:29.759
ability to score 30 goals. Dawson Mercer gets 20 in seasons.
67
00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:34.110
He plays bad so he can score goals. Evangelista is
68
00:04:34.139 --> 00:04:36.310
a great playmaker. And if he could just get that
69
00:04:36.350 --> 00:04:41.800
shooting percentage up even 5 percent, he'd be a. 20
70
00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.839
goal score who has 50 assists. Like I really think
71
00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:47.449
that's the ceiling for him. He's a great player. So
72
00:04:47.509 --> 00:04:50.029
I do think it's a great contract for meta in
73
00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:54.350
the New Jersey devils to get completed in time. Um,
74
00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:57.750
but you know, it came in late at night yesterday. Um,
75
00:04:59.509 --> 00:05:01.610
I was excited about it because the Devils lock in
76
00:05:01.649 --> 00:05:04.350
a forward who I think makes them really good in
77
00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:08.259
their top six. They have Anthony Mantha, too. That hasn't
78
00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:11.819
even fully hit me yet. He scored 30 last year.
79
00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:15.779
When he's healthy, he can score. So it'll be interesting
80
00:05:15.819 --> 00:05:18.399
to see how the group meshes together, how Gritsuk takes
81
00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:22.170
the next step and all that. But with Evangelista as
82
00:05:22.209 --> 00:05:24.149
a part of the core now, I think that's a
83
00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:27.389
really solid move. I don't really get what Nashville was doing.
84
00:05:28.269 --> 00:05:31.209
But I still have yet to see someone give me
85
00:05:31.250 --> 00:05:33.670
a sound logical argument on why it was a good
86
00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:38.079
idea for them to trade Luke Evangelista anywhere, but specifically
87
00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:41.720
the New Jersey Devils. But they're the beneficiaries of it.
88
00:05:42.060 --> 00:05:45.579
His under the hood stuff looks real nice. There's a
89
00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.540
lot of those analytics that make it seem like he
90
00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.420
could even break out even more, which is exciting to
91
00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:53.689
think about. But at a base, he's just a really,
92
00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:54.910
really good player.
93
00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:00.829
Well, yeah, I think he's a very good player. I
94
00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:04.069
think the rumors were that he asked for $ 9 million
95
00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:08.110
AAV out of the National Predators, and they simply weren't
96
00:06:08.149 --> 00:06:10.560
going to give it to him. And then the opportunity
97
00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:14.980
arised only because Sonny Maeda took care of business early
98
00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:18.389
on about the salary cap situation, and what to do
99
00:06:18.430 --> 00:06:21.490
with Shimon Nemitz and what to do with Jacob Markstrom.
100
00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:23.589
The fact of the matter is he took care of
101
00:06:23.610 --> 00:06:26.620
business so quickly in such a short period of time,
102
00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:30.860
just basically just righting the wrong from the previous regime
103
00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:34.839
that enabled him to be patient and make the right
104
00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:37.750
moves and let the moves come to him. So you're
105
00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.350
thinking about what the Devils gave up in terms of
106
00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:43.930
draft picks. Well, that came from one of those moves.
107
00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:50.949
And was it too much? That's debatable. 12 goals last
108
00:06:51.009 --> 00:06:56.470
year that Evangelista scored. It doesn't worry me, but the
109
00:06:56.470 --> 00:07:00.430
56 points is something to build off of. You know,
110
00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:02.269
it's just a matter of how the Devils are going
111
00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.180
to use Evangelista. And he's going to be that energy
112
00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.860
guy that gets things going. Something that we wanted out
113
00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:10.800
of Palat in some respects.
114
00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:11.420
Just.
115
00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:14.259
that guy that just gets things going and get the
116
00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.000
players going. But I think it's so far, I think
117
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:19.360
it's a good low risk deal for the New Jersey
118
00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:23.579
devils five years, 7.25 AAV with no trade protection in
119
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:25.139
the first three years of that contract.
120
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.720
And Stephen Stamko scored 40 goals last year for the
121
00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:31.660
first time in a couple of years. A lot of
122
00:07:31.699 --> 00:07:36.220
people attribute that to playing with Evangelista. So can he
123
00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:40.160
get Meyer to score 40 again? Can Nico Heischer cross
124
00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:43.660
the 40-goal threshold? I think it's absolutely possible on either front.
125
00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:45.980
I don't see him playing with Jack Hughes or Jesper
126
00:07:46.019 --> 00:07:49.000
Bratt a whole lot, just because there would be a
127
00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:52.699
lot of redundancy on a line like that. But on
128
00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:55.740
a line with Heischer and Meyer, it could be one
129
00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.579
of the best second-line centers in the NHL.
130
00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.899
Yeah. Well, you know, again, there was a lot of
131
00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:09.120
expectations when Palat was– you know, signed, you know, kind
132
00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:11.500
of mean the guy in the clutch also trying to
133
00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:13.740
get other guys going in some respects. He did do
134
00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:15.519
it at times, but it was just not especially in
135
00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.439
the playoffs. And I think he was, yeah, especially in
136
00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:22.310
the playoffs. And, but Evangelista, you know, my only, I
137
00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:24.029
think the only thing that could go wrong is if
138
00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:26.209
you put him on the line with Timo Meyer, if
139
00:08:26.329 --> 00:08:29.610
both guys can't finish, that's where you're going to have problems.
140
00:08:29.670 --> 00:08:31.870
It's just a matter of where do you put Evangelista?
141
00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:33.960
Do you start them on the third line and say,
142
00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:36.899
prove it that you're on the top six forward or,
143
00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:39.230
Or do you start him on the top six? But
144
00:08:39.250 --> 00:08:41.970
the Devils have so many options right now. This is
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what happens. And granted, salary cap matters. There's an overloaded
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amount of forwards that the Devils have right now. There's
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kind of a, you can say that even on defense
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as well, in some respects, is Seamus Casey or a
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sly of actually, you know, is that guy, you know,
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game one of this season, but I'd rather have him
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develop in the AHL. and also in goaltending. I mean,
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there's just a, yeah, they're not exactly the names that
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you want, like a Connor Hellebuck, but look, Jake, the
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snake Allen was above average last season. In my opinion,
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just didn't get enough starts. Nico Dawes has something to prove. And,
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you know, David Riddick is that cheap experience backup. So
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there's tremendous amount of competition going into the. Yeah, for sure.
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And, You touched on Meyer. Listen, since coming over from
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San Jose, I don't think he's ever been in a
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high-end offensive role since coming to the New Jersey Devils.
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When he was having success throughout his tenure in San Jose,
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regardless of what year it was, he got to play
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on the power player of Brent Burns, Eric Carlson, Logan
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Couture was there for a while. Joe Pavelski was even
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there at points. I'm thinking back to when they were
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in the conference finals that year they started. Vegas in
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game seven the one year. You know, that team was
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just magnificent. And so he knows what it's like to
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score goals with good playmakers around him. He sure is
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a high-end player, but I wouldn't call him a high-end playmaker.
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He's an above-average playmaker for sure, but he's not going
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to have 60 assists in a season, I don't think,
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maybe once. But, you know, I think that line as
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a whole, with those three different kind of skill sets,
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I could see it complementing Hughes, Bratt, and Mantha quite well,
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assuming everyone's able to stay healthy. But, you know, like
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you said, with the third line, though, who's to say
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Cody Glass with Gritsuk isn't going to be a top-end
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third line in the league? So we'll see how it
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all goes. But, yeah, the forward group is really looking nice.
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So if they can only get that defense to play
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up to their capabilities and stay healthy. I'm talking about
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Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. Dougie Hamilton was awesome from
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the point that he realized he wasn't being traded last
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year onward. The first half of the season was quite rough,
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but I think in the second half, when things started
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to mellow out for him, hopefully that's a whole season
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for him this year. Luke Hughes had a tough year.
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It was a tough year for Luke Hughes. But, you know,
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by all accounts, it seems like he's been putting in
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the work in the summer. He obviously wants to get
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on his two brothers level. So a top trio like that,
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Segan Dollar and Kovacevic and Dillon, those are good defensive defensemen.
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I know last year was rough. And I didn't even
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touch on Pesci, who, like, he's got the highest rating
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of every defenseman for the Devils in NHL 27 for
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a reason. Not that the NHL 27 ratings are the
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end all be all by any means. That game stinks, apparently. But,
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you know, he's well regarded as a high end defense,
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defensive defenseman in the NHL. So and he was injured
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and clearly a step behind last year due to the injuries.
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So we'll see how it all comes together this year.
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But like you said, everything coming together real nice.
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Yeah, everything's coming together real nice, Vinny. I got some
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of the comments in the YouTube live. Always something 17 says.
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I would have waited half a season for making a
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decision on resigning him. Well, you know, it's one of the, again,
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I think Sonny made a, he gambles. You know, because
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you know what? A 7.25 AAV is not a bad
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price in today's market. For a forward like Evangelista, like
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you said, is he a superstar? No. But will he
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help your team? Yes. We talked about getting that winger
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for Jack Hughes. Could he be that guy? Could he
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absolutely be that guy? You know, look, some of these
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wingers are out there like Jason Robertson. They're not a
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dime a dozen. And they cost a lot of money.
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And you have to take a look at that. you know,
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to that account. I tweeted this out earlier on my
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X account, at PrimetimeSamWu. You can also find Vinny Parisi
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on X, at Vinny Parisi. And you can find the
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Let's Go Devils podcast at Let's Go Devils Pod. You know,
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I tweeted this out that during that fan forum, you know,
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with the fans back in June with the season ticket holders,
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Sonny made us it every day he thinks about the
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salary cap. He was asked that question by Matt Laughlin.
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What do you think about how you're going to rebuild
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this team? And he went straight to the salary cap.
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He thinks about it every day. So he's careful with
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the amount of money that is spent, yet he somehow
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figured out, maybe through his analytics, through the scouting, through whatever,
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the 15 forwards that we all talk about that's 12 spots.
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We're talking about the competition at the goalie position. And...
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and the defensive position as well, yet still having some
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salary cap space to possibly make a big move. And
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I'm not saying he's going to do it, but a
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move like Connor Hellebuck or Quinn Hughes that are in
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the $ 7 million to $ 8 million range right now for
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just this year, he could still pull it off. And
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Dawson Mercer's contract looks like it could be moved easily
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if the other team were to take on his contract,
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which is at, what, $ 4. 5 million AAV. He has no
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trade protection. You know, Sonny's in the driver's seat right now.
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He really is. And I can address that comment, too,
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about waiting for Evangelista. For one, I do think you're
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going to be pleasantly surprised at how good Evangelista is.
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He proved it last year and the year before. There's
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a lot of trust there. But also, more than 60%
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of his $ 36. 25 million contract will be paid in signing bonuses,
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which wouldn't have been allowed if it wasn't registered before midnight.
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So that went into getting done at the time that
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it did.
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Yeah. So, you know, with that said, there were other
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moves that were made. One was expected. I wouldn't say
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it came out of left field, but there were rumors
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about the hiring of Ryan McCabe from the Florida Panthers
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and Jessica Campbell, who was with the Seattle Kraken. Let's
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dive into that. What are your thoughts on Brian McCabe
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and Jessica Campbell being with the New Jersey Devils in
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their new roles?
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So from everything I heard, Jessica Campbell's time in Seattle
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was one of their rare successes. You talked to me
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off air about a lot of things coming from Seattle
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being tough. I really think there might not be a
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team in the league I would rather be covering or
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involved with or a fan of less right now than
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the Seattle Kraken and I don't think they're going to
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come in dead last you know that's part of the
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problem there's not a lot of high-end skill there they've
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made a lot of drafting mistakes they had that one
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year where they upset Colorado in the first round and
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then they took Dallas the game seven in the second
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round and talk about what feels like a lifetime ago
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um but by all accounts her success her tenure there
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was good people liked the way that she thinks about
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the game. So that's why I think she's got the
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role that she does. As far as Brian McCann, he
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was apparently Sonny Mehta's right-hand man when he was in Florida.
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So this doesn't really come that much of a surprise
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at all. And he's not the first person from Florida
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to come on over following Sonny. So it does send
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a message. There's a lot of respect there. A lot
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of high-end people who have done some great things in
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the National Hockey League. have great respect and admiration for
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Sonny Mehta, that they want to continue to work with him,
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even though he moved a little to the north to
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run the New Jersey Devils.
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Yeah. Also, Joey B is saying that Vinny is in
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a hostage video with the background, and while Sam Wu
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is in Paradise, it's all you can eat shrimp waiting
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after the show. Very, very true, Joey. Also saying odds...
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that Samu wears a devil's jersey to a formal dinner
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on the cruise that's already been done, Joey B. I
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did go to dinner with my devil's jersey on just recently. Also,
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I see the camera feed is down. I'm going to
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try to adjust that while I talk. But here are
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my opinions.
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Really quick, really quick, really quick, really quick.
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Yep, go ahead.
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Katie, my wife, has demanded... That I have background paraphernalia,
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if you will, before the first episode of Game Day
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Live on opening night.
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Okay. All right. Well, it's good to know.
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I think I have to push my desk a little
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bit forward. Yeah, I have to push my desk a
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little bit forward, I think, so I have a little
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more wall space in the shot. But I have some
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stuff that I'm going to hang, and I won't look
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as much like I'm in. I got the light, though.
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Nobody appreciates anything around here.
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Oh, I know. I know. Hostage video. You know the
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ship is going to move in about five minutes, so
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it's going to be kind of cool.
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Then you're really going to out-background me.
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Yeah. Brian McCabe. longtime NHLer, respected him as a player
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when he was on the Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs.
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You talk about culture. I'm also talking about development, development, development,
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because that's what did not happen under the Fitzgerald regime.
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The development was not there, in my opinion, where it
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needed to be. So you're talking about bringing a new
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GM for the Utica Comets, but Brian McCabe is going
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to be the assistant GM for um, of the Utica
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comments as well, but he's going to bring that player
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culture as well. We talked, we talked about development, you know, uh,
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Sly of do you send them in the AHL right away?
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Let him be part of that culture and that winning
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culture pipeline that would come up eventually to New Jersey Devils.
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I think that's very important right now. Uh, you talk
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about Jessica Campbell now taking over Megan Duggan's, um, Old
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position of player development, that's sorely lacked, I thought. I
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just think that there was no development, you know, coming
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from the players. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm just
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looking at the results too much. I don't know, but
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I'm not sure about that. hiring, but everything that Sonny
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has done, I've agreed with. So by default, I'm going
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to say this is a decent hiring only because I
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trust Sonny Maeda right now. When you look at the
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records in Seattle, I can't go by that.
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Yeah, exactly. The thing for me is the Florida Panthers
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had such success, an incredible amount of success. They are
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so good. I think they're going to be really good
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again this year. If you told me the Devils were
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going to make it to the conference final and then
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they played Florida... Okay, all bets are off at that point. Like,
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I really think they're that good. And people are like, oh,
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what makes you think just because they add Brady Kachuk
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they're going to bounce back? Well, they're not just adding
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Brady Kachuk. Sasha Barkov played zero games for them last year.
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And then he comes back in the world championship and
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Finland magically wins the world championships. So this guy's a star.
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He's one of the best players in the NHL. Top ten,
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top six center for sure. They're... they're just so good
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and they've done so many good things. And Sonny Mehta
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was by all reports, a big part of a lot
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of their decision-making. I'm not saying he was the final
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decision maker. That's why he took the job with the
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New Jersey Devils. Um, cause he was finally the final
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decision maker. There have been a lot of examples of
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these guys who were parts of brain trusts who start
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their own, start their own way with a new team
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and fail. I'm not saying that's impossible, but the track
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record with Florida is positive because And nobody can say
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that any move he's made so far with the New
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Jersey Devils has been poor. Would I have liked it
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to be a six-year deal or a seven-year deal? Right now,
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my initial instinct is yes. But at the same time,
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you don't know what he or the team is going
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to look like in six years. So, like, what's the
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big deal of worrying about it right now? Think of
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where the Devils were six years ago. Everyone wanted Hall
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extended to an eight-year deal. What a disaster that would
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have been in hindsight. So, you know, sometimes you just
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got to, you know, and listen, Taylor Hall, cop, good player. But, like,
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the Devils were going to give him $ 9 million because
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that was the going rate for a top three winger
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in the league. And then he wasn't a top three
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winger in the league, like, two years later. So it's
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a fine line. Sonny Mehta, so far, so good. It's
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hard to critique any of his moves at this point.
379
00:22:29.299 --> 00:22:31.099
And it's going to be a while. But I think
380
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.059
right now, I think Devils fans want results. They want
381
00:22:34.099 --> 00:22:36.539
to see improvement. I think Luke Hughes, I think he's
382
00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:39.069
going to have an outstanding camp. I think he's going
383
00:22:39.089 --> 00:22:42.069
to come in prepared this year. The first time under
384
00:22:42.710 --> 00:22:46.410
Sheldon Keefe that he's actually in camp on time. I
385
00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:51.029
also think that Jack Hughes is feeling good, feeling confident.
386
00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:57.079
He had a great post-Olympics, won the Golden Goal. There's
387
00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:58.900
a lot of positive things to talk about. He Devils it.
388
00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:02.579
And I thought the Devils were pretty strong towards the
389
00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:04.579
end of the year, even when they had nothing to
390
00:23:04.619 --> 00:23:06.579
play for, which is also what we were looking for.
391
00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:10.460
I remember the last game of the season, Devils won
392
00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:15.420
in extra time and overtime. I forget who, but the
393
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:20.980
crowd was definitely into it. The other thing, too, as well,
394
00:23:21.099 --> 00:23:24.809
is people forget that the Devils started the first 10
395
00:23:24.809 --> 00:23:29.009
games of last season really hot. Maybe more. The first
396
00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:36.809
10 games this season. Yeah. I'm hearing something in the background.
397
00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:39.769
Is there a mouse eating something? I hear something in
398
00:23:39.809 --> 00:23:41.309
the background. I don't know if it's me or you.
399
00:23:43.470 --> 00:23:45.809
Did I groan at the fact that the White Sox
400
00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:48.069
are about to not be in first place in five seconds?
401
00:23:48.190 --> 00:23:49.710
I might have made a little noise.
402
00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:52.240
I don't hear anything. I don't know. I was hearing
403
00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:56.299
something in the background, like somebody joined the podcast or something.
404
00:23:56.359 --> 00:24:00.440
I hear scratching or whatever. Somebody walking around. It's weird. Anyway,
405
00:24:00.930 --> 00:24:01.809
maybe I'm hearing things.
406
00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:03.710
Maybe the boat's moving.
407
00:24:05.990 --> 00:24:09.230
I don't think it's moving just yet, but I think
408
00:24:09.250 --> 00:24:12.789
we should wrap very soon. I was hoping we would move. No,
409
00:24:12.809 --> 00:24:17.119
they're still waiting for the last second stragglers. Here, I'll
410
00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:18.640
take the camera with me.
411
00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.420
It's gotta be scary being the captain of a ship
412
00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.000
like that and like making that decision that, okay, everybody's
413
00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:29.339
back on board. We can leave now. Cause like, what
414
00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.220
would an American or someone who lives in the United
415
00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:37.390
States do if they got left at St. Thomas while
416
00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:40.210
the rest of the boat moved? Like, I remember when
417
00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:41.970
I went on a cruise, that was a fear. Like
418
00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:44.890
I made sure you're back on the boat an hour
419
00:24:44.990 --> 00:24:47.109
before they say they're going to leave just in case.
420
00:24:48.730 --> 00:24:52.299
Yeah. Well, This is a U.S. territory, so it's not
421
00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:55.119
too bad. So it's not like you're really in a
422
00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:57.500
foreign country, but you are. Well, yeah. Yeah, I know
423
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.900
what you mean. Yeah, but it's kind of like being
424
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:06.869
in Philadelphia, you know, in the States. It's just a
425
00:25:06.890 --> 00:25:09.109
different world. Yeah.
426
00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:10.690
I'd rather be there than Philadelphia.
427
00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:13.690
Yeah, so any last thoughts, Vinny?
428
00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:19.390
Yeah, I'm excited, Sam. The Devils, you know, I... I'm
429
00:25:19.430 --> 00:25:23.549
excited coming into this year. I'm nervous because if this
430
00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:28.500
year doesn't go well, I'd be shocked if they didn't
431
00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:32.400
make a true shakeup to the core, probably fire the coach.
432
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.859
And I don't know. That stuff's icky. That's a sign
433
00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:41.089
of failure, and I don't like failing. So I really
434
00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:42.390
hope they get off to a good start.
435
00:25:42.710 --> 00:25:43.349
We all know.
436
00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:49.490
The crutch to this team is Jack Hughes. He was sensational.
437
00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:53.009
I think only McDavid had more points from the return
438
00:25:53.029 --> 00:25:54.630
of the Olympic break to the end of the year
439
00:25:55.150 --> 00:25:57.730
than Jack Hughes. If he carries that into this year,
440
00:26:00.269 --> 00:26:02.029
I don't see how the Devils are anything less than
441
00:26:02.069 --> 00:26:07.470
a top three team in the Metropolitan Division again. So
442
00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:10.259
we'll see how that goes. Hopefully he stays healthy for
443
00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.910
at least, you know, They're playing 84 games this year.
444
00:26:12.930 --> 00:26:15.990
Give us 78 games, Jack. 75 to 78 games. That's
445
00:26:16.009 --> 00:26:19.309
what they need. We'll see what happens with Quinn Hughes.
446
00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:23.430
I know you're Mr. Driving the Bus on that all summer.
447
00:26:23.490 --> 00:26:26.940
It's been absolutely hilarious to watch. I'm sure all the
448
00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:31.099
Sam Wu is an incel loser people are just having
449
00:26:31.160 --> 00:26:33.400
a terrible time seeing how great of a person you
450
00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:37.309
are taking vacations to St. Thomas and stuff, you're not
451
00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:39.490
in a basement in a hole in New Jersey, like
452
00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:42.990
they say. I love kind of seeing you give a
453
00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.710
big old.
454
00:26:45.099 --> 00:26:47.779
I think I'm public enemy number one in Minnesota, the
455
00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:49.019
state of Minnesota right now.
456
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:50.640
Oh, yeah. The state of hockey.
457
00:26:50.700 --> 00:26:51.579
Every single area.
458
00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:54.140
Yo, the state of hockey is the state of Sam
459
00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.680
Wu hatred now. And that's just an undeniable fact, which
460
00:26:57.779 --> 00:27:00.359
I find to be absolutely hilarious. I've been enjoying it
461
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.740
all summer. Really quick, where am I on the Quinn
462
00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:09.150
Hughes thing, people might be wondering? I just, it's crazy
463
00:27:09.190 --> 00:27:10.829
to me that it's not done. If it was such
464
00:27:10.869 --> 00:27:14.190
a lock that it's going to get done. Like the
465
00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:17.269
devil's traded for Luke Evangelista and 14 days later, he
466
00:27:17.289 --> 00:27:20.329
was signed to a five-year deal. And I know Luke Evangelista,
467
00:27:20.369 --> 00:27:23.809
he doesn't have the skill of Quinn Hughes. He doesn't
468
00:27:23.829 --> 00:27:26.730
have the consequence of Quinn Hughes. He doesn't have basically
469
00:27:26.809 --> 00:27:30.670
anything that Quinn Hughes has other than being an NHL player,
470
00:27:30.750 --> 00:27:33.579
but he's an impact player who will help a team
471
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.359
be better and So Quinn Hughes, you know what the
472
00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:41.200
max you can sign for is? Eight years is out
473
00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:44.279
the window as of today, which if he was staying
474
00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.700
in Minnesota, I don't see why he wouldn't do eight
475
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:49.380
years unless he really truly lines it up with Jack.
476
00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:51.180
But then it's just like, if you want to play
477
00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:52.950
with Jack so bad, why wouldn't you just do it now?
478
00:27:53.269 --> 00:27:55.349
Which leads to the thought of if he's just going
479
00:27:55.369 --> 00:27:57.559
to go play for the New Jersey Devils. Does he
480
00:27:57.619 --> 00:27:59.420
want the extra two million that he could get if
481
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.609
he waits till July 1st because the salary cap is
482
00:28:01.619 --> 00:28:03.410
going to go up? So the percentage of a max
483
00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:06.769
contract is going to go up. I guess that's possible. But,
484
00:28:07.710 --> 00:28:10.470
you know, I don't see money being his drive. I
485
00:28:10.529 --> 00:28:14.190
really that's the one thing I've believed that Bill Guerin,
486
00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:17.720
Quinn Hughes, any of these guys have said. The only
487
00:28:17.779 --> 00:28:19.940
thing I actually believe that they said is that money
488
00:28:20.019 --> 00:28:22.660
isn't like the driving force here. Of course, he wants
489
00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.819
to be rich. He wants to be paid. We all do.
490
00:28:25.140 --> 00:28:28.529
That's why we all do this stuff. But at the
491
00:28:28.569 --> 00:28:33.069
end of the day, he has hopes and desires for
492
00:28:33.089 --> 00:28:36.839
where he wants to see his career go. 60%, he
493
00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.720
ends up with the New Jersey Devils. 40%, he remains
494
00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:41.299
with the Minnesota Wild beyond this year.
495
00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:45.579
I don't know if you can hear that in the background.
496
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.470
I think we're leaving right now. I guess that's our cue.
497
00:28:51.549 --> 00:28:53.470
Everybody wave goodbye to Sam.
498
00:28:56.950 --> 00:29:00.480
But anyway, just just on that thought, because I know Mrs.
499
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:05.519
Wu wants to play bingo now. So can you hear
500
00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:10.069
that in the background? I can. It sounds lovely. Yeah. Yeah.
501
00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:12.109
So we'll be moving in a couple of seconds. But
502
00:29:12.869 --> 00:29:16.799
the Quinn Hughes thing. I called it all along in
503
00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:19.559
the beginning. I didn't think it was a lock. All
504
00:29:19.579 --> 00:29:22.589
the rumors about this three-year deal, I thought it was nonsense.
505
00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:25.549
I thought a lot of the rumors were nonsense. I
506
00:29:25.589 --> 00:29:29.349
think they were good ideas. I think they were well-thought-out ideas,
507
00:29:29.430 --> 00:29:32.089
but I thought it was all nonsense. What really bothered
508
00:29:32.130 --> 00:29:35.329
me was when Craig Leopold spoke to the media. And
509
00:29:35.349 --> 00:29:38.259
when he spoke to the media, he basically said, you know,
510
00:29:38.279 --> 00:29:40.000
we got the money. It's just a matter of how
511
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:46.180
many years. And then suddenly you've got Bill Guerin, the
512
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:50.220
rest of Minnesota Wild and their PR team, along with
513
00:29:50.380 --> 00:29:54.890
Mike Russo being the mouthpiece, trying to protect the owner.
514
00:29:55.980 --> 00:29:58.640
Only to find out there wasn't been, there's not much talk.
515
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:01.500
You can't have it both ways. To me, I think
516
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:04.259
the owner, the Minnesota Wild owner, if I was a
517
00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:07.500
Minnesota Wild fan, I'd be a little pissed being misled
518
00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:12.599
like that. And just to sell season tickets. After all,
519
00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:18.480
he is the, I don't know, the telemarketer of all telemarketers.
520
00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:20.480
That's how he made his money, believe it or not.
521
00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:22.660
So he sold you a bill of goods. And this
522
00:30:22.700 --> 00:30:25.809
thing is now going to drag along, my prediction, It
523
00:30:25.849 --> 00:30:29.890
goes to July 1st. A lot can happen between now
524
00:30:30.390 --> 00:30:33.970
and July 1st. And I think Quinn Hughes, very smart guy,
525
00:30:34.089 --> 00:30:37.869
and I think Quinn and Jack and Luke are playing
526
00:30:37.930 --> 00:30:43.170
this like it's nothing. But the reality is, once a
527
00:30:43.210 --> 00:30:46.779
free agency happens, where are the New Jersey Devils at?
528
00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:52.160
Where are the Minnesota Wilds at? Now it holds both GMs,
529
00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:54.980
both Bill Tenney, accountable. So I think that's where it's
530
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.910
going to go. Very good, Sam. It's not going to
531
00:30:57.930 --> 00:31:00.269
be any time soon. So we have another 10 months
532
00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:04.410
of trolling with these Minnesota Wild fans. By the way,
533
00:31:04.809 --> 00:31:07.059
good luck with John Hines. He's a perfect coach for
534
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:10.819
that organization. But again, I think he's one of the
535
00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:15.200
most overhyped coaches around. But then again, maybe he's better now.
536
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:17.220
I don't know. I don't know what your thoughts are.
537
00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.759
Yeah, he's improved. The Devils were terrible when he was
538
00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.779
their coach. It's hard to hold him accountable when Michael
539
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:25.529
Ryder was your best forward.
540
00:31:27.589 --> 00:31:28.349
Yeah, that's true.
541
00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:30.549
It was a little after that, that John Hines game,
542
00:31:30.569 --> 00:31:31.369
but the team stunk.
543
00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:36.009
Yeah. Yeah, and he took over a bad team.
544
00:31:36.769 --> 00:31:36.970
Yeah.
545
00:31:37.150 --> 00:31:39.750
All right, Vinny, I'm going to hit the music right now,
546
00:31:39.809 --> 00:31:41.910
but I thought the chip was moving, but it's not
547
00:31:41.950 --> 00:31:46.589
moving yet. But anyway, we're disembarking. Well, I want to
548
00:31:46.609 --> 00:31:48.970
thank all those tuning in to the podcast. I'm going
549
00:31:48.990 --> 00:31:52.710
to drop the podcast maybe later at midnight. Also, happy
550
00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:57.640
birthday to Nick Villano. Today is his birthday, so we're
551
00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.259
not going to have to save the fan address because
552
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.319
he wants to celebrate his birthday with his family. He
553
00:32:01.579 --> 00:32:04.400
doesn't think that he could get back in time for
554
00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:05.839
the podcast.
555
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:08.440
Happy 21st birthday, Nick.
556
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:14.109
Yeah, enjoy it, Nick. Enjoy it. But we'll have to
557
00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:18.950
save the fan address tomorrow, 8.30 p.m. Eastern, pucksandpitchforks.com. Go there.
558
00:32:18.970 --> 00:32:21.809
Be there or be square. Thank you, Vinny. Coming on
559
00:32:21.829 --> 00:32:22.589
in the middle of the day.
560
00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:25.789
We're almost there, baby.
561
00:32:28.809 --> 00:32:32.569
All right. Till next time. This is the Wool Report.
562
00:32:33.309 --> 00:32:34.470
Let's go.
