WEBVTT
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Music Music Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of
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the Fan Address, episode 366. I'm your host, Sam Wu,
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here with pucksandpitchforks.com editor-in-chief Nick Villano, as we're streaming live
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on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, X Live, and Twitch, and
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now on Instagram Live on The Let's Go Devils Network
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coming to you live live from the Primetime Radio Studios,
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both inside the bunkers of both North and South Jersey,
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covering the Garden State, talking a little bit of your
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New Jersey Devils. Lots to talk about as camp continues.
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Looking good right now, the New Jersey Devils.
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2-0. And listen. I thought it was really funny that, uh,
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Rangers fans would try and be like, Oh, you almost
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lost to our B team, to our AHL team. And
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then their A team lost to the Islanders AHL team
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the next night. So I, I found that quite hilarious. Um, yeah,
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I mean that, that preseason game was, um, the effort
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was what you expect from the first preseason game of
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the year from the stars. Uh, And it's almost... It's
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almost a... I felt like it was a little bit
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of a disservice to Manta and Evangelista trying to build
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chemistry with Heischer, Meyer, Hughes, and Bratt. Not that... Again,
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I don't think there was anything wrong with what they did.
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I think they were just trying to get their sea legs.
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And Hughes and Bratt have natural chemistry. And then Heischer
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and Meyer have natural chemistry. So you saw a little
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bit more from those two together than the new guy.
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But there's nothing to take away. I don't think there's
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any issues here. I do think we need to be
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a little bit patient with Manta and Evangelista. I think
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they're going to have slow Octobers because they're building chemistry
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with new teams. It's a lot of new players in
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that forward group. So I think you want to see...
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I've liked what I've seen from the defense so far. Again,
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it's so early and it kind of means nothing. But
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I think you can tell that this defense has been
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together for a while outside of that Dylan Chisholm pairing.
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And I think that top four is going to do
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a lot to really drive the game while the offense,
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especially those third guys in those top lines, start to gel.
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But Jack Hughes looks like Jack Hughes. He could have
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scored whenever he felt like that game. You know, he
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was trying a couple things, and then whenever he felt
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like it, he threw a five-hole. I thought the wraparound
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by Timo Meier was really cool. I was in the
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building on Sunday. So was I. I missed you. I know,
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I know. I had kids with us, so we were
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just trying to survive.
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You just forgot about me. I was all alone.
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I texted you. Get the heck out of here.
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I was all alone.
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Do you know how hard it was to text?
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I was walking alone, looking at the Rutz Hut.
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The Rutz Hut?
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Yeah.
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I didn't have... We got a chicken sandwich. We didn't
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get the Rutz Hut because we were on the 100 level.
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Next time.
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Next time. Yeah. I thought Lombardi looked good, which he
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always does. I thought Jesper Boquist looked really good. He
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must have read my article because I wrote, is Jesper
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Boklund in trouble, a possibility for waivers? No, he's not.
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I take that article back already. He's not. He fits
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this team very well. He's going to be the extra forward.
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I don't see any world where Stefan Nason makes this team.
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I'm sorry. The only world in which Stefan Nason makes
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this team is if a trade happens.
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Or, God forbid, tremendous amount of injuries.
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It would just have to be one more. Right? Bustad
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is already injured. Kovacevic. If Kovacevic is injured, I think
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they'll keep up. What is his name? Kalyan Chuk? Something
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like that. Yeah. I think it's... I thought they might
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keep up Casey, but I don't anymore. I think they
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want Casey and Edwards to kind of do something. I
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didn't like Casey and Edwards. I gotta be honest. I
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didn't like the, the Edwards had a rough game on Sunday. Um,
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but he was kind of the only one. Um, but yeah, I, I, I,
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I don't take a ton from, from what was it?
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Monday they played the Rangers, um, I'm not going to
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take a ton. I'm really just curious about Nico Dawes.
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A lot of the analysis is he's doing really well
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on everything except for soft goals. Which I want to say, oh,
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that's fixable, but it's kind of like what's been the
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problem for five years, right? Yeah. Our guys can make,
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they save about as many of the high danger chances
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as you expect. And maybe even a little more, but
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when you're letting a soft goals, those don't matter. So
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I need him to kind of clean it up. Sheldon
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Keefe is really confident in this guy. Says that he's
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fired up to be here. Maybe he's just a little
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too fired up, and that's kind of what caused a
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lot of that. So the way I look at it,
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I'm not taking a ton out of it. I think
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that I need Nico Dawes to do well in one
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of these next two games. I think he'll play both games.
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Maybe if he doesn't, I don't think he's going to
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be the opening night starter. I think they're going to
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do Allen. Just stick with the veteran.
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Oh, I need like preseason. I thought he was.
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I did, too. But they were just talking about the
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fact that he goes as a starter.
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No, Jake, the snake out of the de facto.
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Do you think come playoff time they would go with Allen?
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Let's say they both do 905 save percentage. Yeah.
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It's preseason, so mind you, a lot can happen during
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the season.
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I'm saying if they have the same exact numbers. Oh, yeah.
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Then you go with Allen.
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You go with Allen because then Allen's on the hot seat.
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He's got to perform, and if he's not performing, you
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still have... You know, you don't want to have it
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to be the other way around where, you know, so.
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You saw what happened with Vanacek. Vanacek hasn't been the
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same since he got pulled in that Ranger series. Yeah. Really.
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Although he did win the game. There's so many interesting
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trickle-down effects from that because, like, you basically ended the
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devil's careers of Vanacek in Blackwood because you basically caught Blackwood.
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You didn't put him on the roster. And Vanacek, you
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pulled him after game two. And like, Lindy Ruff put
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him back in that Carolina series just to get lit up. Like,
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he needed a full reset. They didn't get it, and
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he isn't in the same sense. Vanacek was in net
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on Sunday for the Islanders. Islanders have a weird situation
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going on. They might also go with three goalies. But Riddick...
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I didn't love what I saw, but I didn't hate it.
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Made a couple mistakes. Again, it's the first preseason game,
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so I really don't want to make any wild accusations,
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but it's no secret that the goaltending situation just has
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to be solid, and it's not a guarantee that it
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will be. I'm the highest guy there is on Nico Dawes,
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but I'm also realistic to say that this is the
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biggest question mark. And are you willing to derail another
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Jack Hughes season? So, I'm going to write about this
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after this podcast, but you have to start asking, like,
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what price is too good to pass up for Connor Hellebuck?
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If you give the Jets what they want in assets,
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would they be willing to pay down his contract to
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make it a $ 5 million goalie? That's a good question.
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Connor Hellbuck, even through 37, will be well worth $ 5 million.
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At this point, Nick, I've always wanted Connor before quarantine.
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I know a lot of people just wants to stay
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away from that contract, but Jack Hughes' favorable deal right
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now kind of negates it, in my opinion.
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Like, what you do, Nico does, Dawson Mercer... Seamus Casey
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and a first-round pick for Hellebuck?
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Absolutely. No question.
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Yeah. No question. That would match the salary. I don't
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think you're losing much in that.
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Absolutely, I would do that.
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And here's the deal, because, like, I still have high
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hopes for Miguel Yigaroff, but you could still slow play Yigaroff, right? Like,
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what does Allen have? Allen has... Four more years on
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his deal? Three more years? Four more years. But you
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can LTIR him the last year, right? So let's just
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say it's three more years. So after this will be
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two more years, which Yegorov can do two years in
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the AHL. Or if he's incredible and he needs to
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come up, then you'll deal with it, right? You'll trade Allen.
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You'll figure it out, right? If he's knocking on the
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door or what's more likely to happen to him is
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you make Allen available in the expansion draft. And he
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gets claimed. Because I think a team would take Allen.
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I mean, depending on who else is available. But if
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a Houston team or Atlanta team is ready, you know,
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you want that better goal tender. That's why Vegas took
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Marc-Andre Fleury. That's why, what did Seattle sign Grubauer? That's
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what happened, right? I don't know, Nick. I think that's
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what happened. They signed Grubauer. It was a terrible signing,
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but you got that veteran in. So I think Allen
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would be a good piece to kind of bring in.
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I think it makes a lot of sense. It makes
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a lot of sense if you get that salary down.
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You can't pay him seven. You can't pay him over
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whatever he's making. Is he making over eight? Yeah, you
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got like... Winnipeg has to eat a chunk of it
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if they want to get a real price for it.
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I think it's 833 off the top of my head.
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I think that's the salary.
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Yeah, I mean, with the rising cap and with Winnipeg
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being non-competitive for the next couple of years, they need
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a full rebuild. What do they care about an extra 3.3
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million on the cap to get a pretty decent package
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for a goal? Nobody's offering that. Yeah. Nobody's offering a
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decent young goalie a decent young roster player, a decent prospect,
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and a first-round pick. Were you the one.
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That said that Hellebuck is not on Sonny's radar?
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I forgot who said that. I've said it, yeah. But
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a lot of people said it. But Sonny said it.
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That doesn't mean anything.
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I know. Yeah, I had sources tell me I've had
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sources tell, like, I know J.P. Gambatis has put this out.
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He's had sources tell him. A lot of people have
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said this. Hellebuck is not a Sonny type guy. But,
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he knows what Bob Roski did.
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That's true.
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And, like, I don't think Sonny Meda would have signed
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that Bob Roski contract. I don't recall if he was
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on the team when Bob Roski signed the contract or not, but,
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You just need a guy to get hot. And Hellebuck
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could get hot. He did it in the Olympics. He
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was the best guy in the Olympics. He was the
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best player at the Olympics. Better than Conor McDavid. Better
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than Jack Hughes. Better than all the guys that were great.
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Conor Hellebuck was the best player. He was the best
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player on the ice most nights. And he stole that
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for Team USA. Okay. So all this playoff stuff, I
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know he's got kind of a seedy playoff history with Winnipeg.
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I'm not too worried about it after I saw what
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he did in the Olympics. He just needs the right
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team around him. Yeah, if I'm Winnipeg, it's a long
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time to hold money, but what are you going to do?
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He's not even at camp. You're in a bad situation
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And if I'm made a like you, you match the salary.
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I don't know. Again, do I think that what I
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just offered is quote unquote worth hella buck retained? I
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think it's worth hella buck currently. I think the retained
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salary is just like what needs to happen because I
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look at what Buffalo is going to offer. I think Buffalo,
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to take out the full salary, you've got to take
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Josh Norris. And I don't know what Josh Norris' contract
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situation is. I don't know if he has a new
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move close or not, but that's an anchor of a contract.
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They're not giving you a Hellenius. They're not giving you
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any of their young defensemen, I don't think. You get
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legit three pieces that could play in the NHL today
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for Winnipeg in Casey Dawes and Mercer, and then a
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first-round pick. I think I'd take that if I'm Winnipeg. Right?
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Am I crazy? Am I just biased?
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I don't know what Winnipeg wants to do. You know,
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they're taking their time with Hellebuck. Maybe they were calling
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his bluff. I don't know. And then now he's not
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in training camp.
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No, I think they shot for the moon. And all
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of those deals turned up. You heard the story. I
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think Elliott Friedman said that they could have got a
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mixture of the Markstrom trade and the Kachuk trade from Florida.
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So there was like two first round picks and Evan Rodriguez.
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And maybe Boquist was in that too, but they pivoted.
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They made the Kachuk trade and then just used the
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other pieces to get Markstrom, which looks terrible right now.
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Markstrom looks awful. It's preseason, but he just looks terrible
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right now in Florida. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Yeah, man,
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I think I do it. I was against it for
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a lot, but I... If you can get that salary
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down to $ 5 million, I think that's the threshold. You
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get this down to $ 5 million, I'm doing it.
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Yeah, I would do it. I would totally do it.
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And then you kind of make some room, a little
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space on your roster as well because you're trading assets.
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Right. Then you can keep Lombardi. You can keep Nason.
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You still have depth, right? Losing Mercer and Casey... hurts
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your depth, but you can still deal with three bottom
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six injuries and be fine. Riley Tufts looks like a
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really good signing. Colin White was a guy who was
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really good in the AHL last year. There's another guy
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I'm missing. Oh, Malofsky looks like he's growing really well.
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I kind of want him to get a full season
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as the number one center in the AHL, but he's
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a guy that looks really good. And then, like I said,
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you have Mason and Boquist. We'll get you up at
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any time. And... Yeah, I... I really like the idea now.
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I was against it for a while. And I've talked
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myself into it. Go get Hellebuck. Like, go just do it. Just, like,
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take the risk out of this. Because here's the thing, Sam.
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If you turn Mercer and Dawes into Hellebuck, which is
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what you're doing with your NHL roster, you are.
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Making yourself up there with the Hurricanes and like there
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aren't five better rosters. There might not be three if
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you get Hellebuck. Again, the defense isn't the best, but
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that's fine. I still think if you get the Luke
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Hughes and Brett Pesci of two years ago, that's a
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first line. And that's a fine first line. If you
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get Luke Hughes who takes a step in two years ago,
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Brett Pesci, that's a good first line. And then if
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you get Dougie Hamilton from the second half last year
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and Jonas Siegenthaler, who's usually good every other year, I
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think you have a decent top, like a top 20,
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top four, top 15, maybe. You know, if you get
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a really good Luke Hughes here, you can win a
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championship with that. Especially if you get Dylan playing the
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role that he should which is like the guy that's
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going to knock your teeth out legally of course but
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the guy who's going to put a little bit of
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fear into you know put a little little you know
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shiver down your spine and then if Chisholm is as
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good as Sonny Maynard thinks he is and is just
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a decent third line guy And then, you know, you
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can use Kovacinovic's depth. Or you could play defensive matchups. Like,
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00:20:16.890 --> 00:20:21.430
there's a lot of things you could do there. Yeah,
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I'm looking at it, man.
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Well, let's put it this way. It would legitimately put
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the Devils into that. They should make the playoffs. If
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you get Connor Hellebuck. Right now, you look at the
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first two lines, the top six is looking very promising.
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The amount of depth the bottom six has, even if
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the Devils were to facilitate a trade, they still have
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depth in the bottom six. You're going to have to
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rely on Winnipeg to take some of that salary. But
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if you give them the tools to rebuild now, I
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think it's worth it for both parties. Because right now,
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Jack Hughes has four more years on that favorable contract.
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You got to give him a goaltender, like a real
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goaltender for the first time in his career. I mean, Blackwood,
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you know, was just, you know, a young goaltender. We
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thought that he was going to be the guy.
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He wasn't.
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Vitek Vanacek was more of a value return, you know,
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when they flipped the pick to get him a one-hit
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wonder for that one year, but then he fizzled out.
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Akira Schmid showed some promise, but, you know, it just
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didn't work out. And then, you know, obviously, Jacob Markstrom
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coming to the New Jersey Devils and Jake the Snake Allen.
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Jacob Markstrom didn't really hold up his end of the bargain, really.
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You know, he had a good start to his tenure
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with the New Jersey Devils. Then he got hurt. Then
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he came back for the playoffs, and I would say
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he played decent. But Devils were bounced in five games
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against Carolina. I mean, it's not Jacob Markstrom's fault. There's
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just so many injuries that happened during the series and
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before the series. And obviously, Jack Hughes, that freak accident
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with Jack Eichel. And then, you know, last season, I mean,
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Jacob Markstrom, I mean, the videos of his first two
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games during preseason, it's like you might as well put
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him on the waiver wire at this point.
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Yeah, I. I, yeah, I see what you're saying, and. Yeah,
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the goalie situation, the history of the goalie situation has
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been bad. And we've talked about it so many times
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that it kind of blew in the face at this point.
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Well, I said over the summer, I think the way
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to get Quinn Hughes is getting Connor Hellebuck. Because if
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you get Connor Hellebuck and the Devils are a playoff team,
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and if it's true that Quinn Hughes waits to free agency,
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which I believe he will, because that's his best option,
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that he doesn't have to give up.
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If Minnesota's good.
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Yeah.
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If Minnesota's bad, he's going to force a trade. I'm
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pretty confident in that. Or Bill Garrett's going to trade him.
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He maybe won't force a trade, but Garrett's going to
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trade him.
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Yeah. But regardless, getting Connor Hellebuck will help things a lot. Plus,
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you want to keep Jack happy as well. I mean, seriously,
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00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:04.119
when has Jack ever had a goaltender like Connor Hellebuck
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in net? In his career on his team.
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I just think it... I said last year... That you
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trade for Quinn Hughes... Not only to get Quinn Hughes...
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But to lock in Jack Hughes. And they didn't. You've
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blown that chance... But if you can get somebody like
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Hellebuck and you could set the timeline up of Hellebuck
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00:24:39.029 --> 00:24:45.369
to you get off. That's going to be a hard
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situation to walk away from, even though in four years,
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you know, Hellebuck's contract will be over. But knowing that
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you'd made this, you're like, you saw it.
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You're like, yep.
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And listen, like, people are going to be like, you
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said this, that Connor Hellebuck became available for $ 5 million
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a year. That wasn't on the table when I told
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you that I believed in Nico Dawes. And I still
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00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.019
believe in Nico Dawes. I think he's going to be
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00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.819
a good player. Like, you could say all these things
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that make it make sense. That's kind of all that
361
00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.400
I got. There's not a ton to talk about, Sam.
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00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:26.769
No, well, you know, again, and I concur with Max.
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00:25:26.809 --> 00:25:31.730
He put that, you know, a couple... A couple guys
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00:25:31.750 --> 00:25:33.690
saying that the Wilder are not going to make the playoffs.
365
00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:35.589
I don't think the Wilder are going to make the playoffs.
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00:25:37.230 --> 00:25:39.130
I do not think they're going to make the playoffs.
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00:25:40.450 --> 00:25:42.769
I just think there's just too many holes in the lineup.
368
00:25:42.930 --> 00:25:45.930
They've got talent, but they don't really have a team.
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00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:53.109
I think last season, again, the Western Conference was kind of...
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00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:57.140
Let's put it this way. If the Devils were in
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00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.829
the Western Conference, they would have made the playoffs. They
372
00:26:00.869 --> 00:26:02.450
would have easily made the playoffs because they had a
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00:26:02.450 --> 00:26:08.609
great Western Conference record. So, you know, but there's a
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00:26:08.650 --> 00:26:11.210
lot of buzz with the Wild with Quinn Hughes, but
375
00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:14.430
I think the Devils would be a better team than
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00:26:14.690 --> 00:26:17.650
the Wild if Quinn Hughes was in the lineup. But
377
00:26:17.670 --> 00:26:19.819
I think the Devils are a better team without Quinn
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Hughes against, you know, than the Minnesota Wild.
379
00:26:24.539 --> 00:26:28.579
If you take Quinn Hughes out of the equation, I
380
00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.750
take the Devils' roster of the Wilds. Yeah.
381
00:26:32.369 --> 00:26:32.549
Yeah.
382
00:26:33.589 --> 00:26:40.089
I have Jack Hughes as equal to Caprizov. I have
383
00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:45.170
Boldy's better than Bratt, but Boldy's not better than Nico.
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00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:48.309
So however you want to look at it, like he
385
00:26:48.329 --> 00:26:55.750
should better than Boldy. So there's that. Yep. Then you
386
00:26:55.789 --> 00:26:59.369
have Faber. I think Faber's better than Luke Hughes is today.
387
00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:03.240
But I think Luke Hughes has a higher ceiling than Faber.
388
00:27:04.210 --> 00:27:06.710
We'll give him that. But then it starts to get
389
00:27:06.750 --> 00:27:12.670
bad for the Wilds. Brodine, Hamilton's better than Brodine. I
390
00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:17.079
think that's clear and obvious. First half Hamilton last year, sure.
391
00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:20.759
Brodine's better than him. Second half Hamilton, which is what
392
00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:25.019
we usually saw from him, much better than Brodine. Then
393
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:34.460
you're starting to do Blake Coleman versus... Jesper Brat. We're
394
00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:40.289
there already. Joel Eriksson-Eck versus Timo Meier. I kind of
395
00:27:40.329 --> 00:27:48.880
think that's like a wash almost. Maxim Shabanov versus Luke Evangelista.
396
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:58.750
Shabanov wasn't good last year. Ryan Hartman I'd rather have
397
00:27:58.789 --> 00:28:00.769
Cody Glass than Ryan Hartman. And Cody Glass is our
398
00:28:01.250 --> 00:28:06.930
fourth line center. Like, it gets very bad for, again,
399
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:09.059
the Wilds have the goalies. Sure.
400
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:09.700
Yeah.
401
00:28:10.259 --> 00:28:13.920
But again, if Devils get Hellebuck, then Devils have the goalies.
402
00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:18.559
Hellebuck had a down year last year. Like, we do
403
00:28:18.579 --> 00:28:20.809
have to point that out. But he had five, or
404
00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:28.289
I think it's four, like, Over 30 goals saved above average.
405
00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:32.190
Over 28 goals saved above average each year. And multiple
406
00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:37.089
years with over 30. Those are out of your mind numbers.
407
00:28:39.950 --> 00:28:43.589
I'm a little worried about him missing training camp as
408
00:28:43.670 --> 00:28:47.450
a trade tutor. But again, this is why they're eating $ 3. 3 million.
409
00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:51.769
Because they've overplayed their hand and they're in a bad situation.
410
00:28:54.569 --> 00:28:55.349
Put them over a barrel.
411
00:28:58.410 --> 00:29:03.509
So, Nick, I wanted to talk about this topic before
412
00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:10.490
we go. Because it's out there. Number one, the NHL
413
00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.660
mandated the bag.
414
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:12.940
Okay, the bag.
415
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:15.779
You know, it's kind of small.
416
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:16.079
The 4x6x1 bag.
417
00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:23.930
But recently... And I can confirm all this because I
418
00:29:24.170 --> 00:29:32.599
was indirectly involved, but Edison Place, where Red's and American Whiskey,
419
00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:35.160
where this is where we do Game Day Live and
420
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.319
Devils After Dark, the Let's Go Devils podcast, the official
421
00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:47.690
home game bar. No, I guess, well, they're not allowing
422
00:29:48.819 --> 00:29:54.119
Red's and American Whiskey to have their tables out there.
423
00:29:54.140 --> 00:29:57.920
And there are rumors out there, and I can confirm this,
424
00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:03.809
that it was... Somebody that complained to the city about
425
00:30:03.849 --> 00:30:10.210
the noise. Let me tell you what really happened. So
426
00:30:10.990 --> 00:30:14.099
a tenant that moved in in one of the residential
427
00:30:14.130 --> 00:30:19.220
buildings that's above the bar moved in. And this happened
428
00:30:19.259 --> 00:30:22.220
last season. And I'll tell you how I kind of
429
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:25.460
got in the middle of it. Kept on calling the
430
00:30:25.500 --> 00:30:28.380
police during game days or any kind of events that
431
00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:31.869
at Prudential Center saying, the noise is too loud, the
432
00:30:31.910 --> 00:30:34.549
noise is too loud, the noise is too loud. And
433
00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:35.490
I remember on the big stage.
434
00:30:35.509 --> 00:30:37.569
He moved into an apartment on top of a bar?
435
00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:38.309
Yeah.
436
00:30:38.329 --> 00:30:42.799
Across from an arena? Yeah. And he's complaining about noise? Yeah.
437
00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:45.460
This seems like a setup. This seems like a setup. Yeah.
438
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:51.480
Well, this person, let's just call this person Karen, okay? Karen,
439
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.869
one time, complained about the noise, and I'm setting up
440
00:30:55.930 --> 00:30:59.779
on the big stage. Speakers were up. But nothing was
441
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:05.440
hooked up. And I had Newark's finest, great people. I
442
00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:10.230
respect them. They protect the podcast. They're very good with security.
443
00:31:11.109 --> 00:31:14.150
Asked me to turn it down. And I looked at
444
00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:17.309
the police officer. Sir, it's not even hooked up. What
445
00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.509
are you talking about? And he's just kind of like,
446
00:31:22.049 --> 00:31:24.910
my supervisor's there. Just, you know, I know, you know,
447
00:31:25.049 --> 00:31:28.059
it's that. person that keeps on calling it's like all
448
00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:30.759
right all right because i already knew about it but
449
00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:36.380
it it drew attention to the drinking outside which the
450
00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:38.680
city kind of like turned a blind eye to for
451
00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:42.490
so long and you know it's not the devils they
452
00:31:42.549 --> 00:31:47.349
don't have authority on that jurisdiction as in place that
453
00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:51.339
is the city of newark and obviously they shut it
454
00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:55.160
down for security purposes because You know, when they built
455
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:57.240
the arena, you know, they had all these plans and
456
00:31:57.259 --> 00:32:00.079
then realized we shouldn't have put a street that close
457
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:05.240
to the arena. So, you know, that's why. And, you know,
458
00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:12.700
of course, people are pissed. People are pissed. But, you know, again,
459
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:19.259
I think what's going to happen is my prediction. Like,
460
00:32:20.809 --> 00:32:23.089
how are you going to even enforce it? Are you
461
00:32:23.130 --> 00:32:28.529
going to really arrest 3,000 Devils fans that are outside? Like,
462
00:32:28.930 --> 00:32:33.869
how do you even enforce it? And, like, no one's
463
00:32:33.930 --> 00:32:35.799
really causing any problems, really.
464
00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:38.720
Yeah, you don't see a ton of, like, fighting or
465
00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:43.079
anything outside of those games. So, I'll tell you this.
466
00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:50.059
Because they've had, until very recently, the same rules on
467
00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:53.660
the boardwalk in the Jersey Shore. And they're very strict.
468
00:32:54.660 --> 00:32:57.089
And you're not allowed to walk with booze on the boardwalk.
469
00:32:57.650 --> 00:33:02.470
I think they've changed it very recently. So don't quote
470
00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:05.930
me on the exact law. But for the longest time,
471
00:33:06.269 --> 00:33:11.430
they had security at these bars. Because specifically, I think
472
00:33:11.470 --> 00:33:14.859
they would fine the bars. Don't quote me on this.
473
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.920
This isn't a journalism thing. But I think that's what
474
00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.339
the case would be. If they were letting people go
475
00:33:20.700 --> 00:33:24.460
with alcohol in their hands. And I think that's how
476
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:28.779
the city is going to go about it. I also
477
00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:36.940
think maybe, you know, because it's a state law, right?
478
00:33:37.339 --> 00:33:40.319
I think a city needs to get around state law
479
00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:43.539
on this. Again, I'm trying to remember it correctly. I
480
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:49.910
might be misspeaking, so I apologize. But I'll say this.
481
00:33:50.869 --> 00:33:54.170
because this all started with a Rat Pack tweet, I believe.
482
00:33:57.009 --> 00:34:02.349
The part about the drinking outside. And that was my
483
00:34:02.410 --> 00:34:04.309
first guess. It was like, they're going to stop drinking outside.
484
00:34:05.069 --> 00:34:10.000
Because they're skirting a rule. And the bars took advantage
485
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.860
of it. I think that's like, when you put the
486
00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:17.099
bar outside, I think that, you know, you're asking for
487
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:19.920
a little bit of trouble, but not asking for trouble,
488
00:34:19.980 --> 00:34:23.340
but like, If no one's going to stop you or
489
00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:25.980
even slap you on the hand, why wouldn't I put
490
00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:32.199
a bar outside? Technically, I think that goes a little
491
00:34:32.219 --> 00:34:37.619
too far. I think you can classify it as outdoor dining.
492
00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:43.260
You're allowed to order a drink on a patio because
493
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.719
the street was blocked off. Once you put the bar outside,
494
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:50.550
it's not like a server. It's a walk-up situation. I
495
00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:53.840
think That's when you start to like turn the gray
496
00:34:53.860 --> 00:34:58.039
area black and you put the, you put, you know,
497
00:34:58.059 --> 00:34:59.960
the city in a position where it's just not going
498
00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:00.659
to go well for you.
499
00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:06.889
So all it takes is one incident, you know, and it's,
500
00:35:07.070 --> 00:35:10.949
it's a tough situation, but because it was not enforced
501
00:35:11.010 --> 00:35:14.409
for so long, it's going to be, you know, again,
502
00:35:15.309 --> 00:35:17.130
but this is what I think is going to happen.
503
00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.949
There's going to, there's going to be some noise, you know,
504
00:35:22.090 --> 00:35:24.789
on the, I mean, as far as I know, the
505
00:35:25.030 --> 00:35:30.949
big stage is still on, uh, uh, at some place. Um,
506
00:35:31.489 --> 00:35:35.389
and you know, and it's going to be the no
507
00:35:35.449 --> 00:35:38.920
fun zone. I don't know, but, but we're going to
508
00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:42.920
have fun in the no fun zone, you know? And,
509
00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:45.340
you know, with the drinking and all that kind of stuff,
510
00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:52.619
I mean, honestly, it's, you know, that one Karen drew
511
00:35:52.679 --> 00:35:56.079
attention to the noise, which wasn't really noise. I mean,
512
00:35:56.099 --> 00:35:58.480
it was, it was beyond ridiculous. I can tell you
513
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:02.610
that it was absolutely beyond ridiculous because I remember, I
514
00:36:02.619 --> 00:36:07.309
just remember like almost every home game, uh, turn down
515
00:36:07.329 --> 00:36:09.650
the music, turn down the music, turn down the music. Like,
516
00:36:09.909 --> 00:36:12.909
but the music's not that loud, you know, coming from
517
00:36:12.929 --> 00:36:17.690
the bars. So, you know, again, you know, the city's
518
00:36:17.730 --> 00:36:22.599
put in a bad spot. Because credit them for turning
519
00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:26.880
a blind eye this entire time to let us have fun. But,
520
00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:30.780
you know, I think it's going to die out and
521
00:36:30.820 --> 00:36:33.389
then it's back to normal. That's what I think.
522
00:36:35.050 --> 00:36:38.050
Yeah. And the bag policy is an NHL policy that
523
00:36:38.170 --> 00:36:42.909
other teams have figured out how to work around. I
524
00:36:42.969 --> 00:36:45.349
will say the reports are they're not even checking the bags.
525
00:36:46.969 --> 00:36:47.150
Yeah.
526
00:36:47.949 --> 00:36:52.039
Um, I went in with a parenting bag, which is allowed.
527
00:36:53.699 --> 00:36:57.380
And it was like a full on backpack. So.
528
00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:00.980
Can I borrow somebody's kid?
529
00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:03.960
Right. If you want to get your stuff in.
530
00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:04.559
Yeah.
531
00:37:04.579 --> 00:37:06.139
You want to get something bigger than a credit card
532
00:37:06.179 --> 00:37:12.460
into the arena. Grab a kid. Take a backpack. The
533
00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:16.219
bag thing's insane. Yep. But. I was looking at some
534
00:37:16.260 --> 00:37:20.079
of the other teams. The Flyers have the bag thing, right? 4x6.
535
00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:25.699
But then there's a different clear bag policy. The clear
536
00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:29.570
bag policy is like 16 inches. I didn't see anything
537
00:37:29.610 --> 00:37:34.300
about a clear bag policy on the Devils website. So....
538
00:37:35.610 --> 00:37:39.849
Maybe different jurisdictions? I have no idea.
539
00:37:39.909 --> 00:37:42.389
But this is an NHL policy, so I don't understand.
540
00:37:42.769 --> 00:37:46.730
Are the Devils choosing to ignore the clear bag part
541
00:37:46.750 --> 00:37:48.849
of it because they just don't want to police that
542
00:37:48.889 --> 00:37:51.309
part and like have to like measure out like just
543
00:37:51.349 --> 00:37:54.929
figure out what bag is what and just wanted to
544
00:37:54.969 --> 00:37:58.449
draw a line in the sand i don't know i
545
00:37:58.489 --> 00:38:00.349
remember i don't think they're gonna be measuring bags though
546
00:38:00.809 --> 00:38:03.110
i remember you bring a fanny pack in you'll be
547
00:38:03.130 --> 00:38:03.989
fine i.
548
00:38:03.949 --> 00:38:07.010
Remember mrs woo going to penn state game was off
549
00:38:07.110 --> 00:38:08.789
by like a half an inch and i had to
550
00:38:08.809 --> 00:38:12.030
throw her bag away because she wasn't going back to
551
00:38:12.070 --> 00:38:15.860
the She was going back to the tailgate that was
552
00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:16.719
a mile away.
553
00:38:17.989 --> 00:38:20.469
Yeah. I got to tell you, Sam, them Penn Staters,
554
00:38:20.889 --> 00:38:24.269
I don't know. Don't know about them. Yeah, yeah. College
555
00:38:24.329 --> 00:38:27.849
is brutal. West Virginia is the same. But, again, they
556
00:38:27.869 --> 00:38:29.429
have a clear bag policy. You can kind of put
557
00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:31.730
whatever you want in the clear bag. Yeah. My wife
558
00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:33.670
put her purse in the clear bag, and they let
559
00:38:33.730 --> 00:38:34.989
it in. So I was like, well, this is a
560
00:38:34.989 --> 00:38:36.170
stupid policy, but whatever.
561
00:38:37.489 --> 00:38:41.389
Maybe at Penn State, you know, with the clear bag,
562
00:38:41.780 --> 00:38:45.619
it's really, you know, For whiteout games, when they put
563
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:48.980
the Coke in there, maybe that's how they get away
564
00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:50.860
with it. I think it's a whiteout game.
565
00:38:52.389 --> 00:38:55.510
Yeah, maybe. That's what I got, Sam. I think we've
566
00:38:55.550 --> 00:38:57.650
hit our number. Yeah.
567
00:38:58.190 --> 00:39:01.190
So what kind of plugs do you have? Because next
568
00:39:01.250 --> 00:39:04.139
week is going to be pretty big.
569
00:39:05.139 --> 00:39:08.820
Yeah. Pucksandpitchworks.com. We're going to be right back. Connor Hellebuck.
570
00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:14.449
Season preview stuff. I believe... It'll be out before the
571
00:39:14.469 --> 00:39:17.050
next podcast. I got to talk to the guys. We're
572
00:39:17.070 --> 00:39:21.440
going to do a big old article on, yeah, well,
573
00:39:22.659 --> 00:39:25.929
what's the date next week? Is it September 29th next Wednesday?
574
00:39:27.769 --> 00:39:30.570
Or no, is it the 30th? 30th?
575
00:39:30.610 --> 00:39:33.090
30th, because October 1st is opening night.
576
00:39:34.050 --> 00:39:40.110
Yeah, and that's a Thursday. So next Wednesday, before this podcast,
577
00:39:40.670 --> 00:39:44.210
the season preview with all of our friends comes out
578
00:39:44.269 --> 00:39:47.059
on pucksandpitchworks.com. I imagine Vinny Parisi will be in there.
579
00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:52.260
JP Gambates will be in there. Rob DeLuca Charlie Borges
580
00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:57.960
all of our friends and from years of PucksPitchWorks.com will
581
00:39:57.980 --> 00:39:59.639
be a part of it including some of the new
582
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:04.329
people who were onboarding and they're doing a great job
583
00:40:04.349 --> 00:40:08.630
to start so lots of great stuff from PucksPitchWorks.com please
584
00:40:09.369 --> 00:40:12.530
go read it lots of articles from now until the
585
00:40:12.550 --> 00:40:13.090
end of the month.
586
00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:21.750
I'm going to plug You can find me on X
587
00:40:22.070 --> 00:40:27.849
at Primetime. Sam Wu. Still trolling. It's getting nasty with
588
00:40:27.889 --> 00:40:32.230
these Wild fans. I can't believe it's still going on.
589
00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:34.610
I think we may have another 10 months of this nonsense.
590
00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:35.780
But whatever.
591
00:40:36.469 --> 00:40:37.090
Never let up.
592
00:40:37.420 --> 00:40:40.920
Don't give an inch. That's what Max says. Just remember,
593
00:40:40.980 --> 00:40:42.199
Sam is never wrong.
594
00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:43.320
Ever wrong.
595
00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:50.599
Also want to plug the big stage opening night At
596
00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:55.360
American Whiskey, 51 Edison Place, the No Fun Zone. That's
597
00:40:55.380 --> 00:40:57.940
what we're going to call it. We're going to be back.
598
00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:04.699
We're going to have scheduled guests, obviously, for opening night. Then,
599
00:41:05.550 --> 00:41:11.050
on that Saturday, I'll have more information. Live viewing party,
600
00:41:11.090 --> 00:41:15.809
Devils Islanders, Devils on the Road. I believe Grant Marshall,
601
00:41:15.829 --> 00:41:20.469
and I believe it's Ken Danico will be there. I'll
602
00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:26.460
have more information about that. Devils All Day, All Night
603
00:41:27.300 --> 00:41:31.760
is sponsoring it. We're invited to come along for the ride,
604
00:41:31.860 --> 00:41:35.139
so we'll be out there as well. And also October
605
00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:39.070
13th as well. I think Jim Dowd, I think, will
606
00:41:39.090 --> 00:41:40.630
be there, I believe.
607
00:41:41.429 --> 00:41:42.070
Where is that place?
608
00:41:42.110 --> 00:41:44.750
I think it's at Miller's Alehouse in Rockaway. I got
609
00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:51.300
to get my locations correct. So the podcast is Traveling. Also,
610
00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.500
all our good friends are coming back. We're going to
611
00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:56.880
do a lot of interviews on the Let's Go Dolls podcast,
612
00:41:56.900 --> 00:42:03.389
season 10. Episode one is this Sunday, 9 p.m. Eastern,
613
00:42:04.690 --> 00:42:09.010
season 10. Can you believe that, Nick? So lots going on.
614
00:42:09.449 --> 00:42:14.190
We're going back full time, 24-7, 365, starting on Sunday
615
00:42:14.210 --> 00:42:17.960
with the Let's Go Dolls podcast. And we got a
616
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:21.760
lot of things in store. this season. And, um, yeah.
617
00:42:22.059 --> 00:42:26.559
And also you find our podcast on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify,
618
00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:30.420
Amazon music, prime audible, and on the I heart app.
619
00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:35.599
Thank you, Nick. Go to pucks and pitch forks.com. I
620
00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:39.960
see there's, uh, something about Cody glass on the front page,
621
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:44.539
all that kind of good stuff. And, uh, hope to
622
00:42:44.579 --> 00:42:50.889
see you there opening night. So anyway, That's it, Nick.
623
00:42:52.710 --> 00:42:57.139
It's time to go. Until next time, let's go Devils.
1
00:00:01.030 --> 00:00:34.560
Music Music Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of
2
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:42.020
the Fan Address, episode 366. I'm your host, Sam Wu,
3
00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:50.770
here with pucksandpitchforks.com editor-in-chief Nick Villano, as we're streaming live
4
00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:57.189
on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, X Live, and Twitch, and
5
00:00:57.229 --> 00:01:01.170
now on Instagram Live on The Let's Go Devils Network
6
00:01:01.210 --> 00:01:04.650
coming to you live live from the Primetime Radio Studios,
7
00:01:04.730 --> 00:01:08.989
both inside the bunkers of both North and South Jersey,
8
00:01:09.129 --> 00:01:12.469
covering the Garden State, talking a little bit of your
9
00:01:12.530 --> 00:01:20.109
New Jersey Devils. Lots to talk about as camp continues.
10
00:01:23.329 --> 00:01:25.870
Looking good right now, the New Jersey Devils.
11
00:01:25.890 --> 00:01:31.409
2-0. And listen. I thought it was really funny that, uh,
12
00:01:31.549 --> 00:01:33.709
Rangers fans would try and be like, Oh, you almost
13
00:01:33.810 --> 00:01:36.590
lost to our B team, to our AHL team. And
14
00:01:36.629 --> 00:01:39.510
then their A team lost to the Islanders AHL team
15
00:01:39.810 --> 00:01:45.819
the next night. So I, I found that quite hilarious. Um, yeah,
16
00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:51.980
I mean that, that preseason game was, um, the effort
17
00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.879
was what you expect from the first preseason game of
18
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:02.620
the year from the stars. Uh, And it's almost... It's
19
00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:04.819
almost a... I felt like it was a little bit
20
00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.620
of a disservice to Manta and Evangelista trying to build
21
00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:12.009
chemistry with Heischer, Meyer, Hughes, and Bratt. Not that... Again,
22
00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:14.250
I don't think there was anything wrong with what they did.
23
00:02:14.270 --> 00:02:16.229
I think they were just trying to get their sea legs.
24
00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:22.129
And Hughes and Bratt have natural chemistry. And then Heischer
25
00:02:22.150 --> 00:02:25.129
and Meyer have natural chemistry. So you saw a little
26
00:02:25.150 --> 00:02:28.090
bit more from those two together than the new guy.
27
00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:32.659
But there's nothing to take away. I don't think there's
28
00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:37.000
any issues here. I do think we need to be
29
00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.919
a little bit patient with Manta and Evangelista. I think
30
00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:44.750
they're going to have slow Octobers because they're building chemistry
31
00:02:44.770 --> 00:02:48.750
with new teams. It's a lot of new players in
32
00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:52.370
that forward group. So I think you want to see...
33
00:02:55.789 --> 00:02:58.310
I've liked what I've seen from the defense so far. Again,
34
00:02:58.330 --> 00:03:01.550
it's so early and it kind of means nothing. But
35
00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:03.990
I think you can tell that this defense has been
36
00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:08.169
together for a while outside of that Dylan Chisholm pairing.
37
00:03:09.189 --> 00:03:10.969
And I think that top four is going to do
38
00:03:11.009 --> 00:03:15.509
a lot to really drive the game while the offense,
39
00:03:16.419 --> 00:03:20.740
especially those third guys in those top lines, start to gel.
40
00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:24.099
But Jack Hughes looks like Jack Hughes. He could have
41
00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:27.360
scored whenever he felt like that game. You know, he
42
00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:29.560
was trying a couple things, and then whenever he felt
43
00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:32.620
like it, he threw a five-hole. I thought the wraparound
44
00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:37.139
by Timo Meier was really cool. I was in the
45
00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:43.610
building on Sunday. So was I. I missed you. I know,
46
00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:49.030
I know. I had kids with us, so we were
47
00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:51.129
just trying to survive.
48
00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:53.689
You just forgot about me. I was all alone.
49
00:03:53.710 --> 00:03:55.550
I texted you. Get the heck out of here.
50
00:03:55.650 --> 00:03:56.289
I was all alone.
51
00:03:56.310 --> 00:03:57.370
Do you know how hard it was to text?
52
00:03:57.930 --> 00:04:00.729
I was walking alone, looking at the Rutz Hut.
53
00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:02.849
The Rutz Hut?
54
00:04:03.009 --> 00:04:04.810
Yeah.
55
00:04:04.889 --> 00:04:06.810
I didn't have... We got a chicken sandwich. We didn't
56
00:04:06.849 --> 00:04:10.280
get the Rutz Hut because we were on the 100 level.
57
00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:13.680
Next time.
58
00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:19.180
Next time. Yeah. I thought Lombardi looked good, which he
59
00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:23.740
always does. I thought Jesper Boquist looked really good. He
60
00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:26.250
must have read my article because I wrote, is Jesper
61
00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:30.930
Boklund in trouble, a possibility for waivers? No, he's not.
62
00:04:32.490 --> 00:04:36.850
I take that article back already. He's not. He fits
63
00:04:37.449 --> 00:04:39.990
this team very well. He's going to be the extra forward.
64
00:04:41.589 --> 00:04:44.370
I don't see any world where Stefan Nason makes this team.
65
00:04:46.949 --> 00:04:50.069
I'm sorry. The only world in which Stefan Nason makes
66
00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:51.360
this team is if a trade happens.
67
00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.579
Or, God forbid, tremendous amount of injuries.
68
00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.720
It would just have to be one more. Right? Bustad
69
00:05:00.779 --> 00:05:07.410
is already injured. Kovacevic. If Kovacevic is injured, I think
70
00:05:07.829 --> 00:05:17.709
they'll keep up. What is his name? Kalyan Chuk? Something
71
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.259
like that. Yeah. I think it's... I thought they might
72
00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:23.329
keep up Casey, but I don't anymore. I think they
73
00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:25.670
want Casey and Edwards to kind of do something. I
74
00:05:25.709 --> 00:05:28.509
didn't like Casey and Edwards. I gotta be honest. I
75
00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:34.480
didn't like the, the Edwards had a rough game on Sunday. Um,
76
00:05:34.829 --> 00:05:41.439
but he was kind of the only one. Um, but yeah, I, I, I,
77
00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:44.699
I don't take a ton from, from what was it?
78
00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.550
Monday they played the Rangers, um, I'm not going to
79
00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:50.389
take a ton. I'm really just curious about Nico Dawes.
80
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A lot of the analysis is he's doing really well
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on everything except for soft goals. Which I want to say, oh,
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that's fixable, but it's kind of like what's been the
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problem for five years, right? Yeah. Our guys can make,
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they save about as many of the high danger chances
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as you expect. And maybe even a little more, but
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when you're letting a soft goals, those don't matter. So
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I need him to kind of clean it up. Sheldon
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Keefe is really confident in this guy. Says that he's
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fired up to be here. Maybe he's just a little
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too fired up, and that's kind of what caused a
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lot of that. So the way I look at it,
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I'm not taking a ton out of it. I think
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that I need Nico Dawes to do well in one
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of these next two games. I think he'll play both games.
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Maybe if he doesn't, I don't think he's going to
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be the opening night starter. I think they're going to
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do Allen. Just stick with the veteran.
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Oh, I need like preseason. I thought he was.
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I did, too. But they were just talking about the
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fact that he goes as a starter.
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No, Jake, the snake out of the de facto.
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Do you think come playoff time they would go with Allen?
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Let's say they both do 905 save percentage. Yeah.
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It's preseason, so mind you, a lot can happen during
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the season.
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I'm saying if they have the same exact numbers. Oh, yeah.
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Then you go with Allen.
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You go with Allen because then Allen's on the hot seat.
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He's got to perform, and if he's not performing, you
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still have... You know, you don't want to have it
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to be the other way around where, you know, so.
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You saw what happened with Vanacek. Vanacek hasn't been the
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same since he got pulled in that Ranger series. Yeah. Really.
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Although he did win the game. There's so many interesting
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trickle-down effects from that because, like, you basically ended the
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devil's careers of Vanacek in Blackwood because you basically caught Blackwood.
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You didn't put him on the roster. And Vanacek, you
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pulled him after game two. And like, Lindy Ruff put
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him back in that Carolina series just to get lit up. Like,
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he needed a full reset. They didn't get it, and
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he isn't in the same sense. Vanacek was in net
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on Sunday for the Islanders. Islanders have a weird situation
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going on. They might also go with three goalies. But Riddick...
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I didn't love what I saw, but I didn't hate it.
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Made a couple mistakes. Again, it's the first preseason game,
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so I really don't want to make any wild accusations,
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but it's no secret that the goaltending situation just has
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to be solid, and it's not a guarantee that it
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will be. I'm the highest guy there is on Nico Dawes,
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but I'm also realistic to say that this is the
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biggest question mark. And are you willing to derail another
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Jack Hughes season? So, I'm going to write about this
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after this podcast, but you have to start asking, like,
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what price is too good to pass up for Connor Hellebuck?
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If you give the Jets what they want in assets,
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would they be willing to pay down his contract to
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make it a $ 5 million goalie? That's a good question.
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Connor Hellbuck, even through 37, will be well worth $ 5 million.
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At this point, Nick, I've always wanted Connor before quarantine.
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I know a lot of people just wants to stay
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away from that contract, but Jack Hughes' favorable deal right
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now kind of negates it, in my opinion.
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Like, what you do, Nico does, Dawson Mercer... Seamus Casey
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and a first-round pick for Hellebuck?
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Absolutely. No question.
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Yeah. No question. That would match the salary. I don't
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think you're losing much in that.
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Absolutely, I would do that.
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And here's the deal, because, like, I still have high
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hopes for Miguel Yigaroff, but you could still slow play Yigaroff, right? Like,
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what does Allen have? Allen has... Four more years on
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his deal? Three more years? Four more years. But you
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can LTIR him the last year, right? So let's just
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say it's three more years. So after this will be
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two more years, which Yegorov can do two years in
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the AHL. Or if he's incredible and he needs to
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come up, then you'll deal with it, right? You'll trade Allen.
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You'll figure it out, right? If he's knocking on the
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door or what's more likely to happen to him is
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you make Allen available in the expansion draft. And he
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gets claimed. Because I think a team would take Allen.
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I mean, depending on who else is available. But if
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a Houston team or Atlanta team is ready, you know,
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you want that better goal tender. That's why Vegas took
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Marc-Andre Fleury. That's why, what did Seattle sign Grubauer? That's
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what happened, right? I don't know, Nick. I think that's
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what happened. They signed Grubauer. It was a terrible signing,
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but you got that veteran in. So I think Allen
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would be a good piece to kind of bring in.
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I think it makes a lot of sense. It makes
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a lot of sense if you get that salary down.
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You can't pay him seven. You can't pay him over
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whatever he's making. Is he making over eight? Yeah, you
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got like... Winnipeg has to eat a chunk of it
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if they want to get a real price for it.
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I think it's 833 off the top of my head.
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I think that's the salary.
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Yeah, I mean, with the rising cap and with Winnipeg
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being non-competitive for the next couple of years, they need
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a full rebuild. What do they care about an extra 3.3
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million on the cap to get a pretty decent package
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for a goal? Nobody's offering that. Yeah. Nobody's offering a
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decent young goalie a decent young roster player, a decent prospect,
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and a first-round pick. Were you the one.
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That said that Hellebuck is not on Sonny's radar?
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I forgot who said that. I've said it, yeah. But
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a lot of people said it. But Sonny said it.
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That doesn't mean anything.
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I know. Yeah, I had sources tell me I've had
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sources tell, like, I know J.P. Gambatis has put this out.
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He's had sources tell him. A lot of people have
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said this. Hellebuck is not a Sonny type guy. But,
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he knows what Bob Roski did.
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That's true.
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And, like, I don't think Sonny Meda would have signed
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that Bob Roski contract. I don't recall if he was
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on the team when Bob Roski signed the contract or not, but,
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You just need a guy to get hot. And Hellebuck
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could get hot. He did it in the Olympics. He
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was the best guy in the Olympics. He was the
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best player at the Olympics. Better than Conor McDavid. Better
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than Jack Hughes. Better than all the guys that were great.
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Conor Hellebuck was the best player. He was the best
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player on the ice most nights. And he stole that
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for Team USA. Okay. So all this playoff stuff, I
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know he's got kind of a seedy playoff history with Winnipeg.
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I'm not too worried about it after I saw what
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he did in the Olympics. He just needs the right
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team around him. Yeah, if I'm Winnipeg, it's a long
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time to hold money, but what are you going to do?
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He's not even at camp. You're in a bad situation
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And if I'm made a like you, you match the salary.
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I don't know. Again, do I think that what I
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just offered is quote unquote worth hella buck retained? I
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think it's worth hella buck currently. I think the retained
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salary is just like what needs to happen because I
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look at what Buffalo is going to offer. I think Buffalo,
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to take out the full salary, you've got to take
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Josh Norris. And I don't know what Josh Norris' contract
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situation is. I don't know if he has a new
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move close or not, but that's an anchor of a contract.
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They're not giving you a Hellenius. They're not giving you
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any of their young defensemen, I don't think. You get
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legit three pieces that could play in the NHL today
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for Winnipeg in Casey Dawes and Mercer, and then a
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first-round pick. I think I'd take that if I'm Winnipeg. Right?
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Am I crazy? Am I just biased?
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I don't know what Winnipeg wants to do. You know,
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they're taking their time with Hellebuck. Maybe they were calling
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his bluff. I don't know. And then now he's not
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in training camp.
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No, I think they shot for the moon. And all
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of those deals turned up. You heard the story. I
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think Elliott Friedman said that they could have got a
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mixture of the Markstrom trade and the Kachuk trade from Florida.
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So there was like two first round picks and Evan Rodriguez.
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And maybe Boquist was in that too, but they pivoted.
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They made the Kachuk trade and then just used the
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other pieces to get Markstrom, which looks terrible right now.
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Markstrom looks awful. It's preseason, but he just looks terrible
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right now in Florida. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Yeah, man,
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I think I do it. I was against it for
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a lot, but I... If you can get that salary
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down to $ 5 million, I think that's the threshold. You
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get this down to $ 5 million, I'm doing it.
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Yeah, I would do it. I would totally do it.
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And then you kind of make some room, a little
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space on your roster as well because you're trading assets.
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Right. Then you can keep Lombardi. You can keep Nason.
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You still have depth, right? Losing Mercer and Casey... hurts
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your depth, but you can still deal with three bottom
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six injuries and be fine. Riley Tufts looks like a
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really good signing. Colin White was a guy who was
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really good in the AHL last year. There's another guy
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I'm missing. Oh, Malofsky looks like he's growing really well.
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I kind of want him to get a full season
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as the number one center in the AHL, but he's
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a guy that looks really good. And then, like I said,
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you have Mason and Boquist. We'll get you up at
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any time. And... Yeah, I... I really like the idea now.
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I was against it for a while. And I've talked
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myself into it. Go get Hellebuck. Like, go just do it. Just, like,
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take the risk out of this. Because here's the thing, Sam.
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If you turn Mercer and Dawes into Hellebuck, which is
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what you're doing with your NHL roster, you are.
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Making yourself up there with the Hurricanes and like there
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aren't five better rosters. There might not be three if
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you get Hellebuck. Again, the defense isn't the best, but
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that's fine. I still think if you get the Luke
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Hughes and Brett Pesci of two years ago, that's a
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first line. And that's a fine first line. If you
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get Luke Hughes who takes a step in two years ago,
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Brett Pesci, that's a good first line. And then if
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you get Dougie Hamilton from the second half last year
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and Jonas Siegenthaler, who's usually good every other year, I
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think you have a decent top, like a top 20,
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top four, top 15, maybe. You know, if you get
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a really good Luke Hughes here, you can win a
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championship with that. Especially if you get Dylan playing the
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role that he should which is like the guy that's
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going to knock your teeth out legally of course but
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the guy who's going to put a little bit of
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fear into you know put a little little you know
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shiver down your spine and then if Chisholm is as
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good as Sonny Maynard thinks he is and is just
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a decent third line guy And then, you know, you
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can use Kovacinovic's depth. Or you could play defensive matchups. Like,
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there's a lot of things you could do there. Yeah,
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I'm looking at it, man.
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Well, let's put it this way. It would legitimately put
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the Devils into that. They should make the playoffs. If
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you get Connor Hellebuck. Right now, you look at the
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first two lines, the top six is looking very promising.
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The amount of depth the bottom six has, even if
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the Devils were to facilitate a trade, they still have
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depth in the bottom six. You're going to have to
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rely on Winnipeg to take some of that salary. But
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if you give them the tools to rebuild now, I
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think it's worth it for both parties. Because right now,
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Jack Hughes has four more years on that favorable contract.
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You got to give him a goaltender, like a real
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goaltender for the first time in his career. I mean, Blackwood,
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you know, was just, you know, a young goaltender. We
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thought that he was going to be the guy.
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He wasn't.
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Vitek Vanacek was more of a value return, you know,
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when they flipped the pick to get him a one-hit
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wonder for that one year, but then he fizzled out.
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Akira Schmid showed some promise, but, you know, it just
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didn't work out. And then, you know, obviously, Jacob Markstrom
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coming to the New Jersey Devils and Jake the Snake Allen.
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Jacob Markstrom didn't really hold up his end of the bargain, really.
313
00:22:14.259 --> 00:22:16.259
You know, he had a good start to his tenure
314
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:18.720
with the New Jersey Devils. Then he got hurt. Then
315
00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:20.940
he came back for the playoffs, and I would say
316
00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:24.779
he played decent. But Devils were bounced in five games
317
00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:27.759
against Carolina. I mean, it's not Jacob Markstrom's fault. There's
318
00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:31.400
just so many injuries that happened during the series and
319
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:35.769
before the series. And obviously, Jack Hughes, that freak accident
320
00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:40.569
with Jack Eichel. And then, you know, last season, I mean,
321
00:22:40.609 --> 00:22:44.250
Jacob Markstrom, I mean, the videos of his first two
322
00:22:44.329 --> 00:22:50.509
games during preseason, it's like you might as well put
323
00:22:50.529 --> 00:22:52.279
him on the waiver wire at this point.
324
00:22:54.799 --> 00:23:06.680
Yeah, I. I, yeah, I see what you're saying, and. Yeah,
325
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:09.319
the goalie situation, the history of the goalie situation has
326
00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:10.920
been bad. And we've talked about it so many times
327
00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:12.599
that it kind of blew in the face at this point.
328
00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.720
Well, I said over the summer, I think the way
329
00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.680
to get Quinn Hughes is getting Connor Hellebuck. Because if
330
00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:22.960
you get Connor Hellebuck and the Devils are a playoff team,
331
00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:28.339
and if it's true that Quinn Hughes waits to free agency,
332
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.720
which I believe he will, because that's his best option,
333
00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:33.900
that he doesn't have to give up.
334
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:34.900
If Minnesota's good.
335
00:23:35.609 --> 00:23:35.789
Yeah.
336
00:23:36.849 --> 00:23:39.269
If Minnesota's bad, he's going to force a trade. I'm
337
00:23:39.430 --> 00:23:41.789
pretty confident in that. Or Bill Garrett's going to trade him.
338
00:23:42.430 --> 00:23:44.109
He maybe won't force a trade, but Garrett's going to
339
00:23:44.130 --> 00:23:44.339
trade him.
340
00:23:44.829 --> 00:23:54.829
Yeah. But regardless, getting Connor Hellebuck will help things a lot. Plus,
341
00:23:54.869 --> 00:23:57.829
you want to keep Jack happy as well. I mean, seriously,
342
00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:04.119
when has Jack ever had a goaltender like Connor Hellebuck
343
00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:07.640
in net? In his career on his team.
344
00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:16.390
I just think it... I said last year... That you
345
00:24:16.490 --> 00:24:20.269
trade for Quinn Hughes... Not only to get Quinn Hughes...
346
00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:29.960
But to lock in Jack Hughes. And they didn't. You've
347
00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:35.049
blown that chance... But if you can get somebody like
348
00:24:35.089 --> 00:24:38.369
Hellebuck and you could set the timeline up of Hellebuck
349
00:24:39.029 --> 00:24:45.369
to you get off. That's going to be a hard
350
00:24:45.390 --> 00:24:48.309
situation to walk away from, even though in four years,
351
00:24:48.450 --> 00:24:51.109
you know, Hellebuck's contract will be over. But knowing that
352
00:24:51.210 --> 00:24:52.880
you'd made this, you're like, you saw it.
353
00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:55.339
You're like, yep.
354
00:24:55.420 --> 00:24:58.460
And listen, like, people are going to be like, you
355
00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.660
said this, that Connor Hellebuck became available for $ 5 million
356
00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.259
a year. That wasn't on the table when I told
357
00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:05.720
you that I believed in Nico Dawes. And I still
358
00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.019
believe in Nico Dawes. I think he's going to be
359
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:08.819
a good player. Like, you could say all these things
360
00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:18.500
that make it make sense. That's kind of all that
361
00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:20.400
I got. There's not a ton to talk about, Sam.
362
00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:26.769
No, well, you know, again, and I concur with Max.
363
00:25:26.809 --> 00:25:31.730
He put that, you know, a couple... A couple guys
364
00:25:31.750 --> 00:25:33.690
saying that the Wilder are not going to make the playoffs.
365
00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:35.589
I don't think the Wilder are going to make the playoffs.
366
00:25:37.230 --> 00:25:39.130
I do not think they're going to make the playoffs.
367
00:25:40.450 --> 00:25:42.769
I just think there's just too many holes in the lineup.
368
00:25:42.930 --> 00:25:45.930
They've got talent, but they don't really have a team.
369
00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:53.109
I think last season, again, the Western Conference was kind of...
370
00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:57.140
Let's put it this way. If the Devils were in
371
00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.829
the Western Conference, they would have made the playoffs. They
372
00:26:00.869 --> 00:26:02.450
would have easily made the playoffs because they had a
373
00:26:02.450 --> 00:26:08.609
great Western Conference record. So, you know, but there's a
374
00:26:08.650 --> 00:26:11.210
lot of buzz with the Wild with Quinn Hughes, but
375
00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:14.430
I think the Devils would be a better team than
376
00:26:14.690 --> 00:26:17.650
the Wild if Quinn Hughes was in the lineup. But
377
00:26:17.670 --> 00:26:19.819
I think the Devils are a better team without Quinn
378
00:26:19.859 --> 00:26:23.559
Hughes against, you know, than the Minnesota Wild.
379
00:26:24.539 --> 00:26:28.579
If you take Quinn Hughes out of the equation, I
380
00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.750
take the Devils' roster of the Wilds. Yeah.
381
00:26:32.369 --> 00:26:32.549
Yeah.
382
00:26:33.589 --> 00:26:40.089
I have Jack Hughes as equal to Caprizov. I have
383
00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:45.170
Boldy's better than Bratt, but Boldy's not better than Nico.
384
00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:48.309
So however you want to look at it, like he
385
00:26:48.329 --> 00:26:55.750
should better than Boldy. So there's that. Yep. Then you
386
00:26:55.789 --> 00:26:59.369
have Faber. I think Faber's better than Luke Hughes is today.
387
00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:03.240
But I think Luke Hughes has a higher ceiling than Faber.
388
00:27:04.210 --> 00:27:06.710
We'll give him that. But then it starts to get
389
00:27:06.750 --> 00:27:12.670
bad for the Wilds. Brodine, Hamilton's better than Brodine. I
390
00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:17.079
think that's clear and obvious. First half Hamilton last year, sure.
391
00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:20.759
Brodine's better than him. Second half Hamilton, which is what
392
00:27:20.819 --> 00:27:25.019
we usually saw from him, much better than Brodine. Then
393
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:34.460
you're starting to do Blake Coleman versus... Jesper Brat. We're
394
00:27:34.500 --> 00:27:40.289
there already. Joel Eriksson-Eck versus Timo Meier. I kind of
395
00:27:40.329 --> 00:27:48.880
think that's like a wash almost. Maxim Shabanov versus Luke Evangelista.
396
00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:58.750
Shabanov wasn't good last year. Ryan Hartman I'd rather have
397
00:27:58.789 --> 00:28:00.769
Cody Glass than Ryan Hartman. And Cody Glass is our
398
00:28:01.250 --> 00:28:06.930
fourth line center. Like, it gets very bad for, again,
399
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:09.059
the Wilds have the goalies. Sure.
400
00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:09.700
Yeah.
401
00:28:10.259 --> 00:28:13.920
But again, if Devils get Hellebuck, then Devils have the goalies.
402
00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:18.559
Hellebuck had a down year last year. Like, we do
403
00:28:18.579 --> 00:28:20.809
have to point that out. But he had five, or
404
00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:28.289
I think it's four, like, Over 30 goals saved above average.
405
00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:32.190
Over 28 goals saved above average each year. And multiple
406
00:28:32.230 --> 00:28:37.089
years with over 30. Those are out of your mind numbers.
407
00:28:39.950 --> 00:28:43.589
I'm a little worried about him missing training camp as
408
00:28:43.670 --> 00:28:47.450
a trade tutor. But again, this is why they're eating $ 3. 3 million.
409
00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:51.769
Because they've overplayed their hand and they're in a bad situation.
410
00:28:54.569 --> 00:28:55.349
Put them over a barrel.
411
00:28:58.410 --> 00:29:03.509
So, Nick, I wanted to talk about this topic before
412
00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:10.490
we go. Because it's out there. Number one, the NHL
413
00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.660
mandated the bag.
414
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:12.940
Okay, the bag.
415
00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:15.779
You know, it's kind of small.
416
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:16.079
The 4x6x1 bag.
417
00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:23.930
But recently... And I can confirm all this because I
418
00:29:24.170 --> 00:29:32.599
was indirectly involved, but Edison Place, where Red's and American Whiskey,
419
00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:35.160
where this is where we do Game Day Live and
420
00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.319
Devils After Dark, the Let's Go Devils podcast, the official
421
00:29:38.599 --> 00:29:47.690
home game bar. No, I guess, well, they're not allowing
422
00:29:48.819 --> 00:29:54.119
Red's and American Whiskey to have their tables out there.
423
00:29:54.140 --> 00:29:57.920
And there are rumors out there, and I can confirm this,
424
00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:03.809
that it was... Somebody that complained to the city about
425
00:30:03.849 --> 00:30:10.210
the noise. Let me tell you what really happened. So
426
00:30:10.990 --> 00:30:14.099
a tenant that moved in in one of the residential
427
00:30:14.130 --> 00:30:19.220
buildings that's above the bar moved in. And this happened
428
00:30:19.259 --> 00:30:22.220
last season. And I'll tell you how I kind of
429
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:25.460
got in the middle of it. Kept on calling the
430
00:30:25.500 --> 00:30:28.380
police during game days or any kind of events that
431
00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:31.869
at Prudential Center saying, the noise is too loud, the
432
00:30:31.910 --> 00:30:34.549
noise is too loud, the noise is too loud. And
433
00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:35.490
I remember on the big stage.
434
00:30:35.509 --> 00:30:37.569
He moved into an apartment on top of a bar?
435
00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:38.309
Yeah.
436
00:30:38.329 --> 00:30:42.799
Across from an arena? Yeah. And he's complaining about noise? Yeah.
437
00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:45.460
This seems like a setup. This seems like a setup. Yeah.
438
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:51.480
Well, this person, let's just call this person Karen, okay? Karen,
439
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.869
one time, complained about the noise, and I'm setting up
440
00:30:55.930 --> 00:30:59.779
on the big stage. Speakers were up. But nothing was
441
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:05.440
hooked up. And I had Newark's finest, great people. I
442
00:31:05.480 --> 00:31:10.230
respect them. They protect the podcast. They're very good with security.
443
00:31:11.109 --> 00:31:14.150
Asked me to turn it down. And I looked at
444
00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:17.309
the police officer. Sir, it's not even hooked up. What
445
00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.509
are you talking about? And he's just kind of like,
446
00:31:22.049 --> 00:31:24.910
my supervisor's there. Just, you know, I know, you know,
447
00:31:25.049 --> 00:31:28.059
it's that. person that keeps on calling it's like all
448
00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:30.759
right all right because i already knew about it but
449
00:31:30.819 --> 00:31:36.380
it it drew attention to the drinking outside which the
450
00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:38.680
city kind of like turned a blind eye to for
451
00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:42.490
so long and you know it's not the devils they
452
00:31:42.549 --> 00:31:47.349
don't have authority on that jurisdiction as in place that
453
00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:51.339
is the city of newark and obviously they shut it
454
00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:55.160
down for security purposes because You know, when they built
455
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:57.240
the arena, you know, they had all these plans and
456
00:31:57.259 --> 00:32:00.079
then realized we shouldn't have put a street that close
457
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:05.240
to the arena. So, you know, that's why. And, you know,
458
00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:12.700
of course, people are pissed. People are pissed. But, you know, again,
459
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:19.259
I think what's going to happen is my prediction. Like,
460
00:32:20.809 --> 00:32:23.089
how are you going to even enforce it? Are you
461
00:32:23.130 --> 00:32:28.529
going to really arrest 3,000 Devils fans that are outside? Like,
462
00:32:28.930 --> 00:32:33.869
how do you even enforce it? And, like, no one's
463
00:32:33.930 --> 00:32:35.799
really causing any problems, really.
464
00:32:37.019 --> 00:32:38.720
Yeah, you don't see a ton of, like, fighting or
465
00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:43.079
anything outside of those games. So, I'll tell you this.
466
00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:50.059
Because they've had, until very recently, the same rules on
467
00:32:50.079 --> 00:32:53.660
the boardwalk in the Jersey Shore. And they're very strict.
468
00:32:54.660 --> 00:32:57.089
And you're not allowed to walk with booze on the boardwalk.
469
00:32:57.650 --> 00:33:02.470
I think they've changed it very recently. So don't quote
470
00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:05.930
me on the exact law. But for the longest time,
471
00:33:06.269 --> 00:33:11.430
they had security at these bars. Because specifically, I think
472
00:33:11.470 --> 00:33:14.859
they would fine the bars. Don't quote me on this.
473
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:16.920
This isn't a journalism thing. But I think that's what
474
00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:20.339
the case would be. If they were letting people go
475
00:33:20.700 --> 00:33:24.460
with alcohol in their hands. And I think that's how
476
00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:28.779
the city is going to go about it. I also
477
00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:36.940
think maybe, you know, because it's a state law, right?
478
00:33:37.339 --> 00:33:40.319
I think a city needs to get around state law
479
00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:43.539
on this. Again, I'm trying to remember it correctly. I
480
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:49.910
might be misspeaking, so I apologize. But I'll say this.
481
00:33:50.869 --> 00:33:54.170
because this all started with a Rat Pack tweet, I believe.
482
00:33:57.009 --> 00:34:02.349
The part about the drinking outside. And that was my
483
00:34:02.410 --> 00:34:04.309
first guess. It was like, they're going to stop drinking outside.
484
00:34:05.069 --> 00:34:10.000
Because they're skirting a rule. And the bars took advantage
485
00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.860
of it. I think that's like, when you put the
486
00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:17.099
bar outside, I think that, you know, you're asking for
487
00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:19.920
a little bit of trouble, but not asking for trouble,
488
00:34:19.980 --> 00:34:23.340
but like, If no one's going to stop you or
489
00:34:23.380 --> 00:34:25.980
even slap you on the hand, why wouldn't I put
490
00:34:26.019 --> 00:34:32.199
a bar outside? Technically, I think that goes a little
491
00:34:32.219 --> 00:34:37.619
too far. I think you can classify it as outdoor dining.
492
00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:43.260
You're allowed to order a drink on a patio because
493
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.719
the street was blocked off. Once you put the bar outside,
494
00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:50.550
it's not like a server. It's a walk-up situation. I
495
00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:53.840
think That's when you start to like turn the gray
496
00:34:53.860 --> 00:34:58.039
area black and you put the, you put, you know,
497
00:34:58.059 --> 00:34:59.960
the city in a position where it's just not going
498
00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:00.659
to go well for you.
499
00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:06.889
So all it takes is one incident, you know, and it's,
500
00:35:07.070 --> 00:35:10.949
it's a tough situation, but because it was not enforced
501
00:35:11.010 --> 00:35:14.409
for so long, it's going to be, you know, again,
502
00:35:15.309 --> 00:35:17.130
but this is what I think is going to happen.
503
00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:21.949
There's going to, there's going to be some noise, you know,
504
00:35:22.090 --> 00:35:24.789
on the, I mean, as far as I know, the
505
00:35:25.030 --> 00:35:30.949
big stage is still on, uh, uh, at some place. Um,
506
00:35:31.489 --> 00:35:35.389
and you know, and it's going to be the no
507
00:35:35.449 --> 00:35:38.920
fun zone. I don't know, but, but we're going to
508
00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:42.920
have fun in the no fun zone, you know? And,
509
00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:45.340
you know, with the drinking and all that kind of stuff,
510
00:35:45.559 --> 00:35:52.619
I mean, honestly, it's, you know, that one Karen drew
511
00:35:52.679 --> 00:35:56.079
attention to the noise, which wasn't really noise. I mean,
512
00:35:56.099 --> 00:35:58.480
it was, it was beyond ridiculous. I can tell you
513
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:02.610
that it was absolutely beyond ridiculous because I remember, I
514
00:36:02.619 --> 00:36:07.309
just remember like almost every home game, uh, turn down
515
00:36:07.329 --> 00:36:09.650
the music, turn down the music, turn down the music. Like,
516
00:36:09.909 --> 00:36:12.909
but the music's not that loud, you know, coming from
517
00:36:12.929 --> 00:36:17.690
the bars. So, you know, again, you know, the city's
518
00:36:17.730 --> 00:36:22.599
put in a bad spot. Because credit them for turning
519
00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:26.880
a blind eye this entire time to let us have fun. But,
520
00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:30.780
you know, I think it's going to die out and
521
00:36:30.820 --> 00:36:33.389
then it's back to normal. That's what I think.
522
00:36:35.050 --> 00:36:38.050
Yeah. And the bag policy is an NHL policy that
523
00:36:38.170 --> 00:36:42.909
other teams have figured out how to work around. I
524
00:36:42.969 --> 00:36:45.349
will say the reports are they're not even checking the bags.
525
00:36:46.969 --> 00:36:47.150
Yeah.
526
00:36:47.949 --> 00:36:52.039
Um, I went in with a parenting bag, which is allowed.
527
00:36:53.699 --> 00:36:57.380
And it was like a full on backpack. So.
528
00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:00.980
Can I borrow somebody's kid?
529
00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:03.960
Right. If you want to get your stuff in.
530
00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:04.559
Yeah.
531
00:37:04.579 --> 00:37:06.139
You want to get something bigger than a credit card
532
00:37:06.179 --> 00:37:12.460
into the arena. Grab a kid. Take a backpack. The
533
00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:16.219
bag thing's insane. Yep. But. I was looking at some
534
00:37:16.260 --> 00:37:20.079
of the other teams. The Flyers have the bag thing, right? 4x6.
535
00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:25.699
But then there's a different clear bag policy. The clear
536
00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:29.570
bag policy is like 16 inches. I didn't see anything
537
00:37:29.610 --> 00:37:34.300
about a clear bag policy on the Devils website. So....
538
00:37:35.610 --> 00:37:39.849
Maybe different jurisdictions? I have no idea.
539
00:37:39.909 --> 00:37:42.389
But this is an NHL policy, so I don't understand.
540
00:37:42.769 --> 00:37:46.730
Are the Devils choosing to ignore the clear bag part
541
00:37:46.750 --> 00:37:48.849
of it because they just don't want to police that
542
00:37:48.889 --> 00:37:51.309
part and like have to like measure out like just
543
00:37:51.349 --> 00:37:54.929
figure out what bag is what and just wanted to
544
00:37:54.969 --> 00:37:58.449
draw a line in the sand i don't know i
545
00:37:58.489 --> 00:38:00.349
remember i don't think they're gonna be measuring bags though
546
00:38:00.809 --> 00:38:03.110
i remember you bring a fanny pack in you'll be
547
00:38:03.130 --> 00:38:03.989
fine i.
548
00:38:03.949 --> 00:38:07.010
Remember mrs woo going to penn state game was off
549
00:38:07.110 --> 00:38:08.789
by like a half an inch and i had to
550
00:38:08.809 --> 00:38:12.030
throw her bag away because she wasn't going back to
551
00:38:12.070 --> 00:38:15.860
the She was going back to the tailgate that was
552
00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:16.719
a mile away.
553
00:38:17.989 --> 00:38:20.469
Yeah. I got to tell you, Sam, them Penn Staters,
554
00:38:20.889 --> 00:38:24.269
I don't know. Don't know about them. Yeah, yeah. College
555
00:38:24.329 --> 00:38:27.849
is brutal. West Virginia is the same. But, again, they
556
00:38:27.869 --> 00:38:29.429
have a clear bag policy. You can kind of put
557
00:38:29.449 --> 00:38:31.730
whatever you want in the clear bag. Yeah. My wife
558
00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:33.670
put her purse in the clear bag, and they let
559
00:38:33.730 --> 00:38:34.989
it in. So I was like, well, this is a
560
00:38:34.989 --> 00:38:36.170
stupid policy, but whatever.
561
00:38:37.489 --> 00:38:41.389
Maybe at Penn State, you know, with the clear bag,
562
00:38:41.780 --> 00:38:45.619
it's really, you know, For whiteout games, when they put
563
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:48.980
the Coke in there, maybe that's how they get away
564
00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:50.860
with it. I think it's a whiteout game.
565
00:38:52.389 --> 00:38:55.510
Yeah, maybe. That's what I got, Sam. I think we've
566
00:38:55.550 --> 00:38:57.650
hit our number. Yeah.
567
00:38:58.190 --> 00:39:01.190
So what kind of plugs do you have? Because next
568
00:39:01.250 --> 00:39:04.139
week is going to be pretty big.
569
00:39:05.139 --> 00:39:08.820
Yeah. Pucksandpitchworks.com. We're going to be right back. Connor Hellebuck.
570
00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:14.449
Season preview stuff. I believe... It'll be out before the
571
00:39:14.469 --> 00:39:17.050
next podcast. I got to talk to the guys. We're
572
00:39:17.070 --> 00:39:21.440
going to do a big old article on, yeah, well,
573
00:39:22.659 --> 00:39:25.929
what's the date next week? Is it September 29th next Wednesday?
574
00:39:27.769 --> 00:39:30.570
Or no, is it the 30th? 30th?
575
00:39:30.610 --> 00:39:33.090
30th, because October 1st is opening night.
576
00:39:34.050 --> 00:39:40.110
Yeah, and that's a Thursday. So next Wednesday, before this podcast,
577
00:39:40.670 --> 00:39:44.210
the season preview with all of our friends comes out
578
00:39:44.269 --> 00:39:47.059
on pucksandpitchworks.com. I imagine Vinny Parisi will be in there.
579
00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:52.260
JP Gambates will be in there. Rob DeLuca Charlie Borges
580
00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:57.960
all of our friends and from years of PucksPitchWorks.com will
581
00:39:57.980 --> 00:39:59.639
be a part of it including some of the new
582
00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:04.329
people who were onboarding and they're doing a great job
583
00:40:04.349 --> 00:40:08.630
to start so lots of great stuff from PucksPitchWorks.com please
584
00:40:09.369 --> 00:40:12.530
go read it lots of articles from now until the
585
00:40:12.550 --> 00:40:13.090
end of the month.
586
00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:21.750
I'm going to plug You can find me on X
587
00:40:22.070 --> 00:40:27.849
at Primetime. Sam Wu. Still trolling. It's getting nasty with
588
00:40:27.889 --> 00:40:32.230
these Wild fans. I can't believe it's still going on.
589
00:40:32.349 --> 00:40:34.610
I think we may have another 10 months of this nonsense.
590
00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:35.780
But whatever.
591
00:40:36.469 --> 00:40:37.090
Never let up.
592
00:40:37.420 --> 00:40:40.920
Don't give an inch. That's what Max says. Just remember,
593
00:40:40.980 --> 00:40:42.199
Sam is never wrong.
594
00:40:42.820 --> 00:40:43.320
Ever wrong.
595
00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:50.599
Also want to plug the big stage opening night At
596
00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:55.360
American Whiskey, 51 Edison Place, the No Fun Zone. That's
597
00:40:55.380 --> 00:40:57.940
what we're going to call it. We're going to be back.
598
00:40:57.960 --> 00:41:04.699
We're going to have scheduled guests, obviously, for opening night. Then,
599
00:41:05.550 --> 00:41:11.050
on that Saturday, I'll have more information. Live viewing party,
600
00:41:11.090 --> 00:41:15.809
Devils Islanders, Devils on the Road. I believe Grant Marshall,
601
00:41:15.829 --> 00:41:20.469
and I believe it's Ken Danico will be there. I'll
602
00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:26.460
have more information about that. Devils All Day, All Night
603
00:41:27.300 --> 00:41:31.760
is sponsoring it. We're invited to come along for the ride,
604
00:41:31.860 --> 00:41:35.139
so we'll be out there as well. And also October
605
00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:39.070
13th as well. I think Jim Dowd, I think, will
606
00:41:39.090 --> 00:41:40.630
be there, I believe.
607
00:41:41.429 --> 00:41:42.070
Where is that place?
608
00:41:42.110 --> 00:41:44.750
I think it's at Miller's Alehouse in Rockaway. I got
609
00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:51.300
to get my locations correct. So the podcast is Traveling. Also,
610
00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.500
all our good friends are coming back. We're going to
611
00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:56.880
do a lot of interviews on the Let's Go Dolls podcast,
612
00:41:56.900 --> 00:42:03.389
season 10. Episode one is this Sunday, 9 p.m. Eastern,
613
00:42:04.690 --> 00:42:09.010
season 10. Can you believe that, Nick? So lots going on.
614
00:42:09.449 --> 00:42:14.190
We're going back full time, 24-7, 365, starting on Sunday
615
00:42:14.210 --> 00:42:17.960
with the Let's Go Dolls podcast. And we got a
616
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:21.760
lot of things in store. this season. And, um, yeah.
617
00:42:22.059 --> 00:42:26.559
And also you find our podcast on Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, Spotify,
618
00:42:26.900 --> 00:42:30.420
Amazon music, prime audible, and on the I heart app.
619
00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:35.599
Thank you, Nick. Go to pucks and pitch forks.com. I
620
00:42:35.679 --> 00:42:39.960
see there's, uh, something about Cody glass on the front page,
621
00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:44.539
all that kind of good stuff. And, uh, hope to
622
00:42:44.579 --> 00:42:50.889
see you there opening night. So anyway, That's it, Nick.
623
00:42:52.710 --> 00:42:57.139
It's time to go. Until next time, let's go Devils.
