2026-27 Metropolitan Division Dark Horses & Contenders (WOO REPORT EP483)

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Happy Devils Monday. This is the War Report. The War Report.
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Episode 483 got the wrong title on the screen. It's
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actually the 2026-27 Metropolitan Division Preview. As we're streaming live
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on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, X Live, And now on
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Instagram live on the Let's Go Devils Network. Oh, we
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had a great podcast last night. Let's Go Devils podcast
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Sunday edition. Me and Beer Baron talking. Talking Devils hockey
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with lots to talk about the Metropolitan Division. I have
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a guest. I have a guest from Hockey on Tap.
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We're actually doing a simulcast with Hockey on Tap. I
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see Billy Dean on the screen right now. And he's
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waiting for my cue. He's waiting for my signal right now.
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But I'm going to drag it out a few minutes
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as I try to change the copy on the title
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where I'm at right now. Because it's the wrong title.
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And I hate it when it happens when I make
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a little mistake and I have this OCD where it
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just bothers me right now. But right now, I'm pretty
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happy about what's been going on with our New Jersey Devils.
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And we're going to talk about the Metropolitan Division, the
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Carolina Hurricanes. Are they the team to beat? They obviously are.
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Columbus Blue Jackets making a big trade, the BJs. Okay, finally,
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I fixed that title. Anyway, it says 2026-27-27. Metropolitan division preview.
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But let's bring in Billy Dean. Billy Dean, a hockey
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on tap. I got to give him the signal. We're
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trying to coordinate how we're going to do this. And
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I'm trying to find, well, Billy Dean, if you're watching,
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I'm giving you the signal. And he's not even looking
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right now. He's not even looking on his screen. I'm
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going to give him the signal. Please welcome to the program,
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Billy Dean of hockey on tap.
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Bill. Hey, buddy.
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Is this thing working? Because you're on your stream, your
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podcast right now. Yeah. Hockey on tap. Pretty cool, right?
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It is very cool. I'm super excited for this.
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Oh, yeah. And I'm trying to send the link to.
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I'm doing the same thing, too.
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Yeah, it's tough doing this. We're both producing our own
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podcast right now.
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So we're both trying to pay attention at the same
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time as we're trying to produce and issue out links
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and do all these other fun stuff. Um, but I, yeah,
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I Sam, so I was just talking about how we're,
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this is a pretty cool collab between the report hockey
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on tap. Um, obviously we've both been on each other's shows, uh,
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and we have a fun time talking about, uh, the
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NHL in general, but most likely, you know, we're mostly, uh,
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Our Metro breakdown, our teams, Rangers, Devils, we'll sometimes throw
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in a little Pittsburgh, some Philly, Foo Philly, some Islanders.
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Who cares about the Islanders? They're going to go to
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Cincinnati eventually or something in the near future. But I
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am extremely excited to talk with my friend about the
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Metro and how the Rangers and Devils will beat up
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each other and most likely both will miss the playoffs.
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No, no, no, no.
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And by the way, we were going to have two
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different chat rooms because you got the hockey on tap
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chat room on Facebook. Uh, also on YouTube, same with,
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same with, uh, you know, the let's go to those
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podcasts platforms. I'm going to put it out there on X,
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but it's pretty cool that we got two different, two
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different podcasts going on at once. And we're just, uh,
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we linked up and, um, you know, this all started
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American whiskey. You know, there's American whiskey in New York.
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Outside of Madison Square Garden, there's American Whiskey in Newark,
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outside of Prudential Center. And opening night, I proposed the
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idea that Billy Dean and Schwimm on Hockey on Tap,
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you guys do it from the American Whiskey in New York,
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and then we do the big stage outside of Prudential Center,
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outside of American Whiskey in Newark, and kind of link
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up and have two different podcasts at once. And it's
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pretty cool that it actually worked. This is the first
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time we've ever done it.
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I think, first of all, the best, and this is
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behind the scenes stuff, but Sam and I, when we
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first started doing this, we were like, all right, we're
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going to, for Schwimm's bachelor party, we're going to go
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to Arizona. We're going to go and we're going to
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enjoy a game there for Schwimm's bachelor party. And we're
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going to go to the mullet center and we're going
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to do a podcast live from the mullet center. uh,
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mold arena. And Sam gives me this contraptions, which I'm
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pretty sure I still have the bag somewhere. Um, but
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it's like, it was a hot spot. It was, yeah,
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it was a hot spot. It was, you could tell
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everybody kind of what you put in there, but it
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was like this multiple step thing. I had to plug
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into my phone and I was basically recording from my phone, uh,
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while talking to everybody, we each had a headset. And
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when I tried to go into mold arena with the
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bag of electronics, they're like, you can't come in here.
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What is that? And like, I'm trying to explain it's
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a podcast. I just did it. And they're like, well,
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you don't talk to our media team. You can't come
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in with that. So I actually stuck it behind a
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trash can in the middle of the parking garage. And
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I was like, I really hope I can get this
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back later. I'll Sam's going to be pretty unhappy because
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I didn't want to go all the way back to
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the hotel. it would have taken probably 20 minutes to
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walk there and back. And so I was like, I'm
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going to stick it here. Hopefully no one thinks it's
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a bomb, a BOMB and, and, you know, flags this for,
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you know, national security. Uh, but it was really cool.
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We got a podcast on there. It was 20 minutes.
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I think we talked about the game. I think we
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were also a little inebriated. So maybe one of those episodes,
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maybe don't rewatch that, but, Um, a lot of fun.
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And Sam Wu is obviously everyone knows that he's a
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genius and he puts together these things, which is pretty cool.
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And I'll, I'll give you a pat on the back,
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but it's, it's pretty amazing.
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Well, I was hoping you would compliment my trolling on,
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on X. It's just JJ McCarthy.
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We already talked about that.
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JJ McCarthy, JJ, uh, traded to the, you know what?
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And it just plays into the whole Quinn Hughes thing. And, uh,
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you're seeing the Quinn Hughes Jersey behind me. for the
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very first time, uh, anybody that doesn't know, uh, anytime I, I,
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I buy a new Jersey, it, it just, it doesn't last,
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doesn't last. Something happens to the player traded free agency retires.
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It gets injured. It's almost like the EA, uh, sports curse.
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But anyway, I think, uh, I think the fans, I
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think we got to give them what they want. Um,
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Let's talk about the Metropolitan Division, and let's be serious here.
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Let's talk about it. And then we can have a
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little bit of fun trashing the teams in the Metropolitan Division.
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Each other's teams, yeah.
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So it's very difficult to repeat as Stanley Cup champions,
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and Carolina is going to have every single NHL team
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gunning after them. It's just the nature of the beast.
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But this Metropolitan Division, would you agree this is probably–
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Do you think it's one of the toughest, or maybe
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I would say one of the more competitive divisions, just
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because of the rivalries and just the history?
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Yeah. I think, so the Metro five years ago, I think,
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was the best division in hockey. And then you had
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the downturn of some of these teams, the Devils, the Rangers,
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the Islanders, Flyers, and Columbus has always been kind of Columbus.
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But those teams kind of took a downturn, and you
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had kind of the rise of the Hurricanes with Ajo
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and this team. And Penguins, obviously, with Crosby have always
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kind of stayed that way. Washington had their little run,
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and then they went down a little bit. They got
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Carberry in, and now they're back up there again. But
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that division five years ago was awesome. And I think
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it's starting to get there a little bit. There are
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still some teams, and we can get to this in
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a second, but Columbus and the Islanders played even my
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Rangers and the Flyers, and we'll see what happens with
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the Devils and the Penguins. But really, it is a
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little top-heavy. You have the Carolina Hurricanes, who are the
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class of the division, and we'll give it to them
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because they won't stand the cup. I do think Washington,
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with the moves that they made, is right there. And
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then you have the Devils with health concerns, but still,
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that is probably the third team in the division. And
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then I think it's a toss-up. Is it going to
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be the Penguins? Will they keep it up with Crosby
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and Malkin and Letang? Uh, and who knows what happens
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with their goal to situation is that the flyers with
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this young stud Porter Martone, uh, a couple of the
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young players, Kateria and you have tipped and obviously the,
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you know, it's a, up and coming roster. Mishkov, we'll
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see how he does in year three. Uh, you have
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the Rangers and they're retooling, not rebuilding, despite what some
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fans might want. Uh, And we'll see what happens with
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some of the young kids and how they take steps.
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You have the Islanders and obviously probably the best young
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player in the division in Matthew Schaefer. But it's really
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just the New York Schaefer's. Matthew Schaefer is the only
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reason that team was good last year. And I know
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there's decent players around him, but really you look at
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that roster and it doesn't tickle you in any way
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other than seeing Matthew Schaefer's name. Their goaltender, we'll see
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how Sorokin mounts back. And then finally you got Um,
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the Columbus blue jackets, which we can get into that
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trade in a little bit. They just made a trade
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that dealt one of their stars. Um, they get back
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a very good player in return. So, but they're probably
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the bottom and Rick bonus is already ripping into the team.
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So we can see how that goes, but long winded.
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I think it's, it's not as good of a vision
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as it should be. It can be a better division. Uh,
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I think the most competitive vision in hockey is in
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the central, but in the Western conference.
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Do you think the Flyers are overrated? I mean, Vladar
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had an amazing year last year.
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Yes.
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In net.
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That's not going to happen again.
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You don't think it's going to happen again? It's a
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one-hit wonder?
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No. So I don't think Vladar is going to be
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that same person again. I think that they have a decent...
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I always liked Joseph Wall from Toronto, and he just
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always had injury issues and concerns. Um, it's going to be,
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you know, wall and Vladar. Uh, you also have, um,
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I think there's one other guy that's kind of hanging
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out there, but those have been the two big guys.
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So maybe as a combined pairing, they can do well. Um,
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but their goaltending is going to definitely take a step back.
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I do think on the other side, though, a Jamie Drysdale,
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a cam York, a Travis Sanheim, these guys take steps forward.
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We'll see about your check. Um, and then their forwards,
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they have, um, a couple of guys, right? If Matt
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Vamichkov is the, the offensive dynamo, you expected him to
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be two years ago. And he had a bad sophomore
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season last year. If he can turn that around as they,
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that third year bump, uh, I mean, that lengthens, lengthens
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this lineup because Porter Martone, I think is going to be,
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he's going to be the big star in the Metro
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in two, three years. I, I really think he is
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that kind of a good, you know, awesome player power forward. Um,
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you know, is he Eric Lindros without the concussions, like
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that kind of player? Um, like I said, Mishkov, you
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got connect me and Forrester and you have, you know,
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a couple other guys, but it's really their center depth.
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They wanted to get Leo Carlson. They gave him the
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big offer sheet at 18 million per, uh, it was
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accepted by Anaheim. So they missed out on getting the
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number one center. Um, Ken Zagris and Kateria and Christian Dvorak.
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Can they take the next step? Um, obviously Kateria is older,
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but we know what he is, but, does Zagreus take
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the next step?
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Yeah. I mean, honestly, do you think, I mean, down
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the middle, like the devils have, they've got two centermen
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in Jack Hughes and Nico.
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He sure.
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Is it overrated? You know, a lot of people talk about, well,
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they don't have center depth. They don't have center depth,
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but I think you need to have two centers. If
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you're going to, if you're going to make any chance
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of making a Stanley cup run, I mean, we, Historically speaking,
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I think you need to. And right now, the Philadelphia Flyers,
237
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they don't have that. A lot of teams don't have that.
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And now, the center position comes at a premium now.
239
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You're looking at the Minnesota Wild right now. They traded
240
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Marco Rossi in that Quinn Hughes trade. And... look at
241
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them now. They're, they're, they're struggling with center death, but
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some will say, Oh no, it's overrated. I think you
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need two centers no matter what. Yeah.
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Um, listen, the, when you look at the forwards, the
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devil's on paper, um, they're top five fish, maybe top
246
00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:35.159
10 in between that five to 10 range, probably. Um,
247
00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:41.320
He sure is arguably the... He's probably top three in
248
00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:45.080
terms of defensive centers in the league. He provides the points.
249
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He gets, obviously, silky votes. You have Suzuki and a
250
00:14:49.970 --> 00:14:56.409
couple other guys in there. He's fantastic. But it's his cohort,
251
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Jack Hughes, and the ship kind of runs with Jack.
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If he is the healthy 80... We're talking about 84 games,
253
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but if he's giving you 80... 75 to 80 games
254
00:15:09.009 --> 00:15:12.850
puts up close to a hundred points. That's right where
255
00:15:12.889 --> 00:15:15.970
they take that next step in that next tier. Um,
256
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and just for Brad, everybody knows about this kid. He's awesome. Um,
257
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and that's coming from a Ranger fan.
258
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Um, what are your thoughts?
259
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That was good.
260
00:15:24.139 --> 00:15:26.480
Yeah. Evangelista. How'd you, how'd you like that trade?
261
00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:29.740
Yeah. I thought it was sneaky.
262
00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:30.000
Good.
263
00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:36.679
Right. He's, uh, he didn't have the greatest years in Nashville, uh, Um,
264
00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.429
and I'm trying to, I'd read a stat before and
265
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I'm trying to find it now, but I'm not going
266
00:15:42.970 --> 00:15:45.309
to find it. Um, you know, he had what, 40
267
00:15:45.309 --> 00:15:48.309
or 50 something points last year on a bad team, uh,
268
00:15:48.809 --> 00:15:52.500
in thirties before that he got some power play time,
269
00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:54.559
which he looked pretty decent. He had, I think it
270
00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:58.600
would 15 assists or something like that. Um, he's going
271
00:15:58.620 --> 00:16:01.250
to be a good player on a wing. And it is,
272
00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:03.360
you tell me right now, is he playing with Jack
273
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or is he playing with Nico? No.
274
00:16:05.289 --> 00:16:08.179
He's playing with Timo Meier, Nico Heischer.
275
00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.879
All right, so he's playing Meier and Heischer. So then
276
00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:13.679
you're going to have Mercer with Hughes and.
277
00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:17.480
No, no, no. No, Manta.
278
00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:18.559
So Mercer's third liner.
279
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:19.179
Yeah.
280
00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:19.460
Okay.
281
00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:24.100
Manta is playing with the Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
282
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I guess that makes sense. So then your third line
283
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:31.389
is going to be what? Evan Rodriguez and... Mercer and Gritsik.
284
00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:33.590
Mercer and Gritsik. Okay.
285
00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:40.690
And the fourth line looks pretty sweet, too.
286
00:16:41.269 --> 00:16:43.490
Is that Cody Glass, Boquist?
287
00:16:44.450 --> 00:16:48.850
It's really Amadeus Lombardi, who came out of nowhere, kind
288
00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:53.679
of under the radar move, one of these Sonny Mata moves.
289
00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:57.139
You kind of knew he was up to something, and
290
00:16:57.179 --> 00:17:02.279
he had such a good training camp, had a good preseason,
291
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:08.109
and made the roster. So, you know, again, it's the
292
00:17:08.130 --> 00:17:13.799
Devils have their biggest acquisition on the offseason was getting
293
00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:17.240
a new GM. Tom Fitzgerald was just simply not getting
294
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.099
it done. And it changed the culture. He was able
295
00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:26.420
to solve the salary cap issues right off the bat.
296
00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:29.539
I mean, you know, it was great that Tom Fitzgerald
297
00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:35.529
traded Andre Palat to the Islanders. before his tenure ended,
298
00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:40.970
but yeah, but trading the half of the balls to trade.
299
00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:48.319
Shamo Nemitz to get the assets back, but also trading
300
00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:53.259
Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers, which we've seen the
301
00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:57.079
viral videos in preseason. He doesn't look that good right now.
302
00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:00.819
I'm not worried about, I just think that team brings
303
00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.319
out the best in you and, and, Not that you're
304
00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:04.880
going to regret that trade, but I just think that
305
00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:09.900
he's going to have a resurgence in Florida. But I
306
00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:15.660
know we're talking about Metro here a little bit. Yeah, right.
307
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:20.460
Your forward group, great. Your defense, we'll see what happens. Obviously, Dougie, Luke, Pesci,
308
00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.339
you know, with all of these guys coming back, playing well.
309
00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:26.109
The goaltenders, the move that I saw that everyone's, a
310
00:18:26.309 --> 00:18:29.599
couple people are little excited about this Remy Poirier kid
311
00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:34.720
they got from Dallas who was AHL last year. Better
312
00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.680
numbers in the AHL than I saw. Better than the
313
00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:42.299
AHL average. And what does that mean for a Nico Dawes?
314
00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.980
Obviously Jake Allen is the 1A. Would Nico have became
315
00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:50.640
that 1A? We'll see. But what have you heard about
316
00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:58.500
Remy Poirier? Obviously it's a sneaky move by By Sonny Maeda,
317
00:18:58.539 --> 00:18:59.980
so what did you think about that?
318
00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.509
Well, I don't have much of a scouting report on
319
00:19:05.549 --> 00:19:08.049
him other than a couple of nice videos of him,
320
00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:13.170
one fighting Askarov. I saw that. But this is the
321
00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:22.559
theme of Sonny Maeda. Competition, competition, competition. And he's obviously
322
00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:28.990
spending all the way to the ceiling when it comes
323
00:19:29.009 --> 00:19:32.059
to the salary cap devils only have what 54 000
324
00:19:32.059 --> 00:19:38.380
left uh before lti uh uh i'm sorry l-i-t-r so
325
00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:42.119
uh sorry l-t-i-r and l-t-i-r you had it right yeah
326
00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.650
sorry i'm thinking long island in my head Anyway, so
327
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the railroad. Anyway. Yep. And my thoughts are the Devils
328
00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:58.180
are a work in progress. You still have the Quinn
329
00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:03.000
Hughes situation lingering. You also have the Connor Hellebuck situation
330
00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:06.900
lingering as well, which I want to transition into the
331
00:20:08.690 --> 00:20:13.069
Carolina hurricanes because they are the team to beat right now. Yep.
332
00:20:13.490 --> 00:20:17.849
Defending Stanley cup champions. They're bringing back almost the same
333
00:20:17.930 --> 00:20:22.980
exact route minus Freddie Anderson in that. But I think
334
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:28.420
that's irrelevant because they got the goaltender, Brandon, uh, Bussy
335
00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:34.599
Busey who has emerged as the playoff hero. Um, does
336
00:20:34.619 --> 00:20:40.640
that translate into a regular season? You know, performance that,
337
00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:43.509
you know, he can lead a team that remains to
338
00:20:43.549 --> 00:20:50.789
be seen, but I'm not, I'm not sold yet. I
339
00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:52.750
might be in the minority here, but I'm just not
340
00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:58.670
sold on him until he actually proves himself long-term, um,
341
00:20:59.089 --> 00:21:03.930
you know, throughout the season. But when you have Ajo, uh,
342
00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:08.890
Stan Kovic, like Jarvis, like they, Jordan stalls, but Slavin, um,
343
00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:14.000
Keion J. Miller, you know, on the back end. Carolina
344
00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:17.480
is just a deep team. Just a deep team. And
345
00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:20.960
I'm afraid they're going to get Connor Hellebuck out of nowhere.
346
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.089
So that would be my only... They have the tools
347
00:21:26.130 --> 00:21:31.890
to do it, too. I was on record last year
348
00:21:32.069 --> 00:21:35.009
of saying that this was... when you're going to look
349
00:21:35.049 --> 00:21:37.890
back on history and look at 2025, 2026, you're going
350
00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.079
to see the Carolina cones hurricanes as the champion. And
351
00:21:41.500 --> 00:21:45.339
you're like, Oh, that's nice because they just, to me,
352
00:21:45.460 --> 00:21:48.559
they weren't a, the best team last year. And I've
353
00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:50.920
said this on the podcast after they won the Stanley cup,
354
00:21:51.900 --> 00:21:57.759
they didn't have any sort of a tough road to
355
00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:00.970
a championship. And you would, you look at all the
356
00:22:01.029 --> 00:22:03.670
teams that win Stanley cups and the players that are
357
00:22:03.710 --> 00:22:05.690
on there and how they, they went about the season.
358
00:22:05.750 --> 00:22:08.910
And there was not one thing to me that, that
359
00:22:08.990 --> 00:22:12.339
screamed that this team was any, any sort of a,
360
00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:18.579
a tough playoff matchup. They went from joke to joke
361
00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.720
to joke. It was Ottawa, which they swept. It was Philly,
362
00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:25.359
which they swept Montreal, which they beat four to one.
363
00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.579
When if, you know, Montreal obviously beats Buffalo in that
364
00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:31.359
bogus game seven, Buffalo really should have been the team
365
00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:33.359
that they played that maybe could have given them something.
366
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:39.359
In the Western Conference, Colorado smokes LA. Colorado beats Minnesota,
367
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:42.200
but then they lose to Vegas because they've been the
368
00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.039
whole season just going at it with each other. Vegas
369
00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:49.380
beats Colorado in a sweep. The Stanley Cup Final, going
370
00:22:49.420 --> 00:22:52.119
into it, it was two teams that have rolled over
371
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:57.500
other teams. Vegas just didn't have any more gas left.
372
00:22:57.660 --> 00:23:01.619
It was the easiest 4-2 win I mean, it won
373
00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:04.339
six games, which it didn't need to, but it was
374
00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:07.779
the easiest, I think, championship run that a team has
375
00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:11.359
ever had. And I still think that it's not the
376
00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:13.480
best team. And I know that they're going to have,
377
00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:18.660
you know, a goaltender. They could add a goaltender. I also,
378
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:21.099
hot take, Brandon Bussey is not going to be the
379
00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:23.220
starter or the guy that they're going to lean on
380
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.329
this season. It's going to be Peter Kachekov. Peter Kachekov.
381
00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:30.210
I think that he's the more talented goaltender. He has
382
00:23:30.809 --> 00:23:34.150
just had injury issues, and if he can step up
383
00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:36.609
to being the goaltender that I think he could probably be,
384
00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:41.269
that's where they would be a little scarier. But yeah,
385
00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:43.609
if they add a Connor Hellebuck and they ship off
386
00:23:43.710 --> 00:23:46.710
a Kachakov and a Bussey and a bunch of other
387
00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:49.619
players that they're looking to do, maybe a little bit.
388
00:23:50.420 --> 00:23:54.180
I think their defense is good, not great. Obviously, it's
389
00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:57.359
just deep. Jacob Slavin's an animal. We don't have to
390
00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.890
talk about him so much, but gospel is okay or
391
00:24:00.250 --> 00:24:04.410
he's good chatfield's okay kandra miller's good he obviously leaving
392
00:24:04.430 --> 00:24:07.049
the rangers he had a good year last year uh
393
00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:10.569
but sean walker's a decent defenseman um you know that
394
00:24:10.809 --> 00:24:12.880
the the line that got all the goals last year
395
00:24:12.930 --> 00:24:16.440
and really the line that carried them in stankhoven um
396
00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:21.640
taylor hall and jackson blake i don't think either any
397
00:24:21.660 --> 00:24:24.759
of them are stars just like Ajo isn't a star, right?
398
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:28.539
He's an extremely good player, right? Sebastian Ajo is not
399
00:24:28.579 --> 00:24:33.359
the upper echelon. He is a top 30 guy, 25
400
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:40.390
to 30 in that range. Congrats, they won a Stanley Cup,
401
00:24:40.450 --> 00:24:42.390
but I'm not impressed.
402
00:24:43.869 --> 00:24:48.200
For a Stanley Cup winner. Yeah. And even for this year,
403
00:24:48.380 --> 00:24:51.299
going forward. I mean, I mean, their road was, you know, again,
404
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:55.579
they got lucky, but also they made their own luck.
405
00:24:56.259 --> 00:24:59.539
But they also made their own luck. But the one
406
00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:05.329
team is the Washington Capitals. They went all in. Yep.
407
00:25:05.609 --> 00:25:09.670
They missed the playoffs by three points last season. And
408
00:25:09.690 --> 00:25:16.049
they got Alex Tuck, sign and trade, long-term deal. They
409
00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:18.039
got Kyrou, right? Jordan Kyrou?
410
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:19.799
Cairo? Yep. Jordan Cairo.
411
00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:21.119
Boone Jenner.
412
00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:22.099
Bring in Boone Jenner.
413
00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:28.069
Yep. You know, but it all comes down to Logan Thompson,
414
00:25:28.190 --> 00:25:31.089
if he's going to stay healthy or not, really. I mean... Yeah.
415
00:25:35.349 --> 00:25:39.910
They could win the division. Yeah, I actually predicted them
416
00:25:39.990 --> 00:25:43.400
to win. We did our season predictions, and I had.
417
00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:49.349
My predictions were Buffalo versus Washington in the Eastern Conference Final,
418
00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:54.529
Washington winning the division, Colorado versus Edmonton in the West,
419
00:25:54.569 --> 00:25:57.069
and then I had Buffalo actually winning the Cup over Edmonton.
420
00:25:57.089 --> 00:26:03.109
We'll see if that happens. I like this team. I
421
00:26:03.150 --> 00:26:05.670
think it's deep. I think they still have some very
422
00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:09.170
good players, upper echelon guys in that 30 range with
423
00:26:09.630 --> 00:26:13.019
an Ajo. Kairou's a very good player at the right wing.
424
00:26:13.990 --> 00:26:17.529
Ryan Leonard just signed that big ticket, that eight-year deal
425
00:26:17.650 --> 00:26:21.309
for $ 10 million per. You have Alex Tuck, who joins
426
00:26:21.349 --> 00:26:24.109
as well. That's another guy we didn't talk about. Tom Wilson,
427
00:26:24.349 --> 00:26:30.470
and you go to now the Protoss brothers. Obviously, Ilya
428
00:26:31.019 --> 00:26:37.920
was there before, and now he's... Yeah, Ilya was there before.
429
00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:41.269
I'm sorry, Alexi was there before. Ilya is now joining him. Um,
430
00:26:41.369 --> 00:26:43.519
and Protoss was a beast that they had that line.
431
00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:45.380
That was, I think each guy, each guy was like
432
00:26:45.420 --> 00:26:49.119
six foot five. It was Protoss. It was, um, Wilson.
433
00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:51.660
And it was, uh, I forgot who the other one was,
434
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:56.019
but Matejko or something. Um, but you look through this
435
00:26:56.099 --> 00:27:00.289
team and, you know, Jenner and Protoss and Dylan Strom
436
00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:03.769
are pretty, three, pretty decent centers. Uh, as you're gonna
437
00:27:03.789 --> 00:27:07.150
go one, two, three, you got, uh, Bavillier still and
438
00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:10.549
Pierre-Luc Dubois, who's coming back and had a very good year, uh, with, uh,
439
00:27:10.849 --> 00:27:16.410
with Washington. Miroshenchenko and Ovi, we'll see how he can
440
00:27:16.430 --> 00:27:23.630
continue his goal scoring records. Their defense is good. Jacob
441
00:27:23.670 --> 00:27:28.019
Chikorin and Deharnais and they have Cole Hudson who's obviously
442
00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:32.279
Lane is the brother and it's a perennial rookie of
443
00:27:32.299 --> 00:27:38.640
the year candidate. Rasmus Sandin, But yeah, like you said,
444
00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:42.079
the goaltender, you know, will Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson
445
00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:47.609
lead them to, you know, to a cup? I like
446
00:27:47.630 --> 00:27:50.849
them better than I do to Carolina. So, yeah.
447
00:27:51.509 --> 00:27:55.630
I would agree. I would agree. But the one team that,
448
00:27:56.470 --> 00:28:01.059
you know, again, did very well offensively, but they really
449
00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:03.880
need to shore up their defense and goaltending is the
450
00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:10.150
Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are still there. For what?
451
00:28:10.210 --> 00:28:13.180
How many seasons? Is this the 18th season?
452
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:15.359
No, I think it's more.
453
00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:17.279
Yeah, it's like 21.
454
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.579
Crosby's 18 and he's 39 now.
455
00:28:19.579 --> 00:28:28.049
21 years. It's amazing the longevity, the loyalty to the organization,
456
00:28:28.069 --> 00:28:31.069
the teammates, all that. I mean, it's very rare. I mean,
457
00:28:31.410 --> 00:28:35.130
for years I've hated that trio just because it's your rival,
458
00:28:35.450 --> 00:28:37.970
all that, but It gets to a point where it's like.
459
00:28:39.369 --> 00:28:40.190
It turns into respect.
460
00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:43.190
Yeah, respect. It's kind of like Marty Berdour with New
461
00:28:43.210 --> 00:28:47.049
York Ranger fans. In the first 10 years, it was
462
00:28:47.109 --> 00:28:50.549
kind of like, he's a product of the defense. I
463
00:28:50.569 --> 00:28:53.349
still don't like him. All that kind of stuff.
464
00:28:53.569 --> 00:28:53.930
It's true.
465
00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:57.640
But at some point, even Ovechkin, playing that 41, he
466
00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:01.099
was drafted in 2004. His first year was a lockout year.
467
00:29:06.230 --> 00:29:08.809
I mean, can you imagine how many goals he would
468
00:29:08.869 --> 00:29:14.119
have if there weren't all those work stoppages and COVID? Yeah. Yeah.
469
00:29:15.099 --> 00:29:16.690
You look at the, I think he missed, it was
470
00:29:16.710 --> 00:29:17.819
like 200 something games.
471
00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:18.400
Yeah.
472
00:29:19.059 --> 00:29:21.299
Add another a hundred goals to his total. That's really
473
00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:22.900
what it is. That's it. That's nuts.
474
00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:26.460
And that's being conservative when you say that.
475
00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:29.579
Yeah. Yeah. That's being nice.
476
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:33.180
He scored 52 goals, I think, in his rookie season.
477
00:29:33.420 --> 00:29:34.099
His rookie year.
478
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.119
Yeah. It's just amazing.
479
00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:41.099
And then I think the other season that he missed
480
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:45.000
most of was injury slash the other lock that they had.
481
00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.089
And that would have been another 50, but yeah, he's nasty.
482
00:29:48.650 --> 00:29:54.210
All right, so Pittsburgh. Obviously, the trio, Letang, Crosby, Malkin,
483
00:29:54.230 --> 00:29:57.279
we talked about it, respect and everything. they do have
484
00:29:57.319 --> 00:30:00.180
some young kids coming up, which is, which is always
485
00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:02.480
the interesting thing and how these guys can take the
486
00:30:02.549 --> 00:30:07.130
steps with the stars. And, you know, you got, um,
487
00:30:07.769 --> 00:30:10.470
Connor DeWaar. And I wish Steve was here. He could
488
00:30:10.490 --> 00:30:12.069
tell you a lot about, you know, a lot of
489
00:30:12.089 --> 00:30:13.809
these guys, but Ben Kindle was the first round pick
490
00:30:13.829 --> 00:30:15.210
they got last year. They like him. He's going to
491
00:30:15.230 --> 00:30:21.509
start the year on IR, um, Malkin and, you know,
492
00:30:21.849 --> 00:30:25.039
and how the center depth, uh, goes is always, uh,
493
00:30:26.140 --> 00:30:28.380
you know, what leads this team, but, you know, can
494
00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:31.769
a Rucker McGroarty take a step with a Crosby and,
495
00:30:32.150 --> 00:30:36.710
you know, how can the supporting cast be there for,
496
00:30:36.730 --> 00:30:40.410
for the two stars? And Justin Brazzo had a good
497
00:30:40.430 --> 00:30:42.849
year last year. Mantha was there last year. He obviously
498
00:30:42.890 --> 00:30:47.549
left Igor Chinnikov, um, has been really good for this team.
499
00:30:47.589 --> 00:30:49.309
I think he's, did he pop 30 goals last year?
500
00:30:49.329 --> 00:30:51.950
I think he might've, um, made 21. Um, it was, uh,
501
00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:58.500
man for that at the 30, uh, Brezzo at another 20.
502
00:30:58.500 --> 00:31:01.500
And like I said, the Rucker McGrody, Ricard, Raquel, Brian rust,
503
00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:04.670
you have veterans around these guys. And this is a
504
00:31:04.690 --> 00:31:07.009
team that like, like I said before, they could take
505
00:31:07.029 --> 00:31:10.529
the step back and be sellers because they have guys
506
00:31:10.569 --> 00:31:12.730
that are on expiring deals and we'll see how that goes.
507
00:31:12.789 --> 00:31:15.369
But they also have some young up and comers and
508
00:31:15.410 --> 00:31:18.390
you have Eric Carlson still there. And could he, you know,
509
00:31:18.579 --> 00:31:21.019
pot it and, you know, get another 80 something points.
510
00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:26.940
Cause it's a, it's a contract year. Um, Harrison Bernicke,
511
00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:30.740
a good player to watch on D. They have Sam Gerrard.
512
00:31:30.779 --> 00:31:34.720
They bring in other guys. Owen Pickering. And their goaltenders.
513
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:41.019
Right now you have Silovs as their starter. But look
514
00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:44.509
out for Sergei Miroshev. I know he's a young up-and-coming
515
00:31:44.549 --> 00:31:49.210
Russian goalie. People like him a lot. And they have
516
00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:51.589
Joel Blomquist, who has been in the HL for a
517
00:31:51.589 --> 00:31:54.069
little while and is there. But they're an interesting team.
518
00:31:54.349 --> 00:31:55.509
They could go either way.
519
00:31:56.630 --> 00:31:58.910
Yeah, I think Pittsburgh is the wild card. I think
520
00:31:59.230 --> 00:32:04.880
they surprised many people. But I predicted it, actually, last
521
00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:09.960
season that they would make the playoffs. Columbus Blue Jackets,
522
00:32:10.180 --> 00:32:14.769
a lot of moving parts here. Rick Bonas is a
523
00:32:14.809 --> 00:32:19.910
new coach coming out of retirement, I guess. Fantilli signing
524
00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:24.569
that long-term deal. which is a big, big deal for
525
00:32:24.609 --> 00:32:30.410
Columbus because their identity, Boone Jenner, is now in Washington, right?
526
00:32:31.730 --> 00:32:37.160
And the big trade, Matty Nyes, going to the BJs.
527
00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:41.000
What are your thoughts on that? Did they give up
528
00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:43.880
too much? Who got the better of the trade?
529
00:32:43.900 --> 00:32:44.559
I think it was a fair.
530
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:51.640
In the moment, Marchenko going to Toronto is a better...
531
00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:54.940
it's a better for this year. Um, I am a
532
00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:57.039
big fan of Matthew knives. I think he's a very
533
00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:00.380
good player and they're not losing that much. Um, I
534
00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:01.980
think there were only five to 10 points off of
535
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.440
each other for the season total last year. Um, they
536
00:33:05.509 --> 00:33:09.349
add a couple of decent pieces along with that. Emil
537
00:33:09.430 --> 00:33:13.509
Andre for defenseman, a young kid, um, with some talent, uh,
538
00:33:13.549 --> 00:33:17.609
they added a goaltender, I believe, and a second round pick. And, uh,
539
00:33:17.650 --> 00:33:20.730
they sent away, if I remember rightly, they had sent away, uh,
540
00:33:23.069 --> 00:33:27.150
another forward. Sorry, I'm blacking out. Miles Wood. That was
541
00:33:27.190 --> 00:33:29.289
a part of the deal that they wanted to get
542
00:33:29.329 --> 00:33:37.160
with some contract. As well as Elvis Merlik. So, Steven Lorenz,
543
00:33:37.220 --> 00:33:39.960
decent depth forward. We talked about the pick, but I
544
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.140
think it's a pretty fair, even trade. It really is.
545
00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:47.680
It's a hockey trade. It's not for futures. Matthew Nyes
546
00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:49.420
is a good young player to get back. Hopefully he
547
00:33:49.460 --> 00:33:52.380
can sign an extension soon. In Columbus, not many people
548
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:58.589
want to, but maybe he does. And yeah, him with
549
00:33:59.390 --> 00:34:07.009
Fantilli and a Valer Nishushkin is a pretty interesting little
550
00:34:07.049 --> 00:34:09.690
line there. Or big line, I should say, not little.
551
00:34:10.409 --> 00:34:14.199
All pretty big guys. Um, but it's the, it's their depth, right?
552
00:34:14.239 --> 00:34:16.980
It's Ken Johnson. Does he take the step? It's Sean Monahan.
553
00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:19.019
You know, what does he still have left at 31?
554
00:34:19.019 --> 00:34:21.159
It's Cole Sillinger, another kid they signed for a lot,
555
00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:26.650
little longer. Um, Danton Heinen's there and Ryan Lomberg. So
556
00:34:26.690 --> 00:34:30.269
they have some depth forwards, third and fourth liners, Matthew Olivier, obviously,
557
00:34:30.429 --> 00:34:33.199
you know, one of the better fighters in the NHL. Um,
558
00:34:34.239 --> 00:34:40.320
does Provorov, um, have a better season david damon severson
559
00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:42.980
same thing brennan smith is you know depth of depth
560
00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:47.909
defensive but zach warrensky right does he want to stay
561
00:34:47.949 --> 00:34:49.510
they had this big issue in the off season is
562
00:34:49.530 --> 00:34:50.849
he going to stay he's going to leave he's going
563
00:34:50.869 --> 00:34:54.210
to join the u.s team somewhere um and that get
564
00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:56.289
out and he wasn't very happy about that and now
565
00:34:56.309 --> 00:34:58.980
he's kind of said oh hey everything's great grand wonderful
566
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:01.300
but that's really one of the stars that stirs the
567
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.619
drink in columbus yeah um My one hot take, I
568
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:08.760
had this and I talked to the guys and I
569
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:10.099
put them on as my.
570
00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:15.719
I did Vezina voting. And I said Jakub Dobish would
571
00:35:15.739 --> 00:35:19.849
be my Vezina winner for this season. In parentheses, I
572
00:35:19.949 --> 00:35:22.570
put Jet Greaves because I think that he gets votes
573
00:35:22.869 --> 00:35:27.170
and I think he is one of the standout goaltenders
574
00:35:27.949 --> 00:35:32.730
for this season. I think he turns up... It turns
575
00:35:32.769 --> 00:35:34.730
it up a little, and he's thought of as one
576
00:35:34.750 --> 00:35:36.409
of the top 10 goalies by the end of the season.
577
00:35:36.710 --> 00:35:42.440
And that's why Elvis left the building. Yeah.
578
00:35:42.539 --> 00:35:44.860
It's Jet Greaves and Kim Talbot. Not too bad.
579
00:35:45.940 --> 00:35:49.139
How about the New York Islanders? Peter DeBoer taking over
580
00:35:49.179 --> 00:35:54.449
the team after Patrick Law got fired. They missed the playoffs,
581
00:35:55.409 --> 00:36:00.349
but the big story, Matthew Schaefer winning the Calder Trophy
582
00:36:00.369 --> 00:36:08.460
at 23 goals and 59 points, youngest Calder winner in
583
00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:16.679
the history of the NHL. Yeah. But outside of that, Sorokin, okay,
584
00:36:18.510 --> 00:36:23.670
he can be good. But do you think DeBoer can
585
00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:27.630
actually get this team to perform and overachieve like they
586
00:36:27.670 --> 00:36:31.130
did last season? No.
587
00:36:31.650 --> 00:36:34.389
I think this team takes a little bit of a
588
00:36:34.409 --> 00:36:41.159
nosedive here. Matt Barzal is one of the most infuriating
589
00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:44.380
players that I can think of. And this is a
590
00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:47.260
kid that his second year in the NHL, or actually
591
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.510
really his first year, he has 85 points in 82 games.
592
00:36:50.110 --> 00:36:52.289
And you're like, oh shit, this is a star. He's
593
00:36:52.309 --> 00:36:54.710
going to be... They're talking about him for Olympic teams
594
00:36:54.809 --> 00:36:59.699
and for the long-running stuff. And he just... Since then,
595
00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:01.340
he had a couple seasons where he was around point
596
00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:05.099
of game. Some injuries took effect, and maybe that's really
597
00:37:05.139 --> 00:37:07.429
what zapped him. I know in 23-24, he had another
598
00:37:07.429 --> 00:37:09.769
80 points in 80 games, but you didn't think of
599
00:37:09.809 --> 00:37:13.510
him as this stud. Last year, he was 72 points quiet,
600
00:37:14.590 --> 00:37:16.929
but it's really up to him and some of the
601
00:37:16.949 --> 00:37:20.329
other guys to take steps because at 29, he's their
602
00:37:20.349 --> 00:37:24.280
number one center. They have Bo Horvat and J.G. Pajot
603
00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:27.340
and Paul Mary and Cal Ritchie. We'll see how he does,
604
00:37:27.360 --> 00:37:31.320
a 21-year-old um, coming in, but they, they trade a
605
00:37:31.380 --> 00:37:36.019
number one pick for Braden Shen and he's 35. And
606
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:38.980
I just, I can't see that that, that is what
607
00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:40.619
you would want to spend a first round pick on.
608
00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:42.199
And I know there's dumb teams that do it all
609
00:37:42.219 --> 00:37:45.119
the time, but that just, to me, it's just stupid. Uh,
610
00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:47.730
and Victor Eklund, he's a young rookie, 19. We'll see
611
00:37:47.750 --> 00:37:50.949
how he does from Sweden. Um, you know, Heinemann 24,
612
00:37:50.949 --> 00:37:53.369
Matias Michelli 25. So some younger guys, Michelli has been
613
00:37:53.389 --> 00:37:56.949
around the block a little bit. Um, Holmstrom's another 25
614
00:37:56.949 --> 00:37:59.659
year old, but it, they need the young guys to
615
00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:03.500
take steps up because it can't just be on the
616
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:07.659
backs of their defensemen. Pelican, Pollock are thirties and Romanov
617
00:38:07.739 --> 00:38:09.820
is a young defenseman at 24, six, but he hasn't
618
00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:12.940
really shown too much, you know, Schaefer's there. They have
619
00:38:12.980 --> 00:38:15.559
some young defensemen in the, in the system coming in.
620
00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:19.179
And does Ilya Sorokin take a step? Cause at 31,
621
00:38:19.179 --> 00:38:20.409
everyone thought that he was going to be the next
622
00:38:20.469 --> 00:38:23.429
big Russian goaltender. He's kind of just been meh. Yeah.
623
00:38:26.369 --> 00:38:34.210
Well, Speaking of Russian goaltenders. Yeah. New York Rangers. Shesterkin
624
00:38:34.269 --> 00:38:40.210
still the backbone in the crease. But there was a
625
00:38:40.250 --> 00:38:47.849
lot of movement this offseason. I'll let you take the
626
00:38:47.889 --> 00:38:50.650
floor on this one about the New York Rangers.
627
00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:56.599
Yeah. So you talk about Igor Shesterkin. He is the
628
00:38:56.639 --> 00:38:59.179
best goaltender in the NHL. I don't think, you know,
629
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:01.500
I think if you polled, and I think actually Athletic
630
00:39:01.539 --> 00:39:03.380
did a poll, and they said he was the only
631
00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:07.840
one that received, you know, top votes the last three years.
632
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:12.389
And he's really, the team goes with him. And when
633
00:39:12.429 --> 00:39:15.130
he gets hurt, they are awful. And when you add
634
00:39:15.710 --> 00:39:20.090
to that Adam Fox, a top 10 to 15 defense
635
00:39:20.130 --> 00:39:23.329
in the NHL getting hurt, the team just sucks. Outright sucks.
636
00:39:23.809 --> 00:39:30.710
And they have... Their depth at center is bad. Just
637
00:39:30.809 --> 00:39:34.989
outright bad. You have Zbigniew Zibanejad, who's their number one.
638
00:39:35.050 --> 00:39:38.900
He really should be a number two. JT Miller's not
639
00:39:38.940 --> 00:39:41.239
the same as he was a few years ago when
640
00:39:41.260 --> 00:39:44.219
he was potting 100 points. Noah Lobb is their third
641
00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:47.500
line center. Joe Valeno They still have Matt Rempe labels
642
00:39:47.539 --> 00:39:49.260
as center, which is he's going to make the team,
643
00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:54.480
which is just sad. I like the pieces that they
644
00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:58.719
brought in this offseason. Pavlodorov, I think at 25 years old,
645
00:39:59.099 --> 00:40:01.079
that was a good trade. Two first round picks. That's
646
00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:03.889
about the going rate. They signed him to actually a
647
00:40:03.949 --> 00:40:05.710
good deal now that you see some of these other
648
00:40:06.110 --> 00:40:10.010
crazy numbers at 11 million per. You got Gabe Perot,
649
00:40:10.050 --> 00:40:14.750
an exciting young right winger that, you know, he's when
650
00:40:14.789 --> 00:40:17.110
you look at that line that BC had, right, it
651
00:40:17.150 --> 00:40:21.750
was Ryan Leonard, who's everybody loves and raves about. It
652
00:40:21.789 --> 00:40:24.969
was Will Smith who everybody loves and raves about. And
653
00:40:25.010 --> 00:40:30.679
then it was Gabe Perot. And he just silently has
654
00:40:30.739 --> 00:40:36.110
the record for most points for, uh, USA, um, hockey, uh,
655
00:40:36.179 --> 00:40:39.590
in a season is a hundred and something. Um, and
656
00:40:39.610 --> 00:40:42.000
the kid just is an offensive dynamo. Now he comes
657
00:40:42.039 --> 00:40:45.380
with a smaller body and his ability to skate is he's,
658
00:40:46.099 --> 00:40:49.739
he's just a, his smarts is so good that he
659
00:40:49.780 --> 00:40:53.760
can make up for skating, you know, differences and his size.
660
00:40:54.079 --> 00:40:57.710
And he's exciting. Eli told Van and they bring in
661
00:40:58.070 --> 00:41:00.949
and Bjorks and they bring in guys scores 20, the
662
00:41:00.989 --> 00:41:03.949
last five seasons, uh, Lexi Lafreniere at the end of
663
00:41:03.969 --> 00:41:05.190
the season, he had 25 points at 25 games. Um,
664
00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:12.019
You know, Cartier and Coolier, third-liners, fourth-liners. On the defense,
665
00:41:12.059 --> 00:41:14.500
they remake it. They bring in Sean Dursey in the
666
00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:18.610
Trocek trade. You have Gavrikov from last year, Fox from
667
00:41:18.639 --> 00:41:21.800
last year. Marcus Pedersen comes over for a first-round pick,
668
00:41:22.360 --> 00:41:26.610
which wasn't overly fond of, but he knows Sullivan's system,
669
00:41:27.710 --> 00:41:30.869
and he's a very good, steady defenseman, especially on that
670
00:41:30.909 --> 00:41:34.269
second pair. Braden Schneider's still here, which I wish they'd
671
00:41:34.289 --> 00:41:37.050
trade him. Matthew Robertson's a good seventh defenseman, but then
672
00:41:38.039 --> 00:41:42.880
They draft at number four overall, Albert Smits. And the
673
00:41:42.900 --> 00:41:45.000
kid has done everything you wanted him to do in
674
00:41:45.039 --> 00:41:46.360
camp to make the team, and he's going to be
675
00:41:46.380 --> 00:41:49.019
there opening night on Thursday when I'll be there. And
676
00:41:49.039 --> 00:41:50.880
I'm excited to see what he can do. He'll be
677
00:41:50.900 --> 00:41:53.480
a third-pairing defenseman for the time, and we'll see how
678
00:41:53.500 --> 00:41:57.530
he goes from there. But a young, exciting defenseman. I
679
00:41:57.570 --> 00:42:00.590
was not happy that the Rangers sent down and exposed
680
00:42:00.789 --> 00:42:04.429
Dylan Grant to waivers, the backup goaltender. Instead, they keep
681
00:42:04.590 --> 00:42:09.360
Jonas Corposalo, another old, aging defenseman, goaltender that they like.
682
00:42:09.380 --> 00:42:12.300
They like to have old guys for backup goaltending spots
683
00:42:12.340 --> 00:42:20.019
in New York. All this to say, if JT Miller
684
00:42:20.059 --> 00:42:23.530
does not have a good season, this Rangers team will
685
00:42:23.829 --> 00:42:27.230
be just like it was last year. Him and the
686
00:42:27.309 --> 00:42:30.210
health of your two studs in Adam Fox and Igor Shostakhin,
687
00:42:30.230 --> 00:42:34.210
those are three big factors. Lafreniere could have a good year.
688
00:42:34.230 --> 00:42:38.780
Perot can jump on and do great things. Um, you know,
689
00:42:39.409 --> 00:42:41.489
Dorfave could have 35 plus and it's not going to
690
00:42:41.510 --> 00:42:44.710
matter because they don't have the center depth or, you know,
691
00:42:44.769 --> 00:42:49.130
and the health. So I think they're a fringe playoff
692
00:42:49.150 --> 00:42:53.900
team and in, in the Metro and in the East total, um,
693
00:42:54.360 --> 00:42:56.039
I think the three Metro teams are going to make it.
694
00:42:56.099 --> 00:42:57.719
I don't know that a fourth is going to, I
695
00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:00.599
think the Atlantic is just that good. Um, so I'm
696
00:43:00.760 --> 00:43:02.289
going to have them out of the playoffs right now.
697
00:43:03.130 --> 00:43:03.469
Um, but.
698
00:43:03.809 --> 00:43:05.150
Like I said, they're on the bubble. It wouldn't be
699
00:43:05.190 --> 00:43:07.530
surprising if they were in as a wildcard team. It
700
00:43:07.610 --> 00:43:09.800
would not be surprising if they were three points out
701
00:43:09.820 --> 00:43:10.110
looking in.
702
00:43:10.110 --> 00:43:15.579
I would agree with you with the objective mind. I mean,
703
00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:20.840
the Metropolitan Division, I mean, the top three, I think
704
00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:27.260
it's going to be Washington, Carolina, then Devils.
705
00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:32.179
I agree. Unfortunately, I agree. Yeah.
706
00:43:33.469 --> 00:43:36.630
I just don't think the Philadelphia Flyers, I mean, unless
707
00:43:36.670 --> 00:43:39.829
something changes, I just don't think Ladar is going to
708
00:43:39.869 --> 00:43:42.510
have a better year than last season.
709
00:43:42.800 --> 00:43:46.579
They also just don't have the, Zagreus is a good center.
710
00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:48.639
He's not the number one you need.
711
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:49.280
Yeah.
712
00:43:51.059 --> 00:43:51.300
So.
713
00:43:51.860 --> 00:43:58.030
Yeah. Anyway, Bill, it was great to have you on
714
00:43:58.070 --> 00:43:59.090
on this simulcast.
715
00:43:59.110 --> 00:44:00.150
I loved it. It was cool.
716
00:44:00.170 --> 00:44:03.570
Yeah, we should do this more often. Maybe we'll do
717
00:44:03.699 --> 00:44:07.980
it Thursday. We'll talk off air on that. But why
718
00:44:08.019 --> 00:44:11.219
don't you go to your respective Hockey on Tap podcast,
719
00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:16.159
and I'll finish up here, and we'll do our thing.
720
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:17.860
All right.
721
00:44:17.900 --> 00:44:20.750
Thank you all for sending some messages. I appreciate it.
722
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:24.099
And I always have fun talking with Sam Wu and
723
00:44:24.119 --> 00:44:28.079
the Devils guys. Even though we might hate each other's teams,
724
00:44:28.139 --> 00:44:32.170
we're good friends. Yep. See you, buddy. See you.
725
00:44:32.380 --> 00:44:35.940
Rangers suck. And then I just cut him off. And
726
00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:39.260
he's laughing right now. He's actually laughing right now. I
727
00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:42.519
actually cut him off. I cut him off. Anyway, I'm
728
00:44:42.539 --> 00:44:46.989
watching him on the live feed here in the bunker,
729
00:44:47.369 --> 00:44:50.449
the primetime radio studios. And I see a lot of
730
00:44:50.489 --> 00:44:56.489
comments out there. Maria, Maria, Maria. I see she's back. PM,
731
00:44:56.789 --> 00:45:00.239
thank you for the compliments. About last night's podcast, Beer
732
00:45:00.260 --> 00:45:08.719
Baron and I. Smokin' is meh, says Beachmaster. Pete also
733
00:45:08.780 --> 00:45:11.369
says that Rangers are going to burn him out like
734
00:45:11.429 --> 00:45:15.869
Henrik if they aren't careful. Shusterkin, yeah, signing that big
735
00:45:16.010 --> 00:45:23.409
fat contract. Supreme Leader, woo. Not even three days left.
736
00:45:25.309 --> 00:45:30.550
Opening night is just around the corner. Yeah, we're going
737
00:45:30.570 --> 00:45:34.489
to be at the big stage outside American Whiskey on
738
00:45:34.590 --> 00:45:38.719
Edison Place for the season opener, be there or be
739
00:45:38.800 --> 00:45:42.719
square for game day live. You don't know who's going
740
00:45:42.739 --> 00:45:47.900
to show up. 51 Edison Place, across the street from
741
00:45:47.940 --> 00:45:55.400
Prudential Center next to Championship Plaza. Also, October 3rd, we're
742
00:45:55.539 --> 00:45:58.300
on the road again. We are on the road again.
743
00:45:59.750 --> 00:46:05.309
We're going to be in Fairfield for a viewing party
744
00:46:05.349 --> 00:46:14.329
with Grant Marshall, Sidelines Bar and Grill, 198 Route 46, Fairfield,
745
00:46:14.369 --> 00:46:20.429
New Jersey. Meow, meow. Anyway. All right, we're going to
746
00:46:20.469 --> 00:46:22.090
get out of here. I want to thank all those
747
00:46:22.170 --> 00:46:25.860
tuning in. Driving the podcast in about 20 minutes. Good
748
00:46:25.880 --> 00:46:30.389
to be back. Back full time. And I want to
749
00:46:30.429 --> 00:46:36.610
thank Billy Dean for this wonderful simulcast. Simulcast on Hockey
750
00:46:36.630 --> 00:46:40.789
on Tap and also the Woo Report on the Let's
751
00:46:40.869 --> 00:46:46.329
Go Devils podcast network. Going to hit the music real soon.
752
00:46:46.389 --> 00:46:51.590
Just remember, stay the fan address. Big season preview show
753
00:46:52.170 --> 00:46:58.789
with Nick Villano and I at pucksandpitchforks.com. Also, Vinny Parisi.
754
00:47:00.110 --> 00:47:07.179
We'll be back for game day live of the hockey news. Pucksandpitchforks.com
755
00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:11.400
and USA Today. That Vinny Parisi, also my good friend
756
00:47:11.679 --> 00:47:16.219
as well. So we're finally back, folks. And it's great
757
00:47:16.260 --> 00:47:22.429
to be back. See Selective Voices, peace out. Yeah, we're
758
00:47:22.449 --> 00:47:26.050
going to have a lot of fun this season. And hopefully,
759
00:47:26.530 --> 00:47:31.340
and just hopefully, the Devils are good. because they will be.
760
00:47:31.349 --> 00:47:35.820
Until next time, this is the Woo Report. Let's go Devils.