Winter of Sam | The Basu & Godin Notebook

On this episode of The Basu and Godin Notebook, Montembeault playing like #1 goalie (0:00), The caveat in the defencemen’s production (29 :30), Monday Mailbag: Contending with the draft, trades or free agency, playing 8 D’s, Evans value, LTIR (43:45).

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Hey everybody Welcome to The Notebook on this Monday January 88th 2024 uh Arpin you were at the game uh against the New York Rangers on Saturday and quite U quite a showing from s mono we were discussing topics that we might you know bring up and and and you know

Discuss uh for today’s episode and obviously we we cannot ignore the sort of performance that Mambo did but also uh the performance that he had not did but he had uh but also the fact that more and more I mean if you look at the way that he’s you know he’s also played

Extremely well against Dallas uh only a few days before he’s really cemented his place as the number one Canadian goalie are you comfortable with the usage that mat St Loui has done of mtown Bor and is it bound to change from this point on I thought it was hilarious how uh I think

Marte was asked four questions about this after the game yeah um and he just he very calmly answered them all like I think in the back of his mind I could see him thinking like you know what it’s very reasonable for these guys to be asking me this question like it’s a very

Fair thing based on the last two times we’ve seen Mt Dumbo Play but really based on his body of work all season um and so but even though he wasn’t going to give the answer that everyone wanted because it’s out of his hands and and and quite honestly like

It’s if if they’re gonna keep Kaden Primo with the club they can’t they gotta play him they gotta Play Jake Allen every now and then if he’s gonna they can’t not play them I mean I get it but and that’s that’s kind of what Martin was saying is that you know we’re

Managing it and this and that and I think if we’re up to Martin St Louie solely he would ride the hell out of Samuel malabu I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s his call entirely or even at all like I I honestly think you know that guy’s trying to make the playoffs

And there’s no if hands or butts about it like that’s his goal the best way for the Canadians to make the playoffs is to is to ride Samuel montambo like a horse because he’s playing like one um and so at the end the best part the best the

Most politician answer was when our colleague Sim at the end finally kind of fed up with all the runaround asks him is Samu M you’re number one goalie and Marte turns and says he’s playing like a number one goalie it’s like you didn’t answer the question it was great I loved

It it was it was great it was great political theater in that press conference room after the game but yeah it’s I think a lot of people are wondering those questions were warranted like what us as media members are supposed to reflect what the fan base is

Thinking or wants to know that’s what we at least you know I think both you and I and I think most of our colleagues that’s what we try to do when we’re asking questions we’re trying to ask the questions that we think fans want

Answers to um I think a lot of fans want the answer to this question and it’s a fair one uh but I think we will start to see more Sam mavu if he keeps playing like this it’s not that Jake Allen’s playing poorly uh but he’s not winning games and he’s not

Playing he’s definitely not stealing games the way Sam mono is like he’s playing fine there’s nothing bad about it there’s nothing great about it either it’s just kind of there um and Sam mono to quote marttin St Louis is playing like a number one goalie legit

So what do you do if you’re the Canadians I mean it’s it’s actually it’s an interesting question because Management’s involved there’s no there’s there’s no secret that they’re trying to trade Jake Allen they’d like to trade Jake Allen if they get the price that they want for

Him it would it would make all of this a lot easier and Kaden Primo would get more regular reps even as a backup play once every four games or so would be more than he’s playing now um so I would answer your question as being yes I’ve been comfortable with it

Up until now but as of right now Sam mono has made it quite evident that the status quo can’t continue for much longer because he’s sort of demanding more more of the net and I think when a goalie performs this way to demand more

Of the net um he should get it it’s just a standard uh hockey principle that if you have a goalie Who’s playing like this and stealing games for you then you got to play well especially with the fact that Malu uh I mean his track record with Montreal is that the the

More he plays the better he gets when he’s busy and he’s been playing uh you know I don’t know five five games out of six for example he gets into a rhythm and he gets he becomes more effective when Jake Allen went down because of injuries in the past two seasons he

Would get really into Rhythm and really take the opportunity to showcase himself and say hey I can I can take the job as a number one goalie so it’s not the perception of another type of goalie who at some point will show that he gets tired he needs some rest and you cannot

Overplay him so and it’s interesting it’s interesting because prior to those two Stellar games against Dallas and against uh the Rangers there there were two instances where molu uh gave up uh gave up four goals uh he gave up four in mini on 24 Shots and four goals in Tempa on 20

Shots but in between that there was in there were 10 game 10 days between those two starts so if he gets busy enough you might get more of those performances and now that they’ve committed to him financially now they know that they’re going to have him they’re going to keep

Him uh well let’s let’s see how far you can go with that guy but the tricky thing on the other end is that even though everybody knows what’s the value and who Jake Allen is you don’t need to Showcase him through the league everybody knows what Jake Allen is about

Yeah if you want to salvage a bit of his value you want to at least send a signal that hey he’s back on track and he can help you win games which he has not been able to do so far no no I mean it’s I also think

Uh because he’s a known commodity I don’t think any no matter how he does because if Jake Allen just starts the next five games and wins them all is it is it appreciably going to change how the league views him I mean it might just because of the the desperation of

The current moment and say okay he’s on a hot streak or he’s shown a capacity to get hot maybe he could do that for us yeah at the right time in the playoffs you know who knows I mean yes maybe that would but I mean really I don’t think

Jake Allen’s changing anyone’s mind on who he is everyone knows who he is excellent Locker guy uh excellent teammate uh has won before or has been part of a winning culture in St Louis uh but is a very average goenda slate I mean that’s that’s a good

Thing you know if you’re if you’re an average NHL goenda below average NHL go tending right now that’s that’s a feather in his cap that he can provide average NHL goal tending and so um you know his wins and losses I don’t think are I don’t think anyone looks at

His wins and losses especially playing behind the team he’s playing behind and says oh well that guy’s that guy’s lost it you know I mean it’s if you’re the Edmonton Oilers and you say well I think Jake Allen playing behind us would probably have way more wins than he does

Playing behind Montreal and they’d be right uh if you’re Carolina if you’re Toronto if if you’re any number of teams La I mean you know this is and and and the other great thing about him is that he’s he is kind of an ideal tandem goalie and you know that he’s not gonna

Be upset no matter how you use him you know as long as the team is going well like he’s he’s he’s good for it and and we saw it last year like when multible started getting more starts like who is his biggest cheer and did you see Jake

Allen’s reaction last night after the game like when he went to go see Sam mumo like there was perhaps no one happier for Sam mumo last night Than Jake Allen after the game and as and every opportunity has just pumped that guy’s tires because because of just the level

Of respect that he has for how Sam monobo has really kind of grabbed the rein of his career in Montreal and and made himself a better goalie through hard work and dedication and and the whole room feels out way about the guy for sure um so so yeah I don’t know I

Don’t know to what extent playing Jake Allen and having him win some games would really appreciably change his trade value I don’t it it wouldn’t hurt but what would hurt is if he goes out and starts playing awful that would really Hur well that’s said it it seems

Like only a a lose lose proposition you know if he plays well it doesn’t change anything if he loses then right then it it hurts his value because teams will start saying teams will start saying well we have our guy that we’re looking to improve on can do pretty much the

Same as he’s doing as that guy is doing and Allen with his contract well is it is it worth spending assets on or spending cap space on yeah it’s it’s very similar to the debate that that goes on when uh when you have a junior eligible player whether you send him to

The World Juniors or not and it’s again kind of a lose lose if you dominate well you’re supposed to do like at Matt Patra um Matt Patra I should say it’s uh he was uh you know he had a Soo tournament comes off as a big disappointment because he’s an NHL guy

And even though he wasn’t like a high draft pick and didn’t have pedigree the pedigree he had was being an NHL player on on a really good NHL team you go to the World Juniors you’re expected to dominate you don’t it comes back it’s it’s a disappointment you know and so

It’s uh it’s sort of the same Dynamic there in terms of J but I think you know I don’t think the Canadians are going to park Jake Allen I I really don’t but it’s getting really difficult to not start samal tumbo on a more regular basis and and the trade deadline’s still

You know two months away so Jake Allen’s gonna get his starts but I mean I don’t see how you can justify it to the guys in that like forget the goalies the other players on the team are going to start to look at their coach sideways if Sam molo doesn’t start

Getting the Lions share of the starts and that’s what I think is is of utmost importance is that you know the the players on this team uh deserve the best opportunity to win every game and that’s clearly clearly Sam malabo provides that yeah every time that a coach makes a decision

On a roster decision and he justifies it in front of the press he’ll say well that guy we consider that he’s giving us the best chance to win well when it comes to who’s your goalie uh if you go strictly by that metric it shouldn’t be a problem it’s only when you start

Saying well it’s his turn or we’ve got three guys both need to be to to see some action and they cannot stay idle for too long and you know those are factors when you got three goalies so um but they’re legitimate factors like that’s the problem is that they’re not

They’re not they’re they’re real and ultimately the team gets HT like if Jake Allen or even well Kaden Primo Kaden Primo’s been sitting for a while now um he can’t sit too long he’s got to stay sharp like it’s it’s it’s just the reality of being a

Goalie if you’re sitting for too long and that’s what I think really predicates who plays and who doesn’t aside from who gives them the best chance of winning is how long has that guy been sitting around right and I don’t think the Canadians want at least

Not the top two guys to go more than a week without playing like that’s seems to be sort of the limit that they’ve they’ve used um I think Sam Sam’s gone a week without playing at a couple of times this couple of points this season Jake’s done it as well I mean Primo’s

Definitely done it but um I think for Primo it’s probably two weeks it’s the limit but it’s it really does seem to be the biggest concern in the goalie usage is how long has he been sitting and not playing and that’s that’s what sort of

Judges it and you know it does seem to be a collaborative decision which is why Marty when he has to sit on the firing line and answer all these questions and he looked kind of exasperated because it’s like it’s not only my decision guys like I feel like that’s what he wanted

To say right it’s not only it’s not only up to me so side note here you mentioned the uh the LA Kings in passing their backup goalie Phoenix Copley is officially out for the rest of the season yeah Tor ACL exactly so you’ll have surgery on that so for now he’s on

LTI um but he’s a UFA at the end of the year so either the Kings decide to keep David RK as their backup goalie to cam talbet um all three of their goalies all three of their goalies are are ufas after this season so either it’s rtic as

A as a backup goalie or they go outside for some help so yeah well that’s I mean they just throw their name on the pile you know I mean it’s uh that’s what I you know and and at some point Ken hughes’s Price is going to

Have to come down I would imagine I mean if it doesn’t then power to him and based on his history his brief history as general manager he generally doesn’t bring his price down you know he got like based on what he got uh in situations where you didn’t

Think he was going to get a whole lot um I think his price might never come down and if it means not trading Jake Allen then so be it because yeah but he’s going to be just keeping the same problem until next year at some point this situation he could

Deal with it in the off season I mean yeah you could I mean if it if I don’t think you would it would bleed over into next year I mean I think there would be a way to find Jake out a home at the

Draft if it ever came to it and I’m not saying he’s not going to trade him what I’m saying is that I think what based on what we’ve seen of Ken Hughes is that he’s a stick to his guns kind of guy is what I is what I mean by that and if

You know I don’t know to what extent he’s gotten firm offers on Jake Allen I think it’s just been a lot of discussion more so than actual because because I think those discussions they’re so far apart whatever he’s talking about with whatever team he’s talking about I feel

Like what Ken Hughes wants and what they’re willing to offer is not even in the same galaxy and so it doesn’t even get to the point where an offer would be made because they’re not speaking the same language so yeah let’s see what happens but a funny little side note on Sam

Mumbo um so last night Brandon Gallagher was talking about Sam mon Tumo and he said man I remember his first game and I’ve heard Nick Suzuki say that I’ve heard a number of guys mention how they remember his first game so for the record his first game

Was a 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabers it was on October in October of 2021 October I have the date here you was October of 2021 First Impressions huh First Impressions First Impressions yeah and so after the game um I went to ask him what his memory of that game was and it

Turns out that our colleague Eric Engles I just asked him that question so I was like okay you know what you don’t have to answer that question that’s fine I came in late he’s like you know what I can do he looked at me he’s like you

Know what I can do I could tell you exactly how each one of those goals went in I was like oh really well please do and so then he starts so he starts describing them and he was like well the first one was a long shot from the point

Second one flash screen KY PLO low blocker uh the third one was from the top of the circle this that he couldn’t remember the fourth one uh he remembered that he gave up two goals in the first period one of them was on a five on

Three perhaps and he then he did he played poorly in the second so I actually went and checked and you know like stepen stamp is like this like you could talk to stepen stamp Coast about a game like you go up to stepen stamp coast and say hey remember when you

Played uh the Stars uh it was like in December of 2019 and you uh you scored in the second period like do you remember that and he will tell you exactly how he scored that goal like that’s there’s some there’s some hockey players who are just like

That so Sam did this so I did I checked after and sure enough he got the order wrong the oso goal flash uh uh flash screen low blocker was the first goal not the second goal zus gurgenson was the long point shot uh that that hit someone in front he actually remembered

That Ben sherat tried no which one was that there was there was a goal that he remembered that Ben sherat tried to block and it bounced right to a sabr player and they scored well that goal happened for real the way he remembered it it’s just it was pretty impressive

And he’s like I can do that for a lot of games like it’s it’s so if he turns out to be the St Steven Stam Clos equivalent as a goenda have themselves a pretty good golender because that’s that’s something that yeah that’s something that Stephen

Stos does and he he just whipped it off like he didn’t I don’t think he knew that we were anyone was going to come and ask him about that game but it’s amazing to me like I don’t particularly remember that game I don’t think I covered it I’m

Not sure no but that’s his first game with the Montreal Canadians it would make sense that he would remember it would make sense that he would exactly but it just what’s funny to me is that the memory of all his teammates is how bad he was like they all remember it as

Like who the hell is this guy and why is he playing for us instead of Carrie Price like this is not what we were expecting we thought Carrie Price was going to be back there all a sudden it’s this dude that we just picked up off

Waivers and just did that so he’s gone from that to having a room full of guys who just have the utmost respect for what he’s made himself into with that being kind of the starting point of all of their experience with him so it’s and he’s

Just his his if I can share one more thing from last night because this is a typical scene and I’m sure you’ve seen it every game or almost every home game once he’s done talking to us or even when he’s not playing there’s a crowd of

10 to 12 people from his homet town or wherever I don’t know where they’re from but they’re clearly family friends there’s a bunch of them and he goes he talks to them he’s laughing he’s you know he’s chatting with them and it just it just shows the importance of playing

For the Canadians to this guy and and it shows you know the contract he signed why did he sign that contract because of how badly he wanted to sign in Montreal and how and how he would would wouldn’t stop saying so the other day

The other day in basar I saw him he was not even in his vehicle but he had John gone to met outside the building had gone to met some some fans there a group of what 15 20 people he chats with people he’s so approachable and it’s

Nice guy too I mean it’s like he’s genuinely nice and he and it’s he’s got the sort of Personality where you you don’t feel that pressure gets to him and it’s so rare and so precious in Montreal that especially as a goalie I mean it’s it’s pressure packed you know in terms

Of uh there’s not much more pressure than being the Canadians golender in the NHL uh and he’s he’s doing quite well and sorry were you done though with that with that that the well yeah no no and I agree with I was done no I was done

Because that’s I think that’s part of it like the pressure the like the dealing with the pressure like that’s that’s what I meant like it’s that it’s not just his own pressure it’s not just his teammates it’s it’s his family it’s his friends he knows he he’s he knows what

The Canadians are all about he knows what being the starting goalie the Canadians means and he and he just goes with it but the what’s precious what’s even more precious is that you have that side of his personality and you also have that side that we saw against the

Rangers in that shootout and how fired up he was that they won that game he’s a competitive guy he wants to win he wants to succeed so you have that fiery competitiveness coupled with the lowkey laidback uh personality approachable uh and and appreciative of his place on this team and and and

This team’s place in back Society at large you combine all that together and you it’s a pretty special package and so as long as you can keep performing in net the way he has and and really over the last two seasons he’s shown no he’s given no reason to think that you

Should expect otherwise um that combined the performance combined with everything else is just he’s the perfect goendale Canadians like there’s it might sound like hyperbole but it’s really true yeah uh at the same time is he for rebuilding team is he is he is he playing too well in the sense that

Because because you look at the for example example you look at the U the stats of uh some stats that are generated by a hockey reference uh the quality starts percentage this season uh when you look at the different Montreal Canadians goalies uh Mambo has a 706 quality save percentage uh quality

Start percentage Yeah so roughly so 70% both primo and Allan are way back at 500 so it’s so he’s he’s he’s been giving you 20% more quality starts uh and I wonder because I know that it’s it’s a talking point when it comes to M he says it’s great that he’s you know

He’s that he’s proving that he belongs and that he’s he’s fighting for uh fighting for his career for his job and he’s helping his team he’s doing what he’s paid for but at the same time I’ve seen some comments out there saying well the fact that he was just that good

Well it it it prevented the Canadians from getting an even higher pick last season and it could very well be the same this season I don’t know if in terms of priorities I know that’s not how the monal Canadians uh think because they want they want to be able to trust some guys

And want to count on some guys and have some building blocks they don’t want to always bring it all back to our we drafting high or not but that I feel that there’s a bit of it’s not resentment but there’s a bit of a Bittersweet taste when it comes to

Montambo from certain fans uh because of the fact that his play he’s been able as you said he’s been able to steal games it goes back to last year and that has made a difference in their overall record for Better or For Worse yeah uh

I’m trying to find it I don’t know who asked the question but it is it is mailbag Monday today and so um and I don’t I’m not jumping the gun and going straight to the mailbag but we did have a reader who who wrote a question about

That and I thought it was actually a very good point sorry I can’t can’t find it right now but um basically said this line of thinking that molo was playing too well for a rebuilding team oh I have I have it I have it Kyle Lambert Lambert

Kyle Lambert so so that’s it yeah go ahead well ask question I don’t have it in front of okay so where do you land in the debate over whether the goalies snacks really are ruining ruining the rebuild while I sympathize I also see Buffalo Ottawa New Jersey Detroit sort of

Edmonton Etc desperate for decent net play doesn’t it help if the Hales have a potential start there you go so that’s K thanks Kyle I think the question answers itself I I mean it’s really yes perhaps it’ll cost them a few ranks in the draft um but if the Canadians really found

Something here at the very worst you know I think we all kind of assumed when Jake Allen signed his extension that he was the bridge to whoever the next goalie of the Canadians will be at worst Sam mavo has become that bridge at he is that goalie um but at worst if it

Is Jacob Fowler or another goalie um Sam malabo can get the Canadians to that goalie but he has the potential now I think the body of work is large enough now that he could potentially be that goalie himself and so if you found that goalie you know it wasn’t very long ago

This is what’s funny about this is that how many times have we been asked what are the Canadians going to do about their goalie when are they going to get a goalie how are they going to get how are they going to find a goalie they

Going to need a goalie when they’re good well lo and behold they have potentially found a goalie and so I think you should embrace that you know it’s not and I but what I do understand is that there’s a certain level of I think PTSD from from the

Number of times Carri price prevented the Canadians from properly rebuilding because he single-handed got them into the 20s in the draft year after year and resulted in uh David fer and Ryan paling and and all these Michael McCarron and all these sort of underwhelming first round draft picks he

Was not there David no he was not there noted that’s right McCarron paling um I can’t think of there’s got to be one more in there but anyhow he did he did get them further back in the first round almost alone many times uh um I don’t know if Sam MBO has the

Potential to be that impactful but he might cost them he might cost him a couple of a couple of slots and so be it I mean even even if he’s a third tier number one goalie even if he’s between the 20th and the 30th best goalie in the league yeah as long

As he’s as long as the Canadians have one of the top 32 goalies that’s what you want you want your number one goalie to be a number one goalie and and that’s where right now he places himself is he going to be a top 15 goalie no probably

Not I mean right now he certainly not going to be as K price even after the last game he’s he’s 22nd on evolving hockey in terms of goal saved above expected on money puck in terms of goal saved above expected per 60 among minimum 10 games played so high filter I

Put on here he’s 34th but he’s also one behind Andre vasileski and he’s one ahead of uh gorv in in Colorado so it’s not as if he’s in Bad Company but Jake Allen is 39th five spots back so it’s not really right um he’s he’s not an elite goalie I mean

Let’s be honest here I mean he plays like an elite goalie sometimes but what what Martin said about him is accurate he’s playing like a number one goalie and what you just said is accurate and that’s that’s the bar you want your number one goalie to play like a number

One goalie and that’s what he’s doing yeah in front of him the defenseman there’s a lot of things that’s been that have been said often the same statistic that was brought up that the monreal Canadians group of defensemen were scoring a surprising number of goals and there are always no

Matter the day of the week there are always top three in the league for for the number of goals scored by defenseman they seem to be in a race with the Colorado Avalanche on that uh that statistic uh and obviously these spontaneous ideas that oh look at that they’re contributing offensively for a

Team that’s so starving of offense it’s good thing that the defensemen chip in and provide their amount of offense by scoring some goals uh but if you look further and you look at the number of assists that those defensemen provide the team then it’s not so good so I

Wonder and it’s a I wonder it’s a rhetorical question but that’s my way of presenting it to you if it’s it’s hiding another issue the fact that we’re talking about the goal scored by defenseman uh it’s it’s it’s hiding a potential problem for them uh whereas the their low number of assists could

Suggest that they’re not generating a lot of offense because what you expect from defenseman is that they will be effective in transition they’re going to bring the play to the other end not necessarily that they’re going to be the guys that are going to occasionally jump into play and present themselves as uh

Shooting options you know when you got a Suzuki looking for an option in the offensive zone or anybody else and then all of a sudden T here is Justin bar showing up and he’s there uh you know un unchecked and he scores a backd door goal or whatever that’s great but in

Terms of sustainable offense provided by the defenseman the picture is not all that Rosy no I mean listen before you know I mean yes they’re second in the league and goal scored by a defenseman to Colorado who’s at 32 Montreal’s at 30 um and every everyone always says oh well Colorado has kale

Mar and how how is Montreal keeping up with them well the Colorado Avalanche defenseman have 88 assists they have 120 points they lead the league in points by defenseman and goals by defenseman they’re second to the Canucks who have Quinn Hughes obviously and then Philip ronic um in assists the

Canadians have 49 assists from their defenseman 30 goals 49 assists 49 assists from defenseman is 30th in the NHL ahead of only Arizona yeah and San Jose uh in terms of points they are well back as well 79 points they’re 19th the number that’s obviously propped up by

These 30 goals so yes I think you know when when did we talk about ogp offense generating plays with Nick Suzuki um I don’t know what the Canadians few weeks ago um yeah so for those who didn’t miss that who missed that episode ogp is basically a series of like eight

Offensive actions that the Canadians and and actually that that get tracked around the league by sort of thirdparty uh stat suppliers and um they’re all plays that you assume will lead to offense and most of them are predicated on getting Pucks in some way shape or

Form to the slot area um and how Nick Suzuki was trending up in that if you take that same principle to the Canadians defenseman yes they’re getting goals which is a result stat um but the process stats I don’t think are all that great and I don’t

Have them in front of me I don’t have access to them they’re Pro like I don’t you know I happen to get Suzuki because I was talking to him about it but but you look at not only these numbers the 49 assists but just the way the Canadians generate offense like it’s pretty

Rare that the Canadians to see other than Mike Mat see a Canadian defenseman skate the puck up the ice make a pass and have that lead directly to a scoring chance and that’s what that number I think reflects and so overall from a big picture standpoint and it’s not as if the

Canadian defense is is is a finished product it’s far from it it’s it’s going to change drastically over the next few years it’s going to be infused with a lot of talent uh you know Lan Hudson will naturally help this uh even you know to hear JF H talk about him Arbor Jacky

Will help this you know I mean there’s Kaden ghouly when he’s at full maturity struggling a bit right now but when he’s a full maturity should help this uh but right now the can defense is not actually generating offense they are they are they’re producing offense in

The sense that they are finishing plays rather than creating plays and I think you would want a defense Corp to be to be to be making offense generating plays as opposed to the the final play in in in an offensive situation well in an ideal world you

Would have both from them because it’s good that they’re it it’s good that they’re they’re jumping in the play and and they you know they they present themselves as options and I like that but in terms just of what’s sustainable I mean you got three defensemen on their

Roster Baron kovich and gusta Lindstrom who have more goals than assists that’s that’s a rare occurence when it comes to a Decor yeah well it’s and that’s and and in the case of Baron um I think that’s that’s the best reflection of of how it’s somewhat concerning like you look at Baron

The way he plays you you would think he would be at the origin of more offensive plays than he is um assists aren’t the end all Beall of of that uh it’s it’s very possible for defenseman or any player really to to be I think slavski for the

Last little while has shown that you can you can lead to offense being created without getting an assist many times it happens yeah um but I think yeah Justin Baron is it’s a part of his game that I would like to see some growth in like just his ability

To to to make plays that lead directly to offense and and not him scoring necessarily but him his vision his skating his passing ability directly leading to the teams forwards uh scoring more goals because the other thing the Canadians lead the league in is 28% of their goals have

Been scored by defenseman second Colorado 21.8% so there’s a 6% Gap and nowhere else I mean it’s that Gap is that’s the biggest gap between two teams in the league it’s it’s it’s they’re getting too many of their goals from defens not just yeah it’s not a bad

Thing it’s fine that they’re scoring goals and they have to this point well it says something about their it says something about their group of four I think it also says something about the group of defenseman I think the forwards the fact the forwards aren’t scoring has something to do with the

Whole offensive process you know the offensive process starts in the defensive end and it starts with your defenseman getting the puck into their forwards hands with speed you know on in stride and able to head towards the offensive zone in an attacking way that keeps your opponents on their heels and

Has them scrambling and and makes you more difficult to defend and leads to goals and I don’t think the canans the Canan defense isn’t doing that and maybe they just don’t have the defense to do it right now and I think that’s a fair that would be a fair point to make like

Mets is really the only guy who can do that but this whole notion that the Canadians have this great offensive defense Corp just because they’ve scored a lot of goals I think it’s a bit of a misnomer and I think it’s reflected a bit in their point

Totals well I’m I’m glad you brought up Justin Baron because I think the the main reason why the Canadians management and coaching staff invest so much in him is that they see him as a as a prime passer as as potentially the best passer that they’ve gotten on their team at least on

The back end so those goals are great he’s done it I mean it’s that sort of initiative he’s he’s done it since Juniors and and he’s a mobile guy also you know he he’s generally very comfortable walking the blue line on on the power plane things like that but his

Main Dimension at the NHL level is probably is passing so how do you go from using that strength of yours and translate it into points or at least translating it into sufficient scoring chances I’m not sure I see that from Baron and it might explain why at some point if the points

Don’t come the risk in his defensive game if it Remains the Same or it doesn’t decrease well you don’t get as much of the benefit of playing him all that much and you know we brought up the other day the fact that strubel struble’s minutes have gone up well all

Of a sudden in the last six games it’s it’s Baron whose time on ice is decreasing and he’s right-handed shot he should be a top four defenseman in this situation that he’s in but slowly but surely he’s losing some of that time on ice because he’s not the greatest

Defender and offensively that passing ability is not translating into a lot of scoring no 100% And that’s uh we’re seeing it and it’s only getting more and more pronounced I mean last night sorry not last night Saturday night um struble passed ghouly for ice time since Christmas so in those six

Games since Christmas Jaden strel has the third most ice time among defensemen on the Canadians ahead of gly yeah so and and again that’s so that’s you know that goes to a meritocracy uh which and good on struble I mean honestly he was great talking to

Him after the game him talking about how he still comes in every game and stares at the board and waits for them to put the line up but because he’s not sure he’s going to be in the lineup I love that I love that that’s great he’s just like I still treat it

Like the second game where and I look at that board and I hope my number is there and when it is then I get ready to go you know and I was like that’s I hope that never changes I hope if he plays another 15 years in the NHL I hope he

Keeps doing that every night and just like it’s a great attitude to have it’s a great attitude to have and he’s and and the beauty of it is that some guys would that attitude and they would go into the game and say I’m going to do

Everything I can to make sure I’m in and I’m going to go I’m going to go score a goal or I’m going to go make a big hit I’m really gonna put my stamp on this game jayen strouble goes out and says I’m gonna make sure I’m in the next game

But he does it by being calm poised making good decisions not making mistakes like that’s his the way he makes sure he gets into the next game is the right way to do it for a young defenseman and not the opposite and not what I think a little bit of what Jacky

Was trying to do earlier this season that got him in trouble and ultimately wound up sending him to Laval was was trying to do too much and Jay the strel doesn’t do that so very extremely efficient and it’s and and I think the Canadians deserve a lot

Of credit for slowly but surely giving him more saying okay you’re good with 12 let’s see what you could do with 14 okay you’re good at 14 let’s see what you could do with 16 okay you’re good at 16 let’s see you last night he crossed 20

For the first time in his NHL career he was his first 20 20 minute game largely because he was on the ice in overtime for like two minutes but still first 20 minute game on Saturday night that’s meaningful if you’re there if you’re there in overtime against the New York

Rangers it means something the level of trust well I mean that’s really gone up a minute into his shift in overtime the Rangers send panan over the boards and all of a sudden panan has the puck on the right side in the Canadian Zone one-on-one Jaden strubel turns out that

Jaden strubel had lost an outside edge earlier in the shift and uh so he’s like he was laughing about it after the game he’s like well so I lost my outside edge so I couldn’t I didn’t want to lean on my outside edge too much or else I would

Have fallen so my basically my whole thought process was don’t fall try and lock this guy down as soon as possible and get off the ice as fast as humanly possible because this is not a sustainable situ ation and he did that paner didn’t score um it’s not as if

Stral made some spectacular defensive play he just stayed in front of him and I think Pan’s pass hit him in the leg or something I can’t really can’t exactly remember but he neutralized the play in an unspectacular way and he got off the ice he accomplished exactly what he set

Out to do and so um yeah he asked uh he asked Suzuki to hold on to the puck in the back of the so you know good let’s get into our let’s get into our mailbags we got a lot of questions and we have a

Big one yes we have a big one to start now now we you guys were sending emails throughout the holidays bless you all and um there was one that was sent on December 28th from Brian McDougall so I’m GNA read this email because we actually did the research that Brian

Asked us he gave us homework over the holidays and we actually did it so um thanks for the great insights analysis and all your Habs coverage you guys really had pleasure much add much to the pleasure of being a Habs fan if we can agree the Habs need to acquire at least

One more lead goal scoring forward to get to a cup final what are their odds of doing it by one developing existing prospects SL drafting new Talent two trading for it or three buying it through free agency here’s the here’s the homework part if we look at the top three scoring

Forwards for each team in the Stanley Cup finals during the past decade so six players per series 60 in total how many of them were acquired by their respective teams by each of the three possible channels draft trade purchase among the top 60 offensive snipers how many were not first round selections how

Are those players acquired by their respective cup contending teams what does this kind of research suggest to us about how Hugo should proceed during the next two to three years uh Brian McDougall so Brian um thanks for not asking GPT and so we went ahead and did that uh looked at the

Last 10 years um there’s a couple of disclaimers first of all we looked at um the Stanley Cup finalist top three playoff scorers uh Brian didn’t really specify whether he met playoffs a regular season we felt um what’s relevant here is how do these teams reach the Stanley Cup Final and so we

Took the playoff scoring it shouldn’t be too different from regular season but I think there were some cases where it was but in any case um for the purpose of of this study that was commissioned by Brian McDougall um it’s it’s still it still fits

So and the other caveat is that when he says six player 60 total obviously you have teams that were in the finals more often than not teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning so the same names tend to come back so if a player let’s say a guy like

Kucherov was drafted in the second round well his name appears four four times exactly but it’s offset by Sydney Crosby and ofgy Malin appearing four times or even six times if I’m not mistaken so um so yeah so there and the other caveat being that the Vegas golden knights

Reaching the final with a team entirely acquired or almost entirely acquired uh through the expansion draft um makes for a very separate category of player um but basically we’re looking at 60 players so of those 60 players um 36 of those those top three scorers um on each Stanley Cup

Finalist uh 36 were drafted um 13 of those 36 were top five picks eight were later in the first round and 15 were second round or later um again kucherov counts for four of those just as an example poot counts for a few of those it’s it’s it’s but still there are

More there are more second round or later you have Kor there you have palot you have K there P you got point you got uh there’s a bunch of guys I mean it’s not only Tampa that’s the thing is that it goes on there’s other teams Jamie Ben arson Maran berson Um yeahi it’s it’s there’s a bunch like it’s not just the Tampa Bay Lightning so Derek steppan into in 2014 so um so 15 second rounder later compared to 13 top five picks so just keep that just keep that in mind um 13 were 13 of the 60 were

Acquired by trade uh again some repeat things and and and it’s worth mentioning that the fact that there are repeat guys doesn’t really in my opinion at least doesn’t really cloud the data because they did reach the sty Cup Final that many times so they deserve credit for

Being there you know like if COV goes four times then that’s just reality that four Stanley Cup finalists who had a guy like this in their top three um and we marked 11 as UFA but that’s not entirely true because uh four of those ufas are actually expansion draft guys so the

Three leading scores from the first Vegas Final in their first season and maraso was one of their top three scores last season when they won the Stanley Cup so there’s four expansion draft two undrafted free agents in Matt suc Carell and uh was the other one that escapes me

Tyler Johnson yes Tyler Johnson and five traditional unrestricted free agents who were uh Carter vagi last season um Alexander rilov Tyler t foi with Montreal uh yeah Joe Peli with Dallas um is that five one two three four no there was maros so so by far the least

Common is well the least common is expansion draft picks but after that and and undrafted free agents but the least common path to getting these players is definitely unrestricted free agency there’s only five of them um trade 13 the interesting part to me is the draft 36 drafted average draft position

Of those 36 players 45.7 um and again 13 top five picks compared to 15 that came in the second round or later what are your thoughts so well I mean everybody wants a number one overall pick because they think that what’s missing on the Canadians is that

Superstar up front but what a story like this tells is that uh you need to hit at the the draft no matter your rank no matter where you draft the important thing is that you need to find that player you need to find the occasional coocher off is people will say oh you

Know well that’s he’s an exception yeah well how do you explain on that same team Braden point in the third round I is another exception well at some point if you got two exceptions making a Stanley Cup winning team uh well let’s hope that the the the the the draft the

The draft uh the the recruiting team led by barov and La become the the equivalent of the Tempa Bay Lightning because you cannot just always wait for a top five pick you you need to hit on those later picks and that’s something that really have has not happen under Trevor Timmons since

His uh his magical 20 thou 20 27 2007 draft I mean there was it was really slim pickings and ultimately yes there was the Logan Mayu uh draft that that created all that controversy and ultimately led to his demise but when you look also at the the pros and

Cons of of you know it just his his draft resume the lack of forwards that were not only drafted higher up but even in the second third fourth fifth round there was barely anybody there there was leanin and Brendan gager and that was it so so

At some point you need you need to hit on one of your picks I don’t care where it is I don’t care if it’s the top five if you’re drafting 16 if you’re drafting 45 and you got a bundle a bunch of second round picks I don’t care about at

Some point you need to find so this this it’s it’s it’s worth mentioning that this this exercise was only handling forwards that was Brian’s question was the top three scoring forwards on each team there are instances here the Avalanche their top scorer was kale Mar when Dallas went to the final their

Top two scorers were hinan and kingberg um you know the taking defenseman well draft yeah absolutely homegrown High picks as well but you know I mean it’s just Nashville I think their top two scores were Roman Yosi and Ryan Ellis if I’m not mistaken so um there were there

Were many instances where defensemen were there but and and this was but forward the reason why the question centered on forwards because this is the concern with the Canadians and like just going through this list like it so 20134 the Kings and the Rangers not a

Single top five pick in the top three of either team um the next year Tampa top three not a single top five pick the year after the Sharks top three forwards not a single top five pick the you’re after Predators top three not a single top five pick year after doesn’t really

Apply because there’s Vegas there but even I mean Vegas was Riley Smith Jonathan Maro and William Carlson who were in the years that they were drafted or I don’t know if Maro was not drafted if am I wrong about that so either was undrafted or were not top five picks uh

2018 19 St Louis um Ryan O’Reilly was a first round pick but not a top five pick but he was acquired by a trade Jaden Schwarz tereno were both mid firstr round picks so no top five picks Boston that same year no top five picks in the

Top three Tampa the next year Dallas the next year I mean it’s just when you do when you put this all out there like from 20189 to 2020 21 you’re talking about six Stanley Cup finalists there’s not a single top five pick among these forwards in three straight

Years uh the after both teams had at least one top five pick in their top three and the year after that which was last year Sasha barov is the only top five pick among the six players so oh actually no Jack eel is but he was acquired by Trent too

So it just I think going through this exercise was interesting because it just shows that this notion that you have to find these players in the top five at the top of the draft uh doesn’t seem to actually be true it would it’s nice it’s they’re definitely they’re definitely there with

And when you look at the scoring leaders in the regular season they’re all over the place you see them everywhere but based on the last 10 Stanley Cup finalists at least just through this exercise doesn’t seem to be a prerequisite to reaching that stage of the

Playoffs yeah I I like that but I think that there there’s also I think it’s nothing Hur ched that yeah was he a top five pick that was he was either five I feel like six sixth overall yeah so yeah so last year you had barov and if you want to push it

To top six it would be kachuck too even though he but he was acquired by trade he wasn’t obviously wasn’t drafted by the Panthers so that’s right so yeah but I think that for anyway in the if you put that in the situation of the Montreal Canadians it’s extremely

Unlikely that they’re going to be able to find a UFA that would fit that more and I don’t think that they have already drafted a kid that is bound to become a shorefire top six or even top liner I mean maybe maybe that Joshua W will

Surprise us and be that guy maybe he’s a second rounder in Waiting uh second liner sorry in the waiting possibly yes sure uh I think that they’re I think or mishar yeah so those are so either it’s either it’s those two kids either it’s a an upcoming draft

Pick but I think that a trade is probably in the case of the Montreal Canadians the way that they’re currently built is potentially the the the mo the the the better option of where they have the the best options because they can choose at some point if they think

They’ve identified a specific need they can choose to overpay to get that guy um whereas I don’t think that there’s there there will be hardly anybody on the UFA Market that would fit the bill especially since those guys they’re older and the team the Canadians will be

Looking to add if they want to make a sustainable winner of the out of that group they’ll be looking for a player that’s slightly younger and that can that be that can be coherent with the group that they already have so but I mean it’s no I don’t think that it’s it

Will surprise anybody to hear us say that you know the the draft is mainly the main builder of a Stanley Cup champion it’s just not always the top top three top five P yeah it’s yeah and it’s and it’s not always forwards I mean that’s the thing is there’s there’s a

Number of these teams that made it on the strength of a a strong defense I think the Rangers in 2014 Ryan mcdna was was I think their top scorer that that year um you know Duncan Keith with Chicago Chris Le tang with the Penguins Brent burns with the sharks it just you know

It goes and really the Predators are the most striking example of the team that really rode a strong defense to a Stan like I mean it was Yosi Ellis suban um I mean it’s just that that was that was the heart of the team that in

Pekar right and so it’s you know they’re different pass they’re different pass and it’s not there’s no formula to any of this and that’s what I of have have taken from the last few years is that you might think that oh tear it all down draft High a

Whole bunch of times and then you could build a winning team I mean Tano did that to Perfection to Perfection like you couldn’t ask for a better scenario than Toronto having like three bad years getting neander Riley Marner and Matthews their entire core in the fan of

Like a few drafts and then go right back up and become a competitive team and they still haven’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs like it’s just like it’s not it’s not that easy like there’s a lot of things that go into it it’s not just hitting high in

The draft and getting the offensive Superstar Talent yes it’s I think it’s a necessary part of it but I think it’s it there’s there’s a whole bunch of other ways of going about it not say the Canadians are going about it the right way necessarily I just think that a lot

Of the fans or at least a lot of the I hear from in like comment sections or on social media or what have you is this belief that there is this one way of doing it and that’s it and the Canadians haven’t done it that way and so it’s

Wrong I’m not saying the way they’ve done it is right but it’s not necessarily wrong either is what I would would suggest so it’s also that you’re putting in in the past tense and the way they’ve done it I would tweak it back to present tense the way they’re doing it and the

Way that they will do it because it’s it’s very much an ongoing process yeah you’re you’re correct yes that’s that’s a better way of putting it for sure uh okay next next question uh so that was that was a thought process that was a thought exercise and you had another

Thought exercise that was brought to us regarding dressing a defenseman so tell us more about going because I have thought about this a lot and so this was um oh gosh let me find it there we are so this comes from Stuart wisman thank you for the question steuart it’s um I

Thought about this a lot so uh looking at the Young Canadians defenseman and Prospects it seems like the following will all eventually play in the NHL gly reinbacher Baron Harris strubel Jacky Hudson angstrom and Mayu add kovich and mat to the team’s future plans and the puzzle becomes more

Complicated with 11 defenseman to slot into six spots there would be no con concern of the can if the Canadians had this positional depth at forward as they would have enough space to incorporate all of them so I’ve been trying to think of a way for the Canadians to use this

Depth as a strength it’s a unique way to build a team and this might require an equally unique solution they recently played a few games with seven defensemen and in this time frame the top line was highly productive with the increased ice time this made me think Has any team

Ever dressed eight defensemen by dressing four pairings the Canadians could hang on to more of their young talent and I think it would be an advantage for line matching where each pairing could focus on one specific line eight defensemen would provide more ice time for the top forwards and when

Trying to defend a lead late in the game the team could play three defense two forwards now Stuart went to the trouble of seeing if this has been done and he found one example G Carbono dressing eight defensemen against the national predators on December 2nd 2007 with

Matthew Dand not was it he said it was nine because G let andr is listed as a defenseman but he’s not a defenseman so he’s actually eight but he said you know Matthew Dand Mark stri were Rovers something he can see Baron and Hudson doing um but he thought dressing that

Many defenseman would lead to more balanced ice time except Roman hammerli still played 28 minutes so he says please let me know how completely insane this idea is I’d also be very interested if you have a chance to speak with Carbono to ask him for his recollection

Of that game which the next time I see G Carbono or Mar Antoine we definitely will but I think yeah it’s a very interesting idea like and the whole 3D 2f thing this is what really turned my crank because I am 100% on board that

When you are protecting a lead late in a game instead of putting out your three most defensive responsible forwards put two of them out there put three defenseman on the ice and play it that way I just why would you not have more shop blockers and and more players who are

Adept at boxing out and clearing the front of the net and doing all those things I say you put there’s four forwards and one defenseman on the power play for a reason right so the opposite should be true especially in late in the game it’s going to screw up your ice

Time if you do it like on every penalty kill let’s say and put like four defensemen out there you can’t really do that well although if you addressing eight defensemen you probably could do that but um but at the end of a game who cares

So okay well hold on a second at the end of the game that’s one thing but you say protecting a lead putting three defenseman two forwards out there I don’t know how much ice time you save the the your 10 forwards by doing so but what do we hear about protecting leads

That the one thing you don’t want to do as a team when you’re protecting a lead is sit back but I mean speciic Le specifically with the other team’s goalie pulled I mean when you were playing six on five okay the way the Canadians were in Dallas for instance yeah at some

Point would it not would they have not have they were sitting back anyway they didn’t know what to do they were Shell Shocked in that specific situation which usually only lasts two minutes and not six you go 3D 2f okay but how much my con my main

Concern with that scenario is that if you regularly play 10 forwards that’s that’s what he’s yeah that’s what he’s right well each of those forwards at some point they’re going to log they’re going to log so many minutes that it it it will take a huge toll that over the course of the

Season I don’t see it as very sustainable you have at least even if your four line the fourth line plays eight or nine minutes a night the way pizetta does for example uh it’s still minutes that you can you can save from your top nine guys uh going with 10

Forwards it it becomes has to play 20 minutes a night every line would have to play 20 minutes a night yeah but the Canadians don’t have that they they don’t have enough good forwards that warranted to be played 20 minutes a night they have guys that I

Mean you cannot play you cannot play Brendan Gallagher 20 minutes a night no you know you have you have good time management for each guy and you try to say okay well within the way that their ages their their their their health is their production is and whatnot their

Shortcomings whatever there’s for each of them there’s an ideal we talked about the other day about the goldilock zone for each player well if you ask out of them to all of them to play 20 minutes a night man it’s it’s bunkers and you do that just because you you you want to

Save you want to hold on to to to your your your your wealth of young defenseman make sure you don’t lose any no I think it’s just a different way to get them all involved in the game and I think the the notion of having four pairings one for each opposing forward

Line is intriguing I think uh listen I think there’s ways to tweak it but I think the act the actual idea is interesting I don’t I’m not going to dismiss it the way you are I think I think defenseman why is it the defenseman can play 20 minutes I I

Understand it’s less taxing in many ways but in many ways it’s not um I agree with you that breny Gallagher in an Ideal World wouldn’t pay 20 minutes and frankly I think under this scenario what would happen is okay with let’s just take the current let’s take the

Canadians lineup against the Rangers on Saturday as an example or actually even better let’s take a fully healthy Canadians lineup as an example so you have the Top Line let’s say they play let’s say always happens well let’s just use it as an example crying out loud man you’re so dismissive you’re so

Close-minded I don’t this is such a good outside the box idea deserves exploration I know I know I’m just playing Devil’s advate don’t worry about don’t worry about 23 minutes okay second line Kirby do Alex new hook and uh Josh Anderson let’s say 20 minutes and then third line would be

Sean Mahan brenon Galer and uh and who Dvorak sure Dvorak um or Evans we put Evans on the wing the way he was before um 17 minutes or HP or whoever yeah 17 minutes and then you have that 10th forward who gets to spell guys every now

And then basically every every shift one guy would get a shift off because that 10th forward would take their spot so yeah so he would that 10th guy would basically play with all three lines and he would take turns giving guys a rest as the game goes

On right so that that addresses your your too many minutes concern in the sense that guys will get rests periodically over the course of the game and it’s not an it’s not an outrageous bump in ice time I don’t know it’s it’s interest I think it’s doable is would it

Be more effective I don’t know but I think it’s doable it’s an interesting idea and it’s an interesting concept and I find it I find quite but but what really turned my crank about that Emil was the 3d2 late in the game that’s that’s I thought I’ve I’m a firm proponent of

That that should be tried someone should try that the thing is the way I see it that the way that I see it could work is um on the PK if you could addess a defenseman we never see defenseman practicing their faceoffs right if you have one of your Aid defenseman that’s

Not too bad at faceoffs if you start having them practice it then you could use three defenseman and one forward on the P exactly you could it’s it’s really a matter because once the puck is on the ice uh and I think that there’s a big

Issue having two guys that that that can at least win you a face off in in case because you’re already yeah you don’t you’re already down one guy so at least you want to start with the puck as much as possible so it reduces the your

Chance of doing it if you ask a defenseman to make a to take a face off but once the puck is is on the ice I don’t think that you lose anything by having three defenseman out there it’s even more effective in a diamond it’s it’s in a traditional box it would be

Awkward but in a diamond it makes perfect sense you have the one forward up top you have two defenseman on either flank or defenseman on either flank and one and the defenseman down low as it stands now I think the I think the weak you you always have a defenseman on the flank

Well you always have a forward on the covering the other flank that’s the problem I think that’s the weak point yeah on the PK is below that forward on the flank and so if that’s a defenseman instead um you could play you could have two units of one forward three defenseman

And just make sure that Center doesn’t get kicked out of the circle like that’s basically what you got to hope for and and if he does then you’re going to lose the draw and that’s all there is to it but I mean it’s it’s I don’t know it’s

It’s I think it’s a good outside the box way of thinking I think uh I think there’s someone should try it we last the 3D the 3d2 thing I’ve I’ve wanted to ask Marty about it for a while I haven’t thought of it it hasn’t

Come up but um I want to ask him about it see if what he thinks but yeah it’s you know I think everyone looks at uh looks at kind of new ideas um as being uh as being sort of crazy I don’t think this one’s that crazy I think this this

One has some Merit to it um okay let’s gonna we’re gonna finish it up because it’s it’s we’re running pretty late and we always do this we don’t in our in our pre-show planning well let’s try to let’s try to do two more two more maybe

Uh Nica kot on Twitter asked us uh with the defensive and Faceoff contribution of stens the use of Evans is no longer essential do you believe that he could bring a good return in a trade that’ll be a very short answer on this one because your I think your premise is

Wrong uh I think that Evans is more essential than before because the Canadians only have four sentiment right now they cannot do without another sentiment so it’s the and Stevens is doing fine as a stop Gap fourth line Center and it’s good that they have those people but it’s not because you

Have a player like stens that all of a sudden and makes somebody else Expendable ultimately when you have a full lineup that’s healthy and you have stens in the American League it’s just good to know that when the the need arises you can call him up and he’ll do

The job so that’s worth a lot but that doesn’t make Evans Expendable the day that they resign Monahan and Monahan’s healthy that Doc’s back that Dvorak is healthy and that you get all that chunk of Def of forwards of centerman then maybe we could discuss if Evans is could

Be you know could fetch you something on the train Market but as it currently stands until the end of the season it’s going to be very much needed probably more than he’s is also a little FL well it’s I mean it’s not it’s flawed because it’s linking Stevens to Evans if you

Separately ask what is Jake evans’s value on the trade market I think he does have value on the trade market because he’s he’s a role player he doesn’t cost an outrageous amount of money he’s actually he is slightly overpaid for what he does because I think his role is

You is taken by league minimum guys like Mitchell Stevens but league minimum type of guys so yeah he’s a bit of a luxury item uh I don’t know in this cap en how many teams would be willing to take on the money that Jake Evans makes for

What he does but to further your point mark Onan like Saturday night you know I was expecting Shawn Monahan to do a lot of the matchup stuff uh it was Jake Evans you know Jake Evans is was matched up Jake Evans Brendon Gallagher Josh Anderson they were the designated

Starting line uh which is Marty did in Winnipeg as well um and had to play very tough matches their most common line was the sanage adline was Fox on defense with lingren second most was the panan line uh with with Miller and trouba on the back end so you know that’s they

Were doing a lot of heavy lifting in that Rangers game and they were facing some difficult matchups and that’s that’s Jake Evans provides that you know Dvorak also provided that um Jake Evans has cost less than Dvorak but he costs more than Nick benino for instance who does

That for New York you know and they like or any number of fourth line type guys uh and let’s be honest Jake Evans is a fourth line type guy so I don’t think his trade value is very high yeah the fact that no and I think that he’s he’s

Slightly overpaid because when you’re in that situation I mean he logs more ice time than your natural your typical fourth line guy because he can easily play 14 15 minutes but doesn’t have either on one end the like the the ver the dominance and the faceoff Circle which is something that sometimes teams

Will like to have and and might pay a premium for uh I think of the Red Wings in the height of Luke gland inning’s career they gave him a four-year deal uh that was averaging $1.8 million a year but that’s because he was top class in

The NHL in when it came to to faceoffs or at the other end that you get sneak key offensive contribution from the guy Evans is can create chances he can help move the play but he he doesn’t have any Finishing Touch and so it doesn’t translate into points but at least he

Moves the the puck away from his own end when he plays with better players So eventually it’ll definitely be Expendable but not in the current climate not in this exactly and I don’t think I think I think the most likely scenario for Jake EV is he plays out his

Contract and uh the Canadians move on from him at that point unfortunately for him but it’s it’s yeah you know I remember talking to Jake Evans shortly after he signed that contract and uh you know 1.7 million a year for four years so a total of or for three years sorry

So a total of $5.1 million and he was he was he was hurt that night and happened to be sitting with me at the in the Press Box in St Louis and I was just like like have you wrapped your head around the fact that you’re going to

Have like you have like $5 million coming your way in the next three years he’s like honestly no like it’s crazy like it’s just it’s he could not process what had just happened to him and and it was you know it was he he wasn’t even happy he was he was like

Flabbergasted this is the thing you know yeah but yeah 1.7 a year for what he does like I don’t think he’s quite turned into what Mark bers thought he would be when he signed him to this deal that was Mark bers was it not yes it was so

Yeah yeah yeah it was yeah he’s sort of PL that’s the thing if he had continued to get better it would have made him a very interesting uh bargain but as it stands he sort of became who he was and that’s fine I mean it’s he’s not grossly

Overpaid but in this economy as you mentioned or under this in this cap climate uh he makes too much for what he does but the extra money is the fact that you can play him higher up the lineup and he won’t necessarily hurt you um those league minimum type guys who

Fill that same role like Mitchell Stevens if you have Mitchell Stevens too high up your lineup he is gonna hurt you there’s no way he could play what he could do what Jake Evans is doing what Jake Evans did on Saturday night playing against mikas aanan all night and

Surviving I think is how you would and he did that he did that every year the past three years Evans when he was not one of the guys that were hurt himself uh when he was healthy he was asked to do more than was originally expected because the team was so

Decimated perfectly right Stevens could not do that um okay let’s do this last one this one came over uh this one came over Twitter um came from uh Jay Golding and I think a few people asked this so it’s it’s just ACH technicality kind of

Thing but it’s um why do teams wait to put players who are gone for the season due to injury on ltir why not do it immediately and so if you look on cap friendly right now um Kirby Doc is not on ltir let me just make sure that that

That’s still true but Kirby do is not an ltir Christian dorak is not an ltir uh both of whom are gone for the season no still still the case the only person on ltir right now is kri price um there’s no real reason for it other than putting a player on

Ltir requires a bunch of paperwork and if it’s not necessary they just frankly they don’t feel like they don’t feel like doing the paperwork so until they run out of ltir money with Carrie Price they’re just not going to do it and I can’t blame them like who wants to do

Paperwork if it’s not necessary so um but right now they have about 2.5 million out of the 10.5 million remaining from kri Price being on ltir if and when that runs out they can retroactively put Kirby doc on there they can put Christian dor on there and so there’s no

There’s no reason to do it until it’s needed um but maybe that’ll be a tell if the Canadians actually decide to like take on a bad contract or something like it’s if all of a sudden Kirby do winds up on ltir then get your antenna up because something’s something’s coming down the

The something’s coming down the pipe uh but as it stands right now they don’t need the space um so it just kind of be needless work for nothing um but it is available to them if they require it Chris Weidman too for all intenses of purposes I mean there was a question

About Chris Weidman he’s been around the team over the last few days I understand that television cameras are showing him in can huse’s Booth but there’s still no uh no news on him we haven’t gotten any update on his status but uh he’s also candidate who could go on ltir and it’s

Only 760 Grand or so but it’s another guy that maybe could go there yeah I think if they they would put Kirby do on ltir if there’s a like a a big salary guide that would come as a salary dump so but the fact that he

Hasn’t gone on yet if all of a sudden you go on C friendly and you see oh Kirby docks on ltir then uh yeah then you know start scrolling check be check it check check the Twitter machine because it could be it could be some news coming yeah all right let’s uh thanks

For that Arpin so we’ll wrap it up at this point thanks again for uh sending us your questions I know that we didn’t go through all of them uh there’s a lot and we’ll we’ll try to do our best or are some that we’re going to keep maybe

And and deal with at a later date so because there are some that are sort of Evergreen so we can always uh come back to those so um but it’s just for future reference if you want to send us your question you can do so by uh uh either

On Twitter you can send it to our uh to the show’s Twitter handle which is Basu and G or uh by email at Basu gmail.com uh we’re going to be back on Friday for our next show um that’s it I hope you have a good week hope you have

A good week as well hope everyone out there has a good week and we will talk to you on Friday