And Then There Were Two Canadian Teams | 32 thoughts

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman delve into what is next for the Toronto Maple Leafs following another first round elimination. They talk about what management will do with Sheldon Keefe and what will happen with Mitch Marner and the big four.
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0:00 – What is next for the Toronto Maple Leafs following another first round elimination?
3:16 – Talking about what management will do with Sheldon Keefe
6:19 – What will happen with Mitch Marner and the big four?
21:36 – Game 7 between the Golden Knights and Stars.
27:36 – The guys discuss what happens with Vegas now that they are out. 36:06 – Jeff and Elliotte talk about the future of Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders.
41:50 – What the Nashville Predators do next after a successful season.
51:28 – Game 1 between the Rangers and Hurricanes.
58:25 – Talking about the Bruins-Panthers series.
1:01:10 – The attention then turns West as they discuss Avs-Stars
1:04:19 – The All-Canadian matchup between the Canucks and Oilers.

Email the podcast at 32thoughts@sportsnet.ca or call the Montana’s Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail

This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
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And Then There Were Two Canadian Teams 32 thoughts
#nhl #hockey #torontomapleleafs

it’s very evident teams play The Leaf they they they they set up the game for the leaf to beat themselves and uh I thought we did that in game three and four we beat oursel with how we played at home welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by the GMC Sierra elevation lots to get to today but uh the story from the weekend which will bleed into the week and will bleed into the weeks and months to come Elliots the maple Lees lose two to one in over time David Pastak with the overtime heroics it’s a game seven it’s Boston it’s Saturday night and now the Maple Leafs are out comma again after losing to the Boston Bruins in seven whether it’s p whether it’s Shanahan whether it’s tree living whether it’s Keef whether it’s the players what is next well I do think there’s going to be changes I don’t think there’s any doubt about that I I think the biggest question is how deep do they go and what is the timeline of it Jeff one of the things I I really think is crazy is that we’re sitting there we’re watching Saturday night it’s going into overtime and whether Toronto wins or Boston wins we’re thinking okay the team that loses here how many people are getting fired and what changes are coming and we’re not talking about that when it comes to the team that wins and it’s a game seven overtime sometimes I think this is a crazy way to to run organizations but as hman Ross said in Godfather 2 this is the business we’ve Chosen and that’s the way it goes number one and I think this is probably the most important thing the idea of having $40 million tied up in four forwards those days are over that the May police are going to say that kind of roster construction is done it doesn’t work now they might have to bear with it for one more year we’ll get to that might have to but overall that philosophy is done I think this team had a likable year at the worst possible time if we were five or six years ago and they overcame the injuries they did on defense n goal and they played in games five six and seven they may have played the three best defensive games of their era and still lost the Series if this had happened five or six years ago people would have been tolerant of it but because we’re at the end of this 8-year Apex where they’ve only won one playoff series nobody wants to hear about moral victories or how hard they played and I get it I totally understand it you know me I bet on talent but I get it and I understand it and sometimes the fact that you lose during a certain point of your franchise Arc is more telling than how you lose or how you win so we are where we are and there are going to be changes well Jeff one thing we know now is that Kei and the players are talking on Monday and management isn’t talking until Thursday so we might not know about Keef by then honestly I think Keef is a better Coach than the market gives him credit for I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Keef ends up going somewhere else and proving his critics in Toronto wrong I think he did a good job in very difficult circumstances this year with all the injuries and everything and this is one and we’ll bookmark it in three or four years we can all come back and look at this and say Elliot was right or Elliott was wrong and if I’m wrong I’m sure I’m going to hear it but it would not surprise me at the least if he goes somewhere else and does really well but look I I do think the maple are going to look at what else is out there you’ll remember going back last summer before they committed to Keef and extended him they definitely discussed Alternatives like if we don’t bring them back or we don’t extend them who makes sense who would we bring in so it’s impossible to believe they don’t have some ideas it’s also impossible to believe knowing the way this organization thinks and knowing the way that they constructed their roster especially during the season that they haven’t or wouldn’t have considered someone like baru so one of the things that happens here is they figure out potentially what are their Alternatives the other ones that everyone’s going to talk about here are going to be Shanahan and Marner okay again Shanahan the heat is on right now this is going to be Keith P’s decision and for me the only question here is how much time does p need to make the call is he keeping him or is he moving on and P has been quiet he has done everything he can to prevent himself from being the story and that’s the question I have what is his timetable for making this decision now in addition of the timetable I had someone say to me well if they remove Shanahan who replaces him honestly I’m not sure that’s the question to ask because I’m not convinced anymore that ownership wants that kind of layer of management I don’t necessarily believe they want a president of hockey operations anymore p is the active Maple e Sports entertainment president and it’s possible that that layer is eliminated and not replaced and the general manager tree living simply reports to him now Marner I I think the the thing there is going to be this yes he has control over the situation with his no move clause but I think there’s a couple of questions here number one how does he feel does has he gotten to a point where he thinks long term it’s just better for him to be somewhere else he was tentative he was nervous during these playoffs you could see it Matthews had his moments neander had his moments after he came back Taris had a Big Moment In the game five overtime winner in Boston Marner never really had a moment and now because of where we are in the calendar of his contract that becomes white hot under the microscope and to me the number one question is what does he think does any part of him think that it’s time now you have to always be careful with this because we’re 24 to 48 hours after the emotion of a tough defeat but I do think it’s possible that he will think about it it doesn’t mean that he comes right out and tells the Le get me out of here but I do think at least there will be a Marner Collective as in the people around him conversation about maybe is it better to go somewhere else now I don’t know if he’s going to say that publicly it’s probably not in his best interest to say that publicly but I do think on some level like especially the people who represent him you’re not doing your job if you don’t at least say Mitch would this be better for you now number two part of that equation is the organization do they think it’s time because yes while Marner has the power of the no move Clause the Maple’s power is to say look we’re not if we’re not offering you what you want we’re not even sure that and they could go fullbore scorched Earth they could say not only are we not offering you what we want what you want but we’re thinking that maybe it’s better if we just use the cap room and then and and they can say if if you don’t want to to play ball with us that’s fine we can play it out next year but what it means is you’re not going to get your extension here and you’re not going to get the eighth year that’s what Toronto can do if that’s what they want to do because people are saying there’s nothing that Maple can do that’s not true they don’t have the hammer but they have something and it’s that so they can kind of force the situation and say look guys this is what we’re going to do this is how we’re going to handle it and you can decide to work with us now or you can decide to make your decision later they can do that the kind of same thing happened with neander but nander played so well he convinced them to keep them so I I think that’s kind of where we are right now I think they also have to make decisions in goal I’ve got to think that I I like I wonder how samsonov feels he started he got pulled they made the right decision but maybe he’s going to say I want to go somewhere else and with wall even though he’s really talented they have to be asking your themselves is he ever going to be healthy are we concerned about his health so they’re going to have to consider what they’re going to do in goal they’re going to have to consider what they’re going to do with their core four you know n obviously took a huge step they’ve got a couple of young prospects in Minton and cow that had really good years are they going to be ready next year or do they still need some AHL seasoning they’ve got some cap room they’ve got to decide what they want to do on their defense you know maybe they weren’t great Puck movers but those guys played really hard and like I said those were three of Toronto’s best offensive games they’ve played with this group it’s going to be interesting you know are they going to try to extend mcab I heard in addition to how he played the organization loves him behind the scenes especially when they went down three games to one a lot of the attitude came from him the pride with in the team the pride in his teammates the us against the world mentality that would make Pat Quinn proud Quinn was the king of us against the world and I I wouldn’t be surprised if they look at him and say what can we do here are they going to keep Joel Edmonson for another year they’ve already extended benois like they have some flexibility and make some and room to make some decisions but I definitely believe there’s going to be change and I think the most fascinating one is you know what does Marner decide and depending on his decision what do they say to him okay so a couple of things there and uh just rewinding quickly to the blue line um safe to say TJ Brody Mark shano who by the way for the longest time in Calgary were a fantastic pair together maybe the best pair in the NHL um I I think that’s the end of uh of those two players with the Toronto Maple Leafs I think we wonder about Max doy who’s on the one-year deal Tyler bruzi who’s on the one-year deal as well um listen Max doy when you talk about you know one man’s injury is another man’s opportunity as you always like to say Max doy uh fit in there hand to glove and I think really distinguished himself I don’t know what the situation is on Tyler bruzi D the Leafs want him to stay does he want to stay I don’t know the answer to any of it I do Wonder like you do about Joel Edmonson I thought he had a really good playoffs for the Maple Leafs I’ll be it brief um seven games and I think we’ll take away from this series that hit on David poock specifically um but you’re right Jake McCay uh became the guy on that blue line and they have him for one more year at a very very discounted price of $2 million uh I I do very much wonder what happens there but getting back to berzi and DOI and these types of players one of the interesting things through all of this Elliot and this is not my point this is a point that’s been made in countless other places but the Lion Share of money is occupied between Austin Matthews Mitch Marner William nander and John tovaris yet the issue continues to remain not defending but scoring goals here the issue here is you’re done with John tas’s 11 million cap hit after next season either John tarus goes back to the maple leafes on a reduced rates or he’s just not back with the Maple Leafs at all so if you’re making a decision on Mitch Marner you find yourself in a situation where and again I’m the guy that keeps reminding everybody the cap space is a thing cap space is a commodity no one’s we’re going to talk about that in a second nothing but are you in a situation where okay we need to make a decision on one when really in a year it’s going to be a decision on two yeah I understand your point Jeff but I I just don’t think you can run it back anymore oh I’m not saying run it back I’m just saying like does this complicate anything at all no whatever decisions you’re making now are about your roster and you can only make the decisions in the order that you contractually can do them right so you can’t worry about tarus in a year I mean you can use it to plan for your cap but you know someone said to me if they really wanted to send a message I mean really wanted to send a message what they could do is they could buy out tovaris now from a salary cap point of view it doesn’t make a lot of sense his salary is almost all bonuses and bonuses are guaranteed they’re not affected by a buyout so next year instead of paying having an 11 million ion doll cap hit it would be like 10.4 and the year after um you know you’d have a $300,000 cap hit so it really doesn’t change your cap picture a lot but boy would it send shock waves through your roster now the question is now now I I would say this I think there are GMS in the league that would absolutely consider that I am just not convinced that the maple League are going to do that like tovares still has very useful moments as a player so but it was just interesting that someone presented this to me the thing with Marner is you know Jeff and it goes to what you said there I was thinking about this with neander they were not willing to lose the trade if they were going to make that deal last summer they were not willing to lose the trade they set a bar they said if we’re trading him we’re getting this a top Defender that makes a difference if they really want to change their mix they have to consider the possibility especially since Marner can decide where he wants to go they have to consider the possibility they make the deal and they look like they lose it and say okay we we’re going to do this but we’re going to do it not for this trade but to give us the flexibility to do other things now I you know when you mentioned berzi and DOI when berzi was signed the maple e discussed a longer term deal but it couldn’t work so they said let’s do one year and see how it goes now there have been some rumors around that he kind of has the Ryan O’Reilly vibe that he doesn’t like all the scrutiny and attention in Toronto I think there is some truth to that but from what I’ve heard it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s against resigning I’ve heard actually he really enjoyed part of the group he likes his teammates and he’s interested in staying and I believe the team is interested in having him back as always though it comes down to contract what are the Maple willing to do what is he willing to take but I don’t think it’s an absolute no on berzi I think DOI wants to stay I think it’s going to come down to negotiations CU you know that you know do is still pretty young he’s going to want some term and I’m just curious to see how the maple Le are going to feel about that um but I I I I would be shocked if DOI didn’t want to stay this was a a really good fit for him and I simply think it comes down to contract neg negotiations uh you know I know off the top you talked about what’s next by way of decisions but also timeline as well uh look we’ve seen teams make decisions quickly after the season is over and I think that if you’ve made your decision on someone like your coach you probably do it sooner than later for uh for everybody sanity involved certainly the coach um how Wild a week do you think it’s going to be around Leaf land like it always is like the volume I think it’s going to I think it’s going to be a busy summer I I think it’s going to be a busy summer because I think there’s there there’s a lot of decisions to be made and is it is this going to be a busy week though it’ll be it’ll be newsy because anytime a mela says anything it’s it’s it’s newsworthy but is it going to be actual news you think it’s going to be nuts Jeff since there’s no management talking until Thursday it’s going to be 96 crazy hours but as someone said to me you’re going to be busy chasing the maple lece around all summer so you might as well start now um Elliot anything else on the Maple Leafs before we move on yeah a couple things I was spitballing um you know one of the players I was thinking about potentially for them I was wondering about a guy like Seth Jones if Chicago is going to keep losing I wonder how Jones feels now I know his analytic numbers haven’t been great but I’m curious to see how he would feel about them and they would feel about him I’m not you know Jones has kind of indicated that I don’t think losing is very easy on him so we’ll see and if it’s not someone like Seth Jones like I think this if they do make a Marner trade maybe they don’t get as we talk about maybe they don’t quote unquote win the trade and get a stud defenseman in return but I would think a defenseman would be part of that package someone they think that could play for them and also you have to think if players like Brett peshy or Brandon Montour hit the market those kinds of players Toronto’s going to be in the mix for them so that’s number one that’s one thing I was thinking about I’m enjoying profane Willie neander a little bit here swearing in every interview yeah and you know the final thing and I know some Lea friend fans of mine they said it was the final kick in an area where it hurts when they heard Jim Montgomery say that Mike Babcock gave him advice going into game number seven yeah that’s a uh you you could tell that Montgomery was pretty happy to deliver that note that is a that is a kick to where you are most am man Elliots to where you are most a man yeah that was a tough one for Maple e fans it was a tough weekend for for mapf fans certainly uh anything else new with Craig buuy we mentioned him when we just talked about the Maple Leafs yeah you know I mentioned on Friday that he was uh considered high on Ottawa and New Jersey list I had some people tell me they don’t think it’s going to be Ottawa now again I’m not saying that means it it’s going to be definitely Jersey because I think Toronto May weigh in on this but I had a few people tell me it’s don’t don’t hit your wagon to barui and the Senators that’s in the in coaching circles that seems to have uh died down I know some people think that Travis Green has a real shot there but I I like you know ottawa’s list they’ve interviewed a lot of people so you know we’ll see where that goes okay Elliot Sunday night huge game the Vegas golden knights defending Stanley Cup champions are out there will be a new Stanley Cub Champion Dallas wins 2 to one and the uh The Legend of Wyatt Johnston grow uh he scores his fourth goal of the postseason radic faxa uh with the game winner interestingly enough that’s a player that at various times Vegas has been interested in yes Dallas has always held on to and he’s one of Peter dore’s favorites and paid off big for the Dallas Stars on Sunday nights um and I’ll tell you like Dallas went at this game hard and there was one player they seemed to have in their sights and that was Mark Stone we saw Thomas Harley crosschecking Stone uh in the back we saw Matt Des Shan in the third period get a real good Lick in on Mark stone at all one thing we do have to mention here is Jake Ginger he was fantastic after that first game he was tremendous and there’ll be a new Stanley Cup champion as the Dallas Stars will now face off against the Avalanche what did you make of game seven that was a fun one major credit to Jake AER Jeff you mentioned how good he was after the first game remember going into the playoffs there were a lot of people who thought that he was there Achilles heel in Dallas if Dallas was going to lose early it wasn’t only going to be because of going up against Vegas it was going to be because tinger just hasn’t been good enough this year and if you take a look at his stats from the third period in overtime in these games the numbers were exceptional so all the credit in the world to him a year ago he disappointed me because he made fun of my golf swing when we shot the Joe pavelski piece but he did nothing in the first round that disappointed me at all uh he was excellent and you know even though what what did Dallas do to deserve this out of The Frying Pan Into the Fire Vegas round one Colorado round two if uttinger plays like that Dallas is going to be confident as good as the Avalanche are they are going to be very confident Johnston you said A Star is Born it’s not Barbara strand it’s not Lady Gaga it’s Wyatt Johnston and in game seven they moved him up to the first line they they moved pavelski down they put Johnston up and he rewarded them with a goal and you know some some players they just are opportunist they they have they’re always in the right place they have a nose for scoring they’re not afraid of the moment R Wyatt Johnston is that guy and I don’t know what there really is else to say Jeff aside from that series deserved to go seven games a one team that could win the Stanley cop was going out in this series it was as even as you could expect it to be and whoever was going to win that series was really going to earn it really going to earn it and the Stars earned it and would anybody have been surprised if the golden knights would have scored there in the last minute and put us in overtime as a matter of fact I was almost surprised they didn’t there was that one shot from the point with the AER glove save that I thought had a chance I’m like oh here we go it I thought that went in because you couldn’t see AER behind the screen on TV like he was in a place or you couldn’t see his glove and the crowd kind of got up for a second so you know you you you forget for a second you’re watching a game in Dallas as opposed to Vegas and you think oh the crowd’s standing the Pucks in the net and then you realize they were standing and applauding because he made the save for half a second there because I couldn’t see the glove and the way the crowd reacted I actually thought the puck was in so um Peter dor is now 8 and0 in game sevens and because I know how much you love it when I put you on the spot what other significant record in hockey not necessarily the NHL does he continue to hold H most teams taken to the second round most different teams taken to the second round of the playoffs no I’m going to I’m going to get you off this fishing trip here 2008 kitchen arrangers oh my God was hang on was the last team to win their league championship and host the Memorial Cup they were the last team to go through the front door head coach of that team Peter dor as sagona bowed out to London in the O that’s not even a real trivia question sure is who’s the last team to go in the moral cup in the front door it’s a good one too come on completely irrelevant to what we’re okay we’re talking about Peter deore completely irrelevant to what we’re discussing here I I figured it’s because you know for example he’s taken what uh two different teams to the Stanley Cup Final and then I realized Scotty Bowman took like eight teams to the Stanley Cup finals so that would be a terrible that’s a terrible answer by me even though I was even close to the question it’s just a terrible trivia guess by me I just thought you were just filler bustering until I would jump in and just finally say Okay testing everyone’s patience embarrassingly poor now yes now that’s okay uh a mediocre man has always H his best the um the question becomes what happens to Vegas now like we know that Vegas takes the summer to clean up their cap that’s the way they do business we’re going to make a big mess in the regular season and we don’t care cuz we’re cleaning it up in the summer so what now there’s a Maro there’s a Stevenson there’s a Martinez we’ll see what happens there uh what happens with Vegas now well hanahan’s already done so we know that that’s one of their biggest pieces of business I’ve heard in Marcas so’s case the biggest issue is term He’s 33 years old he’s going to be 34 in December he scored 42 goals this year Jeff and I thought he was very dangerous in the playoffs in including in game number seven this is still a guy who is near the top of his game and also don’t forget he really didn’t become an NHL regular till he was 27 there’s an argument to be made that the mileage on him is not as great as the mileage on other 34 year olds Vegas is an analytically inclined organization they do they do take a lot of these they do take numbers into the equation aging curves all that stuff I’ve just heard that unless it’s changed recently and it may have it happens from time to time they were really having a difficult time these two sides to find a term that made a lot of sense to me maraso is a huge part of the soul of the team of course he’s one of the original Misfits he was the KMI Trophy winner last year when they won Stanley Cup I I do think the golden knights would very much like to keep him but to this point there’s a limit in what they were willing to do and I heard after the trade deadline not like they were going to trade him anyway but I heard after the trade deadline the two sides were really struggling to get there so we’ll see if that changes at all Stephenson just turned 30 from what I heard in his case the golden knights were willing to do longer term like I don’t know if it was willing to go up to 8 years but I heard it was significant term so when someone when people tell me significant term without saying eight years we’re talking like six or seven years but I I think the issue there with Stephenson as I heard was that the longer the term went the less number I think the golden knights are willing to do so it’s not like they were offering them like 6 years at 2 million a year but it was 6 million sorry six years at a slightly no lower number than maybe they would have done for four or five years and so again it’s been difficult for them to get to the exact Sweet Spot unless of course something’s changed in the last few days that I’m not aware of I think the thing about about this that Vegas has a big challenge with is Stephenson in particular is a is a top Center and you know Vegas has eel eel signed for two more years and Carlson signed for three more years and they’ve just traded for hurdle obviously who signed with a lot of term they’re pretty set down the middle if they want to be like to me them going out and getting hurdle is at least an admission that they knew they might not be able to keep Stevenson and that’s a plan there in case he leaves now if they can make it work maybe they can move some of these bodies around some of these guys can play Wing whatever but to me them going out and getting hurdle um is at least an admission that there they know that there’s a possibility Stephenson’s going to leave because a center like him getting on the market they’re going to be 20 teams after this guy I have no doubt that that’s the case uh one other name we should throw out there um as far as being a topic for future is William kryy yeah Ian is there a future there I haven’t heard as much about Kier and again you know he’s 29 years old and he’s making 1.4 million the one thing that someone did say to me is that Kar is probably in his best position to hit it big as he has in his entire career and they could see a situation where Vegas simply can’t match what other teams can do we’ll see he’s another great player for them Martinez I I know people have wondered if if he’s going to be retiring his body has been through an awful lot I mean that guy’s had a hell of a career Stanley Cup champion uh Stanley Cup winning goal um just a a great great career he’s 36 years old I I do think people have wondered if he will end up retiring never a dull moment in Vegas this off season should be but you know but you know what Jeff like you know they’re going to be aggressive they’re going to be mad that they lost they’re going to be super mad that they lost and and and everybody’s out there saying good I’m glad Vegas didn’t win uh and it’s going to have them medad they’re going to be like oh yeah you you think that’s you think that’s fine you think that’s good well way do you see what we pull next and that’s what they’re going to do they’re going to aim to come back and and and do what they couldn’t do this year which was Advance deeper into the playoffs like this is an organization that’s not s satisfied with the one Stanley Cup they want more and and you know like regardless of how you feel about what happened this year with uh with Mark Stone and them acquiring Hanahan and them acquiring mantha and them making all the moves they made they’re going to look there they’re going to look at everybody and say you may think you won this round but we’re far from done and we’re coming back to win again and soon can I add one more thought to the markstone conversation here for anyone that doesn’t think he was hurt do you think we really saw Mark Stone in this series I’m watching Mark Stone out there and saying that’s not the mark stone that we’re used to at all like did you not look at Mark Stone and say this guy’s not 100% you know you know what Jeff that’s that’s a really interesting question I I hadn’t really thought about that too much he scored three goals um but you know the one thing for me about stone is well first of all he wasn’t as dominant as he usually is I don’t doubt that I don’t doubt that at all I think you’re right he didn’t like to me maraso made a real impact um eel made a real impact Stone didn’t make the impact that I normally expect from him and he did look like he was hurting game seven he got hurt on one play but for me sometimes it’s always been tough to tell because his game is not based on on speed it’s based on gu and skill and his great stick and uh sometimes I find it harder to tell if a guy is as effective when like when someone’s speed is someone’s game you oh they’re not themselves so sometimes I find it harder to tell with him what do you think I just think that he was uh whether it was uh the injury uh the lack of playing time all of it like the whole the whole time all this controversy was going on about oh caps are convention I’m saying they don’t have the player in the lineup do you really want to sit a player out that long just to Spring them into the playoffs like sometimes that’ll work coocher off K sometimes that won’t and it’s a really dangerous game to play and I looked at Stone in this series and I said to your point so much of what he does is based on intelligence and body positioning and making the right play and just flat out being smarter than everybody he’s not going to burn anybody he’s not going to blow by guys wide and cut to the net that’s not going to be his game I just didn’t see it consistently in that first round and my takeaway from it is he’s still not 100% so for anyone that thinks that I don’t know the Vegas Golden Heights were milking it or Mark Stone was milking it they didn’t have the player for all that time and I don’t think they had 100% of Mark Stone when he got there at all ell I think a lot of people are wondering about the New York Islanders and what can be done about this roster is one of the questions about the New York Islanders however the future of Lou there well now we know the answer he he came out uh during his media conference with Patrick W and said you know we’re coming back and you’ll remember the last time when that happened with gar snow and Doug weight and they said they were coming back and the Islanders made a change after that because they hadn’t actually made the decision when that was said my knowledge of Lou Lam Morello indicates to me that he’s not making that announcement unless he knows and so I don’t expect the the craziness that followed the the previous case I can’t say I’m I’m hugely surprised because you know first of all we just don’t know his contract situation the only thing that surprised me a little bit about it and only a little bit is I do think in League circles it’s kind of known that the Islanders are especially now that they’ve moved into a new building which has a lot of potential and they’ve done some really interesting things to improve The Fan Experience in and around that building they got the All-Star game next year there was a lot of talk about them for lack of a better term modernizing the way they do things improving the way they think and it it like I think it’s silly to say that um Lou Lamar G is is not willing to think of new things cuz I don’t believe that’s true he has an old school approach but the guy isn’t Dumb uh is that I think they kind of talked about are there even more ways we can do that with our hockey department and you know so I’m still wondering even though he said that you know he’s coming back it doesn’t mean that there may like is he going to add anyone what are they going to look like in terms of the way they build out their office and if anything and you know cuz we were mentioned on one of the last pods you know people were saying like if Mark Hunter is going somewhere what are the chances it’s to go work with his old buddy Lou Lam Morello so we’ll see how that all plays out I’m not um like I said I’m not surprised but I do think the but like I said I’m not surprised but I do think they have talked about improving some of the ways they do things a lot of the iser’s best players are locked up and have protection and to be honest you’re not looking to trade like a Noah Dobson or a Matt Barelle or or a Bo Horvat or any of those guys anyway the the the thing I really think they have to do is they need to get a score we’ve talked about this a billion times they need an infusion of Youth like just around the organization like they right now they just don’t have enough people pushing for jobs and that is something they really need to improve on is just the amount of young players like we just talked about Toronto they have you know Mitten and Cowen coming now and they’re going to be pushing for jobs the Islanders don’t have those guys and they need to start finding more of those guys and you know to me you know one of the other decisions they’ve got to make now remember last time they did sign Brock Nelson until just be till after they finished their season his UFA year so they don’t really seem to be too worried about waiting that’s but you know yes you could get a lot for Nelson in a trade there’s no question however I also look at it this way Brock Nelson loves the Islanders and cares a lot about the Islanders and he’s still got a lot of hockey left if you’re making that deal you better make sure that there is a tangible benefit to making that deal because a you’re you’re taking someone out who um it really cares about your team and you’re creating a big hole in your roster so again it’s kind of like I just talked about nander last summer with the Leafs like I I you I guess you could do it the same way I talked about Marner you make the trade knowing you’re going to lose it potentially but again and I I I I don’t know I I think Toronto will consider that possibility I’m not convinced the Islanders are going to be willing to consider that possibility well one Qui quick thought on the Islanders here too and as you’ve mentioned before and we’ve talked about the one thing the Islanders do when they identify their talent and their key Peaks they lock them up long term Noah Dobson is eligible for an extension on July 1st he’s got one more year at $4 million I don’t know what that bump looks like I’ve heard as high as time 8 for someone like Noah Dobson do you think Lou takes his time or when you look at you know what NOA Dobson brings which is unique to anyone else on that blue line do they look to lock him up July one well I think you always look to lock them up as early as possible you know it’s the old line players like that never get less expensive the price is only going up so I’m sure they’re going to be looking to lock them up right away I mean the Islanders have this way of and also too don’t forget in a year it’s not like he’s a UFA he’s an R with with arbitration rights yes yes I don’t think the wants it to get anywhere near there though no you don’t want that you want to lock up people for as long as you can as soon as you can so I’m sure they will try I have I have no doubt that they will try Nashville Predators one of the surprise teams in the NHL we made a lot about that blowout loss against the D stars and subsequent cancelling of the U2 trip to Vegas um and that became a lot of fun and Canon fodder and a theme and all of that next thing you know Andrew Bernett is up for coach of the year and the nationville Predators have found their way into the playoffs they lose in six games to the Vancouver Canucks they are out um I’m of the belief that the one thing they’ve been looking for for the past year is the same thing they’re going to keep looking for in the off season maybe again at the draft as well we’ll see who they dangle by way of trade bait and that is a number one Center a good young scoring franchise type player what’s next for the PRS well first of all I think this year was a big success for them I I don’t think anybody knew what to expect I don’t think they expected a first round playoff birth where they took a really good team to six games and had a chance to win this series a month into the season they were 31st in the league there was that whole You2 thing which quite simply I’m tired of talking about but it could have blown up the team they are they had a great year they they really did they they Achi they achieved a lot um they were a true team um you know and they gave Vancouver which is no surprise they they gave Vancouver everything the Canucks could handle and to be honest I really think that that will benefit the kxs that series because that was a hard tough series and if you win those series it makes you better I I thought that was a big big win for Vancouver I think you’re totally right I mean they they’ll have a sorrow decision to make um you know I saw some takes that oh this is proof that Soros can’t win around um I think that’s just crazy I I really do I think that’s absolute crazy talk you know I I think the guy is very valuable and you always have to negotiate a contract and make someone and two sides have to be happy but uh it’s going to be and they do have a really good young Prospect who’s tackling people in the American Hockey League playoffs in a scarv but you know I just think overall you know what you’ve got in Saros they do need scoring they’re looking forward badly I think it was on your radio show I joked that if stamp Cod was to hit free agency Shannon McDonald would kidnap him and take him to Nashville yeah I mean I expect Stam Co to sign now I really do unless they completely lowball him but I I I do think that Nashville would be a place that would be very interested and they have tried on him before so but that’s the kind of player that kind of score and those aren’t always available they’re going to go after but I think they sent a message this year that um as Anthony Stewart says are you as his father always used to say are you a team or are you a club and the Predators showed this year that they were a team and I would expect them to continue to grow the the guy I think is going to be really interesting to watch next year is Novak um you know I think he’s a really talented guy I think he struggled in the playoffs this year um I think in the long run that will make him a better player a greater understanding of of what that is but you look at all their players like you know Evangelista got that experience Parson and got the last last game and I know it was a little bit of a disappointing year for him but you don’t give up on those guys too early the interesting decision will be Kier what do they decide to do here um I don’t think they had talked that much post deadline but they’ve got a decision to make there and he played really hard in the playoffs I was I thought he was a good part of their team so they got some choices to make but I think overall the Predators this year showed they are better off than I think some people even their fans expected you know they um it was interesting around T trade deadline when the Nashville Predators started you know picking up players as you mentioned you know they they resigned Tommy Novak when the Rangers were trying to uh relieve him from the the Nashville Predators and you know around dead line here comes Jason Zucker and here comes Anthony baver um and and these types of players it’s like I I think we all know that you know Tyson Barry is is going to be off to to try to find employment elsewhere but I I do wonder about the Jason zuckers of the world here do you think they come back or this is a spot for competition at training camp it’s a good question about Zucker I mean I think you have to think he’s going to look for the best deal that there possibly is out there but he is definitely the kind of player that Nashville is looking at cuz he’s a scorer and um uh and the thing about Zucker is that he’s proven to be very adaptable to situations right uh in terms of he you know he’s now bounced around a little bit and he seems to fit in pretty well I think that’s a really good skill of his I would assume that you know the Predators and him will talk um but Zucker at this point is going to look for the best deal he can get and you can hardly blame him for that when you look at and we’ll close on this one because I think a lot of the conversation around Nashville is going to focus around as you mentioned UC Saros um as Jos laav isarov just looks fantastic and and ready to take that next step in his career I think probably in a perfect world and this is the way Nashville had already done it when you look at the when you look at the chain of golender that Nashville has had going all the way you know probably all the way back to Mike Dunham um they’ve always had you know the next one one the underst study back up for a significant amount of time before handing that goenda get a chance to do that with a scar off unless they hang on to UC Soros for at least part of next season do you think that the PRS are in a hurry if it gets them what they want to move Soros or can they still follow the traditional Nashville pattern of uh you know the uh the the starring actor and the understudy cuz we’ve seen that from Nashville goalies for years that’s a good question I think in a perfect world they would love it to be Saros sarov yeah I agree in a perfect world I think they absolutely want that but again you’ve got a contract situation and the question is if they can’t make a deal what does Nashville feel is the best way to proceeded we we’ll see how they feel about the process you know Jeff for me the question is there are some teams out there that really aren’t crazy about trading for goalies at the deadline you know the Devils did it they traded for two Ken and Jake Allen and it gave them a bump for a little bit but that was more of a Hail Mary as opposed to anything else and a and a free look at those guys if you take a look at I remember Ryan Miller talking about how hard it was to be traded midseason Dwayne rolison was a success story he got Edmonton to the Stanley Cup Final and 2006 and and if this doesn’t work out maybe someone just says look Soros is Soros and we’ll take our chances and I could hardly blame them for that but I mean this is not purely Nashville’s decision Saros is going to have a hammer being one year out of free agency but like I said in a perfect world it’s Saros askarov starting for next year and Jeff uh one last thing before we wrap up this first segment Rob Blake is speaking Monday in Los Angeles yes so it I mean we’ll hear for sure but it seems like he’s going to be returning his GM and I will tell you I had a number of people that listened to our conversations about duwa and said no way they buy him out it’s interesting I threw this in my Fri blog on on Sunday there was one person from another team that I talked to not la not Washington who wondered if a Pierre Luke duah Darcy keer deal would make some sense unless unless again the Los Angeles Kings are still committed to making this thing work and Jeff as you pointed out his no move Clause does not kick an until July 1st I wonder if he comes back as a Winger I really do whatever you do you can’t come back is the same thing you’ve got to say it didn’t work this year what are we going to do to make it work okay on that we’ll wrap up the segment uh coming up preview of the next round on 32 thoughts the podcast listen to the 32 thoughts podcast add free on Amazon music included with Prime welcome back to the podcast 32 thoughts as always brought to you by the GMC Sierra elevation Elliot I am calling the series the red pants series and I love it both the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers with those red pants on Sunday I’m loving a game one is already a matter of History it’s the Rangers that grabbed the one- nothing series lead and what a game by mik zaban Jad I mean that whole first period was all about zabana jet ah maybe a little bit about Matt Ry as well but that first period all about M zaban Jad your thoughts on the Rangers the 4-3 Victory and grabbing the one- nothing series lead Carolina T can’t take any penalties that power play is too good you know Carolina’s going to have to stay out of the box uh that that was the one thing that really uh stood up to me zaban Jad he has to be a little more selfish though he scored twice but he didn’t shoot that one Puck uh although at the end of the game I did like the play I did like the play he made to kill time he could have got the hattrick I I I thought that was I I thought that was really good but you got to shoot that puck M no I thought he was great and but the thing I really thought was I I really you don’t see the hurricane smothered too often and I thought the Rangers really smothered them in game number one I think they had 30 Block shots um you know Carolina shoots from everywhere and they weren’t getting them through them until really late in the game I you know obviously zet ja gets a lot of the credit and the power play gets a lot of a credit credit and they deserve it but to me I I thought the Rangers played a really disciplined defensive game against a team that you have to do that to so you know game one to me uh went as about as well for the Rangers as you could hope for or expect except that Peter lavet he’s going to have to make a rampy decision because they are all over him all over uh you mean the officials are all over him because that that incident with with with stall like that is a reputation call I’m sorry that is a total reputation call pushed into Anderson he got the penalty for being Matt Ry Elliot that’s what the penalty was for and that’s the thing like you know like canox fans listening to this they’ll remember the the B Ben eager major that really turned that San Jose series around and you know the next game Ben eager begged Todd mlen to stay in he begged him he said please let me play please let me play and Todd mlen said I I can’t I I can’t I can’t take the chance you do that again and so when you have a reputation or you get a call like that or two and obviously what rampy did and and that Ben eager play are not the same I’m just using the overall situation eventually a coach has to make a decision well you know what like I I can’t afford these penalties and if and and obviously like I think the Rangers have been really supportive of Ry this year and I think they’ve done a really good job with him in terms of when you fight and when you don’t and working with him to make him a better player I think player and team have done a really nice job here but these are the playoffs and you cannot afford to be sentimental and at some point in time you know either lavette’s going to say look we’re living with this or we can’t live with this and I’ll tell you something else too you watch Emily kaplan’s interview with him during the game I don’t know if there’s like I always joke that no executive hates referees more than Steve Eiserman does no coach hates referees more than Peter laviolet does and so so it’s going to be doubly burning him up right now because he probably doesn’t think it’s fair to the kid and he just hates the call in general so he’s going to have a decision to make here well and what makes it even uh tougher for La Violet is this is a pretty rough game one yeah that was that was a mean hockey game right right away like from the opening draw like this is like these teams got at it and it was and it was nasty every period had like a good dose of of of old school nastiness to it so if you’re Peter laviolet you’re think sitting there thinking to yourself I understand the risk here of having ree in but do I really want to dis arm myself in this situation that’s you know that’s a that’s a great question it’s a tough tough call because you know if R’s out all of a sudden Carolina grows that much more and they were not shy in game one to begin with even with Ry in the lineup Elliott that is a really tough decision for lav I think that’s a great call that’s a great call uh that I gotta tell you that that penalty on Tony D’Angelo and NES that that was weird too um that was a borderline well no no no it was the whole scenario was weird about how they called The Penalty on NIS and then they said no no no it’s on D’Angelo and that’s another one of those where they use the major to get it right but the people like you like that and I generally like that but the people in the league who don’t like that will look at things like this situation they say that’s what that’s not what this is supposed to be about we what the major I love the way they use the major no but they called the peny on one guy and then they they they gave it to the other guy like they to make sure it’s actually a major and not a minor or something or a no penalty yes I like that but they won’t like that they switch the two Carolina players right um the the here long series sure and hope it is because that first game was was a lot of fun like the story coming out of it is going to be the mikas ab banad story and he was great to your point the power play in that first per periods Zan Jad and tro both score um troch was a beautiful goal again set up by mik Zan Jad but um Carolina did not go away like right away Saban Jad scores Jacob slaven comes right back and then third period Martin n starts it off Panera scores a kind of questionable goal and right away Seth Jarvis makes it 4-3 like this is not a this wasn’t a a game where the Carolina Hurricanes were like blown out of it early with a tough first period This is a team that didn’t quit like I’m with you I think this one’s going long because I still saw plenty from the Carolina Hurricanes in that game I know Rangers grabbed it and good on them to get to get all the headlines I still think Carolina could look good had the really good spot this is going to be a long series long series I hope so long hope okay we’ll finish off the Pod with a couple of thoughts on the other series on the go around the NHL um sticking with East because we just talked about Carolina and the New York Rangers how with the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers Boston with barely any time to catch a breath they will face the Florida Panthers checks notes tonight I don’t have a problem with Boston not having time if you win a series in five games like the Panthers did you earn the right to the rest and the advantage that Boston didn’t get I I have no issues with that I’m under the impression that Boston was told last Thursday or before they went to Toronto for game six that if they had won game six they were playing Florida on Saturday night so Boston kind of knew this anyway um I wouldn’t be surprised if they start allmark in game one now someone said to me that would be incredibly unfair to allmark incredibly unfair to allmark but you know if you’re ever because it’s guaranteed loss game is that that five that’s the Joe Civ setup where he lost Toronto lost five nothing to Ottawa on you know one day’s rest because Pat Quinn was like take the day off and we’ll worry about game too yes like they said that’s not really fair to him no question for that reason but if you want to give swim an a rest you’re probably doing it now I think I think Florida’s a big favorite in this series um you know Paul Maurice said Sam Bennett won’t play uh game one but he’s now day-to-day so he’s not far away um you know the the Bruins it’s amazing how tight checking uh this the playoffs have been really normally offensively powerful teams are having a different a difficult time scoring but I I still think you know the Bruins barely scored enough to beat the Leafs I I I just don’t think they’re going to be able to score enough to beat the Panthers I I I really don’t I think I really like this series for Florida um you know one of the things too is that you know especially if zaka and Cole can’t really bring Boston a lot of offense to Ronald couldn’t take advantage of that but the Panthers absolutely can I I just don’t like this matchup for the Bruins last year’s series was an all-time classic um I’ve learned that anything can happen but I I just I to me this is a tough series to see Boston winning this is a challenge this is the Florida Panthers look like a machine Elliott and I know the Bennett situation is a tough one but still this Panthers team looks like a machine um the pair in the Western Conference uh we just saw the Dallas starters as we record this podcast take care of the Vegas SCH the night so let’s focus on this one man should this be a great series Dallas facing off against the Colorado Avalanche fre each this one has a great series written all over it cross your fingers It Go seven another Stanley Cup Final early in the playoffs this one on round two Dallas is going to play Dallas is going to play two Stanley Cup finals in the first two rounds of the playoffs first one against Vegas and now Colorado again I stick with my feeling and that is from 1 to 23 Dallas is the deepest team in the NHL and now that ainger is going it makes them even more dangerous some of the issues that uh Winnipeg had such as defending the Blue Line uh basically preventing the Avalanche going from where they wanted to go um Dallas won’t have that problem um well I shouldn’t say that Colorado will give them problems just because they’re Colorado will do that to you from time to time but Dallas is far more structurally sound to handle this and far more uh built better to handle this Colorado will not be able to do to the a to the Stars what they did to the Jets um again this is a six or seven gamer and the other thing I think we realize after round one is that even if gorg throws a stinker in there he is capable of recovering he showed it in round one and we’ll see how this goes this is going to be a long series the stars are my team for the playoffs but if Colorado beats them it’s no upset I mean I just think if Dallas keeps winning these series are they going to get to a point where they have nothing left nothing left just because of the Titans that they’re getting this is going to be like if Dallas wins the Stanley Cup this is going to be one of the greatest runs in the history of the NHL I was looking at this like because total round one Vegas round two Colorado round three is going to be Vancouver Edmonton and round four is going to be the best in the East if they get there this could go down if they win it if if if if if if if if they win it as the greatest Stanley Cup run in the history of the NHL they’ll have to have knocked off the last two Stanley Cup champions in the first two rounds boom boom Vegas Colorado come on if I was a play would be so excited for the possibility of that totally you could totally write first of all winning the Stanley Cup period incredible achievement that’s what every hockey player dreams about doing but if you can do it this way and knockof Stanley Cup champions along the way Elliot special place for you if you can pull it off but you know what they’re going to look like at the end is William Wallace’s Army at the conclusion of Braveheart that’s what they’re going to look like they’re going to look like the New York Islanders after their fourth and final Stanley Cup where they had no energy to celebrate in the room they were all just ice packs and bruises and broken bones that’s what they’ll look like that Islanders team that won their fourth and finally Elliot the series we’re going to have to wait till Wednesday to enjoy the last two teams in Canada and after this there will only be one in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Editon Oilers face off against the Vancouver kcks I I nuclear missiles versus arur shiloff I I am concerned the the the fan bases of the Oilers and Canucks will not make it until Wednesday the stuff I am seeing going around on social media is fantastic yes not all of it is fantastic I have to say but are not going to have the energy for 72 more hours of this before we drop the pocking game number one I don’t know no this is these are two these are these are two committed these are two committed social media groups here Elliot I don’t think you give them enough credit oh oh oh I I believe me I’m giving them a lot of credit they’re going to be like careers ended and People cancelled before this series even Begins the way this is going but I think it’s going to be a phenomenal series like I said earlier I think the the how hard Vancouver series was against Nashville is going to benefit the Canucks um I I don’t know that we’re going to see Demco in this series so it’s an even bigger challenge for shilov and the Smith you have to be so careful here the lightning said sergachev Not until round two he showed up in game four weird things happen in the playoffs players push themselves in the playoffs so when people say oh Demo’s is not going to play or Demco might play I just say you have to be ready for anything and the Toronto series proved it no nander nander no Matthews Matthews no Matthews um wool no wool like you just you have to be ready for anyone at any time but they’re going to start without him in goal and that’s a bigger challenge but I think the cans are built to handle them uh in the sense that they can play with them um again they have to be disciplined that power play destroyed La they played well against them during the regular season they can skate with them they can move the puck against them they have players who can keep the puck away from them the orders are going to have their moments in their games where they’re going to embarrass you and they’re going to make you look stupid uh but Vancouver trusts their structure if they take a lot of penalties they’re in big trouble and the thing like dry SLE has become one of the best playoff players in the league he is like I don’t want to say that he almost was like there were times in the regular season this year especially with the way he played in the first round I kind of thought is he just sort of doing one of those the playoffs are what matters years and I I don’t want to say like he he didn’t care or he held back or whatever but it’s clear to me that the way he played in the regular season in the way he’s played now he’s on another level the Oilers have also found a way to deploy their defense a lot better Skinner had a really good comeback in the first round look they start any playoff with the two best players in the series McDavid and dry cdle as good as those Canucks are they are the two best players in the series I just look at them and I think this is going to be a seven gamer and I think Vancouver is going to give them every like I saw the sportset predictions where everybody was picking the Oilers I don’t know I think this is going to be a seven game or two and I think Vancouver is going to give the Oilers everything they can handle I think these are two tremendous teams and it’s going to be a fight for every inch and again we’ll have to wait till Wednesday to see game one in the meantime tonight uh you can watch one game the Boston Bruins facing off against the Florida Panthers as that series kicks off Tuesday it is game two between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers watch that one 7 o’clock Eastern on sportset and Hockey Night in Canada later that night 9:30 Eastern in the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars oh that’s going to be so good get at it in uh game one and that’s the Pod we’ll join you again first thing Wednesday morning uh enjoy the games three until we speak again if you’re an Edmonton fan or a Vancouver fan and you’re on social media try to exhibit a little just at least a little bit of a modom of decency here how about that just try it on for size you might like it who knows we’ll talk to you again Wednesday [Music]