What if Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard & Lukas Reichel are NOT centers? | CHGO Blackhawks Podcast

Our Mailbag was so full, we needed two shows to get to all of your questions. Are Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel NHL centers? If not, who can fill that role for the Chicago Blackhawks? Who will be Petr Mrazek’s backup next season? Jay Zawaski, Greg Boysen and Mario Tirabassi have all that and some NHL playoff conversation on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast.

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[Applause] [Music] [Applause] he [Music] [Music] hey welcome into the chgo Blackhawks podcast happy Tuesday Jay zasi with Greg boyon and Mario terasi law is here as well doing the things tearing open the sacks oh boy putting up the photos all that great stuff we got a lot of show to do and not a lot of time to do it so we’re going to get right to it make sure you smash that like button for us on the YouTube page make sure you are subscribed as well if you’re a podcast listener follow a subscribe please leave us a festar review on Apple podcast or Spotify and it’s a good idea for both sites YouTube and your podcast app to turn on those notifications so as soon as a new episode goes live you are notified you are informed and you don’t miss it uh we do them five times a week so make sure you listen five times a week at least once yeah you could fall asleep to our show too if you want I do yeah let put on right right here in this chair I feel like right about now is when to show when I fall asleep even when I’m driving home sometimes pretty much all right we got let’s get to it we got a lot of mailbag questions left we appreciate uh all everybody sending questions in so we do our best to make sure if they took the time to send it we take time to answer it and we’re going to do it right now let’s start with Alberto shall we Alberto Vitali uh says I’m starting to think that reel and maybe even Bard won’t pan out as centers at the NHL level how important is size at Center and would you invest in some players that fit that role at the draft this year I’m not ready to make the call that Bard is not a center yet he’s 18 you know I I think that you see a lot of young centers struggle with the faceoffs and a two-way play especially guys that didn’t spend a lot of time in the American League right like Conor Bard came right from Juniors right to the NHL his opening face off was against Sydney Crosby and it didn’t get much easier most nights for him so Jonathan Taves is a good example of a guy who with some time and some experience got better at the faceoffs and everything kind of came together at Center yes he is smaller than Jonathan Taves and I do think yes if you had the choice you would prefer someone big than small but I think especially in today’s League it’s not it’s not a problem if you’re not big I will say though I do hope that they do use a higher run pick to address some size down the middle I think it’s a good idea it doesn’t hurt that’s for sure um for those that get worried about the size or lack thereof of some of the top prospects just look at the size of the defensemen that are already here and are coming they’re all Big M so while maybe your centers aren’t the biggest in the world your defensemen are pretty big that helps uh but yes you should invest in some size down the middle if you get a chance Conor bdar like reel as a center yeah I don’t know about that we’ll see I think he’s better at Wing just for his abilities his speed is served better on the outside uh as far as badar goes you’ve got way too much time to figure that out um I know they play him at Wing towards the end of the year that was probably more of just a mental break than anything else yeah there’s one one thing that Conor Bard is going to do it’s going to be obsessively work at being a better overall player now that he’s got one full season under his belt uh you know he knows what he’s got to do as far as on the ice off the ice same thing with Kevin kinsky like they got to play in the NHL as teenagers they’re still growing they’re still filling out their bodies but now they have that knowledge of what can and more importantly what doesn’t work work at the NHL level and they can adjust from that uh I guarantee you Conor Bard knows he was a minus 44 this year and it pisses him yeah of course and it pisses him off and he’s going to do everything he can to improve on that is he G to be Jonathan Taves in year two no is he ever going to be Jonathan Taves probably not but if you can get him to be a defensively anyway right if you could get him to be replacement defensively and all World offensively you got yourself one hell of a hockey player uh and if he doesn’t work at it Center and Lucas reel isn’t a center and Frank Nar is a center and Oliver Moore can’t play center well guess what you go out and get yourself a center that’s where you make your trades that’s where you hit the free agent Market that’s why people that want the Blackhawks to go on this spending spree this summer it’s just not the time yeah you see you have first you save that for 25 26 when you know for sure like [ __ ] we really need a second line Center then you go out and you get one you don’t do it now you don’t waste all your salary cap money now so when you really do have that need you can’t go get the best available player I think a lot of this is stemming from the fact that badart is not playing Center at the world championships and people are seing as like well Team Canada doesn’t think he’s a center so well their Center depth was a wee bit better than the Blackhawks a little bit fifth goal uh just now what five goals in games third game at the world at the world uh world championships as a wing um look if Conor Bard is a Winger that’s fine go be the best Winger that this team is ever seen yeah I think that’s okay I think you’re your spot on Greg where you know if none of these players that you’ve drafted to be centers pan out to be top six centers go buy yourself go get one go go trade one of your first round picks and whatever to go get a a a top top six center you can go find them that’s what free agency should be yeah is getting that final need not you don’t build your team through free agency or trades you get the final piece I.E am Maran HOSA sure with the free agency and if Bard can play center which I think he still has the ability to do wonderful like he’ll be just fine wherever he plays like he’s going to be able to produce and adapt his game uh wherever he goes with Lucas reel if he’s if he’s a wing also fine like there’s there’s a lot of guys that when you draft them as centers or they play center in juniors pan out to not be centers in the NHL like it’s I I think it’s it’s a special case or you have to either have a special talent or a special skill set for a player to be a center when they’re 17 to when they’re 30 at the all through their development like if you’re a center like that’s that’s a special case not every not everyone can do that so if reel can produce as a wing that’s going to be fine like I I have no doubts that this team either through drafting or free agency or trades uh they they know that the center depth is a lot of the guys that do the same things they’ll be able to figure out how to how to fill it with guys that can do something a little bit different to and just to reiterate Greg’s Point too you don’t need Conor Bard to be tav’s kobitar Bergeron you need him to do the job well and hurt you defensively and look I think we saw even as the end of the season came he elevated his game defensively a little bit right like you saw him playing at all ends stealing pucks creating turnovers like again he’s never going to win the sky that’s very very unlikely but it’s okay it doesn’t to decaration to make for an 18-year-old if he’s putting up 130 points I can live without thei right if he’s if he’s putting up 130 points and is only a minus five that’s pretty good yeah right like he doesn’t need to be shut down defensive that’s not what he was drafted for just be replacement level defensive and I’ll be happy like I’m not saying Bard is going to top out as this player but Mark schley’s had a pretty good career as not being a defensive Center like he’s been able to do it because he can put up put up points and win enough face offs like that there there are tons of centers that play top six Topline role go that are not two-way stalls yeah and I’m pretty confident saying that Lucas reel is not a center at least for Luke Richardson yeah I don’t think so yeah he just doesn’t let’s not do with Lucas reel what happened with Kirby doc where it was you must be a center because you fit the mold of being a center like no like he let the guy figure out where he his skill set uh is positioned best if it’s at left or right or Center it’ll figure it out I don’t think it’s at Center so let him he’s also playing uh on the wing for for Germany so that’s if he’s a wing that’s fine yeah all right and uh the scoop 36 is in our chat saying hey guys I’m Alberto thanks for answering my question you got it sco go scoop 36 send another one in next week all right let’s uh o yes uh let’s see here let’s go to how about this one from David Garcia Jerry’s brother yeah if you guys had the chance to work for or cover a different NHL team what team and why that’s a good question I’m going by market here that’s my where would I like to live is kind of how I’m looking baby is there a team in San Diego Vegas uh San Diego goals goals cover the goals no money in the AHL I already know that there’s barely any money in the NHL I would move to Denver I’d cover the Avalanche I could do that when you get bored with all that winning I get tired of it after a while tired after boy some people probably regret saying that yeah more on that later by the way our dmvr avalan show had Wing gretan today so go check that out when we’re done it’ be really cool if they like you know shared his um contact information probably 999 99 in the old the old slack uh slack Channel that’ be nice yeah that would be that’d be all right um yeah oh man that’s a tough question there we’re talking NHL yeah not just any team okay uh I’d cover the Rangers and I know Greg hates that but i’ I’d go I’d cover the New York Rangers New York and be miserable uh enjoy your $7,000 a month closet cozy yeah uh let’s see where would who would I cover that’s a really good question how about Vancouver i’ like to live in Vancouver Vancouver wouldn’t suck Seattle wouldn’t suck I think Seattle would be a nice nice town to live in uh La San Jose San Jose wouldn’t be bad Northern California is nice not a La uh you know yeah those there’s some good choices out there I I think if I had to settle though I’m thinking covering a successful team in Raleigh North Carolina probably wouldn’t be much would be terrible because that’s a nice area of the country you’re close to a lot of things it’s warmish there most of the year it doesn’t get super cold you got a exciting team I mean that’d be there’s worse coaches to to cover every day than Rod bremore yeah and your vote would matter more sure keep trying to convince my wife that some we move need to move to Wisconsin or Michigan M Michael Evans says Florida or Dallas there just full of too many people from Florida and Texas I don’t know if I’d be able to do that you’re you’re right there are too many people in Florida and Texas or uh Florida and Dallas yeah they just too many Utah have fun see Salt Lake City been there it was okay it was nice it was big lake and uh fairly I mean it was 20 something years ago but uh yeah so like I think I think Denver is my answer right now what about Minnesota cover the mild too cold no too cold yeah okay covering the same team every year for 40 years no I don’t I don’t think I don’t think I could do the Minnesota winners uh every every winter that’s that’s just too much that’s winter there are no Minnesota winners just to clarify what Greg was saying but if you want to be a winner we’ve got the spot for you to do it Circa sport book with those tight moneyline splits and their low hold models at Circa their games strive to be a minus 110 split on the Circa Sports menu unlike other sports books which may use minus 115 or minus 120 splits that’s no good circus Sports keeps as little money as possible on large markets bets like Futures and golf tournaments especially when compared to other sports books they have 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problem with gambling call 1800 Gambler that’s 1800 426 2537 or text GB to 833 234 or you can also visit are you really winning.com I made a bad decision to not bet the Hurricanes last night when they went down one- nothing I thought about I’m like I I think they’re going to win tonight and then I didn’t bet it you blew it you suck you have little faith I know I just I didn’t didn’t pull the trigger anyways I remember that one I’m covering them in five years hey this may our number one draft pick for all things Chryslers Dodges jeeps and Rams got to use the plural has got to be Ray Chrysler Dodge Jeep and RAM in in Fox Lake and right now it’s the season that’s what it says which means not only is May the time you find your next vehicle but you can score huge savings too I think there’s a missing word there for a limited time lease the new 24 2024 Ram 1500 Big Horn crew cab 4 always wanted a big horn 49 a month or shop over 125 Vehicles priced under $20,000 let the amazing team at Ray 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players on other teams and of course let’s start with this one from incognitus McMuffin I had one of those for breakfast yeah uh why are people mock trading Seth Jones and draft picks for Mitch Marner when it doesn’t make sense for either team welcome to the internet incognitus McMuffin cuz people like to do silly things it’s called SEO search engine optimization and when you put two big names in the headline you’re going to get more clicks who would ever do that well we do it here but you know we don’t do it to trick you but I mean honestly like so here’s what here’s the reality is these people like uh was it Shane O’Brien yesterday who is like oh yeah they should be he’s doing the NHL 24 trade well you know you got to make salary work and Seth Jones makes a lot of money and the Leaf needed defenseman so Seth Jones for Mitch Marner and then throwing Nick Felino and a first it’s like you’re just playing pretend it’s just pretend that’s almost as bad as the Conor Murphy and Lucas Reichel for Mitch maret trade here like it’s not that’s so we’ll give you five bad players for a superstar but you get five right you know that’s not how it works and that’s what we said on yesterday’s show was when you come up with these things think about why would the other team do this what is in this for the other team or does it work financially for both teams involved the answer is no for the Leafs that would be taking on more salary when we’re trying to get rid of salary so no no it’s not going to happen it’s not going to happen okay fine let’s move on to this one from Colin who’s at hockey fan 98 Kyle Davidson said the goal tending situation needs to be improved Next Year son moric what are your thoughts about trying to get lonus olark from Boston it’s lenus lus with meanest yes sorry I was thinking of the Peanuts Gang uh it’s no secret Boston has talked about moving on from him could this be an option what would a trade look like for him you’re going to have to give up the farm for Lena Sark the farm uh I don’t know if you have to give up a ton but I mean you’re gonna have to give up a lot but it’s only one year and what is Lena allmark for one year really get you a whole lot of nothing well not much you you have morale on a on a two-year deal you have drew kzo coming up from from Rockford uh probably within that two-year time frame that you have moric um you could bring in Jackson stabber uh keep him in the mix he’s an RFA this year um you have Adam gion that you’re that you’re waiting on uh that I mean he’s going to be you know some some years away I I don’t think for one year at what will be 31 years old uh I don’t think you really need to give up anything to to get Lena alar because I don’t like you said I don’t think it does anything he also has a modified no trade uh list so it doesn’t make sense for lart to come to Chicago for a year either yeah right listen goal tending right now is the least of the Black Ox problems um you know I know solder Bloom was was a huge disappointment last season I know there’s zero trust in him uh definitely in the fan base I’m not sure how much the team itself uh trusts him we’ll find out you can go out and get a a veteran backup you can give the backup job to Jackson stalber next year I’m not 100% convinced the organization is super high on Jackson stalber um yeah he had that great winning streak franchise record winning streak down the stretch played well um but in the playoffs J kzo started four uh three of the four playoff games so what does that tell you that tells you the organization is definitely higher on Drew kesso but that doesn’t mean stabber can’t come back and compete for the backup job because I do they don’t want kzo to come up next year to be the backup they want him to play another full season if possible yeah um so you know do you roll the dice and Hope solder Bloom figures it out and gets better he showed some signs of improvement later in the year and I mean let’s not dismiss the not this past year but the year before where he was pretty decent we all thought coming into this year when I say we all I mean we all people watching the show that were with us all that time like we like yeah we believe at some point he’s going to overtake moric that was a thought that we all for the most part shared together we all WE wall we all wall um but next year yes they want to be improved yes they want to win more games but as far as like the long-term success of this team goes the goal tending is the final piece of the puzzle they want to be set up front they want to be set defensively hopefully when all that happens Drew kzo is here he’s your guy and if not guyen is a year or two behind and he your guy and if not you go get a goalie yeah and I mean look if if kzo is not showing signs of development next year and they’re like oh we kind of got to worry about this as you start to I mean look the way that that Kyle Davidson talked when the season ended was they expect to be in the mix for playoff positioning maybe not make the playoffs next year but at least in the conversation up to close to the end of the year so in two years you would would think the expectation would be really compete for playoff spot slash potentially make the playoffs as a wild card team at that point you kind of need to start getting an answer and goal and I don’t know if you have another two years after that to wait for Guion to figure it out but that’s when you can go sign a guy trade for a guy I like omark a lot I sure if they want to get him for a year I don’t know what it accomplishes and I don’t know why he says yes I’m going to do that yeah I think like we were sort of saying about you know bringing in a big free agent forward right now like why not wait and see what we have first right let’s wait and see what nasar and more and and Bard and Reichel and all these young for you know and whoever they maybe it’s demidov this year um see what they turn into and then you kind of establish okay summer of 25 this is what we need and maybe maybe at that point they feel goalie is one of them because kesso hasn’t taking a step I don’t know I just think this is another year while I think they’re going to be stronger and better and more competitive they’re still in a rebuild year it’s just like kind of the end phases of the rebuild here it’s like the last year or two where you’d still call it a rebuild I think they’re still in the evaluation stage yeah and you know and what does that really do for Peter mirazic where you’re like hey we believe in you we want you to be our guy for the next two seasons here’s his contract extension and oh never mind Leon usark we traded for him you’re now the backup like that’s that’s kind of a I mean you wouldn’t you would do that if the goal was to make the playoffs this year but that’s not the goal the goal is just to be better uh more improved playing meaningful games down the stretch maybe you you know you squint your eyes in uh you you squint your eyes in in March or even February you’re like man if they get hot and three teams go completely cold maybe you can make a wild card but you just you don’t want to be a bottom feeder next year but you’re still not ready to say hey its playoffs are bust this this season so yeah no you know if you didn’t have kzo in Rockford who played really well this season then maybe goal tending is uh more of a a worry but you know the plan hopefully you know in a best case scenario kzo plays another season in Rockford is really good improves upon as already really good rookie numbers and then the following season morazzi and K become that 1 a 1B that you thought you were going to have with him in soda Bloom this year and then he takes over the Reigns and he’s your goalie of the future yeah um I would not be Rick 89 says let sod bom play in Europe and add a fre agent backup it would not Shock me if they sign a veteran for agent backup at least have some competition Camp bring in a guy on a PTO see what happens that’s a good idea there’s a guy uh that is hitting for agency that I think would make a lot of sense he’s not going to be expensive uh he’s going to push he would push soer Bloom out of the way uh Alex njel kovich I I think he’s I think he’s a guy who uh has started a lot of NHL games he’s proven that he can be competent at the NHL level um he’s not going to cost you anything except money so going out and getting Alena alar is going to cost you much more than money so uh I I think if you’re trying to improve the goal tending without sending a message that we are that the team would be taking away uh anything from Peter marzik would be to me I would say is is nalovic n delovic is a good he’s an upgrade if you want to go the veteran route I wouldn’t be mad at bringing back antie rant for a year as your as your backup I know his health issues are not great but if he’s only going to be coming here to play 30 Games 35 games you could live with that and he is a guy who has spent time in the AHL and has seemingly did not complain [ __ ] about it so if if it works out where someone laps him or whatever or he not working out you could send him down and figure it out from there either they have options yeah don’t be surprised to see a veteran goalie on on a on a PTO and training camp I think they’re going to bring someone in to push Soder Bloom instead of just like this past season we’re like hey it’s your job want a lot of pressure there you never really felt any pressure even when he was awful there was nobody coming up behind him ready to to take his job yeah it just meant he would play less yeah and you know get somebody here that can pressure him see what happens maybe it makes him a better goal and if not you got a you’ve got an upgrade right there already am I the only one with a little bit of an ite in my head that’s like maybe this year with morzac was an anomaly and he’s going to be not great for the next two years I don’t know I I he was healthy that was the different it was the first time in a long time he’s been healthy so if he remains healthy I think he’ll be fine he was playing to proof something too yeah like he he had two Sub 900 safe percentage years back to back um you know was was out of you know sent out of town given up a first round pick just to get rid of from Toronto um and coming into this year he was in a contract year so he was out to to prove something and and he proved it and his play after getting the contract extension did not drop off it wasn’t like all right well I got my I got my you know a little bit of security I got my you know the deal I was looking for like he was he was still solid throughout throughout the season so I mean yeah health is the biggest question but I mean if that that remains I I have no reason to feel like he’s just going to fall back off a cliff or anything like that I think there’s you know with with with the way he played and with the expectation that this team is going to do things to improve um I would like to think it’s going to at worst be the same that that’s that’s what I would feel like is is the expectation for moraza going into next year we see all right building off of the goalie conversation rapael said it’s pretty clear soda Bloom is not ready would you guys give Jackson stabber the backup goalie position next season he was really solid this year for the Ice Hawks I’m not giving any I’m not giving anybody the goalie position someone’s got to earn it yeah yeah yeah so as we as we just said bring in a veteran in Camp let Soder Bloom let stabber let this the veteran let kzo let them all try and figure and you take the best one nobody’s going to get be given we gave not we the Blackhawks pretty much gave the backup goalie position to solder bloom last year and that didn’t work out very well so uh you know stalber maybe I mean he’s an RFA yeah you got to bring him back you got you got to resign I think the way he played down the stretch with that 13 game winning streak um you kind of have to bring him back I think at that point like regardless if you’re high on him or not um you know I I think stalber was won a lot of games uh but it took him like 12 wins in a row to get his sa percentage over 900 so he was a guy that early in the year lot won a lot of five to four games games six to five games but then got better as the year went on um so you know we’ll see I I don’t know if he’s a long-term NHL solution but if he’s your best backup goal leag candidate in September and October then yes if he earns the job give it to him yeah I do think he deserves a chance though because he didn’t get one this year despite how well he played Rock uh stabber so I would like to see him get some kind of a look yeah and bejan asks what happened to Dominic Bassie hey there’s a name uh former sixth round pick I want to say 2019 uh he is in the transfer portal in the NCAA uh he played at St Cloud State last year he’s going for his fifth year eligibility so that’s that hey uh if you’re looking for some delicious pizza what as as we all are uh why not stop by SOS on tap located at 1201 on West Grand Avenue in Chicago’s West Town and enjoy their Tavern style pizza and ice cold beers namely their ice cold Kors lights uh whether you are headed to the game want to watch it on their big screen TVs or are watching it from home they’ve got you covered go to Salos pizza.com or call 312 666 3444 and when you mention CH chgo uh you get half off your pizza order again head to Salos pizza.com or call them at 312 666 3444 for more information and of course mentioned chgo get half off your pizza order try the wings C no is delicious yes and as Mario mentioned when you’re at cinos you’re going to want to order a Kors light because nothing is better than beer and pizza it’s just the combination created for each other sit down at SOS crack open that c light chill out and watch the playoffs on their many many TVs it’s a great opportunity to choose chill with Coors Light that’s what we do because it’s Mountain Cold refreshment I know we had some bad weather yesterday people probably had some grilling plans it got cancelled oh you know use the air fryer throw some tendies in there chill out man you can still get that chill mindset with your Coors Light it’s the perfect beer for that and when those mountains turn blue you know it’s as cold Asar Rockies Coors Light is cold logger cold filtered and cold baged for a smoother finish when you Embrace a chill mindset be it in your backyard be it at ceros be it on your couch it’s a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light Kors light is Mountain Cold refreshment crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies not the baseball team make the most out of the times you choose to chill choose Kors light get Kors light delivered straight to your door right now now like this moment with instacart by going to kite.com cgoh hockey that’s coorslight.com chgo hockey celebrate responsibly Kors Brewing Company Golden Colorado my future home the math isn’t mathing I want more likes oh yeah I need some thumbs yeah come on what are we at here I the uh the beer sign is poorly and I can’t see the screen 51 likes that’s not enough that’s not enough likes way more people watching than liking yeah yeah 165 watching only 51 lik shameful takes two seconds shameful is what it is each like improves the draft position of the Blackhawks uh 20th overall pick yes so enough likes and it’ll go to number one it will make uh whoever you like at three or four fall to 20 every like makes Conor Bard a better NHL Center there you go yeah there you go all right let’s get uh back to the sack full of mail and it’s a name that we hear a lot about TR H take your shirt off and a like I don’t know wrong wrong wrong uh video stream we get 500 likes I’ll take my shirt off 500 likes okay when I get home all right white lion fan club hell yeah When the Children Cry Baby I know the Hawks organization is ass deep in Dem ass so why do I want them to sign Montour to get better defensively yeah exactly yeah I I too would not mind Brandon Montour uh I I think that is a upgrade defensively um I think you you can solidify your top four and maybe bump Conor Murphy down to a third pairing uh role which I think your team’s better take yeah I mean it makes your team better so uh yeah Brandon Montour uh if he’s in the market and he wants to be a part of getting Chicago back to its Glory Days um come on down I think I’ll just say this the biggest contract the Hawks signed this summer will be for defenseman I think that they’re going to bring in some forwards to help with the depth but I think they’re going to go get not a superstar defenseman but someone in the four to6 and5 million range of a defense yeah they want I think they want a guy to be for Kevin kinsky what Seth Jones was for Alex Vass this past year of a solid reliable guy that is going to take him under his wing and kind of be a coach on the ice as well as just being a a really good defensive partner to allow kinsky to feel more confident out there and more you know you know he knew I think part of the most of the season last year kinsky probably felt man if I let this guy get behind me we’re screwed because there’s no way Jared Tori or Jacob Magna are getting over to help me so if you have a guy that gives him more confident maybe he becomes more aggressive offensively which is why you drafted him right um so Chris is good Brandon mour wouldn’t hate it mon Al like right-handed 30 years old coming off a3.5 million cont yeah but he’s 30 he might be looking to get that longterm big contract that might be a tough sell give I would give him four years but I do think they want to kind of bump Conor Murphy I think I don’t think they view him as reliable as he once was well he’s when he’s on the ice and healthy it’s he you could do a lot worse than him the problem is what’s his what’s his health stat is going to be it’s he’s it’s been something since he’s gotten here like his style of play some more susceptible injuries to begin with but he’s getting older he’s had you know he had that groin issue last year he’s had back problems in the like those don’t backs and groins don’t really get better either not in this sport grins a little more buts you need both of those to be good at your job and usually I mean yeah a bad back for a hockey player is is especially defenseman is it’s not something you want to unless you’re Jake McCabe who can have back surgery and come back like three days later and still kill people but he cyborg right he’s he’s he’s he’s more machine than man um but uh yeah I I think they kind of want to put Conor Murphy into that third pairing role where hey if he plays 75 games down there and helps another young defenseman awesome yep but they don’t want to I think they want someone that they can they feel that they know will be there for the majority of the games you you don’t know that with Conor Murphy now classic Jones kinsky mour delmastro Murphy that’s pretty good defensive court right there I I like that defense huge upgrade from what we had to watch the last few weeks of the season last year huge how long are you willing to go with a 30-year-old defenseman five six years five years you go six for Brandon Montour five I say five I’d give him a six I mean I think with with the 36y old defenseman I mean he’s not doesn’t have like a I don’t I don’t think he has a a major uh injury history I don’t know I haven’t followed his career that long what’s wrong with you but uh you know five years for me gets him off the books before vastic needs a new contract last three seasons that is going to be a big deal so he played 81 in 2021 22 80 in 2022 23 and 66 regular season games this year so relatively healthy for defenseman that plays that St think he missed part of the SE beginning of the season this year maybe offseason surgery caused him to I think uh was his deal but uh I mean for you just said in general 30-year defenseman um you know I I would go as high as six if it was a guy I really wanted to get if it came down to you know five-year deal he may go elsewhere six year deal locks him guarantees he comes here I would go six for a 30-year-old defense would you rather give him longer or give him shorter more money I’d rather give him shorter more money yeah CU that could be the like if if they don’t want to give him six you can give him four and another million and a half than anybody else can but then you’ve got Bard nzar kinsky all coming off the books with him with a year left on that deal I don’t think it’s GNA really make that much of an issue I don’t think so either I I mean you’re gonna pay him what six it’s not the end of the world no it’s not going to kill you um you know you get creative with these things I I trust Kyle Davidson’s handling of the of the salary cap even though we don’t have a ton of evidence that he’s going to be great at it or bad at it know I mean the Alex vasic deal tells you that hey okay uh that’s a pretty good start the Reel Deal is pretty good I trust him to handle the salary cap better than the last guy well yes I agree so and the cap should be going up as well by the way you were right on mour missed the first 16 games of the season after shoulder surgery right and then that’s so he played every other game he played every game since he came back so he’s not a he’s three years he’s reliable aside from the 16 yeah he’s reliable so yeah um he’s definitely a guy I would consider and bejan asked in the chat how much uh do you think it would take to get Tana of to sign 4 million he makes 1.125 right now you watching what he’s doing right now he’s making himself a ton of money right now uh I think four four and a half five gets it done with him I would think he’s old though yeah that’s a guy you give a lot of money in short term that’s a yeah a twoe deal that’s a twoe deal yeah I’d give him two twoyear 10 million total 11 million sure if it takes if it takes that extra half a million to get him here thing is with tand of and with mour is those guys are leaving teams that look like they’re on their way to Conference Final appearances you know not to jinx any of them but are they going to want to leave that kind of culture to come here and be like hey we might maybe in your time here be kind of okay that’s where the extra that’s where the extra million or2 million dollars come you hope the Dallas or Florida wins the cup and one of those two guys hey work for Jason cmore we’ll never speak that name again oh boy unless this card comes up on yeah right got a big sack of cards by the way from Charlie today nice good stack it’s a crop good very upset I missed Charlie he didn’t all he brought was the uh not all he brought some Jalapeno Mango Mango bacon dip ni very very goodon bacon Jam very good yeah uh let’s keep the uh keep the questions rolling about uh defenseman uh this is from at arcade hawk in your opinions how important how important is it to have a number one defenseman who is good at everything versus having good balanced pairings and power play/ penalty kill Specialists is lunov worth taking over demidov if you already have kinsky for power plays and vasic and possibly Del Mastro for penalty kills I think what defines a number one defenseman is a defenseman that’s good at everything yeah if you have a guy that can play 25 plus minutes a night and be on the power play and kill Penal that’s I mean that’s rare to find in the league that there’s that many guys that do it and the teams that play deep into the postseason uh historically have a guy like that that’s why I like I’m still leaning demidov in the draft what if they take Le shov I’m perfectly happy with that there’s no losing between those two picks no I mean it’s yes I that is very tempting and I do think there’s more offense to vasic game than he’s shown um I don’t know if I don’t know if I would put him up there in like the 50 60 point range which you’d probably talk about for a number one but no I say that I don’t know I I think there’s a lot of ways to do it right if you’ve got six defenseman that are really good and two are offensive and four our shutdown D cool because you could throw Conor Bard on the point or throw demidov on a point if that’s the pick yeah Patrick Kane played the point for years like it’s there’s ways to adjust and adapt to what you have and what you need but ideally yes of course you want Victor hedmond to be on your team for the next 20 years that would be wonderful but there’s not too many of him right yeah I agree all right let’s finish up the mailbag questions with this one from Joe comma Pizza Lover comma Bears fan Hawks fan is my guess uh who from the ice Hogs has the best chance to make opening night roster this year I on The Who that played the majority in Rockford last season um I think it’s doc I me I’m gonna go with Ethan delm delmastro or Kaiser are probably going to get play majority last year in rock uh D Dum I think he had more games in Rockford than Blackhawks Kaiser did at this point would have been close um I think he only had 20 something games in in Chicago and 32 in Chicago 37 in Rockford so that counts um but the Mastro I think is gonna be given every chance to make this team yeah um as far as forwards who played down there I mean it’s it’s really just feels like it’s doc probably I mean I’m I’m a big Ryder rson fan but I don’t think he’s NHL ready yet uh he was not getting ice time in the playoffs yeah I don’t think he’s uh quite there yet he needs at least another AHL year and maybe the NHL isn’t in his future but you never know he’s still young um yeah other than that I mean doc out of the prospects that were down there mhm um there’s still you know there were more prospects in Rockford this past season than the previous year when it was basically just what did Lucas reel dude tonight yeah uh there still wasn’t a ton but there’ll be even more next season um and but yeah I would say out of the full-timers Del Mastro is the guy maybe Nolan Allen Luke Richardson was a big fan of him last uh I think the off season dictates a lot of that too but he got hurt at the end of the year missed the playoffs yeah seen Allen play in the playoffs that would have been nice CU if they signed somebody there’s not a lot of spots left defensively you’re saying yeah yeah yeah that’s true you’ll need a sixth defenseman yeah and somebody for to be the seventh if you want to you got vasic you got kinsky you got Murphy you got Jones yeah for sure yeah so you bring in a guy to do second pairing and then you you know you set up a rotation of delmastro Kaiser to play with Murphy I feel like with those guys though you don’t want you don’t want them sitting like you’d want one of them playing regularly in Rockford one of them playing regularly in Chicago whoever it is probably didn’t want to bring in another veteran that you’re okay sitting 12 games in a row yeah don’t say it I’m getting worried don’t say it height Stu wasn’t that bad that’s not who I’m talking about you know who I’m talking don’t say it Luke really likes him if don’t put it in the universe shut your filthy mouth don’t put the problem see the problem stop if that happens if that happens I don’t trust Luke to keep him out of the lineup why Kyle don’t do it yes exactly protect Luke from himself exactly yeah I’d rather have Luke out there for 30 Games next year if Luke Richardson’s favorite player is detrimental to your team tell luk riches’s favorite player to get lost look buddy we know you like the guy but no no so no uh that’s not going to happen no I don’t think think so no but I not I mean the point remains though you probably don’t want Kaiser and Delmas with one of them sitting it’s different if it’s Isaac Phillips or Lou Crevier who you’ve already kind of said like all right well yeah I mean maybe it you know maybe it’s one of those guys I know what c needs a new they both need new contracts right yeah they do yeah yeah they’re both rvas yeah but you know choose one of those two and have them be your seventh okay you know I don’t think they’re worried about stunting Isaac Phillips but for 22 years old why not sign up for a few more years and maybe he does take a step playing with uh Brandon Montour or Chris tanov or just being around guys like that learning the game learning how to do it um I don’t know you know who’s a free agent this year that that could be a great rotational seventh defenseman Caleb Jones Brent CBR yeah he’s out there n I’m just kidding um yeah I mean who’s who’s like a seventh defenseman that is a free agent this year I would have zero issue if they brought back Nikita Zev on a cheap one-year deal with him knowing that you’re the seventh guy right to play 40 games oh a promotion eh um yeah you’re already here you want 900-year old Alec Martinez no no he’s a guy that if he’s here he’s probably should be playing uh I’m just going down this list Nikita zorov is a free agent he’s going to make some money this summer he’s going to get a general manager yes he is GM is he will make money uh man not a lot of is not super options yeah you want Oliver Eckman LaRon no I mean for 33 years old for 1.5 million sure for one year he’s gonna play though if he’s here how about uh Riley Stillman get him back take you know what it does I mean for a veteran guy who might like accept the role of like seventh defenseman and and be that like potentially could be that good locker room presence if he’s going to play another year do you look at Mark girano maybe I thought you were gonna say uh Jack Johnson for a second no no he he loves Colorado and Colorado loves him too much apparently well the Stanley Cup magic has been it is mar years old yeah I know I’m just saying though like if if he’s a guy that is going to be available wants continue to play and maybe you give them that extra couple hundred thousand to say hey we know we might you you might not be cup chasing here but well and we’ll do our best to help you out at the deadline sure yeah if something comes up we’ll we’ll do our best to put you where you want to be do worse I’d prefer Mark saleros Mark shos no Mark Salo oh Mark instead of Mark judon got it what what’s uh what’s doing these days yeah yeah all right it’ll be interesting empty sack well we got a Super Chat oh there there you go from Super Chat Thomas solada says Thomas 499 do you see rgm doing paper transactions at the trade deadline for ner or slaggert so that they could be Rockford eligible and gain playoff experience uh yeah probably maybe yeah see if they’re not already on that roster yeah I mean you might um you know I wouldn’t be surprised if either of those guys are are play some games for Rockford at some point of the Year either beginning of the Season or you know take uh you need you need a couple weeks to reset um it’s not the worst idea in the world uh get him down there play some playoff games we’ll see what happens yeah I I I would imagine those would be guys that if they were playing in the NHL uh by that time would be told like hey like you know probably not going to be contending for anything here we’re just going to send you down there make you make you eligible and and get that experience uh to play some games that you know are going to matter down the down the road um I it’s very clear that Kyle Davidson values uh that in the um development path for a lot of these guys so yeah I I would not be shocked if that that happens yeah I’m down all right we got uh two playoff games tonight fellas uh we have the Bruins and Panthers at 6 Panthers up 31 in that series and we’ve got uh Vancouver at Edmonton at 8:30 both those games on ESPN either well is the Florida Boston series ending tonight I think so uh I said the Rangers hurricane series ended last night and it did not so I’m going to say uh this game goes to Boston and the series extends does that mean you’re saying it’s it’s over at Florida’s wedding who knows we’ll find out I think Florida knows the power of getting a team out as soon as you possibly can yes uh they did it with the lightning they were on the other side against his very Boston team they were down 3-1 and B you know Boston I I think they’re done they’re just they don’t have Florida just beats your ass and wears you out good really deep whether they take you out physically literally they just wear you down they don’t stop so I think it’s over Oilers one’s interesting did I is Calver picker starting tonight good question did what I’ve seen uh I didn’t know if that was a fever dream or if I actually read that this morning that’s that’s yes he does Calvin peard that is a first career playoff start tonight that is a choice I don’t know I mean I know I like his quote today I’m fighting for my life every game Jesus Kelvin you’re doing it wrong buddy uh that’s that’s would you rather hear would you rather hear that from your goalie or nothing matters we’re all going to die one day from your go I kind of like the second one from a goalie cuz can we can we land somewhere in the middle um that’s a choice I I mean Skinner hadn’t hasn’t been great but he hasn’t been terrible uh I mean the Oilers what’s his goals against percentage it’s not I know it’s because he’s not facing a lot of shots but like uh Vancouver has definitely lived this series of the quality not quantity a v variety of shots uh but a journeyman AHL backup goalie you’re going to give him his first career playoff start down 21 it’s not good I don’t know if I make that call like we’ll see uh right now I think Edmonton wins that game anyway just because they’re they’re in desperation mode they need to even is that a take the over situation I would say so I would what is the over now probably eight I don’t know depends what the depends how good the goal post do tonight I mean usually hockey over unders are either five and a half or six and a half I mean this one’s got to be at least six and a half over yeah steuart Skinner in the playoffs 3.22 goals against 877 percentage I think he has a sub 80 say percentage in the series not good it’s not great um I still don’t know if it’s bad enough for me to give Picard a chance but there it’s not my choice to make uh we talk about the other two series real quick uh Carolina another big win Carolina has been the best team in this series all five games yeah um are the Rangers uh about to make a Monumental collapse here I mean they’ve been outplayed all five games I don’t know the pressure is now on the Rangers that’s for sure that’s true sure game six in Carolina I think that place is going to be up for grabs Carolina force is a game seven that’s going to be fun oh hell yeah give me all the game sevens you can I whoever whether the Rangers win game six or seven or the hurricanes make this unbelievable comeback I think they’re just going to be fodder for the Panthers in the conference F I mean that’s how it I honestly it feels that way too in the west it’s really looking like it’s going to be Panthers stars in the final Dallas looks really good they beat the hell out of the Avalanche Avan are in trouble I and it was funny they also just lost one of their best players yeah the the Val cushin he’s uh forced into the wellness program it seems this way yeah he suspend it without pay means it’s not it’s not a hey I think I should do this it’s you’re doing this yeah it’s not great it’s the second straight year he’s had an issue in the playoffs S I hope he gets you know obviously as someone who has uh battled uh addiction and and knock on wood uh have still fought it off here for at least one more day um you know I just hope he gets the the help he needs um you know when that when that story broke yesterday I expected it but I was also disappointed in the amount of people’s First Reactions of oh great you know great timing blah blah blah now the ABS you know they’re worried about the ABS they’re worried about getting out of his contract that’s your if that’s your first reaction when a guy is obviously battling addiction issues yeah think bigger picture think about the human being yes he’ll get to a point where he realizes he’s let his team down and feel awful about that but you have to have Clarity before you can even think about that he needs to get to that point um and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of if things go right and he gets to recover there’ll be a lot of time for in you know looking inwards and and admitting it is uh but that’s a daily process um so I just hope he gets the help he needs and is able to live a long healthy life and and beat whatever uh his addiction is but the ABS are in serious trouble it was just funny because after we talked after game two and I said man even though it’s 1 one if I’m the Stars I’d be a little worried right now well I’m not worried right now if I’m the Stars anymore that you know Devon Taves missed last night’s game an illness can you ever remember a Stanley Cup playoff with so many guys missing games with illnesses yeah it’s weird or is that like the new code word for concussion could so they know what to tell so Conor McDavid doesn’t slash it like the description the description of got an illness in my ankle the the the the postseason description of what happened with Austin Matthews was so bizarre did you see that where Brad tree living was like he had head injury issues that’s called a concuss buddy say it it’s called a concussion yeah a concussion um so yeah I think Dallas is all all but moving on um but man you know both Conference Finals should be good and we maybe should uh discuss off air going out and watching one of those games I like that idea we can do that we should do it a little bit of a watch party action yeah once we get the uh schedules for those series out pick a night that works for everybody out there maybe we’ll go to slos I think so try the wings sounds good you do that it sounds like a lot of fun you know what else sounds like fun talking to cam Robinson on Thursday and Brenan Pini on Friday mhm that’s what we’re going to do this week do that we’re going to be back tomorrow at 2:30 on Wednesday as we always are but Thursday cam Robinson so more Draft preview Friday Brennon perini some hockey stories catching up with him he’s got a new YouTube page where he’s shared some really cool stuff so far and we’ll get more of that from him so it’ll be interesting to hear about his journey and his time in Chicago and all that stuff so we look forward to that in the meantime before you go please smash that like button for us we are under 100 likes which is weird that’s not right please make make sure you smash that like button for us and subscribe to the YouTube page as well and if you’re listening on the good oldfashioned podcast apps we love you as well make sure you are following make sure you have those notifications turned on and please take 30 seconds to leave us a five-star review on Apple podcast or Spotify again as long as it’s five stars you could talk all the crap you want about us in the comments just say five stars they could use more of this or this guy smells or whatever it might be um it’s probably me that smells um can you tell that through video you they got the stink lines and everything uh the five star review is what matters so please do that for us we would really appreciate that and uh we’re going to wrap things up so we’ll be back tomorrow at 2:30 Regular Show then Thursday with Cam Friday with peini it’s going to be a fun week stick with us make sure you’re subscribed to chgo Blackhawks [Music] podcast like the mayor