Another Tkachuk Exodus

Speaking of the song do you remember the show sticking around? No, what was that? It was on YTV was like it was a cartoon Well, I'm gonna look this up. The main character always went hey guys. Oh, yeah, yeah, I love YTV nostalgia Oh, so good. I don't know were you too old for the weekenders? No Now Oh, I love the charm buckets my body still says later days. I'm like Welcome to 32 thoughts the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers at the 2026 Tacoma It's time to Toyota Kyle Elliott and Dom back with you. Hope everyone had a great father's day those who were Celebrating the father in their lives those who were being celebrated Elliott I hope you had a great father's day also. How are you feeling? My voice is back mostly I feel much better. Thank you and Even if it wasn't I know the audience was gonna say suck it up. We need a pod So yes, I was ready to play hurt But I'm not that badly hurt. How was your first father's day Kyle? Really special really special had a great morning at home went to an Oka toke Stogs game in the afternoon The weather cooperated it was a little iffy going in but it was spectacular. Thanks for asking It's cool to be part of the club Awesome to be part of the club. I don't want us to talk about this No, no, no, they want us to talk about Keith Kachak's father's day He may have had the best one of them all I have to tell you Elliott when I saw the Seattle Florida trade That sent Mackie Samus gave it to the Kraken and the first round pick going back to Florida I thought how long are the Panthers gonna hang on to that one and it turns out it was barely a few hours The blockbuster so far of this offseason an absolute wapper Here on Sunday Brady Kachak captain of the Ottawa Senators is now a Florida panther He joins his brother Matthew down in sunrise for three first round picks and a second round draft pick as well going back to the Ottawa Senators I mean there's a lot to unpack here Elliott Let you choose where you want to start But it feels like that team USA Olympic group chat strikes again There's so many places we could go out of this, but since you mentioned that Let's start there first so We've talked on this pod Kyle about how after the Larkin one got out there were more and then came the nurse one and We mentioned how people were getting angry that all of these were getting out, but we thought they were still going to be more And you know the really challenging thing for that group of team USA players Kyle Is that now the other ones no matter what they say or what their team say Nobody's gonna believe it It's Nobody's gonna take it at face value Everybody's gonna expect the worst There've been rumors about Werenzky. There've been rumors about Matthews. There've been rumors about Hello-Buck I think the Hello-Buck one we kind of realize now You know Winnipeg and Hello-Buck really work to try to keep this private, but we see what it is now the reporting is Dripping out drip drip drip drip drip drip. Yes Winnipeg is considering it. That's everything that we need to know You know with Werenzky. There's been reports about it the Columbus fans have pushed back hard Matthews, I think he starts next year in Toronto, but the bottom line is because of the way everything here is unfolded Nobody's gonna buy any of this And that's gonna be a real challenge for these players and these teams to navigate Now if you've looked what Toronto's done over the past week and when I think they're going to do Toronto I think is going full steam ahead on Austin Matthews is starting next year and everything we do is about making that work That's Toronto's plan you've seen it by them Trading and signing radish and we'll talk about them more in a few minutes Columbus is in the same situation Ottawa was and again, it's not exactly the same Kyle Werenzky is an American player playing an American city as opposed to Kachak an American player playing in a Canadian city And I know there's a lot of people who are definitely point that out But we've also seen an American player Larkin already asked out of an American city where he thinks they're too far away from winning and Look, there's been some noise around Werenzky and I think What happened here with Kachak Probably makes Don Waddell think a little bit Because Ottawa makes this deal Kachak has two years left on his contract same as Werenzky now This all happened and we'll do the play-by-play in a couple of seconds But this all happened Because Ottawa asked Kachak Two years from now, what are the chances that? You resign here and I don't know if he said no chance I don't know if he said unlikely. I don't know if he said probably not Whatever the case is Ottawa walked out of that meeting thinking they had to do this So I don't know look we just saw Columbus signed Charlie coil six times six and At that time Kyle what do we talk about they want to win now because they know they've got to keep Werenzky I think the only thing you look here the only question you really ask here if you're Don Waddell is Does what happened with Kachak change your thinking at all? Do you look at this and say same thing's gonna happen to me or do you look at it the way Toronto's trying to look at it which is We're going for it and we'll take our chances So this is what happened with Kachak You'll remember They get knocked out of the playoffs. He goes right home for the right reason He is his wife is due he sees the baby born hours after they're defeated therefore he's not in town for The exit meetings Steve Steyos goes and visits him in New Jersey where he lives and In that meeting he asks like I said what are the chances we can keep you after your contracts up and Whatever the answer is Auto is like we have a choice to make here and They could have stuck Kyle they could have said you know what? We'll keep you next year and we'll roll the dice and I think this is the thing that I really think auto will probably had to way Kyle They're in win now mode Like this is now Stutzlis team and this is now Sanderson's team They are your two big tent poles now your two biggest cornerstones and They're in the primes of their career And they are in contracts that are going to age beautifully as the cap rises You cannot rebuild now if you're Ottawa you can't go into rebuild mode around these two guys in the primes of their career on those contracts You can't you're You have to You got there's a fork in the road what it's you'll you bear as old line when you have a fork in the road take it but You can't Retrie it just doesn't make sense you have to find a way to add and that's what they're going to do You'll remember we did that interview with Brady Kachak right before the playoffs and the ferocious reaction it had It happened too much in Ottawa. There was it was too distracting. I Think post-alimpics It became a problem in the room and It was constantly it was debating the market that the fans didn't want and the team didn't want Nobody wanted anymore. Everyone was tired of it and the other thing too is this was gonna get out I really thought that Kachak would be traded this week at the draft. I think we were not far away from this exploding on the scene and Steve sales just said I am doing this before the damn verse and initially he gave them four teams Carolina, Florida, Minnesota and Vegas and you know, I'll say this one of the reasons I think it stayed quite as long as it did was it involved two teams in the final and so that kept it quieter for longer, but I've been told by multiple people it became very clear that Florida was the team you wanted to go to and because he had a no move clause, he could wrap it tight and that's what he did and Steyos, I think he tried to get a roster player like a good one and Florida just helped. They were like, nope, nope. And at the end of the day Steyos just took the best deal he could get and now and I think the thing for the Sanders is the true judge of this deal Kyle is what they do with these picks. They'll try to add. So I think it's not going to be Brady Kachak for three first and a second. It's going to be Brady Kachak for whatever these picks get you. And I really wonder Elliott between the draft capital and now the extra space that they have on their books like do they go are they a team that potentially goes off for sheet hunting. If there's a guy out there that a winger we presume they can give you some scoring. Are you talking about Jason Robertson here? I'm talking about Jason Robertson, but it can go farther than that. Like I watch, I don't know about you Elliott watching. I mean we'll see what happens between Zach Benson the Sabers. If that guy is an RFA past July 1st, like he was incredible to watch. We saw what Logan St. Coven did in Carolina as a smaller body. That guy has a motor that just does not stop. He would be a very intriguing candidate for me also. I've got no no intel on all this. Like that's just from what watching four rounds of the playoffs this year in terms of guys that really jumped off the page seeing in person. He was another one. But Jason Robertson's an obvious one that's been out there for a while in terms of potential out of interest. So Kyle, every year we talk about the offer sheets. Every year people are like stop talking about offer sheets. They never happen. This has already been a bonkers here. All I'll say is I'm hearing the same rumors that there's some coming. I don't know. I don't know if I want to put too much stock in it. It could be the big bad wolf huffing and puffing and blowing the house down. But it's already been a wild off season. Why not make it a little crazier. Yes. Like this is approaching NBA territory. Remember for a number of years there, their off season was cannot miss day after day. It was one big trade after another bombshell signing. And it's kind of starting to turn that way a little bit in the NHL here. We have talked about this on several pods now. How the league is changing. How the players are getting more and more power. And don't you think, Elliot, as you mentioned the the teams that Brady gave, even though it was clear there was one really he was interested in going towards. In fact, Carolina was there. It was interesting. But well, don't forget that Matthew was almost traded to Carolina. Right. Right. When when Matthew was traded to Florida at the end, it was Florida and it was Carolina. And Carolina's package was natious. Nakedion. I think the flames had to take Jake Gardner's money. And there was a first or two one or two first as part of it. So I wondered if the fact that Matthew almost went to Carolina featured in Brady's initial list. Right. And of course, what they've just accomplished, I'm sure it didn't help. Yeah. Or didn't hurt matters either. But the point I'm getting to, in fact, Vegas, Florida, the Minnesota's becoming a popular team to end up on a list here in these sort of situations just seems it's a lot of the same names. Elliot, they're coming up here and I wonder is is Gary. Under fire. Are we moving towards a place not far from now where Gary will be a thing of the past. Because all the best players seem to all want to go to the same teams right now. There's a lot of those that are flexing their muscle this way. There's a lot of interesting questions about that. And you know, one of them is and it's unfortunate that this is not a central draft anymore because we could ask all the managers while they're together. But now they'll all get the questions, especially the Canadian ones. Like are the Canadian GMs going to say we're not drafting US national team development team players. And would the US national development team players care that Canadian teams might be afraid of them. Yeah, that's a great point. And you'll I'll say this and this is going to this this will end badly. This is me touching the third rail, which is never a good thing. And you may think I'm right. You may think I'm wrong. You may agree. You may disagree. That's all fine. You're entitled to your opinion. I deal with what I believe is the truth. And what I believe is the truth is that the way the American players who won the gold medal felt in their Canadian markets post Olympics is a factor here. I think some of those guys, not all of them, but some of them felt a bit hated and it might have influenced their decisions. Again, you may think that's their problem. You may think that I shouldn't even be bringing that up, but it's a fact and it's part of this process. Right. So nothing I wanted to ask and maybe it's all irrelevant here now. But for all the different times that that storm swirled around Ottawa of could Brady be on his way out? Could this be it for the Senators captain, how long until he has moved elsewhere? Do you think that drove kind of the bigger momentum behind him finally saying it was time or whatever the message he gave Steve Stales that gave him that question that he told them he wanted to be traded now. I just think he told them I think they asked them what are our chances that we can keep you in two years. Right. But between that answer and you said things were different post Olympics there. Yes. It's you're reading the tea leaves. Yes. Even if you don't say it. I don't have made the choice at the end of the day. So I just wonder if that's what ultimately drove there. It was just simple going. Yeah. Look, the allure to go play with my brother in Florida is too good to pass up. I think at the end when he realized the trade was actually coming, he made sure it was Florida. But you know, I'll say this. I spoke to a couple of people today after the trade. And you know, now, one of the things people can speak is now that it's over. You can talk a little more freely. They said there were a few weeks there post Olympics in Ottawa that it was crazy. Crazy how? Just the bullbacking is so intense. So intense. And I think he was affected by it. I think the being the Canadian capital, the fans there were affected by it. I think he was affected by it. And I think the room got affected by it. Like one thing I don't like is I don't like it when a guy gets traded. And instantly there's this explosion of character attack. I really try to avoid that. I I don't like it when that happens. I think-- But the one thing it's fair to say is that the post-alimpy reaction had a huge impact on everybody there. Fan base, Kachak himself, and the players around him. It was just a lot. Like one player just said, it was a lot. It was intense. It was a lot and it was exhausting for everybody. All right, so yeah, and it all kind of starts to make sense that this is where we end up. So it's no question where Ottawa is going from here. It just comes down to what they do with the added draft capital. They now have. We got a ton of cap space. And all that too. So they've got options. And we'll see how much of those muscles they intend to try to flex. You saw it there was play. He was never afraid of using his muscle. He'll try. I mean, he'll try. And that's kind of been his emulsence. He took over an Ottawa. Like he's tried to do things. Hasn't always happened. But push to make the Dylan Cousins move. Made a few others. You know, he has tried stuff. But now it's. The pressure feels a little different just because as you say, I mean, we said it after Shane Pinto signed his contract last season. Like this is the go zone for Ottawa. Yeah. And this doesn't change it. Yeah, even if you're not. Somebody said to me, Ottawa's be building now. No, not happening. I agree. I totally agree. The other thing I wanted to mention here is I'm curious to see the other guy I wondered about for this is Steve Iserman. Because he knew about Larkin's request around the same time. And so I think they're going to trade him. I think Iserman looks at it like we have to move on. Can't bring him back. Have to move on. But I don't know if he would accept this trade. And it's not a shot at stales. Everybody's situation is different. I just wonder if Iserman looks at this and says it changes his feeling on what he's willing to do. I suspect no, but it was one of the things I thought about. And I still think Minnesota prefers Larkin over Kachak. They need a center. Okay. So how about Florida? I mean, we all can even before this, we looked at this year for them going, taking a season to rest up, get healthy again. And that's a very good team that's going to come right back at it in the fall. Now they had the other Kachak brother into the equation. Do we know what they're doing in net yet? So Babroski, I have a theory on who could be interested. We'll get to that in a second. So Nick mentioned last week that he was looking for a long term deal like six years. We've talked about that. I agree with him that he looked at the deals that Aaron Eckblad got and Brad Martian God, who was his age and he said, well, if they get them, I should be able to get them too. And there was some talk this week that Florida was willing to give him some term, but nowhere near that kind of A A V like it was term with a bit lower A A V. And you know, the other thing is it also came out that Carolina could have had him at the deadline. I heard Babroski was offered up to a couple of contenders. Like there were a couple of contenders. Carolina wasn't the only one that was asked if they had interest in him. And I think that Florida may have actually done it as a kind of favorite of Babroski, that it doesn't look like we're going to sign them and we're trying to help them get into a good place. But obviously that didn't happen. I just don't think they see his value where he sees it. And I kind of have to go through this and figure out they still have a little bit of cap room. Like Kyle, if they're not willing to trade, unless they're willing to trade someone to win a peg that they weren't willing to trade to Ottawa, I don't see how they're going to get hellabuck. They would have to be willing to move someone that they weren't willing to do there. If not, I wonder if they look at a guy like Erson because it doesn't sound like Toronto's married to him or we just have to find out other goalie options that could be there for them. Because yeah, not only is Babroski a you have a so too is terraced of of course, right? So they've got a number of decisions to make there. They had Brandon Bussey, they had him. And now he's a member of the Stanley Cup champion, Carolina Hurricanes. Is there anything else Elliot on Kachak for now that you want to touch on? No, I don't think so. Okay, we've covered it. Big one on Sunday. Who boy? And just been a wild week because you were getting healthy again. We didn't get a chance to chat on Friday. So kind of going back through a few things that have happened over the last just under a week here now, but it's been a busy one in Toronto, Elliot. They had the trade with Philadelphia, you know, Joseph Woll. So won't Benwar now flyers, Samerson, the Mule Andre are within the Leafs organization. They hired a new hand coach Jim Hiller is now the bench boss of the Leafs, previous as an assistant there. When Mike Babcock was the head man for four years, then they bring in Darren Radish on defense, sign him, do an eight year deal at eight and a half per. What do you want to start with all that's been going on in Leafland? Well, first of all, Hiller, I heard that's three years. I believe most of the coaches that have been hired are three year deals this year and Hiller is no different. So that's one item. I mean, the radish one when tree living was the GM, I heard they were going to go after them hard and obviously that philosophy didn't change under Chica. They went out and they got them and I don't think Tampa was going to do what Toronto was willing to do. As a matter of fact, most people seem to think they would be surprised if John Carlson doesn't end up in Tampa. But he's likely to go to the lightning on a short term deal for big dollars, but it would be considerably less in terms of overall dollars. Like his AAV might end up even higher potentially than Radish's just obviously for shorter term. You know, Radish is an interesting guy. He had the huge year last year. I was looking, he's top 50, two years ago, or rather three seasons ago, he was 44th and even strength points. Last year he was or two years ago, he was 33rd. This year, of course, he had the big year. So I look at this for Toronto. Like I said earlier, they're all in. They have the number one pick this year and then they don't have their first rounder the next two years, right? They do have the one from Nick Waw and the Colorado trade, but they don't have theirs. So they have no desire to tank. Again, they're trying to please Matthews and show that they can win and rebuild quick. And that is what is influencing their decisions. Also Radish, they give up a fifth rounder and to them, it's just money, right? So they'll take their shot. They think they're a better team in the short term with them and they'll take that bet. And anyone who's watched Toronto's power play and you have Kyle, they were, I mean, not a lot of goals are scored from the point anymore, but you can cause a lot of chaos with a good shot back there. They haven't had that in a long time. So they're banking that that's going to make them better. I still think they could be a fascinating team. I still think even though they trade for Erson, I'm not convinced they keep them. I think they're looking in goal. Bennington. If he's available, they'll check it. Hello, Buck. I don't know that it's likely. They'll check it. Bobroski. Don't forget Anthony Stolars won a Stanley Cup backing up Bobroski. Nobody knows him better. And Steve Lawrence was Bobroski's shooter. That's right. He's Bobroski's guy. He will always be loyal to Bobroski because Bobroski kept him in the NHL because he would go shoot on him every morning. So there's two guys there who know him extremely well. Wouldn't shock me if he ended up being their guy potentially. And again, if they do that, it's another guy who won't cost you anything but money. And that's kind of the way they look at it. If they have to do something somewhere down the road, they will. And like I said, I think Chica is sitting on one or two other moves that he could do. To really change his team. Now do you think he is at all interested in trading Matthew knives? Because his name's been out there. Of course, there was everything swirling around him under true living at the deadline. That went away. Didn't happen. Chica and Sundine come in. Do you have a good sense about how they feel about Matthew knives? So I on another team who I trust the most said they think Toronto could go either way. They said that they're happy to keep him. It's good player. They're happy to keep him and they'll make you work together. Like what is the Brady Kachak deal? Doodanize. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's a team in Toronto's division. Yeah. The night you got to worry about trying to match those two. Those two. I was everybody else. They got out of the way. I might not be so quick to move them if I have to deal with those two guys. And I will say too, as much as like going in the last year, the conversation was, okay, I was asked to Matthew's going to feel and handle Mitch Mariner no longer being around. I think we overlooked and we kind of saw it as the year played out. How much of an adjustment that was for knives? Once he got there, how Mariner plays and the way he kind of figured out how to play off him. And then that goes away. I think that was a big adjustment for him. There was a hell. I think he was a good player. I do too. But I just like there was just there was an adjustment here. I think he's only getting traded. Kyle, if you look at the deal and you say, oh, okay, I understand why that happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But someone said to me that the lease of indicated they'll be happy to keep them. They don't feel they sure don't feel pressure to move them. They could, but they don't feel pressure to do it. No, I mean, the guy's signed. He didn't feel any pressure at all. But they could be a fascinating, fascinating team this week. I just hope it doesn't happen at two in the morning. But this is the week it does. Right. You're still trying to get back to 100%. By the way, we mentioned, we mentioned, uh, Hiller three years. So carbery got an extension this week in Washington. And another coach told me they like him so much that they ripped up. He had one year left on his current deal. They ripped it up. Wow. They gave him. This is normally they'll extend you all starting two years. No, they ripped it up. They ripped up his last year and they gave him a new extension. I think it's like four years. And he's, I don't know exactly where he'd rank now in terms of highest paid coaches, but he's in the upper echelon. Like I think one, I think Cooper and Sullivan are both around seven million. And I think the board is at five, seven, five. Then I think it's, um, I think it's talking at five and a quarter. I don't know where Lavi led ended up here. But carbodies, I think just below that group here and it good for him. Yeah. Jack Adams winner has done a lot of good things in in Washington in a short time being there. Well, it's been a few years now, but you can tell he's cultivated a really good atmosphere with the cap capitals. And while we're on the topic of coaching Elliott, uh, so yet, the last week news came out and the league put out a statement that Mike Babcock has been clear to coach in the national hockey league. And we're all looking at Edmonton. You reported that you anticipate something early this week here by way of an announcement. So suppose we're counting down the hours until Edmonton announces the hiring. Yes. So they announced Jason Dickinson on Sunday. He got extended. It sounds like Connor Murphy is getting done could be today. But it sounds like Murphy is going to get done as soon as today. And then we'll see when they announced Babcock, but unless barring a strange snag, that one is happening to now. That statement from the NHL was his backhanded as it gets. What did it say? Are you referring to the line? Our investigation has concluded that even in a light least favorable to Mr. Babcock, there is no current basis to restrict his employment in the league. Yeah, that was, uh, that was an interesting way to put it. It said to me that the league isn't incredibly thrilled about this. And they want the oilers and everybody else to know it as such. But look, Batman is a lawyer. Bill daily is a lawyer. And as long as there was nothing legally that could prevent them from bringing Mike Babcock back, they weren't going to do it. They weren't going to stop it. There had to be a legal reason for them not to do it. And I'll tell you, I heard from a lot of people who were very upset about it. They were hoping that somehow the league would say no. But that obviously didn't happen. You know, there, as I mentioned, when they really began their investigation, you know, we knew about the phone incidents with some players. And there was, I reported there was one other incident they were looking into. And I heard that that also involved some kind of invasion of privacy and the player cooperated. But didn't stand in the way or didn't provide anything that could legally prevent him from coming back. And you know, like we also said last week, I think the others were all in on this. They weren't backing down. I don't think their players were backing down. You know, I heard from a couple of people that when he met with the three others players, it was some meeting. Like I heard, they really grilled him hard. And I heard he spoke to them about their own role in the fact the others hadn't won yet very bluntly. But they're going to do this. And, you know, I, you know, I mean, I don't know if my Babcock ever thought he'd get this chance again. I think a lot of people, I think the NHL was surprised. I think the PA was absolutely surprised, shocked and disappointed. You know, I, I hope he recognizes the opportunity. And I hope he does it the right way. Because if it, if it goes badly, a lot of reputations are going down here. It's a big responsibility. Geez. Yeah, you said it. So a few of the things we wanted to get to, Elliott almost lost with all the news of the contract trade and all that. Not a bad day of business for for the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, right? We mentioned getting San Luis Gavitch out of Florida who was becoming a heck of a player. And then they re up with Bobby McMahon, who they acquired at the Trade Deadline six-year deals, 5.75 life-changing numbers for the late bloomer out of Wainwright, Alberta, 29 goals last year, a career high, perfect time to do it. And McMahon cashes in with the Kraken. - Yeah, it was a good marriage between them. That's for sure. I'm always happy to see someone get paid. It's not exactly radish, but it's kind of similar, late bloomer. And guy you wouldn't have expected would be signing that kind of contract at this point in their career, very happy for him. Seattle I think has really tried to get business done out there. I think they've been making a lot of calls. I gotta tell you, like one thing that happened to them last week was they caught some strays from Kelly McCrimmon, the GM of the Vegas Golden Knights who took a real run at them. So Kyle, I was looking at that and I was like, if I was the Kraken and I ran them, I would have that quote up in every room. I would want everybody seeing red every day that someone in the league felt they could publicly talk about us like this. Because nothing will kick up your pride worse than that. Like when you told people at the Stanley Cup Final that I was the worst teammate you ever worked with, it really motivated me to be nicer to you. (laughing) I was hoping that wouldn't get out. - Yeah, Amber, Amber said you were telling him that four times a day. - So that's good. You submarine me to Amber, Amber submarine me to you. - Yeah. - It's like the one you like. - Excellent stuff. - Yeah, excellent stuff. - The same day. - But, you know, I would be, remember when, remember when Crosby lost the Stanley Cup for the first time in the next summer, he worked out with the picture of Zetterberg there. Like every day he looked at the picture of Zetterberg and the next year they won the cup. That's what I would do. - And he always got that every picture of every winner, every captain. - Yeah. - And Ken and. - I would have that quote up everywhere. But Seattle, like they're really out there and they're really trying. I like Samus Cave, which is a player. I mean, obviously hours later we saw by Florida did that. They wouldn't have had room for him anymore. But, you know, he's, he's a good, he's a good solid player. And I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to add good players. I think Seattle would like to aim higher. You know, I don't feel like, I like to bring it up every pod, but there was the penaren shot last year. So I think that they will always try to do something like that again. Like if talk gets to market, I have to think they're one of the teams sitting there saying, we want you and we want you bad. We'll see where that all goes. - Okay, three other names you wanted to touch on, Elliott. Vladimir, Teresenko, Val Nachuskin and Jacob Truba. - Yeah, so. Teresenko has changed agents again. I think he set the NHL record for most agents. He's the, how would the Mike Sylinger of agent swapping? - That's just teams, not agents. - No, but of agent swapping. - Yes, he's the Mike Sylinger of agent swapping. That's right. So Teresenko has changed agents again, which is obviously a sign that he's not going back to Minnesota. I've started to hear Nachuskin's name a little bit. Colorado looking for some flexibility, I think. His name is out there, we'll see. And Truba, it's interesting. Truba, like Anaheim's D, Carlson is now going to market. And like I said, I think a lot of people would be surprised if he ended up in Tampa Bay. And Truba, I think, is going to market and looks like Gouda's is too. By the way, there was some talk about Gouda's in Toronto. I would love to see that. Think of the content, Kyle. Think of the content. Radco, Gouda's in Toronto, but I don't think that's going to be happening. - Oh, endless possibilities. - Yes. - Half to open up some old wounds, but it would create some marvelous, marvelous content. I'm with you. Okay, well with that then, why don't we get to the final thought which is brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers and Elliot's a few people wanted to recognize here. First being one of the trailblazers, really, when you look at the world of hockey bloggers and one of the first to do it, Paul Cookla, passing away last week. - Yeah, really said, you know, Cookla's corner for a lot of us was kind of like the first aggregator site, what's going on in the NHL that a lot of us dealt with online, right? And the thing I like to know, Paul, is that he did it in the right way. He was very careful not to take things out of context. To, he wasn't afraid of like longer links, not just a quick bite that maybe distorted what the meaning was. I've had some issues, like in my job, you have to be careful of what you say, ultimately it's your responsibility, but there are times people do really hang you out to dry. I don't think I ever had an issue with Paul. He was always very good at that, plus he was a really nice guy and he really loved hockey. And unfortunately in the last few years, he'd had some health issues. And I was just really sorry to hear the news. I thought Paul was really good at getting the hockey news out across the interwebs and then social media quickly, accurately, and in a way that was easy to handle, whether you were a diehard fan or somebody who was a little bit new. So I just wanted to send my best to Paul's friends and his family. And the second thing I wanted to do is, you all know by now, there was an announcement last week from SportsNet and CBC that we're not going to be on CBC next year, which basically brings Hockey Night in Canada as is known to an end. As somebody who grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada his entire life and was honored beyond belief and he got the opportunity to work for it. I think I have the same reaction as everyone else and that I'm sure to see it go. It's a new world. It's a new day. The content, the way it's received by people is constantly changing. And you know what the rights fees are getting higher and higher. I think, Kyle, you and I working in this business as much as we loved and honored to be at Hockey Night in Canada. I think we all knew there was the possibility that this day was coming, doesn't make it any more enjoyable. But I'm not as upset about the brand as I am about the people. There are 10 people who are CBC employees who were huge parts of our broadcast at SportsNet and over the last 12 years. And it's likely impossible that all 10 of them will no longer be part of the show just because of the employment contracts and the logistics of how things work. So I just wanted to shout them out. Brian Spear and I have worked together most of the last 30 years. We met each other as interns at the fan and we worked together at the score and we worked together at Hockey Night in Canada. He was the producer of the Big Saturday studio show. Just a guy I've known for a long time and it's going to be really weird, not being with him. Kathy Brotterick, I don't know how I'm going to function without Kathy Brotterick. She was the person who was sort of the number two next to Brian in the studio for a long time. On the road at the Stanley Cup Final, for example, she was the one who would get to the rank first on media day. This is your location. This is where you have to be. This is your technical crew that's working with you. This is where our green room is. This is where they would travel our suits. This is where your suits are. This is who your makeup person is. Everything. She was the person who coordinated everything. She was the woman with all the answers. With all the answers. And also she has great questions in terms of, did you think of this? I know you're working on this. Are you aware of this? You're sending some viz to the studio that you want for your hit. Do you have all the right people's numbers? She would coordinate who's responsible for what on each off day? Just a hugely influential person and a person who took care of all of us and make sure everything ran smoothly. Joel Darling, if you guys really hate me on the air, blame him because he's the guy who hired me 23 years ago. He was the executive producer of Hockey Night in Canada at the time. So ultimately he had to approve my hiring. And Joel has a trick. We golfed a couple of weeks ago. I forgot he does this. He always carries a rubber snake with him on the golf course. And he freaked out Amber once years ago. And I've always remembered when you're golfing with Joel, the rubber snake is coming out at one point. And we played once this year at Piper's Heath, great course. And yes, he threw out the rubber snake. And I go startled for like half a second, but then I remembered what it was. I didn't jump around like Dave did though. But I also wanted to shout out Anne Marie Majerie. Nobody loved hockey in Canada more than Anne Marie Majerie. Basically ran the office for us. Martin Bailey, Matt Rines, Jason Murdoch, great stats guy, Cuthbert's favorite stats guy, Ryan ZDB, Ac Rod McLaughlin, Josh Wilder, and Font person Supreme Carl Creight. So those 10 people might no longer be part of the group. And I'm going to miss them all. They were a big part of the last 23 years of my life. Yeah, excellent. And I mean, I work closely, particularly with Jason and Ryan, Matt Rines, did a number of games with over the years. So Josh Wilder, he would do, he was in charge of the graphics. So when we had something of an idea that needed more treatments on the you couldn't just do in the production truck, you would go to Josh. So I always enjoyed the opportunity to try to put our heads together and come up with stuff. And he did some wonderful work in bringing some ideas to life. And Kathy Seed on the road at the Olympics, you know, we all were over there together. And she took care of everything and more for us over there. And all the immediately A's on there, like she was she became their favorite person, like all the kids that were kind of helping along the mix zone to coordinate through all the chaos of the players and coaches coming on after games, making sure everyone got who they wanted for interviews. They all when the games ended, wanted a photo with Kathy before she left. Like that's that's the kind of impression that and impact that Kathy can make on people, right? It was it was really sweet to see. So it was yeah, it's hard because I've always logged believe in and certainly I'm bias. I have no problem saying that. But you know, we've been part of the for me, like the the greatest team. And when you look at production wise, you know, what that we grind with each and every year and especially over the two months of the playoffs and everyone you just listed there, one way or another has has a hand in that. So now for for ten of them to be most likely doing something else in the fall. It's it's hard to think about right now, but just grateful to have the opportunity A to know them. But to work with them for for the last number of years has been really special, not as long as you have Elliott, but nevertheless very, very fortunate. Okay, that was the final thoughts. Brought to you by your Canadian Toyota dealers and with that we'll take our first break when we come back. It's a another new addition of the thought line. 32 thoughts the podcast continues after this. Okay, welcome back time now for the thought line presented by Bette MGM, make it legendary. So Elliott, you remember recently we celebrated the anniversary of the triple Lindy from the movie back to school, right? Yes. And that was noteworthy because it was earlier in these playoffs that you mentioned the triple Lindy and I hadn't heard of it and I kind of backwards, some resulted into the connection between that scene in that movie and the into deep music video by some 41. Well, I had another moment just like that last week. No other connection between 80s movie and 2000s music video. Ready for this? Yes. So last week, my wife and I are watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High. All great movie. Great flick from 1982. A movie I was familiar with, new some of the characters, obviously, Spacoli, right the rest. I had never watched it start to fish. We sat down and and watched it. And I'm watching what is we'll call it a very memorable scene between Phoebe Kates and Judge Reinhold. Really? Okay. Right. Well, you know the seat I'm talking about, right? Yes. Okay. So and I see that I'm like, oh my gosh, because years later, Fountains of Wayne comes out with Stacey's mom. Yes. And in the music video for that, they completely pale mosh to that scene in the music video. And I had no idea that that's where it was where they got the idea for it from. You know, honestly, I never even thought about that. Yeah, I had a day to a day to ever seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High before. She has. Yeah, she said she's seen it a couple of times over the years. I had never seen it start to finish. So yeah, we're trying to work our way through some 80s classics this summer. Great movie. You guys have good taste. Great movie. Yeah. Okay. Floor is yours, sir. Yeah, I've got a few shout outs. Nothing as interesting as that I have to say. I've got a few shout outs. I went to a talk on Sunday morning with John Mann, the right honorable barren man who is been elected six times, I think, as an MP in the United Kingdom. Great public speaker wanted to shout him out. And Saturday, Kyle, I went to go see Germany Ivory Coast, Germany, Coat the wire, which was a great match in the World Cup. Germany winning two one on a late goal. Coat the wire gave them everything that they could handle and probably should have won. They had a great chance of their own late in the game, but the the striker who got it was so surprised. He was so open that he just fumbled the ball, unfortunately. But it was it was it was a great, great, great afternoon. It's first time I've ever gone to a World Cup soccer match. I've been to high level soccer before, but never to World Cup. But it was it was a real highlight. I have to say getting in and out of the stadium in Toronto was shockingly efficient. I was expecting it to be a total nightmare, but it was extremely efficient. They did a great job moving people. And I wanted to shout out the individuals who invited me in the team. Piss and off and Trevor Vanderveld. Also, there was Stephanie who was working there. Her boyfriend can't a big leaf fan who I did a video for. Julie was a name of another person there who was helped invite me to the match. I met a couple of people I wanted to mention. One of them is Logan Hackett. Logan Hackett is a sports influencer now, but she was a pretty good hockey player growing up. And she actually played golf at Texas Souther. She was supposed to go play a Baylor, but COVID kind of ruined that. And she ended up going to Texas Souther. And now she supports influencers. So a really good athlete. And Kyle, I saw a couple of co-workers of ours, Jesse Fuchs and Gurdib Alawalia. And I also saw a couple of former co-workers of ours, Lindsey Dunn and Donovan Bennett. So it was great to catch up. And I loved every second I spent at that match. Awesome. Glad you got out there for one. I looked at the-- By the way, there was a coach of Warfan named Christopher who I met on the way in. He was fully dressed and he was sitting a couple of seats over. Tough one. Tough one for him. Because it looked pretty good for them for a while. Well, that's good. I'm glad you are just-- you were Minglin with everybody there. That's good to hear. Yeah, it was good time. I wanted to shout out one person here too before we go any further. So the day that we flew home, Dave Amber and I are at the airport in Vegas before going our separate ways. And we were approached by hockey fan with him, a Brad from Vancouver. It walked over very friendly, said, "Hi, introduce themselves." And Dave Amber in the only way that Dave Amber could go, "Oh, Brad, it's too bad, Elliot isn't here. Shout out on his podcast." So I decided I'd do it instead. Amber does that. He thinks it's so funny. He was mocking me. Oh, he said, "Hi, Elliot. It'll give you a shout out on the podcast." Yeah, I will. Because one of us is friendly and down to earth and a man of the people, a true proletariat. That's me and you. And one of us is bourgeoisie elitist won't sit with the plebs as he calls them, Dave Amber. Yeah. Gate Lice has to get on before everybody else. He likes Amber. Oh, that's such a good nickname. Anyway, he was in mostly friendly spirits on this one occasion because at least he was able to go home. Well, okay, Brad, thanks very much. It was great to meet you there at the airport in Vegas. Okay, here we go. We begin with Jason from Dublin, Ohio. Dear Elliot and Kyle, my name is Jason from Dublin, Ohio. Most people know Dublin because of the memorial tournament, but as one of the largest suburbs of Columbus, it's also home to plenty of diehard Blue Jagat's fans. I've been a huge fan of the show since the early 31 thots days, but this is my first time sending in a question. My question may be a simple one. I mostly understand what a group six unrestricted free agent is and why the rule exists. It gives players who haven't had much opportunity at the NHL level a chance to seek a better fit elsewhere and continue their careers. What I never understood is where the term group six actually comes from. Why is it called group six where there are originally six categories of free agents in the CBA or is there some historical reason behind the name? I'm sure this is one of those questions that has a quick answer once you know it, but I've always been curious. Thanks for all you do love the pot. The answer is yes. There's six different groups. Group one, players finishing their entry level contracts. Two is free agents who are restricted. They're ended their contract, but they're not eligible to be unrestricted. Group three are unrestricted kind of as you know them, the most obvious ones. Group four, that's a player who's, I think they have to be an older player playing in Europe who's never been drafted or signed, right? Those are like those Russian free agents, a lot of them or the European free agents like for example, the one Ottawa just signed from Norway. It's that kind of a player. I think another example of that would be I think Zube. Zube was another one who qualified that way. What's Group five? Do you have Group five? That one's escaping me off the top of my head. Believe it is what I was told, ten plus professional seasons and certain salary criteria that come along with it. But here that's like a rare, you don't see that one too often. Okay. And then Group six is the one you mentioned, 25 years or older and less than 80 games. I think it's 30 for goalies. Right. So there you go. There is a group six. And that is why up next, Justin in Bexley, Ohio, a lot of loyal listeners in Ohio, Elliot and a lot of diehard hockey fans in that state as you know. Tom Kyle and the guy I only remember for mentioning he used to cover the Toronto Raptors. As NHL fans, we are well versed in agents turn GMs having tremendous success. Most recent example, Bill Zito. The league that Elliot used to cover or so I hear recently had big success in turning around my Permaloozer New York Nix former agent Leon Rose being the architect of the NBA champions. Why in particular do you think these agents have such success as GMs considering that they didn't start as front office as front office employees to begin with should we expect a lot more of this trend in the future? You know what? It's a great question. And I think that one of the reasons that it kind of works from time to time. Is that a lot of times when you're a team or you come up through a team, there's it's a huge organization. There's a lot of people around you, a lot of people who work a lot of different jobs, right? Like if you're the president or you're the vice president, there's a whole staff of people underneath you, player development, you know, coaches, minor league staff, scouts, you have your assistant GMs, things like that. It's a huge organization, right? A lot of agents, they come up through very small companies like some of these agencies are massive, but even their hockey departments are relatively smaller. So I think it's, and the other thing too is you start from a position where you kind of serve the player, right? And I have to say that that is one of the things a couple of agents who've done it have told me that they think gives them an advantage is that they're generally more player friendly. Like if you come up through management, you're not necessarily adversarial towards players, but players aren't always your primary concern serving them. As an agent, it is. You spend, you tend to spend a lot more time individually with players, understanding who they are, what makes them tick, things like that. And they think that gives them a little bit of an advantage. And so if I'm missing anything, I'm sure someone will tell me, but I've had a couple of them say that in a lot of cases, it's because smaller agencies, smaller groups, smaller organizations, they're into the player service routine early. They understand that the player matters the most, your client matters the most. And I would also think that a lot of them have business degrees, law degrees, things like that accounting degrees that really helps. Like Tulski, who just won the Stanley Cup, took a very non-conventional path towards hockey. It's not exactly the same as an agent, but he thinks very differently than a lot of people do. So I would say that those reasons are probably a lot of them. Like, ultimately the play, and hey, what do we spend the first 30 minutes of this podcast talking about is how you make players want to play for your making players happy. Agents have a lot of experience at that. Yeah, and you have to think too, especially for an agent that has been around long enough that they've had a number of clients playing in different places. It must just be a wealth of information to glean over that time when you're talking to your clients about, okay, how is your experience in this place? Oh, I love that. Okay, why? Well, the organization values this, this, and this. And this is very important to them. And they made sure there's always this for us. And okay, versus the flip side of that, and you just learn what a player is like, what makes organizations successful and what don't. And that all has to be in the back of your mind if you're going to go make the jump into hockey operations itself and having a bit of a book if you so chose to keep tabs on what works and what maybe doesn't. Probably just get a different view of a lot of things than most from that role. Okay, David from A.R. Ontario. Good morning. And I'm going to go on the way to Western. Thanks for all everyone does to get these podcasts out so fast, even you, Elliott. My question is regarding salary retention in the summer. Know the NHL has made it so the double retention is much harder with a player having to be on the roster for a minimum number of days before being retained again. there. anything prevents a team from trading a player to a new team at 50% retain and then holding on to that player in the summer months, only to trade them to a new team prior to the start of next season with another 50% retention. Again, thanks for all everyone does to get this podcast out each and every time. Yes, our boys are both named Elliott and Griffin. If that helps get the question on the podcast, it was definitely an honor to hear those names. Nile and Griffin. Well, two of your two boys must be geniuses. So double retention in the summer. Can you do it? No, you can't. It's. It's. It's not only 75 days, 75 days outside of the regular season. Do not count. Yes, 75 regular season days. Yes. So you can trade somebody in the summer, but to do it again, it has to be 75 days into the year. Right. Because that's why we were. I love people who try to think of loopholes though. Yes. Because remember, we were wondering about the Olympic break last year. How that would factor into the count if teams wanted to explore that. All plays a role. Okay, one final one here, Dave and Colorado. Hello, Dom Kyle. A.L. Jordan stall has played 20 seasons and has not eclipsed his career high 29 goals that he set in his rookie season. As he hold the record for most seasons played without eclipsing is rookie goals total. Love the show. Jordan stall has got to be that he's becoming the go to unique guy long as between two cups. Long as between 20 goals in a year. Two brothers went in the cup with the same team by the different times. So yes, he's played 19 seasons since his rookie year. So 20 total. But yeah, has never eclipsed that mark of 29. I'm trying to even think anybody else who would be even qualified to do that. Like Gordy how didn't do that. Chris Chalios didn't do that. One name when you hear it, it makes sense, but it's probably not on your radar at this moment. When he came into the league early 90s. Not Owen Nolan. No. So somebody had is a score like an actual score. Somebody who's okay. So just say there's two players that went longer than Jordan stalls. What now stands at 19 seasons really to the went 20. Oh, well, you know what? Salani. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. 76 year. Yeah. High bar. Yes. Yes. Finish with almost 700 total in his career. But it had a couple of 50 goal campaigns mixed in another 48, but never eclipsed 76 again. The other one is like, I guess I would say not a score, but played for a long time. Is it Mike Sylinder? No. Not a forward. Oh, a defenseman. Is it Scott Stevens? It's not because he there was a time he used to really score. That's the thing that he score right away right away. Get ready for my hint. Yes. This defenseman started his career in Ontario and ended his career in Ontario. What number do you wear? Mainly two and 22. Is there any chance it's Luke Richardson? It's 100% chance. It's Lewis Richardson. Nice. I was I was racking my brains. I just couldn't remember if he finished with the Sanders or not. Yeah. He did. He did. Absolutely. And Luke Richardson. Wow. Wow. Wow. I had four goals as rookie year. You know what? If you wouldn't have told me two and 22, I wouldn't have gotten it. Never, never more than four again. Wow. That's two years later. That was it. Over 1400 games in the league. Terrific career. Superhuman being. Terrific guy. Yes. Just on a goal score. Made his career doing a whole bunch of other things. Yeah. So those are the two guys 20 seasons after their rookie year without surpassing. Jordan stalls at 19. Joe Nguyen Dyke at 18. And Jason Arner at 17 seasons. Wow. So Jordan has one year left on his deal. He can get to 20 unless he continues the pace that he had in the cup final. And he's born 29 off the office hinges next season. Well done, Elliott. You had to grind, but you got there. That's why we keep coming back with trivia time. And again, love the trivia. That was a thought line presented by Ben MGM, Make it legendary. We'll take one final break and come back and wrap up this edition of the pod and a little music to play us out on today's episode as well. We'll be right back. All right. So that is it for us today on this edition of 32 thoughts. The podcast nice to hear. Elliott's voice back in good standing again after down for the count for a few days, especially with what we have seen. Today this off season and what could potentially still be on the horizon. Plenty to talk about over the next couple of weeks before we set sail for the summer. This week all three of us, Elliott, don't myself will descend on Buffalo in advance of the 2026 NHL draft first round happening Friday. That can be seen on sports and sports and that plus of course. So we're going to be there in the flesh Friday morning. It'll be our preview pod of the draft and of course any other news going on around the league that occurs in the coming days. So that is when you'll hear from us next in the meantime. Taking us out today, a track from Sea of Lettuce, an indie rock group from Calgary, Alberta with a fresh spin on the genre's typical sound known for crafting lush instrumentals paired with reflective storytelling. The band is carved out their niche in the Canadian indie landscapes since releasing their debut album back in 2018. Sea of Lettuce has developed a desography full of summer soundtracks meant to be listened to while enjoying days in the sun, consisting of four lifelong friends. The band brings an exciting style that infuses elements of indie pop and surf rock into both their studio recordings and high energy live performances. The band recently released their new EP, Open Doors, this spring, the four track project tackles themes of dealing with life in your mid-20s while trying to figure out what the future holds. On July the 4th, as part of the Calgary Stampede festivities they will be performing on the Coca-Cola stage, down on the Stampede grounds. This song along with all the others this year, if you haven't heard already, you can find it all on one playlist on Spotify called "32 Thoughts The Music." This is Sea of Lettuce and stick around on "32 Thoughts The Podcast." The song along with all the others this year, if you haven't heard already, you can find it all on one playlist. ♪ You hang me out to the dry ♪ ♪ While the trees don't fall ♪ ♪ And the water gets too light ♪ ♪ So I take my shot and duck again ♪ ♪ And come for a better fate ♪ ♪ But you fold up like when the time gets tough ♪ ♪ You're safe going around this way ♪ ♪ You hang me out to the dry ♪ ♪ While the trees don't fall ♪ ♪ I go stick around in the whole place down from the beach ♪ ♪ And I go to count on you to carry on ♪ ♪ So I go stick around in the whole place down from the beach ♪ ♪ And I go to carry on the show ♪