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Don't Tuck Your Shirt In

1h 24m 18s

Don't Tuck Your Shirt In

The NHL is undergoing significant structural and financial changes, driven by rising salaries and expanded revenue. The projected salary cap increase to $127.5 million in two years signals a major shift in the league’s financial model, with some teams facing financial strain, especially in smaller markets. This growth has sparked debate over expansion, with owners expressing stronger opposition than anticipated, and calling for more transparency and control in decision-making. Ted Leonsis’ appointment as chairman of the Board of Governors reflects a push toward balanced governance, while the league’s stricter enforcement of equipment rules highlights a focus on player safety. A major contract, Tristan Van Patten’s $13.75 million deal, underscores how player pay is now tied to market dynamics rather than traditional performance metrics. Meanwhile, the podcast announces a schedule shift to Monday and Thursday to better serve fans, particularly those in Europe and with weekday routines. The expansion discussion remains uncertain, with teams like Columbus actively evaluating player retention and market dynamics. Overall, the league appears to be transitioning from a traditional, stable model to one of rapid financial growth, competitive imbalance, and greater stakeholder involvement—creating both opportunities and challenges for franchises and fans alike.

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12587 Words, 65524 Characters

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By the way, packers play tonight. Packers play tonight? Oh, don't. That's Thursday. Sunday is one thing. It's brutal. Let's see, that's your go-to to everybody. Whoever there's team is, if they play. Well, they play today. First of all, Kyle, I'm a Vikings fan. They are going to crush my heart in the most devastating way possible. So I'm getting it out of the way now before I have to eat it myself. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Happy Friday. We said on Monday, this was a big week in coming and it certainly has been Elliott Friedman. I'm Shemadi Kyle Bukasquez along with you. We saw your feedback with regards to a potential schedule change. Don't worry. We will get to that in the thought line. So stay tuned on that front. But first, Elliott, we will begin with the Board of Governors meetings. That's where you were down in New York, the early part of this week. We will talk about the whole discussion around expansion in a bit. But first, something that wasn't necessarily discussed publicly down in New York, the salary cap looking ahead, something that you have learned. We know the cap this year is 104 million. We know the salary cap next year as it stands right now is 113.5. Beyond that, we really weren't sure until something you have learned over the last little while. What's going on? So it's not unusual for it to take a few days for things to see out of there. But one of the things they did was they gave a guesstimate of what the 28 29 cap could be. And I stress this is a guesstimate because it's not set in stone. Three-year agreement that they made with the players' association. And we're in the second year of it. As you said, 104 this year, 113 next year. You want to take a guess at what they put up there or what they told people. I don't know if it was like on a slide or they said it or what they did. But you want to take a guess at just looking at your face right now, Elliott. I'm guessing we're well into the 120's. Am I close at all in my warmen all there? That is an excellent guess. We are well into the 120's. The guesstimate was 127.5. And the interesting thing about that, Kyle, is that if it was to be 127.5, that would be a $14 million raise from next year to the year after. And that would be the biggest single season raise since the cap came in in old 506. That is a massive in all caps, massive number. So, well, it's funny you mentioned all caps because who is now the chairman of the executive committee? Ted Leon. Very good. The owner of the Washington capitals. It was interesting listening to some of the things that he said. Like what? Well, when he said right now, we're a big public company and we have to act like one. I was really interesting. He phrase it that way when describing the league. And he himself said, he's the visionary, the big picture guy. And when he was saying things like, look, you look at the company as 150 billion in value. And how do we go about doubling it? It was it was quite something to hear. Look, we know we're we're heading into the dawn of a new era sometimes soon. We know Gary Batman's not going to be the commissioner forever. We're heading into a new era, a new way of thinking franchises have never been worth more. And clearly, there is a push to grow those numbers well above where they are right now. We just had an unprecedented summer that changed everything by how we look at players from the record contracts. Carlson, Celebrini, McCarr. We're going to get to Phantilly here in a little bit. You know, he just signed just all of a sudden becomes the fifth highest paid player in the league this year. It's an interesting thing to think about. And now the idea of the salary cap two years from now, being 14 million higher than the previous year, it's a it feels like a lot very, very fast. But it sounds like that's kind of what the league wants here. Well, with the league expects, I don't know if it's what it wants. It's what the league expects. You know, I was thinking about it while you were talking there. The original cap was 40 million. It's been 22 years, 23 by the time we get to this new number. And it will have more than tripled. I don't know if this is what everyone expected or hoped for when we got to this situation. I mean, you probably sit there and you hope for it because it means your league is growing, right? This is really fascinating to me because the people say it's 50 50. The players get 50% the league gets 50% and that's true. But not all franchises in that 50% are created equal, especially for those teams that are getting their revenues and Canadian dollars and paying in US. They're already looking at the numbers and going, woof. This is a tough, tough bite. Some of the smaller US markets, they're going to look at this and they're going to say, this is a tough bite. I guarantee you when that number was said, and I'm always okay with people negotiating and arguing for their true market value. But I have guarantee, I guarantee you, Kyle, when that number was said or shown or whatever they did, there were some deep breaths taken in there. One, that is a, I didn't even know if I saw the day that we would see an NHL salary cap potentially there. That's what we're looking at right now. This was a league altering summer. If you really think about it, like when Fentilly signed, I think there were a lot of people who've kind of adapted and they're like, okay, that's about what I expected. And then I had people saying to me, yeah, that's the market, but I still have to get used to the idea of a guy who hasn't gotten 60 points yet getting 13.75. You have to wrap your head around it. And what this says to me is that we're going to have a lot more things to wrap our heads around over the next couple of years. It's not stopping. And what's really weird to me about it is, Betman made a comment about how things might kind of even out once they catch up from the post-COVID era. Not yet, that's a, that's a big hurdle. You know what would happen with me in that hurdle, Kyle? I would trip over it. I could not jump that hurdle. You'd run your waist into it. I know what, I would play dive underneath it. That's right. Just Pete Rose styles head first, right underneath. That, well, I mean, for almost forever, the NHL was kind of looked at, and I know it's all to scale, but it was kind of looked at as a mom and pop operation. You know what I mean, for the longest time, and then it kind of broke themselves away from that. And I'm sure from players and agents perspective, when they hear that number, it's like, it's about time, and it's still too low. Chris has came in September. Yes, yes. Yeah, it looks like Chris was came early. Santa brought it early, but it still pales in comparison to the NBA, the NFL, major league baseball and average. We all know that my only concern is, and we asked Bill daily about this in Vegas, not too long ago, was this whole reason for bringing the salary cap in. One of it was to ensure competitive balance. We all know about parody or garrity. Garity used to the world last year. It's still my favorite line. That's a great term. Are we all the guys who told me that? I'll never reveal who it was, but whenever I see them, I'm like, garity. I can't help but worry as because of what you just said, some of the smaller Canadian markets, the deal in Canadian dollars or the smaller US markets, do you start to revert back to where we were pre-salary cap where some teams internal budgets just can't quite hang with the heavy hitters that are as the salary cap keeps going up, they're like no problem. We'll keep hitting the ceiling. Bang, bang, bang. If you're in it to win it, Kyle, you're always going to go for it. It's the teams to me. like for example, like Vancouver, you know, they're in a rebuild. Calgary has is in a rebuild. You know, nationals and kind of an interesting place. And I'm curious to see what their year is going to be like this year. I think if you're one of those teams, you're saying, you know what? And that's the other thing you have a floor, right? It's not like, you know, where Major League Baseball is where the differences between these teams is astronomical. You can't do that. You have to hit the floor. So it's not quite the same. But I do think, you know, you're going to see teams that aren't in contention that say, hey, this is not for us right now. But if you're going to win or you have a stud player that you've got to sign, you know what Kyle? You're competitive. You're going to do it. I hear you. I hear you. But as the average salary continues to rise up, you know, it's just it's even if you're going, we're not at that stage yet. If you feel as a franchise, you still got to to your point, feel the team. You've got to get to the floor. That's going to keep going up. It's it's going to be an interesting time for sure. It seems like it's all happening so fast. Yes. Right? We're like, we're all drinking out of a fire nose right now. Yes. That's part of that. Ever since the Carlson offer sheet, you know, like we said, we're all getting used to a new world. The other thing too, I, one of the things that was talked about in the new CBA was the revenue sharing changed. They guard this like the nuclear codes. We do not know how the revenue sharing works. That's one thing I'd be curious about. How is it different? Those teams that kind of need help. How does it work under the new thing? Anyway, I mean, look, if your revenues are higher, as we've talked about, it's a 50 50 league. If your revenues are higher, that's the way it goes. Your cap goes up. So on some level, you're sitting there and you're saying great, the revenues are higher than ever. Betman and Daily said this week, 8.1 billion expected in mixed currency, currency, Canadian and US. That's what happens. But once again, I don't know if I ever thought Kyle would see the day where the NHL cap was approaching 130 million US. We're here. That is a gigantic number. All right. Also at the, the Board of Governors, we went from driving a Ferrari to towards expansion as soon as December to driving our first high school car clunker towards expansion. Who knows when we hit the brakes, hit the speed bump, hit a pothole, hit whatever you want to say. And I don't think like I really thought they were going to walk out of this meeting and say we're going to vote on this in December. The next Board of Governors meeting is in December. I thought they were going to walk out and say we're voting then. Now we don't know. And you know, we talked in the last part about we knew there was some opposition and Betman admitted it. He said there are some owners who don't like it. There are some owners who do. But he said he didn't know the exact breakdown. People are very careful about this stuff because you know, they, they don't like the witch hunt that comes with it. Like how does this stuff get out? I would just think the safest thing for me to say is there was more opposition than they were expecting. Is it unstoppable? Is it completely ruined expansion? I don't know that I would go that far. But there was more than they expected. I think that's fair to say. You know, one of the things that I heard came up was if this is about TV, why are we even considering Austin? If this is about TV, then it should be Houston 100% because that's the biggest market in the in North America that doesn't have an NHL team. And it's significantly bigger than Austin. And that was one of the things that came up. I also wonder if some of it is, you know, Batman is joked again. You know, Pierre LeBron always asking about his future. He always jokes about it. But he's admitted that it's getting closer. You know, part of me is wondering if this is about, hey, the other owners would like more of a say now. They want more of a say and, you know, Batman is a strong man. He has iron control of his league. We've talked about how, you know, if there's no other commissioner that has the amount of control in their league that Batman does of the major North American team sports. You know, Bill daily, who is his handpicked choice to replace him, he can do the job easy. He can do the job blindfolded. He makes perfect sense. And again, we've talked about how I think some of these owners are okay with that as long as there's a search. They don't want it to be a coronation. So I don't know where all this stands right now. And I think we'll get a better idea the closer we get to the next meeting in December. But I just think that these owners asked enough questions and raised enough concerns to say. We want more of a say in how this is going to happen. And we want more answers into how you see this unfolding. I think there are some owners who absolutely don't want expansion at all for some of the same concerns that fans have brought up. But I think there are other owners who are like, I want more answers before I vote one way or the other. So we're kind of in limbo right now. Listen to the commissioner the other day. I thought two things I thought is this his way of acknowledging the pushback without coming right out and saying it. Or was he trying to wrestle back control of how this process was being presented because there's too many of us out there acting like it's a fate of complete on the league's behalf. It sounds like it was more the former. I think he was acknowledging the pushback. There's no question if you listen to the interviews over the last couple of months and then listen to that when it was very different. The tone was completely different. So I think it was acknowledgement. One thing I think that's really important to know though. So Ted Leonsis is now the chairman of the board of governors. And I absolutely think that that is something that Betman wanted. I believe that Jeremy Jacobs indicated his time was coming and he to step down. And I had heard over the summer that Betman really loved the idea of Leonsis taking over. So to me that's actually a good sign for Betman that Leonsis ended up being the guy unanimously because if he had to fight for that then I think there would really be a problem. Like obviously there's something he has to navigate here and smooth over. But if he hadn't gotten Leonsis as the replacement, I had a couple people told me that would have been a really bad sign for where things were. And you know, by the way, I really liked what Murray Edwards said about having a Canadian there as the vice chair. I do think that's important. There was a Canadian voice there. Leonsis has been a great owner. I think he's an excellent pick. But I think it is important that there's one American voice and one Canadian voice, especially a smaller market Canadian voice with where we're headed into. Right. And Murray Edwards has been doing that role for a little while now, right? Like it's not. Yeah, it's not new for him. No, it's just continuing on. Yeah, there was definitely confusing to some people. Understandably so. You know, the other thing too, Kyle, is that they do have the board of the executive committee, the 10 owners, they're going to have to replace some of these guys. Like Larry Tannenbaum is not an NHL owner anymore. And it's only a matter of time before Jeffrey Vinnick isn't the majority control of the Tampa Bay Lightning. So I'm curious to see what they're going to do with that. But you know, the board of governors was it turned out to be very newsy, very newsy, much more newsier than we expected, especially with this news of the cap now. Well, the same week that Ella Langley's chosen Texas breaks the record for most weeks atop the billboard hot 100 chart. Suddenly, it's not a total. There is how many weeks has that been 23? That's the record. Yes. Taking over Mariah Carey's all I want for Christmas at 22. You serious? Yeah. I never would have guessed that I would have figured there would have been something there, like Thriller from Michael Jackson, that would have been there for 40 weeks. It speaks to how tough it is to stay on top. Yeah. In that world. Congratulations. Congratulations, Ella Langley. Yes. Suddenly, it's not a total slam dunk that the NHL does the same. Going forward. Anyway, you want to get to Fantilly here? Sure. Let's go to Fantilly here. Okay. So, one of the few remaining RFAs, now off the board again, six year deal in Columbus at 82 and a half million as we alluded to earlier. The fifth highest paid player this season, Fantilly suddenly becomes, as Don Woodell said, after it was all done, hockey is a sport, but remember, it is a business also took eight days into training camp/preseason, but Fantilly has done certainly won't be hearing him echoing any of the sediments we heard from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this week. This is a contract set up by the Blue Jackets with the vision of Fantilly becoming the game changing number one stud center for that franchise going forward. Didn't we all think this number was going to end up here after the way things unfolded? Like it was going to be around this area? Of course. 100%. Of course. Of course. First of all, it's a big win. Look. It's a big win for Fantilly. It's life changing, money, congratulations, but this is a big win for the Blue Jackets to get this player done. I think there's a bunch of places this year where the pressure is really on to start well and make the playoffs and make a run for the playoffs and Columbus is one of those places. I just think the sense of relief that like they need Fantilly, they have some great players there, but they need him and they need him to take, go to the next level and they need him to help Zach Oranski lead them and I just think the sense of relief around Columbus when they got this guy signed and ready for the start of the year, I think it was massive. So it's a victory for the organization in that way. There was definitely a lot of talk over the past couple of days that they were inching closer and inching closer and inching closer. One of the things I heard is that initially Columbus, they wanted to go max term eight years, seven years. They really wanted to do that. Then after the Carlson offer sheet, it became impossible. I think Fantilly's side was always looking at five years, five years, five years, and that was one of the things I think that eventually ended up changing it was that they conceded on the second year. You know what was interesting, I had one agent call me and after our last pod, we talked about how Goche at 13.5 was bad for Fantilly just in terms of stats and stuff like that. He said to me that if they go to six years and he had heard that that was what was going to happen, he turned out to be right. He said it was going to help Fantilly because Goche at five years is only one year of UFA and Fantilly at six would be two and I think that's kind of exactly what happened. I asked around after it was done and that was exactly it. I think the reason he came over top of Goche was because he gave them two years of UFA as opposed to one. So 13.75 is the number. I kind of heard that in the last 24 to 48 hours, the player was as representation was at 14 and the Blue Jackets were at 13 and a half and it kind of fits that they saw it off right in the middle and you know that's the going right now. And like we said earlier, there's some people who texted me, he's never had 60 points. He's making 13.75. Well, this is the new reality and everybody's got to adjust to it but it's a big thing for the Blue Jackets. You know what, like the player obviously wins because he's got a huge contract but I think Columbus wins because it's not sometimes as a team, you can take a hard line and say if we start the season without you, we'll deal with it. This was not that time for the Blue Jackets. This is not they need their team ready and going and starting on time. Now Columbus has got another situation. We'll see what they're going to do here. It's Marchenko. You know, I'll say this like Rick bonus is on them about culture, culture, culture, culture and we talked about Marchenko in his video last weekend. I had someone to leave say to me that and he said this is not Rick bonus saying it. This is him saying it. He said it after everything that Rick bonus is said about the team. He wonders if like in Columbus, they're like, we can't have this. We are trying to change the way we go. Both things we're trying to change our attitude in the room. We have to cut bait as quick as possible. And I've got other people saying, okay, I understand you might be mad at him, but he showed up ready to play. He's a 40 goal score and making 3.85 million. You're starting the season with him. Now I think teams have been circling around him. You know, Montreal, everybody knows about the Islanders, I mentioned a couple pods about. I think I go Toronto, I think has really tried to keep their interest secret, but it's kind to seeped out. You know, I think Winnipeg at one point kind of looked into it. I heard Boston made an offer at one point. I had some people say Vegas, I had some other people saying they weren't sure it was Vegas. I have to think Seattle is around this. They've really been looking at trying to grab a top-end player and they could make this deal. Number one, I don't think Columbus is really that interested in futures. But I think to me, the most fascinating thing that the Blue Jackets have to decide here is they just say, "Hey, this is a good player. We keep him. We start the year with him. We go." Or do they say, "We're trying to change our room and our group." And if the player doesn't want to be here, we move on. So we'll see what Columbus goes, but there's no question there are teams circling around this guy. And the other thing we talked about was, now they know Fantilly's number. Now they know their cap situation and they know what they can do and they know what they can't do. So we'll see. There's a lot of fascinating things that could happen in this league over the next couple of weeks. This is obviously one of the biggest ones. And you remember, it wasn't that long ago for Columbus. They were in a similar situation with both Panaren and Babrowsky in 2019 and they kind of knew that neither of them were going to resign and they decided to keep both of them at the deadline and they ended up shocking the world. Betrayed for Dushin. And added, ended up shocking the world, beating Tampa in the first round and gave the Bruins the eventual cup finalists everything they could handle in round number two, nearly forced to game seven there. I would just curious as Jack it's fans who live that and I did that second round series against Boston, like that building was incredible in the playoffs, like the way that atmosphere was in there, you know, if you go back in time, we just say, I still want to feel what that was like sweeping Tampa or I supported them for doing it at the time and I have my feelings have not changed over the years. No, I'm not going to do it. I'm with you. But again, I'm just, I'm trying to, because sometimes we kind of lose what the average fan thinks, right? And the other, how the brand, I just so would be curious to say, okay, you can go back in time. Do you do that over it? Do you hang on to those guys and say, let's make some percent, some noise life was looking forward. No regrets, Kyle. No apologies. No regrets. All right. Don't have to convince me. I loved it. I really did love it. Well, you're kind of a waffler. I enjoy eating waffles. Who doesn't? Yeah. Okay. So that's where it stands with Fantilly. That's where it stands with Marcinco, the two other RFAs, Edminson, Nikeshin, and they knew with either. Well, we do, since you mentioned Davidson, we do Larkin first. Sure. Okay. So he's not an RFA. One of the things I've heard about Larkin is that there are more teams that he's willing to go to than have been reported. And I'm just as asleep. with the wheel as everybody else is on this one. But I don't think, initially it was reported as three and that was Vegas, Minnesota, and Florida. I think it's more now. Now, it's not like I think it's 25, but I think it's more. And I think some of the other teams that are there are Colorado, Washington, and I suspect in case people didn't know them already, Dallas and Tampa. So I don't know how big that list is, but it's bigger than been reported. I think it's somewhere around eight. So that's where that is right now. It's that's my Larkin. And I also say I don't think it's Canada. I think it's still the US, but I have heard from several places now that the number of teams he's willing to go to is larger than have been reported at this time. And it's obviously teams he thinks can win. The Edvinston one, I don't know, I haven't heard a lot, except I've heard that Detroit's preference is a bridge. We'll see. Who else did you ask? The Keishan? Yeah. So in the Keishan's an interesting one, word came to me late on Thursday night that he has permission to talk to some teams. I don't know who I don't, I'll be honest. I don't know who I heard it late Thursday. I'll text people late on Thursday, but I'm not gonna call them. So if you're sleeping and you missed my text, I'll talk to you on Friday morning, but I heard he has permission to talk to some teams. Now, this is when I start doing the Brian Winhorse finger thing, right? What does this mean? That one? Kyle and I are doing it in this non-video podcast right now. So one of the things we kind of know is that Caroline is interested in Hellowbuck and I don't think the Jets are interested in the Keishan 'cause I don't think he's gonna sign there. What if they're trying to figure out if there's a way to, 'cause the Keishan obviously is their key trade champ, right? What if they're trying to figure out how to do either a direct trade for the Keishan, but that's boring? What if it's an attempt to bring a three way for Hellowbuck or something else? 'Cause I don't think they've given up their hope to get Hellowbuck. - And we know that General Manager likes to get creative with these things. - He does. - Eric Talsky. Yeah, he does not like boring either, Elliot. - No, he does not like it. - So that would be right up his out. - Which is why he never listens to this podcast. - That's true. Has anyone ever set themselves up for a better cell phone than that right there? - So I just think that the Keishan thing is really interesting. - Do you know, is he skating, is he in North America skating? - I think he's in Florida. - Somebody said to me, and this could be completely wrong, which is a good thing for me to just blurt out on the podcast. Somebody just said to me, he was like skating with Tara Sanko and Patrick Lining in Florida. - There's two other guys that don't have a contract at this. - Tara Sanko, I heard I've heard like the Panthers and him have been kind of eyeing each other. Makes sense, he's played there. - Yeah, one of the cup there. - Martian has heard for now. I've heard there's some mutual interest between Tara Sanko and the Panthers. They don't know about Lining. I'm still trying to figure out about guys like Logan Stanley and Michael Bunting. - Right, yeah, Stanley, that's an interesting one. So other than this possible, what could be done with Carolina, is there anything else on Halibut worth mentioning at this time? - I don't, I hadn't heard much more than that that Carolina thing piqued my interest. I know there's people asking, is there any chance he shows up for the start of the season? I'm not expecting that. But let's just see where this takes us, if it takes us anywhere. And you know, Quinn Hughes, we'll see. I still think he's only gonna sign short term if he does and we'll see what happens by the start of the season next week. - All right. Well, you said this is gonna be a big week, obviously, because pre-season is so short this year for particular people, whether they're trying to make a good first impression or trying to nail down a spot. I mean, any names after watching some games over the last two days jump out of you? - Well, first of all, I hope Phillip Heel's okay. - I mean, that was-- - I haven't said, like, just why? - I mean, that part with ridiculous fluke play. Like, hope he's all right. - That was-- - Yeah, Clippance Gages, Cali Sutheran. - That was terrible. - Yeah, it's terrible. - Gosh. - You see that Caligree CL game? - So the, I mean, the flames essentially sent off with the rain. - It's not supposed to happen anymore, right? - With only four exhibition games, they'd just be calm and relaxed. And guys just concentrating on getting their jobs, doing their jobs and getting ready. And most of the teams wanted to kill each other. - That was wild. - It was brutal. - Yeah, a couple of fights break out at the same time. Like, everyone pairs off. Chase Herod is running around, running guys over. It was-- - It was like-- - It was an iron league from Slapshot. - Yeah, now, I saw Alex Lyon leave the Detroit Buffalo game. And it sounds like, it's not Lindy Ruff say, they're optimistic, it's not too too bad. But he was good. - Shoulder, shoulder. - That came out a bit ugly too. Yeah, it got me in the third period. With Delgazio through a huge hit for the Rangers. Some mean games. - Really mean games. - And then there's of our Stenberg putting up a hat trick for San Jose and a 10 nothing beat down of, and now that looked like that was practically the shark's opening night line up, and very much not the Anaheim Ducks opening night line up. So given how offensively oriented San Jose can be, not a surprise that that was the end result, but still, whenever you say-- - I gotta tell you something. - Wow, I don't care who you're playing, Kyle. You do not want to lose. Tendin' nothing. - I totally get it, but I mean for the James Hamblins, the Sean Farrells, the Cruz Lucius of the world, they were, that was a tall task for them to try to handle that San Jose lineup, despite their best efforts. - One of my buddies, huge Lee Fan, he texted me, and he said, "Makana was better than this Stenberg guy the other night." I was like, come on, like what are you doing? It's the exhibition season. He goes, no, no, no, like, people are gonna look at this Stenberg guy tonight, hat trick, wherever he had three points. He's like, no, "Makana's better." Like, the season hasn't even started yet. - That's a surprise, is it? - So, "Makana had the puck in the offense and the game against Ottawa on Wednesday." He had the puck in the offensive zone for a minute 21. It was the most of anybody in the game. And I asked, I broke poor Mike Kelly's brain. I sent an email, the sport logic, and I said, is that the most of any player in an exhibition game this year? Like, what is that rank? Just out of curiosity, I was curious. And he couldn't answer the question. I, really? - He like, deactivated like C3PO in the Star Wars movies. I feel bad for Mike. I short-circuited him. - Oh my gosh, 'cause he's always got an answer. - He's always got the answer. - Mike, I hope you're okay. - Yeah, and you know what, I'll tell you two's, a guy who was in Philly said that Michalv looked really good. Really good. - Yes, that's a good sign. I just here in Calgary, I think a lot of relief seeing Zayn Perek early on. - Yeah, he looks really good. - He looks really good. Being in a try-revere on Monday this week, again, we did last spring for a couple rounds, watching Lane Hudson in person, such a treat. He looks like he's gonna take the league over this year. - It was the. - Another rookie I heard good things about was Eklund in the Islanders. He's given them a run to make that team there. By the way, we talked about Seattle earlier in that mean game one of the guys who got right in the middle of that Vince done Yes, now I was looking at this Vince done Might be the number one available defenseman next summer After Quinn Hughes Not a bad time to be that guy. Yeah, that's pretty good timing. All right There's a lot to like with Vince. I I like the edge that he plays with I know doubt Seattle's gonna try to sign him, but I was looking at it. You got Obviously Quinn's number one But not everybody's gonna get a shot at Quinn Hughes Number two Vince done He does a lot of things that teams cuff it don't disagree Well, so I wanted to ask you so he saw the news that came out Thursday morning The Winnipeg Jets are getting the original Winnipeg Jets records so all the statistical information attached to Version one of the Jets from 79 to 96 is now being taken from the Phoenix Coyotes franchise and now attached to The Atlanta thrashers slash Jets 2.0 Do you have any feelings on that? I think it's the right thing to do This is the way it should be. This is the way it should be. I completely support this the Howard Chuck Jets records should belong with the team now someday they're gonna go back to Arizona and I believe that look at a new building. They'll have a new team there and They're gonna go back and This is what I would do if I was the owner Number one, I would say we're not naming our team the Coyotes. It's It was a it was a great attempt But it's kind of synonymous with failure. It didn't work Despite whatever good intentions there were it didn't work. We're coming in with a new name a new history And a new era Okay, so you don't want that stuff anyway except We're continuing to honor Shane Donne as our greatest player ever and Whatever records we had created here our players will break them and as somebody says we can't have Shane Done's records With the Jets and the Coyotes. You know what I say Kyle? Why not? Who cares? If we want to break Shane Done's records in two places We're breaking them in two places So you're just just gonna make it up as you go. Yes. Who cares? Well There's some people in the NHL stats department that may have a lot they won't be there. They they won't care You want a bet? Yes, okay They won't care at all You know what if you're gonna pay let's just say it's 3.5 billion for your team in Arizona between the arena and the Expansion fee for 3.5 billion. You know what you can do. You can give me Shane Donne's records I'm not disagreeing with you, but I like I yeah, I think that's how That's how it should be like the Coyotes statistical information Should then attach to even if they're not called the Coyotes You don't have the jet stuff. You just have the Phoenix stuff the Phoenix hockey stuff Yeah But you're saying even Shane Done's numbers when he was the jets before they relocated to No, just is just is just as there's only numbers Okay, well now I don't have such an issue with The point here. Yes, I agree because I also think if the NHL ends up back in Atlanta for the third time if they so choose they go We want not only the Atlanta thrashers stuff from the jets. We want the Atlanta flames I'm good with that. Who cares? It's part of the history. That's right because now you set the press in right When a peg left they came back they get their stats back which I totally agree with too And so it should work in other markets as well the same way. Yeah, I hope percent Good by the way mark shyfully so he goes into the season seven goals away from Howard Chuck's record of 379 18 assists away from Thomas Dean's 553 and 22 points shy Of Howard Chuck's 929 So I mean it could be November and he's already knocked all three down Yeah, you know what in the fans that you think they want to see that or not of course they want to see that Absolutely like we're we're of the same vision here. We have solved the issue Good, good by the way Packers play tonight. Oh don't That's Thursday Sunday is one thing This brutal. Let's see that's your go-to to everybody whoever there's team is if they play while they play today First of all Kyle, I'm a Vikings fan They are going to crush my heart in the most devastating way possible So I'm getting it out of the way now before I have to eat it myself But secondly the great thing about ripping you about the Packers is that I can say They would be 0 and 3 if it wasn't for the even bigger loser jets and ripped dom 2 I know because they own our first run pick this year. So I mean I talk about a squandered opportunity last weekend for Dom squad Oh, it's job, Dom. Yeah, it's just it's all horrible Thankfully we got this to focus on instead. Yeah, okay Why don't we get to the final five then? So you talked about Meshkov looking good for the flyers on Thursday night And we were talking on Thursday before the game started about one of the things you would learn of the league wanting to crack down on things Like equipment being worn properly yeah visors neck guards and jerseys Not being tucked low and behold Trevor Zegress gets called for illegal equipment wearing I couldn't believe it. It was just the timing was incredible So I wanted to show it out when I was in New York the day after the Board of Governors Meeting was that an event with Brendan Burke the voice of the islanders. Oh good. And he is the one great guy great broadcaster was nice to finally sit with a great broadcaster and He Told me something I had no idea He asked me is if you heard about this this crackdown And he told me about it and I asked him can I look into this and he's like sure So I made a couple calls. I spoke to some people around the league on on Thursday And I will tell you that there were there was one official in particular who's like Zegress is a really mischievous guy with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and he kind of wondered if he was seeing Would they actually call it was he testing them to see If he would actually get the call and the way it's supposed to work. Let's go with the jersey's first Kyle if When you start your shift your jersey has to be untucked if it rides up or gets tucked in during a shift There's no issue and if you'll watch it He's taking a face off and his jersey is tucked in and the way it's supposed to go is You get a warning and if it happens the second time and he got caught He did say he was warned earlier because he started the game with it tucked in If you do it again, you get a two-minute penalty And then it's supposed to go misconduct game misconduct It was like could you imagine somebody get I started laughing. I was saying Could you imagine somebody getting a game misconduct for this like you look at like McDavid dry side Look at you imagine those guys throwing out of the game because it gets they tuck it in four times and they just forget Anyway, so that's That's the thing with the and the jersey tucking and to be honest like I'm the wrong guy for this I do not care about this stuff. I think the jersey tucking in is kind of cool It doesn't bother me. It's not the kind of thing I would worry about But obviously the league has decided they are cutting down on the way equipment is warned And it also goes so neck guards now Kyle Every player with zero games has to wear a neck guard If it falls or becomes unzipped or whatever during play you can finish your shift But you have you've got to begin Every shift with your neck guard being worn properly if you have to wear it And again, it goes warning to misconduct game misconduct helmets during war march If you're a player that has to wear a helmet during the warm up and save, for example, you come out and you're not wearing it, you can start the game with a penalty if you don't put it on and there are exceptions. You know, I asked about players playing their first NHL game. Can you still go out there and do your lap? I was told yes. If you're playing in a winter classic or a heritage classic or a stadium series and you go out wearing tukes, that's okay. But the other one and this is going to be the interesting one is the visors. Now, if you do not have to wear a visor because you've been around long enough, this does not apply to you because you could just remove the visor. But if you're one of those players who has to wear one and you ride it way back, like a lot of guys do, again, you'll get the warning then to 10 game misconduct. So a number of these are obviously safety, making sure that equipment is being worn properly and players are safe and then there's the jersey one. So that's what this all is and we got our first big example in that Philly game. So Kyle in the post game, Rick talk it said that the Zegress is going to be have to give him a tie down and they had to give one to Mishkov. Same reason and I did have a player reach out to me tonight to say that that even though we wonder how seriously enforced this is going to be said right now at least teams are being told they plan on being serious about it. Okay, believe it when I see it and I think that's that's also you talk about you know, enforcing things that's in the rule book to about jerseys are supposed to be properly tied down because every jersey has it. Some some guys just don't choose to attach it to the back of their pants. I don't like any of it. So do we know why the jersey tuck is a rule to begin with like the neck guard stuff the visor stuff I can understand that's a safety thing. What's the deal because that rule has been in place I think for 13 years now. Do you remember why it became a rule to begin with why the league has a problem with it. I don't I don't that's fine now I think it is like a look thing like the NFL really polices what the players can and can't do what they can wear and what they can't wear. I guess but part of that's also with the art of tackling and not having no a lot of it is they you know they're they don't like messages there that they don't approve. The NFL used to have no the NFL used to have the most authoritarian sock rule I remember years ago that the socks I think had to be only one color. I think it was the cardinals who wore like a half red and half white sock and they were forced to change. Okay, I still the other part of this is what like I said I'm with you like to me. You know because the greatest player ever grad ski it would be weird to see him affected by this. Right, like you mentioned me David dry side like dry side was he plays with the jersey touched typically that's part of his look. I just think to again this has been a place for 13 years and the visor thing I remember years ago again the preseason it was a similar situation of all the leagues really going to start cracking down on this stuff and Leo com Rob was playing for the least of the time and he was notorious for having the visor tilted way out. Like it was just there. By the way, I'm glad you mentioned that because someone said to me guess who was featured on the literature that was sent around the league. It's not going to come off. Yeah, he is a he was a poster child for that. I remember preseason they were hounding him. Visor's got to go down by as good and then maybe the first month of the regular season and then suddenly no one bothered him about it the visor went back up and everyone carried on. And Trevor Zegress if you saw him in the post game he's played almost 350 games in the league and he's going I was just wearing the jersey how I've always worn it and suddenly now it's a problem when the rules been in place for 13 years. So as you know I'm very early in my parenting journey and one of the things we're starting to learn a bit more of now is how to properly educate your toddler on understanding what things they can do what things they can't do. For example, you know they like to climb up on furniture. Alright no problem climbing up on the stove not a great idea. So how do you properly enforce that well you've got to redirect them but the problem is you can't only redirect them sometimes like if the oven's not on you've got the parental locks on you're like well he's climbing on it now it's no big issue because the problem becomes it confuses them of like wait a sec sometimes it's okay sometimes it's not and any effectiveness of trying a hammer home. What is allowed what isn't is completely lost and I feel that's what we're out here with these silly rule enforcements they picked these random years or they're like we're really going to crack down and then by November we're all back to how it was beforehand. I was listening to your rant which was by the way an excellent rant and it reminds me that the person with the most power in your household is Berkeley not you or Dana. But to me it's probably along the lines of if you're going to enforce one thing you better enforce everything. I know it was stressed to me this is not a rule change because there's only been one rule change this year which is the net guard it's a rule enforcement. And sometimes it's as simple as well how can we reinforcing this you're not enforcing that. We'll see you know what call the point you make which is the fair one is we'll see how long this last that's on try to say we've been down this road before and it fades into the night before we know it. We'll see you know we'll we'll see if it lasts by the way you know what you talk about enforcing rules you're going to love this. My son Max has begun demanding I become a more punctual person. Really so tonight I said go for a walk at 645 I was on the phone he came into my office started moping it's time and he sent me a text 645. It's basically like if you want me to follow rules you have to follow rules to and I expect you he's like don't be slow don't be lazy beyond time. My goodness he's parenting you that's awesome we have an inversion of the relationship with supposed to be. Oh gosh well done good stuff Max okay fun conversation good news block. You brought it sir that was the final thought and why don't we take our first break when we come back the thought line and yes we'll get into all your feedback over a proposed schedule change to this show 32 thoughts the podcast continues after this. Hey there were back time now for the thought line presented by bed MGM make it legendary and Elliott the people have spoke it. I was surprised at how lopsided it was first of all once again proving what great listeners you all are and how lucky we are to have you. I was shocked at how many responses I got just to me I don't know how many you got Kyle or the thought line got well okay go ahead. So Griffin begins his twice a week email with this well that may have been our busiest thought line of all time really yes he tallied the votes just submitted to the thought line alone. So to keep for Friday by the way in case you miss this we opened it up to our listeners ship do we move our scheduled pods to a week from Monday Friday to Monday Thursday okay so those votes to keep it as is Monday Friday 37. And to move it to Thursday 213 85% say move it and I think the percentage is pretty similar in the DMs you got yeah I got and what came in across X the only pushback I got that made sense. that is worth considering here, is how often busy Thursday night is for games that we have to chew on right away. That was of all the people who wanted to keep it Monday and Friday. That was their number one argument, was that Thursday is such a busy night and they felt that there would be a bit of a loss if we couldn't discuss all those games. And if the margin was closer, I would have considered that, but when the difference is this large and the victory is this gigantic, you have to give the people what they want. So we're going to make the switch, we're going to give it a shot, we're going to make the switch. Starting next week, the pod drop days will be Monday and Thursday. And if you don't like it, feel free to email or phone any NHL employee, you feel maybe responsible for this. We got two words for ya. Yeah, also Griffin pointed out some of the people that wrote into the thought line from Europe said we would love Monday, Thursday because with the time difference, a Thursday morning pod is almost like a Friday morning pod drop of them, therefore setting their table for the weekend as opposed to getting a closer to Saturday the old way. So another reason to make the swap because we do value our listeners overseas as well. We are big in Europe. I would just like to say that. Yes. So a few people, I just wanted to read one that submitted, making the case for Thursday, Chris, good morning, putting in my vote for the switch to Thursday episodes for purely selfish reasons as I drive to the office Monday and Thursday and love listening to you guys in the car. What's mean a great mood to start the day? Shout out to Dom, my Slovakian cousin, probably, and Kyle, my Lithuanian cousin, probably. Don't think I share any ancestry with Elliott, but setting love to you all from Pittsburgh. Thanks for all you do. Yes, heard you mention the ball hockey world championships a couple weeks ago. Lots of great folks in Pittsburgh are involved with that, especially at the youth level. And with the national ball hockey league at the adult level, which just had its national championship tournament in Southern New Jersey this past weekend. Not only a great alternative to ice hockey, which is simply too expensive for many people, ball hockey or deck hockey, as we've called it around here since I was a kid, is a legit sport in its own right. Sure is. It was nice to hear it mentioned on your show. I'm not going to knock ball hockey. It's a tough game. And as far as I'm concerned, anybody getting any a stick in their hand in any way is good for the sport of hockey. So I'm with you. I would bet though that you are not related to either Kyle nor Dom because both their family trees are a straight line. We don't have, and we don't, we're not capable of speaking as well as Christa the way he put it. That's true. Not run in the bloodlines. Okay. That is true. Here we go. Actually, do you have any shout outs first? I do. I do have a couple of things. First of all, I wanted to thank everybody who sent me a video. And there were a lot of you, about 20 of you sent it to me. The video of Kevin B. Exo wiping out in whatever game he was playing in last week. Rest assured, we will find a moment this season, probably more than one where we can put that video to good use. I wanted to wish congratulations to the under nine mighty majors red team in the Mississauga girls softball championships. They won the gold medal, a stunning accomplishment because Kyle, two people we work with were on their coaching staff. Really? Yes. Mike Razzot and Rory Boilin and Lee. I have to tell you, it is like starting a 100 meter dash with a 50 pound weight on each ankle to have those two on your coaching staff. The team manager is Tyler. That's Mike Razzot's wife. So they couldn't make the decisions. Thankfully, she was. But, you know, how would you describe Mike Razzot, Kyle? You regularly work with him. What is his job? So he's directs a lot of our live events. For example, Kraft Hockeyville this past week. He was directing in the live event truck on site there. So as cameras are cutting from one thing to the other, you're watching at home. He isn't charged to making those calls. And Rory Boilin is the editor of many of the hockey articles you read at sportsnet.ca. He edits a lot of my stuff. And like I said, Tyler and kids is an incredible victory. Congratulations, made even more so that you overcame the questionable decision making of both of these two people to win your championship. They are quite proud of you. They sent pictures of the celebration and video of the celebration. They are quite proud of the kids who won. And I did want to congratulate them and shout them out to very, very proud dads and coaches. A couple of other things I just wanted to mention. I wanted to show it out. I was in New York this week for the Board of Governors meeting. And the first night as I was going back to my room at an early hour because I have nothing if not a responsible individual, I walked by the Canuck bar. There's two of them now in New York, but we walked by at the first night and we went the second night. And I wanted to show it out Max, the manager and Tracy, one of the servers. Great people there. I met the father, I can't remember his name of a 14 year old goalie who plays for NAPI in the Ottawa area. Her name is Lucy. Lucy, he was bragging about you. If that's you and I can't remember your dad's name, he was talking you up in a big way about how he wasn't sure about being the parent of a goalie, but he was praising your calmness and your ability to handle the pressure. So your dad's very proud of you and you're doing a great job. I had a couple of follow ups to things we talked about in the pod. One of them was the captaincy conversation. And Crazy James from Alberta wrote in. He said the best captain situation was when Jason Smith, good Calgary boy, was captain of the Oilers and Jerome, again, a good Edmonton area boy was captain of the flames. And there was another Instagram follower and I can't find it now, but he wanted to point out if Toronto can claim like Spetson, Tavares and all those guys, then London should be able to claim both Joe Thornton and Boon Jenner as captains of their own. They wanted those two players counted towards the overall London total. And I think that's everything I've got here. Kyle. It's a good list. Yeah. It's a good list. Okay. By the way, I'm just picturing on that softball team, like they show it for practice one day. And they're like, so are we going to work on like infield drills today? And they're like, no, instead we're going to fill out predictions for the year where it's been the next hour working on predictions. Oh my god. No one's going to have a ball on their hand today or a bat. So what Kyle's talking about there is Rory, who's the, like I said, the owner of hockey. At the start of every season, he sends out 55 emails. We want your top 50 players. We want your predictions. We want to know what you eat your top five meals during the game. We want to know, like it's outrageous. Nobody can get any work done because we're all filling out stuff for Rory. So I'm glad you said that, Kyle. And I hope you listen. It's all good. Okay. Here we go. The thought line and earnest. Big T in PEI, whether it's the NHL fantasy football, Sunday night cards or life in general, we all know how much Elliott loves a good loophole. So here's one for you. Early on Monday's pod, you mentioned the Montreal Canadians are considering moving Arbor Jacki to forward later. You took a third crack at answering that expansion draft question. And that in mind, here's my loophole. If the NHL expands again and a team doesn't have an eligible goalie to expose, could they dress a skater as a backup goal tender for a few games late in the season solely to make him eligible as a goalie for the expansion draft to make it less obvious they could have him participate as a goalie in practices and warmups and maybe even give him a period and net during a blowout game. This would accomplish two things. The team wouldn't have to expose one of its actual goalies and the player likely wouldn't be selected in the expansion draft, avoiding the disruption of being uprooted from his team and family. Sounds like a win-win to me. Does the NHL have any official rules perceived? or paperwork, governing when a player changes positions. Big T, I love it. I love the way you think. I'd love to be in a fantasy league with you to see what you would pull off. Wouldn't happen. Wouldn't be allowed to happen. I, whatever rules there are or aren't, I feel very comfortable that the league could go to like arbitration or something and win that case. But I love the way you think. Yes, it takes me back. Remember the image of Artem and E. C. Moff when he played for the Senators. He was dressed as the e-bug that one game in Vancouver. The photo of him in the dressing room with Giron ready to go. Oh, that is funny. That is funny stuff, man. I love the idea. Big T, we need more people thinking your way. That's what we need. This is pretty good from Dave. Remember our conversation last pot about the Smashburgers? Yes. Dave says there will be plenty of Smashburgers left as long as Dom doesn't get there first. Excellent. You're so funny. Yeah. Well, you know what, Dom? He's done it with pizza. He will do it with burgers. Yeah. You know what, Dom? That's right. It's right. See, that's what happens, Dom. And you know what would happen to there'd be like 37 Smashburgers there and he would eat 32 of them. That's right. We'll see if we're everyone else. I only saw four other employees. That's right. Oh gosh. Please forward all promotional coupons for hamburgers to Dominic Schermatti in our sky. I guarantee you, Dom, people are going to start standing though. You're going to get a few. Oh gosh. Let me kick starter and Dom's name. Okay. Nick from Boston, Elliott, with some of the big deals recently, can you elaborate on how agent fees are paid out by players using Ryan Leonard as an example, the Cater's Negotiator and $84 million dollar deal. When is the player obligated to pay the agent? Is it right away spread out or is that part of the player to agent negotiation? Leonard receives 14.7 million in signing bonuses the first year, easily make them all right away, but curious how this all works. So Nick, I have a bone to pick with you. You give us homework. You don't, you don't start it yet. Yes, seriously, man. I'm trying to enjoy myself. I have a good time. Ease myself like an old man into a nice warm bath. And so Kyle actually read this last pod and we said, you know what? We're going to take it down for an episode and we're going to make sure we get this right because after it took me three times to get the expansion one properly, I could not screw up this one to learn our lesson. We learned our lesson. So we did some work. We we called some people. I know Kyle made some calls to and we found out the answer. And it basically is on a case to case basis. Now what some people wondered when I was talking about this was does it not get deducted right off their paycheck and the answer is no. It does not. That is between the agent and the player to set up the payment plan. Now, I believe for most in most cases, the percentage is 3% in the NHL. There are exceptions, but 3% is the salary. Oftentimes of agents set up marketing deals or speaking deals or things like that for players, it can be between 10 and 20%. But 3% is for the negotiated salary generally. And basically the way it works, I had one agent who told me that he has a player who pays him, he builds him every month once a month. And if there's anything do at the end of the season and the way that would change is to make a long story short, yes, grow can change during the season. So it's not going to be happening now. It's not a factor now, but it has been in years past. So if they got to the end of the year and there was still some money do, the player would just make one last payment with the remaining amount. There is another agent who told me that him and his player, they do it twice a year. He builds him half in the beginning part of the calendar NHL season. And after it flips, he builds him the other half. Kyle, you had someone who told you that if they have a signing bonus, the player pays in full after a summer signing bonus, things like that. 3% of the signing bonus kind of thing. Exactly. So the answer is it's something like that, but it's between the player and the agent to set it up. And if there's any disputes, then the players association moderates it. Now what I also learned is that in a lot of leagues in Europe, the team pays the agent fee, not the KHL. The KHL doesn't do that, but in a bunch of European leagues, because often times teams are asking agents for players, do you know somebody who can come play for us? We have a hole. So and sometimes what they'll do is and I know in business, I've seen situations before where example in sports media, someone negotiates with a company and the company has paid those fees to it. Doesn't happen often, but I've seen it happen before. And apparently it happens quite a bit in Europe. Am I missing anything, Kyle? No, I think that's it. That European thing is really interesting. The team foot in the bill. And I guess that would primarily be for North American guys or players from outside of that league's country. I'm okay. Who else out there? Could you possibly go find for us beyond kind of their own ecosystem of players? I think so. I think so. It was a couple North American agents who told me that. So I would assume it's that if wrong, someone will tell me and we'll try to correct it once instead of three or four weeks, three times. But you know what, Nick? I do appreciate the question because it's something I wasn't 100% sure about and I like to learn new things. Yes. Performance bonuses, similar like a signing bonus of a player hits one of those they get paid for that. Three percent or whatever the negotiated fee is, then goes to the agent. All right, Elliott. One last one here, courtesy of Brett from New York. Hello, Elliott, Kyle, and handsome Dom. Wow. Dom is friends in New York. What is this the false advertising section of the podcast? This is where the liars come out. Just kidding, Brett. Okay, last podcast you guys are discussing Drew Doudy's new captain see an other captain sees from his hometown. It got me thinking Drew Doudy is a career king and has played many years before them before being named captain. Does Drew Doudy hold the record for longest career with one team before being named captain of that same team? Love the pod and thanks so much for your time. Let's go rangers. So that's a great question. That is a great question. 12 and 79 games with the Kings and now hold on. So the first name that jumped into my head was Nick Lydstrom. It is a great guess. I looked it up and he was just under 1100 games when he took the cab and see from Steve Iserman. That was my best guess. It was a good anybody else. So Lydstrom is third on his list with as you say 1096. Doudy is in fact number one. He's played somebody else's second. Yes. What era? We are talking 60s 70s. He was named captain in 1975. Several people over the years have suggested I look like this player. Who is the ugliest player I can think of? You're so mean. What is wrong with you? Okay. Dave Keon. That's too late for Dave Keon because I was thinking he would take over after George Armstrong, but I don't think that's right. I think beautiful widows peak and big ears. Great player though. Great player. So what's that? That was my hint to you. Big widows peak and big ears. Well, I was going to say who took over for Johnny music and Boston. Whoever was not the answer we're looking for, not the answer we're looking for. All right. Who are we talking about here? We are talking about the great Stan Makita. It was a, yes, Stan Makino, I would have figured around 1975 he was giving up the captain to see slow back. Yes, that's right. He a great slow back player. 1113 games and rounding out the top five and we completely miss this one. Patrice Burzoran, 1889 with Boston. And Victor Hadman with the light in 1552. Actually, Hadman was a guy who was on my list, but because I looked him up and he was behind Lidstrom, I kind of threw him away. I didn't know as he would have been that high. Yeah, right there, but Dowdy at the top. So Brett, good on you for thinking of this one because you were bang on. No, it's interesting. I was just looking up the Black Hawk's thing. I completely forgot this because I was thinking Pierre Pelot was the captain of the Black Hawks in the 60s. Another Hall of Famer. I was thinking, how come Makita didn't get it until 1975? Who was the captain? And it looks like they had patch stapled in for a year and then they had no captain for five years. Really? I didn't, I didn't realize that. And he was still getting like heart trophy votes in that time. Well, he's in 1975, 76. He's over a point of game player. He's got 57 points in 48 games. And at that time, he's he's 35 years old. And at that time, 35 was like, you were basically done. Right. For most guys, he was a he had the Slovak superpower. Yes. How come you never got that dumb? Brett, great question. Obviously, obviously, it's not a universally shared treat. No, it is not great. Well, that's really great. Yeah. Yeah. Nice little thread from one trivia question to the next throughout the week. If you would like to submit your own or any other general inquiry, you can do so at 32 thoughts, the podcast at sportsnet.ca for email, or you can leave a voice mail at 1-833-311-3232. One final break and we'll wrap up this edition of 32 Thoughts, the podcast after this. So that's that. We've reached another end of another episode of 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Thank you as always for tuning in. We appreciate you taking some time out of your day to spend it here with us. If you missed it earlier, starting next week, the opening week of a brand new NHL regular season, we are adjusting our schedule, moving forward. Instead of Monday, Friday, we will be Monday, Thursday throughout the season. Or until we decide it was a bad idea all along and we go back to Monday, Friday. But we think Monday, Thursday, the people have spoken is the path forward here, this year, looking forward to it. So have yourselves a great weekend. We will talk to you again on Monday and the goal too is by next week to have some Canadian music play out the end of these episodes as well. Talk to you on Monday.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The NHL salary cap is projected to reach 127.5 million USD in two years, marking the largest single-year increase since the cap's inception and signaling significant league growth.
  2. The expansion debate is gaining momentum, with owners expressing more resistance than expected, raising concerns about market imbalance and control in smaller markets.
  3. Ted Leonsis has been appointed chairman of the Board of Governors, a move seen as a strategic shift to strengthen governance and balance ownership power.
  4. A major shift in player contracts, like Tristan Van Patten’s $13.75 million deal, reflects new market realities where high pay is tied to performance, not just stats.
  5. The league is enforcing stricter equipment rules—jerseys, neck guards, and visors—prioritizing player safety, though enforcement may be inconsistent and subject to long-term disputes.
  6. The podcast confirms a schedule shift from Monday-Friday to Monday-Thursday to better serve fans, especially in Europe and those with weekday commutes.
  7. Teams like Columbus are facing internal decisions about player retention amid roster changes and pressure to perform, with a range of teams showing interest in key unrestricted free agents.
  8. The expansion push is tied to broader financial growth and shifts in franchise valuation, with owners seeking greater input on decisions, indicating a transition toward more democratic league governance.

Summary:

The NHL is undergoing significant structural and financial changes, driven by rising salaries and expanded revenue. 5 million in two years signals a major shift in the league’s financial model, with some teams facing financial strain, especially in smaller markets. This growth has sparked debate over expansion, with owners expressing stronger opposition than anticipated, and calling for more transparency and control in decision-making.

Ted Leonsis’ appointment as chairman of the Board of Governors reflects a push toward balanced governance, while the league’s stricter enforcement of equipment rules highlights a focus on player safety. 75 million deal, underscores how player pay is now tied to market dynamics rather than traditional performance metrics. Meanwhile, the podcast announces a schedule shift to Monday and Thursday to better serve fans, particularly those in Europe and with weekday routines.

The expansion discussion remains uncertain, with teams like Columbus actively evaluating player retention and market dynamics. Overall, the league appears to be transitioning from a traditional, stable model to one of rapid financial growth, competitive imbalance, and greater stakeholder involvement—creating both opportunities and challenges for franchises and fans alike.

FAQs

The guesstimate for the NHL salary cap in two years is $127.5 million, representing a $14 million increase from the previous year, which is the largest single-season raise since the cap was introduced.

The cap increase reflects a major shift in league values, driven by record-breaking player contracts and rising revenues, signaling a new era of financial growth and competitiveness in the league.

Ted Leonsis is now the chairman of the NHL Board of Governors, a move seen as a strategic appointment that signals a shift toward greater collaboration and a more balanced governance structure.

Yes, smaller US and Canadian markets may struggle with the rising cap, as team revenues and budgets face significant pressure, potentially leading to reduced competitiveness for underfunded franchises.

Expansion is under active discussion, with some owners expressing opposition and others seeking more input, indicating the league is in a transitional phase with mixed sentiment and uncertainty about timing and location.

The new CBA includes changes to revenue sharing, though specific details remain unclear, with teams in lower-revenue markets expected to benefit from more equitable distribution based on league-wide revenue growth.

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