Hellebuyck Trade Insights With Kevin Cheveldayoff

Welcome to a special edition, 32 Thoughts the Podcast interview episode as part of Tim Orton's Heritage Classic Weekend here in Winnipeg, Dom Elliott and Kyle Beck with you and Elliott, we've got a beautiful view here of the ice at Canada Life Center in downtown Winnipeg. We're watching some of the Canadians alumni and their families, those that are still skating, the alumni game will be later tonight here at the rank, of course the outdoor game at Princess Auto Stadium tomorrow. We had a chance to sit down with Jets GM Kevin Shevel Day off and one day removed from the Connor Hellerbuck trade, finally getting over the finish line, you were all over it from the beginning, Elliott, is there anything you want to say and where your feelings are about this whole saga before we hear from Kevin? No, you know what, we got work to do today so we'll do the bigger breakdown on Mondays Pod. The one thing in his answer and I thought about it at the time when I was kind of distracted by it more as we continued through the interview, but his comment about Vigil Bjork and what was available to them at the time in terms of trades, that's the one that really stands out to me from all this. And the second thing that stands out to me from all this for entirely different reasons was the last question you asked in the interview. I cannot believe you went there. It could have been a disaster. Thankfully, it wasn't a total train wreck, but anyway, got to finish with some fun. And he said that also like he really hammered the Vigil Bjork Point home in the press conference on Friday too. Like he's made it very clear that that was somebody that they targeted that they valued and are very excited that he's within the organization now. So why don't we get to our conversation with Kevin Shevel Day off here from Canada Life Center on Saturday on the heels of Connor Hellerbuck being dealt to the new Jersey Devils. Enjoy. So Kevin, first of all, I guess the natural question is after the Hellerbuck saga comes to an end yesterday, you hold the lengthy press conference going over everything. How long did you sleep last night? Yeah, you know, actually, it was, I thought it would be one of those things where you, you know, just you wanted to lay in bed and keep on, you know, reveling, you know, with that nice comfortable pillow. Quite honestly, I was up pretty early because, you know what, I'm pretty excited. I think this is obviously for us, you know, it's, it's, you know, like I said in the press conference there yesterday. It's this period of time when I walk away from this press conference like it's moving forward. And, you know, I've talked to a few of the guys, you know, at the gallow last night and that and it is, it's moving forward. It's like, you know, getting Mercer integrated, all those kind of things, they're asking questions about command. So, you know what, it's an exciting time. I said, it's, you know, it's our time now. I think the, you mentioned at the press conference that New Jersey happened pretty quick. Can you kind of take us through that, like the timeline of that? You know, so over the course of time, like obviously, this has gone on since, you know, the end of the regular season when we had our exits and, you know, had confidential conversations with, you know, everybody that was in one way, shape or form that was on Connor's list of acceptable teams. And so, you know, again, it's been going on for a long time when it really, you know, got serious was, you know, when, you know, basically, and again, like Sunny and I have had conversations over the period of time. It's not like the first time we started talking was, you know, 48 or 72 hours ago, whatever it is now. But, you know, when I put the question to him, I said, you know, we're going to get serious here and, and, you need you to get serious. And that's when it, it went, you know, from there. So, the whole idea of it's you're ready to get serious. And I know you were asked about it yesterday, too, of the fact that it's the heritage classic this weekend, the fact that the suspension was, was ending on, on Friday. Did that push things along for you? Ultimately, what forced reaction we were going, let's say, you know, trying to force some of the teams to put their cards on the table. I think that was the hardest part. I think, I don't know that, you know, again, I can't speak for any other team, I can't speak for any other thing. I just know that, you know, when the conversation started with Sunny, it was, it was something that there was faces to start working on. We, you know, we grinded it out, you know, over a period of, you know, time over some of the other aspects of things. But, like everything, there's some give and take that has to go on to find something that works for both sides. Are you a person who says, final offers? Like, no. You're not that guy. Well, I, you know, I think every, every negotiation is different, I think, you know, like it's, you know, if, if, you know, if you're in a situation where you're in an auction, which, I can't say that we were, you know, you probably could. You probably could get everybody's deals on the table and then try to squeeze for more. But, this was not an auction process. This was, you know, a process that, that had to drag out for quite a period of time. That's another question I wanted to ask you was in some of your comments, I kind of got the impression that when this got out, it was sort of like, okay, this is a heart trophy, elite goalie, who just had an incredible performance at the Olympics. And it is going to be an auction for him. And then maybe it didn't turn out that way. Did the market? Was it different than you expected? No. Like you're talking about when his demand got out. Yeah, like when it got out quite honestly, I think it might have worked the other direction quite honestly. And I, you know, I told his representatives that at the time, it's like every team knows, like this isn't, this isn't a secret, you know, it's probably was the, you know, obviously the worst best cast secret around that we were shopping him. So it, it wasn't, it wasn't something that, you know, really, it's kind of like, okay, you know, it's Tuesday. Let's just move on. So sitting here now, Kevin, are there any hard feelings about how the whole process played out? You know, at the end of the day, like, and that's what I hope, you know, came across in the press conference yesterday, like, you know, decisions are made, situations happen, everything like that. Like I'm going to choose to remember, you know, the, the, the years that he gave us the year, you know, watching him develop, seeing him come through our minor league system, seeing the work he put in. I hope that came across and I hope that they genuinely feel that because, you know, as an organization, you know, like, especially in, and it's kind of underscored today, you know, when I sit here and I was sitting on the bench when, when all the alumni were skating around out there, like we've got 15 years of history, you know, here and, and, and he's a big part of it. And I hope someday, you know, whenever the next heritage classic is in Winnipeg here and, and he's career is long gone that he's out here with his kids and they're having a blast and, and, you know, everybody's, you know, that much better for it. And, you know, again, it's one of those things where everyone, everyone thinks that there's always this animosity. You look, you know, look at Dustin Buffett. I got the biggest bear hug from him yesterday, you know, like we're sitting there, you know, laughing in the dressing room here this morning. Like these guys give their heart and soul to organizations when they're here and some things happen and it's just time to move on. Are your ribs okay from that? Yeah, well, yeah, you know what, I'm just glad he, you know, put me down gently. Because, you know, New Jersey's coming back in a couple of weeks and, you know, I, you know, we just saw what happened with Kachak and Ottawa. It's, I don't know what's going to be like in here that night. Yeah, you know, I think, you know, it's that movie, you know, a state-classy, uh, San Diego instrument. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so was it at all close before the draft? Was there ever a time where you thought that was going to get over the finish line? You know, close only accounts and horseshoes and engraids, you know, like it's, you know, until the deal's done, it's never done. And, you know, at the end of the day, you know, without revealing, you know, what, without revealing all the different things that we're talked about and that, because again, that there's, there's sanctity between teens that should be there. A lot of the stuff probably was a little bit misreported, maybe a little, you know, exaggerated, but, you know, who believes that in these days and age because everybody on the internet knows the actual truth, I guess. But for us, the outcome is, I'm very comfortable where the outcome is right now versus, you know, what I could have gotten as an outcome at a different point in time. Okay. You were mentioned in some, let's just put it this way. Vigilbork would have been and is a Winnipeg jet. And that probably for us is one of those things where, you know, the hockey gods were shining on us on, on Drafton. Okay. You mentioned how there's some other managers around the league during this that it's said, you know, we're, we're pulling for it. We're pulling for it. Right? Like there's no blueprint, of course, and how to handle this all. And we were just talking about, with Andrew Lad, the today's player are willing to utilize their leverage when they have it more than maybe any other generation before it. Knowing all of this, how the landscape is shifting with player empowerment, has your front office, your scouting staff, your rethought about how when your targeting players come draft time in terms of their background, where players are from or has that happened already? No, you know, again, at the end of the day, ultimately, a hockey player is a hockey player, I think, and they're unique, they're unique brand. I think for us, you know, we're still going to try to find the best player that we can out of any draft or out of any signing or anything like that. And, you know, the mandate for us hasn't changed. And again, you know, we keep coming back to the alumni here. And if you look at, you know, going through that dressing room here this morning with some of the alumni guys, you know, you talk about Andrew Lad and, you know, when Atlanta came here, you know when that sees when they moved and it was a whirlwind and it was whirlwind for all of them. Ladi came in early and you know we we walked them around we talked about philosophy we talked about how we wanted to build the organization and he planted its flag here and in signing with us and that really helped calm the rest of the group down saying you know these guys you know this is going to be a good situation this is going to be a good organization you know we're going to start building something moving there so Ladi you know kind of paved the way and we were fortunate to have a guy like Blake Wheeler in the organization at that time that took over that kind of feeling and mantra and but very fortunate that you know like we had a guy like you know wheels and that that was a driver and like wanted to win wanted to be elite wanted to be you know someone that was cutting edge of fitness and play and that's what helped build you know this this organization and and help keep it you know get it to the point where like we thought you know maybe 2017-18 that that we left some stuff on the table there and then that that's probably one of the most bitter things that a lot of these guys you know feel still is that you know we you know you know we could have what it should have you know and that's tough I want to ask about a couple of things you had an interesting comment and I said what Alexander command yeah where you talked about he has a group text with some of the players I don't know group text but like he reached out the vehicle already like when I talked to Alex by the time I got to him obviously the news had been out there and he had already been chatting with Vigo and and going back and forth at that point in time but I like I felt it was really interesting because I know you don't like to talk about this very much but the jets have a smaller pool to deal with of players than other teams and I wondered if one of the reasons you like command not only because he's a really talented player our guy Jason Buchle loves him but you knew that that connection would be helpful to you because he would be entered an organization where he had some familiarity and there would be a guy that he would be happy to play with well certainly you you you you hope and you you know you look at the ancillary things surrounding it and that becomes a positive in that regard but you know you still you still don't lose focus on you know what the player is and what your what your scouts say and you know just just because you know there's a connection that doesn't put you over the top it's an added benefit I think and and you know but it you know it doesn't necessarily put you over the top in saying okay well this is great okay you said that Mercer would have a different role here so what should we expect from him well you know I think you know again you know I don't know where he'll start playing you know whether it's with Laos or whether it's with Vigo or whether it's with Schife I don't know you know but I think you know the way that you know Arnie uses his top nine I think that you know again it might take a little time excuse me to settle in but he's got a skill set that we need you know like we he's got a he's a guy that'll go to the front of the net you'll go to the areas you know I I think you know hopefully he has a renewed sense of you know joy of the game that you know again coming to a new situation here that you know again we're you know we're we're needing what he brings and you know again that that's what you hope you know comes into play might take some time to settle in but you know again we're we've got a lot of young players in that roster I would still call him a young player and and although he's got six years of experience you know he's he's going to fit in well I've talked into a couple of the guys yesterday at the Gala and guys like Jamo and that and I said like you know like he's going to really benefit from playing with you know playing in a room where guys you know push so hard whether it's Jamo or or Casey or Schife and I think that you know you just look at how a guy like Perfetti is blossoming now you know getting getting that that opportunity that's in front of him you know we're looking for that Valardi Mercer Perfetti type of you know guys that come into the organization and you know and find their way so I wanted to ask you about about that because you know when when this trade went firm and and you knew what the endgame ultimately was here Kevin like in your conversations with whether was the guys you just mentioned a con or a Schifley Morrissey Adam Lauer your captain what did you say to them what did they say about well so even you know it's hard you know like the timing the timing you don't really get to go to them say hey guys I might make a trade for this guy that guy you know like you can't because of course you know falls apart and you know it's not fair to the other team it's not fair to you know that player if his name ever gets out in a conversation that that goes dormant you know so I just you know I did meet with those guys you know prior to you know the days prior to just you know to give them an update on the situation and and you know I just reaffirmed that you know what what I'm trying to get accomplished here is trying to get something that does help us in the now and you know obviously it depends on on how the pieces fall in there it's certainly helping the future but but my focus is is I need something to help us and help you guys right now and you know and again that's the hardest part some teams that maybe were interested in it didn't have that now piece or you know couldn't find that now piece or weren't willing to give that now piece and and you know that's that's what I kept saying it's like every every situation is different everyone's you know asset pool is different was that meeting the day a certain reporter in this interview not Kyle had marked life the late four because he was doing the interview with it was well worth the wait I was some of the reporting and I did it as much as anybody else it was that you were looking for a goalie earlier in the trade process did Stuart Skinner and Kale Stevenson make it so you got Daws but did they make that less of a priority well you know again this this situation took so long you know again things unfold that you just don't know you can predict you know so you know certainly before free agency as an organization you're you know you're you're you're looking at the snapshot of right now and and where things may or may not fall into play you know fortunately for us and and you know to the maybe chagrin of a couple of other teams to pick us to you know to to continue his career here when you know when we were able to reach out in free agency and and get that you know taken care of you don't know that you know you don't know what you don't know and then obviously you know you know Kale was you know as a waiver claim on the last day before the regular season and and waivers are always a crapshoot you know with with respect to any player you just don't know so you know again you wake up every morning you assess or reassess and you know you attack the day and that's what we have to do for a long period of time okay you know I want to ask you about that too you are the author of one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard in sports and that is there only two moods winning and hell yeah but my wife reminded me of that yesterday actually too and we were at the it's actually it's not my quote you got to give her full credit because you know she's lived it and I got to tell you I guess you can almost you know add a kind of a 1a to to that quote as well as you know when you when you have a situation like we had you know there's a lot of hell during the summer too well you know that's the thing like when this was over I was talking to another manager yes and he said to me that like when you're in one of these it adds so much stress on your life and he said that he thought this one for everybody involved was one of the most stressful situations he's ever seen people go through I can you just like Kevin I'm just curious like I think the audience would be curious about it too like when you have this kind of a thing hanging over you and it's like you joked about it yesterday we're talking about it every day like you're sick of talking about it we're sick of talking about it like what is the toll on the people involved well I think the biggest thing is is you can't let it get to you you can't just say I'm done with this because you know that's that's not your obligation to the franchise that's not your obligation to the fans certainly not your obligations to the 20 you know 22 other players that are committed to the organization so that's what drives you each in every day then to say you know what I've got to you know I got to put in the work I got to put in the time and this is this is what it is and you know at the end of the day that's that's what we did were there any other managers through this to reach out that maybe weren't so much talking about potentially acquiring the player but just reached out to encourage you to hold firm no not so much hold firm you know they they you know again it's not not one of those type of situations it's just a you know I feel for you you know good luck you know and and you know it like this kind of a misconception that we were like holding firm or like we weren't you know it was it's it's just you know when it got to the right point it gets to the right point it's not like I'm digging my heels in or it's just it there's certain you know and and and maybe things shifted like you know maybe it was you know looking towards you know it must be a sentiment you know early on in the process until Vigil Bjork came along and you know again so all those kind of nuances come in so it never was so much about staying firm it was you know trying to do what we what we could do we're given the circumstance right but you can't understand like you just talked about what you can be a summer of hell like I can totally understand at some point there would be the thought of to just get this done so we don't have to worry about it anymore so maybe the right phrase isn't holding firm but at least keeping yourself to a certain standard of going yeah we're not going to fold just to simply rinse our hands of it yeah you know again at the end of the day you know it's it's just another chapter in the book so you do you like read or live - You don't listen to reactions at all, you don't, eh? - I was, early on in my career, you know, you kinda, I think I would tell Brownie, I want to see the clips, I want to see the clips. You know what, I don't think I'd elast it as long as I could to see the clips. I know what's going on with our organization on a daily basis, I don't need someone to have a rumor or tell me that someone's so called when I haven't talked to him for two months, okay? Okay, you know, Mark Shipman, the owner here, you've mentioned it before, he has, he's your biggest backer. He has come out and he's said in an interview, I did with him once that you will be here longer than he will. And he's talking about retiring, so I hope he doesn't retire soon. (laughing) And, but like, that's one of the things that my answer once told me once is he said, you don't have a chance if you're not aligned with your owner. - Yeah. - So what's it like to have that kind of support? - Yeah, you know, again, I think I'm one of one in that sense, like I, the ownership group here, you know, has been exceptional. But this ownership group embodies this city, you know, it's like it's hard working, it's blue collar, it's, you know, build for the city, build for this team, you know, all the different things. So I've been so fortunate, you know, to have those things, we've had tremendous ups, we've had some, you know, heart breaks and different things over periods of time. But, you know, again, at the end of the day, I want to look him in the eyes and I want him to, you know, like his biggest thing is that he wants this city to view this team as a source of pride for the city. And, you know, and that embodies a lot of things, but, you know, that's why for me, it weighs on me every single day that, you know, I'm there for these players, you know, tried committed to them, but I have to be there for this city because, you know, we are the smallest market in the league, we have the smallest building, we need to punch above our weight, we need to find ways. But I'll be honest with you, like the guys that probably gave me the biggest resolve, you know, was when I watched how hard our players competed, you know, right from training camp, right through the beginning, you know, all these different games. But, you know, obviously our record would, we'd like it to be a little bit better, but, you know, these one-goal games, you know, hopefully have a mercer in here, it gives us a little bit of a bump in those one-goal games, but how hard they competed, you know, I couldn't have been more proud of them. - Mm-hmm. - Were you at all curious about that? Like, when gathering here for training camp, just with everything that was going on, I've gone, how's our group gonna look when once we're all together? - Well, you know, curious, obviously, I think you're curious every training camp. Every training camp starts and new, everybody's winning the cup, everybody's, you know, got renewed hope. You know, we knew we were integrating a lot of young players into the lineup, and, you know, that was going to be, you know, something that was, you know, going to involve some, you know, some work, but, you know, like knock on wood, you know, we had a healthy Adam Lowry, we had a healthy Sandberg, we had a healthy confetti, you know, things that we didn't have last season, coming into the beginning. You know, those were things that, you know, gave us, you know, renewed, you know, hope. And, you know, again, you know, the exit meetings were, you know, at the end of the year last year, there was a lot of players that said, you know, that, you know, what they were upset with how the year went, that they needed to be better, that they needed to come back and prove that this was an aberration. And they, you know, the majority of them talked about what they continued to make this team better. So that was something that, you know, we were excited to have coming into camp. Were you ever worried it would be like a wave? Like Connor hella-buck said, I'd like to go and then other players would start saying that. - Yeah, you know, I can't speak for other players. I just know the conversations I had with these players and those guys in that room, they're jets. - Right, are you talked about the importance of trying to find a now piece through all of this Kevin? I mean, is it fair to say that in the short term, as you manage going forward here, the prerogative is to give the team right now the best chance to win right now? - Yeah, I want to, like, again, I, you know, it's an interesting thing because unfortunately, you know what, we stumbled last year and that gives you like a sense of humility and, you know, this team here, we were coming off of 350 win seasons, I think, before that. And, you know, we, you know, for various different reasons and you can, we've dissected, microsected, you know, all the different things that happened and you try to learn from them and you try to move on. But I like this group, I believe in it. I, you know, we've got guys in there that, you know, have, you know, wanting to continue to push this group forward. Like Jamal, Shaif, KC, Pionk, Fulardi, you know, all these guys. So that's, that's what we're here, you know, we were managed to get some draft capital, you know, in this deal as well, that's always something that, you know, if you look at over the course of time, I've spent a lot of draft capital. I think there was a, some staff there, like, there's, like, no team has drafted less than us. Only three teams have maybe drafted less than us over the period of time because we've been trading picks to try to keep pushing this team. And that's been the man. >> You said a couple times there were things that were reported that weren't true or anything. Was there anything particular through this that you would say that was false? >> Yeah, you know, I'm not going to get it. >> And there's no way I reported any of it. (laughing) >> Yeah, I don't know. >> I don't know. >> I don't know how to worry about that here. (laughing) You know, it's, again, the internet is undefeated. (laughing) The internet and father time, both undefeated. >> And you realize when you said yesterday that what is he going to talk about now in his headlines? Like, no one does a better job of making stuff up than the man who had right here. (laughing) >> That's just fine. >> No, you know what, it's, it's a credit to, obviously, you know, you guys working hard and, you know, they're always interesting. You get us tuning in. >> Oh, okay. >> And those gauntlet thrown down, challenge, so. So just don't call me. (laughing) >> Okay, I just had one last one, Kevin. So I saw at the end of November, you guys make your trip how you play in New Jersey and you play the islanders. When you guys go out to do your New York trip, especially during football season, do you ever franchise to franchise, play or to play or get together with the New York Jets for a dinner or anything? >> That would be pretty cool. >> I don't know, I haven't made that connection there yet, but, you know, we'll leave that to them, to the marketing and the crack PR department, maybe, to try to, you know, set something up in those regards. >> We love, you know what, have you seen the Mike, have you seen the Mike Francesca clip of that? >> No. >> Okay, all right, so here's this, we're stuck close in New York, someone called in. Someone called in once and said, you know, when the San Francisco Giants come to New York, do they ever get together with the New York Giants? And Francesca went nuts going, what are you talking about? And then totally made a sham of it, so yeah. >> In your years of experience, have you ever seen, you know, have a San Francisco Giants for once in New York Giants? Have there ever been either a franchise to franchise or maybe even player to player get together when San Francisco comes to New York? Like, do they ever say hi? Maybe, I don't know, go out to dinner or something? >> What do you, what are you talking about? Anyways, we love that bit here, so I had to ask you. >> I do know that we have one absentee employee every time we go into Dallas, and there's a Dallas game, like there's always, there's always like, where's Brownie? Where's Brownie? (all laughing) >> That's great. Appreciate you humoring us on that, Kevin, and all the other stuff too, so this has been great. Thank you. >> So, do you want to explain what you were doing there for those who are unfamiliar? >> Yes, so I think, I mean, those that have been listening to us long enough, remember, we have reference that Mike friends has a clip from the caller that asked about the New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants, and Dom's even played the clip in the past episode before, too. So, a couple of, what are we, almost a month ago now, I think we were planning to get Kevin here for an interview, knowing we would be here this weekend, and one night after we finished recording, you left the recording, and it was just Dom and I still on, and Dom said, wouldn't it be funny if you asked Kevin about the Winnipeg Jets and the New York Jets, just like that from Cessaclip, but I'm like, why not, like I'll ask. And then we weren't totally sure because, you know, was the Hellabuck Trail getting it done in time, we were going to get a chance to speak to him here, and then once we got the green light, I said to Dom before Kevin walked in to sit down with us, I said, I'm doing it, like, be ready, I'm, that's how I'm closing. And I thought, even if it was a total flop, and like Kevin looked at me like I had three heads, I thought, hopefully our listeners would at least, they would remember the fact that we've referenced it in the past, anyway. >> And he didn't know what it was specifically, but it was still funny. >> Yes, yeah, yeah. >> I couldn't believe it. When you started doing that, I was, when I realized what you were doing, I was like, are you serious? And Dom had this big, stupid grin on his face. >> Yes, yeah. I was like, I tried to keep out of like my peripheral vision because I was going to lose it. But apparently, like Dom said, like Scott Brown was sitting just over here with the PR team for Winnipeg, and he just put his head in his hands like going, "Oh my God, I know where this is going." (laughing) >> Straight soft, Kyle. >> That was fun. >> That was great job. >> Yeah, and great to hear from Kevin. He was very insightful and thoughtful and all that stuff, too. So a big way off of his shoulders, a chance to finally exhale for Jets fans. They've got closure there, and a lot to look forward to with the outdoor game tomorrow. So yes, we'll have our full news pod Monday morning on the heels of that game, the thought line, everything. And a couple more interviews that we'll get done here over a weekend in Winnipeg. So looking forward to all of that, we appreciate you tuning into the special edition interview pod, and we'll talk to you again on Monday. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)