Spittin' Chiclets Episode 627: Trade Deadline Recap

Summary

Spittin' Chiclets Episode 627: Trade Deadline Recap

Date: March 9, 2026
Hosts: Ryan Whitney, Paul Bissonnette (Biz Nasty), Rear Admiral (RA), Mike Grinnell

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Overview

This episode of Spittin' Chiclets is a deep dive into the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline—a trademark episode filled with the signature irreverence, banter, and inside stories from Whitney, Biz, RA, and Grinnell. The roundtable breaks down the major storylines and most impactful trades, reacts in real time to rumors and late-breaking news, and provides honest takes on team strategies, locker room reactions, and broader league trends. The hosts also share memorable moments from deadline coverage and touch on the unique personalities shaping the game on and off the ice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trade Deadline Vibes and the New “Pinkies Up” Movement

• [02:24] Whitney and Biz riff on the viral “Pinkies Up” campaign for Pink Whitney:

  “It’s all one and the same because we got the pinkies up. We got Pink Whitney. Big part of this show...When I get some sun, my legs and skin are pink.” – Ryan Whitney

• [04:05] Observations on fan engagement with “Pinkies Up”—a sign of the show’s pop culture reach.

2. Trade Deadline Coverage: A Slow Start, Late Fireworks

• [05:13] Biz recounts his long, grindy day on the studio desk:

  “There were a lot of lulls... We got to weigh in deeper on certain things...Morale was probably the highest it’s ever been.”

• [07:59] Highlights the authenticity of the behind-the-scenes: closing on houses, prop backpacks, TV personalities turning into baristas for lack of trade action.

3. Washington Capitals & John Carlson Trade Fallout

• [15:07 - 23:10]
  • The midnight move of John Carlson to Anaheim stuns the hockey world.
  • [17:00] Whitney on the move’s emotional weight:

    “I just didn’t like how it went down, man. To wake up to that...”

  • [19:28] Biz on franchise icons and organizational loyalty:

    “He’s in that category of player, especially for Washington.”

  • The panel debates whether OV deserved one last run and discusses the impact of a lack of no-trade clause on how legends are treated.

4. Anaheim Ducks Become Legit Contenders

• [27:17] Whitney:

  “Now you got the young bucks on the left side, and you got the older vets on the right... That Lacombe, is it Zellweger? They got a nice team over there.”

• Anaheim’s deliberate moves and youthful talent position them for a deep run.

5. Colorado Avalanche's Kadri Blockbuster

• [30:47] Ryan Whitney on Colorado’s late addition of Nazem Kadri:

  “The Avs said fuck it, we’re all in... That’s maybe a top three most important piece from their Cup win, and Kadri’s back.”

• Discussion of Colorado’s stacked center group: McKinnon, Rantanen, Kadri, and their management’s unseen but effective moves.
• [35:26] Biz:

  “90% of the hockey world doesn’t even know what [GM Chris MacFarland] looks like… he’s just making his team better every single year.”

6. Trade Deadline’s Winners, Losers, and Emotional Fallout

• Washington:
  • Disbelief over handling of Carlson’s trade; questions of respect for icons.
• Calgary:
  • Fully embracing a true rebuild after failed “retool” attempts.
• Buffalo & St. Louis:
  • Buffalo’s energized fanbase, smart back-end acquisitions; Parayko trade saga and Armstrong’s search for leakers in the Blues’ organization (noted as “CIA shit!” at [60:25]).
• Toronto Maple Leafs:
  • A “disastrous” season, asset management woes, and ambiguous front-office dynamics.

  “I don’t know if he makes it through the summer based on how the team played. Asset management is going to be something that's held against him...” – Whitney [80:44]

7. League Trends & Trade Deadline Patterns

• No-Move Clauses and Player Movement Frustrations

  “Now we’re at 37% of guys in the league have some form of modified no-trade clause… they're acting like getting traded to Buffalo’s like they’re going to Chernobyl.” – Whitney [61:49]

• General agreement that player protection is good for individuals, but stifles deadline fireworks.

8. Other Notable Trades & Impact Players

• Brayden Schenn to Islanders: The personal approach in trade pitches, Patrick Roy’s influence, and the power of superstar character in attracting talent.
• Corey Perry to Tampa Bay:

  “Is there a person that loves hockey more than Corey Perry? This guy is going to play until he cannot get a contract.” – Whitney [88:25]

• Warren Foegele to Ottawa, Lawton to LA, Bunting to Dallas: Strong opinions on teams addressing depth in preparation for the postseason grind.
• Minnesota Wild: Bringing the Foligno brothers together and their impact on team culture and playoffs.

9. Eastern Conference Playoff Bubble

• Discussion of who sneaks in: Buffalo, Ottawa, Columbus, Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit.
• Noting Ottawa’s legit strength down the middle: “That is a good team up front.” [101:37]
• Bruins' late-season wobble, possibility of missing out for the first time in years.

10. Carolina Hurricanes’ Underwhelming Deadline

• Hosts believe Carolina missed an opportunity to solidify their center depth by not acquiring Trocheck.

  “Fans have a right to be pissed off… It’s a joke.” – Whitney [99:43]

11. Team Snapshots & Prognostications

• Detroit: Praised for measured moves, but questions about true Cup contention timeline. Confidence in Steve Yzerman’s vision.
• Winnipeg: Solid foundation, but challenges attracting free agents; possible market challenges loom.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Whitney on Insiders’ Stress:

  “The information that Elliot [Friedman] has on his phone is like, more important than any CIA agent in Canada would have.” [13:45]

• On Twitter Hate:

  “Sometimes I’m curled up in the fetal position from the Internet.” – Ryan Whitney [13:15]

• Colorado Depth Check:

  “They got Lekonen, they got f—ing the choo choo train. What don’t they… They got naches. They got weapons, man.” – Whitney [34:38]

• On No-Move Clauses:

  “They're acting like getting traded to Buffalo’s like they’re going to Chernobyl.” – Whitney [61:49]

• On Maple Leafs’ State:

  “It just seems like nobody's really happy. Nobody knows where they sit. Brutal year. I hope they learned from it...” – Whitney [86:12]

• On Anaheim’s Window:

  “Anaheim, the fans should be excited. It’s been a while since they’re looking at two winnable series.” – Whitney [28:31]

• Corey Perry, Hockey Lifer:

  “This fucking guy is going to play until he cannot get a contract… in an east coast league at 55.” – Whitney [88:25]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:24] – Pinkies Up Campaign and Cultural Impact
• [05:13] – Behind-the-Scenes of Trade Deadline Coverage
• [15:07] – John Carlson Trade Analysis & Capitals Fallout
• [27:17] – Anaheim Ducks Emergence as Contender
• [30:47] – Avalanche Nab Kadri, Build “Unbeatable” Center Depth
• [39:34] – Eric Johnson Joins, Sabres and Avalanche Double Fandom
• [57:14] – Blues Rebuild, Pareyko Saga, and Trade Leaks
• [80:44] – Toronto Maple Leafs Self-Reflection and Offseason Outlook
• [94:04] – Dallas’ Physical Trade Deadline, Adding Bunting
• [99:43] – Hurricanes Deadline Letdown
• [101:37] – Who Gets In? Eastern Conference Playoff Bubble

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Tone & Style

The episode is classic Spittin’ Chiclets: passionate, candid, locker-room honest, and packed with playful sarcasm and NHL inside jokes. The hosts are frank in their evaluations, quick with the chirps, and often turn league drama into running gags while respecting the gravity of certain franchise-altering moves. There’s a palpable sense of hockey brotherhood and no-holds-barred debates.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a must-listen if you want a comprehensive, inside-baseball (inside-hockey?) breakdown of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. The Chiclets crew dissects headline trades, locker room emotions, sagging franchises, and surprise contenders. You get a full sense of the behind-the-scenes grind, the impact of front office chess moves, and how players and cities deal with the fallout. Plus, plenty of laughter, chirping, and unique “only on Chiclets” moments—from Cheeto-toe tattoos to Corey Perry’s hockey addiction.

Bottom Line:
If you want unfiltered, entertaining, and deeply knowledgeable trade deadline analysis—with the best banter in hockey—this episode delivers.

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(Episode content covers through [109:52], skipping advertisements and non-content outros.)

Transcript

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey Spit and Chiclets listeners.

[Biz Nasty]

You can find every episode on Apple

[Merles]

Podcasts and Spotify Prime.

[Biz Nasty]

Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

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[Ryan Whitney]

Me and Ryan have been officially welcomed to the jungle that is Barstool Sports.

[Whitney]

I brought it towards the coyotes and I asked him if it was okay if I joined the Spit Chickens podcast full time.

[Ryan Whitney]

Ryan Whitney got a pink Whitney out there. Now the song commander is a full time member. Marley just got an assist from Chris B. Whoa.

[Biz Nasty]

We're buzzing right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Welcome everyone to episode 627 of the Spit Chiclets podcast. Pinky's up. If you're watching on Netflix we'll get to biz In a second. And what he's wearing, pinky's up. So I didn't really know what to think when pinkies up came out, but people are saying pinkies up to me everywhere. And you may think I'm joking, you may think I'm kidding, but I'm in youth hockey rink all day Saturday. It just pickies up, pinkies up. I'm like, wow, this thing might be catching on. This thing might have some legs to it, Biz. Some long ass, pale, skinny legs, like the founder. Me, pinkies up. When I get some sun, my legs and skin are pink. And it's all one and the same because we got the pinkies up. We got pink Whitney. Big part of this show. Everyone knows it. We love talking about them. We love drinking it. We love getting banged up on it. That's pinkies up. So, Biz, Keith, it's great to see you guys. Biz, I'll tell you.

[Whitney]

I mean, who would have thought Gallo would have known, knew what they were doing with the Pinkies up campaign? I mean, we thought we were dropping an rtd. They're like, nah, nah, nah, nah. We got. We got something else in mind. You know, we got the hard liquor, 30% vodka coming at you. It's like, oh, OK. Boom.

[Ryan Whitney]

Who flew off the shelves? Conglomerate knew what they were doing when it came to alcohol. They got 4,000 different liquors. They just said, hey, guys, you two idiots are going to go down to Hoboken, film a commercial, and just hold your pinky in the air and barely say anything, and we'll figure out the rest.

[Whitney]

We're going to put the stars around you, and you clowns are going to look somewhat decent by the time this thing's done. And everybody in the airport, everybody at any charity event you go to is going to be just coming up to you and saying, hey, boys, pinkies up, motherfucker.

[Ryan Whitney]

I got to start cutting my fingernails more regularly solely because if I'm going pinkies up all time, I can't have, like, a long fingernail.

[Biz Nasty]

You know, you should have a pink. You should pink. Just pinky.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's probably a good idea.

[Whitney]

Grow it out. A little girl should pinkies up. Just ain't the vodka.

[Ryan Whitney]

What about what? Oh, okay, I see that. I see that wink right there. What about. What about if I just got a tattoo where my entire pinky finger was pink? And, Biz, I think we recently saw a tattoo of somebody who did their entire foot like a Cheeto? Who was that? You showed me that.

[Biz Nasty]

Cheetos.

[Whitney]

Oh, I think that was. I think that was the big baller brand guy. Lamelo Ball. He got the Cheeto toes.

[Ryan Whitney]

You know, that guy made his kids wear those godforsaken shoes. And I think one of them, like, mangled his foot forever because of it.

[Biz Nasty]

Come on.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's kind of like a 50% story. Yeah. I think one of them has been injured.

[G]

Lonzo Ball has been. He might never play again. I mean, his knee is completely toast.

[Biz Nasty]

Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

So was it.

[G]

People say it's because of the big baller shoes.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, Those big baller wheels. You might. It was like wearing a shoe box. Like, you take the shoe out of shoebox and you put the shoe box on. Those are the big ball.

[Whitney]

Doing big busy brand and doing skates, but, like, doing like the double blades so the guys who wear them could, like, stand up out there. Because I always had a hard time

[Ryan Whitney]

Biz, you're a very positive person. We've been over that a million times. I've known you forever. I felt pretty bad for you on Friday, buddy. It was a little bit of a dud. It was a little bit done. I saw at one point you were there, just you and Juice were making fun of each other. And the timer said 5 hours and 27 seconds left till 3 o'.

[Whitney]

Clock.

[Ryan Whitney]

I was like, holy shit, what the hell is he going to do the next six hours? We did get some fireworks at 4:15pm right around then with the Kadri deal. So I want to hear about your day. I think you've done that, what, three years in a row and with all the big hitters.

[Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, it's a blast. I love going in there. Last year was a little bit different where I feel like so many more trades were breaking, where we had a lot more time to obviously, like, break the certain ones that did that went down and early on, it wasn't like, majorly eventful. I mean, we're going to eventually get into every team that made the big ones. Some teams that were really. I mean, they left a lot up to the imagination as to why they didn't make big moves. And I'm sure that they. They're going to have their respective press conferences, but awesome day. Love the fact that there's the different desks, right? You got like Sam Sam, Constantine, Bukola and Futes who, you know, you got the gm, mine, and guys who have been head scouts at the pro level for a very long time. And then the couch where army was at with Verstig, Smith, Pelly in the mix now who we ran into it at the NHL network and then obviously Elliot and Kyle who turned into a coffee maker because there wasn't enough trades to break down. So he got the barista. The barista Bacascus. Was it Barista Bacakus. How do you say his last name? Yeah, you say it. Bacascus.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think so. Yeah. I like. Yeah. Barista Bootskov.

[Whitney]

Are you laughing? Cause it sounds like Bukaki. A little bit.

[Ryan Whitney]

A little bit, yeah. But I'm sure he's heard that a million times. So. I'm not somebody to pile on and we're. I'm not a pile on guy.

[Whitney]

Biz.

[Ryan Whitney]

You know me, I'm not a pile on guy.

[Biz Nasty]

But Biz just for like the whole going into trade deadline day, we thought that the absolute fireworks were going to happen. All these big names being thrown around and then absolute dud. Was it. How was the vibe in there?

[Ryan Whitney]

Like we're had to be low at some point. Had to be.

[Whitney]

Honestly, buddy, we were having a lot of fun. There was a lot. Like we got to weigh in deeper on certain things where we weren't being cut off because there was another trade going. Like, honest to God, my morale was. Was probably the highest it's ever been there. And probably just at the fact that I've gotten more familiar with working with all of them. Luke Gazdick was in the mix as well. I think the most exciting move of the deadline was he closed on a property while we were at the desk.

[Biz Nasty]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

That one too.

[Whitney]

I don't think he broke that one. But Gazzy was pretty fired up because it was in a nice neighborhood and he'd been eyeing this neighborhood a while. So that was exciting. Juice brought his Louis Vuitton backpack, which we kind of made a prop of. Don't know if it's real or not. Hey, I. You know, it doesn't really matter. I guess like Oto Cinco sends, right. Why waste your money on the real stuff when you can get the face fake stuff that looks the same. And. And. And David, Amber and Jen. So great crew. I got to do that. I did the game between the Flyers and. And Leafs. Leafs ended up coming through in that one. And then the last thing I'll mention

[Ryan Whitney]

was I got Leafs won that game.

[Whitney]

Who or no, I think Shootout. Philly and Shootout.

[Ryan Whitney]

They're the only team in the league to not win since the Olympics. But we'll get into them because as you could tell if you're watching on Netflix. Thank you very much for that. Biz has. I Think it's another state of union we're going to get into. It's going to be a little different than the before the year preview of what we were going to see in Toronto.

[Whitney]

I've been taking a lot of L's this year, guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, it's been. It's been L City. I mean, God, the Oilers could miss the playoffs. The way they're rolling right now, that would be the ultimate L. Well, timeout.

[Whitney]

Time out. One thing that I did offer at the desk at the deadline, Mark Spector did a hit and he was talking about the potential of moving for a goaltender. And I put it on the table. I said, I will talk to Tree Living. I'll talk the donor and the rest of the management in Toronto and I will work out a deal to send Stolars your way if spec unblocks. You didn't hear a peep the rest of the broadcast.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, let me check. Let me check right now.

[Biz Nasty]

So them not getting a goalie is all on spec.

[Whitney]

That's on spec. And wit for not working out their differences.

[G]

I'm blocked.

[Ryan Whitney]

Still unboxed, Phil.

[Biz Nasty]

And they can't get a block in the pipes. Hey, Biz, I thought for some reason you had told us that you were going to be giving back your ambassador jacket. Or was that just a sick dream I had?

[Whitney]

I. There's a lot on the table going into the summer right now, and we're not. Let's not chew up all the clock right now. We're going to get to way more important things than. Than the disastrous Maple Leafs. And I'm self admittedly saying that let's save it to mold more towards the end with you. You can address your Oilers, but there's way bigger fish to fry early on here. And one other thing that I did this week before the trade deadline on Thursday night, Christine Simpson, she invited me and I. I want to say I'd maybe been invited in years past, but I wasn't in Toronto. It was the Con Smite dinner and this year Wendell Clark was being honored just for everything he's done in the community. And they work with Easter Seals and they've raised now close to $14 million for. Yeah, for kids with. With disabilities. Born with disabilities. And it's. It's a great thing that they do. And obviously they honored Wendell and, and Doug Gilmore was there. They like give this speech to bring them on. Plenty of other amazing athletes as well, but was a really cool. A cool cause. And I just wanted to thank Christine Simpson and the rest of the Easter Seals and, and the Con Smite dinner and people run it. Just one of those, like, places and things you do if you do, like, one or two a year. We did the one in Halifax that just, it just kind of like a reset, puts a lot into perspective. And it was, it was awesome to attend and, and great to meet. Great to meet some amazing young people. A few of the kids who, who have been to these camps gave speeches in front of, you know, 6, 700 people. They absolutely crushed it. The one kid can sing the national anthem in 40 different languages. 40? Yeah, he did.

[Ryan Whitney]

He know 40 different, like, national anthems of countries or he could do one.

[Whitney]

He can sing 40 different national anthems. Like, did the different countries, like, how they would sing it?

[Merles]

No.

[Biz Nasty]

Wow.

[Whitney]

He did Japanese and then he was asked to do Sweden. And then he goes, ah, Sweden's a little boring. Didn't know that. No offense to Swedes.

[Ryan Whitney]

We have a lot of Swedish listeners. I love Sweden. Great country. Maybe your anthem's a little boring. I'm not holding it against you.

[Whitney]

It was one of the kids who said it, not me. Take it out on him. Like I said. Yeah, I had my guy.

[Ryan Whitney]

I had just relaying the message here, man.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, I didn't even hear it.

[Whitney]

So. Yeah, and then, yeah, that was, that was just a cool night. And then obviously it led into the deadline days. So Elliot, boys, he's been crowned the king, what, three, four years running now. Broke. He broke more teams than all the. Of the NHL and NHL teams did. I think it went with Elliot way at the top. It dropped down to, I think, five trades broken by the NHL or NHL teams. And then just under. That was four with. With Dragger. So. Fucking.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, he's turned it. He's obviously the Adam Schefter of the. Of the. And now, granted, he broke. He broke maybe one of the biggest trades this year, Schefter did in the Panarin deal. But Elliot, yeah, he's taken over. I think it was 15. I did see that tweet you're talking about, about the rankings. I don't know if the Internet is more mean than they are to insiders because the people who don't get them, they can't. They get.

[Whitney]

And it's bullshit.

[Ryan Whitney]

I've said a million times. The Internet's mean as hell to us, man. I catch an absolute beating on the Internet.

[Whitney]

I get bullied on there every day.

[Ryan Whitney]

I get, I get. I, I, I just. Sometimes I'm curled up in the fetal position from the Internet. But the poor insiders just, man, they're, they're trying, right? And then you got this fucking McDavid McKinnon combo. Elliot Friedman, he's just like the super genius and he's repping darts. And then the other guys are getting buried by the Internet. It's like, I think they're trying, I think Elliot just has every source, but these, some of these guys are taking major heat. I feel bad. It's their profession. They're just trying to break trades.

[Whitney]

The, the, the, the information that Elliot has on his phone is like, more important than any, like, CIA agent in Canada would have.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah.

[Whitney]

Like, I don't even know if we have the CIA. Is there even such thing in Canada?

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm gonna guess no. But you, you might, you must have something. You must have a couple guys up there that are really working, really working to find some deep, dark secrets and then they have to call Elliot to find out, like, what's going on in Iran, you know, like, that's how dialed in this guy is. I, I, I do want to get into the trades, but Elliot. Yeah, I just can't imagine how stressful that job is for everyone we've talked about.

[Whitney]

I mean, Kobe Armstrong describes him as an alien, so we don't really truly know if he is human. I woke up, you know, I know me. I do my, my late night pisses or early morning pisses where I'm waking up in your bed in some. I did not wet my bed during the trade deadline. Not in those W comfortable beds.

[Ryan Whitney]

So you were the big winner. You were the big winner of this year's deadline.

[Whitney]

Well, the W sheets and P pad was the winner of the deadline. But I think I Woke up at 4, 4:30 in the morning on a deadline day, and Elliot had just broke the John, John Carlson News. So I don't know if he ended up even going to bed that night. So it's kind of ruthless on how much he has to work now.

[Ryan Whitney]

I, that's the one I wanted to start with too, is John Carlson.

[Whitney]

You want to start with that one? Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. I was glad you went there because, you know, there was a bunch of big deals. But thinking back to the Capitals and all those seasons and like, God, President's trophy. President's trophy. Top team running into Pittsburgh can't get by them. And they finally did it right. And if you remember, Mike Green came into the league. I remember first playing against Mike Green in the ahl. I was like this guy, it was, it was a different level offensive defenseman. Right. There weren't a lot of guys like him. I think he had 30 goals twice in the NHL.

[Whitney]

Just want to let you guys know, I played with him under 18, gold medal for team partners. I know I didn't see the ice with them. I was more of a shutdown pair. But I did room with him in. In Germany on the way home after he'd won gold. Unbelievable guy.

[Ryan Whitney]

Just want to say they beat. I think they might. They must have beat Manchester in the. Or they beat a team near Boston in one of the rounds in the Caldecott playoffs. So Chris Bork and a couple of the guys came over. We hung out. Awesome, dude. And then, if you remember. And now. Why am I going into Mike Green? You may ask. I'm going into Mike Green because he was there. He was great. He's very offensive. Then John Carlson came, and it was Mike Green, better defensively, right? It was this guy who has all the skills offensively. He has all the vision he has. He could jump up into the rush, he could produce points, but he was a. An awesome defender as well. And it was like, holy shit, they have their number one now. They got a true number one, and it's still even with them there. Took him a little while. He'd been the world juniors hero. And then they finally won the Stanley Cup. And you look back at that team, um, it was OVI and Carlson. Those are the only two guys left. And he's traded. Okay. Now I understand him. Him being moved. I really. I love the move for Anaheim.

[Biz Nasty]

Right?

[Ryan Whitney]

Anaheim's a hell of a team. They've had a great season.

[Whitney]

They're.

[Ryan Whitney]

They're thinking, all right, we're young, but we're ready to add something that's going to make a big difference. I just didn't like how it went down, man. I didn't. I. I don't know. I. To wake up to that is just. I think it's odd. I think it's like different players should have different types of respect. And I know the Capitals have crazy respect for him. And the way that the team and the brass talked about him, it's just, like, kind of weird to me that it goes on while he's. While he's sleeping. Look, why couldn't you wait? I don't know why that couldn't wait to be done. Apparently that had happened already. Who else was trade in the middle of the night? Was it. It was. What's his name? From Washington to Vegas, it was Dowd, I believe now. I just feel like John Carlson and then seeing the team and the way the team spoke about it, dude, I don't know if they're, they're not, they might not do anything the rest of the year. The Bruins beat him on Saturday.

[Whitney]

Like, what, what, what were they going to do?

[Ryan Whitney]

They weren't, they were four points out when they traded them. And, and I did not consider them dead at all. And it's just kind of like seeing the reaction, dude, Biz, you weren't on the. We were on the game notes trade note train trade extravaganza. I never, I said to Morrows, I never seen a team this down in the dumps after someone was rated. Guys were just downtrod. Just Tom Wilson speaking, Ovechkin speaking. Guys, just utterly.

[Whitney]

I mean I felt like, I felt like Brunette was pretty distraught after he found out McCarron and Smith were dealt too. I, I know it's not to the level where, but like, like, are you kind of taking Merle's aside where Merle's was like, I feel like it's for them to do it in what could be OV's last year. Like you think that he did. She. I don't.

[Ryan Whitney]

Because listen, Biz, I don't think Carlson wanted to be traded. He said, he said he wasn't naive to the fact that it could happen. So obviously he knows, you know, Ufa coming up. He's getting older. But chances are OV's playing his last season right now. Right? Considering there was a leak before the year that it was his last season.

[Whitney]

Season ticket seller and, and, and, and

[Ryan Whitney]

OB said he wants to, he wants to play in, he wants to play in I think Russia. Like he's gonna play there, so maybe it's next year. Maybe he's not done. If he's not done, this is a moot point. I feel like an idiot. I just thought so it's more the

[Whitney]

one and, and, and, and, and you know for a fact. So he was not told. He basically woke up to this news.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, that's what we need to find out. Because if he didn't know anything going in, if, even if they didn't come to him, be like, hey, if we get a deal, would you be willing. Do you want to go to Anaheim? Do you want to lead this team? You've been here so long, I think it's crazy. I'm with you, Whit. Like he's one of those guys and you know, we've talked about it with the Geno Malkins in the latangs. Like he's in that category of player, especially for the Washington.

[Whitney]

He was the only guy left in the league who didn't have a no move, no trade clause. So they had to.

[Ryan Whitney]

How did he not have one?

[Biz Nasty]

No, I betrayed me.

[Ryan Whitney]

Modified. I think he had a modified one. Listen, I get Washington, right? They're kind of doing this thing on the fly. Last year, no, nothing was expected. They had a nice little run, lost to Carolina there in the second round. But it's a first rounder now. If Anaheim misses the playoffs, which I don't think that's going to happen, they can move it. They could say we're holding it this year and you can have our next year one. Yeah. I guess you don't want to lose it for nothing. I do see both sides. It's just like some guys deserve, I don't know, one final run.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

One final chance try to get in here.

[Whitney]

Yeah. So I don't. I don't dis. So if he. If he wasn't aware the team was shell shocked from it. It does suck. But the GM and this management team does have a job to do and. And on top of that, I feel like this would be a lot worse if we're backing it up a few years ago and they wouldn't have put themselves back in a situation to give OV at least one more chance at another run. The way that they replenished and retooled on the fly, I would say that was one of the biggest master classes I've seen as far as a retool job that maybe we've seen in the last eight years. Would you not agree? Dylan Strom for nothing. Okay. They end up getting Chickering and. And who do they sub out? Another D. Man, I'm drawing a blank.

[Ryan Whitney]

Jensen.

[Whitney]

Jensen. Unbelievable win for that one. Like, come on. They end up getting pair Luke Dubois over and rejuvenating him with the work. They bring in Carberry on top of that. Okay. And then who else do they get in between the pipes? Logan Thompson, who I think at the time was making like a million and a quarter. A million and a half. So.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then Protos. Protos. And he's got a brother coming.

[Whitney]

Yeah, like so. You know, signing and making sure they ended up bringing and, and getting Tom Wilson locked in long term to continue to be part of that core. I thought when they brought doubt over that was an incredible move. Who I'm also sad to see go. So I think that that management, you know, despite this deserves a lot of credit to trying to get OV One last kick at the can. They make his run to the goal chase one of the most enjoyable things that any guy could experience ever in their fucking life. And if, if it goes back to the conversation we were having with Mer, Merle said, I think it's bullshit that they did this to OV in his last year. It's kind of like, well, man, I don't exactly think that fucking Ovi's like. Like he's fucking 280 and hasn't taken a D zone draw all year. Like, come on here. Like, come on, come on.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. Just look at the east. It's so open. What if they snuck in?

[Whitney]

So they get to replenish their stable and get a first rounder for a guy who. And, and guess what, man, Maybe it isn't always last year and he comes back for one more and they resigned Carlson in the off season, then. Then you're even laughing even more.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah. So when does that ever happen though?

[Whitney]

Oh, plenty of times guys end up resigning and coming back and they end up helping out their team. Like in my going switching over to Leafs, I'm praying they bring back Lawton. Like, I'm praying they end up signing him in the off season. Same type of thing. They end up getting the third conditional second rounder for him. So I, from Merle standpoint and even G agreed with Merle's in a sense giving up on ovi. All things considered with what I just told you is the retool and, and the fact that he's 280 fucking.

[Ryan Whitney]

You're saying OV's giving up before anyone.

[Whitney]

I'm saying that, that you could say they equally gave up as much at least if, if that's the case. Right. Like, it's not like, it's not like he went into fucking the boss and was like, I'm going Roggy style. My last year here, he hasn't taken a zone draw.

[Biz Nasty]

Perfect.

[Ryan Whitney]

I love. That's going to be my favorite record. Forget the most goals in the history of hockey, guy. Win a season without a defensive zone

[Whitney]

face off and no disrespect to him and, and if he was shell shocked and that group is very disappointed and they've essentially taken the heartbeat out of the team by making that move while they'll be sipping margaritas in six weeks and life's still going to be pretty Gucci and hopefully it brings back in the off season.

[Biz Nasty]

Don't you think though, with Obi just for what he's done for the league. And I know a Lot. A lot of NHL guys want like the spotlight on them all the time because he had it all last year. Don't you think he would tell the league when he's going to retire, though?

[Whitney]

No, I think maybe he's not that type of guy.

[Biz Nasty]

Okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, I don't think so. I think he's just like, hey, I'm gonna let you know randomly one day and then I'm gonna be on. Like. I think he was on Dynamo. I think he played Dynamo khl. Maybe he goes back there. He wasn't even a St. Petersburg or Seska guy. He was Dynamo. Great rink. That was the game. Quick side story that I. I basically took speed before the game in a. In a. What do they call in an iv.

[Whitney]

Oh, nice.

[Merles]

Was.

[Ryan Whitney]

Was flying around like kilma car and was like, I'm going to be in the NHL again. And then when it wore off the next morning, I was horrible again. And I was like, okay. That was a crazy drug I just took before that game. That was Russian gas. That was Dynamo. That was. I love the rink. I have great memories of that IV going in and me flying around.

[Whitney]

Is that the same way? Same one we took before the sandbaggers this last trip?

[Ryan Whitney]

No, Those were standard IVs at a nice classy place. And what was that little town we stayed in? Remember the name? Dunedin. Great little spot. God, that's. That's business. 41st place. He said he's gonna buy. Buy a house. So. Yeah, he already did. Final thing on that.

[Whitney]

Part of a. Part of a community that's 65 and older. But I invested early smart and early like. It's kind of like a Ponzi scheme, but I don't really give a. Yeah,

[Ryan Whitney]

you don't care for you. Wow. Biz met a beautiful 67 year old woman named Ethel and got that scarf. Yeah, he's.

[Whitney]

7200 for the HOA. But that automatically gets you in the bocce league, like automatic. Yeah. Top of the list.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. Whoa.

[Biz Nasty]

That's huge.

[Whitney]

Yeah, huge.

[Ryan Whitney]

But you're Canadian, so like, you know with curling and bocce, like you got cheating issues, so you better keep your head on.

[Whitney]

Yeah, the French kickback. I know. Yeah, they already explained it. They sat me down before I signed it on Babylon.

[Ryan Whitney]

This is a game of honesty. Final thing when I tweeted out best defenseman in Capital's history. Question. Yeah, A lot of responses. Rod Langway. I get it. Two Norris trophies was a beast of a player. But I looked at the numbers. I think Carlson played close to 500 more games with the Capitals. He got the Cup. He was dominant. He had way more points. Obviously, Langman was defensive defenseman. I think that John Carlson's. He's got the fifth most points in the history of the Capitals. First for Demen and the amount of games he played. He's the. He's the best defenseman in my mind.

[Whitney]

And if they're not running into Crosby every second round over those years, they might have two Cups.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

You think the year they won it, they still had to go through Pittsburgh in the second?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, they did.

[Biz Nasty]

I think he's a Hall of Famer.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't know. In business. Hall of Fame. Fucking yeah. First ballot.

[Whitney]

Racco Budis is in the Hall. My hall of Fame.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, he. Yeah, he's in every Hall. He was until he had said 771 points.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's like a. He's like a Hall of Very Good. He's like might right be. Might be right beneath it.

[Biz Nasty]

I mean, he'll be in the USA Hall.

[Ryan Whitney]

The two 70 point seasons. A 68 points. No. 370 point seasons. 68 point season. A bunch of seasons in the 50s. Last year at 51. He's got 46 points at 55 games this year, which, which should bring us to Anaheim. What a move by them, right? And, and I think we've talked a lot. We'll get into Detroit about, like, when do you know it's your time to kind of give it a go here? Like, Anaheim's like, all right, we got a bunch of guys on like rookie deals, right? Gauthier is not making anything yet. Carlson's not making anything yet. Leo Carlson, I'm talking about. Let's bring in John Carlson. We can get rid of this first round. I think it's going to be a later pick anyways. And now you got the young bucks on the left side, right? And you got the older vets on the right side. You got the Butcher, you got Carlson, and you got the troop of train. So you got some real toughness in two of those guys. Carlson could do it all. And then. Fuck, man, that Lacombe, is it Zellweger. They got a nice team over there. My, my, my. Ranting and raving about waxing the Anaheim Ducks. I. I think I slept on that one a little bit. I'm getting a little bit over my skis considering how bad the Oilers look. So Anaheim, the fans should be excited. It's been a while since they're looking

[Whitney]

at those other two potential opponents in Edmonton and, and Vegas and very winnable series. I would say coin flip but neither series. No.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, agree.

[Whitney]

I wouldn't want to face Edmonton just because you're going against the two headed monster. Vegas, no stone right now. And, and they've had a real tough time. I think they finally got a win over a playoff team for the first time since, since November 20th. But yeah, so they, they're, they're, they're in good shoes, man. And we talked about Cutter Goce. What he's got 31, 32 goals now on the year machine.

[Biz Nasty]

Crazy too. Their PP is 22nd in the league. So like bringing him over, that's gonna help out your power play. I think he's one of the still on the power play. Like you have to have a good power play in playoffs and I'm sure Q knows that. He realizes, you know, you have a guy up top who's seen it all, done it all. Like you have to bring in a guy like that if you have the opportunity. So look for that power play to, to get a legit boost from him out there.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. All right. Then we gotta go to Colorado. I this, this one, this one was rattling to a, to a guy who's not an ABS fan. I don't know if they can be beat me saying this. Can this be what, what needs to happen for them to lose possibly the four centers they have are out of control and they still have other centers without the list we're going to get you. You got McKinnon. Okay. How's he biz? He's okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's pretty good. He's pretty good. He's pretty good.

[Whitney]

Who else?

[Ryan Whitney]

He got wet and then they bring over Nazem Kadri. Now the funniest part about Kadri, he. If you remember when the Rontanen went on the run in game seven of the third period, I believe Kadri sent out one tweet that said you always keep the dogs. And he's talking about Miko Rontanen and he was definitely talking about himself a little bit. He had to be because he's a dog when it comes down to it. Okay. And everyone was wondering where's Kadri gonna go? It was Kadri and it was, it was Trocheck. It's like, wow. Neither one of those guys got moved. And 4:10pm this was my problem with it. I don't know how that happens. You have to have the trade in before 3 o'.

[G]

Clock.

[Ryan Whitney]

She's done some digging for me and told Me that basically it's since the disaster of the trade for to Dadnov. Right. The Ottawa Dadnov deal. Do you remember that? With Vegas and then Ottawa, they lost year's first rounder, first round pick for that. Like adamant on making sure every single trade is okay and all works out and is getting okayed by the registry and all that. But I've never seen a trade come in that late. I haven't seen it. And it was a big one because the AB said fuck it, we're all in. And the only thing we're missing is a guy who was maybe a top three most important piece when we did win the Stanley Cup. Nazem Kadri's back. He assisted already on a McKinnon goal yesterday, right? Or was that even today? I don't know.

[Merles]

He.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's a game changer in games that are mean, violent and physical. He's amazing defensively. He could shut centers down. Little bit older, he's got some term left on the deal. Calgary agreed to eat a little bit of money. I think it's 20, 20%.

[Whitney]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

And Colorado makes a statement on saying we got four centermen that can just play with anyone. Yeah, I don't know what I'm. I'm bummed for Minnesota a little bit.

[Whitney]

I'm bummed for Minnie. I'm bum. I'm bummed for Dallas because it's just like, oh my God, the fact they didn't get tro. Then you're sitting there like, okay, you know what? They got a pretty deep center pool and they got Jack Drury there who they ended up getting over in that rotten. And move who was like, I don't know, I guess essentially a throw in with nature. Obviously we know how Brock Nelson's worked out after getting comfortable with those settings and he's probably going to slot as the number two. And then they end up picking up roi. They gave up a first rounder for, for. For Nicholas Roy who scored already.

[Biz Nasty]

He scored too.

[Whitney]

Scored all rather so they. So, so when they got him, I said on, on the panel, I said man, they. They made a move and they have cap space left. Like I still think they go get Kadri and this one fucking guy goes, hey, tell that idiot Bisson at they got wa yesterday. Oh yeah, notable fourth line center Nazem Kadri, you fucking moron.

[Ryan Whitney]

Ok, so now in your ear, one of those guys.

[Whitney]

What do you mean in my ear?

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm. I'm saying. Are you saying some idiot like a producer that's in your ear?

[Whitney]

In the year, some jackass on Twitter who was watching Sportsnet, he's like, hey, tell that idiot Biss and that they trotted for. They traded for Hawaii yesterday. It's like they traded for wa. Oh, so they're not going to go get Kadri because they got Hua. Oh, that's fine. Let's balance the scale out here a little bit.

[Biz Nasty]

The way that you talked about wa. This, the. In the beginning of the year, Maybe that's true.

[Ryan Whitney]

McKinnon, McDavid.

[Merles]

Wa.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, business line before the league season.

[Whitney]

You, you.

[Biz Nasty]

Hey, it was me tweeting at you,

[Whitney]

you piece of. But hey, buddy, it goes back to management for the Colorado Avalanche because if you go back to the beginning of last year, what did they have? They had goaltending problems just like a lot of other teams in this league. And what do they do? They went out and got two of them that are awesome. That all of a sudden halfway through the year, people were thinking maybe they make the Olympic team. Okay, who did they bring in and, and, and call up and then give a very team friendly deal? Malinsky, he signs for three and a half. What is he? He's a bigger version of Gerard, who's probably a little bit more dominant defensively. Well, they get him to agree to those terms and all of a sudden they could ship some money out and save about what, 2 million bucks on Gerard. And then it just kept freeing up more cap space. And you look at all the other moves they made, boys. They finally get their captain back.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's now he's out. Unfortunately he's out right now. Landiscog is, I think he's week to week, so it's lower body. I think he'll be okay. But buddy, they're, they're top nine.

[Whitney]

They got Lekonen, they got fucking the choo choo train. What don't they. They got naches. They got weapons, man. They got weapons on weapons on weapons. And you look at, you look at a management team that has these unbelievable pieces and Nathan McKinnon and, and, and Cale McCarr and how they're able to, to, to put pieces around him in order for them to have success. And then you have to look north of the border and be like, oh my God, if only we could have had McFarlane, we could have hired that guy here. We'd probably have three or four in a row at this point.

[Ryan Whitney]

You think he, he's that guy too?

[Biz Nasty]

Like you don't even. I bet 90% of the hockey world doesn't even Know what he looks like, he's just like a behind the scenes. He doesn't get involved. He' he's just making his team better every single year.

[Ryan Whitney]

He just snuck in when Sackic moved up and it's like they knew exactly what they were doing. Obviously Sakic was quite comfortable with this guy taking over and I just, yeah, they're deep. They got, they got puck movers, they got Manson to be physical. They got, they got two goalies. So one of them struggling, you put the other Woody in there and then they got guys who could score and check up front. And I thought like, I thought they'd have to get rid of Ross Colton to do some of this. They kept him. It's just crazy.

[Whitney]

The fact they didn't have to get to get rid of a solid roster player.

[Biz Nasty]

Right.

[Whitney]

Move is. And you have to imagine when that, that trade came through, there was probably a few guys on the team who were like, oh God, who's going? Who's going? And to hear that it's Olufsen and then what, what's the rest of the deal?

[Ryan Whitney]

They end up doing the prospect Max Curran, conditional 2028 first round pick and a conditional 27 second round pick. So I, I like that. You know, Calgary gets a decent return. They're a first and a second rounder. They're not really going to compete. Okay. Okay.

[Whitney]

That's what he looks like folks.

[Ryan Whitney]

He kind of looks like James Duthie there a little bit with the cigarette, the sunglasses, the gold chain.

[Whitney]

Yeah, he's an absolute KGB gangster right there.

[Biz Nasty]

Hey, what do you, what do you think like Billy G and the other GMS in the west when that comes over your phone at 4:00.

[Whitney]

And like the Marshaw trade, that was

[Biz Nasty]

at least in the threes. It was at three.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think that was like 3:20ish. Yeah, this, this was like oh, we're done. We signed up the, the game notes extravaganza. It was like I think 3:30 G. You could right around 3:30. Like all right. It was still 40 minutes after that I tweeted out what the just happened because I'm thinking of the conference finals. Right?

[Whitney]

Oh, might be another sweep.

[Ryan Whitney]

It might be another Colorado. Tampa. Do you guys think that's what I said? Take away, take away the Bruins record breaking regular season with the Panthers broke them in the first round. Like have you ever. Can you remember a team with more expectations going into the playoffs to win it all? Probably Detroit, what Back in the day.

[Whitney]

Or even the la. The last time that Colorado won. The expectations were very high. Like, they had a. I mean, buddy, I saw them go against the oil. We followed that series around. We did it for tnt, that conference finals, and they, and they lost Kemper in that series and Frank sos or Frank who? Oh, yeah, he went in and they still worked him in four. And then they ended up beating Tampa. I believe in six games, there was never a doubt in my mind they were going to win the Stanley cup that year. Every, every game, they would just control it, control it, control it. It would be like, okay, like 50, 50 for a few shifts, and then boom, they'd have a shift where they took over and they'd roll three, four lines over, like, oh, my God, they're just coming in waves. So.

[Ryan Whitney]

And it's the same feeling now.

[Whitney]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

And, and I wonder if they keep,

[Whitney]

if they keep fucking Natushkin in the boza. This one's over.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, you think you calling it, you're calling it.

[Whitney]

If they keep them in the boza, it's game over.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah. I think maybe the 01 Colorado Avalanche probably had just as much pressure with Rays last season, stuff like that, because

[Ryan Whitney]

with, with the expectations comes a lot of pressure. And you know, McKinnon, I'll tell you, God help if Seattle does sneak into the playoffs, which right now they're in. Can you imagine the dog before that series they lost to him the last time they played in the playoffs. He's going to be a complete. He's going to be a rabid dog out there barking, spitting, yelling.

[Whitney]

I heard he's got a picture of the guy from the Olympics who handed him the stuffed animal, his walker. Right now.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

And he's going like lipstick on, like in Billy Madison. Ready to cross him off the list in this.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think we should bring.

[Whitney]

For everybody else, we should bring in

[Ryan Whitney]

one guy right now who for a long time he's had an Eastern Conference team, the Buffalo Stairs. But he's had nothing to cheer. That is his squad. And in those years, he's been a Colorado Avalanche guy. So just come on in. Come on in.

[Whitney]

Eric Johnson.

[Merles]

Welcome, welcome.

[Whitney]

Okay, okay.

[Ryan Whitney]

Chris seemed disappointed.

[Merles]

Real player.

[Whitney]

No, he's better. A little better looking.

[Merles]

What's up, fellas? Nothing. Riding high over here that my Sabers are great, my Avalanche are great. I, I, I, I just put a bet in on the Sabers to win the Eastern Conference, and yeah, things are great.

[Biz Nasty]

How, how would RPI do?

[Merles]

The other day our RPI lost 2 to 1, so that's not so great.

[Whitney]

Before we get there I think we should compliment Calgary on the way that they've been able to bring this thing down to the studs. And it's going to get probably a little sad for a year or two here, but this is what they had to do. They were delaying the inevitable. They get rid of Uyghur, they get rid of Cadre. I think they've stockpiled the first round picks. You know, they could build around, how do you say, the kid, the defenseman's last name, he's offensive played world juniors. They have, they have Dustin Wolf and net. So they do have a few young pieces to build around but this is how you, you burn it to the ground and you get potential.

[Ryan Whitney]

First or second overall pick, you need a high pick. They've never, never really never had the one.

[Whitney]

My craziest stat going. They've never had a pick higher than 4. And who did they take?

[Biz Nasty]

Jerome?

[Ryan Whitney]

Sam Brendel.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, Benny.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, wow.

[Whitney]

That was their friend. That was the highest pick in their organization's history and apparently ownership is pretty heavily involved in decision making and they never really wanted to go with a true rebuild. It was always a retool, retool, retool. Finally they've gotten them to agree on to bring this thing down to the studs. But we can move on from that.

[Merles]

No, I have a little something for you on the Flames guys. I got a little tidbit for you. If you look at the NCAA scoring, this was before last week and if you looked at the top 20, Calgary has five guys in that top.

[Ryan Whitney]

In the top 20.

[Merles]

So yeah, so they got, they got some prospects coming that, that are ready to go. That was it Castagna or something from Cornell. They just got. He's, he's a player. He's like, I think he's like more of like a second third line guy can do it all type of player. You know how Cornell is wit.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And who's the kid at Quinnipiac was leading the nation and scoring as a freshman and he was a round box. Yeah. So Calgary Flames now. I did want to. I thought of this the other night. It was Friday and no. When did I go to dinner? Friday night, sitting in the bathroom just taking a leak and I started thinking about the trades. I was like, wow, Calgary. I feel bad because man, they had something special there. If you remember right, they had, they had a hell of a team. Edmonton beat him in the second round is three, four years ago. Matthew wants to leave, Johnny leaves. Like they had a lot there. They had a team that could have gone on a run. And it just. Matthew wanting to leave was kind of the death sentence for them.

[Whitney]

The first domino and that was it.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then you know, Bennett's. Bennett was gone first. Right. And then Matthew wants to leave and Johnny doesn't resign. And then they did a good job in terms of like Huberto was coming off a hundred point season and it just seemed to come.

[Whitney]

That goes back though to, to ownership wanting Sutter in the seat and at the end of Sutter's career like hey man, he, he, he's probably a Hall of Fame coach but he was a nightmare to deal with. I think anybody you talk to will tell you that. And, and then all of a sudden he's not, you know, not playing Sam Bennett. They end up getting rid of him for nothing. And then you know, Matthew's probably like, you know, oh, you're going to get rid of a dog and I got to deal with this coach who's a miserable every day. Peace out. See you later. And then the domino because there are

[Ryan Whitney]

city like there, there's places in the NHL it's not just cities. Some certain cities in Canada, guys don't want to play. Calgary I don't think is one of them. I love Calgary.

[Whitney]

Weaker. Weaker was sad, man. Weger was like emotional about having like eventually moving his no move clause but probably wanted to go win and he knows that it's going to be a little painful for a few years. I, I, I, you know, I have no, I don't think anybody's got a problem with him doing that. But he was very emotional and said that Calgary was very good to his family and it's a good place to, to raise one. And, and they got a great fan base. I would say one of the more like less intense media markets and the nicest places to live in Canada. I would put it at the top of the list.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah. Once they get that new barn, what's that going to be? A couple more years. Like if they can start building. Start building and then get good with the new barn. That'll be incredible. Two and guys will want to go there.

[Ryan Whitney]

They got, they got. I think it's two more seasons so 26, 27, 27, 28.

[Biz Nasty]

I think they hired the guys from Italy.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh yeah. Yeah, you're right. Yep. You get a bunch of chicken parm subs. Finish that thing up. 20, 45.

[Merles]

Mer, I actually had a question for you guys Whit before we. So we finish up on the trade. Did you ever have a no move clause or Whatever is that. Do you have to put them in when you sign the contract or is it every season a new list or

[Ryan Whitney]

is it a trade deadline?

[Whitney]

You have. You can change, you can have, you can change your, your. I guess. So you get a 12 team.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

You can adjust based on the. Wow.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

Okay.

[Biz Nasty]

They have to ask you like, hey, give us your 12 teams. And then you do that every year at like a certain point. Or they don't ask you.

[Ryan Whitney]

I, when I got traded for Pittsburgh, that contract, that six year contract had a no trade after the second year. So they dealt my ass before that thing. Yeah, yeah, they were, they, they knew what they were doing on that one. Like, yeah, we'll give you no trade the last four years of it, buddy. Oh, we're shipping your ass out.

[Whitney]

100. They're like, Put him on the power play with Sid for the first half a year and let's inflate his value and then. Bait and switch, bitch. See you later.

[Biz Nasty]

Was that because it was an age thing? Because isn't it at a certain age you can only have no move or.

[Whitney]

No, I think, no, I think it

[Ryan Whitney]

just, I think it was an ears thing. It was an ears thing.

[Biz Nasty]

Ears. Yeah.

[Whitney]

I think, I think they probably look at it saying, hey, we have a few offensive defensemen in the pipeline. Let's give them two years to develop. And then, you know, if it doesn't,

[Ryan Whitney]

hey, this guy's seen seven foot and ankle doctors around North America. Let's throw the note.

[Whitney]

Oh, yeah, second opinions.

[Biz Nasty]

That was before second opinions were allowed too. They were probably. Get this fucking ankle dickhead out of here.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, Merles, I wanted to ask you. You've been on the Colorado train for three since they won it even maybe before then you're mainly a lecking and guy. That's what I don't think. You're McKinnon, McCarr. You're Lekin and junkie. Do, do you see anyone beating them? Do you think it's possible?

[Merles]

I mean, Dallas is good. Dallas, Dallas took care of him last year. They, they're, they're going to be there. But yeah, this. You look at that center depth, if you guys talked about him yet like that. Yeah, the center depth is just, it's ridiculous.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. They could not even have Kadri playing center if they don't want. They could be like, hey, play on the wing on the second line or something. It's crazy. It's just like, I don't know, it's, it's, it's going to Be very difficult to beat. And there's a lot more trades to get into. But I did want to bring up, because you're a Buffalo guy as well, those are the two teams with the most regulation wins in the NHL. I think that Buffalo is 32 and the ABs have like 36, 37 maybe. So the fact that Buffalo's in the discussion right now, they're tied for the division lead. I think that Tampa has a couple games in hand. You're taking them to win the Eastern Conference. And they almost had Pareco. We went over that last episode. But the Buffalo Sabers are for real boys, which.

[Whitney]

Which by the way, that game's going on right now. And apparently there's been a few scraps already in that matchup. So both teams really trying to try to show. Show the other what they got early on in case they end up meeting in the. In the conference finals. But Merles, like, what did you make of all the Franco stuff? Let's start there because I think a lot of people, including Buffalo Sabres fans, and I want them to go on a run too, just as much as anyone. To see that city light up that back end with Kesselring, Parenco, Samuelson, Darlene Power, and who's in? Samuelson is the other one. Is they missed it one or no. Byron.

[Merles]

Byron, he flies around too.

[Whitney]

That got me excited. Like, I can't like that. That's one of the best back ends I can think of in a very long time. And big and long. And not to say they didn't also get big and long with Stanley and Shen, but I got a little bit more excited over Colton Paranco who just finished at the Olympics.

[Merles]

Yeah, that's when I threw in my future on them. When it. When I saw that come. Cause DraftKings hadn't updated it yet. I got him at 10 to 1. And actually when that trade, like maybe a few hours after that, it dropped all the way down to 8 to 1. I haven't looked today to see where it's at, but they. They're. They're a great team. Like th.

[Ryan Whitney]

Those.

[Merles]

Those left D can just fly around. Byram, Darlene, they're flying around. And then. I don't know if you watched the game last night. That building is electric again. It's sold out. You know, they're on the. On the booze. They're having a good time. So come playoffs, that first round, they're going to have a huge, huge home ice advantage there.

[Whitney]

I think the one game that set it off was Tape Tage Thompson, towel night. When they came back to celebrate his Olympic gold. That was when you're like, okay, these guys are in playoff mode. You know that they're probably bringing in 25 to 30% more boos to each game, you know, in, in the basement there. So, yeah, you, you seem to think that they're going to run out of alcohol if they make it to the second round.

[Merles]

Yeah, the first round is going to be out of control. I actually cut a deal with our buddy Heat Daddy on game notes on Wednesday. So I'm going to go up there for those first two games. Tim Conley, Sabers legend, is going to join me. I'm in talks with Tyler Ennis to get him over for it. So we'll get the Heat daddy, myself and a couple Sabers alumni and we'll, we'll shoot the lights out out there and cover the first two games for you guys.

[Ryan Whitney]

Get a Thomas Vanek reunion up in Buffalo, by the way. So Boston and Pittsburgh right now, Boston's up four, three, nine minutes out. That's a big game. I'm thinking of Pittsburgh because it involves Buffalo. In terms of Malkin decided to baseball bat Don leaning ahead. And I don't know if people have always realized if Ganny Malkin is a complete snapshot. Long been an underrated, very dirty hockey player. It's a compliment, guys. It's a compliment. He loses his mind several times throughout his career and on this one, decided to slash Darlene in the face. I, I will say though, Darlene's dirtier than people think.

[Whitney]

Darlene's a gamer.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. Darlene runs around and he's not.

[Whitney]

Cross checked him in the head a few years back.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, at the outdoor game.

[Whitney]

Outdoor game in Hamilton.

[Merles]

Yeah. It looked like Malkin's like brain broke and he panicked like, oh, I gotta try to fight to try to cover up the slash. So maybe nobody saw that. Like, no, no, Gino, we saw that. So, yeah, he got, he got the maximum you can get from a phone call hearing the five games. So he got lucky with that, I

[Ryan Whitney]

think, and with sit out Pittsburgh's kind.

[Whitney]

I said them and the Islanders could potentially fall off a cliff. I said that at the trade deadline.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, let's go into the Islanders now. They go out, they get Braden Shen. Kind of a cool story. G was just filling me in. So I knew that the Islanders and the. Who else? The Blues were at the same hotel in San Jose. And when it was announced or the deal came to fruition, they had to get Braden Shenz. Okay. They had to. He had the no movie, had to agree to it. And apparently he went into Patrick was hotel room.

[Whitney]

They requested him. They reached out to St. Louis and said. And he was obviously like, we talked to Uyghur as well on sportsnet, right? And he got about three to four hours to go home with his wife and talk about, hey, like, what do we think here? Do we want to waive this and move our family down to Utah and be in Salt Lake City to where this is obviously just random timing. And then they requested, hey, can we talk to Braden Shen? So Patrick Waugh and Darsh, they got to sit down with him and say, hey, and pitch him on coming to the New York Islanders where if that doesn't happen, like, what if, what if that was Buffalo to Parenko? Like, imagine you get Darlene in that leadership group with, with Keka Linen in a room to sit down with him and say, listen, I know this doesn't seem ideal right now, and I know it's a big change, but talk to your girlfriend. Like, we're all in and we're going to be a contending team for the next three, four years. How much, like, how much you can almost play with a person's emotions to

[Ryan Whitney]

get them to agree to come face to face.

[Whitney]

Face to face. If you see Patrick Wall, Patty Wall too, being pass, like, come here, we're gonna win and we need you to be part of it. Take whatever you want. Let's go, baby.

[Biz Nasty]

And what. What Said it over the top too. They said you can live at Matt Martin's house.

[Whitney]

No.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[G]

Kind of interesting. With the Sabers and Pareco, apparently via the PDO podcast, they had Josh Allen reach out to Colton Pareco in order to try and convince him.

[Whitney]

Come on.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's like, I'm not, I. I'm not even a Bills fan. Why is this guy calling?

[Whitney]

Yeah, he's like, how many interceptions did you have in the game? You guys got beat.

[Biz Nasty]

Hey, should have had Calvio call him.

[Ryan Whitney]

We've had a lot of discussion about Schaefer changing the franchise. Right? And like a couple people have written me, you're overblowing this one. I'm like, I don't know. Because then I see Braden Shen's quote. He was asked about Matthew Schaefer's presence playing, you know, a factor in him waving his no move to the island. He said, there's no secret. He's world class. He's elite. I think what guys say is how good of a person he is. How funny he is to be around. When superstars in the league are good guys that take care of teammates, guys are only going to want to be around him, and guys are only going to want to come to the New York Islanders in the future just because of his talent and character. So there you go, guys.

[Whitney]

Fucking 18 years old.

[Biz Nasty]

Did you see the reporter? The reporter asked Schaefer about that and like, you could see he was like, he started to like, smile. Like, imagine hearing that at 18 years old. That, like, you're the winning captain. Right. Like some scrub.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's like a guy, A guy who's done it, been to the top of the mountain. That's basically saying, I came here because of this kid.

[Whitney]

Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

And. And it's just. I'm happy for the honest biz. I don't, I don't see. I, I know you say them and Pittsburgh.

[Whitney]

No, I said, I said them too. Because I also said like that, first of all, that was before the Shen trade and, and if you look at the, the, the. The highest high danger zone, save percentage and, and save above expected, Sorokin's way at the top. So I, I use the term slapping lipstick on a pig. That seems a little insulting to the rest of the lineup. I'm not trying to do that. But I'm saying is if they're getting Ottawa Senators goaltending, they're in the bottom eight of the year, of the season. Right? Bottom eight of the league. Excuse me. Kind of like the, the Ottawa Senators are with Linus Omar, but I also believe that that lineup is up front and down the middle is probably a little bit better than overall than, Than the Islanders. We. Are we agreeing here?

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Merles]

Omar's turned it around, though.

[G]

He's.

[Merles]

He's turned it around. Watch out for them. That's definitely a team that could come up.

[Ryan Whitney]

I think the Ottawa's gonna end up getting in.

[Whitney]

If they get in, they're going to be a hard out. And David Amber said that as well on the deadline show. He. I, I'd agree with him there, considering

[Ryan Whitney]

how good Ottawa's been all year. It's literally only goaltending. So if the goaltending figures it out, then like, if you look at all these advanced stats, Pasha style, like, they have a legit chance to, like, do some damage. So the problem is now with Ottawa, Sanderson left the game and I think Jake Sanderson at the four nations, then the Olympics. Like random hockey fans that don't watch a lot of centers are like, wow, this guy's actually unbelievable. If he's out long term. That's, that's, that's a big problem for them because he's their horse. He's a true number one. I don't know if anything's come out today in terms of his injury, but that sucks considering that they're on a run right now. All right, everyone, listen up. Rollback is back and it's officially azalea season. The Azalea collection is here. Fresh spring colors, unreal prints, and that same best fit, the best feel. We've been rocking it non stop. The new Highlands hoodie. It's an absolute wagon and it's beautiful. It's light, it's gorgeous. And no floppy drawstrings. Great stretch, lightweight, but warm enough too. And then there's the new sweater Polo Sneaky Elite. It's a classic look. Stretchy, polished, podium level stuff from Roback. So head to roback.com r h O-B-A-K.com and use code Chiclets for 20 off your first purchase through the end of the week. Azaleas are blooming. Spring is here. The boys are buzzing. Get dialed with Roback. Guys, let's take a minute here and talk about Jack Pocket. Ordering lottery tickets has never been easier, thanks to our partners at Jack Pocket. Whether you like to order Powerball Mega Millions scratch off tickets, you can order them all on the Jackpocket lottery app. Jackpocket makes ordering tickets quick, simple and secure. And here's the best part. If you're new to Jack Pocket, they've got a special offer just for you. Stoolies download the Jackpocket app. Sign up using code PUCK2 and new customers who deposit $5 will get $10 in lottery credits instantly. That's right, get $10 in credits instantly when you deposit $5 on Jackpocket, America's number one lottery app.

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[Ryan Whitney]

I, I want to, I want to finish off the Shen deal because I think the the blues did A pretty good job. They got, they got Drew N. Right. They got Mar. Goaltending prospect Mark Marcus Gillloaf. I don't know if I'm saying that right. 2026, first round pick. 2026, third round pick. So the first round pick was owned by the Avalanche and then the third rounder belonged to the devils. So I. St. Louis, right. It's going to be, it's going to be tough sledding here. Very shocking, I think to see Pareco didn't get moved. He kind of did, but that fell apart. There was rumors of Bennington, big rumors on Robert Thomas. It seems as though those are summer trades. Okay. I don't think that there was a way to get that all that stuff done. What was odd was that I thought when Pareco said no to Buffalo, he just wanted to stay in St. Louis. But then it came out he was open to Anaheim or la. Now did Anaheim then call and try to figure out something there and then go to Carlson when they realized they didn't have a deal done? I have no idea. But I didn't think he was going to be willing to go anywhere when I heard him say no. But it was just Buffalo.

[Whitney]

I, I still think though that Armstrong, it seems like it will be his last year.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. Taking over next year.

[Whitney]

I, I, I can't think of a better situation to leave an organization in than the what he's been able to hand off to Steen. I don't think Paranco's got a good contract. I want to say he makes under $6 million. Yeah, it sucks he didn't move him. But, but he's still a very serviceable defenseman. It's not like he's like this horrible contract you got to deal with. Robert Thomas is a great foundational center that's still only 26 years old. So if you don't end up dealing them in the summertime at the draft and who gives a fuck. And Biddington, still a world class goalie that's only making 6 million. I think next year is the last year of his deal. So. Yes. Would you want to get some more assets in order to strip it down? And would you not say that like between Broberg Holloway, they got some pretty good pieces.

[Ryan Whitney]

Snugarude, Kyru's still there.

[Whitney]

Somehow Kyru's making 8 million bucks probably like I don't know what you do with him. I think that you. Obviously he doesn't, I don't know. He just seems like a guy who's maybe a little bit Disinterested there where it's like, okay, we'll see if you can get that off and someone else can work with him.

[Biz Nasty]

You don't think that they're definitely going to trade Robbie Thomas now after having, you know, go through all this bullshit during the year?

[Whitney]

Maybe they will, but they're going to get. Either way they're going to end up getting good value in return. Where you've now stripped this thing down to the studs and you've replenished them with a bunch of first round picks, a lot of draft stock and you made some pretty good moves in, in giving those guys offer sheets off of Edmonton where you got, you know, three, four young guys to build. Start building your team around who are legit NHLers. Like the other one I'm thinking of is Bull Duke who they ended up getting for or. Oh, sorry, that was a tough trade. I don't. That Logan Mayute for. For him was. That was a tough one.

[Ryan Whitney]

So Logan may use been playing pretty

[Whitney]

well lately, playing better young defense when they had no D. Yeah, they had no.

[Merles]

Anyway, yeah, I was happy I didn't talk to the Blues because you see, they were chasing down the phone records and everything. Army wants to know who's the leak. I'm like, thank God I haven't texted him Oni or Steener in the last couple weeks.

[Ryan Whitney]

So imagine that you brought that up because that was interesting. That was straight up like CIA shit. We talked about the CIA earlier. Who leaked this? Who let this out now? I didn't even know. Like they went Babcock style. They grabbed, they grabbed the phones, they grabbed the computers. They wanted to check everything. I guess it could have been somebody in Buffalo, right? Like, or, or I mean if they're only checking the work phones, do guys have other phones? But if somebody had been caught in St. Louis leaking that trade before Pareco was able to hear about on his own and not have it be public because that is a huge aspect of it. Like all of a sudden you're like, well now this fan base is going to despise me. And now I got all this different pressure on me that like I, I have to accept. I don't want to accept. I, I didn't know you could grab the phones like that. But they, that's a problem with this. Like I don't think you're the, the toothpaste is out of the tube though, boys. We talked about the insiders like anytime anything happens, it's immediately on the Internet now, isn't it?

[Biz Nasty]

Always the agents. That's what I always.

[Whitney]

No, not always.

[Biz Nasty]

No.

[Whitney]

It's a, it's a crapshoot. I thought that this would be a good way to segue into the amount of, of no move and no trade clauses every year. It's percentage wise gone up and up and up. And now we're at 37% of guys in the league have some form of modified no trade clause which, listen, like, hurts your deadline.

[Ryan Whitney]

Show it.

[Whitney]

It'll kill the, the. The no double salary retention, the. And then that right there about the, the modified no trays clauses and the fact that like guy. The only. The only players who don't have them now are guys on their entry level. Basically, like, it's fucking insane. Now from a player's perspective, from a nhlpa, a players association, the agents, obviously, they want protection for their guys. I'm just more looking at it from a guy who, who was just happy to be there. They're acting like getting traded to Buffaloes like they're going to Chernobyl. Like, it's like, you know. You know what I'm saying? Like. Yeah, and, and if it'd be dumb not to. To think that taxes have something to do with it and then certain locations that have something to do with it that have kind of been on the black ball list, like the Winnipegs, like the Buffaloes, where, man, it's 2026 in the NHL, there's no bad places to play. Really.

[Ryan Whitney]

Big G just said this in the chat. Like, big trades are great for the league. They really are. Like, it gets conversation going. It gets, I don't know, people talking. And it just brings attention to the NHL where I don't think it's easy for guys to get dealt. I've been there. But you got a ton of headlines and you get a big move, so you want those. I mean, that's like the biggest part of the NBA now is their trades. That's the only thing I'm ever seeing is who's getting dealt where and when. So.

[Whitney]

So people hate when we use that comparison because they say, look how the NBA's become. So that's, I guess, a fair argument.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, but they'll never be super teams like the NBA.

[Biz Nasty]

No Colorado. Hey, so out of the three McFarlane, if you could only have one, a cap circumcision, the salary retention, or no trade clause, which would you have? What do you think would get more trades?

[Whitney]

I think the double salary retention helped a lot. Yeah, and it sucks. The reason I would be okay if the no move no trade modification keeps going is just because it does benefit the players and providing them with security. And as Kevin Bxa mentioned too, Bxa ended up agreeing to a contract that was paying them about 2 to $300,000 less each year on his AAV in order to get that security for him and his family. I just think it's, it's like, okay, well if we're at 37% now, it's going to continue growing because it has every single year. Should it be capped just like the amount of, of contracts you're allowed to eat per team, which is now three. Like you're allowed to eat money on three bullets as we speak right now until obviously that contract in which you ate runs out and then you get your bullet back. So should there be a limit as to how many you could have on a roster?

[Biz Nasty]

I don't know. We're a player's podcast. I fucking hope everyone has one.

[Whitney]

Well then nobody's going to be playing in Buffalo.

[Merles]

I want to ask you, Yan, you had one. Did you ask for it or is that something your agent went and got for you and like, oh look buddy, I got you the no move clause. Thanks for that 4%.

[Biz Nasty]

It's one of those things, I think when you have a family it's more talked about. Like, it's like, okay, you know, when they're in school you want to know that they're going to be there for that next whatever, however long your contract is. But I think it was something that we talked about like, okay, now I'm finally a free agent, you can, you know, ask for stuff like that. So it was kind of one of those things. We talked about having it and yeah, he got it for me. Shout out.

[Ryan Whitney]

I remember the first time I heard about the. Because there was always no trades and then like the no moves where you can't even get sent down. Like the big dogs got those ones like you could, you can't buy me out, you can't send me down. I'm, I'm literally here.

[Biz Nasty]

You can only get bought out. Like I had, yeah, I had no move. Oh, but you just can't get sent to the Miners or no mind.

[Whitney]

Oh, it's great, that's nice. I never got one of those.

[Merles]

Obviously I had the opposite of a no move clause. I just. You got, you play one year and you have to move

[Biz Nasty]

the merly move clause.

[Whitney]

Do you not, do you not agree as time moves on though, that once again state tax element is playing a factor and then these guys deciding, hey, put it on the list. I don't want to go there.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

That's why I feel that there should eventually be an even playing field when it comes to that, because it's affecting other areas, including not having to pay guys as much. So I know I was called a idiot and whatever other R words you want to throw at me, but I wasn't wrong. I was just early.

[Ryan Whitney]

So I also. I was nervous for Detroit going into this deadline. You remember the Dylan Larkin comments, right? We kind of like, very, very. You don't see much of that in the NHL. Just basically like kind of calling out Stevie. We thought we were getting some help and they went out, they got David Perron. I like that move. He's older. He's played us, played so many games, played a lot of big games. I like it. But I was like, they need help on D. I like that move with Justin Falk. Justin Faulk's a hell of a player. He could skate. He could play over 20 minutes. And it just adds to a decor that I think needed something. Would you agree with that one? Right. You got cider, you got Edmondson. And then it's like, we just need a little bit more here. All right. We'll get a guy who's played a lot of hockey, who knows how it, you know, the game does change. I think he went to St. Louis the year after they won it. But what did you think of Detroit's deadline biz? Like, were you. If you're a win?

[Whitney]

It just reeked of. It reeked of. We're going to plug some holes. We're not going to overpay for anything. We're going to address the subtle areas that we need to now in order to, like, for sure, make playoffs and maybe win around. But we're not going to do anything drastic. I was really, really plugging for them to move for Robert Thomas. I was. And I. We talk about Window. Like, how old's Larkin is? Larkin? 29, 30, probably right around there. And listen, I don't know. I also don't know what that round table thinks of Robert Thomas in his game. I would have just assumed having having a Dylan Larkin, Robert Thomas, 12 for under 9 million for the next five, six years, whatever it may be. And now that would probably mean getting off one of their goalie prospects. Don't know who they get off of. Right. They got Kosa, who's, you know, 6, 6, 6, 7, absolute monster. He's playing unreal in Grand Rapids. And then you got Augustine, who's in. In Michigan, where his skating maybe a little bit undersized for these new breed of goalies, but.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, I think he's pretty big. Yeah, he's pretty big.

[Whitney]

What is he, six one, six two?

[Ryan Whitney]

I thought he was like six four. I don't.

[G]

No, I mean, I. I did the tour with him and he definitely. He definitely wasn't 6 4.

[Merles]

He got 61 listed. Yeah.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay. All right. Yeah, so.

[Whitney]

But very good skater. Like, he has that Jonathan quick pedigree where he's low, he's post to post quick, very agile. So that would have been probably one of the guys you would have to come off of, knowing that Bennington's probably going to be on the way out. And then you keep hearing Casper's name and I was talking to Bukola and I said even to get more aggressive in order to get him, would you give up Buchala? He's a old scout for the Florida Panthers. He now does the panel at the deadline. Very, very smart guy. He's always in the bowels of the arenas. Knows about a lot of gu guys. I asked, would you do Finney? So he would. He even said, imagine you package Finney the goalie prospect and a first rounder. Like, does that get it done? Or. Or Casper a goalie prospect and a first. Does that get it done?

[G]

They had some great prospects too, though, like Max plant leading the NCAA in points. You have Carter Bear, who went 13th overall last year. Like, they have.

[Ryan Whitney]

Not ready to part with them yet, though.

[Whitney]

They're not ready to part with those guys. But then again, like, do they ever get to the level of what Robert Thomas is and locked in for the amount of money that he's making? So I don't know. And by the time these guys are ready, is Larkin now all of a sudden 32? I'm not saying he's out of his prime, but he's not going to be a spring chicken, right? So that felt like a. Like a fan from the outside looking in. I'd like to see it done for some fireworks, but I thought that, hey, stay the course. And I can't question him the same way that I would probably look at Montreal's deadline a little bit more underwhelmed, but you think I'm going to fucking Ken Hughes got shit cooking there. And he did some great music moves in the off season. We talked about Bald Duke. He did the Dobson one. He got Lane Hudson locked in. They're doing a hell of a job.

[Ryan Whitney]

And he's also thinking the same thing. Like it's not like, yeah, we're in the playoffs, but it's not like our window yet. Now how quick you just see windows closed so quick. That's the scary part for fans. With Yzerman, though, if I was a Red Wings fan, I would be like, the guy knows what it takes to win. He can look at a team and tell like, this team can win it all. And right now he's probably saying like, I don't think this team can win the Stanley Cup. So yeah, I'm going to add a little piece here and there, but I'm not going to mortgage future yet. When I'm looking at a team through 60 games, 65 games, the deadline comes and I've been on these Stanley cup teams. I can tell. All right, it's time. It's time to part with some big time prospects and some high picks. So I get it.

[Biz Nasty]

I thought Detroit was going to go get Trocheck just because like he played there. His, his wife's from there. Like there's connections there. He wanted to be there.

[Whitney]

I heard the ask was ridiculous and I'd much rather overpay for and, and give something for Thomas with the length of the summer and how old he is rather than, than tro. I'll, I'll give you one theoretically that I, I thought of that. Don't know if, if Rangers would have went down, but given Billy J. G's connection to J.T. miller and Trocheck, imagine they would have moved for both guys to combat what they call jt. Why not, man, you get. Maybe you work out a three way where you get, where you get rid of Wallstad young, unbelievable goalie, goalie prospect. And I'm sure they have other things in the pipeline where they can give up. You know what I mean? I don't know that, that to me would have been a dream ridiculous fan type trade clearly not going to work. But hey, if, if you're, if you're the Rangers, why not just strip it all the way to the stud? You have your foundational piece in Shusturkin and you just sent out this letter to the fans and you essentially did absolutely nothing at, at the, at the trade deadline.

[Biz Nasty]

I know they're wasting Shusterkin's prime here. Like you can't have a goal.

[Ryan Whitney]

What the.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, 100%. Like it's, it's like the Carrie Price situations in Montreal back in the day. Like you have this stud goalie. You gotta put teams around when you have a goalie like that. Even Sorokin and the Islanders like now they're putting it around it. But when you have a goalie like think of every team that doesn't have a goalie.

[Whitney]

That's why, that's why the Wallstead thing in a three way where yeah, they got Shustirka. They don't need him. Well, they can go flip him for a good player. So that's a huge piece of. And then send fucking two, maybe three first rounders their way. And then all of a sudden you got Erickson, Ek, J.T. miller, Trocheck and then McCarron down the middle. Hartman as well. I don't know if they would keep him there. They'd move into the wing once again. That was just one. I fucking smoked a bowl and thought of in my brain.

[Biz Nasty]

So we still have time. You can. I might get through if Colorado's doing it.

[Ryan Whitney]

That breaks right now.

[Merles]

One last thing I got on Detroit just to close up on them when they got this fox. When I see him I immediately think of sanding Pelica. So that's another reason you bring in a guy like Flock not only for this year, but I mean if there's that. That's like the perfect player for him to look at and learn and play that exact style.

[G]

So.

[Whitney]

And he's got a year long this year, right?

[Merles]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Whitney]

That contract he signed, he signed a nice healthy deal. When he did it was five or six years. I think he's got one more year

[Biz Nasty]

after I was shocked with how many minutes he's still playing. Folk like I think he's over 22 and a half minutes. Like that's fucking.

[Whitney]

But that's.

[Merles]

I think he said 11 goals.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, yeah. He'll probably be around 18 in Detroit. Right?

[Whitney]

That's another thing too. It's like just true about in Anaheim. I think Truba's playing 22. Well now they get Carlson, he gets bumped down to 18 minutes which is probably where he should be at. So yeah, I, I'm. I'm happy for Detroit. I, I hope they make playoffs and we get a little bit new blood.

[Biz Nasty]

And Larkin apparently his. You saw that little injury that he had. But apparently it's better than what they thought it was going to be.

[Whitney]

Oh, it looked like acl.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that was ugly looking stick. Sticking with Minnesota. I think probably, probably hard for Wild fans to see that Kadri deal come in so late. Right. They think they could play with anyone. It also isn't fair too that. I mean imagine if he'd done Quinn Hughes at the Deadline. He did. The biggest move of the season so far just happened so long ago. But bringing in Nick Foligno was sick. I mean, like, I think that. That Marcus said his dad there is on the phone. His dad. His dad was kind of tearing up and just to have your brother there. And I guess they were talking on the phone, he's like, I got traded. He's like, oh, where? He's like, I'll see in a couple hours. Like, that is so sick. Sick. You know, Nick's on. Nick's on the back. On the back nine of his career. But you could tell what he meant to Chicago. I mean, those guys are putting out posts and he's very involved. I think both of those guys are very involved with, like, the communities they play in. Like, they just seem like they've been raised the right way, like good people, good leaders, stick up for teammates. And so now they get to play together. I don't know if they'll be on the same line or anything, but that was cool to see because you wondered if Nick Foligno would get a chance to go somewhere to try to try to win one of these things and he gets to go be with his brother. I love that.

[Whitney]

And he just grinded it out, helping. Helping with Bedard and helping with that situation. So I feel like he deserves all that.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah, I think. I think Billy G saw, like, the power of brothers at the. I think I said it on your show, Merles. Like having, you know, Quinn and Jack Hughes and then the Chucks at Four nations. And realistically, Nick's probably going to go in there, play a limited role, just be an unbelievable teammate. He was not going to be playing 18 minutes a night like he used to. Right. But he's. He's one of those guys. He shows guys how to practice the right way. He's such a good guy in the locker room. One of. One of the best guys I've ever played. I played worlds with him one year and one of the coolest. Like, just a nice, humble guy. He's gonna mean monuments to that locker room in the few months he'll be there.

[Merles]

Imagine they brought by on your team, Yance. They would have done the opposite of all that you just said.

[Whitney]

Another reason I like doing the panel too, is you get like little nuggets. So BXA was saying that how much that McCarran deal, like, how important it is because between Erickson, Ek and Hartman, I think that they're each in the low 40s on face offs. So McCarron is a career 52, 53% guy, where that's huge, man. Like just even getting possession in some cases. I mean, we saw it with Trocheck at the, at the Olympics, right? Going out there is like the repairman. Even in some cases three on three. So that makes a little difference when you're getting down to nitty gritty in the second and third rounds where all the little details are starting to matter to him. Going out there to take these on draws to get them out of shitty situations ain't going to be the, the worst thing either. So that, that to me was probably why they ended up giving up the second and the fourth in order to get them people. I think that that Jay Fresh guy tweeted out like one of the most overrated things to, to, to like acquire for someone for is like a career 52 or 53% face off guy. But I tend to disagree when both your other guys are in the low 40s, like you're talking about a 10 point swing.

[Biz Nasty]

Well, think of how important puck possession is in playoffs.

[Ryan Whitney]

Snap them back.

[G]

Yeah.

[Merles]

You waste all your energy chasing it back. By the time you get it back, it's time to change. You start with that puck, it's a world of difference.

[Biz Nasty]

Yep.

[Ryan Whitney]

Seattle Kraken boys, they go out, they get Bobby McMahon. And I was wondering where this guy would go. And I would have loved to see him in Edmonton. A lot of Oilers fans, fans were talking about the possibility the chance he could end up there. You heard different rumors.

[Biz Nasty]

Is offered it.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, he offered us their whole team if me and Spec could make up. But McMahon, Seattle, like you kept hearing what they had offered Panarin in a contract. Like Seattle's been very open in terms of like what they're willing to do. They want to make it. They want to make the playoffs. They want to.

[Whitney]

Well, they want people trying to watch their games is what they want. Yeah, I know that's why they want a Panarin. But fuck, they're still on the no watch list.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yep. And San Jose's one point behind them for the last spot in the, in the, in the West.

[Whitney]

And they have nothing to even do with Bowie in this case. Boys, I'm praying Celebrini and San Jose makes it over Seattle. No offense to Seattle.

[Ryan Whitney]

No, that, that's just a straight up like no brainer to see Celebrini in the playoffs instead of the Seattle Kraken. Are we, are we, are we really having this conversation?

[Biz Nasty]

Are we smoking, cracking?

[Ryan Whitney]

You know, he can, he can get in there, do his thing. He flies. Late bloomer. I just hope he signs a big contract because he's, he's grinded to get where he is. And then the Leafs also sent Scott Lawton to, to la. He scores immediately in his first game. I've seen more Leafs fans tweets about the fact of what they gave up for Lawton than what they traded him for. And they never gave him. Best correct me here, they never gave him a chance on a top two line in Toronto.

[Whitney]

Lawton.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, that's what all the, that's what all the.

[Whitney]

I, I, well, I, I don't think Lawton would even say himself that he's a top line guy.

[Ryan Whitney]

But you're saying, okay, but like more ice time then.

[Whitney]

Yes, I think that, I think that the, I think the overall conversation right now is the disconnect maybe between management and their decisions and then how they've been portrayed on the ice. And however Berube wants to roll out his team the way that he wants them playing, I think that he was a type of guy that was averaging like 10, 11 minutes per game. And when you have a heart and soul guy like that who puts a lot, a lot of effort into his game, I think that what Toronto fans are, are yearning for is just somebody who kind of bleeds blue and has the identity of what they want. Like, these fans are used to killer and Wendell Clark, you know, they don't. As much as they love seeing Willie dominate and go out there and have his shifts, like, I don't think they can relate to him as much as they would a guy like Scotty Lawton. And you could judge it by his post that he sent out. He said, dream come true. Thank you so much. And then all the fans were like, you got hoes. Wish we would have treated you better. And I'm hoping that it's the old, old bait and switch where he ends up coming back and actually signing. But yeah, I don't think that he ever played enough here. And it didn't. Just the trade and what they gave up for him and how they played him didn't justify what they gave up for him. And that's where I talk about the disconnect. So there's a lot going on in Toronto, boys. And I'm boys with Brad Tree. He laughed like that and it sucks.

[Ryan Whitney]

Bad. It's bad.

[Whitney]

I'm bad. I'm boys with Tree living. Gans, you love Tree Living. He was our, He's a, he's a beauty, right? And I don't know if he makes it through the summer based on how the team played, he took full accountability for it. I would say that asset management is going to be something that's held against him in, in how they, they judge him in his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs and how much is affected by people above him and, and how much say they have on what's happening with the team. Right.

[Ryan Whitney]

So the Carlo trade was kind of

[Whitney]

the, the trip, the Carlo trade is going to look bad. But I also understood it at the time in the fact that they needed a, a number, a top four D man and they needed one cheap who still had a little bit of term left. Tan of when tanv's healthy, I feel like that's a different back end. And I, and I feel that with a proper retool this summer, if, if Matthews ain't sticking around for a rebuild so they have to retool. And so this summer a lot is going to have to be done in order to make them relevant. And if they're able to stay healthy, I still believe that they could be a playoff team and what that means after that. The Matthew situation is interesting because if you talk to anybody who watches them all the time, remember when he was struggling offensively this year, like everybody was ragging on him. Boys, he's playing against top lines night in, night out. He's starting a lot of the defensive zone draws against them. They can't defend. So if they lose the draw, there's. He's spending the whole shift in his own end trying to win his one on one battle so he can get the fuck out of his end. Where you look at dry Seidel and McDavid and yes, they're playing against top end guys, but they're also starting on offensive zone draws a lot more than Auston Matthews is. And their team is putting them in situations to have more offensive success. And if Berube in the way that he won in St. Louis is the way that he thinks that he can win because he did it with that particular personnel. I don't think Ryan O'Reilly is, he's a, he's a 70 point guy who's an unreal two way player. So is Auston Matthews, but he also needs to be put in situations where he could put the puck in the back of the net because he can do it more freely than a guy like Ryan O'Reilly. So, so it's hard to take an old head coach who's had success winning a certain way with St. Louis because he's going to try to take that winning formula and how you have to defend and play that 2:1, 3:2 hockey to the new team in order to try to instill in them. But it's like, well, if that's not the makeup of the roster and all of a sudden you have way different personnel and then you try to implement that, you get boring. Slow hockey, there's all fucking season long with Toronto.

[Ryan Whitney]

And also like I saw the clip in, in New York when the Rangers smacked them the other night. It was like Perubi was like yelling at him and guys are just like, not even.

[Whitney]

They're tuning them out. They're tuning them out. Like, and, and I, so I. Who the fuck am I to point the finger at Berube or the top end guys or management? They're however you want to look at it. There's just a lot of disconnect and it's not the type of group that you feel proud watching and I don't know, whoever you guys want to point the blame out to, well, I'm not going to give it to Auston Matthews. I'm going to beg him to stay because if he doesn't now we're in a rebuild. You might as well get rid of Willie because he's not a guy you build around because he's got his titties out in the press box. You laugh, man, but he, he. William Nylander needs to be your fifth or sixth guy showing up in whatever fucking outfits he wants to. But he ain't going to be the one answering the questions and he needs to be loosey goosey. But I'm not storming the beaches of Normandy with William Nylander. No, I'm going on a Louis Vuitton shopping spree with him.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, and, yeah, and you're. And you're. And you're counting on him being the 9,000 point guy. It's going to have a couple ridiculous turnovers, but It's. He's a 90.

[Whitney]

He's Phil Kessel on the Penguins.

[Merles]

Did you guys see the tweet from DraftKings today? Or. It was before yesterday's game. Only team not to win since the Olympic break. Toronto Maple Leaf. And then they lost again last night.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, here's the thing. Now, Biz, you got, now you got to make sure you get that pick. You gotta, you gotta end up.

[Whitney]

Well, I don't know if you guys saw the TSN mock draft. We got first overall, so we're good.

[Merles]

Okay.

[Whitney]

Yeah.

[Biz Nasty]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay. Now. It is crazy though. As much shit as you give me. It's. It's true. Because, like, Toronto right now, where is it here? They're sitting second to last in the east with 65 points. That puts him two points out of the playoffs in the West. So it's really switched in terms of, like, the east and the Atlantic, and it's been so good. You take away the Central and the west, the Western Conference is pathetic.

[G]

Wait, I actually don't think they want to get rid of that pick this year.

[Merles]

I mean, no.

[G]

Like, no, they want the Bruins to have that pick this year because then it gets pushed to next year. And if they're doing this rebuild thing, buddy, that.

[Ryan Whitney]

That's the thing. I don't think they're talking rebuild.

[G]

They got mad.

[Whitney]

I get what you're doing saying G, but they're. They're gonna. They're gonna have to sit down with Austin Matthews this summer and tell him, hey, another point that was brought up. And I. I agree. Like, they brought in Nick Robertson back on, like, a qualifying offer dirt cheap, and then they go out and they sign Michelle, and it never seemed like either of them got any sustain. Michelle maybe a little bit more, but he was kind of in and out of the lineup, off of the top line. Where.

[Merles]

Where.

[Whitney]

Why not give Robertson some Runway to try to.

[Ryan Whitney]

They never have there.

[Whitney]

They never did. They never did. So once again, the disconnect in and. And it just seems like nobody's really happy. Nobody knows where. Where they. Where they sit. And it was just a brutal year that I hope they learned from, and I hope that tree gets an opportunity to retool. He did go on Kippen born after And. And. And shout out to the kipio.

[Ryan Whitney]

Like, yeah. He hasn't sugarcoat it.

[Whitney]

He asked the hard one. He didn't give a.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then what happened? Biz. He said, you. You have a plan? And he. It didn't sound great. Like, the. The audio of it. He kind of heming and ha. Like, we're gonna get a plan. So it's like, oh, you don't have a plan. And that's where the fans are. Like, what. What happened? We were up.

[Whitney]

But he might have to keep. He might have to keep his cards close to his vasp.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

Close to his chest. Because who's the guy that's there that's been around forever? Like, is it. Is. Is it Beaston who. He. He rent runs mlsc.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

Is it Keith Pelly? Isn't he the guy?

[Whitney]

Or Pelly. Pelly?

[Biz Nasty]

Maybe it's Pelly, I know you're the ambassador.

[Ryan Whitney]

It goes back to like.

[Whitney]

I know, but I don't pay attention to all the political bullshit. All the way at the top, it's Keith Pelly, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. How much shade does he have at the round table? I don't fucking know. I can't even get a text back from donor on whether they Anaheim offered who's it meet Nicuddy say his last name. The Russian.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh yeah, the. The rumor of Michikov and McTavish for nice.

[Whitney]

Heard that rumor. I'm. He won't even. I don't even get text back anymore. I think. I think I might have to.

[Biz Nasty]

Well, you don't dig and you don't fish. You don't fish for it.

[Whitney]

Well, I did on that one because it means me coming on the podcast to try to talk about what I think I know.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm talking about this guy, boys. This guy. Every time we talk leafs at some point he ends up screaming, I love you for it. I love you for it.

[Whitney]

But. But the fact remains, I don't fucking know what's going on. I'm just trying to be supportive and gas my boys up.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't think anyone there knows what's going on. And that's the main issue. We can end this thing with that. That is the big problem.

[Whitney]

Perfect. Perfect. In with management then.

[Ryan Whitney]

By the way, that's why I'm going

[Whitney]

to keep this jacket.

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey, Tampa. Tampa comes into town, they get a win and who scores but new Tampa Bay lights Corey Perry. Is there a person that loves hockey more than Corey Perry? This fucking guy is going to play until he cannot get a contract. And I'm talking like an east coast league hockey league. He might play till he's 55 years old if he can get a coast league deal at 54. He's. And, and it's funny because like some guys that he's won a cup, it was a long time ago, but some guys at the end, they're like, I don't want to move. He's like, no, no, no, no, no. I'll go anywhere. And Tampa has a chance to do it this year. He's been there. I think his quote was, yeah, well, when you've lost five of the last six Stanley Cups, I'm. I'm still pretty hungry to get one. And he got right. He got a goal quick for him. So I like that move for Tampa. Add some nastiness, add some, you know, over under spears in the first round. He's looking at five, five, five and a half. Spears, a couple cross checks. You know, he's getting two goals in the first round around the net. That's a guarantee right there. And Tampa just. Tampa was like, we like our team. I didn't think Tampa had to do that much. Usually they're out swinging. I thought maybe Blake Coleman would go back there too, but Calgary never traded him. That was a surprising one. So what other trades we have? Oh, Warren Fogle went from LA as well to Ottawa. I like Warren for. I like Warren Fog. I flies around. He's pretty good.

[Whitney]

He led LA Kings in five on five goals last year.

[Ryan Whitney]

Did he really?

[Whitney]

Five on five goals?

[Biz Nasty]

Third rounder.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know. Is his contract coming up?

[Merles]

You think about all these guys the Oilers lost. Oh, buddy, it's crazy. That's another guy.

[Biz Nasty]

Worm.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, man.

[Biz Nasty]

But talk about like Corey Perry. Like, what a guy. Like, talk about a guy who's just, you know, he was. He was the MVP of the league at one point. Now he's just. He's fine with being a fourth liner.

[Ryan Whitney]

Chip in when he can.

[Biz Nasty]

Doesn't care. Just wants to be playing.

[Ryan Whitney]

But wherever he is, fourth line. He'll play. He'll play. He's always on the power play. Like.

[Whitney]

Yeah.

[Merles]

In front of the pp. Second pp.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah.

[Whitney]

He'll fight five, six times a year. The guy's got a walking chair when he leaves the ring. Like, he's out of his mind.

[Ryan Whitney]

He's out of his mind. He is so. And the. And the superstitions and just getting to play with him. Buddy, I was a. Like, it seems like a different lifetime that I played with him. He's still doing it. And Tampa brings him back. Hoop knows exactly what he has there. Guys, we're gonna take a minute and talk about DraftKings. No sport flips faster than hockey. Boom. The game can change in an instant. One power play, a goalie pulled with two minutes left left. And everything changes. You see it happen all the time. And DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL, is built for that kind of chaos with live betting from puck drop to the final horn. Our guy Merles, he's the master at the live bet. The anytime goal scorer, whoever's going to be out there when the nets pulled, Murr has an eye on him when that team has a lead. And you can too. And DraftKings has your back with early exit protection. If you place a pregame player prop bet and your player starts the game but leaves in the first period due to an injury and doesn't return, you'll get your cash back. No bonus bets. No opt in just real protection when injuries happen early. New to DraftKings bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app and use Code Chiclets. That's Code chiclets to turn five bucks into $200 in bonus bets instantly in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours.

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[Ryan Whitney]

episode of Chiclets is brought to you by Body Armor Flash iv, an official partner of the National Hockey League. The Flash iv, we've talked about it. It's packed with electrolytes delivering faster, longer lasting hydration without any artificial dyes, flavors or sweeteners. All the stuff you don't need in your system, none of it is in the Body Armor Flash iv. Whether you're training, traveling or just feeling the heat after a big night out, you got to get the Flash iv, work hard, hydrate hard with Body Armor Flash iv. Incredible flavors, tastes great. And none of the junk that goes in those competitors, the ugly stuff, none of that's in the body armor flash IV. So grab yours today at a 7 11. So we talked about Minnesota, we talked about Colorado. Super team Dallas went out and got bunting biz. You've loved bunting, I guess, cause he was on the Leafs, you loved him. But it seems that you've kept that love from a lot of guys leave and you're like, no, no, no, I don't care.

[Whitney]

He's like an, he's an upscale Nick Cousins. He's a piece of shit. He'll stir it up, he'll get in front of the net, he'll go to the hard areas. I feel like he's a perfect guy that, that should be playing, you know, third, fourth line and then maybe you bump him up to the, to the top two lines for, for a game or two. It didn't give you a spark. Don't, don't exactly think that he could have sustained success in A top six role he did playing with Austin Matthews and Mitch Marner when he was in Toronto. I think he had 29 goals one year in the NHL. So I think that that is a type of guy that you want to, you want to bring into, into a dog fight. I think I don't.

[Merles]

That's what I, I see him being all over McKinnon in that series, just being so annoying. That's their chance is to try to get him just off his game. And that's the perfect guy to go there. And he can, he can skate well enough to keep up with them. And he's just like you said, he's a piece of shit to play against.

[Whitney]

I think that they're, they're, they were just really looking to, to fill a void after losing Marchman and they need somebody who's a piece of like that who's willing to give you the stinky mitt. And he, I mean he's essentially bang guy is what he is.

[Ryan Whitney]

I mean, dude, Robertson, Wyatt Johnson, Duchene, Ronton, Rupe. Hints they're a fucking good team. And, and they bring in Tyler Myers, a big defenseman who can shut guys down. They got Heskin and Lindell's an awesome shutdown guy. Harley can move the puck. You're right.

[Merles]

Like Michelle is like six or something. What's he, six, six, six, seven? Yeah, he's a monster. Imagine him and Myers out there together

[Ryan Whitney]

on a PK G. Hop on here for a second. Who is this kid who played at Northeastern who now has nine goals for Dallas? He's nasty. Herokian. How do I say his name?

[G]

Hirokian. I believe that's correct.

[Ryan Whitney]

Is it though?

[Merles]

No.

[G]

I'm awful with names. Remember I said Sasha Bouvere was Bouvet. I'm terrible with names. I might be the worst one here.

[Ryan Whitney]

Well, he's good and I feel really bad right now. And a. He's a nice player. He was good at Northeastern. I was like, is this the same guy I remember in the bean pot? He's all of a sudden he's making an impact. So Dallas has some guys you don't know considering they only got.

[G]

They only pay him 1.9 too. He doesn't really make anything at all.

[Ryan Whitney]

I didn't even know he made that.

[G]

It's.

[Ryan Whitney]

It was a two year deal.

[G]

1.99 50 AAV. So he's making. Absolutely.

[Ryan Whitney]

And then when you look right, say Colorado plays Dallas. We're not. Minnesota's gonna have a say against Dallas. We're not saying that's. Done. But, but Wedgwood, Blackwood, they're nice, but they're not Ottinger. Neither one of them are Ottinger. Right. So if you look at a big D, that Myers move was nice like that. That's a guy just taking up the space. It's so funny how like Vegas started it. Merle's. You called it. When one of your, your best arguments of all time is you need big D. And like since then, since Vegas won, Florida did it. And now Dallas is like, all right, we'll just get a bunch of monsters. And when we don't have a monster like Heskinen, he's going to be the, one of the best skaters in the league. So yeah, that is going to be it.

[Whitney]

I mean, you always see at the deadline there's a big need for, for big long defensemen. It's kind of seems like the formula. And we did glance over the, the backup plan that Buffalo had, which was Logan Stanley and, and Luke Shen. So what did you. I'm going to ask, throw it back over to you. Merle's. Like, sometimes the best trades are the ones that you don't end up making and that Logan Stanley has had his best offensive year. And then you get Luke Shen, who's a great number seven. If you need a jolt in the lineup, you know he's going to be pinning guys against the wall. He's not the worst with the puck since he went to Adam Oates and started getting better with his touches and stuff like that. If he's playing a number six slot, playing 10, 12 minutes and killing penalties, I think he's effective.

[Merles]

Yeah. And my whole take on that is just because these playoffs are so long. It's not a one game series like college hockey. It's seven games after you just played 82 games. So you're, you're already worn down. I, I mean, just in the ahl, I was worn down going into these seven game series. You guys will know in the playoffs, in the NHL it's even more intense every other night. If you're a bigger body, you don't get worn out as much. And like you're playing these guys. It's so annoying. I talked about it with Bunting, but you're running into this Tyler Myers every time you're going to run into Logan Stanley, like it just gets annoying. These giant guys are everywhere. You can't move them. They're pushing you around. It's, it makes a big difference. Seven games, especially in that third round and in the finals.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's Justin Ritzkovian. What did we. What did we say? Did we say. What did we just say?

[Merles]

What do you thought he was finished

[Whitney]

the way you said his name? Because I'm watching clips of this Tampa Buffalo game right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Are they killing each other?

[Whitney]

Ended up fucking giving it to Corey Perry and. Wow. Perry. Perry fought for Tampa off of the Face Off. It's getting savage out there. It's currently 3:1 for the Sabers over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sending the message. They also picked up Carrick as well. Correct as a fourth line depth guy.

[Ryan Whitney]

That guy's. He's a.

[Whitney]

He's a nail gun too. I think he's from Strathroy, Ontario. Elliot Friedman posted. No. Is that the. No. Where is he from? G. He's from someplace where they breed mutants. Stouffville. Stouffville, Ontario. Stouffville Nail Gun Central.

[Ryan Whitney]

Hey, you know what we forgot? We forgot. Hey Connor. Garland over to Columbus. Oh yeah. Love that trade. I felt bad in overtime. They had a great game with Utah. Logan Cooley scored the OT winner in the OT winner Provorov and. And. And Garland had a miscommunication so Keller ended up walking and feeding. Feeding it over to Cooley. It was a sick pass. But Garland, happy for him, gets a chance to get into the playoffs. I still think Columbus can get in. Let's see. Right. Let me get all your guys. Let me get your. Your playoff picks for the east right now. Now let's say this. Tampa's in, Buffalo's in, Carolina's in. Ok, I'm going to say we got

[Whitney]

to talk about Carolina's deadline. That was fucking brutal, buddy.

[Ryan Whitney]

I don't get it. I don't get it. I think the fans have a right to be pissed off. How are they not going out and like what does Drury want for. For Trocheck? Obviously the ask was. Was ridiculous. I don't know man. Like. Like you did it with Ronton. It didn't work out last year. Like if they don't. If they. If they end up losing and they can't score in the Easter Conference finals. It's a fucking joke. It's a joke.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah. I just think even like just the lead, the lead up, the buildup of you're going to trade Trocheck, he's getting scratched and then you don't do it is so crazy to me.

[Whitney]

Like.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. And. And Carolina has a shitload of prospects, right?

[Whitney]

Look at this. Center ice for Carolina.

[Ryan Whitney]

Dude, if you say cocked it to Niemi second I'm gonna Puke.

[Whitney]

No, he. Right now they got Stankhoven. It says playing second center but still he's not a natural centerman. He's not a. He's not a second line centerman in the NHL. Then you got Jordan Stahl. I still like that third line. Yep. Along with Healers, possesses some speed. And then Jankowski who I think currently might be on the ir. And then. Yeah. And then.

[Merles]

Okay. Came back I think two nights ago or something. So he, he was playing I think the fourth line center. One game I saw.

[Whitney]

Yeah. I just. I don't know. I think they had a wit.

[Biz Nasty]

You said it like Florida's out. Your nemesis is out. You have to be all in.

[Ryan Whitney]

I know.

[Whitney]

I think you, you, you needed troach there. I, I'm shocked that Church didn't get traded.

[Biz Nasty]

Yeah. Imagine getting Robbie Thomas.

[Ryan Whitney]

They have about him. I know.

[Biz Nasty]

It's just.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's weird now. They still got a great team. But. But guys, if we're going to say Tampa, Carolina, Buffalo, say Montreal, those four are in. Do you guys see Columbus, Ottawa getting in or do you think it's Pittsburgh and Boston and. And Detroit? Like how we can you make your mind up?

[Whitney]

I'm hoping it's Ottawa. I want more Canadian representation. And. And buddy, that, that is a, that is a good team up front. That is a really good team. I think that Federling Federland guy, the human cigarette machine. I think they had him slotted on the fourth line. You talk about Fogle. They're big, they're fast. They got a great center ice. Who they got Stutzel, Cousins and Pinto parlay up the middle. That's a great one, two, three. You know, Brady Kachuk in the muck. Like who else? Bson. They got good forwards, man.

[Ryan Whitney]

The Bruins blew that game today, man. They ended up losing.

[Merles]

I think, I think Ottawa can catch the Bruins. If anything, if I had to make one pick the way it is now, Ottawa will catch the Bruins.

[Biz Nasty]

They're five points behind with one game in hand to the Bruins.

[Ryan Whitney]

It's four.

[Merles]

Oh.

[Ryan Whitney]

Unless it has been updated from the point the Bruins got, I think there's

[Whitney]

a chance that Pittsburgh misses playoffs.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah. Because Columbus is three points. Columbus is three points behind Pittsburgh Pitts. That's a big win right there. They need to get Geno back. They need to get Sid back. Thank God they got Chinikov. Oh yeah.

[Biz Nasty]

Biz.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm seeing the highlights of Tampa, Buffalo right now.

[Merles]

Dude, there's. There's 98 penalty minutes already in that game. There's five minutes left in the second period.

[Ryan Whitney]

Oh, w. Who did Perry fight? Who was that on Buffalo fighting Perry.

[Merles]

Oh, there was. There's a bunch of them. There was. Let's see.

[Biz Nasty]

I thought he said it was Malinskis.

[Ryan Whitney]

Guys, can we talk about. Zucker scored again. Nasty, insane pass by Darlene. No luck. Look, Zucker is. He scores every game. Every game I. Look, he scores.

[Merles]

Perry fought Molliston. Beck, Molliston.

[Ryan Whitney]

What a race we're gonna have. Coming down to the end, Merle's Columbus

[Biz Nasty]

plays Boston two more times this year.

[Ryan Whitney]

How did you get that, Mr. Rogers?

[Whitney]

How did you.

[Ryan Whitney]

How did you get that? He's got 15 teams and he's got.

[Biz Nasty]

Hey, don't disrespect Mr. Rogers with that thing on your head.

[Whitney]

First of all, I would never.

[Ryan Whitney]

You said he.

[Whitney]

I. I picked two teams that I'm gonna be hopping on the wagon. And I know I just said that. I think that there's a possibility they could miss. Pittsburgh Penguins is one of the teams I will be rooting for.

[Biz Nasty]

Oh, no, they're out.

[Whitney]

I'm not disclosing my other team right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

Pittsburgh Penguins playoffs, boys.

[Biz Nasty]

Pittsburgh done. Gino's not even going to come back.

[Whitney]

This was his sweater. He sent it to me.

[Biz Nasty]

Wow.

[Ryan Whitney]

Tuesday, Wisconsin chiclets, you. Tuesday, 2:00pm Eastern. Joe Pavelski, big cat. Mark Johnson, a bunch of cameos for G. He said the call center is incredible. And biz, this is. This is interesting. You'll be at the Gargoyles game because if I'm reading this correct, Doyle's throwing you a birthday party.

[Whitney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Doyle the gargoyle, my boy. We're going to be going to the Gargoyle. Why are you laughing?

[Biz Nasty]

You're getting a birthday party from Doyle.

[Ryan Whitney]

Party of the century last year with the Technicolor raincoat.

[Whitney]

Ring for me, too.

[Ryan Whitney]

Okay. Vibrating one, too.

[Whitney]

Yeah. So we're gonna be. Actually, we're gonna do something fun for the season ticket holders. We're gonna have a little thing going on and we're gonna be handing out cake to the season ticket holders to thank them for their. Their. Their loyalty to the team. And I just figured they. They wanted me to come back for another game. I said, oh, well, I'm sandwiched between TNT appearances. I'm gonna be out ease. So why not go there and also go. Go down and hopefully see the boys? Because last time when we were there, we were doing a sandbagger with Paige, dropping piss bombs, and we weren't able to get there in time in order to say Hi to them. And then we had to go right afterwards. So go hang out with the team and. All right. They're probably like, like, where the are helmets and sticks, man. Like, oh, God, we haven't had a

[Ryan Whitney]

day off in a month.

[Whitney]

Like, all they gave us were these rings. It's like, okay, we'll. We'll handle it.

[Ryan Whitney]

Birthday. Happy birthday.

[Whitney]

Happy birthday. We got the vibrating ones.

[Ryan Whitney]

Rather aquilini on us than you besting at you piece of.

[Biz Nasty]

I could see Doyle bringing in buoy for your birthday.

[Whitney]

Just not a chance. Not a chance. He knows.

[Ryan Whitney]

Yeah, there could be some shenanigans getting planned for you right now. I love that Mr. Roger sweater. I can't believe they incredible tag.

[Whitney]

Sent it to me.

[Ryan Whitney]

Very, very jealous.

[Whitney]

Very jealous, but sent it to me. Shut out. Tags.

[Merles]

I'm gonna see you on Tuesday, Wit. I'm coming into Boston, so maybe. I don't know if I'll come by the Whitney residence, but I got. I got lunch planned at Tony's with Mr. Ice himself. And then we're going to the game. LA Kings Biz's old franchise versus the Boston Brewing. So we're looking for goals. So hopefully. Hopefully I see nice, smart, greatest bar before the games and then greatest bar pre game. I'll be there. G. Mr. Ice. The ice people. So it's going to be a good time. Pj, Our producer. So it's going to be a good time. So if you're in the Boston area, come find us.

[Whitney]

We basically talked about every team. Winnipeg. Yeah.

[Merles]

I like that.

[Whitney]

They obviously got rid of Stank Hoven.

[Ryan Whitney]

Laurel says they're making the playoffs.

[Merles]

I think they're going to get in. I like them. They've won three in a row now. They think they got five more home games on this little stretch coming up here. And I think they can. I think they can steal a spot.

[Whitney]

I. Maya Culpa. I said Stankov and I meant Logan, Stanley and. And Shen out the door. They. They have the teams, like, let's say they miss playoffs. They're like the only team who would make playoffs who would have, like a foundational goalie. I would consider Morrissey to be a number. A true. Number one. And they got Scheifely and Connor. Like, they got Adam Lowry. Great leader, great. You know, so they got. They got a solid foundation. The only problem for them, though, nobody's going there.

[Merles]

No.

[Whitney]

You're not getting any free agents. Right. So Ehlers ends up going out the door. They miss that speed. How do they replenish and become relevant Unless they're drafting and developing properly, Perfetti has not panned out the way that they expected.

[Ryan Whitney]

And they've been so good that they never get a high pick.

[G]

They don't really have a great prospect pool at all.

[Whitney]

So they're. They're kind of in one.

[Biz Nasty]

They might have to go back to Phoenix.

[Whitney]

I think they might have to move.

[Ryan Whitney]

All right, guys. Mer, we appreciate you hopping on Tuesday.

[Merles]

Thanks for having me.

[Ryan Whitney]

Two o', clock, Eastern Chiclets.

[Whitney]

You?

[Ryan Whitney]

Wisconsin.

[G]

Yeah. With 2:00pm on Tuesday, we got the new Chiclets. You coming out. Wisconsin is just an unbelievable place to play college hockey. Madison, Wisconsin, that downtown right on the lake. It was actually pretty cool. We got to meet some of the guys in the club hockey team as well. So we went over to their giant frat house right on the lake. They play this big, massive pond hockey game every year. They raised tons of money for cancer research, so that was awesome to see. Cole center is awesome. Like you said, we have tons of cameos in the mix. We also have Cole Caufield get in the mix, too. So. Noted Wisconsin alum. So just an awesome time. Cole Center, 15,000 people can fit in that arena. It's an NHL barn. Just the facilities are absolutely insane. Mike Hastings, just an awesome, awesome coach. An awesome, awesome guy. So very happy that they let us come in and film this and shout out to Joe Pilatichuk for doing the video with us. And yeah, I think. I think everyone's gonna really love this one. It's one of the best ones we've done.

[Ryan Whitney]

And Biz, if you're in Greensboro, the Gargoyles game Friday for Doyle and Biz's joint birthday party, cock rings included. Tuesday night, Boston.

[Whitney]

Do you want to comment more on this, boy? Why don't you? What do you. What do you got, Yan? You smiling ear to ear right now.

[Ryan Whitney]

I'm looking forward to the pictures. I want to see the.

[Biz Nasty]

I just think it's so funny that Doyle's throwing you a birthday party. Couldn't be more fitting that a East coast league mascot is throwing Biz Nasty a birthday party. I didn't get invited.

[Whitney]

I didn't even get invited Buddy's night. But they were too busy going to Milan, so we could. We couldn't get them there for. With the. With the fence dirt and the Winnebago. So we had to. We had to elect for. For Doyle the Gargoyle Cochrane. Giveaway night on business birthday. I love you guys. Mer. We're chasing goals, baby.

[Merles]

Yep.

[Whitney]

See you Tuesday.

[Biz Nasty]

See you by use.

[Ryan Whitney]

Let's go, Penguins. Week they're done.

[Whitney]

Gold plants, Pans go. Go. Pans go.

[Ryan Whitney]

Bad habits worth breaking. But it's taking time.

[Whitney]

I don't know.

[Ryan Whitney]

It don't matter. It's going to happen. It's going to happen again.

[Whitney]

In sports, winning takes more than talent.

[Ryan Whitney]

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