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- [00:01]
Dana
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- [00:31]
Jeff Bridges
Morning Zoe. Got donuts.
- [00:33]
Dana
Jeff Bridges why are you still living above our garage?
- [00:36]
Jeff Bridges
Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T Mobile commercial like you. Teach me. So Dana.
- [00:42]
Dana
Oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
- [00:54]
Jeff Bridges
Wow, impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best.
- [01:02]
Dana
Nice. Jeffrey, you heard them.
- [01:03]
Jeff Bridges
T Mobile is the best place to.
- [01:05]
Mark Lazarus
Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on.
- [01:07]
Jesse Granger
Us with eligible traded in any condition.
- [01:10]
Jeff Bridges
So what are we having for launch?
- [01:12]
Dana
Dude, my work here is done.
- [01:14]
Mark Lazarus
The 24 month bill credit is on.
- [01:15]
T-Mobile Announcer
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- [01:31]
Capital One Bank Guy
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- [01:50]
Jesse Granger
What's in your wallet?
- [01:51]
Capital One Bank Guy
Term supply. See capitalone.com banker FDIC.
- [02:10]
Mark Lazarus
This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Hello and welcome to the Athletic Hockey Show. I am Mark Lazarus, joined today by Jesse Granger in Las Vegas. We're going to talk about our favorite storylines of the young season as we hit the one month point. But first, I think I've said this to you before, Jesse. I got to point it out. I'm on your side of the continent today. I'm on this long road trip with the Blackhawks. I'm in Seattle. And this time zone is absolutely for the birds. It's the worst. I don't know how you do it out here. I know you love your 10am football, but, you know, I go out to dinner, I get a workout in. I get back to my room at like 8pm last night, and there's nothing on. Sports are over prime. I don't want to watch football at 10am I want to watch football at 8pm And I can't do that out here. How do you live out here?
- [03:02]
Jesse Granger
It is. It is. We don't get the late night stuff. I do, like, whenever I cover a game on the east coast, it always blows my mind that, like, you can finish covering the game, you do the presser, you write the whole story. Like it's like so late at night. And then you go to the bar or you go home and there's still another game on, which is just insane to me. I'm used to once our game ends, everything is over. But I still, I still prefer the west coast time zone.
- [03:24]
Mark Lazarus
I guess I was, I was jealous when it was the 18 inning, when it was Game 3 of the World Series and I was up to like 2:30 in the morning. I could have used the west coast then, but that's about the only time, man, I just. It's awful. Like, that's. Sports are at night. That's when sports are supposed to happen. And it's. To not have a West coast game to watch. It's. It's just terrible.
- [03:39]
Jesse Granger
9Am College football is the best. Wake up on Saturday and there's already games going on. It's great.
- [03:44]
Mark Lazarus
Like, I grew up in New York on the east coast, and I would stay up to watch Conan O' Brien at 12:35 in the morning every night. As like a teenager, I don't know how I survived on the East Coast. And everyone should live in the central or the mountain time zones. They're the best. Yeah. Yeah.
- [03:57]
Jesse Granger
I like the West. All right.
- [03:59]
Mark Lazarus
So we're about a month into the season now and, you know, we're kind of tiptoeing through the territory where sample sizes are starting to get just significant enough to take seriously. We're at that point where you can't just brush everything aside with it's early, you know, we're not in October anymore. We're in a real month. We're in November. And so as we talk about our favorite storylines of the season, I want to start with my favorite the new blood. There's so much new blood. There's all these rising teams out here, it feels like we've had the same teams in the mix for years now, give or take a couple of, you know, first round cannon fodder. But right now, a month into the season, the Montreal Canadiens are in first place in the Atlantic, just ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, The New Jersey Devils and the Pittsburgh Penguins are atop the Metro. I don't know how that happened. The Utah Mammoth are keeping pace in the central with the behemoths there like Colorado and Winnipeg. Anaheim Ducks are in first place in the Pacific North. The Seattle Kraken are just are in a playoff spot, I think. And the Chicago Blackhawks are just to point out they're playing some fun hockey. So let's go through a handful of them, try to figure out which ones really might be teams on the rise who are here for the long run. And I got to start with the Mammoth because that's the team I believe in Utah is legit. I think a lot of us saw this one coming at least as opposed to some of these other ones. I mean when you're quote unquote second line is Logan Cooley, Dylan Gunther and J.J. paterka, you're a team to be reckoned with. They got the goalie. Van Elka has been really solid in that. The defense isn't going to wow you, but it's pretty deep. It's pretty solid. You know, like Olimod on the third pair. That's a respectable player. My only question is do they have the depth in the bottom six? Are they too top heavy when it comes to offense?
- [05:28]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, I mean I totally agree with everything you said. It's that that team has looked really good and I think we'll get into some of the other teams. I think that the like underlying analytics and the things they're doing well in Utah to me make me believe in them a little more than the others. Just because like Anaheim's one, they're Anaheim. The analytics for Anaheim are horrible. They're just being carried by one man. Lukash Dose doll. That's. They're just being cared about. One man, Utah. I'll be honest, Vimelka I think is I, I have a high opinion of him, but I don't think he's actually been playing that well early in the season. Which to me if you've got a goalie who's not playing particularly well and your team is exceeding expectations, that tells me it's a little more sustainable because I think Vamelka actually has better hockey to give. I Think he's, I think he's going to play better. I mean he's only at an 890 save percentage, which sounds horrific, but in today's NHL that's like just barely below league average. But it's below league average. So you're, you're getting below the, the, the average save percentage with a goalie who is fully capable of, of doing better than that. So I mean this team, Nick Schmaltz has been awesome. Logan Cooley's been awesome. What do, do you think the bottom six is strong enough? Because like you said, that's the biggest concern. I, I mean Sergachev's been awesome on the back end. It's all the top end guys that have been great. I don't know if they've got the depth that teams like Vegas and Dallas and Winnipeg do, but I think it's, the depth is good enough to get them into a playoff spot and keep this, this like the current pace that they're playing. I think they can keep that going.
- [06:58]
Mark Lazarus
Well, that's where I'm at. I think this is a playoff team. I don't think this is a playoff team that goes on a deep run probably unless those offensive guys just go nuts or if Amelka just has a great series. Like I said about any team though, but you know, Lawson Kraus and Michael Carcon, Brandon Tanev, Kaylor Yamamoto, these are fine, but this is not the bottom six of a, of a real contender kind of team. You know, it's just, it's pretty, it's pretty mediocre. It's pretty milquetoast at the bottom six. I don't know what their identity really is. They don't have like just, you know, complete. They don't mess around with you. They don't play the body that much. It's a good, respectable team. It's a playoff caliber team. But they're going to have to go out and get a little deeper. You know, maybe they do that at the deadline. Maybe they find some of those nice. You know, that's what you always get at the deadline. Those, those are the kind of moves that really make an impact is when you get that third line center or you get that, you know, shut down wing. They're, they're not there yet, but I think they're absolutely legitimate. This is a playoff team in my.
- [07:49]
Jesse Granger
Mind, I will say Yamamoto. I watched their game the other night against Tampa and it was their first home loss. They were four and oh, and that building the atmosphere in there is fun. They were 4 and oh to start. They did finally lose one at home to Tampa. I watched that game. I thought Yamamoto was like one of the best players on the ice in that game and he is on their fourth line so that's, I don't, I don't expect him to like, I think he's only got two points in 12 games or whatever. So it's not like he's a, a huge difference maker down but he, he's good on the four. Check. He was, he was one of the players that I kept noticing doing good things in that 42 loss to Tampa. Like I said, their first, first at home. They've, they've been so good up in Salt Lake.
- [08:25]
Mark Lazarus
Well, that's what you need. I mean, you know every team when you get into the playoffs has a good top six. It's. What do you have beyond that that really makes a difference in a long series? So let's move to Anaheim now. You kind of touched on them briefly. Joel Quinville has them playing up tempo, fun, winning hockey. Yeah, the numbers are a little dicey but you can't argue with the results. Look, there's been a lot of talk about Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard this year and for good reason. They've both been fantastic. Leo Carlson is absolutely killing it for Anaheim with 16 points in 11 games. You throw in young guys like, you know, Cutter Gauthier and Troy Terry. These are, these are really good young team that's going to be good for a long time.
- [08:59]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, for sure. I mean I will say this. If this is the baseline and they should get better because Quinville, these are young players who are still trying to figure things out. This is Quinnville installing new things, brand new system from top to bottom. They're, they should get better from here. And if this is the bottom and they're, they're leading the Pacific Division and yeah, maybe they're punching above their weight a little bit. I do think that there's definitely some hope for this team, especially in a Pacific Division that I think it's much easier for a team like Anaheim to climb into that than it is for Utah who's got Colorado and Dallas and Winnipeg and Minnesota who's been awful but should be better like that. That is a tougher ask. I think Anaheim should be able to stay in the fight. I mean when you look at their numbers, they are currently giving up the most scoring chances of any team in the league at high, at even stre, they are giving up the most high danger chances of any team in the league at even strength. They're giving up the most expected goals of any team in the NHL at even strength. Luckily for them, Lukas Dostahl does not care. He is stopping everything. He's got a 916 save percentage which when you consider how difficult the shots have been, that is unbelievable. According to evolving hockey, his 12.6 goal saved above expected are first in the NHL right now leading the way. He is an absolutely amazing goalie. Like I've been saying this for since back to last year, even when his numbers weren't as good. I think he reads the play as well as any goalie in the league. He's right up there with Connor Hellebuck, Jake Ottinger, Igor Shusturkin. It looks like they see the future. They they know where the you're passing it before you have decided where you're passing it. He is so ahead of the play, in position all the time. He almost never has to make those like desperation diving saves. Even playing against a team that's been a sieve the way the Anaheim Ducks have it is impressive to watch. He's I I don't know if the Ducks are good enough for him to win a Vezina this year. He is going to invest a Vezina, maybe multiple Vezinas in his career. I'm couldn't be more impressed with Luca Sto Stahl.
- [10:54]
Mark Lazarus
Our friends at BetMGM have him at plus 3000 to win the Vesna this year. Now a lot of times we always talk about how hard it is for teams out west to win some of these individual awards because the voters just don't see that. We don't see enough of these games to know. And you start, you know, a lot of these voters on the east coast start going based on numbers alone with the GMs voting for Vesna. I'm sure you've looked at Vezna voting interesting from an interesting perspective. Does being on the west coast hurt you when there's only 32 voters out there?
- [11:21]
Jesse Granger
I don't think so. But I will say they I think the GMs have actually got gotten better at voting for the Vesna because it used to just be whoever has the most wins. They have sort of gone away from that. But like Darcy Kemper last year is a perfect example. I didn't think Darcy Kemper deserved to be a finalist. He had an excellent year, but I thought he was very insulated behind a very good defensive Kings team. I thought, to be honest, I thought Doe Stahl should have been the third guy on the Vesna list outside of him. But the safe percentage numbers, the base numbers that every like that you just see on the front page of NHL.com those are typically the numbers that the GMs are basing their voting off of. And Darcy Kemper had phenomenal numbers. So I would say that a West coast guy in Kemper playing in LA actually got ranked voted higher than I would have. And so. So I guess that kind of shows that it doesn't hurt you to be on the West Coast. I don't know. We'll see.
- [12:15]
Mark Lazarus
I it.
- [12:15]
Jesse Granger
They still do lean too much on the best goalie on the team with the most wins. Gets the Vezina a little more than I would like. I'd like to see them maybe give some more credit to guys that are playing behind bad teams, but I don't think west coast hurts them too bad.
- [12:30]
Mark Lazarus
You know, like you said, the Pacific is there for the taking. Outside of Vegas, there's no real scary teams. Edmonton is going to be just cruise controlling through the regular season. After going to the Stanley Cup Final 2x2, they're not going to be going all out. The Kings don't look all that dominant. It's basically Vegas and that's about it.
- [12:48]
Jesse Granger
I mean, Edmonton will get it going.
- [12:50]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean Edmonton's going to be there, but it's very easy to see this Ducks team slotting in. In the top three in that division and not even worrying about a wild card. I could see them just being a playoff team. And then he said once you got the goalie, you never know what can happen in the playoffs. Chris Kreider comes back from injury, scores in each of his first two games. He's got. He's averaging like a goal a game. Basically he's found the fountain of youth out there. That's an exciting young team. And. And there's another one here. Let's keep it in the Western Conference. I think we need to talk about the Chicago Blackhawks. They had a bad night in Winnipeg the other night. You know, Spencer Knight's first off night of the year. They come back and they go into Edmonton and they play a really strong road game. They score late in the third period to tie it. They take it to overtime. And you know, in overtime again, it's not fair. Playing overtime against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. That should almost be illegal. It's so ridiculous. But is this a playoff team in Chicago? Probably not. They're still a year or two behind where Utah and Anaheim are right now. But let me tell you, man, Connor Bedard is starting to happen. His last four games he has been unbelievable. Just flying around, creating chances left and right. He's engaging defensively, he's winning puck battles, he's getting better in the dot. He's got four goals, four assists in his last four games. Andre Porokovsky showed a really nice connection with him on that top line. They got Ryan Green, who's like a 20 year old fourth line center playing on that line and he's still producing at this level. I'm telling you, Connor Bedard is happening. He is going to this. This could be the year where he takes the leap.
- [14:11]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, a lot of, lot of great signs. I think what I like most about it is I would expect a young team like that that's taking the step that they're taking to just be kind of like doing what San Jose is doing where the Sharks are playing better hockey, but they're still just a mess, like, structurally. But they're just outscoring their problems with skill. Chicago's not really doing that. Like they aren't. I mean the one night in Ottawa when Linus Ulmark just.
- [14:34]
Mark Lazarus
Good grief.
- [14:35]
Jesse Granger
We're going to get to all Mark later. Oh my goodness. Other than when they're playing Linus all mark, the Blackhawks have not scored a ton of goals in these games. They're, they're winning close three to two games, three to four games. Like I have been impressed with the. Not just the fact that they're actually winning some games now, but they, they look like a decent team that is like structurally sound. And, and Spencer Knight's playing really well behind him. Obviously I mentioned Doe Stahl, the guy right behind him in goal state above expected is, is Spencer Knight. He's been outstanding in his real day. I mean like he got to play some games obviously last year coming over from the trade, but this is the first season where you enter with him being the franchise goalie. He's got the contract and so far early on the pressure has not gotten to him. He's living up to it and then some.
- [15:16]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, I've been really impressed with his mentality. He had a really bad night in Winnipeg. He had been so good, like almost flawless. The first handful of starts, goes into Winnipeg, gives up two or three really soft goals, very uncharacteristic goals. And Jeff Blashell smartly goes right back to him at Edmonton. Doesn't give Arvid Soderbloom the start doesn't give Spencer Knight the reset, just throws him right back into the fire. And he was terrific. He made like 13 saves in the first period. Big stops even on the game winning goal in three on three. He made a ridiculous save on Bouchard.
- [15:42]
Jesse Granger
Amazing.
- [15:43]
Mark Lazarus
Was just able to pop the rebound back in. I mean, Arden Levshinov had been on the ice for like two minutes at that point, just completely exhausted. It was only Spencer Knight out there and he made a great save before he did. And he's just, he's, he's an interesting guy. Like in a post game after a win or a loss, he's a tough interview on after a game. He's so locked in mentally. I don't think he comes down from that for a while because you talk to him on an off day and he's a completely different guy. So he's an interesting guy. Like, he's one of those goalies. Goalies are weird. And he's, he's, he's got a little bit of that, but he's playing so with so much confidence right now. And yeah, the Blackhawks are not some amazing lockdown, you know, shot suppression team, but they're getting better. And Jeff Blash has done a really good job. And every day they're kind of like just tweaking and honing and fine tuning that system. And they're getting a little bit better at it. They're thinking a little less, they're reacting a little more. Again, I don't think this is a playoff team, but they are light years ahead of where we thought they were going to be this year. And they've got a lot of good young guys. Remember, they've made 11 first round picks in the last four years. So there's a lot of help coming. And when you add Anton Frondell next year and you add Roman Cancer off the leading goal scorer in the KHL next year, Oliver Moore. Nick Lardis went 70 goals in the OHL. He's now, I think he's at the top of the AHL scoring. He's legit. There's a lot to get excited about.
- [16:52]
Jesse Granger
In Chicago here to just go into a little bit of a nerdy goalie thing with Spencer Knight. Please. The thing that excites me the most about what I've watched for from him is that like, you hear a full, like, for example, for a forward, you hear, oh, he doesn't cheat the game. Like, he's not flying the zone early in order to try to get offensive chances. He's not trying to predict turnovers to try to. And then you leave your team exposed. Goalies, it's obviously different, but they can do the same thing in terms of cheating the game. And Spencer Knight does not ever cheat the game. Like, I love how locked in he is on the puck. And maybe this is kind of like you talk about his mentality being locked in.
- [17:27]
Mark Lazarus
Like he.
- [17:28]
Jesse Granger
In that game. I watched the Edmonton Chicago game the other night that you. That you mentioned. Perfect counterexample of Stuart Skinner on the other side, who actually played pretty well in that game. Yeah, but the Bertuzzi goal, where Bedard fed it to Bertuzzi on the back door and he like, it kind of went off his skate and then he jammed it in. Skinner is cheating the play on that because he. He's not square to Bedard's shot at all. He's already flattened out along his goal line waiting for that back time that. That one timer on the backside. But the problem is when you, when you do that as a goalie and you flatten yourself to the. Now that passing lane opens. If you had just stayed square to Bedard, then you would have. You would have saved the pass. Like, he would have tried to make the pass. You would have kicked it out with your leg. Nothing happens. But because he's cheating it, trying to predict where that play is going to go, you open the passing lane, Bertuzzi ends up scoring. We end up looking at it like, oh, the goalie had no chance because it was a backdoor play, but he actually did. If he would just. If he had just stayed square. When I watched Spencer Knight, you look at his two. His skates, they are always pointed at the puck. Always. He. He is never flattening out or trying to get ahead of the play. And that's because one, he trusts his defense, and probably more so, he trusts his movement. His lateral movement is so good that he knows I don't need to take that extra. That. That. That cheat step to try to get over. I'm going to get over there anyway. So he just stays square to the puck and it just, it just gives the shooter nothing. Like, there's no net to look at. It looks. It is a helpless feeling for the shooter when the goalie's that locked in. I absolutely love watching him play. So far this season, he's been awesome.
- [19:00]
Mark Lazarus
That's a patented goal by Tyler Bertuzzi. What he does, he goes to one knee and he puts his other foot right behind the stick to give it. To brace it. The puck comes in. And if it does go off his skate, you can't tell because the sticks right there, too. It kind of just lengthens out the stick a little bit, gives him a little more surface area to bank that shot in. I don't know why more guys don't do that. It's a really crafty way to make sure you get your stick on those. Those backdoor passes. So let's move back out east now. We all saw Montreal come in, right? They started to take that step last year that, that leap into contention, but they've gone straight to the top of the heap in the Atlantic. Cole Caulfield. Oh, my God. He's got 10 goals in 12 games. Lane Hudson, Ivan Demidov. Is there a more fun pair to watch play hockey right now? I mean, they're just making. God, did you see the two of them work the puck together for that equalizer against Ottawa on Saturday night? The way Demidov just broke Nick Jensen's ankles. That little shimmy move right along the boards. Oh, man, that is the good stuff. Just inject that right into my veins and take. They got the goaltending. Jakob Doves might be the Vezna favorite right now. He's even in the calder race. He's plus 900. You know, Matt Schaefer with the Islanders, obviously the favorite at plus 110. Demidov at plus 180. But don't sleep on what Dobesh is doing. What do you like most about Montreal right now?
- [20:09]
Jesse Granger
Man, they're exciting. This team's fun. You went through all these awesome young players. We don't even mention Nick Suzuki, who is currently leading the NHL with 16 assists. He's on pace for 109. I don't think he's going to get to 109 assists, but. And what's funny is I think of Nick Suzuki as like, one of these, like, young rising stars. He's like the old guy on this team. Like Nick, I think he's 25, 26. Like, he is the. He is the grizzled veteran on this team. They are so young, so exciting. Almost like the pressure isn't getting. Like they don't even understand what the pressure is. Like they're so young and like new. They don't even realize, like, the pressure of the Montreal hasn't won in so long. It doesn't get to them at all. I love watching this team. Dobish, like you mentioned, is awesome. What's. What's interesting to me when it comes to Dovish, we talked a little bit last week about how that like he might be taking that job from Montembo, he might be taking someone else's job. I mean we have already. I've already gushed about two Czechia goalies in Lukas Dostal and Karel Vomelka. And now Jakob Dobitz is throwing his name into the mix. I don't know if it's quite Dominic Hasek going to single handedly win it for the Czechs like he did in 1998 in the Olympic golds, but Czechia has got some phenomenal goaltending and they're gonna have to choose between these three. Right now it's hard to pick anyone but dovish. I mean he's 6 and oh with a.930 save percentage. Nobody can beat him. But like I said, Doe Stall to me has been one of the best goalies in the league. It's not quite Hashik, but man, the checks are gonna have some good goaltending in the Olympics. I can't wait to see if they can maybe try to upset somebody there. I think that team's live a little.
- [21:45]
Mark Lazarus
Bit later when we talk about some of the disappointing teams. I have an Olympic ha goaltender question for you and I think you could probably figure out what it is real quick before we go to a break. Pittsburgh or Detroit? You know, Pittsburgh we had written off completely. Detroit. I think everyone had just kind of moved on from like it was never going to happen. They're both looking great. Pittsburgh is. Look at the goal differential in the league right now. Winnipeg at the top. Sure. Colorado next. Naturally. Pittsburgh at plus 10 this early in the season. That doesn't happen by accident. Eric Carlson's a plus seven. You know, they're getting. Crosby's been amazing because he's always amazing. Malkin's turning back the clock. You know, guys like Anthony Manta and Justin Brazil, these guys are huge contributors right now. Tristan Jari is not going to post a.923 save percentage all season. So I'm still really hesitant to anoint the Pittsburgh Penguins as legit. But man, they look great right now, don't they?
- [22:36]
Jesse Granger
They do. I. I'm gonna. I'm curious how this group of old men last holds up over an 82 game season because I could see them being excited in their. And their bodies feel good in the beginning of season and obviously the talent is there. Like there's no questioning even even at their ages, like there's. The talent is still there. Will they be able to hold up? I agree with you. I'm a Little. I'm a little more hesitant on Pittsburgh. They've looked awesome. Malkin has looked like you said, has looked great. Crosby, it's not a surprise. Malkin, after the year he had last year, there was like legitimate wonders of like, is he the same guy anymore? He's looked awesome so far this year.
- [23:12]
Mark Lazarus
There was, there was retirement speculation, so. He struggled so much last year.
- [23:16]
Jesse Granger
You, you mentioned Brazo. He's hurt right now, but he has been a. Just come out of nowhere and like he, he. Early on it was like, okay, he's like a bottom six guy who. He's gets greasy goals. But like then they moved him. I think he's playing on the second line now. He's on the power play. He, he, he scores almost every night. I picked him up off the waiver wire in fantasy. Just thinking it was like a one night, like, oh, Pittsburgh plays it back to back. Let me get someone on their team. Well, now he's like one of the best players on my fantasy team. I'm just keeping him. Came out of absolutely nowhere. Yeah, Pittsburgh there. And not only Tristan Jari has he been good, but Archer, she loves Vancouver had a log jam in net with. With Demko and Lankan and they end up trading she loves for essentially nothing. That's looking like a phenomenal pickup for the Pittsburgh Penguins. I think he might even be like, going forward. He could be their number one ahead of Jari. Obviously Jari's playing great right now, but they're getting good, good stuff from a lot of unexpected areas on that team.
- [24:07]
Mark Lazarus
And just to give Detroit some love, they deserve it. Is Emmett Finney the best story in the NHL right now. I mean, we had. We see seventh rounders make it into the league, you know, like Louis Crevier here in Chicago. But that's kind of. They're usually like the seventh defenseman or like a bottom, you know, fourth liner. Emmett Fitty, just two years after being a seventh round pick is. He's in the rookie of the year conversation. He's been fabulous. He's, you know, given that team a real jolt. And also I want to point out Alex Debrincat, I mean, when he was in Chicago, he's this great offensive player, a defensive liability. I remember when he played with Patrick Kane and Dylan Strom, it was just, it was the craziest line ever because they would score so much and they would give up so much. But he's turned himself into this little Sam, you know, Sam Reinhardt Jr. Where he's out there, you look at his Defensive numbers. He's among the best in the league right now. He's turned himself into a really nice, you know, effective two way player and you know, to do that at this stage of his career is pretty cool. He's kind of reinventing himself a little bit while still being productive on offense. Detroit's not going anywhere. This team has the talent. I believe in this team more than I believe in Pittsburgh. I don't know if they're going to really hold on all year long but you know, they've been knocking on the door for a while now and we have just kind of moved on from them, but they're not going anywhere right now.
- [25:12]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, and they've, to me, what I like is they've looked good against the good teams. Like they're not just picking off the bottom of the NHL and just like taking care of business. They beat the Leafs twice in a row. They, they, they beat Florida and Tampa Bay on back to back games in Detroit. They went into St. Louis and took them out 7 to 3 the other night. That's a big like, like, I don't know, I thought that was a big test to, to, to go into St. Louis the other night and they just absolutely smoked the blues off the ice. They follow that up with they go straight to LA and beat a good Kings team like I, I' with not just the record, but the wins have come against really good teams.
- [25:46]
Mark Lazarus
All right, enough of all this positivity. When we come back from a quick break, we're going to look at the flip side of all this. Who stumbled out of the gate and might make room for some of these upstarts in the playoffs. We'll be right back.
- [25:57]
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- [29:52]
Mark Lazarus
All right, we're back. And we spent the last 20 minutes just gushing over all these great teams that we're excited to watch. And then there's the Minnesota wild in the St. Louis Blues and we have to, we have to get into it. Minnesota got a desperately needed win over Vancouver on Saturday after dropping four straight at home. I mean, as our Mike Russo and Joe Smith have documented, they're just an absolute mess coming off the high of the Caprizov contract and locking this guy up forever. They've been awful. They're not even the biggest disaster in the Central division right now. St. Louis, which you know, took Winnipeg down to the last minute of Game 7 last year in the playoffs, is 31st in the league right now ahead of only Calgary. Who's the biggest disaster right now, St. Louis or Minnesota?
- [30:32]
Jesse Granger
Well, Minnesota had a players only meeting, so I'm going to just use that as the tiebreaker. It's close. I think they've both been disastrous. But the fact that Minnesota had a players only meeting, I, I believe it actually technically happened in October. It was like, right the last day of October, first day of November. It's not good. It's not good. I mean, now they came out of that players only meeting and, and beat up on a, a very injured Vancouver Canucks team. The Canucks aren't great when they're healthy and now they're not healthy. So it's not like it's a huge win. But they did, they did come out of that players only meeting with a win. But it's not, it's not ideal to be having that this time of year. It, I, I don't know how like long that boost you're gon bump you're going to get from that can last when it's happening in late October.
- [31:18]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, no, that's not a good sign. That's supposed to happen in like February in the dog days when you know, the team's not showing enough emotion and the captain wants to kick him in the butt a little bit. October, that's pretty desperate. I still think St. Louis is worse right now. The Blues goalies are an absolute disaster. Jordan Bennington has been terrible, Hofer has been terrible. All team's been terrible. But here's my question. I alluded to this earlier, is there any way Jordan Bennington was phenomenal in the four nations tournament? He deserved to. You know, I was critical of that decision and I was wrong. He was great. Is there any way he plays himself out of Team Canada's number one spot in Milan or they just absolutely locked in on him.
- [31:55]
Jesse Granger
So I will say I think the Olympic format is going to give teams more of a chance to let goalies establish themselves. Like at four nations you only have three games and the way the format was set up, like one loss could theoretically knock you out of the, of the gold medal game. Like you don't have any gimme games, you don't have any games that you can just throw a guy in and see what he can do. Whereas the Olympics, they've got these group stage games and for the most part, like the US and Canada are going to just be crushing these teams in the, in the group stage games. Like they're going to be playing countries that don't stand a chance because of that. I think you give Bennington game one. No, like I don't think there's any question. I mean, unless he's just playing the worst hockey of his life leading up to it. And he, I mean he's doing that right now, but we still got a couple months. I still think you give him game one and see how it goes. And if it goes bad in game one, like you're obviously going to win that game. But if he doesn't look great, then you can turn to other guys. I think the Olympic format gives them opportunities to try other guys out, let multiple goalies play and see who's in the best form in that. I mean it's, it's going to be a weird setup. You're around teammates you never played with before. You're in, obviously you're in Italy. Like, I think it's a good chance to let multiple guys play because Canada obviously. Logan Thompson, he got left off the team for four nations. He's right up there again playing excellent hockey for the Capitals. He's top five in goal saves, above expected and he's looked phenomenal. So I expect him to be in the mix. Mackenzie Blackwood has been injured. He's just coming back. He just played his first game the other night in San Jose for the Avalanche coming off off season surgery. But he will be informed by the time it comes. Sam Montembo hasn't been playing well. We talk about how Dovish has kind of taken his job, so maybe he's not in the running. Aiden Hill is injured and doesn't look like he's gonna be playing anytime soon for the Vegas Golden Knights. So that's another Canadian goalie that was. Was on the roster at Four nations, but isn't there. It's going to be super interesting. No Canadian goalie outside of Logan Thompson has really thrown their name into that mix, while Bennington is kind of opening the door for someone to do that.
- [33:59]
Mark Lazarus
It's. It's so bad. Like, the funny thing is, you know, I was just looking at this while you were talking, and the Blues are like a top five team in terms of shot suppression. They're not giving up a lot. Their power play's been fine. They're not scoring a ton, but they're there. They are giving up 4.17 goals per game, dead last in the league, even with only giving up 25 shots per game. I mean, the goaltending has been just spectacularly awful. Like, I don't know if we've seen goaltending this bad on a team for this sustained period of time.
- [34:24]
Jesse Granger
I will say, and this is what I do, I defend the goal at least. But I will say that I've watched their last two games. I watched their last two games and I'm like, yeah, but yeah, they only gave up five high danger chances and they gave up goals on all five. But what is he supposed to do there? It's a deflection from right in front of his face that goes top shelf. And then the next play is three guys are screening the goalie. He still makes the save. It goes right to a guy for a rebound, and he crushes it into the net. Like. Like when I watch the goals against, they aren't these, like, incredibly soft goals. What's happening is St. Louis doesn't give up many chances, but when they do give up a chance, it's like grade A plus plus, as good of a chance you can give up. And then Bennington and Hofer just aren't making the saves. Like, I don't think they're giving up, like, really soft goals that you absolutely have to stop, but you got to make a couple of those saves. Like, as an NHL goalie, as one of the best in the world at doing what you do. Like, even though these aren't on you, like, I don't think they're giving up crazy soft ones. We just need you to stop a couple of these grade A chances and then we're going to win the game because we're not giving up many. So it's kind of an interesting dynamic of like, yeah, the goaltending numbers are horrific. They're not doing anything particularly well. But also at the same time, I'm not watching these games and thinking, man, these guys are just giving up softy after softy.
- [35:39]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, we talk about riding the PDO train. They might be just getting run over by the PDO train right now. There could be some regression, but they're. They are, you know, six or seven points out right now of a playoff spot. And I was silly to talk about the playoffs on November 3rd, but we always talk about how hard it is to make up ground in the NHL. The Blues are the poster children for you can do it. That's how they won the Stanley Cup. They went from dead last to winning the Stanley cup when they made a coaching change in December of was it ever 1819. I can't keep track anymore. So it can be done, but, man, they are making it so difficult on themselves. Let's head back out East. And as our friend Sean McIndew pointed out, Every single team in the Eastern Conference is a.500 team or better right now, thanks to the loser point. It's such a ridiculous system. Every single team could say, you know what? No, we're in it. We're good. We're good. They're getting the faux parody that the NHL just craves and loves. So nobody's in a St. Louis type panic right now, but if the season ended today, which is kind of what we're talking about today, last year's top seed, the Washington Capitals, Out. Perennial contender of the Toronto Maple Leafs, out. Ottawa Senators. One of those teams on the rise who made it last year, out. The New York Rangers. Everyone on our staffs, darling. Not me, because I don't believe in them. But. But everyone else seemed to. They're out. Which of these teams. These. You know, the Tampa Bay is kind of crawled out a little bit, and they're. They're right in the ship a little bit. They're in. They're in the mix right now in the top three of the Atlantic. But which of these teams concerns you the most? Out of these Eastern teams that right now are on the outside looking in yet.
- [37:02]
Jesse Granger
Toronto is an interesting one because the Maple, like, I. There's. There's a different feeling about that team. Like, this team had been looking for goaltending prior to last season. Like, just. Let's rewind to prior to last season. They had gotten rid of Samson off. They had brought in Stolars. Joseph Wall had been kind of injured. Like that team had been, had, had everything except for the goaltending. Then they get awesome goaltending. Last year like overall they had maybe top three in the league goaltending numbers for, for the whole season. Stolars is awesome. And now this year the goaltending has regressed a little bit. It's probably just like they were. Maybe Stolars and Wall were playing a little above their heads and now they've kind of regressed a little bit and suddenly now that they aren't getting this spectacular goaltending, the team doesn't look great anymore. And I'm just Mitch Marner gone. They've made some changes all of a sudden. This does not look like the possession dominant team, the analytics darling that they have been for whatever five, six years. It feels like, it feels like every year they're right at the top of every like underlying metric of expected goals.
- [38:06]
Mark Lazarus
All that.
- [38:07]
Jesse Granger
They've been so good at that stuff. And then last year they were bailed out by the goaltending a little bit and now this year it's not happening and they just don't look. I don't think the Maple Leafs are a bad team, but they don't look like as good of a team as to me, this is the worst they've looked in quite some time.
- [38:21]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, I think, I think in 10 years when we look back on this Maple Leafs era, that Marner trade is going to be or the martyr leaving is going to be kind of the delineation line right where, but where they went from like this darling contender, this fun all offense, you know, let's go outscore the opponents. We're just loaded with skill team this possession monster to just another team in the Eastern Conference like they, they seem there was something special about Toronto even though it didn't work in the playoffs. I understand the, the, the desire to change it when it's. You can't just keep doing the same thing and running it back over and over again. But this team doesn't feel special anymore. It was special for a while there. They had so much skill, so much offense, so much high, high end guys that it felt special. And now it just feels like another team scraping and clawing to try to get into the playoffs and maybe squeak out a series win or two in the postseason. They don't feel like true contenders to me anymore. You talk about having a players only meeting in October being a bad sign. Having your goalie call you out in week two of the season like Stolars did. That's not a good sign either. That's usually a sign of desperation among a team. This team feels very ordinary to me right now, and that's for all the, all the grief that we give the Toronto Maple Leafs, and much of it deserved. They've never been ordinary.
- [39:28]
Jesse Granger
Right.
- [39:28]
Mark Lazarus
And they feel ordinary right now.
- [39:30]
Jesse Granger
The, The. The difference in. Like you, you talked about how close the standings are. It's actually ridiculous. Like, I'm looking at it right now. There are four teams currently in playoff spot with 14 points. So Tampa's in the third spot in the Atlantic with 14. Carolina's in the third spot in the Metro with 14. Both the Wild card teams, Columbus and New York, have 14 points. Last place, dead last in the entire conference is Philly with 13 points. They are one point behind. Like, so basically, it's like you're either in a top three spot in your division or in dead last on a nightly basis. It can change based on, like, a win or a loss. Like, it's. It's pretty insane how, how tight everything is over there.
- [40:10]
Mark Lazarus
You almost have to think that's going to separate at some point over the next couple of months here, but imagine if it doesn't. This is the NHL and there are so many points to be had out there, and it's really hard to separate yourself. If there's still 12, 13, 14 teams that feel they're in the mix, come, like, February, the trade deadline is either going to be the greatest trade deadline of all time or the absolute worst trade deadline, because nobody's going to want to move anybody because everyone thinks, hey, we can just get in. And, you know, even these teams that might not be contenders, that, that one round of playoff gate is a lot of money to a lot of these teams, and their teams are not going to want to sell if they think they can sneak in and get a few games. Kind of like Ottawa did last year, like Washington did a couple of years before that. It's, it's. It's really. The dynamic in the east right now is hilarious because nobody's really all that good, but nobody's really all that bad. And how that plays out between now and late February is going to be really, really interesting. All right, when we get back, next segment, we're going to be talking about some individual guys who are off to some great starts and some guys that are not. So stick around.
- [41:11]
Jeff Bridges
Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.
- [41:13]
Dana
Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?
- [41:16]
Jeff Bridges
Well, I dig the mattress, and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you teach me. So.
- [41:22]
Mark Lazarus
Dana.
- [41:23]
Dana
Oh, no, I'M not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
- [41:35]
Mark Lazarus
Wow.
- [41:35]
Jeff Bridges
Improve. Impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
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Dana
Nice Jeffrey, you heard them.
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Jeff Bridges
T Mobile is the best place to.
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Mark Lazarus
Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on.
- [41:48]
Jesse Granger
Us with eligible traded in any condition.
- [41:51]
Jeff Bridges
So what are we having for launch?
- [41:53]
Dana
Dude, my work here is done.
- [41:55]
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Jesse Granger
What's in your wallet?
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- [42:57]
Mark Lazarus
All right, lastly today Jesse, we're going to talk about some individual guys who are having great starts and some who are some off to some alarming starts. We got to start with Macklin Celebrini. We touched on it earlier. The Sharks are not good, but they sure as hell are a lot of fun. And that starts with celebrity who just continues to be everything he was advertised to be and more. I mean, is. Is there a more exciting player in the league right now?
- [43:18]
Jesse Granger
No, I don't think so. He. I mean he's doing all of the like amazing flashy things that we expect a young player of his pedigree to do. What impresses me is like he's doing the small things, winning the board battles like we we every time the Sharks play the Golden Knights, which happens a lot. We talked to Bruce Cassidy and like he gets asked and Bruce Cassidy is a phenomenal coach. But he is very much the like cliche of like, he loves the veteran players. He wants you. Like he, he, he'll take a guy who can win a board battle over a guy who can go between his legs and beat the goalie any day. Like he is that exact cliche of a coach. And the way he talks about celebrity to me opens my ears to like, okay, this kid, he must be doing all the right things because Bruce Cassidy doesn't talk that way about 19 year olds very often and he just gushes about celebrity every time, every time he's asked it the kid, like I said, he is, he is the complete package. He's doing everything you could expect. Plus he's doing other things that you don't expect. That young of a player, maybe he hasn't gotten like that grown man strength doesn't matter. His, his stick is so good along those walls, even guys who can out muscle him, he just beats him with fast hands. Like that's not an area of the game you think like your hands would, would like come into play. But he's just so good with his stick. He, he comes out of the right end of those plays with the puck all the time. And it's just doing everything for San Jose right now.
- [44:38]
Mark Lazarus
I know you weren't born when Sidney Crosby entered the league, but.
- [44:43]
Jesse Granger
I hate.
- [44:44]
Mark Lazarus
To put, I hate to put that on anybody because it's not fair, it is not reasonable. He reminds me of Sidney Crosby at this age where the points were all there. But you also saw, oh, this is something different. Like when Connor McDavid came into the league, he was like nothing we had ever seen offensively. It was like, oh my God, this guy's amazing. But it wasn't until he was like, you know, 26, 27 years old that he started to put the all around game together. But where Crosby was a fully formed NHL two way star right off the bat and that's what I see with Celebrini. It's like it doesn't matter what position where you are on the ice. He's making the right play. He is so far ahead of the mental part of the game, just ahead of where most guys his age are. He's just going to keep getting better and better and I don't. The Sharks, I have, I have a lot of concerns about the Sharks. They've been drafting only basically offensive forwards for a while now. And let's keep it in San Jose because your guy, the guy you assured Me was going to be the greatest goalie that ever lived. Yaroslava Scarov has been awful. He's been terrible. He's got an.866. Seven say percentage. I know he's playing behind a truly awful defensive team. The Sharks are going to be this way for a while where they try to win six to five every night. But he's completely underwater in terms of goals saved above expected. He is not holding up his end of the bargain. Are you starting to have any concerns about a Scar of long term?
- [45:59]
Jesse Granger
No, not at all. I don't. I don't think he's ready to be an excellent goalie in the NHL right now. And I think that's pretty clear just from what we've watched so far. I mean, he's given. He's had seven starts in five of them, he's given up four or more and a couple of them are like seven and six goals against. So he has just given up a ton of goals. However, this team isn't trying to win right now.
- [46:21]
Mark Lazarus
They're.
- [46:21]
Jesse Granger
They're still building for the future. And I think that like, in terms of, like to put it in another terms of another sport, like in a. You watch a football team, they drafted a super high quarterback. They have no weapons, they have no offensive line. You're just looking for flashes of can this guy do. Can he do special things? And Askarov, to me, even as bad as the start has been, is showing me plenty of that. His, I mean, his skating is elite. Even, even like he's constantly in the right position. I will say this, his hands don't look good. And I will say that a few scouts that I've talked to, that was the question of like whether he's going to be an elite goalie or not or are his hands good enough? Because this guy, his skating is phenomenal. And when your skating's that good, you're going to be in the right position most of the time. People are going to have to beat you with clean shots to your gloves. And so far he has been beaten with quite a few shots up high to his gloves. So it's kind of a. We've seen flashes of why Askarov can be amazing. I mean, his. I'm getting a little nerdy here again, but his internal hip rotation. So when, when you drop into the splits, that's already difficult. Most of us can't do that. But to be able to drop in the splits and then still have your pads facing forward is like something that you should A human body should not be able. But Askarov does it in a way that I've never even. Bobrovsky and Vasilevsky, the most flexible goalies on Earth. It's Askarov's is another level. He. His legs are rubber. They bend in a way that they shouldn't bend. And he makes some saves that only he can make. Like, there's no other human on Earth that would have made that save except for Askarov. He's shown us that. He's also shown us flashes of why there were concerns. He's a fiery, competitive goalie who, like most goalies are kind of chill, and they just like, try to keep the highs and lows as. As minimal as possible. That's not him. He is fired up. He is a crazy person back there. And we have seen flashes of. Of maybe that getting a little over. He gets a little overwhelmed in games. He gives up a bunch of goals in a row. He gives up like a flurry of goals because he had one bad one. And then he starts fighting it a little bit. So for him, I. We've seen if. If you didn't like Askarov as a prospect, you have seen things that you're like, yep, I told you he wasn't going to be good with his hands. He wasn't going to be good with this. If you like Askarov, like me, we also have seen flashes of. I like that. I like that that's what he's going to be good at. So it's sort of a mixed bag. And yet to be seen. I'm still very optimistic for his long term future, but it has been rough so far.
- [48:50]
Mark Lazarus
Every time I see a goalie go into the splits, I wonder how that's the same species of animal that I am. A couple years ago, I did a story on, like, I just went around and I asked goalies around the league, how the hell do you do that? Do you just spend, like your free time when you're at home, just in the splits in front of the tv, like you're just stretching all the time? Because I'm. Look, I'm 45 years old. I have incorporated stretching into my daily routine. I'm trying to not get all stiff and awful. It's impossible to do the things you're a goalie. Jess, can you do the splits?
- [49:17]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, I'm 35, so a little bit younger. And I play goalie three nights a week, and I stretch pretty much every day. And I do a huge stretching routine before every game. And I Cannot do the splits I can do.
- [49:28]
Mark Lazarus
Are you close? Are you close?
- [49:30]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I can do them if I like, turn side. Like, if I, if I kick my. Like, you know. Okay, so splits, you can go like front to back or you can go sideways. I can do the front to back. So in a position where I have to like cover the whole bottom of the net, I can. But it is not the same splits you're seeing. And like I said from Askarov, he, he, he will do it in a position in a. Like, most guys, they only do the splits when it's like a backdoor one timer and they've got to do it. Askarov. It's so strange. Next time you're watching a Sharks game, watch for this. It's. He does it like once or twice a game. And I'm like, oh, he's doing the thing again. It'll be like chaos in front of him. There'll just be a pile of humanity in front of him. And he's not sure where the puck's going to pop out. He will go into his butterfly and then do the splits so that now he's just in this weird position where he's just covering the entire bottom of the net. There's no way the puck can go in the net unless it's lifted above his pads. And when he does that, I actually get kind of freaked out. I'm like, man, one of these times someone is going to like land on him while he's in that position. And it looks so twisted. Like his body is, is twisted in a way that it is not supposed to be twisted. But he does it like, just like. Okay, I don't know where the puck is. Let me just cover the bottom of the net by going into the splits and, and stacking my pads out wide. It's. It's. I don't know how he does it. It's amazing to watch. I hope, I hope he ends up being the goalie we all want. Because, man, is he fun.
- [50:44]
Mark Lazarus
I think you just have to be a physical freak. Like, it's either you can do it or you can't. It's like being double jointed. You can either do it or you can. I remember Cam Talbot when I was doing that. I'm pretty sure it was Talbot told me. He's like, every time you do the splits, you're gonna feel it in your 50s. Like, you will pay for it every single time. You will pay for it with like a painful step in your 50s. And it's just something that goalie seemed willing to do because it gets them a lot of money and, and stardom and competitive fire and all that. But that just. I don't think the human body is supposed to do that at all.
- [51:10]
Jesse Granger
If Cam Talbot is right about that, Askarov is not going to have a very fun 50s.
- [51:16]
Mark Lazarus
All right, let's talk about a goal. You touched on it very briefly earlier. Linus Omark, dead last in the league and goal Saved above expected. Minus 9.41 in 11 games. Look, you don't need to be Jesse Granger goalie guru to wince at that. What is happening to former VEZ in the trophy winner Linus Hallmark?
- [51:34]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, I. I'm not going to lie. There's some legitimate concern watching his game. Like, the numbers are bad. The film matches it. The film is bad. I have legitimate concern that we are seeing the end of Linus Olmark as an elite goalie in this league. Like, he's not ancient. He's 32, which is older. He's on the wrong side of things. His game should definitely be on its way down, but not. Not like Bobrovsky's still looking the best he's ever looked and he's 35. Like, goalies typically can extend their. Their peak, like prime years a few years past mid-30s. I'm a little concerned for all Mark. Maybe this is just a blimp, but I will say he just looks slow. And he's never been a real fast, athletic goalie. Like, he's kind of a calm guy who kind of sits back in his crease and doesn't. Like, he's not a real athletic guy. But it's his reactions that are slow. Like the puck is hitting him and it's bouncing out for a rebound and he is tracking it the whole way and he's looking at it and it's just the reaction time for him to get over there is not where it used to be and not where it needs to be to be goaltending at an NHL level. Like, I. I'm very concerned. Red alert for me. Red flags sound the alarms in Ottawa. I am very concerned now. I'm not sitting here saying, it's done, it's over. I've seen enough to say it's done. But, man, it is very concerning if you're a Senators fan because he came over and established a different culture. He was a huge part of why they made the playoffs. And if he is suddenly, they don't have a ton behind him either. Mary Linen is a young goalie who's not ready to play a bunch of games. It is all on Omar. Like, they've got a lot on his shoulders and so far I'm very concerned that he may not be able to carry it.
- [53:14]
Mark Lazarus
That's fine. They're in the east, they're over 500. It's all good. Let's talk some old guys. Look, there's never any reason to doubt Sidney Crosby. He deserves to be celebrated. So here's us celebrating him. I would like to say with Barkov hurt and Reinhardt underperforming, I would love to see this be Sidney Crosby's Selkie trophy year. He never gets enough credit for his two way play. And it would be kind of cool if I'm staking my claim right now that Sidney Crosby wins his first Selkie trophy at age 97 or whatever he is these days. Guy's just an absolute marvel of modern hockey. But what do you think is more likely? You got two completely opposite sides here. Evgenie Malkin is killing it. Steven Stamkos is getting killed out there. He's got just one goal and one assist all season. What's more likely, Malkin crashes down to earth or Stamkos gets up off the mat here?
- [54:00]
Jesse Granger
You know what? I would say it's more likely Stamkos gets off the mat because I. From everything I've seen from Malkin, I don't expect him to crash back down to earth now. I don't, I don't think he's going to score 100 points this year, but I do expect him to have a good season. And I don't think it's going away for Evgeny Malkin. So even though my confidence level in Stam coast isn't like through the roof, I do think there's a better chance of him turning it around than there is Malkin falling apart. Just. That's more so just optimism on Malkin's side. What about you? What would your answer to that be?
- [54:27]
Mark Lazarus
I think it's more likely Malkin crashes down to earth. I just, I look at Stamkos and he's one of my favorite players to cover to watch for so long now. And it just seems like, you know, some guys, they gradually decline and some guys fall off a cliff. And I worry that Stamkos is falling off a cliff here. He doesn't have a point in his last like eight games. He's not very involved. The team isn't very good. Maybe. I mean, if he can get moved at the deadline, I think he's Got one more year left in that contract. So I'm not sure we can get for a guy like that at this point. Maybe in a different environment, he can kind of revive his career right now. But I hate seeing what Steven Stankos looks like right now because he's such a great guy and he's such a great player. You never want to see these players. This is. He looks like Malkin did at stretches last year. Right. So, I mean, I guess there's some hope in that. But I have. I have real concerns about Stamkos. I mean, I certainly have concerns about the Predators, but about Stamkos in particular.
- [55:18]
Jesse Granger
With a goal scorer like Stamkos, I would be more optimistic if he were getting a ton of chances and they just weren't going in. It's like, no, this is Steven Stamkos. Like, eventually those shots are going to hit the net, they're going to beat the goalie. But like. So I went to Natural Statric and I look at his shots per 60 at even strength, and it is. If you're a Nashville Predators fan, this is kind of scary. He basically hovers around seven shots per 60 minutes at even strength. For his whole career in Tampa, he was as high as 8.7, but it was basically like, you look at his last few years In Tampa, it's 7.4, 6.2, 6.6, 7.1, 7.2. Well, his last two years in Nashville, last year that dropped to 4.6, which is about half of what he averages every single season in Tampa. And now this year, 4.8 right there. That is not good. He has got to get more volume of shots towards the net, and I don't know if that's just. He's not as fast. He can't get to the. To the right areas to get the puck for those shots or. Or what it is. I don't watch Nashville every single day to know exactly why he's not getting those shots, but that is highly concerning that. His shots have basically been cut in half per 60 minutes since he came over to Nashville.
- [56:31]
Mark Lazarus
All right, one more guy that's on. That's highly concerning right now. Look, we've been talking about so many young, exciting players here. Ivan Demidov looks amazing. Artem Levshinov, he's an adventure out there, but he's getting better all the time in Chicago. Leo Carlson looks so great. What about Matt Vay Mitchkov? This is a guy who probably would have gone second ahead of Leo Carlson. And Adam Van Till, he right behind Bedard if There hadn't been concerned about his KHL contract. He's got one goal in 12 games. John Tortorella was a tough stylistic fit for him, but it seems to be even shakier under Rick Talkett right now. I hate. It's too early to call anybody a bust. And Mitchikov was good last year. There was enough to see there. But this has got to be deeply concerning if you're a Flyers fan. The whole rebuild is built around this guy.
- [57:16]
Jesse Granger
Yeah, it's, it's. And like he's been a weird player because even when he was playing great last year and making like these game winning goals and spectacular plays, I mean Tortorello was still benching him every other night. Like, and, and, and as we, we joke and yeah, Torts is a little hard on young players and maybe he, he is more worried about the small details than he should be. But, but he's also a smart coach who like if, if he is willing to take a player off the ice that's that talented, they're clearly doing some things wrong. Like there, there's no you. The player isn't doing everything right and he's doing that. So I think we're seeing more of those warts kind of show themselves even with a different coach. He's, he's not a perfect player. And, and, and right now obviously still makes some great plays and he, his, his on ice numbers are actually not that bad. Like they're out outscoring the opposition with him out there, but he just isn't producing the, at the level that we want from him individually. So maybe it'll come around. But I think that there's still like big holes in his game that he needs to be able to, to, to improve on.
- [58:16]
Mark Lazarus
Yeah, Philly, you, you know, cling tightly to those Eagles and Phillies because I think it's gonna be a long time before the Flyer, like other than maybe Calgary, I'm not sure there's a team in a worse overall position right now than the Flyers. Like even the Penguins, who we would have thought would was in that spot, they're having a renaissance here with two of the greatest players of all time. So they're enjoying themselves in Philly. It's a, it's a little bit rough right now. All right, Jesse, I got to get to a morning skate that's actually in the afternoon because time zones don't make any sense. Thank you for listening to the Athletic Hockey Show. Subscribe on YouTube@YouTube.com the Athletic Hockey show to watch full episodes and everybody's favorite Sean and the other Sean and Frankie. Corrado have you covered on Wednesday. Thanks for listening guys.
- [58:54]
Jesse Granger
Foreign.
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Wow.
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Mark Lazarus
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Jeff Bridges
So what are we having for launch?
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The 24 month bill credit is like.
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