Markstrom vs Swayman

Chris (00:02.504)
And away we go! What's up, Bob? How are you?

Bobby (00:06.232)
Hey man, I'm doing pretty good. I'm very excited for this time of year. Chris and I, for everyone listening, we're just kind of bullshitting before the show started about how great it's been to have exciting football back, to have playoff baseball coming, and of course our Devils are playing. We have an actual game to talk about, so it is a wonderful time of year.

Chris (00:11.052)
This is a good time.

Chris (00:24.99)
An actual game that meant absolutely nothing, it was exciting nonetheless. You want to start with that? We'll start with the preseason home opener. I'm sorry, first game of the preseason. So did you watch the game?

Bobby (00:27.533)
Right.

Bobby (00:36.066)
Yeah, sure.

Bobby (00:40.084)
I did watch about half of the game. had to jump over to the Mets game in the playoff chase here during the middle, but I did get a feel for it. So right about the time of the goalie switch was when I was done.

Chris (00:50.762)
Yeah, that's same with me. When Dawes came in in the third, that's when I flipped over to the Kansas City Chief Atlanta Falcon game and I was like.

Bobby (00:57.548)
Yeah, I just really wanted to kind of see how the team was playing, who was playing with who, know, first game, new system, new coach, you expect to see a lot of rust and that kind of thing. So yeah, I was just, I was very interested to turn it on though. It was good.

Chris (01:08.576)
And we did see a lot of rust. So our first line was Heesher, he was centering Thomas Tatar and Jasper Bratt, which is exactly what we thought would be happening. And then the only other line that seemed to be in place would be the third line, which was Lazar with Bastion and Cotter on his wings. Now Shane Bowers was centering line two between Pilat and Stefan Naesen. You have to assume that Eric Hollis, that's his spot.

whenever he gets healthy enough to get back in. Then our fourth line was Schelzer centering foot and Chase Stillman, I guess his name, right? Defensive pairings, had Brendan Dillon, Dougie Hamilton, Segan Dallar with Kovacevic and Colton White with Nick DeSimone. And they got some ice time.

Bobby (01:47.704)
Yeah, yeah, still.

Bobby (01:58.056)
So that is we expected that was a little mixed up. Obviously we've got some big changes there and already in the preseason you're going to have mixed up lines and matches.

Chris (02:06.72)
Yeah, I was a little bit surprised that they put Brendan Dillon with Hamilton to start. I thought that maybe Dillon would be with Kovacevic, but you know, it is what it is.

Bobby (02:16.116)
I was actually also happy to see Markstrom in the pipes because we had talked on one of the shows about, this guy going to want a little more time given he's not been with the team, given they have to travel? I don't remember the last time I saw our number one play the first game, the first half of the first game.

Chris (02:31.53)
Yeah, same here. And he looked pretty good. I made some nice saves. You know, again, this is preseason. So like you said, the first game, it's all, you know, it's going to be rusty. You know, the thing is, well, real quick on Markstrom, like they were showing his mask, right? And they're showing it from the side. And my wife and I are watching like, what the hell is this? What's on it? Like we can't tell.

Bobby (02:35.299)
He did.

Bobby (02:53.602)
Yeah.

Chris (02:54.24)
Then you posted a picture on X today of the top view. Holy shit, that mask is fire. It is so fucking nice.

Bobby (02:56.487)
yeah. Yes.

Bobby (03:02.222)
So I'm staring at it right now. mean, easiest way to describe it, right, is it is a skull of some kind with basically what amounts to eyes that look like a demon's red black hole, a red hole, right? It's just the line work, the black and white in it is just absolutely insane. then it's pretty much more of the same going down the sides and everything, but the cage, you know, that's

Chris (03:12.128)
The eyes are awesome. Yeah, the eyes are awesome.

Bobby (03:30.05)
I mean, it's red splatter. mean, it's blood splatter. Let's call it what it is, right? It's a pure demon mask. He's definitely buying into the whole devil thing. Yeah, for sure.

Chris (03:32.499)
It's really cool.

Chris (03:36.972)
as well he should. to get into the game, starting off in the first period at 2 -18, it was a power play goal. Nico Heescher, his first, of course, from brat, first of the preseason. What a beautiful goal. I mean, it was just Nico doing Nico stuff. And I really think that he is on the verge of a massive season this year. He looks bigger, he looks stronger, he looks more confident. I just think that the game

And he finally caught up to this game and he's always been good. But I think this will be the year that he kind of takes it to the next level. And it was a really nice goal.

Bobby (04:14.87)
It's another reason why I kind of have that full line of riches, you know, in my mind with Timo Hughes and Brad, because I just feel like he sure again, going back to Tatar, they just had great chemistry. I feel like they're going to do that again, but I just feel like he can kind of make a line on his own productive in his own way. He doesn't need one of those other two. It's not that it won't change. He's probably flanked by one of those guys plenty of times during the year. But yeah, I agree with you. There's something about him, his look, his mannerisms. He's ready to take this team to the next level.

Chris (04:40.864)
Yeah, looks like a grown ass man now. that's, you know, so many years, it's skinny. Remember when he came in, he was a skinny little kid. We're like, Jesus Christ, this dude better bulk up. He's going to get broken in half.

Bobby (04:52.78)
Walked by him at the rock, didn't even know it him. I'm like, I think that's our number one pick. The guys were like laughing at me. They're like, who, that little guy? I'm like, yeah, that's him. No.

Chris (04:56.417)
Yeah.

Chris (04:59.82)
He's not a little guy anymore. And then that was all the scoring in the first. Devils had a 1 -0 lead. And second period, Anders Lee at 816 scored on Jacob Markstrom. That was from Oliver Wollstrom. And then at 848, Jesper Brack gets his first from Nico Heescher. That was, of course, the most productive line as far as points go for the Devils. But the Cotter, Lazar, and Baschen line were skating really, really well. I liked everything I saw from them.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the scoring for the Devils. Gautier scores at 17 .05 to tie it up at two for the Islanders in the third period. Thiesing? Never heard of him. He scores at 2 .47 for the 3 -2 lead and then Holmstrom scored an empty net goal in 1954. Markstrom played like two periods, I believe he was out in the third. He made 17 saves on 19 shots. Dawes played the rest of the game. He had one goal on eight shots and then the empty netter.

and the three stars of that game were Thising, was the third star. If I'm saying his name wrong, I apologize. I don't know who he is. He sure got the second star and Jesper Brack got the first star. And that was it for our first preseason game against the Islanders. And tonight, starting right around now, we have the second preseason game. I do have the lineup if you want to go over that before. If you want to know who's in. Yeah, please.

Bobby (06:17.678)
Well, yeah, I mean, one more thing just to kind of wrap up the first game. I just like to say that I think that Rachel did a great job. She was definitely a little nervous in the beginning, but she pulled her stuff together with a new team and she was a joy to watch. So congratulations, Rachel.

Chris (06:29.812)
I didn't watch her. I didn't watch her. I'm still little upset. I just sat there staring at a picture of Erica Wachter and just dreaming.

Bobby (06:38.122)
In all honesty, all honesty, like joking aside, you can tell the shoes she has to fill with Erica. Erica is also, let's be honest, a very attractive host as well, but she was very good at what she did. And you can see the difference now. And again, this was her first game. She was a little nervous at first. was speaking in jest, but I'm being serious. She got a lot better as the game went on. A lot of confidence. She definitely knows her hockey. And again, yeah.

Chris (07:04.912)
Which is good. I'll give her the next game that's actually televised. I will give her a fair shake. There's no score right now between the Devils and Canadians for the second preseason game tonight. And I think they're only playing like four, right? think. And then like they're starters and then they're there because it is much shortened preseason. So I have a question for you. Because of the way that hockey is where, you know, it's you show up for

Bobby (07:22.699)
Yeah.

Chris (07:34.806)
training camp and you have like two or three practices and then you're basically just playing games every other day. And because now that it's shortened, we start a week before every other team. So that's a whole nother week that other teams get to play other games, to get practices in, to, you know, work out kinks. Do you...

Bobby (07:54.402)
It's literally a lost day of travel too. This is not small travel. This takes away a day.

Chris (07:57.96)
No. Now, do you expect the Devils to have a slow start this year? Or do you think that they're going to be okay? I mean, I know that they're playing Buffalo the first two games and on paper we should blow them out, but we don't play the game on paper. Buffalo also does have a short preseason. They're going to want to win for Lindy Ruff. I get all that. They're going to want to beat us. It's going to be a tough two games, but I'm more concerned about

after those two games when we get back into the United States and we start playing North America rather and start playing more of these, you know, our full season and without Pesci and without Hughes to start. Do you think that the Devils possibly can come out of the gate a little bit slow here?

Bobby (08:42.336)
It's totally fair to predict that as a possibility. just really is. To your point now, as far as playing Buffalo, these are two teams in a similar situation. Adrenaline's going be pumping. think they're fine going out there, but I mean, it is fair and it is a concern. The one thing they do have is a little bit of a layoff once they get back, a little bit of rest time. In my mind, I do kind of think we might see that, but I also think this team's just going to be super amped.

So maybe that low isn't going to start for a couple of days after the home opener. You know what I mean? Before it kind of sets in.

Chris (09:17.516)
I'll tell you, I think that it's possible that they could get off to a little bit of a slow start. I'm not talking like Edmunds and Euler last year slow start, but I mean, just would I be shocked if we split the games in Czech Republic or Czechia or whatever? I would not. I would not be shocked. But to tell you who impressed me a lot on the first game was Kovačevic. I mean, the dude had 22 minutes of ice time. Him and Seigenthaler and Hamilton had the most ice time.

Bobby (09:25.825)
No, no.

Bobby (09:41.144)
Yes.

Chris (09:47.82)
of any player forward wise who had the most ice time was Nico Hescher with 1947. they gave a lot of ice time to these bottom guys, you know, like the foot Schelzer and Stillman line averaged 11 minutes of ice time. Like that's not bad for, you know, so he really wanted to see what these guys can do. But yeah.

Bobby (10:04.408)
That's a lot, yeah.

Bobby (10:09.39)
Cause they're going to get a shorter look this year. That's he said it basically he's going to go NHL heavy for most games. Obviously he's not going to put most guys on a bus up to Montreal today. They got a lot of travel coming up, going across the across the pond there. but yeah, I think that he's going to get as much of that in as he can so that we can start to see the NHL team as much as possible.

Chris (10:29.022)
You expect the next preseason game to be, you know, to see Hughes in there, see Mercer in there and,

Bobby (10:34.626)
Yeah, I think the next one would be pretty full. And then if they're going to play another one after that or two, I don't know.

Chris (10:39.158)
Okay.

Chris (10:43.542)
I think they said four preseason games, so they would have two more after tonight.

Bobby (10:46.22)
Yeah.

Yeah, definitely. would expect maybe a pretty full lineup in both.

Chris (10:53.502)
Some of these guys playing tonight, I don't know who they are. So our number one line is the Lazar Cotter -Baschen line.

Bobby (11:01.568)
I love this. So he's saying, obviously we all saw they did really good. Let's get them online. Want to give them even more minutes. Let's see what they have.

Chris (11:09.484)
And then we have the second line is Justin Dowling and he's centering Mike Hardman and Kevin LeBanc. And we talked about LeBanc a little bit in the last show we did. Justin Dowling and Mike Hardman, I don't know these guys, but Hardman's a big dude. He's 6 '2", 205. So I'm interested to see how they play when we finally get some highlights of this game.

Bobby (11:31.534)
I mean, listen, any other year, I would probably do a little more homework on some of these guys, but they're not making the team. There is no room this year, so I don't really have to worry about that. So I'm not sure who they are either.

Chris (11:44.086)
Then we have the third line is Shane Bowers and he's centering Adam Foote. No one Foote, sorry. Adam Foote's his father, right? And Max Wilman. So that's our third line. And our fourth line is Xavier Perrant and he's with McDermid and Brian Hallinan. On the defensive pairings, it's Seigenthaler with Kovacevic, Hataka with Nemec, Topias Villan, V -I -L -E -N. He's with Seamus Cate.

Bobby (11:52.032)
Adam would be slower.

Bobby (12:11.926)
a great name. It's a great name.

Chris (12:13.62)
What's that? Topias Villin. He's with Seamus Casey and Jake Allen and Nico Dawes are our goaltenders tonight up there. So Jake Allen gets to start against his old team. So yeah, I mean, there's nobody on here that I'm interested in seeing that isn't on the team because like you just said, they're not going to make the team, you know, and if there's an injury, like, you know, who's going to be called up, it's going to be the Bowers, it's going to be the Hollinans.

Bobby (12:38.008)
Well, yeah, I mean...

Well, Kova Sevick is obviously trying to make a name for that, you know, steady seventh spot, especially now with a couple of guys out. Hataka we know about, I would be interested in watching Casey in this game if it were televised. but it's not, and just more of that, fourth line turned first line, you know, I do like the makings of that. I think my biggest disappointment other than the obvious, which is the injuries to Luke and Pesci.

Chris (12:46.689)
he was on Montreal too.

Chris (12:53.728)
Yes.

Chris (13:01.27)
That's gonna -

Bobby (13:08.45)
is Holla. It's going to be a lot for him to assimilate in the more time he misses because, again, this is a whole new coach, whole new system.

Chris (13:15.328)
Well, I mean, I read that he was back in the building and skating a little bit on his own. guess he had an illness. I don't know what he had, a flu or something, but, you know, hopefully he'll be in the next game. You know, I want to see Jack, I want to see Holla and I want to see Mercer in a game. So, but it was exciting actually watching Devil's Hockey. I have to admit, like it was so cool sitting down and putting MSG on and actually seeing

Bobby (13:33.928)
yeah, for sure.

Chris (13:43.648)
you know, Spalding and Danico and the Erica wannabe and Bryce and all of them, you know, it was nice.

Bobby (13:50.988)
That's what was so cool. I was even so excited to put it on early and just, you know, get, not the pregame, but you know, all that, all that kind of stuff that they talk about the game, which usually I miss to be honest, I'm so late getting to the games or I'm recording them. So I'm watching it, you know, a little bit later at night, but I just enjoyed like just every second of it and seeing our building lit up. It really is. I don't think we talk about it enough, but it's a world -class facility. The arena up there. I mean, it's, I've been to a lot since, since the newer ones started and it's beautiful.

Chris (14:00.811)
Right.

Bobby (14:20.546)
Yeah, it really is.

Chris (14:21.812)
I'll tell you that Danico mentioned it during the broadcast, talking about how excited everybody is for this season and the fans talking mostly and said, like, look at this crowd. This is our first preseason game. This is a hell of a crowd. When they were showing the crowd, I thought the exact same thing. Like, holy crap, man, there is a ton of people at this game. Because I mean, usually preseason games, you you sit wherever you want. It's a quarter filled.

Bobby (14:35.98)
I was showing my family that too. I'm like, that has a lot of people for pre -season game.

Chris (14:50.77)
And you're just there to enjoy a little bit of minor league hockey in your head.

Bobby (14:55.682)
Right. So certainly I'm assuming I've never been to one that, you know, lower bowl is a lot cheaper than during the regular season. So maybe they're, you know, making those more available to people to kind of pack in down low. Cause otherwise if I were going, I'd be up in the rooftop where I'm going to go for opening day, you know? but no, it was great to see the energy was definitely there. The excitement this year, like we said, is you can taste it. it's huge. And I'm just hoping that it's more like, you know, too,

years ago. Remember last year when I was at the game, I was reporting you guys, I'm like, there's something about the pre -energy outside and don't get me wrong, it was still exciting and great. That was just fell a little short of the year before, which I just thought was odd because coming off 112 points and all those expectations, I just thought it was going to be raucous, but it was at best it was even and maybe I just expect too much. I mean, the fans are passionate and you know how much fun it is out there. We close down the road and start the chance. It's just so much fun.

Chris (15:25.014)
Mm -hmm.

Chris (15:45.526)
Well, mean, absolutely. And also I think you have to, you know, they opened up against Detroit, right? Last year, right? So, I mean, it's a rivalry, but it's nowhere near the rivalry that like this year, I mean, you got Toronto, October 10th, like that crowd should be, and there should be a ton of Maple Leaf fans there. I mean, the Leafs travel well. It should be a hell of a atmosphere. It should be a ton of fun. And I think the devil's spank them. I do.

Bobby (16:05.294)
Sure, least travel.

Bobby (16:14.732)
I hope so. the only other thing I've heard from some of the people that were at the game is that apparently the arena has not figured out this food thing yet. And it's actually becoming kind of a big deal. Like people are a little bummed they can't get anything good to eat. Now if you think back to when that arena opened though, one of their whole big entertainment premises was all these different foods from the different regions.

Chris (16:15.804)
Chris (16:38.26)
Mm -hmm.

Bobby (16:40.526)
And it wasn't the draw for us because we're all Devils fans, but it was nice to have these options. I just got to wonder, I don't give a crap because I'm going to get full down the bar before I go in. But I mean, why is it is just my question. Why can't they just put out what was always been out for the last 10, 20 years in all different arenas? Why is it so different now?

Chris (17:01.804)
90 % of the time when there's, whether it's an airport or ball parks or any kind of arena and stuff like that, all that stuff is done by a huge company. And most of the time, one company takes care of the entire building. Now there's of course different, like they'll throw a fucking Panda Express in or something stupid like that or whatever, but most of the time it's generic.

owned by Prudentials and but usually whoever runs their concessions is a whole separate company. I'm guessing that there's an issue with their contract or whatever and something just isn't getting done right because if you because they can just sub it out to somebody else. So like if this company that you had doing it, it's not working. Now could be completely off base, but I would think that the Prudentials Center, whoever runs it would say, well, just get us another

company in here and let's start serving food, which makes me think that there might be some legal issue with the company that they were using and now, know, so I don't know, but that's that's a huge hole in revenue when you're not selling food. Like what the fuck?

Bobby (18:14.52)
Well, that's the point I'm ultimately getting to. You're selling enough, obviously, to sustain because people are going to drink their beer, they're going to buy their drinks, seltzers, and they're going to eat whatever they can. But you are missing an opportunity, and we are now run by some savvy businessmen. So this isn't something you should easily overlook because the more convenient it is, the faster it is, the more people... Dude, you've worked in the bar industry before. If you can get everybody to stay for one more drink, that's an exponential amount of revenue.

Chris (18:42.186)
Yeah. Maybe Josh Harris is just too preoccupied with his starting quarterback down there in Washington that he doesn't care about the Devils anymore. Maybe. All right. Let's do a little shout out to some sponsors here. We have a new sponsor starting. I think that this BetterHelp one is done October 7th and we have a new sponsor. I think it's, I don't know, some like ticket company. I got to get the read like

Bobby (18:53.346)
We'll see.

Chris (19:11.616)
Not StubHub or whatever, but one of those type of companies. And I think we have them for the whole year or so. Anyway, touchdown, Tuddy, taking it to the house. Whatever you call a touchdown, they matter more when Sam Darnold is throwing them to Justin Jefferson and at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NHL. Ready to do, get ready to do your, a touchdown dance of your own. A little gritty, a little gritty in the end zone.

Bobby (19:28.377)
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Chris (19:39.308)
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Bobby (20:41.39)
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Chris (20:52.563)
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Chris (21:36.3)
Question, on a scale of 1 to 10, how fucked are the Boston Bruins?

Bobby (21:37.548)
answer.

Bobby (21:45.998)
I'm sorry, I missed the question.

Chris (21:47.286)
How fucked are the Boston Bruins?

Bobby (21:49.578)
yes, quite, quite fucked. We talked about it before, I don't know how else to put it, I mean they didn't have the backup plan, they just made their moves assuming everything would be fine and they're really paying themselves in the corner.

Chris (21:54.091)
I just...

Chris (22:06.742)
They really are. And it's crazy because I was just hearing that because I think that the amount that I heard Boston was like around six, right? That was like in that ballpark. Swainman apparently is nine or more and he's pretty much firm on that. That's a big difference.

Bobby (22:25.23)
That is far apart. That is very big. That's, I mean, that's, that's three players on your roster on some teams. mean, even us, I mean, McDermott at 1 .1 and a couple of the young guys is 700, 800 ,000 is literally three people on our roster. So, that's a lot of money.

Chris (22:45.018)
I just don't know with that big of a gap. I don't know how you get that settled. I really don't and

Bobby (22:52.614)
And obviously the urgency is not playing into it because here we are games have started. Teams are ramping up and you know, athletes, they need their consistency to get ready. So this is looking bad for them.

Chris (23:05.034)
I mean, if this thing's not done by, I say, the first week of October, it's going to be really hard to even get this guy into the lineup and opening night. It's crazy.

Bobby (23:18.062)
Yeah. You trade Allmark and now you don't even have Swainman as your opening starter.

Chris (23:25.194)
Like it really is mind boggling that they let that happen. Like I just, okay, I was all for trading Walmart, but under the assumption that you were going to have Swainman locked up, like if I was a Bruin fan, I'd be losing my mind right now.

Bobby (23:37.486)
Well, you mentioned this last episode, like of all the team, this is not a Bruin thing to do. They're usually very prepared for what they want and they have it laid out. And again, they're one of those teams that's been on record of having a few guys, you know, accept a little less for the benefit of the team. nothing against Swainman if he wants what he believes he can earn, but the team, this just should have been worked out beforehand. mean, well, here's a question. So,

Chris (24:02.156)
And I don't think, go ahead.

Bobby (24:05.688)
How far into the process could he, he can get offer she's whenever, right? So even if the season started, if he's still in an RFA status, he can get offer sheeted. Cause the longer this goes, the more you got to think there's some team out there has got a lot of money going, guys, should we jump on this?

Chris (24:10.666)
He can get offer shaded right now. Yes.

Yes.

Chris (24:22.142)
I'm almost positive that if he is not locked up and playing by December, I think he then can't play for the year or he becomes... I think that that's it. think... But yeah, mean, if you were right now, if you're a goalie, needy team, why not offer Sheet Swainman at seven and a half, eight million dollars and either you do Boston's work for them or you get yourself a top

Bobby (24:33.922)
Release from the contract maybe or something.

Chris (24:51.67)
flight goaltender.

Bobby (24:52.878)
Well, I mean, think about it. What if you're one of the bottom teams that has to just kind of overpay just to get to the floor? If there's any teams left that do that, I don't know, but there's plenty of teams that have a lot more. Like we got 900 ,000, they're a team with millions and millions. And why not say, okay, we're allowed to offer them seven years at 8 million. We're going to be kind of crummy for the next three, but then we got prime Swainman for four.

Chris (24:58.304)
Right?

Chris (25:12.928)
But what about certain teams that look like they're, let's say, perennial playoff contenders or playoff, you know, teams that just don't do shit and a big reason is goalies. Why is in LA making a move on Jeremy Swainman? Like you want to tighten up your freaking team, a team that plays very good defense. Jeremy Swainman, Colorado. I mean, I can totally see Jeremy Swainman in Colorado.

Bobby (25:27.045)
yeah.

Chris (25:41.996)
Why is that not getting delicate? There's something else. mean, maybe the $9 million, maybe there really is no team that's saying that, you know what, we like Swainman. He's a great goalie. But $9 million for a guy who essentially has been a number one goaltender for zero time.

Bobby (26:01.006)
Yep, and I'm fair with that. We've discussed that too. Where does he really lie? It's somewhere between what he's asking and the Shastrkin money. It shouldn't be that close to him at this point. I I don't know why he couldn't just put it a couple of years under his belt and then know he's going to get $10 million a year two years from now or whatever. But that's his prerogative. But yeah, you're right. I mean, there are teams, kind of perennial playoff teams that maybe aren't full caliber contenders that

Chris (26:19.104)
Yeah, just sign a bridge then.

Bobby (26:29.346)
This could put them over the hump and you know, they couldn't put you over the hump. Theoretically, if you're already a playoff team and you're inserting Swamen, it's definitely there's only a few teams that have a better goalie.

Chris (26:36.416)
Night.

Well, what about Vancouver? They don't know what the hell is going on with Thatcher Demko. He's injured. We don't know when he's coming back. I don't know what their money situation is or anything like that, but this is a team that looks like they can compete with a Stanley Cup if Thatcher Demko is their goalie. If he's not there, then I don't think Vancouver goes very far. So again, there's a couple of places where Swainman could fit in that just...

Bobby (26:58.541)
Right.

Chris (27:08.132)
mind -boggling to me that you had this guy and and you said okay you're gonna be our number one we're all set we're gonna ship off mark we're gonna put you in place you're gonna start sixty games for us we're gonna go and get corpus solo just to give you a few nights of relief finally got everything you wanted Jeremy you are the number one goaltender on a top line NHL team and he says I'm not gonna go unless you fucking pay me right

Bobby (27:33.014)
And you're to hold out. let's recklessly speculate for a second. We know what the offer has been around, right? Six, you've just said it, and that maybe he wants something more like nine. So let's just agree on a number that would get it done on a contract, you know, like from an offer sheet. Like where do you think realistically that would be? It's getting late in the season. Where would he say, fine, I'll do it? And in this scenario, he's not going to Boston. I'm saying like somebody else's offer sheeting.

Chris (27:37.438)
I love doing it.

Chris (28:02.24)
Well, mean, that's the thing, though, like is Boston because you don't want to offer Sheetum and then have Boston match it. Right. So like you. So if I was let's say, OK, if he's in the six, let's say you offer him eight million a year. So you tell him, look, seven by eight. That's what we're going to give you. And Boston will have, I guess, however long a week or something, I think, to match that. basically then the other team would do Boston's negotiating for them.

Bobby (28:31.672)
Yes, that's essential.

Chris (28:32.138)
And if not, then they don't match it and Swamen goes to the other team for the eight million, then you get some compensatory bullshit or whatever back to Boston. But yeah, eight million.

Bobby (28:38.126)
So let's say 8.

Bobby (28:43.854)
That's a pretty good, compensatory pick for that million, if it is an $8 million range. So let's say, okay, so we're just going to assume that's it's the $8 million. That's what we'll get him signed. So now. Go back to our team. didn't get Markstrom and we can't, we now won't be able to get Pesci and maybe a Dillon or a Cotter, but we can do the Swainman deal. So we didn't have an off season worth crap, but this we can do. Would you do it?

Chris (29:12.596)
No,

Bobby (29:14.498)
Because of hindsight or foresight or just because you don't want to wrap up that much money.

Chris (29:17.462)
Well, I mean, look, we said it a million times last year. We could have had a Marty Brodor in that net and this team would have been bad. Like, you had to shore up that defense. Like, Dylan and Pesci are big pieces that are, to me, because, look, Markstrom or Swamen, I'm okay with either one. I mean, Markstrom is more experienced.

Bobby (29:42.168)
You're thinking the drop there is just from fifth best to 10th best. It's not an enormous drop, right?

Chris (29:47.123)
Right. You are putting a true legit number one guy between the pipes regardless of which one they are. But one you're giving help to and the other one you're throwing on an island. And I just don't know if this team is, I don't know if any team is good enough to win a Stanley Cup without a strong defense. It's just not, you can't do it.

Bobby (30:10.932)
Maybe you know so I did go a little hard there with almost all our guys not coming through but make it even more realistic hey because we got Swain man we weren't able to get Pesci but we still got Dylan still got Carter so that nation we got basically everybody else but except for a Pesci and you know yeah basically except for a Pesci.

Chris (30:25.16)
except for Pesci.

Chris (30:33.376)
I'd be honest with you, Bob, I don't know. I mean, it's not like we have, you know, Vanecek now. I mean, it's Jacob Markstrom. And I know he's older and stuff, and it is only for two years. But what about you? Would you go with Swamen?

Bobby (30:42.83)
I hear you.

Bobby (30:46.784)
I, unfortunately I'm blocked by the hindsight that I get to see here. And I just absolutely love the way the team is built. but for my own exercise that I'm trying to do, I don't, I don't think so. And this is coming from a guy who earlier last year, late last year kind of lost favor with the Marksman situation. Remember now I've learned so much more about them from watching them. I don't think on this team, it's as much of the upgrade as we need.

Chris (31:06.56)
Yes.

Bobby (31:15.97)
Best thing about it is we would be talking about five more years of term, but we really don't know what's going to happen with March and we're assuming two years and done these old, but he might be perfectly fine and do another two.

Chris (31:27.026)
And for me, that's the one thing that I hedge a little bit on is just the fact that Swainman is so young and you know, have, we have a young team in Jersey. You throw a guy like Jeremy Swainman in for the next six, seven, eight years, Swainman is there for whatever this team does. Markstrom, like you said, we know we got them for two. We don't know what's going to look like afterwards. Even next year, you're probably walking away from Jake Allen.

You know, is it going to be Dawes? Is it going to be one of the other kids? Is it going to be somebody that's not even on the team anymore? And then next year you're dealing with it again. Like that's why I think I'd really want to win a cup with Markstrom in the next two years, or at least play for one with him. Go take them on a nice deep playoff run. And maybe he does stick around. Maybe you bring somebody else in that's a really good one B where you can take this 36 year old Markstrom and

give them 35 starts and then the playoffs or I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud. But right now, like you said, the way the team is built, I much prefer the way the team's built with Jacob Markstrom as opposed to losing anybody on the team and putting Jeremy Swain.

Bobby (32:40.334)
Do you think it's possible that as early as this year, by the end of the year, say, that there could be an extension for Markstrom that starts in the back end of year two for, say, another two years based on the fact that it looks like he can hold up to it and you could probably still get him signed for a reasonable term price goalie like he is given all the money we're going to have to pay in the next few years? I think there's any chance of that.

Chris (33:11.072)
I don't know.

Bobby (33:11.224)
or maybe even early into next year before they extend them, but...

Chris (33:16.012)
Do you want a guy playing goal up to 38 years old? He's 34 now. When this contract is set and done, he's 36. Guys tend to fall off the age cliff, especially goalies right around there. I mean, would I be against it? No, because if Tom Fitzgerald and this organization believes that this does give us our best chance with Markstrom, then okay, but that would make me nervous.

Bobby (33:21.388)
I don't know.

Chris (33:45.696)
The only thing that makes me nervous about Marks from his age is the only thing.

Bobby (33:45.966)
So I get it. get it. But so let's assume he has a great year. We have a playoff run. Maybe we don't win the cup, you know, but he comes back next year. The other point you can look at and say, if at that point in the middle of year two, that's his last year with us, if you give him another two year and you can get it in a marketable price, like a 4 million, where basically you're getting one more year of him and whoever's coming up.

and then he becomes your backup at 4 million, four years from now, Markstrom as your backup at 4 million, probably not a bad deal. If somebody else is coming up and taking the bulk of the games.

Chris (34:22.709)
No, it's not.

That's, mean, look, you got Jonathan Quick backing up Shastrkin, you got Marc -Andre Flurry backing up Gustafson out in Minnesota. So yeah, I mean, it's been done. It's been done a lot. And to have that savvy veteran winning goaltender sitting behind a younger person, so no, if he wasn't our only option, then absolutely, absolutely I would do it.

Bobby (34:51.31)
And there's other economics in play for this too. It makes it easier for the devils if all of sudden we've got an up and coming kid that really looks like the future that's going to be making, you know, league minimum for a year or two. You know, like that big kid we just drafted or something. Who knows? You know, who knows what happens in two years where we could say, this guy's not hitting RFA for three years. We can afford to overpay Markstrom a little bit as a safety net until he's 37 or 38 years old. I just see it as a possibility given where his salary is because he's four million something now.

Chris (35:05.194)
Right?

Chris (35:15.424)
and bring the kid in.

Bobby (35:21.038)
You're talking about a contract extension that starts after he's 36. He's either going to be like, my last contract, I want a lot of money, or he's going to be like, well, this is a really fair deal for what I'm going to do.

Chris (35:25.057)
But will...

Chris (35:30.508)
You're talking about $4 million. That's a pay cut. Markstrom is a $6 million a year guy. Calgary's holding $2 million. Right. So would Markstrom say, I'll take a bit of a discount and stick around? That's the thing. Because at $6 million, that does change things. Or if he plays really good, let's say this team wins the Stanley Cup next year or this year.

Bobby (35:38.282)
that's right. Yes.

Chris (35:55.468)
Swank Markstrom's not gonna cut it. All right, I just won you a cup. You can tell I could play really good. You wanna sign me two more years, it's gonna cost you a little bit more than $6 million. So, I mean, the dream scenario would be Markstrom the next two years, Alan backs him up this year, Alan walks away next year, whoever steps into that backup role.

Bobby (36:02.434)
Yep, good point.

Chris (36:19.904)
whether it be Nico Dawes or the kid we drafted, Escarabu, or whatever his name is, or Poulter, somebody steps into that role and shows that they can do it. And then, you know, then you can make a decision, okay, do we run it with our younger guy? Do we sign marks from him for one more year and we run this thing back again? What do we do? At least he gives you some options.

Bobby (36:22.222)
Polter or,

Bobby (36:41.216)
Or is there another transaction that could bring a goalie under term over? Because again, at that point, you have to be realistic when you got guys like Hughes, like Nemec all going from minimums to bridge or better. This money's got to come from somewhere. And this is what we've said a million times in the next few years, there will be a hard trade that divides this fan base. Like it's going to be half that understand why it needs to happen and half that just completely against it because we just have studs coming up.

Chris (36:55.083)
Yeah.

Bobby (37:10.796)
and they're not all getting eight, nine million dollars a

Chris (37:11.136)
Yeah. No, and you're going to have to part with a lot of them and even some guys that are on this team, know, like to let's say, you know, you're going to have to trade maybe a fan favorite, a really good player, but in return, you're getting more pieces that are going to help you in the long run. You know, this is it's one thing it's it's you have to be a really good, savvy, smart general manager to build your team through the draft and a little bit through free agency like Tom Fitzgerald has.

Bobby (37:28.046)
It's inevitable.

Chris (37:39.272)
It looks like Fitzgerald has nailed this. All right. It looks like, holy shit, this team looks legit and they look like they're for real. So you built it. You did that. Now it's up to Sheldon Keefe and every guy on the ice. Tom Fitzgerald gave you all the tools and now you got to make them work and you got to build something nice. Now the hard part then comes, you only have maybe two years of this sit back and watch the fruits of your labor.

before you have to start saying, built this great team and we did great. how do we stay competitive? How do we, I mean, look at Tampa Bay having to walk away from so many guys that are fan favorites that, and Tampa Bay just manages to stay consistently good. They're not winning cups anymore, but we said it, if Vasileski gets hot in April, right, they can win you a cup. So.

Bobby (38:33.944)
when you're a

Yeah. And that's what I was trying to get to too, is that everybody kind of looks at this team. I'd say it's fair to say a lot of people look at the team and there's like an eight year window, just based on a lot of the contracts we have that are going along. But the reality is as this team's constructed, it's actually more like maybe a three year window because listen, Luke Hughes is getting an $8 million contract at minimum, I believe. I don't think he's bridging. I think they're jumping him right in like he did his brother. A couple guys are coming off, but not many.

Couple guys we have after this year, it's not a ton of money. So yeah, I mean, and we don't even know what some of the other young guys and not to get ahead of ourselves because we got such a good team now. But we had some drafty guys this year. I mean, there are guys that can run right up this system.

Chris (39:21.642)
I mean, our defense, I mean, especially on the blue line, like, you know, I, you know, I think that, I think that you're going to see Nemec and Hughes being our stalwarts moving forward. They're going to be our top two. And then, you know, if there's a place for the guy we drafted, Silev or whatever his name, I don't even know if I'm saying his name right. Casey, you know, we got a lot of dudes, so there's going to be a lot of tough decisions. And this is where it comes down to, can you make your team

Bobby (39:25.87)
especially on the blue line.

Bobby (39:39.885)
and Casey perhaps.

Chris (39:51.82)
better or as good as the year before. And because every year you are losing pieces, but you have to plug in new pieces that are going to play just as good. So it's going to be exciting. But first and foremost, this is the team. Like this is finally after, you know, we said it two years ago, the rebuild was over 112 points. The rebuild wasn't over. We popped up, we had a good year, and then we completely looked like the devils last year. And that's what

needs to change this year. This team needs to, this needs to be the beginning. You know, this is the first year of our window being open. I believe that. And I think that they have a damn good chance to, you know, win the cup. Granted, I said that last year, this time last year, with the caveat of goaltending was my big issue. You know, I don't necessarily know if I trust these guys, but I think this team could be really good.

Bobby (40:48.694)
Nobody thought they were going to fall off that bad, the goaltenders specifically. The rest of the team too, but the goaltenders.

Chris (40:52.926)
And our D, like everybody forgets, like all this, everybody talking like, Hamilton's back, Hamilton. And don't get me wrong, absolutely. love that Hamilton's back. It's going to help our power play so much. But Dougie Hamilton, before he got injured, was abysmal playing defense last year. Yeah. So like these are like things started to go bad before all the injuries.

Bobby (41:09.321)
He was having a bad start to his defensive year, yes.

Bobby (41:17.218)
Yeah, you can't outscore your problems every year. You know, you need a balanced full team.

Chris (41:19.815)
No, no, this team, this team's got to play a very structured, strong team defense is absolutely what they have to do. And I think that that's what Sheldon Keefe will get them to do. I think Sheldon Keefe is perfect for this team. I really do his demeanor, how he wants these guys to play, what he expects from them. I'm so tired of hearing people go, well, he didn't win anything in Toronto, like Sheldon, like Toronto's problems.

only occurred when Sheldon Keefe was there? Like they didn't win, they won one playoff series in 20 years. Sheldon Keefe hasn't been the coach for 20 years, dude. Like you can't blame that on him. He's one, I think the fastest to most wins in the first, what, like two or three years ever or something. Like it's some crazy statistical number that this guy is just a winner.

Bobby (41:49.358)
That's right.

Chris (42:09.132)
So I cannot wait. I'm just checking the score right now. There's still no score in this game So looks like Jake Allen's killing it man But let's let's just take a look No, it's still 0 -0 We have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 shots on goal so far wait, they scored Montreal just scored on Jake Allen as we spoke

Bobby (42:36.962)
That's it, dump the bum.

Chris (42:38.686)
Yeah, that was Pizzetta, his first goal. And we're going up against Sam Montembeau. He's in net right now for Montreal. So, all right. Is there anything else you want to discuss this fine evening, Bobby?

Bobby (42:53.678)
just like to put out a PSA to any new parents or expected parents that the perfect attendance is a farce and it's not real and it can't actually happen. My kid's dealing with a big sickness right now. I got to you, I don't know how works in New Jersey, but if you're like anyone, you're like hundred degree fever, you need to be 24 hours fever free before you go back to school, right? So usually by the time you find out they have a fever, you're kind of in the middle of the day, then they have it for a day and you got to be 24 hours fever free. So generally you find a fever, you're looking at two days to start.

Chris (43:10.806)
Same here.

Chris (43:19.34)
Mm

Bobby (43:22.136)
So anybody who's got this perfect attendance, especially year after year, you've lied, you've cheated, you've broken the system. There's no way you have elementary school children going through a year without getting the fear that keeps them out of school. It's impossible.

Chris (43:35.82)
When my kids, especially my daughter, got to high school, she's like, they allow me 18 absences. I am using all 18 absences. And she would plan her schedule like, you know, in the spring, like I'm going to a concert that night. So I'm taking off that day and she would get her 18 day. And I tell her like, you better not get sick. Cause this is like, you seriously planned 18 personal days and that's it, which I'm all for. If you work and you know, you have a job, you get sick days, you get time off. Why couldn't, why shouldn't students? Exactly.

Bobby (43:43.927)
I love it.

Bobby (43:54.814)
You

Alright.

Bobby (44:02.914)
Mental health days now.

Chris (44:05.728)
So, and plus he was a fucking, you know, honor student in straight A's. I don't give a shit. So I had a proud, proud parent moment today. so my son came home from school, yesterday and he was telling, actually, he was texting me a little bit from school and he was saying that a kid in his class is a new student. he was like in school for, you know, like maybe like a couple of weeks, from Asbury and.

You see, was, you know, my son talked to him a little bit and he said the other day, yesterday, he had like, you didn't know what was happening. The kid just started tweaking in class, like having an episode to the point that like they had to bring security and the nurses in. They took the whole class and moved them to another room so they can deal with him. He was like screaming as they were taking him down the hallway and all this stuff. Right. It like, sounded pretty serious.

So I get this text, an email today from his teacher. So good afternoon. She says, I wanted to take a minute to recognize your son for showing kindness and empathy. Yesterday in English class, a student had a medical issue and your son and another student were very concerned about how that student must have been feeling having an issue during the class period. Today after class, him and his friend stayed after to reiterate their concern for their student.

Your son's compassion for a student he barely knows speaks volume about his character. I am honored to be his teacher this year and look forward to our time together. That was a very proud parenting moment.

Bobby (45:40.536)
No. For your son, as absolutely awesome as for you, he gets that from your wife.

Chris (45:46.252)
You're not going to get an argument from me. No, not at all. but yeah, it was nice proud parenting moments.

Bobby (45:53.926)
That is absolutely awesome. No, no, that's real life stuff. I love that. Before we go, we can't go two shows without acknowledging why Tom Fitzgerald is the absolute man. I can't believe we forgot to mention this in the first show, but here we go. What makes... Basically, the reporter asked him about the type of character players that he brought in this off season and what he thinks it takes to build the type of team that he wants to have.

Chris (45:56.864)
Yeah, yeah, very cool. I was super proud of him.

Chris (46:08.33)
You gotta explain this to me a little bit more. So go ahead, tell the story.

Bobby (46:22.602)
And his answer was no dickheads. It's just like, it's absolutely the best answer. And we all know what he means too, cause you get these dickheads that just think they can do whatever they want. I mean, this is a general manager of a professional sports team, you know, the top four sports in the country. And he says, no dickheads. The memes are everywhere. This, you're going to see this shirt and stuff like that all year. Like this is just our new mantra.

Chris (46:40.821)
I love it.

Chris (46:50.506)
I want to buy a jersey that just says dickhead on the back, you know? And no dickheads. I think that's awesome. Who did we lose this year? Who left? Anybody? Who was on this team last year that is gone now? I'm trying to think. There's not many, right?

Bobby (46:53.816)
It's no

Bobby (47:08.731)
There was a couple, but you know, as always, we're doing this thing late. Hulse.

Chris (47:10.166)
Like do you think he's, do you think it was like a shot at like, Miles Wood was a dickhead, Damon Severson was a dickhead, Ryan Graves was a dickhead. No, no, Graves was wonderful.

Bobby (47:18.83)
Graves was definitely not a dickhead, you take that back. I don't know, maybe, maybe, maybe not, but definitely the people he brought in weren't, not that the people that left were, but.

Chris (47:26.996)
Right. And that's all you needed for the interview process was to sit down and be like, are you a dickhead? No, sir, not at all. All right, your sign.

Bobby (47:36.974)
That's actually kind of funny because my first real job after college, when I first moved in with you guys, I was traveling across the state, but I was like temp making like 13 bucks now and all that. And then when I actually interviewed for this same corporation, I met the director, older guy, and we were talking and he looks at me at the end and he goes, listen, I already knew you were going to get the job. I really just had to make sure you weren't a jerk. So congratulations, you got a job. like, this is great. He was so old school. I love it. So those sorts of things do happen.

Chris (48:00.054)
Hahaha!

That's awesome. Yeah, no dickheads. I like it. We will, be a cup winning team free of all dickheads. I love it. I love it. So maybe Vanecek was a dickhead. Yeah. So final thing, what?

Bobby (48:06.444)
No dickheads.

Bobby (48:11.906)
All dickheads.

Chris (48:22.302)
Arlette's birthday is today? Very nice, very nice. I did not know that Arlette and I were a day apart on our birthdays. And happy birthday to Arlette. Yes, and she has a much better voice. So yeah, I will not be singing the national anthem.

Bobby (48:31.608)
Think she's got a couple years on you.

Bobby (48:36.352)
Yes, kind of much better kind of career trajectory altogether, actually.

Chris (48:41.258)
I mean, she's been doing that for, I mean, as far as long as I could remember.

Bobby (48:44.654)
I don't remember anybody else. fact, when you've heard somebody else on the odd day, was very weird. Maybe she was sick or out or whatever.

Chris (48:49.79)
Yeah, like when Danico's son comes out and does it and it's like Danico, this is your son? Like you're a big tough hockey player and like he's this little dude that could look like elf looking dude. comes out. It's got a heck of a voice though. Yeah. But speaking of getting something from your mother, I'm sure that that came from Danico's wife. yeah, Arlette, happy birthday Arlette. I hope you have a wonderful day, but we are going to wrap this thing up and wherever you're listening to us, like five star review.

Bobby (48:55.848)
Yeah. Right, right. That was crazy.

Bobby (49:03.807)
It sure did.

Bobby (49:09.986)
Yes, I would imagine.

Chris (49:19.67)
Positive comment down below subscription helps a little podcast that could we are the uncle puckers. We'll see you when we see it. No dickheads. Bye bye.

Bobby (49:25.538)
No dickheads.