Nico's Contract, UFAs & Maybe Some Draft

[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! And we have an intro! Yay! I'm so happy! Is it theory of collapse or architecture of collapse? I thought it was theory of collapse. Or is it velvet collapse? There's a lot of collapsing going on. What the fuck?

[00:00:35] Yeah, that's not what I wanted. Hang on. That's completely wrong. It is architecture. The song is, the band is theory. No. Alright, well, we're getting to that track. What the fuck? I'm all screwed up now. Chris is trying to introduce Bob and I to new music. Yeah, and I can't do it. I think I know how to send it to you. So I have a question. Yes, Robert. Missing the last few shows. Not on purpose, on purpose.

[00:01:03] Do we not have an intro all this time? Like, was it? So apparently, because we share the studio with everybody else in the podcast network, they have a bunch of studios. But people, so every time I come in to do a show, I have to reload all our stuff and make our studio again. And every time our intro and outro were already loaded into the video. So I go in and I just click ours and I put it in. I get rid of the who's ever is in there. Ours was missing.

[00:01:31] I see. So I couldn't and I didn't have it. And I was actually forgetting to text you to send it so I can reload it. So I had to do that. But we still don't have an outro because I forgot to ask you for that one, too. But if you want to send it to me during the show, I can load it or we can just send it. It's not a big deal. See if I have it. You know, it's been a hot minute. So, yeah, so there's a lot going on. The silly season is upon us. We're the Uncle Puckers. I'm Chris with Tim and Bob.

[00:02:01] Tony didn't get back to us today. I don't know what he's doing. But, yeah, this is interesting. I don't know where you guys want to start. I was thinking of starting with just some moves around the league and then we can kind of talk about the Devils. So it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs hired a new coach. They had what they say, 50 plus guys that they interviewed and they settled with Hiller.

[00:02:29] I am so happy that Toronto is such a shitty run organization and I love it. But do you guys have any thoughts on that hire at all? Listen, if they actually 50 people are interested in it and they talk to a lot and they picked them, something stood out. But otherwise, no, I've absolutely zero thoughts about what that means. It's like a stopgap. We're just going to we need to fill the vacancy. So we're just going to do that and be shitty for a couple of years and then we'll figure it out.

[00:02:58] And there are a lot of good coaches available. I don't understand why they went with Jim Hiller. Like it's not like he did a stellar job in L.A. and they focus mostly on fucking defense. And I don't think that's what the Maple Leafs problem is. So, I mean, if you're going to do that and you're going to play that way, Austin Matthews will be asking for a trade by January. My place for him. So, so the Hiller thing. Have you ever heard him talk actually? Jim Hiller?

[00:03:27] Yeah, probably not. No, not that I can remember. I can see him absolutely knocking it out of the park in interviews like before like he he actually before he. He because I think he was one of Babcock's assistants in Toronto before maybe maybe maybe I'm crazy about that, but they know I think he was with Bob Babcock. Yeah, I think so in Toronto, right?

[00:03:54] Yeah. So Hitler was running a or trying to sell a analytics platform to hockey teams. And that's how Babcock he and Babcock met. So apparently he's very analytics driven, which is interesting because they play so defensively like that's his philosophy. It's kind of counterintuitive because most analytics driven stuff is is offensive.

[00:04:21] So I could and the way he talks, I would actually had heard someone on another show play an interview of his a he has like a very Obama type of cadence to him, which, you know, I think people naturally then kind of associate with good speech making even if it's not a good speech or not. And intelligence. Yes. Yeah. And he has intelligence and analytics and all kind of lines up with him, I think, probably just knocking his interview out of the park with Jacob.

[00:04:49] Yeah, that's kind of that. That would be my and L.A. Was a pretty good team under his under his watch. I think he made some questionable decisions like, you know, that that challenge in the playoffs. It cost them that series against one of those seven in a row. They lost that's going to be kind of hanging over him wherever he goes.

[00:05:17] And I think he made some questionable deployment decisions in terms of like playing like Dumoulin and CC over Spence, which Spence then got traded from L.A. to Ottawa. So I can see it. It is just weird. And it kind of goes back to this sort of non creative GMs. You know, and Jacob was supposed to be one of these guys that's, you know, a creative GM.

[00:05:39] But here he is bringing in Jim Hiller. And then now they're signing traded for Darren Radish, who, you know, for eight years until he's 38. So I really was hoping they were going to hire Joe Pavelski. I would have just I wanted to see Joe Pavelski back in the NHL. So I was like, you know, that's kind of cool. Maybe they'll have like the Marty St. Louis Montreal Canadian luck. Bring a guy in former player has never coached at all.

[00:06:07] I have an idea of where Joe Pavelski can go. Oh, assistant coach to the Devils. Tim, I like it. We need a power play guy. Could do a lot worse. Let's bring Joe Pavelski in for a power play. I like that. There should be a step up, you know, like right to head coach. I mean, come on. You should need to work for it a little bit, right? That's why Montreal got so much shit when they did it. Like, you know, I mean, I know he's a French Canadian dude. So it took some of the slack off.

[00:06:36] It's not like they, you know, got some jack off from New Jersey to fucking coach their team. But that took some of the sting out of it. But it was still a big problem up there. Like he has no coaching experience higher than like his son's high school team or whatever. Yeah. And I mean, it's an honest concern. Like, you know the game like the best ever. It doesn't mean you know how to coach. So it was an honest concern at the time. But obviously they did pretty well. Yeah. He's a little fiery dude, man. Jesus Christ. I never thought he was such an asshole.

[00:07:06] Really? I never listened to his interviews or anything. I just watched it as like. I mean, he was always that little fucking pain. Yeah. But I just didn't think like person to person he was going to sound like that. Just to see. He's been like that. His like when I worked at that hockey camp with him and shared a hotel room with him, he was such an asshole to me. And like, like a funny kind of like big brother kind of way. But interesting fucking guy. Well, Montreal was really smart because they held on to him.

[00:07:33] Like when you see so many coaches that just don't get the opportunity, you know, and the GMs get tired of it. The fans get tired of it. I know they called for St. Louis head in Montreal more than a dozen or so times and management stuck with them and it pays off. If you have the right guy, it paid off. So, yeah, there's people calling for his head even after these playoffs. It's like, it's just ridiculous. They're going to be a fucking great team for the next handful. They're not even there yet. And they're that this good already. Like they're going to be fine.

[00:08:03] Yeah. They owe a lot of that junk to him too. I agree. They're ahead of schedule for sure. You know, I mean, Caulfield scored. Scored 50 goals probably. Yeah. When are we going to have that? 50 goals and 100 points from different guys? That would be awesome. One guy. Yeah, one guy. Well, they got to do two, right? Because they got 50 goals. Next season, the big breakout for Timo Mayer. You think Timo can score 50 goals? Let's do 30 first. Okay. So, wait. Let's. Okay.

[00:08:32] So, if you have to pick two different guys on the Devils, one has the 50 goals. One has 100 points. Who's most likely to get those? Yeah. So, I'll start. I think Jack would be most likely to get 50 and that would put Brad at the 100 points. I mean, I think Jack and Jack. Well, yeah. But I thought I had to answer it two different ways. Okay. So, then. Because I think if Jack gets 50 points, he probably gets 100. I mean, 50 goals. He probably gets 100 points. Yeah. He'll.

[00:09:01] I think Jack. I mean. 125 or so. So, yeah. Jack's going to be. Jack's going to be 115, 120 next year. So, who's. So, I mean, I would love it to be Timo. Or he sure. Or Brad. Or anybody for that matter. Like, we've never had a 100 goal scorer. 100 point scorer rather. 100 goals. A lot of goals. Crazy, dude. I want a 100 goal scorer. So, Mike Ruff says, if Timo gets 50 goals, I'll fly you and the crew out to Vancouver. All right.

[00:09:30] You all heard that? Mike Mota. Yes. I'll take that. All right. So, all we need is Timo 50 goals. So, he gets, you know, 15 this year. 25 next year. 30 the year after. We're there. All we need is 50 goals before he retires. He never said in one year. I didn't read that. This shit's recorded. Yeah, exactly. We have the videotape proof, Mike. You're not getting out of this shit. You better fucking get that guest room set up.

[00:10:00] One of us is coming from Lithuania, so. Yeah. We shouldn't have a pocketbook. So, wait. You brought up the, let's finish up with the Toronto shit. Yeah. Darren Radish got paid eight years to Toronto. Okay. I mean, like, I don't know. Yeah, I guess. I mean, he had one big year. I just don't know if that's the guy you give eight and a half million to. But it's Toronto, so. It's Toronto.

[00:10:30] I think they'll get three to four years out of him that are really good. Because Radish was an absolute weapon on the power play. Yeah, he was fantastic. And I think, like, I actually saw people arguing today. And 15 of his 22 goals came on primary assist from Kucherov, basically on the power play with him just unleashing that bomb. And you could possibly say that McKenna is a pretty good proxy for Kucherov on that right flank on the power play, probably.

[00:11:00] So I could see similar production coming out of him. And there wasn't really – there were a lot of other places that needed a right-hand D that had someone blocking them on the power play. But I think this is a clear path for him to be the number one power play guy, the number one D. It would be interesting to see if he can keep this up. But I think he'll probably be in that 15-ish goal range next year. 22 is probably a bit extreme. I agree. I think that's smart.

[00:11:30] Well, Meadowlander is going to get us right into the conversation now we're going to start. He writes, if we give Nico Heischer more than $9 million, we deserve what we get. I'm not quite sure which way that goes. But we were going to talk about what do you guys think? What do you guys think? The winner gets Tim to come to your house, make you dinner, and you'll watch Step Brothers with him. And he'll bring the jerkins.

[00:12:00] So I'll start with you, Tim. What do you think? I cradle the balls. He does. He's good like that. All right. So Mike's saying 12 and a half for how many years, Mike Ruff? So Mike's got him at 12 and a half million. I think that's a little bit high. I'm going to say it's going to be a – I think he's going to go full eight years. And I think it's going to be 11 million. That's my pick.

[00:12:29] What do you guys think? Are we ready? 11 by six, collect records. Johnny Devil's got 11 and a half. Mike Ruff has seven years. Because we can still sign him to eight, right? This is done on July 1st. We have until start of the year, right? We have until September 16th, I think. Okay. So we can still get him for the eight years. I think he signs for the full term. What do you guys think? Mike on first, Bob? Sure. Still processing. I think five by 11.5.

[00:12:59] Okay. Five by 11.5. You think it's going to be a little shorter? Yeah. And there's something came out today that said Devils won a long term. Nico won a shorter term. And they've gotten to kind of the middle of that, which is five years, I think. I didn't know that before. I said my eight by 11. Yeah. So, Meadowlander, the way the math works out on this is he is actually worth that. I know comparatively around the league, like you look at other people's contracts, but you can't really do it that way.

[00:13:28] You have to look at kind of the rolling place when people started and signed their deals and what the cap was at that time. Look at it on a percentage of cap. And that's why everybody's coming into that 11 to 13-ish range. Because when he first signed his first deal, he was about 9% of the cap. I think 11 and change or 12 is actually like 10% of the cap when his deal will kick in. So, it's a pretty fair deal.

[00:13:56] And if you look at a lot of his comps, like Ajo, Larkin, there's one other that was a good comp. Oh, Rupa Hintz. They're all around that 9.5% to 10.5% of the cap. So, it's fair, and that's kind of where those numbers are coming from. He writes, use that money for some dogs. Nico, he sure is a dog. I will absolutely say that. Bob, what do you think? So, I think he's going to come in around six. Six years?

[00:14:23] Six years, around $65 million, which puts him at like that 10.8% average for the year. But within the contract, there'll be some years that probably go to like 11.5% or something like that. I just don't think he's going to quite hit $11 million per year. And the only reason I'm thinking the six is just because the only chatter I've heard was just initially, his camp started a little bit shorter. Devil started the whole length, and they met in the middle-ish. So, I don't think they came all the way up to eight. So, I would think six just seems like a reasonable number.

[00:14:51] So, with that information, five or six years seems the more logical then. And then maybe his AAB goes up a little bit because of that, right? So, maybe he does hit $12 million if it's a five or six-year deal, possibly. The longer-term deal would probably have a higher AAB on it. Is that how it works? Higher AAB on the longer term? Yeah, because you're buying more years off the end of his deal. So, like a five or six-year deal. Oh, because you can dump out of it. Yeah, he still has room for one more contract.

[00:15:19] If you get to eight years, he probably doesn't. In other words, I came in just kind of under that 11. That seems to be that kind of starting point. And look, if it's five or six years, like if we're not doing what we need to do in five or six years, then it doesn't matter. You know, he's not going to be here. Jack's not going to be there. In no likelihood, if it's five or six years, and assuming the Devils do have some success, which they really should at some point, right? Start to turn us around and have success.

[00:15:48] At that stage of his career, he'd likely want to stay again, as long as the team ain't dog shit. You know what I mean? He's been a captain all these years. Okay, now I'm going to do a three or four-year deal or three with a fourth-year opt-in or opt-out and ride away into the sunset. Like, who knows? Retire as a devil. You don't know the changes that the team will be going through in five or six years. Right. You know, whether Jack's gone. It's actually a good question that Mike Ruff brings up. Oh, that is a good question, Mike Ruff. All right, so now next question.

[00:16:18] Full, no movement. All right. I would think for at least the first half. He's not going to sign with – I mean, I agree. So maybe you're going to give him the, you know, 20 teams halfway through the contract or something like that. But I don't see a full no trade, no move clause for the entirety of the contract. And I see some protection for Nico. They have to have some. He's not going to sign with no protection.

[00:16:48] Which then means if Quinn doesn't sign in Minnesota and that was our one chip to maybe get him here, we maybe won't be able to do it. But I don't care. Sign Nico. If July 1st at noon Eastern time, he's ready to sign. And put that tweet at 1205 because I want it done. The irony here is that, like, you're talking about the one guy. If I had heard full no trade clause, I'd be like, yeah, cool. This is the guy.

[00:17:15] This is the one guy on the team I'd be happy to say he can't move. And now it's like a question, right? Because we've got so many in that predicament. Like, he sure is going to give you the type of game he's been giving you all day. He's not going to change. He's not going to phone it in. So this is the safe guy to do that to. It would hurt the devils to do that, right? At least all of it. But, like, if we didn't have all the other no movement clauses, this is the one guy I'd be like, sure, give it to him. That's what he does. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Crazy.

[00:17:42] But, you know, if you give him no movement, you really are handcuffed. Like, there's nobody to move. But I can certainly understand why his camp would be like, you've got to at least give me half of this as no movement. Like, he's committing to you when he could have left for free agency. Like, don't. You know, I can totally see that side. He strikes me as the type of player, like, they're relatively rare that's going to age well. Oh, I agree.

[00:18:10] Like, a good hard game into his mid-30s. Absolutely. Good assessment. Yeah. You know, I see, look, Nico Hesher has to be part of this team. Like, it's just Nico and Jack are two big of parts to not have locked up, to not build around. And now it's up to Sonny to see what he can do. But the first thing, yes. Nico and then Gritz. And then, you know, I was like, what would we get?

[00:18:37] So let's say that somebody offers Sheetz Nemich. And he, because it came out that he wants anywhere from like nine to 11 million or something stupid like that. See, that's a problem. It's a problem. But it's not going to be our problem because if that's really what he wants and he wants long-term, he's not going to get it here.

[00:18:58] So, but if somebody offers Sheetz him and gives him, offers him, let's say, a nine and a half million dollar contract or whatever, what do we get in return for that? Tim, are you looking that up? I am. Thank you. So over 11.7 million is four first round picks. Oh my gosh. From 9.3, around 9.3 to that 11.7. It's two first round picks, one second, one third.

[00:19:27] And from seven to 9.3, it's one first, one second, one third. I could see it falling in that bracket then. Yeah, I could see someone like it's 9.360154. So if someone offers like 9.35 or something like that, I could see that. And then what is it? I'm kind of like, all right, take him. Oh, hell yeah. With that return? We get two first, a second and a third. Hell yeah.

[00:19:56] I think that's all this year too. Well, they have to have the picks though, right? Yes, and they have to be their picks. It can't be a pick that they traded for. It has to be their original owned and operated picks. I mean, in this scenario, if something like that happens, it's going to work out well for Nemec. The problem is that I'm on record saying like, I want to see him part of this team going forward.

[00:20:25] I know that means there's a log jam and something has to happen. Which would be like a Hamilton going. I think that it's time to let Nemec take the training wheels off and see what he can do. The problem is that timing is lining right up where we're hearing all this about how much money he wants. And he just flat out does not deserve that money yet, even if you're betting on futures. So that puts him in a weird place where he's demanding kind of all this money. Where this is the time if he were to say, hey, look, I'm going to play ball. You know, I'm going to take a hometown discount and a bridge contract. Yeah, three years.

[00:20:53] He can get going, especially if we move out, you know, a bigger piece on D, then this could finally be a shot. But this has the markings of that's not going to happen because of what's being said behind the scenes. And it's like he's talking himself off this team when this is the one year he can probably actually get on it because Meta's not afraid to make a big move. I mean, I think Dougie's sticking around.

[00:21:15] Yeah, I mean, the more that I kind of read between the lines on stuff, it does seem like Hamilton is going to probably be here. I think Meta probably wants that guy. But then it comes down to, like, does Dougie accept a lesser responsibility here? You know, if he is not going to be on Power Play 1 and stuff like that, he might be.

[00:21:42] But I would think that you're going to set that up for Luke to be on Power Play 1. If you've got new management coming in after everybody saw the way he was treated, all the shit that was said. You've got new management coming in, saying all the right things to him, telling him how valuable it is, telling him, hey, look, we're not even looking to trade you. Like, we're going to deal with the NEMIC thing in its own bubble. You're here and you're on this team. But here's what we're going to do. We're going to spread out some of that PP one time. Like, we've got to get Luke up there doing a shot. And we think it's a weapon having you patrolling PP2. Like, that is something most teams cannot bring.

[00:22:10] If you just kind of feed it to him that way, then it makes total sense. And his salary is fine for what he gives us, too. Like, I'm not one of these guys like, oh, we've got to get rid of that $9 million. No, we don't. Not where the cap is now. Like, he still provides a lot. So that's likely where it would go. And hopefully, again, I think it's all about respect at some point, right? And we know PP1 gets a lot. It doesn't get, it's not 50-50. PP1's like 80% to 20% of the time. But it doesn't mean they couldn't also try to, you know, cut into that a little bit.

[00:22:39] Because when you do have a weapon like that on the second power play and you can deploy a different look, you know, that in itself is very valuable. Maybe they put them both out there. Maybe they put them both out there. That's a possibility, too. That's not the craziest thing. No, it wasn't. Put him on that right flank as like that OV one-timer spot. Like, it's not the craziest idea.

[00:23:02] So, like, that brings us to the next thing that happened in double land that kind of got snuck in late last night. I guess Colleton is leaving to pursue other business opportunities. So he's like leaving hockey. He's like not even going to be a coach anymore. Okay. Which is an interesting development. I mean, I guess he grew up on some farm in Alberta or something like that. I have no idea. So we need a new offensive skewed power play coach.

[00:23:31] Didn't we just hire him? Joe Pavelski five minutes ago? We did this already. All right. But there are a few other guys. Like, I don't – there are guys that are out there, too. Like, I don't pretend to know the depth of, like, you know, who are offensive gurus. But I have some other names that I thought I'd throw at you. Throw him in. Okay. One of them has been a longtime assistant coach in the NHL, kind of knows his role as an assistant coach, and that's Kirk Muller.

[00:24:01] Yeah. Kind of be nice to bring Kirk back to Jersey, bring him home. That's not a bad – I like Kirk Muller. Good one. Speaking of another – No, didn't we do the Mark Rickey thing here years ago? No, Mike. Like, no, that went fucking terrible. That was – Is Mark Rickey even fucking coaching the league anymore? I don't think he is. I think he's such a bad – He, like, he sabotaged the team on purpose because he's still rooting for the Flyers. That was an awful – Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:24:27] The other guy that I thought about, I don't know, you know, he's coaching the Chicago Steel right now, I think, in the USHL. Scott Gomez. Gomez, absolutely, 100%. Bring him in, and if you don't, bring him in to coach, bring him in for a third chair with Danico and LeGarque. Yeah, it's so fun to listen to, man. Right. The other thing, like – Whatever, however you have to do it, bring Scottie Gomez back to Jersey. I'm on board.

[00:24:52] Because they also need, like, a Breeland-ish guy who I thought – who I think was, like, kind of like a skills attitude type of coach and, you know, a translator for Gritzik, obviously. So I could see Gomez really, really doing well on that. He could – I think there's a lot of things. And people – you know, he got a lot of shit for being kind of like sort of a bit of a flake and an offensive guy. But he was a fucking dog when he played. Like, he was a pain in the ass to play against.

[00:25:18] And he could teach a lot of that sort of in lieu we trust type of shit. Nice. I mean, one of my favorite players from that era. I mean, you got to love Scottie Gomez. And, yeah, I'd be on board. Okay, so let's see. Out of those guys, I think, out of the ones you mentioned, I would, of course, lean towards Gomez overall. Whether or not he's actually the most qualified for the job, I'm just saying my personal preference. Yeah. Scottie Gomez. That's the – yeah, and that's the thing.

[00:25:47] It's like, you know, does he want to stay where he is as a head coach? Does he like being, you know, more of a development guy? Because that's – you know, that's why I kind of said, you know, he might thrive in like a development role because he is a U.S. coach. We barely see the playoffs. Isn't this a development role? Let's get it going here. I mean, actually not our power play, though. Our power play is fucking nasty. Oh, come on. Don't be so literal. All right. All right. Is Gritz available to be all-freshed?

[00:26:17] I don't know. Somebody threw that up in the chat about Colorado all-freshedding them. Colorado can't afford. They were $2 million in cap space. I don't even know if he's available to be offer-sheeted, though. I didn't think he was. I feel like he's in a different scenario, but – Yeah. Yeah. I could be wrong. I usually am. But, yeah, so I like that move. Gomez. Is there anybody being talked about at all, like rumored to be coming here?

[00:26:47] I haven't heard a peep. I think it's too short. The other thing is, like, you know, like you always hear about coaches and relationships and who they've worked with before. So the only other thing I would do is dig into Keefe's old coaching staffs and see if he has a guy. You know, there's a guy named Jack Hahn who does – who has worked for Keefe before, but I think he was more of a video guy. I'm not entirely sure. So I don't know. But, you know, there's like – I think Andre Savard or Mark Savard,

[00:27:15] one of the Savards, was a power play coach somewhere, like Montreal. Oh, he was the power play coach in Toronto. Sorry, I was banging the table. He was a power play coach in Toronto, got fired in the middle of the season last year. I think the guy that was the power play coach in Edmonton is floating around out there. Daniel Amoya, who writes for NJ Hockey Now, brought up, brought him up. So there are a couple of guys. I don't know.

[00:27:41] Beyond that, you find some AHL guru, you know, who's got, you know, like the Providence Bruins head coaches, like their own. Yeah. I don't want to disqualify what this assistant would do, but, I mean, to me, like theoretically with this group as a power play coach, like I don't know that you got to be the best at it. Like we've kind of got the pieces. Like just – Well, when you have the pieces we have, yeah, you're right. It just is like don't fuck it up.

[00:28:18] Like, you know. There's – they all do the slingshot zone entry. They all do some form of 1-3-1 umbrella, you know, and it's how that gets executed is the thing. And so – Honestly, a lot of players are more determinative of your success than the scheme, you know. Yeah, exactly. And it's like you create that triangle down low between the flank, the bottom guy, and the bumper,

[00:28:46] and you try and isolate and create two-on-ones and three-on-twos. So then you do that, and then you tell them to make sure they take a couple shots in the two minutes that they have. Just a couple shots. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, a power play is just like, hey, fucking throw it at the net and get a rebound. That's it. That's what a lot of power play goes on. Keep Timo in the fucking, you know, net front there and just let them, you know, beat the shit out of them. Timo's power play too. Oh, my bad.

[00:29:09] So the comment section is having the – Nico, he sure is a bad captain conversation. Then Devil Heaven wrote, you know, do we need a more vocal captain? And comparing the Stevens. And I think that's where the problem comes, right? There are a handful of guys that have played in this league for the entirety of its league. A handful that are like distinct, formative captains.

[00:29:39] Captains that dragged their teams. And in our era, it was, you know, Steve Iserman. It was, of course, Scott Stevens. It was Joe Sackick. It was that type of player. Scott Stevens is a different animal. You are never going to replace him, especially in this day and age in the NHL today. It's not going to happen. And Nico, he sure – I have – none of us are in that dressing room.

[00:30:05] And all the years that he has been with this team and the years that he's had to see on his chest, we have never heard once a knock by anybody, former player, current player, about his leadership, about what he brings to the table. This is all what we see. And we've talked about it. Like his body language on the ice and on the bench sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. He looks like he has to take a shit every time he gets off of fucking the ice. Like, yeah, he looks like he's going to cry sometimes, all that stuff.

[00:30:33] But I don't think that we can really knock his leadership because, like I said, what are we going by? We're going by what we see during a game. Nothing has ever come out. Like if a guy leaves and they said, you know, yeah, there were problems in Jersey. Like, you know, nobody wants to play for Nico. He opens his mouth. Nobody fucking listens. That kind of stuff. Then we'd have a little bit of ammunition to work with. But I just think it's an unfair comparison to put anybody up against Scott Stevens.

[00:31:02] So, like, I think we have to just kind of understand that was a great era of hockey. It's gone. Let's hope we can build a better or at least as successful era now with our current captain. Like Nico deserves that. I just think he's – I think he's a good player, a great player. There are several – I've said this before. There's several ways to lead. Gretzky, Iserman, Sackick, even Hedman, Stamkos, like all cup winners, all were captains on cup winners.

[00:31:31] Barkov, like we're a quiet lead by example guys. And it's – there are leadership groups now. You know, some guys have more vocal guys. And Cody Glass in particular, I remember this vividly, said, you know, he doesn't talk – Nico doesn't talk a lot in the locker room, but when he does, you listen. And honestly, I'd rather have a guy like that than some fucking loudmouthed yappy asshole who just talks and talks and talks. Who's just like, all right, man, just shut the fuck up. Like, I'm hard fucking hearing it.

[00:31:58] Yeah, after a while, it's just wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. So, yes, if that is what's being said, and I've heard Jack say similar things about that. Like, you know, when Nico gets pissed, like, you know it, and you listen to him because he demands that respect. I just think it's just an unfair comparison. Like you said, like, Sacha Barkov is not that guy, right? No. He has Matt Kachuk. Who is? Right.

[00:32:25] Like, you know, like we have Brendan Dillon when somebody needs to actually get their ass beat down a little bit in the locker room. And Kogan Savage and Siegenthaler is a sneaky little fucking mean motherfucker. Brown's a yappy little asshole. And Jack, I mean, I think Jack probably has a lot to say to a lot of guys a lot of times, you know. And that's the leaders. That's how you build a leadership around them. That's how, you know, it wasn't just Scott Stevens. It was, you know, it's Scott Stevens. It was Danico. It was Niedermeyer. It was Brodeur.

[00:32:52] It was the core guys that were there for all those cups that stepped up. And the guys that were only there for a cup or two, Claude Lemieux, you know, Jason Arnott. These guys were leaders. They didn't have the C on their chest, but they demanded respect and they got it in the dressing room. I don't think it's any different here. Just because you have the C on your chest doesn't mean that you have to, like, you know, be that toughest guy on the ice or the best player on the ice or any of those things.

[00:33:19] It just means that you have to know when to speak up at the right times to get the most out of your guys. Sometimes that's going to be to all guys in the dressing room. Sometimes you're going to pull a guy off to the side and have a conversation with him. We're not there. And not nobody. If you can find me any article, tweet or, you know, insider source that said that somebody had a problem with Nico Heischer's leadership, then maybe I'll change my tune. But I haven't seen that and I don't think it exists.

[00:33:48] It's just such an interesting angle because success buries a lot of this. If the Devils were having what we consider moderate success, which is, you know, consistently in the playoffs, winning rounds or whatever success is to you up to winning the cup, then you're not having this conversation as much. But then the flip side of that is you're going to have people say, well, right. But since we're not having that success, it's on Nico.

[00:34:13] And that's unfair, too, because he can't drag all 20 guys to play up to the back of their card when it's just not. We don't I mean, that's a that's a player personnel problem. Like he can lift up a guy or two, kick over a trash can, like whatever has to happen. But you you can't expect one guy with a C to rectify everybody who is playing below their part like that. No captain's going to do that, especially if that captain is also extremely frustrated with how things are going.

[00:34:40] You know, like whether it's with coaching, which I don't think there was a problem with coaching this year, but with management, there was like, you know, they these guys wanted some help the last couple of years and they didn't get it. And that can be demoralizing. So, you know, the captain has to play, too, and still has to, you know, look, man, you go out there, you lose nine, nothing. Nineteen guys are taking showers and heading home.

[00:35:05] Nico has to fucking suck it up and go out there and talk to the press and represent this team. And he always does it and he always does it with class. And, you know, that's a lot that I think that it's enough is what I meant to say. Like, that is enough. Like, yes, do we want to win a cup? We're not moving into the playoffs and going on deep runs because Nico Heischer is a bad captain. That is the furthest reason why we're not doing it.

[00:35:33] So, yes, Meadowlander, that I will agree with. The organizational development is abysmal. And that's why Sonny Meadow, as he said during his press conference, that that's going to become an actual, like, focus of interest and get it taken care of. AHL is not about winning Calder Cups. It's about developing talent. And now that we're going to be doing that, yeah, I'm with you. Yeah. I just confirmed, by the way, Arsenio Gritzig is, in fact, off a sheet. Oh, he is.

[00:36:00] So, that's the risk, I think, you know, that should be keeping Sonny up at night. But he did say, you know, they're talking contract extension. You know, the other side of that coin is that a player has to accept the offer sheet. That's true. So, he can say no. Help me with the timing on this, too. Is this something that could be cut off if he signed by July 1st? Or is this in a situation where we can't sign him by July 1st anyway? July 1st. He can sign now. Oh, he can. He can sign now.

[00:36:30] We could eliminate that threat. But then we're betting only against ourselves, right? Yeah. And the other side of that is an offer sheet for him comes in, you would think, lower. So, we would get less draft compensation and probably something we would match. Yeah. Unless it's absurd, right? Interesting about the offer sheet. In which case, you let him go and take the draft capital. Right. I mean, if it's a $6 million offer sheet, fine. He's worth that. Right. We come in at nine. We'll take your draft picks. Thank you. Yeah.

[00:37:00] And that's the interesting thing about an offer sheet is it's just the AAV. It does nothing to do with term or years or anything. So, someone could offer him an outrageous deal like $10 million for one year or something like that. We'd get a shitload of draft capital. But that would be hard for him to pass up. Sure. Right. Sure. But that's not going to happen. You know, first of all, people, I mean, they, St. Louis offer sheeted the two guys from Edmonton.

[00:37:29] We hadn't seen offer sheets, you know, for like 10 years before that. So, GMs don't really like to use them because it does piss off other general managers. Yeah. So, you know, I don't know. I didn't hear any of those rumors that Colorado is hot on grits and cotter. Yeah. Hey, they want cotter. Maybe we can work something out. I'm okay with that. But you're not getting grits.

[00:37:51] Nobody's getting grits. $5 at the store. $5 for fucking icebreakers. This shit's crazy. Goddamn straight of whore moose. Can't even get my mints for cheaper than $5. This is bullshit. Now it's closed again, by the way.

[00:38:21] Is it really? Awesome. Good times. So, it looks like the U.S. is going to win the World Cup, by the way. Very excited. Yeah, U.S. I went into one of my customers today at like 2.30. Or what did the game start? 3 o'clock or whatever? So, I went in like 3.30. And 3.30 on a Friday. Usually, you know, half full bar, a few tables. The place was fucking packed. I'm like, dude, what are you giving away here? And he points to the TV. And I completely forgot.

[00:38:50] Like, I'm like, all these people. Now, I bet you, if you talk to any one of them, they couldn't name one person on Team USA. They probably only watch soccer when the World Cup is going through. And yet, the bar's packed and everybody has to be there for Team USA or Team whatever. I'm just like, that's not a real sport, man. Oh, yeah. So, I'm going to text Shane with all the guys with a few of my friends from high school.

[00:39:15] And one of my really good friends was a nasty soccer player and held the Division III goal scoring record for like a decade. What do you have, like 10? It's four. That's funny. So, I texted the group and I was like, oh, man, this Australia-US game is really physical. And he was like, yeah, I know. And I was like, no, it's not. Soccer players are pussies. Fuck off. Did we win? Did we win that one? Yeah, we did.

[00:39:45] I know it was one and not there. I fucking absolutely set him up for that. I was like, yeah. Got him. Got him. That's awesome. Fuck one for me. But yeah, similar point. I went to the drive range the other day to hit balls at like noon. And like every single bay was filled. And I was like, get a job, you fucking losers. What's wrong with people? Right. I mean, that's why you're there in the middle of the afternoon. Yeah, I know. That's beside the point, right? Right? Cook and relax. Yeah, it's – I'm not – I just – I can't get into it.

[00:40:12] I mean, even if Team USA goes far, like, yes, I'll follow Team USA. But I don't know if I'm ever going to watch a game. I'll just deal with the highlights or whatever. I mean – We've had it on all background this whole time. Like, whatever game's on, it's on. And Caden will watch it. Sometimes he's interested. Sometimes he's not. But, yeah, I'm not going to be on the train. Like, all of a sudden, I'm this huge soccer fan. Like, I grew up as a very young kid playing soccer. Quickly grew out of that and just – I think every kid did. It's wild that we're not good at it. It's wild that we are not good at this sport.

[00:40:42] I'm with you because that is the one sport that pretty much every single kid has played when they were little. Like, everybody plays soccer. Any sport where it's just a ball, right? What do you need for this? You need a ball and a couple of friends. Yeah. That's basketball, baseball, and soccer. Yeah. You need a glove and a bag. Yeah. And in soccer, you need shin pads and cleats. I don't know. We didn't do that. Yeah. I grew up in the mean streets of Tom's River. Not on the league.

[00:41:11] I'm just saying playing rec like we're friends. We used to ball of electrical tape. We used to play at Eastover Elementary on the blacktop before school every morning for, like, however early we got there, 45 minutes, whatever. Just sweaty, nasty, falling on the asphalt. It was the best. It was just the best. My wife's actually panicking a little bit next week because they have, like, they're changing all the traffic patterns up in the city. We heard games up at MetLife next week. And, like, they're telling people, like, expect gridlock traffic.

[00:41:40] She's, like, fucking freaking out. She's, like, it's going to take me forever to get home. I'm, like, eh, it's only a couple of days. You know? It's only a few games. Hilarious, like, argument going on on Twitter where, like, Europeans are, like, oh, I'll just walk to the stadium from New York to MetLife. And everybody from New York and New Jersey was, like, please don't do that. Like, please don't. Like, you need to cross a swamp in the New Jersey Turnpike.

[00:42:09] And I was, like, those people will not stop for you. I don't think they let you walk through the Lincoln Tunnel, you know? They even tried to clarify it by calling it New York-New Jersey Stadium. That should tell you something right there, that you're not walking from Manhattan. The amount of time. Yeah. And then Governor Hochul's, like, is, like, oh, New York brought to you this. It's, like, it's in New Jersey, you fucking. Yeah. Shut up. But that's it. We are. We've always been New York's retarded little stepbrother. And it's frustrating as all shit.

[00:42:37] I mean, there are a lot of things that, like, okay, we kind of stick together with. Like, I kind of like that. It's always, like, that New York-New Jersey you have to deal with. But that little brother thing, I'm not a fan of. Yeah, but here's the thing. So, for all of these stadiums, wherever they're playing, they gave it the name. Like, Philadelphia Stadium, Seattle Stadium, right? I don't know if that's clarity for the league. They can't put their promotion. Whatever it is. They can't put the FIFA. This should literally be called New Jersey Stadium.

[00:43:02] Because people coming in from all over the world have no understanding that it's the home of the Giants, New York Giants, in New Jersey. They don't care. It should just be called the New Jersey Stadium for this. So, even here, we get dicked over. It's called New Jersey Stadium. That's where it is. Apparently, the Jets might move to Long Island. Why would you go and move to fucking Long Island? Label a jersey and you've got a new fan. Greasy fans are from.

[00:43:29] I mean, I guess if they want to go to Long Island. Long Island blows. That's, like, the worst place in the world for a fucking sports team. It's just so confined. Yeah, it's just, like... It's the worst. It's just so confined. Seriously, if I was ever a pro hockey player, like, that's probably the one team I never would want to play for. Just because it's on Long Island. It feels like... Winnipeg. Like that stadium at the dead end. Right. That's what it's like. Yeah. That's it. You're on the cul-de-sac.

[00:43:59] You're all by yourself. Nobody goes there. Yeah. Like, when I used to spend a lot of time in the Hamptons. And it's like... What? You know, like, you just, like, drive too far. And you're like, oh, I'm at the water again. Then you drive too far the other way. And you're like, oh, I'm at the water again. It's, like, been, like, four miles. And you're like, I don't know where the fuck I'm going. These little windy-ass roads. Yeah. My dude. I've never been to the Hamptons. Bob and I got a phone call once from Tony. You remember this, Bob? I'm sure.

[00:44:29] I'm going to see if you remember. So, it's, like, before cell phones. So, he, like, called one of our houses. He was up from Florida. He hadn't moved to Lithuania yet. He was up from Florida. And he was visiting some friends in the Hamptons. Yeah. So, he's like, you guys come on out for the weekend. So, it was, like, a Friday. Bob and I get in my little Civic. And we start driving. And we get, like, up near Lincoln Tunnel. And it's bumper to fucking bumper. And we're like, you know what? Let's just go to Hoboken. And we went to Hoboken.

[00:44:59] And, Bob, you were fucking plastered, dude. Yeah, well, it was fun. We got, we had the best time. We walked into that one bar. And my buddy's band was playing. And we had no idea. Like, what the fuck are you doing here? And we hung out there. And then, yeah, it was fucking just so much fun. That's such a great decision. Like, eight more hours of driving in the soccer. Just pull over and have a great time at Hoboken. That's it. Just went and had a good time. Yeah. Yeah. Don't invite us to the Hamptons. We're not into that shit. Jay, yes, you are right. Tim has first-class problems. He has.

[00:45:29] Had. Had first-class problems. Now he's got the same problems as all of us. Yeah. That's better. I like being down here with the people. Yeah. That's nice of you, Tim. No more let them eat cake. Now you bake them the cake. That's actually more true than you realize. Anything else you guys want to talk about hockey-wise? No. The other thing. I semi- I semi- Hamptons and Hamilton are the same. Overpriced and overrated.

[00:46:00] I semi-called this, but with the Bridgeport Islanders moving to Hamilton and Corey Schneider taking that goalie coach job with Bridgeport, I think there was some confusion over that. I guess it was just interim until the end of the year and wasn't the full-time role. So Hamilton did hire another guy as her full-time goalie coach.

[00:46:25] So Corey would be available as a goalie coach if that is a thing he wants to do, which is an interesting opportunity. I would take Corey Schneider as our goalie coach. More interested on who our goalie is going to be next year, but I'll definitely take Schneider as the coach. I'll tell you who our goalies are going to be. You still think it's Mark Sherman Allen, huh? I don't know.

[00:46:51] I can honestly say now I'm probably better than a coin flip that Markstrom's gone. I think it's 50-50. If we replace Markstrom with Aiden Hill, it's the same fucking thing. Aiden Hill sucks too. That's my question. Are you of the mind that you can just get rid of Markstrom and figure it out, i.e. it could

[00:47:16] be Allen starting with one of our other backups, or do you think this has to have a return veteran piece? I think that Sonny Mehta already has his backup plan in place. It's like a done, but he has the idea of what he wants to do. Probably needs to move Markstrom first, but I think he probably has. He's not going to just... They're not just going to throw out there that we're shopping Markstrom with zero idea of who's going to fill in.

[00:47:47] I think that Mehta probably has an idea of who he'd like to go after if we can get rid of Marky. I hope he has an archetype of who he wants to go after and not one guy in mind, because that's how Fitz got himself into trouble. No, I agree with you. It's not going to be one guy. Yeah. So a young, promising goalie that is blocked. I think that is... There's like three or four that I can immediately think of.

[00:48:16] And I think there's two teams that are probably... That I would definitely be shopping Markstrom to, and that's Edmonton and the Kings. I think those two teams are in desperate need of goaltending. And Edmonton is just dumb enough to take Markstrom. So, I mean, I think those two teams could be in play. And I don't want Jari back. Like, I don't want that. That's why it's like, like you say, who's he looking at? Is it a Cosa? Does he think it's a guy that, you know, Dawes? Does he believe in Dawes?

[00:48:46] I don't know if anybody does. Does he believe in Malik? Or does he believe in Malik? Does he want to give him a chance? You know, so Sonny Meta is not going to be that, all right, we got rid of Markstrom. What do we do for a goalie now? Like, that's not going to happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree. I agree with that. I agree with that. Yeah. Cosa, Levi, DiPietro in Providence. There's one other young guy that I'm forgetting. I mean, you got Minnesota sitting there with two guys.

[00:49:14] Guys, I'm not sure if they're going to keep Gustafson and Wallstead. I think one of those is probably going. And most likely it's Wallstead because Gustafson just signed a big contract. I agree with you. I think it is crazy. I'd keep Wallstead. But if he becomes available, you know, that's a guy I would love to have. Yeah. Yeah. And is Toronto, are they going to make any more moves?

[00:49:38] Like, I know they moved Wall off to Philly, but are they in love with, what the fuck's his name? Stolars. Stolars, yeah. Yeah. I mean, are they in love with those two? Are they looking to upgrade somewhere? So I think there's a lot of, a lot of people, a lot of guys out there that you could, I mean, is he going to go take a big swing for defenses and try and get Connor Hollabuck? I don't know. I doubt it, but.

[00:50:04] Analytics guys don't, um, don't put a lot of value on Colton. They put value on it, but not a lot. I agree with you. So it will be interesting to see where he goes. Sonny, that is. What were you going to say, Bob? No, just in general, like normally, like I'm not the type that sits here and really cares about July 1st per se. You know what I mean?

[00:50:31] As it's day, it's, it's fun and I follow it and all, but I am just extremely optimistic for the turn into July where this guy can start to shape this team. Like I really do. You guys were talking about it before, right? I really think it's going to be a fun summer. There's going to be some movement, some traction, some talks, if nothing else, like it's going to be, there's going to be things going on because there's just no way he's just retreading this. He's just not going to do that. Like at all.

[00:50:59] No, but I don't think there's going to be major wholesale changes either. It might not be major wholesale changes, but I think for people who understand the game of hockey, there's going to be very important changes and bigger than the name that comes in for what it can do for the team, that kind of stuff. I have no idea what I think, like, you know, wholesale change, something big tweaks around the edges. Like no idea what this guy even thinks about this team. You know, first off and foremost, he's a fucking poker player. So he's not showing us shit.

[00:51:26] You know, he's going to, so no idea what he thinks and we'll find out, you know, shortly, but, and that's, that's the exciting part. Like, you know, or are we going to be like disappointed if it's like, wow, we got AJ Greer. That's all we did. I think Nemich is on his way out in some sort of package to fill at least one top six hole. So yes, I think that, that is first and foremost.

[00:51:54] And then, then we have basically, that's, I think going to be kind of the big move and there's going to be some fourth line replacements. And I think that may kind of be it of what happens and maybe Markstrom gets moved and that happens. So I think those three types of things. I mean, I think, well, I just think most devil fans would probably be happy enough. If you have a legitimate guy that is going to be playing with Jack, or at least in theory,

[00:52:22] that's where he's going to be playing and you shore up the goaltending. I mean, I think I would be over the moon if those were the only two moves that we made this summer. I'm happy just to have competent management that presumably wouldn't let this go any further than it needs to go. If things are derailed early, see the big pick. Make sure understand where things aren't working out. Like you can totally get why he would come in and be like, look at this roster. Like, why would I want to move most of this? This is more about making them work together. Right.

[00:52:51] But at the same time, if shit's still in clicking now that you're in it and you're seeing it and we've all seen what's happened like the last, you know, call it four or five years and just be quicker to make the right changes. I think he will be. LaGreca said, Don LaGreca said on Ace's show, like he's like, he talks to a lot of the other, you know, play by play guys and all the other stadiums and stuff. And it, everybody was like, how is this team not in the playoffs? Like you just look at the talent on it.

[00:53:20] Like it just the doesn't make any sense. And yeah, injuries. You know, I think we can probably chalk most of that up to injuries. Number one, that's the number one thing is injuries. Yes. And it is the most frustrating thing because it's the one thing you can't control. And again, you know, we can have the highest of hopes, but Jack goes out again for a long period of time, you know, and then we have to deal with the Timo not playing all 82, Hamilton not playing all 82. You know, he sure gets banged up once in a while.

[00:53:50] Like we're not going to do it all with just Mercer and Brat because those two are on the ice all the time. So that's what I'm saying. Mercer, the first Nimitz and one other piece to Seattle for McCann and Shane Wright. I like Shane Wright. I like Shane Wright. Yeah. I think that that could be, he could be a good fit here. And that's probably what he's going to do.

[00:54:17] He'll probably do more, like you say, like smaller analytic guys, cheaper guys to make sure that, you know, if things do go sideways or he, yeah, he has to make a move somewhere. He's going to not paint himself in the fucking corner like Fitz always did. And, uh, but who knows? Sonny Meadow had never GMed before. Maybe he's a complete fuck up too. I mean, we'll find out. Honestly, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to believe in him until he gives me a reason not to.

[00:54:42] Like, I think he has, he has a track record too, but like I, I'm also, my expectations are a little bit tempered this summer because I know he has a lot of roadblocks in front of him on this roster. Yeah. He definitely, that's why I think it's a two year project that I've said repeatedly to, to unwind some of these issues. I don't disagree with you, but that's no, that doesn't mean that you can't be an actual contender next year.

[00:55:11] Um, you know, and, and I'd really, yeah, I'd really like this to turn around before my contract, but the uncle punctures expire. So two years. Today was your last show. I was going to give you guys a couple of weeks after I come back from vacation to find a replacement. Yeah. Okay. We'll get there. Yeah. All right. So our first line is going to be Nico, Timu and Gritzuk. Timu. You sound like Tony now. Second line is going to be Jack, Bratt and McCann. Third line is going to be. Wait, wait, wait. Who's your first line?

[00:55:40] Hang on. What was that first line? Nico, Timu and Gritzuk. All right. Second line is going to be Jack, Bratt and McCann. Okay. Third line is going to be right. Lenny and TBD winger. Maybe Mason. Where's Connor Brown? We still have him. Oh, Connor Brown. That's the guy I was missing. Connor Brown. Connor Brown, Lenny, Shane, right. Fourth line glass. Bukestad. And AJ Greer.

[00:56:11] Bukestad's center too, right? So you can, you have both those guys that you can flop around, right? Okay. Technically you have six centers because McCann is, is, can play center too. Okay. Right now. McCann can play center. I just, I, I, I, I, not, I like it. I'm just not sure how I feel about grits up there. I like him so much on that third line. It kind of makes sense on that line though.

[00:56:40] It makes sense. It makes sense. That's interesting. Yeah. McCann, they moved McCann up to that line and moved Brown to Jack and Bratz and then move grits back to be with right. And I'm not. I think that's a little more dangerous. That would be, but that's the positional versatility that, that, that, they have that layers of centers ads, you know, you could put right up there in the top six, two to get some more scoring punch. That's not a bad team. No.

[00:57:09] And then honestly, you could fucking jettison Bukestad and bring in whoever. Eklund is another small playmaking where like, that's why I'm kind of leading more goal scorer. Yeah. I think it needs a new goal scorer. Yeah. Need goal scorers. You know, at least goal scoring mentality at the very least, right? Like, yes. Yeah. You know, and you know, look, a lot is going to have to come down to what, how this team

[00:57:35] actually, you know, if they stay healthy and if things click, you know, and if that's the case, they're going to be a good team. Like there's really no reason that they shouldn't be second in the Metro next year. If they stay healthy, there's no. I love this. This is the arc that we have every year. Every summer. I know. I know. Same thing. We get more and more optimistic. And by the time we do our first show in September, I'm saying the devils are getting 120 points and shit.

[00:58:03] We're the biggest fucking idiots on the planet. Look, I'm not saying that they're going to. I'm saying, though, when I look at teams on paper and I look at the Metro, I don't know if there are, there is any other teams that I think if Carolina, which we know will live up to their potential. And if the devils live up to their potential, I don't even know if it's close for a third team. Like it should be battling it out for those two.

[00:58:33] Now, I said this on the last show. And if the devils are in the Atlantic, that's a different story. You know what? There's there are much better division, much better teams. I don't know who the hell like it's pretty safe for me to say right now, like three teams from the Metro is all that's going to get in next year. So like there is not going to be any other room like Buffalo is going to be there. Right. And Tampa is going to be back. Florida is going to be back. Montreal is going to be back. It's Boston not making the playoffs next year.

[00:59:02] Is Detroit going to take that next step? Is Toronto? Well, Toronto is going to stink. But, you know, there there are a lot of teams in the Atlantic. Yes, that's right. They got to go. Just don't take any penalties on them and you're good. Problem solved. Problem solved. You just did what you do all the time when we come into this part of the season. Right. Like who's coming out for us to get in? And you're saying if the if the devils play up to where there should be, not a question. We're we're one and two of the Metro. But if they don't.

[00:59:31] Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh or Philly. Like that's it's easy. Like Pittsburgh for sure. They overachieved with all those loser points. Yeah. And Philly. I don't I don't think Philly is in any way better than New Jersey. I mean, yes, they kicked our ass every time we played them last year. But I'm saying like. Devil's healthy playing the way. No, I think Pittsburgh and Philly, you can easily jump over them. Start. You know, I don't know if the Islanders are ready to pop. I don't know what the Rangers are going to look like next year.

[01:00:00] We have no idea what Columbus is going to look like next year. So just play fucking good, competent hockey. Fast forward to April in second place. Then I think that's. I want to watch all 82. Yeah, I want to watch. I enjoy that. I enjoy it. No, I mean, look, I'm not guaranteeing shit because every time we think that good things are going to happen with this team, the bottom falls out. And, you know, so I just want to make the playoffs at this point.

[01:00:26] Like, I want to get into the get into the playoffs in April and then we can look at the whole 82 games as a collective and make a good assumption or, you know, educated guess as far educated wish about where they're going to be in the playoffs. How far can they go? Can they, you know? Oh, shit, you're right. 84 games next year. My bad. But so, you know, four more points. We can lose, lose a playoff spot.

[01:00:56] That's two more games. That's what's going to happen, right? You're like, if it was fucking 82 games, we would have made it in. They went to four. We lost them both. We lost the last two. Landon Dupont. Here we come. Anything else, boys and girls? No, no. It was a good show. Bobby, good to see you as always. Miss you. Miss your handsome face. Hey, Bob. Have a great vacation. In Kill Devil Hills this weekend. Weather should be really nice. You're right. Yeah.

[01:01:25] And then when you come back up to Jersey, we'll paddle out and we'll go have some fun. I want to say we'll just paddle out and gasp for air and wait very slowly for the second or third set. We're not in any hurry out here. Texting each other today about surfing and stuff. And we're talking about getting into wetsuits nowadays. And I told Bobby, I'm like, it takes me about a half hour and three sticks of butter to get into mine nowadays.

[01:01:55] So that was the old joke. We're just going to help each other get into our- Quick draft talk for Mike Ruff. Viggo Bjork, Wyatt Cullen, Tiny Lawrence. That's it. Nobody cares. No Belchez. Nobody cares about guys that we're not going to see for five fucking years. I care. I do. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't- Bob, do you care about the draft?

[01:02:21] I have poured about 15 hours of my time into writing draft profiles over the past three weeks. So you will fucking care and you'll like it and you will fucking- You can literally come on this show. Okay. Right? Yeah. And make up every hockey player's name is not a devil and talk to me sincerely. And I will nod my head and be like, yep, right. I really think that they should get- I'll look like a big asshole. But no, no idea. None. They should get Kachinka Chop. And I liked, you know, Bjork face.

[01:02:52] And I thought they- Belchez stinks. Belchez is Hugh Jessamine. Belchez is trash, man. He can't skate. Even I know that. Seriously. He can skate. He's only got one leg. It's not his fault. Wow. That's crazy. That's like a Fitz thing, right? This guy was great in the Paralympics and we think that we can get him here. We can work on that. We can work on that. There's no rule that says the NHL can't have a wheelchair on the ice.

[01:03:21] He's a unicorn. We're going for it. He's a unicorn. He's a unicorn. He's the only guy that skates on a sled. He's 4'2 because of the sled. He's 6'1 if you added his legs back. Right? Maybe we'll make him goalie. You know? Maybe he could just wheel himself back and forth. At least cut off a few angles. It'd probably be better to Markstrom. All right, boys. All right, boys and girls. We're going to wrap this thing up, guys. Please hit the like and the alert bell and subscribe and all the other shit.

[01:03:51] We don't have an outro video, so we're just going to end this thing in a second. But if you're listening to us in podcast form, a like, five-star review, positive comment really does help the little podcast that could. We're the Uncle Puckers, and we'll see you when we see you. Later, skaters. Bye-bye. Thanks, guys. Bye. Bye.