Quinn To NJ In 27?

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[00:00:36] 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! Hello boys. Hello. How is everybody today? Hello. I'm good. Hurting. Pretty good. You're hurting for a squirting?

[00:01:02] I'm hurting. Did the old public skate today with the family. You old son of a bitch. Let me tell you something. My quasi-dream about possibly joining an over 50 league and playing hockey has gone out the fucking window. There is no way with my pathetic skating ability that I'll ever be good enough

[00:01:26] to play hockey again. I am such a bad skater. I don't know anything about stride using my edges. I don't know if your skate is supposed to fully come off the ice as you stride or if you kind of glide on it. It was awful. I busted my wonky elbow a little bit. It does like... And you know what? Like I didn't fall hard. I fell and

[00:01:51] braced myself in like a push-up position, right? But I got like this wonky elbow. So that force... Like now I can't like take my sock off with my left arm. And the last time I did something hockey related with my kid is when I went into the boards. I hit the front of my shoulder, which somehow did something to like my back where I got this atrophy where I can still press my normal amount of weight, but I can't take a coffee cup like out of the cabinet. Like I need to stay very far away from hockey. Okay.

[00:02:20] Really far. Like not as far. But you didn't play hockey. You just went ice skating. No kidding. Yeah. There was no hockey involved. And you know, like my legs. Listen, I work out a lot. I can squat like 240. I think it's got to mean something, right? Not a thing. Like three laps. And I'm like, my thighs are burning. I got to sit down. But here's the cool part.

[00:02:50] I really wanted to go with my kid because I told him, I'm like, you know, I want to go skating again. Like I haven't skated with you since I was better than you. It was like two years ago. It was like the last time. Before you could actually walk. That's when you were better. He was decent then, but you know, the clinics and the middle school league and he's on the ice, you know, two, three times a week. But what was really cool is like, I see his progression. I know he's good.

[00:03:20] You know, he's 10 years old. I see his skating. It's getting better all the time. But in the lens that I get to see it, it's in comparison to 14 year olds on his team, other kids that maybe started hockey way earlier. So like you definitely see him getting better. Right. I didn't get to see him in an arena full of average people watching him skate around today.

[00:03:45] It was like clear he's a hockey player and the rest of us are just out here hoping not to crack our heads. And it was really cool because we play this tag game, which is part of the reason why I crack my elbow. I can't catch him anymore. Now, granted, I mean, I haven't skated in two years, but it was just like crossovers. Like riddle me this, right? Like I said, like I can I can skate. I can work out my legs. I don't have the strength to get my stupid left skate over my stupid right skate.

[00:04:14] Like that's too heavy. The thing doesn't even weigh that much. So, yeah, it was a great time. Man, I don't think I'm going to be playing anytime soon. That's because you can only squat 240, Bobby. Yeah, that's not really something you should have bragged about. Are your legs okay? They're just like two wet doodles. Two little toothpicks. Bobby legs. Yep. That's pretty cool.

[00:04:43] But that was still like the most 50 year old man story of all time. It's like I brought my kids skating and now I can't get a sock on. Yeah. I'm kind of surprised about the because you do like because at my age, like our age, I do not work my legs out anymore. Like forget that shit. I am not about to do a leg day when I go to the gym. And that's if I get to the gym. But when I was because I used to snow. Well, Bobby, you know this.

[00:05:09] I used to snowboard multiple times a week and take trips and do everything. And the first time I went out west was to the canyons out in Utah. And about six months before I went, I really focused on my legs. I was like, this is a whole different style of snowboarding. It's really deep. It's powder. And I got to make sure that I'm going to be OK to do backcountry and all that other shit. I spent like six months before that trip working my legs out like crazy.

[00:05:39] And I never worked out in my life where I saw the result pay off as much as it did on that trip. But I was able to go. So like, you know, that if you were serious about skating, I think you can get yourself back into shape in no time to be able to actually do it. But when you're sitting on your couch behind a desk for two years, you don't even put skates on and you're 50. That's probably what's going to happen. Yeah.

[00:06:05] It would probably happen to anyone that, you know, hadn't skated. So I don't think it's that big. I have no doubt that I couldn't legitimately get back to at least the level of skating I was before. And remember, like I had become very, very good at inline skating and still subpar ice skating. There's a big difference there. And I've just never been that good. I think I could probably get back to the point where I can skate, where I can mostly stop, where I can get back to my crossovers and stuff if I just did it enough.

[00:06:34] But it just doesn't seem like I'm going to have the time for that in my future. And if I honestly try to lace up and play like a free game, I'm going to get better. Hope they don't have like a father son game coming up. That's what I'm worried about, man. And skating is also, it's like, it's just, it's just different than walking or running or any other type of like, like on the ground activity that you do, like squatting. Maybe a little bit.

[00:06:57] I know the muscle usage is different, but between all the different leg exercises and my cardio now is actually just real steep incline, you know, walk like a heavy stride walk where that's burning the legs the whole time. I went into this really confident. I'm like, no, this is the, this is as strong as my legs have been in a while. Like I know I don't have skating legs. Just like when I get on my mountain bike once a year, I don't have mountain bike legs, but at least I got kind of the foundation. Nope. None of that shit matters, dude. You either ride the bike all the time, get good, or you're not going to get good. You see all the time, get good. You're not going to get good.

[00:07:27] So, you know, I think I'm just, I think the moral of the story is I'm fucking done with the gym too. Screw that shit. This shit is just not working. Just let it go. Let it all go.

[00:08:05] It is not. I'm like riding a bike. I was so fat, so out of shape. And these guys were just blowing the doors off me. And I'm looking around and like, did it get like a foot and a half bigger than me too? Like I'm the old dirty man, like in front of the net, like chopping guys on like their legs and the top of their skates and just being like the dirty old man. And I always told myself, I was like, I'm going to drop down divisions when I become a dirty old man. So now I'm playing in like the C division and fucking bumblefuck Maryland. It's fine. As long as you're having fun, man. That's it.

[00:08:35] The fact that you even still get out there once or twice a week is awesome. I think that's awesome. But like, I shouldn't. Like I come home and like, like my ass hurt for like a week after taking a shot in the ass. Like, it's like, what am I doing? Like, why do I do this? But then I get out there. I'm like, this is the best. Right. You get a couple of beers and you're on the bench and you're just fine. And it's fun. I got to say for our listeners or just hockey fans in general that have never played and you're just fans like that's great.

[00:09:02] This like legit reminded me how freaking amazing and hard this sport is. There's a whole level of sport before you're even should be touching it like a hockey stick. You know what I mean? And it is just tremendously hard. It's hard on your body. I mean, there's so much to learn. I was really in awe looking at my kid today. I'm like, how far you've come, you know, that you could do the things you can do on the ice as a young child. I hadn't even picked up a baseball yet by his age, you know, and that became kind of my sport. So it's amazing. Yeah.

[00:09:32] So anybody who doesn't know, I mean, goddamn, it is a ridiculously hard sports play. That reminds me, one of my favorite genres of video that you see floating around the Internet is like football guys when they get like glass seats at hockey games. It's just like the funny shit. They're like, oh, shit, he's huge. Oh, my God. They're like, kill him. Yeah, get him. It's it's it's hilarious. But you're absolutely right.

[00:09:54] Like I'm the size and the speed and just the athleticism that they have, like what Jack and Luke and Quinn can do like on their edges. Like there's a picture I saw where like they're basically like almost sideways on their edges. And I just saw the invisible chair picture or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's so on one edge. His his skate is like 90 percent turned on the ice. You wonder how he didn't wipe it out. Maybe he did. Maybe he wipes out. He does a lot.

[00:10:25] Yeah. He does a lot. He's like, I mean, you know, my nephew was younger.

[00:10:53] We'd go and meet, you know, around here wherever they were doing autograph signings and stuff. Met a whole bunch of them. And, you know, we met Kane. And he's like almost seven feet tall. Like it is the guy is like literally a fucking giant. And when he shook my hand, it was like four of my hands. Like he's huge.

[00:11:13] When Eric Lindros walked past us when we were at the Providence Civic Center when he was and we had to stand up and he walked in front of us to get to the press box. I had no idea how huge that man was until he was standing three inches next to me. I mean, he's a goddamn giant. Like these guys are like imagine that coming at you at full speed. You know, these guys. And oh, my God. What's that? With an extra like three, four inches. Right.

[00:11:45] And then there's Jack. Yeah, we were in the stands. But to Chris's point, it was like legs coming by. At that point, we're young 20 year old kids that are the size of like our upper body cavity. Like that was his thigh, his legs walking by us. Huge, huge man. So not sure if you guys heard there was a there was a trade yesterday in the in the NHL. I'm not sure that it wasn't wasn't didn't really get a whole lot of news and get a whole lot of attention.

[00:12:15] Some guy from Vancouver went to New York. I don't know if you guys heard about that. I did hear because it was pretty cool. It was the first time that the Stanley Cup was awarded in January. So, yeah, range. You know, this will clearly solve all of their problems. Absolutely. I mean, you have a horrible defensive core. You have, you know, I get that you're weak at center. You you know what I was thinking today real quick?

[00:12:43] Like, like, you know, like those just those people like the like whether like as when they find out that somebody is interested in them, then they have to like, you know, go and like, oh, they're interested. And they have to be with that person because that person is interested. That's Chris Drury. Like anybody who says, I want to play for the Rangers. He's like, we got to get him. Patrick Kane, right? Tara Senko. And now JT Miller. Like it's I don't care if he doesn't fit on our team.

[00:13:13] I don't care if we don't have a shot of making the playoffs. I want the guy. I don't care that he's older. I don't care that I'm stuck with him till 2030. I don't care about any of that. I want him just because he wants to come here. It is kind of mind boggling. I know I put on a couple of Ranger podcasts last night. I swear you would have thought they just got Connor McDavid. They were like just one guy.

[00:13:36] One guy was on some live stream he was doing and I hopped in and, you know, he had quite a few people in his room. But for the first 20 minutes, all he kept saying, repeating himself, my God, you guys, guys, my God, guys, guys, this is my God. Like over and over again. I'm like, I can't. I got to go find somebody else. That's, you know, so I scrolled through a couple. There was one dude that was like legit.

[00:14:05] I don't like this. I'm a Ranger fan and this is not a good trade. We gave up another first round pick. And for what? You know, we're probably not making the playoffs this year. But he clearly is the best player on their team. It was indicative today. I mean, I know they got spanked by Boston, but he played great. It's so great. This is crazy. What do you guys think of this? It's exactly like you said. This is just another Ranger move. That seems like all the other Rangers. This is what they do.

[00:14:35] They just, oh, there's a shiny toy out there where the Rangers, we can get them. And jury's probably looking at it going, oh, that cap's going up so much. This won't even matter. But you're still leveraging some of your future for a win right now, which you're not going to do. And it's just, I'm just tired of it. It's kind of like the Dodgers now and shit. Like, knock it off. You know, but at least the Dodgers are bringing in people that like, they think legitimately gives them a better chance to win. Like, this doesn't fix the Ranger problem. Well, imagine how much we'd hate the Rangers if this wasn't a salary cap league. Holy shit. Oh, God, yeah. Oh, God, yeah.

[00:15:04] I mean, back in the 90s, it was awful. When Messier came over and half the old Oilers came over. I can't. Just what? To your point, it's like the only place he said he'd waive his new movement clause was for New York. And, you know, some of the kind of backroom stuff is like we're not allowed to like tamper or anything like that or try and talk them out of it.

[00:15:24] So kind of pigeonholes Vancouver into like into kind of getting less for what they probably could, you know, retail for him basically. And then Vancouver went public real quick, though. Everything going public between him and Pedersen, too. That also fucking screwed Vancouver. You know, that also put them in a position of weakness because everybody knew they have to get rid of them. They have to get rid of one of these guys. It's not going to be AP 40.

[00:15:53] It's going to be Miller, you know. So but I'm with you. Yeah. And I think there's now there is now a ton of pressure on Pedersen to deliver now that that is out of the issue. If he doesn't now, like I'm sorry. Which one? Yeah. Which Pedersen? Elias? Elias or Elias? Elias. Or what was the third one? They just put was this one. I don't know. There's three of them on the team now, right?

[00:16:21] But my favorite is the second Elias Pedersen. His jersey says E Pedersen on it. Yeah. It's like that that that doesn't clarify things very well. No, just only internally, you know, like the first Pedersen, he was just Pedersen. And now the second one came. So he has to get the E. But if you look from the outside in, that doesn't help me. I don't know. Like I don't know what they play like. I have no idea. They're two. They're all tall, skinny, blonde Swedish guys, too. So it's like Mark.

[00:16:49] This is just I wouldn't be able to pick any of them out of a lot. Marcus Elias one and Elias two. Those are not Pedersen's. Yeah. I don't know why they flipped that pick, I guess, to Pittsburgh for it. So they didn't. I don't know. I guess Pedersen was a pretty sought after piece. I don't think Vancouver is really going anywhere. But back to New York, like this is just the opposite of what they needed.

[00:17:18] Like they needed to shore up their defense. Their defense is atrocious. And you could see it today. Like Adam Fox got beat on the second goal. He didn't get beat, Tim. He didn't give a shit. No. That was just a crap-ass effort. Like it was – this team doesn't try. No. Like Miller – like Miller – maybe Miller will come in and just start bullying the shit out of these guys. Apparently Drury was a pretty bad bully when he was playing too. I didn't know that.

[00:17:46] But I guess that's the kind of guy that he wants to bring in. I don't know. I don't see how Drury makes it after this season. I think he's got to get shit canned. Well, I think it's going to come down to whether or not they do get one of those wild card spots. And again, you have five to six teams ahead of you. What did we say? The Islanders won today. So that's another two points. Ottawa won today. That's another two points. Tampa Bay actually they tied, right? The Islanders won in overtime.

[00:18:15] So Tampa Bay still picked up a point. I'm not sure about the other teams that are ahead of them. Detroit, I don't know how they did. I think they play later today. Yeah, well, it looks Tampa and Columbus have actually separated themselves a little bit from the rest of them. Looking at points percentage. Detroit. No, it's Detroit, the Islanders, the Bruins, then Montreal, then the Rangers.

[00:18:43] I mean, the Rangers are the fourth worst team in the conference now. You had a huge game today up in Boston, right? It's a four-point game against an Atlantic Division team that you are battling, that you have to jump ahead to get into the wild card spot. Your GM just went out and got you the shiniest new toy, like you said, Bob. He comes in, flies in from Dallas, doesn't sleep, gets on your – and the effort that you put out against Boston, that's what you gave him.

[00:19:11] For your new guy to get excited about, to rally around. And he's the only one that showed up? Like, dude, there's so much wrong with this team. Let me ask you a question about that. How bad do the Rangers have to be where we stop hearing things like, oh, it's the only team he'd move his trade clause for? Like, what was the – other than the city, I get it, the marketability we've talked about, all that kind of stuff. Like, you're a professional hockey player.

[00:19:39] Your ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup. How many times I've heard, oh, but I want to go to New York. Like, I want to be a Ranger. Like, why? Are they projecting forward? I – that blows my mind too. I don't know why. I don't know why he would look at the two – like, you know, we're looking – we're Devils podcast. So I don't know why he would look at the Devils and the Rangers and say I'm more confident in the Rangers. Like, he's not negotiating a new contract. He's getting paid. Like, he can live – You can live how you want.

[00:20:08] He can live, like, right across the river or in the city if he wants to. It's 20 minutes. Like, I don't understand. And you get to play with – play with clearly a better up-and-coming or a better core of players that aren't aging out. I don't understand that either. And you're going to be making a tee time for golf much later than April. And that's what you're going to be doing in New York. It doesn't make sense. I'm with you.

[00:20:33] Unless he looked at that team and was like, I can take this team over because they're so goddamn soft. And I can just – I can get them to where they need to be. Maybe that's his mentality. I just don't think that the personalities on that team are going to – you know, I think he can make Mika Zibanejack cry. I really do. You know? And, like, I was kind of – I get it's his first game, but I don't know.

[00:20:58] When Mika was starting on the wing, I was just kind of like, you want this center depth and you took your number one center and moved him to the wing. I know he's not a great number one center, but he's still your number one center. He was your number one center last year when he won the President's Trophy and made it to the Final Four. This is the same goddamn team. It's mind-boggling. The effort that they put out today, if I was a Ranger fan, I'd be disgusted. And they also took Kreider off of Power Play 1, too. Yeah.

[00:21:24] Like, even though Kreider still has like 17 points or something like that. But – I saw a stat today after the game, and if you have a Shesterkin – and we can stop making fun of his actual talent, right? But if you have a Shesterkin and he's allowed six goals eight times, two-thirds through a season, your problem is not being fixed with JT Miller. Like, that should not happen with that caliber of goaltending. Once in a while, it's going to happen, but come on.

[00:21:54] I think they said that he allowed five goals or more, more than anybody else in the league. Maybe that was – It was eight times it was five or more goals. I thought maybe it was six, but yeah, it was probably five or more. I think – yeah, it was something like that. I think it was like – I think you're right. Eight for six and like 12 for five or something. Oh, okay. And it was something like that. And, you know, he – but again, you look at that – whatchamacallit? Pasternak goal, the second goal that Boston scored today.

[00:22:23] I don't put that on Shesterkin. I put that on a defense that was sleeping the whole fucking time. And Adam Fox not knowing how to, you know, gain an angle, get position on a guy and take him into the fucking boards. Instead, you just kind of skated with him and hung out with him. And nobody picks up the best player on Boston as he's streaking through the bumper. And, you know, that's not on Shesterkin. I feel kind of bad for Shesterkin. And you can see it in his – I'm just kidding. And I don't feel bad for him at all.

[00:22:49] But you can totally see it in his, you know, mannerisms and stuff. Like he's – this is becoming old quick. I'd be pissed if I were him. I'd be like, what did I do? Like I'm – because he's stuck there. And all those numbers are going to be his numbers. You know, people aren't going to really remember how many defensive lapses they had. Like, you know, they're going to look and be like, 908 save percentage, three goals against, you're an average goalie and you're making $11 million. What was his save percentage today? 797?

[00:23:19] 792, I think. Seven in the sevens his save percentage was. Yeah. And that's – and he's going to get blamed for that. And, you know, it's definitely not his fault. Their defense is atrocious. Yeah. It's so bad. Like, Lindgren is awful, takes terrible penalties. He's – Miller has regressed to the point where they should probably just wave his ass. Like, he sucks. Like, Fox doesn't look like a Bezina winner – or, sorry, a Norris winner.

[00:23:48] Like, that goal that you were talking about, like, he just – he just gave up. He's just like – like, just kind of let the guy escape by. Didn't even really try. He just didn't try. I cannot believe it. I also feel like the commentators, right, the people that are calling these games and stuff, they constantly, like, make excuses for the Rangers. Like, even – like, it's not just the guys on MSG either. Like, you know, you'll hear it like, well, you know, the Rangers tried to get back.

[00:24:18] You know, they – at least they played to the final whistle. Like, that's what I heard today. Like, at least they played till the full 60. Like, that's what we're going to fucking pat them on the back for? Like, this team won – There's your participation trophy. Yeah. I mean, that's just like Lindy just being like, yeah, just win the rest of the game. It's like – Right. Congratulations. So they get an A for effort. Whoop-de-doo. They let six freaking goals in. They don't get an A for effort.

[00:24:46] They get an A for effort for, like, four minutes of that entire game. And look, JT Miller is going to make that team better because he is that type of player. My – if I were a Ranger fan, my concern would be that I do think that that locker room is way too soft for his personality. How's it going to go? Is it going to just be this guy's a dick? Fuck him. It kind of seems like that's where it would go because, you know, anybody that opened their mouth to public

[00:25:15] or did anything bad to any of these guys like Truba and the guy that they – with Barker Goodrow and stuff like that. The whole team just got like, well, you're picking on our friends. And that makes me sad. And like, no, dude, this – they don't get it. You guys – I know that I'm kind of rambling here, but like they don't get the business part. They just seem really soft and really weak. And, yeah, they don't deserve to make the playoffs.

[00:25:40] What if Drury is trying to play like 3D chess and he brought Miller in to bullies advantage out of the team? Well, that's a possibility. Now, you want to know how you do that? What do the Rangers not have right now? A captain. Throw the C on JT Miller and see what that does to the dressing room. Serious. You want to shake shit up? You want to tell people that this is how you are supposed to play?

[00:26:08] If you're – like, if I were a Ranger fan, that's what I would want him to do. Put it on Miller. He's clearly your best player. And he – but the thing is, like, you do have a core group of guys that are getting older. Nobody is going to take Mika Sabanajev's contract. He's not going anywhere. So you're stuck with him. You're stuck with now this core for many years, Mika and JT Miller until 2030. They're aging.

[00:26:33] You just straight away your draft picks, and this is your win now moment, and you are clearly – I don't even know what your percentages are to make the playoffs, but I would be shocked if they're over 15%. Shocked. Honestly, the Rangers' first-round draft picks have been terrible to begin with. So, like, Leah Sanderson and Kraftstoff and a couple other just absolute misses in the first round. So it probably doesn't even help them or hurt them that they lost them.

[00:27:01] But right now, the Rangers – here's the NHL playoff odds. All right. So let's go to the – okay, they're saying the Rangers to make the playoffs as of right now, and this is according to Money Puck, is a lot higher than I thought. 45.3%. So almost 50% that they're going to make it. We are 94.2% to make the playoffs according to them. There's only a 10% chance of that.

[00:27:31] There's only a 10% chance of that. A 43.6% chance to make it to the second round. A 22.2% to make it to the conference final. An 11.8% to make it to the finals. And a 6% to win the cup. Yeah, we're eighth. We have the eighth highest percentage to win the cup. Winnipeg is number one. Winnipeg, Carolina, Florida, Vegas, Dallas, Caps, Edmonton, us. Say your list again in order.

[00:28:01] Winnipeg, Carolina, Florida, Vegas, Dallas, Washington, Edmonton, us. Are you on Money Puck? Yeah. Okay, because I have a completely different. I have Winnipeg, Washington, Vegas, Oilers, Stars, Canes, Wild, Panthers, Devils, Kings. To win the cup or to make the finals? Oh, no, no. To win the cup. No, I'm sorry. To win the cup. Yeah, that's the order. Well, no. To win the cup here.

[00:28:30] The best odds to win the cup is Winnipeg. And then they have Vegas. Is that what you have? No. Carolina. Winnipeg, then Carolina. Then Florida, Vegas, Dallas, Washington, Edmonton, and Georgia. Hang on, where's Florida? Florida is 10.6%. Yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah, I'm always right. Fuck off, shit. All right. So, is there any more Ranger bashing you guys want to do? No, no. Let's move on. I feel bad for them. Honestly, I don't even want to think about them ever again. They're not making the playoffs. We don't have to worry about them.

[00:29:00] Fair enough. We'll talk about them in April. We'll talk about them in April when we play. I might even stop with my ballot catch shtick. Because, like, just kidding. Fuck you, Steve. You know what? I think you got to keep it going. I don't want to see anything change when these guys go on a run or anything like that. I want to see that smug prick cry. Exactly. All right. Commercial time. And then, I promise, we will talk about the Devils. This ain't the little itty-bitty teeny-tiny bowl.

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[00:31:21] Go to bombas.com slash listen and use code listen for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash listen and use code listen at checkout. Hi, guys. That scared the shit out of me at the beginning of that ad, right? Why? Because I said it? Just because you're like... What's up, Tim?

[00:31:48] So there's some rumblings that Vancouver's not done, and there are some rumblings of a certain Vancouver Canuck that is in the talks now of possibly getting traded to New Jersey, and that's your guy, Tim, Brock Besser. Yeah, the talks are me making it up. No, this is like legit. James Nichols reported it. Elliott Friedman was talking a little bit about it today in the intermission of the Edmonton-Toronto game.

[00:32:17] Brock Besser is rumored to be on the block. There are a few teams that are interested in him. Apparently, it was Dallas. It was us, and it was... Who was the other team? Washington, maybe? Yeah, man. If he goes to the... I don't know how the Caps would be able to afford him, but I wonder... Well, it's only his UFA after this year. You know? So, you know, Tom Fitzgerald doesn't mind making those deals. You know, we saw that with Meyer.

[00:32:47] Whether or not he would have interest in keeping Besser on after this season, that I don't know. Depends, I guess, on what you gave up for him. But Brock Besser, I mean, that's a guy, right? That makes the Devils a hell of a lot better. Yeah, I think so. You like it, Bob? You know, it's... I like it. I like it definitely.

[00:33:13] You know, that would be a retention and probably a pretty decent asset or two going back. You know, that may be a Casey going back the other way. I'd say maybe try to get him... Get that 26 first overall pick instead. But, you know, that may be a decent asset going back. If we're asking them to retain for Brock Besser, yeah.

[00:33:39] And also, I think with Besser, you know, that's that wing next to Jack. But I still think we would need some depth adds too. So I don't know how that changes that paradigm at all. You know, I think that kind of takes someone like O'Reilly off the table and makes it more like a... Like an Evans or Donato or someone like that. All right, Bob? I mean, I just like the player.

[00:34:06] You know, I'm not going to get too deep into the asset movement and all that. If it is some of, like, the names he said, I would hope that there would be a window to discuss an extension first. Just so you know, we kind of had that. But just as the player and as fitting a need on this team, I think he fits great. I think that'd be a perfect linemate for Jack. Jack, you know, he seems to be a pretty big offensive stud from time to time. He's a little inconsistent, I guess, right? He had like a 30 goal back in 17-18. Yeah.

[00:34:35] In the 20s until he had 40 last year. But they had an epic year last year, right? All the team was a plus 23. This year, a little bit more down earth, but 16 goals, 17 assists in 44 games. Take it if you're playing with Jack. They had some pretty bad teams for a couple of years. But, you know, obviously, yeah. Like every time you see a team have, like, they went on, you know, a bender last year. They're kind of like the caps.

[00:35:03] You know, just everything went right for them last year. Kind of like everything's going right for those assholes this year. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But, yeah, I mean, I'd be in on him. He's big. He's good. You know, he digs around in quarters. He'd be a good net front presence. He's a good sniper. There's a lot to like about him. You know, making the money work is something that they'd have to figure out this year. You know, 6.65. Do you know the number of 6.65? So, 6.65, yeah.

[00:35:32] And, again, I don't know what that looks like at an extension. But, you know, you saw the salary cap news that came out where the cap is going to go up. That's been confirmed. They have the numbers. It wasn't as high as they originally thought for next year. But that leaves plenty of room to sign another person like him as well as give Luke his extension. You know, we'll ideally have some ELCs coming in next year with like Gritzhook.

[00:35:57] And if him and Iho comes over and steps up or if Hallinan becomes a full-timer, you know, plus some fill-ins, you know, like Lazar. And, you know, we still have the large portion of our forward core in place, our D core in place, and our goalie in place. Yeah, I mean, we know that Tom Fitzgerald is not shy. We can complain about his, I guess.

[00:36:22] I will complain about his, like, seems to me a lack of urgency this time of year. Like, I feel like. But I know that it's not a lack of urgency on his part. I know it's him doing his due diligence and not wanting to put this team. You know, he's not going to just sell out for this year. He's not doing nothing. He's on the phone. He's doing absolutely everything he can to make the team. And it's my impatient ass that sees, you know, Miko Rantanen go to Carolina and sees JT Miller go to the Rangers and sees us doing nothing.

[00:36:51] And it's only been a week. I get it. But, you know, for those things to happen, but I get impatient. But the more I think about. And so my point was, like, he's not afraid to pull the trigger on something like this to try and get the guy. Even if he says, look, I'll come like Timo did. I'm not making any promises about extending. You know, we'll talk, but I'm not going to do it. And he pulled the trigger anyway.

[00:37:15] And he's a big believer that the team, the culture, the area, it will surprise them and they'll be happy here and they'll sign. And that did work with Timo. Whether or not he wants to take another shot at a UFA and give up a lot. Like if you don't have an extension kind of worked out or at least you're not like you don't move Seamus Casey for a rental. Like that's how I feel.

[00:37:39] You have to make the deal knowing that if all I get is this year and some help for a playoff run, then that's acceptable. You can't go in there hoping that, you know, there's the extension. Now, if you have time to talk about it, like I said, and bridge that gap, great. But that's how they're going to make this deal. They're going to make the deal based on today. Is it worth it if we don't reach our goals? If we don't go around or two or whatever, you know. Is it? That's the question. I'll ask you guys. Is it?

[00:38:09] I don't know what the return is. It's hard to answer. So Seamus Casey, we're just going to use this as a, you know, reckless speculation. Yeah, I made that up. I have no idea. But we're just going to say. I think it would be a pretty decent asset. And they should. He's a heck of a player. And they have. It's not like Vancouver is completely out of this. They have a shot, too, to make the playoffs. So, you know, they are kind of throwing in the towel. And I think also that depends on Quinn Hughes's injury.

[00:38:37] If they find out that Quinn is injured and he's going to be out for even if it's three, four weeks or whatever, your season's done. He's your best player. You're not going anywhere without Quinn. That's enough time to put a trade package in for him, right? Right. That's now the time to do it. Right. Except we have to give up Luke and Jack. That seems silly. They can have three Pedersons. We can have three Hughes's. I agree. At least ours are related. Yeah. But. So.

[00:39:05] Honestly, honestly, just for Brad, pack your bags. For Brock Besser or for Quinn Hughes? For Quinn Hughes. All right. So if you can get Quinn Hughes. Let's use Casey just as a placeholder. Okay. And then we'll then we'll recklessly speculate about Quinn. All right. So it's Seamus Casey. It's just we're going to do a one for one. You know, you want to throw some late round draft picks or whatever conditional draft pick in there. I don't give a fuck.

[00:39:32] But basically, the big names are Seamus goes to Vancouver. Brock Besser comes here. Brock Besser is a UFA after this year. Do you make that deal? Do you feel like this team can and how far do you have to go to make that trade make sense for the Devils? Well, Bobby, what do you think? I think I'm really glad I'm not a GM because I would really want to know that I've got the second deal in line for that.

[00:39:59] Now, I like the fact that we're saying Casey because that is kind of a position of strength for us. And we know that we've got another guy in particular that is probably ahead of him in the depth chart anyway. So we were probably okay there, but it would still would really sting to lose him and then not do shit in the playoffs and then also not sign him. So, yeah, that that is a risk.

[00:40:22] Is it a risk worth taking for this year for this team with their window? I'm honestly I'm thinking I'm going to say yes. I think that every crack that we can go for a Stanley Cup for the next few years, we we have to take and we've got the capital to do it. So it would sting if we go nowhere, but I would probably do that. And how far in the playoffs do you have to go for that to make sense?

[00:40:51] I don't I don't know if that's a depth. I mean, to me, it's just they just you're trying to win the whole thing. So I guess it still makes sense if you go at least. At least into the third round, but you just can't you can't really think like that. I mean, look at us. We might we're likely going to get Carolina first. I mean, would you really be upset if we had a hard fought series against Carolina and lost? I mean, I know you'd be upset as a fan that we didn't win, but would we really? Would I be surprised? No, no.

[00:41:20] And then if we get through them, you know, I don't know. So, yeah, if you want me to put a couple rounds on, I'll put a couple rounds on it. But for me, I'm like this is going for Stanley Cup level. Yeah. And that's the thing. It's like and I've said this before. It's like right now, like we're getting the best of Jacob Marsham, assuming he comes back healthy and kind of doesn't miss a beat. We're mostly have our forward health, you know, and our D health or D core has been intact.

[00:41:46] You have to take advantage of health and goaltending and things going your way. And we have that that right D side is position of strength. Like we have the assets to spend there. And if that can. Tim's gone. He's got kind of an O face, doesn't he? Yeah, he's just kind of stuck there. Well, then I guess we're going to have to hear what you have to say. All right.

[00:42:14] I know I just said before I don't do that if it's if it's just the rental. But, you know, I don't I talk myself out of it already. And here's why. Tim, you're back. Yeah, sorry. But you want to finish your thought? I'd go kick him in the ass. I say, yeah, like like like I I would not fault Fitz if he added good pieces like that and sacrifice some things to take a kick at the can now,

[00:42:42] because I think we're in our window right now to to start taking kicks at the can every single year. OK, and if we don't win the cup, that's going to suck. But like, I think we need to take those chances. Yeah, you like I said, I talked myself out of it already. You don't get Jacob Markstrom for two years and not do do something like this. If it does come where you can make this deal. Here's another reason. Timo Meyer. It's been in the league eight years. Nico.

[00:43:12] Robert Brat seven. Jack Hughes six. This team crazy is been around. This core has been around. It's time to fucking win. It's time to make it to the playoffs every year from here on out. It's time to be a contender every year. And if you got to make a mark by taking a chance to get a Brock Besser in here and whatever else you feel like you have to do to make this team better. Now you go for it. You know, we've seen them play against the Canes, you know, the Panthers. We haven't.

[00:43:42] I'm so excited for Thursday night against Vegas. I really want to see how they play against them. Edmonton. These great teams that are, you know, consummate perennial Stanley Cup contenders. And we've beaten them, played great against them, hung with them. Yeah. Do it. Do it. Do whatever you have to do. Yeah. Because I do trust that Tom Fitzgerald is not so reckless that he's going to set this team back by making any kind of moves. So I'm fine with it. Right.

[00:44:12] And we lost a year last year of this prime, the core of this team. We lost a year last year because of health. And when you have health, like that's the most important thing, I think, for a team to have to kind of make a deep run in the playoffs. You've got to be healthy. I'll add one more caveat to that trade scenario. There's no way I do that if that's the only move we're doing.

[00:44:38] I want to know that, you know, like three C's being addressed and, you know, that you're not just that can't be it. Like if you're going to do this and go all in, let's tweak a little more. All right. I actually that's that's a very good point. I agree with that. I honestly I think the moves that are going to happen are just the steps moves. I don't think we're going to take a swing at a wing to line up with Jack. I just don't I just don't see the money happening in to make the money work.

[00:45:08] We'd have to to basically sell a current roster asset. We just don't have the depth. I don't think to do that on our current roster, like as much shit as we give Mercer. Like, I don't think like getting rid of him helps our team if we bring in Besser because what are we putting? We're putting Hallinan and Mercer spot like that's a downgrade, I think. So I just don't don't see that working out. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what Fitz ends up doing. You know, how would you guys? Yeah.

[00:45:37] How would you feel if he stood pat? I'd punt him to the fucking sun. Seriously. Like, how would I do nothing? I don't think that we've seen the same team that we saw what they're capable of for a long time now. It's been this little injury over here and this one over here didn't start off looking like much. But that that kind of core that was putting together all those wins and all those points, you know, nothing streaky too long. Right.

[00:46:07] We were complaining about that. But still, the accumulation of points was on a good cadence. We haven't really had that for a while. So in order to answer that question, like, I'd like to see our guys back first. You know, give me another couple of weeks because if you're going to if you're thinking you're going to stand pat, well, then it certainly doesn't hurt to reevaluate for another couple of weeks anyway. Because we have seen what they can do. You just talked about it. They're a legit big time contending teams that we owned played very well.

[00:46:37] We can go toe to toe with most teams when they're playing the right way. I don't know that the playoffs started right now, even with our guys, that we're fully playing the right way where I'd be comfortable like, oh, yeah, fine. We got Carolina. We got this when we play our game. We got this. But we're just not playing it right now. So the main reason why that's never going to happen is because everybody around you now is getting better. You know, like Carolina just went and got Miko ran and like you can't stand pat now.

[00:47:05] They just made themselves considerably better. So but so I would I would be fucking livid if he did that. If he just decided this was the team. No, no, this ain't the team. I would be. Yeah, I'd be like, what the fuck, man? I'd be like, yeah, you are sitting on your hands. I don't think I know. I know that's that's just a pervasive thing that people think like he wasn't sitting on his hands last year. He was trying to get shit done.

[00:47:30] And just, you know, the circumstances weren't weren't lining up very well. Has to be honestly like like it was a lost season. Like what's he going to do? Like trade Nemich for JT Miller. Apparently. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But so that's our question that we just talked about. Like maybe, you know, as a GM, you got to put on a lot of different hats and he can like literally sit there and be like, is anything I do right now actually going to give us a chance to win the Stanley Cup?

[00:47:58] Like this year for what they were asking in return. And his answer was probably no. He was just probably very brutally honest with the fact that not this year. Now with the goaltending we had. Now with the goaltending. We're in the asking prices. So, you know, gets a lot of shit. Yeah, to get like the 15th pick as opposed to the 10th and we still miss the playoffs. Like, like, and I think he I also think that he he was just he was waiting, waiting to see it turn around. Like that's another thing.

[00:48:28] I think he was being very patient. And like we said, that trip out west last year that Lindy Ruff didn't didn't survive. Excuse me. Like that was like I think his absolute last time he was giving this team a chance. Like you guys got to put it together now. I can't bring anything into this room to help you if you show me absolutely nothing. And that was another problem last year. They played with no heart. They got pushed around. It was a completely different team.

[00:48:58] So, you know, you see the things that he did this year. Like you say, you don't go out and get Pesci and Dylan and Cotter and Markstrom. And then at this time of the year, not make your team better. Like you just don't do that when everyone around you is getting better. You got to, you know, keep up with the Canes. And some of the I mentioned Eric Tolsky's interviews that in the last part that we did.

[00:49:25] But, you know, another thing that that Carolina has to do and that we have to do is sell people on New Jersey. Like that's kind of the ease of being the Rangers and even Vegas now. Like Vegas operates. Yeah. Vegas operates very ruthlessly because it's Las Vegas and it's they're putting on a show. So they're they kind of have to change the show almost that they're putting on. Interesting. Because it's a Vegas to Vegas property.

[00:49:54] And they're just ruthless. And people want to go play there. People have to be kind of talked into coming to play in New Jersey. And that's what Fitz does in saying I'm building this culture. And it's a philosophy difference. You know, Fitz wants to build a culture from the ground up. And Vegas is like, fuck you. If you're too old, if you suck, you're out. Right. You know, Florida is kind of somewhere in between. But once you get down to Florida, you're like, this is awesome. I get to drive to the rink in a golf cart. Like this is the coolest life ever.

[00:50:24] And but, you know, he also does a good job with selling Jersey, too. You know, yeah, he gets these guys up to Hoboken and, you know, they're hanging out in that cool city. They're like you said, a 15 minute ferry ride or a subway trip over to Manhattan. Got everything you want there in the summertime. You drive 45 minutes. You're on the beach. You know, you got good restaurants. You want to go to Atlantic City. It's, you know, an hour and a half away. So I think, you know, he does a good job. Atlantic City. What's that? You want to go to that?

[00:50:53] Does anybody, is Atlantic City really a draw? Yeah, of course it is. Have you ever been to Atlantic City? Of course I have. I lived there for a summer. Oh, sorry that you lived there. Yeah. It was pretty bad. I was just there for, well, Bob, we were just there. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. For James Addiction. Made a couple of friends. We rented an absolutely disgusting hellhole of a house. And just lived there for a summer. Worked shitty jobs. And I mean, it was a hell of a fun time. I would never recommend it. Yeah.

[00:51:23] My dad was just like, what are you doing? I was like, yeah, I've been in Atlantic City for a year. He's like, what? Yeah. He's like, no, you're not. What's the matter? Candid was nice for you. Right. He's like, you're going to play college hockey next year. Like, what is the year between my high school and college? He's like. Sewing my meth head oats, dad. Yeah, he's like, you got to go in shape for your college hockey career and not go to Atlantic City and do cocaine every night.

[00:51:51] There's nothing wrong with going to Atlantic City and do cocaine every night, Tim. No matter what your father says. That's what I told him. Oddly, he was not on board with that. Right. Just because you didn't invite him over to do it with you. Yeah, seriously, dad. All right. Just to put a little bow on that whole coming to New Jersey thing and my little quip earlier about having Quinn Hughes here. Which, you know what? The more I think about it, the more I think at some point these three guys are going to play together. Yeah, probably in Utah. One year, like, because they start moving around. But one guy takes out.

[00:52:20] I'm not going to do another five-year contract right now. I'm just going to do one to play with my brothers or something like that. But so I don't know. Tim, you're kind of the bigger social media guy. Do you know Carl the Grinder? Is this a handle that means anything to you? We're talking about Twitter, right? Not like Saturday. I know Carl on Grindr. There you go.

[00:52:45] Carl the Grinder says, imagine telling a millionaire to move from a world-class city to New Jersey. If he leaves, it's going to be to New York or Chicago, et cetera. He isn't moving to Jersey just for his brothers. He would overshadow and belittle Luke Hughes' career. I did see that. I didn't know. I didn't know. The Twitter handle. I saw because I saw New Jersey Devils fans. Yeah. Just fucking murder this guy.

[00:53:16] Yeah. Just absolutely buried him. Yeah. There's some great. We have one of the New Jersey. One of the nice things about the Devils fan base on Twitter is we have some absolutely elite shit posters that just fucking ruin. They're very good at what they do. They're very good. Very Jersey, actually. It's perfect. It's like, come to New Jersey. So yeah, that guy got just absolutely obliterated. But that just totally misunderstands.

[00:53:41] A, it's like, okay, so what have you been to Newark Airport and driven on the turnpike? Well, New Jersey itself is not like a city. It's very, very broad. I know. It also happens to be pretty close to New York City and a better place to live. And also like, what? Top three richest state in the country. Everyone online was going up saying the first. Yes. Do I? Oh, is it really? Yeah. Yeah. I know we have the most millionaires per square. That's the most millionaires.

[00:54:09] I don't think it'd be a problem getting another one. Don't send you a picture of Aaron Rodgers' house that was in the New York Post. Like, what the fuck are you talking about, man? All right. So I'm not a giant fan of New Jersey. I should say this. I'm not a giant fan of the area of New Jersey that I live in for the simple fact that is extreme. We don't see eye to eye of where I live in a political sense and how most of the people that live around this area act.

[00:54:37] I don't really get along with a ton of them. But as far as, and the taxes are very high. But as far as living in New Jersey. Congrats on your January 6th pardon, by the way. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Don't thank me. You know who to thank. So I live seven minutes from the beach, right? I work a block from the beach. I work in between the frigging bay and the ocean. It's gorgeous.

[00:55:05] I am an hour from New York City. I'm an hour from Atlantic City. Any concert that you want to go to. You're an hour from Philadelphia. It really is a great spot if you want things to do. Any idea how many times people have come here, like friends of either my daughters from college and stuff, and have been here and been like, I had no idea this was New Jersey. Like I thought, like you said, New Jersey was Newark and Camden and that was it.

[00:55:33] Like, so yeah, it is, has a lot to offer, especially if you have money. Dude, I've spent all those years driving from the East Coast to the Western border of New Jersey, you know, out there by Heightstown and all that, like through farms the whole way until you get to a whole different area over there. You know, it's beautiful and open. The beaches we have and everything. Yeah, we're not going to get into that whole thing, but it's just that, that perception. It's just so, this guy probably was never even here. He didn't know anything about it, but you know. No, we get a bad rap, which I think is hysterical.

[00:56:02] It's literally called the Garden State. That's a good point. More horses per capita than any other state in Texas. The town, the town I grew up in, like there, it's farms. It's literal farms. I mean, look, it's overpopulated as hell. Like, especially in the, you know, urban areas and stuff. Yeah, like, I mean, I live in a town now where when I was growing up, there was about 40,000 people here.

[00:56:29] There's about 120,000 people now that live in this town and it's growing. Yeah. So like, yeah, it's, it's, it's very overpopulated. So I guess everybody wants out, right? Yeah. Well, I mean, you and your boys are deporting everybody, right? All right, Tim, that's the last joke you're fucking making or I will get you off of this. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. It's kind of funny once and now you're making my skin crawl a little. So, okay. I'm kidding. Let's discuss tomorrow.

[00:56:59] I'm nervous about this game. I am nervous about the Buffalo Sabres. Um, I'm nervous, not because they're the Buffalo Sabres. They suck. I'm nervous at the fact that we have been very inconsistent all year and we really need to start getting that traction and getting consistent. This is the perfect team to do it against. Oh, why do I feel like we're going to fall on our face? Yeah. Well, because we lose to lesser teams. Exactly. Kind of like, kind of like all the time.

[00:57:28] So there's that. And, and it's been going back for a couple of years now. It's not just this year. So yeah, that's scary. You got the rough thing. You don't want to lose to them. Yeah. That would suck. I think we're going to beat them. We're going to beat them fine. Tim, move along. Thoughts on Buffalo. Yeah. They're, they're, I mean, they're a pretty bad team. Um, there's no, we have no business losing this team to your point. Um, that's a problem.

[00:57:56] My, my biggest problem is, um, it's an afternoon game. Like just the last couple of afternoon games. Just, just have been the most afternoon games of all time. Like inconsistent efforts, just not going or just going through the motions. But what I'm hoping is that, um, that just something in, in Stefan Nason said in an interview that I, that I saw, I think it was with Trey Matthews.

[00:58:23] It was, um, that, that something kind of woke up inside them during that, that Philly game where they realized and kind of got back to that physical first game. And I think that just kind of unlocks so much of them. They just sort of go back to that realization. Like they can bully the shit out of Buffalo and just beat the shit out of them, out of the building. Like that, they, they can do that so easily and they just need to do that. So that's kind of in terms of a keys to the game.

[00:58:51] Um, that's what I'm looking for is, is that, that immediate physicality. Cause if the first couple of shifts are just sort of, you know, doing circles and not stopping and starting and not getting young guys and not finishing through the body. You'd be like, Oh boy, we're in for, for a long one. Is it a one o'clock or three o'clock start? It's one. It's one o'clock in Buffalo on a Saturday. That sounds exciting. Doesn't it? Like we got up for this. Sounds. But like they've had four or five days of rest.

[00:59:21] Hopefully Jack's fingers kind of back to being normal again. I don't know what Nico's deal is. Holla's apparently traveling with the team. Um, which is a finger like, Oh, our best players hurt. What happened? His finger. He hurt his finger. It's affected his whole game. Hey, he's doing knife tricks. The crazy thing is like, it wasn't even like the finger was hindering his play. They were keeping him out of practices because they didn't want his hand to get infected being in his dirty glove. So that's really why they were keeping him out.

[00:59:51] Like that's seems like you could have done something maybe over the hand and then in the glove to stop it from getting infected. I don't know. There are actually guys that have, um, there are actually guys that have like allergy problems, like skin allergy. They have like little white gloves underneath. Right. Yeah. Actually, Bob, that's a good, good reason not to play hockey again is because getting the hockey glove stench off your hands. That is hard. Like that, that stays with me for a while. There were times I just. I want a hockey bag and you'll never want to play again. That's all. I want a hockey bag.

[01:00:24] This guy, my, uh, this guy, my beer league team, he stopped playing, but didn't tell his wife that he stopped playing. Oh no. Where was he going? He was just going straight to the bar and he'd be like, he'd be like half cocked by the time we'd be done with the game and meet him at the bar. Was he a goalie? No, but he'd go home. He'd go home, put his hands in his gloves. So it smelled like he played. It smelled like he played. That's awesome. Hey, what's that shiny stuff on your face? The glitter? What? Nothing.

[01:00:54] Exactly. Oh, and, and so, yeah. So back to Quinn for a second. We played in a strip club tonight, honey. What? Back to Quinn for a second. We kind of let that go. But yeah, he's a pre-agent in 27. If, if Vancouver starts selling off, I don't see why we wouldn't take a run at him in 27. We have plenty of cap space. Give him $15 million a year. There'd be nothing. I mean, Luke and Quinn together. Oh, on that blue line. Holy shit. Luke, Luke, Quinn, Salayev.

[01:01:24] Oh my God. Nemich. Nemich. Dougie maybe still. Kovacevic. Yeah. Pesci will be there. Siegenthaler maybe before Salayev, depending on when. Oh, we have 15 defensemen for 2027. This is great. And that's the thing. It's like we, we have to, and I'm also very curious. Like, and, and what you guys watch them too is. See what Kovacevic does away from Siegenthaler.

[01:01:49] If they keep those, those pairs together, because I think that is obviously a really important thing that is going on in devil's land. Because that then has that sort of cascading effect where it's like, if we don't resign Kovacevic and give that spot base to Nemich, that means Casey's next guy up. And then that makes Casey a little bit more valuable to us. And maybe not necessarily a piece that we can, we can either trade or get rid of, because we need that kind of, that depth, that next guy up depth. That's it.

[01:02:19] It's going to be interesting. And to echo you, Bobby, I don't envy being a general manager or be, I don't envy them at all right now. But salary for a while. Yeah. I mean, it would be cool to be able to like, play with a professional hockey team. Like, you know, it'd be like, yeah, I'm going to move this guy and I'm going to bring this guy and completely fucking destroy it and just walk out the door. You know, not sweat needing a new major appliance, you know, just go fucking buy one. Just go buy one. That's it. All right.

[01:02:48] We're going to wrap this thing up. Yeah. I mean, the last two games, they were. Something interesting. Oh, I just, I just saw something interesting on Puckpedia. Go on, Tim. Did I freeze? Did you freeze? No, you're good, buddy. We got you. I froze. No, you didn't. Looks like Santari Hataka is back on the roster and going to be playing in the AHL, I think.

[01:03:17] Oh, they sent him down? He was up with the big club. Yeah, I don't think he's hurt. Yeah, he's up skating with us, but he's now on the AHL roster. Okay. So they sent him back down. I like Hataka. I think he's a, he came over with the Timo deal, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he could be a sneak trade ship too. Yeah, I like him. I'd like to see him longer.

[01:03:43] Like, I know he could be a trade ship and maybe that's all he has to be, but I would actually like to look at him for a while. I agree. He played well for us last year. In order to do that, then we probably have another bigger problem. So. And we got a ton of depth in defense. He's an RFA next year too. So it's kind of like, he's another guy that we need to figure out. We also have Miss Yule, who's an RFA next year. I forgot about him too. It's a lot of decisions. A lot of decisions. But we're going to wrap this thing up.

[01:04:10] What I was going to say before is, you know, we're talking like the last two games were polar opposites of each other. I just want to see the latter be what we are because that's, that is who we are. But you know, these regressions and then having to bounce back. Like you look at this schedule coming up before the four nations, we have Buffalo, we have Pittsburgh, we have Vegas and Vegas is struggling a little bit, but you know, that's go out and beat Vegas. You want to be a contender, go beat them. And who's the fourth team? Yeah. Pittsburgh. No, no, no.

[01:04:40] I'd say in the last game is against the Canadians. So another one. Oh, okay. Yeah. Another one o'clock Saturday, right? Yeah. Yeah. So we have tomorrow, we have Tuesday, we have Thursday, we have Saturday and then we're off for whatever, 12 days. So when these next four, like go on the five, feel good with a five game winning streak. Keep he sure out. I'm fine for the next four games. He's not playing anywhere for two weeks. You know, Markstrom should be back.

[01:05:09] Make whatever trades you got to make. Hopefully. I don't know. Is there a trade freeze during the four nations? Or do we not know? I don't think there is. I don't think there is either. I didn't hear anything about that. Okay. Maybe an unofficial one. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, usually I'm sure one of us would have heard about that. So, okay. So no trade. I mean, they can trade while this thing's going. So make whatever moves you got to make. Come back the second week of February. Have our team assembled and ready to go. And make that final push. That's what I want to see. But it's got to start.

[01:05:39] The consistency has to start tomorrow. You're kicking off after the break against Dallas, too. And there's a legit cup contender right there. So let's just get it going. Yeah. All right, boys and girls. We are going to wrap this thing up. Thank you so much for hanging out with us tonight. Even though it'll probably be morning by the time you list this or by the time we post this. So wherever you are listening to us or watching us, please, a subscription. If you're on the YouTube channel, we appreciate it. Like a five-star review, a positive comment.

[01:06:10] And help the little podcast that could. For Bobby and Tim, I'm Chris. We are the Uncle Puckers. And we'll see you when we see you. Bye-bye. Fuck you, Velka. It's over, Johnny. It's over. This is a PSA or public sock announcement.

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