Should The Devils Move Off Palat?

Chris (00:21)
This is like the first time in a while that Kenny's not lying. We have everybody. We got, we got Dan, we got Bobby, Pennsylvania. We got Tony Zamboni. How come we have not called you Tony Zamboni? That's the perfect name. You're Tony Zamboni from now on. I like it. TZ. Tony Zamboni. So, Tone, you going to the game tomorrow?

Dan (00:27)
Yes.

Bobby (00:31)
Going old school now.

Dan (00:35)
Yeah, seriously. That's your name now. Tony Zamboni. Yeah.

Tony (00:36)
I don't know, I don't know. There you go, Tony Z. TZ.

Bobby (00:43)
Yeah, let's keep that.

Tony (00:48)
Yeah, we're going at we're definitely going tomorrow. We'll actually leave in the house at nine We're gonna get there at 10 because they have all the tailgate stuff and the Raiders do draw hard We went to tonight We were downed by the pier in st Pete and actually it was kind of cool man because our Raider fans are already out there like I'm just walking around at the hat on of course and every you know It's funny because there's a certain thing they all do they all give each other the chant, know the Rooters and like but they are in the town that there's a lot of fans in town already So I'm pretty excited man. It's gonna be 70. I think 78 tomorrow

Chris (00:53)
Sure.

Dan (00:55)
you

Tony (01:17)
So it's perfect football weather is a nice stadium. Like I said, hopefully the game works out, but I'm just my wife's first game, man. I'm pretty pumped yeah Yeah And they dress up man, you know I always say I got it the guy like dress up like a big ape like some of them do it all the beat like stuff on then you lose like some awful game will have to walk out like that like I mean, I got the jersey the hat and stuff but

Chris (01:24)
Raiders travel well. mean, yeah, their fans are everywhere. That's awesome.

Bobby (01:26)
Should be.

Dan (01:32)
you

Yeah, you look like Gwar. The whole Gwar thing. Yeah.

Chris (01:41)
You don't have the spike shoulder pads like the old Legion of Doom and shit and-

Tony (01:44)
Yeah, but you I love it though. No, but I love it though, you know, I mean

Bobby (01:47)
80 degrees, their faces are all melting by the time the game's over, right? Just get black and silver paint just streaking.

Chris (01:49)
Yeah, look like Rudy Giuliani at a press conference.

Tony (01:54)
I was watching, I was watching, what was it? don't know, some Raider thing last night, you know, just get, showing my wife some stuff about the history of the team and stuff. And she watches the Raider games with me. And they had, it's one of the old players, he was saying how like when they would get off the bus, like he played with the Cardinals. Rashad, what was his name, Chris? I can't think of his name. He was announcer in Edef. No.

Chris (02:11)
no, he's talking about her husband, Ahmad Rashad, who was a vulture.

Dan (02:12)
Felicia. Felicia Rashad. I think that was.

Tony (02:17)
Yeah, my mother shot. he's on there and he says like, he's like, you know, we would get off the bus and we're dressed like in nice suits. He's like the Raiders would get off the bus and they were dressed like just like they came out of the prison, like leather jackets. So that was the way it used to be. You know, now obviously things have changed, but, the history of the team's pretty killer. I just wish it would get a little better for us.

Dan (02:18)
Ahmad Rashad, I forgot about him.

Chris (02:25)
Well, yeah.

Dan (02:27)
husband was hockstable, I think.

Chris (02:33)
You wanna look up a great play, check out, on YouTube and look up the miracle at the Met. The old Met outdoor stadium that the Vikings played in. Ahmad Rashad made one of the greatest catches for the Vikings ever. Tommy Kramer throwing the ball, it was an amazing catch. So yeah, Ahmad Rashad was a great Viking. But yeah.

Tony (02:50)
Tommy Kramer.

Dan (02:55)
Yeah. And her other husband was pretty famous too. Yeah, he used to drug a lot of women.

Chris (02:58)
Yeah, yeah, that was, what was it, his nickname was Rape Kit and, what was it, Crawl Space and Rape Kit? That was his other show, right?

Dan (03:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. Kids say the darnedest things.

Chris (03:15)
Yeah, they do. know, picture pages doesn't age well, right? So, Did you guys all watch the Seattle game last night?

Tony (03:20)
Take your pants.

Dan (03:21)
Beep beep beep! Beep beep

Bobby (03:22)
You

Dan (03:29)
saw highlights.

Tony (03:31)
to see.

Chris (03:31)
It was.

Bobby (03:32)
I was out at a parade, also watched the condensed version, yep.

Chris (03:34)
Yeah, I got home late, so by the time I put it it tough to stay awake, but I got in most of it. I tell you, the Devils have just... They're one of the only teams that have a way to make any goalie like Philipp Grubauer look like a freaking all-star. I mean, we really thought, we looked at Grubauer's numbers on the last show, Thought maybe DeCord would play back-to-back because Grubauer has been so bad.

Bobby (03:52)
Yes.

Chris (04:03)
He played outstanding.

Bobby (04:08)
It reminds me of Tony's comment on it, because we were all coming up with our scores and everything. And Tony was like, you know, they're still professional team. Who knows what could happen? And sure enough, mean, yeah, we won, which is the main thing. They won. That's it. Let's just face it. But I mean, 3-2 to Seattle, with their backup, yeah, that's not how I thought it was going to go. And I mean, we controlled the game for the most part, right? was literally their goalkeeper. Yeah, we do that a lot.

Chris (04:31)
I mean, we've been pretty much all season singing their praises, this team and how good they've been and how much fun they are and everything. I do want, I think there's a little bit more than nitpicking kind of where I'm at here. I'm done, 100 % done with Andre Pallott. I'm, the guy is just not working on this team. He hasn't since he's been here. I don't give a shit about his contract, like all that. So I don't care about that. I'm talking about just his play in general.

And you know, being up there with Jack and Brat, those guys are ridiculous when they're skating. They are so much fun to watch. They fly all over. You can't even catch them. They're so creative. And then there's Andre Pallat. You know, the slap shot.

Dan (05:16)
Once in a while, it makes a good outlet pass and like, you know, plays with him a little bit, but you're right. He's the odd man out.

Chris (05:22)
I mean, you guys see the slap shot that he had a beautiful one timer set up and he fanned on it. Like he looked like me out there on that one. Like, dude, you can't do that. You know, you're Andre Pallat. You got to help this line out. I'm done with them. I know there's no other place to really put them. I think that he's got to be part of some package to maybe get somebody in here to play with those guys. That's where I'm at right now.

Bobby (05:29)
Yeah. Yeah.

I'm validated, so you go ahead, keep going.

Chris (05:52)
I think...

Tony (05:54)
Bobby's never heard Bobby's been speech preaching this for this last like two years now

Chris (05:55)
He has. You're right.

Dan (05:58)
Nah, I get it. you know, if you were to replace one person right now, it would be him. Definitely. Clearly.

Chris (06:03)
And I've been a defender of his. was, know, Dan and I actually were defending him to Bobby a lot last year, you know, Bobby was dumb with them and I felt like, you know, his experience and all the, and I made excuse after excuse after excuse, gave him, not excuse, just gave him a huge rope and the benefit of the doubt. And I think now when you see how good this team is and how well, you know, the, the Heesher line is, is playing and even that fourth line has been playing great now.

Dan (06:27)
Yeah.

And he just looks a little older and slower, hate to say it, than in two years ago. So two years ago, he actually was pretty mediocre in that short span that we had him before the playoffs, but then he came on Game Busters. He looked great in the playoffs. And I don't forget that. So all last year with everything being fucked up, know, like, hey, if we get that plot back, we'll be okay. We have not seen that guy this year. I don't think that's an overstatement. No.

Chris (06:46)
Yes he did.

Bobby (06:58)
We've seen nothing close to consistent either. the people that back him a lot, and again, what we've been hearing most, or at least from a lot of people, like, if you don't understand the nuance of the game and what he's bringing, then you're kind of like a hockey idiot kind of thing. And everyone's like, yeah, yeah, we get kind of the intangibles and how he supplements the line and all that. But then you look at it just on the surface. Let's just go to the eye test. And like you're pointing out now, it's just not working. It's not there anymore.

And when he does do something well, it stands out. And then that's what people focus on. Like I think the Ranger game he had, he had a particularly good game or whatever it is. And then it's always like, see, see, but it's like one in every five. And in the meantime, he's kind of like an anchor on that line. mean, listen, I don't think he has to go unless there was an opportunity to package and do something that really works for the team. But at this point with him.

just being where he is and with Mercer struggling. I don't know why we don't just go back to trying to give Mercer the top line spot. Can't do any worse, because Jack and Brad are just doing their thing anyway. So what would be the harm to throw Mercer up there, maybe get him going instead of trying to get Plot going? So even when Plot's going, he's not going to be half as fast as Mercer is.

Chris (08:13)
I don't want Mercer on that line. I do not want Mercer on... No, I don't want Mercer on the top six. I...

Bobby (08:20)
No, not at all.

Dan (08:22)
Now, why is that? You just think he does, he fits in better where he's at, or you don't think he can do it?

Chris (08:27)
I think Mercer had... I don't think Mercer is that 30 goal scorer that we thought he was. Yeah, I think Mercer is a third line guy. I think he can give you some good minutes. He's great on the penalty kill. And that's who he is. He's not going to be a 30 plus goal scorer. I just don't see it in him. He works hard. He's a grinder. He makes some dumb mistakes, but he's young. He'll learn. But I...

Tony (08:33)
I agree.

Dan (08:36)
See that?

Chris (08:53)
And if a trade came up where Mercer was packaged for somebody to maybe play with Jack and Brat, I wouldn't be against it. Where last year and every year before that I was dead set, we do not move Mercer. I just don't think that Mercer's that guy. I would be okay with it if it was for somebody that can play with Brat and Jack. And I know that the Palat contract is tough to move, but retain half of it then.

You know, if you got to free up some salary cap money, retain half, you're still freeing up over $3 million. you know, and, and I think a team to pay Pilat a little over $3 million for his experience and who he is and what he brings. I think a team would be okay with that. It's a, it's a very fair salary for a guy, for Pilat right now. $3 million for Andre Pilat is a good deal.

Bobby (09:46)
A team two or three years behind where we are right now, it would make more sense. We're kind like it did with us the year we got them. There's a reason you kind of overpay for players like that, just to add a little legitimacy to your team. But we jumped really quick two years ago. Let's all forget about last year. Just wipe that off the board quicker than everyone thought. And now he's kind of finding himself in the odd man up. But I'm curious as to Dan's take on Mercer in general. Maybe not if he would be a top six or...

Dan (09:52)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he doesn't look as fresh.

Yeah, you know, here's the thing. I thought that maybe he'd be a little sharper as a two way player than he is. And like Chris was talking about, makes some stupid mistakes. So that's holding him back from being what I thought he'd be like super solid, both directions on the puck. He hasn't really done that. I never really like thought he was going to be like this massive, you know, point producer. I thought he was going be respectable, maybe a little better than he is now. But no, I get it. I get where Chris is coming from. I still see a little bit.

More potential like you said, he's going to learn and I think he's going to get a little bit better. I'm not ready to cut ties with him by any means, but I see what you're saying. You make a good point like leave him there on those lines right now and maybe he's not the guy to fill plots role. You know, like you maybe we'd want somebody who's got even a little bit more to offer than he does right now because I feel like this team can make some noise this year and maybe this is not the year for Mercer to fill that role. You know he might in the future.

So I can't disagree with you, but I still like them in their organization.

Bobby (11:14)
I honestly believe that he's still 30-goal potential. And I say that because he got 27, and that's only three off. And I'm not saying he's going to be a perpetual 30-goal scorer flirting with 40 or anything like that. But I think given the right role, can he hit 30 once or twice? Yeah, I absolutely think he can, because he almost did it. But he's got to play with the right players. And again, maybe that's not Jack and Brappe, because on their own, maybe they do need a certain type of complementary player that's not Mercer. But I also don't envision a world where Mercer's

Dan (11:19)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Bobby (11:44)
not giving a shot beyond the third line. Again, like another shot. That's all.

Dan (11:47)
I like the plot type player on that line. I just don't like plot playing the way he's playing. But that idea of what he can do, he's got vision, he's got grit and size, that fits in well with those two guys. And he's just not there, he's not executing. But there is a lot of time left here.

Bobby (11:51)
Right. Yeah.

Chris (12:01)
What do you Tony I think you agree with me on this right

Tony (12:08)
Yeah, I just think Mercer, I think kind of think what you see is what you get. I was kind of to the point where I was thinking, you know, first of all, he does have great hockey sense. We all know that we've said it a million times on this show, but I don't even know if he's a 30 goal scorer, man. I think he could do it once or twice like Bobby said possibly, but I don't think it's not going to be a consistent thing. I think he'll be a fan favorite kind of guy. He's like, you know, he's a good hockey player, but I think what two seasons ago, the expectations we had are probably not going to be reached and

He may be a guy you see go in the trade deadline actually, because you're going to have some teams who are like, maybe in our environment we can get this out of him or that because, know, Dawson Mercer is a good hockey player. But as what we thought, if you would ask each one of us, I wouldn't say last year, because last year was just a shitty year all around. The year before that, I think all of us had different, I wouldn't say hopes, but different expectations.

Bobby (12:59)
We did.

Dan (13:02)
yeah, we didn't want him touched when it came to talk trades or like anything but, you know, don't put him on the table no matter what.

Chris (13:04)
And you know, back to Pilat real quick and then we can finish up with that. you know, Bobby, you were always quick to bring up the fact that the 13 game win streak, all that, Pilat wasn't there for it. He got injured. He, you know, they did all of that without Andre Pilat. And when he came back, he had that great game two years ago where he got his teeth busted out and he came back and he scored the game winning goal. And it was like he had a great playoff and that was the Pilat we wanted to see.

And then last year, I guess we can give him a pass because we give the whole team a pass on just what a mess it was. But now you go to this year, he's not going to have a better opportunity to produce that he has right now. And I understand the little things, but that sure as hell doesn't mean that another guy also can't do the little things. Plus be better offensively and be able to compliment Jack and Brad. It's like Jack and Brad are doing, you called him an anchor on that line. I agree.

He's an anchor on that line,

Bobby (14:05)
Yeah, it's gonna drag along, yeah.

Dan (14:07)
I wonder how hard it is to play with those guys. mean, seriously, they're very like unpredictable and from a different kind of style than, you know, it's not like he's, I'm not trying to paint him as a, you know, clearly older generation, but he is an older player and he played with different types of players and his P and like these guys are different. They're weird to play with. I don't really know who the best person to compliment. I do like the attributes. He, like I said earlier, but

Chris (14:08)
It probably is very hard.

Dan (14:36)
They have to be tough to play with, least for some people. mean somebody's got to be able to jump on that opportunity. It seems like it's not polite.

Chris (14:42)
Well, Tim sent us a, whatchamacallit, somebody put out there a few trade options and guys that could possibly bid in with this devil team right now. I wanna go over them, but Dan, I'm real curious about your, like, what do you got on the goaltending?

Dan (15:07)
Well, I was reading an article, I think it was maybe posted today. It was calling for more games for Jake Allen. All right, and this was by Alex Potts from All About the Jersey. And I don't really take too much issue with it. His points was he was going over the metrics, okay? And I don't want bore you with the details. We all know that Allen's played fewer games. I think he's got nine games in compared to Markstrom's 19.

And the numbers are pretty close. Allen's are a little better when you look at goals above average, saved above average. And that's where he's making his argument. Now, Markstrom is giving you league average goaltending right now. He's right there doing it. And I think in certain games, you look at the big picture, league average goaltending maybe

Devils fans might not be super excited about all that. You know, it doesn't look like the second coming of Boudoir at this moment, but that's what we wanted was league average goaltending and Mark Strims. He's I think he's been up to the task. You know, could pick on a couple games here and there, but he also has done his fair share of, know, carrying his weight. I believe he's been pretty good. And that puts him as a league average goaltender. And, you know, the biggest argument to put in Allen is that he's got, I think it was like

24 goals and 28 expected goals. So he's got a little bit over four goals saved against over average. And that sounds great, but I think people underestimate that these roles, that sample size and everything else, it's not like a linear thing. I really do believe that if you...

give two thirds of the game to the other guy, you don't necessarily get his numbers to carry through. And there's a reason that when you look at these goals saved above average, when they rank them in NHL, it's for goaltenders who've played 15 or more games, at least to this point in the season. Because if you've played nine, that sample size is a little small. can be skewed one way or the other. I think we got two really competent goaltenders.

Chris (17:22)
Right.

Dan (17:28)
They're not up for a $12 million contract, like Igor just got or whatever. believe what they're averaging at 12 million for that eight years or whatever. And you can make your argument, maybe he didn't deserve that much either, but these guys clearly are not top echelon right now. But they're giving you what you went out to get. And as a tandem, I think it's pretty damn good. I put our tandem against anybody's. It's really good.

But I don't think it's this whole point of the thrusted article was like, we got to give Alan more games. He's doing, he's got, his numbers are a little better than, than Markstrom's. I don't see that. I think you ride this pretty much in a proportion you got. you know, if look, if for any reason Markstrom dips and Alan's still looking great, of course, I mean, I'm all for it. Let's switch him. If we're to head into the playoffs with a shaky Markstrom, I just don't see that happening.

Bobby (18:00)
Thank

Dan (18:27)
And I think that if Marksford continues to give you what he's got and Allen's numbers are not, I mean, they're not like phenomenal, like, my God, I can't believe this. They're good. They're just a little better. You know, I think it put him at ranked him, you know, for the many games in the top 10 for goal saves over. That's great. That sounds great, but that sample size, you know, so we'll see as we get longer into this, but I can't believe too many Devils fans are really looking for Allen to get many more than, you know,

third of the games right now. I mean, I don't know how you guys feel about

Bobby (18:58)
You've been on this since the beginning of the season you brought this up a few times how Allen's starts and he's in a more limited capacity that you can't just Multiply that out across games and assume everything's gonna be the same so you've been saying this for a while This is the way it should be being written

Dan (19:03)
Yeah.

Chris (19:12)
If you give Jake Allen the amount of starts that Jacob Markstrom has, I believe his numbers will plummet. Jake Allen is perfect for what he's doing. He's getting that one every three or four games. That's what he's good for. We don't, you you don't, you don't have a one A one B situation and it's, it's not where you, you're going to play, you know, a guy, different guy every other night.

This is what Jake Allen's here for, he's very good at that, but I think that if you give him Markstrom's workload, you're gonna have a problem. And I don't understand it either, Dan, like why, like you said, their numbers are super close, and you're also looking at a guy who's played a hell of a lot more games in Markstrom, and Markstrom's delivering. Markstrom's always had a big workload, I know he's older, he's 34 years old.

Dan (20:02)
Right. Yes.

Chris (20:08)
and you worry about that later on in the year but you know i'm not worried about it and like you said if you get into a stretch where mark strom does need a break allen's good for that but i don't think in playoff time allen's not gonna unless mark strom completely shits to bed allen's not gonna see any ice time

Dan (20:20)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

No, I don't think you'll see much at all. But that's because I believe Markstrom's going to carry the load and produce what he's been giving us. Now, you need your player, your goaltender to get hot in the playoffs. We'll worry about that when we get there. And I think Markstrom can. We'll see what happens. This is like a crystal ball shit. You don't know. But right now, what you do know is you went out to get yourself a number one goaltender, and you're looking at some tiny... I think the way the guy closed the article was like, hasn't Alan earned it?

What are you talking about? Like, I just don't see that. mean, what's the, stick to the plan. The plan is working. The plan is good. Let's stick with the plan. This is work.

Chris (21:03)
And to say that Hasn't Alan earned it is like saying that Markstrom hasn't. Markstrom absolutely has earned all his starts. I just think that you would be making a big mistake and you would be... And look, Alan has played very well, but Alan has some complete mental breakdowns sometimes. Like every time he goes out...

To play the puck, it's an adventure. Like, you don't know what's gonna happen with this dude. And I like him a lot, but he is going to have those clunkers a lot more than I think Markstrom is. Markstrom's a better goalie!

Dan (21:29)
Playing the puck, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, just look at that. Yeah, definitely. I look at that article and go, we, we, we had Alan. We wanted to go get a number one. We got the number one. think anybody around the league would say Mark's room is still a number one goaltender. And now you want hit, you know, Alan to split in some kind of one a one B such. I don't understand that. It has not come to that. We don't see Mark's from faltering like, you know, he doesn't look. And that kind of rate of.

You know, he's playing a third of the games. mean, that's going to keep out Markstrom rested enough. And, you know, I do like Alan and I think that, you know, heaven forbid a problem comes up with Markstrom. I would not count out Alan to be your guy going into the playoffs if that's what we have to do. But you know, like if something happened and there's still time before a trade deadline, we better go look for another number one if we, if it's possible, because we, you know,

Chris (22:16)
Right?

Tony (22:31)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (22:37)
Yeah. Yeah, Alan playing playoff games is not in the plan. Like you said stick to the plan. That's not the plan.

Dan (22:45)
not a plant. No. mean, plant can get rewritten in mysterious, wonderful ways, but that's just chance. That's not a good thought. Thought out plant.

Chris (22:55)
What do you think, Tom?

Tony (22:58)
It's not broke. Don't don't fix it. I think it's working out great right now with Markstrom as a starter. And we've we've been satisfied with Alan as the backup for even if he's what nine games you say, but it's working. I mean, when he comes in, I'm not I like him as the backup role, but I'm not worried when he comes in. I feel confident. You know, I think we got a good thing going. So, you know, don't be I guess it's so this what people talk about a lot. But I think even look at some of the saves against the crack. And I mean, Markstrom has been good for us, man. You can't complain about what we've gotten from him.

Chris (23:24)
Yeah.

Dan (23:26)
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris (23:27)
I mean the first goal was definitely a stinker, but I forget who scored it, but just kind of blew past Luke and Pesci. I just think it just completely surprised Markstrom as a bad goal. He wanted it back, but after that, mean, yeah, it was a great shot.

Bobby (23:42)
Hell of a shot too man. had a couple inches to get it in and he found them.

Chris (23:45)
And you when it's, you look at that Ranger game, like that's the games you want Markstrom for. And he was fantastic. And that's, you know, this guy, they always talk about how competitive he is and everything. Markstrom going into the playoffs, I think that he feels like he has something to prove. I think he's on a team that is gonna back him up. He's playing with a great D-Core.

Dan (23:54)
Yes. Yep.

Yeah, I think he's got a great vehicle to really go deep into playoffs, first chance to do that.

Chris (24:11)
Yeah.

I mean, what a goal, right? What a beautiful goal. It's like, you know, Jack and is giving them some tips like, no, and you get off to the side, just whack it off their head, dude. That's it. And what a beautiful goal. I mean, he is turning out to be such a fantastic defenseman.

Tony (24:15)
Good to see Luke get on the board too, Yeah.

Bobby (24:18)
Great, yep.

Yeah, aim for the head, goes in.

Tony (24:28)
Hmm. Yeah.

Bobby (24:36)
Did anybody really think his defensive game would start to round out this quick? Or did you think this was a couple more years down the road? Even when we talked about... Yeah. I mean, the way he's coming around is great. And know, credit the Pesci, I'm sure. I mean, to play with him is just... The two of them are looking great.

Chris (24:39)
No.

Tony (24:42)
think we were saying like three or four, think we were saying three years.

Chris (24:50)
I'm telling you they go out for sushi every night, they get ice cream together, these guys are on the phone until 2 in the morning, watching rom-coms together. I love that Pesci and Luke are BFFs. They might not even like each other, but in my mind, they are BFFs. They skip down the beach hand in hand together. It is just a wonderful pairing and I don't ever want them to break up. I want them to stay together forever.

Dan (25:02)
Yeah

Bobby (25:07)
My body and me.

Cheers.

Dan (25:14)
Yep, peanut butter jelly.

Tony (25:17)
and

Dan (25:20)
That's a good look, definitely. How much did you guys cover that Valakett comment on you get a chance to talk about it? I missed that. That was great.

Bobby (25:21)
We're only getting better together too.

Chris (25:25)
Well, we got really into it, but by all means, Dan, it's a lot of fun to shit all over Valakett, so please, go ahead.

Bobby (25:26)
yeah. Couple of shows.

Dan (25:33)
I loved it. It was hilarious. Well, listen, you know, here's the thing. Like I'll always take the goalie side and you know, guess, you know, Valakit qualifies and he's taken Igor's side in this whole thing, but for him without asking him. And, no, there is no side. Exactly. And that's a good point because, you know, he went into embarrass him, you know, with this kind of goal, like, dude, this is the way this guy plays and look around the league.

Chris (25:46)
There wasn't a side. He made it up. Yeah.

Dan (26:02)
A lot of the guys are playing this way. are hanging the puck on the end of their stick. They're faking out left and right. And that's skills they have now, that dude, I know you didn't face too many like that, but look around. Jack's not the only one doing this shit. And I, totally understand where he's coming from. Cause I've been at open hockey's and practices and God damn my own team warmups where it's like, what the fuck are you doing? Let's have some, you know, like it's not conducive to warming up a goalie. And if it's a low percentage,

But he's using this move in a game, scoring a goal or very often scoring a goal that maybe not in that last drive where he was worried. Yeah, he's clearly trying to. And the tax response was great. Like, I don't even know what this means. What is he talking about? Yeah, it's great. And I just feel like he's like really aging himself. He looks like it is told generation behind. Like this is what the players are doing now. You know, they're they are banking pucks off a guy's heads, like you just said, and they're doing other things.

Chris (26:36)
But trying to.

Bobby (26:44)
Yeah, what does this mean?

Dan (27:00)
purposefully, like in a way, like they could do as, you know, accurately and not too many people were trying it even 10, 15 years ago.

Chris (27:07)
He embarrassed himself with that comment. He lost credibility with that comment. It was the dumbest thing. And how, I don't know, like I said, he hasn't said anything. I haven't watched any Ranger broadcast since then, so I don't know if it was even brought up. And I doubt it would ever be brought up on a Ranger broadcast. But everybody, yeah, exactly. And the whole team in that situation and where they're going and everything. But the entire national NHL hockey media

Dan (27:24)
Now they're gonna let it go. They were so red ass about the whole game. think that just just bubblin over. Yeah.

Chris (27:37)
were completely on Jack's side, just trashing him like this guy. Everybody had the same thing. They all said they love Steve Valiquette, he knows goalies. When he talks goalies, he's smart and he makes everybody around him smarter. But that was just a dumb ass comment that made no sense and he made a fool out of himself.

Bobby (28:03)
Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to you. Can anybody remember another time in hockey where a type of way to score has been scrutinized or called this any way? Like when they started going between the legs. I don't remember hearing anything about like, you're showing me up. When they started the lacrosse goals we talked about, right Chris? I don't remember anyone ever saying you're showing up. there ever been any other type of shot that's been like, Abu?

Chris (28:05)
That has never been more true than the Valakett story, yes.

Dan (28:05)
Yeah.

Chris (28:31)
Not that I know of.

Bobby (28:33)
What about the very first guy to ever do a slap shot? Maybe they were all like, hey, what the hell are you doing?

Chris (28:35)
Right.

Dan (28:37)
Well, you know, you're not kidding. I think early on it kind of was like that and I think I think they were, you know, little steps along the way. I mean, even like Trevor Ziegler asked like this shit that he does. I think a lot of the old school guys in the league at that time were, you know, kind of like scoff at and not too happy about it. Right. But this idea that, you know, Bobby or is coming over to board or who did he say was Quentin or not Bobby.

Chris (29:01)
Coltonore.

Bobby (29:04)
Coltenore, yeah.

Dan (29:06)
is coming over to boards for you. It's like, you know, you're dreaming, This game has changed so much that you have so many guys, not too many Jack's level of skill, but there's so many guys trying like low percentage stuff from back in the day that is not low percentage anymore. works.

Chris (29:20)
And like I said before on the Valakett comment, the comment itself was just stupid. But then to say that somebody on the Rangers should go after Jack, that just made it irresponsible. And for that, like seriously, you lost all credibility. Like you're telling people to go at one of the-

Dan (29:32)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris (29:38)
best players in the NHL take him out because he tried to score a goal on your goalie in a two-nothing game in the first period. Alright this wasn't this wasn't eight-nothing in the third, Jack on a breakaway, pulls a miss again, goes behind the net and tries to embarrass the Sterkin. No, that was not that. And there's a big difference between the two and like you said Valakett is just red-ass about everything going on with the Rangers and he

Dan (29:38)
Yeah.

Chris (30:05)
He wore it on his sleeve, man, and he made an ass out of himself.

Dan (30:10)
Yeah, there's been a couple of players who have like scored and then, you know, like rubbed it in the goalie's face, like screaming at him. Like I've seen a couple of that playoffs a couple of years ago and other, and I think that's like low shit I don't like. And I think that would piss me off on my team. But you know, if you score a goal in a game, like you said, Chris, this was not piling on like how can you be pissed at that? You know, if anything, be pissed at Igor's performance on some of the other goals.

I'm sure he wanted a couple of those five whole goals.

Chris (30:40)
Well, before we jump into guys that are, you know, mentioned about possibly coming over here, there was one other thing I do want to discuss, but first we have to do some commercials real quick, so let's do that. Alright. The 24-25 NHL season still has that new car smell and the action is heating up at DraftKings Sportsbook and official sports betting partner, the NHL.

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DraftKings Sportsbook with code THPN, the crown is yours. So Bobby, tell us a little bit about game time.

Bobby (32:11)
Game Time, let me tell you about Game Time. This is the app you want to use to get your tickets. Everybody knows you can't duplicate what it's like to actually be at a live hockey game. So you want to use Game Time because you've got this great new feature called Game Time Picks. And this makes getting tickets to see your New Jersey Devils easier than ever. Game Time Picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Dan.

Give me a reasonable low cost number to go to the Sea of Devils tomorrow. What would you pay? Yeah. The Avalanche game.

Dan (32:42)
On gay time? On gay time? I would pay up to $800.

Bobby (32:50)
That's awesome because I'm looking at super deals here. I got a $13 super deal in section 211. Chris, I have a $15 super deal in section 210, three rows lower than where we went for opening day. And if you recall, we paid, it was not $15. It would take you a lot. It is a user-friendly site and they do have some great deals. So you look for tickets for tomorrow's game, check out the Game Time app. They've got a slew of features.

Dan (32:55)
That is way less than I expected. That is awesome.

That's gonna save me $787, that's awesome.

Tony (33:06)
So that'll be the service charge.

Bobby (33:18)
including an all-in pricing situation where you just click that on and you'll know exactly what you're going to pay at the end so there'll be no surprises. You should. They have the lowest price guarantee or Game Time will credit you up to 110 % of the difference. And they've got a great ticket coverage package. Your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the industry. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time picks. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code THPN.

Dan (33:23)
I love gate time.

Bobby (33:46)
$20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code THPN for $20 off. Download Game Time today. What time is it? It's game time. $800, that's, you're big fan, Dan. That's good. I got much better seats than that.

Chris (33:56)
Game time. So actually...

Dan (33:57)
Gay time.

Chris (34:01)
He's a big spender this guy.

Dan (34:03)
I'm just saying, you know, yeah, would, that's for, I would definitely pay at least $800 for that game.

Chris (34:04)
is

Bobby (34:12)
I got a there's a seat directly on the center ice line in the lower bowl like literally in the middle of the section for 139 you can buy like four or five of those with $800

Dan (34:23)
You want me to bring you? Is that what you're saying?

Bobby (34:25)
I mean, I think it's a single seat right now, but we can probably find something comparable. But yeah, if you got $800 for a hockey game, yeah, you can bring me.

Chris (34:29)
I

Dan (34:31)
How about I buy that 139 and then I'll buy you that $13 ticket and we'll both go to the game. Yeah. Yeah.

Bobby (34:36)
I'll take it. If I live closer, I'll take that ticket.

Chris (34:37)
I think we should play a game.

Dan (34:42)
Let's play a game.

Chris (34:42)
I agree. Let's play a game.

Alright, it's time to play the Devil You Know, where Dan tonight will be giving us clues of a former New Jersey Devil. Me, Tony, and Bobby have to guess which Devil he is talking about. We can ask Dan any questions that we want. He can or cannot answer it. It's completely up to him. We each get three incorrect guesses before we are eliminated. And that's basically the game. So, Dan, whenever you're ready, as he scrolls to find the Devil and then looks... you got it! Alright!

Dan (35:25)
Okay. No, I got it. I did this hours ago.

Tony (35:26)
This devil has played one and a half games.

Bobby (35:27)
Wikipedia!

Dan (35:32)
You know what? I started one and I'm like, how many fucking games is this guy playing? It looked up, it was five. I was like, I can't use this guy. No, I mean, I think that's not such a bad one because he's a goaltender.

Bobby (35:37)
Too obscure.

Tony (35:38)
It's Peter Sodorkowitz.

Bobby (35:44)
How do you even remember a guy that only played five games to look up to begin with? Like, I don't even remember those guys.

Dan (35:48)
I didn't. was just hitting up rosters going, I remember that name. And I realized he only played, and I can't remember who the fuck it was right now, but that's not the devil you know tonight. The devil you know tonight, you fucking got it first try. No, is a former Ottawa 67.

Chris (35:54)
Alright.

Bobby (35:58)
All right, Ken Danico.

Tony (36:04)
Same hairline as Bobby.

Chris (36:08)
Kevin Ball.

Dan (36:12)
Yes, it's Kevin Ball. It is 100 % Kevin Ball. There's the one guess. This is the fastest double, know, ever. Dude, I was 67. He's the only fucking person ever played for them that sticks in your head. How that's Tony level weirdness right now that you got that so fast.

Chris (36:14)
Really?

Tony (36:17)
There you go, that's the end of the game.

Bobby (36:23)
That's a record! Chris, you win for the season.

Tony (36:25)
Yeah.

Chris (36:30)
I just...

I just know that Kevin Ball played for them and he's a former devil so I said Kevin Ball.

Tony (36:34)
pretty good.

Dan (36:38)
Holy shit! Well, okay.

Bobby (36:40)
Do you have any interesting stats you might want to talk about before we move on?

Chris (36:41)
Yeah, anything else? I'm sorry, I just ruined the game. For being awesome!

Dan (36:44)
I mean, no, actually, I was so impressed. Once in while when I do these, I feel like the first thing out of my mouth when you go, okay, what's going on tonight? I was gonna go, Kevin Ball. You ever feel like you're gonna blurt it out? I might as well. It was only a second longer than that. No, I was just gonna go over, you know, here's the other thing too. I started, I swear to God.

Bobby (36:47)
I'm subgenius.

Chris (36:56)
You

Bobby (37:00)
Yeah.

Tony (37:01)
Yeah, no, yeah. Kevin Ball was drafted.

Chris (37:04)
Kevin Ball used to play for the Ottawa 67s. Who is he?

Bobby (37:07)
You

Dan (37:12)
I didn't think Ottawa 67 was such a giveaway. Do you guys think that?

Bobby (37:16)
I mean, I know we played there, but it was not a giveaway. Like, that was...

Tony (37:19)
No, but if you knew we play there and you got three stabs, might be like, let's throw one out there. So a little Hail Mary.

Dan (37:19)
Wow.

Chris (37:21)
And that's what I did.

Dan (37:24)
Wow, I guess I should not have led with Ottawa 67. That was shocking.

Bobby (37:25)
We're gonna make a new rule. Yeah, new rule, you gotta have three questions asked before you can win the game.

Tony (37:32)
Two questions. Yeah.

Dan (37:32)
No, mean, I think that's great to nail it first try like that. That's especially because I wasn't like a stupid. mean, I feel dumb that I gave it that out, I guess. But that was not like it. wasn't that crazy. Like, wow. Wow. Yeah, I guess I should have went with he had a career. hundred seventy five games. Yeah, see, it is too easy. Everything just screams Kevin Ball.

Bobby (37:35)
That was impressive.

Chris (37:41)
There's a good clue it wasn't like a... No! Not at all!

Bobby (37:44)
Well, it's a great starter clue. Yeah. Well, let's hear what you would have said.

Chris (37:52)
Kevin Ball.

Bobby (37:54)
Kevin Ball.

Dan (38:00)
This guy was drafted by Arizona. Yeah. Well, you know what I had queued up to? Well, and I didn't, I lost it actually, but I was going to look it up while you guys were thinking. Let me just see if I could find it again.

Bobby (38:01)
He came in like,

Tony (38:05)
He's a left one and a right one.

Dan (38:17)
Tell me a story while I'm doing this.

Chris (38:17)
There were a couple... Go ahead, tell the story.

Bobby (38:21)
I will say, I'm just gonna say, aside from Chris magically getting this so quickly, he's kind of been doing some of his voodoo shit this season with some of these predictions. There's been some goal guesses, there's been some things on the preview that have been spot on. You're wizard. He's a wizard, he's an admin, and he's extremely humble.

Dan (38:34)
Yeah.

Chris (38:37)
What have I told you? I'm a wizard. I'm a wizard.

Tony (38:45)
I'm the Wiz.

no. no. no.

Chris (38:49)
with the ball.

Dan (38:50)
Yeah. Yeah, I had it queued up to the right part. And then you ever do that, like you some shit up on YouTube and then like it comes into an ad and you fucking totally lost your spot. And I fucking hate that guy, too. Seriously. Right. But that would be like only if you didn't get it. And because I was going to just throw some of most boring. Here's the thing, too. There's not a lot of like super interesting things about Kevin Ball. And I hate to say it. He you know, here's the best thing I found about him here that I thought was interesting.

Bobby (38:58)
Mmm.

Tony (39:00)
It's like a Coors Light commercial.

Chris (39:00)
Yeah, god, he's the worst.

Bobby (39:05)
I was really.

It might have been a quick one anyway.

Tony (39:15)
His name's...

Dan (39:21)
Let's see.

Tony (39:23)
You really found that interesting,

Chris (39:25)
Hahaha

Dan (39:29)
His sister played college for Lawrence University, Isoc, College of Isoc. Did not know that. Wow. He's of European and Indian heritage. Did you know he was part Indian? I did not know that.

Chris (39:36)
No, me neither.

I didn't.

Tony (39:44)
Kind of see it now if you look at his face a little bit.

Chris (39:45)
Yeah? Okay. Yeah, which one? The ooo or that one?

Dan (39:47)
Okay, Tony, okay. What do you see? Yeah. Yeah. All right. Nobody break into an appoo right now. Everything's cool. Yeah. And I was gonna tell you, like, he's got right now one goal and eight assists and is a plus five with his current team. Calgary Flames, yeah. And that's what I was gonna do.

Bobby (39:48)
Not interesting enough for Dan to write this shit down.

Tony (39:49)
You see a little Indian in there.

hahahaha

Chris (40:02)
Alright.

Tony (40:05)
That one.

Chris (40:09)
The Calgary Flames.

Tony (40:13)
Has there been any players from India? I don't think there's ever been a player from India, has there?

Dan (40:18)
Yeah, we'll talk to, let's see, we've had a couple, like isn't Sal part Indian?

Chris (40:20)
No.

I don't know. I don't know.

Dan (40:26)
think he is. Yeah, Salvatore. I'm pretty sure Salvatore is like part Indian. Yeah.

Bobby (40:27)
I was really looking forward to...

Tony (40:32)
I'll look that up.

Chris (40:32)
You were looking forward to what, Bobby?

Bobby (40:33)
was really looking forward to putting together a reel for some of our fans to follow along that maybe don't actually listen to the podcast. It was going be consecutive reels of the clues that were given. So then they can try to see how long until they can answer it. And I can't do that now. just going to... Yeah, I suppose I could. I suppose I could.

Chris (40:48)
No, well,

Dan (40:48)
I just gave all the rest of my clues, so you can use them. Just do it as sequence.

Chris (40:52)
there you go or you can just say start it with me just guessing it right away that's even better so real quick there so jjjp gambit ease on guess this is twitter might be blue sky on now so he writes here the myer he sure nason line is untouchable because of how incredibly

Dan (40:55)
Ha

Bobby (40:59)
yeah.

Dan (41:02)
That was awesome. Good job.

Chris (41:13)
how incredible they've performed but I think it's more than reasonable to say that Jack and Brat need a compliment by season's end. Let's look at some potential early top six fits for the New Jersey Devils. So he has a couple of guys. The first guy he has and I love this guy Alex Tuck from Buffalo. So he's a right wing. He's got two years left at 4.75.

Dan (41:27)
I like it.

Chris (41:43)
He's saying 2.375 at 50 % so if you get Buffalo to retain 50. So Alex Tuck has played 480 games. He has 139 goals, 200 assists, 339 points. He's a career plus 49. This year he played 26 games with 8 goals, 16 assists, 24 points. He's a plus 10 on a mediocre to below average Buffalo Sabre team.

But the thing I really like about him is he's 6 foot 4, 219 pounds. If I'm on your shoulders, yes. So yeah, he's 6 foot 4, 219 pounds. Just picture a guy of that size. And we've seen Alex Tuck play a lot. And he's a grinder. He is taller. And I don't think Alex...

Bobby (42:17)
That's what I was going to ask.

Tony (42:19)
That is my height.

Bobby (42:23)
Shit.

Dan (42:34)
You know who's taller? Kevin Ball, 6'6". I happen to have that in front of me right now. Never got to that. She was 6'7", which is weird. Ottawa, 6'7".

Tony (42:38)
You know his sister played hockey too for Kevin Ball. Jesus, that's a woman.

Chris (42:41)
I don't think that Alex Tuck played for the Ottawa 67s though. The Ottawa 6'7".

Dan (42:47)
No.

Tony (42:48)
Hahaha

Bobby (42:49)
I haven't watched this guy enough though, like how's his wheels?

Chris (42:53)
Like what kind of cars you drive? in Buffalo it's probably a four-wheel drive. Definitely not a C5. Who the fuck was that that got shipped over to Calgary for the Matthew Kuchukkert trade? Why can I not think of it? No, who was it? Sir Jonathan Huberto. And he was playing in Florida and he has like a...

Tony (42:53)
What are you talking?

Dan (42:55)
He drives a C5.

Bobby (42:56)
Yeah, of course. Some kind of chuck? How's he on the ice? You know, anybody recall?

Tony (42:56)
You

Who, balls?

Dan (43:02)
Yeah.

Bobby (43:12)
Hubertow? Jonathan Hubertow?

Dan (43:12)
Kevin Ball, he went to Calgary.

Chris (43:18)
Corvette collection. I he's got like eight or ten Corvettes and then he got traded to Calgary where he can never drive his Corvettes.

Dan (43:25)
Whoops. There's like one day in the summer that's okay. As long as it doesn't rain. Yeah.

Tony (43:25)
Yeah

Chris (43:27)
You

Bobby (43:28)
Yeah, in a three week window.

Chris (43:30)
So, I mean, I like that, and I don't think that you'd have to give up a ton, but he writes here, Buffalo is struggling again and they might want to move on from the 28-year-old tuck to focus on their young guns. He's huge, fast, plays with an edge, and can score great at finding space for open passes. He's a career 52.8 % above expected goals. I don't know if that's right, but...

Dan (43:59)
I like it.

Chris (43:59)
The second guy that he has on here is on another team that's...

Bobby (44:03)
Sounds good.

Dan (44:05)
Yeah, I'm sold already. I'm sold a tuck already, you sold me.

Bobby (44:09)
Yeah, it really does sound like a good fit.

Chris (44:10)
Drake Batherson right wing he's got three years at four point nine seven four point nine seven five so two and a half basically if you if you take a bottle or retains half and he writes Ottawa as much like Buffalo and could use a potential retool Batherson meanwhile is an excellent shooter playing well in their top six he's only 26 and is signed at a great price now let me just look up his numbers real quick career wise

Alright, Batherson career 334 games, 99 goals, 153 assists for 252 points. He's a minus 72 on his career. I mean on a bad Ottawa team this year, 25 games, nine goals, 18 assists, 27 points and is a minus one. Drake Batherson is also a big boy. 6'3", 203 pounds.

I still would prefer Alex Tuck.

Bobby (45:09)
Yeah, all things being equal right now. I'll give it to him.

Dan (45:11)
mean the numbers sound a little better.

Tony (45:12)
Yeah.

Chris (45:12)
Tom, what do you think?

Tony (45:15)
No, I agree I would take a talk also.

Dan (45:17)
Even the plus minus, and I know Ottawa's bad team, but Buffalo's not so great either. Yeah, exactly. And he's a plus. Yeah.

Chris (45:19)
So's Buffalo. So's Buffalo and he's put, and he put up, Jared McCann is the third guy he has. Jared McCann is, where is he now? Who's he played for now? Is he also on Ottawa?

Bobby (45:20)
That's a D, that's big minus. Yeah, that's true.

I read the article too, I thought there was, can.

Dan (45:35)
Let's face it, that's kind of requirement. You're gonna play with that line. You need somebody who's defensively responsible to balance shit out.

Chris (45:42)
That's very true. You need a big guy. I mean, I think a big guy. McCann. We just saw him last night. He plays for Seattle. I didn't even realize that. Jared McCann is a left wing center. He has three years at five million. So two and a half if you split it. And he rates Seattle sucks, honestly. But McCann is one of the league's most underrated shooters. He can shoot from anywhere, has a lightning fast release, is a great one-time threat, and is a two-way player at just 28 years old. I like that.

Dan (45:45)
You know, yeah.

Chris (46:11)
His career is 614 games, 172 goals, 188 assists for 360 points. He's a plus 13. This year he's played 28 games, 10 goals, 13 assists, 23 points and is a plus 5. He's 6'1", 191 pounds. Doesn't necessarily have the size of a Batherson or a Tuck, but he can shoot, he can play both ways. Yeah, yeah.

Bobby (46:40)
a lot of goals.

Chris (46:41)
I mean,

Dan (46:43)
I got untied for second now in our three-way race so far.

Chris (46:45)
So you would take Jair McHan over Drake Batherson and under Alex Tuck.

I'll tie it for a second.

Bobby (46:52)
You said tie for a second, right? Yeah.

Dan (46:54)
Yeah, with the right flip of the coin. Maybe over though. If I have to choose, I'm taking him second, yeah.

Tony (47:03)
Still going with Tuck.

Chris (47:05)
Yeah, I'm still with Tuck on this one. The next guy he has is an Islander, Brock Nelson. He's left wing, center. He has one year left at $6 million. The Islanders are probably the worst team in the Metro division this year, and Nelson, a UFA, is likely garnering a lot of traction. Like McCann, he's one of the league's most underrated shooters, 30 goals plus in each of the last three years. So Brock Nelson.

Dan (47:05)
definitely.

Mm.

Chris (47:33)
Is 6'4, he's 210 pounds, he's played 867 career games, 285 goals, 263 assists, 548 points is a plus 6. This year he's played 27 games, 10 goals, 7 assists, 17 points, and a minus 1 this year. I like Brock Nelson. I mean, I've seen him a lot. What?

Tony (47:57)
That would be my second. That would be my second. do. We wait for seeing Nelson play a lot. All of us.

Dan (48:03)
Yeah, we get to see him. like I know him a little bit better, so I almost want to put him second, but I'm totally forgetting who I wanted second after Batherson, like over Batherson. That was McCann. That I'm not so sure. I might put, keep McCann over him and put Nelson third. I'm still with Tuck.

Chris (48:11)
McCann.

Well, before we go any further, before we go any further, let's look at, Bobby, do you have the Eastern Conference standings right now? Can you pop them up? I just want to see where these teams are. Like, do any of these teams actually have a shot of making the playoffs right now where they're going to, you know, maybe not dump these guys? I think the Islanders are, the Isles are out. We know that.

Bobby (48:31)
One more

Dan (48:45)
I don't know about the Isles. Yeah. exactly. Ottawa?

Bobby (48:46)
Alright, I got it.

Chris (48:47)
I know Seattle's not making the playoffs, so Jair McHen is, you know, probably going to be on the block. So it's basically Ottawa and Buffalo.

I think that there are only a couple of points out right now. I don't think they can make it. I think that they're too inconsistent and I think Ottawa is...

Dan (48:59)
You think Buffalo can make it?

Yeah.

Right, I don't think they're gonna make a rundown at the end. I don't know, I could be wrong.

Bobby (49:12)
Right now Ottawa is two games out of last spot held by Tampa with 28 points. Ottawa has played two more games than Tampa.

Chris (49:18)
And how many points out is Ottawa? Two out of a wild card right now.

Bobby (49:23)
Two. Two out of a wild card, but they played two more, yeah.

Dan (49:26)
But yeah, the person above them have, yeah, two points, two games at hand.

Chris (49:26)
Alright, so it's basically six points. What's Buffalo?

Bobby (49:33)
Buffalo is 25 points, just one less point, and they've played three more games than Tampa.

Chris (49:39)
Okay, so I would say that if they don't have a good December these guys are definitely, you You know, you might be able to make something happen with these guys the next guy he has on here I'm gonna say that I'm out before I even read them, but I'll see what you guys think he has Claude Giroux Center left wing right wing play any forward position. He has one year left at six and a half million

Bobby (49:51)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (50:04)
And he says Ottawa could also move on from Giroud who's now 36. It would require a third team for bit of retention. Still fast enough and one of the smartest players in the NHL plus on face-offs. What?

Dan (50:16)
Sounds like Pilate part two. Sounds like Pilate part two.

Chris (50:18)
Kinda does, right?

Tony (50:21)
And I don't think Jerusalem, the devil's lake. was something I remember with this guy that he didn't want no part of New Jersey when there, I think the last time he was moved to Ottawa, there was some kind of thing going on. thought.

Dan (50:28)
when he was a flyer.

Chris (50:30)
Well, I mean, he was like for how many years did he hate New Jersey playing in Philly? he's only five foot 11. He's 180 pounds. I think with that line, you got to get more wood size, but he does have 1207 games played 700. I'm sorry. 356 goals, 727 assists, 1,083 points is a career plus 24. This year he's played 25 games, six goals, 11 assists, 17 points and is even.

Dan (50:36)
Yeah.

Tony (50:37)
I could be wrong, but...

Chris (51:00)
So, what do you guys think, Claude Giroux?

Dan (51:05)
Thanks of cheesesteak, no good.

Chris (51:07)
Hahaha!

Bobby (51:09)
I think he could probably advance his stats of course playing on that line but right now he's instantly my number five out the people you've mentioned.

Chris (51:17)
tone.

Tony (51:20)
Yeah, no, not interested.

Chris (51:21)
This guy's interesting. talked about him a little bit last show. Kyle Palmeri. Right wing. He has one year left at five million. The Islanders will also likely move on from ex-devil Palmeri. And how fun would that be? Pair that with the fact that he's still a good player and a shooting threat and there could be a reunion. So Kyle Palmeri, 845 games, 256 career goals, 243 assists.

499 points a career minus eight this year. He's played all 27 games for the Islander He's got a nice tighty stat line of 10 10 for 20 and he's minus 2 this year Kyle Paul Mary 511 190 pounds. We know him better than anybody else on this list I've already said I'm against retreads. Don't bring him back. But what do you guys think of Kyle Paul Mary?

Dan (52:13)
Yeah.

Tony (52:14)
You know, I'm going to say that, I agree with you somewhat Chris on the retread thing, but for some reason, know, if you say if you bring in somebody and it is Kyle Palmeri, say if we win the cup this year, we make a nice playoff run. I could picture him actually doing a couple things in the during that run that is, you know, pretty big. Kyle Palmeri is a good player still. They are right. He's not, you know, he's still a decent player and the fans love him.

I definitely get the retread thing, but I wouldn't totally be against it. He is someone I can see putting in a big goal in a game four of a series or a game three of a series, you know.

Chris (52:47)
He is a big game player, you're right. And he had his best years with New Jersey and he's right now the Islanders best player.

Bobby (52:47)
Yeah.

Dan (52:49)
Yeah. yeah.

Of the former Devils that are out there, I think you could do worse on a retread. I'm maybe Coleman a little bit better fit, but you know what I like about him is that he's always been defensively responsible, which I said that line needs some of that, you know, in addition to having this, you know, playmaking.

Chris (53:14)
Do you think so now? Do you think though that that line needs defensive responsibility? Like I think that Jack and Brat have been fantastic defensively.

Dan (53:21)
I think a little bit. think it gives, they've been playing great. They've been playing great, but I do think it gives them a little bit of freedom to like, if you have a player who knows he's going to pick up the slack when they go pinching, you know, deep and make the, yeah, a little bit, a little bit, you know, I don't, I'm not saying I want somebody who is more concerned about, you know, you know,

Bobby (53:36)
Yeah, little more safety net there, yeah.

Chris (53:48)
Right.

Dan (53:48)
You know what I mean. I want a playmaker who's also defensively responsible, has some of that in him. I don't want a guy with a huge minus out there and scores a lot of goals, but it's a huge minus. I think that's a bad fit. So that's the only nice thing about Paul Murray. Other than that, you know, like it is, he's another guy, Twilight career. And I don't know if that's the best fit to play with these guys. I really don't. I think it's, I think if anything has hurt plot, it, you know,

other than his own age creeping up on him and is playing with these newer players. I don't know if I want like a 36 year old guy doing it. I really feel like I'd like to get a guy a little bit younger who's got those other qualities that you know these guys do at least on paper like Paul Mary.

Chris (54:35)
Well, Andre Pallat, 776 games played in his career. He's got 165 goals, 320 assists for 485 points. He's a plus 142. So he's giving you that defensive responsibility for that third guy on that line. And I think that Jack and Brad have been fantastic on defense this year. This year, he's played all 28 games. He has three goals, five assists, eight points, and is a minus one. So...

Dan (54:56)
They have, they have.

Chris (55:02)
These are not Andre Pallott-like numbers. And maybe Andre Pallott goes to another team and it clicks. I don't know what it is with just him being a devil right now, but I would take Drake Batherson, Jair McHan, and Alex Tuck, and Kyle Palmieri over Andre Pallott right now.

Bobby (55:05)
Thank

Dan (55:26)
So you pull the trigger for a pulmary. That's the one I was like fence-sitting on, but I agree with you with the other three.

Chris (55:28)
I would over Palau, yeah, I mean I'd rather get...

And because you you're talking about like Tony said we've seen him he's a you know he'll score big goals he's a tough dude he gets in the dirty areas he does a lot of that shitty work and he's good at it and so I wouldn't like I said don't want retreads he's a little long in the tooth but if you you could probably get a deal done with the Islanders easier than Ottawa and Buffalo right now because the Islanders are done.

Dan (55:47)
Yes.

Yeah, and of all the area teams, that's the one we were more likely to make trades with. For whatever reason, know, the Isles, we seem to do that sometimes over the years. Yeah, yeah, even before that though, we would trade with the Isles way more than the Rangers or the Flyers or you know.

Chris (56:09)
Yeah, I mean...

Well, Lou and you know, that's a big thing, know, so I mean...

Yeah. So out of all of them guys, who do you, who would you want to make a move with?

Bobby (56:31)
To me, Tuck still stands out as the number one option. Almost to a man, any one of those guys, give or take the situation, if it were straight up replacement, I can probably see them all fitting in. I we were just talking about Paul Mary. The one thing I think I'd like about him is I think he'd really be the one guy on this list that can come in and be like, I know what I have to do, and I'm just gonna do that. I'm gonna do just that and make sure I don't fuck anything up.

Dan (56:31)
Talk talk. Yeah

Bobby (57:00)
Let them do their thing. Kind of take the pressure off. Remember when he was here, he was our leading scorer. He was the guy. He's nowhere near needed to be the guy now.

Tony (57:05)
He's not gonna fuck up the chemistry.

Chris (57:05)
You're right. Well he's... He's played with a lot of these guys already.

Bobby (57:11)
Right. I joked on the last show, like I'd probably stay away from him a little bit. But again, on a one to one situation, if you ask me, like it plots out and he comes in, are we better for this year for the one year he's got left on the contract? Yeah, I think we would be. But preference on this list is tough.

Dan (57:12)
Yeah, yeah, anybody but Jiru would work though.

Yeah, I like what Tony said too about the Palmieri. Yeah, definitely, but Palmieri if somehow you know in the playoffs I could see him. You know, really doing adding something special. You know that's possibility, which is kind of cool to think about. Yeah.

Bobby (57:36)
He could do, he can get hot for a whole round. There's no doubt about it.

Tony (57:40)
Well, that's like if the question Chris is like my heart says Paul Mary, mean, talk is probably the would be the best choice. I would guess if you would actually I don't even hate the Nelson thing. I mean, like I said, I mean, yeah, but I would go if you ask me if my heart would lean over to Paul Mary, because like I said, I still think he's got good hockey in him. And I think him coming in the locker room, he's played with a lot of these guys before, like we were saying earlier, he's

Dan (57:47)
Yeah.

Chris (57:51)
No, I don't hate Brock Nelson either, I'm with ya.

Dan (57:53)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tony (58:06)
He's not gonna come in there and cause issues. think he would fit in very well, pump up the fan base. mean, you know, like I said, do we need it? I don't know if we need it really at all, but yeah.

Bobby (58:16)
He was a good devil and he liked being a devil. That trade was different. Yeah, he did. He really did. He did everything he could for this team when he was here.

Tony (58:19)
That's the ones I like. He liked being a devil.

We bring up Paul sometimes and he just didn't feel like he wanted to be a devil. I mean, you think of Paul Mary or even Henrique, think, you know, when they got moved, how they were emotional about it, you know, I is it the kind of guys that's you kind of love them on the team a little bit.

Chris (58:40)
Alex Tuck has played for...

Has he only played for Buffalo? no, he's with Vegas, Buffalo, and Minnesota. he had, did he win the Cup with Vegas? When did Vegas win the Cup? No, he didn't win the Cup with Vegas, sorry. So his career postseason stats. Let's just look at this real quick. If can find them.

Dan (58:50)
Ottawa 67

Chris (59:13)
to give me one second playoffs okay so in 2017 18 2018 19 19 20 and 20 21 he played all four years with Vegas made the playoffs so his career playoffs he played 66 games 19 goals 14 assists for 33 points he was let me see I was just plus mine it's not that it matters but I can't find it right here

So that's his career in the postseason. Not terrible. Yeah. And I think a guy like Alex Tuck just being that big, that strong, that well skilled, like just him on that line, I just think becomes scary. I mean, we talk a lot about a guy like Brady Kachuk and everything. And I know Brady Kachuk brings a completely different element.

Bobby (59:49)
He scores every third game... roughly.

Chris (1:00:09)
but I Alex Tuck can fit in really good with this and you'll be giving up a hell of a lot less. You're not talking Mercer and Nemech and Pilat for Alex Tuck.

Bobby (1:00:21)
and big body, but you know, the reason I asked about his wheels, because there is like, you know, the offensive kind of triangle formation, right, of the three working together. So he can't be just, you know, an anchor back there, like, flat and just not moving because depending on where the other, where there's other two are going, he's got to be part of it. So again, I don't know anything about his speed. I certainly don't think it's a hindrance either way based on the stats that you're talking about and that size with them and, and just as offensive capability, like that really does seem like an awesome fit.

Dan (1:00:29)
Mm-hmm.

Bobby (1:00:50)
It's kind of making me feel the way I felt like the very first time you brought up Tim O'Meara like two years ago. And I was like, yeah, you know, that really seemed like that would be a good fit. That's the feeling I'm getting with this guy right here.

Chris (1:00:59)
Now does it worry you that a big guy, power forward type of guy didn't work in Timo Meyer? With Jack, I'm saying.

Dan (1:01:06)
That didn't work out. have a team on. Because I totally agree with that. Yeah, like that is an interesting thing. Like I do. It boggles my mind. Like who are the who is the best player to play with these guys? You know, it's it's trickier than I think.

Bobby (1:01:11)
Right.

Chris (1:01:20)
You know, is it another guy like them? You know, if that's the case, the closest guy on that list would be Kyle Palmeri.

Dan (1:01:31)
I think Bob's onto something with the speed, right? You need a guy who can be in motion and play with speed.

Chris (1:01:38)
Well, Alex Tuck's got it.

Bobby (1:01:40)
but also know he doesn't have to come in here and save anybody. So it's kind of an interesting dynamic there.

Chris (1:01:44)
I think the Devils, this team right now, with not making any moves can make a really deep playoff run. I absolutely think so. But when you look at maybe one move, two moves in the off season, if Fitzgerald does it right, that can kind of just solidify you as that legit Stanley Cup contender for years to come. That's what I'm hoping he does.

Bobby (1:01:55)
I agree.

Chris (1:02:10)
and I hope it's somebody like well, what did we say that tux? Contract was how many more years did he have Disney?

Dan (1:02:20)
You said two?

Bobby (1:02:21)
2.37 would be the average assuming 50%. I don't remember the years. But I think it was more than one. Okay, so got some control.

Chris (1:02:25)
So he has, yeah, he has two years left. So you're getting tuck with two. Yeah. And I like that. I don't just want to have a guy that's a rental. Drake Batherson has three years left at under 5 million a year. And that's another thing. If you want to, you know, a guy with a little bit longer term, Jared McCann also has three years left. And then you get to Brock Nelson, who would be a rental, Claude, Claude Drew would be a rental. Kyle Palmieri would be a rental.

So, you know, I guess it depends on what Fitz is looking for. Does he want to say, I want the rental this year, let's see how it works. And then maybe I'll look for something more permanent. If it does work, I'd look to sign them at the end of the year. Or do you lock up, you know, take somebody that's got some term.

Bobby (1:03:12)
How about I propose this to you? So none of this 50 % retained stuff. Pilots not going anywhere, but you can trade Mercer for Tuck, serve him right in, throw Pilot down the third line. You do it. You're losing two more years of term on Mercer at $4 million, who's a great serviceable player. But just given the way we started this podcast, I'm just curious, do you consider it? Do you think that makes you more likely to win a Stanley Cup in the next two years?

Chris (1:03:25)
Hmm.

That's a good question. Right now, Tuck has 8 goals and 16 assists. Dawson Mercer is sitting at 6 goals, 8 assists. you know, they're pretty close, talking about 16 points to 14 points. Mercer's younger.

Bobby (1:03:55)
Good luck.

Dan (1:03:59)
It's gotta work though. It's gotta work. that chemistry doesn't add up, you're gonna regret this move, but I think I have to do it.

Chris (1:04:05)
Contracts around the same right?

Lindy likes Dawson Mercer.

Bobby (1:04:11)
Yeah, that's why I brought up so we can fit Tuck's contract in if we got rid of Mercer's for a million with our whatever we got left on just under a million or whatever it is.

Chris (1:04:19)
I don't know enough about Tuck's game. Does he play the penalty kill? you know, does he do things like that? Because you you don't want to you don't want to miss that and not replace it. You don't want to get rid of what he does bring defensively. Mercer. So I don't know. got to I would have to look into that a little bit more. But if let's say Tuck does play a penalty kill and he's more on the special team, second power play unit, things like that.

Dan (1:04:34)
Sure.

Right.

Chris (1:04:49)
I would, I would definitely consider it. yeah, I mean, I would consider it. What about you guys?

Dan (1:05:01)
I'd love to see him play more. feel like I don't know enough about him to, cause that's a tough call. Cause he brought up a good point. Mercer does offer this team a lot and I do like, know, this two way play that he brings, especially on penalty kill. that, you know, do you really want to do that? But if the goal is to get that line going and, you know, move Palat to fill in the

the gap that will be left in the third line, I guess you got to do it, you know, for even money. It's basically what he's proposing.

Chris (1:05:32)
You know, like, the crazy thing is, you're saying like, to get that line going, that line's going. So imagine when you get that line really going, like when you get that third piece that completely complements it, they could be deadly.

Bobby (1:05:40)
Yeah, the line's going. Right.

Dan (1:05:42)
No, yeah, just get it optimized. Yeah, let's put it that way. Yeah.

Yeah. But you know, that's interesting because when you think about it, the think of the best lines ever, there's always two that stand out more than the third. You know what I mean? And and it's always going to be that way. Now, look, is plot underperforming? Yeah. But do you want to break the bank to get that third person that played with, you know, Yager Lemieux? You know, well, he was too bad. But you know what I'm saying? Like that, that I don't know if I want to break my team.

Chris (1:05:57)
Sure.

Bobby (1:05:59)
Yes, so is more about the pair, yep.

Chris (1:06:14)
Peter Cicora is what you're saying. That's what you're saying. You want to break the bank for Peter Cicora.

Dan (1:06:18)
Yeah, don't know if exactly. Exactly. I think that's a good point.

Tony (1:06:22)
Like all those guys that Chris mentioned, still don't know if I would as much as I like this guy or that guy. I don't know if I would move Mercer to get any of them.

Bobby (1:06:30)
Okay.

Dan (1:06:30)
Yeah, it's tough. It's a tough call. You made a good point. I got to see exactly what we'd be getting back because that's given up a lot.

Bobby (1:06:37)
If I'm the GM and I'm even considering this like it's on the whiteboard It's something to look at as the season progresses I would work with my head coach and be like we got to figure out a way To see a little bit of more of Mercer on that line because I'd want to know I really would want to know I know the type of player we're talking about that we want playing with Jack and Brad I get that But before I would consider shipping him off literally and thinking the idea of the type of guy that I want Playing with them. I would legit give the guy another shot

Dan (1:06:43)
Mm-hmm. Sure.

Bobby (1:07:06)
It absolutely can't hurt compared to plot right now. Jack and Brad are going to continue to do their thing. They can score with the best in the league. Their defense, as we pointed out, has become way better than anyone ever thought it was going to be. There's literally no harm in trying that.

Dan (1:07:20)
True, yeah.

Chris (1:07:21)
But there kinda is, because the line is playing so well right now, even with what we consider Pilots deficiencies, know, that is that, well, it's not like they're not producing. It's not like every night we're going, you know, when's Jack gonna get going? Like, Jack is going, Jasper Pratt is going.

Bobby (1:07:44)
Would you think they're going to stop going just because Mercer's playing with them? Like, I don't think so. That's what I mean.

Chris (1:07:48)
I don't... I mean they played with them for a while already and they weren't going the way... Yeah...

Dan (1:07:49)
I get your point there. Yeah, like how could it hurt? That's what Bob's saying.

Bobby (1:07:55)
different team when that was happening. Jack and Brad are on a different level than they were back then. They really are.

Chris (1:07:58)
I mean Dawson Mercer got, you know, thrown into the fourth line last night. You know, he's not gonna get up there. It's not happening.

Bobby (1:08:04)
I know.

Dan (1:08:05)
I know, but Chris, think about what you're saying. You can't really have both ways though. If Pilats underperforming, you can't say he's the secret sauce in this line. You know what I mean? It's like.

Chris (1:08:13)
I'm not. But I'm saying I don't think Mercer's the answer is what I'm saying. Like, you know...

Dan (1:08:19)
I get you. I get your misgivings there. Like, I have this feeling that for whatever reason, he's just not gonna be a great fit for them. But I understand what Bob's saying. Like, maybe now's the time to try a little bit.

Bobby (1:08:32)
And I agree with that, Dan. I do. I think long term, that's maybe not the way it's going to go. I'm just thinking you got to kind of know more because otherwise in a grander scheme, we joke, we kind of have joke about like the Brady situation and trade, but literally if there were any possibility of doing like a plot where we retain and given a Mercer and given a NEMEC and given a second round pick or whatever it is, I'd really want to know what I have in Mercer one more time.

Chris (1:08:59)
not not when it comes to brady kichuck i'd make that move in a heartbeat yeah i would do it in a heartbeat it's a known quantity you know what he brings and i think brady kichuck is going to be an animal when he gets into the playoffs the man has never played a playoff game and i have to say that like these this talk is nice and this is probably the

Bobby (1:09:03)
No, I would do that package that I just said. I would do that right now. I would do that right now. Yeah.

Chris (1:09:26)
This is probably what will be made, something of this stature, not a Brady Kachuk trade, because I'm not sure if Ottawa... The only way Ottawa moves off Brady Kachuk is if Brady Kachuk says, want out. And he hasn't said that yet.

Bobby (1:09:42)
Yeah, like no matter what you're going to do, I'm not going to stay here. I want out. Yeah, right.

Chris (1:09:44)
Right. Find me the best place, you know, the best deal for you, and if I okay it, I'll go. Now, there's the talk already of the Rangers trying to... The Rangers, in my opinion, they do not have any of the capital to go and get Brady Kachuk. I see if you... And I don't know their farm system that well, but I do know that it would most likely be their entire third line.

It would be, you know, Kapo, Cooley and Hedl shipped up to Ottawa and you do that for one guy, you can forget about making any noise if you make the playoffs. And so I think the Rangers is a pipe dream. I do believe there is no better fit for Brady Kachuk than New Jersey. I don't think there's another team that I can think of at top of my head that can offer Ottawa what New Jersey can. It just makes

perfect sense. It really does.

Dan (1:10:43)
Do you think the Kachuk family, with Matthew and his father, do you think they need to be the star of the show? Do you think there'll be a little word coming in where it's like, the devils are, like their Jack's team and, do you think there's any of that going on? Yeah, that's true. That's true. Yeah, that's a good point. But I mean, do you think like he's looking for a place to be the man and without, right.

Chris (1:10:55)
well first of all Brady and Jack are like this number one

Bobby (1:10:57)
That's what not on this team because I think they're too good a friend with Jack. Yep

Chris (1:11:06)
He is in a place where he's the man. And they're doing nothing!

Dan (1:11:11)
But mean, another place where he could work out as the man. I don't think that's the Rangers either, but you know what I'm saying.

Chris (1:11:13)
I mean, if I'm Brady Kachuk, I want to play in the playoffs and I want to try and win a Stanley Cup. Matthew Kachuk went to Florida. He wasn't the man. You had Barkov, Reinhardt, Bennett, all these guys were there. And he brought an element to that team that they needed desperately, but it wasn't...

Dan (1:11:20)
I agree, yeah.

Right. He did make that his team pretty quickly though. He made that his team.

Tony (1:11:29)
But he was the man, though.

Bobby (1:11:31)
He became the man. Sure.

Chris (1:11:37)
you in other words he didn't come in just take over he brought his game there and it was something they needed brady kachak

Dan (1:11:42)
No. It was kind of a shock. And I feel like last year they kind of integrated, you know, better. No, no.

Tony (1:11:44)
But here's the question for you guys. Do they win? Does Florida win without him? I don't think so. Not at all.

Chris (1:11:48)
No, not at all. Not at all. But because the entire team took his personality and ran with it. Now, Brady also doesn't have that more like he's a little bit more reserved as far as you know, he plays with a chip on his shoulder just like Matthew Kachuk. He'll fight I think more than Matthew Kachuk. I think he's a great goal scorer. He does everything.

Bobby (1:11:50)
No.

Dan (1:12:00)
Yeah, he's different.

Bobby (1:12:02)
Yeah, it's not Matthew. Yeah.

Chris (1:12:14)
And he's on a team now that he's floundering and not going to make the playoffs again this year. And how many more years until Brady? Right. So you got. And, look at Ottawa, right? They need pieces. They need young pieces. know that Travis Green, you know, knows our team. He knows Nemec, he knows Mercer, he knows what they're going to bring. He was happy with them.

Bobby (1:12:23)
Probably not next year.

Dan (1:12:26)
If I'm him I want to come. I agree.

Chris (1:12:39)
maybe you can make the move. Brady Kachuck is building a house in New Jersey, married a Jersey girl, is cousins with Tom Fitzgerald, like this makes perfect frickin' sense.

Bobby (1:12:50)
We literally have pieces that we kind of need to give out because they're blocked. We got good pieces that are blocked. Like, and this is what championship teams do. Eventually you got to sell high end prospects to keep you. I mean, you were talking about having a competitive window, an actual Stanley Cup competitive window for six to eight years. You know, talk about kicks at the can. Like if the Rangers were offering them something, here, you're going to have a kick or two. And yeah, and then you'll still have Shastrk in there.

Chris (1:12:53)
Right.

Dan (1:12:54)
He likes pork roll.

Yeah, hates pumping gas.

Tony (1:13:12)
kid row fan.

Bobby (1:13:17)
So you never know when you're gonna go on like a long run, but be realistic. Look at the six to eight year trend right now, New Jersey or New York. Which one's going up? I mean, it's very simple.

Chris (1:13:24)
yeah, yeah. Look, the only thing that worries me is like, Tom Pichetto couldn't get Matthew Kachuk here. You know, is there, but like I said, he's gonna live in New Jersey, you know what I mean? It just makes perfect sense. So if there's ever a time, and I think that's also probably more of an off season move because there is gonna be a lot of parts.

Dan (1:13:36)
Right.

Chris (1:13:52)
you know it's not going to be something i think you can just look at me say yeah brady kuchuck said that well i think there will be a lot more involved

Dan (1:14:00)
Yeah, but you said his in-laws live here New Jersey. That's that could be bad.

Chris (1:14:04)
What is in like marriage or is girl? Yeah

Dan (1:14:07)
Yeah, yeah, but he might not want to see it. I don't know if it was in loss.

Chris (1:14:08)
He's building a house in, I think, Manasquan.

Dan (1:14:13)
All right, cool. can carpool to the games. It'd be awesome.

Chris (1:14:15)
Yeah, so I'm just, I just don't know of any other team that can offer Ottawa what we can. I don't know any other fit that is better than Brady Kachuk playing on a line with Jesper, Brett and Jack Hughes.

Dan (1:14:28)
Seriously, I mean I totally agree like what other opportunities you're get out there I was just trying to play devil's advocate I think this is a golden opportunity for a player like him. What a great fit, you know, I I really hope something like that works out I gotta say that's

Bobby (1:14:43)
I mean, this could literally like flip his legacy. Like you can't predict too far. We might not even win a cup in the next eight years, you know, because it's still very hard, but imagine if we do, we win multiple and he comes here like.

Dan (1:14:54)
And did we dream up exactly what we'd be willing to give away for this? Because it's going to be a lot.

Chris (1:14:58)
Well Bobby said it before, know, was Mercer, Nemec, Pilat, we retained 50.

Dan (1:15:03)
Mercer?

Bobby (1:15:03)
That's my starting point. mean Mercer, Nemec, a high pick, second or first, maybe. And then Pilat and all that just to kind of help us out in the deal. We'll give you, we'll give Ottawa what they really want, but now you gotta do something for us, you know.

Dan (1:15:13)
Yeah. Yeah. What is, what does Ottawa want there? I got to take plot.

Chris (1:15:17)
I mean if Ottawa was getting a you know Ottawa was getting a defenseman like Nemec who has a lot of upside I know he's struggling this year but he has it yeah

Bobby (1:15:20)
Sure, then we keep them.

Dan (1:15:22)
It could be a good fit for them, I'd be honest with you.

yeah, Nebich is gonna be in this package, which is sad because you'd love to keep him in organization, but I realize he's like our biggest blue chip that we're not using.

Bobby (1:15:35)
Him or Casey as far as defense, yeah.

Chris (1:15:36)
I want to keep Casey though, I I would, I mean if it was for Brady Kachuck, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think Seamus Casey's gonna be a stud.

Dan (1:15:37)
Yeah, Kate, yeah.

Yeah, over overnumage, definitely.

Bobby (1:15:47)
But I'd be fine with either one if it really truly meant Brady could come here.

Dan (1:15:50)
It's close in my mind. It's heartbreaking to lose either one, I think.

Tony (1:15:52)
Hmm.

Chris (1:15:53)
Tom, who would you part with?

Tony (1:15:54)
Thank you.

Probably Nemitz and.

I think I would queue hang on to Casey. I have to agree with that.

Chris (1:16:03)
Yeah, me too.

Tony (1:16:08)
I hate to more, yeah.

Bobby (1:16:09)
So that would be preferred, right? But that means that's the GM probably wants to.

Dan (1:16:10)
Tough though.

Tony (1:16:13)
They're going to ask for more believe me it's going to be way that's a that's our dream price tag because it's going to be a lot steeper than that.

Bobby (1:16:14)
Right. Yeah.

Dan (1:16:15)
They want both of those guys. Yeah.

Chris (1:16:18)
But you're getting the player, know? All right, so before we wrap it up, just quick thoughts. Anybody want to give a prediction for tomorrow's game against the Avalanche? I'm super excited about this game. I love Colorado. They are probably my favorite Western Conference team. And anytime I get a chance to watch... my God, I can't even remember his name. I'm so freaking tired right now. Nate McKinnon, thank you. McKinnon Play. I mean, he's just an animal.

Tony (1:16:21)
Yep. Got a gift to get.

Dan (1:16:44)
Patrick Waugh.

Chris (1:16:47)
So I think this is gonna be a Yeah, he goes there

Dan (1:16:51)
Every time Bobby goes to Denver, he goes to a game and sees the Avalanche.

Tony (1:16:55)
for two devils.

Chris (1:16:55)
Wow, okay.

Bobby (1:16:57)
Yeah. Four, two devils, three, two with an empty net. This could be a close one. It's going to be a tight one. I mean, yeah, we never, we didn't talk about this, but Markstrom surely gets the start, but we're on this cadence now every other day. Like when does Jake Allen get in? I'm just curious, you know, cause he's got Avalanche, Toronto, Kings. Where does he get in? He's got to get in,

Tony (1:17:15)
Kings.

Chris (1:17:17)
Real quick, before we get off, I just want to do something. Who do we have? Colorado and who?

Dan (1:17:18)
Thanks.

Tony (1:17:23)
Sick bastard.

Bobby (1:17:27)
Leafs and then the Kings.

Chris (1:17:28)
the Kings.

Dan (1:17:31)
Put Alan with the kinks.

Bobby (1:17:33)
So that's a long break for him. I agree. That's a long break for him, but that's fine.

Dan (1:17:41)
It doesn't matter if they want to split up other ways. It's not going to ruin everything, but that's just what I would frame these three.

Chris (1:17:46)
Well, I'm, you guys, I-I start Jake Allen tomorrow.

Jacob Markstrom is 7'5 and won in 13 games against the Colorado Avalanche with a goals against of 2.59 and a save percentage of 914. Those are really good numbers, but I think Jacob, Jake Allen's are better.

Dan (1:17:53)
Yeah. Why is that? You see the schedule thing?

Chris (1:18:12)
Jake Allen is 10-6-3 in 22 games against the Avalanche with a 2.45 goals against average and a 9-26%. You play Jake Allen tomorrow.

Tony (1:18:13)
Your well Christmas.

Bobby (1:18:27)
You could play him tomorrow because then that gives you Markstrom for the Leafs and the Kings and Alan again back for Chicago maybe.

Dan (1:18:33)
What is, is Alan bad against the Kings historically? Cause if he's not, I'm still playing against for the Kings. Cause I do believe there's this team that can get in a single goal he's had. If he's actually bad with them, that's fine. But if he had success with them with different teams, you gotta take that with a grain of salt.

Chris (1:18:49)
Well, he's 6, 7, and 1 in 15 games against the Kings with a 2.34 goals against and a 926 save percentage.

Dan (1:18:57)
Eh?

Chris (1:18:59)
and

Dan (1:19:00)
All right, I you know, I get your I get your argument maybe that's the way to go but I don't know could be

Bobby (1:19:01)
Well good thing we don't need to make the decision.

Chris (1:19:06)
Well, Markstrom against the Kings.

is 12, 6, and 4 in 22 games with a 2, 8, 3 goals against and a 9, 11 save percentage.

Dan (1:19:22)
Yeah, again, you know, these things, exactly. I take them with a grain of salt, those histories. I take them with a grain of salt.

Bobby (1:19:23)
think either way we're in good hands.

Chris (1:19:23)
I think I would

I think I would play Jake Allen tomorrow night though. And I played Jake Allen and I'm going to say this is going to be an overtime game. It's going to be the only thing is their their goaltending is so bad in Colorado right now, but we're probably going to, know, anytime we go up against old goaltenders, it's probably going to be Scott Wedgwood. You know, they always, they always stand on their frigging heads against us. Yeah.

Dan (1:19:53)
Right, and he's gonna have it in for us. Look, we're gonna get black wooded. Yeah.

Chris (1:19:57)
So I'm gonna go, I say the devil's pull it off, 5-4 in overtime. Luke Hughes gets the game winner in OT.

Dan (1:20:06)
going complete.

Bobby (1:20:09)
Nice.

Dan (1:20:10)
Going the complete opposite, my favorite kind of shutout, Devils went to nothing.

Chris (1:20:13)
Do nothing? Alright, anything else you guys wanna add?

Bobby (1:20:18)
I just, a broad yes for Brett. I just want to point out one of our followers, Gianni, on one of the socials. I'm not sure. Just posted this. Just check this out real quick. So, Brett, as we know, was taken in the sixth round in 2016. He has 396 career points. The entire 2016 fourth round has 368 points. The entire 2016 fifth round, collectively,

Chris (1:20:29)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, the entire round.

Dan (1:20:45)
You collectively. Collect... Wow.

Bobby (1:20:48)
has 118 points and the entire 2016 sixth round, I'm assuming is without Bratt, is 312. So the entire sixth round, 312, Bratt alone, 396. And then the entire seventh round was like 11 points or something, absolutely ridiculous. The steal that was this guy in the sixth round is incredible.

Dan (1:20:56)
Right.

Clearly the best pick. Yeah. Seriously. He is so underrated.

Chris (1:21:10)
Well, look, whoever scouted him, whoever scouted him should have a statue outside the rock right now and got him in there. it's Bobby, me and you were at his first ever game and it was against the Avalanche and he had two goals. And I remember clearly us looking at each other. Who is this friggin dude? Who is this dude?

Dan (1:21:21)
I

Bobby (1:21:33)
It's exactly what we said. Did he have the assist too? No, it that young college defenseman had the Butcher Butcher had a couple assists and a goal or something like that too. But yeah, he had a great year. Well, yeah, we looked at his over like who is brat like we had no idea It was just a small little forward out there just flying around incredible

Dan (1:21:33)
Yeah, he's just...

think that's been his whole career. Who is this guy?

Chris (1:21:37)
That was Will Butcher, Yep. He had a great year that year, Butcher.

Dan (1:21:45)
I do believe this is the year that... Yeah?

Chris (1:21:46)
Yeah?

Dan (1:21:52)
This could be the year that the whole NHL says that because I really do feel like, you know, like we've had, we've known him for a while. We were totally amazed by him. We started setting expectations that sometimes he didn't quite meet them. And look at this year, man, he looks so on the ball. He looks like so ready to rock. And I feel like this is the year that like, because he's, he's underrated league wide. Like when you look out and national coverage stuff, yeah, they know he is, but I mean,

Chris (1:22:21)
They're starting to.

Dan (1:22:22)
I don't think people realize. yeah, it's starting and I think this is the year he's gonna step out into that stage.

Bobby (1:22:29)
They can start to and they can write it all down in their notebook, but they just can't catch them. You know, it's awesome.

Chris (1:22:32)
Yeah. I mean him and Hughes together are magicians. mean watching them when they're flying around the ice man, it's like you defensemen don't know what to do. They don't know who to go to. They don't, you know, it's ridiculous what these two guys can do with the puck.

Dan (1:22:34)
Yeah.

Bobby (1:22:49)
They're equally as lethal.

Dan (1:22:49)
And this year, the way they develop as a pair is just really something special. I just hope that that formula continues because it's been amazing and they're like on the same kind of like wavelength. It's amazing.

Chris (1:22:51)
The thing that

I think that the thing that I like most about Jesper Bratt is just his balls out work ethic. This guy works every year to become better and he takes his craft extremely serious and I just I think that it's the makeup, his makeup. yeah, and now he's starting to play a little physical. He's fantastic on the penalty kill. He's fantastic on the power play like an all-around player.

Dan (1:23:19)
Put a lot of size on the last few years too. Put a lot of size on.

Mm-hmm.

Chris (1:23:29)
Talk about a diamond in the rough. mean, what a frickin' steal. A six-round pick.

Bobby (1:23:35)
Another and another good deal for the Devils long term. Really good contract.

Chris (1:23:38)
Yeah, yep. Yeah, I mean, Tom Fitzgerald has been hitting home run after home run. And it's going to be interesting to see what he does to tweak his team this year because this is the year that they can, I mean, we've watched a lot of hockey so far. Devils have a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup. I believe it. So, Tony, anything else you want to add?

Bobby (1:23:57)
Yeah, they do.

Dan (1:23:58)
Yeah.

Tony (1:24:02)
just reading, you know, what would you guys guess that Julie Garland's ruby red slippers went for an auction today?

Chris (1:24:08)
Judy Garland's Ruby Red

Dan (1:24:10)
$800. $800.

Chris (1:24:12)
Can I guess?

Bobby (1:24:12)
1.4 million.

Tony (1:24:15)
Yeah, you guessed pretty good tonight, so go ahead, let's see what you-

Chris (1:24:17)
Her Wizard of Oz ruby red slippers were auctioned off probably for I'll say 20 million. Wow.

Dan (1:24:17)
Seriously.

Tony (1:24:21)
Yes.

28 million, there you go.

Bobby (1:24:28)
Jesus. I was way off.

Dan (1:24:29)
Wow. Now I just heard that her, her, her Ruby red slippers were like stolen and then recovered like in the last week or two. Are these the same ones that were auctioned? Huh? How many fucking slippers are out

Chris (1:24:30)
Wow.

I thought they were in Planet Hollywood.

Bobby (1:24:38)
That fucking witch.

Tony (1:24:38)
Yeah but a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in a 1939 Wizard of Oz sold at auction on Saturday for 28 million.

Chris (1:24:47)
Wow. Wow. That's insane.

Bobby (1:24:50)
Crazy. Imagine having 28 million to spend on those slippers?

Chris (1:24:52)
Well, I had 14 but they went and split them.

Dan (1:24:57)
Didn't that guy eat a banana for like, I don't know, billion dollars or something like that? What about that guy was eating? Wasn't this some dude eating some fucking like really expensive banana? Did anybody hear about this? It's called expensive banana. He gobbled that down.

Chris (1:24:57)
One at just the left one. What?

Tony (1:25:03)
Speaking of balls...

Chris (1:25:07)
Alright, I think, I think we might have to play, yeah.

Tony (1:25:07)
What movies you watching?

Chris (1:25:14)
Yeah, it's a diamond encrusted penis,

Tony (1:25:17)
Do it for daddy.

Chris (1:25:20)
Alright, Tony, have a great time at the game tomorrow. believe that it is going to be a... You're gonna be... By four o'clock, you're gonna be extremely happy. The Raiders are winning that game.

Tony (1:25:20)
I gotta go.

Dan (1:25:20)
Yeah, I don't know, maybe.

Tony (1:25:24)
Thanks, man.

Bobby (1:25:24)
Enjoy the game, dude.

Tony (1:25:33)
I hope so mad. It's my last day. got the new I'm back in Europe on Monday. I'm shooting off right away to go back to Lithuania. So I'm hoping to be leaving with a nice win. Get down to get down the negative four. I'm leaving like 70s to go to like the frozen Tundra. So thanks guys.

Bobby (1:25:41)
Cool, we can get some news of the day when you get back settled.

Dan (1:25:44)
That's awesome.

Chris (1:25:46)
Yeah, well have a safe trip Tone. It was you know, I'm glad that you had a good time when you were here Yeah

Dan (1:25:51)
Yeah.

Bobby (1:25:53)
Great having you on all the time again, man.

Tony (1:25:55)
Yeah, crazy time. Yes.

Dan (1:25:55)
Yeah, it was nice having you in America for once. Yeah.

Chris (1:25:56)
Yes, but now get the hell out. Enjoy the game. I'll text you during the game tomorrow and wherever you guys are listening to us, a like, a five star review, a positive comment, download, subscription, all of that good stuff. Check out the articles that are up on the UnclePuckers.com. There's always a recap that Tim does for after each game. The one he put up today is very funny, very good. And for Tony Zamboni, Bobby, Dan, I'm Chris.

Tony (1:26:00)
Peace. I'm kicked out. Y'all sending some photos from the game.

Dan (1:26:12)
Blow job.

Chris (1:26:25)
We're the Uncle Parker's and we'll see you when we see you.

Tony (1:26:29)
face.

Dan (1:26:29)
Pugs out.

Bobby (1:26:29)
Bye-bye's.