Sunny Is Getting Ready To Cook

[00:00:01] and No Banging. Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers NJD Podcast. Let's go Devils! Ah, alright. I'm under so much pressure now. I'm sorry, I gave some last minute show prep.

[00:00:30] Yeah, hey, you have to write down all the details of each of these movies. Okay, we're gonna go, bye. Well, we were having a story time before, so we're talking about other things. But we're here and we'll get to everything that's been going on in the wacky little NHL lately. We are the Uncle Puckers. Thanks for hanging out with us tonight, guys. And once again, Tim, we are the last people to the party.

[00:00:54] Because everybody has talked about all these moves ad nauseum, but we wait a day and we let it all sink in. And, you know, last night we were tired. I had the Beer League game last night, so I could not make it work, unfortunately. But that gave us time to think and digest and to hear others' opinions. And get more trades. Get more trades and more stuff happening.

[00:01:19] I'm not gonna lie, I'm actually a little surprised there's been this much activity. I kind of thought we would be hitting sort of something similar as last year. But, yeah, a lot going on. I'm surprised with the magnitude of draft picks that are being thrown around. And you kind of get an idea of what teams are looking to maybe hold on to those and build around their team. What teams are just, like I think we are, just piling them up as ammunition, getting ready to use them.

[00:01:48] But, yeah, it's been absolutely insane. We'll talk about all of them. Which one do you want to start with? I mean, I guess we'll start with Brady, right? Yeah, let's start with Brady. You know, he was the guy that we were interested in. And I'm actually kind of impressed with the return that they got back for him. Because, you know, he had a no trade or no move. I forgot which one he had. But basically, he essentially got to dictate where he was going. And we talked about that.

[00:02:17] We're like, it's gonna be Florida. If it's not Florida, it's gonna, you know, we may or may not be on that list. Turns out, I don't think we were. It was... Carolina. Carolina, Vegas, Minnesota, and Florida. And I think, honestly, those three others are just getting thrown in there as, like, smokescreen decoys. It's like... Every one of them, except for Florida, was being thrown in as a decoy. There was no moving him.

[00:02:44] And Ottawa was not about to move him someplace else and then have to deal with Keith Kachuk talking shit all the time. And, like, the family completely dictated this entire move. And, you know, all right, cool. They're playing together. The brothers play together, you know. We've been doing that for two years now, three years now. But... Angle makes the point, the good point, that, like, the free agency class is so bad.

[00:03:12] That this is the only way the teams are gonna get better. Which... Yeah. I love. I'll take this over free agency frenzy any day of the week. This is awesome. 100%. And, you know, the first... You know, we touched on it last time, but the guy that was at the top of the free agent list in terms of defenseman, Radish, wants Toronto on a sign-and-trade and now Tuck's going to the Capitals in a sign-and-trade. But, back to Brady.

[00:03:38] You know, I'm impressed with the return they got for him under those circumstances. And it actually makes me kind of chuckle a little bit because of what the Rangers got for Panarin. Because they hid behind the exclusive, like, oh, you know, they wanted to go to L.A. Our hands were tied. This is all we could get. And, meanwhile, everybody else is getting, like, fucking three, four first-round picks. And they got, you know, what, like a fucking first or a second and some scrub.

[00:04:06] And this makes Florida so much more dangerous than they already were. I'll admit, like, I wanted Brady on the Devils. I thought that he would fit and everything. And since the trade, you know, of course, you know, now everybody's kind of focusing on Brady and everything that he's, you know, he's done and why it's a good thing for Ottawa that he's gone and all this stuff. And, you know, I don't know how much of a, you know, I'm not, I'm not, I don't buy into his whole leadership so much as much as I did before.

[00:04:36] Like, I, they're just, the things that I've kind of been hearing now from Ottawa, like, and how he was as a captain and stuff. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. It's maybe. It's also a little bit of, it's a little bit of scorned lover. And, yeah, it's sour grapes. Absolutely. But there's a lot of truth to it, too. There, there, there definitely is, you know, there, there's stuff about, you know, he was noticeably different in, yeah, we know, you know,

[00:05:03] he was noticeably different, you know, in the locker room after the Olympics and stuff like that. And basically wanted out from that. And guys are saying he wasn't hanging out with the team anymore and stuff like that. So I don't know, you know, it's too bad for Ottawa, but, you know, he's, he's, he's all places where, where he can win. He's a place there in Florida. It's, you know, he, they, they mentioned, I think they were on like McAfee and I saw a clip. I didn't actually watch McAfee, no thanks.

[00:05:28] But where he basically was like, you know, we call each other before every game on our way to the rink. And, you know, Matt's in a fucking golf cart, you know, with like a, with like an iced coffee and Brady's, you know, in like minus 20 degree weather. And let's be honest, you know, all, there's a lot of talk right now about all these American kids that are, you know, barely asking for trades. They all got together during the Olympics and they all want to play together.

[00:05:57] No, it's not like that. And Johnny devil hits it dead on, dead on. They want to, they want to play for a winner, you know, and you look at what they like Quinn Hughes. Like, it's not like Quinn Hughes failed Vancouver. He gave them seven, eight years, however long he was there. Like they didn't build around them. Same thing with Ottawa. Like they were getting there, but Brady was there for eight years. And, you know, you can't blame a guy at that point to say, I want to win a cup. So I have, you know, no issues with that. I don't think it's a collusion thing. I think it's a winning thing.

[00:06:25] I think, you know, they get around Matthew Kachuk in that locker room. They win the gold medal. These old, these guys want to, you know, they just want to win. Dylan Larkin, 10 years. Like it's time to go somewhere to fucking win. Bill Guerin said it when he got Quinn at first. He's like, he's like the first thing, the first, very first thing is like, is the hockey good? Can you win there? Yeah. You know, and, and I think, you know, most of these guys would, would choose that, choose that in a heartbeat.

[00:06:49] And what I was, what I, you know, cause what I was surprised by was that the return was just picks. Like I always, I think we, and we had always operated under the assumption that Ottawa would want players. They want players. And, which is an interesting deal. Yeah. You hear that? No. It's like a fucking motorway just went past my house. Like frigging five motorcycles just went like 20 feet in front of me.

[00:07:18] I couldn't hear a frigging word you said about that. Oh. So they put one of those picks for Eklund now.

[00:07:25] And San Jose now has the second and ninth overall picks, which is interesting because there's a lot of chatter that San Jose, they have so many forwards that they, even though McKenna and Stemberg were like the projected number one and two, there was a lot of talk about them actually picking a defenseman just because they need actual fucking warm bodies on the blue right. At some point.

[00:07:50] But now that they have the ninth pick too, I think that kind of solidifies that they'll take, take second, take Stemberg second and probably whichever the defenseman fall to the fall to them at nine. Mike Greer said today that he's gotten a lot of calls about the ninth pick and he has one really fascinating offer for the second pick. That's what he said. Who does? So Mike Greer said that today. Oh, really?

[00:08:16] He's got a lot of calls for the ninth and a really fascinating offer on the table for the second. So. Interesting. What do you think of this? I think that's awesome. I think trade it and let's find out. Yeah. There you go. So, yeah. So, so I think, you know, Eklund is an interesting, he's going to be an interesting fit in Ottawa. It's definitely going to change the way they play a little bit, obviously.

[00:08:40] But like, I think production wise, he can get pretty close to what Brady brought from a production perspective. You know, obviously setting the tone and physicality and some of the things that Brady does outside of scoring. They're going to, they're going to lose that. I'm really curious to see how Ottawa, how Ottawa looks next year, because I've said this before. Like they were a really good sneaky underrated team that just got let down by bad goaltending. Like they were top 10 in goals.

[00:09:10] One of the best defensive teams in the league. They just had fucking atrocious goaltending. So they get a modicum of good goaltending. It's going to be interesting to see what happens to them. And I think Omar can bounce back. Yeah, I agree too. You know, he had all the mental health issues. So yeah, exactly. You know, yeah, I see what Meadowlander is writing here about this super team era. And, you know, I don't know. I mean, look, it's like how many super Jack Hughes has. I mean, what does it say for the devil's organization that we haven't heard boo out of Jack?

[00:09:39] He has no move clause. He's not saying he wants out. He wants to go play some. I know he's got four years left on his contract, but, you know. Well, he doesn't have a no move clause until July 1st. Oh, okay. So I spoke too soon. Yeah, next week. He's next. No, I mean, I think he believes in what's happening here. And I'm sure that the guys on the team are super excited to see who he's going to bring in. Because I think he's, you know, he's loading up. We'll get to the Nemo move. Kind of want to do these in order a little bit.

[00:10:07] So even though we kind of jumped around. Yeah. We could cover two off. These two kind of went a little under the radar. The Tuck one happened today. But the Capitals picking up Kyrie and Tuck is pretty – is interesting. And losing McMichael, which is great. That little – That hurts. Pain in the ass. Yeah. He killed us. But that hurts them. That hurts them because he – you know, that's depth down the middle. But they still have both the pro tie.

[00:10:36] They have Ryan Leonard coming up. They'll probably re-sign Ovechkin. And, you know, with Strom coming back. Are you surprised, though, that they gave up McMichael in that trade? No. I mean, Kyrie's pretty young and he's a good player. You've got to give to get, you know. Yeah. They – you know, they have a very good pipeline of players. This kid, Andrew Kristol, who's a well-thought-of forward coming up. You know, they just brought Cole Hudson up. Lane's brother.

[00:11:04] So they're going to be a good team again, you know. Yes, they are. They have good goaltending. You know, they are going to be good. And then Tuck coming in. I don't know. Did they – was this a sign-and-trade? I think it's a sign-and-trade again. I haven't seen the total details, but some of these guys, I think, said it was like a third or something like that. And it's 8 by 10.5. Yeah. I mean, like, Tuck, we probably – you know, we could have gotten three good years out of him, out of that eight-year deal.

[00:11:33] Like, that's – I just don't think that's good. His contract's not going to look good, though. I just don't think that's good business. Yeah, I just don't think that's good business. I mean, we were big on Tuck until the numbers started coming out of what his term and numbers were going to look like. I wanted him, like, two years ago when he had two years left on his deal. Yeah. That makes sense. And I thought he would have been a perfect, perfect guy to fill in for those two years and we kind of see what happens in terms of a renewal. But, yeah, I'm surprised. You know, Buffalo said, yeah, fuck that guy. Yeah.

[00:12:01] But he's going to help Washington for the next couple of years. You know, he does make them better. So, Washington's a team that you've got to watch out for. And Garber is a good coach. You know, knows how to deploy his players well. They're going to be a tough team to play against. Yeah, they are. Yep. The strangest trade that came down was, I don't know what the fuck Kyle Davidson is doing.

[00:12:28] Trading the fourth overall pick for Bowen Byram. Like, what are you doing, man? I have no idea. I have no idea. Yeah. But whatever. I love watching teams just make terrible moves like this. I just, I hate it when it's us. And it's been us, you know, like we have, we've all dealt with that. But when other teams do it and it's just like obviously just not going to work, I love it. It's awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:12:58] It's just like, all right, man. Good luck. We think Padard, Padard's got to be like, what the fuck, man? Yeah. I know. And he's up for an extension, isn't he? Yeah. Yeah. We haven't heard anything about that. No. I've seen some crazy numbers. People are like, yeah, just open the checkbook and give them whatever. It's kind of like, do you? I don't know. Like, but like Byram, honestly, he's, he's a little bit like Luke and who's a little bit

[00:13:27] like Keandre Miller. You know, they are like kind of long rangy tools, he good skating defenseman that need a little bit of coaching and a little bit of prodding to kind of, and a little bit of good deployment to be like put in the best position to succeed. And, you know, he's shown flashes of it. Byram has, it just hasn't fully come together and kind of wasn't totally working at Buffalo. Their decor was also a little weird because it was like all lefties and, you know, there,

[00:13:57] so they're deployed on the wrong side. So it'd be interesting to see how he pans out in Chicago. You know, they have a, they have a burgeoning little decor there. They just need to take some steps, man. If they're going to fucking go anywhere. I like him. I like him as a player. I really do. I just think to give up the, what's the fourth? The fourth of Raw is insane. Yeah. That's just, doesn't make sense. That's just bad business. And I mean, what's your excuse on that? You literally didn't like five guys in this draft that you thought could maybe come in and play right now.

[00:14:27] Right. You have other assets, I would presume to get Bo out of there. You know, why, why that? So yeah, when it blows up and Buffalo ends up picking some stud at four, you know, I'll laugh at Chicago and be pissed at him. And what, you know, and then a deal that we didn't talk about, what set up the Brady deal for Florida, which is why I think we're all kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop with Sonny

[00:14:53] is Mackie Samuskiewicz going to Seattle for a first round pick, which is a lot for Mackie Samuskiewicz. I was kind of surprised by that. So Seattle, Mackie Samuskiewicz is a good little player. I like him. He's a good, good play driving forward. So he'll be good for Seattle. And they re-upped Bobby McMahon, who I thought might've been an underrated. Yeah, I saw that. UOFA, UOFA target. Got a decent contract. I think it was like six by five and change or something like that.

[00:15:22] So let's move to the news that we got yesterday about our boy Nemo and getting dealt out to Calgary for a second round this year, which I believe is the 34th pick. So very early in the second. And then we have a first round next year. It was 27 and 28 that were Vegas' first and Colorado's first at some point. Yeah, it's those two. I don't know the order. I saw the picture of it and the Rangers logo was in it.

[00:15:51] I just felt kind of dirty about that. But that could actually be a pretty decent pick. Depending on who falls out, there could be some guys who fall out of the first round that could be very gettable at 35. Or it could be used in a package. You know, the problem with the late first rounders, they are top 10 protected. But I don't really think we have to worry about within the next two years,

[00:16:17] either Vegas or Colorado being in the top 10 drafting unless they're totally wrong. And I mean, I don't think there's a world where Sonny got these picks to use them to draft players. Like, he's building a war chest here to go after something. So what I think, a couple different options. Obviously, now he has a lot of first round picks to play with.

[00:16:45] One of the interesting things about first round picks is every first round pick is equal for offer sheets. I got you.

[00:17:23] They just supposedly Montreal put together for knives that was pretty insane that included a couple prospects and a couple picks. So, I mean, I don't. Did you turn it down? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Or there's something. They turned it down. Somebody fucked up. Oh, you know what it was? It was Tree Living. Shaker forgot to sign it. Tree Living didn't get the paperwork in on time to fucking NHL, the lawyers at the NHL. The league offices. Yeah.

[00:17:53] Get the paperwork in time. It came in at like 410 or something like that. It's like me today at the end of the lineup. Yeah, exactly. I got all my paperwork in. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, I don't know. I don't know who is now kind of out there as a guy. You know, like, Robertson is, I think, now the top of the list. Knives is right up there, too. I still like McCann or Jared Wright or Shane Wright.

[00:18:22] I think those would be interesting pieces to pick up. Or I don't know if there are guys that are totally off the grid that we're not even fucking thinking about. So, I'm kind of hoping that's the case. I really am. I'm hoping that it is somebody like we're not even thinking of, that we didn't even hear about, was even being talked about being traded. But Sonny pulled something out of his butt. Got to give Ottawa and Brady Camp a lot of credit that they kept this thing that quiet. Like, I'd love to have something like that happen.

[00:18:52] Yeah, he, well, we did have something like that happen with Nemech. I mean, this is a long time coming. You know, I, look, I like, I thought Nemech had some potential, but he obviously had a terrible season. You know, he had a very rough season. Real quick, Johnny Devil, yes. Yes, I would. Yeah, I'd do it. I'd vote for $14 million. Yeah. You'd do him. You'd do him, pervert. Hand check. You were saying? Oh, yeah, I'm good.

[00:19:22] I don't know. What was I saying? I liked Nemo as a player. I was still a stockholder in Team Nemech. But, you know, Fitz fucked him over. Let's talk about Nemo. Yeah, let's talk about Nemo for a second. Because whatever he becomes, he's going to become that. If he does become the player that, you know, the second overall pick should become, it's going to be in spite of his time here in New Jersey. Absolutely. I don't think we did that kid any frigging favors. No, no. I want to see him thrive in Calgary, and I'm going to put the mortgage on an anytime goal

[00:19:51] score when he comes to New Jersey. Absolutely. He's going to kill us twice a year. You know, we're going to have to deal with him. Yeah, we take our lumps. That's fine. But we had said on this show that we thought that Nemech's problem, and I don't even consider it as his problem. But when he was asked to be the number one guy, when we had no defense going into that playoff series against Carolina, he stood up and he played great.

[00:20:21] And when the guy was given the minutes, he played fantastic. And he did everything that you asked him for, and he was even pretty good defensively. So he's going to get that opportunity now in Calgary. So I'm happy for him because there was no chance of it happening here. And, you know, he was kind of the... It's like always that one guy that they just kind of... Alex Holtz was like always getting the shit under the stick, and same with Nemech. And I hate seeing when guys are getting treated like that, but you should never... Your second overall pick should never be treated like that.

[00:20:50] Like, he did not get a fair chance here. I'm happy for him. And he signed his two-year extension. I think it was like... Yeah, I saw... Unless that was fake. I saw that today. Signed a two-year extension, like a little under five million. Nemech did? Yeah, I saw that. But like I said, it could have been fake if you didn't see it. I did not. Yeah. Let me know if I'm going crazy or not. I think you might be going crazy. It's very possible.

[00:21:17] But, you know, I still believe in Luke Hughes. Like, I'm on no issue with this. I think it's a good move. I think it had to get done. And if you really do have somebody lined up that you want to go after, then you got to... Somebody... Like you said, you got to give to get. Somebody's got to go. And it was either going to be him or Hamilton. You're frozen up. And I'm still not totally sold on the fact that Hamilton is definitely here either.

[00:21:47] Tim's frozen, so we're going to have to wait for him to come back. So I'm just going to freestyle for a bit. But there he goes. So anyway, I think the picks were a good deal on this. I'm curious what you guys are all thinking. But I like the move. Here he comes. Hang on. Is it you or is it me? You. Then the whole thing just crept out. Oh, you were... Yeah, you were... It was definitely you. It was on the farm.

[00:22:18] It was on the farm. What were we talking about? Oh. Yeah, we're talking about Nemich. Yeah, I don't think he signed his extension. Okay. Go ahead. I think you're hearing things. Without the mushrooms. Yeah, I mean, you know, definitely he seemed to thrive with more ice time. He's a field player and a vibes player. And it just kind of worked for him. You know, hopefully... You know, my issue with him is... I saw some bullshit.

[00:22:48] Go ahead. Is that he was such a freelancer at the... You know, at the expense of the team system and structure. And, you know, defense's own responsibilities. And honestly, there are shades of laziness in this game where you just get caught puck watching. So, that's why I think, you know, we saw kind of the writing on the wall. You know, Fitz really fucked this guy over by drafting him. And then burying him in the minors.

[00:23:18] Not giving him a chance. And then fucking signing... And then signing Kovacevic. Yeah, I agree. I agree. That was... We've talked about that Kovacevic deal. It was stupid. Like, if he doesn't bounce back and get better next year, like... I would be so fucking frustrated with that. Like, I thought... Just earlier talking about how I love laughing when teams just make stupid moves. Like, the Kovacevic and the Markstrom extensions to me made no sense.

[00:23:47] And now you are saddled with these two contracts. Like, Markstrom could have been gone right now. Like, he would not be our goalie anymore. And we could have just moved on. And now it's probably going to take a loss if you're going to move him. You know, you're not getting a haul for Jacob Markstrom. And I just... Those two moves... And Samukovacevic. Like, he was a throwaway piece in Montreal. They didn't even want him. And he just rushed out to sign this guy to an extension when he had, you know, barely seen him play.

[00:24:17] You had like 60 games for us or something like that. Yeah. It's insane. So, yeah. It was stupid. But, you know... I do like the move. I am happy with it. And I'm still not sold that Hamilton's the guy. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if he goes too. I think he is. I think he's sticking around. I think it's most likely. But it wouldn't shock me. It wouldn't shock me.

[00:24:39] You know, and I kind of enjoy the fact that we don't have a kind of understanding of what Sonny's going to do. Because, like, with Fitz, like, we'd know what the plan was. He would have gone out of his way to sign Tuck, you know, and give him fucking a bajillion years for a bajillion dollars. You know, God knows what else he would have done. Probably tried to get more mean tough guys on the fourth line that fucking suck at hockey. And he just... Fucking stupid. Yeah.

[00:25:10] The man was terrible. And it's a good reason why I think Nashville passed on him, too. So, yeah. Like, imagine... Like, he interviewed there. So, I really wish we had a reporting of Nashville's presence being like, so, what happened in New Jersey? Injuries. That was it. Everything. I built the perfect team. I built a team that should have won multiple Stanley Cups already. But... Yeah. Didn't you hear me say it? Injuries. Yep.

[00:25:40] So, that's it. Absolutely nothing I did. But, yeah. I mean, Robertson is... That would be crazy. Yeah. I mean, that would be crazy to have a dude like that playing with Jack and Nico and Timo and Brat. Like, it... You could really say then that top six... I mean, in the Metro? It's probably the best top six in the Metro. You get a guy like Robo here. I want it.

[00:26:08] I mean, I think Friday is going to be, like, just off the hook. Friday is going to be crazy. Friday is going to be nuts. Yeah. And it's funny because I think GM's value... Because I think the value of drafted players, like, whatever the value of that is, goes down after the draft. Like, they're more valuable as, like, the 12th pick versus Wyatt Cullen or something like that. Yeah. You're right. Well, a player doesn't... A team management, they don't want your guy.

[00:26:38] It's just... They're more... They're so arrogant. They, like... It doesn't matter if you had the same guy in that spot. Oh, yeah. They don't want your guy. So, you know, and that's why, like, now that's the best thing about changing GMs in New Jersey is that, you know, Sonny has no guys. There's... There's no loyalty. There's no... If you're not performing, you're probably going to be held accountable. And... It is kind of funny that his first kind of big trade was... Oh, another underrated part of this. Well, sorry.

[00:27:07] It's funny that his first big trade was with fucking Calgary. It was, like, one of Fitz's two phone calls every goddamn year. They're the only ones that are taking calls from New Jersey now. Yeah, right? Like, do we only have, like, a line that goes to Calgary? We don't have phone lines that go anywhere else. That's it. We also... It also... Siplikoff was in that deal, too, which is an underrated part of that. So, that's another $3 million on the cap. And actually... So, now we have $13 million of cap space.

[00:27:35] But it's actually pretty much pure $13 million of cap space. And we don't have to extend Nemech. So, that's, like, 5, 6 million of that, you know, isn't going to be allocated to Nemech. You know? So, now it's 5, 6 million to Gritzok. And then whatever else we have. You know? Hopefully, there's some more... I really hope both those contracts get announced on July 1st. I... But Gritzok... I feel like... I think Gritzok can be signed.

[00:28:05] Well, if that's the case, just wait until July 1st. Yeah. I just... I don't want to see him in a trade package. But I could see him being a pretty desirable chip. Like... Yeah. I don't know. Like, if... I just feel like we need him on this team as kind of a down-the-line-up complimentary guy still. As opposed to, like, him being in a package for, like, Robertson or Nyes or something like that. Like, I feel like that's counter... That doesn't help us.

[00:28:36] No. Absolutely not. You know? And, like, I know you need to give to get. And, like... Not him. We would prefer to give them the poo-poo platter of shit, you know? As opposed to, like, a couple of good roster players. But... Who would you give up for Robo? Yegorov. Mercer. Gritzok. Three first. Casey.

[00:29:05] The poo-poo platter of shit. All right. So, Mercer is the only roster player you picked? That's too bad. I don't know. Like, I think Gritzok would probably have to be in it. Which kind of hurts a little bit. So, if Gritz is part of a Robertson deal, do you do it? Yeah, I think so. I don't do it as quickly as you do. I'll tell you that. It gives me pause.

[00:29:34] But, I mean, you're getting a 45-goal scoring, 100-point winner. He's putting up 50 goals on Jack's point. How long until you think Gritz gets there? To what? 50 goals? Yeah. On Jack's point. It'll take him three years to score 50 goals. Like, let's not forget. Like a team-mo deal to Vancouver. Gritzok only... Like, I loved him as a player. Showed great promise. He only had, like, 35 points and, like, 14 goals or something.

[00:30:04] Yeah, I know. And missed a decent chunk of games, too. So, like... Yeah, all right. You know, let's... Pull the trigger. You know, I love him as a player. But, like, he is the classic. You gotta get the get. Yeah, he is. Absolutely. And I wasn't even thinking about him on the radar. Because I didn't even have Robo on my radar. Because I just feel like there's just gonna be a lot of teams in the Robo sweepstakes. Every team should be in on Robertson.

[00:30:29] Just like every team was sniffing around Nico when the extension stuff was... Until that got shot down, which was great. But, yeah. I just... I guess... Yeah, I would... You'd have to do it. You'd have to, I think. You know, and he's the kind of guy, I think, that Dallas would be eyeballing in that. But I think that minimizes... I don't... Yeah, like, Jason, I'm like, I don't think Robertson's gonna have to do that. I think Dallas is gonna figure out a way to make that work.

[00:30:58] But I think, you know, if you can find a piece out of Dallas, you know, that's a cap casualty because of that. And I keep coming back to Maverick Borg. Maverick Borg. He's a great kind of... Ceiling is high-end second line. Floor is high-end third line. You know, like, he's a good middle six. He's not like a first-line guy. And I don't think we need a first-line guy. We need a good top six forward.

[00:31:23] But we need a better sort of fifth and sixth guys in the top six. And he's a character guy. I mean, that's the kind of guy you want on your team. I like Maverick Borg. Yeah, me too. I always have. And he's fucking shredded the HL. And he's got some great underlines. Like, he's a guy that could totally pop off. Steven Engel says, how the fuck is Dallas gonna afford Robertson and Quinn news? There's still that hanging around, you know? And I haven't heard anything about the extension in Minnesota.

[00:31:53] So, the owner, Minnesota's owner, was on some podcast that I saw clips of. Ace posted it. Sorry. Anthony Corona posted it. Oh, yeah. The voice of the devils. Go listen to Speaking of the Devils if you don't subscribe. They all do. I know they all do. I know who I'm talking to. Yeah. The owner was like, yes, we are going to extend Quinn Hughes. We want a long-term deal. They want a short-term deal.

[00:32:20] But then he kind of ended it with saying, like, I'm not the one doing the negotiations. So, I can say shit like this. So, kind of putting that on Garen. Like, hey, man, you better fucking get this done. All right. Well, it shows you that they're not on the same page. Which is. And what's the short-term deal? I mean, I don't think that's. I don't think that's. That's not them being on. Not on the same page. But what's the short-term deal? That's my question. He threw out actual things. Oh, okay. Three. Three. They're like, we want eight.

[00:32:50] He wants three. We'll probably settle on five or something like that. Okay. So, because, like, if it's a two-year deal, you know, then maybe he wants to hop over to Jersey for a couple of years. Yeah. I don't know. You know. When is July 1st? That's in. Was that? Like Tuesday? No. Tuesday. Yeah. I think Wednesday or Thursday. Next week. Yeah. It's next week. Yeah. So, yeah. It's going to be here quick. It's going to be here quick. Got the draft on Friday. Very exciting stuff. I know you care deeply.

[00:33:17] I care about the draft because there's moves that are going to be made. There's guys that are going to be moving to different teams. It's going to be super exciting. But I really don't care a lot about the actual guys being drafted. I care about our number 12 pick, and I care about whether or not we're going to use it. And if we do use it, I will pay attention about that person. But not so much anybody else. That's where my love for the draft ends. But I am looking forward to it.

[00:33:48] But not to see who Vancouver picks at number three. I don't care. I just want to see what moves are going to get made. Yeah. And I heard who I was listening to. But it's like Sonny's got to backdoor Quinn a little bit with Jack. He's got to pull him aside, go meet him for coffee or drinks in fucking somewhere in North Jersey. And just be like, hey, man. What's Quinn doing? How can we get Quinn here?

[00:34:18] Like, what do I need to do? Like, can we fucking – can you talk – can you yap in his ear and get him over here? Well, you know, that's definitely what I would be doing. But Jack should be doing it anyway. You know, Jack and Luke should be sitting there saying Brady just forced his way out of Ottawa and to Florida. Like, if you want to get here, force your – well, you've got to have Sonny okay it. But I'm sure he would. You know, I'm sure he'd be the guy doing it. But, like, yeah, you've got to tell him, like, look, man, force your way out.

[00:34:48] Just tell him I'm not going to play here. And, like, yes, the people of Minnesota will hate you forever. It's fucking payback for Zach Parisi. Deal with it. And, you know, that's it. And he forces his way out. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I would like to have Quinn Hughes on this. Sorry. Just read Jason O's. Yeah. Yeah. I ignored it. He doesn't. Oh, I'm with you. Oh, no. I am absolutely with you. He wants it.

[00:35:18] That's all. Yeah, seriously, scumbag. Have some decorum, Jason O's. Jesus. You know, that's not the craziest reckless speculation we've had on this show. What? About me liking butt sex? No. We know you like butt sex. And that's fine. My point is the Quinn actually forcing his way out. Like, he does have some cards to play. Like, if he really wants to be here, like, oh, that would be awesome. That would be spectacularly awesome to watch. Yeah.

[00:35:48] It would be great. Like, you know, and I think Ben Alander said earlier about, like, super teams. And it's like everybody, like Minnesota keeps landing on these guys' list. And it's like, I don't see it with Minnesota. And I think, like, Dallas is kind of fake good, too. So, I wonder how much of it is just – I'm sure, like, people think Minnesota is ready to pop. They are a very good team. They have a lot of pieces in place.

[00:36:15] And if you're, like, a guy like Dylan Larkin, you think you can be that final piece to go in there and help him win a cup. And you're pretty much guaranteed to go to the playoffs next couple of years. So, I can see it. But I think the Americans want to go there. It has to do with Billy Aaron. I think they want to play for him. Yeah. That's a big part of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a big part of it. That's a good point. But, like you said, yes, I don't know if any Hughes brothers will ever be invited to Olympics as long as, you know,

[00:36:43] Bill Guerin is general manager of that team if Quinn forces his way out. Tulski should be the manager, the general manager of that team. I don't know, man. Would you – it would be interesting to see how Billy Guerin handled that if that did happen, though, you know? I don't know. Like, Fitz was his assistant GM, and he was, like, sitting in the fucking cup chair the whole time at the Olympics. Like, hey, Billy, you need my input? Karen's like, nope. No, just a couple of years.

[00:37:11] Just so that you've seen – what the fuck is it? Oh, it's the movie Vice. It's about Dick Cheney. Have you ever seen that movie? It's actually a pretty interesting movie. I don't know how historically accurate it is, but it's how – it's basically how that administration had meetings with, like, all of the oil corporations. But they had, like – they had to have someone from the Department of Energy in the room.

[00:37:37] So they brought, like, this admin and basically just had the kids sit in the corner with headphones on. And it was really fucking funny. And Dick Cheney was such a dickhead. He was just like – he's like, hey, yeah, go sit down. Go sit over there and shut the fuck up. You're wondering how accurate that is. I would say probably very accurate. It was probably pretty accurate seeing how we went there for oil. But – Chase knows right. Billy Guerin is a prick. He would – he's not a guy that's very easily dealt with. Yeah.

[00:38:06] He just looks like a fucking raging alcoholic. Yes, he does. Kind of a disaster person. Those stories, like, that came out when – in Nagano, when they were in the Olympics, the first year in Nagano, Japan, that, like, Billy Guerin and a bunch of other of the U.S. players, like, trashed a hotel room and shit. Was that Nagano? I thought it was Nagano. That was 98. 98. Yeah. He definitely did one. It was, like, Brett Hall.

[00:38:35] And it might have been Guerin, too. I remember him specifically because he was, you know, one of ours. So, you know, you pay attention. Easy shit. You know? I – yeah. Yeah, I remember the Olympics. I think it might have been Nagano. Yeah. So, yeah. He's fucking insane. Like, 2002? I don't know. One of – anyway. God damn. I don't remember every Olympic city. You don't? No. No. Lillehammer? Was that – That's my – that's my – I don't remember Lillehammer.

[00:39:04] That's my touch of the tism. Where is Lillehammer, whatever? Norway? Norway, I think, yeah. Sounds like a – maybe I do remember it. All right. So, that's what's going to happen, right? I know we're both tired. We're going to probably wrap this thing up. The way we're going to – One other thing to bring up. Did you see who got snubbed from the Hall of Fame again? Patrick Elias? Yeah.

[00:39:32] It's going to be a very, very, very long time before Patrick Elias gets into the Hall of Fame. It's fucking – no. But it's, like, Keith Kachuk, Pekka Rinne. Come on. Get the fuck out of here. Pekka Rinne, no? No. I don't know. He was not that good. Look, you knew – it's like Keith Kachuk is, like, fucking – now the grandfather of the NHL. He, like, PR'd his way into it. Yes, of course he did.

[00:39:57] No awards, no cops, nothing of – like, nothing of note of that guy's career. He just scored a bunch of goals because he was, like, a fucking center merchant. There should – I believe the criteria does – the cup has to be part of this. It really does. And when you look at Elias and you look at his numbers and, yeah, I'm with you, Mel. All the new, too. The new would have been a good, nice little posthumous move. You know, yeah.

[00:40:26] But the thing that sucks is you've got to put him in posthumously because you didn't acknowledge him and recognize him for when he was here. He absolutely should be in. Not even a question. Yes, I believe Patrick Elias should be in. I don't think the NHL – or the Hall of Fame, rather. I don't think they even think about Elias in that manner. Yeah. It's just – Crazy to me. Yeah, it is crazy. I mean, he's our cornerstone best – he's the best forward in this team's history. Yep. And the cornerstone of three cup wins. Fucking crazy to me. Yep.

[00:40:55] Revolved more of linemates, too. Two cup wins. Two – what? He wasn't on 95. You're right. But, yeah, those two cups and one of the best lines ever in double history. You know, Stanley Cup winning goal, the assist of all assists. Like, yeah. I mean, he was clutch as clutch can be. He put up numbers.

[00:41:18] And like you said, on a team that was known to be a defensive team, it says a lot for the guy that put up those kind of numbers and did what he did offensively. Absolutely should be in the Hall of Fame. And I – but I just – I don't even think it's worth talking about. I don't think he ever sees it. Oh. Well, then, fuck you, Chris. Well, I really don't. I just – that kind of player, the Hall of Fame doesn't give a shit about players like that. I mean, they give to Kachuk, though. Like, it's just like – Of course they do. Like you said, he's fucking his own cheerleader.

[00:41:48] Of course he did. You know? Shit. Exactly. Exactly. You don't think there's politics involved in Hall of Fame voting? No, I know. Yeah, there definitely is. And that's what's up with Gilney Sowell. Yeah, exactly. So, all right. All right. What else are we going to wrap this thing up? If anything happens, we will be back as quickly as we possibly can. I'm pretty free the rest of the week, so it can probably be pretty ready.

[00:42:14] I am working late Friday, but if you were up to doing a later after draft show, like around 10 o'clock or so, I'd be up for that. If not, we can wait until Saturday morning and get Tony on. Are you working Saturday morning? I don't think so, no. All right. All right. Let's shoot for that. Let's do Saturday early. So, I know Tony's available. I'm free all day Friday and Saturday, too. Yeah. All right.

[00:42:38] But if anything of significance happens, yes, we will absolutely get on and do a little emergency episode as soon as either Robo comes here or we hear that Quinn Hughes has demanded a trade to New Jersey. Or Robo Quinn Matthew Knives or McCann and Wright or player to be named later. Basically, what Tim's saying is throw out your jerseys of every player you have because we're apparently getting a new team. So we're going to wrap this thing up, guys. Sorry for the low energy tonight. We're both pretty exhausted. But we will.

[00:43:09] Stupid life. Getting in the way. Yeah, exactly. But thanks for hanging out with us. We'll talk to you all soon. We're the Uncle Puckers. Tim and Chris. See you when we see you. Later. And.