The boys discuss the 3 NJ Devils who have the most to prove this coming season. Trades are happening and once again the Devils are in the mix for all of them. The internet gremlins were in full force.
[00:00:05] Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers NJD Podcast. Let's go Devils!
[00:00:20] Alright, I think that we got this fixed. I'm just waiting for Tony. We had a complete and total fuck-up here. Hi Mike, how are you? Yeah, I don't know what the hell happened, man. This was a disaster, but I think that we got the internet gremlins fixed. I have no clue what the hell happened. But anyway, Tony's getting back on, so we're going to try this thing again. If you guys, thanks for hopping on, and if you stay on, I appreciate it.
[00:00:49] Oh my god. So, where to start? Yeah, well Tim wasn't even on yet, was he? Let me just make sure that we're, I'm just letting the guys know now that we're good, so when they hop on, they hop on. So, what I actually wanted to talk a little bit about tonight with the guys is, I don't think it was Bigfoot. Mike, do you believe in, Mike Ruff, do you believe in Bigfoot before we even start?
[00:01:17] I just want to ask you. You live in the Vancouver area, the Bigfoot hot spot of North America. Are you a believer? Are you one of those people that go out in the woods in the middle of the night and make stupid noises and try and attract an imaginary beast? Just curious. Yeah. And I have to say, those pictures that you sent, those photoshops that you did, were absolutely hysterical. I was cracking up. Especially the ancient alien one.
[00:01:47] That was extremely funny. Do you believe in Bigfoot? Okay. Do you have a Bigfoot story? Because if you do, you got to come on the show and tell us. But who doesn't believe in Joe Hendry? I do have to, I do want to start with the rumors that are coming out now. And, you know, Devil Sphere. You know, and it seems like it's the same playbook, right?
[00:02:15] It's, the devils are interested in Brad Marchand. The devils are interested in Ehlers. The devils are interested in all these people. And we heard it all, you know, every trade deadline we hear it, right? Devils are interested in, oh, wait, wait, wait. Let's see. There he is. Where are you now? Oh, what's going on? Dude, that was a complete and total clusterfuck. I have no idea what happened, dude. It's giving me trouble signing in, too. So, I don't know. Yeah, man. I don't know.
[00:02:44] It's probably the Iranians. It's the Libyans, Marty. They found me. I don't know how, but they found me. So, you get some heat over there. I heard it's been a hot. And that might be the reason. I mean, it's seriously like 100 degrees over here. So, yeah. So, you know, I was just saying before, Tony, like how the. Now that like the all the rumors and everything start hitting. Right. Right. And it's always that we're involved in.
[00:03:13] We're interested in all these players. Right. And we never seem to get any of them. And it happens every trade deadline. It happens every, you know, now next week, a week from Tuesday. I don't have any faith that Tom Fitzgerald is going to pull the right moves. Now, he did get rid of Eric Holla. I'm curious what you thought about that move. We'll start with that. What do you think of that? I mean, to me, it was just a salary dump. That was it. Yeah. And obviously, the season before, you know, obviously, we all liked Holla.
[00:03:43] But after this season, I was kind of hoping they would move him. So, I don't know if they're going to do that much. So, I mean, they got to do a couple of things. But I don't think there's going to be any big, you know, gigantic move happen. I mean, you know, here's the thing that really, I mean, we all said last year that we expected Nashville to be good. I think everybody thought Nashville was going to be good. And then we saw what Nashville was, which was a complete and total shit show.
[00:04:10] I mean, if you're Nashville Predators and you're looking at your team and you're like, you know, we really to get over this hump, like we need to get older and slower and worse. Let's go get Eric Holla. Why are you getting Eric Holla if you're in Nashville? I don't understand that move on their part. That to me was crazy. Like out of all the teams that would have taken them, why Nashville? No, I agree. I agree with Snow, too. I don't really think anything.
[00:04:39] I don't think much is coming. I'm not excited for moves right now. I, you know. Well, I would love to see some happen, but I don't know. I think we got to move Hamilton. I don't know. I know Tim's a big Hamilton guy. And, you know, I don't hate Dougie, but I think he's got to go. I agree. I agree. I think you have to get rid of Dougie Hamilton. I'm and here's the thing about like Mercer and Pallott. And I know those guys are big on, you know, people are big on leaving. Them leaving.
[00:05:09] And if they both left the team, I in no way, shape or form would give a shit. But if those two dudes are going to be okay, here's three wing, three C. I can live with that if that's the way they're going to stay. And, you know, maybe you have the new KHL kid, let's like, or whatever the hell is Dick lick, whatever his name is. You have him on the other wing and maybe that can work. I don't know. I just, I'm willing to, but the Dougie Hamilton one to me that him and Mercer are the two
[00:05:39] that you're actually going to get good returns on. Nobody's giving you a good return on Andre Pallott. Somebody's going to want that veteran leadership and they're going to want you to eat half of their contract. You know, they're probably not willing to spend more than three or four million for Pallott. So if you send them to Anaheim or Utah or a place, an up and coming team in Montreal, maybe they'll take them.
[00:06:03] But at the same time, I just, to me, those are the two guys that, that you have to move off of Tim, Timmy, what's up? What did you think of what's up? What's up boys? What did you think of that move? That Philly move. Everyone's here. It's like 70. I mean, we're not even having a summer here in Eastern Europe. It's all, it's crazy. It's like 70, 75. It's been chilly this week. I mean, insane. It's about a hundred right now in, in, in central Jersey.
[00:06:32] It sucks. Yeah. I just lost my, I just lost my internet in the middle of the, in the middle of the meeting I was just in. Okay. So something must've been happening because this is our second stream because the first one was a complete and total clusterfuck. We started it. We were freezing up. We couldn't, you know, guys were on and we just couldn't see Tony. He couldn't hear me. I was like a max headroom. And so we had to actually end it, which took like 10 minutes to end it because they wouldn't even let us end it because the whole internet.
[00:07:02] So your internet was fucked up too, huh? Yeah, I think so. Um, they're already attacking you, Tim, in the chat, by the way. All right. They already get you for your Hamilton love. Hamilton is one of the best offensive defensemen in the game, except he can't fucking stay healthy. So if we move off of him for a good deal, great. I'm fine with that. My biggest concern with moving off of Hamilton is what the right side of our
[00:07:32] defense looks like going into the season and for a couple months after that, we have no idea what actually was wrong with Kovacevich. But if it's a knee ligament, that's at least nine months. Is he going to be the same guy? Are we running out Casey to start the season for five months? Cause that scares me a little bit. And we're kind of back to where we were two years ago when we had two little Bambi's deer in headlights playing defense for us. That's my concern about moving off from Dougie.
[00:07:59] The biggest problem is that he fucking gave Kovacevich this, this fucking five year deal. That's what I was going to bring up right at the deadline. Absolutely. No reason. There was no reason to give him that contract. You could have signed him at any point. You wait and see how the season goes. And if we didn't sign him, he wouldn't be on this team because you're not going to sign him now with the busted leg or the knee ligament damage or whatever. You're not going to sign him.
[00:08:26] This is Tom Fitzgerald at his worst when he just sees this bright, shiny object and doesn't give it time to actually marinate and see what you really have. And he gives them this fucking stupid contract with a no trade clause for four or five years. And now we're stuck with him and you can't move them. Because he's injured. So I mean, that was lose the golden rule. If you have time, use it. And Fitz didn't with Kovacevich.
[00:08:54] And I think that's a move that can end up biting him in the ass because you're right to move off Dougie. You do leave yourself vulnerable in that position. And as I said a few times, sorry, I know I'm coming in hot. No, no, my internet. We're all hot, Tim. It's a hundred degrees out. Oh, my God. I'm not built for this. Um, it's because I'm fat. That's why I'm not built for this. Um, I want to answer Mike roughs questions too. Go ahead. Yeah.
[00:09:23] I just, you know, I'm, I'm, you know, kind of aligned with, with rough on this. It's just like, you know, are we, we had one of the worst offensive blue lines in the league last year. You take Dougie out of that equation? Like, I mean, yeah. Like Luke could potentially step up. I think he should, you know, do we have a $9 million power play to quarterback? I think it's complicated, but like, I don't think it's as cut and dry as saying to you later, Dougie, you know, we'll flip you for a third and just plug in Casey.
[00:09:52] It's not that it's not that simple. No, it's not. And I also think that a lot of it depends on the unknown and the unknown of what Fitz is going to do. We have no idea. Is he seriously thinking about trying to get Quinn Hughes here this summer? Is that something that's in his plan? You know, is there anybody else he has his eye on to maybe move off of Dougie? My only issue with Hamilton is what you brought up before. And we've said it a million times on here. 120 games missed in the four years in New Jersey.
[00:10:22] That is, you know, one and a quarter seasons, one and a third seasons. You can't have that a quarter rather. You can't, you know, you're not going to get, we need this guy healthy when he's healthy. Go back to 2023. Was that the year that we had the big gear or 22, whatever it was the 112 points. He was fantastic. He played pretty much every game. And that's what we need. So yeah, for me, I'm fine with Hamilton. If he's healthy, if he is, you know,
[00:10:52] and that's the thing you can't trust them. And that brings us to like the main subject of what we want to talk about today, which is we're all going to come up with three devils that really have to prove it this year. You know, the guys that are on this team right now that have maybe been injury plagued or just haven't been able to live up to their potential. But I forgot about this. That's all right. You do it on the fly. I got to start thinking here. That's fine. I honestly, I don't think our lists are going to be very different. No, I don't either.
[00:11:22] I think it might be dead on every one of us. You know, it's, it comes down to, and we were saying, I was saying before, Tim, like, it seems like it's starting again, right? Where the devils are interested in every free agent or every trade that you guys that are on the block, we're always in the mix. We're always sniffing around, but we never do anything. And that's what's frustrating to me. Like, I wish that we knew, I think we knew last year, clear path, right?
[00:11:52] Clear plan. We knew what it was going to, he had to bolster the defense. He had to get a goaltender. And that's what he did. Like, we know kind of what has to be done here, but we have no idea of whether or not he's actually going to pull some strings. Why isn't Cody Glass signed? You know, are we not interested in Cody Glass? I mean, we traded for him. Do we not want him to play a 4C? Do we have somebody else that's going to step into that spot? I think this is what's happening with Cody Glass is they think because his qualifying offer, I think it's 2.5.
[00:12:21] Andy has arbitration rights. So I think the devils are saying, all right, well, we don't want to pay him 2.5. So they're not going to qualify him. They did this with McLeod and Bastion a couple of years ago. So if they could sign him for like three years at 2 million, I think Glass seems like a guy that is more interested in stability and staying in the same place than anything. But if he walks in free agency, I don't think it's a good thing for the devil since we just got rid of Holla.
[00:12:48] So I'm expecting a Glass deal actually pretty soon. And you're saying for 2 million? Ideally, yeah. Like, you know, I think generally the barometer is, you know, a million dollars for every 10 points. You know, that's probably going to change with the cap going up a little bit. But, you know, 20, 25 points, something like that. I mean, he was on a half a point per game pace with us when he came over. Again, 7 points in 14 games.
[00:13:18] So, yeah. I mean, he's got good size. He's got good speed. He's good in the dot. Like, he's great defensive metrics. Like, he's the exact, like, 4C that we need. And he's a righty, too, which, you know, I hate to be an old man about, like, righty-lefty. But, like, having a right-handed center is pretty important, particularly for D-zone draws. If he's our 3C, I have a problem with that. He should be our 4C.
[00:13:44] Well, I mean, I would assume that the plan was, because, look, we all know that Holla, if he was going to stay here, he wasn't our 3C anymore. He's at best a 4C at this point in his career. So, with him getting traded, I assumed it was going to be Cody Glass. And then, yeah, nothing has been done yet. I don't understand the, you know, I get if you have time, take it aspect. But when it comes to a player that played for you for half the year that you went out and
[00:14:11] traded for, who seemingly wants to stay here, why not just lock that up right now? I mean, I know you got the Luke Hughes deal on the horizon. You have to take care of that. And what do you guys think about that one? Should that be? Because I've been hearing things about a possible bridge deal for a year, you know, for maybe a little bit more right now, or however it works, or like an 8x8.5. Me, personally, I don't want to see Luke with a bridge deal.
[00:14:39] Because in my crazy, weird logic, that fucks things up for Quinn ever coming to Jersey. Because let's say you only sign him for a four-year deal. Now you have him, and let's say you're planning on waiting for Quinn to finish up in Vancouver. Let's say he walks in two years. This is all completely reckless speculation. Because if he's on the team in Vancouver two years from now, he's being traded. They're not going to let him just walk for nothing. But regardless, I'm just for my argument.
[00:15:10] Is Quinn going to come here if there's only a guarantee that they're going to play together for a year or two? Like, I think you have to lock them up. And it makes it more enticing to get Quinn to come here. Like, hey, Jack's here for another six. Luke's here for another eight. Come on over. That's how I feel. So that's why I don't want a bridge deal with him. I want Luke to be a devil forever. What do you guys think? Yeah, I think I agree with you.
[00:15:36] And I actually like, let's see what Mike Ruff was saying in there about Ross Colton. I do like him, too. You know, he's a Jersey guy, too. Grew up a Devils fan. Yeah. You know. But yeah, I mean, I think you've got to make Luke a devil forever. I think if you have, you know, I mean, I've even heard people actually during the offseason already be like, oh, you know, Jack, if he doesn't do it this year. I don't want to see the youth leave the Devils. I think they're, you know, a big part of the organization for us.
[00:16:05] I mean, it's our it's our player. Like we finally have that guy now. You know, health has obviously been the big thing, which we talked about the last time I was on with him. But I think Luke, yeah, seven or eight years, I would say. What's what's Colton's deal? I don't know what his deal is. I don't have any info. Let's find out. Are you looking it up? Yeah, I'll look it up. Yeah, you're right. Open up anything else on Internet wise. We had a show going on.
[00:16:34] It's like it's sort of fucking mess. Yeah, I agree with you on Luke. Luke's funny because it's like. He like basically lives on his brother's couch, like in the, you know, Quinn and Quinn and Jack built this house in Michigan. Right. And Luke basically like lives on their couch. So what are the conversations with Luke? I was thinking about this the other day. What if it's is like, hey, Luke, your brothers are going to be making 200 million dollars combined.
[00:17:04] You live on their couch. You have one pair of shoes. Like, you don't really need that much money. Just wait until see what we do in free agency. And I'll give you like a million bucks at the end of the day. And Luke's like, OK, we'll do that. Yeah, I think that that's the type of shit I was thinking of the other day. But yeah, I think with. Yeah, poor Luke. I think with. If anything, I think I don't know. I think locking him up long term is the right solution, because if this guy pops off
[00:17:33] over the next two or three years and the caps going up in a massive way, suddenly now Luke's getting 12, 14 million dollars a year in three years. And it's just like, oh, shit. Now we're in the same kind of cap problem. So Colton has two years left at four million dollars. And he's. He's in Colorado, right? In Colorado. I'm closing Wikipedia before it blows up my computer. Yeah. I don't blame you. Don't fuck around.
[00:17:58] OK, so he's so he's in Colorado, who we if I remember correctly, is one of those teams that is seriously up against it. Right. Like then. Yeah, Colorado, Colorado and Dallas, Winnipeg a little bit, depending on who they resign and don't resign. But it's really Colorado and Dallas are the two like Marchment. You know, I thought he was a guy that we could we could pry away. But Seattle got him for fucking peanuts.
[00:18:26] And you have to think we'd get some of the at home, like that hometown thing going. I'm sure because, like I said, I know I watched specials on that kid. He was a huge Devils fan when they were having their runs back in the day and stuff. So I think getting Colton would be I don't think it's a hard, you know, I think he would love to come to New Jersey. Well, I mean, I don't. He doesn't like jump out at me like his play.
[00:18:52] Like, I don't I'm trying to, like, remember Ross Colton plays that really stand out to me, but I don't watch a lot of Avalanche. So he's the one that that hurt Luke the first very first time. Yes. Stephen was saying that. He said he sent Luke to the shadow realm. The shadow realm. All right. I remember that. OK. So, yeah. OK. I see it here. Colton is the one that plastered Luke into the boards a couple of years ago. That's right. OK. Yeah. That was a fucking big hit. Like, he's I think he kind of fits it.
[00:19:22] Like, you know, I've said this a couple of times, like what we need and he would be a three C two years, four million. That's that's a pretty good deal. And that's fittable. Depending on, you know, who else will unload. Fittable. Fittable. I just don't want him to go and fits it all up this summer. You know, I mean, I don't think he's going to fits it up this summer. Well, with glass. Very dry. I with glass not signed and hollow gone. One of two things is happening.
[00:19:51] Either the man has an absolute plan and knows what he wants to do and has every intention to go out and do it starting a week from tomorrow. Free agency. Or he has no fucking idea what he's going to do. And we're completely screwed. So we'll see. You know, it's probably somewhere in the middle. Like, I remember all the rumors that we were going to sign Marceau and free agency. Like, I'm starting to wonder, like, does Fitz just fucking have a contract offer for everybody?
[00:20:20] And hopefully someone's like, does he just throw a bunch of contracts in the water? And hopefully, like, he catches a fish somehow. It seems like that. I'm concerned that that's actually his. Like Florida getting him, though. When you look at that car. Oh, you're talking. No, he's talking about Johnson Marchessau in Nashville. Oh, but Marceau. Yeah. Like, I don't know. What do you think of him? Like, would you sign him in free agency? Because there's been a lot of speculation recently about Marceau. But it would probably be like a four years by eight months.
[00:20:50] Say something like 42 years old. All right. I'm okay with the age. That doesn't bother me. I think that this dude can still play. He's a playoff performer. Age isn't like it was 10 years ago. And once you hit that 40 mark. You know, unless your name was Chris Chelios. You were done playing. Right. I think that Brad Marchand will be. I mean, if you look at a four year deal, you know, you probably are married to it for at least two.
[00:21:18] And then maybe you can get off of it down the road. So it's not always set in stone that it's a four year for you. You know, you're going to be with the guy for four. However, I'm with I'm on board for Marchand if it's six highest, not because he's not worth eight, eight and a half, but because I know we can't do that. Not for a bottom six guy. So and that's where he belongs. He belongs on the third line. So can you get him for the right price? Fuck yes. Sign him up. Well, like look at that.
[00:21:47] Look at the deal that that Jonathan Tays just signed. You know, like we get four million. No, he got it was like a two million base and it was all bonuses. So like for us, if a guy is over thirty five, you can sign you can structure the contract in a way that it's very much bonus laden. So like the money, if he hits those bonuses, if he hits those bonuses, then it doesn't count towards that year's cap.
[00:22:16] It gets rolled over to the next year's cap. Yeah. So like if you front load all the money, like all the actual salary that he's getting paid. So the A, V is a certain amount. But, you know, say it's four years at eight million, which is thirty two million. Right. If you give him twenty five of that up front, which is fucking preposterous number, but hear me out. Then his buyout on the back end is a lot cheaper in two years because our window is the next two years.
[00:22:43] I think like if this core group is going to win a cup, it's going to be in the next two years. I'm a little concerned that that's not going to happen. You know, and, you know, maybe maybe the plan is Dick Lick and Hamahama, Hamani, Hamaniho. Maybe those are the guys that, you know, maybe maybe Fitz is planning on seeing some big things from them this year.
[00:23:06] But again, if you are going to ride the expectation of this team in the next couple of years to a couple of rookies. And we saw how that worked out two years ago, like you had mentioned before, Tim, with Casey and Nemich. I mean, Luke and Nemich rather. So I think. Look out for a three seed Juho Lamico. Oh, yeah. Forgot about him. Yeah. So did I. I was just kidding. If that's our three seed, we are fucked.
[00:23:36] Hmm. Maybe he's our four seed and glass would be. Maybe. I don't know. Kind of glass or four three seed. Say hi to Jackson. What are you doing, Tim? Say hi to Jackson. Oh, hi, Jackson. How are you? Dog. I wanted to, you know, I want to ask you guys to with Marsha. And isn't it funny? Like I felt the same way about Crosby. I hated Crosby when he first was in the league. I hated Marsha and he was in the league. But in the early days, I think when these guys start really winning championships, just can't help but kind of. I don't know.
[00:24:04] You know, I couldn't stand a little rat. No, I hate him. Now I have a respect for him. It's the same thing with Crosby. Eventually, I think it grows to like, okay, you kind of have the room to talk some shit sometimes. And their game, if they're on your team, as much as we hate them, if he was in the red sweater doing that shit, we'd probably love him because we loved Claude the Mew. How many teams fucking hated Claude the Mew?
[00:24:24] I got to say what Brad Marchand is probably, this is quite possibly the greatest free agent PR tour that I've ever seen in my life. Like a guy coming up on free agency, just the PR tour that he's gone on, his playoff performance. Now what he's doing afterwards, celebrating everybody fucking loves him. And like, this is un-fucking- Videos are great. You saw him at the club?
[00:24:54] The trolling everything. He's like, people keep handing them waters and he's just like pouring the waters out. It's incredible what these guys are doing. There was one video I saw where he was like trying to go back in the club and he was so wasted, I guess. They were pulling him out, his teammates. I mean, look, I mean, if, if Pitts went out and got Marchand, I mean, I would be okay with it. And I think some of what you're saying, Tony, I think also that comes with us getting older when you hate players and then you kind of get older and you've watched enough hockey
[00:25:22] to kind of just know that, you know what? I don't like this dude because of what he does to, you know, my favorite team when we play him, but you have that respect for him. Who's your most hated player, Chris? Ever? And Tim, yeah. Well, that's a great question. Most hated player ever? Mine right away. I had the same guy. Mark Messier? Mark Messier. Yeah. I've met him. He was a douchebag. I'm not, I hated him as a player.
[00:25:50] I mean, the we will win still, he annoys me when I see that shit. My most disliked player is him. Sean Avery. Sean Avery is one too. I mean, yeah. Even though he was an Oppenheimer. Yeah, he was a douchebag too. Sean Avery is definitely one. But yeah, there were mostly Rangers though. I mean. Yeah, isn't that funny? I mean, Chris Drury. Of course there. Who I still hate. Eric Lindros. I always fucking hated Lindros. But Messier just has that. Think about like, he has that.
[00:26:19] What is the Muppet Eagle from the Muppets? Sam the Eagle. I said that the other day that you call him that. Yeah. Yeah. It looks like Sam the Eagle. That's what I see. Just a douche. Well, you know, Mike Ruff is talking about the kid. Lameko. What's his name? Jujo Lameko. Jujo. Okay. We're going to call it Lameko. I. Kind of an unfortunate first name. I'm not going to lie. Yeah. It kind of is. You don't just have some instruments behind it when you say it.
[00:26:46] But I'm curious to see what this kid could do. I really am. I mean. He could surprise the shit out of us. You know. I don't think we're in a world anymore where you can go find a hidden gem in Europe that nobody knows about. Right. Pretty much, you know, everybody knows about every player out there. This guy's got good size. He could surprise us. I have no idea. Mike. Mike likes him. And I don't know. I trust about half of his opinions. Well, he played up there. So he saw him. Yeah. I agree with you, man. They fixed that shit. Sorry about that.
[00:27:15] I enjoy talking about Marshan and Bennett, but like they're signing in Florida. Like you see every like same thing like this press tour, like the way these guys love each other. Like I don't see how either of them would leave Florida. That would be fucking crazy if they did. I have to say as much as I hate the mouth breather Kachuk brothers, Matthew did say that ownership and Bill Zito get a little mad at him because he tells guys like, look, if you're a UFA, like go get paid.
[00:27:44] Like if you can go somewhere else and get your money, go get your money. And like they're like Zito's like, you guys are, you know, yeah, exactly. And, but he's, you know, he said it. I'm always a, uh, a player, player first guy. And if they can make as much money as they can, which I agree with, absolutely go get paid if you can. Um, but when you have your own teammate who, you know, Hey Sam, you're a con smite, we're only going to give you $7 million a year, but you can get, you know, nine playing somewhere else. Go get it.
[00:28:14] Um, yeah. And I think, you know, a lot of conversation recently has been about all the tax stuff. And I think this is kind of where it comes into play in terms of retaining a player, but everyone who about that Florida organization, the facilities, the ownership, the management group, like getting to drive to the practice rink in a fucking golf cart, driving by palm trees, wearing flip flops.
[00:28:40] Like the second you get to experience that type of environment, it'd be very hard to be like, yeah, sure. I'll go sign in Winnipeg. Exactly. No thanks. And look, I know they're set up and they're going to be right there again. And anybody that doubts Florida moving forward, I think is ridiculous, you know, until somebody beats them, they're the best team period. And they're one of the best teams that I've ever seen in my life. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I agree. I think we're not, I think we have no chance. I have to be honest.
[00:29:08] I see a comment here with about Bennett and Marchand. I don't think I don't, at the end of the day, we're not getting these two guys. No, I agree. I don't think it's ever going to happen. It's not even happening. The Bennett stuff and the Marchand. I would love that. I'd give Bennett fucking hollow and palaz money right like tomorrow, but it's just not going to happen. I mean, I said. It was a great team. I said in January that Tom Fitzgerald's main priority this summer should be to go out and sign Sam Bennett. That was so far before Sam Bennett did what he did.
[00:29:36] And now 30, 31 other teams want them. So yeah, you don't have a chance, you know. You know, 2001 being our best team, Stephen Engel said, I look, that team was phenomenal. 2000 was phenomenal. And that's five. You always remember. But this Florida team reminds me a lot of the Devils 2000, 2001 teams. They just, the four lines, they have their one big line. Devils had their one big line, especially in 2000.
[00:30:06] But 2001, you know, all four lines, these guys scored. Everybody scored. I mean, it was just, they played great defense. You had great goalie. You had great coaching. You just had, they were very similar in the way that they play at playoff time. And, you know, it's a recipe for success. I think they got 20 goals from their D core in the playoffs. 20. Yeah. That's crazy. It is. I think it is their top nine forwards. Every one of them had over 18 points.
[00:30:34] I think that was the first time that's been done since like, you know, the 1982 Islanders or something weird like that. But now Mike brought up Mandiapari from Washington. I've heard some stuff about him too. Yeah, me too. Possibly some rumors of him maybe coming. Now, is he a UFA or is that a trade? He's a UFA. I think he's a UFA, right? Yeah. Yeah, I've heard about Dvorak too. It could be an interesting idea. What did you guys think about that Philadelphia move? Trevor Zegress? Yeah. I mean, I think I texted it to you guys.
[00:31:04] I always like Trevor Zegress as far as like his skill. I think he's got amazing offensive skill. I don't think he has any interest in playing defense or becoming a more rounded player. And I think that that is why him and Pat Verbeek butt heads so much up there out there in Anaheim because more is expected. And I just don't necessarily think, and I might be speaking out of my ass here, but that Zegress doesn't put the work in that needs to be put in for him to be the best player he could possibly be.
[00:31:32] So maybe a switch to Philadelphia, change of scenery. Maybe that's what he needs. If Torts was still there, I would love to see how that goes. That would be incredible. But I like Trevor Zegress. I don't want him on my team, but I love watching his highlights. You know, he's a third-line guy. I think that's where he belongs. And power play time. I think he can help Philly. Yeah, you put him with Meechkoff and, you know, the Michigans for 60 are going to be through the roof.
[00:32:02] Yeah. I think Zegress gets a lot of shit because of that skill. And he came out of the game with the Michigans. He did that flip over the net goal. And, you know, people were, you know, freaking out about that. He definitely has a lot of skill. But, you know, I'm not going to speculate on a guy's habits, but he probably weighs $1.40. Like, he's going to get his fucking ass kicked. Like, you know, and he's a yappy little mouthy guy. Like, he needs to kind of rehabilitate his image a little bit.
[00:32:33] And Philadelphia's going to treat him like shit. I mean, if he doesn't perform, yeah. You know, I do want to talk about, because next week is going to be the big week. You know, hopefully some things get done before trades or whatever get done before Tuesday. But just so you guys know, too, like all you guys listening, Tuesday night, probably around like 10 p.m.
[00:32:58] After all the dust has settled, we are going to do a live show to kind of go over everything from free agency and go over it. So it might be a nice, long, fun show. So put that in your calendar, guys. That's going to be a good time. But with the season coming up and with the roster as is, I understand that it might not be this come October. But the three devils starting third up to one, one being the guy that has the most to prove.
[00:33:27] Who are your three devils that have the most on the line this year going forward? We'll start with number three, kind of go around, and then we'll talk about it. So, Tim, who would be your third guy? I just want to organize this in my head. And assuming the guys that are on the roster right now are the guys that are going to be ready. Yes, yes, of course. Third guy, I'll say Dawson Mercer. Okay.
[00:33:57] Just, you know, he needs to score more. You know, he needs to get back to that kind of mid-20s goal role. He needs to be more effective on the wall. He needs to be more effective clearing the puck out of the zone. He needs to put on some weight and stop being the matrix and actually, like, stop ducking hits and stop bouncing off of people. You know, he's good. He's a good net front guy.
[00:34:22] Like, you know, if he can kind of hone that in, he may wind up in our top six with, say, like Nico and Timo. I think that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to put him there. So I'd put him number three. And I also think with Mercer, because he's not on my list, so I just want to kind of jump on yours. With Mercer, you have a couple of guys like we talked about, right? Dick Lick and Hamana Hamada coming in.
[00:34:51] And the other guy, Juno. I'll get their name straight by Christmas. I promise. Hamana Ho. Hamana Ho. Luke Slick. I don't know why I'm saying this, like he's in their definition. And who's the other one? Jesus Christ, Chris. Okay, those three guys. Read a book. Read a book, pal. We know who – I can read. It's just a retention that's the problem. But so if those guys, one of those guys or two of those guys, hopefully three of those guys,
[00:35:20] if they go out and outperform Dawson Mercer this year, that's a big issue. You know, then, yeah, I'm with you. Like, he has some guys now coming up that are nipping at his heels. Maybe this dude needs to – yeah, he definitely needs to step up. Who's your third guy, Tone? Unless you want to add something about Mercer if he's not your guy. Nemitz, I guess I would have to say. If he's still there, that would be, you know. So Nemitz is your third guy? Yeah, yeah. Okay.
[00:35:50] Yeah, I mean, I could see that. I loved how he played in the playoffs. And – DeMikro said, God, Chris, Dano is better at names. He might be. He might be, bro. Yeah, these names are going to fucking melt in Danico's brain. I wonder if that –
[00:36:19] I don't know if he's looking at the frigging lineup sheet for some of these games, man. But, like I said, I'll get their names right. I know you're doing it for a specific reason, so. Yeah, it's fun. Nemitz, yeah. I mean, the way he played in the playoffs, like if that's his game and it can only elevate – like if that's his – if that becomes his floor, you got a fucking hell of a player there. But – and I think a lot of it with Nemitz last year was just the confidence level.
[00:36:46] Like I think it was just him figuring it out and getting the confidence to say, okay, I can play my game. I'm capable of it. And just going out and doing it. And in the playoffs, hey, man, it was down to a skeleton crew. And this dude absolutely stepped in and played out of his head. Him, Dumoulin, like those were our two best defensemen. I mean, I think they were our only two. I think they were playing 75 minutes a night each. But, yeah, overtime. There you go.
[00:37:13] So my third guy is actually – we talked about him before – Dougie Hamilton. And it comes down to if Dougie's going to be on this team, dude, you have got to stay healthy. And you've got to get back to that rocket shot from the point. You know, if he's not 100% and anything is still lingering from that Peck injury that I think limited him to not being able to take that shot as much as he –
[00:37:42] as good as he does normally, then, yeah. I mean, he's got to step up. He was our big pickup. He's a lot of money. You missed over 120 games. He's got to stay healthy. That's my number three. And Tim's gone. He froze up again. And Jace knows – yeah, I know. And – What did he write? Your million-dollar lottery play of the game by Habanero.
[00:38:11] And says devices not connected, Tim. Habanero, dude. I don't know what's going on. And Jace knows, right, with Bratt needing to step up in the playoffs. But, yeah, I mean, we'll get to playoff guys that have to step up when we get to the playoffs. So, yeah, Bratt's arm-arner. Come on, Tim. All right, so, Tone, who's your second guy? Probably Koba Savage because we have him for a bunch of years. We have him for a whole bunch of years. Well, not a whole bunch, but a decent amount of years now. So, you're hoping that you – it was a smart move.
[00:38:40] So, we're going to find out next year. You know, because, I mean, like you said, I think that – He plays next year. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my second – let me just text Tim real quick. It says your device isn't connected. So, um – He's texting me and said there's a bunch of porn stuff flashing up on his computer. Oh, he got that virus again. Hi, Cam. He says, yeah. All right. So, my second guy is actually Timo Meier.
[00:39:09] Like, it's time for Timo to be Timo all year, 82 games plus the playoffs. It's not, you know, this whole just getting by until March and then Timo just flips the switch. He has to play better and he has to be available all year and play at that level. So, again, kind of falls into, like, the Mercer slot of you got to make sure that this guy has a actual job description.
[00:39:38] He has to be slotted in the right spot to get the best out of him. And I just – I hope that we see – because if we can get Timo playing at that March Timo Meier level starting from game one, Devils are going to be a much, much better team. So, I'm really hoping that Timo Meier can start getting back to playing that way. So, I don't know who Tim has. I don't know where he went.
[00:40:08] But, yeah, the Kovacevic contract, too, is another reason. Like, he has a lot to – That's my big reason why I said him because it's like, you know, that was kind of a – that's a decent amount of time we have him for that. Yeah. So, it's a commitment, you know. And I don't necessarily think he showed us enough to warrant that contract. That contract to me was just out of the blue. I didn't understand it. I still don't. And we talked about it earlier in the show. We liked him, too. We did like him. There was no need to do it then.
[00:40:37] There was just no need to do it then, you know. And if you didn't do it when you did it and you held off after the playoffs, this guy's not getting that contract. And we have ourselves $4 million extra in cap space. And, okay, we're down a defenseman. But, you know, he's injured. And if he's really going to be out nine months, who knows if that's a knee ligament. A, he could not be back at all for the 25-26 season. Or even worse, he may never be the guy he was.
[00:41:06] So, yeah, there's a lot of risk in that contract right now. There was risk in that contract before the injury. Now, with the injury, it's 100 times riskier. Tony's second guy, Tim, was Kovacevic. And we were just kind of going over that and mostly the contract and stuff. And mine was Timo. For me, Timo Meyers got to start playing Timo hockey from October right on through. That's what I want to see. So, who's your second guy? Timo.
[00:41:35] Same exact reason. Like, I appreciate Timo. I love the way he plays. But he's also here to put the fucking puck in the net. And all of his underlying advanced metrics are great. But score goals, man. Like, that's what you're here for. If he scores less than 30 goals this year, I think we've got to start having a serious conversation about him.
[00:42:01] One of the issues, though, I think that we need to be sorted out is where he's going to be on the power play. Because I think we need to rearrange the power play a little bit so he can be in that right flank side that Bratt usually takes. And if we put Bratt on the power play, too, I'm fine with that as well.
[00:42:23] Honestly, I think the way I think it should go, assuming Dougie's not here, is Luke up top, Jack on the left flank. What the fuck is this thing starting? I had to download this new fucking app for some meeting I was in, and now it's like taking over my computer. So Luke up top, Jack left flank. No.
[00:42:50] Timo right flank, Nico in the bumper, and Bratt actually kind of that down low net front guy with Mercer as well. Or Nason, one of the two. I don't know. It's just there's only so many guys and so much time and so much space to go around. And I think that's, you know, we could clamor for all these top six guys like Ehlers or McCann. But if they're not getting power play one time, their production is going to suffer. That's really it.
[00:43:20] And it's not my computer. It's my internet connection and where I live. And I'm like three rooms away from the internet router. And I'm installing an Eero mesh system right now that is a pain in the ass. It's also 100 degrees out. So fuck off, Jason. Tim's in charge of the customer service. Here we go.
[00:43:50] There we go. This is what happened to us before. Chris is probably cursing right now. I can hear him. I can't hear him actually. Oh, there you go. We had a shit show earlier with this. It was like for probably like we had started doing maybe five minutes or some shit like that. And it was just all downhill. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Rough my computers. Basically, it's just like a bunch of fucking little Chinese guys in the basement.
[00:44:20] I think he's back or is he. So I think what a lot of people we really need to understand is is how much power play time affects production. And I think a lot of people kind of misunderstand that. And like, yeah, we want to bring in good players. But if you're going to give a guy $8 million and expect him to put up, you know, 80, 90 points, he's got to get power play time.
[00:44:45] Like, you know, there's Brandon Hagel on Tampa Bay was the first guy in like 40 years that scored more than 30 goals without sniffing power play time this year. So it's it really is. It really is a significant issue. I think Chris is lost. We lost Chris. So I agree. So who would be your who would be your first guy then? I have to say Mercer, you know, because I just never I thought it was a couple of guys I thought of.
[00:45:15] But I think I mean, I even got the damn jersey, man. He was the first devil in a while. I got the custom jersey, you know, and I just never, you know, I mean, never misses a game, man. But just just need a little bit more out of him. So I think this I would say, I mean, they can move him even him. You know, I mentioned Nemitz also like these are guys they can move maybe before the season starts. These guys are guys that I feel like have to step it up. You know, shit.
[00:45:45] Look at last year compared to the year. There's a lot of bad seasons last year for a lot of dudes. It just had off. You hope it's off years. Right. I mean, yeah. And that's you know, you look at good teams that have good seasons, like everybody kind of, you know, all boats, you know, whatever the fuck the phrase is. I don't know. My brain's melting. But like, you know, that happened to us. It was three years ago, two years ago. God, it's going to be three seasons now. A record breaking season is is everybody had a career year and everybody had a good year.
[00:46:14] Like that was the year Timo came over and, you know, he put up 40 goals in combination. Dougie had 20 plus goals. We were overtime gods. You know, Jack hit 99 points. Like we need everybody to. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Vanacek of all people. Stanley Cup champion. You know, but I'm so Tim, I don't know about you. I'm happy. I know there's some people who are pissing those guys win. Like I was happy. If you go to the Rangers, I don't ever want to see you win again.
[00:46:40] You know, but I mean, those guys, I mean, I was happy to see them get it. It's not their fault that we didn't resign them. You know, I mean, Nosek was hurt the entire time he was here. I did like Nosek too. Yeah, I did too. I thought he would have been a good guy to keep around. But like he played like one healthy game with us and actually was like, oh, this guy's actually pretty good. But, you know, he's a fourth line guy. You can replace fourth line guys. You know, Boquist, I think, had some upside. But, you know, he's, you know, he's built like a pencil.
[00:47:10] So it's just like, you know, where does he kind of slide in? You know, Vanacek. I felt bad for Henrik, man. I felt bad for Henrik a little bit. You know, it's what, two years in a row now, obviously his time with Jersey. He was the guy that I thought would be, for the 3C position, I'm looking around the league. You know, I feel like that kind of player like Henrik or the Ryan O'Reilly is like that veteran,
[00:47:40] good two-way player, you know, can give us 40 to 50 points and take some of the defensive heat off of Nico. That's kind of my ideal target for that player. I like Henrik too, man, because think about it. Like, he was a guy who really loved being a devil. Like, I know he was, you know, when he left, it was... I hate everything right now. I'm sorry. What were you guys talking about? Henrik, actually. But we're talking, it led to that.
[00:48:09] We're talking, we were spitballing Chris. We didn't have our D-lead here. All right, well, we should probably wrap this thing up before anything else happens. So let's talk about our number one guy. Okay, you don't want to do the... All right, I have one devil's advocate that I promised Mike Ruff that I would do. So can we at least do this one? Yes, we can do this. After we do our number one guy. My number one guy is Jack Hughes. Hang on. Tony, who's your number one guy? I said Mercer.
[00:48:39] Oh, my number one guy is Jack Hughes too. So go ahead, Tim. Yeah. I thought we might all have Jack Hughes. That's why I asked him. He needs to stay healthy, put up 120 points, and drop his nuts on the league. Like, that's what we need from this kid. Like, there's no ifs, ands, or buts. Because if he gets hurt again, we got to start talking about shipping him out. I agree. I don't think there's anything else to say.
[00:49:05] I mean, the guy's talent is top 10 in the league. One of the 10 best NHL players, hockey players on the planet. And he can't stay fucking healthy because he has balsa wood bones. And he plays at 130 miles an hour every fucking game. So, yeah. I mean, and this team will only, this team's only going as far as Jack Hughes and Nico Heischer take them. And I have no doubt that Nico Heischer is the man for the job.
[00:49:33] But I have a lot of doubt that Jack Hughes can stay healthy enough to do it. I think if he's healthy, yeah, he can do it. But this has got to be the year he's got to get it. He's got to stay healthy. And you're exactly right, Tim. He's got to do 100 points. Go show everybody that, you know, this is who you are and that you can stay healthy for a whole year and take this team deep into the playoffs. Yeah. Because once we get there, like he fucking balled out in the playoffs. Like he was awesome. Like he's got it. And like he's undersized. Yeah, I get it. And he maybe made a balsa wood.
[00:50:02] But like the kid's got a fucking nutsack. You know, like he's a good player. All right, Tony. We'll see you later. Hammer's gone. Jesus Christ. What a fucking mess. What a mess. Maybe we should just end this. You know what? I think that that's probably the best thing. Because if we get into a devil's advocate. But if you want to do the one devil's advocate. Can I just do the devil's advocate? This is actually from the demented brain of Mike Ruff. Okay. Tony, can you hear us okay? Tone? Tony? Tony?
[00:50:31] Tony, can you hear me? Hey, you guys hear me? Yeah, we got you. You got us? Yeah, I got you. I think. Okay. So, Tony, we're going to play devil's advocate. Wait, he was there? Okay. You know how to play this game, Tony? We got to fire our producer. I do not know how to play this game. Okay. So, Tim is going to give us a question or a statement or something. And then he's going to tell you to defend one side of it. And me to defend the other side.
[00:51:00] And it could be something you completely disagree with. You have to make a coherent argument for it. Oh, God. I'm awful at this shit. Nope. Nope. You're going to be good at this, Tony. Because I. I don't think so. But I'll. Because the question that Mike Ruff gave me to ask you guys is specifically. This actually is right up your alley. Okay. All right. Who is the better and more important player to their team?
[00:51:26] Chris, you are going to argue that Matt Rempe is more important than Curtis McDermott. And Tony is going to argue that Curtis McDermott is more important than Matt Rempe. All right. So, it's obvious how much more important Rempe is to the Rangers than Curtis McDermott is to Devils.
[00:51:52] Half Devil fans, if you went up to them and just said, hey, who's the, you know, best fighter? Who's our thug? Who's our fucking, you know, whatever? They won't even know who Curtis McDermott is. But Ranger fans, they love Matt Rempe. They named him after a fucking building. The Rampire State Building.
[00:52:13] The guy is so important to this team that he's, his play and how he hits and the dominance that he has. And, I mean, I get it. He is a deer on ice skates when he's out there. He is a terrible hockey player. But what he brings to that team is just more than Curtis McDermott could ever bring to the Devils. When McDermott first got here, yeah, he played all right. He got into some fights. We really liked him. The guys love him in the dressing room.
[00:52:42] They say he's completely, his work ethic, everything is all. But that doesn't translate to what they're doing on the ice. Rempe translates to what they're doing on the ice. This team gets so fired up. 20,000. I can't take this anymore. Shut the fuck up. Tony, what do you think about Curtis McDermott? I don't even know what to say now, man. Mine's going to be very short. Curtis is better because he's not Rempe. I can't stand the motherfucker. I think Tony wins that. Tony wins. Tony wins. Tony wins. There you go. That's all you needed.
[00:53:11] Because, yeah, look, I can't stand Matt Rempe. I can't stand him. Can't stand him. Is he your most hated player today? Because I think that he would be my number one hated player today. Matt Rempe? Yeah. Yeah. He's not even a pimple on my ass. I just can't stand the motherfucker. I do not even think about him. I can't say who mine is because he's mine. He's just probably has too many fans.
[00:53:40] I don't like Ovechkin. No, that's fine. That's fine. You don't have to like Ovechkin. I'm not an Ovechkin fan, but I think as of who I actually just can't stand to see on the ice besides Ovechkin would definitely be him. And to be honest, I would take Curtis McDermott over Matt Rempe every day of the week. Just for the reason that Tony said. He's not Matt Rempe. I can't stand the camera. He's playing time though, does he? No. No, but you know, there's a difference between being an enforcer and being like, like I
[00:54:07] said, that you have to look at Matt Rempe and we can talk about him till, you know, for however long as you want. But the thing about Matt Rempe over his course of his career so far, that's pretty obvious is one of two things. Either one, he is a very, very bad hockey player or two. He's a dirty fuck. It's one or the other. Like you can't, there's no in between with the guy. And I think that he's a dirty fuck. I will say this.
[00:54:34] When he first came, Chris, if you remember back when it was, when we first started doing this show, I did, of course I don't like anybody who was wearing a Ranger sweater, but I will say this. When he first started playing, I said, okay, I was glad to see a player at first, like I'm saying the first, maybe two weeks, this guy's on the ice. I'm like a player who has that dirtiness again. I was like, okay, I kind of like this attitude. Couldn't after a while, he's just cheap shots. When he's putting guys on IR every other fucking game. But at first, I had that whole, okay, we're having this part of hockey is back a little
[00:55:02] bit because we grew up with the Chris Simons and you know, these guys. Yeah, but they were just good enforcers and tough dudes. Well, Chris Simon was a good player too, in general. Chris loves Rempe. I'm going to go get myself a Rempe jersey. That's what I'm going to do. All right, but before. I know you guys. I'm very disappointed he couldn't get his Rodgers jersey, I'm sure, Chris. I do want to talk some football too, but not tonight because I don't trust the internet. Isn't going to, you know, so we're going to actually wrap this up.
[00:55:30] Guys, this was a lot of fun, of course, hanging out with you guys and we will be back another show this week. And if anything pops and we get a trade or anything like that, we'll come on and do an emergency episode and talk about that. And then definitely a week from tomorrow, boys, free agent frenzy, the Uncle Pucker free agent extravaganza. We'll call it that. I will not be here for this event, unfortunately. Tony will be asleep. Tony will be napping. You can wake up at five o'clock. It's free agency, man.
[00:56:00] It's summertime. Have some fucking dedication to the show, Tony. Yeah, I know. Come on. We got up at six in the morning for your ass to Sunday. It's Sunday. You want dedication to the show? Tony, what time is it? It is one 30 in the morning right now. Yeah, that's dedication. Yeah, that's good. I'm just, I'm just busting your balls, Tony. I was snuggling up in bed at 10 PM last night. I have a show to go to tomorrow. Anal vomit. Oh God. The wife is not excited at all about this one. I wouldn't be. I mean, you drag her to go to fucking dinner in another country with Count Chocula and then
[00:56:30] you fucking. Before we go, I have to mention this. You take her to see a band called Ass Puke or what is it? Anal vomit. Anal vomit. From Peru. So, yeah, she's not as stoked about this. No, but yeah, I mentioned, I have to mention this before the end of the show. Yes. This week when I was a kid, you know, my dad worked for the Redskins for a small period of time up in West Virginia. And so watch this guy on TV, Count Gordon of all dressed like Dracula. We don't, for everybody who doesn't know, they have the horror movie hosts where all
[00:57:00] the shitty horror movies play. They're really bad ones. And they have the guy between Elvira doing it. Elvira. Yeah. Yeah. Dr. Paul Bear. All these, you know. No, he wasn't really a wolf man. He's Van Gulli now is one that is still going from Chicago. But when I grew up, I watched this Count, you know, Count Gordon of all. And eventually started doing this heavy metal podcast. Had him on a few times. He's in his 70s. Still does the show. He's actually in the Horror Host Hall of Fame.
[00:57:27] He's the only one left of all the Creature Feature hosts from back in those days. Came friends with him. Him and his wife came to town because he's actually has some Lithuanian heritage. So he was traveling. And we went out to dinner with him and his wife. I got, I got the cape back there from him. That's great. But we went to, yeah, we went there and we actually like talked about like all these, he just talked about all this old shit that when I remember when I was a kid, man, I have to say it was awesome, dude. And I was trying to, I was cool about it, but I was like the whole time I'm like, wow, man, I used to watch this guy as a kid.
[00:57:57] That's awesome. Yeah. And he's still doing it. That's very cool. Um, yeah, let's get out of here, guys. We'll keep our eye on that, Jason. No, thank you. Yeah. Like a subscription devil's reported there. What's that? They're trying to move Dougie. Is that what he's saying? Yeah. Devil's reported. They're trying, they're turning to movie Dougie. They're taking Dougie to a movie. That's it. They're going to go see how to train your dragon. You guys want to say hi to Turbo? Come here, boy. Let's see Turbo. Come here, big guy.
[00:58:27] Before I get off the show. Woo. You want to say hello? Say hi. What's up, dog? Okay. All right. We're going to get out of here. Um, a like, a subscription, a five-star review. If Dougie Hamilton gets traded tonight, we'll actually be back later and talk about it. So, um, that's about it, guys. Thank you so much. For Tim and Tony, I'm Chris and Turbo. And we'll see you guys when we see you. Thanks, boys.
[00:58:56] It's over, Johnny. It's over. b Thank you.