UFA's, Trades & Offer Sheets

[00:00:04] What a goal! Hey everyone, Mr. Devil here, Kenny Danico, three-time Stanley Cup champion of the New Jersey Devils, and you're listening to the Uncle Puckers New Jersey Devils Podcast. Let's go Devils! I just got a notification on my phone that the Uncle Puckers are going live. That's pretty cool. You gotta get on that. You should go watch them. Yeah. I think it'd be more fun to watch them than to be them.

[00:00:35] How's everybody doing? Pretty good. How about you? I'm happy, I mean, so I finally junked my Jeep today. Had a company come in, they just pulled it out and got rid of it. And then I had, you ever use those 1-800 cars for kids? No, no, no, the junk people that come and pick up all your, that would, no, this was a different company. A different company came and took my truck, but then I had so much shit that over the years- The junk buggers?

[00:01:04] Yeah, it was something like that. So I had them come today. So I was, what's up, Ruffer? Hey, Mike. And so they came today. And a couple of my buddies at work were like, oh, I used them. They filled up a whole thing, cost me like 200 bucks. I'm like, what am I doing this other bullshit for? I'm like, you know, fucking, I could get a, for 500 bucks, get a 10 yard dumpster in there. But then I got to load it all myself. These guys will do it for two or 300 bucks.

[00:01:32] $850 the dude quoted me when he got here today. I was like, that's not, no, I'm not doing it. Check out. I got them down, I got them down to 500. So I got 300 for the Jeep. It cost me 200 out of my pocket and now all the shit's gone. So that's the way I looked at it. I could have come got it. I'm collecting Jeeps in the barn. This guy just wanted the catalytic converter. That was it. All he wanted was the cat. He tweaked out. He's like, I just want the converter. I just want the converter.

[00:02:00] No, the dude, he was like real, he was legit. Like, he's just like, no, they're worth money. We can swap them out. I can use them and trade for other car parts that I need. So that's what he does. So yeah, he was cool. That's what he does. He sells meth. Well, he might sell meth. I mean, not like that raccoon that smokes meth and then drives cars. Everybody needs to make money somehow. Have you guys ever had a wart? I know it's disgusting, but have you ever had a wart?

[00:02:30] I honestly don't think I ever have. I'm not. I don't know. No. I'm not sure I want to go down this road with this conversation. Well, where it is. Cause I got, no, I mean, I got one on my thumb. I thought it was a word. I'm like, what the fuck is this little bump? Right. And so I bought rash. The, no, no, no. They were different than the ones on my dick, but I, um, Christian jumps right into it. He's like, stop with the around the corner jokes. I'll just put it out.

[00:02:59] I could have seen that coming a mile away. So I bought these compound W band-aids that you, you keep on. And in the other over the course of like weeks and weeks, it, what this thing does to your skin is insane. Like it cut the skin all around this little round. You know, those like those stupid little games where you, you know, when you were a kid, you got to put like the square peg in the square hole and the round peg in the round hole. Like it looks like a round peg. I'm like Trump's cognitive test. Right?

[00:03:29] Yeah. Man, woman, horse, stove, fence, man. What? See, I'm perfectly fine. I'm greatest. I'm trying to kill her. Your surrounding skin, get all fucked up too. It's all getting fucked up. It's so fucking weird. So now you have no skin on your thumb. I don't even think I'm going to have a thumb when I wake up tomorrow morning. This is how crazy this has gotten.

[00:04:00] What are you going to stick in your ass? I can't fit anything else in there, dude. I thought it was already pretty loosened up. What kind of van did you get rougher? Like one with no windows and you know, a box of puppies in the back. It says free candy on the side. Hey kids. Wanna see a puppy? He wants a lollipop. I had a, about 15 years ago. I had this, we're telling gross skin stories. Yeah, we are. Let's do it.

[00:04:28] I had a skin tag on my back and it was weird. It's like this weird thing. It was, I had this kind of hung off, hung off my back. It was pretty gross. And you know, my wife was kind of like, that's fucking gross. And then went to the beach. People were like, what the fuck is that thing? That's gross. That's gross. That's gross. And I was playing hockey once and this dude raked my back. He like cross checked me in the back and then kind of raked down. And I kind of felt something. I was like, oh, that's weird.

[00:04:57] Went back, you know, it's kind of end of the game. Went back to the locker room. And this guy on my team was like, your back is covered in blood. Oh shit. Like my jersey was covered in blood. And this thing was just like, like a fucking like geyser, just like spitting blood out of my back. So we had to like ice it. And like, I had to get a fucking ambulance. And I went to the hospital. You know, like, this was like, there's a lot of blood. And I went to the hospital and they put one stitch in it. That was it.

[00:05:27] One. It's crazy. It caused that much bleeding for one stitch. But I was like, I was like, yeah, hockey injury, you know? Yeah, there you go. Hockey injury. You know, I no longer, cause it was like something I was going to have to go get like surgically removed. And I was like, well, that's it. There, there we go. Like I took care of that for me. It frees it off. Yeah. What were you going to say, Bob? I said, so speaking of skin and backs, I I'm like 90% sure I don't have cancer.

[00:05:57] So that's kind of cool. Yeah. Great. Was that a, was there a 10% chance that you thought you did? What are you talking about? No, no, I'm, I'm 99.9% sure that I don't, but with the test scenario. So I got a couple of like birthmarks on my back. Wife said, listen, I think this looks weird. Get it checked out, which I did like two years ago. Dermatologist said, yeah, these are birth ones, a birthmark and one, some other fancy word. I'm like, so that's basically a birthmark too. He's like, yeah. I'm like, okay, cool. And then they said, but you know, if anything changes, let us know.

[00:06:27] And I don't see my back. You know how hard it is to tell if a mole gets any bigger or, you know what I mean? Like, so take the compass, you know, and I'm like, you know, in the mirror, I'm like, okay. Yeah. It does maybe look a little bigger, whatever. No big deal. So I get to the, I went to a new dermatologist. We weren't as happy with the other one. Cause you're fine. Well, no, I mean, she's like, okay. She looks at the one. Yeah, that's definitely birthmark. She goes, Oh, that one. Hmm. Let me see.

[00:06:56] And then she's like, right. She like screams. She got a little gloves. This is coming right off. See, I'm like, well, shit, I didn't know that was going to happen. She's like, I'm going to biopsy this. Um, just to make sure that it's nothing. She's like, here's what's going to happen. Takes about a week. If you don't hear from us, no cancer. And her name's Yang. She's just like, hi, I'm Yang. Mrs. Yang. Good bedside manner. It sounds like if you don't hear from us, no cancer.

[00:07:24] If we call you, then we're going to have a conversation. And then she said that was about a week. So after a week and then two weeks, I started feeling more comfortable. And then at three weeks, I got the diagnostic bill. Which tells me that they must have gotten the results. So I'm 90% certain that it was nothing because I just haven't made it the other 10% because I didn't pick up the phone and say, seriously, can we talk about this either way?

[00:07:49] I just really want to make sure because you peel something off my back with your finger and then you cut it out of me. So I just want to make you feel like maybe a way. This is fucked up. Right. That's basically what you did. I'm like, okay. You have cancer. Oh, this isn't good. What I don't like about that though, it's like, yeah, it's going to take us maybe a week, maybe a little bit more, maybe a little less. Because if you don't hear from us though, like we're not going to call you. Don't hear from us. You're going to clear. Yeah. I think I should make it. It's going to take like three to 10 business days. And it's just like, what the fuck?

[00:08:19] Like, just call me. They should say, look, if we call you, we're going to schedule an appointment. You come in. If everything looks good, you'll get an email that just says that the results were, you know, you know, benign and blah, blah, blah. Like they can't even send an email, email, email. Cause now I want to know, at least tell me what the heck they do or say. It wasn't like a scabbed cut. Like it was something different. This is leftover. Now we're in a lot of. Yeah.

[00:08:48] It's a lot to get on my back. Weird. Threes responsible for all my fucking health issues. I just so can't stop being Mexican despite the tooth. It's crazy. Mexican food. Mexican food. I had Chipotle tonight. That's Tex-Mex. So I like Tex-Mex a little bit. Straight up Mexican. Yeah. I'm kind of with you on that too. So, so you guys have any thoughts on these series? Are you still going? Cause there's still hockey going on. There's a game on right now in the other room.

[00:09:17] Connor Hollabuck pooped the bed again. Come on, man. What's going on with this guy? It's just, I mean, that's, that's what I called. I didn't, I did not. I don't think that the first round did anything for him. I don't understand why he's performing the way he's performing. So I'm going to shut out the next game. Yeah. I think Dallas is a better team, man. Like they weathered Colorado. Not even weather. They just dispatched a Colorado quicker than I thought they would.

[00:09:44] But now that they're pretty much fully healthy, like there's just, yikes, they're fucking wagon. I mean, it's going to be Dallas and Edmonton. Right. It looks like it. Um, I think I've been wrong about almost every single series. Yeah. Every single one. I think I've gotten like two, two picks, right? I got one of them right with the games. I think that was Toronto. I think that took Toronto and five over whoever. And that was what, uh, over Florida. No over Tampa. No, I took Tampa.

[00:10:14] What am I talking about? I had one of them in five that I got right, but I think every other one I got wrong. Yeah. So, so Mike Ruff is a question for you. Is there like legit steam out there in British Columbia about Quinn Hughes coming to New Jersey? Hey, what's up, DJ? We are doing good, buddy. Um, I'm curious about that because I have now seen something that I'm curious about what you guys think, because I know how I think there's been some shit going around just one for one. Nico.

[00:10:43] He sure for Quinn Hughes. I think the idea of having Quinn Hughes is amazing on this team and I would love to have him. Uh, but not for Nico. He sure. I don't, I don't. Where'd you hear that? Um, it was on, uh, what's what we call it. There was a Vancouver reporter actually had it out there. I have wrote a whole article about it. Um, online. Um, it was, he was from there and then he mentioned like Brat and Dougie and a pick for

[00:11:11] him or one for one Nico for captain for captain. And he had a, another one or so trade scenarios. But in my opinion, like you, you, you're, you're kind of cutting your nose to, you know, off to spite your face by trading Nico. He sure for Quinn Hughes, like we kind of need them both. That's part of the deal. Bob. Yeah. I don't, I don't do that for sure.

[00:11:35] Um, leader captain, you know, everything he brings and what he brings on the defensive side. It'd be so hard to replace that. And we're not exactly a defensive liability. So this is more like the icing on the cake, getting a guy like Quinn. You know, we had a great defense last year, so I would not do that. Yeah. Yeah. We killed two real quick though with Quinn, like you killed two birds with one stone because we need offense and this dude is offense and he's a very good defender.

[00:12:04] So, you know, you're getting, you know, kind of fixing, well, not really fixing the defensive problem, but helping it and sort of help definitely helping your offensive problem. So I love the idea. Yeah. I mean, he'll, he'll, he will absolutely help whoever he's on the ice with. Like, that's not a question. I think, you know, we'll see an offensive uptick for, you know, some of the depth issues that we had regardless. What the frick is depth? What are you talking about? You sound like you're speaking an alien language. What is this depth?

[00:12:34] I don't know what this is. I was sitting around on my chair by myself, just contemplating. What is depth? Where is depth? Hang on. Someone sent me a definition earlier. The strength of a sports team and its reserve of substitute players. That person should now become general manager of the New Jersey devil. Very specific. Yeah. I have. Wait, that was great. So it's attainable. That was no. That wrote it. But can I just, so back up for a second.

[00:13:00] So Quinn for Nico, like, I don't, I mean, whatever. I think we should do whatever we can to get Quinn here. I don't think that makes sense, but also it's kind of like what direction is Vancouver going in? I think for them, they are teetering on blowing it all up, especially if they're giving up Quinn. I don't think Nico makes sense in return for that. I think it's more of a Nemech and more futures, so to speak.

[00:13:29] Maybe like a Nemech and Salia have been a first round pick or something like that, or Nemech and a Mervis. Mercer in a pick. Um, and then depending on when, like this summer, it's going to be a lot more. Um, next summer, it'll be a little bit less because there's less term on his contract. You know, the only one for one that I think would, I'd even remotely consider would be Brad for, um, Brad for Quinn. No, I w I would absolutely consider, um, Bastion for Quinn one for one.

[00:13:59] I would consider, uh, Lazar for Quinn one for one. Yeah. Yes. Quinn one for one. Yeah. There's tons. I mean, yeah. If you want to get Alvin on the phone and suggest a lot for Quinn, I'm, I'm happy to. We'll even donate. Passion. Yeah. You know what? Yeah. You can have the signing rights to Nate passion. There you go. Not even Nate bashing. Just the option to potentially sign him. So, so Mike rough wrote something that is sort of interesting and I'm curious, Mike, is this actually true?

[00:14:25] It says it's more keeping keep Quinn by signing his parents to hockey ops. Like, is that something that Vancouver is talking about? Like we can just bring mommy and daddy somehow into the organization and Quinn will be happy to stay here. And then maybe we can get Luke and Jack here and we could have the whole family. Like, is that, that seems because Tim, I agree with you a thousand percent, right? If you are moving off of Quinn Hughes, you're, you're rebuilding. Like you're not, there's no competing next year, you know, or anything like that.

[00:14:54] Like it is okay. Let's break this down and, you know, build it around and EP 40. If that's what you are planning on doing, I'm guessing. Uh, but I honestly think that, yeah, you gotta do, like you said, silly of Nemech, uh, Mercer and a first something of that. Give them all X. I don't fucking care. I don't care either. I'm with you. Uh, Bob, are you cool with that? If we don't have a first round pick for three years? Yeah, I really am.

[00:15:22] I think that if we are going to have a win now mode, we need to get into it. And he would put us to that next tier. So let's just go with it. I wouldn't have a problem with that at all. And one thing I think a lot of people, everybody's, you know, talking about, you know, Quinn Hughes is because it's Quinn Hughes, right? But he does only have two years left on this deal. And that kind of, that kind of affects the value paradigm that we're talking about here.

[00:15:46] Like it's, it's, you know, like if it were one for one brat for Quinn, I think they're getting a hell of a lot of value because they're getting what four or five years of brat that they can put alongside EP 40. And, and that's a ton of value. They're getting Nemech, you know, uh, in his last year of his RFA, you know, like it's like that, that really comes into play a lot more, I think, than people just looking at the kind of player for player, because we're going to have to pay Quinn in two years. What's that contract going to look like? Fucking.

[00:16:17] That does make a lot of 15 million a year. And, and, well, you know, here's the other thing too, like you give up all those assets. So let me just throw a scenario out, right? We give up all the assets, whatever it is, we know it's going to be a lot. Um, Quinn Hughes comes here. We have two years left on his contract. Let's say next year, the team makes it to Stanley cup final and loses the year after they win it. So now that all three Hughes brothers have won the cup together.

[00:16:47] Is there a chance then Quinn says, I'm going to go for a payday somewhere. And I want it with my brothers. I did what I wanted to do. I don't need to be here for another eight years. And then, you know, is that here's this, here's my question though. Is that scenario? Okay. With you? Cause you want a cup. It doesn't fucking matter. Or like, no, we want him long, long-term. And to give up that much just for Quinn Hughes for two years is not worth it. I mean, based on the melanoma that Bobby has on his back. I don't know if he's making it another two years.

[00:17:16] He doesn't need to win one now. Now. Don't fuck around with skin cancer, especially for us bald guys. I'm telling you that's a serious. Turbo is going to run you into an early grave. He's awesome, man. He's so freaking cool. Chris has got a new dog for him. Yes. I got a new puppy. His name is turbo and he's a, he's a lot of fun. He's pretty cool. Sorry. Are devil's name suggestions. They just fell on deaf ears. Yeah, it did. I was even bastion. I'm a little surprised.

[00:17:44] Cause I don't think a lot of people name their dogs after devil's players. I think you would have been like the first. I wanted to, I did go to Coney waffle today and got New Jersey devil ice cream, which is actual flavor. So I did get that. What is the flavor of that red raspberry with like chocolate fudge and Oreos. Okay. It actually sounds pretty good. Does that sound really good? It sounds pretty good. I'd eat that. I'd actually hammer the fuck out of that. Yeah. That's what I'm doing.

[00:18:16] I eat it out. How many times you watch American pie? They give Mike and Mike some suggestions for his, for his new Honda van. Yeah. Offer just offer devil's candy out of the back. You'd be snatched. It's left and right. You guys ever been in a Honda Odyssey? It has curtains. It's captain's chairs. All right. Let's talk to them legal. So Tim, you, we wanted, I'm going to go over some, some UFAs tonight.

[00:18:45] A few guys that are available possibility. Would they fit with New Jersey? Is it worth doing something like that? Um, and we're going to talk a little bit about offer sheets and exactly what they are and how they're used. And if that's something we have to worry about about losing any players to possible offer sheets. And, or is there anybody that are offer sheet a bull that we might be interested in sheeting? What the sheeting going on right now?

[00:19:13] You're working, you're working on that one all day. I was, no, it just popped in my head. I was just driving. We were driving home back to the quick story about the dog. My son and I were driving home the other night. We're on the bridge coming to Tom's river and we're going over different names, you know? So, um, at Ranger came out of my mouth. Like I'm like Ranger and Sawyer's like, that's not terrible. I'm like, what the fuck did I just say? I just said I was going to name my dog Ranger. Like, I wasn't even, you know, of course thinking of that, but yeah, I almost threw myself off the bridge on that one. Good catch.

[00:19:43] Yeah. And every dog does have every Ranger fan does have a dog named Hank. You're right. All right. So you want to talk about a guy that has two cats named Nico and Jack. I have two, uh, my, my daughter one year for Christmas, you know, those, uh, those prayer candles, the Jesus candles. Uh, she gave me two of those, but she, uh, took off Jesus and one's Jack and one's Luke and one's Justin Jefferson. So I have, I have my three.

[00:20:11] So during really important games, I light my pray candle. I put it on the table and I pray. Yeah. How about work during the playbook? Yeah, Luke. This year I didn't light any because none of those fuckers were in the playoffs. Fair enough. There you go. So how about some UFAs, Tim, you got some UFAs on the list? Cause I have a, I have 12 of them. There's an article written at 12 UFAs and kind of their contracts and where they're at. But so, um, why don't we kind of, I mean, mine's a very shallow list.

[00:20:40] Like I, I honestly, like, I think we've done enough, like with UFAs. Like, I don't like, if anything, maybe we find like a depth guy that I'm not thinking about, but of the big names, a, what guy, a, where guy? I don't know. I don't know. You said, or maybe we get a something guy. I didn't understand the word you said. A who guy? A who guy? A who guy? A dead guy? A dead guy. Dead guy is going to play hockey. Dead guys can't play hockey. What are you talking about, Chris? I don't know. Apparently. Jesus. All right.

[00:21:10] Hippie. All right, Timmy, start us off. The one guy that I'm really like very interested in that I think would be great is Nick Ehlers. Like he's far and away would be my number one UFA target. I don't think we should really dip our toes too deep into the UFA waters.

[00:21:33] A, we don't, I don't think we have enough money, but most of the shit we're going to have to do is fill in with Luke's contract, potentially glasses contract. So money's going to have to move out. You know, that's what I wrote the other day. It's like, we're going to have to get rid of two or three, if not all three of Palat, Holla and Hamilton to, to bring, to bring people in. So Nick Ehlers is the main guy. The other guy that's kind of interesting to me. I want to get here. Let's talk about Nick Ehlers real quick. Okay. So here, Nick Ehlers is on this list.

[00:22:01] He turns, he'll be 29 on July 1st, not on July 1st, but when July 1st rolls around free agency, he's 29. He plays both sides. He plays left and right wing. His cap hit right now is 6 million. And the writeup is unlike the monster extensions for center, Mike, Mark, Mark, Shifley and goalie Connor Hallebuck signed in 2023, just ahead of their walk years. All is quiet in Winnipeg on the Ehlers extension.

[00:22:26] A frequent subject of trade rumors, the speedy Dane was reportedly open to a change of scenery in the off season, according to the fourth period. The Jets are the toast to the Western Conference and the roughly point per game winger is tracking career highs and assists and points under new coach Scott Arnell. Now, Kevin Sheffield Dayoff has been noncommittal on the topic, often saying that he hopes his Jets win a Stanley Cup with Ehlers in June. Ehlers himself says everything is business as usual.

[00:22:54] So competing terms would competing. Let's see here. Competing teams would surely try to outbid the Jets for Ehlers service for this summer in a market thin on 25 bowl scores. It doesn't have an idea of what he's projected to get in the free agency market. But yeah, he's a point of game winger. And you know, there's this place called AFP analytics that that projects out contracts and what they're going to be.

[00:23:20] So they have Ehlers pegged at six years, 8.1 million. Their contract projections are typically pretty accurate. So it'll probably be, you know, eight to 8.3, which is a lot. That's a lot of that's a lot of money. But, you know, with the with the cap going up in a couple of years, that's like who gives a fuck? And with the cap going up in a couple of years of 70 point 20, 25 goal a guy. Is that sort of again, you're going to pay you want a guy like that. You got to pay between eight and eight and a half million. Yeah.

[00:23:50] You know, and I've talked about this for one thing that I think we lost a lot of, you know, in our Ford group didn't really have an identity, so to speak. I think a lot of the national media is kind of clinging to a year or two ago and calling our Ford group like, you know, small and fast, which we just weren't at all small and fast. I think Neil Eilers really inject some of that speed back into our lineup that we need. There's a there's a play.

[00:24:15] I think is it was in an overtime game. I forget which one just recently in the playoffs where there was a play like everybody looked like they're skating in mud. And then Eilers just out of nowhere, just carries it between three zones, just shot out of a rocket. The guy's so fucking fast. He's good. I think he'd work so well with Nico and Nico and Jack or sorry, Jack and Brad or Timo and Nico.

[00:24:41] You know, that's that's kind of how I'm looking at is like, you know, we have basically four pairs of players. Basically, Nico, Timo, Jack, Brad, I think, you know, Cotter, Nason are probably going to be our fourth line pair. Not really sure what's going on on the third line, but that's probably Mercer Holla. So we kind of need to fill out the rest of the wings on that roster in the center on the fourth line. So kind of having glass pegged in that fourth line center, Gritzek in that third line wing.

[00:25:11] So then that's again, we're back to needing to two top six wings, which is which is a problem in a three C. I like them. I mean, looking at his chart here, very consistent with the points and the 25 goals. What really stands out to me is we talk about plus minus a lot as being, you know, somewhat of a reliable stat, depending on how you're using it. But you kind of need a big sample size.

[00:25:35] And this guy has been like consistency consistently in the upper or mid teens plus 27 two years ago, plus 14 this year. Is it there's a pattern there to the type of player he is? I'm sure I would be a little concerned that it's just for Brad 2.0 maybe, but maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe that's exactly what we need to get everybody going with his speed and everything. But he's a smaller guy, right? He's slight like 175.

[00:26:01] Yeah. And I think I think he I think he does have a little bit of an injury history. That is kind of a concern. But, you know, but the points are still there when he plays. So, I mean, if we got him, I'd be like, this is awesome. This is a great player to have. I don't know that it solves all of our problems, but it definitely adds that dimension of speed back again that we can certainly like to have. Especially that line. If you did have an Ehlers Jack Brat line, that might be one of the fastest lines in the NHL. I mean, they would dog walk everyone that they like. That would be fun.

[00:26:30] Then you put Quinn Hughes on D with those three on the same line. That's just fucking unfair. I think I got a little zipper burn there. Yeah. You're going to wart on your dick or what? You're going to get that band and maybe get those special band-aids on some WD-40. It's compound W. WD-40, spraying a spot on your dick is not a good idea. What's it do? What's it do when you do it? Oh, you tell me that now. What was that? Great. Hang on. I'll be right back. I got a squeaky dick.

[00:26:59] All right. Who's the... Is that your bed? Uh-uh. Wait a second. There we go. Much better. Don't worry, honey. There'll be no infection there. All right. Who's your second UFA? The only other guy that I have on my list is just... I've seen his name thrown around a little bit, which is kind of interesting, and not within the age bracket, so to speak, that we're trying to build is Claude Giroux.

[00:27:26] I think he'd be an interesting kind of one, maybe two-year project. He's still got some energy in the tank. He's not the top six guy, but I think he would be our 3C and would be a great 3C to have. I didn't even think about Claude Giroux, but I will say I absolutely love Claude Giroux. I mean, he is an awesome teammate. He's a leader.

[00:27:52] He's a dude that will do absolutely anything that is asked for him. And him in 3C, you're talking a one, two-year project. If we have anybody in the pipeline that might be able to take over, if that's the thinking. I like that. Yeah. He's just old as fuck. He's 37. And what are you talking? Four, four and a half million? Two years. Yeah. What do they have him projected at? Five and change. So that's a little much. That's a little much, but yeah, I think two years, you know, five.

[00:28:24] I don't think it's the worst idea in the world. What do you think of Claude Giroux? I'm not in love with that one. It's for his age and his decline over the last few years and what the, you know, I know it's just an estimate of what he would cost when I put all that together and the fact that it's not like we're bringing in this championship pedigree that's been there before and done it. You know, it's just a, he was a really good player. He's a grinder though. But my thing is, can we find somebody else to do that for?

[00:28:53] And can he play every game? Like is, is Claude Giroux going to be an 82 game guy and give us the playoffs too? Like, uh, that does worry me a little bit. You know, and I thought about it, you know, and it's like, it's kind of the cut from the sort of Tandep clause. You know, the, the 40 year old that just sort of somehow miraculously is still, still playing, you know, it's that meme of like, here he comes the old weather running back.

[00:29:19] You know, he's on his last legs and the guy's like 32 years old, George Brett humbling up to the plate. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I don't know. It's, it's, it's a little out of the box. I think if we get to the point where we're looking at two years of $5 million of Claude Giroux, shit's gone horribly wrong. So, but, um, yeah, uh, I don't think it's, it's the craziest thing. And as a three C, you know, 13, 14 minutes a night, you know, we're not going to, you know, take some PK pressure off.

[00:29:46] I'm looking for someone to take pressure off of Nico defensively and face off wise. And I think he could be a guy. All right. Well there, I'll go through some of these guys on this list and we don't have to read everything about them. Just yay or nay. Um, of course, number one, I mean, this guy, look, he's going to sign a huge contract. Um, it's, it's Mitch Marner. He's, he's not going to be a devil. There's no way in hell the devils could afford.

[00:30:10] What's he going to get 13, 14 million. Um, you know, this is a move that the Rangers make in my opinion. Like this is what they try to go all in and get Mitch Marner in New York. I honestly believe that that will be their, their, you know, a big game, uh, to take fits as a words.

[00:30:32] Uh, so, I mean, look, he's, he's, I would love to see Mitch Marner on this devil team. Um, but he's an amazing player. There's something about the dude. I just don't like, I don't know what it is. I just, I don't know if it's just his cockiness or whatever. There's just something about him. Not his hockey play. I think he's an awesome player, but there's just something about him. I don't like, what do you guys think of Mitch Marner?

[00:30:58] I think in another time and place, I'd love to have him on a team, but it's just unrealistic to even talk about it. We're not going to get him for that much money. And if we did, uh, we got to subtract two. I always talk about like the big hockey trade, but you're talking about clearing the books off like a Meyer and some other big deal. So I'd rather put those assets to getting Quinn Hughes, quite frankly. And, um, yeah, I mean, he's a hell of a hockey player, but yeah, I just don't think it would ever work. I agree.

[00:31:25] Yeah. I'm the same boat. I mean, he's an unbelievable player. Um, some of the shit he can do. And actually Bob, I meant to text you like, um, for your kid, like just watching him, the way he skates and moves on the ice is like something of nobody else skates and moves. Like he does just the way he receives pucks and like, kind of. Thank you. I didn't know my kid was doing that good, but that's awesome to hear.

[00:31:47] No, no, no. But can contort his body. But if like your kid's undersized, you know, it's, there's a perfect fucking example of a guy who's undersized, but the way he kind of contorts his body. And kind of opens up his hips to be able to accept pucks and the shit he does with the pockets is unbelievable. But I think we're kind of tapped out on the small to midsize skill guys. I would love to watch him play with Jack Hughes though. Yeah. I mean, those two would be fucking ridiculous to get.

[00:32:13] Yeah. So, uh, the next guy that we'll talk about absolutely solves our speed problem. I mean, this guy is lightning. Um, John Tavares. Did I say lightning? I meant crippled turtle in mud. Um, yeah, John Tavares. I actually liked John Tavares and he still play. I mean, this year he played great this year. Um, you know, you're talking about a three C John Tavares is a damn good three C right now.

[00:32:41] His cap hit is 11 million. I don't think John Tavares expects a nickel over sticks, six and a half, maybe with this next contract. Cause he's not John Tavares anymore. Nobody's paying him over $11 million. He's been playing really well in the playoffs. I know. But if you can get, what are they projecting his contract at? Cause I can't see any team paying him more than 11 million at his age.

[00:33:08] Like to me, it's a seven, seven point nine, three years, three years of 7.9. All right. So I, I think honestly for him to resign in Toronto, I think he'll resign there for like fucking two. I think he wants to just stay in Toronto, especially if they don't win the cup. Yeah. I think he'll definitely want to stay, but yeah, that's a good possibility. He's, he's more likely in my opinion to resign with Toronto than Marner is.

[00:33:33] Um, yeah. Cause it's a, it's a more affordable get if you have to pick between the two and the one gets priced out. And I think everybody's going to be wanting Marner. There's going to be a bidding war for Marner. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so curious what happens because so much still hinges on what happens in these playoffs. And, you know, they're now back tied up with Florida. You know, their, their magic dust seems to be wearing off. A lot of the Toronto fans on Twitter are ready to fucking, you know,

[00:34:00] march out and then hang Austin Matthews from, I don't know. It really is awesome to watch. Oh my God. They're melting the fuck down over a point per game guy in the playoffs. It was clearly her. Like this guy can't shoot. Like he usually does. Something is absolutely wrong with him. Right. Um, but it's, I love watching Toronto media, Toronto fans lose their shit. So, I mean, John Tavares, if you can get him at a good price point, I would absolutely take John Tavares. Yeah, I would. I just don't think we can afford him.

[00:34:31] And you know, like you said, he's a turtle. Now, another guy who I absolutely would love a Sam Bennett. Um, right now his cap hit is 4.4. He's going to get a nice bump. I mean, I could see probably seven, seven and a half for Sam Bennett. Now, um, there's another AFP has him in six years, 6.6. Okay. Even better. I think he's going to get more than that. Sam Bennett.

[00:34:57] I think if you're going to make a, a free agent move, let's say it's one big guy, like, okay, we're going to solve three C in free agency, or we're going to, you know, uh, take care of, of, of Jack's winger in free. That's what we're going to get everything else. We're maybe do trades or we'll call some guys up, but we're going to go for those big guys. One of those dudes, Sam Bennett needs to be on his radar.

[00:35:24] He is, he brings so much to the game. Florida doesn't win the cup last year without Sam Bennett on that team. They don't make it to the final without Sam Bennett on this team. He's a big game player. He's, you know, maybe his regular season is, you know, always kind of pedestrian, but there's a dude that turns it up every single time the calendar turns to the playoffs. I absolutely think that if you are going to go after anybody in free agency, as much as

[00:35:53] Nick Ehlers, I would love, I would like Sam Bennett better. It's got that it factor, right? And he's got that kind of champion pedigree in the playoffs. Yeah. It's just a, you know, kind of a monster in a way he, you'd really feel comfortable with him out there solidifying that, that third line. And, uh, I'd be all about it. And quite frankly, that's not a bad price. I don't think we're priced out of that one. I think that's very affordable. I think it's a smart move.

[00:36:22] I think it's a move that would pay off, uh, more than, more than enough over the years. I will drive Eric Hala and Andre Palat to the fucking, well, actually to LaGuardia because you can't drive because Newark airport's the fucking disaster right now. I'll drive them to LaGuardia myself. I'll start in Maryland, pick them up, drive them to LaGuardia and drive back just to fucking free up the money for Sam Bennett. I'm with you.

[00:36:47] Uh, yeah, that should definitely be something that Fitzgerald tries for, but I have, who the hell knows what Fitzgerald's going to fucking do this off season. He knows exactly what he has to do. Chris, he knows exactly what this team needs. He's starting to sound like somebody that I really don't like. Um, I'm the only guy that could take care of it. I know exactly what the devil's need. Don't worry. We're going to give him a big, beautiful contract. The only contract anyone's ever seen. Jack Hughes is going to have the greatest right wing. Like these contracts.

[00:37:17] Greatest right wing next to him. You know, you don't even, you don't know who he is. He might be American. He should be American. Personally, I think he should be American. But if he's Canadian like Ovechkin, then okay, we can deal with that. Oh, fuck my ass. Anyway, next guy, Brock Besser. Brock Besser, another guy, another Vancouver casualty. Jesus Christ, man. I'd be, I would fucking hang myself from a bridge if I was a Canuck fan.

[00:37:46] Everything is falling apart. They're going to fry it again. Um, so, okay. Brock Besser 6.65 is his salary. Um, 28 years old. Do we all like Brock Besser? I just think Brock Besser is going back home. I think he's going to be a Minnesota wild this year and a free agency. I kind of think that's a foregone conclusion and they could be a very dangerous team with Brock Besser on it. But what's there, what are they saying? His projected cap it is. I would say what? Like eight and a half, nine.

[00:38:15] It's a, wait, Besser, Besser, Besser. Is it even for, oh, before you? Okay. Uh, it was 6.8 and six and 8.5. That just seems so much for him. Like, I don't know. There's just, he's just got fucking lead for feet. You know, you're talking him and Nicholas, Nikolai Ehlers, right? They're going to be around the same price point, same position, right? He's got to go Ehlers over Besser. I feel like Ehlers, there's a lot more utility to his game besides points.

[00:38:44] And Besser's, Besser's Toffoli 2.0. You know, that's kind of how I would view him. Bob? Oh, yeah. All things being equal with those, you know, estimate salaries being right around the same. I would definitely go Ehlers in that situation. I'd go with the speed and kind of the flash there a little bit more than this guy. And it's also like, you know, what you have to start considering with some of these guys

[00:39:09] is, you know, not just where you put them on five on five, but a huge chunk of their production comes from the power play. Every single elite player, a huge chunk of their production comes from the power play. So Brock Besser's spot on the power play is and should be Jack Hughes' spot on the power play. So he's not usurping Jack on power play one. So what do you do? You put him on power play two where he gets 30 seconds and the 35, 40 goals he's scoring at Vancouver suddenly looks like Timo's numbers because Timo wasn't getting power play one time.

[00:39:39] So, you know, suddenly you have this guy you're paying 8.5 million for that's on your second power play and he's scoring 25 goals a year. But the entire fan base wants to fucking throw into the river. It's a good point. Good point. All right. Another guy who's going to be a UFA just yet. You're a name. We're not going to talk much into it's Brad Marchand. I'm a name. It'd be interesting. We do need a greasy fucking rat. Yeah.

[00:40:08] It guy has success wherever he goes. I don't know. I don't love the guy, but worst things have happened. I actually I do like Brad Marchand. He's fucking funny, man. His interviews are hilarious. He's awesome. He's awesome hockey player to me, though. I've hated Brad Marchand for so long. I don't know if I could ever be a Brad Marchand fan as a devil. I've just always hated him. If Florida can do it, if Florida can get over it. That's true. That's true. I could get over it.

[00:40:38] Look, you know, Penny, what is what are we looking at? What are they projecting? Hang on. Brad Marchand. This is great, by the way. It's got like hundreds of fucking names on it. Well, last this year, his salary cap hit was six point one to five. I can't see Marchand getting a whole lot more than that on the free agency. Two years, two years at five. He's three. He's thirty seven. Yeah. That seems to make sense. But it's just like he was for him. And you throw him in this.

[00:41:07] This maybe the, you know, play it on the third line with. Yeah. That would be nation. I think it's better served as kind of that late season playoff pickup. Yeah. Just having my team for a year or two. I kind of, I could see him going back to Boston. Like this just being like a little, you know, fling cheating on your wife type of thing on a trip to Jamaica. More like a hall pass. Really?

[00:41:35] I can maybe see him re-signing with Florida. Yeah. There's that too. But that third line that they've been running out there has been one of their best lines. It's like, Matt, Chuck's been kind of quiet. But I think, what is it? Lundell, Marchy, and Listerine or Listerine or whatever the fuck his name is. They've been a good line. You know, Campbell says, imagine Marchy on the Devils in the Garden. That's true. Exactly. All right. I'll take them.

[00:42:05] I've been saying this for years and Sam Bennett would solve this problem. Yes, he would. You know, what's wrong? If you want to have one, why not have two? You know, it's just a greasy fucking prick. Like a claw of the mew gets under the skin. Just an asshole. Like we don't have any of those guys. We have a lot of nice guys. We do. Kind of need an asshole. I wanted to see a little more asshole out of Eric Hall. I feel like he's kind of an asshole. Yeah, but he's just not good enough to be an effective asshole. Yeah, exactly.

[00:42:35] Stephan Nason, kind of an asshole, but he's also not good enough. So we need a good asshole. And in my opinion, Sam Bennett takes care of that problem. But, you know, Florida's got both of them. Why can't you make a play on both of them, I guess, right? Nice, good, bleached, clean asshole. Next guy, Brock Nelson. Brock Nelson. Brock Nelson's a good player. And we do have a 3C problem, depending on what we give up for Quinn Hughes.

[00:43:06] I like Brock Nelson. I do too. He's a good player. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what his projected is. His 6 million hit now. I mean, is he going to get that much of a raise? Yeah, 3 at 7. Yeah, okay. I mean, I like him. Yeah, I like him too. I do. They just, you know, that Four Nations picture of him, I just can't get it out of my head. I didn't see that. Oh, it's just this picture of him in his U.S. jersey because he's prematurely gray. Right.

[00:43:34] And he's like kind of like a weathered looking guy. So it just literally looks like the after picture of like a soldier that came home from World War II. So like, you know, people were posting pictures. They put it in like that sepia tone and like just post online. He's like, dear Skuendolyn, I send you a note from the front lines. You know, we have moved on Normandy and we plan to jump out of the U-boat tomorrow. This may be the last letter I ever write. All right. We get it. He's a fucking hell of a player, though.

[00:44:04] He is a very good player. And I would be okay with him. What do you think of Brock Nelson? I'd be okay with him short term. But I feel like it's starting to be the beginning of the end for him already. Just looking at his age and then just quickly looking at. And it's not even terrible. I mean, he was four years ago is 36 goals and 34. Then a drop of 20. And I guess injured this year in 19 games, six goals. That doesn't scream to me that there's a player falling off.

[00:44:30] It's just it just kind of says to me, another one of these 36, 37 year olds, you're going to get for two, three years. You're going to get one year out of them. That's not where I would go. Yeah, that's what worries me about these UFA contracts. Because, you know, just we've seen it. You know, like Dougie's contract is probably at the end of its rope. Palat's contracts at the end of its rope.

[00:44:51] That's why, in my opinion, Tom Fitzgerald needs to identify one bigger name. One name from a guy off this list. Whatever he thinks that he wants to solve. Whatever issue it is. And the reason I say that is because you have to start now bringing some youth up. Like, we have to have guys in our system. Like, you know, Lenny Hamada, whatever his name is. Hamaniho.

[00:45:22] Hamaniho. Is this dude going to get, you know, a spot? You know, I mean, is there room for him? I'd like to see this kid on the team. We have Gitzlik. I don't know his name. Gitzlik. But it's also, there's Foote and Hallinan. Gitzlik. Gitzlik. Right. You know, that kid, the Bears that came up. Like, we have to start bringing some of these dudes into the fold.

[00:45:45] They, you know, because if you actually look at our bottom six, I find, I'm very hard pressed for you to, anybody to convince me that we have dudes that we could have brought up that would have given us less production. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I think we're in more of a pay a little extra for shorter term type of situation with some of these guys. If we can maybe go over the top.

[00:46:06] So, yeah, it hurts a little bit right now, but with more of kind of an eye towards the future than trying to just kind of say, oh, what's the best bang for our buck that we can have somebody here for term? Like, you know, why would you give this guy a bunch of term and then he gets older on you? I would be more apt to do that.

[00:46:23] Unless you identify a younger person that you feel like, you know, they could be a part of the team, maybe just going on to getting out of an ELC, a 23, 24, 25 year old that you can bring in at a fold on a UFA contract and see take off. But yeah, you're right. You know, this guy, I like. Yeah, Stephen Engels, right. Yeah. Like, with chance, how many of those squires, Malofsky, you know, they'll all be. I want to see Lachance on this team. Like, this dude's a good player. Yeah. You know?

[00:46:52] I don't know. Is he not? Well, he's, I mean, he's, yeah, he's good-ish. Like, he's a fourth line is like his ceiling. That's his ceiling, you think? I think, yeah. Just a big ass fourth liner. Huge cock. What? Matt Duchesne. Another old guy for you, Bob. I haven't thought about him in years. Did he have a dad who played?

[00:47:23] Maybe. Three million dollars is all he's getting. He's 34. I mean. He resurrected his career in Dallas. Like, they, you know. Yeah, like, why doesn't he just stay in Dallas? I think he should. But yeah, this AFP has him at three years. It's seven and point two. So. Three years at seven point two per? Yeah. That's a bit much. Seven million dollars for a 37-year-old in three years? That just doesn't sit well with me. But he's a good center.

[00:47:52] Would be a good 3C. You know, like that's. See, this is exactly the type of player where I'm saying, if you could, if you could work out a one year and pay him a little bit more over the top, like, I'd be okay with that. But even at that rate, the seven and eight million, that starts to give me a little bit of cringe. How about Mikael Granlin? Duchesne or Granlin, right? Same player. You know, five million. He's a UFA. All these guys are kind of in the same. They're all the same guy. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:18] You know, but like, but they're the kind of guy that we need, you know, like a sort of two way guy, maybe strong defensively that can take some heat off of Nico. That's, that's a veteran that's been around. It's got a little bit of size. I don't need a six foot six, 250 pound monster, you know, playing 3C that can't skate for shit. You know, we need someone to be able to skate and keep up, but also take some pressure off of Nico. They can, they can PK. They can maybe step into the power play too. You know, Granlin's. Brock Nelson there, Granlin there.

[00:48:48] Granlin, Duchesne, Brock Nelson, even Claude Giroux. Yep. You know, even looking at trades. What's his name in Nashville? Ryan O'Reilly. Like, I feel like those guys are all very similar. All right. How about this dude? Curious what you guys think. It's only $2 million this year. Left winger, 29 year old, Ryan Donato. No. Why?

[00:49:17] I think he went on a shooting bender this year and he's never, ever, ever going to replicate that production. Came out of nowhere. Had one good season and that's it. But do you like the other things he brings? He's a feisty guy. He's, you know, plays with a bit of an edge. Yeah, I think so. He's a pain in the ass. Sure. Fuck it. Then, yes, you changed my mind. I'm easy. I mean, we're talking about the bottom six. Yeah. Three years, $4 million.

[00:49:48] You know, I'd have to look at kind of the, because I feel like he, right after the trade deadline, he, like, didn't score a goal for, like, the rest of the year. I could be making that up. But I really think he was, like, just on an absolute shooting bender almost all year. I don't know enough about, you know, his numbers. Well, it's obvious that it was a career year that I doubt he's going to have.

[00:50:14] He was consistently more like he had a 14-6, 16-14-12, 31. So, he goes over, you know, he got an increased ice time with Chicago, about two more minutes per game than the year before, and about five more minutes a game than the year before that. Yeah, I think he was. What was the shooting percentage? I don't have that. Are you looking at NHL.com? Yes, I am. DJ Campbell says he's a holy roller, would never play for the Devils.

[00:50:44] Why am I? I don't know. Is he a religious guy? The two second-rounders? Is he a Jesus guy? Yeah, is that? Is he? I don't have a fucking Jesus guy. I think it would be kind of fun to have a Jesus guy in the devil. Holy roller. Just a weird, like, super religious guy that, like, doesn't play on Sundays. Right, doesn't play on Sundays.

[00:51:08] You know, just goes around telling everybody how, you know, trying to get the Devils to change their name, that kind of thing. You know, all the guys in the locker room. That's Stephen Angle's question. It's about our second-round picks. I do see them probably using them in trades this year. Well, does Vancouver want them? Yeah, fuck it. Let's trade our entire draft hall this year and next year for Quinn Hughes. Like, give them all the futures in the world. I would do that.

[00:51:36] I would do it for players I'm not going to see for five years. It's going to help Jack find Jesus. Well, if Jesus does shoulder surgery, he probably already knows him. We're about to get a free sandwich from that shoulder doctor. Yeah, it's like orthopedic Oprah. You get a shoulder surgery and you get a shoulder surgery. You're going to go in with a punch card. And that's the other thing. Like, does it really – I mean, really, in the end, does it really fucking matter what we do in this offseason?

[00:52:05] Jack's going to get hurt again. Dougie, if he's on the team, is going to get hurt again. Meyer will get hurt again. Nico will be out of a bunch of games. It's pretty nihilistic of you. Yeah. I mean, it seems to be what's trending. Probably all the more reason to try to keep me. It doesn't matter. We're all going to die anyway. Yeah, you're right. We should probably keep the age down. Yeah. So – Yeah. Yeah.

[00:52:30] You know, there are so many – a lot of these free agents are guys, you know, that are 32 to 35. You know, it's – I think, you know, our experience with that hasn't gone great. And it's a younger man's league these days. There's very few players that can kind of defy the odds on that. Yeah. But, you know, Captain Overcorrection is probably going to go out there somehow and, you know, try and get all these freaking guys. Every guy over the age of 36 at least.

[00:53:00] Praise Jesus, Husky. Praise Jesus. All right. So, listen, it's getting kind of late. Do you want to just quick go over – Yeah. So, there – well, there are four – yeah, there are four RFAs that – you know, James Nichols actually wrote a column today. It was pretty good. Mike Ruff's an arch nemesis. But there are three guys he identified, Marco Rossi, Mason McTavish, and J.J. Paterko. I like Marco Rossi. Yeah, I do too.

[00:53:26] That could right a wrong about that Holtz draft and bring him in. And he's kind of – Bill Guerin's made some weird comments about him, about not really committing to keeping him around long term. He got bumped down. I heard that too. You're right. He got bumped down to the bottom six in Minnesota's lineup for no particular reason. But I like him and actually – what was the projection on him? Bob, what do you think of Marco Rossi? I'm trying to pull up.

[00:53:54] I actually don't know enough about him, to be honest. And my computer's not cooperating, so you're going to have to – He's a good guy. Kind of was AHL-NHL for a couple years. Came up to the NHL level finally. And sort of got fucked around with a little bit in their NHL lineup. So long term, 7.74. That would be his long term deal. Short term, 2 by 4.5. So I think that's something doable.

[00:54:23] So that would be an offer sheet for him. I like that a lot. Yeah, I like that idea. And then Paterka. Paterka would be 7 times 7.8 or 2 times 4.6. So he's the guy on Buffalo. Is he a defenseman? No. Oh, okay. No, these are all four. So we're our defense. I was thinking of somebody. I'm like, why are we talking about a defenseman? Our defense is set. Yeah, that's why I questioned it.

[00:54:50] And then Mason McTavish would be 6 times 6.8 or 3 times 4. So McTavish is a pure center, which is interesting. I don't know if he'd be interested. Where is he? He's out west, right? He's in Anaheim. Anaheim, right. So they're getting Coach Q of the questionable backgrounds in. But what's interesting, I don't know if you guys have ever seen how offer sheets work and what we have to do to give them up.

[00:55:20] So I just wanted to show you this. It's actually pretty interesting. Puckpedia has a pretty good graphic way to show it. So Chris, if you want to put that out. I got you. Stoner. So I don't know if you can read this. Can you read it? No. Actually, I'm enlarging mine. So yeah. No, I still can't read it. Yeah. A little bit.

[00:55:52] So basically, the offer sheet on the left is an offer sheet AAV and there are different tiers, right? And then in... We lose 10. Is that better, Grandpa? No, yeah. Yeah, that's better. You got quiet. I broke my computer. Okay. So there's offer sheet AAV and then what the corresponding... Gotcha. Compensation would be.

[00:56:19] So like above 11, change four first round picks. But like those guys in like this range at 4.5 to like 6.8 million, like giving up a first round pick and a third round pick, that's fucking nothing. Like I'd get up in a heartbeat for that. Yeah. And even below 4.5 is just a second round pick. Like it's really not like... I think, you know, I think people were led to believe, you know, that offer sheets, like there's this massive compensation on them.

[00:56:48] And that's really kind of for these, like the 9 to 11 is two first round picks, a second and a third. Yeah. It's really designed to keep your elite. It's designed to keep your elite. It's not the worst. Right. Yeah. I got you. Yeah. It tries to kind of value out what you would be paying for that guy versus, you know, what that guy would be worth in kind of draft pick compensation. And as you can see, it says eligible teams on Puckpedia as well.

[00:57:14] So we'd be eligible to offer every single one of these, at every single one of these teams. At every level. So anyway, that's awesome. And again, it's always part of kind of like the full package and what you have going on, right? What other moves did you make that might precede this? We were like, okay, now this is the way we have to go to get that one more player to really push us to be competitive. Or maybe you wound up landing somebody in a trade you didn't see coming.

[00:57:43] And now you really know that you can go, you know, you had your sights on an A-list guy or whatever, and you can drop it down now to like this other level. And then you can really determine when it becomes worth it. Because that's the one kind of theme that we've been saying throughout. When we have these discussions, and it's fun to look at under a microscope because, you know, we're looking at UFAs and we're looking at this and do you want them and will they help your team? It's always been about, well, what other moves happen? That's what makes it so hard to question, right?

[00:58:10] If we go out and get somebody that can legit score 40, dare I say 50 goals on Jack's wing one year, maybe our 3C expectation can come down a little bit. You know what I mean? Because you're getting so much in one that you've got to kind of look at the full package. But more than anything, I think we've just learned over and over again, it sounds so cliche, you just got to build the right team. You can't always just pluck like the perfect player. You know, like the Mitch Marner situation.

[00:58:39] Like you really do have to build a team where there are identified roles. And certainly guys who are capable of stepping up or down, you need that fluidity, of course. But for the core of it and for the majority of your season and your play, you want that consistency and that defined role and that complete buy-in. And I think that comes with more about, you know, again, finding the right player than finding, you know, the best offensive player, the best whatever.

[00:59:07] And that does also come down to your guys in your system, you know, and moving them up and having them take over those certain roles. And, you know, where you're not every year having to dip your entire leg into the free agency pool and, you know, trying to trade guys away. It's just, you know, you're right. You got to build. Learning where they go. Tim, wasn't it you in one of the conversations we had where you were, I don't know if it was with us or in one of your writings, but it's like Gritzuk. Like there's probably a contingent of devil fans out there who say,

[00:59:36] oh, we just solved our top, you know, forward line problem. And it's like, no, that's not really how you want to handle this. You want to like bring him into the organization, get him going, maybe find that help from the outside, you know, to really get that true top winger. You don't want to bring in this rookie to do that. Yeah. Because the lesson we want to, we want to happen is you throw him on Jack's wing and, you know, he can't keep up and suddenly we're screaming, you know, about, about him and then he gets dropped to the fourth line. It's, you know, it's Holtz 2.0. Right.

[01:00:06] And I honestly think he should start in the AHL. I think especially Russian players, they should at least spend some time down there and start learning how to play the other side of the puck. Tempering expectations for this kid. Like, and we can't make an assumption that he is going to be this. I hope he is. I think he can be, but we need to temper our expectations about what he will. And he came over here to play in the NHL. He didn't come over here to play in the AHL. So it's on him as well.

[01:00:34] It's kind of the same as the Simon Nemich comments where it's like, all right, pal. Like if you are so convinced that you're an NHL level talent, you have to step up and prove it too. Right. It's within his power to do that. And if he does go to the AHL and he shows that he deserves to be in the NHL, that will happen. It's not going to be one of those block situations or years of service. Like if he legit makes his team better, he'll play here. Yeah. Yeah.

[01:01:00] Another guy that I want to try and figure out a way to get, as we talked about him at the deadline, is Jared McCann. I think him, him or Raquel, him or Raquel. If we could figure out a way to swing a trade with him. You know, is it going to be an interesting off season? It really is. Because it's obvious that we're not running it back with the same team. That's, you know, Fitz had said it himself. So what, you know, he's not, he's not going to go throw anybody under the bus,

[01:01:29] but I think we all have ideas of who he's talking about of guys that are not going to be here, that he has no interest in keeping. Is that just the dudes that are UFAs or does he have, you know, ideas of cutting people or trading people or, you know, that's where I, that's what I want to know. Yeah. Pretty exciting summer. The most obvious thing in the world to look at is look at our roster and be like, there are three big money contracts that we need to figure out a way to get out of, if we're going to be able to add anything of significance, like that's, I mean,

[01:01:59] it's pretty well for actually, including Mercer, you know, and for Mercer, like this is a shitter, get off the pot year. Like if we keep him, he loses all value. If he puts up another one of these kinds of middling seasons, you know, or do we trade him to Buffalo for something because Lindy Ralph, you know, wants to, wants him to move into his basement. Or did Burnett really like him in Nashville? Do we swap Mercer for someone in Nashville? You know, well, what do you guys think of, let's just talk about,

[01:02:28] like finish up with Mercer. Like, do you think he should, deserves another year on here or he should be a number one asset that we try and move this off season? I don't think you want to give him another chance. I mean, obviously it's an either or in what might happen, but I think it's, those are just conversations that just kind of happen organically, maybe in, in trade discussions. I think that I would prefer, he does get another shot. I still think value for the players there.

[01:02:58] And I just think if we, like we talked about, if we can get rid of the expectation of him as a first, second line guy, commit to a third line role, a couple of tweaks here and there, I think he's very serviceable and you can say all you want about, you know, yeah. Middling year, but you're going to replace him with probably another middling year type of player, but he's got, I think he's got more upside than that. You're right though. He's got to stay at three C like, you know, you talk about having, you know,

[01:03:26] designated roles like that needs to be Mercer's. That needs to be his, where he lives for the rest of his career. You know, he's a, that's who he is. And he could be a really good one. Cause he showed me a lot in the playoffs and he was playing up. But I think if you give him three C and a couple of good players around him, I'm, I like what Mercer showed at the end of the year. Yeah. I'm on the same boat, you know, and he's, you know, his versatility and his, you know,

[01:03:55] showing up is, you know, what is it? The best ability is availability, you know, being there and showing up is, is important. You know, he plays our first penalty kill was balanced between the first, second power play. I don't know if that's an indictment on the talent we had, or if that's actually what, what he is. But I think for only $4 million, it's really not the end of the world. Like if I were to prioritize the guys that are under contract moving forward,

[01:04:24] he would be fourth on my list of guys that I think need to get out of here. Yeah. I agree. I would say a lot. Dougie Hall of Mercer. Yeah. Steven Engel says that Mercer, you know, he can't win face offs. He gets pushed around. I've been the one I've been saying for a long time about him getting pushed around. It's been the ongoing joke on this show for a long time, but at the same time, I think, you know, he can fill out, you know, he, he, it's not that he, you know, these are things he can do to help himself.

[01:04:54] You know, he can get bigger. He can get stronger because he has the right attitude. So, you know, that's something that again comes down to, he has to prove it, you know, and that's why I really does want to be on this team. He's got to prove that he deserves to fucking be here next year. Cause he really hasn't shown shit for two years. And that's why I think he was more successful as a center towards the end of the year than he was on the wings. Cause we pointed out multiple times that he gets just, he loses every single board battle. He's in, I mean, that's a bit of a exaggeration,

[01:05:22] but the amount of times a puck was on his stick to try and get it out of the zone from the wing position and he flubs it or can't, can't get his own exit. You know, like that's, that was a frustration, but he was more successful out of being in the center of the ice. Cause he's not, you know, attached to hip to the boards. You know, I think that that works for him, but you know, he does, you know, Fitz name checked him last summer. It didn't seem like he really took that seriously. And maybe Fitz is talking about him again. You know, if you're, if you're expecting him to get to that 27 goal level, he underperformed,

[01:05:52] you know, hollow on perform plot, underperform Timo didn't score the amount of goals that we wanted him to score, even though I think I still think he was fine, but nobody's safe. This is awesome. Nobody's safe. Yeah. But yes, but, but you know, of the, you know, Palat's the first guy we need to fucking get rid of. Then Dougie is probably the next guy that we need to get rid of. Although my only concern there is how long COVID coverage is going to miss at the beginning of the year, because

[01:06:27] Casey on the right side again to start the year. And that was kind of a mess to begin to be good. It's not going to matter. Cause we're up Quinn. That's right. Dougie's Dougie's a good player. Somebody will take him. Somebody wants a power play. I'm responding to the CUNEgos. Yeah. Dougie will end up in Anaheim. And, um, all right, guys, wrap this thing up. He needs to go somewhere with museums. Right. That's true. All right. That's LA, right? I got museums. All right. Uh,

[01:06:57] we're going to wrap this thing up. Thanks guys. Vancouver. Vancouver. Vancouver. Yeah, definitely. Be awesome. All right, guys, we're going to kill it. Thanks for hanging out with us tonight. This has been a lot of fun and we will see you guys when we see you. I forget my new catch. What's my new out? Shit. What is it? Hurry up. Oh God. Go fuck yourself. That was good. It's over, Johnny. It's over.