Blue Jackets Surge Into Playoffs & Crease Questions for Contenders

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In the YouTube chat, NACO Panda pointed out something very important.

You got the TV sorted. You downloaded a new update. Did it take you all day?

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Exactly. All right.

Let's get into the hockey talk here again.

We got Stephen Ellis coming up in just over 10 minutes.

But they get into the action last night.

Hots the Columbus Blue Jack.

At the first times and they are in a playoff spot,

whether you sort by points, whether you sort by points percentage, it does not matter.

They are third in the metropolitan division.

This team just absolutely piping on.

They are not letting up since they made their coaching change back on January 12th.

I think this is absolutely unbelievable.

They're the number one team in the NHL by a significant gap.

Look at that points percentage gap on the right side of your screen.

This is since Rick bonus took over in Columbus.

They have an 826 Buffalo is a 769 Dallas has a 761.

Only two other teams are even above 700 and unreal run for the Blue Jackets.

That just isn't coming to an end.

I know it's been unbelievable too.

And again, last night, it's a huge win in the, you know,

you give up a shorthanded goal early.

I just think this team is playing with such confidence and motivation.

And you know, it doesn't get a lot of credit here is, you know,

I know Rick bonus is coming and been difference maker.

But great job by Don Woodell, understanding that this,

he wasn't Dean Evanson wasn't getting through to this group.

And they needed a change and he went through and did it.

And again, just the confidence, I think of Rick bonus.

The biggest thing that I've heard about Rick, I've played against him.

I've never played for him is the fact that he just understands his players well.

And he knows how to talk to each individual.

He doesn't paint everybody with the same brush.

Whether you're an old school motivator or you're younger, coddling a young player.

I think he's done a great job of empowering these players to, to do what they've been doing.

And again, you think about the run that the sabers have been on the Dallas stars.

It went, was it 14 or 15 games without a loss for them to be there at the top of that list

is so impressive and seeing them in the playoffs this morning.

It's got to be a good feeling in Columbus.

There was a great clip they posted of Adam Fantilly after the game.

And a reporter asked him like, Hey, what's the feeling like in the room?

You guys just moved into a playoff spot.

And he didn't even know he was kind of like taking a back by it.

So a great story in Columbus.

And this is a point I've loosely made a couple of times over the last few weeks.

But like Zach Warencki is number two in Norris voting.

And I will continue to beat the drum that this guy I think has a case to be again in the heart trophy conversation.

I know traditionally it goes to the best forward and all of that stuff.

But when you look at how important Zach Warencki is to this team,

I think again, not the same position, but like people kind of changed how they viewed the heart last year

when Connor hella buck won it.

I think you can change how you view it and absolutely give it to Zach Warencki this year.

I think it's a good there's good reason he's a favorite for the Norris.

But look at these numbers when he's on and off the ice at five on five.

They're plus 23 at five on five with Zach Warencki on the ice.

And just plus one when he's off the ice.

Look at the shot percentages.

Look at the scoring chance percentages.

And since bonus has taken over, these numbers are even better.

He's averaging three more minutes of time on ice than any other player on this team.

He's second in team scoring behind only Charlie Coil.

Like he is Mr. everything for this Columbus team.

Just an absolute horse too.

And I think those are eye opening numbers when you really lay them on.

Everyone knows how valuable Zach Warencki is to this hockey team.

But when you see it laid out five on five,

which is probably the hardest way to produce in the NHL,

he is a giant, giant difference maker.

And I think the league has been on notice for a while.

And I also think that it's important for Columbus and everyone to understand

that this is a complete package.

And again, a lot of credit goes to holding onto a few players, right?

Like Boone Jenner's name was thrown around a lot.

You heard Charlie Coil's name when they struggled earlier under the gates.

But I always felt like there was a confidence.

Probably that was distilled through Dawn Model,

through ownership that this was a good group.

And they could turn it around and they could get it done.

And it's been impressive to watch.

And again, another ad last night, Connor Garland finds a back of the net.

Like knowing that you're taking on a piece that has term, it was questionable.

You know, where would he fit? How would it go?

It's gone great so far in Columbus.

And this is going to be a good race down the stretch.

Maybe because the lack of points in the Pacific Division,

how the Metro is, you know, the Islanders drop from third in the Metro to out

on a late goal by Brady Kitchuck and the Ottawa Senators.

13 seconds left in that hockey game when Brady Kitchuck finds the back of the net.

And again, with it being, you know, a three-point league,

where if that game goes to overtime,

all of a sudden, New York and Ottawa are both scooping up points.

A massive dare I call it season-saving win for the Ottawa Senators

who need to win that game in hand that they have.

But if they do, they'll sit just three points back of both the Red Wings and Bruins.

So you only have to catch one of them.

A massive, massive goal for Brady Kitchuck.

And yeah, that's a tough night for the Islanders.

We'll talk a bit about Matt Schaefer a little bit later on.

And they're obviously still squarely in the hunch.

Just one point back of the penguins and tied now with the blue jackets.

But they've played that extra game.

And as the weeks go on here,

that game's played column-hats.

That's going to be just as important as that point's column.

It is. It's so important too.

And again, like, you know, Ottawa's there.

The flyers, it feels like if they just get to a shootout,

they're going to win the win.

That's Egris and Michkoff can finish in the shootout.

It's just exciting.

This is a great place to be in.

And not that the East is.

And not that the Pacific has been unworthy in the sense of the points

that have been produced.

There's going to be an awesome race in the West, too.

It's just the same as everyone's kind of limping in.

These teams are speeding.

And it feels like every single night,

there's so much value and you just can't blink.

Because it's a game here.

There could be a huge difference.

And again, the wings one last night beat the halves.

That's a huge one.

Every game's exciting.

This is the play in tournament for me.

That's why I think the theory of having the play in tournament

is from the trade deadline on here.

I think, again, the what was on full display last night

was the difference between the two conferences.

Last night, Columbus wins, Boston wins, Detroit wins, Ottawa wins,

all these teams scoop up wins.

You go to the Pacific division, Anaheim lost, Edmonton lost, Vegas lost,

LA lost, Seattle lost, San Jose lost,

six teams in the Pacific division,

all six that are in the playoff conversation.

They all lost last state huts.

Yeah. And, you know, and then the Preds find a way

that they're knocking on the door.

They're one point back of LA for the second wild card spawn.

And again, this is a team that we just never expected them to be in this situation.

I know we're going to get to it.

I don't want to get into the next story.

But like for Vegas, you know, Aden Hill starts to play a bit better.

It looks like it's that and he gives up three goals on three shots last night.

Like that is a tough.

I don't know if I've ever I've done one first shot of the game.

For sure has gone in numerous times.

I'm sure there's a lot of people in the chat that have followed me and Buffalo.

There's been some tough goals.

But they give up three on three and be done for the night.

That is a tough one this wall.

All right.

Let's I like that you're starting to move the conversation to goal tending.

Cause that's where I wanted to go next.

A couple of different crease conversations.

I want to have with you here.

Huts and the first one is about inexperience.

And hey, we just talked about Columbus.

And what they're doing with a guy like jet greaves between the pipes there.

A guy who's obviously never played in the Stanley Cup playoffs and could get that chance

this year.

But as we head down the stretch and we keep playing in these playoff style games

is inexperience between the pipes going to be a story we keep talking about.

I think it's going to be because I don't care what you say about the pressure of the NHL

and the stretch run and playing all these meaningful games.

The playoffs is a different animal.

And I think there will be a lot of pressure on these unproven goalies.

I think for jet greaves, you know, thinking Elvis Merleicans has been great since the trade as well

or since the coaching change.

He's only played two games too, right?

So it's not like he's like this weary veteran when it comes to playoff hockey.

And I think for jet greaves, having that added pressure,

you know, I guess maybe the less expectations on him will be high.

And then the other guy that I think about is UPL and Buffalo.

He's another goalie that's played well down the stretch.

Doesn't have any playoff experience.

Alex Lyon, yes, has.

But I think for UPL, he is the guy if you want to get to the promised line.

He's going to have to be a difference maker.

Zero, zero games played.

And now playing the key bank center and playing these meaningful games down the stretch are great.

But it's been a 14 year drought tide.

Like think about the added pressure.

Game one, starting in the playoffs when you don't have that experience.

And then maybe you move on in the second round.

Maybe you draw Tampa Bay who's got, you know, Vasil Eski with the most games played

out of any act of goalie at 120.

This is going to be an interesting playoff.

And again, Brandon Bossy doesn't have any if he starts game one.

Lucas Dostell, there's a lot of storylines of inexperienced goalies.

Headed into this playoff.

I think that's an interesting point on UPL that there maybe is now some pressure on this

Saber's team.

Money puck has them at 99.8% chance of making the playoffs.

Like they're obviously getting in.

It's a foregone conclusion that the playoff drought is going to come to an end in Buffalo.

But maybe where this success and this sustained success that they've had over the last three,

four months where it maybe goes.

It's a blessing, but it's maybe a bit of a curse.

You're tied for the top spot in the conference.

You're not just getting in as the plucky eight seed with nothing to lose as you go up against

the hurricanes.

You're going in as a one seed in your division.

Maybe a one seed in the conference.

All of a sudden, you're not just ending the playoff drought and you're happy to be there.

There might start to be some legit expectations on Buffalo.

A hundred percent.

And I think the guy that I've left,

though, was Carl Vamelka of Utah, who would be in that same boat.

And to compare him to UPL, my experience would be like,

if Utah sneaks in, right, like they're holding the first wild card spot,

and then they draw a match up in the central division.

It's kind of like, hey, this is the house's money.

You know what I mean?

We got in.

We had a good year, similar to Columbus and Jet Greaves.

Where no, UPL, there's a lot of added pressure the way you got in, right?

You didn't just kind of sneak in.

You were a powerhouse.

And the team that their name gets thrown around is being like a real,

a real contender to win the East and get to a Stanley Cup Final.

Now with a sudden, that's a lot of added pressure.

And again, you can say you're not exposed to it,

but there is pressure on these guys.

And I think the fact that you're in Buffalo,

I'm sure you can't go anywhere.

We won 10 games in a row in Buffalo in January.

And you couldn't go anywhere with how people talking about it.

That city is buzzing right now.

And there's going to be a lot of pressure on these younger players

to perform in the big moment.

Who has a mechanics villain, the chat said, don't jinx some Tyler.

Let me hit you with a little bit of math.

Also, I don't believe in jinxes.

If the Ottawa Senators, who are, you know,

the one team who could catch Buffalo and knock them out.

If you want, if the Ottawa Senators were to go undefeated,

14 and oh, the rest of the year,

the Sabers would only have to go seven and six

to stay ahead of them.

So yeah, I think it's, I think we can call Buffalo a playoff lock.

I think we're past the point of jinxes,

but Buffalo tied for the top spot in the conference

with the Carolina Hurricanes.

And there's a conversation to be had in that Carolina crease huts.

And this is where we maybe move on and blend these two topics together

where Brandon Bussey is the inexperienced name in Carolina.

And he was one of the best stories in the NHL in the first half of the season.

His numbers were trending down, leading into the Olympic break.

And now since the Olympic break, he has an 835 safe percentage.

And I know safe percentage on a team like Carolina

is a very, very imperfect stat.

But when you look at his raw numbers, like four goals against,

four goals against, five goals against, two goals against,

but then five goals against.

He's allowed four plus goals in four or five games here.

He's struggling to keep pucks out of the net no matter how many shots he's faced.

Could we see a situation here where Carolina is maybe forced to go

back to the experience guy and Freddie Anderson down the stretch?

Yeah, I think you can.

And I think right now that is a little bit of a factor, right?

When you look at the way the games have gone so far, right?

Freddie wins the other night and over time against.

Because he wasn't great, but they found a way to score.

He's won his last four starts, Freddie Anderson.

And Bussey's lost his last three.

And it becomes a factor where I think for a while,

Brandon Bussey wasn't producing statistically, wasn't getting his done,

but he was finding ways to win hockey games.

And even with an 896, to say you could have an 896,

which is right at league average, and to be 25, 6, and 1,

just goes to show you you're getting the offense at the right times

and you're finding a way to win.

Where if that starts to go drive,

if the team starts to grip a little bit coming playoffs,

I think it becomes concerning.

Because when you talk about the lack of experience for Brandon Bussey

in those playoff moments, again, just like UPL,

this is a team in Carolina.

There's a lot of expectations.

Freddie Anderson has 85 playoff games.

And yes, you can say all you want about Freddie Anderson,

he still is a very good goalie at his age.

You can get it done.

This could be a one two punch.

It will be interesting down the stretch to see who gets that game one.

Yeah.

And I think it'll be interesting in Montreal to see who gets game one

as well, because they're almost the inverse now

of that Carolina conversation, right?

Where Montenbo was the guy last year in the playoffs.

Listen, I don't think you can be your guy this year in the postseason.

Dobech, very similar to Bussey, do an extent where like that record

is great, 228 and four.

Every team would take a goalie with a 228 and four record.

But then you look at those individual numbers,

say percentage of touch below league average,

goals against average, a touch above league average.

And then you look, the guy who's not pictured here

is the youngest, most inexperienced guy in Jacob Fowler,

who is the only one of the three with a say percentage above 900 this year

as we head down the stretch, get closer to the playoffs.

How do you want to see the Habs handle their crease?

All right, it's concerning.

It's really good.

Well, because you got to get in too, right?

That's the other factor is like this is a team that is knocking at the door

of someone catching them and falling behind.

But in the last seven games,

Sam Montenboe hasn't played either.

It's either been Dobech or it's been Fowler.

So it is concerning in the sense of overexposing Fowler,

you know, as a younger guy,

but he's been the guy that can be consistent.

I think Jacob Dobech plays a good game.

He chases the game a bit at times,

which is is concerning for me how aggressive he is.

Come play off time.

There's going to be a lot more traffic.

There's going to be a lot more tips, rebounds, all of balances.

So you want a guy that can be within the post

and be a little more composed.

So you get in topic number one,

got to get into playoffs as a Montreal Canadiens.

It doesn't matter how you do it.

Then maybe it's Dobech or Montenboe if you think he's ready.

But I think you're ready with the fire escape

and pull the parachute.

Jacob Fowler get in there and roll with it

because there's a lot of momentum there.

And I think if you can get a goal,

it'll make big saves with a younger team.

Anything can happen in Montreal.

Last one for you.

And then we'll get to Steven Ellis.

But we touched on it ever so briefly yesterday.

But the Colorado avalanche this regular season has gone well.

They basically haven't faced any adversity.

But again, looking at the numbers post Olympic break,

Mackenzie Blackwood is sputtering on the year.

It's great since the all star or since the Olympic break,

85% say percentage goals against average,

north of three Scott Wedgewoods numbers.

They're looking damn near Vezna worthy.

I mean, not just on the season,

but since the Olympic break 935 and a 1.65,

goals against average.

How do you how's Colorado going to do this down the stretch?

Because like, I'm sure there's a part of them that goes,

hey, if we keep giving Mackenzie Blackwood starts,

let's hope he finds his game here.

Do you think though?

Like, if they were to give the reins to Wedgewood,

game one of the playoffs,

is he a guy who you trust going up against a Jake

Audenger potentially in a big playoff series?

Like, not that I trust him.

I just think that like, it's good to have both guys.

And I think you need to understand

that when you're talking about like a Jake Audenger,

Casey to Smith match up with his pedigree,

you know, it's going to be Audenger.

Whether it's good or bad, you live and die by that.

Where I think Colorado has a little bit more freedom to know

if Wedgewood could maybe be the guy or play with it.

He's been awesome.

And again, I just looked back to last year

in that series against Dallas.

Mackenzie Blackwood wasn't horrible,

but you know, in in game five,

they lost six to a gave up five.

That's a 722.

And then game four, he gave up four.

They ended up winning, which wasn't great.

His team scored seven for him.

And in the final game in the last period,

we all know what happened.

We can rant and then like takes that game over

when you need a big save.

And those are the moments in potential playoff,

clinching games.

Your goalie has to make big saves.

And it wasn't there last year.

So it can be concerning for a team

who's going to have some heavy playoff matchups early.

All right.

Let's go from goal-tending to the prospect world

and bring in our friend Stephen Ellis.

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Stephen Ellis, our daily phase off prospect,

to analysts joins us.

Stephen plenty to get to in the prospect world.

We'll talk draft lottery in a bit.

We're going to talk college players in a second as well.

But there was a headline that popped up the other day.

And I'll paraphrase it a little bit here.

But it was kind of like Zane Perrecht's season

has been a nightmare for the Calgary Flames.

And this is a guy who's battled injuries.

They've been kind of moving them up and down

from the NHL at the age of this year.

They sent them to the world juniors.

But he's played just 27 pro games this season.

Is that headline, you know,

calling this season a disaster for Perrecht?

Is it fair or is it a little bit of a hyperbole?

A little bit of summer in the middle.

I think on one hand,

he's a guy that's always been kind of known for his offense.

And we just have not seen that in the NHL this year.

Just as what two point he's got.

But we've also seen him play really well in AHL.

He does some play very, very good.

They're very well at the world juniors of Canada.

So I think on one hand,

he's still able to show those skills.

But it just might not be at the NHL level yet.

And I think the one thing to look here is going forward

with 19-year-olds being allowed to go play in the AHL.

19-year-old CHL players should say.

Like this would have been something where

if Perrecht was a year younger and he had that opportunity next season,

that would have been so big for his development.

Because I think he would have been very good in AHL.

And then he would have been called up for a few times.

The NHL may play on the power play.

But it feels like something where

when he makes mistakes, he gets penalized for it.

And given that the team is not a good team in the Calgary Flames.

And he's not performing well.

It just feels like, no matter what,

it's kind of a sour situation.

I'm still very high on him.

Like he just turned 20 years old.

He's still super young.

And he's been so dominant at all levels.

But I feel like this has been kind of a lost season

where how do you been able to go play college hockey?

How do you been able to go play the AHL?

Would have been better for his development.

But neither of those were on the table.

Because he did sign his NHL contract

right before the CHLers were able to go to the NCAA.

So they're timing their kind of stuff.

Yeah, it's such a unique situation, right?

Because you see a player like him who struggles.

And then we see some other players like, you know,

Schaefer and Celebrity.

He's younger, true guys come into league and have success.

Now, one thing I think about his collagement,

like when he comes in,

is he going to be able to sustain this?

What he's been able to do at Boston University?

Because he's been a huge difference,

make me for that team.

I think with Isaac, I mean, you're kind of hoping like,

it's either he's like he's a top six player pretty quickly.

Or you send down to Hamilton next time.

I'm very excited for that, by the way,

because that's pretty close to me.

Could go, let him go play a ton of minutes in the AHL.

So when it comes to goal scorers,

they got to continue to score to be at their best.

Like you look at Alex Ovechkin, right?

Like he's a goal scorer even at this age,

and not playing him whatsoever in the defensive zone.

So when he's out there, like you know what he's capable of,

with collagement, he's got an unbelievable shot.

He does play if a physical edge,

but defensively, he's still out of position a lot.

And we saw the world juniors.

He wasn't scoring till the very end.

And he did not look confident.

He did not look great.

So when it comes to a goal score,

I feel like don't try to force him until lineup

and play him 11 minutes tonight

and maybe not give him those scoring situations.

I would like to see him go spend next year

with whatever the Bridgeport Islanders

eventually rename themselves to.

Go out there, play a top flying role.

We believe that team should be much better

than it's been the last couple of years.

And he'll have an opportunity to play

with some solid veterans and continue to get pucks on net.

So, you know, of all kind of these really notable guys

signing NHL contracts out of college,

he's the one where I would be a little bit more patient

with just because he is kind of a one trick pony

of scoring goals.

But if you're going to be good at one thing,

it better be scoring goals.

Yeah, that's fair.

I wanted to ask you and we'll get back to the college stuff

in a second, but you were a great piece

about Matthew Schaefer the other day.

He scored his 21st goal of the season last night

in what was ultimately a losing effort for the Islanders.

But you were obviously you tracked Schaefer

throughout his junior hockey career.

What did you kind of learn about Schaefer this year,

maybe on the ice off the ice?

Again, your piece dailyfaceoff.com.

If you want to read, it was great.

He's one of the smartest prospects I've seen in a long time,

but I didn't think he'd be like this dynamic this quickly.

And it's so easy myself included.

So many people looked at last year

and the fact he didn't play a ton of games.

And, you know, if he was a college player,

the 30-ish games that he played total

between the tournaments in the NHL

would have felt more normal.

But that's not what happened.

He was playing major junior.

He played a bunch of international tournaments.

But watching him this year,

it's just that confidence is incredible.

And I feel like the Islanders kind of just said,

you know what, let's just,

we're not going to penalize you

if you make a bunch of mistakes.

Go out there and learn from those mistakes

and just go out there and be a foreforward.

And that's something where

Bobby Cohen talked about,

with John Michael Lyles a couple days ago.

And the whole topic of,

you know, our teams become a more accepting of

these goals or these defensemen

that are known more for their offense

than their defense.

And just saying, you know what, go out there

and just, your defensive style

will be just not given the puck away.

It'll be just having the puck at all times

and using your skating to dominate.

And that's what we see of Shafer.

His skating feels like it's taking a whole other level.

And when he wasn't able to go out there

and shoot last year due to his injury,

I know he was focusing on becoming

an even better skater.

We see that just the way he's stride so good.

He gets up to a really high top speed.

So I love his game.

Truly a special season.

He's already one of the best defensemen in the NHL.

He's going to be so, so special.

If you're an Islander's fan,

like you're so thankful you won

that draft lottery last year,

you know, time where nobody saw that coming.

So, yeah, Shafer, there's just so many things

you'll look at him and say like,

there's just no real flaws to his game already

at 18 years old.

Yeah, it's pretty impressive too.

And again, I don't,

I understand it's tough for teams

to make this decision, right?

Because we always weigh that like,

guys that are ready, you look at Shafer

and then you look at some players

where next thing you know,

they're not going to be good to their 21-22.

It takes time for different players.

Everyone's such a unique situation.

But the one for me that stands out

is the Boston Bruins picks.

James Hagen out of Boston College.

Like he's so good.

He's the seventh overall pick first round.

Is he a player that can jump in

and be a difference maker for Boston moving forward?

I know I believe they're still playing right now

so his goal is to help them win.

But he seems like a guy that can really help out.

Yeah, he's been playing some absolutely lights out hockey

the last couple of weeks.

Like I believe since coming back from the world,

the world juniors,

he's only played two games without a point.

Like it's such a consistent player.

He's getting better at shooting the puck.

I think the one big thing about him

is he could still be a bit of a perimeter player.

And I think at the NHL,

that is a very difficult situation to be in.

But what we're seeing from him is just high-end hockey sense.

He's a really good skater.

He's fluid.

He gets start and stop very quickly.

He's getting better at being defensively minded.

He's a really good two-way center at this point.

So I feel like this is someone where you could throw him.

Like we talk about sometimes a team

making a trade deadline edition,

which was just waiting for your young guys

to come up out of college.

And I feel like that's something where Boston.

They didn't make a ton of moves of the deadline.

Having someone like Hagen's go out there

potentially playing maybe top six.

If the team makes the playoffs,

I could see that being a situation there.

I think that's something where they're going to give them

a lot of boost.

And I think the thing to keep in mind

of a lot of these top college players coming out of the NCAA

is that they've played so many fewer games.

Like at this point, Hagen's probably played half the schedule

that the rest of the Boston Bruins lineup has played.

Not only that, but he's young.

So he should be much more rested.

He should be able to play,

give this team a nice speed boost,

a nice skill boost,

and then again that hockey sense,

really high-end hockey sense.

Also, you mentioned the Schaefer article.

I kind of explained what teams are talking about

when they're talking about hockey sense.

I'd say give that a read.

I wanted to ask you what a guy outside of the college ranks now.

And that's Tijaginla.

In Kelona, he's got 89 points in 46 games.

And listen, nobody's calling this a meteoric rise

to the top of the prospect world.

He was a top 10 pick.

Everyone's known about Tijaginla and how good he is for a while.

But is he kind of cranked it up to another gear this season?

89 points in 46 games that WHO this year.

Those are unbelievable numbers.

He missed some time with injury.

He was with the Utah mammoth during the preseason.

It looked pretty good there.

So the fact he put up those money points,

like if you play the whole season,

120 points was definitely on the cards there.

I thought he had a really good world juniors,

you know, maybe the third best player on his own line.

That was one damn good line with him.

Gavin McKenna and Michael Hage.

So I know I believe this Craig Button had Tijaginla

as the number one prospect right now in the world.

And I think it's hard to disagree that.

I think just his sheer ability to go

at the right time.

He's going to be a one-to-one of his dad.

But he's going to bring fans to their feet like his dad.

Like this is you look at Utah.

They've got some good young guys.

They've got Dylan Gunther.

They've got Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller.

But like Tijaginla could be the team's first true drafted star player,

because others were obviously not drafted by the Utah mammoth.

So I think this is something where, again,

let's going to be very popular.

I love what he brings to the table and continues to rise up the ranks after.

Let's not remember, forget.

We talked a lot about this in his draft year.

He started the year.

It's kind of like, oh, maybe he's a first-round pick.

And then he scored 47 goals.

So this is one of the most exciting prospects in hockey.

No question about it.

Steven, appreciate your time.

The draft lottery, by the way,

announced it's going to be on May 5th.

You update the odds over on dailyfaceoff.com every single day.

When you look at this group here, and maybe someone who could slide up,

it may be not quite in a way the Islanders did,

but move up a few spots,

is there one team you look at and go like,

oh, from a chaos, from just a pure interest perspective,

it would be fun to see them win the lottery.

Florida, just because of how stupid that would be, I think,

for the rest of the league out there.

But I think if Gavin McKenna ends up being the top prospect,

I think it's got to be a Canadian team picking him.

I think a Canadian team could use a big name Canadian star.

And I hate kind of saying that because it feels like,

most lazy, but it's like,

just think about McKenna in Vancouver,

just how big that would be for that franchise.

But at the same time,

for chaos reasons, why not the Chicago Black Ocs?

The team that just pisses off everybody every year,

and they draft lottery, obviously,

they got the dart a couple of years ago.

They've been drafting high.

What if they got a McKenna to go play a football batard?

I think that would be a lot of fun.

That would be a lot of fun.

All right, Steven, thanks for your time.

We'll chat soon.

Thanks so much.

I

mean, hats like McKenna going and being dubbed like the savior

of a Vancouver or a Calgary.

Very interesting.

Him go with all the hype he's built at Penn State.

Him going to like the Rangers playing at MSG.

That would be pretty cool as well.

Chicago, the idea of them building a super offense.

Like all these different permutations at the top of the draft board are very interesting.

Yeah, and now we know he's got a good right hook to it.

Adds to his giraffe prospect, his his grit he can play with.

But it is exciting, right?

And again, I think a point that he made

that I find interesting about Hagins about how he hasn't played as many games.

And I always wonder what teams value more, right?

Like is it better for your player to be playing less games in the gym,

bulking up, becoming more of a man ready for the NHL?

Or is it better like just playing in, you know,

in major junior or getting a ton of games?

It's got to be a, I guess, a bit of a conundrum for some of these teams.

Hashtag AskDFO time.

I got one for you.

This was a clip was going viral yesterday of Sydney Crosby

sitting in the penalty box in their game against the Carolina Hurricanes the other night.

And he's going back and forth with a fan.

And I did a little bit of a little bit of digging through the Twitter replies on this one.

And I guess the lip readers and people who are sitting around there

said that the fan leaned over and started chirping Crosby saying like how to silver taste.

Crosby turned, held up the number two.

I got two gold medals.

How many do you have?

The fan goes, I got none.

And the two kind of share a laugh.

I thought it was a pretty funny little interaction between the two sides.

But did you ever have,

did you ever get tripped real good by a fan where you're like,

God, they got me a little there.

Oh, yeah, probably too much to remember.

I always respected the ones that were funny.

Like this is like kind of a losing battle.

Like your service, the chirping Sydney Crosby, the most accolated player in our generation.

So I always would find it funny when I was the backup.

I think the backup was a trickier position.

There were certain ranks where you sat where the fan could be all over you kind of thing.

And I tried to stay away from it,

but you'd always have a little bit of a trump card or something to say if you really needed to.

That's good. Let's get to our daily bets for bet 365.

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There was a lot of talk in the YouTube chat about jinxes throughout the course of the show saying

that I should believe in jinxes.

Considering how terrible I am.

I hate the LA Kings.

They are the reason I didn't cash this bet last night.

I don't know how you do not beat the Philadelphia Flyers on home ice.

The Kings are frauds.

Pat, people are also calling you a bit of a jinx because every time you bet,

anytime your bet involves an oiler, they lose.

Yeah, I was just thinking that when you talking about the LA Kings,

I mean, Savoy hit three in his last three.

So I thought it was a pretty fair, but I mean, zero points for him until last night.

What am I supposed to do about that at the end of the day?

I'm just glad that we're all on the same boat here.

Three X's and things are getting back to normal.

I don't know who it is or what the guy's name is, but you know, the damn guy that rolls

the rock up the hill every time he rolls it back down.

That's me because every time I get close to getting green,

I just lose bets again.

And now I'm back at minus five.

I got to start winning.

This is just getting annoying.

Tonight for me, same game parlay.

I think the Carolina Hurricanes are going to smoke the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight.

Kane's on the puck line.

Nikki, there's coming off at 3.9.

I need him to just get one Sebastian Ajo coming off a five-shot performance.

I need him to just get three.

Three shots for Ajo, a point for Ealers.

Kane's on the puck line.

Plus 440.

Pat, what do you got?

I'm all over the place on this one.

I agreed with you.

Colorado minus one and a half versus Chicago.

Carolina, sorry, is the one I agreed with you.

But I didn't quite go puck line.

I went money line versus Toronto.

They've been sputtering a little bit.

And like you said, letting in a lot of goals.

And then I picked the over six and a half Anaheim versus Utah.

They're just two young teams that like to score.

And those goals tending, they've been good.

But can flop as well.

So plus 380 for those three.

What about you, Hutz?

All right.

I kept it simple just to piss tie off.

We're looking for OVs 1,000th career goal.

Playoffs plus regular season.

Anytime goal.

He's playing the New Jersey Devils.

He has seven goals on Jake Allen in 11 games.

So Jake Allen might have to send him a text today.

Let OV score one on you.

Okay.

But I need it.

And just like that, an investigation.

I'm just kidding.

A show with a little bit of garbage time here.

Hutz wanted to give some love to a really cool story last night

in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The same team that ruined my betting dreams.

Garrett Wilson, his last NHL game.

I want to make sure I get the date right.

April 16th, 2019.

He played 392 games in the American hockey league.

And last night he returned to the NHL.

I love stories like this.

A guy who just grinded it out for so long.

And then got one more taste of NHL hockey.

The Flyers rallied around him.

They gave him their player of the game helmet after the game.

And he was absolutely loving it.

But a really cool story.

Hutz, I'm sure you played with a lot of guys like this,

who like when you see it,

when you see someone walk into the room

who grinded it for as long as he did to get back.

It's got to kind of bring everybody up.

Yeah, it's awesome, too.

And again, it's what goes into it, right?

I think there's a factor of pride

and how much work goes into it.

And a lot of times the fancy lights,

the big contract, the money are in certain players.

But there's so much that goes into professional hockey

and credit to Garrett Wilson went on for him making it back.

You know, what an honor.

I think it motivates players, too, right?

You see that happening.

And you know how fragile it is to be in the NHL.

So you need to enjoy it.

Weekend plans.

Hutz, what are you got going on?

Not much, buddy.

This is it.

We're we got hockey tomorrow.

A little guys might try to go to the ski hill today, buddy.

We got some snow again last night.

It's supposed to be plus six out.

So you might see me coming down the slopes.

Maybe I'll do some social media content from there.

You know, I'm so good on social media.

Yeah, you're so dialed five games tonight in the NHL 11 tomorrow.

There's only one I care about though.

Hutz beer league playoffs kickoff tonight in Edmonton.

Maybe eight p.m. prime time in front of a crowd of tens of people.

Gonna be fired up.

You have to send me what rink it is.

Maybe I'll record it on live barn.

And we can get a few clips of you at the pocket.

We can break it down Monday and see how well you point.

Please don't do that.

That is here app on today's edition of the show.

Everybody in the YouTube chat.

Have yourselves a great weekend.

And we will see you all back here on Monday, new Eastern.

Looking for soccer analysis more knowing than a color

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