Can The Habs Afford To Trade A Top Prospect? | The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro March 4 2026

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On YouTube on Facebook and on Twitter several deals done earlier today.

And once again, one of them is not yet official.

And of course, I'm talking about the deal that will send or should send.

St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Paraco to the Buffalo Sabers.

It was reported by Darren Dregor earlier today.

As a matter of fact, almost six hours ago.

It's believed Paraco to Buffalo is going to happen.

Things are being finalized.

Player needs to approve.

Etc.

And sounds like red and murder says Dregor.

And the first will be part of it.

Now, once again, that was about five and a half hours ago.

Colton Paraco needs to agree and wave his no trade clause.

Of course.

And up until now, he has not yet.

Now, most people seem to think that he will.

And we can only think of what the Sabers Blue Line would be with Colton Paraco.

It's already pretty scary.

It could get a heck of a lot more scary.

But you know what?

What's the price to pay?

Radon Berkha and a first round pick would be the price.

Craig Button knows Merca well.

Some prospects were traded earlier today.

Craig Button knows all about that without further ado.

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Now everyone knows that Craig Button is a regular collaborator on Wednesdays.

Now full disclosure.

Most Wednesdays.

Most Wednesdays.

We pre record and I let everyone know that because Craig is working.

And so.

But tonight we decided to go live.

And even though Craig was working probably finished minutes ago.

Probably still has to work a little bit later on tonight.

The title of truth.

And the reason why we're doing that is because with NHL trade deadline around the corner,

Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

And all the deals going down.

If I would have pre recorded even up until a couple of hours ago.

And then the deal goes through over the wire at that point.

I got to scrap it and go live anyway.

So might as well just go live.

But it takes two to dance and two to tango.

Thank you Craig Button for your availability tonight.

I appreciate it.

I don't hear your crack.

Hear me now.

Hear me now.

Yeah.

I appreciate that.

You know, I love this trade deadline.

We wouldn't have the Calgary Flames trade if we would have pre recorded this.

It came up earlier this evening.

And now we can talk about a lot of different things.

And hey, you got to be in the moment at this time of the year.

And certainly, as you said, Tony, what's the music we're dancing to here tonight?

You got a favorite song?

I appreciate it.

You know what?

I love Michelle Pagliairo.

Do you got any of me?

She'll Pagliairo on the in the in the in the discography.

You know what?

I got to tell you.

I'm going to record this.

Because obviously it's it's a copyright laws.

We wouldn't be able to play it.

They would actually have the YouTube video right off.

But, hey, once again, there were a lot of deals.

And, and, you know, I think it was what?

The Connor Murphy trade, the Emmett, then kind of started it a couple of days ago.

And then earlier today, Tyler Myers, we've been talking about Tyler Myers for a while.

The Detroit Red Wings were very much interested in his services.

over the Dallas stars, try Tyler Myers as well,

had to agree to where he was gonna go and guess what?

He's born in Houston, he's a Texas boy,

and he wanted to go to Dallas,

and he finds himself a Dallas star as we speak.

Why don't we start with that one there?

Tyler Myers is a Dallas star.

That's scary, an already good team got better Craig.

Yeah, and when I look at something that I felt

that they had to do, I thought improving the blue line

had to be priority number one.

They have lots of scoring,

and Tyler Myers checks a lot of boxes.

The size, the length, ability to move the puck effectively,

he's not gonna have to play in the upper parts of the lineup.

It takes a little bit of the heat off of hayskin in and Harley.

So when you look at it from a point of view of Jim Nill

and how he strengthens this team,

I think he's done a really nice job of that.

In fact, I think I could make the argument

that they felt a little bit short

because they didn't have this area of their team covered off

in the previous seasons here.

And I think that Tyler Myers is a nice fit.

I mean, there should be teams that would be interested in him.

One of the benefits of Tyler Myers getting a no move clause,

taking a little bit less money in Vancouver perhaps,

is that now he gets to dictate where he wants to go

if he's asked the way he was no trade.

And he looks at Dallas, he goes,

that's a Stanley Cup contender.

And it's not that he doesn't appreciate other team's interests,

but you can fully understand what Tyler Myers

is going to wait to see what other possibilities existed.

And he chose one that's a serious Stanley Cup contender,

10 wins in a row as they interaction

after Wednesday night's activity in the league.

Let's take a look actually at that trade

and we'll bring it up if we can.

Dallas acquiring Tyler Myers.

Yeah, it's a second round pick.

Yeah, you know, it goes in 22-7.

And then a fourth round pick in 20-29.

You know, the Vancouver Connex retained some salary

and that certainly is going to help,

that's certainly going to help the cap situation

for the Dallas stars.

But, you know, those are picks that,

you know, if you hit on the second round pick,

that might help you in 20-31, 20-32, 20-29.

I mean, that's a long ways off.

But, you know, I think it gets to a point

where, you know, the Vancouver Connex

are just looking to see what they can get

for certain for particular players.

And again, full control with Tyler Myers

with an old move clause.

So, you know, that may have limited

what the return was for the Vancouver Connex.

You know, a lot of Montreal Canadiens fans

are watching this podcast right now.

We salute them and thank you for watching

and thank you for your support.

And they're saying a big, strong veteran, tall,

lanky, right-handed defenseman would have been just

what the doctor ordered for the Montreal Canadiens,

but once again, Tyler Myers dictated

where he was going to go in here, right?

So, there were a couple teams that were interested

and he's like, I want to go to Dallas.

What are the Dallas stars getting?

How much hockey does he have?

How much gases you have left in the plank?

Yeah, well, I think that, again,

like you watch how many minutes

that Hasten and Harley can play.

And, you know, Leon Bischell,

who's a big, ranger guy,

he can carry a lot of those minutes.

I mean, that's the Lendellah still a really good,

but you start to talk about like,

Harley's a big guy.

I mean, Hasten is premier.

He's a lead.

He's one of the best defensemen on the planet.

Then you got Lendellah who's big and lanky, right?

You have Bischellah who's big and lanky.

Now you got Myers, who's big and lanky.

The playoffs are about, you know,

shrinking the ice on your opponent,

taking away whatever time they think they have,

reducing that time that they can operate in.

And when you have length

and you have those types of defensemen

that can do exactly that,

I think it's a great,

it's a great addition for the Dallas stars.

And I mentioned earlier,

it takes some of the burden off of Hasten and Harley,

because when you're short those guys,

you know, those guys are gonna have to play more

and they wear down as you go deeper into the playoffs.

Tyler Myers mitigates against that.

Like I said, last couple of years,

I thought that the Dallas stars

like needed this type of defensemen, they didn't get them.

Maybe it's a reason why they didn't go further in the playoffs.

I mean, they went to the conference finals

so that's nothing to be overly critical about.

But I think this Tyler Myers edition

really gives this team.

I would say right now, Tony,

that after the Colorado avalanche,

they're the second best bet for me

to be the Stanley top winners.

We're gonna talk about probably the best bet

out of the East and just a minute.

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I wanna talk to you about the Buffalo Sabers now.

Yesterday, the word that we got from the insiders

was that the Buffalo Sabers were very close

to acquiring Robert Thomas.

And they have the pieces to be able to pull that deal off

and it looked like they were going to be willing

to give up on those pieces.

And that all fell apart today.

But later in the day, we also heard

that the Buffalo Sabers were very much interested

and blues defense been Colton Paraco.

And earlier today, we got word that a deal is in place

for prospect Radham Murca

and a first round pick,

the Sabers acquiring Colton Paraco.

But before it becomes official,

Colton Paraco has to sign off on it.

And of course, wave is no trade clause.

Many believe that he will,

but Craig, right now, as we speak, he still has not.

But what we can do is begin to think

of a Buffalo Sabers blue line with Paraco.

Before we get to that though,

if this deal does indeed go through

and become official Craig Button,

what have they given up in Radham Murca and a first round pick?

Well, what they've probably given up in Radham Murca

is a younger Colton Paraco.

But Radham Murca not gonna help the Buffalo Sabers

now, or in the next couple of years,

like Colton Paraco is gonna be able to,

you know, Colton Paraco comes with four years left

on his contract at a very, very reasonable number.

And you start to think about Colton and I don't get worried

about Colton and we only has one goal this year

or whatever his numbers are.

Colton can play the hard minutes,

he can play the big minutes.

You know, we're talking to somebody that when the going gets tough

and it really becomes really challenging,

I think that Colton Paraco is a guy you want on your side.

You won the Stanley Cup.

I mean, obviously he played behind Alex Petrangelo.

Oh, he's gonna get to play behind another Norse trophy guy

in Rasmus Dali.

It's a perfect setup here.

You know, they had Henry Yokeiharu

who was their bottom pair right shot defenseman.

Well, that, well, not a smaller player,

not anywhere near as good as Paraco.

I think it's a terrific move.

Let me add one more thing in terms of Murca.

St. Louis Blues are looking to change things around a little bit.

Rasmus Murca is a good prospect, make no mistake about it.

He's a really good prospect and you don't go as high

as he did in the NHL draft and certainly somebody

that the Blues have identified as somebody to come.

But the Blues are not looking to have a Rasmus Murca come in now

and help them contend.

And where the Buffalo Sabers find themselves now

is sending waves through the Eastern Conference.

I never thought nobody would have been saying this in November, Tony.

The Buffalo Sabers are a contender.

I'm not going to put them as a high contender right now.

They're a Stanley Cup contender.

And for teams now looking at what this deal is done,

I mean, this has been the best team in the NHL since December 1st.

And there's nothing accidental

about what the Buffalo Sabers are doing.

They've just strengthened their team.

And this now becomes a team that's really formidable.

And again, in the Eastern Conference,

you're looking at the Buffalo Sabers.

And that includes the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But the Buffalo Sabers are only a few points behind.

It's not like it's a, I think the Lightning

or an excellent team.

But the Buffalo Sabers have served.

Notice, hey, we're not trying to make the playoffs.

We're going, we're going, we're going,

we got our sights set higher than that.

And I think this addition does help them

have that realistic belief.

You know, it's funny because you saw,

I asked, what are they getting in Rasmus Murca

if the deal goes through?

And you said, well, they're getting a young Colton Paraco.

Colton Paraco is a 32 year old,

six foot six, 230 pound, right handed defenseman.

Rada Murca is an 18 year old,

six foot six, 220 pound, right handed defenseman.

Colton Paraco is a former third round pick,

86th overall, spanned out beautifully in the national hockey.

He's had an amazing career, obviously represented Canada

last year at the four nations,

and this year at the Olympics.

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So I have to ask you, if this deal goes through,

Rad and Mirka, his potential.

How would it compare to a David Reimbacher?

I'm curious.

I think Rad, that's a good question.

And I hadn't talked to both.

I hadn't thought about juxtaposing those two players.

I think that Radham has a little bit more

offensive initiative.

I think that David probably has a little bit more

defense, defensive stability.

Not that Radham is incapable because he is.

And not that that David can't add just some offense.

But I think Radham might have a little bit more

offensive ability.

He's bigger.

And he's not like we're not talking about huge difference

in size here.

But you know, the David Reimbacher can come in and do

what Colton Peraco did.

And when I watch Colton Peraco when he was young,

I watch Colton Peraco when he was in college.

And then when he turned pro, you could see that he had

really developed.

And you're talking about the fifth pick in Reimbacher.

And you're talking about the ninth pick.

He's picked the ninth pick by Mirka, right?

So they're a little bit higher picks.

But there's a lot of similarities between the two.

A lot of similarities between the two.

And you know, again, Buffalo's in a very different place.

They got a lot of good young defensemen.

They got a lot of good young players.

But more than that, they have a team that hasn't been anywhere

near the playoffs in recent years.

And so now you're talking about, OK, given up a good young player,

given up a first round draft pick, if that's

what the deal ends up being.

And it all lends itself to this.

The Buffalo Sabers can't be fooling around thinking about, OK,

what they gave up in Rattamurka.

They just got themselves a really good defenseman that's

going to help them right now.

And for the next number of years.

And there's a price to be paid for that.

And the price is Rattamurka a really good prospect.

Just like David Reimbacher is.

And you're a smirk guy.

You know why I'm asking?

Because Canadians fans have been wondering about Colton

Peraco for a while.

Once again, the Canadians have on the right side, Noah

Dopson and Alex Carey with the big club.

Kaden Gouli has been asked to play right D. He who's a left D.

The Canadians have a lot of left D's.

Gouli's a left-handed defenseman playing the right-hand side.

Matheson's a left-handed defenseman playing left.

Lane Hudson's a left-handed defenseman playing left.

Jaden Strubel's left.

Arbor Jack guy's left.

Down on the farm, the Canadians have

Angstrom who's a left.

They do have David Reimbacher who's a right.

The reason why I asked, of course, is Canadians fans

have been thinking about and talking about Colton

Peraco for a while.

And if this deal does go through, they're going to say the

Canadians should have been in on that because they see Colton

Peraco playing with Mike Matheson or they see Colton

Peraco being a defense partner for Lane Hudson.

And he would fit in like a glove with the Montreal

Canadians.

And not only that, if the Canadians have them, the Buffalo

Sabres don't have them.

Instead, by Buffalo making this deal, now Buffalo has them.

We're going to talk about their defense core in a second.

Once again, for those watching, this deal is not yet

official, but most insiders seem to think that it's a

question of time before Colton Peraco actually agrees to

wave as no trade.

We continue to have an eye on it.

With Shane Gomo and Master Control, you'll let me know,

just in case I miss something, while the show is going on,

he'll let me know if it's agreed to.

So I know it's hypothetical and I know you cannot speak on

behalf of the St. Louis Blues.

But let's just say your Doug Armstrong, the GM of the

St. Louis Blues, and you have a deal on the table of Ryan

Backer and the first for Colton Peraco, or you have a deal

on the table of Rat and Murca and a first for Colton

Peraco.

Can you tell me which one you'd be more inclined to accept

and why?

Well, I mean, I think that like I don't know what the

Montreal Canadians were offering.

And maybe the St. Louis Blues assessment of the two

players is different than mine.

You know, I see them as similar type players.

And maybe they say, hey, we want the bigger guy over the guy

that's not as big.

Maybe they see it as he's got a little more offense than Dave

Ryan Backer.

You know, those are things that, you know, unless you know

exactly what was exchanged and what the ideas were between

the two clubs, if there was any of that, I mean, I mean,

maybe the St. Louis Blues were asking for something different.

Maybe they were saying, hey, listen, if we're giving

Peraco to the Montreal Canadians, we need this.

And I don't think there's any question the managers are

digging in, they're spending the time trying to understand

what the price is in terms of this player or that player.

So I mean, speculation is great.

I mean, Colton Peraco will be a great fit in Montreal.

Of that, I have no doubt.

But you can't sit here and say, well, if Montreal did this,

because we don't know what Doug Armstrong was asking for.

And we don't know what Kent Hughes was doing.

They're both good players, Murca and Ryan Backer.

And you would think that that would be something for them

to contemplate.

Sometimes it comes straight down to this Tony.

Doug Armstrong turns to his scouts and he goes,

okay, here's the deal.

What, who do you like better?

The scouts go, well, we like Murca better.

Or, you know, we like Ryan Backer better.

If that was the other deal, that's sometimes as simple as that.

But sometimes there's not much to differentiate

between the two deals.

All right, okay.

We've been talking about it for a couple of days.

And, but I haven't asked your opinion on it.

So I'm glad you're here.

You know, you just said something like if that deal goes through

the Buffalo Sabers can't waste time thinking

about what they gave up and the young player that they gave up,

they got to think, hey, we got Colton Peraco.

I would imagine you have the same line of thinking for Robert Thomas.

Robert Thomas is 26 years of age.

He's got the rest of this year under contract plus another five years.

He's got his best years of his NHL career ahead of him

at a very cap-friendly $8.1 million a year.

I would imagine, if you were a GM in the National Hockey League,

you'd be very interested by this player.

And the Blues are looking for a young sentiment in return.

They're based on what we're hearing.

They're probably looking for three premium pieces in return.

And it's not often you can get a sentiment

in the prime of his career.

Craig Button, you and Noah, think of two about this

because your Dallas stars, once upon a time,

gave up a very young Jerome again,

knowing that he was going to be a good player

to go out and get Joe Nguyen Dyke in the hopes

that he would bring you a Stanley Cup.

And four years later, he helped you achieve that.

And Jerome McGillin went on to have a Hall of Fame career,

600 plus goals with the Calgary Flames.

But I would have to think that that was a deal

that both organizations were very happy with,

especially, you know, of course,

you said out what you wanted to do, you want a Stanley Cup.

Well, we were trying to win a Stanley Cup at that point in time.

What we were doing is saying, we have Mike Medado

and we better get some backing for him.

And if we're not going to be able to support Mike

and get our team into a better place,

if we don't go and find ourselves a centerman

that was really significant,

Joe Nguyen Dyke became available

because he was holding out in Calgary.

And outcodes, you know, made it very clear from the outset,

it was, and he had lots of teams folded him on Joe Nguyen Dyke,

he had lots of, as they should have been.

And, you know, at the end of it, you know,

I'll told us clearly, he goes,

it's going to be Joe Oh my goodness.

So he's going back and forth, we're staying in it

and finally, it came down to simply that

because Calgary was looking at it,

probably much like Doug Armstrong is looking at it.

It's about what's it going to look like in the future?

I think Rada Merck can play in the NHL next year.

You know, Joe Oh my goodness,

came in the NHL was a really good player right from day one.

And you know, Merck as a defenseman

might be a little bit longer,

but I think you could play in the NHL next season.

So you start to look at it from that perspective

and you start to look at specifically Robert Thomas.

Listen, I think Robert Thomas is an elite two-way center.

Everybody in St. Louis this year has played below

what we've seen other capabilities in years past.

So I don't think that this is a case of Doug Armstrong.

I think when Doug looked at the situation in St. Louis,

he said, hey, listen, I'm open for business

and I'm going to listen.

I think Doug is casting a boat,

seeing what teams may be willing to pay for his players.

And you know, if you start off by saying,

we're not going to trade this guy

or we're not going to trade that guy,

well, you never know what some team is willing to do

or what you may be able to get to.

And I think that it's really, really important.

I think it's really, really important

to keep that in mind.

Robert Thomas, one of a moral compass Stanley Cup

elite two-way center was a candidate for Canada's Olympic team.

He had some injuries this year

and that's affected his play for certain.

I'll be straightforward here with you Tony.

Like I would be phoned in Doug Armstrong

on Robert Thomas all day long.

And I hear this, well, they have another center

like Nick Suzuki.

Well, we had a center like Mike, like Joe Nguyen-Dijk,

what we're going to say, we're not going to do it.

Just be as we have a Medado, we're not going to Nguyen-Dijk.

Like, give me a break.

This Robert Thomas make your team better.

And he's 26 years old.

The answer is unequivocally yes.

You don't find reasons to say no.

And I'll be straightforward here.

And I'll mention it right here.

I was asked this many times.

Would you trade Michael Hage right now

for Robert Tana to Robert Thomas?

Absolutely without a question.

I don't know what Doug was asking for.

If he's asking for anything.

But like in a second, I would trade make that trade.

Not that Michael Hage is going to be a good player,

but Robert Thomas is the elite two-way center in my view.

Now, much of Canadians may think differently.

Doug Armstrong may have been saying,

hey, I need a lot more to what you just said reports.

Like, you know, I'm just saying that one for one.

And I'm not so sure that that's not an equal deal.

Robert Thomas for Michael Hage,

just like Nguyen-Dijk for Droll, McGinnla.

Because I think Michael Hage is a terrific prospect.

Robert Thomas, like he, if you think he was playing

as a like that to his level,

do you think he'd be up the like they'd be considering

trading him?

No.

I'm going to see what they can do to move their team forward.

I'd be all over Robert Thomas.

I hear you, but I have to ask the question.

I know that you can't speak for the St. Louis Blues,

but I'd love to get your opinion on this, OK?

So let's say the Blues have come to the decision

that they're going to reset, retool, revamp, rebuild,

whatever you want to call it.

They're going to do.

So they say, all right, OK, so some guys

are having down seasons.

We want to Stanley Cup in 2019.

Colton Preco's in his 30s, Bennington's in his 30s,

Jordan Cairo can't play a 200-foot game.

We're going to trade those guys.

But you got Robert Thomas, who averages, I would say,

give or take about 70 points a season.

The last two seasons before this one, he was in the 80s.

He's still relatively young at 26 years old.

You could revamp, retool, reset, rebuild, no matter what

by keeping a 26-year-old.

Can you not?

But why do you, like, if you were them

and you wanted to retank, rebuild, reset,

whatever you want to call it?

Would you trade 26-year-old Robert Thomas?

We still got five and a half years left on his contract?

I don't think Doug's trying to trade him.

I think Doug's casting about.

I think Doug's trying to see if there's somebody that's out there

that's going to overpay for Robert Thomas.

That's what I think.

I get it.

There's no one to trade him.

But if somebody overpays, then I'll trade him.

Yeah, well, that's what I think it is.

And I think the Doug is sitting there and looking at it

and like, listen, I think Radham Mercury

for Colton Preco even up is a good trade.

I think that's reasonable.

The Buffalo Sabers said, and this is where as a manager,

you have to have a feel for what's going on.

The Buffalo Sabers, and they haven't been in the playoffs

for 15 years.

And now they're going good.

They've got good young players.

And so Doug says, hey, listen, you know what?

We like this market here, but it's going to take more

than Merca, and you work into a first round drop bet.

Now, not everybody, and maybe a lot's wouldn't do that,

but Buffalo's in a different spot.

So the manager's job is to feel that out, both on Doug's side

and for Yarmul Kekalainen and Buffalo

to try to understand, is this something that we got to do?

But it's not every situation is the same.

And it's the same thing.

I never thought that when Doug said we're open for business,

he was saying to everybody, give me a ring.

You might be able to make me say yes.

But I'm like, he, Doug's not, Doug's too smart.

He's not giving away players.

And so I don't think he, I just, he's casting about.

He's looking and going, hey, what, what, what, what,

what might I be able to catch with this bait?

And this is great bait in Robert Thomas.

Yeah.

And so that's what I think, I'm, you know,

I'm putting on my spot that I've had.

I'm not, I'm not doing any, but that's what I think.

So you obviously know a lot more about Michael Hage

than I do, because this is what you do.

You're the director of scouting for TSN.

You know young players, like no one else is business.

The little I know, I'm going to tell you what I love, all right?

I love the fact that I think he can play all three forward

positions.

Maybe, maybe I'm just a sucker here.

And I really, really love the story.

And of course, we know the story, it touched everyone.

And his dad was born a Montreal, Canadians fan.

And his mom loves the Canadians.

And his dad passed away a tragic swimming accident years

ago.

And there he is at the draft with his mom and members

of his family and his entourage.

And he looks over at his mom when the Canadians make a deal

to get the 21st pick in the draft.

And he says, you think they'll pick me and they're crossing

their fingers.

And they pick him.

And his mom whispers to him, this is a sign from dad.

This is, this is dad.

This is what, and all his friends and teammates and players

that he plays against, all telling him, you know what,

this is what your dad would have wanted, right?

And a very emotional Michael Hage makes his way to the stage.

And where's that Montreal Canadian jersey with pride?

And I know you had some words for him and some words with him

because we had a chance to see it, of course, on television.

And, you know, we, everything we hear about this kid,

he prepares like a pro, he's serious on the ice, off the ice.

He's a great teammate, he can shoot, he can score,

he's got vision, he makes players around them better.

And I add to that, that he'll likely come in at the end

of the season, play Bernier office contract.

And so he's, he'll be with the Canadians for two.

That'll be the entry level.

And then the Canadians, like they do with all their players,

they're going to try and max him out,

which is going to be a number another seven.

So he's, he's with you for nine.

Now Craig, don't get me wrong, right?

And here's where the whole game comes into play, right?

If I can look at my crystal ball right now,

and I could see the Canadian's will win two Stanley Cups

for Robert Thomas in the next five years,

I'm making the deal, even if I don't know what happens

from year six to year seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, whatever.

But we don't know that.

And I guess I'm scared, or I guess I've just fallen

in love with the player.

I'd love to pass someone on for Robert Thomas,

someone else, because I love Robert Thomas.

I think he'd be perfect.

I'd love to hold on to Hage,

but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too, huh?

Everything you just said is, is, is all accurate.

I love Michael Hage.

I love Michael Hage as a person.

I love him as a player.

I think that he's phenomenal.

I think that he's going to be a really, really good player

in the NHL.

I felt the same way about Joe McGillah.

That wasn't easy to trade Joe McGillah, trust me.

And, but we looked at our team, and we said,

hey, listen, we drafted Mike Banana first overall.

And we had Darian Hatcher, and we had Richard Matford Chuck,

and we had Jamie Lagenbrunner, and we had Gary Latton.

And we had this wonderful group of young players

that were, that were yearning for a little bit more.

And we knew Jerome was going to be a good player.

Did we think he was going to be as great a player?

No, I'd be lying to you if I told you that.

But we had high hopes for Jerome, and we didn't draft them

11th overall by accident.

And, you know, as difficult as it was to make that trade,

it was one that we understood was for the,

what we thought was the best for the organization.

And we really didn't believe that.

And I'm not one to sit here and say,

oh, yeah, just willing to nearly get trade Michael Hage,

because I feel the same way about Michael Hage as a player

that I did about Jerome McGillah.

But Robert Thomas, a 26 years of age in,

maybe everybody doesn't have to agree with my assessment.

I'm just giving you my assessment.

I think you need to lead two-way center.

And I think that those types of players don't come along.

So if you think you're gonna get them,

then it's gonna, there's going to be a price attached to it.

So when you ask me back to St. Louis,

Doug Armstrong knows that too.

We want to Stanley Cup with this guy.

He was Canada's general manager.

They had Robert Thomas right there as a potential player.

Doug knows.

And so when Doug asks, it might make young comfortable.

And it might not lead you to say yes or consider it any further,

which is fair enough.

But at the end of it, you know,

this is the price for good players.

I'll tell you a quick story.

I'm not gonna name the team.

But we went down to the World Junior Tournament

at Boston that year after we traded Jerome McGillah.

And there was a bunch of people

where we were staying at Boston downtown and Jerome.

And people were talking, oh my God,

I can't believe that Calgary made that trade Jerome McGillah.

We made a much better offer than Dallas.

Our guy's better than that guy.

We kept hearing it.

Let's Jackson, who is our assistant general manager at the time,

finally barked at one guy.

He said, you don't even know what you're talking about.

You have no idea how good Jerome McGillah is.

And if you think your player is as good as Jerome McGillah,

he goes, you're a bad evaluator.

Shot everybody right up.

So I get where teams think they're offering more.

And the bottom line is,

as Michael Hage would be a great offer.

I think it would be a great offer one for one.

But at the end of it, teams have to make their decisions

and everything you said about Michael Hage, I concur with.

Did that player, and I won't ask you,

but did that player have ever played?

Never played.

Never played.

Never, never came close to playing.

And guess what?

Well, we evaluated him in draft.

We didn't even have him under consideration.

And he went in the first round.

Isn't that something?

That's incredible.

All right, okay.

So you'd be all in on Robert Thomas.

If you're the Canadian, because...

Not all in, not all in.

Like, I'm saying that, like, again,

if you say to me, Tony, and I'm just going to go off,

I think what you said was a prospect, a player,

and a peck.

So let's just say that it's a first round peck, okay?

Would you try to first round peck?

Would you trade Michael Hage?

Well, that seems to be, again,

we didn't have to trade a first round peck to get to.

No one died.

You know, there was an age gap there,

and we recognized it.

Well, now you're asking for another player?

Like, I mean, I'm not going to say,

so what happens if that player is all over cabinet?

So are you trading in cabinet,

a first round peck and Hage for Robert Thomas?

I'm not doing that,

but maybe that's what Doug Armstrong says.

That's what it would take.

And like, and I hate throwing names around here.

I'm just saying that on a one,

like, I think that Michael Hage for Robert Thomas

would be more than a fair price

if you were serious about Robert Thomas.

But I do.

I don't know what I want for one.

I think he's an elite two-way center, Robert Thomas.

And I think Michael Hage is going to be

a top, a real, real good NHL player,

like a really good edge.

And maybe I'm going to be wrong

like we were about Drone McGillah.

It was tough to see the claims lose that game last night

after rallying down by a score of five to two,

scoring three straight goals in the third.

They make it five-five.

Demi Dobb makes it five-three.

New hook makes it five-four.

And the new hook again makes it five-five.

The Cain's got a too many men on the ice penalty

with less than five minutes to go in regulation.

The San Jose Schars score.

They add another one in an empty net.

It was the McLean Celebrity Show,

a goal in three, six, four points.

San Jose wins seven-five.

But for me, there's some good

that came out of that loss last night.

What am I talking about?

In my opinion, in my humble opinion,

it highlighted the Canadian's true weaknesses

and true needs before the deadline.

Here in Montreal, don't get me wrong.

You always want another forward.

You always want another score.

You always want another centerman.

You never have enough.

But I take a look at this.

Couple of charts I want to bring up for you, okay?

Yeah.

So let's start with this one.

Going into tonight's games,

the Montreal Canadians had scored the third most goals

in the National Hockey League.

Colorado at 230, Edmonton at 220.

The Canadians at 213, all right?

So the third best offense in the league.

Now, how many goals do they give up?

Let's take a look at that.

All right.

No, this is the plus differential, okay?

This is the differential, all right.

Canadians have a differential plus 13, all right?

There's nine teams in the National Hockey League

that have a better plus differential

than the Montreal Canadians.

But now I want to bring up the goals against,

which is the next one.

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Do we have it?

We probably don't.

All right, okay.

We're probably looking for it in the meantime,

but I'll say this, okay?

The Montreal Canadians going into tonight's games

had given up the ninth most goals in the National Hockey League.

All right, ninth most goals in the National Hockey League.

Only eight teams gave up more goals

than the Montreal Canadians.

Only eight.

And those eight teams, they're not going to the playoffs.

They're not going to the playoffs.

Now, also another troubling stat is the penalty kill.

The Canadians penalty kill, 76.4%.

As we can see, Vancouver, Seattle, Ottawa,

St. Louis, Los Angeles are the teams

with a worse penalty kill.

I don't know if any of those teams

are gonna make the playoffs.

Maybe they will, maybe they won't,

but they're not elite teams in the National Hockey League.

So, this is what we know Craig.

The Canadians are third in the National Hockey League

for the most goals scored.

They have the sixth worst penalty kill in the league.

And there's only eight teams

that have given up more goals than the Montreal Canadians.

So I have to ask you,

why is everyone always talking about offense?

Yeah, it's a good question.

I think it also paints the picture.

And again, it goes back to our conversation.

There's still work to be done in Montreal.

There's still some, I don't want to try to overstate it,

but there's work to be done there.

When you're bottom 10 and goals against

and you're bottom 10 in penalty killing,

you're not a contender.

Not I can tell you that right now,

like you're not a contender.

And we talked about where Montreal's had,

they've made so many strong strides forward

in the late, like in the last couple of years,

making the playoffs last year was significant,

where they're at this year significant.

And you can see that it's not accidental in some ways

and their shortcomings are evident in other ways.

So as they work to try to improve their shortcomings,

and this may very well be the reason why,

I can talk about Robert Thomas all I want.

And I can talk about, and I can't imagine

that people in the Montreal organization

wouldn't look at Robert Thomas like,

geez, that's a good player.

But if you're looking at your team

and you're looking at it through a realistic lens,

you're going, okay, your Robert Thomas

a good player helps us.

But we still have areas that we have to improve it.

And so why are we gonna go try to do that right now

when we're still short in these other areas?

Like another year, now you see what Michael Hage could do.

So you're reluctant to give up Michael Hage

in that type of deal.

Not because you don't recognize that Robert Thomas

isn't good, but you also recognize where you're at

and along your continuum of becoming, remember,

my trouble's not trying to be a contender for one year.

They want to be a contender.

And I'm talking a serious Stanley Cup contender

for a lot of years.

And I think they're building, I think they're building that way.

So you talked about the left side defense

and Kate and Goli playing on the left side.

Michael Math or left side left shot defense

and playing on the right side.

Trying to improve in certain areas of the game.

Like Robert Thomas isn't gonna come in.

Can he kill panels?

Yeah, he's a good two way player.

Can he help on the, yeah, he can.

But it's not about one player.

And I think Montreal understands that.

So even though Buffalo now, and I said this,

Buffalo could be put in a lot of pressure

and Montreal could be playing Buffalo

in the first round of the playoffs.

And maybe it's a series and a tough time winning.

But Montreal's window and path is long.

And their window is big.

So don't compromise it by chasing something

that might not be at the right time.

I know people say, well, why wouldn't you do it right now?

Well, there is a timing to think.

And you gotta keep that in mind.

And I think that you talk about those things

like that big defenseman on the right side.

A Colton Paradeco would be a great fit.

That type of defenseman.

Can David Reinbach or be that guy?

And the Montreal Canadiens draft them fifth overall.

They believe in them.

What other things can they do?

I don't like the way the Montreal Canadiens

kill penalties to be honest with you.

I think that's as much of an adjustment

at how you kill penalties as much as it is about personnel.

So things you gotta improve on to become

like a more serious contender.

And you just pointed about Tony.

So sometimes you know what?

You got this horse that's galloping along pretty good.

Sometimes you gotta say, wait a second here.

We gotta get the reins on this a little bit.

And the next set of challenges

and the next set of experiences we go through

are going to be instructor for us

and helpful for our players.

I think what's a little bit abnormal

is the Montreal Canadiens are fully healthy

on the blue line right now.

And their PK actually drop three percentage points

since when they picked up Phil De Nau

who's obviously been a very good penalty killer

in the National Hockey League for many, many years now.

I think that's a little bit odd.

Now, think about this Tony.

Let me just like the goal last night

that we'll Smith scored.

Let's go as playing a one, two, one, okay?

And so, so Carrier is playing on the flank, right?

And you know, Celebridian and Will Smith make eyes, right?

And Will Smith, like Carrier can't defend

to the post there.

So is that a schematic situation or is that

because like good players are going to beat you there?

I think they have penalty killing schematic challenges

that they're going to have to address.

More so than personnel challenges on the pitch.

That's what I said.

I think it's more schematic from what I see.

Okay, perfect.

So now with that said, Conor Murphy a couple of days ago

goes from Chicago to Edmonton, right handed defenseman.

And once again, we'll take a look at what the Buffalo Sabers

Blue Line will look like if we have that.

If Colton, Peraco waves his no trade,

Samuelson, Wouldaline, Byron, Would Peraco,

Power with Kessel Ring.

Now, think about this.

Samuelson 6.4, Dollyene is 6.3, Byron is 6.1,

Peraco's 6.6, Power's 6.6, and Kessel Ring is 6.5.

And if they end up putting Luke in the net,

it was 6.5 as well.

They're going to have to make the ring two times bigger

for any teams to have any move, any room to move.

It's pretty crazy.

But now, so you're not going to have any room to change your mind

with those guys out on the ice, little rowing operating.

That's a good one.

I like that one.

Okay, so now also earlier today,

the Utah mammoth received Mackenzie Wieger in a deal.

There you have it.

So Mackenzie Wieger goes to Utah,

Oli Matt, Jonathan Castagna, second-round pick,

a second-round pick.

And second-round pick.

Let me go through those second-round picks though, okay?

It's the New York Ranger's second-round pick.

It's Ottawa's second-round pick.

And Utah, if they miss the playoffs,

that's going to be a high second-round pick as well.

Like those aren't late second-round picks.

You know, the Ottawa Senators

do not have their first-round pick this year.

And by all, they're going to miss the playoffs.

So you're not going to have your first-round pick.

Not you're not going to have your second-round pick.

You don't want that already traded that.

The Calgary Flames looked at this.

Oli Matt, it comes in,

gives them some stability on the blue line experience,

which is what they want to have.

They don't want to just throw away veteran players

and not have some guys come in to help their younger guys.

They've drafted well.

You got two first-round draft picks.

They got four second-round draft picks this year.

They could have six picks in the top 45 picks

in the draft this year.

You know what you can do with six picks in the top 45?

You can do a lot.

And they got a lot of good young prospects on the move.

And I shouldn't say on the move,

a lot of good young prospects that are moving forward

and really showing promise.

Bottom line is, this is a move that,

hey, Craig Conroy said,

we're building for 27, 28 in the new building.

We're not just throwing away next season,

but boy, does this help the Calgary Flames?

I get what Utah's doing.

It tends to be, here's a good player.

That'll help the Utah man.

And again, different situation.

Second year in Utah, trying to push forward,

seeing how they're seeing that they're close,

trying to give their team a little bit of a punch.

That's what they do.

So it works out well for both teams.

Speaking of right-handed defensemen,

and we talked about it, the Canadians, of course,

have no adopts, and they got Alex Carrier.

They got David Rhymebacker on the farm.

They have Bryce Pickford, who will turn 20 years of age

in four weeks from now.

He's a third-round pick, 81st overall,

in the 2025 draft.

He scored a hat trick earlier tonight.

He has 41 goals with eight games left in the WHO season.

He could become the second defenseman in league history.

They hit 50, albeit in nine less games,

than Troy Mick, who did it twice.

And I'm reading off of a tweet from Eric Engels here,

right now, as we speak.

But he's the first defenseman to score 40 goals

in a WHO season, says 2012, 2013.

The defenseman with more goals than him in season league history.

There's not many.

There's about six of them.

And this coming from William Dubay off of Twitter as well.

It's too bad that Pickford and the Rhymebacker

aren't quite ready for showtime.

Yeah, they would be just with the doctor order right now.

But my question to you is,

is there a right-handed defenseman that comes to mind

that can do everything that the Canadians need him to do right now,

which is help them give up less goals,

help them with their defense, help them with their coverage,

help them insulate, be a right-handed defenseman,

help them on the penalty kill.

Is there a name that comes to mind, Craig Button,

because it seems like a lot of good ones

are going and they're going fast?

Yeah, David Savard, when he was in his day,

that type of player, right?

When they got David Savard,

when the Tampa Bay Lightning traded for David Savard,

help them with a Stanley Cup, right?

They had headman, they had Cherneck, they had McDonough,

but they went and said, hey, wait, say this guy.

So I go to type a player, right?

And the guy, I think the Edmonton Order

has made a terrific trade for Carl Moffey.

And you start to look and obviously we see what happened

further on when they get Dickinson and Colton Doth

now, Kirby's brother.

From Angie Apani and her first round pick,

there was obviously they were working

towards a deeper deal.

And that's why you go, really, you're Conor Moffey

for a second round pick in 2020, whatever, 28,

you retain half the salary.

Conor Moffey, David Savard type defenseman.

Conor Moffey, they got, they listed the Colton break,

oh, that's a big price.

Conor Moffey for the price he went for,

that's a hell of a trade for the Edmonton Oilers.

This is exactly what you need.

So to me, I love that deal.

I don't, yeah, I don't know how many people know

how good Conor Moffey is.

He's steady, stable, he's competitive, he's smart.

He's exactly the type of player that,

that Darnell Nurse needs.

So he's gonna help Darnell Nurse be better.

Jake Walman can't play the right side

as a left-shot guy.

He gets him out of there.

It allows Jake to play to his strengths.

This trade for the Edmonton Oilers

is not about just Conor Moffey.

It's what he brings, which helps the team

in so many other areas.

Conor Moffey's the guy that I thought

would be a great pick up at that price

for the Montreal Canadiens.

Just like David Savard was for the Tampa Bay Lightning

and when Montreal signed David Savard,

that was what they were getting at David.

And to me, that's the type of guy.

Conor Moffey would have been perfect

for the Montreal Canadiens right now.

I don't know why they didn't make that move.

It's a name that I brought up as well for last month or so.

I don't know why in, make that move.

It's a little bit odd to me.

You know, Pierre McGuire joined me last night

and he's like, Tony, listen.

In the last month or so, when Strubel plays,

he's under 10 minutes, when Jack I plays,

he's under 10 minutes.

Clearly, they don't have a lot of confidence in those guys.

They're gonna need one.

And I thought Murphy would have been perfect.

But anyway, we'll see what happens.

Let me tell you this though, Bryce Pickford,

what a selection that was.

That's a good one.

Let me tell you while I mean, Bryce

was a good player last year in medicine hat.

And you know, you think about everything that he did

and you know, he went through a draft.

But hey, the draft doesn't end.

Just as a player goes through a draft,

you got to continue to watch.

He is, and you know what, he's a competitor.

He's dialed in to be in better every single day.

The medicine I tell you is,

lost Gavin McKenna,

pain lends from Wetham Michigan State,

Byron Richie, not Byron Richie.

Ryder Richie went to Boston University.

The medicine hat Tigers are still a wagon.

They could be in the Memorial Cup again this year.

They are that good.

And Bryce Pickford is a major part of that.

I know on right-handed defenseman,

who's 22 years old, he's six foot three,

215 pounds.

And he can shoot the puck through a wall.

And in his last four games,

he played 19 minutes and was a plus one.

He played 21 minutes and was a plus one.

He played 21 minutes and was a plus one.

And he's got a goal and was a plus one

in the first period alone tonight.

My question to you is,

and we all love that deal for the Canadians.

Are they gonna regret trading Logan Mario?

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Because that wasn't Mario that I'm talking about

in the last four games.

I think the Canadians can use that Logan Mario right now.

Yeah, I know where you're at.

I know what you're saying and I hear what you're saying.

But at the same time, at the same time,

I think that you know, you make a move.

You look at what your defense blue line looks like.

You look at what your scenario is.

And much of all was looking for a winner in Zach Bouldock.

And I still think Zach Bouldock has potential.

And there certainly, you look at Logan,

but if Logan, and I said this for a long time,

if Logan could get his game to a level

where he was consistent and dependable and reliable,

he was going to be a good solid NHL defenseman.

That I had no doubt.

He's still very much a work of progress.

But I think it's too early to say you regret it.

Kevin Weeks tweeted about a couple of energy players.

We'll wrap it up here with you, Craig.

I so appreciate your time.

I want to get your thoughts on these energy players.

AJ Greer and Brandon Duhame, our names that Kevin's hearing,

of course, for teams looking at that trusted bottom six depth.

I've always liked Brandon Duhame as an energy player.

And obviously, AJ Greer, I think,

has been great for Florida last couple of seasons

in the playoffs.

Yeah, I'd be all over AJ Greer, a five or a month at all.

I mean, I think that his experience

went in the cockpit and everything.

And understanding what his role is.

I think AJ really just found a sense of what he was

and who he was and how he can contribute.

And Duhame has got the energy.

And there's a number of those types of catalyst players

that you're trying to build out to come playoff time.

You're trying to give your team a little bit of

different kind of abilities deeper down your lineup

and certainly Duhame.

But given my brothers, I'd have AJ Greer.

Of course, there was another deal, Jason Dickinson

and Colton Dock go from Chicago to Edmonton

and in return, the Edmonton orders give up Manjapani

and some draft picks as well.

So they've been very, very active.

There's no doubt about that.

We'll end with this.

Oh, the love outrocket, by the way,

lost to nothing tonight at home to the Syracuse Crunch.

So we'll talk about that.

We'll end with this.

How are things in Toronto?

Listen, everybody in Toronto, I shouldn't say everybody,

but I think that if the writing wasn't on the wall

for everybody to see, they've taken big spotlights.

They've written it in bigger letters.

And it's very clear that Toronto is on a rebuild path.

Yeah, I think it's what they haven't won a game post-Olympics,

right?

They're 0-3 and 2 or something like that.

And they're lost five.

It's not good.

And there were some players that were held out tonight

for management reasons, of course,

because they're likely going to be dealt.

And McCann is won.

And Oliver Eckman-Larson was another.

And it looks like they're asking for a first round pick

plus for Nicola Rois.

So we'll see what happens there.

But anyway, that's the front page of the hockey news

in 2018, eight years ago, was that the Toronto

Maple Leafs were building a Stanley Cup contender,

and they were going to win Stanley Cups in the next decade.

Eight years later, they're not going to make the playoffs.

It's unbelievable.

Tony, let me ask you this, and you'll remember this.

I know you well.

In the 1970s, the Toronto Maple Leafs were a pretty good team.

And then they made some decisions.

They were a contending team.

They were a good team.

That was a good team, and Toronto was settler.

And boy, you saw me and Atlantic Donald.

And then for reasons that are still confusing,

they lost that.

And the eighties were ugly.

The eighties were ugly.

Just Toronto Maple Leafs team had promise.

And they were a contending team.

And yeah, they fell short.

Yeah, they fell short.

But what they have to do now is understand that it's different.

And they have to go, I think they have

to do what Brenda Shannon had did in 2014.

They have to go make the significant changes,

acknowledge that what we just had,

while promising didn't get us to where we wanted to get to.

And they're not getting anywhere near a contendent

with this group.

They got to make some significant changes.

Yeah.

In the late 70s, their coach was the late great Roger Nielsen.

Yeah, that was a good team.

That they had a good team.

And then they blew it up.

Craig Bunn, it's going to be an interesting,

gamey one guy that probably no one's talking about,

that you wouldn't be surprised

if his name's out there on Friday.

Well, I think his name's already out there

in the Sergio Barbrowski.

And I think there's any, there's a few Vegas Gold Knights.

We always talk about them.

They need gold tentative.

I mean, they find a way to win against Detroit

on Wednesday night.

They need gold tentative.

Their gold tentative has been really subpar.

You open the door and they're going to walk right through it.

Do the Canadians need gold tending?

Yeah, like Christmas, since Christmas,

all their goalers have a safe percentage under 900.

Yeah, they do, but Dolvis has been pretty good.

Here's what I would say, Tony.

Here's what I would say.

It's not, do they need a gold tender?

If Barbrowski was available and like you know,

trade Patrick Lioney, give him a first round pick

and give him a second round pick in 2027,

that becomes a first if they, if they

win a Stanley Cup, whatever, something along those lines,

I'd be getting Barbrowski.

And I don't care what his numbers tell me this year.

That guy's a winner.

And I think he walks into the Montreal Canadians dressing room.

And there's a different level of confidence

with Senator Barbrowski.

Now, listen, I think the gold tentative

is going to be fine to Montreal with Dolvis and Valor.

But I'm not going after any gold tender.

I'd be going after Barbrowski.

What a way to finish off the podcast tonight.

Thank you so much, Craig Button.

This was awesome.

Thank you, Tony.

I love this guy.

If you want to get on in the action, the Canadians

and the Anaheim ducks on Friday night

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Marinero, I'll be back tomorrow morning.

Afra said, did Zarlim at the end?

He just got off.

He don't immediately.

I'll be back tomorrow morning in French

between 10 AM and 12 talking all.

Montreal sports, Quebec sports, all sports.

You name it with a strong emphasis, of course,

on the Montreal Canadians as well.

With different collaborators than we have on this show.

And tomorrow, my guests will be

Matheim Bidall, Denny Goetheier, and Jack Hanne.

And so I very much look forward to that.

And then I'll be back tomorrow night at 10 PM live

with another edition of the Sick Podcast in English.

Then on Friday, I'm going to be back at 10 AM in the morning

till about noon, Afra said, with my Sick Podcast,

which is all on the same YouTube channel.

And then at around noon, we're going to start

a special NHL trade deadline show in English

that will start at noon and finish at around 5.30.

All collaborate, Matt O'Han, Shane Gommal, Eric Coziel,

we'll get Brian Wile, we'll get Pierre McGuire,

we'll get other people to join us on that.

Should be a lot of fun.

And then, of course, I'll be back after the Canadians

and the ducks, which will start at 9 PM,

finish at around 11.45 PM or so.

With, of course, your number one Habs,

post game show in the world.

I hope you feel that way.

We love doing it.

And thank you for your support.

We'll talk to you again.

Demi Mate, Afra said, and tomorrow night in English,

10 AM and 10 PM.

Ciao for now.

And that's around.

Hope you don't miss us too much until next time.

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