SHAKEUP: Utah Mammoth Trade Rumors SURROUND Connor Hellebuyck After Bombshell Request

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Thank you for making Lockdown your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the Lockdown NHL Podcast. There's no off season bringing you the daily, lead-wide stories that matter. With the local coverage you love from Lockdown. Find Lockdown NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The Utah Mammoth had a great off season and as they prepare for training camp, we have to ask, is there one more trade in the hopper? Does Connor Hellebuck still make sense? You are a Lockdown Mammoth. You are daily podcast on the Utah Mammoth.

1:02Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everyone and welcome in once again to Lockdown Mammoth. I'm Tom Callahan joined by co-host Rob and Leonio together with the dynamic duo to bring you locked on Mammoth each and every single day. Thanks for joining us. This was what we jump into today's show. Largely, the Mammoth look like they're set. However, in my opinion and maybe yours and you can start firing away in the comments because we know you guys love to do that. But I really think as a general manager of an NHL team, if there is a way to improve your hockey club, you owe it to yourself to explore that. Connor Hellebuck is one of those guys now Dylan Larkin. We're going to talk about later in the show. Might be another one of those guys. But Robin, as we look at what's going on right now, the reason I talk about Connor Hellebuck is twofold. Number one, I feel like that is probably the most glaring spot on this roster.

2:09They could upgrade with a move like this. And number two, Connor Hellebuck in the news this past week saying, finally, publicly, yes, I want a trade. I told the Winnipeg Jets, I wanted a trade months ago. They have dragged their skates. And I kind of get the feeling that Connor Hellebuck has lost his patience with this team. And he just came out and said it. Time for me to leave. And you know, it's interesting, Tom, because you and I were talking about the Winnipeg Jets. And we were talking about Connor Hellebuck. And we're like, well, he's the only one that hasn't really done anything yet. Like, it's been all quiet on it, coming from there for a while. And what, not two days later, after we do that episode, he asked for his trade. And I'm like, Connor Hellebuck, listen to what I show, which means he wants to be a Utah man. Well, and so think about that, Robin. I mean, we've seen this before, right?

3:10Players who for one reason or another express that they want to trade publicly. So yeah, the sentiment seems to be, and I want to ask your thoughts. And of course, everybody, you know, fire away in the comments on this. But Robin, do you believe that once a player goes public with that trade request, like it can be whispered about behind the scenes, they can even be discussed with a closed door to the front office. But Robin, once that player goes public, is it really worth keeping them on the team? At that point, I feel like it becomes a little bit more of a, if it comes to distraction to the team, because it's going to be a lot of conversation, maybe some broken relationships happening or whatever it might be, going on behind closed doors after that fact, right? They might say it's like, oh, no, no, we're still fine, whatever. But yeah, no, at that point, there's going to be, it's going to make an impact. And that's why a lot of players, Tom, try to be quiet about it, right?

4:15They try to be respectful and say it behind closed doors. They're like, hey, I want to trade. But if a team drags their feet, sometimes they, they, they, they force the hand. And it's like, oh, that's the case with kind of hella, like he's, he's, like, he felt like when it pegs kind of forced the hand, we're like, well, you're not doing anything, you're not listening to me. So I want to trade. He is one of the best goalies in the game. He just want to go easily. He's got a lot going for him. But what he doesn't have going for him is father time. And I think that ticking clock is probably what's sitting in the back of his, his head. He's not 25 anymore, you know, 35 is a lot different than 25. And especially for gold tenders, although we are single tenders play well later into their, you know, mid to late 30s sometimes. That's, and that's an exception. But I think hella buck can be an exception. However, robbing the other thing, and this is why I feel like Connor hella buck feels a little dist. Because he stayed put in win a peg,

5:19bought into their vision of we're going to be a winner and a cup contender, stayed with this franchise when a lot of people knew he could have went elsewhere. And so he's given them a lot. And now I almost feel like he's basically saying, okay, clearly it's not working. Now is it turning into disrespect if they're disregarding his wish to move on? Is that possibly part of it? Could this, this could breed animosity? It really could. And we've seen it happen in some cases where it does. And I at least I've in recent memory, I haven't seen it where a player just refuses to play all together because that can create even make things worse. But like I said earlier, you can tell it makes an impact. You can tell there's some cold shoulders. Some guys in the room will say, well, or to themselves, maybe not even publicly,

6:23but they will in their mind say to themselves, well, I would never do that. I can't believe you did that to the team. I would never do that. I would never come out in public. Meanwhile, other guys may say to themselves, good, I'm glad he did that. He's standing up for himself, you know, a player, especially of his agent, his stature, who has been the good soldier, if you will, for a long time. We want to peg Jets and seize the writing on the wall. This is the other thing for a central division team. It's kind of a nice admission for Utah fans to see Connor Hellabuck saying, hey, we're not a threat. Because even as recently as two seasons ago, they definitely were. Because for the last couple of seasons running until last year, they were the best offensive team in the NHL by a lot of different metrics. Now they've lost that. And I think he sees that and wants to go elsewhere, which is why it excites me about impossibly coming to Utah. Because Robin, this team with Connor Hellabuck, would be pretty darn close to unstoppable, I think,

7:28even in a packed, loaded, difficult central division. It would certainly make a difference. You and I have talked about how goal-tending has always been a question mark for Utah. It's not terrible, but it also hasn't been stellar. This goal-tender is going to take it to the final feeling. Unless you're a veggie zebra fan, and you feel that way, I'm not going to say you're wrong, but the majority, I feel like, is within that range. Robin, I'm trying to think of a mammoth slash coyotes goal-tender that I've ever felt that way about. Actually, I have one for you. You want to guess? Just give a shot, throw a name out there, see if I'm coming up with. Oh, God.

8:31I'm going to go back to, in my brain, I'm just going to go back as far as the team that actually got far enough, or at least within that range. So I'm just going to go crazy on here. Riskara. Okay, so I like Riskara. That's a good one. That is a good one. But right country, wrong goalie, Nikolai Hobby Bullin. Okay. Nikolai Hobby Bullin, I think, was the goalie, but we're going way back. Okay, we're cranking the way back machine right now. That's the last guy that I can think of that work, coyotes uniform, I'm like, yeah, that guy could win a cup. You know what I mean? That's crazy. And I mean, say what you want. There's a lot of Mike Smith fans out there, and I know I'm going to get bashed right now. I never felt like Smith was that guy either. Well, Mike Smith had a really good team in front of him. Yes.

9:31Yes. I just haven't had that kind of confidence. And I still don't. Right. Because I talk about it all the time. And I'm not saying that they don't get good goaltening. That's not what I'm saying. Let's please understand where I'm drawing this line in the stand. I'm talking about winning a cup. I think hella buck could be the guy that wins a cup in the right spot. So all right. Now, how do we go about getting him? Well, we're going to talk about that. And then we'll talk about should we circle back to Dylan Larkin? And today shows brought to you and part by indeed sponsored jobs. For more place chaos hits and you need the right hire indeed sponsored jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certifications and locations. So less time gets been searching in more time. It's been finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on indeed right now. In the minute we've been chatting companies like yours have made 27 hires on indeed according to indeed data worldwide.

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11:34Just go to indeed.com slash podcast right now and support locked on mammoth. Staying you heard about it right here indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Tom Callahan Robin Leonio locked on mammoth. Thanks for making us your first listen each and every single day. But it comes to this Utah mammoth hockey team and of course, we're making lockdown the number one sports podcast network celebrating its 10th anniversary. We are excited heading into year three in Utah for this team. It's a big year. They have the outdoor game. They have a lot of expectations. Robin, there have been a lot of different focuses on this mammoth team. They made some big splashes. They made some noise. I think they had an idea last year of how we're going to be good. And believe me, when we get to our season preview shows, we're going to talk about how the bar has been raised and what our expectations are and all

12:35that fun stuff. But again, right now talking about this team being able to get better. And this is why even at this late stage, I'm still saying you take this swing because I think you owe it to your team at all times to look at what you can get to get better. Now, here's the other thing putting this out there in this manner. I'm not saying Connor Hellebuck is going to be an inexpensive acquisition. But with the pressure on the jets to move him now and what we set up in the first segment, hey, this is going to create a lot of buzz, a lot of distraction, a lot of issues for the jets. There is a little bit more of an impetus, perhaps to get what you can now, rather than drag this out to the trade deadline. It's still, I still do feel like there will be a significant, they got a pretty significant cost to acquiring someone like Connor Hellebuck. Sky feel like even though he's requested a trade, when a peg still kind of holds, they technically do hold all the cards, unless

13:40Connor Hellebuck was like, trade me only to either of these three teams. Then all of a sudden, all the leverage is gone. Or even just trade me just to this team, which you've never heard a player specifically had traded to only a single team unless it's like a very extremely specific reason. I remember the last time a player said, only traded me to this one team, unless that player is like, let's say, going into their last year of a contract and knows they're going to retire at the end of the year. And that team that they want to go is their original team that they spent most their time with, and they just want to retire at that play. It's just that's the only thing I can think of. But even then, I don't think I've ever heard of it. So here's the interesting thing for this season. So Connor Hellebuck, and I said 35 earlier, he's actually 33. He is 33. Yeah, I've born in 93. Yeah, so this year, and this is what makes it interesting, Robin.

14:40Here's how Hellebuck has a few of the cards back. He has a full no movement clause. So cannot be traded, waived, send to the miners, blah, blah, blah, without a hold. Mm-hmm. Next year, it goes to a modified 10 team list. I don't think he makes it's next year. There's no, there's, I'll be shocked if he ends up there next year. But he makes $8.5 million through the 3031 season. I really think that for Hellebuck, he needs and wants to go to a team that's going to win in the next three years. Now, we've talked about, this is your two of the three year window opening stage for this U-Tong mammoth team. So I believe they're coming into their prime at the right time to give him the ability to bring them into the playoffs and make a nice little run. Yep. Robin, so the discussion's got to start with this alone. Does he want to come to Utah? Does he see them as that team? And I think the moves they made this off season establishes them as that team.

15:43Okay, so great. You got to give up probably veg going the other way because, yeah, when he still needs to golly, plus what? Ooh. Uh, I have to go, I feel like a high level prospects at the very, need I have to release a high level prospect is coming back as well. It's good to go, it's going back, I should say. If not like two mid-level prospects. Now, here's here's something I'm going to say because what if the price is, and Winnipeg would be silly not to ask for as much as it can get. But what if the price is a young stud player, a Gunther, a Kool-E, one of those guys, or even a T-Shaginla because a Ginnla has a lot of cash in Canada, right? If you're the Jets, having him in the Jets uniform is huge. Okay. This might be like some people might come crazy for it, but um, you're crazy.

16:47So, Kool-E and Gunther, I'm not touching them because they are the future of this team. Ginnla, as much as I'm going to be super excited for him to play, and I'm like, I want to see him play this season. Like, I would not be surprised if his name comes up on a potential like, mock trade or whatever. I would not be surprised in the very least, even if it is usually part of it. What I be upset, sure. But this is also hockey and you got to understand sometimes the things move on. So, here's an interesting thing about this, maybe an early season trade did not have training camp trade because if I'm Bellarm Strong, I want a couple of things. Number one, I want to see the De Noiee slash a Ginnla's of the world in preseason action and maybe even in an early NHL game or two. The other thing is, Rob and I agree with you, Kool-E and Gunther,

17:47I don't move, I don't touch them. Here's my thing is with them, you are, so if you're a Ginnla moves or De Noiee or whoever you end up moving or any other young player doesn't matter even if it is Kool-E, you are trading a decade plus of NHL hockey for essentially what we're assuming is going to be three or four good years of Connor Hellebuck. Now, if your handoff plan goes well, that's when your Michael Reball comes in and becomes your NHL stud. So that could be the perfect way to make it happen, but just know what you're giving up. So I think I would not make this deal actually before the season begins. I would wait. That's a good point. Yeah, a little bit into the season. See what happens, kind of see the feel. Plus, we don't even know what kind of role, like exactly, or how good of a role Sebastian Kosa is going to play. Kosa could just blow the doors out of

18:53the wall and be like, oh, this guy might be, I started this here, like, you don't know that. I'm not saying I'm thinking of all different rounds of possibility. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'm thinking of all different rounds of possibility. And I bring it up there only for a reason because it's not unheard of, but it's something that you still have to think deep into the, it would take a lot for it to happen. Yeah. Now I will say this, first of all, I hope Kosa doesn't give up a goal in the preseason because that would make for a very interesting situation. Oh, yeah, wouldn't that be nice. But can I just tell you that even if Kosa went, like, lights out zeros, still not the guy preseason, not starting opening that? No, yeah, not. Well, again, edge play better, though. Veg feels that little heat. We've talked about it before. The competition seems to spur better play. Hey, I remember last year when you said that

19:56it wouldn't be surprised if, if if if Vege is starting, starting position was overtaken. And then, well, that it wouldn't happen last year because they just, no matter who they put it back, they never trusted anyone by Vege. That's also that's, but that's not a problem. Never trusted anyone else. That's not a tour any problem. But we'll have to see if they can really trust anybody else. Yeah. But and that's the other thing, though. And please, let's discuss that real quick. I know we're kind of, you know, wanting to move on to talk about Dylan market too, but Hello, Buck at 33 cannot have the same kind of workload. Could not. You couldn't. I mean, you'd run them into the ground. Remember, it's just a slight bit different, but also kind of similar. Remember when Florida went out and got this massive deal, this was,

20:57you know, 10 million plus to get Sirkake Webroski. Everyone was one. Everyone thought it was the dumbest thing because they thought it was well past his prime. And he's like, oh, on the wrong side of 30 and all of a sudden. And at first, they, they, they, they, they, like, everyone seemed like they're right because the first couple of like the first year or two, he's like, well, this is not right. He's not deal looked awful. It was like, oh, no. And then he looks like, then he was looking like prime, prime Bob again. And that's past 35 years old. And now he's the 38 year old starting golden for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Just throwing that out there. Austin Matthews to the man with the lettuce. No, what your thoughts are just like I said, just collect the entire of the 2026 US gold medal winning team. They come to wouldn't be the worst thing. That would be something. I mean, they got Trollcheck. We got, uh, we got Keller, like, even though Koolie wasn't on the Olympic team, Koolie is a member of

22:03team USA and like other capacities. Now, if you get hella book, that's one. That's another one. I see what you're doing here, Robin. Okay. Okay. We're in Matthews. That's another one. All right. Let's do it. I'm all for it. Make it happen. So, all right, circling back to Dylan Larkin. Number one, let us know if you're trading for Connor Hella Buck. Number two, we're circling back to Dylan Larkin here. There are reasons why I think it might be advantageous to take a look at this now. Tom Kelly had Robin Leonio here with the locked on mammoth wanted to take just a moment to remind you about the everyday club at locked on mammoth dot supercast dot com locked on mammoth dot supercast dot com just $5 a month or $50 for the year saving the price of two months. And you get access to our everyday or discord, which is tremendous during the season. Robin and I

23:05are in there. We live chat with everybody. We're in their talk and especially during games. Love having you guys on board in there. It's a lot of fun. You can directly ask us questions. All kinds of fun things. Now the season's picking back up. We're going to be hopping back in there. And the big thing also the ad free audio version of locked on mammoth each and every single day. Once you go ad free, as Robin says, you don't want to go back. And that is absolutely true. It is a tremendous value to have the ad free version in this show. The ad free version of locked on sports today. And all the previews, maybe Robin and I talking a little fantasy advice here coming up for the mammoth as well. And the Robin sparkles hockey league, but all those things packed in there on top of the value you're getting. We appreciate that. And hey, if it's not your thing, that's fine too. We just ask that you subscribe. If you're this far into the show, you must like us. We appreciate that. Go ahead and hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. We're available anywhere you get your audio podcasts as well. Robin circling back to Dylan market.

24:08Another player who publicly said I want out. I think Detroit didn't take it all that well. And quite frankly, the Red Wings hold all the cards. They have a lot of term left in that deal. Just like hella buck has a lot of term left in his. Larkin submitted the teeny tiny. We little needles eye of a window for a couple of teams that he would go to. And Robin none of them answered the call for the Red Wings is what they were looking for for Dylan Larkin. So now the question is going to be begged all through training camp. Does Dylan Larkin expand his teams that he will go to? And if he does a new toss on it, should the mammoth be in play here? Well, there was already a discussion of Utah being part of his expanded list after the first couple of weeks. It just never got to that point yet. But so it wouldn't surprise me if that's part of it. But it's a very complicated thing because it

25:12seems like the Red Wings just take just don't. They're not in a rush. They just don't want to feel like, yeah, like I feel like there's like there's no rush to trade to trade back in. Like I feel like he's not going to do anything or whatever. He's not he's not going to be a holdout or whatever. And the next two years of his deal is a full no trade. Not until 2829 does it become a 10 team list. So Larkin does hold the hammer on whether or not he can go places. That's why he has to approve it. But here's the other thing, 8.7 million for Dylan Larkin robbing this contract like hella buck runs through the 30 31 season. Now he's only 30 years old. That's a lot though on the team control side. Literally the Red Wings could just let him faster. It's a hey, we tried. You're not going anywhere. You got to play hockey. But again, distractions, all kinds of issues.

26:17Things going on and Detroit. Let's face it. Detroit has not looked good over the last decade. This is a team that needs a shake up. I mean, there's a reason why Isomens no longer in there. The Iser plan didn't plan it didn't didn't plan out work. Even know what Steve Isomens did in Tampa Bay was you know, it was nothing short of phenomenal. Well, you know, the funny thing is I, and I'll respect to all the NHL GMs. But also like coaches, I feel like it's easy to give too much credit and too much blame when things go well or things go poorly. You know what I mean? Yeah. Everybody always wants a scapegoat. But with Detroit, I think it really did come down to and this is what Dylan Larkin is basically saying and requesting his trade is once again, kind of like looking at Winnipeg.

27:19He does not see for himself a path to a Stanley Cup. And I think Dylan Larkin wants to win. Now, if you drop Dylan Larkin on the Suta mammoth team, that opens up a whole lot of interesting things that you can do. And Rob and I think you do need to move a top six player to Detroit in order to get a Dylan Larkin. So consider if that's what you have to do to bring him in. Do you feel like it's worth it? At this point, based off the moves that Utah already did the Bulls through their top six, I don't think it's within the, I don't think it's within the realm of possibility at this point. I mean, it's it's kind of there. It's like right outside, but like they did some things because I feel like, for example, the acquisition you're bringing in Vinnie Chocheck was huge. Right. You know, for example, right? Dad's going to bolster your top six without a

28:19doubt, just on a different part of the top six than we expected because they they're anticipating to have him like, like either like on the wing on first or second line rather than in center. And if he ends up somehow on the third, I mean, we've seen projections. He's all over the place, right? Yeah. Lee has been more projected towards third or third mind. And it really depends what they're going to do with loss and crowds too. But again, so what if what if it's Nick Schmaltz? Is your guy that you had the big name because you'll end up giving up more? I'm sure. And there'll be other pieces going back and forth, but for Larkin, do you take that risk because of the question is that do you take that risk because of the pure chemistry that Schmaltz and Keller have? Like that's a level of chemistry that I'm like, I kind of want to see how it all plays out for an actual deep playoff run. What they're betting on with the contract they gave to Nick Schmaltz is

29:20that he will outgrow the streakiness and become the everyday guy at that high level. Yeah, that's the risk they're taking here. Well, this is how it does turn out this year because yes, Schmaltz has been low but more tricky. But when he is with Clayton Keller, it makes a big difference. Well, that's why he was my MVP last year because when he was on, they were really, really good. But when he wasn't on, they were not. And so to me, the most valuable player is the guy is the most valuable player to his team. To me, Schmaltz clearly demonstrated that when he was playing well, the team was winning. And when he didn't play well, the team struggled to find those wins. Which is why I feel like just trust this year in seeing how a Keller Schmaltz Trocheck first line turns out. So to be clear on this, I think what we're leaning towards is there's not really a piece that you could move out that would make a reasonable to bring like an interview. Okay. Yeah. As much as I think it would be a cool idea, like back during the summer

30:26when they when it first started coming news, I was like, yeah, this is a good thing. This might be a good thing. But then the pieces that I thought would be useful, the trade away. We're gone because they brought in some of those were used to bring in other players. Right. I know we talked about Paturka. Yeah. Paturka being Paturka being the biggest one of that. I know a lot of I think a lot of people gave me crap at the time for saying trade away Paturka, even though what a week after or two weeks after I said it, it happened. Yep. I mean, that's and I agree Robin. And again, this is kind of back to the hell of a discussion earlier. If you're going to move any of those players, I do want to see what they've done, how it works. Now maybe we can go on preseason games. Maybe we'll know fairly quickly, especially if it works well. But there's every chance it may take some time and they've gotten figured things out through October, maybe in in November. And it really takes some time to establish the chemistry and for this team to gel.

31:30That's the other thing. How much patience do you want to have with this? I mean, how many times have we always said it? Let Bill Cook. Let Bill Cook. So, well, let us know what you think in the comments. Are you going after Larkin? Are you going after Hellebach? Or are you just you're good where we're at? Let's see what this team does to start the season. Let us know your thoughts. You can always comment on the YouTube side. And if you're listening on the audio side, you can always reach out to us on social media as well. Robin, where can they find the show? They're available everywhere on social media. We're mostly active over on Twitter, but you can literally find us everywhere else, including Instagram and threads and TikTok and whatever. At locked on them at that's at locked on them. If you find me personally at Robin underscore Leonio. And I'm over there holding down the fort on the blue sky side of things at Tom talks. So thank you, everybody, for tuning in once again. Let us know what do you think? Is it worth making a move at this point? Or are you just like, hey, let's open up training camp and get

32:31her going here? Hey, we're not that far away. A couple of weeks now. We're we're so excited. We're so close. So all right, everybody, we look forward to talking a little bit more. We've got previews coming up. Ars, look ahead. What's going on in the central division? What to expect out of the shoe Tom mammoth team this season all coming your way for Robin. I'm Tom. Thanks for being a part of locked on man. Thank you for making locked on your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the locked on NHL podcast. There's no off season bringing you the daily, lead wide stories that matter. With the local coverage you love from locked on. Find locked on NHL on YouTube or wherever you listen to part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day.