The Lowdown with Lowetide - Rachel Kryshak (Sept 21)

0:00Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new workday. Hi, my fan Max here. Barry's here too. Hello. And now the Premier League is back, Barry, meaning we've been providing incredibly astute analysis three times a week wherever you get your podcasts. Barry, with the remaining 10 seconds of this ad, can you provide some astute analysis? I think our solar going to win the Premier League. And there you are for more hot takes like that. Watch your listen to football weekly wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, it's been a bit of an eventful year. You're right. I guess I'm keeping the last name. I am no longer in the bedding sphere and I'm just kind of enjoying life and really good summer. World Cup was right in my back yard, so no complaints about that. So I guess next up is either buying a castle or the Maple Leafs.

1:01I mean, I'm not sure based on who owns the Maple Leafs that anybody is going to be able to afford them at this young share, but man, that would be fun. Man, you could be like, you know, the modern Harold Ballard. I'm sure you do better job. All right, let's talk a little bit about the Ebb and Tenoa. There's Mike Babcock is the new coach, brings the promise of discipline, goal suppression, playing time for everyone, everybody gets to play. I think it could work, but I also think that it could not work in a big way. How do you see this? This is one of the biggest risks, I think, that I've seen an organization take in a very, very long time because you have the ominous decision of Conor McDavid Looming. And so if this works, there's a real chance that he helps the oilers because I think one of the big things that a lot of people thought about was dry settle in McDavid, we're carrying a disproportionate load. And they weren't necessarily being held accountable the same ways that other players were.

2:05And I mean, players of that magnitude always get treated a little bit differently. And Mike Babcock is no different, but he's also, he has his standards and in Toronto, that was no different for some of their young superstars. And so I think from that perspective, it'll be a bit of a change of pace. But when you look at his track record and his treatment of other players and even some of the stars and Mitch Marner and Toronto, I think this is very risky. It either goes very well or it goes extremely sideways. And if it goes extremely sideways, you run the risk of losing Conor McDavid. And I think that at that point, if you risk that, you're showing Stan Bowman and many other people to door the same day that Mike Babcock has shown the door. It's and he when he was in Toronto, I know he would get stubborn on guys. He would play Marlow, you know, when he should have checked him down. We haven't really seen that. He's only been one game in a few days.

3:07But along with the frustrations of who he picked away at, there was a sense, I think, I remember a lot of Leafs fans were like, why are they, why are they remaining loyal to this player when he's not being productive? Yes. And I think one of the situations that you could have is, and maybe we'll get into this in a little bit, but if you were to find somebody like Adam Henryg, I could absolutely see Adam Henryk being a guy that Mike Babcock is like, staking it around. This is my dude in the bottom six. Because he has all of the traits that Mike Babcock absolutely loves in a veteran. And so I think he could be guilty of that. Zach Hyman's absolutely going to get elevated opportunity. He deserves it, but that would be the difference there. I'm kind of interested to see how guys like Matthew Savoy, Ic Howard, what their opportunities look like, because they certainly bring a ton of skill, especially in Matthew Savoy's situation and how is that going to work? Are they going to be allowed to make mistakes?

4:09Because they're certainly on very valuable contracts that would help the oilers, given what their cap sheet looks like. You don't want to see the veterans that move slowly, similar, a Patrick Marlow, get all the opportunities. I thought it was a pretty good sign that Echol wasn't with, though, right off the hop. But I'm not going to read into that because I know Mike Babcock, they want to camp is not Mike Babcock, they want to regular season. So I think we're best to wait and see where Atcom is playing. But if he is playing in sort of a third pair, maybe like a four or five role, then it shows that that maybe some growth in terms of how Mike Babcock's going to use his bench. Rachel Krijak, our guest on sports 1440 in the lowdown with low tide. Alex Forritmanton was signed late in the office. He's not that long ago. A lot of controversy around the signing. He's been away from the NHL for three years as well. If he's fourth line in PK, I wonder if it was worth signing him. If he's higher than maybe from a hockey point of view,

5:11it made sense. Okay. I don't think that you stand Bowman did a ton of work. There was a track record of it after what happened in Chicago to say, I am better. And he got his chance. And then he went and hired Mike Babcock. It was a track record of some really poor behavior and really poor treatment of employees and players. And then he went and signed a player who, regardless of the fact that he was acquitted, was still caught up in a situation where like in Canada, if there's a greater than 50% chance that you will be found guilty, you get charged. So the crown belief there was a greater than 50% chance and he was charged, which means he didn't do nothing. And so I look at this and for a sport that says we want people of high character and accountability

6:16and this, that and the other, this is not that. We can move on from that. Let's evaluate it for strictly from a hockey perspective. Alex Forritmanton was outscored on his own team last year in Switzerland by Chris D. Domenico, who was an NHL, A. H. L. Tweener for a very long time. When you are outscored by quite a few points and you're fifth on your team in scoring, you're not second or third, you're fifth in Switzerland, which isn't even a K. H. L. level. And it's not a Swedish hockey league level. That tells me that you might not be very good anymore. And so yes, Alex Forritmanton brings speed, which the Edmonton Oilers absolutely need in their bottom six. But are you going to sit here and tell me that somebody like Luke Cunnan or Riley Smith or Adam Hanriek couldn't have done a better job and surely come with far less controversy. In fact, no controversy at all. And provided similar value. Like I'm not sure that this risk is really worth that here. You're also at the Canadian market. I mean, this is not a decision that the Edmonton Oilers

7:21can afford to be making at this junction. Well, I agree with you. I think it adds to the risk. And we'll see, you know, he looked good in a game against Winnipeg, but the Jets didn't send anybody, you know, good over. So I think the jury is still out and we'll find out Rachel, I'm not, and I heart on this to the point where people are getting mad at me. But I'm not a fat of a David Drey saddle together at five on five, because I love Ryan Newtian Hopkins, but he's 33. And he has been playing away from center for some time. And he's better on the wing. Can Babcock find an outscoring second line with Newtian Hyman as the key players say with Ike Howard or Matt Savoy when he comes back. So you're not worried about hosting the whole family for the holidays? Why would I be? Wayfar had everything I needed to get the house holiday ready. What if Mike brings his cheerful dogs? My tree has tons of five star reviews telling me how sturdy it is. But what if everyone's plus one brings a plus one? We'll see how extendable this extendable table really is. And extra

8:24chairs are on the way. Okay, what if there's a blizzard and everyone has to sleep over? Ready to go with extra bending and towels. From guest ready essentials to holiday decor you can trust. Wayfar delivers. Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the enterprise AI platform for HR, finance, and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new work day. I'm with you. I'm not a fan of McDavid and Dry Scytl together either. I think you need to maximize the amount of time. One of those individuals is on the ice. We know he likes to run his players into the ground. And so you could conceivably have a situation where McDavid placed 25 and Dry Scytl placed 25 and they're on the ice for 50 minutes or when you include power play maybe we'll call it 45 minutes of the 60 that is a game. I think you're better off maximizing it that way. But the other situation you have that you was stutately pointed out with Ryan Newgen Hopkins is

9:26he's not capable of driving a line anymore. And he may not be capable of being a center iceman in the NHL above a third line sort of role. And so I think when you look at Zach Hyman look at how Mike Babcock deployed Zach Hyman and Toronto next to Austin Matthews. I think Zach Hyman should play next to one of Dry Scytl or McDavid. I don't think you should play on a separate line because I think you need to balance that out. So if you could have a top six that maybe looks like McDavid, Hyman, Maps of Boy and then you have Dry Scytl, Newgen Hopkins and whoever else you want to put with them you give yourself a more balanced top six as opposed to going so tall, heavy on the first line and potentially having to run them for 27 minutes every night. That's not going to be sustainable over the balance of the season. And so I understand why he wants to test it now. But I think over the balance of the season you really have to look at the fact that Zach Hyman can go in and dig pucks out. Maps of Boy can do the same thing. Ryan Newgen Hopkins

10:29is better off on the wing. And that also manages your depth at center. So I think that that eventually will change. And if it isn't that's probably a testament to Mike Babcock's stubbornness. Yeah, you can't you have to be able to find eight wingers. Come on. You know, I mean, you don't need Leon over there. It's fun for them. I'm sure. And they're great. I mean, the line look great. But it's just to me, it's overkill and you're strength up the middle is how teams win the others have that unless they play Leon on the wing. Well, Rachel, it's another year and goal tending isn't solved in Edmonton. I bet you're shocked to find that out. Cam Talbot traded in 2019. It's been a wild ride since we had Mike Smith throwing pucks past Ethan bears ear. We've had a gigantic goal tender who didn't have a very good glove from Finland. We had Jack Campbell who didn't work out Stewart Skinner who did then didn't. And now we've got three guys coming to camp for the first time. Jari acquired in December the other two Anderson and Levi

11:32here this summer. Do you see a goalie savior in this year's group? I cannot believe we are talking about this again. Surely we have to be able to find some sort of decision like my goodness, this is ridiculous at this point. They they have no solution and there are they've tried many things. I did like the Freddie Anderson signing. I think that there is some potential there, but he's injured and which is not surprising for Freddie Anderson. And when he's good, I mean he did just win the Stanley Cup. So he's clearly very good. I'm a higher on Devon Levi than I think much of the hockey world. I think there's some real potential there, but certainly not in a situation where he's got to come in and immediately be able to spell Tristan Jari. If Tristan Jari has one of those weeks where he forgets how to play goalie. And so now you're in a situation where you've got one guy who's injured so he's unreliable, but when he's good, he's very clearly the best goal tender that they have in a real solution for them. You've got Tristan Jari who shouldn't have

12:34been acquired in the first place. And I mean he's either good or he's unplayable and you don't really know what you're getting and he can't have that when you're trying to win a Stanley Cup. And then you've got Devon Levi who's spent last year in the A.H.L. kind of got bypassed on the development chart in Buffalo, but I think that's some real potential. So I think if you can get a new goalie coach here in Edmonton and really figure out his sort of approach and his movements in the crease, there's some real potential to be a one B there and then maybe you evaluate Tristan Jari by out or a move of some sort, but this all is hinging on Frederick Anderson. If he is healthy and can play at the level that he played last year, I think the Oilers have a real shot at having a solution in goal here. It's a one A and then Jari or Levi can be the one B kind of guy. But if he is hurt and unable to play the majority of the season, we're now staring down the barrel of candy and the original of this make the playoffs. Well, they've got a really good schedule, the first 20. They're lucky they play in the Pacific. They could win the division with the team

13:37that has real issues because they've got McDavid and Drysidle and Evan Boothshard. Do the May beliefs or Sands have a chance in that Atlantic this year to make the playoffs? I think it's foolish to think that the leaves don't have at least a chance. You win a lottery, you get Gavin McKenna, that's an immediate jolt. Austin Matthews looks the healthiest he's looked in probably three years and his skating speed like the numbers just dictate that. We'll see how long that lasts. You've got a coach that really believes in using team speed and playing in transition, which is how teams are successful. See Carolina Hurricanes winning the family cup. And so I think they have a real chance to make the playoffs. Do I think they're contender? No, I do not. I also think the addition of Daren Radish is very helpful. I think the Sender and some trouble. The Brady Kitchock losing Brady Kitchock, I think you're getting a little bit of addition by subtraction there in terms of the sanctity of the room because it was clearly

14:40a problem last year. But I think that you need some serious, I serious year from your goal tending. I think you need your D to be just as good if not better than last year and they were the second best defensive team in the league last year. I'm not sure how sustainable that is necessarily. And so I'm a little bit lower on the Sands. I think that Florida's obviously going to be right back up there. You've got a healthy bark off and a healthy Matthew Kitchock. And we'll see what Brady adds to that. There, Achilles heel, if anything, will be Jacob Varksram. But then you've got, like Montreal is really good. Buffalo took a huge step last year. It's the most competitive division in the NHL. And so yeah, I think at least have a chance to make the playoffs. I think they're right in there. I think they're ahead of the Sands personally. But I think both teams when you're looking at are probably in the wild card conversation. There you go. And what about Halibut and Winnipeg? Should they keep their powder dry till they get what they want? Or do you feel there's a little bit of pressure on this to get it solved and move on? So I'm of the opinion

15:44that when you when you sign a eight year contract and you say I want to be in Winnipeg and then in year three or four of the contract, you say, oh, nope, you got to trade me and now I'm not reporting to camp. Well, now I've suspended you and guess what chief, you are sitting out because I don't have to pay when you're not on the cap. And if you're willing, unlike Dylan Larkin, if you're willing to work with the organization and and go to different places, then yeah, I think you can work on a trade and go from there. But to me, not showing up at all is completely ridiculous. And so I would have the mind to say the reason you're asking out is because you want to win. Well, that's great. When you weren't an absolute abomination and goal, you want to Vezna and this team was very competitive and they were a contender. You were in a abomination last year except for two weeks when you were in Milan and the team cratered. Well, maybe some of that is on you. It's not all of it and you should take a look in the mirror. So I have a of the mind that because he is so steadfast,

16:44you can sit until I get a deal that I like. Maybe you'll change your mind. Good point. Good point. Rachel, welcome back. Thank you. I will talk to you on Monday. Hey, it's Paige from Giggly Squad. You know when you finally get started on a project around the house and then five minutes in, you realize you're missing one thing. Somehow it's always that one thing that sends you back to the store. That's why I love this from Lowe's. If you're a My Lowe's Rewards or My Lowe's Pro Rewards member, you get free same day delivery. Honestly, Lowe's will make the run for you, making it that much easier to get what you need. Just place your order and Lowe's handles the rest. It seriously makes life so much easier, especially when you've already got a million things going on. Members get more at Lowe's, $25 minimum and loyalty membership required. Order eligible items by 2 p.m. Subject to weight and size restrictions and availability. Terms at Lowe's.com slash shipping terms. Hi, I'm Max Ruffton, the host of The Guardian Football Weekly,

17:46alongside me Barry Glendering, my co-host, hey Barry, hello. Now, although every American founders doing the World Cup for the two that didn't, what can they expect? Found us and fell in love with us, Max. They can expect three episodes each week of occasionally insightful analysis, covering the Premier League, Champions League and beyond. Football Weekly is back, watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Guessing is for game shows, not your business. Workday is the Enterprise AI platform for HR, Finance and IT, with AI grounded in your context to get work done and done right. It's a new workday.