Darren Dreger vancouver canucks mancini lekkerimaki nhl hockey hughes

Darren Dreger vancouver canucks mancini lekkerimaki nhl hockey hughes

Here he is, TSN Hockey Insider, one half of the Ray and Drags Hockey podcast. He’s back with us again this season as our NHL insider on Mondays in his summery shirt. It’s Mr. Dreger. How are you? I’m doing well. It’s very summery here in Ontario, at least southern Ontario, where we’re pushing the high of 24 degrees C. Uh I don’t have the luxury. My my my golf game has been borderline lousy all year anyway. Um, but as soon as training camps get underway, I I stop kind of thinking about golf, which is either good or bad. In my case, it’s bad. Um, but you can still kind of, you know, even though I’m not out on the golf course, I can look out my window. I can see how beautiful it is outside, the blue sky and all of that, and at least play the role like a wannabe. And that’s what I’m doing here today. You see, we finish up with drags every uh like March, April when the golf season is really taken off here, and they’re still waiting. So, you know, payback here in late September. Thanks, Drags. Uh, you’ve done some digging on Canucks camp. What are you hearing? Well, just positive stuff. Um, and I I that’s not breaking news, and I think that most clubs would give you their spin on positivity, but you know, there’s there’s a lot of new around the Vancouver Conucks. There’s some interesting storylines. Um, you know, what is Evander Kane, as an example, you know, going to be to the Vancouver Conucks? Can he be as good as he was in Edmonton? And I think the short-term return is that’s a Yes. Yeah. I mean, he adds a uniqueness to the lineup, a physicality. Um, you know, he’s he’s got good secondary scoring and sometimes primary scoring depending on how Adam Foot is is going to employ him. But, uh, I think so far they’ve liked what they’ve seen there. uh the players that that you needed to come back to training camp and into the preseason ready for the regular season, faster, stronger appear to be that. Talked about Elias Patterson, Brock Besser is another. And now it’s it’s it’s clear that we would identify those two players because they’ve got a magnifying glass on them, right? I mean, Conucks fans, they want to see it. They want to see it in the regular season. I mean, what do you learn when you’re watching in a training camp drill or even in preseason hockey? But for the most part, um, I know the coaching staff and management like what they see in in those two guys. So that matters. And then you also want to see the development of your younger players, the guys who maybe aren’t NHL ready yet, but they’re pushing. Um, and I I think that Vancouver loves the look of their defensive core. Both what they have in-house ready, you know, veteran experienced guys and all that, but also players that maybe need a little bit more seasoning, but are real close at this stage. And that’s before they even trade for Luke Hughes, which we will get to. Drags. Blake has a theory here. Blake has a theory here. Uh, just back on Kane. Um, we we were a little surprised to cost a draft pick and taking the full salary on Kane, but we were told that there were several interested party, I think two other teams outside of the Canucks. Agreed. Who were really hard in on Kane? Can you tell bring us back to that? Who was Vancouver vying against there? And, uh, how did it all shake out? Yeah, I to be honest, I’m not entirely sure who the specific two teams were. um in dealing with Dan Milstein who represents Evander Kane, you know, uh he just acknowledged that there were actually a group of teams that had explored, you know, a high level of interest and, you know, the idea of going back to Vancouver, essentially Vander’s home, um was one that, you know, fit his eye, the player’s eye, and he wanted that to to to work. He wanted to make that happen. And I look, I want to revisit what I said. Um, you know, I I could appreciate how a team might be somewhat reluctant to take on Evander Kane on a longer term, but how can there possibly be any risk? This guy can still play at a high level. He absolutely can. You know, he’s got an an injury resume. Uh, but part of that is is also based on on how hard he plays. But when you look at the remainder of the contract here, come on. I mean, he is still a valuable player and, you know, he’s he’s gonna want to contribute, you know, on, you know, in front of his hometown fans. Um, maybe stick it to the Oilers a little bit. Why wouldn’t you? I mean, they need to create cap space and he was part of the the way that they did that. Um, but I’m not surprised, and I wasn’t surprised at the time, but to say that there were two or three teams specifically, that that’s more challenging. But I do know that Vancouver wasn’t alone in the pursuit. Philip Heedles had a nice start to the preeason, but um I I don’t think that that should preclude the Vancouver Conucks from still shopping for that second line center. The problem is that there are others pursuing that profile of player, aren’t there? Yeah. You know what? Uh I managers literally laugh at guys like me when we ask them about a second line center or a top four defenseman. And normally it’s, you know, a top four right shot defense. I mean, everybody in the league is looking for those players, right? So, there’s always an eye roll, but in Vancouver’s case, legitimately, they are looking for a number two center. And now, Philip Pedal, as we talked about before we we went on offseason hiatus, um, was going to be the internal option that they hoped they would be able to lean on. And by all accounts, that’s the way it’s going to be. In a perfect world, sure, Patrick Alvine is able to snag that two-way center. However he does it, where is that guy coming from? Can’t tell you because, you know, as Doug Armstrong from the St. Louis Blues joked about a while back, 27 teams in the league are looking for that number two center. But if you’re able to find that legit number two, then Heedle, if he can stay healthy, you know, turns into a 2B or a real solid number three center. So, I I I think that’s the direction that Alvine is continuing to push. Um, but I’d say the same thing Ken Hughes and the Montreal Canadians. I had the same conversation with Hughes last week about their second line and specifically a number two center and he goes, “Man, I tried.” And and when I look at Vancouver and I look at Montreal, you know, there are teams certainly in this country that don’t have the trade assets that those two clubs have. You know, Vancouver’s got a deep upand cominging blue line. Montreal has a deep upandcoming young core, particularly on defense. So, there are attractive commodities available in Montreal and Vancouver, but apparently not attractive enough or or those guys are just shopping in too high a rent district and the players that they’re targeting just aren’t available. All caps if but if they pull off a trade for a second line center this season, it’s probably a guy that we haven’t talked about yet. Is that is that right? It’s going to be from a team that has fallen off, etc., etc. I think so. I that makes a lot of sense and I you know that’s also part of an intriguing storyline for me as we you know encroach the start of the regular season. Who is going to be that team or those teams like the Nashville Predators a year ago that were just no good? And is that team, you know, maybe they’re a team that didn’t embrace the idea of a renovation or even a rebuild, you know, leading up to the trade deadline or through the off season because there was ownership pressure, whatever. No, no, we’re a better team than that. We can insulate certain pieces. We can try and claw into that that playoff equation. Well, all of a sudden, you’re 15 games into the regular season and things haven’t gone your way even a little bit. And maybe maybe the the anxiety is amplified because you’ve got the Olympic break that might condense the year and get some of these managers trading a little bit earlier than they normally would as well. Mason McTavish’s sign. Now, we saw this with Trevor Ziggress and he never quite got back in favor in Anaheim and was ultimately moved out. But as you understand it, is McDavish now off the block? I would think so. Uh, you know, they see I don’t I like Pat Forbake isn’t paying lip service when he talks about how important Mason McDavish is as as a corner piece of the Anaheim Ducks moving forward. Um, I I believe him when he says that. You know, the player I think preferred a shorter term. Why wouldn’t he? because then you’re getting into, you know, again, a higher annual average salary value when you come out of that bridge. Uh, but I think that this is a real fair deal for both. It’s it’s too bad that it it had to go the way that it did. Um, but you can appreciate why McTavish dug in, supported by Pat Morris and Newport. I mean, talk about sharks, man. Pat Morris lives for this kind of stuff. uh Suie ended up getting a sweet deal for his player and some term and security. But I I also feel fellas that this was also a bit of message sending by Verbique and the Ducks to Leo Car Carlson and their younger guys that they’ve got coming up in the very near future on contract. And now for me that message is, hey, we’re here to make deals. You know, we’re trying to build the Ducks into a contending team again. And that’s hard to do when you’re backed up by the restricted free agents on these short-term contracts or then you go with the bridge and you get hit over the head with a deal that you have to pay because that player has evolved into that type of a player. So I I think it’s a win-win and the message definitely would have been delivered to those other young players that look, we’re here to make deals, but you’ve got to prove that the investment we just made in Mason McTavish, you’re worthy of. So I I like this deal from a Ducks perspective. The getting back on Canucks and the Canucks camp. Uh Darren, Brock Besser and Thatcher Demco are the two longest serving players in the organization. Demco under club control the longest, Besser on the NHL team the longest. You’re hearing good things about maybe Brock having gained a step or two of speed and Thatcher really asserting himself as a leader in that room. Pray tell like a hungry attitude. You’re right. A hungry attitude for Thatcher Demco. what I’m hearing there and and I’m curious how that manifests. Um I don’t think that maybe leadership gets enough credit in Vancouver. And when you’ve got um you know a number one goalender in Thatcher Demco who’s got a strong and positive attitude that just bolsters that leadership group. And of course you know he he’s got to stay healthy too. Knock on wood. And and he’s got to apply all of that physically, you know, into uh to giving the starts the Vancouver Conucks are are going to need. But I I think we can expect that. Brock Besser is curious for sure. Uh, I think we were all surprised at, you know, him circling back to the Conucks and getting the deal that he ended up getting. Um, but, you know, he committed to his offseason regimen and and by all accounts, he does look a step faster. How’s that going to look when the regular season starts? I don’t know. U, but he’s impressed the coaching staff to this point, as has Alias Patterson. And I don’t know if you guys caught Adam foot on the Rain Dregs podcast. Um but he took us through and this was interesting how he explained how players, you know, focus on getting stronger and heavier and faster and all those great things in the off season, but it doesn’t always it doesn’t always work. And especially when you’re a lighter player, a thinner player, and you get heavy, can you carry that weight? and the explanation in foot provided with this guy doing close to what 20 pull-ups and proving to to everyone, hey, I I can carry my weight. Again, it’s got to translate in game action, but he’s a bigger man. And so to be able to do that sort of uh a fitness testing, I I think that just applies credence to the fact that he’s invested and if he could stay that way, we’ve seen enough evidence in his game that he can be a superstar in the NHL, but they need him to be that. biggest muscles for Quinn Hughes might be between his ears. Uh and Conucks don’t want to lose that obviously. Jim Rutherford’s comments in the spring have uh permeated throughout the course of the summer here, Drake. So, here we are months later and it is still the chief worry for this team very clearly. Um and yet there’s nothing they can do. They can’t even sign the guy right now. They’ve got to wait another year. Um, you’ve had a summer to sort of percolate and and and hear about how it is being disseminated throughout the league. Where are we right now with this Quinn Hughes situation as as you see it? Well, I I can appreciate how it’s going to be headline grabbing and it’s going to be a main focus around the Vancouver Conucks, not just in in the market, but literally internationally. Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, the captain, this guy is a superstar and and you’re literally looking at a limited time frame here, but I think we’re going to have to deal with craziness, you know, moving forward. You know, there’s going to be those who say he’s already told them that he’s never he’s not signing. He’s just going to let this thing roll out. Well, that could be. But what we know is that Quinn um he’s dedicated and he’s committed to the Vancouver Canucks. You know, he he just is. and he doesn’t know how to do anything other than play his very best when he when he dons the jersey and steps onto the ice. So, yeah, I mean I I think Canucks fans in general have to relax a little bit uh at least for the first half of the season, but you know that it’s going to be a major talking point in the second half, especially as you as you claw closer, you know, to to the trade deadline. But Vancouver is going to do anything with Quinn Hughes, provided that they’re in it. And there’s no reason to think that the Vancouver Conucks aren’t going to be in it this season. Maybe we’re having a different conversation as we drift into, you know, the the playoffs or late in the playoffs, early June. I don’t I I don’t know. But right now, I I think it’s much to do about nothing to be honest. So Tom Fitzgerald on July 1st says Luke Hughes is her offseason priority and nearly 90 days later Luke Hughes is uh still unsigned drags it. It has this guy over here saying why not call Jersey and make a Godfather offer for Luke Hughes. What is the hold up on baby bro getting his extension in New Jersey? Oh, you know nothing really. Just term and money. That’s all. Just those two ingredients. Yeah, just those two things. But, you know, I checked in with Pat Rosan yesterday on this. He represents the Hughes brothers as we know. And, you know, it’s very amicable. Um, you know, there’s nothing nasty about it, but you’re right. I mean, Fitzy did say that it was a priority to get this guy done and we’re on the cusp of the opening of of regular season and and it’s not done. Um, and as of last night, it seems like there’s not a whole lot going on in those negotiations. And um Fitzy didn’t even respond to me when I asked him about it and and Pat just simply said, “Nah, we’re not really anywhere at this point.” So very quickly, right? Why would why would Fitzgerald play hard ball with the Hughes when like he could have all the Hues if things go well here? That’s what I don’t get. Managing. I get it. I get it. Like like there are certain guys to put a stake in the ground with, but when it’s the brother of the best defenseman or one of the two best defensemen of the world and you have the third brother who’s one of the top center like I would be doing everything in my power to facilitate a Hughes reunion. I I look at I I was provided with a conspiracy theory earlier today. not from anyone close. Just and let’s let’s be mindful of the relationship between the Hughes family and the Brissson family, right? And the fact that Tom Fitzgerald is a dealmaker. He is. And he’s trying to be fair to Luke, right? I’m sure he thought he was being fair to Jack. Um maybe the family sees it differently. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to to Jim or Ellen. Um, but if you’re being mindful of this and and the idea, the dreamland of the three brothers playing together, well, you better make sure Luke is looked after right now long term, right? And what does that look like? It obviously doesn’t fit the model or the eye of the New Jersey Devils and Tom Fitzgerald or that deal would have been done by now. Are are are you saying that um it might in retrospect have been too sweetheart a deal for Jack and thus better pay Luke? Like No, I is there any buyer’s remorse on behalf of Jack signing that long-term deal for what could very well be a I don’t know that for sure. But I wouldn’t every young player, every player that signed a contract a couple of years back now that you look at the salary cap, the cap that’s climbing and it’s climbing and it’s climbing. I mean, you know, as soon as you put ink to paper, you know, you’re you’re losing future income. So, I mean, I could appreciate if if if I had that level of swagger, and this kid is going to be, again, we’re talking about all three of them are superstars, and Luke just has to prove it a little bit more because he’s the youngest. But, I can appreciate why he he would he would want to dig in, and that must be where they’re at. Greg’s truth is often stranger than fiction. So, just just humor me here, okay? Elias Patterson. Yeah. Connor Garland. Yeah. And a first round pick. Or Macki. or both for God’s sakes. He means the defenseman, not the senator. Who says no? Well, just like what does Fitzgerald even take the call? Because he knows what’s at what’s up. He knows what’s at risk for himself in terms of the the Hueses. Um like is there a price or like are we literally having a GM hang up the phone on another GM for a guy who right now is still a third pairing guy? I think you know um he’s second. You you asked me to humor you, so I am going to and I’m going to fuel it a little bit more. Um I love you for it. And I don’t look at this is not insider information, so I don’t want to get radio. No, we’re we’re role playing here. Yes. Yeah. What I’m saying is if we’re having this conversation here and now, like you’re a smart dude, Blake. I I mean, you really are. But you woke up this morning with that theory. Do you not think that Jim Rutherford and Patrick Calvine probably have had the same thought at varying stages of this? Of course. And whether you’d get anybody ever to admit that there’s been a conversation, I’d be surprised if there hasn’t been. Both ways, right? Why wouldn’t there be? Why wouldn’t there be? because inevitably I think we all expect at some point that’s what’s going to happen one way or another. So I just don’t know what that package would look like. It would be a beauty for sure. Lastly, Drags, you mentioned Adam Foot’s appearance on your show. And I I got to tell you, back in the spring, brother, u you know, he had been two and a half years here as an assistant, had barely spoken, was very non-committal at that introductory press conference, although there were a couple answers that quite stood out. I was real worried. We were talking about a rookie NHL head coach who didn’t want to have to do the communication and messaging thing and wasn’t going to be very good at it through preeason and training camp. I am astounded at how this guy has addressed every matter with any every matter with the team with honesty and forthrightness and clear messaging. Um, I’ve been really really impressed with his communication skills today. Well, yeah. I, you know, I’ve had the per, uh, the privilege and the pleasure of getting to know Adam personally over the years. He’s from the Whitby area. Um, you know, he’s super close with u a guy used to work with, Bob Torrren. So, I I I’ve had so many deep hockey conversations historically with with Footer. Um, not of late. I mean, he’s being very respectful and he’s busy. He’s trying to get his team together here. Um, but he’s been coaching for a long, long time. I remember just being in awe of of some of the stories that he would tell of the days in Colorado when he and Patrick Juan Joe Sackic would sit around and they just formulate all these plans. They’d dissect their power play. They’d make tweaks. They’d go to to Bob Hartley, hey, we got to try this. You know, those guys were coaching well before their time. That’s just how his brain works. So, and he’s got two young sons. So, I mean I think you know for those who don’t know him well, he is an excellent communicator, but there’s a different standard and different level when you’re the head of an organization, head of a coaching staff. So, I I’m not surprised. I I think he’s going to be excellent and he’s got tough shoes to fill um in in a Rick pocket, but he’s going to bring a different spin to that bench, a different philosophy, but as as far as being direct and holding people accountable, he will be every bit of that as Rick Togan was. That’s fantastic. Uh as are you, sir. Uh, look, not really insider season here. So, we’re going to catch up at some point in October and then we’ll get going for real once we got a chunk of the NHL season under our belts. Appreciate this, Darren. Welcome back. Thanks. Thanks, FS.

TSN insider Darren Dreger making his season debut and giving us the lowdown on the Canucks optimism at camp. Dregs talks about the level of Canucks interest in still making a trade for a centre, and how much Chytil has changed that. Darren also takes us back to the Evander Kane acquisition, he looks at all the noise around Quinn Hughes’ future and he addresses Blake’s pet project of blowing the Devils away with a crazy trade offer for Luke Hughes.

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