The Second Annual DLLS Stars NHL Season Predictions Show | DLLS Stars Podcast

The Second Annual DLLS Stars NHL Season Predictions Show | DLLS Stars Podcast

Get ready, boys. I’m so glad I’m doing the cold open because both Sam and Lud’s mics were as far away from them as they could possibly be while still sitting in the chair and connected to their tables. We have so much to get to. We don’t have enough time. We already are chasing the clock and we haven’t even gotten to the main topic. We have some big ones today. So, let’s get to it right now here on DLLS. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] This is the DLS Stars podcast on Monday, October 6. Welcome in as Luds has already pushed his mic away, which means he’s not talking today. Sam Nestler is here. Thanks to both of them for holding down the fort while I was off on bereavement leave. I’m back and boy do we have a lot to talk to. Before we get into it and we welcome Sean as well. We just launched our Die Hard sale recently. It’s still going on. Fans now have two ways to join. You can get in for just $36, which is a phenomenal deal. You get a limited edition shirt of your choice. And of course, you can get all the perks of being a diehard. Or you can step it up and grab the limited branded Bills hat, the Die Hard DLSS hat. $59. You get all the perks of being a diehard, premium content, event and merch discounts, membersonly, Discord access, and more. Don’t wait. Join now at all dls.com/intro. Fellas, hello. Welcome Sean. There he is. Hey, Sean. Hey. And uh, no, Shawn hasn’t been cramped. It’s just his background because of the ceiling. It makes it look like there’s a little rectangular box shoving Shawn a little bit lower. It’s not Ryan’s fault. Our producer, Ryan Vers, is Yeah, there we go. It’s Sean’s framing. There we go. Sean, thanks for holding things down the last few days. Um, you guys learned some interesting things about the supporters club, which you probably get into later, but one thing we’re going to get into later. You have to wait. Stick around. Less biggest news of the day, Conor McDavid signed a new two-year extension. Jump change. Really? I mean, talk about a team friendly organizational move, but that just means down the road. 12 a.5 million for over the next couple years. So he’s get this year and then more at 12 and a half. I again there’s bigger fish there that that they’ve been ever since probably the Capri off thing. They probably went hang on a second here. Yeah. And so now they’re but you got to believe that um and the cap is supposed to go up in the year that that thing is up to whatund what is it now? 110 109 projected. Yeah. Right now it’s 95 but it’s going to it it could very well be there. Yeah. There’s a there’s a lot of people in the hockey world are going what? So, but there he’s not he and his people are not stupid. We’re going to circle back now. But let me ask you this though. At 12 and a half for two years. I’ll I’ll take it. Okay. Would you give up? Would you give up? Yes. Ratantin and Robo. Okay. That’s why I’m going to make it a little more difficult for you. Rantin and Robo and a defenseman. I’m just asking. Well, we did we did that segment. Um, not like this, but we did it. We did it with hints or Johnston and Robo and we all said yes. Yeah, but I’m talking ranting in and Robo and only having him for two years. Well, you have them a lot harder. You have this year and you have them for three years. You going to tell me that you wouldn’t win a cap or win a cup in the next two to three years? I I don’t know. I’m just asking. I know it probably doesn’t make sense to a lot of people, but what was the deal was for the next three years? It was McDavid for Rantinan Robo and and I don’t know they I’m sure they would ask for something else. They don’t have many first round prospect defenseman or something for for Rantin. Yes. Yes. You got one. Yes. 100% I would do that. You if you can take the best player on the planet for three years at 12 a.5 million and then you’re also like would you take and then on top of that I’m going to be pretty convinced that I now have the space to sign him after that since I no longer have y the rant. So yes, this is this is not a this is not this is one of those things where people get so glossed over by oh I like my own players. If you can have the best player in the world for 12 and a half million. So Sean, what about what about Rantin and Ager? No. No. No. Okay. All right. That’s what they would want because they would want a goalie. That’s the only reason why. That’s why I said no. All right. We’re going to circle back and talk a little bit more about McDavid and this contract and what it means and all this in our fourth segment. But right now, we’ve got to talk about the Stars roster because they made moves today, literally as we were arriving at the studio or in some cases sitting there early. So, let’s talk about it and then we’ll get to all our picks because today is our second annual season predictions. Over the weekend, the Stars sent our two huru Justin Ritzovian, Cameron Hughes, and then after clearing waiverss, Vladislav, Julia Chana to the AHL, and we thought, okay, this means that Adam Ernie is probably going to get a deal. Alex Petravic has made the NHL roster like we predicted, but weren’t totally sure that they were going to see it the same way. But that’s what we thought. That was the a talking point that we were going to do a little bit later in our show. But then today, and this is a big deal, the Stars called up Harrison Scott and Trey Taylor from the AHL’s Texas Stars, whom they already have sent down, and they loaned Lean Bishell to the AHL. They also placed Oscar Beck and Jamie Ben on injured reserve IR, regular IR. What does that mean? Well, Sean, I know you like to get deep in the numbers and Sam professes to not understand how that all works with his math. At least I admit it. Eh, at least you admit it, right? I’ll give you that. Does this not suggest what we I was really adamant that they were not going to use LTI on Jamie Ben because he’s coming back somewhere between the next four to eight, nine weeks, couple months. We don’t know. Yeah. Now they’re forced to because I think Oscar Beck’s injury changes everything. So here’s the the the key is so the first thing about LTI that everyone gets confused about is the first thing that everyone should know is if you use LTIR, you still have to make up for it at the end, right? Like if you use LTIR and that player comes back during the season, you have to make up for it. So keep that in mind. I feel that’s often forgotten. That’s the most important part about why you don’t use it if the players come back. Is that just by the end of the season, Sean? You just have to make up. You have to make up for the the the what was spent by the end of the season. You have to be able to make Yeah, you have to have that cap space by the end. I wasn’t sure if there was a deadline or anything. If you are going to use LTIR, the key is to get as close as possible to the salary cap with your roster so you have as much space as as much LTI space as possible. So, everyone needs to know. So, while it was uh Trey Taylor and who was the sorry, who was the other one that was called? Harrison Scott were called up and Liam Bishell was sent down. It was said th that was just it’s a paper math transaction to get the stars as close to the s to zero on the salary cap as possible so that when Jamie Ben goes on LTI, you have that much more space than because they’re because those those cap hits are larger. Liam Bishell has has slid I believe which is why it’s lower either way. No, believe it or not, Sean Bishell’s deal is because the rookie numbers have gone up since he signed his entry level and Harrison Scott and Trey Taylor signed this summer as college free agents and so that number is 975 and Bishel’s at 918. It’s it’s little math. But here’s the thing. Uh Puckedia just updated their page. The Stars got to within $148,417 of the cap ceiling. That’s as close as they could probably get. Yeah. And so that that allows them to fill the cap. As much flexibility as they need more flexibility to get things done. Now, does this mean they’re going to go sign another player? Does this mean that or the other? Probably not. It just means like it just means right now and when you add in Oscar Beck’s injury and he goes on IR and for people for those watching at home and listening at home IR and LTIR two different things. IR if you go on IR that opens a roster spot but that means you’re out for at least seven days. And so Beck going on IR today um would mean that he would not be available until next Monday. Okay. So part of this is also the equation of okay, how do we if he’s going to be out and we need to get to 12 forwards, how are we going to make that work? I think if Beck was not hurt to the extent of the IR spot, you probably don’t use the LTIR for Jamie Ben. So, um, for everyone who’s thinking there’s some bigger scheme here and everything like that, as fun as that would be, this is simply a cap economics problem for the that the stars had to figure out where this is why Mark Jenko’s 90% of Mark Jenko’s job is being the capologist and figuring this out where he’s in his office just the way Luds is on his phone right now crunching the numbers. Um, and been told, “Hey, find a way to make this as beneficial as possible.” Hey Sean, it for the retroactive part of this because Oscar Beck wasn’t injured today, right? We we the only time I saw him was when he left practice on Friday. So, and he didn’t play Saturday against Colorado. Are they allowed to then say because they didn’t on the release, right? But are they allowed to then say retroactive to Friday? Like how does that rule work to get that so that he would be able to play Saturday, let’s say? I I I will have to ask Sam how it works off of preseason. I know I know how it works in regular season. regular season, you’re able to go back to the game. Like if it was if Saturday had been a regular season game, you’d be able to go retroactive to Friday. Got it. I know how it the regular season. I I truthfully would have I’ll have to check to see how it works off of preseason. That’s an answer I don’t know right now. So, I will have to send a couple texts and ask people. I would imagine it’s not the same, right? because otherwise it would say that you would think to give them the extra couple of days, but and it’s also kind of like the whole the preseason roster and injuries and stuff like that aren’t as policed by the league, right? Like the regular season injuries because of the the 23man roster and the cap and everything like that, those are policed by the league to the extent to where um I know everyone wants to say like claim a team is cheating the cap or cheating injuries, but the league does check on these things. And so it’s the the preseason and the reg and the preseason and training camp injuries are a little bit murkier there. Okay, one more bit of tidbit and then I’m going to bring LS’s attention back to this because he’ll actually be interested in this right now. He’s look I know I know. So he’s dead. One of the reasons why they’re doing this or the reason is because of the Oscar Beck injury. if Beck was not hurt and we don’t know how long he’s going to be out or the nature of injury. There was a photo uh circulating on Twitter the other day that he was uh taking a photo in a in a brace on his wrists. Yep. So, we’ll we’ll find out more. They they’re off today. They practice tomorrow, but and I don’t know what kind of update we’ll get from him. If Beck is not hurt, they could have either had Justin Rscovian or R2uru on the NHL roster with Jamie Ben just on IR or even not even on IR. Yeah. Right. If they they did I don’t even think they needed the roster spot and have 7D and be fine. So they could have had extra an extra forward to start the season. They would have been fine and not have to use LTIR. But because Beck is also hurt, they they need that ability to go over the cap to fit two more forwards so they could have 13. So they don’t want to go to Winnipeg and Colorado with the bare minimum. It might be the kind of thing where if they were playing their first game at home, Yeah. they might be willing to stay with 12. Okay. So now Luds, bringing you back into this, they sent Ritz Govian down. I think at the time they did that, they weren’t necessarily sure that they were going to need to do LTIR. Do you think that Adam Ernie won the job? Yes. And what? Because we saw him play pretty well on Saturday. I watched the game against Colorado. I shouldn’t I I mean it’s not a 100% but he hasn’t signed contract. I’m essentially calling up Ritzovian or signing. Yeah. To me I I’ve liked what Ernie has brought in the games that he got opportunities and to me it was apparent that they were giving him plenty of time, right? They were giving him lots of opportunity playing with the right guys. Um, I think that that last game that he played, you know, I think he put a period on, hey, this is what I can do. Um, so, and do you think him being uh more NHL veteran Yeah. makes a difference in that battle? That’s why I I think even down the road if he, you know, they send him down, whatever happens, you get around playoff time and you need a guy, Yeah. that’s the kind of guy you bring up, a veteran guy that you can stick in there. And I’m not saying there anything against the younger guys, but he’s got that NHL experience to be able to play in the last 10 to 15 games of the season, whatever it may be, and and play if you need him in the playoffs. Yeah. Selfishly as I want Ritz Kohhin to be on the roster. It’s also kind of a win-win if they sign Ernie to let’s say a million. He’s on the team. You have a veteran 30-year-old that can play. Yeah. You don’t think he’s going to get overwhelmed. Meanwhile, R2 Huru and Ritz Kovi and all those guys are playing games down there. Kind of a Is there any reason why Adam Ernie would not sign a contract with the Stars, assuming that they offer him one? Well, the only thing I would say is that I believe that with Jim Nil and his staff, the way they go about their business, they are going to lay it out for Adam Ernie. Here’s what we’re looking at. Here’s what our plan is. And I’m sure he himself or whoever am I, is this just for the time being? Am I in the mix going down the road? No, you’ve done everything to show us that you should be here and we want to keep you here or you know, you’re our first guy getting called up, which never really means a ton. You have to do what you got to do. So, I just for all those reasons, I think that he’ll know exactly where he stands when he’s done when this thing. Last followup here and then we’re going to get to our season predictions in our next couple of segments. Do you think that the debate about Ritzgoian versus Ernie was still up for grabs going into the Colorado game on Saturday? Um, I can say that I I do know that all three of them were still in the mix only because I had asked a question to someone on Saturday morning and so and I only and let’s put it this way, I only asked about the two young guys. I didn’t ask about Ernie. Ernie got thrown in there. So that just kind of tells me there were there was some interest there. So the two guys that got called up in this whole blah that you guys just the two kids, Harrison and Taylor, yes, they are definitely on two-way contracts. I mean the two-way they’re on uh entry levels where the white So are they getting more money by this move? Oh, yes. That’s all I want to know. That’s all I’m curious about. Not today. But no, but if they’re the two that are getting so-called called off, if they’re on the roster, they get one day’s worth of prrated NHL salary. If they are on the roster tomorrow, no, if they are on the roster at 5:00 today, I believe they should get an NHL paycheck. Tomorrow, I think forever how long that they’re on that roster, they get a be one day. That’s good. It’d be a very It might not be a lot, but it’s a little something. You don’t have to go anywhere. No, I’m just saying even even a few hundred apartments getting paid a little more. It’s probably about it’s probably I mean they’re probably honestly it’s um m I’m gonna I’m going to give a math problem to people at home. I believe the NHL pay structure is over 182 days. And so Sam, if they’re making 9 950 on the day on the national roster, so 950 divided by 182, um that’s how much they’re making for tomorrow. Or as opposed to 75,000 divided by 182, they’re making about 10x for a day. It’s not just a little. We’ll have that number for you after the ad break, which is right now. I will do the math. Sean, you do the math because I I lost you. Uh, but what I didn’t lose is how amazing our DLS newsletter is. So, let’s talk about that. We have a very awesome and free DLS newsletter to give you all the latest. I believe it’s 5 days a week. Uh, all the latest on all of the Stars, Mavs, Rangers, Cowboys, and even some little tidbits on things like TCU or college sports, uh, the Wings, all kinds of stuff like that. Our guy Ali on the Cowboy show does a great job. You can go to uh alldls.com/newsletter and it’s really cool. Not only can you sign up there, which again it’s free, but if you go on there and you click the bottom where it says check it out, you can look scroll down below and see all the latest newsletters. So you can get a look at what they look like. You can see if it’s really worth it for you to get it in your inbox and you can see what kind of topics are covered. Articles are in there, show uh fun show segments, big interviews, all kinds of stuff to keep you up to date. It’s the best way to get it. As Sean and I know very well at this point, email is the way to go in 2025. So, sign up for the newsletter so you stay uptodate all the time. Alldl.comnewsletter. Hit it. You can sign up. Put your It’s free. Just put your email in. All right, let’s talk about game time. You know, I’m very fond of it. And when I was gone, I still was able to go back and watch the shows and Sean was very much talking about how much I love going to Fenway using game time, which I did. However, this particular game time discussion has to do with the NFL because look, my team went into Buffalo last night. Patriots surprised the Bills. Big victory there. The Broncos big win in Philly beating the Eagles, the Super Bowl champs. You should use game time because you can get authentic NA or NFL tickets and the best price. And you know what? One of the cool features is Sam, you can get a alert from Game Time to let you know when your favorite teams tickets are the best deals are available. So, go to game uh the take the guesswork out of NFL tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code DLS for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code DLS for $20 off. Tap, ticket, go. Download the Game Time app today. And Sam, what time is it? Game time. Time for predictions. That’s perfect. Yeah. See? Okay. I was on that site yesterday. Last night, looking for tickets. Game time. Yeah. Yeah. That’s first time ever. And I manipulated it pretty good. That’s not bad, huh? For opening night. Kim and her mom want to go to the game. And I don’t know if we’re getting an alumni suite. And so I was on there going and you can get $20 off if you even Craig Lewig needs game time. ACbody. Wait, we got a discount, too. Okay. $20 off. $20. $20. Yes. If you use the code, you save 20 bucks on your first order. Okay, before we get to season predictions, the carryover, Sean, what’s the math? If you’re based on the salaries of Trey Taylor or Harrison Scott, if they’re per day, NHL roster versus AHL on their two-way contract. Yeah. Um, so the RAW, and this is the quick math I did during the break to confirm this, so it might be off by a couple dollars here or there if I’m if I have a day off, like if it’s really 184 versus 183 this year. But basically, uh, using Trey Taylor’s contract, he will make each day he’s on an NHL roster, he makes $5,357 per day on the NHL roster. Each day on the AHL roster, he makes $467. So for those two guys, Luds, they’re getting an extra 5,000 bucks for for being on the uh per day. So Sean, what you’re trying to say here is the moral of the story is Good question, Luds. and they and they’re already making more on their deals than the other guys. That’s why they got called up because they have a higher contract. So, win-win for those guys. Good job. All right. It’s it’s also to to the counterpoint on this. This is why it always feels kind of off to me when So, Luds, as a player, I’m sure you’ve thought about this before. I have to cut you off so many times because you are over we got we got to get to season great stories last night. Go through season predictions. We can go through them like that because they’re not We don’t have to. I I was able to tell great stories. Anyway, um when players get sent down, when they do the daily cap saving, think about it that way. When Liam Bishel gets sent down for a day, the Stars are taking $5,000 out of his pocket. Think about it that way. That’s the other thing. Like, we’re thinking about these two guys gaining 5,000. But it’s always like we we always think in a cap world, in a team first world, these guys who get bounced back and forth, every single time they’re sent down and they and they paper a day on the AHL for two days, that’s 10,000 bucks out of their pocket. Like, yeah. Who was that? Was down every day. Remember that whole season where they were Stanov. Was it Stanovven? Back if they got to buy team meals. I mean, I would hope that that would happen. Maybe in the A their team meals are probably unfortunate that little Jimmy. Yes. Who knows? Jimmy John. So, this is now going to be our second annual season predictions. We had to shoehorn this in today because there are games in the league tomorrow as LDS properly celebrated at the end of our postgame show on Saturday. No more preseason. And he goes, “Thank goodness.” And I agree, these games matter. Starting tomorrow night, a triple header on ESPN. There’s games on Wednesday. The Stars will play on Thursday in Winnipeg as they open the season. So, just like last year and Luds, our predictions were spot on. We were completely right last year by the time the playoffs happened. Let’s start with who wins each division. Regular season division champs for each. Uh Ryan, you have some graphics. So let’s start with Craigwigs. No. Yeah. Let me piss. Talk us through it. Like let let’s let everybody get booing me early. So So I have Tampa winning the Atlantic. And I don’t think anybody really cares in the Atlantic in their top three teams. Uh I’ve got the Canes and the Met. And I Let me skip over the Pacific. I have V Vegas over there in the Pacific. And in the central, I have the uh I have the Colorado Avalanche. You said you don’t think anybody cares in the Atlantic. You mean of the teams that are vying for a Stanley Cup, the let’s say Toronto, Florida, Tampa, that they don’t care if they’re the division winners. Yeah, they I mean that that’s that’s what’s there. Only thing really is to avoid I mean if you’re if you win as Toronto, you avoid Florida, Tampa, right? That’s the only that’s the only benefit of it. Ryan, who’s our next contestant, Sean? Oh, I have a feeling I have a feeling these are all the same. Wait, seriously? Yeah, I think I do, too. Oh, come on. I’m pretty sure I do, too, John. I mean, yeah. I mean, yeah, I have this was the I look at uh how the regular this is regular season. I spoiler, I have not one of these four teams winning the Stanley Cup. Um, and so I have uh but I think based off where things are going and I think Colorado is going to win the Central. I’ll say I can be booed on that. That’s fine, Luds. I’m right there with you. And I I think what Tampa and I think Tampa’s going to kind of have a bit of a statement season this year. I also think Vegas kind of I don’t know about the goalending, but I think if they make another move we hear they might make, they uh might be a little bit more solidified. So yeah, I I I’m I have a similar thoughts to LSDs on all of this. So might as well go to the next one. Let’s put Sam’s up there if you have it. Wow. This is easy work for And just so everybody knows, we do this. Did you get together and talk about this in advance? We were not together. My only thought here outside of what those guys just said is I don’t I think Florida’s going to have a very average season, which they totally are okay with. They got the injuries. They’ll just get in the playoffs. Um, Carolina is always a really good regular season team for me. I don’t know what Dallas is. I don’t really know what Winnipeg is. And I think Utah’s gonna have a big year, but I don’t think they win the division. So that that to me, St. Louis St. Louis is not winning the division. That’s what I’m saying. So for me, Colorado is the only one that I still be lucky to get in. I have Utah getting in, but I they’re on the bubble and Vegas I think should is probably the best team. I promise you I at least a little bit different. My picks are close because I had two. I always know the homer picks Dallas all the time. Jesus. I will defend myself. I agree with you guys with Vegas and Carolina. I I really I don’t see a team that’s going to beat them. We’ll see if that’s completely wrong. I went with the Leafs and I’m struggling even as I made that pick because I don’t think Tampa is the division winner. I don’t think they’re as good as Lud says they are. I also don’t think Florida is going to win it, especially after the Bararkov injury. But I don’t know if Florida’s going to be that bad either, Sam. I I really have a hard time picking them for a wildard team, but if you look at the other teams in the Atlantic, Ottawa, Montreal, Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, none of those teams I think are going to push the top three. So, I decided to go with the Leafs to win the division, but they’re going to get knocked out early in the playoffs, and we all enjoy that. And the reason why I picked Dallas is not the homer nonsense over here is to the what Sean just said, I’m not really convinced what Winnipeg is. I don’t think Colorado is as good as people are giving them credit for and that’s it like the the bubble here. This is the before we get to who wins their conference and who wins the Stanley Cup. Luds, if you look at the bubble teams, let’s talk about the Central Besides those top three. Utah I think is going to be better than last year. St. Louis with Jim Montgomery, they already made the playoffs. They’re going to be a problem. I don’t think they’re that great, but they’re going to be a problem. Minnesota. Are they Minnesota’s the only team that Minnesota is the team that Utah has to get past? Yes, that’s it. Right. Because Nashville and Chicago are gonna be terrible. As long as the guy is doesn’t have his wallet in his back pocket this year while he’s playing the game or he doesn’t miss three, it’s probably going to carry him over the edge. For me, if you look at the Central and then the wild card in the Western Conference, I think it’s going to be Utah, St. Louis, Minnesota, Calgary, and maybe I I think Vancouver is not going to be that good. Maybe they’ll be there. Maybe Anaheim fighting for those last couple of spots. And I think it’s going to be an absolute bloodbath for those wild card spots in the West. Don’t finish in a wild card. On the east side, quickly on the east side, LS Ottawa’s going to be better. Montreal is right there. Sean is is Ottawa is going to take points away from your Maple Leafs. I’m just going to let you. You might be right. Sean thinks Detroit actually might take a step maybe. Step not playoff team. Step right but closer. And I think Columbus is right there. I’m having a tough time with those wild card spots in the East, but we were picking division one. I’m glad we didn’t have to pick all the playoff team. Yeah, I was going to say I thought we just we just did division. Well, I did them all, but then you guys didn’t. So that’s why Ryan didn’t make all the graphics. I think Ottawa and Columbus are my wild card teams, whereas I think you uh St. Lewis and Utah are and I have Minnesota missing. You think that’s going to happen, Luds? I do. I do. I I think Utah’s in, but I I think it’s coming down to Utah and Minnesota. And I’m just wondering if, you know, Carilla is going to, you know, carry the load there and what will Billy do something else to add something there? Sean, what do you think? Is that is that fair or does Minnesota make it and somebody else not? I have a thought about Minnesota getting on on the Carell thing. I think he may be him and I think that there’s going to be a bunch of Russian players that are going to be some of the best players in the league coming out of the Olympics. Like I think there’s going to be quite a few since they can’t go to the Olympics, they’re going to sit and watch. I think there’s going to be a bunch of Russian players that come up and tear it up after the Olympics. And I think Carrill is one of those. And so I have a hard time. There aren’t many teams, Luds, there aren’t many players that can drive a team solo and the way that Capriov does. And so he’s going to be rested. There’s going to be someone’s going to get some star player is going to get hurt in the Olympics. It’s going to suck. Someone’s going to get hurt. The Wild aren’t going to lose their best player. He’s going to come back motivated. I I I have a hard time like for me I I would put I would pick Minnesota there over Utah right now. So, I have a hard time arguing with it. I mean, to me, it all hinges on that guy. I I really believe and it should. I mean, and he accepted that that responsibility. All right, let’s go to conference uh champions. So, this is fast forwarding through the playoffs. Instead of doing every round, who’s going to win the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and go to the Stanley Cup final? Ryan, who do you have? Sean, those is his those are his divisions. You were ready for him. So Sean said he doesn’t have anybody winning the He’s got Vegas and Florida winning the respective conferences. John, rematch. I think Florida I don’t think Florida’s going to win the division, as I said, because I think Tampa’s going to. But I think this Florida team, they’re going to get Kachchuck back mid-season. I know they’re not going to have Bararkov, but it’s a team that continues to find a way to build off things and they the chance to go for a three repeat, I think, is something that’s very powerful. And with Barov’s injury, with how they have they have a GM and Bill Zitto who is willing to make the big swing, I think they’re going to make a seven or eight million dollar addition at the deadline. I don’t know which one it’ll be, but I think they will. And so I think they’ll be clicking in time for for the playoffs there. And so I’m going with Florida to win the East. And I think Vegas, it goes back to the goalending, but I think Vegas is the is the team out of the West right now. All right, Ryan, who’s next? I picked the exact same, too. Because I agree. I didn’t have the straight finals. I know. And I don’t want to pick them because of that, but as I was going through who’s where and who wins what, Luds, hard to pick against them. Yeah. Hard to pick against the Florida Panthers. I just think that they’ve played way too many games. I think they’re they have a couple players that are going to be catching up if they get into the lineup. And I believe that Tampa and Florida have set the tone how they’re going to play against this year. And Tampa is is primed to take and and I know Florida can play that game, but I don’t know if they’re going to be able to get past. You know what’s funny is as soon as he said that that’s exactly the wording that we both used last year why we didn’t pick Florida and then they won the cups. Okay. So go Ryan go to the next one. We’ll do these and then get to the cup winners after the break. Luds, you didn’t pick Tampa or Florida though. I think it’s time for Carolina. I I’ve just said I think they can knock Florida out. If they’ve got to play them, I think that’s how they’re going to beat them. But I I I you know what? I don’t even know if they have the right goalending here. I don’t know if one guy’s going to be healthy. I don’t know what the other one can do. Boy, that’s a big question. just but I do think that they’ve upgraded their team and and for that’s why I think Carolina is is I think they’re due for some reason they’re due and for Vegas for all the reasons that Sean said also. Sam. Yeah. What did you pick? I have the same team from the West Vegas. All four of us. But I have Tampa. Interesting. I am very high on Tampa this year. I picked them last year to go to the final and I got burned and so I didn’t do it this I just think Vasilki showed last year that he’s still one of the best of in the NHL. Cuchov’s going to be on one at team as you just said Luds looks like they are ready to play the Florida style. I think Cucharov Well, we’ll see why in a little bit. But I but I think I disagree a little bit with about the goalender because I think he could have had a better year. I thought I don’t think he was good where he didn’t play as well and he looked disinterested at times and I think that will motivate him this year to be better. And he’s one of those guys that Sean was talking about not playing in the Olympics because of the Russian ban. Could he have a statement? We’ll find out. We’ll do that on the other side of the break here on DLS. Must be the Die Hard sale. Our latest Die Hard sale is in full swing and fans now have two ways to join. You can get in for just $36 with a limited edition shirt. Or you can step up and grab a limited branded Bills Die Hard hat for $59. That’s before they all sell out. Maybe you’ve had your eyes on one of our great t-shirts like the Finished Mafia that Ryan somehow has. None of Well, I don’t. The Otter shirt, maybe the 16bit Wyatt Johnson shirt, and the Miko Moose shirt. I don’t have one of them either. I had to go and make my own. You can pick whichever one you want as your free t-shirt when you sign up to be a die hard. or go bigger and get your hands on the Branded Bills die hard hat. Limited qual quantities available on the hats. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Either way, you get all the die hard perks, though. Premium content, that’s including excellent written articles by the Stars, the Cowboys or Mavericks, and the Rangers, event and merch discounts, the membersonly Discord, and more. Join now and become a diehard at all dls.com. That’s aldls.com/intro. Thanks, Luds. Say, I I I gave you an extra five. I appreciate you. And I’m going to tell you in the 55 seconds that I have all about the YouTube supporters club. We learned something new. The supporters club this weekend. I saw this from to our guy to sending out gift supporters club memberships. I think he sent six and it randomly selected people to get the to receive those memberships. With those memberships, they got all the benefits. You’re probably asking, “What benefits?” Well, let me tell you. You get custom badges. If you’re looking in the chat, you will see those badges. Trust me, they pop out. Someone’s probably saying in the chat, “We don’t need no stinking badges.” You’re going to get the badge and you’re going to stand out when you’re in the chat. You also get to use it again. There you go. Any of those exclusive emojis. We got five gift memberships coming at right now. So, Tio is showing me perfect during this ad read. And you also will get some exclusive behindthescene videos. It’s for true sicko level stuff for the real ones only. Join the YouTube supporter club today because guys, as I said last this weekend, we want to give you the best coverage. Give us the support so we could do it. Brandon, Marcos, John, Eejecta, and Big Chungus all received one month gift memberships to the supporters club because of to really really cool. Okay, before we get to our Stanley Cup champions, I just wanted to make one point about the Dallas Stars. And I’d like to point out, Luds, that I did not pick them to win the conference or the Stanley Cup this year, but I want to ask you, but did you pick them to win the cup? No. Oh, no. Cuz I I picked Vegas. He’s Owen says the Stars are going to not win the conference, but they’re still going to come out Wednesday. No, they’re not. So, no, but here’s my point. When I did I actually did my whole round by round thing. So, I had the Stars winning the division as we all saw and then I had them playing St. Louis in the first round. I think the Stars beat St. Louis if they play him in a playoff series. Then the way I had it, I had Colorado upsetting Winnipeg and so then it’s Dallas Colorado in another round. I think the Stars can beat Colorado as we’ve seen they can. Is there any reason in your mind that the Stars can’t face in the conference final and beat them? Well, I I think what I believe about Vegas is Mitch Mner’s a difference. That’s why I picked and I agree with Sean about the goalending to a point because I believe if they do keep if Butch if Cassidy keeps those two guys together, Marner and Eel together, Eel becomes more of a shooter and I think that their goal totals will go up and I think that they will somehow be able to outscore a lack of goalending in the back. That’s I think Mner and their defense, as you said the other day on the show, I don’t think their defense is as deep and as strong as it’s been. That’s That’s why they had to add something, right? And so they they couldn’t add another because, you know, they’re missing a pretty good one. Pro’s out. So So I think the way to make up for that and they don’t know if he’s out for good. He may come back. He’s kind of he’s kind of teeter tottering. Don’t call me out yet. And all this other kind of stuff. But anyway, so I think they’re planning on I think this is a way to say, well, he may be back, but we’re not counting on him being back. And maybe we can score an extra half a goal a game or something like that because of Mitch Martin. And don’t doubt that Aiden Hill can be Yes, that Aiden Hill as well. Oh, Sean, you’re on muted. You’re muted. And and to that point on the Vegas goalending thing, to me it goes back to do they find the second option that allows them to use Aiden Hill and 40 games. If Aiden Hill plays 40 regular season games and all of a sudden he’s playing in the playoffs where he’s reaching game 55 and 60 at the most or or whatever, I think then Vegas’s goalending isn’t an issue. I the question to me is right now we’ve heard the rumors that they are looking into uh bringing in uh Carter Hart potentially. I mean it’s I I have it’s that’s a that’s a really long topic to discuss that we Okay, if you take out what happened Yeah. hockey wise on the ice. You take everything out of the equation. Is Carter Hart that good of a goalender if none of this went down? Um so Carter Hart to me doesn’t clear the success over uh distraction meter luds, right? Like there’s there’s a there’s a good enough there’s there’s a meter, right, of no matter what he did, no matter what a player does, you have to be x amount of good to be be better than a distraction, right? Like you can be a distraction as long as you are Conor McDavid. I don’t know if Carter Hart is a good enough goalie to be worth the distraction. Let’s just just talking about the on ice product. Um I don’t I don’t really like Akira Schmid, but that’s I think there’s other options they could have gone with. Um, so that’s he’s a fine goal. Let me let me ask you a question on that then, Sean. Is he less of a distraction playing in Vegas because of the location and maybe not being people that are really that concerned about Well, yeah, those kind of fishbowl markets, you know, do you think that helps a little bit playing in Vegas? Well, I think one of the benefits of Vegas is Vegas has embraced, and I want to choose my words carefully here because I’m not trying to, but it’s Vegas has embraced the we do what we want mentality, right? Like Trev, like when they drafted Trevor Connelly in the first round, Trevor Connelly doesn’t really have a sparkling history um with some off ice stuff. And everyone everyone thought every every team thought, oh, we’re not going to draft Trevor Connelly in the first round because of this off ice attitude for the kid. And they said, no, we we we don’t really have an issue with that. Um, so Vegas has a history of basically defending just basically looking on ice only and that’s that’s just what the organization does. Um, there was Vegas already has been when a reporter two weeks ago tried to go and do a story on what would happen if Vegas signed Carter Hart, they took the player they took the reporter’s credential away and kicked him out of the building. Um, so Vegas has already basically signaled that they’re going to defend and and and be with anyone on their team and the player on this. So, um, it’s it was never going to be it was the distraction, the sideshow of it all. It was never going to happen on a daily basis in Vegas. Just like I don’t think a so if if Dallas was signed that type of player and obviously the stars have not been on that type of player, but if Dallas was to sign that type of player, there wouldn’t be the daily distraction like there is in a Montreal or or even even a Toronto and everything like that. So, um it’s to me that’s why I kind of thought that he was going to end up in Carolina at first. That’s I kind of thought the the you being able to be under the radar in Carolina was going to happen. But in Vegas, he’s going to be able he’s going to be protected by an organization. and they’re going to go to bat for him and I don’t really know what else anyone can do about it. So, all right, let’s go to the We all picked Vegas. Let’s go to our Stanley Cup champions. What did you have when you get to the final round? Who wins the cup this year? Ryan, who do we have first? I picked Vegas. Not because I want to, but I just had a hard time picking stone on the graphic. Three years in a row, right? It felt like that was tricky. Yeah. But I also know picking against Florida at your own peril with the way they’ve played. So I had Vegas. Who’s next? Buds had Vegas. Oh no. I had Vegas. Yeah, I did. Uh because of everything I just got done saying earlier. Yep. Next, Sam. Vegas. Oh, no way. I don’t know about Sean. That’s the only one I wasn’t sure about. I had anybody listening or watching, this is all good news for the Dallas Stars. Unless Sean and none of us wanted to pick Vegas. No, I really didn’t. And Sean. Hey. All right. Florida Panthers. So Sean’s picking third in a row. I thought Sean was gonna pick Edmonton again. I mean, if if Matthew Kachchuck gets healthy, I really did. If Bararkov could come back and play, even if he can’t, they’re still a dangerous team. And that’s why I had them finishing higher up in their division because I think Florida is going to be You You made a very good point, Sam. It doesn’t matter where they finish. They don’t care. But I also think Florida has some pride of we’re not going to get pushed around either. And I think they’re going to want to have a better rate. I don’t know if they care about winning the division, but they’re not. Nobody cares anymore. But nobody cares about winning the division anymore. But you don’t want to be in a wild card spot. So you want to be above the fray of that, right? Because you don’t want to be they just want to they’ve learned get to the dance, right? But you don’t want to be on that bubble of in or out. You want to separate yourself so that you’re not worried about when you’re in you’re in, right? But you also don’t want to be stressed out in the last month. So, all right, let’s talk about NHL awards. We’re going to have to carry this over, but let’s start with them. Who do you think will win the various regular season NHL individual awards? Let’s go backwards. We’ll finish with the heart trophy. Let’s start with the Maurice Rocket Rashard trophy, which is for the leading goal scorer in the regular season. Luds, who’ you have? I believe I uh I took the guy in Vegas, didn’t I? did not. You just had the sheet in front of you. Oh, I don’t have it anymore. Who the Which one do you want to know? Why don’t we just do this? Why do we just do the full ballot? Because we’re you’re just revealing everything right now. Well, that’s why we weren’t doing that, but then Leds couldn’t remember, so Ryan brought it out. Well, that’s why I asked him. I thought we were waiting for the board. That’s why you made him make it. No, I wanted So, I have You have Cooerov, I believe. And the reason I have Cooch up there at the top is because of who he’s playing with, mainly Hegel. Uh Sharken, hold on. Pause. Everybody pause. Everybody take a pause. Ryan, can you take that off the screen? Yes. Luds. Get your sheet. Get your sheet. You have You’re going to go Rocket. Rocket Rashard. Who scores the most goals? You just want I thought you said I was listening to Sean. You’re right for that. We’re not going to use the board just so we don’t reveal the whole thing. That’s right. Thank you. Rocket. Rocket Rashard. Goals. I don’t know. Most goals. Oh, I had Eickel. Jack Eichel. No, I didn’t. I took uh No, I didn’t. Willy. We Willy Knander. I don’t have it on there. It’s not on there. No, I took Will. We We Will Willy Knander for goals. He printed out his text message. Jess No, I didn’t. I It’s not on the damn sheet. Come on, Sam. Who do you have? I hate this shaboozy. Leon Dryside. Sean, I had David Pastnock for the Rocket. I’m going Austin Matthews. I think he’s healthier. Different. I like that. I like that. All right. Art Ross, the highest point total in the regular season. Scoring leader, Sam Conor McDavid. Sean McDavid. Buds. Did I take Coocher off? Ryan, can you tell him without showing the screen? You have it right here. He took Coocher off. Yeah. I’m going took Cooch with Nathan McKinnon to win the scoring title. He’s gonna need to. All right. Jim Gregory, GM of the year. Uh Sean, we’ll start with you. I want to be clear. I’m going off of uh how I not how who I think will deserve it, but how I think he’ll be voting the predicting the awards. I think Stan Bowman is going to get it. Buds, I have uh Kelly Mcrimman in Vegas with an asterisk if they if Minnesota gets to the second round. Okay. Yeah. Billy Garren, Sam, fair enough. Uh, Bill Armstrong, Utah. I’m going with I figured at least Luds would pick Bill Zto. Bill Zitto’s deserved it. He got all those guys to stick around. If he gets to that Yeah. third round again or farther, which we all think the Panthers are, I think Bill Zitto finally wins GM of the year, even though they’re kind of expecting it. Like three years in a row, right? I just think Bill ZTO is going to get that award. Like, man, he deserves it. He’s going to get It’s like the Norris trophy. You have to build up your cred and then you get it. All right. Jack Adams. Sam, coach of the year. Andre Torney. I picked the same. Utah. I think if Utah gets in, Andre Touney is your coach of the year. Sean, go with John Cooper. Really? Who’s that? It’s about time if he does. Still never, right? Never. Never. No. For for me, I think Tampa’s going to have a there there’s there’s I think Tampa’s going to win the division. This is a regular season award. I think I think people are going to recognize the job he does every year, and I think he’s going to be I think he’s going to he’s going to get the votes this year. Okay. I took Gully. Glenn Gullson. I did. I took I took him because I think I don’t think this team is the same team as it was the year before, the year before that. if they do some of the similar things that they did and get as f far as they do or did or have um I think he deserves it. I think plenty of fans will be happy about that. But this is a regular season like Luds. What do you have to do in the regular season to get that? Because the this this award is voted on after game 82. So who what would he have to do in the regular season? They’ve got to finish at the they’ve got to finish at the top of the division. And I that’s where I think if if he were to lead the stars to the president’s trophy. Yeah, that’s the tough part. Their expectations are already so high. I think that’s what it would probably take because even if he wins the division, there may be some other stories there for go coaches. So, there is a possibility. All right, we’re going to do the other awards and then we’re going to talk about McDavid some more uh after the break here on DLS. I hate when it’s quiet. I didn’t I I missed the run sheet today. Yeah. Let’s uh we’re talking about uh Die Hard membership and fun stuff like that and a really cool event that uh the folks at DLS are putting on for the the takeover where you get to it’s already been sold out December 7th versus Pittsburgh. Thank god the date was on the graphic because I forgot it. And you you can if you can you can’t because others are already going. A select people who bought their tickets on time get to go hang out in the studio. Pretty cool spot. Get to meet the crew, all three of them. Maybe me, depending on how this this push goes for me to get Ben to send me there. I’m pulling for you, Sean. And then you get to go to the Hooters for dinner with everyone. Beers with LSDs, which is more important than beers with anyone else. You get to go see the place that once burned down and Luds ran to the window to go see it. Um, so we do that and then you get to go to the game, enjoy it with the DLS crew, get to watch the Do they get to watch the postgame show, guys? I don’t know. Do they get to do that in person? That’s something I Well, they can watch it, but not here. They can watch it, but they not in studio. They can be here for the pregame, though. You get You get to hang out with those three and you get to have a great time. Um, it’s sold out. Every We’re going to be able to hopefully do more of these because of how well it’s sold out. So, moral of the story, become a diehard. You get access to that stuff early and you could be part of the next one. Thank you, Sean. Let’s talk about the ballnower bonus. Big deal. If you’re a diehard, you get a discount on merchandise already, 20% off. use that and spend $25 or more on merch and enter the ballnower bonus. You go to the website, you click on our merch link, then you click on ballner bonus and you pick one of multiple different promotions. Like for example, the Cowboys are playing against the Carolina Panthers. They’re not very good. So, who who do you think is going to win that? If you get it right and spend $25 in merch, you could actually get a gift card from DLLS for the same amount of your order. That’s 100% of the value. You can literally double your merchandise value if you get that right. There’s a bunch of different ones each week. Go to the ballnower bonus and get more and more great DLS merch. All right, we are going to keep doing our awards here and finish off. We’ll start with the Calder Trophy. Luds, you go first. Rookie of the year in the NHL. Uh, Demodov in Montreal. I agree completely. I picked that. I think he’s going to be a shoein. I think he’s going to be a he’s gonna he’s gonna run away with it. He appears to be that guy. You picked Demog. Jimmy Snugaroo to the St. Louis Blues. Former Minnesota Golden Gopher captain. Four points in seven games in the regular season at the end. Four points in seven playoff games for the Blues. He’s going to light it up on the scoreboard. No. Okay. I don’t believe you at all. But maybe Sean, I am uh going with might sound like a bit of a homer pick, but it’s something off that’s developed over the past couple days of things of the other place I see closely. I’m going with a Axel Sanding Pelica in Detroit, uh, defenseman for the the Wings who’s going to play first power play unit as a 20-year-old defenseman. Um, I think he’s going to be about a 55 to 60 point guy. And I think there’s the defenseman scale of if you can be that type of point producer as a defenseman playing that position in the NHL. You’re going to get a lot of Calder votes. Um, and I think the Demodv hype is he was my other one. That was my one before. I just I wanted to be different. I had a feeling some of you would pick Demov. So, I was different, too. Sean, speaking of college hockey, since we’re talking about it, how about Gavin McKenna this weekend? Eh, it was uh the the celebration into the forks down was great, right? The whole thing. I I do ask I do I do have to ask the hypothetical question out loud. There is 57 NHL scouts in attendance watching that game. They are all aware he is going number one and only one team will get to draft him, right? that see like I I get you want to scout him and everything like that, but at the end of the day, only one team is going to get to draft this guy. Do we really need to do it? We need 57 scouts in person. It’s not like what they saw in that game is be like, “Nope, not number one.” No, I also picked Demodov as I said earlier. Um Sean is right though. Lane Hudson did win it last year because of what he did on the blue line and he was great. And I’ve actually thought Hudson, well, I thought Dustin Wolf should have won, but Hudson was right there. What about the Norris trophy? Bloods, who do you have? I went with Quinn. He was Kale Mar. Kale Mar. John, I have Kale Mar. You You can’t go wrong with either of those two, but I’m gonna say that Zack Worinsky is going to have another great year. I want him and he’s going to I’m I’m cheering for him, too. Maybe he sneaks in, but he’s gonna have to to lead the defensive scoring chart to do it. Yeah, that’s that’s my problem with him. Like I think he last year was the year he probably could and should have. Yes. Better chance to win it. It’s I just I don’t see how he outscores Hughes or Macar. Like I think the one of those two are going to be the defenseman scoring leader and then one of those two are two are going to win the award. And I’m not sure he’s gonna have that same year again. I hope he does. I hope he does. Great. Yeah. Yeah. I just What about VZ and Aan goalie of the year? Oh, just play the drop. Uh, no. I’m going with Andre Vasilleski. Okay, fair enough. Who do you go with? Vasileleski. Oh, I went with Vasi. I go with Shurken in New York. Interesting. Now you can play the drop. Come on. That’s easy. So, third year in a row. Yes. This is the one where I said, “All right, LS is going to give me uh stuff for it.” I caught myself. Jay Got. Oh, wow. I’m not saying that he’s going to, but I’m picking him. He could have he could have a vez in a year. I don’t know. Other than Helluck, I think it’s wide open, right? I mean, Darcy Kemp, I almost picked Darcy Keer because of the way that LA defends in front of him. He had a really good year statistically last year, but I I’m going to go with Jake. All right, last one. Heart trophy. Sam. Oh, I actually could have picked Hell Buck again. I was about to just tell him to play the drop, but I did not pick him. I pick McDavid. Luds Coocher off. Too many weapons on that up front there. And Hegel’s gonna have a big year. So point totals go through. Player he became. Huh. Holy moly. Sean, I’m going to go with McDavid and I’m going to tell you why it’s not just on ice play. I think hockey writers are overly attached to story and there’s going to be so many Canadian writers that are going to buy into the Saab story of he took less to play there. Oh my god, look at the sacrifice he made. He’s an MVP. So I think I think I honestly I think by signing for 12.5 million he already won the next two. I like percent right. If id have known that before I typed this damn thing up I’d have taken him for the same reason up the league’s Yeah. Oh yeah. So so he’s got so he’s got he’s he’s a deserving candidate on the ice of course. But it’s so much of the narrative and and all with such a heavy Canadian voting base he’s going to win it. So writers writers are very emotional. Show the the final votes or final picks for each guy real quick. We don’t want those to go unused. There’s Luds. He picked Cooerov as the heart. Then we have Sean or Sam next. Knander is an interesting one for you. Okay, I’m going with Nathan McKinnon. I picked him to win the Art Ross and I think he’s going to win the heart because of it. Why McKinnon? Because he is the most important guy for his team other than Kale Mar. Yes, I know. But I think without ransin, he’s still gonna be Nate McKinnon. So I’m picking him to win the heart. Sam, there’s Sam in his McDavid pick. And just like I did his MC, his Art Ross and Hart are the same player. Yes, Luds that we already showed. Here’s Sean’s picks going with McDavid also the same thing. Lud was the only one that picked a different Art Ross trophy winner than his Heart trophy winner, which is interesting. Okay, so we have about five minutes left. Let’s get back to McDavid. This is a big deal. the 12.5 million. We all knew that there was going to be a it was a shorter deal. I thought maybe four years. Two was a lot shorter. But Luds, when I saw 12.5 million times two, I was stunned. It was way below what I anticipated. Yeah. I mean, I agree. I But I just think that there there’s more things in the works. And and again, he’s got, you know, he’s going to write his own contract everywhere he goes for the rest of his career. So, as the as the cap and everything goes up and and the people that he has surrounded. Um it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up I don’t even know if this is legal, but I mean he may have part of the Edmonton Oilers by the end of at some point in his career. I I don’t know. I just think that he can do whatever he wants and I think there’s a method behind this whole thing. And uh I I’m I’m glad that it happened today because otherwise he was going to get asked a question every single game. And I was thinking about it, the only thing that he could have done, he couldn’t say, “We’re working on it. We’re working on it.” He he would have had to say, “We’re not going to do anything till the end of this year.” That would be the only way. And you can’t say anything but that. We’re not going to do it till the end of the year. Even if it is getting worked on, that would be the only way because it will be and now it’s not a distraction anymore, you know? Now it’s like he’s the he’s the dude of the league, right? Let me ask you. And they all know that he’s going to cash in for on his next one. He’s going to it’s going to start with a two. That’s the question. So if if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup in the next two years, is he still Why are you flipping him off upside down? Sorry, I was I have a pen, so I was pointing with my little finger. If the Oilers If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup in the next two years, is he still an Oiler after this contract? Uh I believe Well, I think if they do, they’ve made some changes and they added some pieces that he’s probably looking because I I think he wants to stay there. don’t win before he’s well that’s I want if he doesn’t win one by the time this thing is happening and there aren’t any moves made I say he’s gone Sean the dollar amount is a lot lower than we thought and it even though 12 and a half is a huge number for NHL salaries for Conor McDavid it feels like that’s an extremely tradable contract or a extension for McDavid where he can basically say I don’t like what I saw is this for three years do they have three years to get this right? Or is it less than that even? Do you think counting this coming season? I think they have three years to get it right. But I think the best the best commentary oneliner I saw on it was McDavid bridged the Oilers, right? Off the time we hear like the team bridging a player. McDavid bridge the Oilers where he basically told them, hey, I’m giving you guys three years. You get this right. And that’s the and that’s the that’s the kind of the way the way I look at it. So either he’s given they’ve given you a ton of cap space to do some other things, right? Like they signed Jake Walman today. It was seven by seven today. Um you’re able to get that Wman deal in Detroit circles. Yeah, that’s a that’s that’s a lot of money for a defenseman, but seven by seven is a lot more palatable when Conor McDavid is making 12 and a half as opposed to 15 or 16, right? So basically to Stan Bowman, and this is why I also had Stan Bowman as the GM of the year thing. Um it’s he he’s been given kind of by what McDavid’s done by signing this, he’s been given the space like, “Okay, go prove to me you can get a Stanley Cup in my pocket.” And if he can’t, then all of a sudden it turns into McDavid going somewhere in in three years from now. That’s kind of how how I look at this deal. Um, I also can’t help but wonder what the This is a fascinating thing because I I think for a long time it was I think McDavid has copied Crosby in a lot of the way he carries himself. Crosby has played on that 8.7 million AAV now for feels like forever, right? And for Crosby to make that much, it definitely uh it definitely capped where some salaries went because if if if Sydney Crosby’s only making 8.7 million, how can you be a $9 million player, right? That’s a very easy thing that teams could use against players. And this is gonna like I saw someone in the comments say, “Hey, I see this McDavid 12.5 salary as a big FU to the Stars.” On the flip side, if you’re Jason Robertson’s agent, you’re saying F, right? because like I should have like I was all of a sudden if now this basically is the Caprio deal is one thing where you come in like oh I’m worth a ton of money 17 million is on the table but now McDavid making 12 and a half basically gives you kind of the cancellor out like it it this this impacts the market maybe positively for Dallas and the Jason Robertson negotiation. So it’s uh I I like the player taking control of it. Honestly, I I like the kind of spot of he’s not just signing the eight-year deal and saying like, “Okay, I’m I’ve accepted that it’s Oilers or bus to win a cup.” He’s saying, “No, I can. It’s either Oilers or bus for the next three years, but if they’re not doing what I want, I can go.” Hold that thought. We have to say thank you to those joining us on our live TV platforms. Don’t forget to check out all DS all dls.com. And thanks for taking us to the end of the show, Sean. So, as we run out of time here, but we are in overtime. if you have any final thoughts you want to say about McDavid, Sean, LSDs. I know Luds is ready to get going. How can you tell? So, I was told that we are not ever supposed to go past three, so I’m just listening. So, what I’m about to say is if you’re not sure, make sure you have a clock that is of proper atomic time so that you know how close we are. Hang on a second. We might go over now. I see GM Ben came with something in hand. No, he’s just here to see if we’re going to go any longer than we have to. No, you didn’t see who he brought in. So, huge day today. Quick, they missed those kind of things. Quick summation here. The Stars look like they’re on the path to putting Jamie Ben on LTIR just to have enough players to have an extra guy for the opener because of this Oscar Beck injury. Don’t worry, Lean Bishell will be in the Stars opening night lineup in when they play Winnipeg on Thursday. Our predictions were horribly long wrong last year and a lot of us picked the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup. I think we’re all going with the don’t pick them and hope they win. We’ll see if it works this year. And then McDavid took a a pretty big sweetheart deal here. Now Edmonton’s got to show something. So that’s a lot. We could have done two, three hours on it, but we won’t. Big thank you to Ryan, our producer, for putting all that together. Check out the DLS Stars Twitter account. We’re going to post all the picks for individual awards and of course season picks and then we’ll revisit them mid-season, end of season and just see how way off we really are. For Sean, for Luds, for Sam I’m Owen. We’re off tomorrow back on Wednesday 2:00 Central time right here on DLLS. We have a new toy we’re playing with. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

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Welcome to our second annual NHL season predictions show! Last year at this time, the DLLS Stars Podcast hadn’t even been on the air for a full two months, yet we all made our predictions… and boy were we WAY OFF by the end of the 2024-25 season. So, now we will do it again and see just how good (or bad) we are at predicting the NHL winners of each regular season division, the playoff winners in each conference and the Stanley Cup Champion. We will also – attempt to – predict the winners of the 2025-26 NHL regular season awards. In addition to all of that prognostication, we will discuss the Stars roster moves made over the weekend as we prepare for Opening Night Rosters to be announced by 4 p.m. CT.

00:00 Intro
02:30 Breaking, Connor McDavid Signs New Extension
05:10 Dallas Stars Roster Moves
21:30 Preseason Predictions
40:25 More Predictions
49:15 Predictions Continued
54:45 Connor McDavid’s Deal

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