Watching Hockey: Greg Wyshynski

Watching Hockey: Greg Wyshynski

It’s a pleasure to be joined by Greg Washinsky of ESPN, who was actually in the room where it happened for the NHL draft lottery. I guess I want to say from the Sharks perspective, wish we’re were okay with this. Like obviously first would have been better overall, but first going to the Islanders was kind of a surprise. I imagine in that room there was kind of like a little bit of wo factor. I was actually I was in the machine. I was like, “Ah, these balls. Ah, what’s happening?” Um, no, it was cool. Well, I I observed the draft lottery um the previous season. I got to go in the sequestered room. I think I think they recognize let’s get like the biggest cynics about the NHL in the room and then that people will know it’s not fixed. And I hate to inform everybody it’s not fixed. You should have known that when McDavid went to Edmonton. Uh but now you can know it for sure. Your boy is letting you know that it’s all on the up and up. Um, I I don’t know how it played on television, but I will tell you that I thought it was a really cool innovation for them to do the live drawing of the of the numbers. What you saw last night on the air was exactly what you see when you’re in the room. The only thing missing is Gary Bman when they do it in the sequestered room reads ar I I think it was probably about a 20inut preamble, right, about the rules and you know what you’re going to see. Here’s the newspaper of what date it is. by the way. It it tr it’s truly that like it is it is insane the amount of like on there sort of thing they have to do, but I think they did it well before the draft drawing last night. Um so I don’t know. It I I thought it was really cool because usually when it’s the when it’s Bill Daly and the placards, it’s only like three teams left in the big reveal for who’s number one. And then last night there were seven teams, the Sharks included, that were still um in the running for that that number one overall pick. And and the idea of it then becoming like Megaillions where you know you’re watching your local news at night and they’re and they’re pulling the the numbers out and you’ve got your ticket and you’re waiting to see if your number comes up. Like that’s how the vibe was last night. So I I love the new format. Um you know, with a few tweaks, I think it could be really good. Uh and it’s right in in time for what’s going to be a huge lottery next year. um with Gavin McKenna coming up, you know, our gener next generational talent. So, I I I dug it big time. Plus, the countdown to the extraction of each ping- pong ball was almost like New Year’s Eve over and over and over again. So, it it did have some anticipation. Um Go ahead. I do feel like they didn’t explain that well enough. I had a few uh readers like that were like, “Why did they have a countdown?” I it’s it’s literally so everyone’s confident that the balls have circulated, you know, in a in a in a a fair way and there’s no chicainery going on. Like I think that’s part of the Ernston Young audit is that you have to do 30 seconds between each drawing. So we know this draft class is a bit different from the last couple prior years. Like there’s no maybe complete consensus number one and we can talk about Schaefer and Misa in just a second but it’s not like there’s a Bard or even a Celibbrini out there. No. Is it as simple as Misa and Schaefer one and two or two and one? Is it just basically those two at the very top? And obviously I’m asking because the Sharks have the second overall pick. No, I think I think from what I gather that that Schaefer is is your first overall pick this year. I mean, I think most of the scouting, most of the um the the the draft experts that you read have him at number one. And you know, if you get a chance to have that sort of foundational defenseman, even when they’re not uh of the same impact as say a Bard or a McDavid, that’s usually who goes number one. And you think back to Aaron Ecklad, you think back to Owen Power, like those are drafts where the the guy at the top was a defenseman and it wasn’t necessarily like, you know, a game-changing defenseman, but but they go number one because finding that commodity is pretty rare. Um, but Misa’s right there, too. And and I think that there wouldn’t be any shock if if you’re the if you’re the Islanders and you’re looking to sell tickets to a still pretty new arena. They’re going to have a new general manager. They’re obviously going to have a new philosophy that’s going to back away from the let’s win it two to one with Lulu Laarillo as our GM and rely on Ilio Sroken type teams. So, you could see them going offense there. Which then, you know, leads to the real question about the Islanders getting the first overall pick, which is James Hagens, the uh the center from Boston College, who is a Long Island native. And so do the Islanders now become the Montreal Canadians where if there’s a French Canadian on the board, do you have to take him? If you’re Montreal, like if there’s a kid from Long Island that can score some goals on the board, do you have to take him? And so that’s going to let lend a little level of intrigue in so far as like will they keep the pick? Would they would they trade down if Hagens is still going to be there? If somebody really wanted Schaefer, it it really does add that extra level of intrigue. Yeah. And obviously the Sharks following them, it it it it’s just not as clear-cut as as last year and even the summer before when the number one was a guaranteed got to do it type thing. And maybe the number one was not going to be moved each of the last two years. Speaking of that, Mike Greer has openly said he’ll consider offers for moving the number two pick. I I don’t know the likeliness of that, but in your opinion, what type of offer would it take, do you think, for him to make that move? Well, I don’t know. I mean, it’s obviously going to be a draft pick swap of some sort because we aren’t dealing with, as you said, the the level of generational talents that we would normally have at the beginning of a draft where you’d see, you know, trades and and trades at the top of the draft are pretty rare to begin with. I mean, you know, it I think what like when Mark Andre Flurry went to Pittsburgh, I think that was a trade. Um, there might have been a few others, but you rarely see it. And I think it’s probably, you know, in in the Sharks best interest to just use the pick. Um, again, unless there’s someone who’s absolutely in love with one of the top three picks, um, and needs to get in there, uh, and is willing to trade up to get it, you never know. But, but I I think usually teams flirt with the idea of trading the pick, but then they end up making the pick. I just think overall the takeaway from the draft lottery for the Sharks perspective was, hey, you didn’t get number one. That was nice to have last year, but this year, no matter who you end up with and how you end up getting the reward, it’s going to be a nice takehome. I mean, this is still a really optimal spot. And yeah, you finished 32nd in the league. Of course, you’d like number one overall, but I don’t think this is going to work out poorly at the top for the Sharks pretty much no matter what. No, I mean, you’re going to get a good player. I mean, and you’re going to add that player to what’s already a really impressive burgeoning pool of of young players. the next wave of of of Shark stars, you know, whether it’s CBrini or Will Smith, Ekkan’s there already. You know, they they are building out the team in a in a really good and smart way and having another, you know, potentially great player in the mix is is only going to help it. It’s been a while since you and I have chatted. What did you think of of the last season for the Sharks? And yeah, record-wise and standings wise, that’s one part of it, but I’m talking more about the process, right? the rebuilding process and continuing to shed and some of the trade deadline moves they made to acquire more picks like a second first round pick for this year. How did you see this last season going in terms of progress? They they fulfilled the obligation of giving the NHL a a bad but fun team. Yeah. You know, I I I wound up watching a lot of Sharks hockey as I was staying up late to write or or to watch other, you know, Western Conference teams and and they were a ton of fun to watch. I mean, a lot of that obviously is having a player like Celebrini who makes such an impact in his rookie season on both ends of the ice. Um, and uh, and and you know, obviously we we knew he had the personality to really kind of like break through as a young star and and it all came together in his first season to then, you know, be a nominee for the Calder Trophy. So, I mean, I just thought him, Will Smith, the rest of the team, it was it was a lot of fun to watch. I don’t know if it if if fun is is good enough at some point. I mean, at some point you have to start stringing wins together and being a relevant contender again in the West, and I don’t know when that’s going to happen, but but I think for for last season for where they are in that process, um, they were they were promising and entertaining. You mentioned Mlin being one of the Calder finalists, and it’s an interesting mix, right? You got a forward who was great in the number one draft pick. You got a D who obviously took his team, helped get his team to the playoffs, and you got a goalie in the mix. You don’t have a goalie in the Calder conversation every single year. and Dustin Wolf flirting with 30 wins and and helping Calgary get that close to a postseason. I mean, I know I’m biased, so I’m going to take my opinion out of this, but I also realize that Mlin may not be the front runner to win this year. It’s just it’s it’s that much of a competition. How do you see that shaken out? Who who gets I don’t think he I don’t think he is. You know, we have we do NHL Awards watch on ESPN every month. Um, you know, for a while, Cabbrini was was the clear favorite to win the Calder. Uh but as Lane Hudson’s season went on and you started to see him put up po uh point totals and do things offensively that were commiserate with the seasons that Kell McCar and Quinn Hughes had when they were younger players, he he really started to pull away. I think the biggest problem for Mlin down the stretch was that while the Canadians and and Flames were both playing relevant games and in you know Montreal’s case they make the playoffs and the Flames case they barely miss the playoffs. uh you know celebrating just playing out the string in San Jose. So that’s that’s tough. There was a lot of eyes on those other guys um for like the last month of the season in the way that there wasn’t for San Jose and that undoubtedly affected the the voting totals. Yeah, those darn writers who vote for the Calder, huh? That that shouldn’t be that way, right? Just kidding. Just Yeah, I I think they got the top three right and it’s a great competition. Yeah, it’s a great The only other guy that would have been in the mix The only other guy that would have been mix in the mix is Mitch Coff in Philadelphia. I think you know once once Tortoella started to healthy scratch the kid that just kind of put the nail in the coffin for his candidacy because you know if you’re right I mean it was very categoral this time there was the defenseman there was the goalie and there was the forward in Cabbrini and I think in Celibbrini’s favor he was always seen as the more complete 200 foot player not only in in comparison to Mitchkov but increasingly in comparison to Conor Bard as well. I don’t know if you know Justin Wolf from Gilroy so from Northern California. So that’s fun for us. us. I mean, look, it’s a fun conversation. I think you can make a case legitimately for everybody. And again, as much as I know who my favorite is, I also realize the attention and everything else and the competition that’s out there. So, we’ll see. I’m I’m happy just to have Mack here in San Jose, quite honestly, at this point. Take your take your trophy wherever you want. I’d rather have him for the next 15 years in deal, you know. So, I think I think the the Sharks will be fine. I I did a I did a feature on Dustin Wilfrey ESPN.com um earlier this season and I was delighted to find out he was from Gilroy. lived, as you know, I lived in the Bay Area for a couple years and uh I went to the Gilroy Garlic Festival when it was still going on. And um I got to I got to finally, you know, geek out with somebody that grew up in Gilroy about, you know, what was it like with the smell and and he said the most charming thing, which is that, you know, when he does go back home and he’s taken his girlfriend to to see, you know, where he grew up, he said, you know, when the smell hits, it’s like the smell of of nostalgia. It’s the smell of childhood. It’s the pungent odor of my youth when I go back to Gilroy. And I thought that was a really a really charming thing. It’s funny how garlic can smell so good when it’s raw and natural, but when it’s on your breath, it’s a totally different thing. It’s a problem. You got to you got to roll up your windows, put that thing on circulate as you’re going through Gilroy. Hard switch of gears here because over the last weekend I think we all saw the injury to William Ecklund in preparation for Worlds and gosh it was just it looks severe. We understand that things are okay now he’s going to be fine. It might take a couple months, but it’s just it’s weird how these things always feel like they happen at international tournaments. Like he can play all season long and and never be at risk really for an injury like that. And then just the freak nature of, you know, an opponent’s skate leg coming up as high as it did and and getting him across the the wrist and the forearm area. Obviously, I hate to see it for anybody, but especially from our perspective here. What What’s your take on what you saw there? Well, I guess when it comes to worlds, it’s kind of like, you know, it’s the players go there after the end of the season. You know, there’s no it’s not like when you send them to the Olympics and you’re hoping and praying that everybody comes back in one piece because the rest of the season is facing you. I’ve always felt like it’s kind of a fa like look look, you want to get these guys as much impactful hockey as you can, especially if you’re a team like San Jose that finished out of the money and isn’t playing in the playoffs. So, I get the the logic in sending players to Worlds and I get the idea that if, god forbid, anything happens, they’ll have the entire off season to rehab ahead of camp in September. It’s still a risk though and and it’s and it’s a tournament that, you know, as an American, it’s never resonated with me. Like I for for I’ve talked to writers and fans and players from Sweden and Finland and and places in Europe that, you know, Worlds is a much bigger deal. um you know to the point where like Finnish fans dance in fountains when they win the world IF worlds but as you know it’s hard for me to square you know the the the the prestige and value of worlds visa v the the Olympics vis the world cup yeah four nations in there now too um yeah it’s always a dicey proposition when you’re lending your talent to to someone else’s tournament well as we look ahead towards this summer and from the Sharks perspective it’s a different situation capw-wise and financially than it really ever has been in in modern and recent times. Usually, the team is trying to find a way to stay under the cap. This year, it’s almost like in the summer when free agency hits, they might have to spend $20 million or uh hand out a new contract to a younger player, William Mackland, uh maybe to just get up to the cap floor. What do you see them doing with all the the flexibility, maybe $20 million that they almost have to spend? What type of players would you aim for? Well, I mean, I you could see more Tyler Trafoley-esque deals, you know? I think I think surrounding these younger players with players that are a talented and and b have a little bit of history when it comes to playoff success. Like, those are the kinds of people that you want in your room right now around this young generation of players. Um, it all really depends, I think, on where Mike Greer sees this team and its maturation. Um, it could be a situation where he wants to reward the young core with a supporting cast that might push them closer to playoff contention. Um, or it’s just a matter of getting, you know, some role players in there and good good citizens and and good role models for these young players. I I don’t know what what Mike sees as this team at this point. Um, but I’ll tell you that like come July 1st when we start to see some of the names that the the Sharks are putting money next to, then we’ll have a better sense of of of exactly what what he sees as the trajectory for this team as a contender again. Hey, final thought. Um, just watching the rest of the playoffs happen, obviously, you know, from the Sharks perspective, it would be fun to be in it, but wow, what a what a first round it was and almost too good of series. Like Dallas, Colorado should be a conference final, not a round one series. Same thing with the battle of Florida. Same thing with the battle of Ontario. Uh, this has been a, you know, it was a great four nations. I thought that spoke well for hockey and was a good advertisement and good for the game. I thought even the first round playoff matchups were were pretty good overall. It was really dope. Like obviously the game seven comebacks in in both the Winnipeg and Dallas Yeah. Right. Right. were insane. Um, you know, offensively we’re cooking. Like the the goals per game per team or the goals per game uh have been over six in the regular season now and like for the last 5 years. The power play efficiency has been the best it’s been since the mid1 1980s. And I think all of that offense, like sometimes we we think of the postseason and the Stanley Cup playoffs as being like a different sport because of how tightly played it is and the scores are lower and there’s no power plays and stuff and it doesn’t feel it feels like the regular season bled over to the playoffs in a way maybe in the last couple of seasons that it hasn’t before, which is great because I I think if you can if you can bring the incredible offense of the regular season and marry that with the intensity of playoff hockey, then you’ve got something really special. and it kind of felt like we got there in the first round. Now, you bring up a pet peeve, which is the uh the wild card format. And you know, I’m I’m I’m going to expand the playoffs guy. Not everybody agrees with me. That’s fine. I grew up with a league where 16 of 21 made it. So, it’s not a really big deal to me, right? If like, you know, 20 of 32 made it. But I will say this about the wild card. It’s junk food. You know, when you eat a bunch of junk food in the moment, you are feeling so good about yourself and it’s you’re on a a sugar high and and there’s no denying the sugar high of the Battle of Florida, the Battle of Ontario, two great game sevens, Dallas, Colorado. Like, it is a banger of a first round, right? And and then you get a tummy ache. And the tummy ache is to think about how you don’t have Colorado anymore. And to think about how you don’t have Tampa Bay anymore. to think about how like unfair it is that these teams that really were really good and could probably win the cup were forced into these these situations. And then you think about a team like LA and I know nobody in San Jose has is shedding a single tear for LA but having to play Conor McDavid and Leon Drytle for over and over and over again. I know sucks. It sucks. It’s not fair. Um, so I I I I I I struggle with the wild card because I do recognize the intrinsic thrill of watching some of these series that we get in the first round. And and the NHL has acknowledged that the playoff form exists to force rivalry matchups and and to give us all of this amazing stuff at the point in which usually the most people are paying attention to to the NHL, the first round of the playoffs before, right? You know, cold weather places get beach weather, right? I have to caveat that because you guys beach weather more than we do. Sorry. Um, so I I I struggle with it because I I I I love it, but I also recognize how unfair it is and it maybe in some ways devalues the regular season in some ways, too. You make up a you make a great point there and in saying exactly what I was thinking. Too many early exits, right? Like and that’s part of it is that there should be some of these matchups later on, but uh I’ll take it because it was great. So, I don’t know if we can get you back out to California either for leisure or if the Sharks just need to be back in the playoffs again and get you traveling, right? So, we want to get you back out to the tank. I travel, but I’ve just not been out to the tank. And uh we got to have a reason for that, right? So, maybe next time. My wife works for a a rather um large corporation that’s based in the uh in the uh Bay Area. And um you can probably guess which one. And uh you eat them sometimes from an orchard. Um, and uh, and so like I I’ve I she goes back occasionally, but I’ve not had a chance to get back. So, I will give a shout out to uh, Orale, my burrito place in Campbell. That is uh, my favorite burrito. Um, and they do have the orange sauce. I will give a shout out to um, Oh, Hog, was it Hog Hogs Island Oyster Company? That’s right. Yep. Way way up way up north. Um, they have the be It’s like one of my favorite places to just chill and be and eat eat grilled oysters with Chipotle sauce on them. And um, I don’t know. Give a shout out to Sharks fans because I miss you guys. I I I I want to see I want to see that place filled. And I know we’ll get there once the team is rocking and rolling, but it’s just amazing. It’s it’s amazing to see how things can change in a kind of a depressing way, but you know that you can get back to those days of just like that place was one of the best home ice experiences you could find in the league when it was the Joe’s and Peter and and all those guys were we’re were we’re do we’re contending. So, it’s just a matter of time before we get there again. We are trusting the process and uh wish it’s a pleasure to always chat with you. Thank you for this time and uh sometime down the line in the summer I’ll catch up with you again. Appreciate this. anytime. Thanks for driving me.

Brodie Brazil chats with Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer at ESPN, about the NHL Draft lottery, NHL awards, the Sharks offseason and more.