5 Words To Describe The State Of Each NHL Team

5 Words To Describe The State Of Each NHL Team

Welcome into TopShelf. I’m Aen Tacker with my guys John Mattis, Kyle Kushman, Levi Smith, and this is our last edition of TopShelf uh for the season, a offseason. I guess we are into that swing. I thought it was going to be like an electric crazy start to the off season, and it might be one of the most deflating starts.
Did you see the UFA list? Are you sure you were on the days leading up to it were fun? It was just July one. Everyone’s like, “The draft is going to be like top 10 picks move, big names going left and right, and it’s like, oh, there was like two trade ups and it just slowed the draft down by four hours.” Yeah, that was a little painful of an NHL draft uh lengthwise. But today, we are going to touch on every single team. Not even every I don’t even know if every single team has actually made a legitimate big move so far in this offseason, but we’re going to touch on them and we’re actually going to do five words to describe each and every single one of these teams. You guys can kind of take spin that however you want. Like it can be a like five words your thoughts, five words on like what you think they should do like where they are. I I mean whatever. However it makes sense to you, you can take it. Uh you know, we’re just going to start at the top of the list. And John, I’ll let you take it away with Anaheim.
Yeah, this is less of a question or a statement. It’s just five words together that can launch me into a certain place. Quenville and the power play puzzle. So Anaheim’s power play horrendous last year, 11.8% 8% in a league that, you know, the average is around 20. It was really awful. They trade Ziggress, but they then they bring in Krider and they bring in Granland. I wonder, you know, under this new coaching regime of Joel Quenville, can they turn that around? Obviously, that falls under the offense in general. The Ducks were not a pretty team to watch both offensively and defensively last year. They basically dined out on good goalending um and still only got 80 points. So with the Ducks, my mind just immediately goes to that power play because they have a lot of enticing players that can, you know, make some noise on there. Carlson, Gochce, Granland’s a great passer. Crider netfront. You know, there’s a three or four defenseman that could run the the point there. So yeah, that’s that’s where my mind goes with the the Ducks right now.
It looks like they’re really excited about that Roger McQueen guy, that draft pick. And I wonder if either he or Senica could uh make a push to make the team.
The fact that McQueen picked number 95, immediate Hall of Fame career. Yeah, super electric. Awesome how they flew him out to Disney right after. That’s Anaheim’s doing something right right now.
Kachchow, baby. Love it.
Team that I don’t know if they’re doing a lot right right now. Boston Bruins, Levi.
Yes, Boston Bruins. Uh, summed up in five words, I’ve got the rebuild is finally here. And if I were to add a couple more, I would probably say, uh, do they know that?
Because obviously we saw uh what happened with the Boston Bruins last season. They were sellers at the deadline. They seem to be going in the right direction. like let’s keep kind of our core of Pastnack Makavoy Swayman. We’ll build around that. Uh they draft James Haggins which is a great start to a rebuild or to at least kind of retool with some younger guys and then free agency hits and they just bring in like some gritty bottom six forwards with like Sean Carall’s back. Uh they trade for Arvinson and then they uh
Tanner Jano the worst contract of the
day with some I raised you Cody
CC but that was crazy. Tanner Jano got like full no trades and stuff like that on his deal too. Shocking.
Those three guys though that I just named, they had uh three players combined for 57 points last season. So
I think whether they un like realized it or not with Don Sweeney like this team will be rebuilding this year. Um especially with the guys that they brought in. So let’s kind of Bruins fans, let’s embrace a rebuild for once. It feels like they’ve been they’ve been fighting the urge to do so for a long time. But yeah, this is going to be a Boston season that we really probably haven’t seen in like well over a decade. Could they be worse? I don’t think they could be worse than they were last year. Like so much went wrong. I mean, they sold at the deadline then like, you know, kind of ethically tanked to a good spot in the in the lottery. But
but I I wonder if it’s like, okay, we got Heagggins. That’s our stud for the future. Let’s continue because you have David Pra. If you’re going to enter 5, it’s going to be healthy Makavoy this presumably healthy Hampus Lint home which goes very underrated and Jeremy Swayman not signing like days before the season. So there’s reason to expect them to be good. But what a hot start we have here off the top Anaheim Boston and now Buffalo we’re getting into. Um nowhere near contending in playoffs for me where look they’ve made some interesting additions like I like Justin Danforth as a player. I like Michael Kessle Ring as a player. Josh don’t has some intriguing top nine upside, but it’s you look at the moves and additions they’ve made and it’s like this is the same team as it’s consistently been where JJ Purka is now gone. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Bow and Byum as we’re recording this. And so as much as you might like some individual players or some individual moves, you look at the totality of it and it’s still this is probably the the seventh or eighth team in the Atlantic division. So ultimately, we’ll see how things go. Like I really like Kessle Ring as a player, but when you’re shipping out uh JJ Purka, who’s an electric offensive player, it’s like how much of a good top four big mobile right-handed defenseman is going to make up for what you’re losing in Pyka. So overall for me, I still don’t see the the Sabres anywhere really contending in the playoffs at all or even making the playoffs.
Yeah, I think if everything went right, they could make the playoffs. Josh Norris stays healthy. If uh Lucin and Devin Levi put together some decent goalending, like maybe that could change, but I
uh Buffalo is definitely
they’re not trending the right way. And I don’t know if they’re getting trending to be worse than they were. I don’t think they necessarily will, but
I think they’re becoming like more of a like complete team, but I think the ceiling is just so low on this.
They need their young players to really step up, and it’s possible that that can happen because of the amount of young players that they have there, but I need to see it before I believe it at this I did like the Ryan Mloud extension. I feel like that’ll be good in a couple years.
Good player. Great player. Uh Calgary Flames next on this list.
Oh, convenient.
I always set myself up on this one. But can we pick a direction? They said uh Conroy said in the mandate or something like that is that they want to rebuild while trying to make the playoffs.
Oh, just easy as that.
Wouldn’t that be glorious? It sounds like that’s what the Boston Bruins are kind of trying to do as well. But it’s it’s just obviously just like not I don’t know. You can’t do that. It just doesn’t work. Like they have too many really, really good pieces,
but not great pieces. They don’t have anyone that’s going to get them over the hump. There’s no serious needle mover in this team. Like Nazki, Jonathan Hubedo, Mackenzie Wager. You have those three guys on your team. I don’t really see you picking in the top five. Like maybe you could get into the top 10. They obviously did get into the top 10 two years ago, but if their young guys are improving like they’re saying, like the best case scenario is 2, three years from now, they’re a wild card team like or maybe a random player they pick in the teens like hits and is great. But it’s a big hope there. And I don’t know. I think if you want to go for it, I mean, I guess you can hope that Conor McDavid wants to sign with you next year in summer or one of those other big UFAS, but that’s not really the mantra of Calgary. They don’t attract huge bigname free agents or you got to make a trade, but how many of those guys even become available anymore? It just doesn’t you don’t see that happen. Jack Eel doesn’t hit the trade market every year. No.
And uh I personally think you got to tear it down. Doesn’t seem like they’re really allowed to do that in Calgary, but they definitely need to pick a concrete direction if the team does want to legitimately contend in the future. It’s a tough spot because there, as you mentioned, there’s a certain floor that comes with having a goalender like Dustin Wolf and having some of the veterans there and having these younger players coming into the lineup where you’re right, the floor isn’t this kind of top five range unless a lot goes wrong in a season. But then the ceiling is also like what it was this season where it’s contending for a second wild card spot. So, it is a tricky spot.
They were only the third team ever to get 96 points in a season and not make the playoffs,
which is pretty brutal.
But, I mean, if they made the playoffs like, okay, great. There’s two games of home playoff revenue, but that’s about all you’re going to get from it. Like it’s it’s that team played at their absolute ceiling to hit 96 points. Maybe they can get 98, but they had like 17 comebacks this year. Like that doesn’t happen again.
Now, is it maybe Conroy kind of playing
um playing the media and the fans a little bit where it’s like we’re going to try to make the playoffs and then next thing you know it’s the 2026 draft.
There’s not a ton of teams that are like tanking. Like Pittsburgh’s like one of the only teams that’s on the down slope. the interesting part.
Does Calgary get 10 games in and go, you know what, we’re going to throw in the towel for this season.
But then you see the reports. They didn’t do a lot so far to start the offseason, which is probably the right move. But there was talk that they’re really close to acquiring KAR Miller, which makes no sense to me because they don’t they need to score goals. They don’t need another stout defenseman. So, I don’t know. I
I think Conroy might be getting a little lucky that he’s been striking out a little bit on some of these bigger ticket ads. Um, but yes, you’re right. Maybe he is just sort of like the lip service. Oh, we’re going to try to compete, so please extend your season tickets.
Exactly.
Um, don’t take a year off season tickets cuz we’re going to be bad. Like,
and maybe like a message to the owner like, “Yeah, we’re trying.”
Yeah, we’re trying.
Oh, no. They didn’t play very well. Like, yeah, fair enough. Uh, next team on this list though, the Carolina Hurricanes. Speaking of KA Andre Miller. So, they land them. They land him. And, uh, the Carolina Hurricanes front office is never satisfied. Like it’s quite something what Tom Dunan the owner and Eric Tolski the GM are doing as far as really like I know Tolki has literally said this that he’s not going to rest until he has the 20 best players possible in his lineup. Obviously that’s a ridiculous thing to say because there’s 32 other teams but like it kind of seems like they’re doing that like it’s the right mantra to have.
It is like they just keep upgrading keep upgrading and they’re very unattached to like you know veterans that are about to move on. Brent Burns, Demetri, thanks for your service. moving on to bigger and better things. And they they are so um relentless in terms of acquiring draft capital. They like to trade down because that ends up helping them because they have a different draft list than everyone else. They pick a lot of Russians, a lot of undersized forwards. So, I feel like they’re almost playing a different game than everyone else when you look at the front offices and their strategies. And there’s just a lack of satisfaction there. To be fair, it’s warranted where they haven’t made a cup final in in the Rod Brenndeore era. Even though they’ve been worthy of it to some extent, they’ve had on paper a team that should at least at some point make it there.
Extremely consistent.
Yeah. And they they’ve always been looking for that superstar talent and at this point in time, they don’t have it because they don’t have Miko Ranson in, they don’t have Jake Gensel. But they made a splash with Kandre Miller. As we recall right now, they’re, you know, a front runner for Nick Eer. Maybe that’s their not a superstar splash, but star splash and and we’ll see where that takes them because they’re obviously one of those teams, too, where it’s they’re greater than the sum of their parts, right? So, I don’t know. I just it’s I just find it fascinating how differently they operate than the average NHL team.
Yeah, they just chose a wrong time to be really good with the Florida Tampa just like seriously like consistently like they’ve just been like the always the bridesmaid, never the bride in this Eastern Conference
and arguably the best move of July 1, the extension for Logan Stanco. Yes. 8 years per and that doesn’t even begin next season. It begins after next season. So you think about one more season in that full Rod Bindore uh system. He fits it so perfectly. He commits longterm at a super reasonable number that’s going to look great in like two years time basically when that contract starts. Big fan of that move. Uh one team particularly quiet so far to start this off season, the Chicago Blackhawks.
Yeah, the front office is satis. That’s for sure. are a little bit different than yours there. But, uh, I’ve got I’ve got it’s Gavin McKenna or not just bust, total bust. The the Blackhawks. I need to find an extra word to get in. Gavin McKenna or bust here for the Hawks. Um, and I appreciate what they’ve done this offseason. I’ll say that. It’s not It’s not easy sitting around when you’re one of the worst teams in the league. That’s pretty much what the Blackhawks have done. Whether or not they’re going to openly be like, “Yes, we’re we’re looking for Gavin McKenna next season.” Um, they’re probably not going to come out and say that, but last year we saw what they tried to do. They brought in Tyler Bertusi, Terra Vinan, Craig Smith, like some old guys. Uh, and obviously nothing happened to it. So, I think this year they’re like, “Okay, we’ll take a different approach.” Um, obviously a generational player is coming in the draft uh a year from now. We’ll bring in what was Burkovsky they brought in. Yeah, basically the only guy that they traded for. Let’s give our young guys like Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar, um, Kchinsky, obviously, Bernard and stuff. Let’s give them another season to develop and then hopefully we land this generational prospect. So, uh, if that doesn’t go according to plan and maybe they win a couple extra games and don’t finish in in the bottom of the standings like they have for the last three years, that’s really, uh, going to be an issue for the Hawks here. But yeah, I think it’s just a good season for them to kind of rebuild as a group, a little bit more synergy uh within, not bring in a bunch of like one-year rentals and old guys who aren’t going to do anything.
And Gav McKenna.
Yeah. I I have a question for you. Gear prospect guy.
Three years of picking in the top three. Betard, Levinov, Fondelle. It feels a little uninspiring to me after getting Bard. If you said you’re getting Bard and then two top three picks, you just imagine there’s going to be a little bit more oomph there, right?
And we’ll see how it plays out. Lev Shinov isn’t the flashy guy like you could have got with Ivan Demadov, of course, but he looked good, especially as that second half of the season went along. Like Lev is such an interesting player for me because like three, four years ago he was playing Bellar Russian junior hockey.
Like his development has gone such a crazy way where he went from Bellarus to USHL to Big 10 to AHL, NHL. like it’s gone so fast for him that I think he’s still catching up to it a little bit. I still think he’s got top pairing upside. So, it’s one of those things where we kind of need to see him get comfortable a little bit, but Fondell is definitely a player where there’s some questions about how much offense is actually there and we’ll have to see how that plays out as well. But certainly on paper when you think about top three picks after Baddard, it isn’t the flashyness that you maybe hope for, but it certainly could play out in in the Blackhawks favor. But there’s some things that have to go right there.
You just compare the Chicago pool right now to the San Jose pool and it’s like on the other side CBrini, uh, Misa, Will Smith, Dickinson. It just goes on and on.
Dickinson was nowhere near a top five pick.
No. And and I mean I Chicago got Nazar and they got Kchinsky. They had other top picks earlier on and it’s just it just feels like
Chicago isn’t exactly doing it poorly, but it’s just it’s very clearly not playing as well as it is in San Jose.
Certainly. Let’s finally get to a good team, eh?
Yes. Honestly, right, we need to get a string of them.
The uh the Colorado Avalanche here. And well, I say good team, but I’m going to go negative with this one. Please ignore the bottom six. We we focus on the top six so much with the Colorado Avalanche, and rightfully so. And especially when you think about Gabriel Landiscott coming back and being readded to that top six, Brock Nelson being extended. Finally, they have that second line center figured out longer term since moving off from Nasm Cadri. Except you look at the bottom six and it’s Parker Kelly and and Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor is undergoing his second hip surgery in like two years and you you look at the depth pieces that they have coming along. You don’t have a Cal Richie coming into that lineup anymore because you gave him up for Brock Nelson. And so look, they’re a great team. They’re going to be a great team going forwards, but they got to figure out some depth pieces here. Whether that’s finding some value for agents here the rest of the summer or having some younger guys maybe unexpectedly step into the into the lineup. As it stands right now when you look at the Ross Colton’s and Jack Drury’s and Parker Kelly’s there’s some fine pieces in the bottom six right now but there’s some holes still to fill in the bottom six and they don’t have a lot of cap room to figure it out.
Yeah, I think if they could bring in a really good 3C it would change the opinion of a lot of people on that team. Obviously, it’s a team that’s done nothing since they won the Stanley Cup, but it is still a team that has Nathan McKinnon and Kale Mar. Exactly. So, there’s there’s some room for growth. Uh their next team on this list, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and I have them as hopefully we can stay healthy. Last year was an absolute win as a team. Like, it just they really rallied together as a group. They got pretty close to the playoffs. They didn’t make it, but it felt good. Everyone was taking steps the right way. And this was a year where Shawn Monahan missed almost half the year. Marenko was playing with injuries. Worky was playing with injuries. if they can stay healthy like they could get at least six to eight more points which puts them in like cleanly into a playoff spot and in a weaker like division too like it’s I think there’s a lot of room for this team to grow but I think being healthy is very very important because you just need those guys to ins like those other guys the Monahanss and the Marchenkos and you just need that spread of wealth there because you haven’t had a guy you haven’t had Van Tilly step up yet and be a 90point player
yeah I mean I I assume Don Wedell is pretty high in his own team because he was so like aggressive before July 1. Like he got a lot of his work done before then. I wouldn’t say like all of it is is uh you know impressive, but clearly he didn’t want to be left empty-handed. You know, this this poor UFA class, you know, making a trade or two, you know, getting provided is like, “Okay, let’s move this thing along. Let’s move this thing along.” Is that the right approach in terms of some of those moves? Maybe not. But I mean, I I think they’re a team that last year showed that, you know, the the the arrows only pointing up.
Y
um so we’ll see what happens. And they also have, you know, a bunch of prospects coming through and, you know, we’ll see what type of, you know, Calder buzz a couple of their guys.
They obviously really wanted Noah Dobson, but it’s just it they’re kind of very similar market to a Canadian team. It’s just like it’s harder to get out guy like guys from the outside in. So when you have guys inside, you have the Proverbs and the Dante Fabros, it’s like you got to just pay to keep him because if you don’t, then you’re going to give up more assets and have to overpay to get a guy who might be slightly better, slightly younger. May as well just keep the guy you have and pay him a little bit extra to stay. Uh, next team on this list, the Dallas Stars.
Yes. Uh, I’m going to go to the draft with the Stars here.
Love it.
Did Nil find a Stanovven 2.0? I think that’s
that’s like definitely got to be more than five.
Stanovven 2.0. Oh, I put an A. I put an A in there very foolishly. So that’s Jim Nil obviously the GM there and Sanovven is Logan Stanovven. So Nil drafts Stanovven in the second round of 2021. He blossoms into this fantastic player in in the AHL system. Plays a little bit for the Stars and then gets flipped in the Miko Ranton and trade to Carolina extended. We know that story. Cameron Schmidt drafted in the third round of this draft. Um yeah, you know the I I what I find fascinating is that one he’s he’s of the same build as as Stan Kovven roughly very not very similar players but similar players and you know Dallas is so good at drafting and developing that I kind of trust their evaluation here. Um and Schmidt was a very popular I guess hipster choice uh to go say late first early second. Um but NHL teams operate differently than than people online. Um, but I like I like that the stars were like, we’re going to try and, you know, unearth another gem here and we see a lot of the Stanovven traits in in Schmidt and we’re going to we’re going to invest a draft a draft cap or a draft pick in this kid.
It’s it’s so funny because with Schmidt, it was a very polarizing player going to the draft. But if Dallas or Carolina draft Schmidt, everyone’s like, “Oh, what a steal.” But if Nashville drafted this guy, everyone’s like, “Oh, whatever.” Right. Right. Like
maybe a little bit. I don’t know with with Cameron Schmidt and Dallas specifically here. Dallas, that was their first draft pick of the draft. So,
look, you’re at that point in the draft in the third round taking your first selection, you need to take a swing as well. And on pure talent, on pure tools, on everything like that, this is a first round talent.
He’s just happens to be 5’8 and like 160 pounds. So, when it comes to a player like him, I’m very high on him in terms of his upside. We’ll see if he makes the NHL. But I love the the shout out to uh to Schmidt here as the just fantastic skater and shooter um in the third round.
How many times have we seen undersized guys fall a little bit like and then they’re elite like Cole Coughfield, Alex Debrink. Like it just keeps happening. Logan Stankov like
Lane Hudson.
Lane Hudson. Yeah. Like it Hudson.
I’d like to see how many times that happens before teams start to be like uh maybe they’re actually good. It’s just cuz like on top of that though, there’s also 50 other five N or shorter guys that go in the later rounds of drafts.
You need to have elite elite trades to be able to make it. And I think
Schmidt is he’s got probably one of the coolest highlight rules in the draft.
Completely honest. Uh the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings. Uh this is a team. What were my five words again? It was oh uh it’s now or never. Simple as that. Uh and I think
absolutely now or never.
It’s absolutely now. Man, I’m getting I’m getting off with these five. Yeah, these are bad. It’s absolutely now or never, which just kind of reiterates how much more important this season is than I think the rest. And honestly, nothing to me is as uh big of an indicator of that than that Mason Appleton deal. They just got done. Three million bucks for 29-year-old Mason Appleton where you know exactly what you’re getting. Like there’s no no more ceiling for for Mason Appleton. They are just trying to bulk up in whatever way possible to win this year. Um, obviously I think Steve Eisermanman is aware that this is probably his last season um at the helm if it if they don’t crack the playoffs, second longest drought in hockey after having like the longest playoff streak in all of sports. Uh, they acquire John Gibson. Um, they resign Patrick Kane. The the Detroit Troy Web Wings are as allin as it gets. Will they make the playoffs with what they’ve got? I don’t know. I I I think I’m going to give them a fighting chance because they’ve at least been competitive the last couple seasons under this kind of new mandate where they’re just kind of grabbing and going with different guys. Um I think obviously a better goalie certainly helps. But yeah, if they don’t make the playoffs this year, I think Eisermanman’s job’s as good as gone. So that’s where I stand.
They need uh John Gibson to turn back the clock a little bit and stay healthy, which are the two big variables. But I it’s certainly possible for John Gibson. like we’ve been waiting forever for him to find a new home. And for a while, I think a lot of people thought it might be Edmonton that makes the move for John Gibson. He ends up going to Detroit. But for Edmonton here, after another cup final where they’re significantly outplayed in net, and there’s questions all throughout the playoffs, for me, it’s pretty simple. They need someone new in net. It doesn’t have to be a top end guy. It doesn’t have to be some major move. I just think they need a new body in net just to give him a different flavor, a different option in net because Steuart Skinner has his ups and his downs, but I don’t think Cal Picker has shown enough to be the quality of backup that you don’t look to at least bring in a third option because he he’s on a contract where you could wave him and send him to the miners if he needed to. He might get claimed, he might not. But when I look at his performance in the playoffs and look at his performance in the regular season, it’s below average backup goalender. And sure, he got some wins in the playoffs, of course. I don’t think it was because of his play necessarily. So, I just want to see somebody new in net for the Oilers. Could be a backup option, could be a star goalender. Like, it doesn’t really matter what level it is. I just want to see somebody different to give them a different flavor and a new option going into next season.
It’s not a lot of people like players left, the goalies left like the free agency trade market. Um, I’ve heard like Ukipal Lucanin and name for example. I just don’t see them spending out on they don’t have the assets to go trade for a big name the money related to
for example the Sharks go out and get Alex Nadulkovich 2.5 million for what a conditional third round pick I think it was like that’s the kind of move that I’m looking for and there’s going to be goalenders available at some point. Hell, they could even wait until the the season starts and maybe try to claim a guy on waiverss or something like that. Like I’m not talking about they need to go out and get a star goalender cuz that’s just not realistic. I just want somebody different as an option because goalending is wild and you never know what happens. And I think running it back with the same couple of guys season after season given the performances we’ve seen. I just want to see some new blood in there.
Speaking of running it back, the Florida Panthers are doing exactly that. And I have them as verge of a legit dynasty. Winning back toback is you could argue that they already are kind of a dynasty. They’re kind of a dynasty.
Not yet. Not yet for me.
In the same way that like everyone kind of fought it when like Chicago first got called the dynasty in their thing. But if you win three straight that is absolutely
er completely like that is like we haven’t seen that in
has what was the last team a professional team. Yeah. But even any other North American pro sports teams I don’t even know the last time a team went three straight. We should do a little top shelf trivia on that one. But, uh, that would be incredibly impressive. Just the amount of like toll on your body to do that. And the fact that they kept all three of their guys, like I I don’t know who beats this team in a seven game series like this. They were unbelievable uh in this year’s playoff run. And I mean, barring injuries and stuff like that’s just a tough team to take down in the playoffs.
They and this isn’t a one-year thing. This isn’t like a last dance. They have 10 guys signed through 20 2930. like 10 core guys, not like some guy where you’re like, “Oh, they regret that.” Like these are guys they want on their team. They’re all obviously aging, you know, as everyone does. Um, but like Zitto, I assume it was part of the pitch was like, “Listen, look at look at our cap sheet. When I add you three guys, we’re up to 10 skaters that are all here for the next five years. It’s probably going to be a blood bath after that in terms of what this team looks like.” But nevertheless, it’s not just, okay, if we don’t repeat, it’s over. It’s let’s get back at it the next year. Yeah.
All right. Next up, the LA Kings. Blue line bets better pay off. I used a hyphen here, which I thought was pretty clever. Um,
grammatically correct, too. Yeah, there you go.
Well played,
Ken Holland. Uh, Cody Cece and Brian Dumland deals were overpays. And the main thing, the main issue I have with them is that is the term. Like, if you gave them just one year each and whatever cap number and okay, let’s let’s let’s fill our blue line out, but they’re handcuffing themselves by adding term. I don’t know how Holland didn’t look over to the Dallas Stars and go, “Oh, the this team did something with their blue line last offseason that they regretted with Labouchkin and with Dumba, those two guys where mid-season everyone’s going, what were they thinking in July and oh, they’re trying to offload them and they’re really up against the cap and they’ve got no puck puck moving ability on the back end.” Like that’s literally what’s going to happen with the Kings. I think it’s pretty obvious. Um, so there’s that and then, you know, the greater context is that their true need is some top six, you know, kind of juice, some off like an offensive catalyst, some creativity because they’re a very bland forward group once you get past like Kempe and um and Biffield like and and you know, like Kopitar is a great player, but like he’s not creative. So anyways, I think that I I actually like what they did with Perry and Arma and resigning Kango. like those are fine like in a vacuum, but over the overall I thought that Ken Holland just was very sort of tunnel visioned on improving the blue line and didn’t think at all about the you know beyond next season.
Yeah, I’m sure he would have loved uh loved to pull in like a big fish but he couldn’t. So he was like I’m just going to get all the old fish
Mner or something. Yeah, that was the big move that they were hoping for. Mitch Martyr and obviously didn’t get to that point. But yeah, the I I do like Brian Dumalan what he showed in the playoffs if he can stay healthy and if he can continue that game, but what it’s eight and a half total for CC and Dumalan
and they already have Edmonson. It’s like and doubt is getting older. All of a sudden that back end beyond like Clark and Mikey Anderson are are a bunch of guys that are on the
and they moved out Jordan Spence too for minimal draft picks. It’s uh it’s looking a little weird in LA, but I mean they are still they are still a really good team. Like I expect them to be a very clearly top three in the Pacific division this year, but it’s just how is that team
clock is ticking. How is that team? Yeah, exactly. They’re getting older. They wanted Kopitar to feel like he was I would say at this point is like
the gap is closing between them and like Anaheim for example and then you’ve got the Sharks who are hard charging in a couple years. So it’s like
well and they did the whole like retool while Kopitar and are still relevant. They did that and like you know props to them that they did something in that realm but like they they might have missed their window for them them to really like
capitalize on that because I feel like Kopitar and Dowy
they’ve also missed on some picks. So as we talked about it Boston Bruins Calgary Flames that whole rebuild while trying to make the playoffs thing and keeping your guys
doesn’t always work out.
Watch out LA. Yeah, except the only team that’s really executed that well is the Dallas Stars and that’s because they landed Jason Roberts and Moriskin and Jake All
you have like one of the best drafts of all time.
Yeah, it’s crazy and they still didn’t get the best play and you get why Johnston like later.
Next team on this list, continue chugging along. We got to pick up the pace here a little bit. I think Minnesota Wild.
Yeah, this this one I can keep short and simple because I’ve got for the Wild is this a real curse? Um it almost kind of like just jumped out at us. It felt like after this year’s uh first round loss that they have made the playoffs eight the last 10 years and they haven’t gone further than the first round in all eight of those years they’re playing in a very tough division still like I Dallas, Colorado and Winnipeg are all going to be maybe not the Jets Dallas Colorado are going to be really good for still a few years to come and while the Wild have been a very solid team and they’ve got some really really good players like it’s a team to be excited about they just can’t get over that hump and and I’m starting to wonder like they’ll never have it’ll never be the same kind of curse as Toronto’s had because the markets are completely different. But I in terms of just what’s on paper, it’s the same deal. So, what is it going to take for Minnesota to really get over that hump? I don’t know. They obviously don’t know either because this offseason they haven’t done anything to change that. That’s all I’m worried about this season coming up for them.
And a team that got over a hump this season was the Montreal Canadians getting into the playoffs here.
Segue. Thank you. Um, and I love what they’ve done this off seasonason. Noah Dobson is a great pickup. Um, but that 2C spot is still a bit of a question mark. So, it’s a great summer, but still need that 2C in terms of is Kirby Doc that guy. Is he somebody that can stay healthy and can actually play in that lineup on a consistent basis? I love the pickup of Zack Buluke trading from an area of strength now at right defense to pick up a guy who immediately becomes a really uh intriguing top nine winger for them. And so, you’ve got a full season of Demidov here. You’ve got that top line that has really gelled into one of the better lines in the NHL based on what we saw down the stretch there from Nick Suzuki, Cole Coughfield, and your Islakovski. So, I love the pickup of Dobson to really solidify that blue line. Um, I like what they’re building methodically at forward. Still some question marks about that 2C spot, but I love what Kent Hughes has done in terms of being patient, not giving out these big contracts on July 1st that they ultimately regret, but making some moves in terms of adding some guys that fit with the team’s age group. So, I really like what Ken Hughes has done, but that 2C spot, still some question marks,
and I think they can afford to be patient on that. They don’t This isn’t a team that needs to compete for a Stanley Cup next year. They’re not like they’re actually their cap situation’s only going to get better as these older guys from the
and they’ve absolutely gotten better this season too.
Yes. And I think if they go in without a 2C this year and they don’t solve that situation in the season, I think it’s not the end of the world. But if they go into it maybe next summer and next summer they’re like, “Oh, you know, Patrick Lion’s contract’s off the books. Maybe we could pursue a I don’t even know who’s top of my head here, but like insert player here.
Insert player.” and that player can then step in or maybe it’s two years down the road. Like this team’s real window is like 2027 and on to actually contend for a cup. Yes, you want to make the playoffs every year, but in terms of contending for a cup, they’re still a few years away from that because they’re going to need their young guys to get more playoff experience. So, if you’re going to bring in that, we talked about it earlier and like how sometimes gyms rush it with like that move. I think Kent Hughes has made only good moves basically since he went to Montreal. I think have fans should be very okay with the fact that if he kind of pumps the brakes a little bit here and just lets things play out a little bit.
The the last thing I say to that point is this is the last season to experiment with Kirby Doc as that two seed. Still young enough, still talented enough to earn that spot, but this is his last kind of shot to do so.
100%. Okay, next team. Nashville. My five words are last year was a blip. Now, this isn’t necessarily what I believe. This is I wish I
This is Barry Trotz’s Barry Trotz believes that last year was a blip. And on the surface, I’m like, okay, yeah, they still have Stamos and Forsber. And I mean, they didn’t trade Marcho. Like, they brought in Eric Holla. They kind of firmed up their defense with Nick Heg. Like, they are, I think, betting on the fact that last year was a blip. And they’re saying that’s it. also makes makes the Brady Martin pick make a little bit of sense to me because you’re like, “Oh, maybe this is a guy that can slide in 12 months from now and be a playoff impactful forward right away.” Not just a guy that like has uh maybe one day can be a like a lead our team, just a guy we can just wrecking ball in our top six in 12 months or whatever it is or next next year in the playoffs cuz
their their core is old, but their core in theory is good enough in a weird Western Conference to contend for a wild card spot. in theory doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Yeah, I I think that this they could play like they will probably live to regret a lot of these moves that they’re making,
but provided they don’t give up a lot of their futures, I think it’s fine because they are they have invested a crap ton of money into some of these older guys and it’s hard to just tell your owner like, “Oh yeah, all that money you just paid.” um we’re going to now like trade those guys and retain half the money for second round picks and third round picks because you’re not getting a lot
after buying out Matt Duchain and having the Ryan Johansson
Yeah. And for all those state tax experts out there, Nashville has a very fa favorable state tax situation. We’re giving out some contracts. So,
um yeah, you don’t necessarily get a discount if you go to those states. Um okay, so I’ll transition to my team. What a segue that was. Let’s go.
The New Jersey debit. Don’t know what the tax situation is in New Jersey fair.
Not a good one.
I was going to say definitely not.
Yeah, there you go. Okay, so we’re swinging back to the other side of things. So with New Jersey, I feel like we’re still waiting for another shoe to drop here as far as
added in a word there.
So what do we got? Waiting for shoe to drop.
Another shoe to drop because we’ve got well one we’ve got Luke Hughes is still an RFA. I you know I don’t see any issues there. But you know what does that number come in at? How what is the the length of the contract? how much do they try to invest in him to get that that that dollar down? Um, and then also, you know, they made some improvements up front. You know, they they brought in um Jake or not brought in Jake Allen, they reuped Jake Allen over five years, 1.8 million, hilarious contract. And but I just wonder like they’re a team that, you know, they made that big splash with team Omire and it didn’t quite work out. It hasn’t been a disaster, but it certainly hasn’t been a rousing success. I feel like they’re a little gunshy right now of making that that next splash, but they got Sheamus Casey there just sitting there as a right-handed defenseman who has a ton of potential, but is he part of their future with with their blue line constructed the way it is and with guys coming through the ranks? So, I wonder with Casey being there and their need for maybe a top six impact player, is there a deal to be made in the offseason here? And to go back to your point with the Metro Division, like it’s right there for the taking. You know, obviously Carolina is a very good team, but like wide open after that.
Yeah. Like there’s there’s a spot for New Jersey, but and they can’t sort of just sit there idally.
Yeah. 100%. And I feel like would you guys agree that Quinn Hughes is going to be a devil? Like it’s just
eventually. Yes. Luke Hughes offer sheet coming in from Vancouver.
Oh my gosh. It’s just
I don’t know. I feel like that’s going to happen there. Uh let’s just keep chugging along here and do the other New York teams. The New York Islanders.
Yeah, New York Islanders. Uh my five words are a rebuild you dream about. Um, what a spot for the Islanders to be in. How often do you miss miss the playoffs by 89 points? You’ve been in the playoffs five of the last seven years and all of a sudden you have three picks in the top uh 17 picks, including the first overall. Uh, I like what they did with Noah Dobson. Give themselves a bit more cap space to be a little bit flexible. They got a pretty good a decent player back and return to uh was it Hineman um who I think can contribute right away, but you just look at the foundation of this team. They’ve got Matt Barzel. They’ve got some solid solid players here and then they have another wave who will almost probably come up while those guys are kind of getting to the end of the line and you’re just going to have a crazy ball of like I don’t even know talent in in New York with with Schaefer HSN. Uh they also just happen to have uh what Richie that they got. Like this is a really exciting team and a team to be excited about. I don’t know how the timelines are going to line up given the fact that some of these guys are getting to the end of the road here, but nonetheless, like you’re basically giving yourselves a chance to make the playoffs now and probably for the next like 5 10 years. So, they’re in a really really good spot. They basically didn’t have to tank at any point. They kind of That’s what happens when you fall into the the first overall pick the way they did. But yeah, if you’re Islanders fan, exciting time for sure.
Let’s get a bit bold with this next one. uh best pairing in the NHL question mark for the New York Rangers after the signing of Vlattis Lav Gaov. We assume that he’s going to be the long-term partner now for Adam Fox. How many defense pairings in the NHL have arguably the best pure defensive defenseman in the NHL alongside a Norris Trophy caliber defenseman who was literally one one not like theoretically Norris Trophy caliber, literally Norris Trophy caliber. Um I think there’s two pairings that I put up in this kind of realm. Matias Ekholm with Evan Buchard and I think the number one pairing still in the NHL, Devon Taves with Kale Mccard just because of that absurd upside there. But for me, I look at the defensive value that Gabricov brought last year on the LA Kings stepping up in a big way without Drew Dowy early in the season and over the course of the entire season putting up some of the best pure defensive metrics in the NHL and stepping alongside somebody like Adam Fox who is not a player that he’s ever played alongside in terms of uh a player of his caliber. And this also frees up Fox to be more of this offensive creator, jump up more in the game. Um, I’m really excited to see what this can do. I’m really excited to see what this does for Adam Fox’s future uh Norris Trophy votes going forwards. Um, but in terms of pure just looking at one pairing in the NHL, I think it immediately becomes a top three pairing in the NHL at at least if not higher. Yeah, with the Rangers are fascinating right now because no, they could be a President’s Trophy caliber team or they playoffs. uh as we have seen literally the last two season.
Yeah, but I obviously it’s not a bold thing to say, but I think legitimately going into this year they could be unbelievable, but they could also really struggle. The Ottawa Senators I Who’s going to score goals? This is a team that made the playoffs last year and scored less goals than the Pittsburgh Penguins. And
that’s like they were like yeah almost b outside the bottom 10 in goals per game. And obviously Dylan Cousins helped with that a little bit down the stretch. And maybe you can get a little bit more from Brady Kachchuck and uh Tim Stutzla, but I don’t know if Claude Ru is really doing it anymore. I think they’re still maybe missing like just a like I don’t know B’s good, but I’m just like is there a true like one more guy and they need maybe some internal growth can be that, but I all the picks they’ve missed on is really hurting this team now as you look at them. and they’ve just missed on so many of those top picks over the years during their rebuild that they’re they’re just a little bit away from truly being a legitimate contender and in such an tough Atlantic division. I I just don’t see how they could really contend with this core.
It was funny to see Claude took the the hometown discount to come back because he liked what they were building and I was like this is a guy who’s like legacy’s on the line with if he wins a cup and for him to do that maybe he’s going to be the guy to turn around and score like 30 this year. But
yeah, it’s good. It’s a tough spot. They need someone to step up that that next score.
Yeah, for sure. Philadelphia Flyers Shrew’s old team. Work cut out segments. Look at that one. Clean clean.
That was very good.
Now it’s now it’s not clean.
Now it’s not cuz we’re talking
work cut out for Rick Tocket. Oh, added a word there. Sorry, Rick. Um, so where I’m coming from with this is that the Flyers had an absolutely abominable goalending situation last year. Like by far the worst in the league. Something like 870 say percentage. And this was under like John Tordella for most of it. Like it’s not like uh the Flyers were a complete disaster defensively. It was mostly the goalending. So Tit gets a new goalie. You’ve got Samuel Er already there. And then he’s bringing in Dan Vadard. Well, his boss is. So, you know, you’ve got an upgrade, but that’s not necessarily like a home run. Vard has never played, you know, a ton of a ton of uh games. Uh obviously has shown promise over the years, but you’re not bringing in the next Dominic Hashik or something. So, hot take.
Yeah, hot take. So, with talking, I just feel like, you know, training camp, he’s going to be really drilling in on, you know, insulating the goalies, trying to limit the high danger chances and because I don’t know, he just seems also like the type of head coach that it would drive him insane to have a poor goalie like
Well, Trevor is really going to help with that.
Yeah, exactly. So, so anyways, I just I my with the Flyers, my mind goes to to talk and and how he handles an upgrade in in goal, but only a minor one. I think if you show Rick talk at Gavin McKenna highlights, I think he’ll be okay with some of the goending.
Yeah, that is actually fair.
Yeah. Okay. The Pittsburgh Penguins, you definitely are looking at a lot of Gavin McKenna highlights right now.
Yes, Pittsburgh Penguins, man, what a spot for them to be in. Uh I’ve got the big three’s toughest season yet or hardest season. I completely butchered that there. But, uh, yeah, I mean, last season we saw how bad things really got for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it’s crazy for this team to be as bad as they are with one of the best players of all time being on the team, one of the best trios of all time with Malcolin and Latang. Um, and this is going to be a real struggle for them. For Pittsburgh, it’s going to be tough. They’re probably going to be battling trade allegations all year or surrounding these three guys who are like Hall of Fame players in Penguins history. Like, so I’m really really kind of nervous to see how this goes because we’re already seeing Sydney Crosby trade talks getting stirred up. He’s trying to shut them down, but I don’t if I’m him, I I might want to get out because this team is headed in the furthest direction from from the right one. Um, they tried to emulate what Washington did with the retool and that’s gone nowhere. So, they’re going to be tanking hard and when you’re tanking hard with like some of the best players uh of the last generation on the team, it just just really doesn’t sit well for me. It feels like to me like Crosby’s gonna see how this season goes and then maybe it’s next summer he’s going into the last year of that deal and maybe it’s the last year ever and he goes, “Okay, I’m going to go play with Nate McKinnon or I’m going to go to Montreal cuz they’re now in a spot to contend for a cup. Something like that.” How about that for a 2C?
Yeah, exactly. There’s your second line center. 38-year-old Sydney Crowy. That’d be something. Um, but yeah, like the Penguins, they’re like I discussed a little bit before, they’re maybe the only team in the NHL that’s like definitively going in this direction. Everyone else is at least trying to go in this direction. You know, the Ducks, Blackhawks,
uh, Sharks. They’re not going to be good teams, but they’re trying to add like little steps along the way here. So,
yeah, lots of losses in Pittsburgh.
I’m nervous. So, let’s talk about the Sharks here because, well, my point was they need to reach the cap floor. And while they did that just before we started recording here, 6.5 million for two years for Demetri Orlov and claimed Nick Lety off waiverss gets them at least serviceable uh veterans on the blue line which they didn’t have last season. Gives them a better floor in terms of being in more games over the season. I don’t think Orlov, Clingberg, Lety, any of those guys make them a good team by any means, but it’s an upgrade over last season and it sends them in a direction that they’re trying to go, which is just give some more veterans around the likes of Celibbraney and such that can get them to p the the puck more consistently so that they’re not playing as much of the game in just like eight nothing blowouts and things like that. So, I like the moves in terms of short-term just make the team a little bit more fun, some more puck moving ability and such, and it reaches the cap floor, which they needed to do.
Another West Coast team, the Seattle Kraken. Vegas made it look easy. Uh, this team has drafted a lot of centers and Matty Maneers had a great call their season and then has kind of turned into more of a defensive 2C and Shane Wright’s yet to take a massive step. And I mean, maybe Berkeley Ken and Jake O’Brien could be good. But, I mean, they brought in Ryan Lingren for four years. I don’t hate the contract, but I just don’t really know what the ceiling is on this team unless unless Ken or Jake O’Brien really pop. And even if they do, they they’ve got four centers down the middle of the ice and you want to build your team through the middle of the ice. But you also need defenseman. They’re only their top defensive prospect is Riker Evans. And
and he’s an NHLer now. So I don’t
NHLer and I don’t think he’s really got like top pairing upside either. Maybe
I think he could be a top four guy.
Yeah, top four guy. I think he’s got but it’s it’s again it’s like they’ve had all these top picks. You think they would have spent something on a defenseman at some point. Have not drafted a defenseman in the first round still in the franchise. Maybe that Carolina mandate of only forwards or something like that. But uh yeah, Seattle, they definitely saw what Vegas did and say like, “Oh, this is going to be fun.” And it has yet to be very fun for Seattle.
Let’s go to the St. Louis Blues. So, I just see breakout candidates everywhere on this on this NHL roster. So, that that’s going to be my topic. duer here with St. Louis and you know obviously they have the Robert Thomas Jordan Kyru sort of tier if you will and they’re in their late 20s. I still think they have room to grow, but it’s the guys below them. Dylan Holloway, uh, Logan Mayu, Mayu, who they just acquired from Montreal, Philip Broberg, Alexe Torpchenko, uh, Jimmy Snugarude, I’m probably oh, Dalabort D’vorski, who’s on his way up. Like, I just see a lot of guys in their early 20s that could pop off. And if that they all, you know, sort of start leveling up together, suddenly we look at St. Louis a little more seriously in terms of cup contending. Obviously, they have a pretty high floor with what they have in their lineup. They looked really good in the playoffs despite, you know, not going very far. So, and then you So, I I pair that also with their drafting of Justin Carbono where I think they took a kind of a swing, if you will, on a high upside guy. And I just like what they’re doing there as far as refilling, you know, backfilling sort of the the teenage pipeline, but then they’re obviously out there looking for early 20s players and and did so with with Mayu. They make that trade to with Montro where Bullduke is going out the door. Buluke would have been another breakout candidate. He had a fantastic end of last season, but with Mayu, they’re sliding them right into the top four on defense and they’re really high on them. They were asking Montreal for them all season. So, we’ll see what happens. Like, they’re giving they’re giving these guys a lot of ice, I guess, is a good way to put it, too. So, that obviously helps with with breaking out. So,
they’re also doing the rebuild while trying to make the playoffs thing. And it kind of worked because their top end pieces that we were talking about in Boston, Calgary, like the older guys aren’t actually all that old. The Robert Thomas, Colton Perco, Jordan Kyu, all these on the older side.
He is, but they’re all still relatively in their prime and they’re freeing up spots for these young guys and they’re doing a good job drafting.
One guy I missed was Hoer. So the goalie obviously behind Bennington, but they resigned him to avoid an offer sheet. So like there’s literally like eight guys where I’m like if this guy levels up, you know, St. Louis going to look a little bit better. That guy Justin Carbono they drafted St. Louis posted a pretty sick highlight from def camp. He’s there’s a Yeah, a lot of questions about his uh work his motor. But if they get his defensive motor going, that’s a player that could be a topline winger, I think, in the NHL. Uh next team on this list, uh the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning. I’ve got uh life as Florida’s little brother. I don’t know. Wow. I don’t know if they’ve uh they’ve been lil broed before uh by the Panthers, but that’s what’s going on. And might have a bit of an identity crisis. Who knows? But uh yeah, it’s it’s certainly kind of a turning of a new page here uh in the era that we’re in. Obviously, the Florida Panthers are incredible and Tampa Bay Lightning have been have been bowing out to them. Um so I’m interested to see where they go. I still think my other one for them was going to be um like way too good to fail because I think this Lightning team is still very solid. The Leafs take a step back this season, so that might open up the door for at least these two to maybe not meet until the second round with the Panthers. Uh, but yeah, this is this is a new era of hockey where the Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t the best team in the state of Florida. And it’ll be interesting to see how that goes for them.
In terms of unfinished business, Isaac Howard is still Tampa Bay Lightning property and Julian Breezwise basically said like the teams that Howard wants to sign with, we can’t work a deal out with and the teams that are ready to work a deal out with us, he doesn’t want to sign with them. So, we’ll see what happens with this game of chicken, but they do have that asset in their back pocket to potentially add maybe a young NHL or even draft picks. I mean, this is a team that has really struggled uh to to to go to the the draft stage because they’ve been so competitive for
No team was a bigger victim of the flat cap than the Tampa Bay Lightning. They just lost all I mean, obviously Toronto was too. I still smurf.
Thanks for ruining my segue.
But, uh but the Tampa Bay Lightning’s flat cap, like they just lost so many guys over and over again. And while guys took discounts to stay. They didn’t take discounts to stay like they did in Florida. No. Um and now they’re trying to reunite all those guys, which is hilarious. They brought Gourd back. I wonder I wonder if Palat or maybe Blake Coleman could be a target or something like that. But um I mean you can’t right tamp off like they’re so good offensively. It just obviously didn’t. They need to not
top of their lineup is unbelievable.
They need to stay away from Florida in the first round 100%. They need to get to the other side of the bracket or something. They got to stay away from Big Bro. Yeah. Could you imagine this lower third three years ago though?
Oh my gosh. After the run that Tampa went on anyway. That’s crazy. All right. The Toronto Maple Leafs who certainly have not been talked about enough over the past month and decades and etc. Um, look, the core four era is officially over. I added I added in an extra word there, but um, it’s officially done.
Mitch Martner’s out of town. John Tvarez took a discount to stay in town. Um, I think the main takeaway here is that it’s a damn shame that things ended the way it did for Mitch Marner where Toronto-b born kid, a bit of an underdog type pick. Um, all the local boy stuff comes in and is one of the fun young players on this team that when kind of this era was t started, it wasn’t necessarily if they win a cup, but necessarily how many they were going to win. and the way that things played out, the vitriol that ended up coming on, the um just everything that that played out from both sides. And I think the the Leafs and the way that they handled things, the way that the Mner camp handled things, the way that fans reacted to things, I think all of it turned into this like first percentile worst case scenario that could have possibly played out for Mitch Martner because we should be talking about this Toronto-born player that finishes his career as a career-long Maple Leaf and the franchise’s all-time leading scorer and instead we’re looking at him celebrating in Vegas with these weird promo videos and in their offices and such and it’s a great fit for him in Vegas. I think he’s going to excel there. Um, but I think my big takeaway here is less about what the Leafs look like going forward, uh, what Marner looks like in Vegas, but more so disappointment for how all of this played out for Mitch Martner and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Yeah, it’s insane. Like if you even like years ago, people started flirting with the ideas of like breaking up the core four obviously, but you just thought like if if and when the core four would get broken up, it would be in like a really proper move like in a in a thing to make
it would be the player breaking up the team.
No, it would be the team making a move to make the team better. And now it’s got to a point where it’s like they lost a 100 point player like this kid that should have been that’s like got posters and ads all over the city and in the GTA and how many kids around the GTA have his jersey and stuff and now it’s like
oh like this is this it’s it stinks. the other Snapchat videos of my buddies on his lake driving by his cottage in their boat flipping off the cottage. They’re just like, you know, like it’s just this.
But like that’s what it got to get.
He got dehumanized. Like he was just like a
literally people throwing like tomatoes at him. Like he’s
almost quite literally like the last game of the season like beers were being thrown on the ice and jerseys and all of that. And I I think the the biggest thing for me that is the biggest shock out of all of this is if you go right back to the beginning when John Tvarez signs that contract on July 1st, whatever year it was, 2018 or whatever year it was.
Um when you go back to that day and you say, “Okay, eventually the core for error is going to end. Who’s the most likely one to leave?” Mitch Martin is probably bottom of that list
that day when that contract is signed. John Tvarez might retire at some point and that breaks up the core four era. Austin Matthews, he’s not from Canada. William Knander at that time was the most common trade guy and he was in RFA and all of that. And it’s like I said off the top, it’s a damn shame the way that things played out for Mitch Marner. I think it’s good for everybody that this is over now and we can move on. Obviously, moving on will take some time because there’s going to be return games and all of that’s going to happen. Um, but at least looking at the core four era being over and just this statement here, I think it’s more about looking in the rear view as to how we got here instead of looking ahead to how these two new teams look going forward.
Yeah, a lot of people are going to be standing up for those West Coast games at the start of the year. And the Olympics are going to be really interesting with when Martin’s playing for team Canada. Good point. Yeah, it’ll be a fun topic all year long.
Fun depending on perspective.
Yes. Uh the Utah fun for us because lots to talk about, lots to write about, lots all that stuff. Oh, yes. the Utah Mammoth. Time to make the playoffs. This is a team that I think is right there. They are absolutely right there. The wild card spots in the West are wide open and they’ve made a great move. I think bringing in Purka, I think they really wanted Eblad. I think he would have slid really well into their uh their defense. I think they might still have one more move in them. They’ve got a lot of assets they could give up to maybe uh make a move to upgrade their uh defensive core or even their bottom six. But, uh, I think it’s time for the Utah Mammoth to really like make their mark in the NHL. And I feel bad for Arizona Coyote fans who really like they they created this, right? The Coyotes, this is basically 95% Coyote’s development. Oh, like 99%.
Yeah, except for like Purka. But yeah,
what a what a winner Bill Armstrong is here where he goes from an owner that won’t let him do anything, an owner that lets him do whatever he wants and he’s looking pretty smart. Even I love the the acquisitions of Brandon Tanv and Nate Schmidt.
Both like I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re both like high character guys and they’re both very useful in sheltered roles. Like Brandon Tanv everything you want in a fourth liner in 2025. Nate Schmidt brings the fantastic vibes just won a cup and like you know puck moving skating good hockey sense like I just he didn’t like like it’s kind of like Ken Hughes like he he added he made moves but you don’t look at any of them and go oh he got a little selfish or a little you know bold here. He just he made the right moves.
I think if they have a fully healthy defense last year they make the playoffs. John Marino missed a bunch of time. Shawn Dury missed a bunch of time. They had to kind of rejig their defense on the fly last season and still were fairly close to making the playoffs. I think they’re a shoe in for a playoff spot here. And then they have two wild cards as well with the KHLers coming over and seev those guys could be impact players right away or they could take like three four years. I have no clue what to expect. Same with again too like a top 10 pick that they drafted last year
hasn’t played in 2025.
So who knows they their team could be a really really fun watch. And we talked about this last show about their fourth round, their fourth overall pick being potentially available. They kept it. I thought that was the right move.
They get DOA again, another check mark for Bill Armstrong, and what he’s building.
Couple years from now, like that’ll be such a formidable top six. And uh that’ll be a fun team to watch. Poor poor poor Arizona Coyotes fans. Uh speaking of fans, that must be sad. The Vancouver Can
they suck?
All right.
Wow. Can fans are the team.
Yeah, the team. The team.
Nothing against the fans.
Can core keep Quinn around? Did I have the look at the alliteration this guy’s thrown around today.
It’s hard to remember these five words like the exact words. Um, so Quinn Hughes is obviously the Quinn Quinn there and the core Thatcher Demco is coming back longterm. Cara Garland and we have one other player Brock Besser. So, you know, it’s tough, right? Because they’ve already traded JT Miller. So, the core is worse than it was 12 months ago. But then you start thinking about Elias Person bouncing back. I didn’t like the Evander Kane acquisition in terms of the price and and everything involved in it, what they paid, but I guess he’s, you know, an addition to their top nine. I don’t know. I see the Conucks and I go high floor, low ceiling, and if I’m Quinn Hughes, you know, maybe just the familiarity with that group and, you know, having a chance to win is enough to resign when he’s eligible next July. But also, there’s a reason why I put a question mark there where it’s does Quinn look around and go, “Is this really what you’re trying to do to keep me around?” And that’s no offense to, you know, Thatcher Demco who could have a massive season coming up if he’s healthy. You know, this guy’s a top 10 goalie when he’s not hurt.
He could be the starter for Team USA at the Olympics.
Yep. And I like the Brock Besser contract in terms of the the actual dollars spent. Um,
at the end of the day, this is a team that everything went wrong for last year and they had 90 points. Yeah.
Right. So they’re they’re a couple wins away from still being a wild card team. Obviously a lot of the season JT Miller was a part of that and he was a big part of a lot of their wins. But
yeah, they need a second line center at this point.
Yes. Obviously I can’t believe they let PS go for $4 million. Crazy.
Um are we good? Vegas. Yeah, Vegas. This is probably my favorite one that I came up with. Uh Vegas get rich or die trying.
Nice. One of my favorite uh alltime 50cent album. But basically, uh, I think what I think with the Vegas Golden Knights is they got that taste of the cup right out the gate. And ever since they’re like, “Oh, we need more. We need more.” And year in and year out, they bring in the big fish. They get Jack Eel. They get Mark Stone, Thomas Hurdle, Petrangela. Like, the list goes on and on. And now they get Mitch Martin. You just assume at some point after taking all of these swings at all of the big names, they’re going to fizzle out and they’re not going to have the ability to keep doing it. And what do they do? like they get by far and away the biggest free agent um of this of this off seasonason. So until until I don’t I don’t really know until they’re this run that they’ve had of like elite players coming in uh runs out like they’re just going to continue to add and add and add. We’ll see what happens with the they’re trying to soften the the little loophole that the the Golden Knights coin themselves it feels like. So we’ll see what happens with that. But I mean, this is a team that like year in and year out it feels like for the next at least 5 years, too. Like they’re just going to continue to contend and contend. And I think I wouldn’t be surprised if they slip another cup in there in the next little bit.
I mean, the free agents are always going to want to sign in Vegas. They just might never be a draft and develop team. And with the cap going up, that might just become the reality of the NHL is there’s draft and develop teams.
Let everybody else draft and develop.
Spend all your money on the players other teams develop. Exactly.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. All righty. uh from a team that is consistently we expect to be at the top two. A team that surprised last year in the Washington Capitals was last season a fluke going into last season. Even though they made the playoffs and everyone was like they had a great summer, we dropped them out of the playoff picture and instead they completely flipped the script and go out and be the top seed in the Eastern Conference. And I think the playoffs kind of played out the way everyone expected where they look good against Montreal for the most part and then fizzle out in the second round. Was last season a fluke built around the excitement of Alex Ovuchetkin and a first season of Pierre Luke Dubois and the success of their goalending and Jacob Chin looking good and all these pieces that they brought in really kind of finding their groove and excelling. Alex Pro having this big breakout season. How much of that repeats? How much of that improves? How much of that regresses to the mean? All of those coming together. Is this a team that is going to contend at top the East again? Is this a team that is going to be battling for the second wild card? I could see either of those scenarios happening again. And as we mentioned earlier, the Nick Eers’s question mark is still out there. If they land him, I think that changes um the the flukiness going into next season again by adding a big piece there. I like what they’ve done in terms of, as we’ve kind of mentioned throughout the this episode, rebuilding on the fly in terms of taking these high upside draft picks in terms of a Cole Hudson looking great and Andrew Crystalall being a guy that could step into the lineup next season, guys like that. But at the end of the day, the NHL roster is the focus point. And was it a fluke? Because I think a lot of us all season last year was like, “This is kind of fluky, like what what does this team seem really?” And I think going into next season, if they do it again, then it’s not a fluke. But I think at least for me still, I’m I’m still undecided and and unconvinced of this Washington Capitals team, which is a little bit crazy to say after they were literally the top seed in the Eastern Conference last season. I I wish there was a way to quantify the the the vibes in that locker room all last season. Like if you could put it on a piece of paper and be like, “Yeah, uh the goal chase all season and them being like the the hot team in the league, that added 10 points to their to their season.” Number one vibes team in the league last year.
Far and away. And I it really did contribute to them winning so many games. And I they’re going to take a step back this year. I would almost say for sure. And people are going to be wondering why. It honestly just might be the spirit in the locker room.
Yeah. No. And I I think they they should still have a really good shot to make the playoffs. They are a good very they’re a very good team honestly. Uh they might not be a great team. They might not be a cup contender, but they’re building the right way. It’s just the question I think with them is like what is the actual ceiling as a team at
wide range of outcomes for this team.
100%. Uh last team on this list, we’ll finish up here. The Winnipeg Jets.
Is this the last dance?
Good way to end it. What do we have?
Al Conor is a pending UFA as are 11 other players on their roster
and a couple RFAs. Dylan Samberg’s a pending UFA. Cole Perfetti is pending RFA. I I’m honestly worried about the Winnipeg Jets because with cap going up like they don’t have a ton of money in that market to really like spend to the limit to compete with everyone. They’re obviously going to have to overpay to keep guys like Connor and these guys around because that’s just the reality of Winnipeg as a market. But I don’t know how they really could survive a true outand-out rebuild. And I think this core definitely is good enough to be top three in the Central, but they’ve never shown that they’re good enough to compete for a cup really like they just haven’t gotten there. And uh obviously the guy that’s held them back just won a heart trophy and his another Vzna and that’s Connor Halibuck. But my question is this the last dance for Winnipeg? Well, I guess it depends on how you define Last Dance because you’re still going to have Hella Buck and Shely like they’re locked up long term, but a lot of those other players, you know, Eer’s guy who’s who’s on his way out, right? Like that’s a guy who’s been there forever. And
yeah, does Kyle Connor smell uh you know, some some dollar bills come July one? Maybe. Like he’s going to be a hot commodity and maybe Yeah, he’s an American. Maybe he wants to go somewhere else. I don’t know. Uh Jets fans, please please hold off. Um
I hope Connor stays in Winnipeg. I really do because I think they’re a fun team to watch. I just think it’s it’s tough to keep all of your players. So, you look at every Canadian market and they’ve all lost their guys, right? Like Toronto just lost Marner, like Calgary lost Kachchuck and Gdro. Like it just happens. And with Winnipeg, it’s like if can they survive losing to Kyle Connor? Like
and and to that point, like we talk so much about contract efficiency and things like that, but for a team specifically like Winnipeg, when you have those guys, you need to pay to keep them. and and I don’t really care what the number comes in for a guy like Kyle Connor. If you want to be a competitive team long term, you need to pay up for a guy like that. So, I’m fascinated to see how that and Dylan Samberg and a lot of those guys play out. Um because I don’t think I would go as far as saying it’s the last dance because you’ve got guys as you mentioned Shley, Halleuck, Josh Morsy seems like a guy who’s going to be there a long time. you’ve got that kind of core there, but when you have, as you mentioned, so much of the supplementary pieces around that as pending free agents or pending RFAS, I like what they’ve done in the draft a little bit to maybe supplement that coming forward in the future. But you’re right, it’s not a team that’s going to be going out in July on one and and getting the top free agents or is it a team that we’ve seen literally in the last year has had trouble signing a collegiate guy and have to trade him and and figure out some stuff in terms of the prospect pool as well. So, there’s a lot playing against the Winnipeg Jets. They need to pay to keep their guys to go forward. So, I’m fascinated to see how this one plays out because you’re right where the amount of free agents they have going forwards, it’s not something I realized before today.
It would be so massive for them if they could get Connor extended this summer. Even if it cost them 13 million a year, just like just do it because how do you replace him?
You can’t you can’t replace him because nobody nobody of that caliber is signing as a free agent in Winnipeg. No offense. That’s just the reality. That’s just how how it works. Other teams will pay up to the same number that you’ll pay uh for those guys. And also like just the money there is is tough to make work as well. That’s 32 teams and that’s five words and a lot more on all those 32 teams. Uh but that was a lot of fun as was this entire year of Top Shelf fellas. We uh a lot of shows we went through and uh so big thanks to our producers Adrian and Zach who’ve been with us the entire time. and they have crushed it. Uh doing graphics and running the cameras and editing and stuff while we just get to sit up here and
our dumb spelling mistakes, etc. Yes,
we just get to sit here and talk hockey. It’s a lot of fun. Uh but it has been a lot of fun this year, fellas. And thank you guys all for tuning in uh throughout the year. We may be back maybe for a weird episode in the summer if we’re feeling it. We
We’ll figure this out. It’s a good We will be back for sure in the fall with more topshelf content. We’ll be following along. Uh, but you can follow uh John and Kyle on like on Twitter. They’ve got lots of stuff coming out there as well as uh their articles on the score. Uh me and Levi posting videos as well sometimes about hockey. We’ll see how much hockey there is to talk about this summer. Hasn’t exactly been an electric offseason so far. Uh but for all of us here at the score under the top shelf team, uh it’s been a pleasure and we’ll see you next time.

On this episode of Top Shelf, the guys serve up one big-picture thought each on all 32 NHL teams!

Hosted by: Aidan Thakkar (@Aidan_Thakkar | X)
Levi Smith (@levismithh | X)
John Matisz (@MatiszJohn | X)
Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush | X)

0:00 – Let’s get into it
1:00 – Anaheim
2:20 – Boston
4:10 – Buffalo
5:45 – Calgary
9:00 – Carolina
11:20 – Chicago
14:30 – Colorado
15:57 – Columbus
17:55 – Dallas
20:30 – Detroit
22:05 – Edmonton
23:58 – Florida
25:32 – Los Angeles
28:50 – Minnesota
29:45 – Montreal
32:10 – Nashville
34:10 – New Jersey
35:46 – NY Islanders
37:05 – NY Rangers
38:40 – Ottawa
40:00 – Philadelphia
41:20 – Pittsburgh
43:10 – San Jose
44:00 – Seattle
45:10 – St Louis
47:38 – Tampa Bay
49:45 – Toronto
53:30 – Utah
55:50 – Vancouver
57:35 – Vegas
59:00 – Washington
1:01:39 – Winnipeg
1:05:00 – See Ya Next Year

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