Watching Hockey: The Hockey Guy

Watching Hockey: The Hockey Guy

Always great to be joined by the hockey guy here on the YouTube channel. And let’s talk about free agency. We’re about a month into it. So, things have happened, things have settled down. We can establish who did what and when. What are the biggest headlines that you take away from this summer’s free agency? Um, I mean, technically it was a trade before free agency, but the Marner move is huge. Uh, I would say that Eer’s going to Carolina, that’s that’s a big boost for them at both ends of the ice. I think u those would be the two biggest headlines I would think from free agency and maybe we’ll get another trade or something before training camp. That’ll be a big headline. But it’s been quiet lately. Yeah, it went from the day before the deadline or the day before, sorry, things opening up to being really busy and then it kind of had its own pace and now obviously it’s gone quiet for a little bit. Uh you mentioned Marner to Vegas and the Golden Knights. They won the Pacific Division last year. Everybody kind of forgot about that because Edmonton got to the Western final and got to the cup final. But adding Mitch Mner, does that instantly make the Golden Knights a favorite again to win the division or you got to throw Edmonton in that same mix, too, right? You know, it’s it’s going to be tough with Vegas. I I do see a lot of people talking about Marner’s points totals in the playoffs and all this, but last I looked, Mner during his era in Toronto was their highest points producer. I know people are disappointed in how Toronto’s performed come playoff time, but I think the move to Vegas is going to make him better. I think the idea of him being on a line with Eel is just terrifying. And I I think Vegas is going to be very very difficult to keep out of first place. I don’t think Edmonton got better in the off season so far either. So I I think Vegas has got to be the favorite to win it again. You know, this being an Olympic season, we haven’t had it in quite some time. We have had breaks like last year and four nations was its certain time off in February, but um you know a large period three plus weeks off for all the NHL teams. It’s been a while. So how do we recall how this goes in a season? Clearly the games are condensed before and after then. But what does it mean for all the teams to fit in this break? It it’s uh it definitely helps down the stretch because there’ll be a lot more players who are dealing with injury that are going to have that time off that they need. The interesting part is going to be jet lag because they’re going over to Europe. They’re coming back. That jet lag is going to be brutal both ways. I know there’s time off before and after, but it will be interesting to see if players who play in the Olympics are more worn out after. Like I don’t think it’ll be for nations worn out where we saw both Kachchucks hurt, right? But I I I will be interested to see if it knocks some guys off their game and how many players really appreciate that break. I would think veterans like, you know, Tavvarz in Toronto, um, guys like that who maybe don’t go to the Olympics are good players. Maybe that extra time off is really going to help them heal up mid-season. Yeah. And to your point, I’m also interested in seeing just who makes these Olympic teams and then which teams NHL teams they’re from and and how that impacts things. The league in terms of a business like the NHL from all accounts seems to be doing quite well. Um, revenue, attendance, ratings, all of the above. The NHL is kind of going through a pretty good period right now. Shannon, how do how do you see that part of it? I I think the NHL is doing really well. I know people focus a lot on the the the the ratings uh come playoff time and sometimes you’ll see them down a bit because people don’t tune in for Florida as much. Yeah. Right. But by all accounts, and I haven’t seen confirmation of this, it sounds like this year’s revenues are going to be around 7 billion for the league. uh it may not be in the realm of say NBA, NFL or Major League Baseball, but I mean I found articles from four years ago on the NHL passing the five billion mark and how big that was seen. So it has been remarkable growth and I I do think that will continue. Um I I still think there are things that like ESPN and TNT could probably do a little better on the US side of things to get people tuning in, but it it’s been a success so far. looking at Gavin McKenna, who is likely to be the next number one overall pick in the draft next summer, but in the meantime, he’s committed to going to Penn State. And I just think what a change of of landscape it is for college hockey to have players have the ability to go to NCAA colleges. Also, the NIL ability, the name, image, and likeness, uh, monetization of being a college athlete these days, boy, it really has boosted college hockey, hasn’t it? Yes. And on on this side of the border with the Canadian Hockey League, which is WHL, OHL, and Quebec League, um it will be interesting to see how they respond because also in the new CBA, teams are going to be allowed to have one 19year-old in their American Hockey League system. So, between top players potentially going to the NCAA where they play against men, they’re going to be more NHL ready, I would think, coming out of that situation, plus top players maybe playing in the AHL. It’ll be interesting to see how things balance out. it is really going to help the NCAA a lot. Uh, and anything that increases hockeyy’s exposure at the NCAA level should also carry over then to the NHL. I think you and I last season talked about Alexander Ovetchkin and just wondering if he could continue the pace, if he would break the record last season versus this upcoming season. He did it. So, I guess now kind of the question is, will this be his final season? I do believe it’s his final one under contract. I think he turns 40 in September. How do you see this going for Obie? It’s It’s going to be interesting to see how he handles it because there’s always been that discussion that he wanted to finish out his career potentially in the KHL. Yeah. That he would finish out with the Caps and maybe he’d want to finish things out in the KHL. Not dissimilar from like Backstrom deciding he’s going to sign in the Swedish league recently, right? Just less than a week ago. So I I think with Ovetkin it it I think it’s going to depend on how much more competitiveness there is now that he’s passed Gretzky. Does he want to go to a thousand? Does he want to target 950 and see if he can pass that mark or is he satisfied with where he’s at? I know he’s talked too about wanting to spend time with his family and his kids. Completely understandable. Um I I would say he probably does call it quits in the National Hockey League at the end of this upcoming season. I I feel like that’s probably what’s going to happen, but it’s it may very well depend on how he starts the year. Maybe he puts up 10 goals in the first 10 games and goes, “Hey, I got a shot of a thousand.” Yeah. Uh it’s it’s hard to know, but uh it’s it’s fun to watch. She’s already done so many things and obviously we’re we’re excited for him for whatever happens.

Brodie Brazil and The Hockey Guy chat about everything happening around the league as prep continues for the 2025-26 season.