I know that some in our audience know the finer points of hockey. The Chris Johnston Show. We are your friends. The biggest stories bringing you inside the game. What did you hear? The Chris Johnston Show. What is going on? Here's Chris with your host, Julian McKenzie.

Part of the game. Cj, it is silly season. Rumors and trade talk and speculation running wild and rampant. The CJ Show, of course, is the to clear through all the mush and get to what's right. I have a list of players. I would love to know what you're hearing on them. And we're going to start with a player we casually mentioned at the end of last episode. And you ended up writing something on him for The Athletic. What are you hearing right now about Edmonton Oilers forward, Leon Dreisaitl?

Well, it's certainly the biggest piece of business Edmonton has to take care of this summer after their game seven loss in the Stanley Cup maybe could become one of the biggest story lines in the NHL. I think that depends on how things play out. Really, the situation is this. Leon Dreisaitl is eligible for Unrestricted for Agency next summer. That means he's eligible to sign an extension in Edmonton as of Monday, July first. I think depending on how things materialize here, this could turn into a situation where Edmonton is perhaps having to look at trading him. At this point, look, the champagne still hasn't dried in the dressing room. Down in Florida, where the Panthers won that series. Edmondson just flew back home Tuesday. They're doing some exit meetings this week. They're not in a spot where they dug into this one just yet, but Leon Dysital holds all the cards here. It's no mystery or it won't become as a surprise to you to learn that the oilers badly want to keep the number two player on the roster behind Connor McDavid. I think that they're willing to extend themselves pretty far financially to do it.

It's up to him whether he wants to explore those contract discussions now or not. This looms as a massive storyline, I think, either way, because from what I can gather, Julian, I don't get the sense that Edmonton has much appetite to walk him into his final year. If he is reluctant this summer to sign a contract extension, it's easy to say there's no chance they would do that, but I don't think it's their preference to do that. Just because this time next year, we'll be having the same discussion about Connor McDavid, and I think there is some sensitivity to the possibility if you leave things unresolved with dry cycle and you go in all again next year, then next summer, there's a world where maybe he's walking away for nothing, and then you've got to try to convince Connor McDavid. It's a good idea for him to lock in long term. Whereas if dry cycle, and I really have to stress this is an if, these discussions haven't got going yet because the season only ended on June 24th for the oilers late at night on the other part of the continent. There hasn't really been an opportunity to get into these discussions at a high level.

But if dry cycle isn't looking to stay right now or sign some extension, I think they have to explore the trade market. He does have a limited no trade clause, rather, But there is an ability for them to trade him to half the league. If he's not sure he wants to stay, I think the loilers have to do everything they can to get the best assets back to convince Connor McDavid a year from now that even in a world that include not Leon Driesen at all as his teammate, that there's a path for him to still win a Championship and keep that window open in Edmonton. At this stage, we're framing where things might go and what might happen. But there's just not tangible enough information or action yet to dictate where this goes. But my goodness, the fact that it hang so quickly after the season. I'll say this, the NHL schedulemaker did neither the Florida Panthers nor the Edmonton Oilers any favors by having a cup that goes to June 24th because quite naturally, their focus has been all on what's happening on the ice, giving themselves a chance to chase a championship, even one team that wins one.

Now there's some big business decision that that have to come in a matter of days. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the league is already well into its planning. Quite frankly, I think it's tampering season around the NHL. I think there's a lot of free agent deals already baked in, whereas teams like Edmonton and Florida, obviously, just haven't been to do that business because they've been focused on the games they've been playing until this week.

I can totally understand if you don't have an answer to this question yet, but do you have any sense on where Leon Dreisaitl at his camp might be leaning towards in this situation, whether it's resigning or looking to test the market?

I have zero sense, to be honest. Dreisaitl was pretty open during the year. He did an interview with Mark Specter of Sportsnet in January where he talked about the affinity he felt for Edmonton, his desire to want to get the job done for that team, obviously came within one goal or two goals, depending on how you look at it, one win of doing that alongside Connor McDavid, Zack Hyman, and Evan Bouchard, the rest of the oilers. But I don't know how, but he also mentioned in that interview that there's lots of things you have to consider. He's got to talk to his family. He's got to consider lifestyle things. I don't think there's any sense that he doesn't like Edmondton or anything like that, but this is a big He'll be turning 30 pretty soon into when this extension would start. I would expect it to be a seven or eight-year extension, basically maximum length or pretty close to it. This is the contract that will take him through the last of his best remaining years as a NHL player. He has to decide where does he want to do that? Is there anything else that's in the back of his mind that he'd want to play?

Does he want to be the frontline, frontline guy? Obviously, with playing with Carter McDavid, he's always going to be... I'm not that he's second fiddle. I mean, look at the numbers of guys, about 500 point seasons, 350 goals plus seasons, had a really strong playoff until getting injured. I think that slowed down his production lead in this playoff run. But there's a lot for him to work through. I don't know how getting so close and not quite getting over the top might or might not affect his thinking, but I would think that there's going to be some soul searching. I know the way the oilers are viewing this is that this doesn't have to happen in the next week. I mean, July first is the first day he can sign extension, but that's not a deadline. That's the starting period for where I think discussions can pick up and they can work through it. I would think that this is going to play out over many weeks, maybe even a month or more, before there's clarity there. Ultimately, I think Leon has to decide what he wants to do because this is his last best chance, probably to sign a big contract, to set up where his next years are going to be, to figure out what he wants from his career.

I can't imagine any of this hurt. It was unreal. I know you were in Edmonton. Just seeing the excitement around that city, how close the team got. They've got some other decisions. Obviously, they've got UFAs like any team, so there's going to be a certain amount of turnover, but there's no reason to predict. The oilers' key pieces are in place. You've got McDavid for two more years. You've got Hyman's sign. Stuart Skinner is still coming into his own. There's a deal that Evan Bouchard is going to have to be seen, but he's a restricted free agent when his new contract is due. I think that The main pieces are in place. I have to believe Leon Dresset thinks he can win a cup in Edmonton because of how close they just were. I don't think the window is closed by any stretch, but there's this lifestyle and family and all these other things that go into those decisions. We have to wait and see where Leon winds up. I think that's where the oilers are at. They're waiting for him, too. Obviously, they just want to sign him. I don't think that the oilers are exploring trades for him.

It's just more if he doesn't want to sign, I don't think they have any other choice because they are worried about the so-called double whammy that could happen where if Leon leaves and they don't make a trade for him, that maybe Connor McDavid could be leaving. Obviously, that would be catastrophic for... I mean, the window would slam shut if that was the scenario that played out. And so this is going to be a fascinating one this offseason. I'm sure we're not done talking about it.

Oh, man. I mean, look, obviously, you would know more than me. I don't see it getting to that point where he gets moved, but We're talking about one of the biggest offseason stories ever. If it gets to a point where Leon Dreisider, who's still a top five player in this league, somehow ends up on the move. That is definitely going to be a story we'll be monitoring here on the CJ show. But we have to underline- I don't know if you have any- Go ahead, please.

This is different than some other players. In the last few years, we've seen Boston take David Pasternack into his last year. Last season, it was William Nielander in Toronto. It could be Mitch Marner this coming season in players that go into the last year. But Edmonton's a different place. The oilers are very realistic that they're not probably going to be a top destination for free agents. They have to keep their own and build their own. I don't think they can be as casual or I don't think they can spin the dice and just be like, Well, let's hope maybe he changes his mind in January. I think at some point, they will need a decision. Again, that's still a ways in the future I think that they can be a little bit patient given the season. Everyone's got to process what just happened and take a breath and really start to look ahead because they've been so locked in the moment through this playoff run. But I don't think they can leave it unresolved into October. Again, it's not 100% chance they don't, but I think it's very likely it's going to come to a head at some point this summer.

Either are you signing? What does this contract look like? Let's start planning that way. Or if you're reluctant to do so, then we got to weigh our options and see what else we can do.

Anything else you're hearing on some of the other pending UFAs in Edmonton?

Not a whole lot. They have a group of them, right? Connor Brown, Matias Janmark, guys, actually played very well for them in the Cup final. Cory Perry, Warren Fogel, Vincent D'Harnay, who was in and out of the lineup in the playoffs. I think that they want to keep about three or four of those guys, but it's all going to come down to what the contract expectations if they can get to work on it. Frankly, those decisions, just by nature of the fact, they can all be free agents as a Monday, that's what these next few days are, as the oilers now go through their exit meetings. Obviously, you have a chance for Jeff Jackson to start having those discussions in a meaningful way with the agents for those players. But I do think they want to retain some of those guys, but only at a certain price. That's where a team like Edmonton, and I'm sure you're going to start asking me about Florida's UFA is not long after this. It's an a natural segue. They are really at a disadvantage with the schedule because obviously every other team that played their last game, whether it was a month ago, two months ago, even two weeks ago, has had a chance to get through those discussions.

There was no point in having them during the Cup final because even if the oilers talk to the agents for those players, they knew the agents were going to go to the player in the middle of the Cup final. Hey, let's have a call between games three and four to weigh your options. I mean, it's just not something you can do. And so it's such a rush job now to see what they can get done. But certainly, I know Edmondon likes a lot of those players, and they're open to keep them.

Okay. You are right. My natural segue was to go to the Florida Panthers, specifically with Sam Reinhardt. You talk about the champagne not even being dry in the Florida locker room. You guys didn't even let him get off the ice after he won the Stanley Cup before you were asking about his future in which he said that he very much wants to stay in Florida. What's next with him?

Well, I think Florida does have an advantage being a team that can offer him an eight-year deal, whereas the open market, of course, will only yield seven. I think that they put a pretty substantial offer in front of him for his camp already. This one feels more reading the tea leaves. I think there's certainly a point where Florida will walk away because they have to be smart. But I believe Sam Reinhardt, when he says, I want to stay, and when he's on the cup and saying, I think he said something along the lines of this is the best place in the league to play. Obviously, he's been part of that team making its rise and reaching the Cup final now in two straight years, winning the first Championship this year. If he looks around and his teammates are driving golf cards to the practice rink, they have a lot of their key pieces signed. It would be pretty hard to walk away from that. I will never say never, but I do think if I had to say what the most likely outcome in my sense is that he It will stay, I think it's way more likely that Brandon Montour will hit the open market just because of what he can get out there.

I'm hearing things like seven times seven or maybe even a little bit more than that for Brandon Montour. It's hard to imagine Florida giving him that money just because they signed Gustave-Forzling to an eight-year 5.75 million dollar deal in March. Teams end up getting internal structures. It'd be hard for me to imagine that they're going to give Montour that much of a delta above what they're paying Forzling, especially given that Forzling was their top defenseman throughout these playoffs in the season. So I think when handicapping the situations in Florida, I think Reinhardt does a good chance he stays, whereas Montour, as He had a pretty nice celebration on the ice, but the opportunities ahead of him are pretty lucrative and I think would be difficult to pass up at this stage of his career.

I have to double check this. I believe the Panthers parade is either Sunday or Monday, and a handful of guys in that parade Sunday. Okay, so they'll at least have... Well, still, that's so close to the free agent period starting, and all of those decisions for Bill Zetel to deal with. What a wild situation.

I mean, it's unusual. Obviously, Every team that wins a Cup, usually players, and sometimes marquee players, are hitting the market. But usually there's two weeks of partying first, not five days, partying with the old teammates. But I think everyone gets it. I mean, look, it's a business at the end of the day, and It's not like the Panthers don't like Montour and Montour doesn't love Florida. I think it's just at a certain point when the money gets to a level, there's just no way around the fact that players got to make the best decision for him and his family. I don't think there'll be any hard feelings at that parade. I think most of Montour's teammates will be happy to see him get the bag somewhere else. But it just feels as though that's where that's likely headed. Look, there's other guys Oliver Ekman-Larson, played very well for Florida in the playoffs. He's really resuscitated his career with this year in Florida. He told me on the ice, he had about five or six options in free agency last year. He went to Florida. He's like, I made the right choice. But he signed a one-year deal.

It was a bit of a prove-it situation for him after the way things ended for him in Vancouver. But I think you're going to see him getting three-and four-year offers on the open market. It's not to say that he's leaving Florida, but there's It's a very real opportunity or possibility of that. And so, man, in a Cap League, with this schedule, it's brutal. Savor those players while you have them because five days, six days later, you're going to be seeing them pull on another team's sweater.

We're going to We're going to talk more about the Cup final a little later in the show. And for the Leifs contingent of people who listen, yes, we're going to have a Leifs corner. We still have a few more names to go through on what CJ is hearing. How about Jake Gensel? Obviously, went from Pittsburgh to Carolina. Carolina. I saw Josh Yohe's article in The Athletic saying there might be a small chance he might want to come back to Pittsburgh, but it seems like he is going to test the open market.

I wouldn't go that far, actually. I think that there's still a couple of days here before July first, and my sense is Carolina is still very much interested in retaining Gensel, similar to how I was talking about Sam Reinhardt, they could get to an eight-year offer for Gensel, which obviously no other team can, which is by virtue of the way the rules work. Let's let this play out a little bit more. I mean, for Genzel, it's a tough choice because he didn't choose to be traded to Carolina per se. That's just the way things went down at the deadline. He had a very productive time there. I think he liked his time there. But you've played this far and you're this close to free agency. Don't you want to at least peek into the open market, see what else might be out there, maybe choose your own destination? But at the same time, the hurricanes who have a lot of balls in the air with Pesce and Shay as free agents with table to Irvaina as a free with Martin Natches on the trade market. A lot of turnover coming in Carolina, but I do think the hurricanes are going to make a strong pitch still to retain Jake Hensel.

We'll have to see where that goes. If he hits the open market, I think Pittsburgh makes sense. There's been a lot to talk about Vancouver. I wonder about a team like Tampa. Someone whispered in my ear that maybe in a world, potentially, if Steven Stamkos is moving on, which is not clear yet, but that Gensel could be a replacement there. Jake Gensel is going to have a ton of options if he gets to July first and decides to test the market. But I'm not at a point where I'm ready to rule out the hurricanes as a possible spot where he may, in fact, stay.

Well, I mean, Jelsy, We got to throw Detroit in there, too, and you could put that for Gensel or for Stephen Stamkos. You, Metric Stamkos, made me think about the Detroit Trade yesterday in which Jake Wallman made the move to San Jose. Still wondering why they would do that, CJ. Why would Detroit make that?

It's obvious why they're doing it. They're clearing out cap space. What isn't obvious is how they intend to use that cap space. But to trade Jake Wallman, who was a top six player for them last year, to staple a second round pick to him as a sweetener to induce or entice the sharks to take him. At this point in time, at full freight, there was no salary retained there. There's some whispers now as the bio period is set to begin officially on Thursday in the NHL, it's going to be very small. Again, usually the buyout window last 10 days or 12 days, depending on when the cup ends. This is all going to be a race between Thursday and Sunday where we're going to get buyouts, but there's some talk that the Red Wings might look to execute a buyout or two in this window. Clearly, they're clearing out space to be players. It could be both the trade market and the free agent market. I would think there's a lot of reason. If Stamco sits July first, I could see a lot of reasons why that would be a fit for him and for them.

Obviously, a long history of working with Steve Isom and the Red Wings GM who was in Tampa for so long, pretty close to his hometown. Probably a team that I think Stamkos and a lot of players would look at as, Okay, maybe this is a team I can win a Cup with in a couple of years' time, that they're building in the right direction. Clearly, they're being quite aggressive. They also traded a player they took in the second round last year to Nashville on Tuesday. Or was that Wednesday? What day is today? Today is Wednesday. On Tuesday, they traded a player that they selected in the second round and flipped them to Nashville to get the pick that they stapled to Wallman. I mean, Stevie Y is cooking there in Detroit, and we should very much keep our eyes on that situation because obviously, it's a precursor to further move or moves to come. There's been some talk that maybe the Red Wings would look at John Gibson as an option, which is interesting. I mean, Gibson's name has been on the trade market, I'd say, for at least a year, if not two. Anaheim has Lucas Dostal, who just won the The gold medal for Chechee at the World Hockey Championship had a nice season for the Ducks, and I think is clearly their goal of the future.

It would be a way to clear some money off the books for them, but also perhaps to clear out some spots for Dostal to have more starts Moving forward. I think at this stage of John Gibson's career, he's been a workhorse for the Ducks over the years, but he's been there through some long years with some poor and poorest defensive teams in front of him. I can only imagine he'd be at a stage where he'd welcome a chance to go play for team with higher aspirations in the short term. There's a lot going on out there. It's been such a weird goalie market, too. We've already seen four goal tenders traded. The carousel is swinging. I have a new trade board coming out for the athletic today. In the top 10 or 15, I don't have it right in front of me, you've got Philip Gustafson, the goal tender in Minnesota. You've got Tristan Jari, whose name is out there. You've got Gibson on that list. Uc Sarras is a little lower. I'm not sure that Nashville is going to move in, but there's a lot swinging behind the scenes. I think that's tied to the fact that free agency doesn't have the front line top of the rotation starters available so much.

Anyway, I'm going in all directions here, Julian. Focus me, young man.

Linas Ulmark, who was just traded to the Ottawa senators, had a little Zoom avail with media today. I He said, really interesting from him, Ottawa was not on his list of teams in his no trade clause, so he had no problem going to the Ottawa senators. But what about an extension for him?

You can't rule it out. I think that both he and the team are comfortable letting this one breathe a little bit, let him get situated in the city. One thing about O'Mark is it's been described to me that he's a a quiet family man type of person. I think he's mindful of getting his family in the best possible position. Maybe that's why a place like Ottawa could be appealing. It's certainly a great place to live. Again, a team that if they get things right, they should be on the up because a lot of their players are in the right window where you expect them to get better. If that ends up being a good fit, if he has a good year, if it works for him from a family perspective, I would certainly think he would look at staying there because I do think on the surface, it makes a lot of sense. But no one is rushing into that either the team or him. The senators were comfortable making the deal knowing that they've got to win them over a little bit, too. Obviously, they want to see what they have in him as well.

There's some risk in that trade. Obviously, Unis Corpusalo had a difficult year there in Ottawa, but with them retaining 25%, look, I don't pretend to know goalies. Goalies are voodoo to me a little bit. It's hard to... You could just see who's stopping the buck and who's not. But I had someone I trust in the goalie world say that he believes that Corpusalo is a pretty good bet to have a rebound, especially playing behind Swayman. You would expect he's more of a 30-game guy in that situation. He was saying that Adalmark may regress. On the surface, I think a lot of people are saying, Wow, Boston only got that, but they did get a first-round pick, and they may have got a goal tender who gives them a pretty capable number two option while getting rid of Walmart a year before he could have left in free agency anyway. In the moment, sometimes the way we react to these trades, it looks a little different 6 or 12 months later. Let's see how this one goes. I was of the mind, like many You're like, Oh, wow, this is a no-brainer for Ottawa. But you have to remember that Bruins team that Allmark played behind, pretty stout defensive team.

You had three really strong years there. But it's a different animal what he's stepping to in Ottawa, where I think that they're still looking to solidify themselves defensively to a certain degree. But he's probably going to be facing a little different and more frequent quality of shots than he did in his last stop.

Okay. What about Jeff Skinner? It looks as if his time in Buffalo will come to an end.

Yeah, he's been out there in the trade market with, obviously, Buffalo preferring to deal him away if possible rather than going to buy-out option. He does have a no-movement clause, so that's It's a difficult trade to execute. A no-movement clause doesn't prevent a player from being bought out. The expectation is very strongly that either way, his time in Buffalo is going to end, and it might be imminent now with this buyout period opening on Thursday and the savers so far not being able to move on from them. That would make sense if you're in Jeff Skinner's camp. I mean, unless you're really getting traded somewhere you know 100% you want to play, why not just not waive the no move? You get bought out, you get paid 66% of what you're remaining I think it's a reasonable bet. Then you become an unrestricted free agent. You get to choose your next home and you can probably make up the 34 or 33.33, 33% of your contract that is lost in the buyout with the next contract. I would expect here, as much as we have the free agent lists and we've had a free agent board already go out, we're going to see a number of names added to that board because there's going to be buyouts, and then there's also qualifying offers due to restricted free agents on Sunday.

I think as in the past year, as team There'll be some surprisingly good players that become UFAs because they didn't get qualified by their team. That usually happens in a case where a team is a little nervous about what a player might get in arbitration. Teams don't like to go to Typically with players, obviously, players don't like that process either. It can be nasty, and you're leaving it up to a third party, in this case, the arbitrator, to dictate what the next contract looks like. But in these next few days, Jeff Skinner, I would be one I would expect will be added, but possibly a few others to the number of free agents that are available.

Next on the list, Oliver Shillington. I tried to do some digging in this for myself. It seems as if both sides, between the Flames and Shillington, are still trying to discuss a contract. I think a lot of fans are wondering why it's taken a bit of time. What insight have you heard?

I haven't heard a lot on this file, to be honest. The reason it's taken a bit of time is because he can be a UFA, right? Even when you've had the situation that Shillington has and obviously hasn't played a lot in recent years and last season, he still has a chance to go and sign with any other team if the Flames don't give him the offer he wants. And so that That's decidedly in the player's favor, I would say. The team can try to play hard, Paul, or what have you, but I don't have a whole lot. I didn't realize we were going to talk about him. But to be honest, I don't know a whole lot about the specifics of his situation. But a team has to compel you not to become a free agent when you get this close to July first. We've seen a few do that. Just on this day, Liam O'Brien signed a three-year extension with Utah, which obviously played last season in Arizona. He signs his deal. Dylan Demelos signed a four-year contract in Winnipeg when he could have been a UFA. He got a pretty good premium. He got 4.9 million against the cap, which probably wasn't necessarily going to be out there in free agency.

I don't think it's personal when you get to this point, but if you're Shillington or any other, your UFA, if you're Tyler Myers in Vancouver, it sounds like Tyler is a good bet now not to stay with the Knux. I know he wanted to, but it doesn't sound like the talks that they've had have been productive towards getting a deal. When it's only a few days away, what's a few more days to see what the market might be out there for you? I would think Shillington, that sums up where he's at is just the flames have to give him a reason to stay. That would be probably security and money that they might not be willing to give out at this point in time because they're also looking at the markets and saying, Well, we have other options, if not you.

If I'm a betting man, I think he ends up staying just because I know the flames are ultimately going to need defensemen. In any way. I don't see it getting to a point where it drags on for a really long time, but we'll have to wait and see on that one, Siege. Anything else from any of the pending UFAs or anything you're hearing? We're trying to get that out now.

I mean, there's a lot swirling around. Detroit is a situation a lot of people are obviously focused on. I've heard the Rangers are trying to move a defenseman, maybe perhaps to set up... A lot of the reasons the trade has happened now, it's because the draft is here, so teams like to get a pick that can make right away. It's also because for agencies coming, and sometimes it's clearing money out, which I think explains a trade like the Jake Wallman deal Detroit made. I think the Rangers are looking at a similar type of move, one of I mean, a lot of talk that Jacob Truba could be the odd man out there, not because he's disliked or anything, but he's almost a luxury at this point in time. They have Adam Fox and Braden Schneider, who are also right shots who play above him. Truba is making $8 million in the cap. Do you really want to have that much money invested in what is effectively a third pair defenseman for them at this point. He also has a contract that's a no move clause, but it becomes a 15 team, no trade on July first, on Monday.

I think that there's also that dynamic. That's something to keep an eye on. Carolina, I think, is going to be a very active team just because of the number of free agency potentially of walking out the door, plus the nature's trade that they continue to work on. The Jets, we have to see what happens in Winnipeg with the Rutger McRordy situation. Also, Nikola Euler is his name. Being out there with him one year out from potential unrespected free agency. It's always about the leaves around here, I guess. You like the pin at leaves corner. Important week for them where We'll get a little clarity, I would think, with Brad Treeling speaking to the media later today on where things exactly stand with Mitch Marner, how he plans to approach revamping his blue line. I think that they'll be looking for two right shots in free agency or maybe trying to get one by a trade, but certainly adding two more right shot defensemen to their group here in the next week or so. I don't even know what else, man. My phone's been on fire since I got to Vegas here late last night. I'm just going stream of consciousness right now, but That's some of what I've been hearing.

Obviously, we'll keep you. I don't know when we'll do our next show. Maybe there'll be an emergency pot if something big enough necessitates it with us both once you get down here to Vegas this week. But yeah, it's a great time of year. If you like Transactions, this is a very compact and crazy week. I don't know how many trades we'll see. There's obviously going to be a few more. I think sometimes we overhyped the trades at the draft, but certainly, I expect three or four trades of some level of significance, and then obviously a whole slew of more minor deals that go down, plus the buyouts, plus free agency opening. Plus, hey, there's actually a few teenagers being drafted to some teams this week, too, that are going to be players that will be worth following here for the next number of years.

Man, could you imagine if you were a draft prospect expert, too?

I'm glad I'm not. I mean, there's only so many days in the week. I'm happy to leave that to the Scott Wheelers and Cory Prodman's of the world. Bob McKenzie still puts out his definitive list for TSN. Quite honestly, there will be someone selected in the top 10 that I will not know that person's name heading in. I know that's embarrassing to admit. I did meet four of the prospects during the Cup final and really nice, actually really nice kids. I'll be excited to see what becomes of them this week. But my goodness, it's quite a week in hockey this week.

Yeah, I'll be joining you in Vegas later tonight. And as you alluded to with next week, Monday, I believe that's TSN. Well, it's when everyone's going to be doing their free agent frenzy shows. So since Siege will be deep in that, don't expect a show on Monday. You'll know very soon about when our next episode is.

Did you fully get to the tank on Tuesday? I think of the tank? Tuesday makes sense. Tuesday, probably, yeah. We haven't coordinated with producer nick and you, but I would think it makes sense because so much of the action on the first day. I say Tuesday morning, we just go back on. We reset where are we at, who's left to sign, what are we hearing there, and sum up the day that was. But there's no point in doing it on July first. It'll be going to be a shit show. That's my official term for it. It was going to be a shit show.

I like that. Did you empty all that you could on leafs corner? Just want to make sure we cover that base so that way people like to since 6:0, don't come at us for not satisfying conditions of leafs corner.

Yeah. I mean, it sounds like Tyler Bertuzzi is likely to test the market at this point. Not totally clear on Max Domi. There's mixed signals there. I think that certain Certainly, Max Domi is a pending UFA. Naturally, like this time in Toronto, has a long history with the organization. I don't know that the contract talks have got to a point where there's anything to compel him to stay. He's looking for some security, right? I I would think it would take a three, maybe four-year deal at minimum to compel him to sign before July first. I don't think the door is totally closed there yet, but there's a lot of other players around. It won't surprise you to know that Chris Tana is a player of significant interest to the Leaps, given the history there with Brad true living, the fact that they were connected to him pretty prominently before he was dealt with Dallas last season. I think the Leaps are willing to get creative on a contract with Tana But even despite his age and some of his injury history, you might see him sign a longer term extension or longer term contract with wherever he lands.

That could be a way to lower the AAV slightly. Obviously, for him, it's huge security. But it's interesting that what did he sign, a four year deal when he was a free agent moving from Vancouver to Calgary? I don't think you can rule out a five or six year deal for him and for agency this time around. I think Toronto is going to of the teams that are knocking on his door, but they're far from alone. A lot of teams out there like the player, and so does the Dallas stars where he finished last season. I think they're going to try to keep upping their efforts to sign him as well. That's someone to watch for the Leaps. In goal, it sounds like Kevin Weeks first reported that there's a year out, an extension in the offering for Joseph Wall. That would just be a pure bet at this point. If that ends up coming in a three or four year deal, a year out from when he's actually his contract expires, that's betting that it's smarter to sign him and give him that security now, give him peace of mind, and that the best is yet to come for a guy who's had some pretty big highs, I'd say, like his top end in Toronto has been very enticing, but obviously dealt with some injury issues, wasn't able to play game seven against Boston.

It's something the organization wants to get to the bottom of. In terms of free agents, I think Laurent Boisoy and Anthony Stollars are two players that that the Leaps are looking at quite prominently to maybe be run in tandem with WAL next season. On the blue line, Matthew Roy is someone that they have some interest in. I don't think Sean Walker maybe is as much of a fit. I don't think Peshe's a fit to the same degree, but we'll have to see where the dominoes fall. You go into July first with a plan, and then everyone's in somewhere else, then you got to alter the plan. The fact that the Leaps need two defensemen, I'm sure in a perfect world for them, it's like Tana and Roy, but the world might not be perfect. And so if they don't get those guys, they'll have to look at some of the other options available.

So much to get through with all this offseason talk with We didn't even mention Marty Natches, who we've mentioned on previous episodes, but we haven't even discussed this situation. There's the Matfay Mitchkoff situation in Philadelphia, where it looks like he's going to be signing with the team in a matter of a couple of days. Yeah, he's coming. We were talking about the- Yeah, he's coming. Yeah, for sure. We were talking about the Everton Oilers just now, and we haven't even talked about what's next for Ken Holland, the GM of the team, who's in this final year of his deal. There's just so much to go through, through this offseason, and stuff we didn't even get to touch on today. My head is spinning after that entire segment, I can't imagine what you're going through.

A good thing I'm on my second coffee in the morning here.

So I'm-Only your second?

Only my second. Well, it's still relatively early in Vegas, and I got my run in this morning, so I'm I'm on the good side of it right now. But Ken Holland, look, he signed a five-year deal. The five-year deal expires on Monday. It sounds like at this point, he's not going to come down to the draft. I think the oilers are interested in keeping both him and Bob Nicholson, who have been with the organization for a while, maybe in slightly different roles, different titles than where they've been. I don't know if those guys are going to take those jobs or how that's going to shake out, but there's still those discussions ongoing. I would expect for the near that Jeff Jackson, who's the President of the team, will effectively be the general manager heading up the hockey decisions, the Hockey Operations Department. Obviously, he's been heavily involved, having worked there now for the last year. We'll see how I think, shake down because, again, those are conversations that weren't happening during the playoff run. So now they're starting, and I don't want to jump to the conclusions about what may or may not happen because the decisions haven't been reached yet.

If there's one thing we don't do on this show is jump to conclusions.

We probably do. We do. We're guilty of it. It's always like, what's going to happen?

It's a joke. It's a joke. Yeah, you're right. Okay, I think we've done as much as we can in terms of the rumblings of the speculation. Can we take a moment and just look back at what was a brilliant Stanley Cup final series ends in seven. The Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions. They don't get reverse swept. Few on that point. Your thoughts on the game seven that was and everything just around it?

Well, I'm not a please-like my sport guy, but I must say it is gratifying to see the TV numbers both in US and Canada reflect what I on the ground thought was a fantastic final. I know there were some lopsided scores in that series, but it was compelling as hell. Storylines galore. The game seven from a hockey standpoint to me, that is what makes our game great. As much as we all might like a 6-5 game, a 2-1 game seven is what you expect. I mean, Pittsburgh, Detroit, 2009 was a 2-1 game seven. Those teams, the players on both sides just battled their asses off. Nothing came easily. Obviously, there weren't many power plays in the game, which you would expect for that moment. It's one bounce or one shot difference. Stuart Skinner might to have this Sam Reinhardt goal back, where he scores off the rush on a play that looked relatively innocent. But at the flip side, you tip your cap. Zack Hyman at the side of the goal. Connor McDavid had chances in the third period, and the combination of Bobrowski and E2 leaves Turina, and the sprawing Panthers found a way to keep that out.

Man, it was just tight and tense. The building was just like, I can still feel it a couple of days later in my soul, just the way that game felt. The stakes are so high. It was pretty cool being on the ice afterwards and seeing the emotions spill out. Actually, I had a chance to meet Paul Maurice's son, Luke, who says he listens to our podcast. He's in his studies at law school. He's in his studies at law school down there in Miami, but said that he's a fan of the Short Kings on the podcast. So shout out if you're hearing this, Luke. I hope you had fun. I actually told him to mix in a water, which Julian, you know is an advice I've just sent to you. Because look, it was right at the start and he was like, Wow, Chris Johnson just told me to mix in a water. But But I do think it's important advice right before you go into what I can only imagine the next 24, 48 hours of his life look like after that. It was pretty cool to see his dad, too, lift a Stanley Cup.

I mean, if anyone, it might have been the most emotional scene is Paul Maurice, the way he The look on his face, the interview he gave to Kyle Bukauskis talking about his own family, his own history, his own journey to win that cup. Sasha Bartkow, the first Finnish captain, got a call from the Finnish President after. Finland's a real hockey and took a call from the President after to congratulate him and the other Finns, Lundell, Lusteran, and Rutu on their coaching staff on the team. It was a great final. One of the coolest moments, Julian, quite honestly, is people might not realize, but Patrick Hornquist remains, I think he's called a consultant and scout for the Panthers, won two cups as a player with the Penguins, was part of Florida's turnaround, and obviously gets a third. The administrative side, I stopped them on the ice and was just about the Panthers turnaround. He said, I think losing last year made a big difference. Then he, on his own volition, said, and I think Connor McDavid is now going to win a Stanley Cup for having been through this. He's like, You can't really tell someone about this or teach them.

You can't use words to describe. But once you feel this, once you've been in the moment, he's like, You just have a little bit extra to give in terms of wanting so badly to win it in the future. He was predicting on the ice while the Panthers celebrated around us that we would be seeing a Connor McDavid Cup down the road. I think it sets up a pretty compelling story in Edmonton. Now, McDavid and Driesle's Chase continues to try to get back to the top of the mountain after being so close. I thought it was a great series. I stand by my decision as one of 17 Conn-Smith voters, despite all the shit online about Connor McDavid's selection as the number one Conn-Smith pick. Damn, okay.

That was a feisty... You damn, okay? It's feisty. It was very feisty. Icy of you to go it that way.

I'll say this. Any fans are second-guessing it? I got no problem with you. But a lot of our colleagues around the league are sitting at home on their couch, second-guessing. I don't know why. I mean, the guy led. He had 20 more points than any Panthers player. He set an Eclipse record by guys by the name of Gretsky and Lemieux. There's no chance to even get to game 6 and 7 without him. I recognize he did not score a point in either of those games, but it's a two-month award. I I just have a hard time looking over that two months and saying that anyone was more valuable in the playoffs than McDavid was. End of story, full stop. You can quival with the second and third place votes. The only thing I'll say there is we've already highlighted a couple of times on the pod, the votes go in before the final buzzer. It's a hard thing. I voted before I saw Bob make those game-saving stops in the third period. There's a chance maybe he gets my third place vote instead of Gustave Forzling. I had Barcoff second, and McDavid first. But All being said, I still think we got the right winner.

I got no problem with Connor McDavid, by the way, if anyone cares, not coming out to take the trophy. I think that's a picture you don't want to exist forever. I mean, you look at the J. S. Jaguar one, he just looks miserable from 2003 when he had to come back out. That was a time where obviously he was focused on the team. We saw Connor McDavid stand on the ice and fist bump or tap each of his teammates as they went off. He was the lastoyer to leave the ice and to come back on and accept an individual award right before the Panthers got the Cup. Just wouldn't have felt right. Anyway, I just saw this shit online and it bothered me. It's like from people who should know better. I mean, again, there's reasonable disagreement. I'm not saying... But I can't believe how many people are like, he shouldn't have won. What universe are you on? Step back and look at it. That was a pretty special playoff. I mean, I've never, to my knowledge, I don't think I've ever voted for a player on a losing team. But this was a player on a losing team in game seven in a 2-1 game.

His team, the Oilers, had five more goals in the series, and the Panthers did, which I realize doesn't win you anything. We've seen other cup winners. St. Louis scored less goals in Boston the year they won, Pittsburgh less than Detroit in 2009 when they won. It's not an unprecedented. But I'm just saying the margins were pretty thin on this one. In that case, I'm comfortable voting for a player on a losing team because he was that special.

You sat on this. You stood on this for a couple of days. I'm not going to say it It was a genuine anger. I had slept in a month.

I'm just seeing all this shit, and I'm like, Yeah, I wish I was sitting at home the last two months on my couch and just being like, Man, man, man, man, man.

Okay. Here's the thing. For the record, I don't disagree with Connor McDavid winning. I think if I was in the building, I would still lean that way. I would strongly think about Bargoth and Brovowski's cases, obviously just looking at how that game unfolded. But you're right. Connor McDavid was within a stone's throw of establishing a new record for points in one single postseason and was one game away. I get it. He didn't get points in game six or game seven, but was one win away from accomplishing something that hadn't been done in over 80 years. And with the way Leon Dreisaitl, the time it took him to get into the series, you could say that was him. I totally understand why you went that way.

And let's use the argument against the people. And obviously, we don't want to… I'm wasting too much time on this, but he had four more points in any player on other team in the series in the final itself. And you say, Okay, well, Barcav. Well, Barcav didn't produce a lot in the final. I actually thought he played really well, and especially in the losing effort in game 6, he was by far Panthers' best player to me. Wabrowski got pulled in a game in the series. His numbers, he actually had a negative goal saved above expected mark in that final series. He was fantastic against the Rangers in the previous round, but he had some downs in the playoffs. To use only that McDavid didn't have a point in game 6 and 7 against him is ignoring the fact that the other players that you're suggesting we should have voted over him all had perfect series or perfect playoffs or perfect game 6s and 7s. It's not a fact. That's all I'll say on the matter because people are here for rumors and trades. They're not here for my rants, but I just was really surprised and annoyed by our colleagues coming at us.

Again, fans, Damn. Fans, you got a clean slate. But some of the I know betters sitting at home didn't appreciate it.

The I know You know better. The only way this rent would have been more fiery is if you just started name dropping people. Just be like, You think you know better? That's the- There's no upside. I know you're not that type of guy. You would never do that. You would never do that. But if you did do that, you would be standing on business, as we say. I get exactly why you feel the way that you feel, CJ. I get exactly why you feel the way.

This is how the players feel when the media second-guess them. I remember John Tavares, he has that. It's the famous quote about being on the playing field. You're in the game, and other people who aren't in the game are second-guessing you. That's how I feel. Obviously, I wasn't in the playing field playing the Cup final, but I'm going through all that travel. I'm working my butt off. I'm spending a tremendous amount of time I'm thinking about that decision. I'm calling people or texting with people who are with the teams to gage who they think their best players were. Then someone who's not in the playing field, someone who's not in the game, someone who isn't jet-legged and not sleeping is just like, I should have done this instead? That's where it got me. The Man in the Arena, I think it's called. Do you know that quote?

I think it's called The Man in the Arena. I vaguely heard about that.

It's really basically like, you got to be in the game to really know and to understand. And it is true because frankly, some of our job is the second-guess players. And obviously, you or I couldn't... We have no place on the playing field with any of these athletes. We've never done anything like them. We've never been under the pressures they've been under. We've never performed in front of 20,000 people. It is true. I get the irony that I'm bitching about this, and yet for a living, it's my job to second-guess people doing something I couldn't do.

Okay. Let Let me take you to another topic. Any quick thoughts on the Hall of Fame class that was announced yesterday? Pavel Datsyuk, Jeremy Ronick, Shay Webber, Natalie Darwitz, Christie Wendell Poel, Colin Gamble, and David Poel will be in the incoming class for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

I don't have a lot of thoughts. I'll let someone else drag that. It's a decision made by 18 people behind closed doors. I don't know really what goes into it. I know that they have to get, I think, 14 out of 18 votes for each candidate it to be confirmed. I'll just say this, I'm surprised. I'm a little surprised, but not shocked. I didn't know if the Russia-Ukraine situation would have the committee of mind to put a Russian in. I'm not at all debating Pavel Datsun's Hall of Fame credentials, but I found that interesting that they didn't, and then that they put him in and didn't put Alex McGillney in for the 15 straight year is beyond me. But this doesn't get I'm not really too fired up either way. If you have any thoughts, you can share them.

I think McGillney should be in there, man. Yeah, that's a big one. Again, I've said it before to different friends, but I'll say it publicly here. I'm pretty sure I probably say it on the podcast, too. There should be no limit on the amount of women who get in. So to not see people like Jennifer Patero and Julie Chew make it or have them wait longer to get in, that's ridiculous, too. Seeing the discourse around Colin Campbell getting in. All I'll just say about that is that is very fascinating and interesting to me. That's as much as I'm willing to say on that. Man, there was so much stuff this week. We didn't even get to... I mean, I could say this as a cross-check if you think that's appropriate to do. We didn't even talk about the Phoenix, sorry, the Arizona coyote situation devolving as it did with Alex Morello. Literally moments after the Stanley Cup final is done, it's announced that he's stepping away from his ownership of the team. Just, I'm sorry. This is such a ridiculous situation. And the fact that it ended as it did, it's just... I'm sorry. I asked the questions about it when we first talked about that situation, it seemed weird to me in the light, and now we're at this situation.

I just think it's embarrassing that it's got to that point.

I guess. He got his money, though. So it's like this is entirely- That's it.

That's why it's embarrassing. That's exactly why it's embarrassing. He got his money at the end of all of this.

I'll just say, though, that it's entirely predictable this would fall apart. I'm not saying I predicted it would fall apart in a couple of months. I thought there might be some... I mean, let's face it, I thought it was going to go to that land auction, which was originally scheduled for the '27, which is what, tomorrow? I thought he wouldn't win the land auction and then it would fall apart. I guess I did think it would be on something like this timeline. I mean, the whole thing was a ruse, whatever. Let's move on. The good news is that now it clears away, hopefully for Something to be built properly there. The NHL, I'll say, is really lucky that Ryan Smith was there in the offering that he offered such a great and appealing opportunity for them in Utah. It shows. I mentioned Liam O'Brien signing. He was a fan favorite with the Coyotes, the The fact he's the spicy tuna. I remember he gave a pretty good speech when they went and visited Utah for the first time, the players, and the fact he's signing on. I think that the players are energized by the new opportunity with the Utah Hockey Club.

I do think we'll see NHL Hockey in Arizona in the future, but the building's got to get built and owners got to emerge and all that's going to take time. Alex Morello will just go down as another name that we almost forgot we ever knew within, I don't know, six hours from now because I'm done with that story.

Do you have a stick tap before we wrap up?

I will take Kyle. I have one.

Oh, no. Nice. I like that one.

I say this respectfully because I'm older than him, but he's the old guy without a cup got his cup. It was pretty cool seeing him and his son on the ice. I had a chance to chat with him a little bit. Just what a grateful guy for his career. I thought he had really a wise answer to a question I asked him. He was saying that he's appreciative of the hard moments where he was a long way from winning a cup as he is of that moment of ultimate redemption, jubilation, finally winning a cup after all those seasons in Buffalo where he was nowhere close to it and believed in himself, found a way to contribute as a depth player on the Panthers. He's going to make a decision here about his future, but whether he decides to retire or come back, he goes out on top. I thought, what a just a class guy for a lot of years in the NHL 17, NHL seasons, and was really happy to, as I am every year, as you know, I'm not cheering for teams of these things, but there's always individuals that you're happy to see get the cup.

As I mentioned earlier, happy to see Paul Maurice raise the cup, happy to see Oliver Ekman-Larson and other guys. Always just been great to deal with over the years and then Kyla Pozo as well.

Awesome. I like that stick tap for him. I'm going to give mine to Pavel Datsyuk, one of the members I mentioned who will be going into the Hockey Hall of Fame. We remember him for the Stanley Cups he won. We remember him for his defensive play, three Selky trophies What I do hope people should do, if you don't already do it, just type in Pavel Datsyuk on YouTube and just watch him break all the ankles possible. A friend of the show, Dimitri Filipowitch, actually, a couple of years ago, did a little mixtape. You get a little watch on Twitter with all the times he's made all these incredible moves. It's just to see a player like him be recognized and be entered into the Hall of Fame. I like that. I think he was one of the coolest players to watch from the 2000s and to see him be a part of that Hall of Fame class. I have no problem with that. So I will give him my stick tap for this week.

Yeah, bud. Well said. What an episode. Can't wait for the next one.

It's all happening. I was about to say. Yeah, seriously, if it's going to be anywhere near as fire as this one is, you know you're in for a good one. Get your questions in now, whether on Discord or Twitter. No episode Monday. Expect Tuesday to be the next time you hear from the CJ. I don't know. I'm telling you. I got to get on a plane.

I think we might have an emergency one between now and then. You think there could be something else? I just think something's going to happen that might... Even if it's a quickie or something. We're not going to forget about you out there. We're going to do as much as we can.

Well, if it comes to that, it probably means it will come at you from Vegas when we will both be in Vegas. Anyway, thanks so much for listening. We'll be back when we'll be back.

The Chris Johnston Show, Inside the Game, twice a week. Follow Chris on Twitter @reporterchris, and follow Julian McKenzie at JK McKenzie.