Transcript of Five Days Out | The Chris Johnston Show

The Chris Johnston Show. Let's go. Your number one destination for a behind-the-scenes look at the game of hockey. Is this thing on? Here's NHL Insider Chris Johnston and host Julian McKenzie.

See, we're days away from the NHL Trade Deadline. Really? A couple of trades. You can't wait until that deadline comes, right? You can't wait until you get the hell out of town.

Yeah, I'm getting a little jumpy. I'll tell you, even this weekend, I got caught to stop on the street a couple of times.

No way.

It's in addition to the fact that there's this low-level anxiety that a trade could happen at any moment, so you don't feel comfortable doing anything social or going to the grocery store. I even went for a run to do my daily run, and I stopped halfway through to make sure everything was okay. And then I'm getting stopped on the street by randos being like, What's going on with this guy? It's like, Oh, man, I'm just... You I feel like you're trapped in this box, and I can't escape, at least not until basically March eighth.

What's the most inconvenient time you've had a trade break and you've had to spring into action and report on it?

Well, how much time do you got? We've had four Friday night trades in the last month and a half.

Yeah, but I figured, is that the most inconvenient? Just during a dinner and you have to just split?

Yeah. I mean, And I don't mean to make any light of this. Even Saturday night, the Seth Jones deal goes down. Pierre LeBron, Darren Dregger and I were all part of a big TSN crew that was out fedding Darren Detishon, our late colleague who died several months ago. But it was an Irish wake celebration for him. I didn't go there that night thinking there'd be no action. It's the Saturday before Trade Deadline. I think we all understood what we were getting into. But James Duffy might have caught a picture. I don't know if you follow him on X. I did see. He said inside Insiders in the Wild then saw it. No, but I didn't know if you noticed him tweet this on Saturday night. I did.

I saw it.

But Insiders in the Wild. But I'm not saying that's the most inconvenient thing, but that's the most inconvenient thing that's happened in the last 24 hours. Friday, we had deals. The Miko Rant and deal goes down on a Friday night, and I was running a half marathon the next morning. It cut my potential sleep from 10 hours to 5 hours right before doing a race. Look, this isn't about me, so I really don't want to... The point is, for some reason it feels to me like we have way more night trades, like late night trades in the last couple of seasons than I recall earlier. Maybe it's just because I'm getting old and I value my sleep more or I've slept through more because I have slept through a few trades. The Knux Trade was the last one I slept through, the Marcus Pederson deal with Pittsburgh, the night of the JT Miller deal, right? But I went to bed between those two trades. Anyway, I'm an old man yelling at a crowd right now, but I'm coming at you with a little bit of feistiness today because I'm really feeling the squeeze of this deadline period.

Okay. I love the fact that you're coming at it with the feistiness. And if you are willing to share any more of those stories, we can intersperse them throughout the podcast. But I definitely want to squeeze out as much intel as I can from you on some of the pieces still available. Notably, Miko ranted it. We get it. It's fascinating that he's already been dealt well ahead of the deadline, and now we have this scenario where he could get dealt again. What are you hearing on him? There was a report that came out over the weekend that Los Angeles could be a possibility. Darren Dregger has been on that. What's the latest on it?

Well, where we're at, as Amiko Randon has indicated to the Hurricanes, that there's no decision on his contract. This isn't about money at this point. It's not about anything else, really. I think just he's not ready to engage in contract negotiations. And so the ball is really in Carolina's court. And where the hurricanes are at is I still think that their number one goal would be to sign him. They're not going to be able to do that by the deadline, obviously, in the coming days here. So The best way for them to do that, of course, is to play out the season, see what happens in the playoffs, give him more time to get comfortable and rally with the team, with the culture, with everything they might have to sell, and attempt to sign him at some point before July first, because if he remains with Carolina, they're the only team that can give him that eighth year. And they have the inside track because they have all the months between now and July first to have those conversations, at least above board with his agent and with Miko, and try to make that work.

Now, that doesn't rule out that other teams can't call. And I think that's where you see a report like the one that you're referencing with LA. I think that the King certainly are one of the teams that have called Carolina. They're certainly not alone. Just to see, would there be a deal that makes sense. I think at this point, Carolina's position is we got to listen to those calls because they can still make a trade, of course. They have to see maybe if there's something that could come together, maybe something you and I might think is a crazy offer comes across their desk. I guess I don't know fully what those offers are going to be, what might still happen. Teams might strike out on some players. Once we get more names coming off the board, there could be a scenario that happens. I don't think it's the likely outcome, which you can probably tell by the way I'm leading into this answer, but it can't be ruled out entirely. At this stage, I don't get the feeling or the sense that Carolina is like, okay, we can't sign them. We have to move them.

It's not like that. But they're going to listen on the calls that come in. I'm sure that if someone put something enticing, it would take something awfully enticing, put it that way, for the conversation to get too deep, I think. And so where does that leave Miko Rantan? He's got some limited trade protection in his contract. He's told the hurricanes or inform them that there's going to be no contract decision or talk before Friday at 3: 00 PM Eastern. So Now everyone waits. And I think he's very, very likely to stay in Carolina for the rest of the year. But who knows? Maybe someone does something goofy because that's what makes a trade deadline fun. Basically, every trade is It's not always in the air, we'll call it. Sometimes we do get taken off guard. You only have to look at the Thomas Hurdle deal to Vegas at last year's deadline. I remember years ago was it Anthony Mantha, Jacob Verona came totally out of nowhere on the last day. Maybe something comes out of nowhere in Carolina. But where it stands right now is he's not signing with the Hurricanes before the deadline. They're listening to calls, and that's where it's at.

I don't have any sexy names to throw at you. I mean, look, if the Leaps were willing to throw Mitch Marner at them, maybe there's a conversation, but that's not a real rumor because Mitch Marner has a no movement clause. The Leaps are still hoping to sign Mitch Marner long term. Barring something like that coming out, I think he remains a hurricane. The deal they made back on January 24th ends up being what we thought it was at the time rather than this diversion that it's taken here in the the last two weeks.

Still would be fun for the drama, the chaos, if Miko Rantan does end up getting moved. But there's a part of me that does want to see him stick around in Carolina, figure out a way to produce a little bit more. He was productive in the Hartford Whalers' jerseys the other night, which, by the way, those jerseys look amazing.

They're having a moment again. I mean, these last couple of seasons, I know the hurricanes have used them on Whalers night. Must be a little sacrilegious if you're a fan. You know what I mean? Look, I know Colorado's used the Nordique sweater. I think maybe just briefly when they had those... What do they call those sweaters? You know what I'm talking about? They had like the- The reverse retros? The reverse retros. But it'd be weird if you're a fan and like, not only did you lose your team to Carolina and they renamed them and whatever, then they're wearing... The Washington Nationals don't wear that Expos logo that you got on your hat right there for those that are watching us rather than just listening. They have.

They've worn some... I don't know if it was during spring training, but I think they've done that before.

Right. But you know what I'm saying?

It's not something they would do every day.

Yeah. I mean, you're looking to rebrand. The Utah Hockey Club probably is not going to dust off the Kachina at some point. They're not probably going to clap back to that history. But again, maybe in enough years, 10, 15, 20, I don't know what the number is. I mean, it's been a long time since the team moved down to Raleigh. But anyway, I'm with you, though. I love the whalers sweater. Apparently it sells really well in stores still. It's had I read a story somewhere. I wish I remember who wrote it, that there's been a renaissance. People don't even know what the logo is. They're not being ironic or anything. They are buying that jersey up and buying hats up with that logo just because it's so cool.

It's one of the most... It's one of the more classic sports logos you could tap into. So I'm glad that it's getting a second least on life. I think in pure LeBron's setup, when I see him on TSN, he has the logo somewhere. I don't remember what it's for, not what it's for, but I don't remember if it's on a hat or whatever, but I know he has that logo somewhere.

He's got it. There was a time he had Brass Bonanza as his ringtone on his cell phone. Oh my God. He doesn't have it anymore. I think he's got a hip song, maybe. I can't remember, but he used to have Brass Bonanza, like when his phone rang. He was like, That's an annoying ringtone.

Please don't copyright us. Please don't copyright us for that.

We didn't play the music. We just hummed something that may or may not sound like it.

Just want to make sure. Just want to make sure we don't trip off any alarms.

Yes, Nico ran in a cane sweater, in a whaler sweater. I think that just seems to be where it's going to go. But five days still, four and a half days till the deadline. It's still time maybe to be surprised.

What else are you hearing about some of the other available names out there? Just going through your trade board from a couple of days ago, Brock Nelson, Ricard Raquel is up on that list, very high. We'll get to number three on that list in Seth I was going to say, what about number three who was traded off?

Because that was a trade, honestly, I wasn't convinced what happened by this deadline. I mean, obviously, Seth Jones being that high on the board suggested it was possible, but you don't know for sure. And he had such a big contract. I mean, that's a significant move by the Florida Panthers. And I think Chicago is, in a lot of ways, backed into a corner in a sense. I mean, you probably saw the postgame comments after the loss in Utah from Seth where he expressed some frustration with the way the team has played and basically said for four years, it's been the same thing. We haven't progressed from the start of this season. I mean, those are the comments when you've already talked publicly about a trade. Those are the comments that might speed up a front office to make whatever deal they can. But the truth is that that trade with Florida was 10 days or so in the making. There's a lot of went into it. And I think that under the circumstances, you're trading a player who's not worth his contract, likely at this point. And there's five years left on the deal after this one.

So it's not nothing. I think Chicago came out okay in that, getting a '96 first, and Spencer Knight, who obviously has had some twists and turns since being a first-round pick, a pretty highly sought-after guy. But you look at the pure numbers this year, playing behind Serge Bobrowski. He's form quite well, and he's still only 23 years old. So I think to get a real, legitimate player with upside and a first-round pick, the Blackhawks hold back two and a half million a year for five more years beyond this. So that's, again, real money from their owner. Even if you put the money aside, that's real cap space that they're not going to be able to spend on other assets or players. I think the Blackhawks came out okay in this, all things considered. And I haven't always I'll put it this way. I'm still not bought in on what their rebuild is at this point. But in this specific case, I think given the circumstances, given that Seth Jones controlled the process entirely with a no-movement clause, that he was clearly frustrated. I think that they came out well in this for Florida. I just assume this is another player that's going to go down there, get in their team system, not have to be the man.

Now he's a $7 million defenseman on the books, not nine and a half. It's a rising cap environment. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Seth Jones has a career renaissance with the Panthers.

Aaron Eckblad, Gustave Forzling, Seth Jones. You can go through the whole list of names on that back-end.

Nico Michalade, they call him- Nico Nico Norris, I think they call him.

Nico Norris is a good nickname. But all that to say, Florida looks real good. And on top of the fact they put Matthew Kutchuck on LTIR, they've got about 8. 7 million Capspace. I think that's according to Puckpedia. They could still do more ahead of this deadline. What do you think of the Florida Panthers and the way they look?

They've got a huge wiggle room for a contender. I mean, they've got over $8 million right now. I think Puckpedia had them at 8. 7 million.

Yeah, I said that.

Oh, sorry.

That's all good.

But I didn't hear you shout out Puckpedia, though. I did shout out.

Of course, I got Puckpedia. Shout out Heart. Shout out Heart. Shout out the gang at Puckpedia.

I got you. Just because I don't have those numbers, obviously baked in myself. I don't have the calculation.

That's That's what I'm here for. I get the numbers.

There you go, buddy. So could Chuck... He's not going to be back before the end of the regular season. No. That's been my expectation, quite frankly, since the end of the Four Nations. We talked about it a couple of times. So you have that much room. It doesn't mean they have to use it, of course. They don't have to go out and make a silly trade, but they could go out and make an impactful one. They could bring in a real player if they wanted to. And certainly, Bill Zito is an aggressive GM. It's amazing to look back where the Panthers were when he took over to what they've become, not just Stanley Cup champions, but back-to-back finalists. A team, again, that could go on a run. They're getting hot right now as are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto the Maple Heaps to the Atlantic. The Atlantic is getting cookie right now, getting the gas set to high in that division. And so it wouldn't surprise me if you saw Florida maybe get a depth addition in goal. Chris Reiger will be the backup to Barbarowski, but maybe they bring in another goaltender of just someone just in case.

And then I think they're forward group because you don't have Kachuk, you wouldn't think for the rest of the regular season, who knows when he'll be back, what he'll look like when he's back. But there's room for them to dabble in the market, probably for a winger, maybe a center, but we'll see probably someone on the wings. So the Panthers are among the teams. You're wondering about Vegas at all I'm wondering about Tampa in the same way at all times. Julian Grisois tends to strike without a lot of forewarning. But consider this the forewarning. The Panthers are another team, I think, that can make this deadline period very interesting.

Who do you think in that Seth Jones trade is the absolute winner, if you believe in that thing? I think both teams came out okay. Would you say one team has the edge over the other?

No. Because it's too much of a forward-looking deal to know. I guess I'll call Florida the winner because they're in a position to win the trade. Getting Chicago to keep two and a half million for that long of a contract, actually, there's not a lot of precedent for that. If you look, even there Carlson deal that was made in August 2023. San Jose kept back one and a half million for a bunch of years, way back when the least kept 1. 2 million of Phil Castle's contract when they traded them to Pittsburgh and watched them win back to back cups with the Penguins, nearly one of Con smyth In the process while the leaves were paying them 1. 2 million. But to have Florida playing two and a half million for the next five seasons beyond this one is a lot. So I think that's a certain win, especially for a team that they do have the cap space now, but they're always going to be looking for room and In a rising cap environment, I think Seth Jones at seven million, it's a different conversation than the one we've been having about him the last couple of seasons.

As I say, I just think that they're in a position to plug him in in a way, use him in a way where his all-around ability is going to shine. We've already seen Oliver Ekman-Larson go to Florida, reboot his career. Gustave Forzling is one of the better defensemen in the league. He was claimed on waivers by the Panthers. I think that they've got to really positive environment. When you join a winning team, like Seth Jones for as long as a career he's had, he's never really been on a good team. I mean, it's not that he's part of the Predators way back when and the Blue Jackets, now the Blackhawks post the end of the Blackhawks era. So going to a good team, I just think it lowers the expectations of what he needs to be. And so I'm going to call them, I guess, the winners just because I know you want a headline here. But as I said at the top, I like the job Chicago did because it'd be really easy to say, Do you know what? It's just too big a contract to trade right now. We'll wait till the offseason.

That's what everyone says, right? I think to get the move done right now is a win for Chicago. Did It's just remove the situation. And they got to start building at some point. That would be the only point I'd make is that they need to start getting some players in there. You love the prospects, you love the young guys, but honestly, they got to build something up Their rebuild has still got a lot of work left to do, I guess, is where I want to leave that.

Yeah. We've made that point a bunch of times, but you think of some of the guys who have been there, like your Brandon Hagle's, guys in that 23 to 28 age range who would really help this team along. They're out helping other teams become contenders. I'm not sure what you're able to... I'm not sure, but Chicago messed up with that. Let's be truthful and honest with that.

And it's funny because there's been a lot of talk, at least in my timeline, about rebuilds and stuff. Mark Lazzaro wrote an interesting column at The Athletic about this different approaches. Look at the other team that's a biggest surprise this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets. They went through a rebuild, but when Zack Wrenske was a 24-year-old D who needed a new contract, instead of trading that player away, they resigned him. Here they are coming out of the rebuild clearly. They're in a playoff spot right now. He's the main driver of that success, in addition to a lot of players that have come up around him. He's still very much in the prime of his career. The contract they sign him to, he's delivering great value on. When the Blackhawks traded the Hagle's and the De Brinkets, they were at the same age and stage. Now, Wrenske might have been a little more proven, say, Hagle at that point because Hagle was a bit more of a late bloomer. But the point is that that's an example of a rebuild where you got to hold on to some of your guys. You don't trade everything. I think if we're looking for lessons, there's a lesson in that.

But Columbus is a team that has done a rebuild, and to me, looks like they're very much on the climb up. I don't know if they're going to stay in the playoffs, but certainly we're now at a stage where they're not talking about selling everything at this deadline. I mean, how could you? It's my understanding they're not going to likely sign Ivan Provarov to an extension by this deadline. When I did my very first trade board, which was in October, he was either one or two, Provarov. He was the most obvious player because he's a very good, very young defenseman to become a UFA. And I just assume by now a team like Columbus would be a seller. The point being, as the season's gone along, you just got to the point now, I can't see them dealing them. I suppose everything is still possible. I'm not saying the Blue Jackets have made the determination they're 100% not trading them, but I don't think it makes much sense. I don't think after coming off, they beat Detroit twice last week. I don't know if you saw much from that outdoor game. I mean, what a win for Columbus.

They got 94,000 people in the shoe. When you come off that win, when you come off two wins with Detroit, when you've had this season, how are you tearing that thing apart? And so, Matthew Olivier is another pending UFA of theirs. I know they're getting close. It sounds like they're signing him, but you're not trading people away. And so I just look at Columbus as this example because this is, again, it's floating around now. That rebuild has gone way better than anyone thought. The guy who started at Yarmo Kekelenin, and he's on the sidelines watching it now. Not employed as their GM, but a lot of people still in that front office are there. It's just proof, I guess, that it can be done, but you got to be careful. I think you have to identify when you go into a rebuild, you still got to identify a few people you're keeping around. It can't just be full scorched earth, or else it's a long way. It's a long way back from that.

Is Columbus not the most interesting team to follow? I mean, Washington definitely deserves consideration. Winnipeg has been really good, but we know how the offseason went for them with the unfortunate loss of Johnny Goodro and adding Sean Monahan, who was playing really well, and then he gets hurt. But this Columbus team, I think they're incredible to just watch with... I don't think too many people had that many expectations for them. And the fact that they're well in the thick of it. No one did. And the fact that they're in the thick of it with this playoff race, you're rooting for them to do it against some odds here, some really big odds, considering what this franchise has endured for years and years and years, in particular this offseason.

Yeah, I guess unless you're a Red Wings fan or Bruins fan or Ranchers fan, Sedators fans, Senator's fans. That cluster of teams that are fighting for those wild card spots, you maybe can't get into the feel goodness of the story, but I mean, big picture, 100 %. And do you know what's interesting? Gustave Nyquist got traded over the weekend to Minnesota. Columbus was in on trying to get him. And so not only the Blue Jackets not selling, the reward for what you're saying, for the fact that the players on this team found a way to take a massive step forward I mean, from where they were last year. I mean, wherever they end up, they're going to end up with a huge jump in points from one season to the next without bringing in... It's not like they had a bunch of marquee additions. I mean, James Van Riem It was like they signed right before the season. He was unsigned. I think he's got 14 or 15 goals. I mean, been a pretty good signing given when they signed him and what it cost. But by and large, the Monahan deal was their big one, and he's been really good for them.

But this is largely the same team that they've had. Obviously, they've just seen a lot of internal growth, or they have a lot of young players that guys have taken a step forward and driven this. They score a ton of goals. I'm with you. It's an exciting group. I do think, of all things, there's a lot of things this season that are starting to come into view I wouldn't have predicted. It's way too soon as it is, but it's possible you have both Boston and the Rangers not in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Possible.

Insane. Lane.

Possible Vancouver misses in the West, right? Oh, my God. But those are three teams that were in the final eight last year. It's conceivable anyway that all three of those teams miss. I would not have guessed by any stretch that Columbus could jump into this playoff spot. And here they are. They're going to be buyers, I would think, at this deadline. I'm not saying they're going to make a headline-grabbing move, but even if they just trade for a forward and give up, say, a draft pick or something, that's just not a position or posture I would have expected them to be So I guess that's why we watch the games, right? It's because as much as you think you know how things are going to go, this year has actually, I think, hit us with a few surprises. And the Rangers are flip side of that selling a little bit. I know that they're still trying to stay in the race and hoping they can qualify for the playoffs, but the Rangers are selling and Columbus may be buying. I mean, up is down right now.

Yeah, when you put it like that, that's very counterculture from what we're used to with those teams. I don't know why Ryan Donato popped into my head, but when you mentioned Columbus just making it an addition, and it doesn't have to be a big headline one, why not him out of Chicago who you might only need a second-round pick? I don't know Columbus's draft pick situation right now, but maybe that's a player who energizes that team, for example.

100 %, he makes sense for them. The problem is he makes sense for a bunch of teams on the board. Oh, yeah.

He's going to be very in demand the next few days.

Yeah. Obviously not a massive household name. A very good player. I'm not taking anything away from Ryan Donato. But you get to the deadline and someone like this, there's five, six teams that I think could at least look at him, including Washington including Winnipeg. The teams at the top of the standings that are probably not looking to do too much to disrupt all the good things that have happened to put them in a position they have. But when you're talking about a forward who could, say, be put on a third line of one of those teams, but jump in on top six if they have injuries or if things aren't working. He makes a lot of sense for those teams. I think Columbus would be another one. It's down to, I guess, who wants to step up and make that trade. But yeah, I mean, this is... The other thing is we still don't have a lot of players. The more I go into this, the factor is two ways. Donato is a good player, having a really, really, really good season. He's a rental for or anyone who trades for him unless obviously they extend him.

But he's playing his way out of Chicago, a team that's at the bottom of the standings. But it's also he becomes a pretty good asset because there's not a ton of other players like him out there. You look at really productive guys that I could see traded, like Ricard Raquel would be one, up to 28 goals in Pittsburgh. But he has three more years on his contract. So first of all, not everybody likes that, not because they don't like the player, but just there could be all kinds of reasons why teams that want to take on that commitment. And Pittsburgh doesn't have to trade him. That's the flip side when you have a player with that term. If we get back into a Braden Chen type of discussion at some point in this episode, it's the same thing is that 100 % St. Louis is listening, but they do have in the back of their minds that they can put this decision off for another day and still feel pretty good about things. There's just not another rental quite like Dynado out there, I don't think. That is 100 % available today. Now, the cool thing that's going to happen in these next few days, certainly before we record our next episode, is that some teams are going to have to declare themselves sellers, I would think, between now and then.

Something could happen. I remember a couple of years ago, Washington was a bit of a surprise seller at the deadline, the year they traded Orlov, and they did buy and sell at that same deadline. So there could be a surprise out there for us, and maybe there's another player that comes in and help satisfy the demand for Ryan Donato. But that's a long way of saying Ryan Donato on the next trade board, which is probably coming out Monday or Tuesday. He's going to be even higher than where he's been just because it's a reflection of the number of teams that like what he's doing this year.

Like two million cap hit, doing really well offensively, can play virtually every forward position.

High motor, too. Competitive guy, right? I think that's what draws the good teams to him. They're not bringing them in to score a point of game necessarily. Obviously, if that's what happens, they would take it. But it's more about a Or checker, someone who's going to play a certain style. And obviously, they're hoping to show up well when they get to the playoffs because most of the teams that would be making that trade are doing it with the idea of having them play in the postseason.

Yeah, that's why there's the, not to put the team I cover into this, but why not? There's a reason why there's the Ottawa link. But you mentioned earlier, there's a lot of teams that are going to be in on that player. And particularly with Ottawa, I don't think they're going to have the assets to compete with some of those teams for a type of player like that. It's getting late a little early with some of these assets flying. Like Gustave Nyquist, I thought made sense, but he's gone. He's gone to Minnesota. I thought that trade. I thought for Minnesota, they came out pretty well in that deal. And even if he is a little up there in age, he could be really effective for what Minnesota is trying to do.

Did you know that Gustave Nyquist had 75 points last year?

Yeah.

Now, he's got many less points in that right now. It has not gone well. There's no one in Nashville this year that you're They're like, wow, they're really... That's part of the issue is in addition to those free agency moves not paying off in the short term, a lot of players are having down seasons in Nashville from where they've been, including Nyquist, who had a very high season last year. Anyway, it's a long way of saying you hope that there's still some of that in there. Nashville did keep back 50% of the contract, which informs the price a little bit, too. But I saw some people rip in a second-round pick for him. I think if you're the predators, you could get that Do you just take that and... You run. Right. I think that's the smart way to do it when you're selling is set your limit and you're like, yes, maybe if we wait a few more days, there could be a real bidding war and we get more than this. But getting your mark early is underrated, I think, because first of all, you make that trade and then it gives you time to do other things, consider other things.

I think sometimes teams back up too much business to that last 24 hours, and it's pretty hectic.

What did you think as we continue going through some trades, what did you think of Ryan Lengren and Jimmy Veecey going from the Rangers to Colorado this weekend?

Interesting deal. I think it's an example. Again, there's not a ton of defensemen on the market. There's certainly other defensemen, but there's not a lot of what Ryan Linngren is out there. I think the Avalanche wanted to get a bit of a jump on the trade market with this move. He's a player who has not had a good season. I mean, it's hard to look at Lengren's numbers, either the ones that are printed on NHL. Com on the main page or the underlying numbers, and conclude that there's some risk built in. But I think if you're Colorado, you're betting this guy is like a warrior. He's a competitive player. It's similar thinking, obviously different player than Seth Jones, but I think it's similar to what you're thinking with Florida. You come in, he's a third-parent guy on the avalanche. It's a successful team, and you're just hoping you can insulate him. Look, he's played tons of playoff games because the Rangers themselves have been to back-to-back conference finals and have been a good team. And so I think you just hope that that bit of a change of scenery, get him into the culture that he can fit in.

I mean, there's some risk in that. But for Colorado, you get that piece of business done early and it gives you a chance still to tinker, perhaps with the forward group. And what's interesting to me about the avalanche is of any contending team, if you just take moves made since the season started, no one has done more than them. They traded for the brand new people in the crease since the start of the season. Oh, yeah, a whole new crease. They obviously made a big decision with Rantan, but brought in Marty Natchis, brought in Jack Jury, who's playing as their third-line center. Now they're adding to their blue line. I could see one more move up front for them between now and the deadline. And so the Rangers are at a stage where they're not sure if they're going to make the playoffs. They don't want any of their UFA's walking for nothing. And so I think they were in danger of just there was not going to be lingering resigning there. And so heart and soul type guy. The Rangers have also made a lot of changes during the season. We'll see in totality if they're the right ones.

I mean, shipping out Kako, obviously, the Jacob Truva deal to Anaheim. It's been a pretty tumultuous year in New York, maybe a little different than what I'm saying about Colorado, because I still could see the avalanche contending here. But that's a move to just get out there, get ahead of the market, and give themselves a little more time to see maybe if there's some forward upgrade that would make sense.

Anything else, Buzzie, with a team or a player we have not brought up? I mean, Jake Evans actually comes to mind, but if there's anyone else that's top of mind.

Yeah, Jake Evans is another player like Donato who probably has more interest in him than the name value he has, the brand value he might have in the hockey world if you're not a Canadian fan. But it sounds like it's status quo in terms of no No progress towards a deal being made with the Canadians on a new contract. And so you just get closer and closer and closer and would expect him to be traded. Why teams want Jake Evans? That I can explain in simple terms. He's a right shot centerman who's very, very good in the dot, somewhere 53, 54 % win rate there. Very good penalty killer, scored three, I think, shorthand goals this year, but also just good at killing off the penalties, perhaps most importantly. He's done a lot of that work alongside Joel I know that UL or Mia, rather, that there's been a thought that maybe you trade them together, that for another team, you could just plug them right in and have them kill penalties for you. I'm not sure that's going to happen because the number of teams that would do that is pretty small, I think.

And there's a lot of interest in Evan's here because of the things I'm saying. It's Winnipeg, it's Washington, Toronto, perhaps. I think if the Leaps don't get something bigger done, I could see them pivoting to one of the rental centers. Evans is one they've kept tabs on. Yanny Gord, perhaps, is a possibility. I think that they like nick Bukestab another right shot center, but not convinced the Utah Hockey Club is going to be selling anybody at this point in time. This just highlights, again, that there's not a ton of players, particularly centers, and specific kinds of defensemen out there. So the Canadians are going to have options to move on from Jake Evans, and it seems like that's the way it's going, unless there's some surprise. I mean, look, he hasn't scored actually in a long, long time, but he did have a pretty hot start to the year. He's going to finish, I would think, with better numbers than he's had in the past. And he's a UFA. He's going to be looking for a raise. So the Canadians like the player. They're not just going to give him away for nothing. But I do think there's enough general interest, and there's just not enough other centers on the market that he's going to be moved at some point here in the next four days.

How badly is your phone blowing up right now? How much time do we have for questions on Ask CJ?

Oh, you got questions. You got time. I mean, I'm at 47 % I've already had a charge today. I might be getting to the point I need a new phone, though, to be honest. My charge is not holding as well as it once did. So all batteries have a half life.

Would you stay loyal to the Android or would you go to my phone?

Oh, yeah. No way. I was so happy to break free from that other brand.

Wow. The other brand. Okay.

All right. I don't know. Don't you feel stuck at a certain point? They put everything in a certain cloud. They make it hard to get your photos and your contacts. It's nice to break free, my friend.

I like that. I like that thinking, sir.

Anyway, no plans to buy a specific phone anytime soon. I'm just saying we got time here.

Okay, we'll tap in on questions sent in by viewers and listeners like you. Thank you to everyone who chimed in on X Blue Sky and on Discord. Let's start with a friend of the show, Alex Adams from Sportsnet. Will Maclin Celabrini be on Team Canada at the Olympics next year?

Very possible. He's had a great rookie season. Obviously, he's someone Hockey Canada knows well. He's been played in the World Juniors. He's going to go to the World Championships this year, which is a great decision by him, I think, both to extend his season and play meaningful games in De May, but also just to be in the Hockey Canada culture at the highest professional levels and be introduced to that team. I don't have a crystal ball to know whether it'll actually be picked, but he's certainly going to be... Basically, for the Olympic year, there has to be a long list of players submitted to the IDOC well ahead of McClane Celebring will be on the long list of players. I'm confident of that, which means he'll be up for consideration right until whenever that deadline ends up being, whether it's December of 2025 or maybe if it ends up being closer to January, we'll see where that lands. But he's got a window to impress management. On some ways, it's an uphill climb. You look at the team that just played for Canada at the Four Nations, 13 forwards there who will all be in consideration.

A certain number of them are an absolute lock, but there could be still some turnover. We'll see where Brad Marshan is at in a year's time just because of his age. He might possibly age out of this group. Guys like Anthony Cirelli or Sam Bennett had a really nice showing in the final and played well in the tournament when he played, but I wouldn't think he's a lock. Seth Jarvis, because of his age, do you think is in a good spot to get his way back there, but he's going to have to play well. There's certainly room for some turnover. But then that being said, you've also got Mark Scheifly, Robert Thomas. A lot of players that are a little deeper into their careers than Celabrini or Conor Bedard are that'll be in the mix for those spots. I wonder if Zack Hyman finds his way back in that conversation, depending on how things go for him. So it's a long way of saying Alex's question. I think that it's very likely... Let me adjust that. It's possible that Maclin Celbrini is there. I think it's very likely he's going to play for Team Canada down the road in best on best.

It'll just be a question of whether he's ready. And a lot of good players have been cut in their second year from these teams over the years. So just because he doesn't make it doesn't mean... It doesn't say anything bad about his development. I mean, look at it, it's a man's event. Seth Jarvis was the youngest player for Canada at the Four Nations. He's 23. I mean, Celebrini is what? Still 18 or 19. So it might take a few years. I'm getting that.

And he's sick. I finally got to watch him in person for the first time over the weekend. Just the skill is there. He's got some size to him. He's there. He's going to be a really good player when he gets more games in.

Yeah. And honestly, it could be next season. That's the cool thing. Canada is, to me, in a bit of a transitionary period in a best on best context, at the top level. And so Bedard and Celina are coming. The question is, are they ready for 2026 in Italy? And the answer is going to play itself out in the next 10 months. I mean, What do we see out of them? What do they do at the worlds? How do they come back after another summer of training and working on their skills? This is why I'm just glad we got international hockey back. It's something to track and talk about as we go along.

Absolutely. Producer Drew wants to know. Landiscag, LTI Forever. He tried to do an acronym thing because he thinks he's cool.

Is that a question?

I think that is a question. Lti Forever. And he spelt EVA, E-V-A.

I mean, look, Gabriel Landeskog has worked very hard to try to extend his career, but he still hasn't played a game since Colorado won the Stanley Cup. And so that's coming up almost on three years now. I know at times he's skated with the avalanche and maybe progressed towards where it looks like he might be back. I don't think anyone knows for certain. I don't think the abs know for certain. I don't think Landeskog knows for certain, but I'll say that the longer and longer and longer that passes, it just seems less likely. So I don't have any reason to believe they're counting on him to be back. And so I do have to assume that he's not going to be eligible for them to play this year.

Mr. Christie asks, who are the Toronto Maple Heaps targeting for right defenseman?

I don't have the answer to that, honestly. The priority still remains the center. I think you should get your mind around Braden Chen is the best case scenario, I think, for the Leifs at center in terms of what's actually available. Toronto does not have a lot of cap space. This hasn't been discussed quite as much as maybe the focus on the fact they don't have a first-round pick in 2025. I think they have the assets to make a trade if they want to in terms of a couple of prospects that people like. They do have the 2026 first-round pick to trade, but they really don't have a lot of cap room. They're going to have to probably, if they make a deal, even for a $2 or $3 million cap hit, probably they're going to have to remove someone from the roster, whether that's through waivers, maybe through another trade. And Chen, to me, seems like probably the most likely... Sorry. The highest, the most likely player that they could get that's going to make it, that's going to move the needle. It's probably the best way to put that. Scott Lawton's probably plan B, I would say.

A little lower ceiling for him than what Chen brings, but he doesn't make as much. It's probably not going to cost as much, all those types things. And as I mentioned, they could get in the rentals. My impression of what's going on on D, unless a big surprise emerges, is that you're hoping on Chris Tana coming back ready to play here in the short term, and then it's another player that's in the mix for 6, 7, 8. And so I don't know who that ends up being, but it's probably not going to be a headline grabber is all I'm... I'm just trying to set the expectations at the right level here for the many lead fans I know that listen to our show because it just starts to feel Like the Leifs... There's not a rabbit to be pulled out of the hat, I don't think. I think it's trying to gain around the margins. And quite frankly, management can look at a team that's right up near the top of the conference, at the top of the Atlantic division that's played a lot of this season without some key pieces missing through injury at various points.

And so I think it's going to be around the margins on the blue line, the biggest potential difference makers, if they can find a way to make things with Shane.

We've mentioned Braden Shin, I mean, up until this point, tangentially. Anyone else in terms of teams we should be looking at as potential suitors for the St. Louis Blues 4?

Well, Vegas gets mentioned a lot. I don't know if the need for them is quite as apparent on paper, but Kelly McCriman, Saskatchewan boy, Vegas, obviously, whenever there's an impactful player out there on the market, they just always feel like a team that you identify as a stocking horse. So I'd say to keep an eye out there. But I don't think it's a long list of teams, not because people don't like Braden Shana. It's just, again, he brings some... He's 33 years old already, and he's got multiple years left on his deal. And so I'd say have the Goldenights tucked in the back of your mind. But honestly, at this point, the Blues have just won a couple of games also. And that's where these things could shift. I don't know that certainly the St. Louis feels they have to move Chen. In fact, they don't have to move them. And so they've said at a pretty high price here and we'll see if someone meets it. And if not, you just celebrated his thousandth game in the NHL and he's the captain of their team and he'll probably still be on their team come Saturday.

From Jacob Mitten, how many people are you texting/talking to, typically on a trade deadline day? Sources, GMs, agents, etc.

It's tough to put a number on it. 30 plus, anyway. I mean, there's 32 teams. I can't say you're talking necessarily, you're not texting someone on every team, but sometimes it's multiple people with one front office. Obviously, a lot of agents are in the mix there. It's a lot. Hence the low phone battery situation. But honestly, it's fun, too. I mean, as much as I've maybe brought the wrong tone to this episode with like, oh, my God, am I pulling my hair out? It's a lot of sleuthing, right? You're getting pieces of information and you're trying to put things together and you're hearing things and you're cross-referencing stuff. Sometimes people A lot of it's goof around, too. It's hard to put a number on it, but certainly, now that we're in the last week, it's basically everyone I know to think if I have a thought. If anything crossed my mind, I wonder about this, I just inquire about it because we're at the full nagging everybody stage, essentially. There's no way around it. I'm just a pain in the ass right now.

By the way, I appreciate your realistic perspective about how the job is tough, especially at this time of year. So please don't ever worry that you're bringing the wrong tone with you pulling your hair out. Because there are people who are listening to this podcast, and we get that question every so often. What does it take to be in this industry? What does it take to have your job? Something of the similar sort. And yeah, you get the glamor of breaking a story and putting that out there on social media. You also have to take moments It's like this where you might not have had a weekend and you've been bothering all these different sources for information and your battery levels at 30 %. That's part of it.

That's real. Nothing's worse than when you go to text someone and it's You look and it's like, I've texted this person five times in a row without a response. And you're like, I'm just going to dive headfirst into the six straight text that I may or may not get a response.

Oh, my God. Okay, well, that makes me feel better as a as a younger reporter who goes through that sometimes.

Dude.

Dog.

There's a few guys... I don't know if they listen to the podcast. There's a few guys that in the same day, I'm texting them multiple times and they haven't responded. Some of the people, when I say it's been five times in a row, it's just say over a period of time and whatever, and I just keep going. But yeah, it's not all glamorous. I'll tell you that much. It's not all like, have an idea, send a text, get the answer you want. It's It's a little bit more going on than that, generally speaking.

I'd much rather, for me, and this is a big iPhone thing, and I don't know how much of a thing it is on Android, the read or read receipts, thank God a lot of people don't turn those on. Because if there's one thing worse than sending a text to somebody four or five times and not hearing back, it's doing that. And then at the bottom, you see read 3: 15 PM and you get nothing. That's even worse.

Dude, I will say this. If there's any young reporters out there, you just have to learn to live with that. It's not personal. And even if it is personal, F that person then. But for the most part, it's not personal. Either people are busy or they can't say or... You don't know really... We always say this in different contexts. You don't know what someone else is going through in their life, which is true, but you literally don't know what's going on on the other side. Maybe that person is sitting with their boss and they don't want... Anyway, there's all kinds of reasons why someone doesn't respond. And honestly, I don't respond to every text either. Not because there's only so much time in the day.

Anyway. I'll give you one more Siege from Soap Dispenser. Carolina and Boston Swap Rentals. Miko, ranted in for Brad Marshan, one for one. Who says no?

Carolina.

They could get better. Brad Marshan, a hell of a player. They could do better than just the one-on-one swap.

Yeah, I'm not heading on Brad Marshan, but why? Absolutely not. I mean, Who is more likely to make a difference in this year's playoffs is how I would reframe that question. And that's actually not... I'm not referencing the fact that I think Boston could miss. It's more, I just think Brad Marshan at age 36 versus Miko Rantin at 27 or 28, wherever he is. I mean, you'd probably... If you were letting every playoff team draft from those two players, I bet 16 out of 16 would pick Rantin and over Marshan at this point in time. Again, just maybe not. But I mean, Look at Rantan's, and I know he's played with McKinnon. He's had some favorable things in his corner there, but he's put up monster playoff numbers in addition to being a great regular season player. I don't know who's posing that question, what team they cheer for, but I don't think that would be a long conversation for Carolina. Now, if you put someone younger on the board and it's a little different type of guy and it's maybe someone they could sign, that's where I was mentioning a certain player earlier, but there could even be others.

It gets a little different if it's someone a bit younger, I think. But that's a pretty easy no from Carolina's end.

All right. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions. Cj, you did well with the answering and with everything else on the pod, and of course, with your work at the athletic. You're killing it as always.

Dude, I feel like I'm down 3-1 in the third period right now.

Well, you are able to come back from being down 3: 01. It's been done before.

Yeah, we're going to have to pull the goalie at some point. Hope the extra attacker can be a surge of positive energy here in the next four days, but all good.

Don't worry about that. We're coming back, and we will be back ahead of the deadline Deadline. And of course, I look forward to the post Deadline show where CJ lets his hair down. I'm very much looking forward to that. We'll get stick taps later this week.

Some people started hating on that. We haven't done that as much because I remember I was getting not on stick taps? Not on stick taps, on the hair down, the sunglasses on the pod.

Okay, I don't care about those. We don't care about... Here's the thing. I don't care about those people. You do, sir. If you want to do that, you do that. If you want to just be chill, that is cool.

We'll do a Saturday show, though. We'll do a day after the deadline show, for sure.

You could do whatever you want. We're open to feedback on this show, but that's something I leave that up to you. I don't want you getting influenced by fans on that.

Well, I'll tell you, this time next week, I'll be in Mexico. I will actually be wearing sunglasses, not for any effect, but to protect my eyes from that 30 degrees celsius sun.

I love the idea of you doing the pod from Mexico. What is that going to be like?

I don't know. It'll be great because I'm ready for it. It's been also just Just a very wintery winter, which I do like, but I haven't... I'm lucky because I've always traveled a lot. Basically, as an adult, I usually find myself out of the winter climate. Just naturally through the winter season, I end up somewhere warmer. I haven't been anywhere warm since December. I'm not saying feel bad for me, but I'm just ready to get out of... Obviously, I'm doing those daily runs and everything. I'm just ready to get out of the snow and the cold for a few days.

You're not going to worry about your phone battery over there.

No, not really. Not as much. Not too concerned about that.

All right. We'll get to stick taps and more fun stuff later this week. Thanks for tapping in, everybody. Talk to you soon. The Chris Johnston Show.

Follow Chris on Twitter @reporterchris, and follow Julian at JKA McKenzie.

The Chris Johnston Show.