Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] It's time for the Game Sports Podcast is your host David McCaig Jr. The game is powered by 91 Network and featured on Spaces. You can check out 91N. It's a YouTube channel where you can check out video editions of the game along with other podcasts as well. And the Game Sports podcast is on all social media, audio, all the platforms. But speaking of social media, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, at the game sports Podcast. Now speaking of social media, there is a special golf tournament locally in Sault ste. Marie On July 11, the Michael Doane Golf Tournament and the Game Sports Podcast. The 91N will be doing a sponsorship for that tournament on Hole, you guessed it, 13.
[00:00:51] And there will be a giveaway to those who are at the tournament. Scan the barcode and follow the Game Sports podcast on that social media channel that the barcode directs you to and that will be announced on a future show of the game. Just wanted to make sure that I state that right off the bat because I may forget because of all the crazy news in the world of sports. And we're going to get to everything as best as possible today and just major full reaction on my end is what I want to give you because there was so much, there's not enough time on the show here today to try to cram into 45 minutes, maybe a little bit earlier if I can do that. But there's a lot of content that we have to get into here tonight. So speaking of that, the agenda of tonight's show, you're going to have a round table for yours truly to start off that's going to get into outside of the world of hockey, let's call it, because hockey is going to invade the content here tonight. NBA, mlb, World Cup. I might even have a little bit of WWE action on there. And I'm gonna make sure I write that down because I have something I want to give a shout out to. Then of course the meat and potatoes is going to be NHL, some draft reaction, but free agent frenzy. We're recording on July 1st, Canada Day. Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians. And I wanted to get this recording completed on Canada Day because yeah, I got plans this weekend. I got my full time job, I got plans, I got things going on after work, lot going on on my calendar and this was the best time for me to record. And the unfortunate thing is I'm a little bit afraid. And if you're wondering what is this? What is Dave afraid of? Well one, I'm doing the show solo. I'M not afraid of doing that solo, but I know everyone loves when the co hosts are on with yours truly. If it's Brandon McCarthy, if it's Justin Heik, if it's Jordan Trudeau, it's Connor Henderson if it's Alex Parr who we miss, who hasn't been on in quite some time but soon enough. But you get yours truly for the entirety of the show solo so you get to hear or watch whatever way you're tuning in. Someone talk by themselves for a long period of time. Pretty common on podcasts, but for those that know me might get a little chuckle out of that. So I want to remind you before we dive into the content as well, made sure to remind this with my team as well to share with you. We will have a special edition upload that will be next week. So when this is uploaded on July 2, there'll be a Jordan Owens special edition upload on July 7. We did project to have it before the Canada long, long week or weekend or day, whatever way you want to look at it. But that got pushed. July 7th we'll have Jordan Owens. The next new show will be July 14th, 15th area has to be confirmed. Likely going to be the 15th and that may be our last new show until after Labor Day. There may be one more, maybe one more, but for sure we have two uploads coming for the month of and we're hoping to have some special edition surprise uploads throughout the summer. But for new shows we only have this and another one remaining. Potentially another one before we take a break until the sports season gets real heavy in September as baseball will be nearing the playoffs, hockey will be back, football will be back. Lots going on in the world of sports. Sports Gone Wild Found my title for this show here tonight. Now we got through the intro, we got through the agenda in five minutes. I am on time right now. Actually 20 seconds under. Loving it already. So we're going to get right into the round table. Okay. And I'm going to start with the NBA. Yeah, I'm not starting with hockey. I'm not starting with that yet. We're known for the show for hockey. That is the core with obviously an ingredient of football, baseball. But we talk all sports here on the game, the hot content and we definitely do it in the best fashion that we can. And for tonight it's going to be Roundtable NBA Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto. I feel like I woke up just a couple of days ago. I felt those in 2018. Okay, Spider Man's coming out. Avengers movie coming out. Drake. Things going on. Kawhi Leonard's in Toronto. Wow. Toronto Maple Leafs making moves. A free agency World Cup. My. There is so much going on. I felt like I was in a time warp. I had to make sure I checked my phone to check that we're in 2026 still. Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto and going the other way. The Clippers, you got Ingram, you got Grady Dick, you got a couple first, got a swap, you got a second. Look, that's, you know what the trade is. When Toronto traded for Kawhi Leonard prior, you know, you had Porto in there, you had DeMar DeRozan in first. But there's an ingredient of that trade that was not in there. It was a future considerations. And that's the NBA championship people. Kawhi Leonard got the Finals MVP as the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors. Yes, a depleted Golden State Warriors. If you call because he didn't have Kevin Durant. Durant played half a game. Doesn't matter though. The Golden State Warriors. So it's Steph Curry. They had Draymond, they had Clay. They had guys on that team. And yes, missing Durant's huge. But Golden State lost. The Raptors won. The Raptors won an NBA championship. I got to see the Raptors win a championship before I saw the Jays win. I was alive in 1993. I just don't remember it. People just remind you. And the Leafs won. Well, we all know when the Leafs last one basically before anything expansion of the league. All the things the Toronto Raptors are bringing back. Kawhi Leonard, who just had a career year with the Clippers, he was healthier than ever. And for those of you who say that the Raptors got ripped off and fleeced. You know what? I can see that from a perspective of what they gave up these first, especially how future they are. But the Raptors see that they have a window right now. Kawhi Leonard has 27 over 25 points a game. He is the best defensive player one of correct myself one of think Wembanyama might have something to say about that. One of the best defensive players in the NBA still. He can still play at a top 15 caliber in the NBA today. Top 10. You may think that's a crazy take. It's not. Kawhi was a monster this year. He's healthy and no one likes this. But it happens in the NBA load management's okay because you got depth and the Raptors didn't get rid of some Key pieces, Murray, Boyles, Chad. They didn't get rid of these guys. They had to move Ingram, who's been battling health challenges and it didn't work out. Grady Dick. Great, but replaceable. Sorry, Grady is replaceable. The hardest pill to swallow on those trades are the first round picks. That's all I'm saying. Those are a little bit hard. But if Kawhi Leonard in a very, let's say open Eastern Conference, the Knicks may have something to say about that. The Pistons, maybe the cavaliers, especially if LeBron goes there. I'll get to LeBron in a second. They might have something to say about that. But the Raptors now, in my opinion are are seen as the second favorite team in the east to go on. They stay put themselves up and they may not be done this offseason but they're going to be threatening from an off, from a defensive sorry perspective and they're going to. They have offensive tools, they can put the ball in the basket. But now they're going to be so hard to play against on the D side of the ball. That's where they're going to win. That's how they won before the Raptors. Getting Kawhi Leonard. Do they have a chance to win the championship? It's going to be tough. Still the Knicks, Oklahoma City, you got the San Antonio spurs, like I said, the other teams, Pistons, Cavs, you got teams that are coming up. There's one team that I haven't mentioned yet. I didn't on purpose. Golden State Warriors. The Golden State warriors are rumored to be a favorite to land LeBron James. Could we be seeing a potential finals rematch that features the Golden State warriors and the Toronto Raptors with Kawhi Leonardo? Is there a possibility of that? That is unbelievable. Good move by the Raptors. They're in now to win. They're going to worry about those picks and things in the future. Maybe when they have to move. If they're rebuilding, maybe that's when they move a little bit older of a Scotty Barnes to get and recoup those picks. Who knows. The Raptors are focused on winning now. They made a splash. Kawhi Leonard wanted to come back. He's open to extending longer term. This is the right move for the Raptors. Tough pill to swallow on the picks, but when you're in the now and you see a window showing that management's going to do that should bring faith to the city, faith to the organization. Even though it might be a little daunting in the future if you have the right management in place, you can recoup those in different ways with existing assets that remain with the organization or future assets that you bring into the organization via future free agency, etc, the Raptors are invested in now. Speaking of the now, LeBron James, you know, before he left Cleveland, he went to Miami. When he left Miami and went back to Cleveland, we went back to Cleveland. After he left Cleveland, you know, he goes to the LA Lakers, he brings Cleveland their first championship, he wins title with the Lakers, he wins the NBA Cup. He obviously the tragedy with Kobe, he was invested more into the Lakers. Now he's leaving the Lakers. It is, it is July 1, as I mentioned, of 2026 and a few days back he notified the Lakers he ain't coming back. And the Lakers brought in Kessler today in a trade. And the Lakers are not picking first round until what, 2020, 2034 or something like that. The Lakers are wild with these pictures. Luca Kessler, you got Reeves back there. The Lakers feel like they have an opportunity to win now and they brought in some other players and pieces. They feel like they can do it now too. It's going to be a tough conference, especially if LeBron James signs with the Golden State warriors, which may happen. And as I sit here, I didn't mention the second point. A little, little bit of a missed point at the beginning. I'm afraid almost to do this show today because I feel like when I hit record and when I hit end record and when I post the show, something is going to change. So that's why when I talk today, I'm trying to keep everything relevant. But back on my point, sorry that I missed that at the beginning. LeBron James going to Golden State would be wild. Curry, LeBron, look, the, the Golden State warriors want to win now. LeBron maybe has one year left. I don't think he's going to do a second and he wants to go out of champion. Okay, Golden State's number one on that list. Miami and Cleveland are definitely on that list. You got Giannis who just got traded to the Bucks and even react on that yet. I'll get to that in a second. Golden State, Cleveland, Miami. That's the order of the top three, in my honest opinion, for LeBron James. And you know what? I am going to throw two surprise teams in that and you're going to think I'm crazy and I don't care. Fourth, Washington Wizards. Why, why not follow MJ's path? They had a top pick, they got some pieces there. Wouldn't that be unique. If LeBron went to the Wizards, that'd be my fourth choice. Where I think he's going, my fifth and final choice, you guessed it, the Toronto Raptors. Why not throw your name into the LeBron James you ain't going to get while I sit here. The only fear that if the Raptors were considering bringing in LeBron James is to mess with the mojo in that room. Because now you have Kawhi. Kawhi is going to be a leader on that team. Bringing in LeBron might set it back, but I'm curious about Toronto sports right now. Things are wild. The Leafs are buying, Raptors are buying. Jays are just trying to figure themselves out. Okay, lots of excitement in Toronto. Why not throw the Raptors in for LeBron James? Ain't gonna happen. It's felt like added. Adding a fifth team. It's going to be either Golden State, Cleveland or Miami. Come on, people, you know it's going to be Golden State or Cleveland, probably most near to it. So just let me know where you think LeBron's going to go below. Speaking of Miami, Giannis goes to Miami's with Bam, who had a wild game this year, obviously over 80 points. Unbelievable. Giannis makes that team better. And they're going to be looking to add, which is why they're in the LeBron sweepstakes. But I think there's going to be more with Miami as they want to come out of the Eastern Conference. Another trade. Paul George goes to the Celtics. Jalen Brown goes the 76ers and just couple picks going back over to Boston. You know, I think Jason Tam's like, what the heck are you doing? Let me tell you why that trade happened. Jalen Brown wanted to go to specific places. You hear Miami, you hear Philadelphia was rumored. Golden State was rumored. Okay. There was the Pistons, even. That I heard from a source in Michigan, a friend who's been a longtime friend of the show, about Jaylen Brown having an interest going to the Pistons. Look, going to the 76ers. Their hands were tied. The Celtics, the guy did not want to play there anymore. And maybe he had some issues saying, I'm not going to go here. Actually, I don't want. You know what? I only want to go to Philadelphia. At the end of the day, we don't know what's happened. I'm sure you'll hear on press conferences, but my take is I think they got what they could, but they definitely got fleeced. Congratulations, 76ers fans. You definitely got a little bit of an upgrade. That's all I'm going to say about basketball. We're 15 minutes in. Like I said, we're trying to do everything in 45 minutes. So we're going to move on to the next point. NBA. I knew I was going to spend a little bit more time on because Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto. And as you know, I'm a full Toronto fan taking off my host hat and I'm a fan of Kawhi going back to Toronto. Screw it. Let's do it. Let's do it. I want to hear the laugh. What it do, baby? I want to hear all that and it's going to be exciting. World Cup, World Cup. Canada moving on to the 16 and as we sit here, Bosnia is playing the United States right now. It's nil. Nil at the while of the time of recording right now, obviously England's moving on. Canada's playing Morocco. There's, there's a, there's. This World Cup's been exciting and I'm not going to do too much World cup reaction. We have a podcast that is partnered with the Game Sports Podcast through 91 and the full time podcast with Daniel Scarpino and Gatano Gallo. Go check it out. They're the ones to check in on that. But I definitely want to give a reaction on it from one piece and one take. I'm upset that Canada is not playing more games in Canada. They are a host team. Toronto, Vancouver, you got Mexico, you got the States, got all these countries in there. Mexico has basically been at home. Canada should be playing their games at Vancouver or in Toronto. I don't care what seatings or what times or all this nonsense. You got FIFA and its corrupt organization. Yeah, I just said it. Maybe that gets this episode canceled. I don't know. I'm not going to sit here and pinpoint a FIFA. Okay. That's also not my job. That's not my podcast. We don't talk about soccer on this. What's why we got Catano and Daniel Scarpino talking about it. But FIFA, you should have Canada playing in Canada. Look how electric it was. I was in Toronto for medical for my eyes to get looked at and there was the first day of the World Cup. Toronto was nuts. You want to grow the game. Canada's top 16 now in the world. I'm sorry, People may not see that some teams that are eliminated, Canada might not be better than. But guess what? The screen doesn't lie when you look at it. Canada is moving on to the top 16. They should be playing their games in Canada. They're a host team. Make that work. You should have made that work is what I'm trying to say. Unbelievable. My only take on the World Cup. Baseball. Baseball. Okay, so where do I want to go with this? Multiple places. When I look in the world of baseball right now, I. I look in a couple different places. The standings. The Tampa Bay Rays are annoying. I don't like how they're always here floating around and their team is not that it appealing. They play typical small ball baseball and they're always successful and it's so upsetting. Yankees losing six straight or eight out of the last 10. Loving that Toronto Blue Jays, though. They're not any better.
[00:15:58] And you know what? For the last few months, the Toronto Blue Jays, you know, okay, they had 15 guys at one point that were off the roster, that were not on the roster. Guys came back. Vladdy, this year, the guy is not hitting any home runs, which you know what he should be. I know people like, oh, at least he's batting 262. No, you're getting paid $35 million a year, dude. Pay the man. Like I said before, he's great. He was doing great. Playoffs. He set a historic playoff performance. Whatever is going on in the world of Vlad's head, get him, get him to the nearest doctor, get him to the nearest thing. What. Whatever needs to be done to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He steps up in pressure moments. That's what Vlad is really good and that's why he flourished in the playoffs last year. The Blue Jays are just behind from a last wild card spot perspective going into this upcoming weekend. A series against the Seattle Mariners. But before they played the New York Mets, which I'll talk about Bobaette in a second. Before they paid the Mets, you lost. Series is to the Astros and Rangers, two teams that were chasing you. Winnable series is in. The Blue Jays are not playing good baseball. Guys are back. Bieber, Kirk just Barger's gone. David Schneider up and down. You got Sean Kees coming up. Who's been a. Who's a stud today on Canada Day. Pinago, who's doing great. Guys that are stepping up last. Last year, George Springer hit a grand slam on Canada Day and it set the tone and did the turnaround for the Jays and the Jays are hoping for that same thing. After today's big win against the New York Mets before a big series against the Seattle Mariners, which you need to win. You need to win that series against the Mariners. After that, you Got the Giants. After that you have the Padres. And after that you have the White Sox. And then you play the team that you cannot play well against at all, and that is the Rays. Then you got the Red Sox. You got interdivision games that you need to be better at. But these next couple series, you have to win them. Get back into the hunt of topping the division, back in the hunt of maintain a wild card spot, be healthy and get those bats woken up. Okamoto is the only guy I feel who's been consistent on this team. And Spencer Miles, unbelievable. Toronto Blue Jays not playing the baseball that they should be playing. A team that was two outs away from winning a World Series with Muncie hitting a bomb to tie the game when they were had one out for the Dodgers. And Hoffman still has that haunt in his dreams. I'll tell you right now, teams that I'm gonna talk about. Boba Shet here. When he came back to Toronto as a warm ovation, to be honest, I thought he was gonna get booed. I was mixed reactions because I'm upset from a Toronto Blue Jays fan perspective thinking that he was a sellout. But the end of the day he went after the dough and you can't blame the guy. So you got a clap and a good video. Love it. It was great to see Bull back. He's doing pretty good in terms of, well, what he can do. Apparently Mets fans are chanting, you can have Bo back. You guys need to take a lap. That is so rude. That's such bush league. That's bullshit. Listen, no New York fans, you're passionate as hell, but you know what? Bouchette has left the team that he loved, that he where he was loved to go to you. And you're lucky to have him. That's all I'm going to say. And we'll gladly take him back if you want to give him back. Thing that I want to talk about is, what I want to touch on is the Padres in that division. The National League West. Dodgers are doing Dodger things. Diamondbacks have been back, Padres really struggling. I need to think, when will the Padres consider trading Fernando Tatis? I'm sorry, that's what I'm saying. When are they going to consider trading Fernando Tatis? If you look at what they did recently against the Cubs, despite who went in to pitch at the end 23:3, they lost the Cubs recently. That is absolutely abdismal. And if you look at what right now, what's going on with Fernando Tatis, I feel like as from a player. He's batting.280. His five homers and he has 33 RBIs. Al Nino, Mike Trout on the Angels. He needs to be free. Padres aren't. And is it not working? San Diego, that team, I have a soft spot. I feel bad for him, but when does Fernando Tatis get put on the trade block? And why not head over north of the border? Just saying. Got some assets. Toronto, you need a little bit of a shake up. Schneider's looking for a new home because he's not playing. Pinyongo is looking pretty good.
[00:19:59] You got some young guys coming up. Jojo Parker, you got Sean Keys, got guys doing well. Barger is not healthy right now, but he's a power threat. Maybe he's the guy you throw into that trade. Just saying. Fernando Tatis I think would be. Would be epic at the Rogers Center. Just starting with that right now. And I'm leaving it where the Blue Jays need to smarten up. Yankees are struggling. Rays continue to surprise. Padres struggling. Cubs looking good. Braves looking good. Those are my reactions around the world of baseball. Last point in the round table. Wwe. My God. One positive. Sami Zayn. Canadian guy wins the undisputed W Championship. Shout out to Alex Parr.
[00:20:38] He's a big Sami Zayn fan, but I only want to see a cup. One thing about the wwe, the story lines, here's the one thing. Are trash. Everyone's, oh, it's fake wrestling. It's entertainment, people. It's like watching a TV show. I was invested in the Attitude era. That's me. I'm a big Attitude era guy. I got reinvested. Of course, when Cody Rhodes is finishing his story, the Rock was involved. John Cena's retirement tour, which they botched, by the way, but I check in here and there. Love, Obafemi. Big bright spot in the WB that Lesnar Obafemi thinks. Great. Got their third match coming up. It's unbelievable, but the storylines are trash. And should I be surprised, that's all I'm going to say. I just think the story lines are trash. And now I want to just go back to continuing to further disconnect from it. Okay, that's roundtable talk. That's 24 minutes. So that gives 25 minutes. Now that gives me 20ish minutes, maybe a little bit more to talk about the NHL. So I'm only gonna spend a couple minutes on the draft and then I'm going into free agent frenzy. Unbelievable chaos. Sports gone wild, people. We NBA, World Cup. Baseball's wild with how teams Are struggling not meeting expectations. WWE stories sucks. Let's talk hockey. The NHL draft going to that before the draft, the Leafs brought in Darren Radish starting The starting the June 19, right on Arlo's birthday, my son's first birthday. The Leafs say, dave, happy birthday to your son. We're going to bring in Darren Radish as everyone wants to know if you're new to the show. I am a Toronto Maple Leaf fan. Passionate fans as I can remember on the show we talk all things sports. We don't just stick to one team of course. Give a little extra love to the teams we like to watch when it's me and the co host. But having Radish go on that day on my son's birthday, it was great. Bring him in. Compliment that decor to really hopefully a healthy decor and sign him to an eight year extension staying in Toronto. He was a threat on Tampa. No matter what you think about Kucharov giving him the puck all the time. Radish is a great defenseman now. That's how you start everything. Before the draft things start flooding in unbelievable. The Leafs obviously won the draft lottery. They had the first overall pick. You have Justin Bieber going up there and not even doing a proper draft etiquette. He's saying Gavin McKenna, we'd like to draft you to the Toronto Maple Leafs. That's it. And then he's list then Yukon song plays People were saying oh they should take Stemberg. I'm telling you right now, McKenna's was the right choice. Stenberg is still a good choice. But McKenna going one to Toronto. The surprise pick was Dax Rudolph by the Buffalo Sabres. I didn't think he was a fourth overall pick. I'm thinking that should have been maybe a Chase Reed but not my call. I'm not a scout in the National Hockey League. But overall what I want to give a reaction on that was great to watch. I had my Maple Leaf shirt on. I was clapping. Bieber came up. I was loving that. Didn't know how to draft someone. Like I said, McKenna was pumped to be there. Great to see him put on the Leaf jersey and Matthews gives him a message. I think he was looking off a script and very Auston Matthews like greeting to Gavin McKenna. But Gavin McKenna is now in Toronto. Stemberg is in San Jose, Caleb Malhotra in Vancouver. Obviously that's an unbelievable fit. I wonder how awkward it'll be if his dad ever gets fired from Vancouver. Overall was a great entertaining draft. Maybe not as much trades. I thought we'd See, but trades were crazy. They have been crazy. So it doesn't matter. Draft grades. Leafs A plus, San Jose Sharks A plus plus Sandberg and Verhoff. Unbelievable. San Jose is just going to be an absolute wagon, people, okay? Absolute wagon. And I am also going to give a good draft grade, okay, to the Seattle Kraken for drafting Chase Reed. Where they did. That was a great pickup by the Seattle Kraken. So I'm giving them an A as well. I'm just going to Grade 3 teams for the NHL Draft. Gavin McKenna in Toronto, Stenberg to San Jose. And we're off to the races as now we're going to get into free agent frenzy and trades leading up to free agent frenzy and trades today. You know, last couple days you had Markstrom going to the Florida Panthers. Before that, Brady Tkachuk got traded to the Florida Panthers. As we all know, Raccoon Gudis is back in Florida Panthers territory. That's so disgusting. It upsets me so much. They're going to be so hated. They're going to be so hard to play against. It's going to be awful to watch, especially if you're an Atlantic Division team that you cheer for like I do. The trades continued into today. Darnell Nurse going to the San Jose Sharks. Marcus Petterson going over to the New York Rangers. Pavel Deravaev from the Vegas Golden Knights going to going to the New York Rangers. 11 million he gets signed. That is absolutely bonkers. Bowen Byram for the fourth overall pick is the biggest fleece that I've seen. So I'm here. I'm combining some draft into today, but he signed a 12.5 million dollar extension. Unbelievable trades. Unbelievable. Today the biggest asset for trade that was most realistic and the best value was Toronto trading for Darren Radish. Just gave up a late pick and signed him eight years. Unbelievable. Maverick Bork going to the Nashville Predators. There there's some good news. Jason Robertson saying, no, I ain't going anywhere. I don't want to go to Dallas. I don't want to go to Seattle and make $15 million. I want to choose where go. Larkin choosing where he wants to go. Zach Warrenski apparently getting traded to Toronto or Tampa today. That was the biggest highlight of the day. Then there's the biggest disappointment as he says, no, I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay and win in Columbus. Who does that sound like? Yeah, it sounds like Dylan Larkin and Brady Kachek. Conor Hellebuck. Conor Hellebach requesting a trade out of Winnipeg. It seems Stuart Skinner going to the Winnipeg Jets. Where's Conor gonna play? Not Tampa. I think Buffalo makes the most sense. Carolina makes good sense. But the return that Winnipeg can get from Buffalo, you got Levi who went over to Edmonton today. So they don't really have too much option. So they might not want to give up a young guy anymore. But Ukapeka looking in a first round pick or two in a roster player. I mean I do that but I think Carolina might be the team he ends up in. And with Levi going over Edmonton, you're banking on Jari. But you, you also bring in Freddy Anderson on the Edmonton Oilers. A Mike Babcock led team of the Edmonton Oilers. Unbelievable. Sports gone wild, people. As you see, I went into a lot of different news that I don't want to stress and talk into way too much because we renski something. It was all false hope and it didn't happen. We know what Florida did. We know how annoying they are. But I got to give reactions about some signings. I got to give grades. Unbelievable day. Couple more things I want to mention for trades. Nick Paul going over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dennis Hildeby going the other way. Oh, that was. That was kind of tough to swallow. Hika Dylan is Hildeby young prospect, big guy, put a lot of promise but you can't, you can't have four goalies. One's going through waivers. As soon as teams know you have multiple goaltenders after you signed a very big name. But I'll get into in a minute. Teams might not give you what you think you're going to get. I'll be honest, I thought Hilda be Ben Danforth a first. Jacob Quillen was a good maybe package to start or get going with with the Columbus Blue Jackets. But when they traded Nick Robertson over to the Pittsburgh Penguins and then as I saw more signings happen in Toronto said okay, the Rensky trade may not be happening but you never know. Last thing Morgan Riley said I wasn't getting into too much of these trades, but Morensky had all this fall, all this hope and nothing happened. So brutal. Same with Jason Robinson. Where's he going to go? Morgan R. It seems like he's going to get traded this week or this summer. Just a matter of when. Western Conference team. I don't know what Western Conference team because the San Jose Sharks now have Darnell Nurse and they have Jacob Truba that they gave the truck to. So is it. Is it la? Is it Anaheim? Do. Do they want it? Does he want to go home to Vancouver? Is there an Elias Pedersen type deal that you look at unbelievable things that could happen that didn't yet happen today. So there's trades, there's the draft that happened, trades that did happen, trades that didn't happen. And the rumor mill still flying. But let's talk about now the signings, starting with the big one. The Toronto Maple Leaf signed Sergey Bobrovsky to a three year, $21 million contract. The actual ultimate high stakes goalie gamble. 37 years old officer Bob Brofski leaves Florida, wasn't resigned by Florida to sign in Toronto and reunite with Anthony Stolars, someone who he's won a Stanley cup with and gets to be a mentor to Arthur Katikamaff, who just won the Calder cup for the Marlies and the MVP for the Marlies, if you want to know. Which is why they gave up Dennis Hildeby who fell to the backup role with the Marlies as they won the Calder title. The Leafs didn't just buy a goalie, okay. They bought veteran presence. They brought ease to the crease is what the Toronto Maple Leafs got. Stolars, he's a 30 goal, 30 game goalie guy. Bobrovsky, he'll give you 40.
[00:29:19] You know what? Give a Dikomov 12. Give him some, give him some time. Or let's be realistic, stolars 35. And if you're gonna go ahead and give Bobrovsky the remainder, that makes sense as well. Is it a ticking time bomb, this contract? No. What have I done? A different contract? Absolutely. I would have looked at it from the Raco Gutis perspective. I would have said here's five years spread out over term and money for after you retire and will pay you all when you retire for a less cap hit. So I can keep buying more players to bring a cup to Toronto. That is how my approach would have been. But that's not Chica's. Chaika Signed Colton seasons 4.25 for two years. Traded for Nick Paul as I mentioned, they brought in Brandon Duhame. They also signed Zach McEwen. They signed Teddy Bluger to a two year contract as well. Paul Bluegr Sizzens really trying to solidify their bottom six and doing it in a two to three year window. Who has two years left on their contract? Austin Matthews. People. He's solidifying the top six or the bottom six? Sorry, Chaika is. He kept a top six vision intact which will feature knives, Matthews, McKenna, Tavares, Nylander, Cowan. You got to think that six potentially bottom six, you could just do whatever you'd like to do at that point. You have. You have the ability to be quite creative and have some good depth in your bottom six. And I don't think the Leafs are done yet doing what they wanted. They obviously lost out on a boon. Jenner, who signed with the Washington Capitals. Mason Marshman, who just got the bag in San Jose. He's not worth $7 million. But the Toronto me beliefs really making a lot of of moves today in free agent frenzy. And John Taika is cooking people. You can put an asterisk beside Gavin McKenna if you want because it wasn't his move on McKenna. But you know what it is? He drafted him. He could have drafted Stenberg, he could have traded the pick. He kept him and brought in a franchise player. He's cooking everybody. For all of you who have doubted John Chaika, time to pull back the reins a little bit. Give this guy a chance. Him. Matt's all this legacy approach that they're taking, wanting to be harder to play against. Bringing in Hiller as a coach was a complete off the board hire, but a typical hire because he's coached in the NHL before. Unbelievable. And the other signing that didn't mention yet, Jack Roslovic, who will flirt between the top nine in the top six and adds an additional depth piece. You certainly have a lot of pieces there in Toronto as Domi might be hitting ltir it seems like. And keep that cap space open with a healthy T core that you may or may not keep Riley, but could be led by Darren Radish. You got a healthy OEL McCabe. The Leafs have really addressed that. They're not rebuilding. They're retooling and making a run for it in an Atlantic division that is tough. Buffalo, Montreal, Florida, Tampa. Sorry. Ottawa, you're back looking out. Detroit, you're a mess right now despite the good pieces that you have. Boston, you know what I'm gonna say? This ain't worried about Boston, but that division is absolutely nuts. Absolutely nuts. Moving on the Montreal Canadiens. Not even a free agent signing, but what a contract. Absolutely cooking. Got Savkoski locked up long term. Cole Hudson. They got Ivan. Demigod. Sorry. Demidov on a long term 9.1 annual EV for 8 years. Unbelievable. Suzuki, Caulfield, Savkowski, Demidov. Hudson like Fowler. Montreal be cooking, everybody. Ken Hughes is cooking. He's cooking just as much as Tyka's cooking. Washington's cooking. A lot of GMs are cooking. A lot of movement going on. Montreal resigning. Demidoff. That is one of the best contracts. I'm going to tell you right now that contracts will be one of the best A's contracts as we approach the inflated cap era. Just saying. I mentioned about Bowen Byram getting the bag. I. He ain't worth that. Sorry, everybody. He ain't. He ain't. Prove me wrong, Bo. And I thought you were going to be this, but I. You're not worth. You know, you're not worth $12 million. I think you're an eight and a half million dollar guy, to be honest. That that's where my house pin in Chicago overpay by over 4 million on this guy. But we'll see if he shapes his career out in Chicago. Maybe more of the guy in Chicago. San Jose, like I've said, brought in Troopa and Mason Marchman. Speaking of cooking, they're a literal wall of meat. And with a pun intended for the Sharks. The term that I heard that I thought was funny, they call it the Silicone Valley. Bodyguards like that. San Jose won the draft by a landslide. From other teams except Toronto after winning the draft, bringing in Verhoff and Stenberg. Despite their response was we're going to go out and buy the meanest people that we can because Florida's already doing it. We're going to do it. We're going to surround these guys. We're going to trade for Nurse, we're going to sign for Truba, we're going to sign March. But Nurse lays the body, ain't afraid to fight. Truba don't need to talk about how much he likes to get dirty. Mason March with a power forward who can score 25 goals in this league. And we'll get Messi, but he ain't worth $7 million. Nor is true worth what he got paid either. And the Oilers just getting rid of Nurse for a prospect and not having to give up any cap. That is wild. That is wild. No retention on that. The Oilers just took a breath of fresh air to try to recoup that defense. But the Sharks bringing in two new defensemen. Mason Marchman, you got Celebrini, you got Smith, you got Sam Dickinson back there. You now have Stenberg, you have Verhoff, you have Askarov. San Jose Sharks, Stanley cup within five years. I'm gonna say it. I talked about Colton Sizzles going to Toronto and Bluegird, but that, let me tell you, $4 million a year. These guys, you got to be happy that a short term for some of these guys. Even Boone Jenner, 5.75 millions along a lot of commitment to spike cap increases. Other signings. Matthias Pacelli, former Leaf. Goes to the Islanders one year 2.5. He scored 14 goals. I think he's gonna fit nicely in Long Island. He has that Long island, the Islanders type playing style. I think he'll be good on a second power play there in New York. Paul Carter, Grindy, feisty guy. Vancouver's retooling. Just plugging a guy into the lineup. No offense. He'll be an asset. Traded at Detrait deadline. Andre Kuzmenko going to Pittsburgh. Speaking of Pittsburgh got Nick Robertson as I mentioned. Are they going to get Jason Robinson? What's going on in Pittsburgh? Dubas is cooking. He brings in Ron Francis. Gotta love that little bit of suit ties with Ron Francis. Low risk on the Kuzmenko signing now. There's been some extensions, Forester extends. There's been other trades I didn't mention. Corpusallo goes over to the Rangers. Corpusallo is going to replace Jonathan Quick. I talked about Boone Jenner. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. All these different types of moves and I could be sitting here right now. It's 9:25pm and there could have already been the last 45 minutes. 10 different other moves that I did not yet catch. But and this is a big but what I think that some GMs did. San Jose Mike Rear has taken on a lot of cap but he has the cap to spend. But you have to pay Salbrini and Smith in the future and I wonder how that's going to affect them. John Shaika brings in guys on two year terms. He's trying to build a team and a culture together that's going to mold together and be in it together but also hold each other accountable. You can't just discredit him for that. Despite what you're paying Bobrovski for Florida. Look at Florida is doing. They're doing all the right things which is so annoying. But Edmonton bringing in Levi was a positive move and moving out Nurse positive. Bringing back Connor Murphy. Good move by the Oilers. I'm actually okay with what they're trying to do. Winnipeg bringing in Stuart Skinner. Just trade Hellabuck. I feel not a lot of players want to go to Winnipeg and it's so upsetting because such a passionate fan base. Any NHL players are going to hear me say this. Give Winnipeg a try. They got some good players there. Connor, Scheifele, they got the right pieces. The right pieces. I got to give credit to the LA Kings too. Zuccarello going there. I think it's a great veteran signing Scott Lotto going back there. Corey Corey Perry. Obviously LA is believing that they're a team that could win their division and be a team that could could make the playoffs and have add re added some depth pieces and Eric Halla going there as well. But Anjay Kopitar gone. I'm interested to see how this team rebounds. Rasmus Anderson knew he was gonna stay in Vegas. So annoying. Seven years, 8.5 million. That is more around a Bowen Byram contract and of course Vegas signs their top four defensemen. One of the best defensemen on the board. I don't care what anybody says. Would have loved him. If you're a Toronto fan. You would have loved them if you're if if you're an Edmonton Oiler fan to replace Darnell Nurse despite that he played in Calgary. Vegas keeps Anderson and they just keep a very nice solid decor there and overpayments were a big thing in this I talked about the Leafs with Colton Sizzons, talked about Bowen, Byron, Chicago, but how about Ryan Shea in Edmonton? Not proven. But you know what, people should take it easy on Ryan. Shame. I'm telling you right now he's going to fit really good, especially if he gets a chance on a second power play unit and a little bit more openness on the ice to play with McDavid or Dry Seidel on the forward side to move the puck up too. It's going to be interesting to see. That was a very interesting signing too by the Edmonton Oilers. Lots and lots of contracts. Lots and lots of things that went on. Now there's a lot more and I'm sitting here trying to keep everything up. Jamie Oleksiak to the Vancouver Canucks. A lot of of more smaller signings as well. But Andreas Lee going to Utah, Utah spending that money to do what they need to to get into a playoff run. Zach Boghossian resigning in Minnesota. You have Philip Thomasino going to the Ottawa Center, Sammy Blay, the list goes on. And I'm looking at the free agent Frenzy tracker with tsn and one thing that really stands out to me on a move that I like is Brett Burns returning to Colorado and Jaden Schwartz going to the Colorado Avalanche and the New Jersey Devils moving out. Markstrom moving out. Goaltending. Are they in on caller Hellebuck? What is going on? They have some assets. They could certainly move to Winnipeg, but I think Buffalo definitely has the more of the ability the more meat. Beyond that you have the Washington Capitals who are all in Cairo Ovechkin is going to go back there. Are they the team that tries to battle Carolina in the Metro? Bjork Strand to the New York Rangers? Lot of moves, everybody. A lot of moves. And if you look at all the moves that that happened, there was so much. I had the number written down as of 2 o' clock, but I know there's been more. So I'm not giving to tell you what the number is going to be, but I will tell you right now, the Leafs are not fooling around. The Florida Panthers are not fooling around. The Oilers, they're trying out the food run. And the San Jose Sharks, boy, they're not fooling around. Biggest thing that I'm waiting for this offseason is still Zach Marinsky, Jason Robertson. Those are two that I'm waiting on. Notable ones for me as well are Elias Pedersen. I think the Canucks trade Elias Pedersen despite the sweetest connection there. I think there's a move for Elias Patterson to get out of Vancouver. They need to rip that team down to its core. They need to get rid of everybody and sign people that are remaining free agents to some inflated contracts the next couple years to get them to the cat floor, bring in some other bad contracts and trades for a couple years, sell it out. Look at trying to bring in Dupont, Maddox Schultz. Look at what you can do to retool that team because you are not going to come close to competing in the Western Conference with the Oilers, the Sharks, the Stars. You're not going to compete with these teams. Someone told me if I've had any feedback about a certain signing in St. Louis, no comment, not talking about it. That's how I feel about that. So for those of you looking and say, oh why, what do you give a reaction about it or make a clip about it? Nah, I'm not making a reaction. If you know, you know I'm going to go down that road. Let me give you winners and losers of the of the free agent frenzy to wrap up the show. But I'll also flag concerning contracts. So it's different but contracts that might they're two different analysis. But you have my free agent frenzy greats. You also have contracts that I feel will not age well. Okay, winners of free agent frenzy, San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens because of resigning Demidov to that contract. That is absolutely unbelievable. Just great. And I'm going to add on there, believe it or not, to many people's dismay for what they have done to this point and how much people don't like it. The Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche Losers for the Free Agent Frenzy to this point, very tough term to use, but I'm going to go with the Dallas Stars for no action. I'm going to go with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the same reason and the Boston Bruins for essentially the same reason. The other one I'm going to go to is the New York Rangers. Those are my winners and losers for free agent Frenzy as of day one. Now contracts despite being winners, the San Jose Sharks, Trubas and Marchmont's contract will not age well for the San Jose Sharks. Those are two that definitely really stick out and the third one very hot take probably despite his age and the cap going up, I think Bowen Byram's contract is definitely gonna not age well in Chicago. Winners of the free agent Frenzy, losers of the free agent frenzy and contracts that I feel will not age well. All in combination of trades and signings that led up today in the last couple days, with the majority of my points being towards today, July, the first date of this recording for that feedback. But a lot of storylines still remain Morgan Riley, Zach Rinsky, Jason Robertson, Connor Hellebuck, remaining players that are still on the board, teams that may not be done if it's via trade or free agency. Still a lot to go on. I can guarantee you that within the next couple days, if not a week from both fronts as teams are shaping up their roster again, preparation for not just development camp but for the season to start, which is just around the corner. I know it's a few months, but two months will fly by, that is for sure. All right, this has been the Game Sports Podcast. David McKay giving you all the information that you need from a reaction, full feedback, all the things together, perspective, let's call it. Very poor sentence structure there, but it doesn't matter. We're already a little bit late. We're just throwing words together now at the end as we get towards the outro. We hope you enjoy this content from the Game Sports Podcast. If you loved it, like follow and subscribe on all platforms. Instagram, TikTok, all at the Game Sports Podcast. If you had the joy of hearing me, great. But seeing me on video and likely starting to maybe feel a little bit sweaty because it's very humid here in Sault Ste. Marie despite of its central air. That doesn't matter, but I'm all sorts of heated up because it's been a wild sports gone wild week and it's great to see. Love the content, but make sure you follow the Game Sports Podcast, tick tock, Instagram, Facebook, 91 network, YouTube channel. We're on Spotify. You can search it on Gemini Chat, GPT teams co pilot your phone Siri doesn't matter. You talk about the Game Sports Podcast. 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Just saying our next show will be Jordan Owens July 7, you'll see a special edition, but our next new show will be on July 14th or 15th, to be determined and you'll actually have more people on with me as we look to now. That will likely be our last new show until September, if not our second last one. Thank you for joining me again tonight. I'm here to remind you to keep your stick on the ice. Swing your bats, catch touchdowns, drain your threes and shoot your shots. Booyah.
