What do you think of what this new group has been up to in Vancouver, Craig?

Well, I think we talk about Daniel and Henrik and Ryan Johnson along with Manny.

And I think that the focus was on how you're going to get better.

And you're going to get better, hopefully, with each move you make.

It's not going to happen overnight.

But you take one step, then you take another step.

And I think that that would be the way I would analyze the Canucks summer atmosphere.

What is going on, and how is this happening, and where is it going?

Is it better than last year's team? And how much, when we say look at a team on paper, do we have to factor in a little bit of an X factor at coach?

Well, I mean, the coach becomes, I think, a significant factor with respect to how you want to play.

So we're going to find out if this team is better than last year's team.

Let's not forget that last year's team showed some real moments of strong play and good play.

and that gave everybody the feeling of hope that something was real.

And the problem with last year's team was there was a lot of inconsistency, and the goaltending was up and in and down and out, and that created some issues.

So when we talk about where this team is at, I – Sometimes we have to deal with uncertainty and just say, let's watch and see what Mike Babcock can do with this team.

Could he sit out? Is it just a matter of time before he lands Buffalo? Or how do you kind of see this whole thing ultimately coming to an end?

Why will they, and then again, why won't they, get strong consideration to be on the World Junior team?

I'm glad you asked.

If you just go and watch the game, and you didn't know anybody's age, you didn't know, and you just said, okay, I'm going to bring in somebody that doesn't know any of these players, doesn't know what their age is, hasn't seen a birth certificate.

You just go, just go watch the game.

I mean... they're unbelievable.

Like, they're not good.

They're not, oh, they were good for 16-year-olds.

Where do you see it a year from now, quickly? What are your thoughts on it?

Fred Meyer, fresh for everyone.

Nothing last year.

Nothing.

He was given anything he got, and he couldn't take advantage.

You talk about Isaac Howard.

I mean, Isaac Howard was better than Trent Frederick in my view.

So, you know, coaches are going to play the guys that earn their ice time, and the good coaches do that.

Lastly, Craig, when you look at the order summer from where they were at the end of the season after the trades and signings, how do you look at their team now?

But do you think as a GM, Craig, it would be disruptful to have him come back and start the season if there's not a viable trade? Or do you have to trade him before the season starts?

No, I don't believe in that.

I, like, I think it's...

First of all, you know, Dylan's a competitor, and, and Dylan's a quality person.

Like, you know, people might not like that he asked for a trade.

Okay, we can disagree with that.

But he, he's a competitor and he's a quality person.

First line.

But do you think as a GM, Craig, it would be disruptful to have him come back and start the season if there's not a viable trade? Or do you have to trade him before the season starts?

No, I don't believe in that.

I, like, I think that, first of all, you know, Dylan's a competitor, and, and Dylan's a quality person.

Like, you know, people might not like that he asked for a trade.

Okay, we can disagree with that, but he, he's a competitor and he's a quality person.

Uh, if you recall back, a number of years back when, uh, Ma- uh, Matt Duchene asked out of, uh, Colorado, and I remember talking to Joe Sakic about this.

Right? And, and, and Joe said, "Hey, listen, you know, it's real simple." He goes, "I told Matt, 'Okay, you wanna be traded.

Where do you come out on Mantha?

So why don't we start with what's close to home here in Montreal, um, and how do you think the Canadiens did?

Well, I think number one is, you know, Tony, you and me have talked about this.

You know, I get lots of questions about this.

You get lots of commentary about it.

It's like, best player available.

Well, like, I, I, I know this for certain, 32 teams had a different top 10.

They were all different order.

Limited time offer.

What were your thoughts on the Oilers, uh, the Darnell Nurse trade, uh, you know, and then free agency and, uh, what they did?

Yeah, good work, I would say.

I, I, I mean, you go into free agency, we can talk about where they s- where they were, where they were sitting.

You know, obviously, uh, you know, the $9.25 million for Darnell Nurse, you know, moving him along and, and al- being able to use that money and to, to reinforce your team in other areas, um, you, you know, was positive.

And, you know, we, we, we, we can debate what Darnell is or what Darnell isn't and, but th- it was work that, uh, Stan Bowman and his group, I, I, I thought really focused in on getting accomplished, found a way to, uh, to get a deal done.

Luca McDulland gives them depth on the blue line.

Do I think he can be a regular? Yeah, I do.

What do you make of the kind of the strategy there, a little bit of following in the footsteps of Carolina in a way to say, "You know what? Sometimes you'd rather have more, even though some of them have question marks, more so due to health."

What were your thoughts on the Oilers, uh, the Darnell Nurse trade, uh, you know, and then free agency and, uh, what they did?

Yeah, good work, I would say.

I, I, I mean, you go into free agency, we can talk about where they s- where they were, where they were sitting.

You know, obviously, uh, you know, the $9.25 million for Darnell Nurse, you know, moving him along and, and al- being able to use that money and to, to reinforce your team in other areas, um, you, you know, was positive.

And, you know, we would, we, we, we can debate what Darnell is or what Darnell isn't and...

But it, it was work that, uh, Stan Bowman and his group, I, I, I thought really focused in on getting accomplished, found a way to, uh, to get a deal done.

Luca McDulland gives them depth on the blue line.

What do you make of the kind of the strategy there? A little bit of following in the footsteps of Carolina in a way to say, "You know what? Sometimes you'd rather have more, even though some of them have question marks, more so due to health."

We recorded an interview with, uh, Craig Button, TSN scouting director, before the show, and we started off the, uh, conversation with Craig by asking him about the Canucks acquisition of Brendan Gallagher and the obvious question, which we do a lot of down here or over i- i- in this show, what's Brendan gonna add to the Vancouver Canucks?

Y- you know, I was watching a clip of Tom Brady talking about great teammates, and teammates that show up and are dependable and consistent and competitive.

And Brendan isn't the same player he once was, but that dependability, consistency, competitiveness are something that's ingrained in him.

And when you have young players and, and a team that's trying to find its way to being competitive and consistent and dependable, the more players you have like that, and, and this is not a long-term thing with Brendan, but it, it, it's something that can have long-term impact or long-term effects on younger players.

So you got a player that, uh, l- and Brendan, who's just a wonderful person, and then you have those other elements.

And, and I think at this stage for the Vancouver Canucks it's a, it's an a- it's just a fantastic addition.

And, you know, we know how happy Brendan is to be in, uh, in Vancouver and how right it is for his family, and I think it's right for the Vancouver Canucks.

Uh, do you believe or are you of the belief that he can find his game with the Predators?

Covert was sort of on that fringe of going anywhere and I guess, like, that 25 to 40 range, but did those two moves stand out to you? Or did anything else that you saw Friday night surprise you a little bit?

Yeah, and I think that, uh, uh, you, you've heard me say this before, and we've talked about it privately and publicly amongst us, is that, you know, you get...

W- we can all go to the draft and we know exactly, we can take 20 players and go, "They're going in the first round." We know it.

And w- that number could be 22, it could be 20, but we know for sure.

And then you get this next group of players, like you said, Adam, you know, in the range of 25 to 40.

And, and wh- why do teams go, "Yeah, you know, we, we traded up to get a player." Like, Montreal trades from 28 to 26.

Somewhere along the line they wanted that player and they said, "We're not gonna wait and hope.

If, if you were able to sit in with one team during the draft this year and hear the internal debate, which team would it be, and why?

the people I'm just saying

...

I'm just saying, look, I'm, I'm answering the question.

I'm, I'm, I'm not saying you.

I'm just saying, so why don't we look at what, what are we overreacting to? They had 90...

They, th- th- they would not have made the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, so are you telling me injuries led to that, to, to, to their regular season? Okay, yeah, they, they, they ran up to...

I, I'm not saying...

Okay

Yeah

... what, what I call the COVID, the COVID, uh, cap.

And, and you come out of it, and then you, you know, revenues and the salary cap gets predicted and, uh, everybody knows what they're operating with.

I love the fact that the NHL gave teams three years of projections and, and adjusted the cap accordingly.

I mean, the NHLPA as well.

I think that's terrific.

And that gives teams a little bit, not a little bit, it gives them a lot more ability to, to look at options, to look at signing players, trading for players.

So I felt like they made that trade thinking, "There's gotta be another domino here." What do you make of the Sharks tonight, and do, do you see that, and what did you make of that trade?

but if you're the actual GM of a team, like, how prepared are you for madness, or is it pretty straightforward where there's only a couple situations where, you know, a crazy scenario would present itself?

Y- you're prepared for the, for the scenarios that you've been discussing for whether it be days, whether it be weeks, and you have your finger on the pulse, uh, right now.

The, the tough thing about the NHL draft is that you only have so much time to make a maneuver or to make a trade.

Like, they, they've really locked it in in terms of time.

So if you wanna make a trade, you gotta do it, you gotta do it ahead of time because you can't sit down and go, "Okay, we're gonna talk." You know, we watched general managers in the past go over and talk to another GM and everything that went with it.

That's not allowed anymore.

You, you have so much time.

... there's no goal-

But if you're the actual GM of a team, like, how prepared are you for madness, or is it pretty straightforward where there's only a couple situations where, you know, a crazy scenario would present itself?

You, you're prepared for the, for the scenarios that you've been discussing for whether it be days, whether it be weeks, and you have your finger on the pulse, uh, right now.

The, the tough thing about the NHL draft- Is that you only have so much time to make a maneuver or to make a trade.

Like, they, they've really locked it in, in terms of time.

So if you wanna make a trade, you gotta do it, you gotta do it ahead of time 'cause you can't sit down and go, "Okay, we're gonna talk." You know, we watched general managers in the past go over and talk to another GM and everything that went with it.

That's not allowed anymore.

You, you have so much time.

He's gonna look at this, look at the tape and say, "There's no goal-"

Um, like wh- what separates him for you to, to make him number one over guys like Stenberg or Reid or Carson Carril?

Yeah, and it's, uh...

I, I, I don't think there's very...

I think there's very, very thin margins between these players, i- if there's a margin at all.

Uh, y- if we just look at, uh, Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg, I mean, they're both elite offensive wingers.

And I, I would say that Gavin leans a little bit more to the playmaking side.

Ivar leans a little bit more to the shooting side.

He'll play a lot more than that

Of how it's appeared to you, why you think we're seeing this, is this going to be an ongoing trend? Could junior hockey make a comeback in terms of keeping some of these kids? How do you see it all playing out?

Well, I think that there's a lot of layers to it.

I mean, the first, for me, thing to look at is there's an additional development path for the players, which is good.

And when you're trying to think about players having to make decisions At 15 years of age, am I going to go to school? Am I going to go play junior hockey? And keep in mind that when you're 15, you don't really have options other than go and play junior hockey, whether that be junior A hockey or whether that be USHL, or you forego your college eligibility and you've got to play in the CHL.

Well, with the new ruling, you now can go play at the highest level.

You can go play in the CHL.

So now players... can choose that path, and I think it's something that allows them, and then they can look at their next stage of development and understand, okay, is college hockey the right path for me? You know, we see a lot of players in three years in the CHL and they're good, but is that fourth year going to benefit them? I use Porter Martone as an example.

Is that more of a fit thing, or do you kind of order the defensemen in the top ten for me, and whether you think there's a significant difference, or is it more of beauty's in the eye of the beholder of the teams that will take these defensemen?

Is this going to be an ongoing trend? Could junior hockey make a comeback in terms of keeping some of these kids? How do you see it all playing out?

Well, I think that there's a lot of layers to it.

I mean, the first, for me, thing to look at is there's an additional development path for the players, which is good.

And, you know, when you're trying to think about players having to make decisions about At 15 years of age, am I going to go to school? Am I going to go play junior hockey? And keep in mind that when you're 15, you don't really have options other than go and play junior hockey, whether that be junior A hockey or whether that be USHL, or you forego your college eligibility and you got to play in the CHL.

Well, with the new ruling, you now can go play at the highest level.

You can go play in the CHL.

So now players... can choose that path, and I think it's something that allows them, and then they can look at their next stage of development and understand, okay, is college hockey the right path for me? You know, we see a lot of players in three years in the CHL, and they're good, but is that fourth year going to benefit them? I use Porter Martone as an example.

Is that more of a fit thing, or do you kind of order the defensemen in the top ten for me, and whether you think there's a significant difference, or is it more of beauty's in the eye of the beholder of the teams that will take these defensemen?

Who got better? Which, which of the deals surprised you the most, and who in your mind got better?

Well, Chicago got better.

There's no question that Chicago got better with Bowen Byram, and, uh, I...

It's, it's, it's important for them to get better.

You can't just keep drafting young players and saying, "We have a good prospect pool," and you, you have 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds populating your lineup and you think you're gonna win.

The-- They need to find a way to, to now, uh, be competitive.

And I'm, I'm not talking about working hard and competitive within a game.

Yeah

It could be in Belleville one night, or it could be in Stockholm, uh, two weeks later, or could be in, uh, Prague or, you know, and you just, "Oh, you're over here too." But you were always friends with all those guys because although you weren't friends in sharing information, as you said, but you knew what they were going through 'cause they were going through the same stuff you're going through, trying to get to games, trying to make evaluations of players, trying to spend some time at home if possible 'cause you're always on the road.

Yeah, and it was diff- I mean, you had to go on the road for long stretches at a time because that just was the nature of it.

I laugh now when I think about going and finding directions somewhere, and I'm thinking like, "How did we do that, Neil?" I don't recall having maps.

I remember trying to ask in whatever language it was, you know, "Where is the hockey arena? The, uh, ishall or the ice hall," or whatever it was called.

Here's how it worked.

You know, now we got directions, take a left here.

You'd get to a street and you go, "Okay, I need to get there." You'd ask somebody else, and then you'd carry on, then you'd ask somewhere else and, you know, they're trying their best to help you and, you know, the language barrier is there.

With Vancouver picking three and the Sedins now active in Vancouver's front office, do you see Ivar Stenberg going there?

But what does he do well as, as a, a head coach when he sticks to hockey?

Yeah, well, I, well, I mean, I think that you watch.

I mean, he, he organizes a team to, uh, b- be really good in understanding what you have to do with the puck, what you have to do without the puck, in the defensive zone, in the neutral zone.

And he really stresses how what one player does is going to impact another player.

So we use the term connected, but, but those connections, and it, it, it, it's like a, like a, a, a, like a, a wire connection.

If it's not all the way in, it's not gonna work at its full function.

So h- he gets them plugged in the right way and, and he really understands how to, how, how to get a team to perform to the best of their abilities, individually and collectively.

Yeah.

Uh, just what, what's maybe your favorite Mo story?

Wow.

I mean, I gotta narrow it down to one.

I, I, I think I have a couple and, and, you know, when you go back in time and you think about drafting first overall, and now listen, I had nothing to do with it.

Lou Nanne was a huge part of it.

You know, there was two really good players there in Curtis Lasch- uh, not Curtis Lasch.

Uh, Trevor Linden and Mike Modano that was under consideration.

You know, maybe he's a do not draft, uh, player." Is it just a data point, or is it significant enough that it moves things?

Correct.

And, and we know now the importance of, uh, of a tandem goaltending in the National Hockey League.

So while Dan Vladar doesn't feel like that, that go-to number one, and when I say go-to number one, I'm talking 50-plus games where you're the guy.

And Joe- Joseph Woll has been a very capable goaltender when available, and certainly now I look at it as two goaltenders in Philadelphia that give them some really good stability and really s- s- some, some o- opportunity for, for not there to be any type of question marks surrounding the goaltending.

You know, Samuel Ersson has shown some ability, but he's up and down and in and out, and right now it feels like he's still trying to find his game.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they have a number of goaltenders, including Anthony Stolarz, who, uh, is, i- is, uh, a- another goaltender with some term on his contract and trying to figure out what his availability'll be.

Then they got the big, uh, Swedish goaltender Hildeby, and then they got the Russian goaltender.

As for Struble, as for Carrier, and as for Xhekaj, when we talk, start talking about five, six, and sevens, what do you think the profile of defenseman the Canadiens need going forward? Are they those guys or one of those guys, or would you take a look at other defenseman on the market?

What can the rest of the NHL, what can the rest of hockey learn from the Carolina Hurricanes?

Hurricanes?I think there's two things, Donnie.

Number one, you better be patient and continue to work away at things you believe in.

I think the Carolina Hurricanes are a great example of that.

Uh, you know, this overnight success has been eight years in the making, and they've had their disappointments, they've had their, uh, failures.

And you, you look at how they lo- they lost to Florida, they lost to Tampa Bay.

You know, they look in that, in that, at that picture and they go, "Okay, what do they have that we need?" And they, and they kept working at it.

Yeah.

It was always Carolina, wasn't it, with the way that they played so far through these playoffs?

I think so.

You watch how a team just suffocated their opponents right from the get-go.

I mean, they gave up five goals in four games versus Carolina against the Ottawa, excuse me.

You know, really strong against Philadelphia.

They lose that first game against Montreal, and it was like, how did Montreal even win a game when you go back and look at that series? And, you know, they were a little bit...

I don't even know what the right word would be at the outset of this series, but... you know, down 4-0 in that Game 3.

So is this thing, like, does Carolina get, should we expect them to get one or two more over the next three, four years?