Sure.

Um, but, uh, you know, obviously looking back, the deals look pretty good right now, and that's, you know, that's, that's great for us.

Um, but, uh, e- each time we signed them, I, I felt like, you know, all the, the players were happy with the deals at the time and the market.

And, you know, didn't, we didn't know that, you know, a player was gonna start making 18, 19, now over $20 million, but we knew it was gonna go up.

So, uh, in my experience, the, the price has very rarely goes down, so being out ahead of it made a lot of sense.

Those are players we all felt were core players you're talking about.

So in that sense, it, it, it wasn't that much of a stretch to do that.

How nice was it to have Chris Kreider kinda, well, I'll say, you know, favorably drop into your lap? Or at least you've got a relationship with him and, you know, with what happens in Anaheim, you're able to, to bring him into the fold.

[laughs]

Um, but, uh, you know, obviously looking back, the deals look pretty good right now, and that's, you know, that's, that's great for us.

Uh, but I...

E- each time we signed them, I, I felt like, you know, all the, the players were happy with the deals at the time and the market, and, you know, didn't... we didn't know that, you know, a player was gonna start making 18, 19, now over $20 million, but we knew it was gonna go up.

So, uh, in my experience, the, the price is very rarely goes down, so being out ahead of it made a lot of sense.

Those are players we all felt were core players you're talking about.

So in that sense, it, it, it wasn't that much of a stretch to do that.

How nice was it to have Chris Kreider kinda, well, I'll say, you know, favorably drop into your lap? Or at least you've got a relationship with him and, you know, with what happens in Anaheim, you're able to, to bring him into the fold.

Am I wrong in that assessment, or is it more just guys will be able to, it's like riding a bike, jumping right back on?

Well, I just think the day and age of the long camp, like these guys have been skating together, it feels like for months, right? So I think that they basically had their own camp.

You know, we just get two weeks to let our coaches ruin it by bringing X and O's into it.

I think they'll be ready.

I think that, you know, opening night I find, no matter what, is like a full moon type game.

You never know what you're going to get.

It could be crazy.

But at the time, did it feel like a gamble or was it one that you were more than willing to roll the dice on because you had enough info on the player?

So how, how the, how would you rate the impact that this this group of people have had on the organization?

Well, I mean, everything is important, what we're doing, but drafting and then, and then that actual part of it, the development staff is huge, right? So if you're going to, if you're going to invest high draft picks or any draft pick and, you're gonna have to put the time in and put plans together to try to make it work.

And so it's a huge part of what we're doing.

We now have a huge staff too, so it's interesting.

I don't know, looking around the league, how it compares like size wise, but our guys are pretty active around every day and have great relationships with the players.

And that's the intention is we have people all that have different kind of stories to tell and different backgrounds.

And, you know, like a guy like Paul Byron didn't necessarily, he wasn't a high pick.

So what sort of in-house discussions are there in figuring out that philosophy between doubling down on mobility and making sure that you have more of a toughness aspect to your decor?

Can you elaborate on that?

Yeah, I think so because...

We're a really young team.

And, again, I guess the youngest team in the league or one of them, again.

And if you think about it, he's got almost 1,000 games.

He's played over 100 playoff games.

He's a power forward.

What does getting better this season, how do you define that in your hockey mind? I'm not talking about, oh, you've got to get to the Stanley Cup Final, that means, right? I know it's more complex than that.

Natural fit, can you elaborate on that? Or what, what, what is it?

Yeah, I, I, I think so because we're a really young team, um, and again, I guess the youngest team in the league, or one of them again.

And if you, if you think about it, he's got almost 1,000 games.

Uh, he's played over 100 playoff games.

He's, uh, power forward.

He gives us more depth.

He can play on the power play.

What, uh, how are you feeling about the player, and how big of an opportunity does he have in front of him right now?

complex than that.

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, I talked a little bit about starting over, right? It's a new season.

You're playing 84.

You've got to get there again.

You've got to do it.

It's hard.

How are you feeling about the player, and how big of an opportunity does he have in front of him right now?

[laughs]

They were, they were...

You know, Whit's right.

They were calling for his head.

And, and I, you know, you get on the plane after and you, you get beat like that, and you're having a conversation with your coach, like, "We gotta change the lineup." And he's, he was pretty adamant no.

Um, and I, again, I think it goes back to, um, he's a guy that people wanna play for, and they wanna play for him because y- you're gonna make a mistake, and he's gonna put you back out there.

And, and that's all guys can ask for.

Was there ever even a thought process of trading him?

... why, why did you know it was gonna work with Marty St. Louis?

Well, well, I think we'd be lying back to you to say we knew it was gonna work.

The thing about Marty was i- I knew him, I had history with him.

Ken had history with him, and, uh, he was willing to come.

Be f- to be perfectly frank, he was willing to come for basically free for the re- the last three months of the season, and, you know, we were pretty down in the dumps.

So the idea of that, to maybe walk in the room and, and, uh, you know, kind of throw some energy into our group, uh, seemed exciting and, and worth a shot, and no downside.

So, um, you know, uh, there, there's always that part of hockey that we knew him well and we knew that he had a chance to be successful based on his, uh, his character, his leadership, his personality.

Like, did you believe that there would be a more of a learning curve? Were you concerned at all about how teams may approach him in the playoffs compared to the regular season? Um, because it doesn't, from my standpoint, appear to be affecting him whatsoever.

... why, why did you know it was gonna work with Marty St. Louis?

Well, well, I think we'd be lying back to you to say we knew it was gonna work.

The thing about Marty was i- I knew him, I had history with him, Ken had history with him, and, uh, he was willing to come, be f- to be perfectly frank, he was willing to come for basically free for the re- the last three months of the season, and you know, we were pretty down in the dumps.

So the idea of that, to maybe walk in the room and, and, uh, you know, kind of throw some energy into our group, uh, seemed exciting and, and worth a shot, and no downside.

So, um, you know, uh, there, there's always that part of hockey that we knew him well, and we knew that he had a chance to be successful based on his, uh, his character, his leadership, his personality.

Um, but you know, it's been fun to watch.

He's, he's kind of like our team.

Like, did you believe that there would be a more of a learning curve? Were you concerned at all about how teams may approach him in the playoffs compared to the regular season? Um, because it doesn't, from my standpoint, appear to be affecting him whatsoever.

... why, why did you know it was gonna work with Marty St. Louis?

Well, well, I think we'd be lying back to you to say we knew it was gonna work.

The thing about Marty was, uh, I knew him, I had history with him, Ken had history with him, and, uh, he was willing to come, be f- to be perfectly frank, he was willing to come for basically free for the re- the last three months of the season.

And, you know, we were pretty down in the dumps, so the idea of that, to maybe walk in the room and, and, uh, you know, kind of throw some energy into our group, uh, seemed exciting and, and worth a shot, and no downside.

So, um, you know, uh, there, there's always that part of hockey that we knew him well and we knew that he had a chance to be successful based on his, uh, his character, his leadership, his personality.

Um, but, you know, it's been fun to watch.

He's, he's kind of like our team.

Like, did you believe that there would be a more of a learning curve? Were you concerned at all about how teams may approach him in the playoffs compared to the regular season? Um, because it doesn't, from my standpoint, appear to be affecting him whatsoever.

Talk to us about that transition.

Yeah.

I, I mean, we had go- we were going through a little transition, and Michael O'Connell had, had gone and fired, uh, coming out of the, that lockout, that season that kind of went bad, right? So, uh, and in the end of the season, I was, uh, intern GM, and, uh, you know, lucky enough to have that summer of, uh, of being the general manager, where a lot of good things were happening there.

Um, you know, we had, uh, some free agent signings that stuck pretty well, Chara, and, and, uh, made some trades and had a good draft.

So I was fortunate to have that opportunity.

Uh, but at the same time, they, they had, uh, had gone in the mix to be the full-time GM and, and Peter Chiarelli got selected.

And so that was tough.

[laughs]