What did you think of the extension and what everybody was saying about it yesterday?

Yeah, as far as Martin St. Louis is concerned, obviously, you know, passionate, I'm not surprised.

He was when I was a teammate of his, or he was a teammate of mine, in Tampa.

He wanted to figure things out.

He wanted to get better.

I probably told this story before, but I will again.

You know, it was the paddle down era for goalies before the VH and the RVH, and he wanted to know why.

What, if anything, can you tell me about, uh, specifically Marchenko and, and even the bigger picture of what's happening in Columbus right now?

Uh, what did you think of, uh, the, the extension and, uh, what everybody was saying about it yesterday?

Yeah.

Uh, a- as far as Martin St. Louis is concerned, obviously, um, y- you know, they, passionate, I'm not surprised.

He was when I was his, a teammate of his, or he was a teammate of mine, um, in Tampa.

He wanted to figure things out.

He wanted to get better.

I probably told this story before, but I, I, I will again.

What, if anything, can you tell me about, uh, specifically Marchenko and then even the bigger picture of what's happening in Columbus right now?

Uh, what did you think of, uh, the, the extension and, uh, what everybody was saying about it yesterday?

Yeah, uh, a- as far as Martin St. Louis is concerned, obviously, um, y- you know, they...

Passionate, I'm not surprised.

He was when I was his, a teammate of his, or he was a teammate of mine, um, in Tampa.

He wanted to figure things out.

He wanted to get better.

I probably told this story before, but I, I, I will again.

What, if anything, can you tell me about, uh, specifically Marchenko and then even the bigger picture of what's happening in Columbus right now?

Est-ce que ça apporte quelque chose de bizarre dans la dynamique, ça? As-tu déjà vécu quelque chose de semblable?

Oui, on l'a déjà vu, oui, effectivement.

Puis moi, je ne l'ai pas vécu à proprement dit.

Mais il y a une chose que je sais, c'est qu'il y a tellement de respect pour tout ce que Martin Saint-Louis a fait comme joueur.

Il a vécu plusieurs situations.

C'est ce que les joueurs disent.

Alors, c'est identique pour ceux qui ont joué avec.

Comment tu vois, toi, son évolution depuis son arrivée avec l'équipe?

Uh, what do you think of, uh, Chris Kreider choosing Montreal and, and the fit?

Low risk.

Potential for, let's not call it very high reward, but pretty good reward.

Uh, natural sniper.

Net front presence.

Decent speed, meaning that he hasn't lost touch with the rhythm and the cadence of, that you need, the pace that you need in the NHL.

And, uh, I'll say this, because it, it, it feels like the last couple of days maybe can't use saved the, the summer a little bit, but the salary structure is still impressive, especially with all the signings that we've seen this summer.

Hm.

Uh, what do you think of, uh, Chris Kreider choosing Montreal and, and the fit?

Low risk.

Potential for, let's not call it very high reward, but pretty good reward.

Uh, natural sniper.

Net front presence.

Decent speed, meaning that he hasn't lost touch with the rhythm and the cadence of, that you need, the pace that you need in the NHL.

And I'll say this, because it, it, it feels like the last couple of days maybe Can't Use saved the, the summer a little bit, but the salary structure is still impressive, especially with all the signings that we've seen this summer.

Hm.

Mm-hmm.

Right? Like, if you're Arber Xhekaj, and I think a lot of fans listening right now will probably agree, the idea is you don't wanna be riding the bench as much as you were last season considering that you're a rare breed of defenseman, and on the Montreal Canadiens, given the, you know, plethora of, of left shot defensemen they currently have on it, you're kinda stopgapped, and there's a, there's a glass ceiling for you, right, in terms of development.

So it creates a little bit of uncertainty in terms of where his role is from his camp in terms of the long-term future, and is it in the best interest of his career to be pigeonholed as a sixth or seventh defenseman with Montreal? Uh, you know, and, and really that's the conversation, right? Like, and obviously when you negotiate these, it's all about vision.

It's about what you're thinking for a player.

It's about where you want things to go.

Um, you know, and we've see- we, we know that there are other teams across the league that are interested or have been curious as to what the Canadiens' plan is with Arber Xhekaj, but that doesn't mean the Canadiens are outright shopping him.

So I, I think that it still requires a little bit of conversation and vision.

Hmm.

J'imagine que les séries ont dû lui donner un bon coup de pouce quand même.

Oui, un excellent coup de pouce parce que même s'il est en début de carrière dans la Ligue nationale de hockey, il a été phénoménal pendant le dernier droit qui a mené le Canadien vers les séries éliminatoires et son parcours éliminatoire où il a transporté sur ses épaules, pas à lui seul, mais quand même une bonne partie des raisons des succès du Canadien dans ses séries éliminatoires.

La bonne nouvelle dans tout ça, c'est qu'après... ce qu'on a entendu le 1er juillet.

Alors que le Canadien a été sur la ligne de touche pour les joueurs autonomes, on a tout de même fait parasser une prolongation de contrat très longue de 8 ans à Ivan Demidov.

Et celle d'aujourd'hui complète un peu le portrait parce qu'il manquait seulement qu'un gardien de but Et là, on a vraiment un noyau signé jusqu'au bas mot en 2030.

Le capitaine Nick Suzuki et Yacoub Dobesh verront leur contrat venir à Échamps en 2030.

Mais ça, ça laisse quatre saisons complètes aux Canadiens.

C'est décevant un peu, non ?

... 'cause they wanna be a part of this project.

Yeah, it is.

And, and I think ...

So negotiations weren't really tough between Hudson and the team, but a year ago you saw it, it kind of dragged into the season.

Probably Demidov's and the Canadiens camp, like, didn't want to go that route.

And, uh, you know, as you said, you know, everything was settled before noon.

Kind of had a pretty good idea that was gonna happen.

What do you think of him as a potential fit with the Canadiens and Martin St. Louis?

... 'cause they wanna be a part of this project.

Yeah, it is.

And, and I think...

So negotiations weren't really tough between Hudson and the team, but a year ago, you saw it, it kind of dragged into the season.

Probably Demidov's and the Canadiens camp, like, didn't want to go that route.

And, uh, you know, as you said, you know, everything was settled before noon.

Kinda had a pretty good idea that was gonna happen.

Is it, is it a challenge moving forward?

... 'cause they wanna be a part of this project.

Yeah.

It is.

And, and I think, so negotiations weren't really tough between Hudson and the team, but a year ago you saw it, it kind of dragged into the season.

Probably Demidov's and the Canadiens camp, like, didn't want to go that route.

And, uh, you know, as you said, you know, everything was settled before noon.

Kinda had a pretty good idea that was gonna happen.

Is it, is it a challenge moving forward?

Pourquoi les gens seraient portés à penser ça ?

Parce qu'il a joué trois matchs des 19 éliminatoires seulement du Canadien.

Parce qu'après avoir aidé le tricolore à passer à travers le Lightning en fin de série de premier tour, on ne l'a plus revu par la suite.

Soyons honnêtes, c'est sûr que ça vient me chercher parce qu'à quelque part, lorsqu'on voit un joueur en fin de parcours comme ça, l'ancien joueur en moi ressort et je vois ma fin de carrière et je me dis « on m'a-tu manqué de respect aussi, on me faisait plus jouer, on m'a renvoyé des mineurs et on a racheté mon contrat ».

Malheureusement, à part les très grandes vedettes, ça arrive souvent que c'est comme ça, on se fait tasser tranquillement.

J'ose espérer que ça a été bien géré, mais ce que je sais cependant, c'est que la suite, la transaction, puis ce qu'on a fait depuis la fin de la saison, ça, ça a été bien géré par le Canadien.

Puis c'est important parce que les joueurs à travers la ligue regardent comment ça se gère.

Il n'en méritait pas un contrat.

Uh, are you, do you expect the Canadiens to make a trade and bring in a, a, a winger or a center for that top six?

Yes, I do.

But I'm not saying it's gonna happen today or tomorrow.

I, I, I think Kent, first of all, he said all the right things.

It's, it's pretty-- I mean, I mean, he's being upfront.

It just hasn't happened yet, right? But I'm gonna say it again.

You need to, you know, things need to happen in or- in order.

... and, uh, the, the way he's leaving and the way the whole thing was handled.

Uh, are you, do you expect the Canadiens to make a trade and bring in a, a, a winger or a center for that top six?

Yes, I do.

But I'm not saying it's gonna happen today or tomorrow.

I, I, I think Kent, first of all, he said all the right things.

It's, it's pretty...

I mean, I mean, he's being upfront.

It just hasn't happened yet, right? But I'm gonna say it again.

... and, uh, the, the way he's leaving and the way the whole thing was handled.

Uh, are you-- do you expect the Canadiens to make a trade and bring in a, a, a winger or a center for that top six?

Yes, I do.

But I'm not saying it's gonna happen today or tomorrow.

I, I, I think Kent, first of all, he said all the right things.

It's, it's pretty-- I mean, I mean, he's being upfront.

It just hasn't happened yet, right? But I'm gonna say it again.

You need to-- You know, things need to happen on-- in order.

... and, uh, the, the way he's leaving and the way the whole thing was handled.

How big of a gamble is it for the Blackhawks knowing that Bowen Byram is gonna be a free agent after this season, and that, you know, they, they haven't really surrounded Connor Bedard with all that much ever since Kyle Davidson, uh, got handed that first overall pick?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, this is now what? The third top 10 pick they spend on a defenseman? And, you know, b- with Korchinski, Levshunov at two, and now they've just spent the fourth overall on Byram.

Byram is the only one with a sure shot to be a top pair defenseman.

And in the meantime, they've spent one top 10 pick on a forward, and luckily they got Anton Frndel, who looks to be excellent.

So there's a lot of periphery guys, and it's one of the reasons why Buf- uh, why Chicago was interested in Matthew Knies was because they wanted to surround Connor Bedard.

Yeah.

How big of a loss for the organization is Pascal Vaison?

Oh, that's a good one.

I mean, look, Pascal was very appreciated there.

amongst the organization.

He was a great communicator.

You know, he worked a lot with a lot of these players in terms of video.

You know, a lot of the improvement that we saw from Adam Engstrom, David Reinbacher this year, for those that actually watched Laval Rocket, you know, that's Pascal Vance in a nutshell.

the value attached to someone like Sam Montabo who's got a year left on his contract? Did that kind of set the market for you at all?

Is the Canadiens makeup of their bottom six, uh, an underreported storyline, uh, to follow up on Connor's question to you about getting this team from where they are to where the fan base wants them to be, and that's legitimately competing and maybe even winning a 25th Stanley Cup?

Yeah.

I mean, I think the bottom six is y- the, [laughs] how do I, how do I position this? Jake Evans should be a bottom six player, but he was playing on the second line.

So do I think the Canadiens have bottom six players that can get them across the finish line? Yes.

You know, Jake Evans, Phil Danault, and Nick Suzuki were three of the top five most performant centers in the NHL playoffs this year.

Uh, so the, I mean, Stan Koven was right there, um, and Jack Eichel as well, but I think they were, like, at the start of that series, they were one, they were two, three, and four.

So they had good general performances, and Phil Danault, I, in my opinion, had a, had a playoffs to remember, but you can't count on Phil Danault, like, long, long term because he's obviously getting up there in age.

How big of a loss for the organization is Pascal Vincent?

Is the Canadiens makeup of their bottom six, uh, an underreported storyline, uh, to follow up on Connor's question to you about getting this team from where they are to where the fan base wants them to be, and that's legitimately competing and maybe even winning a 25th Stanley Cup?

Yeah.

I mean, I think the bottom six is y- the [laughs] how do I, how do I position this? Jake Evans should be a bottom six player, but he was playing on the second line.

So do I think the Canadiens have bottom six players that can get them across the finish line? Yes.

You know, Jake Evans, Phil Danault, and Nick Suzuki were three of the top five most performant centers in the NHL playoffs this year.

Uh, so the, I mean, Stan Koven was right there, um, and Jack Eichel as well, but I think they were, like, at the start of that series, they were one, they were two, three, and four.

So they had good general performances, and Phil Danault, I, in my opinion, had a, had a playoffs to remember.

Listen on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Marco, are you expecting the Canadians to make a pick at 28 or to move that pick?

I wouldn't go so far as to hand you the keys to my house, Connor, but I'm just a level below that in terms of pretty sure the Canadians are going to move that pick.

There's a reason why Canadian fans are not invested in the first round of this draft where the Canadians are picking whatsoever is because The Canadians were more than willing to trade this pick when it was in the early 20s at the trade deadline to improve the team.

What do you think logically happened now that they just got to an Eastern Conference final? And, I mean, let's call it after the first game, they got schooled by the Carolina Hurricanes on what, you know, deep playoff hockey looks like.

And it's normal.

The Canadians are a young team.

They were obviously going to hit a wall at some point, like all good players do.

But if you were to think about the level of aggressiveness in which the Canadians attack this offseason, do you see a world in which they look at qualifying offers? in terms of players on teams like Dorofaev in Vegas, for example, that's under a cap crunch and a guy who's up for a big kind of contract? Is that an avenue you think the Canadians would legitimately explore?

How are you tonight? Sounds great.

Um, I mean, I think that, I don't think that we're gonna see offer sheets this summer, but if we do see anything, it'll be more in the line of what we saw from, uh, Carolina, ironically, and the New York Rangers last year, where the Carolina Hurricanes basically threatened an offer sheet against, uh, the Rangers for K'Andre Miller.

The Rangers said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Let's, let's talk a deal." And then Carolina basically said, "Well, listen, you know.

If we can't come to a deal, we will offer sheet," and then eventually they got to a trade which looked dangerously like the same compensation as an offer sheet.

But Carolina was able to include Scott Morrow, which offered, you know, the New York Rangers a prospect.

I think that's more along the lines of what you can see.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't think that we're going to see offer sheets this summer, but if we do see anything, it'll be more in the line of what we saw from Carolina, ironically, and the New York Rangers last year, where the Carolina Hurricanes basically threatened an offer sheet against the Rangers for Keiondre Miller.

The Rangers said, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's talk a deal.

And Carolina basically said, well, listen, if we can't come to a deal, we will offer a sheet.

And then eventually they got... to a trade which looked dangerously like the same compensation as an offer sheet, but Carolina was able to include Scott Morrow, which offered the New York Rangers a prospect.

I think that's more along the lines of what you can see.

Right now, there's two that I can see, because I used to think there would be three in Buffalo with Zach Benson, but it does look like Alex Tuck will be going to free agency, and good for him.

it's

What, what do you think-- What are you hoping the approach is here? What kind of players do you wanna see the Canadians targeting if they are gonna be making moves in the next month or so?

Yeah.

Well, no stones unturned, and I don't think there will be.

But, like, it's just-- It's, it's to be pretty rigorous, uh, as you said, in June, when you really haven't had that much time to prepare in May.

I understand that, you know, Jeff Gorton can't use and, and John Sedgwick being really close to the team doesn't mean, as we said, it's 2026.

With technology today, it doesn't mean they're not working, doesn't mean they're not, um, having those meetings.

Uh, the combine's already going on.

Connor and I were talking about him earlier, um, and, and what type of role, if things go well, you know, where can he kinda slot in, knowing that, you know, does, does he bump Alex Carrier if we talk about another hockey trade? Uh, Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj, who's an RFA, do they have futures within the Montreal Canadiens organization? It seems to me, Mark, and your opinion here about, a, a lot hinges on, on the summer and the fall for David Reinbacher.

What do you think of the idea of Patrick Roy as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Let, let, let me start by saying I'm, I'm not surprised that an interview with Patrick Roy would go well, um, especially with what has happened in the last few seasons, few years in Toronto.

Um, I guess maybe the clash of personality between Cheka and, a- a- and Patrick as well, but if you're looking someone to motivate, to get, uh, the, the, the best out of your players, to collaborate, um, I, I, I strongly believe that's where Patrick is at.

And experience aplenty.

Success at the NHL level? Hm.

Yes and no, right? A little bit here and there, maybe not all the way through, so i- i- it's kind of a question, but it's just the...

Listen, it's, it's the picture that's being painted, right? It's, it's Patrick Roy behind the Leafs bench.

What, what do you think, what are you hoping the approach is here? What kind of players do you wanna see the Canadians targeting if they are gonna be making moves in the next month or so?

What are you hoping the approach is here? What kind of players do you want to see the Canadians targeting if they are going to be making moves in the next month or so?

Yeah, well, no stones unturned, and I don't think there will be, but it's to be pretty rigorous.

As you said, in June, when you really haven't had that much time to prepare in May, I understand that Jeff Gorton can't use, and John Sedgwick being really close to the team doesn't mean, as we said, it's 2026.

With technology today, it doesn't mean they're not working.

It doesn't mean they're not having those meetings.

The Combine's already going on.

There'll be a draft here soon.

I know that, uh, I, I don't want you to reveal too much about your personal life or anything like that, but I am curious, what is the perfect off season day look like for Mark Denny?