So when you talk about those ramifications, what are the, let's go to the present ramifications of having Leo Carlson on the books for the next five years at $18 million per?

Well, just everything is going to be compared to that number now.

You know, we've seen it a little bit even within the Ducks.

Pavlo Minchikov signed a five-year $7.2 million deal a couple days after this offer sheet was signed because there were threats of other offer sheets.

So, you know, that's a number that the Ducks probably would have hoped came in at around $4 million per year instead of $7.2. Carter Gauthier is going to, you know, require quite a hefty deal as well because he's currently without a contract, unable for an offer sheet, but he scored 41 goals as a 22-year-old player.

he's going to want a big ticket as well.

So the internal cap structure of the Ducks is kind of out the window now, and potentially even in the rest of the league.

The ramifications of this are going to be so intriguing, especially in Anaheim, with what has been a slow rebuild, but of course going to the second round of the playoffs have shown some signs of life that they're starting to get real close, Patrick.

Tell us what John Carlson meant to that young blue line that Anaheim had for this playoff run.

Yeah, so bringing in Carlson was definitely another one that was kind of... unexpected um it was late the day before the trade deadline when we got the news he represented a steady veteran experienced presence who kind of put in his 10 000 hours as a defenseman in the nhl but with how young the team was and how young the impact players were he was kind of a calming presence i would say both in the locker room and on the ice when things got a It was always a head scratcher as far as the fit, because you think of John Carlson in the cup winning year when he was with Washington and in his past where he was like one of like maybe one of the better two way defensemen in the league.

But that has kind of as he's gotten older, he's just more of an offensive defenseman, which the Ducks kind of had a lot of.

So it was an interesting kind of path for Verbeek to take.

trading for John Carlson but you know his play down the stretch he was nearly a point per game really helped out the power play definitely helped out the power play in their first round series against Edmonton Oilers and was a major driving force in them advancing to the second round had a bit of a tougher time in Vegas as far as what Tampa is getting in this player he's calm I would say he's He's a breakout machine.

I think he can fend off the vortex of teams like the Florida Panthers or Carolina Hurricanes who kind of rely on that, and he kind of just takes the blow, moves the puck.

He'll fit in better in Tampa Bay's system than he will in Anaheim's.

What was your impression of Jeffrey Veal this season?

Is he on the hot seat now? Is, is there a lot of pressure on Pat Verbeek, uh, over this whole situation?

I don't see how there can't be.

I mean, up until this point, he seemed pretty bulletproof.

He just got a contract extension before the playoffs started.

Uh, everything seemed to be going well.

Uh, but this is all kind of accumula- an accumulation of, you know, past dealings maybe coming back to bite him, and people are now understanding, agents and teams, how he operates.

And now he is directly costing, um, the owners, Henry and Susan Samueli, millions and millions of dollars per year because of his tactics now.

Um, do you see- Probably Verbeek either packaging up these first picks and getting a, a, a ready player, or would he, you think he'd kinda keep the powder dry and, and see what he can do in the draft with, with a pretty good draft class coming up?

So, so for you personally, what do you make of this deal, uh, with McTavish now out of town, a- and what's the kinda general reception been like down amongst Ducks faithful?

Well, yeah.

Um, the, the price was bigger than maybe we would've thought, but we saw, we saw what the prices were over the weekend, and even in the days leading up.

They were pretty outstanding.

So at the end of the day, yeah, 15th and 29th for Mason McTavish, who, like you said, was a third overall pick and seemed on the tr- on track to become a cornerstone.

Didn't really fit with, uh, Joel Quenneville's new system when he, what he brought in last year.

The foot speed was an issue.

Mm.

So, so for you personally, what do you make of this deal, uh, with McTavish now out of town, and, and what's the kinda general reception been like down amongst Ducks faithful?

Well, yeah, um, the, the price was bigger than maybe we would've thought, but we saw, we saw what the prices were over the weekend, and even in the days leading up.

They were pretty outstanding.

So at the end of the day, yeah, 15th and 29th for Mason McTavish, who, like you said, was a third overall pick and seemed on the tr- on track to become a cornerstone.

Didn't really fit with, uh, Joel Quenneville's new system when he, what he brought in last year.

The foot speed was an issue.

Um, so it'll definitely be nice to him to get a, uh, a change of scenery, but it was kind of clear the writing was on the wall when he got those healthy scratches-

Mm.

Do you see that at all?

Um, a little bit, yeah.

Um, in, in, in the sense that both of those guys are very polished and good two-way players, but not gonna, they're not gonna be Lane Hudson or Cale Makar on the blue line, but they're gonna be effective and efficient.

Um, and they're gonna be able to move a puck and shake a forechecker, um, you know, and, and handle that area of the ice.

Uh, so I think that's, that's not a bad comp.

I think Smits is, might be a better skater, a straight line skater, but that's not, you know...

Um, and then Viggo Bjork is the, like, really detailed, um, smaller, uh, center that, you know, scouts are loving right now, and that might go top five in this, in this draft at this point.

Let's go.