second pairing or if you get some third line

shifts with last change, maybe be more aggressive in trying to get away from those matchups.

I'm sure that'll be a strong point that Dennis is going to make.

He tweeted some stuff during the game last night, and I thought it was a good point.

You know, in terms of swapping Pod Coles in for Kapanen, I don't mind.

I like Kapanen's skill set.

He can play with good players.

for this conversation because when i think about that um it takes a lot it takes some minutes away from him uh is it is that the reason they want to reduce his workload a bit make his work a little easier have him focus on the power play have him focus on his five on five minutes more so than touching all the parts of the game because quite honestly he's probably the player that touches the most parts of the game as a forward for the orders the last five six years buddy

So does any one of those really pique your interest as we, uh, kind of look ahead to this next handful of games? Let's call it four to five games.

Yeah.

Well, I like the fact last night you kinda pointed out, you know, next game with Utah, it gets pretty real.

Like, they're turning some heads this year.

People are talking about how legit this team looks.

So I think kinda to your point about the penalty kill, Struds, like, that's been, it's been better.

I think their back-to-back games, I think, where they haven't given anything up.

Okay

Hey, what did we do right here? And let's see if we can do it again.

Yeah, the other thing to consider with Michaels struts is, you know, I think when they decided to make that Ike Howard for Sam O'Reilly trade, I think they believed that they had another good center coming in Michaels.

And I think they, I can't remember what the timing was, if they had them already or if they knew they were going to get them, one of the two.

But does the emergence of Michaels ease the blow of that Howard for O'Reilly trade a little bit? Because there probably wouldn't be room for both Michaels and O'Reilly who would be pushing for a spot this year.

But to your point, identify talent, you know, sign them up.

The Oilers have made organizational changes in their player development the last couple of years, right? Stan Bowman has made some tweaks.

They've made additional tweaks, and I think they've invested in that quite a bit.

They're not pissed off like they were a few years ago when the Ducks beat the Oilers in, I want to say, the second round, Schrager.

This isn't speed, it's execution, and just knowing what you're supposed to do in that moment.

The stuff that's going to drive Mike Babcock nuts from last night, obviously the goaltending he won't be happy with, but the odd man rushes, according to SportLogic, were 9-4 for the Vancouver Canucks.

I mean, 9-4 odd man rushes for a team that is trying to come out and put a focus and did for 11 days on diving in defensive details and being a stingy group that doesn't give up a lot.

9-4 odd man rushes.

The types of pinches and plays you're talking about lead to those odd man rushes.

They're going to have to drill down on that.

High danger chances, 18-11 for the Oilers in that game last night.

So it's all solely focused on his game, playing well, getting the job done.

Like, before we even start, you gotta explain it because it was quite something this morning.

Oh, he just comes barreling in there and goes, "Uh, before we get started, uh, doesn't look like Nuge can go.

What do you got?" [laughs] Like, he's just like, "What do you got for me?" And then he just looks at us, and, uh, it's great, Bob.

I, I think his scrums have been awesome.

He gives us good answers.

It's sporting.

He doesn't suffer overly long, frustrating questions.

Do they surpass that with ease this year, or are they gonna be around the same amount of point total?

The floor is yours.

Yeah, I mean, the first thing I'll say is that in no way am I surprised.

I mean, you know, and I just reported on X that there were two to three other teams in the mix when the Oilers got their deal done.

I think two others seriously and another one kind of in the mix there.

So for those sort of wondering why this wasn't a PTO or why, you know, the one-way deal and such, you know, I, I think he was getting a one-way deal.

I think he was getting this deal, um, elsewhere.

Uh, I don't believe the Oilers were the only team that were willing to, to step up and do this.

We, you know, we both communicated with some of the guys, and, uh, it's just captain skates, but the competitiveness is there from Levi angle.

potential landing spots for Connor Ingram of

the M20s.

I don't know if they feel like they have their two yet.

Like, obviously, they've got Oldmark.

But that Levi Maralainen had some decent numbers in the – he's a restricted free agent, and he's a little younger, right? He's a draft pick.

Like, they spent a third-round draft pick on this Maralainen.

Okay.

Bringing it back to the Oilers, do you have a feeling at all about Darnell Nurse this weekend? Or are we going to be Monday talking about the trade that didn't happen?

Go for it.

No, I, I would say that I, I understand where these players are coming from.

You know, they're aligned in listening to Leon talk, my conversation with Connor, Zach.

They're aligned very much in the core idea that as good as we are, we need to be better.

Talking about themselves.

And I think when you have a leadership group that can be some of the best players on the planet with some of the best results on the planet, who were one game away, a couple of goals away from winning a cup and went to back-to-back finals, they're not even close to resting on any laurels.

And I think they are resisting the temptation to point fingers at everything else, right? "They didn't give me this.

Had to convince him to come here.

[laughs]

[laughs][laughs] That's the takeaway.

I think, I think at one point the suggestion was made that the young guys are gonna have a riot or- Yeah, yeah ... someone was gonna have a riot- Yeah, true ... and it's gonna be a blast and fun.

True, true.

I mean, uh, yeah, that's the main takeaway from yesterday.

It's gonna be fun times in Edmond.

[laughs] Uh, I mean, I don't know, I don't know what you guys have said on the show so far this morning.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Um, but they basically said, "Look, there's, there's noth- there's nothing here that, you know, means he can't earn a living as a head coach in the National Hockey League." And so he's cleared by the league.

It doesn't mean that the stuff we already know about that happened in Columbus, uh, goes away or disappears or was any less a significant deal.

It doesn't mean that anything else that we know about that's well documented was any less a significant deal.

Um, but what it means is that Mike Babcock gets another opportunity here.

He's gonna get another opportunity, and how much of a different story he wants to write, how much of a different page he wants to be on than he was before, that's gonna be the interesting thing now, Bob.

Like, this is happening.

I don't think it's a slam dunk that Darnell Nurse ultimately gets traded, Ryan.

Right.

Um, but they basically said, "Look, there's, there's noth- there's nothing here that, you know, means he can't earn a living as a head coach in the National Hockey League." And so he's cleared by the league.

It doesn't mean that the stuff we already know about that happened in Columbus, uh, goes away or disappears or was any less a significant deal.

It doesn't mean that anything else that we know about that's well documented was any less a significant deal.

Um, but what it means is that Mike Babcock gets another opportunity here.

He's gonna get another opportunity, and how much of a different story he wants to write, how much of a different page he wants to be on than he was before, that's gonna be the interesting thing now, Bob.

Like, this is happening.

I don't think it's a slam dunk that Darnell Nurse ultimately gets traded, Ryan.

[laughs]

So he hopped on the radio first to get ahead of it and diminish what it was.

I mean, he violated the golden rule.

It's the rule.

If you were to say to somebody, "Tell me one rule about something," they'd go, "Well, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." We'd all go, "Yep, that is the rule." I have nothing to hide.

I ...

Like, nothing to hide down there in terms of gambling, anything like that.

Do you have an appetite, a possible Sam Montembault deal, or where do you kinda see this going, and, and can you afford to wait here?

Scratcher Back, or what is it?

I'm trying to defend myself, and Zuby's got me muted.

Yeah, we'll run it back

...

in, uh, in, invoices are on the way, guys.

We'll get you paid up right away.

We'll see ya.

Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at linkedin.com slash quality.

What I would say is that, and in order to make my point, I'm going to end up coming across here like I don't think they should do it.

Because to be honest with you, Bob, I really do feel like the other side of this story and this point needs to be argued a little bit on this show.

I feel that it's important because I just believe in having the whole conversation.

So I'm clearly going to be representing the other side of this discussion because we all know where you are.

So I don't want people to take this as Ryan is dead set against this, but the other side of this needs to be represented.

And here's what it is, Bob.

I'm a big believer that the players needed to be involved in this process because as we both know now, I do not believe that Jeff Jackson as president, when the decision was made to remove Jay Woodcroft, I do not believe the Oilers' top players were consulted on the change to bring in Cristobal.

Okay.

You know? Like, I don't think the NHL is gonna be super pumped about all this stuff happening during the Stanley Cup Final.

Kind of an unwritten rule in the league, y- you don't really make huge headlines during the Cup Final.

No press conferences, no big trades.

Like, this is the NHL's, you know, golden goose, and they kinda, you know, they like it to be in the spotlight.

So, you know, I'm not gonna put words in anybody's mouth, but I'm pretty sure that Gary Bettman and Bill Daly aren't pumped that they all of a sudden, what's gathering headlines and making news every single day is that Mike Babcock might be coming back to the league, and then a revisitation of all of the things that were in the news be- like, this is...

So, you know, are they gonna expedite this process to help the Oilers out? I don't know.

... every market, every level of player.

So your thoughts on the latest development in this, I guess now, hopeful push to land Babcock as the head coach.

Yeah, well, I mean, I think the dynamic is basically this.

You have the Edmonton Oilers going to the Players Association saying, we want to hire this guy.

Like, you know, we want to hire this guy.

And they've made that clear.

And then you've got the Players Association who's like, okay, well, you're our members, right? You're all members of ours, so we understand that, and we respect that, but...

You know who else were also members of the PA? It was all of the Columbus Blue Jackets who were part of what went down in Columbus.

Does it come across to you as the organization being a little bit dysfunctional now, maybe more than desperate, or is it more desperation?

Nineteen

... to make a list of his teammates' work ethic in order and then reveal-- broke that trust horrendously and revealed that to certain members of the team.

You want no part of that guy.

And you certainly want no part of the guy who did that, was away from the game for a little bit, came back and then saw fit one of the first things to do was to put players in an uncomfortable situation in his new team.

And by the way, John Davidson's re-response when they, when they, you know, lo-- when he left Columbus was bottom line, he put, he made players very uncomfortable, and we can't have that moving forward.

So you want no part of the guy who showed up supposedly with new perspective and lessons learned and saw fit to doing that.

Like you want-- You, you just, you don't wanna bring that stuff into your organization.

Yeah.

What do you think of it when you hear those names?

Yeah, I mean, I think, like, we've, we've been batting around targets for a few shows here and, you know, uh, you guys like Mikheyev.

I do too.

I think there's a penalty killing element there.

There's a team speed element there.

You know, uh, he hasn't had success everywhere he's gone.

You know, obviously it wasn't a, wasn't a fantastic fit, I think, at Van.

No, no.

Mm-hmm

... um, then sure, it would seem like he's underappreciated in the market.

I think the intelligent Oiler fan-The truly intelligent Oiler fan goes, "Evan Bouchard is an excellent defenseman.

He can be super frustrating sometimes because when the team really needs him, he's prone to big mistakes early in seasons, right? He takes a while to get going in seasons, but he's excellent on the power play, puts up a ton of points, has started to penalty kill, his game has grown." And that the average Oiler fan understands this is a guy who signed a monster deal and earned it.

He earned every penny of a new monster deal.

That should be talked about more.

He didn't wilt under the pressure of it.

Sure

Yeah, they-

Yeah, yeah.

So I, I would say those are all good things, Bob.

But now, you know me, the reporter in me, my al- my head is always sort of like, "Yeah, but," right? "Yeah, but." And I did have a yeah, but coming out of there, and maybe you'll have the answer for me, 'cause I don't understand the way things are gonna work necessarily.

But of all of the ways in which he wanted to maybe beef up the organization and put some resources in place and really focus, I would have thought they might have developed a goal-tending department, something more significant organizationally to focus on ensuring that is a strength of the organization year over year over year over year.

Somebody bring-- Maybe some- bring somebody in from the outside with expertise on that front to oversee.

Uh, that was maybe one area where I, I, I thought maybe there would be something, and maybe they'll get to that or maybe that's already encompassed with the people in place.

I just, I don't know what to think right now as to how this is gonna play out.

Um, what about the fresh set of eyes on the coach? How do you feel about that?

Yeah, I mean, let's see who it's gonna be, Struds.

But I think there's always the potential that a different coach will spark some things that were otherwise maybe, you know, a little bit tamped down.

So can a new coach come in and get way more out of Trent Frederic than we've ever seen before? Yeah, I think Trent Frederic is a player who's susceptible to that, you know, the confidence that is injected or taken out of him by a head coach.

So if you can get him to go the right-- Like, every coach gets certain guys to go, certain guys wilt.

You know, seldom is the coach that comes in and gets everybody firing on all cylinders, and so it's always fascinating when the new coach comes in to see who clicks and who doesn't.

And so, yeah, depending on who it is, depending on who seems to respond well to him, there's a chance that it's a, it's a new algorithm and a new feeling, and definitely it's the fastest way to make the most dramatic forward-facing change without having to make trades.

... with Tristan Jarry haven't quite worked out.

understood.

It's been a great week.

We've had lots of laughs.

You know, I really feel the friendships have come along since I've taken that step.

So just a little update there for you.

Where are we? I think we are, I don't know.

I remember flying home from, I was trying to get home through Denver one time.

Well, let's get to the roster, I guess, and if you're looking at the free agency market and going down certain aisles, you're going to have to bring a coupon book with you maybe, but are there a couple of names out there that already at this point kind of tickle your fancy in a realistic fashion for this club and where they are finance-wise?

What'd you think of the piece? Did you see it?

Yeah, of course, I saw it.

Yeah, of course, I did.

Um, listen, Gerry's been in locker rooms for a long time.

You know, uh, he understands team dynamics because he's been in locker rooms for a long time.

I'm not really here to crap on anybody else's work.

What I would say is that I believe if you were to dump truth serum into every single Edmonton Oiler player and say, "How do you feel about Connor McDavid as captain of this team?" I do believe every single one of them would say, "I would put my head down and run through a brick wall for that guy." I do believe that.

Yep.

Are you surprised that, uh, Kris Knoblauch is no longer the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers?

Well, I'm not surprised given the, the events that unfolded over a course of a few days there, Bob.

I think once, once word gets out that they're looking around at Bruce Cassidy, once that leak happened, I think it became very difficult and untenable for Kris Knoblauch to return as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers.

Um, so I'm not surprised since that happened.

I thought the minute that happened, you're going, "Okay, I'm, I'm not sure how they're gonna recover this." I don't know what their plan was all along, Bob.

Like, if you take Stan Bowman at his word, they decided they didn't want Kris Knoblauch to be their head coach anymore.

Um, and they made that decision and let him know as quick as they could, logistically.

You got Connor.

Okay.

I thought I heard Stauff the other day make mention of people not being in town and needing to travel back into town.

Um, I think this is the kinda thing that most managers will wanna do in person.

So, you know, my understanding is it's a face-to-face meeting, um, that happens in the, you know, late hours last night, and, uh, it's just not something that's done by text or over a phone call.

So I think, uh, you know, the wait, I believe, had to do with people getting back into town and the need to be doing things face-to-face.

And what I will say is that, you know, I think there was a long period of time, uh, between when news first broke, uh, this Bruce Cassidy stuff and, you know, when this actually happens, and you feel for, you know, you feel for Kris through that period of time.

Like, this, you know, we talked at length the other day about, you know, the Oilers taking the risk, thinking that they could look into Bruce Cassidy as an option before they'd let Knoblauch go in case they didn't get Cassidy and wanted to keep Knoblauch.

Yeah