Who’s Left To Sign? July 1 Free Agent Recap | The Chris Johnston Show

Who’s Left To Sign? July 1 Free Agent Recap | The Chris Johnston Show

uh I know that some in our audience know the finer points of hockey the Chris Johnston show we are your friends the biggest stories bringing you inside the game what did you hear the Chris Johnston show what is going on here’s Chris with your host Julian Mackenzie part of the game CJ the money flew Fast and Furious yesterday first day of NHL free agency we’re looking at your free agent board before we got going here I think Jack rosic at the time of this recording might be the best available free agent left on your board but that could easily change uh as we go through today and the rest of the week well yeah the reality is if you’re a free agent and you didn’t sign on July 1st it’s not going to be too comfortable I mean there’s a few names out there Vladimir tereno still unsigned um some veterans like Ryan suder you know who I who I don’t think are going to have trouble getting work but you know the the the kind of Calver of of a day like yesterday is all that money gets spent and then suddenly when the dust settles there’s not a lot of money left around the league not a lot of teams um with spots to fill and so that was that was as wild a free agent day as I can recall in some time maybe ever um you know certainly we’ve seen some times over the years where there’s been a number of huge contracts doled out but you know they were there was so much so quickly that it is a giant game of musical chairs and you know there’s more money now in the system teams had more money to spend and you know I think it’s been a pretty uh pretty busy last couple weeks all in all across the league of of things getting shaken up absolutely from Frank saravali uh can’t believe cap friendly is going away in a few days drastically changes the way myself and many NHL front offices do their jobs they’ve noted history today being July 1st is the first day in league history that 1 billion in total contract dollars was doled out in a single day $1 billion that’s how much money was flying the NBA calls that Tuesday but I mean just you see some of the numbers that that get thrown around in the other Pro Sports but yeah I mean it it was a lot um you know obviously not all of these contracts are going to age great but I at that being said I didn’t think that that there was like so many totally indefensible hard to understand I mean if anything you might worry about the term some of the older players got you know being signed at at premium dollar values into age 37 38 39 obviously there’s risk with all those deals but I mean I I just think that that with the cap going up players are going to get paid more too I mean that’s that’s part and parcel of this I mean maybe the biggest surprise and I use that term lightly is someone like you know Reinhardt gets less than $9 million in in that environment after a 57 goal season after scoring the game-winning goal in game seven of the Cup Final in the last week and having a tremendous year and really being a contributor you know all over the ice very very strong two-way player not not just one who produces offense and all those goals you know the Panthers managed to keep him at a reasonable number that might that might be the most surprising thing of all and you know I do think if Sam Reinhardt was inclined to go to market he would have got paid more in terms of the a anyway I mean he gets an eighth year in Florida which is a bonus but um you know it was it was a pretty wild day it was you know my my phone uh I’m it’s it’s the next morning and I plugged it in somehow and it’s still at 54% like I feel like I can’t I just feel like I can’t get it back to 100% just because it’s been the so much activity obviously so much texting and calling and trying to stay on top of things okay last un necessary question before uh we delve into who hasn’t been signed or traded just because I know people are going to ask I think every year we’ve done this podcast we asked this question on free agency what did you eat at the trade breaker desk I had a salad and a roast beef sandwich okay it was pretty good actually all right yeah like like at trade deadline we do it up a little bit more fancy and and we actually like pre-order a meal like there’s like a menu that goes around two weeks before um this one like there was there was a variety of options but it was just like go and grab one off the table and I went with the roast beef sandwich I’m sure someone could have screen grabbed if you cared me in the background like knee deep into this roast beef sandwich but I mean there there is a reality like you’re on TV for whatever six or seven hours straight you’re supposed to be on set the whole time and you got to eat so and and quite honestly this is this will be hard to explain but when you’re there and especially having done it so much you actually forget when you’re not even totally aware of when we’re on air or not like when because I’m kind of just doing my own thing over on the The Insider desk there with with Bob Mackenzie Darren dragger Gord Miller and Pier LeBron so like we’re we’re often in our own conversations obviously we’re sharing a lot of info and chasing down news and what we’re hearing and so you you don’t you’re not even really aware then all of a sudden there’s like a Plinko board in the middle of the studio I love that board that was awesome right or there’s like Brian Hayes and Carlo kako in like bright red suits and I’m like what is going on because I have like nothing here’s the thing I have nothing to do at all with that aspect of the broadcast like I’m thankful we do all that stuff because it’s less it gives us more time to actually try to chase down the news aspect of the job but I have no idea what’s going on half the time and so yeah if you if you saw me eating a roast beef sandwich on your can a day I’m sorry about that I I hate to tell you someone definitely screen grabbed uh SE video I have seen the video there’s a video of you just like eating something man’s got to eat Julian man’s got to eat okay I need energy for these to use these two thumbs to be texed up the world you know like oh oh you did not wrong you’re not wrong for that at all it’s just funny just see you just chout out on the sandwich my goodness all right all right all right all right all right all right let’s get to let’s get to the people who as the whole thing is absurd though when you think about it it is oh it is it absolutely is but that’s why we love there is no lunch break right like that’s like there’s just nowhere to go like obviously if you have to use the washroom you can find a time to walk off but other than that like you’re like just sit at that desk all day long just tweeting like a maniac we we appreciated the the tweeting and the the intense work you did on July 1st uh big money Siege all right tell me what you’re hearing about guys who as of now have not been signed or or traded I know we we kind of touched on it with Vladimir tereno earlier in the morning on Tuesday we saw a report from Josh yoi where the Pittsburgh Penguins threw out an offer at vamir tereno they don’t have that much in terms of cap space but still looking to to try to get him anyway what are you hearing about Vladimir well I think he’d rather stay in Florida than go anywhere else I mean if you remember at the trade deadline when he had a full no trade clause situation in his contract he basically forced his way to Florida even though Ottawa didn’t end up getting much of a return for him uh because he so badly wanted to play there and he was a good fit with the Panthers he just won a second Stanley Cup so you can understand why he would be anxious or interested to to remain with with with the Panthers but they they have a lot of different situations I mean they’ve said goodbye to the the Lamborghini here going to Calgary yeah Brandon Montour gets a massive deal in Seattle um you know they they’ve had a lot of moving pieces Oliver Ekman Larson moved on and signed with the Maple Leafs so you know we’ll see if if something works in Florida if not you know he he’ll have some options and you know last year actually tereno went unsigned into August before the Senators finally got his his signature on a deal so you know as I say if you didn’t sign on July 1 obviously we’re going to see July 2nd and third signings but it’s it will go to a drip pretty quickly and some of the players even if they have a name or a resume you know they might have to wait a little while for the best next best deal because now what teams will be doing is they’ll be saying um you didn’t like everybody signed yesterday but you didn’t you don’t have a lot of options we’re going to try to get you below market for this and then the players is gonna say well I’m not going to take that and then the dance goes on through the summer so and that’s not a prediction for tereno I do think some of his situation is directly tied to what Florida does and doesn’t do and let’s face it we’re only a week since they won the Stanley Cup so there’s been a lot to deal with and contend with um in the Panthers front office squeezing in a draft between a Stanley Cup celebration a parade celebration then free agency um yeah so I think I think that’s where he’s at and honestly there’s not there’s not a lot to be resolved around the league like this is this is an unusual free agency it’s not normal I think it’s 62 of the 75 names that I had on the free agent board signed on on day one or maybe on June 30th some of the guys that resigned like Patrick Kane um who who was on the board at that point but um there there’s not a lot left unresolved it’s more now what happens we’re almost thinking about the 2025 free agents the Mitch marners who needs a new contract by this time next year uh Leon ridle and Edmonton I think that situation is going to take some time but you know those are things that we look for over the summer you know the the Martin hes situation in Carolina will be interesting because certainly there were teams that had trade talks with the hurricanes on him but you know I think some of the urgency goes away when when you’ve missed the window where maybe they you know could get a draft pick back it’s not to say he won’t be traded but he also needs a contract he’s a restricted free agent so does Carolina try to convince him to stay is there a way to patch this up um you know Jacob trouba situation is out there but I I don’t think I mean look at there’s GNA there’s probably going to be one or two of those maybe those situations result in something that’s interesting over the summer but I hate to tell you you might as well fold up shop here on NHL offseason like I don’t think I don’t see like a lot of fireworks from now on like there there could be one or two major fireworks like obviously if we talk about a mitch Marner trade uh or resigning or if we talk about a leon Dy cidal trade or resigning or not like those situations are compelling and interesting and I think they’re big business decisions for the Leafs and and Oilers in particular there um you know I don’t know what happens with NIS you know TR uh I suppose there could still be a trade obviously his as of Monday he’s only got a a modified node trade so he can only basically block trades to half the league that means there’s a whole other half the league that that the Rangers don’t need his permission that could they could trade him um and obviously it’s it’s apparent he doesn’t want to be traded but I I don’t see quite honestly a lot of business just got done in a four-day window and I don’t see a lot left to do U which is probably good because our P podcast will soon be going on Hiatus and so um I don’t think we’re going to miss too much quite honestly he says that now but uh I can’t wait until the big whatever big trade happens and all of a sudden I’m doing a podcast from my parents place in Montreal I can’t I can’t wait for the Emergency Po in August CJ I’m see here’s the thing I’m I’m down for that but you know if we did this thing right through the summer I think there’d be a lot of episodes where we’re like arguing about food or um you know playing trivia and Movie games or like there would be a lot a filler because I really do think that like so much of the League’s business got done like I think more than ever I don’t know how to quantify that I mean you you mentioned the stat about the most money and total contracts given out um you know let’s face it like I was I’ve heard that there was like business being done back to the combine at the start of June like like even though it ends up being free agency Day July 1st I think we just went through free agency month where a lot of discussions went on um not accusing anything of any wrongdoing but just saying that I think a lot of you don’t have that many signings in one day without a lot of work being done ahead of time and honestly I mean you saw the reporting we were doing in the 36 hours leading up to noon on July first I mean a lot of those deals were already done or or hand shaked on and just needed to be put on paper officially yesterday I was told there would be tampering rules in in place to kind of curb some of that stuff yeah but tell you I don’t mind this like like these are big decisions for the teams and the players I think it’s sort of unreasonable to think that nobody would talk and then it just opens and then everyone’s got to make a bunch of big decisions like you know look at there’s probably someone out there that maybe feels they were burned by this but I don’t think anything truly illegal happened like I guess it’s against maybe some of the spirit of the rules but I you know my sense too is the League doesn’t have much problem with the Optics of this I don’t know how you ever prevent it I mean the truth is teams are subject to tampering rules but I don’t think that agents are I mean agents aren’t employed by the league no and you know obviously just as a function of the way the league Works agents have to talk to team people like I guess I just I I can’t get I can’t work up a whole bunch of I think it’s a big sort of who gives a [ __ ] frankly like I I just don’t I I would I would just put it this way way if it was if I was making a massive decision for my family for my life I wouldn’t mind a couple weeks to think about it and work through it um and so I think that’s a little bit of what happens obviously there’s a few players though more than a few there’s some Players yesterday that literally woke up not sure exactly where they were signing probably had to make a quick call like a quick decision between one option or another you know you look at some of the contracts signed um you know in the evening on July 1 i’ look at Jeff Skinner Adam Henrik guys like that I know for sure had multiple offers on the table and and they’re probably a little bit cognizant or their agents of what I’m talking about like if you don’t get if you don’t get your chairs Al line in the first couple days it could be a long summer of that hanging over you and that’s even worse because there’s a there’s a practical part of that it’s like you don’t know where you’re moving if you have kids like you don’t know where they’re going to school like it’s nice to get this locked in on July 1 and now you you know obviously players are training and getting ready sort of physically for the the next season but they have to do a lot of planning and things off ice too and so I don’t I I think it’s just it kind of is what it is that’s that’s where I land on this there clearly was I don’t want to use the t word because it’s so it’s so legal and it’s it sounds like you’re like really like but there clearly was some uh chair arranging ahead of time um you could just say it yeah but I don’t know is it really I guess it’s tampering by the the CBA but I I don’t know I just can’t get that fired up about it to your point though like I was talking with Ryan lomberg yesterday actually and the Lamborghini the Lamborghini and there and we’ve seen videos of him celebrating uh the Florida Panthers Stanley Cup victory he’s crowd surfing the man never wears a shirt that’s my that’s my observation it was insane dude’s walk around with a championship belt he’s dousing people with beer this guy like after he wins the Stanley Cup like he he he had a feeling that he was probably going to hit free agency dude just avoided his agents as as long as he could to just try to live in the moment and he up until yesterday he had no idea what was going to happen to him so you talk about guys who have been discussing for weeks potentially about their Futures like there are guys like Lamborghini who Lamborghini that’s a funny nickname but there were guys like him who up until yesterday they had no idea what was going on because their minds were just completely elsewhere and funny enough with the Panthers I mean him Oliver emman Larson Bretton Montour so many guys from that te Seno presumably so many guys from that team are going to get broken up and yeah they can live in that moment forever where they won but so many decisions to be made in such a small span of time I’m I thought a lot about the Florida Panthers yesterday yeah I mean it’s Unique right and it’s similar for the Edmonton Oilers I think Edmonton did a nice job they retained a lot of the their key players on pretty reasonable deals I’m thinking of Conor Brown matius Yanmar Henrik who they got at the trade deadline um you know signing those guys all to come back is you know I think a positive for them after the the season they had uh and you know it’s a reminder players like obviously some players come into free agency and they like absolutely and it should be their their priority is to make as much money as they can it’s going to the highest bidder uh that’s probably the best way to explain how anyone signed in San Jose yesterday but you know I will say that what you learn from seeing the free agency too is players want to win and Edmonton getting as far as they did you know they lose by a goal in game seven of the cup final you know then you got someone like Jeff Skinner on his off his buyout where he had lots of options I mean he’s he’s playing on a oneye $3 million contract I know he’s getting paid by Buffalo so he’s still still doing that pretty well financially but you know he’s going there clearly to win I mean he he could have signed for one year in three million in about 10 spots um you know I know the Leafs were among the teams that that had talked to him and you know were trying to pitch him and on the idea hey you can play alongside Austin Matthews um and and Mitch Marner on our team so you know it free agency is about different things to different players and you know I see an Edmonton you know getting Conor Brown to stay one year one million like I’m sure he could have got more on the market even yanar 1.4 million times three like these guys want to be on a winning team and and they really believe in what Edmonton’s done and so yeah there’s there’s a a variety of things that play out and you know obviously everyone in Florida would stay there if they could but because it’s such a great living situation that’s again the team that just was the best in the league really the last few years they won a president trophy a couple years ago been to back-to-back Cup finals and then won this most recent one but there’s not room for everybody and so yeah they’re they’re in a particularly unique situation when I’m talking about deals starting to be cooked at uh at the combine you know that’s for Players whose seasons were already over I mean of course the guys who played up until June 24th they they they just they just had to deal with either the excitement of winning and all everything that comes with it or pain of losing and everything that comes with it and then make a make a decision because I there’s just no functional way to do that when you’re in the Cup Final there’s no negotiating going on I mean I’m sure there’s conversations that are along the lines of hey we like your guy and when this ends let’s get to work but I don’t think you’re throwing numbers back and forth or because you know it’s just too important to try to win um and you know I think they’re all going to do pretty well anyway so a Lamborghini or sober up at some point here and uh find his way to Calgary and be a good energy guy for the claims for sure I want to stay in the State of Florida uh since we were talking about the Panthers we should talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning and what it’s been like for them the last few days uh so this morning before we started they signed Victor Hedman to a new contract uh with with a with four years 8 million aav kind of similar to what Steven stos signed in uh Nashville and we should getan similar it’s the exact I don’t know if the structure is the same but it’s the same dollar amount the same number of years it’s the same it’s the same I was I was kind of playing around with that you’re right it’s the the exact same contract we should get into that situation because I have to get adjusted to Steven stamp Co in a completely different uniform and and Julian breez saying that he’s disappointed he himself I I mean and obviously stamp Go’s disappointed how it all kind of turned out that is quite the story in itself what did you think of what happened with Tampa Bay over the last few days well all you need to know to understand this is it’s basically right at the intersection of emotion and cold hard business and right at that intersection is where we find the answer to how this all played out um because on one hand when Julian breb spoke to reporters he’s talking about the emotion he knows the fans are going through uh the emotions he went through personally the emotions he can imagine Stephen Stam Co and his family are going through but then he’s also saying we’ve got a better chance of winning championships by doing what we did and that’s hard in sports right cuz like part of sports is like if you grew up in Tampa as a hockey fan like do you know how many 91 sweaters and jerseys there are in that that City like that guy has been he was kind of hail as a bit of a savior when he was drafted first overall in 2008 you know he’s been a member of the lightning Organization for more than half of the lightning organization’s time in existence so you know that it’s hard to get used to someone like that and and look it he’s Stephen stos has gone through all kinds of things in his career I mean maybe one of the most underappreciated parts of his career is how he’s consistently come back from significant injuries and still found a way to Be an Effective player because that’s not easy to do I think mentally I mean obviously there’s physical challenges in it but like mentally to be able to push and get yourself back to the top of the mountain so often I mean this this guy just scored 40 goals uh he’s 34 years old which you know young young in human years but that’s getting up there in in NHL years and he still found a way to be a contributor and for as much as he’s done on the ice I think he’s done more off the ice in that community in that dressing room for that organization and they coldly let him walk no other way to say it and they signed another franchise player to the exact same contract he signs elsewhere well here’s here’s what I’ll tell you this is what they’re saying without saying it they’re saying that you can more easily replace what Steven stamp Co does and they feel they’ve done that in acquiring Jake gensel and signing him than what Victor Hedman does that that’s that is exactly that is the statement I take from that I’m not saying they wouldn’t want to keep stepen stamp Coast there’s just hard decisions to be made in a cap World Julian breeah is not afraid of a hard decision some of his colleagues are frankly you know most most teams with a player like Stam Coast would just sign him as long as he wants to play they’d live with the decline they’d live with the fact he might be overpaid at the end of his career they’ just want to to keep that player you know julan breeah wants to hang more banners in in Amal Arena I I don’t know if he’s going to be able to do it I I still question whether they’re better heading into next season than they would be without stamp Coast but where they probably are better is their better position maybe not just for next season but the three or four Beyond it because you know they’ve added Conor geeki a pretty well-regarded Prospect they’ve added JJ Moser a 24y old defenseman who certainly is still entering his prime years and at the same time they’ve replaced in the in the short term essentially gensel replaces D coast and they reacquired Ryan mcdunn earlier this offseason to replace sergachev who was traded to Utah at the draft and so they’ve pivoted on the fly to being younger and and so again they may not be better in the short term to start next season but there there’s a lot to maybe there’s something to grow into there um but it’s hard and you know Stephen Stamkos is such a smart guy like he’s really attuned I think to the business of the game like I don’t know if you heard interview he did with James duy on TSN during the during our show yesterday like he was so honest I mean I one thing I’ve always loved about dealing with stamp Coast is I’ve always found him to be very thoughtful honest meets questions headon really thinks about things this this was hard for him you know I I don’t think I think he feels a little disrespected you know he didn’t say that but it’s implied and I’ll give you some facts here Julian when stepen Stam Coast’s entry-level contract ended way back when believe it was in 2010 2011 some like that he became an RFA like he played out all three years of the ELC and for 17 days he was an RFA before getting his next deal so he had to wait Victor Hedman his first deal he’s extended seven months before it ended comes to Steven stamp Coast the end of his second deal we all remember this he got into that free agent window that used to happen he peaked behind the curtain he resigns with Tampa two days before he could be a UFA Victor Hedman after his second deal well he didn’t even get to the end of it he got a full year out he got an extension here we are Steven Stamkos went right down to this last week at least having discussions with the lightning ultimately isn’t resigned Victor hadman 355 days before he could be a UFA is resigned and so I’m not saying there aren’t reasons for it but he has been treated quite differently than the man who was picked second overall in 2009 than the one who was picked first over on 2008 they’re tremendous buddies stem coasted hadman lifelong friends uh had so much success together but you know if you’re Stam Coast I think you’re looking around going like what gives here you know everybody else gets prioritized and they’ve played hard ball with them three straight times and ultimately let him walk out the door this time so you know I think he’ll quickly pivot now like suddenly Nashville is a team I know that usually winning free agency means doesn’t mean you necessarily win but I I have to say I like what the Predators did and they had a better season than a lot of us expected last year um you know at least got into the playoffs and now you’re adding like one thing they were really missing was offense you add maraso and Stam Co you’re adding Brady Shay is like a Difference Maker for me on their blue line you already have Roman Yosi there uh you get yussi Saros extended and you still got potentially askarov their their Prospect goenda and and you know if they trade him they’ll be getting something significant back I mean I think in the short term I’m not calling Nashville like a favorite to win the cup or anything but I they they certainly like they’re all of a sudden a team to be reckoned with for the next year or two or three and so I think that’ll be exciting for stamp Co he’s really close friends with Luke Shen who signed last year as a free agent in Nashville I actually texted a bit with Luke yesterday he said that they had lots of conversations but he wasn’t pushing stamp Co he’s like I know it was such a big decision like he didn’t apply any pressure he wasn’t like come on buddy get over here but he certainly probably sung all the positive as aspects of it and um and life moves on like look at this is this happens in other Industries certainly happens in Pro Sports you know just as many athletes spend a whole career in one place you you still get lots that don’t um and Jerome MCA is still a legend in Calgary and he went and played for a bunch of teams Ryan Smith still gets rolled out in Edmonton during the Cup Final I was there and celebrated and he went and played for a bunch of different teams I know stos is on probably maybe not the nin but certainly Ryan SMI he’s on maybe a different level because he won two Stanley Cups and I mean we’re talking absolute first ballot Hall of Famer over 500 goals over 500 assists um kind of guy but you know there’s still going to be there’s a Dave andrewchuk statue outside that that building down in Tampa there’s going to be one commemorating Stam coast and Hedman and and that their this championship team and it’s going to be pretty cool when he goes back there to play I think it’ll be an emotional scene who I was you know what’s funny up until you went into to the contract history for Steven stampco I was about to ask you who feels more the right to feel disrespected between Stam Coos and Jonathan maraso who also was very honest about how things went with him in Vegas but now it’s not even close I think Stephen stampco should but Jonathan Maro also uh not feeling uh too great with how things went with his former employer uh he doesn’t feel as if uh Vegas really did all they could to keep him and now both Stam Coos and marus our teammates again this time in Nashville I thought that that situation in Vegas was interesting well if there’s two teams in the league that would treat players this way it’s Vegas and Tampa and look at Vegas and Tampa have each one cups in the last few years like I’m not saying this is the wrong way to treat people like again it’s a it’s a cut throw business um it’s a bit of a what have you done for me lately business and if you want to keep trying to win year after year after year you have to avoid bad contracts I’m not saying that these are bad contracts that players have signed but there’s definitely some risk with their ages and you know but these guys have a chip on their shoulder now too so you’re not just talking about two former Cup winners and Marshall so he’s a k SMI winner from two years ago coming off his best season by the way in the NHL his most productive season um in the league and you know he only signs for five and a half million uh it’s not a not a crazy deal he signed and he wanted to stay in Vegas like there’s no way around it much the way Stam Co if we had a had him on the show a month ago would have told us he wanted to stay in Tampa and and it wasn’t a Pinocchio statement like that’s it would be much easier to stay where you’ve had lots of success where your family’s comfortable um you know maraso has four kids I believe stos has three like this is these are big moves for a family in addition to we’re kind of speaking of it from the hockey standpoint but you know the golden knights are uh I mean almost all the original players are gone right they traded Riley Smith last year at the draft like a week after they won a cup with him and he was a original golden Misfit we saw happened with Mark Andre flurry beloved goenda Logan Thompson at the draft right before he was due to sign autographs at the sphere insane and you know he helped them get in the playoffs this year you know I think you can we can go right across the board I mean this is something Vegas has done again and again and again um I don’t think they need to make any apologies for it they’ve won a lot of games this is how they operate I think players know what they’re going into and I think similarly of Julian Breeze ball like he’s mentioned this is this this is what he views his job as essentially like he’s he was asked yesterday like how’s it feel to be known as the guy who had the basically cut ties with Stephen stos and Tampa he’s like well this is the job like he you get you get all the flowers when your team goes and wins a cup and you’re being voted GM of the year and everyone’s talking about how smart you are but part of being smart sometimes is having to be the bad guy and or be the one who’s the front-facing um person from the organization to discuss the decisions that aren’t popular in the public opinion in the court public opinion so um yeah I I could see where Mara so I mean Mar so’s he’s a different case in stamp Coos because he was such an unlikely player to become as impactful as he’s become and as a result he hasn’t made as much money in his career and so I think this free agency for him was about maximizing his value uh you know it’s not as though stamp Coos actually took a discount here but I think he could be in more of a position to consider doing that and you know he probably I’m comfortable in saying that he probably would have taken less to stay in Tampa um but once you’re leaving you might as well get what the market values you at right so you know two different circumstances but again you’re getting two accomplished players that are both like they’re going to have a fire under their ass like they’re going to be they’ll never I don’t know if they’ll use these terms but I don’t think you can see it any of way like they have something to prove now a little bit more like I think there’s a little bit more that goes into their off ice training this year like like I like there’s going to be a little bit of this element of feeling a bit disrespected a bit unloved a bit unwanted by where you were and wanting to you know prove something to those people but also prove that Nashville’s right right I mean the flip side of this coin is they found an organization that rolled out the red carpet for them and they’re trying like clearly Barry trotz is trying to win in the short term like this they they could have in an alternate universe in the last 12 months Nashville could have went into something like a rebuild like they traded some players away right like they traded guys away at that deadline a couple years ago grandland and Jano and and others like they they started to strip it down they they bought out duchan and Johansson was moved on and all the like they they and they still almost made the playoffs too this was two years ago they flipped all those players and they almost still made the playoffs right and last year they bring in Ryan O’Reilly Luke Shen like kind of character type of signings like they my point is they they’ve they’ve pivoted right back into trying to win again and and if you’re a player that’s got to be fun because if you’re Marsha own and Stam Coast like marshan so gets five-e deal St Coast gets four I mean that’s that’s the only guaranteed length of your your your career at this point so you got to put everything into every year now and I as I say like I think I’m gonna be fascinated by the Predators next year like I just think this is this is an interesting experiment we don’t typically see teams built through free agency in the NHL but this might be one where they they got some hits because they didn’t score enough last year and and they’ve added two guys that can score you want to see what Stam Coast can do I mean Stam Coast is clearly benefited as of the players he played with by playing on a power play with COV and point and and Hedman so routinely like how does how does the power play Work can he score at a 30 40 goal level still I mean like all these questions will be big burning topics as we get into next season and so you know I think I think after the emotion of these few days wears off um you’re G to find pretty motivated marsho and stamp Coast heading to Nashville this episode of the Chris Johnson show is brought to you by Shady Rays get ready for the season ahead with quality Shades built to laugh our friends at Shady Rays have you covered with premium polarized Shades that won’t break the bank Shady Rays is a independent sunglasses company offering a world-class product rated five stars by over 300,000 people their Shades have durable frames and Crystal Clear Optics making them the perfect choice for all Outdoor Adventures and they have hundreds of styles to choose from so you’re bound to find the perfect pair to match your style I got a pair I know Adam Wild’s got a pair Steve dangle got himself a pair look glasses CJ he’s going to make an appearance at some point and you’ll see him rocking his pair of shady Rays plus if your Shades ever go missing or take an unexpected hit don’t sweat it they have the most insane protection in all of eyewear every every pair is backed by lost or broken Replacements if you don’t love your Shades exchange them for a new pair return WorryFree within 30 days it’s really great there’s no risk when you shop their team always has your back with personal and fast support shadyrays.com go go to that website right now you can use the code Johnston to get 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses Shady ray.com use the code Johnston for 50% off two or more pairs of polarized sunglasses okay I have one more question before I get to Leaf’s Corner about Vegas there seems to be at least at least Among Us in media types uh with the reputation with how they kind of go through players and and we were just talking about Jonathan maraso and thinking of some of the other golden Misfits who have kind of come and gone does that extend to the players like if you’re a player and you’re on the market and you see how certain players have come and gone through that organization is there a sense between players that they’re they’re a little bit cognizant of of that and and what they could be getting with with GM Kelly McMan and the rest of the organization and how that could go does that reputation extend to the players maybe a little bit but you know I think it’s still such an attractive place to play I mean you get great weather Great facilities awesome fan base a chance to win the Stanley Cup every year favorable tax situation I mean Vegas sells itself like they don’t need to they don’t need to put out a pitch video to get free agents to Vegas um you know what’s interesting to me actually is that yesterday was the rare NHL day where Vegas wasn’t one of the main characters um you know like where they weren’t right in the mix making the Thomas hurdle deal or getting Noah hannahan or you know over the years signing petrangelo as on free agency day um you know they they were relatively quiet and in fact part of the story is is that they let Chandler Stevenson go who was their first line Center they let marsho go top six Winger for them like how are they going to replace those guys I I think when we when we look at potential teams that have to fill some holes Vegas still has those holes and and you wonder if they maybe get involved in trades because I I think the the kind of holes they have aren’t really matching the players still left in the open market I think I think they need to try to do something more significant and of course we know that they’re not afraid to do something significant so you know if you walk away with any thought on Vegas I I’d say I found it kind of interesting that they weren’t one of the ones the big players and signing guys because that tells me that they’re going to have to be doing something else but you know I don’t I don’t think that there’s I don’t think players are ignoring it you know like Vegas was pitching Stam C Anaheim was pitching Stam Coast New Jersey was pitching Stam Coast Anaheim wow I mean why not his a good friend Alex K is there that’s true you know that the Ducks want to get better uh like you know like they’re not the Ducks aren’t trying to finish at the bottom of the league next year I don’t I’m not predicting they’re going to Surge up the standings necessarily either but they’re they’re in a building mode and they want the right people around their young players so um you know but like Nashville’s a losing out to Nashville is pretty understandable too it’s it’s a different lifestyle but it’s similar has a lot of the same checks a lot of the same boxes and a lot of hockey people are settling in Nashville actually like Nashville’s Nashville is like a sneaky hockey Town these days it’s kind of like how a lot of you got nhlers coming out of Arizona because so many players stayed there into retirement I could see that happening for Nashville especially as they build more Community ranks in the like in that in that state because so many NHL people are retiring there and so not that I’m saying uh Marsha so and Stam Coast are reti ing there but they’re they’re definitely moving there to play and it’s a pretty nice place to play all right let’s get to Leaf’s Corner uh they get Chris TV they sign him to a six-year deal 27 mil Max doy’s coming back Nick Robertson seems like he wants out Oliver Amman Larson joins uh Yanni hawen po there’s a lot to get to when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs let’s start with Chris Tan’s deal though why did he sign for that long can we explain that a little bit well I mean he’s a really in demand player so you know at free agency you got to stretch yourself sometimes and and you know obviously the Leaf’s traded for his rights and signed him before he hit the open market but you know to keep him from hitting the open market they had to put a contract in front of him that made sense and so you know I don’t have as much problem with this length of this deal as everyone else seems to I I I think that you know Chris tanov has been wildly effective and efficient in through age 31 32 33 and age 34 I mean he was a real Difference Maker in Dallas uh after the trade over from Calgary last season so you know there’s nothing in his game to suggest it it can’t age I think the question would be just durability like because he plays such an unforgiving style physically throws himself in front of pucks completes checks battles does all the things in the game defensively that that show up in in him having being one of the best defensive defenseman if not the best in the league um to me it’s exactly the type of player the Leafs need I think it’s going to do wonders for Morgan Riley having a partner like that um you know he had Riley’s had some Partners like when TJ Brody first signed in Toronto they had a couple highly successful years but he’s also had a revolving door of Partners I mean Ron hany was his partner for a Time Roman poak was his partner for a time he had El lbushkin two different stints he had Dion Fu back in the day I’m sure I’m missing a few others you know I mean Morgan’s played on the Lea for so long it’s only natural that he’s going to cycle through different partners but I would wager to say he’s never had a partner better suited to sort of counter balance his game um than Chris Tana which I think frees him up in some ways should be good for the Leafs you know down the lineup I I like what Toronto did on day one of FR agenc c i I think that Brad true living was successful in starting to reshape as Blue Line you it still feels a little incomplete which is fine I mean it’s only July 2nd still 99 days to the least first game of the regular season and so I have to remind Steve dangle of that in the group chat he’s been he’s been particularly negative lately and it’s like I get it like I’m not saying you look at the least first day of free agency and they’re the favorite to win the cup but I mean you have to build incrementally um I think his frustration honestly is more just built up over the years versus what happened in the last 72 hours because I like the max doy deal that Toronto signed and and I like what you’re starting to see the Blue Line could be um I don’t mind the bet on Anthony stolar and net to to be alongside Joseph wall him too um you know pretty athletic guy sto ours for 66 and it’s played a lot of good hockey I mean he’s he’s just never been someone to be a onea starter but I’m not sure that’s what the Leafs need I mean they they they believe they have that in Joseph wall if big if he can stay healthy um because he’s had a lot of different he’s had a variety of injury ailments right it’s not like you’re like well he’s just got a a bad knee that he’s got to manage it’s like no he’s he’s been injured all over his body and and you just wonder if if he can string together a fully healthy season but um I think it was a good start to the the free agency period for the Leafs as I said they they were definitely having conversations or had a conversation on Skinner on Henrik I think that they you’re you’re probably looking to add another forward to this mix probably one that can play on the left wing um um but you know they’re still uh they’re still today and many more days before the we we see what their exact plans are for the roster what about for Nick Robertson and the fact that uh he might not want to continue his career in Leaf’s colors well I reported that I mean he definitely doesn’t want to continue his career he’s told the team he doesn’t intend to resign this summer uh the Leafs gave him a qualifying offer so they have his rights he’s restricted free agent and the reality is this Nick Robertson only has so many rights I mean he can request a trade he can make it known publicly um that he’s not happy that he’s frustrated that he feels he should have more opportunity that he wants a fresh start all those things are fair but the Leafs are not compelled by any anything in the rules that they have to trade him and so you know I think that they’ll look out there to see if anything makes sense um but they’re not they’re not giving them away for nothing just to you know because there’s a bit of public pressure on them or because of you know this has become public and so there’s a world where it gets to September and he hasn’t been traded and then Nick Robertson has the decision to make does he want hold out potentially jeopardize a year of his NHL career or does he want to maybe try to make it work for one more year because I think the reality is there’s actually more opportunity in front of him than there’s ever been in Toronto um as I mentioned they they they need another left Winger they they’ve just seen Tyler bruzi walking for agency to Chicago uh you know you’ve still got Matthew NIS you’ve got Max doy resigned I mean he can be a either a center probably on the third line or or uh you know in the top six on the left wing but you know like there there’s not there’s not a ton of guys ahead of him maybe Bobby McMahon but you know I think that there’s Nick Robertson’s frustration comes out of the fact that no Ford on the Leafs played less last year other than Ryan Reeves and he still scored 14 goals 13 of them already even strength like he wasn’t given power play minutes nor I think should he have been if you look at his teammates it’s hard to argue that he should have been on the power play ahead of some of those guys and the Leafs don’t use their second power play too much because they they like to give that top unit a minute 30 plus um which is what a lot of the best teams do I just watched Edmonton’s power play up close and personal Conor McDavid Zack Heyman and Company aren’t coming off the ice before two minutes unless they score so I mean this is this is just how it is uh but Nick was also SC scratched in game seven so I can understand his frustration I don’t I don’t think it’s misplaced but the reality is he might have to he and they might have to find a way to continue on together because there’s no guarantee there’s going to be a trade out there that makes sense and and that sees him get that Fresh Start that he desires okay what about Yanni Hawkin pop uh there was a column from Steve Simmons yesterday where he essentially suggesting that even though the leaf signed him the injury history might be too big for him to ever play again since he hasn’t really played since since March what did you make of that tidbit and the Sig up well I think that it it may have been a little overstated I I actually didn’t read the column I just sorry it’s been so busy and no I I for what it’s worth I only saw that tidbit going around too yeah and I so I only know that the tidbit was sort of like his career is over like I don’t think that’s the case obviously before signing a player like this El Le’s get a look at some of the medical records now that that’s not to say there isn’t risk there um because he last played in mid-march and and wasn’t able to come back on the Stars playoff run and he has had injuries in the past and he is 32 I believe like there’s definitely some risks there but the Leafs also got him at a pretty good number right I mean 1.5 million can almost be buried in most of its entirety in the American Hockey League if it has to be and obviously if he is injured for the year then and you know they they Place him on ltir so I I look at it as a calculated bet he’s a 6 fo seven right shot defenseman um you know he’s a third pairing guy I mean I’m not gonna he’s not going to threaten for the Norris Trophy but if if you know the Leafs believe very highly that they have some of the best sports science and medical people in the game I think that they spend as much or more in those areas as anyone I I think going way back Tyler Andis I remember coming to Toronto I think he had a lot of hip issues talked about how he felt like the leaf training staff was able to extend his career he moved on after Toronto but had a pretty good year here I mean I think the Leafs are betting on their ability to get him healthy and and maybe that they found a little bit of value here if if he can be healthy and so certainly there’s some risk given the age of the player and the injury history of the player but it’s hard to argue it isn’t a risk worth taking um because I do think if if he’s able to play on their third pairing making one and a half million that’s a pretty good bargain for for Toronto okay okay anything else on the Leafs before we wrap up Leaf’s Corner no I just say Mitch marter is more likely than not to return to the team we’ve we’ve hit this thing at nauseum we’ll see how things develop now that that um you know time goes along but I still don’t believe that they’re I think that they are comfortable with Mitch Marner returning if that’s how things turn out if there isn’t enough interest or a trade that even kind of makes sense um and I do think they’ll they’ll you know there’s still going to sign some more sort of depth type of players here in for agency and we’ll see how the Robertson situation manifests itself we’ll see if Timothy lilligren maybe still gets traded I know he was signed to a two-year extension but I don’t think you can entirely rule out a trade in his circumstance yet and so you know they’re still going to keep chip at the roster but I think they got off to a pretty good start here and um you know I think that they feel pretty good about the team that that the sort of the structure of the team that that’s that’s now in place I mean don’t over looked to oler Ekman Larson signing either I mean that’s someone who can play on the second power play really was rejuvenated in Florida last year um good Puck mover which is one area where the Leafs have I think fallen short at times in the playoffs is you know they have The Talented forwards but maybe getting it out of their own end getting the clean exits getting the puck into the hands of their forwards hasn’t always been there I think oel helps with that and and you know not a crazy number for him obviously he got a bit of a raise but he earned that raise he just just played big minutes on a team to won a Stanley Cup after being bought out in Vancouver and so uh be interesting to see him in the K Market again I think uh he’s seen in both worlds right Arizona Vancouver Florida Toronto I mean it’s um it’s a it’s it’s a nice tour around the around the national for oel all right let’s go through some quick thoughts on some other teams on my uh big rundown here we’ll go through some more Canadian teams I want to start in Edmonton uh Jeff Skinner we’ve mentioned him already uh Troy stetcher and and and is and Conor Brown are staying Josh Brown joins Victor arvidson is probably the biggest signing they made yesterday I also want to touch off on Evander Kane and his future too what did you think of Edmonton’s day in free agency and what could be next for Evander Kane well I don’t know if they can move his contract I mean it’s pretty clear look he wasn’t healthy he wasn’t able to play the last I think five games of the cup final um not sure if if the organizational fit is as good as it once was there for Vander Kane but that being said we’ll just have to see you know what happens uh if if he if he can be moved uh I’m sure they would consider it but I know they also like a Vander Kane like when he was healthy he was pretty effective for the Oilers I mean if anything they probably ruin the fact he just you know had the the the groin or hernia type issue sports hernia I think it was that that limited him and kept him out of the biggest games of the final I mean maybe he could have chipped into one or two more goals it could have been the difference to to finding a way to beat Florida so you know I think it’s it’s a bit of a TBD on Kane’s future but the Oilers I think as a whole have improved their team a little more skilled I expect them to be a better rush team I mean arvidson there’s some risks there I mean it’s similar to the hacken paa conversation in that you know he he was limited last year by a couple different injuries in Los Angeles didn’t play a lot of games uh veteran player but man he’s a tenacious guy uh gets in on the four check he can score some goals got a nice shot you know he compliments the kind of players that Edmonton has quite nicely and and I know they’re excited to get him in there along with Jeff Skinner who you know I think could really pop at Edmonton doesn’t doesn’t have a lot of defensive as impact on the game but you know really can can shoot the puck and scored a ton of goals in the league hasn’t played a playoff game he’s got over a thousand games on his his resume in the regular season but presumably will be playing his first playoff game next spring in Edmonton so you I’m sure he’s going to be energized by this opportunity after being bought out by the Savers so you know I think it was a good day for the Oilers and and you know sort of the same as a leaf so they’ll continue to look around see maybe if there’s some upgrades on the blue line we’ll see if uh Kane trades out there I’m a little skeptical about that um but you know they’ve they’ve managed to keep the right players I mean Yan Mark and brown were two-thirds of their best line in the playoffs along with Henrik so they kept the whole line not to say they’ll Mily plays the line all next season but they’ve kept the ingredients of that line in place and they didn’t spend a ton ton of money to do so so so I you know look that they’ve still got to hire their general manager and they’ve got to figure out what happens with dry cdal and there’s still some big questions in Edmonton but you know hard for me not to argue that’s a pretty A+ day on the opening day of free agency because they didn’t have to they didn’t sign anything that’s too risky to me they brought back Cory Perry too we didn’t mention um but but none of those contracts on the surface there not like they’re removable I mean that most of them could be buried in the miners if anything goes wrong um and I don’t think that’s going to need to be the case I think they they had a nice day yep Matias Yanmar also part of the players coming back as well uh what about the Vancouver Canucks they signed Jake debrusk and a few other guys as well what did you think of their debt well you know they were linked to maybe being interested in gensel obviously that was off the table before fre agency even opened I think de bras is a pretty good fallback and you know I I I note you the terms of his deal seven-year deal at five and a half million the exact same contract Zack Heyman signed a few years ago in Edmonton and you know what happen to himman is is you know with new linemates in a new situation he he took his game and his production to another level I think Vancouver is banking on something similar not to say he’s going to be a 50 goal scorer I’m not saying it’s it’s not exactly Apples to Apples but in a similar vein he’s being brought in now to be a Topline Winger for them to play alongside presumably Alias pson um gonna get power play minutes you know he’s he’s got a chance to Blossom a little bit and and you know at his best Jake de Brusque has been pretty damn good in the NHL I think he’s struggled at times with some consistency issues um you know had some problems Once Upon a Time with Bruce Cassidy they didn’t know a CI in in Boston um but you know he’s he’s a great kid and he’s got a nice skill set and and I I do think that in a different circumstance now he’s going to probably play more minutes with better line mates more consistently consistently Vancouver’s counting on him to even take another step um in in his in you know his production and and helping their team and so I like the move I I think it makes a lot of sense you know seven-year deal a little bit of risk there but you know you’re signing him he was a young free agent right he’s 27 years old so you know you’re not signing him for the crazy aging curve years I mean it’s going to be a challenge maybe as a contract goes along but five and a half million I think they can live with uh they also sort of a sneaky signing is Daton heyen another player out of Boston uh who’s a local kid from from Vancouver he he was a PTO in in Boston last year and so he gets a nice deal to go back to his hometown team I mean I like the day for the Canucks they you know they lose a couple players in for agency Ian Cole goes to Utah uh they they signed Vincent de though uh from Edmonton so you know I think that the Canucks everything they did was reasonable makes sense to me and you know maybe there’s maybe they’re a team to look for for a trade if something that could still happen I think they’re still going to be pretty aggressive out there but they they didn’t sign any deals that made me go uhoh um and frankly I think the brusk is a pretty safe or pretty it’s it’s an understandable bet for for where they’re at and the kind of opportunity they have to offer them was there a team or contract out there that made you say R oh well Seattle maybe jumps to mind I think they’re under pressure to get back to the playoffs to take a step forward you know signing both Chandler SE and Brandon Montour to seven-year deals like I don’t I don’t think it’s going to be a rut row next season but you know when we get to three and four and five years down the road we might look back on those deals and say those were big swings maybe overly aggressive swings so it’s just because of the age of those players and and the am of mileage on them that being said they’re two players that have won a Stanley Cup uh Stevenson in Vegas and and Montour obviously recently here in Florida you know Montour is a great Puck moving D Stephenson’s a very you know strong two-way centerman who’s put up some points the last two or three years been a 50 60 point guy so I I can understand why they signed them and I think that they it’s a sign of Seattle really needing to be a good team next year but those are those are two of the deals like if I’m going to guess that we might be talking about ones that don’t age amazing could be both of those two maybe I’m wrong though what do I know I mean it’s just seven-year contracts for players in their 30s generally are not going to be good like that that’s that’s all I’m going off of I’m not I’m not chipping away at at those individuals as much as I’m just thinking those were big swings but you know Stephenson had a lot of interest in him I know St Louis was talking to him Nashville was before they signed both marsho and Stam Co um you know he had options Montour simly had options I think he was in he was a chance to go to Utah maybe before Utah you know talk about a team that built a blue line overnight I mean trading for sergachev and Marino sign resigning in this case uh Kastle ring dery uh who am I missing they signed Ian Cole yesterday in free agency I mean they they like filled out a blue line it’s it’s like a fantasy draft like in in seven days they went from having no defenseman signed to a pretty pretty good-looking blue line on paper uh in Utah I think that there’ll be another team to watch next year actually uh kind of kind of like the what they’ve done you know I don’t see them necessarily being a playoff team next year but certainly see them being better than the final season of the coyotes poor went out for mullet Arena uh which didn’t didn’t help that the coyotes had a 13 or 14 game losing streak at one point when they were dealing with all that stuff yeah rip to the coyotes one other contract that gave me pause uh the six-year contract dled out to Nikita zadorov who Great Character to deal with for media we we saw the exploits in Vancouver this past postseason but I still think he’s a guy who could is really just a really good third pairing defenseman you really only put him in a second pair in a pinch and now he’s in Boston on a six-year deal with a f mil aav I’m very curious to see how that deal shakes out also Elias lolm signing in Boston too this is a guy who I thought was going to make like 8.7 mil on his contract last year if you ask me this at this time last year and he’s now at 775 7.75 I should say not to get anyone confused uh with the dollar amounts but uh he had a very interesting situation that led him to Boston as well yeah and I think it’s a good fit for him in Boston though I mean that that’s a team that can use what he does 775 makes the length of the deal maybe a little more palatable because if the cap keeps Rising as we’re expecting to I don’t think 775 is going to be silly money in five years um but yeah there’s definitely it’s the same risk as those two Seattle contracts it’s just the players are a little bit older and their long-term deals you know zadorov it’s it’s a reflection of how much interest was in him I mean the Leafs were interested there Vancouver was was interested in retaining him um I think there was 10 or so teams that inquired at one point on Nikita zadorov and you know most of the teams weren’t willing to get to six years and five million but that’s how BOS that’s what Boston had to do to get them you know it’s it’s like the Leafs giving TANF six years uh with with obvious risk at the tail tail end risk of that contract I mean it the market is not like it’s it’s not consistent right from year to year you know sha Monahan it looks like one thing and then he’s 5 a half million times five in Columbus in this year’s Marketplace I mean that’s that’s just it’s all it’s really is a supply demand Dynamic it’s it’s to do with how much money’s in the system and you know I can see where we’re we’re talking about one of those one or more of those contracts we’ve just mentioned one day maybe being bought out or what have you I mean that’s just that’s that’s the reality of the day I mean Gordon Miller actually said it at at the the very top of our show yesterday he’s like we just come through this day where teams have spent draft picks and all this money buying out contracts unloading contracts and trades now they’re going to give out contracts that they might have to do the same with I mean that’s that’s the reality of it yep uh what about the one day I hope to be overpaid though I hope one day someone gives me too much money in too many years like I’ll I’ll deal with that problem if that ever happens would you rather be overpaid or underrated oh man I didn’t know there’d be like a brain teaser I I just quoted a rap lyric I didn’t expect you to answer I’ll stick with overpaid all right uh very quickly uh the New Jersey Devils Brett pesy Brennon Dylan among the uh moves made yesterday what do you think of what they did well the Devils they’re kind of like where the Panthers were a couple years ago like I think that they look at themselves that they have to play a little differently um you know obviously they’re trying to get better but the way they think they didn’t get better is not by necessarily finding ways to score more goals um but maybe playing in a different style being ready for playoff Style hockey defensively they were a disaster last season some of that was brought on by players that left in free agency last summer some of that’s brought on by not having douge Hamilton for most of the Season uh in addition to other injuries they dealt with so I I like where they’re thinking I really when you when you pair it with adding Jacob markstrom to the mix um to solidify their goal tending I I like where the Devils sit you know I’ve this has always been a devil’s friendly pod uh because I was big on them two years ago when they had that unexpected run to the playoff and one around like I’m a Believer I like that team I think they have a very well-run smart front office and I like the deals they made I don’t think there’s anything too crazy in the contracts and ultimately I see them as one of the teams that’s on the that’s going to be on the up next year in the East I mean they probably would have been anyway just by a function of probably being healthier you know another year older for their star players they made the coaching change with Sheldon Keefe I think Sheldon shown himself to be a really effective coach and I I expect him to have a positive impact on that group and then you add a Frontline goenda and pesy Dylan’s a nice you know secondary piece on the blue line like it’s hard not to like the devils and and yet you know I think that they were in there at least a little bit on Stam Coast like I wonder if if we still see them try to make a move to add something of impact to their to their forward group yeah we’ve went through so much on today’s edition of the CJ show uh to everyone who sent in questions for ask CJ we’re going to move thatb to Thursday just because this episode did run long but there’s a ton of so if you if you didn’t get a question you’re thinking about getting a question and uh still keep sending them whether on Discord or Twitter and uh we’ll try we’ll try to get to as many of them as we can for Thursday’s episode because it’s better for Thursday anyway cuz I am still so dead yeah I could I could tell I I could tell and not not as a bad because I think you’ve been incredible uh throughout every episode we’ve done as you’ve gone through your world tour uh throughout May and June and into July uh but yeah you uh you definitely need some rest I’ve never had a month like that one work-wise so um it’s it’s I’m you got out of Vegas it was not even an issue for me well there was an issue for some people that’s why I’m H I’m happy but I feel like I feel like it affected like 20% or less of the people like my point is if I didn’t know anything was wrong I wouldn’t know anything was wrong like I went to the airport like normal my flight took off well you didn’t fly on WestJet clearly dude I never fly on that Airline I’m not kidding like it’s been more than 10 years since I got on that Airline man I I think I’m G to have to start that too just cuz well you live in the west so that’s the other like you probably it makes more sense for you like it’s not as much of an option here in Toronto but I I just I had some bad experiences on it a long time ago and so I just swore off the thing yeah between uh not getting on a flight this year because of broken toilets and a mechanic strike I think I’ve had my fill with WestJet for the time being I’ve I’ve had my Phil with them and I well we’re down one potential sponsor whoops but you say you say potentially 20% like this isn’t just like media people complaining about this like I know I’ve at least one NHL team that struggled to get all their guys back through through through WestJet like this wasn’t just this wasn’t just little old me wondering about my situation this was something think that affected a substantial amount of people uh getting home but uh yeah this was a bit of a weird situation some teams were smart to stay in Vegas I think yes I agree with that especially definit agree with that actually wasn’t all Eastern teams because I know Edmonton’s front office stayed in Vegas Washington State and Vegas Toronto State and Vegas there were others though I’m sure and and it it was just a lot to cram in like even I flew home on the 30th and like it’s basically the entire day when you’re going west east and like there’s lots of news like I had like spotty airport airplane Wi-Fi like trying to oh the worst wow I mean I’m not it’s a first world problem but I’m just saying on a day where you really want to be connected and connected to your phone it was a it was a challenge but uh somehow we got here man July second like summer is upon us I’m G to be I’m going to bed I went to bed at 8:30 last night I’m I’m going to do at least two more nights of that and by the time I see you Thursday I’ll be in full sunglasses CJ chilled out mode but I’m still I’m still in recovery from that month my goodness yeah I something about that Vegas trip has tired me out but it it it it pales in comparison to what you’ve gone through this last little while so I’m looking forward to Thursday uh when you get the sunglasses on and because you’ll have the sunglasses on it’ll be even funnier when you get these questions for asking that’s what I’m saying I’ll be in a better frame of mind to answer the the goofy queries bring them on for sure but there’s definitely going to be some some some other hockey questions as well keep them coming uh I met some 100 at the by the way yeah shout out to the 100 centers as well shout out to there’s like some from California that were there nice it’s still wild that anyone listens so thank you for your time thank you I mean we’re not we’re not rapping for the season yet so we don’t have to give the big thank you but honestly thank you for giving us all your time this year because this has actually been we didn’t reflect on it because we’ve been so in the Weeds on everything but like this is one of the best NHL Seasons I can remember I think just from from top to bottom like there was so much interesting compelling things happening had a pretty good trade deadline pretty good free agency day like there’s a there’s a lot going on a leag that that was that was that was a fun 2324 to cover I believe we have two more episodes before we go away for the summer because we’re g to do a Thursday episode and I believe by the 10th you’re gone yeah 11th I think I fly we’ll get into your summer plans uh before you leave uh for CJ I’m Julian oh I was going to wrap up are you going to say something or you just going to do the P sign all right we out everybody see you Thursday the Chris Johnson show inside the game twice a week Follow Chris on Twitter reporter Chris and follow Julian Mackenzie at jka McKenzie the Chris Johnston show

On This episode of The Chris Johnston show Julian McKenzie and Chris Johnston go over a variety of topics including:

0:00 Who’s left in free agency?
2:00 1 Billion
7:00 Vladimir Tarasenko
11:15 Free agency month
15:00 Ryan Lomberg
19:00 Hedman & Stamkos
34:30 Vegas Golden Knights’ business
38:00 Leafs Corner
42:00 Nick Robertson trade request
46:30 Mitch Marner latest
51:30 DeBrusk & Canucks moves
54:15 Big swings or big misses?

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SHADY RAYS: Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code JOHNSTON for 50% off 2 or more pairs of polarized sunglasses

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