A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Rest in peace, Gene Hackman. Hoosiers is a top-five sports movie. Go (re)watch.
1. One week out, Craig Berube was at ice level of Madison Square Garden talking about the trade deadline on Friday.
The head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs was explaining how his roster-needs conversations with GM Brad Treliving had become daily occurrences. He was saying that although he doesn’t jam his head into the rumour mill, he does read the scuttlebutt that pops up on his phone and has his fingers near the hot stove.
So, did Berube get a notification of Brayden Schenn’s 1,000th game this week?
He did, and the coach recently reached out to congratulate a man with whom he drank out of the same Stanley Cup in St. Louis.
“I love that player. I love the guy. He’s a super human being. And a thousand games is a lot of games in the league. He’s a dedicated player,” said Berube, giving a longer-than-typical answer.
“I always say that guys that can play that long are dedicated to the game. They do all the right things throughout the summer, game in and game out, preparing. And he’s a very prepared player and looks after his body and looks after himself and loves the game. He’s a hockey nerd. He just loves the game. So, it was great to see him get 1,000 games. Very happy for him.”
Subtext: Berube would be even happier if Schenn were to become his new third-line centre sometime over the next six days.
Schenn, for the record, has been equally effusive in his appreciation for Berube’s style of coaching. So appreciative as to waive his no-trade clause and accept a deal to Toronto?
The flirting between an open-for-business Doug Armstrong — who knows a contender when he doesn’t see one — and Toronto’s Treliving — who has a couple roster voids that could be filled with Schenns — is understandably ramping up.
Armstrong is asking the Leafs to sharpen their pencil.
The Leafs must decide which of their tradable futures (prospects Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten and Ben Danford, plus 2026’s first-round pick) they’re willing to shed for the good of today.
Schenn’s intangibles are untouchable. No one questions the veteran’s commitment or character.
But he has scored just a dozen goals this season and is signed through 2027-28 (when he’ll be 36) at a $6.5-million cap hit.
Bring in Schenn, and where does that leave the idea of re-upping the more productive John Tavares?
Would Armstrong be willing to eat salary to finalize a deal? We’re not sure Toronto should do this otherwise.
Could Treliving package in more assets and pry a defenceman out of the Blues, too?
There is a trade path here, certainly, and a trade history.
That said, Treliving’s chamber is half empty, and he must be careful where he expels his bullets. (And, quick, look over to Philly. Did Scott Laughton, presumably cheaper, just enjoy his last supper with Flyers teammates?)
We like Schenn to the Maple Leafs. He provides secondary scoring, defensive responsibility, and post-season experience. He’d fit in seamlessly to the system.
But we don’t like him as much as Berube does, not at that cap hit for a big chunk of Treliving’s assets.
Keep grinding away that price, no matter the messages sent out via the media.
2. Hate runs deep. Isn’t it beautiful?
If the Canada-USA 4 Nations championship wasn’t enough of a rousing success in terms of viewership, ticket sales (95 per cent sold, at very high rates), and generating buzz for the sport, it concluded on a cliffhanger.
A teaser that screamed one rematch wasn’t enough, and a wonderful advertisement for an Olympic tournament that begins fewer than 365 days from now.
The front-facing, banged-up Tkachuk brothers continued their media tour, even after defeat.
And members of Team Canada fired shots across the bow, even after victory.
“In Montreal, we’re the villains,” Brady told Spittin’ Chiclets. “We feel bad for whoever is going to have to be in the middle of us with all the scrums and s— that we’re going to do.”
“Guys wanted to get their anger out of the way,” the injured Matthew said on The Tonight Show.
The champagne in TD Gardens’ visitors’ room hadn’t dried before Canada’s Brad Marchand took a dig at the marketable siblings.
“Sometimes when you shoot your mouth off in the media, it bites you. You can do that during the season, but when you’re playing best-on-best it’s different, and they got a little bit ahead of themselves,” Marchand said.
“They’re great players, and there’s not many guys in the league that play the way they do, and they’re extremely effective. But when you start giving teams ammo, it can work against you as well.”
Brandon Hagel, the chosen target of Matthew’s initial fight, was slicker with his trolling, creating a late-night Team Canada group chat labelled “CHAMPIONS.”
In a sit-down with 32 Thoughts, Drew Doughty was asked if there was more respect or hatred between the two national squads.
He answered the latter, without a pause.
Man, it’s been a minute since hockey has had a genuine team-versus-team rivalry on this level.
Can’t wait for Milano Cortina 2026.
3. Tough look for Ville Husso.
The Detroit Red Wings’ prized goaltender in 2022 free agency had his trade to the Anaheim Ducks announced in a press release issued not by the Red Wings but by the Grand Rapids Griffins.
For future considerations. Eek.
Husso turned 30 this month, and he recently hired a personal coach to help get his career back on track.
Here’s hoping a clean slate and, possibly, a John Gibson trade serves Husso well.
The goaltender is off to a fine start, at least.
He became the first-ever San Diego Gull to post a shutout in his debut.
4. Quote of the Week.
“It’s exciting for my parents. They got double TVs, so they’re jumping off the couch five times tonight.” —Nick Robertson, after he scored twice and brother Jason recorded a hat trick on Sunday, becoming the first NHL brothers to record multi-goal games on the same day since the Bures 25 years ago
5. One veteran NHL star says the sharply spiking salary cap and its implications have been a hot topic of debate and giddy (albeit cautious) optimism amongst the players union.
“Well, no one truly knows, right?” he says. “We don’t know how teams will react in terms of internal salary caps and all that. Is it just gonna affect the big salaries, and then teams will still have those lower-end salaries as well?
“You don’t really know, really, until one team makes a bold move, and then it works for them. And then everyone copies it.
“So, it’s definitely exciting times. It’s good to see that everyone’s enjoying the game a lot right now, and the direction it’s going. It hasn’t always been perfect with COVID and a few lockouts. But it just seems like everyone’s on the same page, and it’s trending in the right direction.”
6. The best players from four hockey nations convened and clashed in the fastest, most intense hockey tournament in a decade (or more).
And who put up more points than anyone else in the event?
Zach Werenski, whose six-point, 13-shot effort in the one-off event won’t officially count toward his bid for Defenceman of the Year but should make him an Olympic lock and open the eyes of casuals who need more Blue Jackets in their life.
“He’s been a rock back there for us every single night,” Columbus centre Adam Fantilli says. “It’s a Norris-type season.”
Werenski, 27, is averaging a career-high 26:50 per night with a plus-14 rating.
He’s already ripped 18 goals and posted a career-best 62 points and is the No. 1 reason the Jackets could swipe a surprising playoff spot.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” teammate Kent Johnson says. “He definitely, right now, deserves the Norris. He’s been our MVP by far. It’s special to see every night and get to play with. It’s crazy. He’s such a smooth skater, so that helps, and he’s just so smart and has such a good motor. It’s impressive. He’s the whole package.”
The highest Werenski has finished in Norris voting is eighth (2019-20). And while it won’t be easy to leapfrog Cale Makar, Werenski leads all D-men in even-strength points (40) and should be a finalist at the very least.
That’s partly a credit to his off-season work and conditioning.
“We get into overtime, and we can literally probably leave him on the ice the whole time — and it’s not because he’s saving himself,” coach Dean Evason explains. “He doesn’t. He plays hard every shift.”
Evason believes the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau and mid-season injuries to captain Boone Jenner and veteran Erik Gudbranson pushed Werenski to take on a more vocal role in the room.
“What he has done as a leader, as a calm presence, as a mature person within the locker room, has really helped us,” Evason says. “He does a lot of things that people don’t see from the outside, but we clearly value from the inside.
“He’s a quiet guy. He doesn’t get up on the soapbox and give a lot of speeches. But he has spoken to the group a few times, and I think that leadership has given him confidence to play with the ability that he has.”
Amazon, for one, is catching the rising star. Werenski, along with teammate Sean Monahan, are confirmed to feature prominently in Season 2 of Faceoff: Inside the NHL.
7. Tell us how you really feel, Seth Jones.
“We’re the exact same team as we were Game 1. It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows,” Werenski’s former all-star partner told reporters after another Chicago Blackhawks loss.
“This is in almost four years of bottom of the league, so it’s not just this year for me, at least.”
Jones, 30, has almost four years remaining on his contract. But we’re not sure the Blackhawks will turn their ship around by then, so he is advocating for a change of scenery.
The right-shot workhorse holds a full no-move clause, and orchestrating a (salary-retained?) trade to a contender will be tricky.
Sure, a return home to Dallas makes sense.
But we see the Blue Jackets — and a Werenski reunion — as a fine fit.
Columbus has gobs of cap space. The player knows the market. And the current management regime isn’t the one that let him go in the first place.
8. Including his pointless 4 Nations Face-Off — where he was so ineffective for his home country, he got benched during Sweden’s only win — Elias Pettersson has scored once in his past 22 games.
The centreman didn’t register more than one shot in any of his 11 appearances in February.
We’re talking about an $11.6-million asset here. The fifth-highest-paid hockey player in the game.
So when colleague Iain MacIntyre asks Pettersson if confidence is a factor when struggling to produce, and the player responds, “It’s more annoying dealing with the media”?
Whoa, boy. That’s an ugly look.
Grandma once said, “When you point a finger at someone else, you’ve actually got four fingers pointing right back at yourself.”
That’s not insulting as a reporter. That should be insulting to Pettersson’s fans, teammates, coaches, and management — who have until July 1 before the star’s no-move kicks in and stays in through 2031-32.
The Canucks have one pricy problem on their hands.
And Pettersson’s big problem is the occasional conversation with the same media members who sing his praises when he’s playing well.
9. As invisible as Pettersson was at 4 Nations, teammate Erik Karlsson looked phenomenal.
On the heels of a rather dry January, the 34-year-old has been a on pre-deadline heater in Pittsburgh. Karlsson’s four goals and 11 points in his past nine games leads all Penguins and all NHL defencemen over that span.
Scrunched in the middle was Karlsson’s one-goal, three-point effort for Team Sweden at the tournament. In best-on-best, only USA’s Zach Werenski was more productive from the blue line.
Karlsson’s trade value may never be higher than it is today, and his actual salary begins to decline after this season.
If Kyle Dubas is willing to retain significant salary, there is a path here.
10. Since their trade…
Mikko Rantanen for the Hurricanes: five points, minus-1 in nine games.
Martin Necas for the Avalanche: 13 points, plus-1 in 12 games.
Perhaps more interesting is that Necas’s average ice time in Colorado has jumped a whopping 4:45 (to 22:50), while Rantanen’s usage has dropped 2:37 (to 19:53) since the blockbuster.
Nervous times for rookie GM Eric Tulsky.
He has six days to (a) convince Rantanen to sign long term, (b) flip the all-star for a return at least as valuable as what he gave up here, or (c) pray that rental Rantanen is the difference-maker that finally gets Carolina to a conference final or beyond.
Bungle this one, and this trade has a chance to be the defining one of the executive’s young career.
11. Not sure if Hockey Canada ever needed to recruit a U.S.-born player to suit up for its national squad in a best-on-best tournament, but Thomas Harley was superb in the two games he played against the Americans and should be under serious consideration for Milan.
Did the defenceman from upstate New York ever consider repping the U.S. instead?
“I was born in Syracuse. Both my parents are Canadian. They’re both from Edmonton, so I spent a lot of time out there. I lived in Toronto when I was 15 to 18, so I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada,” Harley explains.
“But I was raised as a Canadian, grew up cheering for Canada. So, it was a pretty easy choice.”
12. Do yourself a favour and listen to this week’s edition of the Smartless podcast.
The exchange between diehard Leafs fan Will Arnett and Bruins loyalist Bill Burr is beautiful.
Co-host Arnett dares bring up Toronto’s most recent home win over the B’s, which gave Burr permission to rant.
“Well, this is their time of year — January,” Burr snaps. “Also, the first three games of a seven-game series, you do not want any part of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those last four, though? Nothing but smooth sailing.”
Burr then slaps the 1967 card on the table.
“You haven’t won since Lyndon Johnson. You haven’t won since before we faked a lunar landing. It’s been a while. They were still playing with straight sticks. Stan Mikita hadn’t figured it out yet. Goalie didn’t have a mask…”
Please, give ’er a listen.
Burr is a sports nut, and his bit on the Curse of the Bambino as great folly is also chef’s kiss.
