The Wraparound: Breaking Down The Predators' GM Candidates

Emma Lingan, Michael Augello and Adam Kierszenblat discuss the Devils' firing of their GM, the Predators' GM search, the Canucks' struggles at home, rookie goaltenders and more.

View More

Video Transcript

What's up hockey fans?

And welcome to The Wrap Around, brought to you by The Hockey News.

I'm your host, Emma Lingan.

I'm joined today by Michael Ajello and Adam Kierszenblatt of The Hockey News, coming at you as we do every Tuesday and Thursday to talk about the latest and greatest story lines from around the NHL in bite-sized portions.

Before we get into all of that, and there is quite a bit to talk about today, do wanna remind you that for over 75 years The Hockey News has been the ultimate hockey fix.

Now get 12 issues delivered straight to you, packed with stories, stats, and a bonus gift issue.

To kick things off, head over to thn.com and get in on the action.

Man, guys, it is just too bad we've got nothing to talk about today.

Of course, just kidding.

Big news, Tom Fitzgerald out as general manager of the New Jersey Devils as of Monday.

New Jersey is, of course, seventh in the Metropolitan division, and are on pace to miss the playoffs for the second time in the last three years leading up to this decision.

So Mike, I'll go to you first.

Do you think this was the right decision for the Devils to move on from Fitzgerald?

a- and is there anything that you think that he mishandled during his tenure that could have led to this?

Perhaps that thing being the brother of one of the things already on his roster.

You read my mind.

I don't know what's in the water with the NHL, but two coach firings and now t- and two general manager firings, with, you know, a couple weeks to go in the regular season, it's really odd.

this one was sort of predictable because of the way the Devils have sort of decompensated, this season.

I think, you know, Fitzgerald, it, it was the right decision because I think they need to move in a different direction, but I think Fitzgerald mishandled a number of things besides the failure to get Quinn Hughes.

I don't know what Vancouver wanted for Quinn Hughes.

I assume it was something probably tied to Nico Hischier, who they probably weren't gonna trade.

If it was like Dawson Mercer and Simon Nemec and a first round pick, which is a similar package to what, you know, Minnesota offered, although I think Minnesota's package was better, then they should've just thrown something over the top to get it done.

Now, I mean, I think Fitzgerald pays with his job.

but he also screwed up a number of other things.

I mean, th- you know, they were, they had a situation where they did not solve their goal-tending issue for year after year after year, and then finally they solve it, they think, with Jacob Markstrom, and then he's too old, and they sign him to an extension, and really he hasn't been good this year.

So you could count, you know, the li- the list of failures, would, would take up most of this show.

So I think it's pretty, smart for New Jersey to move on from him.

Yeah, Adam, of course, being in Vancouver, the Quinn Hughes situation was certainly the, the most recent one that caught the attention of fans and everyone really with, where the Devils maybe went wrong there.

But what do you think overall about Fitzgerald's tenure in New Jersey?

Do you think it was the right decision to move on from him at this point?

Well, I think when you look at the Devils overall, like he had a good run.

You know, they put together some solid teams.

But the last couple years have just been kind of a tire fire, like especially this season.

So you have the Quinn Hughes.

You ar- weren't able to land him, when, you know, that was kind of the reported rumor, like New Jersey's the first one to talk about it.

Like, you weren't able to match Minnesota's offer.

You have the whole S- Simon Nemec situation, which, you know, isn't a positive one, where, you're going back and forth.

Are you gonna trade him?

Are you gonna keep him?

Like, you're not playing him.

What's going on?

And then you have the Dougie Hamilton situation, where they basically came out and said, "We don't We wanna trade you."

Like, you're basically saying, "We don't need you here anymore."

It doesn't get done, and now you're stuck in this situation with Dougie Hamilton where d- like, where do you go from here?

So it's like it, it makes sense that they le- that they parted ways.

I think that was the way that it was written.

it, it just wasn't working anymore.

But I also am wondering about like the timing of this, especially if you don't have a guy like ready to go.

It's the same with Toronto, kind of.

Like, if you don't have somebody ready to go today, like what's the There's no real point of firing them today compared to the end of the season if you're not gonna really hire anybody in that timeframe.

So, yeah, overall it's just kind of a, it's interesting timing.

I mean, GMs is, outside of scouting I guess they're not really doing a ton right now.

Maybe college free agents, but that's kind of, it.

But like, yeah, I, I, it makes sense why they decided that the time was right to part ways.

Well, the timing is interesting, for, for more than a few reasons.

I think the reasons you mentioned, but also knowing that there are a few teams that are looking for new GMs right now, one of which happens to be the team for which Tom Fitzgerald played as their first captain.

That is the Nashville Predators.

So, could be interesting here as they look for Barry Trotz's successor here, which is ongoing.

Elliot Friedman reported this week that the Preds held in-person general manager interviews with a bunch of names, including Panthers Assistant GM Brett Peterson, Stars Assistant GM Scott White, and Oilers Assistant GM Bill Scott.

So I would imagine given the Predators' history and their penchant for keeping things in the family and knowing they have a history with Tom Fitzgerald, that he could certainly end up being on their shortlist as well.

Mike, who do you think the Predators' number one priority should be, or what do you think their number one priority should be when they're looking at candidates for their next GM?Yeah, another name that was mentioned, was, Toronto assistant GM Brandon Pridham, who's mostly their capologist.

I mean, from the list of names that, you know, you read off, I mean, it's so it-it- it smacks of similar to what Toronto is looking for, maybe a data-centric, maybe an analytics-driven GM.

I mean, I think whoever they bring in, they have to focus on basically going in a different direction than Barry Trotz, because I think the organization over the last few years has concentrated on, you know, using Nashville as an attractive center, you know, to bring in the Matt Duchenes, the Ryan, the Ryan O'Reillys, the Steven Stamkos.

You cannot patchwork teams, and you cannot have a team that's gonna win a Stanley Cup just by bringing in veteran free agents.

You have to develop your players.

And you know, they've, they have some young kids like Brady Martin, who I think that they're gonna, they're gonna try to build around, but they need more than just one or two.

You need four, five, six, seven young players.

And middle ma- middle market teams like Nashville, even though they have the advantage of being a no-tax state, they, you know, they, they have to rely on development as well as adding free agents, and that next general manager is gonna have to be sort of dual capable in that respect.

Yeah, it's really interesting to think about the Nashville starting as a, you know, sort of a non-traditional market.

They had to lean into that a little bit more with marketing the destination of Nashville.

But now if you look into more building that competitive team for years to come, like Mike said, Adam, what do you think the Preds should be looking at when they're hiring their next GM?

Well, I think that, you know, when we're looking at NHL GMs, especially in Nashville, like, yeah, you need somebody who understands scouting, but you really need, a GM that doesn't necessarily have that scouting background, that has that negotiation background.

That's more kind of important.

Like, we've seen, lately, you know, these GMs that are hired with scouting backgrounds, they might not necessarily do as well as those with business backgrounds.

So we'll see exactly how this shakes out.

But like if you're going with Tom Fitzgerald, like that makes sense because, yeah, like you said, he knows the organization.

Like it's obviously changed since he played there, but he knows kind of how that organization goes.

He's a GM that has had success in the NHL.

He has those connections in the NHL.

So I think that they, that they need to go with, just based off of where Nashville is, more experienced GM is probably the better option because yeah, they're gonna be, they're kind of in this weird window where it's like all of their top players are near retire- like older, they're kind of like and, you know, in those like maybe four, three, four years and then they're gonna retire, stage of their careers, like Forsberg, Josi, O'Reilly, Stamkos, like the list kind of goes on.

But that they have to find a way to get in that next generation of players, and I think that having an experienced GM that understands, you know, development, understands how long these players take and has those connections, especially, in the hockey world, I think that would be beneficial to Nashville.

Definitely.

Nashville, interesting, place to keep an eye on here over the next few weeks as they look to not only potentially sneak into the playoffs, but also hire their next GM.

So lots going on in Nashville.

switching gears a little bit, heading out west, further out west, the Edmonton Oilers got a concerning update this week on Leon Draisaitl.

He has officially been ruled out for their five remaining regular season games, which we already knew was the case.

He-- Chris Knoblauch said that he wasn't confident on providing a timeline for Leon Draisaitl's being available in the postseason.

So he said he still hasn't skated yet, could be back, quote, "Sometime in the first round if things go well."

so that is not a huge vote of confidence for the Oilers, for Leon Draisaitl, who's been out with an injury.

Of course, Edmonton's last regular season game is on April 16th.

The playoffs begin just two days after that.

So Mike, how much of a chance do you give the Oilers to move beyond the first round, regardless of their opponent, if they do not have Draisaitl?

Short answer, not much.

I mean, right now they're tied for first place in the Pacific.

Anaheim has 87 points.

Vegas has 86.

Vegas is sort of hard charging since they hired Tortorella.

I actually think first place would not be a good place for Edmonton to finish because if they, if they do, then they play Utah, and I think Utah could beat them.

I think they're a very deep young team.

Vamelka is not tested really much in the playoffs, but the goaltending of Edmonton is, is dismal.

and they can't play defense.

I think the only team that they can beat of the potential matchups they come up against is Anaheim because Anaheim is young and cannot protect any lead.

So but if they play Vegas or they play Utah, I don't think they're winning.

and I mean, that's with or without Draisaitl, 'cause if Draisaitl comes back, he's clearly not gonna be 100%.

He's gonna probably be at 75 to 80%.

So I don't think it looks very good for the Oilers right now.

Adam, what do you think?

I mean, maybe this is kind of like a blessing in disguise for the Edmonton Oilers and Draisaitl.

Like, you know, you take kind of a, you, you kind of understand where the situation is and you just say, "Listen, he's not..." Like if they're down three-nothing in the first round, like what's the point of playing him in game four?

and like you look at Draisaitl's season, so he's also, y- you know, there's been a lot of turmoil in Edmonton with, you know, we saw his comments right before he went to the Olympics about like how everybody needs to be accountable top to bottom, like it's been a stressful year.

Then he went and played at the Olympics.

So you know, maybe this is like a reset.

Like, there's a reason that teams don't go to, you know, three straight Stanley Cup finals very often.Um, there's a reason that Florida has just kind of like the season that they've had where everybody's gotten injured.

Eventually time catches up to you.

So, you know, if you're Edmonton, like it's not great that you might, that you're most likely going to lose in the first round.

that's just the reality of it.

Like they still have McDavid, you know, anything is possible.

But if we're really looking at it, like their team just isn't the same as it was the last two years.

And especially if you take out Dreisaitl.

So maybe this is like a, listen, we still got our playoff revenue because we're still going to have some home playoff games.

we'll reset.

Everybody's going to have a longer off season to get ready and we'll hit the ground running next year because most of that team is coming back.

And then you can solve those little problems like the goaltending issue in the off season.

Yeah.

Edmonton's still, headed towards the playoffs with or without Leon Dreisaitl.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Vancouver Canucks.

And a big part of that, has been their home woes.

They have not been able to win at home for whatever reason.

They have eight wins in 39 games at home this year.

The franchise record for the fewest home wins in a single season is 10.

So right now, and that mind you came in a shortened season.

So right now they are on track to make the wrong kind of history this season.

So Adam, the, the Canucks have two more home games against Vegas and LA.

Do you think they tie or even break that 10 home win record?

And, and what can you say about the, just the overall struggles they've had at home?

Has it been anything that you've noticed in particular?

well obviously we know where the Canucks are like in the standings.

We know what type of team they are at the moment, but I mean, the home thing just doesn't make any sense.

Like they're, it's going to be one of the like by percent points percentage, one of the worst in NHL history.

Like they, there's a, like if they lose both games, they're not going to get to 300 win per points percentage at home this year.

Like that, like that's, that's crazy for any team.

but yeah, it's just been, it's been frustrating.

Like we get the, you know, we're now at the point of the season where it's like, people are applauding effort over results.

So it's like, oh, they lost five, two, but they played well.

So it's like, is that a positive?

But yeah, it's just, it's just another frustrating thing.

And you know, one, one thing that we have here in Vancouver is that there's a promotion that if they get 20%, if they get 20 shots on goal, which is very, which is a low total, like to start with, there's like a discount on, on Uber eats.

it's like 20% off for 20 shots.

Like they're not hitting that discount some games.

So it's like the fans go out, they pay, you know, 70, 80 bucks to watch a game, which is still very high.

You lose your, you see your team lose by like three or four, and then you don't even get a walk away with the, with the discount.

So, I mean, it's just really like, it's just frustrating for the fans.

Like everybody knows where they are, but like, you gotta win some games for the home crowd.

Like, I don't think they're going to win both of these games.

I don't even know if they're going to win any of these final two.

Cause Vegas and LA are trying to push for the playoffs.

So, I mean, it's just another one.

And we have like basically a series now where it's like, oh look, they've set another franchise record, for something that's not positive.

So it really is just how many more franchise records can they set in these last, you know, six games?

Yeah.

Vegas and LA two tough opponents, especially, two hungry opponents at this point in the season.

Like you said, Mike, do you see Vancouver winning either of those remaining home games?

They could beat LA because LA is so, mortal.

You know, they, that team was up two goals against one of the worst Toronto teams I've seen in recent memory and Toronto came back and tied the game before they won in overtime.

So, I mean, they're, they're, they're, they're a team that can be beaten, but you know, it's, it's, it's sad.

I looked at it.

I mean, the Rangers have been pathetic at home all year and they're five, they have five or six more wins than the Canucks do.

And Chicago only has 13, victories at home as well.

So, I mean, this record of futility, is pretty dazzling, but one, one thing Vancouver fans should feel positive about, they have 32nd place locked up and they have the best chance of getting Gavin McKenna in the draft lottery.

The best chance, but still not a guarantee.

Just look at what happened to the New York Islanders last year.

still, yeah, it is really baffling.

Lots of oddities about the NHL schedule this year as well with the Olympics, wondering as well if that could have anything to do with it.

But of course, you know, not making excuses for anyone.

Like Adam said, we're, we're now at kind of the moral victory point in this season.

So just kind of getting to the end here.

moving on to a little bit happier news, Nikita Kucherov, 400 career goals now.

He picked up goal number 400 in the Lightning's loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

He now joins Steven Stamkos as the only two players in Lightning history to reach that milestone.

So really good company to be in there.

Mike, as Kucherov continues to produce at such a high rate at this point in his career, do you think he will end up being remembered as the greatest player in Lightning history?

I mean, just with the way that he's been able to keep up this level of production and he doesn't look like he's slowing down.

He could be, but I think the only thing that could derail that is his contract status, which he has another year on his contract.

If he decides to go free agent and finish his career someplace else, tries to hit the jackpot because he's making under $10 million and in the league right now, he's probably a 12 to $13 million player.

If he decides he wants to finish out his career someplace else, then I think, you know, sentiment might drift towards, I mean, Stamkos wanted to stay in Tampa.

They just didn't want to pay him.

you know, it could be Hedman or Vasilevsky.

There are a number of candidates, but I think that his status going forward will affect.

I mean, he's clearly one of the top three or four, Tampa Bay Lightning players of all time, but I just don't know whether he'll be considered the best based on, you know, where he finishes his career.Adam, what do you think of what, what Kucherov's been able to do in his career, and especially at this stage, just producing at the level that he still does?

I mean, like, Kucherov, I think we can all agree that he's going to the Hall of Fame.

Like, he's probably gonna be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

He's probably gonna have his number retired in Tampa Bay.

Like, he'll go down as one of the best Russian players of all time.

I, I think, like, that one, like the whole Russian th- one com- is a little bit interesting just because, you know, we have a whole bunch of history of Russians before they came into the Olympics or before they came into the NHL.

And Kucherov hasn't also been able to play on the international stage for the last couple years.

But I still think he's gonna be go- he's gonna go down as one of the best Russians of all time.

But watching him play, like, h- they played in Vancouver a couple weeks ago, and it's like he, he's just so smart.

Like, you don't He, y- you, you know, you're watching the game, and you're like, "Oh, did Kucherov really have, like, an impact today?"

And he has four points.

Like, he's just one of those, like, smartest players that you can thi- like, watch out there.

His play-making ability, like, the puck is on and off his stick in, like, a second.

Like, no There are few players in the NHL who can do that.

And I think that, you know, we get so caught up in the, like, MacKinnon, McDavid discussion, and now the Selby winning discussion that we're, that we a lot of time forget about Nikita Kucherov.

Like, Kucherov could win the Art Ross trophy this year, and I don't think, like, anybody's really talking about him for the Hart.

Like, if you look at the Hart, which is, you know, most valuable player t- to that team, like, Kucherov should be a top three Hart contender, like, probably should win it 'cause of what Tampa Bay has had to go through this year with injuries.

But I mean, like, yeah, one of the best players in the NHL, one of the most consistent players in the NHL.

And, yeah, it's g- like, I thought that he already hit 400 goals.

Like, it just feels like he would've already been at a milestone, yeah.

But, like, this is a, yeah, this is a special player and one that we may not be able to truly appreciate until after he retires.

Definitely.

It, it does seem like he's one of those guys who always is quietly leading his team or at times leading the league in certain statistical categories.

It just seems, like you said, he's always there, always in the right place at the right time, so really impressive to see what Kucherov has done throughout his career, obviously in, the, the latter part of his career, but still producing.

wanna talk about a few guys, specifically guys in the crease, goaltenders who are in the early stages of their career right now.

This has been the year, it seems, of the rookie goaltender.

There are quite a few that have emerged around the NHL, a couple of them with the same team in, in Montreal.

I mean, they've had a slew of rookie goaltenders come through who have all managed to put up really impressive numbers.

Mike, which rookie goalie do you think has shown that they have the brightest future with their organization this season?

Because you've got guys in Montreal, guys like Yaroslav Askarov out in San Jose.

You have Jesper Wallstedt in Minnesota.

I mean, lots of guys to choose from.

So who would you say has had sort of the most standout season?

Well, Dobesh has the most victories, but I, if I had to choose between the two of them, I think the guy, who's his, one of his, goaltending tandem partners in Fowler has the pedigree, to be a really, a, a really a great goaltender.

I think eventually he's gonna be the, the number one starter there.

Not n- taking anything away from Dobesh 'cause he's had a really good year, and he's had to because Montembault has sort of dropped the ball.

you know, going forward, I think the t- the two that excite me the most are probably Wallstedt and Fowler.

I think Wallstedt eventually is gonna be the number one with the Wild, and I think Fowler, like I said, is gonna be the number one, w- in Montreal.

One guy who un- sort of under the radar who hasn't had a lot of playing time, but, Merzshov in Pittsburgh is, seems to be the goalie that they think down the road could be their number one.

And, he, he's a r- he's a really talented goalie.

Also in Pittsburgh, Artur Shelobs, coming initially from Vancouver.

Adam, any other young goaltenders who have really stood out to you this year?

Well, I'm a little bit surprised that, Mike didn't say, Dennis Hildeby over in, Toronto, you know?

but yeah, I think that, like, Ca- that Jacob Fowler is kind of the goaltender to watch.

Like, he's basically can Like, when you talk to different people and listen to different people from around the league, that seems to be, like, the top goaltending prospect out there.

he's just like i- like, he hasn't had that much of a run yet, but he's been dominant in the AHL.

Wallstedt, like, this is a guy who I thought should've started for Team Sweden at the Olympics.

he has a huge, he has a very bright future.

And I mean, you know, looking at the Nashville angle, Yaroslav Askarov, like, over in San Jose, you know, that was a former Nashville Predators goaltender where they basically decided, oh, Saros over Askarov.

But Askarov has, looked pretty good, and we knew that he was one of the top goaltending prospects when he was drafted.

And he's part of that young, fun San Jose team, so once that San Jose team becomes a little bit stronger defensively, I think Askarov, you'll know, you'll see him start to become, like, a stronger goaltender.

And he really has this chance to grow with this, young Sharks group.

Well, I wanna go back because you mentioned Hildeby and the Leafs.

We gotta talk about the Leafs because since Austin Matthews was injured on March 12th, John Tavares has led the Leafs in scoring, with eight goals and 16 points in 12 games.

So he now has 30 goals and 68 points in 77 games this season, continuing that stretch of just remarkable consistency that he's had throughout his time with the Leafs, despite the fact that he is 35 years old.

So, Mike, do you think Tavares has shown the Leafs can go into next season with him as their second line center, or is it time to try and find another role for him as he enters or really is kind of in the middle of the twilight of his career?I don't think they're gonna have many options in terms of second l- second line center, because as we know, as we talked about, it's i- incredibly tough to find centers, either in free agency or to acquire them via trade, and the Leafs don't have a ton of draft capital to be able to swing a deal for, say, a Robert Thomas or something of that nature.

I think they can survive with Tavares as their number two for another year if they surround him with wingers like Easton Cowan and William Nylander, who are both quick, to make up for his lack of speed.

Eventually, I think he's gonna get shifted to, to the wing.

I also have to say that, you know, a lot of respect for Tavares, his consistency.

He's been a, a great player for them for now eight years.

but it's sort of to the detriment of the Leafs where they wanna be in the top five and get the top five, a top five draft pick to keep their first round pick in a very strong draft.

And the goals that he's scoring, along with other players, are, are giving, getting them points when they don't need them, when they're already out of the playoffs.

But there's a certain segment of Leafs Nation that doesn't want them to win any of their last five games or any of these games after the deadline.

Adam, what do you think, when it comes to Tavares and his role?

Obviously a, a critical piece of their roster right now, but if you're being realistic and looking into the future with him being 35 years old, what do you think kinda the plan should be for him?

Well, you know, it's funny Mike talks about, like, trading centers, because they had a second line center in Fraser Min- Minton, that they traded away.

Like, could you Like, Minton, as a center with Tavares on the wing, that would look pretty good.

But, like, I, I think that Tavares is at the point where we're kinda seeing that Claude Giroux type situation where, you know, it's probably better that he moves over to the wing, but you have to have a center.

Like, if you don't have a center, that play doesn't work.

So, I mean, unless they bring in a second line center, then Tavares has to be their se- It, it's more of, like, a need at this point.

Like, Tavares has to be their second line center because they don't really have anybody who can, you know, fill in that void.

But I think that overall, like, when you look at it, he's probably at the point of his career where he would be more in, e- effective on the wing.

But it, it's Yeah, like I said, unless They really gotta f- figure out kinda what they're gonna do with their forward group as well.

they need to build up.

They need- Like, they don't really have a ton of prospects, so they also have to hope that they keep their pick this year, and that they draft, that they get the chance to draft a center, like maybe a Caleb Malhottra, who's playing in the OHL this year, who can be that, like, future second line center for them.

Well, the Maple Leafs, of course, rather unexpectedly, I think if you asked any of us at the beginning of the season, became one of the big sellers at the trade deadline.

lots of trades went down at the deadline, even though there were kind of It was a weird schedule this year with the Olympics.

There were sort of two different trade deadlines, one official, one unofficial.

But now it's been just over a month since the official NHL trade deadline.

21 trades were made on deadline day, and then 40 deals were made outside throughout that entire week.

So looking at all the trades that were made in, I guess we can call it deadline season instead of deadline day, Mike, which trade from this year's deadline season is looking the best right now about a month later?

Well, the Seattle Kraken would not be within range of a, of a wildcard spot if it wasn't for acquiring Bobby McMann from Toronto for a second and a fourth round pick.

He's got eight goals in 12 games.

It's just one in a long line of bad moves by Brad Treliving giving up Scott Laughton for a conditional third round pick, and they have to pray that the LA Kings make the playoffs to get a second for a guy who was a valuable adept center.

But Bobby McMann, was su- supposedly gonna get them a first round pick, should have gotten them a first round pick, and it didn't, and that, that I, I think contributed to Treliv- Treliving being fired.

Adam, what, trade sticks out to you as looking the best about a month later?

You know, I was gonna say Nazem Kadri, but I was kind of rethinking that.

I'm gonna go with the I'm actually gonna go with John Carlson over in Anaheim.

Like, they got him for two picks.

He's playing over 24 minutes a night.

He has that playoff experience.

We talked about Anaheim being a young team.

Like, that's exactly who you want.

Now you have kind of like a stronger defense.

You have an efficient first power play unit guy who's, you know, he's played with Alex Ovechkin.

Like, that's knowledge that he can pass on.

He's won that cup.

Like, I think that that was such a slam dunk, and we didn't even see that trade coming.

Like, we kind of saw, you know, Kadri to Colorado because it was rumored for a while.

But yeah, Carlson just out of the blue getting traded to Anaheim was like, shocked a lot of people, and I think that so far, you know, it's only been 10, 11 games, but I think they've already won that trade, just based off of what he's been able to bring to that group.

Yeah, that's a good one.

Anaheim, a, a young team trying to complement their young core with the right veterans to kinda get over the hump in that rebuild and, and make a playoff push here.

So that's a good one.

I, I agree with you, did not see that trade coming.

I don't think anybody did, but it's worked out really well for Anaheim so far.

of course, if you do wanna read any more about any of the trades, the topics, the players, the teams, the down to the wire playoff races that we've talked about today here on the show, head over to The Hockey News.

It's been the go-to for all things hockey since 1947.

12 issues packed with game and player insights, plus a free issue to start.

It's a must-have for any fan.

Head to thn.com/free and grab your subscription today.

That is going to do it for today's episode of The Wrap Around.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

We really do appreciate it.

We will be back with an all-new episode on Thursday.

But for now, for Michael Ajello and Adam Kierszenblatt, I'm Emma Lingan.

This is The Wrap Around, and we will see you next time

Close