Colby Armstrong joins Sat and Bik. Colby talks Canucks success this season, potential moves they can make, and why the Canucks are a contender. Colby suggests Rutherford has a trick up his sleeve for contention. The guys talk about Tocchet and his success getting players to buy in. Colby addresses situations such as Corey Perry and the Pettersson contract. Sat & Bik brainstorm players the Canucks could target + what assets they would give up.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov are both set to miss at least six weeks due to injuries sustained in Tuesday's victory over the Nashville Predators, the team announced.
Zegras broke his left ankle and could miss up to eight weeks, while Mintyukov is set to miss time with a separated shoulder.
It’s a game day for the Canucks in Pittsburgh, which means the dreams of Jake Guentzel in a Canucks uniform have become impossible to ignore. Matt and Blake discuss what it would take, and who would be likely involved to make it all work. Patrick Johnston of the Province has his own thoughts on it, and other trades like it, as the Canucks continue to roll and continue to lean on the Lotto line. Also, is Corey Perry a possibility??
It’s Lunar New Year jersey time, so that means Rob Williams of the Daily Hive has to weigh in on the new design and the new price the fans are being asked to pay for it. Not to mention, are the Canucks really contenders that will give the fans some memories this spring? All that, plus some reaction on the 3 football coaching exits of Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov believes he had the same reaction as everybody when he was placed on waivers Dec. 31.
"You're sad, yeah? But it's (a) nice signal for your brain and your body," Samsonov told reporters Thursday. "'Man, wake up and get back on track, and work hard as you can.'"
Samsonov was recalled by the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The 26-year-old didn't suit up for the AHL's Toronto Marlies, though. He worked with the team's performance staff off the ice and had on-ice sessions with Marlies goalie coach Hannu Toivonen.
Samsonov now believes he'll be ready to get back in the crease in short order.
"Brain is ready," he said. "I'm seeing the puck well."
Samsonov could potentially be called upon as early as this weekend, as the Maple Leafs have a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.
Martin Jones played both games in Toronto's most recent back-to-back in favor of youngster Dennis Hildeby while Samsonov was in the minors, so it's possible he could do so again. Jones has been a revelation for the Leafs, sporting a .934 save percentage in 12 games.
Samsonov, meanwhile, has arguably been the worst goalie in the NHL this season, ranking last with minus-12.5 goals saved above expected, per Evolving-Hockey. He stopped just 29 of 40 shots (.725 save percentage) in his final two appearances before being sent down.
Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark is out day-to-day with an injury, according to The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa. Ullmark is with the club on its road trip, but Jeremy Swayman is expected to start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
After making a glove save on Logan Cooley, Ullmark went down and had to be helped off the ice. Swayman replaced the Swede, and Nick Schmaltz scored the winner on the first shot Swayman faced.
Ullmark has played well while splitting duties with Swayman this season. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner is 13-5-2 with a .915 save percentage.
That pales in comparison to his .938 mark from a season ago, but Ullmark ranks among the league leaders in goals saved above expected and goals saved above average both at five-on-five and in all situations in 2023-24, according to Evolving-Hockey.
Bruins rookie forward Matt Poitras is also day-to-day. He left in the third period of the loss on Tuesday following a collision with Coyotes defenseman Sean Durzi.
Cutter Gauthier didn't divulge the exact reason for his trade request from the Philadelphia Flyers, but he did shed some light on his decision.
"It wasn't one specific reason why I asked for a trade," Gauthier told reporters on a Zoom call Wednesday, including The Sporting Tribune's Derek Lee. "It was multiple, re-occurring issues that I'd seen over the past year and a half, two years of being under the Flyers organization. It kind of hit me all at once, thinking 'I can't move forward with this' and 'I really need to step up for myself and see what's best for my future' and that's what I did."
He added: "I haven't seen one thing that's been remotely close to the reasons that I decided."
Gauthier was selected fifth overall by the Flyers in 2022. He was shipped to the Anaheim Ducks in a shocking blockbuster trade on Monday that sent 2020 No. 6 pick Jamie Drysdale and a second-rounder back to Philadelphia. Gauthier didn't intend to sign with the Flyers and could've become an unrestricted free agent in 2026 after playing out his NCAA eligibility.
Gauthier, who currently plays at Boston College, also squashed the rumor that former Flyers forward and BC alumnus Kevin Hayes convinced him to spurn Philly.
"I haven't spoken to (Hayes) in a long time," Gauthier said. "I wanted to clarify it so it's not just his words against everyone else's. I wanted to make sure (it's known) that he definitely was not involved in this whatsoever. It's kind of disrespectful to his name that he was being brought up."
Hayes said Tuesday that the report is "complete bullshit." The current St. Louis Blues forward added that he's received death threats and messages from people saying they were happy his brother is dead. Flyers coach John Tortorella called out the reporter Wednesday for creating the rumor.
Speaking of Tortorella, Gauthier said the hard-nosed coach wasn't the reason for his request, either.
"All those rumors saying I was scared of Torts, that's not the case at all," Gauthier said. "I've had many hardo coaches throughout my whole life and I think that any coach I play for would love to have me on their team. I want to do whatever it takes to win and if they're a hard, yelling, screaming kind of coach, I'll roll with the punches."
He added: "I actually met Torts during dev camp two years back. I was super excited and thrilled to meet him and obviously being a big name in hockey and the coaching staff industry, definitely was not against playing for him whatsoever."
Gauthier said he's also received death threats due to the trade request.
"My DMs on Instagram right now are kind of pretty crazy of what people are saying right now," he said. "There's been thousands and thousands of messages. I've been getting some five, 10 minutes ago. 19-year-old kid getting a lot of death threats and a bunch of thousands and thousands of people reaching out and just saying some pretty poor things that I wouldn’t wish among my worst enemy. It was pretty tough to see."
Gauthier recently helped the United States win gold at the 2024 world juniors, leading the team with 12 points in seven games.
The two grimiest plays on Tuesday's card cashed, as the Ducks won convincingly as big underdogs and the Coyotes pulled off an overtime victory over the Bruins. The normally defensively stout Kings coughed up a late 2-0 lead and cost us profitability among a half-dozen plays, but it goes to show that catching a couple of upsets can limit the damage on nights where you don't get the other results you hoped for.
The cheat sheet
If you're thinking about betting any game on the slate, here's a look at the price you should be hoping to get on the moneyline for a valuable bet.
We can lament the Kings blowing what seemed like a sure win in Tampa, but even though a 2-0 lead seemed in line with how Los Angeles would execute a road win, the game wasn't as low-event as you might think. The Kings were outplayed at even strength with an expected goal share of 35%, allowing 16 high-danger chances to their eight. That's unbecoming of Todd McLellan's team, and I expect him to have his squad back on brand in Florida.
The Panthers beat us Tuesday in St. Louis, but looking at the advanced metrics from that matchup, I think I'd back the underdog again. Florida mustered only five even-strength high-danger chances (while allowing 10) but scored on two of them. With a 5-1 win, the Panthers didn't receive appropriate negative reinforcement for a lackluster contest, and in their first game back after a long trip, they might not have the same focus as the Kings, who likely beat them to South Florida on Tuesday night.
The Maple Leafs had their fun against the NHL's junior varsity team, beating the Sharks 11-2 over two games. Throw in their California sweep, and the Leafs are feeling good about themselves. That can be a tough mental space to go to Long Island with, especially with the Islanders' focus level after getting beat soundly by the Canucks.
New York circles this game on the calendar, and it should be another raucous night in the home barn. In their last meeting in Nassau, the Leafs salvaged a point in a game they were outplayed in, but the Isles won in overtime. I expect a similar imbalance in even-strength play and New York to take care of Toronto again.
It's been a disappointing season for Alex Ovechkin, and now the Capitals legend is likely to miss Thursday's game against the Kraken. So he joins an injury report that looks like the 2019 section on the Stanley Cup with Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie, and, of course, Nicklas Backstrom. With all due respect to second-leading scorer Dylan Strome, Washington's already thin roster gets a visit from one of the hottest teams in hockey. Seattle was unfazed by its mini-break, as it cleaned out the Sabres, and is a good bet to do the same to the shallow Capitals.
The market hadn't been accurately pricing the Golden Knights during the absence of Shea Theodore, William Karlsson, and the top two goaltenders on their depth chart. Vegas hasn't had a game of better than 51% xG share at even strength, nor has it out-high-danger-chanced a team since mid-December.
At 3-8 in its last 11 contests, that's shown up in toss-up games with other good teams. After playing at elevation Wednesday night, Boston's waiting in Vegas coming off a loss to Arizona that likely didn't sit well. We expect Boston's best effort, and even if the Golden Knights do bring their best, with a thinner roster than usual, it might not be enough.
Pick: Bruins (-135)
Weekend cheat sheet
Here are the moneylines to target if you're looking to bet games over the weekend.
DATE
GAME
WIN PROB. (%)
PRICE TO BET
Jan. 12
NSH@DAL
41.9/58.1
NSH +164/DAL -133
PHI@MIN
45.9/54.1
PHI +138/MIN -113
Jan. 13
NYR@WSH
57.0/43.0
NYR -127/WSH +157
VAN@BUF
44.6/55.4
VAN +146/BUF -119
SJS@OTT
35.7/64.3
SJS +215/OTT -172
NJD@FLA
37.2/62.8
NJD +201/FLA -161
ANA@TBL
38.0/62.0
ANA +194/TBL -157
EDM@MTL
61.5/38.5
EDM -153/MTL +190
COL@TOR
46.9/53.1
COL +133/TOR -109
SEA@CBJ
54.9/45.1
SEA -117/CBJ +143
PHI@WPG
37.5/62.5
PHI +198/WPG -160
LAK@DET
55.0/45.0
LAK -118/DET +144
PIT@CAR
43.0/57.0
PIT +156/CAR -127
NYI@NSH
45.1/54.9
NYI +143/NSH -117
DAL@CHI
74.7/25.3
DAL -280/CHI +370
BOS@STL
50.7/49.3
BOS +107/STL +114
ARI@MIN
42.9/57.1
ARI +157/MIN -128
CGY@VGK
49.0/51.0
CGY +115/VGK +106
Jan. 14
WSH@NYR
35.0/65.0
WSH +223/NYR -178
DET@TOR
38.2/61.8
DET +192/TOR -155
Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on social media @mrussauthentic.
Dan and Sat debate whether topics such as trading for Trevor Zegras, extending Tyler Myers, and much more is overrated or underrated!
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.