A familiar Canes voice joins the Adam Gold show

But we have John Forslund, the voice of the Seattle Kraken, who I can only assume the New York Islanders cheated last night in a 4-0 win over Seattle. The Kraken have been one of the hottest teams in the entire NHL and they have the best points percentage in the Pacific Division.

I still consider that being first place money since they have played fewer games in both Vegas and Los Angeles. And John Forslund joins us on the Adam Gold show. Oh man, now I want wings. How are you? Hello, Adam. Great to hear from you.

What is going on? Did you enjoy a little downtime? I had a great time. We really enjoyed our time off and got to get back to Raleigh just for a little bit. Spent some time in Florida, but stayed on the East Coast, so I was acclimated for the time zone.

Didn't have to go back to Seattle, met the team in New York, and now we started a five-game road trip last night. Saw Springsteen, didn't you? I sure did. Night number one. What a special experience that was. Very nice, very nice. I know you had a good time. Alright, let me ask you.

I'm going to start with the big one here. I know what the standings say. Are Colorado, or is Colorado still with their sort of precarious spot in the standings? Are they still the team to beat in the West?

Yes, yes. The West is a scramble. The West is parody-laden, especially in the Pacific Division.

But for my money, it's Colorado. I have not seen Dallas live yet. Seen them a number of times, obviously, on television. Haven't seen them live.

Seen everybody else. But Colorado, they get Gabriel Landeskog their captain back. He's been out all season with an injury. If the goaltending holds up, whatever they do in and around the deadline will be very interesting. But yes, based on their star power, based on the multi-dimensional attack they have, and their experience as the Cup champions. Obviously, I think they're the team if they get in.

Now, they're not allowed to get in. They're still going to have to push. But I think they will. Here's the interesting thing about Dallas. I look at the stars and I see a team that can win a Stanley Cup. They have speed.

They've got size. They've got a better goal-scoring team now than they used to be. They have outstanding goaltending. And in both games that they played against the Hurricanes, I'm not saying that they weren't impressive, but I thought they were second best. And Carolina could be really good, too. And I think we all agree that they are really good. But Dallas has been the antidote for what Carolina doesn't do well against.

Speed and size and all of that. But I love Dallas. The two games they played against Carolina, Carolina was just better than them. Well, I think the Canes are better than everybody right now.

I really do. And I think even the Boston Bruins. It was proven. I think the Bruins were out of gas when they played the Hurricanes, but the Canes beat them. And I will say this about the way the Hurricanes played. They're the best team in the league without question of neutralizing an opponent. So when they get a lead, when they jump out to a lead and they get to their checking game, there's nobody better in the league at that. Now, how do you get to the Hurricanes?

There's a couple ways you get to them. I think I think you have to score first. I think you have to get control of the game after you have to make them chase it. And in the games against Dallas, that wasn't the case. They were able to get to their game, neutralize Dallas's big line with hints and Robertson. I mean, those guys, Pavel ski, those three events, a lot of chemistry since they've been put together last season and they held them in check.

And I think that's what they do best. Obviously, the Canes are well coached and they play their system to a tee. So until proven otherwise, until we get to the second season and we see what that's all about, the Canes are going to have probably tweaked their roster and get after it and try to go deep because for them it's third round or better. I would have to think for a successful season.

I know I agree. They they must they must be in the conference finals the way, but I also think that they won't get there if they don't add properly. And that's the way I've looked at it. And I've looked at it the last couple of years and I have felt like the front office has not done enough and whether or not they believe they were good enough to do it or not. I don't know, but they have not been willing to part with what was necessary to make the to essentially reward the players for what they have done for, let's say, 60 games by that point. And that's what happened in 06. I mean, I know we're rolling the clock way back when here, but it is an anniversary season, right? There is a Hall of Fame thing coming up.

So I think it's appropriate for those that remember to talk about these things. But the Doug weight trade was made at the end of January and the Mark Recchi trade were two additions to a great team, a team that won 52 games in the regular season, but had to take it to a new step. It was different because you're coming off a cancelled season the year before because of the lockout and it was a new league, so to speak. But this team here, they've been sitting on this group for a while. And I think the one thing about the playoffs is you have to be better than one team for two weeks. And that's the difference between the regular season and the playoffs, in my opinion, for the hurricanes. Do they have the dimensions needed to beat one team? You know, if that one team can beat you physically and has a little bit of that edge and you have to play them, you know, four out of seven to get to the next round.

And if you don't have that dimension, then how do you get there, right? And that seems to be the roadblock. So they're going to have to tweak their roster, I think, in and around the deadline in a couple of different ways.

Add to a great group and then trust that this group can take them where they need to go. But the window will close not this season, not next season, but pretty soon after that. So they've got to get after it. There's no question. There are some contracts that are going to be elevated, not next year, but the year after, that will make it more difficult for them to keep this team together. In the East, I mean, I still think Boston's the gold standard, whether or not they were, you know, gassed or not by the end of it, by the end of their Florida trip, which ended in Carolina or not. I still think that with their top six, if they can add, I really thought they were going to add Bo Horvat, but if they can add another piece, then Linus Olmark has been the best goalie in the sport.

Either he or the guy you saw last night, Ilya Sorokin, for me, two best goalies in the league this year. If they can add another piece or maybe two pieces up front, I think Boston is still the team to beat. I would agree with that.

I mean, they have everything. So, you know, the thing about it is they just need that one extra piece to kind of give them a little extra depth and a little more juice in terms of their forward group. If their D seems to be, you know, in place, they're probably going to look at some support in terms of injuries or things that could happen just to have more numbers there. Olmark has been dynamite, yeah, and the coach is great too. But again, there's a fine line with all these teams, and there's a lot of superior talent in the Eastern Conference, and there's three or four teams that are in the same conversation.

You know, the devil's kind of being the outlier, right? They're still young. They still have to prove that they can get their number one, which they likely will. But then, you know, what will they do with that young team, you know, in the playoffs? It'll be interesting to watch. But Toronto, Tampa, Boston, Carolina, you know, they're all there, you know, and then you have the window slamming shut on Pittsburgh and Washington. They're hanging around. They won't be easy, but it'll be interesting to see what all of these teams do.

Everybody's got to do something around March 3rd. How dangerous are the Rangers? I mean, they've been rumored to get Patrick Kane from Chicago really since the beginning of the season. Are the Rangers basically about Shisterkin? Well, they're a little bit more than that, but I think that's a fair comment.

I think they're forward short. You know, again, they're kind of like Boston a little bit, but maybe they need someone like Kane more than the Bruins do. If we were to say, let's get to the playoffs tomorrow, Boston could go in with their group. Carolina could go in with their group. The Rangers probably could get in there, but they have to pull off what they did last year. They'd have to have, you know, something happen in the first round, like the good fortune of Pittsburgh losing all their goaltending, you know, which helped them.

But then Igor Shisterkin, to your point, took off. So he is dynamic. He's an elite level, can carry a team. Their D's fine. But I think if they added a star player like that, you know, that's what they need in their top six, just one more. A very good team. Very well coached too. Great power play. Dynamic presence from the back end with Adam Fox.

So, again, it's just setting up what should be a very interesting spring. John Forslund is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. What do the Seattle Kraken need, John? Well, they were in and around Horvat. They were very serious about that. So if that's the case, then they'd probably like to add another center that can make a difference, not just the depth guy.

They've got enough of that. So if they added another center, you know, you could shift Yanni Gord to the wing. You could get Bernier's in a position, the rookie, that Matty could play, you know, second line duty. They're looking, if they can find one, a guy that could play that number one role. If they don't, probably add another center to help out with faceoffs. It's been an issue all season for a great team. Defensively, they're pretty good. They added, you know, a depth player over the weekend and Jacob Magna from San Jose. But he is a third pairing guy that's played a top role at San Jose. So they're probably looking at a prime defenseman. And I still think some toughness teams are marking Baniers a lot now. He's getting hit.

He missed a couple of games after getting laid out by Tyler Myers a couple of weeks ago. It's a concern. So I think they need a little grit to make the push. And they have to get in, too. And there's a long way to go in the Pacific Division. There's a lot of hockey left.

You know, in a short period of time, the Kraken have to make up some games and they've got some work cut out. Yeah, there's two points separating first and fourth in the Pacific Division. Well, I know the general manager out there has no problems trading with the Chicago Blackhawks. So, Jonathan Toews might help out with the faceoff. He's not going to help with the grit and the toughness, but he certainly would help with leadership. Real quick before I let you go.

Is Calgary, what position is Calgary in and is Elias Lindholm potentially available? The Venture X card from Capital One gives you premium travel benefits. Perfect for seeing Taylor Swift, the era's tour presented by Capital One.

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And for bigger jobs, try the superior strength of hefty large black bags. I don't know if he's available. You know, they're way below expectations. Yes. I thought they were the best team in the Pacific in September. It's not the case now. They just haven't been able to get the right mix with their forward lines. They haven't found the right harmony with Jonathan Hubert. Oh, he's been asked to play a different type of system, a more locked down system than he was used to with the previous coach in Florida, where he set a record for assists last year. That's been different for him. Uh, and Jacob Markstrom and goal has really struggled. He had nine shutouts last year, and he's not even close this year. And he's he's questioning himself, which for veteran goalie is hard to watch and difficult to understand. So they just have to win at a 700 clip like just about everybody else to put themselves in a good spot.

It's they can't find any consistency. I don't know if Lindholm's available. If he if he were, that's that's a great player. That's a good three zone players you're going to find. He is really developed since he left Carolina in a great way. Defensively, everything else was in place already. Good young player.

Hanifans developed in a very good defense. And so you look back at that trade, it worked out well for Calgary. Yeah, go. Seattle should get both of them.

Get Hanifan and get Lindholm, and then we'll see you in the Stanley Cup. There you go. Oh, God. Yes.

Yes. Good cracking. Hey, listen, this is only the second year, Adam, of this operation.

I love the team. You know, I don't think he's going to he being wrong. I don't think he's going to sacrifice and give up, you know, just to just to make a push. They want to get there. They really want to get to the playoffs to prove a point to solidify the marketplace a little bit. There's pressure. There's probably more pressure than people on the outside understand. But he does have a lot of draft choices and a lot of great prospects in their system. And I don't think he's going to forego that because this team will be really good in a couple of years. No question about it. And they have the best broadcaster in the world.

John Forslund, the voice of the Seattle Kraken. It's good to talk to you. And hopefully we'll see you soon. And we'll talk to you down the road. Okay, buddy. Thanks for having me. You got it. The Venture X card from Capital One gives you premium travel benefits perfect for seeing Taylor Swift, the era's tour presented by Capital One.

Oh, I do love her. Earn five times miles on flights and 10 times miles on hotels through Capital One travel. Enjoy your stay in suite 13. Whoa, 13? That's Taylor's lucky number. The Venture X card from Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com for details.