NHL trade deadline approaches; big ACC basketball weekend

I'm back. You weren't back. I'm back again. Victoria's here. I've seen her.

She is here. You guys flipped today. Yeah. Because you have busy things to do later this evening. It's already been a busy day. My gosh, it's always a busy day.

Well, I produced our friends at the sports shop. Oh, did you really? Yes. I vote all day. It's not an all-nighter. It's an all-dayer. It's an all-dayer. It's an all-dayer. Into the night.

Well into the night. Yes. Gosh.

Dennis, you are on storm watch aftermath duty today and tomorrow. That's right. Somebody here has a child in a youth soccer tournament. No. Well, I don't have kids. Right. Exactly. Which is why you're doing the hockey games the next two days. I will be in Greensboro. Nice.

Getting ready for the ACC tournament and also watching youth soccer. You're scouting some places for Jim Boeheim to eat? Oh, no.

I'm sending him right to Stamey's. Oh, okay. Yes. Because I don't care for Jim Boeheim right now. I'm just kidding. I like Jim Boeheim.

Do you? But I'm going to punish him by sending him to Stamey's. You've been to Stamey's, right?

I have not been to Stamey's. Good. Well, as a public service, don't. Okay. Okay.

I provide that to you free of charge. Don't. Find someplace better.

Which isn't hard. Gosh. I hate trashing standards. I hate it. But don't. Okay.

I'm just... Just don't. It's not expensive though. It's been around since 1930. Yeah. You're right.

You're 100% right. You know what? We know a lot better today than we did in 1930. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry.

You guys should tell me this off air. I shouldn't have said anything. No, no. It's fine. It's fine.

It all depends on what you're looking for. I apologize for even saying it. I do. I apologize for even saying it.

Let's move away from it. I got to be bigger than this. I have to be bigger and better than this. Do you have to be? No, I do. Dennis Cox, how are you today?

I'm doing well. All right. There's hockey tonight.

There is. Tonight and tomorrow. We got big basketball games.

Yeah. This weekend. And I'll throw this out there. And I know we're going to talk about it. I know how big it is for North Carolina to play Virginia tonight. Or Duke next week. I think the game tonight is more... Or tomorrow night is more important than the game against Duke for UNC. You know why? Why? Because if Carolina beats Duke at the end of the season, ultimately, I'll bet you that ends up being a quad two.

Okay. Virginia isn't going to fall out of the top 30. It will automatically be a quad one.

That'll stay a quad one. So beat Virginia. This is the game for North Carolina. And I kind of think they're going to be a favorite in this game, believe it or not.

The analytics and the metrics point to Carolina being a very slight favorite. I don't know if you were doing the show with me the day... The day before Duke played Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke had just lost a game on the road. It might have been the Clemson game where they got beat pretty bad. They fell apart late. I think it was the Clemson game where they fell...

They were in the game the whole way, then they fell apart late. And I could not see in my brain Duke beating Miami. I think Miami...

I've said this all year long. I think Miami is the best team in the league. They're the opposite of Virginia in that Miami's strength is offense. Virginia's strength is defense. Virginia's capable offensively. Miami really isn't that good defensively. Their metrics are terrible defensively.

But Miami is a great offensive team. I just couldn't see Duke playing well enough the way their backcourt had been playing to see through to get that... to get that game in their favor. And Duke won the game. They were favored in the game by about five or six points. And I'm like, what?

That's like giving money away is what I thought. Yeah, Duke won the game. Duke won the game.

So I actually think they didn't cover, but that was... They were better than Miami pretty much throughout. So to me, I think Virginia's better than North Carolina. I think they're significantly better than North Carolina, but this is why they build really, really opulent hotels on the Vegas Strip. This is why they do that.

Opulent being in the worst. Yes. So I think North Carolina is going to end up being a very, very, very slight favorite in this game. Maybe a point, point and a half, point and a half. And you're going to go, oh, Virginia getting points. And you're going to, you're going to snap it up. And that's where they have you.

It's the whole point. All right. We're going to talk some hoops. We're going to talk some hockey. We've got a lot of things to do. Luke DeCock is going to join us.

Rod Brind'Amour, the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, in about 25 minutes as well. So let's go. All right.

Well, let's start here. We'll just say that the puck is in your end. Carolina Hurricanes.

The ball is in your court, right? Yeah. The puck is in your end.

Yeah. So a week or so ago, the Rangers added Vladimir Tarasenko. We actually saw him play at PNC Arena the first game back after the All-Star break. If memory serves, he scored.

He did. Right. And Hurricanes fans are already feeling like, oh, we can't beat the Rangers. They are 0-2 against the Rangers this year. So the Rangers added Tarasenko.

There's still, there's still a hot rumor that the Rangers are going to get Patrick Kane as well. How? What do you mean how? They have enough cap space to do that? Uh, I, as it's been said to me, you can always find the cap space. Okay.

Right. You can always figure out a way, whether you have to launder it through another team or two, uh, you can always do that. The Blackhawks are going to retain half the salary, uh, and they're going to filter through another team to retain half of that.

Okay. Uh, and if the Rangers kick some money the other way, they can do it. You can always find the cap space.

All depends on how badly you want the player. So the Hurricanes had to launder Max Domi through two teams, or, you know, when they traded for him last year from, I think it was Columbus, they had to launder it through Florida so they could fit Domi inside their cap. Now the Hurricanes do not have that problem. Now they've got $10 million worth of cap room to use because of long-term injured reserve of Andre Kasha and Max Paci ready. The $10 million of cap space. They can do whatever they want at the trade deadline. They could add Patrick Kane and probably something else if they wanted to.

Yeah. I don't think they're interested in Patrick Kane. Who knows, but they could do that. Anyway, Rangers out of Vladimir Teresenko. The Bruins yesterday added Dmitry Orlov, defenseman from the Washington Capitals, and Garnet Hathaway.

The agitating pain in the rear end forward doesn't score a lot but gets under your skin forward from the Capitals as well. They pick up Craig Smith and the Capitals get a bunch of draft picks. They get a first, a second, a third in various years. The first is this year. The second is in two years.

The third is next year. All from Boston. I don't think that deal had to be rerouted through another party, but maybe it did. It might have gone through Minnesota. I'm not sure. Arizona was the third team involved.

It doesn't even matter. Boston got those two players. Yeah. They got certainly a top four left defenseman who can play on the power play in Orlov and an agitating forward who will just go on to their fourth line and be a pest. So, this is where Boston is. Boston's already the best team in the league and just got better. Yeah.

So, I say this again. The puck is in your end, Carolina. There are two ways to think about this. The Hurricanes love their team so much, feel like this team is good enough to win a Stanley Cup and they do not want to upset the team chemistry, balance, force in the universe and just let this team ride.

Or do you, at some expense, go out and add some pieces where you may feel, I'm not 100% positive or comfortable that this right now is good enough two and a half months from now. And remember, when you're the Hurricanes, you're not trying to make the playoffs. I'm not saying you've already made the playoffs because you can't just go in the tank, but you're in the playoffs.

And right now, you're probably, it's not a lock, you're probably going to win the division. Yeah. I mean, there are five points, I believe still five points clear of the Devils with a game in hand, right? Games in hand. Yeah.

Yes. Devils are going to do something. I'm very sure of that. The Rangers probably will do something else. Tampa will do something. Now, Tampa is on the other side of the Eastern Conference bracket.

So you're only worried about really what you're going to have to deal with. So you're going to have to deal with the Devils. You're going to have to deal with the Rangers. You're going to have to deal with, oh, either Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, as that other wildcard team. I think the Washington Capitals have essentially said, yeah, we're not doing it. We're going to miss the playoffs. That's why the Capitals traded away two pieces that helped them win. So if you're the Hurricanes, do you have to respond?

My opinion is yes, you have to respond to some degree. The team will not admit this. The team will not be, will not say out loud that yes, we must react to what the Bruins did, to what the Rangers did, to what other teams are going to do. But the same things that we saw that might be deficiencies for this team that don't really get in your way during the regular season because of the culture, because of the way you play, are still going to get in your way when we get into the middle, the middle, the end of April, into May, as you start progressing through the postseason in the NHL playoffs. You still need to address another guy who can put the puck in the net. You still need to address, at the very least, depth on the blue line. I would argue that they need two pieces.

I've said this all along. The best thing for this team would be if the forward was a center. It's the least disruptive to your team if the forward that you add is a center, but it doesn't have to be. But they need somebody who can play in your top six, on your top two scoring lines, and you need a defenseman. That's the way I look at it. The team does not look at it the way I look at it, the way you look at it. And they have proven that over the last two years.

They've proven it. So when the deadline comes and goes, and the Hurricanes have essentially just made alterations to the margins, remember that this is what the organization is. They are always looking forward. It is not about, it's never about present. The only time they did think about present, it was sort of a hybrid. Two years ago, in the bubble. Remember, before we got to the bubble, before it all shut down, they made the trade for Vincent Trowcheck.

They gave away four pieces, none of which were important. They gave away volume and got a really good player back, and they had that player for two more seasons. It was a move made for two reasons. They also got rid of a locker room problem in Eric Holla.

I mean, that's true. They got rid of a locker room problem in Eric Holla, who was frustrated by his role and was not afraid to voice his opinion. And they brought in somebody who fit in beautifully in Vincent Trowcheck.

They got rid of a locker room problem in Eric Holla, in Vincent Trowcheck, who's unfortunately no longer here. And they got Brady Shay, but they got Brady Shay because they had no other option. Dougie Hamilton was hurt.

Brett Pesci was hurt. They had to go get a bona fide top four defenseman. And the Rangers, who had a depth, tons of depth on the blue line, were looking at Brady Shay and his five point something million dollar salary and went, well, we could get rid of that. Hurricanes gave them a first round pick, still had Brady Shay, and we got him next year, too.

So it was a trade made out of necessity, but there were long term benefits. I don't know what's out there that fits that bill this year for the Hurricanes. There doesn't seem to be a perfect fit for them.

Actually, the perfect fit for them is on Long Island right now. Bo Horvat would have been exactly what Carolina and Carolina was in. But Vancouver looked at where the Islanders were likely to draft versus where the Hurricanes were likely to draft and chose the Islanders deal because that pick is going to be probably 15 spots higher in the draft. I mean, the Hurricanes first round pick is going to be number 30. Probably. I mean, right around there. Yeah, maybe 28 depending on how far they go.

It could be 32. It could be. Right. So the Canucks were looking at that. Yeah.

Anyway, we talked to Rob Brindimore at the bottom of the hour. Is it a tough time to play? How do you react? Do you react?

Certainly like, I mean, it's hard to argue with the results of this team. They are 28, 4, and 4 since Thanksgiving. I think I'm just, what? That doesn't seem real to me.

28, 4, and 4 since Thanksgiving. But I think they have to act. All right, let me get a couple of things in here. Big.

Ooh, we changed music. Big weekend for the locals. State has Clemson at PNC Arena.

So think about what's going on at PNC Arena this weekend. Carolina, Ottawa tonight. Yep.

State Clemson tomorrow afternoon. Noon, right? Yep. Noon. Then Carolina Anaheim. Yeah.

So going from a sheet of ice to a basketball floor, back to a sheet of ice in 24 hours. Unbelievable. So State's got Clemson. Not an easy win. Not an easy game for State.

It's a quad three game though. What? See, this is the problem. I have to stop complaining. I have to stop complaining about it. Carolina host UVA. Ooh.

Have fun. Duke is home to Virginia Tech. Duke owes Virginia Tech. Actually, the officials owe Duke. You remember how that game ended, right? With Kyle Filipowski getting punched in the throat. Yes, I do.

And the officials going to the monitor, seeing the punch to the throat, and then just going, yeah, well, just going to call that a play on. Excuse you? We didn't mean to do it. Well, I know that. Oh, I know. Nobody means to commit fouls. Sorry. Yeah. Ask Charles Oakley, your friend.

My, my, my, my, my, my guy. Wake is home to Notre Dame. There's gonna get a quad four win for, for Wake Forest.

All right. The Bracketology has just two of those four in the field right now. Nobody's got North Carolina in the field. Wake is close depending on which bracket you are looking at. You know, if you're looking at some of the bracket prognostications, Wake is like in the first four out. And they lose Demari Monsanto to a torn patella tendon.

He had, he's going to have surgery at the MRI, came back yesterday. And that is sad. And I think Wake is good enough to be in the NCAA tournament.

I do. I think they're a good enough team to do it. Their overall resume, their team sheet, it's probably going to keep them out.

There's just not enough there. The win at Wisconsin is good. A, it's over a team that's on in the at-large pool. I think Wisconsin is right on the edge of being in or out.

I think they're the last one in at the moment. But it's a road game at Wisconsin that you won. There's not a whole lot else for Wake Forest outside of the league. Matter of fact, there's really nothing else outside of the league for Wake, but they do have wins over Carolina Duke, which have to go to some, you know, to some degree are important. They got swept by state.

State's good. I don't, look, it would be a lot bigger deal if the committee or the, you know, if the numbers favored Carolina and Duke, but the numbers only sort of favor Duke. They don't favor North Carolina. So I don't know if Wake's going to get a pop for that win, especially since it was on their own floor. There are tiers of the ACC.

We're going to let John Shire talk here in a second here. There are tiers of the ACC. You've got right now Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Clemson are the top four. They would be just sitting around twiddling their thumbs until Thursday. State, Duke, UNC, Wake, and Syracuse are in the we don't have to play on Tuesday category. And wouldn't it be cool if all four Big Four schools entered the ACC tournament on Wednesday? It would make Wednesday fun.

Actually, I still think that one of those teams will play their way out of Wednesday and show up on on Tuesday. No, no, not on Tuesday. On Thursday.

On Thursday. I think State's the team to do it. If they beat Clemson, they will. Duke might have the best chance to do it. If State is going to do it, they're going to have to win at Duke.

And they can. I love State's matchup against the Blue Devils. Right now, the Blue Devils can probably just do damage to their seeding. Same thing with State. I think those two teams are definitely going to be in the field. But right now, I think State is looking at an eight and Duke is a six or seven.

But we'll see how it plays out at the end. All right, now to John Shire, because I've done enough complaining about quad this, quad that, and I'm going to do it. And all of those things, complaining that the ACC is getting trampled on by the national media. It isn't vintage ACC. We have to agree on that.

Here's John Shire on that same topic. You know, I have a great feel for where the league has been and where it's gone over the last 17 years. And there's no doubt in my mind, the ACC doesn't get the respect it deserves. That doesn't mean that, you know, I'm saying we have the, I'm not disrespecting any other league when I say that. That's true.

And I have questions that I don't understand when you look at the net, Ken Palm, whatever it may be, you know, one of the things on my plate, I'm taking a deep dive this summer to understand scheduling non-conference. I think that has a lot to do with it. But take us, for example, our two losses in the non-conference were Purdue and Kansas. And so we beat some really good teams. I think we showed we're a really good team in the non-conference, you know, and the difference of beating Kansas or not, it's one possession game late in that game. We do beat us pretty good. But for us, we get beat by other good teams. They're good.

They're not. And so we don't get the credit of losing to Wake Forest and they don't get the credit of beating us. And I could go down, I could spend a lot of time on this because it's, it is frustrating, but it's not about being a first time head coach where I don't feel I can't speak up on it. We need more of it. We have, we've already heard Jason Cape, Jason, Jeff Capel on it.

We've heard Steve Forbes on it. And I wouldn't have the same weight were it Mike Krzyzewski. Maybe we can get Coach K to complain about it, right? Here's the thing. It's unbecoming of coaches to do it.

That's the thing. Nobody wants to hear the coaches in the ACC or any league, regardless of the sport. Nobody wants to hear these coaches whine about their lot. Nobody wants to hear it because there will be no sympathy, especially for Duke and especially for North Carolina. There, nobody is going to cry outside of ACC headquarters and here. Heck in Virginia, they don't care about the postseason fates of North Carolina and Duke. They don't care. And I'm not saying they should, but what we always hear when, when Urban Meyer would complain about, well, Ohio State or when Mac Brown was in Texas talking about how, you know, we should be here or Nick Saban starts flouting Alabama as a playoff team with two losses. We mock that like, would you quiet down? You're not a playoff.

They don't make a difference. If you're one of the four best, you had a chance and you proved that you weren't. That's where we are at this point with the teams who are going to miss. Like North Carolina is going to have to do some work to get in and they don't have anybody to blame but themselves.

They just don't. Win one of the games against Pitt. I think Pitt's good, but you had Pitt twice.

You could have beaten them here. It would look a little different had you had won that game. Heck, that's the win that might be putting Pitt in the NCAA tournament. Because right now, if you look where Pitt is, they're like on the 10 line for a lot of places, 9 or 10. Without that win, they might be squarely on the edge, on a razor's edge.

Comes down to very, very small margins and you have to win as many games as you can possibly win. Run one quick thing before we break. May I ask you about football, Dennis? If we all know the Panthers need a quarterback, right?

Allegedly. That's their, the biggest need is a quarterback. But Matt Corral.

Right. We all agree that the Panthers biggest need is a quarterback. So they're going to get quarterback at some point. It's probably going to be through the draft, but they'll probably also bring in another quarterback. Maybe they'll bring back Sam Darnold, but my guess is no. They'll go out, get themselves a veteran free agent who can, you know, basically be the Tyrod Taylor. What's Tyrod Taylor doing? Great question. Get somebody who can be the starter for the year and then hand it over to the kid the following season, or at some point later in this season.

We'll see. But what is their next biggest need? I mean, we've talked about it, wide receiver, tight end, but on the defensive side of the ball, what do they need on the defensive side?

Depth that corner, inside linebacker. Bobby Wagner was just released by the Los Angeles Rams. Yeah. Would Bobby Wagner look good in a Carolina Panthers uniform?

Yes, he would. I think so. I mean, is he, is he, is he done?

Been around longer than you think, right? He goes back to the heyday of the Seahawks. Still productive. Still productive. Would he be a good fit for the Panthers?

I would argue he would. So if you're the Panthers, there's a lot to that. There's a lot that you need a lot more than people think. I don't think it's a roster that is made. If we could just get the quarterback. Oh no, no, there's still a lot of work to be done and they don't have a ton of cap room either.

That's the one thing about Bobby Wagner. CBSSports.com just did a mock free agent draft. Okay. And they did a draft order by available cap space and the Panthers picked in the back third of that. They don't have a ton of cap room, which also limits what you can do with quarterback in free agency. Just throw that out there as well. That's why everybody we talked to mentions Jacoby Brissett, who probably will not be very expensive as somebody who can be a starter for you this year.