Who’s making it to the Cup?

Ken Danico is a multiple Stanley Cup champion and you can watch him on NHL Now and NHL Tonight throughout the season. Plus, we are very close to 10 solid hours of live trade deadline coverage tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m on NHL Network. Ken Danico is with us here. All right, let's get to your view, sir, of the, for the time being right now, second best team in the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes. Right to it.

Well, I'd love, I'd love to say my New Jersey Devils, but in the Metropolitan Division, the best team in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Bruins. Yes. They are certainly no real holes in their lineup now.

They had Tyler Betuze because Taylor Hall went on LTIR, long-term injury reserve, and that allowed them to have free up some cap space and kind of fill that void. And they are all in. There's no doubt about it. So I don't know, should we play the rest of the season?

Should we go into the process? Can anybody beat the Boston Bruins this year? But I love it. That's why we play the games, right?

Right. Always upsets along the way, but the season that they've had is simply nothing short of remarkable. And yes, the canes are a heck of a team. They've been a heck of a team for the last handful of years here. And we will see going in the playoffs. But, you know, me covering the Devils closely, we've been kind of a surprise team. Nobody expects us to be as good as we are. And, and certainly I didn't expect it, but they had Timo Meyer, a real good goal scoring, big, powerful forward that should help them down the stretch and blast.

It should be great. The Leafs have added a ton of pieces. The only thing I worry about every once in a while, and just looking back at some of the playoff runs, I was fortunate to be on at some of those championships. If you add too much, does it upset the chemistry, certain guys that, you know, role players that played their role to a T now all of a sudden they either get a few less minutes or they're out of the lineup and there's still 20 plus games to go here just around 20 games.

So you want to get them acclimated quickly, but the early results, the least lost a few games here. And certainly it's going to take some time, but it's going to be terrific down the stretch and in the class, especially for, for the wildcards in the East, you know, a bunch of teams bunched up there, some teams making some noise. Now the senators wanting to maybe make this interesting and they've got a lot of firepower. So I just feel this year in the playoffs, there may be a surprise here, a big upset and round one, we will see the Rangers are a real good hockey club. So it's going to be a lot of fun. I could go on and on, but there's a lot of good teams and maybe one of those wildcard teams, those young guns, if Ottawa gets in a Buffalo could, could have surprised somebody along the way.

That's why we play the games. Like I said, in the playoffs are the most exciting in the national high for me than any other sport. Ken Danico from NHL network is joining us here on the Adam Gold show, and you can watch him and their crew tomorrow, starting at 10 full trade deadline coverage. I want to, if you could put up your player hat on again, and the hurricanes have made two moves. One I think is, has some significance to what they're trying to do and Shane Goss to spare a defenseman who should help the power play. I'll play limited minutes on a third pair, but that's where he is right now for Carolina. And the other, yes, Pouli Harvey from Edmonton, who's probably no better than a fourth line winger for them.

And maybe in the lineup all the time, maybe in and out of the lineup. I don't know. But as a player, are you looking for your organization, your front office to supplement what you have?

Does it matter to you? Or if the hurricanes try to sell the players on, we just trust you. Is that enough? Well, look, most teams, most contenders, and you certainly consider the Carolina hurricanes a contender. They've been the last handful of seasons and, and they've raised the bar at Stanley Cup or Buster. At least that's the attitude you have to have going in the playoffs. And I'm sure coach Rod Brindamore, Don, whatever general manager and their staff, that's what they believe. They believe they can win it all. Now in the past for me, and you tell me to put my players hat on and the championship runs that I've been on, it's always those subtle pickups that seem to maybe have even a bigger pickup.

A guy that, you know, flies under the radar. I can look from my championship teams in 95 and aging Neil Broughton comes to us. Everybody thought his career was winding down. Well, I think he was certain something along those lines and playoffs scoring for us.

We don't win without him. Grant Marshall in 2003, we had him, you know, you don't think a whole lot about it, a physical, a roll tight forward. And he made some big plays, scored some big goals.

And that was a difference for us along the way. So when you had to play RV, he's trying to rejuvenate his career. He's a big body, a high draft pick. Can he find his footing in Carolina and all of a sudden become an impact player for them and, and score some big goals.

It's a new lease on life. That's what I think Carolina is looking for because they love their team. And rightfully so I would as well, they're a deep team. They rely on everybody, four lines, six, seven defensemen.

You need that depth cost to spare, not known to be great defensively, but he never will be, but having a real strong season in Arizona playing very loose and, and you're right. He could help their power play. So as a player, you know, when you make the big deal, even for New Jersey, they fast tracked it. They were in a retool rebuild type of way, but general manager, Tom Fitzgerald rewarded the team with one of the bigger price prize, the trade deadline acquisitions in Timo Meyer, who's a 30 plus goal scorer already. And he felt he wanted to reward his team and show them that we believe in you. We believe not only, uh, have we been a little bit of a surprise, but maybe we can do some things in the playoffs.

And he went out and got people Meyer. Uh, but that was the only deal they've made thus far remains to be seen if they make any more. So I'm just a believer a lot of the time and what Carolina did. No, it doesn't look like a ton, but, but those are the guys that every once in a while, quite often in my opinion, can surprise you and be a supplementary piece that you need along the way.

And I always do guard against that and too much. I'm not saying the least one to add some grit. They added some good roll tight players, uh, that, uh, have had success in this league. Will they fit in soon enough and find that chemistry with the Toronto team? That's kind of all in. And you look at the Tampa Bay lightning, you never count them out.

I forget the lightning Stanley cup finalists, three years in a row, win it twice. They go and get some grit. They paid an awfully steep price, but where they're at, they don't care in five years.

Are they going to be, um, maybe in a little bit of trouble, certainly. Yeah, but they feel they've got a five-year window with that core group to win a few more times. So you understand every general manager thinking differently.

You read the comments and social media. Oh boy, we paid, they paid way too much for this or that Tampa has done that, but they've certainly put over the years, but they've certainly pushed all the right buttons going to the finals three times and winning twice. So it's going to be a lot of fun, but I think everybody has a different feel, but players themselves, when you get a big impact player coming into your team, you go, wow, yeah, you're excited.

You hope it works. Cause it always does it. A lot of times it's those subtle trades that fly into the radar where those guys have a big impact. I'll even look at the Washington capitals back when they won in, in 2018, Devontae smelly Devontae Kelly Smith comes in and score seven goals for seven goals for the Washington. Now his career after that, uh, he was out of the league shortly after it doesn't matter that magic.

It doesn't matter. He had that magic moment and they don't win without. Ken Danico is joining us here before we, uh, before we let you go specific to what Carolina does on a routine game in game out basis. Uh, why can it be successful in the post season? Well, look at Ken, they've been close every year and they've had some tough series in the, you know, in round two along the way and haven't gotten over that hump maybe, but they're a swarming team that, that has to rely on everybody to chip in offensively. So from my perspective and watching the games, it's always been, can they, can they get the big goals and that, that guy that just doesn't need as many opportunities to score in the playoffs and, and they just having a great year. And I talk about our balance, they are now a hole in those guys. You're going to need a little more from talking to me and, and Tara vine and, and those guys, can they elevate their play from my standpoint, but they're a team very easily in my opinion can come out of the East.

They're solid. A lot of times it comes down to goaltending. How's their goaltending going to be Boston Bruins have been a monster in goal armor.

All markets have that type of year. Will it continue in the playoffs? That doesn't mean it will. So that's why I, again, you always have to have a belief that you can upset, upset the Goliath and Boston Bruins right now are the Goliath. But I do put the canes right there as a team that certainly could do that.

File this away. Can Danico on NHL network. And by the way, he'll be part of the crew starting at 10 o'clock tomorrow, a full trade deadline coverage.

Linus Olmark has never in his career beaten the Carolina hurricanes ever. So you're telling me there's a chance in the movie, dumb and dumber, Ken, you're the best. I appreciate your time, man. We'll be watching tomorrow. My pleasure. Great being on with you. Thanks for having me. Thanks to Ken Danico for his time. Again, NHL network coverage of the trade deadline starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow.