KRAKEN WEEKLY: Who's got most to prove next year? Plus, final listener mailbag (4/24)

Mike Benton is joined by Everett Fitzhugh and Al Kinisky on the Apr. 24 season finale of Kraken Weekly at 32 Bar and Grill. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Forty four percent of you say,just make the playoffs, get right back
into the dance. Forty four percentof you say that our pull question on
Going by the Way on Twitter andx at Kraken Audio Net. All right,
before we get into a couple oflast burning questions here for this team
with the small amount of time thatwe have, I know the Stanley Cup

(00:21):
playoffs are already underway, but wecan still make our picks. Fine,
let's just go ahead and do it. We don't care if there's been one
two games out of the way already. Here. I got Dallas over the
New York Rangers. I love theStars depth. I know they lost Game
one, guys, but I thinkit's gonna be a long, long series.
I think they have enough to getpast Vegas and rebound. But I
will say at least winter that seriesis gonna go a long, long way.

(00:44):
That was my initial one, butas I got to looking into this
more, I I'm going for arematch of the six Cup finals. Oh
again, I'm going back to Edmonton, Carolina. Give me Edmonton. I
mean they they have to win,right, I think Edmonton, You're now
next summer. Leon dry Sidle iseligible for his extension. The summer after

(01:06):
that, Connor McDavid is eligible forhis extension. And if you flame out
of the playoffs again, if you'reEdmonton, I'm gonna go on a on
a very shaky limb here and say, I think one of those two leaves
you need to win a Cup ifyou're Edmonton, Yeah, I would say
that a Cup final for me isprobably Dallas Florida. I like the way

(01:26):
Dallas is playing right now. Wesaw them recently. I ought Injure seems
to be coming on, coming onin the player so good. Yeah,
it's hard. Robertson, man,it's it's hard to watch how good he
is. But I like the wayFlorida plays too. I like their grittiness.
I like the chuck. I Ilike how they can run through a

(01:47):
wall to win hockey games. SoI'm gonna I'm gonna put I'm gonna stick
with Florida and say Florida ends upon top. But that's my final.
Let's make our pixe before we getinto our mailbag segment of one player who's
got the most to prove on thiscurrent roster for this next season, and
I'll go with Andre Berukowski question.For him, the health matters have been
very unfair, but that's the nameof the game in pro sports. Sometimes
health is going to be out ofyour control. But he'll be entering year

(02:09):
three of a five year deal.He came in already as a proven twenty
goals score. That's a guy theyhad to get right back into full gear,
a kind of being your point pergame like they had last year before
the groin injury hit him. Forme, the guy that I think has
got the most pressure and it's MattyBeineers. It's got to be Matt Evaneers

(02:29):
because the year was down for him. Number of factors, Right, It's
always going to be difficult going intoyour second season. I understand that.
But you're now in RFA, You'regoing into negotiations this summer. Ron's pretty
confident that he'll be able to signthem and keep him here long term.
So hopefully that's the case, youknow. And but for me, Matt

(02:51):
Evaneers needs to get back to thirtygoals forty goals consistently. He's got to
get back to to playing that stylewe saw it his first season. Yeah,
I guess I would answer the question, and I don't disagree with either
the names you threw out, butI would answer the question this way in
terms of who's ready, who needsto make that next step? Fits you?
And I talked about ty Karcha andthe role that he can play next

(03:13):
year and what he did this yearas a power forward. I also I'm
gonna throw out the name Joey deCord as well. Yeah, let's go.
Joey is in a position where hehas the opportunity to prove that maybe
he's the number one goaltender next year. So when you talk about something to
prove going in the next season,does he want that role? Or do
we continue forward with a fifty tofifty split of one A one be Shad

(03:34):
mcgomber here to begin our mailbags segment. What position do the crank and need
to upgrade most in the offseason?Is it a top line center? Is
a winger? Is it a defensemanor other? He thinks first line center
here to move Maddy Veneer is atwo center. Shane Wright number three,
Yanni Gord fourth line guy as well. Al you got burning thoughts right now.
Yeah, I'd love to see thatthat top line center come into the

(03:59):
organization, and I would make thoseadjustments just as he outlined there with Shane
Wright, Shane Right, Maddy andJanni Gordon those positions as well. I
think that with a top line center, it also gives you the ability to
slide Jared mccannon back over to yeswhere I think everybody believes this is his
strongest spot, which is on thewing. Yeah. I think top line
center can be so hard because whenyou look at number one centers in the

(04:23):
NHL, you've got a Nathan McKinnon, You've got a Sidney Crosby, you
have a Connor McDavid, you havean andj Colepatar. Those players aren't oftentimes
in free agency. I'm gonna maybenot go that pointed with it, but
maybe I'm going to say a bonafide top six winger. And when I
say a top six winger, I'mlooking for a consistent twenty to twenty five

(04:46):
goals and a consistent forty to fiftyassists every single season. I want a
guy that on twenty five other teamsin the NHL, you can without question
say Al Kadisky, You're going rightinto our top six group. Doesn't matter
who they is, doesn't matter whothey play with. You are a top

(05:06):
forty scorer in the NHL. SoI would love to get a top line
center, but those are so fewand far between. So I'm just gonna
say, give me a top fortyconsistent top forty score, minimum twenty twenty
five goals every year, minimum thirtyforty plus assists every single season. He
can kill penalties or power play foryou. That's the type of player that

(05:29):
you need on this roster. Ithought I was a wish list. I
didn't know I had to be pragmatic. I would look at a guy like
say Elias Lenholm. I'm curious howthat situation plays out in Vancouver, and
he's been very behind a ton ofdepth in that organization right now, but
we've seen production proven from him,especially in Calgary. There's Carolina size,
of course, for one Francis waspreviously I love potentially where he fits.

(05:50):
One from Paul Cronin asking about thedevelopment part of the draft and development strategy.
Why is the roster old? Whyis there a slow process with adding
younger players? Is there an expectationto be fully formed when they hit the
NHL level? So it justifies keepingveterans on the roster as well. I

(06:10):
think a great question here to bringup, but I would say this,
you're still looking at the organization ata three years out of the box.
You had to find players to fillspots here and the development part of this.
Unless your name is Carter Meer,David A Rossa, Matthews, you're
not playing in the NHL at ageeighteen. Shane Wright got a bit of
a taste of it, but yethe was not ready to hit that level.
Yeah, this is one of myfavorite topic, especially being here in

(06:30):
Seattle with a brand new market.You're trying to educate fans on the on
the intricacies of the NHL when you'relooking at a hockey team compared to football.
Right, College football essentially is theminor league NFL. Right, you
can go to Alabama for four years, go to Oregon, go to these
schools, Michigan for for three fouryears, come twenty two years old when

(06:55):
you come out. But like Mikesaid, you're not going to be eighteen
years old playing in the NHL unlessyou're amitated or the NFL. Right,
So I think it does take time. And also too, the NHL is
such a fast game. This leagueis so fast, it is so skilled.
It is a heavy league. Ittires you out. So you see
all these players who are racking upone hundred and thirty points in junior hockey.

(07:17):
They come to the NHL and they'receilings thirty points a season, right,
So it takes time. It's likebaseball. You're never gonna see a
player in the Major League draft startfor the Mariners on day one of their
nineteen year old year, right,It's just not gonna happen. So there
is a lot of patience, whichcan be frustrating because we are in a

(07:39):
market where we've never had to exercisepatients. When you've had the Seahawks,
when you've had the Sonics, thoseguys can come in right away and add
to your roster, whereas you're waiting, except for the case like at Matti
Vaniers, you're waiting two, three, four years, sometimes even longer if
you're goalie. Goalies don't make theleague till five years after they're drafted,

(07:59):
and then all of a sudden,now you're looking at a guy who's going
to lead you to a Stanley Cup. Those are the that's why it takes
so long. Yeah, And Ithink obviously you're anxious because you want to
win and you see that as partof the winning formula aka Shane Wright.
But the physical development of these players, especially boys, I have two of
them, it really doesn't happen untilthey're eighteen to twenty two. So you've

(08:20):
got to let them develop physically sotheir bodies are ready for the NHL schedule.
Time for one last thought, timebefore we get out of here,
I'll put the tea up here foryou. Fits. If there's one takeaway
from this season and what you're lookingforward to the most for next year,
go ahead. I think the takeawayis the core that we have in the

(08:45):
organization is still very strong. Ilook at Schwartz, I look at every
I look at Don Larsen, GordMcCann for all of his struggles, Maddie
goaltending is strong. This core ishere. This isn't a senu where man
weird. We're two years away fromseeing two years away. But I think
from an organizational standpoint, what I'mlooking forward to is your right fits.

(09:09):
The core looks fantastic. If theyget that one piece, that top line
piece, that's a part I'm lookingforward to. And we talk about it
a lot, but I'm gonna sayit again. The kids that are coming
up. I look forward to youget those three pieces coming together. Man,
sky's a limit. It feels great, I think, finally to have
a team like this in the twentytwenties of a decade like this, because

(09:31):
twenty thirty years ago, you tryexpansion, forget it, You're not getting
a contender within about five to sixmaybe even as Columbus roughly ten years or
so. To have a franchise alreadyin this position is a privilege. We
saw, we got a taste whatStanley Cup playoffs felt like, and what
this fan base and what this citycan be proud of is having important people

(09:52):
at the controls of a passion tomake this a winner each and every season.
Well, friends that will do it. Thank for here, big thank
you again a GM Ron Francis,goaltender Joey to Cord Everett al And of
course our friends here a thirty twobar and reel for setting us up here
for today and for this entire season. Talk to you soon. Cracking Weekly
is on ninety three to three KJRFM.