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October 1, 2025 • 64 mins
Special Guest: Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com

By Sam Woo and Nick Villano

https://pucksandpitchforks.com
https://www.LetsGoDevils.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Happy Devils Wednesday. This is the State of the Fan
Address episode three seventeen titled Hues Deal exclamation Point. I'm
your host Sam wou here with bucksopitchforks dot com editor
in chief Nick Veolano's streaming live on Facebook Live, YouTube

(00:49):
Live x live and with John the Let's Go Devil's
Network come to you live live from the Primetime Radio
studios inside the Bunker in both North and South Jersey,
streaming cross continent around the world because I know all
the Ausse Devils fans are chiming in the ones from

(01:12):
the UK.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
We've got fans in Switzerland, Norway, Australia. I mentioned that
before India the number one New Jersey Devils podcast in
the country of India.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
But we got a big podcast for you guys because
we're bringing an old friend of the show, old friend
of the podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
I want who's Who's back to being friends with the Devils.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, and on top of that, Hardball's back at these
pressers mm hmmm, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
But it's already started.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Yeah, Well, you know, he's a great friend of the podcast.
Love is work. You should I do the introductions? Are
you gonna do that? You didn't tell me he was here,
so yeah, you do the Oh yeah, sorry, Our guest
is in the Andy green room right now setting up.
But if you want to introduce him, I think he's ready.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah yeah, listen, we got Ryanovasinski of NJ dot Com,
an old friend of the podcast, now back to being
a friend of the podcast because he's back on the
beat this year, back to covering the New Jersey Devils.
Bring him on. Welcome to back to Let's Go Devil's Podcast? Ryan,
How you doing?

Speaker 4 (02:37):
You guys are crazy if you think I ever stopped
being a friend of the podcast. Baby, what's going on?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
What's a friend a friend? We we've actually had people
move to other beats and then come back on the podcast.
So you know, Shanna Goldman used to cover the Devil's
a lot. She comes on the podcast all so there's
definitely people who go to other beats but still keep
their ear in. Actually tell you, Ryan, my white whale
that I've never been able to get on this podcast

(03:04):
is actually Tom Galadi. You know, he covered the Chaps now,
but he's like the old Devil's beat writer. So that's
that's my white whale. And it's mostly just because I
can't find his email. I have it somewhere, like I
have anycial media guys where I can find it. But
it's like trying to find the right time, right. You
don't want to like jump into these things. But you know,
in twenty years there's gonna be guys like me who

(03:25):
You're gonna be their white whale. So it's gonna it's
gonna be an exciting time.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
We'll see, man, we'll see. I love that.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Now. Listen, this is I'm gonna ignore your T shirt
for a minute.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
I'm kind of multitasking right now. With all the respect.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Oh yeah, it's all good. We're all kind of doing
the same thing. We appreciate. I mean, listen, you've probably
be multitasking all day. It's a crazy day. Can you
tell us what you know about what unfolded today? Like
did something change last night? Or was this always in
the works? What do you know about how this all
unfolded with the lou Yes, So.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
From what I understand, like things things were have been
pretty positive over the past couple of days, but but
last night is really when things started to get you know,
the snowball effect pretty much happened. The ball kept rolling,
but it was you know, I heard in the past
couple of days that that six to eight was that
was that kind of range that they wanted. Like, I

(04:22):
thought that we might see a number under nine at
six years in the past couple days, and that might
be like in the you know, eight point five million
range or whatever. But then it ended up being that
seven number, which I think is actually kind of the
perfect sweet spot, right. It allows them not to go
the full length, allows you know, the agent to get
what he wanted kind of thing, and then it allows

(04:44):
Fitzgerald to get what he wants, which is pretty much
you know, he got a long term deal like that,
that is still a long term deal, I would say,
and I say I would you know, I'd say too,
like if it was even that six to eight number,
I think it starts at six. But but seven is
really the you know, above seven is the sweet spot
there where you want to get to. You want them
to want Luke, who's to be inked that long? But

(05:07):
you know, again, he still gets to to say, hey,
we didn't have to sign him the full term, so
we can readjust when the cap goes up in seven years.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Absolutely. Now, you reported a couple of weeks ago that
the Luke Hughes Camp was coming up with five that
that's what they I don't know if it was their
starting ass but at that point in negotiations or a
little before that, they were looking at five years. And
that obviously coincides with Jack Hughes's. It does two things, actually,
which the one is the one I kept pointing to

(05:38):
where it was like, GM's never sign only our FA years.
They always want some UFA years to sign. But it
just happened to also coincide with Jack Steele. Do you
think those extra two years, Well, I don't. I don't
know if like stop the conversation around it is what
I'm looking for, But like, do you think that that's

(05:59):
long enough to where it'll quell these rumors, It'll stop
having us look so far ahead and maybe focus a
little bit more on the on the like the right
now with the Hughes brothers.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
I think so. And even when when when that story
gets reported, it's it's the way someone frameant to me,
was exactly that was the Hughes brothers want to line
it up. But like you said, there's that other aspect
there too. I think the two years does quell that
a little bit, right, because at this point, and not
that I don't I don't even think necessarily that throughout

(06:31):
this whole process, I was exactly like worried about the
Hughes brothers, And I even said that in my report,
having the Hughes brothers leave at the same time, having
this mass exodus that would leave the devils like something
nuclear would have nuclearly bad would have to happen to
the Devils at that point, and some team would have
to scrounch together. I mean, what's the number there? Like,

(06:56):
I don't even think it would be possible. Like, like
the one thing I saw in mine is like, all right,
if the Blackhawks just kind of stayed bad but kept
Badard and in twenty thirty they they just so happened
to have just Badard on their roster and and that
was the only way that it would be possible. Or
if like the team make the Red Wigs just completely
cleared house because they wanted to build around the Hughes Bros.

(07:17):
Obviously a good team to build, a good trio to
build around. But look, you know you know how that
you know how it works. Nick, Like this whole process,
everyone's asking, oh, like what's the Luke q's update. What's
the leaders on Luke Q? So I get an update
on Luke qu'es that that you know, I don't necessarily
think that this was like not at all. I don't
think this was a sticking point at all, as you
saw the deal that done today. I think that there

(07:38):
was just a point in the negotiations. And I mentioned
this on Twitter at the time, that this was part
of an ask, right like in this it could have
just been a leverage thing. It could have been just
a negotiation tactic from the agent, but that was part
of the ask. But I think that seven year thing
kind of quells all those rumors, hopefully.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
So we've heard a lot about apps. Do you think
the term or the money was the biggest gap? Which
which one? Do you think was the most of the
reason why it's happening October first and September first?

Speaker 4 (08:11):
The term I think prolonged this the most. They to
the point where they stopped negotiating for weeks, right Lebron
Lebron tweeted it out today, right like uh and and
UH can confirm this like it was the sixties, like
they were they were trying to line it up like
at first, like the the number that they settle on
was the six years, right, like they that that's what

(08:33):
they thought they were gonna do. And then things just
kept kind of changing. The Devil's kept pushing for more.
This is all. It all kind of again snowballed into today.
I think they got they agreed on this seven years
thing a couple of days ago, or maybe a couple
of weeks ago, I can't remember exactly, but then today,

(08:56):
like the way that this all got done was Sorry,
I'm trying to explain this. There's a million different thoughts
in my head. I got like three hours last night
and I tried to take a nap day, but then
luke Q's happened. So it started as the origin. The
original sticking point was the term, right, that was the
original thing that the two sides couldn't agree on, and
then it evolved into the two sides couldn't agree on

(09:18):
the salary number once they agreed on the term, which
is obviously the seven years. That's what I think went
down in the negotiations. From what I understand from a
couple of calls, that made the day. But you know,
again a lot of these things like like these negotiations
are tough man like things change every day. Like I
think people like there's some details that he would get
kind of lost in there. It was it was a grind, like,

(09:41):
you know, I think it was a respectful grind, like
I don't think things necessarily got like do you remember
like that Jasper Brat stuff like it was pretty like
that was that was a fricking like Fitzgerald even said,
I think on record, like this was one of the toughest,
That was one of the toughest noted negotiations that he did,
this one. I think both sides were gordial. It was just,

(10:06):
you know, I could see why fans were the whole time,
were like, just handcuff each other to the table and
get this deal done.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, it seems when the report came out that it
was about money. It was that was the weird part,
you know. I think Lebron said that it sounds like
there's a gap and like they've figured out the term
and you're talking about the six years. It seems like
they landed on that term. Now what did six years
look like? Now we all assumed they were talking about
eight years, and they're like, oh, they landed on term,
the long term deal whatever. Like right, so like all right, well,

(10:36):
like I'm thinking like huge team is coming in at
ten and fits is coming in at seven or something
like that. You know, if if they're looking at that
long term deal, but I would assume, you know, it's
almost the opposite, like a lot of these gms they
you know, like with the Mitch Barner trade or the
Mitch Barner deal, they said that because they gave them

(10:57):
the eighth year, they were able to lower the AAV
I almost believe like this one was the opposite, Like
if you add more years, I'll add more money because
I'd rather, like, at a five year deal, give you
a five million dollars and just take it, like if
you're gonna like handcuff me like that, like whatever. It's
probably more than that. But did you kind of see
it the same way where if you agree to stay

(11:20):
here longer, I don't mind paying you more because they
have that security. Or do you think that Fitzgerald was
trying to stretch this deal out? You know, the total
number is larger, but the avy is small. I don't know,
Like I just can't see Luke he's getting ten on
any deal. So that's why I'm trying to like yeah,
that's why it's like making sense in my head.

Speaker 4 (11:41):
I think this nine number was just kind of the
sweet spot, right Like I'm sure the camp was pushing
for the more. I don't know that for a fact,
but that nine number is let's face it, man, it's
gonna look good. It's gonna look good. Like like, you know,
we think that luke U's is gonna develop the same
way as brothers do or and have. I think that's
gonna where this is gonna be one of those contracts

(12:02):
you talk about in a number of years that just
say or you just say like hey, like like this
is one of the best contracts in the league, especially
if that cap number keeps going up and up and up,
which again is all just projections right now. But but
but it seems pretty optimistic. Listen, this is this again,
like I said, was a grind. I I can't say

(12:25):
for a fact that whether you know what what what
Fitzgerald's mindset was there when you know, when he when
he's trying to figure out like like uh, all right,
term versus H versus salary and am I willing to
give him a little bit more to stretch it out?
But it wouldn't surprise me at all, right, Like it's
a decent theory, you know, to have there. I would
would I would imagine that would be Fitzgerald's mindset is,

(12:47):
is you know, whatever we could do to make this
the longer deal.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yeah, I agree, I agree. So let me ask you
about the player. Now. I've I've done a lot of
writing on this and obviously I think all of us
have written probably forty articles on Luke Hues at this point.
You know, it's probably something we've written, yeah, weekly, But
I did write something today just on the Okay, Now,

(13:13):
let's talk about the player. And I don't know if
if you've seen this, but you know this is a
stat for you to take for free. In the last
twenty two games of last season, he scored twenty two points.
When the Devils were like floundering, Luke Hues was their
best player. So I think there's a place where he
could bring that into this year. The thing that worries

(13:35):
me is the shoulder surgery and the missing training camp. Like,
I don't know how those two things are going to
affect the start of his you know, you know, building
up to the season. So I guess there's two parts
of this question A do you see any impact on
growth just for this season? Do you see like maybe
a slow start or anything. And also do you think

(13:56):
he's like has enough time now to be ready for
Opening Night in the ninth.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
I think that if there's anyone that could push through
the dang the Yankees scord, if there's anyone that could
push through the you know training camp, you know, miss
training camp slump, I guess it is somebody in the
Hughes family because Quinn Hughes has already done that. Quinn

(14:24):
Hughes when he missed training camp due to his holdout,
he still had he was still at almost a point
per game. I think that was twenty twenty one. This
is a guy that I I I'm sure. I mean,
we're gonna asking tomorrow, but I'm sure has been training hard.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Keith talked about the other day. It chows he's also
fight last year.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
Yeah, so exactly, that's a that's a great point Keith
talked about the other day. Like listen, like the part
of missing training camp, it's not necessarily just the onnice
stuff that that you worry about. It's kind of like
the camaraderie. It's kind of like the the team meeting
and stuff like that. He lives, he's with his brother,
you know.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Like like I I think that that was.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
A good That was a really good report. That was
the great question you asked Keith and and getting him
to kind of open up. But that was a great
thank you even though the article or though sorry, even
though the contracts been signed, if you haven't read Ryan's
article from yesterday on Keith and his reaction, like it
was a great article. So I would recommend anybody read that.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
Thank you, no thank you and listen. I think that.
But I think part of the the worry that that
goes away there is, of course, yeah you miss you
miss all the in person stuff, but this is still
a guy that that his brother's on the team. His brother,
you know, I I assume lives with him and and
this I think they're still miss together and has been
updating him every day, Right, Luke Hughes, just because he

(15:47):
was unsigned, isn't just some you know, uh uh recluse, right, Like,
this is somebody that that still is involved with the team.
And I don't really worry about the slump because of
his brother, because of him and because of how much
training I'm sure he did this this summer. I'm I'm
eager to see what Luke Q looks like this season. Man,

(16:10):
it's gonna be the storyline to follow, right, He's gonna
have to take over that that that PP one quarterback, right,
like this is this is that, this is this is
his time.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
Man.

Speaker 4 (16:20):
You know, if you ask Jack like he should have
that role.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
The one way I wouldn't do that. I think in
a theoretical world you should. The one thing that's like
pausing me, is I really like Luke Hughes and some
someonemics on that second Power put together with like grit
Sick and the Dawn Off and either Mercer or Nason
or however that like lands. That's the one way where

(16:46):
I was like, you don't put Luke's on PP one
because he was great on Power Play one last year
obviously when he when Hamilton was out and what he
took it over to. But that's where I'm like, playing
around with the lions, which I'm sure you're doing the
same thing. You know, we're playing around with the units.
I'm like, it just looks real good to me, but
you know that's not why you do these things. If
he's better on that. You know, the minute and twenty

(17:07):
seconds that you're doing for PP one, you're you're gonna
put them on PP one. But while you have Hamilton here,
you know I would take advantage of it. But that's
I kind of want to move to that. What you know,
we will have you for a couple more minutes. I
want to get you to your game. But what's the
next move? You know, you have Covid Savage, which you
know you had that the tweet out today. I don't

(17:27):
know if he wrote about it, but you're a tweet
out today saying that, like even if you put Covid
Savitch on on lt I R, there's still space missing.
But you can play around with like McDermott or or
you know some of those other higher salary, lower lineup
guys and get to the to the floor. But you know,
when Covid Savage comes back, then there's nothing to do
unless someone else gets hurt. So what do you think

(17:49):
the plan is? This is a plan like see if
someone else gets hurt, because that's how it's always been,
or do you think the plan is? I you know,
did did fitzgel put himself on the clocking? Is three
to make a trade and who I would you trade
Hamilton or a lot?

Speaker 4 (18:05):
Yeah? No, it's it's all interesting.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
I think.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
I mean, you know, I think that if if you
ask Devil's says, I think they would they would sign up.
They would probably drive a lot to the do or careport, right. Uh,
you know, but listen, this is this is one of
those things that from what I understand, Fitzgerald already is
a plant set like this is whatever the plan is,
it's already in set. That's what I what I asked

(18:27):
around today. That was the answer I got. So I
wouldn't be surprised if things kind of the if the
ball gets rolling quicker than than usual here and you know,
now I say that that's gonna that's gonna age poorly.
But that's from what I understand.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
You know. Uh.

Speaker 4 (18:42):
The first move obviously is covid aage right like that's
it's putting him on l T I R. I would
be surprised if we if we see that semi soon here, right?
What comes from there? Someone asked me today and and
this is all The second move is still the educated guest,
because I haven't been able to figure that out. It's
is it Berrying McDermott. Is it Barrying McDermott, Is it uh?

(19:06):
Is there a is there a nascon l t I
R thing that we could do there just to buy
some time?

Speaker 3 (19:12):
I think it's I think, yeah, something hiding, but I
think he's out for at least a month. But I
think he's It's.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
How weird is that that injury that it's it's kind
of like flunk flowing under the radar, Like you know,
Stephanu said, is definitely thanking Luke Cues for kind of
be in the distraction there. But like they straight up said,
like Fitzgerald says on the record that he had a
procedure and it didn't really sound like they were happy
about it, you know what I mean, Like.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Like I was gonna ask, it sounds like they're bad
about it. But which and there's a couple of places
you can go. But it's like, to me, it sounds
like the same procedure that Pilot got the first year
with the Devils, and he was out for it was
three or four months.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
It was a while. And yeah, yeah, so I don't
think we're seeing them in October.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, No.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
As I kept thinking about this today, I was like,
that might be the one. Maybe it's Nace.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
Now is there any difference, Like, once you're in l
t I R, doesn't matter if you have one guy
or two guys. I know you can't accumulate cap space,
but does it matter how many guys you have an
lt I R outside of the space that you're given
to kind of replace those players? Like is there any
advantage to trying to make it work with with uh

(20:34):
Nasan just on ir.

Speaker 4 (20:37):
It's a good question. I don't know if the top
of my head, I'm gonna I'm gonna do the thing
where where I just say I don't know, I'm gonna
have to.

Speaker 3 (20:43):
Do Yeah, I don't think yeah, I don't think that
the detriment. I gotta reach out to my friends at
puck Pedia. They're there, They've been really good to this
whole processes. I play around with their GM tool to
try to make more money appear. All right. My last
question for Ryan is I kind of want to like
move away from the Luke ques and all the impacts
of that, and I kind of want to look at

(21:04):
the season. You know, you're jumping back in You're going
from a dumpster fire in New York or New Jersey
to a to a situation that I think Devils fans
think look worse than it actually is. I what do
you think of this team? Do you think this is
a metropolitan contender? Do you think this is a more

(21:25):
than that? Like we're we're what's the ceiling on this
Devil's team?

Speaker 4 (21:29):
As I came back in, the one thing that I
just kept hearing over and over again. And I'm studying
the you know, like re studying the roster and everything
like that, I kept kind of a you know, a
bit of a close eye on it last year. But
the one thing I kept hearing over and over again is, oh,
there's so many you know, like this, this top six
is a mess. This bottom six is the bottom six

(21:49):
from hell. That's how you would make it sound like
if you were like basically you know, me coming back
in and diving back in and you just hear, you know,
like whatever when saying about the team. As I look
at it more, I don't think it's as bad as
as as I don't think there's as many gaps or
holes as as you know, everyone thinks. People always talk

(22:10):
about the top six wing that that they need to
get I agree like they should get one, but that's
kind of a luxury at them. Right this top site
is good, Like four of the six guys are really
really good. Uh two guys and doov with with Bratton
and Hughes has looked pretty tarn good at camp. I
don't know why it works, it just does is very quick.

(22:33):
So look, I think this team is going to exceed expectations.
And that's only because I think Devil's fans have a
lot of low expectations. I think they are definitely going
to compete in the Metropolitan Division. I think a lot
of their players like the the vibe that I'm getting

(22:54):
right now around the locker room. And we actually haven't
even had open locker room yet, but we've had a
couple opportunity. He's talked to players just want to want
and something like that. The vibe that I'm getting in
that room is I don't think I've ever seen some
of these players as determined as they are. Okay, Nico
Heisher the other day or sorry, two weeks ago when

(23:16):
he first book a camp, he used the he used
the phrase next step, next step. We got to take
the next step, next step, next step. He used that
phrase like I want to say, nine different times in
his press coverence. Okay, And when I talked to him
the other day, I kind of brought that up and
and he's like, yeah, like this is this is the
most motivated I've ever been in And because I mentioned

(23:38):
that and he said he almost like like interrupted me
and said that I think that this is a guy
like if if they feed off that, and and if
if they if they buy in a key, Well, I
think it's a really good coach. And I've I've really
liked our interaction so far. Uh no, no yelling at
me so far.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Uh, I'm just you know, hockey.

Speaker 4 (23:59):
Well there you go. Yeah, we'll see about that. I
think that this could be a really good team.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (24:06):
And you know, let's face it, man, with the injuries
of Florida has right now, that's a window of opportunity
that they're gonna have to take advantage of.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah. I think I actually did write about this like
two days ago, that the East has opened up. The
East is now the worst, the worst conference because Florida
is in shambles. Uh, Tampa has just been they can't
get over that hump. They always make the playoffs always

(24:37):
look a really good team the regular season, can't get
over that hump. Toronto's missing Marner and didn't really do
anything this offseason. They're just kind of like, yeah, we
got it, it's fine. So you lose like one of
the best players in the league and then just like, yeah,
we're fine, and everybody's kind of off the Austin Matthews train,
which is weird. Yeah, and then like everybody's like all
up in, you know, in love with ottaw and Montreal,

(24:59):
but like, I don't know, that was the bottom of
that division was really weak last year and they, you know,
Mushall especially like just banks points against bad teams a
lot and didn't really do much in the playoffs. So
I'm not really like that pressed them. And then the Metros,
I'm like terrible, Like Philadelphia look terrible, Pittsburgh looks terrible.

(25:22):
New York or the Islanders might be terrible. I think
they're terrible, but I have a lot of Islanders friends
who come on the podcast, so I'm gonna be nice.
But I think they might just be in that bottom tier.
And then I'm not sold on Columbus. I'm not sold
on the Rangers. I I think it's Carolina's division, then

(25:42):
the Devils are in a tier next to them, and
then it's everybody else after that. You know, maybe the
Rangers are in their own tier below the Devils. But
I just I think it's a bad division.

Speaker 4 (25:52):
Of the teams you mentioned, man, I mean again, like
like I'll reiterate the or I'll reiterate your point. The
only teams are really worrying me are Carolina. Man, Like
you say Tampa, and I agree with you, but they're
just such a well coached team that that that, you know,
he kind of they're probably saying the same thing like
on on on lightning bolts and pitchforks. They're probably saying

(26:15):
the same thing, you know, to be like, does Buffalos
carry you? No, I'm joking.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
I don't her owner knows hockey well, but that's I agree.
I just I think Buffalo. I think Buffalo might get McKenna,
Like I think Buffalo's gonna be yeah, bad bad. I
just thought, like they have all the talent in the world.

Speaker 4 (26:40):
But I think the I think the Bruins might get McKenna.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
That they might The reason why I think they wouldn't
have swim in. I think swim and bounces back, and
I just think Swim is one of the best goalies
in the world. But they might, they might. Ryan, I
have a million other things I want to talk to
you about. I don't want to take it any more
of your time, so I would let you go do it.
Take a minute to kind of plug what you got
coming up this week. Why you know people are gonna

(27:06):
subscribe to NJ dot com. Anything that's gonna be cool
coming out, Uh, you know, over the first month of
the season, and then we'll definitely have you on again
so we can talk more.

Speaker 4 (27:14):
So the only thing that I will tease right now
is that, well, first of all, we got a lot
of Luke stuff coming tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
We have to.

Speaker 4 (27:26):
And number two is we are going to be changing
the way we do coverage this year. Basically it's gonna
look a whole lot different. More on that this week. Uh,
it's it's gonna be fun, man, It's gonna be fun.
It's gonna be a lot a lot of fun.

Speaker 3 (27:41):
I love that.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
That's all I can say right now.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Can you tell us if it's written or video or
social is there is there a direction or no comment? Okay, okay,
I'll let you guys come out When when is do
you know when that's being announced?

Speaker 4 (27:58):
This week? I think we're doing I'm actually not gonna
go to the preseason gamar because we're doing some some
tests for it.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
Okay, perfect, Yeah, so before the season, before the game.

Speaker 4 (28:09):
Yeah, I think our I think our debut. Yeah, we're
definitely announcing it like soon, but we're debuting it like
I think game one.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Okay, that sounds amazing. We're looking forward to it, looking
forward to all kinds of new creative coverage. That sounds exciting. Ryan, Ryan,
it's so good to have you back on the beat.
Always a friend of the podcast. Let's it's it's gonna
be a great season. Go watch your game. We appreciate
you and all the reporting that you've done. So take care.

(28:38):
We'll see you again soon.

Speaker 4 (28:39):
Good to see you too, Sam Wu.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
So it's good to see you as well. I'm wearing
the Portland Sea Dogs hat by the way.

Speaker 4 (28:45):
There you go. Yeah nice, Yeah, very ready.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, Sam. Sam just kind of pushes the button in
the background to make sure that I sound good and
you sound good and we all we all look as
good as we can.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (28:59):
Same, appreciate it. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That's why
he has a Twitter account.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Still.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
All right, thanks Ryan later.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Gentlemen, that's Ryan Novezinski of NJ dot Com. I love
the no comic question.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
I had to ask for a little like you know,
you always want like but I think he appreciate he's
a reporter. He's a journalist, like you always want to
be like, okay, like you said no, but I'm gonna
like ask me more time. Maybe you'll tell me, you know,
so I think he appreciates that kind of uh reporting, right,
I was reporting on the reporter, but no, I mean
I'm looking forward to it. Like listen, here's the thing

(29:37):
is that NJ dot com has been doing the thing
for a long time. They had a weird spell and
then Ryan came in and reinvigorated their coverage. And then
Ryan left. We had Gabe. Gabe was you know, it's
it's he needed time to get acquitted and it wasn't
for him. He's now I think he's in politics or something.

(30:00):
So you know, clearly it just wasn't for him. And
that's okay. I'm so happy that they went in this
direction where they're going to reinvest. It sounds like in
devil's coverage, which is but for so long we've talked
about how there's no investment in this coverage for the
longest time. You know, I could boast but being the

(30:24):
top dog, and it's just not the case anymore. Now
the competition is fear So I gotta be honest, like
it's you know, I I think that a there was
not to get into the nitty gritty, but there was
a Google update that really impacted a lot of all
of our traffic, and it's it's got us all fighting
for scraps. But I know a lot of us have

(30:47):
recovered to a point where we were at kind of
like close to a place where we were before, if
not at the place we were before. So you know, it
was an interesting kind of interim to kind of see
like how we're all gaining coverage. But I think when
you look at us and pucks and pitchforks and the
writers that we have, when you look at all about
the Jersey, when you look at you know, what James
is doing at at at Hockey now, and you know

(31:08):
Ryan coming back, you know, North Jersey dot Com has
been has been back investment. Robert Aiken was was covering
the Devils for the playoffs last year, and you know
hockey the hockey writers as Daniel, who's who we're gonna
get on the podcast soon. Christie's been killing at the
Hockey News and then they've invested with some more writers there.

(31:30):
You know that the Devil's beat better. It's definitely better
than it was the last two or three years. I
wouldn't say three years. Three years ago it was really
good too. But last year it was you know, it
was us, it was Nichols, it was you know, all
about the Jersey was kind of doing its thing. But they,
you know, they do it kind of differently than all
of us. You know, we had Daniel was in his

(31:53):
first year and you know we we would send you know,
the this year, I'll say, you know, Ryan talking about
different coverage. Coverage could be different for us this year too,
because a I lost the two guys I had the
two well, the one guy and the one one woman
who I had go into games. You know, was on
the beat. So you're looking at the beat guy, this

(32:15):
is me. I'm gonna be the one going to games.
I'm gonna be the one talking to the guys and
and reporting, and you know it's it's it's not something
I can do daily. I just you know, with with
the way you know, with my Sam knows about my
life situation, and it's just not something I can get
to the rank daily like he can. But I am

(32:36):
going to go for all the big moments and all
the big games will be there in opening the night,
I'll be shaking hands and kissing babies and and talking
to players and you know, hopefully getting the scoops. And
I'm really excited about the season same. I think here's
the thing, Sam, every time we have a big off season,
we have a bad season. Every time we win the

(32:58):
off season, we lose the regular season. Every time we
have kind of a quiet off season, except in twenty
nineteen or in twenty eighteen. Nineteen we had a quiet
off season that was probably the worst year we've had
since the rebuilt. But every other time we have this
quiet off season where you do something right. Ray Chero

(33:20):
twenty eighteen was the weirdest off season because he did nothing.
I've never seen it before, where like, you didn't sign
anybody of note, you didn't trade for anybody, you know,
you just did nothing. So I think I like it.
I I think.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
He was tied up with the with the tailor, Hall
with the tailor, and plus.

Speaker 3 (33:44):
Maybe and plus he also thought drunk Guinville was going
to be an NHL player and he just wasn't. Like
something happened in that off season that he stopped being good.
There's a couple of guys up and coming. Then I'll
tell you this, Sam, I haven't felt this good about
the Devil's depth in years. I'm gonna name the guys

(34:08):
who I think could play NHL game, can not, are
going to be forced to Who can play NHL games,
who aren't gonna make the roster. Brian hallinan Angus Cookshank,
Thomas Bordelaw. I think Ryan Schmelzer can play that fourth
line role. He's he's you know in Churtis McDermott, I

(34:30):
think should be in the NHL. But if he's not, Uh,
there's a couple other guys that that there's the I
can't say that he's got the double M name. He's
the center, he's the prospect center that that his name
is escaping me. But do you know what I'm talking about?

(34:52):
Matt Matt, Matthias Matt. Is that not I have to look, Yeah,
I can't. His name is like I can't remember how
to say his name. But Lenny Haminajo I think can
play NHL games right now. I think Shane la Chance

(35:13):
can play NHL games right now. I think Jojo Lamiko
I think he's gonna make the roster. I just wrote
an article that said he shouldn't. He didn't earn it,
But I think he's gonna make the roster. I think
he's good enough as a player. I just think he
had a bad preseason. Mark McLaughlin is a guy that
has had a lot of hyperandum. Xavier Parant is a

(35:34):
guy that they kept on the roster instead of sending
him to Utica camp, and it's something to pay attention to.
He's not fighting for a roster spot. But Xavier Parant
is a guy who I think you should pay attention
to because I think he can make his NHL debut
this year. He's a guy that gets better every year
through since the Devil's drafted him. Every year he's getting better.

(35:56):
So the Devils have so many players that can play
NHL games, not because they have to, like you know
the Justin Dowing situation, or you know the myriad of
guys they've had over the past four seasons to just
stay had a force into the roles. They have a
lot of guys who could should play games, like I

(36:17):
guess is the word. And then on top of that,
you look at the defense. You know, even with Covid
Sevich out, Seamus Casey would make a lot of teams.
Seamus Casey would make a lot of teams. He was
an NHL defenseman. So I and he just can't because

(36:38):
Nemis came in and had a good camp. He just
he looks like a play He looks like a player.
You know, I don't think I think the ceiling of
Nemics is a lot, you know, lower than what you know.
He's not a number one guy, which is weird when
you drafted him second overall, and it is what it is.
But I think he's gonna be like like the impact

(37:00):
that like Nikolas Jalmerson had for those Chicago Blackhawks contending
teams or like that's probably good. He's a different player.
John Wilson was a defensive defenseman, but that kind of
an impact where he second line, solid guy. He's gonna
and like you just stick him there and he's great forever,
you know. So I think that's gonna be what you're

(37:20):
gonna get in an emets. And then you got Casey,
who's this wildcard who could score at any moment, held
his own. That was the thing when when I saw
the conversation around Ethan Edwards, I was like, that's not
the guy. Like he's there because he's left handed. But
if Luke Hughes really can't play or really is gonna
miss games, Sjamus Casey's playing, he'll play in his offense

(37:43):
because you'll take the upside of he's got an NHL
offensive skill set already. H So you take the guy
with the NHL skill set, and then you know, maybe
there's a defensive detriment over a guy who you know,
Edwards is a better defender than Casey, but he's got
so much work to go on all of his game.
I'm pleasantly surprised. I think he has NHL upside, which

(38:06):
I didn't think he had after his second year of Michigan.
But yeah, Casey is a guy. He's a guy, and
he's not going to make this team. And you have,
you know it was Chilowski, you have, and then when
Covid Savage comes back, you have seven really good NHL guys.
You know, do they trade one maybe? I don't know.

(38:29):
Did you see my reporting? Actually I want you to
react to that and then I'll ask you my question.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Well, get back. Are you talking about Milovsky?

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Yeah, okay, yeah, the name, like the pronunciation was not
coming to me.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
Yeah, I knew who you were talking about. He had
a great prospect camp. I think he was on the
first line, you know, doing very well.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
I think it was a little chance in Hamynajo.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, that was that was That was a sick line.
They gave you a kind of glimpse of the potential
of the future.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
And what was your question again, did you see the
reporting on on Brendan Dylan's next surgery? No, so he
got the same surgery as Jack Eichel. I did this.
Amanda Stein got this answer, but you know, she's a
Devil's reporter, so she kind of it was just it
was in a report that she did. So. I think

(39:26):
this is a big deal because we you remember, we
talked about this in June that we might be talking
about a buried contract forever and he's back for game one.
So but that is the beauty of this new It's
an artificial disc replacement. There's a name for it. I

(39:46):
don't know it. I'll stop my head, but artificial disreplacement surgery.
Really it turned you into a due person. It's almost
like a knee replacement, you know what I mean. Like,
so you might get a better season out of Dylan
than you did last year where he struggled a lot

(40:09):
because he was talking about it and apparently the doctors
were telling him, you've been hurt. You just didn't know it,
like this is not something like he didn't get hit
and then like the disc popped out his you know,
disswear over time. So he's been playing with this bad
disc who which he said didn't hurt. But it's what

(40:31):
it's probably doing is it's impacting his mobility, it's impacting
his his you know, the way the brain waves like
send to the system. So it's sewing things down a lot.
If this worked, which it worked so well with with
multiple different athletes, including Ichel, he might be well worth

(40:56):
his price. He brings such a different element. You know,
we have, you know, a secret dollar and COVID savatory.
These defensive defensemen, but they are they're not gonna punch
you in the face. Brendan Dillon, Like, do you remember
the Global Series? Like I believe they won those games
the way they did because Brendan Dillon came out and
crushed the guy and said this is us, Now try us, Like, well,

(41:21):
we'll beat you down. And as the year went on,
Dylan couldn't do it as much. And I think now
I think Dylan could. He's gonna lay the wood. I
think he's the guy everybody's like, who's gonna protect Jack Hughes,
Brendan Dillon. Brendan Dillon's gonna knock a guy out if
he ever tries to go after Jack Hughes. Yeah, I
really like, I mean.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
I mean, look, Jack Icael came back and he injured
uh Jack Hughes, right, you know, so I guess his
neck is doing just fine. He's back to normal.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
He could stop.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Well, I mean, I told you, you know, I'm gonna
I'm gonna look, I'm gonna do some research on that surgery.
I believe it's Remember how I told you that a
friend of mine, also a friend of the podcast, was
one of the founders and Pat. Yeah, so I'm going
to find out a little bit more about that because
I remember about fifteen twenty years ago when they were

(42:18):
going through clinical trials. That was the one thing that
they talked about was the recovery time was so significantly
better and the testimonial is coming those clinical trials is
like back to normal, like very soon. So but but look,

(42:43):
Jack Michael took a stand, he paid the price for it,
but eventually it all worked out, got traded, was able
to get that surgery at the backing of the Vegas
Golden Knights, and so far, so good.

Speaker 3 (42:55):
Yeah, yeah, And you know, I think the Devils do
give players a little bit more autonomy with their body.
And I did notice the tone, you know. I think
Ryan brought this up as well with the Nason thing.
I think that they thought. But again, I don't know

(43:16):
if they were upset with Nason that he tried to
work through it and then needed surgery, because that that
annoys a lot of people. That happens a lot. I
feel like in football, where football players will be like, no,
I'm fine, and then it'll hurt all off season, and
then in August they'll be like, you know, the doctors
will take a look and be like you need surgery, dude,

(43:37):
you know what I mean, And like then you know,
they're they're out for weeks when they could have just
done the recovery over the summer. So I think, yeah,
and like you know, I remember, do you remember, like
Matthew Kuchuk the latest surgery to get married, you know,
like there's it is what it is.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
He learned that right though he didn't he wins.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
To Stanley Cups. You could do kind of whatever you want.
And he's gotta be back for the playoffs, you know.
And yeah, I but that's the thing. I don't think
Kachuck could have ever thought that Barkov was gonna go
down and they were gonna be with both of them
and that and like honestly saying that October sixteenth matchup

(44:21):
looks a lot better for the Devils, does it not?
No Barkov, no ka Chuck.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
It does? You know?

Speaker 3 (44:30):
If you if you think it still the team.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
But I mean, look, they start off the season against Carolina.
I mean, after that playoff series last year, I think
I think the guys are gonna come out fired up
down in Carolina because they weren't running on all cylinder
as a matter of fact, there were so many injuries.

Speaker 3 (44:50):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
And then they're gonna play Tampa on that second game.
If they can carry that momenta on that Saturday down
Tampa and then they're playing the Blue jack it's the
Bjy's on Columbus Day on that following Monday. So you
know again, but now with what's going on with the
Florida Panthers, I mean, they still have Marshawn, they still

(45:12):
have yeah, but they're not but they're not gonna be Yeah.
So they're still lethal team, they're just not you know,
they're gonna have some off leaves.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
Yeah, I think that. I think their goal is going
to be five hundred until Ka Chuck returns and then
just going a run and then maybe you build off
that momentum. Or I wouldn't be surprised if they made
the trade. Uh. You know, Ryan talked about this. There's
and I've said this. I don't know, I don't think
I said it on the podcast yet, but I've said

(45:48):
this to a lot of people, like I think this
season is going to be an abnormal one as far
as trades early in the season. I think a lot
of teams, a lot of teams think they're in it.
I think every team thinks they're gonna be such Chicago
and Pittsburgh. I think every single team thinks are in it,

(46:08):
which yep. I think Anahm thinks are in it. I
think San Jose thinks they have an outside chance to
be in it. I think Buffalo thinks are in it.
I think Boston thinks are in it. I think Nashville
thinks are in it, and they could be. These teams
will have talent, that's the thing. These teams will have
supreme talent and superstar level players. But if I'm the Devils,

(46:31):
this is why I think the Dougie trade Hamilton trade
is gonna happen. Because if you trade Dougie Hamilton, you
have enough money to if you trade Dougye Hamilton in January,
or if you trade Dougley Hamilton you know and play
Casey until January, you have enough to get Quinn. If

(46:55):
the Quinn thing is off the table, Like if Vancouver's good, okay,
now you get Steven's damcos, you can get Ryan O'Reilly,
you can get trying to think of the guy, like
the really good guys that might be available, who you
know you could get Jason Robertson. I don't. I don't
think they're gonna trade him. But he'll be out there.

(47:16):
You can get Jordan Cairou. If Saint Louis is bad,
you can get Dylan Larkin if if Detroit's bad, And
you know, I think all these teams have a chance
to be McKenna bad. I don't think Boston's trading Pastornoch.

(47:39):
And actually I think I'm thinking about it. Maybe you
can't get Larkin. He might not have enough money. That
one might be a little bit too rich. But I'd
have to look at how it all works out with
with the with the cap accumulation, there's a way if
they like held on to some money. But again, I
think the Devil's I have a real chance to get

(48:03):
a super duper star player. No, that's probably over analyzing it,
like you know, a Larkin level player, Uh, you know,
a top twenty five player in the league, top twenty
five forward. You know, I think they have a chance
to do that, and I don't think it's so obvious.

(48:26):
Like you remember the Timo Meyer thing. The Sharks were
talking about that ten million dollar qualifying offer and not
wanting to deal with it, so we knew that Meyer
was going to be available. The year he was available.
I think there's gonna be some surprises, like the Marshawn
thing this year like that that was kind of a surprise.
Seth Jones with surprise trade. I think you're gonna get

(48:48):
a lot. I think you're gonna get some teams. I'm
trying to think, like it's hard to predict because like,
what if Florida's really bad? Do you make a move on,
like Bob Rofsky, do you make a move on? Like
do you start selling pieces and be like, let's try
again next year, Let's sell some of these these aging veterans,

(49:09):
or what if, Like I think Buffalo has a real
chance to be like we we just didn't do this right.
Let's build around Doleen get what we can for everyone else.
So I think like Tage Thompson could be on the table,
you know, like there's there's a lot of options here,
but that's months down the line. Sam. When I see

(49:32):
you next week, it's gonna be your season preview.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
That's right. Wow, the season is about to start, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
We're gonna have to talk. You're gonna have to give
me some extra time, and I'm gonna have to get
you some extra guests. Well, I have some in the
chamber we just have to confirm.

Speaker 5 (49:55):
Okay, let's blow this up. Uh oh, we're definitely. We
just go back to back. Let's talk before we go.
Julie Stewart binks, Ryano Vezinsky, back to back. We've come
back to this guest thing swinging for the offences. Of course,

(50:17):
So I think I think I got Now we got
to keep it up, you know, you know.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
I love to get back on is Sam Fischler.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Yeah, well you gotta work on the times man. But yeah,
is he in Israel?

Speaker 1 (50:32):
Now?

Speaker 3 (50:33):
I know he came back for a little while, but
is he back in Israel?

Speaker 1 (50:35):
We should reach out to him. Yeah, I want his wisdom.
He's today Today wouldn't be a good day because it's
young Comport today, right, is it you Comport today?

Speaker 3 (50:49):
I think it was yesterday.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
It was yesterday?

Speaker 3 (50:51):
Is it today?

Speaker 1 (50:53):
Depends what part of the world.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
Okay, yeah, September thirtieth, isn't it?

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Was it? My crazy I don't remember?

Speaker 3 (51:03):
Okay, I apologize if I got that wrong. I thought
it was September thirtieth, But either way, you know, it's
it's we'll we'll get him on. Well, we'll just our
schedules and we'll make it happen. If you want to
go on at six a m. I'll do. I'll do
a six am feeding with the kid. Do ah, we'll do.

(51:27):
We'll do a Stan Fisher.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
Or maybe Donnie Puck's don look Greca.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
Oh yeah, I gotta talk to him.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
Yeah, we got somewk it's tonight and tomorrow or says
n Y David.

Speaker 3 (51:44):
Okay, yeah, okay, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:48):
There's a few questions in the in the chat. Can
we get to that.

Speaker 3 (51:53):
Yeah, let's get through them real quick.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, here's a comment metal Lander. Hey, Sam, interesting parallel
between the met and Devils. Both have individual achievers and
no heart. Both had big starts faded away at the end.

Speaker 3 (52:09):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
I there is a parallel, But I don't agree about
no heart. I think I think the players have heart
on both teams individual achievers. I kind of agree with that.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
Big start with theage just soda right. Everybody else is
kind of like a team player, like good for the Goose,
good for the Gander. Guys.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
You know, I think I think you Yankee fans knock
Soto a little bit too much. I did. I was
expecting to have this guy being a problem. The only
thing he doesn't do is really hustle. You know, while
he's in there, you make it six hundred million dollars
run the first base. Yeah, well, I he learned his lesson,

(52:55):
he adapted, you know. I mean I saw a couple plays.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
You I didn't. I didn't watch a ton of baseball
because I'm just gonna be honest. I hate Aaron Moon.
I just I can't. So I think I watched. I
think last night was my third young game. I watched
all the highlights highlights almost every day, but I just
can't give Aaron Boone three to three and a half
hours of my life every night. That's just kind of

(53:22):
where I'm at. I was surprised to the medicine and
get rid of their manager.

Speaker 1 (53:26):
I know, I don't. I don't think Carlos Mendoza is
the problem.

Speaker 3 (53:31):
I think I think, but like is he the solution
is the question?

Speaker 1 (53:36):
I you know, to tell you the truth, he never
lost control of that locker room. Everybody likes each other.
Is some good team chemistry, I think Marte. You know
it was kind of the ring leader there, you know, uh,
not to make this a mess.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
You guys just didn't pitching right where the GM screw up.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
He trusted his analytics, and the analytics are garbage, and
he basically said, we don't need to trade for starting pitcher.
It's where it needs to be. And he read off
all these analytic numbers and guess what happened? They needed
starting pitching. So and then for whatever reason, uh, Hellesley
in relief had the yips, and he basically lost some

(54:23):
nine games, literally lost nine games, like he was so bad.
I think it was e r A at one point
was like one hundred and eighty four. It was bad.
So uh Devil Heaven seven. Uh yeah, Heaven seventy seven says,
is America Whiskey fired up for the season. Absolutely, we'll
be back on America Whiskey. All right, Yeah, we're ready.

(54:47):
I'm actually building this.

Speaker 3 (54:49):
I won't be having as many Sangria pictures because they'll
be covering that have to be professional.

Speaker 1 (54:55):
But yeah yeah, and and by the way, uh my
jersey jersey is gonna be in my hands probably by tomorrow.
I'm gonna call the stitching company out in New York
and I'm gonna have Pilot's name plate on it with
the number eighteen. And as soon as that happens, you're

(55:17):
gonna see cap Magic I'm making a prediction right now
because that's what you usually happens.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
I think, Sam, there's a non zero chance this happens
before next week. I'll say that.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Yeah, But I'm I'm to tell you the truth. I
need to get this thing done. I'm not doing it.
I'm doing it for the fans. They want me to
do this. Do you think I really want to spend
money on a jersey jersey? Do you think I really want.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
To spend you because you always tell the story. You
know that if you wear a lot jersey in five years,
people will be like why, You'll get to tell the story.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
And it's just not Devil's jerseys like other other players
from other sports. Same thing, Like it's it's just it's
freaking horrible, just horrible. Now, I just gotta like, I
don't know. I'm just too afraid.

Speaker 3 (56:10):
I do want to ask you a question about today.
Did today help? You've had a rough week in sports?
Did today help? Are you healing? Thanks to Luke Hughes,
I'll tell you yeah. Because I felt like there was
some unfinished business that was bothering me and the start

(56:31):
of October, it was October one, like I woke up
this morning, like I had a bad you know, the
Penn State thing, and then my friend that felt bad
for me wanted to introduce me to a friend that
sits next to him at the Giants game, which is
ten rows off.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
Of fifty yard line coaches Club seats. He wanted to
introduce me to a fellow Penn Stater because he went
to Penn Station and we can kind of warn together.
After that, the backle against the Ducks, the Giant surprisingly won.
I had a great time, you know, Jackson Dart's debut,
only to come home to the Mets, only to come
home to the Mets getting shut out after the Cincinnati

(57:12):
Reds gifted them a loss. So I was really pissed
off about that. And then this whole Luke Hughes thing,
It's just kept on dragging and dragging, and I don't
want to make this about me, but but once that
news finally broke, it was just like I felt like
the monkey was off my back since July first, I

(57:35):
didn't realize how badly that affected me. I think what
I did was I was trying to lie to myself
that things are fine, and I've said it on this podcast.
Oh it's gonna be fine. The Devils have this thing planned.
It's gonna be this be They're gonna get back to
training camp and allah, suddenly there's a sign contract. But

(57:55):
that didn't happen, so it just kept on weighing at
me and all that. Now I'm nicer to everybody today,
nicer to missus Wu. She's noticing a pep to my
step right now, So I feel good about it.

Speaker 3 (58:09):
Yeah, I almost said a stupid joke. I stopped myself,
so it's not bad. I said, our life is Our
life looks like a cialis commercial, Like it's that's that's
what I was thinking. But it's it was a dumb joke. Yeah, listen,

(58:30):
here's the thing. It's you know, I have to Yankees
lost yesterday, Like it was just such a gross loss.
West Virginia got just turnstyled by Utah of all teams.
So it's very clear that like my my, my Mountaineers.
I went to the backyard brawl, me and my son went.

(58:54):
He's I have videos of him singing country roads and
that's like a you know, like a cool memory for me. Now,
So I got that out of the season. It was
an amazing win. It was a comeback when my son
had the best time, but this team looks like it's unwatchable.
So and then I convinced my wife to play fantasy

(59:21):
football this year. Sam oh wow. And and she's zero
and four with the second highest amount of points in
the league. So like it's just like she's how am
I going to convince her to keep playing this thing
that I love? She lost last week. She was waiting
the whole time and then lost on that Pickings touchdown
with like whatever amount of time, like thirty.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
Seconds, laf That sucks. I've been there, done that.

Speaker 3 (59:45):
Yeah, So it was like, so it's you know, the
sports have not been nice to us, so yeah, like
it's it is. It's like turn the page on September October.
Let's go, let's go October. I'm ready for hockey. I'm
ready for the For the preview, we'll put out let's
put out some some some times. Can we do that

(01:00:06):
to to let everybody know, maybe a graphic and we'll
work on a putting together great show for next Wednesday.
I'm really excited. And they played Friday, right.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
No, Thursday, October October, and it was Nat. Carolina and
of course, of course the NHL doesn't look like the
Giants Eagles are playing at the same exact time, you know,
although they're on the road, you know, right.

Speaker 3 (01:00:34):
But like you're gonna compete with the NFL local team, Like, yeah,
it's really anyway, it's it's the same. It's on the
road in Philly, Like I live closer to Philly than
I do to Giants Stadium.

Speaker 1 (01:00:47):
No, no, it's that medlife. It's that medlife. On October nine.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
Oh oh, the Devils are a road game, got it?

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:00:54):
But still yeah, like you're opening the season with the
Giant home game. It's so dumb. Anyway, all right, quick
plugs for me or if you're ready, Yeah, go right ahead.
So we have I think we have five Lucu's articles out.
We're gonna have more. I wrote three of them the

(01:01:15):
Breaking News. I wrote a story about what I think
he's gonna look like now that he's signed, Like, what
is the season. I think he's gonna get sixty points, Sam,
that's my number for him. I think he's gonna get
sixty points. And I broke down the contract. What does
he make each year? When did the no trade clauses
kick in? The no trays clauses? Kick in at a

(01:01:35):
very interesting time. That's my teas for that. So I
break down the contract just by the dollars and cents
of it all. We're gonna have a bunch more. We
had a couple of the national writers from fans that
to come and write about the Luke Ues thing. So
talking about the number, we didn't talk a lot about

(01:01:55):
it being nine, but you know, we talked about a
little bit with with Ryan, but it's it's a big number.
But it's like Sam we Craig from Pucks and Pitchforks
wrote that it was going to be nine in June
twenty twenty four. We've known it's gonna be nine. And
I said, last week, do you remember I said nine

(01:02:16):
point twenty five. I was off by a quarter of
a million dollars, so we were kind of right on
the money with the money.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
What did I say, did I only you remember? Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
I think you said you agreed with me? Okay?

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Good?

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
Yeah? He was just like, yeah, that makes sense. But
I I I told you, I told you all last
week we were gonna have I think twenty articles over
the week, and we did. So there's plenty of non
luc you stuff to read about at pucksanpitchworks dot com.
Go check it out. We had a story go out
today on Corilla Caprizov's mega deal and how it's going

(01:02:54):
to impact the Devils. We have stories on on Kevin
lebonc cut and whether the Devil should consider bringing him
back to add even more depth to the team. You know,
there's there's a there's a lot going on. It's all
a Puckspictures dot com. We have dozens of articles that

(01:03:14):
still have relevance that you should go check out. Great.

Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
I have nothing to plug other than keep you here.
May have something special, bruin and that's about it. Yeah, who,
I'm just teasing right now. It's just like how Ryan
teased us. I'm kind of wondering what they're doing. I'll
talk to the off air about it, Okay, Yeah, all right,

(01:03:41):
Well I'm gonna hit the music. It was fun.

Speaker 3 (01:03:44):
Nick, another great one.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Yeah, keep on coming and one thank all those tuning in.
Dropping the podcast in about twenty minutes because this is
a great podcast. I'm gonna do it quickly and yeah,
that's it. Go to Pucks and Pitches. Do one little
note double dosn't need to get cap compliant by Monday. Monday,

(01:04:14):
so we're gonna see a lot happening over the weekend.
So basically, I better get that Jersey name plate order.
It's quick, yeah, get it stitched. Alrighty. I'll see you later, folks.
Until next time, let's go Devils.
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