Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Did we find at least one thing you and Robert F. Kennedy have in common this week?
A hundred people sent me that story. I had at least a hundred people who sent me that. We're not going to, if you want to go search it, go do it yourself. Yes. Because I'm not sure what the Rogers editorial standards are for this kind of conversation. But I had about a hundred people send me that story.
Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the podcast presented by your Canadian Toyota dealers, the 100% electric BZ, available now during red tag days. Dom, Elliot, and Kyle back with you, and we have reached the end. The regular season is over. Finally, we have got all eight first round matchups set in stone. We're still waiting for a few in the West, but that is... It is all settled now, Elliot.
We will preview those first round series in a little bit. But first, we have got to get to the news. We'll also make our way through the 16 teams that are not postseason bound in 2026. But for each, we begin in New Jersey. News Thursday night. Sunny Meta.
has been hired as the general manager, someone who has worked in the organization in the past, a name that had been out there more frequently the last number of weeks with openings in New Jersey, in Toronto, the popularity and the success, of course, that he had along with the Panthers the last number of years. So it was no secret that the Devils were interested in this man, Elliot.
How did this one get over the finish line?
Earlier this week, Matt Marchese asked me on a show with Mike Futa which of these openings I thought was going to go down first. And I really felt it was New Jersey. I just didn't know that it would be this quickly. But I had a feeling it was going to be them first because one of the things that was kind of making its way around the NHL was that
Tom Fitzgerald had asked the Devils for clarity on his future because if they were going to let him go, I think he wanted the opportunity to interview in Nashville where he was the first captain, at least for that job. And I don't believe that the Devils were going to do that. I think it was their goal to have the season finish and then make any decision that they were going to make.
Instead, what happened was a couple Saturdays ago, we mentioned on Hockey Night on the headline segment that Toronto had interest in Sonny Mehta. And they definitely did. And two days later, they announced that Tom Fitzgerald wouldn't be returning and that they had an open search. I don't think those two things are a coincidence. Mehta was going to be a candidate in Toronto.
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Chapter 2: What news is relevant for the New Jersey Devils?
Like, they're not going to have his introductory media conference until Tuesday. I was wondering why it wasn't Monday, and somebody sent me a note that there might be a Springsteen concert there on Monday, so it's not a great time to actually do it. I would I would wait a day. I would hope that at very least for winning an extra day, he would get good seats to that concert.
I would say no problem, but I'll take a couple of floors as the consolation prize. So I think that. I think also it just makes sense. You get there, you explain what you're looking at yourself. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be in any rush to do anything, at least until he's introduced. Like I was told nothing imminent. And there's a lot of staff there that don't have contracts too.
So, and, you know, I don't know that that means that, He's going to be clearing everybody out. It's always uncertainty when there's change, but I heard he was not in a rush to do anything, and I don't believe there's any immediate announcements about people that might be coming with him. So I think that's the smart thing to do.
Go in there, talk to people, figure out, at least meet them face-to-face, hear what they have to say. You know, Sonny Mehta has a reputation as being a pretty deep thinker, I think it's really easy thinking to walk in there and saying like Jeremy Piven and entourage, right? Like with the paint gun, get, get out.
Like, you know, it's sometimes it makes sense just to go in and listen, but you know, we'll see. It's, it's an interesting job there because it's, You know, New Jersey has a lot of talent, a lot of talent. You know, you look back, they kind of had a funny season, Kyle. They had a lot of injuries at the start of the year, and they were still, I think, 13-4-1.
Like, they got off to a great start, even though they were really battered. And their season fell apart when Jack Hughes got hurt at that dinner in Chicago. When they couldn't, when he was out, they really struggled. And, you know, the whole Quinn Hughes thing, I think it was a really difficult time for that team. You know, I just think...
You know, I think there were a lot of reasons to be excited about the idea of three Huses on the same team. I'm not sure everybody in there shared it. I'm not sure it was unanimous among the players, too. And I think it kind of just threw their dressing room into chaos a bit. And now he'll have to manage that. He's sure they're going to have to talk about an extension with him.
I know Devils fans were in a panic. about how he sure looked the other day. But to me, it's kind of like Matthews. You can't expect people to look happy when your team is missing the playoffs. When you have expectations, especially the way the season started, I don't Understand how everybody can expect a guy like his to look like Guy Smiley. Of course, he's going to be upset.
And I'm sure they'll sit down and they'll have a conversation about it. And we'll see where that goes. He'll want to hear the plan. But, you know, the other thing, too, is I think Fitzgerald tried to make some moves at the deadline that were blocked by no trade clauses. So, you know, you're always wondering where is that? Like we'll, we'll see how meta feels about the roster.
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Chapter 3: How did the Toronto Maple Leafs perform this season?
But, you know, I look at the Rangers and I see they do have an ability to find some guys. Maybe, you know, especially in a league where there's not a lot of stars available right now, those are the kinds of guys you have to focus on and adding.
All right, the Seattle Kraken. So, as Todd Lightwicky said, I think it was a week ago, that they have not delivered on the promise of this team. We know Ron Francis has stepped down. We talked about how they were in a great spot at the deadline, and of course they... fell off a cliff down the stretch. They've got some UFAs to figure out.
Elliott, this is a team that wants to take big swings, tried to take a big one in landing Artemi Panarin, and a franchise that is still searching for that game-breaking score since they came into the league back in 2021.
Yeah, so, you know, the thing with me and Seattle is you can see how disappointed they are. And I think that's the number one thing. That's the obvious thing. I want to talk about something else, too. I've thought a lot about the Kraken, okay? And they're talking about an audit that they're going to do.
And they've stressed since the initial media conference that it's going to be an independent audit reporting to Kraken. Ownership. In some ways, that win over Colorado in year number two was probably the worst thing that happened to them because they earned it and they deserve that series. But I think it convinced people they were farther along than they really were.
Like Dave Haxtell, you know, I don't want I don't want to relitigate what happened. They made a coaching change and there were some divisions over it. I think we've talked about that enough. But I think if you look back under Dave Haxtell, who did a really good job there, a really good job there, what he had was he had a team where everybody accepted roles.
They had great structure and they had a true team. Everybody understood their roles and everybody bought in. But the thing is, now we go back to what you talked about, the lack of a true game breaker. They've never had it. And if I was them, I would say we have an organizational mandate on how to find these players. Like a couple of years ago, they drafted Tolvanen, sorry, not drafted.
They selected Tolvanen on waivers. That was a really good waiver claim for them. You know, waivers come, they go, they lost Karcher this year. He looks like a player for the Rangers, but that was a really good pickup for them. That's what I would be challenging my staff is. The number one thing is between now and the draft. Because they tried to trade for one. They didn't get them.
I'm sure they're going to try to trade for others. They'll see what's out there. But the number one place you get them is the draft. And I think that that is what I would be challenging is that we've got a lot of players who can play systems, who are responsible, who are smart. We've got to find scores. Why have we not found scores? What are our mistakes to find scores?
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Chapter 4: What factors contributed to the Islanders' coaching decisions?
And it worked. It was one of the things that saved their season. So if you're an Islander fan, you're like, what the heck? Like why, why is he, you should have known that two months later you were going to be hired by the Islanders. You can't help the flyers. That's number one.
They're thinking, but number two, you're also thinking, Hey, if he can do that and he's a good X's and O's guy and elite X's and O's guys, you think that there's going to be changes in the way they play next year. But again,
Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Columbus Blue Jackets' recent performance?
You know, I know the Islanders fans are disappointed, and I really do get it. But I think you're looking at DeBoer and Schaefer. And overall, there was new life breathed into the franchise. And I think ultimately...
Chapter 6: How do the Flyers plan to approach their playoff series against the Penguins?
I think you're hoping that DeBoer, you got to fix that backup goaltender thing. No question about it. But I think you're hoping that their underlying numbers were very poor this year. Very poor.
Chapter 7: What insights do the hosts have about the upcoming playoff matchups?
And I think you're hoping that DeBoer, as much as anything else, is going to change some of that stuff.
Interesting they're sending Cal Ritchie to go to Bridgeport to play in the playoffs. I thought he had a pretty good rookie season with the Islanders, but a great opportunity for him to get some playoff experience.
I don't think that's bad. I like that. I like that he's going to go, and those are going to be hard games. He's going to play in really hard games, and I think that's going to be very good for him.
All right, the Columbus Blue Jackets. So two wins in their final 11 games. That slide cost them a chance to be in the playoff spot. It was a memorable Rick bonus postgame press conference after their final game. Among the lines, if he is back next season, he is changing the culture. And lo and behold. We learned Thursday he signs a one-year extension.
He said he is anxious to finish the job that he came to do and get them into the playoffs, but it was some pretty emotional, pointed comments that the head coach had. Certainly raw coming off of a difficult end of the season, but he let it be known what he thought of what was holding this group back and not hating enough to lose. And the suggestion that maybe some of them don't care enough.
Anyway, the players had their response to it. But Bonus will be back next year. How do you view the Columbus situation moving forward?
So whenever I hear something like that, I have flashbacks back to my childhood. Because as a child of the 70s and 80s, you used to get that three times a week. Your parents yelled at you like that. Your teachers yelled at you like that. Yes, me especially. I was as dumb a kid as there's ever walked this planet and your coaches and various sports would yell at you like that.
So I was like, I'm looking at that and I'm like, yeah, I feel like I'm a kid again because that's the way I used to get yelled at. You know, I I think there were a lot of people wondering. Could they bring him back after this? It sounds like for the Blue Jackets, it wasn't even a consideration. And Aaron Portslion wrote a really good piece, and it was kind of what I heard.
And, you know, he's there, so I really believed it after I saw him write it, that in the fans' ears, that was music to them. They wanted to hear that. You know, I think Columbus is great fans. They've proven it before, but like they haven't seen enough winning or playoff hockey. Right. So to the fan base, it was exactly what they wanted to hear.
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