00:00I want to ask you about what's going on in Tampa because this story kind of popped and I don't
00:05know
00:05how much love it's getting nationally, but Kucherov is an unbelievable player. He's a
00:10two-time cup winner. He's got 415 points. That's more points than Connor McDavid has had since
00:152023. He has a partial no trade clause. He wants out for money and Tampa has no intention of
00:24trading him. How do you handle that going forward with Tampa with their best player being disgruntled?
00:29I got to be honest with you. And this is the way sports that this is it, Matt, like what
00:33has
00:34changed? What happened to honoring a contract? What happened to? Oh, I don't know. We win the
00:37Stanley Cup a lot of time. We have John Cooper, one of the best coaches in the league. We have
00:41great players around me, but no, I think I want to leave for more money. It's kind of disgusting
00:46actually. And you know what? You start the party, you finish the party. That's the way I look at it.
00:49What are you going to do? Is Kucherov going to play as hard? I don't know, but that's the whole
00:53thing.
00:53And now you put this team at a position of like, they don't have any power now in a deal.
00:59That's
00:59what I hate about these stories, right? Matt, if everything went under the radar and Tampa Bay
01:03made a move, you know, hell look at, look at your, look at, look at Boston. Like it's surprising.
01:07They never get worse or, or, uh, you know what I mean? Toronto would always want to be in the
01:11mix,
01:11but they're not there yet, but there's a lot of teams. Imagine this guy in Edmonton, but
01:16I digress. I'm going to tell you it's horrible for the lightning organization because now they
01:21have less leverage and I think it's nuts. Um, I just don't understand it. You get drafted by a
01:26team and it's not like these guys are a bunch of slugs, right, Matt? They're the Tampa Bay
01:30lightning. They've been at the cream of the crop with the Panthers for years, these teams in Florida.
01:34So I really don't understand it. I don't like it, but this is the modern day world we're living in.
01:39This is the athletes we're dealing with. Nobody's playing their contracts out, but, um,
01:43um, yeah. So what are you going to do? You're, you're Tampa Bay is not going to give Kucharov
01:46away for free, right buddy? So he's going to play with them and we'll see what happens, but
01:50this team it's blow up time. It looks like John Cooper. He seems very disgruntled. Kucharov wants
01:56out. They're an aging hockey team. That's the way it is, right? They, Matt, what would you give
02:01though for, for a Stanley cup? I'll tell you, elite fans would give body parts. So I'm going to tell
02:06you like, you know what I mean? The Panthers and lightning, they've been spoiled, spoiled rotten with
02:11these players, but I just don't like, I don't like where things are going. I know I'm with you.
02:17I'm with you. And I think it also comes down to, he sees the writing on the wall that Tampa
02:23is going
02:23to go through a rebuild and they're not going to pay them. So it's like, Hey man, we signed you
02:28to
02:28a contract. You're going to play the contract. And he's like, no, I'm not. I don't want to be here
02:31when we suck. So it's send me somewhere where I can play for a cup because you guys aren't going
02:36to
02:36be competing for a cup in the next year, this year or years to come. And so this is my
02:40jump out
02:41opportunity. And I'm going to try to force my hand out, but I don't think your, your read is
02:46wrong on this. It's like, you put pen to paper, you agreed to this, play it out. And then you
02:51can
02:51go and leave in particular, because it's in season. That's what bothers me is if you want it out,
02:56make a big stink, make us big stink in the off season. Like don't make a big stink now in
03:01the
03:02we're playing hockey right now. Like, how do you do that midstream? That doesn't work for me.
03:06And Matt, what are you doing with the rest of the team? It's a selfish move. Like, you know what
03:10I mean?
03:10Like, say we're working in a company together. Yeah. You know? Yeah. If I want to negotiate,
03:13I want to do it like during, you know, Thanksgiving season in the United States or Christmas or like
03:18a busy time. It's like, can't we just like work this thing out? It's nuts to me because a lot
03:23of
03:23those guys have been warriors for him. Guys like Hagel and all of these guys who were the Tampa Bay
03:28lightning stars. You know what I mean? They've been with him the whole time. And what is that saying
03:32to them? Like, wouldn't you just want to ride it out? Like you're not even that brutal of a,
03:36like what, what do you think of the lightning? I'm not going to say they're going to win the
03:40Stanley cup, but they're not a terrible hockey team by any stretch of the imagination. Right.
03:44No. Yeah. They still have a lot of talent. And with Kucherov, I mean, they're really good.
03:48So without them, they're a much different team, but you know, it's there.
