JotCast | PHR Live Chat: 4/23/25

PHR Live Chat: 4/23/25

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Fantasy GM

2:39

You are the leafs GM this summer. What are you doing with Mariner, Tavares, Knies and if you keep all three, how do you make that work (I e. who goes?)

Josh Erickson

2:41

I'm keeping all three if I can find a way. To me, that looks like Marner 8x12.5, Tavares 3x8, and Knies 3x5. That would require offloading both Kampf and Domi and burying/trading Reaves without a ton of room for depth additions, but enough to at least fill out the roster.

draft

2:41

Besides Misa, are there any other 2025 draft prospects who might develop into a top line F ?

Josh Erickson

2:44

At least a few, although the list is limited if we're talking true first-line options and not top-six forwards. That's Anton Frondell, Porter Martone, and James Hagens. Some other forwards I have in the top ten (namely Caleb Desnoyers and Jake O'Brien) I think are very projectable second-line pieces, but not as bullish on their ceilings.

LGD

2:44

Any issues with lack of tampering pursuit by the league re Rutherford’s comments?

Josh Erickson

2:46

Not at all. The Canucks aren't violating/affecting NJ's exclusive negotiating rights with either Jack or Luke. Any team can inquire in trade talks.

Grittytig

2:46

So what do the Red Wings do? Likely stuck with the 12th pick, the players that need to be moved either have no-movement clauses or make too much to justify any decent return. And moving any player with decent value would set the franchise back instead of moving forward. They're stuck in this rut for at least another 3-4 years until the likes of Sandin-Pellikka/Danielson/Augustine mature, right? Talk me off the ledge.

Josh Erickson

2:49

Here's the good news – no big names to re-sign this summer that will affect the 2025-26 cap picture. Even if they re-sign all of their pending RFAs/UFAs at market value, they'd still likely have around $10MM in cap space to play with. The reason for optimism is that they have much more financial flexibility to explore the UFA/trade markets in 2025 than they did in 2024. It's up to them to use the flexibility wisely – they haven't in the past – but the opportunity for true impact additions is there.

Landyn

2:49

When will Dylan Holloway draw back into st. Louis' lineup

Josh Erickson

2:49

Not anytime soon. He's not skating and the Blues haven't had an update since the start of the playoffs. I wouldn't expect him back in the first round.

USS Kraken

2:50

Thoughts on the Kraken firing Bylsma and shaking up the front office to seemingly give Botterill instead of Francis the final say over hockey operations? Who do you think should/will be Seattle's next coach?

Josh Erickson

2:52

I don't like it. Not opposed to a GM move in general, but Botterill's track record in Buffalo was poor – and no, I don't think it's just a case of "Sabres gonna Sabre" as some have suggested. I wasn't all that enthused with his drafting outside of the obvious picks, although that's more damning of the scouting staff in general, and his contract signings were iffy. I'd have liked a different name there. I'm not sure if this leads to any meaningful change in direction long-term. Regarding coaching, I think they're going to look for a known commodity with a history of good 5-on-5 results. That killed them this year.

Mike

2:52

Expectations for Landeskog if he is added to the lineup?

Josh Erickson

2:52

Looks like he's in on the third line. Anything more than 12-14 minutes of ice time per game out of the gate would surprise me.

King Duck

2:53

Who is your prediction for the Ducks coach next season? Who do you think their biggest FA signing could be?

Josh Erickson

2:57

They need one top-nine forward. Don't have a ton of roster room for pickups on offense. I imagine that's where the majority of their cap space goes. Don't see them making a serious pitch for Marner, but I would imagine they'll look at Ehlers, Mikael Granlund, Brock Boeser and the second class of names like Andrei Kuzmenko and Taylor Hall. Likely need a depth defenseman too. As for coach, I imagine they'll at least end up going with someone outside the organization as compared to promoting an internal option. Jay Woodcroft intrigues me if they can't get Carle.

Just a couple of more questions here before the top of the hour.

sabres3277

2:57

If the Sabres don't fire Adams which I believe they should do you think they hire a President of Hockey Operations? They need someone to oversee not only this mediocre GM but the scouting departments.

Josh Erickson

2:58

Yeah, at least one external hire is coming, if not two. I imagine Kevyn Adams remains with the organization but not in a GM role. Whether they hire a POHO to oversee Adams, someone to be POHO/GM, or a separate POHO and GM... that's an interesting question that I don't have enough information to predict.

ljfranker

2:58

Do you think St. Louis could get Mitch Marner and if so at what cost?

Josh Erickson

2:59

They'll have the space if Krug can't return. Whether he's interested is a different question, but they could afford to reach into the $13MM stratosphere that will be required to land him if he reaches the open market.

3:00

Alright folks, that's time for today. Thanks for all the great questions!

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