The Hockey PDOcast

Charlie O’Connor joins the show to help deep dive the never-ever-boring Philadelphia Flyers. 0:40 The rollercoaster ride this season 5:45 Case for trading vs. keeping Wayne Simmonds 11:45 The annual penalty kill woes 18:30 Giroux and Voracek’s return to form 27:40 Sean Couturier’s breakout campaign 35:30 The Provorov Eye Test 43:45 Handicapping the Metro Division Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGee...

Justin Bourne joins the show to discuss the recent struggles in Toronto, how much of the blame should lay at the feet of Mike Babcock and his tactical decisions, and what realistic expectations are for the Leafs moving forward. Plus we answer some mailbag questions by talking about the difficulty in evaluating players on bad teams, areas where we can squeeze hidden value out of moving forward, and...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to dissect the All-Star Game rosters, and figure out who was deserving of their selection and who wasn't. 9:15 Metro Division 31:40 Atlantic Division 51:20 Pacific Division 1:05:40 Central Division Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sell sports and concert tickets. They’re giving our listeners a $20 rebate off o...

Nick Mercadante joins the show to discuss the New York Rangers and how Alain Vigneault has misused Pavel Buchnevich (4:18), Henrik Lundqvist's return to form after a down season (19:45), the trend of poaching someone else's backup goalie to be your own starter (33:45), and potential solutions for the Islanders (47:15). Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before...

Jonatan Lindquist joins the show to discuss the Lias Andersson incident in the World Junior Championship final between Canada and Sweden (0:30), Rasmus Dahlin's NHL readiness and ideal landing spots (10:20), the Anaheim Ducks injury plagued season and window to win (21:12), and the perks of being a reporter in a non-traditional hockey market (42:35) Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is ma...

Greg Wyshynski joins the show to discuss just how the Vegas Golden Knights have managed to exceed everyone's wildest expectations (2:35), whether their early success changes their plans for the immediate future (29:50), why it stinks that the NHL isn't going to the Olympics (44:12), and why the league needs an equivalent to the NFL's RedZone Channel (55:56).  Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, w...

Arda Ocal joins the show to discuss the new look New Jersey Devils, how sustainable their surprising start to the season is, and ways to improve hockey broadcasts moving forward. Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sell sports and concert tickets. They’re giving our listeners a $20 rebate off of their first purchase. All you have to do is down...

Craig Custance joins the show to discuss the many different ways to go about rebuilding a team, future trades that make way too much sense not to happen, and a variety of other topics. Sponsoring today's show is FanDuel, the PDOcast’s one-stop shop for Daily Fantasy Hockey. They’ve set up a contest for listeners of the show to compete in, which will be running every Thursday evening. To join in on...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help rank the best players in the league currently inhabiting the wing positions. Topics discussed include: 3:41 Honourable Mentions 10:49 Jaromir Jagr's last stand 17:26 Revisiting the Saad for Panarin swap 22:14 Separating David Pastrnak from his linemates 25:15 Potential Mike Hoffman landing spots 31:08 The pros and cons of Alex Ovechkin 37:30 Gaudreau, Forsbe...

Dom Luszczyszyn joins the show to help navigate the Eastern Conference, discussing topics such as: 2:25 The Bruins top-heavy construction 6:25 The Sabres losing ways 11:25 The Hurricanes as a preseason sleeper 15:50 The Blue Jackets splits 26:30 The Panthers dreadful offseason 34:20 Cory Schneider's bounceback and the Calder race 38:30 How Mat Barzal's emergence changes things 48:40 Erik Karlsson'...

Tyler Dellow joins the show to bounce around the Western Conference, discussing topics such as: 3:20 The Flames top heavy construction 10:40 The Ducks injury woes 17:10 The Sharks offensive struggles 22:00 Where the Kings can keep this up 30:15 Whether the Golden Knights are for real 37:15 Rebuilds in Arizona and Vancouver 49:45 The Blues and Jets winning ways 58:45 The Stars change of pace under...

Elliotte Friedman joins the show to discuss topics such as: 1:20 Why the Ducks traded for Adam Henrique 5:36 Why the Devils traded for Sami Vatanen 9:31 Dealing with criticism in the media 16:53 The likelihood of the Oilers making a panic trade 21:04 The importance of a reliable backup goaltender 25:39 The lack of bad blood in the regular season 32:37 Making use of player tracking data 36:26 The P...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to discuss the intricacies of the defense position, and help rank the best players at the position. Topics include: 2:44 The tricky nature of evaluating defensive play 5:56 The sweet spot for workload 10:55 Individually analyzing partners 13:00 The next wave of young blueliners 20:15 Ekman-Larsson's difficult circumstances 22:51 Hampus Lindholm's shutdown prowess 35...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to discuss where things have gone wrong in Edmonton this season (3:10), the potential for a reactionary Ryan Nugent-Hopkins trade (7:04), Peter Chiarelli's series of questionable offseason decisions (10:21), Todd McLellan's role in suboptimally using the pieces he's been given (14:52), the local media's propensity for blaming the team's best players (24:02), and if t...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to discuss the best centers in the game, helping to eventually whittle down the list to the Top 10 players at the position. Things discussed include: 3:20 Weighting abilities in each of the 3 zones 7:09 Building your team around a Top Center vs. a Top Defenseman 11:18 Jack Eichel, Nathan MacKinnon, and others who fell just short 21:16 Can Mark Scheifele keep scoring...

Chris Johnston joins the show to discuss the three-team trade that took over the hockey world this past weekend, and what the next dominos to fall will be. Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sell sports and concert tickets. They’re giving our listeners a $20 rebate off of their first purchase. All you have to do is download the free SeatGeek...

Andrew Berkshire and Mike Kelly join the show live from Montreal to discuss a variety of different topics: 0:43 John Molson Sports Business Conference panel 6:13 Shot Quality, Shot Quantity, and the Canadiens 19:28 Are the Golden Knights actually good? 30:00 Vadim Shipachyov's 31 minutes and 46 seconds of fame 39:13 What's the appropriate level of panic for the Penguins? 47:47 Who are the legitima...

Craig Custance joins the show to discuss his new book, in which he got to spend time with an assortment of the league's best coaches, dissecting their most important individual games and picking their brains about how they got to where they are. Topics include: 9:55 Dan Bylsma 21:52 Mike Babcock 32:00 Bob Hartley 38:38 Todd McLellan 47:14 Mike Sullivan and John Tortorella 55:47 Joel Quenneville 1:...

Jeff Marek doesn't have a podcast of his own anymore, so we just let him host this one for a day. We discuss a medley of random topics. As you'd expect he shares stories and goes on about obscure draft prospects. It's always fun to hang out with our Cool Uncle. 2:20 Concussions, League Protocol, and Fighting 21:40 Favourite games this season 25:45 Most disappointing teams early on 36:35 Draft pros...

Nick Mercadante joins this milestone episode of the PDOcast to help rank the top 10 goalies in the league this season.  2:30 Methodology for the rankings 9:45 Honourable Mentions 22:00 Why John Gibson should be in the Top 10 28:15 Jake Allen's two seasons and Ben Bishop's concerns 35:30 Why Devan Dubnyk shouldn't be in the Top 10 39:50 Marc-Andre Fleury vs. Matt Murray 45:15 Freddie Andersen's con...

Alex Prewitt joins the show to discuss what's going on in Vegas, the impact Brandon Saad is having in his return to Chicago, the importance of a healthy Steven Stamkos, and hanging out with Jaromir Jagr.  3:25 Behind the scenes in Vegas 14:45 Concussions 17:00 Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews 25:30 Stamkos' recovery 30:55 Offseason Training 40:15 Profiling Jaromir Jagr 47:15 Enjoying the ride in Wa...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to discuss early season observations, what's real and what's not, and which trends we should be keeping an eye on moving forward. 1:40 Kings making offensive changes 7:30 Senators outperforming underlying results 16:00 Canadiens strange forward deployment 23:35 Coyotes and Sabres not showing signs of improvement 38:40 The Flames defensive struggles 42:30 Worst case s...

Craig Custance joins the show to help put together the annual Watchability Rankings, where we stack every team in the NHL from 31 all the way down to 1 based on the entertainment value they figure to provide viewers with this season. As has been the case in years past, the following is a good synopsis of how we approached the task, and what it's ultimately trying to capture: “If you’re sitting dow...

Dan Murphy joins the show to discuss the Canucks continued rebuild (1:20), their offseason shopping spree (6:11), and how to best handle the Sedins being in the final year of their respective deals (13:24). We also chat about Canucks teams from the past (22:43), trying to balance objective reporting with personal relationships behind the scenes (26:45), Marc Crawford and The West Coast Express (30...

Dom Luszczyszyn joins the show to help preview the upcoming season by using his projection model to outline what we can expect the league standings to look like by year's end.  5:08 The Metropolitan Divison 22:22 The Atlantic Division 38:01 The Pacific Division 51:54 The Central Division Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sell sports and conc...