The Hockey PDOcast

Chris Johnston joins the show to help preview the upcoming season by investigating the biggest and most interesting stories around the league. Topics include: 2:02 Hurricanes and Jets living up to the hype 5:27 Metro vs. Central for divisional supremacy 8:23 Can the Penguins do the unthinkable by three-peating 13:39 The best bets to bounce back after a down year 18:45 How the Kings can dig out of...

If you could swoop in and take over the managerial duties of any NHL team of your choosing as currently constructed, which one would you prefer? How would you rank all 31 options available to you based on their desirability? These are questions Jonathan Willis joined the show to help answer.  5:40 Golden Knights 9:00 Red Wings 11:15 Canucks 15:30 Avalanche 22:30 Devils 27:00 Islanders and Bruins 3...

Tyler Dellow joins the show to discuss who really drives the bus on Anaheim's second line (2:03), whether the Penguins should be concerned about their lack of depth down the middle (6:06), Detroit's handling of Andreas Athanasiou (13:30), trick with finding the right landing spot for college free agents (18:38), whether the NHL's supposed competitive balance is a good or bad thing (27:07), the rel...

Garret Hohl is back for Part 2 of this offseason series we've undertaken, in which we're redoing each entry draft of the past decade now that we have more information about how things will play out. This time, we go through the years 2011-2015. 2:15 2011 Draft 11:30 2012 Draft 24:00 2013 Draft 45:15 2014 Draft 57:30 2015 Draft If you’d like to get in on the fun or just have your voice heard in a f...

Garret Hohl joins the show to help go back in time and redraft each of the entry drafts from the past decade. Armed with the benefit of hindsight, we start the journey by making our way through the years 2006-2010.  0:31 Ranking Methodology 6:16 2006 Draft 22:30 2007 Draft 36:30 2008 Draft 51:00 2009 Draft 1:00:07 2010 Draft If you’d like to get in on the fun or just have your voice heard in a fut...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help answer your mailbag questions.  We discuss the Flyers timeline for winning and the sizeable gap in age and readiness between their forwards and defensemen (1:08), Matt Murray's legitimacy and how he stacks up against the other league's best goalies (12:07), which GMs are currently in the hot seat (16:40), how the 7 Canadian teams stack up against each other...

Garret Hohl joins the show to discuss the Winnipeg Jets sustained goaltending woes (1:30), the surprisingly slow pace they played at last season (8:45), whether they should load up their top line or spread the wealth (13:00), and their outlook for the 2017-18 season (25:40). Plus, a chat about the two notable recent analytics hirings and what goes into building a complementary research and develop...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to help dip back into the mailbag. We discuss Oscar Klefbom's true value (2:31), which individual skills we should prioritize in defensemen (14:01), which rookies find themselves in the best spot to make a Calder Trophy bid (23:13), who our personal favourites are despite typically posting poor underlying numbers (29:30), which players could be next ones to break out...

Craig Custance joins the show for a mailbag episode in which we answer your Twitter questions. We discuss whether the Islanders should be looking to trade John Tavares (1:40), if this current version of the Blackhawks can get back to the top (12:00), how to fix the Detroit Red Wings (18:45), the pros and cons of offer sheets (33:00), which players the league should be marketing more aggressively (...

Alan Wells joins the show to help do a deep dive on the Tampa Bay Lightning. We dissect their medley of offseason moves (1:30), their organizational philosophy when it comes to developing prospects and handing out contracts (10:00), and whether they can return to contending form next season (35:00). Then we discuss why Jaromir Jagr is still available, how much he has left in the tank, and what the...

Justin Bourne provides a peek behind the curtain by discussing his role with the Toronto Marlies coaching staff (2:44), what he looks for when watching tape and which player types he's drawn to (15:48), the AAAA player and why certain guys can't seem to take the next step (21:00), and which AHLers look poised for a breakout year (26:42). Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easi...

Nick Mercadante joins the show to discuss the new look New York Rangers and whether they're now an improved team (1:09), Vegas' decision not to load up on goalies in the expansion draft (18:45), and this summer's free agent goalie carousel (25:30), before helping sift through the Twitter mailbag (39:45). Sponsoring today’s show is SeatGeek, which is making it easier than ever before to buy and sel...

Tyler Dellow joins the show to discuss the most notable free agent signings, and highlight the biggest winners and losers of the offseason. The list of topics covered include: a disappointing series of moves by the Capitals (5:28), the Carey Price mega contract and whether it was the right bet for the Canadiens to make (16:36), the Stars going for it now and worrying about the contracts they've gi...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to discuss Connor McDavid's new contract and how much tougher it makes it to win when you're paying one player that much money (0:53), pushing your chips in and trying to go for it during his last cheap season (6:13), and what Leon Draisaitl is worth to the Oilers and why that makes him a prime offer sheet candidate (10:22). Then we preview this summer's free agent c...

Jeff Marek joins the show to discuss how last weekend's NHL entry draft unfolded, and share some stories from the green room. The topics include:  1:40 The Green Room 10:50 The hidden value of the Combine 22:10 Cale Makar, Miro Heiskanen, and drafting for need 26:50 Vegas' haul in the 1st Round 29:00 The safe pick vs. the high upside pick 32:25 Quality players falling into the laps of smart teams...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to discuss the Blackhawks continued cap concerns and their puzzling sequence of moves (1:47), Artemi Panarin's true value and how he fits on the Blue Jackets (6:50), the Coyotes change of direction and attempt to drag itself out of the cellar (31:32), Ryan Reaves' inexplicable trade value (53:10), and the Flames pushing their chips in for Travis Hamonic (1:05:37). Ev...

Craig Custance joins the show to discuss the Jordan Eberle trade (2:19), the awards show and transparency in the voting process (12:57), George McPhee's approach in the expansion draft and the return Vegas came away from it with (20:01), and what type of rebuild we should expect to see from the Red Wings (38:03).  Every episode of the podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, and St...

Garret Hohl and Ryan Biech join the show to unpack the NHL entry draft and all of the important discussion points surrounding it.  Topics include drafting for need vs. taking the best player available (1:46), why it's so difficult to properly evaluate young defensemen (7:16), the pros and cons of moving the age cut-off (14:05), personal preferences for certain developmental leagues (20:00), sneaky...

James Mirtle joins the show to help conduct a preliminary mock draft ahead of Wednesday night's highly anticipated expansion festivities. Rather than going through the picks in alphabetical order we instead lumped each of the 30 teams into a five separate categories based on what type of assets they're providing Vegas with: 5:06 Teams with side deals reportedly in place 18:31 Teams with no real ap...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to discuss the concerns about how Marc Bergevin has progressively decimated Montreal's depth on the blueline (1:06), the price paid for Jonathan Drouin and how he fits on the Canadiens (3:59), whether the writing is on the wall for Alex Galchenyuk to be shipped out of town (12:05), the bizarre Nathan Beaulieu trade with the Sabres (20:47), where the Montreal Canadie...

Chris Johnston joins the show to discuss whether there's anything the rest of the league can glean from the Penguins (1:33), Crosby's ascension up the list of the game's all-time greats (6:47), everything that goes into the Conn Smythe voting process (12:46), the possibility of Ilya Kovalchuk making the trek back to North America (23:18), and what type of movement we could see ahead of the Expansi...

Nick Mercadante joins the show to discuss the goaltending performances we've seen in this year's Stanley Cup Final, sort through the list of netminders that figure to be available this summer, and help fantasy book some trades for the Vegas Golden Knights.  The topics covered include: 0:55 Length of schedule, wear and tear, and quality of play 7:07 The Rinne Rollercoaster 18:50 Sticking with Matt...

Tyler Dellow joins the show to discuss how the Penguins haven't been able to deal with Nashville's forecheck, what adjustments they can make in the final legs of the series to change that, Roman Josi's unconventional playing style, and evaluating the contributions of the defense position. 1:22 Predators aggressive forechecking 6:03 Adjustments for Mike Sullivan 8:30 Last year's Penguins vs. this y...

Chris Watkins joins the show to discuss the changing landscape of NHL front offices, his and Carolyn Wilke's rankings of all 31 GMs, and the pros and cons of the NHL playoff system compared to that of the NBA. The topics covered include: 0:30 GM Rankings Methodology 7:10 Group Think Front Offices 13:26 Cautionary tale of the Lame Duck GM 19:30 Jim Benning and Being stuck in mediocrity 26:25 Ken Ho...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to dissect all of the important individual matchups in the Stanley Cup Final, including how the Predators will try to defend Pittsburgh's forwards, how the Penguins will try to break through Nashville's forecheck, and which team has the advantage between the pipes. 1:06 Matching up with Crosby and Malkin 4:11 Ryan Ellis' unique style 9:55 Ranking Nashville's top 4 d...