Episode 148 of the Hockey Free For All Podcast 03-14-2025

Hello hockey fans. Take a listen to Episode 148 of the Hockey Free For All Podcast and get your hockey fix this week. Topics include-

#1. Why would anyone think Mitch Marner should have waved his no trade clause for the Toronto Maple Leaf’s?

#2. Mitch Marner has more than earned the privilege to determine where he wants to go.

#3. Mitch Marner is the Number one player on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s Roster.

#4. Mitch Marner is the Swiss army knife of the Toronto Maple Leaf’s and bring more to the table than any other player on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s Roster by far.

#5. William Nylander is the number 2 and 2nd most important player on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s roster.

#6. Austin Matthews is the number 3 player of importance on the Toronto maple Leaf’s roster, has a concerning injury history and is a one trick pony.

#7. Hockey is a business. Organizations understand that, and the players understand that.

#8. What is wrong with those in Montreal, that want the Canadiens Organization to mortgage away all of its prospects for overpaid, underperforming, overrated and yet to do anything at the NHL level players with bloated long-term contracts, that will negatively saddle the club financially for the better part of a decade?

 #9. Kent Hughs and Jeff Gorton are doing it right.

#10. If I had been offered a 2nd round draft pick for Joel Armia, I don’t know if I could have passed that up, but Kent Hugh’s stood his ground and has given his players a chance to prove it and made no additions or deletions to his roster.

#11. It’s going to be very interesting to see where the Montreal Canadiens finish in the standing and to see if they can make and take a playoff spot?

#12. At a minimum, the players have to know that Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Michael Pezzetta and David Savard won’t return next season and that there is a better than average chance that Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson could not return as well, in 2025/2026 season.

#13. No one has drafted better than the Montreal Canadiens for the last 5-years and the 2025 NHL entry could be extremely interesting as Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, Michael Pezzetta and David Savard could just end up walking away. But, what if Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Filip Mesar and Logan Mailloux were moved for 1st round picks, and Josh Anderson and Joshua Roy were moved for 2nd round picks in the 2025 NHL entry draft?