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The DFO Rundown
Atlantic Division Preview
The DFO Rundown division previews continued to roll on and today, the guys zeroed in on the Atlantic Division. For the last few seasons, the division has been relatively top-heavy with a handful of legit Stanley Cup contenders and the rest of the division trying to step out of rebuilds. Will the 2024-25 season feature more of the same? Or can one of the bottom four teams finally take a big step forward?
They kicked things off with the Montreal Canadiens, who didn’t have a crazy summer by any means but their roster does look pretty different. On top of acquiring Patrik Laine from the Blue Jackets, they’ll be welcoming back Kirby Dach, who missed most of last season with an injury and they could have Lane Hutson in the lineup. Frank thinks the Habs could really surprise people.
The Ottawa Senators are certainly facing more pressure to get back into the playoffs. Frank has previously been a big believer in the Sens but is starting to get skeptical that this core can get the job done. One reason to believe: Linus Ullmark. The Senators should finally be getting good goaltending.
The Sabres and Red Wings have both been trying to get out of their rebuilding phase for a few seasons now and if it doesn’t work this season, you have to wonder if major changes will be coming. Can either break through? The guys gave their takes.
Tyler popped in for a new edition of Buy or Sell where he asked about Auston Matthew’s goal totals and just how deep this division is.
After that, they started talking about the playoff teams from last year.
All four of the Bruins, Lightning, Maple Leafs, and Panthers went through some pretty big changes over the summer. Will any on the big guns fall out of the mix this season?
Frank and Jason gave their thoughts on that along with an update on the Jeremy Swayman contract negotiations.
They wrapped up the show by giving their official Atlantic Division playoff predictions.
4:10 - Montreal Canadiens
14:20 - Ottawa Senators
25:10 - Buffalo Sabres
32:25 - Detroit Red Wings
46:10 - Tampa Bay Lightning
51:20 - Toronto Maple Leafs
55:15 - Boston Bruins
59:15 - Florida Panthers
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346. What’s going on in Vancouver?
01:05:28||Ep. 346Jason Gregor and Frank Seravalli sat down for one last podcast before their Christmas Break and to kick things off, they talked about some of their favourite winter activities and Gregor tried to sell Frank on a few that he hasn’t tried yet like snowshoeing and going on a dog sled.They then got into the big drama that’s happening with the Vancouver Canucks. The rift between JT Miller and Elias Pettersson has really caught the publics attention but Frank says that this is nothing new. Could it get to the point where the Canucks need to move on from one of the two players for the sake of their locker room? Frank gave his thoughts.From there, they talked about some teams that are heading in totally different directions in the month of December. The Dallas Stars have been ice cold of late and while injuries have played a part, the guys discussed if there’s something off with the Stars this season. The Ottawa Senators are not looking like the Senators of old. They’ve found another gear and for the first time in a number of years, have avoided their dreaded mid-season slump.They also talked about Matt Rempe getting an eight-game suspension for his hit over the weekend. Tyler the popped in for Fill in the Blank which features some talk about Christmas shopping and then questions about Patrik Laine, the Buffalo Sabres, and the Utah Hockey club and their playoff chances.5:25 - The drama in Vancouver12:15 - Dallas’ December Dip15:00 - Senators red-hot run20:35 - Rempe gets 8 games26:55 - Fill in the Blank42:50 - Utah’s in the mixShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch345. Kakko goes to the Kraken & the Habs add Carrier
56:54||Ep. 345It was a wild evening in the NHL as three trades went down in the matter of a few hours. Frank and Jason broke it all down today on a new episode of The DFO Rundown. They started with the deal that saw Alexandre Carrier go from the Nashville Predators to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Justin Barron. The guys talked about why the rebuilding Canadiens wanted to get an older, more expensive defenseman and whether or not Barron is a project worth taking on for the Preds.They then got to the Kappo Kakko trade as the Rangers moved the former second overall pick to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a package that includes defenseman Will Borgen. Gregor likes the move for Seattle and thinks that Kakko still has some upside. Frank thinks the upside is limited and thinks the Rangers did well in this deal.They quickly touched on the small trade that the Pittsburgh Penguins made and then they talked a bit about the run that the Utah Hockey Club has been on. Are they capable of being a playoff team this year?Tyler then popped in for another edition of Buy or Sell where he asked the guys about the teams that are currently leading their division, the Penguins run and whether or not we’ll see another trade before tonight’s roster freeze.To wrap up the pod, they talked a little about Christmas plans, their youth hockey coaching experiences and they quickly touched on the Vancouver Canucks and their potential plans ahead of the roster freeze.1:20 - Preds move Carrier to Montreal11:55 - Kraken add Kakko22:30 - Joseph goes back to Pittsburgh25:05 - Utah’s on a run31:30 - Buy or Sell52:15 - Current state of the CanucksShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch344. New York State of Despair
01:03:16||Ep. 344To kick off a new edition of The DFO Rundown, Jason and Frank sunk their teeth into the latest surrounding the New York Rangers, who continue to struggle. GM Chris Drury tried to shake things up by trading Captain Jacob Trouba and it hasn’t sparked the team the way that they had hoped. Will someone pay for these struggles with their job? Or will the Rangers try to see this through with their current group? The guys debated it.From there, they went to upstate New York and talked about the Sabres ten game losing streak. Is it time for a change at the top in Buffalo? Frank thinks it might be but also wasn’t willing to say that their season is over. Things aren’t working and that is a fact. The Sabres will need to change something soon.They then went out west and talked about the comments that Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet following the teams loss this weekend. Was Tocchet right to call out his team? The guys discussed it. Frank thinks the Canucks have an issue on their blueline and wondered if they should have been in on the Cam Fowler trade talks. That then led them to breakdown the deal that did happen between the Blues and Ducks.Tyler then popped in for a new edition of Fill in the Blank where he asked them about the Ottawa Senators playoff chances, who the truly elite teams are in the West, and which team could be next to make a trade.After that, they talked about the MVP race and a pair of teams in the Eastern Conference who are continuing to play well after strong starts to the season.1:05 - Rangers struggles continue16:10 - Can the Sabres turn it around?25:05 - Tocchet’s post game comments30:00 - Cam Fowler moves to St. Louis34:30 - Fill in the Blank35:50 - The MVP Race54:00 - The Devils start56:30 - The Capitals continued runShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch343. Is it time for big changes in Nashville?
56:54||Ep. 343Frank and Jason are back with a fresh episode of The DFO Rundown as they go around the league and touch on some of the bigger stories that are floating around.To start the pod, they talked about the Vancouver Canucks, who welcomed back Thatcher Demko to the lineup and are expected to have JT Miller back by the end of the week. Could the Canucks start to gain some momentum now that they have some key pieces back?One team that has not been gaining any sort of momentum is the Nashville Predators. They are still sitting at the bottom of the league after spending like drunken sailors over the summer. Frank speculated on whether or not a coaching change is needed while Gregor talked about how they need to just accept fate this year and take whatever draft pick they get.They also quickly touched on Trevor Zegras’ knee injury before bringing in Tyler Yaremchuk for Buy or Sell where he got the guys take on a few of the major awards that appear to have clear front runners at the one-third mark of the season.They wrapped things up by each giving their five true Stanley Cup contenders. The guys were pretty aligned with who they had but there were some interesting debates about the teams they omitted.2:20 - Canucks get Miller & Demko back9:20 - Preds keep slipping23:00 - Ducks & Zegras24:00 - Buy or Sell41:10 - Who are the Cup contenders?Shoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch342. What’s Next In The Big Apple?
01:05:12||Ep. 342Frank and Jason are back with a fresh edition of The DFO Rundown and to kick things off today, they discussed what went down on Friday with the New York Rangers as they made a pair of significant moves. First, they traded their Captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks and managed to get out of his entire contract then just a few hours later, they came to an agreement with franchise goalie Igor Shesterkin, which was the richest contract ever given to a goaltender.With all things considered, was Friday a win for GM Chris Drury? Or is there now pressure to add? The guys discussed that and also talked about why the Ducks wanted to make this move.The other piece of news from late last week was the third coaching change of the regular season. The Chicago Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson after just over two years behind their bench and replaced him with Anders Sorensen. That led to some talk about how the Blackhawks are handling their rebuild and whehter or not they’re on track in the Connor Bedard era.Tyler then popped in for Fill in the Blank where he asked the guys a little bit more about the Ducks plans and also how much longer Blackhawks fans will have to wait until they’re finally watching their team back in the playoffs.To wrap it up, Jason talked about the Eastern Conference playoff picture as things begin to tighten up. Can the Penguins actually stay in the hunt? Out West, Frank had some questions about the Dallas Stars.1:10 - Rangers trade Trouba11:40 - Shesterkin’s record extension21:50 - Blackhawks fire Richardson33:20 - Fill in the Blank41:00 - Eastern playoff picture46:20 - Western playoff picture1:02:10 - Board of Governors previewWant to hear more from Frank, Jason and the entire DFO team? Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoffYou can get involved with all the NHL futures action over on bet365 by using the promo code NATION at bet365.comShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch341. The Snubs & Surprises From The Four Nations Roster Reveals
58:52||Ep. 341The Four Nations Rosters have officially been announced with roughly two months to go before the tournament will get going. That's where Jason and Frank began on today’s edition of The DFO Rundown.They started by talking about who who have been considered the last cuts for both Team USA and Team Canada. Players like Zach Hyman, Tage Thompson, Evan Bouchard, and Cole Caufield are the names that immediately got brought up, but Frank also thought a player like Jason Robertson deserved more love in the conversation. They also broke down some of the flaws with each team’s selection process.After breaking down each roster, Tyler jumped in for a new edition of Buy or Sell where he asked the guys about whether or not the Nashville Predators would consider a coaching change, if the Los Angeles Kings are legit contenders in the West, and whether or not Auston Matthews can work his way back into the goal scoring race.After that, Jason and Frank went around the NHL and talked about the Trevor Zegras injury, Mitch Marner’s production, and the David Jiricek trade that went down last weekend.4:50 - USA last cuts10:00 - Canada’s big omissions20:20 - USA snubs32:00 - Buy or Sell (Preds, Kings, Matthews)41:15 - Who’s the favourite at the Four Nations?43:30 - Zegras injury46:00 - Marners’s future52:10 - Jiricek tradeWant to hear more from Frank, Jason and the entire DFO team? Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoffYou can get involved with all the NHL futures action over on bet365 by using the promo code NATION at bet365.comShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch340. A Final Look at the big 4 Nations Roster Decisions
56:20||Ep. 340Happy Thanksgiving! Jason and Frank recorded a fresh episode of the podcast as the long weekend in the USA gets going. After some talk about the football schedule and Frank’s favourites parts of the holiday, the guys got into some talk about the toughest decisions that each team at the upcoming 4 Nations Faceoff is facing.This is the final podcast before the teams are going to be officially announced so they went through all four teams and talked about some of the bubble players that could end up making the cut.They started with Team USA where the goaltending seems locked in but there are a handful of open spots when it comes to both the forwards and defense. Players like Tage Thompson, Zach Werenski, and Chris Krieder are some of the names sparking up the most debate.For Team Canada, they discussed who the fourth-line centre should be with names like John Tavares, Connor Bedard, Nick Suzuki and Mark Schiefele all being possibilities. On the blueline, they debated the chances that someone like Evan Bouchard has of being on the team.The goaltending is obviously a soft spot for Canada and Jason and Frank gave their thoughts on who they could end up going with between the pipes.After going through the projected rosters for Finland and Sweden, they brought in Tyler Yaremchuk for a new edition of Fill in the Blank where he asked the guys about the playoff picture at the quarter way mark of the season and the trade rumours swirling around the New York Rangers. 4:40 - USA’s 4 Nations Roster12:15 - Canada’s 4 Nations Roster28:55 - Sweden’s 4 Nations Roster39:35 - Fill in the Blank (Rangers, Bedard, playoff teams)Want to hear more from Frank, Jason and the entire DFO team? Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoffYou can get involved with all the NHL futures action over on bet365 by using the promo code NATION at bet365.comShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch339. Jim Montgomery Lands in St. Louis
01:00:22||Ep. 339We got some big news in the NHL over the weekend as the St. Louis Blue fired Drew Bannister just 22 games into his Head Coaching career and promptly hired Jim Montgomery, who was let go from his job behind the Boston Bruins bench just five days earlier.That’s where Jason and Frank began with today’s edition of the show as they talked about why Blues GM Doug Armstrong made this move and the decision to give Montgomery a five-year contract. Can the Blues salvage this season? Is the future bright? The guys debated it.From there, they talked about the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins. The team seems lifeless and now the discussion is becoming what exactly should Kyle Dubas do this season? Frank believes they’re in the mix on David Jiricek, but isn’t quite sure what assets they’d be willing to give up.After a brief little bit of relationship advice from Gregor, they brought in Tyler for a new edition of Buy or Sell where he asked them about a couple of teams that are in interesting spots when it comes to the playoff picture.To wrap up the pod, Joe Thornton got to see his number #19 go to the rafters in San Jose over the weekend and the guys wanted to talk about Thornton’s legacy both in the game and in the San Jose community.1:05 - Montgomery lands in St. Louis15:50 - Pittsburgh’s struggles continue26:30 - Hurricanes goaltending30:00 - Buy or Sell40:55 - Jumbo Joe jersey retirement47:50 - Senators keep slippingWant to hear more from Frank, Jason and the entire DFO team? Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoffYou can get involved with all the NHL futures action over on bet365 by using the promo code NATION at bet365.comShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch338. The Trade Market Begins To Form
52:23||Ep. 338The first trade targets list of the season has dropped and that means it’s officially time to start talking about what big moves we could see this year! Frank and Jason went through some of the more intriguing players on the board and which ones are more likely to move than others.Before they dug into that, they talked about the Nashville Predators and their continued struggles. Last night, they were assessed a minor penalty for not icing the proper starting lineup and wound up getting shutout by the Seattle Kraken. That led to the guys talking about the playoff picture in the West and which teams will find ways to stay in the conversation this year and who could fall out in the next few months.They then got into the trade talk and dug into Frank’s list. They started with Joel Farabee who is on the board even though he has three more years on his current deal. Frank believes he has 35+ goal potential and he just needs to be put in the right situation.They also talked about Michael Matheson, who Gregor thinks is the most intriguing defenseman on the board. Is it smart for the Habs to move on from their best defenseman though?They also had a long conversation about Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier. Gregor thinks he would be a great add for a contender but also thinks the Blue Jackets would be foolish to move him while Frank thinks they should cash in on his value.There was some significant injury news this week too as the Capitals are going to be without Alex Ovechkin for the next few weeks. The timing could not have been any worse as he was on an absolute heater. Frank gave an update on when he could come back today.Tyler then popped in for a new edition of Fill in the Blank where he asked the guys about some award long-shots and the Predators playoff chances.They wrapped with some talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the run they’ve been on despite their injuries. They also gave their thoughts on the Jim Montgomery firing in Boston.1:05 - Predators struggles continue10:45 - Joel Farabee’s availability16:40 - Could the Habs trade Mike Matheson?22:00 - CBJ & Mathieu Olivier32:10 - Ovechkin’s injury33:35 - Fill in the Blank44:40 - Montgomery firingWant to hear more from Frank, Jason and the entire DFO team? Subscribe to our YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoffYou can get involved with all the NHL futures action over on bet365 by using the promo code NATION at bet365.comShoutout to our friends at Fountain Tire: https://www.fountaintire.com/promotions/?utm_source=tnn&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=fountainConnect with us on ⬇️TwitterInstagramWebsiteDaily Faceoff Merch