0:00

We had Jake Genzl last Wednesday undergo surgery on his ankle, So just to

0:05

provide more background on that. Obviously, he ended the year with an injury,

0:11

and then the way that we had handled it in collaboration with Jake and

0:14

the medical team, was to continue to monitor it. Obviously he continued to

0:18

skate and train on it. But from from our view, I'm thinking with

0:21

Jake and the team's best interest, we didn't want it to linger into the

0:24

year, and so when it wasn't healing the way that it was supposed to,

0:28

doctor Vus and Chris Stewart, in collaboration with Jake and the people on

0:32

the ground in Minnesota, was given a very specific methodology to go through it,

0:36

including trying it in some game action in the league there that that Ben

0:40

Hankinson runs the Beauty League, and UM, it just wasn't comfortable enough for

0:45

him as he was getting up to the prescribed levels. So at that point

0:50

was decided that we would have the surgical solution performed and that'll get Jake back

0:58

up to one hundred percent and jake best interest and it's best for the team to have Jake at one so we'll miss them. UM for the first couple

1:06

games of the year, but then he'll be back to the Jake we know,

1:08

which I think is the best solution for all of us. UM.

1:14

Obviously, yeah, yesterday, UM we're able to complete a three team trade.

1:19

UM. First off, I just want to thank um Casey to Smith.

1:23

He's he's been here the longest, good story and great journey for Casey

1:29

from the ECHL through to being an NHL regular with with the Penguins. Um

1:34

he goes to Montreal, UM, Jeff Petrie, UM also goes to Montreal,

1:40

Michael Grantland and uh In jan Ruda to San Jose, and Nathan lagarret

1:45

to to Montreal as well. So just thank thank all of them for their

1:48

contributions to the team. Never easy to call players and especially this late in

1:52

the summer when they have children and families and let them know that they've been

1:56

moved on. UM. But all though I didn't have a deep history with

2:02

any of them, UM, you know, all all by all accounts pre

2:07

contributing members of the team here and uh and good people. So UM it

2:10

was a fairly lengthy process. UM. With San Jose. UM that goes

2:16

back to my previous place of employment. And so my career was was great

2:20

to deal with. Throughout UM, They're obviously accomplished their goal of gaining draft

2:25

choices and greater flexibilities. They go through turning their their team to to where

2:30

Mike's vision wants to bring it UM and then Montreal and Kent Hughes came in

2:35

at the end, and I think this move helps them and acquire more assets

2:40

and um that they can either keep or move and draft capital as well.

2:45

So and with us, obviously it gains us the flexibility that we wanted,

2:47

but also brings Eric into the mix here. UM. The reason why we

2:53

wanted to bring Eric in was, I think when going through our team one

2:57

of the things that I had felt and talking with Sully about it, as

3:00

we needed to continually improve our ability to move the puck from our own zone.

3:06

Eric, I think is one of the elite players in that regard in the NHL. Even though he's in his in his early thirties, he continues

3:14

to be one of the top skaters in the NHL, and obviously his production

3:16

and offense is quite prolific. So very competitive, very motivated person wants to

3:23

come in here and help our team, think for us, adding someone like

3:27

that to the group, as we you know, attempt to give it every

3:30

chance to win, but also keep our eye towards the future. We were happy not to include any of our our prospects own Pickering, Brandy Jaeger in

3:38

the trade as well to have them can move along. So that was what

3:42

we're looking to accomplish. That's the way that we went about it, and

3:46

with that, I'll open it up to any questions anybody may have. Would

3:53

you expect this to be the group you have going into campbould you anticipate for

3:57

the move I don't expect anything more majorum, But you can never make any

4:02

promises. I think we always want to try to improve the team, Taylor.

4:05

But um, I would say, now you know, we're six weeks

4:10

out from camp starting on Wednesday, five weeks out suddenly from prospect to showcase

4:15

in Buffalo, I think this will be the group, you know, with

4:19

with grantland m going out and two defensemen going out. I do think,

4:26

you know, there's we've kind of felt in the last twenty four hours just

4:29

kind of a you know, of the remaining free agents in terms of whether

4:32

there's guys we want to sign on or even professional tryouts that think this could

4:38

be a great, great spot for them to come in. So we're sorting

4:41

through that. I think would if if there's anything, it'll be more in

4:43

that that vein than anything. Big thanks for doing this, Klum. How

4:49

long? How much of the regular season do you project Cancel to miss and

4:55

do you foresee trying to replace him internally or will you move aggressively for someone

5:01

from the outside. Um, well, I think we would get a little

5:05

bit fortunate there. Unfortunate in one case because Jake is projected to miss.

5:11

You know, I think it's late October early November, and we don't we

5:13

don't have a lot of games in that early stretch. We got three the first week, then just two the second week of the season, so I

5:18

think it's in that third or fourth week of the season where he's projected to

5:23

be reevaluated and then a decision will be made. So I think it could.

5:26

You know, we're hopeful it goes well, of course, but we

5:29

want to make sure he's one hundred percent right a roll when he comes back. So I would say between you know, around five games is what's kind

5:34

of the projected number. But it's medical, so you never want to put

5:40

a lock on that because we have to always do what's right for him.

5:44

When it comes to replacing him, I don't think there are many he's There

5:47

are no ready made replacements for Jake. He's a He's one of the better

5:50

wingers in the NHL and certainly has a great chemistry with Sid whom you know

5:57

they've had, They've had great success together. That's that. I think one

6:00

of the fortunate parts is that it creates a major opportunity for our own young

6:04

people that are here, whether that's Alex Nilander, Samuel Poulin. But also,

6:09

I think more importantly that was one of the things we tried to address

6:12

in free agency and to um you know, whether it's Finnie Hinnis Strozza Andrea

6:16

Jansen, rampit like who we acquired yesterday with Eric he came over from Montreal,

6:23

um Zahorna Poston and Coppen and Neto O'Connor, all those guys that have

6:29

been wanting their own opportunity and chance to go and get it. And now

6:34

you know, the knock is there at the door. Someone has to answer.

6:36

And I think that's the one thing we're looking forward to in training camp.

6:41

The most is you know there's there's going to be an opening, that

6:43

there's going to be opportunity. We know we have our own guys that can

6:46

slide there and do that. Riquelis played with Sid before. I think Riley

6:48

Smith can play with Sid. But you know, there's there's all those other

6:54

people that we we brought in to try to improve our depth, certainly on

6:58

the wings in free agency. That now is you know, it's kind of

7:00

it's this is the opportunity we've waited for all this time. You know you've

7:04

got six weeks to put yourself in the best spot to take advantage of it.

7:08

And I'm just excited to see who comes in and takes it. God,

7:13

this is sort of a two partter about how you eventually got this across

7:15

the goal line, the first part of which ties the gensl aspect into it.

7:20

Was there anything that after Jake got hurt, you felt Okay, we're

7:25

going to do it now, where maybe we didn't you weren't ready to do

7:28

it before. Sure, that would be the first part, And then the

7:30

second part is I'm going to tell us how the Petree to Montreal element came

7:33

into play there. Because I was a little bit surprising to see him go

7:35

back to the Canadians after he came from there in the first place. Yeah,

7:39

So the first part with Jake is that with him being out not long

7:43

enough to be on LTI R, it's sort of you know, it would

7:46

have created at the beginning of the year, he's obviously we need to have the room to have him on the roster, but also have other space.

7:50

So we knew that, you know, this all kind of happened with O'Connor's

7:55

arbitration settling last week, so it'd open up that other bio window and we

7:58

knew, Okay, if we're going to gain some flex ability, we kind

8:01

of have until Sunday at noon to do it. So it sort of placed

8:03

a deadline on it, which I think was a positive thing for us. Really not the ever want to get to that point. I think my my

8:09

stance on biots has been made clear. I don't have a strong dislike for

8:11

them, just because they sit on the cap for double the amount of time,

8:15

and you know, even if they make a great deal of short term

8:18

sense, it comes to comes to hurt you in the long run. So

8:22

we knew we had that kind of timeline there at and that's how the Jake

8:26

and the O'Connor settlement both kind of collided and made Sunday at noon the deadline

8:33

because that's when we would have had to put somebody on unconditional waivers for buyout.

8:35

With regards to Montreal and Jeff, I think it's it's you know,

8:39

Kent, it's probably best to answer the actual fit in terms of the team.

8:43

And in that situation, I think with their goals are you know,

8:48

we're very clear they and I was, I was, I was really impressed

8:52

with Kent. I always haven't had a long relationship with him when he was

8:56

on the agent side. He's had a lot of players come through here, but just the way he was very clear and concise in what he was looking

9:01

to do, uh in terms of acquiring assets to be in the middle,

9:05

use his flexibility right now, use what he has to try to accelerate where

9:09

they're at in their own um, in their own development, and acquire picks

9:15

and and good in an opportunity where you have to acquire pick and a really

9:18

good player to fail help a team facilitate something else. So that's how that

9:20

came to be. And UM credit to to Kent for jumping in to clarify

9:26

Montreal was initially a green light putre to go to or did you have to

9:31

like talk? Was he was Montreal? The no trade? No, there

9:33

wasn't he was. We didn't have to there was no there was nothing to

9:37

do with the no trade on it. Yeah, Hey Kyle, how are

9:41

you? Um Uh? I think I might have too, but maybe not for what is the message you want this team to take from acquiring an impact

9:50

player like Carlson? Well, I don't. I don't even know if the

9:54

team, because of the leadership, was sid and and Sully need anymore messaging.

10:01

I think it's just the affirmation that we believe that they have a chance

10:05

to contend and compete for a championship. And there's a lot of work that

10:09

has to be done. Obviously, the team missed the playoffs last year.

10:13

There's no dancing around it. But we tried to supplement as best we can.

10:16

And I know that there'll be lots of people that doubt the group,

10:18

and rightfully so. I mean we have to go out and prove it starting

10:22

in the first day of training camp in building to where we want to get

10:24

to. Um So, I think the doubts are fair. I think the

10:26

criticisms are fair. We have our belief and then it's about us to go

10:31

out and execute it. And that's on me to lead the way and get

10:35

the group and the coaching staff and the players what I think they need.

10:39

So it was a unique opportunity to add a player like Ericum where you know,

10:45

obviously we had to part with some some assets, but we gained more

10:48

flexibility and added him on at the same time. And I think that was

10:50

the message is clear as that you know he's he's still an elite player,

10:56

as he showed last year winning the Norris Trophy. We have a chance at

10:58

him. We're going to do it because we believe in the group. Kyle,

11:03

Now, with this trade, do you have two of the better offensive defensemen of their generation? And Chris letangan Eric Carlson. This first part might

11:11

be more of a question for Mike Sullivan once we get the training camp,

11:13

but there's only so many minutes for everybody to go around. Just how might

11:18

that look in terms of their deployment and then just in general, just how

11:20

important would that one two punch be? Well, I think both are extraordinarily

11:24

well conditioned, I think, and Chris's competitiveness is well renowned in here,

11:28

and I think Eric's competitiveness will will stand out as everyone in the room gets

11:33

to know him. But both have shown in the past to be able to

11:37

take on massive minutes. I think we want to be cognizant of that as

11:41

we go to the regular season. But that you know, Todd Reardon and

11:43

Sully will will manage that handle that. But I think it it allows us

11:48

to have one of those two players on the ice for you know, at

11:52

least fifty minutes of the game, hopefully a little bit less, but but

11:56

you know, and then it's up to us. And then again it speaks

11:58

opportunity starre now in the third pair as well, You've got a lot of

12:01

young guys there. Somebody has to come in and take it and run with

12:05

it. So um, you know, in terms of the fact that they're both offensive, I'd love to have one great left offensive guy in one great

12:13

right shot defensive guy or offensive guy, and then and have the the opposite

12:18

sort of be on the defensive side. We happen to have two really strong

12:22

offensive I would I wouldn't just class by them as offensive. I think they're

12:24

they're both great all around defenseman and then two players and Marcus and Ryan Graves

12:31

that that are you know, more known for their defensive play on the left.

12:35

So it'll give us a chance to see which is how the pairs fit

12:37

best, and and then give the younger guys below a chance to push as

12:41

well. Kyle, something hurt this team last year under previous management was maybe

12:46

some limited cap flexibility just for something simple as like a recall from Wilkes.

12:50

Spare sure, do you feel you have sufficient flexibility in the event injuries or

12:54

absences do happen. Yeah, So the way that we've built it out now is we feel we can carry with this. I mean, we obviously wanted

13:01

we were trying to get to have it beat twenty three players on the roster,

13:03

but we want to always be able to do twenty two. And then

13:07

also we're not going to be afraid to use waivers to get our get flexibility

13:11

or lose guys on. I've never operated that way, and you know,

13:16

sometimes it's you never know, if you know you're think you have this fear

13:18

that if you put a guy on way, he's gonna go else where, He's going to be great. If you're at that point where you're unsure,

13:22

We'll just put them on and it will wish them off. They go and

13:26

show us that they're better elsewhere that we'll be happy for them. But we

13:28

I think with us we need to contied to have that competition, especially with

13:31

the number of players that are there. We don't want to box ourselves in

13:35

the way that we haven't mapped out. Now we have room for twenty two to start on opening night. Of course, things will happen in camp that

13:41

will change all of that one way or the other. You never know what's going to happen. But as we sit today, that's the way we look

13:46

at it. So one extra d one extra forward, and you know we'll

13:50

go with the best thirteen seven and two out of camp. And Kyle,

13:56

one of the other things that happened last week is you took on the role

13:58

of general manager. How did you get to that decision and how do you

14:01

envision I guess the system of checks and balance is working. Um well.

14:07

This process in the Carlson trade probably affirmed to me, not anything with myself,

14:11

but with what we have in the group in the office, just in

14:16

terms of the creativity and the amount of the amount of work they want to

14:20

put in their capabilities and think you know, Jason Speza and Vuki Mapofu Fuki

14:24

especially, I think through this he had constant ideas different things that we could

14:28

offer and try. It was a very complicated process with San Jose, with

14:33

with other teams involved, and Vooki continually showed me throughout that you know,

14:37

I know he's this is this will be his fourth season in the league,

14:41

but you know he's he I think showed during this process but also during free

14:46

agency that he's capable of taking on a lot more and was very impressive.

14:48

And then Jason, who's been in management and he's just been for a year,

14:54

but he's been He was great throughout and in terms of the checks and

14:58

balances, I think, I mean, they could tell you directly if you

15:01

have when you have a chance to talk to them. But I want everyone

15:03

in our in our front office and in our building to directly call me out,

15:07

including everybody in the room, when you don't think I'm doing something right

15:11

or doing something well. I can, I can. I want to hear

15:15

that versus here the opposite. So they handle it that way, and then

15:18

the way that the ownership group flows like they you know, it's here's what

15:22

I'm thinking. They come right back with different questions, they want to know

15:26

what everyone else is thinking, and then it's it's been you know, very

15:28

open, transparent and worked well. I just feel right now that where I

15:33

came to on the general manager side was I was weary of with that growth,

15:39

even in the progression that I've seen in those others that are in our own building, bringing another person in and kind of unsettling the group again,

15:46

because there's been a lot of that happened, you know, from April to

15:48

now, and I think right now I have the certainly the energy and I

15:52

and I felt comfortable with what I saw from you know, not only Vouki

15:56

and Jason, but also Amanda Kessel and Trevor during agency UH saw Andy Saws

16:03

Soocier and Eric Heasley UM and our group there, Tom Kastopolis, Kevin Stevens,

16:07

all the people that were around during that time. UM, I just

16:11

felt like we you know, it may not it may not have the decades

16:17

of experience. UM. You know that that that you're you're trying to find

16:21

everything. But I felt that we were in a really good spot and I didn't want to unsettle it further, and I feel like with what the what

16:26

they all bring in my current energy level and where I'm at, that it

16:30

was it was just best to move the group ahead that way. Kyle,

16:34

you pushed hard for a deal for Carlson on July first. Can how regularly

16:40

did you stay in touch with the Sharks from there? You know, were there any kind of quiet periods or there wasn't communication? And then was there

16:45

a moment or two where you thought someone else might swoop in and get the

16:48

player? I think you always think that. I don't know, maybe there's

16:51

this paranoia that just goes with this um when it's a good player that you

16:56

really want. I think you always have you operate, and I think that's

16:59

why you spend a lot of your nights staring up at the ceiling rather than

17:02

sleeping. Of different ways you can make it happen different you know, know

17:06

the market, which other teams are going to jump in, who can beat

17:08

you to it? How can they beat you to it? How can you

17:11

outdo them? And I think that's where the staff also jumped in as well

17:14

and said, Okay, here's where we're at is what is what's important to

17:17

San Jose in the short and long run. What's important to the other teams

17:19

that are getting involved. I would say we pushed hardest in the last week

17:26

to try to make it all work can happen. I still think on July

17:30

first, I know it was more of a public thing on July first than

17:33

it had been of late, but I actually think that was more like that

17:37

was more like the opening rounds of the championship fight per se, where it

17:41

was feeling each other out, and then we kind of got into the later

17:45

stages here this week. So, Kyle, was it the Canadians inclusion at

17:52

the end of that was the turning point of this or was there kind of

17:55

a tipping point that got this done? Well, there were a few other There were a few teams involved at the end. That was the the Jeff

18:00

component and and and moving moving Jeff on UM and so there were a few

18:06

teams and they all had different priorities at this time um and where they were

18:10

at. And the part that made it difficult was that this all happened after free agencies, so with the cap being flat, um, you know,

18:17

there was very limited cap space for teams, so you're trying to figure out the all the imaginations and the the salary components of it that are going to

18:23

work. But obviously the Canadians jumping in, I think it showed, you

18:27

know, they're where they're at in terms of the quality of their their group

18:30

and management. They wanted to jump in and try to help themselves. Um.

18:36

But and and also helped get this across the line, so they were able to accomplish what they wanted to accomplish. San Jose. You know,

18:41

they've got tremendous flexibility and a great group of young players forming there. And

18:45

then we're at a different spot than both those teams. So I thought it

18:48

was something that worked out well for everybody. Yeah, hey, Kyle,

18:52

when you make a move of a Carlson of that magnitude, I don't know

18:56

if consults the right word, but do you talk to any of the Big three, especially because how this might impact his role? Um? You know,

19:03

I I'm never looking for approval. I'm looking for um. You know

19:10

in Chris's spot, you know you're looking for Okay, this is what this

19:12

is what we're thinking, Chris. Um. You know, here's how we

19:15

see it working. And just so we have an idea for where he's at.

19:19

Unsurprisingly, with Chris, it was very clearly whatever's going to make us

19:26

better and help us win, So I think that's you know, this process

19:30

has also shown me why it was appealing for me to come here because Sally,

19:36

the group of guys that have won here altogether, that's all they care

19:38

about. They're not worried about their power play time, they're not worried about

19:42

anything other than than winning and whatever's going to help the team win they want

19:47

to do and they'll do. And that's not just the roster, it's it's

19:51

off the ice, it's everything, and um it was it's been shown through

19:56

this process to be everything that everybody says about them, and you all in

19:59

the room have been a around them far more than I, um and know

20:02

them much more personally than I do at this stage, especially where I haven't

20:04

been around them every day in the season. Um. They're tremendous competitors and

20:10

they want to win and they back it up with everything that they say and more importantly, everything that they do. And UM, it's been a lot

20:15

of fun so far to to to work with them, and um it's uh,

20:22

everything that everyone says about them is one percent true.