Weekly Takes - Monday, July 1 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, July 1 Edition

1. In the end, game seven between the Panthers and Oilers came and went with the best team in the world winning the Cup for the fifth year in a row.

Whether it is due to no state tax, their ability to turn around disappointing careers, their ability to find gems, or all of the above, the Panthers were the class of the NHL all season long.

A deserving champion, with a head coach who deserves it more than anyone.

Sometimes, good people have good things happen to them. Paul Maurice is exhibit A.

2. If you are the Oilers, you have to feel confident about the future, because you have the best player on the planet, an amazing co-star, and the second-best first-pairing in all of the sport.

But what if Connor McDavid's greatest playoff run is the one we just witnessed? What if Zach Hyman regresses a bit? What if age starts to take a hit out of Mattias Ekholm?

Sometimes, there are no moral victories. For Edmonton, there is a chance they are left wondering "what if" for the rest of their lives.

3. As for McDavid, he was the worthy winner of the Conn Smythe after delivering the greatest postseason run of most of our lifetimes.

Panthers fans booing the announcement of him winning the award is a pathetic look for the fan base.

4. The Leafs trading down multiple times in the Draft was far from ideal, given the players on the board at the time, but they had no choice given the lack of draft pick capital in 2024 and 2025.

They are a year away from having lots of cap space, but you need draft pick capital too.

Now they have some.

5. My thoughts on the Leafs moves, pre-free agency...

• The word "elite" gets thrown around often, but Chris Tanev is an elite, first-pairing right-handed defenceman who gives Morgan Rielly the best partner of his career. He will instantly improve a penalty kill in desperate need of a player like him. The Leafs still need to add one more player on the backend though, and it has to be a guy that can play on the power play.

• I love re-signing Max Domi and letting Tyler Bertuzzi walk. Domi can play on the first line with Auston Matthews or drop down to 3C if they cannot land a 3C. I love Bertuzzi as a player, but the Leafs are set at left wing. They are better off spending that money on a 3C, 2RD, or backup goalie.

6. The Sens made out like bandits in the Linus Ulmark trade, but the reality is, this is always the case.

Goalies, even good ones, do not go for much. For the second week in a row, we are saying "That's it?" to a goalie trade involving a star goalie.

We have to shift our mindset on what we expect goalies to go for.

7. Tampa Bay's trade of Mikhail Sergachev is what separates the great franchises from everyone else.

Yes, he is a top-four defenceman in his prime, but Tampa now has the cap space to reimagine their team.

That holds as much value as anything.

A lesson for the Leafs, who may be afraid of losing a Mitch Marner trade.

They would not win the trade directly, but it would give them the flexibility to balance their team out,

8. I can’t wrap my head around Tuesday’s Hockey Hall of Fame announcement regarding the Class of 2024.

Why is Alex Mogilny, one of the more talented players in NHL history, not in the Hall of Fame, more so when you consider how he paved the way for Russian hockey players?

Why is Colin Campbell in the Hockey Hall of Fame, outside of being in the Old Boys Club? What did David Poile win to be in the Hall? Why is Jeremy Roenick, a high-end player, but never at any point anything special, in the Hall?

The Hall is losing its meaning.

9. Tim Mayza was one of the better lefties in baseball the last three seasons, only to fall off a cliff in 2024.

The Jays had no choice but to move on, given he could not go to the minors and they could not continue to trot him out in the big leagues, but that does not make it any less depressing.

Truly a season from hell.

10. I like the Raptors pick of Ja’Kobe Walter, a shoot-first wing player who can play defence.

But the Raptors are now overloaded on wing players, while lacking floor generals and bigs.

They have to balance their roster out in the coming days, as even for a rebuilding team, an unbalanced roster can expose your young players.

11. The Raptors addressed the issues written above in a big way on Friday, making a savvy, rebuild-like trade with the Kings by sending out a disappointing wing for a young, backup point guard and an interesting, shoot-first power forward, all because they are one of a few teams who can take on salary.

Drafting Jamal Shead, who I think can be a backup point guard, and two centres who are projects, is tidy business as well.

In just two days, Masai Ujiri and 'co have balanced their roster out.

12. The Knicks trade of Mikal Bridges makes them better, it makes them more entertaining, and it makes for a cool story.

But you don’t trade five first-round picks for someone that doesn’t make you a championship contender.

The Knicks remain a very good team. They are not a championship contender.

13. The Clippers losing Paul George for nothing not only cements his trade to LA as one of the worst trades ever, but it leaves me wondering about Kawhi Leonard.

If he stayed in Toronto, he could have become an all-time great.

No one won with him leaving the Raptors.

14. My thoughts on Canada’s important 1-0 win over Peru on Tuesday…

• Canada was not the better team until Peru was undermanned, but Peru should have been undermanned well before they actually were. A deserved, monkey-off-the-back kind of win

• There is no question who Canada’s goalie of the future is anymore. It’s Maxime Crepeau. Three brilliant caps under Jesse Marsch

• Jacob Shaffleburg should be in Canada’s lineup moving forward, in place of Richie Layera. He gives Canada a playmaking touch that has been otherwise absent.

15. The Liberals losing a stronghold riding in Toronto of all places should end any hope the Liberals have of competing in 2025 under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau not stepping down in the coming weeks would have the exact same impact that Kathleen Wynne not stepping down in 2018 had. It would be handing a majority government to the Conservatives.

16. The most damming part of the Liberal's defeat on Monday was not that people came out in waves for the Conservatives. It is that their longtime voters just... stayed home.

Apathy has set in.

17. Policy aside, here is what I do know about the first U.S. Presidential Debate.

If the Dems ran probably anyone else in their party, they would defeat Donald Trump. And vice versa if the Republicans ran anyone else against Joe Biden.

That speaks volumes about Trump and Biden, with the former being a repulsive, lying bully in the eyes of most Americans, and the latter nearing... death?

18. Given that, the Dems are the losers. In the case of the Republicans, there was simply no stopping Trump from reaching the top of the ticket. But the Dems had no business allowing Biden to run for a second term. I cannot even fathom that there was no succession plan in place.

Biden only won in 2020 because of Covid. He is not winning in 2024.

19. It is also just... gross that the Dems allowed Biden to run for reelection.

For all of his policy failures over his long, awful political career, even his biggest critic would say he is a good guy who has been through more in his life than anyone deserves.

Why have they allowed this to happen?

It is cruel punishment.

20. All of the above points are reflective, though. Everything turns to what the Dems do now.

For me, they have to get Biden to step down.

Replacing him with literally anyone else will bring back some independent voters, young voters, and Republicans who do not want to vote for Trump. It will not sway those truly on the right and left, but to simply win an election against Trump, they just need to bring back some voters.

21. Now, what will the Dems do?

No idea.

If you asked me in the moments after the debate, I would have bet on the Dems pushing Biden out.

But, this is a party that was stupid and arrogant enough to have him run again in the first place. I can see them trying to spin it, convincing Americans that what they saw with their own eyes is not reality.

Good luck with that, if so.