Are Connor Hellebuyck and the Devils True Stanley Cup Contenders?

What do you do with New Jersey? Because they obviously have Hughes and they've got a young superstar that is coming into his own, but they just added a goaltender that I love betting on in Connor Hellebuck. I watched him play here in Vegas against the Golden Knights. It was a 5-2 win for Jersey. I want to get involved. I haven't gotten involved with them, but are they serious from a cup contending standpoint? Do you think Jersey is a team to watch? Yes, they've been disappointing. Matt, the thing about Jersey is. Everybody was on them years ago. Remember, like, oh, they're the hip team. They're the hip team, like, the last couple years. Now, you know, we wish the numbers were better. God, I wish we made this move before Hellebuck got there. But now, he's rejoined. Like, that's the whole thing. Like, you look at the Jets team, it's kind of like a cancer with the team. Bad things happen, you know? I want out. Bad vibes. This team is not that bad to lose nine in a row. And then, now you're in New Jersey going, we've been underachieving the last four years. Hellebuck comes in. Refresh. Great. Gets a home win, too. He was money on the road. So, yes, I am buying it. Because you look at the East and go, okay, Florida's getting older. Tampa Bay's older. Boston's good. But are they really good enough unless they get more scoring, though? So that's kind of what I look at. Montreal's good, but a little bit flaky. So, yeah, New Jersey. Like, when you look at the New Jersey Devils, I'm like, with good goaltending, Matt, why not? They have everything else, right? But year after year after year, there's just certain teams that have disappointed you. But if Hellebuck Plays the way he has so far early. Yes, the Devils could go to the Stanley Cup final and win. I also think there's a motivation factor for Hellebuck because he forced his way out. And so he goes to a new team and he has to kind of justify that like I was right to ask out to get traded here. And Jersey gave up quite a bit to go get him as well. So there comes the expectation of joining a new hockey team. I don't know, maybe new places and just kind of beginner's luck type situation where all of a sudden that whole dressing room's like, We got Connor Hellebuck? Exactly. We got that guy? Okay, let's go. It motivates everyone. Look who they had, Matt. Jake Allen, like a career backup and stuff. That's the whole thing. Like the upgrade in the goaltending situation. Hell, they had Schmid. You know what I mean? Schmid. What, is he on the PGA Tour? I'm like, did I bet this guy at 150 to 1 with Brady in golf? And now you've got a real goaltender. And that's scary stuff. I went to a New Jersey game when... When I was in visiting New York, so Pharrell took me to the Devils game. I went with George Kurtz to the Islander game and I went to, I did the hockey tour when I was there. Let me tell you, Matt, as a Canadian, I go, my girlfriend's there. I go, can I get a double vodka and Heineken? That's 92 dollars. 90, 92, I'm paying 120, 130 Canadian for beers. I go, honey, get a flask, get on the train and we're not, this is the last time I'm buying drinks at a game. I could have gone to Mexico for a week. So, yeah, I'm just telling you, I really like the situation. Matt, I'm going to ask you about this one, though. So this Hellebuck situation gets done. What's this Larkin? Like, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? I feel like the NHL is copying some other sports, namely like the NBA, because you have superstar players. Now, we talked about Kucherov at the top. You obviously have Larkin with the Red Wings. You had Hellebuck here with the G. I mean, there's just a lot of issues with superstar players. And maybe because Hellebuck did get traded, maybe there's some agents out there that say, hey, you know, the water is warm here. We can jump in and make these teams trade you. Because of what happened with Hellebuck. So maybe there's some thought that there is some power. But what does Larkin have over the Red Wings? They're like, hey, you're not playing. It's fine. You want traded? Great. Sit. Ice. You're not playing until we figure out what to do with you. And you wonder if Tampa Bay does the same thing with Kucherov. I'm with you. I don't like it. In-season stuff, I don't like when players do this. It's wrong. And the thing is, and I don't even understand. Like, you can understand. I'll use football, for example. Like, say, Max Crosby, okay? Like, uh, I know it failed the physical or whatever, but when a team is junk, like the Raiders or somebody on the Browns for that long after a while, you're like, okay, I'm done. You know what I mean? I understand this team drafted me. I've been a loyal soldier for years. Now I want a piece of something. At least I want to go to a better team. It sucks. Right. But the Detroit Red Wings were a team kind of, you know, they were getting better. I'm not going to say they're great, but they're okay. They're competitive. I don't know. Larkin's just one of those guys. It seems like he's just got a problem with everything. He's always bitching.