The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 2nd, 2026 - Mark Spector

0:00The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Say hello to Bleacher Report app today, so you never miss a moment. We welcome in, Mark Spector from Roger's Sportsnet Good Morning, Speck. What's going on, Kalehari, you ma'am. Good, good. How was your Cali road trip, Big fella? Oh, awesome. Awesome. Lots of goals. So lots of goals. That's for sure. Both ends. Both ends. Yeah. It was entertaining at both sides of the rink, my friend. Well, when you are second in the league in goals four, where the others are with 215, and you have, I believe, tied for fourth, worst now, after what shook down last night

1:03with 206. I guess you could say you're playing high-event hockey on both ends of the sheet. Yeah, way too high-event, right? That's their issue. They're scoring plenty. I mean, Gregor had the stat yesterday. Last ten games, the orders have the most goals in the NHL and the most goals against the NHL. And they're minus two on that front. So I did some, listed some stats. You made the point. Like, McDavid was on, McDavid and McDavid's lines on the ice for every goal, but one in San Jose. Frederick, yeah. They had three point nights and they went minus two. Yeah. So listen, I don't care. Since Christmas, I think we'd say that the owners got going pretty good before Christmas and then they've never really found the game after Christmas. Since Christmas, the orders top line with high-manager coquets and McDavid, they got 73 points since Christmas. And they're like, I think they're plus one. Yeah.

2:04They've got one more goal scored than a game. So great. They're out there scoring goals every night. Lots of the power play, but at even strength, they're getting caved in. And your leaders are leading you to play bad defensive hockey. This is on the top players. But I said, it was a minus player since Christmas. The minus player. I know there's some nights that go all 10, he's bad, but those guys are your leaders and they're leading you to play high up in hockey with a boxing net all night and you can't win when your leaders aren't good enough and you are the leaders of Edmonton are good enough full stop. So everyone says, Beck, if you ask any former NHL player, any current NHL player, what do they tell you? Defense is about hard work and awareness and the things that aren't easy, the things that aren't easy because I've never heard or seen a player that is tired when they have the puck on their stick because you're thinking about, man, this is, I got the puck on my stick. I'm thinking about creating stuff. But when you don't have the puck on your stick, right, spec, you are, I mean, it is about

3:05hard work. It's about putting the nose to the grindstone. That's everything. And for some reason, why aren't we seeing that? Why do we see something that doesn't look like guys know what they're doing in their own end? It's crazy, right? Yeah. It's crazy. You know, and those guys, you know, we always let them off the hook because they're paid to create offense and they are creating offense. But it looked what it's worth with all that offense. What's it getting? You know, they're going to get another right Ross Trophy and Bouchard, you know what, Bouchard and that comb are actually, they're, they're, they're well above water, and that comb's numbers are much better. But the second pairings getting caved in, you know, and caved in. So it's just even though the good work of Bouchard and that comb was being even out by the work of Nurse and Walman, Nurse among the regulars is the, by far the worst, you know, been on for the most goals of games. His game hasn't been any good all year. It's just the way it is. It's, and he's a leader.

4:05I wrote today, you know, you're, you're, you're hockey teams a little bit like a car. And there's certain parts that you can't replace. And Nurse is one, Nurse is a nine and a quarter million dollar guy. He's a 22 minute defenseman. He's got a no move clause. So you're going to win with them or you're going to lose with them. And you can't just say sit him down because we're those 22 minutes gone. Someone's got to take him. And frankly, echo, Mubu Sharda had enough. They can't play any more than they play. If Nurse is going to play like this, you're going to have a hard time winning and it's not just him. Yeah. But he's a big part of this. Well, and I said this earlier in this morning's fact, it's crazy to say this that many nights, many, many nights, tie Emerson's been the third best defenseman on this team. Yeah. Sure. He's playing great. Now, if you think you could give him 22 minutes, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. If you did that, would he look this good? I doubt it. Yeah. He's playing to his capabilities and his abilities and what his matchups are.

5:06And he's doing the job. He is absolutely. You know, he, he is, he's, he, he, listen, he's doing, that's great. But when you're third pairing defenseman and you're, you know, the depth, third and fourth line guys play, well, that's, that might help you win a game here and there. But we all know the engine that drives his team. It's the guys that are on the ice on every team, right? They don't tell me that your game swings around a third pairing defense. He's only on the ice for maybe a quarter of the game. What happens to the rest of the three quarters when everybody, all the main boys who were eating up all the ice time? Yeah. Those are the guys that decided if you're going to win or lose on a, you know, on a more regular basis. And Emerson has got a team that scores lots of goals and lets in one more right now every night. And if they don't figure it out, they won't win. We're expecting with this one sports 1440. So you saw all three games, Matt Savoy. What did you make of his play on this road trip? Hmm.

6:06Yeah, the rare real positive, right? Real positive. I wondered why no block knocked him off of that, you know, his line with dry subtle so quickly in the San Jose game. But rather than pote or moan, he went out and he played real well with Frederick. Can you set Frederick up for a goal? Well, man, a good play. I looked at it like spec when I saw that. I was like, well, because he's probably one of their best players here. And he's trying to get like, so instead of, you know, taking, you know, you could look at it like a negative, I'm looking at it like, hey, I got a guy here who can get other guys going. And that's where I think that's the route I think he was taking there. And then it worked. Like I'll give no block credit for that. If that's, if that was his plan, I'm, I assume it was because Savoy has been one of the best players here. Good for him. Good coaching, right? He gets out of the line going. He coaxes a rare goal out of Frederick. That'll help him feel a little bit better. So good for it. No, Maddie Savoy had a really, really good run here.

7:07It's kind of funny because, you know, there's a for sure, a positive of what's been going on here. And the puck wasn't in the net when he was on the, in the orders net when he was on the ice either, which is something that everybody could take notice of here. And that would, would you say that's, uh, Trent Fredericks, best three game stretch in well, probably. His entire time. He played, sure, you know, I'm a little, I'm a little, yeah, I mean, yes, it's short answers. Yes. I'm a little, little, I'm starting to question how, how, how low is the bar going to get for Frederick? I know what you get. One point in three games. Yeah. Right? At one point. So are we, I think he had one point, is that not right? Yeah. He had one. Yeah. We all going to raise a, you know, let the trumpet sound because the guy had a point. I just think that he, I think he was more involved, more involved for sure. But like, he is, listen, compared to the way the first 60 games are gone, he was outstanding

8:08this weekend. So that's good. And let's hope it goes north for there. Everybody like Trent Fredericks, we all see what he could bring to this team. So, you know, keep it going, man, I'm all for it. I get where you're saying, spec about, you know, where's the bar? So it's up to him to raise that level, raise the level of the bar right now. Yeah. He's got, what's he got? Four points this season. Yeah. You know, he's got three goals, three goals, one assists, he's minus 13. Yeah. So, you know, let's hope he can become a 10 point player before the season is over. I guess that'd be a good thing. Yeah. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights

9:11all in one place. I love the Bleacher Report app today, so you never miss a moment. Hey, what would you put a percentage on Regula getting cleaned today? Certainly more than Manjipani. You know, Manjipani's not getting cleaned because I think if I'm in opposing GM, I know that if I want Manjipani, it might be able to get a third or fourth round pick with them. Yeah. You know, if I just phone up stand moment. So, you know, Regula, at the start of the season more than now, he hasn't had a great season. He hasn't played regularly, but he does have those tools. He's the six-foot, four-right shot defenseman. You know, he's that contract, could he be big Vince DeHarnay one day, and I don't know, maybe better. Skates better than Vinnie. Yeah, he doesn't have that physical kind of presence, but he skates better and he moves

10:13a puck better than Vinnie does. So I don't know, you know, somebody might pick him up. Yeah. I mean, either way, the orders aren't using him, so it wouldn't hurt Evan to end the short term. I think they'd still like to see how this project turns out, but I'll be honest with you. He's stalled here, like he hasn't played. He doesn't play anymore for the orders. Well, what does it tell you, then, spec, that, you know, it was about two, three months ago or whatever it was, that the decision on waving Ragula and Stetcher came down to well, you know, younger. He's got one more year left on his contract, so they wave Stetcher. He gets picked up by Toronto has been a regular since. So another wave in Ragula, after two and a half months' difference, what does that tell you? Well, what does it tell you that they have, obviously, they're in salary cap issues? I mean, either way, we're talking about two guys that were seven of defensemen here. Do you think that if Stetcher was here, what would he be? Would he be playing instead of what? Would he be playing instead of Spencer Stashney?

11:15He'd be in an out. Yeah. So he's a seven defenseman, like, let's not get all excited about, about seven defensemen. You can always find one. I'm not. You know, I'm really happy for Troy Stetcher, but remember, he went to a team that's about third last in the East. I'm not telling you the orders are a great team. That's not what I'm saying, but he walked on to a defense that's horrible. And he's playing the time and he's playing good. But he wasn't going to play that much at Edmonton. So, you know what, it just happens to us. I see people roasted moment about losing Stetcher. I mean, come on here. Really? Mark Spector with this in Sports 41040. So a trade deadline on Friday, like are you thinking it's going to be busy? I mean, we talked about the currency or lack thereof that the owners have spec. What can Stan Bowman do here? And I know he's going to speak to the media today. That's correct. Yeah. He has to speak after practice, apparently. So that's good. Hey, he's got to pull a rabid out of a hat a little bit here, doesn't he?

12:19Like he's got him, you know, because of the, he, you know, he's the guy who's dug a pretty big hole here. His, his July first wasn't any good. Uh, the, the Jerry trade was a disaster at this point. And you know how it works with GM's, Kev, the, the, you know, at one point, you might ask him to just put the damn shovel down and walk away, like if you keep digging, what happens? The hole gets bigger. But that's not how it works here in Edmonton. It's, it's his job to get this team to a Stanley Cup and, and if you to ask him on September 1st, how much, you know, how big a deal he had to make today, I don't think any of us realized how big it has to be for this team to recover from a pretty lousy season from the front office. So he's got a, he's got a clear out cap space somehow, which is going to cost him capital. And then he's got to bring in good players. And he's got to, I'm not saying it can't happen. It can happen.

13:19But he's got to really pull a rabbit out of the hat to, to, to, as swage the problems on this team, many of which are self-inflicted. Yeah. Um, is his seat getting warm? Spec? No. I don't think so. No. No. Why not? I mean, I don't, I don't think so. I don't think that. No, I would say no. The seat isn't getting warm for anybody here. I, I certainly, I'm not blaming no block, you know, with, with the lineup he's been given to work with. Again, it's no block's best players that are, that, in my opinion, it's the best players that are, that are standing in the way of this team playing the kind of hockey they need to play to win. Right? And I just, I feel like it's those guys that are on the ice all the time and it's those guys that are fish and pucks out of there, not all the time. And are you, is this no blocks fault? You know, that, I mean, again, that top line, it's one of the top number one lines in the, in the national honky league, since Christmas, they're one goal above water. 50% team.

14:20If you're best lines 50% like goal differential, what's that mean for the rest of your second third and fourth line? How they going to be? Are they supposed to carry your team like the best lines supposed to have a goal differential that's in the, that's in the top. So when you're third and fourth line or a little below, you can make up for it and it's not working that way. They just, until the best guys start playing proper defensive hockey, they will not win full stop. You can find me 10 NHL coaches. It doesn't matter. Yeah. Speck has always good stuff. Big fella. When are you? How was your weekend? What's going on? That was a, a big dinner on Saturday night after taking the guys to the woodshed at the ranch for the season series. So I had to go to Marie McCourt's and he, I mean, his wife put on a lovely spread. So it's the first year I didn't host it. We didn't host it because I won, Speck, which is a rarity, a rarity. Well, the season matches, like you play all season, you know, and most, like for the

15:22last six years, I think we've hosted every year. That's how bad these guys beat me. It's not fun, man. It's not fun. Well, I mean, the other, like they're, they're driving the ball 60, 70 yards past you spec. It's just, it's deflating. It's deflating every time you go out. You're up, Kev. Yeah. You're up. Exactly. And then we haven't even gotten near the green where that's, it gets worse. So. All right, you coming down here, Bowman today? You know what? I got hockey today. So I'm going to go and play, play hockey soon. I might need a little help down there. Holy cow. I've been taking a beaten lake. You're trying to ask the right questions. You'll be fine. You'll be fine. You go there and shut up. You'll be fine. Gordon D just texted. Good morning, KKK. He came his fan because he has the backbone for asking tough questions from winners players. Thanks, Gordon. Well, thanks, Gordy. Yeah. It's one of the, one, there's just one guy. All right. Hey, you and me, Gordy, I think we're outnumbered.

16:25Ah, you can handle our big guy. You can handle it. All right. We'll see you down. Well, we enjoy that hockey today. I'll just go down and fill your show with content for tomorrow and no problem, buddy. Hey, that's the way she goes, man. Okay, see you later. All right. See you later there, Gretzky. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights

17:25all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.