DuPont’s 10 Things
By: Darren DuPont
Welcome to trade deadline week in the NHL! I’m drinking out of a giant coffee cup that’s shaped like a curling rock so naturally we will talk about the Brier too. Let’s go:
1. Trade Deadline – Friday marks the NHL trade deadline and surely things will pick up between now and Friday’s 3pm ET deadline. Last year Florida added Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo at the deadline before going on a run to their first ever Stanley Cup. Who makes the biggest splash this time around? On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers got into the action acquiring forward Trent Frederic from the Boston Bruins but I don’t think they’re done. I’ll give you one wishlist item for each of the 7 Canadian clubs.
2. The West – Let’s start out west with the Vancouver Canucks. I’d like the Canucks to swing for Dylan Cozens out of Buffalo. It wasn’t that long ago that Elliotte Friedman suggested a possible Cozens/Bowen Byram for Elias Pettersson swap. Could be good for everyone. At least we saw Pettersson own some of his struggles Tuesday night. For the Edmonton Oilers, I’d like them to swing for Jordan Binnington. If they’re serious about a cup, Binner could put them over the top. (It’s a wishlist, ok?) I have one wish for the Calgary Flames: acquire more draft picks. The Flames have cap space available and can use that to eat salary as contending teams load up and in return they can stockpile the cupboards with more picks. The Winnipeg Jets should target Alex Tuch from Buffalo to bolster their second line. In all honesty I don’t know how much Winnipeg should even tinker with what’s been working but Tuch would be on my wishlist.
3. The East – Let’s start with the Ottawa Senators. They could use a little added scoring so I’d wish for Rickard Rakell from Pittsburgh. His 28 goals would surely help but they’ll need to work to squeeze his $5M cap hit onto the books. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Brayden Schenn and that would be my top wish for the Buds. The Montreal Canadiens were dealt another blow with the loss of Kirby Dach for the rest of the season. They’ll need a second line centre and it could be Ryan Donato out of Chicago. Donato is just 28 and on an expiring contract though I actually feel like the Habs may sit back and do nothing come Friday.
4. 10 Back – Have you run into “Gr8 Chase” fatigue? The networks are all over it daily as Alex Ovechkin continues to chase history and now sits just 11 goals away from breaking 99’s all-time goals record. I’m not sick of it and I’ll be watching every Caps game once he’s within striking distance. This is historic stuff and doesn’t happen very often.
5. Wait, 60 back? – If you include playoffs, Wayne actually has 1,016 career goals while Ovi is 60 back at 956. Better question maybe is does he beat THAT mark? I actually think he’ll hit that one too. This is wild stuff. Which means more? Does it even matter?
5. The Brier – Watching Rylan Kleiter on Tuesday at the Brier should give all of Saskatchewan hope that the future of men’s curling in the province is bright. The young group pushed Brad Jacobs in the afternoon and then pulled off an impressive win Tuesday night over Ontario. They’re firmly in the playoff mix heading into Wednesday. Meanwhile, Mike McEwen continues to be great wearing green at the Brier. They remain perfect and atop their pool as they try to make their way back to the Brier final.
6. Did I hear that right? – I believe I heard during coverage this week that a Mike McEwen win at the Brier would NOT end the Saskatchewan championship drought that dates back to Rick Folk’s win in 1980. What??? McEwen is representing Saskatchewan this week but not as the provincial champion. This is outrageous if it’s true. I mean, does it really matter? If McEwen wins the drought is over. Period. The thing that bugs me about this is that his team had already locked up a wildcard Brier berth based on their play so they weren’t even able to play in the Saskatchewan provincial playdowns. That already bugged me because those things matter. Winning a second-straight provincial championship matters. They never even had the chance to do it. These sorts of technicalities don’t usually make their way into the history books. Victim of their own success? Maybe. But this doesn’t sit right with me. I hope I’m wrong.
7. Movies – A couple things about the Brier being in the Pacific time zone is that I can sleep in (though I miss the morning draw with my coffee) and I can sneak in an early-evening movie before the final draw of the night. It allowed us to check out Captain America late last week (Harrison Ford was fantastic) and Last Breath on Tuesday night. Rod was right, Last Breath was great. It was thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Check them out at your nearest Landmark Cinemas.
8. Star Power – On Monday news broke that tennis legend Serena Williams is joining the ownership group of the WNBA’s Toronto Temp expansion franchise. The team is set to begin play in 2026 and adding Williams to the franchise is big news. In an era where women’s sports has never been more in the spotlight this is huge for a new team and the first outside the USA. Stars, celebrity, attention. It all matters and the WNBA is riding the wave.
9. NFL – It’s probably no surprise that the Philadelphia Eagles are early favourites to repeat as Super Bowl champions. The Eagles (+650) just gave Saquon Barkley a raise that makes him the first ever $20M running back. The Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills (all +700) are close behind while the Detroit Lions (+850) round out the top-5. No surprise. Who’s 32nd? The Tennessee Titans (+20000). Could a rookie QB and a couple key FA additions make me some money? A $10 bet would pay $2,010. Let’s be honest, a $10 bet would simply lose me $10.
10. Randoms – Watched the Oscars on Sunday night. Adrien Brody took home top actor for his work in The Brutalist while the movie Anora won best picture. Haven’t seen either but I actually want to. Felt like a really quiet year for really good movies… I think 2025 will be a bounce-back year for movies. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theatres in May and I’ll be waiting in line… Defenceman Cam Reid is a star and should be a first-round pick in this summer’s NHL entry draft. The Kitchener Rangers defenceman is my second-favourite behind Matthew Schaefer, who I’m convinced should go #1…. With the amount of time I’ve spent in Palm Springs the last few years and my love for tennis you’d think I’d have gone to the Indian Wells tournament at least once. It arrived this week and, while I’ll be watching, remains on my bucket list. Hitting the Australian Open in January is also on my bucket list… If you send me political content you should know I’m probably not going to check it out… On that note, being rude or condescending is never cool.
Kindness and respect always win. Have a great rest of the week and weekend.
DD
Hollywood has an agenda to push and quotas to meet, not a recipe for good films.
I really enjoyed reading this—very insightful!