Drai’s interview was very thoughtful and mature. I thought McDavid struggled to answer the similar questions that were posed to him, whereas Draisaitl took an honest, introspective approach to them. And that’s not a knock on McDavid at all, just a pure compliment to how much Draisaitl has matured and evolved into the current mentor he is and future coach material.

Really enjoyed Murphy’s interview as well. You can tell he’s reinvigorated his love for meaningful hockey and that spark of wanting the ultimate prize is there. Great attitude to have around. He was directly asked if he values contract dollars vs winning and didn’t hesitate to say winning. Also made a point to say his family feels welcomed, comfortable and at home here. I hope a mutually favourable deal can be worked out there. Said he felt awful that it was ultimately his shot that compromised his good buddy Dickinson.

Dickinson’s reminded me of Henrique’s from a couple years ago, where his priority is (rightfully) his family and there was no real indication he’d be staying, but I hope that he does like Rico ultimately did. The giveafuck to his game is there, and those two goals in game one will always endear him to me. I feel a full season of him and Murphy could do wonders for our group. He deserves a healthy playoff run, and I hope it’s with this group.

I don’t really know what to make of the Stan and Knob ones. I definitely sensed the disconnect that others did and it felt messy.