FULL SHOW | NHL Draft | Utah Jazz Draft and Free Agency | Interviews with Utah Hockey Club Picks
is 975 the KSL Sports [Music] [Applause] [Music] Zone oh yeah man how you doing you good I know you’re like I know you [Music] like I see the girls in the get wild welcome into the Saturday show everybody hope you’re doing well on this Saturday morning I’m Jay catch uh co-host in the show today alongside Alex napis what’s up Alex how’s it going man it’s been a it’s been a busy week huh oh it’s been an eventful morning already too that’s the thing about this so yeah it’s been a busy week there’s no doubt about that there’s always uh things going on in the Sports World I had people ask me all the time this time of year well this is your downtime I’m like yeah downtime wink wink it’s feels like it’s always non-stop it feels like but uh the bigger thing is is there’s always something to talk about and this week it’s been the draft just and we we’ll dig into this in a moment uh we’ve had both the NBA and the NHL draft find enough the NHL draft uh continuing on we’re going to be joined by uh Kyle Ireland who is down in Las Vegas he got experienced the sphere last night where they’re holding the NHL draft the shots of it on ESPN they like a really really cool deal uh so we’ll catch up with him at 11 o’clock and get his uh thoughts on how things are going with the NHL draft but yeah it’s been a really really busy week on that front but before we dig into that I like to do this to start the show you got a highlight of the week for us I think my highlight of the week this week um oh man it’s been a kind of an uneventful week I’m going to be honest I haven’t really been able to I didn’t really do much this week I if I’m going to go with highlight of the week I I will say it’s the NBA draft just uh being able to sit down watch it that’ll be my highlight what’ you think of the two-day thing real quick we’ll dig more into this in a moment it could it could have been done in one okay fair enough I agree with you on that we got Parker by the way Parker like first time producing the show so Parker what’s up oh you know not too much okay well you got a highlight of the week for us kind of trying not to set everything on fire hey it’s hard to do that in in this circumstance but you got a highlight of the week for us no not really my my brain is pretty focused on this so uh I got I got nothing else Ratt rattling up in there I can understand that we’ve yeah so uh highlight of my week uh quite frankly goes to my son it’s his sixth birthday today oh happy quite literally today so he’s number two of my three kids uh had a chance to celebrate had his birthday party yesterday uh we were going to have it today but you know when it’s a 10 degree difference where it’s 85 yesterday it’s supposed to be 90 whatever it’s supposed to be today we’re like you know what we’re gonna move that forward because he wanted to go to the pool so we went to the pool yesterday afternoon had a good time uh and yeah so happy birthday to Colton uh getting big it’s crazy thing I’ve got kids that are now eight six and obviously my youngest is eight months old but crazy crazy times happy birthday Colton yeah so happy birthday to you little man all right so let’s dive in and let’s start I want to start C olical order uh but let’s just say this way I I got here to the station and kind of pulled up social media apparently the Utah Hockey Club is all over the place right now they’re making moves as they say I think the best thing um about all this was last night when Ryan Smith took the stage and was immediately met with booze and he was like you can’t boo us we haven’t done anything best part he ended up kind of doing the whole like yeah come on let us have I love that I love when people EMB rce what’s going on what a start to that draft uh for Ryan Smith yeah so uh we we thought about uh the whole situation with the uh NHL draft is I think we’re and I wanted to go in chronological order but I’m I’m shaking it up we’re going to talk NHL here because the Utah Hockey Club is making moves we’ll get to the trades here in a moment because there’s a pair that have come in already this morning that the Utah Hockey Club has made but the fun part about last night was yes Ryan and Ashley Smith are up there Gary Ban’s like hey welcome to the Utah Hockey Club they’re making the first ever pick and immediately met with booze it was like yes yes we can be the villain here we like this and then the the best part was all the coyotes fans in the crowd responding after he said it and he was like you took our team yeah but well your team doesn’t exist anymore because you’re literally your owner decided you know what I’m not fighting this fight anymore Alex MLL stepping aside it crazy crazy stuff there’s no doubt about it but you just look at this it’s a really really fun time cuz we’re watching a team be born and I I know that it’s not an expansion team so it doesn’t have the same amount of signings and everything going on but the fun part is we’re seeing all of these different moving parts of a team that what are we conservatively 500 yards away from the entrance to the Delta Center right there here in our studios here at Triad Center is coming up in September NHL hockey is going to be calling Salt Lake City home and to see it all come and so quickly and see everything kind of take shape so like everything come to fruition so fast it’s amazing to see not only the community rally not only to see people like Ryan Smith and and and everybody who’s a part of the organization kind of come together so quickly but it makes you excited it it gives you these feelings this feeling in your bones of of excitement and joy to know that we’re going to have yet another professional team here and and we’re going to be able to to to see this team start from scratch and kind of take their journey into this league so I’m very excited for hockey man I am too it’s it’s kind of funny I have people ask me quite a bit like so what what how how much have you learned about the sport and everything I’m like I’m still learning I’ll be very honest and it’s probably going to take some time it probably will take actually watching this team playing and what not and kind of just getting into seeing the machinations of what the sport entails to really understand it but it’s a really really fun time because we had Uh Kevin Graham and those of you who are longtime radio listeners will know who Kevin Graham is he’s done radio here like three different stints uh he’s been a program director all over the country in some of the biggest markets we’re talking Boston New York he was there when the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the NHL way back when he was actually working in Columbus at the time he’s worked at kmbr in the Bay Area and worked with San Jose Sharks he knows what hockey can do for a market and he came in studio yesterday with DJ and PK and he said I am super excited and he called Utah the most underrated Market in the United States it’s really cool to considered to have another uh professional franchise one of the big four and it’s nothing against Utah Warriors the Salt Lake shred even real Salt Lake Utah Rose those are all professional sports but they call them the big four for a reason that means the NBA the NFL the NHL and the MLB we’re going to have two of the four here and it’s exciting to think about the Delta Center being that much busier having that many more fans walking through and I’m excited to see you know Ryan Smith’s plan to kind of revamp the Delta Center and revamp this area around here I love the plans I love the the like I said just the bare excitement of being able to create something from scratch and you can see it from from ownership and I think that’s a huge key part is having the ownership and people at the top of the organization involved um the way that Ryan Smith is um like I said at the end of the day man it’s exciting to ju to just see all this come together so quickly I’m very excited for this and like you said Utah is an underrated Market I feel like if you’re not really in Salt Lake or in Utah you don’t really understand um kind of what goes on here what kind of what what happens in here and it’s it’s amazing to see like I said the community rally for this this hockey team it it is and you’re going to see more of it as the season gets closer even absolutely uh it’s the thing about it is when they had the team show up here like when they first came here the fact that the fire marshall had say nobody else is going in the building that was awesome uh I know that Alex and JJ that day if I recall correctly they walked around the kind of this the arena just to see okay who’s representing who like is it a bunch of like just Utah people who are seeing their new team they said that they saw essentially every other NHL team was represented in that crowd a bunch of minor league uh hockey team like just uh sweaters as they like to call them in hockey I learned I’m learning the lingo here as we go along uh but the thing is they they said it’s a really really cool thing to see that but the nice part is there’s a large large contingent of people I’ll include myself in this who have never really truly had an NHL team guess what I’m glomming right onto it because it’s my hometown team now you have it yeah now you have it and and I think that’s going to be key as to building the fan base of this team right a lot of the people who like hockey and a lot of people who are into hockey they’ve already kind of gravitated to a team outside of market so I think having somewhat of an early success for the Utah Hockey Club will be important to kind of grab the local fan base and say hey we are here we have made it this is our team now and and success is going to bring in those fans that are kind of like have a team outside of Market might leaning now towards the Utah Hockey Club and want to be a part of that team well and the other thing about it is I’m going to Echo something that Kevin Graham said yesterday that he said there’s a better chance for Utah to Hoist the Stanley Cup then to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy and he makes a good point in that in the NHL a lot of these guys are from places like medicon Hat Alberta Canada and they’re they’re out of the way places and it’s nothing against Medicine Hat it’s a great name for a town let’s be very clear about this but Salt Lake City to them they’re hockey players they want to go where the money is and we’ll get to this momentarily there’s trades happening so there’s a I think there’s a better chance for Utah to build a Stanley Cup caliber Squad here in Sal Lake City in shorter time than maybe to build with the NBA because I know the NBA is kind of Market driven in many respects NHL doesn’t seem to be that way there was a I can’t remember who he sat down with but the GM Bill Armstrong sat down with a with a podcast a little a couple weeks ago and I remember JJ and Alex were talking about it on their show but he sat down with he sat down on a podcast and he basically said look we have the room to to play around with cap with space with with cap space and and with money and like agents are calling him and trying to get their players to come to Utah so it’s exciting to see guys who you know are already in the NHL and and have already experienced this league kind of want or have a desire to come to Utah and be a part of this new thing that’s happening here well okay so let’s start off with the trades uh a pair of them we’ll get to the draft here in moment I actually plan on starting with the draft draft but you know when breaking news happen let’s talk about the breaking news uh first thing came in Mikel sergachev has been traded uh to Utah in return for JJ Moser Connor geeky by the way Connor has one of the better names I thought of the Utah Hockey Club roster and then some draft picks going back to Tampa Bay in this trade uh but sergachev uh reading up on him just very briefly here and let me reiterate I am in no way an expert on this but reading some of the the takes from different uh Med personalities out there to cover the NHL this is a guy who’s considered to be a top 10 caliber defenseman in the National Hockey League so the whole thought process going into the draft last night was okay they’re goingon to go take a defenseman nope we’re taking a center they went TJ ginla uh we’ll get to ginla here in a minute but apparently they had idea you know what we’re just going to trade for play now defenseman and let’s take the future when it comes to our attack and so the first one Mikel sergachev the other one ends up coming in for John Marino he is is coming uh from the New Jersey Devils and he is being traded for a pick uh coming up in today the latter half latter part of this Draft today uh both of these guys in their Prime in theory 26 years old and sergachev 27 year old 27 years old on Marino and if you look at the stats for this Utah Hockey Club formerly the Arizona Coyotes last year was they were pretty good in attack but very leaky on the back end their defense was not good and if you can get guys apparently defenseman of this caliber that’s a good sign for this club and it’s not even noon mountain time yet so I’m a big believer in defense wins championships I love that the Utah Hockey Club has taken this approach and going for uh guys who’ve already you know proven themselves in this league who already have experience in this league especially on the defensive end and bring both to bolster that defense um and to hopefully help your defense improve because yeah like you mentioned I’ve heard it a lot that the Arizona Coyotes were were kind of leaky and so for them to be on the Forefront making these defens moves uh right off the bat I like that I like that move from the Utah hockey club now so it’s so the overall trades here let me run these down one more time so Utah Hockey Club has traded with Tampa Bay and received Mel sergachev in exchange for Connor geeki JJ Moser the 199th overall pick and then their and a 2025 second round pick so that’s the whole deal for sergachev on that side of thing so uh giving up a bunch of pieces there to make it happen uh he registered two goals 17 assists in 34 games uh the thing about this is we heard all the time how Utah had so many draft picks coming into this draft 13 and all you know what if you can cash them in for guys like this that’s a that’s a positive on that front now on the other trade the Utah Hockey Club according to what we’re seeing from Utah Hockey Club as well as our friends at KSL Sports Kyle Ireland by the way killing this by the way uh they have traded the number 49 overall pick in today’s draft in exchange for John Marino uh it’s part of the 2024 second round of the NHL draft coming up it actually start it’s actually starting in about 15 minutes so 10:30 Mountain Times when he gets going uh he had four goals and 21 assists in 75 games last season so uh he played obviously a large large chunk of the Season where sergachev playing only 34 games it maybe indicates maybe some injury concerns cropped up but yeah they’re they’re making moves here and that’s a positive because if you believe some of the well not believe if you read the stories about how the coyotes used to operate they were very like as basic as they could come that’s not way that Ryan Smith’s going to operate this thing he wants to make it top tier no we seen it we’ve seen it with the Jazz we’ve seen it with with Ry Sal Lake that they’re not AF he’s not afraid to to make these kinds of moves he’s not afraid to to you know invest in his Squad and because I think ultimately at the end of the day like he says he wants to bring a championship to Salt Lake City he wants to bring a championship to Utah and sometimes you got to Splash the cash in order to make you you go to you got to Splash the cash in order to make some of these uh some of these things happen yeah it it’s kind of crazy to watch uh how this is developing now all these rosters are in flux right now last night the NHL draft held in the sphere down there in Las Vegas I thought it was a really cool scene uh frankly I I’m DJ said this yesterday as well we we’ve been we’ve been talking about all week why is the NHL the first uh League to have realized hey that sphere thing’s pretty cool let’s use that for our draft like it’s kind of funny they were the league to to use it and the shots of I was not there in person but the shots of it on TV it was a really really cool concept I it came off very very well well seems like a very NFL move to kind of want to be the first people to be in the sphere yeah but the NFL was there last year they could have been in the sphere but they were over at the bagio and hanging out at Legion Stadium yeah so I don’t know uh look the sphere looks incredible U just being able to see you know the pictures being able to see kind of uh the coverage from from from the networks and ESPN and whatnot the sphere looked fantastic and I think you know other leagues are going to see that you know maybe possibly the NFL they’re going to see that hey we want that that looks freaking amazing well and the other thing about it was is you watch it the and the way the sphere is built it’s supposed to be an immersive experience well the shots when they were kind of showing from the crowd shot angle yeah it’s about as immersive as it comes because you’re like you’re looking at that you’re like wow there’s a lot going on here and like they’re like Parker some people how had to do it because they were like showing like okay recent draft picks for different teams and whatnot and these pictures are popping up all over but that’s a really cool thing because it adds to The Fan Experience of all this the other thing about this I will give the NHL credit I admit I have not really watched NHL drafts in the past if at all but one thing that I love is and we’ll get to the NBA draft here in we probably hit in our next segment is the NBA draft remember when they when they make these trades you hear about trades on social media the team that uh still has still has to make the pick so remember Donovan Mitchell was drafted originally by the Denver Nuggets okay oh great that’s awesome you know what I like about the NHL draft is Gary bman the commissioner gets up and they have the horn going off last night we’ve got a trade they let out what the trade is and then they say hey team X you’re on the clock there’s none of this dog and pony show of hey the Denver Nuggets are selecting Donovan Mitchell on behalf of the Utah stop it dumb stupid I’m glad the NHL’s got that figured out uh I think transparency like that is key especially when in these moments of of of drafting these young guys transparency is key um to you know for not only for the fans but also for the guys who are being picked right yeah for to to have your name called by one team and then be like oh we’re going to actually trade you over here and then there’s uncertainty like look at Walker Kessler a couple years ago where he got drafted by Minnesota and then all of a sudden oh you’re actually going to Utah yeah and see the funny part is if you look if you go back and look at the 20 what was Donovan mitell 2020 2016 draft 2017 draft whatever right in that you look at the draft night picture he’s wearing a Denver Nuggets hat yes he never once step foot in Denver outside of playing for the Utah Jazz in Denver against said nuggets I it’s it’s so funny to me that that’s why the NBA is stuck doing that now it may be something in their bylaws I’m assuming that necessitates that change it do what the NHL did announc okay we’ve got a trade team X and team X are trading and now team X you’re on the clock it was right at the tail end of the NHL draft last night the uh not the Houston Oilers wow that was a throwback the Edmonton Oilers got back they got a 32nd pi pick and they traded in and Gary B said we’ve got another trade and you could tell he’s like we’ve had a lot of action tonight but then he announces it and he said Edmonton you’re on the clock and immediately pops up to the that’s the way it should be don’t make these guys wear a team that they’re literally in Walker Kessler’s case Minnesota Timberwolves he’s not going to be playing for him he’s going to get traded a week later as part of the Rudy gobear deal he’s gonna be suting up for the Utah Jazz those draft night ones make it so the team that they’re actually going to be played for they’re wearing that cap when they have that picture taken and it it it’s you know it’s weird when teams kind of like show like you know the videos of them being drafted up there with the commissioner and then they’re like wearing some other team’s logos that’s I think that’s weird it is now uh so last night the draft for the Utah Hockey Club they stuck at their spot at number six and I was sitting there I’m like all right defenseman defenseman defens and the way that the draft board had fallen last night is they had their pick of whoever they wanted uh uh they had essentially everybody that they’ been rumored to be linked to defense-wise was like okay they’re on the table who are they going with and then like in like just a shocker we have drafted T ainla and I will admit I was like ainla that sounds familiar and then his dad is Jerome ainla who is an NHL Hall of Famer uh he played for Team Canada when they won the 2002 Winter Olympic Games obviously held here in Salt Lake City he actually scored scored two goals in the gold medal game of that uh of that win uh his son a 17-year-old Center he joins Utah hockey club now you heard me right 17 years old about as young as it comes when it comes to the NHL draft uh I would imagine he’s going to be hard pressed to join the Utah Hockey Club this year but hey when you have a dad who is an NHL Hall of Famer seems like a pretty decent bet that the it’s going to work out for this young man when you have someone who has already been successful in the NHL kind of helping you with that transition I feel like that helps out aot lot hey Dad uh what do I do about this well son here here’s how I handled it and the other thing about this is he has he’s one up his dad cuz I I went back and read it Jerome MCA was taken with the 11th pick when he was taken in the NHL draft well his son can now say hey Dad I got you by five picks I was taking number six but they are the sixth fatherson Duo reading up on this to be taken in the first 15 picks of the NHL draft uh it’s cool to see this happening and you mentioned it a little earlier on I think that having Ryan Smith up there kind of embracing the hate as as it were it’s just cool to see them up there and this is a historic moment years from now when you want to play a trivia game they’re like hey who is the first pick in Utah Hockey Club history well if you were there and you’re watching it TJ ginla you’re going to know what that answer is because you watched it happened live there was a lot of really exciting moments I think overall just in this draft and there was I think three picks before when Becket uh sen I think that’s how you say his name yeah I remember how to I know I know you’re talking about cuz where he was just absolutely mind-boggled that he got taken third the Anaheim Ducks took him and he stands up and let’s put this way if you read his lips he out the word we can’t say on the radio CU he was he was floored they was taking number three overall he was surprised cuz he he’s a forward as well and the Anaheim Ducks similar to the Utah Hockey Club were rumored to be taking a defenseman and they decided to go they decided to go with with a forward and yeah he was very surprised I think moments like that is what makes draft night for any team for any sport so so unique and so um what’s the word I’m looking for so so amazing to watch so incredible to watch is just seeing that reaction of you know this guy who’s now going to be playing professionally and when he least expected it I don’t you know he didn’t think he was going third he had that reaction and it was just such a beautiful moment U for me to watch on TV yeah and so the the funny thing about this is I love stories that come out of connections guys have so the TJ gin thing we’ll get to codo in just a minute and I I trust me if I’m butchering these names feel free to roast me online I I need to learn right alongside everybody else but ainla actually played in the WHL last year alongside current Utah forward Dylan Gunther so it the connections that these players have because they played in these they call them Juniors the junior hockey leagues they’ve come up playing in you guys have played against each other and played with each other for so long it’s cool to see these guys embracing one another I think I saw a clip last night of Gunther reaching out immediately after uh the trade happened not the trade the pick happened dude you’re coming to you stuff like that you’re like okay yeah there’s a real human element to this that’s really cool to see yes absolutely and like I said it’s just moments like that that for for any draft that just make it so unique and so awesome to watch yeah so the other pick uh so later on in the draft so uh by the way the other thing about the ginla thing is his dad was a was a star like Club legend for the Calgary Flames Calgary Flames were locked in apparently on taking ainla what is you to hockey do they take him and I saw multiple I saw people retweeting stuff from flame F screw Utah you know what they’re already booing us at the draft and now the Calgary Flames aren’t a fan I I can get into this can can we make Calgary our our first Rival Well hey Gregory Bell is a Calgary guy play by play voice for for the BYU Cougars he’s a Flames fan like Greg is got I when he used to work in this building I was an intern 15 gazillion years ago it feels like at this point working here with him his desk had a bunch of flames gear and that’s how I found out like your flame like oh I grew up in I’m like okay so yeah why not and best part about Calgary it’s very very strong LDS connection to that area of Canada Alberta a lot of LDS population in that area so there you go we made our first rival last night it could be pretty fun in that regard I I think Vegas is going to be very natural for Salt Lake and Vegas to have a rivalry but it’s the I15 Corridor and I know it’s across the border in Canada but it’s right in line why not Embrace Calgary Embrace Edmonton they’re going to be part of this let’s do it I’m all on board with it I’m so excited for for this hockey season to start man it’s going to be pretty fun now so later on in the draft uh I was sitting there watching I was on my couch and uh we’re watching it go down and I’m like okay we’ll see what the rest of the first round holds and all of a sudden social media Comes Alive Utah is trading up and they make a trade uh to go up to the 24th pick they end up taking Cole boding and he has another connection to this state as it often does his dad played one season for Salt Lake with the remember the Utah Grizzlies in 2001 and 2002 so once again human element if I’m not mistaken I think that one year that he played for the Grizzlies um TJ’s dad was also there I might I think I saw that on social media don’t quote me on that okay well it’s but the thing about this is you’re finding these connections and yesterday we had uh Josh D obviously who’s a legend the Don family with the Arizona Coyotes obviously extending over Josh D talked about the fact that he he and his family stopped in Utah all the time when they were driving to their cabin up North so the connection this state has had just tangentially it feels like with hockey is crazy to me I haven’t put I hadn’t put this stuff together in until all this was going down but it’s cool to see stuff like this happening because it’s GNA I think endear this club to the Utah fan populace pretty quickly here now the biggest thing that can endure yourselves win just win baby the famous Al Davis quote this team looks like it’s building something here now there’s obviously going to be be challenges and the trades do they work out do the guys that they drafted are they going to be able to contribute day one I would think not just how young both the case of uh TJ TJ ginla as well as Cole boding they don’t seem like to be the readymade come in and play right away types but this club it’s already got fan interest in it and the next thing you got to go do prove you’re competitive prove you can win absolutely and I think that’s going to be huge to like I said bringing in a fan base quickly is is having somewhat of somewhat of success UC some having a little bit of success in the in the NHL especially in the early goings um you know getting getting a couple of good decent wins under your belts I think that’ll really draw people who are kind of like on the fence and and it’ll really draw in your your your crowd and it’ll really bring in more attraction to this Utah hockey club now the one other thing I will add before we take a break here uh there was a I I I forgot to retweeted I wanted to highlight the person who made this tweet but I for and I apologize if I screw this up but essentially said hey look at this cuz when the J when the Utah Hockey Club traded up they traded with the Colorado Avalanche to get that 24th pick and I said hey look another Denver area team helping out of Utah franchise get a star player who knows if Bo we ends up being a star player but hey you look at this we’ve seen him before Rudy gobear 27th pick the Jazz purchased that pick from Denver they end up trading obviously to get Denver took Donovan Mitchell as part so you know what Denver area teams apparently want to help out Utah Utah based franchises as well all right we’re going to talk about the NBA coming up next uh I want to talk about the picks that the UT Jazz made I didn’t expect them to make all three of their picks in the NBA draft but alas it’s exactly what they did we’ll dig into that next right here on 975 the KSL Sports [Music] Zone straight up the welcome back to the Saturday show here on 975 the KSL Sports it has been an eventful morning already I’m Jay catch joined by Alex napis and Alex speciically Saturdays we don’t have this much news coming out but things are happening that’s what happens when it’s the draft day yeah well the other thing about it is R Salt Lake making moves sending one of their young prodigious talents uh to you pronounce it better Liga MX for me what how do you pronounce it lega MX yeah there you go see you you have it better than I do but that’s the fun part about this is It’s there’s news happening so that’s the fun part but I want to talk about the NBA draft here for a minute uh it’s been a busy week our good friend I I got a I I got a real good kick out of this your friend clinto Pete sent this in says all are there any other any more drafts this week I’m drafted out it’s this cat’s like you’re not wrong Clint uh and I hope you’re doing well by the way friend but the thing is it’s been a busy week on that front there’s absolutely no doubt about it but it’s been a fun week now NBA draft obviously the Utah Jazz had three picks uh had you asked me entering the draft the chance the Utah Jazz were to use all three of those picks I would have said 10% we talked about this last week on the show I think you were 50/50 on it I was like 30% I’m like there’s no way well you know what when the draft board Falls the way it did for the Utah Jazz guess maybe sometimes not making them making a move is the best move you can do and as such they get three players uh with the number 10 pick guy they were heavily linked to all of the draft process uh Cody Williams Falls right into their lap they bring him in from Colorado then later in the first round a guy that was the number one prep Prospect going into his year at USC Isa isaah Collier ends up as a Utah Jazz man and then in the second round Kyle filipowski so give me your overall thoughts before we kind of dig into each one of the guys individually Alex what do you think of the three overall I think the three have incredibly High ceilings and I think overall the Jazz did an incredible job in this draft uh given the circumstances given kind of the guys who fell I think they found uh some some good Diamonds in the Rough that maybe necessarily other teams weren’t NE necessarily looking at but I think overall just a really really good draft performance from the Utah Jazz well and that’s the thing about it is you look at just the way things were going and I didn’t necessarily expect Zachary Rish I think I pronounce his name correctly to go number one overall now when Alex SAR refuses to work out for Atlanta that obviously is going to change a few things so ultimately they go with a young Talent it’s it’s a future play obviously for for Atlanta I don’t expect Risha shade to come in and be a star because he’s more in the mold of an Anthony Bennett if you remember the Anthony Bennett when the Cleveland Cavaliers took him number one overall and he flamed out spectacularly by the way uh versus what last year was with the number one pick with Victor win Bama where it’s like yeah that’s a that’s that’s the dude so it was a weird draft overall it was fairly flat there’s no doubt about it but the other thing about it is the Jazz stood on their picks they talked about it uh Justin xanx said after the first run we talked with teams about trading up trading down doing some different things and as you you often do that but they got they got to be very pleased with where things fell and the guys they got where they got them I think Cody Williams fall in the 10 is the most ideal situation for Utah um being able to pick up Kier so late as well too in the first round I think is absolutely huge and then even bigger Kyle Philip Kowski falling all the way to the second round I think is an absolute steal for the Jazz it is and I just look at uh where things stand for this franchise right now and how they are trying to build this now let’s also acknowledge the um the elephant in the room a lot of talk a lot of chatter out there about Lowry marinin now he is eligible for a pretty healthy extension coming up in August but that is August we have free agency starting tomorrow there’s a lot going on and and there’s not smoke out there for no reason uh Alan Han who was an ESPN person I just Lally saw this I know the bronny stuff got all the attention but the Kyle filipowski Utah Jazz lari Markin and story and more is way too interesting to fly under the radar that’s got a lot of layers to it well do the Jazz decide Allah what the Brooklyn Nets did with Michael Bridges trading him to the New York Knicks and getting an absolute Hall from that are the Jazz out there actively shopping Lowry marinin I wouldn’t say actively shopping him but they’re listening and seeing what teams are willing to offer up and I love that you mentioned Bridges because I think that Bridges trade to the Knicks kind of gives the Utah Jazz a little bit of of a map and maybe a little bit of Leverage of saying hey if if Bridges was able to for this much imagine how much we can get for lri right I would love for lri to stay in Utah yeah we’ve talked about it last week I think Lori is absolutely key to the Jazz and I would love for him to stay here but if the price is right maybe you listen to those offers now the other thing about this is next year’s NBA draft is can right now we’re a year away let’s be very clear about this but Cooper flag is number one pick and there there’s some thought that next year’s draft there 10 guys in some people’s minds that if they were in this year’s draft they’re going into next year’s draft would have been the number one pick this year that that that the thought process and how talented this draft is for example guy named joer Denham who’s gonna be playing for the BYU Cougars he is a top 10 pick in next year’s NBA draft allegedly now will that come to fruition we have 360 some odd days until that actually sees what what happens there do the Jazz are they looking at this saying you know what if we move Lowry it’s a tear down because if you move Lowry you’re in full tear down mode then you start calling on guys like Jordan Clarks and you start calling guys on calling sexon you’re moving dudes out with the whole idea that you’re going to tear this thing down to to build it back up I am with you though Lowry is such a critical player he’s an all like a fringe all-nba caliber guy I don’t want to see him go because I just think he’s an incredible player and he could be a nice piece but if you really want to get towards the top of that draft having him on that roster keeps that from happening probably so are we taking another Jazz tank here this year if you want to go for one of those Prospect if you do you’re gonna have to like if you’re if if you’re Justin zanic Danny a Ryan Smith The Brain Trust for the Utah Jazz if you’re looking at next year draft saying you know what that’s what we need to build with you got to tear it down I’ve just got some thought in my head that I don’t know if you Jazz fans are willing to endure that does that make sense right no absolutely especially after what we’ve seen the last two years right and and that was a kind of a half you know what effort to tank well and then if we go back to Ryan Smith and what he said about the the Utah hocke club with wanting to win championships he said the same thing verbatim with the with the NBA right with the Utah Jazz and I think we’re still hold a lot of Utah Jazz fans are still holding on to that is the the need and the want to win championships and so we’re the the the patience is running thin I think on that end of wanting to be successful wanting to win more games of wanting to be a a championship caliber team and so I think if the Utah Jazz decide to ABS to tank again this season wanting to go for one of those top 10 uh picks it’s going to be a hard season to endure for Utah Jazz fans now the other thing is with free agency starting tomorrow could the Jazz flip the script on its head and go all in on somebody big game hunting that that’s been the term that Danny a used and it’s been used to deride him it’s been used to cheer him on it’s been used for every purpose Under the Sun so far there’s a big opportunity tomorrow I think is going to tell us a lot be the being a free agency cuz starting tomorrow about this time you’re going to start to see the woes and the Shams of the world start to put out tweets of hey X player here has interest in going there and trade potential all that’s going to come out if the Jazz are going to go big game hunting well it’s going to start happening tomorrow and the true big game hunting meeting they’re going to go out and yeah we brought in three guys via the draft but we’re going out and get another piece to put on Lowry let these guys grow up alongside them and build it that way there there’s two different paths here that I think the next week in change will tell us which one they’re going to take well and then I if you watch the the ESPN broadcast of the NBA draft wge spoke about larri and spoke about what it would take to to to move on from Larry for the Utah Jazz and he says that it’s going to take a great great deal to Prim marke in out of Utah specifically what you get back in that trade whether it’s picks whether it’s maybe a couple of players I think that’ll if if la moves on I think that will tell us a lot about the direction of what the Jazz are looking for this season if lri moves on if yeah and that’s that’s the big thing is the if factor in all of that I really like the pieces they’ve got I think keontay George has got something here Taylor Hendrick Ben Anderson said that Taylor Hendrick if he was in this year’s draft he’s probably the number one pick he’s that he’s that much of a physical freak and just an athlete that you probably would have bet on him and they got him in last year draft those are two guys I think you’re going to let it ride on for a little bit and see what happens with them and then you add this Year’s collection of talent Cody Williams he’s got his brother jayen who’s an all-nba caliber player and you’re thinking okay can he be that that’s the hope if Co if Cody can get anywhere near the level that jaym is I think we have an incredibly incredibly in incredible Talent just coming to Utah because Jaylen Williams I don’t think anybody expected Jaylen Williams to have the season that he did and then he absolutely blew up for for OKC and so if if the Utah Jazz can get anywhere near that with Cody Williams Cody Williams is gonna be a fantastic play in the NBA I saw Cody Williams play a lot I cover a lot of BYU basketball and then WCC era he was playing for Santa CLA and I remember seeing him playing for herb sendek and I’m like okay he’s a pretty good player he goes to Oklahoma City and I’m like who is this guy like he didn’t do any of that it felt like and he was a good player trust me he was a very good player but he has turn and you’re right if if his brother turns to be anywhere close to him that’s great now the other thing is Isaiah Collier he is he was the number one pick now Ron Holland was the was the number one Prospect in the recruiting cycle but Holland ultimately opted to go the g-league ignite route so he bypassed college so made Isaiah colier by I don’t know just because he was playing in college the number one high school recruit in the country he goes to USC and his physical tools are completely on display his shooting numbers abysmal like his three-point shooting left a lot to be desired but according to what we hear from Justin zanic they think that his shooting stroke like his mechanics are actually okay and they just need to get him the Reps and everything he’s 18 years old same thing with a guy in Cody Williams they’re both very very young the physical tools are very evident you can watch what Isaiah ker does in the open court his vision and his ability just get downhill he can get to wherever he wants on the court now you get the shooting out of him then you have a Bonafide lead guard for this team absolutely you look at him right now and I think he has the physicality and the IQ to be successful in the NBA got to work on that shooting though for sure he’s got to be able to play off the ball now right now with his ability to see the court his ability to pass it he is a lead guard right now but you need the shooting to come along because guess what NBA teams and these scouting departments are so good that they’re going to be like all right this kid can’t shoot so this what we’re going to do we’re going to isolate him and we’re going to force him to shoot you got to be able to prove you can do that now the third guy in all of this is Kyle filipowski I we got to hit a break here momentarily filipowski is an interesting one because going into that second round the way that that things had fallen once again with that draft board there was no reason for the Jazz to consider trading out of that because you’re looking at Johnny Fury was on that list who was a very highly thought of prospect coming from Kansas he’s obviously from Australia originally uh I thought guys like Kevin mcculler Jr were on that in the mix but Philip palowsky was a name that the Jazz were very uh closely connected to and as I saw one National writer allude to after he was taken Danny a sure loves him uh a Kelly olenick type player and that’s what filipowski projected kind of be exactly you look at him and a lot of similarities to to O Linux game but you you mentioned that you know he’s a guy who’s had two years already in college du absolutely he he was one of the best players for Duke and so I’m very excited to see what he’s able to do at the NBA level and I think like I said the Utah Jazz got a steal with him going 32 it is kind of interesting to consider where things are going here now the other thing thing is you look forward uh to this Jazz season ahead now you also have Bryce sensah in the mix there he was a draft so you have you have three second-year players from last year’s draft so they were all three first year players this year for the Jazz you also have drafted three guys this year that’s six first or second year guys coming into this team then you have the Lowry marinin you got the Jordan Clarkson you got the Colin seon you got the John um Collins Collins and and kler I want to say John Williams that’s the composer that was not right John and Walker Kesler as well yeah exactly I don’t know where I pulled that one from but there’s an interesting Dynamic here of a lot of young talent but also some vets here now can you go get that big piece as you as you as we talked about the big game hunting you can make a move here in free agency you could build something that can compete pretty quickly while at the same time looking as kind of this young core of talent and see what they ultimately become that would be I think the most palatable way for jazz fans to go about this but as we all know there are three guys it feels like uh running the operation there with Utah Jazz and it’s their decision that ultimately will determine what the future is going to hold at least in the near term yeah absolutely and I you I think those guys especially in the case of Danny a like we’ve already seen what he can do and what he has done um off off trust right now in in Danny a that’s all we really can do at this point so it should be interesting I’m excited to see where it goes uh I think that the three guys the Jazz took all of them hold a ton of uh Intrigue to them because they all have different things like you look at Cody Williams okay can he become his brother Isaiah Coler well he was the top prospect in the recruiting class for a reason because his just physical gifts are undeniable and then filipowski as Ben kind of talked about he he’s a bit of a punk on the court he’s he he kind of personified what Duke is known for as a basketball player but you like guys like that you like guys who have like they’re the guys that you hate playing against but you love having on your team absolutely all right so we’ll see what happens all right we will come back on the other side we will get technical fouls talk about some of the uh some of the Dumber things in sports now one of them did uh Utah Jazz not Utah Jazz Utah Hockey Club GM um Bill Armstrong did he lift the lid on it being a sham about the team nickname we’ll get to that next right here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone you’re coming from the street with dir shoes on your feet that’s a teal foul if you switch the radio to some modern music show that’s a technical foul if you touch the th you’ll get hit with a bat cuz that’s a technical foul you will feel my R techical foul personal file 69 office he was giving him the business a techical foul welcome back to the Saturday show here at 975 the KSL Sports Zone as you heard it is time now for technical fouls and Alex last night as the NHL draft was unfolding a comment from Bill Armstrong has got uh Utah sports fans upset I feel like it was a little overlooked too it was just kind of like thrown in there people were just like oh and then kind of cired back a couple hours later they were like wait a minute did he just say what I think he said yeah it so uh he made a reference to a I think it was talking about TJ ginla being a member of the UT Yeti or and now uh does that mean it’s a done deal has it all been a far with his fan vote don’t know but it was interesting that he kind of he just dropped it it’s like it it wasn’t like all right here’s what I’m going to do guys I’m gonna I’m gonna just preempt all of this just dropped it in and it makes me think that there may be something to this look and it it doesn’t seem like that you know it’s just kind of like an accidental slip or anything like maybe it was like a little brain slip like oh I probably shouldn’t have said that but it does seem like uh you know they’re ready to they’ve already picked out a name maybe possibly who knows now the technical foul would be that if they already from day one remember when Ryan Smith for the very first time went on a pat mcafe show he talk about I like the name Yeti he he said that on Pat macafee show if it’s been all for engagement purposes and just to get fan interest up that have this and it’s all a farce that’s where the technical foul will lie great marketing Ploy I guess yes it would be now I have a family member who came into town earlier this week and we were talking about the Utah Hockey Club and they said they can name it anything if they name it the Utah Venom I can’t I can’t live with that I’m like I’m with you on that I want it to be the Utah Mammoth I think The Branding for that would be absolutely awesome we do have mammoths that lived here in in Utah alongside Lake Bonville for for eons and eons ago obviously but if it’s going to be the Utah Yeti so be it but I am team Yeti I think Christian convinced me a little bit our our guy CHR convinced me a little bit The Outlaws so you know I’ll be happy with either or okay The Outlaws you reserve that one for the baseball team that’s just me that that’s what I’m reserving that one for I think that would fit more with the motif of being summer playing baseball outdoors I that’s just that that’s my only thought on that all right speaking of baseball yes go with th this okay you want to talk about coaches being stupid let’s go to Texas go ahead so earlier earlier this week there was the the baseball world series for College World Series College World Series and Jim schlagle who was asked by a reporter in the post post game about a a lucrative job that was opening up and he tore up that reporter so there were rumors out there that he may be up for the Texas job Texas just let their head coach go and yeah he essentially said I’m not thinking about this right now I moved away from my family for this job I I’m going to be I didn’t take this job with the thought I was going to move on from it and 18 hours later Hi I’m the new head coach of the Texas Longhorns and he said like write that and right he he tore this reporter just for nothing for nothing and for him to you know go in on the reporter and be like oh this is such a silly question this is you know I’m committed to this job yada that not even 24 hours later and the now m is made that he’s going to Texas that’s my technical foul of the week it you look at it and you’re like okay I wish I could say I’m surprised but here’s the thing lot there’s a lot of coaches out there who are grade A you know what and this is just the latest example of it you could have handled that so much better and then he ended up apologizing at his introductory press conference I shouldn’t have done that no bleep Sherlock you shouldn’t have done that you can be a decent human being you can say hey I’m not addressing that at this time I’m thinking about my guys in this moment and whatnot don’t go all in how dare you ask me that and write that I’m I’m I’m here and not even 18 hours later you’re being put in a press release by your cross state rival you’re you’re the new head coach of the Texas how dare you I am taking this job by the way jeez come on man all right uh yeah that was I if I saw that I’m like are you kidding me right the second by the way I saw it before he actually even took the job I saw that that night and I’m in my head I’m I’m like that guy is absolutely going to Texas and yet not even 18 hours later there a press release with his picture on it all right anyways fun times and technical fouls all right coming back on the other side we’re going to Sin City we’re going to catch up with Kyle Ireland he is the Utah Hockey Club Insider for KSL Sports and KSL sports.com uh he’s going to join us to talk about what he’s experiencing down there in Vegas as part of the NHL draft that’s coming up next it’s hour two of the program gets underway right here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone 1 [Music] show me moving put back do like welcome back to the Saturday show right here on KSL Sports Zone Let’s Get Right Out To The Zone phone and join Kyle Ireland down in Las Vegas he is covering the NHL draft Kyle what is going on my man how is the sphere treating you oh Jake it is wild in here man it’s uh it’s exciting because the sphere is obviously you know a spectacle in and of itself but just the action around it got you know all the lights all the technology you’ve got the drastics being broadcast on the outside of the building inside you’ve got a giant IMAX type screen and then you’ve got you know 15 plus thousand fans in here watching this event and youve got you know even going into the middle of day two here we’ve got you know a bunch of prospects and their families coming out of the crowd going down to the stage so a different vibe than you know what we’ve seen in Utah in the past with like the NBA draft and especially like the NHL draft you know uh the environment is just so different here and I think that it’s really exciting for fans but yeah no the vibe of the sphere itself is is immaculate Kyle tell us a little bit about just I guess the fan reception out there just what what’s what’s it like just having like all the fans out there live and listening to and being able to partake in in this draft Yeah I think the cool thing is it’s really I mean you’ve seen this with the the hockey club in Utah having their season tickets be so diverse from what has you know been the typical you know fan base in Utah where the the hockey teams you know deposits for season tickets 70% of them weren’t Jazz fans or didn’t have Jazz season tickets it’s just a completely different crowd and so I would say that one it it’s actually like pretty laidback I would say that you know even with the players like the players are super chill uh talking with them uh the lights haven’t seemed too bright for any of the guys that we’ve spoken to that Utah has picked so far out of their three picks and then you know it’s just fun to see everybody even in the 110 degree here uh 110 degree heat here in Las Vegas you’ve got all the fans wearing their different sweaters support supporting their teams uh would say that you know it’s it’s a prettyy cool environment and the fans have certainly soaked this up and you know it’s going to be different moving forward with the NHL draft the the teams aren’t going to be you know located all in one spot they’re GNA be back in their home base and so it’s cool uh to see all the teams on the draft floor you’ve got Bill Armstrong you know walking up in the middle of picks and he’s going and talking with you know members of uh front offices from other teams just across the floor and going up and you can see the the draft deals being made real time as opposed to it just being you know a camera and some you know press conference room at the team’s headquarters so it’s it’s definitely a Cool vibe here and uh something that’s pretty unique and I I don’t think we’re going to see anything like it again in the future well and that’s the thing about it is you’re right it does feel in some ways more laidback but the production of it been absolutely awesome now you’re there in person but the crowd shots I have seen it it looks like a super immersive experience now that’s what the sphere was built for is to makeing it super immersive for anybody who goes into that facility uh but I I can appreciate the way that they’re going about this trying to make it as fan friendly as possible now the other thing I wanted to ask you about Kyle is uh the Utah Hockey Club apparently is making enemies right away we have Ryan Smith getting booed when they make the first ever pick they jump in front of the Calgary Flames and take uh TJ ginla and then all oh by the way with the 24th pick they jump in front of the Boston Bruins and take a guy in Boden that apparently the Bruins were in on what what is the Utah Hockey Club trying to do here they trying to become the heel of the NHL hey I told JJ and Alex last night that Ryan Smith that was a veteran move by him he he knew about the boo he’s been through the draft experience before with the NBA and so he he he knew what to do when he got on stage there so that was fun from Ryan last night but yeah I mean I think that you know Utah has so much flexibility and Bill Armstrong talked about this with us last night about how they’re able to have fun they’re able to be aggressive by having so many picks all the cap space that they have this offseason and moving forward because of that I mean you’ve seen this with the Jazz in the last few years after they straighted away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy go be they were able to accumulate draft picks and that flexibility you know it doesn’t tend to you know show winning necessarily in the in the short term but in the long term it gives the team flexibility it it makes it so that it’s fun for the fans for you know draft night in the middle of January you know it may be a different story it may be you know some tough times maybe some losing stre and whatnot but the flexibility for these types of things and for the future of the team uh it really helps out and uh it’s fun you know it’s to be able to see them even today they’ve made a series of Trades and you know have really I mean there were gasps on the uh on the tra floor when they made that trade with Tampa Bay so to be able to have that surrounding the teams in Utah it’s pretty special to watch Kyle just out of curiosity man is there a big Utah contingency out there is there a lot of Utah fans out there supporting the hockey club for the first time well it’s hard because I don’t see any Utah jerseys because they aren’t available yet so it’s hard for for me to point out the fans um I have I have talked to a few people that have traveled down from Utah but yeah it’s hard because you look out and you know see people walking around you’re like oh there there’s a bunch of ducks fans right there you know I me here in Vegas obviously there’s a huge contingency of kns fans golden knights fans that are here and they’ve made themselves known in the crowd as well with some cheers and some boobs and whatnot but yeah I I would say that you know next year or in you know future drafts will see more of that but yeah without the gear it’s been pretty difficult to to spot but you have heard a lot of cheers and I also I talked to a few Islanders fans yesterday that traveled all the way from Queens New York they’re out here and they came up to me and they said hey we’re so excited that Utah has this team it was such a disaster in Arizona and just as hockey fans fans of the league we happy that NHL hockey is in the state of Utah and so that was pretty cool to see it seems like you know League wide people who’ been really supportive of the move uh you said Utah is starting to make some enemies but before the draft started yesterday everything was really positive yeah I was only partially factious with that it just was made me chuckle now people people are mad about these deals man you know that you know that’s the case people got their fan favorites I mean I’m sure that the uh the trades today especially in Tampa there might be some kids out there with some GES that are sheding some tears seeing their favorite player Head West yeah so talking with Kyle Ireland of course the Utah Hockey Club Insider for KSL Sports uh you talk about those trades Mel sergachev uh being traded from Tampa Bay to Utah in a pre- sizable deal you mentioned there were gasps on the floor when that went down but also the Jazz adding a fellow defenseman and John Marino from the New Jersey Devils uh give us a sense just reading about this Kyle seems like both of them sizable sizable trades for the uh Hockey Club to upgrade their defense yeah and that was a clear need for this franchise moving into their in augural season in Utah uh going into the week you know didn’t have any veteran defenseman signed you’ve seen the team make a series of moves and especially yesterday it was shocking as they they took igula with the first pick there with number six because a lot of people thought that was going to be defenseman so kind of going along with Bill Armstrong’s comments that he talked about earli in the week before the draft he said that he planed to address it in free agency and we’re seeing that he’s addressing it with these trade moves as well and so uh obviously those guys both feel a need but you mentioned sergachev there he’s a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the lightning and so he knows what it’s like to win at the highest level he’s done it he’s been there he’s a veteran presence that can come into Utah that is a really young and Youthful roster these guys need somebody to look up to I am wondering and I have heard around uh the media room you know did Utah give up too much to make that deal at Tampa Bay and I guess we’ll see moving forward because you know guys like MOS they’re they’re young they’re talented obviously gave up some draft Capital as well but Utah has you know draft and youth at its disposal and so you know like I said with that flexibility these are the kinds of moves that bill Armstrong and his team is you know they’re going to be able to make this offseason next offseason and and for a few years because of what they’ve done tering down this roster and trying to build it from the ground up over the last four years all right so I looking forward now the moves they have made this morning with draft picks that one just went down they just signed they just drafted another defenseman uh Thomas Lavoy if I’m pronouncing that correctly so it sounds like you’re right Al uh Kyle not Alex I’m talking with both of you but nonetheless they are making moves here to upgrade this squad now this prospects Camp that’s coming up Kyle starting on Monday it’s going to take place up in par City uh are you expecting any of these guys to be a part that are being drafted this weekend yeah so the two guys that uh were taken yesterday in the first round they’re going to be heading over to Utah tomorrow um they are going to be able to we’re going to meet with them and Bill Armstrong again tomorrow morning in Salt Lake City uh heading back on a flight tomorrow morning and we’ll be able to talk with them around 11:30 so that’ll be uh good to chat and catch up with them again but uh yeah you mentioned the the camp getting underway I expect that the majority of these picks as well as you know the picks that Utah had in the past couple of Seasons there it’s going to just be a lot of Youth and those guys are gonna hit the ice in Park City for a few days and then uh we’ll see you know for the first time some Utah Hockey Club players take the is at Delta Center on Friday that scrimmage will be exciting and fun for the fans to be there um but yeah it’s uh it’s pretty interesting to see I’ve got to hop off guys I’ve got the uh the latest Utah draft Pi he’s walking up right now and he’s gonna talk to so I’ll have to let you go but yeah exciting time here for the hockey club thanks Kyle talk to you soon man thanks Kyle appreciate it all right there you go Kyle Ireland and yeah he’s working you know we’re we’re just loting on the on on air today but he’s actually you know interviewing guys and getting content and by the way he’s absolutely killing it if you’re not following KSL Sports our social media feeds he is just absolutely he’s all over the place I I couldn’t by the way on a personal note couldn’t be more excited for like Kyle he’s been grinding away doing what he’s been doing for the digital team for a long time to be able to kind of get his own beat and have this be his own could be more excited for a guy like that he kills it talked to him once um before at the RSL game actually yeah he he trust me nice guy he’s covered everything at this point working for the digital team he’s been he he has been like the the Jack of all trades and you have to have people like that in your in your organization and but the thing is he wanted to do this and the coverage down there by the way and let me also acknowledge this real quick before we take a break there’s been some fans out there on social media who’ve been upset with the lack of coverage of this franchise saying that all the local uh media Outlets aren’t covering the hockey club as much they’re hiring writers for him guess what we got one we’ got two actually now one’s not necessarily writer Jay is more of in the podcast sphere and everything but we have two people down there we have them on site so spare me your nobody’s covering this team no it they are it’s being covered Kyle’s absolutely killing if you’re not following Kyle I would encourage you to do so follow the KSL Sports Twitter feeds uh Instagram Tik Tock everywhere you can find KSL Sports follow it because he’s got video he’s got breakdowns go to klps oncom there’s multiple stories on this it’s being covered at least on our end of things yeah people who say that probably don’t follow Kyle so go follow Kyle yeah please please do by way it’s really cool by the way it this is really fun to watch all this going down as well just cuz it’s you heard Kyle’s talk about when that trade went down in the case of the sergachev trade that’s a back-to-back Stanley Cup winner now reading a little bit more up on this um he is entering I got to pull this up here one more time so he has an average annual value on his contract of $8.5 million against salary cap and that move is going to allow apparently the lightning to go and potentially resign Captain Steven Stam Co now Stam Co I I’m not necessarily the most um upto-date NHL fan I don’t Proclaim to be an expert I know who Steven Stam Co is he’s one of the guys in NHL I have known about for years so this could be a move to allow them to get him resigned but at the same time major major pickup here now the other part about this is this deal for sergachev he’s entering the second year of an eight-year contract extension he signed with the lightning in June of 2022 and oh by the way he had a no trade CLA that kicked in starting July one so we picked him up at just the right time scooped him up on line Day deal June 29th now that’s that’s playing chess when other people playing checkers by by Utah Hockey Club that’s pretty funny he has no Trad CLA that kicks on in July one hey U before we do that you’re going to Utah now the good news is he’s he’s only entering year two he’s got seven years on this deal now it’s a healthy contract Etc with the salary cap because I think some people understand this if you don’t NHL has an actual hard cap like there there’s no there’s no luxury tax with the NBA has there’s nothing with with baseball that you hit that number and you’re capped out so it’s an interesting deal here I’m looking forward to see this uh now the thing about Ser Chev is he did have a season cut short I I anticipated this broke his tibia and fibula but he worked his way back I know and he played there the first the first two games of the first round loss of the Florida Panthers so guy can play and the other thing is I also made that other trade uh to bring in a Marino from the New Jersey Devils uh that was just the 49th pick and a second round pick in 2025 so uh I think this is they’re they’re making moves now they are this morning they’ve already drafted a couple of defenseman as well now those are more as we’ve talked about earlier when it comes to the Utah Hockey Club and NHL teams a lot of those younger players they’re going to spend time whether it’s in the college ranks or in the minor leagues before they ultimately land with the parent Club but they’re making moves here and it’s exciting time all right so uh thank you to Kyle cool to hear from him it’s cool to hear about the just the Fan Experience down there it’s cool to hear Islander fans are saying hey we’re excited to have Utah in the league this is an exciting time Alex I’ve talked to a couple guys too from from Los Angeles who were Kings fans okay and they’ve also been we’ve also had uh discourses and we’ve also talked about you know the excitement of of of getting a team in Utah as well for them and so to hear fans from outside of of this league or outside of this Market I should say and to hear how they’re excited about hockey coming to Utah just makes me even more excited yeah it’s a fun time all right coming up next we’re going to get to 5 minutes of one of our regulars here on the show we’re going to do a little different today we’re going to let you hear from the guys that these teams are are drafting so TJ ginla uh you’re going to hear from censor bne the two guys taken by the Utah Hockey Club last night we also check in with the Utah Jazz Cody Williams the guy that I am super excited for I think he’s got incredible potential you hear from all them next uh coming up right here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone welcome back to the Saturday show here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone J catch Alex napis breaking things down and it’s been a busy week on the draft front Alex like non-stop it feels like we spent the first part of the week getting ready for and then like the last four days including today it’s been all draft all the time well and then you have all the the news and everything that’s kind of going on not only in the NBA front but as well as the NHL front and so it’s been a lot to take in for sure it’s been a busy busy week for us yeah no doubt so I want to let people hear from the first two picks as it were so the GU taking first in the draft now Cody Williams uh we talked about him a little bit earlier on I’m very excited for this kid he’s really young he’s 19 years old but he’s got the Bloodlines he’s got an older brother who is showing what potentially he could up being and you can tell that this is a driven young man so I want let everybody hear from his media session he talked to the media shortly after he got drafted out there at the barlay center in Brooklyn so uh here you go here’s what he had to say after he was taken by the Utah Jazz in the NBA draft let’s get out to the Zone phone the Jazz just tonight made him the number 10 pick in the NBA draft from Colorado Cody Williams here with us on 975 the KSL SP Sport Zone Cody congratulations how are you doing thank you thank you I’m doing good just enjoying the moment right now so I’m soaking it all in uh Cody did you work out with the Jazz uh what was that pre-draft process like yeah I did work out with them you know kind of know in altitude training it was a tough workout but really learned about you know how I can improve my body how I can improve as a player and they really showed a lot of interest in me and you know love my game so you know it was a great workout great experience there and that’s why I’m here now Cody I know you’re mentally tough and the reason why I know that is because I was raised in Phoenix and if you last a phoenix summer you’re mentally tough so you’re going to be here you’re going to be tough you to be you have to be Phoenix man that he no joke and so I knew that I knew of you I still got ties in Phoenix my whole family my wife’s family still lives down there so I followed you a little bit at Perry over there in Gilbert and watching Colorado sort of an up and down season you know and the way I looked at it and get you respond you you you I I was on you since November because of the Phoenix connection and I thought it’ be great if the Jazz could get you and you know I thought that maybe your season was a little up and down you had the injuries but you also had a couple of guys that were seniors and you seem to be concerned about fitting in is that an accurate description of how this season went with the Buffs uh no I wouldn’t take a turn about fitting in just because I knew my game matched Colorado’s play style and the players we have on that team which you know obviously I looked at before coming into that college so for me fitting in wasn’t the thing it was just making sure I’m ready you know for the physicality and the speed of the college game and that was my main focus so fitting in was never a problem just because I knew the kind of players we had and the play style of you know school I was going to so I did my research beforehand Cody curious to what you know about the Jazz roster and their coaching staff I know the obviously I love coach staff I talked to you know Will Hardy and a bunch and you know he really just point L knowledge to me in that short amount of time of things I can improve on you know I just have a young talented roster you know we got Jordan Carson Colin seon Kessler Walker so you got like a really young talented group you know Taylor Hendricks was you know up and cominging star he’s going to be great too so I feel like just fitting in with the you know that team with my versatility and my length just going to be a huge part of it and I can really make havoc on the defensive end especially with our side Co Cody this is coach Cleveland I I coached at Fresno State I coached Paul George and I went through this process with him and uh I’m just congratulation on what’s Happening I also want to tell you give you one bit of advice take everything you can learn from your brother Jaylen okay I remember watching him at Santa Clara and uh just how he has immersed into being a superstar and uh he’ll be a great friend to you and a mentor to you so make sure you keep him involved in your life okay oh almost definitely nothing no brainer all right butd hey Cody one of the things I really liked about your game was your ability to defer to some of the other guys that were a little bit more experienced what did you learn from playing next to Tristan and KJ and how did that help your game uh I just learned you know the b i playing Howe you know obviously great myself also defensive Tendencies and how I can improve as a player so I think they just taught me a lot more about the game itself and the flow and just a feel for it which you know is really important especially coming in as a freshman so Cody congratulations again thank you very much for uh for a few minutes we look forward to seeing you here in Salt Lake City thank you appreciate it look forward to being there thank you appreciate you there you go Cody Williams Utah Jazz draft picked and the other thing about this Alex is he alongside Isaiah Collier they’re both oneandone freshman but you look at those two and you’re like what could become out of those two because there there’s untapped potential in both of them absolutely I think the stealing for both of these guys is extremely extremely high just from what we’ve been able to see at the college level obviously there’s still going to be questions of how that’s going to translate to the NBA level but I do think that between those two picks as well as the Philip Kowski pick I think those three guys have immense ceilings and have great potential um and have all the tools necessary to be successful in this league well thing about it Philip palowski he is by far the most accomplished of the bunch which funny enough he’s the second round pick it’s just kind of ironic in that way and he’s more likely probably to see time earlier than those other two I think I was talking with Ben Anderson I think I mentioned this earlier Talking Ben Anderson on Jacob B yesterday and we brought came to the conclusion that yeah he’s probably the most accomplished of the bunch cuz he’s played two years of college ball and he was the lead guy for Duke last year I think that he has the better chance to play Early quote unquote than the other two but doesn’t mean that the other guys can’t step up because we’ve seen remember when Donovan Mitchell’s example he’s a 15th pick he comes in and like a week into the season the the coaching staff was like yeah give him the ball look and I think we’re gonna see something similar with filow I think he’s going to surprise a lot of jazz fans to how great he will be in this league how good he will turn out to be in this league like I said these guys have all the tools to be incredibly successful Philip Kowski I think is an absolute steal going um you know falling to the second round yeah so I think the Jazz the Jazz got uh got some good picks coming in well and that’s I think that’s the reason why the Jazz kept that pick is they saw that the pieces were still on the table like you know what we’re not trading that we’re going to go take somebody we’ll see what happens all right so flipping over to the NHL side of things you talk about young players he’s much younger than 177 years old TJ ginla his dad is an NFL not NFL NHL Hall of Famer I’m still learning my sports apparently today uh but when your dad has Bloodlines like he has he won the gold medal here in the in the United States in the 2002 winner Olympics here in Salt Lake City Jerome was a legend apparently pissed off all of the Calgary that Utah swooped in and took him ahead of the Flames but this is a young man I think that he has been raised he understands what the standard is of playing in the NHL now you want to talk about seeing guys early I was reading last night that three years maybe before we see him suiting up for the Utah Hockey Club and at that point it may be the Utah Yeti as we had a certain general manager allude to last night what do you think I think similarly to look kind of like bleeding it over to the NBA draft similar to what we see with Williams this is a guy who is going to come in and he has the he has people with the knowledge of how to play in the sport right his dad obviously we talk about him being a superstar in the NHL back in the day it’s similar situ where he’s going to learn from someone who’s already been in that situation he’s going to learn from someone who’s already who’s already been there knows what it takes to be successful right in the NHL and so look like I think a lot of us are still learning about hockey a lot of us are still learning about this Sport and just seeing the excitement of the people on social media and online makes me excited for this guy yeah well the other thing is Tyler buing the other forward apparently going be all gas no breaks with this team cuz we all thought reading the mock drafts they gotta go defense they gotta get a defense what do they do they take two centers it’s like okay so we’re just score and there’s a philosophy out there you score about enough points nobody can keep up with you now they say offense is the best defense in some ways but we’ll see what happens I I’m with you we’re still very much learning the ins and outs of this sport like I’m having a great time learning about it cuz it has been highly entertaining the times I’ve been able to see hockey played live it’s never been NHL level I’ve play I’ve seen the Grizzlies play obviously in the ECHL I’ve watched um the uh the club teams collegewise here a little bit as well it’s a really fun sport live and the fact it’s still in many ways surreal to me that like come come September we’re going to have NHL hockey like that’s ours here in the state of Utah it’s a really cool thing to to imagine absolutely like I said I’m excited um I’m with you there I’ve you know only watch the the Stanley Cup finals because I was like you know what I might want to get caught up yeah is coming to you to might as well get get caught up and get excited about this and look the Stanley Cup finals were incredible um with Edmonton coming back from three nothing so having the opportunity to watch the Stanley Cup finals and then learning from the those games I’m excited man hockey and Utah is gonna be fun yeah it will be all right uh we will come back on the other side uh we got trade news happening all over the place uh and we’ll talk about one that affects well the soccer club that we we have going on we’ll get to that next you wrap up this edition of the Saturday show right here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone TJ ginla newest member of the Utah Hockey Club te uh welcome to Utah man I know you’re in Vegas but welcome to Utah thank you very much I’m thrilled thrilled to thrilled to be part of Utah for sure uh T just first of all your reaction to the selection uh I’m sure it was just a dream come true you probably didn’t really care or focus on who it was but what’s your reaction a to getting drafted and B for it being the Utah Hockey Club the first pick ever in franchise history it was super exciting I think uh just to to hear my name called and uh I don’t think it’s fully sunken in yet but uh yeah I’ve met with you know the the Utah management and stuff and uh they’re super nice and yeah I’m so thrilled I lived in Colorado for for three years uh obviously that’s one state away but yeah it’s a i I’d be I’m super happy and super pumped to be to be selected by Utah hey T Kevin McClosky here I have an interesting question I feel you’re traded from Seattle to Colona you had six goals two years ago and I believe your dad is part of the ownership group in Cologne along with Bruce Hamilton who I played with in the 70s in mosan long time ago um and and your coach Chris Mallet moved you to the wing and then all of a sudden you just start lighting it up how did that move help you obviously in production but what was the thought process behind it and and what did you do well and how did adapt to that yeah sir are you talking about the move from uh Center to Wing or you talking about from Seattle to Colona well Seattle to Clon and then Center to Wing so both yeah so uh yeah I mean I played in Seattle when I was 16 and uh it’s hard in in that League the the WHL is a 16-year-old but uh yeah there’s some adversity for me for me that year but uh yeah ultimately at the at the end of the year I was I was moved to uh Colona you you know I got a little bit more opportunity there at the at the start of the year and then I think the work that I uh put in over the summer and in the year as well as a 16-year old I think helped me to kind of take off a little bit when I when I got uh my chance do you think they’re going to want to let you live there on the outside shooting goal scoring goals on the outside or you want to go to Center what do you want to do uh I hope to go back to I hope to go to Center I mean I was a center all the way growing up and uh yeah I was a like I said a center all the way growing up uh played mostly Wing this this past year but uh I plan to go back to Center next year if I’m back in in Colona and yeah I think it’s a center is a great position you know get to be in the middle of the ice and uh attack Defenders gaps and with your feet and things like that and those are things that I think that I can do well so uh but at the end of the day you know it’s good to be able to play both but yeah I’m I’m hoping it play better there you go TJ ginet talking with the media and the thing about this is there’s an excitement that you can tell he’s really really young player but he’s kind of born and born and bred to do what he’s doing he’s young he’s exciting and he for him to be you know what honor is it to be the first ever pick from the Utah Hockey Club right or yeah so he has the he like I said these are guys who have the tools and have the potential to be very successful very high ceilings I’m excited to see what they’re able to bring to the ice rink here for the Utah Hockey Club yeah it should be interesting and Cole Boden was the other pick taken by the Utah Hockey Club so they have the distinction of being the first two picks in franchise history and I actually saw somebody on social media well they were the coyotes okay folks the thing is they purchased essentially the franchise away the the coyotes it’s gone the way of the Earth for lack of a better term because literally Alex MLL their owner has stepped away from even trying to re to rebuild the club so we’ll see what happens with that so for all int and purposes there’s a lot of players in place but it’s a new new franchise that’s the simple fact of the matter but co boding uh talked uh with the media after uh he was taken in the first round by the way the Utah Hockey Club trading back in and I was watching the draft and the ESPN crew was saying that uh they swooped in they paid a heavy price but they had 13 picks so they’re like hey and they swooped in front of the Boston Bruins to take Cole Boden and apparently uh making some moves here that people thought were fairly smart uh so let’s let you hear from Cole bod and what he expects to do as a member of the Utah Hockey Club Cole thanks for being with us man congrats on the draft yeah thank you I appreciate it it’s uh super exciting if yeah go a go ahead JJ no I was going to ask first we we we we know that your dad played here for a year in Utah uh just curious if you had a chance to talk to him yet about it and and and what was that like knowing he played here for a year and now you get to come here and eventually start your your NHL career here yeah I haven’t haven’t had the chance to talk to him to too much about it but um I know he loved it there and uh honestly can’t wait so um I’m super super looking forward to it and I I just can’t wait hey Cole Kevin McClosky here first of all welcome to Utah it’s a fantastic place you’re going to love it I’m assuming you’re coming out for the rookie camp on Sunday starting Monday um you are revered as the hardest worker in the draft a a big strong kid so we know the things that you do well what are a couple of things that you’d like to improve in your game yeah I feel like just working on my hands and getting them smoother uh getting them softer I think that’s something that I I’m already working on and going to continue to work on over the summer and I think that’ll help me a lot uh going into the next level so um yeah and I’m M on that a lot of time so just getting pucked up and tight on goalies um so yeah just working on my hands it seems like a pretty cool thing to watch other clubs kind of almost fighting over you we heard word that Boston may have have wanted you and then Utah said no thank you we’re going to take him first cuz we like him that much how is it to know that a team moved up in the draft and gave away some draft picks because they liked you so much yeah it’s obviously a huge honor uh to know that they they wanted me and um traded up to get me it’s it’s it’s incredible and um I honestly just can’t wait and I’ve been looking for this moment um since I was a little kid watching all the drafts and I’m just just dreaming of of getting drafted so uh I honestly I honestly just can’t wait we’ve seen the videos of of you putting in the work in the weight room uh and and and that’s obviously key part of your success and what you’ve been able to do uh a lot of guys out there are skilled and even some of these guys in the draft are skilled but they may not spend as much time in the weight room as they should why have you fallen in love with that aspect of training and why has that been important to you to be good at it yeah I feel like that’s part of my game being the strong kind of power forward player that I am and um that’s like you said preparing and going to the going to the gym early and um stretching out rolling out and then um having a good workout and um kind of finishing all my workouts and um just just saying that I that I got better that day and that’s something I do every single day and um obviously love love getting better so love being in the weight room and um getting stronger and faster so being stronger and faster um one of the things we’ve we’ve heard about you is you like you you’re very Adept to tipping pucks you get you know you get your stick on the puck a lot obviously you got to be around the net to do that do you relish the opp opportunity to battle you know the London Knights defenseman or the you know sagging off Spirit defenseman do you like being in front of the net and being around the blue paint I love that that’s part of my game that’s me going in the corners like you said and I’m playing that hard nose kind of hockey and um getting those dirty areas getting to the net um battling with those defense and then um like you said tipping pucks whatever it might be banging in a rebound that’s part of my game being that strong power forward player that I am a lot of players that have a father that played in the NHL or played professional hockey you know it it seems like that that their path would be a little easier for them or whatever but I’m sure you’ve had to really fight and battle and earn your way to where you’re at what what at what point did you fall in love with hockey for you not just because your dad played or because people expected you to play hockey because your dad was good when did hockey become a passion for you when did you how did you develop your love for it yeah I’m a very self-driven person so obviously having my dad along the side’s been amazing but I feel the past kind of five years I’ve really dedicated uh myself to to the game of hockey um that’s just me like you said going to the gym or um doing an extra Run Shooting pucks whatever it might be that’s just um me wanting wanting to not only get drafted to the NHL but play playing the NHL and um getting that end goal lifting that C cup there you go co Boden and uh Alex the biggest thing is it feels like if you’re supposed to take defenseman you think okay no we’re going to go with two forwards two centers high-scoring offense maybe coming up for the here for the Utah Hockey Club uh and then reports out there that Mel sergachev has been a traded for by the Utah Hockey Club so maybe the whole thought was you know let’s get some young attacking talent and go and trade now uh serach Chev is a Russian professional playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning so uh he’s got a background because the lightning have been one of the better teams in the NHL in the recent past so maybe the whole thought process was you know what let’s go get proven defenseman they can play now cuz a lot of that with the the NHL draft is you’re you’re drafting some of the NBA but even more so they’re going through the minor league system they’re like being taken to kind of go the baseball route where they go to the AHL or the ECHL and work their way up that way and in many respects a lot of them are still playing college hockey for another year or two so uh yeah maybe the thought process was you know what let’s take the young Talent best best player available for lack of a better term and we’ll go and trade you know for the actual players that we can play right now cuz sergachev just 26 years old which I don’t necessarily mind that approach um because like you we have time they have time to develop they have time to grow but you bring in guys on the defensive end who have already had the experience they already know what it takes to you know be physical and be good in this league and so I kind of like that approach in allowing your young guys to kind of grow into it while bringing in that experience in the on the defensive side to to make sure that you know hey you’re going to have a a solid defensive team for for your first year all right coming up on the other side we’ll talk about some more trade news a big move for rail Salt Lake and one I think kind of it’s kind of interesting to consider yeah we’ll get to that next wrap up this edition of the Saturday show right here on 975 the KSL Sports [Music] Zone [Music] something wrapping up this edition of the Saturday show here on 975 the KSL Sports Zone J catch here Alex napis there and Alex you and I obviously do a lot of stuff with the Royale Salt Lake uh broadcast we do here on the KSL Sports Zone and we’ve been talking a lot about arsal adding to their attack not losing from their attack but uh it is transfer season and one of the young talents that R Salt Lake brought in is apparently already on the move and going South of the Border breaking news earlier this morning from from Tom bogar of Major League Soccer Fidel bahas for 4 million heading down to chadara of the lia emis wasn’t expecting this no absolutely was not expecting this they had brought him up from the USL and they paid a fairly decent price to bring him up and the whole thought process was they were going to do what they kind down with Diego Luna get put him in a spot where he’s a young Dynamic talent and give him a chance to really grow and he maybe hasn’t played to the same level we that Diego Luna has and has maybe been the player that Luna has been for ra Salt Lake but he was only 17 years old so it was like okay he’s young give him some time but apparently theyve decided if Chas wants to pay that price cuz it’s a club record yes and so if they want to pay that price hey thank you and best of luck down in guadalahara look and we talked about this a lot too on our show is if any deals came in for the right price I think you have to take them and for you know Fidel who came in from the USL for not a lot of not a lot of cash for to turn him around for a club record deal yeah I think that I think you have to take that um when that offer is on the table and so I’m extremely happy for Fidel a young young Mexican Talent heading down to Chas to Showcase his skills down in leis but it’s a little heartbreaking for as an r on the RSL side because you know we didn’t really see Fidel as much as I maybe hoped um you know he’s only been here six seven months so incredibly happy for him but a loss for R Lake and the report does say that R Lake wants to invest this money back into this transfer window so we’ll see what’s on the horizon for Rosa Lake yeah it’s it’s interesting because you he’s played in the Mexican Youth System obviously so he’s I guess I say pledge allegiance but he’s pledged like whatever he’s going be playing for the Mexican national team and playing down there in Lega I can’t even pronounce it like you do Liga MX for me over here but the thing is he is a dynamic talent and going to a place like guad lahara they’re going to give him a chance to play yeah for sure for sure when you know me chibas has been known for exporting a lot of you know young Mexican talent and I think that’s right now uh gonna be huge for Fidel especially if he wants to stay on that path to play for the the Mexican national team so like I said incredibly happy for him and I I really hope this move works out for him yeah we shall see how it goes and of course oursel’s back in action on Wednesday night their annual Independence Day game the night before Independence Day fireworks out there at America first field uh we’re looking forward to that one all right well Alex thanks for coming in man thanks thanks for having me big thank you to Parker for producing today as always as well uh we will be back next week here on the Saturday show but keep it locked here on the Zone all week week long for plenty of coverage reacting to the NBA and NHL drafts and plenty more to come as we uh track everything going on in the Sports World here in Utah this has been the Saturday show right here at 975 the KSL Sports Zone
On the Saturday Show with Jake Hatch and Alex Napoles
• Historic NHL Draft for new Utah Hockey Club
• Jazz’s draft strategy and pick outlook
• Technical Fouls
• Utah Jazz’s plans for free agency
• 5 Minutes of Cody Williams, Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin
• RSL sells Fidel Barajas for record fee
