00:00I mean, this kid's so exciting, and it's so much fun to have a legitimate stud panning out for this
00:08team, a young prospect who's living up to the hype and probably exceeding it in a lot of ways, and
00:14there'll be slumps throughout this season, but in the meantime, he's so much stinking fun to watch.
00:20Kevin McGonigal?
00:21He's not allowed to get in a slump.
00:23He's not?
00:24We're just going to avoid that altogether?
00:26Yeah.
00:27I mean, he's got the approach where if he does get in a slump, you feel like it can't be
00:32for that long.
00:34He'd still find ways to get on base by drawing walks because he knows the strike zone, but he is
00:39just absolutely hammering fastballs right now.
00:42Yeah, and I mean, we've kind of had the dream.
00:46What's the dream, the ceiling, blah, blah, blah, before the season we're discussing?
00:51Well, the dream is that he's a legitimate rookie of the year candidate, and think about adding a Nick Kurtz
00:56to the line.
00:56The rookie of the year last year with the A's.
00:59Well, Nick Kurtz had an OPS over 1,000 and hit 36 bombs.
01:03He's a different kind of player than McGonigal, but that was sort of the high end, and now he's looking
01:11like he might be the high end.
01:12I mean, he's probably not going to hit 36 home runs, but as far as the skill set he brings
01:17to the table,
01:18yeah, he might be the high end prospect that actually pans out and not like some sort of pipe dream
01:26because he's looking every bit the part, right?
01:30Yeah, and Nick Kurtz has one home run, three RBIs, and he's hitting 204.
01:34Is he right now?
01:3414 games right now.
01:35He's a horrible start to the season, but yes.
01:38It's hard not to fall in love with Kevin McGonigal.
01:41He's everything they said he was going to be.
01:43He's everything everybody has said he's going to be, and he seems humble.
01:49He's just loving the moment right now, and he's a kid.
01:52He's 21 years old, and he's ours, which is great.
01:56And hearing him talk after the game and, hey, about the first home run, how great it felt.
02:01He's like, I already love this city.
02:03Love being here.
02:04I hope I have a nice, long career here.
02:06Yes.
02:06We hope you do, too.
02:08Yep.
02:09So maybe, you know, give one of those.
02:12You want the big contract now.
02:14Give him, you know.
02:14Do it now.
02:15Do it now.
02:18And for people who don't know why you do that, because you have him under club control for six years,
02:22you buy free agent years, like you sign him to a nine-year contract, which is what Conor Griffin did.
02:28And the point being, you get him for three years beyond those arbitration years,
02:36so he doesn't get the free agency for the better part of a decade,
02:40but you give him a whole bunch of money up front now.
02:43And when you're making $785,000, which is what his rookie deal will pay him,
02:49is he going to turn down $15 million now?
02:52When on the open market, if he's this good, I mean, he could get $40 million,
02:56but, you know, who knows what it's going to be in nine years.
02:58It's weighing it out.
02:59And the variable of who knows what the business structure is going to look like with this pending CBA.
03:04It's a risk on both sides.
03:05Risk I'm willing to take.
03:07You're willing to take it, yeah.
03:08With somebody else's money.
03:09248-539-9797.
03:11Let's go to Matt here on 97.1.
03:13Good morning, Matt.
03:15Hey, good morning, guys.
03:16Yes, Champ and Chump, Champ Tigers, they did a really good job.
03:20I'm not as concerned anymore about, you know, their losing streak.
03:26Chump, Red Wings, specifically Illich,
03:30because I don't believe he's going to have the stones to fire Arzeman like he needs to.
03:36It's time for that con man to get out of the city.
03:40You think he's a con man?
03:43I just think he's failed to build the team the way that this city deserves.
03:48He's made one good move in seven years.
03:51Well, con man, if we use the term con man,
03:53and maybe we should not really care what term you use.
03:56To me, a con man is somebody that's outwardly lying to you.
03:58And I don't think he's lying.
04:00I think he's failing.
04:01You're right.
04:02Yeah.
04:02Maybe con man is not the right word.
04:04But he has got to go.
04:07It is time to cut the strings.
04:09He's got to go.
04:10Well, that I'm not necessarily going to argue with.
04:12I mean, and the reason is, give me some proof of concept.
04:17Like, if you are failing to live up to whatever goal,
04:20but you can see that something is percolating or whatever,
04:25but I mean, I don't want to do this.
04:29If I own the Red Wings, I wouldn't want to do this.
04:31I wouldn't want to fire Steve Eisenman.
04:32I'd want Steve Eisenman to be successful in the worst way.
04:35I hate this.
04:36I hate that we're in this situation.
04:38You're welcome, Matt.
04:40I hate that we're in this situation.
04:42But tell me where the proof of concept is.
04:45It's really hard to see.
04:47I mean, I was talking with Costa during the break in between shows there.
04:52And it's, I mean, what's left to do at this point?
04:56I don't know if there's that big free agent out there this offseason
04:59that's going to make the big difference.
05:02So that means you're going to have to think about trading.
05:05And you've got pieces to trade.
05:06Are you willing to trade those pieces?
05:07Is the price going to be too high like it was at the trade deadline?
05:11And if it is, then if you're going to try to sell everybody on,
05:15and Chris Illich included, look, we've got young talent.
05:19We're going to bring young talent up this next season.
05:21We're expecting a couple of these guys to absolutely crack the lineup.
05:24We'll make a move or two in free agency that makes sense
05:27where we can get an upgrade over blank and blank.
05:30And we're going to have to make a trade as well.
05:32They've got like four goaltenders in the system.
05:35And at least a couple of them are ready to play.
05:38So maybe even three of them are ready to play.
05:41You've got to move somebody.
05:42And you've got Gibson.
05:43You brought it up last week, and I kind of blew it off right away,
05:46saying that I don't think Gibson has much trade value.
05:48But you know what?
05:49Maybe he does because you brought up a really good point.
05:52The prices were so high on players.
05:55Why not hold that same value for Gibson?
05:58Gibson can help a team.
06:00Gibson can't play 55 games in a season, but Gibson can play 40.
06:05You know, he can do a hell of a job playing 40
06:07or maybe a little bit more than north of that.
06:09Or if you want to be your second goaltender and not miss a beat,
06:13that could be a good place for him.
06:15And what does that land you?
06:16I don't know if it gets you a player or not.
06:18But maybe it gets you something.
06:22In the meantime, what it also does is it opens the door open
06:25for your guys to step up from Grand Rapids.
06:28Let's see Kosa.
06:29Let's see Postova.
06:31Trey Augustine, let him start the year in Grand Rapids
06:33and prove himself.
06:34And if he deserves to be up here, then he gets a shot.
06:36But they've got guys.
06:38So the plan, I imagine, what Steve Eisenman is going to have to sell
06:41Chris Illich on is young players that we haven't seen much of.
06:45They're bringing Branzig Nygaard up for the game tonight.
06:50But he's going to have to play a major role.
06:52Danielson's going to have to play a major role.
06:53Actually, Sandy Pelic is going to have to play a major role.
06:56Anton Johansson, who has yet to play with the wings,
06:58but he's another guy who they're really high on,
07:00he's going to play a role.
07:01The aforementioned goaltender is going to have to play a major role.
07:04You've got Carter Mazur who's going to have to play a major role.
07:06Casper's going to have to kick it up a notch.
07:09You've got these guys who are younger players that have to show they belong
07:12and give you thought that, okay, the future is brighter than what it is now.
07:16It's been four years we've just been kicking ourselves in the nuts
07:20watching this team trying to make it in the month of March,
07:22and they can't do it.
07:23What's going to be different?
07:25Is it just the talent level that we have yet to see?
07:27And if it's not, then that's a real indictment of the general manager
07:31for not being able to find guys.
07:33is that they're able to integrate into the lineup on a yearly basis
07:36where you're competing for playoff positions.
07:39I will tell you why that, what you're talking about,
07:46I think is doomed to fail.
07:48I didn't say it was good.
07:49Yeah, there's a couple things that,
07:51and the reason why if I were sitting in the ownership office,
07:55why I would be compelled to make a change.
07:57I think what you just talked about sounds like a Hail Mary,
08:01and you didn't say it was good,
08:03but that sounds like a Hail Mary,
08:05and even if those guys are going to be good players,
08:08I think you bring them up to the men's league and their struggles,
08:11and I don't see them getting better because of that.
08:13It may expedite their growth,
08:16but I don't see that they are better in 2027 because of that.
08:20Well, none of those guys that I mentioned,
08:22the younger players, strike me as an ex-Porter Martone
08:25who just hits the ground running or hits the ice skating.
08:28So that's A.
08:29B is, I think the other thing that you run the risk of
08:33by keeping Steve Eisenman
08:36is now he's GMing out of desperation,
08:40and I think he's going to make decisions based on,
08:45I have to make the playoffs.
08:47I have to make a bold move,
08:50which I think puts you in a prone position
08:52to get bilked on the trade market or overpay for a free agent.
08:56And I think when your GM is desperate,
09:00they are vulnerable to making terrible deals.
09:04Now, maybe he won't,
09:05but those two extremes,
09:08Hail Marys and desperate,
09:11is where I think he most likely is
09:15because I don't think he stays any course,
09:18and that doesn't sound like the best for the organization.
09:22It pains me to say it.
09:23If his course has always been,
09:25you know, we're going to matriculate the younger players
09:29through the system and get up to the big league club,
09:31then that's what it is.
09:32That's what he does.
09:33So it may seem like a Hail Mary,
09:35but this may be the way he's always envisioned it.
09:37Every year, you're bringing up a couple other guys to compete.
09:40You know, and Danielson would have made this team
09:42out of rookie camp if he didn't get hurt,
09:46and then he got hurt again
09:47and missed most of the season this past year.
09:50So, I mean, that's a guy who I'm expecting to be on here.
09:53Branzig Nygaard has to be on it.
09:55But they have to be good enough to be earning the minutes, too.
09:58I mean, I mentioned Porter Martone,
10:00but the guy is, he's playing like 18 minutes a game.
10:03He's on the number one power play unit.
10:05Like they already said, as soon as he comes up,
10:07he's going to be our guy, and he is their guy.
10:10None of these guys that they have
10:12are going to step up and play
10:13on the first power play unit for the Red Wings.
10:17They've got some real issues.
10:18Yeah.
10:19And it's not an easy mess to clean up or to fix,
10:24whether it's something you have to clean up
10:25or is it something you just have to try something new?
10:27I don't know what the answer is.
10:30But, you know, we were asking,
10:32what does Eisenman tell Chris Illich?
10:33I think he tells him,
10:34we've got guys coming down the pipeline,
10:36and we've got a free agent class after this season,
10:39this upcoming season.
10:41And so in the 2027,
10:42the free agent class is ridiculously talented,
10:44and we have to land at least one of those guys.
10:47Well, I fail to see the proof of concept,
10:51and I fail to see a likely path out of this for Steve,
10:56and I hate it.
10:57I hate it too, and I'm with you 100%.
10:59And I think maybe what we're both saying
11:01is if we were Chris Illich,
11:02we probably wouldn't bring him back,
11:03and yet all the intel that people are reporting
11:06seems to say he's coming back.
11:09248-539-9797
11:11or your phone calls and feedback.
11:12Our Champ and Champ nominations today at 1035
11:15here on Carson Anderson on 97.1.
11:17and I think there's no other thing out there.
11:17I'll do it.
11:17We're going to do it.
Comments