Podcast Ombudsman Report for Blueshirt Bandwidth Ep. 100
From the real math on the Buchnevich trade to when Fox and Shesterkin will be "too old" to Cale Makar's future cap hit, Charlie corrects Joe, Eric, and Chip's centennial episode.
Welcome back to the Blueshirt Bandwidth Podcast Ombudsman Report. Each week, Charlie Vidal will listen to the latest episode of the podcast and correct the record on anything Joe and Eric (or, in this case, Chip) get wrong. If you aren't already, you can listen and subscribe to the podcast here.
Podcast Episode Players
The first episode I could find where Joe and Eric started using player numbers to name the episode was Episode 39, which was named for Sam Carrick.
Double Zero and Zero Jersey Numbers
GammaOverdose accurately raised the point that the NHL banned the numbers 0 and 00 from usage 30 years ago. In fact, it was exactly 30 years ago, beginning with the 1996-97 season.
At that point, the NHL had to stop players from using those numbers because it was causing problems for the new computer databases that were being used to track statistics. New York Rangers legend and MSG contributor Martin Biron was the last NHL player to wear 0 or 00, wearing 00 for three games during his debut as an 18-year-old during the 1995-96 season.
Eeli Tolvanen
Eric called the Eeli Tolvanen signing “low risk.” If he is sent to the AHL, his contract will count for only $275,000 against the cap, because $1.225 million of any cap hit is subtracted when the player is sent to the AHL.
When Do Players Get Too Old?
One listener asked when Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin will be too old to possibly lead the Rangers to the Stanley Cup. Igor is already 30, but Fox is still only 28.
Since the Great Lockout, only two teams have won the Stanley Cup with their leading point scorer during the regular season being over 30-years-old: The 2007 Anaheim Ducks who were lead by 36-year-old Teemu Selanne’s 94 points, and the 2018 Washington Capitals who were lead by 32-year-old Alex Ovechkin’s 87 points. If you want to consider a defenseman who isn’t the leading scorer as a team’s best players, then you can include the 2011 Boston Bruins, who were captained by 33-year-old Zdeno Chara.
Looking at goaltenders, the 2008 Detroit Red Wings (35-year-old Chris Osgood), 2011 Boston Bruins (37-year-old Tim Thomas) and 2023-24 and 2024-25 Florida Panthers (35- and 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky) were lead to a Cup by a goalie over the age of 30—although you could argue that the Red Wings carried Osgood to that Cup.
Pavel Buchnevich Trade
Once again, the Pavel Buchnevich trade was mentioned as one of the worst in Rangers history, with Joe saying that it might be worse than the Zubov trade because Buchnevich could have been the difference maker who got the Rangers over the hump to win the Stanley Cup in 2022, 2023, or 2024.
Looking at Evolving Hockey’s xGAR numbers for those seasons, in 2021-22 Buchnevich would’ve been the second best Ranger (after Chris Kreider), in 2022-23 he would’ve been the fifth best ranger (after Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Kreider), and in 2023-24 he would’ve been the third best Ranger (after Fox and Panarin). Meanwhile Sammy Blais was a negative xGAR player in both of his partial seasons with the Rangers. Furthermore, when Buchnevich was traded he was a 96 percent projected WAR player per Hockeystats.com.
Connor Hellebuyck
When discussing Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request, Joe mentioned that one of the complicating factors is that when you trade away a goalie you have to get a goalie back. On the Episode 91 Ombudsman report I pointed out that a potential Hellebuyck trade request is why Stuart Skinner signed with the Winnipeg Jets.
Makar Contract
According to projections, the 2028-29 salary cap will be $123 million and the 2029-30 salary cap will be $130 million. In those seasons, Cale Makar’s $20.4 million contract will be 16.6 percent and 15.7 percent of the salary cap. For context, the highest cap hit in the NHL this past season was Leon Draisaitl ($14 million, or 14.7 percent of the $95.5 million salary cap)
Hotel Bathroom Mirrors
Chip asked an odd question about being able to see yourself in the mirror when sitting on a toilet in a hotel bathroom. I have stayed in 10 different hotels so far this year (number 11 next week!), and I can’t recall any of them having a disconcerting mirror position when I’m sitting on the toilet.
In Person Podcasts
One of the biggest changes that would occur if the Blueshirt Bandwidth podcast was in person is that Joe would probably stop cursing out your loyal Ombudsman, because it isn’t so easy to bad mouth a 6-4 man to his face instead of hiding behind a podcast camera.
