{"id":92384,"date":"2020-12-07T12:41:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T17:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=92384"},"modified":"2020-12-07T13:09:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T18:09:10","slug":"throwing-haymakers-podcast-kraken-down-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/12\/07\/throwing-haymakers-podcast-kraken-down-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwing Haymakers Podcast: Kraken Down on Defence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>What happens when a Bruins fan faces off against two Maple Leafs fans? Intellectual discussion about all aspects of hockey, of course! Throwing Haymakers is a podcast started by Last Word on Sports writers Brandon Higley-Blair and Josh Erickson, as well as Mat Sheridan. Discussing everything from playoffs to predictions to pretty snipes, Throwing Haymakers provides a fresh, new view on the current state of hockey.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Throwing Haymakers Podcast Episode 22<\/h2>\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-small-player-1518352\"><\/div>\n<p><script type='text\/javascript' charset='utf-8' src='https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1518352.js?container_id=buzzsprout-small-player-1518352&#038;player=small'><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In this week&#8217;s episode, Brandon, Josh, and Mat take another dive into a mock Seattle expansion draft. Focusing on the Metropolitan Division, controversial decisions spark outrage in a pick from Pittsburgh and Brandon manages to change Josh&#8217;s mind on a pair of picks.<\/p>\n<p>Tough decisions loomed on teams like the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/bluejackets\/\" target=\"_self\">Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/devils\/\" target=\"_self\">New Jersey Devils<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/rangers\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Rangers<\/a>. As a solid chunk of their talent is exempt from the expansion draft, options for the Kraken were few and far between. The situation is markedly different for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/hurricanes\/\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Hurricanes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/hurricanes\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/flyers\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>. They&#8217;re all likely to lose a talented player to Seattle, no matter who they protect.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, though, the defensive talent available to Seattle from Metropolitan teams in this expansion draft can&#8217;t be ignored. Longtime stalwarts like\u00a0<strong>Jake Gardiner<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Justin Schultz<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Mike Matheson<\/strong>, and <strong>David Savard\u00a0<\/strong>could be available. Kraken general manager\u00a0<strong>Ron Francis\u00a0<\/strong>will have no problem building a sound defence for their inaugural season. The Metropolitan Division is likely to provide them with a solid starting point.<\/p>\n<p>However, what choices Francis actually makes remain to be seen. With the bevy of free agents still unsigned just for the 2020-21 season, there&#8217;s still a looming sense of uncertainty around who could actually be available for Seattle. Regardless, defence will be a theme in their Metropolitan Division selections.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"QexgMzsTTwBaGv3qOenOhg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1200528355\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'QexgMzsTTwBaGv3qOenOhg',sig:'5fEOAS_cQ4pxCUZzG4uxTc2NnHw2o4CSM5qXZhV5k6k=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1200528355',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happens when a Bruins fan faces off against two Maple Leafs fans? Intellectual discussion about all aspects of hockey, of course! Throwing Haymakers is a podcast started by Last Word on Sports writers Brandon Higley-Blair and Josh Erickson, as well as Mat Sheridan. Discussing everything from playoffs to predictions to pretty snipes, Throwing Haymakers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3006,"featured_media":92385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49,4547,4548,5369],"tags":[136,111,858,37,611,380,3766,151,48,38,126,44,137,5343,5325],"class_list":["post-92384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-seattle-kraken","tag-carolina-hurricanes","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-david-savard","tag-hockey","tag-jake-gardiner","tag-justin-schultz","tag-mike-matheson","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-nhl","tag-philadelphia-flyers","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-ron-francis","tag-seattle-kraken","tag-throwing-haymakers"],"modified_by":"Josh Erickson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}