In this edition of 32 Thoughts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman delve into Mikko Rantanen's return to the Colorado with the Dallas Stars and talk about how tough the Central Division bracket will be in the playoffs. Next, they highlight how everyone is high on the Ottawa Senators currently (9:00) and Kyle and Elliotte discuss how Toronto reacted to the Leafs loss to the Senators (12:35). They also touch on the Montreal Canadiens and the tight Eastern Conference playoff race (19:02) and on a team that could be handful in the West in the LA Kings and Quinton Byfield who has been "Bringing the Boom" (28:42). That bleeds into a conversation about how tight the Western Conference wild card race is between the Blues, Canucks, Utah, and Calgary (30:18). Elliotte takes a second to talk about Connor Bedard's frustrations after a blowout loss visit to his hometown (36:47) and Kyle and Friedge speculate on Sam Bennett's future (40:40). The Final Thought focuses on our colleague Gene Principe (45:22). 

Kyle and Elliotte answer your questions and respond to your voicemails in the Thought Line (49:04).

In the final segment Kyle and Elliotte talk about the reason why they are in Florida recording this podcast, the NHL GM Meetings (1:14:45).

Email the podcast at [email protected] or call the Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemail.

This podcast was produced and mixed by Dominic Sramaty and hosted by Elliotte Friedman & Kyle Bukauskas.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates