Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Toronto Is MELTING DOWN — Nylander, Berube & A Nightmare Homestand w/TSN's Noodles | BB Clips

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Pinder & Rhett are joined by TSN’s Noodles to break down the absolute chaos surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs — from Craig Berube looking like he got axed across the head, to Nylander flipping off the camera on live TV, to a brutal 0-4-1 homestand that has Leafs Nation spiraling. Is this just bad luck, or are things officially unraveling in Toronto? We dive into the meltdown, what it means moving forward, and how ugly this could get if the slide continues.Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/VIOqyfs2_3A#nhl #nhlshorts #nhlplayoffs #nhlpredictions #nhlhockey #nhlpicks #stanleycup #stanleycupfinal #leafsnation #toronto CHECK OUT OUR STUFF ⬇️BARN BURNER MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/shirts/FlamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTS https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9&si=jo8iNGxT4ImhS2Y8📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiProducer: Jack Haverstock Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

But you didn't answer us about the Leafs. Yeah, so just to get there, here's the Atlantic of the East. We've got the standings. I cropped out the Devils and Caps who are at the bottom. But, I mean, the bottom is not far. There's a lot of muck just hanging around the wild card and out. The Metro looks soft. And the Atlantic, we've seen this massive turnover.

Like, there's Detroit in a home ice spot. There's Buffalo right behind them with two games in hand. We've seen those teams massively improved. Montreal is a much better team than they were. Boston's remained relevant. We see Barkov skating with Florida, with some of the injured guys, looks like he's closer not to coming back than we would have thought at this point of the season. And there at the very bottom are the Leafs and the Sends at two teams that met in the first round last year.

And for the Leafs, it's like it looks like they got old and slow quick. And for the Sends, they can't stop a puck. But like a lot of buzz on the Leafs, they're above the Senators here, Noodles. Well, the thing is, when you ask me, with Ottawa, I can circle one thing and go if you if you take care of this this will happen because

analytically you know Pinder you know this like they're whatever site you go to whether it's money puck or logic whatever like Ottawa's expected goals for and expected goals against like they're near the top of the league like they are analytically a top tier team

they just can't get a save consistently at the right time unfortunately with the leaves The fix isn't one particular compartment where you go, you fix that and we got, we're on to something. What's happened is they've had nine years of stress-free regular seasons. 100-plus points every year, yeah. 100-point team, playoff team that, you know, this fan base is like, wake me up in April to see if they can do something. And, you know, they've won two playoff rounds in 10 years or in 17 years, whatever it is.

I'm talking the 10 years of Matthews and all of that. And now the fan base, this is uncharted territory for them, or it's muscle memory going back to the Phil and D-on days or even before that to when it was scorched earth. And I think what's happened is the fan base, they're not used to that. You're going, you know, this team, whether you believe it or not, it was going to be in that battle,

I think they're going to fight for a playoff spot all season long, whether they get it or not, doesn't look good, right now. But this is on chartered territory for that group in the dressing room as well. Because for two weeks out of the year, and it happens to be unfortunately the same two weeks

in April, they've had to deal with craziness. Now it's every day. Because in the regular season, the Leafs and there's other teams in the league, we could call them regular season heroes. It's you know, hey, Matthew's Chase in

70. It's Willie's having. Barner chasing 100 points. It's this goal he's playing well. All-Star game for that. And it's just been very easy. Nothing's been easy for them this year. And you see right now, the 0-4 and 1 in this last five games in the homestand, and they were coming off an 8-0-2 stretch where they put themselves back into the mix. Yeah, just to give it right back. Just to give themselves an opportunity. And now Buffalo and regulation goes into their building and kicks their ass. After a big meeting. After they have a meeting with the coach, they've got a player that's hand in the finger

out. They've got like, it's just storyline. I think my host, Brian Hayes said it. It said it well. He goes, it's not one thing, but it's death by a thousand cuts right now. Everywhere you turn, there's just a little slice of, this guy and that guy. And it's, it's really frustrating. Well, they're not good in that.

Or they've got subpar goaltending. Yes. I think those goalies are good, but they're not playing well. Yeah, so that's not working. Their defense is. That's their Achilles heel. Troy Stetcher off of waivers. I mean, everybody loves Troy Stetcher.

We love him, but eventually you wake up and you go, that's Troy Stetcher, the six, seven. Big minutes. You know, and he should be at the 8 to 12, 8 to 10, and they're having to play him higher in the lineup because you've got an injury to TANF and you've got, you know, everyone else not playing well. Is this a take pause moment for Tree? Or is this a, I've seen enough?

I don't like the makeup. I need to make. I don't know. The only problem, Red, is what's the currency you have? I think they're post-Apex this team. If that's a weird thing to say, I really do. When you look at their lineup and how it's constructed and where they've faltered and where they've failed and how they and how much they need to get elite again.

Like I don't look at that team and go that's elite. I think there's some elite players, but it's like you're saying, hazy makes the fact that Neelander's giving the camera the finger is not a big deal in my life other than you're a childish idiot and I can't like you're like a moron are you? Like what are you doing? I know. I got some numbers noodles that'll talk about it. Because you guys are right, there's holes everywhere, but the one place it's continuing...

And you've called yourself Willie on your post or whatever. You sound like fucking two-year-old. Grow up. Where we? Lot again. Clip that, Jen. Instagram. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.

Oh, you love Willie. Kiss my weird. It's just a weird. We've got some defensive stats from them. I want you to look at this. So this is Mike Kelly from the NHL. He does some advanced stuff. This is their defending.

This is not their offense. their defense. They are last in shots against. They are last in slot shots allowed. They are last in rush chances allowed. They are second last in chances off the cycle. They are third from the bottom, fourth from the bottom, excuse me, in expected goals against, which means the environment's a nightmare for a goalie. You're getting way too many high caliber chances as all the stats above that. And then actual goals allowed, they're third from the bottom. Like, whatever their holes are in the four group, the D group, or the goalies not being as good as they could be, it's all showing in these defensive metrics.

They are a shitty defensive team. Yes. And if you watched, you'd pick a team, but pick a night, I'll pick last night. Buffalo speed, they couldn't handle.

There was the forecheck. They would turn it over. Buffalo scored four goals in the first period. One was called back on an offside that was a minute later. No, what a thing. We'll get me started on like,

you know, offside and then two minutes in the zone and then they score and they got to reset the clock. But that's what happened. Buffalo, any team that four checks fast and hard, they have trouble with because their D are slow. Like they're not, they don't have guys. Now, Stetcher's can skate. They've got guys who can skate and move the puck, but they don't have today's game. You need to be able to get out of your zone and you need puck movers.

You need somebody that can, doesn't panic underpatch. pressure makes a play. Their best defenseman that I'm describing out of all that is Oliver Ekman-Larsen. He's 35 years old, 34, and a warrior played every game this year, even though he's left a few games with injury. He just seems to show up the next game. But he was a 5-6 on a cup winner. They're asking him to be a 4, maybe higher in the lineup. And it's not constructed right Whether it's due to injuries or not

It feels like a team That had some very high end elite talent And they tried to Fill the holes with the gum You know what I mean? The leaks and they try to spot TANF in there And we all love TANF But this is exactly what everyone expected

To happen to TANF in a bad way Where they feel terrible for it Because like I said, everyone loves TANN, everyone Everybody This is what you were kind of expecting At the end of the day TANF is going to be get hurt. You can't really rely on it. I think they've, I just don't know how there's

construction. I don't know what kind of capital they have and what, you know, you look at that sport logic thing. You're like four and a half percent. Yeah. Chances of playoffs. That's real low. Well, it just, to me, there's just so much, like you say, there's, there's not like, there are two points ahead of Ottawa. Ottawa's got a game in hand, but Ottawa was playing Colorado tonight. But my point being, they're both out of the playoffs. Both out of playoffs, Badawa by 10 points, the Leafs by 8. Ottawa, I can look at that roster and go, give this one thing.

And that might change the trickle down. Is there one player, if I walked into the Leafs dress, is there one player that would go, it's just going to change everything? I think it's weird for me to say, Rasmus Anderson would have been a guy that I think could have helped the balance of power back there because he can advance the puck, he can quarterback the power play, you know, he's got some bite to his game, some attitude to his game.

All of a sudden he can play with Morgan Riley or Jake McCabe and now a sudden you don't have Brandon Carlo there, who doesn't make a real clean first pass. Raspis does. So again, maybe one player like that could help the. balance of power where Troy Stetcher doesn't have to be that guy. He can play as a five-step. You know, that's the, I look at it. Again, I know you guys hate talking about Edmonton, but Evanton made one trade a couple years ago that helped the balance of power of their D. And it was at home. Yeah. Best deal Kenny made, yeah. Right, because it was, it took nurse out of that

and it goes, we're going to put Echholm here. We're going to slot nurse down. We're going to, we're going to have somebody to play with Bouchard to settle him down. Like there was a, there was a ripple effect throughout that organization with one move that was slotted properly. And I think that's where, if you're asking me like these organizations, I don't think there's a quick fix. But if there might be a play. Now, again, you don't have the currency to get Rasmus. That's just it.

That's what I was just going to say. It was like, even if you were able to get Rasmus Anderson. And even if Rasmus came in and did that, I don't know that it takes you from where you are. Right. To the top of the food chain. I think it helps you get to the playoffs. What it does is maybe like right now I call the leaves

and just like Calgary was in the last couple years in that muddy middle. Yes. Do you want to be in the muddy middle or do you take a look right here, the narrative right here in Toronto is the template could be the Boston Bruins. Yeah. Last year, reset. They had a goalie that that showed up late for camp on a contract. squabble never really got going.

Hampus Lindholm, in the top-paring defenseman, hurt right from the get-go, shut down. Charlie McAvoy gets hurt. Shut them down. They realized, I remember being in Boston. It was about this time last year. And Cam Neely was doing a presser, and we were

there, you know, media scrubs hanging around. And Neely said, the next week of our season, we're going to decide whether we are buyers, are sellers at the deadline. He said, our next three to four games are going to dictate. It dictated, and they sold.

They shut everybody down. Lynn Holm didn't, you know, fit in early on. It took him a bit to settle in. Now he looks comfortable, right? But they just, they had so many things that didn't go right. So they made that decision. This year is not our year. We're going to reset and, you know, we're going to sell off some assets.

Yeah. And we're going to retool and go right back at it. And they were able to, with what they have, to go right back at it again this year. Toronto might have to do that. Yeah. And so I think we all agree. They don't have the capital to make a splash, to make one move that you're like. And one move I don't think.

And so we're taking that off the board. And this is where things get really interesting. For a team that's got a hollowode system that does not hold their own first rounder. Right. It's also like you can't really tank and go get a stud here. It's top five protected, but they moved their first to Boston. in the deal for Carlo, which is looking like a very, very steep price to pay for a guy who's probably a five, six, if he's slotted best. And so now what do you do?

Getting into that bottom five is not that simple. You've got some teams that are bad and that have already started selling. Your Vancouver's, Calgary, St. Louis is going to be there if they're not. The Rangers are sent out a press release? Like, this is a really, like, are they cooked or is there a way that you could even look a year or two out and say they're back? Like, I just see old, hard to move contracts and no capital to get young, players in. It's weird to say because it is a couple years out, but you almost have to be like Vancouver and go to your top player because Matthews is a couple years away from a contract and go,

what's your intention? What do you want here? Be a lifer or, you know, again, I don't want to be radioed. I joke because I don't want a headline saying, McClellan says this or whatever, but it might have to be a realistic conversation as to what is the plan moving forward. John Tavares has three more years on his deal. He's not going anywhere. He's 35 years old, 36. Like, you know, maybe you look at Morgan Riley and you go, whether you like it or not, we're going to, you know, try and move away from you.

It makes eight, I think seven something. Still a good player, but it's, it's. He'd be a great asset if you're willing to move them to a team. There's a lot of teams that would love to have. They've got two decisions on UFAs. Got Lotton, who they gave a first round. or four. Another first.

And then the Bobby McMahon, who is a nice Alberta guy, Wayne Rice, a great minister guy who they found. And they, you know,

he's become, but they found him and he's on a cheap deal. His next deal, he's a 20 plus goal score. His next deal might start with a five. Do you want to commit to,

you know, that? Are you going to move him at this deadline and start trying to recoup some of the stuff that's gone out the door? These are decisions

that have to be made. Here's the other thing I'll throw on the table. Keith Pelly took over this organization. It was Brendan Shanahan. Now they've got a president of MLSC. They don't have a president of the Leafs. So it's Pelly. Is Pellie saying to Brad Tree Living,

you have the keys to the castle? Or are you saying we're going to reevaluate everything at the end of this season? And if that's the case, are you allowing the people in place right now to make the organization future decisions? So that's the other. If Tree's your guy,

which is, you know, we all love Tree. I know Tree very well. He's a good friend of mine. If Keeppelli has a vote of confidence, then you go to Tree and say, execute a plan, moving forward, you've got to figure out Matthews' intentions,

you know, what are you going to do with William Milander who's got eight years or seven years left? And, you know, these are good players. but at the end of the day, if you're having a retool, do they have the stomach for it? Are you the guy that's going to do it? Like there's lots of questions to be answered before we even have these conversations. Yeah, must win games in January, regular seasons that have been stress-free, and now all of a sudden a new president whose bottom line was very clear at his opening press conference.

It's about banners. They haven't been further from a banner in the last decade than they are right now. Yes, that's a fair, fair point. because I can't remember. Like this team, and I'm probably going to pose that out on my show today, how many days has this team been in the playoffs, like just on paper as opposed to out of the playoffs this year? I guarantee you it's a lot more out of the playoffs than in them.

Yeah. Which is uncharted territory for this whole group.