OverDrive - Corrado on Laughton and Carlo landing in Toronto, Cozens' role in Ottawa and the Avalanche's jump as a contenderr

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Frank Corrado joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL Trade Deadline, the Maple Leafs' deals for Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo, Dylan Cozens landing with the Senators, the Oilers not as active as conference teams, the Avalanche becoming a contender and the best deals around the league.

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Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud. Frankie Carrotto joining us around the table. What's up, boys? Well, I would say, you know, it was, we were over there doing Trade Center all day, and by 11 a.m., 11.30am there was nothing going

on. There was tumbleweed. Literally nothing. What is going on here? And then slowly as noon hit a couple of deals started pouring in and yet I would say by the end, I can't speak to volume, but the Ranton and Deal, Brad Marshann on his way to Florida, the two trades by the Leafs, you know, last night when you look at what Colorado's done, like I would say now that the dust has settled and it hasn't

completely yet, we're still waiting on some details, this is going to be a trade center I think we're going to remember for a long time. Yeah, it was the quality of trades versus the quantity and that was going to be the case because of all the teams that are in the mix and the, you know, the limited pool of UFA players and a lot of guys with term got thrown around right like teams were able to digest that But I mean if if I asked you guys this morning, you know Could you think of the perfect landing spot for Brad Marchand? I think tops on the list would have been the Florida Panthers Yeah, not like imagine a line with Bennett Kachuk and Marchand being out there and what a mess that is going to cause.

They have such an embarrassment of riches down there. It's crazy. Like they, you've got Barkov, you've got Reinhardt, you've got Verhagy, you know. Don't forget though, they took swings on guys that weren't sure things, right? Like that's the thing that you always have to keep in mind. Well, Evan Rodriguez and... Right, like the Evan Rodriguez is of the world. The Gus Borsling... He was here.

Yeah, oh yeah, at least that him. Oh yeah. But that, he was a least had him but that he was a honest to God. He was like a throw. He was an afterthought He was yeah, I don't even remember the trade they acquired him play. Did he get assigned a number like Assigned a number if you ever watch Rodriguez's Pregame routine is he goes out to the bench? He has his ear pods on and he's like you down to the bench, he has his ear pods on, and he's down to the music, and he's doing his visualization. And I remember watching him do that with the Leafs, because I think I was calling a game randomly

or doing something. And then I kind of tracked his progression, his career, because here it was like a throwaway at the deadline. I think they brought him in, it was a body they had to bring in, and they flushed him. They might have flushed him to the Marleys. I don't know what happened. I'm pretty sure he ended up at some point with the Marlies.

Yeah. And he's another guy from like the Buffalo graveyard of players. That's right. Remember that? He was Jack Eichel's linemate in college. He signed with Buffalo and he was part of those guys that we don't talk about, right? Like we talk about O'Reilly, Al Mark, Reinhardt. Evan Rodriguez has had a really nice little career blown up in one. That that is a Netflix special.

Buffalo players that have left Buffalo. Well, now, like one of the bigger deals that I didn't even mention was Dylan Cousins to Ottawa for Josh Norris. Right. And JBD, right? Is it Jacob Bernard? Yes. So Bernard Docker, who's going to Buffalo. And that was kind of the deal that got everything going that kind of got it right that was like, okay That's interesting move now from Ottawa standpoint. I

Find this quite interesting because they're in the playoffs currently Norris is a guy that they had committed to in the past He was a part of that core that they got in front of and signed and when he's been healthy, he's been a very productive player. But Dylan Cousins brings a bit of a different ingredient, right, he's a right shot defenseman, he's got some size. Obviously Buffalo wanted to flush him out because his name was out there.

It's just one of those scenarios where both teams are trading, like I would have figured if you're gonna put a Cousins out there or a Norris out there, you might bring in a different ingredient. The palate cleanser. Yeah, it's just kind of like one guy's 24, the other guy's 25, they both got talent and it's like, you're just going to go to the other team and hopefully your career takes off.

It's a shakeup though. That's what it is. Like Buffalo, they don't need more draft picks. They need live players that are in that mid-20s to move forward with the group that they have. They needed a core shakeup, and obviously Steve Stahels felt that Ottawa needed a core shakeup. Or if they... you're trying to build a team to go deep into the playoffs. You're not trying to build a team to make the playoffs. Again, I'm not behind the curtain, but I was saying to the guys off air,

both organizations saw something in these players. I'm sure they loved them but oh wait we'd like this. I think you can win a trade on both sides because I've seen Ottawa do it this year the Jensen for Chickering. Both organizations loved their player. You hope that both of these guys land on their feet. You wish Josh Norris well. Dylan Cousins, he's in a playoff race now. That's the difference. Buffalo's not.

And there's gonna be a lot of pressure on Cousins because Josh Norris, the one thing he does when he's healthy is he scores goals. Well, he scores goals and he was beloved in that dressing room. Like, you see your captain almost in tears addressing his departure in a press conference. Austin Matthews called for a trade deadline boost in Toronto. This might be the pin to the balloon in Ottawa. If you lost a guy that was loved like that,

Dylan Cousins, to your point, he's got a lot of pressure on him to perform quickly. I would love to say that I like this trade for the Buffalo Sabres bringing in Josh Norris, but I have no idea what that looks like for the kid going there. Like that team's not turning it around in a hurry. He's obviously had his injury issues, but he's a really good kid. Like I played with him his first year pro and I said this today on Trade Center on the TV side. But you know how when you're an older guy in a team, you're on the bus, you're on the, you know, we were on the bus in the minors. But like you kind of take a little inventory on some of the young guys. We would talk about this guy glowingly all the

time, we're like for a 20 year old kid, he just gets it. Like he was such a dialed in pro at such a young age, and I have no doubt it's significant, but the injuries are the only thing that has held this guy back in his career. That's what I don't get from Buffalo. That's what I don't understand what Buffalo is doing. Like Josh Norris, the stats when he's playing when he's healthy speak for themselves, but how can you have faith? He's got a lot of term left at a decent amount of cap hit. How can you have faith he's gonna be healthy? Like that's what I don't get. Like if you're trading cousins,

you know, okay you make that move. This is what you land on on Josh Norris. What about from Ottawa's point of view in the sense that when Stutzla, Norris and Pinto are all in the lineup together, you would know they're really good. They win. They play well. What does it look like, you know, Cousins has to have that same effect now or else it's like, well, we knew that when Norris and Pinto and Sootso were in the lineup we won games now what? The only thing I would say too they've got some versatility there is you could ask yourself if you're an Ottawa fan or an Ottawa management is Pinto a 2? Do you think Pinto can be a 2? Yeah maybe can be but isn't right now? Well that's

the thing. He's been playing pretty well recently. So now my point being is you've got three guys that can play in two spots really and that talks to depth. So we were talking about the Lawton trade, like Lawton is a three of what the what's the Leafs. Yeah. Which is fine. I mean that you if you're looking at Ottawa, I think Cousins can be a really good number two centerman. I believe Shane Pinto can be a really good number two sentiment. I believe Shane Pinto can be a two as well, but now you know it's going to go Stucla down to Cousins into Pinto or some form of that. Yeah. Which is you know gives you an opportunity. Is there a team that sticks out for you guys where you're kind of wondering why they didn't do more or did they get left out? Yeah. Like Van Gogh,, Brock Besser remains at

Canuck. They traded Carson Sousi yesterday. Here's what I don't understand. What else are they doing? Vancouver said the prices were high. Okay, great. You're not in the rental market. But why wasn't the price high for Carson Sousi? Would you get a third round pick? Like that type of defenseman got more than a third round pick. What did Luke Shen go for? He went a second and a fourth. A second and a fourth from Luke Shen. Brandon Carlo was a haul. Carson Sousi is worth more than a third based on this market. Today. Based on today's prices that we saw. And then the Brock Besser thing, you want to keep Brock Besser as an own rental? I have no problem with that because you're in a playoff hunt and you value playoff games but don't you know insinuate that prices were high but they're not high for our

guys like if they're high they're high for everyone they don't care that you're a Canuck or not well and that's what I wonder Vancouver maybe should have looked at what Boston did today where Boston unloaded a lot of pieces like they made a declaration that we're gonna determine who's gonna stick around but we're gonna try to bring in as many prospects and picks and retool this over the next year or two where Vancouver pretty clear They still don't know exactly what direction they want to go in So I I would agree with you when I look at Vancouver. I look at Edmonton too They picked up Jake Wallman last night and woman, you know, he's gonna play

He's a good player and he's gonna he he's going to play. And they got Frederick. But you look at what Dallas did, you look at what Colorado did. You know, Vegas is going to be stout, Winnipeg stout. Like, what is Edmonton thinking today? Yeah. Like this Edmonton, because we came into the season and it was a formality. Edmonton's doing what Florida did and they're going back to the final. I don't think they're a top three team in the West right now. They're not a slam dunk, but I think you've got to.

Their players have to play better. that's the thing we're looking at it through a lens of like all right that you know they've lost seven of nine or whatever it is let's say they're playing at their boat let's say every team's playing at their best is McDowell would you rank the West David or is he everyone's playing I would still think Edmonton's at the top you think they're better than Dallas in Colorado well how was Dallas spread out? I like Dallas' depth, but they don't have McDavid and Dreisand on that. They know.

Nobody knows. But that's my point. At least now they have Randon. Colorado's got McKinnon and McCarr, but no one's got those two guys. I think Hyman needs to play better. RNH needs to be better. McDavid needs to be better. Skinner's got to be better.

Well, yes. Stuart Skinner has to be a lot better. But Ekholm has to be better. McDavid needs to be better. Skinner's got to be better. Well, yes. Stewart Skinner has to be a lot better. But Echome has to be better. Bouchard has to be better. Like that's the spine of their team. Not any of them are having a career year other than Dry Sight. Wouldn't you though, Noodle's gone out and got a little insurance in that? But who? Well, I don't know who. That's my question. It didn't, you didn't hear any markers of them even kicking tires. Maybe they were.

I think they were probably looking, but like who? I guess my question is, if St. Louis was trading Bennington, that would be the only guy that I would look at and go, okay, you could probably bring in Bennington. But I don't think there's any number one available in the league that would be significantly better than Skinner. It's bilateral moves right now. I think if you were gonna do the goalie move for Edmonton, wouldn't you have done it around the time

Colorado did theirs, and they went out and got Blackwood? Because Blackwood came in and he played great right away. It's not easy for goalies to do that. Like, you would know it takes a little bit of time. And then, so now you're at the point where, if you make that goalie deal, it's not exactly tested and true that a goalie comes in at the deadline and has all the success right away Like you need you need a little more runway than that I the only thing I look at is they they're running that back because they know what they have

That's the only thing you do if you bring somebody in you don't know That's the only thing you don't know if that guy can fit it I think Stuart Skinner fits their mold the way that they want to play. And they've been playing awful defensively in front of him so it exposes him. He hasn't been consistent. But if that's the group that they're going to go with, that are they good enough? They felt that they were good enough last year. They've added Frederick. They're going to get Kane back by the sounds of it. They're just pushing him to the deadline. Well, they've told him he's staying. He gonna get Kane back by the sounds of it. They're just put all they've told him

He's Stan. He's not coming back to the play. Oh, I just was reading The comments there from Stan Bowman is like they feel that they'll have Frederick and Kane in their lineup And you add that in with Max Jones That's good, you know like that those are guys that they need that's because Evander Kane is that top six? Winger that they need they don't have that right now they've got Todd Coles in there who's a nice heavy player but he needs to be farther down. He can't finish that poor guy he is a good player he gets so many chance I love everything about that guy except the fact that he can't finish you

know what like if you were gonna do something today if you were Edmonton it would have been like a hockey trade like a guy in guy out right like I don't know if it's like Arvidsson. Arvidsson for Raquel would have been. Well that's what I like. That's the trade. Like that would have been. Dry Set all year has been carrying his line mates. Yeah. Like all year and he's doing it in just remarkable fashion. I would like I'm curious his thoughts after it like he's like man like McDavid's got R&H and Hyman and they gotta get going they gotta be better But he's playing with you know guys that just aren't pulling their way and it's live and Arvidsson Yeah, that's that's the only their third line. I think is set their fourth line

They brought in some beef now is Frederick a guy that that is gonna get a look on that left side I think better suited to be probably your third or fourth line guy probably on bottom six Yeah, I was probably a Vander Cain that would be the most likely one to help if he's at 100%. I guess outside of this, are we going to see now two weeks from now, Kane flying around for practicing with them? I fully anticipate that.

Who was it? Kuturov did. Remember Kuturov for two months. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Matthew Kachuk as well, right? Oh, yeah. It's also worth noting like like, Kuturov missed that whole year.

He came back. He was unbelievable in the playoffs. He's a special, special player. It's not easy to do that. Like, if Evander Kane does come back, I don't think you're getting, right away at least, you're not getting the Evander Kane from, like, three years ago in the playoffs. Remember that, like, torrid run he was on? Yeah.

You're getting something different. Here's why I think Dallas got marketably better just with Rantanen. Their forwards, like you basically put Rantanen in there for Stankhoven. You can eat an apple off his head. Tiny little guy, but very, very talented. Very, very talented.

When I look at Dallas's, the biggest thing for me is their D, the right side. Like the Blue-Shrimp. Right, it's Dumbun. Like Dumbun. Dallas is the biggest thing for me is their D the right side like the blue right it's dumb like Dumba that's I circle that that's the only thing I circle now and high skin is yeah well yeah but he'll be back it sounds like yeah but my whole thing is every team there's not a perfectly built team I mean Winnipeg looks pretty damn good like close to it it. Luke Schrenz, a nice ad for them. That second line though, you still look at it, is it Profetti,

Nemstakov? They needed a presence. I think the Nelson thing, that really hurts, especially because he's going to Colorado. Because it's in the division. If Nelson went to New Jersey, okay, you can kind of wash your hands with that, but he's in your division. Now you've got to play against Why I think I'm wrong on my statement about Edmonton Colorado's won before and they got better today. So now you've got McKinnon Nescah, what are we calling him? That's nature nature. I just

The guys and someone was saying it's he wants to be netches I know it's just tomato tomato Let's just say hey, you're great player number 88 for Colorado the chushkin Wild-card we don't know this guy might show up in the playoffs and do what he did the last couple playoffs. Mm-hmm Nelson coil like they're there, you know drew ends there like they they are a deep team Yeah, and was a good playoff guy when they won the Stanley Cup. He's healthy now.

We forgot the Drury kid. He has their fourth liner. Yeah, I mean, Colorado's in a really good place. They overhauled their team from start to finish this year. And like anyone that tells you you can't do it this and that, watch Colorado. Like watch Florida. Crazy how Florida can go out and get the big name every single time

How do they get the big guy every time what not one do it one thing that I've noticed this I don't know how you guys feel now The teams that kind of loaded up today push themselves up from a group So there's probably a 10 pack now where you probably were like, okay, I could see a 10 pack now, where you probably were like, okay, I can see 16 teams felt like they're cup contenders. Now you're like eight to 10 that have pushed themselves up into a different level. Now they're all gonna have to play each other.

And we'll see who finishes in the end. Well, that's the crazy thing, right? Is there's only one team standing at the end. You mentioned the load in the, like, Vegas isn't going anywhere, they're heavy. Colorado's not going anywhere. Dallas isn't going anywhere. Winni heavy Colorado's not going anywhere Dallas isn't going here Winnipeg Edmonton So that's five to do it. Well two divisions You have to win you have to win the Atlantic and you have to win the central

Yeah, you have to it so Atlantic you are in big trouble three in it the Atlantic and then who in the metro Well for me, it's it's Washington if you're a Carolina's worse. Jersey without Jack Hughes. I don't know. I'm looking at nine without Carolina and with Jersey because I think the injuries and Carolina I don't know what. I would say five in the West four in the East. So there's nine, a lot of them in the roof. Nine pack of teams that. That's where your Stanley Cup is likely coming from. That's where I think. Maybe throw in one other team, who knows, who gets hotter. Yeah, so like LA get hot, does Carolina get hot, I don't know. Who knows?

Yeah. Alright. Okay, Frankie. Well, we'll see what comes of it, man. Yeah, it's a long day. Got a lot of hockey to watch. Long day. Well, yeah, we got games tonight, right?

This is the thing that you... There should be no games tonight. No kidding. Because guys are sleeping, half sleeping, they're on their phones, teams are disrupted, guys are crying, like you know, it's just the... Pets' heads are falling off. There's a lot going on. There's a lot and there's a fair amount of games tonight.

Gotta play tonight. Well, yeah, and I'm curious, like, Boston's in Tampa, like, what is Boston possibly thinking with, like, you know, Marshawn out of there, Coyle out of there. He's Coyle's a Massachusetts guy. Coyle's been there for, or Carl has been there nine years. Yeah. Like he's not a kid.

He's a culture changer there. That's the thing. Like those are. That's the thing. Like that disrupts the fabric in Boston, which is tough. The end of an era? Absolutely. But that middle stat, like they did get some players.

Like will Minton step, do you think they'll play? I think they might play him. I wouldn't be surprised if they, why not give it like he's, you know, he's not 18. He could play in their American League, but that'll be an interesting one for the Leafs. Like you're tracking Fraser Minton now because he's in your division. You'll be playing him four or five times a year. Like if he turns into a player, I don't think he'll be a superstar or anything like that, but if he's just a really good second or third line center, he's gonna play for a long time. This isn't Ray Graff for Raston. I don't think he'll be a superstar or anything like that but if he's just a really good second or third line center he's gonna play for a long time this isn't Ray Kroff for us I don't think it's gonna get to that extreme but yeah we'll see great great great I think it was a I think it's a smart play

for both teams I think Boston Boston and Toronto the fact that like Boston made moves within their division twice yeah like Carlo coming here and and Marchand going to Florida that's pretty wild. You don't see that 10 years ago or more. Never man. Well you wonder how the fan base will react to that in Boston. Those are the two teams they played last year Leafs in the first round Panthers in the second. There's been a lot of discontent in that fan base man Don Sweeney is under a lot of heat. Yeah sounds like Brad Trilliving actually might be speaking to the media is Is that the plan here, Dougie? We're just waiting to see if he's gonna come up? Setting up at the Ritz in Colorado. All right. Well, why don't we keep roundtable in here?

Frank, you haven't really talked about the Leafs in general. Like, we've gone everywhere else. Lawton, Carlo, how big of an improvement is this today compared to yesterday for the Leafs? I think the Carlo one is more significant just based on the need to kind of take away some minutes from some other guys on the back end Play with Morgan Riley like the type of game like they obviously signed Yanni Hockenpuff for a reason six foot seven like 200 and a million pounds You know and like so you bring in Brandon Carlo the long reach the the body type the you know physical around the net Like not gonna wow you with the puck, but they value the stature of that kind of player. So that makes a lot of sense in Scott Lawton.

Like Jamie said, it's a third line center every day of the week, knows exactly what he is, feistiness, and one of those guys that you're going into a series against Florida or Tampa, Nick Paul or Brandon Hagel starts to punch ya, or Bennett starts to punch ya or Bennett starts to punch ya, like he's gonna stand in there. He's gonna punch back, he's gonna stand in there. Not gonna wow you offensively, but you know better than Pontus Holmberg would be offensively.

Right. So it serves a purpose for the team. Well that's another good point because we do talk about okay you need this offense and all that and sure Lawton obviously is not Alex Ovechkin, but the other option was if you don't make the move it's going to be Pontus Holmberg or it's Max Domey or Connor Dewar. You needed an upgrade. There's something had to give where you can flush a couple pieces out and ultimately when it comes to goal scoring we know the guys that have to score. It's going to be the big guys and Knies and McMan if he's healthy. There's six or seven guys ahead of Loughton. You need one critical you need this step on

my toe you need exactly like that big moment why or a big goal again this is Lawton is a designated center it's not like hey we think home we're gonna try home bird here we're gonna try right max domey and you're right guys are center yeah Matthew's Matthew's Tavares lot and can't that's your set that's gonna be your salary so that's good that's really good down there's a center man. Matthew Tavares, Lotton camp. That's your center. That's going to be your fourth center man. That's really good down there. He's a left shot. They're all left shot. Me and Gio were talking about that, right? It's nice for the left-handed defensemen to have a righty so you can zing a pass. It's a little different on the back end, but that's what you got. Jake Evans wasn't available. That's what it is. Frankie, let me ask you this one. Writing this week about how I made the case the Leafs needed to get a guy to play with Morgan

Riley on that second pairing because there's no highest paid defenseman in this league right now on a playoff team and Morgan Riley is that guy at 7.5 million who is a minus 17. And that's what Morgan Riley happens to be right now at this point in the season. He's having a tough year. And I saw a lot of feedback on our website and my email and Twitter. A lot of people are saying, why is it every year it's about Morgan Riley's partner and not about Morgan Riley? Because his partner's been over the years though. That's what I would say. It's like he's had so much instability there. And so many guys have tried out and Ron Hainsey was a great fit and Luke Shen was a great fit and so you look at it and say he just needs a stable guy who Morgan can go up and down the ice and not have to worry about

holding back and just say like because his instincts are good offensively his his knowing and understanding to jump in he's good that way so just put him with a guy who's really rock-solid and he you know He might get that now with Brandon Carlo He's got a better chance of getting it with Brandon Carlo than he does with with OEL Yeah, that's you know, there is challenges with that as well If you're not Hanes II if you're not Shen like it's not easy to handle the unpredictability of a game like that But his offensive instincts are really good for a defenseman. The other thing too is Just as I was talking about defined roles like Carlo is a four he's not a six that you're asking to play for he is a right

shot that plays the right side right so you're not asking a left shot Oliver Ackman-Larson to go hey go play that's what's happened Ron Haynes. To me it's those are actually defined roles going plug-and-play go play right there Well, we'll see how that work You hope he has a similar effect to the one that Luke Shen had with Morgan Riley, right? Like when Shen showed up he really stabilized the pair. They were a very good parent Yeah down the stretch and into the playoffs Carlos younger than Shen You know, you've got him on term on him for two two more years. You got him for two more years. Yeah.

Yeah. And again, I still haven't seen the exact details of the salary retention, but he's making 4.1 million, I think, Brandon Carla. All new, all Canadian. The best of our great nation, one song at a time. This is Justin Bieber. Hi, this is Terry Clark. We are Nickelback.

Made in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. We are the best. We are the best. We are the best. We are the best. We are the best. We are Nickelback, made in Canada, on iHeartRadio. Rock, pop, hip-hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada.

On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.