OverDrive - Corrado on the Maple Leafs' GM search, the candidates for the position and the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Episode Date: April 22, 2026

TSN Hockey Analyst Frank Corrado joined OverDrive to discuss the Maple Leafs' GM search, the candidates for the position to lead the team, the overview of the front office in Toronto, the players' viewpoint with the general manager, the first round headlines around the Stanley Cup Playoffs and more.

Well, let's bring in an alumni. Maybe he can speak to it. And he is a Toronto guy joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Here's Frankie Carrotto. Frankie, are you a proponent of bringing in past legends and alumni of the team? And if so, what kind of value would they even bring to the table? I don't think it has to be a prerequisite for the job. It's the best person available.

But I almost look at it this way. Like if you were bringing someone in and that person could look at the Leafs and say, I don't have to do this. I don't need to be here, but I want to do this because I have a passion for what this is going to take. That's the kind of guy that can sit in front of Keith Pelly or sit in front of the board and say, you guys want A, B, and C, but I'm telling you it's X, Y, and Z. And if we can't get on the same page, I'm fine. I'll go do whatever else that I'm doing because I'm very successful at it.

That's whether that means you're an alumni or not. to me that's the best person for this kind of job not someone who can be influenced by i need this job because this is where everything's riding for me yeah frankly if if this is all about like who's ever running this if there's a president or not a president and it's such an important decision it's very key for the maple east moving forward regardless of what the decision happens you know with the roster or anything those details moving forward. So it's so important, and it's got to be the best guy.

In your opinion, how does Mike Gillis all of a sudden pop up to be one of the, like one of these people that continues to be talked about? Like if it's the best guy available, go ahead, yeah. I get it. It's interesting, it's interesting on Gillis because he's been out of the game so long, but he's been in these situations where things have popped up, like Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh came up years ago when Hextall and Burke got that job. And it was this weird thing where Gillis's like pitch deck to the ownership group,

it leaked online. And you could go through all the different pages of what his philosophy is on team building and technology and scouting. And so I don't think he's just been kind of waiting around doing nothing fishing. I think he's probably, he's been very successful as an agent as a president and general manager in Vancouver. and with what he had to deal with that Vancouver sphere, ownership, fan base, all that kind of stuff, price says, I'm going to pick my spot. Like, I'll wait for my shot.

And if it's not exactly what I want, I'm not going to do it. And at the end of the day, like you guys, like if you were in ownership's position and you had three options in front of you, one guy's giving you the past of least resistance, one guy's giving you the path of most resistance. Well, he's probably been in those meetings, giving whatever ownership group the path of most resistance. And so now you go, whatever it is, 14 years without a job.

And he probably sees this Toronto thing and says, this is something that could be a good fit for me. I don't know. But he was like he drafted me in Vancouver, okay? And they were very ahead of the times. They were doing sleep watches and, you know, all these different kind of things to train your brain at the time, art machines.

They were pretty cutting edge. And as time went on, that stuff got scaled back when different people were in charge there. So I think that would probably make it enticing for Toronto to look at that and say, well, why are you out of the game? Can you tell us more about your philosophies and maybe that leads you down a path? Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, the idea that that would be a question, you know, why are you out of the game? I can't imagine as a great icebreaker if you're a prospective member of the organization moving forward. But the other AGMs around the league that reportedly are in the running here,

we're talking guys like John Chaka, you know, the AGM down in Dallas, Scott White is his name, Ryan Martin in New York, and Evan Gold in Boston. These are none of them are household names. How are they the best people to fill this role? Hold on a second. Well, I'll give an example. If White is learning from Jim Nill, I want to hear what he has to say because Jim Nill is an elite GM. That's the thing.

Like you look at the pathway of how they've arrived. Like if you're getting on the job training from somebody who is really good, I definitely would want to look at that guy. That's the, you know, if you're hearing names from organizations that are a mess, you're like, why would I be taking that guy? That's New York. That's the Rangers. Two names there, noodles, right?

Chica was a disaster in Arizona. It was a disaster. All you heard. from players. Yeah, it was, it was, the computer says we got to do this. So we got to do it. So there's no feel involved. And if you're going to pluck someone from New York, that's been a mess as well.

And I think Noodles, you're onto something there because when Stevie Y left Tampa Bay, who is the next man in charge? It was Julian Breezewell. Was it not? Right. Right. Like Jim Nill spent a lot of time in Detroit and he helped build those teams. And now he's doing a great job in Dallas.

So you are onto something there. And that's why when the name, you know, Sunny May, came up, it was like, oh, wait, wait a second. Is this guy some part of the brains behind the operation that has been the gold standard for the last, you know, three years in the league? So I think you are on to something there, newness. I just, I read Sonny Meda's comments in his interview today. And he talked about data, but he said, like, I grew up in New Jersey. He goes, I wasn't a data guy.

He goes, I went back and got my master's in data because I needed to fill the gaps. Like, he actually, it was a fascinating. He's very well-spoken. So it was a really good read to hear what he had to say. But he's like, I'm trying to fill in every gap possible to make this organization the best it can be. He goes, I'm going to use data, but he goes, all of a sudden I'm painted as a data guy. He goes, I know it, but he goes, I'm going to use the eye approach. I'm going to use all these things.

I'm not saying any of the guys that have been put to the forefront coming from the Ranger. John Chica, yes, first time around made some mistakes. You can get better. You can learn after, you know, look at Travis Green in Vancouver compared to Ottawa. He's grown. Like there's, you are allowed to grow as a manager at all of these things. You can learn. But my point being is you should be plucking at new faces and looking and saying,

okay, this guy's been working under Jim Nell. What a great opportunity to give him. Now, it's one of the biggest platforms, if not the biggest platform. So it's, you know, to get trial by fire in Toronto. But if the guy can handle it, so be it. And that's why you go through the process of interviewing these guys. I think with something like this, I think a lot of the fan base looks to the brand name guy and says, that gives me the most comfort because maybe there's something there.

Like if I'll just use an example of Armstrong, won a Stanley Cup. So you're like, okay, I can envision it. But Lou Lamarillo had won Stanley Cubs. Brian Burke has won Stanley Cup. Like, did NONUS win a Stanley Cup? I can't remember. But Toronto has had the, you know, brand name guy at the time. So I think if you're looking at this, you have to cast the net far and wide, clearly.

And you have to get a lot of different opinions. And I think it comes down to what is your plan to execute this thing? Because it's not an easy thing to execute. Like I think I heard, O'Dog, you said it a little while back. Like there's not many people that tell you it's one or two pieces away. So it's a heavy lift. And, you know, what's your? your plan to make sure that it's on the right track as soon as possible.

Yeah, and we'll find out how this GM handles the heat of Toronto and whether or not because if it's someone that's unknown, it doesn't have a ton of opportunity elsewhere. You know what's going to happen here. They're going to be labeled a yes man for Pellie, right? That Pellie's going to tell them, got to get back in the playoffs immediately. Okay, I'll go and do that. Let me try to trade picks and prospects and try to get back in and got to make Matthews happy. okay, I'll see what I could do to make Matthews happy.

They have to... See how that went in Vancouver, Brian. Exactly. Right? Like everything was about making Quinn Hughes happy. We signed Garland. We re-signed Besser. We re-signed Demko.

We hired Adam Foote as the head coach. Guess what happened? Yeah. Still walked right out the door. Check, please. Got a good return for him. But now you're... Add up the million.

Just a quick addition on that, Frankie. Add up the million dollars that it cost just to attempt to keep Quinn Hughes happy. the Besser contract, the Demko contract, the Garland contract. What is that? Is that a $100 million kind of appetizer to show Quinn Hughes? And he still said stuff it? It's crazy stuff, man. So you can do whatever you want.

You can do whatever you want to keep guys around. At the end of the day, players know. And they know if the team has a chance of winning. But more importantly than that, maybe not more importantly. But with that, they know if the people in charge know what they're, they're doing. You guys have sat there on the back of the bus. You've sat there on the plane and you have these conversations at dinner and you hear the rumblings and it's like guys aren't dumb, man. They can figure it out if they know that it's going nowhere fast. It doesn't take long

to figure it out. You're 100% right because I was a player one time and a general manager wanted to have a conversation with me like a heart to heart. He took me into the bathroom. We were in a stall. There was a guy taking a crap next to us and we're talking and like the guy's flushing and I'm like, where are we? Can we not go somewhere else? And like, he's like, Jamie, you got to do this. You got to do that. I'm like, I remember thinking this guy has no idea what's going on here.

And, you know, he's having a heart to heart with me. And our tough guy's taking a moose eight inches away from us. Like, it was ridiculous. Jamie, one time, like, Lou Lamarillo knew what he was doing. I'm not going to say he didn't know what he was doing. But the places where you have some of these conversations is, absurd. I remember one time I had him played for probably 10 or 12 in a row. And we had this little cave at the Air Canada Center where we would do not team video, but just little specialized

video, PK, penalty kill, sorry, power play, that kind of stuff. The lights were off in there. And he kind of brings me in, but he sat a row behind me. Like there's seats. He sat a row behind me and he told me to sit in the row in front of him. And the lights were dimmed. And I'm like, is this a movie or something like am I getting whacked or something like no one knows we're in this cave he's sitting a row behind me and he's telling me why I'm not playing I'm like I'm expecting someone to just like someone to whack me at this point yeah Joe Patchy could fella type herbly but you get the idea yeah yeah you're up going into me told I'm playing tonight actually no you're not so with Frankie Garado what do you expect out of McDavid tonight after a quiet game one they

won the game, but I got that guy, I got him circled tonight. I think Joel Quindville spent the last 48 hours expecting him to come out of the shoot flying this evening. Easily, easily, easily, because think about McDavid, you could give him nothing in a game. He's taken everything. How many times have we seen it? Anaheim gives up a lot. So it's there for the taking for him. And if you're Anaheim, you look at that game one and you say, we checked off a major box. We kept McDavid off the score sheet and we still lost that game. So I think if you're looking at that, you're like, oh, man, that's, that's going to be tough for us to overcome. Because this is the difference for the Oilers is always a couple things.

Yes, it's goaltending. But when the other guys contribute offensively, man, they're in a good spot. And when Casperi Kappen is scoring goals and Jason Dickinson scoring goals and you alleviate some of the heroism that Connor McDavid has to put forth on a nightly basis, that's dangerous stuff. So, yeah, I fully expect Anaheim to give up just as much as they normally do give up and McDavid to have a big night. And Leon Dreisdell looked as rejuvenated as anyone can look coming back from that long of a hiatus. That was really, really impressive. Frankie, can you take us into the Bell Center in Montreal for what that's going to be like tomorrow night when they get cooking? Because it is the best place in the world to play hockey on a regular Tuesday night against the hat.

but just take us inside what that barn is going to be like. Like, it'll be so fun in there. I can't wait for those fans. The best way I can describe what the Bell Center would be like in that situation, I think every night is a celebration of hockey in that arena. It's the NHL and the best players in the world at its purest form with the fan engagement and the atmosphere. It's going to be a celebration of hockey on steroids.

And, you know, especially games. given the animosity now that we've seen between both of these teams coming out of game two. You know, like, let's call it for what it is. Tampa is playing the villain role to a T. Corey Perry's John at guys. Hegel's doing the crying thing. Hegel's doing the too small after the Slavkovsky fight. Like everything that the villain in a movie would do, Tampa Bay is doing.

So now you add that to one of the most rabid fan bases that, like you mentioned, Tuesday against Columbus in December is loud in that building. It's going to be something. And, you know, the abs outside of, outside of that third period in game two and overtime where they didn't get a shot on net and they had basically nothing, no possession, they have been right there with Tampa Bay. Like they, as far as toughness goes, puck possession, special teams, goaltending, they're right there.

It's a very close series. I think they should have a lot of confidence going back on home ice with the split and having the mecca of hockey spectatorship in front of them. I don't know if that's a word, but it's going to be pretty grand going back in there. Well, what will be interesting is, you know, how you compare and contrast what the Bell Center is going to sound like and what it's going to sound like in Ottawa when they get back

because they're down 2-0. You know, like the halves, it's 1-1. And I think you feel great. You went down to Tampa. You got a split. You lost another game in overtime. You had fights. and it was crazy.

In Ottawa, I'm curious what the mood is going to be like because they're in one now. Kachuk and Stoetsla still don't have a point in a series. I don't think they don't have to individually win them game three. You know, like it may be a 1-0 game in game three. It may be 2-1 and Batherson scores twice, and Omer plays great. But what have you seen out of Stutzel and Kachuk

that would lead you to believe maybe it will change for them individually as of game three? It's the most painfully, glaringly obvious thing. They just have not found a way to score on grade A chances. And the crazy thing is it's been a really hard fought battle for the Ottawa senators. Keep in mind, right? They're missing three of their regular defensemen and their, you know, their goaltenders played unbelievable.

And they have kept Seth Jarvis fairly quiet. Like, I don't think Sebastian Ajo has really taken over shifts. It's kind of just been like Stancoven. Martinuk, stall, those are the guys that are jumping off the page right now for Carolina. There is a lot of good things that the senators have done, but it doesn't matter that you've done good things. It matters that you're winning games and you're scoring.

And I think the glass half full thing on that as well is, even with all that you're up against, you're getting the chances. Like they're there for you. You just have to find a way to hit the empty net or hit the net when you're in the slot area. So I think if you're Ottawa, you look at all that, you say, man, we can actually do this thing. Like at some point, Freddie's going to have, or there's a good chance, Freddy's going to have another moment like on the Dylan Cousins goal.

So let's keep pushing it towards the front of the net. Yeah, it's been, it's rotten luck, as far as I'm concerned with the Sends. Tim Sousa will never have another game where he has that many open nets and grade A chances and just doesn't score. It just won't happen again. I think they have to throw something at the Carolina Hurricanes, whether it be Travis Green making an adjustment on certain line matchups or a different line combination. Those guys got to figure out how to score a goal,

but I brought this up a couple months ago, and somebody on this panel did not necessarily agree with me. I thought they could have used an upgrade with some scoring punch. And you're seeing it. Like if they could just get a guy, and it's tough to get, it's tough to get a high-end guy that can rip home goals. Well, I mean, you just mentioned Stutzler hit the post and Kachucks hit the post. They just got to bury their chances, don't you think?

Okay, but, okay, well, what are the other guys doing, though? Like, someone's got to step up and score. Like, it would have been nice if they just could have had enough. Like, they've got. Shane Pinto, like, Shane Pinto, his line didn't have a great game one. Like, I get, I get your, you're defensively responsible guy, right? Right? Yeah, go ahead. Sanderson, Shabbat can't shoot the puck right now.

Like, he is passing every single time because his wrist or his arm and he can't shoot it. You know, I think it's valid. And the move that they made was to bring in Warren Fogel, who after the trade deadline, he was phenomenal for them. Warren Fogel was really good. He's a good fit on that team. The guy that went out the door was David Perron, who, you know, at times there had been different pieces of adversity for David Perron in Ottawa. well, but he was a, he was a good soldier for them. He moved on to Detroit. I think it's, you know, hindsight's always, hindsight's always 2020 in those situations where you're like,

hey, is that, if that's David Perron in front of that, is that the back, is that in the back of the net? But the crazy thing, Jeff is, like, if you could pick one player to have those chances, it's number seven, it's number 18. Like those, it's, it's not like Zetterland missed these chances. It's the best guys. It's crazy. It's, it's, it's perplexing that it's happened to them for two games now. And the difference, too, is the Aaron Krolyck stunt double has been scoring on the other side, AK. That's that Stancoven.

No, Stancovin looks exactly like Aaron Kroly. Does he not look like Aaron Krolyke? Literally. If Kornik had any athletic ability, he would be Logan Stankovin, 10 years older, 15 years older. Pull up Stancovin's face, it's A.K.'s face, just the younger version of it. I'm telling you, I can't even look at the guy now. without seeing A.K. He's a player, though.

That kid has shown up early in the series. My point, Jeff, is Stankhoven scored. Stutzla hasn't. That's the difference. Like, is their top players have delivered. I said at the start of the series, the difference for me on paper were three guys. Stutzla, Kach, and Sanderson.

I thought were separators. They haven't been separators on the score sheet right now. And that's a difference. And Jamie, that might just be the, difference right now. If they can't be separators at home, maybe they can even the series up. We know what happens if they're not. Well, tomorrow's

we got to win game. Tomorrow's a win. Like, you have to win tomorrow. You have to win. It's a must win. You can't go down three times. And at some point, those guys are going to have to contribute offensively to win the series. I mean, that goes what I'm saying as well. And keep in mind, like, for Carolina, this is a place of comfort for them.

Like, how have they lost series in the past? They've had to come back in series. and they don't have the extra gear offensively because they're not full of star power. So that's been an issue for them. They've had bad goaltending at times. Well, it's not bad goaltending when everyone's missing their chances for Ottawa. But this is Carolina when they're comfortable up in a series enforcing you now to have to take chances

and they can jump on it and make you pay for your mistakes. It's that much more difficult because of what you have on the blue line or what you don't have on the blue line, but also where Carolina is in their position of comfort and how they've kind of seen this episode before and they've executed on it. Yeah, absolutely. Mandatory for Ottawa game three. A bunch of games in the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight. Enjoy those.

Frankie will do it again soon. Thank you for this. All right, boys. See up. Frankie Corrado joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Red Tag days are here. Check out the Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Tundra pickup trucks, both available as hybrids. Visit Maple Toyota right near Canada.

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