OverDrive - Dreger on Canada’s exit at the World Juniors, Myers extension, and if the Canadiens’ hot streak changes their season outlook

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger joins the show to discuss Canada’s exit at the World Juniors. Dreger gives his thoughts on Philippe Myers extension and if the Canadiens’ hot streak changes how they handle the rest of the season.

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The smarter way to book travel. A lot of Canadians focused on Canada last night. I'm sure Darren Drager was one of millions watching both games last night. Here's our TSN Hockey Insider. Dregs, you're a good Canadian boy. How do you react to what happened at the World Juniors? Well, I mean, automatically it begins with disappointment, right? Um, just from a fan perspective. Uh, but the other thing that I don't know that has been fairly acknowledged is,

I would say in the last 10, maybe even drifted back to 15 years, but certainly the last decade, you know, there would be seven countries around the world, excluding Russia, of course, for obvious reasons, that have invested and have focused and have done great work in just getting better as hockey federations and as organizations, right? And I guess that would be stealing the template from Canada and the United States and some of the hockey powers. But we're seeing it firsthand that in the last 10 years for sure, these teams come better prepared and focused on what it takes to tangle with the best like USA and Canada and Sweden and Finland,

and now Czechia as well. So you start by giving credit where credit is due, and then you start to pick apart, okay, well, what went wrong here? You know, why couldn't Dave Cameron and the coaching staff, you know, find enough accountability in these young players to overcome the fact that they weren't generating enough offense? Well, it's pretty obvious if you're not going to score enough goals, you can't take as many penalties as Canada continued.

And why is that? And why didn't they practice when every other world junior team would practice? I mean, these kids can't be that exhausted. I mean, there was so much that could have and should have been worked on. And as one coach explained to me today, that's where, guys, you find a way to hold kids accountable, to get that message across. And it's in practice. You know, because it's a short tournament and you've got a skilled group of hockey players, and, okay, you're maybe not going to sit or bench certain players. bench certain players well if you took a terrible penalty the night before but i still see the value and i need you to be better i'm going to find a way to get that message through in practice well

canada didn't practice from you know the 31st through january 2nd and that's mind-boggling so it's a disappointment it's a disappointment for sure but as an educated hockey fan and there are millions around this great country, I think that there are a lot of questions that still don't have answers. Yeah, and listen, Czechia, man, you've got to give them credit. That's two years in a row against Canada. Like, last night's in Ottawa.

Like, that's where the Sens play. There are 20,000 people there. They're all Canadian. And they showed up, and they scored 43 seconds into the game, and they never looked. Even when Canada they showed up and they scored 43 seconds into the game and they never looked. Even when Canada tied it up, they were breathing easy. Full credit to them. I mean, that definitely is something that needs to be brought up for sure.

But on a Canadian level, man, I'm curious, Dregs, how the GMs of the NHL react to something like this. Are they in contact with Hockey Canada? Are they just specifically concentrating on their own players? How would the GMs react to something like that? Well, I mean, if you're a Canadian GM, whether or not you're a Canadian general manager in a Canadian market, there are lots of Canadian GMs around the NHL.

First and foremost, yeah, they'd be disappointed because they, too, take great pride in seeing Canada do well, no different than every other country that participates. But they're mostly invested in their own players. So now they're focused, you know, disappointed, of course, if they had prospects on Team Canada. You know, they've been dispatched. So now their focus shifts elsewhere. But, you know, the message that I got almost immediately last night

from around the hockey world was, and it was, you know, amplified this morning privately, not publicly, but, okay, what's the takeaway of this? You know, you left so many good players, you know, on the cutting room floor, literally. And not saying that the guys that they took aren't good players. Of course they are. Of course they are. You know, Leaf fans watching Easton Callen.

Are they judging him based on what they saw at the World Juniors? Or are they more enthusiastic because he's had a great OHL campaign to this point? And how is that going to translate? How is this experience going to translate? But to go back to your question, Brian, that's what general managers want from their already drafted players. They want to see how these kids perform peer versus peer on the best stage available, and that's the World Junior stage.

So I'm sure Brad Treleving has takeaways on Easton Cowan's game and other general managers likewise. We'll see how it all plays out. Absolutely. And I guess Brad Treleving woke up today and said, I need Philip Myers on a two-year deal. I got to get this kid signed. Not even a kid.

He's like 27, I believe. But he's been playing. He's been playing with Morgan Riley recently, and they end up giving him a two-year deal, $850 per year. It feels like Tree Living and the Leafs have tried to find guys to avoid waiver issues

in the future. That's kind of my read on it. Not that Myers may not play, but if he doesn't, and for whatever reason they've got to try to get him down, I would think other teams are now thinking, are we going to pay this guy $850 a year for two years, or is he possibly going to get through the system? I mean, I think it's pretty crafty work, and the Leafs have the money,

so it seems like a pretty tidy contract to sign if you're the Leafs at this point. Yeah, and if it works out, and he proves that he deserves a spot in top six, top seven on that roster, well, geez, talk about an affordable piece. One thing I like about the approach of this group is they're not afraid to look at reclamation projects and gamble in that regard, as long as the price is right. I mean, I think the Max Patcher ready, and I'm not calling him a reclamation project other than health-wise, right? Nobody was sure what they were going to get out of him on the PTO. And when healthy, he's been terrific.

And go down the list of some of these guys that are considered bit pieces and have been, but all of a sudden they find their way into a full-time NHL role and they prove that they have game. And in Philip Myers, you know, maybe some forget that this guy was highly touted coming in on national occupancy. And just because it hasn't worked out and, you know, it looks like, you know, he's going to have to continue to battle for a spot. What if at his age, you know, a two-year contract

with a little bit of insurance, making a little bit of money, just flips that switch? And all of a sudden now, you've got a guy who is a comfortable third-pairing defenseman. He's got some bite. He certainly has the size. We're not going from $850,000 at the end of this two-year contract to $4 million.

That's not the way it's going to work. So, you know, there's absolutely no risk in signing this. I think collectively we've seen enough to at least realize that, worst case, he's a nice depth piece for Toronto. Jags, I'm wondering what you think happens now in Montreal. Because, obviously, they've been surging up into the playoff conversation. If they get around the trade deadline and they're still right in that mix, how do you think they balance between,

well, we've got some pieces we could sell for the future versus let's go for it? Right. Well, I don't think that they're going to put themselves in that position, Jonas, of thinking let's go for it. Maybe a year from now or a year from the playoff line, they'll feel like that. They knew this was going to be yet another year of struggle, but there were stretches early in the first half where even that was unpredictable how bad it was. And, you know, there were questions around Marty St. Louis. There were questions around this, around that.

You know, but look, I mean, I think they were honest enough with the individual assessment of certain players' play. The Kirby Doc comes to mind. You know, a healthy Kirby Doc they were expecting was going to generate some offense. Well, of late, he's been pretty good. He's been pretty good. You know, the Lion-A story, you know, aside from the injury, has turned out to be a real good one.

That Alex Carrier trade with the Nashville Predators, sneaky good deal by Montreal on a couple of fronts. Like, we don't know what Barron is going to develop into. You know, Nashville thinks he's going to be a good defenseman. Okay, well, let's see. Let's see how that plays out. But you bring in Carrier, and he helps your younger guys automatically you know hudson logan melu and he's up even uh arbor jack guy as an example scruble is another one you want to throw into that conversation but it buys you insurance that when you get close to that trade deadline

as you suggest jonas well all of a sudden somebody steps up and says hey we really like the luck of matheson or David Savard and here's what we're going to pay well now you can afford to do that because you've got Kerry provided he's healthy and you're not throwing your young defense under the bus so they've made some really good ads there but it's all in preparation more so for next year in the future with Darren Drager at TSN Hockey Insider. So Vancouver wins in a shootout last night, but Thatcher Demko leaves the game due to injury. I don't know if you heard anything on Demko's status, Dregs,

and how panic-inducing could this be, considering what's happened with him the last six to eight months? Well, I haven't heard much other than he just needs to be re-evaluated, right? But even if the messaging out of Vancouver is, no, it's nothing serious, he just needs a few days, if that turns into a week, then look out, right? Because it kind of feels like you're starting where you were a long time ago. And, you know, not to compare this to Austin Matthews because that's an unfair comparison,

but the comparison for me is in how you're hopeful, you're certainly embracing caution because these are such important pieces, you know, to the successful puzzle, but you also have to be mindful and recognize that it's out of your control, both medically and otherwise. So I don't know the specifics of Demko, but I know that there's a level of concern just because when he came back into the mix, finally, after all the months of waiting, it was like a blockbuster

trade. It really, truly was. That's how they felt anyway and how he would bolster things. So yeah, Vancouver's interesting. I thought JT Miller played a terrific game against the Flames the other day. Then they find a way, but then they more or less take a step back in losing Demko, but we're hoping to find out more as early as tomorrow. Yeah, and the Patterson-Miller, there's so many rumors out there. The market's going crazy, you know it. I mean, how should we be reacting to this? Miller, there's so many rumors out there. The market's going crazy. You know it.

How should we be reacting to this? What should we be prepared for in terms of what the Canucks could end up doing? Yeah, well, look, automatically I look at contracts. Both those guys are protected by a no-move clause. It'll be up to them, and neither side has been asked to waive that no-move or even

consider waiving it but that doesn't prevent patrick albino jimmy rutherford from having conversations and i do believe that they've had conversations um i think was it brad richardson on miss him curfew yes yes did you see that oh man that was something like he was basic paraphrasing saying gt millers was hard on him like hard on patterson as a young player and even richardson said like he had he stepped into miller being like you got to tone it down a little bit like that added so much more fuel to the fire in my opinion dregs so much more fuel because look i always want to say and remind people that we can have strong opinions and my job is to deliver the information,

but if you're not inside that dressing room, how can you know what is 100% true? I'm not talking about inside the GM's office or, you know, communicating with a coach. I'm talking about, okay, this rift, this alleged rift between Elias Patterson and JT Miller. Well, now you know it's real, and now you've got a front row chair

to somebody who was there who spoke to JT to say, okay, enough. This is a young guy that we've got to work with, and he has a potential of being a star in the NHL. But that was a while ago too, right, Brian? So, you know, look, JT Miller isn't going to change the way he approaches people

i don't think um and i know rick talking loves the way he plays the game when he is engaged and you know patterson is out of place in his career when he gets healthy here you know he's got to take ownership and accountability and i just know the hockey knock on him going into training camp as an example was hey the skill set is immense right the talent level the ability is is right up there but he's not as strong as he should be at this point in his career or needs to be to do the things that would make him a bona fide star if not a superstar in the NHL well Well, that's player responsibility. And look, for some old-school guys like JT Miller, to a point, to a point, I can appreciate how that would drive him bonkers because he's trying to squeeze more juice out of this kid.

At least that's how I read it. Yeah, I agree with you. Jonathan Taves, we know he hasn't played in a couple of years. He did an interview recently with, like, was it GQ? Yeah, and, like, he's been dealing with illness, yet he never, I guess, officially retired. And now recently it sounds like maybe he's been on the ice and he's at least contemplating getting back into the NHL.

How much legitimacy is there to that? And if so, how will the league respond to the idea of Taves maybe wanting to return? Well, it'll depend on when, right? And the message that I got from someone close was that it won't be anytime soon. So without, again, getting into specifics, I read that to me as early as the offseason. And if it's before that, then I think it's absolutely staggering. It would be one of the greatest stories of a long, long time. I'm not going to say all time, but a long, long time.

Because as you read the article, man, did Jonathan have to go through some stuff to get to the place where he's at today? And that's feeling good about his health and feeling healthy enough that he can even visualize what he's going to have to invest further in physically to get to a place where he can consider being an NHL player again. And I hope it works out for him. I can think of fits across the NHL for Jonathan Tate. Oh, yeah.

In basically every market, and there wouldn't be too many general managers that wouldn't grab hold because, you know, he's not looking for the grand slam financially or otherwise. He just wants to finish his NHL career on his own terms. So I hope it plays out that way. Juggs, I know we're a couple days removed from it, but I was curious your reaction to the Austin Matthews everything,

basically his comments and what's been going on lately. Yeah, I wasn't overly surprised. You know, I guess, you know, there's a mission that in part the Gilbert crosscheck in that Buffalo game played a role in the latest round of aggravation. The fact that they continue to have to manage it, that tells me that it's all involved. I mean, obviously, that's the team, that's the player, that is representatives.

We believe that it's non-structural. So the fact that they haven't been able to fully alleviate this, I'm not going to guess at what I think is bothering him, but it's elevating The level of concern Because now you're approaching the second half of the season And you can conjure up the what ifs What if you're Five games outside of the playoffs

And you know This resurfaces It's plausible We've seen it three times now since September So I'm not fearmongering here i just think that's the reality and i'm not even thinking about the four nations face off because i i think it's fair for us to talk about the likelihood of him playing versus not playing i think that's fair from media perspective i don't think it's fair for austin matthews to have to have that conversation

with the toronto maple leafs or USA Hockey. I think we're still outside that line. All right, Dregs, we'll leave it there. We'll do it again next week. Okay, guys, have a great weekend. Darren Dreger, TSN Hockey Insider.