OverDrive - Dreger on Matthews' positive health, Suzuki's impressive season and the buzz around offer sheets

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Matthew Tkachuk's injury timeline for the Panthers, Auston Matthews' positive health, Nick Suzuki's strong season and his possible Olympics spot, the offer sheet outlook in the NHL and more.

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Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud. Here's our TSN hockey insider, Darren Dreger. What's happening, Dreggs? Hey, not much, fellas. Just looking forward to the game. Yeah, this is a big one tonight, man.

What are you expecting in terms of intensity tonight from both teams? Yeah, I mean, I think we should expect them to be at a high level. Florida showing a little bit more grit. Did what they've seen. Is that his phone? You okay, Dregg? Is everything okay? You got a phone issue? I think we got you. Yeah, no, I'm back. I'm back.

I literally took a sip of drink and I didn't know whether I should spit it out or swallow and I started choking. So that's what happened. But I was able to get the mute button click and a few seconds later clear but um... now you know you know you guys think i think it should be a high level of intensity of orders you know coming up and disappointment at the end of the Montreal Canadians and

you know for once when the division of the much as the trial may look at so they've got as much to prove so i I think it should be a good one. Absolutely. Any idea of, you know, we were talking about Matthew Kuchuk earlier that I guess he's skating and he's not likely to return until the playoffs, but is there any reason to believe like even come playoff time maybe he won't be available or if he is he's not at 100%? Like what should we be expecting in terms of Kachuk updates between now and then? Well, I think that's possible that, you know, if he starts game one, he's not at a hundred percent. You know,

Paul Reese has been as transparent as he can be in terms of, you know, making sure that nobody, especially us in the media, overreacted him being on the ice and essentially just pushing bucks around. You know, he was just getting a feel again, but you but he hasn't ramped up his conditioning even a little bit, or at least that's our understanding, given what we've heard and what we've seen out of Florida. And the playoffs are not far away, so he's got a lot of ground to cover

in a short period of time, but as we know, Matthew and Braider, they're both gamers, and no matter what percentage they're able to play out, they're going to make a difference or at least try to. I can't say that there's a strong chance he's not going to be ready for game one, but just given where we're at in the calendar and what I'm hearing Paul Maurice say, I think that that has to be considered. Maybe he won't be ready or if he is is playing he's not close to being 100%

Yeah, that'll be a massive development man That is gonna be a huge story to see what could Chuck's got and what it looks like you know if at all because like we had we had pronger on last hour and Chris brought up the point that You know, they're just a completely different team It's a completely different complexion Florida when you have Matthew Kachuk and when you don't yeah Sure, you went out and got Brad Marchand and ideally they're both playing together But you know that maybe speaks to why you'd go out and get Brad knowing that if Kachuk can't be at 100% Maybe he can pull his weight and

Bring that kind of ingredient to the team Yeah, I'm with you. I mean they they're a much different team, better team with Matthew at times leading the charge. But, you know, as Toronto is experiencing this regular season with, you know, Sam Bennett scoring a couple of power play goals, they have many different weapons that can beat you. And I think the experience of the success of the Florida Panthers have when they drop puck on the playoffs regardless of what Matthew Fichuk status is. You know, if all of a sudden he's not available and that drips into the middle of the round

or later in the round, okay, well now you've got a considerable issue. But if we're talking about a game or two, now we're talking about playoff hockey or without him, I think that they've got enough experience and enough depth there to weather that type of storm. Darren, speaking of health, Austin Matthews had a period in Los Angeles where I thought it was his best period of the year. He just looked like a guy that... He looked like the Austin Matthews that we've watched for a bunch of years. He's intense and on the puck and

you couldn't get it off him and there was some drive there. What do we know about his health if anything going into the playoffs? Like if it doesn't go well for him in the playoffs, does it fall back on, well, I wasn't 100% healthy? Like, is he looking at some kind of procedure in the summer to get 100%? Is this something he's stuck playing with the rest of his career? Like, do we know anything about that? Well, I'm told he's fine Well I'm told he's fine.

I'm told he's fine and you know are we going to dissect what that means? You know you can play in the national hockey league and be fine but that again doesn't mean that you're playing at full capacity but my understanding is that he feels as good as he's felt in a long long time and you've referenced that Los Angeles game and I'm with you. I mean, for the most part, that game was a heavy, sort of Western Conference battle that the Toronto Maple Leafs had success on. And Austin Matthews, for a good chunk of that game,

was the best player on the sheet. I think the club, and probably Matthews, is growing weary with those that continue to write about how well the data would suggest that often Matthews isn't healthy. All right well I mean players are allowed to go through stretches of games where maybe the puck isn't coming off his stick the way we expect it to it's not going in the net and he's had those stretches this season but I would say of late from a physical perspective there's nothing limiting him nothing that could change between now

and the start of the playoffs and in the playoffs maybe we learn more but again I check on this a lot and every time I ask those I trust I get the same response and that he's fine everything's good. What about Max patch already and Yanni Hockenpa Yeah, well I mean patch already I'm told is very very close You know, I think until the end of the regular season there has to be part of a numbers game that's considered here Both in in roster spots and then obviously you got Cal both in roster spots and then obviously you got calculations. I don't know that Patioretti is ready to play. I just have been told that he's getting real close.

I'm going to be honest, I haven't checked on Yanni Hockenpaugh in a long time. But maybe that's because I don't feel like we've had to, because again, unless you guys have a different vision, different view of this, I think since Brandon Carlo has arrived on the scene via trade with the Boston Bruins, Toronto's defense has been pretty solid and Morgan Riley, maybe the, the, the offensive numbers aren't, aren't quite there yet, but he looks a little bit more stable with Brandon Carlo kind of bolstering that.

And I like their D overall now. So if Yankee Hockey Bar is an option for him in the playoffs, then I guess that just supplies the depth that Brad Trelooping has built at this point. With Darren Drager, a TSN Hockey Insider, he will play a little mini-Jerry's. We've been doing that a lot recently what is your many jerry's on nix is uki not only making the olympic team next year but having the house to be an impact player

on that olympic team next year uh... i mean he has to be strong we in the conversation so i i i feel he's gonna make it feel like he's going to make it. I feel like he's going to make it. And I'm not sure whether this is just the development late bloomer of Nick Suzuki. If he was motivated by having to watch some of the coordination space off in Montreal and knowing that he wasn't selected, not that he was hurt, he wasn't picked.

And there were other players on that team that he probably felt that he was better than, that were on the team, that ended up winning. And so I actually talked about this on Montreal radio earlier this morning. A bit of a stigma around Suzuki, and this is full disclosure here, is that on more than one occasion,

he's turned down Canada when they've come calling for a spot in the men's world championship team and look players are in their right to the offseason and players have all sorts of Responsibilities in that offseason They were made there they was made it known to players the last one before the four nations It was like if you are kind of a bubble guy it might be imperative that you show up yeah you're not wrong and he didn't make the team and and maybe that was a part of it you know probably wasn't part of it to some degree but the end of the day when you're

talking about an Olympic roster you know Doug Armstrong responsibilities to pick the best team available and right now you, it's a hard conversation to have. But what more can Nick Suzuki do? He was in the conversation to make that four nations team, despite what we've already talked about and some of the controversy around it. He was on the cusp. He was, according to the decision makers then. So if he has an incredibly strong finish here, who knows what the Montreal Canadiens can do if they lock down a playoff spot. Maybe just flat out plays his way onto that team.

So bigger surprise for you, Drex, the Montreal Canadiens that we just talked about or the St. Louis Blues? Probably St. Louis. or the saint louis blues me probably st louis uh... and and only because i go back to and i was in winnipeg for a jet scheme in january and i remember doing an insider trading there uh... and you're talking with doug armstrong he was pissed with all the team was playing he was basically threatening everybody you know in fact one point if you went in the room

or message guys in a room somewhere, the players, and said, I don't care what your trade status is, protection, any of it, we don't get going. I'm not gonna have a choice, but to start moving bodies out, because the organization's gonna have to shift

in a different direction. And then they started to play better. And then, you know, the Braden-Schen rumors, they dragged along, and that was a big part of that. Because, look, I mean, if you want to play the game with some hand picks, sure, Armstrong wasn't shopping his captain, but he was damn well listening to all the trade interests that Toronto

and other teams had in Braden-Schen. And not one time did he let them off the mat. And I think that was just giving that group a good tug on the leash. And then you've got Bennington and Pareco involved in the four nations. Pareco's hurt granted, but everything that's gone on with St. Louis has been rock solid since the four nations.

So maybe that's an experienced general manager recognizing what he's got. Getting lucky on the offer sheet front with Holloway and Broberg being impactful guys. And again, late developing guys like Thomas and Kairou coming into form as well. So everything has gone the way of the blues. And for me, that's a little bit surprising based on where they were at the turn of the year. Darren, you mentioned the offer sheets. Do you see any type of trend or do you see teams just not allowing that to happen moving

forward? Or it could be a mix of both? You never know. It could be a mix of both. I don't think that teams are going to leave themselves vulnerable, although I keep reading and hearing all the speculation around Matthew Nye. I mean, these big podcasts. Oh, of course. Yeah, 12 million a year he's going to get from someone. reading and hearing all the speculation around Matthew Nice. I mean these big podcasts.

Oh of course. Yeah, 12 million a year he's going to get from someone. He's going to get the biggest RFA offer sheet in the history of hockey, no question. I mean come on. We can all identify this collection of restricted free agents that have earned that level of attention and it's good fodder because we're trying to fill the air Between now and the start of the playoffs, right? There's only so much you can talk about in terms of the playoff race I get it But the oilers put themselves in such a vulnerable in a precarious position by allowing that to happen That Doug Armstrong the st. Louis blues wisely just swooped in and said, all right. yeah, we like Glover get that money. Sure, we're overpaying them right now, but we know Edmonton can't afford that.

Likewise for Holloway, and they snatched two players that fit in beautifully in St. Louis. I think, oh, there are teams that are definitely, definitely going to look for something similar, but sure, you could have teams on the hunt looking for that. But do we not think that the rest of the cap teams around the NHL learned a valuable lesson at the expense of the Edmonton writers? I just find it difficult to believe that somebody's going to get caught that off guard again. Yeah, they should be prepared. Absolutely. You might see some offer sheets, but you're going to see more matching, I would think. Yeah, agree. You don't want to be embarrassed the way Edmonton has been embarrassed this year by the way

these two guys have played with Darren Dreger. So Ovi's now four away from the record. What are we expecting now in terms of dignitaries in the stands and the whole circus wherever he goes? What should we be bracing for uh... i think commissioner batman jumped on air gary and uh... got it tonight scheme in time for after making it national law rights announcement today uh... so that unexpected to be

as part of the the tour moving forward uh... there'll be other nhl executives uh... i think Mayer who's the Chief Content Officer is part of that entourage. Wayne Gretzky's official schedule still somewhat up in the air unless someone has reported differently, but I think he was planning on coming on board

when it got to four goals, and that's where we're at. So it's gonna be interesting to watch it all unfold, but there's all sorts of things around it too that have been planned, right? Like conditional cameras, like multiple cameras added to make sure they catch every angle. I believe that when the time goal is scored that, you know, the Washington Capitals players are going to be able to pour onto the ice for a quick celebration and get back to finishing the game. So the NHL, I think, is going to give this proper treatment until it's over.

Yeah, and it's worthy of it for sure. It's just an incredible achievement. It's crazy though, not crazy, but like four goals they're giving the buffer because this guy could score four one night. Would it surprise you if it was like he turned the clock back and got a hat trick and an empty netter or something to finish it off type of thing like that's that's why I think the league is you know going four goals could be the buffer but but now what if it starts bleeding out and it's who was that was it judge like who was uh... yeah maris's right now is what you said roger maris right now maris's family was like

and charlie and i think we stopped at someone who's probably going everywhere man that i don't know how about this one not to rain on ov's parade but there's some traditionalists out there uh... and again it's it's just how you want to twist the words that are a little bit rankled and they must be absolute Wayne Gretzky Fanatics because they keep saying he will not be the goal scoring champion Like, you know the the record center in the history of NHL goal scoring because the playoff goals need to be included for that To be the case. Oh

I know exactly who you're talking about to uh... and i'm not really is it for a bit the quiz master like that not at all no i cannot disclose my for a second yeah but that's what i mean and i had where was he before was in indianapolis or whatever gretsky's i have a lot of their

w a j a w a j a denovi play the age l maybe before he came over maybe those Indianapolis or whatever Gretzky's WHA WHA didn't know we played in a gel maybe before he came over maybe those goals should count to like professional numbers Yeah, you don't need to muddy the waters 894 is the number Chasing and that's that Alright drags enjoy the games tonight. We'll do it again soon Game boys I survived. I didn't think I was. We were concerned about you, we were very concerned. I have to race over and get Dr. Aaron to check the consoles, make sure everything is okay.

Yeah, she'll take care of you, whenever you need help, just let us know. Alright guys, have a good one. Darren Dreggert, DSN Hockey Insider. their drag artist and hockey insider. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeart Radio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.