OverDrive - Dreger on Robertson's shocking US omission, Matthews' quest for history and Stecher's emergence

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, USA's roster at the Olympics and the omissions of Jason Robertson and Cole Caufield, the replacement list for Canada, the Maple Leafs' win against Winnipeg, Auston Matthews' goals record, Troy Stecher's emergence and more.

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Toyota Hotline. It's going on, Dreggs. Just getting ready for, well, it's been a day of hockey, but now a night of hockey. So, looking forward to it. Happy New Year, fellas. Yeah, happy New Year to you, too. Actually, before we get into the meat, potatoes of what's going on on the ice,

heard you add your own little run-in with Frank Carrado, and you have an update on his driving skills. Well, I'm not going to bury Frankie more than I did this morning on first up. I got it out of my system, but it is somewhat coincidental that I just jet into Minnesota for the Olympic announcement on Wednesday, obviously hung in for the games, and then piled into the rental vehicle with Frank Carrotto, Mike Lane, and Jeff O'Neill, post-game, Canada,

and Finland. and, you know, parking lot is tight. So I'm trying to squeeze into the back passenger side and we're snug up against another vehicle. Well, Frankie obviously doesn't know that I'm not in the vehicle yet, and he proceeds to drive away. And I'm not as nimble as I once was, let's just say that. So my left leg is like dragging on the asphalt and snow here,

and I forcibly have to pull myself in, I smack my head on the side of the vehicle. And in the meantime, Lane is like screaming in the back. Frankie, stop, Bob, Greg, isn't in yet. So it was an honest mistake, but I did have some fun at his expense, which he's okay with. We've communicated today all as well, but it just seemed a little odd given how O'Dog last week announced that Frankie Corrado is the worst driver in Canada. and then I at least lived through this experience.

Yeah, you'd think he'd be on his best behavior now. Yeah. He may have to be relegated to the passenger seat moving forward. Why does everyone keep giving him the keys? That's the question I have. Why does no dog just say, move over, pal, I'm driving? Likes to be driven. Well, he's also fortunate because this is the last time I'm going to talk about it.

I add my fun at Frankie's expense this morning, continuing here, but it's the holiday season, right? So I'm going to be forgiving. And I'm looking forward to spending a lot of good times with Frankie Corrado in 26. I do as well. So good on you, Dregs. Big announcement today, obviously, Team USA announcing their Olympic roster along with Sweden and Finland. But I think the team that obviously got most of the headlines was the omissions on USA.

Jason Robertson, who's the leading American score in the NHL, not named to the roster, Cole Coffield to the Montreal Canadiens, another one, Adam Fox as well, kind of some head scratchers from people around the league. What did you make of Team USA's decision to omit those players and, you know, responding to, I guess, Bill Garron's comments about how they're building a team, not a bunch of all-star players? Well, and what was the one quote, you know, I'll paraphrase, but essentially he said if we're picking a team like that, they don't need it,

manager. And what he means is if you're lucky at just the top scores in your country, all right, then just pull up the stat sheet and pick the team accordingly. You're not doing that. You know, you're looking at how you match up and you put a piece of the puzzle together to the team to battle for gold against Canada or one of the powerhouses in the world. I'm not going to lie. I was a bit surprised. And, you know, this team, more so even than Canada, We've had all of our time talking about, well, should Bedard be on the team, should Schaefer be on the team, all of that. A lot of speculation around what Team Canada would look like.

And there were dozens of projected rosters put out by Craig Button, Mike Johnson, good on the list, right? Lots of that. But it feels like Team USA was more or less picked a while ago, a while ago. And right or wrong. I think that's the reality of their situation. But, you know, when you finally learn that Jason Robertson isn't on the team, that's a bit surprising to me because it's proven this man can score goals.

So they obviously look at Austin Matthews and they look at the Kitchuk brothers. They look at all the other areas, Jack Hughes, you know, go down in the Lest and you look at their lineup. They've got some offensive scoring punch there. There's no doubt about that. You look defensively, that blue line looks rock solid, despite the fact they don't have Adam Flots. So maybe they felt like, okay, we need full well-rounded players. No different than Team Canada and how Canada assembled its lineup. You can't just have players who are deemed fairly or unfairly to be one-dimensional.

But I do remind, too, if we're looking at Robertson, Robertson guys more for me than Cole Cawfield. I feel like I would have been surprised if Cawfield. was on that team because, again, we've reported on this for months. And Cole Calfield always seemed like he was on the outside looking at. But no different again than any other country here. There's a lot of time between now and the drop of puck in Milan, Italy, in February. So if a forward gets injured, it's hard to imagine that Billy Garron, one of the first calls he makes, isn't going to be the Jason Robertson of Dallas Stars.

So we'll see how it plays out. but, you know, all these countries had to make incredibly difficult decisions, and Canada and the United States definitely did. Well, speaking of, you know, injuries could possibly be a thing. Have you been able to kind of uncover what the backup list could possibly be for Canada, the list of players who they have still involved in the testing and might get their call if injuries do arise? Not a full list.

I mean, it really is player by player. Sam Bennett, of course. You know, I said it would be a one-for-one because that's what Doug Armstrong told us. You know, if an injured forward goes down, well, there's a pretty big difference between, God forbid, Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby

or Nathan McKinnon, then Sam Bennett. You know, they would like to have the luxury of saying, okay, well, if this rugged sort of all-round player, a guy who's going to play in the bottom six gets injured, okay, well, Sam Bennett, you're our first call. they like it to be as easy as that. It may not be as easy as that. So they have, we know they've approached players to say,

we'd like to keep you on a reserve list. However, to be on our reserve list, you have to maintain the same sort of script sort of acknowledgement that goes into every Olympic athlete, right? And you have to allow yourself to testing and all of those things. So I'm sure those calls have been made. I'm sure Mark Scheidley is Winnipeg Jets is on that short list. Probably Bedard, certainly Matthew Schaefer, go down the list.

But that's not a list that Canada wants us to be aware of because they probably don't want us to think that the pecking order is player 1 through 6. Again, just acknowledging that they want to control the process as, all right, if this player gets hurt, then who's the next closest player to the role that we needed that player to fill? Gregs, when you look down the decisions on Team Canada in the crease, the goaltenders. Now, over the next few weeks, I'm fascinated to see Bennington, Kemper, and Thompson, how this plays out for them. But looking at someone like McKenzie Blackwood, the run he's been on, with the abs, the success he's had,

do you think there were many decisions being made there? Was that a solid group they went in liking and stuck with? Or how did that decision go, narrowing down the crease for Canada? Well, it was tough. you know, and with all due respect to the gaggle of goalies that were included in the long list, you know, the reality is pretty obvious here. You know, Canada isn't as deep in the goaltending position as team USA, but just not. And so that's why, you know, MJ and I had good debate.

You know, there will be debate until Jordan Bennington gets the start or doesn't get the start in game one of the Olympics. And then how does he do from there or how is the goaltending, you know, offer off for Canada moving forward in the event. Yeah, I mean, the third goalie, I think, was the one that probably took the most discussion because I do think that Logan Thompson and Jordan Bennington have essentially been the tandem for a long, long time. You know, Wedgwood's name was mentioned more recently, yes, it's been Blackwood, but they feel pretty solid with Darcy Kemper in that three spot.

And look, again, I wasn't arguing with Mike. Johnson on set on Wednesday. You know, his alignment, I think, was going to think about the Logan Thompson, Darcy Kemper, and Jordan Bennington has the number three. And, hey, it's hard to argue when you look statistically at what these goalies are doing at the NHL level. But that's not necessarily the way that John Cooper and Team Canada's brass think. So, goaltending is going to be, for me, when I look at Canada, it's the best of the

biggest storyline going into the Olympic Games. How is their goaltending going to match up against the best of the best? Always is. Always is. And then, you know, last year, same thing. But Bennington pulled it out in the gold medal game. And, like, ultimately, that's why he was here. He earned himself a spot in the Four Nations last year.

And hopefully he can, you know, continue to play big in the big moments as he's done throughout his career with Darren Dregor, a TSN hockey insider. I mean, one could argue after seeing that blockers saved last night from Hill to Maybe he was a bit of a snub on Team Sweden when their roster got announced tonight. But a big win last night for the Maple Leafs coming back, down 4-1. They win 6-5, and it was on the back of the captain, Austin Matthews, a vintage performance from him. What did you make of Austin's game and the comeback overall for the Leafs last night? Well, they just kept competing, right?

And, you know, I think Burrubay talked about this post-game. You don't compete and dig yourself back out of that hole unless your attitude is sound and it's positive and it's strong. And so for me, that's the takeaway. And I wonder what changed within the group. And it does start with Austin Matthews. Austin Matthews, in the games that we've seen him play since their short Christmas break, is a different version of the Leafs captain that we've seen arguably all season long. So what was it?

You know, did he just need a couple of days? You know, did he look at the standings and go, time to get going here? Yeah, the only way we get going here is if, I lead by example. And he's been doing that. And last night, he was rewarded. But, you know, he's not going to be not rewarded when he plays the way that he played last night.

You know, he was in it. He was aggressive. Just all the things that Austin Matthews can do is a superstar in the national hockey league. But more important than that was how it was clear everyone, I don't know, at least in later stages of first period on, was invested. You know, Machelli now is playing like a player that is a useful piece to the Toronto Maple Leafs. You know, Max Stomi had one of his better games last night. I'm a huge fan of Matthew Nyes. I always have been.

But when that guy is going, he's a bull, and he's near impossible to stop. Their defense seems to be more in tune. And again, to revisit Barugabe's post game, I think he acknowledged that there's connection now among the players. And, man, have we seen that for a consistent period of time this year? I'll answer that. No, we have us. And that starts from the crease out. And for that team to bounce the way they did when Joe Wolve got pulled after the fourth goal,

and then you just acknowledged the blocker save, we all saw Joe Wolfe, when they won the game, come off the bench and look up at the score clock and the video scoreboard to see the save, again, and he was smiling. You know, he was as much a fan as every Maple Leaf fan in the building. So they've got some good mojo happening around them right now, but man, are they going to need it? Because look at the non-playoff team of the East right now, right? So you've got the Leaps, you've got Florida, you've got New Jersey,

you've got the Rangers, you've got Ottawa who looked like they were going to fight for that three spot in the Atlantic right to the end of the regular season, and you've got the Boston Bruins who are drifting back. So that's a pretty big collection. So there's nothing but runway here for the Maple Leafs to take advantage of. Yeah. Like there's no team out of it in the East. Like we're in 2026, and each and every one of these teams are still very much in contention for a playoff spot.

Greg, when we were talking earlier about Austin Matthews in the show, not just the goals themselves, but the sense of energy that it seemed he's changed since the Christmas break. Now, when I ask ballplayers about this all the time, I say, what's working better for you lately? And they tell me to shut up because if they knew they'd do it all the time. And it's probably a bit of the same conversation with Austin Matthews. What's the difference lately? But when you see Dreg's average Austin Matthews or below average Austin Matthews like we've seen,

and then this peak version again, what is that difference for you? Where do you think that pivot point is? Because it's so obvious how much better it has been in these last few days. Yeah. it's hard to pinpoint because we have the luxury of seeing an average Austin Matthews, still a good player, but not a superstar, to what we're seeing now of late and certainly last night where, and then again, I keep going back to the Barubia post game, but Craig Barraubi is always very honest, maybe honest to a fault at times to be fair.

But, you know, he talks about how Matthews has played well. but nope sorry fellas no I had to clear my throat he talked about a Matthews has played well but maybe hasn't been rewarded

because the puck hasn't gone in the net for him as often as we're accustomed to yes and no I don't think that's entirely correct I think that there's some fairness

in how you know, Matthews has had chances on the power play, and the buck hasn't gone in. But he also drove play last night, right? So whatever it is, it's impossible, again, to try and describe because I don't know Matthews can describe it. Yeah. Yeah, it is interesting. I mean, you know, we talked about it earlier. It seems to be infectious because then the rest of the team really starts to get going

and the level of urgency, the hustle on the forecheck, the back check, really seemed like Craig Barubei hockey was kind of what inspired it all over the last few days. But a player that I think we all have been very surprised about and really happy for. And drags, I know you don't root for teams. That's not what your job's about, but you are allowed to root for players. Like, how much are we rooting for this Troy Stetcher story? Because, again, last night, massive moment, you know, stops a goal from happening late in the game and then goes down the other way, scores the game tying goal.

I mean, just the story since he's come to this Maple Leaf's team has been nothing but positive. So when he was claimed off waivers, if any one of us had submitted that Troy Stetcher would soon be viewed as a missing ingredient in the success story of the Toronto Maple Leafs, you'd have gotten laughed off social media. You'd have to just delete your account Because when you look at the playing resume at Troy Stetcher, and he's acknowledged it.

He doesn't make light of it. He wears it as a badge of honor because it is what fuels him. You know, it's not the money, but he's desperate to find a long-term NHL home. Well, the way he's playing and has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, hard to imagine that if he can sustain his level of play, his level of energy, what he brings, like, vocally to the group, well, he's going to have a home in Toronto, right? He's not going to hit the financial grand slam.

You know, I think he would know that at this point of his career, but he's going to earn another contract, right? And if it's not in Toronto, it'll be somewhere else, based on what everybody can see, this guy is bringing to the Toronto Maple Leafs. And he, too, is rewarded last night. I have never seen this game out of Troy Stetcher. I really haven't.

And, you know, again, you ask me to describe, you know, what's kind of flip the switch for us to Matthews? Sometimes you don't know. It just happens organically, but you can see it. You can feel it. But how do you explain it, right? That maybe in part that that's what makes athletes special people. And Troy's Tetre is living in the moment,

but he also recognizes that this has to be his moment because there probably isn't going to be another one. But I would say that given how he has sustained his level with more responsibility and opportunity under the guidance of Greg Baroube, he'll get another crack now. If it's on Toronto for whatever reason, there's plenty of opportunity for him for him to earn a longer stay beyond this season. If it's not in Toronto based on the level of play with the Leafs, he's going to get another chance for sure. Greg, has you got any updates to either Brandon Carlo or Anthony Stolars? No, they're both seen on the ice this week. Any chance of them seeing the lineup anytime soon?

No, no. Well, I mean, yeah, I guess there's a chance to be fair here, Mike, but there's no timeline. And so that just means that progress is clearly being made. You know, Anthony Stolars hadn't been on the ice since, you know, leaving that game in Boston way back when. And Brandon Carlo, you know, that was just a tough injury and obviously needed to be repaired. And so he's had to rest and heal before he could amp up his condition and try and get his game back.

So the fact they're back on the ice, I mean, that's a progression report in and of itself. But the Leafs are not saying what date they're targeting now yet. It's still a bit soon. Yeah, they can use Brandon Crow. I think Phil Myers played like eight minutes last night. Stetcher like every other shift was going over the bench double shifting. So Carlos, someone they definitely would like to have back as soon as he's able to get back. Dregs really appreciate it.

As always, happy new year again and enjoy the hockey tonight, pal. Yeah, I will. You guys have a great weekend. You as well. Darren Dregor, or TSN Hockey Insatter, joined us on the Maple Toyota Hotline, get in and go, where Adventure takes you in a new 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota, near Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall, visit maple Toyota.com. I'm Dylan Playfair.

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