OverDrive - Dreger on the Sabres' losing skid, the Rangers' possible changes and the Maple Leafs without Stolarz

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joined OverDrive to discuss the biggest storylines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' roster moves and David Kampf's return to the lineup, Matt Murray's opportunity with the team, the Sabres' ongoing issues and losing skid in the spotlight in Buffalo, the Rangers' looking for answers and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca here's our tsn hockey insider darren dreger what's happening dregs hey guys i'm actually just getting home i was uh in muskoka for the last i would say 30 hours how about this helping a buddy move buddy move. Who does that? Wow. At that? I know. No, that's a – like, it's one thing if it's your neighbor around the corner or something.

You went to Muskoka to help him move? You're a good Samaritan, man. I mean, some buddies. Old hockey dads, right? So it's a tight fraternity. You do what you can to help people, but just getting back in time for the Leafs game tonight. All right.

Well, there you go. I mean, we've got the most expensive line in NHL history playing tonight. I'm sure you've heard the news. Marner, Nylander, and Matthews. What do you make of it, Dregs? Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. And one thing we know about Craig Berube is, look, he knows he can always go back to the old faithful, which is Matthews and Marner. We saw the chemistry when Matthews was out with Marner and Tavares, and that worked.

I wouldn't say Willie's been quiet, but, you know, why not just put it all together and see what happens? And, you know, it works for a period, great. It works for a game, that's good too. And if you extend it beyond that, that's a lot of firepower though, right? Load it up on one line. I don't know that there's enough puck for each one of those guys. So that could be a bit of a problem.

Yeah, that is going to be the question tonight, how much puck is going to be there for the three of them. But listen, you're playing with house money. It's December. You maybe motivate the guys. That is going to be the question tonight. How much puck is going to be there for the three of them? Listen, you're playing with house money. It's December. You maybe motivate the guys. The other guys are obviously hoping to drive their own lines, like John Tavares, Max Domi, et cetera.

But we also saw David Camp has been activated off the IR, so he's playing. Basically, everyone's available now. I mean, we're waiting for Stolarz to return, but more or less, you got pretty much everyone ready available now. I mean, we're waiting for Stolarz to return, but more or less, you know, you got pretty much everyone ready to play. This is pretty substantial when you think about what the Leafs have gone through already this season. It is. And look, I mean, certain guys are back now playing for jobs.

And, you know, Nicky Robertson would be in that category. I mean, that third line the other night on Sunday is coming off a pretty impressive showing. So can Robertson build off one game? He's going to have to if he wants to, you know, extend his time in Toronto. But I think it's also a chance for, you know, we talked about this, Noodles, on the broadcast, and certainly during the game, about how if there's an area of need, it would be probably at the middle, at center ice,

in that third, maybe fourth hole, right? Well, Dave Kamp has been out for a stretch, but he's not a terrible centerman, right? I mean, so, you know, he's got market value, and he has value to the Toronto Maple Leafs. So we'll see kind of how things unfold between now and March 7th. But given the bodies they have, the NHL experience, there is opportunity for certain guys to prove that they're playoff worthy

and they're a big part of the team. Drex, we were talking about in the last hour the roster freeze over Christmas, and it's creeping up here. Some teams are doing some house cleaning as far as guys on waivers. Is there ever a chance that there's a big trade before it happens, or they maybe talk about it over Christmas? Because we circle in a couple organizations, Buffalo, the New York Rangers, maybe Nashville would be in the market to maybe make a change

and make a splash to jar their organizations. Yeah, that's fair. And, yeah, there's a chance. You know, the insiders kind of started kicking those tires earlier today and going around the National Hockey League and, you know, just getting a temperature feel for what could happen between now and the roster freeze at midnight local tomorrow. I'd throw Pittsburgh into that mix.

Kyle Dubas has already done some things, and I think he's pretty eager to add some more. The Montreal Canadiens, Ken Hughes, has been in a lot of different conversations. Is it possible that some of the conversations that he's had bear fruit with kind of a soft deadline looming with the roster freeze? Sure, it's possible. And then you're right.

I think most people are looking at the teams that have struggled the most. And you've got to put Buffalo at the top of that list right now. The messaging that I keep getting from Buffalo Sabres isres is that hey they're willing to do something big they're willing to consider moving out top players the problem is to make a move like that if you're talking about um well any of their top guys Bo Byron comes to mind there's been speculation around him we've got to get a top player back if he's moving out a top player like Bo Byron so that might take a little bit longer. Drags, I want to go back to the Leafs for a second because obviously with the Stoller's injury,

we now know he's going to be out four to six weeks. Dennis Hildeby is the goalie that's currently with Toronto, but would you say this might leave the door open for a return for Matt Murray to get back into the NHL? Yeah, I think it definitely will. He was out for a bit in the American Hockey League. I think he returned on Sunday or on the weekend. So they probably want him to get a couple of starts there

and just kind of test how he's feeling. So I think they'll have to go the combination of Joe Wohl and Dennis Hildeby through the roster freeze, come out of the Christmas break, and see what that tandem looks like, and then make a call there. But the messaging that I was getting yesterday was that there was a good sense that Matt Murray would be recalled at some point. I mean, this is a glorious opportunity for Joseph Wolfe.

You know, number one, you know, the guy's got to stay healthy, and there's no reason to think that that isn't going to happen unless he's wildly unlucky because, you know, they took their time, he put in the work, and he looks like he's close to 100%. But how great would it be for him if he could kind of run the table here for a month or so? You know, then that takes a tremendous amount of heat off of that position. Because, look, you know, Matt Murray is capable.

His resume is what it is. But we've also seen him struggle at times historically. So they're sure hoping the Maple Leafs, that is, that Joseph Wall is going to be able to shoulder the majority of the load. With Darren Dreger, a TSN Hockey insider. So Buffalo, they didn't just lose last night. They got embarrassed at the Bell Center.

The Rangers lose in Nashville. Those are the two teams of focus right now. It feels as if neither team wants to move off their coach the Rangers lose in Nashville. Those are the two teams of focus right now. It feels as if neither team wants to move off their coach because of who they are, their veteran status, and they've already had turnover. Lindy Ruff's only 30 games into this, and Laviolette just took over last year, and look what he did. But is there ever a line that you would think,

if they cross that line, it's just inevitable to, you have to do something. Like, basically, it's the entertainment business. Your fans are going to lose their minds, and you almost are forced into a decision. And if we're not at that line yet for the Rangers and Sabres, how much further down this disastrous road could it go? Well, I think you're a lot closer to that line, Brian, in New York than you might be in Buffalo. And, you know, you've got Terry Pagula, who probably the last thing he

wanted to do, even though, hey, Montreal's a beautiful city this time of year. Yes, it is. He's still celebrating his Bills win, and he's got to get on a flight to, you know, try and give his boys a shot in the arm, being the Buffalo Sabres. And, you know, what I was told was that, you know, he was very encouraging. He was very supportive of Lindy, of Kevin, of everyone there, and just wanted the players to trust that, you know, he believes that the answers are internal. So, okay, that's the message from Terry Pagula. And then they lay the egg that they did against the Montreal Canadiens.

So he's a loyal owner. He really truly is. And he has given Kevin Adams basic autonomy, right? You know, change coaches, take some risk. You know, and Ralph Kruger back in the day, you know, all of that. You know, he's manipulated his roster several different ways. So I don't know that Kevin feels like he's on a hot seat as we're having this conversation,

but they're essentially a non-playoff team. I don't think they're going to find a way to creep back in in the mix. So I wouldn't be surprised at a point in the offseason where ownership in Buffalo decides maybe to go a different direction. New York, man, with that owner, James Dolan, the Dolan family, look out. It feels like it's approaching scorched earth for the New York Rangers. And depending on who you talk to, yeah, lots of people are looking at Chris Durie, the general manager, blaming him.

It's all his fault. Some are suggesting that there's unrest between the players and Petereter laviolette around the room and on the bench well that's what happens when you're supposed to be a top contending team in the league and you're failing in the fashion that the new york rangers are currently dealing with yeah james dolan is such a wild card like he the definition of one there's stories coming out of New York. I was talking to somebody yesterday on the plane or the day before on the plane, and they were like, yeah, I used to work with the Dolan organization. He's like, I could tell you 50 stories of this guy being a wingnut walking in

and firing people out of nowhere. He's got to write a check to make these people disappear. It's just insanity the way he runs and does business there. It is. And it's not just with, you know, how he does business with the sports franchises. That's just his approach. At least that's my understanding. You know, I've heard some stories at the ownership level across the NHL.

You know, some of the dealings with NHL Commissioner Gary Buttman. I mean, this guy, the one thing that I guess I can appreciate about Dolan, though, is he doesn't cheap out. He spends money on his athletes, and he makes sure that all the creature comforts are there. Everything is at their fingertips. The expectation is, though, if you work for James Dolan, okay, if you're Drury or you're Peter Laviolette or you're any player,

the expectation is he believes every year he's got a Stanley Cup favorite team. I can't even imagine some of the conversations that Drury is having probably multiple times a week with James Dolan or the Dolan family just trying to sort this out it's got to be just hair raising stuff on a bit more of a positive note i suppose you know montreal last night line a gets himself a hat trick he's got six goals in seven games since returning from his injury how much of an appreciation do you have for the way that he's

been able to get back this season and really get up and running right away? Yeah, a lot because of all the adversity that he's faced. On ice, off ice, injury. You know, when he arrived in the National Hockey League, excuse me, he, like so many teenage players picked high in the draft, he was immature, you know, just physically and mentally. And when you play in a Canadian market, that can be a challenge. So, you know, the long run, it didn't work out in Winnipeg. They flipped him for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

That didn't work out in Winnipeg. He gets moved out. Lyon, he didn't work in Columbus. So when the deal went down with the Montreal Canadiens, I think most of us were curious, why Lyon? What does Montreal see that the other teams just weren't able to pull out of them? And Kent Hughes explained it to me this way. He just thought, hey, we think there's something there,

but for the Montreal Canadiens, there was no risk in it, right? There was no risk in this deal, and if it works out the way that it currently looks like it's going to work out, he's a hell of a fine for the Canadiens. If it doesn't, all right, a looks like it's going to work out, he's a hell of a find for the Canadians. If it doesn't, all right, a year down the road you move on and everybody's fine in the process. But, you know, you like when individual stories work out, and at least for now it looks like Patrick Lyon is a pretty good fit in Montreal.

Yeah. Yeah, it's been a great start, and it's the entertainment business. That building, those fans, they needed something. They love it. They needed something,. And it's the entertainment business. That building, those fans, they needed something. They love it. They needed something, man. They're craving a superstar. Hopefully he supplies that for them the rest of this year into next. I wouldn't commit long-term.

I think the way things are going in Montreal right now, it feels like next year is another year of, I think, growth. I can't imagine I'm in a position where I think they're going to make the playoffs next year, Dregs. But by the year after that, it better be go time. And that's when line is up. So I don't see them having any conversations with him. Not that they can right now, but I guess by the summer,

why you would commit long-term to anybody unless you know exactly what you're dealing with. Because at some point, Demidov's coming over, and Hudson's coming, or he's already here, and Mayhew's probably coming, and Reinbacher's coming, and they've got to get these kids in the lineup, and they've got to start winning games in the next year, year and a half. Yeah, I'm with you.

And look, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gordon, as I said earlier, they continue to work it, right? And they're looking for that age-appropriate player. I asked somebody involved with the organization how much interest they would have, saying saying Capococco. We've talked about the New York Rangers.

Don't forget, Jeff Gorton drafted him, right? Right. And it doesn't sound like they've had any recent communication, but there was some discussion with New York in the offseason, and either the ask was way too high or they just couldn't forward it. But Hughes, he's looking to add some pieces. So their intent is to get in the playoff conversation next year, and that's going to be tough.

I am with you on that. All right, Dregs, welcome home, buddy. We'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. Okay, guys, have a good night. Darren Dreger, TSN Hockey Insider.