OverDrive - Hutton on Dahlin denying exit reports, the Sabres' pursuit for wins and the Maple Leafs' goaltending perspective

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

SiriusXM NHL Radio and Daily Faceoff Analyst Carter Hutton joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Linus Ullmark's solid performances with the Senators, Mackenzie Blackwood's role in the crease, the Maple Leafs' goaltending tandem, Rasmus Dahlin denying that he wants out from the Sabres and more.

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Switch to Bell PureFiber, Canada's fastest internet, awarded by UCCLA. Starting from $60 a month. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Here is former NHL goalie, you hear him on SirusXM and see him also on daily face off. Here's Carter Hutton back on overdrive. What's happening Carter? Hey, not much buddy. I'll tell you, Jonas, you're not going to wear shorts up in Thunder Bay. That's a crazy move. No chance.

I know you're in the beautiful place of Toronto, but come on buddy, shorts this time of year is a wild move. I'm all on board for that. You just get tricked. You look outside and you're like, man, it's great out there. It's March 11th though, Jonas. It's one of those things. You shouldn't even be thinking shorts until you get to mid April in my opinion. It said 12 and I must have missed the real feel. Real feel is the actual temperature too. Can we clarify that?

Like I don't care, if it's 30, feels like four, it's four. Yeah, like it doesn't care. Is that not the worst when they, it says it's like minus 10, but it feels like minus 12, whatever, well at Thunder Bay that's how we roll, but the feel, like just get rid of everything else, tell me what it feels like. That's what we all wanna know.

Completely irrelevant. the other number. In junior hockey, what is up with you guys in Thunder Bay? Because I played with a guy from Thunder Bay and he made it a point in the middle of winter to still wear Crocs and a hoodie and not wear his coat. Just be like, ah, this is fall weather in T Bay. And we're in Sudbury. He's like, ah, we're just T Bay, we're just built different and i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i don't know i can i can say i'm on board with it

and the croc in the boot yet not before cross or to when you're playing junior to sell uh... that's valid into your point it's not good you're not you know you're not in north carolina like the sub reason probably cool it's you know central ontario it's not necessary to try to

you know beat the elements in sub-breed all uh... how about that lead us all mark last night we haven't brought up his game yesterday we've been talking a lot about the leaves and march on a florida boston tonight forty eight saves uh... some of them were just remarkable like he. They almost beat him right before the wild. It was incredible last night at the end of the game. And Detroit all of a sudden, like

a month ago, was like, you can't stop them. Now they can't win. But if Almark plays anything close to the way he played last night, are you prepared, Carter, to say the Sens are a lot, they're going to make the playoffs? I am right now. I've been a big spocker since they got all mark right i guess i'm biased to rest at three years of them and i saw how easy he gets it done right i think it was a time in buffalo where again it last night's a great sample that is you like he gets we end up with forty nine states that forty eight days on forty nine

shots and i remember a few times in baffled one time we're playing the devils and we we watched him like six water some at home 48 saves on 49 shots. And I remember a few times in Buffalo, I remember one time we were playing the Devils and we waxed them like 6-1 or something at home. And he came to the bench at the third period, second time out, it was after the 10 minute mark. And I think at that point he had 41 saves. And he's leaning on the bench and he's taking a drink of water and he doesn't have an ounce of sweat on him.

And I'm like, this guy is so amazing, the way he can manage the game. At that point in his career, I guess he was like misunderstood because he's a unique guy right even you hear his interview last night he's always comes up he's a great guy to interview right because he comes up with some interesting stuff but for Linus he is just so elite the way he can manage the game the way he manages emotion and he has that like carefree about him worry I think he can compartmentalize things in

that side of the game which is so important I think for him was just maturity and going to Boston for him with like a more, I don't want to, Buffalo's had a tough enough time as it is, but you get out of the leadership group we had in Buffalo and he gets to go to a place like Boston where he has leaders, right? He has guys to like learn under it and understand how to be a pro. And now it like he branches out to a younger team and now he has that good foundation of his skill and his goaltending to go along with a younger Ottawa centers team I think it's a perfect mix and if he can stay healthy I consider them a real big threat to get in the playoffs and you know

Who knows what happens when they get in especially the top six is looking pretty pretty good in the East But for that being said, I think he's been awesome so far and I assume that will continue Speaking of goalies that have been awesome. You called something on this show. I think it was back in September bullies that have been awesome you called something on this show i think it was back in september you said up in thunder bay i've been training with mckenzie blackwood this guy is up to something this season and like anyone would have been a little skeptical just based on the way the past few seasons have gone but he's been unbelievable he was great in san jose he's been great in colorado like what what have you seen what gave you that notion that menzie Blackwood was

going to have this great season? You called it, you called it before the season. I'm glad you remember, Frankie, because usually they just remember the bad stuff. When I tricked Bill Armstrong into a contract and I played three games and gave up seven goals against the game. Honestly, Mackenzie is just one of those guys, growing up, he was always so elite athletically. He's a big build. He's built like a linebacker.

And I remember when he was young, he was doing giant power lifts and lifting. I was like, I remember grabbing him and being like, hey, you need to find someone to teach you how to be the best goalie you can be off the rink, right? And at that point in my career, selfishly, I was trying to figure out what I needed to figure out. But as you started to see him put the pieces together

on the rink and add the tools to his toolbox, right? Because there's not many goalies like him that have the build, the athletic capabilities to move around the net and function the way he can. So it's interesting to see the experience coming into play. And again, in the NHL now we see all these young guys come up and we want guys to be good right away. We see it all the time, right? Especially with players where you're drafted, you got to be good right away. Like, what's going on? Why is this guy, this guy's a flop, he's not good. And there's so many other things that go into hockey.

And I think McKenzie now has all the experience. He's been exposed to everything. He has the maturity to understand about it. And I think what's really important to me is like having conversations with a summer where we were on the ice. He said he's learned how to care less. And that's, it's never something you really wanna hear,

I guess, from your goal if you're a fan But I get it because like sometimes you care so much and you want to do well and you prepare and you try to get Ready where it almost has an opposite effect because you're putting too much pressure on yourself You got to be in the moment when it's the moment right and then be able to get away from it I think for him that's where his maturity is coming and now we're seeing it full-tilt he's in a market where they're expected to win. You have Nathan McKinney, your captain, who is a demanding captain and he's able to go to the rink, have fun, use his ability and then turn it off. And I think that's where we're seeing it full tilt right now. And it's been

fun to watch. And Colorado is a threat. That trade deadline changed everything. I think this league just got a lot more exciting these last 20 games here. Big time. Big time. WithL goal or goalie Carter Hutton I want to reference this stat that I saw last night I got into earlier this afternoon from the NHL on TNT where they said going into last night's game Joseph Wall Had stopped 42 shots faced during crunch time situations The only goalie in the league with a perfect safe percentage in those situations So this is how they define crunch time situation. The final five minutes of a

regulation and overtime game when the game is either tied or within a one goal margin. When you hear a stat like that do you put any stock into something like that like as when you were playing when you evaluate current goalies how do you separate maybe the first fifty five minutes compared to the last five minutes or into overtime or is that just simply arbitrary like that you could pick anything why is it five minutes instead of ten of the third period instead of the first two periods how do you kind of look at a stat like that when you see joseph wall

and how comfortable and how successfully seems to be when games are really really tight late late in the game i guess you'd say a bit arbitrary in the sense of like you could grab any time and make it work right because i know in the nhl we love to do that like from january 12th on sunday games that are matinee games right exactly right but yeah at the end of the day though he is showing that he can get it done when it matters right i think that is something that's really important i think last night's a great example of a team that's on the road. It's a tough game. Now you're up three nothing, right?

And you could view it in the sense of like, well, we couldn't, we blew a three goal lead, right? But in the same sense, he comes up with timely saves. And something that was taught to me when I was younger was it's not necessarily how many saves you make, it's when you make them, right? And there's key moments in games that can flip a game on its side. I think last night's a great example of, imagine being in that situation, because I've been in it where you've blown a three goal lead,

right? And now the other team is coming in, they're all over you, to have the mental capacity to stay with it. And some of you've seen from Joseph Wallen, and I always love the clips of him, especially last night and throughout the season, is you can see him almost like in his zen state

when he's in that, right? He's focused, he's dial dialed in and his demeanor doesn't really like go up and down with the play and I think that's something that's very reassuring and Hazy I'm with you the fact that sometimes these stats you never really know what to take from them because I feel like sometimes we can spin them and make them sound better than they are but for a young goalie his maturity level is unbelievable again I think this has been a great season in the sense of he never got hurt again, right? He came back Stowars was out. He had to carry the mail. He's done well And yes, there's been a little bit of blips on the Raider, but who doesn't have that we look at every goalie in the league This is a humbling league in that sense

So I feel like it's a really good stat for him to go off of and for me It's not even this numbers. It's the eye test right watching him in a moment last night where he needs to be dialed in, he was so locked in in that shootout and overtime, and able to get the two points for his team, which was huge. Carter, on a different front, you played with Ross Mistelian in Buffalo. I want to play you his quotes today and see what you make of that. There's a clip circulating on social media from the Spit and Chicklets podcast that said if you guys don't figure this out soon, you want to be moved.

Is that accurate? Who? Paul Bissinet. Who wants to be moved? You. I want to be moved? You said you told Adam. That I want to be gone from Buffalo?

No, that's, I don't know what he's talking about. I have never said I want out of here uh... i'm not happy where we are uh... i don't wanna i don't lose uh... uh... we have to get better uh... i've never said i want to i want out of here uh... i thought that was pretty clear we make it that yeah

i honestly i believe him that he he doesn't like one to leave but in the same sense He wants to win This is a guy that I got the chance to play with when he first came in he was competitive right over the gate And I mean a lot of times we lost games Because of Rasmus Dahlien and our group because he was a young guy that played with a lot of high risk in this game But he's at a point now where he wants to win I think this like I think everybody around hockey wants Buffalo to win, right? And again,

I think they've done a better job of him now getting some better core pieces around him, some leadership where I remember a moment when I was in Buffalo and this, I don't really think I've ever confessed this to too many people. I'm doing it now on national TV, but there was a, after a game we had lost, I forget who we played, whatever, there was a lot of losses in Buffalo, as you can imagine. And Rasmus Ristelainen was a guy that wore it on his sleeve very you know he was sandpaper right he was a guy that we would get a lot of FU matches after games and we'd come back the next day and we'd go to work and that that's part of about being a man and playing the NHL and I remember coming in I had done media and I went into the locker room and and Dallin

was already out of his out of the shower in his suit ready to go. Like he didn't go into the gym, didn't work out, he was 18 years old. And I remember grabbing him, and I was pretty hot at the time because we had lost an important game, and getting it into him with him. Because Rista Lyon had done it before, and the precedent had been sent,

I think that was where our culture was at as a team. And I remember Dahlien coming back to me the next day and apologizing. And I was like, you don't have to apologize to me. I'm just trying to help you become a pro where you need to get. You have all the tools, and this is part of the building process. And even at that point, he wanted to win so bad that he couldn't really see the forest through the trees.

That was where he was at. And I think he's grown a lot as a person, but I can't imagine being able... I played in Nashville where we made the playoffs. It was in Chicago where I was part of their Stanley Cup run. St. Louis, we had really good teams and then all of a sudden you've been there for so long losing. I spent three seasons of losing and it really you know it's almost like a blip in my radar during that like how much it hurt my career and just the way you know dealing day to day coming to the rink so I can't imagine what

he's dealing with but there's one thing I would tell you about Rasmus Dullin he's super prideful and he will do everything he can to win so I I'd assume he wants things to get better, but there's no way he's going to try to bail. He's going to try to be part of the solution. So I get things get spun in the media, but I understand where he's coming from. I thought he handled it perfectly. He said exactly what he was supposed to say. He didn't divulge anything more. He was very direct and to the point.

But when it comes to Buffalo, we know Pittsburgh is trying to turn things around. Boston has traded pieces. They're going to try and get back into the top three in the Atlantic. Philly's a rebuilding team. If you're Buffalo or you're a Buffalo fan, how hard is it to look at everyone making moves around you

and say, there's no guarantee that we're going to be out of the basement next season or the season after that. Yeah, I think that's probably the hardest part, looking at it, right? And some of those contracts, obviously moving on from Cousins, getting him out of there, the Samuelson deal and just locking guys up long term. And I came from Nashville, David Poyle, that was one of his favorite things, right? Getting guys on those eight year deals early for small money, hoping that they pan out.

I remember Roman Yossi at one point was the most underpaid defenseman in the league. I remember the boys, we used to always ask him who's okay for money because he was only making four million a year. That was like the running joke, right? Because he was so underpaid and makes enough money for groceries. But I get it in Buffalo, right? It's like, and I think that's always the interesting part now about the NHL and the salary cap era is do you just rip it down to the studs, right? Because now I think everybody looks at that template in Buffalo and you're a little bit worrisome, right? It's like, yeah, we can go and get all these picks, but it

doesn't mean it's going to turn around, right? You need the right leadership. You need the right group. And I think at some point, Frankie, they have to go get some guys now that are going to help this team go in the right way. I feel like they've tried to, but I feel like you need to make a big splash. You need to send a message to your fan base, someone that we're trying to move in the right direction. And again, like I talked about with Mackenzie Blockwood, I love UPL.

I think Ucu Pekulukunin's a great goal. I think Devin Levi's a great goalie, but they rush guys into this league. It's so hard to play in this league and sustain it. And we see it this year with Shelovs in Vancouver. After his playoff run last year, we were like, hey, we don't have to worry about Demko. We have Shelovs. He's the next coming, right? Where now you've got to grind every day and figure it out. And not that he lost skill, right? Mitch Corn, great goalie coach, used to

always tell me, you don't lose skill overnight, right? And it's a great example, but this league can humble you, right? When you're playing on emotion and you're trying to find you know I guess that's Zen of being a pro and I think that's where Buffalo fans and people really need to I guess be reassured that this organization is organization is gonna trend in the right direction because it's been a it's been a long run and I'm pulling for them but it doesn't seem like it's heading the right direction this year. No it's been a long time man 13 14 years without the playoffs and likely to finish last in the East again this year it's it's been a long time man 13 14 years without the playoffs and likely to finish last in the East again this year it's it's been a grind. He is

former NHL goalie you hear him on Sirius XM you can see him also on daily face-off he is Carter Hutton. Great catching up with you Carter we always appreciate you doing this. Thanks boys thanks for having me on. You got it there is again Carter Hut, always great insight. all the way. Loud and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada on the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.