OverDrive - Hutton on Demko's return to the Canucks, Stolarz's role in Toronto and the Predators' search for wins

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Former NHLer, SiriusXM NHL Network and Daily Faceoff Analyst Carter Hutton joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Thatcher Demko's return with the Canucks, Anthony Stolarz's performance with the Maple Leafs, the Avalanche acquiring Mackenzie Blackwood from the Sharks, the Predators' issues in Nashville and more.

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approved disrelicensed 12 616 carter hutton former nhler broadcaster for daily face-off and also sirius xm and the pride of thunder bay how are you carter i don't know about the i don't know about the pride of thunder bay right now mackenzie blockwood is the biggest guy from thunder bay that's big news for us. It was his birthday yesterday. He got traded, went to the Avalanche over San Jose. It's a big move. Things are looking good for the goalie community in Thunder Bay. That's a nice upgrade. How much better

is Colorado with Mackenzie Blackwood? He's had a good year. It feels like it's a resurgence for him and anything was going to be better than Georgiev. Yeah, honestly, it's an immense upgrade. He is a guy that that even in my playing days when I was, you know, at the peak of my career getting starter minutes, he was so talented and gifted, and his skill set is amazing.

I mean, like, he was coming out a junior, and I couldn't hold a candle to what he could do on the rink. But it's a matter of him just figuring out how to play and just manage expectations. And I think his other thing is his maturity of being a goalie, right? He just turned 28 years old. You see guys as they get a little bit older, but this is going to make this Colorado Avalanche team very dangerous.

And his size, he's 6'4", 225, they weigh him in at, but it might be a little heavier than that. This is a big boy that fills a lot of net, and he makes up for his athletic ability. So this is a huge move, I think, for the Avalanche midseason to add him and Scott Wedgwood. So speaking of Western Conference goaltending carter a big long-awaited return of thatcher demko with the canucks expected tonight i mean talk about long-awaited we thought he was returning

a while back and he and it's taken a while for him to go from backup to starter but what do you make of the of the fact it's taken this long, and what do you expect we will get from Mr. Demko going forward? You know, honestly, I think we'll get a goalie that's ready to go, right? I think this is another situation of, I think we've seen it with the Leafs, right, with Matthews out, and they took their time with him because they were winning, right? And I think it was a similar situation with Kevin Lankanen came in there,

a guy who didn't even have a job. He came in and played so well for them, and he's kept them above. I think if we looked at this team right now and he said where they're sitting third in the division without Thatcher Demko, they would be amazed by that. He's played so well, especially with Arthur Sheloff not really getting the job done as his first real crack at being a full-time NHL guy. So for Thatcher Demko coming off a season where he's nominated for the VESDA, 9-18, I think he's going to be ready to go.

Truthfully, I think they took their time with him because they know down the stretch they're goingesda 918. I think he's going to be ready to go. Truthfully, I think they took their time with him because they know down the stretch they're going to need him. And I think this is going to be a huge boost for this hockey club. Carter, I know you can talk about other positions than goaltending, but I do want to ask you about Anthony Stolarz, who gets the start tonight for the Leafs as they take on the Devils.

And we saw him play really well in a backup role for the Stanley Cup champs last year. In this kind of 1A, 1B situation that he's in with Toronto, did you expect him to put up the numbers that he has so far this year? No, I can't say I totally expected it. Like, I think he was in a really good situation in Florida where he's played under certain circumstances. You know, I think it goes to credit Toronto in the way they defend,

as well as Stolarz. You know, he's been in a situation, I think it goes to credit Toronto in the way they defend as well as Stolarz. You know, he's been in a situation, I think, similar to my career early in it, where when I was with Peke Rene for a lot of years, I would, you know, I could look at his schedule and see every two weeks when I was going to start. And that was kind of the situation he had in Florida with Bobrovsky. But now coming in and with that early injury,

he was ready to take that step forward. And I believe it's also a reason why he wanted to be in Toronto, right? Like he wanted a chance to throw his hat in the ring. Similar to me when I went to Buffalo. Yes, I didn't fare as well as Anthony Stolarz is doing

in Toronto right now. But I think for him, he's ready mentally, physically to take on more games. And now with this 1A, 1B, with Wol coming back and playing very well, the Leafs are in a great situation.

And I kind of heard when I first came on there, you guys were chatting about it. It's something we don't talk about anymore. We don't see a ton of bad goals yes they've lost a few but when we watch samson off play and over the years certain players and goalies it's almost like we were waiting each game for a bad goal to go in and i think that's off the table now and i think confidence throughout the fan base throughout the media throughout even the team in general

is spread through these two goalies and how well they've played i got a you know unleaf question for you last night i'm watching buffalo and detroit huso goes in net and the kids sebastian cosa who's you know big young talented goaltender for detroit he's called up and he's not playing and huso's been bad all year long but you don't put cosa in to start the game but you end up pulling huso and then you put this kid in the game in the second period, so now he's coming in cold, he hasn't had a warm-up. It's like, could you have put that guy in a worse position to make his NHL debut? And then the kid goes out and he wins the game in a shootout.

I'm just trying to think, you're a goalie, you see that situation go down, how do you think that was handled? I think horribly, i think you nailed it on the head there it's one of those ones where we don't want to start him because he's not ready right we don't want to rush him in but we're going to throw him into a situation where you're kind of feeding him to the wolves right and i i understand maybe if it's a veteran guy you put him in a tough situation where we've seen it many times where the starter's getting a night off, and no matter how bad the backup is doing, whatever's going on, you're in there the full game, right? This guy's getting his rest.

But a situation like this doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I respect the kid for going in and battling and finding a way to win. On the other side of that, I feel for Buffalo, because those are a couple tough losses where they've had the lead against Colorado and against Detroit in a point, you know, where they need to get two points in that situation.

But for Kosa, I look forward to him getting some more games. I feel like at times we really want to protect goalies. We want to keep them in the American League. We don't want to show them. But with Talbot out, with Lyon out, this is a chance for him to really run because I think Jusso's kind of – he's played to the end of his leash here. He can't really seem to get it done lately. Carter, you played in Nashville for a few seasons during your illustrious career.

I'm sure you, like a lot of people that watch that franchise, were excited about the offseason. A lot of people thought maybe Barry Trotz had won the offseason, certainly made a lot of noise in the offseason. What is your level of surprise to look at the NHL standings today and see them in dead last place? Yeah, it stings, honestly honestly because it's a it's a team i call for right a market that really gave me my first chance right and barry trotz was the head coach when i came in so i think it just goes to show you how important building a team is versus building just like an all-star like yes best available player may be out there and you want to add those pieces because you think it's gonna you know help your team but the end of the day i

think in a league like this i know odog i lot, and he talks about how watered down the league is, right, where it just shows you when you need to get depth players, you need to find the right chemistry to make it work. And I think this is a great example of that because you look at UC Starhouse, he's played very good this year, statistically speaking. They've added some pieces there, and they don't have guys that fit with each other.

And again, I think going to this Four Nations Cup, it's a great example of seeing what teams can gel quickly is usually produced the best winner carter out joining us on overdrive we are just about 20 minutes away from the leafs and devils over on tsn4 tonight uh the line rushes right now as they um they partake in their warm-ups max domey on the third line with fraser minton and steven loren. As this team has struggled recently for secondary scoring, how big is it that Max Domi gets back into the lineup? It's huge, right? Max is a guy that doesn't necessarily score a lot of goals.

I think at times he can shoot the puck a lot more, but he's a playmaker. He generates, and every night if he isn't doing that, he's moving his feet, creating offense. I think how well the Leafs have done, you look at all these injuries, I think just as a fan and on the other side of the media now, you want to see what they can do as they start putting pieces back into play here, right? Where's their depth? What are they going to need here? And then who's going to be the odd man looking out, right? There's obviously that question mark, but I think having Max Domii back healthy ready to go is really going to help this hockey team down the stretch uh i'm sure you've been seeing what patrick linea has done in montreal three goals in his first four games there and

uh three power play goals and just beating goaltenders clean like one-on-one wrist shot right past you first of all is it nice to see a guy like that back and having success and maybe like what makes patrick line a shot so good you know frankie you've seen it firsthand right you had to block these things too at least i had the gear on to do it but honestly there's certain players that just have a different release and he is one of them remember i played a lot against him in the central division when i was with nashville and St. Louis, and it's almost like it's a bit of a riser, right? He just snaps it off, and the deception in his blade and the whip in his stick is the hardest part about it. I always try to explain that to, I guess, non-goalies, right?

It's not necessarily about how hard you can shoot it. It's how deceptive you can be in the whip of the stick. And Laine was one of those first guys that really came up, younger guy, with a super whippy stick. So it may look like it's going glove and it goes blocker. And on top of that, it is such a powerful shot. So it's been impressive what he can do. And I fell for Dostal last night because I felt victim to that many times in that Central Division matchup.

Hey, Carter, we've been talking a lot about the secondary scoring. Frank, you brought up with the Leafs that's not coming. But if you break down the numbers, a lot of what's kind of lacking in their offensive production comes from Austin Matthews the guy that scored 69 last year on pace for 32 this year you talk about people whose shot looks a little different at his best he is he's elite with that wrister uh what have you seen from him uh that that kind of leads you to believe there's something different this year certainly in the production no i i think he's just a guy that's you know obviously a little bit of setback being injured right but he is a guy that again is so deceptive even for me playing against him when i was in buffalo you know getting him a lot a lot of those more matchups in the

atlantic division when he adds in his five hole shot when they come off the flank it is something that is it's very hard to read right and now the problem is with him is the fact that he can create space anywhere he can beat you so many different ways but i also think he's in a situation now where i think the team is buying into just general overall defense right where we're not seeing that same toronto maple leafs team wow you every night i was able to go to the game i brought my son down to toronto and watch the hawks play and it just feels like they play a better brand of hockey now where they just seem like a team that has that winning pedigree. Late in that game, the Hawks could barely get the puck over the blue line, let alone into the offensive zone.

I think that is because Austin Matthews and their leaders have all bought into winning. And I think they've understood the fact that, yes, we can wow during the regular season, but if we want to win in the playoffs, we need to buy in here. And I think that's what you have now in the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's interesting because, you know know you'll talk to people around new jersey and they love what sheldon keith brings and then you talk to people around toronto and

they love what craig berube brings to this team like is is it it's crazy i don't know how to explain it but like sheldon keith was what the devils needed berube was what the leafs needed and now everyone's happy and both these teams are going to go head to head. Leafs are playing a different style of game than the Devils, but the Devils don't care because they like that style of game that Keefe is bringing. Like, I don't know. How do you explain that whole dynamic? I know it's weird. It's like the divorce couple that get new partners and they're all like four

friends. They go for dinner and they get along really well. So it seems like it honestly seems that way right it was just the right fit at the right time and i also think there was those additions to the team like i heard sheldon keith today he was on leaf's morning take on a podcast talking about just some of the addition that fits he made you know getting the goaltending sure enough that on the d side which was super important for this team for a young team where at times you could see jack hughes being frustrated last year like openly on the mic, like we need to save. And I don't think that's great for a young player to see that

and also be dealing with that emotionally in the media. So I also think Chief coming in now, he's a little bit hard-nosed, right? I played for him in St. Louis, but he's a guy that he's going to reward you if you play the right way. And I think now we have everyone buying into that. And it's fun to see. It feels different. I hate saying that because I feel like we do this every year.

But it sure feels different this year in Toronto. Carter, Mackenzie Blackwood might be playing for a cup contender and making probably, I assume, more money than you at the moment. But you, in my heart, are still the pride of Thunder Bay. So we appreciate you joining us for some stuff as always. Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it. I was on with Craig last night with Button.

I remember history when he tore me apart on NHL Network with you. So me and Craig Button are best buddies now. That's a good YouTube clip for you to pull up. We've never talked about that before. That's never been an off-air conversation here. That clip is not on YouTube at all. Well, thanks for having me on, guys. Awesome stuff. Thanks, Carter. Appreciate it. Fair conversation here. That clip is not on YouTube at all. Well, thanks for having me on, guys. Awesome stuff.

Thanks, Carter. Appreciate it. There you have it. Carter Hutton, who is on SiriusXM, daily face-off.