OverDrive - Johnson on a difficult stretch for the New Jersey Devils, the downfall of the Winnipeg Jets, and the Ottawa Senators goaltending struggles.

Episode Date: January 10, 2026

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins the show to break down the latest NHL headlines, including a difficult stretch for Sheldon Keefe and the New Jersey Devils, the downfall of the Winnipeg Jets despite a prolific top line, and the Ottawa Senators goaltending struggles.

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What's happening? Johnny? What's up, fellas, how are we doing? What I like about the Martyrn game, boys, is that from all reports, noodles, you'll like this. It's the worst performance since, like, the analytical era has been started, like, the goals they have above expected. He was, like, minus seven and a half, some absurd number like that. So just a crazy, it's crazy. I'm down in Jersey right now.

it's wild times here. And, you know, Keith's getting asked about his job security. Tom Fitzgerald, you can't find him if you tried to. They've got to re-activate COVID-Sevich. So it means they've got to make trades or send guys the minors and maybe carry just 20 people. Like, it's for a team that I thought that was going to be pretty good, they seem to be really in a bit of a mess right now.

What do they mean they can't find Fitsy? Like, what are they saying about it? They just don't hear from the guy? Yeah, I mean, he's a pretty affable guy. in the summer, early in the year when things are going well, he seemed to be more available to the media. And what they're saying is that now that it's not going so well, they'd like to hear from the GM and what's going on

and what are his thoughts and what are his plans. And, you know, sort of as typical, whether it's, you know, a quarterly or halfway point sort of press or availability. And they haven't heard anything about him about all the stuff. Like whether it's the Quinn Hughes fallout and not getting him, whether it's the injuries, whether it's the salary cap situation, whatever. Oh, they just haven't heard from it.

them. They haven't seen them. They're like, where are you? We want to hear from you. That's reasonable. I'm not sure the coach wouldn't mind it either. Yes, Sheldon's probably, can you come out and take a bullet or two? Like, it's an interrogation every single day with Sheldon Keith. You know, it's, it's fine. And I don't know if you guys ever played on a team when the coach was fired in the middle of the year. I played on two. Yes. And once the coach starts getting asked both games, are you about your job security? like it's a pretty poisonous environment because he can't help but think about it

you can't help but hear it and oftentimes you're like okay well something's going down here and you sort of start waiting for something to happen and that's not good for anyone so shell's handling it well he's saying all the right things and he's trying to get the team going but it's yeah it's gotten dark pretty quickly here big time well I mean we segue

to Jersey talking about Winnipeg which if it's dark in Jersey it's a black hole in the peg right now. I mean, it is a disaster. Our second home? We love Winnipeg. Maybe we got to get back out there.

They were kind of, well, they weren't humming. They lost to Seattle, I think, the night we were out there and we were talking about them. But they were looking a lot better. This was before the Hellebuck injury. This was before, you know, what is it, 11 right now? Is that where they're at? They're 3 and 20 in their last 23 games, I believe. That's expansion era numbers.

Like that's like old school Welcome to the League Washington Capitals type numbers So I don't know I don't know what they do out there You know Scott Arnails the coach And Chalvin's in Jersey And no coach

GMs have been fired No coaches have been fired It's a little bit surprising That we're mid-January And nothing has really happened on that front Well in the most part I think we look at the east anyways No teams are out of it

With Columbus in last place, they're six out of the playoffs right now. So there's no reason to really fire any coach knees. But in the West with what's going on in Vancouver, it is so strange guys. But you look at their team, and what makes this even scarier to me, because for Winnipeg is that it'd be one thing if Morrissey was having a tough year or Shifley or Connor or Valardy were injured or not productive. But for the most part, other than Helibuck's injury, and he hasn't been quite as great as last year,

but he's still been above average. Their best players, that first line in Josh Morrissey, they're all having good to excellent years. Your best players are playing awesome, and you've lost 20 of 23 games. That is sobering for sure, because those are the guys that if they're going, you're supposed to be good enough to basically be okay,

and you still can't win with those guys having, you know, excellent years, that is that's tough to take. Their depth just, they have so many guys like one goal in 17, no goal in 12, one goal in 22. Like all their depth guys are struggling right now. So I don't know, there is no easy answer. There is no quick fix. I don't, you know, and I also just ran the numbers today. Like if you look at, they have 35 points, I'm not mistaken.

And if you think of the West, maybe 90 on a down year to make the playoffs, probably be more. but maybe it ends up being 90s. That's 55 points more. They got 40 games left. They get to 56 points, let's say. They're going to go to 28 and 12. So best case scenario on a low playoff benchmark, they can only lose 12 games the rest of the way.

I mean, you know, they're two weeks away from just throwing the towel, and I guess this is done, right? Yeah, Johnny, before you came on, I was talking about, like, a team that won the President's Trophy last year, and then all of a sudden this year, it seems like it just nothing's going right for them, regardless of what it is. And does it have a Boston vibe for you from last season where maybe it's just not going well? They might trade a few pieces and then go right back at it next season with the spine of the team that you just laid out?

Yeah, yeah, a little bit. Yeah, because so many things went well, the one-gold games, the overtimes, Hello Buck, MVP, all that stuff. And, yeah, they probably were not as good as last year's record. And they're not going to bottom out and rebuild because the guys that we just mentioned are all signed for another three, four, five, or more years. So, yeah, I can see something like that. But I will also say only once in NHL history, it's like in the 30s and it was the Rangers when there were 16, did a team go from first to last in back-to-back seasons. It's never happened in the modern NHL. So what we're seeing at a Winnipeg, if they get there, is historic.

It's never happened that someone's dropped so fast so far. crazy Johnny what do you make of like I don't even know where to start with Ottawa that you know they came out with the statement yesterday they got completely pumped in a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche like what what do you even start with those guys so I mean I almost want to start where it's easiest on the ice where their goaltending has been an issue all year long so the worst goaltending the league and even though they get strong underlying numbers with bad goaltending it doesn't matter what you do and that's a lot of the ice and that's you know, that's what they're trying to fix. The fact that they signed James Reimer to a PTO mid-game tells you how bad that game must have been going. Like, what are we doing in the middle of the game? So, like, that part is sort of like, I do think they're better than their record,

but it's their goal-tending that just is letting them down. So that's sort of the easy part. As far as getting rinsed yesterday, can you imagine with what happened yesterday, the statement from Seos and everything else? Of course they played bad last night. Like, it's obviously a thing, like, not, not the, the rumors are true, but like, obviously the rumors are so widespread that it's being in the room. That's why Steve Stales would have felt compelled to make the statement he did.

So the team is completely distracted, completely bothered, and they go out and Colorado and get pumped. Like, that is very understandable, almost predictable, as rough as it looked, almost predictable. My only question of this guys is I think we all understand what Steve Stales was doing I think we all know Steve and he's a good dude and he's trying to protect his team and his organization and stop these rumors from getting any legs or validity okay understood

but by saying what he said publicly he now has introduced it to a much larger audience where we have to talk about it where the players have to be asked about it because it has given it, you know, he's given it oxygen publicly. If he would have just sort of ignored it because it's not true, then it would have sort of gone away, whatever, it's not a big deal. You would think, and yes, there'd be a corner of the social media world

involved in the Ottawa centers that might pick it up, but the larger hockey world in general would not have heard anything about this. And so he may have short-term made it worse because now when the guys go to play the next game, you kind of have to ask them about how the team is feeling, how they're dealing with all this stuff that's going on, whereas before the players would not have to talk about any of this publicly. We would never talk about any of this publicly

because it's not a public story. And in that sense, you know, he may have made it a little bit worse before it gets better. Yeah, and for those that aren't aware, the statement was directed out of an internet rumor about Lena Solmark and why he's on a personal leave and what, you know, speculating what's going on with the team in the room. Anyway, by all my understanding is, it was from some Twitter account that just showed up out of nowhere and it just spiraled out of control. And now that the Twitter account is dead.

And now it's dead and it's Day of, which is crazy that Steyos jumped on it. What I think probably happened was they learned from the Cory Perry stuff. Remember Perry in Chicago how crazy that got? And he said once it's out and it's everywhere, it's not just going to die. That was probably their calculation. We're going to kill it on the statement now. We're not going to wait a week. where people say, why aren't you addressing this?

It's crazy. Everyone thinks, blah, blah, blah. So they got out in front of it on a Thursday night in Colorado when they were getting, you know, it's almost like just dump it all right now. Get it done, get it out, it's over, statement. We're not going to address it again. I somewhat understand that, but you're right. Like the reality is 99% of people aren't online, don't know what the hell is going on. And now they're going to seek it out.

And find it and be like, oh, what's that all about? And, yeah, like, I think we all get it. We get why he did it and when he didn't. how he did it and it was very strong language. Like that was an over the top. Trolls and scum.

Yeah, like that was written like a, not like a, you know, a polished executive, but more like a passionate, you know, person.

It's like a Trump tweet. I mean, that's a pretty fair analogy. How it was written. No, it was all emotion and no sort of control. But yeah.

But I do think it just speaks to sort of how Ottawa, who had such a great year last year, got back, playoffs. And it's not like it's unraveled. They're only, again, what are they, five points out of the playoffs, six points out of the playoffs. But it feels like it's slipping, it's slipping quickly in Ottawa more than it should. It is, Johnny, based on a lot of the things that you just laid

out. This, the statement, again, I was there, you know, I really haven't talked to a lot of guys about it. Obviously, what blew up online yesterday, it was a back-to-back, so there's no morning skate, you don't see anybody, you just show up at the ring to play. So I, you know, my phone is blowing up with the time changing that. Like I'm trying to sleep and my phone's blowing up. You're seeing this? You're seeing this. I'm like, no, I'm not.

I'm trying to sleep. And then get to the rink. You talk to a few of the scribes there and they're like, yeah, you're seeing, you know, and then the statement comes out and the team was no good. It all came to a head. But the end of the day. There's only one question left. How are they going to get out of it?

Like, how is Allmark going to go from not playing to playing and start winning and play like what's the way out the way out for me oh johnny you can weigh in we don't know the nature of what lenis hallmark is going through and i'm certainly not going to listen to some jackass online who starts something the bottom line is is they need goaltending they need guys to make saves and it's marilyn's their only n hl goaltender he hasn't played well he's got to play well the team's got to play better it's it's different because we had this argument a couple weeks ago about the leaps and it's like is it the coach is it the roster construction I come back to the players.

The players have to play. I'm sorry, they've got to go out and play. Regardless of what's going on, every person has adversity in their life. They all do. Everyone's got sad stories to tell everybody. Bottom line is they've got to play. And whether they're distracted or not, they haven't played well enough. And to me, you've got to find a way to stop the bleeding.

And it's not going to be easier because you think Florida's happy sitting there waiting for them in Ottawa? Exactly. Florida tomorrow and Florida lost twice to Toronto, Montreal. Got pumped last last night. They're not happening. No, you're right. I mean, you don't want to say it's just one thing, noodles. But I thought it's a little numbers.

Like, say what you want, models are models. But it says goals against that are expected. They are the best in the league. They have the lowest goals against expected. Yes. So like they and they also have the highest for goaltenders, like, you know, the worst goals save above expected. So like they're doing good job defensively.

They're doing a terrible job in net. You don't want to say it's just the goalies, but in many ways, it's just the goalies. Well, you're right, Johnny. They give up 25 shots a night. You know, the Detroit game, three games ago, they outchance them 24-11, lose 5-3. Like, it's not, you know, they do have, their penalty kill needs to be better. They're 31st in the league. Sure.

You're right. You can circle that position and say, I'm sorry, you need a timely save. Go ahead. Guys. You know, go ahead. The gross part about it is, like, we went from Matt Murray. It's a Corpus Sallo. And then all of a sudden you get Matt Elmark and you're like, issue solved.

And it's like, what the hell do we have to do to get a save? You got a guy that's one of Vezna, who was dynamite in Boston, who it's like a goalie. It's the new goalie graveyard there where it's not available to you, though. That's the, you know. And there's the thing. But even when he was, it was like, man, oh, man. Agreed.

Well, I mean, that's a separator in the league. It's a separator in the sport. Does anyone think is James Reimer? Does anyone think James Reimer is a viable offer? That's not good. Johnny. Johnny. I was having lunch with my two best buddies today.

They're 80 years old. And they saw James Reimer. They're 80 years old. And they go, James Reimer, didn't he play for the Leafs? And I said, yeah. 15 years ago. 15 years ago, Rimer was a leaf. Last time we saw Heabo, remember the preseason game in Detroit?

when he came in and played like half a game and he looked like his head was going to explode because he had furnace face. He had the five on three, Johnny, and I felt bad for him. He was awful. He's a guy who's, you know, darn near 40 and hasn't played a regular game. He played in the Spangler, but, so is he going to be good enough?

Probably not. Is he going to be ready in the next week and up to speed? There's certainly no way that he'd be on top of his game. So either Allmore's got to come back. And again, I have no idea why or when or whatever. He might not be coming back again this year. Who knows? I hope Steve Stales knows, but we don't know.

But either O-Morke's got to come back and be good, or they've got to go find someone else. I'm sorry, like, Brimer and Maryland ain't going to get them in the playoffs. It's not going to happen this year, not the way it's been going. So it's got to be O-Mart or somebody else as well. And the crazy part, guys, we keep talking. I say you need three goalies to play in this league. and they're at a premium right now for just depth goaltenders.

Like Larry Brousswa got traded yesterday, right? With that in mind, if you had to rank the MVP's for the least this year, where is Dennis Hilde be on your list? Well, he wouldn't be an MVP, but he would be, like, you know, down at 10 or something. No, he's not. He's not 10. No chance he's 10. He's in the top 5, 100%.

How do he plays? He's played 16, as many as Wall. He's got the same stats as Wall. If Hildaby comes up and plays terribly, they are dead last in the east. Undoubted. Can we phrase it the most pleasant surprise? Hilded be a player. Why?

I don't get aggressive with the comment. Who's been definitively better on the Leafs? It's not Matthews. It hasn't been recently. Well, no, but you ask for MVP. That's what I'm saying. The Nylander have been there. Nise was once leading the league in scoring.

you got McCabe, you got OEL, you know, you run down a few different guys. So maybe six or seven or eight or Wall, who's probably been better than him. Like, as far as actual MVP is going to take it literally. Yeah, I mean, he's played 16 games to be surprisingly good. MVP is a bit strong, but he has been, he was awesome last night. I'll give him for him. I got him four, Hayes. I got him four.

Thank you, Roe five, and he's not even 500. He's not even 500. I don't care of news. I agree with everything Hayes said. Without Hill to be, they're screwed. Well, top five. They're dead in the water. There's 23 people.

Without the game, they're screwed. Without Cavarres, they're screwed. Without Neelander, they're screwed. You're saying that because you didn't expect him to be important. That's valid. It's not because he's surprisingly that he's been so important. I'll grant you that. It's not what he said, Johnny, and not what he meant.

Yes, it's very good. Roll the clip of him saying Connor McDable will never win another MVP. I said, moving past that. Now, where is that at? Where are we out with that? Because I need to hear where you're at a hays. Ludacrous and Sandy. And aging curve, it never pops again at 30. Never pops again.

The chance of him getting $150 has long sailed. It's troubling. It's very troubling. And he followed it up with it. I don't like the player and I don't like the person. Yeah. That was strong at the end. I attacked his carry.

Really tough. Everything about him I attacked. Well, we had, because we used to do a thing called the Goatracker. We actually, the grappler, to his credit, he called me today and said, you guys should bring back the GoT tracker, but the acronym for the season and apply it to track in McDonough McInnan, maybe Celebrini, because those are the three, right? And basically every time they play, we got to kind of track it. Yeah.

I mean, it could be the greatest take of all time, right? If he doesn't win or he just misses, or it could be the worst take of all time. That's another part. Could be the greatest of all time. Hang on, hang on, hang on. You're going to cling to a second place Hartschovie finish. and 142 points as a victory for your claim. Now he's not.

Dude, I will be, you, I will look like James Brown getting on stage. Oh my God. I will be moonwalking on a stage if he finished his second in the heart. I will be so. I'll tell you what they're going to. He's going to finish. McKinn is going to score 64 goals and their team going to have 135 points. He, of course, is going to win.

McDavid will have 55. goals on 140 points and he'll come second. That's not going to go. Yeah, you're probably right. Yeah, I mean, the both of them are on another planet. And he'll be right. They are. Yeah, that's the thing.

I can't say, listen, you know, I did say, I didn't think he'd have a career year in points, which he is, I don't think it's quite tracking to get to there. Yeah, but he's real close. You said he'll never get 150, and he's pretty, I think he's on pace for that now. You know what happened, Brian, though? Which is insane, really.

I think I led you down that path because I said, He didn't have a contract at the time, and I said, this guy is going to have a ridiculous year. Yes. I said it wouldn't surprise me if he got to a buck 50. And Hayes almost came across the table at me and said, no chance it's going to happen. It was held to be for a 10th most valuable player. I had the same reaction. Came over the top.

Anyways, but I think I might have led you down that pathway, and then you took it way overboard. I did, yes. At the end of the day, let's see what happens. Let's see the Go-Tracker, man. It's officially a part of the program. Go trackers back. I like it. We're tracking.

I like it. McDavid-McKinnon, Celebrini. I had Marty. I did his, with Marty today. Marty Barron. He said, Macklin Celebrini.

That's his heart. That's his heart guy. Get out of here. Marty said it. That's a guy. That's a galaxy braiding. And you could make the argument, of course,

if you're going to go to actual value. Yes. That is Celebrini, right? Twice as many points. Anyone around him, he's a plus player. He's going to have 120 points. Next.

Colts guy's going to 55. They're in the playoffs. Got it. There's not zero. There's a 3% chance that he beats Nate McKinnon right now in a hard trophy vote. Like, no one's going to not vote for Nate McKinnon based on the goal total, the point total, and the team total. Like, I just, you know, they don't take it literally as value. They largely just give the best player.

It's usually most outstanding. On a good team. Listen, I have a-Teller Hall, right? Taylor Hall was the one year where it was like sort of maybe not the best. player, but, you know, a very good player, a great player having just a wildly great, good year on a team that's not quite as good. But that wasn't in the context of somebody else, like Nate McKinnon, having 65 goals and 140 points and being plus 100.

Yeah. Like, it's just different. He's just had four points again last night. Yeah, it's all right. And they took the foot off the gas, too. They had some penalties in the third. And, you know, Bedner put out Josh Manson to run the power play because he wanted him to get...

Josh Manson had a chance for two Gordy Howe Hattricks last night. Double Gordy Hattricks. And he had two goals, two assists, and one fight. And I said he should have gone and suckered somebody and got a second fight. Drop for me. That would have been unbelievable. Double Gordy Howe is outrageous. It's outrageous.

Never happened. Sam Cicerello sent a note to the league, and they sent us back, because we were tracking it. And if he would have asked for a fight and somebody gave it to him, he would have had a double Gordy Howe Hattrick. Nobody's ever had that. He did that. That would have been critical. What a stat line for him last night.

Unbelievable. Joe from the bridge saying McDavid on pace for 143.5 points this season. Not a bad year. Pretty good year. After a slow goal-storing start, and now he's going to get 55 goals. Yeah, Nate Chasin' 65-plus is crazy. It's going to be great when he goes to Italy, Johnny. He can fly down the black hole in the ice and just go swimming.

He's going to fly through the Della cell-sized neutral zone. That's exactly what you. what it is. It's about 18 feet long, and it's going to be real quick. That's exactly the barn they're playing in. Deliselle. It's almost precisely. What's the name of the team?

Yeah, the Jepetto Flying Stars were out there, and they couldn't even finish the game. Just getting things started. We're just getting the ball rolling. All right, Johnny. Great stuff, buddy. We'll do it again next week. All right, fellas. Have a good weekend.

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