OverDrive - Johnson on Domi's larger role, Marner's injury status and the Eastern Conference race

Episode Date: February 5, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' matchup against the Flames, Mitch Marner's injury on the team, Max Domi's higher role, the power play on the team, the Eastern Conference race and more.

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uh... johnny what you expecting in terms of leaf and representation tonight i think it'll be pretty strong although he's in the we had this conversation last week i sided with noodles I might have been swayed from what I saw in Edmonton where I thought there was a boatload of Leaf fans in the crowd way more than I remembered you may have been right there Hayes so we'll see what happens tonight but there'll probably be lots of fans here for Leafs like there always are across Canada yeah for sure and I saw Lombard talking about it. I think Ryan Husker was talking

about it. They're just so disappointed. We've got to stop with this though. I know, you've got to stop asking them about it. We know, man. There's Leaf fans everywhere. Do we need to berate the home team with questions about this thing? Like, wait, Frankie, when I played in Arizona, we didn't get the ask these questions when Detroit came to town. Hey, how about all those Red Wing fans? Did I bug you? No, we're just like yeah, it's the reality. But when the Leafs came to town, we did get those questions

I don't know what is about Toronto. I think it's this it's the people loved that Toronto was hated. Yeah, I mean like people like the Leafs, but they also thrive on the fact that Leafs are despised by some fan base or some fans and I think it's a I don't know it's an easy story to latch on to but you're right like Lombard yeah we got to shut them up and it'd be great to shut them up like you know whatever. It is true though that that is the essence of it it's not the Maple Leafs it's Toronto as well and the fact that the Toronto media is asking and everyone's buzzing about it and people are gonna show up or to your point like people in Arizona they don't hate Detroit and they don't hate Boston or whatever they might hate New York

like New York may play that role possibly but not Detroit but here it is about well here comes Toronto and blah blah blah yet it's it sounds like it'll be Wolf against Wall tonight and Marner could be out Ekman Larson could be out game time. If Marner's out and Domi steps in, how big of an opportunity is this for him to play with Matthews and Matthew Nines? I mean I think it's huge and I think I mean Mitch Marner hasn't been on the ice in two straight days so he may be a game time

decision but unless he has a wicked flu if it's a if it's some sort of injury and you don't skate since Saturday he was on the ice at the end of the game on Saturday and then he hasn't been on the ice since. So the takeoff Sunday, Monday, all day Tuesday, I mean I would be surprised if he plays. And for Max, it's a massive opportunity. You know somewhere he never said it, he never said it out loud, never cared himself like it.

But somewhere in the back of his mind he must have been thinking, man, I was top five in the league last year in primary assists, Austin had 69 goals. We lit it up when we were together, and yet I haven't really got a sniff to play with him this year. I've been asked to play center. I've done it as best I can with a good attitude, but it's not his best position.

This is his best position. Offensive line with a stud two-way center man who could score boatloads of goals. That's where he's at his best position. Offensive line with a stud two-way center man who could score boatloads of goals. That's where he's at his best. That's where Max Dolmy can sort of show value in his game and value on his contract. And he might only get one game run here. I don't know how long, if Marder doesn't play,

he'll be out. But it's a huge opportunity to remind everyone, you know, as the Leafs form their team down the stretch and who plays where and what they look like post-deadline, him playing in the top six, him playing with Matthew specifically, is a viable option. If you were coach MJ and you had a little one-on-one sit-down with Max Domi, what would you tell him he needs to do tonight to have success? So Max, you're, if I'm talking to Max, I say Max, your entire game is based off power and

I need more power out of your game. That doesn't mean you fighting people. That means you skating. You got to skate more with the puck more assertively. Take the puck and stride to places that you're trying to get to. Then you can work the perimeter. Then you can work the edges in space. Then you can look for Austin. But've got to move. Get your moving. That's

what I need to see from you. And if you do that, everything else will just make sense to you, whether to shoot, whether to pass, where to give it Austin or whatever you're going to do with it. But you've got to move, you have to be strong and confident and move with the puck decisively. If you do that, then the talent will take over. And if you play with those guys, you'll be successful. I don't think we brought this up yesterday, but Jake McKay played 30 minutes on Saturday night. Yeah.

30 minutes. And they would have played every minute against McDavid if they could set it up that way. Man, this guy's playing well. And when he pairs with Tanev it is a lights out pairing. You know there's a lot of focus on Riley and who he's gonna play with but one thing you can't dispute Johnny is like Tanev and McCabe that that is just an outstanding pairing and other teams I'm sure are terrified to go up against it. Is it John Borson or do ya? Yeah it's got that vibe to it. It's got

that vibe to it. That's sort of old school, it's not C. Brook and Keith. But when you put those two guys together who are mostly defensive but it could completely impact a game with their defense. I mean they went up against Connor and Leon for most of the game and did a good job. Throwed the entire game against those guys which almost nobody can say. The real challenge is Hay Hayes, is you're right. And the coaches know it and the organization knows it. And they're like, we want to put those guys on the next every other shift. The question is, what do we do?

Who comes next? That's the issue right now. How do they make the most of whatever comes next? Because it's a lot easier if you say, okay, well, you know, Jake, you play with, you know, the Ackerman-Larsen and then, Chris Chris you play with Morgan and then we kind of spread the wealth a little bit but if you want to load up and it's a different way of loading up and to lock down defensive guys but also they don't just lock down defensive Frank and appreciate this like you can be a defensive defenseman but

you can also be defensive for your own team like you can kill plays for your own squad and these guys don't do that. They kill plays for the other team but then they also facilitate offense for their own. They're yeah but the other thing like if you're Craig Berube, I know it's super tight you can't really think about the playoffs. I don't want to be riding those guys 30 minutes a night for six weeks heading into the playoffs because that's what I'm doing once I get to the playoffs. I think both of them are older, of them are rugged play hard minutes They're not beautiful skaters either one of them

I would be mindful of the minutes because I don't want to wear them out before we get to crunch time down the stretch Johnny no one could kill a play for his own team like me. Thank you A grenade of a pass to a guy wide open for icing like me buddy No, I was thinking Jamie McCallum my old man Jamie he could throw him off the glass by your ear with the best Career and won multiple cups with it the original 34 man Matthew said ask him for the number Yeah, I thought you had to watch yeah, yeah And the stash good converse

the leafs power play can they continue to recreate the types of goals that they scored against admittant like nice gets one he's banging around around the front of the net he's got good hands mcmahon downhill around the net in tight he scores like that seems to be a pretty good recipe because a lot of the other stuff gets taken away can they continue to produce those types of goals it i mean yes

yes i mean i i've got to be entry will be harder without marie he's he sort of a guy who quite everything down and get possession but i think the idea frecky the balance between not every you don't take every shot you can get right i thought good power play philosophy not every shot you can get. Right, that's not good power play philosophy. Not every shot's a good shot. But I think bringing a shooting mentality more often is something the Leafs need to do on their power play. In the last two months, they're like 28th in the league

in shots per minute on the power play. But they just don't shoot very often. So I think when you wanna get those, you talk about the plays in front, going downhill, driving the net, rebounds, tips, traffic, that comes with possession and then shots from appropriate areas in appropriate ways. But you know, not always looking for that perfect through the seam back door. Because that's, teams take that away. They're good at it. They understand what the Leafs are trying to do and they make it difficult. So I think a shooting mentality will help them, Frankie, replicate what they did well against Edmonton. And, you know, I just love crap in the game today.

And the last four games, the Leafs score a power play goal, score an 0. The last four games where they don't, 0 and 4. They don't score a lot 5 on 5, right? So like the power play has got to be a difference maker offensively. And when it is they generally win that's how important it is but Mike Johnson we had a confirmed deny earlier that I will propose to you confirm or deny both the Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings will make the playoffs that I that Strong denied. I saw that coming from a mile away. I love it. I love it.

So continue. I mean, I think Ottawa's very good and I think Ottawa's legit. And especially Omar coming back, if he picks up where he left off before he was hurt, the fact that their game is founded in defense and not offense gives them staying power. I'm just worried about Detroit

because when you go for a run, we're the best team in the league for six weeks after a new coach comes and that gets you to eighth place by a point. At some point that's going to cool down. At some point it's going to go the other way and they haven't built in enough buffer to get away with whatever that dry patch looks like for them. So I would just say one and not the other. And the one would very likely be Ottawa in my mind.

All right, you want a little Jerry's after dark, Johnny? Yes. All right. Fodgeries. Go for it. Boston, Tampa, New York, what is your Jerry's that two out of those three teams missed the playoffs? I'd say that's a good one. Two out of the three, I'd say 65%. We were right in the range. we had between 65 to 75% yeah I mean I think New York is a fine team but you know you're getting down to 25 games there are five six seven points out there's four teams to get over that's hard to do of course

the team they need to get over if they do get over is one of those two teams you're just talking about so one of those teams is not going to make it and Tampa has the advantage of Games in hand, but again, I was looking at Tampa and like what's Tampa's plus goal differential? It's like huge or huge 34 Boston is minus 26 or whatever. So there's a 60 goal difference, but they have the same number of points, but I checking so Tampa Has the second most wins by three or more goals? So when they win they pile it on six one five two seven three, whatever it is

They are 26 in the league in one goal games So they lose close ones win huge ones, which is not sort of what you associate with a proven winning team like you think Tampa is. So I just, I don't know if that's a great recipe. The close ones, they're not very good at, they don't get any depth scoring. They're built as top heavy as Toronto with probably not quite as good of a defensive system. And that's why they're on the outside looking in.

Kind of feel like they're on the outside looking in. Kind of feel like they're gonna get there. I'm almost more worried about Boston, but the numbers stack up in a strange way for Tampa this year. Yeah, those are fascinating numbers, man. Well, and like you said, we're running out of time here. Like it's, at some point you just gotta call it what it is.

Like the Rangers are a great example that we were saying this earlier, Johnny. They haven't been in a playoff spot in months. Like this isn't like they've lost 10 in a row and now it is like the Rangers are a great example that we were saying this earlier Johnny They haven't been in a playoff spot in months Like this isn't like they've lost ten in a row and now it's like what happened here and they were great three weeks ago They have not been in the race really legitimately for quite some time and At some point. I think you just got to call it as it is like they they may be running out of time and Boston Tampa, there's there's a lot left though. There's a lot of runway and So close so so close. Yes not like you're making up seven points if you're

Boston or Tampa. You're making up one or two. Right, exactly. Which is more than doable. And you're doing it against, let's be honest, it's not like Detroit or Ottawa have a great history, recent history of success in tight moments. So, we'll see how they do down the stretch. But I just it's a defense for Ottawa that makes me a believer in them. They're a top six or seven team defensively, which kind of gives you room to to go dry or to go through some rough patches because you got mole-tenning and defense. Yep and Allmark is confirmed returning tonight down in Tampa. There you go.

Alright Johnny, have a good call tonight. We'll do it again later in the week. Alright fellas, have a good day. Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, leaves