OverDrive - Johnson on Domi's return to the Maple Leafs, the team's lack of depth scoring and Predators' issues on the roster

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the biggest headlines around the league, Max Domi's return to the Maple Leafs, the team's lack of depth scoring in Toronto, the Predators' rough issues on the team and more.

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or visit askkelvin.ca mike johnson who joins us on the maple toyota hotline mj did did you expect the devils to be the best team in the new york city area when the season began no marky i did not expect them to be the best. I had the Rangers, mistakenly enough. I was one of the people that bought on the Rangers to be really good this year, but I did have the Devils to be battling Carolina for second. And I thought that with the additions they made this summer, with Markstrom coming in and Pesci and Hughes being back healthy and Dougie Hamilton back healthy, even Nason chipping in, Kovacevic.

They addressed a lot of the issues that they had last year and the better health of Dougie Hamilton and Hughes and new goaltenders. That's a really talented team. And listen, I know there's a, maybe Sheldon Keith might be a polarizing coach in Toronto, but I think the reality is in the regular season, he's an awesome coach. The record speaks for itself. I know he had a good team in Toronto.

Record reflects that. He had a good team in Jersey. Record reflects that. They are playing very much a familiar style. If you watch the game tonight, they'll look a lot like the Toronto Maple Leafs the last few years. And in the regular season, that's not a bad thing to look like. Johnny, how do you diagnose what's going on with the Rangers?

Like, is that, there's not just one thing happening, clearly. Trouba moves on, now there's got to be some kind of corresponding move, but, like, what is that, and how do you fix the problems there? Well, I mean, I think it's a few different things. I think last year, the goaltenders did paper over some of the shortcomings of that team. And those shortcomings have seemed more stark this year. Keandre Miller's having a tough year. He's been really good two years in a row.

He's taken a step back this year, five on five. He's not nearly as good. The Banajag-Kreider, five on five, have not been nearly as good. The Banajag-Kreider five on five have not been nearly as effective. First line's been fine. Panera's line with Trocek and Lafreniere. Third line with Hedl and Cooley and Kako has been one of the better ones in the entire NHL, but that second

line has been bleeding goals five on five. And you watch the mistakes they make. Frank, I know you look at the numbers like they're one of the worst teams in the NHL defensively. The worst. You look at their expected, I know you look at the numbers, like, they're one of the worst teams in the NHL defensively. The worst. You look at their expected goals against, you look at their high danger chances against, you look at their scoring chances against, like, they are down in the bottom two or three with, like, Pittsburgh and Anaheim and Montreal, like, the teams that have really

been struggling defensively, that's their company. And trading Jacob Truba, while it is a wake-up call and it frees up money, and I'm not suggesting he was driving play on his own, he wasn't the sole problem in New York. And removing him is not going to fix it. As you saw, seven go up against Seattle on the weekend and then last night a pretty quiet effort against Chicago. So it's the guys have to play.

They have to prioritize. It sounds like what I talked about Pittsburgh, Frankie. They have to prioritize defense with their decision-making and their puck management. And until they do that, unless you're sure you're going to go crazy, they're going to have a hard time keeping pucks out of their net. So MJ, a team that is prioritizing defense

is the Maple Leafs under Craig Berube. They've turned themselves into an elite defensive team. And now we have Craig Berube asking for a little more on the other side of the puck, essentially saying we need more secondary scoring. Saying it out loud, what the rest of us have been saying for quite a few weeks now in print and on airwaves like these, if you're Max Domi and you're coming back into the lineup tonight

after a few weeks away with an undisclosed injury and you've got zero goals on your stat sheet for the season so far you know how do you approach uh a moment where your coach is asking you for yeah telling you that goals matter and you got to get some uh but you haven't been able to to this point well for max i mean i think because he's been gone so long it probably makes it a little bit easier. Like, I don't think Craig Berube is expecting him to step in the lineup tonight and go around and snap two behind Markstrom. And so you can have a game or two great,

but I think the idea that Max has to go to the net more, has to shoot more, has to look to score more, is not a message that is just being delivered today. That's a message that has been delivered the whole year. That's even delivered last year. he almost became so deferential at the end of last year when him and austin matthews went on that run and i think i think max led the team in like five on five assists last year and so he got into such a groove being rewarded for just looking to pass like just get it to austin and he'll score I'll get points

he'll get goals we'll get wins and everything's great and I think that's carried over where he's he's so far down the road of being a passer he's forgot that you know to be a good passer occasionally you have to be a threatening scorer so you know he's trying to flip that mindset I think that's it although that's when I was I don't know if you guys read Myrtle wrote an interesting article about the lack of offense in Toronto and the goals per game that they're down. And the bulk of the goals per game they are down this year can be directly attributed to the drop in production from Austin Matthews.

Yeah, exactly. Austin Matthews, right? And he was scoring whatever, 70 goals last year. So he was scoring like 0.8 point goals per game, and he's down to like 0.4 something this year. So he dropped almost half a goal a game. The Leafs are down about

0.7 goals per game. So, you know, five-sevenths of that is Austin. And so you can talk about Deft scoring, and you're right. Like, you need something from the third line, something from the fourth line, and I think. Like you need something from the third line, something from the fourth line. And I think as bodies comes back, if the third line becomes Domi,

Minton, McMahon, when he's healthy or Domi, Minton, Yarncrook, when he's healthy or whatever. And your fourth line has Pacioretty and like camp is like, you'll get a little bit more from those guys when the bodies come back.

I think I do believe, but I think, you know, the biggest drop has been Austin guys when the bodies come back, I think, I do believe. But I think, you know, the biggest drop has been Austin Matthews. And I, again, attribute that, some of that will be, I don't know if he'll ever quite get 69 goals again like he did last year. But also him not being healthy. He was not the same player to start this year as he was last year when he was healthy. So maybe good health for Austin as he works back towards that.

We'll get that number back up. But that has largely been the biggest drop has come from Austin Matthews. Well, and Mike, like Frankie, I also like numbers. And I brought up his shooting percentage and how far down it is this year. Is the simple solution to getting that back up to just what his average has been in his career health? Or do you see anything else in his game? No, I think it's largely health. I think it's largely health, although there may be an element of,

you know, the rush opportunities, which he, like, obviously Austin Matthews is great in any situation, but even for the best players, rush chances are easier and of a higher quality than cycle chances. It's just the reality because, you know, it's cleaner, easier numbers, fewer sticks around. And so, you know, even if he were to get back to good health, does he get his shooting average all the way back to his career averages?

Maybe just under that because the system is different, but certainly much higher than it is now. Mark, you're exactly right. And, you're exactly right. There may be some power play components to that as well, but generally speaking, he should get back to where he has been. He's 10 years into his career, so it's not like it's a short sample we're looking at. He should get back to being one of the elite finishers

and a higher percentage than where he's at. So when all the depth players are back, and Domi comes back tonight, at some point McMahon comes back, David Kampf. And the lineup really is what it is. Is there enough depth scoring there if everyone just kind of gives you their average output? Well, if you're going to be the third-best defensive team, sure. Sure.

I mean, I think if your goalies play this well, sure. But I think you'd love some greater margins, right? You want a bigger delta. Like if the goalies play this well, sure. But I think you'd love some greater margins, right? You want a bigger delta. Like if the goalies are a bit off, we still win. If the scoring's a bit down, we still win. You want different ways to get it done, not maximizing everything all the time because that doesn't happen in the NHL. I still think it's, you know, if everyone comes back and you have,

let's say you got Matthews and Marner and Tavares and Nylander. So those four guys are done, done, done. Nyes is the fifth. You have Domi, Pacioretty, McMahon to fill in that other top six spot as well as another winger. You have other options further down the line. Yarncroke, presumably when he's healthy at some point. Kemp, and then you can filter in the rest.

What does Fraser Minton mean, Frankie? I don't know if offensively, I know his numbers look pretty good so far. He's got four goals in four points in seven games. I don't know if offensively he's there yet. They're still waiting to figure that out. But the Leafs will chase offense. There's no doubt in my mind, whether it's a winger, preferably a center,

the Leafs will chase an upgrade on offense because of the way their roster looks and because their history. We know, we've been banging the drum for a couple years now, when they lose in the playoffs, it's not because they give up too many goals, it's because they can't score them. So I think there's lots here if everyone does what they sort of are expected to or traditionally do, but they'd still like more,

especially that one more center position if Fraser Minting can't quite do it yet. Okay, MJ, I wanted to get your take on this. It's a little bit off the board, but we heard the saga of the Juan Soto signing with the New York Mets to the Mega Millions deal turned on the fact that the Mets offered him allegedly a suite for his family during games, and the Yankees wouldn't go there. The Yankees said, no, no, Aaron Judge had to pay for his suite, and Derek Jeter had to pay for his suite, so we can't give you one for free, sir. You know, you've been a free agent. You've been a pro athlete. What's the best perk that you ever got thrown into a deal?

Geez, nothing like that at all. Yeah, I don't, I mean, the CBA sort of prohibits all of that stuff in the NHL. Oh, good point. You can't get any extras. So there's not a lot you can do there. You know, like my rookie deal, I got bonuses that were commensurate with, like, the first overall pick. That was nice because I was the never overall pick. So that was nice.

But, you know, you just got to do that. Although, hearing this, what it tells me, and it's a little glimpse for people into the mindset of even the most elite of athletes, is like, we can be petty and we can be competitive. And at some point, what is a million-dollar box when you're making $750? Exactly. Because you can. That's all. It's because you can. It's because i can because someone else

can give it to me i'm being petty i want it so i'm gonna get it and if you don't give it to me i'm gonna hold it against you even though if you were to take a step back like this is one of the show most if this is the deciding factor it's a crazy you're making your decision for the next 15 years of your life based on something so silly as that when you can obviously afford your own anyways. But that's how athletes are. We're wired weird like that. We're wired just petty and competitive in a good way and sometimes in a bit of a ridiculous way.

I did hear a story about a guy who played in a smaller market, got traded to the Rangers, had a lot of money, good salary, and he always purchased a box in his other market for charity purposes, family purposes, inquired about it at MSG, and the price of the box at MSG was like two or three times his salary that year. And it was a quick thanks, but no thanks.

Well, Frankie, I remember being down in Arizona, and you guys would get big deals down in Arizona. It was, I don't know, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, not in writing, but you'll get the four-year $16 million deal. You have to buy a box. It wasn't like an option. You have to buy a box. We need the revenue, whatever it is.

I don't even know how much it would be, $ grand a year, 80 grand a year, whatever it is. But you want the fourth year? We get four years of sweet sales out of you, even if you never show up. So it can work in the reverse as well. I love that. I would have done that in a heartbeat. I'll take a four-year deal, no problem.

Can you bring 20 friends as well? Can you drive them to the rink, please? That's the thing. They're going to have 20 Italian people. They're going to have to cater that box really well down there. But speaking of sitting out in a box, it sounds like there's a few Nashville Predators players that could be doing that based on the comments by Andrew Burnett,

who basically said he could healthy scratch every player on his roster. I don't know how you make sense of everything that's going on there, but I saw them play last week, and that was a tough watch. They looked disinterested in the game, and it looks like there's just a lot of things not working there. Power play doesn't look like it's working, although Stephen Stamkos feels like somewhat of an afterthought on that power play.

At 5-on-5, they don't have much. I don't know what you make of everything going on in Nashville. Yeah, it's tough to make sense of. I will just say this. A couple red flags when they sign. You know, they have Phillip Forsberg, elite goal-scoring, right shot, power forward. They got two other sort of elite goal-scoring, right shot forwards.

There's only so much ice and space and rolls to go around. So, was it redundant on the power play specifically? They get Stamkos, Forsberg, and Marceau. You know, could you have used something else? That's one. Two, I don't think anyone should be surprised that Brady Shade is not scoring like he did in Carolina. Carolina is an awesome system to pad your numbers as a defense because of the way they play. And so I don't think anyone should have been surprised to see him drop back way back from where he was,

where he had a couple of breakthrough years. I also think there was always going to be issues down the middle. You can load up on the wings, but after Ryan O'Reilly, if it's Evangelista and it's Sissons and McCarron, all NHL players, sure. But play-driving, elite teams, second-line, third-line guys? Probably not, unless everything's going right like it did at times last year. Sam Coase was playing center last week. Stamkos was playing center last week. Right, and Stammer playing center.

How many years has it been since Stammer can drive offense on his own? Ten. Five on five. Maybe not. Sorry, I meant center. Yeah. Like six? Six years since he sort of was like a real solid five-on-five driving guy himself.

So, you know, he's in there, but that's because he has to be, not because they wanted him to be. So there's all those things. And maybe also a little bit fooled by the great run post-U2, where, you know, were they that good? Probably not. Probably not. And so you wrap all that together, and right now they're playing like a team,

and sadly I've been on this team, guys guys where you're waiting for something to happen. Like, you know, it's going to, whether it's a coach or a trade and, and you start waiting for the shoe to drop and you don't really play until it does. And I watched them play last week.

And Frank is, you're talking about Montreal games. Like that's what it looked like to me, like a team that is sort of, God, we're in the dumps here. Like literally the worst team in the league. And something's got to give.

And we're waiting for that to give. And then maybe we can plug back in. But you start doing the math. Who are they catching in the Central? They're catching Winnipeg, Dallas, Colorado. They're not going to catch those teams. Minnesota? No chance.

In the Pacific, they catch it. Vegas, they catch it. Edmonton, they catch it. Vancouver, no. LA, you start looking at the teams. Can they get from where they are now to 97 points? I don't think so. Mathematically, it gets really hard.

So to be 30 games in and sort of mathematically aware your season's over, that's what it looks like. I've been there. That's what it looks like i've been there that's what it looks like it ain't pretty well uh one team who's waiting for something not to happen when it comes to their captains the ottawa senators and we continue to get reaction following this report by larry brooks that the rangers are trying to acquire brady kachuk yesterday it was michael and lauer really stepping up and saying that, hey, this is not happening and this is borderline, if not tampering. Soft tampering.

Soft tampering. And then today, Brady Kachuk comes out and puts cold water on the fact that, you know, what are we talking about because it's his fault, so we're wasting oxygen here. How would you assess the way that the Sens have kind of handled this situation? About as well as you could, right? The fact, I mean, I think it speaks to the Ottawa market where they are a bit more sensitive to this than others,

where the fact that the owner addressed it and the owner challenged another organization to the league, the GM addressed it, the player addressed it. You know, if this was the reverse, if it came out in Ottawa that the Rangers were interested in Chris Kreider, I don't think whoever Chris Drury is addressing that in the media is like, whatever. It happens. But I think

Ottawa wants to make sure to their fans that they're not shopping Brady and that somebody doesn't want to get out of Ottawa because they fought that perception that people don't want to stay in Ottawa. So I think they've done everything they can to make it go away. Although Larry Brooks, say what you want.

I can't believe he's making this up out of nowhere. Like, he's not just, right? Like, that's not what Jordan, like, he's getting this from somewhere, presumably somewhere, some tie to the organization, even if it's not from Chris Drury himself. So it's one thing to say the Rangers are interested in Brady Kachuk. Well, obviously, 31 teams are interested in break a chuck well obviously 31 teams are interested in break a chuck it's another to say like they're actively shopping him and ottawa's listening

there's a big a pretty significant difference to suggest they'd like a guy like brady everybody would they're working and are having receptive conversations with ottawa that's something entirely different but uh i think ottawa's done everything they can to sort of pour cold water on it and make it a nothing burger in Ottawa. Well, hopefully it's a something burger tonight in Newark, especially for the Maple Leafs. You'll be on the call with Gord. You know, it's a big night in Studio 6 with the Overdrive boys. Yes.

Are you in the car with Gord right now? Usually you guys are driving to the rink together. No, he went early. So I'm in the car, just parked on my own with you guys. In the parking lot, chatting with you. All right. Well, that area of New Jersey is like your second home, so you probably know where to park and everything.

At this point, I sort of kind of do, Mark. There you go. Have a great call tonight. Thanks for joining us. All right, fellas. Have a good night. There you have it. Mike Johnson joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

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