OverDrive - Johnson on Marner's return to Toronto, the legacy with the Maple Leafs and Stolarz in the net

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss Mitch Marner's infamous return against the Maple Leafs, the matchup with the Golden Knights, Marner's legacy in Toronto and his departure from the team, Anthony Stolarz's return, Sidney Crosby's impressive season and more.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. Here's Mike Johnson, our Tesson hockey analyst, joining us here on the Maple Toto Hotline. Was that a surprise to you that Stollars is back and he's playing?

And what do you expect out of him? A little bit, boys. I mean, we knew he was around. We knew that it was maybe we'll play before the Olympics. The Olympics break is a couple two and a half weeks away. And I mean, does this mean, is this, listen, you guys said it. If he's able to play, you play them, right? If he's healthy, he's good to go.

He's one year or two. He's your starter coming into the season. You play them. But also, like, does this somehow tell the team we're not going to load up for the Mariner game? Like, we're just going business as usual. If Solars are guy, we're not going to play wool because he's ready. sharper because he gives us a better chance against

Mitch Marner's return. I wonder if there's just sort of like, we're going out of business as usual. The fact that it's Vegas, the fact that it's Marna returning means nothing to our team because all we're worried about is trying to get points and trying to get closer in the standing. So a little bit of surprise

sort of snuck up on us, but if he's good to go, it's good to go. And they were clear that they were not going to carry three. They're only going to carry two. So here we go. One of the strengths of the lease coming into this season was goaltending deaths. And so we'll see if now was finding the first game where both their goalies are actually going to play together,

can they start stringing some games as a duo together that give the Leafs and Advantage in Netmore and I said not. Has it been the case all year? Needs to start for the last 30, get more the Leaf Start of Standards. Johnny, what kind of response do you think you're going to get? I basically have an understanding what I think the fans are going to get up to when Monter hits the ice, but you were in the building in Vegas. like Brian was just mentioning these players kind of,

oh, the fans like a response in a big game, do you even think that they think like that, or they had that mentality entering this game? I don't think the players are considering how the fans will react to any outcome. No, I think there's zero of that in their mindset. Now, I would imagine the competitor in the players, the pride, the ego, for the guys that were closest to Barner. And that's, you know, for Matthews,

and for kneel and without playing, but for Riley, for the guys who are he's supposed to do. Those guys specifically, like, yeah, we really want to beat him tonight because, you know, he chose to leave us. He chose to go somewhere else for a variety of reasons. So for those players,

they might have a little bit of personal sort of motivation. For the rest of the team, they don't need Mitch Marter for motivation. There's plenty of motivation sitting right in front of them in the standings where they're sitting and what's going on with them right now. So I don't think so. I don't think they're particularly, inspired to be great to help the fans enjoy a game where Marrers back.

I think they're going to try to be as good as they can be because they have to do that to get points. I was on a plane this morning. Did anybody dare ask Austin Matthews about Mitch Marner? I didn't see it. Didn't see it happen. The guy would have loved Mark Masters. Masters will do it tonight. Masters would have gone right up to him and said, hey, I know you've said this 10 days ago,

but what do you think of makes a feel like that? Any chance you want to talk about it today? Well, I mean, go ahead, John. Did anyone see Off and talk at all this morning? No, I'm not sure he did. So I don't think, I always thought Craig Barouba in his, oh, my God, guys. Like, as an aside, that is a gnarly gash on his head. I was trying to guess, like, what kind of gym accident could have that happen?

Like, that looks like a 45-pound metal plate fell on your head from a story above you. Yeah, it's not here or here. right here. Richard, do I have a mark on the side of my face? Not so much there. It is huge. So, anyways, glad he's okay, but that is a, that is, I saw him talk because I saw the, the, the stitches all over his head.

Yeah, those stitches are extreme, man. Like that, that's like concussion protocol, you think. That's dangerous stuff, fractured skull stuff. Yeah. That is wild. What, okay, so Johnny, what do you want to see him wear on his head tonight to draw attention away from, you know, that gash on his forehead. Oh, my God.

He can wear, I mean, he can wear a baseball cap out there. No, he said it's got, the reason he spoke about it this morning, because you guys are going to see it tonight, so he's going with nothing. But if he put on, like, a rug would be the greatest thing of all time. As though, no one would, like, that'd be something that you know. And any tell coach would never do, but maybe having fun of you're rolling along and things are going great. But it's got to be business as usual from the Toronto-made police.

The game, it doesn't feel normal. Like, you know, Nunoz, you've been traveling around the league, I've been traveling around the league. Yeah. Even non-Toronotrugus Marner Marcus have a mild to significant curiosity in watching this unfold. I think everyone expects booing. I think everyone sort of anticipates, you know, a more balanced, mostly cheers and maybe some booze during the video tribute. Maybe Mitch gets the middle a little bit emotional there. Clearly the least players are not going to go out of their way to, to improve.

brace the day or Mitch or anything like that. They made that clear last week. But around the league, guys, this is, this is perceived as an interesting game to watch. So the Leafs cannot get away from that. They know this is going to be one with a lot of eyeballs on it. But Mike Johnson, our buddy Dave McCarthy, saying that Matthews did not speak this morning. So there you go. Matthews didn't even speak.

I'm joking about it. I know, of course, I know. But listen, he's going to speak on it at some point. You know, this is why last week was, I thought, somewhat ridiculous. It's like, hey, it's coming for you. And tonight there's going to be interns and radio stations that are never there. You know, there's going to be a ton more people that will be hovering around. All the media is going to be there.

Press box stacked. Yes. Usually there's like, you know, empty seats here and there in the press box. It will be standing room only up there today. It'll be stacked. And there was, you know, the report that came out yesterday that we've referenced and talked about that, you know, insinuated or I guess reported that Marner was like overly sensitive. to the market, which I don't think is a surprise.

I think most people have stood that by the end. But you're around the team pretty closely, you know, not in the room, not on the planes or the hotels and all that, but you had more access than the average person. Did you pick up on that, Johnny? Like what kind of indicators maybe were you witnessing that made you realize, okay, Marner, pre-and-post contract negotiation six and a half years ago was a different person?

I mean, when you talk about the contract negotiations, negotiations. It's sort of tied into when, you know, he was 22, right? Like, some of that is just sort of maturing in his life and, and so some of the changes in his behavior, maybe, or his mood or his sensitivities might have just sort of been happening as he became more famous and more well-known or whatever it might be. But the way I looked at it, Hazy, was that the more that Mitch would talk about how little it matters what people said about him, the way that. The more, more you knew what was being said about him was bothering him. Yeah.

And I'm not trying to be funny. Like, and that's true. I think that's fair. A lot of people would be that way. You know what I mean? And the more he denounced the coverage and dismiss its impact or even knowledge of it, the more you knew that he was getting it.

And, you know, there's lots of reports about whether it's him consuming it or whether people in his camp consuming it and giving it to him, whatever. You know, he rode the highs really high. And I think he rode the low. a bit lower than most. And I think that's sort of when you could tell. When he acted like he didn't care,

is when you knew that he was caring the most. So, again, we'll put that game aside because there's so much else going on. But, you know, the importance of getting to the Olympic break, they have seven games left. And, you know, another thing coming tonight is Ross Miss Anderson's making his debut for the Golden Knights. So Vegas will be even better than they were last night in terms of their roster.

So Anderson making his debut. but, you know, the least are three points out now with Boston winning last night, Buffalo winning again. They're three points back of Boston, four back of Buffalo. And look good, too. Like, they, yeah, those teams are- Johnny, you saw them last night. Buffalo looks like, they look legit, man.

They're fast. They're fast. They got the puck off the wall and attack off the rush, and they get after you. I mean, Toronto plays them in two games, three games, I guess for now Tuesday it is. We have that game, and it'll be curious to see how fast it. look against Toronto. But yes, I think Hayes, the point is a very salient one, is that

they can't go, whatever, seven games left, they can't go two and five, right? And fall seven behind the playoff picture and have three more teams jump over top of them. And it's going to be a challenge. They have, what, the Colorado,

the game of Vegas is a good team and all the rest of it. Colorado, Buffalo, they go out west. Like, this is a really tough run when they're not healthy guys are out and let's be honest the guys who are playing are not anywhere near healthy either like they need to get to the all-star break they need a couple weeks now willie won't get that if he's going in the Olympics but like matthew nyes is desperate for a break he needs like two weeks of hip flexor rehab because i stand in between the benches and i've talked about it sort of off camera trying to

find incidents of it he leaves the ice not because he's a guy milking attention but because he's in pain and discomfort. He leaves the ice three times a game, wincing and sort of grabbing at his leg. And no one's hit him. He just stopped funny and it just hurts him. You can tell he's been dragging a leg around for flight some time here. So, yeah, it's huge, Hayes.

They tread water at least until the Olympic break. Get everyone away. I think Tavares could use the break to get his legs kind of underneath him again. both goalies healthy and sharp coming out of it. They don't, as far as the league-wide, don't have many players

in the Olympics, right? They only have a few. Compared to some teams who are 10, 11, 12. So they sure have an advantage of rest and getting better there. Yeah, it's a significant time here. You can have to sort of look to the break and dismiss the impact

of the game leading up to it. Yeah, and it's, yeah, I mean, it's a huge effect on what I think Brad Treelvin could do. If you can go five and two, you might be in a playoff spot or you're certainly on the door of it. You know, four and three, you'd be close enough. You go two and five, like you said, one and six, oh and seven, your season's over. Like, it's probably over at that point.

And, you know, they're fighting with the teams in the Atlantic. And you look at the Metro, we talked about it yesterday. Carolina's in a really good spot, obviously. But Pittsburgh now is six points clear of being on the outside looking in. Six points clear of Philly, who's in fourth in that division. Crosby for Hart? Well, I mean, it's Yeah, I mean, he looked

That tip goal he had last night It was a beauty, man. There is no one in place, right? Yeah. A chop tip, that is one of the patented plays. God can he chop tip a puck. Nobody five feet away from the net Can chop it and put it under the bar like that guy.

Anything around the end. Find the angle. The matter where the puck's coming from, whether it's vertical or a resultal, whether he's on the flip of the crease or that one was like ash marks. The chop tip is one of his, one of his favorites. The bank job would be the other one, which a lot of guys do around the league now,

Zach Eman and Tyler Bertuzi, where they just sort of stacked everything on the back door to try to give a guy a target. Yeah, he's got a few that he can patent over the course of his career. But that was nice. But they have three goals and 54 seconds. Yeah. None of them on the power play. How does that even happen?

That is wild. You other thing, too, Johnny, his backhand, oh, I think it's the best in the league. Him and Patrick Kane and Paul Korea might be the three best ever at the backhand. Like it's just Paul Korea used to have a backhand kind of a slap shot, man. It was disgusting. Mike Madano scored a backhand slap shot on me one time, and West Wall skated by and said, what the hell was that?

And I was like, I don't know. It's in my net already. It was outrageous. Madano came from right to left and came across the slot and backhand slapped. It was like Reg Dunlop past the puck. Yeah. It was under the bar. That's exactly what Korea did in Anaheim one night.

He took like this backhand Reg Dunlop slap shot. And I was like, what the hell? I've never seen anything like that, man. Outrageous. Yeah. Outrageous. Well, you guys see the sauce cane gave the other night? Like the backhand sauce.

To brink it? That was 10 feet in the air? So gross. Like so sick. Patty Kane is feeling it, though. I watched him live while it was last Sunday. Like, you know, he's, he's not just, it's not just, hey, I'm putting my time in. Like, he looks, you know, coming off, what was it, hip resurfacing?

Yeah. He was out for a long time, yeah. Like, he looks comfortable out there, like really comfortable. That Detroit team is, you're not sleeping on them. Hey, Hay, Hayes, you're talking about that goal turning? Yeah, yeah, they're getting cold-tening. Like, John Gibson today, noodles would, what, second in the Bezna? I think Thorel could still get it, but Gibson probably comes second.

kidding. He's been, he's 16 and 2 in his last 18 starts. Yeah, it's been unreal. A crazy run he's on right now. And I'm going to tell you, I didn't think he had that in him still. I thought, you know, he might be an upgrade on the inconsistency of the years past, but he's not going to be a league. I've been wrong. He's been elite. He's been really good. Yeah, he's been unbelievable. I agree 100%. Like, I thought they short it up. When you have Talbot, you have Gibson,

okay, you've got two, you know, potential guys who can go on little runs here. it's a nice tandem, but they've been really good. And it took, I think Gibson started 0 and 3, and he didn't look at it, and pulled it to start, and you're like, oh, this is a, and then they settled in. The other thing is that, that cider, like that. He's mean and good. Man, really good. Yeah, he is.

That Evan, his partner, the duel, like, find them up for the next 10 years for Detroit. Right. Guys, they're not going to take a step, and you're paying the guys, all that money sooner or later. Stevie, everyone kept asking Stevie, why didn't you guys do it? The guys that he paid the money to, the young guys, the first round picks, like when they take that next step, that's when you make a move, and that's what Sider's done. Obviously, they're getting some saves,

but Sider taking a step. Dylan Larkin the last couple years is playing a very different kind of edge. Yeah, Lucas Raymond. Those are the guys you invested it, and if they don't take a step, you're completely screwed, completely. Agreed. Agreed, yeah. Yeah, they're doing it, man.

Like they're doing it. It's interesting what's going on in the league. Like, you know, you look at the Bruins again last night, and last year they did the kind of retool. Bottomed out. They bottomed out. They retooled. Pittsburgh, bottomed out, kind of retooled, and look where they are.

And I just wonder if that's a lesson for other teams. You know, you got to get it right. You got to keep the right people. You got to sign the right guys in the offseason. You've got to bank on health. Like, there's a lot of things that have to break your way. But here's a good question. Here's a question for you guys.

Given where Pittsburgh was at the start of the season, I thought they were the only team that was a seller. What does Kyle Dubus do at the deadline now? If he had plans, like, is everything changed now? I mean, they're well in the playoffs, noodles. I just said it. They're way into the playoffs. But he's got Stu Skinner that he could potentially flip because he's unrestricted.

You know, Kulak, the guys he traded Jari for, like, you look at it. Anthony Manta. Matt, he's got some, exactly, he's got some players there that are currency. But, you know, he might have to go to Sid and go, what do you want me to do here? Because, you know, my plan was this. And all of a sudden, like, Gino turns the clock back last night. You look at some players, like, it's almost like everything's kind of come together. And I don't know if he meant for that or it just kind of threw osmosis.

But he's got some big decisions here in about a month to, you know, where are we going type of thing. if you're Pittsburgh. I think he can kick the can down the road one more year of noodles because the only UFA they have up front, Malkin, of course, so he's sort of unique because they're not going to trade him. But Kevin Hayes, you're not getting a big return.

Nolachari, you're not getting a big return. They just re-sign Blake Lazade. So that should tell you something that they're keeping him as a defending UFA. So the only guy up front really that's going to get you something significant is Mantha. And can you live without the prospect or the second rounder? I don't know if he gets a first round pick.

So I don't know what they have. And maybe they trade Kulak. Maybe they trade Skinner. Those might be two guys, but then they ride with Cilob and whatever defense them and they have, and don't think it decimates them. But he doesn't have to decide on Rust or Raquel or guys like that

because there's still a little bit term left on them. But I can't see. He's done a good job of sort of serving both masters of both trying to be competitive for Sid and the guy, but also, you know, they moved out some contracts and have themselves in a better position going forward, but that metro has been

not good. Like, all those Philly and Jersey and Washington. I thought Jersey and Washington were going to be good this year. And they haven't been. So, yeah, there's a real opportunity for them to get the playoffs. And if they play in the playoffs right now in Pittsburgh, they get the Islander

that's it. Exactly. You're thinking you could win around. They didn't get a second round in what? Carolina's some unstoppable force in the playoffs? No. I mean, I don't think we'd say that. So, yeah, I don't think he goes down that road if they're in the same spot on whatever it's March 6th the deadline yeah there's a real opportunity for them to

make a little bit of noise I mean it's possible in the playoffs maybe he adds at the deadline that's what I'm saying like I'm looking at that there this has been a shift throughout the season where the team is dictated where the manager of his thought process goes right where and then you know conversely

you're looking at Vancouver or teams like that where you're like oh I didn't see you know maybe you saw it coming but I thought they'd be better this year, and now they're not. The Rangers was another team I thought was bad. Well, the Rangers are crazy. They hire Sullivan, and they are a disaster. As someone pointed out online, the head coach in Pitt was on the bench in New York a couple years ago.

So they flipped, you know, they lose him. He goes to Pitt. He's got them driving in the right direction. And they go out and get Sullivan, who was a last piece hire. You know, that's the guy. It's like, well, he'll get his back. Over the hump higher. And they are dead last in the east.

sending out letters to fans. The letter again was so crazy, man. And that's just a message to your players, too. It's like, we're toast. And they are anyway, but, you know, like the Rangers are dead last in the East. Yeah. Usually the GM and the owner and the coach would bluff it that he still loves the team. But then when you see the note, you're like, oh, we are actually garbage.

You're done. You're finished. What do you give for Archie Panarin, though? Like that's the thing, the dry hair floating around. Now he gets points, but is he a guy that puts your team over the top? Is he another threat? Like I think he's ultimately, like, ultra skilled. Don't get me wrong.

But is he a guy that you view Johnny as, you know, hey, he's going to put our team to that next stratosphere? Or is he, you know, a good addition to already a real quality team? I think a pretty direct comparable to Panarin is Mitch Marner. Guys who are just, and probably better than Mitch Marner, but like prolific regular season scores. And then when they get to the playoffs, they're not, they're still good, but not as. And I think for some of the same reasons, because they're past first guys, they rely on time and space that they find in the regular season that's not as available in the playoffs.

You know, they're not super physical or physically, you know, strong in the way that they play to create their offense. So he's a good player, but he can't be, he's going to go in and be our lead dog. He's got to be a support player, second or third or fourth down the death chart. He'll make you better. You know, I think Washington's been pretty up front that they want an influx of skill. Well, that could be that. If you don't have a good power play, Colorado is a good team with a bad power play.

Utah is a good team with a bad power play. He would help in spots like that. Like, I don't know if he wants to go to Utah, but for two months, Utah is a good team. You put Panarin on there with what some of us they have, that's where I think he maybe makes more sense, not as put him in here and expect him to be our number one option right away. Right. All right, Johnny.

Well, enjoy it tonight. Enjoy the weekend. It's going to be a fun weekend. Big one for the leaves. Vegas tonight, Colorado on Sunday. And this is going to be a make-or-break type of operation this weekend. I don't think there's any disputing that. So enjoy it, and we'll do it again early next week.

All right, boys, enjoy the game tonight and bundle up this weekend because it is going to be frosty. Crazy, crazy cold. Polar Vortex. There is Mike Johnson joining us here. The Maple Toyota Hotline is time to Toyota in the 2025 Prius. Go up to 72 kilometers on battery alone, then seamlessly switch to hybrid mode. Check it out at Maple Toyota near Canada's winterland in the Maple Auto Mall. I'm Dylan Playfair.

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