OverDrive - Johnson on McDavid hobbing through the playoffs, the Oilers' possible changes and MacKinnon's elite season

Episode Date: April 28, 2026

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss Connor McDavid's injury status, the Oilers' series and the potential changes to the roster, the Ducks' strength in the series, the Penguins making a comeback to the Flyers, the Ted Lindsay Award finalists and Nathan MacKinnon on the list and more.

Here's Mike Johnson joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. What's up, Johnny? What's up, boys? You're giving me flashbacks. My dad has had a mustache his whole life, and it's gone gray as he's gotten older, and he's Demorese worth a fig of choice for about 30 years as I was growing up. Is there still remnants, like some orange ones that just, they grow back orange?

Permanently died, even though he hasn't smoked for 25 years. I remember him driving to the, driving to hockey, one knee on the wall, wheel, one hand with a dart, one hand with a coffee, and just bruising North Toronto Arena taking me to a morning skate. It was clinical, clinical one knee driving. All day, right down Egglington and probably if you're coming from Scarborough. Window cracked. It's minus 20 out window cracked. You're in the back just getting killed by the prospect. I'm glad you guys brought that up. I saw

an outrageous, unusual grip in a car the other day. A dart in the right hand. It's like he had to do a cross-handed flick out the window, like a Matthew Fitzpatrick chipping to get the ash out the window. A cross-handed drive-bar. Yeah, like he was obviously driving, and he was blowing the dart with his right hand, and it's got to settle on the council, and then he's got to go cross-body out the window. It was unorthodox, but appreciated. That guy's got a rhythm that he doesn't mess with.

Driving or otherwise. Dude, just put it in the left. No, I can't do it. It could be an old car. Maybe there's an ashtray. Yeah. Just Google it. Yeah.

Oh, my. Ashtrays. They don't have ashtray. No. No. Not anymore. They used to have lighters in the car. I don't know they had those anymore.

You remember back in the day you'd get in the car and the guy had the creepy little ashtray with like 50s everywhere. And Dean crushed little darts in it. And he would use, like, his lighter would be the car cigarette. Remember, he'd push it. You'd push it in. Pop them. He would have.

He would hammer that thing as soon as he started the car. It was so great pushing that thing in. It was the first version of a push-button start. Exactly. And that's, if you had a dad that smoked, you'd be like, push that thing in. If you get in the car for a minute, get that thing started. The minute it pops out, it's ready, right?

Yes, exactly. It had to warm up, though. And if it came out a little quick, you'd say hit it again. It ain't ready. I remember that. If you get in there first, you pop that thing in. You drop it. That could start a fire in your car.

If you're driving, you miss the dark. You hit yourself in the cheek, man. You're in big trouble. If you were ever out of hockey rink at 7 a.m. and you saw a dad with an orange circle on his forehead, he could not see. He could not see. Yes.

100%. It's so great. Man, those are memories that matter. Those are memories that matter. Oh, man. Well, Johnny, we're all giving different predictions on whether or not McDavid will play tonight. Obviously, it's pretty important. Edmonton that he does, but if he

doesn't, you know, how do they possibly win this game? Well, I mean, guys, the obvious answer would be well, dry-sad, I'll go, be superhuman, and that's completely feasible. He's done it many times in his career, more than capable. The other answer would be, well, let's button it down.

Let's play good defense. Let's turn it low event. Let's make a greasy and gritty and full. That's the one I don't think they have an option. I don't think they have that. They've not shown the ability to do that any kind of consistency. So to think that in an elimination game,

they're going to be able to flip a switch and say, okay, for this one, we're going to be reliable, predictable, defensive. I don't think so. So the officers are dry-saddle and jari, I guess, to have a really great night for them to survive. Or McDavid plays on 60% and 60% McDavid is still better than, you know,

25, 35, 35 of the guys in the game and hope things come together enough. But the fact that he is even a question mark tells you how unhealthy he is because anything feasible, he would be playing. Johnny, if the Oilers failed to get it done tonight, and I don't want that to happen, I don't want to think negative, but where do they go from here? I mean, I think there's a legit conversation about pretty significant changes,

coaches, management, they've already taken a big swing at the goaltenders. You're telling me this coach brought him in the Stanley Cup finals two years in a row and his job's in question. No adjustments. Three years ago. But this whole year, oh, they played the same way, and the concerns have always been the same. Like, they've been a little bit, a little bit leaky,

a little bit unreliable, defensive coverage has not been great, beyond the goal pending, and he hasn't been able to get him back. So I'm not saying he can't, because obviously you just mentioned, he did. They were really good defensively for two straight years. Maybe his personnel, maybe the team's tuning him out. I don't know, but, oh, what other change? You can't, there's only so much change you can make, personnel-wise. I'm sure they'll explore everything.

The same way the Leaf starts exploring Morgan Riley, they will explore darnel nurse. Like, I think they have to put everything on the table knowing you got two years and a discount. And if you come back next year with the exact same group and it doesn't go well, you wonder if Donna McDavid turns into Quinn Hughes or Austin Matthews. I mean, like, that same sort of conversation creeps up because, you know, he's there to win.

He set up his contract so that you could. And if you're not providing the environment, then I'm sure he would question it. Now, he doesn't want to get there. That's way ahead, getting way ahead. But I think if they were to lose tonight and go out, yeah, there would be a lot of significant changes on and off the ice would be on the table. I'm pretty sure, Johnny, if you ask Knoblock, because Jamie and I always have this discussion about goaltending can sweep a lot of video under the rug and save a lot of video sessions. I'm pretty sure Chris Knoblock would say our goaltending didn't give us a lot of chance to kind of turn away. from some video sessions.

I'll tell you that right now. Yeah, but that's true. But when you say that to presumably the media, which would get to your bosses, well, guess who's been tasked with making that goaltending work? Those guys above you. So if blame has to go somewhere,

even if it should go to management, they're not going to take it. It's going to go back down to the coach because if they can put it on him as opposed to put it on themselves. Because if it becomes that they're the reason why they've really come up short this year and it's struggled so much based on expectations. Then the target turns to them and, you know, management doesn't want that to be the case either.

So it will be interesting because nothing has felt right this year. It's all felt, you know, they had a decent year, but in that pillow fight Pacific, they didn't win it. You know, they barely got home ice. And they felt not like an elite team the entire season. Yeah. To me, they've been a second tier, you know, below, like they're, you know, six to ten type of thing above the below. They might be generous. Yeah, depending on the 14. Well, you know, depending on who you believe with the elite, Carolina, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado. And then, you know, throw in Tampa.

Tampa. Okay, so there's five. And then you get into that second tier, which is Vegas, you know, Abington, you know. Montreal, Buffalo. Well, Montreal deserves a lot of credit, and so does Buffalo. So maybe, you're right. Six is too generous. But when you look at it, I think there's going to be sweeping changes anyways. Because, you know, I don't know if they can win three in a row against a young Anaheim team that does not look afraid of the moment. That does not, I think Anaheim is going to be a problem for a lot of teams in this league for years to come. And it's interesting, if you look at it, Anaheim, I think, has three superstars on their team, and they're just getting going.

That's the scary part. and, you know, they've got a good young goaltender. They got an elite coach who has been coaching the hell out of them. You can tell the adjustments that Anaheim's been able to make. And that's why I used the word adjustments for Evanton. I haven't seen a lot. Same breakout, trying to stretch the far blue line. It's getting picked off.

Transition game. Come back. You're three on two. You're defending. Like, Evanton has D that can move the puck. Forwards are at the far blue line. They're too far ahead. There's got to be adjustments.

And I haven't been seeing them. And that comes back to coach. and dedication of the players not executing something that needs to change. So, you know, regardless of what happens tonight or if they end up losing this first round or losing the second round, there has to be adjustments to the group and to the group they put on the ice. Yeah, but it comes, but you're right, Noodle, you're absolutely right. But I just see, I wonder, like, the goaltending has been so up and down.

And Jari had two more years on a contract for $6 million. So, I mean, you can start right there and say, okay, well, they've already spent assets to get rid of Skinner and bring in Jari. You know, spend more assets to get rid of Jari and bring in someone else and who that somebody else might be, who knows. And yeah, it's a lot to impact there. There's a lot of pressure on everyone involved with the looming McDavid situation. Like, they know they don't have any time and they don't have any grace and margin of error to sort of figure it out for three quarters of year. Like, they got to figure it out now for starting of next year. if they get knocked out here in the first or second round.

With Mike Johnson, our TOSN, hockey analyst. What's your level of concern if you're Rick Tocke and the Philadelphia Flyers right now? Growing quickly. Because I think it's not that Philly has dropped their game. They just played so cleanly, whether they're goaltending, decision-making, puck battles, breaks, you name it. Everything went as you could have remped it in the first three games. And it started to ship away from there. Now the games are feeling a little bit more like the games that Pittsburgh wants to play.

And all the pit players talked about it and their coach after game five, that there's been more rush play, more neutral zone play, fewer scrums, more pace, a kind of game that Pittsburgh will be better at than Philadelphia. And if Lidar has any sort of stumble in that game winning goal with a strange bounce, maybe not really to blame him, but the one you hate seeing go in, now a sudden Philly, we'll tell you honestly, if we were to told you before the series started, we're going home up three to, everyone would have taken it. And that's true. But if I would have told you you'd be up 3-0

and now returning going home 3-2, it would be a lot less comfortable for those guys to be in that situation. And maybe for the first time in the series, there's a little pressure on Philly because, you know, it starts creeping your mind. Hang on, if we don't get it done now, we don't want to be a team that blows a 3-0 lead. Like that starts to creep in. So if Pitt gets off to a good start, A-Z and, you know, get jumps out in the first period, then I can see it really start to ramp up because. the series is not just in the games being won, but how it's being played,

is slowly but surely drifting to Pittsburgh favor. Johnny, sorry to bury the lead here in this interview because I believe one of the best players in the world was disrespected being omitted from a certain list. You're talking Ted Lindsay, finalist. Him right, and you disrespected him, and the other players in the league disrespected. Your thoughts on him not on the list, John?

Nathan McKinnon, not a finalist. Go ahead. Because that, the Lindsay, if you care, and I'm sure the players don't, the verbiage of the Lindsay is, what is it, most outstanding? It's not most valuable. It's like best. And as greatest Celebrini was. Johnny, let me just interrupt you.

How many years is the Hart Trophy winner won the Ted Lindsay, too? There are examples of guys not getting there. There are a few recently, actually, right? Kutraff didn't win both. And McDavid won one, one. It didn't win the other. It happens occasionally, but generally speaking, It's the same thing.

I thought Matthews won both. I think he won both. Did he? Okay. But it might have been him, too, no, but yeah, like, it was always a four-player group, and someone was going to be excluded. And you could, for the heart, if you were going to be literal and think about value, you could talk about, you know, Tutraff,

and you could talk about Celebrini as offering more value to their teams because their teams maybe weren't quite as deep as Colorado, as great as Colorado. But if you're just talking about best, The guy had the most goals, third most points on the team that ran away as the best team, was historically great for 40 games. It's a ton. I don't, he belongs in there.

We can quibble about who doesn't. I would take Celebrini out. If I had to take one out of the Lindsay Award, I would take Celebrini. But that does feel strange. And maybe it's a McKinnon fatigue because he's been sort of one of the top couple guys, and it's a Celebrini. The new guy gets the attention around the league, deservedly so, but at the expense of somebody else.

But also, if I'm Dallas or Minnesota, I don't really like the idea of, if I took that stuff personally, Nathan McKinan in the second round, because he has every reason to think I got, I got sort of ripped off there. Yeah, well, that is true. I mean.

Oh, now you're going to say he did? No, I can reason with Celebrity. I thought he was phenomenal this year. I thought he was unbelievable, and he doesn't play with McCarrey, he doesn't have Natrice on his wing. the guys got like in terms of talent on san ozay it's a complete it's as much of a disparity as you're going to find in the league san ozade in colorado and this guy still had 115 points at 45

goals and he's a workforce not that nate isn't mckinin is he had 25% more goals 25% that's a monster number it might only sound like 10 or 11 but it's 25% more goals i get he plays on a better team now will smith and no slouch but i'm not by saying i would put mckin on there. That's not meant to suggest Elbrini was incredible. I can have a conversation for the heart. But for the best player this year, just the best, not most valuable, I don't know. Most goals, best team, first overall seed, president's trophy, right there in the points chase. I think game third when it was all said and done. It's hard to say, like, I would pick McKinnon over McDavid this year, even though

McDavid won the Rott Ross. Like, the goal factor matters to me in a race. face that's pretty tight. I don't know. That's a tough one to stomach if you're in a kid. Well, I mean, what it's amplifying, go ahead. Hayes said earlier, this is the first year Celebrini should win the heart without making the playoffs. I did not say that.

I did not say that. I did not say that. I've said a lot of stupid stuff. That was not one of them. Is that on par with McDavid never winning the R. Ross again? Well, I never said R. Hang on a second. Around the Warren. If Jerry had a press conference with us for and said before you write down the name of the heart trophy winner this year you're

allowed to vote for the guy that if a guy did not make the playoffs you're allowed would you put celebrini down put him on my ballot and I know I mean one person to win the heart you can put celebrate I wouldn't have him no winning I wouldn't have him I didn't have him win I wouldn't have him I wouldn't have him third for the last three months I thought he would I thought I again but it was contingent on them making the playoffs like that was a big part of it. I understand. You're moving the, but you're moving the goalpost, so you can't apply my logic from the other field of play to this field of play.

Part of his merit was that he made the playoff. That's a part of push him over the top. I would have him third. I would have both two trough and McKinnon ahead of him in the heart. Ooh, McDavid and the fourth. McDavid and four. We're going to go sort of value, value, value. Well, you know what is being amplified here is we're in the middle of just an awesome era of superstardom, right?

We remember when, like, Gretzky and the Mew kind of overlap for a little bit. Messier was in there. Like, I remember that in obviously late 80s, early 90s. But the dust will settle. And in 20 years, people are going to look back and say, how did Kutrave only have one heart trophy? You want to look at something outrageous. Go through Mario's stats and say,

how did he not win the heart trophy that year? Because guess who was there? Gretzzi won it. There was one year. I think Mario had 20 or 30 more points than Wayne Gretzky. I think it was Gretzky's first year in L.A. He got the heart, and Mario had something outrageous. Do you know how crazy that all is with those guys in the league,

and Hasick won the heart twice? Yes, also very true. Dominic Hasick won the heart with Gretzky and Lemieux in the league. I think he deserved it, though. I'm not saying, and I, Lizzie. You don't have to tell noodles that. I think Hassoc is the best goaltender who ever played the game, period. Yes.

And I love Patrick Wine. They were at the end of their career. Yes. When he won in like 96 and 99 or so, wasn't it like? But I'm just, I'm just. saying like Dominic Hasick won the heart twice. Nevesant six times. Insane.

Like, my best season, I had some heater weeks and I'm like, I got to be player of the week this week. Marielaum. Had eight more goals than me, six more assists. I was like, how do you get player the week in here? He played four. Two games, 12 points.

Yeah. Well, and a name that wasn't included in all this is Dry Settle, the same thing. Yeah. Like, he's not in the running for the heart, but he's got one and when his career ends he probably has one. Maybe he grabs another wouldn't be shocking, but probably won and we're going to look back and say that guy only had one heart.

Kutrave, one heart, McKinan one heart, maybe McDavid only three hearts. But that's so tough it is. Kutrov might go down as the greatest Russian player of all time. I think he already is. Ovi's greater than him. I understand Ovi but like as far as, I don't know.

How many hearts did Oby win? Three. Three. He wants three, eh? Yeah, he won three. Or at least in the conversation. Man. Or most prolific score and crushing of all time. He's phenomenal.

He might not, you know. Yeah. No, you're right. Absolutely. That was my point. See, you guys are coming around on the McDavid thing. I'm like, look at the competition he's got. It's not easy.

There's only one of one that can win the heart. I'm not coming around on it. You said he'd never be nominated again. No, I didn't. I never said he would be nominated. I never, I said, I'm not sure he'll ever win the heart again. Yeah. Roll the tape.

Yeah. Well, listen, man, I can have a number. mic drop of all mic drops if he doesn't win it because it'll go down as the greatest take of all time. He doesn't win it this year or the rest of his career? You think if he doesn't win it this year he's got a better chance when he's 30 plus? I mean, it's not going to get easier

as it gets older. I mean, we could probably go back to the tape and realize that there have guys that are 30 plus. There are. Messia's done it like Kutro's over 30. You may win it this year. McKinnon, I think. And so McKinnon, that's the thing. The guy you're competing with are all the same bracket. Right. Right. Okay. I'll see what happens.

All right, Johnny. Punch that Punch that lighter in in the car and just go have yourself a great afternoon. Park one up and let's get rolling. Watch your nose while you're lighting your darts. Thank you, Johnny. Cheers, my good. Mike Johnson joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

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