OverDrive - Johnson on the Maple Leafs' trade deadline moves, Laughton and Carlo's impressive adds and Marchand representing the Panthers

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' additions of Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo, Brad Marchand's trade to the Panthers, Dylan Cozens' deal to the Senators, the best teams in the Western Conference and more.

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and the price is not exorbitant whatsoever for either guy, Carlo, Lottonon at those prices for years to come how do you think Brad True Living and Company ended up doing today? Pretty good I mean that's the cost of doing business right like that the first hurts obviously but they're gonna be late first Toronto's fourth or fifth or sixth in the league you want retention that's going to cost you draft capital, so maybe those seconds become first because they get retention on those guys. The fact that they have term does set them up well. All of a sudden, you know, Hayes, you outlined it on the show today, you know, the defense are sort of locked in for the next couple of years

for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a good way, where they have important pieces under cost control certainty on the back end. And,'re gonna be here beyond just a rental. So, if you had to give up one of the three top prospects, Fraser Minton, Ethan Cowan, or Danforth, however you prioritize those guys, they obviously prioritize probably Cowan and the defenseman over Minton. Minton's a good player you don't like losing him he's going to be in the NHL for a really long time I don't know if he's going to be a high level scorer

in the NHL and they probably made that calculation that the ceiling on Cowan was a bit higher but for the here and now this is what they needed to do to compete in a very difficult division. Um, that it's, it didn't get any easier today with the other teams with Florida and Tampa done the last couple of days. But I think they, would I have loved Brock Nelson in this moment over Scott Lawton perhaps, but given the cost and everything else in the contract, they couldn't do that. Lawton is a good player. He'll help the team. So yeah, I guess, yeah, it's what you have to do. And they didn't pay too much. They paid what everyone else was paying, which is a lot, but that's just

the cost of doing business. So kind of a crazy day in trade deadline, deadline land, Johnny. And what shocked you the most? Was it, was it the R in deal actually coming together in him signing long-term eight by twelve in dallas was it radmar shan leaving boston the beloved captain the only remaining member of the twenty eleven stanley cup championship team we what what surprised you the most we look back at what we

dog go down today uh... it's Marchand for sure. I mean, I think Ranton on a bigger level is surprising, but we had time to prepare for it fast, right? Like we knew it might be coming. We knew the sort of teams that might be interested and that it might happen. Still, when you take a step back, I think Miko Ranton,

and one of the top 10 offensive players in the league the last several years, got traded twice at the deadline for a variety of reasons but that wasn't that surprising Dallas we know has become a real destination of choice like when Seth Jones was going to Florida he told Chicago you can trade me to Florida or you can trade me to Dallas like I'm having a lot of players see those two places given the climate, the taxes, the quality of team, um, that an attractive place to go. So that wasn't that surprising, but I thought, you know, Brad Marsh had been so public about wanting to be with Boston,

wanting to stay with Boston and wanting to be a lifetime Boston Brew. And now he may go back in the summer, who knows, but I just thought when it's expressed so publicly and he is still a good player and clearly Boston is not going to be hamstrung by any salary constraints the next few years given what they did today, I thought that they would have found some middle ground to keep them a three-year, 20 million dollar deal, whatever it is. So that one did surprise me. Then to Florida, of all teams you thought, after Jones they were done, but with the Kachuk money,

it made it possible to get Marshaan in there. And that team all of a sudden, their top three lines, whenever one's healthy, if Matthew Kachuk gets back and gets healthy, they're no fun to play against on a lot of different levels. So that one really surprised me. I didn't see that one coming. Yeah, like what seeing him in any other Jersey is going to be freaky. Yeah. And especially within

the division. But I wonder if they did him a solid here. Because the reporting was that they were going to ship him out west. And I wonder if he if he sniffed it out. Okay, if you're going to move me, this is moving to a place I can win and send me here Because you know, Florida I just feels like the idea of Kachuk Matthew Kachuk if he gets back to 100% Kachuk Bennett Marshaan on the same team is just gross. Yeah, like it's really gonna be agitating Well, I watch them and those guys played together recently Marshaan and Bennett like right wasn't that long ago that Bennett literally

knocked him out laid him out with a pretty greasy was a greasy egregious like punch in the jaw yeah I mean forearm joining I was that it wasn't like a forearm like it was a punch punch he came into him he punched him right in the chin with his but it was well-hidden like this crazy yeah yeah he was very sneaky dirty that's Bennett can be but I bet that the four nations experience made this deal more likely more possible would Brad Marsh and have wanted to go to Florida the same way if him and Sam Bennett were still at odds maybe I don't know would it have been more awkward in the dressing room when he walked in? For sure. I mean, these guys did not like each other. They

had some moments on the ice, but they played together for Canada. They played on the same line at times. They won together and they put all that other stuff, water under the bridge. So yeah, now I don't know how much they'll play together in Florida depending on how the rope the lines shake out but the fact that they have such physical players that are very good at understanding how to Push the limit of what's allowed without really getting themselves in trouble in the playoffs It's going to be just a nightmare for opponents And you know whether it's the first time with Kachak on it the second line with Bennett on it the third line

with Marchand on it no matter who you play against you're gonna have someone giving you that little bit extra that little greasy pop slash chip face wash chirp whatever and it just suits the Panthers personality just so perfectly that maybe we shouldn't be surprised even though I just got through saying I was. Yeah well then you know Tampa's sitting there and they they Bjorkstrand scores the winner I think last night. He did he scored the winner. We were talking about it earlier is Kuturov got benched because he had two

egregious turnovers and Kupin had enough so he benched him and then he put him on the third line in the third period after they tied the game up and he assists on the game winner with Gord and Bjorkstrand. So it's just like, listen they are a nice fit. Florida got better, the Leafs got better. Like if you're sitting there in the Atlanta, I think Ottawa got better although that you know Johnny you and I were talking about we had on the panel like it's just different I think the Ottawa Senators cousins has to settle in and I don't know how you guys feel I think there's a be a lot of pressure on cousins the Senators fans know what Josh Norris is I don't know if a lot of

people in Ottawa paid attention to what Dylan Cousins is as an NHL player sure you watch him as a world junior player but there's a lot of people in Ottawa paid attention to what Dylan Cousins is as an NHL player. Sure you watch him as a world junior player but there's a lot of pressure because Josh Norris Johnny you were talking about he's a scorer we know what if he's healthy he scores goals. Cousins has scored 31 once. So he's a different player but it'd be interesting to see how he's gonna fit into that dynamic in Ottawa. Yeah that that's a big trade. And I always think it's a big trade because, you know, you're taking on a big contract and all the rest of it, but also because you are currently, you know,

what are they, one point out of the playoffs right now. And, you know, right down the stretch, and they've waited so long to try to get back in the playoffs, and you make a major shake up the roster, and certainly, guys, we saw Brady Kachuck shake up the dressing room kind of trade. And long term, I understand exactly why Steve Stales would do that.

But just in the short term, you can't have a three game morning period for the dressing room because Josh Norris isn't there. You can't have 10 days of Dylan Cousins getting settled or feeling the heat or whatever. They gotta get up and running right away. So in that sense, it's a really, it's an aggressive move by Steyls,

but yeah, I mean, I think that's a good decision for the future, but it's, the Atlantics and the Central are very similar in that there are three teams that are so good. And any one of those three teams in either division could easily, and I say that knowing that Toronto hasn't done much in the playoffs, but would it stun anyone if Toronto somehow, if they won the division that they won the first round, Ryan threw a second round, and

then like it's not out of the question that any of those six teams in either of those divisions could make the Stanley Cup final. But because they're in the same division, guaranteed two of them are going home in the first round. It's like you guys, Dallas and Colorado playing the first round, which is the likely outcome of the Central. Those storylines, ranting it back there, all the changes that Colorado's made, like those are huge teams, someone going home the first round.

It's going to be the first round is going to be just wild. Oh, it'll be incredible with Mike Johnson So if I give you these five teams out West Winnipeg Dallas Colorado Vegas Edmonton where does Edmonton rank in that five pack for you in terms of projecting? Stanley Cup success Five Number five Wow Wow, yeah family cup success? Um, five? They're number five? Wow. Yeah.

And you know, I had Edmonton on my, you don't remember, but I had Edmonton on my preseason Stanley Cup winner. You weren't alone. Midway through, you asked me to go off them, I said no, no, I'm staying with them. But I can't act like the roster on Dallas and Colorado is better than Edmonton's it is the roster is flat out better top to bottom

I can't act like Winnipeg's not been the best in the league you know top three and goals against and goals for and power play and And say that you know they're not don't have a very good chance with the best goal in the world I'll be it with this playoff failures failures and I just went and saw Vegas Vegas is Funny we can say this about Vegas there No one is talking about Vegas at all this year and they are a good Team a deep and physical and underlying metrics are so strong So yeah, like I get Edmonton has maybe the two best players out of all those teams

Maybe not with Nathan McKinnon and Cale McCarr, but they have, you know, that guy, those guys. And I like a woman that won the backend, but I don't know. The thing that evidence has going for them is the Pacific, right? Right. Like they're going to, they're probably going to come second, whether it's LA again, or somehow Calgary jumps up and gets there. They'll have a, at least a better path to the second round, which is one step in that journey. But if I looked at rosters, I would put Edmonton fourth or fifth and chances of getting a Stanley Cup final

are winning it fourth or fifth in that group. Well, yeah, that's, that, that's quite a comment. Where do you have Maisie? Where would you put it? It's, I probably wouldn't argue against that Johnny. I really would I think I argued against it just because of the two players Like I think I saw them ahead of Well, okay, so I had him. I mean Winnipeg playoff success Withstanding I think they're ahead of Winnipeg just because who's gonna shut down those two guys but that's the so that was that's puts him to four for me and then

You know Colorado I think is ahead of them That's just because of McCarr and McKinnon, but everybody else Dallas is right side on the D I don't like them. They've got Luskin playing on there You know to me that's where I thought Dallas has made some great moves and I like their depth but I just, my trust level, so to me I think Colorado's had Edmonton but I think everybody else Edmonton would be on par with that. On par or better. That was where I were. Man, but tell you what, those two guys, and we know they're capable of it, Noodle, they

would have to do so much to counteract the offensive depths of Dallas. Dallas is like, you look at their top nine guys, and it is so deep and so good with what the year Matthew Shane's having, and Wyatt Johnston, and Jamie Ben, and of course the big guys that Hinton, Robertson, and now Rantonin, like, forget about Grandland.

Like they have a lot of good players up front. So yeah, I'm with you, Doodles, and this is why it's a hard sort of game to play. But, and the fact that McDavid has, and we're all gonna sort of trust that he's gonna turn into the usual supernova McDavid down the stretch in the playoffs, but he hasn't been. He hasn't been for a little while and that really also changes completely the

the opportunity for Edmonton to go deep. Yeah. All right Johnny, well the stretch runs here man. Now that we're through the trade deadline we'll be night one of the cup Stanley Cup playoffs before you know it. Yeah, like it. Money games goes quick. They go by really quickly man. Great stuff today, good seeing you. Enjoy your weekend. We'll do it again next week. Yeah, I get it when he games goes quick. They go by really quickly man

Great stuff today good seeing you enjoy your weekend. We'll do it again next week All right, fellas. Have a great weekend Hayes. I didn't like the strays you were catching all day. Thank you. Not fraudulent Totally legitimate and you know how I would respond to that. I agree Inside joke. If you saw it, you saw it. Oh my God. I just heard about that inside joke. I agree. Thank you. Thank you very much. Have a good week, Jensen. Alright, there's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, joining us here on the Maple Tota hotline. and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.