OverDrive - Johnson on the Maple Leafs underperforming, Matthews' tough season and Berube's needs to fix

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Maple Leafs' losing streak and the main problems with the team, Auston Matthews' concerning start and his skill set, Craig Berube's coaching views, the goaltending issues and more.

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Restriction supply ships registered in Panama and Malta. Here's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. What's happening? Johnny? What's going on, boys? I wonder with, think about the NHL. The coach of the year is never the coach of the good team. It's always the coach of the plucky overachieving team.

And maybe that's hard to say that about Cleveland because they won last year as well. Like the same guy won the manager the year last year. It's so hard to say he overachieve. But I wonder where like the payroll comes into that. Like, yeah, he did more with less. similar to what the coach of the year often gets like john cooper never wins coach of the year even though he reels off all those great runs it's it's sort of like who can surprise you with a good year more than who does a good job always yeah it's a great point johnny who would you

i'm thinking right now would it would q get it in anaheim like who's who's your coach of the year right now 17 games in yeah this is a cue marty st louis uh would be up there perhaps uh and ped yeah Yeah, that's right. Dan Hughes. Dan Han News. Dan Hughes. Yeah, those three guys. But yeah, Quenville, what he's doing in, to our very point, none of us said Bednar. Colorado is rolling through the league right now. They are ill in teams night after night after night, but none of us would think that Bedmar were like, who's got their team doing better than you thought? And it's probably Quendville, really. They just beat up on Anaheim last night. They literally just beat them last night. Nathan McKinnon, though. He had 12 points in the last night. The last three games. 12 points in a weekend. Like, it's absurd what he's doing.

You don't always want to compare, like, he's, you know, the best player in the NHL right now. Like, today he's playing better than anybody else. And we always bring it back to Toronto and talk about Austin Matthews and what you're hoping for. And now, he's a different kind of player than Nathan McKinnon. He may not ever produce quite like that. But you want to feel like that is possible.

Like, occasionally, there's a game. there's the guy, and no one can stop him. McKinnon just ran off three in a row. Four points, five points, three points. They won them all. They only lost one game. And that's what it used to feel like with Matthews, and that's what, and I don't know if last night was a reaggravation of something that was bugging him

or something brand new when he was 100% healthy, whatever it was, you haven't felt that very often for Austin Matthews reliefs this year. I'm nervous about him. I got to be honest. I thought he would have a huge response. this year for all the doubters and he had a downseason in the worst year of his career statistically health-wise last year marner leaves he's the captain you have you know the the worst the worst moment of your career i'm sure would have been game seven against florida i have

to believe that if you're austin like in an honest moment tell me the lowest point you felt it had to be the last time we saw in play last year and this year he has i said earlier he's been nowhere close to a top 10 player in the league. Like if we were doing a top 50 list based on the first 20% of the season, where is he? Is he in your top 50? Like, I don't know if he's in the top

50. Really? I don't know if he's been one of the 50 best players in the league. If he's in it, he's at the bottom of it. Right? He's just scraping in exactly. Oh, so... He's 30 to 40 to 50 type of thing, yeah. He was hurt last year? That's fair.

He battled through some stuff last that we probably don't even appreciate how significant it was. But if we take it at face value and, you know, he's told us flat out, I'm healthy, I feel good. You wonder, Hayes, let me talk about being worried. If this, if he's being honest and he feels healthy, you wonder if this is just sort of his new reality. Like, this is his version of healthy where he's, you know, a 28-year-old guy. He's been the league for 10 years. And yeah, his body's working the way it can, but it's still not working like it did when he was 22 or 23,

which is not surprising, but you don't want to have that happen if you're Austin Matthews or if the Toronto Maple Leafs. Yeah, it's a big transition, man, like that. And that happens. Again, I don't know if that's happening right now. He's still going to be an excellent, excellent player. Like, if we could all be sort of aging into 45 to 50 goals

and 85 to 90 points, absolutely. And two-way, he does all those things, but he's not the driving inevitable force that doesn't matter who's on his line. doesn't matter he's playing against or with or whatever home road matchup that guy he's got the puck you can't get it back and he's going to get scoring chances and the way he shoots it's going to go in the net i i looked at i we didn't get in a broadcast last night oh but like the last five years in a row and this may be a stick thing his hardest shot has gone from 94 to 92 to 91 to 90 to this

year's hardest shot at 86 miles an hour now i know he doesn't take slappers and he does a different But the point is it didn't take sloppers five years ago. And the velocity on his hardest shot is down like eight miles an hour. Noodles, you could tell me, eight miles an hour is a massive difference for a goaltender and how quickly they need to react. So, again, just speak to maybe just a bit of a wear and tear on the body that he's not quite as youthful as he was five years ago. So, Johnny, getting into last night's game, what did you see? Like, what was your biggest takeaway from last night's game?

I know I put you on a spot, but, I mean, that's a, you know, there's a couple. My takeaway, he did the game, he saw us. Yeah, I was, I called the game. My takeaway is that their breakdowns are just enormous. It's just, it's just too easy for the other team to get good chances. That, that's it. That, and their penalty kill at times, has been really not very good.

And I don't know if Stollars was hurt, so maybe I'll temper my reaction. But during the game, I almost fell out of my chair when the third goal went in from Alex Steeves. Yeah. Like a wrister from 30 feet, no angle, no passing option,

right through his legs. And maybe he was hurt by then. Maybe he couldn't move properly. But I kept, I keep thinking that the team, and in the team's defense, historically, when they get on the precipice,

and you're like, oh, God, they stink right now, they go and do good things you know what I mean like they don't sort of run off multiple bad moments like they haven't done that for years they lose a couple they don't look good doing it remember that what was it we came home from Anaheim three years ago

and Mitch Marne was throwing stuff down the hallway and the sky was falling and then they went out and didn't lose a game in November every time they go to the brink poorly they bring it back and I thought last night given what happened on the weekend would be a perfect night to bring it back and play really well and show

Solars, you had a couple days. Everyone's upset how Carolina went, how Boston went. And they didn't. Again, the shots were 9 to 2 to start the game. It was 2-0. They got a shorty surprisingly. It was 3-1. I will compliment. I guess they battled hard. They were physically engaged in

the third period. We can debate whether Max told me should or should not have done that. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't, right? The team gets criticized for not reacting. He reacts and takes a penalty. Now he's dumb for doing that. I'd rather have a guy go and get after it and say, hey, maybe be mindful of the score

but also just kill the penalty like don't let them score and reward the guy for sticking in for your teammate and take it on a guy who's 10 inches and 70 pounds bigger than him so there's a lot there but it's just without the puck it's too easy

it's too easy for the other team that's my takeaway from last night the same takeaway from the night before and the night before how much of that is on Barubei I mean I always drop most of it on the players, right?

The player's got to play. And defense is not that complicated. You can talk about system play, and I think there is something there to discuss about systems about how they move the puck out of their own end. Because I think some of a lot of their problems start with their inability to move it. Right? They kind of

get stuck around the boards and up the wall and guys are stretched out and there's a gap between the forwards and the defense and all stuff that doesn't lend itself to good defense of play. So I put most of it on the players, but yeah, I mean, I think some of is that. And maybe Craig Rubay wants to play a certain way. They thought they built

a team that could build that. As I said many times, dump and chase is good. You can dump it. You got to chase it. And to chase it, you've got to be fast. That's why, over the weekend, the most effective line was the one that had Bobby McMahon and Nick Robertson.

Why? Because they can skate. Because they at least get around the puck at the right time. The other guys unfortunately have been a little slow. And so the dump and chase stuff doesn't work very well for those guys because they can't stop the other team from getting out. So, you know, there's a lot of different stuff going on right now. But yes, I think the coaching staff has to be scouring their system play book. Say like, okay, what can we do differently here?

Like we need clearly to be better. We need, I think, to help our defense not only defend off the rush, but also break the puck out. How do we get them to do that better? Given the talent we have, Yes, TANF could come back. That will make things much better. But this is the group. Again, this is the group. Although I do, I'm not advocating for anyone to miss time. And I thought Philippe Myers was a pretty effective replacement guy there, kind of, you know, as a seventh guy last year.

It's been real tough. It's enough. Real, real tough. Well, let's not just throw him on an island because Brandon Carlo, who's a veteran guy, real tough on him and Jake McCabe as well. Yeah. Benoit. You put that four pack, you just mentioned. all basically in there. It is real tough

right in back. Morgan Riley has been on the eyes for more five-on-five goals than anyone in the league, but like two guys. So like it's tricky because the best players for Toronto are offensively minded players. And when you look at their numbers, like, what are you going to say? Do more Willie? Do more J.T.? Do more

Matthew Nyes? Do more Morgan Riley? Not offensively. No, they can never do more than they're doing right now. but it's still not contributing to a winning repeatable game. So whether that means they've got to peel back those offensive numbers. But yeah, you're right. Brandon Carlo, he has beat the puck up a few times, unfortunately. Morgan Riley's had some tough reads.

You know, Jake McCabe, I think at this point, because he's so competitive, he's falling in the trap of trying to do too much, trying to make really tough passes, pop to the middle. You know, we saw the Carolina goal where everyone's like, that's not a good pass to make in that spot. But I think that's borne out of him saying, we struggle.

We got to get the puck on the forward tapes. And he's making bad decisions trying to do too much, which again, with good intentions, with bad execution. Yeah, I think it's everyone hazy. I think it's the players. I think it's the coaches. I think it's the general manager. Like, this is the group. What are we looking like when we play well?

We don't ever see it. Like we see flashes of brilliance because their players are brilliant. Because William Nealander is incredible. and they're scoring a boatload of goals but the system play is just, it's left wanting way too much. Johnny, like in your time

doing the games, have you ever seen so many odd man rushes and breakaways against? Like, it's crazy stuff. Like, that hill to be back there, he must be like, what league is this? Yeah, poor guy. Is this an all-star game? What are we doing right now?

Like, why are there so many breakaways? He steps in, and, you know, I'm not, you know, maybe he won't like hearing this, like, you know,

when the backup goes in or a guy gets pulled and you put in the guy cold, you hear a lot of like, you got to go protect the goal. I never really worried about that. I'm like, hey,

he's in the game, like, well, the game normally, but, you know, he's also like, his first two shots

were like a two-on-one short-handed that he had to make a great sprawling safe and then like a pastor knock breakaway. And you're like, well, give him a fighting chance. This is the first minute of the second period. And,

I mean, that is, I mean, Johnny, I was hazy. All I could have is flashbacks of the dump tip that he beat the Leafs on in the playoffs two years ago. That's almost the same corner. I don't know. The same corner now he picked up the pit.

You know, same fit. Yeah, you're right. He was pointing for it. He wanted it. He was pointing for it. And Johnny, the funny part about it is I was watching the broadcast. You were talking about them giving up breakways as they went in on a breakway. Flat out.

You were like insane. It was like Ray talking about Who was in that? Bernier when he gave up Yeah, Jonathan Bernier. That was the All-Dur-Eckman-Marcin. And then Ekvin-Marcin scores from the fifth row. Yeah.

It's tough. It's tough. Yeah. And I don't know. Noodle's like, again, we don't know what's wrong with Stollars. He clearly is struggling. He clearly is not feeling good about his game. If it was me, I've never been a backup goalie.

If it was me and I just got pulled for the second game in a row. Like, even if I got to have, like, a stim machine under my jersey, I think I want to go sit on the bench. If only to show that I'm still here, guys. Like, I'm not bailing, and I'm not accusing him of doing that. I don't know what's going on with him, but, like, you know, give Hill to be some support. He's in his ninth game of his life. No kidding. Dumped in the middle of a game again. Um, you know, so, and so maybe he was getting treatment. But, like, again, I, I just, a lot of stuff sort of swirling around right now for this team.

and then they went, what do they have, LA tomorrow? Yep. L.A.'s incredible on the road. They don't, they do not lose. They've lost, like, one game on the road so far this year. So it's not going to get any easier. And I thought, guys, during the game last night, oh, you're, you know, you're listening along. And when you, now with Matthews Hurd, if you're going to play Nyes, Tavares, and Nielander, that is all your eggs in one line.

That's it. There is no fourth guy to balance out anybody else. You're not splitting them two and two. They're all three and one. I almost wonder if that somehow empowers the other guys. Like, we got to do something. We can't be non-factors in the games and wait for our star guys to do it. Because we only have one line.

One line of star players now with Matthews being out if he's not playing. And I wonder if that somehow forces them to feel like they take more ownership of what's happening. Or better for worse, because I think right now, a lot of what's happening, happening is the other guys are chopping up the minutes and hope for the big guy's score. And I think that's not a way to survive and their players are probably better than that. So I don't know what the line combos are.

I don't know who's getting called up, who's coming in, but maybe if you're spinning it positively, can you take the challenge and be like, all right, we got to be better because we can't let just the three guys on the one line try to do it. Yeah. All right, we'll see. L.A. tomorrow. It'll be a fun one.

We'll be in Winnipeg. We've got to find that game somewhere in Winnipeg. We've got to be, they'll You end with an oof. Yeah. A little sports bar. Can you throw on the Leafs game? And say, hey, get the Leaf Game up, please? Yeah.

They'll love that. They cannot wait for us to roll through town with that request. We'll let you know. Is it cold there, boys? I think it's actually pretty nice. Is it cold in Winnipeg? No, it's decent. Yeah, I think it's plus two, plus three, sunny.

Beautiful. Beautiful. It's actually nicer. It's nicer than it is. You know, Ottawa is one. Yeah, exactly. Toronto's four degrees. Winnipeg is four degrees.

Perfect. It looks like it's going to be good. I love it, man. Summer weather. Can't be. Enjoy the nap on the plane. I will. Nothing better than a good sleep on a plane.

I am, if I'm not asleep before we take off, something bad's happening. I totally agree. That's how we do it. Wheels up, and I'm out. Cannot wait. Full update tomorrow.

Thanks, Johnny. All right, boys. I'm good night. Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline, get in and go where adventures take you in a new 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall

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