OverDrive - Johnson on the Maple Leafs without Marner, Toronto's first line and McDavid's future with the Oilers

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the start of NHL training camps, the Maple Leafs moving on without Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews' integral role on the roster, the first line of the team and the depth scoring, Connor McDavid's future with the Oilers, his point totals and more.

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Loud, crowd, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Mike Johnson, our TSN Hockey Analyst, joining us here in the Maple Toyota Hotline. What do you think that's going to feel like the downfall of Florida? Because it's going to happen at some point. I'm not anticipating it'll be this year, Johnny, but in the next two or three years, they're going to lose,

and things are going to go against them. Do you think that's going to be celebrated league-wide or what? I mean, maybe, guys. Like, they haven't been great for that long. You know what I mean? Like, obviously, they're incredible back-to-back champs three in a row. But they haven't been like a decade of excellence that have worn you down. It's just sort of like the way they play and the way that has success,

I think the league will be happy that they're no longer someone that they have to compete with. But you mentioned the Patriots that sort of being celebrated. Like the Boston Bruins were sort of the Patriots, right? 15 years, they were incredible, always a threat. They won a cup. They got to a final. Now they're just another team. I don't know if the league and fans are celebrating the Bruins downfall.

Maybe they're not quite as antagonistic as Florida. But, yeah, I mean, I just haven't been around long enough. It's a bother fan enough that it will last for very long, I don't think. How do you handicap the chances of them, Johnny, like doing damage again and not caring about home ice and just ripping it off again? Is that possible? Four cup finals in a row? you'd never think so, right?

The cola takes and Matthew Kachuk's going to miss whatever half the year. He's going to come back and play in the Olympics. But I guess they have a good chance. They showed us last year. They showed us down the stretch. They don't care about home ice. They have returned the bulk of their players, including Marchand. If healthy, I know they're a year older and they are getting a bit older,

but if healthy and their goaltending is good, again, they're probably not a team that anybody at all wants to face the playoffs. So if they went into the first round, wherever they were seated, and if they were healthy, they would be the favorite in every single series they play in all the way to the Stanley Cup final.

So, again, I take the house and not just, I take the field, but not just Florida. But yeah, they're definitely doable which blows your mind, given how hard it is to get to one, let alone three,

let alone maybe four. Johnny Camp's opening up today, guys saying their best shape of their career, all of that type of stuff. We hear that all the time. When you look at this Leaves team, you know, outside of, with Mitch Marner not in the mix, is there, you know, something or somebody that you're focusing on

that either will bridge the gap or they play a little bit differently? Like, you know, their powers, how's the power play going to look? What's their penalty kill? Who's the first guy out? That type of stuff. Is it, are there answers within? Are they going to have to, is Tree going to have to get creative here early on in the season? So the guy, and it sort of ties into perhaps the powerplay,

the one storyline that I am curious to watch throughout camp and into the regular season and how the season starts, it's Morgan Riley. And I think Morgan Riley had a decent year last year. He lost his job on the first power play unit, so you still have 41 points or whatever it was. But I think the perception was that, that his play slipped a bit.

It wasn't where he wanted to be. It wasn't where the least wanted to be. And again, best shape of your life. I don't know what kind of shape Mo is in. But I have heard that he has sort of a re-energized focus and purpose and sort of challenged to himself to be better than he was last year. And if you put him back on the first power play, which he has put it back to being a top five power play for two, three, four years before last year.

And all of a sudden, you know, he's getting some of those easy points for the power play. You know, does that help him play five-on-five? Does it matter if he puts up 65 or 70 points with the powerplay help? He's one guy that I'm going to be watching. And now I'm not going to say he's got to go prove he's like a top 10 defense in the league because he's not bad. And I don't even know if he has to prove that he's the best defenseman on the Maple Leafs because they're so situationally specific. Like, Pristan has always going to be a better defensive defenseman.

But more than Ryan, he's got to be a play-driving guy who won't hurt you. I'm curious to watch his season and Mitch gone I want to be positive we're going to be positive but like

you know if people want to look to find someone to be annoyed with you know Morgan Riley might be unfortunately one of those guys if it doesn't go well Hayes was talking about

Mitch and his name coming up is today the last time we're going to hear Mitch Marner or is there like one period into an intermission and his name is going to come up Johnny so I mean I guess obviously when they play Vegas that'll be it but oh if their power play starts out like two for 32 or if Austin's got three goals after 14 games then I think it's a thing that will be discussed until they show that they are not significantly impacted by his departure of course they're going to be but if it's to the point where either individually or as a team they're not having a similar kind of success that they had before he left

then he probably does get, you know, mentioned a little bit and what his absence means to the guys that are still here. Who do you think has a better team as of today, Vegas or Toronto? That's a good question. Day one, man, I'm throwing curboles out of you, Johnny. I'm in mid-season form. I'm like, well, hang on. You don't remember what did Vegas do again this summer?

You got to try to rack the back. Well, they lost Patrangelo and added more. I mean, that's kind of the big, those are massive transactions. They're pretty simpler. If I had to pick, I would pick Toronto have a better year because Toronto, I know, I think the Pacific might be petty, you know, some of the top teams of the Pacific. But I just, yeah, I think they're both the same. They're both going to be around 100-point teams.

They both are going to be Stanley Cup contenders. They both probably, you know, have a few question marks, maybe some depth. scoring might be an issue for both sides. Yeah, I think, and a lot of my answers for the next two months, Hazie, are going to be, sort of depends what Austin Matthews does. Yeah. Like, I think so much of this year, sort of depends on what Austin Matthews does. And if he's healthy, and if he can get back to being a top five guy

and the best goal score in the world, then the Leafs are probably better. If he's not that, either because of health or production or missing Mitch Marner, then probably Vegas is better. Yeah, I think that's reasonable. I mean, Vegas just kind of hums along, but the least do, too. The least have made the place nine years in a row. Nine years are all, right? Longest streak in the league.

To think about, like, the, what was it? The ego gate or the Jersey gate, the angles of it? Like, the lease are a long way from that. Yes, they haven't had great success, but they've been a model of consistency in the regular season for a decade. Yes. Yeah, they have. And I anticipate that I'll continue.

I mean, the adjustment without Marner is going to be significant. You know, he's a big piece of their puzzle, and he has been for all those nine years, and, you know, he plays in every situation, and they did not fill his role. They don't. They have Max Thomey or Matthias Michelli as the likely, you know, replacements on that line.

So it's a natural... How are we feeling about Max there? How are we feeling about Max there? Because I think Mac's going to get the first look. Yeah. It stings that he's not even 100% healthy. They want to camp, but still. The season starts in a few weeks, so he's got time.

Because if he doesn't play there, you start moving the pieces around. It's, you know, it's harder to find spots if Max is not playing in the top six, given the other players and maybe what they can do and maybe what they can't do. So he's another important player that he sort of sorts it out, either with Tavares or with Matthews. But, yeah, I mean, everyone's got to get a little bit better. I think ideally the way the least the same. set up that Austin and John

Tavares don't have to take quite as much defensively, which they have both carried a lot of the last couple years, which is not ideal. If you got Nick Waugh down there and Scott Lawton, if that's your third and fourth, let them chew on the defense. Let them take the tough face assignments and face off

and free up the top guys. And Matthews being healthy and going from 30, whatever he's three, who's at, to 53 or 20 goals you need to come back. Like, yeah, those are going to be and it's going to be all those little things to make up for the loss of Mitch and his hundred points. Yeah.

You're going to go, Jamie? No, I was going to say, there's guys just fighting through that. You know, the biggest thing is there might be somebody that surprises out of training camp. You know, if Easton Cowan settles in, maybe he settles in a little farther down in the lineup, but pushes up. But, you know, there's Machelli, by all accounts, Johnny, is a guy who distributes the puckwell. He doesn't have to be Mitch, but he can be a nice player. And, you know, again, you can do it by committee. You know, that's the other thing is this team might have to learn to,

hey, we do need production from a third line. Hey, we do need, you know, our fourth line did not just go out there and kill time. Like, we do need some. Like, that's the one thing that I think I'm more looking forward to is how Craig Barubi runs his team a little bit differently now, where we don't have to have one set of rules for one group and another set for the others. It's like everybody plays the same way. tried to get to that last year, had pockets of it,

but, you know, I think with more of a balanced lineup, you might see more of a balanced attack. You'd hope. My only fear is this, Noodles, is that if, like, what allows Florida to win that series against Toronto? It's their third line, really, right?

Right. Third line production, what Marchand turned that Lundell line into when he showed up. And so, like, I love all the players that play on the bottom six for Toronto, Joshua, McMahon, Waugh, Lawton, Lawrence,

they are all good players. They're all players that are certainly good, productive players. Are they going to be able to score? Like, at some level, I'm a little concerned about goals from that part of lineup. And maybe I'm proven wrong. Maybe they all get 15, 18, mostly even straight goals, and that turns them into a very, you know, much more productive. But I just, in a league that's getting faster and more offensive and more offensive depths,

I just, I need to see if those guys can play that way or will the offense sort of dry up if Matthews or Tavares aren't on the ice. And that, like, that's a legitimate concern. And I think that's something that's, again, they'll have to sort it through as they go along. Johnny, what do you think McJesus is doing to the oil fence? Like, is he causing a stir or what's going on? He's called an aneurysms lesson, right. I mean, like, I point like it.

I point, not that he hasn't signed, I don't care about that. But I just like the fact, though, that he's willing to sit there and say, answer the question honestly, frankly, and not try to placate the home crowd by saying, you know what, I want to be here, I love it here, we're just working through it. He's calling it like it is. He believes that they can win this year. He is 100% committed to winning in Edmonton this year. He needs to know that one of the oldest rosters in the league that is capped out to the max is going to be good with him making 17.

$18 million going forward for the next half decade. That's what he wants to see. I think everyone's like, what did he want to see? I think that's what it is. Like how do they sort of re-enforce or introduce more young players that aren't Broberg or Holloway or McLeod, the guys they lost would have been the guys

but if it's the boy or that Mike Howard or whoever it might be like what does that look like for him and I still think it's far more likely than not that he resigns. I also think it's far more likely than not that he doesn't resign for six years. If he does resign, it'll be a sort of two, three, four year thing,

and then he'll get back to it. But I get the nervousness, but what can you say to the guy? He's given you, what, 10 years now? This will be his 11th year of being the best player in the world, basically every single year. He's been incredible in the playoffs. He's embraced with his family, the market. You can't really criticize him, although I'm seeing a little bit of it,

sort of like, if he doesn't want to resign, get rid of him. Like, I don't know if you want to go down that road. He's given you everything you could possibly ask for. But I get ding nervy because you want him signed and you want them comfortably signed for another eight years. It just seems to put so much pressure on the whole organization, which I appreciate. And if that's a part of his mentality.

I think the players hayes, you're like, I better be good or McDavid's going to be. Yeah. Like, if you're an old guy cruising around, like, and you get injured, you're like, man, McDavid's going to hold this against me. He's leaving. What about Stu Skinner? No kidding.

Stu Skinner goes out there and he's, you know, he's blowing like an 826 percentage through November. McDavid is like, I'm looking for real estate somewhere else. I think Conner's camp is thinking like that is, right? Like, Connor's going to be fine with the pressure. Do you think he's going to melt? Do you think he's going to fold?

No. Right? No. Like, he's not going to struggle without a contract. So if players, and I don't think the players look at that bad, but the organizations feel the pressure, well, that's fine. Like, answer the call, rise to the challenge. If they're great, if these young players, they believe in,

it turn up to be fantastic, and they're like, yeah, I can play with that Ike Howard for the next seven years, and he'll grab 30 goals every year. Like, the flip side is, if it works, then you got him for another decade. So look at the upside, not just the downside. Yeah, he's got to put some pressure on himself, too, Johnny, don't you think? like McDavid, like, listen, he's been the best player in the world and all of that,

but they've been in game seven and game six, and it's been quiet in those games, right, against Florida. Yeah, but what pressure does he have with this kind of contract thing, noodles? He's just going to go out there and do it. Well, I'm not saying he's playing for a contract. What I'm saying is he wants to win a Stanley Cup in Edmonton, and yes, everyone's saying, well, he drags it, he drags everybody to it.

I mean, dry-siddle was better. better than him last year. Like, you know, if you look from start to finish, dry side out a better season than him. Yes, there was injuries, all of that type of stuff. But, you know, I think, you know, McDavid is a guy who's got tremendous pride. He wants to finish the job there.

He might just, like I say, he might be, say, I'm going to sign, but I want to win here in Evanton, and if I win, all bets are off. But I look at it, I think he's going to put a lot of pressure on himself internally to finish the job. That was my point with that. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I mean, he won a con Smythe on a losing team.

So it was tough to say that, you know, he didn't get it done in the playoffs two years ago. But he also said, noodles, whatever we had last year, we had 24 goals. What do you have, like, a really low number? And he's like, that's not enough, right? He said it out loud, like, that's not a good season, that's no good, he's got to be better. So you wonder if he goes on, you know, Crosby sort of 26 he had last year. when Crosby scored that one year

we had 50-something goals like you wonder if he set his mind to it like he did a couple years ago when McDavid had 64 goals like that is something that he tried to do more of as well

so yeah I mean he's he had 33 points in 22 games last year in the playoffs so it's like he's done it's hard to criticize

really sort of anything he's done on the ice you know other than sort of scoring a hat-tricking game 7 to make sure they win that one. And he's going to be fine. Wherever he goes, he's going to be just fine.

What did you get for a point total this year? We all had to do those top 50. Yeah, I was like in the 130s, I think, or something like that, like a 40-46-88 or something like that, like 134, something like that. Hayes, where were you? I was higher. You were higher than that. Wow, I was nowhere close to that.

What did you say? I think I had 40-something goals, like 116. 115 points I think I had like a hundred higher than that I think I had 151 He's not 151 He's not He'll never do that again in his career

I'd be willing to put a lot of money on that Oh yeah? I didn't never get 150? Never never again We've had this conversation We've had this one before we've had it before But look at history Look at Gretzky, look at Lemieux

Guys going into their 11th year They don't pop in year 11. That's when you're 22, 23, 24. That's when you rack up. When you get this deep in your career, it just doesn't happen. That doesn't mean he's going to finish with 45 points. But I don't see 150, man. That's absurd. That's two points a night. That means, you know, Columbus on a Tuesday, this guy's like playing me 27 minutes. That's not happening. I don't think. That's my personal opinion. But I feel pretty certain of that. I'm not. sure he like this is i'll say this yeah i don't think it's outlandish based on history i'm not sure

he wins a heart ever again because it's tough to do man it's tough to do he's tough to do he's in that argument what young player because all the part candidates are generally around his age it's not like there's a 21 or 22 year old like that guy's going to win it any second now like who's the young guy that's going to knock him like if it's not a defense and Macar Hughes. What forward Kutrov, Drysidel, McKinnon, Osterok, Matthews. They're all the same

sort of generation of player. In fact, he's right in the middle of those guys. So who's a young guy that's going to knock him off so he doesn't win it again? I'd take you on that bet. That's very good question, and it's a very valid point to make, that the guys who are fighting for it are the guys those same guys.

Although Hella Buck won it last year, no one saw that coming. You know, like maybe a defenseman wins it. It's very rare. You don't see that very often. Yeah, you're right. Everybody's kind of lumped up. You're right, the same age group, all of that. The next wave is guys like Salabrini, who else is a young?

Maybe Jack Hughes, if he's healthy, you know, somebody like that, but he's... Sure. I think Jack Hughes is like, obviously good player, but to knock off McDavid for like a heart run, that seems like a stretch, man. It could happen. It happens, so you get your Taylor Halls, you get your Cory Perry years. Yeah, and I find those fun stories, but... I don't know.

If that guy's dialed in and he's pissed off to some degree, it'd be awfully tough to knock off. Yeah. Listen, if he ends up with 150 points, he's winning the heart. Well, yeah. That's for sure. I can guarantee that. Yeah.

That I will guarantee. Yeah, agreed. But anyway. All right. Well, we'll see. We're a few weeks away. We're going to find out very, very soon. All right, Johnny.

Good to have you back in the swing of things. We'll do it again later in the week. All right, fellas. Good to be back with you. Happen to be squeezing your second hour here where you can make it work. I appreciate that. Absolutely. There is. Mike Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline.

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