OverDrive - Johnson on Woll's return to the net, Cowan to the AHL and the Blues making deals

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' winning start to November, Easton Cowan going to the AHL and how he feels, Joseph Woll's return to the team, the Blues potentially making deals, Ryan O'Reilly's comments on himself and more.

Looking for a job, but not sure where to start. The Career Foundation is here to help. We support people from all backgrounds with job search, skills training, career counseling, and more. We also connect you with top employers ready to hire, all at no cost to you. Whether you're starting out, changing careers, or returning to work, we're with you every step of the way. Connect with us today. Visit CareerFoundation.com. That's CareerFoundation.com. Changing lives, one job at a time.

TSN Hockey Analyst joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Oh, yeah, there he is. Mike, rookie parties, Halloween parties, Christmas parties. What was number one for you in your NHL career? I think early on it was the rookie party, rookie dinner, whatever you want to call it, the rookie night. And unfortunately, when we were going through it, guys, there was no cap. I wish there was a $5,000 cap on those parties, but no, there was none. And then by the end, it morphed into Halloween.

Halloween became the biggest team function of the year. The biggest sort of social night party always turned out to be a Halloween party. Yeah, that's the thing. To me, there's always a star, too, Johnny. Like, it's somebody who's not, you know, a big name. It's the quiet guy or whatever. We had a few guys on our team that were quiet, and then all of a sudden you get a few drinks into them,

and they're climbing the walls or doing whatever they have to do. And one guy we called, after our parties, it was always Frank the Tank. We had a Frank the Tank on our team that just enjoyed himself. Like this guy would go crazy. And we loved it because, you know, one time our Christmas party, his wife dropped him off at like 4 o'clock at my house. So we had a pre-party before the party, and this guy put a clinic on. It was unbelievable. He was mixing margaritas in my kitchen at like 5 o'clock.

Like, you forgot to put the lid on, and it exploded everywhere. It was a gong show, but that's the stuff you remember. Like, I was laughing about it with a buddy today. And, you know, these parties are, I don't know if they can do them now. They have to do them behind closed doors and no camera phones and all these types of things. Now there's rules to them, right? Yeah, I mean, our parties used to just be at a restaurant, then the bar. That's kind of where I would go.

Now I can't imagine if it's a restaurant, it's a private restaurant. restaurant or a private room, if it's a bar, it's probably not open to the public, whatever it might be. The whole dynamic would be different, but it's... There's always somebody that could sneak in a pick, Johnny. Like, you just see the picks everywhere. Like, whenever the Leafs are eliminated and they're golfing, there's always somebody on staff that takes a pick of them sitting around saying, and that picture circulates every year. There they are.

There's the Leafs. Somebody's always taking a pick. His full Camel gear on by the first tee box. You got a long, long-range lens photo, get a picture. Look at these losers taking pick golfing already. I'm like, enough already. Let them live their lives. But yeah, it would be a different dynamic.

But hey, who knows? Maybe that's the key to their good November. They're off to another good November. Oh, you've been saying it that Hayes has been saying, don't worry, don't worry. November is coming. They'll be fine. I was skeptical. Me too, too.

But they look better. Not like they're just winning, but they're looking better while doing it. And that's both encouraging and, a little surprising. Johnny, let me ask you this. Are you still skeptical? To what degree are you still skeptical? Because I still am, a little bit.

I am too. Yeah, I think I'm still a little skeptical. Yeah. I absolutely am. I mean, they won a few games, not against, I mean, that are now in the playoffs, but maybe not against the best teams in the league. I still worry about their depth.

I still worry about the overall pace. If their defense can't sort itself out, especially with Chris Tandev's injury, that is also a concern. Yeah, I'm a little skeptical that it will be as good as last year. Even if they were to win a division, I don't think they would have as many points. The whole thing just still feels, I'm not sure, it's not still going to be a more difficult season this year than last. Johnny, I want to ask you about Easton Cowan.

What does it mean for his standing right now? Like, he's got to be disappointed. Usually, when we talked about it yesterday, a player of that status that has the success in the OHL, and I know everybody is different. We all played against guys that were just ultra-studs, and it didn't work out somehow. And I'm not saying that's the case for this guy. But he's got to be looking at that kid in Pittsburgh, Kindle, and be like, that guy's in the NHL, and he just got drafted this year, and I'm in the H.L.

What do you think his mindset is, and what do you think about the whole deal of him being in the American Hockey League right now? Well, if he's being honest with himself, he'd say, I'd have a better chance to be in the NHL if I play for Pittsburgh. I play for a good team. I play with a team with a lot of contracts, and that's going to squeeze me. out. Oh, the gut reaction, the human one, the normal one would be that he'd be pissed off. Like, you know, I made the team.

I played better than the guys behind me, and I'm in the minors, not because I don't deserve to be in the NHL ahead of some of these guys, it's because they could put me here without going through waivers, and I'm the easiest guy to move down when they need a spot, and that both stinks, but that's also the

reality of your life on an entry-level deal in an organization like the Toronto Maple Leafs. And eventually, you'd hope whether it's trades or whatever happens that they clear out some of those bodies so that the best 22 skaters will be in the NHL but until that times happens he has to go to the minors.

But then you think, Johnny, that he was going to be good enough to force somebody out? Did you not think he would play well enough? Because you know what it's like? If you're good enough, you're taking somebody's position and they're going to find a way to get rid of somebody else. Did you not think that that was going to happen? He wasn't good enough by enough of a margin, right?

He was good enough to knock those guys out of the lineup up when they had injuries and guys weren't available. But when everyone's available, I guess he wasn't good enough to put how the yard croak on waivers to force that to happen. And I'm not sure why that would be the case one way or the other, but that's his reality.

He wasn't good enough by enough. And that would be disappointing to him. But, oh, I don't think he, I mean, he's been good, he's been solid. He's been, he's been good, he's been fine. But he's not so impactful that the team is no, noticeably worse or better with him in or out of the light of some games he looks a bit better some games dick robertson's better some games a bit better some dames lawrence is better and that's too close of a margin for a guy who doesn't need waivers so you know if you work the numbers i'm sure he has with his ages everyone else he knew that this was coming and ideally after getting over the disappointment he would go to the marlies and say all right i'm the best player here

I'm going to play 22 minutes again I'm playing two minutes of every power play I'm playing first line minutes I'm going to go back to being the kind of player and the kind of role that I was in London and do the same things I did in London in the American League so that when he gets back to the NHL

which he will I would imagine before Christmas he'll be better served and better repaired to be to be better when he gets back to the lease as long as he gets over the disappointment now that would be hard to do but if he does then he is probably not a bad thing for his career to go there and be the best player.

What about Joseph Wall? I mean, you know, it's obviously with Primo going on waivers, now you've got Wall coming back, he's going to go to the H.L. You know, what do you make of his whole story and coming back? We were talking about in the 4 o'clock hour. It's been great that it's been able to, he's been able to have some privacy to himself to deal with that. And now he can come back and hit the ground running.

I thought, Kate, you know, I don't know if the media's job is to respect that his request for privacy, but I'm glad that for whatever reason it happened, where whatever's going on in his life, nobody really knows, nobody really talked about, nobody really dug it out to find out. I thought his statement, was it whatever yesterday, to the media, I thought it was a master class, thanking the organization, thanking his teammates, thanking the media for respecting his privacy. Brilliant. Then made it very clear. If I decide that I want to talk to about it, I will initiate that conversation. Nobody asked me about it because it's not going to be talked about unless I bring it up. It's like he nipped in the bud. No one will bring it up again. He thanked the media for their concern and his privacy. He thanked his teammates. And on he went about focusing on the future. I thought that was really smart. And now for him, whatever he's been going through, hopefully he's through it and he's in a good spot. And he can just focus on the future. and not have whatever was going on impact him in a negative way. So it's good.

They need him back. Noodles, you have been clear since day one. When I was so bullish on Stolars and like he's a top five going the league, he has been the last two years, you always said, yeah, but that's not as a starter.

It's always been as a backup or a 1B and it's a different existence. You always said that. And I'm like, yeah, whatever, 45 games, 35 games. Who cares? It's the same thing. And you're like, nope, not the same physically, not the same mentally. and I think you're right, not that Stollars can't do it, but I think he needs occasional support

and not playing nine of 11 games and mixing in days off and rest days and rehab days and he'll be better forward. So I think both goalies, the entire goaltending situation gets better once Joseph Wallace back up and running. And my point with it, Johnny, and we both can agree on it,

it's a different animal that 10 to 15 extra starts where you're not getting that rest, where everything's kind of squeezed in. I think Stolars is a fantastic goaltender. But last year, he had the luxury where if he had maybe an iffy start, which was rare, he might have had three or four days to recover from it, you know, to detail his game or rest and get up for the next one. It hasn't been the case this year. It's like, hey, you're playing two days later.

You're playing, you know, like right away because there hasn't been an option to go to. When Joseph Wall gets healthy and he's healthy, he just needs to get back into shape, game shape, that's when you're going to see them push for the net. And I'm excited to see what Joseph Wall has now, what he has now, because I want to see what his ceiling at the NHL level is. We know what Anthony Stolars is, but I want to see what Joseph Wall can do. He played in 44 games, I believe it was last year. If he can give some quality minutes, now you've got that tandem that's really strong. That helps the team.

That puts the team at another level when we are talking about a team that is different this year than last year. Yeah, maybe needs better goal-titting. And if I'm Joseph Wall, while I'm going to be supportive of everyone and supportive of Stollars and be a duo, I'm not just going to concede the net. Like, I'm not saying he's the guy. I'm the support guy. He's the start around the back. I'm not going with that attitude into the start of his season.

I'm going to go in there and say, going to play as well as I can. And if that earns me the 1A designation as opposed to 1B, then I'll take it. Because I think everyone is curious to see Joseph Wall at his best, consistently good. Can he be that 1A as opposed to the 1B that he was perhaps last year? TSN hockey analyst Mike Johnson with us here on Overdrive. We've been talking a lot about Nazim Cadry, the potential of him being on the trade block in Calgary.

And then the St. Louis Blues decide last night to scratch Jordan Cairo who makes $8.1 million on a long-term deal. There's a lot of buzz around the blues. And, of course, remember last year we talked a lot about Braden Shen potentially being on the block. Could everything point towards St. Louis come trade deadline, Mike? Maybe that's the team that could be looking to make some serious deals.

Yeah, that'll be good by then. Or I wonder if they wait to the trade deadline. Like, I think Doug Armstrong wants his team to be good. And if he's going to shake it up, he doesn't want to wait until they're into February, and it's too late. So if they're going to go big, which a Jordan Kairu trade would be, then you better go early to give your team time to make up the lost ground.

They're in last place in the whole league, even though they won last night. Maybe they're not anymore, but they were in last place in the entire league. So Kairu's a good player. He would have suitors. He's underterm. If you're a team that wants to acquire guy and control that guy for a few years, what a nice asset he would be. I keep looking at Montreal.

They got the cash. They got good young players and prospects. they could make that deal and they want to be much better and a gaping hole whether it's Nazim Kadri or Jordan Cairo or whoever a guy like that gets into Montreal

in that roster it's a dangerous situation for the rest of the teams the Atlantic so I don't know if Cairo is going to go would they even wait to the deadline I think they would go before that to try to give the team the jolt they're looking for

Johnny what did you I found this some concerning comments post game from two different players last night, one being Dobish, and one being Ryan O'Reilly, who is beloved by everybody in the game. Like, have you ever heard stuff like that?

Not only from one guy, but from two different guys. I mean, the O'Reilly one, I had one good year. I mean, come on, Ryan. Like, you've been a great player for a long time. He's like, I can't make a six-foot pass. I suck. I'm like, I get falling on the sword. I get being hard on yourself. I think we all are to some degree.

whether it's publicly or privately. I don't know if that's the healthiest mentally, but whatever works for him, he's obviously had a great career, but it feels like that's not that good for you mentally to beat yourself up publicly in that regard. Let's be real about Nashville. They stink.

Like, sorry, that's two years in a row. Nashville stinks, man. And it's not his fault. No. It is not very good. So, and everyone, when he says that, everyone's going to jump to his defense. are like no no

he's obviously going through a tough stretch but he's way better than he's letting on so that is part of the conversation the doverish one to me I you know athletes get criticized the Leafs get criticized for being like too cool for school not showing enough

emotion in their responses to whatever it might be I guess it's refreshing to see a player show visibly that he cares as much as fans who probably want him to care So I'm not going to criticize for that. I would want to have a conversation saying, listen,

hockey's a tough game. It's not always going to go well. And you've got to be ready. You're the third star of the month. You haven't lost this year. Like, there's not a lot to be upset if you're Yakub Dobish. So is this the best way to get you ready to be good again? Not, don't be emotional.

I'm not going to tell them not to care. You know, I'm not even going to tell them not to get, you know, teary-eyed in an interview. I would want to have a conversation if you're going to play into, days is that emotion is that energy you're expending is that a good use of what you have available to you and my answer would probably be no maybe there's a better way to to work through those feelings of disappointment of losing a game or thinking you're not playing well because that would wear on you if your highs are so high but then your lows go so low that is exhausting and that idea of being

even kill especially for a goalie especially in Montreal you'd want you think it'd be better for him just to be a little bit more even keel to the good and the bad. But, yeah, I'm not going to tell them how to react. I just would have a conversation, hey, we're here to support you, but that's wasted energy. That game is gone. We need you to be refreshed and focused on the next one. Mike, I want to go back to Nashville, and I'm totally with Owen. He says that team's no good, and that's been pretty apparent now for two years.

Stamcoast, I think, is an interesting one, and that he's got a couple years left on his deal, $8 million per. Let's say he was open to a trade. How attractive is he on the open market to teams looking for helping their top six? If I'm Tampa, I'd do it. If they're going to eat half? You're not taking him an ace.

No, no, no, no, no. Eating half, I mean, that's a pretty, that's a big ticket to eat. I mean, you'd have to give up something pretty good if you're eating half for $4 million for Stamco's. I just want to bring him into the fold for one reason, and for Kucharoff to feed him over one-timers and let him go to town. Because the kid they brought in from Seattle is a nice player,

but Stephen Stamcoast can shoot the puck better. Yeah, but I mean, what's happened is they've got Gensel there now. Like, they've replaced him. I get it. He's a left-handed shot. He's a left-hand shot. But they might have really moved on where there's like, no way, man. I think you're looking at teams that is Stamcoast, would he,

I think the conversation should be in MJH to you. Ken Stamco is playing a top six for you Or would you rather see him in a top nine? He's 35 years old So are you going to get what you believe out of it To trade for him as a top six Or trade for him as a support guy Who could score and is still a heck of a player

I think at this point Top 9 and a Power Play guy Would be more likely what you're acquiring And if I'm the idea if I'm talking to Nashville Okay if I'm taking on the whole contract one, I understand Stamco's would have to wait but I'm taking on that entire contract the what National is getting

is out of the contract they don't need an asset back they can get Freddie Charles they can get from future considerations and be out of the contract now if National is eating $2 million a year $3 million a year

and then Stam are at five I mean didn't have 27 goals last year or something but yeah it's been a tough start but he's not a dog like he can still score points so a guy like that with get you 25 goals and 50 points for 4 million dollars that is a steal an absolute bargain so make no mistake he's still at the right number makes a lot of sense but i don't think you're bringing

him in he doesn't drive play anymore he's got to be with good players so you need the right systems for him to play in you know if you're the leifs you want to you know top four winger does he make a lot of sense there like him and tavares i don't yeah i don't know if that makes sense but i think a top nine offensive specialist with National leading some money. Yeah, a lot of teams would like that guy. And I don't think it's even that complicated a deal other than getting

Stamco's to agree to go a different team. Because he's going to be picky about where he goes with his family, which he has earned the right to be. But other than that, I don't think Nashville would want a whole bunch of anything, really, to get Stamco's off the roster. Johnny, are you lying on a bed in a hotel room at the end of the bed?

I feel like you've got like your elbows on the end of the bed and your chin and your I'm on a desk. You know how hard it is to set up stuff in a hotel room? Believe me, we do it every night. It's so frustrating. Trying to get the right angle. You don't want to see, like, you know, you don't want something invisible in the background.

That's the bathroom doors open. That's when you send a note saying, guys, I just can't make this happen today. Zoom's down. The best part, oh, if I'm being honest, I did have a little rig here. I have a warning on my phone that comes on 10. 10 minutes before my overdrive appearances. I was sound asleep when that morning came up. So this is a seven-minute turnaround to get to this spot.

I think I've done okay. I think you've been great. Dude, it's incredible. It's incredible. Terrific work, Mike, as always. Thank you for doing this. I appreciate that, boys. All right.

Have a good weekend. You too. That's TSN hockey analyst Mike Johnson joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Get in and go where adventure takes you in a new 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall. Visit MapleToyota.com. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious, this weekend gaming is the podcast for you.

We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond. The hottest gaming news, insight and industry leaders, and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates. Even if you're a total newbie. stream this week in gaming on the free iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts quest complete