OverDrive - Johnston on Demidov's arrival in Montreal, the Maple Leafs division position and Tkachuk's injury timeline

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Ivan Demidov signing a deal with the Canadiens, Montreal's team success for the season, the Maple Leafs' injuries of Jake McCabe and David Kampf, Connor McDavid and Brady Tkachuk's injuries and more.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. Here's our TSN hockey insider, Chris Johnston. How you doing, CJ? I'm doing good. I heard Al's brother is wearing the Master's Jack. Yes, sir. And it's authentic. I don't know where he stole that from or where he got it from,

but you got to see this thing It is so beautiful CJ and came signed I don't know. It was a it was a blank note came signed delivered to me and it had EW on it I don't know what that means. Okay, but EW I love that. Yeah, and I love where you're heading with this So yeah, it's a beautiful look CJ. If you haven't seen it live, you got to find it man you got to find it. I'll definitely be looking up the Eldrick Woods jacket that he's rocking. I like it. I didn't know you knew his name was Eldrick. Old friend. Old friend. You and Eldrick are boys from back in the day you guys run hot at Perkins diners back in the day. I have been a Tiger fan for about 30 years. When I was a teenager golfing up my golf course

as a kid, I won some money with the members betting on him winning the U.S. Amateur. So he's had me since about 96 or whatever that was. That's a beautiful thing, man. It sucks that he's not down there this year. And I don't know if we're ever going to see him play the Masters again. You find it's hurting the buzz. Like I feel like, because there's a lot going on in sports and it feels like this week, the Masters week, maybe... It is different when he's not there. It's definitely different when he's not there. How do you feel about that CJ? Yeah, I think unfortunately there's some truth to that. I mean look, I'm a pretty big fan. Like I'm watching even the non-major events. If I'm around on a weekend,

I'm always checking in the Vlero, Texas Open, the Houston tournaments. I mean I'm you know I would say I'm a PGA regular but I do think that you lose just a bit of the casual viewer when he's not there and as much as people used to say they hated that they'd show every shot even when he was in the tournament I just think he was a natural focal point. There's still some stars I mean look Rory's having a great year and I think it'd be a pretty cool story if he found a way to be in the mix on Sunday. There's other good players, but no one's captured the imagination the way Tiger has and with good reason. So it's still a great sport. I bet by Sunday, even people that aren't watching normally will

be tuning in, but it's not quite the same. No, absolutely. I mean, he's still a tuned in but it's not quite the same. No, absolutely. I mean, he's still a needle mover when he's not playing. Like the Golf Channel, they were doing it last night live at the Masters. They had Butch Harmon breaking down video of him swinging as a teenager. Like, it's the first night of the show. Still using it. Still using him as the needle mover.

Live from the Masters, here's Butch Harmon looking at a video of Tiger when he's 16. 30 years ago. Like it has no relevance to anything that's happening and yet, you know, night one of live from they're like we got to get this Tiger video in and so move the needle. Tiger's basically champions to her now even if he is healthy. So I mean it's time marches on fellas. It sure does. Let's I guess begin with the big news in the NHL today. That would be Ivan Demidov making his way to North America and he's left the KHL and the Montreal Canadiens have signed him to an entry level deal. What is the timeline? What should be the expectations here? Because Habs fans are bursting with excitement as I'm sure you're aware of CJ. Like when does he arrive? When could he play and and what is the plan here from a Habs

perspective when it comes to demidov well believe it or not there's still a little bit of mystery about when exactly he's arriving and so I think that the Canadians just in talking the next couple days you know want to want to be careful just about you know making sure they get them out of Russia, get them to North America, obviously, you know, introduce them to the team environment, get them in practice. And so, not entirely clear when you could see them play, but I think it's fair to say that they didn't sign them now just to, you know, have them watch games and be an extra practice. And so, you know, once there's a reasonable amount of time, I think they'll

introduce them slowly and basically get a gauge for where he's at. I mean, you've heard a lot of comparisons to some of the other great Russians of this generation, the Kaprizov's, maybe Michkov, you know, some people think he could be even better than those guys at the same age. And so, you know, I think that the expectations probably should be muted a little bit, but no one's listening to me if I say that. I mean, the vibes in Montreal are already just electric with them making this charge and being now on the verge

where they can get into the playoffs. And just even getting to see now your top prospects play right away, whether it's this week or in two weeks time, I mean, it's gonna be here in the short term and it's gonna be games that really matter. And he's coming out of a KHL season too. So, you know, it's going to be here in the short term and it's going to be games that really matter and he's coming out of a KHL season too. So, you know, it's always he's not

It's not quite the same maybe as even you know an NCAA player like Ryan Leonard who jumped into the Capitals lineup I mean, this is a guy who's been playing pro and played playoff games, you know in Russia until his team was beat out recently so, you know, I think that that he'll you know, he'll be Treated to quite a Montreal welcome here when he gets there and you know this is a pretty exciting time to be around the Canadians. Absolutely and it's fascinating what the Habs have done here really all season like they started so slow they were playing so poorly defensively they were a disaster and then they started chipping away and scoring some more goals and line a showed up after his injury in his rehab and since the Four Nations they've been this team of destiny winning almost every single night and Lane Hudson's gonna win the Calder and now Ivan demedov is here

And I can't help but connect like the the Jeff Gordon arrival Plus his exit from New York, and I know that the Rangers won the president's trophy last year We're in the conference finals, so it's not as if the Rangers just completely collapsed when he left. But if you're if you're being objective about this like I feel like James Dolan might have screwed this up CJ like you push Gordon out he goes to Montreal look what he's building and now Chris Jury's in New York trying to make moves and I don't they're not going to make the playoffs and probably the most disappointing team in the league this year is the Rangers

and they look completely disinterested and I have no idea what they're gonna do in the future. I mean, they have to be the most disappointing both because of the season they had last year, even if you go back to October, the Rangers had a hot start. Like they looked like they were, you know, branched in early days,

but with the first couple weeks of the season then there's no reason I think they wouldn't be among the best teams in the league again. And, and it's just been sour from November on. And, you know, they've obviously had some spurts where they've won games and at least, you know, maintained a spot in this race. But I mean, this wasn't supposed to be a team scratching and clawing, you know, on April 6th, April 7th to get in the playoffs. They were supposed to already

have an ex-present had their name and we'd be talking with who they play. So it's an interesting, I haven't thought of it in that framing, but certainly the arrival of Jeff Gordon and Ken Hughes to Montreal, I mean, those guys are managing the team very well. And I just think of little things that might get forgotten now,

but they got Sean Monahan for a first round pick and traded him for a first round pick shortly afterwards. I mean, they just, they managed their kind of rebuild in a way that now you're getting to see the dividends. You have Slavkovsky on the roster and obviously Caulfield there and then you bring in Demidov in that they have also the best team in the American Hockey League right now and they look about rocket have the top record down there based on some of the prospects. And so they just they appear to be reaching

that critical mass where they have a lot of really good young players and you can't help but think that that's only gonna spill over onto the big roster. I think there'll be a player, I mean, this isn't a great free agent year, but I could see them being a player for, you know, basically some kind of top free agent,

if anyone comes available, or maybe Impact Cent is is on the market for a trade and i think that that this could be a summer you see a canadian make that kind of move because you know not only they can apply out this year i just think they're going to be better wherever they are now they're going to be better next season and for the foreseeable future just because of the age of that the players are introducing the roster

he's a gunny updates for us when it comes to the two Maple Leafs players? I know they're not playing this weekend in McCabe and Camp but like could this be a situation where we don't see them again until the playoffs possibly and could that be a way for them to maneuver around this cap situation they're in? Well I mean there's no real cap benefits so I don't think that's what they play here as much as really just you know being extra careful. I mean, there's no real cap benefits. So I don't think that's what they play here as much as really just, you know, being extra careful. I mean, I'd say especially with McCabe, you know, who's, who's really emerged as an important shutdown defender for them. Um,

you know, I think that they're going to want to just, just no reason to rush anything as much as yeah, they're trying to get as many points in the bank as they can and win the division and all those things. I mean, having Jake McCabe ready to play, you know, some April 20th is what's having Jake McCabe ready to play, you know, some April 20th is what's most important for the Leafs. So, you know, I don't have any reasons, I think it'll actually go all the way to the playoffs,

but they'll just take it day by day and see where those guys are at. I mean, with camp, maybe it's a little different sort of calculation because they do have, you know, other options at forward and they've been scratching players, including him, you know, recently. So, you know, his absence could just be more like hey things are going well why why even put him back in there but they didn't bring another player down to

Florida as far as I know and so you know I think that they'll obviously out to tonight's game and tomorrow and then we'll see where they're at come the weekend but you know there's still a back-to-back Saturday Sunday and in a couple games next week that you know might not end up meeting a whole lot and so we'll see how they use the roster in that situation but the Leafs don't have cap flexibility at this point and so you're not going to see someone like Patch Ready or Hawken Potting to say they're ready anyway but they couldn't be eligible to play before the end of the regular season as it is so kind of what you see is what you get until we get to the playoffs now.

With Chris Johnston or TSN hockey insider So let's play level of concern here Brady Kachuk is out tonight. That's his fifth straight game He's gonna miss and Connor McDavid's not playing and I'm not really hearing a lot on him I'm curious where you stand on that any reason for concern on the status of Kachuk and McDavid in Ottawa and Edmonton respectively? No, I think McDavid, the expectation is he'll be back later this week. So you know I think that he's basically on the verge of his return unless you know something changes but my understanding has been that that you know that he would be

back for this last stretch of games after they finish up their road trip. So I don't think that there's much to be worried about there. I mean, the Kachak one starts to become a bit more of an eyebrow razor only because it was meant to be at one game since last week. It went to two, you know, obviously I've checked in and don't sense any alarm from the people involved. And the senders have managed to win some games without them, which I think, again, you know, reduces maybe some of the pressure because, you know, this time a week ago,

they looked a little less certain than they are today to make the playoffs. And so they've, they've bought him some time, but, you know, this is a different injury than the one he had at four nations, but you know, he missed time during that four nations tournament and a couple of games afterwards with the lower body issue. This is an upper body one. You know, obviously they're trying to get him the rest they can before the playoffs. And so, you know know I think it's one of these things that

the both the guys will be in the lineup from game one of the playoffs and I would put a lot of a lot of stake in that but I guess the question is how healthy will they be when they and and the hope of course is there's close to 100% as possible because you know those are captains of their teams but also key performers for both events in Ottawa. Absolutely. All right CJ enjoy the games tonight enjoy the Masters do you have a pick for us on the way out? Yeah I'm going with Rory I'm a front runner he's played great this year and I picked him up from my pool so I'm hoping he completes the career grand slam this weekend.

All right buddy enjoy it we'll do it again soon. All right, guys. Chris Johnston. Hey, who invited climate action to the party? We did. Hey, I'm Shannon Burns. And I'm Sarah Christie. Together, we host the Earth Day Party Podcast. Where the guest list is full of climate experts

sharing their advice on how we can protect our planet. Everything from avoiding microplastics to sustainable fashion, to getting a prescription to spend time in nature. Plus, we hear from David Suzuki. This is a party where everyone is invited. The Earth Day Party Podcast on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.