OverDrive - Johnston on Matthews' injury concerns, Pettersson and Miller's fallout and the Rangers' impending changes

Episode Date: December 23, 2024

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joined OverDrive to discuss the storylines around the NHL, Auston Matthews' injury timeline for the Maple Leafs, the Rangers' struggles and impending changes to the team, Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller's possible fallout in Vancouver, Zach Hyman's offensive performances, Oilers' roster formation

The Weeknd brings Hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights and hotel from TripCentral.ca, plus $500 cash. For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca. You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The Weeknd in L.A. Jump! Jump! Powered by TripCentral.ca. You guys are beautiful. An iHeartRadio experience. The weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca.

The smarter way to book travel. Joining us now on the Maple Toyota hotline, we'll transition into some puck talk for you, Strutty, is our main man, Chris Johnson, TSN Hockey Insider. What's going on, CJ? Not too much, guys. Just in from the snow here. So good to be home.

We survived the great storm of Toronto, December 23rd. Oh, yeah. You could probably jump in on this conversation, actually. We were just talking about Saquon and Strutty is having a meltdown because I didn't include him in the MVP talk. Do you believe that running backs, and you're a guy, love football, now Saquon is an anti-Cowboy,

I suppose, but do you believe he should be included in the MVP talks this year? Yeah, I mean, why are you saying the running backs shouldn't be in there? I'm not saying he won't be in there, but he's not going to win it, is all I'm saying. I guess, but, I mean, he's, what a

difference maker he's been for the eagles this season it's hard to argue with that no you're not wrong you're not wrong uh about that that's for sure uh jumping over to uh hockey obviously here cj and there was an afternoon game today and there was no austin matthews as they uh lose to the winnipeg jets-2. Any insight on what's going on with Matthews and what happened this weekend? Well, I mean, only what I think you probably know at this point is just that this is a continuation of the injury that's plagued him since training camp, forced him to miss three weeks or so in November,

and took a cross-check in that game late in Buffalo and got to a point where he just wasn't feeling like he should push through it any longer. took a cross check in that game late in Buffalo and, you know, got to a point where he just wasn't feeling like he should push through it any longer. And so, you know, don't know what the timeline looks like. To be honest, I don't think Austin Matthews could tell you anything definitive on that, except to say that, you know, I don't think it's, it's going to be a long-term thing, but you know, to me,

the measure of this unfortunately is going to be what, what does Austin Matthews look like when the games, you know, are the biggest for the leafs this year when you get into late late march and into april and potentially into may you know it is is are they going to be able to get this to a point where we're not talking about this as a storyline and that's that's obviously the biggest goal right now i don't think either the team or matthews himself are looking at any given game you know i've got to get ready for this, you know, when we're talking about games in December. And so I think everyone here is just trying to take the sensible route and hope that a little bit of time off over the holidays

potentially, you know, isn't playing those games right out of the break, at least to a back-to-back Friday, Saturday. So, you know, could see him, you know, maybe next Tuesday or something like that, the New Year's Eve game. Might make some sense. And, you know, this is something he's been managing since September. Maybe next Tuesday or something like that, the New Year's Eve game might make some sense. This is something he's been managing since September, and I'm going to imagine he's going to be managing it the rest of the way here and trying to put himself in a position to perform when it really matters.

Well, if that's the case, and he could be managing this through the entire season, I suppose, how much of a conversation do you think it'll be whether or not he should or shouldn't attend the Four nations tournament well there's definitely a conversation i mean the hard thing to note today is you know that tournament isn't until february 12th i mean you know does he come back in january and things are going well and and you know maybe uh it's a different sort of conversation when when you get there obviously if it's it's the flip side of that and he's either not able to perform for the Leafs I mean obviously wouldn't be going to play for Team USA in that case but you know if it's sort of in and out between then and now I think there certainly

will be you know something to be looked at but you know at this point in time you know those decisions don't have to be made really they have right until February 12th as with any player that's supposed to participate in that tournament for for the team and the player to make a call and so you know i i do think it will be something that has to be discussed especially if he's not going to be available for this next little while but i guess we'll have to see where we're at on the other side of the holiday break here cj let's head down to new york and that team has scored one goal in the last two games. That was basically while the anthem is being sung against Carolina. So is something significant a possibility as far as a change with this group, or are they going to try to just keep sorting it out? I mean, I think everything's pretty much on the table in New York.

I mean, you've already traded your captain, you traded away Capo Caco. You know, there's already been, you know, a fair amount of movement there for a team that, you know, was in the Eastern Conference Final and won the President's Trophy last year. And, you know, today you're scratching Chris Kreider, who's your longest tenured player. And, you know, I can see how you get to that point when you're the Rangers. You've been struggling as you have. You know, he hasn't produced the way he has in previous seasons.

He's already been put down to the fourth line in some games before he finally got scratched. I guess none of these things in their own little bubble are alarming, but I think when you add it all together, there's an extreme amount of alarm around the team. I can't say if it's going to be another significant trade, if it's going to be changing the coach or perhaps even the general manager. All indications seem to be that Chris Turrey, the GM there, has the year of Jim

Dolan, the owner of that team. But anyone who's called Dolan, whether with the Knicks or maybe even this last stretch with the Rangers, will tell you that no one is too comfortable when things aren't going well. And to say it hasn't been going well for the Rangers is an understatement. I mean, this has just been an absolute disaster of the last month or so for that team. And, you know, it's hard to find any, you're looking for positives when you're in this situation, right? But you only get 12 shots in the game.

You know, now it's been a few games in a row where they've taken some really difficult losses here. Probably the best news is they get a couple days to let things decompress a bit, but no one is out in the woods there. I could see it being a pretty active January once we get on the other side of the holiday roster freeze. CJ, what do you make of the off-ice drama out in the West Coast in Vancouver

with the alleged rift between Elias Pedersen and JT Miller. We had Bruce Boudreau on Overdrive last week talking about how when he was coached there, he was understanding that there was something between those guys that predated his arrival in Vancouver. What do you make of that whole controversy or what the players seem to be saying is a lack thereof? Yeah, the players themselves said that,

but of course we heard Quinn Hughes, the captain of the team, and Rick Tockett, the head coach, kind of acknowledge sort of publicly, like, yeah, this is the thing that's going on. I think Quinn Hughes' words were, you know, let's not beat around the bush here. We all know what's being discussed, and, you know, these are two players that are struggling. I mean, it is noteworthy because it's not just what they are

i mean they're two of the best players on the team two of the best paid players on the team two guys on long-term contracts you know two guys that have been part of the canucks when they had some success you know a lot of things went well in vancouver last year but it hasn't been the case so far this year and for them individually i mean it's hard not to look at the stat sheet and what you're seeing on the ice here of late and neither guy is performing in a way you'd expect. And so, you know, he gets the feeling that at some point it may come to a head. I don't know if we're at that point yet today, but it's pretty notable, I'd say, Dave, when you have players on the team openly talking about this.

I mean, it almost feels like something that they've taken a lot of time in the past, you know, to try to work around, maybe not have it be much of a public discussion. Obviously, everyone just sort of managed it. And, you know, it feels like it's getting to a point now where, you know, I'm aware that both Pedersen and Miller in recent days here have basically said the story's nonsense. But, you know, it's hard to buy into that.

And so, you know, it's certainly a pretty big thing for the Canucks to sort of navigate and decide what you do. I mean, can these guys coexist is essentially, I think, what management has to reckon with between now and March. Is this something that, yes, in the past they have been able to sort of get through it and be as professional as they can be at the rink and make things work? Or do you have to consider trading when you're best players, which obviously when you're a team in the Canucks position, I mean, no team wants to be in that position, but especially a team that has some high ambitions.

I mean, it's just, it's hard to win those types of trades and come out and not regret them. So, you know, it's, it's clearly, I think it's bubbling a lot to the surface here, and, you know, they're going to try to get through it as best they can. CJ, the Canadians and Patrick Lainey are playing Columbus, and Patrick Lainey made some unflattering comments, just kind of about maybe the culture of Columbus.

So when these things are said, how much is that internalized by, you know, the team, in this case, Columbus? Oh, I'm sure that's right on the bulletin board. I mean, look, what he said isn't wrong. I mean, look where the Blue Jackets have been. I mean, it feels like they haven't even gotten into the first step of their rebuild in these last few years. They've been right at the bottom of the standings.

Obviously, they've churned through several head coaches. They're now on the second management group. I mean, what he said isn't necessarily untrue, but you just don't typically hear players say that. And I kind of wondered if Patrick had looked at the standings, because last I checked, Columbus was actually a little bit ahead of where the Canadians are this year. And I know Laine's only just rejoined the lineup here in the last few weeks.

But, you know, it's kind of a be careful what you wish for kind of situation. But, you know, I'm sure for some of his forward teammates, I mean, they probably know the truth. But in the sense that, you know, it's got to be frustrating when you're a more veteran player on a team like that that's just, you know, right at the bottom every year, that isn't ever, you know, I i mean since they've last been in the playoffs is the last time they were kind of in a playoff run of any of any note in terms of having even a chance to chase down a spot and so you know it's

certainly been a tough few years in columbus there and uh i guess we'll never fault the guy for his truth but he might have been a little too honest in that case and i'm sure got some attention down there in columbus with chris Johnston, CJ, the Senators, maybe one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the last calendar month, thanks to Lena Salmark, who's been playing at his old Vesna-level self, but left the game with an injury yesterday. What's the level of concern out in Ottawa about this? Well, I think there's a fair level of concern because if you look

even at the start of the year when things didn't go so well, I think some of that was timed with him taking a little bit of time to play up to his ability. I mean, Almark is a pretty important player for this team. It was their most significant acquisition in the offseason and obviously an area of need. The Senators haven't had

good enough goaltending to be in a playoff run of their own in the last couple of seasons. So he was really in the middle of so much of what went right the last two, two and a half weeks when they strung all those wins together. And now I think there is a concern. It seemed like he had some kind of back strain where he was forced to leave the game in Edmonton. And so like any player, I guess,

if we're talking about the Matthews situation or what have you, you're probably happy to have a few days to rest the body here over the holidays. But, you know, to what degree he's able to perform on the other side of the break, and obviously they need him to play a lot of games because Anton Forsberg has also been out of the lineup, their backup goaltender. And so, you know, it's one of those stories. I mean, what a great job for them. They're actually in the middle of a nine-game road trip.

They're coming home for the holidays in the middle of that trip. But it's a difficult stretch of games, and they've managed to keep their heads above water. But, you know, it's hard to imagine this season producing what they want in the second half if Hallmark isn't healthy enough to play a good chunk of those games. CJ, back to the Leafs. The other guy who wasn't in the lineup today outside of the captain,

Chris Tanev, out with a lower body injury. And, you know, we talked at the top of the season about the McCabe-Tanev pairing and how it was one of the best shutdown units in the league. Craig Brewe has gone away from it at times of late. And today it's McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsen, and they don't look like a particularly great shutdown pair, albeit against one of the best teams in the league in the Jets. A, what do you make of Tana being out?

And B, what do you make of the Leafs' D-depth in general? Is it maybe not as deep as we have been led to believe at times this season? Well, it certainly doesn't look as deep without Tanev. I mean, I feel like he's the kind of player that makes everything kind of fit together better. You know, obviously he doesn't do a whole lot that gets attention, I mean, other than maybe the big shot blocks he's known for, which I think is actually what knocked him out of the game today

was a shot block late in the game the other night. But, you know, for him, I think he solves a lot of problems in the way that they can slot players, you know, in the lineup. And quite honestly, Dave DeMorbin, thinking about this, I mean, even with the healthy Chris Tannert, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Leafs, you know, go shopping for another, you know, probably depth defenseman. You know, someone potentially can play the right side for them.

Because at this stage, you just don't know what you're getting from Yanni Hockenpah. Perhaps there's still a world where he comes back and can play a bunch of games, but obviously he's only played the two NHL games so far this year, along with a couple in the American Hockey League. And so I still think he's a bit of a lottery ticket versus something you can count on. You know, Connor Timmons has been a nice story for the Leafs, but I'm not sure when you get in the playoffs if he's the guy you want

on the right side on your third pairing. And so, you know, I could certainly see a case where they're out getting maybe sort of the type of player they've got in years gone by, whether it's, you know, Labushkin or Luke Shen. I mean, they've sort of traded for guys that can fill a spot on the right side on the third pairing. And I think that that will probably make some sense again if, you know, if the market yields that sort of player.

And so, you know, I still think that their depth is reasonably good. I mean, you look at teams around the league, you know, it's rarely perfect. You're going to lose players to injuries, and it's actually for that reason. I think there's, you know, unless something changes dramatically and Hockenpah's suddenly playing every night

and there's no concerns there, which is hard to imagine happening, you know, it wouldn't surprise me to see them in the market for a decent where before now on March 7th. CJ, you know, Jeff Skinner was a significant addition for the Oilers after being bought out by Buffalo, and he's on a fairly very reasonable one-year contract.

It doesn't seem like there's a fit yet. So do you have a sense that maybe there could be some movement here, one way or the other, he gets to play him, or maybe he has to go somewhere else because he's on the one-year contract and this guy can score and he hasn't found his rhythm yet with the Oilers yeah I don't think you can rule it out I mean certainly Edmonton's in a better cap position this year than they have been some of the previous years when they had to do some elite level calculus just to add players that they did right at the deadline you know it does seem like they're in a slightly more favorable cap position now but they still don't have a lot

of room and you know I think Edmonton's going to be one of those teams, you know, same as Toronto and a few others that believes it has a chance, and I believe with good reason, to go on a long playoff run. And so, you know, I think that they'll be looking for certainly another defenseman, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them also chopping for a forward. And some of the way you might have to make that all fit together would be moving out some money. And so, um, you know, I don't know if they're necessarily at that position today with

Skinner, but, but I could see them getting there and, you know, was, it was very little commitment on either end. You're sending a one-year deal. Um, you're obviously offering an opportunity. You know, he's been someone who scored a ton of goals during his time in the NHL and you're hoping he's going to fit with some of the top players and really it hasn't been there I mean you've had you know some games Kasper Kapanen who was picked up on waivers from St. Louis you know playing above him in a lineup and getting some of those minutes that that maybe you might have thought the start of the year would be your mark for Jeff Skinner so yeah I think it's it's a nice way of saying you know he's he's got to

start producing he's got to find carve out a role there or or you know i certainly could see that being a possibility just because you know you got to commit your cap dollars in a smart way when your team trying to win the cup and the oilers are going to be doing everything they can to to put the best roster on the ice uh you know once they get through the trade deadline cj do you think doug armstrong and don sweeney are regretting leaving Zach Hyman off their Four Nations team? I mean, this guy's just been one of the more elite goal scorers since being snubbed back on December 3rd and riding a six-game goal streak. I don't know if regret would be the word, but I mean, certainly,

you know, when they made those choices, I think it's interesting Canada didn't go around telling players, your next man up, your next man up, that they wanted to kind of have the competition remain open, just knowing that the likelihood there'll be some injuries. And so, you know, Zach Hyman's done exactly what you want to do. If you want to play at that tournament, you didn't get the call initially, you know, by putting himself among the goal leaders. But, you know, frankly, when I look at the start of the season,

I mean, at one point he barely scored, but he was producing shots at a similar rate. You know, it looked like one of those bad luck situations that was going to even out a little bit. He also dealt with an injury there. He's been playing with that broken nose here the last couple games. I think that for Hyman, he's in a great spot now to get the call. It's just a matter of who's going to be healthy and who's not come February 12th. You're not wishing injury on another player,

but, you know, I think the fact remains. John Cooper was predicting there would be 10 injury replacements for that tournament by the time we get there, and if that's the case, one of them will probably be Canadian. And, you know, Hyman's put himself in a spot now to be an easy call there as a replacement if they need another winger. CJ, appreciate it

as always, pal. If I don't speak to you between now and the holidays, happy holidays and thanks for joining us as always. Merry Christmas to you guys. I still got about 12 hours here to rush some shopping to get done. I'm with you, man. I am the last minute shopper and I'm starting to feel

the pressure. Yeah, I'm not in a good spot this year. Not in a good spot. You got a couple hours. I got to head right after this going to STC. I've got a couple of things I've got to pick up to. I'm right there with you, buddy. Okay. Be well, guys.

All right. Chris Johnston joining us on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Check out Maple Toyota's huge truck and SUV lineup, including Tundra, 4Runner, Highlander, and Grand Highlander, in stock and ready to deliver. Visit mapletoyota.com.