OverDrive - Johnston on Pettersson and Miller's trade outlook, the Maple Leafs at the halfway point and Matthews' return to the team

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joined OverDrive to discuss the storylines around the NHL, the Canucks' outlook and Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller in trade buzz, the Atlantic Division's trajectory, the Maple Leafs' performance at the halfway point, Jake McCabe's injury status, Auston Matthews' return to the team and if he plays at the 4 Nations Face-Off and more.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Chris Johnston, our TSN hockey insider joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. CJ, in terms of the game at the Bell Center tonight, you've got Montreal on a heater,

and Vancouver here in a bad, bad spot, in a bad position. Which storyline, which team is more compelling for you? It's probably got to be the Canucks, I think, just because, you know, everything going on, you know, beyond the games for them goes without saying. There's been a lot of trade speculation, discussions about the state of their dressing room. And on top of that, you know, it sounds like Quinn Hughes will try to play tonight, but you know, Elias Pedersen is an expected to, Thatcher Demko is out. I mean, they're hobbling into that arena and it's a tough week for Vancouver. I mean, they play tonight, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday here in Toronto. I mean, it's, you know, four games and six days in the East and they need

to get some wins together. December was a tough month in the standings for them and and as they try to keep the band together I'm just fascinated by you know what we're gonna see on the ice tonight. So CJ, you know you doing your due diligence Do you hear a lot of rumblings around Vancouver as far as you know potential trades or them shopping players? Or I'm sure teams are calling you know willing to lend a hand for pennies on the dollar. Well absolutely and you know there's there's certainly been a lot of conversation there and I think it's you know I think they're seriously looking at the possibility of moving one or both of Elias Pedersen and JT Miller. Not to say

it's definitely going to happen, but you know the fact that they're having those kind of discussions, you know I think, Nudo, you're right to say a lot of it, you know, is teams seeing what's going on in the media, reading the tea leaves and then trying to suss out, you know, what might happen. But, you know, it's been a kind of a crazy few weeks for the Codoxio even adding into the holiday break and You know, they got to make some decisions for their team too. It's not just about two players You know, I think that the entire thing has had a lot of impact on everyone in the organization and you know They're still a team that's trying to have a great year that has high hopes that you know was in the second round of the

Playoff game seven last year. And so, you know, it's so it's maybe a little too soon to say where it's going to go, but there's certainly a lot of trade conversations and they're kind of at the nexus of it because they obviously have some pretty talented players that they're at least listening on, if not trying to move. So CJ, let me just for clarification, they've had the coming to Jesus moment where they've said you guys need to figure it out whether that be Quinn Hughes or Jimmy Rutherford and Alvin like they've had that where they're like figure this out because we're too good a team and you guys are Too good of players and that just doesn't seem to work Yeah, I think that's where they are right now

I mean look at if we step back from this the ideal thing probably for Vancouver is not to Consider some trade that could blow up in your face with one of your most talented players. The ideal scenario would be, you know, whatever this has been to be something that maybe they could use as a stepping stone of the team to come together, to find a way to work together, and you know, play the kind of hockey they did last year when they had 109 points and you know, pretty good playoff run on, you know, came within a whisk or get into the Western Conference final. You know, if that doesn't happen, then, you know, the choose your own adventure takes you down paths that, you know, I don't think that the team are too excited about, but possibly

exploring but, you know, they have to think that way at a management level. So, you know, I don't know exactly how this is going to proceed. I think some of it is results on the ice. You know, I saw, you know, Quinn Hughes, I believe was mentioned, like if we just win some games, everything will quiet down. And I do agree with his assessment. If they can, you know, string together some good hockey, I think, you know, it's a chance to move forward and leave some of these, these discussion points behind. But, you know, if it keeps going in the wrong direction, um, you know, there might be, might be something else around the corner. So we have Danny Breyer coming up in 20 minutes and you know the Leafs were playing Philly last night they play

in Philly tomorrow and they're only two points out of the playoffs and it's it's pretty incredible when you look at the wild card a little bit deceptive Tampa's in the first wild card but they've only played 37 games they have a lot of games in hand I think Tampa will be closer to the Toronto, Florida, Washington, Jersey, Carolina category by the end of things. But Pittsburgh's in that second wild card. They're 17, 17 and 7. Like Ottawa's 500. Columbus is in it. They're 17, 17 and 6. Montreal's in it now. Philly, Detroit. I guess what I'm getting at is, you know, we're into the new year now,

the trade deadline's a couple months away. Do all these teams think that they can actually get in? And if so, how does that possibly handcuff the potential for trades to happen? Well, I think what it might do is it might push off until March 7th, a little closer than in the past before some teams, you know, declare, you know, whether they're a seller or not essentially I mean I'm not saying those teams are necessarily going to become buyers even if they're you

know right on the playoff precipice but you know it might change you know what some some teams on the line will do because I think really the way I look at it it sets up that at least one team in Eastern Conference is probably going to make the playoffs that most people didn't think was going to make the playoffs entering the season. Right? Whether it was, you know, even the Canadians, I mean, I think people expect them to take a step forward, but I didn't see a lot of people outside of Montreal predicting them to be a playoff team, whether it's the Senators, even the Penguins after a couple years out. If the Blue Jackets got

in there, I mean, there's no one on earth outside their dressing room that would have predicted that. And so, you know, there's, there's opportunity there. And I think, you know, if your team, like the Flyers and as much as they do have, I think they're, they're eye on the bigger picture, you don't want to be subtracting from that group too soon. If you're in Danny Breyer shoes. And so, you know, it's, it's been a different year for trades. We've had more, I'd say,

than the normal to this point. Um, the fact that we're even talking about cut like peterson maybe still being dealt with dot and every season occurrence in the league and and you know maybe one of having kind of a different deadline window if if a lot of teams are still in it because at this point i think it's pretty clear the trade market big pictures will take a shake he did we're talking about the noise with the New York Rangers, the noise with the

Vancouver Canucks, and usually it would seem like that would be a leaf thing where there'd be noise and it would be ugly and there'd be something goofy going on. Is the quiet kind of vibe in the locker room and on the ice and just the way they're doing business maybe, I don't want to jinx it, CJ, but maybe just kind of plotting a path forward like this might be the way to go Well, it certainly feels different doesn't it? I'm sure you know those working for the Leafs will still feel like maybe it's been noisier than it needs to be just because

There's always something but you know this season really hasn't had as much You know as many ups and downs. I mean obviously they've dealt with a lot of different injury stuff You know that the Austin Matthews story, you know went through November and December and he's only just returned here with a couple games You know, so that's been a big talking point the goaltending, you know, there's been some injuries there But I mean in terms of on the ice they haven't had as many alarming losses. I would say You know where they're playing really down to their opponents I mean every team's gonna have some of those but it felt like more of a you know, where they're playing really down to their opponents. I mean, every team's going to have some of those, but it felt like more of a, you know, of a hallmark of the teams prior to the season.

I think Craig Bureve has low-key done a nice job of not, you know, he's direct with the media, but he's rarely, if ever, been the one to start any kind of media fire with something he said about a player. And so, yeah, I think it has been a quieter season. I think it is a different team. I mean, the same main characters, of course, but, you know, they're they're winning in a different way than they have in the past. And, you know, we'll see what that that means. I mean, still have the season to go here.

And the most important half season ahead, you know, typically teams that have long playoff runs and a pretty strong finish to the year so you know there's still some some land to be uh conquered here but i i do think it's it there is a different feel around the Leafs and and certainly doesn't hasn't seemed to be as you know the the market isn't blaring over every little thing because the teams done a really nice job and look at they're right near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. What is your understanding of Jake McCabe's status? I know they put him on IR, he took the puck to the head about a month ago and missed some time and then obviously an ugly result after the fight last night. What are the Leafs saying? What is the feeling in terms of

you know his status moving forward? Well with the IR stint he's out at least a week but the sense is it's going to be longer than that and you know with the nature of the injury did hit his head on the ice as you know that that fight was wrapping up but you know it's hard to put precise timelines on it but you know I think there's an understanding he's going to be out for the foreseeable future here and you know will really depend on you know how he's feeling what kind of symptoms he has and all those types of things but I think there's going to be you know, really depend on how he's feeling, what kind of symptoms he has, and all those types of things. But I think there's going to be, you know, a fair amount of caution. You'll remember, you know, Jake took a, a puck in the side of the head, uh, you

know, a month or so ago and missed five games at that point. Uh, I don't, don't believe they called it a concussion, but with a suspected head, head injury or concussion there. And so, you know, given the, you know, how close this, this injury is to that one is to that one you know I think it's probably going to be a couple weeks at minimum and just hope he feels better sooner rather than later. With Matthew's returning it caught a lot of us off guard like outside of the team I can't imagine it caught the Leafs off guard but did he basically just show up on Saturday and say I'm going tonight or were they along for the ride and the Leafs were pushing for it?

Like how did it happen where he goes from practicing and not certain when he's going to return to all of a sudden not only is he back he plays it back to back over the weekend? Well certainly they left a lot of the sort of decision-making in his hands obviously along with the medical staff but I think a lot of the sort of decision making in his hands, obviously, along with the medical staff, but I think a lot of it was how he felt. And, you know, the real indicator to me that it was possible is, you know, he went to Long Island last week for that game on Thursday. It was a one game road trip, you know, not one an injured player would typically take, but you know, did give him a chance to skate then.

And then the Leafs sent down Marshall Raffaei, I believe on Friday, which was kind of a tip, you know, because they needed a roster spot to skate then. And then the Leafs sent down Marshall Raffae, I believe on Friday, which was kind of a tip, you know, because they needed a roster spot to activate Matthew. So I don't think it was a case of showing up Saturday and saying he was in, you know, I think they had a pretty good idea on Friday that he was likely to go, you know, just by the roster moves they made there. And, you know, I think for him, it's important as much as, you know, I would expect Craig Gourvet to manage his minutes a little bit and, you know, try not to put too much on his shoulders. You know, I think Matthews really wants to play every game.

And so for him, the fact that it was a back to back wasn't, didn't end up being much of a consideration. And, and, you know, it seems like it went pretty well. I think, you know, he looked like he had some explosiveness in his skating stride. We haven't always seen at times this season and obviously the team got a couple wins and he put up some points too. You think he plays in the Four Nations or what is the plot moving forward with this guy?

The plan to kind of get him healthy and make sure he's ready for the playoffs? You know, I don't think we're going to know that Oh Dog until late January. Who would make the call on that? The team or the player both obviously you know I think ultimately it's the player in this case I mean the team's gonna have its opinion and I would expect there's you know a discussion but you know I don't I don't think that they can stop nor do I believe any team could stop a player from going so this is an NHL event you know again those there'll be opinions that I think there'll be discussions.

And I don't necessarily think this is going to be, you know, a controversial thing, like if, if Boston isn't feeling up to it, I don't think he'll force it. You know, a lot of really the discussion is, is going to be, what do these next few weeks look like? I mean, it's great to see him play the two games and play the way he did, but. You know, how does he come through the next stretch of schedule? Because it doesn't really ever let up for the Leafs the way the season's Going and so, you know, my guess is you're looking late January early February Let's assume he plays all the games between then and now and then there'll be a conversation about

What everyone feels is best, but you know, I would think given his stature and who he is You know, it's gonna be his call ultimately, you know to I would think given his stature and who he is, you know, it's going to be his call ultimately You know to decide to go or not. Do you get the sense that some managers and maybe some organizations? Would be fine with their players. We'll call it opting out or not being available for the four nations 1000% I mean you might even remember years ago when when John Savaris was an Islander and he went to Sochi for team Canada in the Olympics and believe he broke his leg there and at the time that the Islander's owner came out and spoke out about it. I mean, this, this has always been, I mean, I know Olympic participation is different than, than this tournament, but the same principle applies.

I mean, every owner wants play updates. They want their best players available to sell tickets. And there is risk in any of these tournaments that you know players are going to be injured And so when when given the choice between hey this guy gets ten days off from competition or he's got to go play In potentially four games, I mean, I don't know how emotional those games are gonna be yet to me That's one of the big you know, what ifs or one of the things I'll be watching closely when we get to the four nations But you got to think there's a possibility Canada, U.S. play in a final that that ends up being a physical game.

And that that ends up being a high emotion game. And, you know, if that's the case, obviously, there's a risk players could could be injured and be unavailable down the stretch. I mean, that's part of that. That's part of the deal with this thing. But, you know, certainly if you're a manager, you probably don't care which country wins, you just want your team to have the best chance to win a Stanley Cup and you know some of those things could be changed but what happens there

all right CJ we'll leave it there we'll do it again next week all right guys have a great night you got it Chris Johnston joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline count on Maple Toyota for the right winter tire package for your Toyota trade in your old tires buy a new set and get $40 back visit mapletoyota.com