OverDrive - Kaplan on the Capitals' strong season, Marchand fitting the Panthers culture and Tkachuk's timeline to return

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

ESPN Hockey Reporter Emily Kaplan joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, Brad Marchand's shift to the Panthers' culture, the Capitals' progression on the roster, Matthew Tkachuk's return from injury and more.

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Switch to Bell PureFiber, Canada's fastest internet, awarded by UCCLA. Starting from $60 a month. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Here's our good friend from ESPN. Here's Emily Kaplan. How you doing, Emily? I'm doing great. How are you guys? We're doing well. I was referencing one of your comments from Trade Center where you were down in Tampa and you said that, you know, collectively the state of Florida, the Panthers and the Lightning still don't feel like they get enough love or attention or respect. Um, and I'm, I'm curious, you know,

what would have to happen for them to reach a level of respect that they feel is warranted. Do they have to keep winning? Is it that the original six teams have to continue to lose? Is it even possible for them to be on the same level in terms of coverage and hype as these original six teams or the conventional hockey markets? Oh great questions all around and I thought you were going to reference my Hayes as a fraud there. No I was going to get to that at the end but we'll get to it. I will say this yeah yeah great great great but yeah you, I think it's probably funny for you guys to hear

because they're probably talked about the envy of the league in terms of the model franchise they've built as a destination, they've won X out of how many of the last cups and then to the last conference finals. But I think from their perspective, success can be measured in national TV appearances. And quite frankly, I cover both of those teams a good amount.

Tampa, our first year, we were covering them a ton. And I really haven't gone down there as much in the last couple of years. Florida's now starting to get more on our national TV schedule, but often we'll see them paired against an original six team. Like I know that I have another trip to the Panthers coming up, but it's against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We often have them against the Bruins, even the Red Wings, I had them earlier this year. So I think they're just looking for more respect in that way And then when it came to the after games both of those teams are like we were in position where we could have held these A while ago or these big league events where we're celebrating our market And I know they've had all-star games, you know and drafts and things like that But they just feel like for as successful as they've been as big of a fan base as they've cultivated in their market and really I've been to both those arenas and those are rabid really die-hard hockey

fans nationally or you know maybe just across the league they just deserve a little bit more respect. Well listen they they continuously win they continuously compete they make things interesting you know like what Florida's done over the last couple of weeks them bringing in you know Brad Marchand on his own, I think completely overshadowed everything else that happened on Friday and leading up to the trade deadline.

Over Ranton and Marner? Here's why, because, well, Ranton and Marner's very exclusive to this market. And obviously in this market, the Marner story, supersedes everything. The Ranton and thing though, there was a buildup is my point. And it's not necessarily that the Bruins traded them

Emily it's that they traded them within the division to a team in Florida that's kind of punked the Bruins. They punked everybody the last couple of years and there's a very good chance if you're a Bruin fan you're gonna watch a guy that you've loved for 15 years fit in so perfectly there and possibly win a Stanley Cup like three months after they trade them. I'm completely with you and again from a US perspective that was the big splash headline that emerged even though as you guys mentioned like there are plenty of other really intriguing and surprising

trades and trades that didn't happen that went down. I think the most interesting aspect of it to me was, as you said, they've punked this team but this but like this was their biggest rival and, and they couldn't get their number and Brad Marchand has had these battles like the Spann Bennett in particular. And when he found out that it was going to get traded and the, you know, the contract negotiations, we don't have to re-liquidate it, but like it didn't get to a point where both sides were comfortable.

You know, the Bruins were talking to other teams and had advanced conversations with other teams. I believe some in the Western conference and they ended up giving him the respect of saying okay Like you've made your point clear you want to go to Florida the fact that Brad wanted to go to Florida I think speaks so much to Florida and the program and the culture that they've built that like game recognizes game He's like yes I absolutely hate to play you guys against on the ice But if I had an opportunity to play anywhere

Those are the guys that I want to go to battle with and I respect them so much. That's the most fascinating aspect of it to me. Emily, it felt like Steve Sayles, the general manager of the senders, had a very targeted type of player or specific type of player he was targeting. Do you think that he added the right type of player for what they needed to kind of finish, kind of round out their roster. Yeah, I think so. I think scoring depth, I think just anyone that could add to this group would

have been positive because I think that they've shown so many signs of life and progress and they really are in control here in that cluttered Eastern Conference race where they've got a pretty cushy lead here to secure one of those playoff spots. So I honestly feel like it was just anyone for the room of just saying, like, hey guys, I believe in you. And I compared them to the Detroit Red Wings who also are looking to get over that hump and have this really long playoff drought. And Steve Iserman basically told his group, like, I don't really think we're quite there

yet and I'll give you a little patchwork here and there. You guys can get a goalie, but we're going to ride with this group and maybe next year is when we really take that jump with our prospect. So I think Ottawa, you know, I like what they did. I know Ryan Donato is another player that I would have loved to see go there. You know, I'd love to see Ryan Donato on a bunch of different teams. I'm calling guys from Chicago right now, but I understand why they kept him. Emily, I want to keep up this disrespect train. I love it. I think we should do a whole disrespect show. I think the team that we're kind of disrespecting, myself included, is Washington. Everyone kind of is like, well, there's no juggernaut, and like, I'm one of those people. But like, you look at them in the standings, and they're like way up there, no one expected them. Are we disrespecting them? Are we being

respectful, I guess is the way to ask. No, I think we are disrespecting their team just because all we get so much the spotlight right now and like obviously like it is not that i want to get any spotlight away from all the this is a record that so many of us thought never would be broken unbreakable records in sports like again what they can america everyone talking about all the in the cold case

but i cover a lot of capital games i think that's been for carberry in the greatest young mind in the game. I think that the way he connects with these players is so fascinating the way he puts them in the best positions for success. And they're a team that didn't really need much at the deadline because they click on so many different cylinders. And you know last year they scraped into the playoffs basically on the heads of their goaltending like they couldn't buy a goal. And now like I cover capitals games where they core eight goals and OB doesn't have one of them. Um, you know,

Alexa protest is probably the guy that everyone's starting to understand now, but like Spencer Carberry has his fingerprints all over that kid's development. Like he was with him in Hershey last year at the end of the year. He's like, look, I want to use you more. I want to use you in more situations. You've got to extend your shifts. You got to work under conditioning. Now he comes back with that frame and he's an absolute beast out there. You know, offensively we see what he's doing defensively. I think his game of sound, Carberry told us earlier in this year that like in his film sessions,

he has to be careful of how many protest clips that he shows because the rest of the room is just like rolling their eyes. Like, okay, we get it. It's your favorite fun. Like calm down. Um, all of this is to say, like I just think they're an absolutely fantastic team. and we look at so many other teams that are trying to retool on the fly. No one has been able to do it as effectively as Washington has. With Emily Kaplan of ESPN and it feels like like they've got kids coming too right they got Lane Hudson's brother who's on his way they've got that Ryan Leonard kid who was a captain of the American team with the juniors

he's on his way like they're loaded in terms of their farm system, yet it feels as if other teams now, like it's a copycat league, but that one in particular, Emily, I just don't think is that easy to copy. Like I think the Bruins are going to try to do it now and retool on the fly. And you're going to hear this a lot, now and probably July 1 when free agency opens. We're going to try to do what Washington did. But they took a lot of swings on guys. And it took them some time. Like Dubois, one of the more significant ones.

But Chickren had to be available. They had to go get them. Strom was available. There's a guy, Chicago probably looks back and goes, what are we doing here? And you consider how he stepped in and the way that he has performed in the way that he's played. Logan Thompson, they've turned over their goaltenders.

They took a gamble on Carberry. Like I just don't think it's something that can be replicated. I guess is what I'm getting to is they've set this kind of pace for retooling on the fly. But I think it's completely unrealistic for other teams to even try to replicated because everything has worked out and they've got a farm system that's gonna replenish anyone they could lose in the next year or two yeah and i think the one aspect of it that like we haven't talked about maybe

this is a disrespectful part to talk about but like they did get a little lock because they did have these big contracts and these guys like you do see a nickel back from and uh... you know they were able to kind of walk away with them because they're like yeah you're kind of unfit to play and that definitely freed up some flexibility for them and you know it's good to see that Nicholas Backstrom and TJ O'Shea are still in the DC area. I know Backstrom apparently is like an incredible coach for his kid like his kids team is sick. I think his kid is sick. I'd love to hear that but because of that they were able

to you know add veterans to their roster. We're talking to their GM Chris Patrick earlier in the year. I was like, Hey, like what's the common theme of all these guys you brought in? He was just like their age. Um, you know, they just targeted guys in this mid twenties age range that were really good, but they also found, you know, I think they did a really good job pro scouting like Dubois for example, they were like, okay, like we were watching him for a while and what we found was in LA like when he got top assignments

He did better. He was just buried on the depth chart of their center depth So like he wasn't getting to go up against these guys that we knew if we put him in our system and we gave him Like the top guy every night like we had a feeling that we could empower him for success And I think those are maybe some lessons that other teams can take from you know just a right guy in the right opportunity. Yeah that's a huge part of it right and you're you're right in bringing up a point of like players getting off the books like right before they either run out of steam or they run into injury issues and that happened with Backstrom it happened with Oshie and you know sometimes those breaks just have to go your way and then in other ways you got teams that are gonna manipulate the cap

You know and take advantage of it not long term But at least between now and game one of the playoffs and we started this conversation talking about the state of Florida We got the Panthers in town playing the Leafs tonight and Matthew Kachuck's not gonna be a part of this But what is your understanding Emily or what do you think is gonna happen with Kachuk's not going to be a part of this, but what is your understanding, Emily, or what do you think is going to happen with Kachuk in particular? Come the playoffs when he can be activated again, do you think he'll be ready come game one, or might he have to ease into it? What's your read on Matthew Kachuk? You know, this is a hard one for me because they've been really secretive with information

of like, you know, if he even got surgery, where he's doing his rehab, when he's expected back on the ice. And he's with the team right now in Toronto, I think maybe in large part because they were at the Hall of Fame, you know, and they got to celebrate by, you know, donating their stuff there. The one thing I do know about Matthew Kichuck,

and I'd say the same for Brady, is just like, whenever he gets the green light, and whenever he's cleared, it's just gonna be like balls to the wall. Like, there's just no other speed for those guys, especially if it's playoff time. And so I think that, you know, the last official word we got was Bill Zito. Hopefully we'll see him in the playoffs. I get the sense that if he's there, like game one of the playoffs or whatever it is, like you're going to see an all out effort from that guy.

And an all out from them is typically pretty effective. Yeah, it's pretty effective. And I fully expect that to be the case. You're just so envious. Hey, you're just jealous Chuck in Florida and the move and the LTI are you just yeah, it's pretty savvy stuff. Don't you think I'm hurt What do you want him to do? Yeah, okay. Yeah, I get it But that's not the first example of this Jonas like Mark Stone did it Kucherov did it Kane did it like there's been and those guys came off surgery But how can you predict months out that you're not gonna be ready five games to go,

10 games to go? It just, it's very convenient that you might as well wait. I'm not downplaying the benefit of doing it, but like, is it, is there a world where it's possible Kucherov could play the last two or three regular season games? So the doctor's like, actually he's ready april fifteen well they are not all market but at this point you can stay on long term i are

i mean it it's don't have any really tell the growing right well i guess you're gonna have to pass it out for yeah yeah i guess you have to test it out with all i've ever i woke up this morning was better like a i don't the bat whenever here back in growing boys like a little boy this seems a little suspicious Emily am I

My off because it's not like a broken arm or I can take an extra this bad boy, right? Well, you're the one that played so I'm gonna defer to you here I would just say the one thing is you don't think he wanted to be out there for the end of that USA Canada game like trust me like he would play if he could so I do believe it to be a pretty legitimate injury in that sense if you could. So I do believe it to be a pretty legitimate injury in that sense, but just exactly, you know, except for being told it was a very severe lower body injury. I don't have any other specifics. Yeah, no, and he, I'm not disputing you got hurt, Jonas. You're just saying the timing is very convenient? Well, it could be. Like, if he comes up flying game one, would you be surprised by that? He may or

may not, but if he does, your radar doesn't off that like miraculously right on time. It was perfect I just don't know what you want to do about it. There's a lot. It's nothing you can do I'm not I'm not blaming the Panthers or anything like that. You have no suspicion whatsoever None you're just I'm not a conspiracy theorist Theory This way I play off started april 9th would he be in the first game as opposed to april 18th or whatever is that what you're asking probably i so that's if the answer is probably then your answer then there you go get on board

with the conspiracy theories jones figure it out join the join the crew here anyway alright emily well we appreciate you doing this and when are you gonna see Ray Farrar again I gotta have words with because he texted me right after you said Hayes of fraud up here on Trade Center immediately I heard my phone going I'm like I know it's Ray he's gonna claim that he had nothing to do with it that's exactly what he did just such a weasel he moved by him such a classic right know. I travel with that man every weekend and there's so many times he leads me wrong when he tries to recommend a restaurant or when he tells us

we need to get to the airport three hours earlier. This is one instance though, he was very clear with me and I'm going to rat him out on that radio. He said, if you say this, it will go over well. So let's talk offline on how we can get some retribution. Okay, we'll work out and it did play very well in the studio with the audience it played very well so I guess he did not lead you astray on this one in particular. For once. Yeah for once exactly. Enjoy the games tonight. Thank you Emily. Appreciate you guys. There's Emily Kaplan of ESPN joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline drive the built-in Canada fuel-efficient fun to drive Toyota RAV4 gas or hybrid models available visit mapletoida.com

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