OverDrive - LeBrun on Treliving's contract focus, the enhanced CBA and the Panthers looking to extend their free agents

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' contract negotiations with John Tavares and Matthew Knies, the new CBA in the league, the expansion of the games and impact on contracts, the Panthers looking to extend their free agents and more.

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The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. Here's Pierre Lebrun, our TSN hockey insider. Matthew Knives and the Maple Leafs. Where do you stand on this and how do you see this kind of playing out over the course of the next few days or possibly a few weeks?

You know, I forgot I had to look in the camera now. I was going to look at my phone and I'm waiting for this message from someone and I realize I can't do that anymore with your new setup guys. So I got to be more professional. No, it's all good man. If you got news, you go for it man. You find it, you text. We can carry the weight of BP. We've done that before. Yes.

Which one are you asking for? I heard like three names. Matthew Nyes. Matthew Nyes. Yeah. Yeah, I mean listen, I know that his camp, I mean the sense I got yesterday and I checked on it that they were plugging away was the way it was plugging away at the negotiation with the lease is the way it was described to me so they're not there yet obviously and you know everyone's kind of worked

up about whether Tuesday matters or not in terms of other teams being able to talk to him as of Tuesday as an RFA but I heard you guys talking about the offer sheet thing I you know that I've been in the minority compared to most media on this being the summer of the offer sheet thing. You know that I've been in the minority compared to most media on this being the summer of the offer sheet. The cap going up gives teams the ability to match. So I'm not saying we're not gonna see any. I think we're gonna see some probably

on some smaller names because the compensation isn't as dramatic in terms of what you'd have to give up. But on the bigger names, with Mitch Marner likely walking out the door on Tuesday, the Leafs can easily match anything thrown at Matthew Nye. So I guess what I'm saying is, other than if you want to screw with the Leafs, but as another team,

we have to go back to what the perfect storm was last summer with St. Louis and Edmonton. No cap room, so there was, although technically they could have matched and made other moves, they were really in a corner. The players were in on it, which again, I heard, oh, he's bang on. A lot of players don't like this thing.

It's like counterintuitive for me, for them, for their hockey DNA, right? Turning your back on your team. And then number three, you know, is the whole compensation part of it. So again, I'm not saying it can't happen, but this is a summer where teams feel a lot more strongly, you know, about their ability to match compared to last summer when there was still a flat cap. So those are all things. And you heard Brad Trier living today talk about the fact

that they have to keep themselves in a position July 1st where they can match. I mean that's a pretty strong message from him to other teams in case it goes down that road. And I will say, I just, hearing back from Matthew and I as agent right now, as we're talking, they don't want to comment right now on where things are. They just want to keep that internal.

So that's a good sign. I mean, they're trying to get this done. That's fair. So Pierre, you've been reporting and you've been heavy on it. Your tweet was heard around the world about what you believe the CBA and everything that looks like should look like or what the league could look like moving forward. First and foremost, are you on board with 84 games? Oh, come on, man. How wants 84? Yeah, well, there's no there's no reason why anyone shouldn't be because you're eliminating a

big chunk of the preseason, which I hate. Like, look at it this way. The way it's set up right now, there's 82 games, and anywhere from, you know, eight to 10 preseason games right so most any child teams play about 90 games all in every year between the preseason and the regular season now the maximum the maximum will be 88 because you got 84 regular season games and four preseason games max as part of what's in this new CBA so I don't understand what the downside is. I mean, if you're having to have this many games anyway,

and of course I'm like everyone else, let's shorten the season, you know, let's not drag this out forever. But if you're gonna have that many games, your mods will have real games and not meaningless games would be my point of view on it. So they're cutting the preseason. And that's why why by the way

uh... starting in twenty six twenty seven the idea right now is to start the regular season in late september by the way because are cutting the preseason so they're gonna drop the park for real in late september unfortunately they're still going to go all the way to the third week of june with the stanley cup being awarded they're just stretching out the regular season calendar. That's going to be lengthy, man. Listen, hockey's great. We love when they're playing. You make

a valid point about the volume of games being what it is. But with more teams likely coming, obviously it's about money. I get it and it's a gate driven league of course but i think for the average fan you're like this is probably just gonna water down the league that much more you know adding a tuesday night game adding two more teams that's you know an extra forty five players in the league fifty players in the league that weren't that were not in the league as of today

but likely will be in two or three years and I'm curious where expansion comes into play on this kind of cba negotiation right now it's not really part of the cba negotiation brian that that's sort of out that's outside of the preview the players that's more a conversation with owners and it did come up uh... yesterday the board of governors meeting in Los Angeles, the league did update governors on expressions of interest.

Um, I believe from six different, um, groups that would like to get in on that doesn't mean six different teams are coming, but there's interest from groups that are legitimate. Six different markets. Just to clarify. Sorry, like six different groups from six different markets? Not six different markets, six different groups, because we know there's more than one group in Atlanta, right?

Okay. For example, there's rival groups in Atlanta trying to get a team in Atlanta. Psst, rival groups in Atlanta. Well, whatever, there's more than one group, old. What can I tell you? I know, it just seems like such a hockey hotbed, Pierre. Yeah. So listen, I have a hockey hotbed here. Yeah.

So listen, I, I have a theory in all this. I mean, I think that they wanted to get the CBA done, which should be announced tomorrow as long you asked me about the CBA news. I forgot to mention they're down to one key issue that they need to resolve tonight in LA, the PA and the league are meeting again in LA in the next number of hours here and they hope to resolve that issue. If they resolve that issue, they finally have a CBA agreement and they can announce it tomorrow and my sense is they will resolve it. But once the CBA is behind them, I always thought they were waiting for

that to be done before they can turn their attention to expansion. Now Gary Bettman has denied that link to me when I've asked about it, but I think that's what's going on here is they didn't wanna mix up these different projects. Get the CBA done, then let's turn our attention to expanding. And I think that's probably gonna be a Lanter Houston over time here.

But, and we're talking at least 2 billion US I think, to get into the next wave of Expansion so the owners will be licking their lips at that with Pierre LeBron our TSN hockey insiders So if you're a fan, you know, there's there's a lot of heaviness that comes with a new CBA 80 going from 82 regular season games to 84 that affects fans, right? You get one more home game and two more games for your favorite team What else would you suggest the average fan should know about what could be coming in this new? CBA yeah So certainly as part of that new schedule by the way the added games will be within the division

So there'll be more games against rival against your rival teams in your division So that that's what they're talking about right now within that in other words You're not adding games against more games against the other conference and so on. But certainly the eight-year max deal going down the seven years is a pretty, it's a very interesting matter. And going down from seven to six if you're leaving your team. So that's a bit of a win, I guess, for the owner's side in terms of more control within the system.

Although, honestly, I think agents are starting to realize, or at least I'm starting to realize, it's not so bad not signing Max Deals if you're a superstar. You saw us and Matthew sign for four years and now when he's up again, he's going to make major money in this new system. I think more and more people are starting to look at that and realize that, yeah, the security of eight years, but maybe we should go back into that market with this cap escalating. But anyway, the length of contracts certainly will be one.

The playoff salary cap is huge. Now, I had reported, you guys may remember a month ago, I quoted Bill Daley saying it was coming, but it is in this CBA extension. They will close the loophole on LTIR and no salary cap in the playoffs. They have agreed to some kind of mechanism and it hasn't been explained in full detail to me yet,

but gone is that loophole that some teams have taken advantage of in terms of having a $120 million payroll in the playoffs. They're gonna end that on this next cba here are the two canadian teams are going to give you to ronald or edmonton who has more pressure to kind of roster construction and improve and put it together for next year so

i mean they both have immense pressure all but i'll be you're making me pick a team up a kind of thing because not only do they feel they're so close after losing the Stanley Cup final two years in a row, but part of what's happening here in the next couple of weeks is part of the conversation that the front office is having with Conor McDavid as he makes up his mind about his future. So I think I would argue that there's an extra layer to the pressure on Edmonton that the Leafs don't have to deal Edmonton that the Leafs

don't have to deal with, even though the Leafs have a ton of pressure in terms of appeasing 97. And again, I do think that McDavid will sign an extension, but part of those conversations is understanding what the O'rourke's plan is going forward here. How are we gonna stay a contender? How are we gonna fill these holes in our lineup? So that part of it

is really fascinating for me. Edmonton has to move more money. They moved Kane, but they're going to move Victor Arvidsson over the coming weeks to create more cap room as well. Again, remember with Edmonton, it's not just that Evan Bouchard is in for a massive raise. He's going to make two and a half times what he's making now in his next deal. But on top of that, Dry Cytles deal, which is old news, he signed last September, but it doesn't kick in finally until now. So, you know, he's going from eight and a half to 14 million. Bouchard's going from 3.9 million to probably somewhere around 10 million. Those players are great, but they're not going to be greater by that much money. They're just going to be taking more cap room next year for Edmonton. So it's a lot. It's a

lot for Edmonton the juggle. Just follow up on that is there. So if McDavid wants to sign Max, if the CBA gets sorted out, would it be seven then? Or would it be grandfathered in or like what you know, because it's going from eight years to keep your own player to seven to seven, right? seven then? Or would it be grandfathered in or like what you know, because it's going from eight years to keep your own player to seven, to seven, right? Yeah, excellent question. No, he could still do an eight year deal. This CBA extension kicks in only in September 26. We're living with the old system for another season. Now,

I know that the PA and the league have also had sidebar conversations about whether there are a couple of elements in this new CBA that should maybe be transferred over right away and I don't know where that sits right now. We should find more about that in the coming days. But in general, the CBA extension, the four-year extension they're going to agree to doesn't start until September of 26, so another year away. So that means any player like McDavid or any player that's up right now that wants to extend with his own team can still do eight years this off-season here. I just don't think in McDavid's case, I don't think he will do eight years.

I think he's going to do a shorter deal than that. With Pierre Lebrun,ner TSN hockey insider. So Everyone could you know on their own respective teams be signed by now. We talked about Tavares. We talked about nice Does feel like the Florida Panthers? You know, it's amazing there three straight cup finals They've won two in a row and they're they're everything when it comes to free agency, you know like they're what's gonna happen with a free agency. What's going to happen with Ackblad and Marshawn and what's going to happen with Sam Bennett? But as of now, they won the Cup a week ago, no one signed. What

is the latest on those three in Florida? Yeah. Yeah, good question. So they have made their push. So I've talked about this on Inside of Trading here this evening for SportsCenter, but the Panthers have made their push on their big three. They've made offers to Bennett, made an offer to Brad Mersha, big presentation. Um, and I don't think there was an actual offer there in Eklat, but certainly a renewed conversation to try and see what it would take in his case. Cause that negotiation went dormant for many, many months between Eklat and Florida.

For what reason? what reason being that? You know, I don't know they just decided to shelve it for some reason you never know whether it's one side or the other But you know you actually see that very often though during the season during the playoffs where you don't want to deal with that stuff But they are talking again. I Would say if I rank the three like I feel it's Bennett most likely to sign. Doesn't mean he will necessarily, but most likely to sign. Marsha truly feels like 50-50 to me guys, right in the middle. And I think Ekblad most likely to go to market. That's my sense right now.

If you ask me in 48 hours, I may have a different update, but that's where it feels like right now for me on those three. And so Florida pushing hard, trying to get those guys signed, I just don't think they'll be able to get all three. I think two out of three is probably, I think the best they can do right now. Yeah, and what's interesting is, I mean, we're getting closer to July 1st,

and last year Sam Reinhart was in a similar situation, and he signed right before July 1, and got his long-term deal but like what's interesting is I think you can make a case clearly it's very obvious why you'd want to keep those three guys but if they do you know I think you got a window of another couple of years where you're gonna be very competitive you might win another cup maybe two more cups but at some point it's going to be too much. If you're committed to everybody, then Bob's 37 and he's coming up, I understand why you'd keep the band

together. I totally get it for the next year or two, but if Marshawn's four-year deal and Ekblad's seven or eight, Bennett's seven or eight, at some point Florida's going to look around and say, we've got nine guys on long-term deals and they're not in the prime anymore. I wouldn't be shocked if they tried to stay creative and flexible down there. Yeah, exactly. Eventually they'll have to sign Lundell, who's a really emerging star. But that's why all the little moves seem to add up for Florida. They made a little trade today that didn't get that much attention, but they went out and they replaced their backup goalie and they brought in Tarasov from Columbus. Noodles would know more than me, but I know why they traded for him.

A, he has a relationship with Bobrowski, but B, he's six foot five. And I know from talking to Roberto Luongo, who heads the goalie department there in Florida, that's one of the major requirements to end up on the Panthers rosters is size and goal and so not a big headline today almost no one would be talking about it outside of Florida but watch it would not surprise me if we're talking about five months and Tarasov's you know Bobovsky's injured and Tarasov's having this amazing run for Florida wouldn't shock me. Yeah there is a history there. Obviously Zito came from Columbus.

Greg Campbell came from Columbus. You know, like there is, they know the player. They know the player. Because right away I saw, oh, Tarasov to Florida, okay. There's a direct line there that they have a history with the player. So, smart move by them. They really make cagey and my point is

Well, that's the thing what I'm saying is often the moves end up being big for them are the ones we didn't really talk About in the moment like when they signed for a from Tampa years ago It was like okay good depth signing guy becomes a star I mean, it's just so many of these have added up for them. And so you're right, Brian. I mean, obviously wanting to resign Sam Bennett and Brad Marshawn is obvious. And you understand why they're trying to do it. But I think it's more the under the cover moves that they keep making is the reason why they've distanced themselves from the rest of the league here the last couple of

years. With Pierre Lebrun. So the gratuitous Mitch Marner question, we'll put it on a platter for you. You know, what's the latest with Mitch and where are things going here? Yeah, I mean listen, they've really tried to keep a lid on it. I will say I did quote Marner's agent yesterday in my piece in the athletic, about the mechanics of how he sees this playing out. And I thought he gave an interesting answer

in the sense that it doesn't look like they're in a hurry on July 1st. What Farris, Darren Farris, the agent said is, they're gonna get all their interests brought in on July 1st, like, you know, they'll take all the calls, and then they wanna cut that list down, and then they wanna see, you know down and then they want to see, you know, how Mitch Marner wants to proceed from there. And essentially what the answer

was, and sounds kind of obvious as an answer, but my point is, it also sounds like, let's not think we're getting a Mitch Marner signing in the first hour on Tuesday, if that makes any sense. So this might be one of those that takes a day or two. And remember Alex Patrangelo took three days into free agency in 2020 when he left St. Louis for Vegas. Souter and Parise back in 2012 took three days. Those were the big names, remember, and then inside of Minnesota until July 4th. So I'm wondering if we're in for one of those

with Mitch Marner, which I'm sure will be well received in this market. Oh Yeah, they'll be You know to be I'm curious to see how people react to wherever he lands You know and what it looks like like if he just goes to Vegas Signs it you know longer term deal and makes 12 million people I think a lot of Lee fans will say I get that like I'm on board with it shouldn't matter wherever he goes. I hear you but I don't know. If he goes to Anaheim for 14 million, I'm just curious. I don't think it's about anyone hating on it or whatever. Those are two very different

avenues here. Vegas and Anaheim, very different set up. What if there's a team we're not talking about? I don't know who that is. I just don't. Detroit could offer him a boatload of money, but could he go to, will he go to Detroit? Highly unlikely man, highly unlikely. Yeah, so that's the thing is that I think a lot of teams want to get on it as O says. I think Detroit's one of them.

Columbus Blue Jackets have the most salary cap room in the league. I know they'd love to throw a boatload at Mitch Marner, but I don't think they're even going to be afforded. Like what's going to happen is Ferris is going to say, these are the teams that we get to go next level with, right? And I don't think Columbus will get in that. Carolina has cap room. They want to make a big offer to Mitch Marner. They tried to trade for him, as you guys know. I don't think Carolina will make the cut of that shortlist, I could be wrong. So it really comes down to which teams end up making that shortlist and get to make an offer.

I think Vegas for sure will be among those. You know, we've talked about Dallas, the thing about Dallas is I think there's interest from Marner maybe going there. I don't know how Dallas can make it work. So maybe Dallas doesn't end up in the mix only because they can't. But they're certainly trying to move money right now. So yeah, it's fascinating. And listen, at the end of the day,

let's see what happens Monday going into Tuesday. I got all my days mixed up. Certainly the lease would love to get in a position where they could do a sign and trade so they can get something back. But I've heard or seen no evidence so far that that's going to work. There's interest in that kind of scenario. So it may just be that he walks out.

Yeah, that's what I think most people are bracing for at this point. All right, Pierre, we'll leave it there. It'll be a fun and busy few days. Enjoy it. We'll do it again soon. Right on. Right on. See you boys. There he is. Pierre LeBrunner, TSN hockey insider. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious. This Week in 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.

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