OverDrive - Masters on Leafs acquiring Joshua, how Matthews will handle Marner’s absence, and who should play the right side of the Matthews line.

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

TSN Leafs reporter Mark Masters joins us on Mail It In Friday to share his thoughts on the Leafs acquiring Dakota Joshua. Masters discusses how Auston Matthews will handle the absence of Mitch Marner and who should join the right side of Matthews' line.

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Intact Insurance, your auto service ace. Certain conditions apply. Hey, my name is Brett Emmons. I'm from the glorious sons Hi, I'm Nellie for Tatto made in Canada the station that champions Canadian music loud crowd No passports required just press play tap into made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app Here's our good buddy mark masters. How you doing mark? Very good guys. Good to be out here. Yeah, good to be on with you. What do you make of? Kind of the least transactions over the last couple of weeks Yeah, I mean it's it's it's kind of been a weird offseason

You know you see Mitch Marner leave obviously huge hole and it's just the way they've been doing it Actually, I think some pretty good bets, you know a guy like Mattias Michelli We just see Dakota Joshua coming in here Nicholas wah, and feels like, you know, they're building a better bottom six here. And, but obviously without the ability to, to replace Marner, which of course he can't really unless like there's just not many options out there. So it's been interesting, but I liked a lot of what they've done at the bottom of the lineup and still I'm sure there's still moves to be made before we get to game one of the season but kind of a bit of a weird offseason. I guess so far for the Leafs What would you make that third line look like if you could run the team I

Don't know I I like I'm certainly Intrigued by the possibility of Nicholas one and Dakota Joshua together, the size they would have, uh, the ability to play physically and to kind of soak up, you know what you guys are talking off, coming in about how, you know, Austin Matthews, what kind of season he's going to have, who's going to play with and the, with the way the lineup's coming together, maybe, you know, he won't be needed to be relied upon to play quite as many defensive zone starts and kind of matchup. Although certainly they're going to lean on them a lot for those top line matchups, but

maybe you can free them up a little bit more if you have a responsible line led by Nicholas Waugh and even a Scott Lawton maybe led fourth line that can soak up some defensive zone starts and you can create more opportunities for a Nice, Matthews and whoever, maybe it's Domi over there lying to really do some damage offensively so I think that there's going to be a bit more maybe you'll lose the high-end skill of a martyr but maybe a bit more flexibility to make the whole lineup a little bit more effective. Yeah that's going to be the question like again we're focusing so much on depth players and they're

important but you know what we just stumbled across is ultimately what's going to determine what happens here, Mark. And you've been around Matthews' whole career. How do you expect him to handle the absence of Marner? I think he'll handle it fine. The big question is health. He says he's going to be healthy, right?

That's what he said on the locker clean-out day. Assuming he's back to being the guy who is a you know heart trophy candidate 60 plus goal scorer. I expect him to be fine playing with Matthew Nice whoever's over there as you said if anything I imagine he'll be emboldened you know to take even more ownership you know he got the C last summer now Mitch Marner's gone I mean you know just kind of take control do do your thing. I expect him to to come back with a vengeance next season and just be even more motivated to do his thing. He's the best goal scorer that we've seen in this generation.

So huge expectations for him next season. I imagine he's gonna meet him. Mark, if Craig Barube called you up this summer, and maybe he has already, it could happen or he texted you, he said, who do you think I should play on that right side with Matthews? Because you and I both know he didn't like and maybe hate is too strong, but he was pretty much against playing Nylander with Matthews really like the entire year, even in the playoffs

when Marner Matthews wasn't really working. So if he called you and he said, who should I play there? Who is it? I put Domi there. You know that he and Matthews work well. And I know, I'm sure there's some reluctance, right? The reason maybe Nylander didn't get a long look with Matthews or longer look with Matthews is just the preference to play Matthews against top lines and in defensive situations. And maybe you don't want Nylander there. Maybe you don't want Domi there, of course, but there's no perfect answer to the question right now. There's no perfect player to slot in there. So I would go, Domi got off to, as we know, did not have a great year last

year. I go to him and say I'm putting you in a prominent spot, you played well with Matthews, you get this chance to start, go to work. That's what I would do. You know Matthews and I have good chemistry, you know don't mean that you have played well in the past uh... and then you know to bars in the lander you should have another effective line there and then you build out from there you hope you have a good kind of shut down third line that you can you know entrust the defensive matchups and you just that's what i would do that to lead time would start and obviously things are going to bounce around but i'd you know i you've got to

get more to do me during the regular season next year. I think that's a great way to do it as well. Masters, I've been screaming all the way from Edmonton that the Leafs need to get a puck moving D. They don't have enough of it or they have maybe one. These guys aren't exactly biting. Jonas is nodding his head now like, yeah, I'm with you, Stretty, but what do you say, Masters? Are you happy with what they have there or do they need... guy I gave an example to is Shane Gotham Spear not

saying they can get him or he's the perfect guy but quick puck moving get it up to this group of forwards yeah I mean Brad Trey Living acknowledged that in his post mortem of the season is that they'd like a little bit more of that element on the back end it's just everyone's kind of locked in on the defensive side and they focus so much on trying to fill some holes up front that it's kind of been a forgotten thing. Like everyone's locked in there. A lot of questions about Morgan Riley. He's obviously got the no move clause. Maybe he gets a bounce back. I suspect he'll be back on the top power play unit with Marner moving on as the quarterback. We'll see. Obviously

he's been there in the past. Maybe you can, you know, with one year under his belt with Craig Brubay system, he'll be a bit more comfortable and can just, you know, be more of himself. It's a question mark for sure, but they have lacked that. And it's, it doesn't look like there's an easy answer to that question either, but I would agree that they could use that.

It certainly was evident that it was lacking. That said, I still think they have the pieces to make a really good defense core. And maybe that's something that they could use that. It certainly was evident that it was lacking. That said, I still think they have the pieces to make a really good defense core and maybe that's something that they have to address during the season at some point here. See how things play out same as with the top six forward that they needed. It might take some time for all the pieces to go into place. I like that Trey Living's been patient here and seems to be willing to be patient, not rushing anything, not make a mistake and just wait for the right piece to kind of become clear or the right option to become clear.

With Mark Masters, so weíre talking about the announcement earlier this week that Jeanne Bouchard is going to retire after the National Bank Open which the women are in Montreal this year. So itíll be back in her hometown and thatís going to be it. You were kind of the Jeanne whisperer, her hometown and that's going to be it. And you were kind of the Jeannie Whisperer Masters. You had access to Jeannie. You were the one that was right in there breaking stories and talking to her and interviewing her a lot over her career. I don't even know how to describe the career of Jeannie Bouchard because it was

a flash in the pan, clearly, but it was so big, she was so popular that I remember a poll that was released or like a data research campaign out of London, England or something, considered her the most marketable athlete on earth at one point. Yes, this is true. I remember all the commercials when she was like, she was peak all the time. Everywhere. And it lasted true i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Electric but too short. Yeah, 2014, that's when I first started going in. The reason TSN, one of the reasons TSN sent me to the Grand Slams in 2014 is because of what Jeanne was doing. She made the semis in Australia.

She followed that up with a semi-final in Paris and then the finals at Wimbledon, fourth round of the US Open. Nobody won more matches in the Grand Slams that year on the women's tour than Jeanne Bouchard. She didn't win a major, but she won more matches. She was in the mix every Grand Slam. Probably the greatest, I know she didn't win one, so maybe you'd say Bianca Andreescu just because she won the US Open that year in 2019, but probably the best Grand Slam season ever by a Canadian singles player, just with how she was in the mix at every Grand Slam, so consistent. She won a title. title everything felt so amazing like it was like Canadian tennis was having a moment everyone was into it

Jeannie had the personality for it too. Rownitch had more staying power of course and he had more long runs but Jeannie's personality was so engaging that I felt like everyone had an opinion on her, everyone was interested in it and she really captured the imagination. But it was too short and 2015 was a bit of a disaster. She felt the pressure, she spoke very openly about that and then she finally seemed to get her game back at the US Open before the real sliding doors moment of her career, which was the slip and fall in the locker room late at night, led to concussion forced her to withdraw when she was in the fourth

round of the singles and who knows maybe where things go if she doesn't get that injury and she'd be able to build on that momentum so it was an electric career but it was way too short and it's too bad because what a personality and her game when she was on the aggressive style she was fun to cover that's for sure. Yeah the magazine was Sports Pro, a magazine that builds itself the leader in global sports industry news views insights and features. Now I don't know enough about it maybe it's some guy's basement in like Liverpool or something and the guy has absolutely no no reason to call himself

or state himself in those regards, but released its annual list of the top 50 most marketable athletes in the world in 2015. At the top of it was Jeanne Bouchard, 21-year-old Canadian Jeanne Bouchard followed by Neymar, Jordan Spieth, Missy Franklin, Lewis Hamilton, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, like she was ahead of all of them on this list. And that was because the three semi-finals, the Wimbledon final, and then, like you said, slip and a fall and she never was competitive again. Kind of crazy.

Go ahead, Jonas. She had one big moment after that, really big moment where, you remember Sharapova had the doping ban, and she came out and she said she felt that Sharapova should be banned for life and nobody was really saying that, no one tour at least and they ended up playing each other in Madrid I believe it was 2017 and it was like this grudge match and she beat her in three sets and it was a big moment Like she really stared her down at the net on the handshake, but you're right after that. It was not at the Grand Flams There was never really any more big moments You kept waiting for her to have that resurgence and it never

resurgence. And it never really happened. What's going on with Canadian tennis mark? Like was that the peak? Are we done? Is it just going to be kind of okay? It's the end of an era for sure. Jeannie Bouchard, Nulish Rannich, Vasik Pasipasol. And Pasipasol is coming to the end too. I imagine we're going to hear some news on that soon. And Rannich, I asked Rannich, I said, are you ever going to play like a tournament that's known as your final tournament? He's like, no, I'll just be gone. And that seems to have been what's happened with him.

That's kind of more his style. He was more subtle, kind of laid back in that way. So they're done. And they were the ones that ushered in this golden age. And then passed the torch to Denis Shephovolog, Felix Ojea-Eliassim, Bianca Andrescu of course has come on, Leilani Fernandez, this next generation. But this generation you're wondering right now is what's going on with it because you know Ojea-Eliassim, Shapovalov, Fernandez, they're all in the kind of 20s to 30s range. They've struggled to have, we've now got more than three years without a Canadian in a quarterfinal of the Grand Slam. They've had their runs at lower level events more than three years without a Canadian in a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam

On they've had their runs at lower level events in fact Sheffield all is going to play in a semi-final tonight in Mexico, but they haven't been able to do it on the biggest stage and certainly in men's tennis It feels like you know there's this this this you know sinner Alcaraz era that's becoming Unfolding right now that no one else can touch So maybe have they even missed their window to do damage? We'll see. They're all young enough still to do it, but it does feel like it's been a tough patch.

I am very excited about an 18 year old, Vicky Mboko from Burlington, Ontario, who just made her grand slam debut in Paris, got into Wimbledon as a lucky loser and knocked out a seeded player. People are very, very excited about her potential at 18 and where she's going to go. She'll get a wild card. She'll play in Montreal.

And then on the men's side, Gabriel Diallo, who qualified for the U.S. Open last year, made the third round. He took Taylor Fritz to five sets at Wimbledon. Fritz goes on to the semifinals. He's a bit of a late bloomer, went to Kentucky, went to college route and he's up to down the thirties range could end up getting seated for the u.s. open town very excited about the prospect of in boko indialo that maybe that next next generation hopefully can push apple and feel like in lay line and we can get a whole group of guys cut of that pack

hunter mentality so that can it can get back to some deep ranting grand flams which we haven't seen in a while okay i love it love the updates uh... really appreciate a mark little hockey little tennis perfect perfect max i think in july it's a weird time for me because i get ready to go to the world junior summer event uh... next week but it's also coinciding with the the national bank open some kind of juggling something from the interviews

on both ends of the mike i am the only person in the world who has this problem. Yes. Trying to fit in tennis with World Junior summer stuff. So it's a weird time here, but it's fun. Yep. Crush it like you always do. Thank you, Marc. Thanks, guys.

Marc Masters. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you love on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.