OverDrive - NHL Draft Lottery Reaction

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

Hayes, O-Dog and Noodles react live to the Maple Leafs winning the NHL Draft Lottery.

All right, here we go, overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 up on YouTube live. You're going to find all this podcasted wherever you download your podcast, the IHeartRadio app, the TSN app, TSN.C.A. The draft lottery is almost underway. Brian Haseo, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McClennan, and we're going to see who ends up winning this thing tonight because Vancouver has the best odds.

Calgary's high, Toronto's high, Winnipeg's high, a lot of Canadian content here. A lot of Canadian content. What is your gut telling you of that ball that comes up? Who is it going to be? I think Vancouver going to win the draft lottery. New York Rangers. Really? Oh, no. And I would be

floored by that. I don't want it to be the case. But the old, we need the Rangers cooking theory. Kind of sense. Patrick Ewing Cold card? You got to get some star players cooking down in New York.

and they had a miserable season two. I actually have put together a list. I referenced on Overdrive. These are the five teams that are within the running of winning the lottery. And it's a combination of what I want to see happen, mixed together with what I think is justified. You said deserve. Deserved, but specifically through the eyes of the fans.

I want to point that out. All right. Because this is one thing I've always taken issue when it comes to the draft lottery. I think the NFL's got it right. If you finish dead last, you get the first pick. And I know the argument always is, well, then it's tanking. And then what you're doing is awarding an owner that doesn't know what he's doing or a GM that doesn't know what he's doing.

And I've always looked at it through the eyes and lens again of the fans who said, actually what it is is hooking up the fans who they don't have any responsibility for how awful that team is. They just had to go through a horrendous season at the least, you can hook them up with the first overall peg. Right? Like it's not the fans' fault that there's teams that are incompetent or owners that don't really know how to win or want to win

or management types that have no idea what they're doing. It's not the fans' fault. No. That's where I stand on things. Now, again, it doesn't apply here because there's a lottery in the NHL. But I will get to my list. You want to start at five and go down to one? Yes, I want to hear it.

Number five, I have your Seattle Cracken. Wow. Someone on this show very ignorantly said, this is a combination of the Sacramento Kings and the Charlotte Hornets. That's what the Cracken have become in the NHL. Somebody said that. Well, what you did first was compared their first bunch of years in the league to Vegas. And Vegas, you just said after the win last night,

as the most wins since they've came in the league in the playoff. Yes. That is a remarkable statistic. And a sign of a team that said, we don't care about this expansion stuff. we're here to play, and they've won a stand in the cup. They've been to two cup finals, and they're up one-nothing in the second round this year. And they look pretty good.

And they look very good. So credit to Vegas. Seattle on the other side, though, again, I look at that fan base. They want hockey to pop. They're looking for a star. They don't have one. I think Gavin McKenna is a Western Canadian guy. Seattle at five, right?

A mixture of... That's fair. That's fair. Just a five, but also how I want to see it play out. This one is probably going to surprise you. And again, we're tracking what's going on at the lottery. We expect to find out. in the next five or six minutes, who ends up with that first pick.

So rapid fire style, number four, the Toronto Maple Leafs. That might surprise you guys. That surprised me. That's a bit of a home or take. Ten years ago, they got Matthews, right? But they've won two rounds, and this year was a disaster, and they don't have their next two picks. So from that standpoint, again, if you're a fan,

you're kind of, you're not responsible for those Latin trades in the Carlo trades. But you get to keep it and get a high pick. Yes, exactly. So I got the Leafs at four. I have Winnipeg at three. All right. Right? Let's bring a star into Winnipeg. I have Vancouver at two and the Calgary Flames of 1.

Wow. I got the Calgary Flames of 1 because Chuck leaving, Guadro leaving, that was what, four years ago? Yeah. They need a superstar there. They need a win. They need a superstar. They got a new building coming. I'd love to see Calgary around that building in Calgary going into the new building would be special.

Would be pretty cool. You want to build the team for the timing of when you unleash that building. Like JP with a tight pony running the graph lottery. So we're watching it in here. John Butchie Gross of ESPN is in studio with Gary Bettman. And JP with a tight pony. And JP with a tight pony and a top button on the tie that is not buttoned. You know what that looks like?

That guy's all. That is happy Gilmore's caddy. Yes. Cleaned up. What makes him qualified to be the ball in the tube guy? He's like a. That's Chevy guy. That Chevy guy right there.

Like what kind of qualifications do you have to be? Technology and stuff. Ernestown Young or something. Okay, so he works for the law firm. A law firm and they sent over an intern. Technology and stuff. I love this guy's type pony. He has a tight pony and a buttersuit.

And I don't think his top buttons buckled up, which I really appreciate it. And he's taking the balls out of a briefcase that Gary Bettman is awkwardly holding and putting them in the table. His boss probably went to him and said, are you really going to go on national TV with the tight pony? And he said, absolutely. He is absolutely right. He's running the show right now. I love this guy. So, Ben, I love Betmans there and Bucci Gras. Looks like a million bucks. And yeah, this, the lottery, what is he? The lottery inspector. Is that how we would describe him? Yeah. Lottery security. Yeah. Lottery security.

Okay, so we're going to get this start. I think in the next minute we're going to find this out. Like right away, we're going to find out. They come up with the first pick. Remember it used to be at 16? Yeah, and then it's like Bill Daley, come on, let's get going here. Enough with the cards. Yeah.

So now they get right to business. Who's going to get the first pick? Then they recalibrate, who's going to get the second pick? And then beyond that, we're going to know the rest of the draft. He looks nervous. Type JP with a tight pony. Yes, he does. And obviously ESPN, they're going to build this up because they're waiting.

for game two of the avalanche wild game. And they're building towards that. So this is a part of the pregame. I know, but let's get her cold. Don't you got to come with the heat and just fire out? Who's the first pick? This is TV 101. They're going to drag this out.

There we go. They're going to wait. But yeah, so we've got JP, Bucigross, and Gary Bettman. You can't, you have to say the name properly. Tight pony JP. Tight pony JP. He looks like he's holding an oversized

is Nintendo, like switch controller? AP, is that a Nintendo switch? Okay, the balls are officially in the air. Vancouver with an 18.5% chance of the first pick overall. Chicago is second. So what is your got right away? What's your part? I'm the Rangers.

I think the Leafs are going to do this. I don't know why. I got a crazy feeling of the Leafs. You're on the Leafs. I'm on the Rangers. You're on Calgary. Yeah. Okay.

So two of us, two of the three have a Canadian team here. So the way this is going to work is four balls are drawn by what's his name? Tight pony J.P. Tight pony J.P. So number seven is the first ball, which means the numbers now get adjusted in terms of the odds of who could win this. Vancouver is now up to almost 20 percent to hold on to this first pick overall. Okay. The Leafs stayed at basically where they were before.

still an 8.4% chance. All right. So they really build up the suspense here. They wait 15 seconds in between each. Tight Pony J.P. Tight Pony J.P. has a time limit on the circulation of the balls in the bubble. With his Nintendo Switch.

Yes. He's controlling that from the Nintendo Switch. All right. So the second ball is out. It's a number two. And it is number two, upside down two. There you go. Yeah.

Number two. So now the odds are going to adjust again. Oh, the least dropped a lot. The Leafs are down to four point. 5%. Seattle is up. Seattle's up, yeah. Seattle's up to 18%. New York's at 13% in Vancouver dropped a little bit, too.

They're at 16%. So things are trending against the Maple Leaf's winning this right now. This is suspenseful, man. Tight Pony J.P. He has no expression on his face. He's all business. I love this guy. What are the other three people

doing in the corner? Bill Daley. Those are tight pony J.P.'s bosses. Yeah. Number 11. Number 11 has come up. Number 11 is now up. So three of the four lottery balls are out. And a bunch of teams dropped out. A bunch of teams are officially out of the running.

The Leafs have actually moved up in their odds with that number. So Vancouver has a 27% chance of winning this. The Rangers have an 18% chance. And then everyone else has a 9.1% chance, which includes Chicago, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Winnipeg, and San Jose. What about San Jose winning this? That might be another top prospect. That'd be good, though.

What a dynamic duel that would be. Who do they have Matt Sundeen. The Leafs have Matt Sundeen representing them in the lottery. Okay, you guys ready for the final lottery ball? Get on that Nintendo Switch, Pony, JP. So the Leafs need number 12 to come up in order to win the lottery here. Okay. So they need number 12.

Vancouver needs number 1, 5, or 13. Calgary needs number 10. and I didn't see Winnipeg. It just broke away. But, okay. There's Sedeen brothers are in the top left corner. That's great. There's Conroy.

Mike Greer in there. Okay, they're going to breaks. Yeah, I told you, man. I don't know. Maybe it's just one of those in commercial breaks. Yeah, but tight pony, he's got the balls dropped. Yes, he does. It's rolling.

Let's see what number rolls out. What do the Leafs need? 12, number 12? Yes. Tight pony just got in the way of it. Yeah, come on type pony, Jay, And people are watching it. You can see a number roll into there and then roll out.

Well, that's what happened with the McDavid draft. Didn't a ball drop out? It was like right there. And I believe it was the ball that would have given the Leafs the win on that. And it ended up dropping off. And then obviously Edmonton ended up getting it. But when Edmonton won the lottery with McDavid... What is tight ponies, like, blowing air in there?

Well, they're in commercial. So they're basically telling them just... Hold on, hold on, let him go around in there. What's he doing with the Nintendo Switch? Up down, up, down, left, right, A, B, A, A, B. That's what it's true. A little damage there for a tight pony

slept with that under his pillow, that little gadget there. What does he got there? So to clarify, again, this is the first pick, and then they're going to have a lottery again for the second pick, right? So there's two lotteries here, ultimately. After this one's determined,

there will be another one, And then we're going to have full details on who keeps picks, who doesn't keep picks, who ends up. So they have to go through this. They're going through this process all over again for the number two. Yes, I'd have to believe it's going to be quicker. A little quicker. Now, yes, I believe so. All right.

So we're getting close to go time here. Kevin Shevoldeuf is in there. That's Chris Drury up there. Bottom left is Botterill. Botterill in Seattle. Yeah. Okay. So the Leafs need number 12 to come up here.

If they do, they will get the first pick. Winnipeg needs number eight. Calgary needs number 10 and Vancouver has three balls that can come up. One five or 13. Oh, is it 13? Yes, one five or 13.

Look at JP Tight Pony. Okay, Tight Pony, JP in between Gary Batman and John Butcher Gross and we have 10 seconds left until we find out, come on. Who's winning this thing? Yeah, I've got a little anxiety. This is pretty good.

This is going to be fun. Number 12 for the Leafs. Number 12 for the Leafs, 10 for California. Calgary. 12. Wow, the Leafs have won the lottery. The Leafs have won the lottery.

Matt Sundee, look at Matt Sundee. The Leafs have won the draft lottery. Call Naylor. Wow. So that means next year, Philly gets their pick unprotected. Then Boston, the year after we believe gets their pick unprotected. But 10 years ago, the Leafs won the draft lottery, picked Austin Matthews. And now that 10 years later, the Leafs, what a take.

Wow. What a take. you go. I can't believe it. You called it. I did. I just had this weird feeling. Okay. But it's crazy because I did this silly simulator thing at, um, yeah, five o'clock at trade center. Oh, at trade center. That's right. And sure enough, the Leafs come up at Trade Center. Wow. And then at trade, right now it comes up again. I can't believe it. Wow. I can't believe this. And Matt Sundy making things happen. Making things happen. Day one on the job, Matt's is, is rocking. Oh, my I can't believe this.

I mean, the Leafs have won the draft lottery. Do you know how angry people in Vancouver are going to be right now? How angry people in Calgary are going to be right now? Like, fuming, driving across the country to find tight pony JP and say, you've got to explain yourself. If type pony JP travels to van right now for a night in the town, watch out. Watch out. Robson Street. He needs full security.

Yes. Like type pony JP would not be able to handle the- If we don't get him on the show tomorrow, we are not doing business. this properly. You got one job. The Leafs have won the, I can't believe that just came up. And think about how much energy in time we put into, if they lost one more point, they would have guaranteed to keep their pick.

They would have dropped a third. They would have done this. They would have done that. And it turns out the position they were in was the exact position they had to be if they were going to win the draft lottery. That's crazy. Like they went into the Olympic break six points out with a plan to compete for the playoffs, possibly buy it to trade deadline,

to completely throw in that script out, tanking down the stretch, they fire the GM, they have a couple of crazy press conferences. They hire John Jacob, Matt Sundeen, 24 hours later they win the draft lottery. Great work by those two gentlemen. I love the new management regime.

We're moving in the right direction. Yes, we are. Do you think they take McKenna? Absolutely. I always go by Craig on this stuff. Like, for people that were like, oh, there's a young defenseman out there. This Craig said, clear cut,

Gavin McKenna. Although he didn't have the best world juniors, he did have his moments, but I think he's the clear-cut number one guy where you'd almost be silly not to take him. Does he play for the Leafs next year? I would say there's probably a good chance that he does. Depends on again the future of 34, all of that type of stuff. Do you think Austin says in two years that guy's ready to be a primetime winger on my line? Yeah, but I don't know if he has that much time.

I understand that. You know, is this a, it's a great thing to win it, but understand that, you know, McKenna's not Thalabrini. Right. He's not McDavid. He might be more Slavkovsky type of thing a couple years it takes to settle in. Not a bad thing. It's never a bad thing to win the first overall pick.

Are you concerned now the expectations for this kid? You got to step in. You got to do all of that. Well, that, because I think you bring up a very good point. Like, you could make a case for him going back. college. Right. You could make a case for him to go back to Penn State or with these new rules possibly step in and play in the American Hockey League. Owen Power did it. Absolutely. Again, maybe they don't take McKenna. Maybe they take one of the other. Maybe they take a

defenseman. Maybe they trade back. It never happens in the NHL. But there's a lot on the table. And what I will say is now that those picks are gone now, Boston and Philly are going to get them. you're not going to hand over a worse pick now in the future. Like, at a minimum, you've got a first overall pick here. Right. And you're going to get them into the system. Whoever you're going to pick is immediately your best prospect. You know who's the happiest guy in the world right now that the shift is, the focus is shifting somewhere else?

No. Well, he's probably one. John Chica and Keith Pally are like, go look over there and leave me alone. It's a Grand Slam PR play. Yes. Like, it's a grand slam PR play where you got the first overall pick. And listen, we can joke about it, and we talk about it at 4 o'clock today. There's a lot of animosity, and there's a lot of daggers out.

It's a weird time in Leafland. They needed something positive. You needed a win, and this is a win tonight. Yeah. You can't overstated. You got the first overall pick. Yeah. John Cooper's been talking about the hockey gods and different guys have been saying hockey

God. The gods were with them in the last five minutes. They had that ball to come up. My dear friend from Vancouver writes, I'm going to puke. Yeah. This is the opposite. Remember, they would be so grossed out.

Because they were purposely tanking. Vancouver did their best to be last place by a mile. They were the worst team in the league by a country mile. Quinn Hughes away, a lot of pain coming, all of that. Now, Vancouver's still going to get a great pick and a good player. They can't drop further than third. And there is a crazy thing where, okay,

I should have do my Slavkovsky's draft who went two, who went three? Like I'll go back and look at it quickly just so that. But you know,

you're going to get a really good player if you're Vancouver. Absolutely. But again, Vancouver could finish no worse than third, correct?

Yes. Correct. So Slavkosky, Nemitz, Logan Cooley. Logan Cooley went third in that draft. Slavkowski. Hell of a player.

Really good player. And this, again, it's unfair for me. We should be talking to Craig Button about the level of players in that top five. Apparently it's a very good draft. I was speaking to a manager on the weekend and said, wherever we pick, it'll be a good player. So same thing.

You know, McKenna's going to be a player. That Keaton Verhoff is going to be a player too. That right-handed D didn't play a whole bunch for Canada, but he got in there and he's... Shane Wright at four, Cutter Gochier at 5. Gochiae 5, that's in the Slavkovsky, dude. Yes, that's what I'm saying. Like, that's, you know, you've got some player.

And as good a player as Slovkowski is, there's probably people out there that could argue that Kooley or Gochiae could have been the first pick on that selection. Now, that was a weird COVID-era, tough to kind of scout type stuff. Their development was hurt by that COVID. It took them a minute to get in. All right, let's continue with tracking the lottery. We've got a lot more to get into here with the Leafs winning the lottery. If you're just tuning in, we're on TSM radio.

We're up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel. The Maple Leafs have won the lottery. Oh, you called it. You called it. The Leafs have the first pick in the draft this year. Two balls are up already, 11 and 4 for the second draw here, where, again, teams can only move up 10 spots. So like Columbus, the Islanders, New Jersey, they can only move up so far.

But the third ball is out, tight pony JP. He's working that little Nintendo Switch. He sure is. He's bogeying right now. So the Leafs are still technically in this, but I don't know how this works, because obviously they've already won their pick. They're still involved in the lottery balls

because they've been allotted numbers here. Okay. But that would basically mean it would slot properly. Vancouver would get the second pick. So it's Vancouver's got a really good chance. New York, San Jose, Chicago, and Seattle are still in the running here. Calgary's out of moving up. Jesus.

Yeah. So we walked at four, though. That's not a bad spot. Yep. Yep. So we'll see who ends up. The final ball needed to win is coming up here in just a moment. Gary Bettman, John Bootschagros.

Tight pony. Who will be on the show tomorrow. Dude, I'm telling you, I want to FaceTime. Dale. And he has to face sideways. So to clarify, the pick is redrawn if it's the Leafs. So if the Leafs, because, again, they've all been a lot of numbers here. You can't win it twice.

Number seven here. So number seven, that's San Jose. San Jose is picking second. Wow. So it goes Leifes 1, San Jose 2, Vancouver drops to 3. Calgary moves

back a pick. So Calgary is that 4? Yeah, that's yeah, no, they would move to 5 because San Jose has moved up. San Jose was supposed to pick 10th, I believe. So San Jose has jumped up to 2, which means Calgary

would drop to 5 because Vancouver will pick three, Chicago, four. Yeah. Rangers five, I believe, Calgary to six, because two teams jumped over Calgary. Oh, yeah. So Calgary's going to drop to six now. God, that would really piss me off, man. If I was really one of those teams that were struggling,

eating that player. And you bottomed out. You bottomed out on purpose. Yeah. Like Vancouver, Calgary, bottomed out on purpose. Chicago didn't want to be bad, but they were, and New York wasn't planning on being bad, but they realized about five games into the year going to be awful.

Yeah. Where San Jose was this close to making the playoffs, and now they're picking second. They took Mesa second overall last year, Celebrini first overall the year before. What a setup for Mike Greer. I mean, it's an incredible setup of your San Jose.

And the Leafs went to the playoffs nine straight years. This is one to get the first overall pick. Yeah, I mean, it's not, it might be unjust, but that's the way the lottery balls literally fall. I mean,

I mean, listen, they, this, that's a gamble you take when you tank. season. He got rewarded at the end. Now, the player, you're going to, I still think you might have to wait a year or two. Like, maybe there's a chance he shows up, has a great summer, and he puts on 15 pounds of beef. You're talking McKenna? Talking McKenna. Because I think McKenna's the player that you go after. Again, don't know we should talk to Craig Button about it. But you're going to get a good player there. And whether he plays for your team next year or goes back to college,

a year. You at least, it's an asset. You've gotten, they've had no assets for a bit here. That's right. I mean, Easton Cowan's in your lineup, but there's lots of growth to be done there. A lot of wingers, though, right? McKenna is a winger. Cowan's a winger. Nye's a winger. Like, those are kind of your three younger pieces that you have. Yeah. I do wonder what this does for Matthew Nyes in his future. You know, Easton Cowan in his future. It doesn't mean, it doesn't have to mean anything. No. But it might make Cheika and Sundin look at it and say, okay, if McKenna's now

that's our scoring winger that we have that we were going to pick if they make that pick. Stenberg's another kid they might take, right? But he's also a winger. Like Stenberg's the Swedish kid that is playing in Frulanda. He had a really good world junior. Yeah, he's very good player, very talented. Not the

biggest guy, but he can boogie out there. He can play. Plurlunda? Prolunda. Maybe Matt's has got a connection. But Then once you get past that, you're talking that Carson Carl's, who's a defenseman, Albert Smiths, who's a defenseman. Really good player from Latvia. Yes.

Big defenseman. I think he's like 6-3 or 6-4. The really big boy. He moves while he handles a buck. I noticed him. I was talking to Frankie. I'm like, that big D-Man for Latvia, because we were watching the game before the Canada one. And he's like, oh, dog, that guy is rated like in the top 10.

Really good player, that kid from Latvia. I don't think it's a, I don't think it's a zero percent. chance the Leafs take someone not named McKenna or Stenberg. Like, again, I... And I would guess that they would pick that Keaton Verhof then. That would be my guess. He had an up and down year, though, at the end. But what I'm saying is, like, it's not McDavid.

It's not Matthews. It's not Sid. Right. Where, like, if there's a guaranteed lock, pillar to post, that guy's the number one overall. I think if you talk to Craig Button, he would say that this kid is the number one pick lock.

He has said that to be, he's been consistent on that all year, that McKenna's the guy. Yeah. But again, the reason I mentioned that is just because of the position. I don't think you should ever be in a position to take someone,

you don't draft based on positional need. Yeah. You take the best player. You take the most talented player. And if that's McKenna, you take him if you're the least in my opinion. Yep.

But if it's a tie, then do you look at taking a defenseman there? If there's a defenseman you like more, is it possible they try to trade the pick? Well, that's what I'm saying. Would Vancouver or Calgary trade up to get it? Depending on what they want. Like, that's the, you know, the way I look at it is

you go with the best player. Keep in mind, the Leafs need depth at every position. Like, you grab it because if McKenna's the pick for number one, you add them in, you have too many left-wingers, you can trade one. Like you just said, whether it's Matthew Nyes or it's Easton-Cowen. But we still need to know what division is because I don't know, and again, get caught before the horse. We don't know if Austin Matthews goes, oh, this makes me want to stay, or I've made up my mind I'm leaving, or I wasn't leaving anyway, so it doesn't

matter, keep adding. We've got a first overall pick and continue to add to this group. We don't know. But those are the conversations. conversations that John Chica's got to have with Judd Moldover and Austin Matthews. Well, again, what this also solidifies is they don't have their first round pick the next two years. Yes. Those are gone. They're going to Philly and they're going to Boston. But hang on a second.

Let me ask you guys both. If you had the option knowing what was available before this draft and you said, regardless of what happened to get to this point with the two picks leaving, you can get McKenna, and not drafting the first round the next two years, what would you say? I'm taking the guaranteed first overall pick. If that's basically what you're saying. So am I, dude. Like if you have it locked in, you're guaranteed the first overall pick.

Or just this simplicity of the question. Would it ease the pain that much more if you got McKenna and then you could just say whatever happens after that? Much more than if they just stayed at five and then lost the picks in the future. Right. Right. Like now you've got the number one overall pick. And listen, there is a world in which the Leifes get much better next year. Like not to the point where you're a cup contender.

This year they were bad from the hop. It wasn't a good year. They had injuries. Their best players didn't play that great. You get healthy. Yes. Like there is a world where the next two years they are pushing for the playoffs. and maybe they get in.

And if that world exists for them, this is as good as it could possibly get. You still, you look back in the trade and you're like, all right, we're giving up Fraser Minton and whatever that pick's going to be in the future. But if you add Gavin McKenna and you become a playoff team next year, that's a, that's a livable.

Exactly. It's the best tradeoff you could get. So case in point of what they used at the narrative at the end of the season was Austin Matthews pointed to the Boston Bruins. Off year, bottomed out, came back this year, and everybody played better, and they made the playoffs. I think that's probably the goal or the at least narrative of those guys starting what they said at the end of, I'm just going off of what Austin Matthews said in his year-end presser. Bad year, but we can, you know, we can bounce right back.

that's probably what they're going to circle and say if Matthews is like go and get some players to Cheka, you've got Willie coming back, you've got nice, there's lots of work to be done, but if you revamped the D, you're going to have a high pick, you're going to have some money to spend, that might be the payoff on one year of a bad luck or whatever, a terrible team. Yeah, they didn't play well. I mean, listen, exactly. They finished bottom five. but, you know, we'll see what happens with Craig Baroube, what they end up doing there.

You know, as of now, it looks like he may return. And if that's the case, then so be it. We'll see what he does with the roster and how he approaches the team. Yeah. But if they go in a different direction, you know, if TANF can return, your goalies can stay healthy. You pick the right two guys. Again, this is a glass half full scenario. Right.

Goalies, let's say it stole us and wall just for argument's sake. Those are your two guys and they're healthy and they play like they do. did last year. TANF returns and can be a quality top four defensemen for you. Maybe not at his best, exactly, but stay healthy. We'll believe it when we see it, but

I'm painting a glass half full picture here. Stoller's and wall are healthy and play well. Tanev returns and is healthy. Turn over the D a little bit more. Make a trade here, there, and McKenna ends up playing for you 80 games. I'm not going to move off my stance about how much work this team.

I understand. I'm not saying they're going to understand the top next year. You've gone from very optimistic from one draft lottery because two hours ago we're all saying how difficult it's going to be for this team to compete. Hear me out. I've never said that they're guaranteed to be awful next year, though. Well, we've all discussed how big of a hill they have to climb to even get remotely better next year. And John Chike has still got to prove that he's capable of doing all of this kind of stuff. Here's something else you can look at it on the other side. Maybe this pick is accelerated if you are going to do a rebuild.

and you are going to move out, keep pieces. And you've already got the first overall pick. You move 34 and 88 for high draft picks, young prospect. Now of a sudden that potentially could accelerate what you're trying to do in a rebuild. Again, I agree with that. I'm just saying, like, you're talking about, hey, two hours ago where I'm just saying, let's look at the other side of the fence that if they're forced that if 34 puts, his hand up and says, you know, Quinn Hughes, you name, or, you know, Matthew Kachuk,

or I'm just looking, I'm going to move on to somewhere else. You can get a King's Ransom for that player, young picks, or picks, players, all of that type of stuff. Then you go to other players and go, this is what we're doing. We've got the number of one-all pick, and we've got young players coming X, Y, and Z. This is what Vancouver did for Quinn Hughes, the B.M and guys like that. Now of a sudden you can turn your team very quickly. You don't have Austin Matthews if he decides.

Again, this is just looking at the other side of the phone. But it's very reasonable. I think you're on to something here. It could help expedite if you've decided I'm going to move away from those players. There's a different chip in play where you could possibly veer off the road and go in a different direction. All I'm saying is there's options now with a number one pit. Now, where I would stop that is I don't think ownership has any stomach for that. Right.

And that's maybe why Chike and Sundin are here as opposed to possibly other options who may have come in here and said, regardless of what just happened with the draft lottery, I think we need to blow this up and you've got to give me four or five years. Right. As we've stated, if Matthews is the one that instigates that, then it could come into view for them. Like if Matthews, if he goes to them and goes, I want a difference. I want to play somewhere else

or I don't think this is going in the right direction or I'm not going to sign in the future. All these are if he does that, I think what they can look at now is say, okay, but we got this guy, now we're going to trade for all these pieces. Let's kind of reset our plan. Regardless of what we thought we wanted to do

or we're going to do, it does open up the door where all of a sudden you bring in McKenna and three or four other prospects and three or four other pegs. Right. You could be two or three years from like a nucleus of young players

that really give you an opportunity to win in the future. Exactly. Calgary's trying to do all of that type of stuff. Keep in mind, this land in DuPont is a year away. Like that's a defenseman who's a stud. And going to be, by all accounts, going to be the clear cut number one.

Next year. Now they don't have their first round pick now next year. But if you're trading for one. That's my point. What if you are trading for picks and players and one of those ends up being player X or pick X.

That's the thing that you can get very creative here. There's nothing negative out getting the first overall pick and having options. And now what this has done is given them a little bit more option. Still having a fifth pick or a fourth pick was very strong

or even losing it. You've had to alter your plan. This is the one question I would have for Matt's or John Chica or Keith Pelley or whoever's in that war room right now is, did this outcome change a potential thought process of where you want to go? I agree with you. Yeah. And the fact that now the picks are again gone in the future,

which the viewpoint was, well, that, you know, you want to be a good team so those don't turn in. It just makes it a tough and easier pill to swallow. You got it some kind of nugget here. who knows how much gold is in it. And it's just like, okay, we're going to chew on it the next two years, but we got the first overall pick. Wow, it's pretty incredible that 10 years almost to the day they won the Matthews lottery.

We're in a situation where today there's reports, we don't know if he wants to return or what his future is, and now this next pick comes up. And I guess the lesson is have high hopes, high expectations, but just getting the first overall pick doesn't guarantee. a Stanley Cup. There's a lot more that has to go into it. Maybe it also gives you like, okay, we're turning the page and this is the beginning of a new era.

Regardless of what it is. Yesterday was the beginning of a new era, the John Chica era as a manager, Matt Sundeen involved as well. I don't even know what his role is. What the hell of me is saying? Nobody really knows. Executive Director of Senior Advising and... He's called him president. Tight Pony J.P.

Yeah, tight pony J.P. But that yesterday was the new regime. Today, there's another piece to add to it. Well, like you're talking even from a salesman standpoint. This is, again, because Matthews is here in Neelander are here, and they have 10 years of being superstars in the city, unless this was the equivalent of the McDavid draft, no one was going to come in and knock them off the marquee.

Right. But let's say they take McKenna, where does he rank in the pecking order of Jersey sales, of intrigue? Oh, he's the new shiny toy. You know how that one goes. Like, it's just... Yeah. Don't forget, this kid,

it was kind of a low-key season in Penn State because it was playing with men. He came on in the second half of the season. But the season before that, he was destroying the Western Hockey League. Yeah, destroying. Highlight reels on TSN every night. Like, every night it was something different. So he's got that kind of hype, and it dissipated last year because he went to college and was playing with grown men, but...

Yeah. Who knows what this kid's going to... Yes, he did. I don't mind that. He sure did. He sure did. He sure did. Ever since that fight by all the accounts, he took off as a player.

Yeah, well, he's got a little jam. Don't mind that. What a tank for the Leafs. What a tank. Perfected. The dignified tank. They have dominated the tank over the last 10 years. All right, let's go reverse order of who's the most pissed off.

Because if you're just tuning in, the Leafs have won the lottery, and San Jose won the lottery. They moved way up. They were 10th. Like, they've missed the playoffs by like two points. It's not even close. The Vancouver Canucks are the most pissed off. And I would say the Calgary Flames and the New York Rangers are right under that.

Yeah. Yeah, I have no love loss for Chicago. They've won three cups in the last 15 years and you got badard. Yeah. Right. Like, you're going to be okay. You've had a really good run. New York, Dolan alone is the owner, doesn't allow me to sympathize from that.

Vancouver, I think you're right, is that number one. And then Calgary's two. I think Calgary's two in large part because against the Leafs that won it. Right. Like the fact that Toronto won. Well, yeah. It's going to drive Vancouver and Calgary nuts.

Yeah. That's fair. Everyone in the country is going to be buzzing about the Leafs. Well, and they're going to say it's rigged. Probably. I've already gotten, like,

don't even check your phone, dude. Oh, I'm getting it from everybody. 50 messages. Rigged. Rigged. Rigged.

Rigged. Of course, the leaves, I have to do this. Well. Well, so now, so now which teams.

But they've got lots of work to do. still. Of course they do. But it puts a kid into the system that gives you hope for the future. And it allows you some flexibility. I can't imagine they'll trade to pick, but the option's there

if there's other players they like or they want to load up. They've got to figure out Matthews. They've got to figure out Neelander. They've got to figure out, is Barubei back or not? What are you going to do with free agency? You've got to move pieces. There's still a lot of work to be done for the leaves. Yeah. But, man,

What a win for the fan base who had a difficult year. And a difficult couple days. Yeah. Moving in a right direction. There you go. There's nothing negative about that. No, there's nothing negative for the Maple Leafs. So Maple Leafs with the first overall pick, San Jose pick and second.

Vancouver drops to three. Chicago, New York. Calgary drops back. Calgary went from four to six. Correct me if I'm wrong? Yes, I believe so, yeah. Yeah. be interesting to see.

So which team's tanking next year? Like Vancouver is probably still tanking. Is Calgary ready to take a step forward next year? Or are they still chasing this DuPont kid? I still think they're at a point where they've got good young players, but they still have to grow. I don't see them as a playoff team unless they have a real offseason where they spend a bunch of money and bring in a bunch of players.

I don't see it that way. I see that there's a plan to continue to gradually get better with young players infused. Keep in mind, if you look at Craig Conroy's drafting record, it's very good, very strong. So they're going to get a high pick. They've got some picks as well. So it would be interesting to see. So lastly here, the Leafs have had, this would be their third first overall pick. Wendell Clark in 85, Matthews, and 16.

and now this pick in 26. Super excited, man. Like from yesterday today, the difference? Well, it's a huge, it's a pivotal moment in their history. Like, they got a first overall pick. Yeah, and most importantly, it's look over here. Yes, and they needed that desperately. The team needs it.

The ownership, Pelly, management coaches, players, the fans, everyone kind of needed it. It's been a lot of negativity. Let's start talking about who they're going to pick first overall, what that kid's going to look like, how he's going to step in. We're going to get Craig Button on tomorrow with the analysis of the top five picks. And we will get tight pony JP. And for his FaceTime shot, he will be sideways. Alex DeLuca is his real name?

Alex DeLucah. Okay. Bull machine tech is his name. Chevy guy. Chevy guy. I want him on. I want him on. I do too.

I just want the pony on. You're right, backwards. No, sideways, so you can see the pony on the FaceTime shot. I love it. Technology and stuff. Yeah. Dude, he did his job. Dude, we love that guy.

And we're getting him on and we're getting him on Leafs Jersey to wear tomorrow. Okay. That's so close. All right, there you go. We've been up on YouTube live, up on TSM radio, up on TSN. com. On TSN.com. Up on the IHart Radio app, TSN app everywhere.

And you can find this podcasted or up on TSN's YouTube channel. We're not doing any. justice either if we don't have nail or call in at some point too. You want to play it one time? He screamed. You screamed they did it now? I don't think I kept it. I was shocked because I just screamed 12. That's it. That's what caught me off guard. I couldn't tell the number. It was upside down and I'm like, I don't know what it is. It was clear as day. It looked at me and gave me a

horse eye right away. 12. Well, again, like the odds were in the favor of Vancouver. Yeah. They were not in the favor of the leaves. It was 8.5% going in. it was 8.5% that they would win the lottery. And then once it got to the final ball, they had like a 9.1% chance of winning. They had 1 in 10. Yeah, 1 in 10.

They did it, Nailer! There it is. 10 years later. They did it, Nailer. Great job, pal. Great job from all of us here, including the real J.P. Tight fade, JP. JP.

JP, are you related to that guy? Can confirm. No. Oh, that's disappointing. Tight Pony, JP. Get him in. I'll come back for a third day in a row. in studio. Yes, if we can get him

in here, let's fly him up here. He's coming on tomorrow. You better make it happen, Hayes. We'll try our best. I mean, he's a man of integrity. I don't know if he really wants to come on, but we'll give it a shot. He's sitting in a he's sitting in a, I don't care. That's your job. What is it called? John DeLuca? Alex DeLucah. Alex DeLuca. Okay, we'll find him.

The Leaves have won the lottery. Ten years later. First overall pick. Alex DeLucah. Shout out. Gavin McKenna shout out. Leaves won. Jose 2 and then everyone else is licking their wounds. What a time to be alive. There you go. Good stuff. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes

for helping out. Everyone for tuning in today, TV radio, podcast, web, and of course up on YouTube live. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at tight ponies around the horn tomorrow 4 p.m. We'll chat then.

They did it, Nailer. I-Hart Radio is throwing it back. 20s. The day. To the days of huge hits An unforgettable items A non-stop stream of the biggest and best Drake, Rihanna, Beyonce Katie Gaga, The Weekend

And more All your decade defining favorites All in one place Hi, it's Katie Perry Hey, it's Bruno Mars, this is Kethe Find 2010's The Decade on the free IHeart Radio app Preset the station

So it's always one tap away I'm sorry.