OverDrive - OverDrive - April 3, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Frank Corrado for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joins to discuss the Blue Jays' convincing start, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s contract value and Andres Gimenez's first impressions. TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joins to discuss Anthony Duclair's dilemma with Patrick Roy, Connor McMichael and Jalen Chatfield's tilt and Brady Tkachuk's injury status with the Senators and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Given five days or less to accept a severance offer, you need EmploymentLawyer.ca. You actually have two years to file a claim for a severance package, which can total as much as 24 months pay. Call your Sam Firou and get what you're owed. EmploymentLawyer.ca. Final Hour Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, the old dog Jeff O'Neil, Frankie Corrado. We've got our best bets later in the hour, Steve Phillips coming up here in a moment on the Dodgers being 8-0. Also the Braves are 0-7. They're off to a horrendous start.

That's surprising. That is surprising. And Alex Anthopoulos will not be happy about that. Also the Padres are 7-0. so those teams out in the nl west or rockstars right now but the team atop the ali sts the blue jays in their action tomorrow as they hit the road for the first time plan the mats home opener for the master the same strong on your flat e take from yesterday that you're gonna hand over the

cash yeah i'm not going to change my mind on a guarantee and chill. I will ask Steve Phillips, an executive GM and you say when you got a guy that wants a ton of cash and he starts out like that, what do you do change how much cash are you willing to hand him? Like five 20. Hey,

he's one of the guys right there. Well, listen, what I said is a it's, it's not my money, there's no salary cap, but if you want to be a big game player, the Blue Jays try to portray that image. We're in on Soto, we're in on Otano, we're in on all these different guys, Corbin Burns, who needs the money, we got the money. So you want to sign all these guys, you want

to bring in all these guys and you want to spend a lot of money on your club and you want to be a competitive club, then you have your own guy. Yes, it's an absurd amount of money. And you can thank Steve Cohen and Juan Soto and Otani and the Dodgers. They changed the landscape of baseball. It's crazy. For sure. But that's what's happened. Those two contracts changed everything.

The goalposts started to move. If you want to be a big game player, you've got to be able to keep your own guy. I totally agree. I am with you. Lock, step, hand over the cash. Because what is the alternative? You're going to get someone in free agency? No, you're not. Yeah, they're proving that. You get someone with baggage maybe or someone who's 40 years old. Like we've kind of seen this story play out. What are you going to be missing though, guys? What are the... Well, you're going to be missing a guy. He can still play. Man, seven games doesn't mean this guy's

forgotten how to play. I get that but you're talking about a guy that falls asleep at second base. Who knows what he's gonna look like in five years. You haven't won anything with them. Okay then cut it off altogether though. That's my point. That's my frustration. The Jays the Jays Shapiro Atkins they all come out they say we believe we believe we believe we're so close I talked to the agent an hour ago then it then you're serious which is yes prosperity and hope right like Ross was speaking Espanol to the agent yeah trying to lock down a contract which means you're telling him you're committed you're in the Vladie Guerrero Jr. business.

Now you're trying to hold, you're trying to get a win as much of a win as you can. You're trying to save some money. And I get it. The owner's probably pretty happy with that. Owner would love that. Save me as much money as I can, but ultimately you got to get the player. And that's what they're saying. We want to keep the player.

That's why they're negotiating. That's why they're willing to give him a lot of money. You got to take some risk. And you got to close it at some point. There has to be a little bit of risk taken in saying that like, okay, we're gonna pay this guy a lot of money because we believe, and we're taking a risk that this guy is gonna continue

to go down the path of maybe getting even better than what he is right now. And if you don't do that, then you'll just never know and you'll play it safe. And there's like a limitation to how good your team can truly be because you're not gonna be able to bring in any one of significant impact the way he can be if things keep going in that direction like I think there's there's a little bit of risk to it but you have to take that

risk yeah and that's it risk is the word they keep using right is risk oh yeah risk is you got a risk on both sides There's no risk for Vlad if you get five hundred and fifty million dollars Like the risk is kind of out at that point like for him I guess you're risking your legacy and you're risking, you know taking a lot of heat in the marketplace and that will change Right. I think the fans they give him a big ovation when he got called that opening night I think fans the majority of fans are are on board with Ladi and want to see him stay Things change when there's a dollar sign attached to your name that's different than what it used to be.

Regardless of whether or not there's a salary cap or not, you become a $500 million player, that's the standard you're held to for everybody. You should and it should be the case. That is naturally how it should be, but he's still making like $29 million this year. He has the highest paid athlete in the city, I believe, outside of maybe Scotty Barnes how it should be but like he's still making like 29 million this year as the highest paid athlete in the city I believe outside of maybe Scotty Barnes and Emanuel quickly I think is making a little more than that maybe RJ Springer makes less? Springer makes less than that yeah

Springer makes 25 okay something like that like with arbitration Vlad is making a lot of money yet no one talks about the money and it's different with baseball because there isn't a salary cap. But you demand or ask for 500 and you get it, you better pull your weight, man. Like people are going to be on you. And that's the same way though, like if you were to go somewhere else, if you went to the Yankees or the Red Sox, you think they're not holding them to that standard? Of course they are.

Juan Soto is going to be held to that standard. You know, the Mets are three and three to start the year. OK, not bad. Like you're plugging along, you started on the road, but he's going to have to have a great year and he's got to get that team into the playoffs. And it has to happen. That's the amazing thing about Otani.

Is he got a contract, unlike anything we've ever seen in professional sports. He's the only guy that I would have ever paid that to. That's it. He and him. And he's worth every penny plus. He could have made, it's crazy to say this, they could have given him a billion dollars

and it would have made sense. And said that's fair value. Yes. Like he shortchanged himself and he deferred money. Yeah. And he made 700 million. Like someone was writing, I read something online last week or a couple weeks ago when they were in Japan

to open the year over the season, that Japanese companies have bought up so much ad space at like Dodger Stadium and for Dodger's home games and through their media landscape, it's leaking over, they're buying stuff for the road games. So like these massive Japanese companies, or let's say the Dodgers are in San Diego next week, they're going to San Diego saying, what can we, we got to buy stuff. Like we're gonna have such an audience back here watching this guy play. How can I get in

the park? How can I get into the media landscape? Okay, like that's how much money he's making. And then let alone the Jersey sales and when they went to Japan and it's crazy, and he and he's pulled his weight MVP in a World Series last year and look at this there ain't no they walked off last night Otani ends up being a guy that does it for him here's Steve Phillips our TSN baseball insider is it crazy now Steve to look back and say that Otani should have asked for 1 billion dollars and he should have been given 1 billion dollars Yeah I mean with the

level of deferrals he was willing to take and now that we see where Soto's contract went absolutely. You know you could have done that with the billion done the deferrals and the net present value could have been you know 600 million which is still less than what Soto got and so it's just it's stunning with this guy. Think about the flair for the dramatic So it was a tiny bobblehead day yesterday And some kid yelled him. Hey, you know bobblehead day. You got to get a hit He got three including the walk-off home run you go back to last year when he turned into the 40-40 player

He had a grand slam for his 40th home run for the 50-50 season It was on the day that the Dodgers clinched the playoffs bottle Tony's first time in the playoffs And it was the 10 RBI game with six hits and and the home runs the three homers and the stolen bases and you know He became the 50-50 guy in the one day With the 10 RBI then he homers in his first playoff game I mean, it's just it's's unbelievable that in the dugout, they were saying at Dodger Stadium, the players were, there was not a single player who didn't doubt

that he was gonna end the game with one swing of the bat yesterday. It's just, they've grown to expect it, and here's the thing, how is it that we all expect it and he delivers every single time? I mean, really, it's kind of make-believe stuff. I mean, it's really very hard to believe that he can do all that he's doing

in the way that he's doing it. Steve, my colleague Brian Hayes was talking about the Vladdy negotiations yesterday and he said he would love to sign Vladdy right this moment. He thinks it's time to strike well. Things are ready to rock here. And I was like, if I got a guy that's commanding that money and it's off to a slow start, I start slow playing it myself.

What's the professional GM's play here when you got a guy in this situation how to handle this negotiation? Yeah, I think that if you're going to sign him, sign him. If you think he's worth $500 you know two weeks ago then he's worth the 500 million now exactly I I mean no I wouldn't give it to him but I think that they I understand why they're going to they may not be able to afford to give it to him and I don't think they can afford not to give it to him and you know I'm not sure you and I don't I don't love the 15 years of a deal.

They don't work out. I mean, none of those position player deals have worked out, but it's the price of doing business and he's your homegrown guy and you need this centerpiece around which to build. I do think that taking the burden of the contract off of him will, I think, Lucid about to go out and play and just not have to even think about it anymore.

So as much as he says he's not, how can you not when somebody's dangling $500 million out in front of you? But I think that, yeah, I mean, here's the thing. If he got off to a hot start, you might say, okay, we wanna pay up, what if they come back and say, oh, we wanna do do 600 million now.

We know there are peaks and valleys, and that's why it's really difficult, though, to negotiate in season. Because what ends up happening is, if you don't want to move, you get entrenched in your position. If you're the player and you're swinging the back grade, and if your team and the player's struggling,

you get entrenched in your position. That's why I never wanted to negotiate in season because the emotions of the day impact you and you can't let it because you've got six years to determine the player's value. You know, you've had them six years to know what its value is. You can't let today or yesterday dictate what his value is tomorrow. And so you've got to try to get it done. But that's why I always avoided to do these deals in season because you can get caught up in the emotions of the players performance. Well that I think is

possibly a more pressing issue here where Shapiro, Atkins can speak with his agent they can figure out certain details but at what point as a manager do you and it's early there are five and two the team's off to a good start but when when do you start checking in with Vladdy to wonder or at least be curious of the fact that maybe the contract is actually having an effect on him? It'd be great if it was a positive effect, but if it's a negative effect that can happen. These are people we're dealing with. Like what are the check marks on that?

Is it 20 games? Is it a hundred at bats? What is it where you say, okay, I gotta look at this guy and wonder myself, is he not playing up to his capability because the contract is hanging over him? Yeah. So I have that conversation in a way that isn't about the contract.

You know, I do it now, just say, man, how you doing? How you holding up? How you feeling? You feeling good? You good? I would do that check-in without attaching it to the contract conversation because as a manager, I don't really want to address that. It's not my area to address it. I just want to care about the player and I want to take a burden off of him. And so I want to talk about how are you doing without acknowledging why you might not be doing well. So that would be one that I would be doing now, yesterday, day before tomorrow. It's just a daily check-in. How you feeling today? How you doing? And

if you start to sense anything in that response, then you can address it as opposed to taking a moment where it's this dramatic moment where, listen, hey, call them into my office. Are you okay? Like what's going on? Are you letting this bother you? I think you do the daily check-in with them and get going. And look, I think the good news, and I think it's great news for the Blue Jays

that Vladdy and Santander haven't hit yet. I think it's great. They're five and two without them. I mean, and so in the bottom of the lineup was Springer and Rodin and and Kirk and Jimenez, you know, the middle bottom of the lineup, those are the guys producing right now in Bichette swinging the bat well that, you know, Vlad E and Santander are gonna get going. And so the good news is you're five and two without them and then they're going

to go and then that's going to make you that much better of a team. And so I really do look at it that it's good news that Vlad E and Santander haven't hit yet because it speaks to the length and depth of the lineup, which is such an important thing. You know, if those guys were hitting and everybody else was fumbling along, we might think, oh, that's great.

And I gotta tell you, I don't know that it would be great because I know that those two are gonna hit. I don't know what the rest of the lineups doing. So the fact the rest of the lineups is doing well is I think probably the best thing for the Blue Jays right now. Steve, there are some positives to build on and we'll get to those in a moment but we only get to talk to you so often so we have to do some house cleaning items and one for me is Scherzer's thumb. Like, can you explain to me how this guy wheels out there one time and his thumb is connected to his ribs or, like, I just find the whole thing to be wacky and how did we get here

with this guy? Tell me the breakdown of this. So the thumb is connected to the arm. Yeah, not the ribs. I mean, now in the operation game that I played, I mean, sometimes when I went for the thumb, I did hit the rib cage with the wrench in there that would set off the buzzers. But Steve, I guess the question I should have asked you you is were they not aware of this going into it or they want to take a risk i think that uh... i think they knew that he had some of these issues or company his vulnerability

it is is is there in his transaction report what you have to do is look at the time spent on the interlaced over the last couple years and so you know it uh... and you know you listen to the player and then you know you're you know you're assuming a risk now it's a one-year risk and it is 15 million dollars but remember they're the same team that signed Kirby Yates a couple years ago you know thinking through two pitches in spring training and then I'm getting Tommy Don surgery didn't pitch it off for him they paid for the surgery the rehab everything else and then he came back and was a great

pitcher in Atlanta and then Texas and and now he's a Dodger. And so, you know, they assumed a level of risk with hope that they could get, you know, the, you know, an impact for Scherzer and the clubhouse and everywhere else. And I think that this is one that that, you know, when you start making deals with these one year deals with these older pitchers, you know, at some point, the deterioration is going to hit, you know, and always know when, you know, at some point the deterioration is going to hit. You don't always know when, you know, and look, if the previous couple years are an indicator that you know it's, you know, a precipitous decline, but I think they thought that, you know, they might catch lightning in a bottle with it and

they don't mind having them around, you know, if he's not pitching, but they need to get this thing addressed. I know he doesn't want to pitch without it being addressed because he understands that if he does pitch with the thumb issue, it will lead to an elbow and a shoulder issue because you're, you know, the compensation for trying to throw the ball in a way that doesn't hurt your thumb leads to pressure points and torque and issues that in other areas

that could lead to more serious injuries. So I get why they're taking some time to fix it. I just don't know if it's fixable. That's, I mean, not what you want to hear when you're talking about something like that. For a pitcher that like we probably knew there was going to be some kind of baggage that he carried over, but that sounds more bleak than you would want to hear. And I guess like if we switch over to a good story for a veteran guy who's, you know, on the back end of his career, it's George Springer.

He's got an OPS over a thousand right now, actually well over a thousand. We know that's not gonna stay up there the whole season, but how important is it for George Springer to be contributing to this team this early in the season? So I think it's great. And I think that if anybody had interest in them, I'd trade them.

I would, I would. And I just mean it in a way that, you know, I just think that with the age, as the season progresses, I expect the performers to decline a bit. And if he's spiking now and somebody has interest and needs a veteran outfielder, I'd be willing to move them and then take my chances with what I have and go out and try to get somebody else and mix and match a little bit.

But if I can get out from underneath that money for the next couple of years, I'd make a deal. And because I don't know that, I mean, my experience tells me that veterans can peak a little bit again and they can return to that form, but sustaining it when the body starts to deteriorate and let them down, I expect there will be a decline in the second half of the season. And it's not a knock on George Springer,

it's just, father time is undefeated. And as is gravity, by the way, guys, I tell you what, I went to my last physical. What, where was I height wise? Where am I right now? Like what's going on man? Gravity is undefeated. Yeah?

Yeah, it's beating you up, that's not good. Yeah, you gotta fight back Steve. I'm putting it out there for you guys. Beware that whatever your height is right now will not be your height in 20 years. I'm just playing it out there for you right now. What do you mean like when you were the GM of the Mets you were 511 and now you're 57 or what the hell's going on Well, I mean I was like 511 and a half and now I'm 510 and a half I've lost the full inch and that's gravity pounding down on you in that thing is pounding down on you

Yeah, basically exactly where you out That's the job telling you something. That's exactly it being a GM for so long, sending you a message at some point. Yeah, it's interesting, you know, the J's of five and two and like the lineup changes or the lineup decisions. I think when it came out opening day, you're like, all right, Pichette into Vladdy into Santander, okay.

And then Andreas Jimenez hitting cleanup caught the ire of a lot of people especially considering how that was just a black hole for them last year. Like whoever hit fourth in this lineup was it was it was basically giving nothing to this team and now this guy has hit three home runs he's getting on base he's stealing bases I think it's similar to Springer not to the same extent but like his stats are gonna come back to earth here he's not gonna hit 65 home runs but the reasoning for it was they thought you know he can't hit for a little bit of power if he gets on base Kirk can move him over which we've seen

at times he's already again stolen some bases like this is definitely unconventional but what do you make of it and how long do you think it could last yeah you're saying He's a contact guy. And so, you know, if you get runners in a scoring position between Bichette, Guerrero, and Santander, then the contact guy is not a bad guy to have that in that fourth spot where man on third less than two outs, he can pick up an RBI. You know, man on second, it all takes a single to pick up that run.

And so, you know, he's a good baseball player, and I know his offense went down the last couple years in Cleveland, but a couple years ago he had a really solid offensive season, really good. And here's the thing, nobody maintains these elite levels of performance, not even the best players though.

There are peaks and valleys throughout the year, and what you hope is that now Springer's hot, and then when he starts to cool off, then you need Vlade to get hot. And then when Vlade has a little bit of a cool off, Santander needs to hit home runs. The timing of when guys get hot matters. And so that's why I mean, like right now it's great

that they're getting production from the non-Vlade guys and the non-Santander is because at some point those guys are going to produce. Then when they do cool off, you're going to need Kirk to hit a home run and to drive in some runs. You're going to need Varsho to come back and get on one of those streaks. He can get on a streak, he doesn't sustain it well, but if the timing of those streaks

work out, then you can sustain an offense throughout the course of a season. You want your big guys to produce and generally they're more consistent than everybody else, but you do want to have that length and depth of the lineup where you've got, you're not just waiting and only giving yourself, you know, with the first three hitters, three innings a game to score runs, right? You want to be able to have as many innings a game where you're threatening to score and so the idea that you can manufacture if Jimenez is leading

off an inning, he can get on and he can steal the base, he can get them over and get them in, that's another way to score and that's what you need is different ways to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard. So the Jays in New York for opening day tomorrow, 307 first pitch, Juan Soto will be introduced to all the fans in Queens tomorrow There are three and three Soto's off to an okay start not great not awful decent start What do you expect the vibe to be like tomorrow at Citi Field? What do you think the ovation will be like for Soto and? You know at what point do New York Mets fans start putting pressure on him

To you know do what he's supposed to do and make sure this team's You know rockin early and often Yeah, I think that I think the vibe is gonna be crazy. I think that they're so happy They signed Soto they beat the Yankees in that negotiation You know they need Lindor to get going and Soto will go He just needs somebody around him because Alonzo has struggled Lindor has struggled a bit. And so, you know, if somebody else gets going, Soto will, will, you know,

she's going to get hot. Plus I think playing, he's one of those guys like Ohtani. He knows the big moment and, and he doesn't let those go by. Don't be surprised if you get a home run from Soto tomorrow, an opening day at city field. You know, he just, he's one of those guys that plays to the crowd and that's going to be an opportunity for him to make a statement to Mets fans to start his time and his love affair with them.

Absolutely. We'll be a fun one tomorrow, Steve. Great catching up with you. Thank you for doing this. My pleasure, guys. Anytime. There is Steve Phillips or TSN Baseball Insider. Yeah, Jets or Jays Mets tomorrow all right

Chris Johnston coming up on the Leafs win last night on that fight between Chatfield and McMichael McMichael McMichael Connor McMichael got me thinking of Carmichael arena up in Sudbury it's like a legend if you ever played the Big Nickel yeah we have Carmichael for sure in Sudbury. It's like a legend. If you ever played the Big Nickel, you played Carmichael for sure. Great old ranked. Gritty Arena. Speaking of gritty things, can I ask you guys a quick question where you stand on something? I see this quite often and now the weather's nicer and I'm seeing it a little bit more. You would have friends that work in trades. They got the white work van. You know what I'm talking about? I see a lot of times the white work van with one door open and like two by fours or other items basically like Jetting out and you hope everything's you know locked in but I'm like

Not the most reassuring thing watching you go 120 on the 400 with that door open. I'm like there is stuff I'm sure of it. That is not Fastly secured back there dude. there to their professionals we played hockey these guys know how to keep tools from flying out he had that that's the that's their move that's very true i mean it is nerve-racking on it forever and they're going to keep doing it and they know how to keep the operation tight yeah yeah i hate you i have faith i have faith in

there you know i i i don't know i hope I hope so. I'm behind them and I'm like, I gotta get away from this thing. Like even if I gotta go 150 to get around him, I'm doing it. Yeah. Yeah, you have to because it is those work trucks, you know, and if you get like a like a pickup truck that's loaded in the back and you're like, what's going on back there? That guy, he just picked up something like there's shrapnel that's going somewhere and you're like, what's going on back there? That guy, he just picked up something, like there's shrapnel that's going somewhere. And you're right, he's flying down the 400, flying down highway seven, whatever it is.

One pothole and like, there's a drill bit going right through. Something's coming your way immediately. And I think you have the right of the road to just fly by that guy. But that guy's never going slow. Like never ever going slow. like never ever get to a job and that like i respect like those absolutely they work hard man but they know what they're

doing always right man like very rarely do you see a mistake in a scenario like that yeah there can't be they know there's no room for error locked down absolutely um all right best bet still to come chris johnston coming up overdrive continues tsn 1050 in on TSN 2. Chris Johnston coming up here in a moment Again the fight last night Jalen Chatfield Connor McMichael went at it and Chatfield UFC takedown with a sweep of the leg and a slew foot But no suspension no fine nothing from the league Nothing not in the rulebook Not in the rule book. Not in the rule book.

UFC takedown is not rule 78.1 in the rule book. Well, but here's the answer. Hayes, you did bring up a good point. As much as I thought that I would have come down hard on him to let everyone else in the league know, but then you're getting in the definition of what do you do when you fight? Is it like, it's never really been

discussed you're only allowed to stand there and just throw bombs at each other, anything outside of that is not allowed? That's where the question comes. I really don't like it. I don't like it. What else can you do? You can't kick someone, you can't knee someone, you can stand there and punch and grab. But tak take downs are a part of fighting like it always is and and guys go down guys pull each other down guy like there's different elements to it I'm just saying like the idea of players within the moment the idea that they should be considering safety during a fight that's an oxymoron well I just don't like the idea like that fighting is one thing

but the idea just do something drastic right off the bat it's like you want to drop the gloves and throw bombs at each other but if there's any part on any side that is involved in a takedown it's it's so-and-so and they could have just started it with that I don't know I just really hated the play I didn't like it either it's very uneasy and i guess one of those plays brian where if it happens if it gets ugly and that guy goes off in a stretcher in an ambulance and something really bad happens that were looking at us like what kind of dummy league is that our barriers and

if that's the case and you gotta get rid of fighting that's like a that that's my point there's no gray area you can have fights you can have guys trying to hurt each other That's what happens I think if you really wanted to you could find a way to work that into the slewfoot rule Because he used his feet like what if you blow it up and you watch you can see he kind of does slewfoot him Yes, oh, he knows what he's doing. They always say the league always says we evaluate these things on a on a single Event basis or whatever the terminology

they use, an event by event basis. In a vacuum. You know what I mean? Yeah. So like looking at that in the vacuum in the one single event, it's dirty. I don't know what the hell you're going to call it, but it is a dirty play. Did you think Sam Bennett slew footed Tavares last night? Do you think that was a slew foot in the third period?

You guys remember the play? Like right by the side of the net? I do. Is that where they chatted after? Yeah. Bennett talking to him, and I'm guessing Bennett was like hey Sorry about that to me it looked like the old story But I know I know what I'm doing accident on purpose Have you got your wires crossed before hand and then realized after I think he got him knew we got him And then maybe realized that it's Tavares, and I maybe didn't have to do that to him

But it's Sam Bennett like that's how he plays. I thought it was a blue foot. Future Leaf, I'll give him a hall pass. I want to know again, I don't need to revisit this but I would have loved to have seen Tavares get up and just two-hand him right across the wrist. Like just lose it on him, didn't happen. Here's Chris Johnston our T and i can sign up what's happened cj and ours to be used at six or a goal lately as a as a two-handed anybody yes did you do you know the plan referencing do you have a take on that it's funny i was in the building by missed it and then i didn't go back and

look at it when mentioned it down we were by the dresser and spoke in and then said they thought it was a sleuth foot But unfortunately, I didn't actually check it out. Yeah, it was a Accident on purpose Exactly what that was. Yeah, I kind of know what I'm doing But I'm gonna bobble around and make it look like I didn't know what I was doing. But yeah I could have been dangerous like Tavares fell right back like on his head and again It's Bennett and that Bennett's gonna do that stuff man

Like that's that's what's gonna happen. But you're right about Tavares like up to 36 on the year Like what more can you say? We were talking about earlier this week CJ. This isn't a guy Performing on a contract year type thing where hey, I'm just gonna show up now and try to get paid He's been doing this his whole career Yeah, but I mean it's hard not to where, hey, I'm just going to show up now and try to get paid. He's been doing this his whole career. Yeah, but I mean, it's hard not to look at the numbers and especially look at the surge he's had in the last month or so and wonder if a little bit extra motivation,

you know, channeling some of that uncertainty. I think probably I'd put him in the bucket of players that the time off for the Four Nations break, I'm sure, you know, help them just in terms of getting some rest and recovery the bucket of players that the time off for the four nations break I'm sure you know helped them just in terms of getting some rest and recovery for this push towards the playoffs but you know it's you're right it's not not anything you haven't seen but it's it's at a different level I think especially early on you had two stretches that stand out to me obviously March you know is

probably his best month I think by goals anyway in the NHL that he's ever had. So that was obviously a strong period. But even in the start of the year when Mathews was injured, Tavares played a lot more minutes than he had the last couple of seasons, was put into some situations and produced at a pretty insane level. And that's how you get this season when you add that all together. He's got a chance to have this be his best, second best goal scoring season, you know, at his stage of his career and someone who's known for scoring goals. That's pretty impressive. So, you know, credit to him and

I think it does set up for an interesting off season. We look forward to his future. CJ, not to jump around too much, but we were talking about the non-suspension, the play by Jalen Chatfield last night. What does the league say about not handing down a suspension for a play like that? Well, what's interesting to me, Frankie, is they said that there wasn't even a lot of debate in their room.

I think that they look at it as two guys who are spinning from the start of the fight that are sort of struggling for balance and you know they view essentially that the trip and fall situation where they touch deals as you know more more more of an accident than something where Chad took it on purpose. I'm just like when Jay Leno accidentally like fell into that light pole and had the black guy. He fell down a hill. Is that light pole and had the black guy. He fell down a hill.

Is that what he owes a hill? Yeah. Allegedly fell down a hill. That hill gave him the black guy. Go ahead CJ. I know you're saying what the league is saying here. It's not your opinion personally, but continue. Yeah, I mean basically they viewed as two strong guys that are grappling, that are a little off balance and are trying to get some leverage and then it has an outcome. And you know, I don't think that they honestly had anything close to debate about whether it should be

suspendable or anything like that. I think that internally they view that as just the outcome of that fight. And so it goes back to just at the start of your conversation or the end of it rather at the start of this hit. But to me, if that's what you're viewing it as, then you don't like that play, it's almost like you can't have fighting because, you know, those, you know, the players are full of guys who fought for a living, you know, George Perros at the head of it. But, you know, you got Ryan Goetzel, that's in there now, Stefan Gintel, you know, other other people have done this. And if that's what they're concluding, and if we decide we don't like it, it's, it's hard to, where do you find the middle ground?

I guess maybe if the helmets are off, you got to stop a fight. Maybe. I'm not sure how you can safeguard for that because, you know, that, that play clearly could have had bad outcome, you know, whether there was intent or not. Absolutely. Um, what are you, what is your read on this? Anthony and declare Patrick Waugh, New York Islanders situation where Wa really called him out after the last game and then today, Duclair asked Wa for time off, he was granted it

and he's no longer with the team right now. Yeah, I mean look, Duclair's had a really tough year. You know, he signed a four year contract there as a free agent and, you know, it's not produced at anywhere near the rate that you're used to seeing and clearly, you know, things aren't going well between him and the coach to have laws, frustration, you know, come out in the public sphere the way it did after that game.

And so, you know, we live in a time, I think, where mental health and things of that nature are taken more seriously in sports and elsewhere. And so he's asked for some time to process this and probably think about his future and maybe catch his breath from what's going on. But I don't know where it goes from here other than I understand him on board with that. And I think Patrick understands how they got to that spot in terms of him not feeling comfortable with the situation. So I don't know a lot of the behind the scenes of what's happened there but on the surface

you see a player who struggled to fit in with the team get called out in that manner. You just hope that whatever is going on that he's taking care of himself and it appears that that is the case with his request to take some time away. It's just going to be interesting how they get back to even like grounds here. Like how do you get back into the room and feel comfortable like okay I'm back and ready to go like that's like he basically said he had no business being in that lineup which is probably true. That's like bottom of the barrel for a player and you said he signed a business being in that lineup which is probably true that's like bottom of the barrel for a player and you said he signed a four-year deal

there yeah and I believe it's full notes no trade clause through the contract duo so I mean maybe there's a buyout in a future mean is there are ways you could I guess move on from that kind of deal but but none of them are appealing when you're only in the first year before your ticket no kidding uh... i guess let's segue to vancouver uh... what is your read on the relationship between rick tockett alias peterson and and their future uh...

in vancouver in the summer specific i might have met not just i'm just talking about the way peterson's been going i guess guess, you know, Tauke was making some comments recently. The market's starting to go a little bit crazy out there, wondering if Tauke and Pederson are on the same page, Tauke it's uncertainty in the future, what's going on with Pederson, him not playing, him being hurt, them playing the way they played last night. How could they, Brian, be on the same page? It's not even possible.

When you have a guy, you just patrick wad talking about anthony duclair do you think there's any possible chance that rick talk it in peterson are on the same page right now a guy grossly underachieving for more than a year how could that possibly even be a thing it's not that valid under percent uh... but yeah i guess where do you think Taukeed has to consider

that in terms of his future? Like, what is he getting out of Pedersen? And why would he stay if Pedersen is going to play like this and make $11.6 million? I think it's an under maybe discussed or thought about part of Rick Taukeed figuring out what is best for him after the season is just what's the direction of the organization? What kind of team is he going to be coaching? What's management's plans? I mean, it's been an abject disaster there this year.

And I don't think it falls just on one player or just on one coach. I mean, this is an organizational issue to have a team that was within a breath of getting to the conference final last year and to have dealt with all the different things they have, personality conflicts, rating away JT Miller, the Pedersen situation. I mean, look, he's got to wear it too. He's signed a big contract and has not been remotely close to a player that should be getting paid $11 million. And then if you're in the coaches seat and you're trying to think, you know, Hey, this might be a good time where other teams might want me,

maybe some better spots to go. I mean, it's got to at least cross your mind if you're Rick Tuckett. So, you know, I don't know how that's going to all shake out. I do believe him when he says that conversation hasn't really happened yet, you know, with the Canucks. And it's not really, it's not really one that I think that they can get into too meaningfully while the, you know, there's still a little bit of daylight left on the season, although obviously Vancouver's playoff chances have plummeted here the last little bit. But, you know, it'll be an interesting few days, you know, when the Canucks are done just to see how does management approach that? I mean, the Canucks clearly want to keep chocolate. They've already indicated that desire to try to get them extended, but I think CS is the side of who wants to stay, and I don't think it's just about the

one player. It's more about, you know, where's this organization and how can we be sure we're moving into a good spot? Because, you know, I think you could write a book about all the things that have gone wrong there this year cj mc a headline here that says n h l to address l t i a r slash cap playoff issues can you elaborate on that please well cb a box officially are underway this weekend and is the league desire finally after a lot of tuning and throwing on that issue uh...

to to least try to see if there's some way that the rules can be tweaked, you know, where that is addressed. And so that's what the plan is right now. Obviously anything that happens the players would have to sign off on it and you know it's not yet clear exactly what that will look like but you know I think it's fair to say that you know there's even some players out there that maybe don't like the way teams have used LTIR, whether it was the Kucherov situation a few years ago in Tampa or Mark Stone in Vegas. You want to go way back, Patrick Kane in Chicago and there's others, it's not just those teams. But if you remember the Lightning made t-shirts or something, $92 million team, I think it

was a Dougie Hamilton comment after the Hurricanes got beat out by Tampa that year in the playoffs. So you know it's it's a bit of a hot button issue. It's seen as I think by some as a loophole and and as those CBA talks kept going I think what's great about those is we're not supposed to hear too much. I think they're just gonna try to salt that away and announce an extension without any of us having to worry about it or dive too deeply into it as we go along here. But but one of the things that our colleague Pierre Lebrun reported tonight on IT just was about the fact that he wants to address that that LTIR issue if they can pick up with something with the players association. With Chris Johnston, so Ottawa at home against Tampa tonight, Brady Kachuk not playing. This would be the fourth game he misses this year, I believe, with an upper body injury. They're 0-3 when he's not in the lineup.

What are you hearing in terms of his status and in terms of whether this is something to be concerned about beyond tonight? Well, it seems like a case in this scenario where they're being almost overly cautious, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I think that they look at the standings and while they're still obviously fighting to officially lock up their spot, they're in a spot where they don't need to be pushing anyone to the limit at this stage. And obviously given how important Brady Kachak is to them, you know, it's a separate issue

from the one he had at the Four Nations. He had an awkward collision on Sunday with Ryan Graves of Pittsburgh and just was feeling sore. And so I think, I think it's a sort of under the bucket of abundance of caution right now, but let's face it, he also was dealing with that lower body injury that did awesome games coming out of the four nations. And so I think it's an opportunity that they're seeing on their schedule to get Brady some extra rest and, and I've been for the most important time of the

year, which in this case does look like it's going to include playoff games for the first time since K the chuck was drafted by the senators so uh... this this is one of those ones where it if they had to win the game to get in i think you'd be playing but they don't have to and so i think they're they're just taking it easy with them and trying to make sure they get the best version of

them uh... into weeks time what what about on the leaf front jake m McCabe and David Camp left the game last night. Hear anything on them? I didn't hear anything today. They didn't have practice on those guys. It was a weird situation with McCabe. I actually didn't. Again, being in the building, I didn't see Howie got tangled up with the linesman. I guess it was in celebrating that goal, the breakaway

goal, but it was very sort of strange you know can't be from kind of laboring often after last shift uh... you know you have to see what uh... the master's report has for us when they get back on the ice tomorrow alright cj thank you for doing this will do it again soon okay boys be well

chris johnston our tsn hockey insider sounded like he had his window down the highway there he might he might might be a motorcycle guy. Do you remember when there was that snow storm or that rain storm and his car kept beeping and beeping? Yes. Do you remember that? Yeah, that was crazy.

That was only one of the few that we've experienced. We could do a, like a best of and play it all summer of the corny calls we've like... Oh yeah. That was it for 20 minutes. So CJ, let me ask you, one more thing CJ before we let you go. It was just, it never stopped man. 15 minutes of that breaking news. Like around the trade deadline or something.

It was something crazy too that was going on. We're like, man, we gotta keep this guy on. Like this is good stuff. Thank you, CJ. Appreciate the update. He was like, I'm trying to close my door and this noise. I think we ignored it for the first couple of minutes and then O finally said something. Are you having surgery or something?

What is your problem? Please address the elephant in the room. Yeah, the McCabe thing though, I didn't see it, he was out there the last two minutes. Remember, there's a, they iced the puck and he got a change because it was a medical break. And then we just never heard anything more about what's up with him and what's going on.

Like David, you don don't see anyone get injured Camp you can survive you start losing any of these defensemen any of the big four you need everything to be aligned exactly It is right now. Yeah, and that's like every team too. You think Florida wants to go into the playoffs without Barkov? No as it like that's going into the playoffs without Barkov and Kachuk and then getting missing to Echblide games They're losing in the first round. I'm sorry as much as we love Florida and they're a great team. They can't withstand that Maybe they can Let's but huge junk and Bennett steps up and Marchand arrives and you know makes a point of Sticking his nose and things. I don't know makes a point of sticking his nose

in things I don't know we'll see I'm with you I think that would be incredibly difficult for them to overcome but they are the Cup champs and they are a very resilient team. Let's take a break and watch come back and watch Ernie Els. Yes come back with Ernie from the Masters as we set up for next week. Overdrive continues TSN 1050N on TSN 2. All right, best bets powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble the same game, Parland, seconds on the FanDuel Sportsbook app.

Habs Moneyline tonight. Raptors, I'm gonna take the points, four and a half. Portland's not a good team. These are the games where the Raptors, you're like, you're tanking, you gotta lose, and then they find a way to show up and compete if not win and they're getting four and a half at home.

Scotty Barnes is going to play. I just don't see Portland blowing them out. So I'll take the points and I'm on the Habs at home against Boston tonight. That parlay pan plus 180. Today's best bet is powered by Fender. Live same game parlays are now available for every NHL and NBA game on the Fandals Sportsbook app. Please play responsibly. 19 plus physically located in Ontario. Boston going for 10 losses in a row tonight.

And it's a must win for the Habs. They got Boston tonight, Philly I think on Saturday, at Nashville on Sunday. You gotta get points here man. Gotta get points here Montreal. Because New York won again last night. The Rangers are, they're in it. You know, the Habs got a game in hand and New York's, they're still in it. Those Rangers, man, how they've stayed alive, they're like, I don't know. Who knows? Maybe they hope they can do it though. Well, you know what they did? They looked like Ernie Els early in the season. That's what they look like. Let's see this guy at the Masters.

Come on Ernie. There you go, just tap it in. Oh no, can't believe it. Next one, I'll get the next one. Don't worry about. There you go, just tap it in. Oh no, I can't believe it. Next one, I'll get the next one. Don't worry about that. Let's see what we got here. Look at this stab. Oh. And Ricky Faldo was on the call too, I think.

Wasn't he like, oh no. That's where when you're playing with him, you start to look away or you start walking over to the next hole. Yeah, put a marker on the ball. Oh, you're gone here put a marker on the ball. Mark the ball and read it. This keeps going watch this this guy's like there's no way in hell I'm getting this one. What are we three?

That's three? Yeah he puts his... Oh no! That's not even a game. There it is. Five. Took a nine. Set the tone for the whole tournament.

I think that might have been on thursday it was to do the first first guy on the course welcome to the masters and that guy's seven putting on the was his favorite sandy lial and then her and the big easy nine then sandy and the lial out with his fishing waders and ernie seven-part well you know that uh... b that Bernie Langer is playing his last Masters. I should have went. Yeah this is it. I should have went to pay respect to Bernie. I'll believe it when I see it. He'll be there next year. Dude he'll finish top 10 and be like screw it I'm coming back. Absolutely he'll qualify. Have Basterd will win that

thing. All right. Good stuff. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for hopping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today. TV, radio, podcast, web, we appreciate that. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight.

We're back tomorrow at? 4 PM? We'll chat then. Hey, who invited climate action to the party? We did. Hey, I'm Shannon Burns. And I'm Sarah Christie. Together we host the Earth Day Party Podcast.

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