OverDrive - OverDrive - August 26, 2025 - Hour 2 - Keegan Matheson

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes and Frank Corrado for Hour 2 on OverDrive! MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joins to discuss the Blue Jays' depth sparking the team, Max Scherzer's consistency on the mound and Anthony Santander inching close to returning. Frankie lists his favourite NHL future bets for the 2025/26 season on the ice.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from The Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music.

Loud, crowd, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeartRadio app. Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, Frankie Carrotto. A lot of Taylor Swift today. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey engaged.

This is a big moment. This is going to keep like all the TMZ tabloid type places. They're going to be printing money on this thing. Yeah. Taylor was spotted in London looking at venues or looking at flowers or, oh, what dress is she going to have? That's a good prop. Where's the wedding take place? Arrowhead, Arrowhead.

Dude, Arrow. I want the Super Bowl. Sell out Arrowhead and do it. That would be so money. Yeah, and you know they're going to try to avoid the public and all that, which, of course, they're entitled to their privacy, but I want to see it at Arrowhead. Go Arrowhead.

Yeah. I already said, I want to see kind of like a macho man, Miss Elizabeth, SummerSlam, 91 kind of marriage and wedding. I want to see that. And I think the only way to make that happen is that. arrowhead. Yeah. Andy Reed has to be like on the altar with Travis Kelsey. 100% in a white suit with his mustache and a hat.

Definitely. Definitely. And bring back the old, what's it called? Not the fishbowl that he had, but the face guard from COVID back in the day when that thing was fogging up on him on the sidelines. The face mask. Bring back that thing. Yes.

Have him right there ring bearer in that face mask. Ring bearer. 50th yard line. Here comes arrowhead. Yeah. Has to happen. Yeah, I would think, you know, I don't know, maybe somewhere exotic or maybe New York or something like that. He's from Cleveland.

Something tells me they won't be living in Cleveland. They'll do it nice. New York. Yeah. Somewhere maybe California, like on the water. Okay. Cliff overlooking the ocean. You'd go down that road?

Hawaii. Yeah. Something like that. Oh, we'll see. I'm sure we can bet on it somehow. Futures. Futures. Futures.

Futures on Fando. Where are they going to get married? Are they going to get married? I'm hoping for it I'm pulling for them that would be amazing but it's a very public public engagement

my wife and I were sitting around the other day and we were like let's watch one of these trashy reality TV shows you know these dating shows so we put on one called the perfect match or perfect match something like that and once the initial

like shock factor of wow these people are all lunatics kind of wears off you get into watching these things and they're so bad. They're in these amazing exotic places but they're the worst things you've ever seen and you're like, I just want to see lunatics, just

kind of be lunatics on the screen but it's just, once you're two episodes in, it's too much. Too much lunacy. At some point you just got to, yeah, it's cringy. You can't do it. All right, Keegan Mathes and coming up here in a moment, I believe Keegan was at the Oasis concert last night.

Hopefully the crowd was better in the first night. We were talking about it yesterday. Why? The crowd wasn't good. evidently well because it gets compared to the European crowds you know and they're all lunatics over there it's all soccer stuff and they do the chance and all that kind of stuff we don't we don't do chance over here so who was saying that it was sleepy I just saw people online that were there they were like oh in my section it wasn't great and compared to Manchester and all that

kind of stuff and dude people look great last night but can people just watch the conference why do they need to scream for three hours can they like I came to see Oasis watching Oasis right do I need to yell for three hours exactly Why is that, how is that fun? Yeah. Like, how is that entertaining whatsoever when I'm paying them to entertain me and sing? Actually, I would be more pissed. If the person next to me is screaming in my ear, I'm like, I want to hear them sing it.

Right. I don't need you sing. I don't need you doing your chant, you know, to Champagne Supernova. Just sit there and sway and you can, you know, you can sing along to the lyrics, but I don't need a side chant that proves that you're such a super fan. Dude, everyone was at that concert, hey? I don't know if you were scrolling Instagram. I have not been to that stadium yet.

Like, with Colplay going through and now Oasis going through, it does seem like almost everyone I know is step foot at that place, and I have not. And I have no reason to go there. Now I don't think there's any other big concerts coming that I'm aware of. The Taylor Swift wedding. When the Taylor Swift wedding comes to Toronto, that's where it's going to be.

That'd be a good prop. And we'll go check it up at Rogers Stadium. I was going to call it out at Downs View. A Downsview Park. Just Downsview. You call it the dome. I'll call it Downsview Park. I like that.

Yeah. That's it. All right, here's Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Do you have fun last night, Keegan? Some might say a little too much, fellas, feeling fresh. I like that. Some might say. Some might say.

Look at you. All right. All right. Good to catch up with you. I'm sure you had one eye on what was going on last night down at the park. and Max Scherzer, you know, he gives up a couple of home runs. He got hit a little bit, but he looks good to me up there. I mean, I think that's his third straight win and 12 starts now as a Blue Jay. And I remember talking about this with you back prior to the season

starting, saying I think the Jays would take 15 starts if they could guarantee it and be healthy into the playoffs. And that's kind of what he's trending towards doing. It's working, man. Last night, we'll call it half an eye on the game. There were lots of Blue Jays fans there who did a great job. of updating me on what was happening in my job while I was in the beer line, which was great. So we were a little up to date on it, but Scherzer now that I had the chance to watch through it in the morning, man. This is what the Blue Jays dreamed of all along. And it cost a bit of an awkward path to get here, guys.

But at this point, he's got a full tank for the playoffs. And if Max Scherzer had to been pitching all season, we're probably talking about whether or not he has that. You know, does he have his best stuff still? he's going to have his absolute max and fastball, his best slider in October. And that's the dream scenario. The way the Blue Jays got here was not a dream scenario. We spent months talking about his thumb, but it's working, man. And right now he's in that conversation, I think, still with that Shane Bieber tier,

maybe the number two starter, number three in the postseason. And if he wins a playoff game, my God, that's one hell of a deal for one year. All right. what's your mini jerry's here jerry's percentages that max scherzer is a blue jay next season oh give me 30 percent give me a one-thirds-ish odds because at this stage of max shorzer's career i would ask you guys what's changed since last year last year he was kind of taking a chance on the blue jays in the winter they were projected to win what 78 79 games this was not supposed to happen. But he likes Toronto. He liked the money, of course, and the Jay's still going

to have money. And he wanted to shot the win. He's not 31. He's 41. And you've only got so many cracks at this left. So if it's worked in Toronto, if it's worked with Pete Walker, the pitching coach, you like being around. Kevin Gosman will see what happens with Shane Bieber, this coaching staff. If you're happy here and you're winning and you're getting paid, makes a lot of sense. the Js will need at least another starter, a real starter, and free agency next year, not just a depth guy. And winning can convince you to do a lot of things. If they're going to play off run here,

there's going to be a lot of reasons to run it back, even at 41 going on 42. Is it safe to say that, you know, the depth, you know, when it comes to the hitting, continues to provide for this team, is that surprising that that's still the case at this point in the summer? Or, you know, given the way things kind of went throughout the first half of the season and then some, this is right on par for what you expected compared to what they had been doing as far as the depth hitting goes.

Honestly, guys, this continues to surprise me, and not because I doubt the players and these depth players, kind of like Ernie Clements, a great example, George Springer, his bounce back year. But when this happens, opposing pitchers are always going to adjust. And that's why these early hot streaks tend to fizzle out in a season, over 162. but the Blue Jays seem to be doing a really great job of staying one step ahead of that and counter punching when they need to making another adjustment when they need to Springer I think again guys it's just the ultimate example of this

I cannot say enough about how impressed I am by his season I didn't think it was coming I thought we were going to see the opposite I thought we might be having conversations about his roster spot his day-to-day job on the team complete opposite he's been spectacular, but these role players coming up, guys, even Addison Barger is an example of that. He wasn't on the opening day roster. Now he's a key contributor. So they're winning that adjustments game, which is not the exciting part of baseball, those adjustments, pitcher matchups, et cetera, but it's working, man, and you need those in the postseason because every team that wins a World Series, there's going to be an Ed Sprague. There's going to be that guy

who's on the fringe of starting. He's not your superstar, but he gets the big hit. and the Jays have a lot of options. They've got a lot of guys we could be talking about not just in October, but if it all goes right for a lot of years. With Keegan Matheson, MLB.com, Jays Twins tonight, yeah, you look at Springer and him playing left field last night, which is something he's done a few times this year. It had never done prior to this year.

And he caught that fly ball last night, and he's laughing, and everyone's kind of joking around with him. but it seemed to be a possibility of what, you know, could happen down the stretch here and into the playoffs. Like the flexibility of Springer when he arrived, obviously, he was a center fielder, then he played predominantly right field. This year he's played a lot of DH. But do you see him as a guy that, you know, could end up actually playing playoff games,

you know, possibly in left field? I think so, guys. And that's been a bit of a plan along the way, saving their bullets and keeping George Springer fresh. so that on October 6th and October 21st, whatever it is, if you have a good DH that can help you max out the lineup, then you can have George Springer in the field. If Anthony Santander returns,

that could easily take care of that with Santander deaching. I'm still in the kind of believe it when I see it camp. We'll see if there's a long way to go there. But if the Blue Jays can max out their lineup a bit, George Springer makes a ton of sense there. And that's something they're doing a better job of this. year. Last year was very defense-focused. How can they be the single best defensive team on the planet every single night and then build the lineup? This year is a little more focused

on offense. I like it. I think it's the right move. I think it's overdue. And Springer is another example of that. So a little flexibility. And yeah, he's 35, but come on, that's not 70. He's a great athlete, an incredible athlete. He can handle it every day. I think he'll be okay there. You brought up Anthony Santander and said, you know, you'll believe it when you see it. Outside of, I guess, a bunch of injuries to depth players, what would you need to see in order for him to be hitting come playoff time? Like, what would that path have to look like for him? I think I'd really need to see some actual performance in minor league games.

And the one wrinkle in all of this, I think the AAA Buffalo Bisons, their season ends September 21 or 22 right in there. It doesn't go all the way after the end of the month. So he would need to get into those games in the first week or two of September. So the clock is really ticking on that. But if Santander, guys, hypothetically, let's work with this. If he goes into a minor league rehab assignment and he's not really putting up numbers, it's an awkward conversation.

Is he in a groove yet? Are you still going to put a guy shaking off Rust into a lineup chasing the playoffs where every game matters? You don't have time to get right. You do not have patience. But if he gets into those games, he's launching a few home runs, you see the power. Well, then, fantastic. You try to find some matchups for him.

I think you can be comfortable deaching him. But as tough as this is to say about an established veteran who earned every dollar of that contract, at this point of the year, I'm going to want to see some performance in the minor leagues to make you comfortable. Otherwise, it's a real risky bet, and I do not want to be the guy making that bet. with Kagan Matheson, Jay's Twins tonight. So Alejandro Kirk hits another home run last night, and he'll be behind a plate tonight. And I think, you know, he has gotten his flowers this year,

deserved all of them. He's had a phenomenal season. Might be their team MVP. Talk about internal improvement. He was a big part of it, considering the way he played the last couple of years. But the fact that Heinemann, like, this guy's hit in 320. I had to look it up today because I was curious,

and I knew his stats have been great. he has a 2.0 wins above replacement. Kirk has a 2.1. It's kind of amazing how, again, if you want to encapsulate why everything is broken their way, and credit to the front office because they've committed to these guys, but they have the best one-two punch going right now. Statistically, I remember when Heinemann hit his home run second or third series of the year. Remember everyone was laughing and they couldn't believe it.

He's only hit three on the year, but still for him, that's like judge hit in 50 or 60. It's kind of amazing how behind a plate this year, Keegan, they feel incredibly comfortable every single game. And they've been healthy and you can commit to them and they feel great about that position when there's been a lot of turnover and a lot of uncertainty over the last two or three years based on who is the right fit,

who should have been traded, who should have been cut, who should get the time. And, you know, that position in particular in 2025 has been absolutely lights out. And of all positions to have a strength, that catcher is such an important one. You know, I always compare it to the quarterback in the NFL. If you don't have one, you're probably toast, and there aren't enough good ones. A lot of backup catchers in the big leagues have terrible offensive numbers.

They can just catch, they can frame, they can control the running game. There are not enough MLB caliber backup catchers. And Heinemann's been fantastic. Alejandro Kirk is legitimate MVP candidate for the Blue Jays this year. just a spectacular season. And we're going back a year or two guys to when they had Gabrielle Moreno, who was one of the top prospects in all of baseball. They had Danny Jansen when he was hitting for power.

And it was a big decision. Like, who are they going to go with? How are they going to spread out this wealth of talent that no other team has? And making this bet on Alejandro Kirk, it's not an easy bet to make when you line these guys up and look at them. And Kirk has been one of this organization's biggest successes, period, like the last decade. He was signed for 30 grand at a scouting event where he wasn't even the guy the Blue Jays were watching. This was never a top prospect. He was never expected or

supposed to be anything close to what he's been, but the right people have believed in him, the right people have pushed for him. And it's resulted in one of the most unique players in Major League Baseball, and an incredible starting catcher. And that extension they did with Kirk before the season, looks like one of the best deals in the big leagues right now. Like dollar for dollar, that is great business. Well, and, you know, you talk about Alejandro Kirk kind of coming up through the pipeline here for the Blue Jays. In a year where everything seems to be going right for them, you know, farm team rankings

come out on ESPN today, and there's the Blue Jays ranked at number 12. And you look at it and say, okay, like they've got good veteran players, they've got core pieces locked up. They're leading the AL East. They're going to be a playoff team and they still have a really good prospect pipeline. Like is that, I don't know, how significant is that that they're, you know, in the top 12, you know, when it comes to their farm team or their farm team system? And this is after they traded Cal Stephen, who we had ranked number five in their system, Kendri Rojas, number six, and Geron Watts Brown, who was number 10. So three of their top, 10 prospects get traded, and they're still making a jump like this, which is nuts.

That's telling you that if those prospects had stayed, they'd be comfortably in the top 10. And this is where sustainable winning comes from. Everyone says sustainable winning. Most of the time it's fluff. Most of the time, it's impossible. But if you have a good farm system next to spending money, that's how you keep winning. That's what the Dodgers do. Not enough people talk about the Dodgers' ability to develop players and draft them and sign them.

but if the Blue Jays can do this alongside the money they're spending, that's the sweet spot, man. That's where the magic happens. Because every time you develop someone like, let's say Addison Barger or Alejandro Kirk, when you develop them by yourself, not only are you getting a good, really good MLB player, suddenly the 15 million bucks you were about to spend on a third basement, cool, you spend it somewhere else now. You go get a good pitcher.

You go find Max Scherzer on a one-year deal and help. playoff run. It makes everything work. This farm system has been one of the best stories of this season. It's overdue. And my guys, even myself, I can't believe that we're just saying all these good things about the Blue Jays this year. Normally it's been the farm system down, injuries, elbow surgery after elbow surgery in the Blue Jays system. It's all come together all at once, really top to bottom. That's how you sustain this stuff year to year. Well, and that's, I guess, the practice that we've been through the last couple of years would suggest that

you've got to pump your brakes a little bit on what 26 could look like because it's so unpredictable because last year these were just facts, you know, according to all of these different profiles and these different scouting systems and scouting rankings, they had a bottom 10 payroll. And they were a bottom

10 team, wins and losses. Those are facts. They had a top 10 payroll. I said that 50,000 times on TSN last year. Top 10 payroll, bottom 10 team, bottom 10 farm system. That was your motto. You got it on a T-shirt. I patented that. But it was factual. But now

it's top 10 payroll, top 10 team, top 12 farm system. Pretty good. It changes pretty quickly. You know, and I don't know what the hell is going to happen in 2026. I guess we've got to find out. But the schedule's out for next year, and that's a good sign.

You can at least get out in front of it. I'm sure the J's in their marketing department, King, and they're going to be flying now because they know what they're selling. And you want to sell when things are hot, and it's about as hot as you can get right now. Oh, yeah. People are probably getting some emails heavy already. Bye, bye, bye. Yeah, that time of year. Yeah, fellas, I was sitting, you know, bright and early this morning as I was waking up feeling fresh,

and that 2026 schedule release email hit. And I said, oh, my God, not yet. Okay. That's quick. Man, it's a nice soft opening for them, too. You know, that's got the makings of, I think, A's, Rockies, and another week club in there. A little seven-and-two opening, probably nine bobblehead days right in a row off the top yep hook it up what does the schedule mean for you

like do you look at that and you start to pinpoint certain trips like you see somewhere down south in the middle of July and you're like I just I'm already sweating just thinking about that trip oh yeah probably a couple top worries for me

number one where am I at the trade deadline am I going to be sweaty when I'm on TSN thankfully we're here in Toronto ideally the dome's closed, pretty comfortable. Number two is when I go through the list and start making up the lies to the girlfriend about how this schedule can work for both of us, you know? Look at this great trip to the West Coast.

Wouldn't you like to come along for this? My job's actually healthy and sustainable. Let's do this. So, you know, you start to work in the travel, kind of the half vacations along the way and some cities that you can extend some fun in. But it's really mentally I go through first, and I try to use my two. two or three vetoes on a few different cities. You know, I try to scratch a few out with the big red X.

I like that. Well, I'll give you one right here off the top. June 19th, 20th, 21st. Wrigley Field in Chicago. That's one you got to get to if you're a Blue Jay fan. That has to happen. Every couple of years are going to go back. The Cubs were just in town recently.

I love that idea. That's a bring the girl along right there. That's a great town. Late June, weather's beautiful. to do a trip to, man. I love Chicago. My number one, get some day games at Wrigley, have your nights for you in Chicago.

Love it. That is a good, good, love it. A little architecture tour on the river. Yeah. Hit the boat, absolutely. Oh, yeah, man. I'll give you another one, man. The first week of July, the 6th through the 12th,

right before the All-Star break, they're in the Bay Area at Giants and then at Padres. You do a little Pacific Coast Highway action there. There we go. Maybe pop into L.A. on the 9th when they're off. That might be something in a circle. to a San Diego trip, and that's where I extend the stay, but my return flight is still for, quote, unquote, work purposes.

Beautiful idea. Important way to look at it from. Beautiful idea. I love that. When you were a little younger, would you, like, venture off into Tijuana if you were doing a San Diego trip? Is that something that would have happened? Oh, it would have tempted me.

I saw a lot more 4 a.m. back in the day, let me tell you. But now I'm trying to do this a little more sustainably, but I used to look at the schedule release a lot differently in, let's say, 2M. 2019 when I was a different younger man. Totally agree with that. All right, Kagan. Enjoy yourself tonight. Thank you for doing this. You got her, fellas. We'll talk soon.

There's Kegan Matheson of MLB.com and Overdrive co-host. You need to make sure we point that out. Joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Drive the Built in Canada fuel-efficient funded drive Toyota Rav4, gas or hybrid models. Available Visit mapletoid.com.

Did I see that he's in this week? I think it's you, me, and him. Yeah, I think he might be. Yeah, I think he is later. on Thursday, Keegan's in here. Okay. Yeah, I like, I like, you know, July and August is where I can get away. Like, I would love to go see the Jays at Wrigley third week of June. That's going to be tough.

That'll be around the NHL draft. Third week of June? Yeah, it's around there. That weekend. Open would be done already. Canadian opens the week before, I believe. It's a little bit later this year than it has been. This past year, the Canadian Open, I think was started in May, actually,

the end of May. This year I want to say it's the 8 to the 13th or something. But going to see the Jays of Wrigley would be special. Like really, really special. I love that place. I've been to a game to see the Giants. It was AT&T when I was there. I don't know what it's called now.

Oracle Park. It's an unbelievable ballpark. Unbelievable. That would be a cool trip. That would be a game in San Fran and drive down to San Diego drive through L.A. Second week of July. That one, that might be something I have to circle. That is cool.

you know what, like, thinking about cool stadium experiences, San Francisco, when Barry Bonds was hitting bombs out of that part, that would have been something that's like, you got to get down and see it. Yep. Right? Like, that's a destination that you travel to, you sit up in the bleachers, and you're like, we just got to experience the Barry Bonds thing. That would have been so cool.

Now, we were there. My wife and I went to a game in 14. That was when they were winning the World Series. With Vincicum was? Yes, Winsicum and Posey and, you know, Boshi was their manager and yes, that was when they were like peaking because they won three

I want to say they won three World Series in like five or six years and we were there in 14 and that would have been sandwiched between I think they won like 11, 13, 15 or something like that so they were, they're hugely popular anyway in the Bay Area like it's massive in San France

a great sports town but they were at their peak when we went and it was incredibly cool. Well, there's another example of what we were talking about to start the show where it's like, this is the team that's in their window to win right now and until someone comes up there and knocks them off, like the Giants had that, Dodgers are in it now, like Yankees have been doing it in the AL or, or, you know, they've been competitive. They haven't been winning, but yeah, like that, we forget that the Giants were that team.

They were that team. About a decade ago. Well, it was 10, 12, and 14, they won. So we were there in 14, August of 14, which was, it already won twice and they were about to win that year. And 12, 14, and then you have to figure 11, 13, 15, they were in it. Right. Yeah, like you know, they're in it. That's six years basically.

Five or six year run that was crazy. The team's really good and they have a chance to win. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, and 15 was against the Royals and that was Chevy guy when Madison Bumgarner. won the World Series MVP. That was in...

You know, technology and stuff. Yeah, that was, I guess, in 14. I love how that one's always ready to go. Like, you never know when that's coming up on the show. Always ready. But it's at the top of... Yeah, because it was Giants beat the Royals in 14, then the Royals beat the Js and the CS in 15

and won the World Series that year. Right. Yeah. So, you know, technology and stuff. Yeah, that one will never go anywhere. But I'm still sitting here in 30s and... 30 years. And I just say Chevy guy.

You know, technology and stuff. It'll be playing. JP will be sitting there too. AP, I hope will be. You guys are a package deal. We are connected to the hip. Duggy's in there. 30 years?

Dugie. Man, I can't even imagine what 30 years old. The cologne that Dugue will be wearing. Oh, it's going to be special stuff. Yeah. It'll be musky. All right. We got futures coming up.

Frankie. Frankie Fandul is coming up here with his own NHL futures. Yeah. Right? I'm going to react to those. I've got some futures in terms of what I expect to come this year in the NFL. We'll get to that a little bit later this afternoon. We'll pick up on some confirm or deny.

Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN2. All right, Trevor, man, the Blue Jays, and the chase for the ALEs. Best team in the American League. Cal Raleigh hit another one last night, 50 home runs. You've got to think, man. What more does he need to do, especially being a catcher? He's my MVP vote.

He has to be. Yeah. I think he has to be. I mean, the fact that, again, he's at 50 now, he's got 30, 30 more games to play, and he needs 13 more home runs to pass judge. The fact that you just said that as a catcher, it kind of like solidifies it for me. Like, yeah, he can't have an offer the rest of the year, but he's not.

His season's been too good for him to just all of a sudden stop hitting jacks. Right. You got to think he's going to push up on 60 home runs. Right. 58, 59 as a catcher. They're well into the playoffs now. You know, like, obviously there's still time for teams to fall apart, but it does appear as if the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mariners,

those are your three wildcard teams, right? I think the Royals are four games back or something. I don't see a scenario where those teams catch up. No. So Seattle's in. Yeah. You're in the playoffs. You're a catcher.

You're going to hit upwards of 60 home runs. I'm sorry. That's the MVP. Yeah. And the thing that happens is. Good for Judge. He's been phenomenal. but it's Kyle Raleigh.

If you don't award the guy who's the catcher for having a year like this, when is another catcher going to have a year like this? Well, likely never. We've never seen anyone. And we're going to say, oh, he actually wasn't the MVP because it had to be Aaron Judge again that year. That judge has been great, but now with the injury, he's not playing the outfield as much. The team's been sputtering a little bit, not his fault, but still. And he's set a bar so high for me, it's Raleigh.

All right, Futures Day on Fandual. We'll get to some NFL futures a little bit later. this afternoon. But what do you have for me here, Frankie? Frankie Fandle. Okay, Frankie Fandle. I got five futures for you. Some of them are awards, some of them are goal and point over

unders, and I got a team standings one. Okay. Ready to go? This is NHL. This is all NHL. I love it. Okay. First one, Yvonne Demadoff plus 230 to win the Calder. Now, there's going to be Zev Bouyam, who I believe is the second

best odds right now. Matthew Schaefer, but I think the fact that Demadoff has played so well overseas for so long, has a little NHL experience, played in the playoffs last year, like this guy, if he was getting drafted this year, he would have been going first overall, and he would, like, he's super, super dynamic. I think this is the guy that wins the Calder, and that would make the Montreal Canadiens having two consecutive Calder winners. Pretty incredible. Yeah. Yeah, pretty incredible. Plus 2.30, I'm, I think that's an appropriate those are appropriate odds.

I mean, you're betting on young players. There's a lot of unpredictability there. He's a heavy favorite, and he should be. I'd be curious to see who would be second in terms of the odds, not even the player necessarily. I think it's Zev Boullium, who's second. This is the thing. So he's going up against essentially two defensemen.

Is he in Minnesota? He's in Minnesota. Yeah, and he came up at the end of the year last year. Exactly. He came up, and he's a really smooth puck-moving defenseman. Schaefer, really smooth, puck-moving defensemen. Schaefer just didn't play last year or not. Yeah, he played like 20 games.

That's what would concern me about even having him in the NHL. Yeah. You know, I think with the draft class this year. Yeah, watered down. I don't think, God, like, I don't think there's anyone there that's, like, really going to grab this thing. Like, is it a guarantee that Michael Mesa even plays in the NHL? No. Don't know.

I don't, I don't, I'm not sure it is. So, yeah. I think that's a really solid bet. I would think, it's Damadov versus the field. And as long as he stays healthy, I'm not sure the odds are going to be better than they are right now. Bingo. You know, like if he ends up with 65 points and they make the playoffs, again, he's winning the rookie year. And if he gets off to a hot start, I don't know if you'll ever see it at plus 2.30 again.

Right. You may be paying some juice. Exactly. Like at the end of October. Okay. Second one, Jack Adams. Mike Sullivan plus 1,700 to win the Jack Adams as head coach of the New York Rangers. Because every box. I think about it, man.

New coach on the scene. team was such a mess last year. There's a lot of returning players, even though there's guys that have moved on like Chris Kreider and Truba's gone now and they've kind of revamped things. But if it basically boils down to new coach came in, Rangers were back, they won the Metro. It kind of writes, it writes itself a little bit. Like there's some other guys that were, you know, shorter odds, whether it was Marty St. Louis or even Joel Quenville in Anaheim or the guy in Utah,

Andre Turney, but I think the Rangers turning it around drastically that gets a lot of attention based on the market, based on how bad it was last year. I think that plus 1,700. Yeah, you're getting 17 to 1 on it.

Yeah, I mean, it is the most narrative-driven award every year. Because it's always the team that came out of nowhere and that shouldn't necessarily apply to the Rangers because of the market they play in. Rangers, but they were horrendous last

year. It's new coach, new coach bump, like Rick Tocket just did it in Vancouver. Yeah, two years ago. New coach, team came out of nowhere, everything miraculously went their way, it was a lock. And Sullivan is a good enough coach to do

that because it's the market, if they do have a great year, it's going to get louder and louder. Look what he did. It was a disaster last year. He figured it out. It just, it fits the narrative play in terms of how you could picture this one playing out. And would you not, like, you wouldn't

be surprised if the Rangers were top two in the Metro. No. Shasturkin's a net. Yeah. They should. On paper, they still have a really good team. Although there's some players gone. Kandre Miller's gone. Kriiter's gone. Like, we talked about that. But, like, it still should be a pretty good team. It should be a good team. If he's the one who harnesses that,

yeah. Going to get a lot of, a lot of attention for that award. Sure. That makes sense. all right number three this one i think is right up your alley austin matthews over 43 and a half goals that's his mind right now 43 and a half yeah i'd hammer the over that's the easiest over ever is it not 43 and a half now i'm bracing myself for him to have a big big bounce back we talked about health and i think that's the only reason why this is 43 and a half because if austin matthews has a 62 game season then all of a sudden like that's a pretty high clip that he would have to

score at and possibly be playing through some discomfort and pain, which is not an easy thing to do. But 43 and a half, if Matthews is healthy, he says hi to that in February. Yes. That's the truth is that we just talked about it with Demadov. That's the lowest odds you're going to

find for him, blah, blah, blah. Like a total of 43 and a half, albeit he's been under, at times in his career, he just did it last year. Two out of the last three years. Yes. But you know, when he's been chugging, he has been a lock for 40 every year of his career prior to this past one I guess

even the lockout year he had 40 or 41 the rookie year he had 41 I want to say and I just I feel like again there's a lot of emphasis on Marner not being there and yes Marner's a phenomenal player and play make other guys can step in it not give the exact same level of production but Matthews has got to be a guy that's going to drive himself

he's done that his whole career like he creates more five on just based on how he plays and the position he gets in, and I still believe he's capable of doing that. He's still going to have the familiarity of Nye's playing on the left wing with him. 43 and a half, I think he cruises past that. And to your point, if there is an injury, and that's obviously the biggest question mark with him this year,

and if it shows up again this year, then you're talking like a serious realignment of how you feel about him and what's going to happen the rest of his career. Like that's why this just feels like such a big platform year for him because Marner's gone they performed the way they performed in the biggest games last year against Florida it finished on such a sour note

maybe the most sour note of their playoff careers which is saying something because there's been a lot of sour notes probably the most embarrassing falling flat on your face moment they've ever had and the injuries like all of that

ties in like Marner gone the way they finished the injuries the doubt, like, he has got to have a season here where he shuts people up. The challenge this year is because of the Olympics, the schedule is so condensed in the NHL, but if you are healthy this year, like if you're Austin Matthews and you get through this year healthy, you can withstand it, man. He's 28 years old. You're 27.

You get through the grind of this year. And I guess I'm probably would be a little more worried just based on how many back-to-backs there's going to be how many three and four, how many weeks there's going to be four games in a week just because they're not playing NHL games basically in February and this guy's got to go to the Olympics. He's got to go to Italy. He's got

to travel. He's got to do everything involved with that, presuming he's healthy, right? But if he gets through that, like, that's knowing that the wear and tear isn't affecting Austin Matthews.

So we'll see if he's able to do that. But I think the condensed schedule also plays a factor in this next one that I have. And tell me if you're surprised, I'll tell you what it is first. It's Jack Hughes over 80 and a half points. That's minus 114. Now, the last two years, he's played 62 games a year. Two years ago, he had 74 points.

Last year, he had 70. If this guy plays 70 games, he's over 80 points. He's a point of game guy. He can't stay healthy either. That's the issue. It's a bigger issue. for him than Matthews or anybody else. He's never played an 82 game season.

The most he's ever played is 78. But he's well over a point per game. The 80 and a half, though, I look at it and I'm like, Jack Hughes is not an 80 point player. I see Jack Hughes play. I'm like, that's a hundred point player every day of the week. Yes.

He just has stay in the lineup. So anyways, maybe that's a little bit of a flyer. Maybe that's wishful thinking on a year where there's a condensed schedule. But you also have to think at some point, a guy who's he's 24 he's 24 yeah he's got to have a couple 82 game seasons under his belt at some point

yes at 24 years old should be able to he should I mean that has been a consistent he's just not a big guy like he just he's seen and he seems to put himself in positions to get hit you know like remember patch already got him last year in a game

yeah he did like just demolished him yeah and yeah he seems he seems to just be hurt all the time And his stats would indicate that. But the points per game would also indicate if he gets to even 70, 75 games played, which should not be asking much out of a 24-year-old. That's the thing.

He needs to perform. He's likely an American lock. He was for the Four Nations, but he did not play well at the Four Nations. Like, he did not fit in well there. Kind of got pushed out on that team that was big. Exactly. They went with big guys. Like Kyle Connor got pushed out on that team because they wanted to go big.

They didn't even play in the final game. So he's got to have a platform season. Yeah, I'd be concerned about that one just because of his history. But it's probably worth looking at a sprinkle because you're banking on him finally putting the pieces together in terms of just health. I guess what I'm... And you've got to pay a little juice on that. That's the crazy thing.

But I guess what I'm thinking is Jack Hughes is not an 80-point player. I'm sorry. Like if he's fairly healthy. He plays 80 games. He's a hundred-point guy. the year he played 78 games he had 99 points so anyways that's that's where I think Jack Hughes could be at

I have one more for you Vegas Pacific Division winner plus 145 they are the favorite in that division they're the favorite at plus 145 Vegas I'm I'm a little bit more concerned

and a little more bearish on them than others are yourself included clearly I think the Petrangelo absence is huge huge Huge, for sure. Huge. Yes, Marner's there now, and Marner makes them better. And they've got a good team on paper, a very good team on paper.

I don't see this all-world great team on paper. I like Eichel, I like Hurtle, Stone. I don't know. How many games Mark Stone going to play? Oh, 60? Yeah, exactly. That would be a good year. Yeah.

Like, is Aiden Hill going to give you 50 starts? And if so, what does that look like? I'm not basing it so much on Vegas. I'm basing it on who's around Vegas. Okay, we know the admin. San Jose, yes, outside of the Oilers, who is really competing in that division. San Jose's not going to be good.

No. Anaheim's not winning the division. No, they're not. Vancouver, probably not winning the division, maybe pushing for a playoff spot. Probably pushing for a playoff spot. Calgary? No.

sniffing around a playoff spot. L.A. maybe. L.A. is the one wild curve. L.A. is the one where I look at them, I'm like, L.A. could be a good team, but are they winning the division good? They have not been... They could be a team where it's like,

yeah, you don't want to play L.A. in the playoffs, which we've kind of said about them. And then they run into Edmonton and Emmington spanks them and embarrasses them. So I really see it between Vegas and Edmonton. That's true. And I'm like, I think Vegas might be the better regular season team. I think Edmonton, I just, I want to see how it works

with all the guys out and who's in now. Right. And the goaltending, I don't know. I think Edmonton also having been to Stanley Cup final the last couple years, similar to Florida last year. I was like, yeah, they played a lot of hockey in the regular season. Wake us up

when it's playoff time. Well, and they always have a rough start. Like they just seemingly have a cup hangover without the Stanley Cup. That's what happened to him last year. Yes. And they did not win the division. Vegas did. Yeah. So I would

anticipate the same thing happening for Edmonton, a bit of a kind of Oh, man, we've got to go back at it again. Big summer, a lot of weddings. Yep. A lot of weddings. Jet skis in Europe. Yeah.

Lots going on. And the McDavid contract has not been signed yet. It has, like, they haven't even had the conversation about it. Which I don't understand. How have you not had a conversation yet? I don't know. I totally understand it. This is the conversation.

Call the agent. Hey, is Connor ready to talk extension? I don't know. We'll let you know when we're ready. Okay. That's the conversation. I get it from Edmonton's standpoint. They have no other, what are they going to do?

Right. They're trying to call, and I'm sure they're trying to talk. But from McDavid's standpoint, unless he simplified it and he's already figured it out, which he very well could have done internally. Like he and his agent have talked it over and said, this is what we're going to do. And they just, it's not that complicated. They're going to call Edmonton and say, this is what we're going to do. Maybe that's going to happen.

But why would you not have the conversation? Unless you're waiting for something, like you're waiting. for some sort of an answer from the Oilers. Yeah, I don't... Because, like, the gold tenors last time I checked, it's still the same two guys. It is the same too. Nothing has happened in the NHL.

Blue line is the same. Nothing has happened. Yeah, no. Nothing. The way the teams were in early July is basically the way they are now. There was no offer sheets. There was no significant trades.

This is, that's who they got. So I don't, I don't know how his mind would have changed from them until now. So maybe that's why the conversation hasn't happened yet. And maybe it bleeds into the season. Maybe it doesn't. it's like a three-year deal that gets done. But anyways, those are my futures.

Demadoff for the Calder, Sullivan for the Adams, Matthews over 43 and a half, Hughes over 80 and a half points, and Vegas to win the Pacific. Yeah, I like them. I like them a lot. I like the Demitov one a lot. I love the Sullivan one.

Matthews over 43 and a half is just like, he breezes through that if he's healthy in February. That's what it comes down to. If he's healthy, but if If he's healthy, and he says he's feeling good, then with or without Mitch Marner, that guy's scoring 45 goals. Like, I have no doubt.

Playing with Nyes and whoever else is going to be on his wing, on the power play, everything's going through him. Throw whoever. Yeah, that guy's scoring 45. In your 10, 27, 28 years old, yeah, 45. The Hughes one, I'm just like, he's just not an 80-point player. At some point, he's got to play 82 games at some point.

Yeah, like he owes that organization something here. And that'll be interesting to see what happens down there. Okay, more futures a little bit later this afternoon. Trevor May coming up and the NFL cutdowns, man. It sounds like Shadour is a part of the Cleveland Browns after they traded Kenny Pickett last night. We're on that into the next hour as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN2.

All right, we got a tweet in here from Stutzla fan. I wonder what he's about to contribute to this futures conversation. Let's see here. I'm sure it's 100% objective. All right. Here we go. The Sends are winning the Atlantic this year.

Best bang for your buck future by far in the Atlantic division. That actually probably is pretty good value. Although there's probably some value on them missing the playoffs too. You can probably get plus money on them missing. What is better value? I was going to say if you're taking like this or that, I'm taking them to win the division over them missing the playoffs. Really?

Yeah, I think they take a step forward, not a step back. But I still wouldn't sprinkle on them winning the division because it's so crowded in the Atlantic. Like, how do you decide between Toronto, Tampa, Florida, and Ottawa? Like, you're basically saying they're going to leapfrog three teams. Yeah, exactly. That are three pretty good teams. They're plus 750 to win the division on Fandall right now. which is pretty good odds

and as of now they would be fourth like Florida is clearly the best team in the league right now now I do question with Kachuk not playing probably until January I wonder if Kuchuk would be ready for the Olympic games I would think he will be but no guarantees

but do they just kind of slow roll their way I think they're going to do what they did last year and rope a dope and who cares I don't make it get to 100 points they couldn't care less about home ice or winning a division will be in the playoffs and you just don't want to play us and sucks for you if you're a top three team in your division

or you win the division and you've got to go through us. So let's say Florida, you know, not, they can win the division, but maybe not likely. The Leafs, Tampa, Ottawa, Montreal, they all made it last year. Yeah, I mean, there might, I don't see Ottawa winning the division, but I can understand the value in it. Like I can, I can visual, it's not impossible to, to envision. You know, will Walmart start 55 games? I don't know. Probably not, based on his history.

Do they have enough in terms of that tandem? Do they even expect him to? You think at this point they expect him to play 55? Probably not, but they're paying them a lot of money. All right. We'll come back and continue with the futures into the final hour. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN2. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious. This week in gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond, the hottest gaming news, insight and industry leaders, and more weekly.

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